Search found 333 matches

by the snail
19 Mar 2024, 3:25pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Should the BBC be privatised?
Replies: 121
Views: 4867

Re: Should the BBC be privatised?

Psamathe wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 5:36pm ...BBC seems an exception where you pay AND still get the ads!

Ian
Netflix do that too.
by the snail
19 Mar 2024, 1:12am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?
Replies: 920
Views: 862613

Re: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?

roubaixtuesday wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 12:17pm
Jdsk wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 10:52am "Brexit and the State":
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/upload ... -State.pdf
"This report examines how the British state has changed as a result of Brexit. Leaving the EU has significantly altered the size and shape of the state, creating new tasks, functions and policies for it to manage. It has also altered its relationships with key stakeholders."

Jonathan
Overall, the number of civil servants has increased by around 100,000 since Brexit. That is not all attributable to Brexit – the responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and asylum claims have also driven numbers up – but most of the changes from 2016-2020 can be put down to Brexit, which was the major preoccupation of the government for that period.

Would be interested to hear from supporters of Brexit if 100,000 more civil servants was what they wanted.

Civil service has also increased proportion of employees in London. Again, was a relative increase in London spending what you wanted?

What a waste.
IIRC the government were planning to recruit 80,000 staff to deal with customs checks etc. , which is more than the entire number of EU bureaucrats in Brussels. How much did we send to Brussels? 10 billion net contribution. Loss to the taxpayer from brexit 40 billion.
by the snail
19 Mar 2024, 12:44am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109829

Re: BEVs

Carlton green wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 8:56am ...Given the choice the vast majority of people wouldn’t consider buying a BEV ...
Really? Got any evidence for that assertion?

https://electrek.co/2022/05/27/52-perce ... rchase-ev/
by the snail
8 Mar 2024, 10:52am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Sellafield
Replies: 37
Views: 1632

Re: Sellafield

Biospace wrote: 7 Mar 2024, 2:33pm
Jdsk wrote: 7 Mar 2024, 11:02am "People will need to change" is about as much of a solution as "let's get hydrogen atoms to fuse" unless it's accompanied by some detail of how that will be achieved.
I took Stradageek's inference to be that human energy consumption needs to fall significantly for our habitation of this planet to become sustainable, if it's his words you refer to. I might be wrong, of course.
There seems to be an assumption by some that change is impossible. As if increasing supply is not possible, despite production having been increased in the past. Similarly it's apparently impossible to reduce demand, despite demand having been reduced recently by energy efficiency. It's as much about having the will to change things as anything.
by the snail
5 Mar 2024, 10:56pm
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Should electric bikes go faster
Replies: 96
Views: 5843

Re: Should electric bikes go faster

djnotts wrote: 2 Mar 2024, 7:18pm ...E-bikes that don't require pedalling sound like m'cycles to me!

...
The ban on throttles makes no sense, it doesn't improve safety in any way, all it does is make life more difficult for people who have difficulty pedalling.
by the snail
5 Mar 2024, 10:52pm
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Should electric bikes go faster
Replies: 96
Views: 5843

Re: Should electric bikes go faster

Carlton green wrote: 2 Mar 2024, 8:08am ... It’s really important that e-bikes are primarily seen as an aid to and enabler for the physically challenged that supports basic (so limited speed) mobility.
Totally disagree. E-bikes are just another option for personal transport, for anybody, not just the physically challenged. For example they are a great option for commuters who don't want to arrive at work soaked in sweat, or those who wouldn't otherwise ride that distance
by the snail
28 Feb 2024, 11:40am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109829

Re: BEVs

UpWrong wrote: 27 Feb 2024, 5:54pm
reohn2 wrote: 27 Feb 2024, 5:15pm The Microlino IMHO is a dead duck on UK roads because a)the roads are in a terrible state and as a result to ride will be equally terrible,b) 45kms is too slow,c) the value for mony is ridiculously expensive for what it is d) and you'restill stuck in traffic jams just like a Range Rover.
The Ami is selling quite well. The Microlino Lite is better quality and safer but I think double the price is hard to swallow for the normal Brit. But there are those with the disposable incomes who may be happy to indulge their 16 year olds - if they can find insurance.
I think that's where there may be a market for these. They are the modern equivalent of the bubble car, which were popular post-war as a cheap option. There are probably chinese versions well under 10k. They make a lot of sense around town for one person, especially young people who struggle with the cost of insurance, fuel etc.
by the snail
24 Feb 2024, 11:31am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?
Replies: 920
Views: 862613

Re: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?

pwa wrote: 24 Feb 2024, 11:12am
francovendee wrote: 24 Feb 2024, 8:39am I see a lot to be worried about within the EU. Don't you?

