Wednesday 1 December: MPs are to blame for letting new coronavirus restrictions be imposed without their consent

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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762 thoughts on “Wednesday 1 December: MPs are to blame for letting new coronavirus restrictions be imposed without their consent”

  2. Good morning all.
    Still dark and damp with 3°C outside earlier when I made the tea, but at least the rain has paused.

        1. Meh..its what you get used to Bob.Here in Finland we are in sub-zero territory now (day and night) and expect to be like this until March!

  3. Get It On

    Two midgets are in a hotel bar talking to a couple of girls. They ask them back to their rooms and the girls agree.

    The one midget is having a horrible time. He can’t get it up and the girl, who is very drunk, pukes and passes out. But from the other midget’s room he hears “One, two, three, HUH! One, two, three, HUH!” all night long.

    The next day, over breakfast, they compare notes.

    “How’d it go last night?” the first midget asks.

    “Terrible,” replies the second midget. “The equipment wasn’t working, if you know what I mean, and she was sloppy drunk anyway, pukin’ all over the place.

    But at least I could hear that you were having a good time!”

    “Good time?” the first midget replies, “I spent all night trying to get on the bed!”

  4. Good morning all.

    I recall being told earlier in the year, that a regional police force / local authority was recruiting covid marshal type personnel with contracts running until the summer 2022.

      1. Morning Elsie. Computer problems. Anti-virus suddenly started acting up and cutting me off from posting. GCHQ? Maybe!

  10. Nice work if you can get it:

    “Goldman Sachs and Amazon are launching their most ambitious collaboration yet: a new cloud computing service geared toward Wall Street firms to help them with high-frequency trading and other practices.

    And all these firms need to do is agree to entrust their entire back-end IT setup to the Vampire Squid to access what Amazon is touting as one of the fastest and most useful back-end systems available to Wall Street firms looking to transition on to the cloud.”

    I’m surprised Tesla isn’t in on the deal after all they’ve got a lot of insight into crashes……

  11. Hearing a lot from friends recently that they have been in contact with a grandchild, nephews and nieces that have recently tested positive for covid, all anecdotal I suppose but the positive tests all appear to be coming from young school children with the normal coughs and colds from this time of year, so the signs look to me like we are in for another lockdown before Christmas, all as predicted I suppose.

    1. Same here, Bob. The official stats show its under 25s who are testing positive most.

      1. Maybe they are the ones that are being tested, I have never had one>
        Also i suppose the idea is to encourage more young people to have the medicinal compound jab.

        1. There’s a lot of testing related to schools, and a lot of infection spreading at school.
          Also, the youngsters have a social life (whatever that might be), and so can spread it to each other.

    1. I see they are both clutching their shoulders.
      In the media we have a fresh wave of video clips of people having their boosters. As a clinician, I am horrified to see that almost none of the victims have the injection site swabbed with disinfectant before inserting the needle, thus facilitating the ingress of bacteria under the skin. It is no wonder that so many people complain of sore arms. Just let them try that on me! (I have decided to delay having a booster, anyway.)

      1. No booster for me.
        Why take another shot of something that doesn’t help with preventing infection or transmission?

        1. I was offered a booster for next week which I turned down 10 days ago. I’m certainly not getting one now after contracting the thing.

      2. When we were training, we always had to wipe the site with a small antiseptic square. In the intervening years, the practice was stopped because, we were told, the wipe merely introduced infection.
        A deeply sceptical “H’mmmmm” was the general reaction, but if the wipes weren’t provided – and there was no substitute provided either – we had to go along with it.

      3. I understand that sore arms are a result if introducing the vaccine too quickly, it forces apart tissue. My dentist told me this was why he gave the anaesthetic as slow as possible

        1. Quite so, Spikey. If you inject slowly, you allow the tissues to ‘expand’ to accommodate the injection fluid. That applies to upper jaw infiltrations as much as to lower jaw blocks. At the same time you can better monitor the patient for any possible reaction.
          Returning to arms, it is also important to get the patient to relax their muscles – bunched muscles cannot expand to accommodate injection fluid.

  13. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    SIR – Due to the effects of Storm Arwen we lost power to our house last Friday evening, and it was only restored on Monday morning. During those 60 hours we were also without mobile phone signal or landline (as our phone was recently upgraded to a digital line).

    Our only link to the outside world was a longwave radio. All this coincided with the coldest weather of the winter so far, with temperatures of -5C and snowfall on Sunday.

    Throughout the power outage we were able to keep warm with our wood burner, and fed thanks to our gas hob. Several neighbours have houses in which every appliance runs off electricity and they had a horrible time. One neighbour’s air-source heat pump was rendered useless by the lack of electricity.

    Had I owned an electric car I would have been confined to the house all weekend as I would not have been able to recharge it after using it on Friday.

    The Government may believe that the future lies in all-electric devices powered by renewables, but I will not be giving up my wood burner under any circumstances.

    Phil Mobbs
    Kendal, Cumbria

    Our elderly friends in Cumbria had a similarly rough time of it…the power went off late on Friday evening. Repair crews were prevented for some time from carrying out their work by many by fallen trees. The landline phone was off and their mobile signal is poor at the best of times. With only a small camping stove and a few spare canisters, no mains gas and no open fire, they had no means of effective heating. Apart from the fallen trees, a foot of snow prevented them from reaching the village shop, as well as anyone getting to them. They took to their beds for most of the time. Their electricity supply was finally restored yesterday evening, by which time the temperature inside the house was just seven degrees.

    Does our idiotic and totally out of touch PM have the slightest idea how bad it will be when mains gas is banned and people have to rely on just one source of energy?

    1. This BTLer is typical of many:

      Edwin Pugh
      4 HRS AGO
      Nothing this government does makes sense any more.

      It has claimed that entry into this country from those that have the new covid mutation have to be curbed. If it is that dangerous why wasn’t the ban immediate instead of saying, “Hey, you have three days to bring the virus here before we’ll stop you.”

      And why buy gas on the world market when we have untapped reserves in this country that will be much cheaper?

      Why pay developers of windfarms subsidies to build them? If a windfarm is going to be profitable it doesn’t need government support.

      Why does it spend untold sums of money on chasing the dream of a carbon net zero policy? It is nonsense to set targets that they must know are not achievable.

      EV’s without the necessary infrastructure to support them?
      We surely do live in a mad, mad, mad world.

      * * *

      Well said, EP, but no one in Westminster is listening, or has any common sense!

      1. Why has the price of oil, and hence vehicle fuel, gone through the roof? The world is awash with the stuff. Recovering economies won’t be using any more than they did three years ago and there is no shortage.
        (What use is our government if it does not ensure supplies of cheap energy to maintain the economy and our standard of living?)

        1. Quite so, HP. Inexpensive energy is the key to a prosperous economy…fat chance of that now.

        2. The price of petrol and diesel has been falling here for nearly a week. I topped up today at a cost of 130.9ppl, which means it’s dropped 11ppl.

      2. Why has the price of oil, and hence vehicle fuel, gone through the roof? The world is awash with the stuff. Recovering economies won’t be using any more than they did three years ago and there is no shortage.
        (What use is our government if it does not ensure supplies of cheap energy to maintain the economy and our standard of living?)

    2. We have that here.
      Firstborn was without power Friday to Sunday. Mobile net was down, too. Fortunately, he has a nice wood-burner to keep the place warm, but no cooking, and lots and lots of dark… 🙁 Once the house gets properly cold (and he has -17C this morning), the water starts to freeze… and that would be fun when it thaws.

    3. We are considering having a wood burner installed. I suspect the cost of these, and the supply of suitable wood, will shoot up ‘ In response to increased demand’.

      1. We had one for 15 years at our previous house. Fortunately we had access to unlimited wood and the room to store and season it. Although we now have an open fire, it’s not the same but better than nothing.

      2. We want to install a wood burner in our Rectory, but the diocese is absolutely refusing to sanction it.

  16. Russia will act if Nato countries cross Ukraine ‘red lines’, Putin says. 1 December 2021.

    Vladimir Putin has warned Nato countries that deploying weapons or soldiers to Ukraine would cross a “red line” for Russia and trigger a strong response, including a potential deployment of Russian missiles targeting Europe.

    He keeps warning them but they are too stupid to listen!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/russia-will-act-if-nato-countries-cross-ukraine-red-lines-putin-says

    1. It is the EU that are pushing this. They pushed the UK around unmercifully and got away with it and still get away with it. Russia is a different proposition.
      The US is quite happy for the EU to do this as the US thinking is pretty much what it was in 1962. I expect that the US will not intervene whatever happens as the EU is an economic competitor (so who cares?).
      If the US looked at thing sensibly, they would realise that Russia would make a good ally and that the real problem is China.

      Edit. A tussle over the Ukraine is as silly as a boy scraping a line in the dirt with their foot and daring another boy to cross that line. How do “grown-ups” come to do this nonsense?

  17. SIR – Aberdeen University has issued a warning to its students that Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped (surely one of the best historical novels ever written) “concerns abduction” (report, November 29).

    Could not their Department of Logic have saved them the trouble by pointing out that if the poor creatures cannot understand the book’s title, then clearly they are not in a position to read the book?

    Nikolai Tolstoy
    Southmoor, Berkshire

    Words fail me!

    2. Have they also warned that Agatha Christie’s novel Murder on the Orient Express concerns killing and train rides?

    3. What pathetic madness to even consider that supposedly intelligent, adult students might be ‘triggered’ by reading ‘Kidnapped’, a children’s story. If these students are so weak, why are they even at university in the the first place?

        1. Got to have certain unrealistic quotas from ‘deprived’ area schools and homes, and of students whose parents never went on to higher education. Good job such stupid notions weren’t too much in favour when the daughters of an old friend were applying twenty odd years ago. The friend was the daughter of a coal miner dad and housewife mum, neither of whom had any qualified. The friend was the first in her family to get A Levels and to graduate.

        2. Just remembered the girl on our older son’s course at Oxford. She had been admitted with lower A Level grades under a quota for students from ‘disadvantaged’ backgrounds and schools with poor academic records.
          Our son was there on 4 A grades in maths and sciences, educated in a state grammar school which had high standards and encouraged independent research and thinking – shame all state secondary schools don’t have the same high standards.
          The girl struggled with every aspect of the course – tutorials, essays, lab sessions and assessments. She regularly asked to COPY our son’s work. Failed first year exams and resits by a big margin. Kicked out. That place should have gone to a student who was capable and suitably qualified.

      2. Very true. How on earth they expect to survive in the big bad world beyond university is completely beyond me. One thing is certain – many of the educators in this country are hellbent on turning out snowflakes.

    1. As we drove home yesterday evening afternoon, the sunset was absolutely magnificent.
      We were passing through the aptly named Bradfield Combust at the time.

