Maier correctly (IMO) points out that in an industry that will thrive on research / innovation we need a higher stake in it (only 10% globally currently comes from UK, but not sure what that's measuring) and that requires the cooperation of government, academia and industry. It'd make sense to pile a lot of that money into innovation.
The former head of Siemens, Jürgen Maier, is presently on the radio doing the maths.
He reckons that to achieve his stated aims will take £50 billion+.
Boris is announcing £160 million of investment.
And we all know about what percentage of the investment announced ever makes it though to being delivered
I predict that not one single turbine will make it through the transition from soundbite into reality
Not once the consultants have taken the lot only to have the project quietly shelved.
Edit:
See you beat me to it on the consultants....
Government does not fund these developments, private sector infrastructure funds and banks do. Likewise any subsidies are paid for by the consumer through higher electricity prices - there is no direct government subsidy In this context £160 million to kick start things could be reasonably significant, I have not looked a the number for one of these developments for a long time, so dont know how far it will go. However, financially (VFM) offshore wind has proved a much better technology than many anticipated as costs have more than halved in 10 years.
However, financially (VFM) offshore wind has proved a much better technology than many anticipated as costs have more than halved in 10 years.
Indeed, Johnson & the telegraph spent years telling us all it was a nonsense idea
I wonder how long before they disown brexit?
Do you think he'll use the same catchphrases for promoting joining the EU (or a different new close arrangement) as he used to get us to leave? He has plenty of Brexit material he can reuse that's better this rice pudding thing he recycles every year...
Let's try one... "some people used to say that we had to Leave the EU to control our borders... well it's self evident that by partnering with all the countries we share borders with, we double the control we have over our borders, because we can control them from both sides" ... hmm... needs some latin, or references to pudding.
It's had the intended effect though, everyone is nice and busy dissecting his future spout about whirligigs and leccy juice cars for all in a decade, so they've not mentioned the utter cluster he's been making of the now time for a good couple of hours...
Today's "vision" was just an imaginary, future dead cat... Do people really think Bozza will be knocking about in 2030?
Do people really think Bozza will be knocking about in 2030?
Nah, obviously not.
But someone of his ilk will. They're like cockroaches, get rid of one and there are a host hiding under the nearest rock.
Remember Covid Marshall’s?
No. Neither does anyone else.
Boris’s promises are about tomorrow’s Daily Mail headlines, Full stop. He’s forgotten about them and moved on as soon as the words have left his lips
Not a single wind turbine will be erected as a result of today’s announcement. The usual suspects - KPMG, Deloitte, McKinsey and PWC - will soon hoover up that £160 million on consultancy fees and that’ll be that
Remember that this is a man who handed them £50 million to not build a bridge
Tomorrow’s headlines are all that matter. Everything else is incidental
If you didn't see New World Order this week - check Frankie Boyle's take on the University Lockdown situation (much bad language, obv)
Binners is right.
Every oafish utterance Alexander Boris De Pfeffel Wall-Spaffer Johnson makes is designed with one thing in mind. Keeping him from having a bad headline in the next day's Daily Mail.
Liz 'The Truss' Truss on R4 now.
What a horrible, aloof, contemptuous, thick, ignorant and rude woman she is.
She's as thick as mince. When she's asked a question, there's always a pause where you can literally hear the mechanisms in her head whirring and clicking.
And she's on selling freeports, or as us less gullible people like to refer to them... tax havens.
Even the most ardent Brexiteer must be despairing when they think that it's Liz who will negotiating complex trade deals. I wouldn't trust her to negotiate her way around Waitrose
Didn't the Tories close our freeports? In the name of free trade? Creating new ones is just announcing ourselves as somewhere 'flexible' for robber barons to operate, and two fingers up to the rule based approach to lowering barriers to trade between countries.
Truss was predictably and, as always, appalling.
She was expecting to talk about trade but Nick Robinson left that until the last 2 or 3 minutes choosing, instead, to push her on CV19 restrictions and she dismally trotted out the predictable responses.
I was disappointed she wasn't asked to explain - for the benefit of the listeners, of course - to explain what a freeport is, the economic benefits they bring and what measures will be implemented to prevent them being abused by smugglers and economic criminals.
That, I think, was a lost opportunity.
She was allowed to continue wittering on about a Canada style trade agreement without being challenged to explain what it is - again, for the benefit of the listeners.
It can't be long before zahawi and sharma are wheeled out again; have they tired yet of being instructed to repeatedly attempt to defend the indefensible?
Winston Churchill is, apparently, johnson's hero.
That being the case, what has he learned from studying and writing about the great man in the sole context of WW2?
