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Reply | Poland
at 23:36 31 Oct 2026
It’s a complicated issue going back a number of years, the BBC article summarises the issues but if you want to get more background it’s best to read several different publications. Tusk is pro EU, while there are others who say the previous government and current president are more anti EU and possibly more pro Russia in a similar manner to Orban. I was talking to a Polish friend yesterday who went in to a lot more detail about it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/ |
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Reply | The Budget
at 21:58 29 Oct 2026
I’ve no issue with supporting the people who are genuinely unwell, but a massive culture of idleness and entitlement has crept in to the country and it’s not just this government, it’s been going this way for years.
A couple of changes I’d introduce include.
1) If you haven’t paid in you can’t take out.
2) School leavers who by definition will not have had the chance to pay in would only be able to get benefits as part of a training scheme, none of this NEET s@@@ - no contribution, community service, training program, education, work experience etc then no benefits.
3) Unemployment benefit is capped at 18 months or 2 years during which time you have to get an education, training etc leading to a job.
4) Benefits capped at minimum wage, nobody should be better off on benefits than they are in work.
5) If you can’t get a job because your face is covered in tattoos, then that’s toughski. Choices have consequences.
6) The government recently made changes to the Motability scheme which are long overdue, another one I’d throw in is if a local authority are paying for a taxi to take a child to school and the family have a Motability car on account of the child, then it should be the parents responsibility to take the child to school and not the LA who could be paying £50k pa in taxi costs. There will be the occasional situation when a taxi is required, but default position is that it should be down to the parents.
7) Reintroduce the benefits cap on children, maybe 3 instead of 2 but if you want 6 kids it’s down to you.
There’s probably a few more I’d throw in if I have it more though. I know a lot of people will think the above is harsh, but we’ve got to start somewhere and the default position is work must pay. |
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Reply | Stephen Yaxley
at 18:53 29 Oct 2026
Going back to the OP, I reckon he’ll get between 2.5 and 4 years. |
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Reply | The Budget
at 22:18 28 Oct 2026
I’m in the same boat as you. I’m an accidental landlord, I rent out a small place to a junior doctor who has been posted to the area as part of their 2 year training contract. It’s a really nice place and I haven’t raised the rent at all since they first moved in and I recently agreed that I’d keep it at the same rate for another 12 months, but after that I’m likely to have to put the rent up, or sell it. If it’s the latter, I may get hit for CGT aone it any gain won’t be much - but it’s the principle of paying the tax tbh. We have a shortage of doctors in my area so renting my place to one is a bit of a public service.
There’s no denying that there are poor landlords out there. I have found myself renting a couple of times after moving house on account of work, nearly all the rentals wifey and I viewed were awful. We eventually got decent places, but only because of contacts in work. It’s important to note there are also good landlords out there too, I consider myself to be one of them and if my tenant has an issue it gets sorted immediately.
I’m appalled with regards to the decision to pay the £100 energy payment to people in Band A to D properties, I think it should have been based on need. I know a widowed pensioner who lives alone in a Band E house, it’s their family home and they’ve lived there many years. The person receives a state pension and a couple of small private pension payments her husband took out to provide for them in their old age which total around £1k per year. It’s not a case of the elderly person failing to make provision when they were younger, the pensioner worked part time and back in the day wasn’t allowed to contribute to a pension scheme.
How is it right that a household earning £60k to £70k per year living in a Band D house get the £100 and the pensioner on £13k doesn’t - apart from the 25% discount on council tax she doesn’t get any help! Mental. [Post edited 29 Oct 21:36]
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Reply | Swansea City v Blackburn Rovers : Match Thread
at 22:24 25 Oct 2026
Matos needs to get them attacking with more speed and purpose, fortunately I didn’t see yesterdays horror show, but against West Ham we were too slow in attack and took too many passes to get the ball in to the box, why pass it forward when you can pass it back 10 times and give the opposition time to get back in numbers!!!!!
It really annoys me when they are playing the ball out in triangles out from the back that the players are so close together, it makes it much easier for the opposition to close someone down and regain the ball - moving in to space and away from danger - it isn’t rocket science.
Last week, West Ham attacked at pace every time they picked up a loose ball in midfield and they took advantage to grab 3 points. I’m looking forward to a much better performance this week. |
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Reply | WRU £18M loss for the latest financial year
at 14:21 24 Oct 2026
I just can’t see that happening.
If you look at the English Premiership, all their teams have good facilities, better than anything we have bar Cardiff Arms Parc and Parc Y Scarlets. The English teams are all located in population centres of over 130,000 people and they’ve got money behind them, we’re light year away from that.
