Minsiter: "I'm between fury and despair now. At least they were going to do a very hard, very bad thing that probably was the right thing to do. It's just so weak. This only ends one way' "
Minister: "[Starmer] going to have to be forced out - and that's going to be bloody and it's going to be messy.' "
It’s fascinating how politics shifts. Before this week I’d have said Starmer was more likely than not to go before the end of 2027/28, but he had the benefit of time to try and strengthen his position.
It now looks increasingly unlikely he’ll be in post in 12 months time.
In some ways it’s because his fortunes are tied to Reeves, and if we weren’t already aware of this she has again demonstrated just how badly she is performing as a steward of our economy and how increasingly out of her depth she is appearing. Can they really afford to keep her in post much longer? The chances of a very negative bond market reaction in the coming months feel significantly higher to me this evening.
Now that Reeves has excluded Income Tax from the list of taxes she won’t raise, she is in danger of spooking the markets because there are no taxes left to raise to keep the country solvent.
Well, there are taxes that can be raised. They just happen to be the worst ones.
Ideally, governments should raise revenues through unavoidable, simple taxation that is as close to the point of consumption as possible (like VAT, property and income tax). Otherwise, you might introduces taxes as an alternative to regulation for something that has wider harms on society or the economy (e.g. tobacco duties or congestion charges) - but raising revenue should never be a key objective of these taxes IMO.
The markets will spook if they think yet more of the tax burden is being transferred to taxes that don't fit these criteria because of the distortive effect they have on the economy.
For me the pivot point was the moment the government failed to carry Parliament on benefit reform.
The market, and indeed all sentient observers, concluded that Starmer and Reeves weren’t up to it.
This week’s “turnaround” is not quite Trussian, but it’s approaching it.
There are so many moments...delaying the initial budget as they were clueless, cancelling a load infrastructure including a supercomputer only to say AI is crucial to the future, winter fuel allowance, reducing NI threshold so loads of single mums become basically very expensive to keep in part time jobs, inability to tackle benefits bill, .....
Jonathan Carley, 64, was arrested at his home in Harlech on Friday after being accused of impersonating a rear admiral.
The retired teacher saluted the war memorial in Llandudno, North Wales, on Sunday while wearing a row of 12 medals over an ill-fitting uniform.
North Wales Police arrested him under the 1894 Uniforms Act, which bars anyone who has not served in the armed forces from wearing military uniform.
I'd rather they arrested burglars and shoplifters than someone who pretended to be a rear admiral.
It shouldn't be either or, but it also doesn't take much police resource to arrest someone pretending to be a rear admiral in any case. Burglary is a much harder crime to solve.
Budget: looks like there will be a revaluation of the 2.4 million properties in Council Bands F, G and H to determine around 300,000 properties where an additional tax will be levied to be paid direct to Central government. In other words the start of a new annual tax on property values.
Properties in bands F G and H will be covered as some London properties in band F will now be worth more than some band H properties in say Lincolnshire.
To be in place for 2028. To raise £600m so average £2,000 per affected property but bands within the levy are likely so the most expensive properties will be charged much more than those at the margin.
Around 700,000 properties worth £1m or more so effective value threshold likely to be more than £1m but probably less than £1.5m.
See Telegraph for more details, I have seen Sky Newspapers webpage.
This is going to introduce all sorts of unfairness around bands and re-valuations and all sorts of nonsense, stretching literally decades into the future.
Jonathan Carley, 64, was arrested at his home in Harlech on Friday after being accused of impersonating a rear admiral.
The retired teacher saluted the war memorial in Llandudno, North Wales, on Sunday while wearing a row of 12 medals over an ill-fitting uniform.
North Wales Police arrested him under the 1894 Uniforms Act, which bars anyone who has not served in the armed forces from wearing military uniform.
I'd rather they arrested burglars and shoplifters than someone who pretended to be a rear admiral.
Hurty words on social media, walter mitty for Remberance Sunday, plod on it in a flash, putting the last drops of your coffee down the drain, putting a letter in the wrong recycling, council on it in a flash, £1000 fine in seconds....
I can't remember a chancellor more out of ideas and depth to be honest. Lamont was told to do the ERM and he didn't want to and it all went tits up but at least it was an idea and they carried it through.
Why is Reeves in office? What does she want to do with the power?
I've no idea and I suspect she also has no idea.
Tomorrow she will backtrack on ending the two child benefit cap based on how she has done so far this autumn.
They want to achieve above trend growth, as their entire programme is predicated on it, but they really don't have any big ideas on how to achieve it. To be fair there are no quick fixes, it will be a slog. The problem is Labour didn't win an election promising a 10 year or more climb out of the hole we are in, they made it sound like sunny days were just around the corner.
18 months on they are already way off track, and now dithering to a dangerous degree, which will likely compound the problems. They have little to no chance of achieving enough growth by the next general election to avoid defeat. Even if things can be turned around they probably involve taking quick substantial actions that neither Starmer or Reeves seem inclined to do, and nor will the Labour backbenchers countenance it.
The worst thing about Labour's complete mismanagement of the economy is that I cannot even blame Brexit any more for our country's decline...it is just one disaster followed by another...
I wish the Tories had won the last election because those Hunt NI decreases were akin to the Russians killing the livestock before the Nazi's arrived....
And to carry on the analogy, Labour appear to be making a similar hash of running the country as the Nazi's did after invading the Soviet Union....
The American constitution and the shining city on a hill where a people governed themselves under the rule of law turned out to be a children's fairy story.
It never existed.
The "shining city on a hill" was always hyperbole, of course, somewhat akin to the "sceptred isle" bit about Britain.
But this is not normal, at all.
I wish I could impress on younger generations right now just how unprecedented this is.
This level of corruption is not normal - it’s like nothing that has happened in American history, and it is stealing from your future.
Though of course, for those who came uf political age in the last decade, it almost IS normal.
Lord North has a lot to answer for...
Checks and balances work
As long as someone is checking and someone is balancing.
What MAGA and their predecessors in the Republican Party did was methodically take over the infrastructure of government. From the officials who run the voting stations, all the way to the Supreme Court.
I can't remember a chancellor more out of ideas and depth to be honest. Lamont was told to do the ERM and he didn't want to and it all went tits up but at least it was an idea and they carried it through.
