[Boiler]

We're getting a resurface here!

You lucky so-and-so! When we got bypassed the road through the town was demoted to a "B" road and it seems it requires no maintenance in the eyes of LCC. It really is truly dreadful, but in a way it acts as a 20mph limiter.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Lincolnshire, isn't it? I think there's a longstanding problem with sparsely populated counties in England. Herefordshire and Shropshire are dire too.

[Oboogie]

I think there's a longstanding problem with sparsely populated counties in England. Herefordshire and Shropshire are dire too.

Yep, lots of mileage to maintain but few taxpayers to pay for it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Seems to be a lot of spending announced but the very constricting “no tax rises on working people” promise remains. How are they going to pull this off?

The only area they could take money from is health, which is improving steadily anyway (albeit from terrible to struggling).Budget would still be rising in real terms, and would free up some money for other things.

Probably some more tax rises like the ones we got last time too, ie on particular things with generous tax treatment like farmland, But hard to raise that much like this.

[Boiler]

I think there's a longstanding problem with sparsely populated counties in England. Herefordshire and Shropshire are dire too.

Yep, lots of mileage to maintain but few taxpayers to pay for it.

Inspired by Oboogie's post, I looked up some figures.

Population of Lincolnshire: 1.1 Million.
Population of Peterborough: 218,000.

So the last city before you reach the Lincs. border is by itself a fifth of the size of the whole county to the north of it.

Quite telling.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Yeah. And we’re even more sparse here. Unthinkable to build another 27,000 homes though, per some of the Greens.

[Youngian]

I think there's a longstanding problem with sparsely populated counties in England. Herefordshire and Shropshire are dire too.

Yep, lots of mileage to maintain but few taxpayers to pay for it.

Inspired by Oboogie's post, I looked up some figures.

Population of Lincolnshire: 1.1 Million.
Population of Peterborough: 218,000.

So the last city before you reach the Lincs. border is by itself a fifth of the size of the whole county to the north of it.

Quite telling.

Half of the English population live in London and the South East. Those outside of that area rather like as it is. Compared to swathes of Spain, France, Italy or even Scotland which are dying, rural England is holding up rather well.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Pit villages are a bit of an exception to that, but yeah.

[Boiler]

Half of the English population live in London and the South East. Those outside of that area rather like as it is.

I know I love the fact I'm no more than two minutes in the car from open country. People do keep trying to put up big developments though...

[Abernathy]

I’m not sure whether the introduction of digital identity cards is under active consideration within government circles, but it is definitely being talked about in left-leaning policy groups, “think tanks” etc.

Have a read of Labour Together’s policy paper on the idea. I have, and I’m almost persuaded. I can see that there’d be significant opposition to it - the “freeman of the land” nutters would be apoplectic - but I can’t think of a downside on philosophical grounds, or in practical terms.


https://www.labourtogether.uk/all-reports/britcard

[kreuzberger]

I have been carrying one for years now, and it has not impacted upon my life in any way, shape, or form.

In that time and apart from finally doing away with fax machines, German bureaucracy has not been simplified. Rather, it has been digitised - Big Difference but no change.

[Abernathy]

Well, my driver’s license serves the purpose in multiple ways other than just proving an entitlement to drive cars, so in some senses we’ve already got ‘em.

I like the idea of selling them as a positive badge of citizenship.

[Boiler]

Oh dear, I can hear the sound of NO2ID! awakening from their slumbers, along with GBNews and others (including, regrettably, my sister) hollering "It's aLl AbOuT cOnTroL!"...

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I’m not sure whether the introduction of digital identity cards is under active consideration within government circles, but it is definitely being talked about in left-leaning policy groups, “think tanks” etc.

Have a read of Labour Together’s policy paper on the idea. I have, and I’m almost persuaded. I can see that there’d be significant opposition to it - the “freeman of the land” nutters would be apoplectic - but I can’t think of a downside on philosophical grounds, or in practical terms.


https://www.labourtogether.uk/all-reports/britcard

But on the other hand, the Dunts are already het up about it...

[Tubby Isaacs]

Part of Labour's coalition really hate ID cards. Not sure it's worth the bother. May have leaked some votes to Clegg in 2010.

[The Weeping Angel]

Austerity latest.

https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/ar ... binet-cash

Schools will receive an extra £4.5bn a year in this week’s spending review, taking the funding for each pupil in England to its highest-ever level.

In an interview with The Observer, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, said children had been at the front of her mind as she balanced competing Whitehall demands. “I want young people to have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, wherever they are from, whatever their background,” she said. “That’s what really matters to me.”

The real-terms increase in core schools budget, which covers pupils aged 5 to 16, will help to fund teachers’ pay rises announced by the government last month.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, also persuaded the Treasury that money was needed to implement radical reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision, which will involve more pupils staying in mainstream schools.