Politics, politics, politics

[scaramanga]

In reality this is short term thinking. And that's not including the geopolitical high wire that we have to tread with trading 'partners' that include the middle east and Russia.

The black stuff will run out. So lets move on to the truly infinite resources of the sun,wind,tides,hydro. Looking into my back garden, two of them are pumping away right now and they're not running out anytime soon. Why have all the infrastructure when you're own house is its own little power station.

Technology will take us there and i hope none of that development is on a slow go just because oil is still the daddy in the room.

Better battery tech, solar roof tiles, heat pumps etc etc combined with devices power consumption becoming increasingly efficient ......it shouldn't be hard to get everyones house, at best, to neutral status.

And in that sense it has nothing to do with security, economics etc......its just the logical way to proceed.

I thoroughly agree about the source of future energy, my point was simply that we shouldn't be worrying about what is made where.

Everything should be made where it can be most efficiently made and the trade that comes from that will become the security people are after.

 

[SpurMeUp]

How? The free market silly. Get in the dodgiest material, at the cheapest price and make a big fat profit. It's what makes the world go around. Public safety? What's that and anyway, who care?

No doubt money plays its part. Fire safety suffers for money saving. Something else going on here too. That humans know things - as soon as someone else makes a noise about it. Yet we carry on seemingly ignorant until that happens. 2 days ago, who knew this cladding was a fire trap? One or two technical experts. The question is, why wasn't action taken with this knowledge? It's not just money though no doubt it plays an important part.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

That will be interesting to see, because the stake the current over 50s have in is not available to the generations below them, so when they reach 30-50 with little to show for it, i suspect you will see less self interest voting.
And I bet most won't have mortgages!

That's when inheritances traditionally kick in. Though I appreciate long-living is now delaying that.

We are between a rock and a hard place with housing.

Long term low interest rates have been a life support for many homeowners but have also propped up prices because people stupidly are amazed at how little they have to pay to borrow so much.

But people not on the ladder have found that first step just too unattainable. With stricter lending criteria and price increases out stripping the rate you can save for your deposit, most have given up and settled into a life of renting (which considering low interest rates, loan affordability will never be better)

I think we could be seeing the last generation of hand me down inheritance. Some older people are already tie-ing themselves into home-reversion or lifetime mortgages (all mostly a pile of doo doo), they are looking for capital (any capital they have is giving paltry returns) add this to a generation of renters and if you think we have a care problem now not to mention a pension problem.......then stripping out what the value of your family home can do for you (and your family and the goverment) in older years is a shortfall made up by who??

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

During the planning process, all sample of materials to be used have to be submitted for approval. Either the cladding submitted was (wrongly) on the ok list or the contractor (sneakily) used a different type because it was cheaper, although the building inspector should have picked this up. It is likely that the product used shouldn't of been on the list (and there is plenty of evidence to say it shouldn't of been) and a mineral based cladding should have been.

So effectively the contractor, council, cut-backs are likely not to blame......it's learning eff all from previous incidents, and not applying that knowledge or safety in the future that could well be to blame here.

Who then is responsible for ensuring that cheap, dodgy building materials are not being used? Who hire the building inspectors, aren't these people council employees?

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Who then is responsible for ensuring that cheap, dodgy building materials are not being used? Who hire the building inspectors, aren't these people council employees?

The contractor probably submitted this as the material to be used, and that material was on the approved list. The problem is it shouldn't be on that list in the first place.

Who decides the list i'm not sure but it i wouldn't think it is a local level decision, as any decision, you would think, would carry national weight.

 

[scaramanga]

The contractor probably submitted this as the material to be used, and that material was on the approved list. The problem is it shouldn't be on that list in the first place.

Who decides the list i'm not sure but it i wouldn't think it is a local level decision, as any decision, you would think, would carry national weight.

And, in my experience, would have to be approved using some fairly fixed guidelines - possibly from the EU.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

No doubt money plays its part. Fire safety suffers for money saving. Something else going on here too. That humans know things - as soon as someone else makes a noise about it. Yet we carry on seemingly ignorant until that happens. 2 days ago, who knew this cladding was a fire trap? One or two technical experts. The question is, why wasn't action taken with this knowledge? It's not just money though no doubt it plays an important part.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

I've done work for the BRE (building research establishment) before (once govt run....now privatised)......looks like something that would pass through their hands.

 

[StephenH]

Not being a Londoner or familiar with the make up of each area in london I'm not aware of such issues, as i suspect many aren't.

