An article in a local free magazine(surprisingly)....
" You don`t need to look far beyond your bank app to know there is a housing crisis. You may be spending some eye-watering proportion of your income on rent or mortgage repayments, or, if you`re lucky, you`re looking at your account swell with rent payments you`re collecting.
Homelessness is everywhere, and local authorities are buckling under the pressure of a statutory duty to house their people while their income is squeezed.
What is the proposed solution? "Build, baby, build!" The Labour government has undertaken to build 1.5 million homes over five years. As if the problem were amenable to one of those benign, O-Level market mechanisms of supply/demand.
"I mean," Alf Garnett might holler, "It stands to reason, innit?"
Well, it don`t Alf. Sorry!
One startling fact is that Britain has a massive housing surplus! At least we have a higher ratio of bedrooms to population than ever before. A housing shortage is not exactly our problem.
So why have the costs gone up so high and why so much homelessness? You might agree with Nick Bano " that the problem is the dismantling of post-war rent controls and council housing alongside the creation of `assured shorthold tenancies`, which together with housing benefit have ratcheted up rents and transferred wealth from the public purse to private landlords at jaw-dropping rates. (Housing benefit accounts for more than £23 billion a year- dwarfing the budget of most government departments.Or you might agree with Gary Stevenson that the problem can be attributed to our society`s accelerating inequality that transfers wealth from the many to the few who have nothing to spend it on (having already filled their bellies and wardrobes and more) besides buying assets - shares, gold, and housing, inflating their prices.
Either way, it`s clear that building more houses alone will not solve the problem. The regime that encourages landlordism means that more housing gives more opportunities to `rinse` renters and offers the rich more opportunities to invest for guaranteed returns. Who else benefits? The developers. All these powerful interests make their voices heard in the lugholes of power.
And thus, ladies and gentlemen, we out here in the suburbs are facing plans to plant incongruous, high-rise, high-density blocks on top of tube stations, in town centres, and on Green Belt, which threaten to alter forever the environs of our communal lives. It will, make no mistake, also alter the way we feel, and the way we interact with each other in our public places. The dislocation this represents is not measurable and not easily overcome.
What to do? People are mobilising. A meeting to discuss the North Finchley plans took place last night where more than double the number expected showed up (I estimate 100 people came) to protest this wanton despoliation of our communities. I know it`s a rear-guard action but, until the next election, resistance is the only means left to us to prevent the misguided abominations being enacted in our neighbourhoods. " author AM Poppy
Krista L @KristaLonsdale
East Barnet
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First-an environmentalist because there is no Plan(et) B. Second -a gardener.Third-cat lover, Fourth -lover of unusual genres of music.
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Posted in: Anything Friendly Helpful or Interesting
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From a FB post by Paul Eisenstein I’ve seldom seen anyone so succinctly identify what Trump’s appeal is to so many Americans. His niece summed up the fact that he hasn’t a single redeeming human value. Here Robert Lee White nails the fact that this is precisely why he won two elections and, the worse his rule the more his appeal to millions of Americans. I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016, and this second time in 2024 given how emotionally toxic and depraved he is. I no longer do. I actually think he won, for that precise reason. Because he had fucked-up parts to mirror the fucked-up parts of millions of voters. If you are a racist, you found your guy. If you are a misogynist, you found your guy. If all you care about is money, you found your guy. If you have an emotionally armored heart, you found your guy. If you make fun of disabled people, you found your guy. If you hate intelligent people, you found your guy. If you are a rapist, you found your guy. If you like golden showers with Russian sex-workers, you found your guy. If you have not done a stitch of work on your emotional issues, you found your guy. If you are a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you are a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you don’t pay people for their honest work, you found your guy. If you are a hustler and a conman, you found your guy. If you mock people’s physical appearances, you found your guy. If you long for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you are dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you are unconscionable in all your economic dealings, you found your guy. If you lie day and night, you found your guy. If you have never eaten green vegetables, you found your guy. If you are a white supremacist, you found your guy. If you have a hole in your ego so big that not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you are a sociopath, and care not one iota about other humans, you found your guy. If you... If he only had two of these issues, he never would have won. It was the fact that he had hundreds of them, that made him the winner. Because millions of humans are toxic. So they could relate to him, in one form or another. It's never been about trump. It's always been about the people who finally have their twisted feelings about others validated. trump has given "those people" permission to disparage and hate their fellow human beings. Trump is only symptomatic of a much larger issue of a collective toxicity. If there is a single sentence that characterizes trump it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That may be what is so terrifying. Who knew that so many tens of millions of Americans were thinking unconscionable things about their fellow Americans? Who knew that tens of millions men felt so emasculated by women and challenged by minorities? Who knew that after years of seeming progress on race and gender, tens of millions of white Americans lived in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to arrive who would legitimize their worst selves and channel them into political power? -
Posted in: I.T. Non-Techie help, information and tips
