Tuesday 25 January: What happens when the West fails to help victims of Russian aggression

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

788 thoughts on “Tuesday 25 January: What happens when the West fails to help victims of Russian aggression”

  1. Morning, all Y’all. Dark – still. Not sure about the weather, but the cats are warm & fuzzy.

  3. Apparently, the Canadian truckers protest at compulsory vaccination has reached a convoy length of 70km! The slogan is “Truck Trudeau”!
    That’s a lot of truckers…

      1. Just googled it, and the majority of hits are for the government & it’s shills side. Not the truckers. Only the small local press seems to report the truckers side.

        1. No protests about the great reset from around the world or even here are shown or reported on the MSM, although RT news does a bit.

  5. What happens when the West fails to help victims of Russian aggression

    If our MSM are reporting it then you know it is fake news.

  6. What happens when the West fails to help victims of Russian aggression. 25 January 2022.

    Ian James
    Woodborough, Nottinghamshire

    SIR – In 1979 Russian tanks invaded Afghanistan and a puppet Communist government was installed. The troops were there for nine years.

    The brutal bombing of civilians and destruction of villages, and the attempt to impose Soviet rule over an ever-resistant people, eventually ran out of steam. The Russians rolled back out of Afghanistan in 1989, leaving a vacuum for militias to fight over what remained, with Pakistan continuing to exert its influence over the area.

    Britain’s dismal show of support for the Afghan resistance amounted to radios to help communication. At least now, as Russia prepares to mount another invasion, the Government has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine and offered moral support. But I am afraid we are about to witness a bloody repeat of history, which will bolster the confidence of the Russian bear.

    Unsurprisingly Mr James fails to point out that NATO, under the aegis of the United States, tried to do the very same thing for an even longer period and with an even more humiliating exit just last year!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/01/25/letters-happens-west-fails-help-victims-russian-aggression/

    1. The Syrian Version

      “The brutal bombing of civilians and destruction of villages, and
      the attempt to impose US/Jihadi rule over an ever-resistant people,
      eventually ran out of steam.”

    2. Perhaps Mr James might care to read the ‘Very Foriegn Policy’ chapter in PJ O’Rourke’s 1991 masterpiece, ‘Parliament Of Whores’ which outlines at first hand that those militias, far from existing in *a vacuum*, were the recipients of a bidding war to see which one of them was the least worst and thus deserving of having US State Dept funds showered upon them:

      “It will come as no surprise to students of past U.S foreign policy that the Alliance party with the greatest hatred for Western ciivilisation and the worst reputation for brutality is the party that got the most American money. This was the Hezb-e-Islami, run by Gulbaddin Hikmatyar, a fellow with a kisser to make the late Ayatollah Khomenei look like Gidget. Hikmatyar is supposed to be notso-hotso at fighting Russians, but real good at killing fellow mujahideen. He’s also been accused of murdering a freelance cameraman who took pictures of Hezb-e-Islami internecine atrocities and of blowing away Dr. Sayd Majrooh, Afghanistan’s foremost (not to say only) intellectual and so forth. Hikmatyar received a pig’s share of U.S. aid because he was a favorite of the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, which was a favorite of the American intelligence service, The CIA, because the ISI helped the CIA talk Pkaistan into being the duck blind for American potshots at Soviet expansionism. What the ISI saw in Hikmatyar is more of a mystery. Hikmatyar is a fundamentalist kook, and so are some ISI people. Maybe that was it. Or maybe the ISI thought it owned Hikmatyar (although, personally, I think they would have been better off having a gila monster in their sock than this guy in their pocket). Or maybe it was just that Hikmatyar is an asshole and a divisive influence. Pakistan has no interest in a strong, united Afghanistan, whether run by Sovs or muj or what-you-will. The Afghans have a bad habit, every generation or two, of descending on the plains of Punjab and Sind for recreational pillage.”

      This charmer is still with us, you’lll be thrilled to know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbuddin_Hekmatyar#Post-DRA_civil_war

    3. Perhaps Mr James might care to read the ‘Very Foriegn Policy’ chapter in PJ O’Rourke’s 1991 masterpiece, ‘Parliament Of Whores’ which outlines at first hand that those militias, far from existing in *a vacuum*, were the recipients of a bidding war to see which one of them was the least worst and thus deserving of having US State Dept funds showered upon them:

      “It will come as no surprise to students of past U.S foreign policy that the Alliance party with the greatest hatred for Western ciivilisation and the worst reputation for brutality is the party that got the most American money. This was the Hezb-e-Islami, run by Gulbaddin Hikmatyar, a fellow with a kisser to make the late Ayatollah Khomenei look like Gidget. Hikmatyar is supposed to be notso-hotso at fighting Russians, but real good at killing fellow mujahideen. He’s also been accused of murdering a freelance cameraman who took pictures of Hezb-e-Islami internecine atrocities and of blowing away Dr. Sayd Majrooh, Afghanistan’s foremost (not to say only) intellectual and so forth. Hikmatyar received a pig’s share of U.S. aid because he was a favorite of the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, which was a favorite of the American intelligence service, The CIA, because the ISI helped the CIA talk Pkaistan into being the duck blind for American potshots at Soviet expansionism. What the ISI saw in Hikmatyar is more of a mystery. Hikmatyar is a fundamentalist kook, and so are some ISI people. Maybe that was it. Or maybe the ISI thought it owned Hikmatyar (although, personally, I think they would have been better off having a gila monster in their sock than this guy in their pocket). Or maybe it was just that Hikmatyar is an asshole and a divisive influence. Pakistan has no interest in a strong, united Afghanistan, whether run by Sovs or muj or what-you-will. The Afghans have a bad habit, every generation or two, of descending on the plains of Punjab and Sind for recreational pillage.”

      This charmer is still with us, you’lll be thrilled to know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbuddin_Hekmatyar#Post-DRA_civil_war

    4. Perhaps Mr James might care to read the ‘Very Foriegn Policy’ chapter in PJ O’Rourke’s 1991 masterpiece, ‘Parliament Of Whores’ which outlines at first hand that those militias, far from existing in *a vacuum*, were the recipients of a bidding war to see which one of them was the least worst and thus deserving of having US State Dept funds showered upon them:

      “It will come as no surprise to students of past U.S foreign policy that the Alliance party with the greatest hatred for Western ciivilisation and the worst reputation for brutality is the party that got the most American money. This was the Hezb-e-Islami, run by Gulbaddin Hikmatyar, a fellow with a kisser to make the late Ayatollah Khomenei look like Gidget. Hikmatyar is supposed to be notso-hotso at fighting Russians, but real good at killing fellow mujahideen. He’s also been accused of murdering a freelance cameraman who took pictures of Hezb-e-Islami internecine atrocities and of blowing away Dr. Sayd Majrooh, Afghanistan’s foremost (not to say only) intellectual and so forth. Hikmatyar received a pig’s share of U.S. aid because he was a favorite of the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, which was a favorite of the American intelligence service, The CIA, because the ISI helped the CIA talk Pkaistan into being the duck blind for American potshots at Soviet expansionism. What the ISI saw in Hikmatyar is more of a mystery. Hikmatyar is a fundamentalist kook, and so are some ISI people. Maybe that was it. Or maybe the ISI thought it owned Hikmatyar (although, personally, I think they would have been better off having a gila monster in their sock than this guy in their pocket). Or maybe it was just that Hikmatyar is an asshole and a divisive influence. Pakistan has no interest in a strong, united Afghanistan, whether run by Sovs or muj or what-you-will. The Afghans have a bad habit, every generation or two, of descending on the plains of Punjab and Sind for recreational pillage.”

      This charmer is still with us, you’lll be thrilled to know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbuddin_Hekmatyar#Post-DRA_civil_war

  8. #CovidSinisterClownWorld

    https://twitter.com/Based__UK/status/1485781825301663746?s=20

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e21494094be1634aa41072d793875e02c5728082be0b7dca6e0fcfd1fda689c.jpg

    https://twitter.com/TidyTops/status/1485729512176377863?s=20

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/21c44de4860459f0676db494d4bc9e75fe3c2768db5026fea00937bfaccb05d4.jpg

    Oh,and did someone say “reverse ferret”

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0165ab82db124cca9a5c01fa52bb7ca1591dd146707071dd0d2333b5e8b1ec7b.gif

        1. “Loosing”, “do to oppression”, “there eyes”, “loose kids”, “loose parents”, “loose access”.

          The writer is illiterate.

          1. As are the majority of blacks in America.

            Being able to count, to read and write well are now considered racist and a sign of oppression in America.

            Hence the dumbing down of University and Schools.

    4. The first thing that would happen is that US gun deaths would decline to the same level as Scandinavia.

    5. “Looting Africa’s resources.” LOL ! 50,000 years they’ve been living on top of all that mineral wealth without ever touching it until the evil foreign debbuls came along to dig it up.

    7. Is that losing or really ‘loosing’ and if so, ‘loosing’ them upon who – Blacks?

      As for ‘do’ to oppression!

      Yank journos seem to be more juvenile than our own misspelling teenagers.

  10. New rules could prevent thousands of refugees from joining close family in UK. 25 January 2022.

    More than 17,000 refugees, mainly women and children, could be prevented from reuniting with close family members in the UK due to new rules the Home Office plans to introduce, according to analysis by the Refugee Council..

    The operative word here is could! It is; as all Nottlers know, not going to happen. Not only because the Home Office is not even going to attempt it but because Human Rights legislation would be invoked . By my guestimate something like 80-100 thousand “migrants” will arrive in the UK this year. None of them will be turned away. All will be accommodated. It takes no great imagination to see that even with the elites largesse this cannot be maintained. Eventually it will crash. To this end a war in Europe would be a godsend to government!”

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/24/new-rules-could-prevent-thousands-of-refugees-from-joining-close-family-in-uk

    1. Then the males could eff orf back home and rejoin their family and provide for them, like a real man.

    2. The people who purport ‘to run’ our country are too effing stupid for words.
      Let these so called ‘refugees’ put their own countries problems in order.

      Is it any wonder that the indigenous working population are now being taxed to desperation.

      1. I wish they were stupid, it would be easier to bear than the alternative thesis that this is deliberate. I’m afraid that’s the interpretation I favour.

        1. I think history will show just how stupid political classes are. But we won’t be here. It will take quite a few decades to repair the damage this particular breed of habitual and pathological liars have set out to carry out. The deliberate destruction of our culture and social structure has been planned by excuse me for using the same word, idiots. By no stretch of the imagination do they have a sense of direction.

      2. I wish they were stupid, it would be easier to bear than the alternative thesis that this is deliberate. I’m afraid that’s the interpretation I favour.

      3. I wish they were stupid, it would be easier to bear than the alternative thesis that this is deliberate. I’m afraid that’s the interpretation I favour.

      4. I wish they were stupid, it would be easier to bear than the alternative thesis that this is deliberate. I’m afraid that’s the interpretation I favour.

    3. Do we really want to give house room to people who abandon their families ?

      /SARC/

      Their families are, of course, the ones that financed their great ‘Loot the West’ adventures in the first place, in sure and certain expectation that a safer bet than Man City versus Saffron Walden Cub Scouts Under-8’s would shortly enrich the entire clan for life.

    4. Do we really want to give house room to people who abandon their families ?

      /SARC/

      Their families are, of course, the ones that financed their great ‘Loot the West’ adventures in the first place, in sure and certain expectation that a safer bet than Man City versus Saffron Walden Cub Scouts Under-8’s would shortly enrich the entire clan for life.

    5. “Could”, “might”, “may” are all modal verbs which indicate only a possibility without any certainty.

  11. New rules could prevent thousands of refugees from joining close family in UK. 25 January 2022.

    More than 17,000 refugees, mainly women and children, could be prevented from reuniting with close family members in the UK due to new rules the Home Office plans to introduce, according to analysis by the Refugee Council..

