Thursday 11 November: Patients recommended to have AstraZeneca boosters can find none

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

688 thoughts on “Thursday 11 November: Patients recommended to have AstraZeneca boosters can find none”

      2. It’s obvious they couldn’t hold it while Trump was President of the US. At least people are beginning to see through the scam. Hope it’s not too late.

    2. Oi, You!

      SWMBO says “Put that Dragon back on our Window sill!!”

      I say :(keep it: it saves me dusting it)

  3. Good morning, everyone. A busy day for me today. Off to London for lunch, then back to Colchester for a curry supper. See you all tomorrow. And wear your poppy with pride.

      1. I did, except for enjoying several glasses of wine and yummy meals. Both items are temptation whilst I am trying to keep my weight down.

  4. SIR – How many people fussing about past slavery drive electric cars whose batteries contain lithium and other rare earths mined in the Congo by the Chinese using child slave labour?

    Anthony Clark
    Kendal, Cumbria

  7. SIR – The decision by St Peter’s College, Oxford, to accept a donation from the late Max Mosley’s trust disqualifies it from ever removing “tainted” names and statues from its environment.

    It attempts to justify taking money from a family of committed racists and fascists, on the grounds of the good works that the money will enable. If that argument is accepted, there can be no reason to “cancel” visible, historic associations with descendants of those who profited from the slave trade and benefited the university.

    St Peter’s is displaying venal hypocrisy and deserves all the ridicule coming its way.

    Lord Grade of Yarmouth
    London SW1

    Agreed. St Peter’s are not up to grade

    1. SIR – The Emperor Vespasian, holding up a gold coin, observed that Pecunia non olet – “Money doesn’t smell”. He’d just imposed a tax on urine. Oxford University seems to take a similar line in accepting substantial donations from the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei and software conglomerate Tencent, and now from the Mosleys.

      Money may not smell, but it can buy influence and status, and can bias policy, erode history, and compromise independence. It can make a great university look like a plaything for dubious entities that want a bit of its prestige for themselves.

      Graham Chainey
      Brighton, East Sussex

      The Chinese have been buying influence with anyone they can find at Cambridge. The unlamented soon to be Ex Vice Chancellor, Canadian drip Stephen Toope is the grubbiest of the grubby.

      1. Quite frankly, the Mosley money is the least worrying! It’s all in the past, whereas other threats are current.

  8. 341403+ up ticks,

    Morning All,

    One could very well believe that an alien take over would be a blessing in many respects, it is in the pipeline anyway Dover is proving that daily.

    Maybe lab/lib/con current supporting members should write their MPs asking “is there any date set as of yet”

    1. SIR – Will we now be in danger of being accused of harassment for staring at the chests of assistants in Marks and Spencer’s in order to see on their name badges what, who or how they are to be called or referred to (report, November 9)?

      My own badge will say: “Call me Madam.”

      Carol Day
      Four Marks , Hampshire

      1. If anyone ever forces me to fill in the “Preferred Pronouns” field, I will put “Use your common sense.”

      2. Hey Citron, you a fixxa me up wiiv the ladies.

        When I started in a ‘Comp’ in 1956, we were told to call all female teachers Ma’am. to avoid the Mrs/Miss trap

        It felt strange, for about a fortnight, then in was so easy

        1. My uncle used to tell a joke about a pregnant nun.
          She claimed she had been seduced by St. Michael because that was the name tag on his underpants.

  10. Nation to remember war dead on Armistice Day. 11 November 2021.

    Ahead of Armistice Day, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to the fallen heroes and those who continue to serve in the Armed Forces.

    He said: “In a year which saw British forces show remarkable bravery to save lives in the evacuation of Kabul it is important we show how grateful we are for your sacrifice and for everything you have done, and continue to do, to keep us safe.

    In actuality of course the official recognition of Armistice Day is an exercise; as here, in political hypocrisy. Hardly any of the Great and Good who attend the various ceremonies, will have had any experience of Military Service let alone Action in the Face of the Enemy. This omission goes some way to explain the lack of empathy and oftentimes hostility to those who’ve served. One thinks particularly of the Northern Ireland prosecutions of Veterans and their abandonment by the Political Elites.

    This neglect is fostered both by the perception that the Military will not be needed in any serious sense in the foreseeable future and so can be safely ignored; this with an unspoken resentment of these men who were willing to sacrifice their very lives to protect this country; all this in comparison to the Moral Cowardice exhibited by themselves on pretty much every occasion you can think of!

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/people-keir-starmer-camilla-the-duchess-of-cornwall-britain-b965581.html

  13. BTL@DTletters

    Lord Fauntleroy

    The Queen’s new rule ..
    “Never complain, never explain, never marry a stupid American actress”

  14. Good morning all from a misty Derbyshire.
    It’s actually quite clear at the valley bottom, but very misty up the sides of the valley. At least it’s not raining and it’s 4½°C at the moment with mist & fog forecast.

  15. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Captain (‘skipper’) of a wartime bomber at the age of just 20 when they had to bale out…what a remarkable responsibility by today’s standards…

    Flight Lieutenant Dennis Bryden, pilot shot down in 1944 while dropping supplies to the Polish underground and sent to Stalag Luft III – obituary

    In captivity Bryden read and played ice hockey during the harsh winter of 1944/45 before setting off on the infamous ‘Long March’ west

    By
    Telegraph Obituaries
    10 November 2021 • 8:42pm

    Flight Lieutenant Dennis Bryden, who has died aged 97, was the pilot of a Halifax shot down over Hungary; he spend the rest of the war as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III.

    Bryden was just 20 years old when he and his crew took off from Brindisi on the night of September 10 1944 to drop supplies to the Polish underground movement in Warsaw. Over Hungary, a major fire broke out in the starboard wing, possibly following an attack by an enemy night fighter. The Halifax became uncontrollable and Bryden ordered the crew to bail out.

    They soon joined up on the ground and started heading south, but near the village of Debrecen they were captured. Taken to Budapest, they were put in solitary confinement. Eventually they were herded into cattle trucks, and after a few days Bryden, who had been separated from his NCO colleagues, arrived at Stalag Luft III at Sagan, the scene of the “Great Escape” earlier in the year.

    As the harsh winter set in, Bryden occupied his time reading and playing ice hockey. On the night of January 27 1945, with the Russian Army advancing from the east, the prisoners were given a few hours to pack their belongings. The winter of 1945 was the most severe for 50 years and the prisoners suffered badly during the infamous “Long March” west.

    Bryden and a colleague managed to make a rough sledge, which carried their belongings for 45 miles before being abandoned as a thaw set in. Sleeping in barns and churches, they finally reached Spremberg on February 3 and spent the night in a barracks before boarding cattle trucks; 1,916 men were crammed on to the train, which reached the PoW camp of Milag Marlag Nord near Bremen after two days. They remained there until early April.

    On April 9 the prisoners left the camp and headed east – away from the advancing Allies, but on April 25, approaching Lubeck, the German guards abandoned the column. On May 2 a British scout car appeared and a week later, Bryden arrived at an airfield near Aylesbury.

    Dennis David George Bryden was born in Marylebone, London on December 2 1923 and was brought up in Northamptonshire and Oxford. He was educated at Oxford School of Technology, Art and Commerce and was an active member of the Scouts, the St John’s Ambulance Cadets and later the Air Training Corps, becoming a sergeant. He began working at the Morris factory in Cowley.

    Aged 17, he volunteered for aircrew duties and was called up in March 1942. He sailed for Canada in the Queen Mary before travelling to Texas where he trained as a pilot at No 1 British Flying Training School.

    On his return to Britain, he converted to heavy bombers and in May 1944 he and his crew took a new Halifax to Morocco on a delivery flight before joining 624 Squadron at Blida in Algeria.

    He carried out supply drops to the French Resistance before a bad crash hospitalised him for a few weeks. After recovering, he transferred in early August to 148 Squadron at Brindisi where he made drops to the Italian Resistance in the Alps.

    On his return from captivity, and after a refresher course, he joined 511 Squadron at Lyneham and flew the York transport aircraft on trooping flights to the Far East.

    In August 1946 he re-joined Morris Motors, becoming a buyer. In the late 1960s, he was approached by Lord Strathcarron to join his business, Strathcarron & Co, as a partner connecting suppliers to the motor industry. He also became the Chairman of the Institute of British Carriage and Automobile Manufacturers.

    Bryden kept his hand in as a pilot by obtaining a Private Pilot Licence, sharing the flying with Lord Strathcarron as they headed off in a small Cessna to European business meetings.

    He was a keen golfer, becoming Captain at Southfield Golf Course in Oxford, and the Seniors Captain Tadmarton Heath, near Banbury.

    Bryden’s wife, Phyllis, died in 2020. He is survived by their son and two daughters.

    Dennis Bryden, born December 2 1923, died September 18 2021

    * * *

    One minor error in this obit: he was unlikely to have been in the Air Training Corps (formed in February 1941) but the Air Defence Cadet Corps (ADCC).

  16. Good Moaning;
    Foggy and there’s a strange light. I must lay off the gin.

    Michael Deacon issues a warning to sensitive (aka p!ssed off) Tellygraff readers.

    “I therefore proposed a compromise. In future, I promised, any article I wrote about this couple would carry a content warning, such as those that appear before an offensive film. Something like: “WARNING: CONTAINS SUSSEXES. Includes scenes of sanctimoniousness, solipsism and wild self-pity. Also features language that some readers may find upsetting, such as ‘speaking our truth’ and ‘unlocking positive, compassionate and creative spaces’.”

          1. I believe the advantage of blocking is that they can’t pop up elsewhere on pages I read.

            Does a moderator ban exclude them on all platforms?

  18. Letter reveals Yorkshire staff’s ‘extreme hurt’ over ‘problematic’ Azeem Rafiq’s ‘mission to bring down club’

    Exclusive: Staff hit out at club response, describe profound physical and emotional impact and say Rafiq did not share ‘White Rose values’

    By Tom Morgan, SPORTS NEWS CORRESPONDENT
    10 November 2021 • 9:00pm

    A delegation of Yorkshire staff wrote to their board last month to bitterly complain about the club’s failure to stand up to Azeem Rafiq’s “one-man mission to bring down the club”.

    In a letter seen by Telegraph Sport, signatories criticise Rafiq’s behaviour at the club and even express fury over an apology issued when it was revealed seven of his 43 abuse claims were proven.

    The correspondence, sent out on Oct 14, lays bare for the first time the “extreme hurt” of staff, who felt they and the club were facing unfair attacks amid the toxic legal row that has engulfed them.

    “Staff who knew Azeem well felt that an initial apology to him and an acceptance that he was a victim was not the correct approach and misrepresented entirely what kind of individual he was whilst at the club,” the letter says.

    “There are endless episodes of Azeem’s behaviour, well-known to the club, which reflect on him as a person well before he decided to accuse the club, staff and players of any wrongdoing. We find it difficult to comprehend how this part of Azeem’s character has not been released or at least used by the club in its defence.”

