What Is Happening To Our Country?

[whelk]

Bless. The gammon boys getting all excited again. So easy to stir them up

[whelk]

6 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

 

What does DI Carver think?

[Gloucester Saint]

11 hours ago, whelk said:

What does DI Carver think?

Sad to see that Chris Ellison who played Burnside has aphasia same as Bruce Willis. Saw him in a play late 2010s and didn’t seem quite right. Mark Wingett who played Carver has been helping Ellison and his wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ellison_(actor)

Edited June 11 by Gloucester Saint

[egg]

12 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Sad to see that Chris Ellison who played Burnside has aphasia same as Bruce Willis. Saw him in a play late 2010s and didn’t seem quite right. Mark Wingett who played Carver has been helping Ellison and his wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ellison_(actor)

That's a shame, but nice to read that Wingett is supportive. Burnside was a cracking character - dodgy, violent, misogynistic, sarcastic, but so bloody likeable! 

[egg]

Old fashioned policing the Burnside way. Less paperwork, less delay, and the fella got his hair washed. Kind of. 

 

Edited June 11 by egg

[Tamesaint]

19 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I know 3 long term landlords jacking in recently as costs are killing them. The turnover of tenants is ridiculous locally, with a combination of Reeves & Brewery’s/ pub cos’s making them uneconomical. The last Government started the rot, but this lot are making it even worse, and that’s before the ginger growler gets her employment act on the statute.
 

The problem is there’s always some sap who thinks he can run a boozer, so nothing will ever change until we run out of mugs and it’s too late…

It all depends on the quality of the pub. There were 16 pubs in my town when we first'moved here  35 years ago. There are now 10  - which still enough for a decent pub crawl. 

The crap ones have gone. Several are now private houses. One is a chip shop. One is a funeral parlour! The survivors are those that give people what they want. Eg  quality beer (ale), good, reasonably priced food or decent entertainment. 

 

[whelk]

47 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

It all depends on the quality of the pub. There were 16 pubs in my town when we first'moved here  35 years ago. There are now 10  - which still enough for a decent pub crawl. 

The crap ones have gone. Several are now private houses. One is a chip shop. One is a funeral parlour! The survivors are those that give people what they want. Eg  quality beer (ale), good, reasonably priced food or decent entertainment. 

 

Generally the youths don’t do pubs like the older generations. Town centres at weekends are ok but culturally not somewhere the youngsters expect to go regularly 

[Lord Duckhunter]

4 hours ago, Tamesaint said:

It all depends on the quality of the pub. There were 16 pubs in my town when we first'moved here  35 years ago. There are now 10  - which still enough for a decent pub crawl. 

The crap ones have gone. Several are now private houses. One is a chip shop. One is a funeral parlour! The survivors are those that give people what they want. Eg  quality beer (ale), good, reasonably priced food or decent entertainment. 

 

The crap ones fell by the wayside years ago, it’s biting into the decent ones now. The cost of their energy, the price tenants are paying for their booze, and Government payroll taxes are killing them. When you add in the cultural changes, I don’t know why anyone bothers to run an alehouse out of big cities. The only people not screwing the landlords I know,are the bands & singers who are still performing for what they got pre Covid…

 

There’s hardly any experienced bar staff around anymore, most youngsters don’t have a local & don’t seem to appreciate this great institution. You even see cock wombles queuing up at the bar nowadays FFS. Personally, I’d tax off sales more and boozers less and then radically reform the tied system. Get the Government & the brewing cartels off their backs. 

[Turkish]

8 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The crap ones fell by the wayside years ago, it’s biting into the decent ones now. The cost of their energy, the price tenants are paying for their booze, and Government payroll taxes are killing them. When you add in the cultural changes, I don’t know why anyone bothers to run an alehouse out of big cities. The only people not screwing the landlords I know,are the bands & singers who are still performing for what they got pre Covid…

 

There’s hardly any experienced bar staff around anymore, most youngsters don’t have a local & don’t seem to appreciate this great institution. You even see cock wombles queuing up at the bar nowadays FFS. Personally, I’d tax off sales more and boozers less and then radically reform the tied system. Get the Government & the brewing cartels off their backs. 

