THIS LAD SHOWED US ALL THE WAY

So Portugal beat France to win the Euros. And needless to say, there were French fans who were seriously upset. 

In contrast to scenes earlier in the competition of fans from various countries laying waste to bars and whole "quartiers" in drunken celebration of wins, drowning sorrows after defeats, or just in xenophobic bursts of hatred, this Portuguese kid shows sympathy, support and friendship to a distressed French fan.

Just look at how much better the French guy seemed after that small gesture.

And the strange thing is that the whole world could be like this.

I know it's been an "exciting", some would say frightening, day in UK politics, with our new prime minister's coronation (apparently Dave and Sam have two days to get their stuff out), and the Eagle landing somewhere and flapping its wings a bit to less than expected interest. 

But there will be time enough for those stories tomorrow.

In the meantime, let's watch the example we were set by a boy whose mum and dad should be fiercely proud of him. I hope one day he is secretary general of the UN.

Ísland: besta (jafnt) lítið land í heimi

Gangi þér vel á móti Frakklandi, Íslandi

Bonne chance contre la France, l'Islande

Good luck against France, Iceland

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE LAST FEW DAYS: CHINA, NORTHERN POWERHOUSE AND EVEL

The last day of the charade that is the Golden Era celebration will be over today. After Mr Xi takes a trip to what the English call "The North", he will escape back to China.

In OUR United Kingdom though, "The North" isn't Shetland or Orkney, nor is it the Hebrides, Highlands, Central Belt, nor even the Southern Uplands. 

Nope, it is far south of all of these things. 

It's almost like the Brits drew a map and replaced the word Scotland with "Here be Dragons". Or Haggis!

This is where I left the kid.

The North is Manchester, some 200 kms south of Scotland, from where the Brits are going to build a Northern Powerhouse, presumably with Chinese money, becasue they have none themselves.

The cornerstone of this powerhouse will be, if they ever get it started, the High Speed Train from the centre of the universe that is London, to "The North". HS2.

The costs of the line are difficult to pin down. Having started off at a reasonable price of around £16 billion, the building of the line is now estimated by the English Transport Department to have risen to £43 billion. But we all know thay can;t count much after 20, so it is wise to look at other estimates. Boris Johnson, the London Mayor and MP, has it at £70 billion, and the Institute of Economic Affairs at £80 billion.  Bit of a difference there...

TGV Network running into Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland

A House of Lords Committee has suggested that the cost of building the line will be nine times more expensive than the French equivalent. The French of course had the foresight to build high speed trains (TGV) across the country decades ago when Mitterrand was president and Thatcher was favouring roads and private transport.

You might rub your hands together with glee, thinking that if Mr Osborne was pouring all this money into "The North" then there would be benefits for Scotland in the form of Barnett consequentials. But I fear you would be wrong.

There will be no consequentials, just as there were not for Crossrail or the Olympics.

This despite the fact that the negative impact of the line on certain areas outside of England (particularly including Eastern Scotland and South Wales) will be severe.

And now that we have EVEL, Scottish MPs won't even be allowed to vote on this railway which will have such a negative effect on our country. 

It's not just English foxes that will rue the passing of the EVEL bill last night and the second class status now accorded to our MPs.

(I wonder if that means that Muddle will be excluded from Cabinet when English matters are being discussed, or if the English Members of the Scottish Affairs Committee will now be excluded from the Scottish Affairs Committee... and, given that Scotland was excluded from this state visit, did Muddle have a meeting with President Xi... OK, silly question.)

The last few days have shown where the London government (which we can now reasonably call the English Government) places the Scots in OUR United Kingdom, the one that Cameron goes on and on about ad nauseam.

Roll on the next opportunity to, like Mr Xi, escape from this ridiculous and pathetic little third rate union.

Cameron proves to be an embarrassment to us, again

I was amused the other day to read an advance declaration on Twitter from someone who said: "In the event of me being involved in a disaster I want to make it known that I do NOT want a visit from David Cameron". I couldn't help but agree. 

It's bad enough to have to put up with this smarmy individual on the tv, where there is an off button, and when you are feeling quite well. Imagine the horror of him standing at your bedside making political capital out of your misfortune.

So yesterday my heart went out to those poor people in a Lebanese refugee camp who had the misfortune to be alighted upon for that purpose, by the aforementioned prime minister.

