Alister: Rachel Reeves's speech about growing the UK economy was a big one! Ambitions were many from becoming Europe's Silicon Valley to backing a £9bn road tunnel under the Thames. But the real showpiece was confirming plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, arguing it would create 100,000 jobs.

MERIDYTH: Are you really onboard with a 3rd runway? More flights means more noise, more air traffic congestion. The plane/helicopter collision in DC could happen here. And don’t get me started on the environment. It’s ironic that we’re trying to combat climate change while also planning to increase carbon emissions by 9 mega tonnes.

Alister: Yes, those are valid concerns, but think about the estimated £100 billion in economic benefits from tourism. That's a serious injection of cash into the UK economy. Plus, with more flights, ticket prices could come down with increased competition. Let’s embrace the change. Who doesn’t want to hop on a plane for a cheaper holiday and jet off somewhere exotic?

MERIDYTH: I’m all for cheaper flights, but the argument about a tourism boost is weak. UK residents travelling overseas outnumber foreigners visiting here 3-to-1. And while abroad, Brits are taking £41 billion out of the UK and lining the pockets of other countries. Aren’t you headed to Spain next weekend?

🇬🇧 No squabble required

⛪︎ Like dominoes. The church is in trouble again! On the heels of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation over the sexual abuse coverup, the Bishop of Liverpool just resigned when another bishop accused him of sexual misconduct. The Archbishop of York is also facing calls to resign over safeguarding failures. 😬

📶 Can you hear me now? Vodafone has successfully made a video call using just satellite connectivity in an area with no coverage. Residents in remote places will soon be scrolling Insta Reels by the end of the year.

📫️ Reform on the rise. According to the latest polls, if an election were to happen right now, Nigel Farage’s Reform party could take 76 seats from Labour with a further 70+ seats on a knife’s edge - due to more moderate voters turning their back on the major parties.

🍺 Every Lidl helps? In Northern Ireland, Lidl has overcome a High Court challenge to open a first ever in-store pub. Crisps and nuts snack sales are expected to increase as a result. 😜

🌎️ The rest of the world… according to us

🤑 You get a tariff, and you get a tariff. Trump fulfilled one of his campaign promises by tariff slapping. 25% on Mexico, 25% on Canada and 10% on China, with the EU in his sights as they haven’t treated him well. Canada hasn’t taken this with a spoonful of maple syrup. Trudeau immediately responded with their own 25% tariffs. Mexico is expected to retaliate as well.

✈️ Tragic aviation week. It wasn’t just the plane and helicopter crash in Washington DC last week. A medical transport plane crashed near a shopping mall in Philadelphia killing all 6 onboard including a young girl, who had just been treated for a life threatening condition, and her mother. ❤️‍🩹

🛫 Not looking forward to flying. An Air Busan plane in South Korea burst into flames while on the tarmac. The cause is unknown, but luckily everyone is OK with a only few minor injuries. (p.s. This is a different Korean airline from the fatal crash a few weeks ago.)

🚕 Uber XXL. A 160kg (25 stone) women in America was rejected by her Lyft driver due to her weight. Weight discrimination is a crime in Michigan and she’s now trying to sue Lyft. But, drivers for these ride-hailing services are independent contractors, so it may be an uphill battle.

🍎 Part of your ‘5 A Day’

🥔 The cost of eating healthy. The most deprived fifth of the population would need to spend 45% of their disposable income on food to achieve a government-recommended healthy diet. This rose to 70% of disposable income for those households with children!

🩺 Get your prostate checked! Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK, more common than breast cancer. Diagnoses have risen by 25% in large part due to early detection. Symptoms may be slow to show. So men, get yourself checked regularly.

🎒Rucking the latest exercise trend. People are taking to the outdoors and walking with rucksacks filled with books, bricks, and other heavy items to lose weight. According to experts, you could burn almost 3 times as many calories than walking without.

🧦 The odd sock

🥶 6 more weeks of winter. Groundhog’s Day came and went with Punxsutawney Phil predicting more cold nights are in store. But the groundhog’s track record is 50%. Paul the Octopus had a better World Cup record than that!

🪦 Resurrecting the dead. Not quite, but Colossal Biosciences received $200 million in funding to make the Woolly Mammoth and Dodo de-extinct. But there are some ethical concerns around ecological disruptions and spread of diseases, amongst others.

⭐️ Recommendations

from Alister

Traveling can be a stressful experience, especially the planning part. But over the last few years, I’ve been using Wanderlog to keep me organised.

No need for the “Pro” version, the free tools are great for planning itineraries, setting up bookings, and even helping me find where to stay. Some of the user generated guides are also great inspiration starters.

I usually have a few places to eat and visit in mind, which I’ll log. And then Wanderlog uses Google Maps to help me plot the route with timings, while its AI feature suggests other attractions along the way - letting me gauge whether it’s worth the effort. It’s a perfect way to group my activities and make the most of my trips, without backtracking all over the place!

🤣 What do you meme? 

The Traitors’ People’s Princess

I won’t ruin the ending of The Traitors season 3, don’t worry. But I do want to talk about the man who captured the hearts of the nation - Alexander.

The former British Diplomat has been described as a classic 2000’s bumbling Romcom love interest. And yes, he’s still single. Even with a gf, I even find him hard to resist. Here’s a snippet of the BBC Radio One interview (spoiler free) of him reading tweets about people thirsting for him.

bbcradio1

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On the show, when contestants talked about how they would spend the prize money, Alexander said he would donate to Mencap, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, in honour of his late-brother. In response, over £70,000 was donated (not a spoiler free link by the way!) from viewers.

Whew, you made it!

It’s a busy week ahead. We’re hoping the Bank of England drops interest rates on Thursday. Check back next Monday and we’ll let you know if they did. 😉

Alister & Meridyth