It so expensive to go for a drink now. If we got out with our friends for a drink you’re looking at not much change out of £40 for a couple of pints and two glasses of wine. Out for a pint with mates isn’t as bad but most places a where I live are charging at least £5 a pint, still bloody extortionate but then given the overheads no wonder 

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

It so expensive to go for a drink now. If we got out with our friends for a drink you’re looking at not much change out of £40 for a couple of pints and two glasses of wine.

Wines a piss take. Small, Med or large. You can’t go back with a small or medium as they put it in such a big glass you look a right tight arse taking that back from the bar. 

[Turkish]

5 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Wines a piss take. Small, Med or large. You can’t go back with a small or medium as they put it in such a big glass you look a right tight arse taking that back from the bar. 

Yep you have to get a large one, but looking at £12 minimum for anything half decent 

[whelk]

13 minutes ago, Turkish said:

It so expensive to go for a drink now. If we got out with our friends for a drink you’re looking at not much change out of £40 for a couple of pints and two glasses of wine. Out for a pint with mates isn’t as bad but most places a where I live are charging at least £5 a pint, still bloody extortionate but then given the overheads no wonder 

£5 is cheap

[skintsaint]

Just now, whelk said:

£5 is cheap

Was going to say, I would be all over that. I bought two pints last weekend at a pub here in Surrey which cost me £17.

[Turkish]

26 minutes ago, whelk said:

£5 is cheap

That’s what I mean at least £5 that’s for a shit beer in a shit pub anything decent is £6.50 upwardS

[Gloucester Saint]

6 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The crap ones fell by the wayside years ago, it’s biting into the decent ones now. The cost of their energy, the price tenants are paying for their booze, and Government payroll taxes are killing them. When you add in the cultural changes, I don’t know why anyone bothers to run an alehouse out of big cities. The only people not screwing the landlords I know,are the bands & singers who are still performing for what they got pre Covid…

 

There’s hardly any experienced bar staff around anymore, most youngsters don’t have a local & don’t seem to appreciate this great institution. You even see cock wombles queuing up at the bar nowadays FFS. Personally, I’d tax off sales more and boozers less and then radically reform the tied system. Get the Government & the brewing cartels off their backs. 

Supermarkets have killed the ok pubs a bit and should be taxed more on alcohol and pubs less. You need to offer ranges of drinks the supermarkets can’t. Keg Guinness is keg Guinness, 4 cans of that for £6 in the supermarkets. The really good ones are still doing well around here but the tied ones, the Stonegates and Star pubs etc are closing or struggling unless they’ve got a landlord/lady who pushes back vs the reps and area managers by offering choice. 

[Gloucester Saint]

5 hours ago, Turkish said:

That’s what I mean at least £5 that’s for a shit beer in a shit pub anything decent is £6.50 upwardS

£5.40-6 a pint here, and not a cheap area. A bit more in Cheltenham or Gloucester. I don’t mind if it’s really well kept ale or standout choice of wines but takes the piss when it’s common garden and £7+ a pint outside of central London.

[whelk]

Haven’t seen SOG for a while

Ethnicity of grooming gangs 'shied away from', Casey report says https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clynyyqdnrdo

Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire - there was enough evidence to show a "disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation".

[Gloucester Saint]

On 11/06/2025 at 14:00, skintsaint said:

Was going to say, I would be all over that. I bought two pints last weekend at a pub here in Surrey which cost me £17.

Good grief, was it Cobham or Esher? 

[Turkish]

42 minutes ago, whelk said:

Haven’t seen SOG for a while

Ethnicity of grooming gangs 'shied away from', Casey report says https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clynyyqdnrdo

Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire - there was enough evidence to show a "disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation".

Been waiting for someone to notice he’s missing id imagine. Getting more annoyed about it as every day passes 

[east-stand-nic]

So we have determined i am correct. Change is needed . But it it thick to vote reform but OK to vote the usual idiots.

[egg]

5 minutes ago, east-stand-nic said:

So we have determined i am correct. Change is needed . But it it thick to vote reform but OK to vote the usual idiots.

It's daft to vote for a political party to "give them a try" or whatever actual words you used, and without proper thought to what change would look like. You vote for a party who's manifesto, and people, can deliver something positive. What positive change are you expecting from reform? 

[whelk]

32 minutes ago, east-stand-nic said:

So we have determined i am correct. Change is needed . But it it thick to vote reform but OK to vote the usual idiots.

