Northern Powerhouse?

Mortal Mindy's picture

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/news/13720289.Fears_grow_for_2...

"FEARS are growing for the future of 2,000 North-East steel jobs after SSI in Redcar missed a series of debt repayments.

SSI, the Thai-based owners of the Teesside iron and steel works, has been hit by falling demand for the steel, with prices for the commodity plummeting 40 per cent in the last year as a result.

The Telegraph is reporting that the company failed to repay loans worth £80m in June and was given a short-term stay of execution by lenders. This follows a series of stories in The Northern Echo which revealed the company was struggling to make ends meet and its financial state was increasingly perilous.

Asked if there were any inaccuracies in this morning's report, an SSI spokesman told The Northern Echo that the company would be making no comment.

Redcar MP Anna Turley has secured a three hour debate on the crisis in UK steel, which takes place on Thursday. Following business questions in the Commons today, when she pressed steel minister Anna Soubry to support Teesside steel, Ms Turley repeated her call for urgent government action.

Ms Turley said: “The crisis in UK Steel is becoming serious and the government must act now to save steelmaking on Teesside." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD8DcgpLp_w

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/15/uk-sahaviriya-steel-uk-employme...

"Britain's largest steelmaker, Tata Steel, has already cut thousands of jobs in the UK since its ill-timed entry into the European industry in 2007 when it bought Anglo Dutch producer Corus for $13 billion.

Producing steel profitably in Britain has become increasingly difficult due to cheap imports and a strong currency, plus relatively high energy costs and "green" taxes imposed on heavy industry that are some of the highest in the world.

SSI, Southeast Asia's largest fully integrated steel sheet producer, bought the Redcar plant in Teeside, northeast England, from Tata Steel for about $500 million in 2011, restarting the mothballed slab plant the following year. It is feared that tens of thousands of jobs in the economically-deprived region could be affected by permanent closure"

Embedded image permalink Nope, North Yorkshire is not even on the GVA map ... wiv nowt taken owt ...

Yorkshire Devolution : http://yorkshiredevolution.co.uk/

Erm, don't we need to evolve? Wot about a Yorkshire Evolution, why stop there ....  a Yorkshire Revolution .... spin on this, round in circles, has Bilbao done crop circles? Ah yes Crops, bring back the Ridings ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvDMlk3kSYg

Meanwhile, in Skardiborg  

Scarborough Council's view on 'devolution' : http://democracy.scarborough.gov.uk/documents/s60348/COUNCIL%20MOTION%20...

At County level, Carl Les, bless his little A1 bypass, warns of a North Yorkshire Split ... not quite bananas but could Whitby be headed North?  (taking the Potash with them ... we get fracking and hot air)  Wot no Potash?

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/politics/devolution-plan...

"NORTH Yorkshire could be split in two by a devolution plan that risks leaving rural areas behind, according to a council leader.

Coun Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, expressed disappointment at a proposal which would see West Yorkshire team up with three North Yorkshire districts and York to bid for greater control over their own affairs.

The invitation from West Yorkshire councils was extended to York, Harrogate, Selby and Craven last week.

Talks had previously taken place over a single proposal, known as the ‘Greater Yorkshire’ plan, which would have seen a single bid submitted by West and North Yorkshire, East Riding and perhaps Hull.

But West Yorkshire’s five authorities have now indicated their preference is to partner with their immediate neighbours or to go it alone.

Coun Les said: “I am disappointed they are doing this. It misses the opportunity offered by the Greater Yorkshire idea.

“My specific concern is that it splits North Yorkshire into two parts - those with devolution and those that might have it.

“I think it ignores the rural economy and I think it ignores East Yorkshire.” Cool  ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1d3jwJKI8o

Ah, so when Bilbao went to Ozzy with the Potash & Plaxtons representatives, it was to discuss devolution for the East Riding & Humberside ...  following on from YCR's report

"2:02pm 21st August 2015 - The MP for Scarborough and Whitby has told Yorkshire Coast Radio he thinks devolution for Yorkshire is a good idea.

Robert Goodwill says if it was done right, it would bring the Yorkshire coast more of a voice when it comes to getting investment and its fair share of government spending.

