Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Josquius]

Meanwhile in London the Secretary of State for Transport has overruled a local council that gave permission for TfL and a developer to build 350 houses (40% social rents) on a carpark owned by TfL

As in the government stopped housing being built?
With what excuse?

[Sheilbh]

As in the government stopped housing being built?
With what excuse?

Because they always stop houses being built.

I think the official reason is that building on the car park would have too much of an impact on parking for the Tube station (it's at the end of the line in the outskirts so people drive in etc).

I think the real reason is that local Tory councillors (and others - like the Lib Dems and Greens) have been campaigning against it along the lines of #SaveCockfostersStation (the station isn't under threat - and is, in fact, listed).

The conspiracy reason is that TfL is in financial crisis because of the pandemic and they want to make it even worse (despite encouraging TfL to maximise their commercial incoming) so they can extract more concession out of Sadiq/punish London for voting Labour.

Take your pick

[Josquius]

The conspiracy does make sense.

But then the kind of person who drives into London from the shires does strike me as the sort to be in with the local tory MP and be only too keen to express his outrage that someone might possibly benefit from slightly inconveniencing his current routine.

[Sheilbh]

Fair amount of criticism for the latest NYT commission of Jonathan Pie on Londongrad - given that he previously worked for RT in the UK:
https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/1502294523510149130?s=20&t=Jtv8xq3wVDcie-Z4BykBSg

There's a case to be made - probably not by someone who used to have a show on RT though. To be honest his whole schtick very much fits in with that - half is about how you should be disillusioned/can't trust the media, all the politicians are corrupt and the other half is a bit of a weird free speech crusade thing that he does too (and did more of on RT). I think the anti-politics stuff sells better now because it's okay if it's anti-Tory (and he is picked up on left alternative media) but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up doing similar anti-woke videos about a Labour government in a few years time.

I feel like there's no way in a million years the NYT would give an American equivalent any sort of space - they'd probably report on them - so it's a bit weird. But I've found NYT coverage of Britain to be so odd in the last few years that it makes me wonder about almost any other foreign country they cover.

I think it's because they had a very good chief writer who went back to the US in 2015/16 and since then just view it as Trump = Brexit or maybe they seem to pick up a lot from British left alternative media people on Twitter (who are interesting but partial - and like reporting on the US based on the Tweets of Jacobin writers). Generally it's weird but harmless (boiled mutton, "cavorting in swamps" ), but I found some of the reporting on covid more problematic - because it was getting picked up in lefty circles in a "what the British MSM won't tell you". I don't think it had an impact but it wasn't great (or accurate).

Eg: From when he was on RT - touching on Syria in 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P979HaI5qlk

Edit: Add to this the New Yorker piece about Cressida Dick and her "dignity and grace" following the death of Jean Charles de Menezes (in fact she tried to cover it up, said no operational mistakes were made and while it was, obviously, unfortunate, it had made her a better police officer) - and I'm just a bit confused/intrigued to know what's going on in the prestige press in the US (and if those sorts of issues pop up when they cover other countries, or even other parts of the US)

[Sheilbh]

Latest in a series it feels like on English/British politics clearly identifying big problems and then not doing anything about them until they're an absolute crisis (see also, oligarchs, energy, Home Office in general etc).

There was a big report a year or two ago about water supply in England. England (yes, the very rainy country off the coast of Belgium) will face a water supply crisis in the next 20 years. The big issue is that demand has increased (population's grown by about 10 million since 1990) and we consume more water, but we haven't built a single new reservoir in the last 30 years. We have infrastructure designed for about 50 million people when the population is now at around 60 million and industry/lifestyles use more water.

I'm sure you can wee where this is going - the government proposed the construction of a set of new reservoirs in each region, including a "super-reservoir" in the South-East for there and London. Inevitably there's a huge campaign against it led by the local Lib Dem MP who has managed to secure a debate in the Commons on it - her focus seems to be that the Environmental Impact Assessments are inadequate.

I have no doubt we will kick can down the road (just like energy) until we're facing a sudden, unforeseeable shortage of water and have to ration it

Also - there is a far-right trope that we're basically full as a country, which is nonsense. But at a certain point I don't think you can actually be a pro-immigration, pro-refugee etc political actor (as that Lib Dem MP promotes herself as) if you also spend a huge chunk of your time trying to block the building of any new housing or infrastructure - unless you're pro-immigration but unless they're rich enough to afford prices in rural Oxfordshire, they should just live in Middlesbrough or whatever We're not full - but for the last 30 years we have built fewer homes per year than annual household growth and we need to build infrastructure for a growing poppulation. And if you oppose all of that stuff then I suspect your pro-immigration are primarily just a culture war signal of which side you're on and not actually a practical position

[Josquius]

Speaking of culture war signalling and immigration.... The current talk of housing Ukrainians in your home.
It really does seem to be playing into a typical far right anti refugee fallacy of "if you're so keen for them then put them up in your home".
Which I guess comes from the same place as their simple mindset thinking the country is literally full.

