General Politics Thread

[Granny Danger]

1 minute ago, WATTOO said:

It's the same all over, I was shocked at Aberdeen's Union street when there a couple of years ago and Chester which is regarded as very affluent was an utter hellhole when we were down watching Ayr v Wrexham a couple of years back. Literally hundreds sleeping rough of all ages plus a good load of junkies and general dodgy looking characters.

It made anywhere in Scotland I'd been seem fantastic.

Even before Covid the nature of retail had changed and I cannot see city centres ever being the vibrant retail environments of the size they once were.  This will impact upon those landlords whose city centre properties are probably worth a fraction of their previous value.  No doubt after years of making big profits on the back of big rents they will be looking for the government to help them out with any required changes.

Capitalism is fine until it fails then state help comes to the rescue.

[BFTD]

Well, the empty shops part is a cultural thing. Enough of us have switched to online shopping that it isn't worth keeping bricks and mortar shops open. Either landlords/councils are going to have to get real with rents and taxes, or it won't change.

In reality, the likelihood is that we're going to see shop units converted en masse back into residential developments, with maybe a few small shops to service the people who live there. It's starting already in some towns around here.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

Even before Covid the nature of retail had changed and I cannot see city centres ever being the vibrant retail environments of the size they once were.  This will impact upon those landlords whose city centre properties are probably worth a fraction of their previous value.  No doubt after years of making big profits on the back of big rents they will be looking for the government to help them out with any required changes.

Capitalism is fine until it fails then state help comes to the rescue.

Totally, our form of extreme capitalism only works for the few.

We actively encourage every fly by night "entrepreneur" (which seems to be the acceptable 21st century name for con man) to invest with other peoples money or indeed the debt of the company they're aiming for, asset strip the lot, walk away with millions while dumping the workforce on the buroo and then leave the tax payer to step in to cover the redundancy payments, subsequent unemployment benefits and of course the pension funds, all without any sort of criminal investigation. It really is great work if you can get it !!

One of my other pet hates is how we allow multinationals away with utter murder, yet in most of Europe they're expected to support the local community where they operate.  Over and above this we allow them to lift all the grants and start up bribes but then shut up shop on a whim without any penalty where the likes of France and Germany demand all the subsidies be repaid etc.

People are corrupt, however the system allows this behaviour and until such a time as that changes, then we'll just keep reading and hearing about scandal after scandal, of that there's no doubt.

[Todd_is_God]

20 hours ago, ICTChris said:

Not sure if this is the right thread but will ask anyway.

Is Glasgow becoming rapidly run down? I keep seeing stuff online about this, how much of it is just people bumping on or is it real?

I assumed it was overblown by anti-SNP people but then I spoke to a Glasgow resident friend of mine, who is a fully paid up member of the SNP/Yes club and he said that the city has been getting worse and worse in the last couple of years and is now in a bad state. I assume it’ll get a spring clean for the COP conference, maybe that will sort it.

I haven’t been in Glasgow since we’ll before the pandemic, probably more than three years ago now so cannot speak to public experience. I do think city centres are often a bit rundown, maybe people just noticed more when there was no people there.

I wandered up Sauchiehall Street last Saturday for the first time in ages. It was fucking grim.

Soulless, filthy, depressing.

I didn't expect Oxford Street, but I didn't expect it to be that bad either.

[BigDoddyKane]

City councils need to do good planning of their centres , its up to them to design and plan. You see that in europe in a lot of places where they actually invest in their centres in the long term, good public transport in and out of centre, nice places to sit, even sports stadiums being built bang in the centre to have people coming into the centre and then use the restaurants and bars and shops already there. If the councils do nothing its little wonder the places are grim now considering all the changes as mentioned above that have/are happenning

Edited September 16, 2021 by BigDoddyKane

[ICTChris]

I think a lot of city centres are like this now.  Combination of numerous factors - the retail apocolypse, the pandemic, increases in usage of 'legal highs' and now street valium, cuts to local council budgets, the pandemic causing hospitality businesses to close.

I'd seen a lot of references to Glasgow being grim though.  I guess it's a city a lot of people will go to from outer areas.

[DrewDon]

3 hours ago, Halbeath Raith Rover said:

Taking it well too 

You've got to laugh when you fall off a scooter. Bloody scooter!

[Gaz]

2 hours ago, BFTD said:

Well, the empty shops part is a cultural thing. Enough of us have switched to online shopping that it isn't worth keeping bricks and mortar shops open. Either landlords/councils are going to have to get real with rents and taxes, or it won't change.

In reality, the likelihood is that we're going to see shop units converted en masse back into residential developments, with maybe a few small shops to service the people who live there. It's starting already in some towns around here.

The various local Facebook groups for the Falkirk area are full of utter wallopers convinced that every other medium-sized town in Scotland has its very own Oxford Street that is chock-full of shoppers 24/7.

These same folk blame the council for why Falkirk High Street is an absolute shambles, usually citing rents / rates as the main factor, despite how many times it’s pointed out that local councils control neither rents or rates.

[Kejan]

Scotland and Britain in general is so slow to change. Often when the horse has bolted! It's changing, but in lots of Nordic countries - you can change your address, get a mortgage, pay a speeding fine etc online ten years ago. It wasn't until recently or ten years ago or so, I would need to get my mum to send train tickets to me if I bought a cheap one online for coming home.

