Points to Ponder

[Hugo]

We were talking on here about how close the new houses in Parc Bodafon were and Dave asked if  I  had  seen them from Bodafon Road.    I hadn't seen them from Bodafon Road but yesterday I did and Dave was right
The houses should be a minimum of one metre from the boundary and my walking pole is exactly that distance from the tip to the top of the cork handle.
A shared drive for five houses, with no turning circle and a front garden the size of a postage stamp doesn't represent good value at £600K for a three bedroom house.
I can also envisage parking issues once the houses are occupied

[SteveH]

Money Money Money.................glad it grows on trees, maybe we in the north should plant some............

The number of people claiming asylum in the UK in 2024 has exceeded the previous recorded peak in 2002, according to figures released by the Home Office.

In the year to December 2024, 108,138 people claimed asylum - an increase of 18% compared with 2023 and almost twice what it was in 2021.

The new high follows an uptick in recorded small boat arrivals in recent years............. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62zzxeeveeo



A second runway at Gatwick Airport has been backed by government, providing measures to reduce noise are put in place.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "minded to approve" the expansion. Some MPs, local authorities and residents are strongly opposed.

The airport wants to move its northern runway, which is currently only used for taxiing or as a back up, and make it operational by the end of the decade.............. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqjdz9q170yo


Number of young people not in work or education hits 11-year high
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures suggest 987,000 16-24-year-olds were not in work, education or training between October and December.

That is 13.4%, or almost one out of every seven people in that age range....https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ymvnrn0deo

[Hugo]

Claiming Asylum and being granted Asylum are two separate matters.     The UK should be very careful who they grant asylum to as many of the mostly young men who come to the UK have no documentation on them to prove who they really are.
Many will be economic migrants, others could even be criminals or even terrorists so it's important that the applicant can prove who they are and where they are from

[Hugo]

Number of young people not in work or education hits 11-year high
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures suggest 987,000 16-24-year-olds were not in work, education or training between October and December.

That is 13.4%, or almost one out of every seven people in that age range....https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ymvnrn0deo


If there are 987,000  young people not looking for work and there are 819,000 job vacancies then why doesn't the UK Government address the problem.
What is wrong in making those young people take the jobs that are available?        This softly, softly approach is not working and turning people in to a society that expects money for doing nothing

819,000 job vacancies
Number of job vacancies in the UK 2001-2025. In the three months to January 2025, there were approximately 819,000 job vacancies in the UK, compared with 929,000 during the same period a year earlier.18 Feb 2025

[Hugo]

                                    PRIME MINISTER'S SALARY

Whatever your political views are,  I don't think anyone can deny that the Prome Minister has worked extremely hard in the last week doing a very demanding and stressful job.    He has earned every penny of his annual salary

Compare his income to that of a top Premier League footballer who earns more than that in just one week.   It's just obscene

[SteveH]

Canadian provinces pulling US alcohol off store shelves in response to Trump trade policy is "worse than tariffs", the boss of Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman has said.

Several Canadian provinces, including Ontario, which is by far the most populated, took action this week in retaliation for US tariffs on Canadian goods.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), one of the largest buyers of alcohol in the world, removed US-made alcoholic drinks from its shelves on Tuesday.

Brown-Forman boss Lawson Whiting said the Canadian response was "disproportionate" to the 25% levies on Canadian goods imposed by the Trump administration.

"I mean, that's worse than a tariff, because it's literally taking your sales away, completely removing our products from the shelves," Mr Whiting said.

In response to the tariffs, Canada has retaliated with 25% levies on goods imported from the US, including beer, spirits, and wine.

Some provinces also took action themselves, including Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the LCBO sells nearly $1bn of US alcohol per year. "As of today, every single one of these products is off the shelves," Mr Ford said on Tuesday.

Canadians still wishing to buy US alcohol are being advised to buy products made in Canada.

But some Canadians have been turning to local goods anyway in response to Trump tariffs.                 ref BBC

[Hugo]

The Department of Health and Social Care said it expected up to 600,000 children to take part in the supervised brushing. Schools are able to voluntarily sign up for the scheme, which is backed by £11m of government funding.

What on earth is going on?       Are parents not competent  to teach their child how to do this simple task?

A few weeks ago we were told that a lot of children were not potty trained by the time they went to school.     It's time some parents took responsibility and not to expect the teachers to do it for them

[Ian]

Is the brushing that of teeth, Hugo? If so we need to bear in mind that many adults don't or can't brush their own teeth.

[Hugo]

Yes, it was brushing the teeth Ian.   Sorry about any confusion.                The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) union said caution was needed to avoid shifting "what is ultimately a parental responsibility on to the burden on schools".

I agree with you that many adults don't or can't brush their own teeth but providing they are physically or mentally capable of doing so then there is no excuse for them.    That's just ignorance or laziness on their part but any parent has a moral obligation to look after the welfare of their children       

[Ian]

...and social workers to press for better parental involvement.

[SteveH]

Meat, dairy and sugar grown in a lab could be on sale in the UK for human consumption for the first time within two years, sooner than expected.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is looking at how it can speed up the approval process for lab-grown foods.

Such products are grown from cells in small chemical plants.

UK firms have led the way in the field scientifically but feel they have been held back by the current regulations.

Dog food made from meat that was grown in factory vats went on sale in the UK for the first time last month.

In 2020, Singapore became the first country to authorise the sale of cell-cultivated meat for human consumption, followed by the United States three years later and Israel last year...............  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ern1zjkvyo

[SteveH]

FINAL plans for 16 new “super constituencies” have been unveiled ahead of the next Senedd election in a little over a year.

The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru confirmed the 16 constituencies which were created from pairing the 32 used in July’s Westminster general election.

Each of the constituencies will elect six Senedd members in May 2026, with the current 40 Senedd constituencies and five regions set to be scrapped.

The Senedd will expand from 60 to 96 politicians at the next election, abandoning first past the post in favour of a fully proportional system aimed at better reflecting how Wales voted............

The 16 constituencies proposed by the commission are:......... https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/24999332.new-constituencies-revealed-senedd-set-expand/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[Hugo]

Arrested captain of ship is Russian national
Could it be jjust a coincidence or not.    The world's a strange place at the moment and anything is possible




https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c30mj5gq9d5o

[Hugo]

Woman who repeatedly failed to clear up dog poo from own garden ordered to pay thousands
'Even within their own gardens dog owners must dispose of their pet’s poo responsibly as, in addition to the unpleasant smell and the mess created, there is a potential health risk associated with dog faeces'
You take on a dog, then you take on the responsibility that goes with the animal.      Why wouldn't she clean up in her own garden?




https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/woman-who-repeatedly-failed-clear-31228677

[SteveH]

More than a fifth of UK working-age adults are still not in work or actively looking for work, official figures suggest.

The UK economic inactivity rate was 21.5% in the three months to January, marking a drop from both the previous quarter and year, and is relatively low compared with trends since 2009.

However, the number of people not looking for work has been brought into sharp focus as the government brings in plans to try to boost UK economic growth.

The figures come after controversial plans to cut sickness and disability benefits were announced this week, and ahead of next week's Spring Statement when Chancellor Rachel Reeves will give an update on her economic plans.

On Tuesday, the government announced sweeping cuts to sickness and disability benefits aimed at saving £5bn a year by 2030.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrx4d37dnjo