713 thoughts on “Friday 4 October: The EU’s cynical fixation on the Irish border raises the risk of no deal”

  5. They made Jessica Ennis a dame.

    What honour for the young lass who’s just smashed her record?

    Coronation?

    1. Hope we aren’t in for more political posturing and virtue signalling when it goes to her head and hero worship from the Left because they perceive it as one in the eye for whitey and a roll model for blacky

        1. She’s young and therefore bound to be a remainiac…{:¬))

          Good day to you. If it is a good day, which I doubt.

          2. It’s a great day, Bill (good morning to you and Annie, btw). Yesterday I completed the siting of my new arbour and planted the 3 “creepers” which will grow onto it. Today I will complete the job by planting crocus and other bulbs around and under it. And the workmen plan to finish the new driveway which my neighbour and I co-commissioned. The only thing to make my joy complete would be a clean exit from the EU on the night of October the 31st.

            Only one drawback – with all I have spent on the garden and drive this year I reckon it’s bread and dripping for me for the rest of 2019!

            :-))

          4. Not quite right, Bill. It was The Master (Mr Lime), his three friends and Timmy the dog who went Mad in Dorset. (And don’t you dare call me George!)

            :-))

          6. I think you are confusing The Famous Five with Harry the Dirty Dog, Uncle Bill. Totally different books!

            :-))

  6. Morning all

    SIR – There is already an agreed and defined border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

    Different legislation, taxation and currencies apply on each side and there is no controlled “hard” border crossing. We do not need to change this because of Brexit.

    The EU, however, seems adamant that changes are necessary, and Boris Johnson is quite right to affirm that it is the EU, not Britain, that must accept responsibility if there is a no-deal exit.

    Peter Froggatt
    Dorking, Surrey

    SIR – It is beyond dispute that there are technical solutions to the problem of collecting duties on either side of the Irish border while still meeting the needs of the Belfast Agreement.

    That these solutions are credible to the British and at the same time incredible to the Irish is purely a matter of politics rather than practicality.

    A C H Irvine
    Grantham, Lincolnshire

    1. SIR – The BBC programme What Britain Buys and Sells in a Day revealed that we import fruit and vegetables on cargo ships from 120 countries, and export to between 20 and 30, including apples to the Middle East.

      At the moment we import huge quantities of French wine, Dutch food and German cars. But if the EU does not agree to a free trade deal, it seems clear that we will be able to look elsewhere and thrive.

      John Gwatkin
      Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire

      1. Mr Gwatkin should be aware that I (and several other NoTTLers) already “look elsewhere” wherever possible. (I was going to add “Ethul excepted”, but actually that would be unfair to a wonderful Saxon Queen.)

        1. I buy Aussie and Sarf Effrikan wine. Perfectly acceptable and reasonably priced. I do struggle to support British meat farmers, though, as most of the shops here seem to stock EU produce. I did support the Dutch over the Germans, but I’m looking for an alternative, local, supply.

          1. Up until recently, I did make an exception for Italy and supported them by buying their wine. But now that the new Italian government is reversing all of Salvini’s good work their wine is back on the proscribed list.

    2. Yo Epi

      If Ireland Government persists in “acting in its’ normal manner” towards UK then Southern Irish must lose the ‘automatic’ right to live in our country, vote, use our medical services, get pensions, bomb our hotels etc

      1. The S. Irish should have lost that years ago, as should certain Commonwealth citizens over here. It is a historical anachronism that has no relevance or use nowadays.

  8. Morning again

    SIR – For Britain to contribute to the fight against climate change, it is vital that the Government holds fast to its course of adding new nuclear capacity to replace our ageing fleet of reactors. Specifically, it must commission two European Pressurised Reactors at Sizewell C – which, being near-identical copies of the two under construction at Hinkley Point C, will be quicker and cheaper to build.

    Some doubt has been cast over the case for further nuclear investment, in the light of rising plant construction costs and cheaper renewable energy. It is a valid comparison, but one vital point has been overlooked: the battery storage required to create a continuous supply of electricity from intermittent wind and solar generation is missing, and this is likely to remain the case for some time.

    The solution is a mix of renewables and nuclear. Given the likely rise in demand for electricity, as sectors such as transport electrify in order to decarbonise, maintaining a core of nuclear power will be critical to both our ability to meet our environmental responsibilities, and our security of supply.

    Dr John Law
    Founder, cleanenergyrevolution.org
    London W2

    1. We have no environmental responsibilities that extend to attempts to manipulate the climate. A foolish monumental error foisted upon us by the Ghastly Greens whose scientific illiteracy is compensated for by political deviousness and greed. Anything nuclear takes them back to the glory days of Aldermaston and and a little badge.

    1. Does that apply to the nine out of eleven Supreme Court justices who receive a stipend from the EU?

      1. No doubt it does. They have to swear an oath to the EU, as do Commissioners. Ordinary EUMPs don’t – yet. Plans are afoot to introduce this, though.

      2. It would not suprise me.
        I cannot think of a single thing to comend the EU.

        It IS an evil empire and will only becomet worse.

    2. Good morning, Anne.

      Good article but Johnson stated yesterday that the military aspects of the WA will stand and the fishing people are up in arms that the CFP could apply for the transition period and possibly after that time.
      Warming up the cup of cold sick that is May’s WA is not leaving. If Johnson has offered something that he is sure the EU cannot accept so to force a WTO then he has been cunning, however, if he is serious about what he is proposing then he could very well be underestimating the feeling in the Country.
      There has been some publicity around Steve Baker’s reaction being very supportive but the MSM only publicised his headline words and not the full text in which he believes there are other points that need addressing. This excerpt from his Al-Beeb interview shows that he is not quite so convinced as the headlines try to suggest.

      https://twitter.com/SteveBakerHW/status/1179699881046417408

      1. I had a remainer tell me this morning that she was fed up and thought we should just give up and revoke Article 50! The other chap (who had voted remain) and I said, no way! We were going to get out if we had to fight for it or else democracy was dead.

    3. An excellent article, Anne. You have obviously brought up your son and heir to be a good man.

  11. SIR – The sad irony is that Mr Johnson is resisting the Surrender Act in order to secure a Surrender Deal.

    Rupert Boswall
    Staplehurst, Kent

    SIR – To satisfy our fractured country, Mr Johnson could make the whole of Northern Ireland a free port. London could stay in the EU, with the M25 becoming the hard border, and the rest of Britain could then live in a Brexit utopia.

    Andrew Williams
    Poynton, Cheshire

    1. Good morning. You need to keep on scrolling down. There seem to be the usual number.

  14. Good Morning, all

    SIR – The sad irony is that Mr Johnson is resisting the Surrender Act in order to secure a Surrender Deal.

    Rupert Boswall
    Staplehurst, Kent

    It is indeed a Surrender Deal – yesterday afternoon he ‘laid down arms’ by handing over our Armed Forces and State Security Services to the EU without any reciprocation.

      1. Yep! We paint the benches every spring to preserve them. We have a perfectly good bench that was donated in 1955.

      1. Storing the outdoor plastic furniture, bringing the benches in from around the green for painting, removing all the ditch mats for cleaning and storing, removing the coat hanger bars from the hedges around the green, remove all our sponsors ads and store them for the winter, etc. In the off season we only mow the green every four weeks or so.

    3. Go thou, and like an executioner,
      Cut off the heads of too fast growing sprays,
      That look too lofty in our commonwealth:
      All must be even in our government.
      You thus employ’d, I will go root away

      Richard II (Act iii)

    2. They never refused our help when we bailed them out not so long ago for some reason and their EU friends ignored them.

    3. This is certainly a possibility, Citroen, but several posters on here are convinced that Boris is a traitor. Trying to tell them “Time will tell, wait and see, it wont be long now” is like trying to argue logically with Remainers.

        1. I am not going to go into this again and again, Hertslass. May tricked me over a long period of time. But my eyes are now open. I have not said that I totally trust Boris, just that he deserves the benefit of the doubt because he has promised us a fairly speedy Brexit (October 31 is less than four weeks away) and thus we can be sure pretty quickly. May strung people along for almost three and a half years before finally agreeing to resign.

          1. Nobody is going into anything “again and again”. I took issue with your stance since she became PM. Correctly, as it transpires. I had a bet with you at the time, but that was it.

            But you seem to be saying “let’s see” again. Boris “deserves the benefit of the doubt because he has promised us a fairly speedy Brexit (October 31 is less than four weeks away) and thus we can be sure pretty quickly.” We should be concerned about what he is prepared to agree to. It looks very much like WA without backstop – which is worrying. If he gets us out on WTO terms, then I shall be delighted to have been proved wrong.

      2. Elsie – I do like your comments, and I like this channel for the way that people can disagree with each other and still be polite (normally.) 🙂

        I base my views on Boris from observing years of his actions, and have no doubts that he was never going to let us Leave the EU on a WTO deal. I don’t want others to be too disappointed at the end of the month when it has not happened.

        Boris has always been far more pro-EU than Theresa May ever was, and she threw away her premiership and was prepared to destroy the Conservative party by getting into bed with Labour to try and force through the same Withdrawal Agreement that Boris is offering the EU now.

        The W/A is the trap for our country and Boris knows it. This is why he is staying so distant from Farage and The Brexit Party, because they actually would take us out of the EU and Boris won’t let that happen.

        My views are not born of malice but from sadness. I want my country to be free and I see the media and globalists spinning their lies once again to stop that happening. We carry on though.

        The only way they can keep us in the EU in the long term is if we give up the struggle and, being English, I cannot see that happening this side of the grave. 🙂

        1. Thank you for your first sentence, MM. I do hope that you do not think my own post to be impolite. Not having read the “final deal” offered by Boris I cannot really disagree with your take on it. But I have been a regular reader of Boris’ columns and articles – in fact, I have just read a collection of his articles over the years entitled “Have I got views for you” – and I am convinced he is a true Brexiteer and not a Remainer in disguise. But good on you for continuing to warn us all of your fears, even though I do not share them.

          1. I do like the tone of this place. I have found a few such as this over the years, but they are far from common. 🙂

            Boris is a good writer and that is helped by his upbringing and having a lot of experience from debating. But when he has meetings with 3 sets of people, all with different views, and they all think that he agrees with them, then you know that something is not right. Real principles do not change depending on your audience.

            There is one particular chap that I talk to online who is very well read, and he thought the same as you about Boris. He has read his Churchill book and was convinced that he would put Britain first. But as the past 3 months have gone by, his confidence has been eroded.

            I like Boris as an entertainer, and thought he was funny on Have I Got News For You many years ago. But his past history and actions, which speak louder than words, put him squarely in the pro-EU globalist box in my view. We all know how skilled they are at deceiving people as to their true intentions. Our country will be free of them, but it might take a bit longer than we hoped.

          2. I have Boris’ book on Churchill. It’s among the pile of books waiting to be read. I agree with you about actions speaking louder than words. It’s why I don’t share rastus’ enthusiasm for my MP, Owen Paterson – until he lost his job he was among the top six most pro-EU VOTING MPs in Parliament.

          3. We shall see. I sincerely hope that you are proven wrong – I shall not crow if you are.

          4. I think, Elsie, that people are so disillusioned with the conduct of politicians in general and this incarnation of Westminster in particular, that distrust and cynicism are the default position. When it all goes wrong, one is less disappointed because one was expecting it.

  17. Good morning thinkers,

    Weather good here , breezy fresh and dry . Moh doing what he does.. golf match in another county .

    What about this then ?

