BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 08 Aug 26 - 12:24 PM

”Backwoodsman when was the last Russian aircraft’s incursion into UK airspace requiring the RAF to scramble its Typhoons ?”

If I told you, I’d have to kill you…

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: mayomick
Date: 09 Aug 26 - 08:28 AM

i think you would first have to catch and abduct me , Backwoodsman , . I wouldn't mind if it was one of the gorgeous alien visitors with glowing orbs abducting me - strictly for impregnation experimental purposes of course.
are you sure you didn't see the russian invaders while walking back   from the village pub on a dark night ?

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 12 Aug 26 - 02:50 PM

Usual idiotic Facebook rhetoric about immigration but this one takes the biscuit

"...the majority of the msm news is left wing driven, so anyone dares share anything from elsewhere then they're lying racists"

How can you reason with people who have no idea what a reasoned argument is?

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 26 - 04:25 PM

So far we haven't figured it out in the US with the current crew. Good luck on your side of the pond.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 12 Aug 26 - 06:30 PM

Tomorrow is bin day :-D

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 01:35 AM

ditto

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 01:43 AM

The biggest problem which new PM AB as did former PMs side step and indeed brought in seriously debatable law on proscription is Free speech and Netanyahu's continued war in the Middle East

If this is ever sorted there must imv be a inquiry into what factors led to these blatantly unjust decisions

Yes appeal to Supreme Court in UK is underway currently

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 04:44 AM

it looks like farage will win Clacton, Burnham has made a politically astute move about cross channel refugees?

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 04:53 AM

i hope he loses

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 05:33 AM

From the Facebook Page called ‘We Have, I Fear, Confused Power With Greatness’, a perfect commentary on the outrageous position we currently find ourselves in regarding our water supply…

”Half of England is officially in drought. Forty per cent of us are on a hosepipe ban. Your garden is dying, your hydrangeas have been moved to end-of-life care, watering can only, family notified, and if you're caught topping up the paddling pool you're liable for a fine of up to £1000.

Unless, of course, you're a golf course.

Because there's an exemption. Written down in the actual rules is a clause saying that grass used for "sport or recreation" can still be watered. Which raises the question of what they think your garden is for? Light industry?

Your child in a paddling pool is apparently not recreational. A man called Tarquin three-putting from eight feet, however, is. And the really posh clubs don't even need the exemption, because they have their own boreholes. Drill, baby, drill.

Mere months ago, some parts of the country had the wettest start to the year on record. Record rainfall in January, drought by August. You might wonder how that's possible. This is where it gets properly baroque.

Not a single new major reservoir has been built in England since 1992. To put that in perspective, when we last finished a reservoir, the internet didn't have pictures on it and Take That were a new band. The population has grown by ten million since then, and the plan for supplying them all with water was, as far as anyone can tell, hope.

It gets better. The water companies haven't merely failed to build reservoirs. They've sold off 25 of the ones they inherited, and not replaced them. Sold them. Presumably for golf courses.

Meanwhile, since privatisation, 41.4 trillion litres of treated drinking water have leaked out of the pipes and into the ground. Water that was cleaned, treated, ready to drink, and then returned to the soil, like some vast national art installation about futility.

Now, you might think all this suggests a shortage of money for investment. It does not. The companies have paid out £78 billion in dividends since privatisation, which is nearly half of everything they spent on infrastructure in the same period. And they've done it while running up over £64 billion in debt, despite being handed over at privatisation with no borrowings at all. Debt-free in 1989. Sixty-odd billion in the hole now. They borrowed the money, gave it to shareholders, and left us the invoice. It's not a business model, it's a heist with a customer services department.

The star pupil, as ever, is Thames Water, which is currently sitting on about £19 billion of debt, needed £3 billion in emergency funding, and was hit with a record £123 million fine, of which £18.2 million was specifically for paying dividends it shouldn't have. The regulator's actual finding was that it "failed to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure" while paying "undeserved dividends".

