As much as I think her performance had been poor and her decisions bad, I have to feel a twinge of sympathy for Reeves. Her job would be a smidgen easier if her backbenchers had given the mildest indication that they might have been open minded enough to reduce spending at even a modest level.
No sympathy here, out of her depth and should have had a Truss done on her before now. Totally unsuited for eth job , being admin at the treasury and help desk manager at a bank are not teh preparation for running a countries finances.
Government approval sits at 11/70 - 11 equals the lowest Rishis government hit (3 times in 2022 in the aftermath of Truss) and is in line with the fag end of Mays premiership. Catastrophic ratings a year after a landslide
II% government approval is just terrible for Starmer
I notice on some of the comments their ambition is to hit zero !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not the zero they normally talk about
Ed and Yvette will have to buy some more flags.
Its OK though. Keir says he 'gets it' so id expect that approval to take off into orbit immediately
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
#BREAKING: Judge Breyer has held that the Trump admin. *violated* the Posse Comitatus Act in its military deployments in and around Los Angeles, and has enjoined further use of those troops for law enforcement tasks. The order is stayed through 12 PDT on 9/12:
It’s getting both silly and sinister. There’s a chilling effect on public discourse when there is only one permitted view on a topic as seems to be the case
I've seen the tweets in question. You can understand why an outside observer might start to question free speech in the UK.
Advocating violence, ah, but it was a joke so that makes it ok. You may be right that this is an absurd overreaction but is it remarkably different from what Lucy Connolly posted about asylum hotels?
Presumably it's for the 'punch them' bit. Looks a bit daft, but then he's also a living example of David Cameron's comment about Twitter, it seems.
The 'armed police arrest' thing is presumably because it was at Heathrow. Are there many unarmed police knocking around Heathrow?
"If a man is in an all women area punch them in the bollocks". I have no issue with that.
Careful now
It does raise the question of why all these men wanting to punch the trannies in the bollocks are in an all women area.
Which men? Linehan was suggesting in a comic way (punch in the bollocks due to the size differential, pace Peggie vs Upton) that women may respond to men being in the women's changing room.
At the risk of inflaming you further, where does the differential size thing come into the tweet? I mean it would be pisspoor comedically, but the 'joke' doesn't even exist.
The point being that the woman cant punch in the face because the man is so much taller.
I would never defend it as a joke. Its not that funny.
But the entire post was this "If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails punch him in the balls."
Now you may disagree with this, but does this really merit five armed police arresting him at an airport off a flight? Really?
The point being he has balls. Which shouldn't be there.
Iirc sarah-jane baker (not sarah-jane smith!) cut their balls off with a razor blade in prison.
Five parties between 10% and 29% in a FPTP election might be interesting. The standout numbers to me are the closeness between CON and LDM (which was smaller still last time) and the possibility that a party could get a majority with under 30% of the vote.
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
And yet Farage is riding high in the polls, which is simply a testament to Starmer, Reeves and labour's perceived failure in government
Also Birmingham bin workers have voted to continue their strike to March 2026
This is insane
Why work when they are being paid something by the union.
Didn’t the top football clubs make a point of hiring financial advisors for their players some time ago, after far too many dodgy investment or tax avoidance ‘schemes’ tripped them up - as one might expect when paying teenagers six figures a month?
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
It’s getting both silly and sinister. There’s a chilling effect on public discourse when there is only one permitted view on a topic as seems to be the case
I've seen the tweets in question. You can understand why an outside observer might start to question free speech in the UK.
Advocating violence, ah, but it was a joke so that makes it ok. You may be right that this is an absurd overreaction but is it remarkably different from what Lucy Connolly posted about asylum hotels?
Presumably it's for the 'punch them' bit. Looks a bit daft, but then he's also a living example of David Cameron's comment about Twitter, it seems.
The 'armed police arrest' thing is presumably because it was at Heathrow. Are there many unarmed police knocking around Heathrow?
"If a man is in an all women area punch them in the bollocks". I have no issue with that.
Careful now
It does raise the question of why all these men wanting to punch the trannies in the bollocks are in an all women area.
Which men? Linehan was suggesting in a comic way (punch in the bollocks due to the size differential, pace Peggie vs Upton) that women may respond to men being in the women's changing room.
At the risk of inflaming you further, where does the differential size thing come into the tweet? I mean it would be pisspoor comedically, but the 'joke' doesn't even exist.
The point being that the woman cant punch in the face because the man is so much taller.
I would never defend it as a joke. Its not that funny.
But the entire post was this "If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails punch him in the balls."
Now you may disagree with this, but does this really merit five armed police arresting him at an airport off a flight? Really?
The point being he has balls. Which shouldn't be there.
What about post op? Pretty sure our Graham is failry draconian on the issue, though him encouraging people to punch a set of non existent balls would serve as a fitting metaphor for his life in general.
And does he deserve or need to be arrested in such a manner? You seem unwilling to answer that question.
