Jim Hughes

I had no problems with flies this morning, I did have a bright pink pair of Happy Stride shorts on though, dazzle camouflage?

I used to think that was a weird American anachronism, but I'm starting to like it, at the very least apply that rule for expats who want a UK state pension (and are paying a tiny bit of NI to stay in the system), maybe make NHS cover part of the deal too

Wealthy Dubai residents race back to UAE to avoid tax bills Some risk spending too few days in the emirate and too many in the UK

Tax exiles stuck in London desperately trying to get *back* to Dubai to avoid becoming tax resident in the UK? Just great stuff. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin Advised the Wealthiest 1% While Claiming to Stand Against ‘The Elite' Goodwin's definition of “the elite” includes university professors and civil servants while seemingly excluding the investment bankers, asset managers and global real estate executives who pay him

🧵Reform's Matt Goodwin has said he is “not part of the establishment”, and criticised the “elite class”. But we found that his definition of “the elite” excludes the bankers, asset managers and global real estate executives who pay him /1 bylinetimes.com/2026/02/25/r...

It was Baltic enough on the seafront today without icebergs thanks

Wouldn't brewing a good beer be a more productive approach than trying to revive the tired old brand of an unloved terrible beer? If not, when do we see Red Barrel (yet again)?

I've had too many beers ruined by sparklers, they work on some beer, they ruin others (yes, I'm in the SE, but would you use one on say a pint of Burning Sky Plateau?)

Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Thinking A core component of making great decisions is understanding previous decisions. If we don’t understand how we got “here,” we run the risk of making things much worse.

A republic sounds like the obvious solution, I've thought about Chesterton's Fence, but I can't see the downside fs.blog/chestertons-...

The welds are certainly eye opening, more weird to me is the "bolt a panel on, and add a few half assed welds" approach

Thunderstorm in Hernebaydos, in the middle of the day in Feb?! What is the world coming too?

TBH, I'd turn up for any of them, go for it! Although more importantly, I'm much more likely to be in for your beer

Like Double Diamond, there's one question. Why?

If the Labour Party could do one thing even more incompetent than keeping Starmer it'd be making Streeting the next leader

'Unfortunately Putin and Netanyahu can't be with us at today's Board of Peace signing as they are both wanted by the ICC for...er war crimes and crimes against humanity'

Very much enjoying Crewe's Control in Hernebaydos, and MEB is a very clever beer. Brown beer's not my thing, but I'm liking MEB

It has now been one week since a masked man shot and killed an American mother of three in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

And for all intents and purposes, the shooter, and his accomplices, remain at large.

Southern Water are long overdue for the same treatment too

I'm always a little horrified by how bad ex-coppers are at finding "the baddies", it seems lawyers aren't great at this game either

English speaking newspapers don’t seem to have picked up on Trump administration threats of sanctions against judges in current appeals case involving Marine LePen’s indictment regarding European Parliament fund embezzling which could cost her the right to run for president next year.

How many of these actually pay tax in the UK?

Excellent

Why Is the Government Really Refusing to Investigate Russian Interference in Brexit? Keir Starmer's decision to exclude Russian interference in the 2016 EU referendum from his inquiry into foreign interference in our elections should ring alarm bells, argues Sergei Cristo

Why Is the Government Really Refusing to Investigate Russian Interference in Brexit? – Byline Times

I have to agree that boring brown beer is a prime reason for cask's decline. There's some great beer available in cask form, varied, interesting beer. But all too often it's the same bland brown stuff available in pubs.

Reform UK are raising Council Tax across the country. They claim they didn’t formally pledge to reduce it.

The graphic attached shows exactly what they campaigned on during the Local Elections.

‘Council tax rise cannot be ruled out, says Reform’

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

When was the last time anyone at the BBC had to resign for misrepresenting a leftwinger?

Hernebaydos sunsets rarely disappoint

I'm relieved, the Sistine chapel chimney is very similar (aka cheap looking) to that of our café. I was on the verge of suggesting we post some less than deferential chimney-themed posts to our socials #WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

Bah, May 1945 not 1944, obviously I'd be useless in a war I can't even type the right date 🤦‍♂️

I admit being conflicted by VE Day, of course it's the last practical anniversary to celebrate, but for the under 80s what's it about? The chance to contemplate the stupidity of war, grieve the needless loss of lives, to celebrate victory over fascism, or to have "beaten" Johnny foreigner?

Invasion stripes - Wikipedia

Maybe I'm being pedantic, but there's a Spitfire outside At Paul's cathedral for the VE Day stuff today, it has D-Day (June 1944) wing stripes, which wouldn't have been present in May 1944 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasio...