Yes but Starmer is allowing far right to dictate media agenda & falling into the immigration trap. He's reinforcing the message that immigration & asylum are priorities for the public. They're not. Housing, health care, climate are but people are convinced deporting asylum seekers will solve them.

One of the hearts in our household stopped beating earlier this morning. RIP Cleo 20 December 2010 - 12 August 2025.

Every year on his anniversary I take a photo of the tree planted by my late husband. His ashes were buried by it when it was still a sapling. Now it blooms for him. Bitter-sweet. Fond memories.
RIP Andy 11 July 1957 - 21 May 2004.

Found this today stuck to the inside of an old document folder.
The good old days! My mortgage was £73,000 over 20 years.

Which parties are you including as hard Brexit parties? They certainly add up to more than Labour's individual share but I can't see anywhere near 70%+ from the Electoral Reform Society figures here: election2024.electoral-reform.org.uk

Blue sky and snowy landscape with icicle on the greenhouse. Peaceful scene.
Staffordshire Moorlands 20 November 2024. Taken just before I heard my cousin had died. RIP Tim. Please help his kids with their charity fund raising. Link in reply. #PancreaticCancerUK

Young man in the tractor says he's from Scrase Farms. Looks like a nice business built up over a couple of generations. No doubt he works very hard but he doesn't grow our food & race horse owners aren't usually considered hard up. IHT may sting them but what are our priorities?
scrasefarms.co.uk

I would be interested to see them. I can't even get good iphone pictures of a #Robin posing in my garden. He/she follows me everywhere when I'm working in the garden.

Harvested the last chilis (Lemon drop) of the season today just before it started to snow. Grown in hydroponic system in poly-tunnel. Given the weather forecast I decided not to wait to see if any more of those still green would ripen. #GrowYourOwn

I had an outpatient appointment at Royal Stoke recently. The appointment letter dated 5th August 2024 included a section on Covid and instructions that masks needed to be worn. I would have anyway, but when I was there no one else was wearing masks.

I've monitored quarterly averages mapping units generated v daily sunshine hours* for almost 8 years. We don't have a battery, our system was installed way back on one of the earliest schemes when they weren't easily available.
*From national statistics so not necessarily precise for my location

But to be fair to voters it wasn't in their manifesto. They made up this particular "will of the people" themselves and then their newspaper mates persuaded a noisy minority that it was what they voted for.

What they actually promised their voters:

Desire to return to the white male entitlement in the labour market was found to be a significant factor in the vote for Brexit in some places.

Interesting study research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publicati...

Gathered in the last harvest of Summer crops from my greenhouse on Sunday. The aubergines have already been pickled and bottled. The tomatoes will become jam. The plants are still flowering but it's time to clear them out ready for the winter crops. Makes me sad but they won't survive over Winter.