john lappin

So, who will be the first MP to defect to the Greens?

Nicked from another page. Nice to know the MOD has a sense of humour… Never Mess with Officialdom! Lt. Colonel Robert Maclaren retired from the British Army in 2001 after a long career. He received a letter from the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Defence setting out details of his pension and the tax-free ‘lump sum’ award, based upon his years of service, that he would receive in addition to his pension. The letter read: "Dear Lt. Colonel Maclaren, We write to confirm that you retired from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on 1st March 2001 at the rank of Lt Colonel, having been commissioned into the British Army at Edinburgh Castle as a 2nd Lieutenant on 1st February 1366. Accordingly your lump sum payment, based on years served, has been calculated as £68,500. You will receive a cheque for this amount in due course. Yours sincerely Army Paymaster” Lt Colonel Maclaren replied; “Dear Paymaster, Thank you for your recent letter confirming that I served as an officer in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards between 1st February 1366 and 1st March 2001 – a total period of 635 years and 1 month. I note however that you have calculated my lump sum to be £68,500, which seems to be considerably less than it should be bearing in mind my length of service since I received my commission from King Edward III. By my calculation, allowing for interest payments and currency fluctuations, my lump sum should actually be £6, 427, 586, 619. 47p. I look forward to receiving a cheque for this amount in due course. Yours sincerely, Robert Maclaren (Lt Col Retd)” A month passed by and a stout manilla envelope from the Ministry of Defence arrived, it read: “Dear Lt Colonel Maclaren, We have reviewed the circumstances of your case as outlined in your recent letter to us dated 8th March inst. We do indeed confirm that you were commissioned into the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards by King Edward III at Edinburgh Castle on 1st February 1366, and that you served continuously for the following 635 years and 1 month. We have re-calculated your pension and have pleasure in confirming that the lump sum payment due to you is indeed £6, 427, 586, 619. 47p. However, we also note that according to our records you are the only surviving officer who had command responsibility during the following campaigns and battles; The Wars of the Roses 1455 -1485 The Civil War 1642 -1651 The Napoleonic War 1803 – 1815 The Crimean War (1853 – 1856) The Boer War (1899 -1902) World War One (1914-1918). We would therefore wish to know what happened to the following, which do not appear to have been returned to Quartermaster's Stores by you on completion of operations: 9765 Cannons 26,785 Swords 12,889 Pikes 127,345 Rifles (with bayonets) 28,987 horses (fully kitted) Plus three complete marching bands with instruments and banners. We have calculated the total cost of these items, allowing for interest payments and currency fluctuations, and they amount to £6,427,518.119.47p. We have therefore subtracted this sum from your lump sum, leaving a residual amount of £68,500, for which you will receive a cheque in due course. Yours sincerely . . . .” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Everyone thinks they’re an expert. Here’s hack Matthew Norman of the Daily Mirror’s take on 25th February 2003. He was urging Fergie to quit because Wenger had him Sussed. Fergie went on to land the title that season, and though Wenger’s ‘invincibles’ would win the title the following year, Wenger never won another title thereafter whilst Fergie went on to win 5 more premier league titles and another champions league. #MUFC #GGMU #UTFR #ManUtd #ManUnited #ManchesterUnited

Ok, gorgeous people, I generally think that I’m quite clear and obvious when I XTweet (whatever) But obviously not… This is a photo of my husband, @NormanWhiteside with CHRIS McGRATH, son of the gorgeous @Paulmcgrath5 #SpittingImage

@AnnemarieDray I have checked my records and files Annemarie and I believe that Gary is a defender.

Knocks the ball back to Shaw so Manchester United can clear our own box and is beside Cunha as he launches a cross field ball but then runs the entire length to the pitch to meet Mbeumo’s pass to score and earn 3 pts? I dunno Sesko seems pretty perfect to me.

You know what's funny about RPI? It's not even a "proper" statistic now. Per the ONS, RPI does not meet "the required standard for designation as an accredited official statistic". (I realise many of my followers know this but I'm guessing a lot of people are just finding out).

To uprate the state pension by 4.8% and freeze the student loan repayment threshold is one hell of a reveal of the political economy in the UK (and most other DMs).

Am I alone in not wanting to read another word, ever again, on Wuthering Heights, in any form? And very much wanting to re-read Jane Eyre.

the comments on "Wuthering Heights" just seem so sad. it is evident that many/most commentators had only read Part I, not Part II; the novel is hugely ambitious in dramatizing quite an arc of experience, in fact decades. astonishing accomplishment for first-time novelist, like "Jane Eyre" by Emily's sister Charlotte Bronte. perhaps it has just become impossible in the 21st century for readers to grasp a work of the 19th century; as a professor of literature, I think I would not even try to "teach" this today except to literary-minded undergraduates who will have little trouble understanding it.

