Nick Jones Posted August 23 Posted August 23 21 hours ago, JohnD said: When Labour are trying to keep the boat afloat, when "the last lot" left all the taps on, they can't agree to a costly agreement like this. The Universities are crying out that they can't afford present courses on the current student fees - if EU students can attend for much less they will go under. Anyway, to mollify the few Brexit nuts still about, Labour promised not to agree to free movement, so their hands are tied. John Well, the country and our young people in particular, are the poorer for it. As for the universities. Minimal sympathies. They had their time of fat handed to them, took the money and failed to long ahead. True that Brexit and Britain’s general loss of international general reputation under the previous government has not helped their overseas business but here they are turning it away!
zetecspit Posted August 23 Posted August 23 25 minutes ago, Nick Jones said: Possibly also don’t believe in climate change and still feel BJ is a good chap wronged. No hope for them…. I wonder if these same people still think it’s a good idea? Is it time repeat my call for genuine “Brexit wins”? You may have a point there. I think many of those who voted for Brexit will be rather unhappy about the outcome. Not what they expected at all. But my point was more about understanding voters who have a different viewpoint to oneself. It is undemocratic to regard them as inferiors (as long as they made their decision for rational reasons. In that respect, it 1/3rd of voters still think Brexit is good, many of those are not rational. Equally, a similar number who voted remain are not rational. That means that only half the UK is rational!)
zetecspit Posted August 23 Posted August 23 27 minutes ago, Nick Jones said: Well, the country and our young people in particular, are the poorer for it. As for the universities. Minimal sympathies. They had their time of fat handed to them, took the money and failed to long ahead. True that Brexit and Britain’s general loss of international general reputation under the previous government has not helped their overseas business but here they are turning it away! Brighton Uni had a HUGE number of Chinese students for a few years. And boy do they eat pizza and drink whiskey (from observations when working in houses occupied by the Chinese cohort) Anyway, this lasted a couple of years, then suddenly they all started going to another Uni for no clear reason. It seems there are companies/agents who help sell these courses to the Chinese (and presumably other markets) and I have a suspicion the change may have been down to "favorable terms" for said agencies. Amusing anecdote. When doing electrical testing in one of the "chinese houses" one young lady was trying to persuade me not to go into her room. I am good at explaining the charges for a repeat visit etc, so she allowed me in, and there was this huge, fluffy white cat. Did my work, all OK, moved on. Bear in mind this was around July, so courses were finishing up etc. When I returned the keys to the letting agency, I told them about the cat. The letting agent is great, but he looked very concerned. Thought for a moment, then said" I wonder what she will do with the cat when she goes home. I hope she won't eat it" which did make me smile. I have worried about the fate of that cat ever since.
JohnD Posted August 23 Posted August 23 (edited) On what people believe and reject, I've driven a long way today (ten hours - I know, you wouldn't do it to a trucker!) And rather than the radio, I listen to Radio 4, on BBC Sounds. And I happened upon an episode of "The Infinite Monkey Cage" on "Conspiracy Theories" If you're not familiar, Brian Cox (the media physicist) and Robin Cox (comedian) invite three guests to discuss something. Two are scientists, one a comedian. In this one, the scientists had evidence about conspiracy theorists to show that you cannot persuade them, and that educational attainment correlated with their attachment. I fear that Brexit is in that territory. John Edited August 23 by JohnD
RogerH Posted August 24 Posted August 24 On 8/23/2024 at 8:41 AM, JohnD said: I'd love to know the "well considered reasons" for Brexit. Evert single one that was touted, from more money for the NHS to cheese exports to China, have been found to be worthless. John Hi John, the reason we left the EU is because the remainers did not bother to get the votes - bad show. Many Brexiteers did not change their minds because there was nobody giving them the facts and the positive reasons to stay. Even now, that we are out, nobody is trying to smooth the way back to play with the EU - not re-join (that would cost us dear). There are many ways to be on their side but also on ours. If you had a motor car with an ICE engine and you wanted it to run on Steam an engineer would achieve a very good job. Sadly politicians are not engineers. Roger
RedRooster Posted August 24 Posted August 24 9 hours ago, RogerH said: Hi John, the reason we left the EU is Due to my wife trying to stop me buying car parts from the uk and that has happened, however I can still get them from the USA. 2
JohnD Posted August 25 Posted August 25 21 hours ago, RogerH said: Hi John, Many Brexiteers did not change their minds because there was nobody giving them the facts and the positive reasons to stay. Roger That goes back to the discussion of conspiracy cultists, who are resistant to presentation of facts on a subject. Their minds and opinions were already made. Sure, just as in any political matter, there are floating voters, but when the Ruling Party promotes the cultist view, even when its leader was against, it's a hard task to persuade them. John
RogerH Posted August 25 Posted August 25 1 hour ago, JohnD said: That goes back to the discussion of conspiracy cultists, who are resistant to presentation of facts on a subject. Their minds and opinions were already made. Sure, just as in any political matter, there are floating voters, but when the Ruling Party promotes the cultist view, even when its leader was against, it's a hard task to persuade them. John No conspiracy at all (that is an easy get out to rely on) Ask the newscaster - Jon Snow for hos views. The remainers were a failure due to idleness. They expected a resounding victory so they all stayed at home. Shooting, Foot, own springs to mind. Roger
zetecspit Posted August 25 Posted August 25 1 hour ago, RogerH said: No conspiracy at all (that is an easy get out to rely on) Ask the newscaster - Jon Snow for hos views. The remainers were a failure due to idleness. They expected a resounding victory so they all stayed at home. Shooting, Foot, own springs to mind. Roger I would add that voting for staying the same was not nearly as exciting or interesting as voting for change. All those promises, ideas etc were so tempting.
