thesepretzelsaremakingmethirsty

But! We would like to do some Scottish Islands soon too. Only ones I’ve been on are Bute (many times as a kid. Uncle had a 2 room outside toilet tenement flat hol place there. Bliss!) & Cumbrae on a school trip in about 1978. So many places, running out of time…(I’m not dying, I’m just nearly 55! 🤣)

My cousin did St P on a cruise in ‘19 & said it was unbelievable. I’ve accepted that I’ll probably never go. We are looking at Canada since a trip to the States is off the cards for a while. We were in Rome on our cruise last month. Lovely place so we are booking a week next year to see it properly.

I’d love to go to Canada.

My one big travel regret was not going over to the Russia in 1992 when my mate was doing her half year in Moscow studying the language. That would have been unreal - cockroach infested flat and all!

When we heard Simon chatting to the lodge owners about seeing “David” & they were going “oh he’s so wonderful, is he well?” we were thinking “David who”? Then the ex turned to me and went “fuck me they’re talking about Attenborough”!! 🤣

It sounds grand but my then bfs dad had moved to Lusaka in the early 70’s to work & we were visiting him so managed to get to Mosi oa Tunya (Vic Falls), a lodge on the Zambezi gorge & Luangua. I feel very privileged to have been there. The Zambian people are so lovely. Fantastic country.

A chant started “clap if you hate the English”. I asked so what did you do? “I clapped til my hands bled” 🤣 He went to Luangua a lot. Knew the lodge owners. Reporting on sport was just a job, it enabled him to do what he really loved - watching wildlife. He’d been with Attenborough the week before!

I didn’t know who he was. We flew in to Luangua from Lusaka, hanging about for the lift to the lodge. I looked at a notice case & there was an article he’d written for the Times with photo. He was very dry. He said he’d been to a ScovEng football match. Got caught up with our lot. >

Wasn’t it a nick-name given to him as a baby?

I met Simon Barnes 20 years ago, staying at a safari lodge in Luangua, Zambia. We said how brilliant it must be to get to report on sport and asked him what his favourite sport to watch was. It was dressage. I found that a little disappointing.

Reform have more Grifters than a 70’s Raleigh shop!

I’m so sorry for your loss. What a beautiful cat x

Poor George doesn’t get any money from the government like asylum seekers do. George, however can work, unlike them.

Thatcherism is fully coming home to roost now.

Heseltine put a fight up against Thatcher which was rare but welcome at the time. But as I saw it, he was still a Tory- a party I loathed with all my being. Then the Johnson years happened and I was surprised to find I could hate even more! I hear him and Major now and they are voices of reason.

When I’m cheering on Tory big beasts like him I know the world had gone nuts.

Milton? Get knotted! Auden? Who are ya? Chaucer? Before my time, mate!

The “Heseltinies” and the like.

Or the few remaining traditional Tory “wets” as they used to be called. They are unlikely to want to go to Reform. Is there such a thing as a slightly right of centre Tory voter now? I used to know loads 30 years ago. Not extreme people just trad Tories. Strange times we live in. Scary times.

They’ll implode further. Reform will offer a merger (they’ll be desperate for their seats and to avoid a dilution of right wing voting) but only with their current leader going forward. The Tories will be so desperate for power they will agree and that’s what we’ll be facing next GE.

Javier Milei had to beg a bail-out and already needs another. Argentina's economy is in a tailspin. Gov't bonds and peso in freefall. People starving, throwing rocks at him.

Farage last year: "He's amazing. It's Thatcherism on steroids. Cutting and slashing expenditure. That's leadership."

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www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I love the event, though.

Obviously, I’m rooting for the Europeans but more so this time as I know how much Donny hates “losers” and I want to see how he spins it!!

It would have helped if you’d got your point this afternoon, Bryson…🤣

No we don’t. Nowhere near.

Who cares what you think?

The parliamentary register of interests shows that Farage has made nearly £400,000 from GB News since August 2024, for c190 hours’ work. This suggests he is being paid more than £2,000 an hour by the news channel. All paid to Thorn In The Side Ltd owned solely by Farage

25% tax rather than HR

Angela Rayner has clearly been careless.
But also:
Angela Rayner is clearly held to higher standards than any other politician because she's a working class woman.

She’s still am MP, love.