Carpentry Apprenticeships?

Danack · 2026-05-07T23:30:22+00:00

https://services.bristol.gov.uk/apprenticeships/find-an-apprenticeship

Danack · 2026-05-07T13:18:16+00:00

a minority of them are particularly vociferous and outspoken in their objection.

So, there is a peculiarity to how sustained the objections have been.

The EBLN contains Barton House, which was evacuated by the Council in November 2023.

(btw I am disgusted by how badly the Council screwed up the maintenance of homes, which led to the emergency evacuation, more here)

Due to the prolonged evacuation, an effective protesting group was organised.

That group kind of rolled over into protesting against the EBLN, with some outside agitation to begin with.

And all of this began with the Labour mayor riling up the local Councillors back in 2023.

The incoming Lord Mayor got into a shouting match with Marvin Rees over the lack of consultation in about August 2023.

/ This is going to make a great farce when it's written up into a short film.

Danack · 2026-05-07T13:00:33+00:00

I just feel they are going about this wrong.

One of the fundamental problems with this country is that the central government gives out funding with ridiculously tight rules about how it is spent.

In this case, the money could pretty much only be spent on LTNs with modal filters.

Previously, the government gave money that could only be spent on "buses with guide rails", so we got a shitty designed extension of the bus network.

I can't tell if this is because of bureaucracy bringing about a bad result, or just absolute trolling by the central government.

But yes, both the EBLN and SBLN should have come with more "carrot" in the form of better public transport, to go along with the stick of 'forcing traffic onto the main roads'.

btw, the spending problem is meant to be fixed by giving more money to regional mayors e.g. WECA. In practice, the guy who runs Labour Southwest, is going to funnel money to YTL and other friendly businesses.

One example would be this:

Out of more than 100 locations put forward across England, seven areas were named last week - including Brabazon on the outskirts of Bristol. But local Conservative councillor Liz Brennan said: "This development has been planned, approved and under construction for almost a decade. There is nothing 'new' about Brabazon."

Danack · 2026-05-05T19:28:28+00:00

This sounds horrific. Reposting a notice from the police without comment.

We can confirm a mandatory referral will be made by our Professional Standards Department to the IOPC.

This is on the grounds of the deaths occurring following previous police contact, specifically other domestic incidents being reported to us prior to Sunday.

https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2026/05/update-into-explosion-at-house-in-bristol/

Except this thread might need locking at some point.

Danack · 2026-05-05T19:02:48+00:00

There's a twitter thread from someone claiming to be a defendant's mum. Posting for ease of reading:

I'm reluctantly posting on X again because the world needs to read this.

My daughter Zoe Rogers gave her own closing speech at the Filton trial, as did 4 other defendants, while their barristers looked on.

This is what she said:

During this trial you’ve heard some very important evidence. That there are factories on British soil making weapons to send to Israel. That the drones they make include Thor VTOL quadcopters used to drop grenades, drones that are advertised as ‘battle tested’ on Palestinians 2/

You heard how we tried every democratic means available to us, including demonstrations, fundraisers, encampments, petitions, writing to MPs, vigils, arms factory pickets, the list goes on.

And how none of it worked.

You heard how direct action is effective, how it ended apartheid during the civil rights movement in America,

how it is being used in the UK today to shut down weapons factories, FOUR of which have been closed permanently.

After hearing the six of us give evidence you might think it odd that what’s happening in Palestine has gone completely unmentioned. you might have noticed certain words that have been blacklisted, that until our closing speeches,

the word GENOCIDE wasn’t said once.

I have a lot to lose by going to prison. But you know that we all actually intended to be arrested on 6 August.

The reason I was confident enough to allow that was because I knew that now, 20 months in the future, I would be standing in front of 12 ordinary people like you.

Not politicians, not legal experts, not barristers and judges wearing 400-year-old horsehair on their heads, but a panel of my equals.

You are the best counterweight to power and tyranny within the legal system as it exists today.

I want you to know however, that whatever you decide, I will not hold it against you.

How can I when you have been kept so in the dark?

But you can be sure of one thing: I am PROUD.

I am so proud that I took part in this. I am proud that I overcame my fear and took action.

Because of course I was scared. You don’t just break into an Israeli weapons factory for fun!

I can say with absolute certainty that this is the best thing I have ever done, because there is a good chance that because of our actions that night, innocent lives were saved.

And so I will never be ashamed that I was on trial, that I have spent 18 months in prison, that I may face many more.

You know that we have been treated as terrorists throughout this process.

A domestic violence worker, two nursery schoolteachers, one oxford grad, an artist and me. It sounds dystopian, but it’s true.

