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Can the LDs become the third party once again? – politicalbetting.com

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  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,011
    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    Our local pharmacy dispensed my wife one tablet in a box marked "take one tablet twice a day".

    Clearly no common sense to question whether there was an error on the prescription.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    Fighting crime, not my job mate....

    Sussex PCSO filmed refusing to attend assault at shop
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-66086890
  • Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy veh. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Ireland and the UK [both well below other European nations] are well known for being a culture where drunkenness is frowned upon? 🤔
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,523

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy veh. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    I am surprised that Norway is so low. Whilst they have very strict controls on the sale of alcohol, home distilling is rampant.
  • Fighting crime, not my job mate....

    Sussex PCSO filmed refusing to attend assault at shop
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-66086890

    "but then I would have to deal with it"

    How many things in this country are broken due to people having that attitude?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,821

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy veh. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Ireland and the UK [both well below other European nations] are well known for being a culture where drunkenness is frowned upon? 🤔
    Booze, like smoking, is banned on the Tube.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,055

    French does a poor job of keeping immigrants out of poverty. UK does pretty well by comparison. Look at Sweden. But also Germany.


    Germany's number will be "flattered" by the still large-ish number of people from the former East Germany still living in poverty.
    The poverty rates in Germany are way lower than that in other countries, so that argument doesn't seem like a very good explanation.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited July 2023

    Fighting crime, not my job mate....

    Sussex PCSO filmed refusing to attend assault at shop
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-66086890

    "but then I would have to deal with it"

    How many things in this country are broken due to people having that attitude?
    Quiet quitting innit. And of course management,

    "We are sorry for the clumsy language used by the PCSO"
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,191

    I see Lyon is out for the series - least surprising news of the day. Tough for him as he has been ever present for a very long time.

    Lords was a very busy test news-wise.

    1. Just Stop Oil protest
    2. Lyon injured for remainder of series.
    3. Lyon batting on one leg.
    4. Starc non catch
    5. Bairstow stumping.
    6. One of the all time great 4th innings from Stokes. (Who deserved MOTM I thought)
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385

    Sue Gray’s middle name nickname is Nan

    Because she’s easily wound up

    Your fawn coloured summer jacket, sir.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,253

    I see Red Wall tories calling for the halting of visas for social care workers from abroad.

    They have no idea of the state of the care system.

    If you want to improve the care system, how about paying care staff more than a pittance more than minimum wage?

    Care home near me have a big banner outside boasting that they are paying rates of £10.90 per hour in order to attract staff.

    That wage should not be high enough to attract visas.
    Great.

    Tell Hunt to hand over the money then, rather than splathing ever more on the NHS.
    A Modest Proposal

    Item : we have a shortage of cheap labour
    Item : conditions in Rwandan (and other African) jails are horrendous.

    Solution : we pay Rwanda et al to import as many criminals as they can send us, for a modest fee each. They can be given useful work (unpaid) decently fed and housed.

    Addendum: the port of entry should be in Bristol, where a statue to the genius of my proposal shall be erected. Paid for by a percentage of the profits of said trade.
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy veh. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Ireland and the UK [both well below other European nations] are well known for being a culture where drunkenness is frowned upon? 🤔
    France seems a counterexample the other way. And I read yesterday that Norway was the happiest country in the world which seems unlikely if they are prepared to poison themselves with drink at Norway prices.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,055

    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    Will change in a few years as all qualifying pharmacists become able to prescribe - they would change that prescription for him. They cannot legally do that at the current time.
    Even now, the pharmacist can, in certain situations, dispense an emergency supply if needed.

    Although, with statins, missing a couple of days is going to do very little, I'd've thought. (Not a medical doctor, not a pharmacist. Please seek your own medical advice.)
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    Pulpstar said:

    I see Lyon is out for the series - least surprising news of the day. Tough for him as he has been ever present for a very long time.

    Lords was a very busy test news-wise.

    1. Just Stop Oil protest
    2. Lyon injured for remainder of series.
    3. Lyon batting on one leg.
    4. Starc non catch
    5. Bairstow stumping.
    6. One of the all time great 4th innings from Stokes. (Who deserved MOTM I thought)
    I don't like cricket, I love it...
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,894

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy veh. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Ireland and the UK [both well below other European nations] are well known for being a culture where drunkenness is frowned upon? 🤔
    You could take that same map and say it proves the benefit of a Mediterranean diet.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,055
    edited July 2023

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Now the bottle of (very high proof) homemade cherry liqueur given to me by my Slovenian PhD student makes much more sense.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,428

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,555
    edited July 2023

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,253

    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    Will change in a few years as all qualifying pharmacists become able to prescribe - they would change that prescription for him. They cannot legally do that at the current time.
    Because the size of the tablets was on the original prescription. As opposed to “20mg per day”. The latter is possible - had it done for a family prescription.

    A comic example of the effect of literalism - on a firearms certificate there may or may not be a limit on calibre. These days one is always put in. Older certificates often don’t have them. There is no process for the police to *force* adding a calibre limit.

    The main gun of a tank is, legally, a really big manual firearm - you have to do a bunch of steps at each shot. So, if you have a firearms certificate without calibre limit, it is completely legal to own a tank with a “live” main gun.

  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,215
    kinabalu said:

    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    I'm on those. Pop one every day after lunch. It felt a bit odd at first but I'm quite enjoying it now.
    OK..... It's those little things that please you with age.
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Someone should plot a bell curve so we can see how many SDs out Belarus really is. I suspect some sort of reporting bias though. Died OF drink vs died WITH drink.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,958
    Farooq said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    I'm not in the least bit surprised by Denmark. You sometimes see people drinking beer on the bus to work in the morning. Suit, tie, laptop case, can of Tuborg. Bizarre.
    Germany is the same. I'd always thought of it as displaying a relatively civilised attitude to their (very fine) national drink but perhaps not.
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855
    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    It's because of the quarter of a million Brits who live in Provence drinking themselves to death on cheap Merlot.
    Éthylisme not unknown among the indigènes.
  • FeersumEnjineeyaFeersumEnjineeya Posts: 4,412
    edited July 2023
    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.

    Edit: By some margin. And they're also no slouches when it comes to wine and spirit consumption.
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366

    Farooq said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    I'm not in the least bit surprised by Denmark. You sometimes see people drinking beer on the bus to work in the morning. Suit, tie, laptop case, can of Tuborg. Bizarre.
    Germany is the same. I'd always thought of it as displaying a relatively civilised attitude to their (very fine) national drink but perhaps not.
    I have always suspected alcohol use is highly correlated to the weather. Greyness and coldness inflict more of a toll on the human soul than most people who live in such geographies realize. When you live in a warm, sunny climate, alcohol is just a nice social relaxant. When you have long, dark nights, alcohol becomes a means a temporary escape. The countries that truly have binge drinking cultures all seem to be cold and/or grey for much of the year.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,793

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
  • GhedebravGhedebrav Posts: 3,860

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    Generally sticking to beer around the 4-6% mark is maybe healthier than stronger drinks?

