Oil mysterious coinciding with the economic miracle they tell us about. And declining when Gordon Clown is messing up the economy.

Also directly corresponds with the rise in oil prices.

In the words of Harold Wilson, "Whoever is in government when North sea oil starts flowing will rule forever."

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"Common Sense is the collection of prejudices aquired by age eighteen" - Albert Einstein

Might have been true if Thatcher hadn't squandered it in union-breaking and unemployment.

Blair and Major as well, to be fair.

It's funny George Osborne is trying to interest sovereign wealth funds in infrastructure projects, isn't it? Why don't we have one of those then, George?

But hey, I'm one of those lefties who should "get over" Thatcher!

That is good.

But where are the PC Feminazis hovering above it all like an immortal liberal establishment?

That's what I thought at first. The more I look at it though, the more angry and terrified I can see them getting. Layers of bureaucracy! European interference! *harrumph*



A sticker for you m'lad

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"Common Sense is the collection of prejudices aquired by age eighteen" - Albert Einstein

The Chilterns.



HS2 (22m wide, compared with motorways, 36m wide) runs roughly between Amersham and Wendover.

HS2 is something you obviously feel very strongly about Tubby!

I've got to admit I don't know anything about it and it doesn't (as far as I know) affect me, so my default position is as always, opposite the NIMBYs. Had the privilege of listening to Ch5 news while eating dinner (we'd run out of meth and Heat magazines) and they seemed very much against it, complete with a disabled SadFace resident who's garden backed onto the planned line. Moving it was.

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"Common Sense is the collection of prejudices aquired by age eighteen" - Albert Einstein

I think that in principle an investment in a major public rail project can nearly always be justified despite things like the Stop HS2 campaign and the Nimbys. The greater good here is for once, being served, with a real prospect of ancillary economic benefits being delivered for the country as a whole. I'm also in favour, broadly speaking, of investing in rail infrastructure rather than roads, of which there has been too great a concentration over recent decades, so I'm pleased that HS2 has been green lit.

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

Sorry, I am banging on. It wasn't just the usual rubbish of sadfaces living near the line. It was the FT's onslaught that wound me up.

The FT trumped Channel 5 by featuring someone who bought 2 flats near Euston and can't sell them. She'll merely have to stick tenants in them, at a time when rents are booming.

Aside from what I think are practical benefits, I think there are intangible benefits. That state of the art projects that work restore a sense of the state as good (though of course it's all contracted out), in a "fuck off, Taxpayers' Alliance way. And I can imagine kids seeing it and wanting to be engineers.

A friend of mine suggested a ban on libertarians from using big infrastructure projects.

That's what brings me here. I learn I learn!

On a serious note though I think what you say about future generations wanting to be engineers is something that needs to be nurtured much more amongst the youth. Too many people I know seem to think being an estate agent or accountant are the pinnacles of success our society has to offer, and it makes me sad. Not to diminish those professions obviously (roughly half the young estate agents I know aren't moral abortions), but talking to people my dads age gives me a sense that the fascination for technology that used to encourage people to go into those industries isn't really there any more. I suppose the argument could be made that advances in technology make it less accessible to those without a degree in astrophysics or nanotechnology. Not like getting an apprenticeship down the shipyards or whatever. A different subject for a different day perhaps.

Back on topic, and combining Mail favourites: terrorism and hard drug use

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"Common Sense is the collection of prejudices aquired by age eighteen" - Albert Einstein

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You may say I'm a dreamer.... but I'm not the only one....