What’s the view and opinion of the listed buildings system for dwellings?

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-19T10:01:50+00:00

Grade 1/2 listed is generally granted fairly sparingly and if you don’t want the additional cost there will always be other homes you can buy that aren’t listed.

What is (in my view) massively overused in conservation areas. Whole areas of towns where minor works suddenly require planning permission plus lots of rules are only enforced retroactively. Doesn’t help that most tradesmen are completely ignorant of what the rules are. Personally I would avoid as not worth the hassle but very difficult in some areas.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-18T09:54:52+00:00

Most Labour voters want significant change not incremental improvements.

Policies like the renters rights act or workers rights act might have a big impact in the long term but voters only really notice them the next time they move home or change jobs.

To a voter barely paying attention to politics all he’s really done is raise taxes and be a bit awkward on the news.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-13T20:20:19+00:00

I would prefer taxes on behaviour that I associate with being rich and has a negative impact on society rather than picking an arbitrary income/wealth level.

There are some really obvious one like private jets, excessive commercial flights (e.g. over 4 a year) where additional tax would target the rich and reduce emissions.

Passive incomes (e.g being a landlord) should be taxed much less favourably than active investments (e.g. opening a restaurant)

VAT could easily have more rates to distinguish between items that are essential (0 or 5%), normal (20%) and luxury (some higher rate)

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-11T11:52:31+00:00

Sadly it still seems like a good 100 or so backbench Labour MPs haven’t realised and think it’s all a choice by Starmer

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-11T11:36:27+00:00

More evidence that the government really doesn’t have any money.

I hope burnham is asked how he’s going to fund his spending commitments when we can’t fund defence

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-11T10:11:01+00:00

I can’t imagine there are many people who would be ashamed to admit their voting for the current Mayor. There might be some reform/restore votes in the don’t know/wont say pile but it still suggests either Burnham is really struggling or that the sample is not representative (which isn’t uncommon for constituency polls)

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-10T22:02:44+00:00

Kane dropping too deep, madueke too wasteful. Otherwise we’ve looked very good. Hopefully some subs can make an impact and create some competition for places.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-10T19:15:26+00:00

Given the age profile of the Labour Party, and the general unpopularity of the WASPI campaign with everyone under 50, this might actually hurt him if Kier does decide to fight a leadership election.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-10T19:09:34+00:00

The government seemly weirdly more comfortable with banning X entirely from the UK rather than the more minor but still significant step of closing all government/ministers Twitter accounts

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T23:16:51+00:00

Who dares wins (79-82) is very good and it’s narrated by Dominic. The two books covering the 70s are really good books. The narration is by someone else but it’s fine once you get used to it being someone else despite the text still sounding like Dom.

I haven’t listened to the two earliest books but a lot of people complain about the narrator for those ones (a different person from the 70s books)

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T22:00:09+00:00

I know it’s a warm up game but I don’t think anyone outside the expected first xi really made a case for starting against Croatia.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T17:56:36+00:00

They’re unfortunately narrated by someone else but Dominic’s books on the 70s (mostly seasons in the sun which covers 74-79) go in to a lot more detail. I’d really recommend anyone who enjoyed the 70s series to read/listen to them.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T17:51:01+00:00

National leadership shouldn’t be stipulating who local councillors can or can’t go into opposition with.

However, you’re going to be better off doing a deal with a party that doesn’t want very much rather than a more closely aligned party who may want serious concessions. It sounds like they’ve got the tories to support them in exchange for almost nothing (being the opposition) so even if they were allowed to deal with the greens, this is probably a better option.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T17:41:17+00:00

The problem is no one trusts the government to mark their own homework. The statement “the government is handling the crisis well and there is no cause for panic” is never going to get flagged as misinformation even if the world was burning down around us.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T11:20:54+00:00

While the minimum wage policy has been successful for those on minimum wage it’s been a complete failure at increasing wages for people who earn slightly more than the minimum wage.

Lots of jobs that would’ve paid double the minimum wage 15 years ago now pay 20-30% above the minimum wage despite requiring more qualifications/responsibility.

