neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Aug 16, 2023 16:06:40 GMT
I think there is a case for having to show you have a basic knowledge of the political system, and in this case maybe a very basic understanding of how the police force works, but I agree its problematic to ensure it remains apolitical. I don't see that as a problem. Policing is inherently political, even if it is with a small p. In some ways a big dose of being politicised might benefit how policing operates in England and Wales.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Aug 15, 2023 12:42:19 GMT
Can I give you the example of the directly elected School Boards set up in 1870 under Forster's Act, abolished in 1904 and powers transferred to education committees of county councils? I am torn between, on the one hand, my sneaking admiration of Taylorism and the Efficiency Movement which impacted the move to scrap the boards and, on the other, my belief that we should have elected school boards that can transcend boundaries and be directly responsible to taxpayers. Unfortunately, thanks to Robert Morant, they won't ever come back: I'm also torn by my admiration of Morant despite his attempts to get rid of Katherine Bathurst.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Aug 12, 2023 17:22:50 GMT
Are the councils that are currently associate members (or whatever they're called) in South Yorkshire now covered by this? Yes they are and it’s my understanding a couple of them tried to join South Yorkshire but got rejected. Which would tie in with the move to make the SY Mayor also the police commissioner. Would be difficult to spend any time on the Derbyshire issues.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Aug 7, 2023 9:27:43 GMT
I’m 99% sure that when he knew he wasn’t going to get the Whip back he said he would have to resign as Chair as it was allocated to the Conservative Parliamentary Party and as he was no longer a member of such he wasn’t entitled to carry on. Interesting. As I mention above, MacNeil is hanging on at ESNZ which suggests it isn't a hard and fast rule (because the SNP would almost certainly have had him removed). Maybe Knight feels a moral obligation. Can someone remind me of the Dunwoody situation? Did the whips threaten to remove her? I think something similar happened to Donald Anderson.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Aug 7, 2023 6:58:51 GMT
What will happen is that the Conservatives & other ULEZ-sceptics will tell the electorate that Labour are planning to extend it to more vehicles in the future. If you going to hit net zero that is petty much what you have to do and it is planned that electric cars will start paying congestion charge at the end of 2025. I was surprised that it was so soon given the still low number of EVs especially commercial ones. I'd have waited a few more years, but TfL probably needs the money.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 29, 2023 18:02:13 GMT
I went to Bradford a few weeks ago. When I got to Victoria the ticket machines were out of action. Because this was a corporate purchase I didn't have a QR code (that has apparently been fixed now) and would have had no way to obtain a ticket otherwise. The email confirming details and the code for the machine (for which you need to insert a debit or credit card, any old one will do) aren't valid for travel.
Interestingly, the lady at the ticket office told me that if I was to buy an on the day ticket via the app or website, it was around a tenner less than she could sell it to me for. Which sounds like a bit of a con.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 26, 2023 15:43:17 GMT
Very much the latter. Main opposition party was refused the chance to register to contest it. Hun Sen already preparing for his son Hun Manet to take over whenever he feels like it. His son will apparently take over from 10th August. In the 'election' the ruling party won every seat. FUNCINPEC won 5 of the 125 available seats according to Reuters. This doesn't mean there won't be some recounts, just to be sure they really did.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 24, 2023 12:10:54 GMT
There are some interesting suggestions for it to be based on the autonomous communities as a move to federalising Spain but I doubt they will get anywhere. As edgbaston says upthread it's crazily disproportional to population, even with the automatic designations and it's the only way that 'empty Spain' can exert some influence so they won't give that up. Similarly, it's the only way to get the tiny (and sometimes bonkers) parties into the Cortes to allow and thus keep up the impression of social pluralism. Though it's not unusual for upper chambers to go for territorial representation. The "equal numbers of members for 50 provinces" thing is exactly what the US senate does. What does tend to go unnoticed is that there's a fair bit of malapportionment in the congress itself. For example, Teruel with 101,250 and Segovia with 115,810 people get 3 members, a ratio of 33750 and 38603 people per deputy, respectively. For the largest provinces, the ratios are 131,032 in Madrid, 125,824 in Barcelona and 120,644 in Valencia. In Barcelona's neighbouring province of Lleida, the ratio is only 72,488. Soria must be pretty low as well. There was a local party there too but they didn't get in.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 24, 2023 2:20:33 GMT
Is the Senate relevant to government formation? No. The upper chamber is pretty toothless in Spain too. They have essentially no power to change or block day-to-day legislation. The only time they really have any power is when constitutional changes are proposed. There are some interesting suggestions for it to be based on the autonomous communities as a move to federalising Spain but I doubt they will get anywhere. As edgbaston says upthread it's crazily disproportional to population, even with the automatic designations and it's the only way that 'empty Spain' can exert some influence so they won't give that up. Similarly, it's the only way to get the tiny (and sometimes bonkers) parties into the Cortes to allow and thus keep up the impression of social pluralism.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 23, 2023 21:52:13 GMT
The PP party shown on TVE has someone waving a Catalan flag, that's a surprise. And the interpreter speaking over Arnaldo Otegi was hard to understand.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 23, 2023 21:49:52 GMT
Teruel Existe is shown as getting 0 seats in El Pais result page. Indeed, they have lost their seat to the PP Just seen. That's a surprise especially as their raw vote went up. They've lost the two senate seats too. Edit: the raw vote didn't go up, that's what you get for looking at multiple sources while trying to listen to a Spanish interpreter who is speaking quietly over a Basque guy.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 23, 2023 21:18:46 GMT
TVE has PSOE+Sumar+ERC+PNV+ Bildu+BNG+Existe just short of a majority. Teruel Existe are an oft forgotten bunch: super regional and originally set up to campaign for Teruel to get a motorway and a better rail link (the railway was single track and kept detailing). They weren't even a fully fledged party until recently but rather an 'electoral grouping.' The only time they've really been prominent recently is when they supported Sanchez to be president, and the leader got death threats and police protection.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 23, 2023 21:11:52 GMT
Bets an on election before the end of the year?
