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Who will be the next Foreign Secretary? – politicalbetting.com

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  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 28,160
    FF43 said:

    kinabalu said:

    FF43 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    FF43 said:

    My guess Starmer will simply retire. He's 63 years old and has led two very senior jobs.

    I don't think he'll continue as an MP until 2029. He'll step down within 12 months probably.
    Possible. Presumably he will get a place in the House of Lords at that point. So two good pensions plus MP salary or HoL attendance fees. I could see him chairing a commission or two in topics that interest him so he isn't bored. An agreeable retirement, it seems
    The John Major model isn't a bad one to emulate. Depends on how he feels once the shock has worn off, I suppose.
    Maybe Starmer will start posting on PB.com now he has more time on his hands. The clue will be a new poster with a lot of "Keir was right!" comments ...
    I don't want to dox them but that does that mean Liz Truss is XXXXX XXX?
  • Brixian59Brixian59 Posts: 2,540
    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

  • Brixian59Brixian59 Posts: 2,540
    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,108
    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5
  • TresTres Posts: 3,705
    Heat getting all too much for some I see, bless.

    Peter
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 72,465
    Brixian59 said:

    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    I assume you can provide the extract and source of those words because if not that is a serious allegation to make
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 23,536

    Royal Mail have given us a leaflet entitled 'Small changes for more dependable deliveries'. This translates as 'we're only going to deliver 2nd class mail every other day' (which would actually be an improvement here but that's another issue.)

    The consumer benefits of privatisation, eh?

    Admittedly we get less post than we used too but we only get deliveries once a week now. And Warminster isn't that small a place.

    Back in the 19th century you'd get up to 8 deliveries a day in places. How we have fallen.
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 17,470
    edited 6:11PM

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    35.7°. New June record.

    It was 35.6° in Camden Square on 29th June 1957.

    https://www.trevorharley.com/hottest-day-of-each-year-from-1900.html
    So it's been really hot quite a lot in June, over the years.
    Oh not you too. Really?

    I mean this is very like US creationism now.

    I really shouldn't engage with trolls, but I will because...

    - Look at the synoptics (you can get them from reanalysis charts) for 1957, and 1976 - Southampton equalled the 1957 record in June 1976 - and see how much more extreme they are than today
    - The warmest today in the end was Southampton at 36.3C, which is 0.6C warmer than the previous record. As expected, because the synoptics are cooler today but we have approx 1C of global warming since then
    - only a couple of weeks ago we smashed the May all time record by substantially more than the underlying warming trend
    - France just had its warmest day as a whole ever - not just for June, which is on average the 3rd warmest month, but ever. My French house just registered its 4th day on the trot of 40C
    - Oh and it's going to be hotter here tomorrow
    - and look at the temperature stats for the 50s, 60s and 70s summers if you think Britain back then had lovely warm summers. They were miserable and cold with the exception of 75 and 76. I just wish we'd settled at 1990s levels

    I know a few of you - a tiny minority admittedly, which I had down as possibly 2 on here, but now have to consider might be 3 - think it's all a big conspiracy. But it's not. Most by now have moved on to the next stage: "yes it's happening but look at China, look at India".
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,625
    Walking across Manchester city centre this afternoon left me with two reasons for needing a cold shower.
  • Brixian59Brixian59 Posts: 2,540

    Brixian59 said:

    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    I assume you can provide the extract and source of those words because if not that is a serious allegation to make
    Oh FFS

    Satire is lost on you
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,108

    Walking across Manchester city centre this afternoon left me with two reasons for needing a cold shower.

    Dealing with smackheads and spice users?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201
    edited 6:11PM
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before... ho ho Vanilla's having fun.

    Duplicate
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871
    MelonB said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    35.7°. New June record.

    It was 35.6° in Camden Square on 29th June 1957.

    https://www.trevorharley.com/hottest-day-of-each-year-from-1900.html
    So it's been really hot quite a lot in June, over the years.
    Oh not you too. Really?

    I mean this is very like US creationism now.

    I really shouldn't engage with trolls, but I will because...

    - Look at the synoptics (you can get them from reanalysis charts) for 1957, and 1976 - Southampton equalled the 1957 record in June 1976, and see how much more extreme they are than today
    - The warmest today in the end was Southampton at 36.3C, which is 0.6C warmer than the previous record. As expected, because the synoptics are coming over today but we have approx 1C of global warming since then
    - only a couple of weeks ago we smashed the May all time record by substantially more than the underlying warming trend
    - France just had it's warmest day as a whole ever - not just for June, which is on average the 3rd warmest month, but ever
    - Oh and it's going to be hotter tomorrow
    - and look at the temperature stats for the 50s, 60s and 70s summers if you think Britain back then had lovely warm summers.

    I know a few of you - a tiny minority admittedly, which I had down as possibly 2 on here, but now have to consider might be 3 - think it's all a big conspiracy. But it's not. Most by now have moved on to the next stage: "yes it's happening but look at China, look at India".
    No, I'm not a denier. This is a problem and I absolutely believe the science.

    I just find the data pattern interesting.
  • sarissasarissa Posts: 2,344
    viewcode said:

    Brixian59 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    I'd think SKS would want to withdraw for a while to lick his wounds and recover. It isn't as though he willingly made way for a successor. Expecting him to turn up at Cabinet like a former owner become a guest seems a bit of a stretch.

    I did note that Burnham could keep Cooper at the Foreign Office for a bit then Starmer takes over, so it doesn't have to be immediate.
    Starmer is far more likely to end up at NATO in my opinion
    Dear God, no, he'd be awful. He should never be in an important job that involves people's lives. He's a lawyer. Let him go back to that. He can charge a lot of money for doing things that are checked by others, constrained by the law, overseen by a judge, and assessed by a jury. That way he will cause minimum damage.
    Nicola Sturgeon waves hello.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 59,230

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    She was in my daughter's class. Initially I thought it was her younger sister but my daughter confirmed its definitely Pyla.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871
    Tres said:

    Heat getting all too much for some I see, bless.

    Peter

    Wanker.
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 17,470

    MelonB said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    35.7°. New June record.

    It was 35.6° in Camden Square on 29th June 1957.

    https://www.trevorharley.com/hottest-day-of-each-year-from-1900.html
    So it's been really hot quite a lot in June, over the years.
    Oh not you too. Really?

    I mean this is very like US creationism now.

    I really shouldn't engage with trolls, but I will because...