Why is Reeves in office? What does she want to do with the power?
I've no idea and I suspect she also has no idea.
Tomorrow she will backtrack on ending the two child benefit cap based on how she has done so far this autumn.
They want to achieve above trend growth, as their entire programme is predicated on it, but they really don't have any big ideas on how to achieve it. To be fair there are no quick fixes, it will be a slog. The problem is Labour didn't win an election promising a 10 year or more climb out of the hole we are in, they made it sound like sunny days were just around the corner.
18 months on they are already way off track, and now dithering to a dangerous degree, which will likely compound the problems. They have little to no chance of achieving enough growth by the next general election to avoid defeat. Even if things can be turned around they probably involve taking quick substantial actions that neither Starmer or Reeves seem inclined to do, and nor will the Labour backbenchers countenance it.
The problem is they didn't do any homework. Just repeating growth, growth, growth and build, build, build, doesn't magic up solutions. And because they haven't done any planning, they got blown from pillar to post, with everything being reactive...including today with the U-Turn over income tax. You shouldn't rewriting your budget based on if the OBR change their predictions by the equivalent of a few quid down the back of the sofa in part by changing around the period your evaluate over.
WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to exempt a wide range of food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, from sweeping tariffs imposed earlier this year on nearly every country, the White House said. The new exemptions, which take effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday, mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that his tariffs are not fueling inflation.
I can't remember a chancellor more out of ideas and depth to be honest. Lamont was told to do the ERM and he didn't want to and it all went tits up but at least it was an idea and they carried it through.
Why is Reeves in office? What does she want to do with the power?
I've no idea and I suspect she also has no idea.
Tomorrow she will backtrack on ending the two child benefit cap based on how she has done so far this autumn.
They want to achieve above trend growth, as their entire programme is predicated on it, but they really don't have any big ideas on how to achieve it. To be fair there are no quick fixes, it will be a slog. The problem is Labour didn't win an election promising a 10 year or more climb out of the hole we are in, they made it sound like sunny days were just around the corner.
18 months on they are already way off track, and now dithering to a dangerous degree, which will likely compound the problems. They have little to no chance of achieving enough growth by the next general election to avoid defeat. Even if things can be turned around they probably involve taking quick substantial actions that neither Starmer or Reeves seem inclined to do, and nor will the Labour backbenchers countenance it.
They promised 'Change'. Repeadetly.
All I can see so far is a series of announcements followed by fuck ups and changes and re-announcements that could just have easily come from another four years of Sunak and Hunt.
Budget: looks like there will be a revaluation of the 2.4 million properties in Council Bands F, G and H to determine around 300,000 properties where an additional tax will be levied to be paid direct to Central government. In other words the start of a new annual tax on property values.
Properties in bands F G and H will be covered as some London properties in band F will now be worth more than some band H properties in say Lincolnshire.
To be in place for 2028. To raise £600m so average £2,000 per affected property but bands within the levy are likely so the most expensive properties will be charged much more than those at the margin.
Around 700,000 properties worth £1m or more so effective value threshold likely to be more than £1m but probably less than £1.5m.
See Telegraph for more details, I have seen Sky Newspapers webpage.
Front page of DT on newsnight ..... what does this mean for Scotland, thought council tax was devolved?
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
I'm sure designing and building such things is jolly hard, but that is impressively useless even for the industry.
Yet again....
Probably built to spec but spec didn't have a maximum noise level. Govt needs to give MOD a massive shake about favoured contractors who deliver functionally useless kit years late.
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
- New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn)
Sounds optimistic.
- 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
A companion to the magic money tree is the reform/efficiency fairy, who can always fund anything you want with no downsides.
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
Just hope they don't bring in general tax on betting wins.
Budget: looks like there will be a revaluation of the 2.4 million properties in Council Bands F, G and H to determine around 300,000 properties where an additional tax will be levied to be paid direct to Central government. In other words the start of a new annual tax on property values.
Properties in bands F G and H will be covered as some London properties in band F will now be worth more than some band H properties in say Lincolnshire.
To be in place for 2028. To raise £600m so average £2,000 per affected property but bands within the levy are likely so the most expensive properties will be charged much more than those at the margin.
Around 700,000 properties worth £1m or more so effective value threshold likely to be more than £1m but probably less than £1.5m.
See Telegraph for more details, I have seen Sky Newspapers webpage.
Front page of DT on newsnight ..... what does this mean for Scotland, thought council tax was devolved?
It is devolved.
IIRC Scotland has an extra band at the top.
I have several Scottish self-building friends who complain quite consistently about it.
For me, this looks like a baby step in the right direction, though I think a big chunk of the increase should be going to local authorities. I'm in Band D , but being in the Red Wall it is £2500 per annum.
Why have the Guardian blurred Walter Mittys face? Why random members of the public are visible. Exactly the same photo unblurred is available everywhere else (BBC blurred the other members of the public). Did the person on Photoshop duty get the wrong end of the stick when the editor say can you blur this photo?
I'm sure designing and building such things is jolly hard, but that is impressively useless even for the industry.
We have a perfectly good alternative available that BAE (joint) manufactures already in service with half a dozen counties. The CV90 - one of the best such systems in the world.
And it's cheaper.
For the price it's cost just to develop Ajax, we could have re-equipped the army with it already.
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
Just hope they don't bring in general tax on betting wins.
Budget: looks like there will be a revaluation of the 2.4 million properties in Council Bands F, G and H to determine around 300,000 properties where an additional tax will be levied to be paid direct to Central government. In other words the start of a new annual tax on property values.
Properties in bands F G and H will be covered as some London properties in band F will now be worth more than some band H properties in say Lincolnshire.
To be in place for 2028. To raise £600m so average £2,000 per affected property but bands within the levy are likely so the most expensive properties will be charged much more than those at the margin.
Around 700,000 properties worth £1m or more so effective value threshold likely to be more than £1m but probably less than £1.5m.
See Telegraph for more details, I have seen Sky Newspapers webpage.
Front page of DT on newsnight ..... what does this mean for Scotland, thought council tax was devolved?