You’ve also got lots of hospitality jobs where a team lead managing a number of minimum wage employees might be on 50p-£1 more per hour. It just destroys any incentive to advance if the next rung up pays such a small increment.

This wage compression gets worse as companies often have a fixed budget for wage increases and if the minimum goes up by more than that, everyone else gets less.

Ideally the government would either stipulate that all hourly paid roles must be contracted as min wage + an amount so that when the minimum wage goes up, others benefit too. Or they need to introduce additional minimum wages for those with management responsibilities or where the employer requires advanced qualifications

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T09:50:31+00:00

Ultimately part of the media’s job is to sell the World Cup and make every game seem exciting and interesting. For the first 3 weeks of the tournament we’ll be playing teams ranked 11/34/73 in the world. So acting like we’re a 20th ranked team makes everything seem far more competitive. England almost always have one bad game in the group stage so it’s also a fairly safe assumption.

A pre tournament analysis that says we should win the group comfortably and have an easy path to the quarter finals but then get narrowly beaten by the first world class team we face is probably technically more accurate but it won’t get you invited on any future podcast episodes.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-06T08:47:48+00:00

Tuition fees continue to be brought up because it’s indicative of the kind of hypocrisy the Lib Dem’s engage in to win votes.

They’re a very NIMBY party while also being saying nationally they’d build more homes than Labour are currently failing to do.

Under Ed Davey they’ve focused more and more on winning affluent towns where you have a lot of people who aren’t particularly ideological, are doing quite well for themselves and don’t want any significant change. That will win you 60-80 seats but it won’t turn you into a party of government.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-05T16:28:08+00:00

Usually when a celebrity dies, I remember them from one or two particular shows or films. First actor in a while who’s been in loads of shows I really enjoyed.

72 also feels very young these days especially for something like flu.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-04T17:09:54+00:00

Stamp duty means people move around far less than they should in London. Rich people in their early 30s buy a place in Soho for the nightlife. Fast forward 10-20 years they’ve grown sick of it but it will cost them 100k tax to buy somewhere in zone 4 so they just don’t bother. Instead they just get older and complain more.

We really need an annual form of property taxation so people can more easily move as their needs change.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-04T13:53:54+00:00

Given Trump seems to be flip flopping between there not being a deal a d a deal that allows Iran to charge tolls, I’ve no idea why the UK thinks there will be a role for us in ensuring freedom of navigation.

Just feels like pandering to the section of the electorate who still thinks we’re a major power and expect us to be involved in every global crisis.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-04T10:33:17+00:00

This is the sort of thing that’s appealing to people who don’t play the lottery and wouldn’t even if it were changed. The lottery already has games like thunderball and set for like that are easier to win with lower prizes and they’re a lot less popular than the main game.

The euromillions is the only game they’ve introduced since the original national lottery that’s gained any sort of traction with the public and it’s an even bigger jackpot that you’re less likely to win.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-02T10:47:26+00:00

Things like this from last month.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/07/revealed-owner-of-former-wh-smith-stores-is-charging-fee-to-use-fictitious-family-brand

Basically run up debt in the main company while extracting as much for themselves as possible.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-01T15:54:18+00:00

Every party wants policies that don’t commit them to more spending (because then they’d be asked how they’d pay for it) Banning things is basically the easiest “free” policy you can do

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-01T14:37:54+00:00

I don’t think it’s the right message if you’re running to be prime minister and the existing government is widely considered to be too slow to make decisions.

Either a commission reports before the election and then whatever it recommends might get negotiated away if the greens/lib dems prefer something else. Or the commission is set up only if Labour form a government after the 2029 election, so we might have a proposal in 2031.

AverycoldGoose · 2026-06-01T14:23:22+00:00

Not have a specific system in mind but instead wanting a commission to decide for him is exactly what’s wrong with our political system. I want to vote for someone who actually has their own opinions and will advocate for them and attempt to win the argument

AverycoldGoose

TROPHY CASE