JJM

@Handre ... specifically the opium trade, with China. The process occurred in three main stages, starting with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in January 1841 and concluding with the handover of the entire territory back to China on 1 July 1997.

@Handre No regulation maybe, but certainly State intervention including its seizure by gunboats to secure the Opium trade. Context counts. "British rule over Hong Kong began in the 1840s during the 19th-century Opium Wars, driven by a desire to secure trading interests, specifically

Hong Kong sits on a damn rock. No oil, no minerals, no fertile farmland -- just a harbor and British property rights until 1997. Milton Friedman called it the closest thing to laissez-faire capitalism in human history. 15% flat tax, minimal regulation, you could start a business in 24 hours. Result? GDP per capita shot from $428 in 1960 to $49,800 by 2019. Made Singapore look slow. Every central planner should study this. You don't need resources when you have markets. (Beijing clearly didn't get the memo -- look what's happened since the security law.) Four million people on 400 square miles became richer than most of Europe by just... getting out of the way.

The Government has cut five of its proposed new towns but continues to plan for the remaining seven. The cut ones are Adlington (Cheshire), Heyford Park (Oxford satellite), Marlcombe (near Exeter), Plymouth (Devon) and Wychavon Town (Worcestershire). The retained ones are brownfield schemes in Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Thamesmead (in SE London), an urban extension by Enfield, and the genuinely new town at Tempsford (Bedfordshire). A few thoughts: 1. It is odd that we are still at the stage of choosing sites two years in. Wasn't that supposed to have been done last year? Couldn't it have been done while Labour was still in opposition? 2. The sites that have been cut were mostly relatively tenuous economically. All of the remaining sites are good projects that should certainly be supported. Today's announcement is thus, viewed from a certain angle, not economically insane. 3. I am gratified to see that the site I proposed at Tempsford is growing steadily in importance, and that 40,000 homes are now projected there. This might actually be the new city I proposed, not just a bit of housing development. 4. At the same time, it is interesting that Tempsford is actually the *only* new town surviving in the sense of a physically distinct settlement. In my view this reflects on the general limitations of new towns: even a government that is full of enthusiasm for them can find hardly any good sites. There *are* occasional strong cases, but they are exceptional. Growing existing cities will always do the lion's share of the work, as it has for eight hundred years. 5. Quite a few of these sites were underway anyway. Brabazon has been underway since 2020 or so. There is lots of development in central Leeds and Manchester. There may be a bit of double-counting going on here in which existing large brownfield schemes are relabelled as new projects. 6. I am a bit puzzled that they could not make e.g. a satellite town for Oxford work economically. Why not? I do rather wonder if the issue here is that they could not afford the share of social housing that they wanted, and so they have scrapped the project entirely rather than building some useful but ideologically unpalatable private housing. Or maybe it is just that MHCLG doesn't have the capacity to allow developments at twelve sites simultaneously. Either way, this seems concerning. 7. In any case, it is vital to remember what a small contribution to British housing this is. The schemes total 'up to' 191,000 homes. It will take maybe twenty years to build them out, in which time they will make up perhaps 2.5% of the houses that the Government wants, if current target levels are sustained. Probably nothing will be delivered before next election, except on the double counted schemes that were already happening. I say this not because I oppose the new towns scheme – I don't, and in fact I have actively contributed to it – but as a reminder that it should not distract from the vastly more important task of reforming planning and regulation. Overall verdict: these are still good sites, and I still support this project. But the Govt needs to get on with it, and nobody should imagine that this can be more than a minor contributor to its housing strategy. thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

Read now: The web of offshore companies that allowed Chelsea to cheat the system. thetimes.com/sport/football…

@speaky_ @Hazzy_Vince That and Accas The margin favours the bookies, the more legs involved

@Hazzy_Vince That’s why the bookies invented cash out ! Invented by the bookie for the bookie.

Step dads bet for 42 grand come in but he cashed it for £114🤮

This map shows who's actually bleeding right now % of total gas consumption flowing through a strait that's effectively dead: 🇮🇳 India: 28% 🇵🇰 Pakistan: 26% 🇹🇼 Taiwan: 27% 🇰🇼 Kuwait: 24% 🇰🇷 South Korea: 20% 🇸🇬 Singapore: 18% 🇨🇳 China: 6% 🇪🇺 Europe: 3% And then Ras Laffan got hit. Hormuz closed AND Qatar offline simultaneously. The countries at 20%+? They don't have the luxury of ideology♟️ This crisis separates the energy secure from the energy desperate. And desperate countries make unpredictable decisions.

