Saturday 9 October: Why is Britain being denied the chance in this crisis to develop its own gas supplies?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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735 thoughts on “Saturday 9 October: Why is Britain being denied the chance in this crisis to develop its own gas supplies?”

  2. Labour MP hits back at abuse from supporters of Polish far-right author. 9 October 2021.

    The Labour MP Rupa Huq has hit back against racist abuse she received online from supporters of the Polish rightwing journalist and ideologue Rafał Ziemkiewicz, who was prevented from entering the UK last Saturday.

    She said she was faced with a “concerted campaign” of hostile Twitter traffic including “‘go back to Bangladesh’ type comments” after Ziemkiewicz was told by the Home Office that his exclusion would be “conducive to the public good”.

    The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases. A spokesperson said Border Force “help to keep the public safe and every day ensure illicit goods or foreign nationals, including those deemed non-conducive to the public, are refused entry.”

    Morning everyone. Words fail me! (Citroen will no doubt be pleased to hear!)

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/oct/08/labour-mp-rupa-huq-hits-back-at-abuse-from-supporters-of-polish-far-right-author

    1. I don’t know much about this Polish chap but our politicians do not have any problem with 800 odd people arriving on our Kent beaches when the weather is conducive and they don’t know one thing about them.

    2. The Guardian quotes from the letter given to Mt Ziemkiewicz. “This is due to your conduct and views which are at odds with British values.”
      Presumably Nottlers may face deportation for the same reasons? These “British values” are unlikely to be my British values. How did they know that Mr Z was coming here? Or is there a standing list that is checked when people legally arrive in this country?

      PS The expression “due to” is poor English. I was taught that expression only applied to money. Preferable expressions would be “because of”, or “as a result of”. However as the letter may have been written by an illegal immigrant employed by Border Force, it is a not unexpected failing.

      PPS No comments allowed?

        1. Just what I was thinking. Elements of Polish troops were located in the East of Scotland in WW2. In Duns there is a statue of their bear mascot. At my school there were many pupils with Polish names as many soldiers stayed in the UK after WW2 marrying Scots girls, including our music teacher, who was injured at Arnhem.
          “They” are “us” in a way that the likes of Rupa Huq will never be.

          https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/statue-hero-bear-wojtek-unveiled-duns-1477981

          1. Rupa Huq’s little sister has the distinction however of being Blue Peter’s longest-serving female presenter.

          5. On Western Avenue – part of the A40, there is a huge Polish War Memorial that has been there since 1947.

            They fought and fell for us – how many Bangladeshi did?

          7. Then they were Indians. The silly cow Rupa Huq professes to be Bangladeshi and would, no doubt, be horrified to be classified as Indian.

        2. Just what I was thinking. Elements of Polish troops were located in the East of Scotland in WW2. In Duns there is a statue of their bear mascot. At my school there were many pupils with Polish names as many soldiers stayed in the UK after WW2 marrying Scots girls, including our music teacher, who was injured at Arnhem.
          “They” are “us” in a way that the likes of Rupa Huq will never be.

          https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/statue-hero-bear-wojtek-unveiled-duns-1477981

      2. Good morning Horace, and all NoTTLers. The phrase “due to” concerns a noun (not just money), whereas “owing to” refers to a verb. So “due to your conduct and views” is correct, whereas one would say ” we have banned you owing to your conduct and views”.

        1. Well. I can only go by what the Head of our English department said, or rather by the version of what he said that my memory has retained. I always bow to superior and more appropriate knowledge. I will seek further enlightenment from my English grammar book, that has lain untouched these many years.

  3. Yo All
    An early NTN

    A young couple on their wedding night were in their honeymoon suite.

    As they were undressing for bed, the husband, a big burly man, tossed his trousers to his new bride and said:
    “Here, put these on.” She put them on and the waist was twice the size of her body. “I can’t wear your trousers,” she said.
    “That’s right,” said the husband, “and don’t you ever forget it. I’m the one who wears the trousers in this relationship.”

    With that she flipped him her knickers and said: “Try these on.” He tried them on and found he could only get them on as far
    as his kneecaps. “Hell,” he said. ”I can’t get into your knickers!” She replied:

    “That’s right… and that’s the way it is going to stay until your attitude changes.”

  4. After the various comments yesterday on the Kent invasion, Can someone please explain to me why

    1. the illegal immigrants landing on the beaches live in shanty towns and have food, phones, clothes etc provided by charities when in France but we give them full bed and board in good (or at least previously good) hotels, good clothes and pocket money? Aren’t the ECHR rules the same for France and the UK?

    2. can’t we just say “you chose to come here illegally. You’ll get the same as in France: nothing” and/or change the benefit system so that you don’t get out until you’ve put in.

    1. 339760+ up ticks,

      Morning D,
      Much more common sense from you Dale and you be added to the I on overseers list.

  5. Kremlin congratulates ‘talented’ journalist on Nobel Peace Prize for exposing crimes of Putin regime. 9 October 2021.

    The Kremlin has congratulated a “talented” Russian journalist who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for angering President Vladimir Putin.

    The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee said on Friday Dmitry Muratov from Russia and Maria Ressa from the Philippines have been awarded the prize “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”

    Were the headline true it would be a logical paradox and debunk all claims to the “Russian Regime” being repressive! Fortunately it is like nearly all negative pronouncements on Russia simple propaganda. The use of the Nobel Prize; which now has as much claim to virtue as the House of Lords, pretty much guarantees it fake. This once highly respected organisation has, like nearly all the West’s institutions, been so corrupted that it has lost all moral authority. The award of the Peace Prize to Obama, only nine months into office while ordering drone strikes was pretty much the coup de grâce to its credibility!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/10/08/nobel-peace-prize-journalists-angered-putin-duterte/

    1. Yo Minty

      The little known of

      Nobel Prize for Honesty was awarded to Richard Nixon

      Nobel Prize for Co-ordination to George W Bush, who could Walk and Talk at the same time (sometimes)

    2. Yo Minty

      The little known of

      Nobel Prize for Honesty was awarded to Richard Nixon

      Nobel Prize for Co-ordination to George W Bush, who could Walk and Talk at the same time (sometimes)

    3. The committee is led by Torbjørn Jagland, an ex-Labour Prime Minister, whose biggest regret was not being born American. So, he awarded the prize to Obama for being American. Totally lost any credibility now, the award barely made the usually-lefty-fawning papers here at all.

    4. Although Obama was physically presented with the Nobel Peace Prize nine months into office, the decision to make the award was made in February, just days after him being sworn in as President.

      1. Morning Elsie. Nice to see you back! I did try to look up the exact date but couldn’t find it!

  6. Good morning from a Anglo Saxon Queen with blooded axe, sharpened arrows and longbow.
    A misty but mild morning .

      1. Hello, yes thank you, we managed to get petrol in Bath and the journey was very quiet. Hardly anyone on the M4 and the M25 not too bad either. Maybe a Wednesday is good day to travel.

  7. Why is Britain being denied the chance in this crisis to develop its own gas supplies?

    Because if we have independent energy supplies that work we cannot be controlled by the forces of globalism so easily, globalism hates independence from them.

    1. ‘Morning, B3. My guess is that our cowardly and green-obsessed government isn’t prepared to take on the eco-loons who will doubtless oppose any further attempts at extraction by means of mob rule – Balcombe beig a prime example.

    4. Don’t we get 48% and falling of our gas from the North Sea?

      The problem is that when we had it, we couldn’t flog it off quickly enough to keep tax down for the oligarchs.

  8. Right Fellow Nottlers. I’m off down town now to buy some Blini’s and Borscht from Marks and Sparkski’s. Catch you later!

    2. Don’t forget the Beluga for the blinis (Sevruga or Oscietra will do); and the sour cream and chives for the borscht.

      1. I treated myself to a small pot of Oscietra. I found it much too strong. No wonder they drink iced vodka with it.

        When i do canapes i like to decorate some of them with caviar as it looks good. Lumpfish caviar. Couple of quid.

        1. I don’t think that Lumpfish ‘Caviar’ is a correct definition since it is lumpfish roe.

          Caviar comes only from Sturgeon – and not the Krankie one in Scotland.

  9. Morning all

    SIR – In view of the massive gas-price rise and the lack of storage capacity, why have the bureaucrats in office refused permission for Shell to develop its Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea?

    No amount of woolly jumpers will keep my nose warm in the cold damp winter if I can’t afford heating.

    John Procter

    Poole, Dorset

    SIR – In all the woke green babble about ceasing gas heating, there has been little mention of all the gas cookers that will have to be replaced if gas ceases to be piped to houses.

    Do we have the capability to replace the hundreds of thousands of these cookers? Can we afford to do it after paying for the changes to solely electric heating?

    Richard W Turner

    Nazeing, Essex

    SIR – “Natural gas prices swung wildly on Wednesday as Vladimir Putin vowed to boost supplies to Europe” – if Germany gives a licence to the new Nord Stream gas pipeline (Business, October 6).

    Of course Mr Putin is using his gas reserves as a geopolitical weapon. He must be laughing his head off at the naivety of Germany and the failure of the United States to continue sanctions against its completion.

    Why invest billions in a new pipeline when there is already one which does a perfectly good job? It is simply to deny the Ukraine a much needed source of revenue, which will undermine the country’s economic stability and allow Mr Putin to pursue his interests in regaining control.

    Let us hope no licence is granted before the new coalition government is agreed in Germany, with the prospect that the Greens and Free Democrats will oppose it.

    Dr Ian Ward

    Hartley, Kent

    SIR – Thanks to British and European politicians pushing so hard and fast for the elimination of fossil fuels in order to slow or stop climate change, Vladimir Putin has, without a shot being fired, gained control of the European and British economies.

    Mr Putin has been helped somewhat by China, which, while claiming reduced coal usage, is buying up liquid gas as fast as it can.

    The policy of eliminating fossil fuels seeks to do so too quickly, and until the lost energy sources are replaced it will condemn Britain and Europe to years of misery. For Britain, more gas from the North Sea and shale oil, together with more renewable energy sources, could help tide us over until mini-nuclear reactors are up and running.

    Nigel Randall

    Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire

    SIR – It’s easy to find energy companies that claim to supply 100 per cent renewable electricity. Now these companies are using rising gas prices as an excuse for raising their prices. You’d be forgiven for thinking that they’ve been lying all along.

    Geoff Moore

    Alness, Ross and Cromarty

    SIR – When is Tesco going to start levelling up by charging the same prices at its local One Stop stores as it does at its supermarkets – thereby encouraging local shopping and reducing car journeys?

    Chris Penney

    Wellington, Somerset

    In love with lockdown

    SIR – The Government’s medical officers who pushed lockdowns last winter predict a severe flu epidemic this winter due to lack of natural immunity resulting from lockdown (report, October 8).

    Their response: we may need another lockdown. How does this make sense?

    Dr Fiona Underhill

    Woodford Green, Essex

    Kill pain, not patients

    SIR – Lord Hunt of Kings Heath outlined some of the dangers that would result if the Assisted Dying Bill were to become law (Comment, October 4). These include it being requested by vulnerable patients who fear becoming a burden or who are pressurised by those who might gain from their death.

    However, the most worrying consequence of effectively allowing doctors to kill their patients, whatever the restrictions put in place, is the impact it will have on the medical profession itself and the relationship of patients with their doctors.

    I am an 88-year-old woman and was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer. The only certain cure would be the removal of the kidney, which my doctors are reluctant to recommend because of the high risks such a major operation holds for someone my age.

    Three months ago, I underwent a procedure whereby the surgeon managed to destroy the existing tumour. I am scheduled to have the same procedure again in a few days’ time. The hope is that the cancer has not regrown or, if it has, that it can again be successfully treated. My doctors consider that undergoing this procedure at regular intervals is a better option for me.

    When faced with decisions such as this it is vital that I can trust doctors to respect and support me, and provide any ameliorating treatment necessary, and not to think that killing me is the best way of dealing with my problems. If euthanasia were legal, it would totally undermine my trust in doctors.

