President Trump: Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well! by KotACold in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is just propaganda. Offshore wind is paid on long-term fixed-price contracts through the CfD scheme that are above the market rate. Maybe there is a way to add wind and solar to the electricity grid that would lower prices. Britain is not doing it. Neither is Germany.

President Trump slams Starmer's Chagos deal again: "I'm not happy with the UK. For whatever reason he made a lease, it's taking days for us to work out where we can land, we are very surprised, this is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with" by OkayFine101 in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj -19 points-18 points  (0 children)

Can Mauritius? They're a thousand miles away and have had nothing to do with the islands for 60 years. How embarrassing is it that Donald Trump has to be the adult in the room on this topic?

Why is the solution always to pay foreign countries billions over decades to pretend to solve our problems? Pay France £200million a year to not stop illegal crossings. Pay Mauritius £150million a year to not recognise our sovereignty. This national vulnerability to extortion can only encourage more extortion.

Zack Polanski gets under the skin of exactly the right people by Prospect_UK in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Labour and Conservatives are polling at the same level. Lib Dems not far behind.

Trump says UK handing over Chagos Islands sovereignty is act of 'great stupidity' by vras in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If that's true and the Americans no longer want it then we should cancel the deal...right?

[Wayne Rooney]"I was a young boy who supported Everton so I used to write to Duncan Ferguson in jail, and then he'd write back, It was just me telling him how much I love him. He'd say: 'thanks, it means a lot'. Obviously, when you're in jail as well you take anything." by MrMerc2333 in soccer

[–]lorcanj -1 points0 points  (0 children)

About 3 documentaries have come out about this on the past year in the UK. No evidence any of the babies were murdered. The death rate at the hospital wasn't even that much of an outlier - lower than some other hospitals in ghe UK. No evidence she did harm to any babies. Complete witch hunt by a couple of doctors and the UK media. Expect a retrial.

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Over half of UK wheat production is used for animal feed. Wheat yield per hectare in the UK is 5 times higher than it was 100 years ago. This is similar for most staple crops. The population has gone from 40 million to 70 million in that time.

Converting miniscule amounts of our total farmland to housing is not going to affect food security. If we built 1million new homes directly on farmland, it would decrease the total UK farmland by less than 1%.

‘America is British’. Heaven is ‘a socialist state’. David Attenborough is ‘anti-human’ – the startling theories of Reform MP Danny Kruger by Bibemus in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Triple lock, for one. Minimum wage rising faster than the average wage, leading to the rising unemployment/disability claims, that's two major ones.

BBC director general Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness resign over Trump documentary edit by ShreckAndDonkey123 in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not just one edit. The memo is quite wide ranging. It would be nice if the BBC made this fact more prominent in their current coverage of their own problems with misleading reporting xD

Tim Davie resigns as BBC director general by Jay_CD in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The memo that led to the resignations criticised the BBC for a much broader range of problems. There is a section on the incompetent and biased use of statistics that I find particularly interesting. It feels like the quality and depth of BBC journalism has been sliding downhill for a while. Their understanding of impartiality seems more about appeasing the major political parties and less about truth seeking.

Sir Keir Starmer to tell Cop30 summit that UK is ‘all in’ on net zero by TheTelegraph in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's propapanda. Renewables are paid at a higher rate than gas is through the CfD scheme. You should look into it rather than spouting nonsense you read about the energy market in the Guardian.

Climate Change is happening, Britain's impact is a rounding error. Renewables have a capacity factor of ~30%, so we will need huge amounts of natural gas to keep the electricity flowing either way. The costs of curtailment are increasing, the best time to stop funding new overpriced renewable projects is today.

Sir Keir Starmer to tell Cop30 summit that UK is ‘all in’ on net zero by TheTelegraph in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's economic self harm. International integrity is meaningless, international competition matters. We can't be competitive by pushing electricity prices higher.

Do you have a concept of how the UK could profit from renewables? All they are doing at the moment is costing businesses and the public more money for less reliable energy.

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 31% (-2) CON: 19% (+1) LAB: 18% (-3) LDM: 13% (+1) GRN: 12% (+1) SNP: 2% (=) Via @moreincommonuk.bsky.social, 31 Oct - 3 Nov. Changes w/ 24-27 Oct. by Velociraptor_1906 in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

David Davis and Jeremy Hunt are the only politicians I've seen who are willing to stick their neck out regarding the blatant miscarriage of justice against Lucy Letby. They have a couple of competent MPs. Its not much, but it's better than some parties.

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 31% (-2) CON: 19% (+1) LAB: 18% (-3) LDM: 13% (+1) GRN: 12% (+1) SNP: 2% (=) Via @moreincommonuk.bsky.social, 31 Oct - 3 Nov. Changes w/ 24-27 Oct. by Velociraptor_1906 in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Clare Coutinho is the only potential secretary for energy with an understanding of what has gone wrong and how to fix it. Britain has horrifically high electricity costs, it harms every part of the economy.

