martin currie
6.8K posts
Why do Londoners come all the way to Bournemouth for the beach anyway and Brighton? Surely you have Southend, Hastings, Margate etc? Why don’t you help prop up their economies ?
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@Discoplomacy Has had several redevelopment plans, that keep falling through
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@JoCoCo20 Ah The part of why NIcola is supposed to hate Megan
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@Noahpinion Not for long distance, or even regional trains. It's the US urban systems that suffer from lower housing density.
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Trains need population density in order to be cost-effective. If you don't allow dense housing, good luck getting a train system to be sustainable.
Mediterranean gyal🌊@HakataQueen
On another note I love how in Tokyo you can take 72 different trains and cross the entirety of the Kanto area and it costs like ¥172 meanwhile in Fukuoka you take the subway for 10 minutes and it’s like ¥560
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@gvrabie7 @aliceisplaying It will be illegal to rent a property below a c in 2030. Which could prove interesting to properties that can't be upgraded at a reasonable cost
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@aliceisplaying why would anyone care about energy ratings? Eg as a tenant I’ve never once looked or cared about this, same for buying a place. I agree that the AC situation here is bad but this doesn’t seem to be the reason
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@Prominent_Bryan Depends on the age of construction in the UK but all new builds have required forced ventilation for at least 30 years.
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Is there a reason why most countries outside of North America don't have fans in the bathroom? Is NA the only place that figured out that getting the humidity/moisture out was important?
I'm always baffled by this
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@TheMindScourge Only the richest of the rich fly private, jets are horrendously expensive, a trans Pacific flight can be £100,000 to £200,000,. Unless you are transporting a large number of people it will burn through money if you travel frequently.
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The actually wealthy are all flying private
If you’re flying commercial, you aren’t actually wealthy
StripMallGuy@realEstateTrent
Some of the richest folks on the flight happily walk by your business class seat on their way to 21A.
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@Porkchop_EXP I hear of more people just getting split units for their homes even if it's just for the bedrooms.
It's only £2000 to £3000 a room.
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The weirdest thing about the “europoor no AC” discourse is that there is AC everywhere in Southern and Eastern Europe so this is obviously not a financial issue.
It is an ideological issue in Northwestern Europe, which is admittedly even funnier.
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@Porkchop_EXP The problem in the UK environmental legislation energy targets penalises air conditioning in planning applications, and everything is designed to keep heat in.
These regulations might be changing but they don't seem to be in a rush.
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@Porkchop_EXP People still think it's the same climate as 20 years ago, just bought a little portable unit for my bedroom, it gets hot there if there is no wind. Most of the time I won't need it in the summer, but it's worth it for a month or two max.
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@TypeForVictory Net migration in the 80s was roughly 50,000 a year. The population was stable.
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The big drop off in housebuilding occurred from the late 60s until Thatcher. Net migration was low to negative, fertility falling. Housing costs stabilised. Lots of council homes in London were vacant.
Then we added 10 million people from 1997, and didn't build homes for them.
John West@johnbestwest
If you thought HS2 is expensive, look at what Thatcher's council house sell-off is costing taxpayers every year. But, rather than admit Thatcher got it wrong, the capitalist class are paying people to blame migrants for the housing crisis.
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@JustSoDuckie It's clear her studied, very public laugh, where she unhinges her jaw and rocks back and forth is pure Julia Roberts.
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I'm sure it's just a silly coinkydink that in Pretty Woman Julia Roberts wore a polka dot dress with a big hat in the polo match scenes. Right???
Hilltop Jennifer@hilltopjennifer
Is this the most awkward, cringey photo ever taken of Meghan Markle? Do you feel second-hand embarrassment every time you see it? At this polo trophy presentation, the guys are literally holding the massive cup over her head because she wedged herself right in the middle of the team photo. The players are all in matching team gear, she’s in the oversized hat and sunglasses doing the full pose, and they’ve got no choice but to raise the trophy and pretend she’s not there. Why does Meghan have a pathological need to insert herself into every frame where she clearly doesn’t belong? It’s like she can’t let Harry have a moment with his polo mates without making it about her. Painful to watch.
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@breadandposes Wh smith split up the company into two divisions back in 1997, and incorporated them as separate companies,the miracle is that they kept the high street section for so long.
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WH Smith dumping all its losers on a sucker to fully pivot to its profitable business in travel locations with its strong brand remains one of the best plays in recent years.
Aaron Bastani@AaronBastani
WH Smiths shops re-branded as TJ Jones (bizarre!) saw sales fall over 10%. Ones that kept their name saw…growth. Dumbest/weirdest re-brand…ever?
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@adam_copp @marktughan @DanNeidle @adrianmschmidt @timleunig Well the tax is not going to give you planning permission, so value can only be based on the local plan, practice you can only base the tax on what it sold for or valuation on current use.
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@marktughan @DanNeidle @adrianmschmidt @timleunig The point of LVT is in part to shift valuable land which is underdeveloped to more productive use.
If you're sitting on acres of land inside the m25 and using it to make virtually no economic activity and house nobody, then we should tax that harshly.
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There’s a great case for an LVT, but I agree with Tim Leunig. Land isn’t under-taxed - we tax land more than any other OECD country. It’s badly taxed.
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Please know if I invite you round for tea any time between May & August, this is all I serve x
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@AaronBastani It was only a matter of time before there were cutbacks. Everyone was suprised that they managed to keep the high street section in a small profit. I suspect it was part of the deal to change the name.
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@AaronBastani Wh smith seperated the High street chain and Travel divison into different companies in 1997. which was owned by the parent company, Most of the profit has come from the travel division by then.
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WH Smiths shops re-branded as TJ Jones (bizarre!) saw sales fall over 10%.
Ones that kept their name saw…growth.
Dumbest/weirdest re-brand…ever?
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@kateferguson4 @JohnRentoul They won't do anything about the disaster that is the building safety regulator, not proper leasehold reform, net neutrality, etc etc.
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EXCL: Rachel Reeves furiously rounded on Steve Reed after Cabinet this week – having a pop at him over not building enough homes.
An onlooker said it was a "very grumpy exchange".
Tensions are high in the Cabinet as many fear they could get the chop.
thesun.co.uk/news/39196643/…
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@PRAVDA_KECHB It's success in enabling growth led to many much more expensive upgrades.
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@PRAVDA_KECHB Nowhere was as desolate as docklands, it was built mostly by connecting disused dock railways with new bits. Across empty land. No demolition required. Built against resistance from the treasury who said a bus system would do. It only cost £88 million.
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its actually crazy that we built this fairly cheaply and only in east London and not in about 5 other inner city areas which also needed regeneration in the '80s
Diamond Geezer Blog@diamondgzrblog
Britain's shortest train journey diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2026/05/britai…
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