Steve Maile

@LukeTryl Intelligence is not the same as wisdom, and an arts degree from an ex poly probably doesn't equate to intelligence.

Not sharing the most recent poster as don’t want to contribute to a pile on. But every few weeks someone posts this graph or similar as “evidence” a reform voters are stupid and it’s not just wrong/offensive but also deeply incurious. Some thoughts: On the “wrong/offensive” firstly this is partly just an age effect, mass HE benefits younger people. Secondly degree status clearly doesn’t equal intelligence. But also the idea that Reform voters (and you hear the same about Green voters) haven’t applied rationale thinking to their choice is just nonsense. Many have concluded entirely understandably that the status quo isn’t working and that there is a need to try something new. But secondly the incurious bit strikes me. It’s far easier to write off a voter you disagree with, whether Reform, Green or anything else as stupid/victims of misinformation. But if you’re interested in trying to win people back surely you’re interested in why they’re abandoning the mainstream rather than just dismissing them as wrong . As someone who has the opportunity to spend time every week talking to Reform, Green and many other voters it is clear the primary driver is the sense of a broken social contract, life which feels too much “surviving not living” and disrespect from political class. You can have a very legitimate debate about whether Reform or Green solutions will address that vs established mainstream. Insulting voters intelligence, naivety or rationality isn’t that.

@bromleywithlove I tend to agree. Following today's results I think 83 may well be enough, 84 probably will be and 85 definitely, so I've come in by about a point since this morning. 85 had only once not been enough in the last 20 full seasons and then on gd.

Having looked at all the permutations I think one more win probably gets Bromley automatic promotion but two and it will be definite.

@stephenpollard @spectator Half the fun of having is cat is watching them kill birds while people like David cry about it

Here's my @spectator column, 'What David Attenborough gets wrong about cats' spectator.com/article/what-d… Here we go again. Last February I wrote about the latest wave of ‘catphobia’ – my new word, do use it – prompted by a report (more accurately, an anti-cat rant) published by the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission. The report suggested the ‘compulsory containment of cats in vulnerable areas’ and the banning of cats altogether in some new housing developments. A wave of cat hate followed. For anyone who hasn’t been brainwashed by the anti-cat mafia that dominates the media and public life, I bring bad news. The majority of this anti-cat screed was easy to swat away as the nonsense it was. As for the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission…well, who cares? But, my fellow cat lovers, we now have a very different and altogether higher-calibre adversary to contend with. I can barely bring myself to report that tonight on BBC1 the latest piece of anti-cat propaganda is to be delivered by…Sir David Attenborough. And it’s not just any old new series of his; it’s one celebrating his 100th birthday. It’s as if the anti-cat mafia has decided it’s time to explode its nuclear weapon. How are we supposed to take on Sir David Attenborough celebrating his centenary? In the documentary Secret Garden, he argues that the 9.5 million pet cats in Britain kill 55 million birds every year. He suggests – assuming that this is, by definition, a bad thing – that cats wear a bell on their collars as this ‘reduces pet cats’ hunting success by a third’. As it happens, I don’t think it’s an outrageous suggestion; my cat, Louie, wears a bell on his collar, mainly so I can hear where he is. But that’s not all. In a recent interview, the series’s producer, Bill Markham, lets rip at cats on the bizarre ground that they are too well looked after. Having so many pet cats is, he says, ‘unfair on the prey’, because ‘they’re being fed every day. There’s no limit on their population. So the normal relationship between predators and prey falls apart.’ I’m struggling to understand the logic. Like most cats, Louie does occasionally bring back a dead bird for me. But it’s very occasional – perhaps once or twice a year. That’s because he doesn’t need to kill to eat. He’s just doing what cats do once in every while for fun. But if I didn’t feed him every day, he would do what cats do because he had to – and kill many more birds. If you’re trying to reduce the number of dead birds, how is making cats more reliant on killing them a good idea? Markham also says people should keep cats indoors during the avian breeding season in April and May. It’s not too outrageous a suggestion, although if you’ve ever had to contend with a stir-crazy cat for whatever reason – recuperating after an operation, for example – then you’ll know it’s not that straightforward. My real issue with the series isn’t the specific suggestions put forward. It’s the tone and the approach that we see all the time – that cats are somehow a problem that has to be dealt with. Usually they’re contrasted with dogs – ‘man’s best friend’ in that idiotic phrase, as if they’re loyal and bright while cats are self-centred. Anyone who owns a cat (or rather is owned by a cat) will know what rubbish that is. I’ve no interest in being slobbered over by a dog that runs affectionately at anyone. But when I’ve earned a cat’s trust and affection, as with Louie, that’s something I’ll take with me to my grave. I hesitate to take issue with Sir David Attenborough, but it’s depressing how yet again cats are being portrayed as a problem. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we just celebrated the joy, the comfort and the calm that cats can bring?

@AlanJLSmith No definitely not. Still, clean your dishes! You gave them an opening, they were always going to charge something extra.

@SteveMaile9 True - but not sure that would justify 8 hours additional cleaning work.

We just rented a property for a weekend break – the owners charge me for an extra 8 hours cleaning above the standard cost. They sent me images supporting their deduction. We left it clean and tidy - ok some unwashed dishes in the sink and a bottle outside. Is this fair?

@policy_uk Even if 25 year fixes were offered, most dimwits would take a shorter fix if slightly cheaper. Look at the number of fools who took short fixes when rates were low despite 7 and 10 year fixes being available.

