Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
Within Westminster there is growing speculation that, finally, Dan Hodges may get one of his speculative gossipy predictions right.
A Terrible Thing Happened to My Family Even in today's climate, there should be one fundamental principle everyone respects: whatever you think about someone in politics, you leave their kids alone. https://petebuttigieg.substack.com/p/a-terrible-thing-happened-to-my-family Someone decided to hurt our family this week. I’m furious, and I want to share what happened.
You’ve probably heard of “swatting.” It’s a cruel and dangerous kind of hoax that has started happening more frequently in recent years. Someone anonymously calls 911 with a false report of imminent danger, such as a hostage situation, at the home of a public figure. Law enforcement swarms the house, guns drawn, terrifying the unsuspecting homeowner and family and sometimes even leading to deaths or injuries in the confusion. It’s happened to dozens of lawmakers, judges, celebrities, and others. (When I was in the Cabinet, someone attempted to do this to our home, but fortunately the hoax was quickly detected.) It’s become enough of a problem that the FBI now has a dedicated database to track such incidents.
Now imagine the same concept, but with Child Protective Services instead of a SWAT team. Hadn’t thought of that? Me neither, until a few days ago when a police officer and a CPS worker showed up at our home and politely asked to speak with me.
I showed them in, invited them on the deck so that we could hear each other over the barking dog, and asked what was going on. They explained that there had been an allegation against me, that it concerned our four-year-old twins, and that a forensic interview had been arranged for the children the following day. I could not be present at the children’s interview, nor could any family member sit in. Afterwards, they would come back and interview me. And only then would they tell me anything about the nature of the allegation...
That's appalling. Who would want to be in politics in the US? No wonder so many of them are mad.
Buttigieg is right, though I'd suggest there are at least two problems here:
1 - The use of the crime of swatting as a tactic, or whatever this is called where it is social services and children. 2 - There is also a question about the culture and practices of US law enforcement, which is I think deeper.
Has Trump commented? He has a longstanding practice of publicly demonising innocent individuals such as Court Clerks involved in his cases, which with his rhetoric contributes to a contemporary culture where violence is tolerated.
Trump's administration has also used threats of separation of children from their families as an intimidatory practice.
Just to add to the gaiety (ha!) of the proceedings, such use of police and social services as a "swatting" has occurred in the UK.
Not been used by the government as such, but there are reliable reports of people crossing councillors and getting enquiries etc.
As ever, the US leads in such stuff and we follow on...
The Burnham has no mandate argument is utter horse manure.
He commands the House. Therefore he has a mandate. We do not elect a PM; we elect a House of Commons.
Agree. Once a general election has taken place then you don't have another one until one of three things occurs: the passing of five years, the PM asking for and getting a dissolution, and thirdly the government falling by virtue of a VONC and parliament fails to find an alternative which does find support.
So (extreme example) 220 Labour MPs and 110 Tory MPs all join Reform and take the Reform whip next week. Labour government loses VONC. Parliament tests whether Farage PM can get the support of 325 MPs. If he does he stays. If he doesn't, general election is called.
Manifestos have no force except by convention when dealing with the powers of the House of Lords. What does have force is the election of each MP to do their bit in being an operative parliament until for some reason this is so impossible that there is no government
Until 1905 it was actually fairly common for governments to change party without an election.
From 1865 to 1868 there were four prime ministers from three different parties, but no election.
This political climate is one of the things which makes the Palliser sequence of six Trollope novels such fascinating reading.
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of ubiquitous air con - which is really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that it mentally traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of it - which ix really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that if traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica fur a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
Once you have spent the money on outside units etc. doing the downstairs is so little extra cost.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
That water is wet
That the earth is not flat
That the past occurred before the future
I listened to a NatCon essentially Trumpish podcast this morning, and it came across like McCarthy in the 1950s reading out a list of "Communist" enemies obtained from the voices in his head, engaging mainly with their own hysteria.
