Points to Ponder

[Hugo]

I was driving through Deganwy yesterday and on the stretch of the road going from the old Castle Hotel to Llandudno I noticed that there were an unusual high number of apartments for sale.    Perhaps they were second homes too?

I also saw this link in the Daily Post about affordable homes being built for local people and it's a start and about time that local people were given a chance to own their own  home in the area where they were born and work.   In Llanberis where this scheme is being proposed there is also the additional consideration of the Welsh language
This type of problem with second homes is also in other popular areas of the UK and something should be done to help the local young people wherever they live
It's just my opinion but all those houses that are being built by the Llandudno railway station should only be for people living in the North Wales area

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/eryri-tourism-hotspot-new-council-29876201

[SteveH]

The prime minister has told the BBC that his new government is "going to have to be unpopular" and make tough decisions in order to bring reforms.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg in his first major interview in Downing Street, Keir Starmer said the only way to change the country was to do "difficult things now" even though "I know they are unpopular".

Defending his decision to remove winter fuel payments from most pensioners, he said previous governments had "run away from difficult decisions" and Labour could only keep its promises if he acted in his first few months in office.

No 10 faces a potential rebellion in Parliament this week when there will be a vote on the decision to axe the payment for all but the poorest pensioners.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgm7rnlz81do

[DaveR]

Defending his decision to remove winter fuel payments from most pensioners, he said previous governments had "run away from difficult decisions" and Labour could only keep its promises if he acted in his first few months in office.

To be fair, they need to take the money from the pensioners to house all the economic migrants that are entering the country illegally. 

[Ian]

Defending his decision to remove winter fuel payments from most pensioners, he said previous governments had "run away from difficult decisions" and Labour could only keep its promises if he acted in his first few months in office.

To be fair, they need to take the money from the pensioners to house all the economic migrants that are entering the country illegally. 

Indeed.  Seems like the Tories made a complete hash of that job...   

[Hugo]

It does seem strange when you get mainly young single men coming to the UK illegally and contributing nothing to the economy yet get more benefits than the OAP's  who have and still do pay into the system.
It's a mad, mad world     

[SteveH]

Bearing in mind the above............

More than a quarter of adults living in Wales say they have a deficit budget, meaning their income does not cover their basic essentials.

647,000, or 26%, of Wales-resident adults are in the uncomfortable position according to a YouGov poll analysed by debt advice and money coaching charity, Christians Against Poverty (CAP).

CAP's clients are on average £273 a month short of what they need to be able to cover basics such as food, energy bills, and rent, according to analysis by the organisation of its own data from May to July 2024.

cont  https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/24565711.christians-poverty-welsh-adults-money-struggles/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[Hugo]

I've mentioned it on here a number of times but having driven past Bodafon Farm recently I am convinced more than ever that Mostyn Estates has got plans to build houses on the farm land.
The land is in a mess since Mark Roberts stopped farming there and there is now only a token number of sheep grazing in the fields,  I've also noticed how Mostyn Estates now always refers to it as Bodafon Farm Park rather than just Bodafon Farm
I know for a fact that Mostyn Estates has wanted to get the lease back from Mark Roberts for a number of years and believe that they are trying to prove that the farm is not viable for farming
Only time will tell and it will be after Anwyl completes the site in Nant Y Gamar Road, the next phase for building on the farm land could well be the parcel of land on the other side of Ysgol Gogarth

[DaveR]

It does seem strange when you get mainly young single men coming to the UK illegally and contributing nothing to the economy yet get more benefits than the OAP's  who have and still do pay into the system.
It's a mad, mad world     

Indeed, and still hundreds more arriving every week…. 

[DaveR]

It would seem that the Government are the only people in favour of cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance. Every other political party and the major unions are opposed to it. Odd how Starmer found £100m to give train drivers another massive pay rise though?

[Ian]

It does seem strange when you get mainly young single men coming to the UK illegally and contributing nothing to the economy yet get more benefits than the OAP's  who have and still do pay into the system.
   

This is always an emotional subject.  so the stats might help:

 

[Ian]

It would seem that the Government are the only people in favour of cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance. Every other political party and the major unions are opposed to it. Odd how Starmer found £100m to give train drivers another massive pay rise though?

I admit to being surprised, as it becomes an easy target. Be interesting to see if Labour MPs are given a free vote tomorrow, however.

[SteveH]

MPs voted on whether to end the Winter Fuel Payments in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon.

Labour MPs Becky Gittins (Clwyd East), Gill German (Clwyd North) and Claire Hughes (Bangor Aberconwy) all supported Kier Starmer's plan.

[Hugo]

On TV this morning was a Government Minister defending the decision to scrap the Winter fuel payments for the majority of the OAP's.    He did add that 880,000 people had not claimed the Pension credits that they were entitled to and was encoraging them to do so.       If those OAP's did qualify for credits then the extra Winter fuel allowance would cost the  UK about £264 million pounds that's in addition to the extra costs for the Pension credits so in effect the Government would not have saved any money

This decision will obviously cause resentment among the OAP's and is probably justified bearing in mind what the "asylum seekers" seem to be entitled to and not forgetting that prisoners don't have to worry about the cost of food and heating etc

[SteveH]

Not a bad deal, they could just be confiscated, as a deterrent to others importing weapons into the UK, back in the 90s I was offered Rambo knives for our outdoor business for 50pence each, so as I said not a bad deal for this wholesaler...........

A knife wholesaler whose weapons have been used in several killings has surrendered more than 35,000 "zombie" blades.

Police said the knives and machetes were designed to "kill and maim".

Under a government surrender scheme Luton-based Sporting Wholesale will receive £10 compensation for each knife.

The company said it would not comment.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0re4wp8j2o

[DaveR]

Odd how the Government is refusing to publish details of this ‘£22bn black hole’ that they keep going on about?

https://t.co/JUC2YYqD41

Also odd how they’ve found £600m to send to Ukraine, £100m to give train drivers a pay rise, yet pensioners get their heating allowance taken off them?