egg

Answers please...

Yep. We got caught in the early 90's with our first house. Prices plunged and rates went through the roof. Our mortgage was about 2/3 of our joint net income. Life was shite, but we were dealing with a £30+k mortgage for a starter home, whereas for these youngsters, it's £200 + k. Frightening, and as you say, not their fault in any way.

GMT, greek maybe time, is a wonderful system.

I feel for you having to re fix. My daughter is in the same boat, and being a youngster at the early stages of career, she doesn't have the income headroom for it. Whatever peoples circumstances, however, it's obvious that the combination you highlight is a perfect storm. Difficult times ahead for many, and opportunities for others.

On the last point, the masses do have mortgages on their homes, and most property investors have mortgages. The latter is reflected in residential rents which has a massive impact on people the wider economy, and commercial rents impact the punter. Re fixing, people may fix for 2, 3 and 5 years, but nobody who's fix ends now or in the foreseeable could have foreseen that the world would be as it is now, with the consequences we're starting to see. I'm mortgage free on my home, but I've got friends and family who's fixed is ending and they're shitting themselves, quite rightly, despite having done the right thing. On the wider point Turkish made, we plainly need to finance ourselves, and having borrowed to the hilt with increasing borrowing costs, only so far we can cut spending, a need to spend more in defence, it's obvious that taxes will rise. I've lived, and been in business, through several recessions, and I think we're building to something pretty horrific unfortunately.

The whole episode is a disgrace. I'm not sure any of us expected to live in a world where the major power blockaded a country, a weak one at that and which posed it no danger, abducted it's president and his missus, then stole it's natural resources and monies, leaving it's people struggling. And then for the leaders of the US to lie so brazenly, and badly, about it all.

That's one interpretation. I'd argue the wrong one. Sheeran has lost followers, and gotten shit, because he allowed Krath (lovely fella - Epstein list, Zionist funder, charged with sex offences) to dictate that Macklemore couldn't support him, then come out with some flouncy nonsense essentially saying he's neutral on the subject and apolotical, despite having taken public political stances previously. That's what's cost him, donations have nothing to do with that. The donations look horribly cynical, and follow the event. Where they're intended to go, and whether they've actually been made (the pledge was reported by Krath), is unclear. Re publicity, whether Krath was used to publicise Sheerans donation pledge I'm unsure, but he's made it public. Fwiw, I think the pile on for Sheeran is unfair, and reading between the lines, I think his views aren't dissimilar to Macklemore. However, he's worth half a billion, and could and should have told Kraft to go fuck himself and made it clear that him and the others would fulfil their contractual obligations and turn up at the gigs. And his music is shit.

Sure, nothing will change, no western government of note will stand up to Israel in a meaningful way, but it's a barometer of public feeling which has prompted some discussion.

Macklemore gaining 2 mil insta followers and Ed Sheeran losing a shit ton in a couple of days is a very real reflection of the real world.

As Whelk says, a week is long. Acropolis, Parthenon, lunch and stroll in the Plaka, monastariki, changing of the guard is a funny sight, original olympic stadium, and I forget what it's called, but there's view point way above the city which is stunning. We had a day on a med cruise and found an old boy cabbie and paid him for the day to take us everywhere. Sorted out entry everywhere beating all queues, and even got us into the stadium when it was closed which was pretty cool.

Indeed. The backlash against him, and the support for Macklemore and the others, tells you all you need to know about how normal thinking people feel about this issue and the behaviour of Israel.

Indeed. If one mentions the concept of Israeli expansion (greater Israel as some say), it gets shouted down with jibes of anti Semitism. It's nice to see the likes of Macklemore speaking up against Israeli behaviour, and the support he's getting in comparison to the condemnation of Ed Sheeran tells a story about how people are seeing things.

The answer will be nothing, they're more of a US proxy than any of the Iran affiliated mobs. I think Turkey is all but inevitable. Israel want to expand, and want no opposition. Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon are now dead ducks, the others are US allies, and Iran weakened. The "proxies", in reality, were the last layer of opposition in their individual countries, ahead of Iran proper, then Turkey.

Thanks. I think it's no more complicated than Iran and Turkey are the only ones who could stop them expanding and generally doing what they want.

It could suggest a prolonged Iranian attack, or the mooted crack at Turkey.

The US is to "sell" (give) 60,000 huge (2,000) bombs to Israel. Given that Gaza is destroyed, much of southern Lebanon too, and huge chunks of Iran, you've got to wonder which country or countries have their name on them. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/9/16/us-set-to-approve-60000-heavy-bombs-for-israel-what-that-means

Sausages I haven't risked, but the fish cakes are homemade so no ultra processed rubbish, and contain a decent amount of actual fish. That there's a profit at those prices is remarkable, but volume pays I guess.

Agreed with all of that, save that I would open up the north sea more liberally, but we must move forwards with nuclear energy at speed. We cannot be beholden to global markets and/or geopolitics for our energy.

Yep, bond markets are shitting their pants. As I said the other day, they're the fortune tellers, and they don't like our tea leaves. Unsurprising. Yields above the 2008 and Truss levels are a huge concern. We're on a very sticky wicket. More tax and growth slows. Ditto cuts and the impact of austerity. More borrowing and even twitchier markets. It's a perfect storm of issues.

Yep. Grilled or shallow fried, sometimes with just a squeeze if lemon, and the jobs a fish as they say.

Pollock is very similar. I reckon she'd be hard pushed to notice the difference.

Yep. We rarely buy it now. Fish and chips for 2, with peas and a curry sauce, costs us north of £30. Difficult to justify when we can get a feast from an Indian takeaway for that sort of money. The owners will talk of the overheads which have gone through the roof, but they're pricing themselves to closure. There's a chippy in Shirley which does alunchtime/afternoon menu. Chips, sausage, fish cake (home made, delicious), peas, curry sauce, and a few other things, all at 99p an item. It's crazily busy, and the owner says he makes money at those prices.

Basa is great. Very good as a smoked fish too. There's loads of alternatives. I remember years ago regularly eating hoki. That was when we were trading more with new zealand, and it seems to have disappeared.

You can add Ling to that list. At least as good as cod, but a bottom dweller so not easy to fish.

If he is aware, he'll ignore the reality. That said, the fact that consecutive governments haven't taken steps to ensure that we're energy self sufficient, and have established and continued a system which ensures that corporations benefit from the fact that we are not, is probably the biggest failure of recent times.