Shut up you thick fucker

Too stupid to even follow thread topics you attention seeking twat

Edited Monday at 21:12 by whelk

[skintsaint]

3 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Good grief, was it Cobham or Esher? 

Pirbright.

[AlexLaw76]

10 hours ago, Turkish said:

Been waiting for someone to notice he’s missing id imagine. Getting more annoyed about it as every day passes 

Ethnicity is an issue. Imagine the surprise…

The re-writing of history by some of the great and the good is a wondrous spectacle 

Edited yesterday at 06:14 by AlexLaw76

[Turkish]

53 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Ethnicity is an issue. Imagine the surprise…

The re-writing of history by some of the great and the good is a wondrous spectacle 

Those so desperate to be seen as nice people they’ll demonise everyone else

[whelk]

51 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Those so desperate to be seen as nice people they’ll demonise everyone else

Worse than that they totally abandoned and betrayed the poor vulnerable girls for fear of community relations. 

[Gloucester Saint]

9 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Pirbright.

Not totally surprising, pretty there and lots of skilled work with the Institute and Army training facilities.

[east-stand-nic]

12 hours ago, egg said:

It's daft to vote for a political party to "give them a try" or whatever actual words you used, and without proper thought to what change would look like. You vote for a party who's manifesto, and people, can deliver something positive. What positive change are you expecting from reform? 

What positive change are you expecting from Labour or Tory? Isn't it daft to carry on voting for them both when they have proven time and time again they are useless? 

[east-stand-nic]

11 hours ago, whelk said:

Shut up you thick fucker

Too stupid to even follow thread topics you attention seeking twat

Once again, caught with nothing to say on the debate so resort to your normal IQ level. 

[egg]

35 minutes ago, east-stand-nic said:

What positive change are you expecting from Labour or Tory? Isn't it daft to carry on voting for them both when they have proven time and time again they are useless? 

I'm not the one saying it's stupid to vote Tory or Labour. You're advocating a change to Reform. What do believe they'll actually do/change? 

[leesaint88]

11 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Pirbright.

That place sends shivers down my spine. Odd for it to charge a fortune for beer..

[whelk]

53 minutes ago, east-stand-nic said:

Once again, caught with nothing to say on the debate so resort to your normal IQ level. 

You aren’t worth a response pal. You don’t engage just witter on saying same thing and bleating about being right like the pathetic needy person you clearly are. Hey I am jealous of your IQ - you must have smashed the verbal and logical reasoning

 

[skintsaint]

9 minutes ago, leesaint88 said:

That place sends shivers down my spine. Odd for it to charge a fortune for beer..

Pirbright village is a lovely little spot for lunch.

[trousers]

On 11/06/2025 at 13:58, whelk said:

£5 is cheap

Beer still under a fiver (just about) here in deepest darkest Devon 

[east-stand-nic]

21 hours ago, whelk said:

You aren’t worth a response pal. You don’t engage just witter on saying same thing and bleating about being right like the pathetic needy person you clearly are. Hey I am jealous of your IQ - you must have smashed the verbal and logical reasoning

 

Which clearly translates into... 'Bugger, he has me in a corner again and I cannot get out of it without admitting he is correct'. If you can, then please tell me where I am not correct in the statement I made? Come along now .. grow a pair and enter adult debate. 

[benjii]

I'll answer.

The positive change I expected from Labour was a move away from the rank idiocy, corruption and general lack of calibre and seriousness that was plaguing the Tories since Boris' government of spineless toads, Cummings and his eye test, PPP scams, etc... this culminated in the pathetic MAGA moist pants of Truss and Co. before Rishi grasped the poison chalice for a short period.

I have reservations around their long-term success but the country simply couldn't afford to head further Trumpwards under an increasingly risible Tory party.

As to Reform, what positive changes do you expect from them?

Edited 6 hours ago by benjii

[whelk]

1 hour ago, east-stand-nic said:

Which clearly translates into... 'Bugger, he has me in a corner again and I cannot get out of it without admitting he is correct'. If you can, then please tell me where I am not correct in the statement I made? Come along now .. grow a pair and enter adult debate. 

I am genuinely starting to think you are not the full shilling 

[rallyboy]

In 1944 we designed, built and transported functional floating harbours to France in a matter of months.

Today we need 20 years to build a fucking railway that won't go to where it was intended - and forget coming in on budget, that went out of the window on day one.

How have we become so crap at doing stuff?

