General News Thread

[LCFCJohn]

1 hour ago, Jon the Hat said:

Twats on the left and right I believe?

Most definitely twats on both sides. I’d say pretty much anybody who is extreme either way fits that description to be fair. 
 

My point was about smashing up our streets and attacking Police officers etc which most definitely stems from one of those extremes.

 

The poster I quoted, 123, is being pure daft anyway. They say they campaigned and everyone was lovely apart from far left. If they were campaigning for a right wing party and pushing far right narratives then this would be why, without it being ok. Same as if someone representing a left wing party come into contact with Reform voters, they will get the hate and bile. You’re not going to get hate from those with the same beliefs as you are you? So them trying to use that as an example to accuse right wing voters of being lovely whilst left wing aren’t is as I say, daft to put it nicely.

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

That should be bigger news tbh.

 

Well, now that's done with, on with the finances inquiry.

 

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

Remarkable he’s only achieved a further 1k votes 

Surely he points to the fact that in a low turnout where he was 1/200 to win, he still managed to get 1000 people more than last time out to support him 

 

You can spin things many ways 

[Footballwipe]

1 hour ago, FoxesWalk said:

Lying about a “threat” to avoid being photographed with your fellow joke candidates on stage, after losing 10k votes to a trash can, is peak Farage 

Doesn't matter thought does it - look at the above nonsense about "safe than sorry" - his supporters have got the narrative.

 

They don't trust the police anyway as they've been conditioned not to, so feeds in nicely there. Who are they going to believe? The person they've been brainwashed to support no matter what he does (literally no matter what), or the police who are, of course, "the establishment."

[FoxesWalk]

Just now, Footballwipe said:

Doesn't matter thought does it - look at the above nonsense about "safe than sorry" - his supporters have got the narrative.

 

They don't trust the police anyway as they've been conditioned not to, so feeds in nicely there. Who are they going to believe? The person they've been brainwashed to support no matter what he does (literally no matter what), or the police who are, of course, "the establishment."

I don’t think this whole affair has done him any favours. Had a quick look through right wing press this morning and only really the Express wasn’t overwhelmingly negative about him and this whole sideshow. 
 

There will be another by-election soon, when the investigation into his actions find he did, as is obvious to everyone, break parliamentary rules. 
 

He has achieved nothing. 

[CosbehFox]

20 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

 

Surely he points to the fact that in a low turnout where he was 1/200 to win, he still managed to get 1000 people more than last time out to support him 

 

You can spin things many ways 

Yeah because the other option was a bin. 

[FoxesWalk]

3 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Yeah because the other option was a bin. 

A bin with 10k votes, the bin got 27 times more votes than Laurence Fox 

[Brizzle Fox]

16 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Yeah because the other option was a bin. 

Come on be fair. There was Lozza Fox as well. A formidable opponent...

[st albans fox]

43 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Yeah because the other option was a bin. 

Easily spun in the opposite direction 

‘who could get so many people, out to vote for them when it was already certain that they’d win’

’the public have spoken on my charges’

‘that’s a jury, not the blob in Westminster’ 

 

 

[slymunn]

35 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Easily spun in the opposite direction 

‘who could get so many people, out to vote for them when it was already certain that they’d win’

’the public have spoken on my charges’

‘that’s a jury, not the blob in Westminster’ 

 

 

Over 10% of the voters chose a bin, and over 50% chose not to vote at all. 

Regardless of the win, its not exactly great for him when you look at it.

[davieG]

High streets have lost their buzz - local people must be ones to get it back'
Story by Andy Burnham 

 

Ask someone to show you around the town they grew up in. Chances are they’ll spend half the journey saying: “That used to be…”

That betting shop used to be the old Woolworths. That vape shop used to be the butchers. That boarded up building on the corner used to be the local.

 

Anyone about my age or older knows there’s a special kind of sadness that comes with that. We remember the buzz of the high street on a Saturday morning. The smell of the bakery. Bumping into neighbours every few yards because everyone seemed to be in town.

And then we remember that, for many hight streets, much of that has gone. That’s why the decline of our high streets is so emotional for so many of us. And it’s why pretty much every Prime Minister since the nineties has promised to revitalise them.

'The decline of our high streets is so emotional for so many of us,' Andy Burnham says

Our high streets are yet another example of what happens when you hoard power in one place. You don’t just hollow out industries, you hollow out the communities that surround them. When good jobs disappear, when young people have to leave to find opportunity, when investment dries up, the effects show up on our high streets too.

