No mighty oaks from these little acorns grow

UK government wants Acorn carbon capture and storage project success – minister

The UK Government wants to see the Acorn carbon capture and storage project succeed, a UK minister has said, after concerns were raised about the way it is being funded.

The project in Aberdeenshire was due to receive £200 million in grant funding from the UK Government, but Chancellor John Healey changed the commitment to mean the UK Government would offer the same amount in loans or receive an equity stake in the project.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has said he was “deeply concerned” about changes to the funding mechanism.

Acorn, which could support about 15,000 jobs at its peak, proposes storing emissions from across Scotland under the seabed of the North Sea.


Hence, too, might be drawn a weighty lesson from the little-regarded truth, that the act of the passing generation is the germ which may and must produce good or evil fruit in a far-distant time; that, together with the seed of the merely temporary crop, which mortals term expediency, they inevitably sow the acorns of a more enduring growth, which may darkly overshadow their posterity.

Nathaniel Hawthorne - The House of the Seven Gables (1851)

'It wasn't me' says Reeves

Brexit has made Britain poorer and weaker, Reeves says

Rachel Reeves has said she believes Britain should rejoin the European Union as she warned Brexit has made the country “poorer, weaker and less secure”.

The former chancellor voiced her support for Andy Burnham’s move to open the door to negotiations with Brussels as she said she “welcomed” his decision.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Ms Reeves said she accepted there was a “debate to be had” about the UK’s future in the EU, but that she believes the country’s future ultimately lies within the bloc.


Ousted political actors who performed as poorly as Reeves and in such a prominent role might gather back some shreds of dignity by leaving the stage completely.

Not something Rachel from Accounts wants apparently.

Outer Hebrides Broadcasting Corporation

 

A world-first focus v New spending fights

A world-first focus on long-term outcomes could transform UK government – or create new spending fights

The idea in the broad sense is very simple. Any spending deemed to be “preventative” – that is, the initial outlay will be more than made up for by future savings – will from now on be ringfenced, meaning it cannot be raided for more immediate needs...

But now, starting from the upcoming spending review, which kicks off next year, projects that can be shown to bring down costs in the future will be protected via a new piece of jargon – a preventative departmental expenditure limit, or PDEL.

“It could end up being quite a major change in how the government runs spending reviews, and the entire spending framework,” said Stuart Hoddinott, at the Institute for Government thinktank, which had called for such a system to be implemented. Officials in the Treasury agree, with one calling it an “important reform”.

That is, however, about as straightforward as it gets. The budget document uses Andy Burnham’s new spending to prevent rough sleeping as an example of the sort of thing that would qualify. A few other areas would seem likely: for example, public health programmes to prevent future illness, and Sure Start-type early years schemes.

But beyond that, no one really knows what might or might not qualify for PDEL status. Departments say they are waiting for Treasury guidance, which has not yet been drawn up. “A lot depends on the definition,” Hoddinott said. “While it sounds simple, it becomes quite difficult when you think about how it will work in practice, as you could make any argument that almost all types of spending are preventative.”

It's the instantly obvious observation - "you could make any argument that almost all types of spending are preventative.” 

New spending fights would be my bet, but I wouldn't get worthwhile odds on it.

Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Live Here

 

Found on the doormat this morning, a depressing leaflet from that Burnham chap. 

Maybe it's a reminder that Guy Fawkes Night will be here soon.

It's certainly a reminder.

Is The Lancet a public health problem?

Manosphere must be treated as public health problem like smoking

Academics have called for the so-called manosphere to be treated as a public health problem, with the harms it causes online confronted in the same way as those created by the tobacco industry.

The manosphere, according to the authors of a new report, is “a diffuse commercial ecosystem and loose collection of online communities united by shared beliefs about masculinity, misogyny and male victimisation”.

The movement centres on a so-called crisis of masculinity and a shared conviction that feminism has systematically disadvantaged men, they said...

The report, published in The Lancet, stated: “Similar to the tobacco and ultra-processed food industries, content creators and hosting platforms deploy strategies that individualise responsibility.

Can-Kicker Constantly Kicks Cans

 

What do I care? I lie more often than I tell the truth. I have a sort of pride in it. If a man is to be a liar, let him be a thorough one.

George Gissing – The Emancipated (1890)

Burnham admits budget was not radical enough

Andy Burnham has admitted that his first Budget was not radical enough.

The Prime Minister said John Healey’s maiden fiscal plan on Wednesday had not included many of the measures the pair had wanted to take...

He came to office in July with a pledge to reverse “four decades of neoliberalism” and significantly increase state intervention in the markets...

The Chancellor also made no cuts to welfare in his Budget, despite predictions that benefits spending was set to jump by almost 30 per cent to £431bn by 2032.

Wes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, said on Friday that Labour must cut the benefits bill slowly to avoid another party revolt, after days of Treasury chaos over reducing welfare.