I was about to say that it won't apply in Scotland but actually it will because it's not ultimately about Council Tax which is simply being used as the starting basis to determine properties 'eligible' for valuation
For Scotland I would think they would use bands F G and H as the start point, ultimately relatively few properties will ultimately make the national top 300,000 which will get the levy. For Wales F to I. Northern Ireland has rates but some read across will be determined to assess which properties will be assessed.
My assumptions only, it may not work out as such I'm practice
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
Just hope they don't bring in general tax on betting wins.
I am really surprised governments haven't gone for at least those who make the bulk of their income from gambling. Lots of other governments have come up with stupid systems aimed at capping the amount of losses you can deduct etc, so that pro gambling end up paying income taxes e.g, Trumps big beautiful bill. The Greeks do it based on daily wins / losses.
They are terrible if you are a pro-gambler, but it doesn't matter to governments. And the flipside when that is what I did for a living it did seem quite crazy that I didn't owe any NI / IC on my income. It made my winnings worth ~40% more than earning via a job.
Starmer and Reeves are taking such a hammering on here that it's about time somebody came to their defence. However, it's late and I'm out of ideas. I'm going to sleep on it.
Budget: looks like there will be a revaluation of the 2.4 million properties in Council Bands F, G and H to determine around 300,000 properties where an additional tax will be levied to be paid direct to Central government. In other words the start of a new annual tax on property values.
Properties in bands F G and H will be covered as some London properties in band F will now be worth more than some band H properties in say Lincolnshire.
To be in place for 2028. To raise £600m so average £2,000 per affected property but bands within the levy are likely so the most expensive properties will be charged much more than those at the margin.
Around 700,000 properties worth £1m or more so effective value threshold likely to be more than £1m but probably less than £1.5m.
See Telegraph for more details, I have seen Sky Newspapers webpage.
Front page of DT on newsnight ..... what does this mean for Scotland, thought council tax was devolved?
It is devolved.
IIRC Scotland has an extra band at the top.
I have several Scottish self-building friends who complain quite consistently about it.
For me, this looks like a baby step in the right direction, though I think a big chunk of the increase should be going to local authorities. I'm in Band D , but being in the Red Wall it is £2500 per annum.
Yes, new builds (since 1991 or whenever it came out) are generally put in fairly high bands when older houses of a similar size may only be D or E bands. It's something of a disincentive to build, but I think you can get VAT back and of course no stamp duty. Think Alex Salmond wanted to completely reform it when he came into power but it never happened, so we are left with this near 35 year old hungover system with its disparities
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
Just hope they don't bring in general tax on betting wins.
I am really surprised governments haven't gone for at least those who make the bulk of their income from gambling. Lots of other governments have come up with stupid systems aimed at capping the amount of losses you can deduct etc, so that pro gambling end up paying income taxes e.g, Trumps big beautiful bill. The Greeks do it based on daily wins / losses.
EV mile tax is another fiddle around tax rather than actually govern.
Also reductions in hidden tax in energy bills in order to subsides heat pumps is another area for Treasury back slapping enjoyment on the day.
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
Just hope they don't bring in general tax on betting wins.
I am really surprised governments haven't gone for at least those who make the bulk of their income from gambling. Lots of other governments have come up with stupid systems aimed at capping the amount of losses you can deduct etc, so that pro gambling end up paying income taxes e.g, Trumps big beautiful bill. The Greeks do it based on daily wins / losses.
EV mile tax is another fiddle around tax rather than actually govern.
Also reductions in hidden tax in energy bills in order to subsides heat pumps is another area for Treasury back slapping enjoyment on the day.
Going after EVs when you are also trying to get everybody into EVs by 2035....remember they added luxury car tax to EVs last time as well and congestion charge is getting added in Lodnon. £40k doesn't get you much car these days, a cheap Chinese EV. joined up thinking.
Budget: looks like there will be a revaluation of the 2.4 million properties in Council Bands F, G and H to determine around 300,000 properties where an additional tax will be levied to be paid direct to Central government. In other words the start of a new annual tax on property values.
Properties in bands F G and H will be covered as some London properties in band F will now be worth more than some band H properties in say Lincolnshire.
To be in place for 2028. To raise £600m so average £2,000 per affected property but bands within the levy are likely so the most expensive properties will be charged much more than those at the margin.
Around 700,000 properties worth £1m or more so effective value threshold likely to be more than £1m but probably less than £1.5m.
See Telegraph for more details, I have seen Sky Newspapers webpage.
Front page of DT on newsnight ..... what does this mean for Scotland, thought council tax was devolved?
It is devolved.
IIRC Scotland has an extra band at the top.
I have several Scottish self-building friends who complain quite consistently about it.
For me, this looks like a baby step in the right direction, though I think a big chunk of the increase should be going to local authorities. I'm in Band D , but being in the Red Wall it is £2500 per annum.
Yes, new builds (since 1991 or whenever it came out) are generally put in fairly high bands when older houses of a similar size may only be D or E bands. It's something of a disincentive to build, but I think you can get VAT back and of course no stamp duty. Think Alex Salmond wanted to completely reform it when he came into power but it never happened, so we are left with this near 35 year old hungover system with its disparities
From memory I think band H is highest in Scotland
I believe there is a consultation currently underway in Scotland which could introduce a new system of up to 14 bands and significantly higher Council tax at the highest bands compared with today's band H
The 'mansion tax' expected to appear in the Budget is separate
WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to exempt a wide range of food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, from sweeping tariffs imposed earlier this year on nearly every country, the White House said. The new exemptions, which take effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday, mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that his tariffs are not fueling inflation.
The new 'mansion tax' is due to come in 2028. It is possible of course that the work needed to revalue 2.4m properties, including necessary verification and allocation to bands for the new levy might take more than 2 years...
Note this ISN'T Council tax but a new levy to be paid to central government using Council tax bands as a start point. However if such a levy is devolved then indeed it would not necessarily apply in Wales (or Scotland) after all. No idea re Northern Ireland.
The new 'mansion tax' is due to come in 2028. It is possible of course that the work needed to revalue 2.4m properties, including necessary verification and allocation to bands for the new levy might take more than 2 years...
Should cause the top end of the property market to grind to a halt for a couple of years. Along with the resulting drop in stamp duty receipts.
Likelihood that slow down has been factored in by the Chancellor?
