roquefort

Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk in the US. Tasked with reducing out-of-control government spending.

“I just haven’t got the scope in my budget,” one minister protested. “What the Treasury and No 10 are asking for is impossible. Just wait till DOGE comes for you, mate.

Tip of the iceberg. During Covid governments fell over themselves to dole out money to all and sundry with no oversight or accountability. PPI scandal in the UK was a typical example. Hopefully Musk's DOGE team will root out much of this corruption and the example will be copied by European countries,

Labour belatedly discovering fiscal prudence. Musk is truly a trailblazer.

Do you have any idea of the additional cost to M&S of the NI hikes imposed by Rachel from accounts? Machin has actually done an excellent job in turning around M&S's business.

How is that in any way relevant to the OP?

Only Rachel from accounts could be so dumb as to 'go for growth' by making it more expensive for businesses to hire staff. The economic stupidity and total lack of common sense is mind-boggling.

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics (Winston Churchill).

Most people who voted Labour are suffering 'buyer's remorse', although Guardian readers will of course be hanging on to their faith by their fingernails. Those that have any functioning brain cells can see what's about to hit them from across the Atlantic. The return of common sense, and the UK will be obliged to follow suit. Local elections will be a disaster for Labour and will show clearly which way the wind of public opinion is blowing.

It doesn't need any fermenting. The frustration is palpable here in the UK. You just need to talk to anyone on the street. While the Tories' failures could be blamed on incompetence, many people feel this Labour government is setting out to deliberately destroy the UK, root and branch.

That’s very true. It takes a special kind of Thai woman to manage the transition successfully. But even if she does, remember that her heart will always be in Thailand with her family.

You probably won't get the choice once nuclear winter sets in.

if you're going to Beijing or Shanghai you'll love it. I just got back from a trip to both. Safe, clean, modern, fully-functioning cities. Get around by Didi (equivalent of Grab). More food choices than in Bangkok. Watch out for the 'silent killers' (electric motor bikes everywhere). Take high-speed trains between cities.

It means giving billions of $ to the climate-change industrial complex so that all those useless high-paid 'activists' employed by NGOs can keep their jobs for another few years.

"Britain could adopt a balanced approach that prioritizes fairness and common sense without veering into unnecessary virtue-signaling. The question is whether Britain still remembers what those values are." The majority of Britons do remember what those values are, but their wishes have been ignored by the governing elites for at least a quarter of a century. We have far greater problems than gender-neutral toilets. The police should get away from their computer screens trawling for 'Non-crime hate incidents' and get back on the streets arresting real criminals. Meanwhile, burglaries, shoplifting and car thefts are no longer even investigated. Hundreds of fighting-age young men arrive on our shores every week in rubber dinghies, to be housed, fed and given mobile phones at the taxpayers' expense. Those winds of change from across the Pond can't come soon enough.