Churchill was fully prepared to set aside party politics and establish a coalition government - for the greater good of the UK.
He sought out and welcomed the best scientists, cryptologists, business leaders into his team to work together, to challenge others, to develop solutions.
There were egos a-plenty but they recognised that they must work together.
It's clearly too much to expect that johnson, inferior to Churchill in every way, would learn from Churchill's inclusive attitude and behaviour.
johnson and his clown circus are political and intellectual midgets; they are incapable of decisive action - take big decisions, own then and implement them forcefully.
Another compare'n'contrast - Churchill communicated clearly, forcefully and with absolute conviction; he led from the front and did so visibly.
johnson, despite his expensive education, is incapable of clear communication; as for conviction and leading from the front - don't make me laugh.
It's often said that we get the leaders we deserve.
What have we done to deserve johnson?
Oh, I forgot...get brexit done and all of that bollocks.
Churchill was also a racist drunk so Johnson has that bit right
Sorry DezB,
Think I'll give that Frankie Boyle clip a miss. He's as much part of the problem as anyone.
I recall watching his programme the week that the Brexit Party was launched, on a rainy day in some sad seaside town. The corresponding footage provided most os the shows content. Frankie and his chums ripped into the whole charade mercilessly, oh how they laughed.
The Brexit Party lainch looked to me like a Carry On film, my other half thought it looked like a scene from a Martin Parr photograph. We didn't laugh, we just saw how Farage had harnessed classic British imagery and how Frankie and his sanctimonious sidekicks where sticking two fingers up at half of the Country.
Never had it felt more obvious to us both why the Leave side had won.
frankconway
Full MemberWinston Churchill is, apparently, johnson’s hero.
Well, sort of. Johnson's hero isn't actually Winston Churchill, but a fictional version who lives only in Johnson's head.
You can get to know the imaginary parallel universe Churchill if you read Johnston's interesting alternative history, the Churchill Factor, a good fun read that consciously decides to avoid any facts that don't suit it. The same Churchill that Johnston evokes as an anti-EU figure, despite him saying "If I was 10 years younger I might be the first president of Europe", is the Churchill that Johnston declares saves the war after Germany captures Stalingrad... Nuff said really. His approach to the history is the same as his approach to the man, and his approach to the job of PM- just make shit up because doing it properly is too hard. Why study history when you can invent better history? Why fight covid when you can just declare yourself the winner?
And it's not just a case of erasing the bad stuff, though he can't help himself of course, and does exactly that. It's the rewriting of the reality that remains. It's weird that Johnston and others get so fired up about tearing down statues, when he made such a good job of erasing the real churchill and replacing him with, well, Johnston.
Some people, they have heroes and they ask themselves, "what would ghandi do? What would Churchill do?", and are inspired to follow suit. Johnston doesn't do that, he thinks, what do I want to do, then he tells everyone that this is what Churchill would have done, regardless. I think it's pretty sad that we'll never know if he believes it, or not. Probably it doesn't matter, Johnston doesn't really believe anything.
Did anyone else see this in thr Sunday Times yesterday?
Panicking No 10 dumps Donald Trump and woos Joe Biden
Tim Shipman, Political Editor
Sunday October 11 2020, 12.00pm, The Sunday Times
Boris Johnson’s team expect a bumpy ride if Joe Biden wins next monthMinisters have been told to forge links with the White House frontrunner Joe Biden after “writing off” Donald Trump’s chances of re-election, amid fears that the UK could be left out in the cold if the former vice-president wins.
Boris Johnson has been warned that Trump is on course for a landslide defeat with his Democratic opponents set to land a historic “triple whammy” by seizing control of the presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Private polling and computer models shown to No 10 last month put Biden’s chances of victory at more than 70%. The challenger has since opened up a double-digit lead and one predictive model based on polling this weekend gave him an 85% chance of winning, with the chances...
So govt are going full Alan partridge in his meeting with Tony Hayers: "can I just shock you? I like wine, despite what I just said earlier"
"I'll have a pint of bitter!"
"Just a mineral water for me please"
"Actually I'll have a mineral water too"
Johnson 'standing up to the scientists ' as its been portrayed in the torygraph by ignoring their requests for a 2 week circuit break is being hailed as a victory by the rw press & pundits, even tho it means more deaths.
Interestingly it was Sunak that vetoed that one tho, which will help bring his leadership bid credence with the hardliners
(sunak scandal will be leaked at the right time by murdoch to get give in tho)
Think of him as the Sorting ****.
