2024 UK politics - now with Labour in charge
Comments
-
The French all smoke 50 Gauloise a day and drink several bottle of wine though.
0 -
Offset by garlic.
0 -
Arguably?
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]1 -
Whenever I have had treatment (usually for some kind of sports related accident/injury) doctors/specialists always comment on my weight and fitness and how big an impact it makes to recovery (positive of course), as well as generally keeping people out of hospitals longer term (bike crashes aside 😉).
I think most healthcare professionals, certainly those I know, will say that obesity and smoking are the two most common links to chronic illness and morbidity amongst any given general population.
0 -
in dubai a few years ago i asked some of the guys in the office about the metro, never been on it and never would, because "that's for poor people", i say i'm going to walk to the hotel, "no, i drive you", it's just a few hundred metres
affluence, over indulgence, lack of exercise, those billowing thobes can conceal many kilos
not everyone of course, but it's common, i think young professional/ruling class are much more aware of fitness
the immigrant labour on the building sites, driving taxis, serving in hotels etc., they're all pretty skinny
my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny0 -
The weather probably deters people from taking a stroll.
0 -
It's fine most of the year. But certainly not built for walking.
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
I've been to Egypt a few times, and I'd contest that.
0 -
I lived there for four years (Dubai not Egypt)
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
Fair enough. It's the heat + humidity I couldn't cope with personally. I hear people talk a lot about the early mornings, who live there. And I know people in Arizona who do all their yard work in winter when the weather is nice.
What's the cycling like in Dubai, out of interest?
0 -
Cycling was not great when I was there. Besides the climate the drivers were not particularly sympathetic. Could have improved.
3 or so months over summer it is quite unpleasant being outdoors. The rest of the year is hot but unlike here where it's a brief stint you do get more used to it.
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
It gets worse as you get older. I've struggled with the Cornish heat.
0 -
Haha possibly, but you have moved there from just outside the Arctic circle
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
-
Starmer buys UK at bottom of the market
“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
Worth pointing out that 2010 was a pretty good time to buy as well, by that measure.
0 -
-
Trying to hide.
0 -
-
You mean the 95% capacity overall, meaning overcrowding of some categories, crumbling infrastructure and no progress on expanding or replacing capacity, staff shortages, staff retention problems or low staff morale?
Austerity doesn't work, because fixing things is more expensive than maintaining them. It is evident in every corner of our country.
0 -
I think austerity is still a policy that people don't really understand in the UK. It was never about tightening the public purse it was a handy veil that Osborne used to tender out all manner of public services (particularly at LA level) to private sector in order for them to make more money.
I worked in the charity sector at the time, covering youth services, probation, leaving care amongst others. All LA's had their youth budgets cut virtually overnight. As a result most just tendered the contracts out, many of which were just awarded on cheapest bid. You had huge supply chain companies with no relevant expertise suddenly delivering a youth service. Effectively they would then engage all the local charities and public sector bodies to deliver the same service as previously delivered, but pay them a tenth of what they used to be paid, and take the rest as a management fee.
As much as I hate Brexit and what it has unleashed, the real rot in terms of the decline of public services started under austerity, and it was a deliberate policy approach manufactured by Osborne and Cameron.
0 -
I suspect this is the first of many 'traps' the Tories have left them. They'll do what needs to be done and then get accused of being soft on crime, letting dangerous criminals out having served less than half their sentence (ignoring they were generally released after serving half anyway). There'll probably be some mud slung regarding Starmer's time as a Barrister helping criminals get off etc. It's good that they are getting these things done early whilst the Tories are in disarray and whilst they have a long time for people to forget about it.
0 -
Another tory trap. Not including a refund in the Rwanda agreement….
0 -
This is why the James Timpson appointment was such a strong move. Starmer knows the mess they had been left and knows that he can't just build more prisons and keep filling them. They need to focus on early release, rehabilitation and reducing re-offending rates as people are only really interested in crime rates. If he can get this down, then Labour's approach will be deemed a success.
I understand that many people will always lean towards a punishment approach but it really does not work. I worked on projects that operate a 'through the gate' approach to rehabilitation, Identify inmates early on, mentor them, find them work and accommodation pre-release and literally meet them at the gate upon release. The re-offending rate was less than 10% against an average rate of around 25-30%.
Having a Minister who knows how to support people with an offending history is a massive plus, and having a Minister in it for the long haul is also vital.
0 -
Kagame saw them coming.
He knows a thing or two about exploiting politicians weakened by factionalism lol.
0 -
Amazing scenes.
0 -
I'm surprised there isn't some formal system that all political Parties have to stick with such as having a Constitution setting up how the leadership is determined and requiring a membership system.
0 -
Interesting fact, Biden is six years older than NATO.
0 -
-
I bet the place now smells of rancid wee.
0
