Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
Right now the Tories are led by a woman with the surname Badenoch, you cannot get more Scottish than that.
Surely in any sensible federal country, a political career in a devolved authority would be seen as a good stepping-stone to national government. Maybe Boris has poisoned the water.
Streeting really doesn’t have a choice now . If he doesn’t go for it then his supportive MPs have gone above the parapet for nothing . At least if he goes and loses he might get a job in the cabinet of a new leader .
Did I read on this site that Streeting has been engaged to the same guy for 13 years? Perhaps we are all overestimating his decisiveness.
He's been in a relationship with the same guy for ~13 years, but only engaged since 2022. Albeit, that's still quite a long engagement. I thought we were slow when we took ~two years to sort it out.
It took me ages to wear down my better half and get her to say yes. I think it was the third or fourth time of asking. As soon as she did we got on with it and were married 10 months later. Its worked out pretty well so far.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
Why do people pay £4 for a coffee, sit in the cafe to drink it - out of a cardboard cup, through that silly little hole in the plastic lid? Have they no soul?
A guy on this food trip told me his 19 year old son (who lives at home with Dad) gets up in the morning then orders a Starbucks latte to be DELIVERED by uber eats
Got the impression, Dad was not impressed
After a little practice, I can make a better flat white with my Sage Bambino than Starbucks can. I use better coffee too.
Less than £300, pays for itself after 100 coffees.
The chaps in the office bought one of those pod machines – convenience and quality without the fuss of bean to cup.
Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
Whilst I was doing my research on Wes Streeting, his partner stood and lost in the 2024 general election, and has previously worked as a SPAD for Baroness Amos, Lord Coe, and some chap called Lord Mandelson.
Joe Dancey, lost in Stockton West. Wes is well known to my Stockton Labour friends. They're saying nothing to me because they know I am a gobshite post on here
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was growing up in Newcastle in the 1980s it was filthy, dog shit and broken glass everywhere and lots of (frequently far right) graffiti. So there is nothing new about this. I do think we need a proper keep Britain tidy campaign though, people need a reminder on how to behave. In general we spend too much time blaming the government for everything and too little time addressing our own behaviour. In Japan the norm is to take your rubbish home with you and there are few public bins but also no litter. Why can't we adopt similar habits?
Geri Scott @Geri_E_L_Scott · 12m This is of course not to suggest he has any chance of winning but some MPs *genuinely cheered* Carns when he walked into a bar last night 😅
Did I read on this site that Streeting has been engaged to the same guy for 13 years? Perhaps we are all overestimating his decisiveness.
He's been in a relationship with the same guy for ~13 years, but only engaged since 2022. Albeit, that's still quite a long engagement. I thought we were slow when we took ~two years to sort it out.
It took me ages to wear down my better half and get her to say yes. I think it was the third or fourth time of asking. As soon as she did we got on with it and were married 10 months later. Its worked out pretty well so far.
It did take me longer than 10 months to knit her wedding dress, and before that we had to choose a pattern and the yarn. Nothing demonstrates trust more than letting your affianced knit your wedding dress.
Whilst I was doing my research on Wes Streeting, his partner stood and lost in the 2024 general election, and has previously worked as a SPAD for Baroness Amos, Lord Coe, and some chap called Lord Mandelson.
Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
Apart from the bit about cars being crappier, yes.
Cars 30 years ago were much simpler but modern cars are more reliable, efficient, safer and less polluting. So they aren't really crappier unless except in some subjective aesthetic and therefore meaningless characterisation.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was growing up in Newcastle in the 1980s it was filthy, dog shit and broken glass everywhere and lots of (frequently far right) graffiti. So there is nothing new about this. I do think we need a proper keep Britain tidy campaign though, people need a reminder on how to behave. In general we spend too much time blaming the government for everything and too little time addressing our own behaviour. In Japan the norm is to take your rubbish home with you and there are few public bins but also no litter. Why can't we adopt similar habits?
We can. We need a change in cultural behaviour and attitude to littering (and graffiti etc) but as I say we have done exactly this before. We did it with drunk driving. We are now doing it with smoking. Just make it socially unacceptable and chase that up with fines and punishments, which are actively enforced
Eventually the problem would solve itself. Studies show that people are much less likely to litter places that are clean. It feels bad. They will happily litter in places already soiled by litter
Why do people pay £4 for a coffee, sit in the cafe to drink it - out of a cardboard cup, through that silly little hole in the plastic lid? Have they no soul?
A guy on this food trip told me his 19 year old son (who lives at home with Dad) gets up in the morning then orders a Starbucks latte to be DELIVERED by uber eats
Got the impression, Dad was not impressed
After a little practice, I can make a better flat white with my Sage Bambino than Starbucks can. I use better coffee too.
Less than £300, pays for itself after 100 coffees.
The chaps in the office bought one of those pod machines – convenience and quality without the fuss of bean to cup.
I suspect you get a lot better coffee from a bean to cup machine but my Sage Nespresso one is effortless
Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
I know nobody wants to say this and it’s not the whole problem. But Wes is absolutely right that at least some of the failure of Labour is down to not communicating at all when they’ve actually done good things...
No it isn't. The laws that they pass are only part of Government. The actions of the Cabinet also count, and (as I have been listing) they are authoritarian and bad.
