Bing Chandler

Read now to avoid social stigma when discussing the Fleet Air Arm. Plus a chance to spot me committing aviation in the photos. I'm the one in a helmet.

@mrsnmonteith @alanpollock23 @jammierooroo @JohnWight1 Difficult to do if they don't have a gun...

@alanpollock23 @jammierooroo @JohnWight1 Police then would be justified in shooting him. Kicking of the criminal in the head by the police while he is unable to move disrespects their profession

This is outrageous. The guy is clearly incapacitated on the ground, having rightfully and thankfully been tased, yet two police officers are repeatedly kicking him in the head. Who do they think they are: members of the IDF?

@ValkStrategy @Hush_Kit @almurray @James1940 @paul_tremelling Bill, it's bad enough you sneak into my bedroom, but now you're taking photos?!

@Hush_Kit @almurray @James1940 @paul_tremelling @SkippyBing

MUST-READ: finally out! @almurray @James1940 Sea Harrier pilot @paul_tremelling, Lynx Observer @skippybing & 2 of Hush-Kit’s drunkest writers walk into a pub, then vent their spleens about the Top 10 aircraft beloved by boring bastards. Story here: hushkit.substack.com/p/top-10-aircr…

@JulesBywaterLee @SalAWright @lfg_uk It was the logical outcome to anyone who's dealt with a local council.

@SalAWright @lfg_uk they did not win to close down the park- just the council had a duty of care to reduce noise High Court ruled in 2022 that the council must reduce the noise disturbance - but it did not have to demolish the games area.

A group of residents bravely fought against noise from a ... Children's playground. The council had to demolish it, and give £130,000 to two complainants. At the taxpayers expense. 31% of children don't have a playground close to them. Do normal countries operate this way?

@Hush_Kit The retro BOAC and BEA liveries from a few years ago we're better than any of BA's actual liveries.

To be honest none of these stir me too much. Give me a BOAC or a Lufthansa

@MaCgroupUK @createstreets @DCBMEP Isn't there a problem with them trashing roads because they follow the route too consistently?

@createstreets @DCBMEP Because trams are expensive to install, wise people advocate for ART .

It's time for trams ! Why is Britain not taking part in the tram revolution? It's because we're shooting ourselves in both feet with a machine gun. The European average cost per mile of tramway is £42mn. Average British cost is more than twice as high at £87mn. Why.... ?

@julianHjessop @alexwickham @DavidPBMaddox It's really not credible.

@alexwickham A mostly credible explanation but still begs questions... 1⃣ if Robbins was just following the rules, why was he sacked? Looks like an attempt to deflect blame... 2⃣ why did No10 not clarify this 7 months ago when pressed (by @DavidPBMaddox) on whether Mandelson passed vetting?

BREAKING: Sources say Olly Robbins felt bound by the rules of the security vetting process NOT to tell the PM, No10 or the foreign secretary about the concerns raised about Mandelson That means it appears No10 WERE in fact unaware he had issues with his vetting And sources say in fact Mandelson DID NOT simply fail his vetting. Instead issues were raised and the FCDO security team and ultimately Robbins had to make a decision on whether to grant him DV clearance. It was their decision and there was no “overturning,” sources say As @SamCoatesSky reports via former security official Ciaran Martin, Robbins was prohibited from sharing information about what happened with anyone outside the FCDO security team Sources say the point of the vetting process is that it is extremely invasive and people who go through it must be confident they can tell the whole truth and not have highly embarrassing information about their personal lives leak or be spread around colleagues That means the circle of people allowed to know about what happens in each vetting case is very small and the information is highly privileged The decision on whether to approve Mandelson’s clearance, according to the vetting rules, is taken by a small team of FCDO security officials and ultimately Robbins, sources say Under no circumstance is Robbins or that team able to share the details of the vetting case with No10 or anyone else, sources say. Robbins felt he could not share it with any minister or private office, sources say It appears the PM and No10 were unaware of how these rules were perceived by Robbins and FCDO, and think he should have told them. Allies of Robbins think it is unfair he was sacked But crucially it appears right now that Robbins did not tell No10 and they were actually in the dark about all this until Tuesday. What an unbelievable mess

@MarkHay55822123 @Ameer_Kotecha By the Civil Service, who may have been slightly biased.

@Ameer_Kotecha It wasn't always amateurish. The civil service used to be likened to a Rolls-Royce.

One thing relevant to Mandelson that hasn’t really been discussed: One thing that it is hard to get across to people who haven’t peered behind the curtain as an official is the SHEER AMATEURISM of the whole operation of government. Especially in the Foreign Office, which deals with weighty matters of war and peace, there is a natural tendency to bestow upon processes and procedures a grandiosity and rigour they just don’t in reality possess. The whole of Whitehall resembles less a slick military operation and more the workings of a NHS A&E ward at 2 a.m. on a Friday night. It’s just very very hard to explain to those who haven’t seen it for themselves. This is not to denigrate individual officials and certainly not to excuse ministers who must carry the can (even if they currently seem determined to throw others under the bus). But the plain dysfunction of the whole superstructure is the elephant in the room of many of these Whitehall scandals

@DanEtchells @FredTitmus @worstall @martinrw Do you have any actual real world examples of that happening in the UK?

