UK General Election 2024 (or 25)

[firlandsfarm]

OMG, should this be in the Jokes Thread, maybe the Rant Thread or maybe the General Election Thread but I decided to PMSL over a beer ...

Labour controlled Lincoln Council have decided to 'ban' the local Christmas market (apparently the oldest in the UK first run in 1982). Why? You may ask ... because they fear it will be too successful!!!!

My sister lives in Edinburgh and the festival and hogmanay are absolute bedlam. I remember one festival were I was early picking her up.So I killed some time in a pedestrianised area that had been turned into "street entertainer city". I kid you not, I could barely manouvere my way through. I accidentally kicked some guy's walking stick because I simply couldn't see my or his feet. But some people love this kind of buzzing atmos.

The council does have a duty of care (particularly in these litigious times). But it does seem a bit nuts and grumpy.
Then again I have read some of the Lincoln public are positively against bringing the Xmas market back. But that might just be nimbyism.
Maybe they should vote on it. Oh hang on the public elected Labour. Ah well thats politics!

Good points but if something is popular shouldn't steps be taken to male it safe if that is the worry. Apparently 250k people visited the market last year spending some £11m ... that must be a boost to the city?

Time to move this into the politics thread! Would you believe it, the Labour Mayor for the City of Lincoln has been found to have enjoyed a trip to Lincoln's twinned town of Neustadt in Germany and visited their Christmas Market while there (the trip was probably LCC funded!). BTW apparently the Chief Constable for the area has said they are not aware of any safety issues. Yes it's a small issue within the scheme of things but it demonstrates the contempt that Labour holds the public in.

[greenmark]

My sister lives in Edinburgh and the festival and hogmanay are absolute bedlam. I remember one festival were I was early picking her up.So I killed some time in a pedestrianised area that had been turned into "street entertainer city". I kid you not, I could barely manouvere my way through. I accidentally kicked some guy's walking stick because I simply couldn't see my or his feet. But some people love this kind of buzzing atmos.

The council does have a duty of care (particularly in these litigious times). But it does seem a bit nuts and grumpy.
Then again I have read some of the Lincoln public are positively against bringing the Xmas market back. But that might just be nimbyism.
Maybe they should vote on it. Oh hang on the public elected Labour. Ah well thats politics!

Good points but if something is popular shouldn't steps be taken to male it safe if that is the worry. Apparently 250k people visited the market last year spending some £11m ... that must be a boost to the city?

Time to move this into the politics thread! Would you believe it, the Labour Mayor for the City of Lincoln has been found to have enjoyed a trip to Lincoln's twinned town of Neustadt in Germany and visited their Christmas Market while there (the trip was probably LCC funded!). BTW apparently the Chief Constable for the area has said they are not aware of any safety issues. Yes it's a small issue within the scheme of things but it demonstrates the contempt that Labour holds the public in.

Well if the cops aren't bothered it would be good if the Council spelled out in detail why a successful venture is being throttled.
We all associate busy places with success. Wonder what's going on there.
I think I read that the estimate to make it safe was £750,000. Are the council making a budget decision? There's more to this than meets the eye perhaps?
I certainly can't find any plausible detailed reasoning for shutting it down.
So in the absence of that info I'm with you on this. The council looks pretty lazy and stupid. And it seems they don't want to listen to other voices and have only put forward overcroding/public safety as an issue without actually defining the issue (if it exists at all). I would have thought overcroding is self-regulating year on year and finds it's own level that people are happy with. Otherwise they'll stay away, surely?

[Archery1969]

Good points but if something is popular shouldn't steps be taken to male it safe if that is the worry. Apparently 250k people visited the market last year spending some £11m ... that must be a boost to the city?

Time to move this into the politics thread! Would you believe it, the Labour Mayor for the City of Lincoln has been found to have enjoyed a trip to Lincoln's twinned town of Neustadt in Germany and visited their Christmas Market while there (the trip was probably LCC funded!). BTW apparently the Chief Constable for the area has said they are not aware of any safety issues. Yes it's a small issue within the scheme of things but it demonstrates the contempt that Labour holds the public in.

Well if the cops aren't bothered it would be good if the Council spelled out in detail why a successful venture is being throttled.
We all associate busy places with success. Wonder what's going on there.
I think I read that the estimate to make it safe was £750,000. Are the council making a budget decision? There's more to this than meets the eye perhaps?
I certainly can't find any plausible detailed reasoning for shutting it down.
So in the absence of that info I'm with you on this. The council looks pretty lazy and stupid. And it seems they don't want to listen to other voices and have only put forward overcroding/public safety as an issue without actually defining the issue (if it exists at all). I would have thought overcroding is self-regulating year on year and finds it's own level that people are happy with. Otherwise they'll stay away, surely?

There is no Brighton Christmas market this year either. I checked with my neice who handles events by the Police and they weren't consulted. So, again, no issues regarding saefty or Policing. The Labour Brighton and Hove council has been in the news recently with a £30 million funding deficit which may mean they effectively go bankrupt next year. They have blamed the previous LD council who seriously over spent.

[greenmark]

Time to move this into the politics thread! Would you believe it, the Labour Mayor for the City of Lincoln has been found to have enjoyed a trip to Lincoln's twinned town of Neustadt in Germany and visited their Christmas Market while there (the trip was probably LCC funded!). BTW apparently the Chief Constable for the area has said they are not aware of any safety issues. Yes it's a small issue within the scheme of things but it demonstrates the contempt that Labour holds the public in.