 

Up until now, we’ve tried to reverse that from behind a desk in Westminster. But you can’t rebuild the heart of a community from hundreds of miles away. As far as I’m concerned, we’re not going to get anywhere with our high streets until we start trusting the people who know them best.

That’s what today’s announcements are all about. We’re giving local people a bigger say in the type of shops that can open in their communities. And yes, I’m talking about dealing with those vape and betting shops that seem to have sprung up on every corner.

Too often, they’ve taken the place of the shops and services that people want and have pride in and that you want to go to on the weekend. And when they start appearing on every road, they’re not just an eye sore, they’re a message to our kids about the type of future we want for them.

And there is something deeply wrong about the fact that Britain's poorest communities are so often the ones most crowded with gambling shops, piling even more pressure on places already grappling with poverty, debt and poor health.

 

I won’t have that – so we’re giving councils the powers they need to get a grip of them.

On betting shops, we intend to scrap the “aim to permit” rule that for too long has left councils powerless to respond to local concerns, even when communities have voiced fears that clustering of gambling premises is causing harm. If local people don’t want them there, they won’t be allowed to open. It’s as simple as that.

And on vape shops, we’re closing the loopholes that have allowed them to open without planning permission, so communities get a proper say before another one pops up on their high street. That’s on top of new rules we’re introducing to stop them opening near schools.

We’re also coming down hard on the dodgy businesses exploiting our high streets. Whether it’s a vape shop, a rogue barber or something else, where businesses are being used as a front for organised crime, police will now have the power to close them for longer, giving them more time to gather the information they need to shut them down for good.

 

These changes are about giving local people something they lost a while back: the power to say no. They’re about wrestling back the control taken from our communities decades ago and finally giving them a proper say on what happens to the places they call home.

But they’re also just the beginning. Because saying no is only half the job. We don’t just want fewer vape and betting shops. We want more butchers, bakers and bookshops – the businesses that make a high street feel like home.

And that means giving communities the power to say yes too – and making it easier for the businesses we want to set up shop on our hight streets. Local people know what their town needs to get moving again. They know what will bring people in, what will create good jobs, and what will give young people a reason to stay. Give them the power and tools to do those things, and the investment and opportunity will follow.

And when a place starts to thrive, it’s high street will too. So the next time someone shows you around the town they grew up in, there’s a little less “that used to be” and a lot more “look what’s here now.”

[davieG]

Just now, davieG said:

High streets have lost their buzz - local people must be ones to get it back'
Story by Andy Burnham 

 

Ask someone to show you around the town they grew up in. Chances are they’ll spend half the journey saying: “That used to be…”

That betting shop used to be the old Woolworths. That vape shop used to be the butchers. That boarded up building on the corner used to be the local.

 

Anyone about my age or older knows there’s a special kind of sadness that comes with that. We remember the buzz of the high street on a Saturday morning. The smell of the bakery. Bumping into neighbours every few yards because everyone seemed to be in town.

And then we remember that, for many hight streets, much of that has gone. That’s why the decline of our high streets is so emotional for so many of us. And it’s why pretty much every Prime Minister since the nineties has promised to revitalise them.

'The decline of our high streets is so emotional for so many of us,' Andy Burnham says

Our high streets are yet another example of what happens when you hoard power in one place. You don’t just hollow out industries, you hollow out the communities that surround them. When good jobs disappear, when young people have to leave to find opportunity, when investment dries up, the effects show up on our high streets too.

 

Up until now, we’ve tried to reverse that from behind a desk in Westminster. But you can’t rebuild the heart of a community from hundreds of miles away. As far as I’m concerned, we’re not going to get anywhere with our high streets until we start trusting the people who know them best.

That’s what today’s announcements are all about. We’re giving local people a bigger say in the type of shops that can open in their communities. And yes, I’m talking about dealing with those vape and betting shops that seem to have sprung up on every corner.

Too often, they’ve taken the place of the shops and services that people want and have pride in and that you want to go to on the weekend. And when they start appearing on every road, they’re not just an eye sore, they’re a message to our kids about the type of future we want for them.

And there is something deeply wrong about the fact that Britain's poorest communities are so often the ones most crowded with gambling shops, piling even more pressure on places already grappling with poverty, debt and poor health.

 

I won’t have that – so we’re giving councils the powers they need to get a grip of them.

On betting shops, we intend to scrap the “aim to permit” rule that for too long has left councils powerless to respond to local concerns, even when communities have voiced fears that clustering of gambling premises is causing harm. If local people don’t want them there, they won’t be allowed to open. It’s as simple as that.