    On Wednesday night Lord Patel, the club’s new chairman, confirmed the letter had been sent. “It is troubling for many reasons, and further evidence of the wider issues the Club has faced,” he added.

    The letter was issued three weeks after the club had published a “summary” of the findings of the 12-month inquiry into Rafiq catalogue of race claims. Investigators found there was “no question” of racial harassment at Yorkshire, the club acknowledged. However, there was no mention of the conclusion, which has subsequently come to light, detailing how a “P—” insult aimed at Rafiq amounted to “banter”.

    Yorkshire staff, however, detail their anger in the letter about having their reputations dragged through the mud by a player they describe as being “problematic in the dressing room”. Rafiq’s case is described in the letter as a “one-man mission to bring down the club and with it, people of genuine integrity, is extremely hurtful” and “the criticism aimed at and the subsequent pain felt by both our director of cricket [Martyn Moxon] and chief executive [Mark Arthur] is not only misdirected but is also grossly unfair”. It adds that “we see no support from the board to protect these two”.

    In T20 cricket, Rafiq’s stats compare favourably with rivals, having taken 102 wickets across 95 matches during his career. However, in the staff’s assessment, the off-spinner, who this week agreed a six-figure payout over his claims, had under-performed. The authors add: “Azeem “is a complex character. He had and demanded, very significant and constant staff support whilst at the club… He became an under-performer on the field, he was problematic in the dressing room.”

    Staff claim media made defamatory comments about club
    The letter, which is believed to have been received by chairman Roger Hutton and other members of the board, says the club should have had a plan to return fire over the criticism it has faced. “Azeem, his solicitors and various members of the media continue to make defamatory comments about the club, as well as targeting individual members of staff and the roles that they fulfil,” they add.

    Rafiq, 30, had been given “a pedestal for his accusations” and the authors “find it surprising that at no point throughout this investigation anybody from the board…. approached us to find out more about the character of Azeem”.

    The letter goes on to ask “why was a strong rebuttal of Azeem’s claims not given at the outset of this case?” and that “the reputational damage that this is doing to the club and all the staff associated with it is deeply upsetting and its reflection on us as individuals, is of equal concern”.

    “The allegations and subsequent external criticisms levelled at the Club and individuals is having a profound effect on us all physically, emotionally and psychologically and could well impact on us in our respective professional fields in the future”, the letter adds.

    The authors add that it is “not clear what that strategy is, as it has not been formally communicated to any of us. It is of great disappointment that at no time has there been any statement from the Board in support of the current staff or players for that matter. This needs to be addressed immediately”.

    Letter says: Azeem did not share White Rose values
    The authors conclude their letter by explaining they “every day we proudly wear the badge”. “There is a deep level of care, loyalty and respect amongst the current staff and players,” the letter adds. “We are a team in every sense of that word, united as one and bound by the White Rose values (values incidentally which Azeem did not share during his time at the Club.)”

    They sign off by adding: “We urge the board and the club to now support and represent its staff. Hopefully you will view this letter in the spirit that it has been written. We would also be more than willing to meet as a group if you felt that would be valuable.”

    It is not known how Hutton and the board responded to the authors, whom The Telegraph has agreed not to name in the wake of staff facing death threats over the weekend. A fortnight later, on Thursday Oct 28, the row would escalate again as Yorkshire said all their staff and executives would be spared disciplinary action despite the admission Rafiq was subjected to racism.

    Hutton was eventually forced to resign after the row erupted into a full scale national furore involving attacks from Downing Street last week.

    His successor, Patel, told Telegraph Sport on Wednesday night that he had been made aware of the letter over the weekend. “I have publicly stated that Azeem Rafiq is a whistleblower and should be treated as such. It is essential for our culture that we believe those who have suffered discrimination or abuse, and pledge to hear their experiences,” he added.

    “It is also important to acknowledge that our poor handling of this issue includes communications with staff. Part of our duty of care towards them will be to talk to all at the Club about their experiences to understand internal perspectives. We must be mindful of the toll the past 18 months has taken. There is clear and urgent need for seismic change at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, starting from within. We must get to the bottom of our culture and learn from our mistakes, and that means understanding the past. I have set out my vision, to make Yorkshire County Cricket Club a place for everyone, from all backgrounds, and become a Club which people can trust to do the right thing.”

    A spokesman for Rafiq declined to comment on the letter to the board.

    1. Rafiq is; as are most Pakistanis, formed of equal portions of Envy, Greed and Malice. His accusations against Yorkshire are almost certainly a response to imagined offences and a percieved lack of appreciation of himself!

    2. Rafiq is; as are most Pakistanis, formed of equal parts of Envy, Greed and Malice. His accusations against Yorkshire are almost certainly a response to imagined offences and a percieved lack of appreciation of himself!

      2. He is a muzzie: ergo an enemy of the state. Indeed, an enemy of every western state.

        Time to recruit for the Crusade.

        1. Western civilisation is taking time to
          work, Grizzly. … More than one thousand
          years and we still are allowing [encouraging?]
          this cult to infiltrate the West.

          Good morning.

    3. Another Pakistani player (don’t remember his name) said that he didn’t hear the comments, although he was allegedly next to Rafiq. Looks like the usual story; decent people vs non decent people.

  19. Boris Johnson insists Britain ‘not remotely corrupt country’ amid ongoing sleaze row. 11 November 2021.

    Boris Johnson has insisted that Britain is not “remotely a corrupt country” amid continuing fallout over the conduct of some MPs, scrutiny over politicians’ second jobs and concerns over sleaze in politics.

    Lol! It’s not “remotely corrupt” it’s totally corrupt. It is an utterly decadent and depraved entity that has no moral values whatsoever. Its Government is populated by Traitors, Perverts and Panderers. It’s the 21st Century Babylon!

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-insists-britain-not-remotely-corrupt-country-amid-ongoing-sleaze-row/ar-AAQy9kn

    3. On the Global Corruption Scale, the UK is probably one of the lesser corrupt countries in the world and, I suspect, we come out better than a several in the West, but that should not be a cause for complacency. Corruption, whether for Financial or Political Motives, seriously damages the country’s trust in its elected leaders.

      1. If Boris had said what you just said he would have gone up in my estimation. He has a problem with the truth. Not good in a soon to be ex Prime Minister.

    5. Boris Johnson has insisted that Britain is not “remotely a corrupt country”

      This from a Prime Minister who continues, either directly or via his minsters, to threaten the people of the UK with draconian restrictions on their freedom to go about their business unhindered. We have the minister for health hinting or rather ‘nudging’ people towards taking another dose of an ineffectual potion or suffer the consequences of freedom of choice. We have the growing threat of a digital/cashless system that will give these people total control of our money and property. Not corrupt? My sides are splitting. NOT!

  21. ‘Morning again.

    Another truly remarkable flyer has left us…

    Derek ‘Robbie’ Robinson, naval Seafire pilot who flew dive-bombing missions in the Mediterranean, Aegean and the south of France – obituary

    After one forced landing he became known as ‘Wreck ’em Robinson’, but he was hailed for his zeal, efficiency and his ‘excellent talents’

    By
    Telegraph Obituaries
    10 November 2021 • 10:02pm

    Derek “Robbie” Robinson, who has died aged 99, was a wartime naval pilot who flew the Seafire and thought it “simply the best”.

    For most of 1944, Robinson flew Seafires of 807 Naval Air Squadron from the escort carrier Hunter, including during Allied amphibious landings in the Mediterranean. In June and July, he was loaned, along with his personal aircraft – side number 313 – to 92 Squadron RAF (attached to the carrier Formidable) which, with a mixed aircrew of Canadians, New Zealanders, Poles and South Africans, was operating from newly captured airstrips in Italy and advancing with the 8th Army.

    Most of Robinson’s sorties were dive-bombing missions: “I started the dive from 8,000 feet, and dived, I suppose, about 60 degrees, although it felt steeper – you couldn’t rely on instruments at all, so it was entirely looking and watching. When you estimated about 3,000 feet, pull the nose up, and as you pull the nose through the target, let the bomb go.”

    On June 29 he flew three sorties in a fighter role, escorting Baltimore bombers to attack the marshalling yards at Cesena, outside Ravenna, when the Luftwaffe counter-attacked using 12 Messerschmitt Bf 109s and eight Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters. A running dogfight ensued, lasting more than half an hour and continuing from the target area to the sea south of Ancona.

    The fight opened with Robinson and his leader being jumped by several aircraft, but they managed to extricate themselves, and later Robinson shared with Sub-Lieutenant J V Morris (also of 807 NAS) in the damage of one Me 109 and one FW 190.

    On July 7 1944, Robinson’s Seafire was destroyed on the ground by shrapnel after another aircraft landed while still armed with a 500lb bomb.

    “A great friend of mine landed with a bomb still underneath him, and it came off and bounced alongside him and then blew up,” he recalled. “And do you know, there wasn’t a scrap, there wasn’t a centimetre of material anywhere. Just totally molecularised the plane completely. He wouldn’t have known anything, of course. Sorry.”

    Returning to Hunter in August during Operation Dragoon, the Allied landings in the south of France, Robinson flew two or three armed reconnaissance sorties a day in support of the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, bombing and strafing trains, road junctions and German transport columns.

    Later, in October, Robinson flew during Operations Outing and Picnic, designed to pin down German troops in the Greek islands, operations which saw some of the largest strikes by escort carrier groups and some of the most accurate Seafire dive-bombings. There, on October 7, 8 and 9, he bombed and strafed troop-carrying ships – and lived with the memory of survivors in the water waving their fists at him.

    He was Mentioned in Despatches for distinguished service, efficiency and zeal during the clearance of the Aegean.

    Derek Shillito Robinson was born on March 11 1922 at Epsom, Surrey, the son of a GP, and educated at Ellesmere College in Shropshire, where he became captain of the school.

    Early in the war he was entombed in a shelter during the bombing of Firth Brown’s steelworks in Sheffield, and, inspired by reading W E Johns’s Biggles books, Robinson volunteered for the Fleet Air Arm. He started as a Naval Airman 2nd class at HMS St Vincent, Gosport, and learnt to fly in Tiger Moths at RAF Elmdon (now Birmingham International Airport), where he was inspired by the Spitfire test pilot Alex Henshaw.

    He progressed well, flying solo after only 3 ½ hours: once, after his engine failed, he force-landed in a field of cattle, proud to have made a perfect landing. But when he returned after borrowing the farmer’s telephone to report his position, he found that the cows had taken a liking to the doped fabric covering the frame of his aircraft, and eaten it, obliging the Admiralty to issue an order that if in future pilots landed near cattle, they were to place a guard.

    Robinson’s advanced flying training was under the Empire Air Training Scheme at Kingston, Ontario. He recalled: “I was a young chap loving it. I revelled in it. Everybody had these wonderful, wonderful, expensive machines to fly.” However, six of his class of 30 died in training.