Alas, much of Britain has yet to come to terms with the implications of the fact it elected a newspaper journalist to run it. I honestly can’t believe Boris Johnson has turned out to be a clinical procrastinator, a short-termist headline grabber, and a total chancer who only really responds to the need to do his job three minutes after deadline. If only there’d been some clue, you know?
Soon he'll be announcing a cheap* shellfish starter to go with the slippery chicken:
https://fishingnews.co.uk/news/brexit-shellfish-threat-no-deal-brexit-shellfish-warning/
*probably not, the trade will have to absorb the tariffs and delays and a devalued £ means the Europeans get it at the same price anyway. Hi-hor-hi-hor.
Never heard of this MP before but he makes some very sound points:
https://twitter.com/ladyhaja/status/1316471039984107520?s=19
You won't hear from him again either - https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/oct/15/dan-carden-quits-labour-frontbench-over-failure-to-oppose-mi5-bill
Well, who’d have thunk it, eh? I’m shocked!
Jennifer Arcuri ‘admits to Boris Johnson affair’
As someone noted, it’s rather quaint to refer to it as an affair though, when what he was actually doing was using public money to pay her for sex
Bit more San and Trace than Track and Trace. I'd like to think with £120k I could manage a bit better than that, and have change.
Even for £120k, that’s a tough day at the office for her
'An avalanche of passion' was the editors' version of 'like having a large wardrobe falling on you with a small key sticking out.'
🤣 Very good BillMC.
I wonder if the police can't reopen the case into Boris as she seems to have admitted they were shagging. Pretty sure that should count as a conflict of interest?
Admittedly not in our brave new world.
‘An avalanche of passion’ was the editors’ version of ‘like having a large wardrobe fridge falling on you with a small key sticking out.’
FTFY
‘An avalanche of passion’ was the editors’ version of ‘like having a large wardrobe fridge falling on you then getting slapped by a putrid side of gammon .’
2nd FTFY
I had a think and then a think again but I got there in the end. Clever!
For anyone else like me think a couple o lasses from Viz.
I like that idea of 'a conflict of interest', conjures up all sorts of possibilities.
I wonder if the police can’t reopen the case into Boris as she seems to have admitted they were shagging. Pretty sure that should count as a conflict of interest?
AIUI the Police case was dropped as they found nothing to suggest he had influenced the decision to give her the money/access, and admitting the affair doesn't really change that. Whether either of them lied to the Police when questioned may be another matter.
Oh I'm sure the police WON'T reopen the case.
It'll no doubt be impossible to prove that the mayor had any influence whatsoever over who would hand out public money... Move along, nothing to see here plebs 🤣
I'm just hoping the current steady drip feed of negative stories will eventually so destroy the bastards reputation that he is only remembered in ignominy.
Sadly I also suspect that won't happen either. Life is full of little disappointments 😃
The Arcuri thing is predictable and shit, but I do find a lot of the responses to her pretty unpleasant too. Like, if we had a female PM who was having an affair with a random dude and it led to corruption and the guy profitting, nobody would be saying he was having sex with her for money. The same with the "pole dancer" thing.
AD
Full MemberI’m just hoping the current steady drip feed of negative stories will eventually so destroy the bastards reputation that he is only remembered in ignominy.
His reputation is as a dirty shagger, father of a mystery number of abandoned children, and serial betrayer and cheat. This one doesn't even touch the sides. The corruption angle is the only thing that's different but it's a drop in the bucket compared to, say, employing Dido Harding.
In a very Trumpish way, he's risen below these things. Penny ante things like a 17th affair which he's previously denied or £125000 worth of corruption just don't matter to anyone much. And everyone who's somehow managed to take all this stuff and yet still build an image of Johnston as a suitable person to be PM, will just think "Oh, more sniping at poor Boris, when will these lefties stop"?
I think when he inevitably gets caught cheating on Carrie Symonds, that'll probably bite a bit more because he's made that relationship and son #27 into such a public thin, but it'll still only shock the stupidest or most disinterested of voters.
Johnson really is a reprehensible shit.
I really would like to stick a straight left into his fat, gurning, chops.
And over in New Zealand.....
Why can't she remotely govern us?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/oct/17/new-zealands-jacinda-ardern-condemns-divisive-elections-in-victory-speech-video
Arden shows it needn’t be as it is, she exposes Johnson for what he is, an absolute charlatan.
Ardern could do half a day a week on Zoom and still run rings round this shower of shit.
Ardern’s deft handling of the Covid-19 outbreak and resolute belief in science and experts was credited with earning the trust of New Zealanders, who cast early votes in record numbers, giving her party more votes than at any other election in the past five decades.
Boris are you listening? Nah too busy shagging
