According to a BBC article, it looks possible that more hand luggage will be allowed for airline passengers flying from Britain next January. I don’t know if this will occur before we return to Kazakhstan, but it would be good to not have to try and stuff everything into one bag… it does not matter how much space you allow for last minute purchases, magazines, coats and other items always seem to conspire against me, and I end up stuffing loads into my trouser pockets. This does not tend to lead to the comfiest of dozings during the plane journey.
Also of note within the article is Lord West’s refusal to admit that Gordon Brown persuaded him to change his mind when it came to the possibility of extending the time allowed to detain suspected terrorists without charges. Apparently Lord West is but a simple sailing man, who was not able to put his thoughts into words clearly enough on an early morning Radio 4 program. The British Prime Minister then helpfully had a quick meeting with Lord West, after which Lord West was able to ‘clarify’ his feelings on the matter.

Many thanks to Irina for spotting the following pictures covering the ongoing problems in Gloucestershire with the recent flooding.
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Gordon Brown was interviewed in Gloucestershire, regarding the government’s response to the flooding afflicting the country, and Glos. in particular.
This was then followed a reporter in Tewksbury describing how life was right now for its citizens, with serious commentary; the people playing in the water in the background did not help to add any gravity to his words however
You can also find a BBC text report on the situation here.

Hmm, it looks like the audio is out of sync slightly there, I will have to return to my old method of ripping the video from our satellite receiver, apologies.
Anyway, with more rain forecast, I hope everyone will be ok over there.

The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, held a Cobra committee (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) meeting regarding the response to the national flooding problems. Glos.’s Gold Command emergency response team was represented by Tim Brian - it’s head. He was included in the meeting (via a phone link up) as my home county (Gloucestershire) was one the hardest hit counties. There was the normal amount of slopey shoulders and buck passing, as the government has come under fire for not providing help to prevent the flooding, and assistance to clear up the mess. Some have stated the current military deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq had made their assistance difficult in areas; the response was, no that isn’t the case, anyway, sandbags are the local council’s responsibility…
hey ho.
On a more positive note, it looks like there will be more funding put in place for proper flood defence systems in the future - whilst these may not completely prevent future floods, they may help to stem the flow, and give better warnings.

Flicking around the news channels, I managed to catch some of the conference where Gordon Brown was officially put in place as the Labour Party leader over in Britain. This Wednesday will see him become the Prime Minister, but for now, it is just the political party that he rules.
It was interesting to hear him talk, and he appears to be more closely leaning to the old ‘real’ Labour way of thinking than Tony Blair’s New Labour of the past decade. Many people are entirely cynical when it comes to politicians, but I have to admit, I do still have a small hope that the direction this government will take will be for the better…

Just in case you do not read a newspaper, or ever browse the news web sites out there, Tony Blair will be quitting as Prime Minister of Britain next week. I am not going to start droning on about his Tory-era promise to Gordon Brown re. time scales of this change over, but I am interested to hear that Tony’s political master partner, George Bush, is recommending Tony as a peace envoy for the Middle East.
If anything, I believe that Bush Jr.’s recommendation will do little for Tony’s credibility in the afflicted area, but then again, as James Wolfensohn quit the job more than a year ago, perhaps the head honchos in the area are looking for any sort of leadership?

It appears that Gordon Brown will be the next Prime Minister, without the need for any real (fresh) campaigning on his behalf.
I think it is time for Tony Blair to move aside, for one, his lap dog status to George Duuuuh-bya Bush in the left-wing press is doing the labour party itself no good. I’ve heard some younger friends moan about the Labour party, and where Britain currently resides in world estimation, but from a selfish point of view, I’m certainly glad that the Tories don’t have cat in hells chance of actually winning the next election or two. Thatcher taught me to be a ruthless profiteer at school, always on the look out for money making schemes. This helped my bank balance, but certainly didn’t improve my way of thinking and approaching the world. Given a choice between another ten or even fifteen years of Blair PMing, even with the sucking up to multi-national corporates so alien to old-school, ‘proper’ labour supporters, and having another Conservative led government, I’d take any flavour of red…
Anyway, check out the article here for more info on Browns virtually assured un-opposed coronation as next PM.

Back in Britain, I took out a loan to consolidate some of my debts. It was easier to have one debtor to pay, than three or four separate ones. As the interest rate I got was no higher than the individual debts’, it didn’t cost more money either. Before we came to Kazakhstan, with the help of my wife and both our parents, we managed to pay off all our debts, so we didn’t need to worry about them whilst abroad.

I had to spend quite a long time phoning up different companies, trying to find the best deal, but these days, it can be a lot easier to find your ideal loan. You can read about news in the loans sector, to find out if any recent developments affect the type of loan you are looking for. For example, if interest rates have recently gone down, and you wish to take out a secured loan, you need to make sure you are getting the best terms possible.

Similarly, if the Chancellor (soon to be Prime Minister) Gordon Brown has announced new tax rules regarding remortgages, you’ll want to check just how it affects people in your situation.

Finally, if you have been watching a lot of interior design programmes on television, you may have been inspired to spruce up your living area. In this case, unless you have a lot of cash just sitting in your bank account, a home improvement loan may be just the ticket to achieving that unique look in your living room.