    However - death from 'alcohol use disorder' might be the key here. If every Czech pretty much has pilsner on their corn flakes every morning, what constitutes a disorder?
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366
    Farooq said:

    WillG said:

    French does a poor job of keeping immigrants out of poverty. UK does pretty well by comparison. Look at Sweden. But also Germany.


    Germany's number will be "flattered" by the still large-ish number of people from the former East Germany still living in poverty.
    Why is it "France doing a poor job" rather than "immigrants to France doing a poor job". That graph is damning to Western immigration policies everywhere. We should not be bringing in people that are poorer than the rest of the population. It just increases the burden on the taxpayer in an age where we cannot afford it.
    You need to be careful here to distinguish between poverty and a burden to the taxpayers. You can be one or the other, both, or neither.
    Let's not pretend there isn't an incredibly strong correlation between income level and net contribution to the exchequer.
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855
    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    I wanted you to be wrong so I could post "you need to Czechia facts"

    Sadly, you seem to be exactly right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

    E.g. Bulgaria drinks like a fish (other sources confirm) but the map says nobody dies of it. Rubbish map.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    Miklosvar said:

    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    I wanted you to be wrong so I could post "you need to Czechia facts"

    Sadly, you seem to be exactly right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

    E.g. Bulgaria drinks like a fish (other sources confirm) but the map says nobody dies of it. Rubbish map.
    Possibly they have a very strict definition of 'alcohol related deaths?' E.g. only if they were drowned in a vat, or something?

    A bit like Covid statistics.
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855
    Farooq said:

    Cookie said:

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
    No information, just speculation: the variability of the price makes it really hard to know where's cheaper. You go past a station that was 146p a month ago and now it's 139p. You remember seeing another station in the next town that was 144p three weeks ago... which one was cheaper a month ago? Three weeks ago? Now? You have no idea.
    When the price changes daily, you need to make a real effort to know where is cheaper. Perhaps in big conurbations where you might drive past three stations on a shortish commute, you can notice without much effort, but otherwise..
    Or go to petrolprices.co.uk
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370
    I see the competition Authority is saying that Morrisons and Asda have increased the price of Petrol / Diesel by 6p a litre because they no longer rush to pass wholesale price cuts down to customers...

    Almost like Private Equity is bad for customers...
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    Farooq said:

    Cookie said:

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
    No information, just speculation: the variability of the price makes it really hard to know where's cheaper. You go past a station that was 146p a month ago and now it's 139p. You remember seeing another station in the next town that was 144p three weeks ago... which one was cheaper a month ago? Three weeks ago? Now? You have no idea.
    When the price changes daily, you need to make a real effort to know where is cheaper. Perhaps in big conurbations where you might drive past three stations on a shortish commute, you can notice without much effort, but otherwise..
    I don't know. I can tell you fuel remains 13p a litre cheaper at any filling station in Wolverhampton than anywhere else I drive past.

    My suspicion is there is a garage somewhere nearby selling dodgy stuff (or non-taxed) which is driving the price down very fast among the others to try and keep custom.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319

    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    Cheap attack from Diane Abbott

    '@HackneyAbbott

    1h
    Our multi-millionaire prime minister Rishi Sunak donates just one £10 bottle of wine to his local school'. After all he signed it too
    https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott/status/1675761345856262144?s=20

    Almost as cheap as the bottle of wine Sunak donated.
    At least it wasn’t Buckfast!

    An American wine connoisseur made the mistake of reviewing buckfast… Here’s their tasting notes:

    Buckfast Tonic Wine (No Vintage)

    Screw cap, took it off about 30 minutes before to bring in some air. Apparently made by monks in England. Decided to try while cooking dinner. Poured into a glass, first glance has a very inky almost brownish color that you see in older wines. Very syrupy, liquid clings to the side of the glass when swirled. Almost 15% ABV.

    Stuck my nose in and was hit with something I’ve never experienced before. Barnyardy funk (in a bad way) almost like a dead animal in a bird’s nest. A mix of flat Coca Cola and caramel with a whiff of gun metal.

    On the palate, overwhelming sweetness and sugar. Cherry Cola mixed with Benadryl. Unlike anything I’ve tasted. I’m not sure what this liquid is but it is not wine, I’m actually not sure what it is but it tastes like something a doctor would prescribe. A chemical concoction of the highest degree. Can only compare it to a Four Loko.

    Managed to make it through a couple small glasses but not much more. Has absolutely ruined the evening drinking-wise for me as I tried to drink a nice Bordeaux after but the iron-like metallic sweet aftertaste I just couldn’t get out of my mouth even after a few glasses of water. I don’t drink a lot of coffee regularly so I also have mild heart palpitations from the caffeine after just drinking a bit of this and feel a slight migraine.

    An ungodly concoction made by seemingly godly men. I believe the Vatican needs to send an exorcist over to Buckfast Abbey as the devil’s works are cleary present there. After tasting this “wine,” the way I feel can only be described as akin to being under a bridge on one’s knees orally pleasing a vagrant while simultaneously drinking liquified meth through a dirty rag.

    I’ve drank a lot of wines in my life and will never forget this one.
    Buckfast Powersmash is one of those drinks so awful that it's good. Was in the tattier of the village shops when a guy was in buying a few bottles. And looked like he is a regular drinker of the stuff.

    Was then amazed to see a Buckie trade stand at a food expo a few months back. They were pushing the "made by monks" line really hard and getting "ooh that's interesting" responses from trade buyers. FFS no, you really don't need Buckfast punters in your shop. Its like being a proud seller of Lambrini and McEwan's Export.
    Carling even, the worst lager in the world.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319
    Carnyx said:

    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    Cheap attack from Diane Abbott

    '@HackneyAbbott

    1h
    Our multi-millionaire prime minister Rishi Sunak donates just one £10 bottle of wine to his local school'. After all he signed it too
    https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott/status/1675761345856262144?s=20

    Almost as cheap as the bottle of wine Sunak donated.
    At least it wasn’t Buckfast!

    An American wine connoisseur made the mistake of reviewing buckfast… Here’s their tasting notes:

    Buckfast Tonic Wine (No Vintage)

    Screw cap, took it off about 30 minutes before to bring in some air. Apparently made by monks in England. Decided to try while cooking dinner. Poured into a glass, first glance has a very inky almost brownish color that you see in older wines. Very syrupy, liquid clings to the side of the glass when swirled. Almost 15% ABV.

    Stuck my nose in and was hit with something I’ve never experienced before. Barnyardy funk (in a bad way) almost like a dead animal in a bird’s nest. A mix of flat Coca Cola and caramel with a whiff of gun metal.

    On the palate, overwhelming sweetness and sugar. Cherry Cola mixed with Benadryl. Unlike anything I’ve tasted. I’m not sure what this liquid is but it is not wine, I’m actually not sure what it is but it tastes like something a doctor would prescribe. A chemical concoction of the highest degree. Can only compare it to a Four Loko.

    Managed to make it through a couple small glasses but not much more. Has absolutely ruined the evening drinking-wise for me as I tried to drink a nice Bordeaux after but the iron-like metallic sweet aftertaste I just couldn’t get out of my mouth even after a few glasses of water. I don’t drink a lot of coffee regularly so I also have mild heart palpitations from the caffeine after just drinking a bit of this and feel a slight migraine.

