NPR

Torquemada 1420 wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 1:31 pm

Biffer wrote: Sat Oct 08, 2022 2:28 pm

Torquemada 1420 wrote: Sat Oct 08, 2022 1:32 pm

I'm confident that I would derive zero utility reading anything about yet another so called celebrity.

Torq in posting shite from a position of ignorance shocker.

We are all very surprised.

I'm more that happy to remain entirely ignorant of her life. I'll leave the funding of Hello magazine to the likes of you.

Domestic abuse court cases aren't really a big thing with those magazines, but stereotyping people in the public eye is, so they seem quite suited to your mentality.

_Os_ wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 12:05 pm An update on this little project, which it now seems is mostly driven by Truss. This from the Financial Times:

They added that before September’s “mini”-budget chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng twice tried to persuade Truss to limit the number of zones to 40 — with Treasury officials warning the prime minister the zones could create a tax liability of “up to £12bn” a year — but was overruled by Downing Street.
As a result, the government this week invited all upper-tier local authorities and mayoral authorities in England to apply to host an investment zone if they wanted one.
“The IZs have created a huge potential liability and the Treasury has been trying to demand a cap on the number,” a government insider said. “Kwasi [Kwarteng] tried twice, but was overruled and caved in to Liz who wants them everywhere — 100 or even 200.”

https://www.ft.com/content/a3aea4e6-0b2 ... 3629a3bc3e

Surely an advanced economy cannot be run like this? Just making it all up on the fly, with some false notion of cutting taxes always works. 100+ "Investment Zones" would put a lot of the UK economy into a blackhole where it pays no business rates for its premises, all investment is tax deductible (there's already a £1m Annual Investment Allowance, so this would just uncap the AIA and tilt the playing field in favour of large corporates), and there's no employer NI contributions. No one seems to have any clue if this would even create new economic activity or just displace already existing economic activity into the blackhole.

Just read the 2 articles you linked in the FT.

Total deregulation (or, at best, devolution to the kinds of morons who sit at local councils) coupled with massive tax breaks. What could possibly go wrong?

Other than £billions lost in fraud that would make PPE scandals look like a rounding error.

Biffer wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 1:39 pm Domestic abuse court cases aren't really a big thing with those magazines, but stereotyping people in the public eye is, so they seem quite suited to your mentality.

Explain to me how she isn't the archetypal, celebrity stereotype?

BTW, I'm bored of this distraction from the main subject of this thread so suggest you go back and read the original post.

It seems obvious why Truss is a solar luddite.

1. Most UK agricultural land is pasture. Sheep can graze in solar fields, it's not true solar prevents farming. What the objection is about, is really the same as onshore wind, it's a Nimby objection by Tory supporters to solar regardless of utility/productivity/economic growth.
2. Distributed energy generation where smaller players have a stake (farmers), is a threat to those who own the UK's current energy system who (financially) support the Tories.

You can already see the outline of what will happen long term. When Labour get in they create a nationalised renewables based energy system, it works. Which gets attacked by the Tories simply because it exists and is owned by the state. When the Tories next get in they privatise it, the new owners squeeze everything they can out of it and reinvest not much. Through this entire process smaller players are entirely locked out, there is only the assets the UK state creates and those it decides to gift them to.

_Os_ wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 1:55 pm It seems obvious why Truss is a solar luddite.

1. Most UK agricultural land is pasture. Sheep can graze in solar fields, it's not true solar prevents farming. What the objection is about, is really the same as onshore wind, it's a Nimby objection by Tory supporters to solar regardless of utility/productivity/economic growth.
2. Distributed energy generation where smaller players have a stake (farmers), is a threat to those who own the UK's current energy system who (financially) support the Tories.

You can already see the outline of what will happen long term. When Labour get in they create a nationalised renewables based energy system, it works. Which gets attacked by the Tories simply because it exists and is owned by the state. When the Tories next get in they privatise it, the new owners squeeze everything they can out of it and reinvest not much. Through this entire process smaller players are entirely locked out, there is only the assets the UK state creates and those it decides to gift them to.