    - Look at the synoptics (you can get them from reanalysis charts) for 1957, and 1976 - Southampton equalled the 1957 record in June 1976, and see how much more extreme they are than today
    - The warmest today in the end was Southampton at 36.3C, which is 0.6C warmer than the previous record. As expected, because the synoptics are coming over today but we have approx 1C of global warming since then
    - only a couple of weeks ago we smashed the May all time record by substantially more than the underlying warming trend
    - France just had it's warmest day as a whole ever - not just for June, which is on average the 3rd warmest month, but ever
    - Oh and it's going to be hotter tomorrow
    - and look at the temperature stats for the 50s, 60s and 70s summers if you think Britain back then had lovely warm summers.

    I know a few of you - a tiny minority admittedly, which I had down as possibly 2 on here, but now have to consider might be 3 - think it's all a big conspiracy. But it's not. Most by now have moved on to the next stage: "yes it's happening but look at China, look at India".
    No, I'm not a denier. This is a problem and I absolutely believe the science.

    I just find the data pattern interesting.
    The data pattern is exactly what you'd expect with a shift of the normal distribution by about 1-1.5C.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 60,229
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    That's not quite right. A heat pump is anything that moves heat from A to B using a refrigeration cycle, so it's a very broad category, but the type of solution that's most commonly associated with the name "heat pump" in the UK is the version that uses energy from the ambient air to heat water and is sold as a replacement for gas boilers.

    See for example:

    https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme/what-you-can-get

    If you installed something as recently as three years ago that could only work in one direction then you just made a bad choice of AC.
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,772
    edited 6:15PM

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    What a petulant twat.

    Good though to see Gaza Central has another advocate in parliament
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    It's a pretty mild accent, barely detectable

    https://youtu.be/8rnfyN6j0uU?is=gvEKDl6soyJMiEOp
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201

    FF43 said:

    kinabalu said:

    FF43 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    FF43 said:

    My guess Starmer will simply retire. He's 63 years old and has led two very senior jobs.

    I don't think he'll continue as an MP until 2029. He'll step down within 12 months probably.
    Possible. Presumably he will get a place in the House of Lords at that point. So two good pensions plus MP salary or HoL attendance fees. I could see him chairing a commission or two in topics that interest him so he isn't bored. An agreeable retirement, it seems
    The John Major model isn't a bad one to emulate. Depends on how he feels once the shock has worn off, I suppose.
    Maybe Starmer will start posting on PB.com now he has more time on his hands. The clue will be a new poster with a lot of "Keir was right!" comments ...
    I don't want to dox them but that does that mean Liz Truss is XXXXX XXX?
    It's not likely - Liz was 8 in 1983.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 28,160

    FF43 said:

    kinabalu said:

    FF43 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    FF43 said:

    My guess Starmer will simply retire. He's 63 years old and has led two very senior jobs.

    I don't think he'll continue as an MP until 2029. He'll step down within 12 months probably.
    Possible. Presumably he will get a place in the House of Lords at that point. So two good pensions plus MP salary or HoL attendance fees. I could see him chairing a commission or two in topics that interest him so he isn't bored. An agreeable retirement, it seems
    The John Major model isn't a bad one to emulate. Depends on how he feels once the shock has worn off, I suppose.
    Maybe Starmer will start posting on PB.com now he has more time on his hands. The clue will be a new poster with a lot of "Keir was right!" comments ...
    I don't want to dox them but that does that mean Liz Truss is XXXXX XXX?
    It's not likely - Liz was 8 in 1983.
    It might be the year they first discovered politics?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,656
    On topic.....

    Yvette Cooper will get one of the great offices of state. I'm told Shabana Mahmoud stays at Home Office. So Yvette stays as Foreign Secretary. Or Chancellor. But that still might be Ed Miliband.

    If Cooper stays, all above bets are losers.

    Trying to find a senior slot for Streeting. Tricky.

    Deputy PM will be Lucy Powell. Ange's nose out of joint.

    All views from somebody who resigned before Starmer's departure.

    Take it as you will.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 35,463

    Ed Miliband might be an interesting choice (assuming Burnham wants to give him a big job). A stint as foreign secretary might knock the idea that the rest of the world is desperate to follow Britain's example out of him.

    As I said the other day, it is the best way to reward Ed Milliband without giving him the Treasury or keeping him in the energy brief.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871
    MelonB said:

    MelonB said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    35.7°. New June record.

    It was 35.6° in Camden Square on 29th June 1957.

    https://www.trevorharley.com/hottest-day-of-each-year-from-1900.html
    So it's been really hot quite a lot in June, over the years.
    Oh not you too. Really?

    I mean this is very like US creationism now.

    I really shouldn't engage with trolls, but I will because...

    - Look at the synoptics (you can get them from reanalysis charts) for 1957, and 1976 - Southampton equalled the 1957 record in June 1976, and see how much more extreme they are than today
    - The warmest today in the end was Southampton at 36.3C, which is 0.6C warmer than the previous record. As expected, because the synoptics are coming over today but we have approx 1C of global warming since then
    - only a couple of weeks ago we smashed the May all time record by substantially more than the underlying warming trend
    - France just had it's warmest day as a whole ever - not just for June, which is on average the 3rd warmest month, but ever
    - Oh and it's going to be hotter tomorrow
    - and look at the temperature stats for the 50s, 60s and 70s summers if you think Britain back then had lovely warm summers.

    I know a few of you - a tiny minority admittedly, which I had down as possibly 2 on here, but now have to consider might be 3 - think it's all a big conspiracy. But it's not. Most by now have moved on to the next stage: "yes it's happening but look at China, look at India".
    No, I'm not a denier. This is a problem and I absolutely believe the science.

    I just find the data pattern interesting.
    The data pattern is exactly what you'd expect with a shift of the normal distribution by about 1-1.5C.
    It feels like a shift of thr normal distribution by about 10C.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,134
    edited 6:23PM

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    That's not true at all. Just more deranged anti-wokism. I used to work in this area, designing heat pump systems for domestic homes. Any house built from 2010 onwards, which is a lot of houses, is suitable. Houses built earlier may be suitable, they may not be. It depends.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 9,072
    Brixian59 said:

    Brixian59 said:

    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    I assume you can provide the extract and source of those words because if not that is a serious allegation to make
    Oh FFS

    Satire is lost on you
    Was easy to miss it was satire as it was about as funny as shitting in your hands and then clapping in front of your face. Keep trying though.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 72,465
    edited 6:27PM

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    We installed solar panels in 2015 and paid for them as the return was greater than the money in the bank

    They have been an excellent investment, and only last week Eon made a payment into my account for the 3 months to the 3rd June of £320

    I would recommend everyone with a suitable aspect roof goes ahead and installs them
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201

    Tres said:

    Heat getting all too much for some I see, bless.

