Sunday 24 January: The country needs a convincing plan for us to get our lives back

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but not as good as ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/01/24/letters-country-needs-convincing-plan-us-get-lives-back/

814 thoughts on “Sunday 24 January: The country needs a convincing plan for us to get our lives back”

  1. Alexi Navalny’s YouTube exposés make him a deadly opponent – and shame Britain’s hypocrisy. 24 January 2021.

    The continued hesitancy of Western governments, including Britain’s, in tackling Kremlin kleptocracy is shameful.

    The tide of dirty money corrupts our own system of government, allowing rich people to buy protection and influence. It also stokes the narrative, assiduously promoted by the Russian propaganda machine, that our talk of democracy and the rule of law is mere window-dressing.

    In the end, our system is just like theirs.

    Morning everyone. Actually it’s much worse! Putin is at least a patriot and has made vast improvements to both Russia and the condition of the Russian people. Who could we say that of here? The UK elites actively hate the indigenous population and are working assiduously to get rid of them! According to Biden half of the US electorate are “Terrorists” and “White Supremacists” who need to be suppressed! The “Free World”, as used to be, is now a Globalist Empire devoted to the exploitation of its inhabitants!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9180117/EDWARD-LUCAS-Alexi-Navalnys-YouTube-expos-s-make-deadly-opponent.html

      1. Same here on the s.Cambs border – we have just (12.30 pm) had a few snow/ice droplets for a minute or so, it looked promising, then it all fizzled out. The sky is very grey and slowly getting darker.

    2. ‘Morning, vvof, #MeToo but it’s not much though the temp is -2ºC so it may persist. The sky is quite grey.

      1. Morning NtN, I have been subjected to a surprise snowball attack from the grandkids. They thought they would get their first strike in early as the temperature is now +2.3.
        Smart kids, they even managed to throw snowballs meeting the recommended social distancing guidance although it decreased their accuracy. ⛄️

    1. Let’s hope that Biden isn’t doing the actual dialling. If so, any of us might receive a call from a confused old man.

    2. The Middle East had better prepare itself for the US to bomb it back to democracy.
      Hopey, Changey politics are back in town.

    4. I saw that. Very, very curious. He didn’t call Boris first out of any love of the UK, that’s for sure. Perhaps it was “We’ll get this one out of the way, I have to do it so let’s get it over with” but that doesn’t really work – he would have taken pleasure in calling Boris a week after he had done all the other calls.

      So – why? The only explanation I can offer, and it’s weak, is that he knows he will need the UK for something he is planning.

  4. Good morning all.

    There’s either a light dusting of snow out there, or a very heavy frost.

    1. “During the pandemic, Public Health England (PHE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated that fabric masks and home-made face coverings had some effectiveness in preventing an infectious but asymptomatic wearer from spreading the disease, in some circumstances, when used alongside other more established measures (social distancing, hand washing etc.) but that there was no evidence that these types of face-covering could protect the individual wearer against infection. Marketers are therefore advised to avoid implications that general face coverings are likely to protect the wearer from airborne infections, including COVID-19, unless they hold sufficient evidence to support such claims and be in a position to demonstrate that their products had been tested to, and meet, PPE standards.”

      Well I never. ……

      2. The best way to determine if a face mask will prevent the passage of a virus is to wear it for 5 minutes*. If during that period of time you have passed out, then the mask may possibly prevent the inhalation of viruses.

        *Ensure that you have a responsible person present during the trial. If you pass out they should immediately remove the mask. They should also be able to apply artificial respiration/defibrillator if required.

        Edited for yet another free typo from perpetrated ticks

        1. I frequently have up to 40 rooks and 70 jackdaws trying to steal the food I put out for the smaller birds.

          If I ever count just 19 of them I’ll self-flagellate (or whatever it is I’m supposed to do this week!).

  6. Morning, Campers.
    Bulletin posted on railing of Allan Towers:
    ‘MB splatted by vaccine; arm painful – particularly the armpit – and he is feeling out of sorts.’

    On the plus side, we have a stunningly beautiful pink sky that is throwing houses and trees into sharp silhouettes.
    Talk about a bowl of light.

      1. He had an invitation from our GP surgery – for that very day.
        Apparently 10 patients had turned down the offer, and he was next on the list – although, strictly speaking, he’s not in the right age group until next month.

  7. Anything else that may have slipped the government’s mind?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/01/23/government-quietly-changes-law-give-councils-lockdown-powers/

    Government quietly changes law to give councils lockdown powers until July 17 this year

    ‘Vaccinations will of course bring immunity from Covid, but they must bring immunity from lockdowns and restrictions too’

    By Christopher Hope, Chief Political Correspondent

    23 January 2021 • 9:00pm

    “The Government has quietly extended lockdown laws to give councils the power to close pubs, restaurants, shops and public spaces until July 17 this year.

    The news will be a major setback for those hoping that life might have returned to normal by early summer once more people are vaccinated against coronavirus.

    It comes after Boris Johnson admitted late last week that “it’s too early to say when we’ll be able to lift some of the restrictions”.

    The Government had pledged to review the lockdown measures in the middle of next month.

    The changes to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No.3) Regulations 2020 were made as part of a review of the third lockdown by Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, earlier this month.

    This law (originally introduced on July 18 last year) allows a local authority to close or limit access to premises or outdoor spaces in its area to prevent the spread of coronavirus, including stopping events.

    The regulation, which applies to England only, was due to expire last week but has now been extended until July 17, around the date when school summer holidays begin, as part of a slew of other measures.

    Mark Harper, the chairman of the Coronavirus Recovery Group of Tory MPs which is campaigning against unnecessary restrictions, said: “The extension of councils’ Covid powers until July will be of great concern to those worried about their jobs and businesses.

    “Given the limited time allowed for debate this change in the law was little noticed.

    “Once the top four risk groups have been vaccinated and fully protected by March 8, assuming the Government hits the February 15 deadline, the Government must start easing the restrictions.

    “Vaccinations will of course bring immunity from Covid, but they must bring immunity from lockdowns and restrictions too.”

    Tory MP Sir Charles Walker questioned why the powers needed to be extended until mid-July when the hope was an earlier release of social distancing restrictions.

    He said: “To start talking about opening days in July will cause many great concern.

    “The hope has to be that with the successful rollout of the vaccine, this summer date is only provisional with a spring opening being the preferred option.”

    Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, added: “It is surprising that they have been extended for so long when it remains uncertain what restrictions will be in place, and given that the large proportion of the population will be vaccinated by then.”

    A Department of Health source pointed out that MPs had voted for these national restrictions earlier this month.

    The source said: “The regulations that encompass the measures – including local authority powers – automatically expire after six months.

    “As we are currently in a national lockdown it was necessary to renew the regulations, which means they are automatically extended for another six months.

    “However, these measures are still subject to the statuary review point.”

    Mr Hancock said last week that for restrictions to be eased, deaths and hospital numbers had to be coming down, while the vaccine programme has to work, and there has to be no new threat from a new variant of Covid-19.”

    2. I sincerely hope that pubs, restaurants, shops and businesses unable to operate, will stop paying their business rates and council tax until they are allowed to resume. If the Councillors see their fat wages being affected, I bet their petty fiefdom lockdowns will cease.

    3. I thought the vaccine didn’t bring immunity from Covid – it just meant you could fight it more effectively.

  8. ‘Morning All

    Not sinister,no.no not sinister at all

    “Government quietly changes law to give councils lockdown powers until July 17 this year”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/01/23/government-quietly-changes-law-give-councils-lockdown-powers/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    Meanwhile the idiotcracy are still in full flow………….

    “Exclusive: Five million vaccinated Britons told to carry on ‘as if you have the virus’ by Jonathan Van-Tam”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/23/exclusive-five-million-vaccinated-britons-told-carry-have-virus/

    So the point of the vaccine is???????????

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EsaWOPDW8AA_1sW?format=jpg&name=small
    Once is happenstance….
    Twice is coincidence…..
    Third time?? That’s enemy action
    Our government has gone feral and rabid,time to put it down

    1. Re your last link, they deserve those mock-ups, for that disgusting poster campaign the government is running.

    2. These powers must give the Cornish Councils the power to prohibit events such as the G7 conference due in Cornwall in the Summer. Our incompetent PM would not like that but one must plan ahead.

  12. Unprecedented Navalny protests serve challenge to Putin. 25 January 2021.

    On Saturday night US President Joe Biden said: “We call on Russian authorities to release all those detained for exercising their universal rights and for the immediate and unconditional release of Aleksey Navalny.”

    Dominic Raab, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, tweeted: “The UK condemns the Russian authorities’ use of violence against peaceful protesters and journalists.” He added that the Russian government should “respect its international commitments on human rights and release citizens detained during peaceful demonstrations”.

    The sheer mindnumbing hypocrisy of it all!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/23/clashes-protests-support-navalny-sweep-across-russia/

    1. Breaking News…..
      Putin has bribed the entire TSG to move to Russia
      “I needed shock troops to police Moscow,after watching their performance against British citizens in Trafalgar Square It was a no-brainer”
      Edit manners
      ‘Morning Minty

    2. Breaking News…..
      Putin has bribed the entire TSG to move to Russia
      “I needed shock troops to police Moscow,after watching their performance against British citizens in Trafalgar Square It was a no-brainer”
      Edit manners
      ‘Morning Minty

        1. Indeed.

          Although the creature in the picture appears to have the correct colouring the tail looks a little on the thin side but the tip hasn’t been photographed.

          And it’s clearly in an urban environment. Perhaps a cross breed?

          There was a superb documentary on them a few years ago.

  15. BTL comment

    “Carpe Jugulum 23 Jan 2021 8:41PMThis

    is what you get when you have a scientifically illiterate government

    ‘leading’ a scientifically illiterate populace. A cycle of stupidity

    with an ever more terrified public demanding ever tighter restrictions

    from a government following poll results.

    Science led? Don’t make

    me laugh. Isn’t it odd that a large proportion of SAGE are psychologists

    tasked with increasing compliance? And what is their favourite tool?

    Fear. THAT is why we have ‘scientists’ using old data and entirely bogus

    graph projections. That is why we have different weekly ‘threats’ and

    ‘crises’.

    A basic convention of science is publish your data for

    scrutiny. Isn’t it more than a little odd that this wretched government

    has not published one iota of efficacy data for their restrictive

    policies? And where are the vost benefit analyses showing a net benefit

    from throwing cardiac and cancer patients to the wolves?

    This is a government of liars led by poll results. Science was abandoned in March 2020.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/lockdowns-border-closures-have-repeatedly-failed-time-let/

    2. I pointed out to one of my friends over the phone tonight that during the last war, the government was at pains to present a positive view and talk about victories. Currently, they seem to be ramping up the fear content to keep everybody cowering at home, locked up. What a contrast.

  17. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9180133/PETER-HITCHENS-really-epidemic-despair.html

    Interesting comment later on in his article.

    Of course that couldn’t have happened in the US elections.
    Could it?

    Over many years I’ve built up a reasonable number of such followers. But
    in recent weeks a very strange thing has begun to happen. People who
    follow me report that they have ‘unfollowed’ me mysteriously in the
    night. Or rather, they didn’t. Someone else took me off their list. I
    have no idea who is doing this, or why. I do know that several others
    who dissent from the majority view on Covid are having the same
    experience. It gives me the creeps, on quite a large scale.