    Sikh peer quits Today programme’s Thought for the Day slot after 35 years and blasts BBC ‘thought police’ who tried to censor his address to Radio 4 listeners in case it offended Muslims
    Lord Singh has hit out at the BBC for its ‘prejudice and intolerance’ after quitting
    He claims the BBC tried to block a broadcast as it ‘may have offended Muslims’
    A celebrated interfaith activist, Indarjit Singh, has now quit after 35 years

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7536155/Sikh-peer-quits-Today-programmes-Thought-Day-slot-35-years.html

    1. I remember him being very, very upset when a play was put on in West London which took the p!ss out of Sikhs.

      Violent protests and demands for its closure.

  18. Forwarded to me by a chum: off to work, so don’t have time to give more details.

    From the Sun.

    Earlier today French leader Emmanuel Macron’s top EU adviser spoke of Paris’s fears that Britain would become a highly competitive economy given a No Deal.

    Amelie de Montchalin said: “We have to look at whether standards are being met. I do not want to have a tax haven at the gates of Europe.”

    2. Cheeky bitch. Standards? That’s rich. And there’s a big difference between a competitive economy and a tax haven. Nevertheless she is right to observe that Britain will thrive outside the EU.

    3. To mangle a well known quote, “I love the sound of frogs croaking in the morning.”

      First, Goods and Services exported to the France/EU have to meet the standards set by them.

      Second, one glance at either the spending plans of Corbyn or Boris will assure them that we have no prospect of becoming a truly low tax economy anytime soon.

      Third, the EU already includes Luxembourg and borders Liechtenstein and Switzerland. (and the Channel Islands, for that matter)

      Fourth, I believe that London remains their third largest city measured by French occupants, many working in the City.

      What yer Frechies are really scared of is an economy just across La Manche bustling with enterprising people willing to chance their arm starting up new businesses, creating new products, being outward looking to world markets, and unhindered by sclerotic employment laws and bloody-mindedness.

      3. Morning Citroen. 6th largest I believe, behind Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Nice.

    4. “We have to look at whether standards sufficient crippling demands on the escapee are being met. I do not want to have a tax haven successful, free country at the gates of Europe.”

  19. Apparently, yer French slammer convert was a “geek” and “very fragile”. Just the chap to kill four people then.

    Thank goodness it was nothing to do with his new religion.

      1. Beeboids wrong – AGAIN.

        Three policemen killed and one woman civilian. Then the killer was shot dead.

        1. No, but I do like Midlanders: From last year’s log:

          “I like the Midlands everyone is so friendly. Although after about the twentieth time I had been greeted with “Alright?” or its alternative: “You alright?” I had to ask the last bloke who said that to me: “Do I look ill?” He replied: “No worse than me – but that’s not saying much!”

    2. A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick

    4. If this had happened in Britain, you would know it was somebody playing a joke. As it’s in the USA – well – they don’t do irony.

    5. They are pushing some of those in society into dangerous areas of delusion. Some of them were “unstable” in the first place, and that is putting it mildly.

      It can’t be that long before we have suicides to save the planet. You can see the note “Our race is destroying the planet. I die to reduce our carbon footprint and help to save the world.”

      1. Christine Lagarde was blaming the over 70s for living beyond 70 and I have seen suggestions that life saving treatment should be denied them. Just a more extreme method than the Liverpooll Pathway and some NHS staff could take this as a green light to take such action. There are many ways they can get away with such action without detection.

    2. If Boris has agreed to leave all regulation over Britain to Brussels during the IP, then his deal is insane.

    3. Rik – It is almost as if the EU already knows that they are going to accept the W/A that Boris is bringing to them, and all of this talk of the deal falling short or needing work are just lies. They know that it will be years before we can actually make any independent deals of our own. Or, as those pushing the deal will say, “We will be free to sign our own treaties after the transition period is over.”

      We cannot make any realistic deals of our own while we are still forced to be aligned with the single market and are subject to any new EU laws that are passed and they know it.

  22. OT – Sos is on his way home after a trip to the UK. Should be around at the weekend.

    1. BTW, if there’s one person I want to see coming out of all this drowned in his own bullsh1t, it’s Leo Varadkar.

        1. Presumably, strange (and never to be explained) entries in foreign bank accounts have been doing very well in recent years.

          1. I’d like to know what’s in that no questions asked no customs security depot JCJ had built on the Lux/Belgian border, and who it belongs to..

    2. I’m half way through reading “White Gold” by Giles Milton (as recommended by one of the many erudite denizens of Nottlingham – many thanks btw ) and when these race card playing POCs (and POSs) start on this track I immediately look around for a 2m length of 4×4 to nail the book to and beat them soundly around the ears with and scream “read this – then complain about ‘white privilege'” .

      1. I had read about those people kidnapped from Cornwall and other places to be slaves, but did not know that this book existed. That is one for the “read list.” Here is a snippet from a newspaper that did mention it:

        “Historians say Cornish records reveal family members pleading for ransom money to buy their loved-ones back.

        Professor Jo Esra, from the University of Exeter, said the piracy was an “incredibly significant” aspect of the history of the South West.

        “There’s an element that it has been culturally erased in some way,” she told the BBC.

        “This was an aspect of history that impacted enormously on those ordinary, maritime communities.

        “They were the ones that were enslaved and they were the ones that were taken, they were the communities that were decimated, through the activities of the Barbary pirates.”

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/30/memory-cornish-coast-dwellers-kidnapped-slavery-culturally-erased/

    2. I can’t imagine any of his constituents waving goodbye with more than two fingers…..

    3. I hope the Conservative Candidate for this safe seat is a local and not a financier/ lawyer from London. Rory has let himself down.

    1. I thought that this visual display of wind patterns was very impressive, and with the high winds blowing outside at the moment, it was certainly accurate for here.

      2. It’s very mesmeric isn’t? Interesting what the winds do as they hit Spain – separating and divided up by the mountain ranges.

        2. I’ve experienced the funneling effect of the winds as they accelerate through the Strait of Gibraltar many times, especially in an easterly (the Levante), most recently only a fortnight ago, but it’s interesting to see the way the Ebro Valley acts as a conduit for the wind as well as that great river.

      1. Thanks Rik

        I ask because my bank sent me a contactless card when I specifically asked for chip and pin!

        After phoning to complain they offered to send my request……..nearly 30 mins later with security questions I
        almost lost the will to live!!!

        I had to laugh at the irony….

    2. I had read stories of people walking around with scanners in their pockets harvesting information from them, so I found these “card shields” that you keep them in. To test them I went to a much-frequented local shop and asked the owner if he could scan my card when it was inside this silver shield.

      I laid it right on top of the reader and he said there was no authorisation signal. I took the card out and it worked as normal. So I keep my card in one all the time now until the moment of paying for something. 🙂

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d3e99870d15cbcf0c3c133f49753774fc2d4e1d4f4c6df207fc1ca0f7e2c1c00.jpg

      https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00RMCHPZC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

      1. Just bought a bunch from Amazon.

        Incidentally, Meredith, the cowardly down-voter has clobbered you as well.
        What is it with these down-voters that they don’t have the guts to disagree with you in writing?

        1. I think it has been years since I downvoted anyone, although I did fumble the mouse last week and do it by accident as I was aiming for the up arrow.

          If a comment is really bad then fine. But when someone downvotes a “neutral” comment you know you have rattled somebodies cage. 🙂

          1. I think it has a ‘bot’ of some sort since just about all my comments get a down-vote.

          2. Ahh – there is a bot that has been around for a while now. I have noticed that “the left” use them to target the accounts of those they do not like, and to lower their upvote scores until they are reduced to zero. One lady was losing 1,000 a day. This may seem trivial, but once your score is down to zero then just a single fake “spam report” can trigger the “auto-block” feature that is the fundamental flaw in Disqus.

            When auto-block kicks in then every comment you make to ANY Disqus site goes straight to “Pending,” which effective censors your account unless you are white-listed to post on a site. If you go somewhere you have never been to before, your comments are still blocked.

            Those on the left used this tactic a great deal to silence people in the past, but it can take 200 fake spam reports to take down an account with 2,000 upvotes. By lowering the score they need fewer of them. My account was blocked in this way because those trolls who wanted to keep us in the EU did not like what I had to say. I cannot imagine why. 🙂

      2. I’ve got one of those – the council were giving them out free of charge at our local show in the summer.

  29. OT – self driving cars

    I’ve been very much looking forward to having a car that will take me to the pub, park itself, then come to pick me up when the wobbles set in.

    I’ve had a rethink about the whole thing – suicide bombers will be joining the dole queue when they arrive. On the plus side, all them heavenly virgins will be happy.

    1. ‘Morning, Stormy, “On the plus side, all them 92-year-old heavenly virgins will be happy.”

      Just a slight modification.

  31. Rory Stewart has left the Conservative Party and will not be standing as a candidate in the next election

  32. John Lewis seeks discounts from some landlords

    John Lewis is seeking discounts from its landlords to cut costs, in a highly unusual move that highlights the huge pressures on retailers.

    The BBC has learned that the retail giant has been telling landlords in some locations that it will withhold 20% of this quarter’s service charge.

    These are the fees retailers pay on top of rent for services such as heating and security.
    John Lewis said the charges had become too high and urged landlords to help.
    But the move could lead to legal action by property owners to recover any unpaid money.

      1. They are going one step further and are withholding some of the Service charge which could result in court action against them and if they get a CCJ that will push up the cost of their credit

      2. I think they are counting on it being difficult to re-let but it is getting easier to get planning to convert retail to residential

  33. Insurance: Millions of loyal customers ‘overpay on car and home cover’

    Whats a new. Never stay with the same company for more than few years as they will take you for a mug

    1. I just got my annual renewal notice from the AA.
      Premium last year (I left it too late to cancel) £340
      Premium coming year £423.
      Basic cover, Newish car. Used them once for a flat battery.
      Premium details well hidden in the garbage.
      Member for 50 years.
      Inertia selling to rip off OAP’s.

  34. Welsh independence referendum ‘before 2030’ Plaid leader says

    Another lot offering un-affordable freebies

    1. I don’t think that they can vote for an independence that isn’t theirs. The Welsh are a subject nation having been beaten in battle and conquered by the English under Edward I.

  35. A Scottish judge is being asked to
    consider whether Boris Johnson could be jailed if he takes the UK out of
    the EU without a deal.

    A legal challenge is to be heard at the
    Court of Session about whether the prime minister could be forced to
    delay Brexit if no exit deal is agreed.

    However, Mr Johnson has said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than ask European leaders for another extension.

    The court case seeks to establish what might happen if he refuses to act.

    2. If they give the ‘wrong’ answer will they take their case to the Isle of Man courts?

      Tristan da Cunha?

  38. “What do you think of Rory’s run for Mayor??”

    “It makes sense. He’s already got plenty of experience of surviving in a desolate, lawless wilderness full of baying ROPers”

    1. https://twitter.com/TrevorCoultMC/status/1121431373087158272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1121431373087158272&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefault%26f%3Dchannel-notthetelegraphletters%26t_u%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fdisqus.com%252Fhome%252Fdiscussion%252Fchannel-notthetelegraphletters%252Ffriday_10_may_even_brussels_did_not_believe_theresa_may_could_stay_on_after_losing_conservative_supp%252F%26t_s%3Dfriday_10_may_even_brussels_did_not_believe_theresa_may_could_stay_on_after_losing_conservative_supp%26t_e%3DFriday%252010%2520May%253A%2520Even%2520Brussels%2520did%2520not%2520believe%2520Theresa%2520May%2520could%2520stay%2520on%2520after%2520losing%2520Conservative%2520support%26t_d%3DDavid%2520Wainwright%2520%25C2%25B7%2520Profile%2520%25C2%25B7%2520Disqus%26t_t%3DFriday%252010%2520May%253A%2520Even%2520Brussels%2520did%2520not%2520believe%2520Theresa%2520May%2520could%2520stay%2520on%2520after%2520losing%2520Conservative%2520support%26s_o%3Ddesc%23version%3Dd5dbec62496d960a18509c4fcbad403e

  40. NEWS: Management at Sports Illustrated just informed its newsroom in meetings that half the staff has been laid off, according to a person present.

