Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th July 2026

[refitman]

Morning all.

[Frog222]

Pfffft !

Yet another totally useless 'Regulator' --

Morning in UK , just !

[Frog222]

Good afternoon !

Like rats in a sack , the new Opposition 2.0 --

But those who served at the top of Starmer’s government want to keep posing difficult questions to the prime minister, whether in public or private. There is talk of a new WhatsApp group, to be set up when MPs return in September, to help coordinate their efforts.

Some MPs are likely to take up committee roles, while others, including Starmer, will sit on the backbenches and only intervene on a limited number of issues. Several have careers in other fields that they can now return to, such as Hermer, who was a practising KC before Starmer appointed him to the government.

But given that many know the government’s accounts and priorities in detail, they are in a unique position to scrutinise Burnham’s decisions or point the way for others who wish to do so.

“Yes, we know where the bodies are buried,” said one Starmer ally. “But it’s not so much that, it’s more a case of explaining why we made the decisions we did, and what the downsides are of the ones Burnham might make instead.”

[Frog222]

PS Labour Together was never 'Starmer's' !

[refitman]

Not a peep that 150,000 people were gathered in London yesterday, on the BBC

[Frog222]

Not a peep that 150,000 people were gathered in London yesterday, on the BBC

I had a look and this was the first thing I came across --

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgv1v084j0o

Thousands attend London Trans+ Pride march
18 hours ago

Amy WalkerandGopal Virdee,in Central London

About 150,000 of people are thought to have marched through the capital for this year's London Trans+ Pride event.

The march began at 13:00 BST near BBC Broadcasting House, at Langham Place, and headed to Trafalgar Square.

London Trans+ Pride described the political backdrop to this year's march as "stark", following new guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which states that single-sex spaces must be used on the basis of biological sex.

Following the event on Saturday, its organiser said a record-breaking number of people are believed to have joined the march, making it the biggest of its kind in the world. An estimated 100,000 turned out to last year's event.

Heartstopper actress Yasmin Finney, Tip Toe actress Iz Hesketh, TikTok star Jack Remmington and author Juno Dawson were expected among the attendees.

The EHRC guidance, which has been approved by ministers, was published in May following the landmark Supreme Court ruling last year that the definition of a woman under the Equality Act should be based on biological sex.

" The BBC " is a big place !

[Frog222]

At least they had good weather for it !

I woke up to overcast and wind-driven drizzle . My usual weather channel gave no warning, to cover woodpiles etc .

Firstdaughter showed me hers which looks better XCWeather -- https://www.xcweather.co.uk/FR/observations

-------------------------------------

Yet another reminder of the fickleness of any idea of 'Progress' --

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Been over visiting my brother and his wife in Cheshire this weekend and an astonishing thing occurred, water began falling from the sky, it was happening in Lancashire as well, which must have sent some of the locals round the bend because as the train entered Manchester on my way home this evening one of them stood in front of it and refused to move so the police had to be called. Took them bloody ages to get there then bloody ages to shift him, we were sitting there for the best part of an hour. Fortunately my brother's wife had taken me charity shop shopping so I had a bag full of books to read (along with two paisley shirts and an anglepoise lamp).

Where they live, out towards Chester, is one of the few places in the entire UK where I struggle with the local accent and dialect, on four occasions over the weekend I had absolutely no idea what people were saying to me, twice in shops, which was embarrassing because I couldn't just mumble something non-committal in response and had to ask them to repeat themselves more than once while they looked at me like I was slow.

As for Europe burning, despite the horrific conflagrations in France and Spain, it was the fire in the Cairngorms that hit closest to home, I stayed in Nethy Bridge, the village that was evacuated, a few years back. It's a lovely little place, but evacuating the locals wouldn't have taken long because as far as I could tell it was about 90% holiday homes. Which I tutted at while staying in one. As you do.