    We have seen in other countries what happens when the concept of “lives not worth living” is accepted. The stated conditions necessary for euthanasia to be carried out become challenged, stretched or ignored. In the state of Oregon, where a law similar to the Bill being presented by Baroness Meacher has been in place for some years, the reason given for 60 per cent of cases carried out is fear of becoming a burden.

    As doctors become accustomed to delivering a lethal drug, their duty of care to their patients is distorted. They no longer strive to make their dying days pain free and comfortable. Such care requires time and resources.

    As Dame Cicely Saunders, a pioneer of palliative care, said: “To kill the pain there is no need to kill the patient.”

    Anne Whitehouse

    Walberton, West Sussex

    The PM’s

    SIR – Judging by his speech at the Conservative Party conference (report, October 6), the Prime Minister thinks that Britain has “dozens” of F-35B combat aircraft deployed on HMS Queen Elizabeth.

    He clearly does not know the facts. Britain currently has a total of 21 RAF F-35Bs, three of which are test and evaluation aircraft based in America and eight on HMS Queen Elizabeth.

    One has to wonder who is briefing Boris Johnson and fact-checking his speeches. If he and his advisers do not know the true state of our Armed Forces, it is time for an honest briefing and for him to listen.

    Squadron Leader Dave Tisdale (retd)

    Ryde, Isle of Wight

    SIR – Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York, once said that politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose. The exuberant Boris Johnson and pedestrian Sir Keir Starmer seem to be doing things the other way round.

    Michael Stanford

    London SE2

    1. When everybody has electric heating, electric cookers and electric cars, but the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, where is the leccy coming from to meet demand?

    1. ‘Morning, BoB. It’s 9° here on the Sussex coast and we are promised full sun all day. The garden beckons…

      1. Got to winterise the garden this weekeknd. Furniture to put away, and trees to bring in.

  11. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    SIR – It’s easy to find energy companies that claim to supply 100 per cent renewable electricity. Now these companies are using rising gas prices as an excuse for raising their prices. You’d be forgiven for thinking that they’ve been lying all along.

    Geoff Moore
    Alness, Ross and Cromarty

    A fair point, Geoff Moore. However, it’s only a problem for those who believed the “100% renewables” claims in the first place.

    1. Yo HJ

      Just outside of Bedlam, there is a very large building (known as The Shed), packed with non-Brit workers , employed by
      the ‘government’

      All electricity to be used in UK is initially sent to The Shed

      Inside the Shed, the workers, using Tweezers, move each and every ion of electricity , depending on how it was produced
      and easily recogniseable by its’ colour into two supply grids

      Renewable energy ions are Green and go to the likes of Octopus

      Fossil Fuel Energy ions are Red and are for the rest

      In the event of no wind or sunshine, it is easy for reneawable enregy users to be denied electrical power, by The Shed workers

      1. As I’d always suspected. But when I change gas suppliers, who sorts out the molecules of methane to make sure that only the right ones get to me? I think we should be told.

        1. Sorry Mate

          I work in the Public Relations for electrical side of things, you need to talk to people in The Cellar, who do Gas

  12. Reports that you wont be hearing in the next couple of weeks

    XR and the insulation protesters are travelling to Glasgow to to glue themselves to airport runways in a bid to prevent the worlds elites from landing their polluting private jets, it could run into thousands of flights.

    2. Good luck with their lunacy at Prestwick airport; the USAF, amongst others, use it as a staging post.

      1. Stopping in Ayr with work several times I noted the number of USAF servicemen at breakfast.

    1. A fool and his money.
      For all those fools, I hope it short circuits across their fillings and causes a severe wake-up call.

      Sadly, doubtless they will have had the finest dentistry and not have suitable fillings.

  15. 339760+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 9 October: Why is Britain being denied the chance in this crisis to develop its own gas supplies?

    In short it would NOT sit well with the reset campaign ongoing.

    I can see there is no shortage in loco weed fodder being fed the herd as in, the tory’s (ino) are losing ground to the labs (ino) , the labs are gaining brownies against the tory’s (ino), lib / dems ( complete sh!te) are picking up speed.

    May one ask is anyone of a sane decent nature going to support this political dangerous tripe any longer under the guise of ” there was nothing else to vote for”

    This drip feed poison via the ballot booth over the last near four decade
    is now showing very odious, deadly results.

    In my book the electorate would have great difficulty in picking their combined nasal canals as clearly shown, as for selecting a decent political group to support is seen as political treachery after being told by
    “their “party” ALL others are far right / left racist.

    1. Until you reach a certain age apparently, some people still cling to hope rather than experience.

      1. 339760+ up ticks,
        Morning M,
        Last thing out of Pandora’s box was it not & the most fickle, as supporting lab/lib/con
        coalition has proven that point surely by now.

  17. An excellent BTL comment!:

    Kevin Bell
    9 Oct 2021 3:11AM
    Some simple economic lessons for our economically illiterate Prime Minister.

    Increasing wages without increasing productivity creates inflation.

    Increasing public sector pay without increasing productivity creates more public borrowing.

    Minimum wage increases and higher taxes on employment create unemployment. It is but a short step to a prices and incomes policy.

    If inflation takes off interest rates will have to rise. This will cause a housing price crash and businesses with borrowings to fail.

    Nationalised industry is a poor business model. It stifles innovation and relies on the state for investment.

    Luckily Boris is an historian. He doesn’t have to go back too far to see the effects of the above. Only to the 1970s. It was called stagflation and nearly bankrupted Britain. Unfortunately for us he seems determined to recreate this era even to the extent of manufacturing our own energy crisis.

    Those of us who experienced the 70s know it was the defining decade of our lives. The way out was what we now called Thatcherism. It’s not too late to change course but I fear Boris and Rishi are turning out to be a very poor 70s tribute act. There are politicians like John Redwood who know how to get us out of this mess. Cut government spending, cut regulation, reduce taxes.

  18. Morning folks

    Re: the kerfuffle about calling out ‘trans’ gender prisoners. Would the problem be solved by bringing back Transportation?

    1. 339760+ up ticks,
      Morning S,

      But that is surely in progress with the United Kingdom as the chosen destination.

      2. There is only one party that does that, the BNP. And perhaps you are don’t know that when, as a naïve young man, Robinson joined it without being aware of it he left as soon as he knew it. UKIP was never a racist party. You may not be aware that David Kurten was UKIP, is he white?

          1. If it was a joke. My unreserved apology for not getting it. Normally I do. Not having a good day. I am sitting here literally wanting to vomit! New medication is not agreeing with me.

          2. No worries. You are not alone. Well, you may be, but that’s not the point. well, it is, I suppose, although… I sometimes think that medication is pretty much a trial. “Oh, let’s try this,” says the GP. “Can’t give you antibiotics because it builds up resistance…” I asked a GP how that works. Answer was illogical waffle.

    2. It’s time we formed a Common Sense Army to smash all these subversive scum. You will rue the day you didn’t.

      1. 339760+ up ticks,
        G,
        We triggered such a force via the UKIP leadership vote in Birmingham at an EGM.
        Gerard Batten won & the
        restruct / construct was on.
        He asked the members for £100000 & received £300000 in reply, he gained 13000
        new members & numbers mounting daily,
        the only party financially in the black with a mounting membership after a one year
        leadership.
        He stood down as he said he would after a year to allow a leadership election, he then stood again only to be informed that he ” was NOT of good standing” by the party nEc.
        Fear of success of UKIP under Batten leadership triggered in turn the treachery shown by the party nEc with farage input,
        the man of “he marched them up to the top of the hill then he marched them down again infamy”.

        1. Gerard Batten fell primarily over his friendship with Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson – a cross between Oswald Mosley and an Irish street fighter, but probably right about the Muslims.

          1. 339760+ up ticks,
            Morning JM,
            Wrong on both counts, Tommy Robinson was in a great many eyes a political prisoner with a massive following.

            Post Batten taking leadership the membership was 30000 climbing daily.

            The tory sleepers in the party nEc plus, with the farage asking the nec for a vote of no confidence in Batten, treachery united.

            The farage chap, proven supporter of the
            fat turk and a IMO covert tory leader of the brexit group £25 to become a non member
            good on up hill marching, sadly lacking in common sense.

            May one ask just who was the “nastie” was it Robinson or farage ?

            The farage in way of thanking the UKIP membership for their work in giving him a platform.
            https://youtu.be/Fc7iuUHk

          3. 339760+ up ticks,
            Afternoon JS,
            Show pity I do believe it is suffering some form of maladjustment.

          4. That is a preposterous and grossly unfair slur on Tommy Robinson as all of us who have ever bothered to actually listen to him at length know. His crime was telling the truth but having the temerity to be working class whilst doing it and thus a real danger because he resonated with a class that isn’t decedent and, because they live cheek by jowl in areas directly effected by the problems that Robinson talked about, and so potentially dangerous to the status quo. He committed the biggest crime in British society, being a working class person who didn’t know his place. If he had been middle class he would be treated in exactly the same was as Douglas Murray instead the government has conspired to have him assassinated and when that didn’t succeed persecute him, his parents, his wife and children and then, when he did not give up, unpersoned him by relentless lies and misrepresentation in order to shut him up.

          5. It wasn’t intended as a slur, but simply describing his persona, which we can take or leave as we wish. There are far too many bland non-entities in politics. Pugnacious working class populists are not to everyone’s taste if you prefer the Jacob Rees-Mogg look, but others may feel this is what we need.

          6. I remarked, I think it was yesterday, that I am disgusted by Mogg. There is a video of him talking to a distressed victim of Cerebral Palsy. His sympathy for the man is on the level of: “Are there no poor houses for you?” Until then I liked him but in this video his persona slips badly and one sees the ugly person underneath.

      2. When they sit in their classes in primary schools, they are exempt from any DBS disclosures foisted on those who lives are not considered protected.

        1. …in order to groom the succulent little girls – castration should be a condition of entry.

    3. Common sense, like carbon emissions, went up in smoke decades ago about around the same time as the abolition of grammar schools.

      1. Common Sense has been trumped by Common Purpose. It’s time it fought back … dirtily.

        1. ‘Morning, George and, while ‘Common Sense’ is better labelled ‘Good Sense’ because it ain’t that common, ‘Common Purpose’ may not be labelled ‘Good Purpose’, as it appears to be all too common. To our detriment.

    4. Good morning Sosraboc

      I saw this in the DM last night.

      Some friends of ours are so proud of the wood pellet stove they installed in their ecological timber ‘new build’ house a couple of years ago.
      I haven’t the heart to send them this clip

    5. One of the most stupid ‘green’ enterprises ever. 60% of all the USA’s biomass fuel is exported 3,000 miles or more to Drax power station. Special processing plants and ports were built in the UK and USA (and Canada) to cope with this false greenery. It was obvious from the start that it was, and is, a scam. Not only is it more expensive, it is more polluting than coal. It would be interesting to know who has profited from this public theft. You can probably guess who.

      1. I always suggest that people watch “Planet of the Humans by Michael Moore. I didn’t watch it for a long time because I detest Moore, he is a left wing version of Jabba the Hut, slithering along on a trail of leftist slime. But, surprisingly, it is an excellent film that exposes the green energy scam for what it is. A programme of destruction that dwarfs anything done by conventional energy industries. I assume that Moore was outraged enough that it gave what little conscience he has the impetus to turn against the left on this matter.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZsXyDkyrCk

        1. Moore had a good point over the Columbine massacres. Comically he interviewed that weird bloke in the make up – I forget his name.

          He was the only one who said “I would listen to what they have to say.’ So many of the cretins in state think they know better, think they should dictate to us. They are destructive, miserable people. The state doesn’t listen enough. It should be forced to. Thus is the basis of democracy.

    6. “…wood pellets that are treated as a ‘renewable’ fuel but emit more carbon dioxide than coal, research shows…”

      By the logic of the warmists, this is of no consequence as the CO2 is not derived from fossil fuels.