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Posted in: I.T. Non-Techie help, information and tips
Didn`t used to have a problem but recently I can`t view when post on SL. The link works and I briefly see the video is there but it`s interupted by a pop-up(clearly Tik-Tok produced not an advert) obscuring the video & asking my interests. Play along and you just get to the next page of the pop-up asking you to sign up or login. No way I can see to get past it.Any ideas? -
Posted in: Anything Friendly Helpful or Interesting
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Britain is facing a demographic crisis that cannot be wished away. Birth rates have fallen to their lowest levels on record, with women in England and Wales now having on average just 1.41 children. In Scotland the figure is even lower at 1.25. To maintain a stable population, the so-called “replacement rate” is 2.1. Britain has been below that threshold for more than fifty years. The only reason our population is not in steep decline is immigration. More women living here, including those born abroad, means more children are being born, offsetting the historic fall in fertility among British-born mothers. Last year, more than a third of all babies born in England and Wales had mothers who were born outside the UK. In Luton, the town with the highest fertility rate in the country, that figure is seven in ten. Without immigration, Britain’s population would already be shrinking. This is not just a question of numbers, it is about the future of our economy and society. Fewer young people means fewer workers to support an ageing population. Pensioners live longer, draw more from the state, and rely heavily on the NHS, yet there are fewer people of working age to pay the taxes that sustain them. Demographic experts warn that the burden on today’s workforce will only increase unless we replenish the population with new generations. Other countries are showing what happens when immigration is embraced rather than feared. Spain’s recent economic success is being driven in large part by a progressive immigration policy. Migrants there have helped to reverse demographic decline, filled labour shortages, and powered GDP growth. According to the Bank of Spain, immigration contributed to around a quarter of the growth in GDP per capita between 2022 and 2024. Since 2019, migrants have filled about 70 percent of new jobs created. They are working in key sectors like tourism, construction and care, boosting demand, creating employment, and funding welfare systems. Combined with investments in green energy and labour market reforms, immigration has turned Spain from a transit country into one of Europe’s economic success stories. It is a model Britain would do well to study. That is where immigration matters most. Refugees and migrants who come to Britain are often young, fit and ready to work. Many go on to become doctors, nurses and care workers, filling shortages in vital services like the NHS. Others contribute to industries facing a serious lack of workers, from hospitality and construction to logistics and agriculture. Their children grow up as part of our communities, and they are the ones who will keep our economy alive as the native birth rate continues to fall. The truth is that immigration is not a burden, it is a necessity. It sustains our population, strengthens our workforce, and ensures that Britain does not age into decline. Those who attack refugees and migrants as a threat to this country have it backwards. Without them, Britain will not have the workers, the carers or the taxpayers needed to look after its own people. Immigration is not just about compassion, though that is reason enough. It is about securing Britain’s future. It is about recognising that this country has always been renewed by those who arrive here seeking a better life. To turn our backs on that now would not only betray our values, it would undermine the very foundations of our economy. Britain needs immigration, and it needs refugees, because they are part of the solution to the challenges we face today. -
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A fascinating study from MIT in 1972 predicted societal collapse by 2040, and new analysis shows we are still on track. In our current system design, which is self-terminating, this totally makes sense. MIT researchers published 'The Limits to Growth' utilizing the World3 computer model. The model predicted that ongoing unchecked economic and extraction driven markets would likely lead to a collapse of industrial civilization in this century. Recent validation of that original model by Gaya Herrington, a director at KPMG, whose 2020 study found that modern real-world data closely align with the book’s “business-as-usual” trajectory. According to her findings, if current trends continue without major systemic change, global economic decline could begin within this decade and possibly result in societal collapse around 2040. A more recent recalibrations of the World3 model reaffirm this trajectory, reinforcing the urgency of reconsidering our growth-oriented systems. Since 2009, we have been calling for a focus on total system re-design with our work. For years, this was ridiculed. But here we are 16 years later, and more and more people are realizing what truly needs to be done. To us, that is changing the conversation from making change entirely through our existing systems, to thinking in greater complexity about what is truly driving the results we currently have. It's not one political party or another, it's not Trump or Biden/Harris, it's the system design itself. -
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Dale Vince(From his FB page) Labour’s 1.5m new home target is vital but we don’t need new planning laws to achieve it. Bats and newts are not the blockers - property developers are. There are 1.4m homes consented and waiting to be built in Britain right now - why?. Property developers operate like the oil and gas cartel OPEC - which restricts supply to keep the global price of fossil fuels high - exactly the same is happening in house building. We need to end it. Here’s how - charge local authority rates on land with permission for new homes - as if those homes have been built. This will impose a significant cost on land banking (which is currently free) - and incentivise building. What’s the point of tearing up environmental protections, to consent more homes that developers can simply add to their land bank. The rules we need to change are ones that will get more homes built - not consented. Planning rules are fine (1.4m homes consented says so) we need changes that will oblige building. Make the developers build or pay. And they will surely build. Dale Vince https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/04/labour-mps-poised-to-rebel-over-planning-bill-amid-concerns-for-nature?fbclid=IwY2xjawKznWRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFOamdwOEgzNFRoTHFOUHBlAR4Qhwk268KUyskj41klkabaaM7BEr5SPrPldSWQnYSBBnIE135kkjfFfontjA_aem_AWi0K2JN6_Nbf017mTDwhw -
