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In a previous life I was quite connected in both Zanu Tory and then Ukip in the decade to Brexit vote. Reform have a lot of the same personalities in as Ukip did and prob similar in number of activists.Having said that,with any small partyy it's hard to attract quality activists with genuine politcal skills-capable of facing hostile media/debate, organising and administering campaigning and fielding of candidates. Tice seems to live in fear of hate not hope which appears to be some sort of marxist pressure group as he's canned a few candidates I believe(incl our local lady(the only person to deliver a leaflet). Post farage Ukip was always going to struggle as they jsut didn't have a decent second tier of candidates to pick a leader from.They're results post farage speak for tehmselves. I think Refom have the same Farage problem ie with him they'll poll strongly and will suck in activists .Without him,they'll do ok on the surface but underneath the bonnet,they'll be struggling to maiantin their presence if a seriously right wing party starts gaining momentum. I think london is changing demogrpahically.Shes lsot a few %age points,I dint see any major clangers in her campaign and she maybe wasnt as engaigng as Shaun Bailey..Interesting to see the Green vote moving up. I have heard from Leicester connections that there are some efforts to form a breakaway from Labour and some attempts to usneat people like Johnathon Ashworth because he's not pro Palestine enough. ref the candidates you met,the sort of people willing to doorstep tend to have a big issue theyre campaigning on.doorstepping got harder work over the years I was involved and some helpers jsut got such a grilling they never came back. Pound for pound,doorstepping/leaflets pay a poor return in terms of effort/reward imho I dont know if we've had this clip yet but worth watching to see the slight unease on the face of the white bloke behind the new leeds city councillor chanting Allahu......you join the greesn to campaign for climate change,do a decade of graft and then in one moment,you suddenly realise the ships captain has changed course to the arctic and noone told you funny watching a party as woke and progressive as the greens getting taken over by a movement that couldn't be more socially unprogressive.

It should remain the middle-ground between East and West - doing business with both equally. That's what they will do if they have any sense.

I bought a Victorian house in 1980 with my ex which had a coal shute in the front path which went down into a cellar. Obviously it was not a common thing then but the house had hardly been touched since it was built. We decided to keep it and used it for several years with a solid fuel Parkray in the kitchen which also heated the water and radiators. So the coal lorry would deliver coal in the autumn and we had a supply for the winter. The men would unload the sacks of coal and tip them down the coal hole. Many people thought we were mad but it hadn't been that long since the strikes and power blackouts in the 70s and we liked the idea of being as self-sufficient as possible. It was quite a lot of work especially if the Parkray went out overnight and needed to be re-lit before you could do anything else especially as the kids were babies and toddlers at the time.

ITKY is one of my real winners and I'm up a lot. Considering some more now it's the new ISA year. How do people feel about Turkey? Or Türkiye as it has now been rebranded. I always thought it was a shithole until I went there and it's actually very nice. The currency seems to have stabilised after a long period of continuously losing value. Very interesting op-ed about where the country is going in the near future (basically stay in NATO and West - or not.) https://www.rt.com/news/597055-turkish-patriots-influence-nato-us/ or https://swentr.site/news/597055-turkish-patriots-influence-nato-us/

The nicest places in Cornwall tend to be like that though, the relative inaccessibility keeps them quiet and unspoilt. You would only want to live in them if you didn't go out much, except in the local countryside.

It’s on the Lizard though so add 20 minutes to get to Helston before your journey to where ever you want to go to begins

Pollurian Cove is very nice, that's probably not far off the money for a five bed there with a decent plot. Mullion village is more inland so would be cheaper. It's also a bit jammed in with new infill development and general lack of parking, I wouldn't live there but nearer the sea from there as in your example is nice.

Mullion soon to be renamed, Half a Mullion

Thanks, I'll have a look at those. I'm sure that when I first started investing, PEPs I think it was back then, I vaguely recall you were severely limited in where you could invest, might have been just the UK / Europe or something like that. Feels like we're slowly heading back that way.

ITKY,SRSA,IBZL,XMID,XCX3,XMEX,XCX4 and an Investment Trust (VOF). Not sure about what they yield as you're only getting your own money back anyway. It's becoming very tricky to navigate our way around Western governments batshit sanctions or potential sanctions.