DSA have a membership of about 100k, compared to 30-35m for the largr parties.
Having had a quick look, I don't see that they propose anything particularly radical in Socialist terms. Is any of it outside the mainstream in European terms? I need to look a little more thoroughly.
Sad to see that my favourite Margaret Thatcher impersonator Sally Grace died. I had a cassette compilation of Week Ending Thatcher sketches when I was a teenager. If you let the first side run on too long after the final sketch, Sally's Maggie shouted 'turn the bloody tape over stupid!' It made me jump out of my skin the first time.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
Perhaps it's resolving into a binary choice for him - keep credibility as a potential PM or keep the £5m.
The Burnham has no mandate argument is utter horse manure.
He commands the House. Therefore he has a mandate. We do not elect a PM; we elect a House of Commons.
Up to a point. Burnham will inherit Labour's Ming Vase mandate from 2024. What Burnham cannot do reasonably is claim that his Makersfield victory, however impressive, gives him a shiny new mandate to do something else entirely, and the same is true of winning an internal party leadership election. The last PM who did make such a claim was Liz Truss.
If over 300 MPs nominate him to become party leader and Prime Minister then he can claim that as a mandate, whether you like it or not.
We elect MPs, not manifestos.
Yes, in practice, Burnham can do whatever he likes. What he cannot do, however, is state that either the Makersfield by-election or an internal leadership election constitutes a new mandate that is distinct from the mandate given to the Labour government by its 2024 election victory.
There is neither an old mandate or a new one. Governments govern as long as they don't lose a VONC. They can't do what they like except as the have powers to do as government. In parliamentary terms they can only do what gets a majority vote in parliament. We elect MPs to use their judgment, not to be mandated to anything. They are not delegates. Any 325 of them can decide it's time for an election if they feel so inclined and the government can do nothing to stop it.
Up to a point and that point regards the common political usage of the word ‘mandate’.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
It would probably make more sense for them to have a female leader, which at this stage would have to be Sarah Pochin because there isn't anyone else.
This tells us she is politically ambitious, and knows how to play the game.
On this basis, I'd back her as Chancellor.
Which is one of the problems with our system. Someone seems to be doing a good job in one area of specialism? Great, let's move them out of that into something completely different on which they may or may not have any competence. Ditto Streeting from Health or Miliband from energy (I appreciate people will be along arguing those 2 are crap at their current jobs, but I'd argue both have learned a lot and developed expertise in their brief).
It's the British haveago amateurism at play again. Dislike of experts and technocrats. One of the main reasons our labour productivity per hour is so low.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
There is a point, whether it is past, present or future, when Farage is to realise that he is not going to be Prime Minister. This has been obvious to ordinary mortals for some time. For all I know it may be that actually he doesn't want to be. His style and personality, if I have put him in the right box, is command and control, and the closest thing to his style in post war UK politics is Mrs T (not T Blair who is sui generis.) Mrs T had a project which was to some extent workable. Farage doesn't, and he knows it. Which is why I think he may not want it.
His choices are: Find a reason and leave. Or stay and lose.
We have just seen how quickly power drains away from Starmer once people get the message that he isn't to stay. Same with Farage. Once people get the message that his options are stay and lose, or leave and lose they won't hang around.
May we at some point have Leon back so that he can politely disagree with me?
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of ubiquitous air con - which is really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that it mentally traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
We have a new, south facing, upstairs lounge. Amazeballs in winters but trying last week. Big curtains needed. Have long believed we live the wrong way - bedrooms should be downstairs as cooler and upstairs has the better views for living rooms.
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of it - which ix really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that if traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica fur a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
Once you have spent the money on outside units etc. doing the downstairs is so little extra cost.
The Burnham has no mandate argument is utter horse manure.
He commands the House. Therefore he has a mandate. We do not elect a PM; we elect a House of Commons.