    An ungodly concoction made by seemingly godly men. I believe the Vatican needs to send an exorcist over to Buckfast Abbey as the devil’s works are cleary present there. After tasting this “wine,” the way I feel can only be described as akin to being under a bridge on one’s knees orally pleasing a vagrant while simultaneously drinking liquified meth through a dirty rag.

    I’ve drank a lot of wines in my life and will never forget this one.
    Buckfast Powersmash is one of those drinks so awful that it's good. Was in the tattier of the village shops when a guy was in buying a few bottles. And looked like he is a regular drinker of the stuff.

    Was then amazed to see a Buckie trade stand at a food expo a few months back. They were pushing the "made by monks" line really hard and getting "ooh that's interesting" responses from trade buyers. FFS no, you really don't need Buckfast punters in your shop. Its like being a proud seller of Lambrini and McEwan's Export.
    Buckie punters are actually *upmarket* by the standards of your average jaikie on Union Street or the Sautmarket. Before the alcohol pricing controls came in in particular, you could get smashed far more cheaply on other stuff, and I believe the differential is still there even now if not so marked. (Sudden thought: does the origin of Buckie correlate with its sales in Glasgow to different football club supporters? Never heard of such a thing, though.)
    Hard to see how anyone can drink it.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070
    This is demented.

    🇷🇺 TV says Prigozhin may have been targeted by a 🇬🇧 psyop:"They gave him a sense of euphoria+meaning. For that you don't even need to get inside someone. You just have to repeat it over+over again, playing on their vanity...It's the 🇬🇧 who are the masters of cognitive operations"
    https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1675791456773058560

    Stalin, of course, believed Britain a greater threat than Germany in the late 1930s.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,793
    Farooq said:

    Cookie said:

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
    No information, just speculation: the variability of the price makes it really hard to know where's cheaper. You go past a station that was 146p a month ago and now it's 139p. You remember seeing another station in the next town that was 144p three weeks ago... which one was cheaper a month ago? Three weeks ago? Now? You have no idea.
    When the price changes daily, you need to make a real effort to know where is cheaper. Perhaps in big conurbations where you might drive past three stations on a shortish commute, you can notice without much effort, but otherwise..
    I think that's right.
    I know where's cheapest in my locality (Asda) - so if I have the luxury of planning a refuel in advance, that's where I'll go, at some point when I'm passing. But even though I'm quite interested, I'm not interested enough to be a ble to say how much diesel is there right now.

    The market is far less price sensitive that you'd assume would be the case. A saving of 2p a litre isn't really worth driving 2 miles out of your way for.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    Nigelb said:

    This is demented.

    🇷🇺 TV says Prigozhin may have been targeted by a 🇬🇧 psyop:"They gave him a sense of euphoria+meaning. For that you don't even need to get inside someone. You just have to repeat it over+over again, playing on their vanity...It's the 🇬🇧 who are the masters of cognitive operations"
    https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1675791456773058560

    Stalin, of course, believed Britain a greater threat than Germany in the late 1930s.

    Russian TV is demented?

    You'll be telling me next that Case is a twat.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,357

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy veh. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Ireland and the UK [both well below other European nations] are well known for being a culture where drunkenness is frowned upon? 🤔
    Yes. I too was surprised to see alcohol deaths in Britain and Ireland at a lower rate than, say, France. Doesn't fit the preconceptions and stereotypes.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370
    ydoethur said:

    Farooq said:

    Cookie said:

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
    No information, just speculation: the variability of the price makes it really hard to know where's cheaper. You go past a station that was 146p a month ago and now it's 139p. You remember seeing another station in the next town that was 144p three weeks ago... which one was cheaper a month ago? Three weeks ago? Now? You have no idea.
    When the price changes daily, you need to make a real effort to know where is cheaper. Perhaps in big conurbations where you might drive past three stations on a shortish commute, you can notice without much effort, but otherwise..
    I don't know. I can tell you fuel remains 13p a litre cheaper at any filling station in Wolverhampton than anywhere else I drive past.

    My suspicion is there is a garage somewhere nearby selling dodgy stuff (or non-taxed) which is driving the price down very fast among the others to try and keep custom.
    Nope, but I suspect there is an independent whose business is used to taking 2-3p profit per litre and is happy to continue doing so.

    Round here there are a couple of garages in Bishop / West Auckland that work that way
  • Nigelb said:

    This is demented.

    🇷🇺 TV says Prigozhin may have been targeted by a 🇬🇧 psyop:"They gave him a sense of euphoria+meaning. For that you don't even need to get inside someone. You just have to repeat it over+over again, playing on their vanity...It's the 🇬🇧 who are the masters of cognitive operations"
    https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1675791456773058560

    Stalin, of course, believed Britain a greater threat than Germany in the late 1930s.

    Of course they defeated Germany, they never defeated Britain.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    eek said:

    I see the competition Authority is saying that Morrisons and Asda have increased the price of Petrol / Diesel by 6p a litre because they no longer rush to pass wholesale price cuts down to customers...

    Almost like Private Equity is bad for customers...

    It’s not private equity.
    It’s a failure to regulate oligopoly.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    Farooq said:

    Cookie said:

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
    No information, just speculation: the variability of the price makes it really hard to know where's cheaper. You go past a station that was 146p a month ago and now it's 139p. You remember seeing another station in the next town that was 144p three weeks ago... which one was cheaper a month ago? Three weeks ago? Now? You have no idea.
    When the price changes daily, you need to make a real effort to know where is cheaper. Perhaps in big conurbations where you might drive past three stations on a shortish commute, you can notice without much effort, but otherwise..
    I don't know. I can tell you fuel remains 13p a litre cheaper at any filling station in Wolverhampton than anywhere else I drive past.

    My suspicion is there is a garage somewhere nearby selling dodgy stuff (or non-taxed) which is driving the price down very fast among the others to try and keep custom.
    Nope, but I suspect there is an independent whose business is used to taking 2-3p profit per litre and is happy to continue doing so.

    Round here there are a couple of garages in Bishop / West Auckland that work that way
    There are several independents in Cannock and Rugeley (and indeed Gloucestershire) who work that way but prices remain stubbornly at 144.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,793
    ydoethur said:

    Farooq said:

    Cookie said:

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
    No information, just speculation: the variability of the price makes it really hard to know where's cheaper. You go past a station that was 146p a month ago and now it's 139p. You remember seeing another station in the next town that was 144p three weeks ago... which one was cheaper a month ago? Three weeks ago? Now? You have no idea.
    When the price changes daily, you need to make a real effort to know where is cheaper. Perhaps in big conurbations where you might drive past three stations on a shortish commute, you can notice without much effort, but otherwise..
    I don't know. I can tell you fuel remains 13p a litre cheaper at any filling station in Wolverhampton than anywhere else I drive past.