    Peter

    Wanker.
    You should really stop signing your posts - especially the empty ones.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 137,229
    'How does voting intention change, when party leaders are named with Burnham as hypothetical Labour leader.
    Labour go from 7pts behind Reform, to 1pts ahead gaining 6pts
    Reform, Greens, Lib Dems also lose votes
    The Tories gain one point.
    Combined right/left share barely changes.'

    https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/2069778743808110859?s=20
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,625

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    We're all going to be fucked over if the natural gas distribution networks get shut down, rather than converted to hydrogen.

    This is looking increasingly likely, but no government wants to be the one to make the announcement that everyone with gas central heating will have to rip it out and pay ££££ for a shitty air source heat pump and a new set of radiators.
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,772

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    Certainly expensive but the last govt gave grants to help those with money fit them.

    I just don’t like the look. I don’t want the back of my home to resemble the back of an industry unit in Cradley Heath.
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,772

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    Certainly expensive but the last govt gave grants to help those with money fit them.

    I just don’t like the look. I don’t want the back of my home to resemble the back of an industry unit in Cradley Heath.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,656

    Ed Miliband might be an interesting choice (assuming Burnham wants to give him a big job). A stint as foreign secretary might knock the idea that the rest of the world is desperate to follow Britain's example out of him.

    As I said the other day, it is the best way to reward Ed Milliband without giving him the Treasury or keeping him in the energy brief.
    I asked. Told "No....".
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 48,094

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    The Yoons are a bawhair away from accusing her of putting on a Scottish accent to avoid anti English racism from the EssEnnPee.

    Isn’t code switching a thing in England, or do you order your caviar in broad ecky thump Yorkshire when in Claridge’s?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871
    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    Certainly expensive but the last govt gave grants to help those with money fit them.

    I just don’t like the look. I don’t want the back of my home to resemble the back of an industry unit in Cradley Heath.
    It did, but they aren't effective.

    Any tradesman or builder will tell you this - unless you spend a huge amount on your property- and this is why hardly any of your neighbours have any, even though many are steadily installing solar panels.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,625

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    We installed solar panels in 2015 and paid for them as the return was greater than the money in the bank

    They have been an excellent investment, and only last week Eon made a payment into my account for the 3 months to the 3rd June of £320

    I would recommend everyone with a suitable aspect roof goes ahead and installs them
    How long did it take to break even on the investment?

    (Assuming you have by now.)
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,134

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871

    Tres said:

    Heat getting all too much for some I see, bless.

    Peter

    Wanker.
    You should really stop signing your posts - especially the empty ones.
    Or, you could just rename your username "prick" and save us all a lot of time.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 72,465

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    We installed solar panels in 2015 and paid for them as the return was greater than the money in the bank

    They have been an excellent investment, and only last week Eon made a payment into my account for the 3 months to the 3rd June of £320

    I would recommend everyone with a suitable aspect roof goes ahead and installs them
    How long did it take to break even on the investment?

    (Assuming you have by now.)
    About 5 years because we had good feed in tariffs that may not be as generous today
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    How come you wasted £12k on PV panels that only shave a bit off your bill then?
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,134

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    What's to change? I agree with you.

    If I was building a house from scratch though I would specify an air to water heat pump due to, in my opinion, a pure electric system being more future proof and will eventually be cheaper. Relying on that gas coming through those pipes forever seems foolish to me.
  • PeterCairnsPeterCairns Posts: 224

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    As heat source grows in popularity like Stamps and pipelines in the North Sea, the cost of distribution will fall on fewer and fewer customers until the cost and benefit of a system that runs on Electricity not Oil or Gas, will make them alternatives incrasingly more expensive.

    Peter.

  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,625

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    There'll come a time when we have no choice if the gas gets turned off.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    As heat source grows in popularity like Stamps and pipelines in the North Sea, the cost of distribution will fall on fewer and fewer customers until the cost and benefit of a system that runs on Electricity not Oil or Gas, will make them alternatives incrasingly more expensive.

    Peter.

    You have been warned and told multiple times.

    I'm not reading or engaging with any of your posts until you stop it.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,134

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    There'll come a time when we have no choice if the gas gets turned off.
    Well, exactly. We'll always have electricity. We might not always have natural gas. In a war or disaster scenario, the electricity network is more likely to come back faster than gas, etc.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,871

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    What's to change? I agree with you.

    If I was building a house from scratch though I would specify an air to water heat pump due to, in my opinion, a pure electric system being more future proof and will eventually be cheaper. Relying on that gas coming through those pipes forever seems foolish to me.
    Fair enough.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,625

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    We installed solar panels in 2015 and paid for them as the return was greater than the money in the bank

    They have been an excellent investment, and only last week Eon made a payment into my account for the 3 months to the 3rd June of £320

    I would recommend everyone with a suitable aspect roof goes ahead and installs them
    How long did it take to break even on the investment?

    (Assuming you have by now.)
    About 5 years because we had good feed in tariffs that may not be as generous today
    That's not too shabby. When I've looked in the past it was closer to 10 years.

    Likely to have improved with cheaper panels and increased leccy prices, mind.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,108
    @Casino_Royale

    Cut down on the abuse.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,134

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    What's to change? I agree with you.

    If I was building a house from scratch though I would specify an air to water heat pump due to, in my opinion, a pure electric system being more future proof and will eventually be cheaper. Relying on that gas coming through those pipes forever seems foolish to me.
    Fair enough.
    I would also install a proper wood burner for absolute redundancy but that's certainly not very woke
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 5,520

    Remember what Pat McFadden said:

    Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'.

    Reeves's parting idea:

    22% Charge on interest paid on cash held in non Cash ISAs

    Non Cash ISA portfolios made up of 100% cash-like assets will be non-qualifying investments

    Restrictions on transfers into cash ISAs


    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fiscal-events-2026-factsheets/isa-reform-2027-anti-circumvention-rules-factsheet

    I am devastated. The 0% I earn on cash in my S&S ISA will be taxed down to 0%.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,625
    For everyone to have electricity providing their heating and hot water, and electricity powering their cars, we are going to need a heck of a lot more generating capacity, plus upgrades to the transmission and distribution networks.

    I've just had a brainwave: Run the power cables through the redundant gas mains. No need for overhead lines.
  • PeterCairnsPeterCairns Posts: 224
    edited 6:44PM

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    The Yoons are a bawhair away from accusing her of putting on a Scottish accent to avoid anti English racism from the EssEnnPee.

    Isn’t code switching a thing in England, or do you order your caviar in broad ecky thump Yorkshire when in Claridge’s?
    My Brother-in-Law has the oddest habit.

    He has liked 30 years in Cambridgeshire and in the pub talking to people he sounds like one of the Mitchell's from Eastenders. Then he'll turn to me and become Rab C Nesbitt!