Labour isn't losing because it's bad at communicating.
It's losing because it's authoritarian, its Cabinet is implementing whatever jolly pops into their heads, it made promises it had no intention nor capability of keeping, it says whatever gibberish in interviews will get them thru the interview regardless of factual status, its policies are insane (destruction of the Royal Navy???) and its leader has no knowledge of right and wrong and has a long history of lying.
@DanNeidle Because politicians think it’s convenient and populist to have a second home stamp duty charge. As soon as you do that you create a mountain of complexity like this.
I am confident this experience means Ms Rayner will be leading a campaign to abolish the second home charge.
I believe that the government’s original intention was that people like Rayner should not have been subject to this charge, and the fact that she is subject to it was due to an oversight in legal drafting. Or else I simply don’t understand the government’s reasoning (which is also possible of course!)
Allow me to explain: the reason Rayner is subject to the second home charge is because she is trustee of a Vulnerable Person Trust set up for her child which holds a variety of assets, including a house. Usually for trusts any taxes due are calculated as if the obligation fell on the trustees - this was brought in to prevent the rich person tax evasion strategy of “I’ll just move all the family assets into a trust”.
The exception to this rule is a Vulnerable Person Trust, where trustees hold assets for someone who is not capable of handling those assets themselves. These trusts are often used to hold compensation payments for birth injuries, as in Angela Rayner’s case. The government clearly intended that neither the trustees of such a trust nor the beneficiary should pay a tax penalty for using this legal structure to protect the vulnerable person’s assets for their benefit. The exception to this general rule is that the trustee of such a trust is liable for the second home Stamp Duty charge if and only if the trust holds property and the beneficiary is a child. However the moment the beneficiary turns 18, the second home Stamp Duty charge no longer applies to the trustees.
If anyone can suggest a logical reason for this discrepancy between the beneficiary being a child & being an adult then I’d be happy to hear it. Or if I’ve misunderstood the rules pertaining to trusts, which is also entirely possible of course!
Based on the above reasoning, I think the Government should, in fact, legislate to abolish the second home charge for trustees of vulnerable person trusts where the person in question is under 18. Not having done so in the first place seems to have been an oversight.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
Apart from the bit about cars being crappier, yes.
Cars 30 years ago were much simpler but modern cars are more reliable, efficient, safer and less polluting. So they aren't really crappier unless except in some subjective aesthetic and therefore meaningless characterisation.
I meant cars thirty years ago were crappier. And they were
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
It isn't new either, probably worsened by increased takeaway packaging and the removal of public bins.
There was loads of litter and graffiti in South London when I lived there in the Eighties. Thats why we had endless "keep Britain tidy" campaigns, and the Wombles.
This 20 year old article shows there is nothing new under the sun.
Cos I drink my coffee black it's always a thermonuclear temperature. The lid comes off asap to give it half an hour to reach drinkable temperature.
The Italians do it better. You can buy un caffè, knock it back, and walk straight out
I worked in Milan for a while and mid-morning every workday used to pop out for an espresso and a fag. Proper cafe, proper little cup, just perch rather than slob down, woosh, down it goes, back to the office, 15 mins max all told. Lots of people did that. It was a bit of a ritual. A good one imo.
I know nobody wants to say this and it’s not the whole problem. But Wes is absolutely right that at least some of the failure of Labour is down to not communicating at all when they’ve actually done good things...
No it isn't. The laws that they pass are only part of Government. The actions of the Cabinet also count, and (as I have been listing) they are authoritarian and bad.
Labour isn't losing because it's bad at communicating.
It's losing because it's authoritarian, its Cabinet is implementing whatever jolly pops into their heads, it made promises it had no intention nor capability of keeping, it says whatever gibberish in interviews will get them thru the interview regardless of factual status, its policies are insane (destruction of the Royal Navy???) and its leader has no knowledge of right and wrong and has a long history of lying.
AND it's bad at communicating.
Communication is a massive part of government and Labour are the worst government for this in a long time.
Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
Right now the Tories are led by a woman with the surname Badenoch, you cannot get more Scottish than that.
I don't THINK she herself is Scots though? Is she?
No, she's English. A Londoner.
But Shirley, if a non-UK citizen can be a Proper Scot, even The English must be allowed to identify as Scottish?
Or is that a bridge too far, for even the most progressive?
There are plenty of English heritage people in Scotland who identify as Scots and indeed some are enthusiastic Scottish nationalists. I was born in Scotland to English parents and also spent my teen years there, there was a certain amount of banter to endure but the idea of the Scots as a nation of rabid Anglophobes is a myth in my experience. I view myself as Scottish or at least Scot-ish. Kemi Badenoch would be a welcome addition to the Scottish diaspora. The way she will happily cross the street to start a fight with anyone certainly has a bit of a Scottish flavour.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
Yes exactly. And it’s bloody depressing. No wonder Britain is sunk in gloom
But the point is: unlike our national debt or the boat people - this can be quite easily fixed
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
I am going to keep banging this drum in every forum I can. Pull up the weeds, fill the cracks, fix the roads, repaint the railings. At a basic level you have to make everything look tidy and maintained. Then you move to the next phase of repossessing the empty shops and turning them over to the community interest, and repossessing derelict and semi-derelict houses for refit and reuse as places people want to live.
