[mattomac]

London Library system is odd and I’m sure it’s mainly down to what has been outsourced where.

Kingston you can lend from Merton but not Richmond or Wandsworth. I don’t know about Richmond but Wandsworth is out sourced to “better”.

[The Weeping Angel]

I am genuinely lost.

Abers and I were refering to Trigger's Broom.

[Killer Whale]

That's a very old joke that my grandfather used to tell about an old wood axe of his back in the 'sixties. Antique, pre-Victorian, he used to claim.

[Andy McDandy]

Ship of Theseus?

[Bones McCoy]

That's a very old joke that my grandfather used to tell about an old wood axe of his back in the 'sixties. Antique, pre-Victorian, he used to claim.

The Hellenes had the Ship of Theseus.

The Americans had Washington's Axe.

The Nelson Mandela estate has Trigger's Broom.

[Tubby Isaacs]

From Bluesky.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies
‪@theifs.bsky.social‬
NEW: Most deprived English councils to see spending power increase 2.4 times more than most affluent

David Phillips and Kate Ogden respond to the 2025-26 English Local Government Finance Settlement, published today.

Read the full briefing:

https://ifs.org.uk/articles/2025-26-eng ... -explained

[Tubby Isaacs]

This is what you can do when you're not chucking money at wealthy pensioners. Not that the money will do anything more than stop things falling over and breaking completely.

[The Weeping Angel]

Oh no academies will have to abide by national pay scales how terrible

[Tubby Isaacs]

Yep, this sounds good.

Is Colville objecting to his academy mates losing their monopoly on new schools?

[The Weeping Angel]

Basically it's attacking academies as it includes things like ending automatic academy orders and letting councils opening schools.

[Bones McCoy]

Why would think tank director Robert Colville object to this.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Some extra money has been found for hospices. Whether that means they're covered for the NI rise, I don't know. But it does seem like the budget wasn't as competently done as it should have been. I think the thing to do, in hindsight, was to have a one off fiscal event to get bail out money into the services where it was most needed, and fund some of the manifesto stuff. And then hold a proper budget in Spring next year. They're doing the spending review in early summer.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Guardian-

Starmer faces grilling over economy, public services and foreign policy – UK politics live

Or "Starmer attends Liaison Committee".

[The Weeping Angel]

Nasty Bridget philipson has cancelled Latin.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Latin oboletur est!

[Tubby Isaacs]

I've been engaging with a WASPI online. Lots of talk about justice. I said that I thought it was justice to spend £10bn (if available now) on poverty reduction across all age groups. She's started talking about "handouts" being bad.

[kreuzberger]

"Women of a certain Aga" - they really grind my gears.

[Abernathy]

Yeah. Bloody range cookers.

[Tubby Isaacs]

They've got some allies BTL on the Guardian. Then again anyone who sticks it to Starmer is hero there. Maybe one day WASPIs, Mick Lynch and Rejoiners will form a government of national unity.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Peter Mandelson to be announced as UK’s next US ambassador
Keir Starmer on the cusp of appointing Labour grandee to key post at start of Trump presidency

I can only hope this is an attempt at testing the water. Please no. Put a professional diplomat in there, not somebody who last did a proper public role 14 years ago. Failing that, put David Milliband in.