And on vape shops, we’re closing the loopholes that have allowed them to open without planning permission, so communities get a proper say before another one pops up on their high street. That’s on top of new rules we’re introducing to stop them opening near schools.

We’re also coming down hard on the dodgy businesses exploiting our high streets. Whether it’s a vape shop, a rogue barber or something else, where businesses are being used as a front for organised crime, police will now have the power to close them for longer, giving them more time to gather the information they need to shut them down for good.

 

These changes are about giving local people something they lost a while back: the power to say no. They’re about wrestling back the control taken from our communities decades ago and finally giving them a proper say on what happens to the places they call home.

But they’re also just the beginning. Because saying no is only half the job. We don’t just want fewer vape and betting shops. We want more butchers, bakers and bookshops – the businesses that make a high street feel like home.

And that means giving communities the power to say yes too – and making it easier for the businesses we want to set up shop on our hight streets. Local people know what their town needs to get moving again. They know what will bring people in, what will create good jobs, and what will give young people a reason to stay. Give them the power and tools to do those things, and the investment and opportunity will follow.

And when a place starts to thrive, it’s high street will too. So the next time someone shows you around the town they grew up in, there’s a little less “that used to be” and a lot more “look what’s here now.”

I'm betting that the shops will remain empty or become hairdressers, nail shops or coffee shops  as businesses can't afford the rates and people now shop online and I can't see that reversing.

[kenny]

6 minutes ago, davieG said:

I'm betting that the shops will remain empty or become hairdressers, nail shops or coffee shops  as businesses can't afford the rates and people now shop online and I can't see that reversing.

He has a very nostalgic view on the world. People aren't going to stop using Tesco or ocado for their shopping because there is now a butcher in the city centre.

 

Centres now need to be venues for people to socialise more than it is to shop. Pretending the internet doesn't exist is not going to save the high street.

[Free Falling Foxes]

29 minutes ago, davieG said:

High streets have lost their buzz - local people must be ones to get it back'
Story by Andy Burnham 

 

Ask someone to show you around the town they grew up in. Chances are they’ll spend half the journey saying: “That used to be…”

That betting shop used to be the old Woolworths. That vape shop used to be the butchers. That boarded up building on the corner used to be the local.

 

Anyone about my age or older knows there’s a special kind of sadness that comes with that. We remember the buzz of the high street on a Saturday morning. The smell of the bakery. Bumping into neighbours every few yards because everyone seemed to be in town.

And then we remember that, for many hight streets, much of that has gone. That’s why the decline of our high streets is so emotional for so many of us. And it’s why pretty much every Prime Minister since the nineties has promised to revitalise them.

'The decline of our high streets is so emotional for so many of us,' Andy Burnham says

Our high streets are yet another example of what happens when you hoard power in one place. You don’t just hollow out industries, you hollow out the communities that surround them. When good jobs disappear, when young people have to leave to find opportunity, when investment dries up, the effects show up on our high streets too.

 

Up until now, we’ve tried to reverse that from behind a desk in Westminster. But you can’t rebuild the heart of a community from hundreds of miles away. As far as I’m concerned, we’re not going to get anywhere with our high streets until we start trusting the people who know them best.

That’s what today’s announcements are all about. We’re giving local people a bigger say in the type of shops that can open in their communities. And yes, I’m talking about dealing with those vape and betting shops that seem to have sprung up on every corner.

Too often, they’ve taken the place of the shops and services that people want and have pride in and that you want to go to on the weekend. And when they start appearing on every road, they’re not just an eye sore, they’re a message to our kids about the type of future we want for them.

And there is something deeply wrong about the fact that Britain's poorest communities are so often the ones most crowded with gambling shops, piling even more pressure on places already grappling with poverty, debt and poor health.

 

I won’t have that – so we’re giving councils the powers they need to get a grip of them.

On betting shops, we intend to scrap the “aim to permit” rule that for too long has left councils powerless to respond to local concerns, even when communities have voiced fears that clustering of gambling premises is causing harm. If local people don’t want them there, they won’t be allowed to open. It’s as simple as that.

And on vape shops, we’re closing the loopholes that have allowed them to open without planning permission, so communities get a proper say before another one pops up on their high street. That’s on top of new rules we’re introducing to stop them opening near schools.

We’re also coming down hard on the dodgy businesses exploiting our high streets. Whether it’s a vape shop, a rogue barber or something else, where businesses are being used as a front for organised crime, police will now have the power to close them for longer, giving them more time to gather the information they need to shut them down for good.

