First rule in politics: never believe anything until it’s officially denied – politicalbetting.com
First rule in politics: never believe anything until it’s officially denied – politicalbetting.com
Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place!
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The alternative to owning their own EV, is owning their own ICE vehicle. As much as some people would wish away the private ownership of vehicles, it has not happened and is not going to happen within 4 years.
Unless we can tackle the fact it is considerably cheaper to fuel an efficient vehicle by petrol (despite that being almost all tax already), than it is via public-charging, which tens of millions of homes require, the market alone is not going to magic away that problem.
We need serious investment in a solution for charging, or the transition is not going to be completed. Saying I'm alright as I have at-home charging is not a serious solution for those who don't.
The Government have just introduced a BEV per mile tax that makes it even more expensive to drive electrically, even if you don't charge at home, and is doing absolutely nothing I can see to sort out charging issues nationwide to have them be resolved within 4 years if the 2030 cessation of ICE sales is meant to take effect.
It's not like the solutions for charging don't exist, it's just that it needs money to implement them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycztQPrhE4g
And without implementation, then the status quo solution will be the continuation of millions of people buying, driving and refuelling ICE vehicles.
A Blairite a Brownite and a Corbynite walk into a bar. What will you have to drink Andy?
It's a bad situation.
Ukrainian successes with long-range strikes, or the counterattack around Kupiansk, are welcome, but they're not enough to turn the tide. And they're kinda bittersweet because they show what would be possible if Europe found the resolve and sense of purpose to fully back Ukraine.
Instead we're choosing to do enough to keep Ukraine fighting, but not enough to help them win. It's such a big mistake.
Expect the price of second hand ICE cars to be high in the 2030s.
That level of pettiness from Sunderland is something I can only applaud.
Sunderland's hatred of Newcastle runs so deep, they only put "visitors" and not their rivals' badge on the scoreboard 😭
https://x.com/MenInBlazers/status/2000223798725955622/photo/1
If the lack of affordable charging is not tackled, and the Budget only made it worse not better, then the market will respond to the incentives the Government is setting about - which is that BEV remains too expensive for those without off-road charging.
As if they were confident they could win, then Sunderland 1 - 0 Newcastle looks much more impressive than Sunderland 1 - 0 Visitors.
Taxis are not a new invention, and yet people want their own vehicles anyway. For a plethora of very good reasons.
The idea that within 4 years that is magically going to change, let alone ever going to change, is just insanity and wishful thinking by you.
Sometimes there's more than one person in the household and each of them might need their own vehicle.
If there's 2 parents working in a household they might both need a vehicle. If there's adult children who have not yet been able to afford a home of their own yet, they might too on top of their parents vehicles.
Either way though, roadside charging solutions have not been rolled out yet, and I don't see any concrete plans in place to do so by 2030, which makes a mockery of the 2030 deadline for ICE. Either tackle the issue, or be realistic.
It’s going to take a while to replace the whole fleet of course. But by 2040 (?) we will likely have see a transformative impact on our urban road architecture. Rows and rows of parked cars in narrow streets sitting there doing nothing is unlikely to be a thing any more.
Is the 2030 deadline the right one? I dunno. But it might surprise you how quickly demand for brand new ICEs gets crushed when this product is widely launched.
Click on https://www.zapmap.com/live/ to see what is available near you.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/13/blind-date-tom-rita
https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/journey-to-net-zero-stories/can-grid-cope-extra-demand-electric-cars
Google maps will show you a picture of them; just search on "Fred Meyer + Totem Lake". The stations are in the northwest corner of the main parking lot.
(Why Tuesday mornings? Because on the first Tuesday of every month they have discounts for oldies like me. Maybe I can get a photo for you if I visit on January 6th. Or sooner.)
https://x.com/MikeLevin/status/1999625620549161290
For those, who still had ANY doubts or hopes, let me explain the simple truth of our reality.
1) The only interest the current US administration has is making sure everyone in Trumps circle gets their profit. People in that circle are extremely cynical, possess no moral compass or empathy, and they have employed aggressive business practices throughout their lives. Nothing personal, just business.
2) Whenever some “humanitarian” deeds happen, they happen ONLY as a cover for getting a new source of profit. For example, the release of Belarusian political prisoners was done in exchange for desanctioning the BelarusKaliy* ; I can bet €100 that somebody from the Trump’s circle is already in touch with the company, and has arranged some very profitable scheme.
3) Same goes with all negotiations with Russia. Putin, according to Trump, is a typical man of his circle. One you can do business with, disregarding all these boring ethical and national security concerns. Again, I am pretty sure, the main content of the private “negotiations” has nothing to do with ensuring peace; it is purely business talk.
4) Russia is an immensely rich country in terms of resources. Many American (and quite some European) businessmen are waiting impatiently for any solution that gives them access to the Russian resources and money associated with.
5) People tend to live in denial when something so earth-shuttering as the large scale, open corruption in the US happens. They start searching for a second layer, say there are deeper forces in play. No, it is what it looks like: the people who currently rule the most powerful country on Earth, try to make as much profit as possible. No matter how...
*At the same time the Administation desanctions Belarus potash, it's imposing tariffs on the Canadian supply.
I say this wistfully rather than in a spirit of celebration because I've always enjoyed the private motoring experience. Plus it's been a mainstay of our culture. It's a great and inevitable development, the end of all that, but as so often with such leaps of progress we'll be losing something.
"Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my lord, in an autonomous electric transit unit, slowing down to ..."
Just not going to be playing that. Nobody is.