    1. Hitchens. I just read that too. Probably people shouldn’t encourage Twitter to think it’s important by posting on there at all. I know some conservatives do sterling work spreading sanity, like Bob does, but the swamp is just too big.

      1. I don’t do Twitter, but if Journalists with major followings from centre right readers are being surreptitiously attacked they will publish the fact and hopefully more people will question what is going on, because there will be so many “straws in the wind” that even the politicians will notice.

        1. The root of the problem is that politicians take twitter too seriously, and seem to believe that it represents public opinion.

          1. True.
            It’s been weaponised by the woke. Trump used it to great effect and that’s another reason why they want to ban him from social media.

        2. I tweeted Hitchens and told him of our experience with positive votes disappearing. Then being unable to post on other sites because of a negative vote balance. I also told him it is happening across all social media that doesn’t follow the official narrative.

      2. I gave up Faceache recently, there are better alternatives if I feel the need to let people know what I had for breakfast, or to inform the burglars when the house is empty during my 10 yearly COVID permitted holiday.
        My problem is Twatter, I went to deactivate my account only to find I have been suspended and for quite some time. Now should I fight this social media giant in an attempt to get my account reactivated so I can deactivate it myself or should I leave well alone. Perhaps millions of suspended accounts will bring them to their knees.
        Decisions, decisions, decisions.
        It is reassuring that Faceache and Twatter market values has dropped considerably recently, over $51 billion and counting.

        2. There are some good sites on FB, particularly the local ones where local issues are discussed, items bought and sold and the music sites for particular instruments where you can get problems solved by more experienced members.

          1. Fallen by, which shows how dominant they are. Not a good thing to have so much clout in Zuckerberg’s hands IMHO.

    1. It’s just a fluff piece. While they are destroying Britain, globalists are always keen to be seen to be standing up for “Great British Culture.”

    2. Good morning Bill

      Sunny morning here after the deluge of rain earlier this morning .

      We watched the film you recommended , last night, ” The White Tiger “. The photography was superb as were the images of an India we don’t know about .

      We thought it was very good, but very disturbing , especially the veiled message/ threat at end of the film .

      Just wondering whether we know enough about Fishy Rishy ?

  21. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2021/01/23/TELEMMGLPICT000249349700_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqYbHyc_BzkV-wGdElElElaDJDzZ0ANirTOCm-VMfUfbA.jpeg?imwidth=640
    The fat sloth wanders around in his short sleeved shirt as he fellates Biden over the phone about the Greenscam
    No doubt the fossil-fuelled heating turned right up on this freezing day……..
    The perfect metaphor for the future,while we shiver in darkness and cold eating bugs and unable to travel the elites will enjoy balmy warmth,fillet steaks and exotic holiday using the Zil lane to the airport
    The MSM will support this entirely as they get the crumbs from the table
    (See scumbag Piers Morgan for details,how was Antigua by the way??)

    2. I always think that those who appear in public as such scruffs have no self-respect nor any respect for others.

      What a disappointment Boris is!

  22. Why do those on the left tolerate illegality and appease criminals and terrorists? This can be seen in the UK when the government tries to deport convicted criminals, especially from certain law firms and many in the Labour Party.

    However, the UK is not alone in this. In Joe Biden’s first day in office, the Department of Homeland Security issued a sweeping directive to ‘halt all deportations’ for 100 days. However, Biden took further action to release 14,000 illegal aliens in custody, which was not mentioned in his order to halt deportations. Over 70% of these illegals are convicted criminals.

    Also, unions in the US are up in arms about Biden’s job losses even though they supported him!

    I wonder how many Dems now have car stickers: “Come back Trump, all is forgiven”!

    And I wonder if our seemingly erstwhile liberal friend, Geoffrey Woollard, is having second thoughts, having described Biden’s inaugural speech as ‘moving’.

      1. Overcome with emulsion.
        Or Whitewater, as it’s also known. Wait for the Clintons to emerge from the ooze.

  23. My SDP has definitely caught the public mood. Now all we need is some votes

    Rod Liddle
    Sunday January 24 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times#

    I wonder if you can think back to a time when the Labour Party, captured by extremists, was led by a doddering, staggeringly inept leftie? Estranged from its voter base, it was heading blithely towards a landslide electoral defeat and the defection of moderate MPs to a new party they set up, which seemed indistinguishable from the Liberals.

    No, not 2019 and Magic Grandpa. There have been previous Magic Grandpas — even if the one I’m talking about was on a different intellectual plane from Jeremy Corbyn. The only thing they shared was dressing like the man who used to sell peanuts at Millwall matches. History repeats itself, not as farce, but as a noisome belch occasioned by acid reflux.

    Anyway, tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the Limehouse Declaration, when David Owen, Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams and the other one* got the hell out of Michael Foot’s rabble of a Labour Party and set up the SDP (Social Democratic Party). I trust you will be doing something fitting to mark the occasion, such as repeatedly banging your head against a wall.

    The SDP is still going. I am proud to be a member of what is possibly the fastest-growing party in the history of politics, given that we had about eight members two years ago and now have 2,000. That’s a 25,000 per cent increase, mate. More than 100 join every month, according to our excellent leader, William Clouston.

    I speak to Will most days — that’s one of the pleasures of being in such a small cabal. Another is that we can hold our annual meeting without flouting Covid restrictions. We have lots of academics and writers, but what we need is a big name to help us secure our political breakthrough and hence prepare for government. Occasionally Will rings me with the exciting news that we have got the chap who played bass on an early Uriah Heep album, and we mull over whether this will give us the momentum we deserve. We stick at it, though, because the polls suggest we are right. There is an enormous constituency of voters for a social market party that is left-leaning economically but patriotic, communitarian, traditionalist and pro-family and has no time whatsoever for divisive identitarian politics.

    We recognise a need to invest in industry and education, but at the same time cleave strongly to the notion that a person with a todger is a man. On that, as on so many issues, we have the public entirely on our side. It’s just that the public don’t know that yet.

    The Limehouse Declaration, seen from afar, is scarcely impressive, concerning itself with Labour’s myriad defects and failing to recognise the attraction Margaret Thatcher held for so many working-class voters.

    The real problem, though, was that of the “Gang of Four” who made that declaration — Owen, Williams, Jenkins and that other one — only Owen, a brilliant politician, was actually a social democrat. The rest were basically Liberals, both lower and upper case. Hence a merger, against Owen’s wishes, with David Steel’s Liberal Party and the SDP’s effective extinction.

    The “Democrat” bit of Ed Davey’s hilarious coven is the vestigial tail of our own party and we may sue him to get it back. The Liberals would be the last party with which a true social democrat would align themself.

    Owen, by contrast, was patriotic, strong on defence and a Eurosceptic, all policies the SDP continues to this day. I spoke to Lord Owen on Friday. He was, as ever, charming, loquacious, haughty and astute, perhaps the finest prime minister we never had, if Ernest Bevin will forgive me. The Liberals had been a grave problem right from the beginning, he said — and Jenkins had been a liberal for a very long time.

    Owen sits as an Independent Social Democrat in the Lords, the man who came closer than anybody, including Nigel Farage, to overturning our rancid two-party system. The SDP-Liberal Alliance came just two percentage points behind Labour in 1983.

    You may see us out campaigning from time to time. We have a car, you see. On the roof is a big SDP placard thing. Will drives the car and shouts out stuff like “Vote SDP!” every now and then, through a loudspeaker. People see us and sometimes respond by forming their hand into a fist and waving it up and down at us, which gives us encouragement. The dawn will surely not be long in coming.

    *The other one was, of course, Bill Rodgers. I knew it would come back to me eventually.

    Prime minister challenged

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Fsundaytimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F31631baa-5d97-11eb-9757-b51ef053b3e2.jpg?crop=1500%2C1000%2C0%2C0&resize=1022

    Obsessives seeing evil everywhere</u.
    Further dispatches from the front line of the deranged obsessives’ war against everything. Two of the world’s top chess players, Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri, have played a game in which — contrary to 100 or so years of tradition — black moved first. This was, they explained, a “symbolic gesture” against racism. It raises the question as to whether white, with his inherent privilege, should be allowed to move at all during a game.

    Meanwhile, Leicester University has dumped boring old Geoffrey Chaucer from its syllabus so as to concentrate on literature with race, ethnic and gender themes. Perhaps the Wife of Bath’s naked buttocks hanging out of a window doesn’t do it for them any more.

    Better still, York University has removed an image of the three wise monkeys — see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil — from its website as they perpetuate racial stereotypes. It never occurred to me that the monkeys — of Japanese origin — were anything other than monkeys. If it occurred to the idiots at York, they must be racist themselves. Maybe we should ban monkeys entirely and have done with it.

    Varying degrees of Hancock-speak
    The health secretary, Matt Hancock, says one of the conditions for lifting Covid restrictions will be “no new variants”.

    Isn’t that a bit like saying “when all geese learn to speak fluent English” or “when hell freezes over”? There are new variants of the coronavirus emerging every day — an estimated 1,000 since the original outbreak. Like all other viruses, it will continue to mutate.

    Is he trying to tell us something? Or did he just, as they say, misspeak?

    Breathe in and be quids in with Covid
    I must say I rather liked the Department of Health’s proposal to pay people £500 to self-isolate with the coronavirus. It was exciting — a kind of “Catch Covid and win a Metro”.

    You can imagine the conversations at home, too. “We’re a bit skint this month, love. Go and stand outside that care home and breathe in a lot.”

    The government now seems to have gone cool on the idea.

    1. I don’t know if Liddle is being ironic about the SDP but there are two things against their name for a start.

      I have learnt by experience that you cannot trust any party or Country with Democrat or Democratic in its name and, when combined with Social, that stamps is as heading for Marxist Communism.

      I wouldn’t touch it with a barge-pole.

      1. Best to avoid the antiquated obsolete political terms and do what Macron did and simply name the party with the same initials as your own name.

        Join me.

      2. The name indicates what it’s not.
        Democratic isn’t.
        Conservative – anything but.
        Liberal – are you ‘avin a giraffe?
        Peoples – dictatorship for the ruleing elite

  24. 328798+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,

    “Country needs a convincing plan for us to get our lives back”
    May one ask, whom does one look to to take on such a quest ?

    We have had openly for the last three decades the so called right V the left, ALL politico’s concerned from the same mold
    then divided into three party’s of the same odious ilk.

    The peoples ( electorate ) played their part every time, nose
    gripping, best of the worst, party before Country, supporting
    and giving carte blanche to the political close shop.

    Only one party twice showed success once winning the eu elections, then the design & triggering of the referendum
    all it received in return was castigation, treachery much from those who after the referendum went back into their party first whatever the consequences mode, ie job done leave it to the tory’s.

    Up until the 24/6/2016 the toxic trio were pro eu rubber stampers & happy to be so, what did the ovis expect an instant political conversion to pro UK ? they even stood down the proven UK guardian party in lieu off relying on the
    lab/lib/con coalition party unbloodybelievable.

    What has been achieved since the 24/6/2016 is a doubling
    of our woeful stance as a nation, and that was NEVER intended by the original very pro UK referendum planners.

  25. Lucky Golfer

    A golfer playing in Ireland hooked his drive into the woods. Looking for his ball, he found a little Leprechaun flat on his back, a big bump on his head and the golfer’s ball beside him. Horrified, the golfer got his water bottle from the cart and poured it over the little guy, reviving him.