    My suspicion is there is a garage somewhere nearby selling dodgy stuff (or non-taxed) which is driving the price down very fast among the others to try and keep custom.
    That's interesting. I can also offer you Bredbury as an example of fuel being weirdly cheaper than neighbouring districts. Could be the same reason.
    I always thought little hotspots like this were because you were close to an oil terminus, but your theory makes more sense.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319
    Carnyx said:

    Miklosvar said:

    Carnyx said:

    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    Cheap attack from Diane Abbott

    '@HackneyAbbott

    1h
    Our multi-millionaire prime minister Rishi Sunak donates just one £10 bottle of wine to his local school'. After all he signed it too
    https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott/status/1675761345856262144?s=20

    Almost as cheap as the bottle of wine Sunak donated.
    At least it wasn’t Buckfast!

    An American wine connoisseur made the mistake of reviewing buckfast… Here’s their tasting notes:

    Buckfast Tonic Wine (No Vintage)

    Screw cap, took it off about 30 minutes before to bring in some air. Apparently made by monks in England. Decided to try while cooking dinner. Poured into a glass, first glance has a very inky almost brownish color that you see in older wines. Very syrupy, liquid clings to the side of the glass when swirled. Almost 15% ABV.

    Stuck my nose in and was hit with something I’ve never experienced before. Barnyardy funk (in a bad way) almost like a dead animal in a bird’s nest. A mix of flat Coca Cola and caramel with a whiff of gun metal.

    On the palate, overwhelming sweetness and sugar. Cherry Cola mixed with Benadryl. Unlike anything I’ve tasted. I’m not sure what this liquid is but it is not wine, I’m actually not sure what it is but it tastes like something a doctor would prescribe. A chemical concoction of the highest degree. Can only compare it to a Four Loko.

    Managed to make it through a couple small glasses but not much more. Has absolutely ruined the evening drinking-wise for me as I tried to drink a nice Bordeaux after but the iron-like metallic sweet aftertaste I just couldn’t get out of my mouth even after a few glasses of water. I don’t drink a lot of coffee regularly so I also have mild heart palpitations from the caffeine after just drinking a bit of this and feel a slight migraine.

    An ungodly concoction made by seemingly godly men. I believe the Vatican needs to send an exorcist over to Buckfast Abbey as the devil’s works are cleary present there. After tasting this “wine,” the way I feel can only be described as akin to being under a bridge on one’s knees orally pleasing a vagrant while simultaneously drinking liquified meth through a dirty rag.

    I’ve drank a lot of wines in my life and will never forget this one.
    Buckfast Powersmash is one of those drinks so awful that it's good. Was in the tattier of the village shops when a guy was in buying a few bottles. And looked like he is a regular drinker of the stuff.

    Was then amazed to see a Buckie trade stand at a food expo a few months back. They were pushing the "made by monks" line really hard and getting "ooh that's interesting" responses from trade buyers. FFS no, you really don't need Buckfast punters in your shop. Its like being a proud seller of Lambrini and McEwan's Export.
    Buckie punters are actually *upmarket* by the standards of your average jaikie on Union Street or the Sautmarket. Before the alcohol pricing controls came in in particular, you could get smashed far more cheaply on other stuff, and I believe the differential is still there even now if not so marked. (Sudden thought: does the origin of Buckie correlate with its sales in Glasgow to different football club supporters? Never heard of such a thing, though.)
    https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/king-william-fortified-wine-launched-28038421

    16.90 ABV. Coincidentally.
    Haw! THat's a good one. @Theuniondivvie and @malcolmg will like that. And the best bit is "The drink's UK manufacturers – who previously launched a gin with a similar name – deny targeting any specific demographic."
    Crazy, could only be the West of Scotland.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    There were two very famous alcohol related deaths in the wars of the Roses.

    Edward IV drank himself to death.

    He had his brother drowned in a barrel of wine.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    Farooq said:

    ydoethur said:

    There were two very famous alcohol related deaths in the wars of the Roses Rosés.

    Edward IV drank himself to death.

    He had his brother drowned in a barrel of wine.

    FTFY
    Wha-hey! Definite champagne moment.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,727
    Nigelb said:

    This is demented.

    🇷🇺 TV says Prigozhin may have been targeted by a 🇬🇧 psyop:"They gave him a sense of euphoria+meaning. For that you don't even need to get inside someone. You just have to repeat it over+over again, playing on their vanity...It's the 🇬🇧 who are the masters of cognitive operations"
    https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1675791456773058560

    Stalin, of course, believed Britain a greater threat than Germany in the late 1930s.

    That's what happens when you put 'Great' in your country name.* People start to believe you're bigger and badder than you really are :wink:

    *yeah, yeah, 'UK' - they no doubt think we're united, too
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855
    ydoethur said:

    Miklosvar said:

    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    I wanted you to be wrong so I could post "you need to Czechia facts"

    Sadly, you seem to be exactly right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

    E.g. Bulgaria drinks like a fish (other sources confirm) but the map says nobody dies of it. Rubbish map.
    Possibly they have a very strict definition of 'alcohol related deaths?' E.g. only if they were drowned in a vat, or something?

    A bit like Covid statistics.
    Quite. To repeat myself it's died OF drink vs died WITH drink.
  • QuincelQuincel Posts: 4,042
    I think the LDs probably are roughly evens to overtake the SNP, certainly between 4/6 and 6/4, but it depends mostly on the SNP performance rather than the LDs. I prefer the 5/2 available on SNP under 20 seats, though you certainly could see a world where the SNP win 30 seats and the LDs 30-40.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957
    I don't agree that drunkenness in the UK is frowned upon. It (drunkenness) is often seen as a badge of honour and the vernacular around getting drunk shows that it is perceived as at least not socially unacceptable.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,821
    ydoethur said:

    Miklosvar said:

    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    I wanted you to be wrong so I could post "you need to Czechia facts"

    Sadly, you seem to be exactly right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

    E.g. Bulgaria drinks like a fish (other sources confirm) but the map says nobody dies of it. Rubbish map.
    Possibly they have a very strict definition of 'alcohol related deaths?' E.g. only if they were drowned in a vat, or something?

    A bit like Covid statistics.
    Aldehydes, alkanes and ketones are alcohol-related compounds.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    edited July 2023
    Miklosvar said:

    ydoethur said:

    Miklosvar said:

    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    I wanted you to be wrong so I could post "you need to Czechia facts"

    Sadly, you seem to be exactly right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

    E.g. Bulgaria drinks like a fish (other sources confirm) but the map says nobody dies of it. Rubbish map.
    Possibly they have a very strict definition of 'alcohol related deaths?' E.g. only if they were drowned in a vat, or something?

    A bit like Covid statistics.
    Quite. To repeat myself it's died OF drink vs died WITH drink.
    Traditional funerals in this country always involved the deceased being supported with a drink.

    Well, being carried on a bier.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    I before E except after C, the b*gger cannot even spell his name correctly.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370

    eek said:

    I see the competition Authority is saying that Morrisons and Asda have increased the price of Petrol / Diesel by 6p a litre because they no longer rush to pass wholesale price cuts down to customers...

    Almost like Private Equity is bad for customers...

    It’s not private equity.
    It’s a failure to regulate oligopoly.
    True - the issue is the CMA have just let Eurogarages (one of the worst offenders) buy Asda....

