I don’t think anyone does, but it still needs to be in the department’s budget, and they’re arguing that 1. the exercise to see what does and doesn’t get into the dept’s spending budget is happening, now, and 2 the right place/time to announce this sort of stuff is the budget, once you’ve got a handle on all the spending commitments.

True perhaps, Nick, but this goes straight to the heart of the idea the books must be balanced somehow and that there’s a limited amount of money in the government’s “bank account”.

People can no longer deny that vast amount of currency can be magicked out of the air when there’s a crisis — well, hasn’t anyone checked the state of the country recently? Calling it an “omnicrisis” would be being kind.

Becasue for the things you’ve listed will come from (whatever the govt call it ) Capital spending, one off events that needs money throwing at them, while things like child benefits needs to come from departmental spending, and that needs a budget as it’s on-going.

Meanwhile, we subsidise the obscenely profitable oil and gas industry in regular budgeting:

“Fossil fuel companies were given close to £80bn” [from 2015 to 2023] in subsidies.

Removing the two-child benefit cap would cost around 3b a year, so I’m not buying that the UK somehow can’t “afford” this.

basically a money issue

It’s not though, is it? It’s never a “money issue” when there’s political urgency, a foreign war, cash for nuclear subs, helicopter money for feckless banks, there’s always money — and lot’s of it.

So this is a political choice, not an economic one, which is baffling to me. When Reform and the likes of Suella Braverman rubbish a policy as ineffective and immoral, then it is high time to reassess.

Israeli must have known it could weather the short-lived media cycle. Now Gaza is just old news. Nobody cares.

different skin colour or religion

This is it — if these were babies with blue eyes and blonde hair being torn to shreds by the Israelis, there’d have been a military intervention months ago.

What the “war” in Gaza has achieved is a grotesque hypernormalization of state-sponsored atrocity. Russia “double tap” attacks in Ukraine? Bombing paediatric hospitals?

This is war is now in the 21st century. This is the new “self-defence”.

I dunno, I have FOX 32’s and they’re way better than lower-end Rockshox stuff 100%

Hmmm, that’s it, they do provide a good sense of security.

What’s the deal with these semi-freestanding tents? Worst of both worlds?

I’ll be in Spain the rest of the year?

Seriously though, this is tough.

It’s basically either been 1) cold, 2) wet, 3) grey or all three since I got back.

When will the fools learn that true democracy comes at the end a barrel of a gun.

A bit late, but for me I don’t like the “finish” of iPhone photos, they look great on the phone but not so impressive off.

I’ve got a Ricoh GR II, which is a high-end compact, and the quality just blows away an iPhone imo.

Problem is, I can never be bothered carrying it (and the battery life is a joke).

Hi Rone!

How does it work in the EU? Does the ECB basically act like the BoE, but for the entire bloc? How does currency ‘cancelled out’ by taxation in Spain relate to currency creation in Germany, and so forth? Do EU economies have to literally collect taxation and then “pay it back” to the ECB?

I always suspected that the British didn’t want to give up the BoE and their superpower printing press for obvious reasons, hence not going into the euro, but it’s curious to me that countries like France and Germany were willing to. What was in it for them?

Regarding taxation and its collection, am I right in thinking that HMRC never actually “collects” anything? Rather, it’s simply currency that is taken out of circulation and therefore destroyed? Also, when they talk about the deficit, which the MSM and politicians were obsessed with, they were actually talking about the money paid out on government debt, not the overall national “debt”. If so, who receives the money that the government pays to “service” its own debt? Itself?

Bonds are simply a swap of reserves that are interest bearing from non-interest bearing assets.

Sorry, but could you explain this further?

Its why we have no manufacturing left – imports are cheep and exports are expensive with an overvalued currency

This is a myth btw.

The UK is still one of the foremost manufacturing countries (apparently 9th) in the world. What happened was that it modernised, outsourcing heavy, labour-intensive production of low-value goods, moving into the production of high-value, high-skilled output, like vaccines or aerospace, etc. Deindustrialisation isn’t unique to the UK.