I mind going to Iceland in 2005 and you could pay for taxis, basically everything with your debit card. It wasn't really until a few years ago that the UK 'caught up' that it was considered a mainstream way of paying for things.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Kejan

[BFTD]

5 minutes ago, Gaz said:

The various local Facebook groups for the Falkirk area are full of utter wallopers convinced that every other medium-sized town in Scotland has its very own Oxford Street that is chock-full of shoppers 24/7.

These same folk blame the council for why Falkirk High Street is an absolute shambles, usually citing rents / rates as the main factor, despite how many times it’s pointed out that local councils control neither rents or rates.

Primark is coming any day now. Everything will be OK when there's a Primark.

Just heard that some of the shops in the High Street are being turfed out to build a theatre  

[BFTD]

8 minutes ago, Kejan said:

Scotland and Britain in general is so slow to change. Often when the horse has bolted! It's changing, but in lots of Nordic countries - you can change your address, get a mortgage, pay a speeding fine etc online ten years ago. It wasn't until recently or ten years ago or so, I would need to get my mum to send train tickets to me if I bought a cheap one online for coming home.

I mind going to Iceland in 2005 and you could pay for taxis, basically everything with your debit card. It wasn't really until a few years ago that the UK 'caught up' that it was considered a mainstream way of paying for things.

If we're slow, try the US. The mother-in-law came over to visit last year with plans to use her credit card for everything, only to discover than we have this newfangled thing called "Chip & PIN".

[Gaz]

2 minutes ago, BFTD said:

Primark is coming any day now. Everything will be OK when there's a Primark.

Just heard that some of the shops in the High Street are being turfed out to build a theatre  

The Primark thing is an absolute belter. There’s like four of them within half an hour and folk are convinced they’re about to take over the old BHS because there are approximately three people in the Falkirk area who don’t want to travel

[BFTD]

1 minute ago, Gaz said:

The Primark thing is an absolute belter. There’s like four of them within half an hour and folk are convinced they’re about to take over the old BHS because there are approximately three people in the Falkirk area who don’t want to travel

Apparently it'll encourage other businesses to re-open in the High Street.

"Wait, there's a Primark? Their customers are loaded, we need to get a piece of that action," said no-one ever.

[Shipa]

23 minutes ago, Gaz said:

The various local Facebook groups for the Falkirk area are full of utter wallopers convinced that every other medium-sized town in Scotland has its very own Oxford Street that is chock-full of shoppers 24/7.

These same folk blame the council for why Falkirk High Street is an absolute shambles, usually citing rents / rates as the main factor, despite how many times it’s pointed out that local councils control neither rents or rates.

Pretty much the same in Perth, more than likely the same everywhere.

Often accompanied by "council does nothing to attract folk to Perth" from the same folk who scream "waste of money" when the council does something to attract people.

[Gaz]

1 minute ago, Shipa said:

Pretty much the same in Perth, more than likely the same everywhere.

Often accompanied by "council does nothing to attract folk to Perth" from the same folk who scream "waste of money" when the council does something to attract people.

Falkirk Council have been trying to build a new HQ in the town centre. Which will cost a fortune, but will bring hundreds of staff into the town centre and be considerably cheaper to maintain than the existing one, and also allow them to close down (and sell) older council buildings in the area. When it’s pointed out to folk that it will pay for itself it’s like you’re explaining quantum mechanics.

[strichener]

2 hours ago, Gaz said:

Falkirk Council have been trying to build a new HQ in the town centre. Which will cost a fortune, but will bring hundreds of staff into the town centre and be considerably cheaper to maintain than the existing one, and also allow them to close down (and sell) older council buildings in the area. When it’s pointed out to folk that it will pay for itself it’s like you’re explaining quantum mechanics.

Its not quantum mechanics, it's absolute shite.  How many councils are going to follow this path and then find out that they have fucked up with the planning.  Aberdeen did it with Marischal College, Perth with their new place, aberdeenshire with Buchan house in Peterhead.  It's always the same - they plan to consolidate loads of people into one building and close a load of old ones that are costing a fortune only to find that they don't have the room in the new building and need to keep these old ones and in Perth's case find that they don't even have parking and have to pay the private company that built the multi-storey for parking spaces.

 

[Glen Sannox]

3 hours ago, DrewDon said:

You've got to laugh when you fall off a scooter. Bloody scooter!

England’s fault.

[git-intae-thum]

^^^^^

[D Angelo Barksdale]

Hi I'm Humza Yousaf, welcome to Jackass.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

13 hours ago, Gaz said:

The various local Facebook groups for the Falkirk area are full of utter wallopers convinced that every other medium-sized town in Scotland has its very own Oxford Street that is chock-full of shoppers 24/7.

These same folk blame the council for why Falkirk High Street is an absolute shambles, usually citing rents / rates as the main factor, despite how many times it’s pointed out that local councils control neither rents or rates.

 

13 hours ago, Shipa said:

Pretty much the same in Perth, more than likely the same everywhere.

Often accompanied by "council does nothing to attract folk to Perth" from the same folk who scream "waste of money" when the council does something to attract people.

Same in Forfar and Dundee. Facebook is full as absolute moonhowlers raging at the Cooncil because the High Street is all hairdressers, bookies and charity shops but they completely fail to understand this is largely caused by them shopping off Amazon over the last 10 years and ignoring the local cafes and coffee shops to go to shiteholes like McDonalds and KFC.