Up to a point. Burnham will inherit Labour's Ming Vase mandate from 2024. What Burnham cannot do reasonably is claim that his Makersfield victory, however impressive, gives him a shiny new mandate to do something else entirely, and the same is true of winning an internal party leadership election. The last PM who did make such a claim was Liz Truss.
If over 300 MPs nominate him to become party leader and Prime Minister then he can claim that as a mandate, whether you like it or not.
We elect MPs, not manifestos.
Yes, in practice, Burnham can do whatever he likes. What he cannot do, however, is state that either the Makersfield by-election or an internal leadership election constitutes a new mandate that is distinct from the mandate given to the Labour government by its 2024 election victory.
Why not?
Because in common parlance, governments get mandates from general elections.
"Yorkshire has recorded its highest ever June temperature - reaching 34.4C (93.5F) in Sheffield.
The new record, set at the Met Office's weather station in Weston Park, surpasses the previous long-standing record of 33.1C (91.5) observed in Huddersfield on 22 June 1941."
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of ubiquitous air con - which is really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that it mentally traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
We have a new, south facing, upstairs lounge. Amazeballs in winters but trying last week. Big curtains needed. Have long believed we live the wrong way - bedrooms should be downstairs as cooler and upstairs has the better views for living rooms.
My office is upstairs, largely because of the view.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
Perhaps it's resolving into a binary choice for him - keep credibility as a potential PM or keep the £5m.
SFAICS if he stays in politics he will have neither.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
It would probably make more sense for them to have a female leader, which at this stage would have to be Sarah Pochin because there isn't anyone else.
There's that Laila Cunningham. Their London mayor candidate. Perhaps she could be their 'not an MP' equivalent of Zack Polanski.
The Burnham has no mandate argument is utter horse manure.
He commands the House. Therefore he has a mandate. We do not elect a PM; we elect a House of Commons.
Up to a point. Burnham will inherit Labour's Ming Vase mandate from 2024. What Burnham cannot do reasonably is claim that his Makersfield victory, however impressive, gives him a shiny new mandate to do something else entirely, and the same is true of winning an internal party leadership election. The last PM who did make such a claim was Liz Truss.
If over 300 MPs nominate him to become party leader and Prime Minister then he can claim that as a mandate, whether you like it or not.
We elect MPs, not manifestos.
Yes, in practice, Burnham can do whatever he likes. What he cannot do, however, is state that either the Makersfield by-election or an internal leadership election constitutes a new mandate that is distinct from the mandate given to the Labour government by its 2024 election victory.
Why not?
Because in common parlance, governments get mandates from general elections.
Of course there is a sort of convention about manifestos. But convention it is. Nothing prevents a party going into an election saying 'Trust us to do our best for everyone in the country. Full stop'. Perhaps we would do better if they did.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
Perhaps it's resolving into a binary choice for him - keep credibility as a potential PM or keep the £5m.
SFAICS if he stays in politics he will have neither.
Happen to agree. But as we speak he still leads the party with a poll lead and a 2.9 betfair chance of largest party.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
Quite likely - the £5million "gift" has damaged him irreparably. There is no satisfactory explanation for it and he is going to get questions on it every time he sticks his head in the firing line.
Wonder if the crypto guy will want his money back if Farage quits? He won't be a happy bunny that's for sure.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
It would probably make more sense for them to have a female leader, which at this stage would have to be Sarah Pochin because there isn't anyone else.
There's that Laila Cunningham. Their London mayor candidate. Perhaps she could be their 'not an MP' equivalent of Zack Polanski.
I want her to lose, regardless of her politics, because she looks too much like an ex I wish to forget and don’t fancy seeing her spouting shit on tv and online for the next few years.
The Burnham has no mandate argument is utter horse manure.
He commands the House. Therefore he has a mandate. We do not elect a PM; we elect a House of Commons.
