Looks like the UK won't be too affected then, has lower imports of oil from the Gulf region than the US as well as Asia
Tankers are turning round. Now.
Which means that deliveries from other sources will start failing to come here.
Who has the most money, out of the U.K. and China?
Who has the most “pull”?
We should drill more in the North Sea again though
That isn't going to help much in the next few months and in the longer term irrelevant in terms of supply.
I am supportive of continued exploration and extraction in the North Sea as a form of import substitution, but the real need is renewables.
I would doubt you could get from lease to an exploration rig onsite in six months.
The North Sea from this point is about not throwing away tax yield in the medium/long term.
It's not even about tax yield, which is predicted to diminish to almost nothing in the next five years. Further exploration at tax-rebated rates won't change that significantly.
From what I can see five moderately useful reasons to open new oil fields:
1. Maintains an asset that would otherwise permanently disappear 2. Provides the UK with an exportable product 3. Continues employment 4. A degree of energy security 5. North Sea oil is extracted to higher environmental standards than elsewhere.
But if renewables and electrification weren't the absolute focus before, they should be now.
Why would failing to open new oil fields make them permanently disappear?
I get that it would be more difficult and expensive to open them in the future due to the need to rebuild expertise and retool, but they'll still be there. The oil's not going to evaporate or seep away. On the contrary, exploiting them is what will make them permanently disappear, and then we'll be completely dependent on foreign sources.
I'd have thought the best approach would be to carefully eke out our remaining resources, maintaining the minimum flow needed for technical reasons and to maintain expertise. That way we'll still have some left when we really need it in the future for applications that are difficult to replace with alternatives.
Completely impractical. And far more expensive for the companies.
This might sound like an odd comparison but it reminds me, writ large, of when a chap called Sean Thomas (used to post here) wrote blogs, alongside many other writers, for the... Telegraph, I think. Anyway, there was a decent number of them and the blogs all got good views but new management came in and decided it was unnecessary and the writers were pricey so they got the chop. Only to reassess, but by then the audience had scattered and found other things to read so the nice little eco-system couldn't be resurrected.
Looks like the UK won't be too affected then, has lower imports of oil from the Gulf region than the US as well as Asia
Tankers are turning round. Now.
Which means that deliveries from other sources will start failing to come here.
Who has the most money, out of the U.K. and China?
Who has the most “pull”?
We should drill more in the North Sea again though
That isn't going to help much in the next few months and in the longer term irrelevant in terms of supply.
I am supportive of continued exploration and extraction in the North Sea as a form of import substitution, but the real need is renewables.
I would doubt you could get from lease to an exploration rig onsite in six months.
The North Sea from this point is about not throwing away tax yield in the medium/long term.
It's not even about tax yield, which is predicted to diminish to almost nothing in the next five years. Further exploration at tax-rebated rates won't change that significantly.
From what I can see five moderately useful reasons to open new oil fields:
1. Maintains an asset that would otherwise permanently disappear 2. Provides the UK with an exportable product 3. Continues employment 4. A degree of energy security 5. North Sea oil is extracted to higher environmental standards than elsewhere.
But if renewables and electrification weren't the absolute focus before, they should be now.
The tax yield predictions are based on Government policy not actual reality. They are based on managed decline of the UKCS rather than allowing investment and further exploration. No one in the industry takes the OBR figures seriously as a reflection of the actual potential of the UKCS.
Price of oil seems to be falling and possibly it’s in relation to this from Al Jazeera .
“Iran’s envoy to Kuwait pleads for diplomacy to avert ‘tragedy’ According to the AFP news agency, Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Toutounji, has called on Gulf nations to intervene as the US president’s deadline for a new deal expires, bringing with it the threat of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Urging regional powers to leverage their influence, Toutounji warned of the devastating consequences of further escalation. “We hope that the countries in the region will use all their diplomatic and political capabilities to prevent such a tragedy from befalling the region,” he said, according to the AFP report.”
Maybe this suggests some last minute panic in Iranian ranks .
Just one by election this week on Kent CC. Reform defence in Cliftonville after the May 25 elected councillor got a custodial sentence. Some local posters on vote UK forum say Ref, Lab, Con and Green all going for it quite hard. Last time Ref got just under 2000, Lab and Con just over and under 1000 respectively and Greens just over 500, so the legal problems need to have a sizeable impact to overturn (or one of the chasers successfuly unite the anti Ref vote)
Price of oil seems to be falling and possibly it’s in relation to this from Al Jazeera .
“Iran’s envoy to Kuwait pleads for diplomacy to avert ‘tragedy’ According to the AFP news agency, Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Toutounji, has called on Gulf nations to intervene as the US president’s deadline for a new deal expires, bringing with it the threat of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Urging regional powers to leverage their influence, Toutounji warned of the devastating consequences of further escalation. “We hope that the countries in the region will use all their diplomatic and political capabilities to prevent such a tragedy from befalling the region,” he said, according to the AFP report.”
Maybe this suggests some last minute panic in Iranian ranks .
Iran vs Trump negotiations caused this to bubble up, in my brain
"I thought the miners' leaders were the stupidest men I ever met, until I met the mine owners."
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Price of oil seems to be falling and possibly it’s in relation to this from Al Jazeera .
“Iran’s envoy to Kuwait pleads for diplomacy to avert ‘tragedy’ According to the AFP news agency, Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Toutounji, has called on Gulf nations to intervene as the US president’s deadline for a new deal expires, bringing with it the threat of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Urging regional powers to leverage their influence, Toutounji warned of the devastating consequences of further escalation. “We hope that the countries in the region will use all their diplomatic and political capabilities to prevent such a tragedy from befalling the region,” he said, according to the AFP report.”
Maybe this suggests some last minute panic in Iranian ranks .
