There is ONE country in the middle east that has nuclear weapons. And that one country is not a signatory to the non-proliferation treaties that govern other countries.
Guess which country it is.

Mixing fruit and meat goes back hundreds of years. What we now see as North African was common in western Europe.
I cooked an English beef dish with spices and fruit from 1450 for Christmas - absolutely delicious.

Oysters were originally used as they were a cheap form of protein. I imagine they also looked considerably more toady.

Wiped out more people that WWI.

Every time I feed the fish I get the feeling I am being judged. Harshly!

The difference is that May KNEW Johnson had failed and tried to stop him getting access to files. Starmer did not know Mandelson had failed.
The two are not similar.

Good job you hadn't lost a shoe as well, just to complete the picture.

It is not a theory, it is an hypothesis. And an uninformed, ignorant one at that.

Reform UK’s Richard Tice allegedly failed to pay £100,000 in corporation tax Deputy leader ran shell companies that reportedly did not pay tax on profits from 2020 to 2022, during which time his firm donated £1.1m to party

Remind me, is £100k more or less than £40k? If it is more then why is the British media and Reform Ltd not hounding Tice out of a job like they did Raynor?
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

So 40% approve? Jesus, US. You need to grow up.

Piranesi is delightful. Poetic, beautiful and sad. Jonathon Strange took me a few goes to get into, but when I did I devoured it. Funny, clever and with a real knowledge of folklore.
And the footnotes...oh, the footnotes.
And you will love the Gentleman with Thistledown Hair.

Nope. There are times when I want to shout "get on with it", but then he writes something that is so wonderful, so astonishing that I forgive him anything.
Prune, Gertrude, a goat and cats in Prune's study springs to mind.
Only Susannah Clarke has come close for me.

I re-read Gormenghast at Christmas, for the nth time. The scene where Prune tends to Fuschia after her death still makes me sob, and I hate Steerpike like no other fictional character.
There is nothing like them.

"The clever imitation of a smile spread across Steerpike's face."
God, I adore these books.

What you may see as far left in the US is centre in Europe.

Prices shot up and house building stalled because too many will decrease profit.

After WWII the UK had the largest housing build project in its history. The houses were solid, simple and are still strong. Thatcher sold them off in the eighties, allowing private individuals to own them and removing them from the overall general housing stock.

That only works IF a huge block of housing is built. It also goes directly against the best interests of the house builders who will then need to sell their houses at a lower price. There is no encouragement at all to mass build.
Hence the current housing price issues in the UK.

Absolutely, but not at the point of need. Governments can bulk buy in a way that individuals or even companies cannot. When companies have too much say, you end up with the US system, which only works for CEOs.

It is not great with housing. It is great for high-end or luxury developments. Council housing should make a return.
Clothes, food is trickier. At the moment food prices are driven by a few huge companies and farmers are struggling to make any profit.

Capitalism is brilliant for luxuries. It is terrible for necessities. The government should provide healthcare, water, power and transport. Profit should be out of the running.

Given that pensions are the single largest of the welfare budget, I assume Robertson would be happy with cutting military pensions to pay for more weapons.

You are not the brightest, are you?

Or you could introduce PAYE and never have to file a tax form again....

We in the UK might actually have some free electricity over the summer. Solar is now so efficient that we may well be getting free power when solar production is at its height over the middle of the day.
I wait to see how Reform will spin this as a terrible thing...

Pensions are the biggest section of the welfare budget. So, when Lord Robertson suggests cutting welfare to pay for more defence spending, which pensions should be removed?
If we cut military pensions surely he could not complain?

Are u ok? That was a weak argument, even from you. Heart not in it today?

Are u ok? That was a weak argument, even from you. Heart not in it today?

Ah! Not brilliant in a living entity.

Dare I ask what u have done? Has Chonk savaged you with her gums?