I might have mentioned before but quite a few years ago now I was asked if I would be interested in joining/standing for the Greens. After Id had a rant about the co chair bollocks (wasnt in here) and some of the policies that would bring us back to the dark ages I said no. I couldnt support some of the policies which had the people asking scratching their heads as I was a card carrying recycling person, worked with that industry and had solar, carbon offsetting, all that jazz. The problem with the small parties is that they are fringe, they attract fucking nutters, whilst they might be ok in a public arena, they go off on one on 1-1s hence the parties going round asking for businesspeople who speak regularly without fucking up to join. The problem is, anyone who fits the second description doesnt want to be associated with the first. Ive a uni mate who is proper Scots Nat. From Inverness direction, has always been scots nat. I do ask what the fuck is going on over there in the last few years but he wont say anything. I only really twigged recently as Id forgotten that the SNP had been in coalition with the Greens. So there you have it, probably a lot of the bonkers thinking is coming direct from the Greens. People in the UK dont really need to fear a hung parliament or coalition government or the likes of reform or anyone else but be prepared to get really scared if the likes of the greens/reform get enough of a protest vote to hold the balance of power. Who knows what shit they will ask for in return and it probably wont be stuff you think it will. Bit like when the DUP had Teresa May over the barrel, it put progress here back years.

Can you share some details of the ETFs you've gone for, what kind of tasty yields they have and if you can hold in HL. I hold SEDY AND HFEL still but am increasingly nervous about exposure to China and Taiwan.

It gets worse ... this is the spending breakdown from my local council: We will spend this funding on the following services: 47% on supporting vulnerable adults 39% on supporting vulnerable children and families 10% on waste and recycling and some grounds maintenance 2% on highways and transport 2% on other services and support services So that literally 85 fucking percent of the money spent on about 0.1% of the population. I think it works out at about 200k per "vulnerable" person. OK I accept that some people need a little help for various reason but nearly quarter of a million per head !!. Apparently this is because all this vulnerable care stuff is outsourced to outrageously expensive third parties to insulate the council against any liability. Its all completely fucked.

I will grant you that it wasn't the silver bullet many had expected. National party stuff plays a part too though, so it is hard to draw solid conclussions.

There has only been a spring bounce in asking prices this year, not surprised as everyone who bought 2 years ago rush to sell to some idiot who just doesn't exist. Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said the housing market was "finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates". Interesting, the housing market feet are well below the top of it's head.

It also depends if you are getting a mortgage - above about age 45 every year you wait is one less year you have on the repayment term. I think that large drops in prices can only occur if we have a severe cyclical recession but TPTB seem to be doing everything they can to keep the plates spinning.

Got rid of SEDY and HFEL this morning so zero exposure to China,Hong Kong and Taiwan. I've had a punt on some Country specific ETF's such as Mexico Brasil,Vietnam, Turkey,South Africa,Thailand,Indonesia and Malaysia.

House prices stagnate as mortgage rates increase BEAR FOOD First-time buyers and homeowners looking to remortgage are still facing a "significant challenge" when it comes to finding affordable deals, the Halifax has said. The lender's comments came as it said the average UK house price rose by 0.1% in April, with a typical home now valued at £288,949. Halifax said house prices have been largely flat in the early part of 2024. Mortgage rates have been rising in recent weeks, mainly due to expectations that the Bank of England will make fewer interest cuts this year. The Bank's latest decision on interest rates will be announced on Thursday, with most analysts predicting they will be left unchanged at 5.25%. Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said the housing market was "finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates". "While borrowing costs remain more expensive than a few years ago, homebuyers are gaining confidence from a period of relative stability," she added, with activity and demand improving. “However, we can’t overlook the fact that affordability constraints are still a significant challenge, for both new buyers and those rolling off fixed-term deals," Ms Brydon said. "Mortgage rates have edged up again in recent weeks, primarily as a result of expectations around future Bank of England base rate changes, with markets now pricing in a slower pace of cuts." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqenp5zpen6o

The results say otherwise. The Tory candidate's campaign leaned heavily on scrapping ULEZ and she managed to lose vote share.

The pension costs are so big now at councils they are cutting services to pay for them and trying to fleece anyone they can.We would have a booming economy if the state and councils where half the size minimum.Even if the business could pay that £800 its just inflation on workers to pay for the pensions.

No cafe and the local council has lost a bit of revenue. Absolute genius local authority executives. Worth every penny of their future pension, not!

More for the Fuckwit n Arsewipe thread..... Theres so many law firms chasing so little business that the claims stuff is nuts.

Anecdotal: Grosvenor Park in Chester had a Cafe, it at least it did in March, it has now shut due to the Council demanding rent of £800 per week. This requires huge footfall to service when added to the other overheads so the business closed. There is now no Cafe.

On the radio yesterday there was one of those ambulance chaser adverts asking for customers who had been badly advised by St James with a view to seeking compensation! I was rather surprised to hear it.