  41. Good morning from a Saxon Queen
    The new washing machine is about to be delivered and installed
    ( somewhat early ) assuming the husband can get the plug out
    of the old one .

        1. Yes thanks, but it is certainly a bit nippy this morning. Short visit here as off to Southampton on a family visit, via the wonderful (sic) A27. “Play nicely” as Bill would say.

      1. Morning Bob, possibly.
        The old washing machine was South Korean the new one is German .

        1. You’re letting the side down, Ethul (good morning btw). I thought you were a Brexiteer who didn’t support the remaining 27!

          :-))

          1. The blasted thing is touch screen and far too technical.
            I just want to do a cotton 40c wash that doesn’t dry
            because I want to do that separately but it’s told me
            thirty different things. Husband chose the washing
            machine regardless of not ever putting the last one on .
            Germans do good washing machine, I’m not cutting
            my nose to despite my face and besides I’ve a problem
            with the EU ( as in Brussels ) not the countries of Europe.
            ;)) Good morning btw .

          2. Understood, Ethul. I quite agree about the EU and the people of Europe. I just try to buy from other countries where possible to show their leaders that their bullying can have consequences. With regards to your washing machine (and similar high cost items) quality always comes first because that way it’s cheaper in the long run. So sorry that your “thirty different things” washing machine drive you nuts. So does mine! And don’t start me on the manuals they provide – you need a degree in higher engineering to understand them.

          3. Good on you, Elsie.

            We have been doing that since 2016, and for the same reasons. Perhaps the people of the EU can put pressure on the toads in the EU when their very high level of exports to us starts falling. We had to replace our little car recently – went with a second-hand Mitsubishi. Nice little car, it’s just taken us round Somerset and Cornwall, and was very reasonably priced.

            You can’t beat British cheese and fruits (I can’t think of anything that Holland produces which is not tasteless in comparison), and wines from S America, S. Africa and Australia can be excellent. So who really needs French, Italian, Spanish, German etc. ones?

  42. Interesting times…..

    “Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft has set the euro as the default currency for all new exports of crude oil and refined products, as the state-controlled giant looks to switch as many sales as possible from U.S. dollars to euros in order to avoid further U.S. sanctions against it.”

  43. Parents must have the right to smack their kids. Spiked. Brendan O’Neill.

    Scotland’s ban on smacking is an assault on parental freedom.

    Morning everyone. It is also a part of the Criminalisation of the People.

    Unable to make any inroads on the traditional crimes of Murder, Drug Running, Burglary, Assault etc. the Elites have decided to persecute the General Population. They are a relatively easy target as Motoring Offences indicate, easily intimidated and a good source of Income for Westminster as they almost invariably Plead Guilty and pay up under penalties real criminals would laugh at. It goes much further than this of course; they must also be prevented from pursuing life styles that the Elites consider anti-social. Don’t eat too much (the size of the steaks in my local supermarket have just been reduced), drink too much; don’t be racist, sexist, homo-trans-islamophobic or we will prosecute you and send you to prison. Smacking children is very bad but teaching them sexual perversion is OK and if you object we will take them away and give them to a nice Gay Pakistani couple.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/10/03/parents-must-have-the-right-to-smack-their-kids/

    1. Morning, Minty. Considering the main religion in Pakistan, isn’t a Gay Pakistani couple an oxymoron?

  44. Good morning, all.

    Seems to me that the Irish T-shirt, Lee O’ Verruca, has far too much time on his hands, in which to worry about the so-called “Irish Backstop”. Here’s a plan to keep him occupied. Boris should give him a note with the following instructions written on it:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3b915f97a70d9f218c14119934955cb4794e9c05fc50dfbd2182066e7b04f30a.png

    The reverse side of the note should read:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3b915f97a70d9f218c14119934955cb4794e9c05fc50dfbd2182066e7b04f30a.png

    That’ll take his mind off the “problem”

  45. 14-bedroom mansion just 90 minutes from London at auction for the less than the price of a flat in the capital

    Considering cashing in your London flat and moving out of the capital for a bit more space, while still being able to commute to work in less than 90 minutes?

    How about taking it to the next level with this 14-bedroom 18th-century property, which is up for auction with a guide price of just under £400,000

  46. Morning all, funny how things are changing bit by bit.
    My MP who voted for May’s WA 3 times defended his actions after I emailed him to register my disgust at his actions. He was quick to use Edmond Burke and the trustee model of representation as justification for his actions.
    Imagine my surprise to discover that he is now running a survey asking constituents their views on a number of issues, has he sensed a possibility of not being a sure bet to be re-elected or does he plan to ignore the plebs again? It will be interesting if this consultation exercise is repeated by other MP’s. Either way, anyone who votes for May’s WA 3 times is not worthy of my support.
    https://www.davidwarburton.org.uk/survey

    1. You could remind him that in the days of Edmond Burke, there was no radio, no tv, and no social media. MPs had to be trusted delegates for their electorate. That is no longer the case. And especially in the case of the referendum, and the abominable WA.

    2. He suffers from a confusion over who he should be using his knowledge with.

      It’s all very well quoting Edmund Burke, however his job is not to act as he wishes. His job is to take his knowledge and experience to us and present both sides, let us make the decision through that dialogue and then isntruct him in how we wish him to vote.

      Mps are a confused bunch. They think they’re somehow special and intelligent just because they have the letters MP after their name.

      To quote the genius of Yes Prime Minister, A Real Partnership:

      17
      00:01:48,615 –> 00:01:52,210
      – What will you say?
      – That I deeply sympathise. I don’t.

      18
      00:01:52,375 –> 00:01:54,764
      That they fully deserve it. Not true.

      19
      00:01:54,935 –> 00:01:59,725
      And that I shall make it my first priority
      as soon as the crisis is over. I shan’t.

      20
      00:01:59,895 –> 00:02:03,888
      If they vote themselves
      a whacking great pay rise,

      21
      00:02:04,055 –> 00:02:08,287
      it doesn’t do very much
      for the dignity of Parliament. It doesn’t.

      22
      00:02:08,495 –> 00:02:13,489
      – Are they underpaid?
      – Underpaid?! Backbench MPs? Darling…

      23
      00:02:13,695 –> 00:02:16,687
      Being an MP is a vast, subsidised ego trip.

      24
      00:02:16,855 –> 00:02:22,771
      You need no qualifications, no compulsory
      hours of work, no performance standards.

      25
      00:02:23,775 –> 00:02:28,803
      A warm room and subsidised meals for a bunch
      of self-opinionated windbags and busybodies

      26
      00:02:29,815 –> 00:02:34,809
      who suddenly find people taking them seriously
      because they’ve got ”MP” after their names!

      27
      00:02:34,975 –> 00:02:39,765
      How can they be underpaid when there’s
      about 200 applicants for every vacancy?

      28
      00:02:39,935 –> 00:02:44,531
      You could fill every seat 20 times over
      even if they paid to do the job!

      1. He is just arrogant like so many in Westminster. Until selection of candidates are chosen by local associations no improvement is likely to be forthcoming. CCHQ needs as much a clearout as any other part of the Conservative Party.
        Thank you for reminding me of the genius of Yes Prime Minister, who would have thought all those years ago it would be so relevant today?

    1. He should carry on running until he reaches Europe. In Britain, candidates stand for election.

  49. Home Secretary tells Mark Zuckerberg he is creating a ‘digital blindspot’ for paedophiles and terrorists. 3 OCTOBER 2019.

    In an exclusive article for The Telegraph and open letter to Mr Zuckerberg, Priti Patel says his plans for end-to-end encryption on Facebook’s Messenger service will deny law enforcement access to millions of reports of child abuse and terrorist plots.

    TOP COMMENT BELOW THE LINE

    Steve Russell 4 Oct 2019 1:33AM.

    Oh god, not the ‘protecting the kiddie winkies’ ruse again. How embarrassingly naff and unoriginal. Have they no shame?

    You could respect the establishment if they just came out and said “We have to be able to spy on the citizens to stop them getting dangerous ideas about individual liberty and start colluding with each other against our elitist values”.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/10/03/home-secretary-tells-mark-zuckerberg-creating-digital-blindspot/

  50. Daily Brexit Betrayal

    Haven’t we heard that Barnier argument before?

    Hasn’t he sent back Ms May to ‘do her homework’ time and time again? In

    other words: ‘toe our line or we won’t even speak with you.’ Next, this

    is what it’s really about:

    “There is a growing

    consensus among European governments that, given the extent of EU

    objections to the plan, there is not time to do a deal. They believe

    there will be a third delay to Brexit.” (link, paywalled)

    Look – the EU cat is out of the Brexit bag!

    It’s solely about getting that extension. They must be very certain

    that the Remain Cabal in the HoC is going to work, that “Teh Letter” of

    submission will be delivered. Here are some more remarks coming from

    Brussels:

    “MEPs were angry that

    full details of Britain’s customs proposals would not emerge until

    after Brexit. “This would mean the European parliament would have to

    give consent to the protocol without knowing its full implications, nor

    having any guarantee as to its legal operation. This is unacceptable,”

    said the statement.” (link, paywalled)

    Yeah well – correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that exactly the proceedings Ms May had to adopt, given the Merkel-written WA? And finally:

    “Last night Mr

    Barnier told ambassadors that the British plan was “not operational in

    any way”. “The British just refer to future technologies and

    arrangements to be discussed during the transition period,” he said,

    according to a diplomatic note. The lack of detail and the ability of

    the Northern Ireland assembly to veto the deal meant Mr Johnson’s

    guarantee was “meaningless”, he said.” (link, paywalled)

    In plain English: ‘it can’t be done because we don’t want to do it’. Of course, ‘it ain’t good enough’ also had to be said. The EU however is always blameless.

    https://independencedaily.co.uk/your-daily-brexit-betrayal-friday-4th-october-2019/

    1. It’s staring everyone in the face and being ignored.
      So far as Brexit is concerned, the EU are the enemy.
      A no-deal exit is far and away the best way to beat them.

    2. If Barnier makes a statement then the safest thing to do is reverse his words, or ignore it altogether if possible. Another extension would be okay for the EU if they are faced with no other option, as it keeps us from being free and we will still be paying them money for 2 more months. Before the next extension for another year. But this is very much not what they prefer.

      The Withdrawal Agreement that they constructed gives them massive control of the United Kingdom, far more than over any other EU slave state. They can pass their laws and we are forced to accept them and they can write their own bills and we will pay them. So the EU very much want this W/A that they spent 2 long years crafting. No doubt we will have yet another “all night debate” while they overcome the fake differences they use as a smokescreen.

      The EU lies by default. An extension gives them a small part of what they want. The Withdrawal Agreement gives them everything that they want.

  51. Sorry, sir, we only stock books we agree with. Rod Liddle. 5 October 2019.

    The latest thing we’ve learned about our Prime Minister is that 20 years ago he may or may not have put his hand on the leg of Robert Peston’s future girlfriend, a lady called Charlotte Edwardes, at a Spectator lunch. Looking through the comments below the articles which covered this, uh, story, I was struck by the degree to which almost nobody gave a toss or indeed found the crime of which he was accused wholly uncommendable. Maybe one in five begged to differ and most of those had user names like ‘Brexitisshit’ or ‘killtoryscum’.

