c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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A step on the way toward the demise of the liberal elite? Or just a blip…
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on May 13, 2023 7:01:47 GMT
Well that might be what the franchise are saying, however… …Apparently they had more cancellations than any other operator in January-February. They had more cancellations than all the other operators put together. Mmmmm? You appear to be inferring that the train operator cancelled services for reasons other than lack of train crew. Why else would a train company cancel services, if they had drivers available and/or trains that were serviceable? As to where they get drivers, I recall meeting an old colleague on York Station several times back in 2001ish. I was staggered to see him in Northern Spirit train drivers uniform. Previously he'd been the HR manager at the NatWest service centre where my unit was based. Apparently he'd taken redundancy shortly after I left and spotted an ad for train drivers and been accepted. His line was York to Hull Well Pete talked about a lack of drivers. Not a lack of crew to service them. So naturally I was considering the latter possibility, which you have tried to rule out as having already been accounted for when it wasn’t. But even without that it seems like they might be doing worse than other franchises at training and recruiting and managing the drivers, handling unions etc. |
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Post by johntel on May 13, 2023 7:20:43 GMT
Its hard to know what to make of this. Bahkmut has likely served its purpose in the eyes of the Russians, Keeping Ukraine busy all winter. There are three ways out of this for Putin. Beat Ukraine, general acclaim at home. Hold additional occupied territory, can claim modest success and Russia will never give up. Get thrown out of Ukraine and prove Russia has nothing but enemies abroad, so Russians must stand together behind his rule. So its either win, win or win. Mmm I think you may be in for a surprise. Russian leaders don't normally 'continue in post' following obvious military defeat. Wishful thinking I'm afraid, though true if you're talking about Nicholas II I suppose.. |
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Post by johntel on May 13, 2023 7:22:17 GMT
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steve
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Post by steve on May 13, 2023 7:24:30 GMT
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on May 13, 2023 7:27:02 GMT
Sounds interesting "In a briefing sent out to Labour members this week, 86 pages of proposals for debate at the forum included measures such as day one rights for workers, billions of pounds of green investment, reform of childcare, and a huge expansion of NHS staffing, as well as votes at 16" They have already said they are looking at planning reform to make House building and windfarms etc easier to build But of course, as certain Tory and SNP enthusiasts are so keen to tell us for their own (different) party political purposes, Labour is 100% identical to the Conservatives - yawn. (Then post Orwell quote about pigs and men). |
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steve
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Post by steve on May 13, 2023 7:38:42 GMT
The real question from The coronation.  |
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Post by pete on May 13, 2023 7:43:42 GMT
Isn't it funny how only when voters are forced to stop and think and actually toddle along to the polling station that they suddenly start supporting the LDs? This is another reason I don’t vote Why, you can't toddle? |
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Post by pete on May 13, 2023 7:45:26 GMT
More ftom Omnisis, a healthy majority want to rejoin the EU Surely, looks better for leave as they jumped 3%(4%)? |
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Post by wb61 on May 13, 2023 7:50:35 GMT
The shortage of drivers on TPE was longstanding. The change came about when the company unilaterally enforced a change in rest day payment. That led to drivers being less willing to work rest days and the impact of the existing shortage became apparent.