    He returned to Britain in RMS Queen Elizabeth (carrying 23,000 Canadian troops) to become a naval fighter pilot, learning on an ex-Battle of Britain Spitfire. On an early sortie after the throttle jammed, he turned the engine off and glided from 8,000ft, earning the endorsement: “This pilot has excellent talents. Recommend frontline service immediately.”

    His first deck landing, on June 1 1943, was on Argus in the Clyde, achieved after watching two other novice pilots crash into the sea and be lost.

    He flew a range of fighters – the Fulmar, the Firefly, the Sea Hurricane, and the American Hellcat and Corsair – but he reckoned that the Seafire was the best: “It was incredible. Honestly, it was so sensitive. I flew it with the tip of my middle finger on the control column. Just one finger, and if I wanted to roll I just said, ‘Shhhh,’ and there you were…”

    After VE-Day, Robinson dreaded being sent to the Far East to fight the Japanese, but instead he became an instructor based at St Merryn, Cornwall. His fiancée was a Wren serving in Northern Ireland and Robinson used the pretence of a navigation exercise to visit her and bring back a cargo of 1,000 eggs which she had sourced, individually wrapped and packed in straw in the wing panels of his Seafire to ease the egg famine in Cornwall.

    His return landing was especially light but on eight other occasions Robinson suffered various accidents, the last on February 23 1945, when the engine of a worn-out Firefly failed on take-off and he crash-landed in a field, gaining the additional nickname of “Wreck ’em Robbie”.

    Robinson married his Wren, Helen Barnard, in 1946. He trained at Guy’s and for 40 years was a GP at Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire. There he chaired the Royal British Legion, never missed the Remembrance Day service at St Edward’s, and always led the march past afterwards. Quiet and modest and greatly loved in the community, Robinson delivered some 2,000 babies in the Cotswolds – which, he hoped, “balanced the books” against those he had killed in wartime.

    Helen died in 2009 and he married Morwenna Bashall in 2011; she survives him with two children of the first marriage and three stepchildren.

    Derek Robinson, born March 11 1922, died September 19 2021

  22. SIR – The suggestion that mandatory vaccination for all NHS workers will produce mass departures of staff intrigues me.

    Where will the thousands of predicted leavers magically find these instantly available new jobs in healthcare with the conditions, excellent pensions benefits and loose managerial structure of the current NHS?

    We should all be more concerned about patients treated by irresponsible non-vaccinated personnel, making hospitals potential centres of spread.

    Dr Keith Marshall
    Llanybri, Carmarthenshire

    You are not alone, Keith Marshall, in wondering where all these new jobs in healthcare will come from.

    SIR – In 1956 I applied to become a nurse in Birmingham. Smallpox vaccination was compulsory.

    It never occurred to any of us to refuse.

    Carmel Smedley
    London N20

      1. Yes, and after mass smallpox vaccination, smallpox cases declined in number!
        The exact opposite has happened after injection with the experimental* covid potions.

        *test results may have been faked

        It is disgusting for Keith Marshall to call unjabbed people “irresponsible”, based on what we actually know about the covid jabs. And I think a lot of people will tell him to shove his NHS working conditions where the sun don’t shine.

    2. Well Dr Marshall, see how long it will be before the NHS is overwhelmed if thousands of such workers withdraw their labour for as long as their sick leave payments last.

      I’m sure the wonderful NHS has excellent sick leave provisions for the staff to utilise.

  23. Decline of the British Bulldog: chapter 547.

    Now even north Britons and red haired slappers can’t hold their drink.

    “Labour MP needed a wheelchair after ‘drinking heavily’ on flight to visit troops
    Defence Secretary will complain to party leaders after Charlotte Nichols and two SNP MPs became intoxicated on official flight to Gibraltar”

  24. SIR – Huw Edwards (report, November 5) should be congratulated for questioning the removal from the National Museum of Wales of a portrait of Sir Thomas Picton, a hero of the Napoleonic Wars killed at Waterloo.

    As the first British governor of Trinidad after its conquest from Spain in 1797, Picton employed brutal punishments to control the natives and his own troops. Even Wellington described him as “a rough, foul-mouthed devil”. Although twice tried in London by political opponents, the case against him was dropped in 1810.

    As one of Wellington’s most successful generals, Picton received the formal thanks of Parliament seven times. He used the prize money brought by his military prowess to buy an estate in Trinidad which came with 112 slaves, whom he retained, and 30,000 acres in his native Wales, where he became an MP in 1813.

    Why should a portrait of this remarkable man, who served his country according to the standards of his time, be put into hiding?

    Lord Lexden
    London SW1

    On the contrary, I wish this vastly overpaid autocue reader would stop whining and go away!

  26. SIR – I notice that almost every person sporting a poppy this November is wearing it on the left. I have always worn mine on the right.

    Is there an unwritten rule about poppy wearing, and am I committing a serious breach of etiquette?

    Ruby Gordon-Wilson
    Newick, East Sussex

    As long as it isn’t a white one she can wear it where she likes!

    1. Perhaps she does put it on the left (as all sane people do) and then looks in the mirror…..

    3. I wear it on whatever side of my jacket/coat the lapel buttonhole is, never consciously thought there was a “correct” side.

  27. SIR – Can’t we find an island for events such as Cop26, the Olympics and the G7, with a circular road around which convoys of cars for the important people could drive, from their private jets to hotels and conference centres with red carpets and armed police? This would save disruption and cost for the little people who pay taxes, and those attending could grandstand without annoying protesters and journalists.

    Mark Solon
    London E1

    Yes, Mark Solon; full marks for your letter!!

  28. This BTL comment about Ginge and Whinge raised a smile!

    Sh ‘Aguar
    7 HRS AGO
    The Perjuress of Sussex will be doubling down on “her truth”. Sometines this alternative truth is referred to by my learned friends as a tissue of lies I now am beginning to feel sorry for Daddy Markle and her half siblings.
    Hapless Ginge might be having his phone rights removed for the week for being silly enough to put in writing things that confirm his wife is incapable of honesty , and by extension, he is similarly afflicted.

    1. The Perjuress’s family did try to warn about madam. Unfortunately, they went all American and over the top; educated Britons shut their their ears to such histrionics.
      And the Royal Family were trapped by Ginge’s driven pecker.

  29. 341403 + up ticks,

    May one ask,
    Currently what is the reason for tax payers to continue paying tax ?
    & will overseas aid continue in it’s present form.

    1. There is none. The state is an abusive, arrogant and stupid useless entity that wastes money hand over fist.

      Taxes could be cut 60% and services would not suffer – but of course, big fat state would intentionally damage the areas that are service provision rather than the waste, out of spite and empire building malice.

      So you start at the top and cut, cut and cut until you get to the people doing the work.

      1. Morning Grizz. One of the oddities of Hill Walking was to stand on the tops in a strong wind and note that the hill fog and mist moved not one inch!

        1. Morning. Araminta.

          Oh, for the opportunity to hill walk again. Skåne has a similar topography to Norfolk. Farmland that is not flat but its rolling hills are not very high.

          2. I’m now 70 and have just bought a sit-up-and-beg bike to ride around the village on.

            You will not, however, catch me going any further on it! 😉

          3. I bought an E-Bike after using one on holiday in hilly Corsica. Takes in steep hills without raising a sweat.

  31. I see that all is not as it seems with those ‘racists’ at Yorkshire Cricket Club, and that Mr Rafiq may not be quite the hapless victim he would have us believe.

    Two sides to every story and all that. Good.

      1. And YCC could be the Mail on Sunday. Some one should take this to court for a fair settlement.

    2. I’ve had the smallpox vaccine. I haven’t needed it 3 months later, then 6 months and every month thereafter.

      1. Ditto. I had it aged 15, in order to get a visa to visit the US – both were still required in 1970. Still have the scar. It’s on my right arm. Presumably because I’m left handed?

      3. Same here. Ditto rabies and polio. Even my tetanus doesn’t need boosters after I had a certain amount.

      1. 341403+ up ticks,
        Morning BB2,
        Could that be consequences of taking an oath via the instruction manual that can be found between the two dispatch boxes in PARLIAMENT.

        Grants permission to followers to lie to unbelievers I believe.

      2. Of corse he’s desperate. He’s a politician. As for lying – they do it as naturally as breathing.

        1. As for lying – they do it as naturally as breathing.
          Part of the lying qualifications are Habitual, pathological, repetitive and prolonged.

      1. 341403+ up ticks,
        P,
        My belief is that is the question should be WHY is he still in the position to be
        telling others his way is the right & only way, or for that matter WHY are any of them ?

      2. As an MP, he is thick. By default, he knows nothing. So he is told what to say by his officials. His officials have an agenda – likely because as soon as the virus hit they invested millions of our money into the pharmaceutical companies.

  36. ‘Morning All

    #CovidClownWorld

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/10f257d3735a35b7f43e92334262f9c3ce0a5a8d66e382090e5f05c8de803054.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3b559d44b56bed2c168ce9356f58967cc6597610642b7e1e6682a279224d972e.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02443553096a2d572a10f0120f16485a44d50d3a3c25f6bbd3209bad91143288.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/58417fc31c0e9abb18939019a8798a15d05f43fbd288957d135e14829b7b8f5e.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7fa439844cf69236946faec93feb477bfcccf2cae4964cf8c89f4242f5a6a92c.jpg

    1. If you are a double vaccinated homicidal maniac you may well find that a lot of job opportunities are suddenly arising in the care business.

      1. Putting a loser out of his misery is surely a form of care? It’s only a business if you get paid for it; otherwise it’s a hobby.

  37. 341403+ up ticks,

    There are a million untold sleaze stories about the lab/lib/con coalition the
    names of the scams have been changed to protect the guilty.

    Live Politics latest news: Sleaze row is like expenses scandal, says senior Tory as he calls for end of second job rules ‘grey area’

    Dt,
    Live Politics latest news: Sleaze row is like expenses scandal, says senior Tory as he calls for end of second job rules ‘grey area’

    3. Did you see Farage yesterday? He really got stuck in to the conspiracy of silence on this subject!

      1. I like Nigel, he seems like a well meaning decent down to earth chap. Quite the opposite to the vast majority of our political classes. But nobody takes any notice of him, at the end of each day it’s just talk.

    4. What has been happening is a bloody disgrace it’s the peoples country it does not belong to passing politicos to do what they think fit with . This invasion has and will further change our social structure and destroy our culture.. If it hasn’t already. Who the hell are politicians to make such decisions ?
      And a lot of the this invasion is probably why the NHS waiting list is such a backlog now.

    1. I don’t understand why border farce are bringing them here when the obvious is to drag them to france. For fecks sake, these are an invading army. Just execute them in the water. The more who are brought here, the more who will come.

      Perhaps if the border farce were forced to feed, clothe and house these wasters they’d stop.

      However, I think it’s a deliberate, malicious plot to stick two fingers up to those who voted to leave the hated EU.

    2. We should keep our Border Force boats and Life boats in ports . A 24 hour warning of this should be given to the French Government before ithis change s put in place. The lifeboats should only attend genuine emergency calls confirmed by drones. The Border Force boats are useless and should be kept in port until they are given more aggressive coastal protection procedures from the Government.
      Does anyone know where the new Border Force boats are being built and will they be armed as the USA Border Force boats are?