    The operative word here is could! It is; as all Nottlers know, not going to happen. Not only because the Home Office is not even going to attempt it but because Human Rights legislation would be invoked . By my guestimate something like 80-100 thousand “migrants” will arrive in the UK this year. None of them will be turned away. All will be accommodated. It takes no great imagination to see that even with the elites largesse this cannot be maintained. Eventually it will crash. To this end a war in Europe would be a godsend to government!”

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/24/new-rules-could-prevent-thousands-of-refugees-from-joining-close-family-in-uk

  12. New rules could prevent thousands of refugees from joining close family in UK. 25 January 2022.

    More than 17,000 refugees, mainly women and children, could be prevented from reuniting with close family members in the UK due to new rules the Home Office plans to introduce, according to analysis by the Refugee Council..

    The operative word here is could! It is; as all Nottlers know, not going to happen. Not only because the Home Office is not even going to attempt it but because Human Rights legislation would be invoked . By my guestimate something like 80-100 thousand “migrants” will arrive in the UK this year. None of them will be turned away. All will be accommodated. It takes no great imagination to see that even with the elites largesse this cannot be maintained. Eventually it will crash. To this end a war in Europe would be a godsend to government!”

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/24/new-rules-could-prevent-thousands-of-refugees-from-joining-close-family-in-uk

  14. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    SIR – Having worked with explosive ordnance disposal teams in Northern Ireland, I was appalled at the attitude of officers involved in the bomb-disposal scenes in ITV’s new series Trigger Point (Arts, January 24).

    Thinking of switching a light on with a potential bomb close was bad enough, but checking a known suspect vehicle with no protection was unforgivable.

    Michael Slocombe
    Telford, Shropshire

    Yes, very odd, bearing in mind that the production apparently included a consultant in such matters. I can’t have been the only one shouting at the telly!

    It reminded me of an incident at Portsmouth dockyard where the International Festival of the Sea (IFOS) was being held some 20 years ago. An abandoned carrier bag was spotted outside one of the many stands and not far from the gangway of one of the Navy’s finest. The whole area was busy with service personnel and members of the public. Some attempt had been made to clear the area but it was woefully inadequate. I remember speaking to a police officer, to point out the requirement in Standing Orders that upon discovery of a suspect package an exclusion zone of at least 50m is required. His response? “It’s probably someone’s shopping” but he did nothing to move the crowd back. “Don’t worry Sir, it’s a police matter and they are on their way”. I was with an RN officer at the time. We looked at each other and promptly left the scene. My blood still runs cold at the thought of the resulting carnage had it been real. There is no excuse for such complacency.

  15. SIR – Our mother’s wide-ranging list of things she thought common (Letters, January 21) sometimes defied logic.

    It included: ice lollies, Corona fizzy pop, ITV, patent leather shoes, Daz washing powder, Fina petrol, eating in the street, and voting Labour.

    The indoctrination was effective.

    M J James
    Teddington, Middlesex

    I’m pleased to see that someone else dislikes the practice of eating in the street, but for the life of me the rest are a mystery – apart from ‘voting Labour’ needless to say!

    2. Table manners were one thing my parents came down on, speaking with your mouth full – to this day I find it repulsive. I also get wound up watching people eat with just a fork (another American import), slovenly doesn’t start to describe it – unfortunately it’s becoming the norm – I blame TV

      1. My brother chewed his food with his mouth open. I refused to sit opposite him. He still does it.

      2. It does depend, Spikey on the food being eaten.

        Mashed potato, a lot of white fish (if cooked correctly) and many more, where no knife is required.

  17. DT New Zealand

    “Accident Compensation Commission overwhelmed

    We have a universal government accident compensation scheme (ACC).

    Anyone who suffers injury in NZ as a result of any accident, is entitled

    to claim benefits and compensation from ACC. In fact there is no path

    for personal injury claims with private insurers, they must go through

    ACC.

    As you can imagine, the hardy folk at ACC are tasked with

    investigating all claims thoroughly to avoid any benefit fraud. Vaccine

    injury falls under their jurisdiction, so ACC staff have, uniquely in

    NZ, been immersing themselves in the torrid details of vaccine injury.”

    Rest Here,worth a read

    https://dailytelegraph.co.nz/opinion/what-came-unstuck-in-new-zealand-lessons-for-the-world/

    1. A government advisor epidemiologist has privately acknowledged to me that strokes are a known outcome of mRNA vaccination, but our government continues to ignore that this is the case. ACC staff have denied claims based on injury from heart attacks and stroke, but they are well aware of their rate of incidence.

      Morning Rik. This is bad enough but what about long term risk?

      1. All that I suspected about the vaccine is now coming out and just so glad we refused having had a stroke some years ago and Mrs N with heart problems. People reallly should have looked far more deeply into it all for themselves. I tried to tell some people but all they came out with was insults.

  18. US, UK and Europe totally united in the face of Russia threat to Ukraine, Biden says. 25 January 2022.

    US president Joe Biden has insisted there was “total” unity among western powers after crisis talks with European leaders on how to deter Russia from an attack against Ukraine.

    “I had a very, very, very good meeting – total unanimity with all the European leaders,” Biden told reporters shortly after finishing a one hour and 20 minute video conference on Monday with allied leaders from Europe and Nato.

    The US has put 8,500 troops on high alert to deploy to Europe as Nato reinforced its eastern borders amid growing tensions over Ukraine.

    Good. I feel so much better now that they are all taking their orders from a senile pederast. What could possibly go wrong? In actuality we can already see it. They are acting out Putin’s very fears. On the basis of a supposed threat to a non-NATO member they are mobilising for war! This of course makes the possibility of actual conflict much more probable since Vlad cannot now retreat because to do so would be to cede the ground and make Ukraine a de-facto if not de- jure member of NATO. What he was trying to prevent will have become a reality. Leaders and countries do not easily bear such humiliation and sooner or later fight!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/25/us-uk-and-europe-totally-united-in-the-face-of-russia-threat-to-ukraine-biden-says

    1. Is this grandstanding by the usual suspects being used as a distraction as the “pandemic” narrative continues to unwind? The doubling down by several country’s leaders, whose claims to be democratic are at best barely tenuous, is also indicative of a sense of panic as the “pandemic” situation unfolds. If these “leaders” are unable to get their way then they appear to want to do as much damage as they can before their fall from power. Whatever has possessed them?

        1. In 1914, and beyond, the tangle of treaties between the bellicose parties would require a Houdini to untangle them.

      1. Morning Phizzee. They try to forget about Macron and France. It’s too painful. Lol!

  19. From today’s DT. All rather predictable. It seems unlikely that the car driver will be recommended for an award…

    Driver held on suspicion of murder after car slams into Maida Vale knife attacker

    A 26-year-old motorist has been arrested after a car hit a man who had launched a frenzied attack on a woman in the street

    By
    Claudia Rowan
    and
    Will Bolton
    24 January 2022 • 12:40pm

    A motorist who is alleged to have mowed down and killed a knifeman as he was attacking a woman in the street was being questioned on Monday night on suspicion of murder.

    The 26-year-old driver was arrested after a car hit a man who had launched a frenzied attack on a woman on Monday morning.

    Witnesses described how the attacker began stabbing the female victim repeatedly outside the entrance to a park in Maida Vale, west London.

    As the 43-year-old woman screamed for help, a group of passers-by tried to distract and disarm the attacker.

    But when the suspect tried to attack other members of the public, it is claimed that an onlooker got into his nearby car and drove towards the knifeman, who was knocked down and trapped under the vehicle.

    Paramedics and the air ambulance attended the scene but both the woman and her 41-year-old attacker were pronounced dead.

    Scotland Yard said it was not aware of any links between the motorist and the two deceased people but confirmed he had been arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder.

    Witnesses described how events unfolded in the quiet residential road shortly after 9am when a man approached a woman, knocked her to the ground and began stabbing her.

    Raad Jiyad, a resident, said: “I heard screaming outside my flat. I saw the guy get on top of her and stab her four or five times. In total he might have stabbed her as many as 10 times. He was staring at her and he kept saying ‘take it, take it’.

    “People kept trying to get him off her but he was chasing them away and waving his knife at them.

    “We tried to stop him but we couldn’t get to her because he was waving the knife.”

    “One man who lived close by was trying to help and he got in his car, then a car hit the man.

    “It was all over so quickly. He went completely under the car. I think the driver was just trying to buy time to distract him.”

    Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “I heard screaming and my son, who was looking out the window, came over and told me someone was being stabbed outside.

    “I saw the lady on the floor and the man on top of her and I thought he was beating her up but then I saw he had a knife.

    “The man with the knife was hit by the car and everyone was trying to help the lady. The man who had been crushed by the car kept calling out ‘help me, help me’ but no one would go to him as we were all trying to help the woman.”

    Mo Ahmed, 27, a local shop owner, said one of his customers had tried to help the female victim.

    “He ran to the attacker and managed to push him away from the girl. But then the attacker stood up and ran to attack my customer.

    “People were trying to intervene, there were people all around, shouting ‘leave her alone, she’s bleeding’. After a car hit him the attacker fell down.”

    Police said it is believed the knifeman and the female victim were known to each other and detectives said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident at this stage.

    Det Ch Insp Jim Eastwood said: “This was a terrible incident that occurred in broad daylight on a busy London street. It also appears that a number of members of the public bravely tried to intervene to stop the attack.

    “A man has been arrested in relation to the case. We are not aware of any links between this man and the two deceased. I can also confirm that we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection to this incident.

    “A team of detectives are working to establish the circumstances of the incident and I would ask the public to avoid speculating on what may have happened while these initial enquiries take place.

    “A number of people have already come forward. Any information could be vital in helping us understand why this dreadful incident happened.”

    1. A motorist who is alleged to have mowed down and killed a knifeman as he was attacking a woman in the street was being questioned on Monday night on suspicion of murder.

      A warning to all those who are tempted to help those who are the victims of violence. The law is on the side of the perpetrator!

        1. Morning Horace. The Law has since the beginning of the Twentieth Century progressively shut down people’s individual sense of what is right. It is interesting that Gibbon, the author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire thought that lawyers with their cynical manipulation of the truth and denial of common sense bore a great deal of responsibility for its demise. It’s also worth reflecting that they make up the greater portion of professions in the House of Commons!

        2. Morning Horace. The Law has since the beginning of the Twentieth Century progressively shut down people’s individual sense of what is right. It is interesting that Gibbon, the author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire thought that lawyers with their cynical manipulation of the truth and denial of common sense bore a great deal of responsibility for its demise. It’s also worth reflecting that they make up the greater portion of professions in the House of Commons!

        3. To me, Horace, they are the weakest of the wanking Stasi.

          Time for them to be put down as the runts (did I spell that correctly?) of the litter

    3. Adrenalin, both the problem and the solution. If you ever see a violent crime being committed, chances are that the perpetrators are on a ´high´, but you are not.

    1. She was taken to Stoke Newington police station, where Sgt Kurtis Howard approved the strip search.

      Doctor Duff is of course White. We can only speculate about Sgt. Kurtis Howard.

          1. And it took 5 years? 5 years? 5 weeks would be acceptable, 5 months incompetent. 5 years is simply disgusting.

    2. Typical of the Stasi who operate in OUR name.

      Get them OUT of the force – or service as they like to call it.

      Not much service here – more brute force and f**cking ignorance.

        2. My nephew says that stealing is what Africans are best at. Maybe it’s because he’s a wicked racist, but ti could be something to do with the years he spent working for the World Bank.

      3. Deep corrupt pockets?

        Not much difference here over the last two years, is it? £400 Billion “covid” costs and what was it? £4.3 Billion unrecoverable “covid” fraud costs. Making hay while the Sun shines, or exaggerated disease rampages, is the way to go if you have the right contacts.

    5. A letter to my MP:-

      Dear Miss Dines,
      I have recently become aware of the scandal of the International Specialised Hospital of Uganda, located in Lubowa.

