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Post by carlton43 on Apr 30, 2024 7:47:53 GMT
If it were up to the forum I suspect it would've been given a name like 'Keynsham' (which is certainly nicer) And conduct the subsequent Count by the fully validated Horace Batchelor 'Infra Draw' method.
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Oxford
Apr 30, 2024 7:22:12 GMT
Post by carlton43 on Apr 30, 2024 7:22:12 GMT
1) All hail Emperor Thread-drift 2) The first proposals of the Banham Commission covered both Cleveland and Durham, but clearly recommended Hartlepool be a unitary council on its own; the main alternative considered was a unitary Hartlepool with Teesside forming a single unitary council instead of three separate ones. This was on the basis of "the very strong sense of identity and community in Hartlepool". Well, I guess Hartlepool is, er, "different". Comes from being rather out on a limb from everywhere else, probably. England is quite a small compact country for this to be said about nearly anywhere. I lived in Wester Ross, now that was remote and out on a limb. But friends in Texas, Wyoming and Montana think that is really funny as well.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 30, 2024 7:03:29 GMT
I know this is a bete noir for yourself and others, but having been around when grinding pensioner poverty was completely the norm and you saw the impact day by day on needing to access other forms of governmental financial support, it was, and remains a no brainer. And if nothing else, when you put the most susceptible people where having a shortage of money has the most detrimental impact on their wellbeing, the consequences of that is almost always going to cost you more via health & care expenditure. You talk about upfront cost for triple lock. It's nothing compared to upfront cost for social care for people who are fully funded for their social care needs (which is entirely who the triple lock exists to benefit). But surely resolving that does not necessarily need the maintenance of a mechanism this expensive, this universal and this open to escalating quickly. Would it not be cheaper to build on the Pension Credit setup? Germany has introduced a remarkably similar concept in recent years, although admittedly their pension costs are spiralling for different reasons. And, to repeat my previous hobby horse - no politician wants to justify the obvious point that it is apparently completely affordable, but younger cohorts will have to work longer to maintain it. If we can afford billions to assuage climate changers, billions for frit people to laze at home instead of face up to a nasty strain of flu, and billions to add to the killing fields of Ukraine for a daft principle, why can't we afford our own pensioners? Most of you will make it to pensioner and then you will change your views : believe me because I did.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 30, 2024 0:02:31 GMT
Certainly gives the lie to the claim still being made *now* that our constituency boundaries have an automatic pro-Labour bias. 2001 really was a crazily distorted outcome though, wasn't it? It’s annoying how boundary changes give the Tories an advantage every single time and I say that as a Tory supporter. Are you quite sure about that?
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 29, 2024 22:44:17 GMT
Fancy having a dog track in Catford? I have family down in SE London, and for many years our family trips would be to Catford. I remember being baffled as a small child by the dog-cat thing. The glamorous way to see London. Yes, I too went both of them, and to the many stock-car circuits, and speedway tracks, plus the boxing booths for local fights, the pubs with strippers, and those with lunch time customer strippers (usually office girls but not always). It was a different city then.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 29, 2024 22:27:14 GMT
Considering that it is a legal requirement for the UK to remain within the ECHR under the Good Friday Agreement any talk of leaving is again pure mindless fantasy. Considering that it would be easy for Parliament to legislate for the UK to leave the ECHR if it wanted to, any talk of leaving it is a realistic possibility. I want the UK to stay in the ECHR And I deeply want it to leave and will not rejoin until it does, even if then.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 29, 2024 21:17:01 GMT
But what is it like for you 'Impersonally', 'Metaphorically' or even 'Ontologically'? Is it then a bit of a dump in sore need of friendly ordnance? If the kebab shop has a one star rating then it’s the one to go to, that’s all that’s good about Slough tbh Are most of your posts devoid of any honesty?
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 29, 2024 9:19:54 GMT
For various reasons this is probably one of my favourite constituencies in Britain, and probably where I'd live if money was no object. Despite some quite extreme demographics (highest proportion of graduates, highest proportion of residents in the top managerial and professional jobs, second highest proportion aged 25-34) it also manages to feel a bit more down to earth than areas with a similar mix. I suspect Labour will hold without much trouble with the Tories a relatively distant second; based on those notional figures I'd expect the biggest percentage majority for fifty years. One other point which stands out from those figures - the Lib Dems and Green performances have been fairly dismal - perhaps a combination of their absence on Wandsworth Council and the close fought nature of this seat between Conservative and Labour squeezing third parties effectively? Slough’s heaven for me personally But what is it like for you 'Impersonally', 'Metaphorically' or even 'Ontologically'? Is it then a bit of a dump in sore need of friendly ordnance?
