Prescott losing patience with Letts :

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/29/quentin-letts-daily-mail-john-prescott_n_1174317.html?ref=uk-politics&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

I'd love to see that. I'd prefer it on TV so that we could see the smarmy gurning fool try, and fail, to browbeat Prezza.

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

Interesting points, but if the planning system is already allowing town centres to constantly regenerate themselves, why isn't it happening?

I think vacant units are part of a long term trend that was well underway before the recession even began, partly due to the internet and also competition from out of town shopping centres which people seem to prefer. If town centres are opened up to more housing (and reusing existing structures is far better environmentally than building new ones from scratch on the edge of town meaning increased traffic) it permits the remaining businesses have more customers on their doorsteps which surely has to be a good thing all round.

It's happened here, aided by a clueless council. It has broken up shopping areas and people have abandoned them...

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

Re. Moon: The whole point of rejuvinating a high street is that you create usefull shops and services for the local shopper, which in turn create jobs for people nearby so they don't have to waste a fortune on travel, and in turn have more to spend in their local high street, which keeps the shops open and so on.

Having a variety of shops (not just pound shops and take- aways) in a clean, well maintained shopping area creates a better looking -and therefor safer- high street (simmilar experiments in council housing areas has proven that a more pleasant enviroment is likely to discourage vandalism, graffitti and so on). The same effect can be achieved on the high street by opening stores that encourage people to visit due to their variety of products - nobody would bother going into town if all they knew they'd find there are poundstores and KFC's (ask people who live near such areas, they will tell you).

Convert these shop spaces into homes, and what do you have?

Homes in areas which, due to the lack of investment and facilities are often rather unsafe areas, but also no shops...so the people who move there don't have a job to move to, and nor do the local unemployed.

More people, but less jobs and less services. Excellent plan that.

Danson's post came up before mine, and he covers it all pretty well - what if buisnesses want to return when things improve? How do you kick people out of their homes to make way for the new shops?

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"Now get those trousers off before someone dies!"

We cross-posted, but we have had much of the same thing happening here, and the effects are as you describe. Usually in small, older shopping centres, which were finished off or given over to betting shops, tanning salons and nail bars.

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

Ok. So why isn't it happening now?

Could be the current economic situation. Which we are hoping may end one day. And the empty shops will get long-term businesses in them, and rejuvenate shopping areas.
You haven't understood any of this, have you?

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

Nice bit of COTD from a commenter there:



Yeah, suicide. Just done for a laugh.

Shades of Clarkson, there. And those are valid observations as to the practical consequences of suicide attempts up to a point, but they sadly neglect to acknowledge that some suicides probably do consider others in taking action to end their lives. But most don't, not because of any vindictive motive, but simply because they're in no position at all to do so.

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

a neat demonstration of exactly the kind of attitude which can leave depressed people feeling like they have no way out.

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i have an art blog: http://procrastinationathon.blogspot.com/
and a review blog: http://blindwithwoodenhands.blogspot.com/
double blog! what does it mean?

This.

Have you also seen that Giles Coren has been arguing with Prezza that Letts isn't a loser (as Prezza said) because he is 'the most successful journalist in the UK'. Quite where in his backside he pulled that from I'm not sure.

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

Yeah, I read that and immediately wondered what criterion for "success" young Coren was employing. Coren truly can be a right arse at times.

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

Cunts of a feather. We really need to accept that privileged talentless rich people are our betters, and certainly better than oiks like Prescott. They can say whatever they want and who are we to question it? Has Toby Young piped up yet?

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MY COMMENTS ARE FROM THE HORSES MOUTH AND ARE ALL FACTS

Quite. If Prezza had gone to a public school - you can fill the rest in...

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.