Monday 30 November: Sage’s Christmas advice betrays a poor grasp of how most people live

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/11/30/letters-sages-christmas-advice-betrays-poor-grasp-people-live/

624 thoughts on “Monday 30 November: Sage’s Christmas advice betrays a poor grasp of how most people live”

    1. mng, usual bizarre weather here [start of short rainy season, which normally means short days and bleak, aside wet] – cloudless sky and hot

      1. Morning, AWK.
        Hot, huh? Chilly here in S Norway – beautiful sunny nights leading to a lot of frost. But a log fire and red wine eases the blues…

        1. mng, have no doubt about it yr end of “the parish”. Am due to liaise wth Norwegian mate who lives here, but recently popped bk to see his parents in Bergen I think. Am sure his regular complaint will be beer price in Norway compared to here

          1. It’s the price of living in a social paradise… I get my beer imported from Poland, a brew called Fox that’s 6,5% and smooth, tasty pilsner type. Excellent, so it is! Another + point for the Poles. Otherwise, make your own – we brew in the basement, and have a still (purely for home-made antibacterial handwash, you understand) elsewhere.

          2. makes perfect sense. I guess my mate can hardly set up a home brewery as an excuse to meet parents. But he’d probably try and give it a go, knowing the response he’d get. No decent imported beer here, even under any form of licence. Guinness is allowed from sth Africa and that’s about it

          3. I recall from Nigeria the advertising, featuring a smiling black guy with a crocodile of small children tailing off into the distance, and the strapline “Guinness gives you power”!

          4. it’s now inundated advertising across live EPL / Champions League. The current advertising flavour, all totally irrelevant in East Africa region, is some middle aged lady walking down the street with a sewing machine on her head, and happy to have got an internet bundle. C/O Ghana

          6. I’d never heard of Tusker beer before. That’s good because then I can go to YouTube and find the first Tusker TV advert and see what transpires without the accusation of cherry picking:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb4st8jLXEw

            And what a surprise! The advert appears to be aimed at people who look like they might be Kenyans.

            Where are all those mixed race couples, the Kenyan groups with a white best friend shoe horned in, the disabled Kenyans, the doofus Kenyans doing stupid stuff while white people look on with amused contempt? Nowhere to be found.

  6. NHS to enlist ‘sensible’ celebrities to persuade people to take coronavirus vaccine. 30 November 2020.

    Health chiefs are particularly worried about the number of people who are still undecided, and about vaccine scepticism among NHS staff. “There will be a big national campaign [to drive take-up],” said one source with knowledge of the plans. “NHS England are looking for famous faces, people who are known and loved. It could be celebrities who are very sensible and have done sensible stuff during the pandemic.”

    No names are thought to have been confirmed. But NHS communications experts suggested privately that the footballer Marcus Rashford, who is widely admired for his child food poverty campaign, which has forced two government U-turns, and members of the royal family would be ideal recruits. Politicians will not be used, it is understood.

    Well if he’s an example we sceptics have nothing to worry about!

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/29/nhs-enlist-sensible-celebrities-coronavirus-vaccine-take-up

    2. Morning Minty,

      They really do think we’re idiots, don’t they. Ooh, pea brained celeb in Hullo says, so I must! Yeah, right.

    3. Great idea.

      Just make certain that they are vaccinated on live TV and that there are independent doctors on site to verify what they had and what the dose was.

      As an aside, has anyone done any work on an antidote, for those cases where people get a severe adverse reaction?
      No?, thought not.

    4. mng Araminta, the thought of re-running live It’s a Knockout vaccinations on TV, with the late Stuart Hall, Eddie Waring commentary. All vax shows produced by Prince Edward. BBC would air it

    5. ‘Politicians will not be used’. Not if they have any sense, questionable in so many areas but self-preservation runs deep in their bones. Why would a politician put himself forward to support an untested drug for a virus that will have run it’s course well before the island has been inoculated?

      Much easier to let, for example, the judges from ‘Strictly Baking on Ice in the Jungle’ take the fall when the inevitable claims against the liability-free pharmaceutical companies start appearing.

      Meanwhile, most of the current crop of politicians will be out of range hiding behind their gold-plated pensions and any other rewards they have managed to accrue through their ‘work’.

      1. They may well have to arrange ‘show’ vaccinations for politicians and the great and the good to encourage take-up. Saline solution anyone?

    7. Who in their right mind would endorse a ‘health’ product that is unknown and untested, already mired in controversy and that could have disastrous side-effects for many of its recipients? In a cross section of celebrities there will be some dumb unthinking people but they must have smart agents who elevated the dumb to prominence(?) and wealth. Only the really woke i.e. exceptionally dumb, will consider this idea.

      1. “Only the really woke i.e. exceptionally dumb, will consider this idea” – so, where’s the catch?

      2. The Grauniad could, and offer a 50% discount for all “subscribed wokers” and smart agents’ clients who are even more exceptionally dumb for emplying them in the first place

        2. Morning, AW.

          The Grauniad etc? I thought that I’d covered that rag and its ‘woke’ adherents in the first five words of the comment.😎

    8. Morning Minty, “NHS England are looking for famous faces, people who are known and loved”.

      Can I suggest all MPs and all in the HoL. Not all exactly known and I suspect none are loved by us but if there are dire repercussions of unforeseen side effects then no great loss to the country.

  7. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    SIR – The Eton authorities would be in a better position to complain about an allegedly anti-feminist tract proclaiming the virtues of masculinity if the school admitted girls.

    As an Old Etonian with three daughters, I have always felt it unfair, old-fashioned and unprogressive that, in the 21st century, the school would not have considered my girls solely because of their gender.

    Peter Holt
    Telford, Shropshire

    I wonder what Peter Holt has to say about girls-only schools? The principle is fine for them but not for boys??

    1. ‘Morning, Hugh, it’s also sad that, despite the fees paid, he hasn’t learned that his daughter is of the female sex and that gender is merely a grammatical construct.

      1. Shamelessly Plagiarised, edited and posted BTL:-

        Robert Spowart
        30 Nov 2020 8:43AM
        Is it not rather sad that, despite the fees paid by his parents, Peter Holts hasn’t learned that his daughter is of the female sex and that gender is merely a grammatical construct.Edit ()

        DeleteLike
        Reply

          1. D you know, Hugh, AW, Tom & Bob, I can’t help thinking that if either Peter Holt or his daughter had gone to one of the Haberdashers’ Aske’s schools, instead of Eton, being linguistically-challenged he might now be getting confused over the placing of that school’s respective apostrophes.

    3. It is a singular fact Hugh that women always want to infiltrate boys institutions but there is no interest in the opposite direction!

      1. ‘Morning, Minty. Perhaps this explains why there are girls in the Boy Scouts but no boys in the Girl Guides?

  8. More on the subject of dumb meters:

    SIR – Procter Hutchinson (Letters, November 28), who asks what the point of a smart meter is, should try Googling the term “time of use tariff”.

    He’ll see that, in future, smart meters will allow suppliers to charge different rates at different times of the day. If he can move his heavy electricity usage to times of low demand he’ll see a benefit. The problem is that if he can’t do this – and I suspect that most people won’t be able to – he’ll have higher bills.

    In principle smart meters are a good idea, but the process used to roll them out has been a disaster.

    Steve Webb
    Southwell, Nottinghamshire

    SIR – Smart meters do not help customers.

    They are useful only for the electricity companies – for instant meter reading but also, more sinisterly, to enable those companies to shut off electricity at will to anyone and everyone with a smart meter.

    This is being done because soon there will not be enough power to go around and, instead of investing and solving the problem, the companies have chosen to go down the route of organised power cuts to manage supply and demand. There should be public outcry about this.

    Karen Gwynn
    Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

  9. Morning all

    SIR – I smiled at some of the suggestions from our eminent scientists in Sage on how to have a safe Christmas.

    Three pieces of advice caught my eye: have drinks or Christmas dinner outside by a fire pit; have two tables so you can socially distance; and, if you are a visitor, take your own plates and put them in the dishwasher yourself.

    These guidelines certainly tell us something about the lifestyles of Sage members – and their understanding of how most people live.

    Dr John Mitchell

    Potters Bar, Hertfordshire

    SIR – The Bank of England recently said that paper money does not carry a high risk of Covid contamination.

    Yet we have now been told to avoid boardgames at Christmas in order to prevent infection. Monopoly money can be deadly. It’s difficult to keep up.

    Cameron Morice

    Reading, Berkshire

    1. As we are about to discover, Monopoly money causes long term adverse side effects, some of them certainly lethal.

    2. Have we got any paper money (other than Lunaria Biennis) left? The notes all seem to have been plasticised.

  10. Tommy Robinson goes on trial today for poking the guy who tried to molest his daughter. Almost certainly an engineered incident. I would wish him luck but the fix is undoubtedly in!

    1. 326979+ up ticks,
      Morning AS,
      The “far right racist” my arse, will not be safe on the next trip to pokey even in solitary, with the currant knee bendy law enforcers.

    3. The treatment Tommy Robinson has received from the police, the courts, the media and the politicians is a disgrace which makes me feel ashamed to be British.

      1. He is, to all intents and purposes, a political prisoner. PS, thanks in anticipation for the downvote, Jennifer.

  11. OT – entertainment. Calling all opera lovers.

    Last night we watched Act 1 of the ROH production of Don Giovanni – available on a “stream” thing at the enormous price of £2.50.

    It was excellent. The two lead women were a bit screechy to begin with, but they soon warmed up (quiet at the back). The bloke playing the Don was very good – and, unlike productions with famous singers such as Domingo, Tom Allen, Kaufmann – was suitably sleazy looking. Stunning sets.

    Can’t wait for Act 2 this evening – and to see how it ends (sarc!!)

    1. Was it Kwiecien or Schrott playing the Don? Can’t tell from the blurb. It’s a fantastic production.

      2. I can’t think of many operas that do end well, to be honest. Theodora – they both get shot; Alcina – the whole magic island falls apart and the witches lose their beauty (a bit of a metaphor for the UK); Orlando Furioso – he loses his mind; L’incoronazione di Poppea appears to end well, but he kills her and their unborn child later … And so on and so forth.

  12. Regarding the letter commenting on the advice from SAGE. It says much more than simply making a comment on the lifestyle of SAGE members. It yet again confirms that they are no more than a bunch of complete idiots who are totally out of touch with reality. Such advice completely undermines any remaining vestige of credibility in Johnson and his Government.

  13. The vaccines of the mRNA (whatever) type are essentially fake Covid-19 that will fool the body into reacting as if they were real viruses. They have the teeny-weeny mushroomy bits. This seems to me to be reverse engineering. Very clever. Except that there has been no mention of bats or pangolins. This seems to my simple mind, to suggest that the process was to splice the fake together in the same way as the original. The original that was spliced in a Wuhan laboratory.

  14. ‘Morning All
    The “You couldn’t make it up files” gets its now almost daily outing
    Our Masters have decided that shops can open a little longer for Christmas but Sage insists browsing should be limited to no more than 15 minutes or the ‘Rona will get you……..
    Erhh what about the shop workers exposed for 12 hours or more??,will they be added to the piles of dead stuffed in the freezers in the supermarket warehouses??
    Fuckwits,fuckwits everywhere

    2. The progressive escalation of stupidity in the human species, that commenced around 1900, is now accelerating out of control.

      1. Surely as an action plan by the billionaires to control the West, it’s all going really well so far ?

    3. Just had a look at the weekly death figures, and the virus is doing its job of carrying off the over 80s (week 46) , the vast majority are over 90. Those under 70 were fairly few. I’m over 70 but I’ll take my chance on normal life, thanks.

  15. Any ‘vaccine’ that needs to be stored at -80 degrees isn’t a ‘vaccine’. It’s a transfection agent, kept alive so it can infect your cells and transfer genetic material. Don’t let them fool you. This is genetic manipulation of humans on a massive scale. Shut it down.

      1. Thank you NtN. I look in from time to time. These are worrying times both in the UK where we are run by idiots and in the USA where blatant voter fraud by Democrats should be a great cause for concern to all patriots.

        1. I gave you an upvote to cancel out your downvote, corim. Who on earth doesn’t think these are worrying times?

    2. And they are going to test it on the most vulnerable.

      How many of the health professionals will be able to refuse it?