Whilst he was there, and giving the locals a break from the dubious pleasure of his company, he took time to talk to the press and to berate other European countries for not doing enough in the circumstances, and demanding that they 'step up to the plate'.

This must have gone down well with the rest of Europe and in particular with Frau Merkel. Germany admittedly is now struggling and has had to temporarily close its borders to new refugees, but it should be remembered that last weekend it took 70% as many refugees as Cameron intends to accept in the next 5 years.

Other countries are doing sterling work. Even smaller states, including the very smallest, are taking some people.

At the same time Cameron and May, whilst accepting the scale of the crisis, refuse to do anything much but throw money at it. 

In fairness it is true to say that the UK has sent a great deal of money as part of it's overseas aid budget (with one eye on the added advantage that it secures their G8 membership requirements). 

But they want the refugees to stay ...well anywhere, as long as it isn't Europe. Despite the ridiculous overcrowding in terrible conditions of the camps in Lebanon and Jordan, they think that these countries  should take more, and that the countries of North Africa should set up holding camps. 

I'm not sure if I were a refugee that I'd particularly want to be in Egypt or Libya... and not even Tunisia since the Arab spring (so much supported by the UK government) and since the absolutely disastrous war in Libya, waged by the Brits and French at the behest of the Americans, which has left yet another state in complete lawless turmoil.

Of all the countries in Europe, France and Britain are most responsible for the instability in the Middle East (Britain more so than France, given France's refusal to take part in the illegal war in Iraq which left a huge part of the region in chaos and with no real effective government), so  thinking that it can tell other countries to step up to the plate is more than a little ridiculous.

I also think given the extreme nature of the legislation being debated in the Westminster parliament yesterday, the man behind it should have had the courage to turn up and listen to the discussions. (Craig Murray has an excellent analysis of the implications here.) 

If Cameron were half a man he'd have been there, not sliming (not slimming, as the pic above shows) his way across in the Middle East like the Spiv PR man he really is.

IN OUR VIEW MR FARRON HAS MADE AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT

Alistair Carmichael has the backing of Tim Farron.

I think it was the wrong decision. A new leadership is the time to sort  out problems and start afresh.

Alistair Carmichael is a liar. He admitted it.

It's true that Carmichael made an apology to Nicola Sturgeon for lying about her but, let's be honest, he didn't do it voluntarily or honourably. 

He did it when he was found out. He did it when there was no other alternative but to own up... after the Cabinet Secretary had conducted an inquiry at considerable expense and discovered that he was the culprit.

What he did was to authorise the leaking of a memo which he knew to contain inaccuracies, about a political opponent, and with the express intention of affecting the result of the UK general election. 

As a Cabinet Minister and a solicitor to boot, he must have been aware how wrong and indeed dangerous that was given that he was also risking the relationship between the UK government and the government of the Republic of France. 

Because, in trying to damage the first minister of Scotland and her party, he involved the French ambassador to the court of St James. This was serious stuff. Well above the pay band level of a humble highland solicitor. His actions encouraged the newspapers to call the French Ambassador and her Consul General liars, along with Nicola Sturgeon.

When he was asked about it he compounded the crime by denying all knowledge. He knew nothing about it. Of course that cast the shadow of blame over the much more important and powerful Foreign Office and their many staff. It wasn't long before that was dealt with.

In my opinion it was a stupid act designed to affect the outcome of an election which all indicators suggested would be disastrous not just for his party, but all other unionist parties. 

At the time, as now, Carmichael was not just "the Hon" he was "the right hon", a style given to senior politicians who are considered advisers to the queen. He showed himself not to be in the least bit honourable. He probably broke the law, and he most certainly acted dishonourable.

Of course the admission didn't happen until he was re-elected as the MP for the northern isles, by a very much reduced majority. The Liberal stronghold followed the trend of the rest of Scotland but not quite enough to unseat him. He is now the only Liberal Democrat MP in Scotland.

There is a public campaign in the islands to get him to resign and re-stand, if he wishes, in a by-election, in order to see if, in the light of his late admission of guilt, the people of the islands still wish him to represent them. 

I don't think that that is unreasonable. No one is demanding he be sent to prison,  or fined or even  sanctioned as if he had been 2 minutes late for a jobcentre appointment. 

No one is suggesting that he be debarred from standing again for the seat.

People simply want him to put himself to the electorate now that they know he is a self confessed liar and a cheat, facts about his character unknown to the people when he was elected.