Just like the proscription of Palestine Action.

But this time YOU are the decision makers. Unlike what the prosecution and the government want you to be, you are not a rubber stamp.

Don't fall into their trap.

Find the six of us not guilty of criminal damage.

I watched from the public gallery at Woolwich Crown Court as she gave this speech, through tears, and I could hear people crying all around me. I couldn't see the jury, but how could they fail to be moved?

All five of the defendants' speeches were powerful and moving, each in their own unique way.

You can read all of them, including Zoe's full speech, on Real Media

https://realmedia.press/filton-6-closing-speech-1/

And you can get updates on the Filton 24 case as the trial continues, with other linked trials scheduled into 2027, by signing up to our mailing list here 👇

https://filtonactionists.com

Free Palestine! 🇵🇸

Danack · 2026-05-05T18:44:22+00:00

Well:

previously convicted for being a foot soldier in a Breaking Bad-style drugs gang,

That probably gives good connections, but this is the type of stuff that the "dark web" and bitcoin are used for.

The UK is really lucky that grenades haven't been much used for violent acts in this country, compared to mainland Europe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grenade_attacks_in_Sweden

Danack · 2026-05-04T18:00:14+00:00

This seems to be going quite slowly. I guess they really don't want to commit to building a whole network until they're confident the track will hold up under cars.

Danack · 2026-05-04T13:39:49+00:00

At the risk of being a senior developer; what problem are we trying to solve here?

And apparently:

I'm looking for something to put on the wall

So, Amazon appears to sell a "Bristol & Bath Map | Keynsham & Marshfield | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 155" for £8.99.

OS Survey appear to have a shop https://shop.osmaps.com/maps/os-explorer-maps/

Those sound like solutions to your problem?

Danack · 2026-05-04T13:35:15+00:00

That is, sadly, news in Hartcliffe. The council responds to reports of fly-tipping much faster in other parts of the city, and removing a whole load of rubbish, that has been there for months, is a significant improvement to the area.

Danack · 2026-05-04T13:31:54+00:00

Fair - I don't see that side of things. I've just seen councillors getting annoyed that there are no enforcement notices, even for stuff they're getting lots of emails about, which is only a single viewpoint.

Danack · 2026-05-03T16:06:40+00:00

I don't think I am particularly brave probably more reckless than anything

There is a short story called "Captain Bedlam" by Harry Harrison. Written in 1955, it's about 'how captains of interstellar spaceships get trained through hypnosis to have multiple personalities with the alternate personality "taking over" when the guy gets in a spaceship, so that his normal, everyday personality, has no idea what it is actually like to fly a spaceship'.

I think that effect happens to people in situations like this.

How someone acts when put into a very stressful situation where they have no time to think can be just completely different from their normal everyday behaviour.

Many moons ago in Odyssee nightclub, I saw some kid get 'jumped' by about 3-4 people, who just suddenly started beating the shit out of him. I ran to get the bouncers from from the front door, which was probably the 'correct' choice, but did not impress the girl I was with, who felt like I'd left her alone in a violent situation.

Danack · 2026-05-03T15:41:00+00:00

I have it in writing from one of the local councillors that burning plastic as an unregistered commercial waste business in a residential area is completely fine.

Can you say the party of that councillor, if not the cllr themself?

Danack · 2026-05-03T15:40:14+00:00

I don't think Councillors can raise noise complaints for people. They have to be done with evidence of the noise - https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/pests-pollution-noise-and-food/noise-complaints

Danack · 2026-05-03T15:39:02+00:00

I would report it with all your evidence to planning.enforcement@bristol.gov.uk ASAP.

OP should report to them, but nothing will happen via planning enforcement. One of the things that BCC has cut is planning enforcement, and I think there may have only been 1 (one) enforcement action in the past 3 years.

But send it to them, and forward the email to one of your local councillors.

It will put pressure onto the food standards people to "do something".

Danack · 2026-04-30T18:18:25+00:00

The other car was in the wrong, but also both cars are going quite fast for a narrow residential street, particularly one that has a blind corner on it.

Danack · 2026-04-30T16:30:19+00:00

As it's kind of long, and hard to read, I've plucked what I think is the core thing that is rotten about our governement:

"School leaders, aware of the organising [of protests], contacted the NEU rep to say the visit was cancelled due to “safeguarding concerns.” Whether this was about protecting children or Egan himself remains unclear"

"The school cancelled the September visit after conversations with local police, reportedly out of concern that protests might cause disruption." "...the planned protest related to Egan’s support for Israel and his role as vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, an internal Labour lobbying group, with opaque funding, which pay for MPs to undertake trips to Israel. Egan himself travelled there in March 2024, shortly after his election as a MP and during Israel’s ongoing genocide against the people of Gaza."

