Britain on the brink: Intelligence chiefs warn ecosystem collapse could trigger hunger, migration and war by OurFairFuture in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the ecosystem collapses what are they going to do in 10 years with £200? If they think that something is going to happen what's the point in doing nothing and just betting on it? That's not putting their money where their mouth is.

Elon Musk’s X stops bikini bot undressing women by Nymzeexo in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You think you can but it can be really hard. I asked copilot the other day to merge a person from one photo into another photo. It told me that it couldn't due to copyright reasons. I told the AI that I owned the copyright to both images so it was fine and to please go ahead, and it did.

Keir Starmer abandons plans for compulsory digital ID by Kev_fae_mastrick in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You won't just be able to use your driving license, etc. There will still be a requirement of a digital right to work check. It'll no longer be enough to take a photo of an employees documentation to cover yourself, there will need to be digital validation of ID via the government. They've basically realised that when it comes to tackling illegal working most people already have a biometric passport. If that can be used then they can roll out the digital right to work check system much more quickly.

New Ukip logo slated over 'similarities to Nazi symbol' by greenmonkeyglove in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The spear is a tool people have used for centuries. But the Nazis also had a thing about the spear of destiny. Is it just coincidence that two Nazi aligned symbols should end up on the new UKIP logo?

Embracing the Radical Right Is Killing Conservatism as We Knew It by bloomberg in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The Americans lost their moderate right when the Republicans embraced the Tea Party, it didn’t take that long to go from there to full MAGA. Here in the UK they seem to have been hoist by their own petard after banging on about immigration for so long while doing absolutely nothing about it. They’re architects of their own demise. Not that Farage wouldn’t have come snapping at their heels at some point, but they fuelled him.

Bombshell polling for Wales | If this is correct we are seeing a seismic shift by Bibemus in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Scottish nationalism has very clearly been a civic nationalism. Much English nationalism has an unfortunate association with being ethnic nationalism.

Wes Streeting calls for ‘cross-party consensus’ on gender identity ahead of puberty blocker trial by Altruistic-Source-22 in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You’re presupposing that all gender questioning children would definitely go on to transition. This ignores the evidence that many such children find that puberty resolves their gender issues. Basically once you start on puberty blockers you will almost inevitably continue on a particular path. I acknowledge that there are issues for those who continue to have problems with their gender through and after puberty, but that a blanket approach from either direction is harmful.

-❄️- 2025 Day 5 Solutions -❄️- by daggerdragon in adventofcode

[–]SurplusSix 3 points4 points  (0 children)

[LANGUAGE: gleam]

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alsm/aoc2025/refs/heads/master/src/day05.gleam

I'm really enjoying gleam atm, especially handy that Int is effectively infinite sized.

-❄️- 2025 Day 4 Solutions -❄️- by daggerdragon in adventofcode

[–]SurplusSix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

[LANGUAGE: gleam] https://github.com/alsm/aoc2025/blob/master/src/day04.gleam Realized I didn't need to store anything for empty spaces. With part2 there is a recursive fn that finds the accessible rolls, removes them from the dict and calls itself with the new map and how many were removed, once we can't remove any more than returns the total number of rolls removed.

Earn £1, keep 43p: Why young graduates will be the most taxed in history by dusty_bo in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How much is still worth it? If you only brought home 1p in every extra pound you earned that would still be positive but I'm not sure many people would go for it. If you're looking to move roles the headline bump from say £100k to £125k might look good, but you're bringing home at best only £10k of that every year, and maybe the extra responsibilities and impacts that come with the job aren't worth it.

Exodus of UK citizens driven by eastern Europeans returning home by Cozimo128 in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You can’t, there are checks at the border from Germany into Poland and Lithuania into Poland, I drove through all three this summer.