  16. Today is Winston Churchill’s birthday and the ninth birthday of my grandson. The family (I have two granddaughters) are on the brink of having their first ever kitten (from the Rescue centre).

      1. Stirring stuff. Reading it made the hairs on the back of my neck all rise up. Only a few words, but in the context of the day they were spoken, so very powerful.

        1. “The lights of perverted science are coming on all over Europe, we shall not see them extinguished again in our life-time”
          ;¬)

  17. Mail to Mr R…..

    So please do tell me if I’m right about Mr Hancock…

    Has he travelled to Wokingham to make plans with you for the future of the UK?

    You have some very good plans as is evident every day so he must surely visit you regularly for discussions.

    After all, Mr Hancock loves going to Davos for meetings so obviously he must love ❤ going to see you too.

    I’ve searched online for pictures of you and Mr Hancock holding dossiers as he does with Klaus Schwab but I haven’t been able to find any yet, but I’ll keep looking.

    Similarly, I can’t find any enthusiastic tweets from Mr Hancock about you, but there are about Mr Gates and Mr Soros.

    Look forward to hearing about Mr Hancock’s visits to Wokingham…

    Have a great day !

    Polly

    3. Very nice and festive, Bill. I don’t have any pics of the lights outside Fortress Conway, unfortunately.

  19. 326979+ up ticks,
    Best of English for your appearance today Tommy,
    may the establishments stitchup pattern become unravelled, big time.
    Ogga 1

  20. Another mail to Mr R…………

    The virus is “tame” for the overwhelming majority of people.

    For them, the virus does not need “taming” and I can confirm that from personal experience. It amounted to a slight temperature, a headache and a little dizziness. It was all over in three days. I have had flu before and it was nowhere near as unpleasant.

    So I think those who are vulnerable should isolate and every help be given to them, and everyone else should continue as normal.

    Lockdown is being pushed in the UK by Gates to frighten and force everyone into mass vaccination most people don’t need. Gates’ money has bought many influential individuals who consequently promote his wishes. I certainly will not accept an unnecessary vaccine I do not require.

    It’s time to break from the billionaires, time to expose their agenda and time to expose the politicians and officials who are taking and have been taking the money.

    So why not start now without further delay by telling the full true story of political collusion which started in earnest at the Plaza Hotel in New York in April 1996?

    Polly

      2. He used to, but as I slowly presented the evidence, he rarely does.

        The interesting thing is that he’s very sharp with people who get things wrong, and I found I could repeat the same post over and over and over without one word of rebuke.

        I take that as meaning I’m right and he doesn’t want to get into a discussion.

        1. If you were right, Gates would have used the corrupt governments to track you down and silence you. If he can buy whole governments, a few vpn providers and software companies would be child’s play to twist into tracking you down..

          Although the theory will gather no acceptance here, Bill is probably just following in the footsteps of a long line of US rich bastards and giving back to the community through tax avoiding foundations. Unfortunately he also has a democrat frame of mind.

          1. You think Bill Gates reads NTTL ?

            I don’t think your analysis stacks up because I’m just a minnow.

            It’s strange Mr R doesn’t criticise me for many duplicate posts though considering he’s so sharp with everyone else.

          2. He probably has polly minions for that and is just Biden his time. Maybe there will be a hefty knock on your door on January 21st.

            You are probably safe though, Kerry will ban private planes (except government ones) so they cannot come after you.

    2. If you feel ropey, have a sniffle or a cough – stay away.
      Basic good manners; as it was known throughout my life.

  21. The ethics and politics of the vaccine are still perilous for the Government. 30 November 2020.

    Then there are the anti-vaxxers. Social media is awash with misinformation and scare stories, much of it produced by hostile foreign governments, about the supposed dangers of vaccines. Ministers are talking to the intelligence agencies about how to counter the threat, but the risk is that it will only get worse. Normally, after clinical trials, vaccines and medicines are rolled out slowly to monitor side-effects. This will be the fastest and widest vaccine roll-out in history, and the earliest recipients will be the elderly. When they experience symptoms after vaccination, which is common, and some die, as for non Covid reasons many inevitably will, online speculation will jeopardise compliance.

    Morning everyone. Well this is a propaganda piece of which there is a raft appearing in the MSM and he’s covered most of the bases in this one paragraph. Anyone speaks up about this then they are agents of a foreign power and if you are old and peg out it will be nothing to do with either Covid or the Vaccine! Job sorted!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/29/ethics-politics-vaccine-still-perilous-government/

    1. Morning, Minty.
      Yet they themselves give the reasons so many are suspicious! “Normally, after clinical trials, vaccines and medicines are rolled out slowly to monitor side-effects. This will be the fastest and widest vaccine roll-out in history, … – is that not a reason to be wary? There’s a reason why the testing of medicines is so slow and expensive, it’s to avoid unfortunate side-effects, both short & long term.

      1. From disease to vaccine in nine months! I wouldn’t touch any of these with a barge pole!

        1. Professor Hunter is very keen for the peons to be vaccinated.

          Unfortunately in the Guardian he has omitted to volunteer to have the vaccine himself.

        2. Professor Hunter is very, very keen for the peons to be vaccinated.

          Unfortunately in the Guardian he has omitted to volunteer to have the vaccination himself.

    2. Morning, Minty.
      Yet they themselves give the reasons so many are suspicious! “Normally, after clinical trials, vaccines and medicines are rolled out slowly to monitor side-effects. This will be the fastest and widest vaccine roll-out in history, … – is that not a reason to be wary? There’s a reason why the testing of medicines is so slow and expensive, it’s to avoid unfortunate side-effects, both short & long term.

    3. Anyway, to reflect their arguments, where’s the evidence it’s “hostile foreign governments” that are pushing this line? It’s another attempt to blame the bogeyman of choice, so it is, and further reduces their credibility (if that were possible).

      1. Well so far as I am aware no Foreign Government has made any remarks on the reliability of vaccines!

      2. If there is an accusation of hostile foreign governments then the top quality 77th Brigade can legally get involved.

        Not only really high class propaganda, but the taxpayer will pay for it.

          1. I’m not sure that it will be pointless Mr K., these people are really good and will certainly have an effect.

    4. As if they haven’t alread killed off enough of the oldies. You only have to look at the weekly death figures to see which age group is currently dying.

  24. New Regulations regarding Coro19 – starting December 3, after the Lockdown. – Make what you will of them!

    Regulation 3 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (North of
    England, North East and North West of England and Obligations of
    Undertakings (England) etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2020:
    “In regulation 1(4), omit sub-paragraphs (za), (zaa), (zb), (zc), (ab),
    (ba), (bb), (bc), (bd), (be), (ea), (eb), (ec), (ed), (ee), (ef), (fa),
    (h), (i), (j) and (k)” ?

    “Got it” ?

    4. Yep, it says I’ll be getting a coach to Leeds not a train to York this Christmas.

      Sets me wondering – did Dick Turpin really ride Black Bess all the way from London to York? Surely the poor gee gee would have arrived fit for nothing but a Tesco burger?

      1. ‘Afternoon, Sue, please be sure that you’re not hanged in Clifford’s Tower.

        I used to live in Burtonstone Lane.

      3. Turpin didn’t ride non-stop. He stopped every few miles to rob passengers in stagecoaches of their lupins.

  26. Nicked

    When Dr Mike Yeadon made his statement a couple of months ago that

    the epidemic was essentially over in the UK, and that SAGE had massively

    underestimated the amount of pre-existing immunity in the population,

    one of things he said that would test his theory would be whether there

    was a “second wave” of deaths in London.

    If SAGE were correct, and

    the pre-existing immunity was essentially zero, this meant there were

    still a lot of people in London who were susceptible and many would die

    in a second wave.

    If SAGE was wrong and he was correct, and that

    at least 30% of people had pre-existing immunity, that around 30% had

    already been exposed to the virus, then London would already have

    achieved herd immunity and there would be no second wave.

    Here is the graph of daily COVID deaths in London. Judge for yourself who was correct:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dea658344fa0754361a8ac94a422c1cfd625a3b9b34b18ce84f41b9ad5f328a5.jpg

    1. How many of these are seasonal flu and pneumonia?
      It must be so easy to tick the Covid box.

      1. I reckon the wearing of face masks will lead to more microbial pneumonia inflections, that Covid is just an infectious version of the flu and that the ‘cases’ of Covid infection are grossly exaggerated. The PCR test has been misapplied and misused in order to bump up the number of ‘cases’.

        The pattern of misuse and exaggeration appears to have been a deliberate ploy. The murmurings about Covid vaccination passes are reminiscent of Nazi Germany. What next: are we to submit to branding like cattle?

    2. The politicians and SAGE will still claim that lockdown is the reason the second wave was halted/never materialised.

      They don’t want to nothing because they would be held responsible immediately, if it did suddenly spike and continue to rise, unlike the long term deaths from lockdown that won’t become fully apparent for a few years.

  27. Police break up a party of 200 rowdy students who flocked to a late-night rave at University of Nottingham halls of residence. 30 November 2020.

    Police have said there are no excuses for breaching Covid-19 laws after being called to break up a 200-strong rave at a university hall of residence.

    Investigations are ongoing into the incident, after officers were called to St Peter’s Court in Radford, Nottingham, on Saturday night.

    Shocking footage showed huge crowds dancing to loud music before spilling out to the front of the halls to continue the party.

    It’s worth remembering that all being students they were probably safer here than in any other public gathering that might occur. There is almost no threat of their suffering any consequences to this rave other than possible infection and fines from the Stasi.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8999645/Police-break-party-200-students-rave-University-Nottingham-halls-residence.html

    1. “Shocking footage showed huge crowds dancing to loud music before spilling out to the front of the halls to continue the party” – in other words, students doing what they always have done at the weekends – party. Good on them, and hæmorrhoids to the miseries who condemn hem.

        1. Excellent!
          French police followed a record producer back to his studio and beat the crap out of him, followed by a tear-gassing, ‘cos he had the temerity not to wear a face-nappy. Officers still in gaol, apparently. Looks like the PTB are losing their cool – they will provoke lots more violence before it’s over.

  28. SIR – You report that the Welsh government finds monuments to Horatio Nelson contentious “because of his opposition to the abolition of slavery”.

    The “authority” for this statement, quoted by the authors of the Welsh report, is an article published in the BBC History Magazine entitled “Nelson’s Dark Side”. In the article, it is deduced that Nelson was pro-slavery on the basis of a single private letter to plantation owner Simon Taylor in which Nelson is critical of William Wilberforce. A copy of the original letter (in which the words “slavery” and “abolition” are not to be found) is held in the British Library.

    What the article’s author failed to realise was that the letter being quoted was a doctored version, made by anti-abolitionists to support their case two years after Nelson’s death. It contains 25 alterations, a forged signature and a fake seal.

    In over 8,000 of Nelson’s published letters, and the records of the 12-month period for which he sat in the House of Lords, there is not a single example of Nelson indicating that he was either pro-slavery or anti-abolition.

    Unfortunately, wildly inaccurate statements such as that issued by the Welsh government can lead to ill-informed young people defacing statues or, worse still, to violent protest.

    Lt-Col Ray Aldis
    The Nelson Society
    Salisbury, Wiltshire

    Amazing, isn’t it, that the pretendy Welsh ‘parliament’ (sorry, talking-shop) has the time to start an anti-slavery witch hunt in the middle of a pandemic…

    1. When the examining boards oblige school pupils to study Black History for GCSE let us hope the pupils will be asked to examine the role of the black slave traders who to continued to sell their own people into slavery long after Wilberforce had stamped out the trade in Britain. I hope they will also examine the slave trade still practised by black people in Africa where black child slave labour is being used to mine cobalt for the batteries used to power electric cars.

    2. Apparently, all the street names in Penarth have been checked to see if they glorify slavery – or some such bollux.
      Reported by the Penarth Times that none did.
      I wish I had time and budget to waste doing stuff like that, when there’s no money left to go round and so much needs done (potholes come to mind).

    3. Ban them all, Hugh and return ACCOUNTABILITY to Westminster. They are costly and Macbeth had it right when he said:

      Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
      Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
      To the last syllable of recorded time;
      And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
      The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
      Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
      That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
      And then is heard no more. It is a tale
      Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
      Signifying nothing.