Hi Joe. So out of curiosity, then, do you believe that the UK government has a sort of savings account with a bank which it funnels all our tax into and then pays it people on the dole, etc.? (Also, why the comrade jibe? Do you think talking about monetary policy makes me a communist?)

Printing more money is always seen as a last resort in a developed economy

I don’t accept this — industrialised/developed economies constantly print money. When the 08 crisis broke, the Federal Reserve printed 17 trillion dollars and gave it to mostly foreign banks. Corporations use debt to finance their operations, although unlike individual borrowing, it’s known as leveraging. You simply couldn’t have the capitalist system without debt. Debt, as far as I understand it, is money.

As I said, and I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but the idea the HMRC actually “collects” money is false. In short, all money is created as debt, and taxation functions to give legitimacy of a currency and to cool things off. When the government suddenly needs a vast amount of money, it simply prints (or rather creates it on a computer) the money and then can use it because it is the sovereign currency and has agency in the economy because businesses, workers and banks accept it as currency.

“Most spending still comes from taxation.”

So you’re saying that the government actually “collects” the tax and puts it into an account somewhere and then dishes it out to its various departments? I’m not sure I could dig it out now, nor fully understand it, but I do remember reading something from the BoE that said this was a fallacy.

Money is valuable because it’s scarce. Sometimes that scarcity is real (e.g. gold) sometimes manufactured e.g. bitcoin.

It’s not scarce when you can print it, which is rather the point of the thread. Of course, you can’t print gold or BTC, but that’s a different discussion.

What’s interesting is why there’s always billions for nuclear weapons or foreign occupations but not for financing new infrastructure or paying public service workers. It feels like some things are never spoken about in public discourse, but it seems bizarre to me that something as important as money, where it comes from and how it’s produced, is never mentioned.

Not the biggest fan of Starmer’s Labour, but the difference between the deranged, hysterical rhetorical of the likes of Braverman compared to the sober, reconciled tone of the new administration is not only fills me with hope, but acutely renders the nightmare that this women used to be our home secretary.

For 250 quid, you can’t go wrong with the Fox 32s. I’ve only had Rebas to compare, but they’re much better suspension imo. They look and feel very good and they’re supposed to be fairly durable and have a 100-hour service window.

What is remarkable to me is that I was 14 when the last Labour gov. was elected after years of Tory corruption and incompetence. Back then, there seemed a real sense of optimism.

Now, at 40 (!), it’s remarkable in the office today how few people seem to actually care. The overarching feeling seems to be relief that the Tories have finally been booted out of office rather than any sense of hope.

As a side note, the Tories still won almost 7 million votes, who the **** are these people that vote Tory after the last fourteen years? It’s truly astonishing.

Good point! I suppose there’s no point mentioning it to anyone then.

Punk IPA is the Carling of modern beers.

hmm, good advice!! Thanks all, interesting read and good to know my suspicions weren’t too far off, esp. with the Jazz.

I’m likely going to rent because I can get a modern UP or similar for about a grand with largely no worries/stress, and don’t have to worry about getting rid of it after.

reads like it’s written by a trader

I don’t know much about any of this but this is a good observation — talking about sills and stuff seemed a bit suspect to me.

At this point, I’m looking at renting, but with UK passport and license but residence in EU country, apparently I need proof of utilities and stuff which I don’t have, which seems bizarre to me.

Maybe I’ll just rent instead.

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

Reform and the RW press are far better at convincing people what they want than the academic side of the left is.

This is because they promote simplistic answers to complex problems. Fractional reserve banking? A financial system which is effectively a Ponzi scheme? Government money as debt? A legal, and a medieval land-distribution system based on the Norman conquest? A corrupt monarchy which liquidates their deceased subject’s assets to pay for upgrades to their airbnb lets? What the **** are you on about? It’s those immigrants coming over who are the reason you can’t get a doctor appointment for your daughter, etc., etc. When the “academic left” proposed actual policies such as land reform that would start to reverse centuries of inequality, they’re effectively assassinated politically by the oligarch-billionaire press. They’re organised, they’re extremely well funded and they’re winning.

