Cost of living!

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, Kimbers said:

The only trouble is the politicians all think the way to make it viable is to make cars so much more expensive that the trains start to look good! Pffft!

Totally agree.

A family of four wants to get the train from Dundee to Edinburgh, the cost for the 60 mile journey taking around 1hr 25 minutes, will be around £100.

To drive,  the fuel cost will be around £20, parking for the whole day, £20, giving a total cost of £40.

To use the electric Ember bus will cost them £7 each way, each, so £56.

Which option will the cash strapped family choose for their day trip? I personally would use the electric bus.

The Government and our politicians are so out of touch with reality it is frankly frightening. The cost of rail tickets is absolutely outrageous, and yet, each January, they still seem to go up faster than a Saturn V rocket.

[C8RKH]

100% agree with you @theking.

For a fraction of the subsidies we provide to the rail industry, you could regenerate, refresh and reinvigorate the entire UK bus network. More people need buses that trains for their every day life, yet buses have bore the brunt of cutbacks and poor investment for the past 20 years, leaving many, with no ability to travel any more. 

Meanwhile, fat cat train drivers and their bosses just keep pouring more and more champagne gravy on their meat dinners.

The average train driver sits in his cab. Does not need to worry about the route as it's all dialed in for them. Never has to interact or deal with passengers. Gets paid a basic average wage of £50k a year, £65-75k+ with over time.

The average bus driver sits in his cab. Has to worry about the route and navigate countless obstacles and shit driving events every shift. Has to interact with EVERY passenger and collect the fares, deal with cash, and check tickets etc. Is subjected to daily abuse and needs to keep their wits about them to avoid and accident and prosecution/penalty points. Gets paid an average salary of £27k a year, £35k with over time.

Train Drivers and their unions have been taking the piss for years. Let's show them how we really feel and stop using the train! They don't deserve our patronage.

[Kimbers]

Hey @C8RKH I see your new Government in waiting north of the border, voted to nationalise Power companies at their conference!

[Chillidoggy]

35 minutes ago, Kimbers said:

Hey @C8RKH I see your new Government in waiting north of the border, voted to nationalise Power companies at their conference!

And the railways.

[C8RKH]

47 minutes ago, Kimbers said:

Hey @C8RKH I see your new Government in waiting north of the border, voted to nationalise Power companies at their conference!

Nope. The unions forced through the vote and Starmer is saying no way.

They won't have the money to do it.

Have to say, finally seeing some sensible, growth friendly, stuff from Labour. The should focus on this positive route and leave the angry rhetoric behind. They'll get a lot more votes.

[Kimbers]

Agree 100%. But they can't afford to cut ties with the Unions, which is the sticking point for very many historic Tory Voters.

I really hope SNP get their arses kicked in the election.

 

[Rambo]

Well, they certainly got whipped in the recent Margaret Ferrier by election.

Hamza Youseless is on his way out at the next election but Anus Sarwar will be as bad.

Whoops, (deliberate) sp. 🤔

[C8RKH]

6 hours ago, Kimbers said:

I really hope SNP get their arses kicked in the election.

 

3 hours ago, Rambo said:

Hamza Youseless is on his way out at the next election but Anus Sarwar will be as bad

I agree @Kimbers and @Rambo the quality, or should I say lack of it, of MSPs we have to contend with is appaling.

[Rambo]

Our Scottish MSP's are basically failed councillors who are basically failed local authority ie council failures/rejects.

There isn't one politician amongst them unfortunately 🤔

Those glory days of the likes of Donald Dewar and John Smith etc...are long gone.

[exeterjeep]

UK gas prices surge......fears that Russia sabotaged the pipeline - as a retaliation for Finland joining NATO.  . If it is proved Russia attacked a NATO country's pipeline  isn't that an attack on NATO and a declaration of war? 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/10/uk-gas-prices-surge-pipeline-sabotage-fears/

 

[C8RKH]

No point posting links to the Telegraph as most of it is behind a paywall.

[ChrisJ]

No more paywall

[C8RKH]

I am assuming we will now see people striking to demand less pay, and Union Leaders calling for lower pay rises all around.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67121459

[Bibs]

I think this fits in with this topic...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67228883

Perhaps the Council's should consider spending less money? Our county council is in the middle of spending £90m on a roundabout. One roundabout. Then they complain they've got no cash and are going bankrupt. It's not complicated, they seem to enjoy spending but don't like it when they realise their bank balance doesn't align with their shopping habits! 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/92m-roundabout-plans-approved-249334/

[C8RKH]

over the past 20 years how many councils have built themselves large, swanky, new offices in prime positions? At what cost and value are they building palaces for their many managers and directors?

[pete]

wow that roundabout looks pretty confusing to me. interested to know how they worked out that collisions would be down by athird. 

[exeterjeep]

looks very pretty in the artists impression.

8 minutes ago, pete said:

roundabout looks pretty confusing to me

looks better than the well known magic roundabouts in Swindon and Hemel Hempstead.