[Sheilbh]

Speaking of culture war signalling and immigration.... The current talk of housing Ukrainians in your home.
It really does seem to be playing into a typical far right anti refugee fallacy of "if you're so keen for them then put them up in your home".
Which I guess comes from the same place as their simple mindset thinking the country is literally full.

Maybe - my understanding is that scheme is the sort of thing that has been pushed by refugee charities, church/faith groups etc for quite a while. There is no cap but at the minute it's for individuals but will scale up to businesses, charities, faith groups etc sponsoring people. From what I've read there's stuff in there that seems really restrictive I think there's a requirement around named individuals for example - but that was pushed by refugee charities because they are very creative and know they can get that information, and if they do it's a massive loophole. So for example we've already seen churches/synagogues etc get in contact with Ukrainian equivalents, LGBT+ groups doing the same right down to football fans getting in touch with their team's "supporters group" in Ukraine.

Also worth pointing out that refugee charities have said their inboxes/contact centres have been literally overwhelmed by people volunteering to host a refugee.

The polling backs that up - 10% say they "definitely" want to host a refugee. I doubt they will but if even 1% do that's over 500,000 which is not nothing. Another 20% say they are maybes - 40% say they would like to help but don't have a spapre room. Only about 30% say they don't want to help (of which about a third say they are in a position to but wouldn't).

There is push back from Labour on this that basically - the scheme is welcome because it is far more open than previous models, but they don't like the "dating app" style match between community groups in the UK and community groups in Ukraine/among refugees. I get that criticism but I think the upside of that approach is that it creates a route that basically doesn't ever need to touch or interact with the Home Office - except that they issue papers - and I think there's a lot to be said for that. The less interaction people have to have with the Home Office the better.

[Sheilbh]

Similar to the new anti-reservoir stuff there's an absolutely amazing piece by Matt Hancock in the Mail opposing a big solar farm planned in his constituency. It is a masterclass in anti-infrastructure politics here. It starts with how much he supports renewables and solar - but not here, and probably not in most other places either. And there's a not insubstantial safety risk around solar that may well end up killing us all. Incidentally it also threatens a local golf club

Apparently in response to the Russia crisis government is planning legislation that would relax planning laws for renewable energy farms both solar and wind - I do not expect it to survive contact with MPs.

In compromise - as I do accept that a solar farm is very large and would change the character of the area - I would be willing to accept a small nuclear power plant as an alternative.

[The Larch]

Latest in a series it feels like on English/British politics clearly identifying big problems and then not doing anything about them until they're an absolute crisis (see also, oligarchs, energy, Home Office in general etc).

There was a big report a year or two ago about water supply in England. England (yes, the very rainy country off the coast of Belgium) will face a water supply crisis in the next 20 years. The big issue is that demand has increased (population's grown by about 10 million since 1990) and we consume more water, but we haven't built a single new reservoir in the last 30 years. We have infrastructure designed for about 50 million people when the population is now at around 60 million and industry/lifestyles use more water.

I'm sure you can wee where this is going - the government proposed the construction of a set of new reservoirs in each region, including a "super-reservoir" in the South-East for there and London. Inevitably there's a huge campaign against it led by the local Lib Dem MP who has managed to secure a debate in the Commons on it - her focus seems to be that the Environmental Impact Assessments are inadequate.

I have no doubt we will kick can down the road (just like energy) until we're facing a sudden, unforeseeable shortage of water and have to ration it

Is there even room in SE England to build reservoirs, let alone a super one?

[The Brain]

Latest in a series it feels like on English/British politics clearly identifying big problems and then not doing anything about them until they're an absolute crisis (see also, oligarchs, energy, Home Office in general etc).

There was a big report a year or two ago about water supply in England. England (yes, the very rainy country off the coast of Belgium) will face a water supply crisis in the next 20 years. The big issue is that demand has increased (population's grown by about 10 million since 1990) and we consume more water, but we haven't built a single new reservoir in the last 30 years. We have infrastructure designed for about 50 million people when the population is now at around 60 million and industry/lifestyles use more water.

I'm sure you can wee where this is going - the government proposed the construction of a set of new reservoirs in each region, including a "super-reservoir" in the South-East for there and London. Inevitably there's a huge campaign against it led by the local Lib Dem MP who has managed to secure a debate in the Commons on it - her focus seems to be that the Environmental Impact Assessments are inadequate.

