Westminstenders: Welcome to 2019

[RedToothBrush]

Welcome to 2019.

Bit of a different thread starter; instead of me speculating what are your predictions for the coming year politically? Will be interesting to see how people are viewing things right now.

How is Brexit going to play out?

Who is going to be framed as the scapegoat for whatever scenario you think likely?

What are going to be the biggest political issues that the media / politicians push (as opposed to what the real issues are)?

What is going to be the most shocking thing that will happen either here or abroad?

What will happen with Trump?

Who will be the next Tory leader and when?

Whats on the cards for the various political parties in general?

There are parts of Manchester that are starting to suffer dreadfully from the negative effects of gentrification. There are positives too but the effect is accelerating and those displaced by it, are not establishing new, creative and flourishing neighbourhoods in other senses to replace those they've left - which was a feature of the same process in the past.

Diversity of any kind is somehow being erased across the country. People who are different are not talking to each other anymore.

I'm not sure that's that new. We're always drawn to people like us. We're all xenophobic to an extent - I know I would not feel in tune with an area where lots of houses displayed England flags, for instance. That thinking is foreign to me. My parents both quickly (separately) escaped the parochial thinking of where they grew up. We've always sought echo chambers to an extent as who wants to spend their whole life arguing?

Diversity of any kind is somehow being erased across the country.

Now let's start to think where we have seen that happen before, and where it led ?

It's happening so precisely, it's hard to argue that one of the intended outcomes of Brexit was to cleave Scotland and Northern Ireland away from the "U"K ... because as long as they are in the Union, they'll be polluting the minds of the hard-working salt-of-the-earth Englishman ((c) Johnson, Farage and Rees-Mogg) with strange ideas of sharing, and caring. If Scotland and Ireland were drugs, then they'd be banned by now, using the US complaint that they made coloureds think they are the equal of whites.

Sadly Wales has shackled itself to England. Maybe it's a bit of Stockholm syndrome or maybe they've got Javid like delusions of being accepted. Either way, they're not going anywhere. Especially of we need an alternative site for Trident.

Happy New Year everyone

When there is a common external enemy, people pull together.
The external enemy is climate change - which people cannot cope with.
So to keep people distracted, the politicians create internal other
TM did it with immigrants and citizens of nowhere
Corbyn will try to do it with the rich forgetting that he is FAR richer than most
and until there is an entirely new generation of politicians, that poison will be in the bloodstream of the UK

I'd like to be optimistic about 2019, but I'm struggling

I know I would not feel in tune with an area where lots of houses displayed England flags, for instance. That thinking is foreign to me.

+1

I can guarantee I won't be putting an England or Union flag on my house, Tricolore or EU maybe.

Oh and 'anti-London' sentiment, isn't necessarily about London.

Its about being anti-centralisation. Its a concept thought up by people who have no concept of how it works in practice in certain areas.

A place 20 miles away in the North West can either be 20 minutes by car or 3 hours away by public transport.

Having a regional hospital which specialises in neuro, does not work as well in practice as it would in London. Yet the decision making is done by people for whom this isn't a concern for them; they might well be in London but equally they could be in the North West but simply don't think of those who can't just jump into the car.

My local GP used to do blood tests. Now you have to go to the local town - but thats only available in the mornings. If you can't make the morning, you have to go to the hospital (which is even less accessible).

The local agency that provides library services tried to argue that we should have our local library closed on the basis that people could easily get to the central one. Except they reduced all the bus services to our area. Which for those who can't afford to drive / older / disabled or are generally the people who are most in need of a library service for financial reasons this made it difficult. To add insult to injury they wrote in their report recommending the closure of the library that people living here should be able to walk the 7 miles to the central library. As if no one would pick up on how ridiculous this statement was in accessibility terms. Suffice to say, the Library is still open...

My point being I do think a certain amount of 'anti-london' sentiment is actually a resentment of decisions being made by people who have no connection with how that decision works in practice on the ground. And this disproportionally affects poorer / disconnected areas (from public transport) / rural areas.

Disconnected areas, do not necessarily need to be isolated areas either. There are places I know of in a local town, where huge new estates have been built - but theres no shops or services and no public transport links despite them being less than 10 minutes by car from the centre. If you don't have that transport, then even though its a 'central' location geographically, in practical terms it could just as well be the middle of nowhere.

London, because of the transport network, simply does not have the same problem to the same extent.

This is why you will get so much anger focusing on London and issues over transport.

Its all about the utter dependence of the north on their car and how this is getting worse - and how congestion is getting increasingly worse without any comprehensive strategy to solve this. You have Greater Manchester trying to combat this - but unless there is a regional strategy which goes beyond the borders into neighbouring counties and into Liverpool / Leeds its doomed by its own geographical limits. The 'Northern Powerhouse' as a concept was much needed - but I still think it massively lacks the vision to properly link regional towns.