    It isn't an act, he just seems to switch between the two.

    I've lived in Inverness for over 30 years and people here say I have a Glasgow accent.

    In Glasgow they say I sound Highland.

    Visited my son in Ibrox last month and the Asian guy in the shop across the road had a better Glasgow accent than mine.

    All this tells us is just how petty our politics has become.

    The papers priint tawdry snide gossip and our politicans provide them with more of it than they can use!

    Peter.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    We installed solar panels in 2015 and paid for them as the return was greater than the money in the bank

    They have been an excellent investment, and only last week Eon made a payment into my account for the 3 months to the 3rd June of £320

    I would recommend everyone with a suitable aspect roof goes ahead and installs them
    How long did it take to break even on the investment?

    (Assuming you have by now.)
    About 5 years because we had good feed in tariffs that may not be as generous today
    That's not too shabby. When I've looked in the past it was closer to 10 years.

    Likely to have improved with cheaper panels and increased leccy prices, mind.
    There are no more feed in tariffs though, i.e. no subsidies. But there's still likely to be a good payback, dependent on where you site the panels (unobstructed south facing roofs are obviously ideal). And with a battery there's the possibility of buying at the cheap rate and exporting at peak rates.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 51,038
    Just to bring topics together, my sister in Scotland has solar.
  • PeterCairnsPeterCairns Posts: 224

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    As heat source grows in popularity like Stamps and pipelines in the North Sea, the cost of distribution will fall on fewer and fewer customers until the cost and benefit of a system that runs on Electricity not Oil or Gas, will make them alternatives incrasingly more expensive.

    Peter.

    You have been warned and told multiple times.

    I'm not reading or engaging with any of your posts until you stop it.
    You just did?????

    Peter.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 72,775

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    What's to change? I agree with you.

    If I was building a house from scratch though I would specify an air to water heat pump due to, in my opinion, a pure electric system being more future proof and will eventually be cheaper. Relying on that gas coming through those pipes forever seems foolish to me.
    Fair enough.
    I would also install a proper wood burner for absolute redundancy but that's certainly not very woke
    I'm so old I remember when installing a wood burner was ultra middle class woke. It was avocado on toast for the over 35s.

  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 13,533
    I don’t live in Scotland, don’t have solar, don’t have AC. I’d be quite happy for any of those to change. That’s about my only contribution this evening
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 29,053

    Brixian59 said:

    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    I assume you can provide the extract and source of those words because if not that is a serious allegation to make

    Brixian59 said:

    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    I assume you can provide the extract and source of those words because if not that is a serious allegation to make
    It was satiric, @Big_G_NorthWales

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law
  • PeterCairnsPeterCairns Posts: 224
    kinabalu said:

    Just to bring topics together, my sister in Scotland has solar.

    Ah but in an Independent Scotland she's have double solar!

    Peter.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,134
    edited 6:47PM
    kinabalu said:

    Just to bring topics together, my sister in Scotland has solar.

    Solar is a no brainer on residential new builds but, again, the cost-benefit analysis doesn't in my opinion work (especially in the North and Scotland) without the old subsidies unless you have a ton of excess capital burning a hole in your pocket.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 13,533

    Brixian59 said:

    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    I assume you can provide the extract and source of those words because if not that is a serious allegation to make
    Even someone as credulous as me could tell he was taking the piss. Get a grip Big G
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,772

    Remember what Pat McFadden said:

    Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'.

    Reeves's parting idea:

    22% Charge on interest paid on cash held in non Cash ISAs

    Non Cash ISA portfolios made up of 100% cash-like assets will be non-qualifying investments

    Restrictions on transfers into cash ISAs


    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fiscal-events-2026-factsheets/isa-reform-2027-anti-circumvention-rules-factsheet

    I am devastated. The 0% I earn on cash in my S&S ISA will be taxed down to 0%.
    I’m getting a few percentage on my cash. The cash will be deployed. But this pushes you to be fully invested all the time and reinvest when you get income. Not a fan

    I don’t like it but I have to go along with it
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,772

    kinabalu said:

    Just to bring topics together, my sister in Scotland has solar.

    Solar is a no brainer on residential new builds but, again, the cost-benefit analysis doesn't in my opinion work (especially in the North and Scotland) without the old subsidies unless you have a ton of excess capital burning a hole in your pocket.
    On new build provided it’s not rent a roof. I get the feeling those schemes are in decline
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 48,094

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    The Yoons are a bawhair away from accusing her of putting on a Scottish accent to avoid anti English racism from the EssEnnPee.

    Isn’t code switching a thing in England, or do you order your caviar in broad ecky thump Yorkshire when in Claridge’s?
    My Brother-in-Law has the oddest habit.

    He has liked 30 years in Cambridgeshire and in the pub talking to people he sounds like one of the Mitchell's from Eastenders. Then he'll turn to me and become Rab C Nesbitt!

    It isn't an act, he just seems to switch between the two.

    I've lived in Inverness for over 30 years and people here say I have a Glasgow accent.

    In Glasgow they say I sound Highland.

    Visited my son in Ibrox last month and the Asian guy in the shop across the road had a better Glasgow accent than mine.

    All this tells us is just how petty our politics has become.

    The papers priint tawdry snide gossip and our politicans provide them with more of it than they can use!

    Peter.
    I think it’s unconscious for a lot of people. My mother was born of peasant stock (just north of Arbroath & Broughty Ferry as it happens ) who all spoke broad Doric. She was the first in her family to go on to further education and became a teacher with pretty middle class speech, but she switched seamlessly back to the speak o’ the Mearns when with her family.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 5,549
    IanB2 said:

    Royal Mail have given us a leaflet entitled 'Small changes for more dependable deliveries'. This translates as 'we're only going to deliver 2nd class mail every other day' (which would actually be an improvement here but that's another issue.)

    The consumer benefits of privatisation, eh?

    Second class works to a Day D standard, whereas first class works to Day B. Hence first class is sorted in the evening on day of posting, then driven through the night to reach you the next day, whereas second class is held over and sorted daytime on Day B, giving the late shift some work to do before the proceeds of that day’s pillar boxes starts to arrive, and is then despatched with the first class of the day after. Therefore most second class arrives for Day C delivery currently, and it can meet its advertised Day D standard by only delivering to your front door every other day.

    In the old days, when there was a lot of first class mail, just delivering second class on alternate days would deliver little efficiency advantage, since the number of delivery points not needing a visit wouldn’t reduce that much (the postie having to visit most front doors with a first class letter). But it’s quite obvious that since privatisation the pricing strategy has been to open a gulf between first and second class postage prices, such that most ordinary post nowadays is second class.

