Automotive writer since 1993. Won a few awards and built a few houses.
Midhurst, England
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The truth is, after the 27th season of Real Hollywood Royalty it just became *too* much. Isn't that right David?
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Another thing that strikes me about this is that he is really impressed that he visited these places and met these people. Rather than thinking he is the King of the world. Counterintuitive to his image.
Wow, such nice remarks from The President-Elect regarding HM The King, HM The Queen and HLM Queen Elizabeth II.
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The Unionised drivers are refusing to turn up. You ain't fixing that. Especially when you gave them a pay rise so big they no longer need overtime.
Chaos at Euston again and across the railways this weekend.
Sorting this mess out needs to be a top-level priority for the Government in 2025 - starting on day one in the New Year.
People are truly fed up with it and it is damaging the economy.
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As a fleeing Balkans refugee told me, 'once they have enough numbers, they want everything changed to their way'.
Tahir Ali MP: "will the Prime Minister commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions"
Alarmingly Keir Starmer's response is not a flat out refusal. Blasphemy laws have no place in the UK.
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Father sadly on final approach. In Blackburn hospital. They lost his hat, coat and specs and left him dressed in a thin operating gown, no socks, no dressing gown. The usual mediocre arrogance from the national religion.
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I can fix this. Drop the nursing degree. Lots of able young who can't deal with essays but can hold my father's hand in his last hour. What's more important?
Britain has a shortage of 50,000 nurses and is entirely unprepared for a crisis of demographic ageing.
Our entire political class is wholly unserious.
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They actually spell out the massive stupidity in the tweet. £2.9m to save 15k. All of it on the taxpayer.
BIG NEWS: 38 schools across London are getting funding for solar panels and heat pumps thanks to @MayorofLondon’s Greener Schools Fund.
£2.9m invested to cut bills by up to £15k - backing our schools and building a fairer, greener city for everyone.
➡️ bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgn…
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She's literally never had a proper job. Two years in the local council, then worked at her mother's charity. Then an MP.
Labour’s Bridget Phillipson: ‘I will help working-class pupils defy the odds to succeed – just as I did’ theguardian.com/politics/art…
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'Odds'. Went to Oxbridge. Mother ran a charity.
I defied the odds. Now as Education Secretary, it’s my job to change them.
That means opening up opportunity, to harness the talents of all our children.
With Labour, education is back at the heart of national life once again.
express.co.uk/news/politics/…
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Am honestly baffled how such a thing has come to pass. How is it possible to move to the UK from Filipines to work in a restaurant?
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Look at that. 22 year old car. Hasn't dated. I think this October is the 30th anniversary of the design being signed off.
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The fecking country. Climate Change Committee spends £25bn connecting us to Moroccan wind turbines instead.
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I can tell you the first line of the study. 'Sunderland has the most expensive electricity of all seven plants. And the highest employee costs'.
Where are the unfunny duo of Miliband and Reeves? This is serious.
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That's a harvested field, not a dry field.
#TravelByTrain – when Wiltshire feels more like Wyoming, you sense that something about our climate really ain’t quite right
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Imagine your local Labour Party posting pics of the shanty town they've created in your locale, thinking it impressive. What a sh*t hole.
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London Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Manchester Arena. Failed attempt at Parsons Green. Any more you can think of this year?
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The finest minds we have decided this was the way working class people should live.
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We that's helpful for the UK. I'm sure the surviving Mancunians full of holes made by supersonic nuts will rest easy.
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Massive. Huge. Should be the lead story for 48hrs.
Strong line form Nissan's Alan Johnson. "Simple fact is we (UK) are too expensive. Sunderland is most efficient plant Nissan has but once you've paid your elec, gas, NICs etc we are too expensive - any industrial strategy that doesn't tackle that is a waste of time.
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Remarkable coincidence that the Genesis album containing the poetically epic track 'Battle of Epping Forest' was on the album called 'Selling England By The Pound'.
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Could anyone tell me why a couple of lines from Lee Anderson has been a bigger media deal than Mike Freer being death-threated and burnt out of politics?
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The most hilariously unaware tweet possible.
UK haulage industry forced to train army of homegrown drivers to cope with Brexit on.ft.com/3VJZU13
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Just to compare and contrast. Heathrow long stay parking at midday v the airport express to Stockholm Central Station which has *carpet* on the platforms.
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What a beauty. Unmolested survivor in Soho Square. Unimaginably ahead of its time when it was launched. #928.
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Let us not forget that in 1999 BMW offered to totally rebuild Longbridge and install the new Rover R30 if the gov gave £250m towards the £2bn investment. Blair and Co said no, and Rover was sold for £10.
Oxford Mini plant saved with £600mn UK electric car investment on.ft.com/3ZdNa4v
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Ford faces £100m bill for failing to sell enough electric cars thetimes.com/business-money/…
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Elliott wrote 'Fantasy Island' about the perilous state of the Brown-Blair economy just before the 2008 Crunch. So few people realised his book explained why the CC hit us so badly - Brown's insane levels of borrowing during a fake boom.