On 1, it's even more stupid than that. Sheep keep the plants down which might otherwise block some of the capacity for solar uptake. On some sites, the solar owners even pay farmers to bring their sheep in to graze! The only issue I know of is the need to ensure the wiring is ovine proof.

Not all pasture if all that well placed for collection and distribution of energy, but plenty is. And solar panels don't seem to have much of a negative impact on the weight animals add when grazing in panelled fields Vs just grass, and interestingly when you get down to smaller animals like sheep it seems to reduce their requirement for water which is a big win, probably a shading thing but I don't know if anyone has signed off on the data for that (I'm not saying they haven't just I don't read many agri journals)

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 2:51 pm Not all pasture if all that well placed for collection and distribution of energy, but plenty is. And solar panels don't seem to have much of a negative impact on the weight animals add when grazing in panelled fields Vs just grass, and interestingly when you get down to smaller animals like sheep it seems to reduce their requirement for water which is a big win, probably a shading thing but I don't know if anyone has signed off on the data for that (I'm not saying they haven't just I don't read many agri journals)

In New Zealand they found Merino sheep produced more wool in pastures with solar collectors, pretty sure that it's the shade that made the difference.
Actually it was Australia https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022- ... /101097364

_Os_ wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 1:55 pm It seems obvious why Truss is a solar luddite.

1. Most UK agricultural land is pasture. Sheep can graze in solar fields, it's not true solar prevents farming. What the objection is about, is really the same as onshore wind, it's a Nimby objection by Tory supporters to solar regardless of utility/productivity/economic growth.
2. Distributed energy generation where smaller players have a stake (farmers), is a threat to those who own the UK's current energy system who (financially) support the Tories.

You can already see the outline of what will happen long term. When Labour get in they create a nationalised renewables based energy system, it works. Which gets attacked by the Tories simply because it exists and is owned by the state. When the Tories next get in they privatise it, the new owners squeeze everything they can out of it and reinvest not much. Through this entire process smaller players are entirely locked out, there is only the assets the UK state creates and those it decides to gift them to.

The absolute fuckwittery of the last 6 or so years is gutting. Here are lots of opportunities and here are the dipshits who are going to make sure you mostly miss out. Working in engineering and manufacturing and it is hard not to loathe the government and those that were conned into voting for them.

In more funny posh man news, £4.1bn written off by Johnson's Government including £8.6m binning burgundy passports, £1bn on Covid fraud and error on support schemes and £800k on unused plane tickets for unsuccessful deportation.

Oh, and Mr Kwarteng innocently forgot to mention he met Saudi oil company executives whilst in the country in January. At the time he was BEIS Minister.

Way to go Kwarteng!! Austerity here we come.................again!!

Kwasi Kwarteng will need to find £60bn of savings by 2026 to fill the gap left by unfunded tax cuts and the costs of extra borrowing triggered by a panicked reaction on international money markets to the chancellor’s “mini-budget”, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The UK will also struggle to hit the chancellor’s 2.5% growth target, with economic forecasts by the investment bank Citigroup that the IFS uses to underpin its analysis showing the UK will struggle to grow at more than 0.8% on average over the next five years.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics ... ing-cuts

SaintK wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:20 am Way to go Kwarteng!! Austerity here we come.................again!!

Kwasi Kwarteng will need to find £60bn of savings by 2026 to fill the gap left by unfunded tax cuts and the costs of extra borrowing triggered by a panicked reaction on international money markets to the chancellor’s “mini-budget”, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The UK will also struggle to hit the chancellor’s 2.5% growth target, with economic forecasts by the investment bank Citigroup that the IFS uses to underpin its analysis showing the UK will struggle to grow at more than 0.8% on average over the next five years.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics ... ing-cuts

He & Dizzy must be very disappointed that the Nobel Committee didn't recognise their brilliance, & instead gave the Economics prize to some bluffer.