The latter bit has yet to be tested. 400 or so Labour MPs really feel that Burnham is so far superior to themselves that they need him to rescue them? I've never quite bought this, but the evidence available says that yes, they do think they are that useless. Such a thing is both scary and baffling - if you think you're useless why are you putting yourself up to be an MP?
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
Quite likely - the £5million "gift" has damaged him irreparably. There is no satisfactory explanation for it and he is going to get questions on it every time he sticks his head in the firing line.
Wonder if the crypto guy will want his money back if Farage quits? He won't be a happy bunny that's for sure.
The gift has a perfectly satisfactory explanation. It was given to make him personally rich enough not to need other support and to make him beholden to the giver.
Not sure the giver would be that upset. £5m is a smallish investment. Even if Farage quits as the head of Reform he will be a big player, with a personal vote to throw around.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
It would probably make more sense for them to have a female leader, which at this stage would have to be Sarah Pochin because there isn't anyone else.
There's that Laila Cunningham. Their London mayor candidate. Perhaps she could be their 'not an MP' equivalent of Zack Polanski.
I want her to lose, regardless of her politics, because she looks too much like an ex I wish to forget and don’t fancy seeing her spouting shit on tv and online for the next few years.
Still 2 hours to fester before kick off. Ridiculous.
If England top their group and win their last 32 match then our last 16 match will be kicking off at 1am, in Mexico, likely against Mexico.
Scorchio and bloody difficult.
Hence the stupidity of having a World Cup across such a huge area - if England win that they will be knackered then have to likely play Brazil in humid open air stadium in Miami. It shouldn’t be possible that teams could go through a route where they play in Toronto/Vancouver/New Jersey and come up against teams who have been drained more than Bonnie Blue’s boyfriend.
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of ubiquitous air con - which is really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that it mentally traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
We have a new, south facing, upstairs lounge. Amazeballs in winters but trying last week. Big curtains needed. Have long believed we live the wrong way - bedrooms should be downstairs as cooler and upstairs has the better views for living rooms.
I'd say that "aircon in bedroom or living area" is a decision which has to be individual rather than a matter for attempted regulation. There is also a complication in that houses now are far more managed as a single volume rather than a series of rooms; having no central heating upstairs or say just a towel rail for emergencies is quite practical.
Upside down houses are not uncommon. For example a former girlfriend retrained to a new career, and her new 1980s terraced house had it's living space on the first floor (3 storey).
If you are on the top floor the quality of roof structure becomes important due to heat soak and decrement delay (ie how long it takes to soak through).
In the UK most of us are urban with small gardens, so we often want the view enclosed for privacy.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
It would probably make more sense for them to have a female leader, which at this stage would have to be Sarah Pochin because there isn't anyone else.
There's that Laila Cunningham. Their London mayor candidate. Perhaps she could be their 'not an MP' equivalent of Zack Polanski.
I want her to lose, regardless of her politics, because she looks too much like an ex I wish to forget and don’t fancy seeing her spouting shit on tv and online for the next few years.
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
If you are putting extra demand on the grid, then the question is where does that incremental extra get generated? If a CCGT has to fire up to keep the A/C user's cool, then we're at 450 kg/MWh to meet their demand.
Still 2 hours to fester before kick off. Ridiculous.
If England top their group and win their last 32 match then our last 16 match will be kicking off at 1am, in Mexico, likely against Mexico.
Scorchio and bloody difficult.
Azteca, Mexico City isnt likely to be hot, its a 9pm local kick off, might even be in the teens rather than 20s. Its the 2240m altitude that makes it a home fortress.
Within Westminster there is growing speculation Nigel Farage will not lead Reform into the next election. If that proves correct, it could create a political earthquake that would surpass any of the reverberations Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have generated over the past week.
Dan Hodges - Mail
It would probably make more sense for them to have a female leader, which at this stage would have to be Sarah Pochin because there isn't anyone else.
There's that Laila Cunningham. Their London mayor candidate. Perhaps she could be their 'not an MP' equivalent of Zack Polanski.