  20. SIR – To see Prince Charles helping the new Republic of Barbados “celebrate” ditching the Queen as its head of state (report, November 30) was bizarre.

    I realise that the Prince of Wales needs to consolidate his position as the Commonwealth’s next chosen head, but is it really necessary to apologise for the institution of slavery on such an occasion, without mentioning the role played by Britain in ending a trade that the African ancestors of some Barbadians wanted to perpetuate?

    Nicholas Young
    London W13

    His self-flagellation over slavery – which this country did so much to abolish – was pitiful. I am not optimistic that the Royal Family will survive under his reign.

    1. Who can blame the Barbadians for siding with the Chinese over a self proclaimed climate change nutter that will only bring them dystopia.

  21. SIR – Marcus Lawrence (Letters, November 25) says he must tell his symptoms to his GP’s receptionist before he is “progressed” into the system. I sympathise. He should try contacting British Gas HomeCare to obtain an engineer’s visit – as I did in respect of a broken boiler.

    I was asked: “Do you or any member of your household have a medical condition?” This despite my 40-year membership of HomeCare.

    I answered: “Yes – but I feel this is of no concern to British Gas.”

    “Unless you tell me what the condition is – to note on our records – I am unable to assist,” came the reply.

    Having, reluctantly, explained that it was cancer-related, I was able to book an appointment to be seen in a few weeks’ time.

    Malcolm Emmerson
    Barnet, Hertfordshire

    I am willing to bet that the Home Care contract makes no such distinction when it comes to providing a service. The fit and well will find themselves at the back of a very long queue!

  22. The news that a new COVID-19 variant had been found in South Africa came out over a fortnight ago and it was identified from people who did not have the symptoms of the previous predominant Delta strain. Furthermore the accepted tests for establishing presence of the Delta strain in South Africa were not selective enough to establish viral contamination of airline pasengers departing from the country.

    Consequently it is highly likely that apparently COVID clear passengers arriving from in the UK from South Africa for the Twickenham rugy match of 20th November 2021 will have been carrying the new (Omicron) COVID-19 variant and then attending a superspreader event.

    This ties in with Nicola Sturgeon’s comment that the Scottish cases of Omicron have been traced back to an event (albeit private) on 20th November.

    The BBC news yesterday did address the issue of the UK problems associated with improving the selectivity of PCR to detect the Omicron variant by tightening up the type of PCR tests that are now mandatory for a diagnostic result. This could be one the reasons for significant hikes in testing charges:

    https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/30/anger-as-expensive-pcr-tests-return-with-some-firms-charging-400-15687246/

  23. Morning all

    MPs are to blame for letting new coronavirus restrictions be imposed without their consent

    SIR – When are Tory MPs going to stand up to this Government’s dictates – that we must suffer yet more restrictions introduced before a vote in Parliament?

    The House of Commons has been neutered without a murmur from the very people who should uphold our long-fought-for freedoms.

    Philip Hall

    Petersfield, Hampshire

    SIR – If there is going to be mass hysteria and calls for a lockdown every time a new variant appears, we are never going to have normal lives again.

    Christopher Mann

    Bristol

    SIR – Jacqueline Hawkins (Letters, November 25) argues that people should wear masks to protect her on her way to and from radiotherapy treatment. My wife, who has also had radiotherapy treatment, caught Covid when she was wearing a mask.

    I, who live with her, did not wear a mask at any time that I was with her, and did not catch it. The Government encouraged the development and distribution of anti-Covid vaccinations for us so that normal life can return.

    Tens of millions of us have now been vaccinated to mitigate Covid’s effects. Figures for vaccinations are astounding and put the United Kingdom in a far better place than much of continental Europe.

    However, those with underlying health issues, or who feel that they might be at risk, should avoid crowded places, as do others who are immuno-compromised. We cannot wear face masks or have lockdowns forever.

    Andrew H N Gray

    Edinburgh

    SIR – Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, said that it was “not all doom and gloom at this stage”. Well you could have fooled me.

    Ian Mackenzie

    Preston, Lancashire

    SIR – Once again our precious children’s education looks poised to bear the brunt of Covid hysteria. Has nothing been learnt?

    Angela Saunders

    Otterbourne, Hampshire

    SIR – Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, has announced that the new Covid measures will be “temporary”. Like income tax, then.

    Jonnie Bradshaw

    South Warborough, Oxfordshire

    SIR – I am not certain that Mr Javid’s promise to “put the booster programme on steroids” was the best possible choice of words.

    Bob Hart

    Newark, Nottinghamshire

    SIR – In an interview on speeding up the Covid booster programme, Gillian Keegan, the minister for care, used the word operationalise five times. I am not confident.

    Dr David Shoesmith

    Acklington, Northumberland

    SIR – Noting the cluster around Glasgow, I wonder whether the new variant should be known as the Cop26 variant.

    Robert Stratton-Brown

    Midhurst, West Sussex

    SIR – It is reported that the World Health Organisation declined to name the latest Covid variant by the Greek letter xi to avoid embarrassing the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

    If we are to stop using words simply because they sound like the names of Chinese officials, what am I to call the alcoholic drink commonly mixed with tonic? How do I describe the noise my microwave makes when it has finished?

    David Miller

    Chigwell, Essex

    SIR – Following omicron, the next inevitable variant will presumably be named pi.

    Statistics will be demonstrated in a pi-chart, and hope of a return to normal life just pi in the sky.

    Janet Newis

    Sidcup, Kent

  24. Who cares about a power cut in the north east? 1 December 2021, 7:31am

    How long could you cope without electricity, dear reader? And how many days could you endure without running water? Imagine your home was without power or water for four or even five days. What would you expect to happen? How do you think your country and your government would respond to your plight? There’d be a bit of a fuss, right?

    Since this appears to be government policy they had better get used to it!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-cares-about-a-power-cut-in-the-north-east-

  25. DT article yesterday – why am I not surprised?

    Bid to fire up power stations to ease energy crisis ‘strangled with red tape’

    Row over claims mothballed generators could cut electricity prices by more than £2bn

    By
    Bill Gardner
    and
    Rachel Millard
    30 November 2021 • 8:00pm

    The backers of two mothballed power stations have accused the Government of thwarting an effort to restart them which it is claimed could cut more than £2bn from energy prices this winter.

    A row broke out tonight after Severn Power station in South Wales and Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire failed to win official support to re-open within weeks despite financial backing from a Texas billionaire.

    Their directors have told ministers that the two gas-fired plants would help tackle the cost of living crisis by bringing down record-high household energy bills. They have accused the government of “strangling the market with red tape”, adding that their power stations would help avoid blackouts while emitting less carbon than other active gas and coal-fired plants.

    However, Whitehall sources hit back by saying there was “nothing to stop” the plants competing in the electricity market and that striking a special deal with them risked encouraging other generators to “try to hold the Government over a barrel”.

    The row comes amid a global crunch on gas supplies which has pushed wholesale gas and electricity prices to record levels, heaping pressure on households and businesses and causing the collapse of more than 20 retail energy suppliers. Power is currently trading at above £200 per MWh, four times the average.

    Both power stations were mothballed when then-owners Calon Energy went into administration in August 2020. However in March the plants secured financial backing to allow them to operate again from Beal Bank, a US bank founded by Andrew Beal, a Texas billionaire who advised Donald Trump on economic policy during his presidency.

    When the power stations went into administration they automatically lost their contracts to supply the capacity market, under which generators are paid to be on standby as an insurance policy against blackouts, and were barred from qualifying for March’s auction for this winter.

    During a meeting with BEIS officials on October 21, the directors made clear that they were ready to fire up the plants within weeks but were told they were “too late”. Contracts are awarded under a fixed timetable.

    The directors pushed BEIS and National Grid for “a solution that would underpin a minimum level of stable returns” for the plants and later said officials’ “failure to engage” meant they had to suspend their plans to restart.

    One source close to the discussions said: “The whole thing is a complete s–show.

    “This country is facing the worst energy crisis in decades. These plants could help cut prices and keep the lights on during winter. But firms are being completely shut out of the process because the market has been strangled by red tape.

    “Energy customers will end up paying the price for these poorly-designed rules.”

    Gas-fired power stations remain the largest single source of UK power, accounting for 36pc in 2020, even as more wind and solar power plants are brought online.

    In October National Grid ESO, which balances electricity supply and demand, said that Britain faces a greater risk of blackouts this winter than last given the availability of supplies.

    It has forecast a capacity margin – the buffer of spare electricity supply – of 6.6pc, the lowest since 2016.

    The dormant power stations’ backers argue that restarting them could provide an extra source of electricity to help meet demand.

    They claim they could also help cool prices: first, by dampening the scarcity effect where suppliers capitalise on demand by putting up their prices.

    Secondly, they say the plants’ size means that Severn in particular could end up setting prices in the market instead of less efficient equivalents currently doing so.

    Directors argue that this effect could help shave £2.1bn off wholesale power prices during the first three months of the year, which would likely lead to lower household bills. Whitehall sources said they did not recognise this figure.

    In a report for the directors, energy market analysts Cornwall Insight forecasts average wholesale prices of £209.99 per MWh during the first quarter of 2022 if the stations are in the market. The forecast is £10.35 per MWh lower than a base forecast of £220.33 per MWh without them.

    Tom Edwards, senior modeller at Cornwall Insight, said: “If you bought these plants back, especially Severn because it’s more efficient, I think the [wholesale] price would fall.

    “By how much it falls will depend on behavior, wind speeds, and what happens on the continent.”

    Cornwall estimates total notional profits – known as the spark spread- of £96.7m for the plants during the first quarter of 2022.

    The directors have also argued that generators should be able to get greater certainty over revenues in the electricity market, and should be given stricter penalties if they do not fulfil commitments.

    A Whitehall source insisted there was nothing to stop the owners re-starting the plants outside of the capacity market, adding that “if the stations are as competitive as they maintain, they could enter the market without government support.”

    The source added: “A bespoke arrangement would undermine the existing legal and regulatory framework. In future, we might expect market participants to stop entering the capacity market and wait until the winter and then try to hold Government over a barrel – thereby undermining the whole process we have for providing security of supply.”

    A BEIS spokesman said: “We have sufficient capacity to meet demand this winter. It is neither necessary nor appropriate for Government to enter into bespoke contractual arrangements for the return of Severn and Sutton Bridge, or any other generators, to provide electricity capacity this winter.”

    * * *

    A leading (and spot on) BTL comment:

    Hugh Thomas

    I think this worth reposting:

    Imagine being frightened, poor, cold and hungry.

    What happens in a once in every 25 year British winter with a 2ft blanket of snow covering the UK and much more snow in some areas from the Midlands up.