    Indeed, as a betting site PB’ers will appreciate the lack of appeal in a product only 90-95% likely to be delivered the next day, with prices starting from £1.80, when you can pay half and have it delivered probably the day after, or pay a bit more for anything that is genuinely important and have tracking and probably 99% reliability.
    Pay a bit more is amusing. I had something genuinely important so was willing to pay for next day delivery. It was a Friday so next day translates to Monday, another extra charge for Saturday delivery. Total £14.98 (I think, not sure to the exact penny). A bit more!!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201
    DougSeal said:

    Brixian59 said:

    A Tory spokesperson has called for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK

    "we call for an immediate plan to install Air Con in every house in the UK together with an immediate ban on the installation of Solar Panels, Solar Panel Farms and Wind Turbines and the immediate resignation of Ed Milliband

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    My youngest came home today soaking in sweat and in tears and I agree with him. It's not global warming it's net zero. Even an 8 year old can see if you build solar panels, they attract the sun, it gets hotter and his wind turbines blow the heat our way. It's got to stop.

    We need to burn more gas, grill for oil, dig for coal and remove the smokeless zones, soot and smoke stops the sun and we can all be cool again"

    Kemi Badenoch shouted

    " Milliband must go, he must go now, he's shafted his brother, he's shafted Starmer, he's probably shafted his wife and you he's shafting all of you but not me, oh no.

    I assume you can provide the extract and source of those words because if not that is a serious allegation to make
    Even someone as credulous as me could tell he was taking the piss. Get a grip Big G
    Ah, but are you sure Big_G wasn't being ironic?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,108

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    The Yoons are a bawhair away from accusing her of putting on a Scottish accent to avoid anti English racism from the EssEnnPee.

    Isn’t code switching a thing in England, or do you order your caviar in broad ecky thump Yorkshire when in Claridge’s?
    My accent changes when I get very frustrated, usually when watching sporting events.

    I drop what sounds like the c-bomb in those circumstances when I say the word can't (which amuses me people as I don't normally swear.)

    Usually my accent a very softly spoken although some people have compared it to if Hugh Grant worked down the pit.

    A friend's boyfriend said I sounded like the posh boy twats he used to wait on in London.

    A colleague said I have a gift of speaking slowly without sounding dim.

    So depending on the circumstances my accent changes, but it isn't deliberate changes.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 29,053
    Taz said:

    Remember what Pat McFadden said:

    Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'.

    Reeves's parting idea:

    22% Charge on interest paid on cash held in non Cash ISAs

    Non Cash ISA portfolios made up of 100% cash-like assets will be non-qualifying investments

    Restrictions on transfers into cash ISAs


    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fiscal-events-2026-factsheets/isa-reform-2027-anti-circumvention-rules-factsheet

    I am devastated. The 0% I earn on cash in my S&S ISA will be taxed down to 0%.
    I’m getting a few percentage on my cash. The cash will be deployed. But this pushes you to be fully invested all the time and reinvest when you get income. Not a fan

    I don’t like it but I have to go along with it
    (narrator: yes, Viewcode got that reference as well. In the original German)
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 46,638
    IanB2 said:

    I agree

    Wes as next FS is just absurd - its a shame there is no money to lay on BF

    crazy for sure but genius compared to lamentable
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 9,409
    edited 6:59PM

    Remember what Pat McFadden said:

    Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'.

    Reeves's parting idea:

    22% Charge on interest paid on cash held in non Cash ISAs

    Non Cash ISA portfolios made up of 100% cash-like assets will be non-qualifying investments

    Restrictions on transfers into cash ISAs


    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fiscal-events-2026-factsheets/isa-reform-2027-anti-circumvention-rules-factsheet

    I am devastated. The 0% I earn on cash in my S&S ISA will be taxed down to 0%.
    It will also be charged on cash-like instruments, if the whole is in such things. The money market fund my ISA is in, for example.
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 17,470

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    Certainly expensive but the last govt gave grants to help those with money fit them.

    I just don’t like the look. I don’t want the back of my home to resemble the back of an industry unit in Cradley Heath.
    It did, but they aren't effective.

    Any tradesman or builder will tell you this - unless you spend a huge amount on your property- and this is why hardly any of your neighbours have any, even though many are steadily installing solar panels.
    I have one in my French barn, as do almost all of the neighbours. Pretty bog standard, because very few homes have mains gas.

    It does seem to be a particularly British problem. A bit like our inability to build high speed Rail lines (though we do share that with the Americans). I don't know if we have uniquely inefficient heat pumps or uniquely badly insulated houses (maybe the latter), but the barn has solid stone walls so is not mega-insulated.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 29,053

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    The Yoons are a bawhair away from accusing her of putting on a Scottish accent to avoid anti English racism from the EssEnnPee.

    Isn’t code switching a thing in England, or do you order your caviar in broad ecky thump Yorkshire when in Claridge’s?
    My accent changes when I get very frustrated, usually when watching sporting events.

    I drop what sounds like the c-bomb in those circumstances when I say the word can't (which amuses me people as I don't normally swear.)

    Usually my accent a very softly spoken although some people have compared it to if Hugh Grant worked down the pit.

    A friend's boyfriend said I sounded like the posh boy twats he used to wait on in London.

    A colleague said I have a gift of speaking slowly without sounding dim.

    So depending on the circumstances my accent changes, but it isn't deliberate changes.
    Mine alters significantly depending on whether I'm on the phone to my parent(s), or in the shop buying things, or at work, or speaking in a conference. In the latter it is as close to RP as I can get it. In the former, I am all over the place.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,134
    MelonB said:

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    Certainly expensive but the last govt gave grants to help those with money fit them.

    I just don’t like the look. I don’t want the back of my home to resemble the back of an industry unit in Cradley Heath.
    It did, but they aren't effective.

    Any tradesman or builder will tell you this - unless you spend a huge amount on your property- and this is why hardly any of your neighbours have any, even though many are steadily installing solar panels.
    I have one in my French barn, as do almost all of the neighbours. Pretty bog standard, because very few homes have mains gas.

    It does seem to be a particularly British problem. A bit like our inability to build high speed Rail lines (though we do share that with the Americans). I don't know if we have uniquely inefficient heat pumps or uniquely badly insulated houses (maybe the latter), but the barn has solid stone walls so is not mega-insulated.
    Well, without mains gas they're a no brainer vs heating oil, biomass pellets or gas canisters. Mains gas is pretty damn hard to beat though. Still.
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,772
    viewcode said:

    Taz said:

    Remember what Pat McFadden said:

    Every meeting I have is 'who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others'.

    Reeves's parting idea:

    22% Charge on interest paid on cash held in non Cash ISAs

    Non Cash ISA portfolios made up of 100% cash-like assets will be non-qualifying investments

    Restrictions on transfers into cash ISAs


    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fiscal-events-2026-factsheets/isa-reform-2027-anti-circumvention-rules-factsheet

    I am devastated. The 0% I earn on cash in my S&S ISA will be taxed down to 0%.
    I’m getting a few percentage on my cash. The cash will be deployed. But this pushes you to be fully invested all the time and reinvest when you get income. Not a fan

    I don’t like it but I have to go along with it
    (narrator: yes, Viewcode got that reference as well. In the original German)
    😀😉
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 46,638

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    Duplicate and in using vf

    Yeah it’s still doing that. Says error but posts anyway, often 404s when refreshing on vf.pb.com.

    Looks like the Vanilla/Cloudflare interface is screwed, perhaps a failed server in the pool that doesn’t show as actually failed.
    I'm thinking about dumping Vanilla, and just going full self hosted.
    Brave but it shouldn't be that difficult nowadays..
    When PB was first started, we used standard Wordpress comments.

    As the site got more popular, though, it became unusable. In particular, it was very slow, and the site was absolutely spammed with adverts for certain pharmaceuticals that I know no PBer would ever need.

    So, we changed first to Disqus (until the great threading disaster of 2011), and then Vanilla.

    Candidly, Vanilla is expensive, and fragile. It does not work well with Cloudflare, and we've been getting duplicated posts.

    And PB is now on a fairly high performance server in Finland. I suspect that it would be easily capable of handling comments on Wordpress. And I'm equally sure that spam management, etc is all much better.

    So... when I next get a day off, I will almost certainly transition us over.
    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    Duplicate and in using vf

    Yeah it’s still doing that. Says error but posts anyway, often 404s when refreshing on vf.pb.com.

    Looks like the Vanilla/Cloudflare interface is screwed, perhaps a failed server in the pool that doesn’t show as actually failed.
    I'm thinking about dumping Vanilla, and just going full self hosted.
    Brave but it shouldn't be that difficult nowadays..
    When PB was first started, we used standard Wordpress comments.

    As the site got more popular, though, it became unusable. In particular, it was very slow, and the site was absolutely spammed with adverts for certain pharmaceuticals that I know no PBer would ever need.

    So, we changed first to Disqus (until the great threading disaster of 2011), and then Vanilla.

    Candidly, Vanilla is expensive, and fragile. It does not work well with Cloudflare, and we've been getting duplicated posts.

    And PB is now on a fairly high performance server in Finland. I suspect that it would be easily capable of handling comments on Wordpress. And I'm equally sure that spam management, etc is all much better.

    So... when I next get a day off, I will almost certainly transition us over.
    What duplicates?

    Seriously, your efforts are much appreciated - if you need a call for funds just let us know*

    (*Malc's minted, I believe ;-) )
    given the mansion you built Ben , you are far far richer than me.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 72,775

    Natasha Clark
    @NatashaC
    ·
    1h
    Bridget Phillipson tells @AndrewMarr9 @lbc she will go get a T-shirt saying “spiteful class warrior” after her spat with Kemi Badenoch
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 46,638
    HYUFD said:

    Streeting would be a more natural fit as Foreign Secretary than Cooper and Cooper better at the Treasury. Outside chance Starmer could be given the Foreign Office role too as former PMs Cameron and Home were

    Cooper should be confined to the bin, she is almost as useless as Lammy
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201
    malcolmg said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    Duplicate and in using vf

    Yeah it’s still doing that. Says error but posts anyway, often 404s when refreshing on vf.pb.com.

    Looks like the Vanilla/Cloudflare interface is screwed, perhaps a failed server in the pool that doesn’t show as actually failed.
    I'm thinking about dumping Vanilla, and just going full self hosted.
    Brave but it shouldn't be that difficult nowadays..
    When PB was first started, we used standard Wordpress comments.

    As the site got more popular, though, it became unusable. In particular, it was very slow, and the site was absolutely spammed with adverts for certain pharmaceuticals that I know no PBer would ever need.

    So, we changed first to Disqus (until the great threading disaster of 2011), and then Vanilla.

    Candidly, Vanilla is expensive, and fragile. It does not work well with Cloudflare, and we've been getting duplicated posts.

    And PB is now on a fairly high performance server in Finland. I suspect that it would be easily capable of handling comments on Wordpress. And I'm equally sure that spam management, etc is all much better.

    So... when I next get a day off, I will almost certainly transition us over.
    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    Duplicate and in using vf

    Yeah it’s still doing that. Says error but posts anyway, often 404s when refreshing on vf.pb.com.

    Looks like the Vanilla/Cloudflare interface is screwed, perhaps a failed server in the pool that doesn’t show as actually failed.
    I'm thinking about dumping Vanilla, and just going full self hosted.
    Brave but it shouldn't be that difficult nowadays..
    When PB was first started, we used standard Wordpress comments.

    As the site got more popular, though, it became unusable. In particular, it was very slow, and the site was absolutely spammed with adverts for certain pharmaceuticals that I know no PBer would ever need.

    So, we changed first to Disqus (until the great threading disaster of 2011), and then Vanilla.

    Candidly, Vanilla is expensive, and fragile. It does not work well with Cloudflare, and we've been getting duplicated posts.

    And PB is now on a fairly high performance server in Finland. I suspect that it would be easily capable of handling comments on Wordpress. And I'm equally sure that spam management, etc is all much better.

    So... when I next get a day off, I will almost certainly transition us over.
    What duplicates?

    Seriously, your efforts are much appreciated - if you need a call for funds just let us know*

    (*Malc's minted, I believe ;-) )
    given the mansion you built Ben , you are far far richer than me.
    Not any more Malc - have you never seen how it always goes on Grand Designs?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,201

    MelonB said:

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    Certainly expensive but the last govt gave grants to help those with money fit them.

    I just don’t like the look. I don’t want the back of my home to resemble the back of an industry unit in Cradley Heath.
    It did, but they aren't effective.

    Any tradesman or builder will tell you this - unless you spend a huge amount on your property- and this is why hardly any of your neighbours have any, even though many are steadily installing solar panels.
    I have one in my French barn, as do almost all of the neighbours. Pretty bog standard, because very few homes have mains gas.