      I wonder if you could please advise me how much of the US$397m (Shs 1.4 trillion) that appears to have been thrown at this project came from UK Foreign Aid funding and, if UK funding was involved, what measures are being taken to ensure such waste does not reoccur?

      I would also be very grateful if this could be treated as a Freedom of Information Request.

    1. Morning Grizzly

      My mother allowed us to eat icecream as a treat , but she considered Corona was bad for our teeth , so stuff like that was banned , so was chewing gum , patent leather , Beano and Dandy( we used to read our friends comics) we had The Children’s Newspaper delivered, (Arthur Mee) . ITV was off limits .. Even now I hate to see people scoffing stuff in the street .

      We very very rarely ate chips , oh my goodness there were so many things , but those days were very different to now, decades ago !

      1. Agree with eating in the streets – it was always frowned on. No wonder there are so many obese youngsters around, you rarely see one who isn’t stuffing their gob and it seems mothers with babies always give them sweets to eat, presumably to keep them quiet

      2. Patent leather was one of my mother’s pet hates as well! My maternal grandfather wore plus fours, played golf and bridge ( not simultaneously!) and worked for Dunlop! He never wore the same shoes two days in a row! And I would have loved a pair of patent leather shoes and lacy socks….

        1. We had a district manager who had a bullying assistant, who picked on the female cashiers. He always wore patent leather shoes.
          I told my staff that they were worn to enable him to look up their skirts.
          They didn’t take him as seriously after that.

        2. Patent leather shoes were on the banned list of our uniform sheet when I was at grammar school. We surmised it was because it allowed one to see a reflection of the girls’ knickers!

      1. Why is Fina petrol infra dig? It all comes from the same source.

        Why is Daz inferior to Oxydol, Omo, Rinso, Acdo, Persil, Tide and Surf?

        1. Fina was nearly always sold from scruffy garages. We had to fill up at respectable places. Daz used to turn mothers hands very red. Gentlemen were NEVER seen on the street before 9am.

  26. Bleurgh!
    Late on parade, but a snuffly good morning to one and all after a night with the “Upper Nostril Syndrome”.
    A dry but chilly and dull grey start to the day with -1½°C on the yard thermometer.

    Spent yesterday in Derby getting some idea of whet replacement furniture is available to Son in Law’s flat as his discharge from the unit he’s in is imminent. Then did a fag run to the hospital for him to find that he may not be going back to his flat after all.
    Joined up thinking is NOT the NHS’s forte.

  27. 334627+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Tuesday 25 January: What happens when the West fails to help victims of Russian aggression

    Let us first ask,
    What happens when the United Kingdom peoples fail to help their own
    kith & kin victims of the domestic political overseers aggression.

    We are currently seemingly out to protect foreign elements when on the home front the indigenous peoples are being overwhelmed by foreign elements.

    By the time 2/5/2024 is reached and regarding the DOVER daily intake alone whole swathes of the country will ” find” islam then and only then
    will the real danger be recognised.

    Public notice,
    Stoning to be carried out at the market square Saturday, view of the majority of the current electorate, “that ain’t right … is it ? not very
    British”.

    Neither is the ground you are standing on.

    1. If Robert Stapleford refues to post a comment then he adds nothing to the debate. Could he be banned, please? He obviously has a problem with Ogga and cannot articulate his attitudes.

      1. Good morning wibbling and all Nottlers. Really dark start to the day.

        I don’t know any details about what you are complaining of, wibbling, it I think there are far more important things to worry about than “banning” someone’s non-post. We’ve had enough “banning” over the last 2years all without justification IMO. Free speech?

        1. Yes, all for that, but he doesn’t say anything. He just downvotes, which is utterly pointless.

          There’s no engagement, no discussion, it’s always ogga. Thus he has a personal problem with ogga.

          OK – iss it possible then to prevent downvoting *unless* a comment is posted? I want to know what he disagrees with.

      2. I’ve been unable to ban him as he has not commented and there seems to be no facility to ban a non -commenter. He probably knows that.

  28. It used to be said that football is a game for gentlemen, played by hooligans; whilst rugby is a game for hooligans, played by gentlemen.

    I would add to that. Rugby is a game for hooligans, played by, and watched by, gentlemen.

    Football is a game for gentlemen, played by hooligans, and watched by (mainly) the dregs of society.

    1. Poor you. It must have been an absolute nightmare living with an insufferably pretentious mother, such as yours

      Poor you. It must be an absolute nightmare being an insufferably pretentious individual, such as yourself.

          1. Good morning. You can prance around the ring in your bikini holding the big number up if you like. :@)

          3. Something that allows for a bit of wobble?

            *apparently that’s sexual harassment that is.

            I’ll get me Mac.

        2. Good morning, Philip.

          I’m afraid you will be wasting your time if waiting for events to transpire. I have learned that it is futile to be engaging in any form of intelligent discussion those who are intellectually disadvantaged.

      1. Oh nooooo,….. home made wholemeal granary. So much better than mass-produced crap with preservatives. 🤗

    1. I like Dr Campbell but he could shorten those videos by half and still get the message across.

  31. There are roughly 34 million pets in the UK now , increased since lockdown .

    During WW2 millions of pets were put down , the country was on rationing ,

    Our elderly pal told us that his father was a butcher , and was frequently asked to do the final thing with his gun/stun gun .

    Working dogs were spared , but then in those days , very few people had pet dogs and exotic pets .

    1. My mother had a dog before the war and she got ‘old Nick ‘ in 1940. What makes you think few people had dogs and cats?

      3. Next minute, it was SPLATTED all over Carrie’s face. Sorry, wishful thinking, Those strawberries are those hard and flavourless Spanish ones…

    9. If it was anything to do with Carrie Antoinette, it would have been the type that is not bread.

  33. There is an excellent article in this month’s “The Critic” about the folly of SAGE and the modellers (sounds like a 1970s pop group).

    I can’t download it as it isn’t on their website. And scanning it and posting would mean that it would be illegible.

    I therefore commend you to BUY the magazine and enjoy its very practical, common-sense approach to modern life. IT is as though its contributors are all NoTTLers…!!

  36. Is Angela Rayner a new ‘Boris’ in the making?
    Their politics may be vastly different, but their political style is scarily similar – and that could make her Labour’s ‘wild card’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/25/angela-rayner-new-boris-making/

    She’s limbering up with a bit of Boris style adultery. When the Adulterer Bonking Boris leaves the stage then Adultera Truss is eager to take over and Angela doesn’t want to be left out on the obligatory extra-marital fornication requirement if one wants the top job.

    Her married lover was photographed on her doorstep – she with her naff boots and he with a toothbrush in his pocket leaving her home in the morning.

    Somebody once said that love is being prepared to share your toothbrush. So it’s not love then!

    1. Boris, for all his faults (and there are many) is, unlike Rayner, not as thick as two short planks.

    2. Good morning! Does Angelea also predict a million deaths by next Tuesday, à la Prof Pantsdown?

      1. If it gets her promotion – of course she will.

        Good morning, Our Susan. Are you back in fighting form after your medical ishoos?

        1. I am, Bill, thank you. I’m booked in for an ultrasound scan of the tummy on 3 Feb and don’t expect that it will show any abnormality but as it’s being offered, it seems worth doing anyway? I foolishly had a glass of wine in church yesterday evening (at an interesting lecture series on the medieval church) and that upset my stomach but it’s settled again now. Milk, fizzy drinks, alcohol and caffeine seem to be triggers (but not in the woke sense!), which is sad but I’ll just have to accept it and abstain.

          2. Good morning, Sue. Lukewarm water is my tipple of choice, these days. It sounds boring but is extremely benign and you get used to the taste.

          3. Yes, there is a large glass of lukewarm water sitting on my desk right now. The drinking water thingies at work do hot and cold so I top up the last 20% or so with hot.

    3. That article by the Camilla woman is another sign that the Telegraph has lost the plot.

    2. Good morning Nagsman

      I hope that a couple of days ago you enjoyed a cake as delicious as the one Boris is seen photographed with on his birthday.

      Would your man confirm that your man nagging still up to scratch?

      1. No cake for me – still trying to lose enough weight to stop the horse grunting when I mount 🙂

  39. Good Moaning. And, boy, am I going to moan.
    It’s a grey day and our landline is kaput.
    Fortunately, we still have interwebby.
    Neither of us can remember how long we’ve had the 3 phones, so first we’ll try new batteries, as we have no idea of the life of rechargeables.
    Then, if that doesn’t work, I’ll ring Zen Internet. On the plus side, I have found my mobile phone and it’s recharging.
    Bring back the carrier pigeon. I would suggest a man carrying a letter in a forked stick, but that would be white privilege/colonialism/racism/cultural appropriation …. yada… yada … yada …….

    1. Send for Korky and Elsie – they can do the legwork – they have nothing else to do!!

    2. Think on… BT are in the process of doing away with the conventional landlines and transferring us all to VOIP – that “internet phone” to us plebs. So when there is a power cut you will have no internet and no phone – you will need to keep your mobile charged and hope you get a signal.

      1. We’ve just suffered this.

        Apart from the fact that no electrical communication worked any more, and it took most of the day getting things back to normal, we found that our upstairs extensions no longer worked.
        When BT came to repair it, the engineer said that we can be issued with two extension ‘phones FREE.
        They turned up by Special delivery next morning.

        Make sure that when BT do this to you that they send you the two FREE ‘phones.

        1. Good morning Janet

          I never knew you were a supporter of Angel Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party.

    3. I find Zen Internet to be very helpful and easy to get hold of. The complete opposite of TallTalk.

  40. Good morning all, a bit delayed as my laptop was on a go-slow of almost terminal design. Nipping out into the grey murk to bang some golf balls about but thought I’d drop a line first.

    Last night I attended the ‘Monday Club’ in my local for the first time this year, as we can once again stand at the bar. All the others in my group are avid-vaxxers/maskers, some counting down the days to booster 2, but humour at my stance has been maintained with absolutely no teddies thrown from cots etc. One of the wags has christened me ‘Novak’, as I won’t play the game.

    Well, it made me laugh and everyone stood their round.

    3. Chatting with my neighbour yesterday he shocked me when he told me that they had had minus 8 temps in the countryside near Limoges, where they spend most of their lives now. And later this week he’s off skiing.

      Meanwhile there’s panic again in the UK as the peat on the bottom ( 😏) of Hadrian’s wall is shrinking and likely to crack due to ‘Glow Ball’ warming and the wall might not remain standing for much longer. Well,……….that’s one thing the effing romans didn’t get right isn’t it.
      And the gardener who had been siting down in the green house, came out with peat on his bottom. 😲

      2. It’s in the Haute-Vienne.
        When we drive north it is often noticeably colder in the H-V.

        We’ve been in the -4 to -7 range most mornings recently in our part of the Dordogne. We went down to -20 one year.

          1. It’s a very pleasant area.
            The bit I particularly like is that the default position for weather here seems to be sunny. Even when it rains I am convinced it happens mainly at night. We compared annual sunshine vs where we lived in the UK. We get over 700 hours a year more on average. It might not sound a lot, but that’s roughly three months worth of sunny days.

          2. I was impressed with the old paper mill museum and after we had finished a meal one evening at a restaurant in town we passed our compliments to the chef and the waitress told us he was English. We hadn’t expected that.

          3. There is a surprising number of English/British run places all around the area. It’s laughingly called Dordogneshire for good reason.

          4. When our three boys were young we use to go to various parts of France every year for our holidays. Key Camp in their mobile homes. Great holiday venues for families.

    4. That’s why they changed the narrative to climate change. When folk cottoned on to the nonsense the marketing had to change.

    5. A few die-hards were arguing in the Mail comments that the snow in Saudi and the middle east is evidence of warmer, wetter weather rather than the deep frosts that region normally sees. Good luck with trying to pass snow off as global warming.

