Read a fascinating article in relation to population density (link below). It caused me to reevaluate what amounts to a crowded country.
Typically, people talk about "arithmetic density"-which is area divided by population. But that is totally inaccurate in relation to any measure as to what a country could/should be doing in relation to migrants, having regard to population density.
The 2 far more relevant statistics take into account 2 other important factors. Firstly, it says that we should disregard areas where absolutely no-one lives. If there are 0 people living in a square kilometre, the reason is simple-that square kilometre cannot support human life. Hence "lived density" is far more important than simple area. To give an extreme example, Western Australia is the size of Western Europe. But, with the exception of one corner of WA, the rest of that huge area has next to no people in it.
The 2nd example shows the most densely populated part of each country. On both counts (for example) Spain has a massively higher "built up density", because large parts of Spain do not have anyone living in them.
One interesting part of this study shows that the different parts of the UK show massively different abilities to support an increased population.
Out of the 39 European countries in the study, England had the 6th highest built up density. And 3 of the countries above it were tiny (Monaco/Andorra/Malta). Compare and contrast with the rest of the UK-Wales 24th, Scotland 25th, and Northern Ireland 31st. All with lived in density of way less than 50% of England.
to give 1 example, Scotland has more than half the size of England. Due to the Borders and Highlands/Islands having different geographical features to England, less than half of Scotland's area can support life in comparison to England. So-you might assume on those figures that Scotland would have a population of 20-25% of England. But it is less than 10% (5 million to 52 million).
Agreed. Any reshuffle that promotes Yvette Cooper and David Lammy and demotes Lisa Nandy must be doing some things right.
Amuses me that people like John McDonnell see fit to claim that the promotions are "yesterday's men". Think you will find that that category has Corbyn and his cronies like McDonnell.
Agreed. Any reshuffle that promotes Yvette Cooper and David Lammy and demotes Lisa Nandy must be doing some things right.
Amuses me that people like John McDonnell see fit to claim that the promotions are "yesterday's men". Think you will find that that category has Corbyn and his cronies like McDonnell.
It will get boring if we start agreeing all the time. I think Wes Streeting is also a good appointment. I dont mind Peter Kyle. I would like to have seen Hilary Benn in the shadow cabinet. They need to start cutting through now. John McDonnell contributed to their worst defeat for about a million years I am not sure why he and Jeremy Corbyn think that criticising Keir Starmer may help the Labour Party. Although, it would probably do more harm if anyone actually listened to them.
France CANCELS meeting with Priti Patel in wake of deaths of 27 migrants because of 'unacceptable' letter from Boris Johnson listing five key demands to end tragedies in Channel
Home Secretary Priti Patel said there is 'no quick fix' to tackle migrants crossing the Channel in small boats as France demanded fresh assistance French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has cancelled a Sunday meeting with his UK counterpart Priti Patel following criticism by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
HM Revenue and Customs has struck a deal to relocate tax officials into a new office complex in Newcastle owned by major Conservative party donors through an offshore company based in a tax haven, the Guardian can reveal.
The department’s planned new home in the north-east of England is part of a regeneration scheme developed by a British Virgin Islands (BVI) entity controlled by the billionaire property tycoons David and Simon Reuben.
The deal will see officials at the government department responsible for preventing tax avoidance working from a site owned by a subsidiary of a company based in a secretive offshore tax jurisdiction.
The Reuben brothers, their family members and businesses have donated a combined £1.9m to the Tories. Earlier this week, the brothers are reported to have shared a table with Boris Johnson at an exclusive Tory party fundraising dinner.
On Tuesday, officials including the Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay announced HMRC had agreed the 25-year lease with one of the Reuben brothers’ companies.
The brothers are the second richest family in the UK, according to the Sunday Times’s rich list. David Reuben’s son, Jamie, is a close ally of the prime minister and has served as a Tory party treasurer. He has donated more than £750,000 to the party since Johnson entered Downing Street.
The Reuben family has built a significant presence in Newcastle in recent years and is part of the controversial Saudi Arabia-led consortium that acquired Newcastle United football club in October.
Company filings show the family has frequently used BVI companies to hold its UK business interests, which include a luxury London property portfolio and a string of racecourses.
Combatting offshore tax evasion and avoidance is described as one of HMRC’s priorities and earlier this year the department unveiled plans to crack down on offshore tax avoidance by targeting UK-based entities facilitating the sale of avoidance schemes using tax havens.
Responding to the move, Dame Margaret Hodge, a Labour MP and chair of the cross-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption and responsible tax, said: “It’s outrageous that HMRC should be using taxpayers’ money to benefit somebody that relies on offshore structures based in tax havens.”
Pressure on Hancock over pub landlord’s Covid deal
Former health secretary defends his record to MPs, saying there was ‘no contract between the firm and the department or NHS’
Former health secretary Matt Hancock was under pressure on Wednesday to set the record straight over £40m of government Covid-related work won by his former pub landlord after he accused Labour of “fabrication” about the deal.