I just can’t understand where the WRU money is going to, there needs to be a massive investigation and overhaul. |
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Reply | WRU £18M loss for the latest financial year
at 19:21 23 Oct 2026
One part of the Central Glamorgan District’s letter requesting an EGM made reference to an audit to see where the money was being spent, no wonder!!! Welsh rugby is a small world and everybody knows everybody, so I wonder tif the Central District were tipped off about something. They m not an accountant, but I’ve got a pretty good idea as to how the world goes round and it’s staggering how much the WRU is spending and I’d like to know what. |
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Reply | 1966
at 08:25 23 Oct 2026
Thanks for clarifying, I was at the other end of the ground. |
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Reply | 1966
at 22:43 22 Oct 2026
I was about 6 months old when this happened and only became aware of it as I was growing up in my late teens early 20’s. It wasn’t something that was really spoken about.
Not long before he died, my father told me that on hearing about the disaster he and his best mate travelled up to Aberfan from Port Talbot to offer their help, it was a combination of lifts and walking, but as they got to Aberfan they ( and many others) were turned away by the police. I could tell it still troubled him. My mother can remember exactly where she was when she first heard about the tragedy.
Great to see the club holding the 1 minute silence which was well respected apart from the solitary West Ham fan - who I suspect was shut down pretty quickly by those around him. [Post edited 22 Oct 22:45]
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Reply | Okay I’ll post it. Call him what you want
at 23:11 19 Oct 2026
He’s already being held at Rampton Hospital, so I’d wager there’s a good chance the defence will be all about his mental state. I don’t think he’ll ever get out of there.
Totally agree with your comments about more prisons for serious criminals, we need to be able to lock people like this guy up for ever. What this incident shows is that our MH services are still failing, how many times have we seen this type of incident take place? There’s always an enquiry, a few people come out and say lessons will be learnt etc etc ,… but nothing ever changes.  |
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Reply | Swansea City v West Ham United : Match Thread
at 20:22 17 Oct 2026
Totally agree with you.
I thought they were the slightly better team, but there wasn’t much in it and the Swans should have had a draw. That said, I thought we were too slow in our build up play, especially when chasing the game, continuous passing around the back is extremely frustrating. West Ham broke with pace, picked up a lot of secondary ball from challenges in midfield, pressed well and they killed the game with their time wasting.
Ronald caused them problems in the first half and that was something we should have done more of in the second half.
I thought Vigouroux played well and made a few great saves which kept us in the game.
They are a good team, but with a bit guile and application we could have had something out of the game. I think Swansea needn’t be afraid of them in the return match. |
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Reply | Andy Burnham
at 21:17 16 Oct 2026
There’s always more that can be done, but to be fair she’s making more progress than many of her predecessors. This has been an issue for years and it’s going to take a fair while to sort it out. Changes to the legislation is a great start as is investing in staff to process outstanding claims, previously things were allowed to drift as staff numbers were cut due to “austerity.”
If people actually took the time to check things out from a range of different sources and research things themselves, they may have a more informed perspective. What Mahmood is doing isn’t rocket science, most of the things Mahmood is doing could have been done years ago - but they weren’t. She appears to be grasping the nettle where others have failed.
FWIW I’d also like to see her take a similar approach to dealing with Pakistan (as she has with the DRC, Eritrea etc) re their failure to take back the Rochdale offenders, however I suspect that’s a lot more complicated because of cooperation and intelligence sharing between the countries with regards to other issues in that area. |
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Reply | Andy Burnham
at 21:03 16 Oct 2026
You got a link to this news program because there’s no evidence or record of UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood saying that "immigrants have more rights than British people" on the news or any other programme come to that. What seems to be taking place is that this story line is being pedalled on the ever reliable internet when there is no substance to it, people are reading it and taking it as gospel without checking to see if it’s correct.
So far, Shabana Mahmood has introduced an overhaul of the UK's immigration and asylum framework, with measures focusing on tightening settlement criteria, restricting loopholes, and using visa leverage to enforce returns.
Key legislative and policy actions introduced by Mahmood to deter migration and manage the system include:
1. Significantly Extending Settlement Waiting Periods
Mahmood introduced structural changes to permanent settlement rights to lower net long-term migration numbers:
Work and Student Migrants: The government proposed doubling the qualifying period required for most migrant workers to earn Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), shifting the timeframe from 5 years to 10 years.
Asylum Seekers: Under the major Immigration and Asylum Bill, refugees granted asylum are shifted to temporary status. They face up to a 20-year wait before they can apply to settle permanently, during which time their refugee status will be regularly reviewed, and they may be told to return home if their country is deemed safe. That is very contentious and she’s getting pushback from quite a few MP’s.
Closing Legal Loopholes and Human Rights Abuse: In October, Mahmood tabled targeted amendments to the Immigration and Asylum Bill explicitly designed to stop migrants and foreign criminals from avoiding deportation. The proposed changes include
Closeing Article 8 (Right to Privacy and Family Life) loopholes used by individuals misrepresenting their family circumstances to stay in the UK.
