@Karen Again, I cannot respond to comments on the thread, so I'm sending this as a direct response.

I stand corrected and apologise. However, that is a grudging apology.
Personally, I think it's morally wrong for an able-bodied person to benefit from something designed to aid a disabled person. I'm happy to concede "Nipping to the shops", but taking a 150-mile trip, surely you'll concede it's taking the P?

See, this is why tantrum blocking is silly; further dialogue is the way to resolve things.

Thanks for correcting me.

@Erin I would love to respond to your comment, but I'm blocked from the thread. I presume you meant me with the "unfulfilled" statement? I've had more than enough fill of people complaining about being caught doing something wrong.

I also don't see why my tax and national insurance payments should be abused. The "Wife" didn't get the mobility allowance. The allowance is not a family award; it is an award to the disabled person. I'm actually stunned that there's no shame in allowing a partner to drive 150 miles in a vehicle funded by the taxpayer. If someone can show me where it says "Anyone in your family may use this vehicle for personal reasons." I will be more than happy to write an apology.

And another tantrum block because the individual is not getting their own way.

Why on earth would you bother replying, only to immediately block the person? Well, obviously, I know why, but it's so childish.

Oh, and by the way. Just because you're disabled doesn't mean you get a 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗝𝗔𝗜𝗟 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 card when you're wrong, or you don't like what's being said. 🤦‍♂️

I used to get annoyed at people who said: "What's the point of voting. It never makes any difference." I would argue that if you didn't vote, you had no right to complain. It would seem that we are witnessing the stealthy, underhanded methods of the 'losers' chipping away at the democratic result of the winners. While I'm fully behind any academic enhancement on offer, there's really no valid reason to rejoin Erasmus. We already have the Turin scheme, which gives students far more scope than Erasmus does. What's really going on here is Europhiles steadily repairing severed ties that on the surface appear almost unimportant but are in fact laying the foundations of a return to the EU. The next time someone tells me voting makes no difference, I'll probably respond: "You may have a point." #Brexit

news.sky.com/story/uk-to-rejoi…

UK to rejoin EU's Erasmus student exchange scheme - reports

The popular programme, which allowed Britons to spend a year studying at European universities as part of their degree without paying extra fees and vice versa for their European counterparts, ended for British students after Brexit on 1 January 2021…

^{Sky News}

𝗜'𝗺 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁?
Every morning, just after 9 am, I get a call.

02046391219
01146972693
01146975128
01135197728
01146972995
01135194292
01135194630

Hysterical! A customer sent this to all their staff.

This is a reminder that 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀. Under no circumstances should anyone let themselves in, even if the door is on the latch. Please wait for a member of the store's team or contact F... or A... for access.

This procedure is in place because stock and items continue to go missing, and we must strictly control the number of people entering the stores.

If you are unsure what item you need, you may enter 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻, who will assist you in locating the correct part.

Please also note that 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 are permitted to sign out items from the Electrical Shelf.

The following individuals are the designated staff members authorised to access the stores:

It then lists sixteen people who don't need a chaperone and can therefore be trusted.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁?

Because the question is, were we misled so that the voting public accepted higher taxes (Something Labour said they wouldn't do.) and VAT increases to reduce this potentially now mythical black hole or at the very least a black hole that's not as bad as we were first led to believe.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewjkv…

Chris Mason: Why, in my judgement, Reeves was misleading on one specific point

The Chancellor chose not to share some information on tax receipts in an unusual press conference, given before the Budget.

^{Chris Mason (BBC News)}

𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙩?

So the other day, a customer refused to pay after we set up a new user on a laptop because he'd already paid a few months earlier for it to be set up for someone else, who, unfortunately, died.

Another customer's hard drive has failed. I asked them to drop it off, but he refused, saying he just wanted a price before deciding. I pointed out that I didn't (at that point) know the drive's size, so it was impossible to quote. He sent me a picture. Luckily, the image shows it's a 2TB SSD. I give him a price to replace said drive, and he says, "I'll get another refurb off you instead." The thing is, he'll still needs to buy a 2TB SSD! 🤯

I'm so confused. How the hell do some people's minds work?

I have to say, I agree with every headline in these newspapers. Oh, and I'm sick to death of socialist journalists using the term "Working Families" when reporting on people's benefits! Yes, you can get income support or PIP if you work, but most of those you interview are not working!

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yq85…

Newspaper headlines: 'High welfare, high tax' and 'Budget goes as billed'

Budget highlights, lowlights, and an OBR blunder lead all the front pages in Thursday's papers.