      1. I wonder if they realise the desert often freezes at night. do they think it is blistering hot all the time…

  42. “SIR – You report that Downing Street police officers gave “extremely damning” evidence to Sue Gray. This invites the question: why did officers stand by and fail to confront illegal behaviour?

    Dr Steven R Hopkins
    Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire”

    “Morning, sir, may I have a look in that case?”
    “Afraid not, officer – Official Secrets Act stuff.”
    “Quite understand, sir – very wise to keep it under lock and key.”

    THAT’S WHY – “Dr” Hopkins…

  43. Jacinda Ardern is martyring herself and her country – and all for a failed Covid strategy

    Despite a high vaccination rate and a milder strain of Covid, New Zealand continues to delay the inevitable – with terrible consequences

    MATTHEW LESH

    In certain quarters, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acquired a reputation for being the most virtuous leader over Covid. The Atlantic called her the ‘most effective leader on the planet’. The Guardian celebrated Jacinda, among other ‘female-led countries,’ for keeping deaths low and the nation largely free of lockdowns.

    Yet now the magic trick is over, and the ‘Zero Covid’ charade is falling apart. Despite a high vaccination rate – 93% of people aged over 12 years – and the arrival of a milder strain, restrictions are only getting harsher. While the world opens up, New Zealand continues to delay the inevitable.

    In response to a cluster of omicron cases, new Covid restrictions have been imposed. Hospitality venues and indoor events are now capped at 100 (vaccinated) people, and mask mandates are in force in shops, on public transport and in schools.

    Ardern, determined to martyr herself along with the rest of the country, has even cancelled her own wedding.

    More alarming is the announcement that household contacts of positive cases will have to isolate for up to 24 days – effectively imprisoning citizens for over three weeks. This long isolation period risks discouraging people from getting tested, undermining the entire policy. That is if you can even access a test among the ongoing shortages.

    The new domestic restrictions come as the country’s border controls develop into a full-blown humanitarian tragedy. New Zealand has been closed to most foreigners for almost two years. Citizens must enter a literal lottery for one of a small number of hotel quarantine rooms. Just 12 per cent of those seeking to enter their own country are getting a place.

    Then last week, among a rise in cases in hotel quarantine, the government went even further: the lottery was cancelled, and no new rooms were released. The border was entirely shut.

    This leaves even more citizens stuck in limbo outside of the country. Many without jobs or permanent accommodation. Separated from children, partners, and parents. Unable to say goodbye to dying loved ones or attend a milestone family event. Some have waited the entire 22 months to return and will be waiting still longer.

    How Ardern believes locking her own citizens out of the country squares with her supposedly open-to-the-world, liberal mantra is completely unclear.

    In another fateful twist, border closure has even prevented New Zealand hospitals from recruiting nurses and doctors from overseas, reducing the quality of care provided to patients and leaving the country ill-prepared for an inevitable wave of Covid infections. Meanwhile, existing nurses are departing the country due to immigration rules that make them feel ‘unwelcome and in a permanent state of temporariness’.

    Ardern announced last October that New Zealand would be moving on from the ‘Zero Covid’ or elimination strategy. That was during Auckland’s ‘snap’ two-week lockdown that ended up lasting 100-plus days – only necessary because government complacency led to a slow vaccination rollout.

    After that lockdown, the priority was meant to be to vaccinate the population, put an end to restrictions and begin opening the border by February. Yet the last week has revealed an inability to fulfil those promises. More restrictions are in place and the border will remain shut for even longer. This is a total failure of Ardern’s leadership.

    New Zealand sits alongside China, North Korea, and Turkmenistan in trying to continue to prevent Covid from spreading. These are countries that have treated Covid as some sort of battle between good and evil, where even a single infection is perceived to be a moral failure. They have struggled to exit this mindset even as most of the world moves on.

    From the moment Covid was but a spark in the eyes of that bat – or a worker at the Wuhan Institute of Virology – it set humanity on an unfortunate path. There has been extraordinary misery and death from the virus, but increasingly in the context of vaccines and treatments, from superfluous government activity.

    New Zealand may be a hold out, but the facts of the world point towards Covid turning endemic and people moving on with their lives. The sooner Ardern comes to this realisation the better.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/24/jacinda-ardern-martyring-country-failed-covid-strategy/

      1. On the plus side her fiance may have had a lucky escape, if he engages a brain cell before the marriage is rescheduled?

      2. On the plus side her fiance may have had a lucky escape, if he engages a brain cell before the marriage is rescheduled?

    2. She is a complete fruitcake. Madder than a box of frogs. How soon can they get rid of her?

      1. As soon as that UN slot is established. I read recently that, just like her previous boss Miranda Bliar, this ‘martyr’ has had a huge increase in personal wealth. In her case from around 250K up to 25M in the past year. All on her PM salary. Now that’s thrifty

  45. Are monument topplers so pure that they won’t be cancelled, too?

    While debating the removal of 17th century ‘slavers’, Jesus College Cambridge, has accepted money from genocidal China

    ROBERT TOMBS

    An unusual event will soon be taking place in Cambridge: a hearing in the beautiful chapel of Jesus College by the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Ely. The College has petitioned for a “faculty” (an authorisation) to remove from the chapel a prominent and artistically important memorial to one of its major benefactors, Tobias Rustat. He was also a significant benefactor of the University, and has a Cambridge street named after him.

    I hope to be able to attend as an interested observer. Partly, I admit, because of the picturesque nature of the event – an archaic procedure in which the 17th century will be colliding with the 21st. More seriously, because matters of ethics and politics that have become increasingly contentious will be discussed calmly and thoroughly by qualified people. Among them will be the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford, and a former Director of the Institute of Historical Research in London.

    There could not be a sharper contrast with the anarchic wrecking of the Colston statue in Bristol, or the shrill demands that “Rhodes must Fall” in Oxford. But the issues raised will be similar. Rustat invested in the 17th-century Royal Africa Company, which traded in slaves. Central here is the question of what, if anything, 17th century slavery has to do with us today, and why a long extinct trade in people is being promoted as a defining symbol of our – and Western – society. Also at issue is our relationship with the past. Can we honestly judge the dead by our own sometimes very recent standards? Who are those who claim to sit in judgment, and why?

    Then there are utilitarian questions, which for some are far more important: public image above all, and the sometimes contrary concern not to alienate present and future benefactors. I believe the main opposition to quietly removing the Rustat memorial does indeed come from former students of Jesus College who are or might become donors. Why should they give money to an institution that can brusquely decide to “cancel” those who fund it?

    Colleges always tell their first-year students (at least mine does) that they will be valued members of the college for the rest of their lives. Here is a test of that promise. But what if present students and past students see things differently? Calm debate might, if we are lucky, help resolve tensions and guide public opinion.

    The piquant aspect here is that it concerns a chapel memorial, which raises the moral stakes. The College, and seemingly the Bishop of Ely, regard it as wrong to “venerate” in a place of worship a man guilty, by our standards, of complicity in a heinous crime – a weighty consideration. The memorial, they suggest, makes chapel-goers feel excluded or unsafe.

    On the other hand, it might be thought to teach valuable moral lessons. About the possibility of redemption. About how moral standards change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. About the paradox that human beings often manage to be both good and evil. Perhaps above all about hypocrisy: a slave-trader boasts of gifts to charity; students indignant about historical slavery buy mobile phones containing minerals mined by African children; a college scrupulous about past misdeeds has taken money from a genocidal regime. If that makes worshippers feel “unsafe”, so much the better.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/24/monument-topplers-pure-wont-cancelled/

    1. I suspect that those who might feel excluded or unsafe are very unlikely to be regular attendees at chapel services even if the memorial is removed.

        1. All right here it is (albeit late):-“Watch out! Roy Rogers is coming this way on his horse!”

          2. When I take our students to Dinan for a project I point out the statue of Bertrand de Guesclan and I tell them that the name of his horse is Trigger. Sadly they are not well informed enough to know that not only were the horses of both Roy Rogers and Bennie Hill’s Ernie also called Trigger but so was Willy Nelson’s battered old Martin guitar.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f43521f285b66c39b102dcf75bd1696bb85c6d1e1b0968d2507a09a88aee7fbe.jpg

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3befa9cba260c80b7b9805e1fcfa21e77f03915023da5e4327af104318236dc4.jpg

      2. I get a bit worried by the creaks and bangs that come from my closed off chimney when we have gales.

      3. When it seems likely to topple over on top of you because you’re hauling it down and haven’t done due diligence with a risk assessment?

    1. I hate to admit it but on this occasion I’m beginning to side with Boreus, there is no doubt he’s some kind of divot, but at the moment there is no one insight who could take over as PM.
      And when will the BBC realise IT IS NOT A POLITICAL PARTY ?

    2. I must admit, the tiny birthday cake pictured in the Mail doesn’t look that bad. Is Boris still hungry for power, or does he just want this nightmare to end, I wonder?
      I want him to stay, but only because we have zero chance of getting anyone better.

      1. What a dreadful predicament this nation is in right now, out of the 300 plus tories there is no one who might fit the bill as PM.

        1. 334627+ up ticks,

          Afternoon RE,

          Try mass supporting a fringe party, ALL the support & votes this lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled / govn. controlled, paedo. importer / protectors have had over the last four decades have =ed SHITE in spades, four decades later.

      2. Precisely – it’s a case of “always keep ahold of nurse For fear of finding something worse.”

        1. That grand little lad called Albert may have had humbler origins than Jim but ultimately they suffered the same fate.

      3. I am often reminded of these words in King Lear when I consider our prominent politicians:

        When others are more wicked; not being the worst
        Stands in some rank of praise.

        Cameron was elected because he was not Brown and then because he was not Miliband; May was elected because Gove scuppered Johnson and there was nobody else in the race and then because she was not Corbyn; Johnson was elected because he was neither Corbyn nor May.

    3. And now Dick of the Yard’s boys will be investigating, as if they had no knife crimes to bother with.

    4. Is brioche still on the menu?

      (Doesn’t the woman who thought this was ideal fare for the masses have a name which rhymes with the the nickname of the PM’s most recent wife?)

    5. Boris may have pulled a blinder by getting the Met to investigate him for possible criminal charges whilst Labour demand an early release of the Gray report.

      There are so many events that not only require investigating but also consideration for a successful crminal prosecution that any ongoing press releases could prejudice a trial which could then be considered not in the public interest let alone being inadmissible due to legal proceedings being sub judice.

      In the meantime Boris can get on with engaging the military in fortifying the channel as a defence against invasion of occupying aliens.

    6. Yup. Exactly my feeling.
      I certainly think Johnson’s time as PM is limited and that he needs minders to keep him focussed while he is still in office, but Cakegate and the Parties is now getting silly.

  49. In the BLT section of a DT article about Johnson’s and Farage’s respective parts in ‘getting Brexit done’ (or not getting it done) somebody made this point:

    Farage’s greatest mistake was not contesting in 2019 Conservative seats held by Conservative remainers. The fact that the HoC is still packed with remainers on both sides of the House makes a very imperfect Brexit extremely fragile. Indeed with the NIP in place Brexit is not much more than BRINO.

    1. 334627+ up ticks,

      Afternoon R,

      In reality,
      The farage greatest mistake was assisting the treacherous party nec to shut down the real UKIP, a rising success story on ALL fronts under Batten / Braine
      leadership.

      Here is his take in 2019 on UKIP members, the very peoples that gave him a platform and supported him for years.

      https://youtu.be/Fc7iuUHk3Yk

    1. 334627+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      Did not the real UKIP try to forewarn the herd of much of
      our present odious issues only to be elbowed aside protecting the good name of the lab/lib/con coalition.

    2. Whilst under 13 is a bit extreme, sexualising of youngsters is nothing new. When I was a young Sapper in Maidstone several of the lasses hanging about in the local “squaddie” pubs were not just under 18, but under 16!

      However, we didn’t make an industry of it like certain sectors of our current population.