The Republican leader of the Indiana Senate said the chamber would not meet to redraw the state's congressional map, rejecting pressure from President Donald Trump and the state's governor.
“Today I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December,” Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray said in a
'Some of the documents mentioned Trump, including one from Epstein's brother, Mark, which references photos of Trump "blowing Bubba." "Bubba" is a nickname of former president Bill Clinton, but Mark Epstein told Newsweek the individual was not Clinton. He did not provide any additional details about the identity of “Bubba” or the meaning of the emails. ' https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-blowing-bubba-message-epstein-emails-under-scrutiny-11046836
Well if it had been Clinton, it would of course have been consensual and legal (if not something many of Trump's base would like to contemplate).
What's interesting here is that if Trump had blown Clinton and didn't do any of the diddling stuff, he's in the clear legally but politically it's better to be a pedo than to be gay if you're a Republican
He says "criminal gangs are dumping waste on this scale" across the country and it will take government intervention before pollutants "leech out" into local rivers.
The Environment Agency said it would try to "ensure those responsible" for the waste cleared it up.
Charity Friends of the Thames said the illegal rubbish dump was created about a month ago by an organised crime group.
"Asylum in UK to be made temporary under new plans
People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay temporarily under a policy shift the home secretary is expected to announce next week Shabana Mahmood will lay out reforms modelled on the Danish system on Monday which aim to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants, and make it easier to deport them. Refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review under the planned changes, which will see refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe."
The Republican leader of the Indiana Senate said the chamber would not meet to redraw the state's congressional map, rejecting pressure from President Donald Trump and the state's governor.
“Today I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December,” Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray said in a
THE WHITE HOUSE has invited some Indiana state legislators to the White House. This comes after the state Senate president pro tempore said that the Hoosier state will not redistrict this year. Some of the attendees have been vocally opposed to redistricting https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1989469595883687972
Homan: "I don't think the UK is a friend to this country and friend of the president"
That shows the soft power of the BBC. Not perhaps in an ideal way but our politicians should sit up, take notice, stop the potshots and properly fund the BBC and World Service.
The heads of all but one of the People’s Liberation Army’s regional commands are currently unaccounted for, are under investigation or have been fired https://x.com/FT/status/1989173070930522454
Trump should release all of the Epstein files: every person and every document in the files.
Iwant this complete release because it will show that the calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander.
I was never a client of Epstein’s and never had any engagement with him other than fundraising for MIT.
The call for an investigation is an obvious ploy to avoid releasing the files.
Simply release all the files, and expose the people who had both deep and ongoing relationships with Epstein.
I will do everything in my power going forward to advocate for the release of the files, to get justice for Epstein’s victims, and to promote the values of truth our great country was founded on.
I refuse to bend the knee to Donald Trump and his slanderous lies.
The American constitution and the shining city on a hill where a people governed themselves under the rule of law turned out to be a children's fairy story.
It never existed.
The "shining city on a hill" was always hyperbole, of course, somewhat akin to the "sceptred isle" bit about Britain.
But this is not normal, at all.
I wish I could impress on younger generations right now just how unprecedented this is.
This level of corruption is not normal - it’s like nothing that has happened in American history, and it is stealing from your future.
Though of course, for those who came uf political age in the last decade, it almost IS normal.
Lord North has a lot to answer for...
Checks and balances work
As long as someone is checking and someone is balancing.
What MAGA and their predecessors in the Republican Party did was methodically take over the infrastructure of government. From the officials who run the voting stations, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Yes. It's not new, it's not MAGA, and it's not Trump. Ironically, many of those responsible were Never-Trumpers first time round. This time, Trump has adopted Project 2025.
He says "criminal gangs are dumping waste on this scale" across the country and it will take government intervention before pollutants "leech out" into local rivers.
The Environment Agency said it would try to "ensure those responsible" for the waste cleared it up.
Charity Friends of the Thames said the illegal rubbish dump was created about a month ago by an organised crime group.
Councils do little about this but fine a woman a grand for putting an envelope on a cardboard box or a woman 150 quid for tipping coffee down a drain.
Pathetic and typical of councils to go for easy targets.
The fly tipping in Cherwell is what you get when you apply high charges to disposal of waste.
President Trump just attacked me and lied about me. I haven’t called him at all, but I did send these text messages today. Apparently this is what sent him over the edge.
The Epstein files.
And of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files.
It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level.
But really most Americans wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America who are fed up with foreign wars and foreign causes, are going broke trying to feed their families, and are losing hope of ever achieving the American dream.
That’s what I voted for.
I have supported President Trump with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him.
But I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump.
I worship God, Jesus is my savior, and I serve my district GA14 and the American people.
I remain the same today as I’ve always been and I will continue to pray this administration will be successful because the American people desperately deserve what they voted for.
For me, I remain America First and America Only!!!
President Trump was asked why he got an MRI and said "because it's part of my physical. Getting an MRI is very standard. What you think I shouldn't have it? Other people get it... I had an MRI. The doctor said it was the best result he has ever seen as a doctor. That's it."
When asked for details, Trump said," I have no idea what they analyze but whatever they analyze, they analyzed it well and they said that I had as good a result as they've ever seen."
((An MRI is not a standard part of a physical unless someone has an ongoing condition that's being treated))
"We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” according to DOJ & FBI’s July letter.
Now AG Bondi has announced she has tapped Jay Clayton, the current U.S. attorney for SDNY, to lead the Trump-ordered investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with high-profile Democrats & JP Morgan Chase. https://x.com/KFaulders/status/1989415603556188210
Political equivalent of Mutually Assured Destruction. If the Dems keep looking, there will be stuff on leading Democrats as well as Republicans. An overt suggestion to bury it quickly but will MAGA accept it?
"We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” according to DOJ & FBI’s July letter.
Now AG Bondi has announced she has tapped Jay Clayton, the current U.S. attorney for SDNY, to lead the Trump-ordered investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with high-profile Democrats & JP Morgan Chase. https://x.com/KFaulders/status/1989415603556188210
Political equivalent of Mutually Assured Destruction. If the Dems keep looking, there will be stuff on leading Democrats as well as Republicans. An overt suggestion to bury it quickly but will MAGA accept it?
