Posts

Will Starmer and Reeves Steal Your State Pension from You This Autumn ?

Please excuse the rather hard-hitting question in the title of this blog, but needs must - this is serious, folks….. The Labour leadership is desperate, and as we all know, desperation often leads to serious mistakes…this one certainly would be a monumental one. OK, what's all the fuss about ? There are a number of evil rumours abound in the media (and not just the socials) that Reeves is now actively considering means-testing the State Pension in October.   Why on earth would she even consider this ? As anyone who hasn't been living on Mars this week will know, Labour's back-benchers have effectively forced Starmer into a major U-turn on PIP payment eligibility, his third upset in as many months. This, together with the partial reversal on Winter Fuel eligibility, has created a new £4.5Bn new ‘black hole’ (seemingly not yet labelled a Tory one, but give it time!) in the finances which must be filled if Reeves is to satisfy her self-imposed fiscal rules without rais...

The UK Teen Vaping Epidemic – Should we Still be Worried ?

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  I first published this blog in late 2023 when the realisation that vaping was harmful to teenage lungs was becoming more widespread, and the authorities were finally waking up to the fact that they needed to do something.  All the evidence that has emerged since then has tended to confirm our suspicions - i.e. that long-term vaping does impair lung function, and is likely to be doing so irreversibly. We should thus only be permitting the use of vapes strictly as an aid to stop smoking, and only for as long as is necessary to 'kick the habit'. If we fail to restrict availability, and don't manage to convince our kids as to the dangers, we will be condemning a whole generation to breathing problems in their middle and later years, with the serious burden that will put on our NHS as a result.  There are already reports of worried parents seeing real and lasting damage actually requiring hospitalisation happening to their addicted kids, and the recent legislation banning ...

Garendon Park, Loughborough - Public Access Developments

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I’m publishing this post to provide interested users with a link to my website’s Garendon page, where you’ll find some useful information on public access to the Garendon Park development . Just follow the link. Amongst other things on the website page, you’ll find a detailed description of which footpaths are currently accessible, as well as some history of the development and what is planned for public amenties there.  I’ll aim to provide regular updates over the next few months as the developers progress the construction of the new road, since this is likely to have a significant effect on public access. The plan shown below (Fig. 1) was published at the start of the development project by Persimmon, and indicates the intended layout of the Park after development is complete. Feel free to have a look round the rest of the website while you're there - there's plenty of interest to look at, and a lot of useful stuff available to download as well... Why have I bothered to...