I think the idea floated by this government was that private pensions would cover the gap between when people actually retire and the later starting age of the State pension. Automatic enrollment in a private pension has been compulsory since at least 2018 with a minimum 8% contribution shared between employer and employee.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
I think the idea floated by this government was that private pensions would cover the gap between when people actually retire and the later starting age of the State pension. Automatic enrollment in a private pension has been compulsory since at least 2018 with a minimum 8% contribution shared between employer and employee.
I am likely to retire completely before my State Pension age (67) and cover the gap with other savings, indeed that is what my ISAs are for. Currently I work 80% WTE. I used to dread being retired but am now rapidly coming round to the idea as it approaches. I do not want to cling on for my own ego when my skills are in decline. At that point I shall call it a day, and not leave it too long. As they say on the stage "always leave them wanting more".
HLE is a pretty subjective figure as it is based on subjective assessment of good or excellent health. It varies considerably by SE group, varying within the same county by 12 years or more by postcode. Also of course we do expect people with chronic health conditions like diabetes or heart disease to work if possible, so it is difficult to apply a HLE figure to retirement.
My experience is that a lot of people have health issues in retirement but generally enjoy themselves until they reach 80, and sometimes after that, but rarely much longer. Phased retirement seems best to me, and I think that this should be in the hands of the individual via a right to part time working and lighter duties where possible. This should be accompanied by a flexible State pension age, actuarily reduced if taken early.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Accusing people randomly of being in the pay of Mossad is a pretty big red flag of crossing over from attacking what may or may not be poor journalism into something far darker.
But since you say 'most of it', which of his stories are not bollocks? This one?
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
These things are announced ten times more often than they happen. Check back in five years...
A regional government in Germany spent years and many millions trying to switch from Windows to Linux and ended up failing. It's far from easy to do.
Instead of toying with Linux the EU and UK should both put some money behind the development of ReactOS. A Windows API compatible OS that isn't controlled by Microsoft would be a huge asset.
I feel like Greens have historically been more likely to get puff pieces as they have been seen to be harmless and well meaning outsiders to politics. Already that is changing as they become more of a force, with attacks from the other side of the political spectrum ramping up, but even on the Left side of things, they are trying to be big players not bit players, so they are less outsiders now and (as they should already) be looked at closely just with others, since they will have their own share of really poor candidates and Members.
How long before Vance starts yelling and screaming at the Iranians for not wearing suits and not showing respect?
The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter · 54m BREAKING: US-Iran negotiations in Pakistan have hit a “stalemate” over the control of the Strait of Hormuz, per FT.
Distros line Ubuntu have come a long long way in recent years, but they can still be far from "they just work". Weird quirks are still ten a penny (have been fighting a couple of my dev machine for 6 months). And you can properly f##k things up rapidly.
Also the compatibilty layers, again come miles, but certain software still won't work or won't work very well.
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
Yes, I think that true, and a lot of parties will be affected. In the Social Media age nothing ever fades from memory, and everything is documented. It is one reason among many why I would never stand for election.
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
I’d expect it will be the same with Reform too. For the same reason.
But there does seem to be a simmering undercurrent of anti semitism in the Green movement.
But, presumably, this will mainly affect the inner cities and town dwelling Greens and not the rural ones.
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
Yes, I think that true, and a lot of parties will be affected. In the Social Media age nothing ever fades from memory, and everything is documented. It is one reason among many why I would never stand for election.
You are an absolute wally if you are a heavy social media user and don't use the auto-deletion tools. Because even if somebody has screenshotted something from 5+ years ago and assuming it wasn't Hitler was right kinda of stuff, you can say hey I made a dodgy tweet, it was deleted years and years ago, we all make mistakes. Where you get in trouble is you get caught out when somebody finds one and they you scramble about trying to delete stuff when they will have captured all the stuff before highlighting the issue.
Also there is a bit of a presumption if you leave tweets up that is still your view. Now you probably forgot about it ages ago, but given that is the way people read it, just auto-delete them. Also, if you were a nobody 5-10 years ago, much lower chance they have been saved, and the auto-delete will stop a journalist going and doing it all retroactively.
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
I’d expect it will be the same with Reform too. For the same reason.
But there does seem to be a simmering undercurrent of anti semitism in the Green movement.
But, presumably, this will mainly affect the inner cities and town dwelling Greens and not the rural ones.
I like to think the different groups are quite surprised by the other when they meet up.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
I feel like Greens have historically been more likely to get puff pieces as they have been seen to be harmless and well meaning outsiders to politics. Already that is changing as they become more of a force, with attacks from the other side of the political spectrum ramping up, but even on the Left side of things, they are trying to be big players not bit players, so they are less outsiders now and (as they should already) be looked at closely just with others, since they will have their own share of really poor candidates and Members.
It always surprises me when people here give them a free pass because they’re not Reform instead of looking at what they are and what their candidates are like.
Your Home Counties Rural Green is a completely different animal to your corbynite style green.
I’d expect a fracture to come one day between both sides.
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
Yes, I think that true, and a lot of parties will be affected. In the Social Media age nothing ever fades from memory, and everything is documented. It is one reason among many why I would never stand for election.
You are an absolute wally if you are a heavy social media user and don't use the auto-deletion tools. Because even if somebody has screenshotted something from 5+ years ago and assuming it wasn't Hitler was right kinda of stuff, you can say hey I made a dodgy tweet, it was deleted years and years ago, we all make mistakes. Where you get in trouble is you get caught out when somebody finds one and they you scramble about trying to delete stuff when they will have captured all the stuff before highlighting the issue.
Both my boys are nearly invisible on Social Media. It isn't just an obstacle to a political career, but also to many ordinary careers. Sensible lads.
Is not being very green a prerequiste now for joining the party and you get bonus points for some anti-semitism?
Extra bonus points if you were also thrown out of Labour after the Corbyn disaster.
Thousands of Momentum have joined Greens following the likes of Owen Jones and Grace Berkerly.
Funny you mention it, this one was.
‘ A Green candidate in West Sussex, Karen Sudan. 'Among her posts on X ...she accused the mainstream media of being “too busy making up and/or exaggerating stories about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party to raise an outcry over other forms of racism”.'
We are currently producing 112% of our electricity needs, with the excess 12% being sent via connectors or to pumped storage.
Of the 112%, only 7% is gas power. So over 100% renewable or nuclear.
Farage and Badenoch read, weep, apologise and go and eat coal.
Its a fun but pointless measure. To know the true value of each contribution you have to look at it over the year. And in that case gas still contributes around a third of our power generation. That is before you take into account home gas usage. There were a few days in 2025 where renewables contributed as low as 10% of power generation.
We need better ways to bridge that gap but we don't have it yet. Hopefully it is coming.
What's the clincher going to be
Battery storage??
Direct Air Capture plants utilising the surplus leccy, offsetting the emissions from fossil peaking plants when they need to fire up.
Or using Green Hydrogen as an energy storage vector.
There is vast, vast scope for more solar and batteries in all European countries, combined with electrification of transport and home heating. That much becomes clear when you see 12gw of solar being generated on an April afternoon despite most roofs and industrial units not having any panels on them, and battery storage so miniscule it doesn’t even show up on the monitors. There are thousands of miles of motorway verges, railway cuttings, brownfield zones that could be festooned with the things. And they’re so cheap.
It’s like English vineyards. People worry we have peaked, yet in most of the South of England you have to go out of your way to find a vineyard, while across the channel there are seas of the things. We make a fraction of one appellation. I just drove back from Dijon to our house through 2 hours of almost unbroken vines.
By the way if you’re ever in the region it’s a ludicrously iconic drive along the departmental roads from Dijon to Macon. The map reads like a restaurant wine list.
First out of Dijon it’s Marsannay, then Fixin, Gevrey Chambertin, Morey Saint Denis, Chambolle Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne Romanee, Nuits Saint Georges, then a gap with cote de nuits villages, then Pernand Vergelesses and Corton, before you hit Beaune. Fairly humdrum scenery and towns but huge price tags.
South of Beaune the slope gets higher and the landscape a tad prettier. And you’re going through Pommard, Volnay, Monthelie, Meursault and finally the Montrachets.