The whole thing is extraordinary, but if Tump did that to [nickname for Bill Clinton] - are we buying that by [nickname for Bill Clinton] they meant someone else? Why would they suddenly use his nickname for someone else? It would be very confusing for one thing.
"We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” according to DOJ & FBI’s July letter.
Now AG Bondi has announced she has tapped Jay Clayton, the current U.S. attorney for SDNY, to lead the Trump-ordered investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with high-profile Democrats & JP Morgan Chase. https://x.com/KFaulders/status/1989415603556188210
Political equivalent of Mutually Assured Destruction. If the Dems keep looking, there will be stuff on leading Democrats as well as Republicans. An overt suggestion to bury it quickly but will MAGA accept it?
The whole thing is extraordinary, but if Tump did that to [nickname for Bill Clinton] - are we buying that by [nickname for Bill Clinton] they meant someone else? Why would they suddenly use his nickname for someone else? It would be very confusing for one thing.
Except that it's really beginning to look like Trump is much MORE guilty in every way, which is why, as always, he projects his own sins against his opponents. Meanwhile Clinton was President 25 years ago and Trump is of course President now. If the Dem strategists were astute they would demand maximum sanctions including on their own side, so that by throwing Clinton to the wolves they get Trump out of office now. The problem is that the extremely ruthless Clintons are unlikely to go quietly, yet another symptoms of Dem weakness. .it will add to the sense of general outrage against politics that started the Tea Party and then MAGA in the first place. An MRI suggests that his doctors are looking for something like a tumor, and I note that Trumplestitskin is making claims for the quality of the MRI, not what the MRI is actually showing. Seems like the phantoms of both physical and political mortality are gathering in the semi- demolished White House.
"Asylum in UK to be made temporary under new plans
People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay temporarily under a policy shift the home secretary is expected to announce next week Shabana Mahmood will lay out reforms modelled on the Danish system on Monday which aim to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants, and make it easier to deport them. Refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review under the planned changes, which will see refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe."
"Asylum in UK to be made temporary under new plans
People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay temporarily under a policy shift the home secretary is expected to announce next week Shabana Mahmood will lay out reforms modelled on the Danish system on Monday which aim to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants, and make it easier to deport them. Refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review under the planned changes, which will see refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe."
"We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” according to DOJ & FBI’s July letter.
Now AG Bondi has announced she has tapped Jay Clayton, the current U.S. attorney for SDNY, to lead the Trump-ordered investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with high-profile Democrats & JP Morgan Chase. https://x.com/KFaulders/status/1989415603556188210
Political equivalent of Mutually Assured Destruction. If the Dems keep looking, there will be stuff on leading Democrats as well as Republicans. An overt suggestion to bury it quickly but will MAGA accept it?
The whole thing is extraordinary, but if Tump did that to [nickname for Bill Clinton] - are we buying that by [nickname for Bill Clinton] they meant someone else? Why would they suddenly use his nickname for someone else? It would be very confusing for one thing.
Except that it's really beginning to look like Trump is much MORE guilty in every way, which is why, as always, he projects his own sins against his opponents. Meanwhile Clinton was President 25 years ago and Trump is of course President now. If the Dem strategists were astute they would demand maximum sanctions including on their own side, so that by throwing Clinton to the wolves they get Trump out of office now. The problem is that the extremely ruthless Clintons are unlikely to go quietly, yet another symptoms of Dem weakness. .it will add to the sense of general outrage against politics that started the Tea Party and then MAGA in the first place. An MRI suggests that his doctors are looking for something like a tumor, and I note that Trumplestitskin is making claims for the quality of the MRI, not what the MRI is actually showing. Seems like the phantoms of both physical and political mortality are gathering in the semi- demolished White House.
The papers are not being kind to Labour and Reeves this morning. It's quite sad as she was a brave appointment on many levels and showed that Labour might be different and progressive
Not terribly impressed with @BlancheLivermore 's utility company. They should have either got the power back on before this, or, if they knew they couldn't, offered shelter elsewhere that *did* have power.
Jonathan Carley, 64, was arrested at his home in Harlech on Friday after being accused of impersonating a rear admiral.
The retired teacher saluted the war memorial in Llandudno, North Wales, on Sunday while wearing a row of 12 medals over an ill-fitting uniform.
North Wales Police arrested him under the 1894 Uniforms Act, which bars anyone who has not served in the armed forces from wearing military uniform.
I'd rather they arrested burglars and shoplifters than someone who pretended to be a rear admiral.
Hurty words on social media, walter mitty for Remberance Sunday, plod on it in a flash, putting the last drops of your coffee down the drain, putting a letter in the wrong recycling, council on it in a flash, £1000 fine in seconds....
These things are not all the same. The person who lies about being a Rear Admiral is probably lying about other things, so it’s good “broken window” policing to catch him.
The American constitution and the shining city on a hill where a people governed themselves under the rule of law turned out to be a children's fairy story.
It never existed.
The "shining city on a hill" was always hyperbole, of course, somewhat akin to the "sceptred isle" bit about Britain.
But this is not normal, at all.
I wish I could impress on younger generations right now just how unprecedented this is.
This level of corruption is not normal - it’s like nothing that has happened in American history, and it is stealing from your future.
Though of course, for those who came uf political age in the last decade, it almost IS normal.
Lord North has a lot to answer for...
Checks and balances work
As long as someone is checking and someone is balancing.
What MAGA and their predecessors in the Republican Party did was methodically take over the infrastructure of government. From the officials who run the voting stations, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Yes. It's not new, it's not MAGA, and it's not Trump. Ironically, many of those responsible were Never-Trumpers first time round. This time, Trump has adopted Project 2025.
An awful lot of the American establishment on both sides have a culpability. The win-the-game-at-all-costs thing has meant that lots of politicians have abused and weakened checks and balances to further their aims.
The Republicans have been far worse in recent years, but the Dems have landed in that grim grey space- evil enough that they can't claim innocence, not evil enough to be effective.
But that speech about the Devil from A Man For All Seasons is relevant here.
Budget: looks like there will be a revaluation of the 2.4 million properties in Council Bands F, G and H to determine around 300,000 properties where an additional tax will be levied to be paid direct to Central government. In other words the start of a new annual tax on property values.
