news & politics:discussion

[steviewevie]

This from guardian..

How much could HS2 cost and what is at stake? | HS2 | The Guardian

 

£30bn – The original estimated cost of Hs2, including spurs to Manchester and Leeds, when proposed by Brown’s government in March 2010

£44.6bn - The current projected cost of HS2 phase one (2019 prices) – London Euston to Birmingham

2033 - The date for HS2’s full completion, when first voted through parliament by MPs in 2013

140 miles of track - The only bit of Hs2 that is under construction and guaranteed to be finished, from Old Oak Common in west London to Birmingham

2029-2033 - When the London to Birmingham leg will actually open to passengers

6 miles – The distance from Old Oak Common to Euston, HS2’s original London terminus

£4.8bn – The estimated cost of building HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston

15 minutes – The time it takes to walk from Birmingham Curzon Street Hs2 stop to Birmingham New Street, the main rail interchange in the Midlands

 

30,000 – The number of jobs supported by the construction of HS2, including close to 1,300 apprenticeships

2,700 - The number of weekend closures over 15 years that would be needed in order to upgrade existing lines instead of building the first phase of HS2 – according to HS2

£24,000 – The compensation offered to homeowners who live within 180 metres of the HS2 route

1 hour 11 minutes - New journey time between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston if HS2 is built in full to the north-west. The current fastest journey time is 2 hours 5 minutes

41 minutes - New journey time between Manchester and Birmingham on HS2, down from 1 hour 27 minutes

225mph – The top speed of the new HS2 trains

200 metres - The length of each HS2 train, with the option to couple two units together to create a 400-metre long train

1,100 seats - The number of seats on a double HS2 train

 

  

[steviewevie]

would have been great imo. High speed trains connecting our major cities. Oh well.

[Neil]

17 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Still, at least London and SE will remain well connected and well rich.

even with minimal build of hs2 there's still a lot of benefit around the country (i came across a benefit calculator for hs2 somewhere the other day, wish i'd kept the link)

[Nobody Interesting]

If HS2 was really about 'levelling up' or bringing prosperity to the North they would have started building it in the North.

[steviewevie]

we can't do stuff...and we have a lot of stuff to do...all the electrification...all the infrastructure...all the cables and power stations and whatever. Chances of us doing any of this stuff are slim to none. 

[Nobody Interesting]

In other news........................ gas prices up by just over 40% in 3 monthly average.

[Neil]

1 minute ago, Nobody Interesting said:

In other news........................ gas prices up by just over 40% in 3 monthly average.

Not surprising as we're about to have the time of most demand and therefore highest prices .

[steviewevie]

8 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

In other news........................ gas prices up by just over 40% in 3 monthly average.

quick, get those interest rates up

[Rufus Gwertigan]

18 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

In other news........................ gas prices up by just over 40% in 3 monthly average.

Cool. Just in time for Christmas 

[Guest]

Luckily we have a PM that prioritises the fossil fuel firms so I imagine they’ll be ok. 

[steviewevie]

lib dem conference off to a good start...Farron booed and members have voted against leadership to keep housebuilding target.

[Nobody Interesting]

6 minutes ago, Rufus Gwertigan said:

Cool. Just in time for Christmas 

Next 'cap' starts in Jan using Sept to Nov figures. 

We are at the new 'cap' that starts 1st Oct til then.

[fraybentos1]

55 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

In other news........................ gas prices up by just over 40% in 3 monthly average.

But I was told that inflation was going to keep coming down according to our resident expert Ozanne.

Interest rate rises to come if that continues

[Rufus Gwertigan]

23 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Next 'cap' starts in Jan using Sept to Nov figures. 

We are at the new 'cap' that starts 1st Oct til then.

No idea. The gas prices have not affected me yet. At my last home we had no heating for over 18 months. Then we lived in a homeless hostel for 6months. We have been in this temporary house since July and not had to use the heating yet. I guess it is going to come as a shock if we need to use the heating. Thankfully both me and my son will get a cost of living payment each at the end of October which will ease the pain.

[Nobody Interesting]

5 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

But I was told that inflation was going to keep coming down according to our resident expert Ozanne.

Interest rate rises to come if that continues

Interest rates will have no influence on this at all - it is all market traders and how 'worried' they feel day to day.

[Nobody Interesting]

4 minutes ago, Rufus Gwertigan said:

No idea. The gas prices have not affected me yet. At my last home we had no heating for over 18 months. Then we lived in a homeless hostel for 6months. We have been in this temporary house since July and not had to use the heating yet. I guess it is going to come as a shock if we need to use the heating. Thankfully both me and my son will get a cost of living payment each at the end of October which will ease the pain.

We were lucky (or just savvy) and got on a 2 year fix on 7th Oct 2021 so have missed the worst.

I have seen our new DD for when that fix ends............................ tis a big number.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Interest rates will have no influence on this at all - it is all market traders and how 'worried' they feel day to day.

Yep, interest rates have no impact on supply side driven inflation. Rising gas prices are driven by external forces which the BoE can’t do anything about.

[lost]

Tim Farron attacking the young liberals at his conference who want to restore the house building targets as pure Thatcherism and the most right-wing thing he's seen at the party conference since we sent Liz Truss off.

Definitely a politician for the twitter age. Just calls everyone who disagrees with him a tory without understanding what one is.

Edited September 25, 2023 by lost

[fraybentos1]

10 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Interest rates will have no influence on this at all - it is all market traders and how 'worried' they feel day to day.

Higher gas prices will mean higher inflation which will mean higher IRs to combat this. It's a multifaceted thing and it is complex but ultimately anything leading to higher inflation is gonna also mean higher IRs for the foreseeable 

[Nobody Interesting]

6 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

Higher gas prices will mean higher inflation which will mean higher IRs to combat this. It's a multifaceted thing and it is complex but ultimately anything leading to higher inflation is gonna also mean higher IRs for the foreseeable 

Higher gas prices on the markets today will mean a higher cap in 3 months time so will have zero effect on any IR now and even after what will happen is if/when gas prices push other prices up, or keep them up rather than falling the rate of inflation will stick rather than go up.

Inflation will fall to 2% by the end of 2025 even with this gas price rise but may then not fall much more after so rates will stay up and not fall.

Markets like high interest rates and an average of 5.5% is seen as 'good'

Good for who I have no idea - probably the well off.

[Guest]

Inflation will fall naturally anyway when the supply side driven causes start to fall away. If inflation was driven by high consumer demand right now then rate rises might be a good idea but we don’t so it’s a very bad move.

The BoE can’t do anything about gas prices so if prices start to go up again then we’ll need to better price controls and rates to be cut to provide much needed support to families.

Bills this winter could be worse than last year as last year there was the payment from the government as well as the price guarantee. 

[Crazyfool01]

My prices have just dropped 8% should I fix ? im losing the will on what to do 

[steviewevie]

 

[steviewevie]

If Trump maintains a sizeable lead in the polls will Democrats bin Biden for a younger model?

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

My prices have just dropped 8% should I fix ? im losing the will on what to do 

I think it might be an idea to fix when the October price cap comes into place. If you haven’t then it might be a good idea to have a look at MSE as they have good write ups and calculations on it.