    7. Boris’s dresser/clothes adviser was an eco-loon who drove a diesel car. Boris should ask himself, ‘How green was my valet?’.

  21. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4596adc0764cd16b437cd0800f06937140fa93d69ca30f49729d173db22c1dfa.png Whether he does or not, I’ve won the “sausage war” here in Sweden. I have a freezer stocked with three home-made varieties of delicious sausage: The “Great British Breakfast Banger”, seasoned with white pepper and sage; “Old Yorkshire”, seasoned with with mace and nutmeg; and (my favourite) “Midlands’ Pork and Tomato”.

    They all knock anything Sweden can produce (“Korv”?) into a cocked hat.

    2. Good morning Grizzly

      The sausage war was just a ploy by the EU to give them a bargaining chip.

      i) Make an unreasonable and completely ridiculous rule about sausages insisting that one part of Britain cannot export sausages to another part of Britain;

      ii) Apply this rule without leeway – in fact be completely tyrannical about it and refuse any discussion;

      iii) When Britain at last Britain tries to talk tough and get a change in the way in which the NI Protocol is being unfairly applied say that you will be generous and withdraw the sausage rule knowing that the gullible British negotiators will forget that you introduced this rule as a future bargaining chip in the first place and are not making any proper concessions to them at all;

      iv) Make sure that the EU takes the moral highground and makes the British feel guilty.

      v) Make sure Dominic Grieve, Lord Adonis, Hilary Benn and other inside EU agents and traitors to Britain are well briefed to pour scorn and hatred upon Brexit.

      (It’s so easy – like taking candy from a baby!)

      FOOL US ONCE – Shame on YOU – FOOL US TIME & TIME & TIME AGAIN – Shame on US.

      1. Good morning, Rastus.

        You, like me, are sitting (fairly) comfortably in a (current) EU state, looking back at the old country with a heavy heart as to what is going on there. Methinks that the time for a revolution is overdue.

        2. They say it’s coming to France and when are adherents of the Religion of Peace going to take over in Sweden?

          1. Not sure. They are still apparently causing a bit of a stir in the cities, but (so far) it’s quiet out here in the sticks.

          2. Caroline and I are very happy to be well away from big cities. Rennes – which is about 50 kilometres away from us – is not a place where we would like to live.

          3. As it is in the UK – quiet in the sticks – except there is a feeling of revolution in the air.

          4. It’s beginning to kick off in Oslo – in the east side (Mortensrud), apparently it’s normal for islamic youth to carry guns. One was shot & killed just a few days ago.

          5. As long as they kill each other, I’m past caring. Same with da blicks in London. The self righteous left can use the bodies to prop up their supper tables. Let them all burn.

        3. The whole bally world has gone nuts. It started with the importing of ten million aliens who would never, fit in to this country and just soak up money better spent on other things.

          The state keeps importing and pandering to this dross. Weirdos and oddballs are not looked at with confusion but promoted when they should be told to be quiet. A sex offender – a paedophile sex offender pretending to be a woman parades his genitalia in a spa and some twonk defends him as his ‘right’. Feck off. He’s a pervert. He – and you (the bloke defending him) – should be locked up together.

          Gimmigrants land in floods and get better treatment – for free – than our pensioners, who are robbed of their property and earnings by a greedy state. If they can afford to put up an Eritrean muslim rapist in a 4 star hotel indefinitely then they can damned well pay for old age care.

          Government departments comprise hundreds of thousands of people who do.. nothing. The DVLA seems unable or unwilling to function when working remotely. Is it so inefficient after a year? Now let’s pay it by licence returned. Suddenly, that backlog would vanish as they’d simply not get paid.

          On gas the morons have created a monopoly for Russia and made us reliant on useless, inefficient, pointless green nonsense – so green, the diesel can’t get to the back up generators for when the wind doesn’t blow.

          And Boris waffles on about leveling up, as if government has ever done anything positive for the economy. His green policies will create jobs, he exhorts – yes, by paying companies from taxation on other industry.

          The green fanatics prevent our economy functioning – next time one superglues themself to the road, ask them to move, or cut the sodding hand off.

          1. Apropos the DVLA and the Home Office Snivel Serpents constantly baulking Patel’s efforts on gimmegrunts.

            The simple solution is to sack all the staff of the DVLA and replace them with the Home Office Snivel Serpents, with the edict, “Move to Swansea and the DVLA or you’re sacked for breach of contract.”

            Once other snivel serpents see such positive action they’ll beg to replace the Home Office Staff.

      2. Is the reason we are demanding that our pig farmers shoot their animals and put them in landfill, so that we do not produce so many sausages?

    3. And we all thought the European sausage war episode
      in ‘Yes Minister’ was funny because it was so ludicrous!
      …
      Good morning, Grizzly.

    2. There was an episode of Columbo starring Janet Leigh, where the villain was a 1950s Hollywood movie star with terminal dementia whose favourite pastime was reliving her past glory by watching old films of herself.

      The title of the film used, a musical, was ‘Walking my Baby Back Home’, which was a common practice for gallant gentlemen of that era. It seems this was done for precisely the same reason as 888, but was considered patronising by feminists.

        1. Nathaniel Adams Coles had, surely, the most wonderful singing voice of any black man in history?

          1. Well, he was good, very good. There other contenders; Antoine “Fats” Domino, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Al Jolson, Sugar Boy Crawford, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, …

          2. Can’t agree with you, I’m afraid, Horace. And, by the way, Al Jolson was a white man.

          4. I am a huge Blues fan, Horace, and I admire those chaps as much as you do. But for sheer timbre and voice quality, Nat Cole has it in shiploads.

          7. I am a huge Blues fan, Horace, and I admire those chaps as much as you do. But for sheer timbre and voice quality, Nat Cole has it in shiploads.

    3. Morning! This really is such twaddle. Men are twice as likely to be the victims of violent crime than women. Men are raped by a vastly greater number than women. We don’t see any special programmes for men on these matters do we? 2.2 Million Men Alone Experience More Sexual Abuse Than All 157 Million Women In The U.S.
      https://www.returnofkings.com/152758/more-men-are-raped-every-year-than-women

      As in previous years, the majority of homicide victims in the year ending March 2020 were male. Compared with the previous 10 years (when there was an average of 399 male victims per year), there was a relatively high prevalence in the latest year (506 male victims).

      Almost three-quarters of all victims were male (73%) and just over a quarter were female (27%).
      https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020#groups-of-people-most-likely-to-be-victims-of-homicide

      Where are the escorts for men or the emergency numbers or the numerous special programmes that are there for women. What has happened to equality. Why are our feminine equals more equal than us? How come they get special privileges?

      1. I am the mother of 2 adult sons .

        Both chaps are capable of taking care of themselves , they are strong and tall, but both have been victims of assault in their youth .

        1. So was I Belle and frankly, it scared me for life. But like most men/boys, I picked myself up and got on with it, despite the effects it had on me. But it truly gave me zero respect for women as victims. In fact I have had some rip roaring rows with women who seem to deliberately turn themselves into victims by their own behaviour and then pretend they are innocent. It is why I have so little sympathy and invariably take the side of men in this debate.

          On top of that, I used to work for an organization in the USA called: Live Beat Dads”. These were men who had been robbed of everything by the family courts, several committed suicide as a result. But somehow they and their children are not victims!!!

      2. Women, for very good reasons, are more risk averse than men. Look at motorcycle death statistics.
        In any case, there should be useful action to address each kind of crime and the effects of fear of that crime on individuals, but suggesting that scared alone women should call a number and some bloke they haven’t seen before will rock up to escort them home is one of the stupider ideas I’ve seen.

        1. Apparently, according to Stig, it doesn’t work like that; you ring the number and you are tracked – if you don’t get home at a reasonable time, a designated person is informed you’re overdue and they can call the police. That’s an even crazier idea as the person could have been murdered long before they became overdue, let alone somebody had been informed and the police had been called.

    1. Johnson’s government really is beneath contempt. The news this morning contained an item that claimed the government is considering a tax on GAS to offset the high cost of electricity. It’s time for more people to awake from their stupor and come to realise that Johnson and Co are on a path to impoverish the people and destroy the economic base of this Country. The only consistent thing in Johnson’s speech at the Tory conference was all the blather it contained. Oh! Nearly forgot the lies.

    1. “It puts a lot of stress on us but we’re here to save lives. I think for
      somebody to make that journey they have to be in peril.”

      So don’t go. Let them *be* in peril. They had a choice to be out there. They’re not British, it’s not an accident. Just don’t respond to the scum.

      As for challenging them, stop. Just loft an arrow at the. Fight back, because the government doesn’t care about you and is flooding this country in a river of excrement that arrives on boats.

      1. No, they don’t have to be in peril (there were plenty of safe countries to choose from), they are just greedy and idle.

  25. The Biden administration has airbrushed the word
    ‘Mother’ from official documents; the ‘White House’
    2022 budget has replaced the word from all federal
    programmes and replaced it with ‘birthing persons’.

    I suppose I should be comforted that we are not the
    silliest nation on earth.

    1. For “father” read “inseminating person”. (Always pleased to give them ideas, me.)

    2. “We are not the silliest nation on earth”. Not sure about that. Here is just one example of the woeful wokeness infesting UK Government:

      MOD Diversity Networks
      Diversity networks that support civilian and Armed Forces personnel working in the Ministry of Defence.

      From:
      Ministry of Defence
      Published
      12 May 2021
      Last updated
      18 May 2021 — See all updates
      Contents
      Overview
      Race Networks
      Disability Networks
      Gender Networks
      LGBT Networks
      Age Networks
      Parents and Carers Networks
      Faith & Belief Networks
      Mental Health & Wellbeing Networks
      Other
      Related information
      Print this page
      Overview
      Defence recognises that our people are our greatest asset, and if we are to maximise the talent of all our people we need to create a culture that is centred on respect and integrity. We are fortunate to have a variety of diversity networks across the organisation, and our subsidiaries, that support and drive forward our work in building an inclusive and diverse workforce.

      Our networks make sure that everyone across defence can have their voice heard. They contribute to supporting all under-represented and disadvantaged groups and individuals within our organisation, providing our people with a safe space to speak up, share experiences and facilitate learning and development.

      Our partnership with the networks helps shape and deliver ideas that improve Defence, and help us build a department where everyone, regardless of background, feels safe to give their best self, have their effort and skills properly recognised, and their individuality and experiences respected.

      These networks are part of the MOD’s commitment to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

      Race Networks
      MOD Race Network
      MOD Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women’s network
      Army BAME Network
      RAF BAME Network
      Naval Service Commonwealth Network
      MDP REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) Network
      Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Race and Culture Network
      Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) Race Network
      Defence Fiji Support Network
      Disability Networks
      MOD Defence Disability Network (DDN)
      Chronic Conditions and Disabilities in Defence (CanDiD) Tri-Service Network
      MOD Defence Epilepsy Network
      MOD Defence Dyslexia Network
      MOD Defence Stammering Network
      DE&S Disability Network
      Neuro-Inclusivity Network
      DE&S Fibromyalgia and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (FME) Network
      DE&S Cancer Network
      DIO Disability Network
      London Disability Network
      Hearing and Visions Network
      Air Disability Network
      MDP Disability & Wellbeing Network – DAWN
      Gender Networks
      MOD Gender Network (SE)
      MOD Women’s Network (SW)
      MOD Menopause Network
      Army Servicewomen’s Network
      Navy Servicewomen’s Network
      RAF Servicewomen’s Network
      MDP Gender Network
      DIO Gender Forum
      LGBT Networks
      shOUT MOD Civilian LGBT+ Network
      Army LGBT+ Network
      Navy Compass Network
      RAF Freedom Network
      MDP LGBT+ Network
      DE&S Pride Network
      DIO LGBT+ Network
      Age Networks
      Young Defence Network
      Young Defence Network (SW)
      Parents and Carers Networks
      DE&S Staff Support Network for Working Parents
      Army Parents Network
      Tri-Service Couples Network
      Naval Service Parents’ Network (NSPN) *Parents and Carers Networks
      Faith & Belief Networks
      Air Faith and Belief Network
      Defence Buddhist Network
      Defence Christian Network
      Defence Civilian Muslim Network
      DE&S Christian Network
      Defence Hindu Network
      Defence Pagan Network
      Defence Rastafari Network
      Defence Sikh Network
      Humanist and Non-Religious in Defence (HAND)
      Armed Forces Jewish Community
      Armed Forces Muslim Association
      DIO Faith & Belief Forum
      The Defence Secular Society
      Mental Health & Wellbeing Networks
      Defence Mental Health Network
      MOD Social Mobility Network
      DIO Social Mobility Network
      DE&S Social Mobility Network
      RAF Mental Health Freedom Network
      Other
      DE&S Time to Change Network
      RAF Diversity Allies Network

      …and who is paying for all this stupid nonsense? We are, the taxpayers.