Then the prices drop and the scenery gets much nicer into the Chalonnaise, where the vineyard monoculture breaks up into patches of vines, forest and cattle meadows full of Charolais. The road passes through Bouzeron, Rully, Mercurey, Givry, Buxy and Montagny.
Finally into the Maconnais and the villages are everywhere, less well known but still passing Lugny, Verze, Aze, Ige, Vire-Clesse, Pouilly Fuisse, Loche and Vinzelles, and finally Chaintre. And you can continue for another 100 kilometres or so through all the Beaujolais crus and villages until you hit the suburbs of Lyon.
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
Yes, I think that true, and a lot of parties will be affected. In the Social Media age nothing ever fades from memory, and everything is documented. It is one reason among many why I would never stand for election.
You are an absolute wally if you are a heavy social media user and don't use the auto-deletion tools. Because even if somebody has screenshotted something from 5+ years ago and assuming it wasn't Hitler was right kinda of stuff, you can say hey I made a dodgy tweet, it was deleted years and years ago, we all make mistakes. Where you get in trouble is you get caught out when somebody finds one and they you scramble about trying to delete stuff when they will have captured all the stuff before highlighting the issue.
Both my boys are nearly invisible on Social Media. It isn't just an obstacle to a political career, but also to many ordinary careers. Sensible lads.
I would say it is just a much being sensible for not being target of scams etc. Few pictures / videos, perhaps you are on camera talking, AI can do a decent clone job.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
Yes, I think that true, and a lot of parties will be affected. In the Social Media age nothing ever fades from memory, and everything is documented. It is one reason among many why I would never stand for election.
You are an absolute wally if you are a heavy social media user and don't use the auto-deletion tools. Because even if somebody has screenshotted something from 5+ years ago and assuming it wasn't Hitler was right kinda of stuff, you can say hey I made a dodgy tweet, it was deleted years and years ago, we all make mistakes. Where you get in trouble is you get caught out when somebody finds one and they you scramble about trying to delete stuff when they will have captured all the stuff before highlighting the issue.
Both my boys are nearly invisible on Social Media. It isn't just an obstacle to a political career, but also to many ordinary careers. Sensible lads.
I would say it is just a much being sensible for not being target of scams etc. Few pictures / videos, perhaps you are on camera talking, AI can do a decent clone job.
Yes there is some evidence that they are not alone.
Increasinngly I think even those who do use Social Media are doing it more passively, following others rather than posting themselves, particularly in the short form SM sites.
Exc: the Prime Minister has been accused of a ‘crime against humanity’ over the attempted removal of Chagossians from their homeland
I think we would all agree there is irrefutable evidence that Starmer is most likely a wicked international law breaker and war criminal and there is a place in a court in the Hague for his genocide of 80,000 Gazans, Good, we've cleared that up, but don't you agree William his co conspirators Bibi and Trump should be beside him in the dock.
I suspect Starmer will get a newfound respect on the global stage now that he's entered the elite circle of war criminals. Trump won't be so willing to belittle a man who's capable of the kind of things Starmer is accused of.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have @Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Arsenal aren't going to Devon Loch the premier league again?
They are now the same price (1.46) to win the league as Rory is with his 6 shot halfway lead to win the Masters.
Punters on Betfair make Arsenal marginally more likely to win the Premier League (1.45) than Rory McIlroy is to win the Masters tomorrow (1.46).
Sadly after todays defeat at home by Swansea while both Oxford and Portsmouth won my team is nearly certain to be relegated. Evens were availible as recently as this morning. I am very Green on betfair for that outcome, and have tipped it here several times.
Darren Johnson (ex-Green london assembly member) says on X that this will happen time and time again this local elections as just too many candidates to be checked. All been done in a mad panic during the green surge.
Yes, I think that true, and a lot of parties will be affected. In the Social Media age nothing ever fades from memory, and everything is documented. It is one reason among many why I would never stand for election.
You are an absolute wally if you are a heavy social media user and don't use the auto-deletion tools. Because even if somebody has screenshotted something from 5+ years ago and assuming it wasn't Hitler was right kinda of stuff, you can say hey I made a dodgy tweet, it was deleted years and years ago, we all make mistakes. Where you get in trouble is you get caught out when somebody finds one and they you scramble about trying to delete stuff when they will have captured all the stuff before highlighting the issue.
Both my boys are nearly invisible on Social Media. It isn't just an obstacle to a political career, but also to many ordinary careers. Sensible lads.
I would say it is just a much being sensible for not being target of scams etc. Few pictures / videos, perhaps you are on camera talking, AI can do a decent clone job.
Yes there is some evidence that they are not alone.
Increasinngly I think even those who do use Social Media are doing it more passively, following others rather than posting themselves, particularly in the short form SM sites.
I hope that is true. Although the internet and social media has become ubiquitous and tech companies want us to spend every second of our lines feeding in to their online ecospheres, it is in societal terms still quite new (my generation being the last without mass internet as children I suspect). It would be positive if people plastering themselves all over the internet, obsessing over social media, and general lack of care in how they conduct themselves online, was all part of the initial and growing phase, and we might reach a more mature position in how such things are used.
At the very least Zuckerberg's dream of us all plugging ourselves into his subscription metaverse is dead. What a wackjob
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
Arsenal aren't going to Devon Loch the premier league again?
They are now the same price (1.46) to win the league as Rory is with his 6 shot halfway lead to win the Masters.
Punters on Betfair make Arsenal marginally more likely to win the Premier League (1.45) than Rory McIlroy is to win the Masters tomorrow (1.46).
Sadly after todays defeat at home by Swansea while both Oxford and Portsmouth won my team is nearly certain to be relegated. Evens were availible as recently as this morning. I am very Green on betfair for that outcome, and have tipped it here several times.
I know, it's sad, thanks for the tip.
Here's a question for you Foxes.
If somebody eleven years ago had said to you, in the next eleven years you'll win the Premier League and FA Cup, but in eleven years you'll be in League One, would you have taken that?
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Exc: the Prime Minister has been accused of a ‘crime against humanity’ over the attempted removal of Chagossians from their homeland
I think we would all agree there is irrefutable evidence that Starmer is most likely a wicked international law breaker and war criminal and there is a place in a court in the Hague for his genocide of 80,000 Gazans, Good, we've cleared that up, but don't you agree William his co conspirators Bibi and Trump should be beside him in the dock.
I suspect Starmer will get a newfound respect on the global stage now that he's entered the elite circle of war criminals. Trump won't be so willing to belittle a man who's capable of the kind of things Starmer is accused of.
Birds of a feather etc...
My point was, if we agree Starmer for what he has done in the Middle East is unacceptable on a World stage and should be sanctioned, Bibi and Trump should be doubly, or triply sanctioned.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
Getting a bit paranoid there Pete.
All you Tory posters are ganging up on me! Infamy, infamy, you've all got it infamy.
It has reached a crescendo of right wing rhetoric here, with almost only @Brixian59 flying the flag for the downtrodden lefty.
I honestly cannot tell who most people are planning to vote for anymore - not that people are coy in their opinions, but there's some flying the flag for Badenoch but not that much, a lot of disdain for Keir but also skepticism of Reform and the Greens, and LDs, as is their wont, tend to pootle along not making much of a fuss so it is hard to gauge.
Unless everyone is going PC and SNP there's not that many other options to pick from.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
Getting a bit paranoid there Pete.
All you Tory posters are ganging up on me! Infamy, infamy, you've all got it infamy.
It has reached a crescendo of right wing rhetoric here, with almost only @Brixian59 flying the flag for the downtrodden lefty.
I honestly cannot tell who most people are planning to vote for anymore - not that people are coy in their opinions, but there's some flying the flag for Badenoch but not that much, a lot of disdain for Keir but also skepticism of Reform and the Greens, and LDs, as is their wont, tend to pootle along not making much of a fuss so it is hard to gauge.
I am voting for the RON (re-open nominations) party...
Although these days with all these right and left splinter parties popping up every other week, I am going to find I have just said I will vote for a party even too extreme for Tommy Ten Names or George Galloway or something.