Yes many are. I used to live and work close to that block and knew a few families from that estate was a mixed working class area now there is not house that any but the very well off can afford.
Sadly the highrises are the social housing. The houses are £10m+.........

 

[parklane1]

Brexit is certainly a problem for the Conservative party. It splits their vote right down the middle.

In terms of austerity, does that actually show at all in most people's lives? I can genuinely say I've not noticed it, and whilst opponents will be able to find plenty of one-off cases to shout about, I don't know anyone who's noticed it.

That's an age group where people are progressing the most in their careers too. If they're doing it right, people of that age group should have seen significant payrises regardless of whether pay overall has increased.

If people aged 35-44 are not seeing significant increases in their pay then there's a major problem but it's not the economy.

Wow what world do you live in?

 

[parklane1]

I would say yes. It doesn't show up if you are lucky enough to have private healthcare with no chronic conditions so you can mostly avoid the NHS. You won't notice it if you send your kids to private schools rather than use the state system where they are struggling to carry out routine maintenance work and cannot recruit cleaners in some instances due to lack of money. You won't notice it unless you are in the military and desperately short of supplies and man power. You won't notice it unless you are low paid and having your in work benefits cut. You won't notice it unless you travel to work on public transport and see above inflation rises every January. You won't notice it unless you are a public sector worker who have not seen their wages rise significantly for seven years, seen staffing levels cut to the bone and terms and conditions eroded.

As we watch the terrible events unfold at the Grenfall tower, noises have already been made about the Council being strapped for cash so they did not test and maintain the dry risers.

Yes austerity is biting and wealthy people like yourself and George Osborne are out of touch with ordinary people.

Fantastic post mate, one of the best i have ever read on here.

 

[parklane1]

Unfortunately it's all London centric. Everyone wants to live here for jobs, accessibility etc. That won't change unless the Northern Powerhouse, which was another good policy by Cameron, is fully operational.

For all those who slate David Cameron, he would have wiped the floor with the 2017 election contenders. A decent statesman and is infinitely more affable than the current lot.

Are we talking about the same Cameron who took his party into a general election against a Labour party ( who had shot its bolt, lead by a leader ( Brown) who in most peoples eyes was the worst leader of any party for years and yet failed to get a majority vote? Who if Glegg had not came along and saved his arse would have been replaced as leader of the Torys by another.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Are we talking about the same Cameron who took his party into a general election against a Labour party ( who had shot its bolt, lead by a leader ( Brown) who in most peoples eyes was the worst leader of any party for years and yet failed to get a majority vote? Who if Glegg had not came along and saved his arse would have been replaced as leader of the Torys by another.

The Tories had been absolutely toxic for 13 years and Cameron was the 4th leader to try (Corbyn is only Labour's 2nd/their IDS).

 

[parklane1]

The Tories had been absolutely toxic for 13 years and Cameron was the 4th leader to try (Corbyn is only Labour's 2nd/their IDS).

Do not disagree, but by the time Cameron got the job as i say labour was at its lowest point under Brown and should have been a walk over for the Torys. He failed to get a majority and would have been replaced if it was not for Clegg. Who by doing what he did has finished the LD as a serious party for a long time.

 

[r-u-s-x01]

Do not disagree, but by the time Cameron got the job as i say labour was at its lowest point under Brown and should have been a walk over for the Torys. He failed to get a majority and would have been replaced if it was not for Clegg. Who by doing what he did has finished the LD as a serious party for a long time.

Then offered a referendum he didn't want as he thought he would lose the next one

 

[milo]

I thought that May would go after the Queen's Speech had passed but I am now wondering if it is more likely that she will hang on for a month so that she passes Alec Douglas-Home's period in office.

 

[Baleforce]

#lifegoals

 

[milo]

These were out earlier. The surveys were carried out earlier in the week, her approval rating will drop further after today

https://twitter.com/x/status/875347278596366336

 

[Baleforce]

she has to go, every day that she stays they dig themselves deeper

 

[milo]

she has to go, every day that she stays they dig themselves deeper

The only reason she could stay on is that no one wants to deal with the brick she would leave behind.

 

[glasgowspur]

Yes many are. I used to live and work close to that block and knew a few families from that estate was a mixed working class area now there is not house that any but the very well off can afford.
Sadly the highrises are the social housing. The houses are £10m+.........

House prices down there are beyond my comprehension. I've have English friends and when we compare house prices it's just nuts. But I also have two very wealthy London based friends and that is beyond belief what they have paid for houses.