    Here’s Rod in amusing form though his observation here is almost certainly true. No one outside the sacred precincts of Westminster or the MSM gives a damn about his amatory exploits. Long exposure to personal character assassination has not led to greater sensitivity on the part of the public but instead total indifference. Trump’s standing so far as we can tell has suffered not the slightest decline after 3 years of assault and one suspects Boris will do no worse. All that matters is that they deliver politically. This has its long term dangers of course but nothing compared to the present opposition!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/sorry-sir-we-only-stock-books-we-agree-with/

      1. ROD LIDDLE

        Sorry, sir, we only stock books we agree with

        5 October 2019 9:00 AM

        I was on my way to the pub the other evening, about seven o’clock, rain lashing down on my head, when I saw that there was a dim, yellowish light on in the bookshop. Peering closer through the downpour I could see five women sitting on a circle of chairs around either a table or a cauldron, talking animatedly to one another. Or perhaps chanting, I don’t know.

        I crossed the road and stood directly outside the shop window with my arms outstretched, mouthing at those inside: ‘Where’s my book? Where’s my book?’ Six weeks previously I had wandered into the shop to see if they were stocking The Great Betrayal: they weren’t. And when I asked the lady behind the till she became somewhat evasive. This time, after watching me standing there like a loon in the rain, the same woman came forward and opened the door. ‘I’m sorry, Rod,’ she said, ‘but I don’t stock political books.’

        ‘But…’ I began pointing to the large array of political books in her window. ‘Apart from those dealing with feminism, the environment, climate change and gender issues,’ she replied. I said wasn’t it a pity that a book which was written 150 metres from her shop, which quoted local people and had reached number four in the Sunday Times bestseller list, couldn’t find room among the interesting tracts about why maths is racist and how we’re all going to burn to a crisp very soon, but our conversation was cut short.

        Another woman, with long straggly hair and a face like the blade of a freshly sharpened hatchet, got up from her chair and said, ‘This is a private meeting, goodbye’, and slammed the door in my face — and that was that. Community justice in action. A pity. The first woman seemed a rather likeable soul, to be honest, and yet still captured by the totalitarian impulses of the liberal left.

        As a kid growing up on Teesside, my two great escapes from what, sullenly, I considered the suffocating boredom and orthodoxy of my surroundings were Fearnley’s record shop on Linthorpe Road and a bookshop in Redcar which sold both secondhand and new volumes. I read everything I could, never pausing to wonder if the book I had just bought — a biography of Mussolini, Updike’s Couples, Turgenev’s First Love, Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus, Left Book Club stuff from the 1930s by Spender or Zilliacus, poems by Yevtushenko — accorded with my own political beliefs. And so I got a rounded view of the world. Wildly left-wing though I was back then, I never quite became conscripted by the left’s utter, implacable, certitude. Always at the back of my mind was the notion that I might well be totally wrong — because so many writers I admired clearly disagreed with me.

        But bookshops today seem a little reluctant to indulge in such breadth of vision. They have become the retail equivalent of virtue-signallers. ‘The only books we will stock are those we agree with’ is the mantra — a terribly stunted disposition, an anti-literary disposition.

        And it’s not just the little independents, either. It’s places such as Waterstones as well, the big high-street chains which probably will stock your book if they think it comes from the right, because they kind of have to, but will hide it from the public gaze. I found The Great Betrayal in one Waterstones branch in the cookery section, and in another on prominent display, but a note had been affixed suggesting that the book was shit from start to finish.

        I wonder if these shops will stock new books coming out about Boris Johnson? The excellent Tom Bower is working on one right now. I suppose they will have to read the books first to see if they are pro or anti, or just look at the cover: ‘Boris Johnson – Bullying, Lying, Sexist, Toff Bastard’ would probably pass muster.

        The latest thing we’ve learned about our Prime Minister is that 20 years ago he may or may not have put his hand on the leg of Robert Peston’s future girlfriend, a lady called Charlotte Edwardes, at a Spectator lunch. Looking through the comments below the articles which covered this, uh, story, I was struck by the degree to which almost nobody gave a toss or indeed found the crime of which he was accused wholly uncommendable. Maybe one in five begged to differ and most of those had user names like ‘Brexitisshit’ or ‘killtoryscum’.

        A couple of newspapers rehashed the old stories about the ‘Sextator’ — the extraordinarily libidinous atmosphere at our offices back in the early 2000s when one would turn up for editorial meetings to find naked men swinging from the light fittings and fruity well-bred kitten-faced females with their ankles behind their ears. It wasn’t quite like that, to be honest — for a start, Peter Oborne was almost always there and nobody could contemplate an act of sexual intercourse with that fountain of self-righteousness nearby. But still, my colleagues Toby Young and Lloyd Evans wrote a play about these supposed shenanigans which ran for a bit in a small theatre (I was played by Peter Capaldi!). We always said Tobes and Lloyd wrote the thing out of pique because they weren’t getting any.

        But the Trumpification of Boris continues. ‘He lies. He has blond hair. He grabs hold of vaginas.’ The BBC lapped up the Charlotte Edwardes stuff, not really questioning whether if Boris had behaved so egregiously, why didn’t she mention it at the time, or punch him in the face? But I still think it will be Boris’s mischievous penis which does for him in the end: the pole dancer Jennifer Arcuri and the money she was supposedly bunged is the one thing I fear will not go away, despite the ludicrous nature of the demands for impeachment.”

        1. Rod, the left is so sure of their – ahem – “right on” orthodoxy that any opposing view is heresy. Not only are the books to be burned, but any holders of opposite views are to be subject to autos da fe.

    3. And I bet that suit cost thousands. Pity the tailor didn’t include a lesson on tie length.

    1. He’s only leaving at the end of the term so he can trough on the £40K tax free.

      He has no shame or dignity whatsoever.

  54. Oh dear………………

    Doesn’t look as though Mr Redwood was pleased when I said the Conservatives and Davos look like the heavenly twins !

  55. EU make desperate plea for ‘more time’ to look at Boris offer – Barnier fears hidden trick

    3. How about… 2 and a half days? Oh no! I know! It has 6 months. Our business wil carry on with the EU in the meantime.

      We’ll then have left and the EU can keep pottering along, same as it’s forced us to.

  56. Good afternoon all.

    The Pregnant Blonde.

    A blonde is pregnant, and is practically 9 months along. She goes to see her doctor for a routine check-up, but she is worried.
    She asks, “What if the baby starts coming, and I can’t get to the hospital in time.”
    The doctor replies, “Well, woman have been having babies for a million years without an attendance by doctors. It’s a very natural process.
    The first thing you do is to assume the same position you were laying in when you got pregnant.”
    The blonde interrupts with, “Do you mean with the left foot in the glove compartment and the right foot hanging out the window?”

  57. Paris police attacker ‘heard voices’ before deadly knife rampage. 4 OCTOBER 2019 • 11:24AM.

    The knife attacker who stabbed to death four at Paris’ police headquarters on Thursday had suffered a “fit of dementia” in which he “heard voices”, his wife has told investigators.

    Mickael Harpon 45, had worked in the IT department of the closely-guarded police intelligence unit for 20 years.

    He went on the rampage at Thursday lunchtime, killing his female superior, two other officers and an administrative worker with a ceramic kitchen knife before being shot dead by a policeman in the courtyard of the building – a stone’s throw from Notre-Dame cathedral.

    Profoundly deaf man who has recently converted to Islam hears voices and stabs fellow workers.

    No comments allowed needless to say!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/04/paris-police-attacker-heard-voices-deadly-knife-rampage/

    1. It is bad enough when they are brainwashed from birth to follow that cult, but when an adult chooses to bow down to that ideology then there is something seriously wrong inside of his head.

      1. Who knows? It could be a lifetime of disconnection, anger at his disability, finally having found somewhere that he feels accepts him.

        The reasons are myriad, but such people exist at all levels of society. Heck, we’re a hugely disconnected, disenfranchised lot ourselves. What stops one of us from going postal?

        2. “…such people exist at all levels of society.”

          I would suggest that there are very few who would just start murdering people. Islam allows this, even encourages it, as a path for those with nothing to get into their sickening vision of Heaven, with the sex rewards and “fresh boys.”

          “What stops one of us from going postal?”

          I really hope you know the answer to that. 🙂

        3. Sadly the moral bankruptcy of the western church is aiding the spread of Islam in Africa and South East Asia. When the church tries to force acceptance of Sodom & Gomorrah, Islam can look like a better deal.

          2. Yep, but I don’t for one second believe that the moral bankruptcy of the western church has been happening organically though.

      2. I can’t understand a man converting to Islam, but why on earth do women convert? It is a central tenet of the religion that women are inferior. So much for feminism.

    2. I suspect that one of the voices was his imam saying, “This is a test of your faith….”

    4. BBC’s take on it;
      “He converted to Islam 18 months ago, according to reports, and had recently stopped talking to female colleagues in the office. But a government spokeswoman has said there is no indication he had been radicalised before the attack.”
      The conversion itself is the radicalisation. The two sentences sum up the immunity of Islam to the MSM and the PTB.

      1. Afternoon EB,
        Probable just a pacifier, worked out to get people to say ” thanks, good to hear”

  61. Jawdropping stuff

    “Other questions demonstrate an equal intellectual deficit. “How is math

    manipulated to allow inequality and oppression to exist?” and “How has

    math been used to resist and liberate people and communities of color

    from oppression?” Just one of the sub-questions that students will be

    invited to consider here is “How can we use math to measure the impact

    of activism?” Because, of course, what matters most in this world is

    engaging in impactful activism. Elsewhere students will be invited to

    consider the following question, “Can you suggest resolutions to

    oppressive mathematical practices?”

    https://unherd.com/2019/10/will-maths-succumb-to-the-woke-wave/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups

  62. My new washing machine hates me, it’s too complex .
    Also just about to take some stuff down to the tip but they
    don’t take cardboard boxes.. we are meant to recycle cardboard ourselves
    by placing them is silly bags that are far too small for cardboard twice a month .
    Morons.. They want you to recycle but dictate how you should do it !

      1. Brown cardboard is an excellent composting material, especially with grass clippings and urine. Worms love it.

        1. Cardboard is good for starting bonfires. There must be a bonfire near you building a fire for the 5 November.

    2. They want you to recycle but dictate how you should do it!

      It’s all about control!

    3. Could you secrete the cardboard into the old washing machine before it gets taken away?

      1. When our new fridge arrived from JLP, they took all the packaging away (as well as the old, dead, fridge). Free.

  63. The not-for-profit supplier behind Islington Council’s Angelic Energy could have its licence revoked if it doesn’t pay £9.4million in green subsidies by October 31

    Industry regulator Ofgem has ordered Nottingham Council’s Robin Hood Energy, which supplies Angelic, to hand over cash it’s already collected from among its 130,000 customers.
    Ofgem has identified four suppliers that missed its September 1 deadline to pay the green taxes, with £14.7m due in total, of which Robin Hood owes £9,435,925.
    Cllr Caroline Russell (Green, Highbury East) said: “It is really worrying to hear the reports that Robin Hood Energy who supply the council’s Angelic Energy Company [could have its licence revoked].

  64. Police raided several alleged brothels in London and Essex and arrested a man on suspicion of human trafficking in Finsbury Park last night.

