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Reply | Jeffrey Archer
at 07:14 8 Oct 2026
Antonia de Sancha would have kept coming back for more if he had worn a Swans shirt. 
Edit. I suppose I was too obscure and led OHL to finger the wrong man. Looks like the Chelsea shirt was a fairy tale anyway.
https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/ [Post edited 8 Oct 11:33]
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Reply | Jeffrey Archer
at 20:04 7 Oct 2026
Fast getaway then! I suppose he did escape from his travails with a nice penthouse overlooking the Thames and an extremely healthy bank balance. |
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Reply | French Economy in Trouble
at 19:45 7 Oct 2026
Correct. Key passage from first link:
"In the Eurozone, individual countries are no longer able to devalue their currencies to regain competitiveness; so the only alternative is savage public sector cuts. Countries of Central and Eastern Europe are suffering from the collapsed export markets of Western Europe. The recent fall in the price of oil and the economic sanctions due to the conflict in Ukraine are impacting not only Russia but also the other neighbouring European states."
Would you give up the Pound Sterling for the Euro? At the same time, the ability to print money only delays the inevitable: Burnham needs to control those in the PLP who won't allow cuts to the huge welfare bill. [Post edited 7 Oct 19:49]
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Reply | Norwich City games. Tosh will be there !
at 08:27 7 Oct 2026
That Chesterfield header was a really big moment in Swans history, and I'm another who was lucky enough to be standing on the North Bank to see it. |
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Reply | Plaid Cymru
at 07:53 7 Oct 2026
By de-prioritising initiatives /projects that would target the problem of underachievement by white working-class youngsters, and at the same time encouraging use of available resources to support PSED objectives (linked to inclusion and ethnicity), which are wider in Wales because of the Wales-specific equality duties in the Regulation. [Post edited 7 Oct 8:01]
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Thread | Pro-Palestinians march on the anniversary of October 7th 2023
at 05:44 7 Oct 2026
There is no accident about the selection of the date. There is no embarrasment, just as there wasn't when they protested even before Israel retaliated. They dance on the graves of the young liberal Israelis who were murdered at the Nova Festival. It is a sickening display of palpable Jew hate. |
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Reply | French Economy in Trouble
at 05:19 7 Oct 2026
One of the EUs largest net contributors is running out of money. Just the time then to rejoin according to our economics experts. [Post edited 7 Oct 9:29]
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Reply | Plaid Cymru
at 21:46 6 Oct 2026
The positive discrimination in favour of ethnic minorities, such as the extra £5K for trainee teachers mentioned, isn't illegal because our Senedd wants it that way. The Public Sector Equality Duty created by the Equality Act has been beefed up in Wales by the Senedd's Welsh-specific equality duties set out in the The Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011. All public sector bodies are mandated by law to give an edge to anybody other than members of the white indigenous population.
The PSED is one answer to Gwyn's question about whether and how white youngesters are disadvantaged. there is no statutory basis for doing more for them, while there is for young people from ethnic minorities. [Post edited 6 Oct 21:53]
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Reply | Plaid Cymru
at 17:14 6 Oct 2026
More than a few on here voted for that! |
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Reply | Public sector pensions unaffordable ?
at 17:09 6 Oct 2026
It wasn't that you were wrong, but I thought some readers might assume that because the Bank of England held a big chunk of the national debt then it wasn't really debt. I wanted to make the point that it is still debt with a cost. The goverment still pays interest, but at Bank Rate rather than the yield attached to the gilt. |
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Reply | RAF Fairford
at 16:59 6 Oct 2026
And yet Labour rose 5 points in a poll following his conference speech. There is a lot of toxic altrism around, as I've said before. |
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Reply | Public sector pensions unaffordable ?
at 09:07 6 Oct 2026
People may misunderstand the last point, It may be better to say that the UK borrows money to cover that part of current expenditure not covered by tax receipts, with part of those tax receipts being used to pay interest on the national debt. The fact that around a third of UK government debt has at times been held by the Bank of England takes a bit of getting one's head around. It is not so much that the Bank possesses funds that it lends to the Treasury, but that, through Quantitative Easing (the Asset Purchase Facility), it creates central-bank reserves in order to purchase government gilts from pension funds, insurers and other investors. The gilts become assets of the Bank and generate interest income. The newly created reserves become liabilities of the Bank and are held by commercial banks, on which the Bank normally pays interest at Bank Rate. When Bank Rate is lower than the yield on the gilts, the Bank can make a profit; when Bank Rate exceeds the average gilt yield, as has often been the case in recent years, it can make a loss. In economic terms, QE has shifted part of the Government's financing from long-term fixed-rate debt held by private investors to reserve balances that effectively bear a floating interest rate linked to Bank Rate. Viewed as a single public-sector balance sheet, the Government is to some extent owing money to itself, but the reserves created under QE remain liabilities to the banking system. [Post edited 6 Oct 9:12]
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Reply | Gosport
at 09:02 5 Oct 2026
Looks like more than 120 arrivals.
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Reply | RAF Fairford
at 08:16 5 Oct 2026
The US seems to have concluded that there are too many unvetted persons from unfriendly states roaming around in the UK for its strategic bombers to be safe. |
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Reply | Gosport
at 08:13 5 Oct 2026
Again, the irregular migrants were landed by two RNLI vessels, and despite the defence we hear about the Institute’s even-handed humanitarian rescue mission, I think this role has got to be challenged.
