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We have the so-called "Holiday Hunger" bill going through Stormont at the minute. That's what the welfare state has descended into....basically feeding people's kids, all the year round. It doesn't seem to matter about considering whether or not you can afford to have kids. Have them anyway & dump all responsibility for them onto the state, while you spend the money saved on mobiles, Netflix, holidays etc. Lift the child benefits cap, pay to feed the kids at school, pay to feed them during the school holidays - all encouraging the dependency culture. I wonder will the "holiday hunger" payments still apply, when they're all away on their state sponsored holidays to Benidorm in the summer? The whole thing's a complete racket & people are only too aware of how to exploit it, to the max.

SF are the primary pushers of welfare and feeding wains all year round as it is culturally ingrained in parts of W. Belfast, Derry etc. but they'll still blame Westminster.

Mental health issues are the modern equivalent of a bad back i.e. a condition which pays out but can't be disproved. It's well known that the Great Outdoors helps mental health conditions so claimants who are otherwise physically able should be asked to work outdoors to claim benefits. I'd imagine you'd see a miraculous decrease in mental health claims overnight!

As one of the suckers who has row ZZ tickets to one of the group games and who will be forced to pay this, I'm in two minds. If the costs are really that high for an already struggling transit system, why should they be borne by the NJ taxpayer? I would have considered driving, but the stadium car parking is closed for the games. The only way to get most people in and out of NYC to the games is through NJ Transit trains and buses. There are no footpaths to allow walking in from surrounding towns.

The obvious question though is what is different about these events to Giants/Jets games and the summer European soccer friendlies and stadium concerts?

What is different?

FIFA has evolved from an organisation that greased its own members palms in an underhand, sneaky way, into a neoliberal cartel that quite openly abuses and profiteers every privilege bestowed on it by its forefathers.

Gianni Infantino is the devil incarnate.

When you're a mate of Trump's you don't need to bother with backroom deals or sleight of hand.

Davy's number should be up at the end of his contract this summer. Will lessons be learned is the big question?

Would like to see how much of that is going to people who are in work but are on such shite pay that they need benefits to top up their income to actually live? Definitely plenty of tossers too lazy to work who should be cut off but would guess they're a minority. "Welfare" includes state pension as well?

Think we all know welfare needs a serious looking at but labour hasn't the balls to look at it and cut it

They briefly grew a set of balls by saying they would tackle it and then removed the 2 child benefit cap. It's an amazing world where working people have to factor costs into deciding how many children they can afford but people lying in the house have no such concerns. The benefits system needs a massive overhaul, but like turning NHS around it seems like an impossible task.

Loved DTF ST Louis, great show. For grown ups.

Also been watching the new Scrubs series, pretty decent. The Malcolm in the Middle revisit is awful.

Loving DTF too. Pity about Malcolm as the original was great.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/14/britain-to-suffer-biggest-economic-shock-in-g7-from-energy/
Britain faces the biggest economic shock in the G7 this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.
In a triple blow for Rachel Reeves, the IMF cut its UK growth forecasts for this year and next, warned of the highest inflation in the G7 and predicted one of the smallest increases in living standards in the world

That's Thatchers privatisation for you.

Most of the UK's key infrastructure and resources were sold off, so the likes of the North Sea oil and gas is owned by private companies selling on the global market and that extortionate cost is passed onto the consumer. The UK has some of the highest energy costs in Europe.
Whereas the French in particular still have a lot of their electricity generation etc part owned by the government so can control the cost of energy much better.

Yeah all the Brits have to do is look at the other side of the North Sea and how Norway have managed it and the sovereign wealth funds they've piled up.

How many of you guys drive your car for a living?. Well not for a living as such but I do use my vehicle to get to sites scattered all over the country to which I'm paid £0.45p a mile. This hasn't been increased in 15 years and it costs me money to drive to site, I can't go to my employer about this as it's a Government figure that only they can change.
I was also told in the late 90's people were paid £0.52p a mile for a 2.0 litre car or above then, how can the Government still be paying £0.45p a mile for travel almost 2 decades later?.

Why cant you go to your employer?  I'm sure you can ask for more regardless of the "approved" government figure. even if you work for a contractor who is completing work for the government I'm sure the rate they charge for completed work will have certainly gone up in the last 15 years..

Yeah, you can approach your employer but any mileage rate over the £0.45p is taxable so no real point in doing that and giving it back to the Government. How can it be the same rate as 15 years ago...Madness

Anything over 45p is deemed a benefit in kind and is taxable, but if it's costing you money to do your job it really is up to your company to up that rate including the tax implications in to that calculation to ensure you aren't at a loss.

The fuel cost is the only hard cost you can provide receipts for and I'd say that amounts to less than half of the 45p so if using your personal vehicle you'd have to prove what proportion of wear and tyre etc. is on work business. These things are deliberately a ball ache!

How many of you guys drive your car for a living?. Well not for a living as such but I do use my vehicle to get to sites scattered all over the country to which I'm paid £0.45p a mile. This hasn't been increased in 15 years and it costs me money to drive to site, I can't go to my employer about this as it's a Government figure that only they can change.
I was also told in the late 90's people were paid £0.52p a mile for a 2.0 litre car or above then, how can the Government still be paying £0.45p a mile for travel almost 2 decades later?.

Average UK costs for fuel were roughly £1.35/L when this rate was introduced in 2011 and it actually wasn't far off that at the end of 2025 prior to DJT and his mate starting things in the Middle-East.

Paul mcGinley is a dick btw

Any praise for McIlroy is through gritted teeth!

I mean it in doubt drive it into the bunker. Play the percentages

He's normally so solid at hitting that bunker too 

The hack of these dweebs in the front row in Holywood in their jackets.

My son knows some of them as they're SUS rugby fellas. Says they're posh wankers 

Nobody landing a glove here. Almost home and hosed. However...

Take it back ya c**t!

Is this the "however" coming up...

He'll be grand.

Nobody landing a glove here. Almost home and hosed. However...

To be this off his game and top of a masters leaderboard is some going.

For the love of God get this done!

If Rose doesn't win this year he'll be kicking himself (again!).

I used to wonder at various groups in society who were taken advantage of and let things pass. How could this happen? Most of the time it happens because people in the main want an easy life and don't want to rock the boat.

This happened in the North for years. People made the best of a bad situation until they were pushed to the brink and even then many sat on their hands and hoped for the best.

There is a difference between an extra 25 quid on a tank of fuel and what happened in the North.

If they go down it will bring some solace to Arsenal fans when City pip them to the league title.