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 25, 2024 21:16:45 GMT
I regret I don't know anything them or the candidate. They are a UKIP splinter led by former London Assembly member David Kurten, so I thought they might be at least somewhat to your taste, or at least more to your taste than to mine. (Not that they are standing in my ward.) I know nothing about the candidate. Thanks. Possibly a mistake on my part, but it doesn't matter as they won't win, anymore than any of those other would have done, or indeed the Conservative.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 25, 2024 15:53:45 GMT
I don't like tactical voting and only indulged in it in Scotland to try and defeat Kennedy. Even then I rather despised the action even if it was in a very good cause.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 25, 2024 15:42:30 GMT
Just going out to make our postal votes for Mayoral (SDP) and Beauchief and Greenhill (Conservative). There were no UKIP, Reform or allied parties available so I did it on which candidate do you least dislike basis. It's really about LibDem or Labour for the council - the Tories third, then Green, then either Heritage or TUSC. Mayoral, Labour to win, the SDP last. Well not for me old chap. I dislike the Labour candidate and would never vote LD under any circumstances. TUSC is totally out of my frame and know nothing at all about Heritage. I assume it is not the political wing of National Trust? The Conservative is OK but won't win. I don't actually care very much who wins the ward, the city or the GE.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 25, 2024 15:33:52 GMT
I regret I don't know anything them or the candidate.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 25, 2024 14:58:40 GMT
Just going out to make our postal votes for Mayoral (SDP) and Beauchief and Greenhill (Conservative). There were no UKIP, Reform or allied parties available so I did it on which candidate do you least dislike basis.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2024 21:58:10 GMT
I’m actually supporting NVA, I’m just saying that Belgium really shouldn’t exist. Despite all the political squabbling, Belgium is a good example of a state where 2 language groups generally cooperate to create a relatively successful state. That's something I'd think an Israeli would be interested in... You've not been there have you?
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2024 14:48:45 GMT
I came across a little gem entirely by accident called Saint-Hubert which is insular, upper crust and very old school (or it was when I visited?) and I liked the built environment which was classy and distinguished. I got on very well with people I encountered in hotels and on the streets. For about 10-years I detoured to spend the night there and was very spoiled by the hotel and sometimes asked to join a large party for a bit of a feast at no expense to me. Best end Belgian cuisine is superb. Couldn't agree more. When it comes to classic European cooking, the Belgians really know what they're doing. Even down to meatballs and potato croquettes in a pub. I found Belgian wine in the supermarket the other day. Really unusual. I haven't opened it yet so no idea how bad or good it is! This really is a matter of taste. I am a French classics appreciator, but also best end of Italian, Californian, Australian and South African. The Hock scandals put me off from German. I have never taken to Alsace, Belgium or Switzerland for wines despite being coaxed to some of their best products.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2024 14:19:18 GMT
The whole length of the coast tram, with time in both termini, and Ostend. It wasn't the place so much, I found the people quite cold and unfriendly. Quite a contrast to Antwerp and Ghent and a world away from a lot of Wallonia That does surprise me. Knokke is definitely pretty cold but De Haan struck me as very friendly. There are definitely some very hostile spots in Wallonia! I've found the friendliest Belgians are in Limburg, Luxembourg and the two halves of Brabant. I came across a little gem entirely by accident called Saint-Hubert which is insular, upper crust and very old school (or it was when I visited?) and I liked the built environment which was classy and distinguished. I got on very well with people I encountered in hotels and on the streets. For about 10-years I detoured to spend the night there and was very spoiled by the hotel and sometimes asked to join a large party for a bit of a feast at no expense to me. Best end Belgian cuisine is superb.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2024 12:11:42 GMT
When canvassing I knocked on a door with male and female residents of the same surname on the electoral roll (names changed for obvious reasons) A female answered the door. Me - Mrs Smith? Female- No. I've replaced her I have many such memories of similar responses. "Did you mean Valerie? Happy to report she died in an accident two years ago." "No. I never married the twerp. But we still live together." "No. But I live here with Valerie. It is Mr Smith who got the push." etc., etc.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2024 11:57:57 GMT
Whenever I hear that word 'vibrant' used in that context I reach for my metal baseball bat. Same when I hear boomers talk :-) My remark was jocular, abstract and impersonal. Your rejoinder is nasty, personal and very broad. I don't really know what purpose is served by those silly phrases like boomers or generation X and frankly I don't want to know and have no interest the whole daft confection. I am pretty sure that whatever a boomer is I am not one, so it doesn't apply to me anyway.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2024 11:03:48 GMT
In what way was Blackpool a suitable Conference venue back in the 60s/70s /80s in a way that it has ceased to be? At one time Scarborough was also regularly chosen - but appears to have been dropped even further back than Blackpool /Brighton. In the 60s/70s/80s conferences were largely platform based, with very little beyond the main hall and only one item at a time occurring and crucially with very few external attendees. In terms of the main event a quick Google says the Winter Gardens auditorium has a capacity of 7,000. Manchester Central and Liverpool ICC both have seating for 11,000 The move from coastal resorts to cities allows larger conferences in more vibrant surroundings (bars, restaurants etc as well as a wider set of accommodation options). Back to Blackpool, another major problem it has of course is it is somewhat geographically isolated. Whenever I hear that word 'vibrant' used in that context I reach for my metal baseball bat.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2024 10:58:45 GMT
This by the same nepo toff that wrote the article about the marsh farm estate in Luton. Does he get off on dramatised poverty. It’s highly unedifying shit journalism. The truth always hurts. But it is the truth.
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