New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
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Welcome to FTN. New posters are welcome to join the conversation. You can follow us on Twitter @FlythenestHaven You are responsible for the content you post. This is a public forum. Treat it as if you are speaking in a crowded room. Site admin and Moderators are volunteers who will respond as quickly as they are able to when made aware of any complaints. Please do not post copyrighted material without the original authors permission.
New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Morning all.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Good-morning, everyone.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Good morfternoon.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Nothing actually happening today, then?
"IS TONTY BLAIR BEHIND THIS???!!!!111???!!!"
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Good morning.
Who agrees with me that the Honours system should be abolished? WTF is it for? I hate it.
Who agrees with me that the Honours system should be abolished? WTF is it for? I hate it.
One world, like it or not - John Martyn
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Morning all.
Shopping this morning and did something I don't think I've ever done before - forgot my card to actually pay for it. Only realised when packing it into bags. Luckily they know me in there and I was able to park it to the side, and dash home for the cards.
There was an article yesterday on that school
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... est-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I got my comment in early and got an unusually high number of likes for me.
Shopping this morning and did something I don't think I've ever done before - forgot my card to actually pay for it. Only realised when packing it into bags. Luckily they know me in there and I was able to park it to the side, and dash home for the cards.
There was an article yesterday on that school
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... est-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I got my comment in early and got an unusually high number of likes for me.
To me that is their biggest problem - having to justify what they're doing by generalising about how bad everyone else is. Totally unnecessary. Loved this bit which immediately got named 'grapegate'.“In other schools that would never happen."
"At other schools you will find"
"Most teachers in Britain"
“You will find in other schools"
Anyone see the problem that a lot of MCS's detractors have with the rhetoric?
If your school is good, then you shouldn't have to keep putting others down.
At the school, a group of pupils prepare to end their break and move to their next lesson. They line up quietly under the eye of their teacher – who stops to ask one of them to pick up a grape from the floor.
“Do you see that?” Birbalsingh tells a group of visiting teachers. “In other schools that would never happen. You’d never see a teacher ask a pupil to pick up a grape, because they’d go mad.”
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Yes,I remember the riots and hostage taking incidents after a teacher asked a pupil to pick up a piece of fruit from the floor in our school.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
HindleA wrote:Yes,I remember the riots and hostage taking incidents after a teacher asked a pupil to pick up a piece of fruit from the floor in our school.
And I think that a similar, and earlier, incident was the inspiration for a John Steinbeck novel, wasn't it?
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Birbalisngh has come out with some odd things in the past but this, in exchange last night, is really strange.
Really?KatharineBirbalsingh @Miss_Snuffy 16h16 hours ago
@ajjolley @SchoolDuggery No you have to go way back - over 50 years ago - when you were put in prison for eating in the street!
6 replies 1 retweet 1 like
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
@HindleA
I've just come from reading last night's posts after I turned in.
We'll have to take care and help your Auntie remember rapidly changing weather conditions cause significant problems real fast.
We lost a neighbour during the Summer's heatwave. He was dehydrated and without sun protection. He wasn't used to physical
exertion and he suffered a stroke.
I've lived in other places in the world, experienced extreme physical trials. I'm in awe of the weather in the UK.
I don't think there's any place like it. Each region is unique. I must never underestimate it's rapid, mercurial nature.
That settled fog yesterday had a physical presence like a personality. I'd company and conversation on the train during parts of
my commute. We spoke together with some emotion our feelings of physical oppression due to the weather. The mild Midlands
Winter weather altered. We'd been warned it would. We were dressed appropriately and in good health. Our journeys included
a few miles of walking with rucksacks or shopping trolleys.
We navigate our way through the urban environment remaining vigilant of motor vehicles often operated by people who don't.
We saw exhaustion in each other's faces. Over a third of all households in this region don't own or use motor vehicles. Mr citizen
and I don't. We pay a price for that.
