Classy

Angela Rayner aims ‘pint-sized loser’ jibe at Rishi Sunak during PMQs

Angela Rayner labelled Rishi Sunak a “pint-sized loser” after urging the Conservatives to stop “obsessing” about her living arrangements.

Labour’s deputy leader also accused Oliver Dowden of having “stabbed” the Tories’ “biggest election winner” Boris Johnson in the back in order to get his “mate into No 10”.

Prestigious

Artist who covered a car with a doily up for Turner Prize

The shortlist for 2024’s Turner Prize has been announced and includes Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur who covered a red sports car with an ornamental doily mat.

Manilla-born Pio Abad, Manchester-born Claudette Johnson, Glasgow-born Kaur and Worthing-born Delaine Le Bas have been nominated in the prize’s 40th anniversary as the prestigious art event returns to London’s Tate Britain for the first time in six years.

The artists are competing for £25,000, while those shortlisted will be awarded £10,000.

It's an extremely large doily, so maybe that makes a statement. 

It's still mildly surprising that anyone enters this competition. Being artistically naïve I'd expect other artists to snigger at the winner to such an extent that it would be a significant career setback. Something to miss off the CV perhaps, but apparently not.

Must be the moolah.

Ban, mandate, tax, subsidise or give a speech

Robert Colvile has a useful CAPX piece on the dead hand of regulation.


Why Britain needs a regulation revolution

There have been many academic theses written about the powers and role of government. But perhaps the neatest summary comes from an anonymous minister, quoted by former civil servant Tim Leunig.

They would explain to stakeholders begging for intervention that ultimately, there were five things they could do: ban something, mandate something, tax something, subsidise something, or give a speech about something. And of those, only the first four actually did anything.


The whole piece is well worth reading as a reminder that when it comes to cutting stifling regulations the Conservatives have achieved nothing and a Labour government is virtually certain to achieve less than that. Starmer believes in regulation, his party knows nothing else. 


Getting a handle on regulation isn’t a party-political issue. You can believe that some new regulations, or even many new regulations, are good and necessary. But even then, you should surely also want to know how much they cost, and whether they are actually working as you intended.

Regulation is arguably the least scrutinised part of government. But it may well be the most important. At the moment, Government too often sees imposing costs on business as a pain-free solution. Unless that changes, we can kiss goodbye to any hope of growth.

Once I dipt into the future

Weather maps reveal when four-day 'mini-heatwave' to bring balmy 19C highs to UK

A four-day spell of hot weather is set to bring balmy highs of 19C to the UK next week. Brits will soon enjoy warmer weather, with the mercury anticipated to rise across many parts of the country.

Weather maps from WX Charts indicate it will start to heat up as we approach the early May bank holiday. It comes after heavy downpours and harsh winds have been sweeping Britain lately.

There will be highs of 17C on Thursday, May 2. The Midlands is predicted to see between 15C and 16C, while the south of the country could feel the warmest of the weather.


There seems to be a widespread editorial policy of slipping in words such as 'hot', 'heat' or 'heating' into UK weather stories where the weather isn't undeniably cold. Those huge fans we see all over the countryside must be something to do with official cooling policy.

Weather
Once I dipt into the future far as human eye could see,
And I saw the Chief Forecaster, dead as any one can be--
Dead and damned and shut in Hades as a liar from his birth,
With a record of unreason seldome paralleled on earth.
While I looked he reared him solemnly, that incandescent youth,
From the coals that he'd preferred to the advantages of truth.
He cast his eyes about him and above him; then he wrote
On a slab of thin asbestos what I venture here to quote--
For I read it in the rose-light of the everlasting glow:
"Cloudy; variable winds, with local showers; cooler; snow."
Ambrose Bierce

It's Pudding Lane again - and big iguanas

How climate change will transform London: a guide to the city in 10, 50 and 100 years

One summer day two years ago, a compost heap in Wennington, East London, spontaneously caught fire. It was July 19, 2022, the hottest day since British records began, with temperatures pushing 40°C across the capital, the flames spreading quickly along a garden fence. Firefighters struggled to keep up: one told LBC: “It felt apocalyptic… we had no chance of stopping it”, as the blaze reached homes nearby. One resident said her house burned down within two minutes. Locals took shelter in nearby St Mary and St Peter's Church, which became filled with smoke. Luckily, no one died, but 19 houses were destroyed...

Climate change author Jeff Goodell...

A century is a long time off – so there are all sorts of things we can’t predict. What we do know is that almost everything is likely to change, from politics to pets. Goodell says it’s likely that “cuddly” animals, like cats and dogs, will struggle in the heat, and wonders if there could be a change in our favourite animals. “I think everybody will have big iguanas,” he says.

Reality way behind target

Heat pumps way behind target as experts say high prices put people off

Heat pump installations have failed to meet Government targets for the second year in a row, with critics saying high prices are still putting consumers off.

The Government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) gives grants of up to £7,500 to households for fitting a heat pump to their property.

The latest figures show that the scheme paid out £88.8million in 2023/24, against a budget of £150million. Last year the BUS paid out £51million.

It's experts again. What does a chap say about statements such as "experts say high prices put people off"? 

As loons drag us over the cliff which was supposedly reserved for lemmings, this blogging lark becomes more and more difficult. It's no good merely describing the behaviour of loons as loony.

'If this case stands we're all in danger'

Anyone paying attention will know that Trump's current legal entanglements are political, but Alan Dershowitz gives a good summary of the  'hush money' trial with a few hints about the UK situation.