[Tubby Isaacs]

Needless to say the Transport Action Network don't seem to understand the difference between capital and revenue expenditure.

I've just been glancing at some more of their stuff.

On rail freight, changes to access charges to HS1 and Channel Tunnel
pricing will make through rail freight more economic and help attract
more business, reducing the number of HGVs on the road network.
These measures combined with a targeted £520m investment in
reconstruction of Ely Junction and Soham-Ely double-tracking,
and a number of other relatively small infrastructure interventions
(cumulatively £110-£120m) would be transformative for rail freight,
leading to a significant shift from road to rail. It is estimated this could
remove as many as 550,000 – 1,100,000 HGVs per year from the road
network, providing further relief to the Dartford Crossings.

So some admin changes and a one off £640m to take at least half a million HGVs a year off the road?

Jimmy Hill. Still, I'm sure we really need to hear from them on transport stories.

[Bones McCoy]

Next it'll be "Chinese solar panels are spying on you."

They're putting Chinese solar chips in the vaccines.
So that 5G masts can target you with chemtrails.

BINGO!!!

[Tubby Isaacs]

Orgreave inquiry formally under way into policing during miners’ strike

Tories.

[Boiler]

Orgreave inquiry formally under way into policing during miners’ strike

Tories.

Why wasn't it held during the Blair administration rather than 42 years later though?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Don't remember that much pressure for it, But yeah, should have been held then.

[Oboogie]

Orgreave inquiry formally under way into policing during miners’ strike

Tories.

Why wasn't it held during the Blair administration rather than 42 years later though?

Waiting for the guilty to retire and/or die.

[Boiler]

Which was my thought too.

[Tubby Isaacs]

UK government borrowing costs hit 5% as Iran war fuels bond market sell-off
Yields on 10-year debt reach highest since the 2008 financial crisis, raising concerns of faster interest rate rises

This isn't good. Faster interest rate rises would only be the beginning. Hard to see how spending cuts aren't going to follow- there've already been considerable tax rises, fairly progressive, and I don't see much space there. Slowing down rises in the pensions might be the best option, albeit in 2028. Not ideal for the government but I'd like to see Badenoch and Farage run on restoring it. And indeed Davey and Polanski. Breaks a manifesto promise, but events, dear boy.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Interesting as ever from UK In A Changing Europe.

https://ukandeu.ac.uk/full-speed-ahead- ... alignment/

The UK Government are working hard on getting SPS alignment, to their credit. But economic benefits are not likely to be large, and there will be some teething problems with sectors who've diverged most from the EU. Whole reset apparently yields only 0.3% by 2040. Worthwhile, but the sort of thing that can probably be chucked away in five minutes by a Badenoch/Farage.