It's after we told you yesterday how Filey's MP Kevin Hollinrake is backing the idea.

But Robert says we'd have to make sure we weren't left out in the cold..

He says the main worry would be being crowded out by areas like Leeds.. "    Eh?  HS2?  Wot?

Ah, here we go .. the link is up from 10th September : http://cml.sad.ukrd.com/audio/444143.mp3

Thats YCR 96.2fm - MP's Diaries ... http://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/mp-s-diaries/

Lessons in diplomacy ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QnzIoUv-tE

 
Can we export to Wales, eh? Tour de Welsh ... along with Abaddon ...  http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11804/robert_goodwill/scarborough_and_w...
 
 
Alas, Humberside (Hull )  want to go it with Leeds : -) http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Humberside-Hull-goes-Greater-Yorkshire...
 
'Devolution' Hmmm ... easy targets ;-)   Erm, the cost of 'devolution' is?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgy1biHR3-k - "runfast" ... insert your own ;-)  
 
 
Oooh .. interesting :   Productivity_Plan_print.pdf
 
EU population > 788mil
 
So, the UK is building 'Little Englands' while the EU is building  .... a Northern Powerhouse.
 
 
 
 
 
 

26 Comments

Mortal Mindy's picture

SSI - Live Updates

Ouch.

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/business/business-news/live-ssi-steel-produ...

Redcar MP Anna Turley - HoC 17/09/15

"Steel making in the Redcar constituency makes up 7% of the North East’s exports.

It employs 2,000 people directly on Teesside.

There are another 1,000 contractors and 50 apprentices.

There are approximately 6000 people employed in the supply chains, working in the ports, carrying the coal, providing the gas, producing the parts, driving the trucks, washing the overalls and feeding the workforce."

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/business/business-news/ssi-qa-what-you-need...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEjgPh4SEmU ;-/

Mortal Mindy's picture

"Save Our Steel" - 3 days to keep the Coke burning

The Northen Echo is on the case :-)

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/news/13776105.Save_Our_Steel__...

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/news/13777461.Taxpayers_face__...

Dunno why this isn't covered locally ... will have such a massive impact if closed ...

"The costs of inaction could be far greater for the government. Should SSI fail then it's taxpayers who could pick up the costs of redundancies and cleaning up the site. Clean up costs could run to hundreds of millions of pounds. It's in the interests of all parties to find a solution to the current difficulties."

The prospect of Bangkok-based SSI holding on to the Redcar plant faded yesterday after reports from Thailand said the steel firm had failed to restructure debts payments. SSI wanted until December 30 to repay £500m in bank loans but The Bangkok Post said the lenders would ignore those pleas and insist on payments being made by Wednesday next week.

That would heap further pressure on SSI president Win Viriyaprapaikit who last week halted production at Redcar to stem losses.

He is understood to be willing to listen to offers for the Redcar plant, or for parts of the site he bought from Tata Steel and returned to production in 2012.

Redcar MP Anna Turley, Mr Rickhuss, and Tom Blenkinsop MP have written a joint letter to the SSI chief who has remained tight-lipped since Friday’s shutdown....

“We also need the government to step up and recognise the urgency of the situation and accept that the industry is too important to go under. They need to be working with SSI to secure the site, secure jobs, secure industry, and make sure we have a future for steelmaking on Teesside.”

If SSI have abandoned the site then surely Tata could walk back in and just get on with it? Should be a law about abandoned or lost property - if it aint got a flag its free ... or somin. 

Mortal Mindy's picture

Northern Power Shift

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-34387927

"On Monday SSI said it was mothballing iron and steelmaking at the site for up to five years, citing poor trading conditions and low world steel prices.

It said steel prices would need to recover before the plant could reopen.

The talks will focus on the mothballing process, whereby about 450 people will continue to work at the Teesside plant.

SSI said it will continue to operate the Redcar coke ovens and the power station."

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/13788027.Devastation_as_1_700_jobs...