Posted in: Save The Planet
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr1qr9796o?at_campaign=crm&at_medium=emails&at_campaign_type=owned&at_objective=conversion&at_ptr_name=salesforce&at_ptr_type=media&at_creation=[87759_PANUK_DIV_22_NEW_PoliticsEssential230_RET_COHORT]-20250530-[bbcnews_willanyonemissacouncilfloodcommittee_newsengland] -
Posted in: Anything Friendly Helpful or Interesting
Most of you can ignore this. But do comment if you have any ideas!! I joined the group and may have even replied to 1-2 posts initially. But now it will neither let me comment nor even react. It says I must join first, despite there being an option on the left in case I want to leave the group.🙄 We are trying to work our what`s going on. To that end I`m seeing if I can submit a post -
Posted in: Save The Planet
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/22/activate-climate-silent-majority-support-supercharge-action?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other Quotes from the article.. 1)The global average of those willing to contribute 1% of their income was 69%. 2) People in China, the world’s biggest polluter, were among the most concerned, with 97% saying its government should do more to fight climate and evenb in the US it`s as high as 74% 3)Politicians suffer from serious misperceptions. In the US, almost 80% of congressional staffers underestimated people’s support for limits on carbon emissions. 4)Perception gaps can have real consequences – they could mean that climate policies are not as ambitious as the public sentiment. 5)Substantial evidence exists that correcting mistaken beliefs about the views of others can change people’s views on many subjects, from opinions on immigrants to environmental topics. This is because people are instinctively drawn to majority views and are more likely to do something if they think others are doing it too. -
Posted in: Save The Planet
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-04-20/renewables-rollout-making-uk-electricity-supply-more-british-analysis-finds?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ17yxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFOamdwOEgzNFRoTHFOUHBlAR4akA2OQitW84rqzNtqalFnfxLqeLyrEctNFamLmn6W-nFEX0eXHtxorCHsaQ_aem_vKnwSy9oubG8Y9WrDwaSDg Useful article when climate deniers and "we can`t afford to be green"ers on here and elsewhere start whingeing. -
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I confess to not having seen any news yesterday but has anyone seen this on any news? Maybe finallly the Americans are starting to coimplain about Trump`s actions. Maybe those rumblings I`ve mentioned on a coupla posts are turning into something? I bloody hope so. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz79ewg193ro -
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He didn`t invent Tesla ,he bought it. He didn`t invent SpaceX, he bought it. He didn`t invent Starlink he bought it. Obvs he didn`t invent X, he bought Twitter. Looks like he bought Trump too. I dunno why but I always thought he invented at least some of this? And he was born into a wealthy family so he didn`t even have to be clever to do that. -
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Posted in: Carers and Caring
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I hope it applies to Local Authorities too,mould is found in LA accommodation too. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70k7kr5rjjo?at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_ptr_name=facebook_page&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_medium=social&at_link_id=F5C88E3C-E4C8-11EF-9B20-9F66D39E6E53&at_format=link&at_link_origin=BBC_News&at_link_type=web_link&at_campaign_type=owned&fbclid=IwY2xjawIUT_5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYDIPI9QCGIFrwMzE_RyZ2-hOwnssrchY4xwGDHwCH92nA4bBSm7U9ds6A_aem_RbYGTiAh7qNuO_RCeztljA -
Posted in: Save The Planet
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Posted in: Scooploop Tech Support
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Posted in: Anything !
Further to a couple of of posts about Musk and other super-rich interfering in the democratic process... Obviously we aren`t the only ones to question it, but so far no ones done anything. Maybe that`s about to end. https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/australia-moves-to-ban-billionaires-from-buying-elections-387027/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHL2CZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHaFPI_fIltaER9YUzRVWRP9H5d-FBEvmht_H8K5zBVCcdxd1n8vxXkIvGA_aem_G7bMq0yuji_oc3YgjKBYVg -
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Posted in: Current Affairs and Politics
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Posted in: Save The Planet
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Posted in: Current Affairs and Politics
`Clarkson claimed today that he only wrote about buying a farm for tax reasons (see 11.20am) because he did not want to admit the real reason. Asked about the past comment, he told PA Media: "That’s actually quite funny because the real reason I bought the farm was because I wanted to shoot, so I thought if I told a bunch of people that I bought a farm so I could shoot pheasants it might look bad.🤣 So, I thought I better come up with another excuse, so I said inheritance tax. I actually didn’t know about inheritance tax until after I bought it. I didn’t mind, obviously, but the real reason I bought it is because I wanted to shoot."` Farge and Clarkson have become self-styled spokesmen for the Farms and Inheritance tax issue.🤣 Not that I don`t have any concerns about the issue,I do, but they are the last people they want for their spokesmen-they are neither of them (real) Farmers! -
Posted in: Save The Planet
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Posted in: Save The Planet
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Scoop Loop vanished for 2 days!! No notification, emails, not able to go to it via Google, didn`t even come up in Google results at one point and even when it did it wouldn`t connect; kept timing out. And now notifications have returned there`s only 6 posts!? so you lot must have experienced it too because you can produce over 50 posts overnight sometimes! -
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