Jeremy Corbyn Elected

The pipeline bringing North Sea Oil ashore at St Fergus and across Scotland to Grangemouth was controlled at multiple points along it from one control centre. That was all pre-internet by shared signals down a telephone line (DH was part of the design team for it) but it would be very simple these days to do the whole thing by w-fi remote control.

If there was a link.

Had you heard about him until I mentioned him on here, Wilma?

Who owns Superdrug?

If he owned it, he would make sure that there was a link by which he could work the controls. I think most utilities are controlled more by electronic signals than by damn great switch levers these days anyway.

jen I'd heard of Cheong Kong because of Private Eye, but wouldn't have remembered the guy's name. There's been quite a bit in Private Eye recently about Chinese investment. One piece that sticks in my mind is to do with land development in central London and how the developer's needs are being agreed to because of the vast sums of money involved.

jing Superdrug is a tiny spot owned by Cheong Kong. Company of a company of a company kind of thing.

There's been quite a bit in Private Eye recently about Chinese investment

It's not just here, though, is it.

www.thechinastory.org/2015/02/china-matters-in-the-south-pacific/

On the subject 9f who owns what, this is quite interesting:

www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-24/10-corporations-control-almost-everything-you-buy

Interesting chart, Eloethan. Nestle has always been a problem for me. It was easier when I used to buy from Suma Wholefoods because they used to do the research for me.

Roseq, does it matter if it happens in other countries?
I do not like the idea of China owning so much of our infrastructure when we should own it and put the profits back into it.
I resent the fact that the profits from my water company go into an account in the Cayman Islands where they do not pay tax back to HMRC, and are not used to repair and replace the pipes.

Cheung Kong also owns utilities in Canada and Australia, including gas pipelines.

Why is China going to build nuclear power stations here by being given £2 billion of government guarantees? What is that if not QE. If China pulls out, and it is having problems with the economy at the moment, we pick up the tab. Why could we not do the same with British or European companies?
Why could that £2 billion not be used for other ways to reduce our energy consumption?

Your post seems to imply that building nuclear power stations is meant to reduce our energy consumption, dj, except that I doubt it is meant to mean that. Did you mean why isn't the £2billion used to find ways to reduce our energy consumption instead of spending it on building nuclear power stations?

Yes, that's what I meant, bags. Thanks.

djen how would you actually use £2billion to reduce energy consumption? I have no idea what you mean.

rosequartz I didn't mean to imply it was just here in the UK. My comment was part of my reply to jen about having heard of Cheung Kong through Private Eye.

jane lots of people would like to see the money spent on researching alternatives to managing certain types of energy consumption through more efficient methods. I think we're talking about industry though, not consumer consumption.

I read today the Hinkley Point power station will use out of date technology and will cost more to build than more up to date options.

Household insulation is the easiest and cheapest way. Restart the grant system for older houses which has just been stopped. Improving the housing stock is a good way to reduce energy consumption.

Build more zero energy houses. Affordable council housing, of course.

Use it for solar panels. A whole council estate near here has been given solar panels, and the residents are really pleased. I know solar panels do not reduce actual consumption, but they do reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and make people more aware of what they are using.

Research into groundsource heat pumps.

Insulation for buildings would be a great start. na more research, etc, for alternative energies, and to reduce consumption in private, State and industrial installations- better link-ups between all of them- and appliances and industrial machinery which use less energy.

At a simple level, a few examples from top of head. Think of washing machines and appliances 20 years ago- they used much much more energy than mordern ones. Our vilalge is changing street lighting for a modern version that uses a fraction of the energy compared to old ones, and lights will be dimmed by 40% between 11pm and 6am. The local composting plant creates enough heat for a whole estate of highly insulated, low energy use homes- and gas is created by cow manure being collected. Much much more could be done if emphasis and MONEY was spent on how to use energy better, rather than more and more. It does NOT mean going back to candles and horse and cart. BTW, look at modern cars and the change in technology too. Very proud too of our Bertrand Picard and his research into solar planes and machinery via Solar Impulse, etc.

When I also think of all the vastly over heated shops with the doors wide opened all winter- and all the outdoor gas heaters in pubs, etc- it's cryzy- and illegal in many European countries too.

Yes, Durham Council is doing that with all the street lights now.

Back in the 70s we lived on an estate that had district heating. They changed it in the 90s as everyone wanted their own boilers. I bet they are regretting it now.

Lots of new parts of cities here have common heating provided by natural produce/waste. In this rural area, it is not really possible generally, but the new central heating system for the triple cluster of village hall, primary school and town hall/council offices is now using locally produced sustainable wood- and the 3 building has been well insulated + triple galzed windows. It is not rocket science.

It still needs industry to get on board to make a big difference though. We can all do what we can, but if industry doesn't have the incentive to commit, it's like having one hand tied behind your back.

I'd like to see the results of the efforts made properly analysed, so it's less piecemeal and we know what are the good choices. Too often one initiative is copied elsewhere before the results have been properly examined because it looks like a good idea. So many local government projects work like that, where in particular too much emphasis is placed on anecdotal evidence. The financial restrictions on how money is spent can often be the reason something is done. Often money must be spent by the end of the tax year and can't be carried forward, so it gets spent on iniatives that may be largely untested or even unproven.

Doh - should be initiatives

But that's only by councils. If it's a national programme to improve the housing stock, they would not have to spend by the end of the tax year.

This would be Corbynomics in action.

Just had to switch the news off. Can't stand to see Osborne's face anymore talking about giving China money, when at the same time the steelworks on Teesside has had to close down. Last week they were telling everyone to buy British steel. No £2 billion guarantees for that factory.

jen these days all I can think of is the number of people who are affected. The ripple from each job...

Labour costs is one of the areas where savings will be made through the Chinese investment. I wonder how many local people will be employed during the build compared to when it's running.

Re the national v local initiatives, I don't see this government making it a priority any time soon to have new effective minimum standards of efficiency when building new homes. It would be left to the developers to decide how much it costs to build. There will be standards, but how effective they are is another matter.

A balanced view of Corbyn's win: The Politics of Disenchantment, by Kenan Malik.