Yeah, apart from
James B @piercepenniless Graham Linehan is an unpleasant character whose pathological loathing of trans people has destroyed his own life. His online presence is a sordid gutter of monomania. Detaining him at the border for this is stupid, illiberal, counterproductive & authoritarian.
Five armed police? Why not just one or two? FFS. Hate the man - that's your right. Disagree with his views - that's your right. But agree that he deserves arresting in this way for a trivial post? Get a grip.
Fucking hell, have you suffered a brain injury?
What part of 'detaining him at the border for this is stupid, illiberal, counterproductive & authoritarian' don't you understand?
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
Whippygate.
Sort of scandal that might cause unexpected raspberry ripples
It’s getting both silly and sinister. There’s a chilling effect on public discourse when there is only one permitted view on a topic as seems to be the case
I've seen the tweets in question. You can understand why an outside observer might start to question free speech in the UK.
Advocating violence, ah, but it was a joke so that makes it ok. You may be right that this is an absurd overreaction but is it remarkably different from what Lucy Connolly posted about asylum hotels?
Presumably it's for the 'punch them' bit. Looks a bit daft, but then he's also a living example of David Cameron's comment about Twitter, it seems.
The 'armed police arrest' thing is presumably because it was at Heathrow. Are there many unarmed police knocking around Heathrow?
"If a man is in an all women area punch them in the bollocks". I have no issue with that.
Careful now
It does raise the question of why all these men wanting to punch the trannies in the bollocks are in an all women area.
Which men? Linehan was suggesting in a comic way (punch in the bollocks due to the size differential, pace Peggie vs Upton) that women may respond to men being in the women's changing room.
At the risk of inflaming you further, where does the differential size thing come into the tweet? I mean it would be pisspoor comedically, but the 'joke' doesn't even exist.
The point being that the woman cant punch in the face because the man is so much taller.
I would never defend it as a joke. Its not that funny.
But the entire post was this "If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails punch him in the balls."
Now you may disagree with this, but does this really merit five armed police arresting him at an airport off a flight? Really?
The point being he has balls. Which shouldn't be there.
What about post op? Pretty sure our Graham is failry draconian on the issue, though him encouraging people to punch a set of non existent balls would serve as a fitting metaphor for his life in general.
And does he deserve or need to be arrested in such a manner? You seem unwilling to answer that question.
Yeah, apart from
James B @piercepenniless Graham Linehan is an unpleasant character whose pathological loathing of trans people has destroyed his own life. His online presence is a sordid gutter of monomania. Detaining him at the border for this is stupid, illiberal, counterproductive & authoritarian.
Five armed police? Why not just one or two? FFS. Hate the man - that's your right. Disagree with his views - that's your right. But agree that he deserves arresting in this way for a trivial post? Get a grip.
Fucking hell, have you suffered a brain injury?
What part of 'detaining him at the border for this is stupid, illiberal, counterproductive & authoritarian' don't you understand?
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
Whippygate.
Sort of scandal that might cause unexpected raspberry ripples
All very rum and raisin, trying to butterscotch the voters.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown, said the UK chancellor faced "highly difficult choices" in the Budget and that she had been "dealt a warning" by investors.
"They are selling off UK government debt, clearly concerned that the government may be losing its grip on the public finances," she added.
In its manifesto, Labour promised not to raise taxes such as income tax, VAT or national insurance on "working people", and this has led to much speculation over what taxes Reeves could raise in the autumn Budget.
One option suggested is that the freeze on income tax thresholds, which is due to end in 2028, could be extended. The freeze means that, over time, more people are dragged into paying higher tax rates.
There have also been reports that Reeves is considering reforming property taxes.
"With so many options for raising taxes being bandied about during the summer, there appears to be concern that the decisions made might not be sufficiently thought through," said Ms Streeter.
"The worry isn't just that government coffers won't be replenished, but that they will be filled at the expense of growth, leading to a vicious circle emerging."
Britain is now a total laughing stock - a country where we arrest the authors of light comedies and interrogate them about their tweets. It would be laughable it it wasn't so serious. - Graham Linehan on his arrest today 👇"
We need to cut spending but we can't cut services - they are already on the verge of collapse in many areas.
So what we need to do is a make a bonfire of the administration structures. We tip record amounts of cash into the NHS and simultaneously starve front line services of cash. The NHS is a bonfire and we need to think like its actually on fire.
We can't save the whole thing. It will burn. So which are the operationally critical bits that get restarted first, with a management team directing resources?
ETA basically HMRC says it is tax evasion. The players say they were defrauded.
We discussed this before.
1) create a “tax efficient scheme” 2) a barrister specialising in tax law writes an opinion that it is legal and awesome. The barrister is paid by the person behind 1) 3) loads of sales, fees on the basis of 2) 4) HMRC says bollocks to that 5) the courts back HMRC 6) the people behind 1) say that they had this legal advice (2). Since they are client of the barrister, not the investors, no comeback against the barrister for the investors.
Some barristers have a string of such “failures” - each one earning a pile in fees.
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
We had it twice at Heathrow - bit unnerving
It happens more at Heathrow than pretty much anywhere else (except perhaps Funchal), as they space the landing planes closer together than at most airports.