Farron says that people deserve a second chance. That is what is being proposed. A second chance for him to sell himself to his electorate and a second chance for them to pick their MP. This time on a level playing field.

It seems to me that Mr Farron should have asked him to resign his seat and re-stand. There is no guarantee that he would not win it again, but this time the people would be voting for the real Carmichael.

I think Farron missed his chance to start putting the Liberal Democrats back on the rails after their disastrous coalition with the Tories and its fallout.
**********
Afterthought

It is possible or even probable that other people knew about that memo. 

It seems likely that Carmichael's bag carrier, the present cabinet secretary, Mundell (known to us as Fluffy), will have been aware of it. 

Given the fact that it the affair escalated quite seriously, mainly because of the involvement of the French Ambassador, it's not unlikely that Nick Clegg and David Cameron had to be appraised of it. 

It would be unthinkable that they wouldn't have asked Carmichael for an explanation. Did he lie to them, or did he tell them the truth and they hid it until after the election?

Like so many other things in this country, we have no idea and probably never will.

And...

While we are on the subject: Message to Cameron. When parliament says no to a war, that probably means no. 

If you decide (which I guess, under royal prerogative, you may) to send the troops anyway, and sod parliament, remember that there's always a chance someone will find out. 

Troops are people and they have families, in case you'd forgotten, you total despicable dipstick.

**********
Finally congratulations to the SNP MPs who will all give their pay rises to local charities. Further congratulations to any other MPs who decide to join them, and I'm sure there will be many. 

When other people are living on poverty wages and have had no pay rises for  years, it is despicable that MPs should feather their own nests.

I AM CHARLIE

I have many friends in Paris and across France. I've already spoken to a couple in the capital. They are safe but shocked. 

They are grateful, too, for the message of solidarity from Nicola Sturgeon and from people all over Scotland.

"This is an horrific and appalling crime, and my heart goes out to all of those affected by today’s dreadful events.

“My thoughts are with the people of France, with whom we in Scotland share so many close ties. Today’s attack once again demonstrates the need for all democracies to stand firm in the face of terrorist atrocities.”

First Minister.

Paris ce soir.

 Drapeaux en berne pendant 3 jours . 

Demain sera une journée de deuil national.
Plus de 100 000 personnes se sont rassemblées 

spontanément dans les grandes villes de France.

My friend André sent this comment. 

Flags at half mast for three days. 

Tomorrow will be a day of national mourning. 

More than 100,000 people gathered spontaneously in the large cities of France.

Ce soir je suis Charlie. Nous sommes toutes et tous Charlie.

ALEX SALMOND IN ARBROATH and OUI IN FRANCE

(with thanks to Cynical Highlander)

(with thanks to Bugger le Panda)

BRITISH PENSIONS THE WORST IN EUROPE: AND MOST WON'T QUALIFY FOR ALL THE RISE COMING UP IN 2016

The British state pension at a maximum £110.15 a week is the most miserable in Europe. Compared to average income, even Hungary and Slovenia better the pension benefits British pensioners receive, according to a new OECD report.

British workers on average earnings typically get a state pension worth 32.6% of their working wage. Italian workers, in contrast, can expect 70% of their working salary from the Italian government when they retire. In the developed world, only Mexicans receive less proportionately from the State pension than British workers.

The average European State pension is worth 40.6% of average earnings. If you want to retire comfortably on State coffers compared to those in work, one of the best countries is Austria, at 76.6% - or the Netherlands, even better, at 90.7%. Many Europeans also retire earlier than their British counterparts.

What is a more realistic level of state pension income? The British state pension should be set at £178 a week if it is to be a proper "living State pension", the National Pensioners' Convention claim. Even in the independent states of Guernsey and Jersey, the pensions are far more generous.

There are plans to introduce a flat rate UK pension of around £144 come 2016, worth just under £7,500 a year, just over half the poverty line of around £14,000, though you will need to have worked up 35 years worth of National Insurance contributions to qualify rather than the current 30 (a move the Government has been quiet on, eh Steve Webb!!!).

If you want to have the longest retirement, head for France. The average French male pensioner will live 22.6 years (27.4 for women) on average after leaving work. The average British male kicks the bucket almost five years earlier.

Ah, La Belle Vie? 

Non Merci. Mieux Ensemble. (Mon cul.)

*********

How much did they say the set up costs of Scotland was going to be?

We can't even afford the "t" in Scotland

SNAPS ON SUNDAY

Lord Robertson's notes?