I want her to lose, regardless of her politics, because she looks too much like an ex I wish to forget and don’t fancy seeing her spouting shit on tv and online for the next few years.
I think you're going to be fine there.
I wonder what the motivations were for Laila C to be the Mayoral candidate, as it is a very big ask.
I can dream up several reasons, but they are either not credible, or cynical.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 57% of 261 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.60/10.
Excerpt from "Zima Blue" at the beginning
"..."Let's go back to the wine for a moment," Zima said. "Normally, you'd have relied on the advice of the AM [an AI], wouldn't you? [...] And you follow that advice unquestioningly?" I sipped at the red. "Of course. Wouldn't it be a little childish to go against it just to make a point about free will? After all, I'm more likely to be satisfied with the choice it suggests." "But unless you ignore that suggestion now and then, won't your whole life become a set of predictable responses?" "Maybe," I said. "But is that so very bad? If I'm happy, what do I care?"..."
Excerpt from "Zima Blue" at the end
"...It turned out that I remembered more of our meeting on the island than I had any right to. Make of that what you will, but it seemed I didn't need the mental crutch of my AM quite as much as I'd always imagined. Zima was right: I'd allowed my life to become scripted, laid out like a blueprint. It was always red wine with sunsets, never the white..."
Don't rely on other people's taste, young man: go make your own. We have enough robots.
Sadiq Khan's attempt to stop London residents from installing air conditioning is probably the closest thing for a thousand years to King Cnut trying to hold back the waves (even if the latter isn't historically accurate, lol).
According to Khan's plan launched 2 days ago there is no bar on AC when more than passive measures are needed. It also recommends AC for Hospitals and Care settings etc.
"The Well-Adapted UK report from the Climate Change Committee (the independent advisory group to government) sets clear, costed targets for reducing heat-health impacts. Passive methods for cooling (e.g., external shading) will minimise energy demand and increase resilience; but air conditioning will also be needed for vulnerable settings such as health and care. To reach safe and comfortable temperatures across other settings, there may be cases where air conditioning is needed in combination with passive measures."
No other hot country "debates" the merits of air conditioning, they just get on with it.
Other countries do also emphasise passive measures, notably trees and shading. Paris, Singapore, Chicago for example all require passive measures such as tree planting in order to provide shade, as well as a more pleasant ambience.
In any case AC is not banned by Khan, indeed he wants it in high risk places such as hospitals and care homes.
Also by far the most cost-effective measure you can make.
But we can all see where this is going - a contrived culture war where people pretend the world is black and white. Where encouraging cycling becomes “the war on cars”, where insulating homes properly is some sort of green conspiracy against energy consumption, and where planting street trees is all about “banning AC”.
Under the London Plan, air conditioning is strongly discouraged for new developments, which gives councils a reason to refuse planning permission for those that include it. Therefore developers do not include it and there is an effective ban.
This is the same as dredging, which isn't banned but tied up with so much red tape it no longer happens, and building new reservoirs, which has been de facto banned for decades. The reason behind all these things is the same. Rivers where the silt is not managed flood when there's a lot of rain. Water systems with no storage run out of water quickly when there's a sustained dry period. Buildings with no air conditioning make life uncomfortable when the weather is unusually hot. The whole thing is designed to pitch people into crisis after crisis that will soften them up to give ever more of their freedom and their money to making it stop.
The last part of course is to gaslight the public by saying these things are not banned and that objecting to the not bans is engaging in a 'culture war'. So you can basically sweat in your house and like it, or be labelled a Faragist deplorable.
Unless the planners put an explicit planning condition on:'No air con', it makes not a jot of difference. No one need specify air con in a planning app and not specifying it doesn't prevent you installing it.
It's actually Building Control guidance which is the issue. As updated in June 2022 Part L and Part O make it tricky to install air con in a new build. Not totally impossible but tricky.
