Vintage-cynic

@SimonCalder Of the ones I've been through in the last few years, Lisbon, for keeping the 2 of us 90 minutes at passport control, although departing was much easier on that occasion. How about a separate tweet for BEST, with one criterion being speed through passport control

Europe's worst airport? I loathe Paris CDG, though some like it. Munich can be an ordeal. Bordeaux picks up votes for its spartan low-cost terminal. Yet in our tens of millions, we judge the rewards at the end of the journey justify the airport experience. independent.co.uk/travel/news-an…

@Sue_Charles My parents had their wedding reception there! Hope you have a great time in NI.

☀️ Celtic connections! A lovely afternoon at Belfast castle… catching up with some BBC weather colleagues from Northern Ireland and Wales. Shwmae from Barra, Cee, Angie, Derek and Sue! 👋🏼

@GaleSteph @SimonCalder Thanks for the reply. I was hoping the removal of physical passport stamps would mean UK travellers would be in a different line but not necessarily a long line. I guess a large number of UK travellers would still be first timers scanning their prints and slowing things

@down_ken @SimonCalder Sadly not, all UK passport holders are in the same line, whether they’ve previously completed the biometric registration or not. It’s a shitshambles.

Dover. On the busiest morning of the year so far, thousands of France-bound travellers endured near-stationary traffic for hours as French frontier police diligently registered details of every UK passport. When they reverted to stamping, queues dissipated independent.co.uk/travel/news-an…

@GMB Crack down on misuse, like borrowing auntie Doris's badge to park at the airport in a wider space where your doors won't get dinged. Disabled bays in airport car parks are perpetually full, even at slack times of the year.

Having ADHD shouldn't give you an automatic right to a blue badge - according to the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who warned misuse of parking permit ‘undermines’ disabled people.  The number of people receiving blue badges for hidden disabilities has trebled in the past five years since the criteria was changed. Should we crackdown on blue badges?

@kelvmackenzie Slight tangent, but every time I park in Stansted airport long stay , all blue badge bays are taken, (24 in zone Q) even at slack times when the car park is less than half empty. The incentive to park there is that wider bays mean your doors don't get dinged!!

There are 4million PIP claimants and I’d love to know how many cheats there are like ex-nurse Helen Green who said she could only walk 50metres while competing in 10k runs and joining Zumba classes. Green,49, a mum with a daughter, took £25K over 3 years in handouts and thankfully was jailed for 7 months. Yes she did have rheumatoid arthritis and deep vein thrombosis and received the basic PIP award. But after saying she could only walk 20/50 metres and that she couldn’t carry heavy shopping bags she was promoted to the top payout which entitled her to Motability. It was all bollocks. She was filmed carrying heavy bags out of Aldis, putting them in the car with ease. But it was the fact that she ran three 10k runs that even angered the judge. Incredibly she did each of them in just over an hour. Green’s husband wept after the jailing. Interested to know if he ever had suspicions about his wife’s fraud or did he just enjoy the money? How many more Greens are out there? I presume they are working on the theory there aren’t enough “ detectives” to catch them out. She was wrong. I suspect there are tens of thousands who are getting away with it.

@JohnCleese Quite a few old-fashioned English gentlemen at the football world cup next month as well.

Aaron Rai An old-fashioned English gentleman What a wonderful role model...

@BBCMaryam I was actually quite pleased with the 1 point. There's something quintessentially British about heroic failure, and being not terribly good (think Eddie the Eagle -absolute ledge)

'Look Mum, one point': Why does the UK keep getting Eurovision wrong? bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@KevinP184 Thanks. Proper attitude

@down_ken Teddie Lamb i think

What about that Referee last night who booked the City player for kissing the City badge after Heskey scored. Absolute melt - killing football this lot

@supertanskiii He's not the Messiah - he's a very naughty boy

Josh Simons has fallen on his sword so Burnham can stand. A seat with a 5k majority. This is fucking huge. A game changer. All to play for now.

@Kevin_Maguire Has Andy Birnam Wood marched unto Dunsinane yet?

Wes Streeting putting up rather than shutting up by formally launching a leadership bid could spell the end for Keir Starmer, scupper Andy Burnham(unless he gets his skates on) and make Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband or A N Other the next PM. The change genie is out of the bottle.

@Peston Sounds like another clear and obvious error.

It’s now all about West Streeting, the health secretary, who has made clear he both wants to be the UK’s next prime minister, but also does not want to be the first mover in an attempted coup against the prime minister. His difficulty is that many of those MPs calling for the PM to go are his supporters. His team insist that they are doing so without his instructions, but few in parliament regard that as either credible or relevant. One of those who would support him told me: “too many of his people have been marched up a hill, that he will have to launch a bid if Keir doesn’t go.” The prime minister told the cabinet just now he will not set out a timetable for his departure. He said: “The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.” He might have added “I’m looking at you Wes.” For Streeting this is a bit of a nightmare. If he does challenge Starmer he may lose and wreck his political career. And if he doesn’t challenge Starmer in a formal contest, he may alienate his supporters, who have stuck their heads above the parapet at great potential cost to their political futures, and that may fatally damage his leadership prospects forever. It’s Streeting’s moment in history. How will he shape it?

@soniasodha So who's next then? Angela Ryanair? Or will Andy Birnam Wood march on Dunsinane?

Any new Labour leader is in reality going to be constrained in terms of fiscal policy choices, for the reasons below, if they're responsible. So there's probably less substantive difference between soft left and moderate contenders than they would have us believe.

@IainDale It's either a penalty or a goal. VAR has decided the title and quite possibly relegated a fine club.

I struggle to articulate my emotions at this moment. With that one decision, VAR has awarded the title to Arsenal, and probably relegated West Ham. This is not football.

@Peston All fouls are equal, but some fouls are more equal than others. George Orwell and VAR

What is ambiguous about this? I almost died waiting for the VAR verdict.

@soniasodha Disgusting. And he is now a councillor in Sunderland!!

This was quite extraordinary to watch.

@beverleyturner Pretty sure printers are responsible for my Ramipril 10mg daily requirement

Just when you think printers cannot get any more enraging....

@CliveMyrieBBC Doku's equaliser = "hope rekindled"

I second that emotion David!!

@SimonCalder Also, another passenger who booked EMA to Canaries with Ryanair Nov/Dec/Jan has had their booked flights either cancelled or moved to another date. Summer might go fine, but there's evidence of problems further down the line

@SimonCalder I had a look at Ryanair flights from EMA autumn/winter. A LOT have been withdrawn to many destinations. They are listed as "too late - flight sold out" but 4 days ago all were listed as "coming soon" so they aren't sold out at all. It's a cull!

Aviation fuel. Government steering a tricky path: "No shortages. But if supplies look like run short in July/August, we'll protect your holiday. By letting airlines cancel flights" Aim: cancel only flights with multiple daily departures to move passengers. gov.uk/government/new…