[Chillidoggy]

40 minutes ago, Bibs said:

I think this fits in with this topic...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67228883

Perhaps the Council's should consider spending less money? Our county council is in the middle of spending £90m on a roundabout. One roundabout. Then they complain they've got no cash and are going bankrupt. It's not complicated, they seem to enjoy spending but don't like it when they realise their bank balance doesn't align with their shopping habits! 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/92m-roundabout-plans-approved-249334/

Once a contractor gets on the Council approved list, it’s all champagne and roses. Overcharging is rife, and the Council just stumps eye-watering amounts of our hard-earned. I know the boss of one of aforementioned contractors, saw him at a car meeting a few weeks ago. He’s just taken delivery of his latest Porsche 911 GT4S.

[march]

That article was posted in July 2021 - Any guesses on the costs today? It looks like they have started 

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.3281486,0.6593296,1053m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

 

 

[Bibs]

This is one of the more recent articles from a year ago. Costs then where £92m. 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/behind-the-barriers-of-the-m2-flyover-construction-site-276629/

Beggars belief. £92,000,000. And the council are skint they tell us. 

[PaulCP]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

over the past 20 years how many councils have built themselves large, swanky, new offices in prime positions? At what cost and value are they building palaces for their many managers and directors?

Let’s not forget the £m poured in to fund under performing final salary pension schemes every year and in one off top up's. This figure should be a mandatory declaration on the annual bluff that all councils provide to their CT payers.

No wonder council workers never want to leave their jobs, although looking at how many of them currently perform I doubt that they would last long in the outside world.

[C8RKH]

3 hours ago, Bibs said:

I think this fits in with this topic...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67228883

Perhaps the Council's should consider spending less money? Our county council is in the middle of spending £90m on a roundabout. One roundabout. Then they complain they've got no cash and are going bankrupt. It's not complicated, they seem to enjoy spending but don't like it when they realise their bank balance doesn't align with their shopping habits! 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/92m-roundabout-plans-approved-249334/

Hmmm, looks like Swale council's financial contribution was only 1% of the cost - so not even a £million. Looks like the bulk of the funding was National Highways was it not?

1 hour ago, PaulCP said:

Let’s not forget the £m poured in to fund under performing final salary pension schemes every year and in one off top up's. This figure should be a mandatory declaration on the annual bluff that all councils provide to their CT payers.

No wonder council workers never want to leave their jobs, although looking at how many of them currently perform I doubt that they would last long in the outside world.

There are plenty of poor performers in the private sector too Paul, but I agree, they don't get the "golden" deals that the Public Sector gets. We need a system that holds councils and authorities to higher levels of accountability for what they spend, particularly, when they are spending citizens funds on themselves! If a local authority really wants to spend millions on new offices then it needs to be held accountability to ensure the savings from closing the old offices are achieved, or, they lose their bloody jobs for lying, negligence or non performance - and with no "golden" goodbye.

[Chillidoggy]

7 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

Hmmm, looks like Swale council's financial contribution was only 1% of the cost - so not even a £million. Looks like the bulk of the funding was National Highways was it not?

Yes. Major road projects are National Highways. And, having traveled to Sheppey each week for about 23 years, this will be a welcome addition to those stuck in interminable traffic jams at the junction.

[PaulCP]

4 hours ago, C8RKH said:

 

There are plenty of poor performers in the private sector too Paul, but I agree, they don't get the "golden" deals that the Public Sector gets. 

I would hazard a guess that the 90%+ of investments held by the private sector in final salary pension funds have yielded poor performances over the past 25 years. However, in the private sector part of the onus of correcting the deficit has been born by employees in either increased contributions or lower salary multiples, whilst public sector employees just sit on their golden laurels and try to underperform the investments in their pension schemes.

You are 100% about holding councils and the public sector accountable for their decisions. Local council here built themselves sparky new offices and part of the financial justification was that their then current offices occupied a prime site for developers and the proceeds from the sale of them together with lower maintenance costs over whatever period made their decision a ‘no brainer.’ So, here we are, some 8 years later and the site has still not been sold and they are still having to spend money on security etc for it.🙄

[C8RKH]

Your last point there absolutely hits my nail on the head.  We had the same thing in Dundee. A hugely unpopular rectangular office block was constructed by Dundee Council as they dsaid businesses were crying out for quality offices in the city (the fact was that there was a gazillion sq ft of empty office space in the city). So a crude and crass square block office building goes up. No architectural value whatsoever, right across from the award winning, globally recognised spectacle that is the V&A Museum Dundee. An appalling decision.

Now, 2/3 years later, there are no "private" companies in that office block as far as I am aware, only "public" sector quango's.

There should be a REAL independent Audit body that goes around and really puts the LA's and Councillors on the block, and holds them to account, with the ability to bar them from future public appointments when they have been found to have duped and lied, and NOT DELIVERED the value promised.

Until then, we have to put up with the crazy planning committees and muppet councillors forcing things through without any comeback or scrutiny. It's shambolic.