If America is erratic and also disdains its traditional allies because it wants to abandon its leadership role in those areas (out of some idea that the financial cost is not worth it), then someone else steps in. A multi-polar world is a more dangerous world.
As I said earlier I am a bit of a fan of Buttigieg but that is so understated that it really misses the point.
Trump's idiotic behaviour and threats, mainly directed at erstwhile allies, has seriously undermined NATO, the western alliance, trust in the United States and done catastrophic damage to the world economy, much of which is still to manifest itself. Oh, and it killed a few thousand Iranian civilians as well. "Weaker" really doesn't cover it. The US is running out of allies other than Israel which is run by a sociopath.
Arsenal aren't going to Devon Loch the premier league again?
They are now the same price (1.46) to win the league as Rory is with his 6 shot halfway lead to win the Masters.
Punters on Betfair make Arsenal marginally more likely to win the Premier League (1.45) than Rory McIlroy is to win the Masters tomorrow (1.46).
Sadly after todays defeat at home by Swansea while both Oxford and Portsmouth won my team is nearly certain to be relegated. Evens were availible as recently as this morning. I am very Green on betfair for that outcome, and have tipped it here several times.
I know, it's sad, thanks for the tip.
Here's a question for you Foxes.
If somebody eleven years ago had said to you, in the next eleven years you'll win the Premier League and FA Cup, but in eleven years you'll be in League One, would you have taken that?
Of course! After all we had been in League one just 4 years before. Life as a Leicester City fan is a rollercoaster.
The problem fundamentally is management. Khun Top has lost interest, and the King Power business is struggling. He should have sold a couple of years back, as won't get near the same price now.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
Only if you take him seriously. Most of the time his tongue is so firmly in his cheek it’s sticking out of his ear.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
Getting a bit paranoid there Pete.
All you Tory posters are ganging up on me! Infamy, infamy, you've all got it infamy.
It has reached a crescendo of right wing rhetoric here, with almost only @Brixian59 flying the flag for the downtrodden lefty.
I honestly cannot tell who most people are planning to vote for anymore - not that people are coy in their opinions, but there's some flying the flag for Badenoch but not that much, a lot of disdain for Keir but also skepticism of Reform and the Greens, and LDs, as is their wont, tend to pootle along not making much of a fuss so it is hard to gauge.
Unless everyone is going PC and SNP there's not that many other options to pick from.
I will do my normal trick of looking who the independents are and picking the best of them to vote for. None of the parties inspire me I am afraid.
Hopefully there will be a Lincolnshire Independents grouping as there has been in previous local elections. They have had some decent candidates in the past and have picked up a few seats over the years.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Yes indeed. No one wants self appointed nerds policing the site. They'll be banging on about who has liked what next
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Yes indeed. No one wants self appointed nerds policing the site. They'll be banging on about who has liked what next
He's always seemed very impressive on TV, though whether he was any good during the Biden administration I do not know.
No idea what is his actual occupation thesedays.
Hi record in office, despite GOP propaganda to the contrary (which if you ever dig down reveals itself as based on nothing), seems to gaff been pretty decent. In UK terms, not an ideologue like a Miliband or Jenrick or Gove, or captured by orthodoxy like a Reeves, or invisible like, well, most Tory and Labour ministers.
I really like him. He’s articulate, confident without arrogance, and you sense instinctively far less dismissive of Europeans than either MAGA or some of his fellow Democrats. And an Oxonian.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
Getting a bit paranoid there Pete.
All you Tory posters are ganging up on me! Infamy, infamy, you've all got it infamy.
It has reached a crescendo of right wing rhetoric here, with almost only @Brixian59 flying the flag for the downtrodden lefty.
I honestly cannot tell who most people are planning to vote for anymore - not that people are coy in their opinions, but there's some flying the flag for Badenoch but not that much, a lot of disdain for Keir but also skepticism of Reform and the Greens, and LDs, as is their wont, tend to pootle along not making much of a fuss so it is hard to gauge.
Unless everyone is going PC and SNP there's not that many other options to pick from.
Big swing to the Can't Be Arsed Party. Their only policy? "Don't vote - it only encourages the buggers!"
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
So Starmer is to increase defence spending more quickly.
Which will require tax rises.
Or instead why don’t we ditch the triple lock.
Does anyone have figures as to how much this would save in the real world?
I assume by “ditching” what is meant is revert to it going up with just inflation (as was the case 1979 - the Coalition)? Or is it actually meant as no rises at all (which would impoverish many quickly)?
Any numbers anyone? Because if defence goes from 2.5 to 3.5% quickly that’s about £20-25bn to find I guess.
To me it's a no-brainer that the triple lock should go. Just pick one measure and stick to it. Even if it doesn't save much money it will be (or be perceived as) a lot more fair. Even the perception has value.
Ok try this perception. I'm a pensioner, who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. Why is it fair that my pension benefit should be somehow right to cut when many other benefit claimants don't work, sometimes never had and pay nothing to the state but expect to be given benefits and infinitum? Cut those benefits first and let them do what I did, work or do without.
I too am a pensioner who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. The proposal is not to cut the pension benefit but to tie increases to one measure rather than best of three. I know many benefits claimants and of the many there are only two or maybe three who could probably work and just prefer the easy money. A life on benefits is not luxury. Whether benefits should be provided for all who enter the country is another question; perhaps there is scope for lessening the pull factor there. I don't know.
I would consider basing the state pension on number of years NI contributions. Manual workers to qualify after 45 years contributions. Office and home based workers qualify after 50 years contributions. A one off 10% increase in the basic state pension, then link it to CPI thereafter. Also set the tax free annual allowance at the same rate as the basic minimum pension.
Unless you became a pensioner >10 years ago, you will be on the new state pension, which IS essentially based on no of years' NI contributions...
Yes, but I’m suggesting that people can only start claiming once they have achieved the relevant number of years contributions. For example, someone who remains in full time education until they are 25, and then works in the civil service, can claim their state pension when they are 75, whereas someone who leaves school at 16 and works as a builder can claim their state pension at 61.
75 is madness, most are well into their years of ill health at that point.
Most people are in ill health by the age of 75? That's not what I would have assumed.
Males in the UK could expect to spend 60.7 years (77% of life) in "good" general health, compared with 60.9 years (73%) for females; these were decreases of 1.8 and 2.5 years, respectively, compared with the last non-overlapping period (2019 to 2021).
I guess a lot depends on how you define healthy life expectancy.
My Dad is nearly 80 and has had a major heart operation, but he is still able to go on walks in the country and enjoy a beer in the pub afterwards. He has cost the NHS a lot of money to patch up, but is still able to live an independent life.
From what I can gather, whether he is determined to be in good health is wholly a matter of whether he self-reports as being in good health. Maybe he would say yes, because of the independent living, the ability to get out on walks, etc, or maybe he would look at the number of prescriptions he is on, the scars on his chest and say that his health was not so good.
In a similar vein, I'm in my mid-40s, and I've been suffering from chronic fatigue since a viral infection over Christmas. My recovery is very slow and I'm still not able to walk the long and hilly distances that I'm used to being able to walk. I would not report my health as being good, but I'm not in hospital for it, I'm able to feed myself, etc.
Like you say I think its v-difficult to classify who is healthy for work in the 21st century. Is an ailing 70 year old able to compete with much younger colleagues? Can a cognitive worker produce high quality work into their 60s? Can someone blessed with a great physicality keep up a manual trade for 50 years? Its all individual variation and we're trying to squeeze them into blanket age ranges and work classifications.
I find it exceptionally sad that with modern day efficiency and productivity we cannot find the economic output to keep people from having to work at ages greater than say 60. What is the point of a modern society if the retirement age ratchets higher and higher whilst our expected healthy years have seen very little growth. It feels very human for their to be a little reward at the end of the working life.
I'm 76 and generally in good health despite a stroke a couple of years ago, but don't totally trust my memory. I'd welcome more opportunity to work part-time, and find entirely retired life pleasant but a bit dull. Society is organised on the principle that you either work full-time or you're retired and maybe do a bit of voluntary work - something in between would be good both for society and for many individuals.