I hadn't intended a sermon with my post. It's not exactly political though transportation and healthcare are contingent on government.
I've just come from reading last night's posts after I turned in.
We'll have to take care and help your Auntie remember rapidly changing weather conditions cause significant problems real fast.
We lost a neighbour during the Summer's heatwave. He was dehydrated and without sun protection. He wasn't used to physical
exertion and he suffered a stroke.
I've lived in other places in the world, experienced extreme physical trials. I'm in awe of the weather in the UK.
I don't think there's any place like it. Each region is unique. I must never underestimate it's rapid, mercurial nature.
That settled fog yesterday had a physical presence like a personality. I'd company and conversation on the train during parts of
my commute. We spoke together with some emotion our feelings of physical oppression due to the weather. The mild Midlands
Winter weather altered. We'd been warned it would. We were dressed appropriately and in good health. Our journeys included
a few miles of walking with rucksacks or shopping trolleys.
We navigate our way through the urban environment remaining vigilant of motor vehicles often operated by people who don't.
We saw exhaustion in each other's faces. Over a third of all households in this region don't own or use motor vehicles. Mr citizen
and I don't. We pay a price for that.
I hadn't intended a sermon with my post. It's not exactly political though transportation and healthcare are contingent on government.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
I was writing my weather/healthcare/transportation 'sermon'.AnatolyKasparov wrote:Nothing actually happening today, then?
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
My screenplay, loosely based upon the incident, was short-listed for a regional award. I lost to a superior work by a ten-year old.PorFavor wrote:HindleA wrote:Yes,I remember the riots and hostage taking incidents after a teacher asked a pupil to pick up a piece of fruit from the floor in our school.
And I think that a similar, and earlier, incident was the inspiration for a John Steinbeck novel, wasn't it?
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Incarceration if the cashews weren't paid for prior to eating them off the pavement.RogerOThornhill wrote:Birbalisngh has come out with some odd things in the past but this, in exchange last night, is really strange.
Really?KatharineBirbalsingh @Miss_Snuffy 16h16 hours ago
@ajjolley @SchoolDuggery No you have to go way back - over 50 years ago - when you were put in prison for eating in the street!
6 replies 1 retweet 1 like
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
There are probably still some laws/bye laws to that effect eg.eating an ice cream between the hours of 09.00-10.00 on the second Thursday of every month apart from July wearing a hat in a particular street/area.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Oops. Grapes of Wrath. Picking peaches and a turtle crossing the road.citizenJA wrote:My screenplay, loosely based upon the incident, was short-listed for a regional award. I lost to a superior work by a ten-year old.PorFavor wrote:HindleA wrote:Yes,I remember the riots and hostage taking incidents after a teacher asked a pupil to pick up a piece of fruit from the floor in our school.
And I think that a similar, and earlier, incident was the inspiration for a John Steinbeck novel, wasn't it?
I was writing about another classroom fruit-picking scrimmage.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
That's the sacred Time of Ice-Cream Eating of my people.HindleA wrote:There are probably still some laws/bye laws to that effect eg.eating an ice cream between the hours of 09.00-10.00 on the second Thursday of every month apart from July wearing a hat in a particular street/area.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Thing is, when people talk about 50 years ago...there's a sudden realisation that we're talking about the 1960s!HindleA wrote:There are probably still some laws/bye laws to that effect eg.eating an ice cream between the hours of 09.00-10.00 on the second Thursday of every month apart from July wearing a hat in a particular street/area.
Can it really be that long ago?
And yes, I guess there might be some peculiar by-laws somewhere but generally, I very much doubt it.
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
The cashews are a reference to one of my favourite books of all time.
Confederacy of Dunces
I love Burma Jones.
Confederacy of Dunces
I love Burma Jones.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
OK, football time - another 1pm kick off.
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Burma Jones is more interesting than football.
I've thrown down the gauntlet now.
