Tim Carter (forwardnotback on Twitter)

Hello
Just popped in to have a look 😀

Almost Christmas – The Government Could Do With a Bit of Christmas Magic It’s mid-December 2025.

If you are in need of a bit of Christmas cheer and want to know what my Christmas wish is read on…
open.substack.com/pub/newspeng...

“Fourteen years is a long time in politics.
Long enough for a child born the day David Cameron walked into Downing Street to be revising for GCSEs while scrolling TikTok and wondering why everything still feels broken”

Ho! Ho! Ho!
I put down some words
“It’s mid-December 2025. The lights are up on Regent Street, the John Lewis ad has already made half the country cry into its early mince pies, and somewhere in the background a brass band is murdering “Fairytale of New York”
Almost Christmas!

Halowe’en leftovers

Britain is Broken: We Need to Fix it … but Grievance and Outrage are Obstacles Britain is Broken: We Need to Fix It … but Grievance and Outrage Are Obstacles

Few issues ignite British outrage like identity cards. The latest proposals, floated in 2025 as a tool for immigration control and public service access, have sparked predictable cries of “tyranny” and “surveillance state.”

open.substack.com/pub/newspeng...

I did another Substack thing …

“Orwell’s 1984 is without doubt a masterpiece, a warning about totalitarianism, surveillance, and the manipulation of truth
In modern Britain, it has been co-opted as a rhetorical bludgeon, wielded by those who see dystopia in every policy they dislike

The Path from Nostalgia, Neglect, and Fear to Radicalisation in the UK In the UK, nostalgia for a “simpler” past and the feeling of being left behind economically and socially are powerful forces that often push desperate people towards extreme politics and easy answers ...

I wrote a thing…
“many simply don’t believe in the future or at worst believe that the future will be worse than today - that loss of hope drives the retreat into nostalgia - no matter how false or partial the memories are”
substack.com/@newspenguin...

Thank you

Dinner at Kennington Lane Cafe
An old favourite: corned beef with Branston pickle, baked beans and mash

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy (First Union Center, Philadelphia 1998) YouTube video by EltonJohnVEVO

The song referenced in the thing

youtu.be/y3qa3tn9cVo?...

Love that song 😀

Cheers Matt

Listen up - I did a thing that everyone should read
open.substack.com/pub/newspeng...

Random pic from my wandering today

A lot thank you - currently sitting waiting for my three year review which hopefully = no more scans etc for a year 😀😀😀

😍😍😍
Hello there - hope all is well

Reform gain Surrey County Council seat from tories

Everything about the #cafe works for me
A bit of a trek down the Walthamstow High Street at the end of the Victoria Line but well worth it

Out to E17 today to visit one of my Top Five #London #Cafes to satisfy my craving for beef stew and suet dumplings - served with bread & butter
I had to have a pudding and decided to have a banana split (‘cos I can)

The bucket hats were free and reversible
As were sausage rolls and gravy
Of course I did 😀

And a lot of fun
The gravy was on tap

Today was a bit different
Greggs Sausage Roll and KFC Gravy
A classic combo and it was free

Harsh by Dan Hodges www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic...

Hi Pam - hope you are well and enjoying life

Of course I had pudding - I’m a growing lad

Prices still as they always were - great value
Braised Steak special today

Yeah baby … it’s back!
The Regency Cafe!
Westminster Council and the new owners deserve a lot of credit here
The council for honouring their promise to keep a #Cafe here
And the new owners for sticking with proper cafe food and prices
Good to see it busy on the first full day after reopening

Margot Fonteyn bronze statuein Reigate today
Statue by Nathan David FRBS
Unveiled: 1980 by Dame Margot
Simply stunning

I said it was bubble and then we had a short chat about where they could find the nearest decent chippy that served mushy peas