wooster

Just had a painter and decorator round to do some work on the house. Couldn’t believe that he’s a currently furloughed British Airways pilot. Made a lovely job of the landing.....

Interesting thing about the statue is that it was erected in 1895, but Colston died in 1721. Historic England has the following on the statue. HISTORY: Edward Colston (1636-1721) was the son of a prosperous Bristol merchant; the family had long been established in Bristol. Edward Colston was apprenticed to the London Mercers' Company in 1654, in which he was enrolled in 1673. Thereafter, Colston established his own successful business in London, trading with Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Africa. The details of precisely how Colston's fortune was accumulated are not recorded, but his business interests were wide. Besides trading extensively in various commodities, including cloth and wine, he acted as a money-lender, and had interests in the West Indian island of St Kitts. In 1680 he became a shareholder in the Royal African Company. The Company, which had been founded in 1672 in place of the Royal Adventurers, had a monopoly on trade with Africa until 1688, after which time it received fees from English traders. Colston took a leading role in the Company, serving on several committees, and becoming deputy governor in 1689. Other members of the Colston family had connections with the Company; Edward's brother Thomas supplied beads that were used to buy slaves.Although his trade was based in London, Colston continued to take an interest in his native Bristol; it is thought that he moved here for a while during the 1680s. He inherited a Bristol business from his brother, and became a partner in a Bristol sugar refinery, processing sugar produced by slaves in the West Indies. He was elected a free burgess of the city, and a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers, which meant that he could trade out of Bristol. By 1689 Colston had taken up residence at Mortlake, Surrey, where he lived for the rest of his life, but the philanthropic benefaction for which he was to become famous was concentrated on Bristol, the city for which he was MP from 1710-14.Edward Colston is buried at All Saints' Church in Bristol, where a monument, designed by Gibbs and carved by Rysbrack, lists his charities. The bronze statue in Colston Avenue was commissioned by a committee organised by J. W. Arrowsmith, a Bristol printer and publisher and a promoter of the Exhibition, whose premises overlooked the site. The statue was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Bristol on 13 November 1895.Until the 1990s, Colston's involvement in the slave trade, the source of much of the money which he bestowed in Bristol, went largely unremarked. Since that time there has been growing interest in Bristol's role in the 'triangular trade', which saw ships leave Bristol filled with goods to purchase slaves, carry those slaves to West Indian plantations, and return to Bristol laden with sugar. Although Colston's principal connection with the slave trade was through the London-based Royal African Company, he has come to be seen as the pre-eminent representative of this aspect of Bristol's history.

Absolutely right MP - but foot down time is (i think) best left until after lock-down. In our viewing habits we are 5 individuals rather than a family - gone are the days when we gathered around a single telly and had to get up to change to the only other channel. Unfortunately my children's peers are, in the main, from privileged backgrounds and that tends to set the benchmark for their expectations rather than anything I may wish to impose upon them. It is very different from my experience when I was their age and when I had considerably less than they do.

I understand Nutty. The extra costs I incur (perhaps needlessly) offsets the non-stop earache I would otherwise experience. A happy ship may be an expensive one but it helps morale in interesting times.

FF - we have three new drivers on a car policy so that's already in the thousands. Add my wife's speeding offences and multiple accidents and, to be honest,we're lucky to get insurance at all. I'm the only named driver on my car to avoid exacerbating things. Re house insurance I do check that annually but I get a discount for my car policy being with the same insurer that seems to make it competitive.

yep, Netflix and Prime are temporary though the former has some good stuff on it and I enjoyed the Grand Tour until it abruptly ended for you-know-what.

That's a very fair question MP and perhaps the following may offer some explanation, if not justification. 1. I am the only person interested in sports in my household so I have to watch that in my study but I will drop BT when my contract ends in Oct 2. the rest of the household want to watch Sky Ent, box sets & cinema in HD - hence the extras plus multiscreen 3. our BT costs include 5 sim-only unlimited packages for our mobiles 4. My two daughters returned from uni when the lockdown was imminent and with my teenage son I thought they'd appreciate Prime and Netflix (5 licences so they can use that later) - they're only £20/month though 5 I pay the BT landline fee annually to save a bit but my broadband (up to 6 mbps) and calls is still £25/month. The trouble is that the Sky, landline and BT contracts end at different times - so looking to either harmonise or rationalise isn't easy. I'd appreciate any advice as, having read this thread, I'm clearly being exploited. Just to be clear we are not couch potatoes but simply 5 adults with very differing tastes in leisure entertainment. I've simply tried to cater for everyone particularly during the last 2-3 months. -

Til, Your original comment about your Sky package has made me check all my bills - I think you've got a good deal compared to what I'm paying. It seems there is a business opportunity for all the clever **** to sell their advice/knowledge to help idiots like me. My arrangements are with BT, Sky, Netflix & Prime and include multiple screens/licences/mobiles for a geographically dispersed (normally) household of 5, and is all legally legit but it costs over £200/month (before any temporary rebates from Sky & BT).

