Andrew Sissons

Oh boy - Bromptons and Bristol hills do not mix well. It's hard enough with a battery!

I’m 100% pro opening up the Frome - is there a scheme for that? Just don’t think it’s a reason not to do Park Street, and will be a different scale of cost.

I think the underground is v unlikely to happen sadly and certainly isn’t within local control

If you’re worried about traffic on Park Row, why only close Park Street at peak time though?

Aside from that, it just shows such paucity of ambition. We’re so in hoc to a status quo that is not very good

Why has the mayor said no? Godwin made clear before she was elected that she had doubts about the plans, citing fears it will make traffic worse in front of the children's hospital, which is already "one of the most polluted streets in the country". She told Politics West her "instinct" was that the scheme "didn't seem entirely necessary", so she had asked officers to go into "more technical detail". "We've tried to get to a compromise position," she said. "We offered the scheme could be paid for if we did it as a trial, and we had the bus gate only operational at peak time.. Bristol decided they didn't want to do that." Mack said the council had "struggled a bit with a lot of back-and-forth", leaving them "not quite sure" what Godwin's objection was. She added she is confident the scheme will not make air quality worse elsewhere in the city.

According to the BBC article, it’s political (or at least a policy choice).

Bristol should be a city of a million people The UK doesn’t have many successful cities, and it doesn’t let its successful cities expand. That needs to change.

And look, we can’t build a tram in Bristol if we can’t even put a few traffic filters on a high street. And if we can’t build a tram or similar, we can’t become a city of a million people

As someone who uses Park Street pretty regularly (on foot, bike and car), I can tell you that the only reason to drive all the way down it is if you don’t really know where you’re going.
It has the potential to be a great high street (and cycle route) - it is not an important through road for cars

This is sad - the West of England mayor won’t fund the scheme to make Park Street in Bristol a no-through road for cars (unless it is only a trial at peak hours)

Their pay is already linked to average earnings too!

Yes!
One of those classic debates that’s split between two poles when the reality (and most people) are somewhere in between

Maybe it’s the ultimate policy tool?

Peg to nominal GDP per capita = politicians hate inflation, maybe learn to love central bankers

Peg to total GDP = politicians suddenly more pro-immigration (and/or pro-natalist I guess)

Peg to total nominal GDP = net migration rate must exceed inflation rate

Yes this is true, Kyle would be giving MPs a massive pay rise in Ireland!

(And yes generally some kind of average wage is a better benchmark, and it is what the UK Parliament already uses!)

The interesting bits of the history of wages v GDP per capita are:

1. The post-Black Death period, when wages were persistently high relative to GDP per capita

2. The post-Industrial Revolution
century (1760 - 1860) period, when GDP per capita grew rapidly and wages absolutely did not

And iiuc, MPs wages have been linked to average earnings since 2015?
So they are pretty much already linked to GDP per capita?

YouTube video by Andrew Sissons Real GDP per capita and Real Consumption Wage, 1660 to 2016

Real GDP per capita in red / real wages in purple, since 1660

I mean, generally wages *are* pegged to GDP per capita

This. Although I think it undersells the level of chaos India, the most powerful cricketing nation have wrought on almost every major tournament in recent years.

They didn't confirm they wouldn't play in Pakistan until a couple of months before last year's Champions Trophy.

Thanks!
It’s been bubbling away for a while, but it is a complete mess. Very much hope there is a route to de-escalate soon

Jay Shah - Wikipedia

For completeness, I should probably add that Jay Shah, Chair of the International Cricket Council, is son of the Indian Home Affairs Minister.

This is obviously a very bad situation. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are arguably the three biggest cricketing nations (certainly by population and enthusiasm for the game) and it will be very, very sad if they don’t play each other in future

Naqvi casts uncertainty on Pakistan's participation in T20 World Cup after Bangladesh ouster The PCB chairman said the final call will be taken after talks with the Pakistan government

Pakistan is now also considering pulling out of the tournament as a result.

(Btw Mohsin Naqvi, chair of Pakistan’s cricket board, is also Interior Minister and was the person who India refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from)

The International Cricket Council (ICC) refused, arguing it was impossible to do so at such short notice.
The ICC gave Bangladesh 24 hours to agree to play in India; they refused. The ICC removed them from the tournament and replaced them Scotland

As things escalated further, the Bangladesh cricket board asked for their games in the T20 World Cup to be moved out of India, as with Pakistan’s, citing security concerns.

KKR release Mustafizur from IPL 2026 squad following BCCI instructions BCCI secretary says KKR will be allowed to bring in a replacement player for Mustafizur Rahman

In response, the Indian cricket board instructed an IPL franchise to release a Bangladesh player they had bought, Mustafizur Rahman (he was the only Bangladesh player involved)

Crisis in India-Bangladesh relations spirals amid violent protests - BBC News Recent deadly protests in Bangladesh are further straining Delhi's already frayed tied with Dhaka.

So what about Bangladesh?
Sadly political tensions have recently erupted between Bangladesh and India

For the 2026 T20 World Cup, India are hosts, and so Pakistan will play their games in Sri Lanka

There was also a major controversy at the recent 2025 Asian Cup, where India refused to shake hands with Pakistan’s players, and refused to accept the trophy when they won the tournament

When Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup in 2023, India did not travel to Pakistan. Their games were played in Sri Lanka instead.
Because India made the final, the tournament’s final was played in Sri Lanka - so the host country did not host the final

Pakistani players are also forbidden from playing in Indian domestic cricket, including the lucrative Indian Premier League, by far the biggest domestic competition in world cricket

We probably have to start by understanding the situation between India and Pakistan - which is by far the biggest match in world cricket btw.

India and Pakistan have played bilateral cricket only once since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. They meet only at world cups and other similar events…

Might be worth just setting out the background to this very unfortunate situation as I understand it, with Bangladesh not playing the T20 World Cup.

(It’s complicated, but I’m not sure I would have described Bangladesh as “boycotting” the World Cup fwiw)

Completely agree with Anthony - and I worry that ignoring crises (past, ongoing and future ones) is becoming a national trait