UK X: Who Wants To Live Forever

[Soundwave]

So, the end game seems like... fossil fuel cars still going 2040 and beyond then

Let's ****ing hope so

[Lebowski]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...e-flight-costs
Sunak blows half a million on tax payer funded private plane travel in just a fortnight

If anything it shows how out of touch this lot is, why the hell dose it cost £340,000, to go to Bali and back What the actual ****!

[wakka]

Even better, none of it was even on that plane we spent a million plus quid repainting. It was just some other PJ they rented.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Half of all UK consumers have cut non-essential spending.

Goodbye remaining high street...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/apr/03/half-of-all-uk-consumers-have-cut-non-essential-spending?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Neon Ignition]

Branson's Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy, to seek buyer (msn.com)
After one attempt

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/04/halving-social-care-workforce-funding-in-england-an-insult-ministers-told

Social Care workforce funding to be cut in half

Virgin Media users report widespread internet outages – live (theguardian.com)
Mass outages via Virgin Media

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/03/thomas-cashman-jailed-for-life-olivia-pratt-korbel-murder

The killer of Olivia Pratt-Korbel gets a minimum of 42 years with a full sentence set to over 90 years

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-65164041

For **** sake Scotland, sort this out

[Yakumo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotla...-fife-65164041
For **** sake Scotland, sort this out

270 hours of unpaid Labour for rape? WTF? that is not right at all.

[QualityChimp]

Absolutely not defending a rapist, but there's a bit more to the story than "rapist only gets community service" and can understand the judge's reasoning and the following of new guidelines:

"New guidelines for sentencing under 25s were introduced in Scotland in January 2022.

They made rehabilitation rather than punishment a primary consideration, recommending an "individualistic approach" taking into account their life experiences


Judge Lake said rape was "one of the most serious crimes" and that in this case, the victim's age and vulnerabilities were "aggravating factors".


"For the level of seriousness, I have to consider your liability and have regard to your age as a factor," he told Hogg.
"For this offence, if committed by an adult over 25, you attract a sentence of four or five years.
"I don't consider that appropriate and don't intend to send you to prison.
"You are a first offender with no previous history of prison - you are 21 and were 17 at the time.
"Prison does not lead me to believe this will contribute to your rehabilitation."

As well as 270 hours of community work, Hogg was also put under supervision and on the sex offenders register for three years."

Obviously, if he'd have done this to my daughter, I'd be calling for the death penalty.

[Neon Ignition]

Yeah... all of that still rings loud as a bell as the wrong outcome. This is going to be one of those storms that whips around the SNP fast. Rehabilitation is critically important and doesn't get enough support in the prison system but that is still a sentence that must absolutely cut deep through the victim he assaulted. It comes across as well that not enough consideration has been paid to how this wasn't 'just' an incident of assault, it was a sustained repeat campaign of harassment against the 13 year old over a three month time frame.

I won't be surprised if this isn't appealed, overturned and the rehab bill undone as a result

[cutmymilk]

With everything going on in Scotland, the tories will be getting in next election.

[Protocol Penguin]

With everything going on in Scotland, the tories will be getting in next election.

I’ve pretty much conceded that the Tories will win the next general election (albeit narrowly), despite the current big polling lead for Labour. Labour’s had big polling leads evaporate before, they have a leader less charismatic than Ed Miliband, and their policies mirror the Tories so closely, there’s barely a perceptible difference. Oh, and the xenophobia and social conservatism that the Tories are currently pumping out 24/7 will work to win votes.

[Cassius_Smoke]

The Tories have such a majority that Labour would have to have sweeping wins across the country. I don't think a huge majority like this has ever immediately swung the other way in one go. I think Starmer probably knows this, which is why he's labelled as a Red Tory. Because he's got to win those Tory seats, and there are hundreds of them!

[Neon Ignition]

Deaths of two pensioners on M1 spurs calls to halt smart motorways | Road safety | The Guardian

[Yakumo]

Deaths of two pensioners on M1 spurs calls to halt smart motorways | Road safety | The Guardian

You'll have to forgive me on this but why are they called Smart Motorways? Does not having a hard shoulder suddenly make them "smart" or is there actually some tech on the motorway now?

[Hirst]

You'll have to forgive me on this but why are they called Smart Motorways? Does not having a hard shoulder suddenly make them "smart" or is there actually some tech on the motorway now?

Smart Motorways technically comprises of any section with overhead gantry signs setting variable speed limits and warning of hazards. The theory is that by changing the speed limits as needed they can slow cars down further back if there's congestion up ahead, keeping everything rolling rather than all the cars meeting up and gradually bringing the motorway to a stop. It comes with a few bonuses like being able to close off lanes with hazards immediately without having someone race over to put cones down.

The more controversial part is All Lane Running which is the main bit people have a problem with, a separate thing that applies to a few busy parts of the network. It means at busy times like rush hour, they open the hard shoulder and get an extra lane. This puts you in a predicament if you break down as you haven't just got a permanent lane to roll into - if you're really lucky you might be able to make it to a refuge area (a little layby specifically for breakdowns) but these can be spaced as far as a mile and a half apart so good luck with that. If you're not so lucky, you break down in a live lane.

In theory, this shouldn't be a problem as they can just set the overhead sign to "X", close the lane down and send an urgent recovery out. The problem is that it relies on two things - the control centre noticing it very quickly and picking it up (which they frequently haven't) and every single car in that lane paying attention to the signs (which they often don't). So what instead has been happening is you've got somebody breaking down and then someone else smashing into the back of it at motorway speed, with various deaths as a result.

Really it just comes across as an experiment where the government are happy to let a few people die or be seriously injured until they've figured out what the bare minimum is they need to spend to make it all work properly.