    ‘Arrgh! What happened?’ the Leprechaun asked.

    ‘I’m afraid I hit you with my golf ball,’ the golfer says.

    ‘Oh, I see. Well, ye got me fair and square. Ye get three wishes, so whaddya want?’

    ‘Thank God, you’re all right!’ the golfer answers in relief. ‘I don’t want anything, I’m just glad you’re OK, and I apologise.’

    And the golfer walks off. ‘What a nice guy,’ the Leprechaun says to himself. ‘I have to do something for him. I’ll give him the three things I would want… a great golf game, all the money he ever needs, and a fantastic sex life.’

    A year goes by and the golfer is back. On the same hole, he again hits a bad drive into the woods and the Leprechaun is there waiting for him. ‘Twas me that made ye hit the ball here,’ the little guy says. ‘I just want to ask ye, how’s yer golf game?’

    ‘My game is fantastic!’ the golfer answers. I’m an internationally famous golfer now.’ He adds, ‘By the way, it’s good to see you’re all right.’

    ‘Oh, I’m fine now, thank ye. I did that fer yer golf game, you know. And tell me, how’s yer money situation?’

    ‘Why, it’s just wonderful!’ the golfer states. ‘When I need cash, I just reach in my pocket and pull out $100.00 bills. I didn’t even know they were there!’

    ‘I did that fer ye also.’ And tell me, how’s yer sex life?’

    The golfer blushes, turns his head away in embarrassment, and says shyly, ‘It’s OK.’

    C’mon, c’mon now,’ urged the Leprechaun, ‘I’m wanting to know if I did a good job. How many times a week?’

    Blushing even more, the golfer looks around then whispers, ‘Once, sometimes twice a week.’

    ‘What??’ responds the Leprechaun in shock. ‘That’s all? Only once or twice a week?’

    ‘Well,’ says the golfer, ‘I figure that’s not bad for a Catholic priest in a small parish.’

    1. It’s Saturday morning and Bob’s just about to set off on a round of golf, when he realizes that he forgot to tell his wife that the guy who fixes the washing machine is coming around at noon. So Bob heads back to the clubhouse and phones home.

      “Hello?” says a little girl’s voice.

      “Hi, honey, it’s Daddy,” says Bob. “Is Mummy near the phone?”

      “No, Daddy. She’s upstairs in the bedroom with Uncle Frank.”

      After a brief pause, Bob says, “But you haven’t got an Uncle Frank, honey!”

      “Yes, I do, and he’s upstairs in the bedroom with Mummy!”

      “Okay, then. Here’s what I want you to do. Put down the phone, run upstairs and knock on the bedroom door and shout in to Mummy and Uncle Frank that my car’s just pulled up outside the house.”

      “Okay, Daddy!” A few minutes later, the little girl comes back to the phone. “Well, I did what you said, Daddy.”

      “And what happened?”

      “Well, Mummy jumped out of bed with no clothes on and ran around screaming, then she tripped over the rug and went out the front window and now she’s all dead.”

      “Oh, my God! What about Uncle Frank?”

      “He jumped out of bed with no clothes on too, and he was all scared and he jumped out the back window into the swimming pool. But he must have forgot that last week you took out all the water to clean it, so he hit the bottom of the swimming pool and now he’s dead too.”

      There is a long pause.

      “Swimming pool? Is this 854-7039?”

    2. I have asked Caroline to translate this and then give it to the new young (well, 35 is young for a priest in Brittany) priest in our parish! It might encourage him to take up golf.

    4. Nope… still ginger cats. That’s not a very good magic trick there, Bill!
      Mornings!

    7. I guess you’ve found out that home is where cat hairs stick to everything except the cat.
      I reckon I get a bucketful every year

    8. You look a lot more contented in the second picture – can’t say the same for the cats 🙂

  30. Good morning to all from a distinctly dull & nippy Derbyshire. It’s not raining, hasn’t snowed overnight, but at a tad below -3°C on the yard thermometer, the water that flows acoss the road in wet weather is rather slushy.
    About time I went up the road to unblock the grids on the rainwater gullies.

        1. About 2 inches here overnight. A small group of teenagers were out very early. Only snow during lockdown could get them out of bed before midday on a Sunday.

      1. I’ve just been over the road to clear the grids on the rainwater gullies to help slow down the build up of ice on the junction.

    1. Morning Citroen

      Slightly off topic re Country file this morning , some twerp suggested the Cheddar Gorge should be closed to traffic, pedestrians only , to experience the peace and quiet of the Gorge !!

      1. Morning Belle, if you know Cheddar Gorge a couple of questions spring to mind, primarily will all the puffing and panting after walking up the gorge drown out the peace and quiet?
        Closing it to traffic has happened before, I once was stopped by plod early in the morning driving down the gorge and told to switch off my engine and wait. It turned out they were filming an episode of casualty and didn’t fancy me and my vehicle in shot.

        1. I hope the show paid for the Police presence in stopping you going about your lawful business.

          2. Yes. They do. Just as football clubs have to pay for police presence at matches.

            Something period was filmed in Pickering when I lived in Yorkshire and the local plod were all on over-time keeping traffic out of the relevant streets, courtesy of the film company.

  34. Good morning my friends

    The new language of love reveals modern dating’s cold-blooded chaos
    ‘Vulturing’, ‘doxxing’ and ‘eclipsing’ are just some of the terms on a list drawn up by the CPS to help its lawyers understand young people

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/new-language-love-reveals-modern-datings-cold-blooded-chaos/

    A strange article about the horrors of on-line dating by Zoe Strimpnel which mentions how would-be-daters stalk their prey on sites like Facebook.

    A BTL comment I enjoyed:

    Nick Clegg boasted that he had slept with about 30 women – in the most liberal and democratic fashion, no doubt. This clearly made him an ideal person to work for Facebook which seems to be an on-line pimping agency.

    I am pretty confident that there are very few people who would use the Nottlers’ Forum as a dating supermarket!

    1. It was the grim realisation when going to a social event as a teenager that I was one of the youngest there, and unless I was a gerontophile (i.e. anyone over 20), there were slim pickings.

      Go on a few decades, and I am in my mid-40s, and hope to find someone suitable going to an “All Age Service” at my local parish church. Alas, I am still one of the youngest there.

      I am now in my mid-60s, nottling, and guess what?

      The year I was born, there were 2.8 billion people living on the planet. Now there are 7.8 billion. Where are they all?

        1. What’s that got to do with the price of cabbages? I don’t think I’ve made any such admission.

          1. No email contact, then? You must have had SOME contact because you told me you knew her real surname – Basta! I think you added.

    1. Sheer filth. While people running their own businesses go bust. And anyway, didn’t they receive a £10,000 bonus last year to cover extra expenses of Covid.

      How long before MPs’ blood is coursing down the gutters?

      1. They more than double their salaries with claimed ‘expenses’.
        They cost the taxpayers over 270milion without including their staffing. And unfortunately they are mainly useless.
        Meanwhile everyone below their arranged status struggles.
        I can’t remember her name but the lady who was put in charge of checking on expenses cheats in parliament didn’t last long in her job.

      2. 328798+ up ticks,
        Morning R,
        Makes one wonder as one wondered before then, then,
        then & then how these peoples get into power, who votes for them, they only have one mother ?

      3. It will not happen. Rastus.

        Lynching mobs are made up of people with gonads. No balls = no lynching.

        1. His testiculary duty to be done, to be done
          Oh a lyncher’s life is not an ‘appy one
          Nappy one!

    2. And while the public struggle our political dung heap reaches further heights.
      Is there no end to the audacity of all these gravy train political ponces.

    3. Thank you for that – I think! Those greedy bar stewards. My blood is boiling and my BP must have gone sky high again. They have NO morals or principles. To hell with the lot of them.

    1. Tosspot Terrace, Wanker Way, Virtue-Signaller View, Social Justice Warrior Walk, Soppy Street, Spineless Strand, Commie Corridor, Limp Dim Drive, Right-On Road, Pillock Place …

    4. Why aren’t the rest “taking the knee” to the chap in the middle/back row? And why is he even in the back row?

      2. Neither Suffolk nor Sussex has a police “commissioner”; that pretentious rank only exists in London. They have Chief Constables.

        Funny? Not really.

    1. Thank you for the link, Bob, it makes interesting reading, as do the BTL comments – complete with more trolls than you can shake a stick at.

      1. I thought it was an excellent article. I’ve found myself thinking several times over the past year “well that won’t happen will it? Surely people will see through that?” Brexit, covid, Sturgeon, American election, – things that seem so obviously wrong and deceitful that they can’t possibly happen – and then they do! It’s like having your legs kicked away…and I know all about that!

  41. I had news this morning that my good friend John had passed away over night. Not covid related.
    I was only looking at old photos yesterday from our time together in South Africa.
    I’ll be off for the time being.
    I’ve got a funeral of another life long friend on Tuesday.
    And now it’s snowing.

          1. Are you certain you shouldn’t be going in today, or at least talking to the NHS hotline?

          6. Well, we’re bloody not!! What would we do without your endless supply of dreadful jokes? I’m from a medical family so steer clear of doctors as much as possible but I’m absolutely with those asking you to please call the hospital at least!

          7. Hi Phizzee. Didn’t your GP tell you to phone 999 if things worsened? I really think you should call them.

          10. Phizzee, this is now an A&E moment – left arm and hand. If you haven’t by now already checked with A&E, please do so with all vitesse, whilst you are still in control. Apart from the fact that we would miss you if anything happened to you, we would, well….. really really miss you. Please get some advice.

          11. Kind of you to say so. I will be posting my experience today. There would have been no point in going because none of the teams i needed to see were there.

            Thanks for your concern.

    3. I’m so sorry Eddy. A young, unanticipated death makes us look hard at our own lives and cause such sadness. Bless you.

    1. I’ve just been reading that.
      I don’t have enough scientific knowledge to put the rare metal knowledge into context, but we all know about the West exporting its pollution and the slavery in Africa.

      1. China is doing much of the polluting for its own, not the West’s, benefit.

        Once the West’s Greeniacs have tipped the balance past the point of no return, China will really turn the screw.
        Biden’s administration will be their stooges, the cancellation of Trump’s energy initiatives is merely a first step.

  43. Hancock this morning saying travel restrictions are to get tougher and that it is still a “long long way” before lockdown restrictions can be lifted. [Sky News and The Independent] Many more people in the next few years are going to die because of essential care and treatments for non Covid cases being delayed and postponed.

    1. These people are [expletive deleted] deranged; we need a full, impartial investigation into why only one lot of “the science” is being listened to, why that view is not being subjected to peer review, and why so much money is being wasted. We also need a full analysis about whether the fallout from the lockdown, in terms of physical and mental health and financial implications, is actually worse than the virus!

    1. tch tch Anne didn’t you know that The Science fully supports the fact that gender is a social construct? Science is always on our side, as long as we arrange the entrails correctly!

    2. The majority of people do not think that men who claim to be women should be allowed into woman’s lavatories or sent to women’s prisons if they are criminal.

      The fact that politicians no longer give a toss about what people think does not suggest that they have any respect for democracy. This must augment the suspicion so many people have that the US election has not produced the correct result.

          1. FREE SPEECH VITAL IN GENDER DEBATE
            We are dismayed by recent attacks on free speech within universities. Earlier this month hundreds of academics signed an open letter against a professor being appointed an OBE for her services to academia.