    Officers stormed addresses in Finsbury Park, Brentwood, Basildon, Colchester and Southend – and they arrested five people, while three were safeguarded.
    An Essex Police spokesperson said: “Five people have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking after we executed warrants at several properties we believed to be brothels.

    1. “Spain’s love affair with pork goes back millennia and last year the pig
      population reached 50 million, making them more numerous than humans.”

      I wonder if that helps to discourage a certain type of immigrant.

        1. We do know that in Spain there exists an interesting historical precedent for clearing muslims out. On a personal note, I noticed on a short visit to the Costa del Sol in January 2006, there were muslims hanging around the resort and occasionally they’d come and gawk at the sun-worshippers. I noted that muslims and beaches didn’t mix too well.

    2. I note that the cowardly down-voter is back. Did you have a rotten holiday? Did it pi$$ on you every day?

      Please take another holiday and learn to write about any disagreement you might have with me or the articles I post.

        1. ‘Morning, Julie, there isn’t one that shews the down-voter’s pseudonym, I have an add-in that just shews down-votes.

        2. Funny, isn’t it, how upset senior grown ups get about down votes ?

          After all, it’s only a Disqus feature !

      2. Odd – I haven’t changed any settings, but now I’m seeing down votes, I wonder if I can turn that off?

        1. ‘Afternoon, Bleau, you probably always could see them but the phantom down-voter has either not found us until now or, as I suggest, has been on holiday or in prison for a month.

  68. Independent saying Boris , in Court, will ask for an extension if he doesn’t get a deal with the EU by 19 October. So now we know.

      1. The express agrees with the Independent with some caveats. Steve Baker says we still Leave on 31 October

        1. From the above link…

          They want the Court of Session, Scotland’s highest court, to rule on the extent to which Mr Johnson is bound by the legislation passed by opposition MPs – the so-called Benn Act – which requires the government to request an extension to the 31 October Brexit deadline if a deal has not been signed off by Parliament by 19 October.

          Mr Johnson has said “we will obey the law, and will come out on 31 October” in any event, without specifying how he would achieve these apparently contradictory goals.

          There had been speculation Downing Street had identified a legal loophole to get around the Benn Act, named after Labour’s Hilary Benn who spearheaded the law’s passage through Parliament.

          Steve Baker MP, chairman of the European Research Group of Brexiteer Tories, said: “All this means is that government will obey the law.

          “It does not mean we will extend. It does not mean we will stay in the EU beyond 31 October. We will leave.”

          2. We are also, Tony, fed up with being messed around by a bunch of self-serving, treacherous parasites.

          4. Why the Scottish court? They’ve already recognised that, a) their remit doesn’t run in England and b) it doesn’t cover politics.

          6. EU law, Article 50, says the default position is to leave without a deal unless there is a withdrawal agreement. EU law supersedes the laws of the U.K.

          7. Surely the Benn Act cannot stop Boris Johnson accompanying the letter requesting an extension with another letter:

            DO UNDERSTAND THAT I WAS FORCED TO WRITE THIS LETTER BY A SET OF COMPLETE W*NKERS IN PARLIAMENT AND BE ASSURED I WISH TO HONOUR THE REFERENDUM AND LEAVE THE EU BY 31 OCTOBER. CLEARLY IF YOU HAD AN OUNCE MILLIGRAM OF PRIDE AND COULD FEEL ANY SHAME YOU WOULD NOT AGREE TO ANY EXTENSION.

          1. Let’s not give them that much time. Give ’em the ‘Countdown’ clock timer and music.

  70. Vladimir Putin Is Luring Tourists to Russia With Free E-Visas. October 4, 2019.

    On Oct. 1, this former czarist capital switched to a free, e-visa regime that includes a pledged 96-hour turnaround time for citizens of 53 countries. The rest of the Russian Federation, which stretches from the watery edges of Alaska and Japan to its nuclear-armed exclave inside the borders of the EU, will follow suit on Jan. 1, 2021, when a special app will make the process even simpler. The fee won’t exceed $50.

    Notably absent from the e-visa list are the members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance: the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand. People from these countries are still welcome, but they’ll have to apply the way Garca and her daughter did.

    I’ve always wanted to go to Russia or more specifically Stalingrad. Now I’m too nackered to do it they’ve opened up.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-04/russia-s-new-e-visas-are-set-to-make-it-a-top-global-destination

    1. ” Now I’m too (k)nackered to do it they’ve opened up.”
      Same here. Wish I was young again,,,,I mean. younger now ….

      1. Oooh dear; you’ve given me a hefty dose of nostalgia.
        I loved Russia.
        Heck, I might even facing flying again just to go back.

    3. What a loon. We need a tougher justice system that punishes crime by preventing it, not a Left wing handwringing one beloved by those who never face ithe criminals who make our lives miserable.

    1. I think Boris was probably weaned from his mother far too early .. hence the fact there is so much sibling rivalry etc

      I also liken him to an over ebullient labrador .

      Years ago when I was being checked out by security before boarding an aircraft for a long haul flight .. shoes off , that sort of thing .. and being sniffed by the security dog .. which was a lovely yellow labrador .. the dog sniffed and knocked my pubic bone with his nose , I doubled over with shock and pain, the dog reacted and bounced under my bent frame catching my nose which then started to pour with blood .. there was blood and chaos everywhere .. my nose was pouring with blood , my clothes were bloodstained , and the poor dog meant well, he was doing his job .

      The rest of the story fades into history..

      Oh yes , I was talking about Boris.. He is a hoist to his own petard!

    2. She’s over estimated her effect if men trip over their dicks – surely their dicks would be well clear of the floor if she were any good

      1. Elsie – It is an unfortunate reality with trolls that they often use several accounts at once to be abusive / downvote people.

        This is most likely 1 person logging into 3 accounts one after another just to vote that comment (and others) down. How sad an existence is that? So don’t pay any attention to any downvotes that you get. It will be the same sad loser. 🙂

      2. Several cowardly little shiites who cannot – and will not – disagree with me via-a-vis..

        Let them go and die in a ditch, Elsie.

  75. Not being a wet blanket but could it be that the boris is using the tory party
    as the final stepping stone to seemingly greater things, over there ?
    Once articles are signed then future election results will be of little consequence.

    1. Who cares what Boris is planning ? He is a means to an end,and once Brexit is achieved he van go where he wants.

      1. T,
        That attitude has kept us in limbo for three plus years tony, what he considers a satisfactory end & what I consider a satisfactory end I have a feeling are vastly different.
        His final destination could very well be brussels with him dictating to the UK.

    2. I have no faith in Boris.
      But I do like Dominic Cummings and a few more…
      We just have to wait now…..

    1. Maybe Islam set it off, but one of the great advantages of thinking is that nobody except yourself ever knows what you are thing, at any time.
      The last bastion of privacy.

  77. Andrea Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre, which represents Mackereth, called the ruling “deeply disturbing.”

    “It
    is deeply disturbing that this is the first time in the history of
    English law that a judge has ruled that free citizens must engage in
    compelled speech,” she said. Williams also warned that if the decision
    is upheld in an appeal, it will have “seismic consequences” for anyone
    in the workplace “who is prepared to believe and say that we are created
    male and female.”

    https://pjmedia.com/faith/lack-of-belief-in-transgenderism-is-incompatible-with-human-dignity-uk-court-says/

          1. Good grief, Conners, my next door neighbours also have one. You don’t by any chance live next door but one to me do you?

          3. You know where I live, Conners. Whereabouts are you, then? (Rough area will do.)

          7. Not if one is South Walian….(I was very nearly born in Cardiff – but Hilter had other plans)

          8. The border with England – I live on the English side; despite my Welsh ancestry I am now wholly English after three years being treated as a second class citizen at a Welsh University.

          9. And rightly so!!

            Though I am half Welsh, I simply cannot stand them….especially the ones who chat away in Englaish and then, when you ask a question in English, immediately swap to that fatuous WELLSSHH ….

            Sorry, I’ll get me Welsh Hat….

          11. They do it a lot. I am of the view that the Welsh language may not actually exist. They simply gibber nonsense to be rude.

    3. I recently wrote to our Archbishop enclosing the proposed Census new questions survey. I pointed out that the Bible was quite clear; “Male and female He created them”. Helpfully, I added, “and He left it at that”.
      I have yet to receive His Grace’s response.

    2. Reminds me of the old marriage joke: “What’s your’s is mine, what’s mine is me own”.

  81. Big Blow for Scotland. A 25% tariff has been put on Scotch Whisky by the US. This is the result of a WTO decision concerning unfair EU subsidies to Airbus

    An eight-page list of the goods facing 25% tariffs published Wednesday by the USTR includes a wide assortment of popular European foodstuffs such as coffees, olives, cheeses, liqueurs and cordials. Industrial goods making the list include electromechanical tools and backhoes.
    Other tariff threats loom over the EU. President Trump is poised to decide by Nov. 13 whether to tax cars and auto parts from Europe, risking a rapid escalation of duties on trans-Atlantic automotive trade worth some $100 billion.

    The US has slapped 25% tariffs on European Union goods including single-malt Scotch whisky, French wine and Italian cheese.
    The list exempts some products, such as Italian wine, but also includes sweaters made in the the UK.

    Tariffs will be put on UK-made pullovers, cashmere items and wool clothing, as well as olives from France, Germany and Spain.
    German coffee and EU-produced pork sausage and other pork products, other than ham, will also be hit..
    The new 25% tariffs will take effect as early as 18 October.

  82. Afternoon, all. No deal is much less of a risk than a deal – the EU is intent on destroying us, so any deal they might agree to will damage us.

    2. Was talking to the CO of RAF Shawbury last night; before he was appointed he worked with NATO and said that all the various nationalities celebrated their national days. Here’s one we can celebrate long into the future if it comes off.

    3. I really do wish you hadn’t posted that, Rik. I am now dying to eat a Full English, but I have neither sausages (the non-silly variety) nor mushrooms in the house!

      :-))

        1. I will convey your message to The Master (Mr Lime) when he returns, Uncle William.

      2. Occasionally on a Sunday for brunch but not every Sunday
        as I like scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on German rye bread
        too. Might have bacon and eggs this Sunday which will be nice.

    4. Personally I intend to celebrate our leaving the EU with a bit of lasagne, a decent German beer, Belgian chocolates and apple strudel.

      We are leaving a communist construct designed to enslave the nations of Europe. The nations of Europe we should embrace as peers and look to trade goods, services and culture with them, as we have for about 2000 years – mostly at arrow point with the French, but that’s their fault.

  84. Good morning all.

    We had a visit from our new Conservative candidate this morning. He seemed a good bloke, Anthony Browne. Unfortunately I didn’t answer the door, pd got there before me. I heard him say, ‘well, I didn’t think much of the last one’ (Heidi Allen). Then I read the blurb he left. He is a former 'Times' and BBC journalist.

    He will be a shoo-in these parts.

    Edit: whatever has happened to italics?

    2. It is hard to imagine a “real Conservative” lasting long as a BBC journalist. His past history and views might be worth a look. If he is another Liberal cuckoo trying to take over the nest, then that seat should be targeted by an actual Conservative or The Brexit Party. Ideally one who has just joined the other.

      Who keeps choosing these people and putting them forward as candidates? We would not be in the mess we are now if the Liberals were weeded out of the party.

        1. Being a long-term Boris Supporter is possibly not the ringing endorsement that it might appear to be. Although he did leave the BBC 21 years ago, which is better than leaving last month. I did look at the page you linked to and saw this snippet relating to those days:

          “In an interview with the Cambridge Independent on 24 July 2019 to discuss his selection, Browne sought to distance himself from the views he had expressed as a journalist.[21] When asked about the statements he said “I went through a phase as a young journalist trying to get attention and it is not language I would use now. I regret saying it.”

