@richardlydiate.bsky.social
Retired lawyer. Gardener, walker & mind traveller. Interested in life & people of good will. There is more than what we can see, touch & spend.
Reposted
The penny has dropped FINALLY
December 5, 2025 at 6:30 PM
The penny has dropped FINALLY
From Our Own Correspondent has been a wonderful program.Long may it continue.
@bbcstever.bsky.social at 8pm tomorrow then @BBCSounds joins Anna Foster, FOOC presenter Kate Aidie, Jeremy Bowen, to celebrate what *only* the BBC does, From Our Own Correspondent at 70. Happy birthday!
BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, From Our Own Correspondent at 70
Anna Foster and guests celebrate seventy years of ‘From Our Own Correspondent’.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 8:41 PM
From Our Own Correspondent has been a wonderful program.Long may it continue.
Ugh !!! 😩😡🤮
It’s difficult to know whose reputation is worse tainted by the other .
Perfect bed fellows , maybe Infantino is Bubba, and with a name like Infantino that ticks the Epstein box….
Perfect bed fellows , maybe Infantino is Bubba, and with a name like Infantino that ticks the Epstein box….
December 5, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Ugh !!! 😩😡🤮
Junior age kids are being taught all sorts of arcane grammar, but not the pleasure of reading decent material, with the consequence that they can barely communicate on paper, or screen.
December 5, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Junior age kids are being taught all sorts of arcane grammar, but not the pleasure of reading decent material, with the consequence that they can barely communicate on paper, or screen.
Reposted
The super-rich rightwing are pouring money into Reform. Do ordinary voters really think their aim is to even out social inequality and make their lives better? Do they think they’re doing it so Farage invests in infrastructure and public services? Ffs. Democracy being beaten to death in plain sight.
December 4, 2025 at 10:10 AM
The super-rich rightwing are pouring money into Reform. Do ordinary voters really think their aim is to even out social inequality and make their lives better? Do they think they’re doing it so Farage invests in infrastructure and public services? Ffs. Democracy being beaten to death in plain sight.
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Listen, if you tell me that “taxation is theft” I’m going to need you to quit driving on highways or walking on sidewalks or attending a public school or using police or fire services or city snow removal.
I would mention libraries, but…
I would mention libraries, but…
December 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Listen, if you tell me that “taxation is theft” I’m going to need you to quit driving on highways or walking on sidewalks or attending a public school or using police or fire services or city snow removal.
I would mention libraries, but…
I would mention libraries, but…
Reposted
People need to take notice of the facts and stop peddling outdated myths.
This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months"
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds
World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:37 PM
People need to take notice of the facts and stop peddling outdated myths.
BBC News - Reeves speech did not mislead on challenges facing UK ahead of Budget, says OBR official - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I wonder whether this independent assessment will be plastered on the front page of the Telegraph, Mail, Sun & Express in the morning.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I wonder whether this independent assessment will be plastered on the front page of the Telegraph, Mail, Sun & Express in the morning.
Reeves speech did not mislead on challenges facing UK ahead of Budget, says OBR official
Prof David Miles tells MPs the messaging given by the chancellor was
www.bbc.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 11:25 PM
BBC News - Reeves speech did not mislead on challenges facing UK ahead of Budget, says OBR official - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I wonder whether this independent assessment will be plastered on the front page of the Telegraph, Mail, Sun & Express in the morning.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I wonder whether this independent assessment will be plastered on the front page of the Telegraph, Mail, Sun & Express in the morning.
BBC News - Ex Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis defects to Reform UK - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
One can only feel sorry for the people he is supposed to represent.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
One can only feel sorry for the people he is supposed to represent.
Ex Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis defects to Reform UK
Jonathan Gullis, a former education minister, lost his Stoke-on-Trent North seat in 2024.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 12:17 PM
BBC News - Ex Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis defects to Reform UK - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
One can only feel sorry for the people he is supposed to represent.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
One can only feel sorry for the people he is supposed to represent.
BBC News - Chris Mason: Why, in my judgement, Reeves was misleading on one specific point - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Your " judgement" on this doesn't matter, Chris. As your analysis fairly explains, everything that Reeves said was factually correct. Your interpretation is immaterial.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Your " judgement" on this doesn't matter, Chris. As your analysis fairly explains, everything that Reeves said was factually correct. Your interpretation is immaterial.
Chris Mason: Why, in my judgement, Reeves was misleading on one specific point
The Chancellor chose not to share some information on tax receipts in an unusual press conference, given before the Budget.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 11:28 AM
BBC News - Chris Mason: Why, in my judgement, Reeves was misleading on one specific point - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Your " judgement" on this doesn't matter, Chris. As your analysis fairly explains, everything that Reeves said was factually correct. Your interpretation is immaterial.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Your " judgement" on this doesn't matter, Chris. As your analysis fairly explains, everything that Reeves said was factually correct. Your interpretation is immaterial.
Reposted
Agreed completely. We were worried about higher rate taxes going up as well as that stamp duty annual tax thing that was being bandied about.
We will be around £45 worse off per year and half a million kids may be saved from poverty.
That’s a pretty small price to pay, I reckon.
We will be around £45 worse off per year and half a million kids may be saved from poverty.