Escadrille Ecosse Posted August 25 Posted August 25 1 hour ago, RogerH said: No conspiracy at all (that is an easy get out to rely on) Ask the newscaster - Jon Snow for hos views. The remainers were a failure due to idleness. They expected a resounding victory so they all stayed at home. Shooting, Foot, own springs to mind. Roger 5 minutes ago, zetecspit said: I would add that voting for staying the same was not nearly as exciting or interesting as voting for change. All those promises, ideas etc were so tempting. Rory Stewart in his book takes a similar view. Essentially Cameron was a boring technocrat who's arguments were entirely dry and emotionless and basically relied on the economics to sell themselves. While the Brexiteers led by the bufoon were smart enough to realise this was a debate largely driven by feelings and emotions and actually got out there and made it 'exciting' and also fun. And also recognising that there was, and still is, a lot genuinely wrong with the functioning of the EU model that made their job easier too (remember the immigration crisis in Germany in 2015/2016?). Add in enough apathetic youth (with the most to lose) and job done. 1
PaulAA Posted September 4 Posted September 4 If there is a one damning indictment of any strategy of deregulation, it is the result of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, published today. Proper regulations matter.
Escadrille Ecosse Posted September 4 Posted September 4 (edited) 30 minutes ago, PaulAA said: If there is a one damning indictment of any strategy of deregulation, it is the result of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, published today. Proper regulations matter. Sadly so. A friend of mine is a fire engineer. Nowadays his time is almost entirely taken up as an expert witness looking at building cladding. His view is that there are four basic issues. The standards for the cladding which looked only at the cladding itself and not how it interracts with the structure of the building. Cost vs real world performance. The overall design of the building/cladding interface specifically with regard to firestops, mostly down to inadequate technical knowledge of the people doing the design and/or too much reliance on the standards - 'just following the rules'. The actual quality of construction which is shoddy and fails to appreciate the importance of the details. Lack of knowledge, training and care Supervision/inspection, or rather lack of it. Not a mamagement priority it would seem Edited September 4 by Escadrille Ecosse
Hamish Posted September 4 Posted September 4 1 hour ago, PaulAA said: Proper regulations matter. I agree. But……. even proper regulations NEED some sort of robust inspection and enforcement regime 1
PaulAA Posted September 4 Posted September 4 1 hour ago, Hamish said: even proper regulations NEED some sort of robust inspection and enforcement regime Agreed, Hamish. The role of the LA Building Inspector worked well for 45 years and more. Knowledgeable, experienced and helpful individuals in my experience. Cross him at your peril.
Hamish Posted September 4 Posted September 4 10 minutes ago, PaulAA said: Agreed, Hamish. The role of the LA Building Inspector worked well for 45 years and more. Knowledgeable, experienced and helpful individuals in my experience. Cross him at your peril. And builders can pick their building control regulator (company)
PaulAA Posted September 4 Posted September 4 1 hour ago, Hamish said: And builders can pick their building control regulator (company) I replied in haste. I meant that the role worked well until it was deregulated and privatised. But as the report points out, this is a decline that started long before the ‘bonfire of red tape’ era…
Nick Jones Posted September 4 Posted September 4 4 hours ago, Hamish said: And builders can pick their building control regulator (company) Sometimes even self certify. Mr R Stamp…. What could possibly go wrong…?
Escadrille Ecosse Posted September 4 Posted September 4 (edited) 3 hours ago, PaulAA said: I replied in haste. I meant that the role worked well until it was deregulated and privatised. But as the report points out, this is a decline that started long before the ‘bonfire of red tape’ era… I understand what you meant Paul. And as for 'quality' of supervision (in general) sadly so too. Whenever someone says something doesn't matter, with very few exceptions for the very competent my first thought is always, if you don't care about that what else doesn't you care about? Edited September 4 by Escadrille Ecosse
Escadrille Ecosse Posted September 4 Posted September 4 5 minutes ago, Nick Jones said: Sometimes even self certify. Mr R Stamp…. What could possibly go wrong…? That can be okay, but puts an even bigger responsibility on competent managers.
JohnD Posted September 4 Posted September 4 When leaders DO! Watching The Zelensky Story on BBC 2 now. John
Nick Jones Posted October 18 Posted October 18 God knows I’m not much impressed with our new “government” thus far, but at least it isn’t this lot https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/oct/17/kemikaze-and-honest-bob-are-let-loose-on-gb-news-where-they-cant-do-any-harm
JohnD Posted October 18 Posted October 18 (edited) It's John Crace's column I turn to before the headlines these days! Even before Marina Hyde's. John Edited October 18 by JohnD
Nick Jones Posted October 18 Posted October 18 1 hour ago, JohnD said: Even before Marina Hyde's Speaking of which….. on the very subject (unusually) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/18/kemi-badenoch-robert-jenrick-gb-news-tory-contest
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