          We often say things while we are young that we may regret, and we change as we grow older. I would need to read his recent statements to make a decision. I want a party full of Moggs and Redwoods. 🙂

          (I twice swore allegiance to the Fremen with their Blue Eyes in my University years. But there was a tremendous amount of alcohol involved.)

          1. I’ve just realised that many might not know who the Fremen were and think I misspelled FreeMason. Here is the WIki entry:-

            “The Fremen /ˈfrɛmən/ are a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel Dune, the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis (also known as Dune.)”

            They were natives who were oppressed by outside powers who treated them as 2nd class citizens or slaves in their own lands, which sounds eerily familiar now.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8caf03457260d9c284ac44c8157e859fd333ad7972c4895971a5b9cd01f65a0d.jpg

    2. I did wonder after I’d thought about it for a few minutes.
      Gizmodo is busy taking the mickey out of Fox news and Trump supporters for the trolling, but have any of them questioned the Swedish professor who’d asked why people couldn’t eat dead people (assuming he’s not a right-wing troll as well)? Or AOC’s Green New Deal that would destroy the US economy and see millions die of starvation, or her assertion that we only ha e 12 years left? Because a lot of kids really believe it, and are either terrified, or deciding that they don’t need to go to school because what’s the point if they’re all going to die soon??

    3. As I said in an earlier post on this subject – if this had been in Britain, everyone would have known it to be a joke. In the USA, they don’t really get irony.

  87. Anneallen provided this link earlier to an article by Ben Knight:
    https://brexitcentral.com/at-dexeu-i-saw-the-may-government-agree-to-brexit-in-name-only-now-we-must-free-ourselves-from-the-eus-shackles/

    It’s a sound article apart from this:

    Brexit abolishes the insane and racist doctrine of passport discrimination, which allows predominantly white European migrants to enter the country unconditionally but which prevents people from the rest of the world from competing on a level playing field for visas, jobs and homes. Brexit will also deliver control of immigration, allowing the nationally elected government to decide on the criteria for admission.

    I am, despite the myriad stereotypes about xenophobic Brexit voters, extremely pro-immigration and would favour relatively relaxed restrictions: the point is that it should be the British government, elected by British voters, which decides – and that a doctor from Hong Kong should have the same opportunity as a doctor from Germany to come to build his or her career in the United Kingdom, rather than being subjected to second-class status because of a protectionist European model which seeks to shield the continent of Europe from investment, both economic and cultural, from outsiders.

    What’s wrong with it, you ask? Easy. There’s no mention of the numbers. And they’re from everywhere, not just the EU.

    No one argues with the principle of allowing in immigrants of value but why do we need even those? Because of the shocking failure of domestic educational and industrial policy over the last 30-40 years.

  88. Discussion point –

    “Facebook
    has quietly rescinded a policy banning false claims in advertising,
    creating a specific exemption that leaves political adverts
    unconstrained regarding how they could mislead or deceive, as a
    potential general election looms in the UK. “

  89. On the plus side, with the arrival of global warming/climate change, Blighty will soon have the climate to be a genuine Banana Republic.

    “Obsession to please Tom Watson led police to ‘overlook liar’ Carl Beech

    Martin Evans, crime correspondent

    Bungling Scotland Yard detectives in charge of the VIP sex abuse inquiry became so fixated with appeasing Tom Watson they failed to spot the accuser was a serial liar, a damning report will conclude.

    Such was the influence the Labour MP wielded over the Metropolitan Police, that one officer even described the need to keep him on side as a “priority”.

    Sir Richard Henriques’s report into the disastrous Operation Midland investigation, is due to be published on Friday following weeks of intense pressure.
    It will identify 43 separate failings by the Metropolitan Police, including the decision by Detective Superintendent Kenny McDonald to describe Beech’s outrageous allegations as “credible and true”.

    The retired High Court judge will also be highly critical of those officers who he accuses of carrying out “illegal raids” on the homes of some of those accused, including Lord Brittan, Lord Bramall and Harvey Proctor.

    But significantly the report also lifts the lid on the worrying extent to which senior figures at Scotland Yard pandered to Mr Watson, who became one of Beech’s confidantes after meeting him in his Westminster office in the summer of 2014.

    Beech, 51, who was jailed for 18-years in July for perverting the course of justice, spent two hours telling the MP how he had been abused by a gang.

    Mr Watson later described it as a “very, very traumatic and difficult conversation”, but insisted Beech did not name any of his abusers.

    He suggested he took his allegations to the Metropolitan Police and has denied any further involvement.

    In a statement issued after Beech’s conviction, Mr Watson said: “It was not my role to judge whether victims’ stories were true. I encouraged every person that came to me to take their story to the police and that is what I did with Nick.”

    And Ben Emmerson QC, the counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, who interviewed Mr Watson about his role, said he had been “measured and sensible” in his approach.

    But Sir Richard’s report will reveal how Scotland Yard became nervous when the influential politician began passing “hundreds” of pieces of information and other allegations to the police.

    Painfully aware of his success in helping to expose the phone hacking scandal, senior Met figures did everything to ensure the MP was satisfied.

    Sir Richard’s report reveals how at one point Detective Chief Inspector Diane Tudway, – the Senior Investigating Officer on Operation Midland – ordered a review of “how we can engage with Tom Watson”, listing it as a “priority”.

    While not critical of Mr Watson himself, the findings do attack the police for focusing on his interest in the case, rather than on the evidence before them.

    The report also draws attention to the impact of the decision to describe Beech as “credible and true” during a press conference at the outset of the investigation.

    Mr McDonald told reporters: “Nick has been spoken to by experienced officers from the child abuse team and from the murder investigation team and they and I believe what Nick is saying is credible and true, hence why we are investigating the allegations that he has made.”

    Following criticism of the remarks the then Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe suggested that his officer had “mis-spoken”.

    And last month the current head of the force, Cressida Dick, reiterated that the remark had not been intentional, but had been a “mistake”.

    She told LBC Radio: “Everybody thinks that that was just a mistake, it shouldn’t have been said. I am sure the officer himself who said that regrets it. I was driving my car and I remember thinking ‘oh no I know he didn’t mean to say that’.”

    However Sir Richard’s report will reveal how the decision to declare that Beech was telling the truth was made during a meeting before the press conference between Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse and Mr McDonald

    Mr Rodhouse has since left the Met and has joined the National Crime Agency as Director General, while Mr McDonald retired in May this year after 30-years service.”

  90. Has anyone commented on the 400 page ‘Operation Midland’ report on the Metropolitan Police yet? What a catalogue of utter incompetence and how some of those at the centre of this horrendous operation have been promoted into jobs earning £240k per year … How Tom Watson survives …. Oh, how we need a severe purging of the stables …

    I also believe that important contributory factors have been the utter uselessness of past Home Secretaries – Amber Rudd, Theresa May, Jacqui Smith …

    1. The Police have been converted to a Cultural Marxist organisation which requires their adherence to its values. This explains their credulity when dealing with people like Nick and their readiness to believe its memes involving the behaviour of Indigenous White Men. It also explains their leaders incestuous relationship with government and its willingness to lie and deceive the public in support of the same. To wit the delays in the Darroch and Williamson enquiries and of course the deception of the Skripal Affair.

  91. Watson’s refusal to do anything about his shocking role in the bogus paedo ring story reminds me very much of Murderer Adams and the way he claims not even to know what the letters IRA stand for (as it were)…

    1. Did Watson know the story was bogus? Did he believe it because it suited a political purpose, or was he fooled by the claimant along with the police?

      1. In my book, it doesn’t matter. Years ago it became plain to everyone except yer plod that it was bollux.

        Watson – if he had believed it – should have withdrawn his allegations.

        Once the trial was over – he should have resigned. That would have been a decent thing to do – but hey – pols don’t do decent any more.

      2. The claimant said what Watson wanted to believe, i.e. Tories were evil paedos, and I bet he thought he could use the claims for political gain.

        The police simply have no excuse, and there should be a thorough house cleaning after that report. “Institutional stupidity” starts at the top in any organization, and that’s where the axe should fall.

    2. As soon as I saw that my first thought was ‘hypocrite!’

      If it were someonne he hated he’d be raging against his bars to destroy them. The man is utter effluent. A liar, cheat and coward.

  92. The title of today’s page has an incorrect word. Surely it should be CHANCE not risk.

    1. No, no, no! That would never do. Chance implies that there could be something good. Risk is the only acceptable word because leaving the EU without a (surrender) deal means Armageddon*. Remember, he who controls the language controls the narrative.
      * See “crashing out” and “cliff edge” or even “no deal” itself as WTO rules are lots of mini deals.

      1. “Remember, he who controls the language controls the narrative.”
        I have said a number of times that Brexiters should not use the same lexicon as Remainers. Never say crash, cliff-edge and no deal, nor any other expression that has negative connotations in respect of Brexit.

  93. You remember the deaf computer geek who – by accident – knifed to death three policemen and a woman worker in Paris yesterday.

    “Very quiet chap”; “Never had any problems”; “Mystery” etc etc

    “Heard voices on Wednesday night”.

    Well, chaps, guess where those voices were heard. On his mobile phone. Which yer French plod have been delving into.

    This is now a terrorist attack…..

    1. That’s him done for. Disciplinary tribunal – just imagine the impartial Dick Head of the Yard sorting him out and wrecking his career, pension etc etc..

      For doing the right thing in, possibly, the not quite best way.

      Of course, if the shouty thug had been a Methodist, the chap would be a hero.

  95. The latest load of b*ll*cks just heard on Radio 3 news – some transgender opera thingy (pretend female) will be appearing at ?Covent Garden (missed that detail) but will still be playing male rolls (Orpheus on this occasion) as it is still a baritone. Surely time to have op in the interests of its art.

      2. It has to be done before puberty doesn’t it? I know a guy who’s been wearing frocks for decades but recently had his bits chopped off. He still looks and sounds like a bloke. I told him I thought it was a bad idea and he yelled at me but I was given a hug at the end of the Proms so I seem to’ve been forgiven.

        1. Puberty cause the voice to break. Nothing can reverse this. Transgender ‘women’ may try to raise the pitch of their voice, but they are just pretending.

          1. I think they can tighten the vocal cords surgically. Don’t know how good it is.

          2. Reminds me of the joke about a man going through the three stages of transition to become a woman.
            1. Hormone therapy.
            2. Surgery to remove genitals.
            3. Surgery to shrink the brain and make the mouth bigger.

            I shall now beat a hasty retreat.

          3. I’ve noticed that on University Challenge this last couple of years. A few TGs are appearing, but it’s the voice, along with the Adam’s apple, that makes them look and sound a bit odd. I find it sad.

  97. That’s me for this dreary day, Finished another novel.

    A demain, one hopes (well, I do).

  98. Can somebody tell me how this is done please so that I can realign my tax
    return accordingly? do you just tell the tax man you made a loss on UK
    revenue? And he believes you??

    Times: ” Netflix received a
    corporation tax credit of €57,656 from the British taxman last year
    despite generating hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue from UK
    customers.”

    P.S.apart from anything else HMRC appearers to be
    rebating in euros whereas the national currency was when I last looked
    pounds sterling.

    1. Be fair. The Revenue are understaffed and rarely look at self-assessment returns. Looking at accounts of the big boys and multinationals requires time, work, and a brain. Miracles you expect there ?