There's been a huge amount said about trains being privatised. I'd argue that the decision to axe a great many train lines in the 1960s was also fundamental. Many communities - particularly coal mines - were closely linked to the train lines which linked them to other communities. Their removal isolated communities and meant they couldn't commute to work in other areas when the mines closed as easily. They were supposed to be replaced by buses - but they weren't - and even where they were, austerity removed them later.

Reversing privatisation, would only help those places where train services exist. Noting of course those places with good train links have much higher house places.

Beeching had a disproportionate affect on North / South divide.

In terms of transport, Burnham gets it much more than Corbyn for all the reasons I mention above. Burnham is still regarded as many as 'centrist' whereas Corbyn is 'far left'.

Ironically Burnham's thinking is much more focused on extending services as well as improvement rather than Corbyn who seems to focus merely making existing ones cheaper / more reliable for those who already have access too them.

Its interesting.

Thats also why you'll get a huge conflict between northerners and Londoners over transport issues.

There is a resentment that has built up over decades over lack of investment in transport and where £s have been spent on it geographically.

No one wants HS2 up here. Its low on priorities and doesn't solve the day to day issues that people face on a parctical level. HS2 just represents 'London getting more as usual'.

When we went on the marches, we drove down (2 hrs) and then hopped on a tube at an accessible station, and 45 minutes later were joining it at Green Park, just before midday. We marched, got back to Green Park about 2ish and were on the motorway (M40) out of London just gone 3pm.

Meanwhile, a week later it took an hour to go 4 miles across Birmingham.

If Local public transport in the rest of the UK was run on the same basis as London
a lot of the anti London feeling could be reduced

The fact that the mayor of Newcastle was taken to court for trying to align bus timetables to the train timetable anti competitive practices, by the taxi companies
and yet Oyster cards work on buses, DLR, the tube and NETWORK RAIL
shows how insane it is

We went to Southwark partly because that was where the Marchioness memorial is.

We were affected by that, as a family, many years ago.

Sorry to hear it. I knew someone who died on the Marchioness. That and Hillsborough were only a few months apart. The official response to those incidents really defined the late 80s brutality.

Meanwhile, anyone catch the news that Venice is planning on charging tourists ?

I have no idea how this would work (and must admit that the HHGTTG notion of needing toilet receipts did rather pop into my noggin). However, at what point - if at all - should areas be able to charge people who visit ?

When I lived in Kenya, there were generally - certainly in Nairobi - two tariffs on show. "Residents" and "Tourists". Tourists were generally quite a bit more expensive than residents, which, given the poverty (one reason why I am a little about "poverty" in the UK) seemed a fair deal.

Now I realise such schemes are anathema to the Rees-Moggs of this world who have made an altar of "free market" economics. But given that nowhere in the world has ever practiced - nor is going practice - free market economics (especially the US) ; they can just fuck right off.

Penny pinching on services that are essentially 'there' is another issue in so many areas. There used to be a direct connection from Southport to Manchester airport, brilliant for many in that catchment area. To save some money they then cancelled that direct connection so you have to mess about changing in Manchester. The trains didn't run particularly early or late either thus 'wasting' a fabulous opportunity to reduce congestion and pollution.

Meanwhile, anyone catch the news that Venice is planning on charging tourists ?
I have no idea how this would work
I suspect a charge to each boat as part of their mooring fee
as its the cruise ships that the new charge is aimed at

I think that the NW will change hugely when driverless cars become the norm. The need to own a car will change and taxi will die a death. The car share will be a much more viable option as you can just click an app to jump into a ride following a similar route.

The driverless car is far more important to small town europe where there is high density population than the US and in cities with extensive established public transport.

There is a fundamental demand for it. Which will mean it will happen as there is a huge amount of money to be made from it.

Its 20 to 30 years off. We need it sooner.

Ta1kinPeace I agree the ‘common external enemy is climate change.’ We need to be getting together as all the nations of the globe to fight it, not splitting ourselves up further. And wasting time, money and effort on irrelevancies like Brexit.

Also, talking about how people are separated or grouped which then affects how they are perceived... Well sometimes I think about people who come to live from the EU. We don’t know their social backgrounds really but what we do know is that they were willing to go and live in another country and make a fresh start. (How many Brits would do it?) That means they must be brave, adventurous, ready to learn, independent, open-minded and enterprising. Strikes me that’s a great bunch of qualities that would only bring benefit to a society.

I suspect a charge to each boat as part of their mooring fee as its the cruise ships that the new charge is aimed at

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-tax-fee-charge-admission-day-trippers-tourists-mayor-overtourism-a8705571.html

independent.co.uk
Want to visit Venice? You’ll have to pay the admission fee
Simon Calder Travel Correspondent
8-9 minutes

Day-trippers to Venice will be forced to pay what amounts to an admission fee, according to the city’s mayor Luigi Brugnaro.

At present anyone who stays overnight in Venice pays between €1 (90p) and €5 per person for the city’s hotel tax.