Given how many people worry about deteriorating quickly after retirement, part time work (not bourne out of financial desperation and necessity) would probably appeal to many.
Indeed, it's one reason some people become councillors after retirement!
I was discussing this with some older supermarket staff. Quite a lot were already retired and they take an eight, ten, or twelve hour a week contract. Keeps them connected and helps financially.
Shorter hours and better money than being a councillor too.
So Starmer is to increase defence spending more quickly.
Which will require tax rises.
Or instead why don’t we ditch the triple lock.
Does anyone have figures as to how much this would save in the real world?
I assume by “ditching” what is meant is revert to it going up with just inflation (as was the case 1979 - the Coalition)? Or is it actually meant as no rises at all (which would impoverish many quickly)?
Any numbers anyone? Because if defence goes from 2.5 to 3.5% quickly that’s about £20-25bn to find I guess.
To me it's a no-brainer that the triple lock should go. Just pick one measure and stick to it. Even if it doesn't save much money it will be (or be perceived as) a lot more fair. Even the perception has value.
Ok try this perception. I'm a pensioner, who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. Why is it fair that my pension benefit should be somehow right to cut when many other benefit claimants don't work, sometimes never had and pay nothing to the state but expect to be given benefits and infinitum? Cut those benefits first and let them do what I did, work or do without.
I too am a pensioner who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. The proposal is not to cut the pension benefit but to tie increases to one measure rather than best of three. I know many benefits claimants and of the many there are only two or maybe three who could probably work and just prefer the easy money. A life on benefits is not luxury. Whether benefits should be provided for all who enter the country is another question; perhaps there is scope for lessening the pull factor there. I don't know.
I would consider basing the state pension on number of years NI contributions. Manual workers to qualify after 45 years contributions. Office and home based workers qualify after 50 years contributions. A one off 10% increase in the basic state pension, then link it to CPI thereafter. Also set the tax free annual allowance at the same rate as the basic minimum pension.
Unless you became a pensioner >10 years ago, you will be on the new state pension, which IS essentially based on no of years' NI contributions...
Yes, but I’m suggesting that people can only start claiming once they have achieved the relevant number of years contributions. For example, someone who remains in full time education until they are 25, and then works in the civil service, can claim their state pension when they are 75, whereas someone who leaves school at 16 and works as a builder can claim their state pension at 61.
75 is madness, most are well into their years of ill health at that point.
If that is how you are measuring it then even now with the retirement age set at 67 you are over 6 years into your years of ill health statistically. Healthy life expectancy for men is 60.7 years and for women is 60.9 years.
But I come back to something I posted last year. When the 1946 National Insurance Act was introduced and the state pension age was set at 65, average male life expectancy was 64 years and 8 months. By the time it was actually enacted in 1948 it had crept up to 66.
The act was 80 yeas ago with our modern wealth why can't we keep the retirement age at 64? That tremendous growth in GDP per capital has to be worth something.
A little glib i know but it does feel like the modern economy doesn’t work well for most of its participants and the ever ratcheting retirement age is one of my sore spots.
Because simply we get far more expensive as we get older and we are not creating or importing enough workers to pay for future pension costs.
Remember your state pension contributions are not being put away to pay for your retirement. They are being spent on current pensioners. That has alwys been the deal. We look after pensioners today and future workers look after us. Unfortunately by the time I reach retirement age tere will be way too many pensioners and not enough workers to support them.
Huge day in European politics tomorrow as Hungary goes to the polls.
Massively important.
Can I be the first to say I hope Orban ends up more fucked than a stepmum in a country where such pornography is still legal?
Hopefully if he loses their system is like ours in that new MPs come in instantly - whilst I understand the American style approach, when things are so partisan people don't accept defeat and will launch legal challenges on very spurious grounds which might then get through to a partisan judiciary, well, it adds to the stress.
Whereas when people take up office right away there is legal recourse, but it probably has to be much more serious to justify attempting it, since you cannot cling on to power through delays.
He's always seemed very impressive on TV, though whether he was any good during the Biden administration I do not know.
No idea what is his actual occupation thesedays.
Hi record in office, despite GOP propaganda to the contrary (which if you ever dig down reveals itself as based on nothing), seems to gaff been pretty decent. In UK terms, not an ideologue like a Miliband or Jenrick or Gove, or captured by orthodoxy like a Reeves, or invisible like, well, most Tory and Labour ministers.
I really like him. He’s articulate, confident without arrogance, and you sense instinctively far less dismissive of Europeans than either MAGA or some of his fellow Democrats. And an Oxonian.
What I really like about him is that he seems capable of thinking on his feet and producing a realistic argument off the cuff. In an ideal world these would be pretty modest bars for any serious politician. You can't imagine the likes of Blair or Cameron having any problem with this. In the United States right now it makes him a star, almost unique.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
So Starmer is to increase defence spending more quickly.
Which will require tax rises.
Or instead why don’t we ditch the triple lock.
Does anyone have figures as to how much this would save in the real world?
I assume by “ditching” what is meant is revert to it going up with just inflation (as was the case 1979 - the Coalition)? Or is it actually meant as no rises at all (which would impoverish many quickly)?
Any numbers anyone? Because if defence goes from 2.5 to 3.5% quickly that’s about £20-25bn to find I guess.
To me it's a no-brainer that the triple lock should go. Just pick one measure and stick to it. Even if it doesn't save much money it will be (or be perceived as) a lot more fair. Even the perception has value.
Ok try this perception. I'm a pensioner, who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. Why is it fair that my pension benefit should be somehow right to cut when many other benefit claimants don't work, sometimes never had and pay nothing to the state but expect to be given benefits and infinitum? Cut those benefits first and let them do what I did, work or do without.
I too am a pensioner who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. The proposal is not to cut the pension benefit but to tie increases to one measure rather than best of three. I know many benefits claimants and of the many there are only two or maybe three who could probably work and just prefer the easy money. A life on benefits is not luxury. Whether benefits should be provided for all who enter the country is another question; perhaps there is scope for lessening the pull factor there. I don't know.
I would consider basing the state pension on number of years NI contributions. Manual workers to qualify after 45 years contributions. Office and home based workers qualify after 50 years contributions. A one off 10% increase in the basic state pension, then link it to CPI thereafter. Also set the tax free annual allowance at the same rate as the basic minimum pension.
Unless you became a pensioner >10 years ago, you will be on the new state pension, which IS essentially based on no of years' NI contributions...
Yes, but I’m suggesting that people can only start claiming once they have achieved the relevant number of years contributions. For example, someone who remains in full time education until they are 25, and then works in the civil service, can claim their state pension when they are 75, whereas someone who leaves school at 16 and works as a builder can claim their state pension at 61.
75 is madness, most are well into their years of ill health at that point.
Most people are in ill health by the age of 75? That's not what I would have assumed.
Males in the UK could expect to spend 60.7 years (77% of life) in "good" general health, compared with 60.9 years (73%) for females; these were decreases of 1.8 and 2.5 years, respectively, compared with the last non-overlapping period (2019 to 2021).
I guess a lot depends on how you define healthy life expectancy.
My Dad is nearly 80 and has had a major heart operation, but he is still able to go on walks in the country and enjoy a beer in the pub afterwards. He has cost the NHS a lot of money to patch up, but is still able to live an independent life.
From what I can gather, whether he is determined to be in good health is wholly a matter of whether he self-reports as being in good health. Maybe he would say yes, because of the independent living, the ability to get out on walks, etc, or maybe he would look at the number of prescriptions he is on, the scars on his chest and say that his health was not so good.
In a similar vein, I'm in my mid-40s, and I've been suffering from chronic fatigue since a viral infection over Christmas. My recovery is very slow and I'm still not able to walk the long and hilly distances that I'm used to being able to walk. I would not report my health as being good, but I'm not in hospital for it, I'm able to feed myself, etc.
Like you say I think its v-difficult to classify who is healthy for work in the 21st century. Is an ailing 70 year old able to compete with much younger colleagues? Can a cognitive worker produce high quality work into their 60s? Can someone blessed with a great physicality keep up a manual trade for 50 years? Its all individual variation and we're trying to squeeze them into blanket age ranges and work classifications.
