UK Politics: The Edge of Destruction

[Mosi Mynn]

28 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

That would be my solution. And build the new parliament in the middle of the country to revitalise a deprived area. Get the politicians  out of London. No more costly second London homes. Build a hotel for all the politiicans to stay in while attending parliament. 

That's a great idea.  I bet they're not even considering that!

 

16 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Anything to stop Parliament being an old boys shouting club would be an improvement. The way they behave right now is an embarrassment 

QfT

[mormont]

Moving Parliament, while I'm obviously not against it, would imply moving a lot more than the debating chamber. Particularly if you went to another city. 

[Werthead]

6 hours ago, ants said:

Is there any thought to maybe building a new parliament house on a different site?  Turn the current one into a museum?  The current chamber isn't really fit for purpose, nor is the voting.  

Yes. Apparently there's been some resistance that if they do that, they'll lose a lot of the traditional ceremonies (which won't make sense in a more modern conference-style building) and maybe will have to start living in the 21st Century, an uncomfortable prospect for some.

The Lords would have to move out as well, as I believe their overcrowding problem is worse but undercut by the fact that most of them barely turn up for sittings.

They have considered moving Parliament to another city, or perhaps even having a roving Parliament that sits in different locations around the country, but the problem is that all of the ministries are in London and you can't move those as well, and ministers need to be able to move between Parliament, No. 10 and the Ministries relatively quickly (they're all quite close to one another). Teleconferencing may not be a solution to that where sensitive or classified info is involved that you don't want to be transmitted.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Maybe Sunderland. I understand there will soon be a vacant car factory the MP's could move into.

[felice]

5 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Yes. Apparently there's been some resistance that if they do that, they'll lose a lot of the traditional ceremonies (which won't make sense in a more modern conference-style building)

If that's a dealbreaker, surely they can design the new parliament to accommodate the needs of the ceremonies?

5 minutes ago, Werthead said:

The Lords would have to move out as well

Why not just leave them as part of the museum?

5 minutes ago, Werthead said:

the problem is that all of the ministries are in London and you can't move those as well

It would be a massive undertaking, but you certainly could move those as well. It might help cool down London's hyperinflated real estate market a little!

[HexMachina]

6 hours ago, ants said:

Is there any thought to maybe building a new parliament house on a different site?  Turn the current one into a museum?  The current chamber isn't really fit for purpose, nor is the voting.  

If we turn the current one into a museum, can we make it like Madame Tussauds and display the current crop of MPs for the public to goggle at? With honourable positions for certain other politicians who led usnto our current clusterfuck?

15 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Maybe Sunderland. I understand there will soon be a vacant car factory the MP's could move into.

Oof, burn. My uncle is in a pretty senior position there and yeah, not great

[Werthead]

1 minute ago, felice said:

If that's a dealbreaker, surely they can design the new parliament to accommodate the needs of the ceremonies?

Or  just ditch the ceremonies altogether. Most people I think are bored of them and seem them as ridiculous and out-of-date. Actually moving into a proper fit-for-purpose building without subsidised bars would help MPs I think come across as a bit more relatable.

Quote

 

It would be a massive undertaking, but you certainly could move those as well. It might help cool down London's hyperinflated real estate market a little!

 

You would absolutely not be able to justify the cost to the taxpayer. That's billions, if not tens of billions, of pounds. There are a lot of ministries and no other city in the UK has the required office space lying around unused.

London would remain the UK's largest city and a centre for business, tourism and job opportunities. I don't see it having much impact on the housing market.

[Mosi Mynn]

11 minutes ago, Werthead said:

You would absolutely not be able to justify the cost to the taxpayer. That's billions, if not tens of billions, of pounds. There are a lot of ministries and no other city in the UK has the required office space lying around unused.

Renovate all Ministries into luxury apartments for foreign oligarchs; ££££million an apartment = they could probably buy a city somewhere further North ...  

[Spockydog]

 

[Loge]

47 minutes ago, Werthead said:

You would absolutely not be able to justify the cost to the taxpayer. That's billions, if not tens of billions, of pounds. There are a lot of ministries and no other city in the UK has the required office space lying around unused.