      1. Oh, phew!, no “fighting network”, no “killers network”, no “confrontational network”?

  26. 339760+ up ticks,

    Surely this is a case of the blackest of political kettles, masters of coercion, calling the rusky pot black.

    Dt,
    Energy is being used as a weapon, warns Defence Secretary
    Russian grip on gas supplies puts security at risk, No 10 warns, amid fears new NordStream 2 pipeline could be used as ‘tool of coercion’

    1. I take this for what it is, diversion on the part of the government to deflect from its own incompetence in not making us self sufficient in energy. We had and have ample opportunities to do that, but because of nonsense like the windmill waffle and solar shite, our governments have frittered away time. It is entirely the fault of incompetent/treacherous government and the Russians or anyone else are not to blame for this state of affairs.

      1. 339760+ up ticks,
        Morning JR,
        Small correction large consequences
        ” incompetence” should read treachery.

    3. Quelle sur-feckin-prise! It’s your own stupid fault, MPs. You forced the green nonsense, this is the consequence.

      When you remove all choices, when you limit supply intentionally, you create a monopoly for the provider , gah, why do we bother? If these utter fools don’t understand that, they need a beating. Is it because they’ve all lived their entire lives on an expense account, or are they just morons?

      2. Bread and butter pudding using Rum soaked golden sultanas with Vanila pod custard.

        No flip flopping here…

        1. Do you mean “maison en flambé”?

          I’ve discovered what some of the kéyboard buttons do.

          1. Brunello di Montalcino and a bottle of Cahors with Stilton.

            Just finished the washing up.

      1. As far as I am aware this is the correct way. Though i think the spoon should have been above the fork.

        2. Two of the spoons are pointing left to right, while the other is (correctly) pointing right to left (for a right-handed person). Agree that the spoons should be above the forks.

          1. I grew up in a family of five, of whom two were left-handed and three right-handed. We always laid the spoons and forks correctly for each person.

      1. Thanks. The neighbours will be talking about it for yonks.

        I surprised myself beside the gluten free stuff that i put in an inch of spinach. when rolling the damn thing i wondered where it would be. Turned out it was at the top of the duxelle. Of course i said that was how it was supposed to be (He Lied).

  29. Short & Sweet – But Not Very PC – 3

    The Grim Reaper came for me last night, and I beat him off with a vacuum cleaner.
    F*ck me, talk about Dyson with death.

    Did you hear about the fat alcoholic transvestite?
    All he wanted to do was eat, drink and be Mary.

    Paddy says, “Mick, I’m thinking of buying a Labrador.”
    “F*ck that” says Mick, “have you seen how many of their owners go blind?”

    A man calls 999 and says, “I think my wife is dead.”
    The operator says, “How do you know?”
    He says, “The sex is the same but the ironing is building up!”

    I was in bed with a blind girl last night and she said that I had the biggest penis she had ever laid her hands on.
    I said, “You’re pulling my leg”

    I’ve just had a letter back from Screwfix. They said they regretted to inform me that they’re not actually a dating agency.

    I spent £40 on eBay last week for a penis enlarger. Just opened it and some bastard’s sent me a magnifying glass!

    I saw a poor old lady fall over today on the ice!! At least I presume she was poor – she only had £1.20 in her purse.

    My girlfriend thinks that I’m a stalker. Well, she’s not exactly my girlfriend yet.

    I woke up last night to find the ghost of Gloria Gaynor standing at the foot of my bed.
    At first, I was afraid…then I was petrified.

    What’s the difference between Iron Man and Iron Woman?
    One’s a Superhero and the other is an instruction.

    An old lady is being examined by the Doctor. He asks, “Have you ever been bedridden?”
    She says, “Yes I have and I’ve been table ended and back-scuttled a few times too!”

    Went for my routine check-up today and everything seemed to be going fine until he stuck his index finger up my arse! Do you think I should change dentists?

    A wife says to her husband, “You’re always pushing me around and talking behind my back.” He says, “What do you expect? You’re in a wheel chair.”

  30. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/37fe2acf8b815eaa5697500d7d8b4aabf3cfd6a73127214c8e83ddacf6404e82.png FACE-NAPPY IDIOCY.
    The clown (far back, left) thinks that wearing his physog-diaper just over his gob will save him from the lurgy. Meanwhile, the dope (front, left) thinks it is sufficient to wear the accoutrement on her chin!

    Even when worn in the prescribed manner, how does the wearer of this infernal fashion item prevent a virus from entering the respiratory tract via the tear duct? When the penny drops, will everyone be expected to wear a full niqāb?

    1. Yo Mr Grizzle

      May I fiddle

      everyone be expected to will wear a full niqāb?

      You read it here first

      1. Yo, Mr Effort.

        When we all become compliant Stepford Wives and Husbands, that’s when I jump off a bridge.

        But not before taking a few of the ruling classes first with my trusty machete!

        1. Surely “… my rusty machete…”, Grizz? More satisfying to use a contaminated, blunted edge.

    2. It is simply appalling that Toy Boy is NOT masked. He demands that everyone virtually everywhere in FRance) wears one – and fails to do so himself.

      Wanqueur extraordinaire.

      2. If i may say so the first bit (about mask not wearing) was completely superfluous….

    3. 339760+ up ticks,
      G,
      As posted some time back, the nostril hammock is the thin end of the burka wedge

    4. Went to Tesco this morning. 80% of people not wearing masks, and no queues at the petrol station. Almost back to normal!

  31. For those who indulged in the conversation about Cumbre Vieja yesterday, it appears that both Al Jazeera and Sky News says that the eruptions

    are becoming stronger today.

    Didn’t notice anything from the BBC.

        1. Electric blankets don’t use much. You can also buy a hotmat from the petstore for your feet when sitting. Mittens.

          4. 339760 + up ticks,
            Morning P,
            That is why they are talking of putting lifebelts in polling booths, now about the politico’s.

          7. Good luck. At that stage, we are torn between feeling disloyal to the lost one and really wanting some lovely, slightly mad company in the house.

          8. Give a rescue dog a good home. I feel very maudlin about losing Charlie at times, but I’m really glad I’ve got Oscar.

        2. Nice cosy real-wool jumpers are good. Layers of clothing. Longjohns under your trousers.
          We lived for years in flats with no heating. You get used to it. And, visits by elderly relatives who don’t take off their coat, hat and scarf, not even for dinner, have their comedy moments.

          1. Frozen pipes in winter….
            As a child I remember re-heating the water in a hot water bottle to make a drink…. disgusting!

          2. Winter 1987. All water in apartment was frozen – had to go to work to have a dump. Coffee took forever to warm up, and it was noticeably warmer in the fridge. Bought a little fan heater that we still have, and a timer so it came on about an hour before we got up.
            At least we didn’t need an excuse to go to the pub just down the road! They had warm!

          3. Apparently Gladstone used to pour hot tea into his hot water bottle (one of old stone ones!) and drink it in the morning.
            That makes his ‘saving’ lost women seem quite innocuous.

    3. Freeze. You actually reach a point where you think you are so hot then you discard your clothes and gradually drop off to sleep, never to wake again.

        1. Discussed in the office a couple of weeks ago whether dying suddenly or slowly was better. My point was that you only die once (it’s not a Bond movie), and such an event, it would be a shame to miss it. So, slowly (not painfully) might be preferable.

          1. Yes, and to dream up some memorable last words. My favourite is Oscar Wilde: “Either the wallpaper goes or I do.”

          4. Talking of which; MB went with some family members to see the latest Bond effort.
            Although he hadn’t read the reviews, his verdict agreed with most of them: too long and rather too much worthiness.
            Some nice scenery, apparently.

      2. No thanks. I got hypothermia doing a swimming test in a Norwegian fjord and wouldn’t wish it on anyone – well not many. I passed the test though. 😃😃😃

    4. The one thing that my late mother-in-law and I agreed on was that we’d rather starve than freeze.
      Fortunately, neither of us ever had to test the theory, though possibly I might have to in the next 6 months.

    1. That’s odd. I got a large delivery the day before yesterday from Tesco and got everything I wanted. Same with Ocado yesterday, who brought me a delivery from Marks and Sparks. Are these “millions of shoppers” in London per chance?

    2. I got in ahead of the rush. Three meat deliveries from Pipers Farm, New Forest Stores and Cote. I couldn’t squeeze a single rasher of bacon into my three freezers.

      Got enough to last until next Summer provided the lecky doesn’t go off.

    1. That really ticks me off. The police should be their with guns drawn and handcuffs.

      1. The police shouldn’t be cuffing them, they should be preventing the boats landing!

        Bloody get a drone armed with a mini gun into the channel. If they see one, feckin’ gun it to pieces. Stop this horde of effluent ever getting here!

      1. 339760 + up ticks,
        Morning A,
        Short additive if I may,
        I claim welfare & this land in the name of allah.

    3. Now imagine the blissful sight of a hail of arrows pinning them to the sand. When more come, another lot are launched until the sea runs red and the illegal, unwanted, alien invaders stop coming here – or get an arrow through the head.

  36. Our Chancellor has led the world to a new deal on the taxing of big business and multinationals. Can tax collectors outsmart big business?
    My thinking is that big business/multinationals need only buy a small country and implement their own tax regime. Multinationals can relocate, unlike the countries attempting to charge them tax. As the collaboration of countries around the world to “fix” tax rates is effectively a cartel, is it even legal?
    How is this going to turn out?

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-hails-global-cooperation-as-landmark-tax-reforms-aimed-for-2023

    1. The result is less tax take.

      We have to ask ourselves why a supposedly intelligent man would do such a thing.

      1. Looks good to the less awake section of the electorate.
        Of course, a better solution would be to take less tax…

    1. They could connect tubes to their backsides (‘cos that’s what they talk out of) and drive an unlimited number of trucks and garbage vehicles. The smell would be unpleasant but at least it would be put to a good use.

    1. First time I have noticed he sings ‘ as high as a elephants eye’ – not counting the d’s instead of t’s in beautiful etc. Still, a lovely song and well sung.

    2. Chucking it down first thing.
      Then it stopped, enticing me to go & do a bit up the garden.
      30 minutes later it began chucking it down again.

    3. I still have the LP of the musical, that my father bought forthe family, back in the ’50s

        1. I have a bag that used tohave cake in it
          &
          A picture ofPrince Charles, flying upside down. in a Sopwith Camel, with his kitbag o his back
          &
          A handerchief, with a knot in a corner (which I cannot remember what it was to remind me of)

  40. Sun didn’t last. Cloudy – not eating out weather.

    Planted onion sets and garlic. Potatoes “Rose du Nord” to lift after lunch. Never ending toil!

  41. Eric Zemmour leads French Eurosceptic vote as far-Right provocateur weighs in on Poland-EU spat
    Mr Zemmour, a rising favourite for French presidential candidacy, says France must fight back against a ‘federalist coup d’état’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/10/09/eric-zemmour-leads-french-eurosceptic-vote-far-right-provocateur/

    I don”t know whether my Nottler friends who live in France would agree with me that the ordinary French people like the English and the Irish far more than they like the Germans.

    Quite aside from the current problems the EU has with Poland and Hungary both France and Ireland would be far better off leaving the EU and making a good trade deal with Britain.