Lordy, Lordy, another of these scroungers who, had he managed to work a flanker
like that  and been unemployed working class ,would now be a guest of HM. 

George Osborne...need we say more

Not for much longer

Oh look... a country where the views of the majority have a voice. Novel.
Still with billions to be made by friends of Osborne, that's not going to happen here.

Still, every little bit helps, as Tesco always reminds us

So generous these children's hospitals

Oh look, a cabinet meeting. I hope when he brings his cabinet on tour is
 Scotland he will bring his own air freshener. Damned if I see why we should pay.

Another 10 years of this?

Oh yeah, and they have friends...

Yuk...

WHERE WAS THE GOVERNMENT WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT?

We are informed by the National Grid that, in order to stopthe lights going out all over the UK next winter, shops and offices and the oneor two factories left in the country will be asked to ration electricity use inthe afternoon and evening.

The problem is that the UK government has done more or less nothing to ensure that their old power stations, which are declining, are renewed. Clearly this was not important enough for them to put any effort into and I can only assume that anyone who matters has a private generator and will not be cold if, or rather when, the lights (and fires) do go off.

Not only, it would seem, do we have the most expensive fuel in Europe, we also have the least efficient generators.

The problem seems to stem from England where, I am informed by a correspondent in the Independent (Peter Thomson), they import 11% of their base load and 15% peak load from us, from Scotland, on a daily basis.

Additionally, to keep London running the French High Voltage Direct Current is going full blast. Eire is building an HVDC line to Holyhead to export reusables to England while the Dutch HVDC link is stalled off the Essex coast because of objections to its landing point by environmentalists. Further lines are proposed from Iceland to Scotland and Norway to England. 

Apparently in 2008 one Scottish base load generator failed to come on line in time, causing blackouts across London and the Home Counties.  According to the correspondent, this is not a UK problem, nor even an English problem; it is a London problem… and it is a failure of successive UK Governments to create a strategy to secure the energy needs of London.

Scotland has sufficient energy for itself and enough to export considerable amounts to England, as it is obliged to by virtue of the national grid.

We are told that fracking is the answer. Fracking will save the English government. But how safe is it? How will it affect the water table, the aquifers? Some places in America have found that the water is poisoned and the crops will not grow in areas where fracking is employed.

How will it affect the geological stability of the area? It has already been blamed for earthquakes in tests in North West England.

I've encountered situations where the supply of electricity was not completely reliable but never in a first world, European country, and never in a big city. In a small town in Morocco or in Sierra Leone, it may be expected. In Edinburgh it is not.

It seems that selling off the power companies lock stock and barrel and putting in place a toothless watchdog, Ofcom Offgen (thanks Arbroath) in this case, to keep them in line wasn't the best of ideas.

Michael Fallon: He's in charge of keeping the lights on, so get your torch and some candles. It's going to be a long dark winter.

The English Energy Minister Michael Fallon has told us all not to panic. The power will not go off says the minister. But then, who in their right mind would believe anything he said? He doesn't in all honestly look overwhelmingly or reassuringly bright.

Of course, if successive Westminster governments hadn't spent so much of their energies and a great deal of our money playing at being big shots, striding the world stage like...erm whatever the opposite is of colossus, they might have found time to run the country, the job we pay them generously to do.  

TAKE THAT PRIME MINISTER

Further to the last post.... not not The Last Post, just the last post... and Danny Alexander's comments on Jimmy Carr, no less an exulted figure than the prime minister himself (everybody stand in hushed and awed respect) has weighed in with his 1/2p worth in the debate on moral repugnance.


It seems Camernob also feels a revulsion at the LEFT-WING entertainer's tax regime (a tax regime which, the moment he thought it looked like costing him ticket sales, or tv gigs, he appears to have abandoned with left-wing fervour, agonising over the error of his ways). 


However, when asked by ITN’s Tom Bradby how he felt about Gary Barlow, another entertainer, but this time a RIGHT-WING one, and whether Mr Barlow should now return the OBE he got for his part in organising the Queen's Jubilee concert, Camergit passed up the chance to comment on his fellow Tory, saying he "would not give a running commentary on different people’s tax affairs” as “that would not be right”.  

It shouldn't be any surprise to those of us who know and loathe the schoolboy prime minister's ability to U-turn on a U-turn, and simultaneously feel two different things about the same thing, that he could actually believe that it is wrong for him to comment on people's tax affairs, except in the case of people who make a living out of making a fool of him. So watch out Mr Hislop and Ms Toksvig, and a cast of thousands... 


