Jules-and-Boo

We still use the hairdryer my nan bought me about 30 years ago. It's still really good.

Association of British Commuters ? BREAKING NEWS: ABC apply to Court for judicial review of the Department for Transport over Southern Rail https://abcommuters.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/breaking-news-abc-apply-to-court-for-judicial-review-of-the-department-for-transport-over-southern-rail/ We are delighted to announce that we have applied to Court this morning for a judicial review of the Department for Transport?s handling of the Southern Rail management contract. The application to Court is the outcome of our Crowd Justice fundraiser, which raised over ?26,000 in September 2016. We have been working intensively on the case for five months already; a process slowed considerably by the lack of transparency shown by the Department for Transport in response to our FOI requests. Today?s news will be extremely welcome to all our donors, supporters and volunteers; without whose support none of this would have been possible. It is right that our fellow passengers will now play a part in bringing the government to account for the damage Southern Rail has caused to so many thousands of lives. Legal update Detailed Grounds have been lodged at Court this morning that address the Department for Transport?s ongoing failure to hold Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to account for the long-term breakdown of service on Southern Rail, in regard to two distinct areas: (1) Delay ? we believe the Secretary of State has acted unlawfully by failing to determine and announce within a reasonable time whether GTR is in breach of its franchise obligations; and (2) Discrimination ? we believe that the Secretary of State has failed to comply with his duties under the Equality Act 2010 and has as a result caused indirect discrimination to passengers with disabilities. These unlawful acts are ongoing. ABC is seeking declaratory relief ? i.e. a Court finding that the Secretary of State has acted or is acting unlawfully. Today?s application to Court is the outcome of five months of hard work; a process slowed considerably by the DfT?s resistance to providing transparency on its contractual relationship with GTR; repeatedly delaying FOI requests, which have only just been completed. Both the Southern Rail management contract and remedial plan remain publicly available only in redacted form and, without transparency, there is no way to clarify the true causes of this unprecedented rail crisis. There has long ceased to be any justification for the Secretary of State?s ?hands off? approach to a company that is his Department?s direct contractor. The application has been lodged and is due to be issued imminently. It will then be served on the Secretary of State who will have the opportunity to respond by filing Summary Grounds of Resistance within a further 21 days. The Court will then consider, usually without a hearing in the first instance, whether to grant leave (permission to proceed to court). If leave is granted, ABC will launch a second crowdfunding campaign to raise sufficient funds to take the case through to its conclusion. Comment from the Association of British Commuters: ?We are delighted to announce that we have now applied to Court for a judicial review of the Department for Transport?s handling of the Southern Rail management contract. We are extremely grateful for the work undertaken by our legal team; namely barrister Jamas Hodivala of 2 Bedford Row and solicitor Matthew Garbutt and his team at Devonshires Solicitors LLP. All involved have gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping us seek justice on the Southern Rail crisis. Our Detailed Grounds, lodged at Court today, are the result of five months? hard work and the extensive research of dozens of volunteers who have supported the campaign by contributing their time and professional skills. Our donors, supporters and volunteers are the people who have been hit the hardest by the Southern Rail crisis, and they deserve to play a part in finally bringing the government to account. We began this process back in September, at a time when we felt we?d already reached our last resort. That it has got so much worse, and the DfT have still not acted, now beggars belief. Commuters have long since passed the point of exhaustion, and it is a matter of shame for the DfT that we have had to go to such great lengths to demand action be taken. We continue to urge the DfT to act decisively and transparently on the future of Southern Rail. The longer they stand back from this unprecedented rail crisis, the harder it will be to put the pieces back together again.? Lianna Etkind, Public Transport Campaigner at Campaign for Better Transport: ?Today is a step forward for passenger power. It is absolutely right that the Government is held to account for the failings of the Southern franchise, which has made peoples? lives a misery. Long before any industrial dispute, Southern passengers had to rely on a train service plagued by delays and disruptions, under a management contract with no financial penalties for poor performance. Fundamentally, the running of a train service is down to the contract between Government and train operator, so the Government?s role in setting and enforcing the standards in the contract with Govia must be properly scrutinised. For far too long, passengers? voices have been ignored in the tussle between Southern Rail and the unions. We need to ensure that in the future, passenger representation is written into this franchise, and indeed into all rail franchises, so that those who have to use the trains day in, day out, have their voices heard.? Faryal Velmi ? Director, Transport for All: ?It is totally unacceptable that Southern Rail have been allowed to treat disabled passengers as second class citizens. Transport for All has heard time and again from disabled transport users who feel Southern Rail?s network is now a no-go zone; impacting on people?s ability to work and often leaving them increasingly isolated. The Department for Transport and rail industry must act urgently to prevent the basic rights of disabled passengers being flouted in this way.? For a detailed explanation of our grounds, please view this document: https://abcommuters.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/abc-grounds-for-judicial-review-explained.pdf

oh Cat - such a Forum faux-pas! Criticising those who criticise the democracy they claim to defend.

Of course he'll grow out of it one day, then you can re-evaluate! Sounds like a great idea - I'm sure he'll love it ;-) Just get a strong one

alice... you would be surprised. Not 'all' but too many.

yes, of course - thanks for correcting me, John L.

There's a big difference between ?60 and ?600billion!

