Mark

If the government charged everybody income tax at 99%, do you think total income tax take would be more or less than it is today?

If your answer is "less", then you are accepting that the Laffer curve exists.

How you draw it and where the peak is is up for debate - but the principle is sound.

Please tell me which parts of "Increase NI from 2% to 8% from £50K" "Increase CGT from 24% to 40/45%" and "Wealth tax of 1% over £10M" I don't understand.

We're arguably already getting to the peak of the Laffer curve, and raising taxation by 6% for anyone over £50K is "bold"; doubling tax on capital gains will result in a lot of capital flight.

Their tax policy will arguably end up being a drag on productivity, and risks lowering total tax take.

The principles - not borrowing money to fund day-to-day expenditure - are pretty sound. We already spend 8% of our tax take on interest, we shouldn't be allowing it to grow further.

My main issue with green economic policy is that it's a bit of a simplistic "tax the rich" (1/2)

Personally I think the Green economic policy is way off-base.

But I agree that people voting for them now clearly aren't bothered by that and aren't changing their vote any time soon.

Oh please, this is getting ridiculous.

Any time the party gets vaguely close to an overarching vision of a better tomorrow for our country, it gets undercut by near-term electioneering and NIMBYism.

Find it increasingly hard to stomach a stakeboard in my front garden for the upcoming locals.

What's curious is that this is still not yet reflected in the travel alerts published on state.gov

Cyclist on painted cycle lane, approaching a segregated segment. A flatbed truck is parked in the segregated cycle lane.

...which Google has captured successfully in all its glory.

Don't forget the "peak hours only" cycle lane that becomes car parking bays outside the shops after the Elm Road junction.

When there's cars parked, I make a point of always riding in primary on the road through there...

I don't know who needs to know this but there is a bucket of full size tube maps for £5 each in the LT Museum shop

It's been my first set of power meter pedals and I've been delighted with them.

Firmware update screen for a Favero pedal. Says battery life upgraded form 60 hours to 160.

Someone found some serious code optimisation opportunities on my power meter pedals. 60 hours to 160 hours of battery life.

It's a sad state of affairs in modern tech that I'm surprised they rolled this out to older devices rather than launch a "new" product with improved battery life.

Southwark do it, and they have pounds in Enfield and Purfleet, Essex, which are delightfully inconvenient to drivers.

www.southwark.gov.uk/parking-stre...

But not every London borough does. We had people parked in a suspended bay for moving in Merton, all the council could do was ticket them.

I'm a strong believer that every London borough should operate a car impounding service for any illegally / obstructively parked vehicles.

Preferably with the pound in a distant hard-to-get-to corner of the borough.

Owner should have had that vehicle recovered immediately after the collision.

You can still take her on a pod to a car park and back next time you're at Heathrow T5

However there are situations where greenfield development makes sense. Lots of commuter stations around London, for example, that have agricultural land next to, or within walking distance of the station. Housing should be built as mid-density, walkable communities though.

Screenshot of travel alert email: Travel Affected - Warning Alert - UK - Rail Disruptions Feb. 12 - London Disruptions to rail services to persist in London, UK, through late Feb. 12. Reconfirm transport arrangements. View Alert

I feel like it's pretty bonkers that my company's travel safety provider (crisis 24) felt the need to blast everyone with an urgent travel safety advisory following the delays on SWR yesterday.

Merton - not ruled out but on the back burner. Introduced one last year, lot of vocal opposition from usual groups, council thankfully held firm.

South London half marathon event planned by Merton Council The event, held in Merton will offer 9,000 places in its first year to 20,000 in its third year.

Awesome to see Merton may get a closed road half marathon.

I genuinely love the stuff Merton has done over the past few years under "Civic Pride" / "Borough of Sport". Easy to be cynical, but I think it's making the borough a better and more interesting place to live

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Painted mural in a station. "Thames link" written on the side, with the caption "you are the strongest link"

Love this mural paying homage to Thameslink in Wimbledon Chase station: "You are the strongest link"

Putney High Street was a deeply unpleasant traffic sewer long before Hammersmith Bridge was closed.

Reopening Hammersmith Bridge won't fix it.

I wonder if anyone has ever done an analysis of the impact to the treasury and broader economic impact of dithering and decision paralysis like this

Waymo vehicle turning off Tottenham Court Road onto a side road, to avoid a signed "buses and cycles only" restriction on Tottenham Court Road. It also appears to be using its indicators.

I see Waymo's driving ability has already surpassed the average human driver in London.

They can successfully see, understand, and obey "buses and cycles only" signs on Tottenham Court Road.

Also seems to be using its indicators. How novel.

It doesn't help when community groups (whose members tend to be of a certain generation) bang on to local councillors about wanting a fishmonger, butcher and greengrocer that they will never give custom to, and rally against "yet another coffee shop / gym" even though that's what is actually viable

South Western Railway kids activity book with branded SWR colouring pencil

Despite having had kids for more than five years, I've only just discovered you can get these at Waterloo.

Popular way to keep the kids occupied on the train home from town.

I'm off the bike for at least 8 weeks thanks to a fractured scaphoid after slipping on ice when riding in early December. I feel your pain about the time off bike (personally it's making me really miserable) but take it easy!

Receipt for a cafe showing one bacon sandwich, and one flat white. There is a discount line labelled "Lycra (10%)"

My kind of cafe. 10% off if you're in cycling kit.

Man on a quad bike inside a giant papier mache Orangina bottle driving down a tree lined boulevard with crowds on either side

Iconic

Litelok X1 D lock with some superficial scratches

And here's the minimal damage they were able in inflict on the Litelok X1

All credit to the police for coming quickly for a bike theft.

And a reminder to always check your locking strategy... and consider a high quality tracker.