      1. Sadly, the brains attached to the tax office are outmatched by the ones in private audit firms. So are the salaries.

        1. From personal experience, any time an enquiry looks as though it will be difficult, they drop it like a hot potato.

    2. We give rebates to film and media companies to attract that sort of business.

      My own little company makes use of them as well – although ours was about 100 times less than Netflix’.

      Frankly, it’s stupid. What the tax an is saying is we want some businesses, but not others. Why not just set corporation tax at 5% and scrap employer NI entirely? Get people into jobs, get them working and earning money. Raise salaries by having the moneies saved returned to the business. OK, some might swan off with it. Others – the majority – will invest it. More people, more equipment.

      While we’re at it, scrap fuel duty, or at least reduce it so fuel is below a quid. Scrap insurance taxes. The only people paying them are the honest. The state will have to do much more with a lot less cash.

  99. Have just seen the terrible news on Bloomberg:

    “Rory Stewart resigns from the Conservative Party”

    HaHaHa …

    A small glimmer of good news in a tense (and damp, windy) autumn.

      1. I think it’s closer to bribes, personally. The mayorship is much easier, requires almost no effort except to turn up to a few openings and in return there’s a cushy six figure salary.

      1. Rory Stewart has a face which would make a damn frightening gargoyle in any church. Who could ever forget his performance at the Leaders Debate? I see a future career for him in Reality TV (note: but not Love Island).

        1. Yes .. I knew he was up to something .. He will sit cross legged and embrace strange diverse religions .. and perhaps wear a turban .. He is really having some sort of mental crisis!

          Now I know he is taking man spreading to extremes

        2. Yes .. I knew he was up to something .. He will sit cross legged and embrace strange diverse religions .. and perhaps wear a turban .. He is really having some sort of mental crisis!

          Now I know he is taking man spreading to extremes

          1. Thank you for posting it, Mags as I don’t have to see Polly’s maunderings. She’s blocked.

          2. Well that’s a bit daft. Disagree and ignore, but blocking someone prevents any dialogue at all.

            We’re better than that, surely?

    1. The royals used to keep to the code of never complain/never explain. I suppose it was Diana who blew that but the senior members seem to maintain their dignity and Kate hasn’t put a foot wrong.

      1. Megan does appear to be dragging the two of them into the “go woke go broke” territory. Those people that she is trying to pander to are not exactly known to be fans of Royalty and privilege. Does Megan have any “Lemming” in her history? Or might it be that she is not here for the long haul?

        1. A Contract Marriage would be my guess, with a pay-off at the end. She is probably trying to get the pay-off increased (‘here you are, please, please go now’) by the many deliberate faux pas and appalling behaviour.

          1. Nah, she’s just being a not untypical American “D” list celebrity, Someone should have explained to her before she took the job that she could be a ‘sleb or a royal, but not both.

          2. I think she would have turned deaf ears to that. She wanted what she wanted, no ifs or buts. The RF had not caught up with the modern world.

      2. Precisely. The Diana Spencer episode followed swiftly by the Sarah Ferguson embarrassment marked a fundamental change in our perception of the Royals.

        There were other unfortunate embarrassments such as Sofie Wessex selling her wares to fake Arabs and Randy Andy Airmiles Andy flogging his wares around the world in support of international Golf (er…trade).

        The fact that the minor Royals persist in courting the press demonstrates an ingrained ignorance of the world today. The days of deference to these privileged folk is over. If they want our respect they had better start earning it.

    2. Harry’s High Court legal action was announced and confirmed by Buckingham Palace, MM’s was not. Only Harry’s part in the African Tour was mentioned in the Court Circular, MM’s was not.

      Make of that what you will, folks. It suggests one thing to me.

      Edit: Also Harry’s was filed before MM’s, which was (Harry’s) on Friday 27 September, but has only just made it to the news. Is there a royal pow-wow, I wonder, at Clarence House this weekend?

    2. Remainers are running around like headless chickens every time a possible ‘ploy’ to push through Brexit is mentioned. It’s quite entertaining to watch them panicking.
      Edit: missed ‘s’ from ‘chicken’.

  104. I forecast that the Tory who’ll come under the fiercest attack from the BBC in the coming months will be:

    PRITI PATEL

    I also believe that her mettle will be most severely tested and that, over the next few years the Home Secretary will be a position of equal, if not more, importance than that of Chancellor or Foreign Secretary. She could make a difference.

    1. I interviewed Priti Patel some years ago in her quest to become an MP. i marked her in second place and now wish I had not. She is still just as I interviewed her.The person we picked to become the Mid Norfolk MP. turned out to be a remainer so he just lied and lied to us. Priti did not.

    2. She is a wild one, and just what we need. Trump is being attacked for talking to the Ukrainians and she was attacked for
      talking to the Israelis.Hopefull part of a new generation of politicians that talk straight whether they are right or wrong.
      No more Theresa Mays please.

    3. The small L liberals will be tying themselves in knots.
      1. She’s an ethnic female.
      2. She’s a Tory – booo .. hisssss …..
      Watch their heads explode.

      1. Johnson has to live up to his tough talk: if he backs off and offers concessions both he and the Tories are done.

  106. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/10/03/aoc-dumbfounded-town-hall-must-eat-babies-save-planet/

    Meanwhile, over in the U.S., some Democrats have completely and utterly lost the plot:

    A clip emerged Thursday evening of Ocasio-Cortez’s town hall at the Queens Public Library, featuring a flustered woman who proclaimed that we need to “eat the babies” in order to save the planet from climate change.

    “We are not going to be here for much longer because of the climate crisis,” the woman said. “We only have a few months left!”
    The woman told the socialist “Squad” member that she loves her support for the Green New Deal but lamented that it is “not getting rid of fossil fuel; it’s not going to solve the problem fast enough.”

    “A Swedish professor [said] we can eat dead people, but that’s not fast enough. So I think your next campaign slogan has to be this: ‘We got to start eating babies! We don’t have enough time! There is too much CO2,” the woman proclaimed.

    “All of you … you are a pollutant, too much CO2,” she continued. “We have to start now, please, you are so great. …I’m so happy that you really are supporting New Green Deal, but it’s not enough, you know. Even if we would bomb Russia, we still have too many people,” she added. “Too much pollution, so we have to get rid of the babies! That’s a big problem. We need to eat the babies!”

    1. Well, it wasn’t Ocasional Hydrocortisone that said that, but all the Democrats are bonkers.

      1. ” Drowned Baby, the old favourite my grandmother used to make – glistening, glutinous suet pud boiled in cloth. Life has never been the same since.”

          1. What’s wrong with eating babies? Baby carrots and baby tomatoes are two of my favourites.

            :-))

        1. Those on “the liberal left” are living in such an intellect-free fantasy world that it is hard enough to parody their beliefs as it is.

          This story might have put a nice scare into the munchkins who worship Greta though, as they wondered if they were going to be asked to throw themselves onto the BBQ or not.

    5. Perhaps she could start on her own body parts – like her right hand. Apparently it has been done by some very ill people. She sounds very ill.

  107. Can anyone here read a DT Premium article by the usual once-only method? I’ve been able to open only one in the last three days.

    1. No I cannot either. I have just set up another account but was unable to read a premium article. Below is a screen shot of their normal blurb, well it appears you can’t!

      BXX,
      As a registered customer you can read one Premium article a week. To unlock access to unlimited Premium articles, subscriber-only newsletters and Subscriber Rewards, become a subscriber from just £2 a week. Try it out today with a 30-day free trial.

      View subscription offers

  108. Well, I’ve answered the emails, left messages where needed, now it is time to be off for the night. That alcohol won’t drink itself. 🙂 Here is a short video of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that I found a couple of years ago, that I keep going back to every now and then as it is so visually pleasing. The plane looks nice flying about, but the music and the takeoff itself are something to see. Have a good night. 🙂

    https://youtu.be/KYbM-3E11Qo?t=17s

      1. I had that (or at least, feet on the back of the chair in front) when watching 633 Squadron in the cinema!

      2. There was some debate about whether it was possible, and it was pointed out that the plane was empty, no passengers or luggage and it was for an air show, so not a full fuel tank either. It would have been much lighter than on a commercial trip.

        One pilot did say it was a boring job normally, because you had to drive in a straight line, rise gently before trying to fly with as few bumps as possible, before landing gently. They almost never get to throw a plane around like that. The passengers might complain.

    3. When Boeing first started demoing that plane, it turned out that their chief 787 test pilot was an ex USAF fighter pilot and he was tossing it around like a fighter jet.

    1. Christ, now she’s keeping it warm with the toaster. Give me an older model, just to be safe.

    3. The Aston Martin Legova was a very rare model but when flat out you could hear her coming a mile away!

  112. I don’t think this will hurt Boris much with the electorate – everyone can see he’s being forced into it by the anti-democrats.

    Brexit latest news: Boris Johnson will ask EU for extension if there is no deal, court documents reveal

    Boris Johnson will seek a Brexit extension from the EU if no new deal is agreed by Oct 19, court documents have revealed.

    The legal memo states that the Government will abide by the terms of the Benn Act and send a letter asking for more time to Brussels.

    It also says it will not “frustrate” the law, suggesting the Prime Minister will not ask member states to veto an extension request.

    Aidan O’Neill, for the petitioners, told the Court of Session that while Mr Johnson now said he would obey the law, that position contradicted previous claims saying he would not obey the Benn Act.

    He added that a sworn statement to the court from the Prime Minister could explain which position was “true”, but there was none.

    Mr O’Neill said the Prime Minister had been discussing “sabotaging” the Benn Act in media reports.

    Scotland’s highest civil court will hear two cases in the space of five days that could compel Mr Johnson to extend the negotiations.

    A hearing has now begun in the Outer House of the Court of Session on whether the Prime Minister can be forced to extend Article 50.

    The legal action – led by businessman Vince Dale, SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC and Jolyon Maugham QC – will ask the court to require Mr Johnson to seek an extension to avoid leaving the EU without a deal.

    On Tuesday the team will go to the Inner House to ask the Scottish judges to use the unique power of “nobile officium” to empower a court official to sign the extension letter if the Prime Minister refuses to do so.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/10/04/brexit-latest-news-boris-johnson-deal-scotland-court-ireland/

    2. He’ll behave within the law and will be forced to accept
      an extension if offered..

    3. Does Scottish Law have any relevance in England?
      Doesn’t EU law trump U.K. law, i.e. Article 50, default no agreement = leave. Ask the ECJ?

  115. And, AMBER RUDD made her Head of the Met! Bliddy Hell, they all want tarring and feathering:

    The Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, has been urged to consider her position after a damning report laid bare a series of failings in the force’s disastrous multimillion-pound investigation into an alleged VIP paedophile ring.

    The scathing report, which piles pressure on Britain’s biggest police force, reveals that senior officers agreed to publicly say they believed accuser Carl Beech – leading a detective to infamously declare at the outset of the inquiry that his claims were “credible and true”.

    The disclosure was omitted three years ago when the Met released a heavily redacted version of retired high court judge Sir Richard Henriques’ report on its handling of the £2.5m Operation Midland, which ended without a single arrest.

    Beech, known anonymously as “Nick” when he made claims in 2014 that sparked the inquiry, was jailed for 18 years in July after being found guilty of making up that he was a victim of a murderous abuse ring.

    The unredacted report also sheds light on the extent of the role of Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, who Henriques said pressured officers investigating the allegations. In response, Watson claimed the report contains “multiple inaccuracies” about his role.