Or reiterating if this happens the biggest gas producers in the world will export nothing for years.
'They're calling it the Trump depression folks and its beautiful, big and beautiful. They're starving in India, starving imagine that? Pakistan's top guy is calling me he says: "Donald my people can't cook, they can't heat", Crazy out there folks, crazy.'
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
Eurostar services from beyond London were planned. They built a depot in Manchester. Sleeper services were planned. They built the sleeping cars.
Budget airlines scuppered those plans.
At the time, train frequency from Edinburgh and Glasgow to London had been reduced, and was much lower than it is now, also due to airline competition. Over the past few years it has increased significantly, both because trains are faster and due to airport hassle. I don’t know whether a seven hour train journey from Edinburgh to Paris would be competitive. I suspect it will be for some, as long as there are no changes. I suspect a sleeper would be viable. See the increase in sleeper trains across Europe.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
It always has been but demonstrates the many ways in which we simply can’t run projects.
Hint you set things up and then leave people to it, that’s true of HS2, the North Sea and probably a whole set of other things.
Sadly our politicians love to tinker with things that should be appoint competent people and leave them to it
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
It always has been but demonstrates the many ways in which we simply can’t run projects.
Hint you set things up and then leave people to it, that’s true of HS2, the North Sea and probably a whole set of other things.
Sadly our politicians love to tinker with things that should be appoint competent people and leave them to it
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
The peculiar belief that delaying part of a project makes it cheaper. Despite the proof, on hundreds of projects, of the exact inverse of that.
Price of oil seems to be falling and possibly it’s in relation to this from Al Jazeera .
“Iran’s envoy to Kuwait pleads for diplomacy to avert ‘tragedy’ According to the AFP news agency, Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Toutounji, has called on Gulf nations to intervene as the US president’s deadline for a new deal expires, bringing with it the threat of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Urging regional powers to leverage their influence, Toutounji warned of the devastating consequences of further escalation. “We hope that the countries in the region will use all their diplomatic and political capabilities to prevent such a tragedy from befalling the region,” he said, according to the AFP report.”
Maybe this suggests some last minute panic in Iranian ranks .
Or panic on the part of Toutounji on the face of intransigence from both Trump and his own side ?
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
AIUI, the Shinkansen works because it's entirely separate to the regular rail network, a choice that had to be made because the gauge for the regular rail network was unsuitable for faster trains? Lots of money was spent on the infrastructure, but it was spent decades ago and Japan has been reaping the benefits since. There has been some tendency for local politicians to call for a Shinkansen line to their local area and not all of these have been commercially viable.
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Looks like the UK won't be too affected then, has lower imports of oil from the Gulf region than the US as well as Asia
Tankers are turning round. Now.
Which means that deliveries from other sources will start failing to come here.
Who has the most money, out of the U.K. and China?
Who has the most “pull”?
We should drill more in the North Sea again though
That isn't going to help much in the next few months and in the longer term irrelevant in terms of supply.
I am supportive of continued exploration and extraction in the North Sea as a form of import substitution, but the real need is renewables.
I would doubt you could get from lease to an exploration rig onsite in six months.
The North Sea from this point is about not throwing away tax yield in the medium/long term.
That is a massively complicated question.
Removing the drilling ban and reducing the tax burden is not going to get new exploration wells drilled in the next few months, not least because of the shortage of rigs.
What it does do is signal to the industry that their platforms are once again viable and it is worth drilling more development wells from them. This could be done and have oil or gas flowing in far less than 6 months. There are wells planned, ready to drill but they are not being drilled because the companies know that without the further exploration in the medium term the platforms become unviable, especially with electrification looming. So they are not interested in drilling more wells, spending tens of millions of pounds when they know they are going to be shutting down the platforms and plugging the wells in the near future.
Let’s be honest. The govt is full of ideologues. The North Sea, or our part of it, will not see the drilling ban or tax burden lifted.
The govt will need more taxes given the slowing of the economy and ILR being granted to the Boriswave imminently.
How is the Boriswave being granted ILR going to slow the economy imminently? A bunch of people largely in work and paying taxes will continue to be a bunch of people largely in work and paying taxes.
And now entitled to the benefit system too. As well as the economically inactive dependents. That comes at a cost. Don’t give them ILR. They will still work
Most will be net burdens.
234 billion extra as a cohort over their lifetime.
I also never said they slow the economy. I said a slowing economy would have to start funding their entitlement so that’s more money we need to find. Work harder wage slaves
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
The peculiar belief that delaying part of a project makes it cheaper. Despite the proof, on hundreds of projects, of the exact inverse of that.
You get to spend less now, without having to cancel anything, and sure, you have to spend more later, but that's a problem for a different politician.
That is British chancellors for the last thirty years (at least, but I am too young to remember further back).
Every year the costs from this approach pile up higher and it becomes harder to dig ourselves out of it, but still it goes on.
On topic. ..Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese says he will fly to Singapore this week to help secure petroleum imports as oil prices surge during the Middle East war.
Australia relies on imports for an estimated 90% of its refined petroleum products and Singapore is its largest single supplier.
Albanese said on Tuesday he would visit Singapore from Thursday to Saturday to discuss trade in “essential supplies” such as diesel and liquefied natural gas with prime minister Lawrence Wong.
Together, we share concern over the situation in the Middle East, including the consequences for both of our nations. Agence France-Presse also reports that Australia and Singapore committed in a joint statement last month to keep fuel flowing between both countries and to work together to strengthen energy supply chain resilience.
Service station outages of diesel and unleaded petrol in Australia are falling, the government said... Guardian
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
AIUI, the Shinkansen works because it's entirely separate to the regular rail network, a choice that had to be made because the gauge for the regular rail network was unsuitable for faster trains? Lots of money was spent on the infrastructure, but it was spent decades ago and Japan has been reaping the benefits since. There has been some tendency for local politicians to call for a Shinkansen line to their local area and not all of these have been commercially viable.