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Post by pete on May 13, 2023 7:52:44 GMT
Indeed. The Russians have thrown away so many of their young men into the "Meat Grinder". Grim. General Patten and Churchill were right about the Russians, and it's a shame the world as too weary to fight Communist Gangster regimes after 1945. There were quite a few proxy wars - Vietnam, several in Africa and the Middle East. Russians got nukes soon after WWII thanks partly to British traitors and people were quite rightly terrified of nuclear war. Or are you saying that we should have driven through Germany into USSR immediately as Churchill wanted? We still have traitors taking Russian money. The question is what are Russia (Putin) getting out of it? |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 13, 2023 7:58:17 GMT
jib My dad told me that the army would have mutinied. Many, like him, had been at war for 6 years already. Also of course USSR had been our ally. Of course, it really was a step too far.Had the public known about the treachery and infiltration by the Soviets into UK Civil Society, it may have been different. I think the Poles for one might have had enough of their country being a battlefield by that stage. It would have gone down in history as the greatest act of ungrateful treachery and in any case everyone was exhausted and societies would have mutinied at a brutal war of necessity being turned into an equally brutal and costly war of choice. The moral high ground of victory over Nazism that this country especially was so good at dining out on would have been totally thrown away. Practically speaking it was impossible anyway as the Soviets always had far greater numbers on the continent than the Americans. |
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on May 13, 2023 8:07:14 GMT
This is another reason I don’t vote Why, you can't toddle? Well I admit it’s probably not my forté Pete! |
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on May 13, 2023 8:24:11 GMT
I have made myself feel quite unwell over the last 48 hours. It is entirely my own fault , and oddly enough arises from my being blessed - or cursed - with a very good memory. I shall be 69 in early July , and have calculated that my current age - 68 years and 10 months - was the normal male life expectancy in the UK in Feb/March 1974. I was then in the latter part of my first year at University and it coincided with the General Election called by Ted Heath for 28th February that year. I have just watched some 18 hours of the BBC Election Results programme. At one level I should enjoy this , but I keep being faced with the reality that - David Dimbleby excepted - every person appearing on the screen is now deceased. That applies to the politicians - the broadcasters and the journalists giving commentaries and analysis. It really has tipped me into quite a deep depression - and have had to seek Diazepam support. On the second day the declaration at Finchley was included as a 49 year old Margaret Thatcher was re-elected. It struck me that this was less than a year before she became the Tory leader in February 1975 - though there was no suggestion at all on the programme of that being a likely prospect despite some questions being raised as to Heath's long term survival as leader. I somehow just cannot accept that these events - the February 74 election and Thatcher's ascent to the Leadership less than a year later - are more than 'just a few years ago.' Depression is an awful thing, especially when you think to yourself your best years are behind you. We had a young couple , (in their 30s) who were previous neighbours come up from London to visit us for the weekend recently. They are lawyers working in the City and are focussed on their climb up the corporate ladder. They said they loved it in the 'sticks' but I'm sure they couldn't wait to get back to their busy lives and plans for the future. I was almost envious of them going back to the 'rat race' because although I always hated that world I envied their enthusiasm and sense of excitement over all the stages they had still to look forward too, while I find it hard sometimes to look forward to anything because I feel there's nothing new or original anymore. I always loved going to the Maldives diving, (I'd go there every year if I could afford it) but on all my subsequent trips I have never been able to recapture the excitement I felt during the first time I saw the beauty of the reef. The only answer I think is to try and live in the present. Phil Stutz and Jonah Hill did an interesting documentary, it's on Netflix, as is a new one called ' The subtle art of not giving a f*ck'. I recommend both. They'll give you some perspective. audiobook here, for graham and any others interested. youtu.be/EVMPY-3c7X8 |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on May 13, 2023 8:30:32 GMT
Of course, it really was a step too far.Had the public known about the treachery and infiltration by the Soviets into UK Civil Society, it may have been different. I think the Poles for one might have had enough of their country being a battlefield by that stage. It would have gone down in history as the greatest act of ungrateful treachery and in any case everyone was exhausted and societies would have mutinied at a brutal war of necessity being turned into an equally brutal and costly war of choice. The moral high ground of victory over Nazism that this country especially was so good at dining out on would have been totally thrown away. Practically speaking it was impossible anyway as the Soviets always had far greater numbers on the continent than the Americans. I agree with everything you say there, with the exception that the Poles might just have been the only ones up for it. I read a book once about a Free Polish army brigade serving with the British forces in North Africa and Italy. It was largely formed from ex-Polish army troops who had been captured by the Soviets in 1939 and imprisoned and then when the Nazi's invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 they were offered the choice of fighting with the Soviet forces or being evacuated via Iran to the middle east to fight with the British. The vast majority chose the latter option. At the end of the war they were very disappointed by what they saw as the betrayal of their country to the Soviet Union (to be fair the British and Americans couldn't have done much about it even if they had wanted to). Very few returned to Poland, preferring to settle in the West. They were strongly anti-Communist and even more virulently anti-Russian. |
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neilj
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Post by neilj on May 13, 2023 8:39:10 GMT
I think the Poles for one might have had enough of their country being a battlefield by that stage. It would have gone down in history as the greatest act of ungrateful treachery and in any case everyone was exhausted and societies would have mutinied at a brutal war of necessity being turned into an equally brutal and costly war of choice. The moral high ground of victory over Nazism that this country especially was so good at dining out on would have been totally thrown away. Practically speaking it was impossible anyway as the Soviets always had far greater numbers on the continent than the Americans. I agree with everything you say there, with the exception that the Poles might just have been the only ones up for it. I read a book once about a Free Polish army brigade serving with the British forces in North Africa and Italy. It was largely formed from ex-Polish army troops who had been captured by the Soviets in 1939 and imprisoned and then when the Nazi's invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 they were offered the choice of fighting with the Soviet forces or being evacuated via Iran to the middle east to fight with the British. The vast majority chose the latter option. At the end of the war they were very disappointed by what they saw as the betrayal of their country to the Soviet Union (to be fair the British and Americans couldn't have done much about it even if they had wanted to). Very few returned to Poland, preferring to settle in the West. They were strongly anti-Communist and even more virulently anti-Russian. Agree I think The Katyn massacre of 22,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia prisoners of war by the Soviets didn't endear the USSR to the Polish |
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Post by moby on May 13, 2023 8:39:48 GMT
Just For Fun, I plugged those figures into the EC model and got a LAB majority of a trifling 450. Nobody, but nobody, in their right mind excepts GE24 to produce anything approaching that result, of course, but, coupled with the damn good kicking CON took in the English LEs last week, and the current seeming about face in Sunak/Starmer approval ratings, I suspect things are becoming a little uneasy in CCHQ. The upcoming Conservative Democratic (sic) Organisation this weekend might provide further discomfiture.
