Levelling up defined.

[JamesWales]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Happy to explain the Mussolini reference for you.

You said that the Tories might do 99 good (but unspecified) things while everyone concentrates on one (an underestimate) bad thing.

It may be the case that that one bad thing is not evened out by the 99 good things.

Which is clearly not the case here.

[ninian opinian]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Nope, but as usual we get a weird reference to Mussolini and a very clever play on words calling the Daily Mail the Daily Heil. Clever stuff and definitely not indicative of people who are ideologically possessed

Nonetheless, its a fair point that in criticising an emphasis on a small number of negatives, the bigger picture should be presented.

So here's a bigger list. I note Bury FC benefitting too, bringing football back to the community. But that's good news isn't it, and who wants to read that?

https://www.constructionenquirer.com...cts-full-list/

It’s called the Daily Heil for a reason. It’s a hateful, racist rag.

[ninian opinian]

Re: Levelling up defined.

The Foreign Secretary of a country with over 2000 food banks has spent £1,400 on her lunch. Reported today. Great levelling up and use of my tax NOT!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liz-truss-tory-donor-leadership-b1985560.html

[lardy]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Which is clearly not the case here.

Name a few of the 99 and we'll see!

[JamesWales]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Name a few of the 99 and we'll see!

I posted a full link above.

Ur being played. They don't want you to see good news, do certain papers with an agenda will spin it for you.

If you actually care about improving people's lives then you would be focusing on the many projects I posted above as opposed to a single story that almost certainly doesn't present the full picture.

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Levelling up defined.

I posted a full link above.

Ur being played. They don't want you to see good news, do certain papers with an agenda will spin it for you.

If you actually care about improving people's lives then you would be focusing on the many projects I posted above as opposed to a single story that almost certainly doesn't present the full picture.

Er, if that list you posted appeared in the Guardian you’d be rubbishing it. A trade paper publishes something and you take it as Gospel

[Dorcus]

Re: Levelling up defined.

The Foreign Secretary of a country with over 2000 food banks has spent £1,400 on her lunch. Reported today. Great levelling up and use of my tax NOT!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b1985560.html

Sickening!!! Has the woman no shame and what about Johnson insisting office workers should get back to work to support sandwich shops during their lunch breaks?

[Tito Fuente]

Re: Levelling up defined.

I posted a full link above.

Ur being played. They don't want you to see good news, do certain papers with an agenda will spin it for you.

If you actually care about improving people's lives then you would be focusing on the many projects I posted above as opposed to a single story that almost certainly doesn't present the full picture.

Hi James.

Just a quick one.

Do you think there should be ANY negatives associated with levelling up?

Especially one where a Tory peer has been given over £300k of tax payers' money to repair a road on their private estate?

You also act like this is the first occasion of cronyism so we should focus on all the positive promises (that's all they are at the moment) the government have made with the Levelling Up bill.

You're not as balanced as you think or pretend to be.

Try harder.

[ninian opinian]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Sickening!!! Has the woman no shame and what about Johnson insisting office workers should get back to work to support sandwich shops during their lunch breaks?

Liz Truss and her companions drank two bottles of dry gin, three £153 bottles of Pazo Barrantes Albariño, a Spanish white wine and two bottles of the French red Coudoulet de Beaucastel at £130 a bottle.

At a working lunch. On expenses. At a Tory donor's establishment. Guzzling up!!!

[Dorcus]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Liz Truss and her companions drank two bottles of dry gin, three £153 bottles of Pazo Barrantes Albariño, a Spanish white wine and two bottles of the French red Coudoulet de Beaucastel at £130 a bottle.

At a working lunch. On expenses. At a Tory donor's establishment. Guzzling up!!!

They're taking us for mugs.

[JamesWales]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Er, if that list you posted appeared in the Guardian you’d be rubbishing it. A trade paper publishes something and you take it as Gospel

No I wouldn't. And an article that simply reported the facts without trying to push an agenda wouldn't appear in the guardian anyway

[JamesWales]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Hi James.

Just a quick one.

Do you think there should be ANY negatives associated with levelling up?

Especially one where a Tory peer has been given over £300k of tax payers' money to repair a road on their private estate?

You also act like this is the first occasion of cronyism so we should focus on all the positive promises (that's all they are at the moment) the government have made with the Levelling Up bill.

