So the tories would axe the Environment Agency and Natural England - the reason given was that these organisations prevented homes being built (to protect them from flooding and to protect wildlife. You see the tories believe in rapacious capitalism and these orgs. add a cost that eats into their profits (Barrets make an average of £50000 per house!), At the same time they have gone for the grey vote by pledging to retain the unsustainable triple lock. Perhaps they plan to raise the retirement age to 75? They claim they are the party of common sense, and we know that all safety legislation is in place due to a lack of common sense.

Looking at the Met. Office predictions it looks like a typical autumn here - bits of rain and sun, bit cloudy but warm - I seem to remember that Nov 5th was cold, wearing gloves to hold sparklers, and being warmed by the fire with a guy on top. Guy Fawkes, along with bob a job week seems to have disappeared from our cultural activities. I am digressing, but so what, other things that are disappearing 'giving the bumps' on ones birthday, a pinch and a punch for the first of the month?

I know that we should all commend statements that decry Israels genocide in Gaza and its murderous intentions elsewhere, but really who cares what the party members think? They have no power or even influence, people on the streets according to those out canvasing. However where the Green Party does have a huge influence is on environmental and climate change issues. Apart from the knuckle dragging flag shaggers most people, especially the young have a deep down fear of what we are doing to the planet. So forget international diplomacy and issues that you cannot influence and concentrate on the 2 issues, that if Burnham gets to introduce some form of PR, the Greens could take alead on.

I cannot not mention one of the best England performances ever, albeit against a rather poor Crotian side, but it was still Croatia! Bellingham, Kane, Saka and Gordon were outstanding. And so nice to see the explosive power driving forward for a change. Let us hope they can keep this momentum going.

Its a no brainer , rejoin the EU or at least get much closer with regulations and laws. Only bogotted no brains would argue against it (latest survey says that means 28.5% of the population are thicker than shit!). Whether the EU would want us back is debatable, but a new Dublin Agreement would stop the bollocks from Farage! The Greens should forget about Gaza - they are powerless and the public basically do not give a shit - let the Government do the hard graft on this. They should concentrate on the main threat to living standards and life as we know it, climate change.

This government has made a positive start to ensuring that the UK has an environment fit for the future with a pledge to plant at least 500000 trees. Trees can reduce temperatures in cities by up to 4C in summer, they also have a warming input in winter, a mature tree can intercept 15000 litres of rainfall whilst the roots enhance infiltation and thus reduce flooding. At least 150 different species of insects can live on oak trees thus being brilliant for wildlife. My road would have been wooded at one time, but now has only a half dozen trees, plus my two mulberry trees!

The farce of Fairford continues. Apparently one of the arrested men dialled 999 well before the farmer did so. No explosives or weapons were found, just a quantity of fuel/. It seems likely that the guys in the 3 vans were up to no good, probably stealing diesel from farms. They must have been well shocked to find that they had attracted global notoriety and had armed officers arresting them at gun point. However the police are still looking for evidence of major espionage, probably at the behest ofthe Americans who were very fast out the blocks to blame Iran.

goings on in Welford near to RAF Fairford. The base did not answer a phone call from a concerned local, the police took 15 minutes to arrive (surely they would have alerted the base and the response would have been quicker. Only 5 men arrested when the witness said there was a large group of men with balaclavas - and 3 vans surely they would have shared the lift? They were then bailed by the court - not terrorists presumably? Marco Rubio, American Secretary of State said that there was obviously a foreign player involved, but refused to give further details, probably due to him making a political statement rather than a factual one; Trump siad he was surprised that the 5 men had been bailed (in America they would have been shot or at least fitted up with false evidence!

So, despite Trump's assertion that he had had the possible assailants 'under view' for a long time, it still took a local resident with a seeming 6th sense, in the early hours of the morning to be suspicious. She tried calling the base - who did not reply - and then dialled 999, the police arrived in 15 minutes (which would seem to be rather tardy in the circumstances?). It appears that no prior intelligence was involved and the police must be commended for a brilliant job. So Trump is talking out of his arse again!

Yep, and the world is settling down for a quiet day, I hope. New York and New Jersey have declared a state of emergency as a nor'easter brings havoc and coastal flooding. What I meant by the opening sentence was that Trump and his followers have not thrown up any bile so far today. Although ... apparently Trump has invited Putin to the G20 hosted by the USA in December - the UK and EU should refuse to attend, simple. Weather is decidedly autumnal today, overcast , damp and windy, but not cold.

All the talk is about what happens next, well it has taken a very long time already but League rules state that any appeal, and there will be one, should be done in 14 weeks. Why does it matter to non-football lovers, well two players at ManC paid over £35 million in tax between them, so the squad between them pay at least £100m in income tax, without the taxes paid bybthe club itself. So football lovers of other teams should not be too hasty in wishing the teams demise; livelyhoods of many in Manchester are dependant on the team.

I expect the papers and TV to show weeping people indignant that their houses have been flooded, it will happen, and is reasonably predictable. So unless a dam bursts or there is an exceptionally heavy thunderstorm, people should not be surprised. How many will have taken mitigation measures - moving valuables up a level, laying in flood supplies like water and dried fruit; ensuring safety of pets. Afew simple measures will not prevent a flood but could mitigate the damage, at least mentally. Past photos have shown that new housing can be particularly vulnerable, build by people and planners with no understanding of georaphy and hydrology.