    But for all his slickness Macron is an idiot who deserves to lose the presidential elections next May. Trying to stir up anti-British feeling is not a good ploy for France.

    1. Gollum versus Gayboy – it looks like being an interesting fight. Mamma Le Pen has been pushed aside – what is the attraction of Zemmour all of a sudden?

      1. …what is the attraction of Zemmour all of a sudden>

        That’s a good question Ped. Is he genuine or a Globalist puppet like Macron?

        1. He is anti-immigration. He hasn’t thrown his hat in the ring yet, but if he does, he will probably be arrested for anti-somethingorother..

  42. Eric Zemmour leads French Eurosceptic vote as far-Right provocateur weighs in on Poland-EU spat
    Mr Zemmour, a rising favourite for French presidential candidacy, says France must fight back against a ‘federalist coup d’état’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/10/09/eric-zemmour-leads-french-eurosceptic-vote-far-right-provocateur/

    I don”t know whether my Nottler friends who live in France would agree with me that the ordinary French people like the English and the Irish far more than they like the Germans.

    Quite aside from the current problems the EU has with Poland and Hungary both France and Ireland would be far better off leaving the EU and making a good trade deal with Britain.

    But for all his slickness Macron is an idiot who deserves to lose the presidential elections next May. Trying to stir up anti-British feeling is not a good ploy for France.

  43. Still keen on green now that your bill’s arrived? Andrew Neil. 9 October 2021.

    We also need to unleash our world-class research and development to produce step changes in battery storage and carbon capture. Politicians talk as if both were a reality. On the scale required, they are not. Yet without them net zero is unattainable. It is part of the dishonesty of current green policy that ministers mortgage our future to scientific breakthroughs that have yet to happen.

    Above all, the Government needs to trust the people. The utopian aspirations of so much green rhetoric need to meet the harsh reality of everyday life. People want a cleaner, greener planet. But they will not tolerate a green strategy that involves posh folk telling plain folk what they must do. Especially when the posh folk are doing very nicely out of greenery and the plain folk are picking up the tab.

    It’s unattainable period. As can be seen by the Elites cavalier approach to it; it is simply a Globalist Scam to impoverish and disenfranchise the people!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10074327/Still-keen-green-bills-arrived-ANDREW-NEIL-warns-storms-come.html

    1. Some months ago a senior politician made a speech stating that to obey our obligations under COP26 a considerable number

      of cars would have to be permanently removed from the roads.

      Anyone got the link?

      1. Afternoon Janet. This will be achieved by a similar maneovre to Gas. The cost of petrol will be raised by a scam which will drive motorists and internal combustion engines off the road.

    3. Afternoon Minty
      Yesterday,at my sisters I had the dubious pleasure of reading the Times advertising section on “Green Holidays”
      Very keen on “Carbon Offset”they were,we are back to Papal indulgences where the rich can buy their way to Green Heaven while the rest of us freeze

      1. Afternoon Rik. Con 26 will be off shortly. All the representatives will be arriving by aircraft to what looks to me like a glorious shindig courtesy of the British Taxpayer.

        1. And you can bet your life all roads to the airports will be closed off to the public or heavily manned with riot police.

      2. Afternoon Rik. Con 26 will be off shortly. All the representatives will be arriving by aircraft to what looks to me like a glorious shindig courtesy of the British Taxpayer.

    4. Battery storage? The primer for ‘The Lithium Wars’ or could we go down the old lead/acid battery route? Then again, is there sufficient lead and does the UK have sufficient sulphuric acid manufacturing capacity? Then there’s recharging…

      Not to mention how much land these facilities would require. Perhaps Green – in more ways than one – Johnson has an oven-ready solution?

    5. Battery Storage is a risky and dangerous practice. A container, packed with lithium-ion batteries and inverters that overheat with too many charges and discharges, often self-combust.

      Consider the trouble fire-fighters had to extinguish a fire on a Tesla Electric Vehicle. They reckoned 30,000 gallons of water and about 30 hours to get it out – and it gave off noxious fumes. Now imagine a battery storage container on fire. Beyond thinking.

    6. As far as I can see the government is doing absolutely everything absolutely wrong. How on earth can they be brought to their senses with a GE still so far away? Time to buy lots of thermals! They are idiots of the first order.

      1. In my view a great deal of it is deliberate vw. Look at the top of this page! Much could be done but it’s not hppening!

        1. I agree. But does the rest of the Con party understand and are totally happy with what’s going on? It is hard to believe. But there are no signs of any discontent amongst them. They are all sleepwalking into disaster and unfortunately taking the rest of us with t(em.

          1. There’s nothing unusual about that. They all subscribe to one common vision. Westminster is just a large religious sect. Like the people of Jonestown they will all drink the Kool Aid when the time comes

      1. The Saudi Prince who purchased Newcastle, had a journalist who annoyed
        him, murdered, dismembered and removed from the building in cake boxes,
        to cover it up.

        For the avoidance of doubt, Gary Lineker is a journalist, your Highness.

  50. BBC Radio 4 – Any Questions:

    Jess Barnard – For a Socialist Future, “I’m Jess and I’m standing to be Chair of Young Labour.”
    Caroline Louise Flint – Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Don Valley. Campaigned for EU.
    Prof Matthew Goodwin – Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. Research focuses on British politics, radical-right politics, and Euroscepticism.

    Three left-wing luvvies but, to be fair to the impartial BBC, they also have invited Lord Ken Clarke (Tory – boo!) Who just happens to be President of the Conservative Europe Group, Co-President of the pro-EU body British Influence and Vice-President of the European Movement UK.

    Hooray for the impartial BBC (vom… vom… vomit!)

    1. It’s possible I suppose that senior members of the Conservative Party are so ashamed of their policies and the hammering they can expect that they declined an invitation to take part?

      1. Unlikely, they are all egoists. Any chance of an audience and they would take it. They don’t do shame.

  51. Met appoints Whitehall troubleshooter Louise Casey to wipe out misogyny. 9 October 2021.

    The former Whitehall troubleshooter Louise Casey has been brought in by the Metropolitan police to root out misogyny and lax standards, as it battles to dig itself out of a crisis caused by its mishandling of the Wayne Couzens scandal.

    Lady Casey has been appointed by the Met commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, to lead the review which came after harrowing details of the rape, kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard by Couzens while a police officer were made public.

    Really? Is she going to annihilate Misandry as well? What about ephebiphobia or gerontophobia, not to mention claustrophobia and agoraphobia.

    The idea that in the twenty first century we would be undertaking the erasure of facets of the human personality that have existed since we first made our homes in caves would have struck our ancestors with amazement. In fact it scarcely seems credible that any intelligent person would believe it now. Just how is she going to do this? Witchcraft? Brainwashing? Telepathy? Human nature has not changed since the beginning of time and it is not going to do so under the nostrums of some Social Quack!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/08/met-appoints-whitehall-troubleshooter-louise-casey-to-wipe-out-misogyny

      1. Afternoon Stephen. All this does have a strong resemblance to the old Witch Trials where the defendants had heretical beliefs unacceptable to the Elites of their day. Won’t be long before we have the Inquisition and the Auto da Fé!

          1. It’s going to replace the Internal Combustion Engine! Boris’s secret weapon to counter Global Warming!

          3. Modern vehicles are eclectic – A bit of this, a bit of that, a dollop of bullshit, a good deal of deceit.

    2. I am more concerned about the rise of hebephreniacs – loony teens – such as Greta Thunberg and Co.

      1. Good grief. I haven’t seen that word in fifty years. The occasional long stay patient had that diagnosis written in her case notes.
        The one I remember was a really nasty bit of work – her innate personality I suspect, little to do with her illness.
        Zeus certainly wouldn’t want her pouring his wine.

    3. It’s the flavour of the month. Next month it will be transphobia, then homophobia, then racism etc. etc. Rinse and repeat.

    4. In my opinion misandry is far more common that misogyny and that so called misogyny is often the boomerang effect of men being subject to rampant misandry which, in this society, appears to be perfectly acceptable. Tackle the clearly unjust way males are treated and by doing so I have no doubt you would eliminate most misogyny.

      1. I think they are just about equally as common. For whatever reason, a certain number of people seem to hate the opposite sex. The trick for the rest of us, is to avoid marrying one of them.

        1. I honestly can’t agree that the two are more or less equal. You don’t get anything like the number of adverts denigrating women that you do against men. Men are constantly, on TV or in films portrayed as buffoons and women as untouchable, wise and even stronger than men. The mere whiff of criticism against women and trouble is the result.

          1. I agree that the men-haters have the upper hand in public life at the moment, but there are just as many woman-haters out there. I am old enough to remember when they also had free rein in the media, and of course I have come across them in real life.
            What is particularly insidious about the adverts is that only straight, white men are portrayed as stupid. I think in a couple of hundred years, people are going to look back on our era with astonishment that society allowed the strongest single group necessary for the survival and promotion of the nation as a nation to be denigrated and ridiculed in this way.

  52. Having passed the Fit and Proper Person’s test, it is rumoured that Satan is now looking to purchase a Premier League football club.

      1. Saudi owners urge Newcastle fans to be realistic about their takeover and not get overly excited.

        Although they do acknowledge it will be difficult for them not to lose their heads.

          1. The persons of being able to birth followed their masters in full bourka and scored a bomb site. Well done them !

  53. Breaking News: Saudi Toff buys Newcastle.
    To sweeten the deal they threw the football club in too.

  54. Sigh…..

    Its good news week,

    “100,000 convictions for non payment of TV licence fee…..But fewer than 50 for illegal entry into the UK”.

    Migration watch….

    1. If you can’t catch the criminals, criminalise those you can catch.
      I know it doesn’t count in this case. Where are the ‘uman rites lawyers’ to help the elderly?
      If only people wouldn’t just admit to watching tv without a licence this could put a stop to this revenue collecting scam.
      I’m all for prosecuting real criminals but these are people who shop themselves. Easy pickings.

      1. Hi Alf. When ‘The Magistrates Blog’ was in existence he said that they despaired over the work they had to do. A whole day dealing with Licence fee evasion. He said the majority were single, female and with kids.

        Then next day travelling on pitiful expenses with no tea and biscuits provided (cost cuts) spend a whole day doing people for speeding.

        1. Hello Phizz
          That just about sums it up following my 10 years as a Court Usher.
          If you’re a real criminal all sorts of ways of getting you off were employed.
          I saw the law applied every day but justice was a rare occurrence.

          1. I think that a central government that wishes to control people doesn’t want power pooling beyond their control. I think this is why Magistrates, traditionally stalwarts of the community and Magistrates Courts have been undermined.

            Now they have managed to mostly destroy that, we see the emergence of Police and Crime Commissars being paid a great deal of money inc’ expenses and for what? Nothing that i can see.

          2. Until 2005 Magistrates Courts were a hybrid. Legal instructions from Lord Chancellor administration through Courts Committees. Low cost local admin for local justice. Then Blair made us all Civil Servants. Big Whitehall department, HR department, succession planning etc. Communication from the centre by acronym. The rest is history. In the 70s Surrey had 13 magistrates courts and now has 2. No more local justice.

          3. For Justice to be done, it must be seen to be done.
            And you can’t do that if the court is 20odd miles away.

          4. Absolutely right.
            The two courts still open in Surrey are in Guildford and Staines in west Surrey, about 15 miles between them.
            The last court to close was Redhill in east Surrey over 30 miles from Guildford. Must be considerably worse in large rural counties.
            The police have given up charging criminals because there’s too much paper work and any trial might be more than a year away. The whole country is in a dire state.

        2. Hello Phizz
          That just about sums it up following my 10 years as a Court Usher.
          If you’re a real criminal all sorts of ways of getting you off were employed.
          I saw the law applied every day but justice was a rare occurrence.

    2. The ‘Occupier’ of a house I know that’s being renovated has received a dozen threatening letters from the BBC’s collection agent. An investigation is imminent!

