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Thread | More SNP waste
at 06:30 25 Oct 2026
In 2007 the SNP introduced a ban on public secctor compulsory redundancies. It has emerged that around 800 people are being paid salary, NI, and pension contributions for jobs that no longer exist. Some but by no means all are redeployed, sometimes on temporary short-term projects, but still on their original pay scale. The cost is about 27 million a year. Scotland is facing a 5 billion black hole in the near future and Swinney has said he needs to lose 12,000 jobs, At the same time, the SNP has reaffirmed that it will stand by its no compulsory redundancies policy. The rest of the UK is subsidising this through Scotland's favourable Barnett formula settlement.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/sc [Post edited 25 Oct 6:35]
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Reply | Queens Park Rangers V Swansea City : Match Thread
at 18:07 24 Oct 2026
Could have just been one of those days, but I said last week that we seemed to be regressing and I was worried that we might be about to throw away the advantage of our good start. Dire display today. |
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Thread | Senedd debates banning face coverings.
at 16:24 22 Oct 2026
I am somewhat undecided about the wisdom of a general ban on face coverings, but Sioned Williams' meltdown at the very idea of discussing a ban on the burqa and niqab was something to behold. The proposal, she said, is "shameful" and analagous to the German persecution of the Jews in the 1930s. Anybody would think that no other European country had moved towards such a ban - countries in the very political bloc that Williams is so eager to rejoin. What a ridiculous figure she cuts.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/art
Wiki says:
As of October 2025, the following European states have introduced a full or partial ban of the burqa: Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, Portugal, the Netherlands (in public schools, hospitals and on public transport), Germany (partial bans in some states), Italy (in some localities), Spain (in some localities of Catalonia), Russia (in the Stavropol Krai), Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway (in nurseries, public schools and universities), and Kosovo (in public schools), Bosnia and Herzegovina (in courts and other legal institutions). [Post edited 22 Oct 16:38]
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Reply | RAF Fairford
at 08:52 21 Oct 2026
Still can't get my head around why Danny Thomas is so dangerous that he has to be remanded in custody for months, while two probable Iranian agents were let out on bail (albeit re-arrested after having a bit of time to erase anything the police missed). |
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Reply | French Economy in Trouble
at 13:48 20 Oct 2026
"Liberal" French shop owner pleads with Muslim rioters not to trash her shop - I'm on your side! Chickens coming home to roost?
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Reply | French Economy in Trouble
at 12:47 20 Oct 2026
It is correct that the UK still has certain liabilities under the EU Withdrawal Agreement, but I'm not sure that what would happen following a French default is as clearcut as EU members being held jointly and severally liable to repay any IMF loan.
At face value, a key EU treaty (TFEU Article 125) prohibits member states from sharing another country's debt. However, it seems that there are precedents when a semantic distinction was drawn so that EU countries were not deemed liable for repaying the original loan as such, but agreed to be liable for a share of any eventual loss. Having done a quick check, there seem to be 3 possible scenarios: (a) the defaulting country remains liable for debt repayment (b) the EU agrees to guarantee repament of losses if the defaulting country fails to repay the debt, with each member state's liability capped at an agreed amount, and (c) The IMF retains its claim against the borrower, but EU countries agree to finance some or all of the unrecovered amount through a common fund. As far as I can see, there is no set rule for the apportionment of liabilities between member states and this is determined on a case by case basis, as for example happened in EU schemes that involved borrowing such as SURE, ESM and NextGenerationEU. SURE provided loans to 19 member states to fund employment support during the COVID pandemic, and all 27 members shared liability for the finance, apportioned according to size of GNI. Probably liability arising from any future crisis would be shared according to GNI or an alternative measure of the size of each economy.
This is probably too boring for most, but the message is that a big French default would almost certainly have other member states reaching into their pockets, even if they do not technically share liability for an IMF loan.
Thankfully, the UK wasn't roped into any of the big schemes.