            The letter falsely intimated that Professor Kathleen Stock, of Sussex University, is transphobic. It ignored both the service she has given and the achievement of any woman in reaching such seniority in a male-dominated sector.

            We are concerned that anyone who questions whether sex can be equated with gender identity will be vilified in this way. The closing-down of speech about the fact that sex is immutable has become a weapon by which women are silenced, harassed and attacked.

            It is even more concerning that some parts of the media have taken up the cause of vilifying any woman who speaks out about the attempts to erode women’s hard-won rights.

            A free press is essential for democracy, yet much of our media seems to have been captured by a lobby group determined to erase the protected characteristic of sex under the Equality Act 2010 and punish those who dare to challenge the gender identity orthodoxy.

            Julie Bindel, author; Professor Rosa Freedman, University of Reading; Dr Katie Alcock, University of Lancaster; Professor Rosemary Auchmuty, University of Reading; Dr Shereen Benjamin, University of Edinburgh; Jonny Best, University of Huddersfield; Dr Michael Biggs, University of Oxford; Dr Iain Brassington, University of Manchester; Dr Richard Collins, University College Dublin; Professor David Curtis, University College London; Dr Philip Cunliffe, University of Kent; Professor Andrew Davies, University of Liverpool; Dr Madeleine Davies, University of Reading; Professor Coel Hellier, Keele University; Dr Anna Hartnell, Birkbeck, University of London; Claire Heuchan, author; Dr Emma Hilton, University of Manchester; Dr Jane Clare Jones, The Institute of Feminist Thought; Dr Holly Lawford-Smith, University of Melbourne; Professor Catriona McKinnon, University of Exeter; Dr Alison McClean, University of the West of England; Professor Michele Moore, London South Bank University; Dr Nick Osbaldiston, James Cook University; Professor Sarah Pedersen, Robert Gordon University; Dr Jon Pike, Open University; Dr Hannah Quirk, Kings College London; Dr Helen Rogers, Liverpool John Moores University; Raquel Rosario Sánchez, Dominican writer, campaigner and researcher; Dr Danielle Sinnett, University of the West of England; Dr Jessica Taylor, chief executive, Victim Focus; Professor Andrew Tettenborn, University of Swansea; Professor Selina Todd, University of Oxford; Dr Suzy Tutchell, University of Reading; Professor Colin Wight, University of Sydney; Professor Robert Wintemute, Kings College London

          4. And remember that Jordon Peterson lost his position at Cambridge University because of his outrageous refusal to comply with strict pronoun wokery.

            And is Mr Johnson not prepared to say anything about this because his paramour has got him by the goolies and is threatening to squeeze if he says anything?

          5. I do find it ironic and hypocritical of the TERFs to throw their arms up in horror at not now being at the top of the intersectional tree. We did warn them that this was likely to happen. They picked the wrong side, and not for the first time.

    3. Nursey, why do you permit “sonny boy” to read the Guardian? Isn’t it time you sent him to stand in the corner?

        1. Two things to say about that:

          1. No lad, no matter how big, should ever disrespect his mum.
          2. No corner is too small for a big lad to be sent to stand in.
          😉

          1. “Mother Going Quiet” reduces grown men to a jelly.
            However, he lives on the other side of town and I can’t watch him 24/7.

      2. I don’t know how that happened. I have never knowingly downvoted anyone. I have managed to remove it.

        2. We’ve all done it by accident. There’s only one who does it regularly. The best is to get all Jesuitical and downvote your own post.

    3. I vote for a 300 metre statue in a kilometer square park praising Lady T.

      More, it must be required for every Labour voter to kneel in front of it and give thanks. When they no doubt try to deface it, they are shot.

  46. Sunday Mail Story today:

    ITV is under pressure to kick Rufus Hound off Dancing on Ice for claiming Theresa May planned the Manchester Arena terror attack to help Tories win the election

    We all know that she was probably one of the most mendacious people ever to enter 10 Downing Street.

    We all know she had a very peculiar relationship with her father whose death in a road accident was considered suspicious.

    I loathe and despise the repulsive woman but even I think it is probably an accusation too far to say that she is a Muslim terrorist.

    1. The Police had warnings about suspicious activity a week before the event. They did nothing. As Home Secretary and then as P.M the buck stops with her.

      1. It should have, but to state that she planned it to win an election seems more than far-fetched.

      2. The police were probably too scared to take action in case they appeared RACIST or ISLAMOPHOBIC!

        1. Wasn’t that exactly why one of the security men didn’t question the bomber who was lurking around in a suspicious manner?

    2. That’s edgy comedy.

      “Joke” that the attack was a Muslim atrocity that went wrong because the terrorist took his wrong rucksack, and you are stirring hatred against Muslims.

    3. There is certainly something very sinister about the events that happened before and during the attack

      1. Yes, but it was just managers shaving the budget and employees being lazy. In other words – normality, except they went too far.

    4. Why aren’t twats like that idiot with the stupid name taken outside and thrashed with a stick for making such remarks? In a sensible country, that still had discipline, they would be.

      1. He also made a comment when he won a gold ticket to go through to musicals week that nothing could surprise him any more when the government refused to feed starving children – what that had to do with fannying around on an ice rink is anyone’s guess.

        1. A very important? platform for his pompous, ignorant, virtue signalling grandstanding! What more could he want?

      3. If only. The man is a spoiled, stupid Lefty. Some of the nonsense he has come out with is the stuff of a petty, brattish whelp.

        I honestly cannot understand how someone likes him thinks. Does he think the state is responsible for everything? That it must feed and clothe, parent and teach everyone, all the time? Give everyone a home on a whim?

        If a child is starving, look at the parents. I’ll bet you’ll find them with the latest telephone and tv, festooned with tattoos and nonsense.

        Perhaps if the state didn’t take quite so much from people and reward so generously those who shouldn’t be breeding the cycle would break and useless, feckless parents wouldn’t have children in the first place and the herd of gormless morons would be thinned. Truy, it’s fecking tiresome dealing with such fools as this Hound berk. Does responsibility and self discipline mean nothing to them, or must someone else provide for your every whim on demand? If so, he can have Mongo’s vet’s bill. £1300 please.

  49. Things are moving afoot slowly at the ‘New House’

    The carpet/oven cleaner was here yesterday (twas just too be for the morning, but he lingered longer)

    Just been cleaning the inside of a double glazed window frame, as the top one would not close properly (infact none do!):I
    have discovered the source of Covid!! Look out Porton Down

    We have just over a week before the furniture comes, at least the removal will not have to wipe their feet when they leave now

    Off to strip Lidl’s shelves of more cleaning stuff

  50. Things are moving afoot slowly at the ‘New House’

    The carpet/oven cleaner was here yesterday (twas just too be for the morning, but he lingered longer)

    Just been cleaning the inside of a double glazed window frame, as the top one would not close properly (infact none do!):I
    have discovered the source of Covid!! Look out Porton Down

    We have just over a week before the furniture comes, at least the removal will not have to wipe their feet when they leave now

    Off to strip Lidl’s shelves of more cleaning stuff

    1. What made you move there OLT? Were you unable to view the dirt before you made that decision?

      1. Yo Nd

        With Covid, you are not allowed to open doors

        The Estate agent blocked viewing in a lot of rooms

        We were a silly

        But WE WILL WIN

          1. We are managing

            We have ’til 02 Feb, to get the bulk of the cleaning done

            We have already

            converted the ‘ornamental fish pond’ in the bathroom back to a shower by unblocking the drain,

            recycled unwanted, not working fridge

            Cleaned most of kitchen cupboards (if the RSPCA came round, the place would be classed as unfit for dog}

            Skipped lots of left bitz ie Bench, chairs, table bedhead, lotsa binbags etc

            We cooked food toady, as we adjudged it to be safe

    1. This a forgery, pure and simple. You can see the girls joining, having fun giving as good as they got. It is known fact that prior to 1980 women were all oppressed creatures terrified of men and entirely unable to assert themselves. OTOH it must be said that no one ever told my mother about that.

        1. Only as part of a plan from recollection. When the women in my family went all modest and obedient, they were up to something. It’s a technique of man management that modern girls have abandoned.

    2. They built a remarkable “double” house in Cap d’Ail – about 200 yards from where we lived for two years. Each brother had a wing. After their death, it fell into disrepair – and was bought by a developer (English) who started renovation – but ran out of dosh. It remains empty – bar the pigeons who get in through the open vent to the left shaft.

      A terrible shame.

      https://youtu.be/iAeNVRoN7tc (The first 30 seconds show the front).

          2. In fact the gare IS about half a mile away…! There is a bus that is so infrequent and unreliable that no one ever bothers with it but walks!

          3. My first visit to France was in 1967. Stayed with a Normandy Farmer and his family not far from Lillebonne…

          6. I made it four years before you, but I went to Paris. At the time I knew Paris better than I knew London (now pretty much both are unrecognisable).

          13. It is a myth (to continue that thread!) that Cap d’Ail is named after garlic. It isn’t. It comes from the medieval Italian built Tour d’Aglio – “Bee Tower”.

            There is no charge for this information!

    3. That little slice of history is utterly captivating. That poor cyclist. And he leaves his hat behind.

  53. It was all white here this morning but its stopped snowing now. I dont expect it will last.

    1. We had a light dusting, mostly light hail and a bit of light snow. Bearly settling, if at all. The local rag predicted flooding across the county border. Ain’t gonna happen.

          2. Earlier this year would be recent (I would call anything this month recent).

            I think I would call that a considerable volume rather than a decent one though 😉

  54. Just in case you haven’t been keeping up (and that probably includes 60 million of us). Mr Ward has produced this Executive Summary:

    “Right – pay attention because we must be clear about this: if you test positive for Covid19, don’t panic because (a) it’s probably a false result and (b) if it isn’t, you’re going to be OK almost half certainly because HCQ and Ivermectin didn’t work under Trump but now he’s gone they do and everyone will be vaccinated within the next decade or two anyway, although you may get the best one second of all and the first one may need a second jab within two, seven or fifteen weeks – there’s a bit of a bunfight going on about that but we’re getting there – and if you get a Brazilian or Kentish mutant that’s alright because while we’re 50% absolutely certain that at least one (it’s not clear which) of the wonder-vaccines will see it off although at least one (it’s not clear which) of the deadly new strains is even more deadly, but nothing like as bad as the South African one (it’s a virus or a vaccine, we’re not sure which) in that it produces ten times more cases but few deaths, unlike either the Kentish or Brazilian (who the fuck cares which) that produce fewer cases among the old but newer cases among the young although the deaths may well be less deadly and the cases past their sell-by date

    Other tests may show that you’re either a denialist non-violent (or violently domestic) terrorist but new strains of terrorist are being found hourly by President Biden as he searches his brain for clues about who’s going into the internment camps, why they might, what Hillary and Nancy think and who he is anyway. The terrorist mutations produce new professions and nationalities every day and so the situation is rapidly changing, but it’s a good bet that if you’re a Russian vote checker whistle-blowing Capitol-bomber real estate agent, you should take every opportunity to wash your hands of Trump.

    On that particular front, Britain has once more scored a notable first in that Boris Johnson was the runaway winner in the First to Crawl Telephonically Up Biden’s annus horribilis stakes. And in what has been a week full of cleaner air and medical clarification, Deputy Chief UK Medical Officer Van-Tam rounded things off appropriately by warning that a change of behaviour could still spread the virus, so to behave as if they haven’t been vaccinated at all.”