"Labour MP for Redcar Anna Turley said: “My heart goes out to the 1,700 workers and their families who have lost their jobs today. It is devastating news after the fight over the past few years and recent weeks and days to keep steelmaking on Teesside.

“It is now the Government’s duty to step in and secure our steelworks, preserving the integrity of blast furnace so that steelmaking is not gone for good.

"The plant is national asset and must be rescued and protected. Wages and pensions must be paid and suppliers must be underwritten. The industrial marvel that is Redcar blast furnace cannot simply be allowed to fall over.

“Over 150 years of toil and endeavour in forging steel in the heat and the light, has come down to few days of desperate fighting. The people of Teesside have shown their commitment to our steelworks and the Government must now do the same.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOqsUJrJi-A

James Wharton, Conservative MP for nearby Stockton South and minister for the Northern Powerhouse, wrote via Facebook: 

"Disappointing news that SSI is to mothball its Redcar plant.

"We have been working with the company for months now and the most recent support from government allowed wages to be paid on Friday. Sadly though the company has significant debts and has not been able to get through this challenging period unscathed.

"World steel prices and a large debt burden have meant today they took the decision to mothball the plant. This happened in 2009 and we were able to see it reopened in 2012, so the hope must be that this could be the case again and it is not necessarily the end of the line.

"At this time we need to look to do what we can to support those directly affected and a taskforce has been established to that end."

 

Mortal Mindy's picture

SSI - Inevitable Or A case for UK Shale Gas

Words of wisdom should not go unoticed, even if pearls ....  Anyhoos reluctance to re-publish this has been overcome by a sense of erm ...common sense: 

Courtesy of YBHere on III SXX

"It's not just the collapse of steel prices that have led to Redcar Steels predicament. The high cost of electricity in the UK, which globally is one of the highest in the world, is partially due to the subsidies given to the Renewables, ie wind turbines. Redcar steel could possibly have survived if energy costs weren't so high. Ironic isn't it that the Liberal/Labour/Tory authorities allowed 28 turbines to be built offshore from Redcar. Add that to the hundreds, if not thousands of turbines infesting the UK, our energy costs just cannot compete with China/Bangladesh/India.

The Conservatives recently stated they were to remove onshore turbine subsidies. However, no mention was made of offshore turbine subsidies. There are already hundreds of offshore turbines, plus planning applications are now in for the first 400 turbines to be built on the Dogger Bank with, as I understand it, 2000 in total to be built. The Crown Estate owns the seabed of coastal waters.

Wonder if Charles who is a staunch environmentalist, organic farmer, supporter of sustainable resources, has been fully briefed. If the UK government of whatever shade don't get a grip on energy costs and these ridiculous subsidies for energy generation which doesn't work if there's no wind or too much wind, a few more energy reliant industries will go to the wall.

YB"

Yep. Tis part of the bigger picture. Hinkley?  Cheers YB :-)  if you want this removing you know what to do :-/

spose you want a tune ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc6d3xTKTXE

Mortal Mindy's picture

SSI - Workforce Keeps the Coke Burning

 As the SSI plant falls under the hands of Official Receivers & Administration the workers are determined to keep the fires buring ...

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/13801080.Workers_keep_stoking_the_...

Redcar MP Anna Turley was among those who accused the Government of abandoning Teesside and leaving the plant to shut in an uncontrolled manner that will damage vital assets such as the blast furnace and coke ovens.

"It was all about flying in, saying ‘here is some money, we have done our bit but we can’t do anything about the plant’. They were never interested in securing the site," said Ms Turley.

"We gave them proposals but they have thrown the towel in. We are not. We think there is a future still for this plant.

"We are going to work with local businesses and the official receiver to try and secure that and we are not going to give in....

"Teesside is now on its own. The Government has turned its back and it is down to us in the region, with our Local Enterprise Partnership, local businesses and people who get what steel means to this community, to fight ourselves.

"I won’t waste any more of my time trying to secure Government support because they don’t have the political will to support steelmaking on Teesside," added the Redcar MP."