We were talking the other day about Greater Manchester towns, and noted that some are doing better than others. Rochdale has decayed for decades with so much of the centre owned by far away gits happy to leave units shuttered and decaying as they can appreciate as assets whilst spending no money at all. No, no. CPO their asses, reopen them to locals. Look at what has been achieved in Stockton-on-Tees.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
I am going to keep banging this drum in every forum I can. Pull up the weeds, fill the cracks, fix the roads, repaint the railings. At a basic level you have to make everything look tidy and maintained. Then you move to the next phase of repossessing the empty shops and turning them over to the community interest, and repossessing derelict and semi-derelict houses for refit and reuse as places people want to live.
We were talking the other day about Greater Manchester towns, and noted that some are doing better than others. Rochdale has decayed for decades with so much of the centre owned by far away gits happy to leave units shuttered and decaying as they can appreciate as assets whilst spending no money at all. No, no. CPO their asses, reopen them to locals. Look at what has been achieved in Stockton-on-Tees.
100% this When the civic authority takes some actual pride in the urban environment, then real, lasting change can be made. Yes, pick the weed, fix the roads, do something with empty property.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was growing up in Newcastle in the 1980s it was filthy, dog shit and broken glass everywhere and lots of (frequently far right) graffiti. So there is nothing new about this. I do think we need a proper keep Britain tidy campaign though, people need a reminder on how to behave. In general we spend too much time blaming the government for everything and too little time addressing our own behaviour. In Japan the norm is to take your rubbish home with you and there are few public bins but also no litter. Why can't we adopt similar habits?
Japanese football fans cleaning up after the match:
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
Apart from the bit about cars being crappier, yes.
Cars 30 years ago were much simpler but modern cars are more reliable, efficient, safer and less polluting. So they aren't really crappier unless except in some subjective aesthetic and therefore meaningless characterisation.
Cars of 15 years ago were probably the best. Before every engine was turbocharged and every button was replaced with a screen.
I know nobody wants to say this and it’s not the whole problem. But Wes is absolutely right that at least some of the failure of Labour is down to not communicating at all when they’ve actually done good things...
No it isn't. The laws that they pass are only part of Government. The actions of the Cabinet also count, and (as I have been listing) they are authoritarian and bad.
Labour isn't losing because it's bad at communicating.
It's losing because it's authoritarian, its Cabinet is implementing whatever jolly pops into their heads, it made promises it had no intention nor capability of keeping, it says whatever gibberish in interviews will get them thru the interview regardless of factual status, its policies are insane (destruction of the Royal Navy???) and its leader has no knowledge of right and wrong and has a long history of lying.
AND it's bad at communicating.
Communication is a massive part of government and Labour are the worst government for this in a long time.
But their biggest problem is that they nothing to communicate except things the country dislikes.
This is why replacing Starmer will be futile - all the contenders either have no better plans, or in several cases one which are substantially worse.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
I am going to keep banging this drum in every forum I can. Pull up the weeds, fill the cracks, fix the roads, repaint the railings. At a basic level you have to make everything look tidy and maintained. Then you move to the next phase of repossessing the empty shops and turning them over to the community interest, and repossessing derelict and semi-derelict houses for refit and reuse as places people want to live.
We were talking the other day about Greater Manchester towns, and noted that some are doing better than others. Rochdale has decayed for decades with so much of the centre owned by far away gits happy to leave units shuttered and decaying as they can appreciate as assets whilst spending no money at all. No, no. CPO their asses, reopen them to locals. Look at what has been achieved in Stockton-on-Tees.
100% this When the civic authority takes some actual pride in the urban environment, then real, lasting change can be made. Yes, pick the weed, fix the roads, do something with empty property.
Councils don’t have the money - every penny ends up in socialcare so weeds, roads are cut to the absolute minimum
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
I am going to keep banging this drum in every forum I can. Pull up the weeds, fill the cracks, fix the roads, repaint the railings. At a basic level you have to make everything look tidy and maintained. Then you move to the next phase of repossessing the empty shops and turning them over to the community interest, and repossessing derelict and semi-derelict houses for refit and reuse as places people want to live.
We were talking the other day about Greater Manchester towns, and noted that some are doing better than others. Rochdale has decayed for decades with so much of the centre owned by far away gits happy to leave units shuttered and decaying as they can appreciate as assets whilst spending no money at all. No, no. CPO their asses, reopen them to locals. Look at what has been achieved in Stockton-on-Tees.
100% this When the civic authority takes some actual pride in the urban environment, then real, lasting change can be made. Yes, pick the weed, fix the roads, do something with empty property.
Councils don’t have the money - every penny ends up in socialcare so weeds, roads are cut to the absolute minimum
The derelict environment is a primary driver of social disorder, crime and deprivation.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
I am going to keep banging this drum in every forum I can. Pull up the weeds, fill the cracks, fix the roads, repaint the railings. At a basic level you have to make everything look tidy and maintained. Then you move to the next phase of repossessing the empty shops and turning them over to the community interest, and repossessing derelict and semi-derelict houses for refit and reuse as places people want to live.