Properties in bands F G and H will be covered as some London properties in band F will now be worth more than some band H properties in say Lincolnshire.
To be in place for 2028. To raise £600m so average £2,000 per affected property but bands within the levy are likely so the most expensive properties will be charged much more than those at the margin.
Around 700,000 properties worth £1m or more so effective value threshold likely to be more than £1m but probably less than £1.5m.
See Telegraph for more details, I have seen Sky Newspapers webpage.
Front page of DT on newsnight ..... what does this mean for Scotland, thought council tax was devolved?
It is devolved.
IIRC Scotland has an extra band at the top.
I have several Scottish self-building friends who complain quite consistently about it.
For me, this looks like a baby step in the right direction, though I think a big chunk of the increase should be going to local authorities. I'm in Band D , but being in the Red Wall it is £2500 per annum.
Yes, new builds (since 1991 or whenever it came out) are generally put in fairly high bands when older houses of a similar size may only be D or E bands. It's something of a disincentive to build, but I think you can get VAT back and of course no stamp duty. Think Alex Salmond wanted to completely reform it when he came into power but it never happened, so we are left with this near 35 year old hungover system with its disparities
From memory I think band H is highest in Scotland
Checking on this, Scotland did not have an extra band. Instead they stretched the range at the top.
Council Tax payment by band in England is "Band D = 1, Band A = 2/3, Band H = 2", so the total range was 1:3 .
Scotland changed its bands thusly in 2017: So the total Scottish range is approximately 1:3.75. Scots are obviously good at fractions.
It seems that Wales was the one with the extra band. I did not know that, though I would have heard it at the time. And 21/9 to 6/9 makes the Welsh range 3.5.
"We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” according to DOJ & FBI’s July letter.
Now AG Bondi has announced she has tapped Jay Clayton, the current U.S. attorney for SDNY, to lead the Trump-ordered investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with high-profile Democrats & JP Morgan Chase. https://x.com/KFaulders/status/1989415603556188210
Political equivalent of Mutually Assured Destruction. If the Dems keep looking, there will be stuff on leading Democrats as well as Republicans. An overt suggestion to bury it quickly but will MAGA accept it?
The whole thing is extraordinary, but if Tump did that to [nickname for Bill Clinton] - are we buying that by [nickname for Bill Clinton] they meant someone else? Why would they suddenly use his nickname for someone else? It would be very confusing for one thing.
I don't believe it myself. Since when has Trump done anything to bring pleasure to someone else?
The American constitution and the shining city on a hill where a people governed themselves under the rule of law turned out to be a children's fairy story.
It never existed.
The "shining city on a hill" was always hyperbole, of course, somewhat akin to the "sceptred isle" bit about Britain.
But this is not normal, at all.
I wish I could impress on younger generations right now just how unprecedented this is.
This level of corruption is not normal - it’s like nothing that has happened in American history, and it is stealing from your future.
Though of course, for those who came uf political age in the last decade, it almost IS normal.
Lord North has a lot to answer for...
Checks and balances work
As long as someone is checking and someone is balancing.
What MAGA and their predecessors in the Republican Party did was methodically take over the infrastructure of government. From the officials who run the voting stations, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Yes. It's not new, it's not MAGA, and it's not Trump. Ironically, many of those responsible were Never-Trumpers first time round. This time, Trump has adopted Project 2025.
An awful lot of the American establishment on both sides have a culpability. The win-the-game-at-all-costs thing has meant that lots of politicians have abused and weakened checks and balances to further their aims.
The Republicans have been far worse in recent years, but the Dems have landed in that grim grey space- evil enough that they can't claim innocence, not evil enough to be effective.
But that speech about the Devil from A Man For All Seasons is relevant here.
I'd be a bit harsher, and say that perhaps half of it is designed into the system. It is not set up to deal with corrupt practices.
That's not good. Is that a general problem where you live or just your house/street?
Some of my street, and the next street
There was a digger outside my house at 11pm, digging up the pavement, so they are working on it. Their latest guess is power back by midday..
Did you get anything useful from the GP appointment?
It was just a blood test appointment. My CRP reading was down to 10. That's still above normal, but apparently not unusual after such a high previous reading
The Trump libel case might be a useful distraction. There's nothing like a common enemy to cover the cracks and rally the troops. I just don't have the confidence that anyone in Downing St would know how to orchestrate it. Starmer leech like approach to Trump was always likely to backfire
"Asylum in UK to be made temporary under new plans
People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay temporarily under a policy shift the home secretary is expected to announce next week Shabana Mahmood will lay out reforms modelled on the Danish system on Monday which aim to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants, and make it easier to deport them. Refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review under the planned changes, which will see refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe."
We await centrists stroking their chins and declaring this sensible, when they would have collapsed in paroxysms if the Tories had announced it.
On the contrary, I think most people would have assumed this was already the case? The whole asylum issue has generated a number of revelations that are frankly intolerable. I remain astonished that the Tories got away with it for so long - though that is a function of it really kicking off as an issue as late as 2022.
I think you'd get 80%+ support for:
- unauthorised arrival is an automatic disqualifier for asylum - all non-UK citizens are guaranteed deportation in the event they commit a serious crime - all non-ILR residents are liable for deportation at the whim of the government - a generous quota for refugees, with a large emphasis on children
Minsiter: "I'm between fury and despair now. At least they were going to do a very hard, very bad thing that probably was the right thing to do. It's just so weak. This only ends one way' "
Minister: "[Starmer] going to have to be forced out - and that's going to be bloody and it's going to be messy.' "
It’s fascinating how politics shifts. Before this week I’d have said Starmer was more likely than not to go before the end of 2027/28, but he had the benefit of time to try and strengthen his position.
It now looks increasingly unlikely he’ll be in post in 12 months time.
In some ways it’s because his fortunes are tied to Reeves, and if we weren’t already aware of this she has again demonstrated just how badly she is performing as a steward of our economy and how increasingly out of her depth she is appearing. Can they really afford to keep her in post much longer? The chances of a very negative bond market reaction in the coming months feel significantly higher to me this evening.