Redcar MP Anna Turley.

http://www.anna4redcar.org.uk/

 

 

Mortal Mindy's picture

SSI - The Guardian - Tosh or Gosh

The Guardian gets the wrong end of the stick on Redcar's future ... wot a load of Tosh:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/03/redcar-looks-to-rise-fro...

"Redcar isn’t the first northern area to contemplate a future without its key industry. Many have successfully diversified. In Hull, a city once reliant on fishing and shipping, the Green Port Hull initiative will host a £310m Siemens offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility. The Albert Dock in Liverpool and Newcastle’s Quayside now thrive as cultural and creative hotspots. Can Redcar take heart from those examples?

“It’s certainly possible to get a certain amount of property-based redevelopment in most ex-industrial areas. It obviously helps to have a waterfront, red bricks and cotton mills,” said Professor Karel Williams at Manchester Business School. But he added: “It’s only Banksy who could make a success out of Redcar steelworks as a visitor centre.”

FFS - what part of this don't they understand :

Referring to the government’s £80m package to retrain redundant workers and help them set up their own businesses, Turley said:“You can give them all the skills you want but if the jobs aren’t here, the jobs aren’t here. You can’t expect people to start up their businesses and do all these amazing small enterprises. We’re not a Manchester or a Leeds. Steel is absolutely fundamental to the future of the economy here.

"Turley refused to contemplate Redcar’s future without steel. “I’ve been wrestling with what does Redcar look like in 2020? What is the future? We’ve always known the steel works is vulnerable. We’ve got a lot of opportunities in tourism, in leisure, in developing the town. We should absolutely be putting our efforts into that. But you need a bridge. My feeling was always that we should be able to do the two.”

She cited the construction of the giant Dogger Bank windfarm 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast and the carbon capture plans, as examples of steel’s potential future viability. “It would be an absolute travesty that a windfarm built off the coast of Redcar is built with steel other than from Teesside,” she said.

“That is for me very symbolic of how you can shift from the old to the new and have a viable technological manufacturing industry going forward, with things like CCS, the wind turbines being built; linking up with Hitachi. There are opportunities there …. but if you lose [the steelworks] that’s the foundation really.”

'The Guardian'  hmpftk  should be retitled 'The Gosh'

The North Riding is Rising ... (back to devolution - ask anyone local - they want the Ridings back - (that includes Redcar btw)

Yep n I wager the East Riding is soooo not looking forward to this Tosh.

Hull City of Culture 2017: http://hull2017.co.uk/

Mortal Mindy's picture

NE - SSI - Thai Bank protects its Assets

Thankfully the Northern Echo are on the case:

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/news/13798601.Power_struggle_f...

Wot does it mean?

It means that the 'Bank' who holds 'first charge' over 'assets' owned by a  Co under 'administration'  as a Law of T'awd needs changing  ... it is outdated in the global economy !!! The Law needs changing to protect the UK's assets.

Oh, wot am I on about ...

"SSI had hoped to delay loan repayments of more than £400m to its lenders until the end of the year.

But with the firm’s liabilities now exceeding its total assets Siam Commercial, Krung Thai and TISCO banks have exercised their right to implement a financial plan which will see the firm enter into business rehabilitation with SSI’s Teeside operations acting as guarantor.

A financial advisor will be appointed and the banks will continue to provide cash to keep SSI from becoming insolvent.

SSI will need to repay debts over a six year period.

The move is part of plans by the lenders to protect their investments and prop up SSI in Thailand where its assets include a port and steel mill.

How this will impact on SSI’s UK is unclear at this stage but MPs fear it is a tactic to prevent the Redcar business from being put into administration.

Steel Minister Anna Soubry said that officials are investigating what this means and consequences for SSI UK."

The consequence should be that the UK can sieze the assets of the Thai Port and steel mill ... if only. (They is gonna strip the joint)

Bankers !!!! Tell 'em (Thai Bank)  to F-Off. Ohm Ohm Ohm ...

The Law is an Ass ... slow to change. But it needs changing - fast. Lightbulbs... Posession is 9/10th of the law ... SSI abandoned the site , didn't they? 