  55. Just in case you haven’t been keeping up (and that probably includes 60 million of us). Mr Ward has produced this Executive Summary:

    “Right – pay attention because we must be clear about this: if you test positive for Covid19, don’t panic because (a) it’s probably a false result and (b) if it isn’t, you’re going to be OK almost half certainly because HCQ and Ivermectin didn’t work under Trump but now he’s gone they do and everyone will be vaccinated within the next decade or two anyway, although you may get the best one second of all and the first one may need a second jab within two, seven or fifteen weeks – there’s a bit of a bunfight going on about that but we’re getting there – and if you get a Brazilian or Kentish mutant that’s alright because while we’re 50% absolutely certain that at least one (it’s not clear which) of the wonder-vaccines will see it off although at least one (it’s not clear which) of the deadly new strains is even more deadly, but nothing like as bad as the South African one (it’s a virus or a vaccine, we’re not sure which) in that it produces ten times more cases but few deaths, unlike either the Kentish or Brazilian (who the fuck cares which) that produce fewer cases among the old but newer cases among the young although the deaths may well be less deadly and the cases past their sell-by date

    Other tests may show that you’re either a denialist non-violent (or violently domestic) terrorist but new strains of terrorist are being found hourly by President Biden as he searches his brain for clues about who’s going into the internment camps, why they might, what Hillary and Nancy think and who he is anyway. The terrorist mutations produce new professions and nationalities every day and so the situation is rapidly changing, but it’s a good bet that if you’re a Russian vote checker whistle-blowing Capitol-bomber real estate agent, you should take every opportunity to wash your hands of Trump.

    On that particular front, Britain has once more scored a notable first in that Boris Johnson was the runaway winner in the First to Crawl Telephonically Up Biden’s annus horribilis stakes. And in what has been a week full of cleaner air and medical clarification, Deputy Chief UK Medical Officer Van-Tam rounded things off appropriately by warning that a change of behaviour could still spread the virus, so to behave as if they haven’t been vaccinated at all.”

      1. Hi Grizz! Not too bad, thanks! Have galloped about the house, had a shower, taken me pills and done me physio! As I’m not used to sitting about, I find it a bit gruelling but then I never had a lot of patience! Taking my time, as I’ve been told!

        1. Word of warning; don’t rush to rub moisturiser into the wounded area.
          They will push that one (keep the scar elastic etc….) but it can cause problems if done too soon.
          The only time I had a problem that made me go back to the surgery was a few days after I’d started massaging E45 into the area.

          1. Thanks Anne! My dear friend who died last year was told the same but when I went in to her on several occasions after her carer had been in, she was slathered in Diprobase! I removed it and phoned the council, let them know but it continued. Sadly, she was whipped into hospital after a couple of days and never came home again. Obviously, not the prime cause but certainly a contributory factor. Ironic that we had both worked for Home Care with the council.

  57. RT: Video shows smoke rising over Houses of Parliament in London. Alarm heard, no confirmed emergency at present …

    1. It’s Ok probably means they’ve elected a new Covid Pope with a fresh approach to Papal Covid Bull…

    2. It’s probably just another MP’s pants going on fire. The Emergency Services have great experience of such situations and are well-trained to handle them. It happens all the time…

    3. White or black? Have they elected a new PM?
      Edit: I see Stephenroi was thinking along the same lines.

    4. Probably nothing serious (not on the DT, BBC website or Sky News website, at least not yet). As someone who has worked on projects in that building, its electrics have been apparently overloaded for decades, and have to regulalry juggle the load to avoid problems when refurbished areas and replacement or new equipment is proposed.

      I never saw any myself, but small fires have been known to happen from time to time. Note also there a number of fire places, though I suspect very few are ever used as originally intended – some original ‘warm air heating’ systems are now Heath-Robinson air paths for modern(ish) ventilation systems.

      There also has been a LOT of building work going on – esepcially on Big Ben and isnide the roof areas, which house a considerable amount of building services equipment.

  58. As I have frequently advised, human stupidity is accelerating daily, as a persusal of any page in any newspaper will testify.

    Stupidity per se, though, is not a new thing since it has been observed throughout the ages by many observant people:

    “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity.”
    Albert Einstein

    “It would be a great reform in politics if wisdom could be made to spread as easily and rapidly as folly.”
    Winston Churchill

    “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.”
    “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
    “Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
    Mark Twain

    “Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.”
    Frank Zappa

    “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise half of them are stupider than that.”
    “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”
    George Carlin

    “Remember, when you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It is only painful for others. The same applies when you are stupid.”
    Ricky Gervais.

    “The English mind is always in a rage. The intellect of the race is wasted in the sordid and stupid quarrels of second-rate politicians or third-rate theologians.”
    “There is no sin except stupidity.”
    “It is the stupid and the ugly who have the best of it in this world.”
    “Most people are boring and stupid.”
    Oscar Wilde.

    “In my opinion, we don’t devote nearly enough scientific research into finding a cure for jerks.”
    Bill Watterson

    “In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.”
    “The fool has one great advantage over a man of sense: he is always satisfied with himself.”
    Napoleon Bonaparte

    “Any man can make a mistake; only a fool keeps making the same one.”
    Cicero

    “Those who wish to appear wise among fools, they seem foolish among the wise.”
    Quintilian

    “Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain — most fools do.”
    Benjamin Franklin

    “Forgetting our intentions is the most frequent of all acts of stupidity.”
    Friedrich Nietzsche

    “You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.”
    Charles de Gaulle

    “To be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it.”
    G K Chesterton

    “To succeed in the world, it is much more necessary to possess the penetration to discern who is a fool, than to discover who is a clever man.”
    Talleyrand

    “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
    William Shakespeare

    “A fellow who is always declaring he’s no fool usually has his suspicions.”
    Wilson Mizner

    “A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry.”
    “I have defined the hundred per cent American as ninety-nine per cent an idiot.”
    “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.”
    George Bernard Shaw

    “The best plan is to profit by the folly of others.”
    Pliny the Elder

    “It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull.”
    H L Mencken

    “No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it.”
    Fernando Pessoa

    “The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so they believe they are as clever as he.”
    Karl Kraus

    “The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.”
    Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

    “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”
    “A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.”
    Bertrand Russell

    “Controversy equalises fools and wise men in the same way, and the fools know it.”
    “Stupidity often saves a man from going mad.”
    Oliver W Holmes Sr

    “The phenomenon of UFOs doesn’t say anything about the presence of intelligence in space. It just shows how rare it is here on the earth.”
    Arthur C Clarke

    “A fool’s tongue is long enough to cut his own throat.”
    Dr Thomas Fuller

    “To be stupid, selfish and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.”
    “The whole dream of democracy is to raise the proletarian to the level of the bourgeois stupidity.”
    “Nothing is more humiliating than to see idiots succeed in enterprises we have failed in.”
    Gustave Flaubert

    “It’s only because of their stupidity that they’re able to be so sure of themselves.”
    Franz Kafka

    “All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.”
    John Steinbeck

    “If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done.”
    Ludwig Wittgenstein

    “Many, though widely read, have no sense.”
    “For the foolish, not reason but misfortune is the teacher.”
    “It is better for fools to be ruled than to rule.”
    Democritus

    “A fool will think you are an idiot if you talk sense to him.”
    “One has to endure the idiocy of those who rule.”
    Euripides

    “If doctors did not exist, there would be none more stupid than teachers.”
    Athenaeus

    “When a wise man talks to a fool, two fools are talking.”
    “Two are embarrassed: the fool in the company of wise men and the wise man in the company of fools.”
    Yiddish proverbs

    1. I had no idea there was so much foolishness in the World but I had my suspicions of late….

          10. “Big breaths” said the GP examining her lung function.
            “Yeth,” she replied, “and I’m only thickthteen!”

    3. “Oh, see the happy moron;
      He doesn’t give a damn.
      I wish I were a moron.
      My God, perhaps I am.”
      — Dorothy Parker

    4. What’s amazing today is how many ‘useful idiots’ are supposedly university-educated middle class socialists. Maybe common sense and ‘street smarts’, aka ‘living in the Real World’ should be taught in schools and colleges. Unfortunately that would mean sacking a hefty number of teachers and lecturers, as they appear to be some of the biggest proponents of being a socialist ‘useful idiot’.

      1. All of my friends’ children are above average. I’ve never heard of a child being anything but.

        1. Yo SiaDc

          Point out, the one salient point ALL Government Apptaisal QUANGOs
          :
          If, they are all Above Average, that level itself becomes the New Average

        2. They could well be.

          I doubt that you or your friends actually mix all that much with the “below average” population.

          Birds of a feather…

    7. From my experience, the most dangerous creature on earth is a stupid woman.
      They’re childish, self-centred and old enough to successfully manipulate fellow human beings.

  60. Earlier today Anne mentioned the sunrise in Colchester. I photographed that sunrise and wanted to put it up here. For my sins I took the photograph on my new Iphone and I’ve had the devil of a job to get it on to my laptop. Appears that fat fingers caused the phone to video the scene rather than just a series of single shots and then the cloud… Anyway, with the help of my Iphone trained son I’ve got the snap.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/38e01d50e05c69b546af311d7ecb34fb0940d9cd1c362d954270b789b9554f82.jpg

    2. Fire! Fire!

      Comes from my mum’s take on the red sky at night – shepher’s delight. Red Sky in the morning – house on fire.

    3. Looks like the sky is on fire. It shows how prehistoric myths and beliefs could have formed.

          1. It really was stunning (not literally, before Grizz has a go at me).
            We just pulled back the curtains gazed at it.

          2. As Stormy said, it must have scared the wits out the ancients when something like that occurred! Anything out of the ordinary, must have given rise to a lot of myths and legends!

    4. Give it a few months and a Warmist will claim it’s an Aussie bush fire about to destroy house in the Outback…

    6. I didn’t know there were palm trees in Colchester. Them Romans, I suppose…!

      For a moment I wondered whether Boudicca had been on the rampage…!

          1. Not a comment on spelling, but on popular, traditional, usage. I’m also a Bombay man, and Peking, Hercules, Thomas À Becket, Burma, Calcutta, etc.

        2. Some years ago, I coined the term “Boudiccology” which I defined as “The rapid and universal embrace of the revised version of an historic name” citing the way that Boadicea seemed to become Boudicca virtually overnight.

          The true Boudiccologist will insert the new name frequently and casually into the conversation, such as to suggest they’ve always done so.

          As for BCE/CE…

          1. For a similar reason, John, some years ago I coined the word “arseholic”, an adjective that more than adequately describes this “enforced modernism”.

    7. There’s a Colchester in the Bahamas? Or is it so warm that palm trees grow, just like in Scotland?

      1. Not mine. The neighbours water it by spraying the top part and end up splattering my windows. I forgive them because, whilst at times noisy, they are brilliant neighbours. Last week they bought me another rose in memory of my dear wife because it bears her name.

        1. Sometimes, just sometimes, my jokes have an underlying message of deep and meaningful truth.
          (We’ve just done a long distance quiz with the children and one of the questions was West Coast of Scotland warmed by? Gulf Stream)
          We keep in touch weekly with the quiz.

  61. And so the Tyranny continues:

    “California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) promised months ago that the state’s COVID-19 policy decisions would be driven by transparent data that would be shared with the public.