[east-stand-nic]

52 minutes ago, whelk said:

I am genuinely starting to think you are not the full shilling 

Of course u are. Because I have shown you up, it is your only route out of the corner. Much easier if you would just debate people and show them where you believe their statement to be wrong. But you can't, so u revert to name calling, silliness and striking out like a child. 

[east-stand-nic]

A good try but you have still missed the point I was making in depth. The fact is, people have been following the same patter for that least the last 50 or so years. Vote Labour, they do crap, change to Tory, they do crap, vote back to Labour. Where has this got us? No where. In fact we are going backwards. After 13 years of so of Tory, 90's and 2020's we put Labour back in because the Tories failed miserably. Labour are once again going to do the exact same thing. So in 4 years, should we vote the Tories back in, knowing for a FACT they will change nothing for the better? 

It is no wonder people are flocking to reform. And IF their manifesto is true and they try to do all the things they have pledged, great. Will they do all or any of those things? Who knows. But one thing we know for sure is Labour and Tory will NOT do anything they promise for the better of people. 

So, in summary, do we vote in parties we KNOW will do nothing for us, as we have a proven track record of this. Or should we try someone knew and unknown? think about it. If Reform do no better than Labour or Tory (almost impossible), what have we lost? And please, OMG do not come back with the same old nonsense of better the devil you know. We must try someone new. 

[benjii]

8 minutes ago, east-stand-nic said:

A good try but you have still missed the point I was making in depth. The fact is, people have been following the same patter for that least the last 50 or so years. Vote Labour, they do crap, change to Tory, they do crap, vote back to Labour. Where has this got us? No where. In fact we are going backwards. After 13 years of so of Tory, 90's and 2020's we put Labour back in because the Tories failed miserably. Labour are once again going to do the exact same thing. So in 4 years, should we vote the Tories back in, knowing for a FACT they will change nothing for the better? 

It is no wonder people are flocking to reform. And IF their manifesto is true and they try to do all the things they have pledged, great. Will they do all or any of those things? Who knows. But one thing we know for sure is Labour and Tory will NOT do anything they promise for the better of people. 

So, in summary, do we vote in parties we KNOW will do nothing for us, as we have a proven track record of this. Or should we try someone knew and unknown? think about it. If Reform do no better than Labour or Tory (almost impossible), what have we lost? And please, OMG do not come back with the same old nonsense of better the devil you know. We must try someone new. 

Reform will try to dismantle public services, dismantle civil rights, increaee their own institutional power, continue to reveibe money from Russian sources, dumb down the media (I know you have some trenchant views on that), embarass us on the world stage, alienate closest trading partners (more), and stuff government full of grifting, unimpressive, MAGAts.

So, that's why I don't think they're worth a go.

[whelk]

23 minutes ago, benjii said:

Reform will try to dismantle public services, dismantle civil rights, increaee their own institutional power, continue to reveibe money from Russian sources, dumb down the media (I know you have some trenchant views on that), embarass us on the world stage, alienate closest trading partners (more), and stuff government full of grifting, unimpressive, MAGAts.

So, that's why I don't think they're worth a go.

He is far too dense to understand. Let’s believe their manifesto - Lol at the gullible idiot who thinks he has made a revelatory point - he shouldn’t even vote if he says he lives in Thailand. 

[whelk]

52 minutes ago, east-stand-nic said:

Of course u are. Because I have shown you up, it is your only route out of the corner. Much easier if you would just debate people and show them where you believe their statement to be wrong. But you can't, so u revert to name calling, silliness and striking out like a child. 

The only thing you have shown is that you have a childlike brain that is very easy to manipulate. 

[egg]

2 hours ago, benjii said:

I'll answer.

The positive change I expected from Labour was a move away from the rank idiocy, corruption and general lack of calibre and seriousness that was plaguing the Tories since Boris' government of spineless toads, Cummings and his eye test, PPP scams, etc... this culminated in the pathetic MAGA moist pants of Truss and Co. before Rishi grasped the poison chalice for a short period.

I have reservations around their long-term success but the country simply couldn't afford to head further Trumpwards under an increasingly risible Tory party.

As to Reform, what positive changes do you expect from them?

I suspect, like most reform advocates I've encountered, he doesn't realise their stance re the NHS, or pretty much anything. Laughable that be cites their manifesto but can't actually say what he sees in it that's a positive.