“It is not right that people who don’t go to uni have to bear all the cost for others to do so,” sez Reeves. Well, while H.E. did used to be free, maybe this country can no longer afford that. But surely we could do student loans on which interest doesn't outstrip repayments, EVEN FOR DOCTORS?

One of the most evil things humans do is the boiling alive of lobsters. Good to see a UK charity trying to protect crustaceans. @rosemarycrow.bsky.social www.crustaceancompassion.org

Starmer's allies clearly fear Burnham's leadership candidacy. Don't want to lose him as Manc Mayor, but he's surely Labour's only hope for a win in 2027. With the Tories in chaos, & idiots thinking any change must be for the better, Reform is a looming threat which must be prevented!

Dear Manchester Evening News: no matter how many times you block me from reading what looked, from the headline, like an interesting article eg. 2 streets, 51 vape shops; or unprecedented nos. sitting in places like buses, McDs, A&Es, Airport; I'm not going to buy a sub to your tatty old rag - OK?

Headline 'Have you ever tried milk in tea? This English custom has a reason' Can't be arsed reading it, but here in Britain the question would be Have you ever tried tea without milk? as most folk think it tastes better with milk, & it's easier on the stomach. I'm currently enjoying it without, btw.

Bolton Hospital pilot scheme: some patients will be sent away, given GP apmts. or sent to a pharmacy, if not needing emergency treatment. About time! We read horrific stories of patients dying on the floor, as people use A&E as a fall-back resource. It's for EMERGENCIES. Anything else, stop it!

Golden Wonder crisps was born the same year as me, 1947. The best thing, in 1960: their Ready-Salted crisps came out. Smiths, you'd to salt yourself from that tiny blue waxed-paper twist, then shake the bag - & the salt would be just one soggy lump, if you were unlucky. 1962, other flavours - wow!

'Next month could see any dog seized and owners fined unlimited amount' screams a clickbait headline. BUT that's if the dog worries livestock. Quite rightly, there are severe penalties & strong police powers in such cases. Keeping a dog carries responsibilities! www.msn.com/en-gb/lifest...

Happy Tuesday! A cuteness overload I couldn't resist posting.

So often I see a piece about how Brits hate queue-jumping & find it unusual/remarkable. Well, obvs.! In other countries, is it really OK to push in or go straight to the front, as if you're in a hurry, those waiting are clearly not, & you have a perfect right? Don't think so, mate - wait your turn😠!

We know msn is US-based, but it's quite irritating that news items about British driving laws etc. so often have pics of drivers sitting in left-hand-drive cars. Here, we drive on the left; nearly all British drivers use right-hand-drive vehicles. Can't msn be arsed finding appropriate pics? Bah!

'New driveway rule change affecting every home in England.' It concerns EV charging points, & whether they need planning permission. What the author has seemingly missed is that millions of homes don't have a driveway at all. Not quite 'every home in England', then...

A silly list of stereotypes claims 'Subtle Eating Habits That Reveal You're British'. Yet the one which actually holds true isn't described: the manner of using cutlery. We keep fork in left hand, knife in right, throughout eating a main meal, eg. steak, fish (or veggie sub), with accompaniments.

Seems people visit the zebra crossing featured in the Beatles' iconic Abbey Road album cover, expecting to be able to picture themselves on it for Instagram or whatever. They're shocked & disappointed to discover it's a normal crossing on a London road, dangerous with traffic. Oh woe - tough titty!🤣

Among 'Sandwiches You Rarely See Today': tongue. Tesco have thin-sliced fresh pork or ox, but no canned tongue; it did used to be a staple. Likewise, fish or meat paste! Others named, eg. cheese/Branston, Sandwich Spread, are frequent in my home, & I've just bought tinned sardines in various sauces.

'Why the death of a pet can be as traumatic as losing a loved one.' Eh? Has the meaning of 'loved one' changed, or have I misunderstood it all along? Surely, 'loved' means held in deep affection, & a loved one is the object of such affection. If your pets are not loved ones, you don't deserve them!