The way forward doesn't lie in endless wallowing in the Leave/Remain debate. It lies in new and creative approaches to cooperation between the Western democracies. Time to move on.
I'm not sure what you expect. The member states are democracies, and people parties go in and out of favour, economies go through difficult times. The question for member states is whether or not EU membership is benficial, and generally the answer is 'yes', and nobody is going to look at the UK and think leaving is a good idea.
People have moved on, we've done the 'leave' thing, time to move on and rejoin.
by the snail
18 Feb 2024, 1:22am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK Politics
Replies: 949
Views: 74391

Re: UK Politics

Our debt problem is nothing to do with the trade deficit, it stems from a collapse in tax receipts when the financial industry bankrupted itself and we had become too reliant on it. The only way we will solve the problem is by growing the economy, austerity was never going to do it, it just made the problem worse. The minimum wage isn't the cause of low productivity, low wages and long hours lead to poor productivity, we need to invest in skills and technology - we will never compete with the likes of China by reducing wages.
by the snail
15 Feb 2024, 4:01pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?
Replies: 920
Views: 862613

Re: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?

Technically we don't have to have another referendum, we didn't when we joined. A political party elected on a rejoin manifesto would have a mandate to apply for membership.
by the snail
15 Feb 2024, 1:15pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?
Replies: 920
Views: 862613

Re: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?

roubaixtuesday wrote: 15 Feb 2024, 11:58am

i think there's no prospect of either the UK applying or the EU accepting unless there is a long term consensus in the UK that it's the right thing to do.

Current polling is very much in favour of rejoin, but current politics not at all. And anyway, that's far to short term.

Note many of those who voted leave have already "left the building" - the vote was overwhelming driven by the old, and it was eight years ago.
Realistically I think that means we need the Labour and Tories in favour of rejoining. Currently Labour has no interest in revisiting the issue, and the tories are in the grip of the loony right. Possibly if the tory party is destroyed at the next election, and more moderate people take over, and Labour has been in power for a term, then we might be in a position to move towards rejoining. I can't see that process even starting sooner than 5-10 years though.
by the snail
12 Feb 2024, 4:58pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109829

Re: BEVs

Biospace wrote: 10 Feb 2024, 3:59pm ...

Singling out an individual because they ride or drive a motorbike or car with a large engine doesn't lead to any progress...
He hasn't been singled out due to what he drives, he's been criticised because of what he he wrote in an article in a national newspaper. If you do that, then people are entitled to criticise what you write and to question your own behaviour in that area.
by the snail
9 Feb 2024, 11:15am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109829

Re: BEVs

Biospace wrote: 8 Feb 2024, 6:18pm


As you may know, the government has proposed a ban on the sale of new petrol and
diesel cars from 2030. The problem with the initiative is that it seems to be largely based on
conclusions drawn from only one part of a car’s operating life: what comes out of the exhaust pipe.
Electric cars, of course, have zero exhaust emissions, which is a welcome development, particularly
in respect of the air quality in city centres. But if you zoom out a bit and
look at a bigger picture that includes the car’s manufacture, the situation is very different ...
The problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries fitted currently to nearly all electric vehicles:
they’re absurdly heavy, huge amounts of energy are required to make them, and they are
estimated to last only upwards of 10 years. It seems a perverse choice of hardware
with which to lead the automobile’s fight against the climate crisis.


He goes on to criticise how the motor car has grown into a fashion item which in turn reduces values in a variety of manners as age progresses, and hence lifespan - people tend to scrap cars when they grow economically unviable.

One bonus of increased second hand prices is that people are not scrapping them quite so readily. Garages have long waiting lists for work.
There is no engineering expertise in that quote.
1. people have certainly considered the impact of EVs as a whole, not just tailpipe emissions.
2. Upwards of 10 years? That's about how long an ICE vehicle lasts.
3. Absurdly heavy? EVs are much heavier than an equivalent ICE vehicle.
His article is little more than a rehash of standard anti-EV tropes, with no real data to back it up. He's no more an engineer than I am, having studied engineering 40 years ago. I doubt if that many people have read it, or been influenced by it though, so I don't see why Baroness P has singled it out for criticism.
by the snail
7 Feb 2024, 8:47pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109829

Re: BEVs

al_yrpal wrote: 7 Feb 2024, 7:25am From a letter to the Torygraph....
Imagine we lived in a world where all cars were EVs. And then along comes a new invention, the “Internal Combustion Engine”! Think of the sales marketing: A vehicle half the weight, half the price that will almost quarter the damage done to the road. A vehicle that can be refuelled in 1/10th of the time and has a range of up to 4 times the distance in all weather conditions. It does not rely on the environmentally damaging use of non-renewable rare earth elements to power it, and use far less steel and other materials.
Just think how excited people would be for such technology, it would sell like hot cakes!
Baroness Parminter (degree in Theology) Chairwoman of some committee or other has criticised Rowan Atkinson (degrees in Electrical Engineering and Control Sytems) for his disparaging comments on EVs which she believes has damaged adoption

Al :lol:
The small print at the bottom of the advert:
'* may give you or your loved ones cancer, emphysema, dementia, asthma. Will contribute to catastrophic climate change.'

And Atkinson isn't an engineer, he's a comic actor. He's no more an expert on EVs than Baroness P.
by the snail
7 Feb 2024, 8:38pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: 20mph Did you know, FACT!
Replies: 55
Views: 6193

Re: 20mph Did you know, FACT!

It would be pretty straightforward to give time-triallers tracking devices and police speed limits, or stop the clock in 20mph zones.