      3. ‘Morning, Nanners. I couldn’t agree more. The pandemic has fully exposed the costly and divisive duplication created by devolution. However, I can see no turning the clock back, so we are well and truly stuck with it. Perhaps that is an argument for full independence? This halfway house is the worst of both worlds.

  29. SIR – As a granny of 93, I can hardly wait to sit next to an open window, especially if it is snowing, to eat my Christmas lunch, as advised.

    Then I can catch pneumonia and I will not have to worry about Covid.

    Sheila Wickenden
    Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

    That’s about the size of it, Sheila. And if by any chance you have been tested positive in the 28 days preceding your demise, you will be, officially, a Covid death…oh, the irony.

  30. More from the DT about the Eton row. Pity the Headmaster only sought legal opinion instead of talking to someone with mere common sense. Until yesterday he was hiding behind the fact that a disciplinary action was in progress and he was therefore unable to comment. That didn’t last long…presumably it is now blind panic that causes him to break cover:

    Eton College has intervened for the first time in the row over a master’s dismissal, insisting that it was “not an issue of free speech”.

    A spokesman for the £42,500-a-year school said the Head Master was left with “no choice” but to fire Will Knowland after he “persistently refused” to remove a video of his lecture from the internet.

    Last week The Telegraph revealed that Mr Knowland was dismissed for gross misconduct after recording a lecture which questioned “current radical feminist orthodoxy”.

    The lecture was part of the Perspectives course taken by older students to encourage them to think critically about subjects of public debate.

    But Mr Knowland alleged that he was banned from delivering the lecture to pupils and then dismissed after he refused to remove a video of the lecture from his personal YouTube channel.

    Will Knowland, who taught English, said he was dismissed by Eton over a lesson titled ‘The Patriarchy Paradox’
    Will Knowland, who taught English, said he was dismissed by Eton over a lesson titled ‘The Patriarchy Paradox’
    Last night Eton College said that the school had been advised by its lawyers that elements of the lecture fell foul of the Equalities Act as well as regulations that govern standards at independent schools.

    “There was simply no other choice than to ask for it to be taken down,” a spokesman for Eton College said.

    It came as the fall-out over the lecture deepened amid reports of growing discontent at the Head Master’s attempts to move the school in an “aggressively woke” direction.

    Since taking up the position five years ago, Simon Henderson – who is nicknamed “Trendy Hendy” – has embarked on a programme of cultural change at the 580-year-old school.

    Sources say that the backlash over the dismissal of one of Eton’s masters following a row over a lecture has been particularly fierce because it has brought to the fore a series of underlying tensions at the school.

    “Eton has moved in quite an aggressively woke direction,” a source told The Telegraph. “It has very much come from the top with the new head. A lot of the teaching staff do not like it.

    “What sort of person wants to teach at Eton? It is not your typical comprehensive school. They tend to be pretty highly qualified and they tend to have a strong belief in institutions”.

    Mr Henderson created a new role of “Director of Inclusion Education” to oversee diversity efforts at Eton, and has also appointed the first ever female to the position of Lower Master which is the equivalent of deputy head.

    Another source said that Mr Henderson “feels strongly” about changing the perception of Eton as an “old fashioned pillar of social and male elitism”.

    But they added that the “general view is that he has got it wrong on this one”.

    A petition, launched by current Eton pupils, accused the school of “institutional bullying” claiming that it was a “gross abuse of the duty of the school to protect the freedoms of the individual”.

    The petition, which had amassed over 1,500 signatures by Sunday night, claimed that the school had acted in a “heartless and merciless” way over its dismissal of Mr Knowland.

    In an attempt to head off a growing rebellion Mr Henderson wrote to parents over the weekend saying he is “acutely aware” of their concern about the situation.

    Eton College said: “The school made the reasonable request that the teacher temporarily remove it pending further discussion, but despite multiple requests and then instructions he persistently refused to do so.

    “At that stage, an internal disciplinary process began and the disciplinary panel determined that the master’s actions represented gross misconduct which should result in dismissal.”

    The spokesman added that Eton College is “always saddened to see matters reach such an outcome”.

    But they reiterated that the school had “no choice in the face of clear legal advice and the persistent refusal to even temporarily remove the content”

    1. It’s a pity that the only film on the internet that Mr Henderson is insisting on removal is from an open thinker.

      We could suggest some films on the internet that he could censor!

    2. Interesting. An employer can designate anything as being”gross misconduct”. For example, an accounting office could set out that dropping a paper clip on the floor is “gross misconduct”. However, it is pretty well essential to set out in an employee handbook what the rules are. It is not necessary to include detail of criminal/illegal behaviour, but any rules that would be out of the ordinary should be specified. If employment is inconsistent with maintaining a personal Youtube channel then this needs to be clear from the outset of employment. Normally, what people do in their free time is up to them.
      Eton College are skating on thin ice. Making up rules after the event is never a good practice. I think that if Mr Knowland takes them to tribunal he will win. That the school did not arrange ACAS to arbitrate is not in their favour. High-handedly removing someone from their job, and threatening their ongoing ability to earn a living is a risky venture.

      1. When in 2007 the Director of Legal & Democratic Services of Worcestershire County Council breached at least six of its own codes of conduct, he was given a pay rise doubling at least the salary of the Nation’s Prime Minister, and hounding the junior level whistleblower into early retirement, using the Council’s legal department to that end.

    4. It is the duty of all conscientious subjects of the Queen to render bad law unenforceable. This is certainly true in this case of the Equalities Act here.

    5. “The lecture was part of the Perspectives course taken by older students to encourage them to think critically about subjects of public debate.”
      Well, they certainly have received an education into how public debate is carried out – it is stifled, snuffed out.

    6. I note that the headmaster misses out his vindictive action in making Mr Knowland’s wife and five children homeless.

      One wonders whether he would have done the same if they had been Bame?

  31. Britain’s slave trade and the problem with ‘decolonisation’. 29 November 2020.

    The problem with the assumption that underlies the call for ‘decolonisation’ is that it requires amnesia about everything since 1787. It requires us to overlook how widely popular in Britain was the cause of abolition from the closing decades of the eighteenth century onward. According to John Stauffer, Harvard historian of anti-slavery in the US:

    Between the slave-trade and slavery of the eighteenth century and the present lies 150 years of imperial penance in the form of costly humanitarian endeavour to liberate slaves around the globe. British colonialism was quite as much about anti-slavery as it was about slavery. The vicious racism of slavers and planters was not its essence, and whatever racism exists in Britain today is not its fruit.

    This is a fine rebuttal of the calumny that those in the present day UK bear some responsibility for the Slave Trade which, though the author himself does not mention it, was a Black African enterprise at source! It was they that found the product and subjugated it then shipped it to the coast and sold it. No African ever set foot on a European ship who was not already a slave!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/britain-slave-trade-and-the-problem-with-decolonisation-

    1. Or a criminal.

      African leaders used the slave trade in the same way Britain used its colonies to remove undesirable elements of society.

      1. Slavery was the conduit, the underlying approach was solely about making money, until brought under “Crown Control” creating further moral compass headaches for the Colonial Office. A topic which a brief reference to Roger Anstey in 1975, it was all about smokescreening “legitimate commerce” [divide & rule, resources control]

        1. However one presents it, it was still being done under the standards of the time and the perpetual desire to judge that era by the standards of today is merely trying to create a stick with which to beat the evil British.

          1. excluding of course, the Barabry slave traders / privateers operating around the Devon / Cornwall https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornish-generations-victimised-barbary-slave-4231738 [to use yr words the standards of the time]. That said the author of article attempts to draw the strands together over “Decolonisation” as an equation ignores the reality applying “standards of today” morally or otherwise, cannot airbrush history. the point of learning from history is to ensure the same mistakes don’t happen again.

            Colonialism was not about slavery / anti slavery as the author states at end of his piece [and he makes no reference to the Economic Triangle]. It was all about power and that the Empire hung by a thread. At the end of WWII, the “British Empire” collapsed and the mantle passed to the US [power /money]. As with all Empires, they rise and fall, US is in its death throws, and making the same mistakes the UK did.

            I doubt the author is trying to create a stick to beat anybody, he’s looking for a platform to air his opinions, which he’s entitled to do.

          2. I am not arguing about his right to put forward his opinions/theories and they should be debated; equally, alternative opinions should not be eliminated just because they are insufficiently correct by modern standards, (woke if you wish).
            I am afraid that I can’t quite see what you are driving at, but I am not convinced that at the time when the slave trade was abolished across the Empire that the British empire was hanging by a thread.

          3. Colonialism was not about slavery / anti slavery…

            Emm, not quite accurate.
            In West Africa Britain took control of several regions to stop the local tribes from continuing the slave trade and in East Africa we were asked by tribal leaders to step in to stop the slavers from raiding to feed the Arab slave trade.

          4. The scourge of the Barbary Pirates on the south coast was a prime mover behind Charles I’s attempts to improve the RN. He tried Ship Money, which proved intensely unpopular and was one of the causes of the Civil Wars.

          6. That’s okay (glad to see you are back on line now). It was more additional information than anything; I’m currently reading a biography of Charles I.

      3. Basic supply and demand. As we all know slavery pre-dates the Atlantic slave trade by a few thousand years so it correct to say that it existed in Africa before the Europeans turned up. The difference was scale and the effective industrialisation of the trade due to sugar and then cotton plantations being set-up throughout the Americas and the failure of early attempts to use Native American and European labour.

        1. “Scale”

          CoughZanzibarcough

          “Author N’Diaye estimates that 17 million East Africans were sold into
          slavery: “Most people still have the so-called Transatlantic [slave]
          trade by Europeans into the New World in mind. But in reality the
          Arab-Muslim slavery was much greater,” N’diaye said.

          Eight million Africans were brought from East Africa via the Trans-Saharan
          route to Morocco or Egypt. A further nine million were deported to
          regions on the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean.”
          Muslim slavers also castrated the vast bulk of male slaves hence the lack of a genetic imprint from the trade,this was done prior to shipping with a more than 50% mortality rate,no point wasting food and water on those not going to survive anyway………..

          1. Yes ‘scale’ because you ignore the longevity of the trade in slaves from eastern Africa compared to the Atlantic slave trade and that longevity means the overall numbers maybe higher (the figure you quote is at the top-end of estimates). No-one is trying to deny that Muslims traded slaves. However, given that the UK’s involvement in that example of the trade consisted of the suppression of one element (the Indian Ocean/ Red Sea route) over a few decades in the late c19th, compared to a significantly longer involvement in the Atlantic slave trade, it’s not really surprising that the focus in this country is on the trans-Atlantic trade.

        2. Dress it up any way you wish, the fact of the matter is that it would have been impossible without African assistance.

          1. A point on which we agree, but it doesn’t stop you having a pop (“dress it up how you want”).

          2. Are you already looking for a fight?

            “Dress it up any way you wish” is less clumsy than “one may dress it up any way one wishes”

  32. Breaking News Just In – Joe Bidon has a fractured ankle due as it is reported as tripping over a spare box of postal votes left in his hallway

    1. And we joked about cartoons showing him in a wheel chair.
      Will Nurse Cameltoe be wheeling him around?

  33. 326979+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    Seems like instructions via the pillow are incoming concerning farmers and seemingly how to farm commons
    debate today.
    If the pillow whisperer is allowed to instruct via johnsons ear
    then in a short space of time ration cards will be on the cards
    followed by serious food shortages due to mass uncontrolled
    immigration.

    The Dover daily potential troop landing under governance guidance, the tip of an incoming iceberg adding to the fast emptying pot of vitals.

    A perfect storm is brewing the ingredients are very near in place, an overcrowded nation, overcrowded penal system,
    overcrowded social housing, overcrowded

    education system,
    overcrowded hospitals, health & safety.

    Over the last three decades especially, it cannot be put down as ineptness on the politico’s / party’s part but an orchestrated campaign of treachery.

    You tie down the safety valves of a nation, as in
    pubs, gyms,
    etc,etc, then expect serious unrest leading to……
    maybe that is the politico’s not so hidden re-set agenda.