It works well until it doesn’t, and one approaches to find the plane in front still on the runway.
It also means that on bad weather days half the short haul departures get cancelled.
I think this has already been posted, but the replies to it are mental. If I held the UK in any regard I'd really be hoping this is a Russian bot campaign rather than genuine Brits.
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
Whippygate.
Sort of scandal that might cause unexpected raspberry ripples
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
We have two simultaneous issues: 1) an economy which feels as laggard as the crumbling infrastructure in our towns, and 2) an army of yobs / patriots wanting to vandalise the place
Let's combine the two. Patriots, stop tying flags to everything and start pulling up the weeds. You want to show patriotism, tidy your shit up. Lets put Pride back into Britain and make the place look less tatty. That makes people feel better, more likely to spend money in the economy, encourages economic activity, growth, taxes etc
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
We had it twice at Heathrow - bit unnerving
Didn’t help that the stewardess sounded terrified
Landed now. But might have missed connection
Whoops, the hosties are supposed to be prepared to expect it, will have done it for real in training.
I was at Frankfurt on Saturday, landed first time and caught my connection! An annoying airport (compared to say Amsterdam), in that it’s tightly partitioned like Paris CDG and you can’t explore too much.
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
Whippygate.
Sort of scandal that might cause unexpected raspberry ripples
All very rum and raisin, trying to butterscotch the voters.
We have two simultaneous issues: 1) an economy which feels as laggard as the crumbling infrastructure in our towns, and 2) an army of yobs / patriots wanting to vandalise the place
Let's combine the two. Patriots, stop tying flags to everything and start pulling up the weeds. You want to show patriotism, tidy your shit up. Lets put Pride back into Britain and make the place look less tatty. That makes people feel better, more likely to spend money in the economy, encourages economic activity, growth, taxes etc
There are clearly a lot of people with time on their hands. Why don't they do something useful?
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
That is the weirdest article ever because Penn Station has recently been renovated, and is now the most attractive station in America.
It's new central concause is the Moynihan Train Hall: which the city spent about $1.6 billion on, and which opened in January 2021. Complete with a luminous glass roof and grand Beaux‑Arts touches.
Go there.
You'll love it.
It's already beautiful.
The piece is by Nicholas Boys Smith, who co-chaired the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission with Roger Scruton, for Gove.
He's a New Urbanist, with a strangely single minded, imo indiscriminate, anti-fetish for modernism, and a bit too much of an enthusiasm for Poundbury. Poundbury is OK in a 1990s sort of "let's discover how it used to be" sort of way, but has it's own problems and is a bit too much cardboard cut out Trumpton.
Nick Boys Smith!
I was at Cambridge with him. He was on the Standing Committee of the Union Society with me :-) What a small world.
Also, clearly an idiot that know nothing about Penn Station.
We have two simultaneous issues: 1) an economy which feels as laggard as the crumbling infrastructure in our towns, and 2) an army of yobs / patriots wanting to vandalise the place
Let's combine the two. Patriots, stop tying flags to everything and start pulling up the weeds. You want to show patriotism, tidy your shit up. Lets put Pride back into Britain and make the place look less tatty. That makes people feel better, more likely to spend money in the economy, encourages economic activity, growth, taxes etc
There are clearly a lot of people with time on their hands. Why don't they do something useful?
We have two simultaneous issues: 1) an economy which feels as laggard as the crumbling infrastructure in our towns, and 2) an army of yobs / patriots wanting to vandalise the place
Let's combine the two. Patriots, stop tying flags to everything and start pulling up the weeds. You want to show patriotism, tidy your shit up. Lets put Pride back into Britain and make the place look less tatty. That makes people feel better, more likely to spend money in the economy, encourages economic activity, growth, taxes etc
There are clearly a lot of people with time on their hands. Why don't they do something useful?
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
Whippygate.
Sort of scandal that might cause unexpected raspberry ripples
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
What’s going on in the lab?
A good question... I was discussing this among colleagues yesterday. The said lab synthesizes analogues of street drugs for analytical purposes - some of them being extremely potent and thus dangerous. The colleague who works in that lab immediately wondered if there had been an accident with something from the lab. I had just assumed either bad luck (a heart defect etc) or poor lifestyle (he was someone who loved his food and drink). A third colleague wondered about suicide (which I'm pretty confident it won't be).
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Right. Much easier to replace Truss as PM than to find enough Labour backbenchers who can count.
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
Whippygate.
Sort of scandal that might cause unexpected raspberry ripples
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
What’s going on in the lab?
A good question... I was discussing this among colleagues yesterday. The said lab synthesizes analogues of street drugs for analytical purposes - some of them being extremely potent and thus dangerous. The colleague who works in that lab immediately wondered if there had been an accident with something from the lab. I had just assumed either bad luck (a heart defect etc) or poor lifestyle (he was someone who loved his food and drink). A third colleague wondered about suicide (which I'm pretty confident it won't be).
