Trav Le Bleu

Handbags! My point was that the powers that be are constantly banging on about "the small boats", when that is such a small problem compared to the fact that we have to get immigrants in because your average UK teenager wants to be a TikTok influencer or on reality TV. There are two reasons that immigration is happening. Socio-economic hardship in foreign countries (often exacerbated by Western influences) and skill shortages, which creates a void - and voids will inherently get filled. There's no magic button that's going to stop either of these things. Even if there was, it would create a whole different set of problems. The whole immigration/racism problem is... Is everyone who is anti-immigration racist? No. Is everyone who is racist anti-immigration? Yes. Actually, more specifically they're anti-immigrant. Besides which, there's a level of hypocrisy in the argument where it's ok for Brits to go to other countries (and retain all their UK services), but not for people to come here and use ours (despite paying into the system). So is it worth pointing out that the problem (such as there might be one) isn't the one that gets played out day in day out by the media and certain politicians.

And to think, this country invented this and successfully ran railways as the mass transport of common people for over a century.

The vast majority of them totally legally.

If Maresca is going Man City, surely it's because Pep is coming here.

Makes you wonder how many managers who have done well on limited budgets could do at that level, Pearson, Allardyce, Martinez, etc. Are there actually better managers at a lower level who just never caught a break?

Interesting love child.

Not at all. Even taking inflation into account, per year Pep has spent 200-300% more than Ferguson. I'm not saying Pep is a bad manager, I'm just saying that vast sums of money make the job easier as you can just go and buy players that are clearly the best.

Compared to Man City it's small change. And he didn't build the team by throwing cash around. It was only once they had become successful again in the 2000s that he started to splash the cash and even then it would be on one player.

Ha! No probably; he isn't. Quite clearly it's Ferguson. You only have to look at how much Man U picked up under him and how much they dropped off without him. He also didn't need to throw cash around harvesting big name players from big clubs, he developed players and built a strong team ethic. I don't like Man U or Sir Alex, but I've got a lot of respect for his achievements.

Thomas Cromwell wasn't a musician though. Also, do you possibly mean Oliver Cromwell? Edit: I get it now, you're talking about family legacy, not one person. Still don't get the Elgar and Liszt reference though.

Hayfever.

As a nation, or indeed, a bloc of nations, you can leverage to bring about change, instead of (ironically handy Cantonese word here) kowtowing to them.

Except many of it's own people.

It's amazing how one little misunderstanding can evolve into something beautiful Chapeau sir!

Vote for *bzzt* Farage! He *whirr* will drill for oil. Oil is imp*dzzt*ortant to survival. More oil! *DING!*

Post op complications

I genuinely spent a couple of minutes wondering who the late Jan Kerfuffle was (even though you didn't capitalise the K).

Or in supermarkets. At least a buffet is actually a place for eating.

Yes it is and yes it is. I think I only got as far as you too. I've often thought it would be a great basis for an RPG, with it's four (I think) psychic disciplines.

What @Libertine said

Walk 50 miles?

Does anyone else reread books they read when they were much younger and find they appreciate them a lot more, having gained some life experience? For instance, Julian May's Pliocine Exile series did for me and also Watership Down, which I read when I was 8 and really didn't get a lot out of it outside of bunny battles.

So you're saying we should always do this when eating? Strange.

It is relevant in that there is a perception that immigrants are more likely to commit crime, when research shows that the truth is there is no difference in the likelihood.