      1. I find it is very difficult to gauge the age of young women when they are fully made up and “dressed to kill”.
        I’m sure the young women today are far more worldly wise than they were when I was young; and there is little doubt that society is sexualising them much younger.
        Childhood seems to be shorter and shorter.

    3. I just hope some one ‘pops round to see him’ and ‘ave a word ‘when he gets home.

    3. That’s the one where you don’t know you’ve got it and it doesn’t show up on a test, presumably, as it’s the “stealth” version.

  54. Ukraine exposes just how weak the humiliated West has become. Sherelle Jacobs. 25 January 2022.

    As a Russian invasion of Ukraine looms, it isn’t just the fate of one nation that hangs in the balance. It’s that of the entire West. After communism’s defeat in the Cold War, the American scholar Francis Fukuyama notoriously predicted the “end of history”, with the world peacefully aligning with the liberal democratic values of the victorious powers. At the time, few questioned whether this might have been hubris. He was merely bringing into the mainstream the ideas of the Russian-French thinker Alexandre Kojève, who helped found the EU, to be built in America’s image.

    We’ve known for some time that Fukuyama was disastrously wrong, but it is quite something that it is now the enemies of the free world who are making the predictions. According to Vladimir Putin, we are witnessing the “end of liberalism”: the West has become “obsolete”, he claims, as the EU fragments and American confidence collapses. Unable to live up to its values – or tell a new galvanising story of freedom adapted to modern realities – it is hard to escape the conclusion that the US and Europe risk tipping into a death spiral of humiliation and decline.

    Amid the theatre and chaos – as the US evacuates its embassy and London accuses Putin of plotting a coup to install a puppet in Kyiv – one thing is clear: America has once and for all abandoned the evangelical liberalism that it espoused as the world hegemon for much of the last 30 years.

    Since the Cold War, it championed the view that the values of freedom, democracy and human rights are not just cultural particulars but universal goods that ought to be exported. That the West would be on hand to help liberate plucky Davids from autocratic Goliaths. And that as unfree countries are integrated into the global economy, democratisation would organically follow. Underpinning all this was an ardent faith that democratic liberalism marks mankind’s evolutionary end-point, precisely as Fukuyama argued.

    Such ideological self-confidence propelled the Clinton administration to expand Nato up to Russia’s borders. It spurred on the EU’s bid to assimilate Ukraine. Yet resolve began to falter following the disasters of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the global financial crisis. And now, in the face of Putin’s threats, it is crumbling.

    Even if the Russian President does not invade his neighbour, in some senses he has already won. Ukraine’s allies have betrayed their reluctance to defend it. While Joe Biden all but permitted Moscow to make a “minor incursion”, Germany has blocked Nato allies from sending weapons to Ukraine.

    And with this, the poverty of Western leadership has been exposed. Recent events have brought home Germany’s moral hollowness – not just its squalid reliance on Russian gas, but its blinkered pacifism. Regardless of the stakes, Europe’s largest power runs scared of thorny existential confrontations. Meanwhile, an increasingly bipolar America does not know whether to ditch or cling to its erstwhile worldview, in which the globe is divided between the free and unfree. It is beginning to nod to the idea that Ukraine is part of Russia’s turf, reverting to the old “spheres of influence” policy that it championed from the 19th century through to the Cold War. Yet at the same time many US officials clutch fancifully to the notion that Russia can still be assimilated into the existing world order – and thus be prevented from forming an unholy alliance with China.

    Such naivete shows just how desperate and muddled the West has become. Russian foreign policy’s overarching aim is not merely to erect defensive buffers on its vast land borders at the expense of countries like Ukraine, but to ensure the survival of the Putin regime. The idea that Russia can be absorbed into the western order against China is ludicrous. However much he is indulged, Putin will continue to keep the West at arm’s length, while deepening links with Beijing. If Western powers allow him to secure victory in Ukraine, they will not be averting a much greater crisis, but setting a precedent. China will be emboldened in its potential plans to invade Taiwan.

    This is not to argue that the more self-assured West of the past was perfect. I have long had serious concerns about the over-confidence of its foreign policy. Zealous attempts to not just defend its values abroad but to actively impose them have often proved counter-productive, giving ammunition to autocrats who falsely claim that freedom is a foreign concept. This impression has become particularly poisonous in the Middle East. The same kind of top-down evangelism has triggered populist backlashes against the EU, closer to home. But the consequences of an absence of Western power and boldness are perhaps just as concerning. The grand narrative of freedom may have carried deep flaws. But Ukraine exposes the dangers of a world in which the West no longer stands for anything.

    After all, the big question right now is not simply whether the West is capable of sticking up for its principles abroad – but whether it is capable of doing so at home. America and Europe are becoming an importer – rather than an exporter – of values. Take the now mainstream belief that, in certain circumstances, extreme, “precautionary” health security must override liberty itself. This has become entrenched since Western countries sought to emulate China’s Covid lockdown, an unprecedented public health tool inspired by the CCP’s chilling fangkong (“prevent and control”) crisis management system, deployed against the Uyghurs. As surveillance technology progresses and the AI arms race heats up, meanwhile, the attitude that Westerners will have to become “more Asian” about privacy is also gaining traction.

    A new brand of liberalism is sorely needed. One that stands up for the sanctity of the nation state, rather than undermines it – and supports countries like Ukraine when needed. One that recognises that liberal democracy is far from inevitable and must constantly be defended both at home and, in specific circumstances, abroad. One that resists the self-loathing metropolitan impulse that the West may longer be worth fighting for.

    If not, a horrible twist on Fukuyama’s “end of history” may come to pass. Far from marching towards liberal enlightenment, the world may be converging on soft totalitarianism.

    The West still retains some economic and military capability but it is a moral basket case. Decadent,corrupt. It believes in nothing and its political elites hate what it was.
    .
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/24/ukraine-exposes-just-weak-humiliated-west-has-become/

    1. The day Vladimir Putin won his first Presidential Election election was the beginning of the end of US hegemony.
      Having had an insight into the workings of Government during his period of temporary President from 9th August 1999 till his election victory on 26th March 2000,he could see that his country was being raped by foreigners and he vowed to stop it.
      A lot of chancers made a lot of money but he eventually weeded them out of positions of power.
      Outsiders don’t realise that Clinton had installed CIA members in the Russian government and were making policy decisions in favour of the carpetbaggers.That slowly changed but it took years.
      Meanwhile NATO/EU crept ever Eastward but Russia didn’t have the money to spend on a confrontation.
      I believe Putin now has the necessary tools to do the job hence the two meetings several weeks ago;one with the US and one with NATO.
      Ha has set out the Russian position regarding the future and is awaiting their replies.
      The US is to respond this week.
      Now perhaps it becomes a little bit clearer about the Ukraine issue.

        1. do they get in before the promised afghan refugees or do they have to wait their turn? As with everything else, the Canadian immigration is totally screwed up.

          1. Probably Afghans first so they can kill white Canadians to make space for the Ukrainians. It’s the sensible Trudeau approach…

            And I bet you never thought you would ever see sensible and Trudeau in the same sentence.

            EDIT, although getting rid of Trudeau would be sensible.

        1. That is probably where they got the idea, nothing new in Ottawa.

          With other countries sending troops and arms, this response by our woke idiots is too much.

  55. The latest in the Mail is that weasel Shapps is laying into Boris, which ought to keep the PM safe within the Conservative Party, at least.

    2. Believe it or not, Shitts actually thinks he is a very likely candidate to succeed BPAPM.
      One has to larf…

      1. There was some article about him in the Mail, he has had a new haircut or something…I didn’t click on it, but took it as evidence of his ambitions.

      2. Even by the very low standards of Boris and some of his predecessors Shiitts has the potential reach new depths; probably below the bottom of the barrel!

    3. He is such a creep, just a coincidence of course but not long after he moved from being housing minister the amount of new homes being built in his constituency Welwyn and Hatfield became unprecedented. And still goes on and on.
      He claims to reside in his constituency, but actually lives in a mansion in Brookman’s Park.

  56. Dog lovers alert.
    Big article in the Mail online about a mystery virus which is affecting dogs throughout the UK.

      1. Exactly. Similar symptoms, but I thought it better to mention it generally rather than search for TB’s latest posting.

  58. Handy – Sue Ellen’s report into Partygate put on hold as Plod start laborious “investigations”……

    Nice one, Dick Head.

    1. What with partygate, hate crimes, and murder investigations of drivers who kill knife maniacs it’s a wonder they have time to eat doughnuts and dance in Pride parades.

    2. One leader of a dodgy organisation investigating the leader of another dodgy organisation. Triples all round. Just don’t trip over the huge mound of sweepings under the rug.

      2. There was a nice touch in a P.G. Wodehouse story where a genteel young lady pretended to be a chambermaid in order to gain access into a grand house and was exposed as a fraud when it was discovered that she did not sweep away dust under the furniture or conceal it under a carpet.

    3. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

      Does this explain how she became Met Comissioner and still continues in post after such a disastrous performance?

    1. I must be very old fashioned, I wouldn’t be surprised if I have used all 50 of them within the last year and many of them I use regularly.

      I wonder how many of those polled really are born and bred English speakers, where English is the lingua franca at home.

        1. Yes and no.

          I suspect there are far more than 50 expressions used fairly regularly by young people that I would not understand.

          2. I’m sure you’d be able to work them out, though. I told the (youngish) chap who insulated my conservatory roof that it would be a pity to spoil the ship for a ha’porth of tar. He had no idea what I meant.

      2. I must admit there were none that I felt was unfamiliar to me although I think the article is correct regarding the age range of people who use such sayings.
        Do a search for Perspectus Global who comissioned the poll, how do these firms justify their existence?

      1. My favourite that is missing for some reason,
        “You three are a fine pair if there was one”
        I only heard that from my father, an intellectual giant of a man. 😉

    4. I must have had my crystal ball out because several days ago I said to MH that I was going to spend a penny and then I said, if you used that expression nowadays, many people wouldn’t know what you were on about.
      Sadly, I am old enough to remember the old loos in London Bridge Station with the big penny slot thingies on the door.

      1. Also recalled, written on the back of the door, “Here I sat, broken hearted, paid a penny and only farted”.

          1. “There’s a one-eyed yellow idol
            on the road to Katmandu
            And a Ladies a little further on
            Where for a penny on deposit
            You can sit upon the closet
            And see sights that are worth
            at least a half a crown….”

      2. Ah spending a penny always remind me of the wedding reception speech where the bride’s praises were sung with, “she is so honest she used to give the swimming pool attendant a penny as she climbed out of the pool”
        Class, pure class.

    5. The other day I actually used the expression: ‘Put the wood in the hole!’ (instruction to close the door). I’ve only now just realised the expression could be a double entendre!

      1. I use you make a fine door but a lousy window when the grandkids are standing blocking my view.

        1. I was frequently asked “were you born in a barn?” when I left the door open. Nowadays, with barn conversions being the rage, the answer might well be, “yes”!

    6. The picture of the ‘curtain twitcher’ is sherley the Soviet sleeper Angular Merkel, it’s as plain as a pikestaff.

        1. I’d forgotten how much I used to love George Formby’s songs. His combination of vulgarity, humour, sentimentality and ukulele playing is irresistible.

          1. In an episode of MASH, Col. Potter is in the shower and singing, ” I love to go swimmin’ with bow-legged women and swim between their legs….” Then the Padre comes in and Potter abruptly ends his song. “Ooops, sorry Padre.”

        1. Thank you I’ll take that as a compliment (as opposed to the possible alternative of ‘that photo’s pants!’)

          5. It’s true. Those denizens of quality control (M&S) have designated my ‘Three Part Set’ as XL….
            However, the instruction ‘Keep away from naked flames’ is a tad disconcerting…..

  62. Boris Johnson says UK could send combat troops to face Russia as Putin puts a ‘gun to Ukraine’s head’. 25 January2022.