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
No we do not agree
Reeves is COE and responsible for policy, and as such has to accept the consquences and her personal position
Truss was in office for just 6 weeks, and the bond markets were less even under Truss's short period in officer than now
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Unfortunately, the utopian idiots aren't confined to the Parliamentary Labour Party. They also infest the rest of the political system, and the wider electorate.
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Right. Much easier to replace Truss as PM than to find enough Labour backbenchers who can count.
Truss was a dead woman walking from the day the late Queen was buried.
The forces of Sunak in the Treasury sought to undermine her no matter what she actually did, and the reaction to the ‘mini-budget’ was so ridiculously over-the-top, considering how minor were the actual changes announced and a lot of other things that were happening around the same time.
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
We had it twice at Heathrow - bit unnerving
It happens more at Heathrow than pretty much anywhere else (except perhaps Funchal), as they space the landing planes closer together than at most airports.
It works well until it doesn’t, and one approaches to find the plane in front still on the runway.
It also means that on bad weather days half the short haul departures get cancelled.
Keir Starmer’s approval rating sinks to record low - Freshwater Strategy
Keir Starmer’s net approval ratings have dropped to a record low ahead of a difficult Autumn Budget.
Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have hit a record low, a City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll has shown, as pressure mounts on the government ahead of the Budget.
Research by City AM and the advisory firm Freshwater Strategy has highlighted the growing discontent among voters over the UK government’s poor performance after a year in office.
Starmer’s net approval hit a record low of minus 41 while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s approval dropped by two points to minus 17.
The monthly poll, which began in January, also showed Nigel Farage’s approval ratings to be in negative territory as it slipped to minus six.
The drop in approval ratings exposes the intense pressure Labour faces ahead of this year’s autumn Budget as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is poised to raise at least £20bn in taxes in order to rebuild her fiscal buffer.
The majority of voters (57 per cent) said they would rather the government made tax and spending cuts while nearly one third (32 per cent) said they would prefer tax increases to fund public services.
Half of Labour voters (51 per cent) said they would prefer tax cuts over more spending.
But desires did not match with expectations as three quarters of voters said they were anticipating tax hikes, with around four in five (78 per cent) claiming they feared the damage taxes could do to the UK economy.
That 32% who prefer tax increases to fund public spending to tax and spending cuts though are a higher percentage than the current Labour voteshare of 20% with Yougov
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
What’s going on in the lab?
A good question... I was discussing this among colleagues yesterday. The said lab synthesizes analogues of street drugs for analytical purposes - some of them being extremely potent and thus dangerous. The colleague who works in that lab immediately wondered if there had been an accident with something from the lab. I had just assumed either bad luck (a heart defect etc) or poor lifestyle (he was someone who loved his food and drink). A third colleague wondered about suicide (which I'm pretty confident it won't be).
We all bring our assumptions to the table...
Vapours?
I'm expecting it to be a heart attack in his sleep. Loved his booze and his food, and not that much exercise. Never particularly unwell, so if it was his heart you'd suspect some pre-existing issue/anomaly.
Almost like the Hundred pantomime was terrible preparation for facing proper bowling in 50 over cricket.
Painful listening to TMS lauding someone's performance in the Hundred before they flapped at a ball with no foot movement and returned to the pavilion.
For his own mental health have to hope SA don't finish this in 10 overs having hit Baker for 50+.
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Right. Much easier to replace Truss as PM than to find enough Labour backbenchers who can count.
Truss was a dead woman walking from the day the late Queen was buried.
The forces of Sunak in the Treasury sought to undermine her no matter what she actually did, and the reaction to the ‘mini-budget’ was so ridiculously over-the-top, considering how minor were the actual changes announced and a lot of other things that were happening around the same time.
I have always thought the initial market reaction was more to the blithering idiocy of the justifications Truss put forward for cutting taxes & raising spending in her budget than the actual sums involved.
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
No we do not agree
Reeves is COE and responsible for policy, and as such has to accept the consquences and her personal position
Truss was in office for just 6 weeks, and the bond markets were less even under Truss's short period in officer than now
"Some analysts pointed out on Wednesday night that the jitters in the bond market were borne of concern about her departing as chancellor. That if she were to leave she could ultimately be replaced by a more left-wing alternative who could dispense with the government’s iron-clad fiscal rules entirely and go on a borrowing binge to fund public spending...
The very bond markets that are causing so much pain for the chancellor now could ultimately end up being her saviour."
We have two simultaneous issues: 1) an economy which feels as laggard as the crumbling infrastructure in our towns, and 2) an army of yobs / patriots wanting to vandalise the place
Let's combine the two. Patriots, stop tying flags to everything and start pulling up the weeds. You want to show patriotism, tidy your shit up. Lets put Pride back into Britain and make the place look less tatty. That makes people feel better, more likely to spend money in the economy, encourages economic activity, growth, taxes etc
Are you directing that at the numerous Welsh flags appearing on lamp posts here in Wales ?