I find it exceptionally sad that with modern day efficiency and productivity we cannot find the economic output to keep people from having to work at ages greater than say 60. What is the point of a modern society if the retirement age ratchets higher and higher whilst our expected healthy years have seen very little growth. It feels very human for their to be a little reward at the end of the working life.
I'm 76 and generally in good health despite a stroke a couple of years ago, but don't totally trust my memory. I'd welcome more opportunity to work part-time, and find entirely retired life pleasant but a bit dull. Society is organised on the principle that you either work full-time or you're retired and maybe do a bit of voluntary work - something in between would be good both for society and for many individuals.
Given how many people worry about deteriorating quickly after retirement, part time work (not bourne out of financial desperation and necessity) would probably appeal to many.
Indeed, it's one reason some people become councillors after retirement!
I was discussing this with some older supermarket staff. Quite a lot were already retired and they take an eight, ten, or twelve hour a week contract. Keeps them connected and helps financially.
I have long since argued on here about the craziness of the system of one week you are working 35hrs, the next 0hrs. The government could do loads to really encourage individuals and companies to support a more gradual drop off and having older people in the workforce 1 day a week etc.
We are currently producing 112% of our electricity needs, with the excess 12% being sent via connectors or to pumped storage.
Of the 112%, only 7% is gas power. So over 100% renewable or nuclear.
The Irish grid appears to be taking more than a GW from Britain and turning off its own wind turbines.
I'm assuming there's some sort of arbitrage going on whereby it makes sense to do this because the Irish pay wind farms less to turn off when there's excess wind energy.
We have 14 years of coalition and conservative governments to thank for that investment
What Lost Password is describing isn't a good thing for pity's sake. It means effectively that British billpayers are subsidising power that they aren't receiving - because the British subsidy regime is so much more generous than Ireland's, it's cheaper for them to use dumped power, kindly discounted by grannies in the UK, and constrain their own supply.
That isn't something to be celebrated, it's an epic farce.
I mean, sure, but the 'epic farce' subsidy price is much, much lower than what we would pay for gas powered electricity at current prices.
I think your anger is misdirected.
No it is not.
I posted a breakdown of what the various renewable sources are costing us vs. gas last week. Only one type of solar generation was remotely competitive with gas, even with gas at crisis prices. As gas inevitably gets cheaper, even if it's only a bit cheaper, it will be cheaper than CFD solar, and it was already cheaper than all wind.
We cannot maintain the polite fallacy that renewable energy (caveat - renewable energy the way that the UK has implemented it) is cheap or even 'free', when the cost of energy for businesses and domestic users continues to rise. Join the dots.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have @Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
The criticism I made of Leon was his hijacking of threads with bollocks parallel threads. Something he no longer seems to do. I would be surprised if I flagged him too many times for that. I think the point I made regarding flagging Leon was that I had at the time flagged 575 if his 576 flagged posts. If you believe that, I have a Conservative Party manifesto to sell you.
I am not adverse to the flag system for egregious racial outrage or unnecessary highly personal abuse.
So Starmer is to increase defence spending more quickly.
Which will require tax rises.
Or instead why don’t we ditch the triple lock.
Does anyone have figures as to how much this would save in the real world?
I assume by “ditching” what is meant is revert to it going up with just inflation (as was the case 1979 - the Coalition)? Or is it actually meant as no rises at all (which would impoverish many quickly)?
Any numbers anyone? Because if defence goes from 2.5 to 3.5% quickly that’s about £20-25bn to find I guess.
To me it's a no-brainer that the triple lock should go. Just pick one measure and stick to it. Even if it doesn't save much money it will be (or be perceived as) a lot more fair. Even the perception has value.
Ok try this perception. I'm a pensioner, who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. Why is it fair that my pension benefit should be somehow right to cut when many other benefit claimants don't work, sometimes never had and pay nothing to the state but expect to be given benefits and infinitum? Cut those benefits first and let them do what I did, work or do without.
I too am a pensioner who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. The proposal is not to cut the pension benefit but to tie increases to one measure rather than best of three. I know many benefits claimants and of the many there are only two or maybe three who could probably work and just prefer the easy money. A life on benefits is not luxury. Whether benefits should be provided for all who enter the country is another question; perhaps there is scope for lessening the pull factor there. I don't know.
I would consider basing the state pension on number of years NI contributions. Manual workers to qualify after 45 years contributions. Office and home based workers qualify after 50 years contributions. A one off 10% increase in the basic state pension, then link it to CPI thereafter. Also set the tax free annual allowance at the same rate as the basic minimum pension.
Unless you became a pensioner >10 years ago, you will be on the new state pension, which IS essentially based on no of years' NI contributions...
Yes, but I’m suggesting that people can only start claiming once they have achieved the relevant number of years contributions. For example, someone who remains in full time education until they are 25, and then works in the civil service, can claim their state pension when they are 75, whereas someone who leaves school at 16 and works as a builder can claim their state pension at 61.
75 is madness, most are well into their years of ill health at that point.
Most people are in ill health by the age of 75? That's not what I would have assumed.
Males in the UK could expect to spend 60.7 years (77% of life) in "good" general health, compared with 60.9 years (73%) for females; these were decreases of 1.8 and 2.5 years, respectively, compared with the last non-overlapping period (2019 to 2021).
I guess a lot depends on how you define healthy life expectancy.
My Dad is nearly 80 and has had a major heart operation, but he is still able to go on walks in the country and enjoy a beer in the pub afterwards. He has cost the NHS a lot of money to patch up, but is still able to live an independent life.
From what I can gather, whether he is determined to be in good health is wholly a matter of whether he self-reports as being in good health. Maybe he would say yes, because of the independent living, the ability to get out on walks, etc, or maybe he would look at the number of prescriptions he is on, the scars on his chest and say that his health was not so good.
In a similar vein, I'm in my mid-40s, and I've been suffering from chronic fatigue since a viral infection over Christmas. My recovery is very slow and I'm still not able to walk the long and hilly distances that I'm used to being able to walk. I would not report my health as being good, but I'm not in hospital for it, I'm able to feed myself, etc.
Like you say I think its v-difficult to classify who is healthy for work in the 21st century. Is an ailing 70 year old able to compete with much younger colleagues? Can a cognitive worker produce high quality work into their 60s? Can someone blessed with a great physicality keep up a manual trade for 50 years? Its all individual variation and we're trying to squeeze them into blanket age ranges and work classifications.
I find it exceptionally sad that with modern day efficiency and productivity we cannot find the economic output to keep people from having to work at ages greater than say 60. What is the point of a modern society if the retirement age ratchets higher and higher whilst our expected healthy years have seen very little growth. It feels very human for their to be a little reward at the end of the working life.
I'm 76 and generally in good health despite a stroke a couple of years ago, but don't totally trust my memory. I'd welcome more opportunity to work part-time, and find entirely retired life pleasant but a bit dull. Society is organised on the principle that you either work full-time or you're retired and maybe do a bit of voluntary work - something in between would be good both for society and for many individuals.
Given how many people worry about deteriorating quickly after retirement, part time work (not bourne out of financial desperation and necessity) would probably appeal to many.
Indeed, it's one reason some people become councillors after retirement!
I was discussing this with some older supermarket staff. Quite a lot were already retired and they take an eight, ten, or twelve hour a week contract. Keeps them connected and helps financially.
Shorter hours and better money than being a councillor too.
You could get better money in some areas (per hour) by being a shit councillor who does nothing. Ok, that would mean you won't get re-elected, but you'll be good for 4 years so long as you show up to a meeting once every 6 months.
We are currently producing 112% of our electricity needs, with the excess 12% being sent via connectors or to pumped storage.
Of the 112%, only 7% is gas power. So over 100% renewable or nuclear.
Farage and Badenoch read, weep, apologise and go and eat coal.
Its a fun but pointless measure. To know the true value of each contribution you have to look at it over the year. And in that case gas still contributes around a third of our power generation. That is before you take into account home gas usage. There were a few days in 2025 where renewables contributed as low as 10% of power generation.