 

These changes are about giving local people something they lost a while back: the power to say no. They’re about wrestling back the control taken from our communities decades ago and finally giving them a proper say on what happens to the places they call home.

But they’re also just the beginning. Because saying no is only half the job. We don’t just want fewer vape and betting shops. We want more butchers, bakers and bookshops – the businesses that make a high street feel like home.

And that means giving communities the power to say yes too – and making it easier for the businesses we want to set up shop on our hight streets. Local people know what their town needs to get moving again. They know what will bring people in, what will create good jobs, and what will give young people a reason to stay. Give them the power and tools to do those things, and the investment and opportunity will follow.

And when a place starts to thrive, it’s high street will too. So the next time someone shows you around the town they grew up in, there’s a little less “that used to be” and a lot more “look what’s here now.”

I think that horse has well and truly bolted.

Better to convert all the empty premises into homes/flats. (Not student accommodation either)

Also Mr. Burnham. Re, ....giving local people something they lost a while back: the power to say no.

Ninety-five percent of folk do NOT want city expansion. 

Edited 14 August by Free Falling Foxes

[Robo61]

44 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

I think that horse has well and truly bolted.

Better to convert all the empty premises into homes/flats. (Not student accommodation either)

Also Mr. Burnham. Re, ....giving local people something they lost a while back: the power to say no.

Ninety-five percent of folk do NOT want city expansion. 

Yet they want homes for their kids, grankids etc how do we square the circle?

[MaidstoneFox]

1 hour ago, kenny said:

He has a very nostalgic view on the world. People aren't going to stop using Tesco or ocado for their shopping because there is now a butcher in the city centre.

 

Centres now need to be venues for people to socialise more than it is to shop. Pretending the internet doesn't exist is not going to save the high street.

Not disagreeing but think it's more an emotional appeal and a response to people's real concerns about the sort of shops in their area, rather than something grounded in firm logic.

 

Unfortunately, what's he saying (butcher, baker, candlestick-maker) usually equates to more affluent streets. No end of bakers, butchers and Scandinavian coffee shops on Lordship Lane in East Dulwich or Harbour St in Whitstable, and much the same in Tonbridge, which I visited the other day. But more places where that isn't the case and very difficult to change in a market economy as money runs to money.

[ramboacdc]

16 hours ago, ramboacdc said:

If Binface gets 20% of the vote tonight I think that rounds this by-election out as the farce it is

26% Lovely

[CL Fox]

5 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

Remarkable he’s only achieved a further 1k votes 

And hes achieved 1k more when he claimed to be the most popular party in Britain vs an election where they won a total of 4 seats. Pleased people see through his 'establishment' nonsense. The bloke has had the piss taken out of him by a bloke imitating a bin.

[Jon the Hat]

Oh look! Farage is still under investigation as he is still the same person and still an MP under the jurisdiction of parliament.  Good!

[leicsmac]

Now, perhaps, would be a good time for Burnham to emphasise the point that without well thought-out energy policy that doesn't rely on burning stuff (and engaging in whatever international movement possible to get others to do the same), this "tinderbox" summer may actually be the coolest one the UK has for some time.

 

It is a point of difference in terms of policy that could be useful for him to emphasise at the moment.

[Wymsey]

Another train derailment this time in Essex.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c68xn77q14jgt

 

[Foxdiamond]

10 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Another train derailment this time in Essex.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c68xn77q14jgt

 

Extreme heat suggested as a possible cause of Lewes derailment. Yet some still say it's just summer

[Lionator]

13 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Another train derailment this time in Essex.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c68xn77q14jgt

 

Hmmm maybe the weather or a hostile foreign state hiring people to sabotage the line 

[Wymsey]

Maybe renationalising the railways is to blame too... 

[Corky]

8 hours ago, leicsmac said:

That should be bigger news tbh.

 

Well, now that's done with, on with the finances inquiry.

Fires are igniting all over the place, trains are derailing and the country is suffering from oppressive heat.

 

I think people aren't hugely bothered by an attention seeking twat winning a pointless by-election.

[leicsmac]

Just now, Corky said:

Fires are igniting all over the place, trains are derailing and the country is suffering from oppressive heat.

 

I think people aren't hugely bothered by an attention seeking twat winning a pointless by-election.

Oh, so climate change and its effects really are an important issue?

 

That's interesting, I seem to remember being told by multiple people on here that it wasn't the case. 

 

Funny, that.