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Awesome line from a cabbie. 'I'm preparing for Christmas. I'm going to kill the Turkey and invite 30 people to its funeral...' You won't get gems like that in the back of a Prius.
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It's almost like Whitehall couldn't run a bath. The country is controlled by Oxbridge essayists who couldn't re-wire a plug.
telegraph.co.uk/business/202…
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Huge. Read this. Mercedes throws in the 100% EV towel. Customers not shifting as the marketing people and futurists thought. Merc will keep.on developing fuel engines and fuel platforms. If 50% of the market in 2030 is fuel, why ignore it?
source: AutoCar interview / AutoBild article
Mercedes Shifts Gears: Dual Strategy Embraces Both Electric and Combustion Engines
• Mercedes abandons all-electric strategy in favor of parallel development of EVs and combustion engines
• Company missed its 2024 EV sales targets (10% achieved vs 50% goal)
• CEO Ole Källenius acknowledges unexpected poor EV sales performance
• Mercedes will integrate EV models into traditional nomenclature (example: 'G 580 with EQ-Technology' instead of 'EQG')
• Investment in software and electronics now exceeds traditional construction costs
• Company will continue developing both platforms rather than transitioning solely to electric
• Existing combustion engine platforms will be extended longer than initially planned
Mercedes-Benz has announced a significant shift in its strategic direction, moving away from its previous all-electric commitment to pursue a dual-track approach that maintains development of both electric and combustion engine vehicles. This strategic pivot, revealed by CEO Ole Källenius in an interview with "Autocar," comes in response to slower-than-expected EV adoption rates and continuing market demand for traditional combustion engines.
The company's original target of achieving 50% electric vehicle sales (including full electric and plug-in hybrids) by 2025 has fallen short, with only 10% achieved in the first half of 2024. This market reality has prompted Mercedes to extend the lifecycle of several combustion engine platforms, including the A-Class MFA2 platform through 2026, and other combustion engine series like GLC, E-Class, and GLS for up to ten years.
Källenius emphasized the business logic behind this decision, stating, "If the market is 50:50 in 2030, it would be foolish to leave half of the business behind." The CEO also noted that investment in software and electronic architecture for new models now exceeds traditional construction costs, highlighting the evolving nature of automotive development.
• "We have spent 100 years or more perfecting the combustion engine car. Customers will not accept if we take a step backward." - Ole Källenius
• "Market conditions and the wishes of our customers determine the pace of transformation." - Mercedes statement to AFP
• "In the coming years, there will be both: electric cars and highly modern, electrified combustion engines." - Ole Källenius at shareholders' meeting
• "If the market is 50:50 in 2030, it would be foolish to leave half of the business behind." - Ole Källenius
autobild.de/artikel/mercedes…
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Christ almighty. Senior Whitehall figures 'fear' the government is swinging back to food production over wildflowers. Whitehall is a dangerous menace.
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Was a bit unemployed, so launched my own thoughtful auto magazine. Tweetage coming soon @5054magazine
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This by Frost seems bang on to me. The Conservative party is now fully embedded in the SW1/Whitehall group think. Totally disconnected from everything outside the M25. How to wrestle it back? Even Boris was unsound on most things aside from 'getting Brexit done'.
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The utter, utter joy of this. Pretend journalists have now turned on the 'essential' Sue Gray report because it might not deliver the goods and might name their mates. She's not questioning Gray, just pointing out she not independent of her boss. Beautiful.
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And what would have been the point of turning up? Are you suggesting Farage could have convinced the EU to leave the UK waters?
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Am on a train that terminates in Manchester at 12.05. So two hours 5min from Euston to central Mcr. What's HS2 actually for?
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This house down Farnham way has just been bought. Perhaps by London escapees. But let us consider the kitchen before it is lost to us. It reeks of better, quieter, calmer days. Late 70s? Even mid-70s.
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Remember kids, this stuff is out of the hands of democratically elected ministers because the Climate Change Committee decides on our power supply.
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Right, listen in. This is incredibly worrying. The bosses of Renault and Stellantis (who have 30% of a dwindling market) lay out in @Le_Figaro just how imperilled the European car manufacturing industry is 1/4
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Jesus. The definition of lightweight. She is in charge of the non-engineers that tell parliament what power generation the country will get. Madness.
"I think some flights are fine for when it's a very good reason"
CEO of the Climate Change Committee, Emma Pinchbeck, explains why we should all be like her and stop flying for holidays, but it was also fine for her to fly to Azerbaijan for a climate change conference last month
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They had more Marshall Aid than France and blew it. Germany and France rebuilt the factories and the railways and built motorways. The economy grew and they got richer. Labour blew the money on nationalizations, buying worn out shit. We never caught up.
In 1945, a Labour government inherited an economy ravaged by WW2. They built the NHS & the welfare state.