A Meals on Wheels service in East Derbys. has had to close 'due to safeguarding issues'. What?? People - volunteers? - delivering hot midday meals to the elderly/vulnerable, were at risk of attack? What has our so-called society become, indeed.

Students at a school have voted to remove Pepys' name from one of its houses, because of his 'abusive' behaviour to women. Sadly, most of the historic figures after which school houses are typically named, behaved in ways unacceptable today. Maybe just ditch the names & 'houses' system altogether!

There's talk now of lifetime driving bans for repeat drink-driving offenders. Yeah very high-minded. But as these are clearly people with little regard for the law anyway, surely there's a risk that many will simply go on driving with no licence or insurance, potentially worsening the situation.

Certainly unique, & imo a great place to visit. With some lovely quieter spots nearby, eg. Robin Hood's Bay. 'This seaside town is home to some of Britain’s strangest attractions' www.msn.com/en-gb/travel...

'Adding ketchup to roast dinner is considered borderline offensive by many Brits.' Not 'borderline' - thoroughly. Why would anybody do such a thing? Ketchup on sliced roast meat or nut roast, veg & spuds - just don't! Gravy (proper brown, not some weird white US stuff!) works; ketchup doesn't.

It's true that Brits tend to regard tea as both 'comfort & cure'. My bestie at uni admitted that whenever any of her friends or flatmates was distraught, she, not really knowing any other way to help, would sit them down & give them tea & toast. In any emotional crisis or shock, it's the thing!

RSPB recommends we put roast spuds out for birds. Not off our plates, as must have no salt or gravy. But also, no fat or oil! Would they even be roast potatoes, sans fat/oil? 'Peeled potato pieces, nothing added, lightly burnt in oven' anybody? I generally love the RSPB, but this advice is bonkers!

Posting this on my timeline, just because dinosaurs are my favourite thing, so I want to keep the item. "The most overrated dinosaurs in history (and the ones we ignore)" www.msn.com/en-gb/lifest...

Found out only the other week that pilchards are simply sardines who grew bigger before getting smothered and canned. Both Able and I had always thought they were different species. Every day a school day...

New driving rules are not 'Labour's PLOT to stop over 70s keeping their licences'. They're a reasonable attempt to cut accidents by stopping people driving if they can't see properly. The problem was privatisation of bus services. Like if you make it all about profits, less-used routes won't be cut?

'Mum went to bingo... then lost £400,000.' I can understand most addictions: booze, drugs, even food. Gambling, I don't get it. They KNOW the house always wins; it's a business, for profit, not charity. Also, most addictions are self-limiting in daily quantity. Gambling isn't. Joyless & nuts, imo.

"[St.Helens] 'fighting a losing battle', falling into Farage's hands" It's happening everywhere: desperate, dying towns of Britain's post-industrial wastes, high streets of shuttered units, takeaways & vape shops. Voters think Reform will help? You know their policies, yet still you put them in!🤔😞

Why is beans on toast such a 'mystery' to nations other than Brits? Hardly haute cuisine, it's surely one of the quickest, easiest, yet still nutritious meals possible. Toast a couple of slices of bread (butter them if you like), while you heat the beans, pour them over - voila, done.

Just seen in list of annoying habits in shared living space: 'Not refilling the kettle after you’ve used it.' Wrong. Heating more water than you need wastes lecky & water, & you don't know how much water the next user will want. Boil only what you intend to use, & leave kettle empty for next user.

'My wedding cost £50k; 6 months later, he divorced me' sez gal who failed to realise their disagreement on the rather important issue of babies; & wishes she'd had a prenup to protect her savings. Whatever, spending that on a wedding is just daft. Sorry luv, but you likely asked for what happened!

Gruno Feat Lil Bruja & Strega - How many dreamers (Video oficial) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsel...

'Corned beef hash' - perhaps made with the US version of corned beef, which seems to differ from the ready-to-eat canned meat we Brits mean by it - but what's this liking for chucking fried egg/s on top of meat dishes? I've never experienced it in any British home. Imo it's weird, & not appetising!

Mandatory periodic testing of eyesight, cognition, & driving for the elderly; test repeated every 10 years for all drivers. Great ideas, esp. with cars & traffic conditions changing rapidly. But as folk already travel 100s of miles just to get a 1st test, because of the queue, how could it be done?