    As with all other regulators in the UK they appear to be utterly incompetent....
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385
    edited July 2023
    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    I before E except after C, the b*gger cannot even spell his name correctly.
    Typical bloody Scots, can't even spell, eh? :trollface:
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    The Orkney news is being carried by worldwide news outlets, which shows just how much tripe is pumped out by the news media.

    It’s silly season stuff.
  • malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    I before E except after C, the b*gger cannot even spell his name correctly.
    "except after C"

    He's going to be the first L Prime Minister after 5 C ones.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957
    edited July 2023

    The Orkney news is being carried by worldwide news outlets, which shows just how much tripe is pumped out by the news media.

    It’s silly season stuff.

    It's ridiculous. They would never find a vessel strong enough to tow it in the first place.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    I before E except after C, the b*gger cannot even spell his name correctly.
    "except after C"

    He's going to be the first L Prime Minister after 5 C ones.
    It's good to know there are still optimists around who think it will be 5 rather than 6+...
  • ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    I before E except after C, the b*gger cannot even spell his name correctly.
    "except after C"

    He's going to be the first L Prime Minister after 5 C ones.
    It's good to know there are still optimists around who think it will be 5 rather than 6+...
    True.

    My other response to I before E except after C is to say that expression still surviving shows we live in a weird society.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,357
    edited July 2023
    Miklosvar said:

    ydoethur said:

    Miklosvar said:

    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    I wanted you to be wrong so I could post "you need to Czechia facts"

    Sadly, you seem to be exactly right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

    E.g. Bulgaria drinks like a fish (other sources confirm) but the map says nobody dies of it. Rubbish map.
    Possibly they have a very strict definition of 'alcohol related deaths?' E.g. only if they were drowned in a vat, or something?

    A bit like Covid statistics.
    Quite. To repeat myself it's died OF drink vs died WITH drink.
    I'm not so sure that's necessarily the case. There are a lot of patterns on the map that make more sense than it being due to random reporting differences.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    Just to make it worse for you is another Kier in an industrial/engineering context - a reactor or at least cooking vessel in a paper mill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kier_(industrial)#/media/File:Kugelkocher.jpg
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    Will change in a few years as all qualifying pharmacists become able to prescribe - they would change that prescription for him. They cannot legally do that at the current time.
    Because the size of the tablets was on the original prescription. As opposed to “20mg per day”. The latter is possible - had it done for a family prescription.

    A comic example of the effect of literalism - on a firearms certificate there may or may not be a limit on calibre. These days one is always put in. Older certificates often don’t have them. There is no process for the police to *force* adding a calibre limit.

    The main gun of a tank is, legally, a really big manual firearm - you have to do a bunch of steps at each shot. So, if you have a firearms certificate without calibre limit, it is completely legal to own a tank with a “live” main gun.

    HE and AP ammo is explicitly banned for purchase by FAC holders. So unless your tank can fire round shot (it can't) it's useless as a weapon.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835
    Dura_Ace said:

    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    Will change in a few years as all qualifying pharmacists become able to prescribe - they would change that prescription for him. They cannot legally do that at the current time.
    Because the size of the tablets was on the original prescription. As opposed to “20mg per day”. The latter is possible - had it done for a family prescription.

    A comic example of the effect of literalism - on a firearms certificate there may or may not be a limit on calibre. These days one is always put in. Older certificates often don’t have them. There is no process for the police to *force* adding a calibre limit.

    The main gun of a tank is, legally, a really big manual firearm - you have to do a bunch of steps at each shot. So, if you have a firearms certificate without calibre limit, it is completely legal to own a tank with a “live” main gun.

    HE and AP ammo is explicitly banned for purchase by FAC holders. So unless your tank can fire round shot (it can't) it's useless as a weapon.
    What about canister shot?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385

    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    I before E except after C, the b*gger cannot even spell his name correctly.
    "except after C"

    He's going to be the first L Prime Minister after 5 C ones.
    It's good to know there are still optimists around who think it will be 5 rather than 6+...
    True.

    My other response to I before E except after C is to say that expression still surviving shows we live in a weird society.
    It would be amply proved if we lived in a wired society.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,357
    TOPPING said:

    I don't agree that drunkenness in the UK is frowned upon. It (drunkenness) is often seen as a badge of honour and the vernacular around getting drunk shows that it is perceived as at least not socially unacceptable.

    I think the thing that probably helps Britain most is the relative share of beer as opposed to spirits consumption. Vodka is evidently not good for you.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    ...
    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Sue Gray banged to rights by a Cabinet Office inquiry.

    Gove Boris his job back!

    This was spectacularly stupid by her and by Starmer. They have essentially undermined the independence of her enquiry. So stupid.
    I'm afraid however the Tories spin it that is very much a side issue. Because unless you are saying that the Met were in on this new job of Grey's, her inquiry into Case and Johnson was ultimately not the key point.
    As far as Boris is concerned its all history now anyway, since he's history now anyway.

    But as far as Sunak is concerned, with the rather odd anyway fine he received, it does politically make it look a bit like fruit of the poisoned tree.

    And it was completely unnecessary by Starmer. He's beating Sunak anyway, why make such a silly unforced error?
    That fine was nothing to do with Grey's report.

    And it would be stretching it somewhat to say that her impartiality or otherwise undermines any disciplinary offences within the CS itself. Not that any of them appear to have been disciplined in any meaningful way.
    G R A Y

    G – R – A – Y

    FFS.
    I wonder whether the people who misspell names like Sue Grey and Kier Starmer do it through ignorance or think they are being funny at the expense of their rivals? (Hint: if it’s the latter, you’re not - just tedious.)
    In my case, I get Keir Starmer wrong because there's a large construction firm called 'Kier', which I have known since childhood. Familiarity means I think Kier rather than Keir. I do try to catch it though, and I don't think I've done it in a while.
    I before E except after C, the b*gger cannot even spell his name correctly.
    "except after C"

    He's going to be the first L Prime Minister after 5 C ones.
    It's good to know there are still optimists around who think it will be 5 rather than 6+...
    When Bozziah returns before GE 24 do we count him once or twice?
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370
    edited July 2023

    The Orkney news is being carried by worldwide news outlets, which shows just how much tripe is pumped out by the news media.

    It’s silly season stuff.

    On one level it silly season, but on another level I can see why they are doing it - they've never really regarded themselves as Scottish, hate the lack of money the Scottish Government gives them and need a whole new set of ferries in a hurry because the old ones are dying
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,385

    TOPPING said:

    I don't agree that drunkenness in the UK is frowned upon. It (drunkenness) is often seen as a badge of honour and the vernacular around getting drunk shows that it is perceived as at least not socially unacceptable.

    I think the thing that probably helps Britain most is the relative share of beer as opposed to spirits consumption. Vodka is evidently not good for you.
    Judging by Ireland's figures, Guinness is Good For You.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,253

    Nigelb said:

    This is demented.