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Some of the busiest flight routes in the world are Japanese domestic:
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
Anything north of Birmingham should cost a lot less per mile to build owing to lower population density. That's what's frustrating about the decision to cancel the northern sections - they were the part that made the project make sense and were the cheapest to build. The cancelation made me want to scream.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
The thinking is likely Scotland can have HS2 when
1. It is independent and
2. Pays for it itself.
If you keep threatening independence, don't be surprised if long-term infrastructure doesn't get built.
Probably the thinking behind the UK government not giving tax breaks for more oil field developments up there...
I am still very surprised Oxford haven’t withdrawn her doctorate. That would have been normal procedure under such circumstances and their failure to do so doesn’t speak well of their commitment to academic integrity.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
Anything north of Birmingham should cost a lot less per mile to build owing to lower population density. That's what's frustrating about the decision to cancel the northern sections - they were the part that made the project make sense and were the cheapest to build. The cancelation made me want to scream.
As I understand it the main contributing factors for the high cost of HS2 were: 1. Delay. 2. Excessively high-specification. 3. Changes in design following political meddling. 4. Being the "first"* high-speed line built, so requiring skills and expertise to be developed from scratch, rather than part of an ongoing programme of construction, maintaining and training skills between projects.
No lessons have been learned. We will see the same again.
* Not actually the first, but the gap between HS1 and HS2 was long enough that it was as though it was. And the same will be true for the next bit that is eventually built.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
The thinking is likely Scotland can have HS2 when
1. It is independent and
2. Pays for it itself.
If you keep threatening independence, don't be surprised if long-term infrastructure doesn't get built.
Probably the thinking behind the UK government not giving tax breaks for more oil field developments up there...
Cool, let's keep it in the ground for when 'we' really need it.
Do interconnectors for power transfers between Scotland and England count as infrastructure, cos HMG seems quite keen on them.
That would probably be the first time since the Qing dynasty 300 years ago, possibly even the first time in history.
Nobody really knows the true population of China. There are suggestions it could be 100 million too high. If you get central funding based on your population, then there is the incentive to big up the number.
Looks like the UK won't be too affected then, has lower imports of oil from the Gulf region than the US as well as Asia
Tankers are turning round. Now.
Which means that deliveries from other sources will start failing to come here.
Who has the most money, out of the U.K. and China?
Who has the most “pull”?
We should drill more in the North Sea again though
That isn't going to help much in the next few months and in the longer term irrelevant in terms of supply.
I am supportive of continued exploration and extraction in the North Sea as a form of import substitution, but the real need is renewables.
I would doubt you could get from lease to an exploration rig onsite in six months.
The North Sea from this point is about not throwing away tax yield in the medium/long term.
It's not even about tax yield, which is predicted to diminish to almost nothing in the next five years. Further exploration at tax-rebated rates won't change that significantly.
From what I can see five moderately useful reasons to open new oil fields:
1. Maintains an asset that would otherwise permanently disappear 2. Provides the UK with an exportable product 3. Continues employment 4. A degree of energy security 5. North Sea oil is extracted to higher environmental standards than elsewhere.
But if renewables and electrification weren't the absolute focus before, they should be now.
Why would failing to open new oil fields make them permanently disappear?
I get that it would be more difficult and expensive to open them in the future due to the need to rebuild expertise and retool, but they'll still be there. The oil's not going to evaporate or seep away. On the contrary, exploiting them is what will make them permanently disappear, and then we'll be completely dependent on foreign sources.
I'd have thought the best approach would be to carefully eke out our remaining resources, maintaining the minimum flow needed for technical reasons and to maintain expertise. That way we'll still have some left when we really need it in the future for applications that are difficult to replace with alternatives.
That requires planning - rather than rabid exploitation for maximum profit NOW, or closure.
Try Norway !
It seems absolutely crazy to me that in the face of accelerating global warming due to burning hydrocarbons and increasing scarcity of said hydrocarbons - which are essential inputs to a variety of industrial processes - the first reaction of so many to increasing prices is, "let's burn our remaining hydrocarbons as quickly as possible." Utter insanity.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
The peculiar belief that delaying part of a project makes it cheaper. Despite the proof, on hundreds of projects, of the exact inverse of that.
You get to spend less now, without having to cancel anything, and sure, you have to spend more later, but that's a problem for a different politician.
That is British chancellors for the last thirty years (at least, but I am too young to remember further back).
Every year the costs from this approach pile up higher and it becomes harder to dig ourselves out of it, but still it goes on.
The Naval Defence Act 1889 was implemented brilliantly - finance over a decade, maintenance, manning and recruitment all figured in. Compete with a dockyard reorganisation that actually resulted in ships being built faster, better and cheaper.
In 1934, the Treasury was having meetings with British industry. To figure out how to spend *more money* on rearmament. Because they need to build the factories to make the equipment for the factories that made stuff for building weapons…
Apart from that, can’t think of too many cases of joined up thinking like this.
Looks like the UK won't be too affected then, has lower imports of oil from the Gulf region than the US as well as Asia
Tankers are turning round. Now.
Which means that deliveries from other sources will start failing to come here.
Who has the most money, out of the U.K. and China?
Who has the most “pull”?
We should drill more in the North Sea again though
That isn't going to help much in the next few months and in the longer term irrelevant in terms of supply.
I am supportive of continued exploration and extraction in the North Sea as a form of import substitution, but the real need is renewables.
I would doubt you could get from lease to an exploration rig onsite in six months.
The North Sea from this point is about not throwing away tax yield in the medium/long term.
That is a massively complicated question.
