vladi

Looks like current Chinese spying fiasco is going to fester on further now that the White House has come down hard with criticism. This follows on from the Chagos debacle where the UK has committed to giving up these strategic islands whilst paying out £101 million per annum to lease them back from Mauritius ( a staunch China ally) for next 100 years. The other on-going festering sore is approval for the proposed huge new Chinese embassy at the old Royal Mint site close to tower Bridge. Despite objections from MI5, this massive development in inner London is likely to be approved as a goodwill "gift" to Xi when Starmer visits China later this year. In return, Xi will probably release Jimmy Lai from prison. It begs the question - just why do we kowtow to China?

looking for reinforcing bar with a diameter of between 12 and 25mm to be used a ground pegs. Off cuts are OK if longer than 40cms.Need about 2 to 3 metres in total. Old and rusty is just fine. Willing to pay.

Looking for about 9 metres of blue polypipe . Used condition is OK.

Just wondering.... was Poundland holding a stock of cheap fireworks in readiness for November 5th?

Where's the big Tesco?

Sounds better than getting sent to Rwanda.

Looking for a wrought iron bench with wooden slats in need of restoration - something like this. Will pay for right bench!

If my understanding is correct, David Lammy asserted that Farage "flirted with the Hitler Youth". This doesn't quite compute because the Hitler Youth ceased to exist in 1945 with the end of WW2 whereas Farage was not born until 1964. Maybe Lammy confused the Hitler Youth with the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) because Farage was member of the CCF during his time at Dulwich College. Having informed us that Henry V11 succeeded Henry V111, we cannot but conclude that arithmetic was never Lammy's strongest suit. Then again, on a question on history, he claimed that Marie Antoinette won a Nobel prize

There is a case to be made for Rachel Reeves increasing taxes in this area whilst also closing some of the loopholes. She has a free hand as offshore companies don't have a vote in a general election. There are about 65,000 medium to high value residential properties in the UK that are owned by offshore companies. In the majority of cases the reason for this is primarily tax avoidance. Offshore ownership has distinct tax advantages in relation to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). A similar situation exists with Inheritance Tax. But significantly also, it protects assets from local creditors, lawsuits, or bankruptcy proceedings. Where such property is rented out then there are also tax advantages such as offsetting mortgage interest and other items. Then there's corporation tax of 25% compared to 40% for a private individual in the higher tax band. Not forgetting that the proceeds of crime are accumulated in offshore trusts and companies.

Possibly & possibly but let's get the thread back on topic ie Lammy.

How credible can this report be given that the "former friend" failed to identify himself.

To help me understand your logic, can you mention a few countries from where the proceeds of crime would result as inflows to the UK.

You got my point exactly. Sending money out of the country is disinvestment. Successive government's here make a big noise about incoming investment by foreign businesses. but keep quiet about the outflow of £28.5 Bn annually by remittances. Also £28.5 Bn is 4 times the UK foreign aid budget. I can't recall any recent inflows matching that amount. No wonder the country is getting poorer by the day.

Both France and Germany impose taxes on remittances above a certain amount. Why not the UK?

Don't think they are externalising these billions to thwart Reeves. They are doing it to build mansions in Lagos, Lahore, Hyderabad and the Caribbean . Plus set up businesses overseas , not the UK. Plus of course externalise the proceeds from crime. Twenty years ago, processors such as Western Union did not exist. Now they have outlets on every street. They externalise money without any controls. It's gotta change to protect the UK economy.

If not taxing remittances, then something should be about reducing the scale of these remittances. It represents negative investment in the UK to the amount estimated to be £28 billion p.a. That's equivalent to half the UK defence budget at a time when the fiscal deficit is massive and increasing. It is a crisis. The last time there was a crisis similar to this was in the post war period. For 3 decades post ww2, the UK enforced strict exchange control measures. These were designed to conserve foreign currency reserves, particularly U.S. dollars, which were vital for post-war recovery. The system restricted the movement of money abroad and tightly controlled foreign investment, overseas travel allowances, and imports. British citizens needed official permission to externalise funds. Exchange controls reflected the economic difficulties of the time, including balance-of -payments pressures.

I hope he survives as it wasn't quite a hanging offence. He does tend to be a bit accident prone such as saying that Henry V11 succeeded Henry V111 and that Marie Antoinette won the Nobel prize.

What would you suggest that government should do to tighten up the black market?

Is anyone renting out a parking space locally? I'm trying to get a feel for the market potential - given that parking anywhere these days is difficult with the controlled parking measures. We are very close to ND station, Alleyns and JAGS. Any advice would be appreciated.

I get that but what I can't figure out why someone would read a particular post for a wanted item when they don't have an item to offer? Like on Monday, I made a post wanting a "garden bench". It got 495 views! So what would prompt 495 people to view the post if they didn't have something to offer? To further this research, I will adjust the header of my post and see what happens.

We are currently de-cluttering so I regularly look at the “Wanted” section to see if someone is looking for something that I may wish to dispose of in the near future. I am amazed at the number of views for posts which appear not to have elicited a single response. Some posts have zero responses despite recording between 1,000 and 2,000 views. This far exceeds the number of views per individual item in the “For Sale” section. Any suggestions?

Well spotted; read "Dulwich area"

There's a new repair workshop in the process of being in established in the Dulwich. The organisers are in the process of organising a group of volunteers who have a variety of skills. They had their first meeting last week so I suggest you keep an eye open for an announcement.

Looking for a wrought iron bench

Would it make a good site for a petrol station - given it's location on the South Circular?