Westminstenders: Local Elections Madness

[RedToothBrush]

This week has gone from banging your head against the wall to wanting to bang your head through it.

Labour have voted to support a 2nd ref as their EU election campaign strategy. Only for Corbyn to ignore it. And a row has broken out.

Change UK seem well on track to make everyone else look professional and to look as 'liberal elite' as humanly possible in a real life reverse paraody of themselves.

The Brexit Party is going from strength to strength with the most wtf candidates imaginable and Farage is happy cos his mate is coming to tea with the Queen.

The Liberal Democrats have decided that anti semitism is OK in an effort to keep Labour seats.

And the Conservatives. Where to start? Probably with the Tory Leadership Election infighting which looks suspiciously as if its now breached national security.

As for Brexit. No one really wants to talk about it. Local elections are next week. May is now apparently supporting the Malthouse Compromise. Be warned, it is difficult to see it as anything but a Trojan Horse for No Deal. Not that everyone has worked this out yet. But until we have the blood bath of the local elections over and done with on Thursday, don't expect much to happen.

Then expect the Tories to lose their minds...

I'm waiting for the rain to ease off then ds and I are off to the polling station. We already got cold and wet on the school run so are not in a rush to go back out.

I don't drive and we walk, sometimes bus, and go long distance on the train. It amazes me the amount of parents who drive to school instead of walking. Very few walk even if they could. There used to be a school bus but sadly it's no longer running.
In terms of those working closer to their homes, I agree where that is possible. I also think far more should be done by phone/Skype conference instead of driving to other cities to meetings. And get rid of unnecessary foreign travel for business. With modern technology it's surely not necessary for all these business flights and journeys? I'm sure there are occasions when in person is best but why not make use of the technology we have?

We have a low carbon house - triple glazing, loads of insulation, MVHR system, heating and hot water from the community biomass energy centre. Our hot water and heating bills are pretty low. The only thing we are missing is solar panels, although we and next door might do a joint project if we can get the sums to work (phase 1 of the development got solar panels when the feed in tariffs were good - some of the homes generate several hundred £ per year).

Parts of Spain I have seen had 3 carriageways. One for cars, one for bikes and one for cyclists. Much as you want to be green, the sad fact of the matter is that cyclists simply cannot mix with cars or pedestrians. They are Ronnie Barker in the 3>2>1 sketch. Vulnerable to cars, and a menace to pedestrians.

That's before you consider a queue of cars grinding along in low gear just so a lycra warrior can tick a box.

Want to reduce your carbon footprint ? Stop having kids. (I was wryly amused to see a BBC puff piece about a family with 3 kids that "did their bit" by eschewing plastic for a year recently).

Personally I believe a lot of Green policies are a waste of time and almost designed to generate opposition. Rather than arguing over the cause of climate change, why not accept it's happening (like it has every single time in history) and work on mitigating the effects ? If 1% of the resource that has been spunked on useless windmills and ponzi-scheme FIT "solar panels" had been spent on improving the UKs infrastructure to deal with more freak weather and seasonal anomalies, we'd be in a much better place.

All we're doing at the moment with our "Green" conscience is handing government and big business a perfect excuse to jack up prices while reducing content and service. But that's what happens in a nation where science falls below country dancing in the nations educational priorities and consciousness.

{The tech is already there but UK house building standards are shockingly low and we continue to build houses miles away from where there is employment or decent public transport, encouraging further car use.
The housing policies across the UK are crazy.}

This is of course the significant (UK) problem. Most of it is 'politically' driven and is controlled by party donors with vested interests.
Radical ideas like working a 4 day or even 3 day rather than 5 day week could be beneficial, particularly in some industries, so reducing the need for everyone to travel at once.

I believe the majority of solar (PV) panels are made in China.
The new 'watchword' ought to be efficiency, and both understand and practice it. It may well mean that some activities would not be best suited to the UK though.

The tech is already there

What Tech ? Mention hydrogen and you can right off ...