      1. God knows what it’s like at my Mother’s place. I’ve seen no payments for licence fees go by in her bank account.

        1. Mother being in prison could solve a lot of problems. The elderly tend to be well treated. Even by the other Cons.

          Fit her up !… :@)

          2. Heating bills paid. At least 3 square meals a day. Library. Educational courses.
            Average cost to the taxpayer £50,000 pa. Same as a care home.
            What do I have to do to get a life sentence?

  55. This pseudo government obviously thinks it has cracked the socialist conundrum and decided it has discovered a way to tax us into prosperity oblivion.

    Despair!

      1. A lot of coincidences. Usually businesses make it their business to stay in business.

      1. I’m not wasting my gravlax bricks on him. I’d never be able to sterilise them enough.

        2. You’ve no need to endanger your delicate thumbs on him, my dear, I have a rather blunt scalpel to hand.

    4. Another one apparently with a slit shaved on an eyebrow.
      Just a thought; after this one and the Bournemouth rape, should the police be allowed to DNA test anyone with one of those identifying marks whenever they are accused of any crime?

      Perhaps it’s a mark of “honour” as a rapist, like a tattoo.
      It seems many of these attackers have perpetrated previous attacks or been convicted of other less serious offences.

      1. Can’t do that. That would come under racial profiling which is now considered a no go area. Just like many parts of our cities.

          1. No, but the whities that do are wannabies. Just like with their trousers down to their knees exposing their buttocks. Tattoos too. All potential rapists as far as i’m concerned.
            The inkspot to show you had been inside and the teardrop to show you don’t give a fook.
            All signifiers.

    5. It’s funny how these campaigns for women’s safety only get going around crimes that are committed by white men.

      1. And here in England thousands would be spent by the police, tracking the owner of the dog, which would be put down, The owner would be fined/jailed, life ruined – – and the bag of crap criminal would get a taxpayer funded lawyer to prosecute the owner for numerous physical and lifelong mental distress.

  61. Insulate Britain ringleader says ‘he doesn’t care about insulation’
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/insulate-britain-protests-hypocrite-not-insulating-home-b959664.html

    The head of Insulate Britain has called himself a “hypocrite” – adding he “doesn’t care” about insulating homes. Liam Norton is behind the series of road-block protests in recent weeks. One of the main objectives of the protests is calling on the government to insulate all social housing by 2025 – therefore reducing the amount of wasted energy pumped out of people’s homes. Earlier this week, it was revealed the leader of the environmental group doesn’t insulate his own home. He uses gas central heating in a single-glazed home and has no insulation in his walls, a report revealed. Mr Norton, who is an electrician, has now said he is “terrible” for not practicing what he preaches.

    1. He’s “bad” enough to merit a private jet to Glasgow to lecture the world’s worst hypocrites, with their jets and entourages, about it.

    2. He sounds like a complete and utter prick. If he had been any good as an electrician he could have had a mortgage or owned his own home. People that do, tend to put in the insulation because they have to pay inflated energy bills because of…..people like him.

      I do hope someone gives him a good going over. Wanker.

  63. Two hours lifting and cleaning potatoes, and preparing the ground for winter crops. Then an hour on the bike in the autumn sun. Winter corn greening nicely – in just under three weeks.

    What a delightful day. Hope yours is as jolly.

    1. What a happy day you’ve had.

      Just sunning myself on the decking receiving continuous praise from my neighbours about how wonderful I am. Just a normal day really.

        1. I would never do that to guests. Besides…They are hosting Christmas and New Year…i wouldn’t want to give them ideas.

          The dishwasher did most of it anyway. Load. Press button. Forget.

    2. Glad to hear you’ve had such a productive and pleasant day, Bill. I walked Oscar, watched the Opening Show, had something to eat for lunch, then walked him into town to buy diary and ballpoint refills, had coffee and flapjack, chatted to neighbours and came home. Then watched the racing. Some really nice two-year-old colts running.

    1. The vile Mitchell McConnell, he has, as you know, sold out yet again to the Democrats and cut the Republicans off at the knees again.

    1. Utterly wonderful. Nat was a shy jazz pianist who had to be coaxed into singing. He didn’t like being in the limelight and was happy to just hide behind his piano.

  66. ‘May you live in interesting times’. I think things may get very interesting in the next few weeks:

    “A little noticed report in Shanghai Securities News, citing China Real Estate Information Corp. research (link), which revealed that more than 90% of China’s top 100 property developers’ sales declined in September by an average of 36% from the same period last year. According to the report:

    Sept. sales totalled 759.6b yuan ($118BN), down 36.2% from September 2020 and 17.7% lower from the same period in 2019, deepening a downward spiral that started in July
    Among companies, 60% of developers saw sales decrease by more than 30% y/y in Sept.
    Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou saw transaction volume of residential properties decline 30% y/y, while Shanghai fell 45%

    We had to do a double take when we saw this because these are absolutely terrifying numbers and are, to put it bluntly, scarier than Goldman’s “worst case scenario”; what’s worse this sudden collapse in China’s property market is taking place before Evergrande has even defaulted, an event which would lead to a glacial freeze in the property market as potential buyers hold off expecting liquidation firesales from the property giant in hopes of getting bargains. The problem is that in addition to being the world’s largest asset, China’s property market is also the world’s largest ponzi scheme, and without constant inflow of new capital it would implode, especially when factoring in the 90 million vacant apartment which just sit inert and which would promptly be dumped by anxious owners, flooding the market with excess inventory and sending prices crashing”.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/catastrophic-property-sales-mean-chinas-worst-case-scenario-now-play

    1. Excellent news! It’s worth watching WION on You Tube, an Indian news channel, they go out of their way to publicise the latest screw ups of the Communist Chinese. I find it very helpful since our media more or less ignores China unless it is to do with the latest belligerence. I watch that and I pay attention to the Tibetan Government in Exiles reports, amongst other things. You begin, as a result, to realize that China is not the power we think it is. It is largely the “paper tiger” that Mao accused the USA of being. Plenty of hot air but very little action unless they are bullying some small country. From WION I learnt that their much touted ‘Belt and Road’ initiative is not anywhere near the success they pretend it to be.

    2. How many vacant apartments and how many pretend refugees do you have?

      Seems like a match made in heaven Shanghai.

  67. The spouse is being annoying. I’ve had a sore throat, cough and have been feeling under the weather since returning from Bath. A normal bug I presume but he’s obsessed with Covid,
    of course no other things exist now, its the national disease, grrrrr

          1. Long may it continue. From here on every warm day is a day won from winter and a pound or two saved on heating bills.

        1. Really? It’s about £3,50 here for 12. Well worth it to make your cold go away in a few hours.

      2. Lots of late summer bugs seem to be around ,
        Cura – med looks interesting, thank you .

          4. Jayzuz!
            £3.50 or so for a pack of 12 here. They look like aspirin, not gel capsules…

  68. Is this symptomatic of Johnson and the current government?

    He called for private companies to pay HGV drivers more but has done nothing to pay more to servicemen HGV drivers in his employ.

  69. I’m cooking Beef Bouguignon ( with mashed potatoes and mange tout ) for dinner,
    about to chose a wine to go with it. Burgundy is too light in tannin, I’ll have another look and decide, as long as its French wine 🙂

  70. “Running on empty:

    Lebanon Britain runs out of power and will be without electricity ‘for days’ after power stations run dry of oil – while India warns its coal-fired plants could go dark in just three days and blackouts hit China”

    PS I noted yesterday that our Third World status was enhanced by people in Surrey and Kent being told to boil water – because of bug in the “clean” drinking water supply….

  72. Pointless Celebrities just starting… I recognised just 2 of them. Perhaps I need to get out more…
    or stay in &watch more TV.

      1. ‘allo Ethel.
        Glad you enjoyed your trip.
        Supper: Falafel toasted on the tips of pointy arrows.
        Mango to follow.
        How about you?

        1. That sounds lovely.
          We have Boeuf Bouguignon with mashed potatoes, might have a pudding.

  73. For those who appreciate opera – Verdi’s Rigoletto is being broadcast on Radio 3 at 6:30 pm

    Rigoletto…….Carlos Álvarez (baritone),,,

    2. Did anyone else compose an opera called “Rigoletto”?

      Just asking………..{:¬))

      (Remind’s me of “Handel’s Messiah” – as though there were hundreds of them oratorios.)

    3. Listening to it now, though I had to turn it back an hour on the I player to hear the start.

  74. 339760+ up ticks,
    The pillow whisperer is running a below the belt denial campaign it is so bloody obvious, I get or you don’t.

    bteitbart,
    Boris Johnson Planning Gas Tax Hikes to Pay for Green Agenda Despite Rising Costs and Shortages: Report

  75. That’s me for this very nice day. A wonderful, relaxing (apart from lifting the spuds) day in the company of my beloved MR – and two yellow cats, who played their busy parts in their inimitable way.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain

    1. If you get the jab you’ll have died of Covid, if you don’t get the jab you’ll have died of ‘flu.

      1. 339760+ up ticks,
        S,
        Someone on twitter today asked ” what is flu” I did try to help with a ” a small chimney”.

        1. “Let us fly” said the flea, “let us flee”, said the fly; so they flew through a flaw in the flue?

    2. Would any of you buy a second hand car from this man? How about a brand new car?

      I’ve declined the flu jab simply because this government have gotten involved and when you look at the shady characters involved it just isn’t worth the risk. Who knows what they’ve had added to the flu jab.

    3. 600,000 + die in Blighty every year.
      If 60,000 die over the winter months, that’s a helluva drop.
      🎶
      “Covid Is Good For You.”
      Or
      ” A Double Vaccine Works Wonders.”
      🎶

      1. Good question.
        These wrist devices use the same capillary detectors as the finger pulse oximeter which can derive blood oxygenation, pulse rate and peripheral infusion values at the point of measurement.

        The only true non-invasive bp measurement is by auscultation of the brachial artery with an arm cuff which my granddaughter is learning to do next week in her medical degree course.
        Even that does not give a true indication of the aortic pressure which can only be measured invasively through arterial cannulation.

        Automated bp machines have been a point of contention in the medical profession as there are severe limitations compared with arterial auscultation.

        1. peripheral infusion values

          Are those what the MR calculates whilst watching him, out of the corner of her eye, take his red medicine

    2. There is no such thing as equality in the caliphate; women will be walked home (if they are ever allowed out) by a male owner.

      1. They have used that system at UC Berkeley for well over a decade. Ironically the woman’s escort is a policeman!

    3. Part 2 of the plan, as yet unmentioned until the hysteria is whipped up to full strength, is that all men will be kept safely indoors at night. The government trying to achieve the impossible, by thinking they can make life entirely risk free.

      1. There have already been suggestions that men be placed under a nightly curfew to allow women to go out safely at night!

    4. Who, inless drowning, would call a stranger and tell them “I’m in the shut, I need help & I’m vulnerable?” That kind of escort you need to arrange in advance, with someone you trust, not a voice on the telephone. Don’t be in a position where you are scared and need help, the predatory can smell victim from quite a distance.

    5. Alternatively, allow women to carry handguns for self-protection, and train them to use the weapons effectively.

      1. THAT’S VICTIM BLAMING!!
        {/sarc}

        We’ve reached a pretty messed up world where we are told that suggesting women should to take common sense precautions against being attacked is wrong.

  80. Evening, all. Much cooler and duller today, but dry and not unpleasant. Still no need to put the heating on (global warming – bring it on!).

          1. Not heard of ‘Firedogs’ before, so looked them up and now I’ve learned something! Not cheap though – ‘reclaimed’ pair on sale on ebay for £350.00.

          2. If you want such a thing, buy them at auction, they sell for surprisingly little.
            I’m just about to sell a pair, 19th C, I’ll be pleased if I get 70 Eur.

