I fully realise that I’m in the minority on this one (or perhaps a minority of one – ed) but I genuinely feel some pity for our Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves. In preparing for the imminent Autumn Budget, she finds herself in an impossible conundrum.

Many of you are aware that I’m a believer in certain cryptos, applauded their development and their initial operation outside of the traditional finance industry, and have even been a ‘miner’ of Ethereum in the past. In the process, I’ve been both successful and unsuccessful in roughly equal measure but remain broadly positive.

Following on from my ‘Taiwan’ post t’other week several of you justifiably pointed out that a conflict far closer to these shores, the war in Ukraine, continues to rage and an agreeable solution to this should occupy our thoughts far more.

With the Middle East and Central European conflicts remaining in full flight, the world’s attention has been somewhat removed from China’s designs on a relatively small island a little off its eastern shores, Taiwan. However, the country is seen by China as a breakaway province, which must, at all costs, be reunited with the motherland. Could this prove to be the next flash-point in current geopolitics?

Finding out that cheeky-chappie greengrocer Gregg Wallace is blaming all his self-inflicted sexist woes on a combination of autism and ADHD makes me ask the question of why does everyone suddenly seem to have ADHD?

If Sir Keir and his earnest Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, are to be believed, change for the better within the NHS is on the way and ambitious reforms should make the service as convenient as booking your holiday or finding love online.

The belief that politics, and politicians, are universally failing society is becoming an increasingly widespread, popularly-held opinion. Many of the issues facing most/all western economies.

As we’re all more than aware, Elon Musk, is prone to a little exaggeration. His $2trn DOGE savings pledge versus the $32.5bn reality. The ‘Hyperloop’ hyperbole that, for over ten years, promised an ultra-high-speed public transportation system in which passengers travelled in electric pods that would easily see the journey time from Boston to New York reduced to less than half an hour.

I have to admit I’ve never quite got-to-grips with the shenanigans in the Middle East and have viewed it with a mixture of ignorance and complacency in a kind of ‘as it was always thus’ manner. However, with the US and Iran now irrevocably involved I guess it’s time to appreciate and understand exactly how the bitterly contested Israel-Palestine conflict came about, where the apparent red lines are drawn and what any potential future may hold.

It’s been a while and I’ve missed you too. My only defence is I’ve been gallivanting but I’m back now and keen to comment on the main political story that’s taken place in this country during my time away, yep the continued rise and rise of Farage’s Reform.