SaintK wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:20 am Way to go Kwarteng!! Austerity here we come.................again!!

Kwasi Kwarteng will need to find £60bn of savings by 2026 to fill the gap left by unfunded tax cuts and the costs of extra borrowing triggered by a panicked reaction on international money markets to the chancellor’s “mini-budget”, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The UK will also struggle to hit the chancellor’s 2.5% growth target, with economic forecasts by the investment bank Citigroup that the IFS uses to underpin its analysis showing the UK will struggle to grow at more than 0.8% on average over the next five years.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics ... ing-cuts

Tax rises are the only answer.

It is also time to look at privatising the NHS. Not like America's wild west healthcare, but like Europe's.

Another U Turn pending? How many ,000's of nurses is the NHS short of?

Thérèse Coffey has said nurses will not get a higher pay offer, as they vote on strike action for the first time in decades.

The Royal College of Nursing will ballot nurses this week, asking for a higher pay award as well as action to tackle pressures caused by surging vacancies.

The RCN says the government’s offer of a 3% wage rise “makes a difference to a nurse’s wage of 72p a week”.

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 2:51 pm Not all pasture if all that well placed for collection and distribution of energy, but plenty is. And solar panels don't seem to have much of a negative impact on the weight animals add when grazing in panelled fields Vs just grass, and interestingly when you get down to smaller animals like sheep it seems to reduce their requirement for water which is a big win, probably a shading thing but I don't know if anyone has signed off on the data for that (I'm not saying they haven't just I don't read many agri journals)

I grew up on a sheep farm and the issue is more complicated than whether sheep can still graze. You are still reducing the productive capacity of the land because you can't access it with your machinery and silage it for the winter or apply slurry, fertiliser etc. However, I imagine many sheep farmers would go for the trade-off in return for a diversified or more stable income.

SaintK wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:20 am Way to go Kwarteng!! Austerity here we come.................again!!

Kwasi Kwarteng will need to find £60bn of savings by 2026 to fill the gap left by unfunded tax cuts and the costs of extra borrowing triggered by a panicked reaction on international money markets to the chancellor’s “mini-budget”, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The UK will also struggle to hit the chancellor’s 2.5% growth target, with economic forecasts by the investment bank Citigroup that the IFS uses to underpin its analysis showing the UK will struggle to grow at more than 0.8% on average over the next five years.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics ... ing-cuts

The BoE also had to step in for the second time and purchase more government bonds yesterday because of the risk to the Country's financial stability that this Government represents. They have also unusually pointed the blame at the Government. From the BBC:

"“A material risk to UK financial stability” are words the Bank of England uses rarely.

It is even more rare for several senior Bank executives to have indicated part of the blame for the turmoil may lie at the government’s door, as the result of domestic policy."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... siders-say

In a move which should surprise no-one, chain smoking health secretary and all round friend of the tobacco industry Therese Coffey drops anti smoking plan...

Well, great. So what was much more important that they had to discuss that instead?

tabascoboy wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:31 am Well, great. So what was much more important that they had to discuss that instead?

Sure is nice to know that they have their fingers on the pulse !!

Institute of Fiscal Studies reckons they need to find £60bn of public spending cuts per year to balance the books and pay for their tax cuts !! Not sure if even the BofE can save the day if they don't come up with a convincing plan. And, if that plan involves cuts that many Tory MPs find intolerable, we could well see a total Government meltdown,

tabascoboy wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:31 am Well, great. So what was much more important that they had to discuss that instead?

Probably some culture war bullshit to try and distract from the shitshow.

Deputy PM Therese Coffey this am 'poor people are richer than you think' this morning on radio 4 - absolute clueless and offensive

Deveron Boy wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:25 pm Deputy PM Therese Coffey this am 'poor people are richer than you think' this morning on radio 4 - absolute clueless and offensive

As if she and the other privileged monstrosities in this cabinet have any actual experience of poor people beyond the reality bending, ideologically driven sterotypes they make up in their grotesque imaginations.