Crises are not an excuse for inaction. They are an opportunity for transformation.
Today, that means offering an alternative to inequality, climate chaos and endless war.
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Gav, you blew it. There is no constituency for SW1 Tories. There are 17.5mn people looking for a home.
Two reactions to this:
1. If Sunak had waited until the autumn, Farage would have been in the US fawning over Trump. Big mistake
2. All those Conservative MPs who pretended Farage was their mate: how stupid do you look now? He is trying to destroy you
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Tell you what, @ShaunBaileyUK is a proper bloke.
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Why is the arrogant and ever-expanding BBC doing this? Wtf are we paying for BBC Poland? The country is no longer under Communism or behind the Iron curtain, it is doing well and will be richer than the UK soon. Does the BBC think it is superior to domestic journalism?
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'The three of us have explained'. The absolute, galactic arrogance of such a statement.
Iain Dale, "I think Labour's position on immigration is an absolute disgrace.. The three of us on this panel have all explained what the benefits of immigration are.. Do you ever hear a politician, from right or left, extolling the virtues of immigration?"
"And you have the leader of @UKLabour probably our future Prime Minister, basically saying: the Tories haven't gone far enough. I mean the world's gone mad on this issue"
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Actually, that definitive line about women relate face to face and men shoulder to shoulder.
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After Boris's secret wedding, a reminder of how Progressive politicians used to handle their private life.
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Hard to believe these fabulous apartments at Pimlico Green are being demolished. They are superb condition and do nothing but enhance life.
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Fascinating to visit a new place with a heat pump. Single storey barn conversion, open on all sides, flat plain inland of Chichester. Exceptionally cold (+windchill) outside. Inside the temp was only just OK. No sense of warmth. Resident complaining. Luckily has log fire.
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Gets more incredible by the day. And after Hermer's defense and Keef's decision not to charge, guess what? 1/2
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Starmer and Co are going to regret jailing his mother. Dangerous waters.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article…
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Never mind Sunak. Read this. Absolutely hilarious. There's not enough electricity to meet eco laws. Not enough wiring. And too much demand. Looking forward to Ed Millivolts getting in.
theguardian.com/business/art…
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They'll never give up. Started with Major and Co, Cameron picked it up and tried to kill off the Trads Cons with a ref that was designed to bury them for a generation. And after bringing down Boris and neatly eliminating Truss, they start again on appealing to anybody but....
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It's easy to take the Mick out of SW1 hacks, living in a bubble etc. But really. Really? The mosques hammer this stuff home week after week. Have done for decades. Perhaps living in Brum and Boro made me more aware.
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How will GPs come back from this? The system is broken. Highly-paid private contractors who can't be arsed anymore.
Working to improve GP access - this is the single biggest issue facing my constituents. Accessing care and prescriptions - for some this is getting harder despite restrictions lifting. There is good practice, but the failing practices must now up their game #PutPatientsFirst
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'Our political elites have – over half a century – managed to turn a high-trust, safe and culturally cohesive society into an unsafe, bitterly divided one'
This is v good. I see a coherent opposition starting to form.
"Unprecedented immigration has been a reckless gamble, an experiment which has conclusively failed. This weekend shows that it has damaged the only home we have on this earth. It must stop now."
SDP statement on the recent riots:
sdp.org.uk/2024/08/05/riots-…
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A man who spent his life in an easy office job, working as judge and jury. I bet being criticised absolutely floors him.
'Strained' Keir Starmer badly needs holiday, his friends say as they reveal PM is suffering from the 'relentless strain' of the job trib.al/XGnFc5e
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OK. Back to my old job decoding the automotive industry. We are in a similarly terrifying position as in 2000 when BMW went to New Labour and told them 'it was 10 minutes to midnight' for the-then substantial Rover Group. Lest we forget the lesson >
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This is superb. Superb. Toyota teaches the Whitehouse and the massive Green lobby a harsh lesson. 'Compliance cannot be based on factors' beyond the carmaker's control. Argue with this.... @AndrewOrlowski
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Remember kids, this is what matters to them. What the neighbours think.
He’s worked with four prime ministers. He’s been knighted for his response to foot-and-mouth disease. He was the chief scientific advisor from 2000 to 2007.
And he wants to refreeze the arctic.
Meet Sir David King:
prospectmagazine.co.uk/views…
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Lotd Johnson. Who added two year work permits to student visas and allowed dependents to come as well. Literally responsible for the highest migration in history. And he thinks he's some reasonable centrist.
“People become supine and craven.”
The Conservative Party may end up like Donald Trump's MAGA Republican Party if Nigel Farage takes over, Conservative peer Lord Johnson says.
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Dear old Pete still struggling with the idea that a factory can produce goods to EU regs *without* those regs being national law. Bit like Land Rover making Range Rovers for Californian regs from Solihull.
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You're too young to remember this. Prescott was egged. But Blair's reaction was 'John is John'.
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