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
No we do not agree
Reeves is COE and responsible for policy, and as such has to accept the consquences and her personal position
Truss was in office for just 6 weeks, and the bond markets were less even under Truss's short period in officer than now
"Some analysts pointed out on Wednesday night that the jitters in the bond market were borne of concern about her departing as chancellor. That if she were to leave she could ultimately be replaced by a more left-wing alternative who could dispense with the government’s iron-clad fiscal rules entirely and go on a borrowing binge to fund public spending...
The very bond markets that are causing so much pain for the chancellor now could ultimately end up being her saviour."
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
We had it twice at Heathrow - bit unnerving
It happens more at Heathrow than pretty much anywhere else (except perhaps Funchal), as they space the landing planes closer together than at most airports.
It works well until it doesn’t, and one approaches to find the plane in front still on the runway.
It also means that on bad weather days half the short haul departures get cancelled.
If you’re not the pilot, they earn their money on the windy days.
The aforementioned Funchal suffers from horrible winds in the lee of a mountain, the planes come down sideways on most days and often need a couple of goes at it thanks to low level wind shear.
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Right. Much easier to replace Truss as PM than to find enough Labour backbenchers who can count.
Truss was a dead woman walking from the day the late Queen was buried.
The forces of Sunak in the Treasury sought to undermine her no matter what she actually did, and the reaction to the ‘mini-budget’ was so ridiculously over-the-top, considering how minor were the actual changes announced and a lot of other things that were happening around the same time.
As I recall the BoE had to step in to prevent the collapse of the British Pension industry. Truss did that, with the help of Kwarteng. No-one else.
Reeves has been one of the best members of the government in my opinion. Sacking her wouldn't achieve anything.
I am moderately sympathetic to this Government, but if "Reeves has been one of the best members..." I've been deluded. Notwithstanding a hostile press her performance both before and after the election had been piss poor. Claiming "no new taxes" has been a rod with which to beat both her and Starmer. Please get rid...
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Unfortunately, the utopian idiots aren't confined to the Parliamentary Labour Party. They also infest the rest of the political system, and the wider electorate.
I find it hard to blame the government for anything after the WFP histrionics. Ultimately it's why taxes will go up, because even the most sensible and tolerable cuts to spending will trash your approval figures. For some reason the various tax wheezes do not have that effect, except perhaps fuel duty.
We have two simultaneous issues: 1) an economy which feels as laggard as the crumbling infrastructure in our towns, and 2) an army of yobs / patriots wanting to vandalise the place
Let's combine the two. Patriots, stop tying flags to everything and start pulling up the weeds. You want to show patriotism, tidy your shit up. Lets put Pride back into Britain and make the place look less tatty. That makes people feel better, more likely to spend money in the economy, encourages economic activity, growth, taxes etc
Are you directing that at the numerous Welsh flags appearing on lamp posts here in Wales ?
Can we have some down here please? A couple of Motorway bridges North of Cardiff and North of Llanelli, but nothing else.
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
And yet Farage is riding high in the polls, which is simply a testament to Starmer, Reeves and labour's perceived failure in government
Also Birmingham bin workers have voted to continue their strike to March 2026
This is insane
Why work when they are being paid something by the union.
Where do you think the union money comes from in the first place?
Unless you think the Tolpuddle Six should still be in the outback ...
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Right. Much easier to replace Truss as PM than to find enough Labour backbenchers who can count.
Truss was a dead woman walking from the day the late Queen was buried.
The forces of Sunak in the Treasury sought to undermine her no matter what she actually did, and the reaction to the ‘mini-budget’ was so ridiculously over-the-top, considering how minor were the actual changes announced and a lot of other things that were happening around the same time.
I have always thought the initial market reaction was more to the blithering idiocy of the justifications Truss put forward for cutting taxes & raising spending in her budget than the actual sums involved.
I think that's true. It was her attitude that she didn't need to explain how it was going to be paid for that showed she wasn't remotely serious and spooked the markets into worrying about whether they'd get their money back.
Borrowing hundreds of billions of pounds is a question of confidence. Are you good to pay it back? Truss lost that confidence. Confidence in Labour is definitely wavering.
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
What’s going on in the lab?
A good question... I was discussing this among colleagues yesterday. The said lab synthesizes analogues of street drugs for analytical purposes - some of them being extremely potent and thus dangerous. The colleague who works in that lab immediately wondered if there had been an accident with something from the lab. I had just assumed either bad luck (a heart defect etc) or poor lifestyle (he was someone who loved his food and drink). A third colleague wondered about suicide (which I'm pretty confident it won't be).
We all bring our assumptions to the table...
Vapours?
I'm expecting it to be a heart attack in his sleep. Loved his booze and his food, and not that much exercise. Never particularly unwell, so if it was his heart you'd suspect some pre-existing issue/anomaly.
I have no idea about this passing, but when I had my (huge) DVT nearly two years ago the ultra sound discovered I had an undiagnosed aneurysm and as a result I have annual scans to check on it and am preventing from lifting. I remain under a vascular surgeon who will operate if it grows beyond small as it is at present
It is a very serious condition with free screening for all males over the age of 64
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
We had it twice at Heathrow - bit unnerving
It happens more at Heathrow than pretty much anywhere else (except perhaps Funchal), as they space the landing planes closer together than at most airports.