    The 391-page report, which has sparked criticism that Scotland Yard is guilty of “institutional stupidity”, reveals:

    Warrants to search the homes of wrongly accused suspects were obtained “unlawfully” and “should not have taken place”. Police “misled” the magistrate who authorised the search by describing Beech’s allegations as “consistent” and “credible”.
    The premeditated decision by officers to publicly say they believed Beech was a “serious mistake”. “I cannot conceive that any fully informed officer could reasonably have believed ‘Nick’,” the report says.
    Watson’s interest in Operation Midland “created further pressure upon officers”. Reviewing how to engage with the politician was listed among “investigative priorities” by a senior officer.
    Beech, a former nurse, alleged he was among the victims of an “establishment group” – including politicians and military figures – who kidnapped, raped and murdered boys in the 1970s and 1980s. He accused the former prime minister Edward Heath, the ex-home secretary Leon Brittan, the former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, and the D-day veteran Field Marshal Edwin Bramall of being abusers. The homes of Lord Brittan, Lord Bramall and Proctor were raided as part of the 16-month inquiry.

    Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate – sent direct to you
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    The report’s publication has prompted Proctor to call for Cressida Dick, the Met police commissioner, to “consider her position”. At the outset of Operation Midland, Dick oversaw sexual abuse and murder investigations in her role as assistant commissioner of specialist operations. Proctor’s counsel Geoffrey Robertson QC said Operation Midland operated “almost with institutional stupidity”.

    Responding to the report, Heath’s godson, Lincoln Seligman, told the Guardian that the police were responsible for “an extraordinary combination of stupidity and recklessness”.

    “They continually made the wrong decisions and it caused us to doubt, albeit not for very long, in Heath’s case someone who we never have thought that kind of thing about,” Seligman added.

    Meanwhile, the home secretary, Priti Patel, has ordered an investigation into the Met to maintain “public confidence” in Britain’s biggest force. She has asked HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, the police watchdog, to review the force’s actions.

    The original version of the Henriques report, published by the Met on the same day as the US presidential election in November 2016 in an apparent bid to bury coverage, found 43 failings by investigators and said detectives fell for Beech’s story.

    Met police agreed to say they believed VIP abuse claims – report
    Read more
    Many failures were caused by “poor judgment and a failure to accurately evaluate known facts”, the report found. The longer version of the report also discloses how Det Supt Kenny McDonald, who retired on the eve of Beech’s trial, and deputy assistant commissioner Steve Rodhouse, now director of general operations at the National Crime Agency, agreed to publicly back Beech.

    On 18 December 2014, prior to a press conference with the media about Operation Midland, Rodhouse wrote: “I anticipate that Kenny or I will be asked if we ‘believe’ ‘Nick’. This is a significant issue and one with the potential to provide either reassurance or concern to other witnesses.

    “Any indication that we will doubt the word of victims will undermine our efforts for them to come forward and will damage our relationship with ‘Nick’ … Decision: If asked we will confirm that we do believe ‘Nick’ but that, as in any case, his evidence will need to be tested before it can be read out in a court.”

    McDonald subsequently told the media: “‘Nick’ has been spoken to by experienced officers from the child abuse team and experienced officers from the murder investigation team. They and I believe what ‘Nick’ is saying is credible and true.”

    Henriques criticised the move, writing: “I find it an error for two very senior officers who have never met a witness, and, in the DAC’s case, not himself read either ‘Nick’s’ interviews or blogs, to announce to the press and public that they believe the witness.”

    In September 2015, the Met conceded that it had been wrong to suggest that it was pre-empting the result of the inquiry by earlier declaring its key witness’s account to be “credible and true”.

    Asked about how concerned she was when she heard that Beech’s claims were “credible and true”, Dick told LBC last month: “I think everybody thinks that that was just a mistake, it shouldn’t have been said.”

    Beech was found guilty after a 10-week trial at Newcastle crown court of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud over a £22,000 criminal compensation payout. Beech is also a convicted paedophile after pleading guilty to possessing child sexual abuse images in a separate trial earlier this year.

    Met deputy commissioner Sir Stephen House issued an apology: “I am deeply, deeply sorry for the mistakes that were made and the ongoing pain these have caused … I promise we will do all we can to prevent them in the future.”

    Rodhouse, who was cleared of wrongdoing in March 2017 without being interviewed by the police watchdog, apologised for the distress caused to “innocent people”, and said that he understood criticisms made of his role in the investigation. “I acted with the best of intentions throughout,” he insisted.

    McDonald and two other junior officers involved in the investigation were cleared of wrongdoing by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) in July. It said there was no evidence that officers deliberately withheld evidence to obtain search warrants. On Monday, the IOPC will release its report explaining its decision that no officers should face disciplinary or criminal action.

    Watson claimed the report had been selectively leaked to minimise criticism of the police and that it contained “multiple inaccuracies” about his involvement.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/04/operation-midland-met-police-boss-urged-to-consider-her-position?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    1. It’s so shocking that Rodhouse has been promoted to be Head of the National Crime Agency. As for the Dickh8ad promotion ….

      OMG it is so horrible to hear the ordeal that Harvey Procter suffered. The BBC and the Today programme also comes out of this with great dishonour.

      1. Nothing succeeds in this brave new world as much as failure at the top, except repeated failure at the top.

    2. Dick and co wanted to believe Beech. They pounced gleefully on the opportunity to prove that white men do it too.

    3. I can’ be the only one who disbelieved the whole thing right from the start. It was incredible and it stunk.
      And the damage it did was immense.

    10. Oh, dear.
      That’s not a good look, especially at her age. Is she trying to out-do May in the inappropriate fashion stakes??

  118. My posts critical of the Met seem to have attracted a Down Voter. Is there a spy in front of a computer at Scotland Yard operating inside NoTTL?

    2. The channel appears to have attracted one of “those people” who are not intelligent enough to employ polite disdain instead of visual “Boo’s!”

      Voting down a really “bad” comment is fine. Voting down a “neutral” one out of general dislike is a sad reflection of poor character. I know that I just ignore the silly people, usually. 🙂

      1. You see, MM, you’re also now a marked man.

        Thinks: how can we smoke the b*gger out.

        1. LOL – I have just checked – every comment that I have made in the past 30 minutes has just been downvoted – How will I ever live my life now? 🙂

          It is nice to know that some peoples actions can still be predicted, almost as if they have an obsession. 🙂

          1. Join the club. I’ve had a downvote on nearly every comment for the last 3 days. I couldn’t give a toss.

          2. peddy – It is only done by people who think that vote count is more important than content. I wonder how long it will take them to realise that real people do not care. 🙂

            3 years ago I was replying to someones comment to me on a 2-day old story that no-one else was looking at. I found one guy who had made an excellent point who was at -27 votes. I checked the names (you could do that on that network) and recognised them as all being from one troll. How pathetic is that?

            He logged in to 27 different accounts just to vote that one comment down with each of them and make the guy feel bad. So I left a comment telling him “Just add +30 to your score because I recognise that trolls many names” and undid the trolls work with a sentence. 🙂

            Some people like to try and upset others. Which tells you all you need to know about them.

          3. ”Some people like to try and upset others. Which tells you all you need to know about them.”

            Don’t be too hard on yourself…..

            All you have to do is put a smile on your face and the whole world smiles with you !

          4. Exacto re your last sentence.

            I have a good idea who my personal troll is – (s)he is a vicious little bitch.

            I see your post has already harvested a downvote..

          7. peddy – I don’t think that you need to be Sherlock to work out who is downvoting some of us. 🙂

            It is so sweet. I have not attracted a personal troll for 2 years. I’ve had general lefty trolls, but they downvoted everybody who could articulate the benefits of leaving the EU. It is like the old days to know that you have reached into someones mind and have “triggered” them, as the young people say these days.

            I find that if you talk ABOUT them and not TO them it drives them up the wall. They end up bombarding you with comments to try to get you to reply to them. Rather like a child stamping their foot and squealing “Notice me!” 🙂

            They do not have long tonight though – I am away later this hour.

          9. Absolutely right about prediction… as soon as you get a downvote you start screaming about it !

          10. MM, have you checked outside – is there a guy pretending to read a newspaper over the road and smoking a cigarette?

      2. Poor Meredith, you seem obsessed with downvotes which are a normal Disqus feature..

        Haven’t you got anything worthwhile to post about ?

  119. Presenter June Sarpong, 42, is named BBC’s new ‘creative diversity director’ tasked with making the broadcaster ‘more inclusive’
    Ms Sarpong was chosen for newly-created role of director of creative diversity
    Bosses hope she will make BBC better reflect modern Britain and its audience
    She intends to level the field for upcoming talents and ‘create systemic change’
    Comes after BBC blasted for its handling of Naga Munchetty/Trump racism row

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7538099/Presenter-June-Sarpong-named-BBCs-new-creative-diversity-director-make-inclusive.html

    2. Sarpong was against Scottish Independence in 2014, but is a ‘Remainer’ vis a vis the European Union …

      1. Black Broadcasting Corporation..

        We are being racially sidelined , culturally ignored, and am now actually just wondering what part us whiteys have to play in the future of Great Britain .

        1. What have you got againt black transgendered lesbians who support Greta Thunberg and want to remain in the EU ?

    3. They will not be happy until all the news people are black. Naga is another of our coloured friends mis quoting Trump, being an intelligent soul, she is fully aware of what he actually said and is merely stoking anti white propaganda.

    5. Just listening to Strauss, first Jesseye Norman singing his Four Last Songs and then the version by Gundula Janowicz which I prefer in some ways, tempo etc.,

      Whilst listening found myself watching muted TV with Graham Norton, an emaciated Renee whatsitberger, ‘Sir’ Lenny Henry and Louis Theroux.

      A more vacuous bunch of total non-entities would be very difficult to assemble, but then it is the BBC.

    1. Now come on !….Not a single one of them is masturbating to their iphone. Get real. Sheesh.

    2. Yup, give an infinitive number of chimps an infinitive number of typewriters and an infinitive amount of time it would still be May’s effing W/A that is thrown back in our faces.

    1. The weather bods were wrong about today, it has been dry sunny , slight breeze and NO need to wear a coat/jacket today whilst shopping .

      Everyone was moaning about the weather bods .. what storm , what rain, what the blazes are they talking about .

    2. Yes, but so far it’s only in the Express, the usual harbinger of weather doom, p-t. Still, one year I expect it will be spot on. Hoping it will be this year, though, to put that Swedish Thunberg muppet in her place.

      Having said all that, we were scraping frost off the windscreen the night before last. And, best of all, our new arrivals do not like cold weather.

    3. Long range forecasting is done on statistical analysis unlike the short term, which is a prediction based on observations. So the LT predictions might be correct, or not. Tossing a coin would give you the correct solution at least half of the time.
      A late night thought, if extinction rebellion are right and we are finished in 11 years, would this not be good for the planet and all the other species. I’ll get me shroud….

        1. Hi Oberst, it’s like the proverbial stopped clock. At least it will nice to be cool for a while, before we move into the HOTTEST Summer predictions in the Spring.

  126. Is the Met fit for Purpose?

    I my view the Met is no longer fit for purpose. IT has gone from being one of the best police forces in the world to one of the worst and in quite a short time

    The real problem in my view is in the Leadership. They are not fit to lead it and quite why are the Met involving the BBC in this major crime investigations ?

    Look at the nonsense we have had fro the Met with Climate Change protesters who were breaking the law. The Met just stood dally by and almost encouraged them. Then we get them painting themselves and their cars in LGBT colours

    THe whole senior management at the Met need to be sacked and replaced

    1. Especially Dame Dick and the chap who said “Nick’s” lies were “credible and true”.

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