^{BBC News}

So the feeble argument for taxing electric vehicles is that the government is losing fuel duty on combustion-engine cars. If that's true, why are cyclists not being taxed? After all, the more pushbikes on the road, the fewer powered forms of transport there are, ergo less tax duty. I'm surprised Rachel Reeves hasn't implemented a tax on people who wear the colour blue, or on those selfish people who have gardens? She could tax you by the square foot! 😡

P.S. I don't own an electric car.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8jw9l…

Electric vehicle owners to face pay-per-mile tax

Drivers of electric cars will pay a road charge of 3p per mile, while plug-in hybrid drivers will pay 1.5p per mile from April 2028.

^{Pritti Mistry (BBC News)}

There are undiscovered tribes deep in the Amazon forest who have never seen anyone from outside, who knew that everything was going to be Boris's fault.

Yes, he and the Tory government could have done better, but hindsight is a wonderful thing! I'd argue that they got a lot of things right, even if they went about it the wrong way. I'm talking about spending money, for example, with little or no control over it. When faced with thousands dying, I'd rather throw money at it than hold the wallet shut in case someone defrauds or makes disgraceful profits.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli…

Covid chaos in Boris Johnson’s government led to 23,000 deaths, damning inquiry finds

Report finds PM and Dominic Cummings presided over ‘toxic and chaotic culture’ in Downing Street

^{Caitlin Doherty (The Independent)}

𝗕𝗕𝗖 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵
The BBC apologises for the Panorama doctored video, and now we find out that Newsnight was at it too! So many questions. Was it the same person who edited both videos? Were they the same program editors and producers? But hey, everyone at the #BBC is impartial, right? 🤦‍♂️

telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/1…

It's the Editors and Producers at the BBC who need to be got rid of. They control what is put out. The likes of Davie and Turness failed to manage them. If anyone can't see how skewed the BBC news stories are, then maybe you should start to get your news from other agencies for a while; it'll be an eye-opener for you.

bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd9kqz1yyx…

BBC chair to respond to MPs as departing News CEO rejects claims of institutional bias

The BBC's director general Tim Davie, and CEO of news Deborah Turness, resigned last night after a leaked dossier made a series of criticisms of BBC output.

^{BBC News}

Dear journalists
What's going on between Starmer and Reeves? This is the second time he's saved her, isn't it?

Didn't Starmer campaign on a sleaze ticket, saying he would clean up wrongdoing by MPs? #Labour is turning out just as bad as the Tories!
itv.com/news/2025-10-29/reeves…

Dear #Labour, STFU keep using the lame excuse: "We inherited [insert problem] from the Tories. You're in charge now, it's your problem, 𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗧 𝗢𝗨𝗧!

That applies to you too, biased #BBC

What time does Taylor Swift come on?
Held for 738 days by terrorists in the most appalling conditions, poorly fed and possibly mistreated, and the first thing some bright spark can think of is "Let's parade them all on a stage because we don't think they have been debased enough!"

theguardian.com/world/2025/oct…

Hamas releases first seven of 20 Israeli hostages after two years in Gaza

Group handed over to Red Cross as Israeli ministers approve list of more than 1,700 Palestinians for release

^{Daniel Boffey (The Guardian)}

Kemi Badenoch would be better off rebuilding the party than setting out her market stall in the hope of winning the next election. Reactivating the Young Conservatives is a good start. If they're still members? Expel Johnson and Cameron, and show the British public that the Conservatives are cleaning out the stable and putting their own house in order before trying to tell the nation what to do.

The biggest problem with people defecting to ReformUK is that it gives legitimacy to Farage's party - I wouldn't be surprised if they win the next election.
#politics #conservatives
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39r8k…

Badenoch to set out new rule to cut borrowing and taxes

In a conference speech, the Tory leader will say the Conservatives are the only party "with a plan to get our economy back on track".

^{Joshua Nevett (BBC News)}

It grieves me to say it, but at the moment, the Conservatives are a spent force. They've only themselves to blame. They had it all and threw it all away. I would argue they are so devastated as a party, I don't beleive Kemi Badenoch can turn it around and decline, if not extinction is potentially on the cards.

bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cly6kk17…

Badenoch denies empty seats an issue at Tory conference

On Monday, shadow chancellor Mel Stride gave his speech to a partially empty hall in Manchester.

^{BBC News}

I honestly think William and Kate, as King and Queen, will unify this country — or at least go a long way toward repairing our damaged harmony — and usher in a new connection between the royal family and the British public.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home…

Prince William: ‘Change is on my agenda – change for good’

The heir to the throne candidly described how his wife’s cancer battle left him overwhelmed and revealed his children do not have mobile phones

^{Tony Jones (The Independent)}

If Kier Starmer is worried about Farage, maybe he should stop pissing the electorate off!
#Labour #ReformUK #kierstarmer #Farage

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cge20p…

Why Keir Starmer wants to keep talking about Nigel Farage

The Labour leader insists his battle with Reform UK represents a different kind of political fight.

^{Matt Chorley (BBC News)}