Thread 8 Starmer : Cat fur on new clothes

[DuncinToffee]

Previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5157500-thread-7-starmer-cats-and-conferences?page=40&reply=138415767

Thanks Piggy. You too. I'm hoping for a bit of toast this morning.

Oh, steady on there!!!

I hope toast is on its way.

As per yesterday -

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a body made up of the world’s most advanced economies, is calling for more “fiscal consolidation” and belt-tightening for most of its members, but in Britain’s case it says Labour must focus on addressing years of under-investment rather than fixating on its fiscal rules.
“Investment has been sub-par in the past few years and, in order to have stronger growth in the UK, it’s crucial to have more investment,” Alvaro Pereira, the OECD’s chief economist, said after the release of the body’s new forecasts for the world economy.

www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/stop-focusing-on-the-debt-oecd-tells-rachel-reeves-v9mnlb03n

That’s really good news @Notonthestairs. They couldn’t have made it plainer.

I hope you’ve had your tea and toast Willow and are soon home again. How are you feeling Piggy?

Willow, hopefully they'll fund a combination that work for you quickly. I'm glad it went OK.

Pretty bird, that's the situation here. Maximum mortgage borrowing allowed is £90k. Cheapest flat in 10 miles is £150k except the ones with half a roof, holes in walls, fire damage, bare wires, no windows in haf the rooms. You can £20k off for those, but you'd be spending £30k easily to make them liveable.

You can also buy a 30% share of a new flat for £90k (spot the maximum mortgage amount), and rent the remainder, plus pay management fees at a cost of more than a £150k mortgage each month, this is allowed as it's deemed affordable. You can a smaller share of a 2 or 3 bed house, but they are leasehold and all have a maximum lease of 100 years.

Piggy, I hope you are feeling better?

Yy the report from the OECD
real,y hope you got the toast Willow & that pain meds make you comfortable also Piggy & any other posters still currently unwell hoping you are all starting to feel a little better💐
my very little knowledge of help to buy appears as though it’s a bloody con & doesn’t make much financial sense when the rent & service charges are really expensive, but don’t know much about it so could well be wrong just think must be a more sensible way of assisting ftb.

My DS is also in this situation. He has a sizeable deposit saved but his job is in Kent so he could only afford houses that need a lot of work. Not sure if we (he and I) could buy jointly. Getting a lodger could help pay bills.

Underlying this problem is the reliance on private enterprise to provide human necessities - not just homes but, water, heat and light. It turns out that big companies put profit for shareholders first and not at all their social responsibility. This is completely in line with Conservative philosophy of less government. What I don't know is whether they believe this will actually work or they just don't care.

I think it is all about the fetishized idea of owning a property in the UK. That has just grown and grown as social housing dwindled. I recall it differently from my own childhood, and that mortgages were hard to get. Homeowners were a minority. People forget that really right to buy as meant in practice you must buy, but in the past you really did need good money to do this, and it was very hard to get mortgages.

Right to buy has been a disaster on that scale because the effect may have benefited one generation but their children would be forced to enter the market with wages that could never sustain market value and long term risk of borrowing. Quite clever of the Tory Party to undo the idea of subsidies in rent by appealing to greed.

Can I join the thread emergency ward? After battling the system from pillar to post all day yesterday and this morning, I’ve finally seen someone who confirmed my suspicion that I have shingles 😢 Heavy antiviral treatment for a week.
DD and her partner bought in 2019 with money my dad left her. They have now split up. Last week they sold the house and DD has had an offer accepted on a little terraced cottage. It’s little and not in a beautiful situation and needs TLC but she’s on her independent ladder. She’ll make it lovely, she has a great eye.

Hope the anti-virals work @cardibach - I believe when you get shingles older, they're more painful

Ds was confirmed with shingles 2 days before he was due to go skiing with the school about 10 years ago (confirmed he'd had shingles at 6 months old, which we'd never been 100% sure about ): my dad confirmed it from a photo I'd taken (ds was at school) so I managed to get an emergency after hours appointment with the GP as soon as I got home; the next day was Good Friday (and the practice would be shut) and ds was off skiing on the Saturday. Only constraint he had was that no one should come in contact with the vesicles (on his torso so not a problem on a skiing holiday ) and I didn't need to buy the tight fighting swimming trunks they needed in case of bad weather (which had going to be my Friday purchase) as he couldn't go swimming. Fortunately the teacher organising the school trip was also sensible and didn't see a problem with him going. He had a blast!

Oh goodness @cardibach you poor thing Hope the antivirals kick in quickly
really bloody annoying though having to fight for meds when feeling so unwell💐

Oh poor you! If you recall, I had shingles about 8 weeks ago. Didn't get any anti virals. Glad you did and hope they do the job.

Hoping I might raise a smile for those feeling unwell or low I’ve just spent fifteen minutes trying to work out where a strange beeping noise in my kitchen was coming from, after checking the freezer my phone my iPad & pressing various knobs dials on washing machine & tumble dryer I finally realised it’s my heart monitor completely forgotten I was wearing it one of the pads/wires had come off😂

Kemi Badenoch says she's "huge fan" of Elon Musk, while other Tory leadership candidates decline to praise him.

"I think Elon Musk has been a fantastic thing for freedom of speech. I will hold my hand up and say, I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk," she tells the Spectator.

https://x.com/PippaCrerar/status/1839237033547444544

Silly sausage!

Or hostage. Who knows...

That made me laugh.

I hope everyone who’s under the weather feels better soon. I think I’m staying here for a bit, the anti government threads are beginning to do my head in. I think I can empathise with Clav a bit now! 😂

💐 for those who are not well, wishing you all a speedy recovery. Extra cat tax to cheer you up in the form of my rather chunky Bengal cross showing his tummy

Blossomtoes

A difficult watch from the Covid Inquiry

https://x.com/chrischirp/status/1839257368435019881

Prof Kevin Fong giving the most devastating and moving testimony to the Covid Inquiry of visiting hospital intensive care units at the height of the second wave in late Dec 2020.

The unimaginable scale of death, the trauma, the loss of hope. Please watch this 2min clip.

That is what the Internet calls a hecking chonker, makes my fat tabby look svelte!

LOL @pointythings I just love big cats 😻 this body condition chart is funny, but probably not veterinary approved

Those poor nurses.

Chris Whitty is giving evidence now

Well of course. Twitter has been right leaning for a long time but Musk stepped it up a notch. Just look at who he reposts.

And by saying that she is tacitly agreeing with Musk's commentary and posts regarding the UK during and after the riots.

"He has reinstated legions of accounts that were previously banned for violating Twitter’s rules and has emboldened trolls, white-nationalist accounts, and January 6 defendants. Musk’s own rhetoric has moved from trolling to dog whistling to outright conspiracy peddling, and it has intensified in recent months, culminating in his recent anti-Semitic remarks about George Soros. A stroll through Musk’s replies on the site reveals the extent to which one of the richest men in the world spends his time replying to far-right influencers and nodding in approval to their racist memes."

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/05/elon-musk-ron-desantis-2024-twitter/674149/

That’s one very cheering cat!
I used to have a Bengal, but she was teeny tiny due to a congenital heart defect which killed her quite young.