Removing the drilling ban and reducing the tax burden is not going to get new exploration wells drilled in the next few months, not least because of the shortage of rigs.
What it does do is signal to the industry that their platforms are once again viable and it is worth drilling more development wells from them. This could be done and have oil or gas flowing in far less than 6 months. There are wells planned, ready to drill but they are not being drilled because the companies know that without the further exploration in the medium term the platforms become unviable, especially with electrification looming. So they are not interested in drilling more wells, spending tens of millions of pounds when they know they are going to be shutting down the platforms and plugging the wells in the near future.
Let’s be honest. The govt is full of ideologues. The North Sea, or our part of it, will not see the drilling ban or tax burden lifted.
The govt will need more taxes given the slowing of the economy and ILR being granted to the Boriswave imminently.
How is the Boriswave being granted ILR going to slow the economy imminently? A bunch of people largely in work and paying taxes will continue to be a bunch of people largely in work and paying taxes.
And now entitled to the benefit system too. As well as the economically inactive dependents. That comes at a cost. Don’t give them ILR. They will still work
Most will be net burdens.
234 billion extra as a cohort over their lifetime.
I also never said they slow the economy. I said a slowing economy would have to start funding their entitlement so that’s more money we need to find. Work harder wage slaves
The CPS is a rather partisan source. Bloomberg published a detailed rebuttal of their analysis at https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-09-26/uk-immigration-farage-rides-the-boris-wave-by-weaponizing-dodgy-data (unfortunately paywalled). Basically, the CPS got their numbers wrong. They undercounted the tax these migrants pay in, which more than covers the benefits they later take. Bloombery estimated a £125 billion gain to the UK, not a cost of £234 billion. The CPS partly conceded their error and you will note that their website now has a disclaimer reading, "The Office for Budget Responsibility fiscal data contained within this report is the subject of dispute, meaning that the overall cost estimates should no longer be used. We will be publishing an updated estimate in due course." In other words, even they say you shouldn't use the £234 billion number.
The Boriswave is a diverse group: that's part of why it was a wave, with various different groups coming at the same time. For example, within that there was a large number of Ukrainian refugees. Looking at employment figures, Ukrainian refugees have low rates of employment, so they are paying less tax and costing more. So, what do you want to do about that? What's your practical suggestion for how we should treat Ukrainian refugees?
Suspect we are going to get another pause on the "destroy the whole country" deadline in about ten hours time. "significant" progress in talks etc.
Then we reset everything and do it all again this time next week.
My guess - and it is just that - is that the success of the operation rescuing the downed F-15 aircrew will give Trump the confidence to escalate in some fashion.
Maybe the much advertised bombing, maybe Kharg island, maybe special ops to retrieve the enriched uranium, maybe something else.
By the way, did we ever find out what the valuable gift the Iranians had sent him was, or are we just assuming he made that up?
Looks like the UK won't be too affected then, has lower imports of oil from the Gulf region than the US as well as Asia
Tankers are turning round. Now.
Which means that deliveries from other sources will start failing to come here.
Who has the most money, out of the U.K. and China?
Who has the most “pull”?
We should drill more in the North Sea again though
That isn't going to help much in the next few months and in the longer term irrelevant in terms of supply.
I am supportive of continued exploration and extraction in the North Sea as a form of import substitution, but the real need is renewables.
I would doubt you could get from lease to an exploration rig onsite in six months.
The North Sea from this point is about not throwing away tax yield in the medium/long term.
It's not even about tax yield, which is predicted to diminish to almost nothing in the next five years. Further exploration at tax-rebated rates won't change that significantly.
From what I can see five moderately useful reasons to open new oil fields:
1. Maintains an asset that would otherwise permanently disappear 2. Provides the UK with an exportable product 3. Continues employment 4. A degree of energy security 5. North Sea oil is extracted to higher environmental standards than elsewhere.
But if renewables and electrification weren't the absolute focus before, they should be now.
Why would failing to open new oil fields make them permanently disappear?
I get that it would be more difficult and expensive to open them in the future due to the need to rebuild expertise and retool, but they'll still be there. The oil's not going to evaporate or seep away. On the contrary, exploiting them is what will make them permanently disappear, and then we'll be completely dependent on foreign sources.
I'd have thought the best approach would be to carefully eke out our remaining resources, maintaining the minimum flow needed for technical reasons and to maintain expertise. That way we'll still have some left when we really need it in the future for applications that are difficult to replace with alternatives.
That requires planning - rather than rabid exploitation for maximum profit NOW, or closure.
Try Norway !
It seems absolutely crazy to me that in the face of accelerating global warming due to burning hydrocarbons and increasing scarcity of said hydrocarbons - which are essential inputs to a variety of industrial processes - the first reaction of so many to increasing prices is, "let's burn our remaining hydrocarbons as quickly as possible." Utter insanity.
The insanity is to be buying in hydrocarbons at an increased cost and with increased pollution and then claiming we are doing anything to help the environment rather than the reality which is that we are making it worse.
Deal with demand. Supply will then deal with itself. But don't pretend you are doing something good when actually you are polluting more and paying more for the privilege.
Suspect we are going to get another pause on the "destroy the whole country" deadline in about ten hours time. "significant" progress in talks etc.
Then we reset everything and do it all again this time next week.
My guess - and it is just that - is that the success of the operation rescuing the downed F-15 aircrew will give Trump the confidence to escalate in some fashion.
Maybe the much advertised bombing, maybe Kharg island, maybe special ops to retrieve the enriched uranium, maybe something else.
By the way, did we ever find out what the valuable gift the Iranians had sent him was, or are we just assuming he made that up?