Moths not Moss : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PstrAfoMKlc

They need to establish what came first .. the loan or the occupant ...  a starting point :

On 24 March 2011, Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK Limited (“SSI UK”), which is a subsidiary of the Company, completed the acquisition of the SSI Teesside business (formerly known as Teesside Cast Products), from Tata Steel UK Limited, comprising of tangible assets for USD 684 million (Baht 20,487 million). The Company and SSI UK entered into several loan agreements to fund the acquisition and to support the revised restart plan. 

 

At the acquisition date, the Teesside plant had been mothballed since 2010. On 18 April 2012, SSI Teesside successfully restart the steel production although delay from the original target date. During 2012, global commodity prices in general declined significantly, and this has significantly affected the operations of the Company and Group. The completion of the acquisition, the delays of the restart date and the price movements significantly impacted the Group's liquidity and financial performance.

 

During 2012, (1) SSI UK obtained USD 75 million (Baht 2,312 million) of additional funding from Sahaviriya Inter Steel Holdings Limited (a related party) and USD 190 million (Baht 5,857 million) of additional funding from the Group’s bankers, USD 90 million capital expenditure loan for Blast Furnace and USD 100 million short-term loan, detailed in Note 12 and (2) the Company successfully offered and issued subordinated convertible debentures of Baht 2,250 million. In addition, the Group’s management announced the plan to increase the Company’s capital and implement the Comprehensive Financial Plan to strengthen the Group’s long-term financial sustainability. The plan consists of additional fund raising from its shareholders and other investors and amendment of the existing loan conditions to be consistent with the economic situation, industry and long-term business operations of the Group.

 

the Group has taken various actions to implement the above plan whereby:

 

(1)     in August 2012, the Company and SSI UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vanomet Group (“Vanomet”), wherein Vanomet agreed to invest in the Company and/or SSI UK with the total sum of up to USD 170 million in form of investment in share capital of the Company and providing trade facility to SSI UK and agree to extend part of principal repayment of SSI UK according to the cash flows forecast of SSI UK; .... blah blah blah was this panned?

Some bedtime reading : -/ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/11/contents/enacted

Administration: http://www.pwc.co.uk/services/business-recovery/administrations/brs-admi...

Mortal Mindy's picture

SSI - In Administration or not?

As MP's tell SSI to get out of the way ;-)

http://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/business-news/1751238/steel-firm-ssi-uk-g...

BBC latest :-) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-34437912

"Redcar Labour MP Anna Turley said the latest proposal "would pay for itself".

Businesses who are "very highly engaged with the plant... are willing to put in substantial amounts of their own money to keep it running", she said."

 

Capt. 'Bob''s picture

NE: Steel Crisis Explained

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/14406635.Steel__An_industry_du...

"As ministers struggle to get a grip on the steel crisis, The Northern Echo business team looks at the challenge to rescue one of Britain’s foundation industries

OF all the claims and conjecture about why the steel industry is in such trouble one fact cannot be denied – there is too much steel in the world, and that has been the case for some time.

Only two-thirds of the steel being produced is actually being used."

Capt. 'Bob''s picture

NE: Tees Valley Chiefs n Injuns

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/14435488.Tees_Valley_Combined_...

"Mr Lewis, who joins from Newcastle City Council, where he held the assistant chief executive role, will be integral, drawing upon previous experience of securing Government deals on funding and greater local powers."

"Bosses added his time at transport body, The Northern Way, will also be vital in strengthening connectivity across the region..."

Oh.  Who is the 'bosses'?

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/new-tees-valley-combined-auth...

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gatesheads-decision-...

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fil...

 

Capt. 'Bob''s picture

NE: China Steels the Show

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/14437194.Steel_crisis_talks_fa...

"... Asked what steps the Chinese government would take following this week's talks in Brussels, Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said: "China has already done more than enough. What more do you want us to do?

"Steel is the food of industry, the food of economic development. At present, the major problem is that countries that need food have a poor appetite so it looks like there's too much food."

China rejected suggestions that it subsidised its loss-making steel companies, and the meeting ended without any formal agreement...

"Earlier, China's official news agency said that blaming the country for the global steel industry's problems was a "lame and lazy excuse for protectionism".