Starmer will say: “We must understand there are precious things – in our way of life, in our environment, in our communities – that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve and to pass on to future generations. And look, if that sounds conservative, then let me tell you: I don’t care.
Somebody has got to stand up for the things that make this country great and it isn’t going to be the Tories.
That in the end is one of the great failures of the last 13 years. A Tory party that in generations past saw itself as the protector of the nation and the Union has undermined both.
They’ve taken an axe to the security of family life, trashed Britain’s reputation abroad, and totally lost touch with the ordinary hope of working people.
The Conservative Party can no longer claim to be conservative.
It conserves nothing we value – not our rivers and seas, not our NHS or BBC, not our families, not our nation.”
www.thenational.scot/news/23519506.labours-keir-starmer-dont-care-sound-conservative/
Not that there is anything innately wrong about being a British "nationalist" (any more than being any other kind) - unless it involves supporting extremist right wing policies such as the public order legislation in E&W, or the Illegal Immigration Bill - but the combination of British nationalist rhetoric and Labour's acceptance of such measures is revealing about the stance of the party that most on this board (some increasingly reluctantly) see as the best repository for people's votes. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on May 13, 2023 8:47:57 GMT
I agree with everything you say there, with the exception that the Poles might just have been the only ones up for it. I read a book once about a Free Polish army brigade serving with the British forces in North Africa and Italy. It was largely formed from ex-Polish army troops who had been captured by the Soviets in 1939 and imprisoned and then when the Nazi's invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 they were offered the choice of fighting with the Soviet forces or being evacuated via Iran to the middle east to fight with the British. The vast majority chose the latter option. At the end of the war they were very disappointed by what they saw as the betrayal of their country to the Soviet Union (to be fair the British and Americans couldn't have done much about it even if they had wanted to). Very few returned to Poland, preferring to settle in the West. They were strongly anti-Communist and even more virulently anti-Russian. Agree I think The Katyn massacre of 22,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia prisoners of war by the Soviets didn't endear the USSR to the Polish I read that Putin has been rewriting the history books again and attempting once more to blame that on the Nazis (the Russians admitted on the fall on the Soviet Union what everyone already knew, that Stalin's regime was responsible). |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 13, 2023 8:53:35 GMT
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Post by shevii on May 13, 2023 9:14:39 GMT
Sounds interesting "In a briefing sent out to Labour members this week, 86 pages of proposals for debate at the forum included measures such as day one rights for workers, billions of pounds of green investment, reform of childcare, and a huge expansion of NHS staffing, as well as votes at 16" They have already said they are looking at planning reform to make House building and windfarms etc easier to build But of course, as certain Tory and SNP enthusiasts are so keen to tell us for their own (different) party political purposes, Labour is 100% identical to the Conservatives - yawn. (Then post Orwell quote about pigs and men). The devil is in the detail I'm afraid and we start from the basis that Labour is committed to fiscal conservatism/austerity lite, balancing books and only in limited, unquantifiable sums are they going to be raising taxes that would enable them to do any of this. So given all the lies he's already told then how are we expected to react to a "huge expansion of NHS staffing" without any indication that Labour will pay enough to retain the staff we already have (because they aren't going to raise taxes to do this). And "planning reform"  Isn't this a bit like financial services deregulation, if he's suggesting a Blair on steroids approach? NIMBY is used as a dirty word but making it easier to build houses risks trashing standards and damaging the local environment- this "cutting red tape" is more commonly seen with Conservatives. Making it easier to build windfarms could mean a connected up policy or it could mean trashing of environmental concerns with bird nesting spots and migratory patterns affected among countless other things. That's why we make things harder to build so we have these checks in place. Obviously if Labour start dealing with land banking by developers, 2nd homes, mansion tax, investment properties then that will be a good thing. The billions of pounds of Green investment is the one promising policy that has a price tag on it (£28bn) but I'm sure creative accounting could water this down. They are hinting a lot might be connected to partnerships/encouragement of private business, which is not to be dismissed out of hand but as we've seen before on PFI or building nuclear power stations the government rarely gets the long term, benefit of any money or guarantees that they put in. At least you wil get to see the briefing I suppose, so you can let us know how much of it might have teeth and why. |