The trillion pound question

@CNviolations Florida man arrested after lassoing an alligator 😂

Let's see 😂

@CasualSaturdays No one's scared of Millwall. Most will be thinking about six lovely points,

Another win for Millwall today and now they’re up to second. There’s a genuine chance they could be in the Premier League next season. And let’s be honest — is that what Premier League fans are scared of? Not just the team. The fans. The Den. The atmosphere. The edge. Millwall in the Prem would rattle a lot of people.

@danielmgmoylan Guarantee lower of CPI and AWE. No floor. Easy.

I always want to know what these people would replace the Triple Lock with and why it would always be cheaper. Or do they just (at heart) want to scrap pensions?

@DrHoenderkamp Actually most of them haven't earned it and have been net takers even before retiring.

Why do people hate the elderly so much? So tired of listening to the left and some on the right, demonising pensioners for daring to draw a pension, mainly after 40-50 years of hard graft and tax paying. The same people don't want to discuss or demonise in the same way the 1 million 18-24 year olds not working/paying tax and only taking from the state. Or the ballooning benefits bill for those who decide that their ailment means that they can just take from the state regardless of contribution. Benefits should be an acute lifeline or safety net for the very small percentage of us who cannot work or need help to get back to work; not a lifetime activity for those who could but don't work. Leave the elderly alone; £12,500 a year is hardly a bounty and they earned it.

@sophielouisecc They've had their whole damn lives to make adequate provision for retirement. If they choose to rely upon state benefits, they should not expect them to rise more rapidly than the wages of the workers whose efforts are funding them. The issue of immigration is irrelevant.

Young people Pensioners getting a pension they can live off of after working their whole damn lives - is not an attack on us It is the hotel dwellers and those that can’t be arsed to work - that we have to pay for that are the problem That is the actual unfairness here

@SVPhillimore Even if he'd tried to kill himself, I fail to see that it makes any difference since BSB would not conclude on the basis of its current reasoning that that was a reasonable response or that you had intended that to be his response.

It was clear that Mr Weddell asserted he made multiple attempts on his life in 2024 and yet did not include such a claim in his complaint about me. I politely suggest this is because he knew he might have to prove it.

Interesting. If he was moved to try and kill himself in 2024, why did that not form any part of the complaint he made about me in 2024? That complaint was simply that I ‘moved him to tears’. Nor did he mention it in his request for a review. It was not asserted until August 2025. While I hope that my rising anger and exasperation does not stop me feeling compassion for those so genuinely desperate they can see no other way out, I am not going to tolerate manipulative and false allegations/threats of suicide to shut down legitimate discussion of important issues. My solicitors have asked for this proof. I trust it will now be provided.

@SandyofSuffolk @NormanBrennan @TalkTV I could the same the same about you. Which of us is more reliable? The one who has been there often and has no axe to grind or the person spouting rubbish to generate interaction? Perhaps the truth is that you're just a wimp who's scared to leave her inbred backwater home.

@SandyofSuffolk @NormanBrennan @TalkTV Croydon has been through a tough time but it's hardly no go area. I've been there mutilple times in the last year at both day and night and have never felt particularly unsafe and certainly not ever threatened.

I was listening to retired policeman @NormanBrennan on @TalkTV this morning. Mr Brennan used to police many areas in London and said, unfortunately, there are now many areas in London that are no-go areas. The first two no-go areas he mentioned were Croydon and Thornton Heath, where I was born and grew up. How has it come to this? From the age of 11, I used to get the bus into Croydon town centre to mooch around the shops. From the age of 13, I used to get the bus to Thornton Heath and walk to Selhurst Park to watch Palace play. My first office job was in 1974 in Thornton Heath High Street. The first property I purchased in 1984 was a maisonette near Palace's ground. Never once did I feel unsafe - not even when Millwall, Charlton and Brighton were our opponents. Now? It's a no-go area. This isn't exaggeration or hyperbole. It's true. Every time I've been back recently, I'm horrified at what my old home has become. In my car, I lock all my doors while driving. Thornton Heath High Street resembles Kingston, Jamaica; Broad Green resembles Kabul and many council estates are dens of drug dealing eastern Europeans. It's a huge melting pot of different cultures, religions, nationalities, none of whom have any respect for the British way of life. And they're ruining our whole capital city. But apparently Mayor Khan blames the 'far right' - whoever they may be - for stirring up division. I moved to Suffolk 22 years ago and, unfortunately, our county town here - Ipswich - is going the same way. The once lovely market town with a waterfront will, in a decade, I'm sure, become the new Croydon. How have the establishment let this happen? How on earth has it come to this?

@rcolvile Crazy. State pension should rise by the lower of CPI and AWE and that's it. Insane entitlement to expect workers to pay for retirement incomes to rise by more than their own, never mind the fiscal craziness.

Reform commit to the triple lock, along with all the rest of them. RIP fiscal sanity.

@NormaCohen3 If I build a house, the price is set by the market. I can pay the freeholder that price less my build cost less my required profit. The freeholder can try to chaege what he wants but if I can't meet my return hurdle I won't pay. So the land value is set by the house value.

@NormaCohen3 And what is the value of land without planning?

Land values in Britain are higher than in any other G7 country. That likely reflects the fact that the Freehold/Leasehold legal structure allows almost endless cash to be extracted when residential tower blocks are built. Now new buyers won’t touch them. End Leasehold now!

This made me laugh.

@OwenLDBR @GabSutton @FBLowdown @LowerLeagueLook @NTT20Pod Swindon have the easiest run jn of the top 7 but the weakest form. However I can't see a whopping 77 points being as low as 8th and I think 84 will be enough for 3rd this year,which is still notably high.

This is how I see League Two ending up this season if anyone’s interested, generously gave #Gills an extra point but maybe that’s the optimist in me