      1. 341403+ up ticks,
        Morning Cs,
        I do agree to emergency use only confirmed by drones as for arming them, no, we have a navy for that.
        Besides this is an out & out orchestrated
        campaign waged by a ersatz political pro brexit tory (ino) party still rubber stamping eu odious actions.

  42. Sweep gone. A delightful, jolly man. I am sorry that I only see him once a year. Pickles fascinated – watched it all; Gus anxious – stayed away.

  43. Good morning, everyone. Surprised to be able to read all letters and articles in the DT today.

      1. Not for me on Chrome. Though using Firefox it seems to be available – though with lots of tweaking.

    1. So that is why there is a border in the Irish Sea – to stop the English smuggling in oak saplings and acorns from one part of the United Kingdom to plant in another part of the the United Kingdom?

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/53a9f638eb9ca18de604714804b40936145e0b43fb2cc90df26e508b28cdd038.jpg

      Yesterday, our much loved Nottler, Plum, suggested that “Quercus velutina” would be more suitable as it is otherwise known as the black oak which the PTB (whoever they think they are) on both sides of the Irish Sea border might find more politically correct and thus more acceptable.

          2. Unless they Google it, George, and they’ll aso see:

            James Mangrum (born March 30, 1948), better known as Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, is the lead singer and frontman for the American Southern rock band Black Oak …

  46. This rather apt, for today

    Remember 2 Minutes Silence at 1100 hours today

    ‘It would be the highlight of my life’: the last Dambuster hoping to secure awards for his comrades

    As he approaches his 100th birthday, Johnny Johnson wants just one thing: a campaign medal for the veterans of Bomber Command

    Read it and weep

    In about 10 years time, HMG will present George Cross’s to the RNLI and Border Farce, for saving 1,000’s of immigrants, from drowning,
    in the English Channel.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/life/would-highlight-life-last-dambuster-hoping-secure-awards-comrades/

  47. So, if MPs think they should be paid more if they have to surrender all other paid employment then maybe they should be expected to clock in and out (as many workers have to do) when there are parliamentary debates and have substantial fines imposed upon them and automatic deductions from their pay are made every time they are not there. The picture below of a virtually empty HoC shows the contempt MPs have for Parliament.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4fd2ff1fb37f992905a76c75714dcc50500883e5e4b87ca811edab7761d6efe4.jpg

  48. 341403+ up ticks,

    May one say, these two up & coming by elections will tell a story as in the herd under a microscope as to which course to set for the future.

    Ghoulish laughter if the usual pattern is adhered to as in ” you gotta vote
    tory (ino) to keep out lab (ino),

    1. We have a Police Commissioner vote coming up shortly after the previous one was sacked. He was a Conservative. 5 candidates , Lib, Lab and Con.
      A new group, the Woman’s Equality Party and an Independent with a foreign sounding, but European, name.
      The Conservative female candidate has sent a letter obviously from the Conservative party office but no other info from the other candidates but they may have something on line.
      I have my postal vote forms but , to my mind, the Police Commissioner is such a futile and unnecessary post that I will have to force myself to post my vote. There are four of the candidates I won’t be voting for.

      1. When I went to the polling station in May I voted for some of the local councillors but I spoiled my paper for the PCC and said it was an unnecessary layer of bureacracy.

  49. Bert “What’s for dinner pet”.
    Ada “Nothing”.
    Bert ” We had that yesterday.”

    Ada ” I made enough for tonight .”

      1. Mine would have been 106 on the 9th.
        His eldest brother was injured at El Alamein, on his way back to the UK on a hospital ship and nearly in view of Blighty when a German bomber pilot took aim and sank the ship, I think all lives lost.

  52. King Arthur and the Witch:

    Do not take this story lightly!

    Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighbouring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur’s youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

    The question?
    What do women really want?

    Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch’s proposition to have an answer by year’s end.

    He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.

    Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer.

    But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

    The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.

    The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur’s closest friend!

    Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.

    He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur

    He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur’s life and the preservation of the Round Table.

    Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur’s question thus:

    What a woman really wants, she answered…

    …is to be in charge of her own life.

    Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur’s life would be spared.

    And so it was, the neighbouring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

    The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened

    The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.

    Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day – or night?

    Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?

    What would YOU do?

    What Lancelot chose is below.

    BUT….make YOUR choice before you look below.

    Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.

    Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life

    Now…what is the moral to this story?

    The moral is…
    If you don’t let a woman have her own way…

    …things are going to get ugly

        1. I think it was Alison Weir who wrote a very good historical novel about Katherine Swynford.
          A well written historical novel is often as informative as a dozen history lessons; e.g C.J. Sansom.

  53. 341403+ up ticks,
    breitbart,
    Belarus Training Afghans and Iraqis with Military Experience to Attack Polish Border, Claims Fmr Ambassador

    Some innocents are going to get seriously hurt before the dust settles,

    On this day of remembrance I can see us in the United Kingdom yet fighting on the beaches.

  55. My wife is playing the organ at the Remembrance Service in our local church this morning. She asked me for any suggestions as to what music she should play at the offertory and before and at the end of the service – I suggested The Dambuster’s March and some rather fine and well-known pieces composed by Edward Elgar.

    2. This appears to be what we’re having at my church. A bit too subltle really (though I’ll enjoy the JSB) but I expect “O Valiant Hearts” among the hymns. Brings a lump to my throat.

      “The music at the service is sung by the Choir of Royal Holloway College
      Mass Setting: Berliner Messe – Arvo Pärt
      Motets: taken from Requiem – Eleanor Daley
      Postlude: Prelude in C minor, BWV546 – J.S. Bach”

      O valiant hearts who to your glory came
      Through dust of conflict and through battle flame
      Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved
      Your memory hallowed in the land you loved…
      Splendid you passed, the great surrender made
      Into the light that nevermore shall fade
      Deep your contentment in that blest abode
      Who wait the last clear trumpet call of God…

      1. I expect ours to be all about “reconciliation” rather than sacrifice for freedom (that’s what it was about this morning).

  56. Morning all! This computer is giving up the ghost. Spent most of yesterday, 6 hours, trying to get it to function again. It’s working now but I have ordered another. This is the first and only Lenovo I will ever buy. It has been a piece of junk from the start. I do not recommend unless you want to throw a computer through a window. But, just in case it collapses into a neurotic heap again and it commits seppuku on me. I thought I would post this. Jordan Peterson on Covid.

    The Sad Truth I’ve Learned About COVID Policy (Pt. 1)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhlSw72Z5M

      2. I think almost all my computers have been Dell apart from this one and a HP. My favourite was a Dell Inspiron laptop with, if I recall correctly, a 15″ screen which, in its day, was the largest screen on a laptop you could buy. It kept going and going without complaint until I retired it. And that point it was held together with sticking plaster and a prayer, as it were. I had become so attached to it that when I retired it I felt as guilty as if I had betrayed an old pet. Couldn’t throw it away, that would have been cruel, so it sits in a sideboard, gracefully retired. It is quite odd, really, how one can anthropomorphize a piece of machinery and attribute feeling to it that you know very well it doesn’t have. But there you are. We human beings are in many ways very odd creatures!

    2. Any suggestions for a small laptop/notebook for word processing/spreadsheets etc, so no great processing power needed. I want something to complement an ipad and replace an old Acer which has ground to near standstill after 12 years.

      1. I like Dell although I have owned one HP which was also an excellent laptop. Lately, because I don’t go anywhere, I have reverted to Desktops. I rather prefer the computer screen being movable because, as I get older, it seems my eyesight changes throughout the day or, depending on the day, so it is nice to have a screen you can move to put things back into focus. And, of course, with a wireless keyboard you can move it out of the way when you are doing other things. But, as I said, for a laptop, Dell all the way.

        1. I have looked at various reviews and end up going around in circles as all I need is something simple. I shall look at the Dell range, TY.

      2. My default would be a Macbook. The Dell XPS does very well. An Acer can be had for about £750.

        However, buying from Dell or Apple is hilarious in it’s how much for additional ram? Stop taking the urea.

        If you’re truly only going to be editing documents then a Chromebook might be a consideration – locks you in to Google ecosystem though.

    3. JP has aged a lot in the last few years. He still is very lucid and talks a lot of good sense but there is a certain manic wildness about him which was not there five years ago.

      1. I think you probably know he was very sick to the point of being close to death. It seems to have turned him into a bit of Old Testament prophet who’s patience has worn thin.

        I, of course, would not be so presumptuous as to pretend I know what he is going through but having been really sick of late I find my sense of circumspection has been stripped away and that I am far more inclined to say what I think and not beat about the bush. On the other hand, I find that I have never fully appreciated the kindness of others or how important it is to be kind in return even for the smallest things. My regrets, and perhaps this is part of Jordan Petersons attitude, is regret for thing’s I intended to do and now can’t because physically incapable. There were paintings I intended to do that are now impossible because, although I did water colours, I used a miniaturists technique, now impossible because I simply cant control tremors in my hand. Plants that I wanted to hybridise and experiment with, but time is against me. That sort of thing.

        The lesson learnt, is the old truism that no one pays attention to that time is of the essence and we should never put of what we can do today until tomorrow. That not only goes, in my mind to things we plan to do but in how we communicate with people. I simply do not bother, now a days, with the silly filters of faux politeness or the pretence of likening people just because it is expected or pretend to be modest when I have been poked prodded and humiliated by people doing things to my body that normally would have embarrassed me. I now do not care if I am naked physically or psychologically and the result is I feel far more real. I have learnt the admonishment of Jesus which you can only do when your ego has been slapped about so that it gives up on your “self image”: “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” And, astonishingly, I have discovered in not bothering with the pretence that society puts upon us, people actually like me far more and I love them in return. It is very humbling but wonderful but sadly, late in the game. I wish I was as young Jordan, but now time is much more finite, but there you are, we learn in our own time and many never do.

        1. “I wish I were as young Jordan, but now time is much more finite, but there you are, we learn in our own time and many never do.”

          And, therein, lies a mantra that I’ve voiced to myself for a number of years now. As an afterthought, are we ever too old to learn?

          1. I think we are never to old to learn but as I suggest it may be a case of learning that it is to late for some things. Hence never put off for tomorrow what you can do today. mañana, mañana ends up not working.

        2. Caroline told me that he had been very ill soon after she saw my post.

          I read his book 12 Rules for Life: an Antidote to Chaos from cover to cover and I still refer to it. He is extremely lucid and it is this clarity of thought which so upset the wokists.

