UK IX: This Economy Will Self-Destruct In...

[Yakumo]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...in-uk-heatwave
Emergency Cobra Meeting as thousands potentially may die in the coming days from the extreme heat and... Boris can't be bothered to attend. Quite literally the Tories just don't get it anymore.

Lets be logical though. What the hell can the government do besides tell people to use their common sense by making sure they're fully hydrated and to keep out of the sun?
It's not like they can pop up free aircon centers around the country.

[dataDave]

We had some steel shutters installed recently, primarily for home theatre reasons, but they're also doing an amazing job of keeping the heat out. It's just as good as the aircon we have in Malaysia.

[importaku]

I'm dreading tomorrow at work in cat3, not only am i working in the most dangerous lab in the building which means i'm working inside a safety cabinet inside a sealed room dealing with the dangerous samples with a negative pressure atmosphere so no windows or anything can be opened, i also have to wear my labcoat and then a gown over that with 2 pairs of gloves on each hand. I'm going to bake to death as the aircon is weak at best.

Last week it was bad enough, lol this is how resident evil starts i'm sure of it.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2022/jul/17/tory-leadership-debate-rishi-sunak-penny-mordaunt-liz-truss-conservatives-next-pm

Latest polling suggests Mordaunt has lost steam and we've heavily headed to a Sunak win...

[fishbowlhead]

I'm dreading tomorrow at work in cat3, not only am i working in the most dangerous lab in the building which means i'm working inside a safety cabinet inside a sealed room dealing with the dangerous samples with a negative pressure atmosphere so no windows or anything can be opened, i also have to wear my labcoat and then a gown over that with 2 pairs of gloves on each hand. I'm going to bake to death as the aircon is weak at best.

Last week it was bad enough, lol this is how resident evil starts i'm sure of it.

If its any conciliation one of my manufacturing plants will get up to 50c if the ambient outside is close to 40c. Im going in at 4am to beat some of the heat.

[Blobcat]

I feel your pain [MENTION=39]importaku[/MENTION]. We had a lesser but still impressive heat wave during lockdown/ pandemic in 2020 and working in the emergency dentist hub we had to wear a gown over our uniform, surgical gowns , plastic surgical gowns or aprons over the top with plastic sleeve covers, double gloves, hair net, shoe covers and our filter masks and visors. We were not allowed air conditioning on but had windows open, it was awful but at least we only had to work half the day that time.

[Neon Ignition]

Council tax levy could replace TV licence fee in future funding model | BBC licence fee | The Guardian
This one could be controversial for some, loved by others. The BBC License Fee could be replaced by a mandatory levy added to every homes council tax

[fishbowlhead]

Nope. F off.

[QualityChimp]

Don't get me wrong, it's fun to see these rats in a barrel start eating other, but ultimately what's the point of these televised debates?

It's not like we get to vote on who will take over.

People with a Conservative membership should vote on who takes over.
That's about 0.3% of the country, apparently.

Instead, we've got this period where nobody is really in charge as Johnson is at airshows and his Chequers party, rather than at COBR meetings (I have deja-vu...). How long is this likely to take? How many televised debates does it need?

As for the heatwave, it's fascinating to see the approach of the various newspapers today.
The Guardian has a picture of a firefighters trying to contain a spreading wildfire in France, but the rest of them have pictures of people packing out the beach or happily jumping into the sea.
Every one of them seems to make it out like a whimsical jape, rather than the environmental crisis it is.

Apart from the The Daily Mail, which is leading with Penny Mordaunt meeting the leader of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) last year and a picture of J-Lo and Ben Affleck getting married.

"The terrifying truth: Britain’s a hothouse, but one day 40C will seem cool"

[Neon Ignition]

The interesting thing about Sunak's lead is that doing nothing is literally working for him.

He won't lower taxes, he's said it about 50 times already and yet that aside - after a week and two TV debates - I literally couldn't tell you a single thing he intends to do. He's campaigning for PM literally from the POV of a financial chancellor. If his approach to the nations finances is as spot on as he says it is one of his rivals should commit to re-employing him as chancellor to knock him out the running, if that's all he can offer why now just have him in that capacity and someone else for at least one of the 1000 other things a PM has to consider

[Neon Ignition]

Absolute disgrace

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss ‘set to miss third Tory leadership debate’ | Conservative leadership | The Guardian
Sunak and Truss look to be utter cowards, bowing out of the third debate because the last one was too hard for them. In a just world they'd have to bow out the race completely, if they can't cope with something as simple as a TV appearance they aren't fit for office

[Asura]

Council tax levy could replace TV licence fee in future funding model | BBC licence fee | The Guardian
This one could be controversial for some, loved by others. The BBC License Fee could be replaced by a mandatory levy added to every homes council tax

Just to make a point, if they do this...

There are presently ~1.4 million license holders in the UK.

There are also presently ~24 million households paying council tax in the UK.

A TV Licence costs ~£140.

So a quick calculation...

That means the licence should be under £9, per household, per year.

Who's going to bet they find a way to make it £50?

EDIT: Turns out it's £160, but my point still stands as that's not really going to move the needle all that much.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Looking at Sunak as PM, he should know that there is a bad history with chancellors becoming PM.
Brown didn't make it past a since election, and although John Major was voted in, his popularity tanked and Labour swept him aside.

[Neon Ignition]

Just to make a point, if they do this...

There are presently ~1.4 million license holders in the UK.

There are also presently ~24 million households paying council tax in the UK.

A TV Licence costs ~£140.

So a quick calculation...

That means the licence should be under £9, per household, per year.

Who's going to bet they find a way to make it £50?

EDIT: Turns out it's £160, but my point still stands as that's not really going to move the needle all that much.

It's a Tory led reform meaning that in reality it won't be just Yazz saying the only way is up

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2022/jul/18/tory-leadership-third-ballot-rishi-sunak-liz-truss-penny-mordaunt-kemi-badenoch-tom-tugendhat-live?page=with:block-62d52f9c8f08f134b15ff6d6#block-62d52f9c8f08f134b15ff6d6

The shambles continues as Sky is forced to cancel the third debate because of Sunak and Truss.

[Brad]

Just to make a point, if they do this...

There are presently ~1.4 million license holders in the UK.

There are also presently ~24 million households paying council tax in the UK.

A TV Licence costs ~£140.

So a quick calculation...

That means the licence should be under £9, per household, per year.

Who's going to bet they find a way to make it £50?

EDIT: Turns out it's £160, but my point still stands as that's not really going to move the needle all that much.

Less than 6% of homes have a TV license?