Alf Bentley

A couple of Pogues songs written by other band members, not Shane (Jem Finer & Phil Chevron, respectively)....

Fair point. My comment about the summer was intended as a generalisation. I appreciate that some younger people will have shown great caution and some older people will have partied incautiously. In general, though, I think more of the young and invulnerable resumed a relatively normal life (socialising with mates, not socially distancing, holidaying etc.). That impression is based partly on what I saw with my own eyes and via the media - and partly on summer Covid infection data, which showed higher infection rates among the young, but few hospitalisations due to

In effect, this has already been attempted - and it has failed. In the summer, everything was opened up. Young people and those with no vulnerability resumed normal life, but most of the elderly and those with a vulnerability continued to act cautiously. In the short-term, this led to increased levels of infection among the less vulnerable young, but not among the elderly/vulnerable - meaning low levels of hospitalisation and death......so far, so good, by your theory. But that didn't last, did it? Hospitals and morgues are filling up - mainly with the elderly/vuln

Tariff-free, I hope? Cheers. This was the bit I meant: "So, it seems as if they're seeking to pay the same sum pro rata to every region. That might seem fair at first sight. But different regions have different levels of need for multiple reasons - just as you wouldn't devote the same education resources to an area of pensioners as you would to an area of young families. Part of the reason Burnham demanded more than £60m was because Manchester has been on lockdown longer, thereby accruing greater need, and because it has proportionally more businesses and self

Entering negotiations and standing by demands you see as justified now constitutes "leading the outrage brigade", does it? In that case, I presume Johnson himself is just "leading the outrage brigade" in standing by his Brexit demands, is he? I've already quoted reasons why it could be justified for Manchester to get more pro rata than Liverpool or Lancashire, but you ignore that. I've already highlighted the swinging cuts in local govt funding over recent years and the vast sums given via national govt contracts with corporate mates. You also ignore that. It

Agree with the second part. But, for the record, Burnham's negotiating position was agreed with local Tory council leaders and some (not all) local Tory MPs are unhappy with the Govt response - it's not all party political.

Rather easier for central govt to do that when it has much the bigger budget in the first place and hasn't lost a large percentage of its revenue over the past decade or more. Particularly when Johnson has the dosh to promise a £100bn Operation Moonshot, and the govt is paying billions to incompetents like Serco for its piss-poor test-and-trace service and to various Tory mates making megabucks out of the Covid crisis. Hell, Chris Grayling even found £13.8m for a ferry company with no ferries. That would have covered the £5m disparity and funded a bloody good piss-up fo

I thought that she supposedly did say it, but it was mistranslated to her detriment? Hearing that the peasants had no bread, she said "let them eat a different sort of bread" (mistranslated as "cake"). I don't suppose anyone recorded the interview.....

"Let them eat cake", eh? Thanks for that one, Marie-Antoinette! For years, there have been massive cuts in the funds local govt gets from central govt. Can't be arsed to look up stats, but about 40% real-term cuts, from memory - as suggested by that graph. Until recently, local govt was prevented from increasing council tax, I think. I believe that's changed recently, but clearly councils can't get more funds by increasing council tax at short notice - especially in the middle of this crisis. Some councils, including some Tory councils, are already at risk of bank

On Burnham being "greedy": Newsnight calculated that the extra funds given to Merseyside and Lancashire were almost identical (£28-£29 per head of population) and that the £60m that the Govt wouldn't increase for Manchester equates to that same pro rata amount (£28/head). So, it seems as if they're seeking to pay the same sum pro rata to every region. That might seem fair at first sight. But different regions have different levels of need for multiple reasons - just as you wouldn't devote the same education resources to an area of pensioners as you would to an area of young familie

I gather that Hancock has now said the £60m was still on the table (if he still has any say within cabinet). But that wasn't what was being said earlier - or what the council leaders were told earlier. Have a look at the sections at 17.21, 17.24, 17.32 & 18.17: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-54611402/page/2 Perhaps, if the £60m was still on the table the Govt should have announced that earlier - rather than giving the impression that it might well have been withdrawn. Utterly irresponsible or incompetent, depending on whether they did it deliberately.

Partly a completely unsuccessful attempt to provoke light-hearted outrage, I must admit. I do find that song an awful, pretentious drone, though. Might be partly a generational thing as I came of age during the punk/post-punk era, when there was a "year zero" attitude, whereby all that serious rock and hippie stuff that went before was supposed to be rejected.....though I'd like to think I've long since moved on from such narrow-mindedness. Apart from anything, I've just heard it too often, like Lennon's "Imagine". I might think it was good if I'd never heard it before

There's a pattern developing with Johnson, isn't there? - Parliament won't do what you want -> Prorogue parliament - Certain MPs rebel on principle -> Chuck them out of your party, ensuring they're deselected as MPs - Some ministers disagree with you or support a rival for leader -> Sack them from cabinet, replacing them with people loyal to you, even if they're less capable - You decide you don't like part of a treaty you signed -> Change it in breach of international law, alienating people you might need in future - Your EU negotiating partner won'

I'm getting confused by all this talk about high testosterone causing baldness. He looks like he has a lot more testosterone after cutting his hair off. Is this a Reverse Samson effect whereby cutting your hair off increases your testosterone? Could save a fortune on Viagra.....