We need better ways to bridge that gap but we don't have it yet. Hopefully it is coming.
What's the clincher going to be
Battery storage??
Or some other form of energy conversion. We need a way to convert excess wind and solar energy into potential energy for later conversion back to electricity. I honestly don't think batteries are the answer but as yet I don't have a better solution. One suggestion was big weights on chains on offshore turbines. As they generate electricity the pull the weights up then, when the wind dies the weights are released and generate the power. I have absolutely no idea if this is feasible but it sounds like a good idea.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
Only if you take him seriously. Most of the time his tongue is so firmly in his cheek it’s sticking out of his ear.
Ah, but is it?
I don’t mind being flagged. It’s a badge of honour because flagging is so passively aggressively pathetic
Constantly asking via hints, or outright demands, for someone to be banned - eg me - genuinely IS a bit annoying. It’s mainly @Mexicanpete and @bondegezou and dweebs like that. I’ve noticed there is a 100% overlap between these people and people I have publicly humiliated on the site
Hey ho. The PB pub is still open and life rocks on. And today I ate - I think - ny first ever plate of goat meat (which surprises me) and it was absolutely delicious. Better than lamb maybe. Very very very slowly cooked in a huge Turkish roasting dish up in the Taurus mountains. Yummy
I don’t know where I’m going to be in a week’s time, except for “a day’s walk from Vannes”. And the same story for three and a half weeks after
It’s quite exciting, but also a bit scary. This will be my fifth year of Spring walking holidays, and I did a couple of similarly random road trips just before (but with a friend)
I think that I must love the touch of nerves that the uncertainty brings
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
Only if you take him seriously. Most of the time his tongue is so firmly in his cheek it’s sticking out of his ear.
Ah, but is it?
I don’t mind being flagged. It’s a badge of honour because flagging is so passively aggressively pathetic
Constantly asking via hints, or outright demands, for someone to be banned - eg me - genuinely IS a bit annoying. It’s mainly @Mexicanpete and @bondegezou and dweebs like that. I’ve noticed there is a 100% overlap between these people and people I have publicly humiliated on the site
Hey ho. The PB pub is still open and life rocks on. And today I ate - I think - ny first ever plate of goat meat (which surprises me) and it was absolutely delicious. Better than lamb maybe. Very very very slowly cooked in a huge Turkish roasting dish up in the Taurus mountains. Yummy
Wait.
You've never had goat before? Did you never go to a music festival in the 1990s
Arsenal aren't going to Devon Loch the premier league again?
They are now the same price (1.46) to win the league as Rory is with his 6 shot halfway lead to win the Masters.
I think if Man City win all their games they win the league.
I hope they don't, Man City have won enough over the last decade, but Arsenal seem to lvoe choking.
Arteta boils my piss like no other manager in the Premier League.
Plus some of the Arsenal fanbase are really annoying, so for this one season only, I am City Till I Die.
And Liverpool fans are just odd. What a difference a year makes:
I said some.
It's the haramball that Arteta plays that means you shouldn't win the title.
But the banner on the left is hilarious.
You'll never walk alone. Until you stop winning and we'll through you to the wolves.
You shouldn’t take it personally, us Liverpool fans are just worried that if you win the league and European cup this year then you will nearly overtaking us in wins of both titles.
He's always seemed very impressive on TV, though whether he was any good during the Biden administration I do not know.
No idea what is his actual occupation thesedays.
Hi record in office, despite GOP propaganda to the contrary (which if you ever dig down reveals itself as based on nothing), seems to gaff been pretty decent. In UK terms, not an ideologue like a Miliband or Jenrick or Gove, or captured by orthodoxy like a Reeves, or invisible like, well, most Tory and Labour ministers.
I really like him. He’s articulate, confident without arrogance, and you sense instinctively far less dismissive of Europeans than either MAGA or some of his fellow Democrats. And an Oxonian.
What I really like about him is that he seems capable of thinking on his feet and producing a realistic argument off the cuff. In an ideal world these would be pretty modest bars for any serious politician. You can't imagine the likes of Blair or Cameron having any problem with this. In the United States right now it makes him a star, almost unique.
IIRC correctly parliament is (or was suggesting) to change rules on 'debates' to make it so they can just pop in at an alloted time and make their contribution, then presumably bugger off, rather than a certain amount of needing to catch the eye of the Speaker. Politicians do not train to do things on the cuff anymore, there is no benefit to it when sticking really firmly to a talking point, even when looking silly, is effective with their supporters or else they look 'weak'.
Of course, in reality, debates are very rarely anything of the kind and people can read out from prepared notes (so long as not doing a verbatim speech in most cases), but just abandoning the pretext so people can schedule their social media clips better strikes me as a downgrade.
Same thing with introduction of proxy voting for Local Councils - debate doesn't change many minds, but it is possible, proposals can change on the fly during a discussion (particular in a no overall control council) so handing out proxy votes which by definition will mean someone will indicate their closed mind ahead of time, is a poor idea.
It's doubly unnecessary since they are going to be introducing remote attendance and voting in any case, to make things easier for those who might struggle to attend in person, have caring responsibilities etc.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have @Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
"Flogging," not "flagging".
Does the House of Lords still allow that? Sounds like potential depiction of abuse.
So Starmer is to increase defence spending more quickly.
Which will require tax rises.
Or instead why don’t we ditch the triple lock.
Does anyone have figures as to how much this would save in the real world?
I assume by “ditching” what is meant is revert to it going up with just inflation (as was the case 1979 - the Coalition)? Or is it actually meant as no rises at all (which would impoverish many quickly)?
Any numbers anyone? Because if defence goes from 2.5 to 3.5% quickly that’s about £20-25bn to find I guess.
To me it's a no-brainer that the triple lock should go. Just pick one measure and stick to it. Even if it doesn't save much money it will be (or be perceived as) a lot more fair. Even the perception has value.
Ok try this perception. I'm a pensioner, who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. Why is it fair that my pension benefit should be somehow right to cut when many other benefit claimants don't work, sometimes never had and pay nothing to the state but expect to be given benefits and infinitum? Cut those benefits first and let them do what I did, work or do without.
I too am a pensioner who always worked, paid NI, tax and pension contributions through my entire working life. The proposal is not to cut the pension benefit but to tie increases to one measure rather than best of three. I know many benefits claimants and of the many there are only two or maybe three who could probably work and just prefer the easy money. A life on benefits is not luxury. Whether benefits should be provided for all who enter the country is another question; perhaps there is scope for lessening the pull factor there. I don't know.
I would consider basing the state pension on number of years NI contributions. Manual workers to qualify after 45 years contributions. Office and home based workers qualify after 50 years contributions. A one off 10% increase in the basic state pension, then link it to CPI thereafter. Also set the tax free annual allowance at the same rate as the basic minimum pension.
Unless you became a pensioner >10 years ago, you will be on the new state pension, which IS essentially based on no of years' NI contributions...
Yes, but I’m suggesting that people can only start claiming once they have achieved the relevant number of years contributions. For example, someone who remains in full time education until they are 25, and then works in the civil service, can claim their state pension when they are 75, whereas someone who leaves school at 16 and works as a builder can claim their state pension at 61.
75 is madness, most are well into their years of ill health at that point.
If that is how you are measuring it then even now with the retirement age set at 67 you are over 6 years into your years of ill health statistically. Healthy life expectancy for men is 60.7 years and for women is 60.9 years.
But I come back to something I posted last year. When the 1946 National Insurance Act was introduced and the state pension age was set at 65, average male life expectancy was 64 years and 8 months. By the time it was actually enacted in 1948 it had crept up to 66.
The act was 80 yeas ago with our modern wealth why can't we keep the retirement age at 64? That tremendous growth in GDP per capital has to be worth something.
A little glib i know but it does feel like the modern economy doesn’t work well for most of its participants and the ever ratcheting retirement age is one of my sore spots.
Because simply we get far more expensive as we get older and we are not creating or importing enough workers to pay for future pension costs.