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Post by JohnC on May 13, 2023 9:28:47 GMT
Fascinating - www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/12/call-for-psychosis-treatment-overhaul-after-evidence-of-autoimmune-triggerDiscovering a connection between psychosis and autoimmune responses isn't too much of a surprise to those of us paying attention to the findings of covid research, where links have been observed between the development particularly of anxiety, along with a range of other psychotic mental conditions post covid infection. Indeed, this case study just out involves the case of sexually deviant behaviour after neurological symptoms brought on by covid infection - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/npr2.12343I suspect we'll see a hefty rise in a variety of mental health conditions in the years ahead, as indeed is already happening, and in due course, research like this will enable us to understand the causal pathways between viral infection, autoimmune response and mental health breakdowns. Basically people just need to imagine they're a pair of curtains and pull themselves together 😁 I visited a friend in hospital yesterday. Sadly, he's been suffering from depression for almost a year. He was more chatty yesterday than I've seen him for a long time, but I don't think it's a condition that any decent person would want to joke about. |
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Post by leftieliberal on May 13, 2023 9:39:09 GMT
You recently did a post I meant to reply to, about pharma pushing an anti-dementia drug. I started a reply (but didn’t get to finish) talking about another example, in which pharma did a lot of the research concerning depression meds, and doctors of course went by the research, resulting in potentially rather more prescriptions than might be necessary, surprise surprise… Read Ben Goldacre's "Bad Pharma" which has been out for around 10 years. It's all in there about how Big Pharma push studies that support their drugs and bury the ones that don't. |
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steve
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Post by steve on May 13, 2023 9:45:29 GMT
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Post by lululemonmustdobetter on May 13, 2023 9:54:05 GMT
Of course, it really was a step too far.Had the public known about the treachery and infiltration by the Soviets into UK Civil Society, it may have been different. We were so complacent and smug after the war and the Soviets took advantage of our class based flaws and prejudice and turned it against us. The complacency of films such as This Happy Breed etc based on Noel Cowards world of everyone being happy in their place and with their lot and then we had the sixties,.... such a relief😄 |
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Post by James E on May 13, 2023 10:12:37 GMT
petere Stay out 41% (+4), Rejoin 59% (-4) - "Surely, looks better for leave as they jumped 3%(4%)?" It's a reversion to the norm after a rather high 'Rejoin' lead in the previous Omnisis poll. The recent average is Stay Out 42%, Rejoin 58%. www.whatukthinks.org/eu/opinion-polls/poll-of-polls-uk-eu/There are now significant numbers of those who voted Leave in 2016 and/or Conservtive in 2019 ( "Get Brexit Done") who now say that they would vote to Rejoin.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2023 10:21:49 GMT
Of course, it really was a step too far.Had the public known about the treachery and infiltration by the Soviets into UK Civil Society, it may have been different. We were so complacent and smug after the war and the Soviets took advantage of our class based flaws and prejudice and turned it against us. The complacency of films such as This Happy Breed etc based on Noel Cowards world of everyone being happy in their place and with their lot and then we had the sixties,.... such a relief😄 I don't think many people would regard Noel Coward as a fount of radical, progressive political thinking. 'This Happy Breed' is, of course, a sort of cavalcade of the life events affecting a fictional suburban lower middle class family between the wars, rather than post-WW2, although it was made in 1944. Gritty realism is certainly not its forte, though. Personally, I find the film a fascinating slice of nostalgia for a time that probably never was, all wrapped up in beautiful, mellow Technicolor, with several of the usual Coward repertory company such as Celia Johnson, John Mills and Stanley Holloway in evidence. I particularly like the sequence where a couple go to see 'The Broadway Melody', (the first so-called 'All talking, all singing, all dancing' movie from 1929). We see a small clip from the film, which for decades was the only bit of 'The Broadway Melody' I'd ever seen, as I don't recall it ever being on telly. It's completely forgotten now, but it was a sensation in its time, and was the first sound film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. I managed to find it on DVD a few years ago. It's a fascinating thing, with a delightful score, but it certainly has not aged well. The dialogue is trite, to say the least! |
