2026-05-26T05:59:36Z https://yabu.me Frantic 🇬🇧 + 🇪🇺 https://yabu.me/npub1u8n3vk85ycdsn7uswcccc2trtnsjmzu35grwt0ruqw22aggkzj2qk4wg9z https://files.mastodonapp.uk/accounts/avatars/109/372/992/312/741/243/original/38baf95a40364574.jpeg https://files.mastodonapp.uk/accounts/avatars/109/372/992/312/741/243/original/38baf95a40364574.jpeg https://yabu.me/nevent1qqswjjlnf7wqam4ymmd03hng4umkx0ue6dk0sdld2uqjnhm28rzxnyqzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgn3jnyl In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsyzc4y9hxlv5wkx6v2ww4tph0h7sgs7qkc33zuymy5kked00gwzzgflkav3'>nevent1q…kav3</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>was the audience member also staged or just luck? 2026-03-20T09:12:18Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsrcrl4e5txltl0ay4mv72ef2eew3mlned7mvuwdr23yrcupd4ssrgzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgauzsa9 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqszwk7rjt7yys4v24gd08gx5mn8uv8r8c8hseftgsvdreej0pp06fsjwpuj0'>nevent1q…puj0</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>from observing my own grandchildren since June 2009 my personal belief is that they are very keen observers of what people around them do. They&#39;re particularly good at working out how to operate TV remote controls, they have no fear or understanding of breaking something, changing the default language to something nobody in the household understands is a piece of cake, the temperature setting on the washing machine is fair game and can be changed at any time.<br/>It&#39;s really a case of monkey see, monkey do. Understanding of actions and consequences comes much later, they are both clever and unbelievably stupid at the same time.<br/><br/>I am currently worried about grandchild 6 of 6, she is far to quiet and doesn&#39;t seem to do much. I am told this is normal for a 3 week old.<br/><br/>No offence is intended to other grandparents or their descendants. 2025-12-30T16:23:09Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs9t5m7zzvmt6qy239l3d8as22syzslxxv0suzsyh6h00yxh93k8dgzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgyzg4r4 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqswzv2wp8stltf5jral0ap8xgavz3yxkkxfpvn4ltsmzys280w8xcg5zqvcx'>nevent1q…qvcx</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Happy Birthday 2025-11-05T08:57:40Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsxuwnp9lepz0fggqmzfhdexyvwrm66lt7r4x5xa50razrdcv88t9gzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgzst4va In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs2pdnzhc7wjvu74qe8sdykmmrzpjj6mx4g5392wklx6w9f62gmrgqem98mf'>nevent1q…98mf</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Wow! 2025-10-17T08:36:34Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsf3v5r43nszqd2sfn3qe0hrnj8wk9hycyrcp7m6p509hhxm0dn67szyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fg93cpdx In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsgqldynnytd7z8fc6k6zqjk6846eyf00s8uwcvv8dej2c9zh0k0agpdfdwr'>nevent1q…fdwr</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>a fascinating history, I saw a TV programme about them once. 2025-10-13T16:50:31Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs2dh9w04eqxhvpraacw6a5kz23dk4s3g3svgmhhd80ppzzcdstm4szyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgxm8sr7 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsgvlexmztdfh4f0txag7ruw66t3l9vtq82unzg8a99acwx7j7d7lqvsv93k'>nevent1q…v93k</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>this is a bit of a tangent to your post but it was because of the impact on the middle class that the Tories added £20 a week to Universal Credit in 2020. Because of the lockdowns they were suddenly faced with thousands of people having to claim UC. People who lived in the Tory heartlands. People who would suddenly realise that the benefits system was not in fact the luxury free for all that the Nasty Party and right wing press had been banging on about for years. 2025-07-25T10:28:48Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsdt4v98xufwyy0qld0h2dpnc4ywgzm40flfescntchzzkxz5yg8xszyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgzfju70 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs8mhxhe09x0s745quzuu5hwyrxllemzc2v77aac6qc84kahkkxf2g98zrza'>nevent1q…zrza</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>some people have the wrong idea about unclaimed benefits. <br/>There is not a pot of money assigned to individuals that they can collect at will, they either claim it or they don&#39;t and if they claim and qualify it is paid. The government does not have a ledger that says Tommy Atkins has sufficient money assigned to him so he can be paid.<br/><br/>Government data in DWP and HMRC gives an insight into how many people could potentially make a successful claim but haven&#39;t.<br/>This information can and has been used to invite claims.<br/>However the government doesn&#39;t use this information to set aside money every year just in case Doris Archer decides to claim Pension Credit.