So our Jeff is having a 417foot super yacht built – with motorised smaller boat with a helipad for around $500 million. What a Pratt!
BANWELL BYPASS
Probably 50 years too late to be useful! And possibly obsolete within 10 years! But I have just received a questionnaire about it. It is from Sandford Neighbhood Group – whoever they are? Their names are not published. And I will question the motives as there is no mention of costs/benefits to surrounding villages and communities.
CLOUDS
Weather forecast says we might get some cumulonimbus-nimbus clouds – fun! Thunder also gives free nutrients. I just looked at the rainfall radar, and some heavy rain looks likely to be on its way. Update 2 hours later. Meteo says 50% chance light showers, MetO says 90% chance of heavy showers for next 12 hours. BBC somewhere in between! So now 16.00 – Meteo says 72% rain, but not much 2-3mm, and for an hour in total to midnight I presume. So
CITIES
This might develop into a longer post than usual.
Levelling up is a favourite term for our misguided mob leading the country. Something they themselves have decried for decades. Ebbw Vale was built for steel, and now that industry has gone there is little point in pouring money into a failed site. So is this true of the north of England (or Wales, and parts of Scotland)?
COCK UP CALAMITY
Whilst things have been going well with the governments Covid strategy in the main, some aspects remain tarred with the brush of corruption.
Whilst Dildo Harding has over sight of test and trace, it seems she has not been alert enough. Over 50000 employees – not of the NHS, but outsourced to their favourite cronies. Not only is no evidence of any success or efficiency, it now seems that these firms have been abusing the system, avoiding taxes and undermining employee rights. Same old nasty party!
Why can’t they clean up their act, I guess it is because the guy at the top is incompetent.
Whilst on incompetence we have the Labour Party. Maybe Starmer could use the PMQ’s as a chance to state new policies which would be better than the Tory ones, or even just one! Slaging Johnson off is a) too easy; and b) possibly counterproductive as people genuinely do not care that much whilst they can sing the tune of we get things done. At the moment they are riding high on the vaccine success of the NHS, a rebounding economy and the end to lockdown (hopefully permanently).
So lets hear it for a renationalised train system investing in Northern links (combined with a ban on all flights of less than 500km. A new line to Cornwall avoiding Dawlish. Investment in electric charging points. A scrappage scheme to allow people to scrap diesel cars. Investment in insulation and planning rules to make solar panels compulsory. Investment in tidal energy – possibly small scale. Warn investors in denationalised water companies and energy companies that excessive profits will be taxed. Introduction of a rule that any company paying dividends must be paying employees enough to avoid claiming universal credit. Directors wages and bonus’s to be capped in a similar way. I do not care if Coates gets £420 million as long as she pays her taxes in full, and all her workers are properly remunerated for their efforts. Make tax breaks for John Lewis style structures.
Local business rates needs a complete evaluation. What do they get for their money? I know they do not get rubbish collection or recycling! I am sure the NHS could be less bureaucratic and I would love to know if school academies have been economically more efficient (I fear not!).
House prices – much of problem could be solved by higher tax of second homes and airbnb. Lets see what the education bit of the Queens speech says today. (PS. she is a fit old bird – has she missed one yet?).
JACKDAWS
For the past couple of weeks a blackbird has been singing with great gusto from the TV aerials opposite the shop or a tall willow tree. The last couple of days have seen jackdaws move into his patch.. This morning there was a kerfuffle with one jackdaw seemingly being dragged out of a chimney. This was followed with a growing number until there were 14 whirling round whilst shouting. They were joined by 2 magpies who came in like UN Observers. They watched until the hubbub died down and there were only 2 left. Then the blackbird arrived on a neighbouring TV mast, but obviously de coded that it was not wise to practise his melodies, and he soon flew off.
IN PRAISE OF
Scotlands voting system. A mix of first past the post and then a regional list. This enables people to have 7 or 9 (I cannot remember the exact figures) MP’s to be able to approach. It also enabled the tories with 5 seats to have an extra 26 seats in the parliament, Labour to go from 1 to 22, and the Greens to go from 0 to 8. Thus if vote for a party which is well supported but get no initial MP’s you are still represented. Something similar happens in Wales. Of course the nasty party will not change, in fact it is thinking of reverting to first past the post in Englands mayoral votes. Oh and introducing visual ID to allow you to vote – despite there being no evidence of voter fraud (this is a trick learnt from party Trump to reduce voter participation by the poor and BAME communities.
POLITICS
Firstly why would anyone vote Labour in England – they appear not to have any policies. Yet in Wales they have their best ever result. SNP storm it in Scotland. It appears people voted for decisive leadership where it was available! Without that they voted for the furlough scheme and vaccinations. Hartlepool was always a disaster waiting to happen after the Labour leadership imposed their candidate. Why has Starmer not gone yet? Andy Burnham looks like a safe’ish set of hands. And again showed that a labour candidate is not disadvantaged per se.
STARMER HAS TO GO!
Starmer has to go. Being a Tony Blair clone, a watered down tory is unacceptable. As West Ham United, Everton and other clubs supprorters know, it is not enough to nearly win. Playing with panache and fire is vitally important. Labour have been dour and boring. Whilst an easy target the tories have still managed to come out on top. So Keir, basically F off and let someone with passion take over. Corbyn failed not because of his policies, but due to a lack of fire and rhetoric (and a few dodgy decisions that the press unduly amplified). I am not sure I can think of anyone who fits the bill at the moment. The way politics is nowadays maybe Eddie Izzard.
Turnout in Scotland is up by about 10%. I wonder how this compares with England. Scotland seems to be going SNP – no surprise from me here, I wonder how labour will do in Wales with a decent leader like Drakeford, but he has not got enough umph!
Interesting that Cambridge has turned back on Conservatives. Hartlepool was almost inevitable after Starmer imposed his candidate. Across the rest of England I guess people are just happy to be able to return to a ‘normal’ life. Personally I I am not sure I will ever be happy sit-in a snug in a pub again!
Even if SNP do not get the majority, it will be close, and what does that mean for the UK? And then there is London – possibly still labour and a major part of the economy. If Scotland and N.I. peel off, will London politicians get assertive? The key point might be for them to get a media backer to put their views out.
So not a very United Kingdom! Johnson and co will probably brazen it out for now. However it would seem that 3 of the 4 nations are not happy at being bullied by the other one. And they should not be too complacent about England. All 4 countries have had the same pandemic, similar economic impacts, and yet the votes cast are markedly different. What is the main difference? SNP, WLP and SF are all further to the left – is there a different perception of each ones own governance (NI can be left out as a different case, but not too keen on Brexit).
And the Cornish turkeys continue to vote for Xmas! I can understand the reluctance to vote labour, due to their independent history in mining and fishing. But surely the Green Party should have stepped up to the mark here. In fact at the moment the Green Party are probably a bigger threat in England than labour! Greens have done it in Germany, so come on guys get your act together.
PLANTS
I went to the garden centre and have bought some nasturtium, nemesia and some Iceland poppies.
I have also ordered a collection of 12 mints (plug plants0 so they will take a while to get established – but then I think 30cm pots in front garden and/or patio. Pots are a couple of quid each for plastic ones, but ideally I will get terra cotta or more interesting ones eventually. A note that the geum have not germinated so far. Just about everything else has.
I need to sort out kitchen window sill for herbs – mainly basil. And I will plant mustard and cress, and maybe get a chilli plant.