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Post by steamdrivenandy on May 13, 2023 11:39:42 GMT
Mmmmm? You appear to be inferring that the train operator cancelled services for reasons other than lack of train crew. Why else would a train company cancel services, if they had drivers available and/or trains that were serviceable? As to where they get drivers, I recall meeting an old colleague on York Station several times back in 2001ish. I was staggered to see him in Northern Spirit train drivers uniform. Previously he'd been the HR manager at the NatWest service centre where my unit was based. Apparently he'd taken redundancy shortly after I left and spotted an ad for train drivers and been accepted. His line was York to Hull Well Pete talked about a lack of drivers. Not a lack of crew to service them. So naturally I was considering the latter possibility, which you have tried to rule out as having already been accounted for when it wasn’t. But even without that it seems like they might be doing worse than other franchises at training and recruiting and managing the drivers, handling unions etc. 'Handling unions' surely depends on how the unions locally wish to behave. If the staff you have on your payroll are more militant than in other TOC's then your services are going to be worse in times of industrial dispute. |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 13, 2023 11:52:43 GMT
Happy Eurovision day! Just what you need to cheer you up on an un-spring like May day and be reminded of how lucky we are to be part of this diverse and crazily imaginative continent despite what some would wish for us and especially on this occasion.
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graham
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Post by graham on May 13, 2023 12:24:54 GMT
Why on earth is there so much hype this year re- the Eurovision nonsense? Previous years have seen it largely ignored by the mass media. It might sound a bit snobbish but people like myself whose musical interests are almost entirely Classical would not touch this trivia with a bargepole.
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 13, 2023 12:30:00 GMT
Why on earth is there so much hype this year re- the Eurovision nonsense? Previous years have seen it largely ignored by the mass media. It might sound a bit snobbish but people like myself whose musical interests are almost entirely Classical would not touch this trivia with a bargepole. I'm currently listening to Sibelius and Britten earlier. It is possible to enjoy both you know if one can recognise fun and joy when one sees it and doesn't take everything too seriously.. Though I think for many Eurovision is pretty serious at the moment. It's proof to many Ukrainians that there's wide public support out there for them. Sorry, that comment annoyed me. www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/13/ukrainian-musician-uk-eurovision |
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on May 13, 2023 12:36:06 GMT
Well Pete talked about a lack of drivers. Not a lack of crew to service them. So naturally I was considering the latter possibility, which you have tried to rule out as having already been accounted for when it wasn’t. But even without that it seems like they might be doing worse than other franchises at training and recruiting and managing the drivers, handling unions etc. 'Handling unions' surely depends on how the unions locally wish to behave. If the staff you have on your payroll are more militant than in other TOC's then your services are going to be worse in times of industrial dispute. Well you’re assuming the unions might be locally more militant, wheras the unions say the management have been confrontational. This is before the concerns around rest payments and not employing or training enough drivers. Incidentally, regarding this on the matter from before… As a principle I support rail privatisation and it's bought an amazing improvement on rail services compared to BR days It’s hard to square that with the currently inflated prices, difficulty getting a seat etc… |
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Isn't this a bit like financial services deregulation, if he's suggesting a Blair on steroids approach? NIMBY is used as a dirty word but making it easier to build houses risks trashing standards and damaging the local environment- this "cutting red tape" is more commonly seen with Conservatives. Making it easier to build windfarms could mean a connected up policy or it could mean trashing of environmental concerns with bird nesting spots and migratory patterns affected among countless other things. That's why we make things harder to build so we have these checks in place. Obviously if Labour start dealing with land banking by developers, 2nd homes, mansion tax, investment properties then that will be a good thing.
