Best Of

5 planes from China have landed altogether in Tehran, now.

Nor part of Israel"s plan.

Just needs the IDF to shoot one of them down for the full 'brace'.

As The Official Keeper Of The PB “Brace”, the decision to deploy it is strictly my own

This is for very good reasons. If everyone chucks out Official PB Braces willynilly, that’s a recipe for chaos and hyperbole

No, a Brace is only deployed in the field after a long, cloistered consultation with my advisors, followed by a Zoom call with the King, the Pope, the project manager of HS2, and the lead archaeologist at Gobekli Tepe

If the emerald light glows green, a procession is made to Sgùrr Alasdair, in the Cuilins of Skye, where, in a cryogenic vault buried beneath 4 million tons of basalt and quartz, the word “Brace!” lies sealed in a crystalline sarcophagus, guarded by “the twelve Tories” - the last of their ancient breed. @HYUFD sometimes pops by

Then, the Keeper of the Syllable - for that is me - approaches the vault and lifts out the Word with platinum tongs, holds it aloft in a silence purer than a Japanese nun on Jersey, and then, finally, the word is typed into Ye Great Annals of PB: Brace! - and the universe shudders

You can’t just say it any old how

For the public finances I think it all went wrong with the EBSS:

• most people can afford a huge spike in energy bills, including me.
  
• there is a huge European war on between one country that grows loads of food and another that produces huge volumes of gas and oil. It's reasonable that prices go up, and it's not the fault of the government.
  
• We now have an entitlement society that doesn't just extend to a few council tenants but rather the entire population, in particular those owning property outright. The WFP histrionics is directly caused by this.
  
• we have an extensive and highly effective safety net. Sure, there are minor issues with it like weird tax incentives that require harsh sanctions to get people off the couch, but on the whole it's pretty good. It did not require a universal energy supplement on top. A top up to UC and Pension Credit? Maybe.
  
• there is now a complete disassociation between personal finances and the world economy, war and diplomacy, energy policy and so on. No one really cares about these things because they know politicians will buy their votes, and damn the long term consequences.
  
• Another example is COVID, where people at the bottom were protected from unemployment and rich people simply WFH and generated gigantic savings which fired inflation in the following years
  

Basically, I think we learn to take stuff on the chin again. Savings aren't just for holidays, but also global pandemics and war.

@TheScreamingEagles

Were you feeling hot and bothered? Needed to start another argument on the same topic?

I do not do very well in the heat, I have had about 2 hours sleep in about 15 minute blocks last night.

Serious suggestion for @TSE : Have a look at an air-to-air reversible heat pump which can cool as well as heat at modest cost. You can get ones which are portable or are a single unit installed inside, or one with the other half outside.

Aesthetic considerations may apply especially on the outside walls, but in time I'll going over to these for my whole heating system and I'm happy that I can do it tidily at my place.

Technically these can room by room, or one-to-several-rooms, but WiFi or remote controllers are available (I have an app on my phone).

At present I have a portable unit for trial (since 2. years ago) which is vented to a conservatory via an opening upperlight window, and I'm impressed. It takes the edge off the really hot summer period quite well. You could potentially get one for your bedroom, or for the landing to do the upstairs.

It would probably pay to take a careful look at noise levels if choosing.

It’s because I was staying in a hotel last night that was the issue.

I should have packed my Dyson fan.

Do you not have sleeping pills??!

I have an entire zip-up bag full of them. Xanax, Diazepam, Lorazepam, Zopiclone, melatonin, sleep-inducing anti-histamines. Just in case. I hate not sleeping

If you hop scotch between them, and use them carefully, you don’t get addicted to any one of them

This is your regular reminder not to take medical advice from @Leon.

Meanwhile another £17.7bn borrowed to fund the public sector and welfarism:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/bulletins/publicsectorfinances/may2025

And an idiot Labour MP prefers to resign rather than do anything to slow future borrowing increases.

It says:

"Borrowing in the financial year to May 2025 was £37.7 billion; this was £1.6 billion more than in the same two-month period of 2024 and the third-highest April to May borrowing since monthly records began, after those of 2020 and 2021."

And Reeves answer to this was a public spending round that will eventually add another £140bn to current spending. We are heading for a disaster and those who put their hands over their ears and hum are doing those that need protection no good at all in the medium term.

Yes, fine, but how would you reduce the deficit and borrowing?

I imagine we'll hear the same old mantras of "supply side reform", "50% haircut for public sector pensions", "tax cuts and spending cuts" from the usual suspects but was any of that on offer last July? Is any of that on offer now? You won't hear it from Labour, Reform, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats or Greens - is there some other political movement advocating a return to a blanced budget? How would they achieve it?

"Putting your hands over your ears and humming", as you put it, isn't fair. Plenty of people see the problem but, as with the "small boats", no one has come up with an easy, popular and cheap solution - if there were one, we'd have done it by now.

So it comes back to who has to feel the pain - which group can you demonise enough so everyone will say "yeah, let them suffer" - public sector workers, pensioners, others on welfare, the wealthy, property owners, Scottish lawyers, children - where would you like to start?

No, the usual whingeing every month about the borrowing numbers belies the fact of how we got here and the fact previous Governments allowed us to reach this point. I know what I would do but when I've proposed it, I've had a barrage of abuse from those who already feel "overtaxed" and complain "they" can't pay any more but someone else could and should.

It is simple, income tax/vat rises , end the gold plated public service pensions, 10% reduction in all benefits and then frozen for at least 5 years. No pay rises for public service unless self funding.
Easy peasy just needs some bollocks.

'gold plated' is one of those political phrases that people always put in front of public sector pensions without thinking about it.

I think the pensions for many public sector workers are not gold plated [ I know my daughter's isn’t] but it cannot be denied that in the upper earning groups it is a fair criticism

Yes I agree to an extent (although the amount that actually costs is tiny given the very small numbers of the upper earning groups) but people could talk about gold plated pensions for senior civil servants without having a go at all of the call centre workers, nurses, police workers etc who actually make up most of the public sector.

Meanwhile another £17.7bn borrowed to fund the public sector and welfarism:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/bulletins/publicsectorfinances/may2025

And an idiot Labour MP prefers to resign rather than do anything to slow future borrowing increases.

It says:

"Borrowing in the financial year to May 2025 was £37.7 billion; this was £1.6 billion more than in the same two-month period of 2024 and the third-highest April to May borrowing since monthly records began, after those of 2020 and 2021."

And Reeves answer to this was a public spending round that will eventually add another £140bn to current spending. We are heading for a disaster and those who put their hands over their ears and hum are doing those that need protection no good at all in the medium term.

I am resigned to the fact that we're only going to get our public spending sorted when somebody takes away our national credit card.

It'll be fun if it happens under a Reform government.

They are probably the only party with the balls to do it. Lib\Lab\Con will simply wheel out platitudes and let the problem roll on.

Oh please, Reform's plans will outdo Rachel Reeves, have you seen their unfunded plans?

Meanwhile another £17.7bn borrowed to fund the public sector and welfarism:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/bulletins/publicsectorfinances/may2025

And an idiot Labour MP prefers to resign rather than do anything to slow future borrowing increases.

It says:

"Borrowing in the financial year to May 2025 was £37.7 billion; this was £1.6 billion more than in the same two-month period of 2024 and the third-highest April to May borrowing since monthly records began, after those of 2020 and 2021."

And Reeves answer to this was a public spending round that will eventually add another £140bn to current spending. We are heading for a disaster and those who put their hands over their ears and hum are doing those that need protection no good at all in the medium term.