Xinhua said in an English-language commentary piece: "Blaming other countries is always an easy, sure-fire way for politicians to whip up a storm over domestic economic woes, but finger-pointing and protectionism are counter-productive. The last thing the world needs is a trade war over this issue. Far more jobs will be lost than gained if protectionism prevails."

Sajid Javid .... (Sad Davs Sidekick ... Yada Yada Yada)  'Tools in a box'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDT5morBBu8

Baldrick ;-)

Captain Qahn's picture

'Artlepool ...

tis all appening in Hartlepool

"The business secretary said that EY had been appointed to act as financial advisers on behalf of the Government, which was "committed to doing all it can to ensure a sustainable future for the UK steel industry"."

EY? http://www.ey.com/UK/en/Industries/Government---Public-Sector

Ah, so .... tools

http://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/north-east/yo...

Tropical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YzW1nMB9fk

Nah. Niet. Non. Nicht. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-36079644

Mebbe.

Hmmmm ...   "... It is said to be unlucky for men to wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond owing to its long and bloody history. Some Indian and Pakistani visitors to the Tower of London hiss as they pass it - they want it returned to the Indian subcontinent, though to which country remains unclear."

Tourists.

Hmpftks : http://www.ey.com/UK/en/Issues/Business-environment/Financial-markets-an...

https://markgregoryeconomics.ey.com/2016/04/18/ey-item-club-spring-forec...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsXKS8Nyu8Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SXf9-Z3jwk

Captain Qahn's picture

Open Doors

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37449627

"Treasury minister Lord O'Neill, a key figure in pushing the Conservatives' Northern Powerhouse agenda, has resigned from the government.

The former Goldman Sachs boss, also a key advocate of the UK forging strong links with China, was commercial secretary for 18 months.

In his resignation letter, he said the case for global trade ties and English devolution was stronger than ever.

PM Theresa May said the peer had made a "significant contribution"."

https://www.gov.uk/government/people/jim-oneill

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2016-09-05.HL1501.h&s=speaker%3...

https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds

https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds/low-carbon-call-...

Boy does Chicago :-)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/23/george-osborne-brexit-w...

 

Captain Black's picture

Northern Hoochen the Moochen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-40972859

"...Ms Turley said: "This job will be a leading position overseeing the regeneration of the steelworks site, a big challenge that is crucial to bringing decent jobs to our area. Why on earth, then, is it based in London?

"It's a sick joke.

"We have a lot of talented people in our region with the knowledge and experience to take on a role like this."

She said the people working on the project need to be "here on the ground, not hidden away" in an office in London.

The steelworks closed in September 2015 with the loss of almost 3,000 jobs.

The key focus of the new job is to work with recently elected Tees Valley mayor Mr Houchen and other agencies to organise the future of the old steelworks site.

Mr Houchen told BBC Tees the job was at the central government end and needed to be in London to better liaise with the various departments.

He said Ms Turley's comments about the job showed "five or six different levels of ignorance" and he was "disappointed she hasn't educated herself on probably the most important project in her constituency".

The DCLG has been approached for comment."

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15074080.Cleveland_police_should_b...

https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2014/09/ben-houchen-say-it-lou...

A Houchen special eh :-))

Captain Qahn's picture

At Rainbows End

"On behalf of the Directors Team, I am pleased to be able to confirm that an appointment for the post of Commercial Director has been finalised.

Richard Bradley, who is currently Assistant Director of City Environment Services at Brighton and Hove City Council, will join the Scarborough Borough Council team on Monday 30 October.

We look forward to giving Richard a warm welcome when he makes the move from the south coast to the Yorkshire coast this autumn."

Ha Ha .. howling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e80qhyovOnA

Erm ...

http://www.apse.org.uk/apse/assets/File/Richard%20Bradley%20-%20Session%...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnanpZcnmnI

Captain Black's picture

Northern Marmite

Benefitz Betty's picture

The Stale & Pale

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/jayne-dowle-northern-powerh...

