CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
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Dualling the A9 and A96 would be the first pledge of a Scottish Conservative manifesto at the next general election, Douglas Ross has said.
The Scottish Tory leader suggested the UK Government could step in to finish the delayed infrastructure projects.
The Scottish Government said in 2011 that it would dual the A9 by 2025.
It has now said that goal is “unachievable”.
Over the past ten years around 11 miles of road have been dualled with about 77 miles left to go.
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Election campaign has started -
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14m ago 13.11 BST
Sunak ended his speech by saying he had set out “three huge decisions to change the direction of our country” – on transport, health (smoking), and education.
And he concluded:
We will be bold, we will be radical.
We will face resistance and we will meet it.
We will give the country what it so sorely needs and yet too often has been denied – a government prepared to make long-term decisions so that we can build a brighter future for everyone.
Be in no doubt. It is time for a change. And we are it.
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"Election campaign has started"
Also see cheaper trains in Scotland, SNP got the jump on Rishsi.
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5m ago 13.54 BST
Sunak's conference speech - snap verdict
It has been several years now since we’ve had a prime minister deliver a long, serious party conference with containing a lot of policy and argument, and on that basis at least this was an impressive effort. We already knew that the HS2 leg to Manchester was going, that Sunak wants to adopt the New Zealand policy that would stop young teenagers ever being allowed to buy cigarettes (first revealed by the Guardian) and that he wants to broaden the post-16 curriculum. But today he got a lot more detail on the education plan, and on all three topics he explained his case rationally, and in some detail. This was Sunak the earnest, studious policy geek and, compared to his recent predecessors, it made a welcome change.
But, of the three major announcements he made, it is hard to see any of them having the power to transform the fortunes of his party.
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Long list of projects here.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/find-out-about-every-new-transport-project-in-your-region
Many probably news to locals.
Kinda amazing how it’s all been pulled together since yesterday when ‘no decision on HS2 has been made’…
Nothing in Scotland of course (tiny amount in Wales).
"Labour targeting up to 28 seats at next election"
"Scottish Conservatives predict SNP 'wipe-out'"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-67009605
Who knows wheather either will happen, what is clear is the more labour mps that are returned at next election, the less chance there will be of Tories getting back in.
No mention of Scotland of course
@Baldcyclist the problem for me is; so what if they don't get back in? Starmer's spent the last few years carefully aligning Labour with Tory rhetoric & policy in a lot of areas, and to do that he's waged war on the left of his own party and betrayed every single pledge, promise, and policy position he espoused to win his position in the first place.
No idea why anyone in their right mind would trust him and his chums to be meaningfully different from what we already have. Oh I'm sure they'll be much more "sensible" in mien, they'll affect regret at how their policies will hump people, but at the end of the day they're not actually proposing any fundamental change.
This is what Tony Blair did to get into power. You can only hope once in power, Starmer will align back closer to Labour values
“Labour values”
Is that a thing?
Like British values?
Scottish values?
CCE values?
Irrespective of views on Parties or desirability of Indy/Brexit/etc
EVEN IGNORING ‘the climate’, UK politicians need to be a bit more honest (not least with themselves) that a small change of direction here and there is not going to make any sort of significant difference.
‘Planetary forces’ are stronger - perhaps more so than ‘The Market’…
“Think Global, Act Local” is a useful slogan/guide but perhaps needing retired - or re-energised.
Labour values is very definitely a thing. Whether the Labour party and its representatives, are particularly aligned with them is another question.
OK!
I'm a supporter of neither labour or the SNP but at this stage the Tories need to be removed due to the damage they're doing with their culture war bull squirt. The current policy of burning everything to try and get a vote needs to be bitten down hard by the public.
We're seeing politics being more and more polarised but the last few PMs have leaned very hard on the sort of rubbish that saw Trump elected.
It is a pretty depressing state of affairs where the usual criticism of "they're both the same" is quashed not by one party distinguishing itself positively and innovatively but the other one ploughing greater depths not previously thought possible.
I have to wonder whether this kind of 'just get them out' tactical voting that comes to us in a cold sweat at the ballot box just makes things worse in the long run by baking in an easily eroded mediocrity. Unlike last time, I'll be ignoring the shouty graph people and voting for the candidate I like the most.
“voting for the candidate I like the most“
A perfectly reasonable way of operating.
Obviously many people vote for candidates they know have NO chance of winning.
And many people don’t bother to vote because they don’t like any candidates/parties or think ‘it won’t make any difference’.
In Scotland at least we have the benefit of knowing that voting with our conscience is unlikely to open the door to the Tories in most constituencies.
The current policy of burning everything to try and get a vote needs to be bitten down hard by the public.
It was pointed out the other day that if the party is re-elected, there might not be another election.
Case in point: https://nitter.poast.org/LouHaigh/status/1711661609540563354#m
Labour's response to Rishi's "I'll battle against the War On Drivers!" rhetoric is...to brief the Torygraph about how actually only Labour can be trusted to save drivers money and make their lives easier: they'll fast track MOAR ROADS by "ripping up unnecessary planning rules", make it harder for insurers to raise your premiums, and make fuel even cheaper. We get the faintest of "...but we're the reasonable adults dontcha know" triangulation in that they at least have the decency to call out the Tory's conspiracy-mongering around 15 minute cities, but they don't actually *oppose* any of the "pro-motorist" policies they just avoid talking about them.