So the rain turned up in January in record quantities. And there was nowhere to put it, because the buckets had been sold, the pipes were colanders, and the money for new buckets was in a pension fund in Toronto.

So to summarise the official position: your tomatoes are a luxury, the 14th green is critical national infrastructure, and the people who let the water run out will now be issuing you a fine for using it.

The water may be rationed but the irony is in plentiful supply.”

The time to re-nationalise the water industry without compensation is now!

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 06:33 AM

Iagree

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 10:26 AM

Yes water conservation and reservoir construction in Uk and no doubt throughout EU and further serious thought and action

Farmers in UK need to construct "tarns" adjacent to fields for times of drought an so they should

Weather not likely to change its spots ~ sorry

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 12:58 PM

Yes, more reservoirs needed. But please not by evacuating and flooding communities in Wales to supply water to Liverpool.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 14 Aug 26 - 03:19 AM

As expected, The Man-frog has been re-elected by the delusional simpletons of Clacton. Now he’s wasted a quarter of a million pounds of our money on a completely pointless and unnecessary exercise, let’s get on with the investigations into the bribes he’s allegedly taken.

Should be interesting…

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 Aug 26 - 04:17 AM

I hope so

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Vincent Jones
Date: 14 Aug 26 - 08:10 AM

With all the profits gleaned by United Utilities you'd think they'd have the decency at least to repair the road around the Thirlmere Reservoir which they damaged and subsequently blocked off.

No, on reflection, I don't think they have that level of decency.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 16 Aug 26 - 11:01 AM

Does anybody else remember seeing (or hearing) a news report about badgers which have starting digging up golf courses? You can't get the worms, y'know.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 16 Aug 26 - 01:53 PM

Majoc: Badgers via BBC
Also available from the Guardian.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 16 Aug 26 - 08:30 PM

Thanks, Nigel: so it *was* BBC Red Button that I (or Herself) saw that on. Now why couldn't it have been a certain golf course in Scotland? the locals could blame it on wind farms.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Aug 26 - 03:06 AM

the long-term environmental contamination in South Wales caused by the historic dumping of toxic industrial waste—including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins—originating from Monsanto’s former chemical works in Newport. Decades later, toxic leaks continue to affect local Welsh communities and waterways.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 19 Aug 26 - 08:05 AM

I'm guessing that The Sandman is just giving us a brief synopsis of the BBC TV programme last night.
For a better overview, see the BBC's own website.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 Aug 26 - 09:11 AM

I do wish posters would give us the proper accreditation for what are obvious C&Ps.

Nigel, Mrs Backwoodsperson and I watched both parts of the BBC programme (iPlayer is a great resource). Absolutely shocking, I recommend everyone to watch it.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Aug 26 - 10:52 AM

No, I was not aware of the tv programme last night.
I live in Ireland and do not have a tv, and if i had would not be able to watch it., in this jurisdiction
The subject matter has been in the news for a while
it was a cut and paste from AI.
Nigel you were guessing incorrectly.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Aug 26 - 11:09 AM

The first BBC radio documentary/podcast series covering Monsanto's toxic chemical legacy and dumping in Wales was Buried: The Last Witness on BBC Radio 4, which was first released as a box set on BBC Sounds and broadcast starting June 24, 2024.Key Details of the BroadcastNetwork: BBC Radio 4 / BBC SoundsRelease Date: June 24, 2024Presenters/Creators: Investigative journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy TaylorFeatured Partner: Welsh actor Michael Sheen, who worked alongside the journalists to feature the final testimony of whistleblower Douglas Gowan regarding Monsanto's PCB dumping in South Wales.Follow-up: This radio/podcast investigation later inspired the two-part television documentary Buried with Michael Sheen on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in August 2026.
credit AI
I happened to hear that on my radio,[ in June 2024 and was talking about it with a friend yesterday,which prompted me to mention it on this forum