We were talking the other day about Greater Manchester towns, and noted that some are doing better than others. Rochdale has decayed for decades with so much of the centre owned by far away gits happy to leave units shuttered and decaying as they can appreciate as assets whilst spending no money at all. No, no. CPO their asses, reopen them to locals. Look at what has been achieved in Stockton-on-Tees.
100% this When the civic authority takes some actual pride in the urban environment, then real, lasting change can be made. Yes, pick the weed, fix the roads, do something with empty property.
Councils don’t have the money - every penny ends up in socialcare so weeds, roads are cut to the absolute minimum
The derelict environment is a primary driver of social disorder, crime and deprivation.
I know nobody wants to say this and it’s not the whole problem. But Wes is absolutely right that at least some of the failure of Labour is down to not communicating at all when they’ve actually done good things...
No it isn't. The laws that they pass are only part of Government. The actions of the Cabinet also count, and (as I have been listing) they are authoritarian and bad.
Labour isn't losing because it's bad at communicating.
It's losing because it's authoritarian, its Cabinet is implementing whatever jolly pops into their heads, it made promises it had no intention nor capability of keeping, it says whatever gibberish in interviews will get them thru the interview regardless of factual status, its policies are insane (destruction of the Royal Navy???) and its leader has no knowledge of right and wrong and has a long history of lying.
AND it's bad at communicating.
Communication is a massive part of government and Labour are the worst government for this in a long time.
But their biggest problem is that they nothing to communicate except things the country dislikes.
This is why replacing Starmer will be futile - all the contenders either have no better plans, or in several cases one which are substantially worse.
They could communicate their progress on immigration vs the Tories. But they don’t because they are utterly useless
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
It isn't new either, probably worsened by increased takeaway packaging and the removal of public bins.
There was loads of litter and graffiti in South London when I lived there in the Eighties. Thats why we had endless "keep Britain tidy" campaigns, and the Wombles.
This 20 year old article shows there is nothing new under the sun.
Our big cities have often been grubby - yes. Tho perhaps they are worse now. It’s arguable
What is inarguable is that the scruffiness has extended to our smaller cities and towns. The horrible fly tipping. And the state of our roadsides is often hideous. Mile after mile of discarded trash. Why? It’s new and it’s nasty
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was growing up in Newcastle in the 1980s it was filthy, dog shit and broken glass everywhere and lots of (frequently far right) graffiti. So there is nothing new about this. I do think we need a proper keep Britain tidy campaign though, people need a reminder on how to behave. In general we spend too much time blaming the government for everything and too little time addressing our own behaviour. In Japan the norm is to take your rubbish home with you and there are few public bins but also no litter. Why can't we adopt similar habits?
Japanese football fans cleaning up after the match:
This begins at school. They are taught to clean their own classrooms at kindergarten. Mind. Their whole education system focuses on good manners and social skills in the early years rather than an academic curriculum.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
When I was a kid I was quite into model making (mainly railways) and constructing buildings from cardboard. Memory plays tricks I'm sure but I seem to recall having to struggle to get cardboard back in the day. Now we seem to drown in cardboard (we often fill two full size recycling bins over a two week cycle). Same for clear plastic (useful for windows).
Point is the way we get food from the shops has changed. Its massively well/over packaged. Add in the fast food, and yes, a lesser regard for community behaviour and we are where we are.
Do I falsely remember a trial of littering penalties tied to income? And a woman who dropped an apple core out of her car window being fined a huge amount?
Other approaches - many towns and villages organise tidying up and litter picking days. This is to be encouraged.
It’s also one of those simple but do-able things that as @RochdalePioneers has said: would make so much difference
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
It's the broken window theory. Neglect begets neglect When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
I am going to keep banging this drum in every forum I can. Pull up the weeds, fill the cracks, fix the roads, repaint the railings. At a basic level you have to make everything look tidy and maintained. Then you move to the next phase of repossessing the empty shops and turning them over to the community interest, and repossessing derelict and semi-derelict houses for refit and reuse as places people want to live.
We were talking the other day about Greater Manchester towns, and noted that some are doing better than others. Rochdale has decayed for decades with so much of the centre owned by far away gits happy to leave units shuttered and decaying as they can appreciate as assets whilst spending no money at all. No, no. CPO their asses, reopen them to locals. Look at what has been achieved in Stockton-on-Tees.
100% this When the civic authority takes some actual pride in the urban environment, then real, lasting change can be made. Yes, pick the weed, fix the roads, do something with empty property.
Councils don’t have the money - every penny ends up in socialcare so weeds, roads are cut to the absolute minimum
Indeed, I don't blame the councils, I blame the government for cutting their funding and the British people for bring a bunch of slovenly and antisocial ne'erdowells.
Streeting really doesn’t have a choice now . If he doesn’t go for it then his supportive MPs have gone above the parapet for nothing . At least if he goes and loses he might get a job in the cabinet of a new leader .
As already remarked. Either he goes today, or he's holed below the waterline and will have to wait until another opportunity arises (which might never come for him).
If he's the numbers, he goes today. If he doesn't, well, he's Donald Ducked.
(But having said that, anyone else wanting to challenge also needs to go today, tomorrow at the latest - Rayner?)