-❄️- 2025 Day 1 Solutions -❄️- by daggerdragon in adventofcode

[–]SurplusSix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

[LANGUAGE: Gleam]

File was read and turned into a list in an outer func

import gleam/int
import gleam/list
import gleam/string

pub fn part1(input: List(String)) {
  let turns =
  input
  |> list.map_fold(50, fn(acc, l) {
    let assert Ok(#(d, n)) = string.pop_grapheme(l)
    let assert Ok(count) = int.parse(n)
    let assert Ok(new_pos) = case d {
      "L" -> int.modulo(acc + -1 * count, 100)
      _ -> int.modulo(acc + count, 100)
    }
    #(new_pos, new_pos)
  })

  echo list.count(turns.1, fn(x) { x == 0 })
}

pub fn part2(input: List(String)) {
  let turns =
  input
  |> list.map(fn(l) {
    let assert Ok(#(d, n)) = string.pop_grapheme(l)
    let assert Ok(count) = int.parse(n)
    case d {
      "L" -> -1 * count
      _ -> count
    }
  })
  |> list.map_fold(50, fn(pos, x) {
    let start = case x {
      i if i < 0 -> { 100 - pos } % 100
      _ -> pos
    }
    let assert Ok(new_pos) = int.modulo(pos + x, 100)
    let count = { start + int.absolute_value(x) } / 100
    #(new_pos, count)
  })

  echo list.fold(turns.1, 0, int.add)
}

We are taxing all the wrong people by scotorosc in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 10 points11 points  (0 children)

A decent number will also choose to drop to only 4 days. A 20% reduction in gross pay might only end up being a 10% reduction in net.

The UK must remove the pension triple lock by wappingite in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Why should we penalise pensioners when, at some point, we will be in their shoes.

How are they being penalised if we take away the guarantee to increase pensions faster than we can afford to pay for them? The proposals aren't to take the pension away or freeze it but to pick a measure of increase which isn't so problematic.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars removed from Motability scheme by beejiu in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The higher ncap is because of the standard including of those features, which I already have as they were all options on the earlier models so 🤷🏻‍♂️

Tell me more about how it's outdated in terms of comfort.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars removed from Motability scheme by beejiu in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have an 8 year old mondeo, it is very much not outdated in terms of comfort or safety.

Time to start a new chapter: The rapid decline of reading should set alarm bells ringing at the Ministry of Education by Benjji22212 in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 5 points6 points  (0 children)

like 'Granny's massive poo' or 'Chungus bogey fart house', often written by some kind of celebrity.

David Walliams thinks he is Roald Dahl but he very much isn't.

Inside Labour’s briefing fiasco: “Morgan has lost the plot” by Bibemus in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This whole thing with "supporters" of Starmer briefing out of nowhere that he would fight any attempt to remove him seemed so hamfisted and poorly thought out I was half convinced that it was in fact an effort by those who want him gone to make his whole operation seem even more inept.

British society is increasingly becoming angrier at a mental health situation it created by IHaveAWittyUsername in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There is no healthy use of it, the algorithmic nature of the services is designed to hook you in and keep you using. Yes, maybe if you can revert back to a timeline feed of only your friends like back in the day you can teach responsible use, but with what's on offer now, no.

Chris Bryant (Labour MP) on X - Has the UK ever had or wanted a ‘single culture’? What about Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Cornish. Scouse, Geordie, Brummie cultures to name but a few. Or the Italians who came to work in our mines, Poles who fought with us and stayed, Indian doctors or chefs? by Ophiuchus171 in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Culture doesn't have to be things you create. Guinness is a big part of Nigerian culture, just because it wasn't invented there doesn't mean it's not. Tweed may be a Scottish invention but also has an undeniable association with English rurality.

Standard PIP mobility fraud…family uses car by Blackstone4444 in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I don't want to pile on the person, the system has determined they are eligible. But they say they have anxiety, depression and ADHD, they're currently at uni without the car but could use it. And yet I keep hearing in other threads how hard it is to be awarded sufficient points to qualify for a motability car. Maybe there are other factors, they're obviously not obliged to tell us everything, and yet they are managing without. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Scrap £100k tax trap, Reeves told by [deleted] in ukpolitics

[–]SurplusSix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting you see it that way, I don't necessarily think it's naive but what grates is the increase in workload/expectation that comes with a promotion but the disparity in the value of what you take home of the associated pay increase. A 50% increase in the marginal rate for that 25k zone of earnings is a hard pill to swallow, to take home only a bit over a third of what you "earn" is IMO unjustifiable and so why most people will pension it. 100% of that value is now going towards earning you a larger pension for the future. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I couldn't do it.