    🇷🇺 TV says Prigozhin may have been targeted by a 🇬🇧 psyop:"They gave him a sense of euphoria+meaning. For that you don't even need to get inside someone. You just have to repeat it over+over again, playing on their vanity...It's the 🇬🇧 who are the masters of cognitive operations"
    https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1675791456773058560

    Stalin, of course, believed Britain a greater threat than Germany in the late 1930s.

    Of course they defeated Germany, they never defeated Britain.
    We won. Stalin is mainly remembered as a dead twat in a film with Jason Isaacs monstering the buffet.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319
    eek said:

    The Orkney news is being carried by worldwide news outlets, which shows just how much tripe is pumped out by the news media.

    It’s silly season stuff.

    On one level it silly season, but on another level I can see why they are doing it - they've never really regarded themselves as Scottish, hate the lack of money the Scottish Government gives them and need a whole new set of ferries in a hurry because the old ones are dying
    It is pure bollocks by one Unionist councillor, more chance of eth Isle of Wight becoming independent.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835
    eek said:

    The Orkney news is being carried by worldwide news outlets, which shows just how much tripe is pumped out by the news media.

    It’s silly season stuff.

    On one level it is on another level I can see why they are doing it - they've never really regatded themselves as Scottish, hate the lack of money the Scottish Government gives them and need a whole new set of ferries in a hurry because the old ones are dying
    Eh? Serco and a couple of private family firms operate the ferries to Orkney, and the council itself operates the inter-island services.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,986
    Quincel said:

    I think the LDs probably are roughly evens to overtake the SNP, certainly between 4/6 and 6/4, but it depends mostly on the SNP performance rather than the LDs. I prefer the 5/2 available on SNP under 20 seats, though you certainly could see a world where the SNP win 30 seats and the LDs 30-40.

    Chances of a tie? That will present a dilemma for PMQs. Probably one question each per week I'd expect.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,958
    Miklosvar said:

    ydoethur said:

    Miklosvar said:

    Farooq said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.
    I wanted you to be wrong so I could post "you need to Czechia facts"

    Sadly, you seem to be exactly right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

    E.g. Bulgaria drinks like a fish (other sources confirm) but the map says nobody dies of it. Rubbish map.
    Possibly they have a very strict definition of 'alcohol related deaths?' E.g. only if they were drowned in a vat, or something?

    A bit like Covid statistics.
    Quite. To repeat myself it's died OF drink vs died WITH drink.
    If you cark it with a greasy tumbler of Bell's* in your cold dead hand, it's probably fair to assume you're deid of and with drink.

    *I'd rather be dead than drink Bell's, and not just because of the UJ.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Cookie said:

    Competition and Markets Authority find petrol retailers have been charging 6p a litre more due to lack of competition

    I assume they are going to use their powers to apply multi mullion pound fines against them

    Asda apparently have been fined just £60,000

    https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-paying-more-for-fuel-due-to-weakening-competition-between-retailers-regulator-says-12913866

    As I, and @MaxPB have noted.
    And it’s not just petrol retailers.
    It's actually an open goal for Sunak's government to make a lot of noise on, get reversed, and help bring inflation down. They won't, because of awful diesel cars being such a sin.
    Why is the market failing in the case of the fuel industry? I don't think it's a cartel?
    Economic theory says that - especially in the case of broadly fungible goods like petrol/diesel - where there are multiple retailers and a gap opens up between the price of the good and the retail price, the price will be forced down as retailers compete on price.
    In practice, I think this does happen, but slowly. Inertia is overlooked as factor, and so things happen slowly.
    My guess is that the lag between the price of a good dropping and the retail price dropping is no more laggy in fuel than any other sector - but in fuel the cost prices swing much more wildly, which allows for long gaps between the price of fuel falling and the retail price falling.
    But that's only a guess. Any more informed comment is welcome!
    It's a cartel.

    There was a guy in Cardiff in the 1980s called Curly Humphreys. He owned a chain of discount stores called Hyper Value. He set up a petrol retailer called Action Stations, he had two outlets, one in Cowbridge Road, Cardiff and one in Dinas Powis. He played the Rotterdam spot markets and was always up to ten pence a GALLON cheaper than Shell, BP, Texaco and Esso. As I recall his enterprise kept going for a while until they squeezed him out with cheaper prices. When he was gone they reverted to type, and price.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,958
    eek said:

    The Orkney news is being carried by worldwide news outlets, which shows just how much tripe is pumped out by the news media.

    It’s silly season stuff.

    On one level it silly season, but on another level I can see why they are doing it - they've never really regarded themselves as Scottish, hate the lack of money the Scottish Government gives them and need a whole new set of ferries in a hurry because the old ones are dying
    A deracinated Orcadian tweets.




  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,555

    Andy_JS said:

    Since we're on Eurostats.



    https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1675552417503485952?s=20

    Denmark is a bit of shocker, and as for Belarus, oy vey. Must be having to cope with the neighbours.

    Didn't expect France to be significantly higher than the UK.
    The Czech Republic is surprisingly low, given that they drink the most beer per capita in the world.

    Edit: By some margin. And they're also no slouches when it comes to wine and spirit consumption.
    Can we really trust that the figures are comparable between countries?
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,986

    Nigelb said:

    This is demented.

    🇷🇺 TV says Prigozhin may have been targeted by a 🇬🇧 psyop:"They gave him a sense of euphoria+meaning. For that you don't even need to get inside someone. You just have to repeat it over+over again, playing on their vanity...It's the 🇬🇧 who are the masters of cognitive operations"
    https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1675791456773058560

    Stalin, of course, believed Britain a greater threat than Germany in the late 1930s.

    Of course they defeated Germany, they never defeated Britain.
    We won. Stalin is mainly remembered as a dead twat in a film with Jason Isaacs monstering the buffet.
    The mental impact the Death of Stalin has had on popular history must be immense. I read Beevor's Stalingrad last year and just pictured Zhukov as Jason Isaacs. Same with Beria as Simon Russell Beale, every time he comes up in a history text.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,631
    BIB - Shame on Rishi.

    Rishi Sunak accuses Australia of breaching spirit of cricket with Jonny Bairstow stumping

    Prime Minister does not plan to speak to his Australian counterpart about controversial incident on Sunday of Lord's Test

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2023/07/03/ashes-rishi-sunak-prime-minister-jonny-bairstow-stumping/
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    Does Rishi still lead the Conservative Party?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,631
    I fully expect the Aussies to bowl underarm and use Mankads in the remaining three tests.

    No wonder they play in yellow.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    Stocky said:

    kinabalu said:

    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    I'm on those. Pop one every day after lunch. It felt a bit odd at first but I'm quite enjoying it now.
    OK..... It's those little things that please you with age.
    I find myself pretending I'm Keith Richards and the statin is actually an 'upper' or a 'downer', depending on whether I've already laid down my solo. I'm 62 but in many ways quite immature.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,430
    malcolmg said:

    Carnyx said:

    DougSeal said:

    HYUFD said:

    Cheap attack from Diane Abbott

    '@HackneyAbbott

    1h
    Our multi-millionaire prime minister Rishi Sunak donates just one £10 bottle of wine to his local school'. After all he signed it too
    https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott/status/1675761345856262144?s=20

    Almost as cheap as the bottle of wine Sunak donated.
    At least it wasn’t Buckfast!