  34. Oh look….. this is so sweet….. someone has said of me………..

    ”Polly your work disseminating the truth is incalculable,
    many many thanks for your perspicacity and dare I say it
    genius.”

  35. Laithwaite’s have landed, in fact they delivered yesterday in time to accompany a Sunday evening meal shared with our ex-Wren neighbour, our less than expert opinion – The Black Duck was ok but unremarkable, the Black Label – as nice as ever. I’m feeling a bit liverish today and I put this down to the baked camembert we had as a starter oh yes.

  36. Welsh pubs and restaurants banned from serving alcohol and must close at 6pm from Friday. 30 November 2020.

    Pubs, cafes and restaurants in Wales will close at 6pm from Friday and will be banned from serving alcohol, under new hardline measures

    Indoor entertainment venues – including cinemas, bingo halls, skating rinks and casinos – will also be ordered to shut, the Wales First Minister said.

    Mark Drakeford said Covid-19 infection rates were rising sharply and warned of up to 1,700 “preventable deaths” over the winter months unless tough action was taken now.

    It’s only a couple of weeks since Wales came out of a lockdown ordered by this moron. One would think that this would demonstrate the futility of this policy but no they continue like sheep jumping off a cliff.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pubs-wales-close-6-alcohol-ban-restaurants-cafes-b1763891.html

    1. They really are heading back into prohibition! I suppose if people can still buy their alcohol from supermarkets etc, they might not start making illegal moonshine, the like of which caused a number of deaths in South Africa recently.

      1. Face coverings, no alcohol, music and dancing banned, Christmas reduced. I might as well live in Saudi, at least it has sunshine at this time of year and they still have executions on Fridays.

    2. They really are heading back into prohibition! I suppose if people can still buy their alcohol from supermarkets etc, they might not start making illegal moonshine, the like of which caused a number of deaths in South Africa recently.

      1. Afternoon VVOF. I was grasping for a simile but couldn’t get one so I settled for what would be familiar! Lol!

      3. What will they deem necessary next – shooting people dead to stop the spread of COVID? Starting with anyone that doesn’t support their agenda?

        1. That would NOT surprise me at all. Shoot them, then move a family of replacements in, fresh from Dover. The govt need the housing for them.

    5. Drakeford seems to be in a competition with Wee Krankie and Boris as to who can produce the most ridiculous restrictions.

    6. “First Minister Mark Drakeford outlined a raft of measures for the hospitality sector this afternoon following a sharp uptick in coronavirus infections, especially among the under-25s.”
      Bizarre! Especially as we all now know that the tests are worthless and under 25s are at no risk from the virus.

    7. I’ve written it before and it bears repeating, “Where are people like Drakeford, Sturgeon, Johnson & Hancock going to hide when their scam unfolds?” As it surely will. They are on power trips on steroids and have lost all sense of reason, and as for following the science, that trope is long past its sell-by date. Politically they are dead men/woman walking but if they carry on in the same vein then…

      1. 326979+ up ticks,
        Afternoon KtK,
        But this line of governance has been continuing for decades via the ballot booth, well blow me down, has it just been recognised by the peoples, maybe I should ask has it been recognised by the peoples, at long last.

    8. Can’t understand banning alcohol. Perhaps it’s because it kills coronavirus. If that happened they’d be short of a reason.

  38. There is a certain type of public servant, some politicians, some doctors, some civil servants, for whom this whole Covid situation is their idea of the perfect wet dream.

    Drakeford is one of them.

    1. His previous job was as a Professor of Social Policy and Applied Social Sciences, pigs and brown stuff spring to mind.

    1. The government are currently trying to shut down as many pubs in the UK as possible. Mainly because the people who frequent pubs have more common sense than the political classes. Actually work to support their families. Therefore have more experience of everyday life and generally get along with each other far better than those, who because of the guaranteed (win or lose an election) salary, self elected over frequent pay rises and massive amounts of unfettered expenses. Along with the bomb proof and gold plated pension, are solely dedicated to spend their entire lives trying to ‘get one over’ on everyone else in the country. Ask people like the well practiced Ken Clarke, he’s been at it for many decades.

        1. Last time i went to a pub was in September in and near Tenby West Wales with the family, three occasions and three different venues and with great service from all the staff.

          2. The Italian restaurant were we had dinner on our final evening, closes at the end of each season, they all go back to Italy until the spring.
            Nice town Tenby.

          3. Stayed there to attend a friend’s wedding, in the summer, many years ago, it was a very pleasant spot.

  40. ‘Morning, all. Mr. “Covid” speaks:

    “Would I encourage someone to hug and kiss their elderly relatives? No, I would not.” warned Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, grimly.

    I can picture the CMO’S elderly relatives, hugging and possibly “high-fiving” each other in delight, being assured that their Christmas celebrations this year will not be dampened by a visit from the lugubrious Whitty.

    1. mng. The immediate analogy for Non Whitty that springs to mind is Julian Clary’s gag about Norman Lamont being fisted in a telephone box. Which would be apt for Non Whitty, after the Queen’s Speech

  41. 326979+ up ticks,
    The bloke on world at one was a rhetorical Fred Astaire his patter never put a foot wrong,it will not be mandatory ( alarm
    sounding, tory in mandatory) to have the jab BUT some in business / work places can & WILL refuse to deal with you.

    Surely there must be a law that any side affects, twins with one torso, six fingers / toes etc, etc must reflect on the political drug pushers in the shape of Capital punishment for whole family unless that family has had the jab.

    I also believe that the political one pushing the governance case has also the franchise for neck dangling small bells for the ” unclean” units.

    It is only polite of the peoples to say to the governance politico’s & families while bowing their heads and touching their fetlocks, after you & yours, sir, maybe with a hint of knee bendy.

    I K

    2. Did I spot a down vote from you the other day? I thought Mods were meant to be above that sort of thing!

    3. Did I spot a down vote from you the other day? I thought Mods were meant to be above that sort of thing!

  44. Lockdown is being policed in an entirely disproportionate way

    £10,000 fixed penalty notices introduced by decree, after no debate of any sort, are a particular legal abomination

    MATTHEW SCOTT

    Amid the pandemic, the business of Government has become worryingly reliant on delegated legislation. These are laws made not by Parliament itself but by Ministers acting under powers given to them (or that they assert have been given to them) by Parliament.

    Laws making it illegal to leave home without a “reasonable excuse,” shutting down businesses, restricting attendance at weddings and funerals, criminalising “mingling,” banning the playing of golf and so on have been passed, amended, re-amended repealed and reimposed at a dizzying speed only possible by largely bypassing Parliament altogether.

    Even the courts have been wrong-footed: the one serious legal attempt to challenge the regulations failed – although the judgment of the Court of Appeal is still awaited – partly because the by the time the case was heard the regulations under challenge had themselves been repealed and replaced by new ones.

    As a result we have endured month after month in which it has been all but impossible to know who, if anyone, we are allowed to meet, where we are allowed to meet them or what, if anything, the law requires us to eat if we decide we are permitted to meet them in a pub.

    Those wishing to know exactly what they are allowed to do, or what will happen to them if they get it wrong will not find it easy, although to the great credit of whoever updates the http://www.legislation.gov.uk the rules can at least be read online. Understanding them is another matter entirely. What is one to make of law such as (to take an example pretty much at random) Regulation 3 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (North of England, North East and North West of England and Obligations of Undertakings (England) etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2020:

    “In regulation 1(4), omit sub-paragraphs (za), (zaa), (zb), (zc), (ab), (ba), (bb), (bc), (bd), (be), (ea), (eb), (ec), (ed), (ee), (ef), (fa), (h), (i), (j) and (k)” ?

    It is all so impenetrable that it would almost be funny if lives and liberties did not depend on it (and in fact the whole lot has now been revoked and replaced with new rules anyway).

    To add to the confusion, grand and petty officials of every kind have added their own gloss to already confusing law. Typical was an “open letter” from the Metropolitan Police last week warning people to stay away from Saturday’s anti-lockdown demonstration in Central London because they “may be commiting an offence.” The Deputy Assistant Commissioner went further, announcing that “any large gatherings in Central London will be prohibited by law,” at best an over-simplification of a law that does allow some outdoor gatherings provided the organisers carry out risk assessments and take “reasonable precautions.”

    One sympathises with the police. Of course they must enforce the law and the more opaque it is, the harder it is for them to do so fairly. But they have a huge discretion in whether to arrest in the first place, whether to charge a relatively minor offence (such as obstruction) for which the fine might be a few hundred pounds, or to issue a fixed penalty ticket demanding £10,000.

    Giving police officers the ability to target individuals with such huge fixed penalties has made their task all the more difficult. Why should the admittedly preposterous eccentric Piers Corbyn have been handed a £10,000 penalty for participating in an anti-lockdown demonstration, when the smugly self-righteous Extinction Rebellion spokesman Rupert Read is merely charged with a minor criminal damage offence for defacing a door at another Westminster demonstration on the same weekend?

    The £10,000 fixed penalty notices introduced by decree, after no debate of any sort, are a particular legal abomination and not just because they drag the police into making seemingly political judgments of this sort.

    It is one thing for the police to hand out a £200 fixed penalty for speeding, it is quite another for them to be able to demand £10,000 for breaching some ill-defined and confusing regulation. £10,000 fixed penalties take no account of the seriousness of any breach, or of the ability of the “offender” to pay. Many students, for example, have been targeted with such notices although there are precious few with the ability to pay.

    Even though recipients can opt to go to court, authorising police officers to issue what must appear to many of their recipients very much like bankruptcy notices is simply wrong. It gives the police a power to bully which is unnecessary, disproportionate and very dangerous to our tradition of policing by consent.

    Matthew Scott is a criminal barrister at Pump Court Chambers

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/29/lockdown-policed-entirely-disproportionate-way/

    1. The time is getting close when there will be mass civil disobedience and refusal to pay fines.

      1. Bring it on. The sooner this undemocratic and fascistic behaviour is stopped the better.

    2. Genuine question. What defines the difference between calling them “rules” – -and “laws”?

  45. It’s just a star……………………

    Pinched from the Telegraph.

    The Government is looking at ways to enable businesses to establish whether
    someone has had a Covid vaccine before allowing them onto their
    premises, a minister has said.

    Nadim Zahawi, the business
    minister who was named vaccine tzar at the weekend, told BBC Radio 4’s
    World at One: “We are looking at the technology, and of course way of
    people being able to inform GPs if they have been vaccinated.

    “Restaurants,
    bars, cinemas and other venues, sports venues, will probably also use
    that system as they have done with the app,” he added.

    So Zahawi’s message is………………………….no jab, no freedom
    FOAD is my response

    1. Did anyone ever establish whether the vaccine will stop you passing on the virus as well as stop you getting ill if you contract CV? Maybe its still under trial along with the long term effects.

    2. What next – tattoos on our arms showing our number? In Canada, they are apparently (like in NZ) looking to hold people who won’t take a test or be vaccinated until they do. No wonder many of the older generation are scared – it’s like we went through the proverbial looking glass and we lost WWII.

    3. Couple of points:
      1) Government technology programme: will cost a fortune, will never work but cronies will make billions.
      2) Cue Human Rights/Constitutional court cases. Cronies will make millions and cases will take years to be resolved.
      3) While 1) and 2) are being resolved the scam will have been exposed and Johnson & Co will have fled the Country.

      If none of the above come to fruition then it looks like I will lose the weight I need to by being refused access to shops/supermarkets before starving to death.

      Just had a thought; perhaps they’ll go full on and cut off the water supply to unvaccinated people’s homes so that the toilets cannot be flushed in case the virus spreads by the sewage system. Rule nothing out with these despots!

    4. Nadim Zahawi is under investigation for sexually assaulting his staff unless I read reports incorrectly. If so his appointment demonstrates a complete lack of judgement and absence of integrity on the part of Johnson in making this appointment.

      1. They ain’t looking for a piece of paper – it’ll be digital and either on your phone, passort/new ID badge or, worse still, an inplant in your arm which gets scanned like a barcode or proximity card.

      3. Yes, Mr Rashid could. In fact I understand that they are available.

        That’s why a tattoo on the arm would be so much better

  46. 326979+ up ticks,
    Now there’s a question, did “nige” contact the french authorities to inform them on finding their property ? after all they could very well have been escaping felons which is highly likely for who else would want to “escape” from a group of Country’s deemed safe.

