O/T:- ⚠️Impressed with the leadership [The UK Party Politics Thread]

[Kent Magpie]

durham that is obviously not the type of reform I am talking about. Reform will sadly not get in, not that they would be allowed to make their policies happen, as outside forces, WEF, would see to that, (think Liz Truss). We have to admit that our politicians as good or bad as they are, are not controlling our country, and that goes for the western world in general.
Do people really think that if and when we get to the holy grail of 'net zero', that everything in the garden will be rosy. We will never get there anyway as China, who have been responsible for producing as much CO2 in the last 5 years, as we have done since the Industrial Revolution, are not playing ball. If we do achieve bloody Net Zero, we will have more ice at the poles, more polar bears and more people, whoopy doo.
EP an interesting note, is that every time the Labour Party have been in government since the war, they have left the country in a worse financial state than when they took office. Things can only get better, haha.

A couple of points - China is now leading the way in greening their economy. A long way to go, but when they decide to do something, they get it done.

Secondly, if we don't sort the climate out then the cost of adapting to the new normal will be vastly more costly than anything we have seen recently. There will be increased inequality within communities as those who can afford to adapt will become relatively secure and those who can't will face huge hardships...and as for refugees (lets face it most migrants are granted refugee status and therefore are not migrants by definition), we ain't seen nothing yet!

The Tories are masters at shifting blame. Brown was widely seen as leading the world in addressing the financial crisis of 2008 (started by the collapse of Anne Mae and Annie Mac in the US), yet now it is put down to mismanagement. Interestingly, the economies that didn't opt for austerity and continued what was effectively Brown's policy, are now in a much stronger position.

The Tories impose trade sanctions on ourselves through BREXIT, which was entirely self inflicted and yet it's world problems that have shafted us (more than any other major economy). Look at the failing Councils - Birmingham is mismanagement (caused by a failed IT project and legal costs), but Thurrock (caused by speculative investments by the Tories), and Northampton are both swept under the carpet.

[OchPie]

They aren’t just greening their economy - they are transforming it around net zero to control the technologies of the future. One in five solar panels installed globally goes onto the roof of a Chinese building. Their cars, especially EVs, are fast winning market share. I simply don’t get the thinking of those who want to hand them the entire market.

[Magpies1959]

Very comforting to know that China are going to be the knight in shining armour to save the planet, when the introduced the world to covid, LMAO

[countygump]

This is interesting:




Official statistics on Friday added almost 2 per cent to the size of the UK economy, in a surprise move that showed the country recovered much faster from the pandemic than previously reported.

The Office for National Statistics revisions, which also mean that Britain is no longer the worst performing economy in the G7, will come as a relief to the UK government as it struggles with inflation pressures and a cost of living crisis.

The changes reveal that, by the end of 2021, the country’s economy was 0.6 per cent larger than pre-pandemic levels — instead of 1.2 per cent smaller, as previously estimated.

“The fact that the UK recovered from the pandemic much faster than thought shows that once again those determined to talk down the British economy have been proved wrong,” said Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, adding that the battle against inflation still needed to be won.

In a preview of new national accounts data to be included in official figures from October, the ONS said it had uncovered big sources of growth it had previously not taken account of, particularly as the economy recovered from the pandemic in 2021.

Simon French, chief economist at UK investment bank Panmure Gordon, described the revisions as “extraordinary”, adding: “The entire UK economic narrative — post-pandemic — has just been revised away.”

As recently as mid August, official data reflected ONS estimates that the economy had still not reached its pre-pandemic level, even by the second quarter of this year.

But, after the revisions are included in official figures in October, they will show that the UK economy recovered from the pandemic in late 2021, a recovery as strong as France’s and better than Germany’s.

That will add the equivalent of two years of current UK growth to the country’s gross domestic product.

Some analysts argued that the revisions did not change the big picture of an underperforming UK economy since the Brexit referendum in 2016.

John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said it was “worth remembering” that the ONS had previously revised 2020 GDP down by 1.7 percentage points in changes last year.

The revisions may also not have a big impact on public finances, since they do not alter official tax receipts or public spending data. However, the Office for Budget Responsibility will need to take the new data into account as it prepares forecasts to accompany the government’s Autumn Statement.


The ONS now says the economic contraction at the height of the Covid crisis in 2020 was not as deep as previously thought.

It found that companies had been adding to piles of unsold stocks rather than running them down, as previously thought.


That accumulation of stock caused a £14bn upward revision to the level of real gross domestic product for 2022. As a result, GDP is estimated to have slumped by 10.4 per cent in 2020 rather than 11 per cent. The fall that year still qualifies as the worst annual contraction since the “great frost” of 1709.

The ONS also discovered that wholesale companies and the health sector produced much more in 2021 than previously thought.

The revision was largely due to higher margins as Covid curbs eased, which boosted income, profits and ultimately GDP.