    What happens when the snowfall is followed by a 4 to 6 week weather system high over the UK and temperatures are averaging -3 degree during the day and -10 at night and no wind to speak of.

    What happens to all the electric ambulances, fire engines, snowploughs, lorries, trains, buses and cars trying to operate under these conditions.

    How do we heat hospitals, schools, offices, factories, shops , warehouses, supermarkets and millions of homes with electric elements which are bigger versions of the elements you find in your kettle.

    Imagine the chaos and panic as everyone suffers from no heating and power blackouts and tens of thousands of people dying because of the cold, no food and no access to health care.

    All because of a new religion created by the Green Taliban aka Greta the goblin of doom and Extinction Rebellion and a bunch of clown politicians.

    The problem is we will be taken down a dead end road doing immense damage to our wealth and freedoms (while we look at the rest of the world with their cheaper energy, warm homes, personal transport and lovely holidays in other countries) until we finally come to our senses. By which time the UK will resemble a cold wet version of Cuba.

    1. If Mr Thomas’s scenario came to pass, even with less severe temperatures, I think that there would be a great many fearful politicians and it would be ‘brown trouser time’ in No 10 – that is if he hadn’t fled to some bolt-hole.

  26. Reading a few twitter timelines and the bedwetters are out in force attacking the likes of Julia Hartley-Brewer and Richard Tice for opposing what Mr ‘Panic’ Johnson is demanding i.e. be controlled by covering your face. Many people have claimed to have visited shops/stores, including multi-store Bluewater, and it’s looking as if these places are not policing this latest fear fest. Iceland and the Co-op have publicly declared that they will not police it and although it’s early days it’s looking as if many others are not wanting to get involved in that particular activity.

    Panic Johnson and Javid the Bald need to be sent a message that ‘enough is enough’ and compliance cannot be guaranteed.

    No surprise, big push on jabbing, especially the ‘booster’ even though it’s not known whether the “latest variant” will be affected by a potion that only has an effect for a few months on the original infection. From what I’ve read on sites in the USA, the ‘booster’ contains a very much larger dose of the potion. Will increasing the dosage and in addition mandating the number of ‘boosters’ required in a set time-frame, impact on the immune system? The possibility of the immune exhaustion phenomenon looks to be on the cards. With the jabbing being driven by a political agenda will the people with a genuine concern for our health ever get a say in when to stop?

    1. Morning, KtK.
      I’m amazed that the Co-op has bowed out; for the past 18 months it has been Covid Compliance Central.

      1. You’re not wrong, Anne.
        The store at Shrub End had queues outside, with I think, only six customers inside at a time. The store at Mile End had its ‘traffic light’ system up and running long after the ‘mask mandate’ was lifted earlier this year. Could ‘market share’ being affected by online ordering/delivery be a factor?

    2. Laura Dodsworth posted a piece from the DT that restrictions are now in place till next March.

      1. Isn’t that when the Emergency Act extension expires? They’ll rubber-stamp it again unless the mood of the people changes after another four months of either marking time or going backwards. Johnson’s ratings will hopefully be through the floor by then.

    2. According to the DT the latest restrictions have been extended to March 2022, despite considerable unrest – did they vote on this latest outrage I wonder? Edit – it seems they did vote – only 23 against??

      1. Did you see Anne’s video posted above? Only a few MPs bothered to turn up and there was no vote.

        1. Yes, but that was last time – it seems this time there was a vote [although for all the good it did they mighty as well have just nodded it through!]

          1. In March 2020 the ’emergency’ powers were set to run until March 2022, unless Parliament, following a review, voted to cease the powers. The ‘reviews’ were planned as six monthly events. The video above is of the latest, and last, six monthly ‘review’, which as we see did not happen. The fact that they could not even be bothered to pay lip service to the last ‘review’ should bring shame on the clowns who infest Westminster. However, the lowlifes were probably worn out after the virtue-signaling masterclass re the mohamaden nutter murdering one of their own and the need to fill out their expenses forms for having actually attended their place of work.

    3. They laugh and smirk, do they realise what more and more, I hope, of the plebs think of them?

  29. No obligation to defend Ukraine from Russia, Nato chief says. 1 December 2021.

    Nato has indicated it would not defend Ukraine if it was attacked by Russia, while warning the Kremlin it would still pay a “high price” in terms of sanctions if it did so.

    “It is important to distinguish between Nato allies and partner Ukraine. Nato allies, there we provide [Article 5] guarantees, collective defence guarantees, and we will defend and protect all allies. Ukraine is a partner, a highly-valued partner,” Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said in Riga on Tuesday (30 November).

    Whoops! Squeaky Bum time? Someone must finally have realised that Vlad is not bluffing and we are all pretty near to being vapourised over a country 95% of the population of Europe couldn’t care less about!

    https://euobserver.com/world/153689

      1. Morning Harry. The quote is quite interesting. It specifically defines the difference between Ukraine and present NATO members and it is by Stoltenberg so it looks like a rowback position for their doing nothing if Russia attacks.

        1. Russia has no interest in Western Ukraine.However,they will act if Donbass is attacked.
          Just a few weeks ago,very quietly,Russia has upped their trading relationship with Donbass whereby trade will increase in both directions thus giving those in the East a market for their exports.

    2. The UK should leave NATO. It is too unstable. Some of the members are crazy. North Macedonia, Montenegro are hardly stable. Turkey is de jure at war with Greece over Cyprus – two members of NATO facing off! Any of these countries could drag the rest of us into a meaningless but deadly dangerous conflict. Turkey was supplying ISIS while UK troops were on the ground fighting ISIS.

      1. Russia and the UK should be allies! We have the same enemies in the EU and the larger European States!

      2. Russia and the UK should be allies! We have the same enemies in the EU and the larger European States!

  30. No obligation to defend Ukraine from Russia, Nato chief says. 1 December 2021.

    Nato has indicated it would not defend Ukraine if it was attacked by Russia, while warning the Kremlin it would still pay a “high price” in terms of sanctions if it did so.

    “It is important to distinguish between Nato allies and partner Ukraine. Nato allies, there we provide [Article 5] guarantees, collective defence guarantees, and we will defend and protect all allies. Ukraine is a partner, a highly-valued partner,” Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said in Riga on Tuesday (30 November).

    Whoops! Squeaky Bum time? Someone must finally have realised that Vlad is not bluffing and we are all pretty near to being vapourised over a country 95% of the population of Europe couldn’t care less about!

    https://euobserver.com/world/153689

  31. 342295+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    Maybe a good stiff letter to “your MP” as has been happening these last near 40 years, that seems to be the way to go… for much more of the same.

    Fair play to the politico’s they have made it CLEAR in saying, they are
    ALL IN IT TOGETHER.

    Wednesday 1 December: MPs are to blame for letting new coronavirus restrictions be imposed without their consent

  32. The Commanding Officer was about to start the morning briefing to his staff.
    While waiting for the coffee machine to finish its brewing, the CO decided to pose a question to all assembled.
    He explained that his wife had been a bit frisky the night before and he failed to get his usual amount of sound sleep.
    He posed the question of just how much of sex was “work” and how much of it was “pleasure?”
    A Major chimed in with 75-25% in favour of work.
    A Captain said it was 50-50%.
    A Lieutenant responded with 25-75% in favour of pleasure, depending upon his state of inebriation at the time.
    There being no consensus, the Major turned to a mess Waiter who was in charge of making the coffee and asked what was his opinion?
    Without any hesitation, the young Jock responded, “Sir, it has to be 100% pleasure.” The CO was surprised and, as you might guess, asked why?
    “Well, sir,” said the Jock , “If there was any work involved, the Officers would have me doing it for them.”
    The room fell silent.

  33. Good morning, all. Grey, damp and very windy.

    Last night, I recalled a Belloc poem – and thought this extract from it might be rather topical:

    “Physicians of the Utmost Fame
    Were called at once; but when they came
    They answered, as they took their Fees,
    “There is no cure for this Disease.
    All will very soon be dead.”

    (Slightly edited)

    2. And again the DT reports that GPs [remember them?] will be “paid more to perform the vaccinations”

    4. Good morning, Bill

      We had a student with us a couple of years ago whose father was Henry King. I was clearly not the first to mention bits of string to him!

      The mendacious spirit of Matilda is flourishing in Westminster. Let us hope it will bring down the inferno upon both Houses of Parliament which defeats the high courage and gleaming hearts of the firefighters from Putney, Hackney Downs and Bow in their misguided attempts to quench the fire.

        1. The health secretary this morning on BBC Radio 4 News’s 10 minute slot point blank denied that Boris had broken the Covid rules in January by having 2 parties in Downing Street with too many people closely gathered.
          We have seen for ourselves how Boris, a possible spreader of the virus, behaves at conferences and in hospitals.

    2. What a complete bloody shambles this government and the alleged opposition are participating in. Both are united and mired in incompetence and corruption of any morals they may once have possessed.

    1. Our Health secretary is aiming for every adult in the UK [or England?] to have a booster Covid jab by 31 January 2022.
      Has he found another way to spread the virus? The BBC Radio 4 News reporting that people are already queuing up in large numbers to get the jabs and as the centres close at 5pm many are turned away. The AZ vaccine is available for some people but they have to apply for it. Why should doctors be overpaid for giving vaccines which can be given by trained nurses etc.

      1. What is it we can all smell?

        The foul stink of the odour of a long tailed rodent would not be missed even by those whose loss of smell had been caused by Covid.

      2. When I went for my booster a couple of days ago it was administered by one of 10 nurses – the doc was nowhere to be seen. It was also very well organised from the volunteers directing cars to a space to those timing your wait before releasing you back on the road

        1. Morning Fallick – The doctors should be dealing with all their patients needing their attention. I would volunteer to assist at the vaccine centres but at 82 I think I would be a burden.
          The nurses are the backbone of the NHS.

      3. To ‘encourage’ doctors to up capacity for booster shots, they are to be paid even more than the previous amount, £15 a shot instead of £12+. Extra bonus for shots given on Sundays. The majority seem to be administered by nurses and pharmacists.
        So much panic over a variant that reportedly only gives very mild, if any, symptoms. South Africa has reported no deaths or serious illness from this latest scariant.

          1. As in ‘there is a new, highly contagious MUTATION’ (much scarier word than variant) so everybody (bed-wetting sheep) wants/demands compulsory masks, lockdowns and borders closing

    9. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Sean! Have a great day and enjoy yourself!🎉🍾🎂

      1. 342295+ up ticks,

        Morning Jbf,

        Thanks, you can hum that tune again, in the eyes of farage she is a far right racist, in many peoples eyes
        she is a SO far right patriot.

        1. Good morning ogga

          If Farage didn’t exist you would have to invent him in order to slake your unquenchable appetite for slagging him off!