I've thrown down the gauntlet now.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
http://burmajones.cz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Would that be Wath Comp, in Refitman's neck of the woods?PorFavor wrote:HindleA wrote:Yes,I remember the riots and hostage taking incidents after a teacher asked a pupil to pick up a piece of fruit from the floor in our school.
And I think that a similar, and earlier, incident was the inspiration for a John Steinbeck novel, wasn't it?
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
I got as far as this article in guardian, by Deborah Orr.AnatolyKasparov wrote:Nothing actually happening today, then?
"Trump’s personality will help us learn how our minds work"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... minds-work
..and gave up, the comments are probably more interesting than the article.In fact, there has never been a better time than now for human beings to start gaining far greater insight into ourselves, what makes us so creative and what makes us so destructive. And it’s not just a matter of information. All the neuroimaging, all the psychological theorising, all the psychiatric experimentation with pharmacology, it’s already prompting a huge need for careful, scientifically anchored engagement with the ethical and philosophical debate about what it is to be human.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Sometimes, Cashew nuts are more interesting than football.citizenJA wrote:Burma Jones is more interesting than football.
I've thrown down the gauntlet now.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
doesn't do the novel justice, just quoting this bit“Say, I didn call nobody no cawmniss,” Jones said. “I been frame by that flo’walk in Woolsworth. I don even like cashews.
“Shut your mouth up.”
“Okay,” Jones said brightly and blew a great thundercloud of smoke.
A Confederacy of Dunces - pdf file
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
I think someone writing above the line at the G been flipping through the popular psychology sectiontinybgoat wrote:I got as far as this article in guardian, by Deborah Orr.AnatolyKasparov wrote:Nothing actually happening today, then?
"Trump’s personality will help us learn how our minds work"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... minds-work..and gave up, the comments are probably more interesting than the article.In fact, there has never been a better time than now for human beings to start gaining far greater insight into ourselves, what makes us so creative and what makes us so destructive. And it’s not just a matter of information. All the neuroimaging, all the psychological theorising, all the psychiatric experimentation with pharmacology, it’s already prompting a huge need for careful, scientifically anchored engagement with the ethical and philosophical debate about what it is to be human.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
tinybgoat wrote:Sometimes, Cashew nuts are more interesting than football.citizenJA wrote:Burma Jones is more interesting than football.
I've thrown down the gauntlet now.
“Oo-wee”
- Burma Jones
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
tinybgoat wrote:I got as far as this article in guardian, by Deborah Orr.AnatolyKasparov wrote:Nothing actually happening today, then?
"Trump’s personality will help us learn how our minds work"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... minds-work
..and gave up, the comments are probably more interesting than the article.In fact, there has never been a better time than now for human beings to start gaining far greater insight into ourselves, what makes us so creative and what makes us so destructive. And it’s not just a matter of information. All the neuroimaging, all the psychological theorising, all the psychiatric experimentation with pharmacology, it’s already prompting a huge need for careful, scientifically anchored engagement with the ethical and philosophical debate about what it is to be human.
Well, that's my New Year's resolution sorted . . .
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
I agree.gilsey wrote:Good morning.
Who agrees with me that the Honours system should be abolished? WTF is it for? I hate it.
A glance through the 124-page pdf list was enough.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... l-list.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
For services for ensuring rogue fruit never lies unattended in a school premises.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
For services towards the ensuring that necessary rooms are deemed spare
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31y Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
My New Years Resolution is not to make one.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Following decades of "Stopping Smoking",which was easilly met with doing so 30-40 times a day.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Politics may be nasty. Yet courage and humour abounds in people like John
Aditya Chakrabortty
The most uplifting stories of the year are of those facing adversity with the charm of my friend, stripped of part of his disability benefits
Politics may be nasty. Yet courage and humour abounds in people like John
Aditya Chakrabortty
The most uplifting stories of the year are of those facing adversity with the charm of my friend, stripped of part of his disability benefits
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
The question for 2017 is surely - how do we use stuff like that to make our politics better?