Amazingly, or not, the idiot that plays the part of the prime minister had nothing to say about Philip Green, one of his advisors, who is doing nothing wrong by transferring the ownership of his company to his Monegasque wife, knowing that she will not be obliged to pay a €cent in tax, based as she is in her home country of Monaco. 


Nor was he prepared to talk about Ashcroft, Goldman-Sacks or Vodafone. Well of course he couldn't. It wouldn't be right for him to give a running commentary, blah, blah, blah.

He also strangely appears to be prepared to give succour to French tax dodgers, no matter how morally repugnant they are. Indeed he said he will roll out the red carpet for them, if they wish to come to England to escape the new and very popular French president's proposed 75% tax on the highest earners. (So is it now 'British jobs for British people, and morally repugnant French tax evaders'...?). 


The wine must have been flowing and he must have had rather too much of it... or maybe he really is just that stupid and naive about the way that so called allies behave.


One of the candidate's for the presiding officer's position in the new parliament, Claude Bartelon, implied that he thought that Mr C had imbibed a little, and pointed out that there were already many French people who lived in England, but that most had to have their children educated in France, and all their medical needs catered for in France, because the quality of all public service was so low in England. 


Oh well... as my granny would say...'whit's gaed tae gie's no ull tae tak', or as they might say in France :Ce qui on est content à donner, on ne doit pas être mécontent à recevoir.

WELCOME TO ENGLAND: ENJOY YOUR STAY, BUT SPEAK ENGLISH OR ELSE!!

I was in France a few weeks ago with a crowd of mates from Scotland, England, Canada, the US and Australia. We were on countless trains, buses and trams, and most of the time we talked English, although some of us spoke fluent French. 


I'm very glad that we did not meet the French equivalent of this woman (for I'm sure she exists).


I assume, given her accent, that when she says that they are in her country, she means England. I assume that the "my language" she referred to was English. It's a great pity that she, herself, appeared to have so much difficulty with it. She was, for example completely unable, search though she might, to find any adjective other than "F******g".


I'm pretty sure that there would be more people on that train who had a problem with her incessant F*****g than they would with whatever language her correspondents were speaking.


Next year a vast number of foreign athletes, managers and spectators will decent upon London for the Olympic Games. They will be speaking every language from Icelandic to Maori. And between themselves it's probably that they will speak their own language (perhaps because once you establish a relationship with someone in a particular language, it's quite difficult to speak another language with them).

It's not my town, and it's not my country, so I don't give a damn personally, but if I were a Londoner I'd be hoping that this woman takes her annual holiday during that time. 


I'm sure that the moment her feet touch Spanish soil she'll switch to that language, in which doubtless she can express herself with total fluency.  


Dos F*****g Beeros and uno packeto of salto and vinegaro F*****g chrispos, garkono. Pronto.


Ignorant cow.


PS: Before someone else points this out (quite reasonably), I am aware that we have equally mouthy, equally ignorant toe rags in Scotland. It so happens this one (and the one last week) were English. I'm sure it won't be long before a Scottish rant will be uploaded to Youtube. I'll be happy to feature that, or a French one, too.

JE SUIS DE RETOUR (OR TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, I'M BACK)

I had a great break in Paris. It was warm, it was sunny, the people were polite, the streets clean (apart from round Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est), there were virtually no fat people and no incredibly thin ones, there were no drunks, no one was wearing "What Every Gadgy Wants" chic and the food was out of this world.

For just €30 I could buy a travel ticket which entitled me to use the Métro, Buses, RER, Trams (yes, they are splendid) and the funicular up to Sacre Cœur. What more could you want?

Oh yes, the concert.... well, it was all you would expect from Pet Clark...perfection. The French are more boisterous in their approval (or disapproval) of an artiste. (I think they are a bit like a good old fashioned Glasgow audience: if they like you, they like you a lot; if they don't like you.....God help you.) We were all along the front row, Jerseymen, English, Scots, Canadians, Norwegians, Germans, Australians, French, Belgians, and although I had, by this time a serious dose of la grippe, or flu, I was up dancing and shouting with the rest. 


It's always good to get home to Scotland, no matter how good the holiday, but the journey this time involved a hold up of around an hour in England because some poor sod had jumped in front of a train. Life in Yorkshire had presumably become too much for them. So we had to wait, and then, because we were a diesel train and could go round the 'accident' area, we were obliged to pick up, on our already "standing room only" train, the passengers of two other expresses, so that we became dangerously overloaded.