Well, apparently renovating the Palace of Westminster will cost at least 4 billion pounds:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom_relocation

You can build quite a bit of office space for that.

[Werthead]

8 minutes ago, Loge said:

Well, apparently renovating the Palace of Westminster will cost at least 4 billion pounds:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom_relocation

You can build quite a bit of office space for that.

If you were happy to let the Palace burn down or fall into the river, sure.

[Which Tyler]

9 minutes ago, Loge said:

Well, apparently renovating the Palace of Westminster will cost at least 4 billion pounds:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom_relocation

You can build quite a bit of office space for that.

Bargain compared to the needless spend on brexit

[Mosi Mynn]

Brexit is now, unsurprisingly, causing discontent in the EU Parliament.

Donald Tusk chastises MEPs over criticism of 31 October Brexit delay

[BigFatCoward]

Its amazing how a few determined people can pretty much bring a city to its knees. 

I'm working in Thursday so if any of you are planning on protesting can you knock it off early? I have to drive to Newcastle for Easter and I can't be hanging around all day. 

[Heartofice]

17 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Its amazing how a few determined people can pretty much bring a city to its knees. 

I'm working in Thursday so if any of you are planning on protesting can you knock it off early? I have to drive to Newcastle for Easter and I can't be hanging around all day. 

I walked past a few yesterday chanting 

“what do we want!!l”

”mumble mumble something something”

” when do we want it!?”

”NOW”

it was quite amusing. As was their ‘art an music’

Admirable goal but really seems to standard protester behaviour

[williamjm]

15 hours ago, ants said:

Is there any thought to maybe building a new parliament house on a different site?  Turn the current one into a museum?  The current chamber isn't really fit for purpose, nor is the voting.  

That wouldn't necessarily avoid most of the renovation costs, although moving to a more modern building might have other benefits.

8 hours ago, felice said:

It would be a massive undertaking, but you certainly could move those as well. It might help cool down London's hyperinflated real estate market a little!

I've just had a horrible vision of Boris becoming PM and deciding to move the UK's capital to a newly-built island in the Thames that he's named after himself.

[Which Tyler]

1 hour ago, williamjm said:

I've just had a horrible vision of Boris becoming PM and deciding to move the UK's capital to a newly-built island in the Thames that he's named after himself.

With its own runway

...

And a garden bridge

[Werthead]

Carole Cadwalladr's TED talk on the various investigations into the Brexit vote and how the different Leave campaigns broke laws related to spending. Quite well-done and concise at 15 minutes.

The starkest demonstration was the town in Wales with almost no immigrants or refugees that decided to vote Leave despite the EU spending hundreds of millions of pounds on new facilities in and around the town, including a leisure centre and new college, and many of the people cited Facebook ads about Turkey being allowed to flood the EU with millions of people as the deciding factor in their vote, despite it being complete horseshit.

[Chaircat Meow]

Farage is already out in front in this poll. If we exclude Labour the Brexit party is already beating the combined forces of Remain and that's discounting UKIP.

Bad, although I have to say I would never vote Green and would be unhappy about voting either Lib or Change. Remainers really need to win these elections.

 

BREX: 27%

LAB: 22%

CON: 15%

GRN: 10%

LDEM: 9%

UKIP: 7%

CHUK: 6%

 

via @YouGov, 15 - 16 Apr

[Mosi Mynn]

13 minutes ago, Nothing Has Changed said:

Farage is already out in front in this poll. If we exclude Labour the Brexit party is already beating the combined forces of Remain and that's discounting UKIP.

Bad, although I have to say I would never vote Green and would be unhappy about voting either Lib or Change. Remainers really need to win these elections.

 

BREX: 27%

LAB: 22%

CON: 15%

GRN: 10%

LDEM: 9%

UKIP: 7%

CHUK: 6%

 

via @YouGov, 15 - 16 Apr

Oof - not good.

I really hope this is a wake-up call to the Remain parties to put some effort into this.

Farage is cunning - UKIP is out and out unabashedly racist now, which will put off a lot of people.  Labour and the Tories have been horribly scarred by this Brexit mess.  So his party is the new all-in-one "respectable" fresh party for Leavers.