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
This is wrong. It is not a British habit. I remember my hometown being scrupulously clean as a kid
And almost no graffiti. And phone boxes were phone boxes not vertical piles of filth and degradation
Nor am I imagining it. Look at photos of cities 30, 40 or 70 years ago. There is much less litter. The shop fronts are prettier and better kept. The cars are of course crappier
A huge combo of things has led to this from the advent of fast food to a general slovenliness (see the way we dress) to more transient migrant populations who - as is human nature - care less about the environment as it is not theirs and they are passing through
We are probably all guilty in different ways. But countries like Switzerland and Japan show that it does not have to be like this. Even urban America is often much cleaner than Britain
It’s shameful
Apart from the bit about cars being crappier, yes.
Cars 30 years ago were much simpler but modern cars are more reliable, efficient, safer and less polluting. So they aren't really crappier unless except in some subjective aesthetic and therefore meaningless characterisation.
Cars of 15 years ago were probably the best. Before every engine was turbocharged and every button was replaced with a screen.
The computerisation of car engines has been a long process, but my father-in-law was much happier tinkering with engines from the early 2000s and before than afterwards. He had a bit of bother with the computer in the Mercedes engine that he put into a Jeep Chrysler (I think). One time he ended up driving it all the way back from Wexford in limp mode, when he was looking for a generator. Newer cars just aren't the same.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
It isn't new either, probably worsened by increased takeaway packaging and the removal of public bins.
There was loads of litter and graffiti in South London when I lived there in the Eighties. Thats why we had endless "keep Britain tidy" campaigns, and the Wombles.
This 20 year old article shows there is nothing new under the sun.
Our big cities have often been grubby - yes. Tho perhaps they are worse now. It’s arguable
What is inarguable is that the scruffiness has extended to our smaller cities and towns. The horrible fly tipping. And the state of our roadsides is often hideous. Mile after mile of discarded trash. Why? It’s new and it’s nasty
Slashing of local government budgets means no money to clean up and also means higher charges for disposal of rubbish which means more fly tipping. And then once it becomes the norm it snowballs. Also the whole waste disposal supply chain has been infiltrated by organised crime. Really it needs a culture change, which is feasible with sufficient will to do it.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h The most intense lobbying effort I have ever seen in my decade in Westminster is currently underway to brief that Wes Streeting doesn’t have the numbers.
Maybe he doesn’t, and the stories are quite compelling, but the rearguard effort is really something…
So the economy is looking better than expected , the NHS improving and next week is likely to see another big drop in net migration .
Not so bad after all and really calls into question why on earth we’’re having all this drama ?
Expectations for the economy were very low, so economic performance is still lacklustre. NHS improvement is slow relative to the scale of the problems that have developed since 2010. If net migration is still above 100k a year then it's still higher than the voters have been told the politicians will deliver for a decade and a half.
And there are many problems that continue to get worse - the infrastructure backlog (zilch progress on connecting the northern cities), the shortage of housing, etc.
The steady-as-she-goes with minor incremental changes that Labour are delivering is not fundamentally different to the Sunak government, but people were led to expect much better and they want much better.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth is a British habit (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
In France, the dog shit is just left where it fell. We're far less filthy than that!
I was once sitting outside a cafe in Paris with friends, and a man dropped his trousers, and took a dump in the gutter in front of us.
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
It isn't new either, probably worsened by increased takeaway packaging and the removal of public bins.
There was loads of litter and graffiti in South London when I lived there in the Eighties. Thats why we had endless "keep Britain tidy" campaigns, and the Wombles.
This 20 year old article shows there is nothing new under the sun.
Our big cities have often been grubby - yes. Tho perhaps they are worse now. It’s arguable
What is inarguable is that the scruffiness has extended to our smaller cities and towns. The horrible fly tipping. And the state of our roadsides is often hideous. Mile after mile of discarded trash. Why? It’s new and it’s nasty
Slashing of local government budgets means no money to clean up and also means higher charges for disposal of rubbish which means more fly tipping. And then once it becomes the norm it snowballs. Also the whole waste disposal supply chain has been infiltrated by organised crime. Really it needs a culture change, which is feasible with sufficient will to do it.
A house two doors down from me is having an extension. They're burying all the waste in a big hole in the garden.
Charging for waste disposal may be counterproductive, whether it's done for monetary or envirionmental reasons.
Growth has mildly outperformed expectations more often than not in recent years recently, under both governments. Not stellar, but better than you’d think from the headlines. The British mentality remains relentlessly negative. Which in turn holds back investment and consumer spending.
Last years early year bump when people who know looked into the numbers was driven big load of government spending and hence why it then went away pretty quickly. I will be interested to know what is driving this time when people have dug into the numbers*.
* not suggesting anything dodgy, genuinely interested what it is that is driving it.
Trade deficit up to 7.0 billion too, widened by £4.5 billion
Rising trade deficit alongside economic growth would suggest increased private spending. See USA for an example. So this appears to be private sector rather than government led (govt spending growth doesn’t generally expand the trade deficit).
There is so much stored up cash available to be splurged, that just a year or two of no crisis should give consumers the rationale they need.
As an indicator of this, son says his booking (holiday industry) are 30-45% up for 2027/2028. Some people have the cash and the confidence. Also big swing from US holidays to Canada.
