Westministenders: Don't forget to stockpile. Again.

[RedToothBrush]

The government is telling pharmacists and drug manufactures to stockpile drugs ahead of the end of transition on 31st December.

In the middle of a pandemic.

What could go wrong?

DGR
my old boss was a Bell End, and proved it creditably when he cycled home from the pub pissed as the proverbial newt through a hawthorn hedge.
~There's a place in Cheshire called "Mad Allens Hole", and a road called "Nowhere"

Oh, and you can change a road name.
Everyone has to agree, and it costs ££.
But it is possible, Sabrina, so your local (ex) councillor could be removed if the residents/owners agreed.

@SabrinaThwaite

We had a road named after a local councillor.

Didn’t look quite so appropriate after he was jailed for embezzlement from a local club.

Savile Way, anyone ?

A local road are trying to get their name changed, Colston Road. 182 people, and the vast majority of residents, signed up for it and they are supported by the Council but they need every resident to agree apparently. It hasn’t made the news recently so it must have not happened, you can imagine one of the Brexity “defend the statues” types will have defended his right to live in a road named after a slave trader. Typical Brexit democracy....

Emily
Every property or land owner whose address is "Colston Road" on their deeds would have to agree
and they'd all have to agree to the new name too which will have to be consulted on with Royal Mail & Emergency Services (amongst others including the Parish Council duplications cause problems ) Land Registry will change their deeds for a fee, and the LA will tell them who they need to inform (or might do a mailshot for a modest charge).
It can and has been done - but it's really not a quick process.

Oh, and IIRC it has to go through Committee (Planning?) and then Full Council - we only did one change in the 15+ yrs I was involved with it and that was in the early 90s.

Re Road names : they can be done as Easter Eggs for incoming authorities
in my City the incoming Tory council spent loads of energy trying to change the name of Mandela Way to something more jingoistic

Back to housing: I know nothing about such things, but isn’t it likely there will be a lot of unwanted office space and empty shops. And wouldn’t it be better to convert them to housing? We’ve had local shops converted to houses or flats here.

And wouldn’t it be better to convert them to housing? We’ve had local shops converted to houses or flats here.
Yes
IF IT IS DONE PROPERLY
But what Jenrick is proposing will create slims on a par with those demolished to build the first council homes.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53670199
"Living in a glass box was soul destroying"

@Bodoni

Back to housing: I know nothing about such things, but isn’t it likely there will be a lot of unwanted office space and empty shops. And wouldn’t it be better to convert them to housing? We’ve had local shops converted to houses or flats here.

Oh that's already being pushed. But already it's clear it'll be slum living at it's best.

People need a bit of a head wobble. If you had spent as much money as the housing industry in the UK has on politicians in the past 25 years, then you are not going to quietly accept your cash cow being led to the slaughter are you ?

The only housing "crisis" in the UK is that created by successive governments to allow their mates to coin it in avoiding the risks of real investment. It's not immigrants. It's not single mums. It's not ley lines. It's government policy ffs.

You know the old canard about giving a person a fish, or teaching them to fish ? How do you think that would go if the fishmongers ran the country ?

Listening May DD lived off Mandela Street, only thing was that when they changed the name they didn’t change the street signs which still say Nelson Mandela Street. So somebody clearly felt the need to change it to something more ambiguous. This was in Kate Hoey land where political ambiguity is clearly a thing😏

Emily
Ah yes, the London ones !
I live in a nice provincial city

Re the changes in planning regulations that will make the Conservatives' cronies shedloads of money : what is so annoying is that they will create slums of the near future, if not the present - and the cost of dealing with the fallout and trying to fix it will fall on the councils and not on the developers, who will be long gone

Utterly sideways but
BigChocFrenzy
Be careful when sunbathing
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/07/german-nudist-chases-wild-boar-that-stole-laptop-berlin-teufelssee

@prettybird

Re the changes in planning regulations that will make the Conservatives' cronies shedloads of money : what is so annoying is that they will create slums of the near future, if not the present - and the cost of dealing with the fallout and trying to fix it will fall on the councils and not on the developers, who will be long gone

I know. It's genius isn't it ? And the masses will continue to vote the Tories in.

it's not hard to see why Britain is so admired around the world, albeit by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.

[quote ListeningQuietly]Utterly sideways but
BigChocFrenzy
Be careful when sunbathing
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/07/german-nudist-chases-wild-boar-that-stole-laptop-berlin-teufelssee[/quote]
OMG, he was brave!

Like a nice wild boar steak, when it's available ....

Most of the streets locally are named after old field names or have some kind of nature connection. Much safer than going for historical figures.

John Lewis are thinking of making their closed stores into apartments I read...

@Peregrina

As far as I am concerned with Bill Gates - providing vaccines is only half a story. A lot of sub Saharan Countries and the Indian Sub continent could benefit enormously from clean drinking water and good effluent disposal and I don't see him doing anything to address those problems. No money for big pharma in it

Like quarantining the sick, it's not new knowledge - Bazalgette and London sewers spring to mind.

.... Even a multi-billionaire can't afford to build the infrastructure for a continent or even a country and no government would allow it, anyway It would soon be regarded as an imposition by Westerners - especially if the govt & cronies didn't get their 90% cut of the money.

Providing vaccines and mosquito nets is achievable and appropriate
creating infrastructure isn't

Yoikes
I have no problem with conversion into rental property
so long as the Landlord retains the duty to maintain and ensure fire safety and legal compliance
BUT
ANYTHING that allows building to be cheaply converted and sold off leasehold
is despicable and should be blocked

Even a multi-billionaire can't afford to build the infrastructure for a continent or even a country and no government would allow it, anyway

It's worth speculating that Jeff Bezos (in theory) could fund 1,000 startups with $1,000,000 a pop every month (that would be 12,000 start ups) for a year and probably still emerge richer despite spending $12billion. And that would be just randomly dishing the dough out. If there was even a cursory attempt to look for profitable ideas, it could be a hell of a lot more.

Something to ponder.

Listening 😂 Good for him !

Many years ago, I regularly went to some naturist spas and lakes - no shame, me
but I haven't sunbathed or swum for many years as the gym has been enough

Living by the Rhine, I've just ordered a little dinghy from Amazon though, in case the gym is unavailable again,
so I may resume both activities as well
In our village, I've noticed everyone wears a swimsuit or bikini on the river, so I'll do likewise

DG Horrendous administration costs for the money for 1,000 separate businesses though
Economy of scale is a thing

@BigChocFrenzy

DG Horrendous administration costs for the money for 1,000 separate businesses though Economy of scale is a thing

It wasn't a manifesto pledge, just a comment. Even if the aforementioned TatSlinger General just mailed $1,000,000 checks at random to startups on a lottery basis with zero administration (i.e. not worried about making a return) it's hard not to see it as an overall win for the economy wherever it happens.