I am still very surprised Oxford haven’t withdrawn her doctorate. That would have been normal procedure under such circumstances and their failure to do so doesn’t speak well of their commitment to academic integrity.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
The thinking is likely Scotland can have HS2 when
1. It is independent and
2. Pays for it itself.
If you keep threatening independence, don't be surprised if long-term infrastructure doesn't get built.
Probably the thinking behind the UK government not giving tax breaks for more oil field developments up there...
It is not quite 200 miles from Birmingham to Carlisle and not quite 100 miles from Carlisle to Glasgow... It is not just the Scots who are right to be more than a little irritated by the incompetence on HS2... all of the 22 million people in Northern England for example.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
AIUI, the Shinkansen works because it's entirely separate to the regular rail network, a choice that had to be made because the gauge for the regular rail network was unsuitable for faster trains? Lots of money was spent on the infrastructure, but it was spent decades ago and Japan has been reaping the benefits since. There has been some tendency for local politicians to call for a Shinkansen line to their local area and not all of these have been commercially viable.
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Some of the busiest flight routes in the world are Japanese domestic:
Can we note anything about these routes? Yes. They are all between different islands. Naha is in Okinawa. You can't build a train line there. Sapporo is on Hokkaido. The Shinkansen does now reach the bottom of Hokkaido, but there's no line to Sapporo (although one is being built). Fukuoka is the only one of those that is on the Shinkansen and that is one of the longest journeys.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
Anything north of Birmingham should cost a lot less per mile to build owing to lower population density. That's what's frustrating about the decision to cancel the northern sections - they were the part that made the project make sense and were the cheapest to build. The cancelation made me want to scream.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
AIUI, the Shinkansen works because it's entirely separate to the regular rail network, a choice that had to be made because the gauge for the regular rail network was unsuitable for faster trains? Lots of money was spent on the infrastructure, but it was spent decades ago and Japan has been reaping the benefits since. There has been some tendency for local politicians to call for a Shinkansen line to their local area and not all of these have been commercially viable.
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Some of the busiest flight routes in the world are Japanese domestic:
Can we note anything about these routes? Yes. They are all between different islands. Naha is in Okinawa. You can't build a train line there. Sapporo is on Hokkaido. The Shinkansen does now reach the bottom of Hokkaido, but there's no line to Sapporo (although one is being built). Fukuoka is the only one of those that is on the Shinkansen and that is one of the longest journeys.
Yes, I spend two weeks every winter in Japan. I'm aware it's made up of islands.
So, Fukouka isn't outcompeted? At 4h45. And Sapporo won't be when it's reached. Ok.
For comparison, here's what outcompeted means: Taipei to Kiaohsung flights went from 40 a day to 4 a day when the high speed line opened.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
Some of the impetus for HS2 came from people using the much delayed HS1 (opened 2007) and naturally thinking, "why don't we have trains like this across the rest of the country?"
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
Anything north of Birmingham should cost a lot less per mile to build owing to lower population density. That's what's frustrating about the decision to cancel the northern sections - they were the part that made the project make sense and were the cheapest to build. The cancelation made me want to scream.
cant trust tories with nuffink
Labour are welcome to build it. But they are proceeding with selling off the land.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
AIUI, the Shinkansen works because it's entirely separate to the regular rail network, a choice that had to be made because the gauge for the regular rail network was unsuitable for faster trains? Lots of money was spent on the infrastructure, but it was spent decades ago and Japan has been reaping the benefits since. There has been some tendency for local politicians to call for a Shinkansen line to their local area and not all of these have been commercially viable.
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Some of the busiest flight routes in the world are Japanese domestic:
Can we note anything about these routes? Yes. They are all between different islands. Naha is in Okinawa. You can't build a train line there. Sapporo is on Hokkaido. The Shinkansen does now reach the bottom of Hokkaido, but there's no line to Sapporo (although one is being built). Fukuoka is the only one of those that is on the Shinkansen and that is one of the longest journeys.
So, Fukouka isn't outcompeted? At 4h45. And Sapporo won't be when it's reached. Ok.
(Slightly) more people go by train from Tokyo to Fukuoka/Hakata than fly. (You could note that more people also go by train from London to Edinburgh than fly, although that's only half the distance.)
The Japanese fly domestically a lot less than the US or Canada, although they do fly more than us in the UK.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
AIUI, the Shinkansen works because it's entirely separate to the regular rail network, a choice that had to be made because the gauge for the regular rail network was unsuitable for faster trains? Lots of money was spent on the infrastructure, but it was spent decades ago and Japan has been reaping the benefits since. There has been some tendency for local politicians to call for a Shinkansen line to their local area and not all of these have been commercially viable.
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Some of the busiest flight routes in the world are Japanese domestic:
Can we note anything about these routes? Yes. They are all between different islands. Naha is in Okinawa. You can't build a train line there. Sapporo is on Hokkaido. The Shinkansen does now reach the bottom of Hokkaido, but there's no line to Sapporo (although one is being built). Fukuoka is the only one of those that is on the Shinkansen and that is one of the longest journeys.
Yes, I spend two weeks every winter in Japan. I'm aware it's made up of islands.
So, Fukouka isn't outcompeted? At 4h45. And Sapporo won't be when it's reached. Ok.
For comparison, here's what outcompeted means: Taipei to Kiaohsung flights went from 40 a day to 4 a day when the high speed line opened.
Taipei to Kiaohsung is about a third of the distance as Tokyo to Fukuoka. The longer the distance, the greater the advantage for air travel.
A comparable Japanese journey would be Tokyo to Osaka (it's a bit longer). The Shinkansen has approaching 90% of that market compared to air travel.
I am still very surprised Oxford haven’t withdrawn her doctorate. That would have been normal procedure under such circumstances and their failure to do so doesn’t speak well of their commitment to academic integrity.
