Sir Ralph

I didn’t say it should extend to housing benefits, I said the welfare budget should be cut generally. You started the conversation about housing. I also said all people should be housed in an ideal world (twice) So that’s a misquote. Again you have great aspirations that any normal person would support on paper (including me) but no idea how to fund it other than increasing the welfare budget associated with housing delivery. You haven’t answered my question still…..My solution would be temporary housing pods to address the issue at least in the short to medium term.

In an ideal world of course you would. I can join the dots in that we don’t live in a utopian society where all objectives are achievable within a government budget, which services debt and allows for a functioning economy without harming business. Unfortunately some people don’t seem to realise that decisions need to be made about priorities and what we spend taxpayers money on. The solution isn’t increased welfare spending. You said we should produce all this “cheap housing” to address the issue but still haven’t said how you are going to fund and deliver it?

I’m fully aware. We are dealing with the current situation. Affordable housing delivery at levels needed will only be achieved through the private housing sector being more active.

Some LPAs have funding available for housing but aren’t achieving their delivery targets. Why is that? To achieve the levels of affordable housing we are talking about the private sector needs to be more incentivised from a profit perspective. Currently government obligations are too high which means people aren’t building (there is insufficient profit to obtain funding)and affordable housing is mainly delivered by the private sector.

Yes people should be housed. However achieving that objective isn’t just achieved by a statement. I didn’t make the statement about delivering more affordable housing……..how will you do it? Where will the land and funding come from in a time where even delivering private housing is very difficult.

I agree in an ideal world. How can you do it and where will you get the funding from? Councils and government own land pieces of land. Why have they not done it over many years?

Where will you get “cheap housing” from?

The welfare budget should be whatever it needs to be, rather than measured as an exact figure Flippin heck time to leave this place again. Forget defence, education, etc just keep on spending on welfare. There is no endless pot, it’s taxpayers money.

Of course. You mean that more government funding should be spent on affordable homes instead of welfare. It’s moving money from one pot to another. Every government in the last x number of years has failed with this so what’s your plan to achieve this? We spend more on the welfare budget (excluding pensions) than eduction which helps get people off welfare. Maybe you believe that’s is the sign of a well run country. I don’t

Not just mine. https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/media_metrics/gb-news-viewing-figures-2025-sky-bbc/#:~:text=In 2024 GB News reached,and Sky News on 58%2C300.

The wider point is that the welfare system is too expensive, too generous and too wide ranging. Do you agree welfare should be reduced or not?

https://www.gbnews.com/money/welfare-households-critics-benefits-budget-conservatives This needs change

I think they general point was they didn’t sing them as well!

On the City forums they are taking the Michael saying that we only had two songs “yellows” and “oh when the Saints”. Better than the no songs from their end I suppose….

I think that’s the point. For the few of them that went there was zero atmosphere

Bragg is top class. When we were under pressure he made the right decision every time. Decision making was superb

100% soulless club. Prefer to have been in the end of a real club and lost.

Brilliant performance from players and fans. City fans an embarrassment

I repeat

Didn’t see he accepted it. I’ve seen 100 worse incidents than that not punished this year

Also if he appeals it does that defer the ban for Saturday?

Really that gets a 3 match ban! It’s nothing. The guys head is his shoulder height so he stooped

How scienza hasn’t been picked?! To be fair I’d have sorba Thomas at saints

Love this team. At half time I knew they would win. Top mentality

Lord Robertson quote that Starmer is putting us at genuine security risk because of his welfare spending over state security was damning. Whilst we are being attacked by the Russians I’ll comfort myself that the reason it happened is because our government is “empathetic”. Its a sad state of affairs that, other than Streeting, I would prefer Starmer to stay as he is one of the few that would more likely “limit” the increase beyond the current unsustainable spending levels