I have no doubt we will kick can down the road (just like energy) until we're facing a sudden, unforeseeable shortage of water and have to ration it

Is there even room in SE England to build reservoirs, let alone a super one?

The English plan to finish research on Aqueduct within a few years. The actual reservoir will be built in the North from murdered coal miners.

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/14/mens-suit-uk-inflation-basket-covid-changes-ons

Men's suit removed from UK 'inflation basket' as Covid changes working life

The traditional men's suit has been removed from the basket of goods used to calculate the annual inflation rate – the latest casualty of the increase in working from home since the start of the Covid pandemic two years ago.

The Office for National Statistics said the change in working patterns meant the suit – ever-present in the basket since its inception in 1947 – was no longer one of the more than 700 representative goods and services selected to measure the UK's cost of living.

Announcing details of this year's changes, the ONS said a new men's formal jacket or blazer item was being introduced to ensure men's formal and business wear was still represented in the selection.

Other items that will no longer be tracked include doughnuts, which are being replaced by multipacks of cakes, and coal, which has been removed in anticipation of the government ban on domestic sales of the fuel from next year.

Other items added to the basket for the first time this year also reflected lifestyle changes since the start of the pandemic. These included antibacterial surface wipes, sports bras/crop tops and collars for dogs and cats.

The ONS said demand for antibacterial products was still high, and people had responded to the pandemic by exercising more and owning more pets.

Canned beans, chickpeas and lentils entered the basket for the first time alongside meat-free sausages, reflecting the growth in vegetarianism and veganism, driven by greater consciousness of health, animal welfare and environmental concerns.

Last year, hand sanitiser, smartwatches and hand weights for home exercise were added. The ONS said this year it had added 19 items, removed 15 and left 715 unchanged.

Inflation is at a 30-year-high of 5.5% but is expected to rise further in the coming months as rising energy costs bite.

...

[Tamas]

No wonder these official inflation numbers feel so off the mark. "Yeah I mean basic food items are like 30% higher, but middle class entertainment items are only 2% up so overall it's 3.6%, not great, not terrible".

[Josquius]

I posted a article a few weeks back on how broken the inflation index is.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/26/terry-pratchett-jack-monroe-vimes-boots-poverty-index

Things look bad to us folks on OK salaries.
To those on sub-minimum wage....its far worse.


LOL on removing suits due to covid. Surely just need to remove the suit trousers?

[Sheilbh]

LOL on removing suits due to covid. Surely just need to remove the suit trousers?

They are:

Announcing details of this year's changes, the ONS said a new men's formal jacket or blazer item was being introduced to ensure men's formal and business wear was still represented in the selection.

Makes sense - I don't like blazers but I know they're very popular with men.

No wonder these official inflation numbers feel so off the mark. "Yeah I mean basic food items are like 30% higher, but middle class entertainment items are only 2% up so overall it's 3.6%, not great, not terrible".

The changes make sense to me - and there's always a danger of slipping into culture/class war stuff about consumption. There's a really good Jonathan Nunn piece about this and food ("Food in England is very rarely about food, and that might be half the problem"). It goes all ways and it's one of the many exhausting things living here where you have some people claiming no-one North of the Watford Gap has a passing familiarity with an aubergine, on the other hand you have people decrying slightly expensive nicer crisps as "Tory"

They update the basket ever year, but I think those changes sound sensible. Out: men's suits, doughnuts, coal. In: blazers, cakes, anti-bac wipes, sportswear, pet accoutrements, canned veg, chickpeas, lentils and more veggie/vegan options.

Is there even room in SE England to build reservoirs, let alone a super one?

Yeah. It would (it will never be built until we run out of water ) just replace some farmland. A picture of a man looking mournfully at what we'd lose


England, even in the South-East still has lots of green space:

[Sheilbh]

In slightly more positive news apparently by 9pm this evening over 45,000 people had filled in the form to host refugees. At the minute it's only individuals so not open to community groups, charities, businesses etc  - but they are mobilising for when it is extended to them.

Edit: Apparently the website went up at 3pm so six hours and has crashed several times.

Edit: In less attractive news the bill changing the sanctions regime to make it simpler is moving slower than expected through the House of Lords - particularly enjoyed people flagging the conribution from Lord Pannick who is a crossbencher and famous as the barrister in all the Brexit litigation. He defended the reason he proposed an amendment to sanctions legislation a couple of years ago - though acknowledged they have made it more complicated/difficult. He noted that while he had (successfully) acted for an oligarch to challenge sanctions on him after 2014 for being very close to Putin, that he has also acted for oligarchs who are opposed to Putin

This is what I mean by the oligarchs are the easy bit - it's the enablers. As Oliver Bullough has put it - the butlers to the world, at least of the very and questionably rich.