"IS TONTY BLAIR BEHIND THIS???!!!!111???!!!"
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31y Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
I'm actually with you. I don't remember ever making a New Year's resolution.HindleA wrote:My New Years Resolution is not to make one.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Squads of a couple dozen people in meditative silence, striding without talking, heels on pavement, banners carried, agitatedAnatolyKasparov wrote:The question for 2017 is surely - how do we use stuff like that to make our politics better?
by the wind, the people concentrating on a single purpose, focusing government hearts and minds. No contention, no force.
The silent walkers with banners proclaiming our right to equal representation from government, an assembly harming no one
and never ceasing until the goal is achieved.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
The squad of people changes, of course. We'll take turns.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
It's not my idea. It's not original. I saw the suggestion on a board at the Manchester People's History Museum.
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
I didn't realise that Donald Trump was only 15 years old. He looks older.Donald Trump's new year message
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!
December 31, 2016
(Guardian)
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
A bigly 15 year old
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12 ... JqqCNdq8cp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Stoke bus driver brings the magic of the silver screen to his back garden
Stoke bus driver brings the magic of the silver screen to his back garden
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Channel 4 have got the coverage of the BDO World darts champs,David Cameron preparing for his NATO role by playing Jimmy Hendricks in the first round.
Someone's 'aving a laff
Someone's 'aving a laff
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
And a not-very-well-deserved 94th minute equalizer ends a pretty dismal 2016 for us.RogerOThornhill wrote:OK, football time - another 1pm kick off.
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Serious mistakes in NHS patient care are on the rise, figures reveal
Fears grow that unprecedented strain on hospitals is causing increase in surgical, diagnostic and care errors
Serious mistakes in NHS patient care are on the rise, figures reveal
Fears grow that unprecedented strain on hospitals is causing increase in surgical, diagnostic and care errors
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12 ... -campaign/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Give me a break.
Give me a break.
One world, like it or not - John Martyn
Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Must be one of those "product placement" articles Peter Oborne left over. It can't possibly be satire. It's not even remotely funny.gilsey wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12 ... -campaign/
Give me a break.
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
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Re: New Years Weekend Sat 31 Dec 2016 - Mon 02 Jan 2017
Another day, another "rail is shit" article from The Guardian. Patrick Collinson.
Hopeless confusion here.
There is a good point here- that train companies claim compensation from Network Rail but have smaller claims to pay to their delayed passengers. Simple solution. Audits of what they pay out to customers and a mechanism for Network Rail to claw back. But that would be a short article, and people might get the impression railways weren't an unmitigated disaster.
The Southern dispute is about the type of train used. The government long ago (I think it was Ruth Kelly) decided on driver only operation, with cross party support. The same issue will come up all across the country (and in Scotland and Wales too). No government is going to want to go back on that and retrofit new trains with guard-operated doors or hand out a big chunk of the savings to redundant guards. They'll get the same issue come up on other lines, and have emboldened guards up against them. What you think of the strike really depends on what you think of union rights in general. If you support them, you accept guards' right to fight for the best deal. If you don't, you probably don't accept that. We wouldn't agree with John McTernan who controversially talked about the need to "smash the union", but at least he understood what the strike was actually about and what's at stake. For my part, it's not a great advert for railways, but the guards have the right to fight, and the best that can be hoped for is some sort of deal that'll take a while.
The bigger point I'm making is that if, like Caroline Lucas, you strongly support nationalization, how does that help this dispute? Nationalization means Grayling in charge. What's he going to do different to Southern? In fairness to him, I don't see any government doing anything but trying to hard ball and protect the savings from the new driver operated train running costs. Maybe the Scottish Government will make a point of being different to England and reach a generous settlement, and for a while that'll look good, but they'll have Ruth Davidson on their back for the unnecessary cost, and fair enough.
Back to Collinson.
Like any half-arsed article about nationalization, Collinston ropes in a Tory to bolster his case. Step forward Tim Loughton.