Remember your state pension contributions are not being put away to pay for your retirement. They are being spent on current pensioners. That has alwys been the deal. We look after pensioners today and future workers look after us. Unfortunately by the time I reach retirement age tere will be way too many pensioners and not enough workers to support them.
That "older = more expensive" is probably part of the problem. The only way it can be justified is if your value to your employer continues to increase with age, and that's probably not the case all the way to retirement. Yeah, I've got more experience and wisdom than when I was younger, but I've also get a bit less energy. Extrapolate that and there comes a point where I'm still valuable, but not as valuable as before.
How we collectively manage that... that's the tricky bit.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
We are currently producing 112% of our electricity needs, with the excess 12% being sent via connectors or to pumped storage.
Of the 112%, only 7% is gas power. So over 100% renewable or nuclear.
Farage and Badenoch read, weep, apologise and go and eat coal.
Its a fun but pointless measure. To know the true value of each contribution you have to look at it over the year. And in that case gas still contributes around a third of our power generation. That is before you take into account home gas usage. There were a few days in 2025 where renewables contributed as low as 10% of power generation.
We need better ways to bridge that gap but we don't have it yet. Hopefully it is coming.
What's the clincher going to be
Battery storage??
Or some other form of energy conversion. We need a way to convert excess wind and solar energy into potential energy for later conversion back to electricity. I honestly don't think batteries are the answer but as yet I don't have a better solution. One suggestion was big weights on chains on offshore turbines. As they generate electricity the pull the weights up then, when the wind dies the weights are released and generate the power. I have absolutely no idea if this is feasible but it sounds like a good idea.
It isn't lack of a technical solution, it is lack of a market incentive for providing a technical solution. At the moment, renewables suppliers are richly rewarded for switching off when there's an excess of wind or grid restrictions mean their power cannot get to market. They get more for constraining than supplying. An example thrown up by AI:
Viking Wind Farm on Shetland was reported to earn over £10 million in a single month while constrained, a sum significantly higher than the approximately £3.5 million it would have earned had it operated under its Contract for Difference (CfD) without constraint.
Why would anyone choose the £3.5mn over the £10mn?
If suppliers weren't paid when they weren't supplying, you'd see solutions invented pretty f***ing fast. In the absence of such an incentive, put storage in the cure for cancer category.
Morgan McSweeney will attend a security conference in Ukraine this month as he considers his post-Downing Street career
He is understood to be compelled by the question of how AI will affect the next election in Ukraine, which he believes will be one of the most consequential in recent European history. Friends believe he is interested in helping Zelensky in any future contest.
He's always seemed very impressive on TV, though whether he was any good during the Biden administration I do not know.
No idea what is his actual occupation thesedays.
Hi record in office, despite GOP propaganda to the contrary (which if you ever dig down reveals itself as based on nothing), seems to gaff been pretty decent. In UK terms, not an ideologue like a Miliband or Jenrick or Gove, or captured by orthodoxy like a Reeves, or invisible like, well, most Tory and Labour ministers.
I really like him. He’s articulate, confident without arrogance, and you sense instinctively far less dismissive of Europeans than either MAGA or some of his fellow Democrats. And an Oxonian.
What I really like about him is that he seems capable of thinking on his feet and producing a realistic argument off the cuff. In an ideal world these would be pretty modest bars for any serious politician. You can't imagine the likes of Blair or Cameron having any problem with this. In the United States right now it makes him a star, almost unique.
IIRC correctly parliament is (or was suggesting) to change rules on 'debates' to make it so they can just pop in at an alloted time and make their contribution, then presumably bugger off, rather than a certain amount of needing to catch the eye of the Speaker. Politicians do not train to do things on the cuff anymore, there is no benefit to it when sticking really firmly to a talking point, even when looking silly, is effective with their supporters or else they look 'weak'.
Of course, in reality, debates are very rarely anything of the kind and people can read out from prepared notes (so long as not doing a verbatim speech in most cases), but just abandoning the pretext so people can schedule their social media clips better strikes me as a downgrade.
Same thing with introduction of proxy voting for Local Councils - debate doesn't change many minds, but it is possible, proposals can change on the fly during a discussion (particular in a no overall control council) so handing out proxy votes which by definition will mean someone will indicate their closed mind ahead of time, is a poor idea.
It's doubly unnecessary since they are going to be introducing remote attendance and voting in any case, to make things easier for those who might struggle to attend in person, have caring responsibilities etc.
We have a particular problem with our local council known as the Scottish Parliament. Very few MSPs actually attend, let alone take part in any "debate". We still have Covid legislation in place which allows the sheep to vote for the shepherd wherever they actually are or, as was seen in the case of a terminally ill MSP recently, whoever has the sign in details to allow the "vote" to be registered. It isn't even a decorative part of our Constitution any longer, it is simply pointless.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
EXCL: Labour MP Afzal Khan claimed he "briefly" attended event — but left upon realising Lord Ahmed, jailed for child sex crimes against girl as young as 4, was there. Now video shows the pair smiling walking down red carpet and sitting next to each other
Gabriel Pogrund seems to be doing a lot of legwork past few months on stories.
Most of it complete bollox
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Throwing out comments of that nature can cause problems for the site
You do seem to like threatening posters you don't approve of or who disagree with your narratives with the looming spectre of sanctions.
I am not threatening anyone
Do you agree with his comment
It isn't a comment I would have made. A question does not constitute a direct allegation. You do this quite a lot with particular posters you don't seem to like. I am sure the mods can decide when posters have crossed the line without advice shouted from the touchline.
Nobody has tried more on this forum to have Leon sanctioned than you, and you have admitted to multiple times flaging posts
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
Leon sometimes needs flagging, which he'd probably admit himself.
Only if you take him seriously. Most of the time his tongue is so firmly in his cheek it’s sticking out of his ear.
Ah, but is it?
I don’t mind being flagged. It’s a badge of honour because flagging is so passively aggressively pathetic
Constantly asking via hints, or outright demands, for someone to be banned - eg me - genuinely IS a bit annoying. It’s mainly @Mexicanpete and @bondegezou and dweebs like that. I’ve noticed there is a 100% overlap between these people and people I have publicly humiliated on the site
Hey ho. The PB pub is still open and life rocks on. And today I ate - I think - ny first ever plate of goat meat (which surprises me) and it was absolutely delicious. Better than lamb maybe. Very very very slowly cooked in a huge Turkish roasting dish up in the Taurus mountains. Yummy
Wait.
You've never had goat before? Did you never go to a music festival in the 1990s
We’ve all surely eaten goat, without realising. “Mutton”. Actual goat is very cheap down Deptford Market so I get it when I want a sort of stewy Middle Eastern thing.
Comments
It's the haramball that Arteta plays that means you shouldn't win the title.
But the banner on the left is hilarious.
Usually racially motivated bollox
Wouldn't be on the payroll of Mossad by any chance??
Maybe I should have known better.
HLE is a pretty subjective figure as it is based on subjective assessment of good or excellent health. It varies considerably by SE group, varying within the same county by 12 years or more by postcode. Also of course we do expect people with chronic health conditions like diabetes or heart disease to work if possible, so it is difficult to apply a HLE figure to retirement.
My experience is that a lot of people have health issues in retirement but generally enjoy themselves until they reach 80, and sometimes after that, but rarely much longer. Phased retirement seems best to me, and I think that this should be in the hands of the individual via a right to part time working and lighter duties where possible. This should be accompanied by a flexible State pension age, actuarily reduced if taken early.
But since you say 'most of it', which of his stories are not bollocks? This one?
I wouldn't judge the entire Arsenal fanbase based on AFTV.
Turns out he’s an anti semite whose company has recently been convicted of environmental pollution.
https://x.com/steve_cooke/status/2042718421289164941?s=61
Obafeni in the 87th
Instead of toying with Linux the EU and UK should both put some money behind the development of ReactOS. A Windows API compatible OS that isn't controlled by Microsoft would be a huge asset.
How long before Vance starts yelling and screaming at the Iranians for not wearing suits and not showing respect?
The Kobeissi Letter
@KobeissiLetter
·
54m
BREAKING: US-Iran negotiations in Pakistan have hit a “stalemate” over the control of the Strait of Hormuz, per FT.
https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2043007695817441519
Also the compatibilty layers, again come miles, but certain software still won't work or won't work very well.
