alex_b

Seabag Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Oh and barefaced Brexit shafting (even you must > admit this has been shockingly bad for them) the > fishing industry is probably a final distillation > of enough is enough for many. No shell fish > exports until April?! I wonder how that going > down. Timing wise, not great for some bluff > ?better together? TPHQ type sloganeering. Weirdly I think this could be a double edged sword. At the moment I?m sure it?s playing strongly towards the independence vote, but in 12-18 months when the referendum happens, might people feel that the damage has been done and that another 2-4 years of doing it all again to leave the UK and rejoin the EU will just compound the damage? I think a lot will be down to the EUs position on accession, agreement to roll-over UK terms followed by a rapid accession probably tips things towards independence, but Spain might block that type of overture.

Blah Blah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sturgeon in some ways is arguing for a choice > between the EU or the Union, but the SNP are > nationalists at heart and that has to be > remembered. How will that nationalism sit in the > context of the EU? Scottish nationalism, or at least the SNP, have been vocally pro-EU for a very long time. I imagine this is for pragmatic (hard to see Scotland going it alone outside the EU as was a key point in the last referendum), historic (French, Scandinavian and Irish ties with certain Scots) and political (it winds up the English right wing). In that way the SNP are not a traditional isolationist nationalist party.

Exactly diable. For me pre-Brexit I didn?t think the loss of political control for the UK was in reality that significant. We were rarely outvoted, the measures we supported (eg single market in services) were of huge benefit, and where we were theoretically constrained (eg labour standards) my personal politics meant I valued the constraint. Compare that to the position in Scotland where they are a permanent minority voice in the union, a fairly different outlook politically with a government in Westminster that?s going out of their way to antagonise them. I think the shift of English politics to the right and the changed economic circumstances post Brexit have changed the balance.

There?s a flag lurking behind Tricky Dicky too. The lapel badge was a post 9/11 thing. Not exactly sure when it became a thing over here but I remember seeing conservatives with a union flag/stars and stripes combo showing support for the US in around 2008.

I think you?re right about the halfway house problem for devolution. The idea at the time was to have devolution in the English regions too, but many (most?) of these were rejected at referendums. My view is that most people don?t have a strong sense identity below the country level perhaps with the exception of a few counties (Yorkshire/Cornwall) or towns/cities (Liverpool/Manchester). Also the government were reluctant to cede real power to the regions making them a bit of a talking shop and nothing else. Even London which has a reasonable amount of control in terms of transport and policing still struggles for legitimacy and to differentiate with the boroughs. I?m struggling to think of another G20 country of our size that?s so centralised (Germany, Australia and Canada are all more decentralised) but it?s tricky to see how to fix it. It?s why I think Scotland and N. Ireland will leave in the next 10 years, the pressure is all in one direction (perhaps this was true of the National conversation about the EU too). As for going it alone, I certainly thought that Scotland couldn?t afford to go it alone in 2014. However post-Brexit I?d have to look again, there?s a potential for them to be another Ireland in terms of a services gateway to the EU. Also a strategy that relies on a long term subsidy from London to Edinburgh also seems as risky as a reliance on petroleum revenue.

TheCat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > While it appears to me (from afar) that there is > of course a more hardcore group of Scottish > independence supports who just want independence > at any cost. It's hard to see how a major issue of > any independence referendum would not be a painted > as a straight up choice between remaining in the > UK or re-joining the EU (at some future point).... You?re right, but I also think Brexit has opened up another more fundamental issue in the independence case. Brexit (and the huge Tory majority it led to in 2019) has demonstrated that Scotland and Scottish voters have no real voice in the Union. In the Labour years and even under the coalition there were a decent number of Scottish cabinet members and one of the governing parties were a large party in Scottish politics. Post-2015 this wasn?t the case, and was made worse by Johnson and May seeming to go out of their way to snub Scotland. As a Brexiteer I?m sure you can see the power of the narrative of Scotland being dictated to by the UK. It?s hard to see how that could ever change without a really radical constitutional realignment and even then I think there is so much suspicion and resentment that it probably wouldn?t be enough. I?m sure we?ll disagree about whether it?s better to be a small nation in the EU or a small nation in the UK, but I expect the framing will be about more than the narrow question of EU membership.

Hamletter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If the EU does take it to court, then which court? > The EU court supposedly no longer has jurisdiction If it?s taking AZ to court then presumably a court in whichever jurisdiction was specified in the contract (I guess Belgium as that?s where it was signed). If you?re talking about the potential blockage of vaccine exports the new treaty has a disputes mechanism to address this.

Romnarz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A blues sign tells you what is permissible - you > should NOT be fine for passing that . Red signs > are needed to prohibit you - they need to be > placed in a space where the message is clear and > unambiguous That?s not correct; round blue signs are mandatory positive instructions (do this) red circles are mandatory negative instructions (don?t do this). From the government publication on road signs ?Blue circles generally give a mandatory instruction, such as "turn left", or indicate a route available only to particular classes of traffic, e.g. buses and cycles only?

