BBC news site link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0lk8ye1979t

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

WTH is wrong with this country?
They can waste taxpayers money on "consulting fees" for sports event (2012) & award Co's with no ferries in the £ millions but cannot afford to...

After being examined by the British Museum, and valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee, the coins were returned to the couple in 2023 as no museum was in a position to acquire them.

Bye Bye Heritage

...they CANNOT afford to preserve our history.

At a business summit in Saudi Arabia, our "beloved Qualified" Chancellor Ms Reeves stated

“The number one ambition of my Government and Keir Starmer’s Government is to grow the economy, good jobs in every part of the country,” she said.

Makes one wonder: Were those who often thought for years "Them & Us" right?

Source

"Them & Us" ALRIGHT!


Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK
wrote:

Here in the heart of the Peak District, there is one main issue on people's minds: everyone in the laid-back spa town of Buxton, it seems, has a view on plans for a £100m redevelopment of the town centre.

As part of the redevelopment, the River Wye, currently running narrow and shallow through the centre of town, is to be widened. When the plans were posted on one Facebook group, the first comment underneath read: "Open up the river, yeah so the dinghies can [head] straight to the hotel!"

Illegal immigration, perhaps, is the second-biggest issue on people's minds - even though there are very few immigrants in this Derbyshire town...

... The rise of Reform UK in the opinion polls, and the fact immigration and asylum is now the top concern for voters across the country according to YouGov, external, is not seen only in the places with most immigration. It is apparent even in small towns...

... It is 250 miles from here to Dover, where the small boats arrive, and there are no hotels in Buxton housing asylum seekers...

... The 74-year-old describes himself as disillusioned by recent governments, both Conservative and Labour...

... "It's a generational thing," he says. "The younger crowd are very much against it [Reform UK] while the older crowd are very much for them."

Indeed, an hour with some sixth formers at Buxton Community School brings home his point. The overwhelming sentiment of the 10 teenagers is that immigrants are being scapegoated. "I think there's a lot of prejudice in this country about people who aren't white,"...

... The teenagers don't yet have a vote though...

... campaign to stop the University of Derby turning its now empty 274-room hall of residence in the town into dispersal accommodation for asylum seekers. The plan, announced in 2023, was opposed by thousands of people in Buxton and dropped by the university in 2024...

... "there doesn't seem to be any thoughtful plan nationally to deal with the people coming in illegally"...

... There have been some immigrants who have come to Buxton.

In 2022, about 150 Ukrainians moved to the town and people "opened their houses, their hearts to us", says Natalia.

About 100 or so are still here, she says, sitting alongside two friends - Paulina and Yulia - on a bench in the centre of town.

Most have moved into their own accommodation and found jobs, a lot in hospitality and cleaning.

"We don't feel like immigrants because we lived with British families and we are very closely connected with these families," says Natalia. "I feel a part of society because I did not get any negative emotion from British people."

Also on Spring Gardens, Liam McGuinness says he does not have a problem with the Ukrainians or indeed "against families coming in that need help. It's more [a problem with] single men"...

... And there is the problem...

274 (or 1096 when crammed four to a room) lonely bored men isolated from their families (and of any age/background)...! All crammed into one small area...!!

What could possibly go wrong with that?...



All in our overly aloof game of politics...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

"Them & Us" ALRIGHT!

How far does this go?... How BIG?!

Is this "getting out of hand"?


In the news this morning:

Developer puts up 100ft union jack after council row
wrote:

... James Holmes had previously placed a 36ft (11m) flag ...

... Chesterfield Borough Council said it was an "unauthorised advertisement" because it promoted a commercial website for Mr Holmes's Fly the Flag campaign.

Now Mr Holmes says he has had even larger flag printed and installed for £3,000, which the council says it will not be removing.

"This flag was a mistake - I should have made it bigger," Mr Holmes said...

Deal with that?...

We have a "take-over" ongoing...

Civil war next?


Here in the United Kingdom...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Sadly, disastrously, far too true:


Why the news no longer tells the truth



... Is this only in the UK?

Keep properly informed and stay aware!!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

... Is this only in the UK?

Nope, not just in the UK.

A self-contained bubble of people propagate their worldview.... ah.. and leave out all those details that contradict this narrow viewpoint.

Labour simply cannot cope with the reality that the Tories had already spent all the money

There’s no more money to spend, no more tax to raise, and the deficit can’t carry on as it is.

The chances must be high that whoever replaces Starmer will not last until 2028-29, and Labour will end up changing prime ministers as frequently as the Tories did.

The reality is that Labour MPs based their whole political careers on the assumption that Tory governments spend too little and things will be made better by spending more.

They were simply unequipped, philosophically or emotionally, for coming into office after the Tories had already spent far too much.