          3. My psychiatrist showed me that picture a few years ago. I told him straight, “I don’t like that kind of thing”.

    2. Just put the heat on and the heating mat under my feet it’s freezing here 50f and in the house 68f.

        1. I have a bunch of half hardy perennials that I display in tubs during the warm season, Plumbago, Bougainvillea, Thumbergia gregorii, Oleanders, etc. Today my gardener decided that it was time to put them to bed in a greenhouse. It may be me but it does appear to have become cold very fast this year. Haven’t used heating at all until this week and I have already put it on 3 times.

          1. My pelargonium and another tender plant (whose variety I forget, but I know it doesn’t like the cold) have already been put in the greenhouse.

          2. Horace was remarking on the lack of heat in the ground this year and I agree with him. At Mission Carmel in California, there is a beautiful combination growing against the church of standard pink bougainvillea, red pelargoniums and lantana. So I tried to reproduce that combination this year. Simply didn’t take off at all. Even the pelargoniums were lacklustre. I do hope that next year is warmer.

          3. I am under the impression that our ground did not retain any heat from Spring onwards. I don’t mean our garden, I mean our sector of the planet. There was no carryover of warmth from one day to the next, no build up of stored warmth that would make summer very comfortable and autumn agreeable. Is it just my old bones?

          4. Yes Horace, I agree with you. It seemed to me that several things did not do well this year for that reason. I like to grow Celosia but this year they never picked up. And the days, except for a brief few have not appeared to be very warm at all.

  81. Now look , dear people , be generous with your donations in order to allow them to go home.

    Afghans who recently arrived in the UK after fleeing the Taliban takeover have asked to be sent back, casting doubt over the success of Operation Warm Welcome, the government’s Afghan resettlement programme.

    It was launched by Boris Johnson on 29 August to help Afghan refugees arriving in the UK by providing support so they could “rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate into their local communities”.

    However, a widespread lack of housing means hotels have been commandeered as emergency temporary accommodation for 7,000 Afghan refugees, with Home Office officials admitting that some will be held in them for months.

    A Home Office spokesperson said: “The UK’s biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history helped over 15,000 people to safety, and hotels remain a temporary measure to help accommodate those we brought here. It is going to take time to find permanent homes for everyone but we are working urgently with our partners to do so.

    “Our aim is to support everyone who is resettled here to build a successful life in the UK, and that is why we work around the clock to provide wrap-around support to families. This includes working closely with local authorities across the UK to ensure everyone temporarily accommodated in hotels has access to essential provisions, healthcare, education and universal credit.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/09/afghan-refugees-uk-hotels-operation-warm-welcome

    https://twitter.com/EU_NO_MORE/status/1446885678856425476

    2. Well, with our authoritarian government, waves of invaders and unsafe for women to walk the streets alone, they may as well be back home.

    3. Well, with our authoritarian government, waves of invaders and unsafe for women to walk the streets alone, they may as well be back home.

    5. Is this a reflection on UK hotels, or is life for them back home better than 4* standard?

    6. I read that people staying in a hotel in Scarborough were accused of being racist because they have complained about afghan children ‘running riot’ (having no respect for other guests) around the corridors of the hotel.
      I wounder how many the Boris’s have staying in number 10 ?

  82. Apologies if this has already been posted: today’s been a busy.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/10/09/new-theory-claims-covid-19-may-have-evolved-chinese-mineworker/

    Covid-19 may have evolved nine years ago in a Chinese mineworker, US expert claims

    Samples of a miner’s puzzling disease were sent to researchers in Wuhan for study, from where they may have escaped into the population

    9 October 2021 • 1:56pm

    “The origins of the Covid-19 pandemic are still unknown, with many scientists now openly discussing whether the virus was engineered, or leaked from a Wuhan lab.

    But a new theory gives an entirely different explanation.

    Dr Jonathan Latham, the executive director of the US Bioscience Resource Project, believes that Covid-19 may have evolved in the body of an infected Chinese mineworker nearly a decade before the pandemic began.

    Crucially, samples of the puzzling miner’s disease were sent to viral researchers in Wuhan for study, from where they may have escaped into the population, he argues.

    Dr Latham says the emergence of the Alpha variant in Kent last Autumn proves that the virus can make “strange evolutionary leaps” and quickly develop large numbers of mutations when inside an individual for a long time.

    Earlier this year, Cambridge University concluded that the super-infectious Alpha variant probably evolved in a single immunocompromised patient who had the disease for many months.


    Hundreds of mutations

    Speaking at a BMJ webinar on the origins of the pandemic, Dr Latham said: “The theory requires many hundreds of mutations in one miner to turn into Sars-Cov-2. Decades were crammed into about six months.

    “But we have heard of the surprising phenomenon of isolated cases of greatly accelerated evolution in viruses in Britain. As much evolution occurred in that one individual in England as had occurred in the millions of other infections.

    “Our theory proposes that a similar evolution was happening inside the lungs of miners following the mystery disease in 2012 and argues that the virus leaked from a medical sample obtained from the miners infected by the outbreak.”

    Back in 2012, six miners who were shovelling bat guano in the Tongguan mineshaft in Mojiang, Yunnan, became seriously ill with a pneumonia-like illness that bore a striking similarity to Covid-19. Three of them died and the others were hospitalised for up to six months.

    A Chinese researcher who investigated the deaths for his master’s thesis concluded they were probably infected by a Sars-like coronavirus originating in horseshoe bats.

    Virus discovered in caves

    Just a year after the deaths, Wuhan scientists discovered a virus named RaTG13 in the same caves, which was later found to be a 96 per cent match for Covid-19, but must have diverged 40 years earlier.

    However, the new theory suggests that the evolution from a virus such as RaTG13 could have occurred far more quickly inside the body of a miner.

    “We know that coronaviruses were diverse and abundant near the mine, and we know that some of the miners underwent lengthy hospitalisations,” added Dr Latham.

    “Their treatment lasted six months and allowed the evolution of novel adapted human coronaviruses.

    “We know many medical samples were sent to the Wuhan institute of Virology, so the question is,what was in the samples, and what was done with any viruses that were found?”

    Scientists investigating the origin of the pandemic have repeatedly asked for details of virus sequences housed and studied at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But a database containing details of the samples was taken offline shortly before the pandemic began.

    Alison Young, the Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting at the Missouri School of Journalism, also told the webinar that lab leaks of dangerous viruses were common throughout the world, and had previously led to outbreaks.

    “One of the arguments is that lab experiments are extremely rare events,” she said. “Lab accidents are not rare. In the US in 2020 there were 134 reported lab exposure incidences of viruses, bacteria and toxins that the US government regulates.

    “Lab accidents and exposures happen frequently.”

    She pointed to the 2007 outbreak of foot and mouth disease in England which occurred after sewage leaked from an Institute for Animal Health (IAH) lab at Pirbright in Surrey as well as leaks of the original Sars virus in China. But she said many lab leaks went unreported.

    “Laboratories do not like making their leaks public,” she added.

    French genome analyst Dr Jacques van Helden, who recently co-authored a letter in the Lancet calling for an objective debate on the origins of Covid-19, said new regulation was needed to stop labs from doing work that could spark a pandemic.

    “I want to understand what really happened and so far I don’t think we have the answer,” he said.

    “We need to revise our internal regulations. Irrespective of the origin of this virus we know there are several labs doing experiments of concern because they are generating viruses that are potential pandemics.”

    His views were also echoed this week by Kevin Esvelt of MIT, who helped invent gene drive technology.

    Writing on Twitter, Dr Esvelt said: “It doesn’t matter whether it actually came from a lab – mere plausibility is enough. No nuclear warhead could kill as many people as Sars-CoV-2.

    “Pandemic virus discovery equals disseminating blueprints for nuke-equivalents accessible to individuals. Let’s not.”

    1. All velly interesting. However, the Wuhan Lab is a Level 4 lab, set up so that nothing gets in or out. The specimen end is completely closed off from the human operator end. This is not a case of someone wearing their lab coat to go home. The reasons for the research are being passed off as a “we need to know, just in case” scenario when these are weapon development labs as per the Manhattan Project.

      https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2017-12/20/16/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane-02/sub-buzz-12414-1513805095-1.jpg?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto
      https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/ban-lifted-on-killer-virus-research

  83. Eco Extremists Insulate Britain Call for Johnson to Be Tried for Treason
    https://newsbinding.com/news/eco-extremists-call-for-johnson-to-be-tried-for-treason/
    Insulate Britain has claimed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson should be tried for treason for not reducing carbon emissions, with an insider from the eco-extremist group saying the are desperate to go to jail because they think it will force the government to change environmental laws.

    A climate change activist [Roger Hallam] has up to six diesel vehicles on his organic farm despite constantly ‘preaching’ about the environment, it has been revealed.
    https://metro.co.uk/2021/10…

      3. Correct.
        More than a few Octobers in the past I’ve been pottering in the garden on a dead calm frosty morning listening to the leaves falling off the trees around me.

    2. …they are desperate to go to jail…

      They won’t be saying that when someone pees in their soup and after dropping the soap in the shower…

    3. Silly Bastards have forgotten that their hero, B Liar repealed the treason act, just before he committed what would have been treason.

      Insulate B and B Liar, both self-serving hypocrites.

      About time the Treason Act was restored – retrospectively.

  85. Any NoTTlers enjoyed their first mince pie yet…..?

    I had one this evening with white chocolate mousse……yummy…

    1. I try to avoid anything Christmas until after my birthday. And by the time Christmas comes along I’m sick to death of it and all things Christmas. I am talking, of course, of the Christmas on the 25 December. I celebrate it on Jan 7 when the insanity has passed.

        1. No, I had a walk round the Selfridges Christmas department this afternoon. Full of tat and a very drab selection of cards.

          4. SWMBO makes her own, as the selections are really dull. Photos from Firstborn’s farm – mayflies, butterflies, plants… properly printed, not just run off the home printer. Calendars, too. Solves a lot of issues.

        2. Having just recently arrived home from our Week in Cornwall I noticed a Brown sign in St Ives had an important letter missing, as in Tat ‘e’ Gallery.
          We ere surprised how many people there were around and ho many couples with dogs.
          It took us nearly 8 hours to drive home, to St Albans, after Swindon it all went pear shape. Bloody road works, one road closed on the junction with no previous warning that caused cross country diversions, closed Motor way junctions and a crash involving several cars, 3 hours longer than it should have.
          My word we were so glad to get home.
          No problem with fuel at all.
          Biggest disappointment was that our evening visit to The Minack ‘Proms’ was cancelled due to the heavy rain.
          Another glass of the red stuff and i’m off to sleep.

          2. As you probs know Plum it wasn’t very sunny last week. Although the forecasts told us differently. We went all over, I was very impressed with the huge expanse of sand at Hayle. I have been on some large beaches around the world but that I think that must have been the biggest. The tide was completely out and the surf must have been a mile away. The wind was blowing a gale as well.

          3. Perfect place to fly a big kite! Constant wind, no obstacles.
            Balmedie beach, just outside Aberdeen, was like that.

          5. If it’s sunny on the south coast the North is often cloudy and vice versa. The difference is surprising in such a short distance..

          6. We went to Falmouth as well, I think it’s my favourite. Although we didn’t have time for the castle this time I went to Cape Town on the ship RMS Pendennis Castle in 1968. That long high street is interesting. And the cream tea over looking the Harbour was pretty good………well it has to be done eh. Apart from the dramatic scenery Lands End is now a tad too commercialised and a bit tatty. But we love Cornwall next August it’s our number Two son’s 40th and we have rented a house that sleeps ten at Rock.

          8. Absolutely luvvy.
            Ans i slept for 10 hours last night with only one visit to the Loo. And breath,………….

          11. Blimey – we live in Bushey, Watford, and have never done the journey from Cornwall in one go. We always stop off for a night somewhere…

        3. Having just recently arrived home from our Week in Cornwall I noticed a Brown sign in St Ives had an important letter missing, as in Tat ‘e’ Gallery.
          We ere surprised how many people there were around and ho many couples with dogs.
          It took us nearly 8 hours to drive home, to St Albans, after Swindon it all went pear shape. Bloody road works, one road closed on the junction with no previous warning that caused cross country diversions, closed Motor way junctions and a crash involving several cars, 3 hours longer than it should have.
          My word we were so glad to get home.
          No problem with fuel at all.
          Biggest disappointment was that our evening visit to The Minack ‘Proms’ was cancelled due to the heavy rain.
          Another glass of the red stuff and i’m off to sleep.