To paraphrase the late, great Manny Shinwell when called out by the Speaker for calling all Conservatives 'liars', "Not all Reform voters are ignorant, racist, morons - just most" - I am not sure the first word and the last two apply truthfully! I suppose applying the sentence to 25% of voters is a little extreme - but justified! Google estimates that 22.7million litres of fuels is used to mow UK lawns - use of electric mowers lowers this but still results in tens of thousands of CO2 emissions per year.

So the tories want to stop benefit recipients spending the money on fags, alcohol and betting. This may seem virtuous, but for those addicted it will be cruelty and cause more crime and domestic violence. Oh the rich really do have a control freak syndrome. Basically we need a certain level of unemployment and it is well known that the Thatcherite policies pursued by various tory governments meant that our manufacturing base was destroyed and hard working people put onto benefits. Their children and grandchildren now have the choice of unskilled work at minimum wage levels in call centres or shopping warehouses, often on zero hours contracts.

So the United Nations is his choice of venue to state the quandary he has 'whether to do a treaty with Iran or annihilate it". Irony has never been in his lexicon! He also failed to see the irony of asking Zelensky to stop bombing Russian oil facilities as it was putting up the cost of petrol/diesel, when it is his illegal war with Iran which is hiking up the cost of oil products. All the while boasting that the USA and Venezuela control 60% of the worlds oil i am puzzled!

Farage refuses to condemn his parties leader in Wales, who is accused of coersion and assault - no mention of the victim (presumably a woman). Most women in the UK have experienced, or theire mothers, sisters, daughters, friends have experienced behaviour that would be unacceptable to men. We live in a misonogynistic society, perhaps worse than when I was young, when wolf whistles were common but there was a measure of respect, in my experience anyway. How many girls would fear for their safety when walking home late at night? The women demonstrating at the silly little village in Oxfordshire should be more concerned about their male relatives and neighbours, than asylum seekers it is not the AS responsible for the deaaths of over 100 women by men in an average year, interestingly the number has dropped slightly despite the huge influx of migrants under the last government.

Grading a school is unessecary, parents of the children will know if they are engaged or not - and for the majority who are unaware of this, the children themselves will reveal the quality of the establishment themselves. Inspections are fine if done from a supportive stance - if there is an apparent problem then OFSTED should have powers and resources to help remedy the problem, not just give it a black mark and be self-satisfied. My last head, Dr.Horrible, applied to be an Ofsted Inspector more than once and was rejected as he was basically a bully who wanted to criticise others.

Taxing the rich is absolutely essential to saving our economy and our democracy.Don't believe me? Look at this chart.

There is so much BS being bandied about regarding the Defence budget. This morning on R4 there was an expert explaining that the only defence we had against drones was a type of frigate, of which we have 6, 4 out of service and 1 in the Middle East. This is absolute bollocks. The Army has tested laser weapons (£10 per fire) called Dragon Fire; an weapon called Wolfhound and one referred to as RFDEW, the miserable old jerk was just scare mongering for political ends, he did not mantion any of these weapons.

Manchester United stake holder Ratcliffe has bemoaned that the UK is on the slide due to high taxation and immigration - yet he did not shout out when immigration reached almost 1 million under the last government, and as for taxation - does he pay a fair dollop of his £15 billion piggy bank? Despite Trump and his wars, the UK seems to be doing OK thank you. Rathole is just another example of why we should tax the rich more, much more. I guess he is moaning due to the upcoming budget and the fact that ManU despite spending large amounts, are still mediocre at times, and despite Ratshits attempts at cutting perks for staff.

A debate that is splitting the Green Party. My first thought was 'why the fuss?' it is obviously true. My second thought was ' why are the Greens debating tis at all'. The Green Party can call out Netmanyahu and Israel and it will make not a jot of difference, but either way it falls it will cost it votes. They should just concentrate on issues where they can make a difference, other parties will take note if elections are held on green issues like climate change, pollution, water quality. I also realise that now the Greens have become a semi/mainstream party that they need policies on a wider agenda - Reform are faltering when they seemed to have power in their grasp, due to the vacuous nature of their economic and basically all non-racist policies.

Hardly mentioned in the British Press new advances by Houti forces may force the price of oil up again. That these forces are well armed is not to be doubted - they shot down a Saudi Arabian fighter jet, and damaged a Saudi pipeline trying to beat the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Creating hassle in the Strait of Bab-al Mandab between Yemen and Djibouti would create major problems for the oil industry (or at least major profits as the price could spiral). Previous attacks by Israel, Saudi Arabia, USA and Britain seem to have had minimal impact on Houti ability to hit back.

I guess that when a family accepts privelege and a heap of money from peoples taxes, it is reasonable that they are scrutinised closely. The rift between Charlie and Diana is proving to be a long standing show. The Daily Mail loves it! they are serialising a new book by Di's old man, or is it er brother? Washing dirty underwear in public seems to appeal to the great British public. Basically I could not care less, although the headlines provide amusement. There are other more interesting questions like is Harry his son?

Trump has turned from being a dangerous fool into a really evil threat to humanity. not only does he start wars, back genocidal ghouls, but now the Pentagon has admitted that it has deployed weapons in space, both defensive and aggressive. It was known that development of these weapons was actively being pursued but the deployment can only be bad for humanity. An arms race will ensue with Russia, China and possibly one with impossibly rich politically motivated tec billionaire (trillionaires?) joining in. This is the stuff of sci-fi horror movies.