    Aiding & abetting springs to mind, coloured comedy ( black)
    when considering his love of Tommy Robinson.

  47. Good morning, my friends

    An interesting article on foreign aid by Tim Stanley:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/30/case-against-fixed-foreign-aid-isnt-economic-democratic/

    I like the the BTL comment from Les Kelly suggesting that our last five ex-PMs: Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron and May – should “cut out the middle man” (i.e the poor tax payer) and use their own vast accumulated wealth to:

    “buy some top of the range Mercs & send them to Africa’s finest instead of making the working poor fund them.(Oh sorry I meant to say provide foreign aid)“

    1. I think the same about mega rich footballers ordering the govt to spend poorer people’s taxes as well.

      1. 326979+ up ticks,
        Morning W,
        There is a golden opportunity now
        to say ” before the entry turnstiles
        click again we the fans would like
        to discuss the entry fee so the WHOLE family can enjoy the game”.
        Then the participants pay can be adjusted accordingly.

        Will the fans boycott matches until there is change, course not.

        Much the same as lab/lib/con current members / voters will they change their voting pattern even when Country meltdown is eminent,
        course not.

        1. I don’t generally pay much attention to football. There was a match live on TV the other night. It was about to start. I switched on. It was between Tranmere Rovers and Brackleyheath (or somebody). Ready to go. The teams “took the knee”. I switched off.

          Does the truth, does reality, does common sense never sink in?

          1. 326979+ up ticks,
            Afternoon HP,
            As I said in my post the ideal time to re-negotiate the turnstile
            entry fee.
            Why fund multiple lineker lifestyles when we have the opportunity to re-set .

            “Common sense” what’s that then, what league ?

          2. I’ve only been to two; Sunderland away to Ipswich when I was in Colchester and Dynamo Moskva when I was in Moscow.

    2. 326979+ up ticks,
      Morning R,
      As I make a point of posting five treacherous let downs, who put them in their very lucrative positions again,again,&
      again, the very same tax paying / voting electorate.
      Those politico’s DEPEND on those tax paying voters of the party first persuasion
      for their lifestyles, & the voters come through EVERY time.

  48. Last night’s ‘Countryfile’ was another piece of climate change propaganda. The whole programme was taken up with the planting of trees, an admirable venture with which I have no argument (a pity, though, that one scene included a large coniferous plantation, an ecological wasteland). However, the idea that adding 5,500 square miles of tree cover to the UK will prevent the sky from burning and the seas from boiling is fanciful but, as usual, it was overdone here. Just to hammer home the point, some children were wheeled on to spout the mantras about the end of life as we know it.

    In other news on the rewilding of the country, it’s been a good year for the beavers. Keep them away from your trees!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-54972840

      1. A couple, plus a white kid with a weird haircut that suggested his parents are already training him up for a life of eco-protest. Living on the fringe, you could say…

      2. A couple, plus a white kid with a weird haircut that suggested his parents are already training him up for a life of eco-protest. Living on the fringe, you could say…

    2. ♫ “What a bad year for the lockdowns
      People filled with dark despair
      Empty streets and empty towns
      Funny they don’t even care
      As I turn my face away
      Shunning folk, avoiding fevers
      The only thing I have to say
      Its been a good year for the beavers “♫

    1. A&E attendances are considerably lower this year than last and that bucks the trend of steady increases for many years. But, it’s worth pointing out that suspected Covid patients are not left sat in A&E waiting areas where they would spread the virus.

      1. How will they know if they’re a suspected Covid patient until they test them with a PCR test that can’t identify Covid?

        1. Just to be clear, people being sent to hospital for suspected Covid are not left sitting in A&E reception areas.

          2. I think you have to make an appt.
            So book your slot before you stand on a can bottomed chair to adjust the curtains.

          3. I think you have to make an appt.
            So book your slot before you stand on a can bottomed chair to adjust the curtains.

      2. Attendances are also lower because people are not becoming intoxicated. The nightclubs are shut so no druggies either.

    2. A neighbour from 4 doors away has just told me that her and her husband have both had Covid in last 4-5 weeks. The son moved out for 3 week so he could carry on working but those two stayed in. She had tested positive, She said that she felt tired and breathing felt heavy. That was it. Ten days then negative test. He ( pensioner ) has athsma and inhaler, tested positive, felt ok and after ten days also tested negative. No sneezing or coughing of any kind. Neither had treatment of any kind.

        1. Deaths from the vaccine will be attributed to the ‘third wave’ to encourage the stampede to get the vaccine…… like lemmings to their deaths. Oh when did I become so cynical?

          2. That’s it, isn’t it – life experience. And being older than these idiots in power, it’s like observing your own (and other people’s) children plotting.

          3. It’s why I’m so vehemently opposed to lowering the voting age. At 18 most youngsters these days have very little life experience compared with people who left school at 14 and worked (and they had to wait until they were 21 before being enfranchised).

  50. Just back – as darkness falls – from the horsepiddle. The Resp Med chap wanted blood tests. My appointment was at 3 pm. I arrived at 2.25 – expecting to be sent out to wait in the rain. Nope – in and out i five minutes. So quick, that I was within the 30 mins “free” parking. It occurred to me on the way home that in a hospital, there will be very few out-patients blood tests needed – as the vast majority are taken on the wards, from detainees in-patients.

    Popped into Sainsbury’s – for the first time in 20 years – ugh. Only wet because they claimed to sell “Charlotte” potatoes – and they actually did.

    Cook is calling me for tea – and to separate Pickles and Gus.

  51. Be warned.

    These are the French vaccine roll-out proposals.

    By Liv Rowland

    A five phase Covid-19 vaccination plan with nursing home residents the first priority has been announced by top health advisory body HAS.

    The Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) is recommending to the government that vaccination must be phased in, taking account of people’s vulnerability to falling seriously ill with the disease, as supplies of vaccine will arrive in batches.

    It is hoped that the first vaccinations could start as soon as the end of this year or in January 2021.
    The HAS’s proposals, likely to strongly influence the government’s decisions, include the following phases:
    Phase one

    A first ‘critical phase’ that should start as soon as the first doses arrive.

    Elderly people living in nursing homes should be the first recipients, thought to number around 750,000.

    Also employees of the homes who themselves have an elevated risk of falling ill with a serious form of Covid-19, that is to say up to 100,000 people who are aged 65 or more or have certain pre-existing medical conditions making them more vulnerable.

    Phase two
    In a second ‘critical’ phase, when more vaccine doses arrive, it is recommended to vaccinate all those aged 75 or over, then those aged 65 or over and with additional risk factors (pre-existing illnesses), and then all other people aged 65 and above.
    Also in this phase are health professionals, including those in medical transport, with first priority to those aged 50+ or with additional risk factors.

    Phase three
    Everyone aged 50 or over, or aged under 50 but at risk of a serious form of the illness due to their health conditions.

    Any health professionals not already vaccinated would be vaccinated at this stage, as well as those in forms of work deemed ‘indispensable to the functioning of the country’, including security and education sectors.

    Phase four
    People who are ‘strongly exposed’ to the virus (eg. due to a lot of contact with the public or working with others in a confined space) and who have not been vaccinated in the previous phases.
    Also included in this phase would be people in a ‘precarious’ situation and likely to be badly affected if they are infected, such as people in psychiatric hospitals, homeless people or prisoners.

    Phase five
    Everyone aged 18 upwards, regardless of their health conditions. This phase could only start assuming that everyone in the previous categories who wishes to be vaccinated, has been vaccinated.

    It will be interesting to see what if any are the sanctions/restrictions for not having one.

    https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Covid-19-Five-stage-vaccination-plan-for-France?utm_campaign=8e0a5feace-NewsletterOct72020_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Master%20List&utm_term=0_9b5fbe85b4-8e0a5feace-357910569

    1. It will be interesting to see what if any are the sanctions/restrictions for not having one.

      Madame La Guillotine?

    1. his aides might well feel limp wth this rolling out : blue on blue in Frankfurt farm server raid [separate non msm source validate] https://thenewamerican.com/lt-gen-mcinerney-there-were-casualties-in-special-forces-raid-to-get-servers-from-cia-facility/ and sources confirm individual’s no muppet https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/11/the_smartest_man_in_the_room_has_joined_sidney_powells_team.html

      thats said, Demented Joe’ll still be practicing his hopscotch

      1. As with all legal challenges the plaintiffs must have persons of standing as witnesses. Sidney Powell has assembled a formidable array of such experts across the fields of statistical analysis, cyber security and activities and training of intelligence services. Powell has then added hundreds of affiants both GOP and Democrat who have given sworn witness to irregularities from stuffing ballots to counting issues and more besides.

        As several persons posting on here (who have lived in America) have reminded me, I know nothing of American politics, Trump is all bad and Biden a knight in shining armour. Well they can tell that to the Marines.

    2. And what do we get ….. a bunch of the dullest people on the planet wrecking our economy closing the country down and locking every one in their homes.

          2. It’s mad, when we are encouraged to use alcohol based hand sanitisers so often. How can drinking alcohol be regarded as a sin ? It probably keeps the virus at bay. I feel there is some thing very sinister going on with so many licenced premises being targeted by the government, the ‘M’ word might well be involved with the decimation of our cultural practices. And it could well be the reason so many of the ‘I’ word communities have had steep rises in Covid. They won’t use hand sanitisers.

    2. Afternoon HJ.This information has been public knowledge for several months. Some of the findings have been published in the British Medical Journal. SAGE must have been aware of it and have obviously chosen to ignore the information. Hancock and SAGE are squandering public money, destroying the economy, publishing misleading and wrong statistics, locking down the public with no justification and, in short proving their medical incompetence. They shall not be forgiven..

    1. They have brought a judge from Westminster in specially to hear the case…

      Suitably instructed one imagines!

    1. The concept of any conflict of interest having to be declared is now long gone.
      Even the most blatantly obvious are ignored

      1. We noticed that when former EU commissioners, whose gold-plated pensions were dependent on their always promoting the EU, came out against Brexit.

  58. Batch building up again………….
    https://media.customon.com/unsafe/1200×1200/img.customon.com/img/20425566/67872,32,0,0,62,224.02244039271,268,55.488779803647,33.5,998d4bc2048ab05c42981f0cd71f53da/merchantimagenew/science-doesnt-care-coffee-mug-white.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/65848b6b68ca0e8fa535d1e83ea11c7f9bda7df78db93067a816664357acbd7f.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e1f1a8ccb1ecdeefb758c7e36e6f373ebc052c480cd3d8f56f859169e818631.jpg
    Baron Harkonnen speaks
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b1aa74510a1e62ea645c88ebfdfbb99c15f882a5639b82f49cbbee6183318604.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e1754bc257515737e9f5d30f8ed6ea7c90373a4aa4268a460ee08f16f16ba0d6.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7e461509bde96e66cac9f4bde0008adbe234ea1b6e3eb4a8f36d9643d3805b74.jpg
    https://is2.4chan.org/pol/1606691280871.jpg

  59. https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/two-tier-policing-shows-the-rottenness-of-the-state/

    BTL comment:

    Letter to an MP. I wasn’t going to bother, but the actions of the stasi police over the weekend got me angry:

    30 November 2020.

    Dear Mr. Dunne,

    In my last communication I stated I would not be contacting you

    again on any subject. I have to rescind that statement.

    The actions that government are continuing to take with regard to

    lockdowns and ‘tiers’ of restrictions regarding sars-cov-2 and the

    coronavirus covid-19, are beyond belief. The economy is being

    deliberately destroyed by these actions, there is no other reason

    for it. The beneficiaries of the destroyed businesses and lives

    lost, are the multi million pound conglomerates such as Amazon.

    The NHS, which we are encouraged to be ‘saving’, is failing to

    treat ongoing patients requiring regular treatments and

    screenings. Lives have been lost – far more than any from the so

    called covid-19 virus. Suicides are on a dramatic increase.

    Cases of bacterial pneumonia are rising due to mask wearing –

    surgical masks were only ever intended to be worn in a sterile

    environment (operating theatres) and for no longer than two hours.

    Some people are developing facial sores from fungal growths and

    the mental torture of not seeing faces is further demoralising.