Tbf she's probably been labouring under the commonly used misnomer 'dark side of the moon' that ignores that that side is regularly blasted by sunlight. Not to say that she isn't a silly nutcase.
I am still very surprised Oxford haven’t withdrawn her doctorate. That would have been normal procedure under such circumstances and their failure to do so doesn’t speak well of their commitment to academic integrity.
Tbf she's probably been labouring under the commonly used misnomer 'dark side of the moon' that ignores that that side is regularly blasted by sunlight. Not to say that she isn't a silly nutcase.
Intellectually incurious to the point of not being able to Google?
The Spectator Index @spectatorindex · 42m BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
The Spectator Index @spectatorindex · 42m BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
The Spectator Index @spectatorindex · 42m BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
I see the price of a first class stamp has risen to £274 and your first born child too if you want the letter to arrive securely.
Have they considered that perhaps this creates an inevitable cycle of demand destruction?
It is now eleven days since a relative told me she had posted a first class letter to me and still no sign.
I received a text from Wales NHS confirming an appointment for friday but I had no idea who it was for
I text rebook only to receive a telephone call to ask my wife to attend the clinic and that they had posted the appointment just before easter and no sign of it to date
I see the price of a first class stamp has risen to £274 and your first born child too if you want the letter to arrive securely.
Have they considered that perhaps this creates an inevitable cycle of demand destruction?
It is now eleven days since a relative told me she had posted a first class letter to me and still no sign.
I received a text from Wales NHS confirming an appointment for friday but I had no idea who it was for
I text rebook only to receive a telephone call to ask my wife to attend the clinic and that they had posted the appointment just before easter and no sign of it to date
I routinely get post about a fortnight after it's sent.
An interesting article. It focuses on the Indian experience and I’m curious how similar the Chinese one is. The courses I teach on have almost no Indian students, but lots of Chinese ones, and a few Malaysian, Indonesian etc.
The Spectator Index @spectatorindex · 42m BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
People who were sceptical of the war at the start might have to conclude that it was right to stop Iran in its tracks before it became invulnerable.
Er no. We all know that Iran had the capability to do this. Indeed it was one of the reasons so many people thought Trump was a lunatic for kicking the wasps nest.
You deserve no sympathy if you kick a slumbering wasps nest and then complain when you get stung.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
The Spectator Index @spectatorindex · 42m BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
People who were sceptical of the war at the start might have to conclude that it was right to stop Iran in its tracks before it became invulnerable.
Er no. We all know that Iran had the capability to do this. Indeed it was one of the reasons so many people thought Trump was a lunatic for kicking the wasps nest.
You deserve no sympathy if you kick a slumbering wasps nest and then complain when you get stung.
You’re dealing with the guy who said Biden/Harris would be worse for Ukraine than Trump.
I see the price of a first class stamp has risen to £274 and your first born child too if you want the letter to arrive securely.
Have they considered that perhaps this creates an inevitable cycle of demand destruction?
It is now eleven days since a relative told me she had posted a first class letter to me and still no sign.
I received a text from Wales NHS confirming an appointment for friday but I had no idea who it was for
I text rebook only to receive a telephone call to ask my wife to attend the clinic and that they had posted the appointment just before easter and no sign of it to date
I routinely get post about a fortnight after it's sent.
Unfortunately, the Reform leaflet the postman delivered today arrived before 7th May.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
But it was government policy.
Yes. And no government policy is ever a stupid disaster.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
But it was government policy.
Example no. 879426423 of the utter incompetence of our government over many years.
The Spectator Index @spectatorindex · 42m BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
People who were sceptical of the war at the start might have to conclude that it was right to stop Iran in its tracks before it became invulnerable.
The effects of Iran's Shaheed drones have been known all the way through Trump's second term as seen is Ukraine.
There has been no "invulnerable".
He could have waited until there was a widespread means to knock down drones and missiles. But that timeline wouldn't have worked for Bibi, facing an election.
And he would have had to acknowledge Ukraine's expertise.
Several of the petol stations on the A1 have been out of deisel since last Thursday but I suspect that is buying combined with the Easter weekend.
Most of the petrol stations in Dundee have been out of petrol over the weekend. Diesel a little more available. At the moment I think this is mainly panic buying but real shortages are not far away.
Gorgeous down here on the Wight today, and pleased to be here in our EV. Glad that I am not planning to fly anywhere until October. It is a good year for a domestic holiday.
Unfortunately, from our point of view, its about the third or fourth "good" year for a domestic holiday in a row and we really wanted a change. I think its fair to say that the election of Trump by the US has proven to be somewhat suboptimal.
We really should have had through routes to Scotland and the North on Eurostar by now, but our politicians have no vision.
HS2 doesn't even go to Leeds. Pretty sure Scotland has 'Here there be dragons' on the mental map of Westminster.
From where I'm sitting (on a Shinkansen travelling at 262kmh) our failure to build HS2 beyond Birmingham looks frankly ridiculous.
True. Though it's taken Japan 60 years and they're still not finished. And there have been plenty of problems. For example:
AIUI, the Shinkansen works because it's entirely separate to the regular rail network, a choice that had to be made because the gauge for the regular rail network was unsuitable for faster trains? Lots of money was spent on the infrastructure, but it was spent decades ago and Japan has been reaping the benefits since. There has been some tendency for local politicians to call for a Shinkansen line to their local area and not all of these have been commercially viable.
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Some of the busiest flight routes in the world are Japanese domestic:
Can we note anything about these routes? Yes. They are all between different islands. Naha is in Okinawa. You can't build a train line there. Sapporo is on Hokkaido. The Shinkansen does now reach the bottom of Hokkaido, but there's no line to Sapporo (although one is being built). Fukuoka is the only one of those that is on the Shinkansen and that is one of the longest journeys.