Now that Reeves has excluded Income Tax from the list of taxes she won’t raise, she is in danger of spooking the markets because there are no taxes left to raise to keep the country solvent.
This.
I can't remember a chancellor more out of ideas and depth to be honest. Lamont was told to do the ERM and he didn't want to and it all went tits up but at least it was an idea and they carried it through.
Why is Reeves in office? What does she want to do with the power?
I've no idea and I suspect she also has no idea.
Tomorrow she will backtrack on ending the two child benefit cap based on how she has done so far this autumn.
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn) - New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn) - Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn) - New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn) - Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes - 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
Just hope they don't bring in general tax on betting wins.
I am really surprised governments haven't gone for at least those who make the bulk of their income from gambling. Lots of other governments have come up with stupid systems aimed at capping the amount of losses you can deduct etc, so that pro gambling end up paying income taxes e.g, Trumps big beautiful bill. The Greeks do it based on daily wins / losses.
EV mile tax is another fiddle around tax rather than actually govern.
Also reductions in hidden tax in energy bills in order to subsides heat pumps is another area for Treasury back slapping enjoyment on the day.
Going after EVs when you are also trying to get everybody into EVs by 2035....remember they added luxury car tax to EVs last time as well and congestion charge is getting added in Lodnon. £40k doesn't get you much car these days, a cheap Chinese EV. joined up thinking.
I'm not sure on that. If it keeps a bit of downward pressure on price and size, then so much the better.
Looking at my make - Skodas - all the ranges except the biggest electric SUV start at under 40k, and there are plenty between 20k and 30k, and hatchbacks down to £15k. That's all before discounts.
(They have a problem with the names, and the Electric models are on the whole physically huge. The models include Kamiq, Karoq, Kodiaq, Elroq, and Enyaq; someone put the ghost of Telly Savalas in the bloody computer.)
Comments
Ideally, governments should raise revenues through unavoidable, simple taxation that is as close to the point of consumption as possible (like VAT, property and income tax). Otherwise, you might introduces taxes as an alternative to regulation for something that has wider harms on society or the economy (e.g. tobacco duties or congestion charges) - but raising revenue should never be a key objective of these taxes IMO.
The markets will spook if they think yet more of the tax burden is being transferred to taxes that don't fit these criteria because of the distortive effect they have on the economy.
Last sale price*change in local HPI*0.01. Done.
18 months on they are already way off track, and now dithering to a dangerous degree, which will likely compound the problems. They have little to no chance of achieving enough growth by the next general election to avoid defeat. Even if things can be turned around they probably involve taking quick substantial actions that neither Starmer or Reeves seem inclined to do, and nor will the Labour backbenchers countenance it.
I wish the Tories had won the last election because those Hunt NI decreases were akin to the Russians killing the livestock before the Nazi's arrived....
And to carry on the analogy, Labour appear to be making a similar hash of running the country as the Nazi's did after invading the Soviet Union....
We knew the Epstein case would end with Trump going down. Didn’t realize it also started with him going down.
https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1989462107960541276?s=20
As long as someone is checking and someone is balancing.
What MAGA and their predecessors in the Republican Party did was methodically take over the infrastructure of government. From the officials who run the voting stations, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Can we please recognise reality, ban that phrase permanently from public life, and just try to do stuff that works rather than continuing to pretend.
Like Lessons Will Be Learned.
WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to exempt a wide range of food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, from sweeping tariffs imposed earlier this year on nearly every country, the White House said.
The new exemptions, which take effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday, mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that his tariffs are not fueling inflation.
https://x.com/nanditab1/status/1989453832762405273?s=20
All I can see so far is a series of announcements followed by fuck ups and changes and re-announcements that could just have easily come from another four years of Sunak and Hunt.
scottives.bsky.social @scottives.bsky.social· 3h
What a terrible day to have eyes
Which was then sold by BAe
Yes, that’s right. BAe owned the best gun maker on the planet. But sold it for reasons.
FFS.
- Freeze on thresholds to 2030 (worth £10bn)
- New tax on some forms of gambling (£3bn)
- Restriction on NI relief on salary sacrifice for pensions contributions (£2bn)
- New 'mansion tax' see my earlier post (£1bn)
- Maybe small changes ie increases to CGT and dividend tax but no obvious sign of this happening ditto IHT changes
- 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
And that's it
I don't think the 2 child cap will be lifted at least not in full. Fuel duty won't go up!
DYOR
Sounds optimistic.
- 'Efficiencies' and the usual 'tax evasion clampdown' (£several bn)
A companion to the magic money tree is the reform/efficiency fairy, who can always fund anything you want with no downsides.
IIRC Scotland has an extra band at the top.
I have several Scottish self-building friends who complain quite consistently about it.
For me, this looks like a baby step in the right direction, though I think a big chunk of the increase should be going to local authorities. I'm in Band D
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/14/man-charged-after-fake-admiral-seen-at-remembrance-sunday-event
The CV90 - one of the best such systems in the world.
And it's cheaper.
For the price it's cost just to develop Ajax, we could have re-equipped the army with it already.
Thats what I mean by just do what works. FFS.
As timid as a collection of mice.
For Scotland I would think they would use bands F G and H as the start point, ultimately relatively few properties will ultimately make the national top 300,000 which will get the levy. For Wales F to I. Northern Ireland has rates but some read across will be determined to assess which properties will be assessed.
My assumptions only, it may not work out as such I'm practice
What's the Forecast?
Storm Cloudier
And so to bed.
They are terrible if you are a pro-gambler, but it doesn't matter to governments. And the flipside when that is what I did for a living it did seem quite crazy that I didn't owe any NI / IC on my income. It made my winnings worth ~40% more than earning via a job.
However, it's late and I'm out of ideas. I'm going to sleep on it.
From memory I think band H is highest in Scotland
Also reductions in hidden tax in energy bills in order to subsides heat pumps is another area for Treasury back slapping enjoyment on the day.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/consultation-future-council-tax-scotland/
The 'mansion tax' expected to appear in the Budget is separate
"Tariffs do not increase inflation they simply punish foreigners"
"All MAGA must worship the tarrif"
Also...
"Fuck - it's Thanksgiving and so..."