    Boris Johnson suggested British combat troops could be sent to face down Russian forces threatening Ukraine as tensions rose between Vladimir Putin and the West.

    The Prime Minister told MPs that the UK ‘would look to contribute to any new Nato deployment’ as allies readied soldiers and sent warships and fighter aircraft to the troubled region.

    Well you heard it here first. There’s no doubt that these morons in their sublime ignorance are going to set this thing off.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10438895/Russian-soldiers-Ukraine-border-warns-UK-defence-minister.html#comments

    1. Brave young men (and women) being sent to their deaths by so-called leaders who will themselves never come under any real threat unless WW3 starts.
      The problem is that the leaders appear to be doing their damnedest to ensure it does.

      1. Afternoon Sos. I’ve just watched Boris on the BBC News beating the War Drums. I turned it off in disgust.

        1. “Oooh look, a squirrel”

          “Oh shit, that’s not a squirrel, it’s a bloody big bear.”

        2. As Biden said a minor incursion might be okay. (Which his handlers had to clarify in a panic).

          A bit like a limited nuclear war.

          1. “Did I say launch? Sorry General, I meant lunch. Too late now you say? OK, let’s just send for tacos then.”

          4. Have you seen the latest US army recruitment campaign? It’s laughable. An absolute joke of woke tripe. Compare that to the Russian recruitment and … they’ll win.

            Heard on the toady programme that some minister said we need to ‘wean ourselves off Russian gas.’ There’s not a lot anywhere else. What she really meat was ‘plunge our country into a freezing wasteland.’ I hate these fools. Russia holds all the cards. The west is weak, pandering to weirdos and men in dresses, the black looting mob. We’re horribly indebted, poor, suffering crippling inflation and the egotistical stupidity of green has made us a hostage to Russia.

            We’re a poker player holding the jokers while the other bloke has the rest of the deck trying to bluff.

            Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIYGFSONKbk <– wokers military.

            And the Russian one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3dS9Dx0C4g

    2. When there are problems at home, start a war abroad. That will divert attention away from the domestic issues.

      4. I worked with a Ukrainian for a number of years. Incredibly bright, funny, decent fellow. Many a boring afternoon was spent ranting about communism.

      1. Putin has no interest in “taking” Ukraine…it would be an economic millstone around the Russian neck.
        He wants a buffer zone between the West and Russia.

        1. Yes that’s true Harry but he may not have a choice! By the looks of it Biden and Boris are going to put our troops into Ukraine itself and his fears will be made real. He then can either retreat or fight. Retreating will to some extent only postpone the inevitable!

          1. Two f*g idiots, one a drooling half-wit, the other only concerned to save his miserable skin and divert attention from his failings at home!
            Boris’s interferings in Ukraine are foreign policy worthy of a Cameron or a May.

          4. He won’t back down.He will take that as the answer to his US meeting a few weeks ago.
            Such a scenario will have been factored in.
            If it happens,expect the worst.

        2. Poor choice of words on my part. Hope it doesn’t start a war.

          He needs to flush out E.U/Nato/Globalist interference.

        3. Why would the Russians not get as antsy as the Merkins did when Cuba was being armed with missiles? For the same reason.

      2. If Boris doesn’t see some real action soon it will be the end of the old buffer as PM…..

    6. 334627+ up ticks.

      Afternoon AS,
      I really do want the politico platoon to be at the spearhead, preferable with General nige leading especially in hilly country, he has vast experience in hill marching.

    7. France has deployed all its’ men, weapons, tanks, ships, subs, aircraft and government to Martinique, for safety reasons

      All Martinique residents have been re-enslaved and sent back to the Cotton Plantations,
      so that local cotton can be used to make the urgently needed White Flags

      https://www.britannica.com/place/Martinique

  63. Ukraine arrests saboteurs ‘co-ordinated by Russian special services’ who were planning ‘a series of armed attacks’ aimed at destabilising border regions. 25 January 2022

    Ukraine says it has arrested Russian-backed saboteurs who were plotting attacks in border regions with the aim of ‘destabilising’ the country.

    The ‘criminal’ group was preparing a ‘series of armed attacks’ on city infrastructure ‘coordinated by Russian special service’, Ukraine’s SBU security service said today.

    Two men, one of them a Russian citizen, were arrested during raids in Kharkiv, close to the Russian border, and Zhytomyr, in western Ukraine, today.

    Of course they were. All two of them! Did they have any Novichok?

    Get the grub in!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10439345/Ukraine-dismantles-team-saboteurs-ordinated-Russian-special-services.html#comments

        1. “Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
          Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
          I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
          I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
          I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’
          I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’
          I saw a white ladder all covered with water
          I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
          I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
          And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
          And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall”…..

  64. In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus) (Richard Lee Evans)

    In the year 2525, if man is still alive
    If woman can survive, they may find…

    In the year 3535
    Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie
    Everything you think, do and say
    Is in the pill you took today

    In the year 4545
    You ain’t gonna need your teeth, won’t need your eyes
    You won’t find a thing to chew
    Nobody’s gonna look at you

    In the year 5555
    Your arms hangin’ limp at your sides
    Your legs got nothin’ to do
    Some machine’s doin’ that for you

    In the year 6565
    Ain’t gonna need no husband, won’t need no wife
    You’ll pick your son, pick your daughter too
    From the bottom of a long glass tube, whoa, whoa

    In the year 7510
    If God’s a coming, He oughta make it by then
    Maybe He’ll look around Himself and say
    Guess it’s time for the judgment day

    In the year 8510
    God is gonna shake His mighty head
    He’ll either say I’m pleased where man has been
    Or tear it down, and start again, whoa, whoa

    In the year 9595
    I’m kinda wonderin’ if man is gonna be alive
    He’s taken everything this old earth can give
    And he ain’t put back nothing, whoa, whoa

    Now it’s been ten thousand years
    Man has cried a billion tears
    For what, he never knew, now man’s reign is through
    But through eternal night, the twinkling of starlight
    So very far away, maybe it’s only yesterday

    In the year 2525, if man is still alive
    If woman can survive, they may find…

    Back in the year 1969, were Denny Zager and Rick Evens being precocious or prescient about the ultimate fate of the human species? Were they predicting how technology would eventually take over the rôle of life itself and convert mankind into yet another mechanical robot?

    Personally, I think that having the species last out until 2525 is fanciful, let alone continuing to exist to the subsequent years given in the song.

    Given the unstoppable surge in population levels; together with the concomitant decrease in supplies of food, potable water, energy and shelter; hand-in-hand with the upsurge in deadlier diseases and inevitable warfare; the reality is that Man’s reign will be through much more quickly than we dare to think.

  66. Breaking news….

    The Conservative party have now changed their name to the Conservative work event.

    Oh come on, let’s be fair. How was he supposed to know it was his birthday?

  67. Just received this by e-mail:

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    NHS

    As a result of new vаriаnt outbreаk, stricter measures are now being enforced.

    You are now required by lаw to аpply for or renew your СОVIDРаss.

    An NHS СОVID Раss shows your coronavirus (СОVID-19) vаccination details or test results.

    This is your СОVID-19 status.

    You may be asked to show your pаss to travel abroad, or at events and
    venues in England asking for proof of your СОVID-19 status.

    How to get your NHS СОVID Раss

    You can get an NHS СОVID Раss digitally thrоugh the online NHS СОVID Раss service by clicking the buttоn below.

    They can indulge in sex and travel

    1. This is a NATO ploy, by the time 100,000 Covid passes get issued to Ivan enough time will have elapsed for Sleepy Joe to wake up and send his boys over.

    2. My Aussie mate and his family have just recovered from Covid – all triple vaxxed… now he’s got enough certificates to be allowed to enter Australia, so is planning a trip in a couple-3 weeks time.
      I said, don’t take yer tennis racquet.

  68. A propos a fairly recent post.
    In the late 60s a colleague of mine was an officer in the Forfarshire Yeomanry. He had to go on regular exercises in West Germany. The exercise always involved the notion that the Soviet Army would hurtle across the North German Plain towards the North Sea coast. He said that the Nato plan was to try to stop the advance within 6 weeks. The British Army of the Rhine had war material and ammunition for 6 weeks at most. If the Soviets were still advancing at that point then the war would go nuclear with tactical battlefield weapons. No one knew what would happen after that.
    My colleague was in charge of a front line bath unit, “mens sana in corpore sano”, which translates as “Come On, You Reds!”
    While the bath unit might not have stopped a Soviet armoured division, it was, apparently, excellent for smuggling duty free stuff back from the Continent.

    1. I knew a serviceman whose job was going to be front line reconnaissance.
      Essentially a suicide mission. He was to dig in and watch the tanks go past and then report what was going on. I wondered whether he was pulling my leg, but he always seemed deadly serious. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

    1. ‘Dame Cressida Dick: The Met commissioner who has Boris Johnson’s future balls in her hands’?

        2. Well, there is the rumour going around that it wasn’t just parties they were attending, she was holding balls as well.

      1. Ooh, good one. I might get one if it wasn’t for the fact that not many pubs have masses of people waiting at the bar for a drink anymore.

    8. I wore my “exempt” badge at the opticians because they’d already told me by text that they expected people to wear masks. The woman who let me in said, “I see you’re exempt. Can you manage to wear a mask?” “No!” I replied – I refrained from adding, “that’s why I’ve got an exemption badge, you numpty!”

  71. Back from Venice – were it was sunny but cold. The wonderful guide was, er, wonderful. She had the palazzo to herself. She added that the really sad thing about the normally bustling Venice is that there are virtually no visitors. To see the Grand Canal with just two boats and a fire-engine boat was depressing.

    The other curiosity was that the guide – although on her own in the huge building (apart from Luigi the security bloke who lurked in the background) she wore her mask throughout!!

    I bet you didn’t know that all gondolas are the same size and that they are all asymmetrical…..(to aid steering)….

        3. Glad that’s settled….aksherly I arsked when I was last in Venice coz the linear progress of a gondola with its sole propulsion on one side defies all phizziks.

  72. Did this fit sportsman die of Covid or the vaccine?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10439043/Szilveszter-Csollany-Anti-vax-Hungarian-Olympic-gold-medallist-dies-Covid-aged-51.html

    A Hungarian Olympic gold medallist and anti-vax conspiracy theorist has died of Covid-19 at the age of 51, weeks after getting the jab to continue his work as a coach.

    Szilveszter Csollany fell sick in December and was hospitalised and placed on a
    ventilator for weeks, with local authorities announcing his death on
    Monday.

    While Csollany had shared several ‘anti-vax’ posts on his Facebook page, he had been vaccinated in order to work as a gymnastics coach, Budapest newspaper Blikk reported at the start of January.

    2. The statisticians are quite determined to hush up the deaths of those who died both with the vaccine and of the vaccine!

    3. The Mail are disgusting. So they’re implying that he deserved to die for being an anti-vaxxer, and somehow his anti-vaxx opinions killed him…even though he died shortly after getting jabbed.

      1. It was too late for him to make the antibodies………… it’s well-known now that in the first couple of weeks after the jab the person is more susceptible.

      2. That’s the way they do it. It’s been happening since 1997 and the rise of the spin doctor, but now people (or at least some people) are beginning to become more aware.

        1. The Mail often hoodwinks its readers. Yesterday they published a story about child abuse in the diocese where Pope Benedict was Archbishop…there was a meeting, which the Pope said he hadn’t attended, but it turns out that he had. If you actually read the article, it said in small letters that the decision about the paedophile priest was not made at this meeting – but the whole insinuation of the article was that Benedict had made the decision not to punish the priest, and that he had lied about not being at this meeting to avoid being found out.
          The truth is, that the decision to keep the priest in pastoral work was taken when Benedict wasn’t even in charge!
          Almost everyone in the comments below the article fell for it.

          1. Because I’m a linguist I read between the lines (and I look for biased or emotive, rather than value neutral, language). I used to have endless arguments with MOH about what was actually meant judging on what was actually said.