          2. Perhaps if you had been a member of UKIP and therefore aware of his actions, you would slag him off too. I think, like ogga, that Farage is an opportunist and not to be trusted at all. He is with you as long as you accept he is the boss, if you dare deviate from that, you are toast.

      1. 342295+ up ticks,
        Morning HP,
        She deserves to be to get us out of this odious political pits this Country is in thanks to lab/lib/con
        coalition & supporters.

  42. In other news – the DT seems to be suggesting that as the BBC got such good ratings for their Christmas Day schedule last year, that they are planning to repeat the whole day again this year to save trying to think up something new! I imagine even the BBC will need a different Queen’s Speech but it might be worth checking!! Presumably that means I can just photocopy last year’s licence and amend the date in crayon?

    3. They’d do better and get more competent people if they put a ban on graduate recruitment!

  44. Anyone fancy an evening out with Dr Jenny Harries who is a bundle of good humour and joie de vivre?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/34f4e451a4a446f06cf4d34885276834c55a0fd0bdc43eeb429edac6e18278c3.jpg

    The omicron hysteria shows we are being led by experts who have no idea what living a normal life is
    Scores more Covid variants will come along in our lifetimes and they should not be a cause for panic, until proven otherwise

    ALLISON PEARSON : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2021/11/30/omicron-hysteria-shows-led-experts-have-no-idea-living-normal/

    Dr Jenny Harries has advised that we don’t socialise unless necessary.

    1. What a lovely snap. And what BIG windows you have!!

      Now – where’s the Mother of the Bride??

      1. Actually, I’m waiting for someone to send one of me when I’m don’t look as though I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards! Those twins don’t look after themselves, you know!

      1. A great guy called Simon, who unfortunately had a severe stroke in June. He was lucky to survive, has made amazing progress and managed to stand with no stick throughout the ceremony, and danced the first dance unaided! All while wearing a kilt! They have been through a helluva time and Vic has been absolutely amazing!

        1. Oh dear what a terrible thing to happen to one who I assume is still fairly young.
          I can only wish them all the best in their future life together. 😍🥰

          2. Our eldest and his lady took around 6 years before they decide to get married and the Tune for the first Dance was At Last by Etta James.

          3. Wonderful! The wedding was supposed to be 2 years ago, but Covid! And then the twins!

          4. There was a definable bump at ‘our’ wedding. She’ll be two in February, big brother is 6.

          5. Wonderful! The wedding was supposed to be 2 years ago, but Covid! And then the twins!

        2. That’s great progress since June! Presumably his young age, otherwise fit and healthy and effort have helped him. Here’s hoping his improvements continue to full recovery.
          Eight years ago, while my dear Mum spent her final eight weeks of life on the stroke ward, there was a young man we saw walking around – each day, we could see his improvements.

          1. He is quite a bit older than Vic and has family from a previous marriage. But still only 55! He sometimes needs a bit of ‘encouragement’ to do his exercise!

      1. Thank you, Horace! I was completely in awe of her, after everything that has happened! And the organisation…!

    12. Thought bubble: “Whoops, I’ve missed out on another stunner.
      Nice window but it looks like they could use someone who is handy with a chainsaw and some loppers.”

      1. I thought they could have cleaned the windows, but really didn’t think I could say that!!

      1. Thank you Conway! She was beautiful, and had organised the whole thing! It was a very happy day.

  47. American embassy workers who have been stationed in Moscow for over three years have been given just weeks to leave the country, Russia’s foreign ministry has announced, amid a growing row with Washington over diplomatic visas.

  49. Peterborough City Council has announced that, barring elf’n’safety issues and contracts already signed, no new work is to be started, and staff are asked for money saving ideas. How about an immediate ban on any more pointless ‘diversity and equality’ training (indoctrination) courses.
    No such concerns for neighbouring South Kesteven District Council. Such farcical ‘training’ should be mandatory according to one councillor.

    1. Do they still give away the freebie mouse mats and drinks coasters like the ones I got when I had three pointless days out of the office on a diversity awareness course in 2005? There’s obviously a good business being done with these indoctrination programmes.

      2. The diversity course I attended was anything but.
        It was a conformity course. If you had opposing views to the ‘course leaders’ they tried to brush it under their enormous carpet.
        Waste of a day but I got paid and travel expenses.

        2. A few years ago Mrs D had to attend a diversity course which was run by a Muslim. When he said the holiest book in the world was the Koran she said the holiest book in the world for her was the Holy Bible and she walked out. Told her boss never to send her on another.

      1. Farage runs with the hare and hunt with the hounds and a petulant egotist quite content to destroy a viable political party because it suited his ambitions. An opportunist of the first order only interested in an issue when there is something in it for him.

        1. I’m inclined to agree, all though I think he has reasonably honest intentions and puts up good arguments, he has never really done much else but speak.

          1. His intentions are honest only when the topic is of advantage to him. Thus his silence on grooming gangs but his attacks on illegal immigrants because it is the political fashion of the day. As soon as the wind changes and some other hot issue comes up you can guarantee he will be right there leading the charge until the next issue

    2. I don’t know when he made this speech, but I wonder if he knew about this……. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots

      This was all started when some islamic (know as Lebs) chappies were showing rather too much interest in the young ladies on the local beach.
      The local lads got together to stop this. But of course if this happened now the local lads would have been tasered and arrested to defending the young ladies.
      And it seems that NZ under saint Jacinda is now making a name for herself world wide in her laid back methods of addressing tensions caused by newly arrived migrants.

      1. a fer confused article that does not clearly distinguish the two groups involved.
        It does highlight the police approach. A convoy of cars filled with heavily armed muslim thugs is not to be approached by police, but they could take the car licence numbers.

      1. 342295+ up ticks,
        Morning N,
        Unfortunately no, but I would wager someone out there has collated a list.

    2. Why miss out Scotland? See Operation Cerrar – most of what happens is kept secret. See also the Scottish government flannel.

      https://www.glasgowchildprotection.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=33484&p=0
      https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/foi-eir-release/2020/03/foi-202000016603/documents/foi-202000016603-information-released/foi-202000016603-information-released/govscot%3Adocument/FOI-202000016603%2BInformation%2Breleased.pdf

  52. 342295+ up ticks,

    I’ll wager one thing, when we get the FIRST truthsayer in parliament

    the fall out WILL peppledash the city with a thick coating of sh!te.

  53. https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/the-omicron-absurdities-continue

    Firstly, the primary terror being spread on omicron is that it has
    MUCH faster spread than any other variant before it. this is based on
    the rate of spread in south africa. but as certain internet felines
    have been wont to opine “reporting case rates without reference to
    testing level is tantamount to lying.”

    and this is even worse. not only is testing adjusted case rate not scary,
    but there is a second wrinkle hidden in this data: most of this rise
    is due to a data discontinuity that blew all the averages into the
    stratosphere because the nature of the reporting changed.

    on nov 23, south africa started including antigen tests in its case count.

    The graph is below in the report – this piece is worth a read.

    1. Note Moderna are saying we may ‘need’ a double dose booster. Double the profits. Even though it is admitted that the jabs are unlikely to be effective on this latest scariant.

        1. Indeed. Save on pensions, save on care fees, save on pesky pensioners taking up Saint NHS beds, free up more homes for the invaders.

    2. I haven’t been able to keep up with all this latest reporting, I have to switch channels when the news is on.
      I understood that when first discovered this latest addition to the global experts knowledge was no worse than a common cold. It seems the MSM have been raking over and over and stoking it up looking for the slightest link to how this has been spread, if indeed it has. And now we can’t go out again. And a family Christmas is being threatened.
      From what I have been reading more people are dying from the treatment, especially this ‘booster’ rather than the alleged causes.
      The whole situation is becoming just like the Macbeth witches around the cauldron.

      3. In his protected world with no worries about money, housing or access to health care, he has no idea how the majority of ordinary, tax-paying people feel about this. They are NOT welcome, we can’t afford to have so many.
        And just look at the smug look on the man sitting to his right.
        No muzzles either – is that just for the plebs in shops? Have all these aliens been tested (not that the tests really show anything) for Convid before entering our country and being in close proximity to him? Isn’t he worried, like we are supposed to be, about ‘killing Granny?

        1. Please excuse me. “15.000 afghan translators traitors in return“.
          One would have thought that as our government members have had a classic education they would be well aware of the stories of Tarpeia and Coriolanus. Traitors deserve no reward except death.

      5. But not welcome to live in any of his family’s spacious homes…… Put them in ‘social housing’ that should be reserved for British people.

      6. Is there a link between intelligence, common sense and heredity?

        Neither the Princess of Wales nor her husband was or is renowned for her or his penetrative perceptiveness, intellectual prowess and clarity of vision so is it any surprise that both their sons are witless numpties?

      7. Let me re-phrase that, “We don’t want you – we have enough killer jihadis lurking in the country already.”

        Stay home, stay dead.

    2. Prince William tells Afghan refugees ‘you couldn’t be more welcome’ in the UK.

      They don’t get it do they,……… they do not represent the peoples of this country at all.
      There’s probably enough room on the Sandringham estate to house them all, let them dig up the land cut the trees and hedgerows down destroy the wild life and build their own homes if they have to come here. That’s what the general public have to put up with, our countryside is being wrecked to build ‘Sustainable and affordable homes’ for immigrants.

    1. very sad. Recently jabbed? I couldn’t see any reference to jabs in the article. Maybe it’s similar to when no mention is made of ethnicity of murder suspects – the clue being in what they DON’T say.

      1. It is clearly just a coincidence that so many young, fit sportspeople die after having the Covid jab.

        Thomas Hardy was criticised for using unlikely coincidence in his novels. But we must not criticise those who assure us that there are no dangers associated with having the jabs.

      2. Not a very well-written article. He repeatedly blames “anti-vaxxers” without considering that many people simply want to know the truth. He makes no attempt to compare the actual numbers dying with the numbers that he has found from pre-vaxx times. He concludes that it is “dangerous” to do anything that might delay the vaccine getting into people’s arms, without justifying this belief at all.
        That article is primarily about mud-slinging and nothing else.

      3. The fact that the writer refers to people like me as an anti-vaxxer means he is very biased and therefore not worth reading.

      4. Good morning.

        Athletes are not generally known for great intellect but even they must be becoming suspicious. Not footballers obviously. You don’t get more plank like than them.

    3. Cause of death has not been revealed though it is thought to be non-suspicious.

      Really nothing suspicious at the age of 26 ???

    1. Is it? the configuration’s the same as usual – it closes after two days so the spammers can’t spam unseen.

      Perhaps Geoff clicked on close for some reason.