But there does seem to be a simmering undercurrent of anti semitism in the Green movement.
But, presumably, this will mainly affect the inner cities and town dwelling Greens and not the rural ones.
Thousands of Momentum have joined Greens following the likes of Owen Jones and Grace Berkerly.
Also there is a bit of a presumption if you leave tweets up that is still your view. Now you probably forgot about it ages ago, but given that is the way people read it, just auto-delete them. Also, if you were a nobody 5-10 years ago, much lower chance they have been saved, and the auto-delete will stop a journalist going and doing it all retroactively.
By his wife
Your Home Counties Rural Green is a completely different animal to your corbynite style green.
I’d expect a fracture to come one day between both sides.
Pete Buttigieg
@PeteButtigieg
When he launched this war, the President vowed regime change and “unconditional surrender.”
What has he gotten? We went from Ayatollah Khamenei to Ayatollah Khamenei Jr. - and are now negotiating over a 10-point plan written by the Iranians.
This war has made America weaker - and less trusted on the world stage.
https://x.com/PeteButtigieg/status/2043018486444695662
‘ A Green candidate in West Sussex, Karen Sudan. 'Among her posts on X ...she accused the mainstream media of being “too busy making up and/or exaggerating stories about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party to raise an outcry over other forms of racism”.'
https://x.com/darrenjohnson66/status/2043015559911026819?s=61
First out of Dijon it’s Marsannay, then Fixin, Gevrey Chambertin, Morey Saint Denis, Chambolle Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne Romanee, Nuits Saint Georges, then a gap with cote de nuits villages, then Pernand Vergelesses and Corton, before you hit Beaune. Fairly humdrum scenery and towns but huge price tags.
South of Beaune the slope gets higher and the landscape a tad prettier. And you’re going through Pommard, Volnay, Monthelie, Meursault and finally the Montrachets.
Then the prices drop and the scenery gets much nicer into the Chalonnaise, where the vineyard monoculture breaks up into patches of vines, forest and cattle meadows full of Charolais. The road passes through Bouzeron, Rully, Mercurey, Givry, Buxy and Montagny.
Finally into the Maconnais and the villages are everywhere, less well known but still passing Lugny, Verze, Aze, Ige, Vire-Clesse, Pouilly Fuisse, Loche and Vinzelles, and finally Chaintre. And you can continue for another 100 kilometres or so through all the Beaujolais crus and villages until you hit the suburbs of Lyon.
No idea what is his actual occupation thesedays.
Do you agree with his comment
Maybe I am missing something?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/
Increasinngly I think even those who do use Social Media are doing it more passively, following others rather than posting themselves, particularly in the short form SM sites.
I have never flagged a post but will comment on something that I consider may go over the line
At the very least Zuckerberg's dream of us all plugging ourselves into his subscription metaverse is dead. What a wackjob
Here's a question for you Foxes.
If somebody eleven years ago had said to you, in the next eleven years you'll win the Premier League and FA Cup, but in eleven years you'll be in League One, would you have taken that?
It has reached a crescendo of right wing rhetoric here, with almost only @Brixian59 flying the flag for the downtrodden lefty.
Timothy Snyder
@TimothyDSnyder
1/3. Very helpful summary in preparation for the epochal Hungarian elections tomorrow. See also essays by Anne Applebaum and Lászlo Gendler and commentary by Kim Scheppele
https://mikegalsworthy.substack.com/p/why-an-orban-loss-would-be-a-huge?r=i894e&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/2043019801241514216
Massively important.
My point was, if we agree Starmer for what he has done in the Middle East is unacceptable on a World stage and should be sanctioned, Bibi and Trump should be doubly, or triply sanctioned.
Unless everyone is going PC and SNP there's not that many other options to pick from.
Tim Marshall- A new Gulf is emerging — and it could be closer to China
Beijing is positioning Xi as the ‘adult in the room’ against an erratic new America, but it has no interest in military ties. What’s a sheikh to do?
https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/article/china-gulf-war-iran-trump-fwr875crn
Although these days with all these right and left splinter parties popping up every other week, I am going to find I have just said I will vote for a party even too extreme for Tommy Ten Names or George Galloway or something.
Trump's idiotic behaviour and threats, mainly directed at erstwhile allies, has seriously undermined NATO, the western alliance, trust in the United States and done catastrophic damage to the world economy, much of which is still to manifest itself. Oh, and it killed a few thousand Iranian civilians as well. "Weaker" really doesn't cover it. The US is running out of allies other than Israel which is run by a sociopath.
The problem fundamentally is management. Khun Top has lost interest, and the King Power business is struggling. He should have sold a couple of years back, as won't get near the same price now.
Hopefully there will be a Lincolnshire Independents grouping as there has been in previous local elections. They have had some decent candidates in the past and have picked up a few seats over the years.
I really like him. He’s articulate, confident without arrogance, and you sense instinctively far less dismissive of Europeans than either MAGA or some of his fellow Democrats. And an Oxonian.
Shorter hours and better money than being a councillor too.
Remember your state pension contributions are not being put away to pay for your retirement. They are being spent on current pensioners. That has alwys been the deal. We look after pensioners today and future workers look after us. Unfortunately by the time I reach retirement age tere will be way too many pensioners and not enough workers to support them.
Whereas when people take up office right away there is legal recourse, but it probably has to be much more serious to justify attempting it, since you cannot cling on to power through delays.
Only for a series of gutless Tory Leaders refusing to sack her.
I posted a breakdown of what the various renewable sources are costing us vs. gas last week. Only one type of solar generation was remotely competitive with gas, even with gas at crisis prices. As gas inevitably gets cheaper, even if it's only a bit cheaper, it will be cheaper than CFD solar, and it was already cheaper than all wind.
We cannot maintain the polite fallacy that renewable energy (caveat - renewable energy the way that the UK has implemented it) is cheap or even 'free', when the cost of energy for businesses and domestic users continues to rise. Join the dots.
I am not adverse to the flag system for egregious racial outrage or unnecessary highly personal abuse.
I don’t mind being flagged. It’s a badge of honour because flagging is so passively aggressively pathetic
Constantly asking via hints, or outright demands, for someone to be banned - eg me - genuinely IS a bit annoying. It’s mainly @Mexicanpete and @bondegezou and dweebs like that. I’ve noticed there is a 100% overlap between these people and people I have publicly humiliated on the site
Hey ho. The PB pub is still open and life rocks on. And today I ate - I think - ny first ever plate of goat meat (which surprises me) and it was absolutely delicious. Better than lamb maybe. Very very very slowly cooked in a huge Turkish roasting dish up in the Taurus mountains. Yummy
It’s quite exciting, but also a bit scary. This will be my fifth year of Spring walking holidays, and I did a couple of similarly random road trips just before (but with a friend)
I think that I must love the touch of nerves that the uncertainty brings
You've never had goat before? Did you never go to a music festival in the 1990s
Of course, in reality, debates are very rarely anything of the kind and people can read out from prepared notes (so long as not doing a verbatim speech in most cases), but just abandoning the pretext so people can schedule their social media clips better strikes me as a downgrade.
Same thing with introduction of proxy voting for Local Councils - debate doesn't change many minds, but it is possible, proposals can change on the fly during a discussion (particular in a no overall control council) so handing out proxy votes which by definition will mean someone will indicate their closed mind ahead of time, is a poor idea.
It's doubly unnecessary since they are going to be introducing remote attendance and voting in any case, to make things easier for those who might struggle to attend in person, have caring responsibilities etc.
How we collectively manage that... that's the tricky bit.
If suppliers weren't paid when they weren't supplying, you'd see solutions invented pretty f***ing fast. In the absence of such an incentive, put storage in the cure for cancer category.
He is understood to be compelled by the question of how AI will affect the next election in Ukraine, which he believes will be one of the most consequential in recent European history. Friends believe he is interested in helping Zelensky in any future contest.
https://x.com/lara_spirit/status/2043023876456603793?s=20
Sounds all very Big Dom. AI AI AI.