    Now, his administration is refusing to disclose key information used to determine when lockdown orders are implemented or rescinded – and has denied a public records request filed with the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency on May 28 by the Center for American Liberty (CAL) seeking both the data and science behind the state’s lockdown decisions, according to Fox News.
    State health officials now say they rely on a ‘very complex set of measurements that would confuse and potentially mislead the public,’ AP reports.

    In short, California says you’re too stupid to understand their rationale for mandating thousands of businesses into financial ruin through what appear to be arbitrary and unscientific decisions. To wit, at least two California judges have struck down the state’s draconian mandates over lack of scientific evidence to support lockdowns and restaurant restrictions.” From ZH

    1. Imagine my surprise… Amazing also how, just after Biden gets into office, many Dem-controlled states just happen to start rolling back COVID lockdowns (but only a bit).

  63. When are the government going to admit that all the advice and action they have taken about Corvid is and was wrong and has failed. The more they lockdown the more the virus mutates. They should do what we have done in the past and nothing more.

    1. They should have done nothing right from the start. But having assumed all this power and with the majority of the public scared out of their wits (due to the awful propaganda ever since this started) they are not about to let up. I think it will in the end take civil disobedience to change things and that doesn’t look at all likely unfortunately. They’re already murmuring about next winter and next Christmas.

      The latest tv propaganda adverts about the NHS and “Covid” patients are utterly disgraceful. The coercion just cannot be denied and anyone who doesn’t realise what the government is doing to its own people needs their head examined.

  64. Patrick O’Flynn
    Do Tories know the truth about Boris Johnson?
    24 January 2021, 7:15am

    https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltf04078f3cf7a9c30/blt474a3428569c6c76/600acb437957730fa57a9af8/cover_20190727_landscape.jpg?format=jpg&width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds

    Exactly 40 years ago tomorrow, four Labour party grandees issued the Limehouse Declaration, signalling ‘the re-emergence of social democracy in Great Britain’. The declaration, made on a windswept bridge near the east London home of Dr David Owen, marked the formation of a Council for Social Democracy, that soon became a fully-fledged political party, the SDP. The ‘gang of four’ very nearly succeeded in breaking the mould of British politics, as their moderation hit the spot with millions of voters who opposed Thatcherism but also recoiled from Labour’s radical socialist agenda of the time.

    But they were thwarted, first by Britain’s first past the post electoral system that made gaining a big parliamentary representation all but impossible. And then by Labour’s slow march back towards the centre ground. The leading lights of the SDP dispersed across British politics as they searched for a suitable vehicle in which to advance their ideas.

    Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers — the other three in the Limehouse gang of four — signed up to a merger with the Liberal party, founding the Liberal Democrats. Owen soldiered on for a while, leading an ever-diminishing band of SDP diehards, before ending up in the House of Lords as an independent social democrat.

    The likes of David Sainsbury and Andrew Adonis eventually went back to Labour, going on to become leading Blairites. Greg Clark, Danny Finkelstein and a clutch of other bright young SDP-ers joined and rapidly rose within John Major’s Tory party. Thus did social democracy become arguably the most influential philosophy in modern British politics, but also the least successful at progressing electorally under its own steam.

    Even today, the core tenets of social democracy — accepting capitalism as the best model for the production and distribution of ordinary goods and services but creating an active and redistributive state to tame its excesses and make up for its shortcomings — are at the sweet spot of British public opinion.

    But, just as in the 1980s, the Labour party is proving a far from satisfactory vehicle. While Keir Starmer has rescued his party from the doctrinaire socialism of Jeremy Corbyn — rather as Neil Kinnock did from that of Michael Foot and Tony Benn — another old fault line has re-emerged. This is between pro-globalist progressives who passionately support the project of European political integration (and also those attracted to left-wing identity politics) and those more traditionally-minded social democrats who believe in the nation state as an essential rallying point for social solidarity.

    Labour is fully in the clutches of the former tribe, aside from one or two brave and isolated ‘Blue Labour’ exponents such as the pro-Brexit trade unionist Paul Embery. The other social democrat tradition has assembled under the banner of a reconstituted and rejuvenated SDP, the party to which both I and Rod Liddle belong, under the leadership of William Clouston and guided by a ‘New Declaration’ that emphasises the nation state as something that ‘reflects a deep and genuine human need for belonging’.

    It is a tension which existed within the original gang of four, with Owen becoming more and more critical of the EU until turning outright Brexiteer, while Jenkins and Williams were always true believers in the cause of European political union. The Owenite tradition is, of course, the authentic one, taking as its founding script the speech made against Common Market membership by the then Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell at the 1962 Labour conference.

    ‘We are not just a part of Europe, at least not yet,’ said Gaitskell, ‘We have a different history, we have ties and links which run across the whole world. If this is the idea — the end of Britain as an independent nation state… the end of 1,000 years of history – you may say ‘all right then, let it end’ but, my goodness, it is a decision that needs a little care and thought.’

    Gaitskell died tragically early — just a few months after making that speech, and while apparently on course for power — and the patriotic social democrat tradition was knocked back, though kept alive by the likes of Peter Shore. Four decades after Limehouse, it is still the great untested contender of British politics, always marginalised by avowed socialists or ardent globalists crowding onto the same party ticket.

    But arguably there is one man who has made it work electorally — someone who got voted in as president of the Oxford Union way back in 1986 by professing his social democratic credentials, who campaigned hard for Brexit on national sovereignty grounds and who believes in a well-funded and interventionist state that ‘puts its arms around people at a time of crisis’.

    But once Thatcherite Tories wake up to the notion that a social democrat is leading them, there could be hell to pay.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/Do-Tories-know-the-truth-about-Boris-Johnson

    2. Social democrats may claim to be supporters of the nation state but where do they stand on colonisation immigration?

        1. As I pointed out earlier: I never support any political party that has the word “party” in their title.

    3. Some people on another forum who I have been ‘discussing’ the events following the US General Election (including of 6th Jan) naively believe that the current UK government Cabinet is ‘conservative’, presumably because it ‘isn’t Labour’. I keep hearing from such people that, like in the US, politicians are far apart from each other at opposing ends of the political spectrum, but I believe, aside from a few, most have moved leftwards, more so with those calling themselves ‘conservatives’, my own MP included.

      I also think that we should be careful to just imply that people and politicians are all Left, Centrist or Right wing. As Brexit showed, many working class old school previous Labour supporters and some of their MPs (often now retired like Kate Hoey) are far less socialists and far more ‘conservative’ in aspects of their views than many realise, sometimes themselves. On the opposite side of the coin, many wealthy middle class people now hold very socialist views on certain matters, except where keeping their own wealth and power over the working class plebs are concerned.

      I would say it’s more of globalist corporate socialists vs patriot localist social conservatives. Unfortunately, many in government are from the first group but pretend they are in the second.

  65. 328798+ up ticks,
    Arranging a king cobra meeting no doubt,surely the point is very near where the peoples MUST give an ultimatum to the political overseers, a civil war or a General Election.

    This current sh!te is not new it has, in one form or another,
    been with us for decades given succour via the polling booth
    along with carte blanche continually, the final consequences
    being the collective sh!te over the decades has now finally gummed up the works.

    breitbart,
    Biden Calls Boris Before Other European Leaders to Plan ‘Build Back Better’ Agenda.

    Would not surprise me in the least if this johnson chap said
    ” we have seen what it’s like on the outside of the eu and in the party’s estimation it ain’t so hot we will call another referendum”.

    Oh by the by president Miden will be over to advise.

      1. Veteran Trevor Coult, who suffers from PTSD, said the RBL owes ex-servicemen an explanation.

        He said: ‘The RBL shut down every one of their respite centres because they needed to save money yet they are still willing to spend over £100,000 on a new logo.

        ‘That tells me their priorities are all wrong.

        ‘It is shocking and is a kick in the teeth when so many veterans are struggling.

        ‘They have gone from being a charity that helps veterans to being a massive corporation.’

    2. A complete waste of funds at the behest of some egocentric bureaucrats, who because these funds are not their own, think they can spend them unaccounted. These prats are more than likely retired senior officers on fat pensions anyway. Funds which should be spent supporting those for whom the RBL was established. The £100,000 is more than likely the tip of the iceberg, there will be additional costs in changing such things as stationery and signs on the local branch halls to the new logo. Fire whoever approved of this change. Senior leadership has totally lost sight of what the RBL should be about, self centred fat cat egoism.

    3. I would’ve done it for half the price! What IS IT with management these days? Especially of charitable organisations.

      ((epic double Picard facepalm time))

      1. Way back in the late 90s, I did an MBA through the Open University. You could do a Charities MBA – and that was the sign that charities management was a career move. And, like the big multinationals, the top management like all the trappings of self-importance – big salaries, and flash new expensive logos.

        1. Indeed – a former near neighbour of mine works as the head of a local ‘church group chartity’ – and from that manages to earn enough to own a nice 4-bed house (just refurbed before selling) and a Mercedes E-class estate. His wife works for the same chraity part time. I must be in the wrong line of work.

          I remember the good ol’ days when people volunteered to work for charities – for free. No wonder that donations have gone right down from the public. I bet most now get their ‘funding’ from central government and (virtue-signalling or leftist) big business via their wokery.

        2. The rot really started in the 70’s when new titles were being dreamed up.
          Manager to general manager to chief general manager
          Director to managing director to chief executive,

          Town clerk to chief clerk, to chief executive
          etc. etc.
          Title inflation followed by salary hyper inflation.

    1. Melanism (along with leucism) whilst not common, is certainly by no means rare within the animal kingdom.

  69. The BBC’s indoctrination continues at 7:30 on Radio 3 with: Rotterdam..

    In Jon Brittain’s Olivier-winning comedy about gender, sexuality and transitioning Alice is about to email her parents when her girlfriend drops a bombshell.

    If only Tony Hancock were alive to give a running commentary on Sunday Evenings………

    1. Rather like the woke DT TV ‘scritic Anita Singh’s going gaga over the Ch4 show about being gay in the 1980s (news flash Anita – it ain’t hip to be gay any more – that was so last decade and before – nobody cares, they just ‘are’):

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/01/22/sin-review-russell-t-daviess-aids-crisis-drama-will-break-heart/

      No reader comments, as per usual for Ms Singh’s more gushing ‘articles’ about woke output.

    1. A sensible enough comment from the police. If you think “fun” is throwing snowballs at the elderly or infirm you don’t know what the word means.

      1. No it wasn’t. It’s all too typical of what the Police have become and why people like me who were brought up to respect the Police no longer do so.

        1. So you do think that it’s “fun” to throw snowballs at old ladies then. Because that would be the only reason not to support that comment.

          2. There isn’t tweet your link is to a Facebook entry.

            We are currently receiving a high volume of calls relating to snowballs being thrown and people outside sledging.
            We want everyone to enjoy the snow today but please don’t involve other people, particularly our more vulnerable residents, who may not be enjoying the conditions as much as you are.
            Please #StaySafe and remember that covid regulations do still apply.

            Just who do you think “our more vulnerable residents” are? They are the old and the infirm. The police comment is sensible and relevant.

    1. Your certainty that no one will be able to guess implies something rare but there are spots on the skin that suggest brown trout.

      1. Seriously, it never got boring. Every hour of every day was different. Ships, yachts, seaplanes, fishermen, the sea and sky was always changing, as were the colours. It was one of the most beautiful places where I have had the great good fortune to live. We loved every minute of the two years.

