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Putney High  Street.

Front page of forum. A long article.

Barbara Stevens ● 10h3 Comments ●

Speeding

A vehicle was doing a out 90mph at 1.55pm this afternoon in our road, all smoke was coming from it's exhaust. It was so dangerous and the noise. A builder got out of his van he was in shock he said his whole van shook. This is not the first time it can be about 3pm I have been out the front and it has shot past. Might not be the same vehicleOne also at 6.30 am in the morning. Very dangerous especially as other people get done for going 22mph.

Barbara Stevens ● 1d5 Comments ● 1h

Cuts to ODA budget

As a Borgen Project Ambassador and Putney constituent, I am writing to express my concern and repulsion at Labour’s announcement to slash the ODA’s foreign aid budget nearly in half (from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3%). The latest round of cuts threatens to strip an estimated £150 million from programmes fighting tuberculosis, AIDS, and malaria—diseases that continue to kill millions and disproportionately affect the world’s poorest communities. These abhorrent cuts follow the dark path set out by Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, who’s governments slashed the ODA and USAID budgets, also resulting in massive global deaths from disease and hunger. I think it’s important to clear up a few common misconceptions around foreign aid spending. Surveys show that Britons routinely overestimate how much we spend on foreign aid, with many believing it accounts for 10% of national spending when, even at 0.7% (now 0.3%), it was less than a penny in the pound. In addition, there’s often a notion that foreign aid is a leftwing or progressive concept, in truth, both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher strengthened development efforts, recognizing that stability abroad furthers security and prosperity at home. Wandsworth is proudly “the Brighter Borough” and “the Borough of Culture,” these slogans reflect our shared values of compassion, openness, and outward-looking values. Standing up for foreign aid means standing up for who we are. I’d like to commend my local MP, Fleur Anderson, for upholding these values through her work opposing these cuts and championing effective, life-saving development assistance. I encourage her to continue and urge her colleges to join in her courageous efforts.The Borgen Project works to ensure communities like ours speak up for smart, humane foreign policy. Wandsworth should continue to lead that effort.Oliver Lefferts

Oliver Lefferts ● 9h2 Comments ● 2h

Stayed a little back, a little off the front lines

"Donald Trump never served in Vietnam; he received five draft deferments that prevented him from being conscripted.  In an interview with Fox News in early 2026, Trump criticized the contribution of America's allies in the Afghanistan conflict, stating: "They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan… and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines".These remarks sparked widespread condemnation from British veterans and politicians, who pointed to the 457 British personnel who died in the conflict as proof that they were indeed on the front lines. Donald Trump’s Vietnam War Record Trump himself did not see combat or serve in the military during the Vietnam era: Draft Deferments: He received five deferments: four for being a college student and one for a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels."Personal Vietnam": In a 1997 interview with Howard Stern, Trump controversially compared the risks of dating and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases to the dangers of the Vietnam War, calling it his "personal Vietnam" and stating he felt like a "brave soldier" for navigating the dating scene.Lottery Number: While Trump has frequently claimed his high draft lottery number (356) kept him out of the war, records show he had already received his medical exemption over a year before the 1969 lottery took place.""Casualties: Over 3,400 NATO-led coalition troops died during the conflict, including approximately 1,100 non-U.S. personnel from allies such as the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Denmark.Intense Fighting Zones: British and Canadian forces, in particular, were responsible for some of the most dangerous frontline regions, including Helmand and Kandahar provinces, which were heartlands of the Taliban insurgency.Highest Per Capita Losses: Denmark and Estonia suffered significant casualty rates, with Denmark experiencing the highest number of combat deaths per capita of any coalition member.Article 5 Invocation: The mission in Afghanistan remains the only time in history that NATO’s collective defense clause (Article 5) was invoked, specifically to support the United States following the 9/11 attacks."------------------"Research suggests that for post-9/11 veterans, the number of suicides (estimated at 30,177 between 2001–2021) is roughly four times higher than the number of personnel killed in action (7,057) during the same period."

