Suedehead2

It was obvious for at least a year before the election that the Tories were deliberately leaving an almighty mess for Labour to clear up. Unfunded cuts to NI and a string of unfunded spending commitments mean that Rachel Reeves has probably the worst inheritance of any Chancellor in my political lifetime.

Jim Ratcliffe is one of the richest Britons. He is also the owner of 29% of Man Utd. Despite being British, he now claims to live in Monaco which means he doesn't pay UK tax. He is estimated to have saved billions in tax since "moving" to Monaco. He is now asking the government to use the tax that he doesn't pay to help fund the building of a new stadium for Man U and the redevelopment of the surrounding area. He could pay the full cost of the new stadium and still be a billionaire several times over.

Marshmello and Bastille - Happier

I hope they end their set with I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Growth has been pitiful since the 2008 financial crash. That's why Labour are making it such a high priority. Most incoming governments inherit a struggling economy. That's why their predecessors lost. However, this government inherited a worse mess than most.

I remain convinced that, based on the evidence they heard, the jury were right to convict Letby. Any reservations I have about the verdict are based on whether her defence team did their job adequately. For example, the defence didn't call any expert witnesses to counter those called by the prosecution. It wouldn't be a surprise of the jury concluded that there were no experts with a different point of view.

Slightly delayed in the absence of a Radio 1 Chart Show, this week's commentary is now available from the Blogs section.

Alex Warren gets his first number one single. Steve Wilson narrowly misses out on a first number one album. Alex Warren climbs to the top of the singles chart to get his first UK number one. Sadly, it is with the aptly-titled Ordinary rather than the significantly better Carry You Home which is back up to number twenty this week. The Californian singer-songwriter released his first music in 2021, but didn’t enter the UK ((or US) top forty until last year. At the beginning of the week, it was a distinct possibility that Chappell Roan could replace herself at number one with her new single The Giver. As it is, the song - which has a certain country feel to it - lands at number two. If she had topped the chart she wouldn’t have been the first act to replace themselves at the top. However, it would have been the first time that an act’s first spell at number one had been replaced by their second chart-topper. Thanks to various Buzzjack members for help with this fact. Chappell Roan is also at number four with Pink Pony Club which has spent the last two weeks at number one. Doechii climbs to number three with her version of Anxiety. The Sleepy Hallow version (on which Doechii also appears) falls to number 34. A Comic Relief event led to the BBC canning this week’s chart show. That meant there was no chance to hear them play a 6 1/2 -minute rock song, or complain about them skipping it. British band Sleep Token have, to date, released three albums without spending any time in either the singles or albums chart. That changes in style this week with the arrival at number seventeen of their epic Emergence, a track from their forthcominourth album. Let’s hope it is still in the chart next week to give Radio 1 the chance to play it (even though they will probably choose not to). Former Little Mix member Jade (Thirlwaal) is at number 25 with her new single FUFN. The subtitle spells out what the initials stand for, but let’s pretend it is Fossilised Unicorns? Fake News! While I won’t exactly be in a hurry to hear it again, it is at least good enough to be described as OK. When Lil Tecca made his singles chart debut in 2019 with the top ten hit Ransom it was at a time when there was a plethora of Lils in the chart. Now they are not quite so ubiquitous, although they are still around. This particular Lil has had a few minor hits since Ransom, but he hasn’t returned to the top forty until now. Dark Thoughts, whose greatest merit is that it is only just over two minutes long, is at number 30. South African / German rapper (a phrase which I don’t believe has appeared here before) WizTheMC gets his first top forty hit at number 38 with Show Me Love. Bees and Honey also appear on it, apparently. Austrian producer Ely Oaks is another top forty debutant, landing at number 40 with Running Around. The latest random TikTok-inspired re-entry is Adele’s Hometown Glory. It reached number nineteen in 2007 and is now back at number 31. As Playboi Carti doesn’t seem to be a very pleasant person, I shall simply mention that his new album Music is at number one. Three tracks from the album enter the singles chart. Steven Wilson’s band The Porcupine Tree released their first album in 1992. They finally reached the top forty albums chart with their ninth release Fear Of A Blank Planet in 2007.Their last album, 2022’s Closure / Continuation reached number two. His solo career has seen a similar trajectory. The first five albums each reached a steadily higher peak until To The Bone reached number three in 2017. The trend was broken when the next two albums went to number four. This week, the generally upward trajectory is back as The Overview goes all the way to number two. It is at number one in the vinyl chart. Outside the top five there are two great albums by British acts. The higher of the two is Out Of A Dream by manchester band Slow Readers Club. Their progress seemed to have gone into reverse when their top ten album The Joy Of The Return was followed by albums peaking at numbers 29 and 33. Thankfully, Out Of A Dream has done rather better. It enters at number eleven. The other great album comes from a rather better-known act, Florence + The Machine. Florence Welch performed at last year’s BBC Proms with an orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley. A recording of the gig has now been released under the title Symphony Of Lungs (BBC Proms at the Albert Hall) and it sounds fantastic. It is a new entry at number 38. Buckley has previously worked with artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Emeli Sande and Tori Amos. Ricky Warwick, who has worked with Status Quo and Black Star Riders gets his highest-placed solo album with Blood Ties at number 25. A remix version of Charli XCX’s latest album, under the sesquipedalian title Brat and it’s completely different but still Brat is at number 40. I shall be at a Public Service Broadcasting gig next Friday. In my absence, Popchartfreak has kindly agreed to provide an alternative commentary. Just as a link into one of this week’s albums chart new entries, Public Service Broadcasting have performed at the BBC Proms twice.

Based on the comments of many Americans, it's hard to believe they have an education system.

That's often a problem when you watch a programme with a setting you know about! I've found the same thing with any drama based in a school, or involving politics. I don't have Netflix, so I haven't seen the programme. However, a lot of colleagues have been raving about it. I might get Netflix for a month so that I can see it and, perhaps, a few other programmes.

I've been saying for years that the process of going back on to benefits if a job doesn't work out is far too complicated. It is good that the government is trying to tackle this. They ought also to look at encouraging employers to take on people who would do a perfectly good job, but not necessarily as efficiently as some, because of a disability or neurological reason. Should employers be able to pay them a lower rate with the state topping it up? Surely that is better than them not being employed at all?

Daft Punk - Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams) Hozier - Take Me To Church Nothing else stands out.

Everton 2-1 West Ham Ipswich 1-3 Nottingham Forest Man City 2-2 Brighton Southampton 1-2 Wolves Bournemouth 3-1 Brentford Arsenal 2-2 Chelsea Fulham 0-2 Tottenham Leicester 0-2 Man Utd

I thought Tom Chaplin was born in nearby Battle, but Wiki says I'm wrong. I hadn't realised that Suggs was born there either. It's still a pretty modestly-sized list for the place. I was able to watch a group of Yr7 students re-enact part of the Battle of Hastings on the actual site last year. I may get to do it again in the summer!

Best Eminem - Love The Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna) JAY-Z - Empire State Of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) Lady Gaga - Born This Way Owl City - Fireflies Worst The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow Pitbull - Give Me Everything (feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer) Usher - OMG (feat. will.i.am)