    Children have been known to collapse from hypoxia, some have died.

    This is no exaggeration, it is fact.

    Care homes have been instructed not to put up traditional

    Christmas decorations – what does this do for the elderly

    incapacitated, denied family visits and now denied the one time of

    the year so precious to all in the name of suppressing a virus

    long past its peak.

    Lockdowns do not work. There is NO evidence they control anything

    – least of all the police whose TSG are running riot in the

    streets, assaulting people for free speech – old ladies pushed

    around, kicked in the stomach; young and old people alike brutally

    manhandled, thrust to the pavement by several ‘officers’ (thugs is

    a better description) while another repeatedly punches them. There

    are ample, despicable acts of this sort recorded and visible to

    the masses. No wonder there is a rapid cordon of masked thugs

    assembled to shield what is being done.

    This is an utter disgrace, when the government and MP’s alike

    whose responses to items are replied to with indifference and

    platitudes, which amounts to a lack of responsibility on the

    relative MP’s behalf, when their position rewards them with

    £80,000 (and rising) salary. Try living on a state pension of

    £7,740pa. (And do not speak of Pension Credit – I applied online

    and was told I did not qualify. No reason given).

    Those protesters have been left with no other recourse than to get

    on the streets, because when governments stop listening, action is

    all that is left. This is no longer about a virus that has past

    its worst, there are darker reasons afoot such as Klaus Schwab’s

    Great Reset, about which your Minister Matt Hancock will be very

    familiar with – ask him. The name of the ‘game’ is population

    reduction, nothing less.

    Yours in disgust

    Derek Reynolds.

    1. Thanks, Anne, copied, slightly modified and it will be winging its way to Dr Dan Poulter, my MP who also practises at Ipswich Hospital and never answers my missives. I just hope this might jolt him.

  60. A brilliant scam “Vegan Electricity” the perfect group of virtue signallers to tap in to and charge a premium to be “Pure”

    https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/vegan-energy-supply
    I do think they’ve missed a trick though,in fact I will look into it myself
    “Halal Electricity” guaranteed not to be produced from pig slurry a few endorsements from the right mosques,imams and mullahs and I could be quids in…………….Inshallah a much bigger market

    1. Ecotrickery, you mean – our local millionaire, Dale Vince, who was once a “traveller”. He bought the local football club and forced his vegan credentials on them, too.

    2. The blighter can hardly contain his smirk. Look at his upper lip, he’s trying to control the muscle tension there.

      1. On several trips from my home in North Essex to Six Mile Bottom where our pooch is receiving treatment from Dick White Referrals, I pass through the village of Little Thurloe where I believe Matt Hancock lives there or thereabouts.

        It is noticeable on the route we take that large crowds of pub goers are active in the grounds of several historic public house establishments, totally ignoring the mad science and yet madder pronouncements of Hancock.

        Perhaps Hancock should have words with his constituents or neighbours. Then again someone would probably glass him.

    3. To be replaced immediately by a lockdown until Easter – extended to August Bank Holiday – and then to Christmas 2021 – which will be cancelled.

    4. When it finally dawns on the populace that Hancock should raised on a pedestal, attached to a rope and lowered rapidly, all their Christmas presents will arrive at once.

    6. Has it all been just an extended April Fool’s Day and Matt likes a giggle, knows we’ll see the funny side when he finally says, “Gotcha!”

  65. The foreign aid debate isn’t just about wasteful spending – it’s about democracy and representation. 30 November 2020.

    But foreign aid is also a culture war issue. It is no coincidence that almost the entire British elite – including five former prime ministers – wants to stick with the 0.7 per cent figure. The Government, even though it will now cut it, looks embarrassed by the decision, as if it were plugging the hole in our finances by selling puppies to the Koreans.

    Yet according to one poll, two thirds of the public backs the cuts, and this gulf between elite opinion and the voters tells a story in itself. The perennial debate around foreign aid isn’t just about charity, it’s about democracy. Who does a government represent? Who should it put first?

    Foreign Aid like Immigration has always been an Elite policy that is in opposition to the electorate. In fact both give the lie to the idea that the UK Parliament is in any way Democratic. It is probable that getting away with these two policies has led to Westminster’s contempt for the people and indirectly led to the Police State that we now inhabit.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/30/case-against-fixed-foreign-aid-isnt-economic-democratic/

      1. “Sex with anyone outside your household still banned after lockdown”
        Well, that’s scuppered my plans for the weekend. Might as well stay home with the missus then.

        1. I’m equally sure that your missus will be equally delighted that her plans are spoiled too.

          {:-O

        1. 🙂
          Better than the reply I was just creating!
          Are they celebrating buying a cut price three piece suite?
          Or trying out a bargain bed (delivered in time for Christmas if you order before December 1st.)

      6. there will be queues at Ikea to try out their bedroom section.

        No hugging granny, no bonking your boy/girl friend. What a miserable government you have. Was Cromwell resurrected?

      2. Oh no you don’t. It would be like the French escorting them half way over the channel then saying “Over to you”.

        Trudeau is still talking a million immigrants a year, he will claim that your reject(s) can be assimilated.

        2. Transport them to a deserted Somali Beach at the dead of night and put them ashore only in their underclothes – back where you belong, Buddy, good-bye.

          3. iceland, Greenland, siberia?

            Too late for our frozen north, they sold it to the Chinese and they are now busy mining the good stuff out of the tundra.

  67. Tier 2 restrictions: An open letter from Public Health Dorset

    Over the last few days, lots of people have been asking us: Why has the government placed both Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Councils into Tier 2 restrictions?

    We understand that many people will be frustrated and disappointed by the decision about going into Tier 2 on 2 December. On public health grounds, we support the decision the government has taken. This is based purely from the perspective of the need to reduce our infection rates. Before lockdown on 5 November, infection rates were climbing rapidly in both council areas. Both areas were under Tier 1 measures and this was not enough to control the spread of the virus, which is passing mainly through contact between households.

    If we exited lockdown at our current infection rates, then Tier 1 restrictions would not be enough to continue to bring rates down, and we would risk having to go back into tougher measures. Avoiding this potential yo-yo situation is a more sensible course of action, although we appreciate the difficulties that the restrictions are bringing for us all.

    Several factors are considered when looking at the tier system, it’s not just about our headline infection rates. The government also looks at the infection rate in older people, the impact on our care sector, and pressure on our local hospitals – all of which continue to be a concern in both council areas. Taking into account all of these measures, it is our view that Dorset Council would still be placed into Tier 2 restrictions, even discounting the higher rates in the BCP Council area.

    Collectively across the county we have a plan and roadmap to reach Tier 1. To achieve further freedoms, we need to keep faith in obeying the rules now. Stopping and limiting social mixing between households will bring our infection rates down. If we all continue to do that, as hard as it is, we stand a good chance of reaching the next review on December 16 with a strong chance of a positive decision to move to Tier 1. If infection rates continue to fall, we can expect less pressure on our hospitals, and a falling infection rate in our older population, all of which will be crucial in how that decision is made.

    We’ve also been asked whether our hospitals could effectively be considered separately for each council, to support the decision-making process. This would be extremely difficult because of the way that our health and care system operate. We have a single integrated care system, spanning both council areas. The acute hospitals each admit patients from across the county, from both council areas. We need to balance pressures in the hospital system so NHS colleagues work as a single system to make sure as much capacity as possible is available in the right place at the right time.

    We realise that there are many other considerations affecting people’s health and wellbeing as the pandemic continues. There is a real need to keep our local NHS services from being overwhelmed. To make sure we have the right level of critical care capacity, to care for everyone who needs it, we consider it necessary to make this tough decision now. Tier 2 is the right decision now to secure a better chance of a more sustainable future and a return to low COVID rates.

    Please do your bit and help us to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Dorset.

    2. I imagine hubby kicked up a bit last night at the Man U result. The sooner he can play golf again the better probably.

        1. Think Wednesday’s weather ok, I’m hoping for a couple of hours lure fishing for bass. Then the PUB for a couple.

    3. They always talk about infection rates but never about hospital admissions and deaths. Infected people have a 99.8% chance of survival.

    4. Evening Belle, my immediate thought was that if they chose to test with a procedure that possibly gives too high a percentage of false positives, I choose to believe their justification is also flawed rendering it mute.
      In simple terms I DON’T BELIEVE THEM.

  68. The Independent was copied a letter from Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi to the Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Jonathan Evans, raising concerns about the shareholdings and directorships held by Akshata Murty, Rishi Sunak’s wife, and her family worth hundreds of million pounds.. The allegations are that the reports around the chancellor’s financial affairs are extremely concerning and the MP is asking Jonathan Evans to investigate whether RS is in breach of the Ministerial code . The MP highlights that the code of conduct states that ministers should provide a list of interests of their spouse or partner and close family “which might be thought to give rise to a conflict”

    1. Kind of hard when you own so much though. She probably has loads of stuff that could be said to be a conflict, but means little to her as it’s a tiny part of her wealth. When he became Chancellor, I thought “uh-oh, this is going to be trouble” because of his wife’s family’s wealth.

      2. When any politician is so wealthy that they are insulated from the decisions that they make, they should not really be in any position to make such decisions.

        2. if they do not start in a position of wealth, they all seem to reach that wealthy isolation very soon after reaching power.

          3. So you’re saying, Annie, (© Cathy Newman) that you currently have a job “helping” Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestants?

            PS – Thanks for the personal email about spam emails.

          4. Exacto (copyright a famous dentist)

            The Canadian politicos are just as bad with trust funds galore and in the US they need to invest many millions to join in the game.

    2. “… ministers should provide a list of interests of their spouse or partner and close family “which might be thought to give rise to a conflict”

      Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi assumes that wealth is inherently bad:

      “She would, wouldn’t she …”

  69. Just received another threatening email; exactly the same but from a ‘Steve Young’.
    Zapped it.

      1. They love her:
        “enemas ‘R us”

        website and assume it’s a porny one, rather than the helpful medical advice for the likes of BT.

      2. Just a phishing trip, I suspect.
        I’m not the only one.
        All I’m doing is warning people who might be frightened by them. I also sent a warning to friends and family.

    2. Don’t just zap, spam and block, and if your internet email provider has that facility report it to them.

      I get roughly one spam a day since I started that regime.

    3. Gmail filters out that kind of thing into the spam folder – if I remember to look, I can find any genuine ones. They all get zapped after 30 days or when I clear them out.

    4. Received your email, Anne. Thanks for that.

      Last week I received an email from someone purporting to be a lady who worked on my team at BT. The email only contained a link that I didn’t open. Checking my spam folder I found another from three weeks earlier. I deleted both. I can only conclude that either her computer or her service provider had been hacked and contact details stolen.

        1. I keep emailing myself with scams – at least, until you read the actual senders address.

        2. I did that, Alf. The nearest I found, via an internet search, was Olives Spa, a soap/cosmetic manufacturer in Greece. Complete fiction.

    1. Not sure how drinking alcohol responsibly make us more susceptible to COVID. If partaking was, why don’t they ban smoking everywhere and alcohol as well? All about control, and most people seem to want to let them, presumably so they can get the 5% of a normal life back that the authorities (urged on the the big corporations and China behind this all) let them.

      What a load of mugs.

      1. Most people would be happy with a couple of drinks with a meal in a pub. Normal time spent there would be about 2 hours and then most would leave to return home. This ban of selling alcohol will only encourage those that have acted irresponsibly previously to buy supermarket drinks and carry on with irresponsible behaviour.
        As you say it is all about control and Drakeford is trying to impose maximum control. I would say his electorate could punish him at the next election but then they are likely to get a Welsh version of Johnson, nothing gained there!

      1. Providing we don’t linger longer than 15 minutes whilst we are choosing our purchases.

        Most of the shops have gone under .. , so I can count them on my hand.

    1. I find the broken foot excuse for Biden’s absence from public life risible.

      I think a more plausible explanation is that having been sidelined by Obama, vis a vis government appointments, he reckons a swift exit to the embracing arms of Saudi Arabia is his best option.

      Let Obama take the rap for the corruption and skewed election resulting from blatant election fraud not seen before and now exposed for the world to see.

    2. I find the broken foot excuse for Biden’s absence from public life risible.

      I think a more plausible explanation is that having been sidelined by Obama, vis a vis government appointments, he reckons a swift exit to the embracing arms of Saudi Arabia is his best option.