The ONS update corrects a previous anomaly, in which huge amounts of extra money was being spent in healthcare over the pandemic but measured output did not rise accordingly. This also meant GDP was significantly higher than previously thought.

https://www.ft.com/content/50386cc2-003b-4af1-946b-cf3243da810f

[OP67]

We produce 1% of the global emissions so even if we got that to 0% it wouldn't make any difference while countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia, USA and Canada lead the emissions table yet are doing very little about it.

[Kent Magpie]

Best give up then I guess. It's a good job Baldwin and Jones didn't think that way last season eh?

This is one area BREXIT hurts us. When we were part of the EU we were influential in that body, and hence had a disproportionally high influence on world politics...now we are just ignored.

[Kent Magpie]

The US are trying to do something with Biden's Green Push / Deal or whatever they call it. The Republicans just want to block anything the Democrats do... and if Trump gets in then all bets are off. The next US election will be very important for the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, our lot watch as water companies fill our rivers with poo, allow housebuilding in areas where there is insufficient treatment facilities (guess where that poo is going) and refuse to insist new buildings are covered with solar panels and use heat pumps.

[OchPie]

We produce 1% of the global emissions so even if we got that to 0% it wouldn't make any difference while countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia, USA and Canada lead the emissions table yet are doing very little about it.

Canada is under 2%. Saudi is 1.5%. Australia is 1.1%. UK is 1.0%.

There's no doubt we need China and the US to move on emissions - and they both are, to an extent. But those two alone won't be enough either, and the tail is long. The UK is still in the top 20 emitters, despite being outside it in population terms.

If developing countries point to us (or Germany, or France, or Australia) and say even just "ok, we'll emit as much as you", the world is in deep trouble.

We all move, or we're all screwed.

[Newish Pie]

There's around 2,000 mosques and 40,000 churches. Nobody is being forced to call Notts supporters "the black and other colour army". Sadiq Khan is British. So is Rishi Sunak. There have been British people who look like them for centuries. And there are pretty clear reasons for that. We only allow Sharia (which means "law") for civil matters, just as we allow Jewish religious law in the same, limited circumstances. It is strictly opt in.

Powell's speech was seen as racist and incendiary at the time. He wasn't ridiculed, but seen for exactly what he was. He was rightly sacked for it - if he hadn't been, the shadow cabinet would have collapsed.

His speech was only four years after a Tory candidate endorsed the slogan "If you want a n****r for a neighbour, vote Labour". Personally, I'm bloody glad that isn't seen as quite so acceptable any more. At least by most people.

Excellent post.

[Magpies1959]

Oh to live in a world of net zero but have zero control over your life/money, you will have nothing and be happy. Coming to a town near you.

[Jampie]

We produce 1% of the global emissions so even if we got that to 0% it wouldn't make any difference while countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia, USA and Canada lead the emissions table yet are doing very little about it.

Yup Australia's emissions are far too high but coming down. We had successive governments who couldn't read a graph so didn't understand the problem. Gone now, vaguely sane people in charge these days.

All of our coal plants are aging out. They wont be replaced, meanwhile solar and wind is basically the only thing getting installed. We need more hydro though or we're going to have serious reliability issues.

But once the power grid's sorted, the biggest things left for us are industry and cars. Cars will all go electric in the coming decades, and industry's reforming too.

Aside from Russia and other assorted holes, I don't know of any major economy that isn't doing more or less the same stuff. Emissions are coming down, despite decades of lies from climate change deniers. Finally.

[BigFatPie]

The improvement in our fortunes on the pitch has been reflected in the quality of the contributions to this thread. Long may it continue.

[ForeignLegion]

Yup Australia's emissions are far too high but coming down. We had successive governments who couldn't read a graph so didn't understand the problem. Gone now, vaguely sane people in charge these days.

All of our coal plants are aging out. They wont be replaced, meanwhile solar and wind is basically the only thing getting installed. We need more hydro though or we're going to have serious reliability issues.

But once the power grid's sorted, the biggest things left for us are industry and cars. Cars will all go electric in the coming decades, and industry's reforming too.

Aside from Russia and other assorted holes, I don't know of any major economy that isn't doing more or less the same stuff. Emissions are coming down, despite decades of lies from climate change deniers. Finally.

Vaguely sane? A bleak picture with buffoons like Blackout Bowen.

https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/australia-risks-sleepwalking-into-an-energy-crisis-20230310-p5cr5a

[legs77]

Very comforting to know that China are going to be the knight in shining armour to save the planet, when the introduced the world to covid, LMAO

That’s what our media has told us but is that even 100% true ???

I mean we were told it came from a wet market which we now know is bollox it didn’t.

[ForeignLegion]

Vaguely sane? A bleak picture with buffoons like Blackout Bowen.




https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/a...0230310-p5cr5a

Sorry looks like you need a subscription. The headline says it all.