    4. Just think a bit further outside of the box ……….it’s obviously not a success as a vaccine. The ‘variants’ were invented to cover the errors. But that fact has to be covered up and the cover up has to be rammed home continuously to try and make it stick. To let ‘Big Pharma’ carry on as they want to. Just imagine how many people were left with serious problems even death after taking their so called vaccines. If there hadn’t been the previously set agreements for immunity for all the then unknown health risks involved, legal claims could have been piled as high as Everest.
      ‘Over reaching Bureaucrats’ translates as lying deceitful politicians.
      Why on a small already over populated island such as ours, would any lying scumbag politico allow thousands of people, of completely unknown origin to invade this land during a pandemic when the average person in the UK was not allowed to speak to their neighbours in close proximity to their own garden fence.
      What TF is really going on here ?
      And Why TF is it all still happening ?

      1. As far as pharma is concerned, they have discovered the magic money tree, so it’s obvious why they are carrying on.
        Apparently they have been working on these mRNA technologies for more than a decade without bringing them to market.
        Without the covid emergency licences, they would never have been classed as vaccines (we know that a patent application was explicitly rejected on these grounds, that it’s not a vaccine), and they would never have got through the necessary safety tests for normal licences.
        But as it is, the pharma companies are getting their investment back and plenty more.

        As for the rest, it’s anyone’s guess. Some are probably motivated by depopulation – others by wealth redistribution. Probably the biggest lobby is the banks, who simply want to solve the West’s credit crisis with central bank digital currencies.

        Apparently there was a Russian interview near the start of the pandemic that identified these three factors as the driving motives. Does anyone remember it?

  58. The debate on racism in cricket rumbles on in the MSM. I came across this BTL comment under one of the articles about the subject.

    I suppose you could argue that the South African system of apartheid, where the races were separated on the sporting fields, prevented players from racially abusing their team mates or opponents.

    However difficulties arise with the use of the ‘n’ word which is a term of abuse when used by people of one race and a term of empathetic fraternity and solidarity when used by another.

    1. Morning Richard, my opinion is if you h can call a New Zealander a Kiwi an Australian an Ozzie, why not be able to call a person from Pakistan a Paki ?
      How is it in any way racist ?
      Wokey dopey-ism gone mad

        1. I was once told off for racism when I spoke of the London mayor being a horrible cheating subversive little git. I made the rather obvious mistake, as he was actually born in the UK

          1. It seems it is racist if you swear at someone who happens to be non-white.

            And the London mayor is a horrible cheating subversive little git.

          2. Despite his appearance.
            He always looks as if some one is standing on his feet, he winces all the time.

    2. Who invented racism? I do not recall “racism” when I was little. I do recall sectarianism as my safety was under permanent threat by virtue of my school uniform.
      I left the Telegraph comments as there were endless anti-Scottish comments. The use of the term “sweaties” baffled me for a fair while until I realised that it was an abbreviation of “sweaty socks” =”Jocks” = Scots.
      An insulting term, I would suggest, rather more so than “Paki” for “Pakistani”. I never saw any comment removed for the use of the term, ever. I left.

      1. My father used to say that he abominated the Irish – but then was happy to admit that his three best friends were Irish.

        We have had several young Scots on our courses recently from schools such as Glenalmond and they have been amongst the very best, humorous and pleasant young people to come to us. And when our boys were little several of our former students returned as au pairs and the girls from St Leonard’s School in Fife who came as au pairs were exceptional and one of them returned twice to us.

        I think that the likes of Salmond and Sturgeon have poisoned the English against Scots just as BLM has poisoned people against black people.

        1. I’m sure that is true. The SNP got a boost when HM the Queen came to the throne. The Post Office tried to put up pillar boxes in Scotland with the “EIIR” embossed on the front. Elizabeth was never Queen of Scotland, and she did manage to kill Mary, Queen of Scots. So possibly the dumbest thing any UK organisation ever did. Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, one of the founders of the SNP (and the Labour Party) was no racist, nor anti-English.

          https://blog.historicenvironment.scot/2018/01/adventurer-worth-remembering/

        2. I’m sure that is true. The SNP got a boost when HM the Queen came to the throne. The Post Office tried to put up pillar boxes in Scotland with the “EIIR” embossed on the front. Elizabeth was never Queen of Scotland, and she did manage to kill Mary, Queen of Scots. So possibly the dumbest thing any UK organisation ever did. Robert Bannatine Cunninghame Graham, one of the founders of the SNP( and the Labour Party was no racist, nor anti-English.

  60. Black Friday?

    This morning in the mail I received a catalogue for food supplements.

    The all-black front cover was emblazoned with BLACK FRIDAY Sale – up to 60% off.

    I thought “oh dear, here we go again “ as I opened it, but then Heavenly trumpets sounded! The only thing black about this catalogue was its black cover. There was not a single non-white face among its 80 pages.

    I must write to the MD, congratulate him and invite him to join us Nottlers.

    1. Shocking lapse. Hate crime – clearly. Notify your local police – they have nothing else to do.

      2. Honestly, you cannot blame them for a bit of looting.

        Have you seen the lead times on delivery of new orders? If you need something now,the only way is to pick it up yourself.

  61. 341403+ up ticks,

    May one say, build,build,build, agreed, build back better, better,better agreed, so to get shot of the lab/lib/con, mass uncontrolled immigration /
    paedophile umbrella coalition is of National importance and should commenced yesterday.

  64. 341401+ up ticks,
    Truth be told there should be any of the lab/lib/con political hierarchy pictured on a poster with a finger pointing into society with the caption

    ” YOUR COUNTRY DOES NOT NEED YOU”

  66. Oh look, we are allowed to observe remembrance day, but no big outdoor parades or groups allowed. However, we are allowed to gather in the legion bar this afternoon to show our respect.

    Safety in covid times and all that ! What utter bs.

      1. Indigenous veterans day was Monday (or was it Tuesday, I didn’t bother commemorating).

        The only outbreak (2 or more people) that we have had was at the legion

    2. There were about two dozen of us round the war memorial this morning and then we went back to a nearby house for coffee and biscuits. We’re a hardly lot here.

  67. Douglas Murray
    MPs aren’t the elite – faceless bureaucrats are
    From magazine issue: 13 November 2021

    I see that the most boring conversation in the nation is back. The one even worse than people in the country telling you that the only real difficulty in getting to their part of Gloucestershire/Norfolk/the Orkneys is the drive out of London. I refer to, of course, the reform of the House of Lords.

    The debate is perennial because there is no good answer to it. The ‘cash for peerages’ scandal comes around every few years because it is unsolvable. If you don’t offer inducements for political donations then what sane person would give millions of pounds to a political party? Besides which, all the constitutional alternatives are worse. The only sensible argument I ever heard of for reform of the Upper House was the one Roger Scruton came up with while defending the presence of the hereditary peers. Roger’s rather ingenious argument was that the hereditaries were in some ways the most representative parliamentarians of the lot. For the average politician in both Houses is — as I have observed before — unlike the rest of our species. They tend to be thrusting, ambitious folk, full of plans, if not vision. Such people do not remotely represent the breadth of us, the general public. For example, only by having a hereditary element in our democracy can we ensure that there is representation in parliament for people who are not especially interested in politics, would like to have as little as possible to do with it or who would prefer to pursue other quixotic interests.

    By the logic of this argument, it would make sense for both chambers to be entirely hereditary. But I digress. Lords reform is one of the world’s least interesting debates, not just because it is insoluble but because it keeps missing the deeper point. Which is that nobody in either House has very much power anyway.

    For some time I have pondered why it is that one now tends to slightly look down on people when they enter either House. In the case of the Lords it is obvious. The place still has a select group of genuinely distinguished people. But in the main it is filled with former Liberal Democrat councillors and completely unremarkable people who couldn’t make it as MPs. Sayeeda Warsi, for instance, remains a one-woman walking argument for reform of the Upper House.

    With the House of Commons the situation is more complex. Why, for instance, did Rory Stewart seem to become diminished when he became an MP? Prior to entering the Commons, he was a rather interesting, rip-roaring figure who traversed far-off places and could recite Ezra Pound at you until you asked him to stop. But he entered the Commons and suddenly he became a less interesting, indeed less influential figure than he had been beforehand. Surely this wasn’t always the case?

    One possible reason is the fact that the MPs and the Lords are not really in power. This becomes clearer the more you look into it. I knew Owen Paterson a little, especially during the time when he was a superb secretary of state for Northern Ireland. Like everyone else who ever met her, I admired, indeed adored, his late wife Rose. They were what Kurt Vonnegut describes as a duprass couple, two lovebirds who formed a single unit. Watching Owen’s torture in parliament last week was watching a man crushed by a bureaucracy which never had any care, let alone any pity, either for him or for Rose.

    Because the striking thing about the whole treatment of Paterson was not just the botched defence and cowardly U-turn of Boris Johnson’s government. Nor was it the baying, crowing behaviour of Labour MPs who only days earlier had been talking of civility in politics. It was the fact that all of this came from a wretched official who sits above parliament. On this occasion the official is one Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards. But it could have been any other functionary. It had been no use Paterson complaining that Stone had not listened to his evidence before condemning him. It was no use complaining that the process had not been run in a judicial manner. For Stone is not a judge. She is just one of the many functionaries who stands above our legislative chambers. Stone is a graduate of Loughborough University, where she gained a masters in ‘women’s studies’. It would be hard to imagine a CV less illustrious than hers.

    But she worked her way up the system through various quangos and charities, and now she stands over all MPs and can condemn them like a monarch of old. Who gave such an unqualified bureaucrat such authority over the whole Commons?

    The same question may be asked in the Lords. Earlier this year, all members of the Upper House were put through something called ‘Valuing Everyone’ training. This was a day in which every member of the Upper House was reprogrammed to think afresh about sex and so-called ‘racial bias’. A number of peers complained that this was a disgraceful attempt to influence the whole House. A bolder few held out and refused to take part in the ‘training’. But the blob of bureaucrats who actually sit above the Lords sat on them one by one.

    Someone called Lucy Scott-Moncrieff led the way, threatening to take away peers’ rights. This included removing peers’ access to the House of Lords library. Meaning recalcitrant peers could still vote on legislation but could not inform themselves on it. Even the most robust and eminent peers eventually gave in. But who permitted this inept process? Who permitted an entire legislative chamber to be reprogrammed or instructed in any direction at all? No one we elected, that is for certain. The House of Lords gave in to the unelected retraining just as the Commons must give in to the judgments of unelected non-judges.

    Ask why our Houses are in such bad order and the answer in part lies there. This country voted to ‘take back control’ from unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. We did not do so simply in order to hand it over to unelected bureaucrats at home.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/mps-arent-the-elite–faceless-bureaucrats-are?utm

    1. The best thing to happen would be for Owen Paterson to prove his innocence completely and for Stone and Bryant to be sacked and disgraced in the same way as they have tried vindictively and spitefully to disgrace Owen Paterson.

  69. Rod Liddle
    Kamala Harris and the problem with racist trees
    From magazine issue: 13 November 2021

    I was intrigued to learn that Kamala Harris, the Vice President of the US, is worried about racist trees. I have always held trees in the deepest suspicion: it is their long-abiding silences which worry me. As we know from Black Lives Matter, ‘Silence is violence’ — and trees, for literally aeons, have been conspicuously silent on the matter of white privilege and racism. To follow this logic, then, trees are inherently violent. Nasty, leafy bastards.