{What Tech ? Mention hydrogen and you can right off}

While there may well be some fantastic things to come, maybe rethinking how existing technology is used and refining that, perhaps by using better materials to improve the efficiency of the technology that many already understand. Vehicles that don't rust when out in the rain. insulating 'jackets' for saucepans so you don't need as much heat energy to cook the food, Triple glazing (as mentioned), roof tiles that can obtain energy from the sun to heat water/create electricity.
Improved lead acid battery technology to store electricity domestically (would be fine for LED lighting at least, if not heating).
Air/ground source heating is a hybrid technology anyway, using thermal mass (from the ground or air) and 'multiplied' by a compressor (could be electric/wind/water/donkey powered).
Part of this is creativity, and some legislation, part to push the need for it, and part to get over the vested interest 'naysayers' (looking at the UK house building industry).

The problem is that the tech which is there is also very expensive. Which means that house builders driven by profit rather than standards and sustainability have no appetite to use it as they're not being compelled to.

I was part of a team which designed, manufactured and sold (I was the selling side) Part L solutions when the building regs changed in the early '00s, working in consultation with insulation manufacturers to assist builders in complying. If you rang the number on the back of the leaflet my employer designed, you got me on the phone to talk you through your options.

I know a bit about housebuilding and how poor our eco-standards are, but there's seemingly no incentive or bloody compulsion to change the building methods and standards.

And what happens to existing housing stock? Retro fit? Not every house will be suitable for conversion to high eco standards. That's a minefield in itself.

There's so many things wrong with the housing development market that it'll take a massive shake up by somebody to solve it.

I love all the wind farms in Scotland. We visited one while I was working in Glasgow. Bastard freezing up there with all that wind, in April, funnily enough!

Working locally also benefits mothers (and thus families) I should imagine, as they are more likely to be able to juggle child care and other care duties. I imagine this could also have an effect on the inequalities in each industry. It could also boost bus use enabling increased funding for further routes. I do think getting back to the idea that most of us put family first will have a knock on effect on productivity in the UK. Seeing the job as a job to be done rather than hours of sitting at a desk even when there is nothing to do (Christmas/NYE/Bank Holidays, anyone?) for the sake of it, encouraging job shares and flexi-working... it's a wish list!

NoWord - tech is quite expensive, but considering the price of flooring/taps/door handles many 'top end' builders quote for...
It's more a matter of what they think the public will buy IME. Sustainable housing didn't figure on most people's conscience a few years ago.

If the builders/developers were savvy (which I got the distinct impression was a large part of the problem with Sustainable Homes) they would have sat down and worked out the savings per house compared to your average that had been achieved through insulation/other sustainable methods. They really could have swung a green brochure with nature/wildlife and community spirit with them, but they didn't.

I started a complete refurbish of my house some 18 years ago so spent happy hours reading all the building regs and as I had a 'blank canvas' wanted to get as environmentally friendly as possible. As I have travelled many parts of the world I have seen the widespread use of all types of installation materials and equipment (aircon in a mud hut with thatched roof etc) and was annoyed by how many things were not permitted or largely unapproved for UK use. Cost analysis to do rainwater harvesting for flushing loos would have a payback of about 25 years, assuming nothing went wrong over that period.
{Not every house will be suitable for conversion to high eco standards. That's a minefield in itself. }
There is a problem in that very old properties rely on a through flow of air to stop the fabric of the building 'decomposing', so slarting up insulation without consideration of where the moisture will go can cause massive problems. Johnny cowboy with his 'foam machine' can give you massive problems.

Agree fewer people is the way to go
So does David Attenborough
www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-45741482/sir-david-attenborough-population-growth-has-to-come-to-an-end

leClerc mine is one of those non-insulatable houses. It’s hardly worth doing the roof as the wind blows through the walls.

{Agree fewer people is the way to go}

Now that's a 'rabbit hole' to get into!

borntobequiet
Same here. I was happy this winter when my bedroom got above 6 Centigrade. It was 4 for most of the time.

@borntobequiet I wonder how many votes Tories would gain if they suggested that an aim of austerity was to decrease life expectancy (goal achieved!) and ensure the poorest stopped popping out kids?

