Mary Elkington 💙💛🇺🇦

sounds like "jobs for the boys" (as the British say)

Was it just more grift? If a few paid big money to 'join' where is that money now?

Weird piffling comment comming from a man named Alexander de Pfeffel

Now try an experiment where you stop grazing altogether in some places and see what the biodiversity does?

So nice to hear the world laughing at Katie Hatekins along with everyone in the UK

Still waiting for the adverts :
Have you been mis-sold Help To Buy?

Here is the PM talking to us after yesterday's COBRA meeting and before the press conference on the Middle East.

So good to have a sensible, intelligent, grown up PM during this crisis, after years of terrible PMs.

The thought of any other current party leader dealing with this really scares me.

Pretty difficult to refute a single thing in this perfect assessment of where the f**k we are, from @iandunt.bsky.social:

PS - same district where the objectors have spent decades saying "brownfield first" and this appears to be putting station car park to good use. It's just objectorism.

Screenshot from https://guildford-dragon.com/248-stalin-esque-flats-approved-for-car-park-site-near-station/ illustration shows group of mid-rise bloack of red brick flats with balconys under the title: "248 ‘Stalin-esque’ Flats Approved for Car Park Site Near Station "

Just back from enjoying continental culture - flats everywhere & nothing to do with Stalin
TBF - wonderful well thought flats of scale/massing below, but all had associate community use
& TBF - if you antirender.com the illustration below, it might be a bit grim, but this ain't Uncle Joe

Good point, but isn't every plan's vision some anodyne "great place to live/work/play"?

It is only an occasional plan that has any real meat or departure from status quo

Dairy man (blessed are the cheese makers)
Bank teller moving to manager in v small town bank (wife ran the small farm to keep kids fed)

Reminds me of first meteorology course at uni: "never predict more than 70% chance of anything and you'll always be right"

"We called London a war zone and moved to Dubai by mistake"

And don't get me started on comparison of rail fares.
Home soon for a slow, expensivr journey to the wilds west of Exeter - as long as the tide isn't in. /Fin

Adds significant planning & construction coats for a species that isn't threatened - just that we're outside their natural area (bring on the mosquitoes?)

Every time I say this, green NIMBYs accuse me of being a planet killer.

Just wish Eng rail & industry were not so pitiful in comparison 2/3

For a few days I've been hammering along on trains in ES & FR at upwards 250km ph and everywhere high speed lines under construct.
This in the area where bats (Gleb/ghb) are native.

Always gets me that in English, at the far edge of their habitat we treat these like endangered species 1/3

Not the most important headline, but, ummm ... Isn't Iran scheduled to play World Cup matches in June in LA & Seattle

1/9. In 2020 Iran did try to interfere with the presidential election.

Call to planning enforcement cld be worthwhile.
Don't know about this one, but frustrating when some councils refuse to regularise housing they've reluctantly permitted as ancillary/tied dwellings.

Yup - does Rightmove check the legality before advertising?

See similar on spareroom.com where it's illegal HMO what 'council tax and bills included' is red flag - can't use address for voter reg (or GP or DVLA as nothing is in their name)

That looks like ancillary accommodation and with no planning for it as a separate dwelling, so no separate council tax band and no registering to vote etc.

I find it interesting that Scotland's National Planning Framework has policy support for rural development that counters depopulation... England nppf seems content to hollow out rural England of residents and services

I'm just suspicious - it's The Fail. To me this reads like propo trying to convince left voters to 'strategically' vote green, which of course will split left vote giving it to reform

Five white people, mostly old, mostly grim faced, standing in a misty field holding a sign that says "save our greenbelt"

I'll never tire of photos of planning objectors... TBF it's pretty much always the same article & same photo - only specific backyards change

I read this headline as "thousands of households needing homes don't matter to these community stalwarts"

www.expressandstar.com/news/propert...

Is he talking about the 1.2 million UK babies under 2 years old?

Cause the ones I know only speak a few words - mum, da, duck, give ... Outrageous

not defending him, laughing at him

Been here 30 years and am still learning new things. TBF, we're not rich or aspirational so was 10 years here before me first encounter with real UK Middle Class
(They're the ones choosing God parents who can pull them up the pecking order, and maybe help with school fees! Different world)

Not unlike the LibCon coalition cabinet who decided to treble Uni fees without a blink.

For the top % sending kids to Uni was cost savings over what they'd pay for an 11 year old's tuition.

AI is insidious and damaging: