So a time for a strong government.....but where are these strong leaders.....Rishi Sunak is not that man.....and unprecedented last minute lectern in the road outside No10 does sound... off the cuff ...panic mode to me Looking further afield and you have two of the oldest ever candidates for the White House (or should it now be called the Grey House)....one who looks as if he might fall over at any moment.....and the other one who would like his minions to walk before him holding up mirrors so that he can behold his perfect image at all times.....no obvious stand out leader in the EU. But in other places where the west is seen as the enemy there are dangerous leaders with unlimited power in their own countries....and where opposition is stamped under foot......you just worry for your children and your grandchildren and their futures.
I read in today’s paper that extreme left winger Galloway has been endorsed by Nick Griffin, former leader of the extreme right BNP, presumably because of their shared anti-semitic views. Talk about an unholy alliance….
Just as an indicator of how muddled this Government’s thinking has become, it seems it intends to force pension funds to divulge what percentage of their investments are in UK shares. This is intended to pressure them to invest more here. What pension savers want are two things: High returns - which means investing in the strongest markets and Low risk - which can be delivered in part by diversifying across several markets. It’s not sensible and it’s not Conservative to interfere in these things. It’s the Government’s job to make the UK a place where investors WANT to put their money, not to put pensioners at risk by purloining their funds into disproportionate UK positions.
Britain's worklessness crises will deepen over the next five years even as a surge in net migration helps to drive economic growth. The head of the UK's tax and spending watchdog warned of a "worrying" rise in economic inactivity driven by growing numbers of people claiming to suffer from long term sickness. In its latest evaluation of the economy ....the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said...."The post-pandemic rise in economic inactivity is likely to prove more persistent than we previously thought". Meanwhile...the OBR believes that net migration...the numbers entering the UK minus those leaving...will average 350,000 over the next five years...up from a prediction of 250,000 just a few months ago. The influx of migrants will help to drive up the total number of adults in the UK from 55 million in 2023 to 57 million by the end of the decade. That is around a million more people than the OBR forecast in November after statisticians reviewed their population projections. Britain is also facing a crises in its domestic workforce....The OBR said that the number of people of working age who are neither in work nor looking for a job has climbed by 700,000 since lockdown and currently stands at a decade high of 9.3 million. Daily Telegraph...07/03/2024. 1.....More than 400 migrants reached the UK on Monday (4th March) in a record for the year....as the total number of crossings under Rishi Sunak's premiership hits 40,000........a total for the year so far of 2,983... more than at the same point last year or the year before. 2.....We have got used to second and now third generation people not seeking any type of employment (it was good enough for my parents...so its good enough for me).....but now we have a new trend of people crying off sick since the pandemic claiming that they are too poorly to work......maybe the begging bowl system in this country needs tightening up.
Made the mistake this morning of checking how England where getting on in the test match.....to find out the match was done and dusted already. A humiliating crushing defeat by an innings and 64 runs in a mere 48 overs. And to think we won the first test.....and India had a few first choice star players unavailable for the whole series.
I saw Lee Anderson on TV yesterday as he took his next step in his left-to-right arc across the UK political firmament from Labour via the Conservatives to The Monster Raving Reform Party. A man in search of a moral compass to be sure. He said that he was seeking a party that listened to what voters were saying. Now a proportion of the UK electorate believe that aliens walk among us and that Elvis’ old chip shop is now run by Princess Diana. More worrying, some still even think Boris Johnson is a fit and proper person to be Prime Minister. it’s not the job of politicians to slavishly follow the transitory ravings of the electorate. It’s to lead the country guided by impartial analysis of the facts seasoned with a large dose of morality.
Quick test of your refereeing skills. Do you think this is a penalty? In making your decision, you should take into consideration that Duku has made some contact with the ball just before the picture was taken.
Nearly four million people are at risk of abandoning work permanently amid a post-lockdown surge in benefits to claimants who do not have to find a job. Policy in Practice warned a "marked" shift was moving people away from seeking employment....with 3.9 million now on out-of-work welfare without having to look for a job.....twice as many as the claimants who must try to find work. Opening two paragraphs in an article titled....."Benefits surge with four million at risk of never working again". Daily Telegraph...12/03/2024.
Hard to say from a single picture shot....was the Liverpool player moving towards the foot or not ?........the game was being played at 100mph.....there must be many such single picture shots that by themselves look worse than they really are in normal speed playing time.
That's a foot into the chest Plym. Reckless and dangerous, taking the Liverpool player out of the action. A penalty doesn't have to foil a scoring chance and that's a foul anywhere else on the pitch. You can see the look on the face: that's not play acting.
This is the sort of thing that winds up supporters from all over. That was a foul. It was in essence dangerous play. That is a red card all day long let alone a penalty. We have seen red cards given for a great deal less than that and indeed Argyle players have been on the receiving end. We have also had assaults that have not even brought a card like the one pictured. It's a farce that pundits even try to defend it and touching the ball does not excuse dangerous play. Some of the pundits are a fecking disgrace.
I saw Lee Anderson on TV yesterday as he took his next step in his left-to-right arc across the UK political firmament from Labour via the Conservatives to The Monster Raving Reform Party. A man in search of a moral compass to be sure. He said that he was seeking a party that listened to what voters were saying. Now a proportion of the UK electorate believe that aliens walk among us and that Elvis’ old chip shop is now run by Princess Diana. More worrying, some even think Boris Johnson is a fit and proper person to be Prime Minister. it’s not the job of politicians to slavishly follow the transitory ravings of the electorate.
Many Tory MP's will not be standing at the next election. Could there be an opening there? Being able to tell people whatever they want to hear is a useful attribute for a politician.
I didn't think he had any principles anymore....other than his Bank Statement. PS.....My local Bank/Building Society closed it's doors for the last time today... been using it for over 50 years.....if I want to go into a branch now it will have to be Bromley and the horrors of parking anywhere near it.....the other option I have been given is Eltham....which is miles away. This was a large well used Branch....which was down to three and a half day week....and closing also at 3pm.
<<Tin Hat ON>> Had you considered online banking? <<Tin Hat OFF>> It was my daughter's birthday recently and, given her circumstances, I gave her some money, in the form of a cheque which is at least something to put in the card. I then subsequently destroy it and transfer the money to her bank. I leafed though my cheque book, The last cheque I actually gave to someone as payment was... July 2019 for some building work.