Cracking down on individuals lodging last-minute asylum claims as a delaying tactic.
Introduce a means-tested scheme where asylum seekers are ordered to pay approximately £10,000 each for their state-funded living costs or face a denial of settled status.
She’s also pursued diplomatic penalties and developed a strategy of targeting nations that refuse to take back citizens who have no legal right to remain in the UK:
Eritrea: In October 2026, she threatened a complete visa ban on Eritreans after the nation refused to accept returns. Additionally, Eritrean diplomats were barred from travelling more than 60 kilometres (37 miles) outside of London without Foreign Office permission.
Egypt: She signed a migration agreement that reduces the processing time to return unapproved Egyptian nationals by roughly 90% (dropping from 30 weeks down to 3 weeks).
Other Nations: Following similar visa-restriction threats, countries like Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) enhanced their returns cooperation, allowing the UK to run active deportation flights.
According to Home Office figures released in late 2026, arrivals via small boats dropped by 40% compared to the same period in the prior year, while total returns and deportations rose by 8% to exceed 40,600 over a 12-month period.
On the 30th of June the Government introduced an updated draft code of practice on preventing illegal working. The legislation went live at the start of this month and increases the scope of the term employment so that people illegally working in the gig economy, food delivery workers etc are now covered by the legislation and employers have to do checks etc and can be prosecuted when they don’t. The changes will mean firms that fail to conduct right to work checks will face civil penalties of up to £60,000 per worker. In serious cases, employers may face a criminal conviction, carrying a prison sentence of up to five years and an unlimited fine.
I’m not saying the immigration and small boat problem is resolved, but having regard to the above, I think it’s fair to say Mahmood has done a lot more than most, if not all of her recent predecessors. |
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Reply | Welsh Labour M4 Relief Road
at 23:35 15 Oct 2026
It’s common sense that we need a new road. It’s a pity Skates didn’t hold this view when he was in Drakeford’s government 7 years ago because he could have challenged Drakers about it and fought for one. It’s also a pity he didn’t hold the same view 7 months when he said he thought the opportunity had gone!!
Seems like all 3 opposition parties are now campaigning for a new road - are they campaigning because they believe we need one, if they get in power will they deliver one or are they making mischief for Plaid Cymru knowing there’s no money in the tin!
FWIW, I think Ken Skates should get on the dog and bone and get Burnham to trouser up the cash for the road and atone for the cluster @@@@ decisions made by our previous Labour government. |
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Reply | Andy Burnham
at 23:21 15 Oct 2026
Given the short time she’s been in post she’s done a fair bit, how many Home Secretary's have done more than she has in such a short time? |
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Reply | Andy Burnham
at 21:30 15 Oct 2026
There’s a lot more in need of doing, but to be fair to Mahmood she’s done a lot more than any of her predecessors to deal with the issue. |
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Reply | Public sector pensions unaffordable ?
at 18:37 10 Oct 2026
But it’s not 3/4 of a million quid, when Res’s father retired 32 years ago the pension would have been around £10.5 to £11k per annum, inflation has done the rest. When Res’s father worked, part of his remuneration package would have been his pension and we can’t change that now retrospectively. A number of recent governments have changed the terms of pensions schemes and many public sector pensions are far less attractive.
Going back to Res’s dad, many of his colleagues will have already passed on, and some wouldn’t even have drawn 1 payment from their pension scheme, it’s a matter of luck. As someone else said earlier all the pension stuff is worked out by actuaries. |
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Reply | Wales v Norway : Match Thread
at 21:45 2 Oct 2026
Went to the game last night and I thoroughly enjoyed, didn’t have high hopes in the way up but the result surpassed my expectations.
Thought Wales played really well and it could have been more than the 2 goals with a little bit more luck. Norway were a big physical side and our pace and movement caused them problems. On the negative side, I though that there were a couple of times when our players could have taken a shot and tested their keeper instead of passing around or passing it backwards. There were also shades of last March against Bosnia towards the end when they had us under pressure and were pressing for a goal, but we held out and bagged the 3 points. It needs addressing. Thought the team played well, a couple of individual errors but on the whole 3 deserved points.
There was a good crowd there considering it was a Thursday night and the first of 2 games in 4 days, that’s a an expensive commitment for fans from West, Mid and North Wales. [Post edited 3 Oct 0:42]
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Reply | Burnham on Fuel Prices
at 21:30 2 Oct 2026
Petrol is cheaper than it was at its peak in 2022, but diesel has surpassed its previous high point and is now at a record high.
After the initial surge in the Spring and early summer of 2022, the price of fuel started dropping and was on a consistent downward trend until February and March this year when, it went started climbing significantly. It’s gone up ever since and the cause is the tension / war in the middle east. |
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