Following a successful trial, the new initiative installs footway channels – discreet gullies cut across pavements – allowing safe, convenient cable routing from properties to kerbside parked EVs, without creating a trip hazard.
https://www.richmond.gov.uk/news/news_july_2025/innovative_ev_home_charging_scheme_launched
An innovative Lib Dem Council!
The mind boggles…
combo of wounded animal behaviour by Putin, disruption to global commodities markets and stray nukes ending up with regional Russian war lords.
This grates with me, but all of us have to accept that we have not seen the intelligence the decision makers have. It is lazy in the extreme to think the current US government’s main goal is to build a hotel in Moscow. There has been a remarkably consistent common position among the core counties even after domestic political transitions. Is what it is.
Given this seemingly immovable reality, the best thing for the Ukrainians really does now feel like getting done whatever deal will get the fighting to finish as soon as possible, followed by an influx of weapons and funding.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/14/dining-across-the-divide-andy-louisa
..My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep...
Wouldn't have sounded so great featuring a '46 Ford Super DeLuxe.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/30/dining-across-the-divide-peter-akshat
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/09/dining-across-the-divide-i-was-expecting-some-leftist-anti-capitalist-socialist-guardianista
If Europe is so terrified that they can't defeat a Russian invasion, how do they deter a repeat in a few years' time ?
My wife's car has two child seats semi-permanently installed, plus a pram, baby change bag, some shopping bags etc in the boot. Just the childseat aspect alone sounds like a nightmare enough if we're hailing robo-taxis.
And there just isn't much money to be saved. Wife's car was £4k 8 years ago. It doesn't do many miles, although it needs a decent range as it does a couple of trips to the in-laws a year. We put ~£30 of petrol in it a month, insurance is about £300 pa, and I service it annually for £25 in consumables and 20 mins of my time. Even with a little MOT work, I doubt our total outgoings on it are £1k a year.
We owe Ukraine an incredible debt of gratitude for massively degrading a serious threat to our way of life. But countries, and certainly governments, are not sentimental. I hope we honour our debt and their sacrifice but I am not holding my breath.
As for the idea that an exhausted Russia is some threat to western Europe in any conventional sense? Please, don't be ridiculous.
Given everything that has happened since, we can conclude it says rather more about the early chinks in Ukraine’s chain of command than it does Russia’s capabilities at combined arms warfare.
So we (and mainland Europe) need to learn the lesson. It is fifth columnists in our own military, political and security structures that pose the gravest threats.
We should be doing whatever is needed to ensure the off duty safety of our qualified pilots and sub mariners, who are the scarcest human resource we have. Building a multi layered shield around our key military and economic assets, most notably our air bases, North Sea energy and data cables (but also cyber). And finally ramping up to the max our arms manufacture capability.
If we do all this, then I’m personally not all that scared of the Russians. Ukraine does not have a navy, th most advanced long range missiles or 4th gen fighters and it still manages to keep the front roughly frozen.
The reason is that late-stage capitalism has to use advertising to stimulate overconsumption in order to create demand for the oversupply of goods that capitalism creates.
Ban advertising.
2029?
Do you expect that to change?
Instead they'll have to fight Russia in ten or twenty years time when there are Putinist or neutralist governments in Germany, France and the UK and a President Vance (or worse) in Washington.
Sell.
Obviously, if there's a freezing of the conflict, Russia is not going to be relaunching an inversion within a couple of years.
But five years down the road, after rebuilding trade with Trump's US, and resuming in sanctioned oil and gas exports ?
And if Europe gets tired of spending 3% plus of GDP on rearming (the UK already seems to have) ?
And Farage and whatever shitheads are leading the French and German far right in power ?
It will be used as an excuse to cut defence spending again to fund even more welfare.
Ukraine (official borders) = 600,000 sq. km.
At the same time Russian leaders will be keen to rebuild the army in terms of its equipment and capabilities, so to some extent the wartime economy will continue. And then, you've spent all this money rebuilding the army, and the people are antsy about the cost, so you kinda have to use it to justify the expense.
And, of course, the Russians will believe they learnt the right lessons from the war and will be better placed to win the next one.
Breadbasket for a reason...
And just because they're worried about Trump's US (rightly so, given the new US policy breaking the old Soviet empire away from Western Europe) hardly means they can be insouciant about Putin's Russia.
You seem to be keen on that outcome; I'm not.
Modern systems deliver an 80% charge in 20 minutes or so.
For people who don't have a home-option, there needs to be a realistic solution. That means public chargers that are as quick, cheap and reliable as petrol.
If they're not, then expect demand for petrol to continue.
20 minutes at a forecourt is rather a while.
Especially if the forecourt is more expensive per mile than the petrol equivalent is. And there's BEV per-mile taxation on top.
As I've said on here many times since late 2022, the current situation in the Ukraine suits a lot of the key players - not the Russians and the Ukrainians doing the fighting and dying obviously but they don't matter.
There's actually something vaguely Orwellian about it all - the war legitimises Putin and Zelensky and allows the military-defence complex in both the West and China free rein to argue for more of the national cake. Increased defence spending everywhere, more weapons required, more weapons purchased and the arms manufacturers, whether Stare owned or active supporters of ruling administrations, are happy.
Stopping either side from winning (or losing if you prefer) works well economically for too many vested interests to allow it to stop for any meaningful time. It allows defence strategists and researchers to analyse and study modern warfare and work out what works and what doesn't - yes, there are other wars but Congo or the Thai/Cambodian border aren't the same as the Ukraine and a lot less easy to get to.
I don't have a driveway.