I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say: I like Blairism better than this. At least Blairism could argue it had good intentions, that they intended to *use* the power they sold their souls to acquire to achieve good ends, even if in the end capitulating on so many Tory talking points made those gains ephemeral once the pendulum swung back. Starmerism is completely hollow - a cheap knock off ideology with no goals or objectives beyond adding "Prime Minister" to the man himself's resume and giving free reign to the Embarrassed Tories in the party machine who's parents were too working class for them to feel comfortable in the Lib Dems.
He did mention Scotland although I think Labour government really depends on seats in England.
Here's the bits the Guardian didn't quote. From National...
Referring to Labour’s Scottish by-election victory last week, Starmer added: “So let the message from Rutherglen ring out across Britain. Labour serves working people in Scotland because Labour serves working people across all these islands.”“Scotland can lead the way to a Labour Government,” he said.
“But be under no illusions we must earn every vote, and we must understand that the Scottish people are not just looking at us; they’re also looking at Britain.
“The challenge of change remains but nonetheless, for the first time in a long time we can see the tide that is turning. Four nations that are renewing. Old wounds of division exploited by the Tories and the SNP beginning to heal.”
A major announcement in his speech came in the form of promising England the creation of more New Towns, should Labour form the next government.
He's not keen to allow a poll on Irish reunification of course.
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Rishi Sunak’s government will use next week’s king’s speech to advance expansion of North Sea oil and gas exploration, as well as pro-car policies, in the hope of opening up a clear divide over the green agenda with Labour, the Observer understands.
Energy industry sources and senior figures in Whitehall say they expect ministers to announce legislation to usher in a new annual system for awarding oil and gas licences, despite the UK’s commitments to move away from fossil fuels and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The king’s speech, the final legislative programme before the next general election, is also expected to include measures that will explicitly favour motorists, including making it more difficult for local authorities to introduce 20mph speed limits or supposedly unpopular schemes such as the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), recently expanded in London.
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Ye Olde England Motoring Party.
Anti Green doesn't make them anti environment of course!;-)
I think Scotland really needs to sort things for itself asap. We have the assets of both energy and people. Going to be tough but why let someone else that few here voted for destroy your environment with your resources?
As for the expected next government of Keir Starmer...
Judging by the fudge or 'non call' for a Gaza ceasefire Labour are in danger of losing support. Glad to see Anas Sarwar has now called for one now Sadiq Khan has given him cover! Energy wise it will be business as usual with Labour but with Great British Energy HQ in Glasgow (probably not registered in Scotland though to make it easy to shift south!)
So since opposing ULEZ they have almost lost the ex prime minister's sear and actually lost 1 of their historically safest seats along with another by election and they still think it's a smart move.
The only other explanation that I can see is that they are planning to be personally enriched by their policy swing after they leave government.
Reasons not to be cheerfull 1 & 2.
I remember marching against the Iraq war in 2003 - feels like that again.
2. Covid enquiry shows that Westminster was unable to make decisions rationally for UK/England. Radio this morning still trying to find a way to imply things were just as bad here - BBC can't help themselves.
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None of this is certain, unless we make it so. But far from stepping up to confront the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced, our governments accelerate towards the horizon. For instance, Rishi Sunak, hitherto a mere trip hazard in the UK’s political history, now seems to have discovered his purpose: trashing the planet on behalf of corporate power. Government sources say he will use next week’s king’s speech to redouble his attack on green policies. On Monday, his government announced 27 new North Sea oil and gas licences. On the same day, a study in Nature Climate Change revealed that the remaining carbon budget – the net amount of carbon dioxide humans can still emit to retain a 50% chance of staying within 1.5°C of global heating – will be exhausted in just six years of business as usual. Only an emergency decision to leave fossil fuels in the ground is likely to prevent this temperature threshold being breached.
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@LaidBack The party bigwigs' response to the situation in Gaza has been despicable from word one. I don't know if they're just principled and committed Zionists who genuinely believe a genocide 80 years ago means another now is A-OK, or if they're just being as cynical and cold-blooded as they are with most of the rest of their policy agenda and simply want to avoid tabloid & Tory accusations of hypocrisy having previously used "antisemitism" as a big tool in his party purge, but either way they've managed to shift me from a "if I have to to keep the tories out" mentality to "eff it I'll just stay home" when it comes to my vote.
Not missed a single election of any sort since I reached the age of majority. I just hope the SNP still look like they're in with a decent shot in my seat.
This is less than coherent
But, hey
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Labour pledges to support drivers through cost-of-living crisis
The party is seeking to crack down on car insurance costs, provide better public transport options and remove planning barriers.
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Frankie Boyle says General Election May the 9th, five days after Star Wars Day.
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This was a difficult decision for me, but we need to do all we can to get Keir Starmer into Downing Street. #Win24
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https://x.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1742280191714472340
(With 6 min video for anyone who wants to know what his difficulty was.)
Little bit out of puff? Struggles to say the words Transformation and indeed Colinton.
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