"‘We can’t grit every street,’ say councils as anger grows over UK’s slippery roads." It's a no-brainer, economically & practically. Young people need to learn to do what older ones know from past harsh winters: adapt their driving, walking etc. Not expect to dash around on snow/ice, just as normal.

'How Britain turned its back on the full English breakfast.' Can't be arsed reading the whole article, but I question whether the FULL English was ever served daily in most homes. Throughout my childhood, bacon, egg/s & toast was a daily thing, but no sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms; & defo, no beans!

Seems restaurant diners applauding when their food arrives is becoming a thing. I'm afraid if I were the waiter, I'd take it as some kind of sarcasm, as in 'At last! Our order's here!', & not be best pleased. I'm glad I don't get out and about any more, & am not exposed to US-style over-enthusiasm.

Please, online content creators: Brit fish'n'chip shops serving food on/wrapped in newspaper, is a cliche which hasn't been fact for many years, & anyway would contravene hygiene regulations. Time to stop this insulting nonsense!

I can see why other nations mock Brits for talking about weather so much. But hey, which other parts of the world can get 3 or 4 radical changes of weather in 1 day, & can never plan an outdoor event, even only days ahead, at any time of year, relying on it to stay fine. So it's worth a chat, eh.

For some reason, I've been seeing pics of 'corned beef' that looks like sliced steak, with some sort of crusty coating? So far as I'm concerned, corned beef comes - uncoated - in a rectangular, slightly trapezoid can which you open dangerously using the attached key.

Oh my gods. I thought the illegal invasion of Iraq by Dubya/Blair was more than bad enough. But about this creature - who, we know, has no moral compass - I don't even know how to comment... uk.yahoo.com/news/don-t-i...

'Foods Britons love at home but rarely order out.' What's the point of eating out, with all that implies wrt travelling, expense, getting dressed up; only to have something you could easily rustle up at home. Inc., eg. beans on toast, or fish finger sarnies, ffs. 🤪🤣 Don't really think so...

'Family's anger over council's ungritted pavements after girl, 13, breaks wrist falling from bike' Most councils now can't afford to grit any but major roads, let alone pavements. Ideally, all roads/pavements would be gritted. But it's a non-ideal world; & don't ride your bike on pavements, anyway!

The people I do feel sorry for, are those whose homes have fallen, or are about to fall, into the sea due to coastal erosion in places such as Norfolk...😱

"BBC presenter 'forced to sleep in studio' as Storm Goretti brings snow and travel chaos." No, she wasn't 'forced' - she chose to do so, rather going home, then back to studio in the morning, risking a fall, accident, or getting stuck. But 'forced' sounds so much more dramatic, doesn't it😆.

From this piece: '...the Brexit vote... 52% of the population voted to leave.' ExCUSE me? 52% of those who bothered to vote, NOT of the population. Labour's response, we won't be rejoining, but they've made a better deal, blah blah, read if interested. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news...

"Shabby UK town [near Sheffield] once 'rammed' with tourists and shops..." (eg. butchers, greengrocers, bakers - now just takeaways.) Same everywhere, alas. Councils, landlords, & Reeves don't help; but how can such businesses compete with supermarket giants that people drive to for a 1-stop shop?🤔😞

Apparently, the second half of the Buzzcocks' band name needs to be typed 'c***s'. Round here, a woman addressing a male acquaintance will often use 'cock' as a casual term of endearment, cf. 'luv'. A male bird is a cock. OK so Buzzcocks was a deliberately cheeky name, but 'c***s' - ugh, puh-lease🤣!

Residents of Chicago mock Britain's inability to cope with a bit of snow. But there's no point having infrastructure on standby for weather which will likely be short-lived, if it happens at all. Equipment becomes inoperable if it stands unused for long, + we haven't money or storage space to waste.

... and while I'm on a roll wrt food pic grumbles, what of this? If I were younger/healthier, entered an eatery, ordered moussaka, & was served this, except perhaps as a starter or appetiser, I would be far from impressed!