Garmin InReach is great — durable, reliable, battery life lasts ages, and its pretty small. It’s also a backup navigation device, but I’d only bother taking mine if I was going to somewhere very remote.

This is great info, thanks everyone.

I’m there for a couple of months with work.

Bikewise, I’m either gonna run my 29er as a rigid or maybe keep as a HT.

If not, it will be a 27.5+ HT.

I like ST, but anything too technical or ‘gnarly’ doesn’t appeal to me.

Gravel riding sounds perfect.

I’ll check up these recommendations on the map later, thanks!

Hmm, okay, I might go for GX then, thanks!

Fenix is the best by far. I had an Instinct and felt I didn’t need the full mapping of the Fenix, but once you’ve had it, it’s impossible to go back. Basically, I’ve got a full GPS mapping and routing on my wrist and it can last for 3-4 days without charging.

yep, the sealant just isn’t working at all. What a mess

Actually, there’s two spots with rim leaks and a tire knob that spurts out sealant under any serious pressure.

I’ve put loads of sealant in, so will just leave the wheel to sit for a few hours and hopefully I can top it up and it will seal.

Bob, 7 months of the year, you’ll be living under an AC unit missing the ability to go outside, even in the rain!

MSR’s are the best in my experience.

The MiniWorks is a real workhorse, but it’s quite bulky. It’s easily serviceable in ‘the field’ and is well made. Parts are easy to source and you can buy new ceramic filters (though one should last a long time!).

My experience with trail shots was not as positive — they clog easily, once clogged, I could never get it working fully again. The first one froze and died (a problem with many filters) and the second one started leaking and I gave up with it.

I’ve had Saywer straws and after a while it just stopped working so it got binned.

I learned on 21″ motocross tires.

Washing up liquid is your friend!

Apply thinly to rim and bead, doesn’t help removing the tire, however.

hmm, I think it got it from running, because like you, I do a lot of MTB riding with flats and never had any knee issues. I’ve not changed my setup at all save for some front shocks, and can’t imagine that’s impacting my knees.

It’s ring-wing media, I can’t explain it otherwise.

I’ve never experienced anywhere near this irrational hatred of outside of three main countries — UK, US and AUS.

No prizes for spotting the connection there in relation to media.

For me, on a personal level, I just simply cannot comprehend the images coming out of Gaza now. They follow me on my walks and in my dreams or waking thoughts. It’s impossible to not superimpose my own children/nieces/nephews onto the faces of maimed, charred tiny bodies or in the faces of pure terror and their inability to comprehend an endless atrocity.

That a modern, well-armed, nation state can visit this level of destruction and inhumanity on a starved, defeated, and utterly defenceless civilian population and with total impunity is both an affront and a disgrace to which the immense lose, sacrifice and hard-fought victories of the 20th century stood for. Never again, it was once said, could a nation state prosecute such atrocity, but evidently it can, and will, but nobody is coming to save the people of Gaza.

It’s hard not to conclude that Israel, as a respectable, modern state, is finished.

Mexico does bad coffee — usually tepid instant with about 8 teaspoons of sugar in, but you can find good stuff if you look for it. In Chile, a ‘fancy’ coffee is a cup of hot water and a sachet of instant Nescafe. I wouldn’t tell them, but Spain does pretty abysmal coffee overall — basically black sludge and an “Americano” is just an expresso with the machine left running, basically a tall glass of panic attack. Mostly consumed with copious amounts of milk and sugar, disgusting but at least it’s cheap.

Damage limitation.

Coming in more like 1800 with unlimited milage :(

How about something like this?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404138619814?sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Hyundai&model=i10&postcode=l188ar&price-from=500&price-to=2000&radius=60&fromsra

Sorry, but Sunak’s speech in the rain just said it all.

Absurd, sad, defeated, it sums up we are after 14 years of Tories.

Yeah, with 3rd party excess insurance, it’s coming in around 1500 quid…. annual excess cover much cheaper (only 50 quid) but is limited to 65 days, where as I’d need it for 78 days in total.

PS yep, got a UK address.

Anyone ever rented a car long-term / 3 months?