malumbu

What worries me is all the talk of these foreign architectural styles. Art Deco (French) and Art Noveau (Belgium - can you even name ten famous poeple from Belgium), Thank heavens for good old British Arts and Crafts, harking back to previous times. What do you think those who are asset poor and cash poor may think? Don't you feel there is a case for evening things out? Get real. There are numerous anti-Labour threads and a few of you who clearly hate everything Labour, no doubt going back decades. Not everyone of course who have posted on this weird thread has such strong views. For balance there are a lesser number of threads on other political parties and a former prime minister, but they attract far less traffic, and one person seems to go out of their way to defend Farage

There is a possibility that poor air quality leads to adult onset asthma. The Lancet did not confirm this and stated that more work was required. 10,000s of deaths are linked to poor air quality. Surely it is good that our Mayor wants to further improve air quality. That is the important aim, rather than pick holes in what he said.

And accommodation for servants too. Grouse shooting? Sorry, it's easy to take the Michael. I've been peering at a hole in the ground on Woodhall Drive a private road in West Dulwich. There used to be a £2million house there but expect something far grander. Although it's been a big hole for some time now. I have a legit reason to be on that road and always wave to the CCTV.

This thead smacks of "I hate Labour", similarly recent posts on the Khan thread, for some of you.

I phoned them up a year or so ago, a coach was idling outside school, they helpfully had their number on the board by the entrance, and they took immediate action. Please go direct to the responsible organisation, rather than resort to social media in the first instance.

Because some in the medical profession consider it is. This recent study published in the Lancet concludes that the link is not confirmed and that more work needs to be done: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(24)00279-1/fulltext And the coroner in a landmark, and sad case, included poor air quality as a cause of death: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/10/ellas-law-rosamund-kissi-debrah-air-pollution-death-london

No no no and no again. Pay per mile will hopefully be brought in for all vehicles. Governments will continue to decide whether we raise revenue (general taxation) from road vehicles. Similar to the way we raise money from CGT, inheritance tax, fags and booze. The last few governments have sadly overseen a reduction in the revenue from motorised transport due to freezing, and then a (supposedly temporary) reduction in fuel duty. That is 2.4 billion less to spend on hospitals, schools, or whatever. If you want a low tax, low public service, economy, then you should not live in Western Europe - apart from the odd tax haven although you'd need to sell your £2million house to afford to do this. And that will buy you a shed in Guernsey. Fuel prices are loosely similar across Europe. The exchange rate is an important factor. Fuel was around 28 p a litre in 1980 (after the Tory government, yes the Tories, added 10% in the budget, yes 10%), that is about £130 a litre nowadays, although the price of crude is the main factor which has been volatile in the last twenty years. A pint of beer should be around £2.30 a pint in London based on 1980 prices. It isn't.

I last visited Amsterdam over 20 years ago. I made the mistake of walking into the cycle lanes a few times without looking. The cyclists alerted me to my mistake. Id didn't blame them, or the Dutch government. It was my own fault. I'm not sure hi vis would have made things any better. This was me not being used to the cycle infrastructure. As great as the Netherlands is for bikes, Denmark takes it further. All credit to both countries.

No they are not ordinary houses. None of the ordinary people I hang around with live in £2m houses. Many people I work with will never be able to afford any house in London. Most people's kids will not be able to afford a house, unless fortunate enough for some serious inheritance. So on your formula a £2m house is around four times the average price of a house across the whole of London. Back to my 1970s prices, £20k (not £68k) that would be equivalent to £300k based on inflation or £800k based on wages in today's prices.

??? Average London house prices in 1970 (from land registry) = £5190, £72,000 in today's money. London houses were getting on for 5 times the national average wage in 1970, if we used that as a formula that would be around £200k for an average London house today.

Cost of Covid to government estimated at £400 billion Cost to the economy of leaving Europe estimated at £32 billion a year Cost to UK due to Russia invading Ukraine £100 Billion plus Some analyses suggest that by 2018/19, austerity had suppressed the economy by nearly £100 billion, equivalent to over £3,600 per household, and led to a 2% reduction in GDP by 2015. The long-term effects include a weaker economy, lower wages, and a failure to reduce the fiscal deficit as effectively as intended, partly because lower growth reduced tax revenues You can do the maths yourself

To get some balance with the rage against cyclists, and a smaller number of threadson bad driving, someone walked out in front of me tonight looking at their phone. They were not wearing bright clothing as well. Being an excellent rider I stopped immediately. They were totally oblivious and did not respond to me whatsoever. When I worked in town this was a fairly frequent event, firstly on Fleet Street in the early 00s. I'd never worked so close to a major shopping street so this was new to me, and this was mainly shoppers. Subsequently this moved to people texting or on their i-pods. And in the last 15 years pedestrians crossing their roads looking at their phones - and chaos on the pavements as they suddenly stop unexpectedly or do a u turn without looking. I've made semi-facetious comments before that there should be a walking test for adults before they are allowed on their own on pavements, with stopping lights and rear view mirror too. I'm unaware how far schools go in teaching safe walking, I'm from the Green Cross Code generation. I wouldn't find it so bad if they acknowledged their mistake, thanking me and/or apologising. But they don't. Funnily enough so many people apologise when I stop at Zebra crossings, or give way to those about to cross at a junction. As a nation we often apologise for things that are not our fault. I friendly tell people in this situation that they have priority and I am very happy to give way. Not that I would use this forum as a soapbox of course...... That's self deprecation

Do your own research. Pay per mile is the most equitable way of raising revenue from driving as you pay, per, mile. Ideally you'd replace both VED and fuel duty with this, with some weighting for cleaner vehicles. A more progressive system would change the rate according to the time of day such as the cost for using the tunnels under London. Electric vehicles were always going to lose the perks once mass adoption was under way. They will still be far cheaper to run, particularly if you have a home charger using off peak rates (as low as 10p a KWt). Excise duty has already been introduced for EVs and CC will come in next year. Stop suggesting it is some sort of conspiracy. Government have chickened out putting up fuel duty by inflation, again, and reversing the temporary reduction brought in by the last lot. Cowards. Pushing me towards the Greens although some of the economic policies are daft.

Don't think I know anyone in a £2m house, so on a personal level irrelevant. However on a related matter there does need to be reform of Council Tax as many around here have done large extensions but still being charged the same as some who are in properties which have not been touched. It would be better to discuss the budget as a whole. Off to do some research on issues that matter to me, sustainable transport, climate change and the like.

Perhaps post without using profanities. Around half of young people use hire bikes regularly. What nonsense to say it is because they are too lazy to cycle.