Dave Sumner Smith

Relieved?

Many a true word...

Can we expect similarly momentous events in the US anytime soon?

Would you like to choose where your tax payments go?

Portugal lets taxpayers choose from a list of 4500 charitable, religious, cultural & environmental institutions to which 1% of their income tax is automatically allocated.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Nigel Farage is giving his Reform colleagues new name badges in his make-believe 'Shadow Cabinet'.

But it won't change the opinion of the country: Conservatives, current or former, are totally unfit to govern the UK.

Would you welcome this idea?

France has passed laws that make it illegal for companies to deliberately design products to break prematurely or become unusable.

Manufacturer of electronics & appliances can face fines & even prison for knowingly designing products that fail early or are made hard to repair.

Do you welcome Keir Starmer’s plans to stop MPs having second jobs?

Keir Starmer’s mishandling of Mandelson's appointment could well mark the end of the UK PM’s time in office.

Meanwhile in the US, Trump's direct, personal involvement in the Epstein scandal has had little impact on his presidential authority.

What does that say about the difference in standards?

Having just read "How Countries Go Broke" by billionaire investor Ray Dalio, I'm increasingly concerned that the USA is perilously close to a dramatic economic & political crash.

Are you worried the bubble is about to burst?

Is NATO going to fall apart?
What would be the impact?

What a con!
UFO myths gripped America for decades, & the Pentagon finally figured out where a lot of them came from. It was the Pentagon!

The US military fabricated evidence of alien technology and allowed rumors to fester to cover up real secret-weapons programs.

wsj.com/politics/natio… via @WSJ

How optimistic are you about the year ahead?

Labour inherited destitute, austerity-stricken public services that voters expected to be healed overnight by a “change” government, despite a stagnant economy, deep debt, unfunded policies and an empty Treasury.

How are they getting on with sorting it out?

It costs £3.40 to send a card from the UK to mainland Europe, but only $2.00 from the USA.

Doesn’t seem right, does it?

Is the constant press criticism of Keir Starmer & Rachel Reeves an example of Russian "hybrid attacks & disinformation" attacks on the UK described by MI6 head Blaise Metreweli?

Is displaying a Union Jack somehow 'patriotic'?

Or merely a rather infantile display of unpleasant nationalism?

The Labour government has made some serious errors (and got insufficient credit for its accomplishments).

But IMHO the UK is in far safer hands with Starmer than it would be with Badenoch or Farage.

It was naive, wasn't it, to imagine KeirStarmer could wave a magic wand to immediately undo the damage done by Brexit & 14 years of Tory misrule?

Dead man walking?

More than a dozen Labour MPs have defied the party whips & voted for the Liberal Democrat motion proposing the UK rejoins the EU customs union.

The bill was passed in the Commons with a majority of one.

But will it happen?

Another Referendum is only a matter of time, isn't it?

How soon will the UK rejoin the EU?

I've had to deal with similar confusion. I love the NHS and have huge respect for its medical staff. But the disjointed admin can be hugely frustrating!

WTF is wrong with NHS admin?

One in 7 people in England who need hospital care don't get it because their GP referral gets lost, rejected or delayed, the NHS’s patient watchdog admits.

75% of people in this “referrals black hole” suffer physical or mental harm as a result.

It isn't just Musk’s politics that's the problem with Tesla.

Germany's TÜV has just published its 2026 reliability report, saying the Tesla Model Y has a 17.3-percent defect rate for cars 2 to 3 years old.

That's the worst reliability rating TÜV has seen in the last 10 years.

● The economic damage done by leaving the EU has become clear.
● Disillusionment with Brexit is widespread & growing numbers of people would like the UK to rejoin.
● Will this become one of the key issues in the next General Election - and if so, which parties will benefit?

What are the prospects for Zarah Sultana & Jeremy Corbyn's new (but still un-named) left-wing party?
● Half the MPs that joined them have already quit
● Members have been expelled
● There has been persistent infighting
● Sultana has boycotted Day 1 of the party conference.