    An American wine connoisseur made the mistake of reviewing buckfast… Here’s their tasting notes:

    Buckfast Tonic Wine (No Vintage)

    Screw cap, took it off about 30 minutes before to bring in some air. Apparently made by monks in England. Decided to try while cooking dinner. Poured into a glass, first glance has a very inky almost brownish color that you see in older wines. Very syrupy, liquid clings to the side of the glass when swirled. Almost 15% ABV.

    Stuck my nose in and was hit with something I’ve never experienced before. Barnyardy funk (in a bad way) almost like a dead animal in a bird’s nest. A mix of flat Coca Cola and caramel with a whiff of gun metal.

    On the palate, overwhelming sweetness and sugar. Cherry Cola mixed with Benadryl. Unlike anything I’ve tasted. I’m not sure what this liquid is but it is not wine, I’m actually not sure what it is but it tastes like something a doctor would prescribe. A chemical concoction of the highest degree. Can only compare it to a Four Loko.

    Managed to make it through a couple small glasses but not much more. Has absolutely ruined the evening drinking-wise for me as I tried to drink a nice Bordeaux after but the iron-like metallic sweet aftertaste I just couldn’t get out of my mouth even after a few glasses of water. I don’t drink a lot of coffee regularly so I also have mild heart palpitations from the caffeine after just drinking a bit of this and feel a slight migraine.

    An ungodly concoction made by seemingly godly men. I believe the Vatican needs to send an exorcist over to Buckfast Abbey as the devil’s works are cleary present there. After tasting this “wine,” the way I feel can only be described as akin to being under a bridge on one’s knees orally pleasing a vagrant while simultaneously drinking liquified meth through a dirty rag.

    I’ve drank a lot of wines in my life and will never forget this one.
    Buckfast Powersmash is one of those drinks so awful that it's good. Was in the tattier of the village shops when a guy was in buying a few bottles. And looked like he is a regular drinker of the stuff.

    Was then amazed to see a Buckie trade stand at a food expo a few months back. They were pushing the "made by monks" line really hard and getting "ooh that's interesting" responses from trade buyers. FFS no, you really don't need Buckfast punters in your shop. Its like being a proud seller of Lambrini and McEwan's Export.
    Buckie punters are actually *upmarket* by the standards of your average jaikie on Union Street or the Sautmarket. Before the alcohol pricing controls came in in particular, you could get smashed far more cheaply on other stuff, and I believe the differential is still there even now if not so marked. (Sudden thought: does the origin of Buckie correlate with its sales in Glasgow to different football club supporters? Never heard of such a thing, though.)
    Hard to see how anyone can drink it.
    I once tried what was alleged to be Peruvian beer. Disgusting stuff.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,990

    Does Rishi still lead the Conservative Party?

    Did he ever lead them?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    TOPPING said:

    I don't agree that drunkenness in the UK is frowned upon. It (drunkenness) is often seen as a badge of honour and the vernacular around getting drunk shows that it is perceived as at least not socially unacceptable.

    Yes, but a bit less amongst the youth of today (I gather).
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957
    edited July 2023

    I fully expect the Aussies to bowl underarm and use Mankads in the remaining three tests.

    No wonder they play in yellow.

    I spoke with a friend who was at Lords, in the MCC at the time (he claims he was asleep at the time of the subsequent incident but he has been known to wear a cream linen jacket and isn't in the first flush of youth so I'll wait to see the charge sheet). He explained what was going on.

    Something about transference by England fans for their awful performance in throwing away now two tests and with no one, until that happened, to blame but the England team.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,817

    "The third party at Westminster is allowed two questions every week at PMQs. The fourth party gets one every five weeks so this is very important."

    Feels like maybe the fourth party should be given slightly more questions.

    I wondered who the fourth party has been historically.

    1959: the only fourth party was a solitary independent Conservative
    1964: no fourth party
    1966: Republican Labour (with 1 MP)
    1970: Unity (with 2 MPs)
    Feb 1974: UUP/SNP tie
    Oct 1974: SNP
    1979-2001: UUP
    2005: DUP
    2010: DUP
    2015: LibDem/DUP tie (who got the question?)
    2017 onwards: LibDem

    And there you have it. Who the hell wants to listen to the DUP more than once a month?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070

    Nigelb said:

    This is demented.

    🇷🇺 TV says Prigozhin may have been targeted by a 🇬🇧 psyop:"They gave him a sense of euphoria+meaning. For that you don't even need to get inside someone. You just have to repeat it over+over again, playing on their vanity...It's the 🇬🇧 who are the masters of cognitive operations"
    https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1675791456773058560

    Stalin, of course, believed Britain a greater threat than Germany in the late 1930s.

    Of course they defeated Germany, they never defeated Britain.
    Not really true, given our efforts in the civil war post WWI.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370

    eek said:

    The Orkney news is being carried by worldwide news outlets, which shows just how much tripe is pumped out by the news media.

    It’s silly season stuff.

    On one level it silly season, but on another level I can see why they are doing it - they've never really regarded themselves as Scottish, hate the lack of money the Scottish Government gives them and need a whole new set of ferries in a hurry because the old ones are dying
    A deracinated Orcadian tweets.




    He lives in Glasgow and writes for the Herald - and given thaty he hasn't provided a source for his quote I'll treat it with the respect it deserves.

    For reference my family traces it's roots to Orkney / Shetland and still has members there - none of whom can stand the SNP..
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    BIB - Shame on Rishi.

    Rishi Sunak accuses Australia of breaching spirit of cricket with Jonny Bairstow stumping

    Prime Minister does not plan to speak to his Australian counterpart about controversial incident on Sunday of Lord's Test

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2023/07/03/ashes-rishi-sunak-prime-minister-jonny-bairstow-stumping/

    Rishi is a Great British patriot. Starmer's treasonous silence is deafening!
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,555
    "New Conservatives
    Common Sense for the Common Good

    Gareth Bacon MP, Duncan Baker MP, Jack Brereton MP, Paul Bristow MP, Miriam Cates MP,
    Brendan Clarke-Smith MP, James Daly MP, Anna Firth MP, Nick Fletcher MP, Chris Green MP,
    James Grundy MP, Jonathan Gullis MP, Eddie Hughes MP, Tom Hunt MP, Mark Jenkinson MP,
    Danny Kruger MP, Andrew Lewer MP, Marco Longhi MP, Robin Millar MP, Lia Nici MP"

    https://www.thenewconservatives.co.uk/
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,631
    Andy_JS said:

    "New Conservatives
    Common Sense for the Common Good

    Gareth Bacon MP, Duncan Baker MP, Jack Brereton MP, Paul Bristow MP, Miriam Cates MP,
    Brendan Clarke-Smith MP, James Daly MP, Anna Firth MP, Nick Fletcher MP, Chris Green MP,
    James Grundy MP, Jonathan Gullis MP, Eddie Hughes MP, Tom Hunt MP, Mark Jenkinson MP,
    Danny Kruger MP, Andrew Lewer MP, Marco Longhi MP, Robin Millar MP, Lia Nici MP"

    https://www.thenewconservatives.co.uk/

    The Tory version of the Socialist Campaign Group.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,134
    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    TOPPING said:

    kinabalu said:

    Farooq said:

    Any odds on some twunks from Just Stop Oil trying to orange centre court? Anyone know what kind of paint they use and if its oil based?