<br/><br/>The idea that unclaimed benefits could finance something else is a fallacy. There is no benefits budget as such, government spending is funded by taxation with borrowing making up the shortfall. In essence unclaimed benefits are in reality borrowing that hasn&#39;t happened yet. 2025-07-12T08:12:27Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs0ch2gq7f9fp68928rf9kr6cnxem04ywxkz464dde8plj28q3qvzczyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fg0v68j9 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsv9k2dj75s8n3t38qtn46rwqpce92auhjjq9ny92mmzke2z7k69dsmc5st2'>nevent1q…5st2</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>It&#39;s ironic and annoying that some junior civil servants are on the National Living Wage. They might well be working on MW enforcement work.<br/><br/>For example in my old department there are some staff in the Executive Officer grade, which is the first managerial grade, who are on the NLW. 2025-05-13T07:56:45Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsf0eu0625u29amlaadq7a2qrg4wz0vwves4k730829pfd6gxyv9rgzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fg4e43nm In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqszzqj38ts9v2v4fxddvht5wvhm4mffq3cyrlmk72cu09djp7l3yssjuwgx8'>nevent1q…wgx8</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>It&#39;s bad enough that the CPS saw fit to bring this case to trial. The prosecution then questioned her sexual preferences.<br/>The final insult is that some of the newspapers have created needlessly salacious headlines when announcing the not guilty verdict.<br/><br/>I&#39;m glad she has won, I&#39;m glad the jury have reached a sensible verdict.<br/>I hope that some people in the CPS get a proper bollocking, are forced to take some sort of training on appropriate cases to pursue and receive a promotion block for a number of years.<br/><br/>#Gender #Abortion #Politics #UK_Politics 2025-05-08T19:17:41Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs94mlfdkt34znnpklt87j5drv3h9x8m32yfwqqtrlpeurm4alzmaczyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgxhlqhm In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs83w8g54x39h8c75kmthlzg5k8d9snufmchdvftlr8esm8vh23eggelrmvy'>nevent1q…rmvy</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>any chance of a radical government creating rent controls that will reduce rents back down to 1999 levels?<br/>Just imagine the number of landlords scrambling to sell properties that cost them more in mortgage payments than the new rent brings in.<br/>Just imagine the drop in property values as the market gets saturated.<br/>Just imagine the auctions full of repossessed properties nobody wants to buy just in case the values continue to drop.<br/>Now imagine a radical government that jumps in and finances a national body to buy all these properties at knock down prices and rent them out for 1989 levels, which will be the new rent control level. Thereby forcing another round of private landlords exiting the rental market for good.<br/><br/>#UK #Rent #RentReduction #PropertyPrices 2025-04-01T13:28:52Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsg77ztw3ct3hdd700f9cl2dhhqlc5ctu3qgc26gmhakw7n8dezkuqzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgj5cu2q In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs2vc5nqvwx3fcs39lemdm38chy5v3t9sr26gm0m5azd46d2tgw6hc2nuah7'>nevent1q…uah7</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I haven&#39;t got the same worry regarding our existing boiler as you have so I haven&#39;t been chasing anyone.<br/>I started the ball rolling in December with EON, British Gas and Octopus.<br/>I think EON gave up when I told them I was getting quotes from elsewhere as well, they never got to the survey stage. The British Gas guy was OK but he seemed overly interested in the Octopus quote. When he asked how much they quoted I told him a higher amount and his quote was slightly less.<br/><br/>Overall I&#39;m happy with Octopus so far. 2025-02-23T09:23:17Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsp0eh5zeed8dgn72k2s90c3twskvwvfmv0cztxr25dp94muv552ugzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgt9krh2 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsvmjvs8y8daey8xqp4qftceh5vt46tqajyfu6p3tgqxyffk0nsvfqgc4kdy'>nevent1q…4kdy</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I&#39;ve not been pushing at all, my experience so far.<br/><br/>Octopus survey January 9th.<br/>NOD survey February 10th - required works have a 4 to 6 week lead time.<br/>Asbestos testing done February 21st - results due next week. 2025-02-23T04:31:18Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs8h67pxgcxr6lvhxmhtjmcmmhnuyyurlkw7dt3cwy3sey28ykh49gzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgs0a2mv My #FANuary boost for a person or account on Mastodon that makes my Mastodon experience a little better goes to –<br/><br/><span itemprop="mentions" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><a itemprop="url" href="/npub12pw99cs5a6j6r56yafxt355j8h38hhw6fh3zwunhj99m3gv3nfds7zzvxn" class="bg-lavender dark:prose:text-neutral-50 dark:text-neutral-50 dark:bg-garnet px-1"><span>Emeritus Prof Christopher May</span> (<span class="italic">npub12pw…zvxn</span>)</a></span> for his insightful commentary on a whole range of subjects related to #UK political, social and economic matters. 2025-01-31T19:19:30Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsyy2wwars6q439qstm60c7hr3uc5ln59deetcktdyccdl466vz7xczyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgzdx0x8 Nationalising essential utilities – like water – should not cost taxpayers anything at all. Sounds like a bloody good solution to me.