It works well until it doesn’t, and one approaches to find the plane in front still on the runway.
It also means that on bad weather days half the short haul departures get cancelled.
If you’re not the pilot, they earn their money on the windy days.
The aforementioned Funchal suffers from horrible winds in the lee of a mountain, the planes come down sideways on most days and often need a couple of goes at it thanks to low level wind shear.
Nearer home, Leeds Bradford can have some fun cross winds, too. A few decades back the pilot of the turboprop I was on had four goes at getting it down in one piece.
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
And yet Farage is riding high in the polls, which is simply a testament to Starmer, Reeves and labour's perceived failure in government
Also Birmingham bin workers have voted to continue their strike to March 2026
This is insane
Reform and the Tories together are on a whopping 46% playing Labour on 20. That is a 26 point Tory lead!
Anyway my last visit was to a West Walian entrepreneur. He said don't just look at Trump's America, France is also looking decidedly dodgy for us and our 30 year bond repayment value. He is very worried about France's political instability.
I see below the comment re Reeves "You simply can’t have your finance minister crying in public. Markets don’t like it. They lose confidence. "
PBers may care to remember that actually what the markets didn't like was that her being upset made it seem more likely that she was heading for the exit, and that she would be replaced by someone LESS conscious of the realities of the bond markets. Markets recovered somewhat as it became clear she was staying for the time being.
She's not great, she's not really up to the job, but she's still better - from a fiscal continence point of view - than many of the alternatives.
If so why are the bond markets reacting so badly ?
Again, reacting so badly to WHAT ? What are the political headlines about ? Does Reeves look more or less secure in her post than before Starmer made his latest appointments ? Who becomes CoE if she goes ?
The commentariat suggest Starmer's reshuffle has weakened Reeves but also they are reacting to labour refusing welfare cuts and more widely problems across markets
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
So we agree then, that it's not Reeves causing UK-specific government debt nervousness, it's the Labour government (and party) as a whole.
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
Right. Much easier to replace Truss as PM than to find enough Labour backbenchers who can count.
Truss was a dead woman walking from the day the late Queen was buried.
The forces of Sunak in the Treasury sought to undermine her no matter what she actually did, and the reaction to the ‘mini-budget’ was so ridiculously over-the-top, considering how minor were the actual changes announced and a lot of other things that were happening around the same time.
I have always thought the initial market reaction was more to the blithering idiocy of the justifications Truss put forward for cutting taxes & raising spending in her budget than the actual sums involved.
I think that's true. It was her attitude that she didn't need to explain how it was going to be paid for that showed she wasn't remotely serious and spooked the markets into worrying about whether they'd get their money back.
Borrowing hundreds of billions of pounds is a question of confidence. Are you good to pay it back? Truss lost that confidence. Confidence in Labour is definitely wavering.
Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation over allegations he tried to influence voters. Councillor Joseph Boam is accused of giving away ice creams outside a polling station for this year's local elections.
The 22-year-old, who left both his deputy leader and adult social care cabinet role last month, was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams during his and Reform UK's local election campaign in North West Leicestershire. The ice cream van is reportedly family-owned, with Leicestershire Police confirming it had received a third-party report about the van's proximity to the polling station.
And yet Farage is riding high in the polls, which is simply a testament to Starmer, Reeves and labour's perceived failure in government
Also Birmingham bin workers have voted to continue their strike to March 2026
This is insane
Reform and the Tories together are on a whopping 46% playing Labour on 20. That is a 26 point Tory lead!
Anyway my last visit was to a West Walian entrepreneur. He said don't just look at Trump's America, France is also looking decidedly dodgy for us and our 30 year bond repayment value. He is very worried about France's political instability.
I have no idea why you lump reform and conservatives, unless you are channelling your inner @HYUFD !!!
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
I'm quite surprised by that, given the amount you travel. I've had two separate incidents in (probably, trying to do the maths...) under 100 flights. Plus one engine failure. Maybe avoid planes I'm on
A joke. obviously but...
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
What’s going on in the lab?
A good question... I was discussing this among colleagues yesterday. The said lab synthesizes analogues of street drugs for analytical purposes - some of them being extremely potent and thus dangerous. The colleague who works in that lab immediately wondered if there had been an accident with something from the lab. I had just assumed either bad luck (a heart defect etc) or poor lifestyle (he was someone who loved his food and drink). A third colleague wondered about suicide (which I'm pretty confident it won't be).
We all bring our assumptions to the table...
Vapours?
I'm expecting it to be a heart attack in his sleep. Loved his booze and his food, and not that much exercise. Never particularly unwell, so if it was his heart you'd suspect some pre-existing issue/anomaly.
I have no idea about this passing, but when I had my (huge) DVT nearly two years ago the ultra sound discovered I had an undiagnosed aneurysm and as a result I have annual scans to check on it and am preventing from lifting. I remain under a vascular surgeon who will operate if it grows beyond small as it is at present
It is a very serious condition with free screening for all males over the age of 64
In Scotland, too. Was called for it by an automatic letter. I had it a few years back. Basically like a pregnancy ultrasonic scan but very brief! At least when they don't spot one, I imagine.
