vladi

Both Labour and Conservatives can remove the threat of a Reform government by making making two major policy promises. And these are .......... (1) categorically state that they will take Britain out of the ECHR and (2) Undertake to remove any new small boat arrivals to Rwanda or wherever else. Reform is basically a single issue party and adopting (1) & (2) would send Reform into obscurity. The country has had enough of our judiciary making a gold-plated interpretation of the ECHR statutes.

Agreed, he should not be held accountable over the mess up over release of prisoners. On the other hand he did himself no favours with his gaffes on the BBC Master Mind programme where he passed on five questions. Where he did answer, here are some of his responses.... When asked who succeeded Henry VIII, Lammy incorrectly answered “Henry VII,” When asked which French scientist won Nobel prizes for both physics and chemistry?” Lammy responded with “Antoinette” When asked which fortress was built to defend Paris and later used as a prison, he answered “Versailles". When asked which variety of blue English cheese is often taken with port, he answered "Leicester" If nothing else he was entertaining.

It sounds like a horrendous situation and I truly sympathise. And to make it worse, he is probably handling other deceased estates in a similar manner. Given that (1) the main beneficiary is "the typical 'friend'" and (2) the main asset has diminished in value and continues to do so (3) he will be deducting fees then there may be be nor very much left at the end of it. That being the case, I would press the case against him through the Probate Registry. to have him passed over using a citation process.

I don't support Farage but let's clear any misunderstanding ; tax avoidance is not a crime whilst tax evasion is.

looking for about 5 metres of blue HDPE water pipe. Willing to pay.

Well, the tenant might care if there's a possibility of getting a refund of around £36,000 in rent. And the letting agent might care if they have to shell out that amount.

The issues going forward appear to be:- 1. Will the tenant demand a refund of the rent paid - as they are entitled to do? 2. Will Southwark impose a fine? 3. If there is a fine, who will pay it Landlord or letting agent? 4. Will Reeves' name appear on the Southwark rogue land land on-line register? 5. If the rent is forfeited, who pays it back to the tenant - LL or Letting Agent. This story will run for some time yet.

We are given to understand that she delegated the task of letting it out to an estate agent. This suggests it's the agent who is responsible.

@beansprout The Swedes seem to have a useful strategy with regard to offenders which has reduced repeat offending. I agree that prison time for minor offences is a complete waste of time. Even worse is that prisons are "colleges of crime" where inmates learn about how to be do crimes and worst of all, become exposed to drug taking. I wouldn't advocate having chain gangs as in the USA but some strategy for getting them into say manual work under supervision might be useful - especially if it came with a modest wag. This would be significantly cheaper than the £51,100 it costs per year for keeping one in jail.

Some suggestions for mandatory action might include:- 1. Permit retailers to display facial images on the premises of previous offenders at their local store. 2. Sound an alert and display images on screens inside the store when the FR flags up a person entering who is on the national database of shoplifters. 3. Physically bar recognised shoplifters from the premises. Should they attempt to force entry then charges should be pressed under aggravated trespass, which a criminal offence under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. 4. Change the law to allow retailers to have enhanced powers of citizens arrest. What would you suggest? The UK seems to have the most lenient policy towards shoplifting , probably because of other demands on the police force. On the plus side, they may have more time for it now that non-crime hate incidents will no longer be investigated. Other countries, such as the USA have much more sever punishment as does Singapore where repeat offenders or aggravated cases can be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison, a fine, or both.

At present several large retailers such as Co-op, Tesco, Waitrose, John Lewis, and Next use a cloud-based facial recognition system that gives instant alerts to the entry on the premises of known shoplifters. Around £19 million incidents of retail theft (some with attacks on staff) occur ever year in the UK amounting in value to £2.6 Billion in value, involving 41,000 known offenders. Shoplifting adds to the retailer's costs and this is passed on eventually to honest shoppers, isn't there a case for F.R. to become mandatory at all retailers?

Pity that the image is very dark. Have you considered installing a motion sensitive light that you can adjust and/or a Recordable PIR that delivers a message like "Don't even think about it!" My neighbour has one and he leaves out an old Amazon box on the doorstep in full view on odd days. It's never ben taken yet.

The people who will probably be most adversely affected will be will be those who are asset rich but income poor such as the elderly and these are less likely or less able to take to the streets and protest.

Would highly recommend.

Really? I made no comment on any of his facial features whatsoever. I observed that he was "expressionless" and suggested that "if only his face could break out into a smile occasionally then that would help ". These observations refer to behavioural aspects of Starmer's performance as he appears on the media. Where's the hate and where's the crime?

Without doubt, he is getting a bad rap from the media and no doubt he is a sincere well-intentioned person but he is so expressionless. If only his face could break out into a smile occasionally then that would help. The deadpan, dummy look does not inspire. I look forward to the day when he might venture out and make the odd humorous quip with a smile. Tony Blair could do that rather well. If I ever needed a defence lawyer and I had to choose between them both, I know which one I would choose. Anythings possible with the right determination and a good coach.

Sure, the last two decades have been notable for scandal and mismanagement but these days with multiple social media channels providing widespread and instant exposure plus cameras everywhere, it's more difficult to hide issues. Think of Matt Hancock. The media is ever vigilant to run with a political story and when they get a sniff of scandal they will dig and keep on digging.

Thanks for the tips. What do you recommend for treating Jasmine that has really overgrown the trellis it is on?

I think Labour can be much better. It's just that Starmer is so indecisive and boring. He has no presence, no charisma and no strategy. Also no vision of what he wants Britain to aspire to. He is being led by the nose by Jonathan Powell - a Sinophile. I would prefer John Healy or McFadden - they are much better communicators. They can think on their feet and that's something Sir Keir seems unable to do.

So why then are we appeasing China at every step? Now to get back to my OP and close off the tangent you introduced on Trump, let me state clearly I am no fan of his. He is unstable, unpredictable, misogynistic, dishonest, spiteful and a consummate liar. Oh, not to mention he is a convicted felon. Hopefully, as I predicted previously he will not live to see out his term.

To many Starmer comes across as weak, indecisive a lacking a plan. The complete opposite of a conviction politician. He can overcome these perceptions by having a clear foreign policy and staunchly safeguarding Britain's standing in the world. So far he has alienated our closest ally over the Chagos and the two traitors spying for China. The word on the street is that the leadership void has been filled by Johnathan Powell and that Starmer does everything Powell says. Powell should be sacked as his links to China go back 3 decades during which he was a frequent visitor and meeting senior Chinese officials. The other connection is through his brother -Lord Powell who was chairman of the China-Britain Business Council. Both Powells are members of the 48 Group Club whose stated aim is to "connect China to the world" Has Starmer got the guts to clear out the Augean stables?