"occasionally an exemption is required because of foreigners and their bandit behaviour"
Reeves has no say on Wales so it will be an English proposal
https://www.gov.wales/find-out-about-how-we-are-reforming-council-tax
Likelihood that slow down has been factored in by the Chancellor?
“Today I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December,” Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray said in a
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/indiana-senate-leader-says-arent-enough-gop-votes-trump-redistricting-rcna244025
https://news.gallup.com/poll/691139/record-party-divide-years-sex-marriage-ruling.aspx
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y4dxlgkp4o
He says "criminal gangs are dumping waste on this scale" across the country and it will take government intervention before pollutants "leech out" into local rivers.
The Environment Agency said it would try to "ensure those responsible" for the waste cleared it up.
Charity Friends of the Thames said the illegal rubbish dump was created about a month ago by an organised crime group.
People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay temporarily under a policy shift the home secretary is expected to announce next week Shabana Mahmood will lay out reforms modelled on the Danish system on Monday which aim to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants, and make it easier to deport them. Refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review under the planned changes, which will see refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe."
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-11-14/asylum-in-uk-to-be-made-temporary-under-new-plans
THE WHITE HOUSE has invited some Indiana state legislators to the White House. This comes after the state Senate president pro tempore said that the Hoosier state will not redistrict this year. Some of the attendees have been vocally opposed to redistricting
https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1989469595883687972
"Truly impartial GB News"
This is sinister. This place is warped.
@grokis calling for the BBC to be defunded and calling GBNews impartial. ..
https://x.com/Heccles94/status/1989440042423693503
The heads of all but one of the People’s Liberation Army’s regional commands are currently unaccounted for, are under investigation or have been fired
https://x.com/FT/status/1989173070930522454
Iwant this complete release because it will show that the calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander.
I was never a client of Epstein’s and never had any engagement with him other than fundraising for MIT.
The call for an investigation is an obvious ploy to avoid releasing the files.
Simply release all the files, and expose the people who had both deep and ongoing relationships with Epstein.
I will do everything in my power going forward to advocate for the release of the files, to get justice for Epstein’s victims, and to promote the values of truth our great country was founded on.
I refuse to bend the knee to Donald Trump and his slanderous lies.
https://x.com/reidhoffman/status/1989483177241628778
Pathetic and typical of councils to go for easy targets.
The fly tipping in Cherwell is what you get when you apply high charges to disposal of waste.
Big night for Trump. He's now withdrawn his endorsement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene R-GA, and calls her 'wacky'
https://x.com/jamiedupree/status/1989508787393147047?s=20
President Trump just attacked me and lied about me. I haven’t called him at all, but I did send these text messages today. Apparently this is what sent him over the edge.
The Epstein files.
And of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files.
It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level.
But really most Americans wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America who are fed up with foreign wars and foreign causes, are going broke trying to feed their families, and are losing hope of ever achieving the American dream.
That’s what I voted for.
I have supported President Trump with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him.
But I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump.
I worship God, Jesus is my savior, and I serve my district GA14 and the American people.
I remain the same today as I’ve always been and I will continue to pray this administration will be successful because the American people desperately deserve what they voted for.
For me, I remain America First and America Only!!!
President Trump was asked why he got an MRI and said "because it's part of my physical. Getting an MRI is very standard. What you think I shouldn't have it? Other people get it... I had an MRI. The doctor said it was the best result he has ever seen as a doctor. That's it."
When asked for details, Trump said," I have no idea what they analyze but whatever they analyze, they analyzed it well and they said that I had as good a result as they've ever seen."
((An MRI is not a standard part of a physical unless someone has an ongoing condition that's being treated))
The problem is that the extremely ruthless Clintons are unlikely to go quietly, yet another symptoms of Dem weakness. .it will add to the sense of general outrage against politics that started the Tea Party and then MAGA in the first place.
An MRI suggests that his doctors are looking for something like a tumor, and I note that Trumplestitskin is making claims for the quality of the MRI, not what the MRI is actually showing.
Seems like the phantoms of both physical and political mortality are gathering in the semi- demolished White House.
The PB soft left is reforming
So far, they have not released the results.
I really want coffee..
There was a digger outside my house at 11pm, digging up the pavement, so they are working on it. Their latest guess is power back by midday..
Hope you get power back soon.
Not terribly impressed with @BlancheLivermore 's utility company. They should have either got the power back on before this, or, if they knew they couldn't, offered shelter elsewhere that *did* have power.
The Republicans have been far worse in recent years, but the Dems have landed in that grim grey space- evil enough that they can't claim innocence, not evil enough to be effective.
But that speech about the Devil from A Man For All Seasons is relevant here.
Council Tax payment by band in England is "Band D = 1, Band A = 2/3, Band H = 2", so the total range was 1:3 .
Scotland changed its bands thusly in 2017:
So the total Scottish range is approximately 1:3.75. Scots are obviously good at fractions.
It seems that Wales was the one with the extra band. I did not know that, though I would have heard it at the time. And 21/9 to 6/9 makes the Welsh range 3.5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuDNMx4VFbU
Trumps career is built on libel and slander. Time to get the Razzles off air and get the Carter Ruck's on the job
It's a bummer to get a power cut when you are in recovery.
OK, they still have Boland and Starc, and Neser is no slouch, but the Aussies are one more injury away from having a big problem.
Equally, England have got to win this first one or they have no chance at all in the series.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/australia-news-josh-hazlewood-out-of-ashes-opener-with-hamstring-injury-1511237
I think you'd get 80%+ support for:
- unauthorised arrival is an automatic disqualifier for asylum
- all non-UK citizens are guaranteed deportation in the event they commit a serious crime
- all non-ILR residents are liable for deportation at the whim of the government
- a generous quota for refugees, with a large emphasis on children
Razzle was a magazine of artistic merit for men, especially the readers wives summer special.
She should have been sacked after her reporting on the Syrian rapist in Newcastle.
Looking at my make - Skodas - all the ranges except the biggest electric SUV start at under 40k, and there are plenty between 20k and 30k, and hatchbacks down to £15k. That's all before discounts.
(They have a problem with the names, and the Electric models are on the whole physically huge. The models include Kamiq, Karoq, Kodiaq, Elroq, and Enyaq; someone put the ghost of Telly Savalas in the bloody computer.)