Pretty bold move given he has been in parliament about 5 minutes.
Who dares wins.
Yeah, I know he was a marine but same starry eyed nitwittery over a sniff of a (wo)man in uniform applied.
If Labour were looking for a LoTo, I could perhaps see it. The David Cameron move. But Starmer, Mr Technocrat, can't get anything moving, what is the chance of a bloke who has been in parliament 5 minutes and never held any big govenrment roles being able to unlock that (also I highly doubt when he got his seat he thought I will be leader in 2 years, so again, what deep thinking about policy will have been done).
He also has the Son of a Toolmaker tick, every interview, "when I was in the military, we did x". Also, he can really quite prickerly when pushed by interviewers, you get the feeling he is very close to tell to shut the fuck up, I'm in charge. Being leader that is turned up to 11.
OTOH I’ve considered it unlikely that a Scot would ever lead a main(sic) UK party again but the steely jawed action man thing might counter that. I suppose a politician that doesn’t look a total dick in a fall jacket would be a novelty. Paul Mason might have a fatal orgasm.
Right now the Tories are led by a woman with the surname Badenoch, you cannot get more Scottish than that.
I don't THINK she herself is Scots though? Is she?
No, she's English. A Londoner.
But Shirley, if a non-UK citizen can be a Proper Scot, even The English must be allowed to identify as Scottish?
Or is that a bridge too far, for even the most progressive?
There are plenty of English heritage people in Scotland who identify as Scots and indeed some are enthusiastic Scottish nationalists. I was born in Scotland to English parents and also spent my teen years there, there was a certain amount of banter to endure but the idea of the Scots as a nation of rabid Anglophobes is a myth in my experience. I view myself as Scottish or at least Scot-ish. Kemi Badenoch would be a welcome addition to the Scottish diaspora. The way she will happily cross the street to start a fight with anyone certainly has a bit of a Scottish flavour.
My sister and her husband, both Essex, moved to Scotland from Essex immediately after marriage. Husband did a teacher-training course, then they moved to a small community on the edge of the Highlands where he taught for several years.They had three daughters, who were always, apparently, known to the school as 'the English girls'. Two of them went to uni in Scotland but now live in England, with non-Scots partners but both sound Scots to my Essex ears!
So wor Rachel has us growing the fastest in the G7 in Q1?
Despite Brexit.
And then Trump and Hegseth decided they were bored and wanted to play video games...
Monthly and quarterly growth figures with any accuracy is miles beyond ONS current capability - massive bit of fortune for Rachel that they've spat out one of their occasional over-reads now given the inevitable correction in the next month's figures can be blamed on Geopolitics. Obviously the geopolitics matters, but 0.6% is an obvious outlyer the likes of which have been followed by a negative subsequent period everytime they pop up in recent years
Comedy gold from the Streeting camp . From the BBC.
“Supporters of Wes Streeting say he has the numbers but such is the volatility around the prime minister, and what they claim he might do next, they are waiting for now.”
Even if Rayner hasn't fully been cleared, HMRC couldn't issue a statement to say she hadn't been because of data protection rules, right? So she can say anything...
Comedy gold from the Streeting camp . From the BBC.
“Supporters of Wes Streeting say he has the numbers but such is the volatility around the prime minister, and what they claim he might do next, they are waiting for now.”
Comedy gold from the Streeting camp . From the BBC.
“Supporters of Wes Streeting say he has the numbers but such is the volatility around the prime minister, and what they claim he might do next, they are waiting for now.”
Even if Rayner hasn't fully been cleared, HMRC couldn't issue a statement to say she hadn't been because of data protection rules, right? So she can say anything...
I can remember a conversation with a mate who worked in comms in early 2010. One of the papers (the Guardian?) had just launched a politics live blog. His reaction, and mine, was basically “what they are going to write updates about politics all day and every day? That’s mad”. A more innocent time.
Even if Rayner hasn't fully been cleared, HMRC couldn't issue a statement to say she hadn't been because of data protection rules, right? So she can say anything...
I think you’re flogging a dead horse .
It’s been confirmed by the BBC who have seen the email correspondence between the HMRC and her lawyers confirming she is telling the truth. And really it would be idiotic of her to make this up anyway .
Comedy gold from the Streeting camp . From the BBC.
“Supporters of Wes Streeting say he has the numbers but such is the volatility around the prime minister, and what they claim he might do next, they are waiting for now.”
Even if Rayner hasn't fully been cleared, HMRC couldn't issue a statement to say she hadn't been because of data protection rules, right? So she can say anything...
I am still interested to know who leaked her tax situation in the first place. There must have been a very very very small number of people who would know all the jigsaw pieces in order to direct the media to the scandal.
"Supporters of Wes Streeting say he has the numbers but such is the volatility around the prime minister, and what they claim he might do next, they are waiting for now.
Others are spitting about Andy Burnham, saying the mayor of Greater Manchester has made a huge fuss about his ambitions but still hasn’t found a seat.
A senior figure just said to me that ‘MPs are all losing their minds’ and what is happening is a ‘total mess.’
Their language was actually considerably punchier than that, but you get the gist."
