Member Info for BlueGlow

Tro, nom,

Sure the West NATO are bigger, but only if they commit.

Reports i have read recently suggest Russia has the upper hand, are gaining territory, and as we know - now have N. Korea as cannon fodder too.

To me, it doesn't look as though we even have a plan.

If the plan is to wait for the total financial collapse of Russia, irrespective of the toll on Ukraine, Putin is going to be at his most dangerous, and liable to do something extreme in such circumstances.

The Wests approach so far has been to provide Ukraine with just enough to survive.

Time and again Zelensky has said "what are you waiting for" with reference to military support, whilst the West has dithered over sending one type of tank or another, which rockets would be acceptable, or the manner in which they might be used.

Sanctions have been too slow, not especially thorough, and frequently circumvented.

It's as though the West have been content to allow the conflict to continue indefinitely, casualties to mount, and Ukraine to suffer, rather than make a decision.

I dont know how the West intend to "win" the war, or if there is any plan to do so anymore, stalemate isn't peace.

If as Sean Bell suggests - "Russia is the bigger party and in a war of attrition, it will gradually win." then what are we doing.

From Sky news:

Our military analyst Sean Bell believes the US election result has seen Russia make a "last push" in anticipation of Trump's inauguration in January.

"His folks are now saying it's more of a focus on how to bring the war to an end than an argument about territory, which is fundamentally a different approach than the West has taken so far," he says.

"The problem of course is that as time has gone by, the Russians have increased their activity relentless. They are taking massive casualties but they seem to be making a last push in anticipation of the January inauguration."

He adds that there is an expectation that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be prepared to start talking to Trump about bringing the war to an end.

He says that the West has provided a "huge amount" of weapons, equipment and training to Ukraine but the front lines in the conflict haven't moved much.

"Russia is the bigger party and in a war of attrition, it will gradually win. If Trump genuinely believes that he can bring this war to a close, he's got to negotiate with Putin," he adds.

"Therefore, Putin has to be incentivised to bring the war to an end. Given he is on the front foot at the moment, why would he?

"It does seem possible that Trump could threaten to escalate military support for Ukraine. He might talk about easing sanctions."

- Typo, Fine Gael.

Am blaming the OP, lol.

Fina Gael:

"Climate change is a threat to all of us and our way of life. We all recognise the need to take urgent action.

Fine Gael is driving action at national and local level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve our natural environment. This will give us cleaner air, warmer homes, shorter commutes, and a better quality of life, while preventing catastrophic climate change.

Top 5 Actions by 2030:

We are changing our electricity system, less coal, oil and gas and more renewables (increase the proportion of renewable electricity to up to 80% by 2030).

We investing in our transport systems (500,000 extra walking, cycling and public transport journeys per day by 2030, electric vehicle rollout and roll-out of rural public transport through Connecting Ireland).

Changing our heating systems in our homes (Heat pumps). Helping over 500,000 people insulate their homes or change their heating systems.

Land use, investing in forestry and rewetting and restoring our bogs.

Making agriculture and our food systems more sustainable, working with farmers in our crucial beef and dairy sectors to reduce emissions while maintaining production levels."

"Asda boss Stuart Rose:

One of Britain's leading businessmen has warned that Rachel Reeves's 'very, very damaging' Budget will push up prices and hit jobs and pay.

Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer who runs Asda, said the Chancellor's tax raid on employers would cost it £100million next year.

Rose's views echo similar remarks from the heads of M&S, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Primark this week."

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-14060441/Asda-boss-Stuart-Rose-brands-Budget-damaging.html

"Shares in UK retailers fall as sector counts cost of NICs tax rise:

Marks & Spencer (-4.5%), JD Sports (-2.7%) and Tesco (-2.5%) are all among the fallers on the FTSE 100 today, pulling it down to a three-month low.

On the smaller FTSE 250 index, bakery chain Greggs (-6.8%) and pub group Mitchells & Butler (-6.7%) are also weakening.

Companies across the economy have been adding up the cost of Rachel Reeves’s decision."

TIG, big drop after results. Looks like an insider got a tip-off ahead of news.

"Russia and Ukraine have carried out their largest drone attacks against each other since the start of the war.

Russia's defence ministry said it intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including some approaching Moscow, which forced flights to be diverted from three of the capital's major airports."

Hey nom,

I didnt mean to sound combatative.

I just took a look at the article and noticed that section, and yeah, the headline is somewhat misleading irrespective.

That information is contained within the article kenny linked to, and in plenty of detail too:

"This 1984 protocol stipulates that only the leaders at Westminster of parties which had won - and taken up - six or more seats at the preceding General Election should lay Wreaths.

Separately, the SNP and Plaid Cymru have an agreement that they lay a joint wreath, with the SNP laying their wreath on behalf of both parties this year.

The addendum to the 1984 protocol is as follows: "To ensure all four constituent parts of the UK can always be represented, the party with the most sitting MPs from each of the devolved nations should be given the opportunity to lay a wreath (including if that party has fewer than six seats)."

Farmers next for the chop, then we can just buy all our food from abroad too, lol.

Hi dai2belts,

Yeah, flexible labour market is a strength, but too much cheap labour can become detrimental in some sectors, reducing the necessity to innovate and improve productivity.

Politicians just frame the discussion as pro or anti "foreigner", and ignore the economy as usual.

Tro,

Yeah agree, Uk hasn't had any serious investment in useful infrastructure under Cons or Lab for goodness knows how long.

Plus we seem averse to making things now because those industries are usually polluting or energy intensive, so we buy from abroad instead.

Hi dai2belts,

O&G:

"In the recent Budget, Labour raised the levy to 38% - meaning the total tax rate on the companies is now 78%"

The consequence:

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/562622/apache-to-cease-north-sea-production-by-2030-due-to-windfall-tax/

Less tax.

Tro,

Productivity here is just terrible.

Germany and France are both 20% higher, The USA, almost 40%!

With that sort of productivity we could reduce tax substantially and improve services.

Shipping in people is usually cheaper than upskilling / mechanisation / innovation and tech, but lowers productivity.

Hey kenny,

We dont necessarily need higher taxes to increases the tax take.

Just need a Gov focused on the economy, prioritising profitable industry above its ideological beliefs.

For instance, we are shutting down O&G production here, choosing to import the stuff from abroad instead. The upshot is we lose the tax take - but still use the Gas.

Hey nom,

Yeah, I broadly agree with your points.

Personaly feel we perhaps need to find a better balance, which must include higher productivity and output per head, otherwise we either run out of people to import, space, or the resources to support them.

The model we have now doesn't work, making it bigger doesn't fix that issue, if anything it makes it worse.

Nine boats carrying 572 people discovered crossing Channel !

Total number of arrivals by small boats reaches 32,691 this year, up 22%, according to the Home Office.

"North Sea operator Apache (NYSE:APA) has said it will cease operations in the UK by the end of 2029, blaming the impact of the windfall tax.

"In the recent Budget, Labour raised the levy to 38% - meaning the total tax rate on the companies is now 78%"

The American firm, now known as APA Corporation, said confirmation of changes to the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) in the recent budget meant it could not continue to invest in its North Sea assets.

“The Company determined the expected returns do not economically support making investments required under the combined impact of the regulations, and it will cease production at its facilities in the North Sea prior to 2030,” Apache said."

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/562622/apache-to-cease-north-sea-production-by-2030-due-to-windfall-tax/