Jodrell Bank Telescope

Jodrell Bank is set to lose the £2.8 million of its annual funding from the UK government. 

The observatory was built in 1957. People could be forgiven for thinking that a much newer telescope is superior, that Jodrell Bank is merely "iconic," and an antique.

However, Jodrell Bank remains at the cutting edge of scientific research and it is also major contributor to the wider scienfic community. 

The £2.8 million funding element that the UK government is cutting helps the observatory remain connected with e-MERLIN. e-MERLIN is a network of seven radio telescopes. To quote the eminent, award winning science writer, Brian Clegg, "real science is being lost to save the £2.8 million going to e-MERLIN."

The tragedy is that many people regard the closure as being inevitable. They believe we are science also-rans. Nothing could be further from the truth. The UK excels at science. 

Every year, the UK government writes off an (unfunded) £100 billion per year to a special project that harms all kinds of enterprises up and down the country. A sort of reverse Midas you might say.

It's called Brexit. 

That being said, I'd still much rather you signed the petition opposing the closure of Jodrell Bank. 

THE FARAGE FACTOR

According to a very recent YouGov report, Nigel Farage (or Nigel Mirage if you live in Clacton!) seems to have passed the point of no return. Barring miracles, he surely now cannot make it to Prime Minister. 

69% of Britons now hold an unfavourable view of the Clacton MP. 

His approval rating is now -17%. 

Farage believed that by resigning his own seat and then holding the by election, the citizens of Clacton would, in effect, ratify his "right" to keep the £5 million. What was the donation for? In one interview it was for his security, then in another it was a reward because of his Brexit "present" to the UK.

Some present! Brexit has cost the UK economy about 6% of GDP over the past decade, according to a 2026 Bank of England–backed study using company-level data.

The same YouGov article, by way of a contrast, reports that Prime Minister, Andy Burnham is enjoying the highest favourability rating of any prime minister, 46%, for more than 6 years. By any standards, he's off to a solid start. It seems Labours' big gamble paid off. No pun intended. 

You can read the YouGov article here. 

38Degrees has published a petition entitled Take Big Money Out of Our Politics. 

As if the £5 million donation wasn't enough. Farage seems to believe the by-election victory will also make the investigation go away. 

Now a donation of £72 million has been offered to Reform UK, which, from billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, according them, merely “levels the playing field” with the bigger parties when it comes to funding.

Is there going to be another by-election in Clacton to ratify this gift of £72 million to Reform UK?

The petition is here, if you'd like to look at it. 

 

Dolly Parton (1946 - 25 August 2026)

I was very sad to learn of the death of Dolly Parton who was born in 1946 and died on August 25 2026. She was 80 years old. 

Dolly, to me, is ageless, one of those people who is “radically alive” as a friend of mine once said.

Bearing in mind her stellar music business, not only a great singer, but an accomplished actor and composer too. There are, indeed, many other artists like Dolly. Dolly made great use of the time she had here. To establish organisations that will last forever. Ventures which give people a helping hand and change their life outcomes for the better. We may never really know how many people, touched by Dolly's helping hand, but I am guessing it's millions.

Down town with her mother when she was a little girl, Dolly's mum chided her and said don't look at that woman. That woman was likely a busty blonde, wore a clingy dress with low, low neckline. Hair dyed an impossible blonde that fails to turn up in nature. Dolly looked back at that woman and thought to herself I want to be just like her! 

What was extraordinary was the level of philanthropy that Dolly contributed to the world. Not just to the United States but to the world.

For some while, I guess, it's going to be hard to envisage a world that doesn't have a Dolly Parton in it.  There are very few people who celebrated life as passionately as Dolly Parton. 

One thing we can all do to celebrate Dolly's life is to support her Imagination Library

Just one of her very many philanthropic ventures, touching more people's lives than we may ever know.

Oven-ready Brexit

Are we there yet? 

Er... yes, the Tories thought the best thing to do was to put Northern Ireland in to both the EU Single Market and the Eu Customs Union. 

Otherwise, it will be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic Of Ireland. 

Bad Friday agreement 

See above.....

Red tape, more not less 

The government are no nearer to achieving their target to hire 50,000 customs border agents. Assuming these new customs border agents are paid only £26,000 per year (which you can't live on these days!) then this will cost … wait for it! £18 billion per year, or approximately £350 million per week. 

Source: ONS

Where have I seen that before?  Never mind. I'm sure it will come back to me.

Magic Bus 

Never believe what you see written on a bus. Where's the £350 million? The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take it away....

Brexit Benefits

Ended free movement and taken back control of our borders.

The UK has welcomed thousands of workers with the skills the country needs to support our domestic labour market as we build back better* from the Covid pandemic, from doctors and scientists to butchers and bricklayers.

Source:  The Benefits Of Brexit How the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU. HM Government. * Whatever the hell Build Back Better means? It's a Johnsonism. 

UK's shortage of lorry drivers. 100,000. 

A Road Haulage Association (RHA) survey of its members estimates there is now a shortage of more than 100,000 qualified drivers in the UK.

That number includes thousands of drivers from European Union (EU) member states who were previously living and working in the UK.
The government has granted visas for 5,000 lorry drivers to work in the UK, although only just over 20 of the 300 applications have been approved so far, according to Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden.

When does telling someone to "get lost" ever encourage them to return to our shores?  When I used to work in retail, I recall that they advised against that. 

Added to that, the returning drivers will be dealing with a 1960's paperwork system, driving on poorly maintained roads, even worse provision of lorry parks. 
But the EU has a shortage of 400,000 lorry drivers?
Yes. but a shortage of 400,000 lorry drivers is equivalent to a shortage of 14,000 drivers per EU country, and they also have complete freedom of movement too. So they could top up. We can't. 
Seriously, we would be in logistics heaven if our shortage was only 14,000 drivers.