Regardless of who gets what seats in elections….

I'm Scottish Egyptian myself

I'm unusual in that I'm about 87% southern English, I think it would be interesting for all those who go on about "pure English" to have an ancestral DNA test, I wonder what excuses they'd come up with if it were found that many of have ancestors of the nations they seem to despise? I think they'd think I'm a race traitor because I don't care where people come from, the colour of their skin, or what religion if any they practice, I'm far more concerned whether they're good people or not.

I wonder if those who spout about racial purity and being of Anglo-Saxon or Nordic decent would feel about those few who've been here since Britain was repopulated after the Ice Age? If anyone has the right to say they're native Britons it would be them.

As a descendant of Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Viking, and Irish ancestors, I quite agree. But the quest for a pure ethnic identity is more about looking to exclude those they regard as undesirable others (blacks, Irish, Jews, or Muslims depending on context) than about logical consistency. 

Hypernationalism is a contradiction to itself as Britain in itself as we know it is entirely built by immigrants. Nobody seems to even acknowledge that there's nobody alive who's "pure British" or "pure American" etc., we're all mongrels! Get off your flag covered high horses and embrace it!

Why can't we just get along?

Very true!

I also can't see this generation of billionaires doing much for the public good like building town halls, libraries and other things for the public good and gifting them to the country, as the Victorians did.

I'm hoping that the Scottish Parliament will be able to move ahead on its proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill without too much interference from the new batch of Reform MSPs.

My Dad who was a boy during WW2, but who's brothers and sister all served, said 'we didn't go through all that for this!', meaning the war its aftermath of rationing our slow recovery, but also the beginings of things like the NHS, social security, council housing etc, he was appalled by Thatcher and her dismantelling of the welfare state that his generation had fought so hard to create and had paid for.

I heard a thing on Newsnight on friday which was interesting, Reform who won so many councils, won by very narrow margins, often single figure margins, so if any leave for any reason the majority party could change very easily. Also I was remembering the last round of local elections where Reform did well and so many of thier new councillors and mayors resigned after a few weeks because they didn't realise the levels of time and commitment needed. 

For myself, I'm glad that we've not got a Reform majority in the Senedd and it looks like Plaid will for a minority government, they've promised North Wales to sort out our health trust which is and has been failing badly for years, it lurches from disaster to disaster and is a disgrace. I hope they do sort it. They were the only party who had ideas outside of Cardiff and said specifically what they were going to do in places like North Wales, which is a long way from Cardiff.

Martin said:

t seems as though altruism is going out of fashion. I think that the generation who won WWII and then ushered in the NHS and social security would be disgusted with the opinions of some people in the country now.

I agree.

It seems as though altruism is going out of fashion. I think that the generation who won WWII and then ushered in the NHS and social security would be disgusted with the opinions of some people in the country now. These have been prominently on display recently. It is particularly ironic that the worst are those who bathe in fake patriotism, but usually have done nothing for their country.

Since the results and hearing some concerning comments on the news from people about why they voted a particular way, I googled to find councils where they have been run by one of the newer parties. I found comments from people's experience of higher local tax and a lack of concern for EDI. I think next time there is a vote, EDI is an important issue. It seems that party has some similarities with a prominent leader elsewhere. 

When I lived in Lampeter, I had to go to Cardiff for an operation, I had no aftercare from the hospital because I couldn't get there, I was post surgical and couldn't be bounced around on a bus for hours and hospital transport didn't go outside of Cardiff and its immediate surroundings and they only did transport for your first appointment because the service was underfunded and over used, they couldn't get their heads around the idea that before surgery I could drive there myself but couldn't afterwards. I was lucky that I had a really good GP who looked afer me.

Minor injury units are great until something happens in the radiography dept, when you have to go to Bangor anyway. I agree about how spread out services are, it often seems to make no sense. Whats worse is Bangor hospital tries to encourage people not to drive there for appointments, without ever thinking about how else you're supposed to get there and home again. Lot of small villages have no public transport, not even taxis.

In Powys where I live there is no county hospital. There are minor injury units and specialist clinic scattered across the county but if you want an operation that’s Aberystwyth or Shrewsbury or the mid-lands.

I'd like to see better services for us, or better than what we currently have, or what passes for a service in North Wales. A lot of services seem to have been brainstormed by a load of NT's asked to think not of what we'd like or what our lived experience is, but what it ought to be.

I'd really like for a service, or all services, to say what they do, rather than ask you what you'd like from them and then tell you they don't do that. It feels like a game of 20 questions rather than something set up to help people. 

I'm honestly finding AI more helpful than the services for ND people

In local elections I think it is important to have people who are interested in helping their community, no matter what party or if they are independent.

There is an all party committee on autism [autism APPG]. They don't appear to be very active as their last publications were in 2024!