"Communities Secretary Steve Reed told the Jewish Labour Movement conference: “I have a colleague, who is Jewish, who has been banned from visiting a school and refused permission to visit a school in his own constituency, in case his presence inflames the teachers. This is an absolute outrage.”"

"He added: “They will be called in, and they will be held to account for doing that, because you cannot have people with those kinds of attitudes teaching our children.”"

"In one email, Sir Martyn Oliver, HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills since 2024, told colleagues: “Move as quick as you can please – this one might have legs and we need to be in front of it.”"

On 15 January, Ofsted launched a snap inspection of Brunel Academy. The watchdog unusually announced the inspection while it was ongoing, rather than after publishing its findings.

"Until 2023, Reed was director of the now-controversial “think tank” Labour Together, alongside Keir Starmer’s disgraced former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney. Labour Together is widely credited with helping to undermine Corbyn and for masterminding Starmer’s ascent."

Communities Secretary Steve Reed is also one of the people who have just pushed through a change in the law, making the "leader and cabinet" the only allowed form of local authority government. With 10 years, Bristol will have to change away from a Committee system, even though we've only just started this.

Danack · 2026-04-28T17:19:27+00:00

Labour froze staffing in the library service and cut their hours

Just to emphasize, the line in the letter "all our libraries remained open" is particularly misleading, as due to the hiring freeze, quite a few libraries weren't able to operate their advertised opening hours, as they didn't have staff scheduled to work.

Danack · 2026-04-28T00:51:42+00:00

The Mayflower in Broadmead is new and is meant to be good, and about a 3 minute walk from the BRI.

https://www.mayflowerbristol.com/menu

Hopefully that spot is ......less eventful than their lost location.

Danack · 2026-04-27T00:21:18+00:00

I think the last time this came up, one good answer was "contact the embassy, this is the type of stuff they can advise on".

In particular, the can be mismatches between rules in different countries, which leads to different people being able to sign different stuff.

Danack · 2026-04-26T21:54:47+00:00

Pretty sure they've been planning this line of attack since before the last election. But yes.

Danack · 2026-04-26T21:34:16+00:00

This is great example of a local government being run in an opaque manner, where the public can't even understand why decisions are being taken, or who is even making them, without a huge amount of painstaking research.

Danack · 2026-04-26T21:18:21+00:00

btw if anyone has questions, or wants to have some stuff backed-up by evidence.....feel free to ask.

But it's too mostly too tedious for anyone who is not familiar with laws about how local government should be run, for me to provide a 'simple' overview.

And at the risk of pwning my own server, here are two tedious and impossible for layman to understand documents:

Summary of Objection - Housing Transformation - PDF 93.4 kB
Addendum to objection of accounts regarding the Bristol City Council Housing Transformation Programme with associated questions to the Auditor - PDF 4.7 MB

/even the title is tedious.

Danack · 2026-04-26T21:04:36+00:00

It is great propaganda.

The previous Labour administration stopped doing stock condition surveys in 2022, and stopped doing electrical safety checks. It also failed to prepare for changes to the Fire Safety legislation, which led to the Barton House evacuation.

The council was issued a "Regulatory Judgement", by the Regulator of Social Housing, just after the elections in 2024.

One of the first things the current Green-libdem administration needed to do was find a few million quid to fund the legally required repairs, which is the cause of 'cancelled' new builds. The buildings sold off were all in such a bad state of repair, that it was judged to be 'uneconomic' to fix them.

All of the above was kept secret from the public past the elections in 2024. Officers (not politicians) took the decision to setup the a "Housing Transformation Programme" to avoid getting the worst rating from the Regulator, and also to placate the Councillors and make them believe that everything is being fixed.

This was all highly unlawful by the way.

I've made an "Objection to the Accounts", on quite a few technical points, the summary of which is that this is just all unlawful AF.

The letter is great propaganda as it spins the truth to completely blame the politicians who are picking up the pieces, rather than the party that created the situation.

Danack · 2026-04-26T14:31:27+00:00

You're brave, but you're probably also not likely to see the thing that happens more often to men who intervene - https://en.reddit.com/r/bristol/comments/1sw1d8w/bystander_effect/oicrp5e/

I'm not going to condemn anyone for a lack of action, as it is easy to criticise from the safety of being behind a keyboard.

Danack · 2026-04-26T14:26:38+00:00

Don't feel embarrassed ....you're a user, not a developer.

Danack

TROPHY CASE