Oooerrr I hadn't realized you could get two bikes (as long as they are both for you, and both (ostensibly) for cycling to work!

Now THAT is a tad generous especially with no cap!!!

There is an EV car scheme... Uses salary sacrifice to reduce lease costs..

I'm absolutely sure all the tax breaks (BIC, car tax etc..) for EVs make the Cycle to Work scheme looks like small beer!

www.electriccarscheme.com/lp-ga-0925

Farage is a charlatan.
Zak is an evangelist??

Farage has his loyal following (or cult) and the emotive issue of immigration.... unfortunately.

Zak comes over as a student activist? Not sure how he's going to build his following/loyalty - if he can't then his support will fade when it comes to an election campaign.

There was a £1,000 cap until 2019 when the Tories removed it.

Ebikes etc.. are much more useful to the average commuter and they do cost more say £3-£5,000?

Re-introducing a cap should almost be an admin issue - and hardly merits a HMRC/budget headline IMHO.

It's really no biggie!

Permission to work and volunteering for asylum seekers (accessible)

Asylum seekers whose claim to asylum is taking over 12 months to process can apply for permission to work.

But even then the work is limited to jobs on the Home Office "Shortage Occupantion List" (SOL).

Simple? Not!

www.gov.uk/government/p...

No it's not worse. The Tories were dreadful - continuous culture wars, dead cat stories etc..

It's just that Labour are generally underwhelming while also appearing to be taking the nasties in Blue Labour seriously

BUT that's what happens

Tax is then a way of "cancelling out" the money - potentially in a socially redistributive way - otherwise we get rampant inflation.

And you also have to keep everyone's confidence that you are being prudent.

Government budgets ARE NOT the same as a household budget

Or..?

Could have been worse!

Asylum and refugee resettlement in the UK - Migration Observatory This briefing sets out key facts and figures, as well as information gaps, relating to migration to the UK, specifically refugees and asylum seekers. It looks at overall numbers, characteristics of as...

It's also utter bullsh*t...

Look at where these asylum seekers are coming from and you'll see that their countries are continuously in some sort of mess (and generally getting worse).

They are NOT simply escaping short-lived wars etc..

migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...

Rachel Reeves’ budget options: nothing popular Reeves inherited a nightmare: austerity, Brexit, Covid, ageing population. Now she must balance the books. Here are some of the options.

The next Budget could define Rachel Reeves’ legacy – and maybe Labour’s future.

Rumours are she's backing off balancing the books with one bold move, favouring a dozen small ones that will anger everyone.

Here’s a menu of her choices.

Did British expats in Benidorm, Spain just protest migration to the UK? A Benidorm viral video shows British migrants staging an anti-migrant protest in Spain, claiming its so shit when other people do it

It was on the 13th November at a very large annual fancy dress parade.

They may have been expats OR simply pissed-up British tourists.

They may have been trying to be "funny" but I think most of us would think it's distasteful!

www.thecanary.co/trending/202...

Life as a food delivery worker: ‘Sometimes men open the door naked’ To earn a living as a delivery rider, some work 10-12 hour days, contending with low pay, exhaustion, accidents, injuries and harassment. Is this a new form of modern slavery?

Life as a food delivery worker: ‘Sometimes men open the door naked’

$170,000 a minute: why Saudi Arabia is the biggest blocker of climate action Desert kingdom depends on oil dollars but its people already face a climate ‘at the verge of livability’. What’s going on?

$170,000 a minute: why Saudi Arabia is the biggest blocker of climate action

Asylum and refugee resettlement in the UK - Migration Observatory This briefing sets out key facts and figures, as well as information gaps, relating to migration to the UK, specifically refugees and asylum seekers. It looks at overall numbers, characteristics of as...

It's also BS.... Read the report

Most of the 2024 increase in asylum seekers were Bangladeshis (+42% on 2023), Pakistanis (+79%), Syrians (+70%), Sudanese (+36%) and Vietnamese (+113%)

Shit in Syria and Sudan very obvious. But the other countries?

migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...

Blue Labour = Faith, flag and family"....

In an era when Farage and Robinson are trying to claim the Judeo-Christian tradition and the flag... And to some extent the "look after our own first" mantra?

All very confused!

And that's before you consider the pro-Brexit, anti-immigrant position!

Yup... Just like the 1920s/1930s. See the 2004 book "Anatomy of Fascism". Pdf download!

files.libcom.org/files/Robert...

Tianducheng? Long way to go for the w/e!

You're probably right.

My point is simply that the EU has enough obvious problems right now which could provide Eurosceptics with plenty of ammunition.

Many Brexiteers look to America - culturally, small state/low taxes etc.. They almost need to see how badly that's playing out under Trump before revising their views on the EU.

Trouble is EU seems to be in a bit of a mess, with Macron questioned, Hungary and Orban.. weakness over Ukraine etc..

I used to be proud of being English then British then European... in that order.

But since Brexit/English exceptionalism has kinda shaved the European citizen part off my identity all I can say (or mutter) is "I'm British".

He does seem to have some longstanding ties to Israel (his father died there, he is a supporter of the Or Avner Foundation, he got married there in 2010..?).

And Russia was probably not an option at this time

Rented a house in Brussels 20 years ago. Terms were 3-6-9 YEARS (leaving the country one of the few ways of breaking the lease)

There were onerous conditions attached to the lease: annual rent increases, maintenance costs falling on the tenant (eg boiler service), redecorating costs etc

+ National Front (Battle of Lewisham was 1977)

You're overlooking the 1976 highpoint - Eurovision!
"Save all your kisses for me" by Brotherhood of Man!

Not sure they could do the "loyalty" bit though?

And there are of course many Junior Ministers/Under Secretaries of State already in place

I think the issue is that people like McSweeney have only ever worked as a "political strategist". And nearly 30 years of playing such games.

Layabout politicians or more accurately called Lobby Fodder?

My understanding of the SpAd role is to be an advisor loyal to their PM/minister. Civil servant-like but able to discuss political options?

I think they overstep their function with their shiny shoes and freshly-minted Oxford degrees!

Yes... It was brilliantly negotiated from what I could see - agree to peace (and why the hell NOT)

Balancing the interests of both sides, and hope that in the long run nobody really cared one way or the other about a united Ireland.

Brexit f*cked it up. B*gger Farage, Johnson, Gove et al.

Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, July 2025 (HTML)

All 130 of them? Harsh - think one could be a little selective maybe???

www.gov.uk/government/p...