    It does seem to be a particularly British problem. A bit like our inability to build high speed Rail lines (though we do share that with the Americans). I don't know if we have uniquely inefficient heat pumps or uniquely badly insulated houses (maybe the latter), but the barn has solid stone walls so is not mega-insulated.
    Well, without mains gas they're a no brainer vs heating oil, biomass pellets or gas canisters. Mains gas is pretty damn hard to beat though. Still.
    Not so good for cooling though.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 29,020


    The Green Party
    @TheGreenParty
    ·
    2h
    The Green Party is calling for a maximum workplace temperature to be introduced.

    https://x.com/TheGreenParty/status/2069802320829743518

    And workplace air-con to keep the temperature down?
    Okay let’s set it at 50!

    Peter.
    3 x 10^64 seems a rather extreme temperature to set it at.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,611

    Interesting header.

    With Sir Keir remaining an MP, I think foreign secretary could be back on. If not now, then in the future.

    Of the four great offices of state it is the most detached from everyday politics.

    And, for all his weaknesses as a leader, Sir Keir’s statecraft is widely recognised.

    I might just take the 16s if still available.

    If you want to prioritise your partner and kids, taking a job that requires you to be out of the country half the time is not optimal.

    So no bet.
    Really? My wife would happy if I was away half the time, and absolutely overjoyed if it was two-thirds of the time.

    So long, of course, if for that third of the time that I was around, then I was really around - with no conference calls, Slacks, etc.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,805
    Peter.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,739


    Natasha Clark
    @NatashaC
    ·
    1h
    Bridget Phillipson tells @AndrewMarr9 @lbc she will go get a T-shirt saying “spiteful class warrior” after her spat with Kemi Badenoch

    I'm glad she admits it.

    Will it add 'stuck up useless smug twat' afterwards? Just so she gets the full gamut.
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 7,991

    Peter.

    Will Peter peter out?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 40,253
    edited 7:17PM

    Peter.

    Yes?

    I thought you had cashed out. Welcome back.

    I don't finish with a salutation, as Mexic*** seems a bit rude.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 17,651
    rcs1000 said:

    Interesting header.

    With Sir Keir remaining an MP, I think foreign secretary could be back on. If not now, then in the future.

    Of the four great offices of state it is the most detached from everyday politics.

    And, for all his weaknesses as a leader, Sir Keir’s statecraft is widely recognised.

    I might just take the 16s if still available.

    If you want to prioritise your partner and kids, taking a job that requires you to be out of the country half the time is not optimal.

    So no bet.
    Really? My wife would happy if I was away half the time, and absolutely overjoyed if it was two-thirds of the time.

    So long, of course, if for that third of the time that I was around, then I was really around - with no conference calls, Slacks, etc.
    No slacks? I'm assuming this isn't your wife expressing a strong trouser preference, though if it is I share her distaste.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,611

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    Heat pumps are shit though.

    Solar panels are ok but I dropped £12k on them, and it shaved a bit off my bill but not enough.
    Both of those statements show how poor your judgement is.

    My judgement is about 1,000 times better than yours and I'm a million times more successful than you.

    So fuck off and shut up.
    Get a grip casino. You can consider the merits of a technology in isolation without turning it into a culture war.

    Do air source heat pumps work? Absolutely. Are they worth ripping out an existing gas central heating system? Definitely not. I haven't ripped mine out and I am a big supporter of the technology - too expensive, not worth it.

    There will come a time though when it is worth it.
    It's not a culture war.

    I'm not convinced of the cost-benefit analysis.

    Change my mind.
    If you are choosing between an air conditioner and an air source heat pump, the question is a simple one: is the small additional investment worth the added functionality -it also heats your house!- and the lower running costs.

    My guess is that there are few places on planet Earth better suited for air source heat pumps for cooling and heating rooms. Why? Because the range of outside temperatures is relatively narrow compared to some places on Earth.

    With that said, air source heat pumps are not perfect. For making water really hot for baths and showers, there are better technologies. But you know what's really cheap? Immersion heaters.

    If you don't have any need or desire to cool as well as heat, then there's not a lot of point in getting a heat pump. You will save in long-term running costs, but that's at the expense of much higher initial costs. And for most people, that equation simply won't make sense.

    The real benefit comes from the fact you have heating and cooling combined, and that it heats rooms at a fraction of the cost of a traditional boiler.

    Need just heating: nothing beats a gas boiler.
    Need heating and cooling: you should get an air source heat pump
  • CookieCookie Posts: 17,651

    MelonB said:

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Pulpstar said:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-2025

    Note that they are talking about episodes where the mean temperature hit… 22 and a bit degrees

    And they were noticing deaths in the statistics.

    The conclusion that care homes should have air-con is astonishingly obvious
    Everywhere should. The government should offer some kind of incentive for domestic houses to install solar panels + aircon as a package.
    solar panels + heat pumps please
    AC is an air-to-air heat pump.

    Previously they only promoted air-to-water heat pumps as an alternative to gas boilers but they're not always suitable for retrofitting as a like-for-like replacement which has damaged their image. The good thing about AC is that it complements whatever else you've got instead of attempting to replace it.
    A heat pump is just an AC unit with (a) a variable speed compressor, that can (b) run in reverse and therefore heat as well as cool.

    In our flat in London, we put in air conditioning about three years ago. In retrospect, we should have gone with a heat pump. But I guess we were probably about a year too early.
    I know I've said it before but our heat pump is keep the house really cool. It's currently 33.7 outside and 23.4 inside; it peaked at 35.7* outside and 24.2 inside.

    (*That's an absolute record high for us, not for June but for any month. We've been recording for 16 years.)
    They work for well insulated homes that have been designed for them.

    Stick them in an average British semi and they'd be shit. The output isn't good enough. They don't heat hot enough fast enough in Winter, and provide enough hot water when you need it, and take ages to cool a house down in the Summer.

    The rest is propaganda. They are expensive and a bit shit.

    This is why no-one buys one.
    Certainly expensive but the last govt gave grants to help those with money fit them.

    I just don’t like the look. I don’t want the back of my home to resemble the back of an industry unit in Cradley Heath.
    It did, but they aren't effective.

    Any tradesman or builder will tell you this - unless you spend a huge amount on your property- and this is why hardly any of your neighbours have any, even though many are steadily installing solar panels.
    I have one in my French barn, as do almost all of the neighbours. Pretty bog standard, because very few homes have mains gas.

    It does seem to be a particularly British problem. A bit like our inability to build high speed Rail lines (though we do share that with the Americans). I don't know if we have uniquely inefficient heat pumps or uniquely badly insulated houses (maybe the latter), but the barn has solid stone walls so is not mega-insulated.
    Well, without mains gas they're a no brainer vs heating oil, biomass pellets or gas canisters. Mains gas is pretty damn hard to beat though. Still.
    Not so good for cooling though.
    My Dad used to have a gas powered fridge. He remembers getting it converted from town gas to north sea gas.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 40,253


    Natasha Clark
    @NatashaC
    ·
    1h
    Bridget Phillipson tells @AndrewMarr9 @lbc she will go get a T-shirt saying “spiteful class warrior” after her spat with Kemi Badenoch

    This is PB. Nobody puts Kemi in the corner.