EXC: Japan sounds alarm over UK commitment to the GCAP joint fighter jet programme w/ Italy Crucial development work is stalled due to UK MoD’s late Defence Investment Plan, repeatedly delayed since autumn Via @Urbandirt @harrydemps @sylviapfeifer & me as.ft.com/r/5d8beb2b-819…

@atrupar Disgusting, even for Donald Trump. Celebrating someone’s death just proves what you are , petty, vindictive, and terrified of accountability. Robert Mueller did his job, you’re still running from the truth. This isn’t strength. It’s moral bankruptcy on full display.

@Michaelbcafc We've got the worse away record now for losses Other than Sheff Wed I think across the EFL

How do you even do that as a keeper, ball isn’t even going at him with pace and he still flaps at it, need to rely on the other play off sides being shit and our home form if we want play offs #bcafc

@BantamSilver @GrahamSmyth It was a question, not an assertion. I'm interested to know but to lazy to look at SofaScore.

@JoeJaMor @GrahamSmyth Irrelevant

Leeds United have been hit with £500,000 in Premier League fines for delaying kick-offs and second half restarts for nine matches this season. And the fines are only going to increase for future delays. #lufc yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football…

@MarkBHarrison1 The first wave was down Whiteabbey Road. Obviously all of those Victorian pubs and newer are long gone now. A school friend of mine was pictured on the front pages with a headband on. I'm conflating issues, that was the Salman Rushdie book burning! Interesting times.

@JoeJaMor I was in a pub called the Second West. It was the week after the main riots, but very similar. The police were parked a mile away and did nothing.

@MarkBHarrison1 Also, didn't see any police presence at all Tactical retreat? I forget, was that before the police station was built by Listers Mill on Lilycroft?

@MarkBHarrison1 I was at a wedding at Bradford Uni and walked home along Lumb Lane to Oak Lane, where the BMW garage had been burnt out and passed Lister Park where kids were joy riding and crashing cars Around about 1am I felt safe enough, except for the cars... Just went native on my ohone

@tonymc39 It's a bit like going to church on a Sunday morning, there's a time and place for it.

This obsession with Saturday 3pm as some kind of sacred tradition that must be preserved has always baffled me. Why does it matter?

@ByronicEnigma @algorecrave He could have transferred at Gatwick to the Express but no through ticketing would have caused a major obstacle, if checked

@algorecrave Basically the British equivalent of Air Force One just with signalling problems at Three Bridges.

whenever i get the train from brighton to london victoria i just remember that tony blair was made to get the same train when 9/11 happened because he was doing a speech in brighton and they were too worried his official car would be targeted…just a glimpse inside my mind…

@karlykingsley It was about not telling your potential allies, not the target so it was also wrong. The analogy was Japan not telling Germany and the Axis. Surprise, he's stupid. It's dangerous. Fragile ego's in charge.

MAGA not understanding why Trump’s Pearl Harbor “joke”wasn’t funny sums it up. It was a disrespectful, embarrassing display of ignorance on a global stage. Japan is appalled, our allies are mortified, the international press is mocking us. MAGA thinks this is “winning.” It’s not

@napoleannnn @Josh_DTM @Ramma_____ The multiple claims do say massive glitch

@Josh_DTM @Ramma_____ Difference is they paid out 130m in 30 mins, not isolated instances like those. No chance it stands.

Never hear of a glitch going in their favour when thousands of spins return zero when they may have returned a prize do you ? Claim it back from your software provider lads

@westcountrytim It's likely half that for the 30 mins But is he walkable to his local station or would he have Network Rail car parking costs there to add? PS: Train Pal searches for cheaper tickets so the walk up fare may be more

@thomasforth "He said the NCP's Spinningfield site was the best location for him, and driving into the city is cheaper than commuting by train" Is the train really more than £25?

Fantastic story on car parking and economics this. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@jamesburtonio I get you can say that but the phone will also geo-locate you and it's not likely that you are indicating on site Regardless of that I'd delete it still, you are going after bookies with legal teams in quite a public way trying to get evidence against them and you give them this

@JoeJaMor Hi Joe, I was on a private road on site where I work when this video was recorded, I do appreciate your concern though, i would never use my phone whilst driving on the public highway.

If you have experienced issues with Jackpot Drop winnings being held, requested for return or account suspension, please join this thread and post your situation. #WilliamHill