An MP Guilty Of Sexual Impropriety
One night many years ago, C and myself had a dinner party. One of the guests brought her husband with her. At the time, the husband may have still been an MP, or he may just have just lost an election.
At dinner, he constantly fiddled with C’s leg, but she had been warned of his probably behaviour, by one her best friends and had worn protection in the shape of a long dress, with layers of petticoats underneath.
Even with permission, it was difficult to find you way in!
C handled herself and anyway, he was the sort of man, she wouldn’t have fancied in a whole century of Sundays.
A few days later on meeting her friend, C related the incident.
Her friend then told her what had happened at a party that she had given. One of her female friends had got rather drunk and had been led upstairs by the MP.
Everything was apparently going well, until the MP got undressed.
On seeing his filthy grey vest that was full of large holes, the lady came to her senses, laughed extremely loudly and long and returned to the party.
Australia’s Dual Citizenship Row
This article on the BBC is entitled Barnaby Joyce: Australia Deputy PM Disqualified From Office. This is said.
Australian Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce and four other politicians were wrongly elected because they held dual citizenship, a court has ruled.
The High Court of Australia decision means three of the politicians, including Mr Joyce, are disqualified from office. The others quit in July.
Australia’s constitution prohibits dual citizens from being elected.
So what are the rules in the UK?
This page on the UK Parliament web site is entitled Who Can Stand As An MP?. This is said.
People wishing to stand as an MP must be over 18 years of age, be a British citizen or citizen of a Commonwealth country or the Republic of Ireland
Candidates must be nominated by ten parliamentary electors of the constituency they wish to stand in.
There of course a few other rules with respect to things like criminal records.
But it would appear that Barnaby Joyce would be free to stand in a UK Parliamentary election, as he is an Australian citizen.
Andrew Bonar Law, who up until now, is the only Prime Minister born outside the British Isles, was born in Canada.
The Joy Of Physics
On the One Show on BBC television, yesterday there was a report about a man called Ian Tansley, who has invented a vaccine fridge for use in places like Africa, where the electricity is not reliable.
This Wikipedia entry for Sure Chill Technology describes the technology and this report on the BBC, describes how the invention has been backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Physics to many is a dull subject at school, but to me, it’s the key to so many interesting inventions and ideas that will shape our lives in a better way.
A First Visit To Walthamstow Wetlands
Walthamstow Wetlands opened today, so I went to take a look.
It was well worth a visit.
I shall return!
Just Add Trains
I took these pictures of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, as it passes past the Engine House on the Walthamstow Wetlands site.
This section, which is probably one of the easiest bits to electrify, looks to be ready for the trains.
Note that the pictures looking down on the line were taken from the fire escape on the side of the Engine House, shown in the last picture.
This Google Map shows the Gospel Oak To Barking Line crossing the area.
Note.
- The Engine House has a green label saying Walthamstow Wetlands.
- The bus stops by the Ferry Boat Inn have buses to and from Tottenham Hale and Blackhorse Road stations.
- The Engine House is about a hundred metres from the bus stops and
- The Engine House has a step-free entrance and a lift inside.
The Engine House is certainly worth the walk.
Is A Cap On Energy Prices A Good Idea?
All political parties including the Motherhood and Apple Pie Tendency think this is a good idea, but I’m not sure.
I changed to OVO Energy, one of the smaller companies a couple of years ago, so I looked up on a comparison site to see if I could make a big saving by changing supplier.
Sixty-three suppliers would give me a saving of up to four pounds a month.
As my solar panels haven’t been installed for a year and I don’t know the full affect on my bill yet and I would be changing with solar panels, I shall not be changing my supplier now.
But the interesting figure is that sixty-three different deals were offered. That says to me that competition is working in the energy field.
An Ideal Energy Market
Most consumers would prefer a fixed low price.
But surely, that is impossible as there has to be an equilibrium between the price energy companies pay for their energy and the price they charge consumers.
What happens if there is a global crisis and energy prices are universally high?
The other problem with a low energy price, is that doesn’t encourage consumers to save energy.
The UK’s Energy System
The energy system and market is a constantly changing dynamic system and since energy privatisation in the UK, there have been massive changes to the generation, supply and use of electricity.
- A nnetwork of interconnectors is starting to stretch over Western Europe to allow interchange of electricity.
- Wind and solar power generation are increasing dramatically.
- Coal is dead for generating electricity.
- Consumers have invested in low-energy appliances.
There will be more developments in the next few years.
- A planned interconnector to Iceland could be a game changer.
- Solar panels and energy storage will increasingly be fitted to homes.
- Millions of electric cars will be sold.
- Some high-priced nuclear energy will come on stream.
All of these developments have and will continue to move the energy price up and down.
As a Control Engineer, I know that the best way to get a dynamic system like this to a stable point acceptable to all parties, is to apply as few restrictions as possible.
An energy price cap will impose a condition, that will distort the equilibrium and it might not be in the way that politicians want.
Politicians would be better to concentrate on actions that helped the current system find an equilibrium acceptable to all.