David Ainsworth ● 6h4 Comments ● 3h

Hammersmith Bridge Rally.

Having lived in Putney from the turn of the century and as a pedestrian who shops on the High Street most every day after retirement some 10 years ago, I've never known the terrible traffic congestion as we are now experiencing upon the closure of Hammersmith Bridge to motorised vehicles. Irrespective of one's political leaning I firmly believe it is important to support our MP in her efforts to show her government the level of upset their lacklustre response thus far is having.Lest we forget the same MP successfully petitioned the mayor of London when the 14 bus route was threatened. Congregate at 24.01.26 at 14.00hrs Barnes entrance to Hammersmith Bridge to demonstrate your support.

David Sean Robinson ● 3h0 Comments ● 3h

Coffee shop

Chelverton rd not sure if the coffee shop in Chelverton Rd, next to the bus garage has shut, white paper now covering the windows.

Barbara Stevens ● 9h5 Comments ● 4h

Volunteering

Looking for a new challenge in 2026?Do you have a couple of hours a week to spare and want to make a difference that lasts a lifetime?Local family charity Home-Start Wandsworth is looking for compassionate people to join its network of volunteers. Volunteers provide a listening ear and a helping hand to disadvantaged local families with young children. Join our coffee morning on Tuesday 3 February from 10:30 am at Putney Arts Theatre to find out more. Sign up via the Home-Start Wandsworth website: www.homestartwandsworth.org.uk/volunteer

Melissa Pike ● 10d2 Comments ● 8h

Alton Estate

I have just had a look at the computer generated images of the proposed community hub building with adjacent block of flats in the Alton Estate; very impressive stuff. Particularly, the community hub building, looks like it will make a fantastic entrance to the estate. Fingers crossed they can get it through the various stages intact, and get it constructed without too much delay, the residents up there have been left in limbo  more than long enough.

Gerry Boyce ● 9d4 Comments ● 8h

Coffee for a pound at new cafe at St. Mary's

Just for today (Fri 23rd Jan) there is an offer of coffee for a pound at the new Ground Coffee Society cafe in St. Mary's Church.

Barry Elms ● 10h0 Comments ● 10h

Marks & Spencer Wish List

The MailOnline has an article on the M&S wish list for 500 new stores.  From what I can gather they are all food stores.  Here are the local locations on the map: East Putney, North Putney Bridge, Roehampton, East Sheen and Wandsworth Please bear in mind before getting too excited, these are on M&S wish list and they are looking for suitable locations, there’s nothing definite about any of them.

Martine Guy ● 8d1 Comments ● 10h

The Hammersmith Bridge rally

While I’m very supportive of the aims of the rally for opening up Hammersmith Bridge this month, it is probably a waste of time. The cold hard reality is that Labour is going to dispense infrastructure spend to maximise its political advantage and, although reopening the bridge is desperately needed, it probably won’t help secure the current government any extra seats. What money is available, and that probably is very little with Trump threatening to invade Greenland which would cause a global financial crisis, will be spent on marginal Labour seats in the north and midlands. Locally, Labour will have written off Chelsea and Fulham already and Sarah Olney looks secure in Richmond Park. The Conservatives are making inroads in Putney but, and I say this as someone who has never voted for her, Fleur Anderson is well-liked and effective MP and should hang on even with the party’s disastrous poll ratings. I don’t know about Hammersmith and Chiswick but the MP there has a big majority. The danger with this rally is that, when it yields no result, the enthusiasm of people to turn up might diminish creating the impression that people are becoming more used to the current situation. Go to the event if you want but you need to accept that you will need to do the same annually for the next five years if you have any hope of persuading the government to stump up.

