RuamRudy

Without wishing to foreshadow the trial, the maxim that power corrupts seems like it may be appropriate here. And, of course, there is no reason that the SNP should not be infected with the same human frailties other parties endure. The tragedy is that, more than ever before, Scotland needs to free itself of the parasite clutches of the country next door, but that prospect is looking further away than ever because of vain and weak people convincing the majority that they can provide the vehicle to a better situation. Sadly, the door to escaping this corrupt and massively damaging union seems as firmly closed as ever, ironically because of the allegations of corruption against those who promised to break us free of the yoke.

A disappointing decision by a disappointing administration. There appears to be literally no decent and credible party either in Scotland or any other country in the UK. We are seemingly doomed to continue to live all our days under the stewardship of incompetent, mediocre clowns who's vision for the future is restricted to their own aggrandisement. That is the story of life in the UK.

Good news for Sunak on a day that he lost another MP. And this one's a scorcher! Revealed: Tory MP allegedly demanded campaign cash to pay ‘bad people’ "Mark Menzies, the Conservative MP for Fylde and a government trade envoy, rang an elderly local party volunteer at 3.15am in December saying he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”. The sum, which rose to £6,500, was paid by his office manager from her personal bank account and subsequently reimbursed from campaign funds raised from donors."

You are on the wrong thread again, Tranny. This one is about the humiliation Liz Truss is experiencing as being, arguably, the most incompetent PM the UK and the rest of the world has ever laughed uproariously at. To be fair though, she's a game old bird, still putting her utter uselessness and lack of self awareness out there to keep the mirth going. Fair play to her on that one.

Poor Liz indeed - as she said upon hearing news of the death of the queen, "why me?".

But as the current population is getting older, who is going to do the work of growing or even maintaining the economy to sustain those no longer contributing to society? Taking your approach, it's the elderly we need to cull - maybe a reboot of Logan's Run...

Domestically, Iran cannot be seen to be doing nothing. That the US and Israel knew about the attack in advance, and that the mode is slow and relatively easy to intercept makes me think that you are correct, and that Iran gave advanced warnings to minimise collateral damage.

The OBR doesn't make policy, it advises on the impact of policy proposals. Are you happy for unqualified MPs who, to a man, are incentivised to make populist, short term policy proposals, to make potentially massive changes to our society without expert guidance and oversight?

MPs, including ministers and Prime Ministers, are rarely subject matter experts in incredibly complex and fickle things like managing a globally connected country. Without models, which have been developed by actual experts and refined over decades of data acquisition and analysis, how are the ideas of short term non-expert incumbents, who are naturally inclined towards selfish decision making, to be tested?

Horses for courses?

I must admit, I did see a lot of expats who would not have looked out of place in Makati Avenue so I guess there is a feral side to it too. But it sounds like @simon43 is similar to myself in not chasing the nightlife so I think these aspects would be easy enough to avoid. Another thing I liked about it (the Scotsman showing in me) was the prices - for example we had lunch in Fibber Magee's in Dumaguette City, a good, nicely decorated Irish pub in Dumaguette City with excellent service. I had a excellent plate of fish and chips, a generous portion and freshly prepared, for the equivalent of 290 baht - and it came with 2 free bottles of ice cold San Miguel beer.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zout by David Mitchell A novel set in late 18th century Japan and the involvement of the Dutch East India Company there. I am really enjoying it, although i have yet to read a David Mitchell book that I didn't enjoy.

We took a short trip to Dumaguette last week - my first time there but it definitely won't be our last; the island was stunning, the people friendly, Dumaguette city pretty developed and in good condition. I think I could easily live there. To add to this - the level of English across the Philippines is impressively good, especially with those under around 40.

Tagaytay's proximity to Manila makes it a nightmare for getting anywhere: most days, every weekend and all during the holiday period Tagaytay is gridlocked. I was there yesterday to pick up our new puppy (a great animal sanctuary, Biyaya, there if anyone is looking for a new dog from a good, reputable source) and getting back to Manila took close to 3 hours.

Better to do good than do bad. You should try it sometime.

Please stay on topic - this one is about the corrupt and incompetent Tory government's humiliating failure to implement their flagship policy.

I think those getting houses are the ones who pocketed the hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money squandered by our useless, corrupt government. Big, big houses...

It a outrageous that he has been allowed to resign the whip - a pitifully weak Tory party has stood by after he has admitted to creating a national security incident. He should be immediately suspended as an MP and his constituents given the opportunity to initiate a recall petition. At the same time, a thorough police inquiry at the very highest level should be undertaken to assess just how much damage he has done. William Wragg resigns Tory whip after divulging MPs’ phone numbers

My mates and I went to the Glastonbury festival in 1994 (I think) - there was a buzz about some new band called Oasis that were playing one of the smaller remote stages but I convinced them that it would be better to go to see The Sandals who were playing the funk stage at the same time. I think some still haven't forgiven me.

The issue not about those who are uncertain about their gender, it is about those who are certain but that gender is not the one they had at birth...

I find that a Tinto de Verano is always a nice way to set up for sundowners.

Cracker formed from the ashes of Camper Van Beethoven - they are still on the go but never really hit the highs that I thought they deserved when I first started listening to them in the mid 90s.

There have even been some of them here boasting about doing so.

Those who were physically born male should not be competing in women's sporting events, even if they have fully transitioned. Most likely they will have retained the physical traits of being born male, giving them a genetic advantage over those who were born female. This should be adopted as a universal ruling by all sporting bodies and this stupid and divisive debate put to bed once and for all.

Tommy Robinson is a hypocrite when it comes to opposing child sexual exploitation "... he himself has an appalling record of confronting paedophilia and abuse within his own team and amongst his supporters. Lennon has consistently ignored or even defended occurrences of these crimes in his own ranks, proving that he is more concerned with attacking Muslims than actually combatting CSE or challenging sexual violence. "It is now also clear that he has no interest in calling out child abuse amongst his own supporters. "