UK politics - continuing into 2021
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Anti HS2 protesters at Euston Square Gardens has set up a camp to obstruct development
Enforcement agents have moved in on a protest camp near Euston Station, where HS2 activists have spent months secretly digging a 100 ft tunnel in a bid to stop them being evicted. Reports differ on if it is called Calvin or Kelvin.
Since August, HS2 Rebellion members have been living in tree houses and tents at a camp nearby.
A HS2 spokeswoman said the protesters were "trespassing" on land owned by the company.
There is word that Swampy is back
I am not anti HS2. It is a very expensive project, but it totally the sort of thing we should be doing. Compared to the heathrow expansion or more roads putting in modern public transport has to be a good thing. It does sound like they are destroying Euston Square Gardens for a temporary taxi rank, which seems a bit pointless.
HS2 is a new high speed rail line proposed between london and the midlands / north. It is expected to cost over 50 billion, and could be much more.
Enforcement agents have moved in on a protest camp near Euston Station, where HS2 activists have spent months secretly digging a 100 ft tunnel in a bid to stop them being evicted. Reports differ on if it is called Calvin or Kelvin.
Since August, HS2 Rebellion members have been living in tree houses and tents at a camp nearby.
A HS2 spokeswoman said the protesters were "trespassing" on land owned by the company.
There is word that Swampy is back
I am not anti HS2. It is a very expensive project, but it totally the sort of thing we should be doing. Compared to the heathrow expansion or more roads putting in modern public transport has to be a good thing. It does sound like they are destroying Euston Square Gardens for a temporary taxi rank, which seems a bit pointless.
HS2 is a new high speed rail line proposed between london and the midlands / north. It is expected to cost over 50 billion, and could be much more.
Spoiler More pics :
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EnglishEdward
Deity
As the decision making on health, quarantine and lockdown measures is fully devolved to
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; the handling of Covid there is hardly Westminster's fault.
I go back-and-forth on HS2, but at the moment believe it is outright wasting money (costs are ballooning way past projections) and also won't actually benefit infrastructure outside of London much - especially in the first phase. Birmingham to London is well-covered - this money would be better-spent modernising our aging infrastructure outside of this existing well-travelled route.
aelf
Ashen One
Apparently, e-commerce is wrecked. From 1st Jan, UK buyers have had to pay taxes and exorbitant fees (courtesy of shipping companies) on online purchases. Lots of whine from UK buyers and, inevitably, they get asked: "Did you vote for Brexit?"
Wonder how many of them did.
Wonder how many of them did.
Yeah, for some reason the UK exchequer decided on the most awkward way of handling tax, that no other country uses. I cannot quite understand why, I do not see anyone being helped by this.
EnglishEdward
Deity
There are a lot of low lying railway lines that will need to be moved or raised as global
warming raises sea levels. The billions spent on HS2 would be better spent on that.
That is nothing at all new. I had to pay fees and taxes when I imported a Civilisation Game from the USA.
UK has a trading deficit. If Chancellor makes it more expensive to import stuff, deficit declines.
warming raises sea levels. The billions spent on HS2 would be better spent on that.
That is nothing at all new. I had to pay fees and taxes when I imported a Civilisation Game from the USA.
UK has a trading deficit. If Chancellor makes it more expensive to import stuff, deficit declines.
aelf
Ashen One
Oh yeah, that's for stuff from the EU, for which UK buyers are used to enjoying good prices.
That really depends on how (in) elastic demand for such ‘stuff’ is.
aelf
Ashen One
Protectionism is supposed to help domestic industries grow, but that usually also requires other policies to support the effort. What are the chances the Tories are gonna implement those? Who does deregulation help most?
I think it is not as simple as: "more deregulation helps business" !
When leftish people start singing that tune without specifying and discriminating sectors and kinds of regulations, they in fact sing in the UK a Tory tune.
For example, with enough domestic trade protection higher labor protection drives higher labor productivity, enabling shorter working weeks, earlier retirement or more prosperity.
The worst thing that can happen is that a country stops investing enough in human skills and machinery because labor is cheaper anyway (from reduced labor protection and low wages).
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yeah
Whereby we have in reality two main kinds of taxes
The one of the public state and the one from over-profitable companies or wealthy people.
Both having such a Laugher curve and competing with each other.
aelf
Ashen One
Uh, no. That's not what I was driving at. Deregulation helps certain businesses most (hint: they're traditionally located at Bank), and likely not the industries you're supposed to help.
You can impose tariffs as a populist measure and also deregulate to help your cronies. That's the way the populist right is headed these days (harking back to the old fascist days?).
yes
It is about what you, as government, regulate or deregulate.
With banks you get on top the perverse effect that when banks regulate too much lending money to SME and especially very small companies... they shift (wage) income from SME to surplus profit of big companies. IF you really want to prevent that as public state, you need to break that kartel by a people's bank for small businesses. In fact this happens with development aid to third world countries by the micro loans program.
Another perverse effect is of big companies regulating their purchase rules which in fact causes that big companies buy almost only from other big companies (unless it is about the lunches etc). The no maverick purchasing guy doctrine driven by risk management clerks of the beancounter departments.
Big companies are world champions in generating their company red tape and regulations when it suits their own objectives, all the time whining about red tape of governments, their prime competitor unless under control by lobby groups or other means.
EnglishEdward
Deity
We got better prices buying from China and SE Asia despite the import tariffs and overheads.
Very true.
Very true.
What was it Winston Churchill said about the Americans.
The Tories will implement them when they have exhausted the alternatives.
To a certain extent, yes; but there is a problem when people expect all of the latter three benefits.
A large part of the UK economy opted out of such investment years ago, choosing instead
to employ Poles, Portuguese, Romanians, Bulgarians; and migrants from the third world.
We did here in NL the same in the 60ies because business decreased its level of investing in first only some sectors and then more and more sectors.
It left us badly prepared for the 1973 crisis and the fast growing cost strenght of the Japanese (who did invest generously).
The last two decades were in that respect not really great as well in NL. Not enough investments because labor too cheap. For our next general elections in March increasing the minimum wage substantially is one of the main topics incl rooting out abusive tricks to lower cost from seasonal migrants by small temp labor agencies..
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On that increasing the minimum wage in NL:
We are at 10 Euro per hour, the target is 14 Euro per hour (70% of the population supporting that) and the compromise will ofc be in between.
The hot potatoe is that the state pension, unemployment money and other social insurances-benefits, are all directly coupled as percentages to that minimum wage.
From November 2020, during Covid:
We are at 10 Euro per hour, the target is 14 Euro per hour (70% of the population supporting that) and the compromise will ofc be in between.
The hot potatoe is that the state pension, unemployment money and other social insurances-benefits, are all directly coupled as percentages to that minimum wage.
From November 2020, during Covid:
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