Vince Portch

Retired from TfL but still a member of ASLEF. Arsenal fan but soft spot for Leyton Orient. Husband and father. Yes, that is me driving that '38, circa 1982.

[Vince Portch @vportch]

Judean People's Front. "Splitters!"

[Everything Epping Forest @eefnews]

Two Loughton Residents Association councillors have quit to form a 'Residents for Loughton' group saying they have become "increasingly disillusioned with the internal politics that have come to dominate Loughton Residents Association".

Full article via https://t.co/fm2PnWDHdx

[Joe Brown @JoeBrownLondon]

#OnThisDay 50 years ago Tube driver 'Julius' Joseph Stephen was shot dead at West Ham by an IRA terrorist whose bomb prematurely detonated on his train. A plaque was unveiled in 2022 in the presence of his widow and son after a campaign by TfL colleagues https://t.co/SN9jT92WVR

[Vince Portch @vportch]

@JoeBrownLondon I also remember going past later in the morning with the train full of sightseers. I might be wrong but I'm sure we kept running but with a tsr. Can't see that happening now.

[Danny Baker @prodnose]

Cheeks was a pretty rough club in Deptford in the late 70s/80s. You'd weigh up the alternatives before going there.
Then, one night, Marvin Gaye turned up.
MARVIN GAYE TURNED UP.

[Vince Portch @vportch]

My first shift as guard was on a CO and my "sweat day" as a guard/motorman was on a CP. No latch on the master controller meant you had a right arm like Popeye after driving these.

[Joe Brown @JoeBrownLondon]

#OnThisDay: 86 years ago, the P Stock was introduced; these beautiful art deco trains feature in my earliest memories. Combined with the O Stock and converted (C) from 'metadyne' control system, CO/CP worked the District Line until 1981. bowroaduk https://t.co/syRounCD8L

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

“I’ve watched men bleed out in the Ardennes for a flag you’re not fit to hold, let alone wrap yourself in. You think bluster is bravery? I led men through hell. You couldn’t march through rain without whining about your hair.
You dodged the draft, praised dictators, and called that strength. I stared down Rommel’s panzers and pissed in the Rhine. You ran from bone spurs and hid behind Twitter like a spoiled child playing general.
You talk about purging patriots and jailing dissenters? That’s not power. That’s cowardice in a cheap suit and a clip-on tie.
I fought Nazis. You invite them. I liberated camps. You threaten to build new ones. I defended democracy with a .45 and a tank. You disgrace it with a pen and a podium.
So let’s be clear, sunshine: if you’d stood in front of me in ’44 spewing this treasonous filth, I’d have court-martialed you so fast your gold toilet would’ve flushed itself.
You’re a disgrace to the presidency and this Republic. And if you keep dragging this country toward dictatorship, history won’t salute you—it’ll spit.”
~ Army staff sergeant who fought in World War Il, shared by Vets Against Trump

[Liz Webster @LizWebsterSBF]

🇳🇴 Norway took its oil wealth and built the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund — investing in pensions, healthcare, and the future.

🇬🇧 Britain sold ours off in the 1980s, handed control to private corporations, and spent the revenues on short-term tax cuts.

🔴 Today, Norway has one of the highest standards of living in the world — while the UK is stuck managing decline.

🔵 Thatcher’s Conservative govt was responsible for handing over control of North Sea oil to private corporations, dismantling public ownership, and prioritising free-market policies over long-term public wealth.

Thatcher forfeited long-term public income from oil in favour of short-term privatisation proceeds and tax cuts.

🔴 Norway, by contrast, retained public control and built up the $1.6 trillion Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund from its oil wealth. The UK spent most of its oil revenues on general government spending during the 1980s, with little legacy investment.

[Arsenal Women @ArsenalWFC]

FOR THE SECOND TIME ❤️

[Vince Portch @vportch]

The usual post Benidorm recovery trip to Kefalonia...

[Mark Seddon @MarkSeddon1962]

The real legacy of 'right to buy'. It seems that all of the chickens are coming home to roost at the same time as we survey the wreckage that is Britain today. https://t.co/hjmT5kMwpW

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

Elon Musk is now suspending accounts of opposition figures in Turkey for reporting on the massive protests against Erdoğan’s autocratic regime following the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor.

“Free speech absolutist” my a$$

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Over 300 people have been detained after demonstrations broke out around Turkey following the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul.

The mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, is the main rival to Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

The Mayor of Istanbul has appeared in court on charges of corruption and terrorism, as protests continue in cities across Turkey against his arrest.

Ekrem Imamoglu - who's a key opposition leader - denied the charges and said he and his colleagues were faced with "unimaginable accusations and slanders".

[Richard Woodruff 🇺🇦 @frontlinekit]

French senator perfectly describes the Trump situation.

[Andy Burnham @andyburnham]

Despite all of the challenges - legal and meteorological - we did it!

After 40 years of damaging deregulation, Greater Manchester has this morning successfully retaken control of the whole of its bus network. 🙌🏻

[Vince Portch @vportch]

My family call it Old Lady Clubbing, but my giddy ‘nights out’ have lit up a dismal 2024 | Gaby Hinsliff https://t.co/09dgzzRQ5M

[RMT @RMTunion]

"Defending fire and rehire is defending the immoral."
@RMTunion General Secretary Mick Lynch responds to the CBI's defence of fire and rehire practices.

[Vince Portch @vportch]

@footballontnt Terrible new Goals Show format. Replacing James Richardson is a big mistake.

[Chris the Driver @Chris_TheDriver]

1/57 Automate the Railway!

It's been a while since I addressed this in some detail, so let's have a look, shall we? My sources are quoted but any errors are my own, for which I apologise in advance. Strap yourself in, it's a long'un! (Sorry)
TL;DR starts on tweet 51/57.