<br/><br/><a href="https://youtu.be/TlVbKVBLOiM?si=DdJ1uYCSiyokV7L3">https://youtu.be/TlVbKVBLOiM?si=DdJ1uYCSiyokV7L3</a><br/><br/>#UK #Money #Economy #Politics #Government #Tax #Labour #Starmer #KeirStarmer #Water #Nationalisation 2024-12-16T18:09:24Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs0ret5tgvsxftxam24hnv86g73yc807tw7s0lvy5y6gcg23y3urmczyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgpz2e5g In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsdkvcw6gfzxuscurg7spuzp6kvdy7hjrj8rw6rl34jymp2ax93mtcz7fhnl'>nevent1q…fhnl</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>the Bank Of England has an explanation that I didn&#39;t find very explanatory so they may not know either, in my defence I&#39;ve only had 1 coffee so far this morning and I&#39;m childminding the latest grandson.<br/><br/>This paragraph I did understand &#34;GDP also doesn’t tell us anything about how evenly income is split across the population. Growth could mean everyone becoming better off or just the richest segment getting even richer. In practice it usually lies somewhere between the two.&#34; 2024-12-11T08:04:43Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs0f2znldt5lql0rfqt396f4589qz4xz6ht978wu8795ffsugy0xdszyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgc32gea In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsp8vqcvpd2wqdg0afmjjr6g9ldpk26cx09l53zm8c43343leke9cq2x8gmq'>nevent1q…8gmq</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I&#39;m fully in favour of ending RtB across the entire stock of social housing and the sooner the better. I&#39;m not sure why the focus on new properties unless a phased approach is intended. What will be defined as new? This feels like a muddled policy to me.<br/><br/>As for Rayner buying under RtB, no crime was committed so there&#39;s nothing to be answered. That purchase was one in a collection of approximately 2 million.<br/>#UKHousing #Housing 2024-11-08T10:49:15Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs9h740zkxcykx3tzpgzf3qvmqjjkgux4zq3d7y4fsxsppa05hcc8qzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgkpz57f Really enjoyed watching the biographical film The Life And Deaths Of Christopher Lee that I recorded on Sky arts earlier this week.<br/>That he was fluent in German, French and Italian and that he worked in Europe for some time making non English language films was unknown to me.<br/>#ChristopherLee #HammerHouseOfHorror, #Hammer #Horror #007 #JamesBond #Saruman #Tolkien #LOTR 2024-11-01T19:23:03Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsvxn3c8seuvagtl47ntz65jeh3zh2rxhqayd0hehgwvghtk0pfragzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fg4u4u3n Invoking the Blair 1997 election victory doesn&#39;t inspire me with confidence. The initial euphoria of that election wore off as it became apparent that we were getting Tory-lite policies.<br/>The failure to end the cruel and punitive two-child benefit cap at the first opportunity is something that will make me re-evaluate my voting habit.<br/>#UKPolitics #Labour #Budget2024 #RachelReeves<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/113/378/768/365/916/294/original/1b04c169404fb33b.jpg"> <br/> 2024-10-27T10:07:25Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs880n4cq8mjckp49spdnfyuh7lgw5fm7rfz0rd78na8c9zen349qqzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fg3d53cx In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs9ph40tltjyt3egvhpxtzrynjjve7et4pz2909sruy2m07uua887g5sy994'>nevent1q…y994</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>The #UK #Housing market needs complete reform.<br/>End the right to buy scheme ASAP.<br/>Scrap affordable home schemes or put covenants in place that restrict future resale prices to no more than 1% or 2% increases PA - 0% for years where there&#39;s been a general price collapse.<br/>End buy to let mortgages.<br/>Private landlords to divest themselves of their portfolio within 5 years, roughly = chunks each year.<br/>Allow charitable/non profit housing associations 0% loans to build new homes. 2024-10-23T18:45:30Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsrdryr6cyhptuqjr2y9peg9x6jflsk2x9lapcnllkv0fvadqrtt3qzyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgakrkjc In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqstcccg2lkf3dxkuhuzyewqe5wdyp3zkjd7qpegklzfslp0lvwmfrgn60ftu'>nevent1q…0ftu</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I have lived and worked in NE England amongst the Geordie and Mackem tribes since 1989. Many of them think of Manchester and Liverpool as the Midlands or Southern.<br/>I&#39;m a child of the Home Counties and still have my Mockney accent, I am still considered an incomer. 2024-10-20T08:20:09Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsqerpep38wvkfk7tjr6qm23f8lv8m7qhmn29n2k3m3kzmklr0addczyrs7w9jc7snpkz0mjpmrrrpfvdwwztvtjx3qdedu0speft4pzc2fgyja4rd Originally from the bird site, source not known. Also did you know that in the case of the water privatisation debts were taken on by the taxpayer.<br/><br/>&#34;Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson did incalculable damage to this country, selling off all the assets at a loss to their mates. Cutting taxes for the rich to nothing. Creating massive unemployment and inflation.<br/><br/>RT if you know they&#39;re the villains.&#34;<br/><br/>#GTTO #NigelLawson #ThatchersDead #ToryScum #Tories<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/112/191/885/490/457/876/original/8a8b586cd3edd6ab.jpg"> <br/> 2024-03-31T19:30:58Z