You're not as balanced as you think or pretend to be.

Try harder.

Of course you should look at good and bad. And it's fair to criticise the ambitions of funding levels, but just focusing on speculation around one funding bid and ignoring all others is pretty pathetic.

There are always more controversial recipients of funding, it doesn't undermine the whole process. You guys are just as bad as people on the opposite end of the spectrum who do exactly the same thing, pick one example of controversial funding and rubbish everything about it

Two cheeks of the same arse!

[Tito Fuente]

Re: Levelling up defined.

Of course you should look at good and bad. And it's fair to criticise the ambitions of funding levels, but just focusing on speculation around one funding bid and ignoring all others is pretty pathetic.

There are always more controversial recipients of funding, it doesn't undermine the whole process. You guys are just as bad as people on the opposite end of the spectrum who do exactly the same thing, pick one example of controversial funding and rubbish everything about it

Two cheeks of the same arse!

"You guys" he says to the person he has no knowledge of before today.

I haven't rubbished anything, have I James?

I've pointed out that so far we have an example of cronyism and the misuse of public funds but you'd rather we ignore that and pretty much everything else that the Tories are accused of and concentrate more on alllll of the positives that we are yet to see.

It's the same way that you defend Brexit.

You're not balanced in the slightest, no matter how many times you tell yourself and others

[JamesWales]

Re: Levelling up defined.

"You guys" he says to the person he has no knowledge of before today.

I haven't rubbished anything, have I James?

I've pointed out that so far we have an example of cronyism and the misuse of public funds but you'd rather we ignore that and pretty much everything else that the Tories are accused of and concentrate more on alllll of the positives that we are yet to see.

It's the same way that you defend Brexit.

You're not balanced in the slightest, no matter how many times you tell yourself and others

If you are part of a small irrational band of the ideologically possessed who are incapable of discussing anything rationally, and instead must find something bad, irrespective of how much truth is even in that story, and do not engage on the wider story or the projects even happening in your area..
..then, yes I will refer to you as a collective

I posted a link to loads of projects actually receiving funding in South Wales. The sad reality is few of you give two shits. More concerned with gossip from another part of the country and keen to just endlessly, incessantly whinge. Nothing positive, ever.

Part of being balanced is pointing out quite how unhinged some of you seem.

Why not talk about some of the projects actually happening in the part of the country we live in? Do you even care?

[cyril evans awaydays]

Re: Levelling up defined.

If you are part of a small irrational band of the ideologically possessed who are incapable of discussing anything rationally, and instead must find something bad, irrespective of how much truth is even in that story, and do not engage on the wider story or the projects even happening in your area..
..then, yes I will refer to you as a collective

I posted a link to loads of projects actually receiving funding in South Wales. The sad reality is few of you give two shits. More concerned with gossip from another part of the country and keen to just endlessly, incessantly whinge. Nothing positive, ever.

Part of being balanced is pointing out quite how unhinged some of you seem.

Why not talk about some of the projects actually happening in the part of the country we live in? Do you even care?

Levelling up is one of those catchy election winning phrases looking for a coherent narrative.

What has happened so far is the UK government has allocated around £4b of public money which will be drawn down in tranches for "worthy causes".

The first awards have been made, much of which you have highlighted.

The problem will always be if the phrase has meaning that the money should go to the most worthy places and causes to be "levelled up". For every instance where it is seen that:

a) the allocation of funds is based on political interest of the sitting government (eg, disproportionately to newly created Tory marginals in the "Red Wall" rather than more compelling need in safe Labour seats;

b) the money goes to areas of affluence in the South or

c) the money goes to political supporters in a way that looks nothing like whatever "Levelling Up" means

then don't be surprised that the worthy schemes get drowned out by accusations gerrymandering, political expediency or cronyism for the ones that look suspect.

I'm sure John Major thought "Back to Basics" was a catchy phrase but it needed people to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk for it to have resonance.

Who knows though, for all his personal defects Michael Gove is a thoughtful and astute politician. His Levelling Up plan may bring some coherence to the phrase but it needs to go beyond suggestions that it will be long on devolution and short on new money.

After all we know how some on here hate the idea of devolved accountabilty and new layers of democracy!