        And the beach was 154 steps down from the block of flats…..

        This was a typical morning.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5cd680d556352e00f95eb42587c065b218bf36590bed85b7175385cb037481dc.jpg

        1. Yes – I could live with that view every day and pottle down to the local market for cheeses ham olives salad vino,etc etc

          3. We went to Ventimiglia market (25 minutes away) once a fortnight to stock up. The border is now closed…{:¬((((

          5. Both very nice places – in their different ways. Why were you there? Monaco Horse Show?

      2. I was never bored with the sunsets seen from our balcony in Viña del Mar, Chile. I enjoyed every evening with a large G&T, watching the street life down below, before walking to our favourite restaurant for supper.

    2. I think Boris is following the plot and with Biden in power there is no voice of reason anywhere in the world to stop it.

      2. Is that your local? I remember walking past it with my daughter 2 Septembers ago. Some lovely buildings along that road. On the way back we didn’t pop in there but to the next one on the ‘front’ on the way back to Helensburgh.

        1. Yes indeed, mola; a family favourite – including my grandsons – especially in the summer, sitting outside.

          The ‘next one’ is the Commodore …

          1. That was it, very busy too. We walked as far as the Rhu Inn but thought we’d have a drink closer to where we were staying. We discovered too late that every eating place was fully booked. I certainly hope it opens up for you before June.

        2. es indeed, mola; a family favourite – including my grandsons – especially in the summer, sitting outside.

          The ‘next one’ is the Commodore …

    4. There is a Pfizer product that normally starts working after between 30 to 60 minutes, however a sixth month extension would suggest an inappropriately large dosage.

        1. So many years with the EU setting our laws with MPs just nodding everything through they’ve forgotten how to think.

    9. I do not doubt for a second that lock up will continue well into next year. The difference this time, and what will stop it, is most people simply ignoring it. After a short time the police will proclaim they can’t police it – as I expect they’ll face genuine resistance that they haven’t so far.

      Then, when the lock up is all but done in practice Boris will proclaim how amazing the government’s response and efforts have been and say that lock up has ended.

      The virus will still be there, vaccinations will be barely 20-30% of the population but we won’t hear any more about r numbers or other nonsense and the mortality rates will stop recording every death with as from and normality will return.

  75. And on that note, I’ll sign off. The MR has started a new jigsaw – a M S Lowry painting. Not the easiest….!

    A demain

  76. Oh dear…. this looks horribly like corruption at the top of the Conservative Party……………

    https://twitter.com/middle_voter/status/1353034716006535168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1353034716006535168%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dtheconservativewomant_i%3D5992820https3A2F2Fwww.conservativewoman.co.uk2F3Fp3D59928t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fwww.conservativewoman.co.uk2Fafter-trump-ill-never-trust-the-lying-mainstream-media-again2Ft_e%3DAfter20Trump2C20IE28099ll20never20trust20the20lying20mainstream20media20againt_d%3DAfter20Trump2C20IE28099ll20never20trust20the20lying20mainstream20media20againt_t%3DAfter20Trump2C20IE28099ll20never20trust20the20lying20mainstream20media20agains_o%3Ddescversion%3D27ab44a041dc84db869d374a58d82edf

    4. It seems to me that no one in either local or National Government fears adverse and condemnatory Audit Reports.

      1. It’s the same in the private sector.
        I was auditing a Japanese investment bank’s London subsidiary.
        I found a huge problem with their accounting system and in my report I called it a “fundamental flaw”.
        Apparently the wording I had used, unbeknown to me, meant that they had to report it to the Japanese Central Bank.

        Head office in Tokyo went ape-shit.

        I was correct, but I was fired.

        1. I was talking to a man who recruited auditors for auditing jobs in big companies. He said that auditors eg Big Four etc were very very circumspect in their comments in Annual Reports etc. The reason being that if they said something that the company disliked the auditors would lose the very lucrative auditing contracts.

          1. Spot on.

            As head of internal audit, I attended a meeting where it was made very clear to the external auditors that if they commented on one of my findings that they could easily be replaced.

            This was with regard to a deal where most of the bank’s profit for the year had been made, and it was very clear that the deal in question was fraudulent, but probably impossible to prove in court..( Collusion in an emerging economy.)

            Oops, I was fired again.

          2. In my day, it was the ‘Big Seven’, with a modicum of integrity, competition and self-respect.

            Reduced to the ‘Big Four’, none of them can survive an honest contract audit. It is a platform for corruption in high places …

      2. Worked for Tony Blair who creamed off huge sums with Soros selling off state assets in low price sweetheart deals where there were just two or three real winners.

      3. Err, the reason these people give these sums and keep these friends is specifically because they want contracts like these. They like the trough.

        The way to solve it is not with committee meetings which are toothless, but with the information being publicised and the voters simply sacking the man and sending him the bill for the contract. I don’t see why that’s uncomplicated. It has the huge advantage of bankrupting Gummer, the sewage responsible for destroying acres of the sea floor with his windmills.

    5. It seems to me that no one in either local or National Government fears adverse and condemnatory Audit Reports.

    6. Hmm. I’m in two minds about this. On the one hand, it is clearly who you know. On the other hand, this was probably the most efficient part of the government’s response to covid.

      1. Why did Boros rely on Gates to make a plan and not the UK’s consultants and doctors who were frozen out ?

        Was it because Gates filled Boros’ boots with dollars ?

        I would have thought the obvious thing to do a year ago would have been to call a conference with practicing consultants, but Boros didn’t want them. He wanted Gates linked civil servants.

        It stinks of dollars, imho, and for Hancock too who met with Gates at Davos.

    5. Is this reality in the UK, or Billy Smart’s circus in Clownland?

      When will they ever learn …

  78. In an earlier post I wondered why Biden has been, so far, respectful towards Boris, calling him soon after inauguration, when I am sure that his personal inclination is to treat him with disdain.

    The BBC reports
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-55788359
    that China is making waves regarding Taiwan, they clearly see the Biden administration as weak, I suspect that Putin takes the same view. Putin has I think long had ambitions for the Baltic states, if he holds them with reliable alliances in Belarus and Ukraine then his difficult western border is secure. I should say that I have had discussions on Breitbart with a Russian soldier who discounts this view, but I am sceptical.

    Perhaps that is why. Or perhaps the State Department bureaucracy has decided that the EU cannot be relied upon to remain a friend and the groundwork must be laid to contain them.

      1. US strategic thinking is always focused around power blocs and regions. Divide and rule was a British Empire speciality that they don’t really go in for. For one thing it is too risky with modern comms.

        1. They are still trying to influence by separating those blocs, it’s divide and rule, however you look at it.

          3. What makes you think he was polite?

            He might well have been laying down the new law re Ireland.

    2. “they clearly see the Biden administration as week”
      We mostly think he won’t last long, but let’s give him a fortnight at least.

      1. I think he will go the full 4 years, unless he becomes seriously ill. Harris and the DNC don’t think that but they have no way to get rid of him apart from A25 and he will hardly choose a cabinet that supports that. Just because someone has senior moments and forgets names it doesn’t mean they can’t think, so the justification for A25 would be very slim; it would look like a putsch.

        1. My money is on him lasting just long enough that Harris can step in, but not be prevented from having two full terms on top.

          1. I used to think that but I have changed my mind. Harris is a Truman VP, nobody likes her, nobody particularly wants her to take over. By ‘after the mid-terms’ as you suggest they will be locked into a nomination fight, early stages, when nobody helps anybody else.

          2. My take?

            Biden is a temporary puppet.
            He will be replaced

            Harris will then be the soft face of hard left politics, but only the figurehead for the globalists who will be pulling her strings.

            Only when they are sufficiently confident that they can control all elections will she be replaced.

            And the replacement won’t be a politician, it will be a bureau-technocrat. A Macron-o-Gates or similar.

          3. I asked Tier5inmate “By what mechanism?”. The only way is the 25A and I refer you to my reply to him.

        2. I see a Dallas School Book Depository in his future perhaps. A right wing extremist shooter who doesn’t live to be questioned.

          1. Presidents don’t take such risks. JFK was strongly advised against the drive through Dallas.

        3. I think he’s just a puppet for the top brass at the DNC (sounds like a 40s swing band – not that I remember that [30 years before my time] – just from watching Foyle’s War, etc) and if his dementa gets any worse, then I think they’ll be in like a shot to get him out via whatever legal mechanism is easiest for them – cabinet, congress, whatever.

          1. The DNC may think he’s a puppet, but he’s got the job now, they can’t touch him. The Chinese may think they own him, but what can they do? Publish stuff against him? “Biden is being attacked by China” would make him look good, and whatever they said would be rubbished. If you buy someone then you only own them until they don’t need you anymore.

            DNC sounds to me like a gynecological procedure (Dilation and Curettage), that used to be used as a cover for posh abortions. Apt.

          2. I worked in an insurance company in the 60s and the medical reports came through our department for coding into the computer. Very many of the female reports had D&C listed.

      2. I think he will go the full 4 years, unless he becomes seriously ill. Harris and the DNC don’t think that but they have no way to get rid of him apart from A25 and he will hardly choose a cabinet that supports that. Just because someone has senior moments and forgets names it doesn’t mean they can’t think, so the justification for A25 would be very slim; it would look like a putsch.

    3. Biden has taken the Chinese shilling so the CCP have compromised him. Biden will be seen to be an impostor and unable to deter the CCP from taking Taiwan by force.

      President Trump was aware of the desire of the CCP to steal Taiwan and its high tech industries and he reinforced the US Army and Navy to stave off any serious threat.

  79. In an earlier post I wondered why Biden has been, so far, respectful towards Boris, calling him soon after inauguration, when I am sure that his personal inclination is to treat him with disdain.

    The BBC reports
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-55788359
    that China is making waves regarding Taiwan, they clearly see the Biden administration as weak, I suspect that Putin takes the same view. Putin has I think long had ambitions for the Baltic states, if he holds them with reliable alliances in Belarus and Ukraine then his difficult western border is secure. I should say that I have had discussions on Breitbart with a Russian soldier who discounts this view, but I am sceptical.

    Perhaps that is why. Or perhaps the State Department bureaucracy has decided that the EU cannot be relied upon to remain a friend and the groundwork must be laid to contain them.

      3. A couple out sharing a Bud? I miss that part of the country – COVID plus all those scaycationers drove up prices and reduced availability, so no hols last year.

  81. Evening, all. It’s been snowing on and off all day. Après le déluge la neige. Thinking the government will come up with anything convincing (short of admitting they got it totally wrong and we should be free of restrictions immediately, just shielding the vulnerable – although even that would be suspect after the way they’ve behaved!) is a tall order.

    1. Just more variants to keep us cowed. Its beginning to sound like a game of Mornigton Crescent.

        1. Even some of the scientists were having a go at Hancock today for bigging up th effects of the ‘SA variant’. I suspect that some of them are finally seeing the proverbial wood for the trees. Only 9 months too late.

          1. Hancock described Putin and Trump as being the greatest threat to the world. Hancock is in the pocket of the globalists and remains an utterly despicable person.

            If I ever have the misfortune to meet the geek I would simply state “Haddock and Chips twice! And stick your filthy vaccines up your arse!”

  82. From the Grauniad, apparently
    Jon Sopel, BBC, hahahaha, breathe, hahahaha, “fairly” hahahahaha, “threat to democracy” breathe, “balanced news” hahahahaha, breathe.