      2. 7th January is when Russians celebrate Christmas, so perhaps best to avoid any ‘comrades’ that day.

      3. Now, should that be regarded as an orthodox or an unorthodox approach to birthdays around Christmas?

  86. I have spent most of today digging out the roots of bushes we had removed from the front garden, as SWMBO has phobia about birds

    Did not have energy left to cook tea, so we phoned the local chippy who deliver

    Tonight was rare treat

    Battered Jumbo Sausage, Battered Spam Fritter and Chips

    Worth every penny we paid

  87. An oil tanker carrying fuel oil from Iraq is seen anchored near the Zahrani power plant, which has stopped because of a fuel shortage. Photograph: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images
    Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent
    Sat 9 Oct 2021 16.52 BST

    Lebanon’s electricity grid collapsed on Saturday after its two main power plants ran out of fuel, plunging much of the crisis-ridden country into darkness for at least two days.

    The nationwide blackout marks a new low for the crumbling state, which has struggled to source dollars to pay market rates for fuel in the wake of a profound financial collapse that has decimated the local currency and forced the economy to a halt.

    “The Lebanese power network completely stopped working at noon today, and it is unlikely that it will work until next Monday, or for several days,” an official told the Reuters news agency.

    The outage means neighbourhood generators, which already supplement inadequate state power supplies across Lebanon, will face extra demand that they cannot service, threatening the viability of critical services, such as healthcare.

    Vehicles queue-up for fuel at a petrol station in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut
    ‘This is the end of times’: Lebanon struggles to find political path through its crisis
    Read more
    One of two major plants, the Zahrani power station ran out of fuel on Saturday afternoon after another facility, the Deir Ammar plant, stopped working on Friday.

    Generator operators have balked at paying dollar rates that are now being demanded for the essential fuel. A 10-fold hike in prices since the currency lost parity with the dollar has left many residents unable to pay for even meagre amounts.

    Large parts of the Lebanese population are now at or below the poverty line, with only fresh dollar remittances from relatives abroad saving them from dangerous levels of food scarcity.

    In the past six months, images of a blacked-out Beirut have been commonly used to illustrate the crisis. But outages had until now been at prescribed times – from midnight to 6am. The prospect of several days without power and Beirut in the dark from dusk to dawn has alarmed its disaster-weary citizens.

    Prime minister-designate Najib Miqati announcing the formation of a new Lebanese government.
    Lebanon forms new government, ending 13-month standoff
    Read more
    “My relatives have had barely any power anyway, so what is this thing called a state,” said Zeinab Awad, a Beirut resident. “But to see the whole city like Somalia, where will this end?”

    Lebanon’s economic crisis, described by the World Bank as one of the worst of the last century, has led its banking system to collapse and its exchange rate to lose its value 15-fold. It has also focused increasing anger at leaders who have been complicit in a post-civil war cartel that has looted the country and neglected basic infrastructure.

    The electricity ministry’s control room was destroyed in the explosion that destroyed Beirut port last year. The ministry building remains in ruins and the investigation into the blast has stalled.

    1. I find it a bit ironic that Newcastle football club has been purchased by the profits of selling oil to the west.

          1. I wonder whether Arabs care lot about blacks , I mean , they have very strict laws , and the Ffloyd debacle re him being a criminal would have resulted in the Arabs chopping something off .. So I would hope that they don’t agree with the taking of the knee.. and just ban it!

          2. Alan Shearer wasn’t happy about the take over citing the Saudis’ human rights record. And they haven’t exactly helped out in housing and islamic refugees. They have the capacity for around one million at mecca and I don’t think they have taken even one of their fellows in.

          4. I once read it was one million, but is seems as everything muslims do, it gets out of hand.

    1. I was amazed at the amount of Wind turbines spread around Cornwall.
      But i have a funny feeling what is planned by or political classes will result in the usual Just another way of completely effing up of everything they come into contact with.
      I watched a programme last evening with scientists monitoring trees and the way they absorbed carbon. They had all sorts of devices, towers and gadgets. But I’m not sure of the purpose and what might be discovered that we don’t already know about. And with out leaves in the winter the trees can’t absorb carbon.
      And mean while ‘back on the ranch’ I don’t think i have ever seen so much new home building happening in this country in my entire life.

      1. Of course the more building and concrete there is , the more heat will rise up.

        We were parked in a big carpark the other day, the heat bouncing off cars and the tarmac was incredible , surrounded by glass buildings , I mean that is where they are not quite getting their ducks in a row, of course there will be global warming if everywhere is concreted over .

        Try walking on a hot beach , or pavement barefooted , everything is just commonsense .

        The acres of good farm land covered in solar farms , what about the heat coming off them . I reall just don’t understand anything any more .

          1. They think it’s and act of human kindness to build new homes for any one who turns up uninvited.

        2. Construction is the least green activity on the whole planet TB, from the word go, excavating the sand and ballast cement manufacturing, brick making, glass, plastic, Timber, plaster, you name it. There is nothing green about building products in any shape or form.

          2. It does’t end there Maggie after the plot of the house is covered in and filled with non green materials, it’s connected to water, gas, electricity supplies and mains sewers. When our beloved government move people in whose carbon foot prints have been close to zero for most of their lives, the carbon levels of that single plot goes through the roof literally. And still Boros lectures us about our usage of gas etc.

      2. As with the theft gifted the government’s chums by ludicrously overpriced and ultimately fraudulent PPE contracts and the rest, so too with the lockdowns giving free reign to developers and corrupt council officials to push through planning applications via Zoom meetings, unattended by objectors.

        Covid is the scam which keeps giving to the PTB whilst simultaneously fleecing the taxpayer.

        1. I live in what could be loosely be called an estate

          It is a fairly large area of our village, to the North of one of the ‘main roads’ that run through it

          There are upwards of 200 bungalows, but, just one “house”, which was built for a councillor on the Local Planning Committee

          Nuff said

        2. Totally agree Corim there’s an article in yesterdays Times about the scandal of Big Pharma I haven’t had time to read it yet.

    1. Don’t be glum Plum
      You’ve got your Nottl Chums
      We’re always here
      to bring you cheer!

  92. To maximise revenues in the aftermath of the Second World War, the British government had opted to export the country’s better-quality ‘hard’ coal and retain the more sulphurous low-grade coal for domestic consumption. Smoke from burning this coal in domestic fires to offset the particularly cold winter of 1952 combined with pollutants from Greater London’s numerous power stations, factories, and public transport to create a thick noxious blanket of smog over the city.

    The thick yellow-black smog was held over London for more than four days due to the arrival of a high-pressure weather system. This caused an anticyclone that stopped the polluted air from rising into the atmosphere. Windless conditions, and London’s position in a river valley, also meant that the smog was unable to be blown away.

    Visibility in the city was reduced to just a few metres, bringing public transport to a halt and forcing schools and businesses to close. Meanwhile, people across the city breathed in the toxic air and began to succumb to respiratory infections. Cattle at the Smithfield Show at Earl’s Court reportedly suffocated and, while nobody made the connection until several months after the smog lifted, estimates state that between 4,000 and 12,000 Londoners died as a direct result of breathing the polluted air.

    In response the government began to rethink its policy towards air pollution and, in 1956, introduced the Clean Air Act that established ‘smoke control areas’ where only clean fuels could be burned. This precipitated a shift towards the use of cleaner coals, electricity, and gas as sources of heat.

    1. We spent Christmas 1952 with friends in London – I don’t think the smog had settled at that time. It was the last Christmas for my father.

  93. The seconded glass of shiraz has now taken it’s desired effect.
    I have had such a long and busy day peeps,. i’m going to slide off and say good night all. 😴

  94. 339760+ up ticks,
    Is there any truth in that the lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration
    coalition have put in a transfer bid ?

    Ex-Danish Minister Teams up with Populists for 50,000 Deportation Plan

  100. That’s Rigoletto ended, (I was running 1h behind time) so that’s me off to bed.
    Night all.

  101. Scotland: Taliban supporter who rents farm close to UK’s nuclear submarine base asked to leave
    Local people say it is a very sensitive area and want the security services to get involved. But Waheed Totakhyl says he and fellow Afghans in the UK simply want to help their home country.

    Waheed Totakhyl is an Afghan national who has previously called for the death of US soldiers in Afghanistan. His brother is a military commander for the Taliban in Kabul.

    He has been renting Aldonaig Farm, which overlooks the Gare Loch, the stretch of water used by naval traffic to come and go from HMNB Clyde at Faslane.

    The farm also looks on to accommodation used by naval personnel and is less than five miles from the base itself.

    Now, the owner of the farm has written to him, instructing him to vacate the premises. The landowner is Al Taghi, an Iranian national who is a former lieutenant in Iran’s navy.

    n a letter dated 8 October, he has written to Mr Totakhyl and told him to leave Aldonaig Farm.

    Residents living near Britain’s nuclear deterrent contacted Ministry of Defence police following behaviour they regarded as suspicious. They reported that, on 10 August, two cars containing eight Afghan nationals appeared at Aldonaig Farm and the men said they had driven from London, without further explanation.

    Councillor George Freeman, from Argyll & Bute Council, told Sky News of concerns among local people.

    “We’re sitting right next door to Faslane and Coulport just over the hill,” he said. “The nation’s nuclear deterrent is here, so it’s a very sensitive area. The fact that we have individuals here who admit supporting the Taliban, then they are asking questions – ‘is nobody in the security services, do they not have concerns?’ So far, we just can’t get an answer on that.”

    Mr Totakhyl, who is the last-registered chairman of the Scottish Afghan Society, insists he is not a danger and says he rents the land because he “likes to be a farmer”.

    When Sky News put the residents’ concerns to him, he said that he had, indeed, hosted visits to the farm by Afghan nationals from around the UK.

    He disputed that any such event took place on 10 August, but says he was visited on 12 June by fellow members of Afghanistan’s Hezb-e Islami party.

    The party is led by Gulbuddin Helmatyar, a notorious Afghan warlord dubbed the Butcher of Kabul, who has pledged his support for the recent Taliban takeover.

    Waheed Totakhyl told Sky News: “My friends visit me from Birmingham, London. They came this year just to visit me and talk about the situation in Afghanistan.”

    Asked if he understood concern around the meeting taking place close to the Faslane base, he said: “Yes, but we didn’t have a meeting about Britain or Scotland. We were talking about Afghanistan, what was going to happen in Afghanistan and how can we help the people of Afghanistan from the UK.”

    “I rent (the farm) because I like to be a farmer and enjoy the weather… of Scotland,” he added.

    Mr Totakhyl came to the UK from Afghanistan in 2001 and settled in the west of Scotland. He owns a takeaway shop which once sold “Osama bin Laden” pizzas.

    A picture on his Facebook feed shows a photo, taken in Afghanistan, of him holding a rifle in the company of armed men.

    He told Sky News it was taken during a visit to Bagram jail to visit his brother before he was released to take up his current position as a Taliban commander, and the armed men accompanying him were bodyguards from the Hezb-e Islami party.

    In 2018, Mr Totakhyl was arrested for his part in a protest at a Home Office building in Glasgow, in support of two asylum seekers on hunger strike.

    He has previously told Sky News that, since the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan is “more safe than Europe”.

    In April this year, the local Rhu and Shandon Community Council wrote to Al Taghi as the registered owner of Aldonaig Farm, complaining of fires being lit on the land. It also stated that police had been called several times to complaints about “noise…illegal gatherings and environmental pollution and damage”.

    https://news.sky.com/story/scotland-taliban-supporter-who-rents-farm-close-to-uks-nuclear-submarine-base-asked-to-leave-12430161

    1. “The UK is open for business”. As a procession of Prime Ministers have averred. They’ve never said out loud, “No questions asked.”

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