We?ve gone with Andrews and Arnold (https://www.aa.net.uk/). Because of their low contention and no traffic shaping etc I?ve found that in practice the performance on a 70Mbit line with two adults and a kid at home working I s indistinguishable from the 300Mbit Virgin line we had (which we never never maxed). Their offer is more aimed at the techie/home office crowd, but that?s what we all are these days! Responsive UK based support from actual people is a bonus too.

I used dropless over the summer and was really impressed. I think hand car washes are not permitted to operate under the current lockdown but don?t know if they count.

The problem is that the anti-lockdown brigade have framed the argument as health or the economy. They?ve been supported in this in the media due to the drive for ?balance? in arguments rather than nuance. What we can see now, with the benefit of hindsight, is countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and numerous Asian countries is that locking down earlier and harder shortened the restrictions and reduced the economic impact. Of course those countries also got proper test and trace and quarantine procedures in place to support the easing of lockdowns which we failed to do.

TheCat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I understand finances are stretched, and Kahn is > trying to balance the books... but it does seem > like his 'go to' is raising taxes/charges (10% > council tax increase, a congestion charge for all > of greater London of 5.50 a day, and the > 'temporary' increase of the existing congestion > charge to 15quid a day last year), rather than > cutting waste/improving efficiencies/increase > borrowing (at least for the short term).....if > times were normal, I might prepared to be more > accepting, but a 'tax first' attitude in the > current environment is a real kick in the nuts for > a lot of people. That does rather presuppose that there is a lot of waste to be cut or a significant amount of efficiency that can be driven in the short term (as opposed to say automation that will take investment and time). Since the GLA is only really responsible for two really significant things: Transport (60% of the budget) and police (25% of budget); it seems tricky to see where the big savings could come from. Perhaps short term borrowing is an answer, but they did take on an additional ?1bn of debt for crossrail and as part of the TfL shortfall on passenger revenue. They may also be looking to keep their powder dry in case passenger revenues don?t significantly recover this year (which I doubt they will).

Most obvious one is at the top of One Tree Hill. There is a plaque there next to the concrete base.

We have used buggy pitstop https://buggypitstop.co.uk/ and we?re really happy with the service.

A few thoughts: Don?t over schedule your time, give yourself time and flexibility. This also sounds like a huge trip, I?d expect a month to do that properly. You might think about dropping the GC/Vegas leg as that?s a big big detour. On the other hand you shouldn?t stop at LA but should carry on down to San Diego (stopping at Disney in Anaheim on the way). I?d make sure you?ve booked pitches for Yosemite (and Grand Canyon if you go) very early as they fill up quickly. For the National Parks buying an annual membership will be cheaper than paying individual entries if you go to more than a couple of National Park/Monument (Muir Woods in San Francisco is also a National Park/Monument). Also if you want to do overnight camping away from the Valley in Yosemite you?ll need a wilderness permit (again apply early). Half Dome I think also requires a separate permit these days. I grew up spending summers in SD and have family throughout California. We were going to go this summer too but I?m thinking it?s unlikely to be possible.

Do you have a source for that claim as this FT article (https://www.ft.com/content/9a3af55e-c66c-4451-a34e-7110ce005cd0) says ?Brussels has provisionally secured more than 2bn doses of candidate vaccines from a range of drugs companies?

Today was the last day of holiday club so hopefully you?ll have some luck spotting the conjunction tomorrow (though I thought it was close to the horizon so I think we?re too low around here).

There?s holiday camp happening there til 6pm this week until today so it might be that.

The only place in East Dulwich I can think of with a reasonable view to the South West is on the back part of One Tree Hill towards Honor Oak Park.

I have been using Starling as my main account for over two years and also have my joint account with them. I find them excellent, the app works really well and is reliable. The few times I've had to contact them for something they've been very responsive. For personal accounts the opening process was a breeze, less than 15 minutes from downloading the app to having an active debit card in Apple Wallet. I haven't used their business product, but it's on the same underlying infrastructure so I can't imagine it'll be that different.

Thanks K. We?ll absolutely be trying to engage in other ways than just online.

The Council have said they'll consult in January, but are still intent on selling off the building. Selling off the house to private developers is a safeguarding risk to our children, will be disruptive to the life of the school and removes a building from public ownership that could be better used for educational and community purposes. For example there is a lack of space for provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Southwark schools, the school currently lacks sufficient space for music and arts, and local community groups need space to meet. A group of parents have started a petition at https://www.change.org/p/southwark-council-save-the-belham-school-house. Please sign to tell Southwark there are better uses for a house that has been part of the school site since the 19th century than selling it to developers.

Trinnydad Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Whatever the outcome of the current hiatus, the EU > is unlikely to exist long term in its current > form. > > The fringe countries ( read less prosperous) such > as Poland, Hungary, Greece etc will be gradually > squeezed out and the industrialised North-West > founder nations (Germany, France, Belgium, > Netherlands) will progress towards a tightly knit > federal system. Likely dubbed the FSE - Federal > States of Europe. My understanding is that polling shows support for the EU at pretty much an all time high across the remaining 27 members.

Thanks Kate, I?m glad so many of the community rallied round on short notice to force the council to back down. Now comes the hard work of maintaining the pressure on Southwark and permanently stopping a residential development in a school playground.

Thanks everyone for their support. This is only the beginning and we?ll need to keep the pressure up on Southwark.