Deveron Boy wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:25 pm Deputy PM Therese Coffey this am 'poor people are richer than you think' this morning on radio 4 - absolute clueless and offensive

But, don't worry, she's 'absolutely confident that our pensions are safe'. Words that, coming from her, send a chill down my spine.

Been following the Teasury Questions in the HOuse on and off.
Has there ever been a more arrogant bunch of cunts (George Osborne excepted) in the Treasury?
Kwarteng answers are at best supercilious and arrogant and absolutely uninformative. "Problems. what problems?"
The other two jokers keep repeating "if you don't agree with us you're part of the anti-growth coalition"

Ovals wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:53 pm

Deveron Boy wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:25 pm Deputy PM Therese Coffey this am 'poor people are richer than you think' this morning on radio 4 - absolute clueless and offensive

But, don't worry, she's 'absolutely confident that our pensions are safe'. Words that, coming from her, send a chill down my spine.

Oh they're definitely safe .... it's just whether or not they'll be worth the price of a pack of wine gums, or whether you'll be able to draw on it before you reach your 800th birthday

Not that I agree with any of his policies but Osbourne was at least competent.

these cunts are just as malign but are also fucking useless.

Its like watching chimpanzees running government. And not the cute nappy wearing ones, the big bite your face off ones.

Ovals wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:54 am Institute of Fiscal Studies reckons they need to find £60bn of public spending cuts per year to balance the books and pay for their tax cuts !! Not sure if even the BofE can save the day if they don't come up with a convincing plan. And, if that plan involves cuts that many Tory MPs find intolerable, we could well see a total Government meltdown,

Monetary policy cannot solve fiscal insanity long term, BoE action provided breathing space so there could be a significant climbdown. The breathing space is now running out and there's no significant climbdown.

With higher interest rates factored in, the IFS analysis is the hole is now £62bn as you say. That IFS analysis states indexing universal credit to wages not inflation (this will probably kill people just like austerity did the first time) would save £13bn, cutting investment spending saves another £14bn, cutting the remaining £35bn means a 15% cut to everything else or if the NHS and defence are protected then a 27% cut to everything else (which includes education). I guess growth is still achieved even with a substantially less educated population through mass migration and low skilled work preserved for the non-migrants (Brexit's bizarre labour model).

The Tories are completely clueless, Kamikhasi should've been removed immediately. There's video of him floating around from back during the Brexit wars, where he dismisses economic forecasting and economics as a discipline. Everything that's happening now is because he doesn't care about economic forecasts. Truss has said today there will be no austerity under her.

The two morons need to climbdown, because this isn't looking credible at all.

More from the Tory alternate reality.

The article isn't long but is very odd, the Treasury is the core of the "anti growth coalition" apparently. It ends on a mad one about the problem with James Bowler being appointed permanent secretary to the Treasury, is that he is a white man and this shows he's a representative of an evil establishment elite, before concluding that Truss is too weak and not extreme enough.

The words "useless" and "waste of space" spring to mind

And amongst all the other madness, something about bankrupting the country, Truss still hasn't bothered to contact Sturgeon or Drakeford.
A new low for the Conservative and Unionist Party.
As well as hugely insulting to two of the devolved nations of the 'United Kingdom'.

I had low expectations of Truss as PM, but I didn't think she would be this atrocious.

tabascoboy wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:39 pm The words "useless" and "waste of space" spring to mind

Sometimes I think our media expects too much of our politicians under questioning. A lot of that is for kwamikasi to answer not for Theresa coffey but she has to answer effectively on things relating to her role so the answers on the nurses striking and smoking targets are poor.

salanya wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:10 pm And amongst all the other madness, something about bankrupting the country, Truss still hasn't bothered to contact Sturgeon or Drakeford.
A new low for the Conservative and Unionist Party.
As well as hugely insulting to two of the devolved nations of the 'United Kingdom'.

I had low expectations of Truss as PM, but I didn't think she would be this atrocious.