Trains cancelled and delayed? So it's not very easy to do up busy lines without causing huge inconvenience? Glad that's sorted. Let's build a new line.a shocking fact for those of you who (like me) shivered on freezing platforms when their train was cancelled or delayed over the so-called festive period
You want new trains? We could run them on new lines, like HS2. Is that a good idea? To be fair, Collinson seems OK with HS2 (provided fares are much more subsidized) but that's a minority view at the Guardian with Jenkins, Toynbee, Bennett about.a 40-mile journey into work on a train built 30 years ago, which arrives at your destination on time approximately every solar eclipse
Hopeless confusion here.
How can they improve upon a points failure which somebody else caused? That makes no sense at all.The train operating companies can actually make a nice little profit out of your distress, so they have almost no incentive to improve the service.
As you get ready to fork out £5,000-plus for an annual season ticket on a 40-mile journey into work on a train built 30 years ago, which arrives at your destination on time approximately every solar eclipse, consider this: train operators receive a “schedule 8” payment from Network Rail when something goes wrong with the infrastructure, such as a points failure.
There is a good point here- that train companies claim compensation from Network Rail but have smaller claims to pay to their delayed passengers. Simple solution. Audits of what they pay out to customers and a mechanism for Network Rail to claw back. But that would be a short article, and people might get the impression railways weren't an unmitigated disaster.
GTR pay a premium to run the Southern Service- £95m a year, per the House of Commons Library. I think some sums for the infrastructure work have got mixed up here. The government owns that and can charge train companies more as a result.Even the long-running industrial action on the Southern network is barely touching profits at GTR, the operating company that runs the routes. Its unique contract, put in place to cover the period while London Bridge station is rebuilt, means fares are currently paid directly to the government. The taxpayer will foot the bill for the estimated £28m in lost revenue and millions more in Delay Repay compensation. Meanwhile the government pays GTR £1bn a year to run the service.
The Southern dispute is about the type of train used. The government long ago (I think it was Ruth Kelly) decided on driver only operation, with cross party support. The same issue will come up all across the country (and in Scotland and Wales too). No government is going to want to go back on that and retrofit new trains with guard-operated doors or hand out a big chunk of the savings to redundant guards. They'll get the same issue come up on other lines, and have emboldened guards up against them. What you think of the strike really depends on what you think of union rights in general. If you support them, you accept guards' right to fight for the best deal. If you don't, you probably don't accept that. We wouldn't agree with John McTernan who controversially talked about the need to "smash the union", but at least he understood what the strike was actually about and what's at stake. For my part, it's not a great advert for railways, but the guards have the right to fight, and the best that can be hoped for is some sort of deal that'll take a while.
The bigger point I'm making is that if, like Caroline Lucas, you strongly support nationalization, how does that help this dispute? Nationalization means Grayling in charge. What's he going to do different to Southern? In fairness to him, I don't see any government doing anything but trying to hard ball and protect the savings from the new driver operated train running costs. Maybe the Scottish Government will make a point of being different to England and reach a generous settlement, and for a while that'll look good, but they'll have Ruth Davidson on their back for the unnecessary cost, and fair enough.
Back to Collinson.
No it isn't. Though it would be if GTR were really being paid £1bn a year to run Southern. Not to say renationalization couldn't improve stuff more generally, provided Network Rail improved a lot. One for the medium term.The simple solution is re-nationalisation.
Like any half-arsed article about nationalization, Collinston ropes in a Tory to bolster his case. Step forward Tim Loughton.
Hang on, what? A City financier misses a train and loses a client, and we need to compensate them for that? That's a recipe for spectulative litigation v Network Rail. Whereas I presume me, as someone not working, gets next to zilch for the same delay. No thanks.He is also proposing a new rail ombudsman with the power to award compensation more directly linked to the realistic loss suffered by passengers. When you are turfed off a train far short of your destination the cost of getting home is far more than the repayment of the single fare.