    “So is Britain in for an invasion of US-style partisan punditry? Well, Neil and his swashbuckling crew promise a “boldly different 24-hour television and digital news service” which he says will prioritise “edge”.
    Jon Sopel, the BBC’s North America Editor, sees the promised channels as a greater potential threat to democracy than Britain’s already openly biased newspapers. “When you have hyper-partisan news media in concert with social media, then you have a recipe for what we saw on 6 January [the rioting at the Capitol],” he said.
    “We’ve a duty to make our stories engaging, yes. When I broadcast from outside the White House I try not to be boring, but my primary duty is to report things fairly.
    “One of the reassuring aspects of life in Britain is that the main news channels present balanced news,” Sopel said. “All right, one might be more broadsheet and one more tabloid in style, but we are broadly doing the same job. I would not be so arrogant as to say the BBC keeps the others straight, because all of us want our viewers to make their own judgments rather than feel they have been propagandised.”

    https://uk.yahoo.com/news/star-hosts-gear-britain-braces-100042830.html

    3. Sopel is deranged. We shouldn’t judge him, he deserves our sympathy.

      Pity we have to pay him as well.

    4. As President Trump described Sopel: “Another Beauty” after which put down Sopel has been seeking personal revenge. Stupid little twit (to borrow a term).

    5. How does he manage to say all that and keep a straight face? I see that the ‘usual suspect’ has given the post (which is essentially just stating what someone said) their obligatory downvote. Not sure for what exactly. I await mine to join the club.

    1. The Track and Trace for us plebs is in the vaccine.jab

      A bit like pets have, when they (edit Used to) travel abroad

    2. The Track and Trace for us plebs is in the vaccine.jab

      A bit like pets have, when they (edit Used to) travel abroad

    2. That would be me. Less exercise (no riding), too cold to garden, I hate cooking so snack for myself (I cook for MOH, but don’t like the choices), dog is ancient so we can’t go for such extended walks as previously, I’m bored and stressed (both of which make me eat) and until 31st December, a drinking habit Churchill would have been proud of.

    3. I would say that a LOT of people have lost a considerable amount more braincells than normal over the last year. I do however see just as many fat and obses people as beforehand. Most ‘exercise regimes’ lasted about the first month into the original lockdown or consist of a leisurely stroll, which is better than nothing I suppose. I’ve actually lost a few pounds (weight) due to going out for walks more often.

      The problem is, as others have said, is that most people are bored, whether with nothing new to see on TV, you can’t go to cultural events or see friends/family (properly), and most of us who do still go out for proper walks/exercise have tried every conceivable route in the area.

      Some of us are more used to the solutide and ‘boredum’ than others and can more easily find interesting things to do with their time. For me, the worst aspect is not seeing any end to all this and the growing authoritarian measures that most of the public and media are just agreeing to without question for promises of better times that never come.

      Eventually (at least) some of us will ‘snap’ and say ‘that it – no more’. Until then, protesting doesn’t seem to do much good other than ruin one’s life chances by being arrested, publicly shamed and blacklisted. The Net is being censored by the big boys, so very few people hear alternative opinions and what’s really going on. Most friends, neighbours, colleagues and family just wouldn’t be interested – they seem to want to do anything the powers-that-be want at the moment. Any ideas?

      1. Back in the 1950s, we thought of AI only as comic robots and science fiction. A more practical approach to the “do they think” question was proposed by Alan Turing. His test assessed a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from that of a human.

        We have become the robots orwell envisaged…..

  86. Researchers have developed a nasal spray which could prevent a Covid-19 infection for up to two days and it may be available in pharmacies within a few months.

    The nasal spray is made from ingredients already approved for medical use, meaning it does not need any further approval for use.

    Scientists at the University of Birmingham have been developing the spray – which is currently unnamed – since April last year.
    The news comes after it was revealed that a virus lab at St Peter’s hospital, Surrey, announced they were trialling a spray which could kill 99.9% of the virus.

    The SaNOtize Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray (NONS) is designed to kill the virus in the upper airways.

    This stops the virus from incubating in the lungs, according to the NHS.

    It was developed by SaNOtize Research and Development Corp. based in Vancouver, Canada.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9181865/Nasal-spray-stop-catching-Covid-two-days-available-summer.html

    4. This does look good, but a word of caution. What works in a petri dish doesn’t necessarily work in the real world. It is being trialled in a hospital and that will tell us if it is effective or not.

    1. Quite right! (your tweet). Starmer isn’t interested in your common sense when there is posturing to be done!

    3. No Bob it isn’t supposed to replace 5 school lunches. It is supposed to replace 10 school lunches, which makes it a great deal less adequate.

      You can’t grate the cheese, it is processed cheese slices with neither grate nor make a proper cheese sauce.

      Furthermore it certainly doesn’t represent value for the £30 that the government pays for it (plus a charge for providing it).

      Supermarket school lunch vouchers can only be redeemed against food – nothing else.

    4. Don’t take the scolding too seriously Bob
      According to this article, the mother claimed it was ten days, so that was the headline, but the company says it was five.

      “We have had time to investigate the picture circulated on Twitter. For clarity this shows five days of free school lunches (not ten days) and the charge for food, packing and distribution was actually £10.50 and not £30 as suggested.”

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9137379/Marcus-Rashford-blasts-unacceptable-food-parcel-supposed-feed-family-three-days.html

    5. Don’t take the excuses to seriously Bob. Every single parent – and there were hundreds is receiving one of these packages per fortnight.

      So wherever the other week’s meals are going, they are not going to the children who should be eating them.

      1. But that has nothing to do with Bob’s point that the food is for five meals, not ten days.
        If some boxes didn’t arrive, that is a logistics problem, not a food problem.

        There is adequate food for five meals for a child in the box, even though the contents of the boxes show that the person who made them up has never been poor. Poor people don’t cook baked potatoes because they take too much electricity or gas.

        1. The food is for 10 meals. The suppliers, not content with stealing most of the money the government pays them, tell lies.

          There is certainly not “ample for 10 meals” – yes, it really is for 10 meals – for a hungry teenager. School meals are provided up to age 19 for those still in school.

          Funny how you are so ready to believe the tripe from a con-company grabbing government money. But you won’t believe the unfortunate parent. Or the truth about anything you don’t want to believe. Your gullibility would be hilarious if it wasn’t so damaging.

          3. You never learn, do you Jennifer?
            You know how this is going to end!
            Why do you feel the need to direct your Groll at strangers on the internet?
            Will it make you feel better to let it all out, or will it diminish you?
            Think about these points!

          4. Funny, isn’t it? The only person here who seems to be directing anything other than common sense, is the one controlling your keyboard.

            Think about this point. This whole little thread started out with you, attacking my comment.

            But, of course, you still believe the shite that you are in the right.

            It will end when you choose to end it, because I’m sick of your shite.

          5. Pointing out when you’re mistaken isn’t attacking you.
            Giving an alternative opinion isn’t attacking you.

            Edit: You downvoted this comment, which means you disagree with it, according to what you have said in the past. So you think that pointing out when you are mistaken, or giving an alternative opinion to yours, is attacking you?
            No wonder you respond so aggressively!
            But perhaps you might get more positive results if you owned your genuine mistakes (we all make them), or agreed to disagree? It would not make you small – it would make you bigger.

  88. 328798+ up ticks,
    Was not the original plan via the party that designed & triggered the referendum total severance ?

    breitbart,
    Hands Still Tied? UK Companies Unable to Get Covid Cash Due to EU Era State Aid Rules.

    1. Why do these repulsive idiots expect people to obey or believe them. They are filth – I expect many people whose livelihoods and businesses have been destroyed share this opinion.

      If Boris Johnson had an iota of respect for the people of the nation he leads he would ask his MPs to lead by example and take a 50% drop in their salaries and make no more expenses claims.

      1. Every day for the past six months my wife has a telephone conversation with an 88 year old neighbour. They take it in turns to phone each other and chat for a half hour or so.

        Today my wife expressed concern that our neighbour said that since she does no longer see her family or grandchildren she wonders whether life is worth living.

        Our neighbour has a son disabled with MS and a daughter with Lupus. The daughter has told her mother not to form any close ‘bubble’ contacts on account of her Lupus. The daughter whilst having a home in a nearby village is trying to return to her second property in Spain which would leave her mother devoid of any family contacts. The grandchildren are all trying to build careers working from home and never visit.

        I wonder whether our incompetent government have the slightest idea of the actual effects of their misguided lockdown policies.

        1. What a terrible situation Corim, it’s almost become impossible to cope with the rising problems that have been thrown at some of the ‘less significant’ members of our society.
          There has been far too much emphasis and publicity on ‘starving children’ teenagers who don’t behave, even adults.
          It would be fairly easy to have formed a ‘support bubble’ in that family group. As we have with our eldest son whose wife has MS and is often severely depressed. They have an eleven month old daughter and a 5 year old son. My wife drives to their home at least twice a week to help them.
          Our son works from home of course, but finds it difficult to cope with all the extra demands on him. As the 5 year old is no longer at the local school.
          You would be right to think your neighbour’s family are not very caring and have abandoned her for their own sakes.
          With some effort it would be fairly easy to make personal contact.

        2. I’m sorry to say that this is the intention. That may sound an extreme opinion but when you consider the CHIS Bill they’re trying to push through Parliament perhaps not so. It’s divide and control all the way now and we seem to be turning into a Communist country.

    2. Ochòin, Sue! You’ve been downvoted by the “Mod from the Squad”, that member of the “Gang of Two”, from Trudeaunia.
      ;¬)

    3. The government richly deserves these images, which tell a truth they would like to suppress.
      I don’t know why richardl downvoted, perhaps he hasn’t seen the UK government’s appalling, scaremongering coronavirus advertisements on which these are based?

      1. i sent these images to my MP with a few other pc phrases. Didn’t dare tell him what I really thought of this government. (vw post not Alf).

    4. Hi, Sue,

      Pics. sent to my MP, Dean Russell. He has been as useful an MP as no MP – but a great deal more expensive.

      These expense claims for heating etc. cannot be just to heat one room – the “office”, If/as MPs are charging for their whole house, then their house should be subject to business rates rather than ordinary Council tax. But are they – are they h*ll!

  92. Lee Rigby killer Michael Adebowale, 29, ‘is on oxygen in hospital after contracting coronavirus’ while serving his sentence in Broadmoor
    Michael Adebowale, 29, has reportedly been taken from high-security hospital
    He is said to have caught coronavirus more than two weeks ago, says the Sun
    He is now being treated at a Covid ward after condition ‘went rapidly downhill’
    Adebowale jailed for minimum of 45 years for the murder of soldier Lee Rigby

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9182307/Lee-Rigby-killer-Michael-Adebowale-29-oxygen-hospital-contracting-coronavirus.html?ito=push-notification&ci=71269&si=7271111

    Karma !

    4. From whom i he supposed to have contracted it? In his circumstances, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out.

  93. Thank you all for your kind messages this morning.
    I have since been in touch with some of my friend John’s relatives. As he spent more than 35 years in South Africa I didn’t even know some of them existed.
    RIP old mate.

  94. Hopefully tomorrow might be a better day.
    But my three lovely grandchildren and their parents had a lovely time in the snow.
    Good night.

    1. I do hope you went back to bed and got some more sleep?
      I thought I was doing badly waking up at quarter past five!

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