Carl Cort's Hamstring

Kill everyone involved.

I can also think of quite a few games against Rangers where we've been quite unlucky to lose/draw whereas I feel like we're just often awful against Celtic.

I'm a teacher and it's a weekday morning!

It's as good a way as any as defining "very well paid." If we want to use average salaries as a reference that will quickly get bogged down in semantics. When does 'above average ' become 'very well paid'? Top 40%, 30%, 25% etc? I'm not particularly looking for sympathy and at no point have I argued teachers are poorly paid. But the degradation in funding and conditions does have an impact on the students. There are 6 children in my class of 30 who previously would have received extra funding and resources from the local authority because if their additional needs. Now only 2 of them get it because the assessment process takes so much longer due to cuts. That has a huge impact on both my workload and the education that those children receive. Similarly, the job of a subject leader in primary schools in England has completely changed in the last 2 years. Primary subject leaders are now treated much more like secondary heads of department by Ofsted while, generally, not being paid at all for the extra responsibility (typically, schools only tend to pay the Maths and English leaders and many don't even do that). The role has gone from one that can be done well alongside being a full-time class teacher to one that is impossible to do within contracted hours. That's not really an acceptable situation.

If we're talking in absolutes, an easy (if arbitrary) definition of very well paid to would be anyone who is in the higher rate tax bracket. Which would exclude anyone on main teacher pay scales anywhere in the UK. I wasn't trying to argue that teachers are badly paid, I think, broadly, our pay is alright and I voted against striking. My point about pay not matching the responsibilities was more about how my role has continuously expanded(due to cuts to other services and changing Ofsted requirements) but my pay hasn't changed to match this.

I know this chat is focused on the issues in Scotland, but I thought I'd through in my tuppence worth from the perspective of a teacher in England. @Monkey Tennis post above echoes a lot of my thoughts. I disagree with the idea that teachers are "very well paid." The job is highly skilled, demanding and requires a degree (and often a post-grad). Put in that context, I think the pay is alright. We're not on the breadline, but I also work with quite a few people who could earn ( or have previously earned) a lot more in other professions. I decided against strike action, and felt that I couldn't in good conscience vote for it, although I will support my union when the ballot inevitably comes out in favour of striking. The UK government's offer of 5% for experienced teachers (slightly more for new staff) is already unfunded and schools will have to make cuts elsewhere to pay for it. An 11% rise would almost certainly lead to redundancies amongst support staff, many of whom are already struggling as it is. It's fair to say that teachers often exist in a bubble and, as MT mentioned, you'll hear people on £40k+ in the staffroom talk about pay in a way that is frankly insulting to our support staff, who are on not much more than minimum wage. On the other hand, the job is far more demanding than most people realise. I'm a full time class teacher and a core subject leader in a primary school, and it is impossible to do both jobs properly within my working hours to the standard that I need to. The pay I get for that is absolutely not in line with the amount of responsibility and pressure involved.

The f*ck he do that for

That was sensational.

Van Poortvliet playing like he's won a competition to be there.

As an outsider, I find it astonishing that he doesn't have about a million caps.

The all blacks look like they mean business tonight. Worrying start so far.

Scandinavians: I'm well thank you. Although you seen to have gained weight since we last met and are still with that awful girlfriend.

When there was that story a few years ago about the police being called to Boris Johnson's flat because of a row going on, I was pretty shocked that about half the country thought having a screaming match with your partner was perfectly normal behaviour.

This is a good example of why negotiations with the Russian government would be a waste of time. They've got no interest in honouring their agreements.

All the while, the good people of Inverclyde will be miraculously unaffected by spiralling interest rates. Presumably, no-one in Greenock owns their own home or rents from a private landlord. I live in London and have been saving for the best part of a decade to buy somewhere. I'm also lucky to be in a profession that has excellent job security, so any downturn won't cost me my job. A huge property crash would directly benefit me but the prospect doesn't excite me because of the huge harm it will do to an enormous number of people. For someone who is so consistently scathing of the Conservative party, there are few people on here who consistently give off such sociopathic, I'm alright Jack vibes as you.

Good job that it's only going to affect landlords and not literally everyone. Otherwise I'd be worried.

It's a really frightening prospect for a lot of people. Anyone on an even vaguely normal salary will have had to stretch really themselves to get a mortgage down here. For even a small 2 bed house you won't get any change out of £400k virtually anywhere in greater London. 6% interest rates will completely f*ck an enormous number of people.

Stamp duty getting cut again. The entire purpose of the Conservative party seems to be to keep house prices artificially high.

I'm not a military expert, but a tank regiment leaving all their tanks behind doesn't feel like an orderly, well managed withdrawal.

Although I find it strange when people get upset when famous people they've never met die, I can kind of understand it on a certain level. A famous athlete, actor or musician will have produced moments or pieces art that will stay with you forever. Significant policiticians will have a profound impact on your life. The Queen? Abstract nouns: constsistency, stability, duty. I think most people, even the most fervent royalists, would struggle to recall more than half a dozen things she's ever actually said or done. Mental.

They did this when Phil the Greek died as well. Kiss from a Rose on repeat.

During lockdown, because working from home meant I occasionally watched PMQs out of boredom. It was quite eye-opening to realise that the commentary and analysis of it by journalists on TV and Twitter never bore any relation to what I actually watched. They demand to be treated with respect and seriousness by the public, while treating the whole thing as a silly game.

Few people are as precious when someone mocks their profession as journalists. Particularly laughable when it's shining a light on the absurd, emperor-has-no-clothes nature of British political commentary.

Think he's doing well to go to another Premiership club. He's gone from 'raw but with potential' to just crap.

I assume Bates was on a pretty high wage for a back-up player (who wasn't great) but we do feel pretty light at centre-half now. I'd rather have Bates play there than McCrorie