      1. This is what Conners said,…… 15 hours ago.
        My riding instructress told me today of someone she knew who died of a massive heart attack just after he’d had the booster. The doctor initially said it was due to the booster, then rowed back! She said she’d been sceptical until that because he’d been healthy until then.
        Similar to my friend who had the fatal stroke last Friday.
        My GP told me I maybe should not have or don’t have to have the booster. The medics should know what is in it and the problems it can causes.

      1. Great thanks Minty, i wanted to reply to Conners, I’m usually switched off when he arrives.

  57. I had some trouble with my computer last night which refused me access to both Microsoft Word and the Internet. My Windows anti-virus program has just told me that it has blocked 30 Severe Threats overnight which in anyone’s book is a sustained attack. Now I said to Elsie rather jocularly this morning that it was probably GCHQ. I no longer believe that. They have the power to go through this old computer of mine like a dose of salts. Indeed I believe they already have. This looks private. It’s probably the Ukrainians annoyed by my Russian comments and the only ones daft enough to be offended by individual posts. This is all by way of saying if I disappear online you will know the cause and to keep your own eyes open.

    Minty!

  58. Well I can’t sit here all day!

    I’m going for a light lunch with a friend I haven’t seen for two years because she is quite frail and doesn’t go out anywhere.

  59. ‘Morning All

    What an utter shitshow it all is

    When this whole Covid issue first arose and the governments response was so
    draconian we here on NoTTL opined that more people would die from a lack
    of proper health care than would die from Covid.
    Now we hear of hundreds of thousands of missed cancer referrals………..

    Sadly, as in many things , we are proven correct
    Edit forgot the source
    https://twitter.com/ProfKarolSikora/status/1465966775166722052?s=20

          1. We’re doing OK thanks bb, how bad can it be if I’m still walking the dog? MOH (the non-jabbed) also seems a bit perkier today. Touching wood, but we’re hoping it’s weakening its hold.

    2. I don’t think the awards will have any “integrity” left if they start censoring the cartoonists!

    3. And none of it is any more worth watching than it was last year! Thank goodness I don’t have a TV!

    4. Any schedule that includes the execrable “Mrs Brown’s Boys” needs to be seriously avoided!

    5. Thank goodness for my collection of P.G.Wodehouse novels.

      One of my sons, Henry, and his fiancée, Jessica, are planning to spend Christmas with us but the costs of returning to Britain will not only include having to quarantine but also £160 in tests. At least they are both in well paid jobs – but it is still not certain that they will be able to come even though Caroline has put a large leg of pork in pickle to make her delicious New Year ham but she has also made the Christmas cake and Christmas pudding.

      We are frequently criticising the French on this forum – but at least they have put a cap of €25 on the tests.

      Many many people are making far too much money out of Covid but this is at the cost of many small – and not so small – businesses and the happy normal lives of virtually everybody.

    2. I saw just how good an MP Kate Hoey was when she was sacked from being the Sports minister in Beelzebub Blair’s first government.

      She should have joined the Brexit Party before the last election or UKIP before that – it might have made all the difference.

    3. This govenrment isn’t interested in protecting it’s citizens. It prefers taxing them into poverty and replacing them with dross.

  66. 342295+ up ticks,

    Live Covid latest news: Vaccine passports have no impact on reducing infections, experts warn,

    That is, experts & anyone with only a solo lonely brain cell.

    1. Ah ha ..

      Said with rising inflection in voice .. if you know my voice that is ..

      But , but if I were offered £15 per jab per patient .. to hell with my GP workload , (if I were a GP)

  68. Paul Kingsnorth:

    This is the story of the times. Across the world we are seeing an unprecedented claim to control staked by the forces of the state, in alliance with the forces of corporate capital, over your life and mine. All of it converges on the revealed symbol of our age: the smartphone-enabled QR code that has, with frightening speed and in near-silence, become the new passport to a full human life. As ever, our tools have turned on us.

    The Covid vaccines, whatever their other virtues, have not prevented transmission of the virus, as governments have now publicly acknowledged. If they had, we would not be where we are. For this reason alone, there can be no justification for systems as divisive and anti-democratic as vaccine passports or lockdowns of the unvaccinated. If we were operating, as we pretend to be, from the ground of reason — if we really were “following the science” — then we would be dismantling these systems at this point. Instead we are moving deeper into them.

    We are being herded into a future in which scanning a code to prove you are a safe and obedient member of society may become a permanent feature of life, as unquestioned as credit cards and driver’s licences. We are moving towards enforced mandatory vaccination of entire populations — including children — with potential prison sentences for those who refuse.

    The Thesis, if left unchecked, leads straight to tyranny. But the danger of cleaving entirely to the Antithesis is a potential descent into paranoia. Both positions thrive on fear of the filthy Other, who must be destroyed with a barrage of claim and counter-claim, backed up by links to studies about ivermectin or vaccine side-effects.

    Limberg puts his hope in the possibility of forging a Synthesis of the two positions. But in order to get there, he says, both sides must discover and inhabit the fears of the other: something which looks less likely by the day. As someone who began this pandemic journey cautiously cleaving to the Thesis, but who has tipped towards Antithesis as the Narrative has unspooled and the dishonesty of its proponents has become clear, I can explain my own fears easily enough.

    In a short but momentous two years, we in the West, who have spent decades, if not centuries, lecturing the rest of the world about “freedom”, and sometimes trying to bomb them into accepting it, have abandoned ours without so much as a murmur, and begun enthusiastically scapegoating those who question this path. We who invented this thing called “liberalism” are now burying it, and building on the bare soil some technocratic state-corporate hybrid; a China-style social credit society, centralised, monitored, powered by algorithms, emphatically unnatural and unfree.

    We are in a revolutionary moment. Societies are being transformed, with no public discussion and no consent, into a version of a Silicon Valley nerd’s wet dreams. Unless we can reach some form of synthesis soon — unless the sheeple can address the fears of the covidiots, and vice versa — then we risk being blinded to where the real power lies, and what is being constructed around us as we bicker and insult and pontificate.

    Covid has been both revelation and accelerant. Now the direction of travel is increasingly clear. Unless we actively refuse it, our future looks like a QR code flickering across a human face forever.

    1. Apparently they had mandatory vaccination under the national socialists in Germany back in the day.

      2. And mandatory dieting, stripped pajamas and showers.
        And of course experimental medications.
        What’s happening now is just another version of Nazism.

        1. Well, they’re telling us to wash our hands and, given the chance the demented Left would control what we can wear and how long we could wash for.

  70. Jacob Rees-Mogg faces Commons inquiry over undeclared £6m loans. 1 Decmber 2021.

    The parliamentary commissioner for standards has begun a formal investigation into Jacob Rees-Mogg after a complaint from Labour that he failed to declare that he received £6m in cheap loans from one of his companies.

    The website for the commissioner, Kathryn Stone, has been updated to show that Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, is among MPs being investigated. It says the inquiry concerns the section on rules for MPs connected to the declaration of employment and earnings.

    But Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow leader of the Commons, said it was right that the commissioner was investigating “what appears to be yet another egregious breach of the rules”

    So? Looks like a bit of petty minded spite and much ado about nothing!

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/dec/01/jacob-rees-mogg-commons-inquiry-launched-over-undeclared-loans

    1. It’s all so boring. MPs are bent. It’s why they go into politics. Hec, whatsisface Sunak takes a 900,000 pay cut to become chancellor… and a few million in non-jobs after the event.

      We know they’re bent and on the make, the problem isn’t the people, it’s the policies.

  71. 550lb World War Two bomb explodes in Germany, injuring three people near Munich train station
    One person in serious condition after the blast at Donnersbergerbruecke station
    The boom was heard several miles away and police helicopter is at the scene
    The blast happened during construction works near the train station

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10262803/Three-hurt-World-War-Two-bomb-explodes-near-train-station-Munich.html?ito=social-facebook&fbclid=IwAR1WoPsWwsk_zumCS6JL1vZdIiuYof6qIPK-9p0knS4xBLyOfv3KNXtmtm4

      1. “I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently, this country is at war with Germany.”

          3. Children are now TAUGHT that the evil imperialist (slave owning) Churchill attacked defenceless and totally unprepared Germany.

          4. Technically Nepal were the first to declare war. The British and French ultimatums expired beforehand, but if you count them then you also have to count the earlier de facto declaration through Germany invading Poland. Slovakia were second on that count, leaving us trailing a distant third.

          5. Glad to hear. I believe our American Cousins were a tad late to the party and only then after the Japs had invited them to dance….

      2. In both world wars, where they also killed more civilians by bombing than all the allied nations combined (remember to include the USSR), starting in WW2 by flattening Warsaw and bombing Polish towns purely as experiments whilst our aircrew died bringing bombs home because they were ordered to drop them only where there was no risk to private property, let alone civilian lives.

    4. Meh, that is always happening!
      Munich was very badly bombed, not that you would know it nowadays apart from the regular bomb scares, and the Allies’ war cemetery south of the city is full of young RAF men. All very sad.

    5. Was that report written by a Yank, Maggie, or has the Daily Fail now resorted to using vacuous Yankisms?

  72. Vaccine passports have no impact on reducing infections, experts warn

    Covid passports are ineffective at reducing infection and may even be sending out false messages that being vaccinated means a person cannot spread the virus, experts advising Spain’s government have found.

    Specialists on Spain’s inter-regional Covid committee concluded that evidence from European countries shows such passports for entry to bars and other leisure facilities is not reducing transmission levels.

    “In European countries where [the system] is being used, cases are rising significantly, although it is true that their level of vaccination is much lower than in Spain,” an internal report seen by the newspaper El País said.

    More than 90 per cent of Spain’s target population has been vaccinated but the report says the impact of Covid passports is negligible. Eight of Spain’s 17 regions are now using the system in some form.

    “We know that around 40 per cent of those vaccinated are susceptible to infection and transmitting the infection,” the report said, criticising passports for presenting a false impression of this.

    UK government assessors warned in September that vaccine passports could fuel the spread of Covid by encouraging people to visit poorly ventilated pubs instead of large venues, and would slash turnover.

    Covid certificates have been rolled out in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in various forms and remain part of England’s “plan B” should the omicron variant worsen.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/covid-news-cases-deaths-booster-jab-coronavirus-omicron

    Just close the venues, then. Much safer…

    1. Viruses don’t have eyeballs on the end of their spikes and so have no regard for anything written on a piece of paper or QR codes on a smart phone for that matter.
      There is a slight chance however that Omicrons might sense the presence of a bit of plaster covering their spikes after a shot in your arm.

        1. [to Charles Ryder]

          Anthony Blanche:
          If you
          knew anything of sexual psychology, you would know that nothing could
          give me keener pleasure than to be m-m-m-manhandled by you meaty boys –
          ecstacy of the *naughtiest* kind.

          Ooh !

