"Your mum did"

ALISTER: Another Panorama investigation exposing Met officers being racist, misogynistic, and bragging about violence. Tell me again how this isn't the biggest issue facing the police? The entire barrel is rotten.​

MERIDYTH: One station. They've suspended nine officers and disbanded that custody team. What they need is proper funding to recruit better people and actually pay for the vetting processes that catch these guys before they get in.​

ALISTER: "One station"? 593 officers were sacked last year alone. That is up 50% from the year before. The Casey Review found the Met institutionally racist and misogynist. This isn't a funding problem, it's a corruption problem. No amount of money fixes a culture this toxic.​

MERIDYTH: And how exactly do you propose fixing culture with fewer resources? The Met's lost 1,700 officers to budget cuts. You can't do anti-corruption work, proper training, and neighbourhood policing when you're haemorrhaging staff. Fund them properly first.​

ALISTER: Fund what, exactly? So they can recruit more racists? Public confidence is at 67%. Only 49% think police do a good job. People don't trust them because they're corrupt. Money won't buy back trust that corruption destroyed.​

MERIDYTH: Corruption thrives in under-resourced, overstretched organisations. New officers, better pay, improved vetting systems, proper oversight. That all costs money. You're basically saying "let it burn" when the solution is obvious: invest in reform and increase capacity simultaneously.

Turns out Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson weren’t really dating… It was a PR stunt for the release of Naked Gun and they both regret the decision to run with it. Help heal our heartbreak by sharing The AM Squabble!

🚄 UK Silicon Valley? A key rail link between Oxford and Bletchley has reopened, boosting the East West Rail project. Timed with this, Oracle’s Larry Ellison is launching a new tech institute, fuelling ambitions for a new European ‘Silicon Valley’ in the region.

🌆 Soho's New Look. Soho could soon be permanently pedestrianised. New plans from Westminster Council would see streets like Old Compton Street and Brewer Street become traffic-free zones, improving safety and air quality in the iconic entertainment district.

⚖ Ending Court-Based Abuse. New "Pathfinder" courts are being piloted to tackle domestic abuse within the family law system. The change means abuse allegations are investigated first, preventing perpetrators from using child contact hearings as a tool to further harass victims.

👕 The Gap is Back. After closing all UK stores in 2021, Gap is making a major comeback in London. The fashion giant is opening three new flagship stores, starting with a 7,000 sq ft space on Oxford Street this month, followed by two more in Westfield centres.

GOOD NEWS… for South Koreans after the govt announced it’s finally recognising same-sex couples by acknowledging them in the national census. BAD NEWS… for debt, US hits $38tr in debt, after the fastest accumulation of $1tr outside of the pandemic

🇵🇱 Poland's Putin Warning. Poland has issued a stark warning: if Vladimir Putin sets foot in the country, he will be arrested. The statement follows speculation that Donald Trump, if re-elected, might try to host peace talks involving Putin on Polish soil.

🎣 Smishing Gang Smashed. A joint Europol operation has shut down a network responsible for large-scale "smishing" (SMS phishing) attacks. The gang used SIM boxes to blast out fake bank and parcel delivery alerts, leading to 12 arrests and taking 100k SIMs out of action.

☀ Spain vs. The Clocks. Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez wants the EU to finally end daylight saving. The plan to stop changing the clocks was approved by the EU Parliament in 2019 but got stuck in limbo. Sánchez is now restarting efforts to get the "absurd" practice abolished.

🎵 Spotify Faces Backlash. Spotify is under fire for running recruitment adverts for US agency ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Critics are calling out the platform for platforming the agency, which is central to controversial deportations.

🏃 Rethinking Exercise. That extra gym session might not burn as many daily calories as you think. Research shows your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the dominant factor, not physical activity. It's a reminder that diet and RMR are key, while exercise is foremost for health.

🍬 Sugar from Sewage. A UK-first innovation in Lancashire is turning wastewater into... sugar. United Utilities is pioneering a new "biorefinery" process that extracts carbon from sewage to create sugar polymers, making water treatment greener.

🫀 New Cancer Care Call. A major charity is urging the NHS to prescribe exercise to cancer patients immediately after diagnosis. This "prehab" approach is proven to help patients cope with treatment, reduce hospital time, and boost long-term survival.

👮 Armed Police vs. Doritos. A US student had a terrifying experience when armed police stormed his room after an AI camera alert. The "weapon" the AI detected was a bag of Doritos. The "ZeroEyes" system flagged the snack as a threat.

🚗 Uber's AI Side-Hustle. Uber drivers will soon be able to earn extra cash by doing AI jobs while waiting for passengers. The new feature will offer drivers paid "micro-tasks" like data annotation to help train AI models, turning their downtime into paid time.

🛌 Smart Beds Bricked. An AWS crash caused chaos for over 2,000 smart bed owners. The outage left G.Kloud beds stuck in the upright "Zero-G" position or even overheating. A perfect example of the dangers of cloud-dependent smart home tech!

By Alister

Daylight saving, what a drain. Means I spend an extra hour fixing all the clocks and my schedule gets all messed up.

It’s a nightmare for my trackers and it’s a nightmare for my central heating (I have never successfully set the time on that thing.) The question is, would we want permanent summer time or permanent winter time?

If we kept summer time we would match Europe, have lighter evenings, and even boost tourism and leisure industries due to longer natural light hours. If we wanted winter time that actually aligns with “nature” here in the UK, plus it means mornings would be lighter too.

In fact, I was so frustrated changing the clocks I even did some reading about why we still have it. Turns out we actually had permanent BST between 1968 and 1971, but the north of Scotland was basically in darkness the whole time, so the govt voted to abandon it.

By Alister

Finalists for the Comedy Wildlife awards are online! They are absolutely incredible, it really captures the funniest moments and brings a smile to your face.

My personal favourite is the unwilling baptism. Sure, it’s two frogs fighting in a pond, but this one still looks like something very different. Reminds me of having to wash someone else in the bath.

The winners are announced on the 9th of December at the OXO Gallery in central London. If you are feeling inspired then entries for next year will open on the 14th of March 2026.

Did you make the most of your extra hour yesterday? Join us next week for another Squabble, and maybe we’ll be better prepared for the next time change.

Alister & Meridyth