"I think we all know that it is about more than a few people turning up waving placards. It tells us a deeper truth about society in the North of England right now. On the one hand we have business people, civic leaders and aspiring politicos prepared to hand over hundreds of pounds in disposable income in exchange for a chicken dinner and a marginally interesting speech or two. On the other, we have families who literally cannot afford to buy a Christmas turkey from Lidl (other discount supermarkets are available)..."

"Why does a Britisher suddenly appear on the scene of the greatest environmental catastrophe in UK history hawking his wares and conspiracies?"

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/andrew-adonis-whole-cities-...

"a heart-rending article by Sarah O’Connor, who had immersed herself in Blackpool and reported on what GPs there called SLS or “s*** life syndrome” — deep poverty, pervasive drugs, obesity, anti-depressants and mental illness, in a large, isolated town exhibiting alarming signs of disintegration, including the largest encampment in Britain of children expelled from school.

It is euphemistically called a pupil referral unit. Even more euphemistically, it is run by an organisation called Educational Diversity, but it is basically a dumping ground for 330 children whom schools want nothing to do with. That is 330 who have been expelled from schools in one Northern town and sent to what is in many respects a giant training camp for the criminal justice system, in addition to hundreds excluded from school day by day for lower-level misbehaviour, who simply roam the streets.

Politicians who have had the misfortune to attend party conferences know why we stopped going to Blackpool. But for Blackpool today read also Hull, Grimsby, large parts of the North and the Midlands, and large towns in the South, including Hastings, Dover and Folkestone. Poor education is at the heart of this social crisis..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=57&v=HOtWqXl94RU

Cabinets &  Capital

Leeds AKA 'Gotham City' ;-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDl1c0nR5SI

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/how-many-mince-pies-does-it-take-to...

Euphemistically.

Benefitz Betty's picture

The Boat Less Paddled

"TEN years after the financial crash, centrist politics is clearly dead – which is one reason why the idea of a new centrist political party in the UK (and the existing Liberal Democrats) has struggled. Yet leaving things much as they are is clearly untenable.

Emmanuel Macron pulled off the curious feat of appearing to offer change in France through his personality rather than policies, but that’s not working out so well. And, after the disillusion created by Tony Blair, such an approach is unlikely to appeal to British voters.

So politics is going to change, and one of the ways it has to change is in demanding Britain become a democracy.

I’ve been hearing that everywhere from anti-fracking protection camps in the North and the Midlands, to the recent Leeds for Europe Great Northern Stop Brexit Convention, to the Future Resource Expo (a gathering of professionals and companies in environmental services).

Democracy means both introducing a fair voting system (when 68 per cent of votes in the last general election didn’t count, no wonder people are demanding we take back control), and genuine, locally determined devolution of power, ending the concentration of it in London.

One of the biggest cheers of the day in Leeds came when I called not just for genuine, Yorkshire-wide devolution, as the One Yorkshire campaign is calling for, but for a Yorkshire-wide Assembly, on the Welsh model, ensuring every community has a chance to have a say in self-government, rather than a single elected mayor. I’ve never heard such a level of enthusiasm about local government, and that’s no wonder.

As The Yorkshire Post regularly highlights, we are starved of funds in the North while London and the South East see infrastructure investment piled high, and as with fracking and greenbelt building, community concerns and decisions are overruled by distant minister or bureaucrat. Far too many of our communities are collectively clinging on by their fingernails, with economies unduly dependent on a tottering retail sector – underpinned by that unsustainable level of personal debt.

Support for an entire reconsideration of the way we create money – to take it out of the hands of the banks and ensure the money is directed into the real economy and real needs (such as slashing carbon emissions) – is growing in some unexpected quarters from the International Monetary Fund to the Financial Times.

Land Value Tax (another long-time Green Party policy) keeps popping up – an idea that Winston Churchill promoted to curb the unearned income of landowners beside Victorian railways is finally about to have its day.

Workers are demanding a real living wage – not George Osborne’s fake version – from McDonald’s to Wetherspoons, and the much-squeezed public sector to cycle couriers, they are getting together and demanding their share of the profits from their labours has to be enhanced, and fat cats and owners need to take out less.

