Too Good To Be True

It's incredible. The government have introduced a UK version of Fannie Mae, which was proven not to work in the US! However, we (as a country) only have ourselves to blame. I suspect Labour would have done the same. The electorate are just very short-sighted.

On my run to work I see flats being built all over the place. Maybe not in ED, but Camberwell and Walworth certainly. They ain't building houses with gardens though. These will become ever scarcer.

King's College Hospital is one of the worst-hit hospitals for people turning up to A&E who shouldn't be there. Surely George Osborne is the guy to go after? All ministers try to get as much money as possible for their department. Even Conservatives! And then you have to decide where does the money come from? Other hospitals in London? The flood victims? Syrian orphans? Higher taxes? Agree the staff do a great job, but I can't sign petitions like this.

I've always wondered if this happened to me (it hasn't) whether I would have the presence of mind and agility to snap them on my phone camera.

If you really think it's dangerous, the tenants are probably better off homeless (or at least having the stress of having to move house at short notice) than having a chimney stack crush them in the middle of the night.

I follow this simple process: 1. Take down immediately using clawhammer. It is an advert for burglars. 2. Place flat somewhere as discreet as possible in front of house. 3. Tell EA to remove within 7 days. 4. If they fail, take to a branch. Lean it against their front door if closed.

Glad to report the online form works. Based on the Denmark Hill refit cost, I'm sure ?100 is a bargain.

When my car was written off I sold it on ebay for much more than the insurers offered. You'd be amazed how much they can fetch, as long as you describe it accurately.

Found a form on the my Southwark website. Transport and streets - Street furniture/street lighting problem report

What's the best way to report a flickering lamp post to Southwark Council? It's keeping me awake. Thinking of blackout lining my curtains, but in the meantime I want it fixed. Many thanks

Can you spend them anywhere other than the Pembury Tavern in Hackney? During the recent boom, I've been taking the ELL round there to spend spend spend.

I hang my keys on a hook behind a radiator very close to the front door. Neither visible nor accessible from the outside.

I have Bose QC15s. Brilliant on flights. Eyewateringly expensive though.

Cost control in publicly funded projects is awful. Surprised it only went over by 50% tbh. Who shouldered the extra costs of the over-run? Was it the taxpayer through the "Access For All" scheme? People complain about PFI (for very good reasons). One defence of PFI is that it pushes the risk of over-run onto the private sector.

I'd be happy personally to pay some unemployed local youths to knock a hole in the Windsor Terrace wall and construct some steps up to the walkway. I assume an electrician could easily hook up an Oyster reader. Lack of entrance there costs me at least 6 minutes per day, 250 days per year. That's 25 hours per year. Can see myself doing this for at least another 5 years. = 125 hours. I value my leisure time at about ?40 per hour. 125 * 40 = ?5,000 I am officially putting this out to tender...

Or South Camberwell.

West Peckham or Outer Brixton.

EDF should start a new section where the legal letters are scanned and posted online. That would probably put a stop to them.

Auction is quick, more transparent, less likely to be subject to corruption.

I am also unsure why they didn't build an additional exit onto Windsor Terrace.

?6.2m is unbelievable. At least half the time during the construction period nobody was working on it. Truly awful. I reckon you could have gone to Imperial College, asked some Engineering undergraduates to do it for ?0.62m and they would have done a better job in less time. Or why not just ship in some proper Engineers from Germany (company like Hochtief), for whom this is bread-and-butter stuff. Bet they could have done it for far less than ?6.2m and you could guarantee there would be people working on it solidly 8 hours a day, 7 days a week.

MrsDanvers has it. IIRC there are several studies confirming this. On a more anecdotal basis: I went to a rough inner city comp up north and had supportive middle class parents. There were three other kids in my year in the same position. We were always bored, messed around, but did very well and ended up at top universities. The kids at the top local boarding school on assisted places did not perform so well. Parents' income is by far the best predictor of a child's ultimate income. That is not to say that good schools do not play their part. The part they do play is overblown.

Sorry that was a misquote... "Somehow, since the millennium, East Dulwich has gone from being a relaxed, vaguely bohemian secret to a caricature of middle-class urban living. The online East Dulwich Forum is one of the most active local area forums in the country, where people get hot under the collar about unsightly advertising hoardings, noise after 10pm, and whether chain shops are welcome (Waitrose only, it seems)" Plenty of places don't fit that description: Battersea, Nunhead, Camberwell? It is still a pleasant enough area to live in!

I quite like the Time Out description of East Dulwich: "A parody of urban middle class living"

I think the pupil premium is a good idea too. Schools should get paid more for taking on poorer children. As long as this is used to attract top teachers and not on celebrity architects/unnecessarily flashy computers (as happened at the beginning of the New Labour era).