- Make it as easy as possible for consumers to change energy supplier.
- Avoid backing high-priced energy generation like Hinckley Point C.
- Promote lower-cost generation and energy storage systems.
- Fund energy research at universities.
- Build more interconnectors.
But above all they should not distort the market.
As an aside here, I don’t object to Nicola Sturgeon setting up a tax-payer funded energy company in Scotland. In a free market, it will only promote more competition and possibly lower prices.
But it might lose Scotland a lot of money!
Along The Golden Mile
London used to have a Golden Mile in Brentford, which used to be a string of Art Deco buildings.
As the pictures show, a lot of them have gone and been replaced with modern buildings.
The Brentford Branch Line
You can clearly see where the Brentford Branch Line terminated to the right of Currys and the footbridge.
Hounslow Council is proposing to reopen the branch line and Wikipedia says this.
n April 2017, it was proposed that the line could reopen to allow a new link between Southall to Hounslow and possibly down to the planned Old Oak Common station with a new station in Brentford called Brentford Golden Mile. [5][6] The proposals suggest the service could be operated by Great Western Railway and could be open by 2020 with a new service from Southall to Hounslow and possible later to Old Oak Common.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The old track of the railway by Currys PC World and the footbridge over the Great West Road.
- The Hounslow Loop Line going across the South-East corner of the map.
- I’m not sure that a connection between the two lines would be a practical proposition.
Surely though, there is a better way to connect the Golden Mile to Old Oak Common!
The Brentford Branch Line connects to Crossrail at Southall station.
If the connection was fully step-free, then the Brentford Branch Line would have an easy connection to all of Crossrail’s stations, including Old Oak Common and Heathrow.
OVO Offers Solar Panels And A Battery
There are a couple of reports on the Internet, that the smaller energy supplier; Ovo Energy, is now offering deals on solar panels and a battery.
I have been thinking of adding a battery for some time, but I don’t think the time is quite right yet, as the price of batteries is becoming more affordable.
However, I do think that Ovo’s move is the first of many we will see in the next few months and years.
This march towards solar and batteries could have various consequences for the UK.
- Many house builders will add solar panels and a battery to new houses.
- Domestic electricity needs will reduce.
- Solar panels and batteries may have some interesting effects on the property market.
Battery owners could also charge up overnight on low-price electricity, so the daily operation could be something like.
- Overnight the battery is charged on low-price electricity.
- Morning ablutions and breakfast, thus uses low-price electricity.
- Hopefully, the sun charges the battery during the day.
- Evening electricity would in part be what has been stored during the day.
One overall effect of the battery is to smooth the energy needs of a property.
So as the proportion of houses with batteries increases, the National Grid will see a reduction in the spikes of electricity demand, as evetybody makes a cup of tea in the advert breaks.
But the biggest effect will be on how the UK would generate its electricity.
I am not against nuclear power for any technical or environmental reasons, but I do think that the cost of new nuclear power stations like Hinckley Point C are not good value for money compared with other methods of generation. On the other hand, if we are going to have much smoother electricity needs, then we do need the nuclear power station’s ability to produce a steady baseload of power.
I am against inappropriate on-shore wind in many locations, but I am not against off-shore wind or perhaps a few large turbines in an industrial estate.
I feel that solar, batteries and off-shore wind could give the UK very affordable electricity, but they need to be backed by some form of baseload power stations, which at the moment can only be nuclear.
Conclusion
Following my logic, I believe, that as more batteries are installed in the UK, the following will happen.
- Those who install a battery will save money whether they have solar panels or not!
- Batteries will be allowed to be charged on low-cost overnight electricity.
- As more batteries are installed in the UK, the UK power needs will be smoother.
- Overnight off-shore wind could be used to charge all these batteries.
This leads me to the conclusion, that the Government should create incentives for homes to install batteries, which would be charged with low-cost overnight electricity or solar panels.
Checking My Electricity Direct Debit
With the news this morning, that there is going to be a price cap on energy tariffs, I thought I’d look at mine.
I was paying £114 a month, but my supplier; OVO were recommended that I pay just £89.
The difference, is probably explained, as this has just been the first summer, when my solar panels have been installed.
So their charge calculating algorithm has only just caught up and I am now saving money.
Do you trust, your energy supplier to give you a an accurate estimate about what you should pay?
Interestingly, this morning, I’ve just found this web page detailing a link-up between OVO and Nissan concening the charging of electric cars.
The electricity market is changing very much for the better.
Westminster Proposes A Voluntary Mansion Tax
This may seem a bit strange for the Tories’ flagship Council, but it does seem well researched, according to a report in today’s Sunday Times.
Any house worth over £10 million would be put in a new band above Council Tax Band H and the owners would pay double the Band H rate of tax, which is currently £1,376 a year.
Westminster has 2,000 properties in this band, that are worth over £10 million and the scheme would raise £2.75 million, if everybody paid the extra, which would be voluntary.
It’s an interesting concept, that has been well-thought out.
But like most radical plans, I doubt it will see the light of day!
The Anonymous Widower 