    This certainly seems to be what Ms Harris thinks. During a visit to Nasa, instead of asking those space boys how to reverse park a shuttle, she instead became obsessed with keeping an eye on trees. Referring to a satellite she was being told about she said: ‘Can you measure trees — part of that data that you are referring to, [and it’s an issue of] EJ, environmental justice — that you can also track by race their averages in terms of the number of trees in the neighbourhoods where people live?’

    In other words she had identified trees as being racist. Her point was that white people get to live in places where there are more trees than there are in predominantly black neighbourhoods. I fear that this is true and it seems likely to me that the trees, being racist, move out of certain areas when they see black folks moving in. They up their roots and skedaddle. It is the arboreal equivalent of white flight. Any good liberal would recognise that the only answer to this is Affirmative Deforestation (AD) and the ‘bussing’ of trees into areas where more black folks live. Either that or I suppose bus the black people into areas where there are lots of trees. I would prefer the former option because it would teach those racist trees a valuable lesson.

    I fervently hope the Democrats make AD an important part of their platform because, as Ms Harris was speaking, thousands of swing voters from Juneau to Jacksonville finally conceded that most of the Democratic party are on a one-way ticket to the booby hatch. They have become obsessive and deranged over race, perpetually seeking new hitherto undreamed-of ways in which to ramp up the victimhood and create more division between black and white, because there can never be quite enough — and almost all of it based on lies, falsehoods, non sequiturs and delusions. So, a strong commitment on behalf of the Democrats to end white domination of silviculture, plus compulsory reverse mentoring of the trees themselves by people of colour, might just persuade another million or so US voters to go Republican. The Democrats would be following a noble path: it is now more than two years since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decided that cauliflowers were racist and yet since then little has been done to root out bigotry among American vegetation.

    The soft left insists that none of this stuff matters. By soft left I don’t mean the maniacs who promote this sort of hilarious bilge, but their useful-idiot fellow travellers who may occasionally be slightly embarrassed by what John Gray calls hyper–liberalism in the field of, say, gender or race but kid themselves that it doesn’t matter to the average voter.

    For example, earlier this year the Fabian Society published a report which the Guardian claimed proved that hardly anyone cares about the culture wars, while reporting that a significant tranche of the population had never even heard of stuff like cultural appropriation. The suggestion is that the right rages about this stuff but people are perfectly happy to go along with it and that this supposed ‘war’ has been confected by the right, not the left. Another delusion: stuff happens on the left and the right reacts to it, usually with incredulity.

    The notion, though, that nobody really cares about the ‘culture wars’ is a patent falsehood. The public may not know the terms and the vocabulary of the mentalist left and in some cases — such as the ludicrous notion of ‘environmental justice’ — think that it all sounds very reasonable. But care they most certainly do — as 2 November’s gubernatorial vote in Virginia demonstrated very handily. Virginia is a deep blue state and has been since 2008. Last year Joe Biden won it by a margin of 10.1 per cent. But last week Republican Glenn Youngkin beat his Democratic rival Terry McAuliffe, largely, it seems, because Virginians greatly objected to the horrible doctrine of critical race theory being rammed down the throats of their children.

    Let’s be clear, there is also a great deal of voter disillusionment with the somnambulant President Biden, who is now seen as being weak, past it, devious, a semi-conscious stooge of the far left, etc. But the Virginia result was of a much greater magnitude than simply your usual pre-midterm disaffection. Youngkin hammered away at education and the critical race theory stuff in particular, and as a consequence got overwhelming support from, especially, white women who have children. Of course his opponent tried to portray this campaigning as ‘racist’ (as well as trying to tie Youngkin to the coat-tails of Donald Trump), and since the result came through lefties both here and in the US have claimed that Youngkin was indulging in ‘dog-whistle politics’ and appealing to racism. That is likely to become a familiar recourse: object to anything to do with identity politics and the left will insist that it is mere racism.

    Virginia convinced me, perhaps over-optimistically, that the culture war could eclipse the economy and be the major battle-ground both in the US and here, come the next election. All it needs is for an enterprising political party (yes, such as the one to which I belong, the SDP) to choose its issue carefully. Schooling is the answer: whether it be the Stonewall-sponsored rot on trans-genderism or teachers telling white kids how privileged they are, Virginia has shown the way forward.

    *********************************************************

    Anglomicronesian • 5 hours ago
    “In other words she had identified trees as being racist. Her point was that white people get to live in places where there are more trees than there are in predominantly black neighbourhoods.”

    That may be because a majority of white people actually care about what their neighbourhoods look like and are not waiting for the war-cry from BLM, Antifa, etc. to burn their local shops, etc. down in the name of “anti-racism”.

    1. Moving Trees

      Rod Liddle’s piece about Kamala Harris and trees struck a chord with me.:

      Her point was that white people get to live in places where there are more trees than there are in predominantly black neighbourhoods. I fear that this is true and it seems likely to me that the trees, being racist, move out of certain areas when they see black folks moving in.

      They up their roots and skedaddle. It is the arboreal equivalent of white flight. Any good liberal would recognise that the only answer to this is Affirmative Deforestation (AD) and the ‘bussing’ of trees into areas where more black folks live.

      Odd coincidence, that item. I live in a ‘nice’ development of detached houses that were built in 1978-80. We were the fourth family to move in to the estate 42 years ago when new saplings were being planted to decorate the gardens. These are now mature trees.

      Only yesterday a new neighbour across the road from us texted me, saying:
      ‘Am constantly having a big tree in the front lawn and am taking account of the run of the sewers. Do you know how deep they are and where they run?” His smart spell-checker had interposed ‘constantly’ where he meant ‘considering’, so for a laugh I texted back ‘If you’re CONSTANTLY having a big tree in your garden you need to put a ‘HEAVY PLANT CROSSING’ sign in the road outside your house.’

      He saw the joke and I was able to show him recent photos looking down the ‘person holes’ (we can’t say man holes any more, can we?)when my next door neighbour’s young children had flushed a t-shirt down the loo and caused all her toilets to back up some months or years later. The ‘person holes’ are quite deep – a couple of metres, so he doesn’t believe tree roots will be a problem.

      1. We had tree roots in our sewer which was a couple of metres deep. Forsythia bush, actually. The sewers were the old ceramic ones. If you have modern plastic ones, the junctions are apparently sealed so the roots can’t get in. But we had had the added problem that the R soles next door had disturbed the earth by excavating a giant hole for new building works, so the sewer pipe sections had moved a little, allowing a gap for the roots to enter. They are attracted by water of course.

        1. One of the species of trees that causes many problems around the home is Silver Birch, the roots are very extensive and often find their way into drain runs.

          1. I love our Silver Birch tree that we planted in the garden 20 years ago. You’re right about the roots though – OH had to do some severe root pruning a few years ago. Also the Wisteria has caused a bit of uplift of the patio slabs.

  70. After spending 35mins hanging on the phone the surgery finally answered!
    Followed by several questions and answer procedures to prove I was a human being and not a friggin’ alien I was given an eye to eye contact appointment for early December….

    Who said the NHS was friggin’ hopeless!

    2. Has anyone noticed that when you miss an appointment the NHS writes you grumpy letters about how much this has cost them (or, in reality, you) yet when you need an appointment you’re treated as an annoying insect?

      1. Yes.
        And how they become annoyed when you have severe arthritic and worn out joint problems and you tell them you’re not going to be doing their stupid exercises. I’m waiting for my NHS treat right at this moment, my GP is phoning me around 4pm today.
        I would also lay a large bet on, if I told him I would pay for my much needed Knee Op he’d fix it asap.
        I’ve been through the process, all confirmed by a surgeon I need (scuz the pun) it but it all came to a sudden halt.

        I have just spoken to him for 16 minutes he’s going to chase things up, he’s already written to the cardiology department. Time will tell.
        He advised me not to worry too much about the ‘booster’ as I have had the first two. I told him i couldn’t take another chance with an adverse reaction, this would be Pfizer not as previous AZ. Perhaps I should have asked him why they have actually changed the serum.

        1. A word to the wise.
          If you get a firm appointment for hip or knee replacement, do your exercises to the very best of your ability pre-operation.
          It will pay enormous dividends for your recovery.

          HG gave me several exercises to strengthen muscles prior to each operation and stood over me supervising. I was weeks ahead of other patients operated on at the same time. Where they were still using crutches to get around, I was walking well and carried a stick purely to make people aware that I wasn’t 100%, I didn’t actually need the support.
          I admit that she’s a fantastic physio, but she says it was my hard work that ensured things worked out as well as they did.
          Good luck.

          1. Yes Sos thanks, there is one exercise i can easily carry out sitting down, leg raises it was approved by the Physio. But all the others things were impossible.

          2. Keep up anything you can do. Even static exercises for core body strength not involving the knee/hip/back. Even shoulder exercises to provide support for when you are on crutches.

            Before my knee op the only way I could get to bed was by moving upstairs, one at a time, on my backside.

            Go for it!!

  71. Under Boris the whole country appears to be falling apart. Who will rid us of this man (thing)

    1. I’d argue the state machine is forcing entirely the wrong policies. It does nothing about what it should and interferes where it should not. Everything is back to front.

      The state is vastly overfunded, wasteful and malicious. It needs shredding.

          2. The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela has become quite an event and we know many people who have undertaken to do it.. There are various different routes to take starting at different places and Caroline’s sister has done it four times.

            We went there by bus from the Ria de Muros – our first port of call – in 2004 the first year of our voyage from St Mawes to the Eastern Mediterranean aboard Mianda.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1ca4beae5b6f03c24aa97941b7d412dbeb32d9b3940d54d0e77991e83c34afa4.jpg

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6fc5526bfab90bb087a8e20fc6ff33d09f48fdb9caf03eaf5612b6871f4e548f.jpg

            [The first picture is of Mianda at anchor in Muros; the second is of Christo and Henry in front of the fountain in Santiago]

          3. Our German friends did it several times – on foot, by bike – when they were younger. I don’t think they go far these days now in their 70s.

  72. Dennis Hutchings funeral: Hundreds applaud and salute Northern Ireland veteran’s military cortege. 11 November 2021.

    Hundreds of mourners including politicians, bikers and ex-servicemen and women have attended the funeral of Northern Ireland veteran Dennis Hutchings.

    The 80-year-old, from Cawsand in Cornwall, died in Belfast last month after contracting Covid-19 while he was in the city to face trial over a fatal shooting in Co Tyrone in 1974.

    The locals (non Sinn Féin) would of course be there while the only Westminster politician mentioned here is Johnny Mercer. The rest I imagine were much too busy to attend. May the man Rest in Peace and those who abandoned him Burn in Hell!.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/11/dennis-hutchings-funeral-hundreds-applaud-salute-northern-ireland/

    1. Of all the promises that that odious oaf Johnson has broken his betrayal of the veterans is the basest. One can only hope that this will prove the betrayal that finally banishes him and his repulsive entourage from power.