Thanks.

I don't live in East Anglia so can anyone tell me if there was an EDP published yesterday please.

Sorry I'm late,6 for me too. good luck Ricardo

Thanks TiL - my experience is that the website was no good but Sky seem to have installed a special option on their 'phone line for 'pausing' Sky Sports. I have an 18-month contract and I assume this pausing automatically extends that contract for as long as it is paused. Agree with other comments about BT Sports - would be good to see them do the same thing.

£3 billion is a drop in the ocean compared to what is and will be spent over the period. From yesterday's Sunday Times: "The documents published by the government on Friday provide a long-term, if distinctly gloomy, framework for the coming year. Tough social distancing measures may be required until autumn, with the possibility of occasional let-ups as the crisis moves into the next year." I hope that is unduly pessimistic but, if not, that seems to provide little likelihood of anything happening for at least 5-6 months. Of course, if the virus responds to summer as originally hoped then things might change.

The National Trust announced this week that entry to all parks and gardens would be free. Consequently, today the local NT site to me (Croome Court) was inundated with people - the car parks were full and most of the lanes around the site were obstructed by inconsiderate visitors. Of course the NT has a duty of care but were totally unprepared for this reaction - the worst possible given that it necessitates the herding of large numbers of people through the entrance. So much for social distancing. Tonight NT have announced the closure of all parks and gardens (as well as country houses already closed). It just goes to show how everyone is learning how, and how not to, do things in a rational manner.

Thought this piece from Unherd (I know) was interesting: Our political identities continue to shape how we see the world around us. When asked this week whether Johnson’s government is underreacting, overreacting or reacted about right only 38% of all voters felt it was underreacting. But look under the bonnet and you find that while 60% of Conservatives think that the government has reacted ‘about right’, 55% of Labour voters think it has ‘underreacted’. Similarly, when asked how much confidence they have in the new government to handle the outbreak 77% of Conservatives have a ‘a lot’ or ‘fair amount’ while 60% of Labour voters have ‘very little’ or ‘no’ confidence. Even coronavirus is filtered, at least partly, through our partisan eyes. The 24-hour rolling news media (really only BBC & Sky) seems to reflect this innate bias - neither channel are friends of the Government and seem to focus on gaps in policy rather than the overwhelming fiscal and monetary expansion that is going on. In fairness Sky's in -house economist, Ed Conway, was blown away by the scale of Sunak's last announcement of government support for wages and was somewhat mystified by McDonnell's somewhat grudging and even churlish reaction to the announcement - even when trade union leaders are delighted.

No 12, Rotherham ( last 6 home 4-2-0) vs Fleetwood (last 6 away 3-3-0). Last 6 overall in Div 1, Fleetwood 4th - Rotherham 10th.

Kenny, I think you will find that the amounts available under Govt and BofE schemes are considerably more than that spent to rescue the banks.

Scotland too now. Parents warned not to expect that schools will re-open before the summer holidays.

Man City has been a very good day out since their new owners focused on the fan experience..

What about 'the word from those in the know'? Who are they and what have they said that is supported by any evidence.

Good point - I was thinking more of the affected parties in football that make cancelling this season more palatable and thus preserving our Premier League status. In truth, the lost profits from these other activities, if they are banned, will not amount to much given the anticipated level of Govt spending over the next year or so. Think they'll be in the millions rather than billions.

The Telegraph are reporting (just now) that the Govt will ban 'mass gatherings' next week - partly because the EPL/EFL have acted - and Wimbledon, Glastonbury, Royal Ascot, the Grand National and the Boat Race could all be cancelled. This ban will be backed by emergency legislation that will enable compensation being paid to affected organisations.

I didn't mean internal politics but the fact that other countries are adopting different tactics to UK. If many more people die in UK compared to say Italy, Germany or France then Boris will have to explain why - although we'll only know the real picture this time next year if the virus follows the course the govt expect.

Glad you feel that way WCC, that seems to be the consensus amongst most observers aside from embittered ex-Cabinet members and London mayoral candidates clamoring for airtime. The thing is it would be so much easier for Boris to go along with the 'we must do something' brigade and close schools, universities etc etc. (Btw, both my daughters' universities are closing early next week so these institutions are able to act unilaterally - with the strikes and now this the term has been a washout for most students.) The current policy is high risk and could easily cost him his job if a satisfactory and universal vaccine became available in the next 6 months. If that vaccine doesn't appear and re-infection occurs after a period of lock-down the the peak will hit the NHS at the worst time of the year. Then doctors will have to make the awful decisions that Italian doctors are having to make now - who gets a ventilator and who dies. The current policy is designed to avoid that eventuality - I hope it works.

After yesterday's press briefing by the PM & advisers do you still think this comment is fair and accurate?