  74. ‘Time to think about mandatory vaccination’ across the ENTIRE EU, Ursula von der Leyen warns after Austria and Germany announced plans to force jabs on all adults

    The EU Commission President made the remark during a meeting in Brussels on the pandemic as Europe suffers through a brutal wave of Covid infections amid fears over the Omicron variant.

    There is only one thing that we really know for certain about the Omicron variant of Covid : it is a good excuse for power hungry despots of a Germanic temperament to justify their obscene and pornographic practice of suppression, domination and control.

    2. Well, they have the knowledge, the experience, and the temperament for rounding people up and forcing them to take part in medical experiment. (As the Germans always kept careful records, I suppose that the detailed instructions are available also.)
      I am concerned that the UK will fall into line, instead of, say, bombing Brussels.

  75. Although many members of my family are doctors my own knowledge of these matters is fairly sketchy.

    Am I right in thinking that the vaccine for Smallpox was based upon the fact that if a person got Cowpox that person would then be immune against smallpox?

    So instead of gene therapy should not the pharma industry be trying to find a variant of Covid which has only very minor symptoms and gives you complete immunity against other corona viruses?

    Oh My God! Maybe o-mi-cron will prove to be that magic virus? In which case the unjabbed must stay unjabbed and the jabbed can wait until the effects of their useless gene therapy have completely worn off and we can all get omicron and then be set free!

    1. Does that mean that when Omicron gives you a big ‘O’ you will involuntarily shout “OMC!” ?

    2. My big boss at work offered that this morning as a reason to go ahead with the Christmas parties. If it’s mild, let’s all get it. I wont be going to our department party but that’s because I know they’ll all do lateral flow tests, so what are the odds on one of them testing positive and putting us all under house arrest? No thanks.

    4. It was noticed that farmers milking cows with cowpox in days gone bye did not get smallpox. The medics made vaccines from cowpox material and the protective cure was found. So you are correct Rastus.
      The trouble with Covid and flu vaccines is that they mutate frequently and the vaccines which are produced for the annual jabs are often not suitable for the annual mutant.

  77. It is my belief that the lateral flow testing kits are designed ALWAYS to show positive..

    1. .but…but…but………of course.

      Posted earlier: 11 days ago

      Recently a dear friend was told to take a Covid test regarding her job.
      She keeps fit playing tennis, golf and swimming when time allows. Her healthy diet
      played an important part of her health and fitness regime, and was in excellent health.
      She booked an appointment for today …….I’m expecting a call from her this evening.
      I bet the test is positive….

      I heard last night……Yup she has Covid!

    2. Much against my beliefs I’ve been required to take a few LFTs in order to rehearse with the choir and visit MiL in her nursing home. The Results have all been negative.

      Off to FiL’s Funeral tomorrow. At 91 he had a good innings and a Times Obit.

    3. Much against my beliefs I’ve been required to take a few LFTs in order to rehearse with the choir and visit MiL in her nursing home. The Results have all been negative.

      Off to FiL’s Funeral tomorrow. At 91 he had a good innings and a Times Obit.

    4. Have you been doing it right. Ten wiggles up the nose, ten more wiggles up the bum and then ten more wiggles down the back of the throat.

      Rosary beads are handy in getting the numbers right (but don’t put these up the bum).

      1. Thus far, I’ve avoided LFT tests. The prospect of sticking a foreign object up one’s nose, rectum and throat, in that order, is unlikely to persuade me to order a batch of the bloody tests, thanks very much.

  78. The plan as seen from Oz.
    National Stimulus’ payment.

    This is indeed a very exciting program, and I’ll explain it by using a Q & A format:

    Q. What is an ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment ?

    A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

    Q. Where will the government get this money ?

    A. From taxpayers.

    Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?

    A. Only a smidgen of it.

    Q. What is the purpose of this payment?

    A. The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a

    High-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

    Q. But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China?

    A. Shut up.

    Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the Australian Economy by spending your stimulus cheque wisely:

    * If you spend the stimulus money at K-Mart, Big W , Target or the host of $2 shops we have, the money willgo toChina,VietnamorSri Lanka..

    * If you spend it on petrol, your money will go to the Arabs.

    * If you purchase a computer, it will go to India,Taiwan or China…

    * If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to China,India,Peru…..

    * If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea.

    * If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to China.

    * If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

    Instead, keep the money in Australia by:……………

    1) Spending it at garage sales, or
    2) Going to footy games, or
    3) Spending it on prostitutes, or
    4) Beer or
    5) Tattoos.
    (These are just about the only Australian businesses still operating in OZ.)

    Conclusion:
    Go to a footy game with a tattooed prostitute that you met at a garage sale and drink beer all day !

    No need to thank me, I’m just glad I could be of help.
    She’s right mate.

    1. Completely spot on. We now buy everything at auctions or charity shops and similar. Everything sold new is made in China. (I’d be fine with buying stuff made in India, as they used to be in the Empire.)

      2. I’ve just bought a couple of hot water bottles. They were made in Germany. I didn’t want to support the EU, but they were the only choice (and my old hot water bottles were leaking).

    1. Don’t be beastly to the Russians…..they will cut off our gas supply.

      Don’t be beastly to China…they will cut off our communications.

      Don’t be beastly to the French ……

    2. I shudder when I see one of these bright-eyed, bushy-tailed feminist politicians talking about aggression.
      They have no idea what they are doing. They simply don’t speak the universal male language of aggression. They are more likely to land us in a war than anything else.

      1. cf – the fatuous Ashton woman who bloody nearly caused WW3 entirely on her own. And THAT was all about the Ukraine, too.

        1. It all went titsup during the 60s…like so much else…
          Margaret Thatcher was a pre-feminist politician – she had enough sense to know when to listen to the men!

        2. Sums up Western failed ideology quite neatly. They look ready to haul out their knitting. Bring on the ironing board as well.

        3. ‘We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.’ – George Orwell.

          I wonder which of the 4 in the top picture fit the bill?

      1. “Experts picking over the smouldering ruins of London believe that Sir Alec Douglas-Home ACTUALLY said, “Let’s attack Rush Hour.”….”

    1. Why is it more acceptable to viciously persecute Jews and Christians than it is to say something even mildly offensive about Muslims?

      I am beginning to wonder if compulsory vaccination gene therapy will be accompanied by compulsory circumcision for both sexes in order to appease the Islamists.

      1. Christians have the numbers, but not the aggression.
        Jews have the aggression, but not the numbers.
        Muslims have the aggression and the numbers.

      2. 342295 + up ticks,
        Evening R,
        The way things are shaping the islamic whacko’s will be the mainstay of reset, the lab/lib/con coalition politicos will be in for a shock because the head keeping oath they accepted was sworn on the koran,
        as for the politico’s / party supporters they will be supplementary bowling balls.

  85. Glad Tidings of Discomfort & no Joy!

    Finland has succumbed to the energy crisis as households and businesses early this week paid a mind-numbing €422 per MWh (including taxes), or about five times higher than a year ago, according to data from the Nord Pool electricity exchange.

    1. We have our own gas and oil pipelines.They come across the border near Imatra.
      Maybe,like some other European countries,they didn’t renew the long-term contract and are now paying spot prices.

  86. Back from visiting frail friend – she’s really very poorly and doesn’t go out at all now. Very sad to see.

      1. Not much I can do really, except keep in touch. At least she has a good husband to look after her.

  87. If he could not be posted overseas, how did he get to be a Lieutenant-Commander?

    “PrEP is an antiretroviral medicine which, taken once a day, stops the transmission of HIV during unprotected sex.
    Until now, that meant you couldn’t join the military, because of the “logistical burden” of hiring people who take regular medication.
    The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the change will mean people who take PrEP are treated the same as those taking contraception, so from today it won’t be a barrier to employment.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-59489350

          1. The cabin boy didn’t just stick to his bunk in the fo’c’sle – he made certain modifications to the cap’n’s fo’s’kin!

    2. Somebody on this forum provided a link to a source which suggested that the effects vaccine gene therapy was to remove and destroy your natural immunity. And once your immune system is destroyed you will be effectively in the same predicament as somebody with AIDS with no natural defences.

      A conspiracy theorist might think that this explains why the PTB refuse to admit that, in terms of spreading Covid the vaccine gene therapy has proved to be a complete dud but in terms of population manipulation it has been a complete triumph which is why they now think ‘top-up- doses should be given every three months until the end of time. Ursula Fondalying is following her teutonic instincts in saying that the EU should impose compulsory jabs as Germany and Austria are already preparing to do.

        1. Now what was it that the bird in the Wild West Show song cried out when he flew too near to the ground?

    2. No wonder Santa can speed around the world so quickly with the help of Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.!

    1. Too close to home to be funny, I am afraid.

      The whole bloody thing is getting to me. {:¬((

      3. Me too, today, especially the renewed hysteria over omicron. We haven’t move forward at all. Except I think perhaps we have in that there are now delivery dates available that are not very far into the future available, whereas during lockdown l you had to be on Christmas card terms with the CEO to get a delivery slot three weeks hence. I know that extra delivery vans may have been put on but if people were truly scared those extra available would have been mopped up also.

      1. Must go to SpecSavers… thought you’d written “throw the kilts into a bowl…”

      2. Must go to SpecSavers… thought you’d written “throw the kilts into a bowl…”

  92. No, I haven’t lost it completely but there is a reason for asking!
    Does anyone know what the following might have in common please: Dartford, Kettering, Durham, Ely and the Isle of Man??

    8. The answer is… me. I’ve done the Dartford Crossing to death, While I’ve never knowingly Kettered (or Kippled, for that matter), I’ve driven close to the place. I’ve frequently visited Durham and Ely Cathedrals, and I know Sir John Lorimer (whose Mum informed me yesterday that he’s now Governor of that God-forsaken rock).

      I suspect this isn’t the answer you seek…

      1. I drove back & forth through the pipe for the best part of four years. When i finally found another job, three weeks later they opened the QE Bridge!

  93. That’s me for today. Grey and damp for most of it – but mild (relatively) at 7ºC. Much colder tomorrow. Snow expect in early morning. The MR is doing carpark duty at the GPs from 5 pm to 7.30 pm. Yet another vaccination parade.

    Have a super evening. For those of you interested, PBSAmerica showed an excellent docu on “The Pilgrims” which we watched last night. Really very interesting. Though they tended not to refer to the much earlier settlement at Jamestown. AND it had sub-titles.

    A demain.

    1. Very odd light today when I was driving home from frail friend’s house – it was coming on to rain a little, but the sun was still out, very low in the sky, and on the bendy road (A46) from Brockworth to Painswick, the sun was in my eyes from time to time, but the sky was very yellow.

      It was very wintry – looking, with the bare trees silhouetted, but I didn’t have a camera, and anyway I had to keep my eyes on the road in front!