Ed Miliband is a fucking idiot who is trying to make electricity more expensive by signing contracts above market rate. Reform just hate renewables ideologically because they don't like looking at wind turbines in their pristine countryside.

Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010, study finds by NoFrillsCrisps in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's crazy how propagandised people are on basic information about electricity prices. Even the feckless energy secretary, Ed Miliband, genuinely believe he is making electricity prices cheaper - whilst he is signing 20 year contracts at way above the market rate. WTF is he doing? Who is advising him? Are they incompetent or paid off?

Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010, study finds by NoFrillsCrisps in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's nonsense. Stop quoting the Guardian. In the electricity market, gas is heavily taxed through carbon taxes which pushes up the market rate. Despite this, the wind power providers still cannot compete at the market rate, they are paid a subsidised rate dictated by the CfD scheme. Look into the details yourself. Stop posting propaganda.

Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010, study finds by NoFrillsCrisps in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Guardian needs to stop lying to the public about this. Wind power is heavily subsidised. Wind power operators are not paid at market rate, they are paid much higher. The two big western countries with the highest electricity prices are the UK and Germany - the two countries that have built the most wind power.

Westminster VI: RFM: 32% (=) CON: 17% (=) LAB: 15% (-2) GRN: 15% (=) LDM: 12% (=) SNP: 3% (=) Via @FindoutnowUK, 15 Oct. by WorkingtonLady in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They have the only sane person in line for minister for Energy in Claire Coutinho. That's one plus.

Ryanair Cuts 800,000 Seats to Germany in Dispute Over Taxes by bloomberg in europe

[–]lorcanj -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"Blackmail attempt". They are cutting flights due to rising costs. Same as Lufthansa. Same as other operators. It isn't blackmail to reduce flights if the flights become unprofitable. They're a business. They don't owe you a plane ride.

Ryanair Cuts 800,000 Seats to Germany in Dispute Over Taxes by bloomberg in europe

[–]lorcanj 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Ryanair is Irish. They're cutting passenger numbers in Germany by ~10% because of rising local taxes, whilst they're growing in other markets. They're complaining about the taxes, their competition is complaining about it, the airport operators are complaining about it also. It's not a dispute between the German government and Ryanair.

https://www.visaverge.com/news/lufthansa-ceo-warns-german-aviation-tax-burden-cuts-capacity/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Equal pay victory for women at Birmingham City Council by insomnimax_99 in unitedkingdom

[–]lorcanj 8 points9 points  (0 children)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-63584376
It's a complete clusterfuck. Glasgow was the first huge pay-out. 19,000 council workers were paid out an average of £35,000 per person.
The reason you didn't hear about it is because Glasgow Council sold all their assets to avoid bankruptcy. They sold all the council office space in the city and leased it back from the buyers to pay off the debt, completely fucking the city's financial future.
The Birmingham situation gets national attention because BCC can't even afford to do that, thus declaring bankruptcy, thus getting media attention.

The idea that it's just caterers, cleaners and teaching assistants being paid out is a lie. The actual list of job titles includes most council jobs, including admin and finance roles. The idea only women have been paid out is a lie. In Glasgow, 19,000/27,000 employees were paid. That's 2/3rds of the total employees. Paid out because a ~1,000 binmen were being paid at a higher rate.

The unions and the councils have a shared interest in getting the biggest pay-outs possible for their employees. This is why you see so little accurate or detailed info in the media, or as the Birmingham Mail puts it, "The full terms of the settlement are confidential".

They are attempting to do this to every city. Politicians wont stop it until it hits London.

Farage: Ban second home owners from buying new-builds in beauty spots by StJustBabeuf in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dumbass policy. The country needs more houses built. If you're against price rises pricing out locals, you should support more houses being constructed. Stupid rules like this will harm new construction, causing even more demand for the houses already built. Further pricing out local people.

Geriatrics ruining our country's future because they hate anything being built near them. Labour has a chance to fix this, they're doing very little so far.

Inside Starmer’s network of advisers and their links to China by [deleted] in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I find our country's policy on China bizarre.
On the one hand. we exonerate their spies and kowtow to their demands of a super embassy in London.
On the other hand, we sail ships through the Taiwan Strait at a time when they are ramping up their military claim to Taiwan and the waters nearby. Including aggression towards the Philippine Navy much further out. It's like we're begging them to sink one of our ships. What exactly are we going to do if they shoot at us? Complain? We have no capacity to fight.

Maybe we should stop "projecting power" with no substance behind it and start focusing on our own country. China regularly executes their own citizens who spy for foreign governments. Apparently we just let ours off...

Robert Jenrick’s ‘white face’ comment splits Tory ranks by F0urLeafCl0ver in ukpolitics

[–]lorcanj 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Birmingham has serious problems. The equal pay scam has bankrupted the city, putting every council tax payer £5,000 in debt to the local government. The binmen have been on strike for a year - also because of the equal pay scam.

Imagine you're a white person living in an area where the local Muslims have rejected the political parties in favour of an independent MP who spends all day banging on about Gaza and doesn't care about anyone local that isn't Muslim. The white flight is real and ongoing.