It isn't a new low just another one. Again look where they sit economically and compare to European parties. Graph from the ft.

petej wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:28 pm

tabascoboy wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:39 pm The words "useless" and "waste of space" spring to mind

Sometimes I think our media expects too much of our politicians under questioning. A lot of that is for kwamikasi to answer not for Theresa coffey but she has to answer effectively on things relating to her role so the answers on the nurses striking and smoking targets are poor.

True, but she is the deputy PM. It doesn't seem unreasonable to expect her briefing level to be similar to Dizzy Lizzy?

Insane_Homer wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:14 pm

That's because Bailey (BoE governor) just directly told pension funds they have 3 days to rebalance their positions and after that the BoE is taking no further action, as per the original intension that it was temporary action. Either the BoE caves in 3 days and starts QE to support pensions, which means the BoE loses credibility and erratic fiscal policy coming out of Downing Street has won, which would mean money printing and maybe the end of the £ being sound. Or the BoE sticks to its guns and pensions maybe collapse (but no one really knows).

Most of this goes away if the two morons backdown, but their belief cutting taxes beyond what is credibly possible produces growth and their ignorance/stupidity have combined to make that look very unlikely. Kamikwasi is trying to find over £40bn in spending cuts, whilst Truss is saying there definitely won't be austerity.

This is all being wilfully brought about by the Tories. It's all completely self inflicted.

_Os_ wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:03 pm

Insane_Homer wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:14 pm

That's because Bailey (BoE governor) just directly told pension funds they have 3 days to rebalance their positions and after that the BoE is taking no further action, as per the original intension that it was temporary action. Either the BoE caves in 3 days and starts QE to support pensions, which means the BoE loses credibility and erratic fiscal policy coming out of Downing Street has won, which would mean money printing and maybe the end of the £ being sound. Or the BoE sticks to its guns and pensions maybe collapse (but no one really knows).

Most of this goes away if the two morons backdown, but their belief cutting taxes beyond what is credibly possible produces growth and their ignorance/stupidity have combined to make that look very unlikely. Kamikwasi is trying to find over £40bn in spending cuts, whilst Truss is saying there definitely won't be austerity.

This is all being wilfully brought about by the Tories. It's all completely self inflicted.

I don't think they can survive even a relatively small pension fund collapsing; but I have a horrible feeling that we aren't taking about small pension funds here, I think it's the biggies with the sword of Damocles hanging above their heads.

If a major pension goes under, we aren't just talking about losing a GE, or two; we're talking about the total destruction of the Conservative Party. It's hard to overstate how bad this could be.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/indi ... -bpgkw6prr

Lol. And Truss can't sack her and she'd bring down her government. What a palavar.

fishfoodie wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:12 pm
If a major pension goes under, we aren't just talking about losing a GE, or two; we're talking about the total destruction of the Conservative Party. It's hard to overstate how bad this could be.

The Tory Party's demise was talked about before, when they were changing leaders from one dead-eyed arsehole to the next every few months in the early 2000s.

However, you could be correct, if Iraq is the thing that the left of the Labour-voting public will never forgive Blair and New Labour for, perhaps this is what will break the mistaken idea on the right that the Tories are somehow fiscally competent.

I'm not sure they can culture-war themselves out of this, but they will try.

I like neeps wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 7:14 am https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/indi ... -bpgkw6prr

Lol. And Truss can't sack her and she'd bring down her government. What a palavar.

We need a general election, asap.

Tichtheid wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 7:36 am

I like neeps wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 7:14 am https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/indi ... -bpgkw6prr

Lol. And Truss can't sack her and she'd bring down her government. What a palavar.

We need a general election, asap.

Yep.

Braverman's father is Goan in ancestry, so is my father-in-law. It's not a huge community and most of their generation came over at around the same time in the 60s from Africa where their parents had been living.

Although I try to avoid discussing politics with relatives, Braverman came up, and my father-in-law said that he had got to know Braverman's father back in the day. His assessment? " He was a bloody idiot." It appears that the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.