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 23, 2023 19:47:52 GMT
I don't want to start a discussion of the Civil War but as, I've said before, it's important to note that despite UK media coverage, the removal of statues of Franco (the last one was in Melilla), the attempts by the outgoing government to create a DNA database of the dead, the business about the Valley of the Fallen, the view of barmaids in Horbury and so on, that Spain is far from united in opposition to the memory of Franco. This isn't like modern Germany where almost no one is a public supporter of the memory of Hitler. There are whole swathes of Spain and a chunk of the population, even younger people, who are either ambivalent or supportive in some way. If you read, eg, Paul Preston's stuff you get a one sided view. The Pacto del Olvido is still an important thing in Spain (indeed it is the basis for the Amnesty Law of 1977) and we should remember that.
On that note, I've just started re-reading The Face of Spain. The Spanish Labyrinth will follow. I recommend both.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 23, 2023 17:33:52 GMT
I've just got back from a Spanish BBQ. No-one mentioned the election. The only political comment was a slightly hostile joke about immigration which...the joke...was well received. Nothing else. Campaigning has been very low key. We usually get lots of posters on bus stops. Very few this time. There are the usual posters attached to lampposts. No knocks on the door. No locally delivered leaflets. It's very hard to call. I suspect the PP will just about end up in power with Vox support. That's basically guesswork though. A Spanish barbecue sounds delicious. When I lived in Spain I got invited to 'taste the fruits of the pig', which turned out to be a fantastic afternoon and evening long barbecue.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 15, 2023 18:20:11 GMT
I'll add here that the Paris Metro is unpleasant. As well as being constantly packed it is also incredibly hot, even in the winter. And it took them far too long to phase out paper tickets (which also means no scammers 'helping' you buy a carnet). Easier to use a car. I still have and use paper tickets. It is quite useful for people like me or my family who often have to do a transit from one Gare to another when visiting some relative. There's always someone who still has a ticket from a previous time and can give you a ticket so you don't waste Time during a short transit time. You mean someone who has a carnet from their last visit? I remember having a couple of them in my hall of residence at university (although they died a death with the Oyster card). There is a convenience element although I'm glad to see the back of the scammers at Nord.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 15, 2023 18:16:45 GMT
I'll add here that the Paris Metro is unpleasant. As well as being constantly packed it is also incredibly hot, even in the winter. And it took them far too long to phase out paper tickets (which also means no scammers 'helping' you buy a carnet). Easier to use a car. Probably significantly easier (and quicker) to use a bike to get from A to B. If congestion isn't your thing, use the non-walking form of transport (if you're able) that can circumvent congestion. I'd be reluctant to cycle from the Gare du Nord to Montparnasse! Although there are cycle paths I don't think it's safe, and it's impractical with luggage anyway. Although there are Velib Metropole bikes all over the place so there might be a route I'm not aware of.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 15, 2023 11:41:43 GMT
The problem with Paris transports is that politicians continue to vilify individual cars and parking spaces while the public transport system is completely over-used already. Public transport is no longer an alternative for people using their cars. During rush hours, people have to wait and wait and wait to get a metro. Even in Lille, we have to as well (sometimes 4 or 5). As long as politicians don't manage to (1) reduce the mileage between work and home; (2) propose decent and fast public transport infrastructures, they can go and shove their no-car-policies up their arsehole. I'll add here that the Paris Metro is unpleasant. As well as being constantly packed it is also incredibly hot, even in the winter. And it took them far too long to phase out paper tickets (which also means no scammers 'helping' you buy a carnet). Easier to use a car.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 15, 2023 10:50:54 GMT
That Paris, with its ever expanding public transport network, has to make this move is a reflection of the failings of Manuhidalgism. Which is that the RER (and sometimes the metro) can be utterly fucking frightening. I have never used the RER (I have been to Paris but only for transit purposes; the only time I went to France was to go to the shrine of Lourdes) but the main issue with the Paris Metro is how confusing it can be when traversing from one key railway station to another (e.g. Gare du Nord to Montparnasse). I make the trip from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse a couple of times a year (my dad lives not far from relique's family). My problem isn't the actual trip (it's Line 4 to Mairie de Montrouge, although you can do RER-Metro which I've avoided), it's the working out where to go at Gare du Nord and the messing around at Montparnasse because the actual Metro station (Montparnasse-Bienvenue, although the 'bienvenue' part is surely a Parisian in-joke) is some distance to the actual mainline station via a travelator and a tunnel. There is a direct bus but I've never taken the risk and have got a taxi in the past. I'm flying to Nantes next time and getting a car: I was quite surprised to find I could fly to Paris and incorporate a TGV ticket for onward travel into my plane ticket, although as I'm not going to Nantes that wasn't any use.
|
|
neilm
Non-Aligned
Posts: 25,023
|
Post by neilm on Jul 14, 2023 18:47:01 GMT
Richard Branson once suggested Simon Jenkins. If a journalist was to stand, Larry Elliot might be an interesting candidate although I suspect he has no interest in it (and might be a Labour member anyway).
Didn't Michael Grade suggest he might be interested the first time out? Or it might have been Greg Dyke. Dyke would have had what might be termed 'suitably issues.'
|
|