It’s a bit like him always eating his Asda curry, sitting at home, in front of an 800 foot wide Union Jack, while worrying that the flag is “divisive”
He probably loves people singing Happy Birthday to him but he also hates it so they only get to sing half of it
Have we ever had such a bizarre and vacuous fool for a leader? At least Boris was funny on purpose
I believe they have only paused the singing, phase two launches later. After which Keir will flagellate to expunge any joy experienced and his bigotry but then sooth the wounds with a St Georges flag flannel dipped in TCP. He gets us you see, he gets us
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
We had it twice at Heathrow - bit unnerving
It happens more at Heathrow than pretty much anywhere else (except perhaps Funchal), as they space the landing planes closer together than at most airports.
It works well until it doesn’t, and one approaches to find the plane in front still on the runway.
It also means that on bad weather days half the short haul departures get cancelled.
If you’re not the pilot, they earn their money on the windy days.
The aforementioned Funchal suffers from horrible winds in the lee of a mountain, the planes come down sideways on most days and often need a couple of goes at it thanks to low level wind shear.
Nearer home, Leeds Bradford can have some fun cross winds, too. A few decades back the pilot of the turboprop I was on had four goes at getting it down in one piece.
Birmingham is a right barsteward for crosswinds too.
Nothing at all. It only says the President will be making an announcement, not President Trump...
/ConspiracyTheory
With tin foil hat off, I expect a full on word salad so 'greatest' seems very likely.
"Nobel"
Too early ...
PEACE – Friday, 10 October, 11:00 CEST The Norwegian Nobel Committee, The Norwegian Nobel Institute (Norska Nobelinstitutet), Store Sal, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo
Ugh. My first ever aborted landing. Frankfurt airport
Nasty
We had it twice at Heathrow - bit unnerving
It happens more at Heathrow than pretty much anywhere else (except perhaps Funchal), as they space the landing planes closer together than at most airports.
It works well until it doesn’t, and one approaches to find the plane in front still on the runway.
It also means that on bad weather days half the short haul departures get cancelled.
If you’re not the pilot, they earn their money on the windy days.
The aforementioned Funchal suffers from horrible winds in the lee of a mountain, the planes come down sideways on most days and often need a couple of goes at it thanks to low level wind shear.
Nearer home, Leeds Bradford can have some fun cross winds, too. A few decades back the pilot of the turboprop I was on had four goes at getting it down in one piece.
Birmingham is a right barsteward for crosswinds too.
I assumed my go-around was due to turbulence. It was very bumpy. But apparently not - just been told it was “birds” - the pilot saw a dangerous flock at the wrong t moment 🤷🏼♂️
Comments
Its OK though. Keir says he 'gets it' so id expect that approval to take off into orbit immediately
#BREAKING: Judge Breyer has held that the Trump admin. *violated* the Posse Comitatus Act in its military deployments in and around Los Angeles, and has enjoined further use of those troops for law enforcement tasks. The order is stayed through 12 PDT on 9/12:
Pause. Grits teeth.
Trans, eh?
Nasty
Anyone for a spot of Buzzword Bingo? 🚨
What exact words/phrases will Donald Trump say in his announcement later today? (Requests welcome)
https://t.co/DK44q0IqyU
The standout numbers to me are the closeness between CON and LDM (which was smaller still last time) and the possibility that a party could get a majority with under 30% of the vote.
Landed now. But might have missed connection
I would suggest the next COE moved into Starmer's Office yesterday, one Darren Jones MP
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown, said the UK chancellor faced "highly difficult choices" in the Budget and that she had been "dealt a warning" by investors.
"They are selling off UK government debt, clearly concerned that the government may be losing its grip on the public finances," she added.
In its manifesto, Labour promised not to raise taxes such as income tax, VAT or national insurance on "working people", and this has led to much speculation over what taxes Reeves could raise in the autumn Budget.
One option suggested is that the freeze on income tax thresholds, which is due to end in 2028, could be extended. The freeze means that, over time, more people are dragged into paying higher tax rates.
There have also been reports that Reeves is considering reforming property taxes.
"With so many options for raising taxes being bandied about during the summer, there appears to be concern that the decisions made might not be sufficiently thought through," said Ms Streeter.
"The worry isn't just that government coffers won't be replenished, but that they will be filled at the expense of growth, leading to a vicious circle emerging."
Bring back The Hundred than this dross.
Or maybe not.
"Neil O'Brien
@NeilDotObrien
Britain is now a total laughing stock - a country where we arrest the authors of light comedies and interrogate them about their tweets. It would be laughable it it wasn't so serious.
- Graham Linehan on his arrest today 👇"
https://x.com/NeilDotObrien/status/1962811495735054433
So what we need to do is a make a bonfire of the administration structures. We tip record amounts of cash into the NHS and simultaneously starve front line services of cash. The NHS is a bonfire and we need to think like its actually on fire.