That’s a pretty small price to pay, I reckon.
November 30, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Agreed completely. We were worried about higher rate taxes going up as well as that stamp duty annual tax thing that was being bandied about.
We will be around £45 worse off per year and half a million kids may be saved from poverty.
That’s a pretty small price to pay, I reckon.
We will be around £45 worse off per year and half a million kids may be saved from poverty.
That’s a pretty small price to pay, I reckon.
Yes, a complete sham. And now, one of the biggest sources of unrest in society, as well as a huge impediment to a fair & sustainable economic system.
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1965: 20-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1
Trickle-down economics was always a sham.
Nothing has ever trickled down.
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1
Trickle-down economics was always a sham.
Nothing has ever trickled down.
November 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Yes, a complete sham. And now, one of the biggest sources of unrest in society, as well as a huge impediment to a fair & sustainable economic system.
Reposted
This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months"
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds
World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:20 AM
This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months"
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
Reposted
Imagine showing a petrol engine to someone who had only known electric vehicles, and trying to convince them to switch to petrol. No-one would choose the dirty, noisy, less efficient, more expensive vehicle. This isn't 1910, hostage to gender insecurity. We can just choose the better tech.
November 28, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Imagine showing a petrol engine to someone who had only known electric vehicles, and trying to convince them to switch to petrol. No-one would choose the dirty, noisy, less efficient, more expensive vehicle. This isn't 1910, hostage to gender insecurity. We can just choose the better tech.
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It’s hilarious when uninformed people talk about the battery cost as if it’s some kind of “gotcha!” EVs replace an entire expensive engine and all of its supporting components with that battery, which lasts longer than engines, requires no maintenance, and energy costs are a fraction vs gas.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
It’s hilarious when uninformed people talk about the battery cost as if it’s some kind of “gotcha!” EVs replace an entire expensive engine and all of its supporting components with that battery, which lasts longer than engines, requires no maintenance, and energy costs are a fraction vs gas.
Reposted
About right.
November 28, 2025 at 7:28 PM
About right.
BBC News - Talks over UK joining EU defence fund break down over entry fee - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
More Brexit benefit.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
More Brexit benefit.
Talks over UK joining EU defence fund break down over entry fee
The two sides had been at odds over a fee to allow UK defence firms to access a greater share of loans.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 4:14 PM
BBC News - Talks over UK joining EU defence fund break down over entry fee - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
More Brexit benefit.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
More Brexit benefit.
It should be possible to fund any tax due with a charge on the house so that it's paid from the proceeds of eventual sale, similar to how local authority nursing costs are sometimes funded
Some sympathy for this potentially made up woman but I wonder how the poster feels about the numerous people who would love to be able to call a house their own and form relationships with their neighbours but can't because of the housing market. Does their emotional plea count for anything?
Mumsnet is already on the case.
November 28, 2025 at 12:13 AM
It should be possible to fund any tax due with a charge on the house so that it's paid from the proceeds of eventual sale, similar to how local authority nursing costs are sometimes funded
BBC News - Israeli troops kill two Palestinians after they appear to surrender
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli authorities/armed forces/police, will never achieve peace & security for either their people or their neighbours until they abide by internationally accepted rules of conduct.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli authorities/armed forces/police, will never achieve peace & security for either their people or their neighbours until they abide by internationally accepted rules of conduct.
West Bank: Israeli troops kill two Palestinians after they appear to surrender
The Palestinian Authority says the killings are a "war crime", while an Israeli minister backed the soldiers.
www.bbc.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:51 PM
BBC News - Israeli troops kill two Palestinians after they appear to surrender
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli authorities/armed forces/police, will never achieve peace & security for either their people or their neighbours until they abide by internationally accepted rules of conduct.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Israeli authorities/armed forces/police, will never achieve peace & security for either their people or their neighbours until they abide by internationally accepted rules of conduct.
Reposted
My wish for this/any platform, is that we might all attempt to see the best in each other (and life) & find enough commonality to get along together.
Contrary to some people’s opinion, the last thing I want is to create enemies & friction.
Less hate… more understanding. 👍
Contrary to some people’s opinion, the last thing I want is to create enemies & friction.
Less hate… more understanding. 👍
October 11, 2025 at 5:32 PM
My wish for this/any platform, is that we might all attempt to see the best in each other (and life) & find enough commonality to get along together.
Contrary to some people’s opinion, the last thing I want is to create enemies & friction.
Less hate… more understanding. 👍
Contrary to some people’s opinion, the last thing I want is to create enemies & friction.
Less hate… more understanding. 👍
Fair summary
Plus sides to today: Two-child benefit scrapped. Largely progressive tax implications. Good market reaction. No big spending cuts. Nightmare prospect of cutting funding to net zero etc avoided. It's a left-wing budget. Those who say there's no difference between Labour and Tories are bananas.
November 27, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Fair summary
Well said Gary.
Interesting discussion on the budget today.
There are folks (me included) who get the idea that if I am a bit more affluent I can contribute a bit more for the common good, and others who believe "I should only pay for stuff that directly benefits me".
There are folks (me included) who get the idea that if I am a bit more affluent I can contribute a bit more for the common good, and others who believe "I should only pay for stuff that directly benefits me".
November 26, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Well said Gary.