malumbu

I was being facetious - although Major never acknowledges this in his memoirs! There was a great episode of Spitting Image, one of Thatcher's Cabinet (Hurd?) was having sexual intercourse over a desk if I remember correctly. Thatch shouts "Douglas, what on earth are you doing". "Getting a standing ovation in the Commons Prime Minister" - in reference to Cecil Parkinson's return to politics. Please do correct my memory.

Alice - what are your issues with LCC (and perhaps cyclists as a whole)? As a long time member of LCC I have yet to see a militant wing. If there was such a thing they'd haemorrhage members. And perhaps you are missing some of the point of LTNs - reducing traffic - and this includes bringing in some inconvenience. So eventually some will change their behaviour. We are stuck with this government for some time, so I don't see any about turn in policy in taking greater leadership and making some difficult, and no doubt unpopular decisions, in reducing emissions and reversing car culture. A general plea is can people stop throwing round terms like 'defensive'. Accusations that rentacycle (that's my take on the term rentamob, those who turn up at protests to cause havoc) just appear ludicrous. That's hardly me being defensive.

Major, he never had any affairs. Heath, a moratorium on his private life (not saying anything wrong with it, but a different time) Wilson, a Russian Agent? John Profumo, it's a Harrow/Oxford/Bullingdon Club sort of thing Expect there has always been sleaze, but the current PM seems to have more wrong about him in terms of professional standards than the last dozen PMs combined.

I've no idea about these particular fines, but from my experience having had various (and too many) FPNs over the years the reduced rate is for quick payment, ie a discount. As such by appealing you forego your opportunity to have a discount. It may be morally wrong but I expect legally OK. Just stating this as my experience rather than an opinion.

There is a bigger debate on why the PM is retaining his popularity - his lack of integrity, lack of leadership, lack of talent and the narrowness of the cabinet, reliance on dodgy advisors, moral standards, over-promising as we will find out on the current road map out of lockdown, and high and avoidable Covid-19 death rate. This surely can't be all down to Corbyn, getting Brexit (badly) done, and the current state of the Labour Party. His chummy, jolly, likeable rogue/idiot persona surely can't buy him that many voters, can it.....?

Reminds me of a web site of closed pubs in this area, I'll probably start a thread on the Lounge https://www.derelictlondon.com/south--south-east-london-pubs.html

Northermonkey, no need to defend being a member of LCC. Most people in membership organisations are passive, but LCC has hardly been taken over by the Red Brigade or Baader Meninhof. LCC and its regional groups are pretty transparent. Although maybe they are using thought waves to summon up a rentamob of cyclists. Can others posting here get real?

Pleased to see so much interest in cycling amongst you posting on this thread. I know Rocks has a bike, what about the rest of you? As I have posted elsewhere once organised trips start again you should come out on a social ride with Southwark Cyclists one Saturday morning. Advertised on the What's On part of this site. It was good to do some commuting last week for the first time for ages last week. I was concerned of course that there would be massive congestion - but Underhill was relatively quiet, and the Rye no worse than pre-lockdown. So all in all very positive.

When I was a kid I thought all rock bands had a colour in their name - Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Red Zeppelin, Pink Faries and the like. All Scottish independence parties need to be led by a fish, I look forward to Pike from Dad's army, Captain Haddock from Tin Tin, and Alfie Bass setting up their own, albeit some from the grave.

Bill Oddie as a child would cycle to a reservoir a few miles away from his home, which is very close to where my sister now lives. This is getting spooky. I also had a colleague who was a dead ringer for Kate Humble, who of course co-presented with Oddie. Even more spooky, and probably the ex-Goodie requires a thread of his own. Unless he has been seen in ED Sainsburys On moths I get some other brown ones in the house, but they don't crumble to dust when you hit them so probably not clothes moths. On wildlife when will I see the newts and frogs - double figures last year of each in the pond but only one frog sighing so far this spring. Saw some water snails in a ponds in Lambeth today, anyone recommend getting some for the garden pond and if so where?

All smart meters being installed now should be second generation ie compatible with all suppliers. Not sure if they are still fitting the first generation. This is quite helpful https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/smart-meters/article/smart-meters-explained/smart-meter-roll-out-aQJZI0B2Jose

I expect you and I are pretty aware of bias's, fake news and the like on the web. I can't start any conversation with "according to the Guardian". I may say that I've read something in it, or wherever. But of course we all like/select articles/organisations that support/confirm our views and it can be easy to lose objectivity or worse still as you point out, get drawn into some dark spaces. Do others have a a view? Common Cat, why the silence?!

I don't like people posting links without some discussion of what this is about, more often than not I don't bother to open them as I think that this is a lazy way of debating. I get even more grumpy about poorly titled threads! But I am in a minority. Back to the earlier post - pictures of kids being taken away by soldiers isn't great for Israel's image. OK so we had some pretty hardline policing the other day at the vigil, and the world's biggest democracy (US) at times is hardly a beacon of virtue. But this was a video of a real event and don't see an issue with it being shared whether it is from a website of disrepute or not.

I think that the west created the problem and has a role in solving this. It's not a one way street of anti-Israel propaganda, Israel is illegally occupying lands and is supporting/encouraging/implicit in criminal activity. That said you shouldn't be blinkered or assume everything is black and white. You'd also have to bring in the wider situation in the middle East, particularly Saudi and Iran. And a shame more moderate, progressive forces aren't more prominent in Israel.

