@christineburns Incidentally, its quite a contrast to Ireland, where canals are reopening, partly as cross-border flagship projects. The waterways are now managed on an all-Ireland basis.

The Shannon–Erne Waterway reopened in the 1990s, and now the Ulster Canal is being reopened in slow stages […]

@christineburns I was wondering about that too. Two major breaches in one year, after they were a rarity.

Is the result of reduced maintenance since Cameron/Osborne/Clegg cut aĺl subsidy and hived the canals off into a trust? Or other issues?

Also available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/pfCwI2WFmgM

@piraat I'm not a fan of either side of the war. I want a reduction in hostilities, and preferably a ceasefire.

But still, when one side is being systematically bombarded, I'm not inclined to reproach them for strategic attacks on the aggressor's economic assets.

@piraat It's a machinery of govt / procedural issue. That type of issue never directly effects peoples lives, but it can enable really nasty things to be done, or prevent nasties being stopped. The Constitution exists for a reason.

So what is #starmer trying to do?

Erasmus isn't an educational scheme. It's an #eu social engineering scheme, designed to get students to make friends across Europe and thereby become more #europhile. Bit late for that, post-#brexit. 🙄

There's no electoral benefit in throwing money at the […]

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So much for all Starmer's rhetoric of delivering for working people.

The #libdems are delighted that Erasmus is a jackpot win for their firmly middle-class base. So too are the Conservatives, whose young Ruperts and Amandas will be off on every Euro-jaunt.

Obviously, the […]

If concentrated on the most deprived third of school-leavers, that £750 million would be £2,700 each. It could be transformative, lifting them out of poverty for their final year at school, or paying for extra tuition.

But instead, this money is going to be concentrated on the other end of the […]

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#borisjohnson's replacement #turingscheme was smaller but more equitable, with lower out-of pocket costs. Starmer's revived #erasmusscheme will in theory be eligible to a broader pool, including apprentices. But if they have to pay for travel, it won't be open in practice.

The costs are […]

But #keirmather has the look about him of a man who will rise up the career ladder, like previous Babies of the House.

A sort of English version of the cherub-faced Douglas Alexander, who narrowly missed out on the title, but rose to the cabinet without anyone figuring out why he existed […]

For now, Mather is Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation. That's a junior job in the Department of Transport.

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Keir Mather is also a supporter of trans rights. But the good news ends there. He is also an Oxford graduate 🤮, a lifelong devoted fan of #newlabour 🤮, and a protégé of Wes Streeting 🤮. His only job outside politics was as a researcher for the CBI 🤮. He could have been selected by Labour as […]