The Guardian first revealed in November 2020 that a former neighbour in Hancock’s constituency had been awarded work supplying the government with tens of millions of vials for NHS Covid-19 tests despite having had no previous experience of producing medical supplies.
Alex Bourne, who used to run a pub close to Hancock’s former constituency home in Suffolk, said he initially offered his services to the health secretary by sending him a personal WhatsApp message.
On Tuesday, Hancock had told Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds that Labour’s efforts to suggest Bourne had been favoured because of his acquaintance with the health secretary were a slur: “I have heard this point about this pub landlord and I just want to tell her and the House, and put it formally on the record, and after this I hope the Labour party will also stop this slur, that the man in question never got nor applied for a contract from the government or the NHS at all. It is a fabrication pushed by the Labour party. It’s a load of rubbish.”
Hancock was speaking after the deputy speaker, Eleanor Laing, responded to a point of order from Dodds by encouraging him to correct the record if he had misled the House of Commons. Hancock instead defended his record.
Bourne’s company Hinpack did not have a direct contract with the Department of Health and Social Care or the NHS but was subcontracted for the Covid work to a supplier already approved by the NHS, Alpha Laboratories.
Hancock told MPs: “Of course, the Department of Health and the NHS does not have a say in sub-contracting arrangements.”
However, the contract which is between Alpha and the secretary of state for health, and signed by a civil servant on his behalf in December 2020, stipulated that all the work would be subcontracted to Hinpack, the Guardian revealed earlier this year.
Exchanges between the two men later emerged, after multiple contested freedom of information requests, showing the former health secretary had personally referred his old neighbour on to an official.
The Good Law Project, which has been challenging the government in court over its awarding of Covid contracts, published details of the contract involving Bourne on Twitter, which it said undermined Hancock’s account in the house. This prompted Dodds to call for Hancock to return to parliament and correct the record, reigniting the controversy.
France CANCELS meeting with Priti Patel in wake of deaths of 27 migrants because of 'unacceptable' letter from Boris Johnson listing five key demands to end tragedies in Channel
Home Secretary Priti Patel said there is 'no quick fix' to tackle migrants crossing the Channel in small boats as France demanded fresh assistance French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has cancelled a Sunday meeting with his UK counterpart Priti Patel following criticism by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Comments
Labour reshuffle: Yvette Cooper becomes shadow home secretary
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59461674
Amuses me that people like John McDonnell see fit to claim that the promotions are "yesterday's men". Think you will find that that category has Corbyn and his cronies like McDonnell.
I think Wes Streeting is also a good appointment.
I dont mind Peter Kyle.
I would like to have seen Hilary Benn in the shadow cabinet.
They need to start cutting through now.
John McDonnell contributed to their worst defeat for about a million years
I am not sure why he and Jeremy Corbyn think that criticising Keir Starmer may help the Labour Party.
Although, it would probably do more harm if anyone actually listened to them.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/rnli-lifeboat-hastings-blocked-rescue-migrants-fishermen-135209046.html
Former health secretary defends his record to MPs, saying there was ‘no contract between the firm and the department or NHS’
Former health secretary Matt Hancock was under pressure on Wednesday to set the record straight over £40m of government Covid-related work won by his former pub landlord after he accused Labour of “fabrication” about the deal.
The Guardian first revealed in November 2020 that a former neighbour in Hancock’s constituency had been awarded work supplying the government with tens of millions of vials for NHS Covid-19 tests despite having had no previous experience of producing medical supplies.
Alex Bourne, who used to run a pub close to Hancock’s former constituency home in Suffolk, said he initially offered his services to the health secretary by sending him a personal WhatsApp message.
On Tuesday, Hancock had told Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds that Labour’s efforts to suggest Bourne had been favoured because of his acquaintance with the health secretary were a slur: “I have heard this point about this pub landlord and I just want to tell her and the House, and put it formally on the record, and after this I hope the Labour party will also stop this slur, that the man in question never got nor applied for a contract from the government or the NHS at all. It is a fabrication pushed by the Labour party. It’s a load of rubbish.”
Hancock was speaking after the deputy speaker, Eleanor Laing, responded to a point of order from Dodds by encouraging him to correct the record if he had misled the House of Commons. Hancock instead defended his record.
Bourne’s company Hinpack did not have a direct contract with the Department of Health and Social Care or the NHS but was subcontracted for the Covid work to a supplier already approved by the NHS, Alpha Laboratories.
Hancock told MPs: “Of course, the Department of Health and the NHS does not have a say in sub-contracting arrangements.”
However, the contract which is between Alpha and the secretary of state for health, and signed by a civil servant on his behalf in December 2020, stipulated that all the work would be subcontracted to Hinpack, the Guardian revealed earlier this year.
Exchanges between the two men later emerged, after multiple contested freedom of information requests, showing the former health secretary had personally referred his old neighbour on to an official.
The Good Law Project, which has been challenging the government in court over its awarding of Covid contracts, published details of the contract involving Bourne on Twitter, which it said undermined Hancock’s account in the house. This prompted Dodds to call for Hancock to return to parliament and correct the record, reigniting the controversy.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/matt-hancock-says-labour-covid-222314749.html