      Let Obama take the rap for the corruption and skewed election resulting from blatant election fraud not seen before and now exposed for the world to see.

        1. I certainly don’t agree with your comment but Not I.

          Doesn’t someone have the downvote exposed extension?

          I suppose with a broken foot, Biden will not be out golfing with the President.

          1. The idea that someone who expresses disgust by a quiet and harmless method is a “troll” is surely extreme, in the extreme – as well as being rude and a personal attack.

          3. Why should I? He’s a serial abuser as a look at his record in even the last week would tell you; and I don’t need it.

            Do you question every passing upvote? No, of course you don’t. So what’s all the fuss and bother and name-calling over a downvote.

            Note, I’ve been called a nasty name… but you are arguing with me about it … interesting but hardly edifying.

          4. “….. and I don’t need it.”

            Of course you do! You live for confrontation and you thrive on it. It is your ‘raison d’être’. You need it as surely as a druggie needs his fix.

          5. Am I arguing? I merely asked you a question. Upvoting can mean a variety of things – it could meam agreement, or simply acknowledging that the post has been read.

            Downvoting, on the other hand is a rather cowardly way of expressing disapproval, without acually adding any value to a discussion. They used to be hidden and anonymous, but are now exposed. To continually downvote one or two individuals can be construed by those people as harassment.

            Intentionally upsetting or annoying certain individuals could be seen as trolling.

          6. Yes.

            No it isn’t cowardly, it is perfectly valid. No it isn’t harassment. No it isn’t trolling. Those are ridiculous accusations, but I suppose they give you a good excuse to avoid doing anything about the name-calling which is abuse and trolling.

          7. And there you have it. Another personal attack which is why I don’t engage, and still have not done so.

          8. There are other ways of engaging with people that don’t involve a direct attack. Honey traps more flies than vinegar!

          9. I don’t understand why downvotes get such a negative response. Surely it is only a sign that you disagree with the comment, no more and no less.

            Each to their own I suppose, it could just be noted and ignored but let’s start the evening argument.

          10. Not here. And I do not accept your reasoning. It is targeted to cause annoyance. Either way I have nothing more to say on this matter. Others can decide for themselves.

          11. Good, let’s get on with the evening.

            I see that a judge in Georgia has stopped them resetting the vote counting machines. Surely no one in their right mind would have done anything with those systems apart from taking backups and securing them.

          12. To me, Richard, and I suspect to others, it seems to be a cowardly way of expressing disagreement without the ability, or linguistics, to say why one disagrees – smacks to me of ‘No argument’, I win.

          13. Good evening, Nanners.

            Has your BB fully recovered?
            I do hope so.

            Are you open to suggestions about
            BB’s Christmas present?

          14. Unfortunately no, Mags, antibiotics seem to be giving her a hard time but she insists on persevering. She was called at 08:00 this morning to go for another blood test at 10:00, as her kidney blood tests were weird. Fingers well crossed.

            …and yes, I’m very open to suggestions for prezzies, particularly from you ladies, who know about these things. I don’t think she’ll appreciate a swanky model railway!

          15. I am sorry to hear that, my best wishes
            to her. I will post you a few ideas later
            on today.
            Good night, sleep tight.

          17. Good morning, Nanners.

            I have held off sending this until
            this morning, I didn’t want to
            post it while you were in full flow!! :-))

            A subscription to The Field magazine.
            A bottle of eau de toilette, [not one of the
            celeb. types but a classic] ie.
            Miss Dior, Ma Griffe, Chanel no.5.
            A silk scarf.
            A pair of super-dooper wellies ie.
            Barbour, Joules.
            Anything from Joules.
            A leather handbag with a pair of matching
            [colour] gloves.

          18. Thank you, little g, that’s a pretty splendid list and all the better for being from a woman’s point of view. I shall act on something from that list.

          19. You are very welcome, Nanners.

            You will notice a vast difference in
            the cost of said items.
            Debs. has a perfume sale on at the
            moment, Joules also has a sale on.
            [I only buy scent and Joules stuff
            when there is a sale on!! …. No I am
            not cheap, I have expensive tastes
            and justify my extravagances that way!]
            I have just ordered a very pretty long
            silk scarf for my step-Mother’s C.P, from
            Joules.

          20. Thanks again, but perfume is out, as the downstairs shower room is absolutely festooned with ‘Jo Malone’ that has obviously been there for more than the three years that I’ve been kicking about. I shall investigate the others though.

          21. I never downvote anyone intentionally but, if it is cowardly to downvote without stating why, is it heroic to upvote without stating why?

          23. But why does a mark to openly say that you disapprove become cowardly? Isn’t a downvote just the opposite of an upvote? I don’t downvote because people on this forum tend to view it as something reprehensible so I refrain from downvoting so as not to cause offence. Nevertheless, the logic seems a bit odd. Quite honestly, there are times when I feel that a downvote would be appropriate – just to mark disapproval but not to the extent where I want to explain it.

          24. Same here. If I down-ticked every time I merely disagreed with a comment, I’d be dishing them out like confetti.

          26. I agree with you, but I certainly wouldn’t downvote people who have said that it upsets them.

          27. Since I appear to be the only person you downvote almost automatically I can only assume that you hold a personal hostility to me. I take your downvotes as a personal attack but worthless because they contain no substance.

            Edit: Re the downvote: There you go again.

          28. I think sometimes you have to go with the majority opinion, which is definitely against down-voting on this site. On other sites, it’s seen as acceptable, even constructive. Why do it if it upsets people?

        3. Take comfort from Brutus’s words to Cassius:

          “There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,. For I am armed so strong in honesty. That they pass by me as the idle wind,. Which I respect not.”

          [Shakespeare: Julius Caesar]

          That’s my reaction to down voters, who, poor things, probably suffer from MHI.

        4. Take comfort from Brutus’s words to Cassius:

          “There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,. For I am armed so strong in honesty. That they pass by me as the idle wind,. Which I respect not.”

          [Shakespeare: Julius Caesar]

          That’s my reaction to down voters, who, poor things, probably suffer from MHI.

  77. An article from Harper’s (Wine & Spirit Gazette). I provides an idea of scale and numbers in context. It makes for rather sombre reading, especially if you recall that this is one of the service industries fro which we sacrificed manufacturing.

    “At least 50k sites to be shut or unviable under new tiers
    By Lisa Riley
    Published: 30 November, 2020
    More than 50,000 of England’s licensed premises will be unable to trade under the government’s tough new tiered restrictions coming into place this week, according to research for the latest edition of the Market Recovery Monitor from CGA and AlixPartners.
    Initial takeaways from the report, which will be published in full later this week, show that 36,648 premises — 39% of England’s total — are located in Tier 3 areas, where hospitality venues must stay closed except for takeaways and deliveries.
    Another 55%, or 55,502 sites, are in Tier 2 areas, where alcoholic drinks can’t be sold unless with ‘substantial’ meals. CGA’s research suggests that at least a third of these sites will not be viable under these and other Tier 2 restrictions.
    This takes the number of sites likely to stay closed after the end of lockdown to 50,000 at a minimum. The number will rise further if operators in Tier 2 areas decide that other regulations, including on curfews and group sizes, make it unprofitable to trade.
    CGA’s research shows that just 2% of England’s licensed premises—a total of 2,227 sites—are located in Tier 1 areas, where restrictions are loosest. Here, too, a significant number of businesses could decide to remain closed.
    “With nearly two in five English sites unable to welcome guests and more than half subject to major constraints, December is going to be difficult in the extreme,” said Karl Chessell, business unit director for food and retail at CGA.
    “Hospitality has worked incredibly hard to give people safe and pleasurable experiences since July, but the tiered system in the most important trading month of the year is going to place the future of many of them in jeopardy,” he said.
    Reopening figures from Scotland and Wales made “ominous reading as England emerges from lockdown”, he added, pointing to the analysis [included in the forthcoming report] of the market in Scotland and Wales, where restrictions have eased in recent weeks.
    “Only 40.4% of sites in Scotland are trading at the end of November, with 7,189 of them in regions designated as Level 3 or 4, where they are subject to limited trading or forced to close,” said Chessell, with trading numbers in Wales only slightly higher at 42.2%, despite the country ending a 17-day ‘firebreak’ lockdown earlier this month.
    Last week, Matt Hancock confirmed that 31 areas in England will be heading into the highest level of restrictions on Wednesday 2 December when the country emerges from full lockdown, with 38 areas bound for Tier 2, while just three parts of England will be under Tier 1, the lowest level of restrictions.”

    2. 326979+ up ticks,
      Evening HP,
      It does seem to me that All politico’s / peoples could amount to around 48% of the Nation are behind this,a lot of this sh!te could, via the politico rubber stampers be a pay back campaign for the 24/6/2016 verdict tied in with the re-set.

  78. Evening, all. I think everyone now knows that those in Whitehall haven’t a clue how the majority of us, especially those of us outside the M25, live! On a happier note, my Christmas tree is now up and decorated and I have a candle bridge, on my windowsill, lit on a timer. Christmas is almost here (it was Advent Sunday yesterday), Also, to all those named Andrew (or variations thereof), bonne fête!

  79. 326979+up ticks,
    breitbart,

    Javid: Islamism Is a ‘Virus’ of the Mind, Must Be Confronted ‘Head-on’

    In reality and a point of fact is a great many peoples see it not as head on, but heads off, as an unacceptable odious issue in any Country of decency.

  80. Oh my, Canada is totally screwed. There was a financial update by the feds today (not a budget, that becomes a vote of confidence and they are scared of common sense). To quote the finance minister

    The government will ensure a feminist, intersectional response to this pandemic and recovery.

    Heavens to Betsy, we’re doomed I tell you, doomed.

    1. I’ve wondered in the past how there can be a feminist response or feminist solution if gender is a social construct.

      1. I am afraid that we are going to find out.
        For a start we are guessing that traditionally boys jobs like oil drilling and mining will not be getting money.

      3. Sorry, John, Gender is a purely grammatical construct inasmuch that we might refer to a ship or a car as ‘She’ but that is about as far as it goes in English.

        The continentals go daft and assign gender (including neuter – which doesn’t include or perceive of transgender) to many inanimate objects like tables, chairs, probably vegetables – it could be included in our Parliament – and to one’s sexy bits. In French both the vagina and the penis are masculine, implying that both belong to the male sex by right. Suck it up feminazis.

          1. Sorry, Connors, check your French vocabulary, Le verge (the vagina) is masculine and has always been a product of smutty laughter from schoolboys (like me). The ‘male’ member is Le pénis.

          2. I have:

            verge

            [vɛʀʒ]

            feminine noun
            1. (Anatomy) penis
            2. (= baguette) stick ⧫ cane

            You are correct that vagina is masculine, but it is le VAGIN.

            vagin

            [vaʒɛ̃]

            masculine noun
            vagina

          3. And the German word for girl, Mädchen, is neuter. Cue similar smutty laughter at my Catholic boys’ grammar school when our German teacher, Mr Sargent, assured us that “Of course, German girls are not sexless”. We wondered how he knew…

          4. I have:

            verge

            [vɛʀʒ]

            feminine noun
            1. (Anatomy) penis
            2. (= baguette) stick ⧫ cane

            You are correct that vagina is masculine, but it is le VAGIN.

            vagin

            [vaʒɛ̃]

            masculine noun
            vagina

          8. My apologies, of course I meant Le Vagin. Mon français, aujourd’hui, c’est très mauvais.

            Bon soire, mon brave.

          9. That’s okay. Everybody makes mistakes (just to prove I’m not peddy ). This gender business is a pain and pretty much all continental languages have it (German and Russian have three genders). Thankfully we, being linguistically lazy, have simplified our language so you only need a niveau seuil of about 1,000 words to make yourself understood in English.

          10. …and about a 1,000 words is probably the limit of my French, German and Swedish – Spanish, is way below that.

            Good evening, Connors.

            One thing I did learn in French, “Bon nuit, you ONLY say this to your wife!”

          11. Bonne nuit. My French friends have never complained when I say bonne nuit before going to bed – and I’m not married to any of them 🙂

          13. Bonne soirée, I take it, which is generally ‘have a good evening’. Bonne nuit is only when you’re going to bed as I understand it. When leaving one normally says bonsoir or au revoir (depending on whether you’re likely to see them in the near future).