In the past the RNLI’s search and rescue role was episodic. The traditional RNLI model can be characterised as:
An unforeseen maritime emergency occurs → Coastguard receives/identifies the incident → an appropriate lifeboat is tasked → the RNLI responds → the casualty is rescued → the lifeboat returns to station.
Now the Coastguard will identify “red days” on which Channel crossings are likely, liaise with the RNLI and the Border Force and pre-plan coordinated action. The Coastguard has developed a SOP for "incidents involving migrants" which effectively recognises migration by small boat as a recurring operational category, and this causes the RNLI to organize its resources so as to be capable of responding to “tasking” by the Coastguard. In some cases the planning includes selection of where the migrants should be landed in the UK, which is determined by considerations other than nearest safe and suitable port. Some say this involves the RNLI in actions that are not simply about rescue.
So the “search and rescue” model has changed to be more like the following:
High-risk crossing anticipated → organisational preparations are made → volunteers' availability and readiness are considered in advance → incidents are expected in potentially large numbers → multiple assets may have to be coordinated.
That looks more like a standing operational commitment to a recurring category of risk than traditional episodic rescue.
My view is that if the Government wants this type of response, it should leave this to the Coastguard and Border Force. The RNLI should revert to the traditional model of dealing with emergencies and cease pre-arranged mid-Channel rendezvous with French rescue vessels and the dinghies they shepherd.
Interested readers can learn more about this by looking at this report:
Cranston Inquiry (2026), The Report of the Cranston Inquiry. London: Department for Transport; 5 February 2026. HC 1581. ISBN 978-1-5286-6169-0.
You have to read between the lines in places.
Edit. The other highly-disturbing aspect of this landing is that Hampshre Police has issued a section 34 dispersal order that applies to the whole town of Gosport until Tuesday. I'm surprised this does not feature more prominently in the national news. [Post edited 5 Oct 8:41]
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Reply | Wales v Denmark : Match Thread
at 21:23 4 Oct 2026
It was coming. We have been under the cosh since about halfway through the first half. Too much short passing near the back when Denmark has managed a very effective high press. Why not bring on James and Moore? Are they carrying injuries? |
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Reply | Iranian Small Boat Migrants on Terrorism Charges
at 13:17 4 Oct 2026
Re Dr W’s remark that "demographics are only going one way," I find it interesting to reflect on how that was allowed to happen. Around 1980 there was a fairly widespread expectation among establishment politicians, officials and demographers that the population resulting from post-war immigration would settle at a stable long-term level, rather than continuing to grow indefinitely. In 1979 the OPCS had predicted that the “New Commonwealth and Pakistani” ethnic-origin population would settle at 3.3 million. Those like Enoch Powell who argued that an ethnically-distinct population would persist and grow, because of in-group reproduction as well as further immigration, were heavily criticized both by Labour politicians of the day and quite a few in the Tory Party.
Here are extracts from an immigration debate in March 1980.
Enoch Powell (UUP): I was saying that we know, because it is the result of facts which already exist, the minimum proportion in future which that population will represent to the whole over the areas of this country which are concerned. We know that in central London it will be one-third or more; and we know that there will be a similar ratio in many of the other great cities of England.(…) It is absurd to contend that one can bring an end to immigration when this is to be the pattern of our future population. By the very natural order of things such a population, taking it as a whole—the parts vary to some extent—is bound to involve—I almost said "to require" —continuing immigration. Therefore, the attempt to deal with the anxieties of great numbers in our cities, the attempt to deal with the fears or feelings or whatever it was to which the Prime Minister was referring, by adjustment of the detailed requirements for immigration, is not merely futile; it is either deception or it is, more charitably, self-deception.(…)
Alexander Lyon (L)
Is not the fallacy of the argument of the right hon. Member for Down, South (Mr. Powell) that when this population stabilises at 3.3 million there will not be any substantial danger such as he argued in the past. These people, though their ethnic origin may be Asian or West Indian, will be British in their outlook and the composition of this society will be different; it will be settled and harmonious.
(…)
Eric Heffer (L)
I have been listening very carefully to the right hon. Gentleman. I must explain that I have black relatives and I do not take kindly to the sort of statements that he is making. Apart from that, what is the logic of his argument, where is he leading us? (…) What does he propose? Is he suggesting that we should send all these coloured people back?
(…)
Alexander Lyon
The right hon. Member gives offence every time he opens his mouth on this subject.
https://api.parliament.uk/hist
It is Powell who many still denigrate, but Labour politicians like Lyon and Heffer are the ones who deserve to be remembered for their part in the genesis of the problem we now face. [Post edited 4 Oct 14:02]
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Reply | Protestors take to the street in Spain
at 07:37 4 Oct 2026
I'm starting to wonder if this is indeed about importing voters for Left-wing parties - an explanation I'd previously discounted. Even under first-past-the-post in the UK, we are getting to the stage (with the native population so divided) where quite a small change in voting patterns at the margin can determine who gets into government. This is even more the case under PR in much of Europe. For some countries like Sweden it seems too late already. Is this why Andy is talking about changing our voting system to switch to PR? |
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Reply | Iranian Small Boat Migrants on Terrorism Charges
at 07:23 4 Oct 2026
I half wondered whether the SAS had finally swung into action. But of course, our government is more likely to agree contracts that allow return of rubber dinghies to France than authorise covert direct action. [Post edited 4 Oct 7:24]
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