So, Fukouka isn't outcompeted? At 4h45. And Sapporo won't be when it's reached. Ok.
(Slightly) more people go by train from Tokyo to Fukuoka/Hakata than fly. (You could note that more people also go by train from London to Edinburgh than fly, although that's only half the distance.)
The Japanese fly domestically a lot less than the US or Canada, although they do fly more than us in the UK.
The issue isn't distance, of course, but time and price. 4.15- 5 hours by train LKX to Edinburgh Waverley, 1 hour 20 minutes LHR-Edinburgh Airport. City centre to city centre its about an hour quicker by plane, but the planes leave earlier and come back later. As for price... planes are often cheaper, especially if booked well in advance.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
But it was government policy.
Yes. And no government policy is ever a stupid disaster.
Back to Iran…
TSE is just pointing out that you can't really blame universities for doing what they were both told to, and massively incentivised to do. The foolish ones are those who expected it to continue indefinitely.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
But it was government policy.
Yes. And no government policy is ever a stupid disaster.
Back to Iran…
TSE is just pointing out that you can't really blame universities for doing what they were both told to, and massively incentivised to do. The foolish ones are those who expected it to continue indefinitely.
And those who trashed standards in their pursuit of more overseas students.
The recruitment network of sharks, in the article, get their money from…
The Spectator Index @spectatorindex · 42m BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
People who were sceptical of the war at the start might have to conclude that it was right to stop Iran in its tracks before it became invulnerable.
Er no. We all know that Iran had the capability to do this. Indeed it was one of the reasons so many people thought Trump was a lunatic for kicking the wasps nest.
You deserve no sympathy if you kick a slumbering wasps nest and then complain when you get stung.
You’re dealing with the guy who said Biden/Harris would be worse for Ukraine than Trump.
You’re not dealing with a foreign policy expert.
Under Biden/Harris, Ukraine would not now be forming military alliances in the Gulf and making money exporting its expertise in drone warfare.
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
Oh FFS ! Someone just put him in a strait jacket !
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
Oh FFS ! Someone just put him in a strait jacket !
It seems he’s been taking lessons in loony apocalyptic social media posting from Dmitry Medvedev.
UK universities should never have become reliant on fees from foreign students. I can't think of anything more stupid than to arrive at that situation.
Why? It is an excellent export of services with lots and lots of spin offs. Clearly most Universities should have been more careful in their projections instead of assuming never ending growth but having foreign students here has been very, very good for UK plc.
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
This doesn't sound like someone about to TACO, sadly...
Maybe Iran can say something nice about his hair and buy him a golden toilet to help calm him down?
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
This doesn't sound like someone about to TACO, sadly...
Maybe Iran can say something nice about his hair and buy him a golden toilet to help calm him down?
There really isn't any point in trying to parse his deranged ramblings.
Comments
“Iran’s envoy to Kuwait pleads for diplomacy to avert ‘tragedy’
According to the AFP news agency, Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Toutounji, has called on Gulf nations to intervene as the US president’s deadline for a new deal expires, bringing with it the threat of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Urging regional powers to leverage their influence, Toutounji warned of the devastating consequences of further escalation. “We hope that the countries in the region will use all their diplomatic and political capabilities to prevent such a tragedy from befalling the region,” he said, according to the AFP report.”
Maybe this suggests some last minute panic in Iranian ranks .
Last time Ref got just under 2000, Lab and Con just over and under 1000 respectively and Greens just over 500, so the legal problems need to have a sizeable impact to overturn (or one of the chasers successfuly unite the anti Ref vote)
"I thought the miners' leaders were the stupidest men I ever met, until I met the mine owners."
'They're calling it the Trump depression folks and its beautiful, big and beautiful. They're starving in India, starving imagine that? Pakistan's top guy is calling me he says: "Donald my people can't cook, they can't heat", Crazy out there folks, crazy.'
Hint you set things up and then leave people to it, that’s true of HS2, the North Sea and probably a whole set of other things.
Sadly our politicians love to tinker with things that should be appoint competent people and leave them to it
I guess there's a chance that when HS2 finally opens to Birmingham people will use it and ask the same question, and the country is likely to go through the same cycle of taking ages to plan the route and construction, have to create the skills and expertise to build it from scratch, get snarled up in years of delays and cost inflation, revise the plans numerous times, scale back the plans, and eventually deliver a truncated addition to the rail network at exorbitant cost and more than two decades later.
Isn't that something to look forward to?
https://medium.com/yamashita-guild/the-high-speed-line-going-nowhere-the-saga-of-the-nishi-kyushu-shinkansen-fb194e4b9d60
Still, whatever the reason, the Shinkansen is quicker, cheaper, more reliable, pleasanter, and more frequent than our trains. It is a delight. It's outcompeted short haul flights.
Most will be net burdens.
234 billion extra as a cohort over their lifetime.
https://cps.org.uk/media/post/2025/recent-migration-wave-may-cost-country-billions-warns-cps/
I also never said they slow the economy. I said a slowing economy would have to start funding their entitlement so that’s more money we need to find. Work harder wage slaves
That is British chancellors for the last thirty years (at least, but I am too young to remember further back).
Every year the costs from this approach pile up higher and it becomes harder to dig ourselves out of it, but still it goes on.
..Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese says he will fly to Singapore this week to help secure petroleum imports as oil prices surge during the Middle East war.
Australia relies on imports for an estimated 90% of its refined petroleum products and Singapore is its largest single supplier.
Albanese said on Tuesday he would visit Singapore from Thursday to Saturday to discuss trade in “essential supplies” such as diesel and liquefied natural gas with prime minister Lawrence Wong.
Together, we share concern over the situation in the Middle East, including the consequences for both of our nations.