@FredTitmus @worstall @martinrw Evidence would suggest otherwise. Public services, properly delivered, with no profit element, have to deliver best VFM...

This is scandalous, but not surprising. If we re-nationalised the NHS, we'd stand to save £1.6bn every two years. theguardian.com/society/2026/a…

@fknorm50 @Olivyre_ @David__Osland At no point was the UK considering surrendering because of the u-boat threat. From memory at the worst point there were still 3-6 months of critical supplies in the country.

@SkippyBing @Olivyre_ @David__Osland Uboats almost caused England to surrender without an invasion. In fact, Uboats worried Churchill more than an invasion.

The main reason Britain is 'not speaking German' is the Red Army. Not the US Marine Corps.

@santry_ian @BellaWallerstei I mean they were, no one lived there before the French arrived. The judgement meanwhile is a non-binding advisory one made by a court without jurisdiction.

@SkippyBing @BellaWallerstei They weren't France's to give away, either but I'm referencing the series of judgements by various United Nations bodies that the Chagos Islands belong to Mauritius.

A reminder that under the Chagos Islands deal Britain would give away sovereign territory and then pay tens of billions (potentially up to £47bn) to lease it back, staggering burden on taxpayers for a deal that weakens finances and strategic control

@ToryWipeout @BellaWallerstei I'll tell you what would let China build a base on a neighbouring island, giving that island to a country that can be bribed with a few million dollars.

@BellaWallerstei Yes it's because not doing this would allow China to build a base on a neighbouring island. The Tories knew this, that's why they negotiated it. Bored of shallow intelligence takes.

@santry_ian @BellaWallerstei They literally are the UK's. There's even a nice treaty where France have them to us in return for losing some war.

@BellaWallerstei They're not ours! Everyone informed thought this was a good idea until SKS upset Trump, and the awful Kemi spotted a trouble making opportunity! We gave Hong Kong back at the end of the lease and came out of Malta. The world didn't fall!

@Gunbust09696378 @Gabriel64869839 It's a soft launch missile designed to be launched by people there's very little efflux to worry about during launch. There're bits of airframe behind them on the Wildcat.

@Gabriel64869839 On T23 a none starter. Right being the 30mm is the magazine. Fwd is the sea boat. Aft is the cross passage. Firing a missile would have put efflux in/on to the mag door( not good!) onto the RIB sea boat or onto people in the cross passage. Good idea but not as it was done.

France has decided to add additional close range layer of defence to its frigates, by adding Mistral launchers; having dedicate C-UAS jamming and added and upgrading gun direction with more optronics. Guess who else attempted to have a SHORAD boost but couldn't progress with it

@realfan49 @Gabriel64869839 It doesn't require the mount to track the target, just the laser. The trick is put it in a separate trainable turret, as per the Wildcat.

@Gabriel64869839 Problem is that the LMM requires the mount to train on the target all the way up to impact therefore taking the gun out of operation for a critical time period. That's the problem when two types of weapon with two different ballistic characteristics are fired from the same mount

@David__Osland No, it's because we refuse to learn foreign languages. If the Germans had invaded the 3rd Reich would have ended up speaking English.

@fknorm50 @Olivyre_ @David__Osland What's that got to do with the planned invasion of the UK though?

@Olivyre_ @David__Osland There was the whole submarine thing. You might want to look into that.

@EarleDSpencer1 @RichScotford @David__Osland That's got nothing to do with Germany's inability to invade the UK though. They failed to manage that when they were allied with the Soviet Union. Germany not invading the UK and Germany being defeated are two different things.

@RichScotford @David__Osland Then maybe you can explain why 80%+ of all German KIA/WIA were inflicted by Soviet forces. The defeat of Nazi Germany was primarily a Soviet victory of arms. Deal with it.

@anon_opin Plot twist, cordless Henry.

Rechargeable vacuum cleaners are great - cordless, lightweight and easy to use. However, if you actually want to get crap off your carpet, buy a Henry.

Airlines, you're serving hot drinks in tiny cups to people sitting in an aluminium tube travelling at hundreds of miles an hour. How about putting lids on them so the contents don't go everywhere at the first hint of turbulence. Speak to a coffee shop, they're way ahead of you.

@mst_cntn_lttrs @TheRealJamieKay They do pay annual road tax, and unless my electricity supplier is lying to me, VAT on the fuel. Of course you're free to carry on paying more to drive a petrol/diesel if you want, although if you think lithium extraction is bad for the environment you'll hate exhaust fumes.

@TheRealJamieKay Electric car drivers pay no annual road tax, fuel duty or VAT on fuel. It's about time these cheap skates were made to pay. Hopefully the pay per mile charge increases every year. Their heavier cars are destroyed roads and lithium extraction is awful for the environment.

£300 a year just for driving 10,000 miles. Pay-per-mile tax from 2028. Drive to work? Pay. Visit family? Pay. Live outside a big city? Pay more. Another “targeted” policy that hits ordinary people hardest.