We can't save the whole thing. It will burn. So which are the operationally critical bits that get restarted first, with a management team directing resources?
1) create a “tax efficient scheme”
2) a barrister specialising in tax law writes an opinion that it is legal and awesome. The barrister is paid by the person behind 1)
3) loads of sales, fees on the basis of 2)
4) HMRC says bollocks to that
5) the courts back HMRC
6) the people behind 1) say that they had this legal advice (2). Since they are client of the barrister, not the investors, no comeback against the barrister for the investors.
Some barristers have a string of such “failures” - each one earning a pile in fees.
It works well until it doesn’t, and one approaches to find the plane in front still on the runway.
It also means that on bad weather days half the short haul departures get cancelled.
Famous video of Concorde going around at LHR, observed by a documentary crew filming the air traffic controllers. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qS5aY2l2790
“A sewer is a sewer”
This is why I don't get the comparisons to Truss. Reeves is sane but weak, and undermined by utopian idiots within her party. Truss was insane, a utopian idiot who ought to have been undermined a lot sooner.
1) an economy which feels as laggard as the crumbling infrastructure in our towns, and
2) an army of yobs / patriots wanting to vandalise the place
Let's combine the two. Patriots, stop tying flags to everything and start pulling up the weeds. You want to show patriotism, tidy your shit up. Lets put Pride back into Britain and make the place look less tatty. That makes people feel better, more likely to spend money in the economy, encourages economic activity, growth, taxes etc
I was at Frankfurt on Saturday, landed first time and caught my connection! An annoying airport (compared to say Amsterdam), in that it’s tightly partitioned like Paris CDG and you can’t explore too much.
He'd say New-scum.
One of my friends and colleagues passed away over the bank holiday at a ridiculously young age (42). The colleague he shared a lab with is starting to get worried as he is the second such lab mate he has lost in the last couple of years...
https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/08/30/sophie-of-dundee-and-the-online-rights-bs-machine/
I think this is the correct call: some of the antics of Jenrick, Musk, Yaxley-Lennon etc. risk turning a serious matter into a circus.
I was at Cambridge with him. He was on the Standing Committee of the Union Society with me :-) What a small world.
Also, clearly an idiot that know nothing about Penn Station.
We all bring our assumptions to the table...
First rule of limited overs cricket, as always, is that you need to use all of the overs!
Reeves is COE and responsible for policy, and as such has to accept the consquences and her personal position
Truss was in office for just 6 weeks, and the bond markets were less even under Truss's short period in officer than now
No one else picked up on the Charles Manson, Sharon Tate's husband link then.
/ConspiracyTheory
With tin foil hat off, I expect a full on word salad so 'greatest' seems very likely.
The forces of Sunak in the Treasury sought to undermine her no matter what she actually did, and the reaction to the ‘mini-budget’ was so ridiculously over-the-top, considering how minor were the actual changes announced and a lot of other things that were happening around the same time.
Painful listening to TMS lauding someone's performance in the Hundred before they flapped at a ball with no foot movement and returned to the pavilion.
For his own mental health have to hope SA don't finish this in 10 overs having hit Baker for 50+.
"Some analysts pointed out on Wednesday night that the jitters in the bond market were borne of concern about her departing as chancellor. That if she were to leave she could ultimately be replaced by a more left-wing alternative who could dispense with the government’s iron-clad fiscal rules entirely and go on a borrowing binge to fund public spending...
The very bond markets that are causing so much pain for the chancellor now could ultimately end up being her saviour."
(there are plenty more where this came from...)
If you’re not the pilot, they earn their money on the windy days.
The aforementioned Funchal suffers from horrible winds in the lee of a mountain, the planes come down sideways on most days and often need a couple of goes at it thanks to low level wind shear.
Unless you think the Tolpuddle Six should still be in the outback ...
“No 10 says some ministers started singing Happy Birthday to the PM at Cabinet this morning but he told them to stop”
https://x.com/jasongroves1/status/1962843111995940944?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
It’s a bit like him always eating his Asda curry, sitting at home, in front of an 800 foot wide Union Jack, while worrying that the flag is “divisive”
He probably loves people singing Happy Birthday to him but he also hates it so they only get to sing half of it
Have we ever had such a bizarre and vacuous fool for a leader? At least Boris was funny on purpose
Borrowing hundreds of billions of pounds is a question of confidence. Are you good to pay it back? Truss lost that confidence. Confidence in Labour is definitely wavering.
It is a very serious condition with free screening for all males over the age of 64
A few decades back the pilot of the turboprop I was on had four goes at getting it down in one piece.
Anyway my last visit was to a West Walian entrepreneur. He said don't just look at Trump's America, France is also looking decidedly dodgy for us and our 30 year bond repayment value. He is very worried about France's political instability.
He gets us you see, he gets us
PEACE – Friday, 10 October, 11:00 CEST
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, The Norwegian Nobel Institute (Norska Nobelinstitutet), Store Sal, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/about/prize-announcement-dates/