A rail fare freeze: Like the Fuel Duty Freeze it would be a 'hostage to fortune' on future Budgets. It is a political gimmick not sensible economics. Little wonder the tax system is in a mess when Chancellors play politics and not managing the government's finances. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Offshore Gambling Companies: Tax expert Dan Neidle discovers a possible Brexit Benefit. Sky Bet's offshoring activities. "This kind of approach would be prohibited by EU law if we were still a member of the EU; but of course we are not." taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/11/18/s...

The Epstein Files: Include "In 2018, internal briefings on Bannon’s efforts to build a European alliance of right-wing parties – which named Matteo Salvini, Viktor Orban and Nigel Farage – were circulated to Epstein as part of a shared email thread." bylinetimes.com/2025/11/17/j...

Covid Inquiry - Government no stars: Chairwoman of the inquiry, former judge Baroness Hallett, said the UK's response could be summarised as "too little, too late". #ukpolitics www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"This change in what people eat is fuelled by powerful global corporations who generate huge profits by prioritising ultra-processed products, supported by extensive marketing and political lobbying to stop effective public health policies to support healthy eating" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The BBC and Gaza: “Day after day, I saw the world’s most influential newsroom bend under political pressure,” www.equator.org/articles/ins...

Were it not for regulation and regulations that are enforced then consumers would find themselves regularly done over by business. #ukpolitics www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The myth of meritocracy. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Lord Mandelson: Kensington and Chelsea Council open a leak inquiry. #ukpolitics www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Gaza: The border agents told them they had been detained because they posed a “national security threat to Canada.” Richard Falk is 95 and his wife is 71 nonetheless in this crazy world they are deemed a security risk. countercurrents.org/2025/11/the-...

Rotten Boroughs: "Michael Situ has resigned as the Cabinet Member for Housing at Southwark Council - the same borough where Chancellor Rachel Reeves broke renting rules." #ukpolitics www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

Keir Starmer's personal 'black hole'. #ukpolitics

When extremists gain power then bad things happen. A shocking tale of the treatment that some young women were subject to in Franco's Spain. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sir Robbie Gibb, "An analogy would be a fixer for Gordon Brown nominating Tony Blair’s chief spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, for a seat on the BBC board. Imagine the furore"... from those fulminating #ukpolitics www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/... www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...

Dieselgate: This time the 'dirty diesels' are Ford diesel cars sold between 2018 and 2018. Profit always takes precedence over standards and regulations. Whatever businesses might claim always remember that the bottom line is profit. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

The US is planning for the long-term division of Gaza into a “green zone” under Israeli and international military control, where reconstruction would start, and a “red zone” to be left in ruins. A plan the international community should have nothing to do with. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard on Thames Water, “What is the government doing letting a bunch of people run the largest water utility in the country and behave this way?” What indeed? www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Watch out, watch out, there's a scam about. Indeed, as there's a multitude of them out there with these being just the latest. northeastbylines.co.uk/business/ban...

"Tim Davie’s predecessor as BBC director general [Tony Hall] is leading calls to end political appointments to the broadcaster’s board amid concerns over the influence of Robbie Gibb." www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

2024 - "what we got was a complacent general election campaign focusing entirely on the faults of the incumbents and a series of hostages to fortune on tax that have left the new government hobbled ever since." bylinetimes.com/2025/11/14/l...

When healthcare becomes Financialised: When a doctor is not solely concerned as to what's best for his patient but also as to what's the most rewarding treatment option for him financially. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Looking after themselves, private care providers. As for those they're meant to care for or their employees then it's a different story. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The crisis at the BBC: Who was the leaker and who were those behind the leaking and what were their motives? Was it a purely political, was it for business reasons or even a nexus of the two? Whatever, it will not be to the benefit of public service broadcasting. bylinetimes.com/2025/11/11/b...

"When Deborah Turness, the now departed BBC News chief, was first invited to a meeting with the corporation’s board a few weeks ago, there was little to suggest it would be a particularly significant encounter." #ukpolitics www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...