I couldn't wait to get to Edinburgh... to let the train disgorge what seemed like several hundred thousand people... and to get to a toilet, which had hitherto been impossible. If there is an alternative, my advice would be never travel by East Coast Trains. This is the line owned and run by the English Department of Transport. 'Nuff said.


Anyway, the journey was probably the only bad part of the whole break...


And so I got back to read figures on unemployment which, without wishing to seem to be a smart ass, the only thing I can say about is...I told them so. The idea that the private sector would take up the slack of the public sector as the country headed for a double dip recession was just risible. When is Gideon going to come up with a real plan for the economy?


He is, of course far too busy continuing his long time assault on the SNP and the independence referendum. He seems as idiotically blind to the futility of this campaign as he is to the stupidity of the Plan A nonsense he came up with to return the country to boom.


The Eton, Westminster, Winchester, Cambridge, Oxford, Bullingdon millionaires lecturing Scots on how poor, wee and stupid we are, and how we need England's munificence to keep us upright is music to my ears and I hereby invite the entire cabinet to lecture us non-stop on the subject in their plummy tones for the next 3 years. 


They should really realise that its all counter-productive. But no. They think that their words will stir the true Brit that they imagine to be at the heart of all of us. They might as well be Vietnamese, they are so foreign to the average Scot. Still I wish them a hearty cheer. They are wasting their time, but as least while they are doing that they are keeping away from other dangerous business.


I read in French papers about Cameron ranting about lack of patriotism and respect for soldiers in Remembrance Week. I'll bet he was not best pleased to find that there had been a leak that the government was reducing the subsidy for a couple of military charities, and that they would now be making more forces personnel redundant than they had  previously announced. Denied of course, by Pip Ham-mond... but then, who would believe anything he says?


So, all in all, am I glad to be back? 


No.


*****


Craig Murray has asked us all to make sure that this article gets the biggest amount of publicity possible. He apparently sent it to the Main Stream Media for which he regularly writes, and which has never rejected his work before. Despite checking its veracity, they have, to a man (if that's the word), refused to publish it. 


It makes grim reading. Fox and Werrity were up to more dangerous business than enough. War is almost certainly planned by the MoD and no one will answer questions about Werritty's and Gould's part in it. Even to MPs in the House.


Makes you wonder where the pay off is.

The English should be pleased that a massive gas find has been reported near Blackpool. Apparently there is thought to be sufficient gas to keep the country supplied for many dozens of years. The bad news is that it is shale gas which can only be obtained by drilling into the shale and creating thousands of tiny explosions. These explosions are thought to have been the cause of last year’s earthquake tremor in Lancashire. Let’s hope the issue can be resolved. Scotland has sufficient gas to last for many years, if England can supply its own.

According to Tesco, 80% of the population is having some difficulty in “putting food on the table”. It is worst, says Richard Brasher, their chief executive, for pensioners, who are having to ration food, heating and light. That’s a proud boast for a country running two wars which are nothing to do with it. Well, Munguin’s Republic has been saying that for at least a year. Inflation may be 5%+ (or using the government’s preferred measure 4.5%), but it is far more for the poor. And even as this is happening the Westminster government is taking away £100 in straight cash from the oldest pensioners. Anyway, Mr Brasher (every little bit hurts... no helps, sorry) is going to cut more prices and start a supermarket war. He wants to replace a philosophy of “charging as much as you can get away with” to one of charging “as little as you can”. Well, good on him and them. Obviously all other supermarkets will follow. But in case you feel too sorry for them, I remember reading that British supermarkets aim for a 5% profit, where continental ones make do with 2% and American/Australian ones with 1%. I don’t know if it’s exactly true, but it would explain the difference in prices on a great number of items. So, they can afford it. Let the war commence!

Is it a condition of employment that Dundee’s National Express drivers be rude, surly, bad tempered and possess appalling driving skills?

France has raised its annual inflation forecast from 1.8% to 2.1%. The difference between their inflation and the UK’s is doubtless that whilst Electricité de France plans to raise prices by 4.5% for Electricity and 15.4% for gas in the UK, and that this will be the second rise within a year. Whilst in France gas price rises have been cancelled and Electricité de France is allowed a rise of only 1.7% on orders of the President. A pity the Queen wouldn’t do the same thing here.