Best Of

Get some Ukrainian help. They want to be part of the EU rather than a province of Russia; we need some military backbone.

This can't happen at all under the current regime and not for many years, if ever, under any other.

The Rada is paralysed simultaneously by both corruption and anti-corruption investigations. Zelensky's traditional method of managing and motivating his Servant of the People coalition was, what was known in Ukraine as, 'мотивацию в конверте ' (lit. 'envelope motivation). That is, giving them money. Due to NABU investigations he can no longer do this and the result is paralysis.

The Rada has recently failed to pass the enabling legislation for the IMF loan and for progressing their EU candidature. Nothing positive can happen in this regard until they have regime change because the current junta is exhausted and fractured into incoherence.

I still remember that remarkable hotel I stayed at, in Chernivtsi, in southwest Ukraine, in the second summer of the war

It was incredibly luxurious, and I discovered it opened - OPENED - in the first year of the war. The menu featured caviar, oysters, whole tuna flown in from Tokyo. Next door was a deli selling Cohiba cigars and £300 bottles of Macallan

The clientele was a mix of stunningly beautiful young women, and muscled men with tatts and security guards who owned armoured Bentleys and bespoke Porsches, plus various families with their sons clearly hoping the muscled men could spirit their sons across the nearby Romanian border, in return for LOTS of money

I saw the scale of Ukrainian corruption, there and then. Gave me a new perspective on the war

I see doctors now take the hypocritic oath.

26% for me and 2.75% for thee:

Hundreds of British Medical Association employees are going on strike this weekend, accusing the “hypocritical” union of underpaying its own staff while demanding a 26 per cent rise for doctors.

Nearly 500 office-based employees at the doctors’ union will strike for 48 hours on Friday and Saturday, after being offered a below-inflation pay rise of 2.75 per cent for this year.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/bma-union-doctors-staff-strike-pay-zxszc7lj9

I'm sure there is some justice in the doctor's case. But we all know that they'll finish up rich. My GP, who's a nice chap. often spends time in our consultations asking about my financial views. (Fair enough of course as I am very very very wise about such things. Well maybe.)

The doctor's case is very simple.

They want their pay today to be the same as it was before the Great Financial Crash Austerity, uprated by RPI.

Your opinion on whether this is justified will depend on your opinion of inflation index calculation, your opinion on whether doctors were overpaid prior to austerity, what has happened to averages wages since the Financial Crash, whether you think the country can afford well paid doctors, or maybe has to choose between more doctors and higher pay for doctors, etc.

I've been meaning to compare doctors pay to average earnings, etc, but haven't got around to it yet.

It's been done:

If you add in 2025 data though will look a lot different.
Thats missing i think a 22% rise over 24/25 and backdated for 23/24?