G4rth

I think you'll find there are numerous poorly written stories in the Echo. The person making the complaint appears to have made a reservation prior to the introduction of the new timetable. Their original crossing has been cancelled and additional sailings from Poole on the date required have no cabins available. A situation quite common at busy times in the past.

Chris Grayling for PM anyone?

One of those cases where the title is open to misinterpretation and not reflected in the accompanying article.

Interesting article but surely reason seven for the CI government to buy Condor should have been mentioned. An essential service needs to be provided and nobody else shows much interest in supplying it.

?? What's HRT got to do with it? We may both be getting a bit long in the tooth but neither of us are so far gone that we forget where we're going of where we've come from.

No. She always carries the repeat part of the prescription in her purse so no need to pack it. Before you ask she always carries her purse in her bag and never forgets her bag.😉

My wife has twice forgotten to pack mediation when traveling to France. She found that it was not a problem on either occasion. If you take the repeat part of your prescription with you she found that was fine. The first time we had to pay the doctor and for the tablets. The second time just for the tablets, the doctor didn't make a charge. When we asked how much we owed him he said nothing happy to help. A bit of a contrast when she did the same thing when we went to Wales.

I'm afraid the buck has to stop somewhere. In past times any minister who had cost the country as much as the current Minister of Transport would have fallen on his sword. The National Audit Office report on the first part of the affair is here. https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Out-of-court-settlement-with-Eurotunnel.pdf

Why? The government freely entered into a contract with the ferry companies. Ferry companies are in business to make a profit. If some idiot approaches them and gives them money to provide an additional service and then decides they don't want that service tough on the fools that made the original offer. Were all complicit in this mess to some degree so the fact that it's tough on the rest of us as well is neither here nor there.

I wouldn't have thought so presumably the original vaulted internal roof would be repaired not removed.

Interesting video of firefighters in action from the Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-video-watch-firefighters-paris-a8873736.html

The original spire is not very old compared to the age of the rest of the building so why add a replica. I would have thought that a more modern design would not be out of place. Buildings evolve over the centuries why not this one?

On the plus side it could well be a lot easier to replace the whole roof than repair and restore the old roof. It's sad to see the eight hundred year old beams burn but to visitors in years to come they won't see any difference.

At least there is that one outcome that would on the face of it seem probable.

Can one conclude that ferry companies are hell bent on expansion into and out of the UK just because they have ordered new ships? I would have thought that conclusion could only reasonably be arrived at if the arrival of newer more efficient ships result in new routes or increased frequency of sailings. It may coinside with the sale of older less efficient ones and less sailings on fewer routes but, as HT would say, only time will tell.