Agence France-Presse also reports that Australia and Singapore committed in a joint statement last month to keep fuel flowing between both countries and to work together to strengthen energy supply chain resilience.
Service station outages of diesel and unleaded petrol in Australia are falling, the government said...
Guardian
@citrinowicz
Washington now faces a familiar dilemma: accept an imperfect deal, or slide into an open-ended confrontation with no clear exit.
https://x.com/citrinowicz/status/2041200735941988634
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_passenger_flight_routes
https://x.com/naomirwolf/status/2041371655318966558
Having Iran crow about how they bested the Great Satan is the least of his problems.
(In retrospect it seems relatively obvious.)
https://x.com/benbawan/status/2041281432950075643
If current demographic trends hold, Europe (the entire continent) may soon record more live births than all of China.
That would probably be the first time since the Qing dynasty 300 years ago, possibly even the first time in history.
1. It is independent and
2. Pays for it itself.
If you keep threatening independence, don't be surprised if long-term infrastructure doesn't get built.
Probably the thinking behind the UK government not giving tax breaks for more oil field developments up there...
If you want to improve transport, encourage development and stimulate economic growth then build roads.
"Plan 2 student loan interest rates capped at 6% in England"
Why they had to justify it with guff about Iran I don't know. Not a bad policy.
"nterest on some student loans in England will be capped at 6% in the next academic year.
The government said the cap on Plan 2 and postgraduate loans aimed to protect graduates from the risk of rising inflation due to the Iran war.
Skills Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said it wanted to "defend against the consequences of far-away conflicts in an uncertain world"."
1. Delay.
2. Excessively high-specification.
3. Changes in design following political meddling.
4. Being the "first"* high-speed line built, so requiring skills and expertise to be developed from scratch, rather than part of an ongoing programme of construction, maintaining and training skills between projects.
No lessons have been learned. We will see the same again.
* Not actually the first, but the gap between HS1 and HS2 was long enough that it was as though it was. And the same will be true for the next bit that is eventually built.
Suspect we are going to get another pause on the "destroy the whole country" deadline in about ten hours time. "significant" progress in talks etc.
Then we reset everything and do it all again this time next week.
https://x.com/reallucylawless/status/2041393226431840588?s=46&t=d8CnRhyZJ-m4vy0k55W8XQ
Do interconnectors for power transfers between Scotland and England count as infrastructure, cos HMG seems quite keen on them.
See also Nigeria.
In 1934, the Treasury was having meetings with British industry. To figure out how to spend *more money* on rearmament. Because they need to build the factories to make the equipment for the factories that made stuff for building weapons…
Apart from that, can’t think of too many cases of joined up thinking like this.
The Boriswave is a diverse group: that's part of why it was a wave, with various different groups coming at the same time. For example, within that there was a large number of Ukrainian refugees. Looking at employment figures, Ukrainian refugees have low rates of employment, so they are paying less tax and costing more. So, what do you want to do about that? What's your practical suggestion for how we should treat Ukrainian refugees?
Maybe the much advertised bombing, maybe Kharg island, maybe special ops to retrieve the enriched uranium, maybe something else.
By the way, did we ever find out what the valuable gift the Iranians had sent him was, or are we just assuming he made that up?
Deal with demand. Supply will then deal with itself. But don't pretend you are doing something good when actually you are polluting more and paying more for the privilege.
Death recorded for them and her career.
2. Sapporo–Chitose <-> Tokyo–Haneda
3. Fukuoka <-> Tokyo–Haneda
7. Tokyo–Haneda <-> Naha
Can we note anything about these routes? Yes. They are all between different islands. Naha is in Okinawa. You can't build a train line there. Sapporo is on Hokkaido. The Shinkansen does now reach the bottom of Hokkaido, but there's no line to Sapporo (although one is being built). Fukuoka is the only one of those that is on the Shinkansen and that is one of the longest journeys.
So, Fukouka isn't outcompeted? At 4h45. And Sapporo won't be when it's reached. Ok.
For comparison, here's what outcompeted means: Taipei to Kiaohsung flights went from 40 a day to 4 a day when the high speed line opened.
The Japanese fly domestically a lot less than the US or Canada, although they do fly more than us in the UK.
A comparable Japanese journey would be Tokyo to Osaka (it's a bit longer). The Shinkansen has approaching 90% of that market compared to air travel.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2026/apr/07/brutal-reality-of-life-as-a-foreign-student-in-the-uk
Have they considered that perhaps this creates an inevitable cycle of demand destruction?
@spectatorindex
·
42m
BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announces all restraint in targeting will be ending and it will strike infrastructure in a way that could deprive US and regional countries of oil and gas resources for years.
https://x.com/spectatorindex/status/2041467114427744628
I text rebook only to receive a telephone call to ask my wife to attend the clinic and that they had posted the appointment just before easter and no sign of it to date
https://news.sky.com/liveblog-webview/iran-war-latest-trump-tehran-us-israel-kharg-island-netanyahu-lebanon-strikes-drone-live-sky-news-13509565
You deserve no sympathy if you kick a slumbering wasps nest and then complain when you get stung.
First class.
You’re not dealing with a foreign policy expert.
Back to Iran…
There has been no "invulnerable".
He could have waited until there was a widespread means to knock down drones and missiles. But that timeline wouldn't have worked for Bibi, facing an election.
And he would have had to acknowledge Ukraine's expertise.
The foolish ones are those who expected it to continue indefinitely.
The recruitment network of sharks, in the article, get their money from…
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?
We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
The delusion that Western countries will be first in the queue for restricted oil supplies is one issue.
How many people will be stranded round the world as airports run out?
There is the reason for oil prices going back up
We really are on the cusp of a catastrophic disaster for all the world, everyone will be affected
Maybe Iran can say something nice about his hair and buy him a golden toilet to help calm him down?