AI says: The UK continues to have potential exposure to certain financial operations approved before its withdrawal. Article 143 of the Withdrawal Agreement covers specified contingent liabilities associated with financial-assistance loans, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) and the European Investment Bank's external lending mandate. |
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Reply | French Economy in Trouble
at 23:02 19 Oct 2026
Interesting to reflect on who would pay! Probab;ly there would be an IMF loan and the debt would be shared out, presumablly not equally. The 10 net contributors in 2023 were:
Germany (€19.8bn)
France (€9.3bn)
The Netherlands (€6.3bn)
Italy (€6bn)
Sweden (€1.6bn)
Spain (€12.1bn)
Austria (€1.3bn)
Ireland (€1.3bn)
Denmark (€1.2bn)
Finland (€0.8bn)
Some of those - like France - contribute but have a growing national debt. The other 17 are beneficiaries. Germany is on the hook for the biggest contribution, but has been in recession. No wonder Merz is so keen for the UK to rejoin.  |
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Reply | French Economy in Trouble
at 13:08 19 Oct 2026
"... hand over the running of the UK to someone else, someone who thinks and acts like them whilst never facing the actual risks of an election." It is that more than anything else that made me vote leave. There is a trend across many developed societies for law and legal regulation to move into the domains of politics, and even welfare. This can be called juridification, judicial activism, lawfare, or "deep law" among other things. The key point is that it puts many areas of public policy and welfare beyond the reach of national electorates. However people vote in two-party FPP or PR systems, they cannot influence the direction of change. Instruments such as the EU Acquis Communautaire, the ECHR and the UN Refugee Convention limit what we can do to maintain our way of life. The way things are going the UK and Europe more generally will bear liitle resemblance to what they were like in the 1960s. I think Labour began to see the attraction of binding international treaties (the "rule-based international order") during the period under Kinnock and Smith when they saw little prospect of an electoral majority, but all parties have been culpable. [Post edited 19 Oct 13:16]
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Reply | Early release prisoners
at 19:53 18 Oct 2026
Latest batch just let out, and I came across this post on Facebook (canlt copy photo). Can it be true?
"This is absolutely INSANE! Meet Mohammed Yaseen. He was a member of an Al Qaeda group that beheaded Brit Ken Bigley.
He then joined ISIS where he worked as a guard at two mass killings and a deadly public stoning. He was arrested in Germany and served nearly 5 years in prison for being a member of Isis.
After he was released, Germany didn't deport him, so he broke into our country on a small boat because he heard we 'accept everyone'.
He was jailed for 2 years for illegal entry, then released early after 6 months. This is despite hearing in court that he 'posed a danger to the whole of the UK' and he had a 'deep and lengthy involvement in terrorism and Islamic extremist ideology'.
He's eligible for deportation, but the Foreign Office raised concerns that if we deport him to Iraq he could face 'mistreatment' for being a terrorist.
He has reapplied to stay in the UK, which halts any deportation proceedings and it will cost taxpayers' £85,000 a year to keep him here.
It get's worse... if and when he uses the ECHR to fight his case, we are potentially on the hook for another *£500,000* in legal aid.
He's been put in a bail hostel in Windsor and able to walk the streets.
WHAT TF ARE WE DOING TO OURSELVES?!
This country is utterly broken."
Edit: More on story:
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news [Post edited 19 Oct 2:20]
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Reply | Putin and his butty Trump
at 18:31 17 Oct 2026
Unfortunately, this is the MAGA mindset that we absolutely do not want on this side of the Atlantic. The key point is that we cannot be confident that Putin will be content with Ukraine. He wants to re-create the Soviet Union (or if you prefer, the old Russian empire, which isn't greatly different). If Ukrainians feel betrayed then some will join his army, along with theiir technology. Apart from the potential negative consequences for us, there is morality - something the Russians don't seem to have. |
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Reply | Swansea City v West Ham United : Match Thread
at 17:35 17 Oct 2026
Quite some way off our best today, though we could easily have come away with a point. I do wonder if we have regressed a bit in the last few games in terms of forward momentum and penetration, even though we had come off two wins. Hopefully, Matos can get us back on the front foot. Cardiif did us a favour today so that Boro won't be feeling much better than us. [Post edited 17 Oct 17:40]
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Reply | Putin and his butty Trump
at 14:33 17 Oct 2026
New twist on the situation at the end of WW2 when many Germans were hoping the USA got there before the Russians? |
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Reply | Putin and his butty Trump
at 11:36 17 Oct 2026
I agree that Europe is highly culpable for under-investing in defence, but it is incorrect to say that the US would be stronger without Europe. Even in terms of what the US gains in miltary terms, the use of airfields in Europe is important for global l reach. Trump is looking more and more like a Russian asset, and what worries me is that checks such as the NDC, the Supreme Court and the FBI may already be compromised because of Trump appointees in key positions. [Post edited 17 Oct 11:37]
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Reply | The Just Non-Football Forum Daily Dose of Insanity
at 16:48 15 Oct 2026
Sometimes, when the judge is named in these cases, I (fooolishly) day-dream of sending them a polite letter of dissent, but obviously this wouldn't do much good with Mo. |
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