      1. In Cider with Rosie, Laurie Lee mentions a character who is known as Percy of Painswick. As you know, Lee grew up in Slad, Gloucestershire.

          2. She pointed Percy at the porcelain after he’d had too much cider, Laurie was there, saw her blush rosily and wrote a whole book about the event.
            Not a lot of people know that!

          6. Yes, I have had two glasses of Pinot. We will have to wait and see what happens with MH’s brother. It’s a worry as he has been very sick a few years ago.

          7. I sometimes wonder if we are being attuned to expect the worst, I know from my limited experience that trying to be positive can help others, but worryingly it can also add unintended pressures; a difficult line to walk.
            I hope your OH gets the balance right and that your support of OH is similar.
            Astonishing good luck, as my FiL used to say.

          8. I could say more but won’t right now.
            I am damned sure we are being programmed to expect the worst. MH’s phone call helped certainly as his brother said it made his day.

    2. I’ve been to Jamestown. Horrible brackish water and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes and other nasty bugs. And I had bug spray on. Interesting place though.

      1. I went to Plimouth Plantation – quite realistic. Was shocked at “humerous” visitors asking the youngsters playing the part of settlers what they thought about aeroplanes, Vietnam etc etc. But impressed at their lack of response. I’d have fetched ’em one with a scythe!

      2. Very commercialised and the experience was ruined by hordes of school groups.
        Old Williamsburg was much more interesting to us, we managed a quiet day to visit and the actors/staff were keen on talking off script about their speciality.

        2. Yes! Had a wonderful dinner at a tavern in colonial Williamsburg and were served by a lovely black waiter…in period dress. It was memorable. We stayed in the McGruder Inn outside the site which was also great.

    2. Check that there are no branches between the dish and the open sky, they often sag if wet and can interfere with reception.
      The angle up the dish will almost certainly be higher than you expect so if there are any branches in the vicinity they are likely culprits

        1. Slightly hard to tell; do other recorded programs still work?
          We get problems on HD channels when it’s raining. Removing the branches improved the reception.

          2. As RSk suggests, try a reboot first.
            If the HUMAX hasn’t recorded it’s likely to be reception problem, if our experience is to go by.
            Atmospheric conditions are a bane here.

          3. Re-boot sounds a bit techy for me….

            Reads: searching for stored channels and wait!

            I’ll just hit a few buttons until something
            appears….usually works! Women’s logic!
            Thanks x

          4. Slang for turn it off, wait, turn it on again.
            Our HUMAX did similarly, I pulled out all the plugs, waited a few minutes, reconnected and all was well when I switched it on again.
            Good luck

          6. Reboot’s just a fancy word for “switch off and on again”………… hope it’s working now.

          7. Why don’t they bluddy well say so FFS…..
            Daughter says…’ I shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a computer’!!!

          8. When I was still in NC when Tech Support was required I yelled for my son- or phoned him.

    3. All programmes or just a few? If a few it could be the weather, if all turn off the tv, uncouple the satellite antenna feed from the satellite/Sky box (just screw it off), screw it back on then try again.

    4. Assuming you have Sky, turn it off (unplug it from the wall), leave it 30 seconds then start it up again. Usually works.

        1. I consulted Phizzee, he thinks it may probably be because it’s sending the videos you’re recording straight to pornhub, so you don’t get your usual royalties.

    5. Samsung flat screen TVs – Weak or No Signal

      Hi Plum, I seem to remember posting this the last time you asked about “Weak or No Signal” on October 14th, but here it is again:

      My Samsung TV remote has a button at the top righthand corner labelled SOURCE. Pressing this displays the possible programme input sources, e.g. HDMI1, HDMI2, AV, etc.

      I have a SKY box, a TV Aerial, a DVD player and an Amazon Fire stick all plugged into different sockets on the back of the set as sources.

      My own TV occasionally gets its knickers in a twist and displays NO SIGNAL. I press the SOURCE button and see which source it remembers that it was receiving last time it was used. Often someone in the family was using the fire stick to watch Prime Movies and it is plugged into HDMI2 socket, not the Sky source.

      When this happens, I use the left and right arrow keys on the remote to move through the selected Sources until I find the one I want to view. Press the enter key (the one in the middle of the cluster of arrow keys) and this selects the source that I want.

      Simples, but at 80 years old it took me a while to learn.

      Good luck!

      1. Thanks RC ….I do remember your helpful hints… I pressed TV source…Bingo!
        It happens when I video a prog…..

    1. I was watching a WWII documentary last night and saw/heard several of Churchill’s speeches. Who could possibly think that Johnson styles himself after WSC?

    2. (1) Many years ago, my then Rector’s wife worked in the same building as Mike Batt, and was press-ganged into being backing vocals.

      (2) I went up to St J the B at Wimbers to sing Fauré’s Requiem on Remembrance Sunday. Not a single Womble was apparent.,..

  98. I’m looking forward to Lammy really stirring it up…

    Promoting narcissistic David Lammy was a big mistake

    The latest reshuffle is a flexing of political muscle, designed to show Labour’s self-styled leader-in-waiting is theoretically in charge

    BEN OBESE-JECTY

    Angela Rayner was still getting to grips with her myriad titles during the last shadow cabinet reshuffle when she was seemingly deliberately blindsided by the timing of Sir Keir Starmer’s latest attempt to imbue his party with a sense of purpose.

    It is only six months since Starmer botched the spring reshuffle that left him with a co-leader rather than a deputy. The latest reshuffle is a clear flexing of political muscle designed to show Labour’s self-styled leader-in-waiting who is theoretically in charge.

    Labour’s approach to shadow cabinet roles appears to require that all MPs will serve in it eventually, and thus inevitably there were some eye-catching appointments, none more so than David Lammy. His Lazarus-like resurrection as shadow foreign secretary was somewhat inevitable.

    On paper, the appointment of a well-known and experienced Labour MP who is less a seasoned-media-performer than a seasoned-media-presenter (with his own weekly radio show to boot), appears eminently sensible.

    But when said appointment comes with a profile that is unlikely to help win back the seats that have been lost — he is an arch-Remainer who has spent much of his time over the past two years fanning the flames of identity politics — one wonders whether the appointment is due to the current dearth of talent among Labour’s experienced MPs, or an unwillingness to appear to be Blair Mark II too quickly.

    Lammy is innately a divisive character. Once considered to be a potential future Labour leader his political star has waned in recent years as the hard Left tightened their grip around the party. There was little room for a man who was once a minister under Gordon Brown but has spent the past decade as an opposition backbencher more focused on building his media profile than being an effective politician.

    In recent years he has very much found his voice as the vocal champion of whichever cause célèbre would afford him the greatest platform. He continues to campaign tirelessly against Brexit, criticising the then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for “vacillating” over calling for a People’s Vote, and doubling-down on his comparison of pro-Brexit Conservative MPs to Nazis and white supremacists as “not strong enough”. Hardly an inspiring choice of personnel to help regain the Red Wall.

    A man whose dedication to his own media profile is matched only by his willingness to play the crusader from the backbenches on any number of topics which allow him to play to the gallery.

    Impassioned speeches with his trademark admonishing finger-wag that can be clipped for social media, allowing him to expand his burgeoning social media presence.

    His querulous speech on the Windrush scandal was merely the opening salvo in an ongoing campaign that has since seen him rail against the deportation of Jamaican foreign national offenders convicted of rape, murder and sexual offences against children. There has been much criticism of activist lawyers, it is incredible that until this week we had one as the shadow justice secretary.

    The return of David Lammy to the fold is another indicator that Starmer is set to eschew the promises he made to the Labour left in order to become leader in the first place. It now looks far more clear that Starmer’s initial shadow cabinet was a transitional one.

    Intended to assuage the fears of the Left by keeping some representation from the Left of the party, before ousting them completely in favour of the remaining Blairites he could scrape together. It is a gamble that hopes to appeal to the centre whilst alienating the rump of his Party’s base.

    Whether the gamble pays off remains to be seen, but Starmer has already shown he has little in the way of new talent to bring off the bench. He will now be hoping that the next person in the shadow cabinet to receive a promotion won’t be the one he blindsided during this one.

    Either way, if Labour are to win back the northern seats they lost in 2019, let alone make serious inroads into those seats outside of the major metropolitan areas upon which the bulk of their vote relies, then his task is far bigger than a mere reshuffling.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/30/keir-starmer-will-regret-promoting-david-lammy/

    PS No comments allowed, of course.

    1. I feel sorry for David Lammy’s wife who is a white woman and his children who are mixed race. The fact that he spend so much time vilifying white people must be very demoralising and hard to tolerate.

      I am a white Englishman, my a wife is white Dutch woman. Our two sons had the choice as to whether they wanted Dutch or British nationality – they chose British.

      I do not spend my time insulting the Dutch just as my wife does not spend her time abusing the British.

    1. Unfortunately his stance on the Megacite and its host will generate support for the Susseptic tank.
      Just from Trump derangement syndrome.

        1. A Megacite is a parasite that feeds on Harryrseholes a Susseptic tank is where the crap gets stored and processed.

  100. The repeated use of emergency Covid powers makes me fear for our democracy

    Government by diktat is becoming the new normal. We must resist it before it’s too late

    SILKIE CARLO • Tuesday 30th November 2021

    At 4am this morning, it became an offence to go into a shop or on public transport without a face covering. Whether you think this is long overdue or a burdensome overreach, one feature of this should concern us all – it is a diktat.

    We are back to televised statements announcing restrictions imposed by a ministerial pen due to the “urgency” of the public health situation. Until late yesterday afternoon, ministers were claiming that whilst there was time for a press conference, media rounds and parliamentary statements, there was no time for MPs to debate or vote. Only after intense lobbying by angered backbench colleagues did Jacob Rees-Mogg, Leader of the House of Commons, confirm there will be a debate and a vote on the new measures later today.

    Regardless, this claim to “urgency” doesn’t quite wash, two years into life with Covid.

    We are clearly in a period of prolonged exceptionalism – the kind that redefines a country and its values. The muscle memory we have acquired from repeated executive-imposed lockdowns is impossible to unlearn. The Government’s continued avoidance of parliamentary scrutiny – unless forced by backbench pressure – treats democracy as part-time, debate as futile, and opposition as something to be squashed.

    Let’s be honest, this is exactly how politicians intoxicated with power want it to be.

    As of this week, Covid passports are a requirement in Northern Ireland’s restaurants, cinemas and large events. A vote in Stormont on a Covid passport law is not expected to take place until next week – once the scheme is “bedded in”, according to Northern Ireland’s Department of Health. In other words, once ministers’ plans have been rolled out and the public have been forced to comply with them, then elected representatives can rubber stamp the scheme. That is the Orwellian version of representative democracy we apparently have in the post-Covid world.