    4. He probably died because he was placed on a ventilator rather than being given an effective anti-viral drug!

  74. The warqueen has come back from a shopping trip and is waving a blue flexible pipe at me.

    It appears that she intends to fix the dishwasher herself.

    3. Much can be achieved with blocked dishwashers if you disconnect the waste pipe and then put it on the cold tap and turn it up strongly, blowing cold water back into the dishwasher.

      1. “Much can be achieved with blocked dishwashers”
        For a moment I thought you’d excommunicated Bill and Grizzly.

  76. Oh dear, BPAPM…

    “Sue Gray, the civil servant investigating lockdown parties in Downing Street, still intends to publish her report this week despite a police investigation into potential criminality, The Times understands. “

  77. https://twitter.com/BernieSpofforth/status/1484553070260502533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1484553070260502533%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dnottlt_i%3D207420https3A2F2Fnttl.blog2F3Fp3D2074t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fnttl.blog2Fsaturday-22-january-if-the-west-offers-russia-an-inch-of-ukraine-it-will-try-to-take-a-mile2Ft_e%3DSaturday202220January3A20If20the20West20offers20Russia20an20inch20of20Ukraine2C20it20will20try20to20take20a20milet_d%3DSaturday202220January3A20If20the20West20offers20Russia20an20inch20of20Ukraine2C20it20will20try20to20take20a20milet_t%3DSaturday202220January3A20If20the20West20offers20Russia20an20inch20of20Ukraine2C20it20will20try20to20take20a20miles_o%3Ddescversion%3D4474eb952b0ac3bafd98c3224c1d140c

  78. Happy Burns Night to all…I shall raise a glass to my late Scots uncle who always gave the toast to the great pudding- the Haggis I mean.
    Earlier I emailed a Scots friend in Beijing- we met when he was on a teacher exchange to the school in GA. Nice young man and we have been friends ever since. He replied that because of the restrictions he wasn’t going to be partying but will be having a glass of single malt.
    He has his 3 week winter holiday coming up but can’t go anywhere…he’s moving house though, which he seems excited about.
    Lots of restrictions being put in place for the Olympics. He didn’t sound enthusiastic.

    1. The recent release of the 1921 census has revealed that my Grandma Lilly Richardson ( maternal side) was not a Brummy as I had assumed but was born in Dunfermline, Fife in 1895 and moved down to Brum in the ’20s. This may explain why having only recently become aware of the contents of a Haggis I still eat it with gusto and also my almost subliminal desire to don a pleated skirt of twill woven worsted wool now and then

          3. Love it! That is one contented canine. Still working on getting Oscar into that state – was whisky involved? 🙂 I see you’ve pinched Belle’s bucket 🙂

      3. Don’t forget your sporran! And, if you did need a reason, you can raise a glass of single malt or whatever in honour of the day.

    2. They are so far up themselves….

      I wonder how far the “elite” Mr Putin trusts the, “elite” Mr Biden….or BPAPM or Toy Boy…..the end is listless…..

  80. Ho Hum. Still no luck with the landline. But the matter would seem to be out of our hands.
    Seems as if the corner of our road will look like the Somme for a few days!
    Fortunately, there are lots of old farts in this area (quiet at the back) so Openreach will probably have to get their skates on.
    Part of the problem may be that this was probably one of the first areas in Colchester to have telephones (doctors, solicitors, various local businessmen) so copper and sealing wax have been holding things together for well over a century. Thank goodness the interwebby is fibre and uses another box. I’m embarrassed to admit that, although Spartie has many times passed by (and water) on those structures, I’d never noticed there were two of them.

    All credit to Zen internet; I received a reply within minutes.

    “Sorry to hear you are having issues with your phone line. I have checked this and run a line test and open reach has an open incident for the issues you are having they are reporting a cable break that is the cause of the issues. they are currently working on this and working to get this back up as soon as they can.
    They are currently advising the Estimated Completion date for the work needed is 04/02/22 14:20 this is only an estimate and it could be fixed long before this date. but it also could go past this depending on the cause of the issues and the damage that needs repairing as well.”

    Thank goodness we have a hefty haggis to restore our jangled nerves this evening.

    1. Well done with the Haggis- I couldn’t catch one.
      Isn’t it so sad (chuckle) that we have to tell some of those who frequent this page to settle down? I mentioned about my late uncle toasting the great pudding and felt I had to say- the Haggis.
      We are a naughty lot and I think it’s great.

          1. He hasn’t but I think he was helping, or doing most of the work, on his sister’s new home. He does pop in from time to time. Come back Gavin, you’re missed.

    2. If the broadband is still working then the cable fault affecting your landline is before those cabinets and at least you have the internet. Time to learn all about VOIP. 😒 When the fault is on the copper/aluminium wires which carries both landline and broadband that is when life gets trickier.

      1. I forsee a game of tit-for-tat…covering the Globe.
        The next few months will be interesting.

  82. Never too old to have a first experience. Just opened the (pretty tricky looking) next jigsaw. The last person to do it just broke it into five slabs of whole puzzle ad put it back in the box!!

    Made finding the edge pieces a doddle!!

          2. The Scots should be grateful.
            The Romans introduced ground elder to England (as a salad vegetable), so North Britain missed out on a garden plague.

          3. “PLAGUE?”

            Oh My God – you have started the ground elder variant. Unstoppable – gets everywhere. Ineradicable.

    3. If you’re thinking of Brenda’s Coronation, that was on June 2nd 1953.

      I remember it well as, only nine years old, I was dressed as a pirate by my Mama for the Fancy Dress – it was won by a gurl dressed as a Coronation Mug.

  85. Just pondering as I wait for my six o’clock whine.

    Who was the last prime minister to be investigated by the police for breaking the law?

        2. Shot by John (?) Bellingham.
          A descendant was an MP for a Norfolk constituency until the last election.

        1. Am I right in thinking that Scarfe did the pictures for the beginning of Yes, Minister? Certainly looked like his style.

    3. Shipshape and Bristol Fashion.

      My sister opened and ran a chandlery shop in St Mawes called Shipshape which sold life jackets, shackles, and sailing clothes; she then opened a shop called Offspring in Truro selling children’s clothes.

    4. I remember a rhyme when I was quite a lot younger. Here I sit all broken hearted, paid a penny and only farted.

    5. I remember a rhyme when I was quite a lot younger. Here I sit all broken hearted, paid a penny and only farted.

    7. I love the old nautical ones.
      Gone by the board.
      By and large.
      Swinging the lead.
      Hand over fist.
      High and dry.

      1. I like the coaching ones:

        Dropping off
        Kicking over the traces
        Getting the bit between their teeth
        Hobson’s choice

    8. Ha!
      Suggest that the Mail’s student journalists glance at
      https://lassa.org.uk/
      “The Licensed Animal Slaughterers & Salvage Association (LASSA)

      The Trade Association representing & promoting the interests of the licensed animal slaughtering and knacker trades.”

    1. I heard a snippet while I was a captive audience waiting for my optician’s appointment this afternoon (they always seem to keep me waiting). Dame Dick has said the Met will investigate. Yeah, right.

  88. Right – I am off. It was wonderful to have a zoom which made you feel you were THERE in Venice….watching (and hearing) the water lapping along the Grand Canal. One day, I suppose, these places will be available to people who are not “important”.

    Saturday’s plans sorted. Courtauld with grand-daughter and her mum. Then curry lunch at The India House (almost next door) and a coffee at a Portuguese place a few steps nearer Waterloo Bridge. AND it will be mild. They say. Hmmm.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

  89. Breaking news. This investigator woman has photos of Boris Johnson next to wine bottles…
    This is a total remainer farce.

  90. Excellent news. Bill (landlord of The Swan at Wilton, 1/2 a mile down the hill) bagged four brace of haggis this afternoon which have now been plucked and gutted. Am meeting up with some other locals for a feast in about an hour. Bill assures me that they are all nice young lowland haggi which aren’t as tough as the highland haggi and just as flavoursome.

    1. Excellent…they are too fleet of foot round here so I wasn’t able to bag one. Enjoy- wild Haggis are the best.

  91. Evening, all. Happy Burns Night! What a leading question for the headline! The answer, which the Woke won’t like, of course, is that the West would be much more secure because it hadn’t meddled in affairs that were none of its business.

      1. Just put the neeps and tatties on and the haggis is in’t oven! Having an ‘irn bru, the noo!
        Happy Burns night to all!

  92. Star Hobson murder: Bradford Council stripped of children’s and social care services
    BRADFORD Council has been stripped of children’s and social care services in the wake of Star Hobson’s murder in September 2020.

    The services are set to be placed in a trust, which will be owned by the council but run at “arms-length” under the control of a new independent chair and board of directors. This came after it was revealed that the council was in contact with the family of 16-month-old Star Hobson, before she was killed by her mother’s girlfriend in her home. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the council was “not meeting its duty” to keep vulnerable children “safe from harm”.

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1555679/Star-Hobson-murder-Bradford-Council-children-social-care-services

    Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi.. huh, he is a bit blooming late on the scene, what about the thousands of children who are being abused by his kin folk

    1. Ye gods, Belle, how many other children have and are slipping through the cracks? This govt has so much blood on its hands. But no, let’s waste time and money on investigating booze ups in No. 10. To be honest, I don’t care if they were as pissed as rats but I do care about the hypocrisy.
      No-one should give any credence to what Boris and his pathetic cohorts say.

      1. 334627+ up ticks,

        Evening LotL,

        The JAY report made little difference to the voting pattern though.

        Kids still run the gauntlet regarding foreign paedophile rape & abuse set up by the lab/lib/con coalition
        supported by members / voters, via the polling booth.

        1. I just said to MH that many people in this country are so silly that they do not see what is going on. Or, if they do, they turn a blind eye.
          And that is what empowers the current government- they rely on the stupidity of the masses. Went to Asda today, for my sins, and again, more people wearing masks than before Boris announced easing of restrictions. Ergo- the stupidity of the unquestioning masses.

    3. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi.. huh, he is a bit blooming late on the scene, what about the thousands of children who are being abused by his kin folk

      Every day, even as we write.

  93. I know it’s the Express but this really is how Heseltine thinks: the referendum result is invalid because Boris is a liar.

    “Without Boris Johnson, David Cameron would have won the referendum,” he said. “If that is proved to have been as a consequence of a man who doesn’t distinguish between truth and lies, then the division in society will be reopened and will be very bitter.”

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1555616/nigel-Farage-Brexit-rant-lord-michael-Heseltine-Boris-Johnson-party-gate

    I should be sorry to see the end of Heseltine. His expressions of enduring bitterness brighten even the darkest of days.

    1. David Cameron is a liar, too – he even put his lies into print and sent them to every household in the country (at our expense). “This is your decision, the government will implement what you decide”. Yeah, right – but only if we vote to remain.

        1. I wish now I’d kept my copy (complete with annotations like the comment above), but I sent it back to CCO.

        1. After he’d said he’d stay to see things through! They would need the fire brigade to put his underwear out!

        2. After he’d said he’d stay to see things through! They would need the fire brigade to put his underwear out!

          1. This was Cameron’s lie, Conners:

            “This is your decision, the government will implement what you decide”.

            I am quite sure he didn’t pay for it; I wonder who did?

          2. Indeed. I highlighted that one in my post. The taxpayers paid, of course. The government has no money.

          3. If Cameron used taxpayers money to publish his Personal/ Prime Ministerial commitment re the EU Referendum – on which he reneged – that sounds to me like a criminal offence.

            Perhaps Dick Head of the Yard should look into it – instead of Boris’s birthday cake …

            Boris has a potential WWIII – and a domestic Fuel Emergency – on his desk right now.