An Ashes series not what it once was, back in the day. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...

Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, will it air? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

The Pity of War: Remembrance, how it has changed but how will it be remembered in future? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"The BBC only has itself to blame for its handling of a serious error in a documentary on Trump. But its demise—as the US media landscape shows—would leave us all far worse off" #ukpolitics www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...

Despite the much publicised view of Donald Trump and others, London has been crowned the Best City In the World for the 11th year in a row. A spokesperson for the White House reportedly claimed it was fake news. #ukpolitics secretldn.com/london-best-...

The Covid Contracts: "Massive government spending without basic checks for quality." but a nice little earner for politically connected VIPs. #ukpolitics www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

The BBC: A "Director General with no substantive journalistic record and a Board with negligible experience of what it is to be a journalist in the 21st century." The environment in which BBC staffers work and with a hostile media environment. #ukpolitics www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...

Trouble ahead: We tend to think England's water problems are manifest but by next summer we could find the current situation could become even worse. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

"The notorious VIP Lane was a discreet, fast-track channel that led to billions of pounds worth of public contracts being awarded to politically connected suppliers, primarily without any formal competitive tendering procedures and shielded from public view" www.bylinesupplement.com/p/we-need-to...

Reform UK make headway in Robert Jenrick's 'backyard' gaining their first seats on his local council. Are they coming for you Robert? #ukpolitics www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Shelter Cluster: "Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinian families in Gaza face winter rains and cold without adequate protection, as Israeli restrictions continue to block the entry of lifesaving shelter materials." www.nrc.no/news/2025/oc...

If the very wealthy consider it is worthwhile donating large sums of money to a political party then what is the benefit for me in giving my vote to that party? #ukpolitics www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Is Israel a colonial power? www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...

The few aka billionaires who bank rolled the opposition to Zohran Mamdani becoming the Mayor of New York. www.forbes.com/sites/kylemu...

Lafarge as for other multinationals the bottom line is profit and that means securing the company's physical assets. Even if as it seems that means paying 'protection money' to a terrorist organisation? www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/...

Angelika Niebler: For some Members of the European Parliament (MEP) Brussels is it seems seen as a legitimate source of funding for personal and political aims that has nothing to do with their work in Parliament. www.politico.eu/article/germ...

Democratic Wellbeing: 72% of respondents did not feel they can influence decisions affecting the UK. While 28% think they can and presumably who know nothing of the power of vested interests and political donations in influencing political decisions. #ukpolitics carnegieuk.org/publication/...

Zohran Mamdani - New York mayoral candidate: "This is how power behaves when threatened: if it cannot co-opt a movement, it will try to crush it. If it cannot silence the message, it will defame the messenger." www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/malc...

FPTP: In 2024 Labour received 34% the vote yet took 63% of the seats. Would Westminster voting be much more representative were the UK to adopt a modified Additional Member System (AMS) as used in Holyrood elections? #ukpolitics electoral-reform.org.uk/is-the-scott...

Political donations, how a small 'investment' can achieve a high return. "Collectively, these companies donated £47 million to the main political parties and were in turn awarded roughly £60 billion in public contracts over the same period". #ukpolitics graceblakeley.substack.com/p/democracy-...

"We appear to be in the midst of a concerted effort by the world’s super rich to mould the institutions of Western democracy to their will—and as a means of building power and influence, buying media companies is a key part of this process." www.cjr.org/the_media_to...

Since the War how the privately educated have been very prominent in the governing of the country. * Currently about 6.5% of school aged children are privately educated. #ukpolitics

Where's the beef and the pork: Where in the World do the carnivores and the herbivores live.

Innovation: Think Thermal Energy Storage (TES) not Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) a marketing solution proposed by oil and gas interests? newatlas.com/energy/large...

The UK a rentier society: Neither a borrower nor a lender be but be a landlord? www.theguardian.com/money/2025/o...

The Covid Years: When easy money was to be made. A court heard a claim that former Labour justice minister Shahid Malik helped set up a fraudulent Covid testing firm that made £6.6 million in just three weeks. #ukpolitics www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...