The Conservative Party's campaign to overturn what they call a "de facto ban" on air conditioning in new homes is therefore somewhat hypocritical.
One of the bizarre things about the current right-wing is that they're obsessed with the Left taking away their freedoms when it is the techbros who are doing that right now with the surveillance infrastructure that they are building.
What freedoms are being taken away by the surveillance infrastructure?
Most people rather like criminals being caught on CCTV and brought to justice, for instance.
Freedom from harassment by a vengeful ex if they are able to buy access to the data, for example.
With the whole King of the North marches to Londinium thing we seem to have not noticed perhaps that this has been Reform's worst couple of weeks in ages.
Farage - £5m. Various terrible tv interviews related to that. Plus he looks out of sorts and frankly nackered. Some pol commentators now saying will he actually still be leader in 2029? Yusuf - gets hooked into telling QT audience that he has applied to be a by-election candidate but the party blocked him. The polling for Manc mayor (Reform types don't seem to have understood SV voting)
Then of course there's Makerfield itself. Speccie seems to be saying that some Reform sources say they knew Kenyon would be shit but it was important to show that an ordinary Reform member could make it to be an MP. Laudible but this is a fight to the political death with the King. So erm???
Except that all they did was show someone so manifestly unfit couldn't.
The Burnham has no mandate argument is utter horse manure.
He commands the House. Therefore he has a mandate. We do not elect a PM; we elect a House of Commons.
Up to a point. Burnham will inherit Labour's Ming Vase mandate from 2024. What Burnham cannot do reasonably is claim that his Makersfield victory, however impressive, gives him a shiny new mandate to do something else entirely, and the same is true of winning an internal party leadership election. The last PM who did make such a claim was Liz Truss.
If over 300 MPs nominate him to become party leader and Prime Minister then he can claim that as a mandate, whether you like it or not.
We elect MPs, not manifestos.
It’s absolutely fine and constitutional. Let’s just hope if it happens again in the future we don’t have Labour MPs queuing up to demand an election like they did with the Tories as that would be very embarrassing.
I'd say it was tedious, rather than embarrassing, but what else is an opposition going to do?
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
If you are putting extra demand on the grid, then the question is where does that incremental extra get generated? If a CCGT has to fire up to keep the A/C user's cool, then we're at 450 kg/MWh to meet their demand.
Solar surplus
Which is strangely matched to hot days. Why would that be, do you think?
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of ubiquitous air con - which is really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that it mentally traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
We have a new, south facing, upstairs lounge. Amazeballs in winters but trying last week. Big curtains needed. Have long believed we live the wrong way - bedrooms should be downstairs as cooler and upstairs has the better views for living rooms.
I've often thought that too, but the caveat is that your kitchen and front room are your public rooms, and forcing visitors to traipse upstairs isn't ideal. Plus, also, if your living areas are upstairs you also create a distance with the outside - having lived in a first floor flat is surprising how much of a barrier to spending time outside a flight of stairs can be, compared to being simply on the ground floor.
At this point logic suggests burrowing bedrooms underground - stable year-round temperatures, no trouble with light pollution, also protection against noise - but the water table is too high in many places, and the flood and fire risk would be pretty high. Plus having to rouse oneself from the subterranean dark would be onerous.
So the only solution is to build on a south-facing slope and have two ground floors at different heights. Maybe.
Still 2 hours to fester before kick off. Ridiculous.
If England top their group and win their last 32 match then our last 16 match will be kicking off at 1am, in Mexico, likely against Mexico.
Scorchio and bloody difficult.
Hence the stupidity of having a World Cup across such a huge area - if England win that they will be knackered then have to likely play Brazil in humid open air stadium in Miami. It shouldn’t be possible that teams could go through a route where they play in Toronto/Vancouver/New Jersey and come up against teams who have been drained more than Bonnie Blue’s boyfriend.
"Yorkshire has recorded its highest ever June temperature - reaching 34.4C (93.5F) in Sheffield.
