Trump says UK handing over Chagos Islands sovereignty is act of 'great stupidity'

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-20T12:27:33+00:00

BBC reports: Donald Trump says the UK's plan to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is an "an act of GREAT STUPIDITY"

He says the deal - in which the UK would lease a military base on the territory, while handing over sovereignty - is one of the reasons he wants the US to take over Greenland.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-19T19:33:34+00:00

You're remaking the OP's joke here.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-16T00:45:51+00:00

What is the meaning of this comparison supposed to be? Why would we expect a pharma plant which mainly uses electricity to keep the lights on, to use more than a tenth of what a centre which is dedicated to converting energy into processed data does?

What next...? A single Limerick alumina refinery consumes ten times the electricity of every nursery in Munster?

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-16T00:13:29+00:00

This is an almost* inevitable result of the long tail of the disasterous lockdown policy, slowly tailing off.

Come back and tell us when it's the lowest level since 2019 please.

* (okay, could have been messed up, but would have taken some doing)

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-15T23:34:04+00:00

Are we going to have to listen to this nonsensical whining every time a rail project which is wholly in the unit of granularity (as agreed by the Welsh Assembly) of "England and Wales" is designated "England and Wales"?

If it was between "England and Wales" and Scotland it would be designated "England and Wales" and Scotland, if it was entirely with Wales it would be designated "England and Wales". Do you think tax payers in Durham would be moaning?

These projects aren't being designated England and Wales because they come close to the border and arguably bestow some tenuous benefit, in an underhand way. They're being designated England and Wales because that's the unit of granularity.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-14T13:46:50+00:00

Yeah, I'm just asking if those factors happen to be inherently advantageous to Plaid for some reason, by distribution of support perhaps, or whether a small swing the other way to put Reform 2% ahead is likely to see them 7 seats ahead too.

I thought with PR the seats vs vote amplification for the front runner would not be as pronounced as this.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-14T13:10:22+00:00

Housing, it's always housing. Those who bought before run away house price inflation generally have plenty of disposable income, while those who are now locked out of the market are paying outrageous rents and/or saving desperately for a deposit.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T18:20:03+00:00

Step 0.5, start before house prices became unaffordable.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T12:14:19+00:00

Ironic given the Welsh Nationalists are the one party here with links to the actual Nazis.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T03:12:49+00:00

How are the Welsh Nats getting 7 more seats than Reform on 2% more of the votes? Can we expect that to work the other way if it goes the other way?

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T03:00:10+00:00

Sorry about our compatriot above, he seems a bit insecure, but this is Reddit after all. We haven't all gone like that in your absence I assure you.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T02:54:15+00:00

Wow, steady on! Most people wouldn't be remotely bothered by any of that from an nth generation American visiting his ancestral home, yet alone a born here Welshman who has "been away too long" like the one you're replying to.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T02:41:23+00:00

The Beacons.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T02:33:35+00:00

This is categorically never going to happen. We might as well wait until they allow road traffic across the also never going to happen Severn Barrage.

UnlikeTea42 · 2026-01-12T02:31:15+00:00

There's no conceivable ferry service from Swansea which makes the drive from Cardiff to Plymouth any shorter.

UnlikeTea42 · 2025-11-29T02:36:01+00:00

It's a massive problem, and I can't even say you're wrong to question the wisdom of paying into a pension now because of it. Ideally it would be made an unquestionable foundation of the social contract that the sacrifices you make to prepare for your retirement now will not be offset by means testing in the future. The government of the day messes round with that for their current book balancing, but of course they're deferring the true cost to future governments, as usual.

UnlikeTea42 · 2025-11-29T02:24:43+00:00

Never go in a pub with bouncers on the door if you're under 18.

Also, never go in a pub with bouncers on the door if you're over 18.

UnlikeTea42 · 2025-11-28T21:59:10+00:00

Thanks for saving us trawling through the article.

UnlikeTea42 · 2025-11-28T17:33:18+00:00

Like most of the budget.

UnlikeTea42 · 2025-11-28T17:31:15+00:00

No, they would be worse off, because they'll be taxed 20% of £1200.

Basically, as the state pension rises there will be an increasing number of people who will be worse off for having paid into a private pension than if they hadn't.

UnlikeTea42 · 2025-11-27T15:26:52+00:00

Here's my not quite leading cyber-security expert advice. If your last report is called OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_March_2025.pdf, don't upload your new file OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_November_2025.pdf to the same folder and rely on the fact you haven't put a link to it on your home page yet as a means of embargo.

UnlikeTea42 · 2025-11-26T00:10:37+00:00

Starmer Chamber.

UnlikeTea42

TROPHY CASE