    The abandonment of the rule of law is not only draconian but utterly shambolic. Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister Naomi Long was seen lamenting on Twitter over the weekend over news that Covid passports would not be required in unlicensed venues like cafes. Long thought the health minister was implementing a more expansive scheme. That’s the thing about replacing laws with diktats – you’re at the mercy of a minister’s word. And when even ministers are even arguing among themselves about the meaning of the rules they are decreeing, something is seriously wrong.

    The principle of “no debate” is being slowly institutionalised under ministerial rule, and critics are being recast as enemies. So when we ran campaign ads around Northern Ireland this weekend ahead of ministers’ Covid passport policy being imposed yesterday, some politicians were outraged. Our campaign ads called for a “free future” (how dare we?) and promoted our campaign site stopvaccinepassports.co.uk, which explores the rights and equalities issues with domestic Covid passports and encourages members of the public to write to their representatives. But this led elected Alliance Party representative Stewart Dickson MLA to publicly accuse us of “putting the lives of shop workers and others at risk” and an elected councillor from the same party to call for our “very concerning” ads to be “turned off ASAP”.

    Not only is this inflammatory nonsense. Not only does it betray a misunderstanding of the latest diktat they are so vehemently defending, which does not actually require Covid passports for shops. It is censorious, deeply chilling, and a sobering illustration of how democracy is eroding before our eyes.

    It is right that we debate ministers’ Covid policies – in fact, it is the responsible thing for both the citizenry and elected bodies to do. It used to be the process by which laws are made.

    Magna Carta enshrined the ancient democratic principle that the law is above the word of the King. But the word of Covid authoritarians has emerged as its own supreme authority that increasingly we are scolded for questioning.

    In which case, we must question it more.

    Silkie Carlo is the Director of Big Brother Watch

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/30/repeated-use-emergency-covid-powers-makes-fear-democracy/

    1. She’s right – I hate this dystopian twilight world we are now living in.

      We were allowed a taste of freedom over the last few months, which has now, once again been snatched away.

      2. Ah, but on the 21st of December, Bonjo will tell the nation that the scare is over, Christmas is saved and we can all have a lovely time thanks to HMG’s incisive action. This will show how the democratic process is the great achievement of civilisation, saving thousands from a horrible death.

        Praise him! Praise him!

      3. ‘We were allowed a taste of freedom over the last few months’

        Sorry, we were not ‘allowed’ anything. It is ours by right. Give it up and we deserve all we get.

          2. Better than yesterday, which is good.
            Have not long ago fired off an email to our useless MP. He won’t read it nor will he acknowledge it- he’s a moron.

  101. Nicola Sturgeon knows her time has passed

    A Catalan-style referendum could be the nail in the coffin for independence. That won’t stop separatists demanding one

    HENRY HILL

    Nicola Sturgeon is trapped. While many of her activists are growing impatient with their quest for independence, the Scottish electorate is becoming less interested in the constitutional question. This conundrum is becoming increasingly clear to both sides, and the ultimate victim of the arising frustration will be Sturgeon herself.

    It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The First Minister had been in post less than two years when the Brexit vote supposedly reset the clock on independence and annulled the mandate of the 2014 referendum.

    Almost everyone, including many prominent Unionist supporters of the Remain campaign, had been very insistent that a Leave victory would be a gift to the SNP. Sturgeon herself seems to have believed it, setting her sails the morning after the vote to catch the winds of change.

    But they never came. Several years of tortuous and divisive negotiations were not the advert for unpicking the United Kingdom that so many supposed.

    It was not until the pandemic, and the Government’s woeful mishandling thereof, that it looked as if public support for independence might be building and the doomsayers got to briefly dust off their I-told-you-sos. But even that fillip seems to have been temporary, and the Union is once again leading the polls.

    If Sturgeon seemed in 2016 to have time on her side, that is no longer the case. She is already Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister. Even if she does as she says and sees out the term of this Scottish Parliament, we are almost certainly entering the autumn of her leadership.

    Thus, the trap. As a pragmatist, Sturgeon understands that it would ill-serve the separatist cause to fight and lose two referenda in a row. It might even serve to bury the question, as it did in Quebec.

    Yet the SNP has conspicuously failed to build public support for their central mission, to the extent that the Government at Westminster feels able to simply refuse to grant the First Minister a second legally-binding vote.

    This probably suits the strategist in Sturgeon just fine. She gets to blame London for refusing the will of the people without actually having to risk putting her case to the people in unpropitious circumstances.

    But that isn’t good enough for much of her base. They are separatists first and foremost; it’s what brought them into politics and it’s why they back the SNP. It’s why they have for years put up with their party’s phalanx-like internal discipline.

    The SNP is perhaps the most formidable political machine in Britain, and it is animated and perhaps even held together by the anticipation of a referendum. (One reason Boris Johnson would be insane to grant one.)

    Every year, Sturgeon tells her supporters that the next great push for independence is just around the corner. It never comes to pass. Nor will it, unless a general election in 2023 somehow delivers a government at Westminster prepared to grant a legal referendum.

    She knows why a Catalan-style wildcat referendum is a bad idea. Even if the courts don’t block it (and it would only take a private citizen in Scotland to file the suit, not the UK Government), Unionists would simply boycott it.

    At the same time, it would undermine Scottish nationalism’s carefully-constructed international image – and perhaps make it that bit harder for the First Minister to find a comfortable role at the UN when she steps down from frontline politics, too.

    But the Nationalist infantry, whose cause is independence at any cost, have never accepted this logic. And they won’t let the grand old countess of Bute House march them up and down the hill forever.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/30/sturgeon-knows-time-has-passed/

    BTL:
    Peter McKay

    The BBC have a lot to answer for millionaire, TV personality Nicola Sturgeon’s apparent popularity. During the height of the pandemic, there wasn’t 30 mins that went by without Elsie McSelfie making dramatic, global announcements, broadcast to the masses.

    However, it’s good to see that her embarrassing 2 weeks of self-absorbed, juvenile behaviour at COP26 has fallen on deaf ears. There’s no question that she’s desperate for an international (UN) job to befit her ‘international stature’, yet they seem less than interested.

    I just can’t imagine why.

    1. Brilliant comment from Peter McKay!
      Sturgeon shot herself in the foot. She just couldn’t resist spiteful, divisive politics, and she can’t see that even the most gullible voters get fed up with being manipulated to hate other people after a while. The SNP’s complete incompetence at doing anything useful can’t be hidden.

  102. It strikes me that we can read as many articles about Boris and his willingness to impose diktats at the drop of a hat but tomorrow a By-election is being held in true blue territory.
    If the buffoon and his government does not get a kicking at the ballot box tomorrow, then this country richly deserves all that will inevitably come its way.
    That will be the time when the emotion of despair will be left in me, and perhaps great sadness for those of us who being in the minority still deserves a lot better than what we have been given over the last few years.

    1. Even if the Tory candidate does lose badly, it’ll be dismissed as the usual mid-term protest vote.

      2. Sadly you may well be right, depends if the winner was someone other than the Lab/Limp Dum candidate. That would rattle a few cages.

  103. BLM is telling blacks to boycott white owned stores for Christmas.

    Imagine the outcry if white owned stores refused to serve blacks.

    1. 342295+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      Do these peoples know the harm these type questions could do to the party ?

      The race is on now to get ALL jabbed before the casualties reach tsunami level.

      1. Apparently the Pfizer phials are numbered 1 to 3. The number 2 is a saline solution, one of the others is mRNA and another an even more lethal concoction. By these means the recipients of the ‘vaccines’ will either die immediately, die a slow death or live a little longer before the next dose. The resultant obfuscation will be difficult to untangle when the numbers are eventually analysed.

        Needless to say the ‘unvacced’ will be accorded the blame for the deaths of millions of the ‘vaccinated’.

        Only truly wicked and evil ungodly people could have put such a dastardly scheme in place. They must be flushed out and prosecuted.

      2. Evidence seems to show a small rise (2-3% iirc) in deaths from all causes, compared to the previous five year average, which correlates exactly to when the jabs were rolled out (that’s the most damning part). My guess is that if the mass jabbing carries on, then this higher death rate will continue, and will eventually become the norm, as jabbed years are included in the five year average.

        Two of the teachers at my daughter’s school have died suddenly this year. Both in their sixties, both smokers, so it could have happened anyway. But in all the school careers of my four children as well as in my time at school, I don’t remember any teacher dying on the job before.

  106. ‘Night All,nicked

    “My kids keep finding the Christmas presents we have hidden around the
    house. Someone on here suggested I put them up in the loft, so I did and
    last night I literally had no sleep. All I could hear was them crying
    and moaning about spiders, the dark and wanting to be let back down.”

  108. 342295+ up ticks,

    breitbart,
    Armed Police Detain Intruder at UK Parliament,

    alledged to be carrying a pot of clear TRUTH varnish, enough to give a coat to ALL benches, the truth can bring about incarceration.

  112. Evening, all. Very late on parade tonight (I’ve been trying to clear some of the boxes cluttering up my sitting room now I can get back in my conservatory.

    1. Good evening Conway. I’m still around, it looks as though everyone has sloped off. I will probably be sloping off myself shortly.

      1. Nice to talk to you. I clearly need to buy more bookcases as I’m having difficulty finding places to put the books that are currently stored in boxes 🙁 The problem is, I took all the books out of the bookcases and you know how it is; once you’ve taken them out, you can’t get them back in again!

        1. I have over ten thousand books and half of those are in boxes from our last move 27 years ago. To tell the truth, I have probably acquired a thousand more books in that period.

          1. I confess to being a bookaholic. I only buy books I want to keep (apart from the odd cheap novel from time to time, but I usually cull those after I’ve read them).

          2. I buy hardbacks. I have over the years replaced soft backs with hardbacks. Books should be durable and reuseable. Soft backs just fall apart in use,

          3. Most of my collection is in hardback form, but some books I could only get (= afford) in paperback.

          4. Try Kindle – it can hold up to 3,000 books and take it with you on a long-haul flight – no need for silly in-flight pictures or stupido airline magazines – you have your library with you and, if it weighs an ounce, I’d be surprised.

          5. Wash your mouth out! 🙂 I do have a e-reader, but it doesn’t come close to having the feel and readability of a real book. For one thing, I can’t easily flip back to check on something I read earlier (I don’t tend to read fiction). Even on a flight (unless I’m in the driving or back seat) I prefer a book.

          6. Tell me about it. When I took over the library in GA I replaced all the paperbacks that fell apart with hardcovers. Some of the paperbacks I did not replace. Example…Captain Underpants.

    2. Evening, Conners. Not late for me; ‘Sailing By’ and the Shipping Forecast at 00.48 is my bedtime …

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