        1. Yes, true and Blair was the source of this unspeakable evil.

          But we must not forget that it was one of the Bonker Plonker’s most important promises to remove this stain without delay.

        2. The problem started with Blair he showed every lying, bent, mindless MP what they could get a way with.
          I believe he even altered the Treason act with his old flat mate.

          1. He wrecked our country in several quiet ways that people didn’t see the effects of for a generation. House of Lords, Treason Act, Scottish and Welsh home rule, postal voting, Supreme Court, mass migration. May he rot in hell and get there speedily.

          3. His version was NWO educashun.
            No wonder he has to have 24/7 armed security and has built an 8 ft high brick wall around his Buckinghamshire pile.

          5. I think i’ll throw up………😫🤮
            I may have mentioned this before Ellie have you seen the film The Ghost Writer ?
            I’m reading The Whistle Blower by Robert Peston, it’s set in the Major/Blair era, so many dodgy deals and media giants being extremely scurrilous with other people’s money.

          8. He has done more long term damage to this nation than Hitler.
            Apparently he left a pile of ‘D’ Notices as well. If ever it will be 60 years before people can find out what he was covering up.

    3. Good for Johnny Mercer that he supported Dennis to the end.

      I’m glad he got a good send-off – only what he deserved. He certainly didn’t deserve the persecution.

  73. 341403+ up ticks,

    At a crucial moment in time were you not a johnson / tory (ino) party
    supporter cum vote splitter & abuser of decent peoples that worked at giving you a platform ?

    breitbart
    Farage: UK Forced to Undertake ‘Vast Military Operation’ Every Day to Deal with Channel Migrant Crisis

    1. Germany has already caved in and promised to take the migrants. It’ll disappear from our news soon.

    2. Poles fought the would be invaders of Britain in 1940. Maybe we should invite them to do so again to show us how it should be done!

    1. Will have to look later on my phone as the laptop won’t play twitter videos.

      It’s clearly an Asian elephant………

          1. (Don’t tell Ndovu but I have a carved figure of a lioness which is ivory.) Given to my parents by one of the aunts who lived in Africa.)

    1. Possibly something to do with Ukraine threatening to cut the pipelines to Europe and Vlad’s response to it.

    2. He must be doing something they don’t like, or that shows them all as weak tokens of ineffective government and like our western politicos always do, he’s probably not effing up everything he comes into contact with.

      1. Aternoon Eddy. I suspect a little preparation here. Perhaps the EU/Poles are going to do something directly; a cross border raid for example into Belarus and are preparing the ground in case Vlad acts in the matter.

          1. I have been wondering if we would be dashing off to Poland’s assistance again, but I was also puzzled about how they would square that with the British people in view of the fact that govt does nothing about our border problem.

        1. And, I think they think we are stupid. When will the MSM wake up and realize that the internet enables the general population to know that they are liars. The disgusting conduct of the MSM with regard to the Kyle Rittenhouse trial is a perfect example of their lies, bigotry, and outright demonization of an innocent as a racist far right thug when testimony makes it clear that he is none of those things. Even the disgusting Biden went after the boy. As Tucker Carlson said, I hope he sues Biden and the rest of them for making his life unbearable.

    4. Well as I have posted elsewhere

      Mr Puitin is the new Mr Trump to

      Davos, G7, SOP26, Boros, Soros, Wokisit of every Huw (the BBC) Edwards

    5. Well as I have posted elsewhere

      Mr Puitin is the new Mr Trump to

      Davos, G7, SOP26, Boros, Soros, Wokisit of every Huw (the BBC) Edwards

    6. There’s somewhere they don’t want us to look. It’s a distraction from what is (or will be) occurring elsewhere. They always haul the Russian bogeyman out of the cupboard at times like that.

  78. Moh has booked us in to have our 3rd jab next week .

    I protested , he said I was being silly . My anxiety is that I reacted badly to the AZ 2nd jab early summer.

    My GP practise advised me to have the AZ jab in preference to the Phizer , first time around . The Phizer was not reccomended for bods who were probably prone to clots and other issues / blood pressure etc .

    Now I am waiting for advice from my doctor ..

    Am I panicking for nothing ?

    1. Everyone has to take the decision for themselves so I don’t want to try and influence you. I personally would listen to my body, and also read carefully the statistics about the level of protection given for your age group and health status.

      Can you get your antibodies measured, or see if you have T cell immunity, in which case you might have enough protection without another jab?

      1. Th MR has had hers and I shall have mine next week – simple and solely to be able to travel. Without that, I’d not bother.

        1. We’ve both said No – but I have my trip rebooked for the 3rd time in February – I may have to climb down if two jabs are no longer “fully vaccinated”. I don’t want another.

          2. It’s coercion and bullying, pure and simple.
            The friend I met for coffee this morning who is my travelling companion was going for hers this afternoon. She thinks I’m being silly. But also, I still think I had the covid in January 2020 so should have some immunity already.

          8. I think the last two years has aged us all – a lot more than two years! I’m not worried about catching a virus but I hate what’s been happening to our country – the bullying and gas-lighting of the whole population; the harms caused by lockdowns and the effects on children. I hate to see the masked zombies in the streets, who are obviously paranoid about catching something.
            The whole episode is shocking. And it’s by no means over yet.
            I haven’t seen either of my sons since Christmas 2019.

          9. Much sympathy. That is far too long. Hope you can see them all soon.
            I suppose we all need to master a new skill, that of not letting the constant low level stress get to us.

    2. I am wary also. After my 2nd AZ jab I began to get red marks on my right arm- the arm I had the shots in. They appear, fade and then another appears. One came up last night. They don’t itch, aren’t scabby, they just appear. MH who had the same shots on the same day has not experienced this. So, although we have been “invited” to have the booster, I am very hesitant. I add that the 2nd AZ shot was on May 1.

      1. Lotl

        All the doctors say is well a Jab is better than the alternative .

        That is no comfort , is it .

        I feel for you and your discomfort , and wonder if there is any info on line to read about side effects like that.

        1. Yes, I shall google it. I have so many things I need to do…have boxes of photos and family papers my sister in law brought down which I want to catalogue, I want to learn more about WW I and WW II, and we have stuff here to sort. Trouble is, I can gold medal in procrastination- shame it ain’t an Olympic event ;-))

        2. There is loads of info, Belle, but you have to search for it. Govt, media and pharma don’t want you know anout it. Try another browser, not google – google is hand-in-glove with the globalists – duckduckgo perhaps, but even that is suspect now. Look up VAERS (the US system) and the UK Yellow Card system of reporting side effects. You will be horrified, which is why they try to keep it below the horizon. Discover how the government twists the figures to suit their narrative (no death or injury to be attributed to the vaccine if it occurs within 14 days of vaccination – which is when most occur – because they are not considered ‘vaccinated’ until 14 days have elapsed…!). Unvaccinated means a) those who have not had any cv jab; b) those who have had only one jab and c) those who are in the 14 day period of having had the second jab and now d) those who are six months from the second jab. All this is for an illness with a 99.7% recovery rate.

        3. But if 99% of the people who get Covid recover is the Jab really a better solution?. Most of us who have tried to live full lives have surely taken risks with our lives that were greater than 1%?

          1. Our elder son has had large patches of hair loss, he looks moth-eaten, a large crescent of loss over his left ear, a patch the size of the palm of a hand at the back of his head, and scattered, sundry other patches. Not in the typical male-loss pattern. He has shaved it all off. It affects people differently because we all have different things tucked away in our genes, and this is gene therapy, however much our government emphasises it is a ‘vaccine’. That is the only way they got it past the regulators for emergency use. It is very cunning because there is no basis for comparison, one with the other.

          4. There seem to be multiple problems with that one – AZ seems to be mainly blood clots………don’t want them either.

      3. I get those red blotches on both forearms. They are exactly as you describe them. My left ankle was slightly swollen for about 3 weeks.

    3. Yo T_B

      bods who were probably prone to* clots and other issues

      * clots: that is a good way to describe OH

      If you went up in a helo, he would be the expert (ex= has been etc), but I thought medical wise, you would be Queen

    5. I thought that I read on here or the DT that AZ is not being offered as a booster. The line was that AZ said it was not necessary. Not having had the first yet, I know nothieeng! Certain death for me likely over winter.

      1. It’s clear any benefit from the shots is very short-lived – so why take another? When I had mine it was purely for travel and of course I wasn’t able to go. The trip has been rebooked for a third time now in February.

        1. I want to travel at some time so may be pushed into accepting the shot. Not worth reaching retirement and sitting at home waiting for God!

          2. I suppose you could always catch-up later? See how things go this winter… wait until the tests are complete?

          3. Yes, I’m waiting for the world to tire of making up restrictions to ‘keep us safe’. Maybe next summer.

          4. That is our plan, too. Nothing lasts forever, everything has a beginning and an end and one day this will come to an end.

          6. I’ve had loads of jabs for foreign travel over the years – but although they were advised, none of them were mandatory. This virus is 99.97% survivable for all but the very old, frail and those with multiple comorbidities – yet we have been bullied and coerced into having two jabs and now three.

    6. I thought that I read on here or the DT that AZ is not being offered as a booster. The line was that AZ said it was not necessary. Not having had the first yet, I know nothieeng! Certain death for me likely over winter.

    7. I don’t think I had any side effects from the AZ jabs…….except – I have had a stiff shoulder that side for months now – I remember Richard SK said something about the synovial fluid in the joint could be damaged by vaccine shots.

    9. I had a small stroke or TIA ten years ago and I have been on blood thinners ever since. My doctor, a lovely lady called Françoise, is not at all keen on me being repeatedly vaccinated but the alternative is imprisonment in France so what do I do as my elder son is getting married in England in July and my boat is in Turkey? They have me by the short and curlies.

      1. Did your doctor have to succomb to the jab police? I remember you said she would be suspended from her job.

      3. Do a runner to the Rance – then row the long way – through the Straits of Gib – to Turkey. Simples..

    10. I had a small stroke or TIA ten years ago and I have been on blood thinners ever since. My doctor, a lovely lady called Françoise, is not at all keen on me being repeatedly vaccinated but the alternative is imprisonment in France so what do I do as my elder son is getting married in England in July and my boat is in Turkey? They have me by the short and curlies.

    11. My doctor, whom I have been able to see, easily, face to face for the past 18 months, recommended I have the jabs. Mine were Pfizer , with no ill-effects.

    13. Well i spoke to my GP today and emphasised my concern about having the booster after my reactions to the first two jabs. AZ. For the first time ever, I even had a bad reaction after the flu jab. He seemed to agree with me when i said after what i have been through this year I don’t want to take any more chances. This ‘booster’ would have been Pfizer by my reckoning something doesn’t quite add up or indeed make sense.