This makes no sense whatsoever. I thought that the whole point of this was that Streeting was going to trigger a contest when Burnham was hors de combat?
Excellent GDP figures out. Were it not for Mandelson, suspect Starmer would be able to talk about turning the economy around and see off leadership disquiet.
No, no, that can't be right. We all know the country's economy is going down the pan - I read it here on PB every day so it must be true.
The economy might not be, but so much else is:
Shoplifters acting with impunity.
Dodgy shops either acting as fronts for money laundering or selling dodgy fags and vapes.
Chavs buzzing about on illegal e-bikes.
Filth everywhere, plus illegal waste dumps blighting the countryside.
I could go on and on.
So much is shite.
The anti-fly tipping signs put up by the council are already wearing off. Maybe fly-tippers can't read.
Filth and hypocrisy about it are established British habits (tbf I have not surveyed Wales or Scotland extensively). Consider dogshit bags hung on trees, or litter in every layby, or along every road. Yet as soon as we have enforcers, the Great British Whining Noise can be heard keening on the breeze.
The laws are in place for some of those - illegal e-bikes have been confiscatible (sp) for two decades (since 2005) in exactly the same way as any other uninsured motor vehicle. Or S59 can be used. Much of this is about political will and willingness to enforce.
This is why I do not think taxes will or should be going down - if we want a decent society it needs more resources, not less, especially for local government.
On another serious note, this type of thing makes me wonder whether we have capability for the type of grassroots civil-society activism against our Right Wing nihilists that will be a significant factor in overturning MAGA in the USA.
It isn't new either, probably worsened by increased takeaway packaging and the removal of public bins.
There was loads of litter and graffiti in South London when I lived there in the Eighties. Thats why we had endless "keep Britain tidy" campaigns, and the Wombles.
This 20 year old article shows there is nothing new under the sun.
Our big cities have often been grubby - yes. Tho perhaps they are worse now. It’s arguable
What is inarguable is that the scruffiness has extended to our smaller cities and towns. The horrible fly tipping. And the state of our roadsides is often hideous. Mile after mile of discarded trash. Why? It’s new and it’s nasty
Landfill charges, etc
A shadow industry of dodgy waste disposal has sprung up. The financial incentives for dumping your waste on someone else are quite sizeable.
Comments
Known sporting allegiances of leading Labour politicians
Keir Starmer - Arsenal
Wes Streeting - Arsenal
Andy Burnham - Everton
Ed Miliband
- Boston Red Sox & Leeds United
Angela Rayner - Ashton United
And it is totally doable. Kazakhstan is immaculately clean. Why? Because they’ve made it a national obsession. There are signs everywhere. If you go to a national park they give you a litter bag and a stern warning to leave nothing behind
And if you break the rules the police come and get you and they slap a harsh fine on you. No quibbling. And if you fly tip you basically go to jail
We need to treat littering (and graffiti and fly tipping and the rest) the way we treated drunk driving. Make it simultaneously reviled as a grave sin and come down very hard on whoever does it
We just lack the will. If we did it our towns and cities would be spotless in a year and a virtuous pride would return. Leading to more social benefits
Or is that a bridge too far, for even the most progressive?
am a gobshitepost on here@Geri_E_L_Scott
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12m
This is of course not to suggest he has any chance of winning but some MPs *genuinely cheered* Carns when he walked into a bar last night 😅
https://x.com/Geri_E_L_Scott/status/2054852173725360300
===
I am on Carns at 75 and 24 as a couple of defensive/trading bets
Eventually the problem would solve itself. Studies show that people are much less likely to litter places that are clean. It feels bad. They will happily litter in places already soiled by litter
Labour isn't losing because it's bad at communicating.
It's losing because it's authoritarian, its Cabinet is implementing whatever jolly pops into their heads, it made promises it had no intention nor capability of keeping, it says whatever gibberish in interviews will get them thru the interview regardless of factual status, its policies are insane (destruction of the Royal Navy???) and its leader has no knowledge of right and wrong and has a long history of lying.
AND it's bad at communicating.
Allow me to explain: the reason Rayner is subject to the second home charge is because she is trustee of a Vulnerable Person Trust set up for her child which holds a variety of assets, including a house. Usually for trusts any taxes due are calculated as if the obligation fell on the trustees - this was brought in to prevent the rich person tax evasion strategy of “I’ll just move all the family assets into a trust”.
The exception to this rule is a Vulnerable Person Trust, where trustees hold assets for someone who is not capable of handling those assets themselves. These trusts are often used to hold compensation payments for birth injuries, as in Angela Rayner’s case. The government clearly intended that neither the trustees of such a trust nor the beneficiary should pay a tax penalty for using this legal structure to protect the vulnerable person’s assets for their benefit. The exception to this general rule is that the trustee of such a trust is liable for the second home Stamp Duty charge if and only if the trust holds property and the beneficiary is a child. However the moment the beneficiary turns 18, the second home Stamp Duty charge no longer applies to the trustees.
If anyone can suggest a logical reason for this discrepancy between the beneficiary being a child & being an adult then I’d be happy to hear it. Or if I’ve misunderstood the rules pertaining to trusts, which is also entirely possible of course!