          14. Sorry, Connors, check your French vocabulary, Le verge (the vagina) is masculine and has always been a product of smutty laughter from schoolboys (like me). The ‘male’ member is Le pénis.

        2. Makes one wonder if the down-voter is a feminazi who objects – go argue with L’Academie française.

        3. I took French, German and Spanish at O Level which was fun! I often wonder if the obsession with gender and pronouns is as bad in countries where they have gendered nouns.

  87. The Sultana returned from the shops rather heated. Between two proper shops she had popped into a Chest, Heart and Stroke charity shop. She was assailed by an attendant, ” you need to use the hand sanitiser”. No. Manager arrives, “you must use the hand sanitiser!”.
    Sultana points out that it would ruin the leather gloves that she was wearing, and then departs.

    1. I seem to be the only person in supermarkets not wearing a face mask, although last Friday there were two young women in their mid-late twenties not wearing them in the garden centre/farm shop. I just hate seeing people with them on. I am someone who does not like drawing attention to herself, I long to fit in and be anonymous but I am outraged that government is interfering with our most basic right, the right to breathe unimpeded. Dr Vernon Coleman’s 100 reasons why not to wear a face mask, no 65: “Thousands of years ago, it was discovered that forcing people to wear masks covering much of their faces broke their will and made them subservient. The masks depersonalised the wearers and dehumanised them too.”

      1. I have just returned home from spending the afternoon at a large general hospital in Kristianstad, Skåne (taking a friend for a routine examination). I remained sitting in a corner of a waiting room for an hour, reading a book and watching the comings and goings of doctors, nurses, sundry staff, patients and visitors. In that time I counted just five people, all patients or visitors, wearing a mask out of a couple of hundred or so people I noticed in the place. Not a single member of hospital staff wore a mask of any description.

      2. Pmum, well done. We two maskless people saw one other yesterday, great surprise. I’m just wondering how long the sheeple are willing to continue wearing them? This whole controlling action is to do exactly that – dehumanise and depersonalise us all.
        Edit: We two, as in Alf and I.

        1. I have yet to see another person not wearing a mask since I have played the exemption card. My optician is insisting I wear one for the appointment, though. To say I am not happy is an understatement, but I suppose I shall have to go along with it as I need the prescription to be the latest before I order new lenses. If they keep me waiting I shall be outside and they’ll have to call me in when they are ready for me.

      3. No mask – no entry to the offlicence.
        :-((
        So, I bought one with a print of my lower face on it – si I look somewhat like me! You can also get zombie or skeletons, so I’m looking forward to taking the pee once Santa has delivered! Try Zazzle.com

  88. Government urged to fix ‘disastrous state’ of rape prosecutions. 30 november 2020.

    An alliance of women’s organisations is calling for radical reforms to address the “disastrous state” of rape investigations and prosecutions, including a ministerial lead, a commission on juries and a ban on the use of sexual history evidence.

    The call comes after rape convictions in England and Wales fell to a record low this year, while figures show that prosecutions and convictions have more than halved in three years.

    Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said the report revealed “catastrophic systemic failures in the criminal justice system that embolden serial rapists and misogynists and abandon traumatised victims”

    “disastrous state” is a synonym for “no convictions” What these people want is to bypass the legal system and have Kangaroo Courts to convict men they “know” to be guilty, even when there is no proof. That this would result in a wave of false convictions of the innocent is of no concern. It is paradoxically a symptom of hysterical misandry.

    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/nov/30/government-urged-to-fix-disastrous-state-of

          1. Read that as “lock him up”, and thought that’s a bit harsh… better get me to specsavers.
            Seriously, people can claim to be anything on the interweb (and often do), and it’s difficult to check.

          2. There are quite a number of references to this guy. Not easy to fake them all. But if you are really looking for an expert (as opposed to discussing it on a forum like this) there are ways of following up the internet search and I would certainly pursue them. FRCA, MoD and NHS for starters, then his university etc etc.

    2. Why is it not true that a mask increases your CO2 intake? When you breathe out, some CO2 must be trapped behind the cloth, surely? All I can say is that wearing a mask makes me wheeze (I have never been asthmatic). I try to limit the time I have to wear one (a dust mask when I’m emptying the ash in the Rayburn and filling the coal hods) because of the side effects.

  91. I have just received this from a Wayne Allen; this is the second time he/she/it has tried this con. I merely deleted the first one, but this time I think I need to warn people.

    It is a very nasty form of attempted blackmail – obviously a phishing exercise in the hope that someone will bite. (And, in case you are wondering, no, that is not my scene; I don’t think reading The Conservative Woman can be counted a porn.)

    He has used an old password that I used to use for Amazon orders. It has since been changed – at Amazon’s request, so I wonder if they were getting problems.

    (The line of XX is where I’ve blanked out the defunct password.)

    And yes, I’ve deleted the message.

    Please be careful

    Annie

    “I know XXXXXXXXXX is one of your password on day of hack..

    Lets get directly to the point.

    Not one person has paid me to check about you.

    You do not know me and you’re probably thinking why you are getting this email?

    in fact, i actually placed a malware on the adult vids (adult porn) website and you know what, you visited this site to experience fun (youknow what i mean).

    When you were viewing videos, your browser started out operating as a RDP having a key logger which provided me with accessibility toyour display and web cam.

    immediately after that, my malware obtained every one of your contacts from your Messenger, FB, as well as email account.

    after that i created a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were viewing (you have a nice taste omg), and 2nd part displays therecording of your cam, and its you.

    Best solution would be to pay me $1022.

    We are going to refer to it as a donation. in this situation, i most certainly will without delay remove your video.

    My -BTC -address: 1JCUgimKqaf988zasFnqgwK1GQir1Gyszv

    [case SeNSiTiVe, copy & paste it]

    You could go on your life like this never happened and you will not ever hear back again from me.

    You’ll make the payment via Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search ‘how to buy bitcoin’ in Google).

    if you are planning on going to the law, surely, this e-mail can not be traced back to me, because it’s hacked too.

    I have taken care of my actions. i am not looking to ask you for a lot, i simply want to be paid.

    if i do not receive the bitcoin;, i definitely will send out your video recording to all of your contacts including friends and family, co-workers,and so on.

    Nevertheless, if i do get paid, i will destroy the recording immediately.

    If you need proof, reply with Yeah then i will send out your video recording to your 8 friends.

    it’s a nonnegotiable offer and thus please don’t waste mine time & yours by replying to this message.”

    2. It’s a widespread scam Anne, like Atilla I’ve received this before (almost word for word the same). Ignore it.

    3. Best solution would be to pay me $1022.

      I wonder how he arrived at this rather whimsical number?

    4. I had several of those a couple of years ago. He/they follow it up when they don’t hear from you. I ignored it, I should have blocked it but I’m not into blocking emails and it didn’t occur to me! Eventually they stop. I think I had probably three follow-up emails.

    5. Had something like that a couple of years ago.
      Reported to the poliss.
      Changed all my passwords (jayzuz, what a faff, there’s millions of the buggers) as the password was correct. But he was incorrect about where to get my contacts from! So I did nothing more. It’s quite a good scam, but even if it was true, who’d believe a blackmailer would actually delete the video? Just come back for more.

    6. I’ve had a few similar (but much briefer) ones saying they watched me on my computer’s camera……… needless to say I deleted them. Must check the spam filters again.

      1. I have a wee slidey thing that goes over the camera. When you want a video conference, you slide it open, when done, slide it closed.
        Can’t be too careful!

          1. Only when switched on. There’s usually a wee led next to it that lights when the camera is on. But others can hack your pc and take control of it…

          1. One of the crooks, one day, forgot to include the code for making it appear that it was from me – -and there was a full email address – -straight from Beijing. Ignored them all, the demand amount kept getting smaller, then they gave up altogether.

          2. I once got one from someone pretending to be Francois Hollande, complete with a picture of him and Gendarmes.
            Even if any of it were true I would say publish and be damned.

            I think it came from a hack at Linked-in.

          3. One of the crooks, one day, forgot to include the code for making it appear that it was from me – -and there was a full email address – -straight from Beijing. Ignored them all, the demand amount kept getting smaller, then they gave up altogether.

        1. If you spam ’em and block ’em even the junk folder gets next to nothing.

          Many of these come from the same source.

    10. I got one of those a few weeks ago. I may have sent it on to the police, I cannot remember. But probably not, as the police have not broken my door in at 4:00AM. So I probably just deleted it.

  92. 326979+ up ticks,

    I do believe the deal has already been done, as we have.
    Being in the hands of george useless only makes matters worse.

    breitbart,
    British government minister George Eustice — responsible for fisheries and food, key areas of disagreement in talks — said on Monday: “We really are now running out of time. This is the crucial week. We need to get a breakthrough.”

    Mr Eustace added: “I really do think we are now in to the final week or 10 days. Of course, if great progress were made this week — and you’re nearly there — it’s always possible to extend those negotiations.”

    2. Huh, wasn’t he a cartoon character – Useless Eustace I seem to remember from the distant past when we were young and carefree.

  93. For the benefit of Bill and probably boredom of everyone else, some pictures of my woodstacks:-

    First the Hollybush stack, so called because of the hollybush next to it:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2a6922b7858c286924fd68edb948e1568f254b176cb0a66fb21b79d313887fb0.jpg

    This is the one I’ve not quite finished restacking. I’m actually limited by the actual height of the stack rather than the space below the roof. It’s already over 6′ high! Also, I must get some extra wriggly tin to extend the roof overhang by a couple of feet:-
    he stack next to it is the one currently in use.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/83d46d7ffce3982e39c6aee0ea1d9e9d39acf7f8af76666efa2dd35a610cf53d.jpg

    Then there is the third of that group waiting to be started:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/564a563fc359b62d51466c68f0da0ac113367a79b468537279a7faa863d911eb.jpg

    And the Pantry Stack. The Pantry being on the other side of the house wall:-
    I’ve acquired a couple of pallets and stripped them down to reuse the wood. I must get the bits shifted and under cover!
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7dcc2a7a6e72945714b633c37931b44a1935aba87940bde42e86daaa98917f52.jpg

      1. Before I started, the front of what we call “The Car Port” was full of logs waiting to be cut, chopped and chucked over the Hollybush stack before stacking. It included some bloody big logs of ash from a tree that came down up the road.
        The yellow barrier came from down the road at Slinter Mill Corner where, I suspect, it had fallen off a wagon!
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5af249b7c9ae54d6b7c725bbb7ff232b1e1690ee93eeff5da593e38f6a33fcc7.jpg

        I also cut smaller sticks and stack them in those plastic mushroom trays for the open fire in my living room. They get stacked round the back of the house up what t’Lad named “Slinkin’s Lane” some 25 ordso years ago!
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/33f7f81c783f1e27a7ca741588baff892193d6294909d137f6169fe77ae3a3af.jpg

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c8ae5b1a2204b34d654a14edff3aa0ce7ba645f54a1e859810db09384e6252e8.jpg

        1. We live on Gentles Lane, not used in the address but named after a long departed resident. The girls when they were very young, and for obvious reasons, called it Puddle Lane!

      1. Removing logs from the bottom of the pile seriously risks the pile collapsing on top of you.

    8. You spoil your wood stacks, I just pile my wood outside then bring enough into the garage to maintain a stack about three feet high before feet wide.

    9. You spoil your wood stacks, I just pile my wood outside then bring enough into the garage to maintain a stack about three feet high before feet wide.

      1. OI!!
        All the wood comes from trees that have already fallen over, been killed off due to Dutch Elm of Dieback, of bits of tree that have dropped off.
        Only VERY rarely have I cut down a live tree and only then because leaving it to grow would cause problems like in being blown over and dropping onto the road.

    11. Works of art!
      Ours is stacked around the north and east sides of the house, but we have overhanging eaves to protect it from the weather.

  95. That’s me gone for the day. Another sunless, grey, misty, drizzly, wet day. Horrible. Fits in precisely with life today. Shyte.

    Still, Act 2 of Don Giovanni awaits – as do two demanding animals. And a glass of something soothing.

    A demain.

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