    14. Every jab with this novel gene therapy is like playing Russian roulette. You have never struck me as the sort of person, who takes risks. All the jabs cause blood clots/heart attacks/strokes, not just Pfizer. If you feel concern it is with good cause. Do some research so you feel better able to make an informed choice. My choice has been no jabs and since the end of September daily supplements of Vitamin D, C, zinc and quercetin, which is the only reason I can think of for not catching covid off my son and rest of the family last month, when I really should have gone down with it as well.

    1. I do like Elton John’s music. Crocodile Rock was a favourite at college and was played, at volume, almost constantly in the Res.

      2. He started Life playing keyboards in a band called Steam Packet with Long John Baldry as front man. I saw them at Crooks Ferry Inn on the Lea navigation canal near Edmonton. Rod Stewart was a singer (there’s a song in that) and Maggie Belle was also a singer.
        But here’s another link,……….. one of the Sax players name was Elton Dean

          4. About 12 years ago picked up one of his Books in a hurry at Heathrow on the way to Melbourne…………5 years ago it was still in the bookshelf where I shoved it in Bruce’s house.

          5. Tudor England by S.T.Bindoff was the book we read along with books by Elton and A.L.Rowse when we were studying “A” level History.

          7. I am not a fan of AL Rowse; I heard him once pontificating about Shakespeare and thought he was a pompous, smug little man. Still, we all have our opinions about people.

          8. Do you think that’s were it came from, Reg has been know to be very pompous.
            With my best mate we once f drove to Brighton from North London to see EJ but he failed to turn up (he was under the weather) !!?? We had to put up with Status Quo instead. We came home early.

          10. They’re OK – Mike Rossi’s family had an ice cream place in south London. I always think Status Quo are sort of 3 chord wonders. But they are miles ahead of Abba and the like.

          11. Yo Lotl

            In Search of the Fourth Chord is the twenty-eighth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released on 17 September 2007. The title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rumour that the group always plays the same three chords, and a reference to the album In Search of the Lost Chord by British rock band the Moody Blues. The album’s artwork is a parody of the Indiana Jones films.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_the_Fourth_Chord

          14. Yo Lotl

            In Search of the Fourth Chord is the twenty-eighth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released on 17 September 2007. The title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rumour that the group always plays the same three chords, and a reference to the album In Search of the Lost Chord by British rock band the Moody Blues. The album’s artwork is a parody of the Indiana Jones films.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_the_Fourth_Chord

          19. He tried to take liberties with Miss Woodhouse who was deeply shocked because she had hoped he would take liberties with Harriet Smith!

      1. Poor old Bernie Taupin never gets a mention old Reggie Dwight wouldn’t be where he is today with out Bernie.

          3. Not even Eric. We stuck with the bible for our three.
            Time for a glass of I think………slayders.

    3. If Elton John moves to the rank above CBE, will he become a Knight or a Dame of the British Empire?

  81. One of the top rated comments under a DT piece on jab madates:”As
    a law abiding 55 year-old, I can see myself throwing Molotov cocktails
    in Westminster if Javid followed through on his threats. Quite possibly
    the most outrageous utterance ever made by a British minister – a threat
    to non-person a swathe of the population. This malicious blackmail
    alone might be criminally actionable.
    I know exactly how he feels,,,,,,,,,

    2. Javid is not truly British, though, is he? We are now ruled by people not indigenous to these isles, all the great offices of state are held by those whose antecedents come from elsewhere. I feel that this is not accidental; those who control do not want the people who form policy to have that born-in-blood-and-bone loyalty to the people.

    3. I’ve just had an invitation to an antiques fair, but entry requires proof of being double jabbed and a recent test or proof of antibodies from a positive PCR test within, I think, a fortnight. Well, they can do without my money in that case.

    4. Jabid is not fit to be a Minister of the Crown. He is a rabid lunatic and should be deported to a country sharing his lack of morality and lack of ethics.

      Otherwise he should be sacked and distanced from Parliament or preferably excommunicated. These bastards should never be allowed to be sworn into our Parliament using the Koran in place of the Bible. They are by definition alien to
      our innate mores and values.

  82. From a Morris Dancing mate of Faceache

    I once looked out from the Tamar Bridge at the warships down below,
    … Ships of the modern Navy, whose names I did not know.
    And as I stood and gazed at them on the water far below,
    I saw a fleet of phantom ships and men of long ago.
    The Rodney and the Nelson, the Valiant, Ramilies,
    Repulse, Renown and Malaya, coming home from foreign seas.
    I saw Revenge and Warspite, the ill-fated Royal Oak,
    So many ships, their names made faint by shell and fire and smoke.
    And some I see to harbour come as though thro’ glasses dark,
    The Barham and the Glorious, the Eagle and the Ark.
    And then there comes the greatest, the mighty warship Hood,
    Dark and grey and wraithlike from the spot on which I stood.
    The big ships and the little ships returned for me to see,
    there’s the Glowworm and the Harding, the Devonshire and the Kent,
    The Cossack and Courageous, the Suffolk and Ardent.
    But mercifully hidden are the men and stilled their cries,
    Now I can’t see too clearly, must be the smoke that’s in my eyes.
    You don’t know Shorty Hasset, he won the DSM,
    He still fought on when Exeter was burning stern to stem.
    Where now the Dodger Long and Lofty, where now the boys and men?
    They are lost and gone forever; will we see their likes again?
    I thought I saw them mustering on deck for daily prayer
    and heard “For Those in Peril” rise on the evening air.
    Then darker grew the picture as the lowering night came on,
    I looked down from the lofty bridge but all the ships had gone.
    Those mighty ships had vanished, gone too those simple men.
    We’ll surely never see the like of them again.
    Author unknown.
    (This poem was found pinned on the notice board of H.M.S. Bronington)

    https://scontent.fman4-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/14963225_10154764687789306_819650931035179117_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ipanK6QH_5kAX-Jv6d6&_nc_ht=scontent.fman4-2.fna&oh=265e0cc2a3a68f4cbaf308548a82c9d3&oe=61B20FF7

    4. As a non-believer, and having had a brother in the Royal Navy, I take comfort from this part of Psalm 107:

      They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
      These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
      For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
      They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
      They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
      Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
      He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
      Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

    8. There is tune, to go with it, I am having a senior moment and cannot remember the name

      There’s none compare..dudm de dum . with a british grenadier

      1. https://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/english/sometalk.htm

        Some talk of Alexander,
        And some of Hercules
        Of Hector and Lysander,
        And such great names as these.
        |: But of all the world’s great heroes,
        There’s none that can compare
        With a tow, row, row, row, row, row,
        To the British Grenadier. 😐

        2. Those heroes of antiquity
        Ne’er saw a cannon ball
        Or knew the force of powder
        To slay their foes withall.
        |: But our brave boys do know it,
        And banish all their fears,
        Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row,

        It seeems to ‘scan’

        For the British Grenadier. 😐

    9. There is tune, to go with it, I am having a senior moment and cannot remember the name

      There’s none compare..dudm de dum . with a british grenadier

    10. Very moving Bob. This our history never to be forgotten despite the forces of evil ranged against us.

      I love the way that our great warship names are never lost but recycled. Father in law served on MTBs as a radiographer and then on the fleet minesweeper HMS Pique.

      I would like to see some new warships named after the best of Nelson’s fleet.

  86. That’s me for this grey day. Very sombre and reflective.

    I’ll join you tomorrow – all being well.

    A demain.

    1. Foggy, then threatened rain and then the sun came out.

      My Dentist appointment was at 11.00am. I stopped and bowed my head and they waited.

        2. I also noticed as i went past that all the people from the bus terminus were gathering. Obviously if a bus was en route they couldn’t be expected to stop. Though the High St did mostly.

          First time this year that the hygienist was able to use the water pique and polish powder which hurt quote a lot but then it is all a matter of perspective.

          1. I hopes you is not referring to me, young man. I is an 8 stone weakling and am only 5’4″. So there ;-)))

  89. ‘Night All

    Oi Laffed

    A little girl was talking to her teacher about climate change.
    The teacher said this is the first anthropogenic climate change we ever had.
    The little girl stated that the biblical flood was another.
    Irritated, the teacher reiterated that it is the first; at that time it was impossible.
    The little girl said, “When I get to heaven I will ask Noah”.
    The teacher asked, “What if Noah went to hell?”
    The little girl replied, “Then you ask him”.

  91. Evening, all. I see someone who lives in Monaco has thrown his hat in the ring to fight North Shropshire on behalf of the “Party Party”. He’ll come back if elected – yeah, right! As for the headline – if they can’t get the booster, they’ve probably had a lucky escape.

  92. Signing off now. Going to watch the new Bond film. Tell you it’s like in a week or two. :@(

    Good night. God Bless. Don’t Stress.

  93. Did any one see that little dick Kahnt on the news again in Glasgow. He’s still going on about how he’s making London such a green place. But he seems to have already forgotten that there is a proposal for a F1 race in the east end in the Newham area.

  95. That’s me done for the day, feet up for an hour then an early night. I’m no spring chicken, so I am reminded by our family many times, especially trying to put my socks on in the mornings.

  98. Todays remembrance day ceremony in Ottawa was delayed because someone thought that there was a suspicious package beside the cenotaph. The veterans allowed to attend the event had to stand there, potentially in the danger zone until it was deemed safe for Emperor Trudeau to show his smug face.

    So much for the symbolism of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day

        2. Oddly enough, I ate the biggest duck egg I’d ever seen, last night, on a big slice of my own toasted sourdough. Turned out to be a double yolker. Our 3 Indian Runners haven’t laid for ages, but I do like duck eggs. In Morrisons I look through the ‘Braddock Whites’ egg boxes as if looking for damaged shells and take out and change them. What I’m really doing is getting the largest eggs in my box. Power to the people!

  101. 16 seconds of the BBC News: NHS suffering worst November since ever, or since records began,, or since the NHS was created. followed by FW de Klerk has died. He introduced democracy to South Africa.
    Really? So much for unbiased factual, historically correct reporting by the BBC. SA was a democracy, a white democracy.
    De Klerk introduced universal franchise and majority voting. That went well, didn’t it?

    1. We managed to miss most of the ‘news’ tonight- so no climate propaganda but we got the Nazanin protest and Rishi trying to paper over the tory cracks.

      1. Ah, Nazanin. An Iranian citizen jailed for working against the Iranian government. What did she expect? It’s nothing to do with us in the UK.

  102. Goodnight all.

    Spent a very pleasant evening at the Wigmore Hall, while I can. James Ehnes, the Canadian violinist, accompanied by Andrew Armstrong, playing a programme of Brahms and Schumann. Wonderful musicians and lovely music.
    Back to the bathroom leak tomorrow. Plumber coming again,

    1. We had a leak a few weeks ago. It turned out the collar the pipe from the cistern pushes into had hardened and the water, clean thankfully, was not all going down the pan but coming out. Resolved in a few minutes by our plumber.

      1. 341418+ up ticks,
        Evening JS,
        They’ll get supplied a “passport” on landing, the front runners of the reset campaign.

      1. 341480+ up ticks,
        Morning B3,
        The indigenous, unknowingly to construct a new reset world, the magnet is welfare,the order of the day is reset.

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