Based on the above reasoning, I think the Government should, in fact, legislate to abolish the second home charge for trustees of vulnerable person trusts where the person in question is under 18. Not having done so in the first place seems to have been an oversight.
Thoughts?
Neglect begets neglect
When the built environment is visibly crumbling, weeds everywhere, roads barely worthy of the name, overflowing litter bins, boarded up shops and what shops that are left are basically trash, why should anyone care about keeping it tidy?
(TSE - you have my permission to nick that).
Afzal Khan really couldn't be clearer that he won't be standing down for Andy Burnham.
"There is no question of me resigning," he tells the NS. "I keep telling everyone that. I don't know where these rumours are coming from."
There was loads of litter and graffiti in South London when I lived there in the Eighties. Thats why we had endless "keep Britain tidy" campaigns, and the Wombles.
This 20 year old article shows there is nothing new under the sun.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/sep/24/comment.comment?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNQY-zIL4zg
But the point is: unlike our national debt or the boat people - this can be quite easily fixed
We were talking the other day about Greater Manchester towns, and noted that some are doing better than others. Rochdale has decayed for decades with so much of the centre owned by far away gits happy to leave units shuttered and decaying as they can appreciate as assets whilst spending no money at all. No, no. CPO their asses, reopen them to locals. Look at what has been achieved in Stockton-on-Tees.
When the civic authority takes some actual pride in the urban environment, then real, lasting change can be made.
Yes, pick the weed, fix the roads, do something with empty property.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/japan-football-fans-cleaning-world-cup-stadiums-b2966274.html
But it is news because other countries do not.
Not so bad after all and really calls into question why on earth we’’re having all this drama ?
This is why replacing Starmer will be futile - all the contenders either have no better plans, or in several cases one which are substantially worse.
What is inarguable is that the scruffiness has extended to our smaller cities and towns. The horrible fly tipping. And the state of our roadsides is often hideous. Mile after mile of
discarded trash. Why? It’s new and it’s nasty
They are taught to clean their own classrooms at kindergarten.
Mind. Their whole education system focuses on good manners and social skills in the early years rather than an academic curriculum.
If he's the numbers, he goes today. If he doesn't, well, he's Donald Ducked.
(But having said that, anyone else wanting to challenge also needs to go today, tomorrow at the latest - Rayner?)
https://x.com/DanNeidle/status/2054855198804226413
Jack Elsom
@JackElsom
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14m
There are people in Downing Street who are adamant Streeting doesn't have the numbers. His camp are adamant that he does.
Regardless, whether Starmer can ride this out is highly doubtful in the minds of some Labour MPs.
https://x.com/JackElsom
Why Are We Waiting
@jessicaelgot
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1h
The most intense lobbying effort I have ever seen in my decade in Westminster is currently underway to brief that Wes Streeting doesn’t have the numbers.
Maybe he doesn’t, and the stories are quite compelling, but the rearguard effort is really something…
https://x.com/jessicaelgot/status/2054839572652019717
And there are many problems that continue to get worse - the infrastructure backlog (zilch progress on connecting the northern cities), the shortage of housing, etc.
The steady-as-she-goes with minor incremental changes that Labour are delivering is not fundamentally different to the Sunak government, but people were led to expect much better and they want much better.
Labour have passed quite a lot of legislation, workers rights , renters rights etc . What’s needed is a better means of communicating this .
And in terms of net migration that’s also falling rapidly . They really should hold news conferences and force the media to report it .
https://x.com/JAHeale/status/2054856693066965110
Labour source suggests Streeting will look like the “Prigozhin of the PLP” if he doesn’t go ahead
Charging for waste disposal may be counterproductive, whether it's done for monetary or envirionmental reasons.
Two of them went to uni in Scotland but now live in England, with non-Scots partners but both sound Scots to my Essex ears!
“Supporters of Wes Streeting say he has the numbers but such is the volatility around the prime minister, and what they claim he might do next, they are waiting for now.”
I can remember a conversation with a mate who worked in comms in early 2010. One of the papers (the Guardian?) had just launched a politics live blog.
His reaction, and mine, was basically “what they are going to write updates about politics all day and every day? That’s mad”.
A more innocent time.
Their language was actually considerably punchier than that, but you get the gist.
We’re going to be on Burnham watch for the next 12 months
It’s been confirmed by the BBC who have seen the email correspondence between the HMRC and her lawyers confirming she is telling the truth. And really it would be idiotic of her to make this up anyway .
You so rarely see the Warhol quote in full: “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes before being deposed as Prime Minister.”
"Supporters of Wes Streeting say he has the numbers but such is the volatility around the prime minister, and what they claim he might do next, they are waiting for now.
Others are spitting about Andy Burnham, saying the mayor of Greater Manchester has made a huge fuss about his ambitions but still hasn’t found a seat.
A senior figure just said to me that ‘MPs are all losing their minds’ and what is happening is a ‘total mess.’
Their language was actually considerably punchier than that, but you get the gist."
This makes no sense whatsoever. I thought that the whole point of this was that Streeting was going to trigger a contest when Burnham was hors de combat?
If they had the required they would have gone for it already . What other possible reason for not doing so.
A shadow industry of dodgy waste disposal has sprung up. The financial incentives for dumping your waste on someone else are quite sizeable.