            The Meedja haven’t yet noticed …

          4. It was, as I understood it, a government publication, ergo the government (ie the taxpayer) must have paid for it.

      5. Wasn’t it Heseltine who inspired the headline “Who Told Chopper Whopper?” in the Sun?

      6. Conners we haven’t had a genuine honest person to lead this country since Thatcher. The lies told by them all would support a Mount range.
        And before Thatcher we had Heath and Wilson. How did all this actually happen ?
        I often seriously dispare at the damage these disgusting people have knowingly done to our culture and social structure.

    2. It is worth looking for footage of the Remainer MSM pundits in the early hours of the 24th June 2016.

      1. David Dimbleby’s face. What a picture. And he still doesn’t understand which way up council tax bands go…

        1. I always said that when I saw Dimbleby’s face on announcing “Remain can’t possibly win” that he looked as though his favourite aunt had died and despite his sucking up to her for years she’d cut him out of the will!

          3. If the EU had remained a simple trading arrangement rather than trying to turn itself into a supranational government, I wouldn’t have campaigned to leave it. In 1975 I naively voted to remain in a trading agreement. Once it morphed into the Fourth Reich, I wanted out!

    3. He conveniently forgets about the 17.4 million who also didn’t like the EU.

      Heseltine is a bore and is well past his ‘use by’ date. He should be binned as mouldy.

      1. “He had joined the Conservative Party in Swansea at age 17, and after only nine months of his two years of National Service Michael Heseltine took terminal leave in October 1959, as the rules allowed, to contest the parliamentary seat of Gower, a forlorn hope for the Tories.”

        https://biography.yourdictionary.com/michael-heseltine

        He also deferred his National Service for as long as possible and secured an early discharge in order to stand for election to Parliament in a seat he had no chance of winning. After losing the election, he could have resumed his Army service but did not. He is reported to have worn the Guards Brigade tie for more days than he had actually served, earning sufficient disapproval from the Guards brotherhood for him to stop wearing it ever again.

  95. 334627+ up ticks,

    May one ask WHY do peoples a majority of the voters continue to support / & vote for a mass uncontrolled / party controlled, invasion, paedophile
    protecting three party coalition, is it a sickness ?

    Over 1,000 Boat Migrants Land in Britain This Month, FIVE Times More Than Last Year

    1. Point taken, Oggy but there hasn’t been an election for a while and, if Boris can hang on, when might the next one be? I will not be voting Conservative ever again. I would vote for an Independent candidate depending on their views.

      2. 334627+ up ticks,

        Evening LotL,

        How many years since anthony charlie lynton AKA the bog man lifted the latch releasing the shites of hades among society, grooming innocents
        have been suffering since then.

        The JAY report pointed this out quite clearly.

        Would not surprise me if the paedo’s went into action wearing T shirts with the lab/lib/con logo on them, there would still be consent given via the polling booth.

  96. Back home now after a Champagne Afternoon Tea at The Ritz. Our Christmas 2020 present from our son and his family.

    Lovely afternoon but not as good as the one at Claridge’s for our Golden Wedding anniversary 4 years ago.

    1. How lovely, Alf and what a great comparison! I had a lecturer at college who had been Maitre d at Claridges! He was Swiss and absolutely brilliant at teaching us the finer points of ‘waiting on’! Maurice Goschalk was his name!
      How is your lovely son and family?

      1. Hello Sue.
        He’s springing back strongly. Saw ENT consultant yesterday and he’s recovering well. His vocal chords are doing well but they’re going to organise a voice coach to teach him speech techniques as he’s straining his voice at present as it’s still on the soft side. His lungs haven’t recovered yet, it’s only 4 weeks this Thursday that he came out of hospital, but all the signs are for a really good recovery.
        Thank you for your concern and of our other Nottler friends l

  97. 19.40 tonight ‘Look at life’ series . TPTV. A 1962 view of the “Common Market”…

    1. I was a bit (OK! A lot) surprised that the Fire Brigade Investigation Team had been unable to find a cause for the fire, but a lot of evidence may have been destroyed in the blaze….

        1. DYes! I saw a documentary about it. I expect that’s why the awful Ms. Gray ‘resigned’ in a bit of a hurry!

        1. I knew they were in the midst of renovating after the first one when the second happened. I wondered if they’d found out what caused the first one yet.

    5. Glasgow School of Art fire

      Somebody doesn’t want to find the cause – nor the perpetrators …

      Conspiracy, anyone?

        2. Muslims. Many other churches, including the largest after Notre Dame in Paris (saved but subjected to a serious arson attempt) have been burnt to the ground by Muslims.

      3. Designer deliberate. The supposed conservation practice given the job of reconstructing the library after the first fire had no clue. Because Macintosh had to build cheaply he changed the timber specification from oak to stained Tulipwood. Instead of timber jointing he was obliged to employ nails.

        Here was an opportunity to restore to the original specifications with sensible and distinct improvements but the idiots imitated the cheapened construction as found. The problem with Tulipwood is that it burns readily and by fixing with steel nails means that ignition and fire spread is assured. Nails get hot quickly and ignite the timber. Even fixing metal hinges to fire doors nowadays we employ intumescent plugs.

  99. OK, this cannot be normal. I just said to MH that all the red spots had gone…they moved to my left arm from my right and all the spots on right arm had gone; a few left on left arm but they have faded. Guess what, since I looked, there are 3 new large red spots on my right arm again. After Thursday, when supposedly, these sodding rules will be lifted, I must go to the quack- this needs to be documented.
    WTF have these evil people injected into us? Booster? Get stuffed.

      1. Last one was May 1 but the spots didn’t appear to several weeks later. And have been going ever since. Plus the swollen foot- now Tim here, suggested that might be oedema which I looked up- yes there are similarities but why would my foot swell all of a sudden? It began after the last AZ jab.

          1. I shall but MH is not well either; not covid but other stuff. Right now, he comes first.
            Thanks Sos.

          4. Thanks Conners, I am basically well, a bit of an arthritic knee but that’s it. I shall keep going. Am tired this evening but a trip to Asda will do that to you 🙁
            –

          5. “I shall keep going” – um, yes, until you drop. If there’s something wrong (and clearly there is with the spots and swelling), you need to get it checked out.

          6. Please do not underestimate me- I do know my own strength and will cope. I have no plans on “dropping” any time soon.

          7. I don’t mean to underestimate you. Please believe me, I’m only saying it because I’m concerned. I’ve seen it happen to people who are strong (and it’s nearly happened to me on occasions). You may have no plans to drop, but life events (and illness if not treated) can get in the way. I’ll say no more lest I upset you.

          9. If you are like HG and me, we are mutually supportive.
            You’re equally important and if either were ill the other would suffer.
            LOOK AFTER YOURSELF and you are better placed to look after him.

          10. Thanks again, Sos and indeed we do. I had a really bad spell after we were told we had to leave our former flat, he was there for me.
            And other stuff I have never disclosed here, nor am I going to, but I have been there big time for him already.
            Isn’t that what marriage or a relationship is supposed to be about? If you love someone- blimey, don’t you do what ever it takes?

          12. Take care, lottie, you will be fine, just think positive thoughts and look after the pair of you!! Happy Burns’ night, slainte..

          14. SWMBO is like my right leg.
            An integral part of me, and were she not here, I’d fall over and be useless.

          15. Stress plays hell with our bodies .

            I have ached all over since my booster .. I thought it was my statins , but I don’t think so . Saw my doctor, need xrays .

            I have itchy ears caused by the mask strings, gawd , I think we have all had enough .

            Hope your Moh and you relax , and get right soon x

          16. I shall but MH is not well either; not covid but other stuff. Right now, he comes first.
            Thanks Sos.

        2. Good evening Lottie.
          WARNING: I AM NOT IN ANY WAY QUALIFIED TO GIVE ANY ADVICE WHATSOEVER LET ALONE REGARDING HEALTH OR FINANCE.
          Ask the quack if he/she thinks you should have an echocardiogram.
          In some regions the NHS has subcontracted that task to private sector providers, so it can be carried out promptly & efficiently.
          It’s only a thought, but if it’s some form of oedema you might reduce the swelling by sleeping with your feet slightly raised, eg on two pillows, or by elevating one end of the mattress with a cushion underneath.
          Is there any pain or discomfort? (don’t tell me and the world, just your GP practice)

          1. Dear Tim, what a super reply, but you did make me look it up. All I can say is, I know my own body and I know what feels right and what does not.
            I am not an unintelligent person and shall proceed accordingly. I do thank you for your concern and response.

          2. Is oedema a symptom of myocarditis? That seems to be a surprisingly common side-effect of the vax. Beautiful Polish friend has/had that.
            I’d get checked.
            Remember, you need to be fit if YOH isn’t.

    2. You didn’t change washing powder at about the same time the spots appeared, did you, LotL? That stuff does weird things – occasionally, my socks don’t get rinsed properly in the wash, and for no apparent reason, my ankles itch like they are on fire. Took a while to track down the cause.

  100. We’re getting close to WW3 and what are the MSM worrying about?

    Sue Gray ‘has new photos of Boris next to wine bottles at lockdown parties’: Damning verdict could be revealed TOMORROW after day of shambles saw No10 deny trying to use police partygate probe to delay report

    Not with a bang but a whimper…

  104. I will be very grateful if as many of you will sign this petition and share it with friends and neighbours:

    New post on CARE Suffolk

    Petition to Produce a Farmland Protection Policy by caresuffolk
    Solar panels belong on rooftops before prime agricultural farmland. And farmland loss to solar developments is currently unregulated.

    As part of the Solar Campaign Alliance, CARE Suffolk is supporting a petition asking the UK Government to Produce a Farmland Protection Policy to regulate the loss of farmland to solar.

    Due to the cumulative impact solar developments will have on availability of agricultural land, the Government should produce a regulatory framework in the form of a National Policy Statement on Farmland Protection to avoid losing a critical mass of productive agricultural land to solar.

    Agricultural land is a finite resource. We believe there is currently a policy conflict where Government seeks to protect and enhance our domestic production to maintain food security whilst also encouraging the growth of solar energy production. New ground-mounted solar developments must be subject to increased regulation to ensure that they do not undermine UK food security, which could result in increasing food costs.

    If you feel this is a reasonable request, please sign the petition now.

    Sign The Petition Now
    caresuffolk | January 25, 2022 at 9:44 pm | Categories: Agricultural Land, Climate Change, News | URL: http://www.caresuffolk.org/?p=1820
    Comment See all comments

    I shall post again, earlier tomorrow – I’ve had a bad day last night and today.

    2. I would have signed it but for its being a Change.org petition. I made the mistake once of signing a Change.org petition and it took me ages to stop them pestering me about irrelevant other things I had no interest in.

      1. It’s just me, Maggie and I shall get over it – just manifested itself as excessive tiredness.

  108. The ‘no nonsense’ Met police officers leading Downing Street parties probe

    DAC Jane Connors, one of the Met’s toughest operators, is in charge of the investigation that could determine Boris Johnson’s future

    Shirley, there must be at least one Whitey Man left in the Met Hierarchy

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/25/no-nonsense-met-police-officers-leading-downing-street-parties/

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2022/01/25/TELEMMGLPICT000283814347_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqokZArwZlvdBh_fO1B6VbrlHwtdpQwyNje2OyIL7x97s.jpeg?imwidth=680

  109. The ‘no nonsense’ Met police officers leading Downing Street parties probe

    DAC Jane Connors, one of the Met’s toughest operators, is in charge of the investigation that could determine Boris Johnson’s future

    Shirley, there must be at least one Whitey Man left in the Met Hierarchy

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/25/no-nonsense-met-police-officers-leading-downing-street-parties/

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2022/01/25/TELEMMGLPICT000283814347_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqokZArwZlvdBh_fO1B6VbrlHwtdpQwyNje2OyIL7x97s.jpeg?imwidth=680

  114. If Macron strips those who refuse the jabs of their citizenship, does that mean that the unvaxxed are no longer given the vote?

    Have the Vichy French stooped so low?

    1. He won’t do that. Worrying over nothing. He’s just being his usual dickhead self and trying to make people feel bad.

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