Trampa501

{1} Given we've had years/decades of Iranian aggression against Israel via proxies, and their "death to Israel" shouts, it's easy to see why Israel would think this. {2} That's a big assumption, given they get assistance from Russia and China. If the Israelis do attack Iranian land it's not going to be a walk in the park, and in the short-term will invite further mass rocket attacks on Israel itself. Otoh if they do nothing then they may still receive mass rocket attacks.

Anyone who wondered why so family rifts start with a funeral, should read this thread to get an idea.

A lot of things changed in the 1970s, and it wasn't just a decade of strikes and 3 day weeks. Housing for many folk improved substantially, and housing estates throughout the Midlands and North were refurbished so that folk had indoor toilets for the first time. Additionally, central heating became affordable for many folk for the first time thanks to North Sea Gas. This improvement went on under both Tory and Labour governments. There were also more bank holidays turning up! Equal pay for women came into force. Foreign holidays started to become common with working class families. Maybe these changes won't seem like much if you came from a wealthier background. But if you lived on a street where folk did have outside toilets and no heating, no telephone connection etc, these changes made an enormous impact on people's lives.

A strange (to me, maybe not to others) development is that RAF planes have been assisting Israel in shooting down Iranian drones. Have we entered the war? Who decided this?

They are launching direct attacks now. And it's precisely because they have been attacking Israel through proxies for decades now (and constantly shouting "death to Israel and/or America" ) that they are perceived as a growing, existential threat. I fear there will be major Israeli/US action to eliminate all Iranian nuclear facilities. Even if successful (in their eyes) it will create major fallout in the Earth's atmosphere, that will impact people's health everywhere. Looking very grim.

You have won a £50 prize. Buy a coffee and an avocado wrap with it, then get lectured by boomers as to your wastefulness is preventing you affording a house.

More and more Sunak is looking like a version of Cameron (who was the Tory Blair). Someone who's there to present policy in a good way, effectively a salesman. His big problem that although he's eloquent and can sell his case, he obviously does not know how most people live. See his failure to even know how to pay for fuel for a car. It means he can come out with whoppers like "now inflation's falling people will start to have more money again". He's been rumbled, but it's too late to replace him before the election.

The folk at HMRC will have a good idea of average earnings+tips per cabby. But you have to realise that government policy is to prop up the black taxi trade (whether that is to help tourism or merely to avoid political fallout is another matter). Companies can write off journeys in black cabs as a business expense - when the journey (in most cases) could have been made either by public transport, or by cheaper mini-cab. See also "business lunches + expensive wine" that is tax deductible.

Apparently it's down to "higher than usual spring tides" Alerts issued as 'higher than usual' tides could flood Essex seaside towns (msn.com)

Sounds very plausible to me. There are already car insurance firms that require you to deploy a monitoring device in your car - and they not only warn you if you exceed desired average speeds on certain routes, but also withdraw your cover if you drive too fast.

Is that down to Sadiq or Rishi?

Off at a tangent, but apparently Matt Le Tissier has been wondering if the govt. controlled the weather when we had that first lockdown imposed (if you remember the weather was fantastic here in UK). Wonder if he realises other countries had lockdown too?

Cheaper abroad, innit?

London doesn't need to do that. They just overcharge for everything by 30-40%. And still the tourists come...

As I pointed out above it's folk from other places like China, Russia, Ecuador... who were taking up this Golden Visa scheme. Somehow people here always assume it's Brits who make the big contribution or investment in western Europe. Why would wealthy Brits do that, when they've had a can't-lose (house prices only go up) place to invest in British housing stock????