Day visitors currently avoid any charge, and can access the city via the Ponte della Libertà (“Liberty Bridge”) for as little as €1.50 by bus.
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But the mayor announced on Twitter that he will take advantage of Italy’s liberalised budget laws to introduce what is called a contributo di sbarco – literally a disembarkation contribution – for visitors.

The aim, said Mr Brugnaro, is to “protect those who live, study and work in our territory”.

He said: “It will help us to better manage the city, to keep it clean, to offer innovative services to guests and to make the Venetians live more decorously.”

Activists in Venice have expressed concern about “overtourism”. In the spring of 2018, the mayor announced special measures “to guarantee public safety, security and livability” – and installed crowd control barriers at key locations in the historic city to regulate the flow of visitors.

Around 25 million tourists visit Venice each year, which works out at one coachload of 48 people every minute.

But it is estimated that only one visitor in five stays overnight.

For travellers living in northwest Slovenia, southeast Austria and even Bavaria in southern Germany, Venice can be accessed as a day trip from home.

The key questions about the new levy are: how much will it cost to visit Venice, and how will it be collected?

The city council is set to decide both issues.

If day-trippers are taxed a token €1 (the same as a stay in a one-star hotel) and non-staying visitor numbers remain the same, the city will benefit to the tune of €20m annually – plenty with which to enhance the city’s appearance. But some locals believe that taxation should be used to dampen demand to visit the city.

A charge of €5 would act as a deterrent for travellers on a lower budget, and might turn attention to other beautiful and historic cities nearby, including Vicenza and Padua.

It is believed that if the plan reaches fruition, Venice will be the first city in the world with an admission fee for day visitors. But its unique geography, comprising an archipelago accessible only by bridge or water, makes it also one of the few cities where levying a charge is feasible.

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A toll could be levied on cars and coaches travelling over the Ponte della Libertà, with the charge included in train tickets across the parallel railway from Mestre on the mainland to Santa Lucia station in Venice.

The only other access is by water from the Lido – again, the visitor charge could be added to fares.

Already, visitors to Venice pay five times as much as local people for vaporetti – the boats which act as local buses.

Other cities with concerns about overtourism, including Barcelona and Dubrovnik, will be watching developments closely.

imo, without the US in particular coming in, Britain was strong enough to defend its own territory, but would never have been strong anywhere near strong enough to liberate France & beyond
BigChoc

Once the Nazis set Operation Barbarossa in motion the west was off the hook. From June 1941 the USSR saved the west first by absorbing the firepower of 150 divisions, and about 3 million men, then by slowly rolling them all back to Berlin after turning the tide at Stalingrad. Had these forces been used in Britain and Ireland, both countries would have been destroyed within weeks (days or even hours in the case of Ireland).

For the campaign against the Soviet Union, the Germans allotted almost 150 divisions containing a total of about three million men. Among those units were 19 panzer divisions, and in total the Barbarossa force had about 3,000 tanks, 7,000 artillery pieces, and 2,500 aircraft.
www.britannica.com/event/Operation-Barbarossa

'Local' and 'Tourist' rates are already very much a thing. I've noticed it more in recent years. Tenerife certainly has it but I've seen it in other places too.

I have to be honest, that I can't argue hugely with the idea given the damage and hassle huge numbers of tourists can wreck on an area.

Barcelona is having real issues with housing because of so many apartments being listed with Air Bnb for example. And Iceland has started to have environmental issues with the number of tourists there. And we have holiday home issues with Devon and Cumbria.

Why shouldn't people providing services to facilitate holidays have some perks and benefits.

Venice has to do something. It doesn't have a choice. Should the burden fall on the residents or those who put an extra strain on the city's infrustructure?

I struggle to think of an alternative. I don't think it will put off anyone really in practice in sufficient numbers to be problematic in places where there is a particularly high foot fall of tourists.

It'll probably be a discount system rather than a charge in my opinion.

In Sri Lanka, entrance to the National Parks was US$30 per tourist and SR120 (around 50p) for locals
It seemed eminently sensible to us and our (local) guide

Localised tourist taxes ensure that money reaches the local economy

Once the Nazis set Operation Barbarossa in motion the west was off the hook.

Barbarossa was launched later than intended thanks to the British effort in the Battle of Britain. I've read/heard a few views that the 3-4 weeks delay meant the Winter hit the Nazis on the move, rather than hunkered down, as was the plan.

It seems curious that in a country so obsessed by "the war", so few people (present company excepted) seem to know much about it. Especially the (as you'd expect ?) meticulous preparations the Nazis had for occupying Britain. Of especial interest, is the list of names of people they wouldn't execute, but expected to play puppet master. The Duke of Windsor being one ......

Also, US states generally can set their own rates of tax. People living near state borders can chose which state to buy shit in ...

Imagine a local tax system here ?

And I haven't met anyone from London personally who gives 2 sh*ts about HS2 either.

Nor Brum. I can still get door-to-door by car in half the time it would take by public transport and a tenth the cost.

If an HS line is needed, why not down to Cornwall ?