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[martinuzz]

May is furious with Boris Johnson, after he accused Saudi Arabia of being a 'puppeteer' that wages proxy wars like Iran. May reacted by assuring that it is not the government's stance, and Saudi Arabia is an improtant ally in the fight against terrorism.

Johnson on the other hand is getting lots of support from his party, who say that it's good that someone says what all diplomats think and know.


Heh, perhaps May's government will fall before she can even get started on the Brexit thing, because infighting. Johnson requested a word with May just last week, demanding she and other members of her government stop portraying him as a clown, and stop making jokes about him.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Can't wait for Johnson to get installed as PM via Trump's satanic mind control powers.

[martinuzz]

The largest train strike in history makes 600 thousand people unable to go to work for the coming 3 days, as there will be no trains going between London and Sussex.
According to striking train crews, the strike is about a difference in opinion between Unions and train company Southern, about who is responsible for closing the train doors at departure, the conductor, or the machinist.

According to the minister of Transport however, the strike is all about 'hurting people in the Conservative parts of the country.'

[Neonivek]

According to the minister of Transport however, the strike is all about 'hurting people in the Conservative parts of the country.'

Ohh Brexit you continue to indulge me.

So now that conservatives are the victims being picked on as a whole... I wonder what they should do next?

Typically in this situation they would force the strike to close through arbitration. Which judging by the Minister of Transport's statement... He might know this in advance and be trying to move the arbitration more in their favor.

[martinuzz]

Apparently the ruckus with Southern has been ongoing fo a year now, with earlier smaller strikes.
People already lost their jobs because they couldn't get to work.
Companies are reported to have stopped hiring people that live in areas affected by train strikes.
Cancer patients from Uckfield and Burgess Hill have had to postpone their treatments in London.

It's the first time in 22 years that there's no trains going between London and Brighton, a line for which a year subscription costs 4108 pounds.
At the moment, there's a private initiative ongoing to charter a train for that line. This would cost 35000 pounds. If they manage to fill up the train, that would come down to 50 pounds a person, which is about the same as the price of a ticket for that distance.

[Neonivek]

Wait... can the UK force an arbitration?

I know Canada can and it has... mixed opinions on it (People like it as an option... but hate it as a go to)

[martinuzz]

UK government is not trying to interfere yet, but rumour has it they want to limit the Union's powers, and want to revoke the license of Southern's mother company Govia and let another train company take over. That would mean all strikers are out of a job.

I have a feeling however that if they do that, the UK will see riots far beyond the scope of the Thatcher coal miner riots.

[Neonivek]

UK government is not trying to interfere yet, but rumour has it they want to limit the Union's powers, and want to revoke the license of Southern's mother company Govia and let another train company take over. That would mean all strikers are out of a job.

Given my UK friend told me that Strikes are quite a bit more violent in the UK then they are in Canada (due to moonlighting laws or something I don't know) WOOSH do I forsee bad things...

[martinuzz]

Some more background on the conflict:
Southern wants to get rid of conductors, and only have a machinist on the train. With the advent of electronic access gates, checking tickets has become redundant, and the train company says the public would rather see more staff at the stations, than in the train. Other train companies in the UK, and the London underground have already adapted this policy.

The strikers however say that this will deteriorate safety in the trains. Rush hour trains already have no conductors, simply because they're too full, and that won't fit. The trains to and from London Victoria are the busiest trains in the country. The government refuses to take measures.
Another part of the conflict is about pay for working overtime.

[scriver]

According to the minister of Transport however, the strike is all about 'hurting people in the Conservative parts of the country.'

Ohh Brexit you continue to indulge me.

So now that conservatives are the victims being picked on as a whole... I wonder what they should do next?

What the fuck has Brexit got to do with this?

[martinuzz]

According to the minister of Transport however, the strike is all about 'hurting people in the Conservative parts of the country.'

Ohh Brexit you continue to indulge me.

So now that conservatives are the victims being picked on as a whole... I wonder what they should do next?

What the fuck has Brexit got to do with this?

The fact that the minister of Transport sees it as an attack on the conservatives instead of a worker / union issue.

[Starver]

I use trains up here in the Northern Rail franchise area (plus others, depending on direction and extent of the trip). I have a handy pre-paid pass, less than £30 for travel on road or rails across the county for an entire week, for no extra costs no matter how much travelling I use it for. It saves me enough in petrol (and parking charges, probably also wear and tear) to be worthwhile to get and use, at the expence of some waiting around and/or not being quite so door-to-door for such journeys.

But, looking at actual journey-ticket ptices: Assuming that SR price is £50 return, compare and contrast with the price as low of £3 each for two singles (standard class) between Leeds and Manchester, as a random Northern Rail example (not on my regular itinery, and my pass wouldn't cover any part of that, but it was my first stab at an equivalent journey), in two weeks' time (between Christmas and New Year, so might not be entirely representative of the regular cost¹) for a journey of maybe 90 minutes and 45 miles.

Brighton and London (60 to 90 minutes, 60 miles) is a tad over £10(x2) for the 'same' experience in the same period.

York and Manchester (70 miles, 105 minutes or less), is £17.50, but that's on a higher-class train (Trans-Pennine Express) that isn't the same cattle-truck experience, but is my next (and final, for now) stab at matching for distance.

But let's look at Leeds to London (single, standard class but expect a seat, Virgin East Coast). That's £50, for 255-ish minutes and 170 miles of Travel down, maybe ⅓rd of the country, rather than a 'local' feeder town. I assume it's the same cost to get a single back again, rather than far, far cheaper/costlier^{(*delete as inapplicable, according to taste)}. 

(Leeds to London by coach, 27th December, is £6 single for National Express and £12 by Megabus, without trying to invoke any additional discounts like group bookings, etc, and is 4.5 to 5.5 hours.)


All trains in the North seem to have conductors/ticket-inspectors that actually operate the doors, letting the driver know to drive by (on the smaller trains at least) the application of a double-buzzer SIG/ACK handshaking between the two employees to indicate that all is well, above and beyond whatever lights blink in the cab regarding door status. It works!



I'm not sure what this tells us, especially w.r.t. Brexit, but throwing it out there, having just collated that information despite all common-sense...



¹ Buy-it-now prices are £16x2, but a regular commuter would invoke some sort of discount or season ticket, and unfortunately I couldn't get a better future-time journey cost that doesn't get affected by the holidays...

[scriver]

The fact that the minister of Transport sees it as an attack on the conservatives instead of a worker / union issue.

But what has that got to do with Brexit.

[Neonivek]

The fact that the minister of Transport sees it as an attack on the conservatives instead of a worker / union issue.

But what has that got to do with Brexit.

Well you see... One day I took a hose and soaked my front lawn for days and days during a harsh winter.

One day there was a patch of ice all across my lawn.

But what does ice have anything to do with water?
---

Instead of leaving the post like that (because I learn I have to be overt)

The environment Brexit has created has culminated in a situation where a strike is being insinuated as Anti-Conservative... Not just in general... But that these workers are so distraught over the results of Brexit that they went out of their way to try to hurt conservatives anyway they can including shutting down public transportation.

Now I am sure the transport minister doesn't honestly believe that (because it sound stupid)... But he does believe he can convince other people, other dumb people, that this is indeed a anti-conservative effort. Especially because people, unfortunately, tend to side against strikers if it affects them even slightly.

And thus a juicy narrative on so many levels.

[scriver]

The environment Brexit has created has culminated in a situation where a strike is being insinuated as Anti-Conservative...

This is an assertion. Please provide a basis for it.