... And this is where a significant big dollop of that money went blowing away with the wind due to the incompetence of our political Hooray Henrys:


Much of £10.9bn Covid scheme fraud 'beyond recovery'...
wrote:

Much of the £10.9bn [£10900 MILLION] in taxpayer money lost to fraud and error...

... It found £13.6bn was spent on PPE procurement, with 38 billion items purchased - although 11 billion were unused by 2024. Losses were estimated at £10bn from over-ordering and £324m of fraud...

That is MANY thousands of pounds from each and every UK citizen.

Meanwhile... Have any of our politicians been brought to book for their incompetence?


All in 'just' a 'game' of politics?...

All in our strangely deadly greedy political world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

50 years ago, we had a great comedy show.
50 years on, we have "The Leader" proposing a sequel...
"Grandad's Army"

Mandelson resigns from Labour "To to save party 'further embarrassment' over Epstein links" - so he was in deeper than he admitted....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/clynp40ekrdt

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Has a certain royal already ordered a oneway ticket to Mars from SpaceX?

from Bob's link to BBC live reporting:

Emails released in the Epstein files suggest that Lord Mandelson forwarded internal government information to Jeffrey Epstein when he was Gordon Brown's business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister. [...]

Butler [PM's advisor] copied in several people, including Peter Mandelson, and newly released emails indicate that Mandelson then forwarded that email on to Epstein, with the message: "Interesting note that's gone to the PM".

In former centuries Lords acted more responsibly for their country. How come? Is High Treason no longer punished appropriately?

In former centuries Lords acted more responsibly for their country. How come? Is High Treason no longer punished appropriately?

Mandelson (aka "Mandelbrat") has long been a loose cannon in my opinion. Sadly such activity as he has displayed is, in this particular instance, not considered treason.
One has to realise that in recent years the House of Lords has been significantly diluted by successive governments of all flavours to become another political entity unlike the "country-first" behaviour of old; being populated by far too many political appointees and too few "people with brains and common sense".

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

...and as we were discussing the Madelbrat this bit of news broke:
https://news.sky.com/story/politics-latest-mandelson-quits-labour-over-epstein-links-as-starmer-calls-for-him-to-lose-peerage-12593360

(maybe someone overheard our thoughts......)

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

The Madelbrat has decided that the heat was getting far too much for him and has jumped, again:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/clynp40ekrdt

(I was trying to count how many times the Mandelbrat has jumped before being ejected forcefully from some very highly paid post, it's either three of four, but others may have a better value)

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

The Madelbrat has decided that the heat was getting far too much for him and has jumped, again:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/clynp40ekrdt

Really?

post from same BBC page:

I understand he maintains that he’s not acted criminally and did not act for personal gain – and argues that while confronting in the late 2000s the biggest financial crisis in decades, sought Epstein’s expertise in the national interest.

He will even retain the the title of 'Lord' after stepping down from the House of Lords.

Uha...

Misconduct in Public Office is an ancient offence which can lead to a life sentence. It is part of the "common law" - meaning it’s evolved in court cases without Parliament debating and creating a precise definition.

In 1783 Lord Mansfield, one of the most important chief justices in English legal history, oversaw the trial of a government accountant who was accused of knowingly cooking the books.

The judge said that if someone working in such a privileged position failed to carry out their duties because of some ulterior corrupting motive, they were surely guilty of a crime.

It's funny with such old democracies like the UK. There's a legal practice spanning centuries uninterrupted by e.g., revolutions or foreign occupation.

Perhaps it would be wise to prepare a room in the Tower of London for a new long-term resident. ;-)

He will even retain the the title of 'Lord' after stepping down from the House of Lords.

There are two parts to being having the title "Lord".
First is the obvious title, second is being able to take part in the activities of the House of Lords.
Partaking in the second part is not compulsory, and can be surrendered by the holder of the title.
The first part is the result of a legal process, and in the case of "life peer" (the Madelbrat is a life peer - his title dies with him) it can only be revoked by reversing the legal process that granted him the title. For most life peers the crating was by an act of parliament, thus can only be revoked by another act of parliament. Given the mood in both houses of parliament an act revoking the Madelbrat's title would have a pretty smooth passage and he would revert to just plain "Mister". As far as I'm aware there have been very few, if any, such acts passed in the last hundred or more years, so this alone would be a very serious blow to the Mandelbrat's ego.
Another thing to consider is that as a "lord" he could elect to have any criminal trial held before "his peers" (the so called "Law Lords") rather in a normal criminal court, and they can impose any penalty they feel fit (I don't know if corporal or capital punishment is still available to them), whereas the criminal courts can only select from the appropriate page in the sentencing guidelines.

(Note - Under UK law it is everybody's right to protest their innocence, thus the Madelbrat can claim to be innocent, until he is found guilty)

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Perhaps it would be wise to prepare a room in the Tower of London for a new long-term resident. ;-)

The Tower of London isn't the location I would choose, there are a few less pleasant places I can think of.....

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?