Brexit’s tragedy: we gambled on free trade just as the world turned protectionist; we dismissed European continental solidarity as the platform for our security just as events made it more important than ever; and we bet the farm on the Special Relationship just as Trump arrived.

Tentative signs of a stabilisation in the UK labour market with vacancies now levelling off, and payroll losses slowing. Headlines will focus on the rise in unemployment to 5.2% (as this govt, and previous governments have overdone the burden on employers) but both the UK unemployment rate and inactivity rate are below the average of the last 25Y.

On C4 News : Extraordinary interview tonight with Simon McDonald - former Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office - who is trying to warn No 10 about the widely reported plans to replace Chris Wormald as Cabinet Secretary with Antonia Romeo without a new appointment process. He says ditching Wormald is “extraordinary” and he wants to talk to them about the Foreign Office investigation into allegations against Antonia Romeo in 2017 which the Cabinet Office said was investigated and dismissed without a case to answer. “Due diligence has some way to go” says Lord McDonald who says there must be a full process before any appointment. He says he’s been trying to speak to No 10 but nobody is calling him back!

@EuroBriefing Note that the current USD depreciation also acts like a consumption tax on US households, and as a subsidy for US exporters that can benefit from this price windfall. On the other hand, it's also a positive for the EU's imports of US LNG...

not sure why hamnet tries to appeal to modern audiences with “grief” when shakespeare’s play centers on an issue much more relevant today: a dispute over land belonging to denmark

@DavidBa90751988 @Hoainguyen888 Well done.

@Hoainguyen888 Beach Boys > Beatles when it came to vocal harmonies and it's not fucking close.

"You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” was recorded in a single afternoon on 19 February 1965 for the Help! soundtrack, with John Lennon singing lead and Paul and George building one of their tightest three part harmonies. It’s one of the few Beatles songs built almost entirely around vocal layering, and the hand percussion you hear was actually played by Ringo tapping bongos and claves. The scene in the Help! film shows the band performing it in a studio covered in snow,an effect made with foam machines that kept clogging the cameras. The track captures the Beatles right at the point where their pop sound was evolving into something more sophisticated. If you liked this reel, your gifts really help me post more ✨🖤🎁

@tomorrowsmps @MichaelLCrick No NEC intervention to tell Eamonn O’Brien he’s ’doing a great job’ as leader of Bury Council and promised the people of Bury a full term then? 😌😉

@EuroBriefing Let's call it the near equivalent of the Sudetenland.

I always expected Trump, at some point, to impose a final take-it-or-leave-it version of a peace deal for Ukraine. We know that he has been sympathetic to Putin's principal demand to be allocated the remaining 11% of the land area of the Donbas that Russia does not control. So, the reported linkage between the security guarantees and Ukraine giving up the Donbas should not come as a surprise. It's either that. Or there will be no deal - and no security guarantees. eurointelligence.com

Lovely email from @EE explaining: "we’ve moved you to our latest pounds and pence terms. In future, your price change won’t be affected by inflation, so you’ll know exactly how much it will increase each year." Great to know I won't be confused by percentages! (They're raising my monthly bill by more than 30%.)

Mark Tully was a giant among journalists and the greatest Indophile of his generation. He was also a uniquely warm, generous, gentle, kind and helpful man, at whose feet I was honoured to sit for many years as he patiently explained the subtleties & nuances of India. As the voice of BBC India he was irreplaceable, a man prepared to stand up to power and to tell the truth, however uncomfortable. Both privately and professionally, he will be much, much missed.

@ReporterMcCabe @SenatorCrossing @teacherken You are an arsehole.

@SenatorCrossing @teacherken 25K Dutch volunteered to fight with the Germans. The very term “Dutch mayors” refers to when the locals cooperate with their occupiers.

Back in the late 90s, my wife and I were living in the Netherlands when some Dutch friends invited us to the NL release of Saving Private Ryan. They turned it into a real event: a fancy dinner beforehand and plans for a gathering afterward. This was in a small town outside Amsterdam, so it felt especially meaningful. The theater was packed. When Spielberg's film ended, the entire audience rose for a standing ovation —something I'd never witnessed in a movie theater before or since. The weight of that moment, and the film's portrayal of D-Day and American sacrifice, clearly struck a chord. That's how grateful many in Europe have long felt toward the United States for our role in liberating the continent during World War II. It's heartbreaking to see those historic bonds eroded under the current administration. Trump's approach has damaged relationships that took generations to build. Trump is a ruinous fool. @SavingPFCRyan