'the tears of alok sharma'

it is the evening before the day we are ostensibly taking about and all through the house the central heating was purring...

horsemouth has been being grumpy again. he dropped out of the christmas shopping task (knowing that would really annoy him) but he couldn't avoid the random phonecall from the bank. 

soon horsemouth was furious again and ready to kill (no. not really. he's a shandy drinking lightweight). 

how bad tempered is horsemouth? once, 20 years ago, they were rude to him in a branch of tescos - he didn't buy anything from them for 15 years. 

today (as will be) the visit to TESCO. 

tonight more TV and more reading of bear island. 

how family demographics have changed in london

there's a guardian article with a graphic showing the change in proportion of households with at least one dependent child from 2001 to 2021. it shows six boroughs where this proportion is in the decline - islington (-7%), hackney (-9%), tower hamlets, westminster, lambeth (-10%) and southwark (-11%). 

this (as horsemouth's friend merv observes) is leading to school closures. 

but in all the other boroughs (and barking and dagenham in particular) the proportion of households with children is rising. it is simply that families can no longer afford the inner cities (but it is also that families age out of having dependent children while still probably living in the same bit of london). 

the argument is made that this is happening in other major cities. it probably is (but we will never find this out from the grauniad who have like one roving reporter for the entire rest of the country). 

horsemouth's view is that the cities (where the work is, where the money is) are the place to be. but you are in fact renting your space there - in this way (high rents) you are really taxed, the rent is the way the value you have created is harvested.  now that horsemouth has finished working (or at least this is his plan) the city is much less the place to be but he is used to it and his friends are there. 

while the housing situation (overall) continues to be royally fucked the situation with the communal endeavour continues to be hopeful (if annoying). it is all a matter of perspective (and of keeping things in perspective). 

'gove will also confirm that the government is watering down housing targets, a move that industry sources said will have a dampening effect on building across the country...' 

see. no real hope of the government sorting it out. 

meanwhile peter bone MP is gone (he's an ex-MP, he has ceased to MP, you get the parrot) - there will be a by-election (with a bit of luck he'll run as an independent  and split the tory vote).  and meanwhile 2 there's scott benton MP -  will he be suspended? (the seventh by-election the tories have had to face).

at COP 28 ahem. 'the transition away from oil and gas' (really? is that the best you can do?) they remember the tears of alok sharma ('sharma fiddled while rome burned').