Posts by Ben Austin
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Footpaths, not manifest destiny, in reply to TracyMac,
It isn't clear that the UK can cope with the current set up, in any event, devolution has come to Scotland, Wales, London and returned to Northern Ireland a decade ago, leaving only England running under the old model. In England this last year or so a lot of city conurbations have started to negotiate or obtain some form of local devolution - Manchester for example will apparently soon take over a lot of powers from London and other deals are being discussed.
No one really seems to have a coherent plan or logic for devolution in the UK, so it isn't the best model to look to right now.
-
Agreed that UKIP should have got a seat. I'm not really quite sure what the point of the London Assembly is sometimes, it seems equal parts Parish Council and Mayoral Review thingy. Which perhaps does it a disservice. Ordinary voters don't seem to worry about it too much, they/we tend to focus on the ordinary local government, if at all. But that makes sense as the latter deal with the kind of stuff that people use - schools, social services, local planning, libraries etc.
These councils also tend to be largely party dominated parliamentary systems, where any given council might have 65 or so councillors. Very few seem competitive (I'd guess under half a dozen out of 32), with one particular party, usually Labour, dominating. FPP of course.
I'm still not sure which system I prefer, party or independent.
-
Hard News: Incoming: Summer, in reply to Alfie,
So Buchan is Doric? Or a variant?
My grandmother and her mother could speak some form of Scots Gaelic, although I suspect the former not so much. Although she was able to teach us numbers and some nursery rhymes. Her mother was apparently fluent and she would have been 2nd or 3rd generation Otago.
-
Hard News: Incoming: Summer, in reply to Farmer Green,
I wasn't aware anyone spoke Norn. That being said, when I was up in Orkney and the Shetlands last Summer, looking at the ancestral graves (around Tingwall), I did find that when the older locals spoke to each other it was basically impossible to understand. Although apparently younger locals /long term residents find the same.
-
Hard News: Incoming: Summer, in reply to Farmer Green,
That Norn is it?
-
I've really enjoyed Barnett, got to see her twice this last year or so.
-
How awful. It this something that the police has form for?
In terms of support, might I suggest everyone buy his Gangs book? I shall do so now
-
A new London arrival are the Brompton Bike cabinets, which have recently started popping up. They seem to be a variation on the Boris Bike scheme, but instead of bikes on racks for members or visitors, the bikes are folded up inside the cabinets, ready for members.
Like the idea, no idea if actually financially viable.
-
Ahh yes, Canada, the other country that had a viable Social Credit movement
-
I think I might put Red Peak at first preference, if just that it is less awful than the other four, no disrespect to the designers intended. I am a little tempted to spoil my ballot, to send some sort of signal, but then on the other hand, this kind of signal is usually ignored at best.
Come next year, I don't see myself voting for any of the five over the current. Ask me again when we become a republic.