Barry Elms ● 14d35 Comments ● 10h

Random pic 23 January 2026

Street Art on Steps. Lyon https://flic.kr/p/2rHEhVC

Michael Ixer ● 19h0 Comments ● 19h

Greenland 10% February Tariffs Will Be Cancelled

Apparently because a rudimentary deal with Greenland might have been structured …

Sue Hammond ● 2d9 Comments ● 20h

Train Crash

On the News most awful train crash in Spain, on the way to Madrid.

Barbara Stevens ● 4d4 Comments ● 22h

Strange phone calls

2nd call I have have had in a couple of weeks, 1st a man the today a woman. But really AI, wanting to give me information on Iran, has anybody else had the calls, so polite and the voice so accurate you know it's a computer. Obviously going to ask for money. But the call did not get that far.

Barbara Stevens ● 1d4 Comments ● 22h

HoL Has Voted In Favour Of Social Media Ban …

…for the under 16’s.  Very good news!   Now it has to be implemented.   Any ideas how  it could be done, Michael Ixer?

Sue Hammond ● 1d8 Comments ● 1d

Random pic 22 January 2026

AI Failure: https://flic.kr/p/2rPREqwI took this picture at the Wandsworth Park Eco Fair. My wife wanted to use it on an e-card for a friend's birthday but it had a small post in front of the left-hand horse that looked untidy. So she used ChatGPT to remove the post. It did that superbly; however, after she'd emailed the birthday message she noticed that the AI programme had added a head on to the arse of the right-hand horse. (I can assure you there wasn't a mutant horse in Wandsworth Park!) Fortunately our friend has a good sense of humour 🙂 When I was chatting to someone recently who works for a large AI company providing solutions to financial services companies he did agree that a mechanism for sanity checking AI's outcomes was still necessary ... I don't think AI is about to take over the world yet ...

Michael Ixer ● 1d1 Comments ● 1d

We are up against blatant steaming liars

"White House press secretary denies Trump's Greenland-Iceland flubBBC 19:10White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appears to be mopping up after Trump's Davos speech, which has drawn mixed reactions from world leaders and US lawmakers."I know they were all very pleased with his speech. I was in the room, John, and it has rave reviews, because the President just tells it like it is," she said on Fox News a few minutes ago.BBC reporters in attendance say the room struggled to take in the president's message on Greenland. Denmark's foreign minister says he has concerns - and that the country's won't move its "red lines".Trump also misspoke and confused Greenland for Iceland multiple times in the speech.Leavitt denied this, responding to a reporter on X by saying, "No he didn’t," and that the president simply referred to Greenland as "a piece of ice"."Just a lie (You can pretend it is an innocent error):-"They’re not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland’s already costs a lot of money. But that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up. And we have an unbelievable future."https://globalnews.ca/video/11623153/trump-mixes-up-greenland-with-iceland-multiple-times-in-wef-speech/

David Ainsworth ● 2d0 Comments ● 2d

For Trump Or Greenland, Ms Hammond?

Question posed (to me) by DA about a week ago but I forgot to post my answer at the time.Apologies for opening a new thread but DA changes the title of threads so much I could not trace the original thread when he asked me this question: “For Trump or Greenland, Ms Hammond?”Both actually.   How much would it be to buy Greenland?  Impossible to evaluate so it’s a moot point. However Trump has expressed a strong intent to colonise Greenland and make the island(s) part of the US.  Should this happen it would be an amazing result for Trump’s presidential legacy and as such I am sure that he/US would pump many $millions into Greenland’s economy to improve its infrastructure.  I even read that Trump would ‘gift’ each resident several thousand dollars to ease their transition.  Is this a bribe?   Possibly, but what’s not to like?  If I I was a Greenlander I would much prefer to live under the protection of the US with its enormous military might, than the disjointed EU and its mythical army that hasn’t evolved despite Brussels talking about it for at least 6 years.However I recognise the argument that Greenland should be the arbiter of its own destiny so the Greenlanders should be able decide what they want. So am I sitting on the fence à la Starmer?

Sue Hammond ● 2d22 Comments ● 2d