    The hypocrisy you're looking for wouldn't be there in any case. If your point is that oil is ruining everything, and you used an oil-based product to ruin something, that's a good way of making your point.

    Which isn't to say they'd be doing the right thing, but the palpable desperation of some people to find some superficial hypocrisy ("HE'S GOT AN IPHONE!!!2!!") to avoid engaging in the substance of the issue is... weak.
    I don't think it is impossible to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. I harbour a nasty suspicion that many of the just stop oil louts are scientifically illiterate, in it for the attention, and often from wealthy backgrounds. Its like celebs flying in from the US to join marches against climate change.
    True. But I also think 'oh they're all just precious rich kids' is often a mental technique people use to mitigate the guilt they might otherwise feel about not caring as much or doing as much about the issue as a big part of them knows they really ought to. Similar to 'they'll just spend it on booze and fags' to justify not giving money to beggars.
    BiB

    What are we to do when the lumpen proletariat doesn't give a flying fuck about the imminent catastrophic climate change and just want to drive their white van to work?
    Well that's a specific of the general tension which often arises between what people want to do individually and what's best for society. One of the important functions of democratic politics and government is to resolve this tension in a way that fuses personal freedom and collective responsibility, and is informed by evidence and facts. Oh yes.
    What we do to get the lumpen proletariat on board is what the grown-ups have been doing for about 20 years i.e. gradually making the non-oil offer better and cheaper than the oil offer.

    I'd say what we don't do is send the worst people in the world in to make their commutes a misery and/or disrupt sporting events they may be watching. I'm no marketer, but I suspect that might be counterproductive. Cutting oil use is a not inconsiderable part of my job and is something I feel quite keen on. And yet when some p*ssed-up nutter barges into a JSO protest with a chant of "We love you oil, we do", I know whose side I am instinctively on. Because JSO are just so bloody dislikeable.
    But are you ever *instinctively* on the side of a disruptive left wing protest movement in the UK?
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    ydoethur said:

    AlistairM said:

    BREAKING: Partygate investigator Sue Gray broke civil service rules “as a result of the undeclared contact” between her and the Labour Party, according to a Whitehall investigation.
    https://twitter.com/TalkTV/status/1675807612070252545

    Boy, Simon Case really is as nasty and vindictive as he's useless isn't he?
    I understand "prima facie" breach of the Civil Service code to mean, they really, really want it to be the case, but are annoyed they have zero evidence, so will pretend she is in breach anyway.

    On the cricket thing. I looked at the clip, and possibly for the first time in my life studied cricket seriously. It was clear Bairstow wasn't paying attention. On the presumption the rule is there for a purpose, my inexpert take, rookie error and Bairstow should be kicking himself, and that's it.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,253
    Dura_Ace said:

    Stocky said:

    My reactionary father-in-law was in a lather yesterday but for once he seems to have a point.

    He's been on 20mg statins for over ten years and went to collect his repeat prescription at the usual chemist to be told that there is a national shortage of 20mg statin tablets. The chemist said they had tried to source in multiple places but none can be found. The answer, he said, is simple enough - have two 10mg tablets instead, there are plenty of those available.

    But - guess what - the chemist refused to dispense as the repeat prescription states 20mg tablet rather than 2x 10mg tablets and sent father-in-law back to his GP for a new prescription (this was Saturday and surgery was closed and he had almost run out of tablets).

    Good use of GP time there then.

    Will change in a few years as all qualifying pharmacists become able to prescribe - they would change that prescription for him. They cannot legally do that at the current time.
    Because the size of the tablets was on the original prescription. As opposed to “20mg per day”. The latter is possible - had it done for a family prescription.

    A comic example of the effect of literalism - on a firearms certificate there may or may not be a limit on calibre. These days one is always put in. Older certificates often don’t have them. There is no process for the police to *force* adding a calibre limit.

    The main gun of a tank is, legally, a really big manual firearm - you have to do a bunch of steps at each shot. So, if you have a firearms certificate without calibre limit, it is completely legal to own a tank with a “live” main gun.

    HE and AP ammo is explicitly banned for purchase by FAC holders. So unless your tank can fire round shot (it can't) it's useless as a weapon.
    It’s very useful if you want to sell it.
  • Andy_JS said:

    "New Conservatives
    Common Sense for the Common Good

    Gareth Bacon MP, Duncan Baker MP, Jack Brereton MP, Paul Bristow MP, Miriam Cates MP,
    Brendan Clarke-Smith MP, James Daly MP, Anna Firth MP, Nick Fletcher MP, Chris Green MP,
    James Grundy MP, Jonathan Gullis MP, Eddie Hughes MP, Tom Hunt MP, Mark Jenkinson MP,
    Danny Kruger MP, Andrew Lewer MP, Marco Longhi MP, Robin Millar MP, Lia Nici MP"

    https://www.thenewconservatives.co.uk/

    The whole webpage seems to be an anti-immigration rant.

    Ideally those "new Conservatives" should be amongst the first to lose their seat at the next election if that is all they care about.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370

    Andy_JS said:

    "New Conservatives
    Common Sense for the Common Good

    Gareth Bacon MP, Duncan Baker MP, Jack Brereton MP, Paul Bristow MP, Miriam Cates MP,
    Brendan Clarke-Smith MP, James Daly MP, Anna Firth MP, Nick Fletcher MP, Chris Green MP,
    James Grundy MP, Jonathan Gullis MP, Eddie Hughes MP, Tom Hunt MP, Mark Jenkinson MP,
    Danny Kruger MP, Andrew Lewer MP, Marco Longhi MP, Robin Millar MP, Lia Nici MP"

    https://www.thenewconservatives.co.uk/

    The whole webpage seems to be an anti-immigration rant.

    Ideally those "new Conservatives" should be amongst the first to lose their seat at the next election if that is all they care about.
    Ideally they should lose the whip to reflect the fact they are all closet racists
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    Andy_JS said:

    "New Conservatives
    Common Sense for the Common Good

    Gareth Bacon MP, Duncan Baker MP, Jack Brereton MP, Paul Bristow MP, Miriam Cates MP,
    Brendan Clarke-Smith MP, James Daly MP, Anna Firth MP, Nick Fletcher MP, Chris Green MP,
    James Grundy MP, Jonathan Gullis MP, Eddie Hughes MP, Tom Hunt MP, Mark Jenkinson MP,
    Danny Kruger MP, Andrew Lewer MP, Marco Longhi MP, Robin Millar MP, Lia Nici MP"

    https://www.thenewconservatives.co.uk/

    The whole webpage seems to be an anti-immigration rant.

    Ideally those "new Conservatives" should be amongst the first to lose their seat at the next election if that is all they care about.
    Er, wasn't it part of their shtick at the last election?
This discussion has been closed.