vivweb01

  Once again, Rachel Reeves has a thorny problem on her hands…it's a significant one, and not one she can ignore.... We’re all starting to feel the pinch as a result of the latest economic shock – Trump’s ill-advised Iran War.  We knew the economic pain it would cause; even before it started, a large slice of our population, on low wages but not entitled to benefits were really not able to make ends meet without taking out additional high-interest loans. For some of them, yet another economic shock will bring them to the brink of bankruptcy. The excessive electricity and gas price rises imposed by the supplier ‘cartel’, and sanctioned by OFGEM have been particularly injurious. Many consumers have been left with large personal debts in the form of unpaid utility bills, just because they opted to keep themselves and their kids warm and fed this winter. With a large hike expected in the cap in July, next winter looks to be even worse for them.  We have also allowed our...

  Editor's note: See recent update 13.4.26 at the end of the main article for the latest news on the new UK.GOV plans for reorganising recycling collections....if you're waiting for a new food bin, they're on their way...at last ! ---------------------------- As one of the more incisive questions of our age, "When is Bins ?" definitely deserves some attention…and hopefully a reliable and effective solution for those afflicted by the recent changes (i.e. most of us!). In days of old, life was much simpler when it came to getting our rubbish collected…. The majority of households had just one dustbin. We put it out for the dustmen (as we affectionately referred to them in those balmy 'pre-pc' days) on the same day each week, and with a bit of luck it got emptied sometime on that day.  Life is much more complicated nowadays when it comes to dealing with our domestic waste. The advent of recycling and climate change awareness, which admittedly was overdu...

  Donald Trump has a problem on his hands…and the USA as a nation now has an even bigger one.... Having been persuaded by Netanyahu, and his own White House advisors, that an all-out attack on the Iranian regime and its military wing, the IRGC, was the best solution to the ‘Iranian problem’, Trump was clearly expecting the war to be over in a matter of days. This still seems to be his 'default' position for any campaign he starts, despite the lessons already provided by the Ukraine war and the continued attacks by all 3 of the Iranian proxies in the face of the massive bombing campaigns meted out to all 3 since the October 7th HAMAS attack. All this does beg the question of how closely he is really being kept informed, and who is actually driving US foreign policy... Despite the intense battering his military and the Israelis have administered over a wide area of Iran in the last 5 weeks, and the cumulative and continuing decapitation of the old leadership in targeted Isr...