I just found this on the internet After a weekend of chaos at airports, mass protests and diplomatic outcries, criticism of Trump's proposal even came from Barack Obama, who broke his silence for the first time since leaving office. "President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said. Isn't it Ex-President Obama? Are they trying to play some power games here? Is America having selective memory? Why isn't Obama coming out and saying - yes, I identified these as threats. I also stopped immigration. Is that a bit like America forgetting they voted Trump in, knowing he would do this?

I didn't realise a certain time need to pass before a new President was welcomed. Is that for a reason? Or is it just historically accidental. i.e. are they making a big deal about Trump coming earlier than any other President (no pun intended) becauase it breaches protocol? or just because they have found a thread to pick?

Politics. or anything connected with it.

Well, he IS doing what he said he would do if he was voted in. America did democratically vote him as their President. It's not an anti-muslim ban. He didn't make up the list himself - he did inherit it from Obama's administration. It's not a permanent ban. It's about vetting immigrants. Absolute uproar, all sorts of 'facts' misinterpreted at convenience. It's quite remarkable that he is not swayed by popular opinion. No doubt he will burn bridges and cause huge unsettlement, but we don't actually know what good he is capabale of, either. I think we should not try and prevent the Queen honouring her invitation - we've had all sorts over here. If anything, it's a good thing - an opportunity to work together rather than letting chaos resume unchecked. The Queen is pretty awesome. I think even Blair was a bit scared of her. And before you start saying I said something I didn't - I haven't actually said I like or dislike Trump. And refusing to insult him does not mean I am by default racist/ sexist etc.

I'm not saying it's the schools' responsibility solely, at all. I know there are parents who leave everything to school, but that isn't my point. Children are together at school and the dynamics are different to the child they are at home. School's have a zero tolerance policy, but I know that there's a gap between what adults think children understand and what children do actually understand. There was bullying at my daughter's school, but because it wasn't physical, the children didn't understand it was still bullying. Knife danger is way down on the curriculum but affecting too many children and taking too many lives for it to be not discussed properly. there are some fantastic resources and opportunities at school, which are different to home. Parents and schools should work together - the children are part of a community.

I don't think schools' DO enough to educate children on the dangers of knifes and weapons. And don't forget, these are children. It's very very sad. Children that carry knifes are more at risk of getting stabbed by their own knife than they are of actually hurting anyone else with it. Bullying at school is also rife - some schools do not, or do not know how to deal with it. I'm very happy the boy is ok, but it's incredibly sad that he would have been on his way to school - he's technically still a child.

I was referring to fizzy sugary drinks.

the more sugary stuff you consume, the more 'unhealthy gut bacteria you grow (for want of a better word) - this means that your body struggles more to get the nutrients out of food, so you actually nourish your body less - and also the trigger that tells your body you are full doesn't work, so you just keep craving and eating sugar (which is the vicious circle of having unhealthy gut bacteria). Which is a very simple way of explaining it. You body is fooled. Sports drinks are better for you than fizzy drinks - they actually replenish your body with nutrients - yes there is also sugar - I didn't say that there wasn't. There are studies that prove the telomeres in your cells are reduced (shortened) from fizzy drinks, which causes your cells to age... Diet fizzy drinks are full of artificial sweetners, which again are not good for you. But if, you're persuaded one way or the other by inconclusive evidence in either direction, I'm guessing you'll just drink it anyway and ignore the obvious.

Thank you. I've shown my girls.

25%? - that's going the whole hog

insignificant compared to what? I completely disagree with you. In fact it's incredibly anti-British to say that. There are so many things that are completely brilliant, so many achievements and you're undermining everything by making such a sweeping and unsubstantiated statement.

I doubt he meant intelligence as in IQ. Although that is the most common meaning.

yes I heard it being comparable to Oxford St. (which was a bit more upmarket than it is now, although it's hard to imagine. Khan's is a bit of an Aladdin's cave and has pretty much everything!

he's a rat catcher ;-)

record so far; New term for lies "Alternative Truth" No funding for abortion (whether you personally agree with this or not) Instruction to build wall and sanction Mexico to tune of $16billion Instruction to remove all reference to global warming (Scientists are next to demonstrate) Dakota Pipleline Advocating torture Banning migrants from the 7 nations And whatever other little gems we get today.... it's just gaining momentum but as you say, Keano... "Give the man time". I just hope that May will not bow down and be his little puppet as Blair did with Bush. That 'Special Relationship' was not one built on respect at all and should not be a model for any new relationship built between the new PM and the new President.

It's truly terrifying, the damage Trump has already done. The idea of the European union which epitomises ideals of coherence and tolerance was ruined by the way it was run/ governed. It has left a bitterness such that so many people would rather be without it and it's a crying shame. How this ends does not look good at all. The idea of May aligning us with Trump is just dreadful. IF there is anything that can be done to prevent Trump spreading his beliefs and infecting the rest of the world, it should be done. The damage he has the ability to cause would take forever to undo....unless it does have the opposite effect - and actually bring the world together, in unity - against what he represents.

Not sure when we moved away from Trump and its objective being to protect and stand up for fundamental values that have recently come under attack namely human rights, equality, dignity, safety and health. I hope it doesn't become a blanket feminist movement. It could be so much more.

London Overground had two trains to Dalston cancelled without notice or announcement today (9.29 and 9.44). No explanation.