The "middle aged white man telling people what to do" is another version of not trusting experts. Much as I don't think all experts are white male, the patriarchy has set us up in that way. I was told by a lecturer at uni that despite having the top marks on record for a module in Sexual Health Education "no one wants a white middle class woman telling them about STI's". It's not a helpful trope for advancement when educated people are told they aren't respected and shouldn't have a voice. (BTW I know you aren't saying that - was just in the clip).

Voting complete. We got drenched. Soaked to the skin. Today was not the day for cropped trousers, sandals and sunglasses 😩

I’ll be voting later and taking my 5 year old with me.

I’d love to build my own home which is more eco-friendly but the cost of land alone round here is astronomical. One of the early Grand Designs was of a woodsman who built his own home. It was lovely!

It amazes me the amount of parents who drive to school instead of walking. Very few walk even if they could.

This was me when my children were younger. I was within walking distance of school, but if even if walked there and back I still had to get in my car and drive right past the school to get to work. Only I’d have been 20 minutes later (because breakfast club still wouldn’t have opened any earlier, and I’d be driving through heavier traffic by leaving home later). I hate driving, so I walk whenever possible. But for the school run it made zero sense to even attempt it.

These days the kids walk to school (they’re older and at different schools) and I still drive to work. Because I work in the middle of nowhere and there is no public transport. There is one bus an hour to the nearest village, but I’d still have to walk 3 miles once I got off the bus.

DH and I cycle to work most days. It's nice, gets your head clear. I drop and pick up DD at nursery on my way, and DH walks to school with DS. We don't really need a car, though we do have one and both drive.

We've been talking on and off about replacement for an electric or hybrid. At the moment we're kind of on hold for any big spending, the kitchen is scruffy and the windows could use replacing, but we don't want to invest in case we need to sell quickly due to Brexit and escape back to Canada.

Lost my last sentence. I wonder how many other people are doing similar, and if it will have any economic effect?

@Lonely - a 100 cars held up for 4 minutes each? what sort of A roads do you drive on!
ime the vast majority of car drivers just over take, irrespective of whether its safe to do so or not, few wait until its clear.

But the attitude that cyclists are just "in the way" is what stops us providing infrastructure and a change of lifestyle.

Ref The School run --- why are we not investing in clean bus travel to ferry children between home and school? protects the environment and provides jobs & manufacturing if UK companies makes the buses.

During school hols, traffic congestion reduces to almost zero, esp on local roads, subject to those pesky cyclists!

MShip I'm also holding off big spends - think there is an understanding economically that this is why the housing market has stalled/stockpiling has increased for business, etc creating an economic bubble.

In actuality it is probably (?) better to buy a car whilst still in EU as I suspect prices will rise, unless we get govt subsidies for env friendly choices, such as cars. That itself is biased against the poorest, however.

When I was at the school there were 2 school buses that served the area. It's a catholic school and covers a fairly wide area compared to the other local primary schools. By the time DDs started there was only one bus and the company kept changing. In the end the bus company started changing extortionate fares and kept missing out parts of the route and refused to a tily drop off and collect at the school itself so that parents stopped using the service. Then the company said see! No one uses it. So the council withdrew it altogether. Lots of families used it originally and now there's far more cars in the school run because it's been withdrawn.
I agree there's no point walking if you drive past the school.

There were 3 people including me who were voting when I went. I'm not sure how good our area is for voting but I'm hoping there's a good turn out. Lib Dems usually win here in the locals but we have a Tory MP.

Jasjas - I simply don't think the hold ups and resultant extra pollution justify that one person not being in a car for a car share, for example. I think it likely they would be causing less pollution being in a car for the journey and keeping the traffic flowing.

I also looked into creating a bus for the school - around 70% of the kids are from the town and the village gets jammed with cars twice daily as it is 6 miles along busy roads/motorway/dual carriageway and not walkable. The main stumbling block was insurance - what do you do if 2 parents out of 30 haven't turned up at the drop off? My response was "ferry them back to school and put them into after school club and charge the parents" but apparently parents who don't drive then couldn't collect them It seems to work in America though!