Well if the cops aren't bothered it would be good if the Council spelled out in detail why a successful venture is being throttled.
We all associate busy places with success. Wonder what's going on there.
I think I read that the estimate to make it safe was £750,000. Are the council making a budget decision? There's more to this than meets the eye perhaps?
I certainly can't find any plausible detailed reasoning for shutting it down.
So in the absence of that info I'm with you on this. The council looks pretty lazy and stupid. And it seems they don't want to listen to other voices and have only put forward overcroding/public safety as an issue without actually defining the issue (if it exists at all). I would have thought overcroding is self-regulating year on year and finds it's own level that people are happy with. Otherwise they'll stay away, surely?

There is no Brighton Christmas market this year either. I checked with my neice who handles events by the Police and they weren't consulted. So, again, no issues regarding saefty or Policing. The Labour Brighton and Hove council has been in the news recently with a £30 million funding deficit which may mean they effectively go bankrupt next year. They have blamed the previous LD council who seriously over spent.

The govt has been shrinking central govt revenue going into local authorities (not including covid inputs).
Maybe these cancellations of Xmas markets are political manipulation by Labour councils. Maybe it's simply a resut of less finance and having to make choices across an entire council to best use those reduced resources. I don't know.

[Archangel]

If we could send a few of those government ministers off on the Rwanda flights too it might help... one way ticket

[greenmark]

If we could send a few of those government ministers off on the Rwanda flights too it might help... one way ticket

Though I get what you mean, the reality is current ministers are the best the Tory party can produce. Losing a few wouldn't necessarily result in a better incumbent and would create more chaos (and I think we've had a belly full of that).
It's high time the public had the chance to choose again.

[Derek27]

The buffoon will be giving evidence at the Covid inquiry tomorrow and Thursday. Should be entertaining, popcorn at the ready.

[Derek27]

The buffoon's turned up to the inquiry three hours early to avoid waiting families.

[firlandsfarm]

Apparently 250k people visited the market last year spending some £11m ... that must be a boost to the city?

I think I read that the estimate to make it safe was £750,000. Are the council making a budget decision? There's more to this than meets the eye perhaps?

Actually according to the MP for Lincoln I got my figures wrong, they were from (poor) memory of a news statement. In interview yesterday he quoted 320k visitors and £15m of business last year. If his revenue figure is correct then £750k should not be a problem!

[sionascaig]

Apparently 250k people visited the market last year spending some £11m ... that must be a boost to the city?

I think I read that the estimate to make it safe was £750,000. Are the council making a budget decision? There's more to this than meets the eye perhaps?

Actually according to the MP for Lincoln I got my figures wrong, they were from (poor) memory of a news statement. In interview yesterday he quoted 320k visitors and £15m of business last year. If his revenue figure is correct then £750k should not be a problem!

Local gov tax income comes roughly: 1. 50% from gov grants, 2. 25% from business rates & 3. 25% from council tax.

From a business point of view seems a no brainer unless what the council propose to charge means they can't turn a decent profit...

Sounds like it didn't even get that far so council need to take the blame for that.

Update from Edinburgh xmas market; crazy queues, sky high prices, people turning away as just too busy... so much for the cost of living!

[firlandsfarm]

Update from Edinburgh xmas market; crazy queues, sky high prices, people turning away as just too busy... so much for the cost of living!

Exactly ... I'm not saying some people aren't struggling but there are many bandwagoners in this country ... our parents and before would have just got on with it but we now have a generation that have been so mollycoddled that they need and expect others to look after them. There are too many bandwagons running with Labour fuelling them to convince the public that times are soooo bad under the Conservatives. I even heard one news correspondent put forward the theory that these Christmas Markets and other events are being closed for that very purpose ... tell them it's bad and they will want a change of government!

[Derek27]

Johnson swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[Derek27]

The pandemic was the wrong crisis for the buffoon's skill set!

Surely it's the other way around, the buffoon was the wrong man for the job?

[greenmark]

I think I read that the estimate to make it safe was £750,000. Are the council making a budget decision? There's more to this than meets the eye perhaps?

Actually according to the MP for Lincoln I got my figures wrong, they were from (poor) memory of a news statement. In interview yesterday he quoted 320k visitors and £15m of business last year. If his revenue figure is correct then £750k should not be a problem!

Local gov tax income comes roughly: 1. 50% from gov grants, 2. 25% from business rates & 3. 25% from council tax.

From a business point of view seems a no brainer unless what the council propose to charge means they can't turn a decent profit...

Sounds like it didn't even get that far so council need to take the blame for that.

Update from Edinburgh xmas market; crazy queues, sky high prices, people turning away as just too busy... so much for the cost of living!

LA's have very limited ways to raise revenue. I don't think Xmas markets provide any revenue to the councils.
But it is true that the council's are facilitators. Without their support and permission the markets can't happen.
I still think I'm with firlandsfarm on this one. It's daft to stop it. But also it's daft that if govt reduces LA's income they should be allowed to be entreprenuerial and raise funds in other ways - but they are constrained by law from doing that.
As much as it looks like Labour councils stirring up trouble, they are responding to a govt that is determined to strangle Labour councils for political reasons.
That's democracy.

[Derek27]

The silent protestors that were kicked out of the hearing during the buffoon's apology were holding up placards saying, the dead can't year your apology.