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 Aug 26 - 01:03 PM

Sandman, you obviously have a computer or other device with an Internet connection. If you have a VPN you can download the iPlayer app and access the ‘Buried…’ documentary from there. It’s very well worth watching.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 20 Aug 26 - 03:35 AM

UK is becoming a Island of Waste tips

Dumped plastic bags full of every thing and anything

Plastics, building waste, chemicals, shite, you name it

We are wallowing in it

Yes we don't care and the authorities make money from NOT doing the proper job

We don't care

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Rain Dog
Date: 20 Aug 26 - 06:04 AM

"Yes we don't care and the authorities make money from NOT doing the proper job"

I don't understand this comment. I can see how they might save money, in the short term, by not doing anything about it. I cannot see how they make money.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Aug 26 - 06:15 AM

So, how do you like government by and for billionaires?

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 20 Aug 26 - 07:34 AM

By not spending it in the first place on adequate and proper disposal methods

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 20 Aug 26 - 08:34 AM

There seems to be some slight misunderstanding here about the difference between ‘saving money’ and ‘making money’. I’m fairly certain Ray meant the former, but mistakenly used the latter?

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 20 Aug 26 - 09:15 AM

By increasing bills for customers, while allowing services to deterioate, privatised water companies make money for their directors and shareholders by paying out undeserved salaries and dividends.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 20 Aug 26 - 01:02 PM

The local news in certain Yorkshire areas shows long queues of cars waiting to deposit certain types of waste materials at dumps

No I am not an expert but are there enough of these and what do the councils consider waste that we should pay for disposal ~ can these be improved? What sort of waste can be got rid of more easily and do we pay for any of this ultimately

Just asking btw

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 02:08 AM

refresh

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 05:49 AM

Sandman:
The subject matter has been in the news for a while
it was a cut and paste from AI.
Nigel you were guessing incorrectly.

If you would correctly credit your cut 'n' pastes when you post them there would be no need for us to guess, and you to correct.

If you're not supplying 'original thought' it is good manners to quote your source (even if it is AI there will be the site you're copying from to credit).

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: r.padgett
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 06:57 AM

Gutter press NP has won against Harry and Meghan and others like Elton ~ circumstantial evidence not proof enough regarding snooping methods

As I say elsewhere "do not bite the hand that feeds you"

What goes round will come round

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 08:01 AM

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman - PM
Date: 19 Aug 26 - 09:11 AM

I do wish posters would give us the proper accreditation for what are obvious C&Ps.


Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Nigel Parsons - PM
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 05:49 AM

If you would correctly credit your cut 'n' pastes when you post them there would be no need for us to guess, and you to correct.

If you're not supplying 'original thought' it is good manners to quote your source (even if it is AI there will be the site you're copying from to credit).

Good heavens, Nigel, we completely agree once again! Perhaps there’s a possibility, however slight, that our entente is slowly becoming more cordiale (just as long as we stay clear of political debate)! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 09:41 AM

it says nothing in mudcat rules about crediting cut and pastes see below
Be aware that our forum is Free.

Anonymity and Guest Posting are permitted.

You are free to be anything you want EXCEPT unkind, impolite, argumentative snooty

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 09:52 AM

The important isuue here is the behaviour of Monsanto Which i mentioned first.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 12:48 PM

Sandman: Anonymity and Guest Posting are permitted.

It may have escaped your notice that 'Anonymity and Guest Posting' are NOT permitted in the BS section of Mudcat.

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 06:02 PM

You are free to be anything you want EXCEPT unkind, impolite, argumentative snooty

Was that really Mr Miles trying to remind people how to behave on Mudcat?

Kettle-Pot, Pot-Kettle...

:-D

Subject: RE: BS: Brexit and other UK politics thread 5
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 21 Aug 26 - 06:17 PM

”You are free to be anything you want EXCEPT unkind, impolite, argumentative snooty”

Sez the guy who is frequently at least three out of four of those things. ;-)