The new record, set at the Met Office's weather station in Weston Park, surpasses the previous long-standing record of 33.1C (91.5) observed in Huddersfield on 22 June 1941."
Nearly three degrees colder than "down south" yesterday!
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of ubiquitous air con - which is really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that it mentally traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
We have a new, south facing, upstairs lounge. Amazeballs in winters but trying last week. Big curtains needed. Have long believed we live the wrong way - bedrooms should be downstairs as cooler and upstairs has the better views for living rooms.
I've often thought that too, but the caveat is that your kitchen and front room are your public rooms, and forcing visitors to traipse upstairs isn't ideal. Plus, also, if your living areas are upstairs you also create a distance with the outside - having lived in a first floor flat is surprising how much of a barrier to spending time outside a flight of stairs can be, compared to being simply on the ground floor.
At this point logic suggests burrowing bedrooms underground - stable year-round temperatures, no trouble with light pollution, also protection against noise - but the water table is too high in many places, and the flood and fire risk would be pretty high. Plus having to rouse oneself from the subterranean dark would be onerous.
So the only solution is to build on a south-facing slope and have two ground floors at different heights. Maybe.
We have two lounges now. Downstairs next to the dining room/kitchen. Useful for guests. And a new upstairs with superb views lounge for us. Not even got a TV up there (yet).
A/c liberalisation would be a decent Burnham policy, so long as he ensures it doesn't look like a sop to "the South".
Decent because it is pragmatic deregulation, but also because of the terms it can be couched in: "back in the day we didn't generally need a/c in the UK because of our temperate climate, but we all know that the climate is heating up and whilst we must do as much as possible to limit how hot it gets, we've got to recognise that building regs must change with the climate".
He could also add that where air conditioning can be powered by renewables and especially by local solar panels, its carbon footprint vanishes to zero-ish.
Yep if your plan is to decarbonise the electricity grid (more or less) then A/C will have minimal impact.
Especially as peak A/C demand in the future will correlate almost perfectly with peak solar supply, so we should be aiming for surplus power generation to be used.
Even the kind of modest array of panels you can add to a terraced house (such as mine) generates more than enough 'leecy on a day when aircon is required, to run the aircon. I am exporting to the grid, while living at 18c.
I think a/c in bedrooms but not downstairs is a nice compromise. Partly because the heat is always worse upstairs, but also because one downside of ubiquitous air con - which is really noticeable in places like Singapore or the hotter bits of the US, is that it mentally traps you indoors.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
We have a new, south facing, upstairs lounge. Amazeballs in winters but trying last week. Big curtains needed. Have long believed we live the wrong way - bedrooms should be downstairs as cooler and upstairs has the better views for living rooms.
I've often thought that too, but the caveat is that your kitchen and front room are your public rooms, and forcing visitors to traipse upstairs isn't ideal. Plus, also, if your living areas are upstairs you also create a distance with the outside - having lived in a first floor flat is surprising how much of a barrier to spending time outside a flight of stairs can be, compared to being simply on the ground floor.
At this point logic suggests burrowing bedrooms underground - stable year-round temperatures, no trouble with light pollution, also protection against noise - but the water table is too high in many places, and the flood and fire risk would be pretty high. Plus having to rouse oneself from the subterranean dark would be onerous.
So the only solution is to build on a south-facing slope and have two ground floors at different heights. Maybe.
I used to imagine a fantasy house cut into a south facing hill by the sea, but too many Grand Designs sessions have convinced me against living underground.
England are now through to the last 32 anyway atfer Uruguay beat Spain, would be a bit embarsassing to lose to Panama though
Which match did you watch?
Anyhoo.
Cape Verde are the big story,
The Scots must be frustrated in that they are likely to be eliminated on three points (which led to a third place finish) whereas Cape Verde have finished second with three points.
Are you Darien to presume a Scottish fiasco?
Well, this time we can’t blame the English king or parliament.