And communities are demanding that multi-national companies pay their taxes to support the services and infrastructure that their profits depend on. If Amazon doesn’t pay for the roads its parcels need, the hospitals and schools for its customers and workers, then it is a parasite. And if allowed to continue, it will destroy its own foundations.

But what’s clearly not happened, and must, is the reining in of the financial sector and multi-national companies. Which is where we get back to the politics. Currently we get the politics 
they pay for – funding for political parties has to be reformed. And nationally, we 
get a media which is controlled by a handful of rightwing tycoons. That has 
to change too.

Talking change back in 2006, when I joined the Green Party before the financial crash, was difficult. Now, it is the people who are leading, and our political establishment is trailing far behind.

Forty years on from Margaret Thatcher, her ideas have clearly, comprehensively failed. New ones must take their place. And we must complete the work of the suffragettes in delivering a fully-elected parliament that reflects the views of the people, and which respects the rights, decisions and needs of all of the people of the UK.

That’s a big challenge, but that’s what the people are demanding. Economic and environmental justice, and democracy, are inextricably intertwined."

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/natalie-bennett-appetite-fo...

Inextricably.

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/my-advice-to-young-emig...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/24/americas-era-of-clim...

lol

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/21/i-follow-a-different-pers...

https://poestories.com/read/manofthecrowd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ediiw7pV2dM

 

Benefitz Betty's picture

Planet Dwarf

Beech lovers were celebrating on Monday after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case that threatened the public’s right to access across a mysterious region known as the N'Oorth.

“We are only just now uncovering what the very outer solar system might look like and what might be out there,” said Scout Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science.

Meanwhile,  Members of the North York Moors National Park Authority heard 220 hectares of woodland needed to be planted by 2022 - and the same amount again every three years for 100 years - in order to offset carbon emissions from the electricity usage of Sirius Minerals’ mine found in the outer solar system & Sneatonthorpe, near Whitby.

“I support the Coastal Act; I don’t want to weaken it by winning,” he said in August. “But property rights are even more important.”

"...while hunting for a hypothetical massive planet, known as Planet Nine, that is suspected to be in orbit far beyond Pluto in a mysterious region known as the the N'Oorth.

Under the agreement as part of planning permission for the mine, the authority is obliged to cover just under four per cent of the planet with trees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0vkKy504U

“No owner of private business should be forced to obtain a permit from the government before deciding who it wants to invite on to its property.

The meeting was told that while other woodland creation schemes were lengthy processes, the Sirius-funded scheme “landowners’ hands would be held every step of the way”.

Planet Nine has not yet been seen directly, but The Goblin appears to be under the gravitational influence of a giant unseen object, adding to astronomers’ certainty that it is out there.

He added while the trees needed to capture carbon, trees that could be used for timber or other benefits, such as apple trees, should be considered.

Officers said funding for the scheme was not “a bottomless pit” and the costs of smaller planting projects would be relatively higher, but the criteria may need to change in order to maintain the target of 700 hectares a year.

“The most conservative and divided supreme court in my lifetime confirmed that even a billionaire, who refuses to acknowledge that the law applies to him, and retains the most expensive attorneys he can find, cannot create a private breach.”

“I think there is a huge opportunity we are missing. Much of the biodiversity is not in the middle of the forest or in the middle of a farm, it is between the two. There is a lot of people in the national park that would love to plant a hectare of woodland and I think that would enhance the landscape.”

The newly discovered icy world, estimated to be just 300km across, is in an extremely elongated orbit. At its closest, it gets about two and a half times as far from the sun as Pluto. Then it heads off to the outermost fringes of the solar system, to almost 60 times further out than Pluto, taking an astounding 40,000 years to loop once around the sun. For 99% of its orbit, it would be too faint to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh8u59A54So

They added they did not have lists of species that could be planted and the scheme would be run on a case by case basis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Krb8hFCq8Q

"Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician and mathematician and physicist who lived from 1642-1727. The legend is that Newton discovered Gravity when he saw a falling apple while thinking about the forces of nature."

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNoZtIPWpyE

Night Night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVe72eMY_pk

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/technology/vinod-khosla-beach.html