    If Kemi wants to liken anyone to the Gestapo who are we to criticise?
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 6,032


    The Green Party
    @TheGreenParty
    ·
    2h
    The Green Party is calling for a maximum workplace temperature to be introduced.

    https://x.com/TheGreenParty/status/2069802320829743518

    And workplace air-con to keep the temperature down?
    Okay let’s set it at 50!

    Peter.
    3 x 10^64 seems a rather extreme temperature to set it at.
    That's hot enough for the emitted radiation to create a black hole, which would render the workplace unusable. Up to that - carry on.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 4,939


    The Green Party
    @TheGreenParty
    ·
    2h
    The Green Party is calling for a maximum workplace temperature to be introduced.

    https://x.com/TheGreenParty/status/2069802320829743518

    And workplace air-con to keep the temperature down?
    Okay let’s set it at 50!

    Peter.
    3 x 10^64 seems a rather extreme temperature to set it at.
    That's hot enough for the emitted radiation to create a black hole, which would render the workplace unusable. Up to that - carry on.
    I do know that time seems to slow down when I am in my workplace, but I didn't realise that was the reason why.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 46,638

    This is so fucking weird.

    SNP MP in crossing-fingers row accused of faking Scottish accent

    Clips emerged showing Lara Bird — who was criticised for her behaviour while taking an oath to the King — speaking with a middle-class English accent


    An SNP politician who was already under fire for crossing her figures while swearing allegiance to the King has been accused of adopting a fake Scottish accent.

    Lara Bird faced a backlash after making the gesture, traditionally used by primary school-age children when they are lying, when being sworn in as an MP after her victory in the Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-election last week.

    Now her accent has come under scrutiny after video clips emerged of her speaking with a clearly English, middle-class accent before she became a Scottish nationalist election candidate. The SNP’s opponents speculated that the abrupt change in her speaking voice was an attempt to curry favour with “anti-English” SNP supporters.

    In her first Commons appearance, Bird stated that her “first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland” and that she was swearing allegiance to the monarch “only so that I can serve the people” of her constituency.

    Although she was raised in Scotland, Bird’s parents separated and her mother’s side of the family is English. She is believed to have attended a private school in Dundee, but took a law degree at the University of Sheffield in 2018 before moving to London.


    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/snp-mp-accused-faking-scottish-accent-lara-bird-7mgrwd6j5

    unionists are desperate creatures
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,805
    edited 7:20PM
    rcs1000 said:

    Interesting header.

    With Sir Keir remaining an MP, I think foreign secretary could be back on. If not now, then in the future.

    Of the four great offices of state it is the most detached from everyday politics.

    And, for all his weaknesses as a leader, Sir Keir’s statecraft is widely recognised.

    I might just take the 16s if still available.

    If you want to prioritise your partner and kids, taking a job that requires you to be out of the country half the time is not optimal.

    So no bet.
    Really? My wife would happy if I was away half the time, and absolutely overjoyed if it was two-thirds of the time.

    So long, of course, if for that third of the time that I was around, then I was really around - with no conference calls, Slacks, etc.
    Indeed. There is a difference between being ‘here’ and being ‘present’. Women, in particular (but not exclusively), notice this stuff.

    I do wonder whether Sir Keir (and Lady Vic) would be interested in FS.

    It seems a value bet.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,108
    France closes nuclear reactor as Europe buckles under the brutal heatwave

    France has been forced to shut down a nuclear reactor as a brutal European heatwave pushes temperatures towards a staggering 46C and leaves a trail of deaths, blackouts fears and transport disruption across the continent.

    Operators at the Golfech nuclear power station near Toulouse took one of the plant’s reactors offline after water temperatures in the Garonne River rose above safe operating limits.

    The reactor relies on the river to keep its cooling systems functioning, but the intense heat has left the water too warm for normal operations.


    https://londonlovesbusiness.com/france-closes-nuclear-reactor-as-europe-buckles-under-the-brutal-heatwave/
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 46,638

    malcolmg said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    Duplicate and in using vf

    Yeah it’s still doing that. Says error but posts anyway, often 404s when refreshing on vf.pb.com.

    Looks like the Vanilla/Cloudflare interface is screwed, perhaps a failed server in the pool that doesn’t show as actually failed.
    I'm thinking about dumping Vanilla, and just going full self hosted.
    Brave but it shouldn't be that difficult nowadays..
    When PB was first started, we used standard Wordpress comments.

    As the site got more popular, though, it became unusable. In particular, it was very slow, and the site was absolutely spammed with adverts for certain pharmaceuticals that I know no PBer would ever need.

    So, we changed first to Disqus (until the great threading disaster of 2011), and then Vanilla.

    Candidly, Vanilla is expensive, and fragile. It does not work well with Cloudflare, and we've been getting duplicated posts.

    And PB is now on a fairly high performance server in Finland. I suspect that it would be easily capable of handling comments on Wordpress. And I'm equally sure that spam management, etc is all much better.

    So... when I next get a day off, I will almost certainly transition us over.
    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    Duplicate and in using vf

    Yeah it’s still doing that. Says error but posts anyway, often 404s when refreshing on vf.pb.com.

    Looks like the Vanilla/Cloudflare interface is screwed, perhaps a failed server in the pool that doesn’t show as actually failed.
    I'm thinking about dumping Vanilla, and just going full self hosted.
    Brave but it shouldn't be that difficult nowadays..
    When PB was first started, we used standard Wordpress comments.

    As the site got more popular, though, it became unusable. In particular, it was very slow, and the site was absolutely spammed with adverts for certain pharmaceuticals that I know no PBer would ever need.

    So, we changed first to Disqus (until the great threading disaster of 2011), and then Vanilla.

    Candidly, Vanilla is expensive, and fragile. It does not work well with Cloudflare, and we've been getting duplicated posts.

    And PB is now on a fairly high performance server in Finland. I suspect that it would be easily capable of handling comments on Wordpress. And I'm equally sure that spam management, etc is all much better.

    So... when I next get a day off, I will almost certainly transition us over.
    What duplicates?

    Seriously, your efforts are much appreciated - if you need a call for funds just let us know*

    (*Malc's minted, I believe ;-) )
    given the mansion you built Ben , you are far far richer than me.
    Not any more Malc - have you never seen how it always goes on Grand Designs?
    Ben you will be pilloried on here soon for being a rich pensioner hogging a big house and not downsizing and paying gazillions in tax
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