I was asking Heartbeat about his students and why they felt victimised. Not your views on Southwark and the LTN Rocks. I think I know these already. Anyway Heartbeat, back to my question about victimisation.

Interesting, once when in the outer boroughs people would tell me that had to move out because of 'them' (ie immigrants), now it tends to be due to the 'schools'. Will in future it be due to LTNs and left wing politics? Conversely it is now nice to see some of the outer boroughs more diverse - Bromley (town) and Beckenham certainly, it wont stay that way as you get further out. My politics have become slightly more moderate as I get older, but certainly no move to the right...!

Interesting, once when in the outer boroughs people would tell me that had to move out because of 'them' (ie immigrants), now it tends to be due to the 'schools'. Will in future it be due to LTNs and left wing politics? Conversely it is now nice to see some of the outer boroughs more diverse - Bromley (town) and Beckenham certainly, it wont stay that way as you get further out. My politics have become slightly more moderate as I get older, but certainly no move to the right...!

First generation smart meters - daft as can't switch. For Zebra I e-mail, text or call to give readings, a bit old school but fine, and can even send a picture if I am struggling to do the reading. Like the personal touch.

First generation smart meters - daft as can't switch. For Zebra I e-mail, text or call to give readings, a bit old school but fine, and can even send a picture if I am struggling to do the reading. Like the personal touch.

You'll be getting solitary bees picking up mud from around ponds in coming weeks as they build their nests https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/ryan-clark/guide-solitary-bees-britain

You'll be getting solitary bees picking up mud from around ponds in coming weeks as they build their nests https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/ryan-clark/guide-solitary-bees-britain

New tram lines can be horrendously expensive - I expect that many areas in investing in tram/light rail have been able to use some of the existing railway lines, including those that had closed in recent decades. I'm not sure about how in London investment in new tram lines compare with the ginormous investment in cross rail. I do look forward to that opening, and in particular sorting out Whitechapel Station. Public transport for me was transformed when we had access to the tube network through the Overground. If I was to have one grump it would be the Overground briefly going into Zone 1, bumping up your costs if you go cross town. This was part of the deal in terms of revenue generation. This was also a double edged sword in encouraging gentrification, demographic changes, but there again do we prefer the old or new Peckham? We are still very hampered in London through the current road/rail infrastructure and population density. When we lost our tram lines that mode had become increasingly unpopular and buses were far more comfortable. Fast forward 50 years and my first trip on a Manchester tram was wow, and they were so much more 'sexy' for the travelling public than buses. (with thanks to the London Transport Museum and the various on line publications I receive). Doubt whether my personal recollections help the debate (and it would be good if it was a debate), on this thread. Back to the subject in hand two further articles, both on a cycling website but still interesting irrespective of your views: Survey showing that many are ambivalent, slightly more with strong views support LTNs 14% vs 9%. I'm ignoring the headline that supporters of LTNs outnumber opponents 3:1 as I suspect there is some bias ("You do support the environment don't you"). Having said that not seen full details of the survey. And yes I have designed and commissioned my own surveys in the past working with some of the national market research companies (and supported by colleagues who knew far more about survey design). https://road.cc/content/news/backers-london-ltns-outnumber-opponents-three-one-281961 The same publication has a go at the BBC for stirring things up with it's tabloid style articles, furthering entrenched views - definitely worth a read: https://road.cc/content/news/peer-bbc-ltn-report-perpetuated-falsehoods-281845

New tram lines can be horrendously expensive - I expect that many areas in investing in tram/light rail have been able to use some of the existing railway lines, including those that had closed in recent decades. I'm not sure about how in London investment in new tram lines compare with the ginormous investment in cross rail. I do look forward to that opening, and in particular sorting out Whitechapel Station. Public transport for me was transformed when we had access to the tube network through the Overground. If I was to have one grump it would be the Overground briefly going into Zone 1, bumping up your costs if you go cross town. This was part of the deal in terms of revenue generation. This was also a double edged sword in encouraging gentrification, demographic changes, but there again do we prefer the old or new Peckham? We are still very hampered in London through the current road/rail infrastructure and population density. When we lost our tram lines that mode had become increasingly unpopular and buses were far more comfortable. Fast forward 50 years and my first trip on a Manchester tram was wow, and they were so much more 'sexy' for the travelling public than buses. (with thanks to the London Transport Museum and the various on line publications I receive). Doubt whether my personal recollections help the debate (and it would be good if it was a debate), on this thread. Back to the subject in hand two further articles, both on a cycling website but still interesting irrespective of your views: Survey showing that many are ambivalent, slightly more with strong views support LTNs 14% vs 9%. I'm ignoring the headline that supporters of LTNs outnumber opponents 3:1 as I suspect there is some bias ("You do support the environment don't you"). Having said that not seen full details of the survey. And yes I have designed and commissioned my own surveys in the past working with some of the national market research companies (and supported by colleagues who knew far more about survey design). https://road.cc/content/news/backers-london-ltns-outnumber-opponents-three-one-281961 The same publication has a go at the BBC for stirring things up with it's tabloid style articles, furthering entrenched views - definitely worth a read: https://road.cc/content/news/peer-bbc-ltn-report-perpetuated-falsehoods-281845

My word, what a coincidence, I am Bill Oddie's nephew. Or niece.

My word, what a coincidence, I am Bill Oddie's nephew. Or niece.