Nigel Farage Speech: Persistent Offenders Would Face Life Sentences
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
The Reform UK leader pledged more prison spaces, deportation of criminals and zero-tolerance policing as part of a six-week Lawless Britain campaign drive.
These three paragraphs give more detail about what criminals can expect and how much it will cost.
Every shoplifter would be prosecuted and stop and search powers used to “saturation point” under Nigel Farage’s pledge to make Reform UK the “toughest party on law and order this country has ever seen”.
He said that a Reform government would crack down on prolific offending by imposing life sentences on those who commit three or more offences.
The Reform leader set out plans to spend £17.4 billion to cut crime by half in the first five years if the party wins the next general election — an annual cost of £3.5 billion.
At least hanging and flogging aren’t mentioned. But he does suggest sending one of our worst child murderers to El Salvador and that Britain would leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
This paragraph says how he will pay for this law and order policy.
Farage said Reform would pay for the £17.4 billion law and order crackdown by ditching HS2 and net zero policies — money which has also been pledged for other policies.
I have just done a little calculation about how much offshore wind power should be commissioned by January 2029, which will likely be before the expected 2029 General Election.
- In October 2023, there was 15,581 MW of operational offshore wind.
- Currently there are 10,842 MW under construction, that should be commissioned by January 2029.
- There is also 2,860 MW of smaller wind farms, which have yet to be started that should be commissioned by January 2029.
- That all totals up to 29, 285 MW or 29.3 GW.
- Another 12 GW of offshore wind is scheduled to be commissioned in 2029 and 2030.
Currently, as I write this we are generating 29.3 GW from all sources.
I asked Google AI how much solar energy we will have in January 2029 and got this answer.
In January 2029, the UK is projected to have a significant amount of solar energy capacity, with the government aiming for 45-47 GW of total solar power by 2030.
Let’s assume the sun only shine half the time and say 20 GW on average.
We’ll also have 4.4 GW from Hinckley Point C and Sizewell B, as all other nuclear will have been switched off.
I asked Google AI how much energy storage we’ll have by January 2029 and got this answer.
In January 2029, the UK is projected to have around 120 GWh of battery energy storage capacity, according to a European report. This is part of a broader goal to reach 400 GWh by 2029 for the EU-27, with the UK contributing significantly to this total.
If there’s say another Great Storm, the dozens of interconnectors between the UK and Europe should keep us all going.
It looks to me that by January 2029, we’ll be substantially on the way to being powered by renewables.
Most of the net zero money will have been spent and we’ll be almost at net zero.
Phase One of High Speed Two has a target date of 2030, and I suspect that the engineers working on the project will get trains running between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street stations before the General Election, just because if NF’s going to cancel the project, they might as well do their best to get him to lose the election.
So at best he might get a year’s savings from stopping High Speed Two, but an unfinished High Speed Two, will be a joke on NF and make him look a complete laughing stock!
A Thought On The Texas Floods
I asked Google AI, if Texas is bad for natural disasters.
This was the reply.
Yes, Texas is known to be susceptible to a high number of natural disasters, particularly when compared to other states in the US. Texas experiences a wide variety of natural hazards, including hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, hail storms, sinkholes, and droughts. The state has also experienced earthquakes, potentially linked to the extraction of natural resources like oil and gas.
I certainly wouldn’t want to live there, as my one experience of a bad storm in the UK nearly killed me. I wrote about my experiences in The Great Storm.
A Message From Trump
Donald Trump published this last night, according to a reader’s comment in The Times.
Trump Fragrances are here. They’re called “Victory 45-47” because they’re all about Winning, Strength, and Success For men and women. Get yourself a bottle, and don’t forget to get one for your loved ones too. Enjoy, have fun, and keep winning!
Roll up folks, you too can smell like Trump for a very reasonable $249!
I used to have a basset hound, who farts probably smelled better than anything produced by the world’s number one confidence trickster.
I must say, that the more, I read about Trump, the more it gets like a Tom Sharpe novel!
All Trump’s life needs is a good dose of rubber fetishism! He’d certainly look ridiculous in a rubber cat-suit.
It’s Too Darned Hot!
The title says it all!
Earth Friendly Concrete Spotted On Moorgate
I’ve been hoping to spot one of Capital Concrete’s trucks before, but this is the first one, I’ve seen delivering Earth Friendly Concrete.
I said more about the product in Earth Friendly Concrete.
Eden Project Morecambe Revealed In New Images
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
New images of what the long-awaited ecotourism attraction Eden Project Morecambe will look like have been released.
These three paragraphs add more detail.
The shell-inspired structure, sister site to the original Eden Project in Cornwall, is due to open in late 2028 and is expected to attract thousands of people to the Lancashire town.
CGI images, by architects Grimshaw, show how the design will look on the edge of Morecambe Bay promenade.
The project team said the structure would be “instantly recognisable” as an “emblem of sustainability” with a “deep connection to place” and complimenting heritage landmarks nearby.
The BBC article contains a selection of stunning images.
I have never been to the original Eden Project in Cornwall, as I don’t drive and it is difficult to get to by train.
But Morecambe from Euston is an easy sub-three hours train journey and not much over an hour from Liverpool and Manchester.
So the Eden Project Morecambe will be much easier to get to and will surely bring in the visitors.
But it needs a better train between Lancaster and Morecambe than this.
Note.
- The train is a British Rail-era Class 156 diesel train, that was built in the late 1980s.
- A diesel train to an eco-project is probably not the right image.
- If they get all the visitors by rail, that I think they will, a two-car train will probably not have enough capacity.
- The platform appears to be electrified and be around 70-80 metres long.
- The Lancaster and Morecambe service is less than five miles.
But I believe, that this platform could be used to charge a battery-electric train through a pantograph.
This train would then be able to trundle silently all day between Lancaster and Morecambe stations.
Marsh Harrier vs Brown Hare
This fascinating clip was shown on Springwatch yesterday evening.
I have observed hares for years and I have never seen anything like this.
One point to note is that hares separate their leveretts in different areas of a field and then return to feed them.
Hares and horses seem to get on well, as horses aren’t the best of feeders and leave grass a good length for hares to hide their babies.
Walking Between Moorgate and Liverpool Street – 30th May 2025
The BBC were saying this morning, that Finsbury Circus Gardens would be reopened today.
So after having my usual full-English gluten-free breakfast in Leon on Moorgate, I walked through Finsbury Circus to Liverpool Street.
Note.
- The gardens aren’t quite finished and some of the gates aren’t open yet.
- There are some magnificent specimen trees.
- Finsbury Circus Gardens can be approached from Moorgate between the buildings, after Crossing Moorgate on the light-controlled crossing, I wrote about in Moorgate Has Now Got A New Light-Controlled Crossing.
- I think I should have walked around the other side of the circus.
Hopefully, it’ll all be finished in a few days.
What Is The Collective Noun For Cement Mixer Trucks?
I took these pictures on Eldon Street and Moorgate this morning.
Note.
- There was obviously a big pour going on in the rebuilding of Broadgate.
- I suspect those outside the hotel in the street restaurant, we’re too amused by the cabaret.
- Cemex were providing the concrete.
Perhaps in view of the location, the collective noun is a pollution of cement mixer trucks.
In Cummins Agrees To Integrate Its Hydrogen ICE Technology Into Terex® Advance Trucks, I describe the latest design of cement mixer trucks from the United States.
This is the European-sized member of the range.
Note.
- Front is to the right.
- The engine is in the pod at the other end.
- The engine can be one of Cummins’s hydrogen internal combustion engines.
These trucks would be much more city-friendly.
The Anonymous Widower 