Comments
Northern_Al - PB.
Not been used by the government as such, but there are reliable reports of people crossing councillors and getting enquiries etc.
As ever, the US leads in such stuff and we follow on...
On this basis, I'd back her as Chancellor.
I had an air conditioned apartment in Corsica for a family holiday a few years ago. We spent far more time indoors than we would have if the a/c were limited to the bedrooms. The terrace was hardly used except my me - I made a point of sitting out there on my own with a drink to "get my money's worth".
DSA have a membership of about 100k, compared to 30-35m for the largr parties.
Having had a quick look, I don't see that they propose anything particularly radical in Socialist terms. Is any of it outside the mainstream in European terms? I need to look a little more thoroughly.
Sad to see that my favourite Margaret Thatcher impersonator Sally Grace died. I had a cassette compilation of Week Ending Thatcher sketches when I was a teenager. If you let the first side run on too long after the final sketch, Sally's Maggie shouted 'turn the bloody tape over stupid!' It made me jump out of my skin the first time.
It's the British haveago amateurism at play again. Dislike of experts and technocrats. One of the main reasons our labour productivity per hour is so low.
His choices are: Find a reason and leave. Or stay and lose.
We have just seen how quickly power drains away from Starmer once people get the message that he isn't to stay. Same with Farage. Once people get the message that his options are stay and lose, or leave and lose they won't hang around.
May we at some point have Leon back so that he can politely disagree with me?
Have long believed we live the wrong way - bedrooms should be downstairs as cooler and upstairs has the better views for living rooms.
"Yorkshire has recorded its highest ever June temperature - reaching 34.4C (93.5F) in Sheffield.
The new record, set at the Met Office's weather station in Weston Park, surpasses the previous long-standing record of 33.1C (91.5) observed in Huddersfield on 22 June 1941."
But so is the bedroom....
Wonder if the crypto guy will want his money back if Farage quits? He won't be a happy bunny that's for sure.
Scorchio and bloody difficult.
Not sure the giver would be that upset. £5m is a smallish investment. Even if Farage quits as the head of Reform he will be a big player, with a personal vote to throw around.
Upside down houses are not uncommon. For example a former girlfriend retrained to a new career, and her new 1980s terraced house had it's living space on the first floor (3 storey).
If you are on the top floor the quality of roof structure becomes important due to heat soak and decrement delay (ie how long it takes to soak through).
In the UK most of us are urban with small gardens, so we often want the view enclosed for privacy.
*Eric Clapton guitar solo*
NEW THREAD
I can dream up several reasons, but they are either not credible, or cynical.
"..."Let's go back to the wine for a moment," Zima said. "Normally, you'd have relied on the advice of the AM [an AI], wouldn't you? [...] And you follow that advice unquestioningly?" I sipped at the red. "Of course. Wouldn't it be a little childish to go against it just to make a point about free will? After all, I'm more likely to be satisfied with the choice it suggests." "But unless you ignore that suggestion now and then, won't your whole life become a set of predictable responses?" "Maybe," I said. "But is that so very bad? If I'm happy, what do I care?"..."
Excerpt from "Zima Blue" at the end
"...It turned out that I remembered more of our meeting on the island than I had any right to. Make of that what you will, but it seemed I didn't need the mental crutch of my AM quite as much as I'd always imagined. Zima was right: I'd allowed my life to become scripted, laid out like a blueprint. It was always red wine with sunsets, never the white..."
Don't rely on other people's taste, young man: go make your own. We have enough robots.
Which is strangely matched to hot days. Why would that be, do you think?
At this point logic suggests burrowing bedrooms underground - stable year-round temperatures, no trouble with light pollution, also protection against noise - but the water table is too high in many places, and the flood and fire risk would be pretty high. Plus having to rouse oneself from the subterranean dark would be onerous.
So the only solution is to build on a south-facing slope and have two ground floors at different heights. Maybe.