Wednesday 26 January: Britain’s short-sighted defence cuts have played into Russia’s hands

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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677 thoughts on “Wednesday 26 January: Britain’s short-sighted defence cuts have played into Russia’s hands”

      1. Aye, hen! One o’ ma grandwains ‘phoned the hoose on his maws mobile at 6 this morn’ So, aye, ahm a bit wabbit!

    2. Good morning Bob and everyone.
      Thank you for the link, great article. An acquaintance in NZ is a vaccine sceptic, and it has caused a lot of ‘problemillas’ in their life.

  6. SIR – Had the EU put the same amount of energy into trying to stop Russian expansionism as it did into trying to stop Brexit, Europe might be a much safer place.

    Steve Davis
    Abergavenny, Monmouthshire

    Good point, Steve Davis. The same goes for some of our own snivel serpents, politicians, the BBC…

      1. It is the EU and the West, particularly the US via NATO (which we should leave). Russia and the Ukraine is comparable to the USA and Texas, nobody’s business but their’s.

        2. Listening to Ukrainians speaking, I’ve often wondered how different the language is from Russian.
          Is the gap large as say, between English and Scottish or as English from French?

  7. I’m just waiting now for some stories to come out about the police having office gatherings where cake and drinks were involved.

  8. SIR – In the current crisis Germany stands out from the rest of Europe, as appeasement is the main part of its stance.

    This highlights the damaging influence that green politicians, who have held considerable power in the country’s ruling coalitions, have had on an otherwise sensible nation. They are pacifists with a pathological hatred of nuclear power, which has resulted in Germany burning more coal now than at any other time in the past 30 years. It has also left the country reliant on Russian gas to compensate for the lack of base-load power coming from renewables.

    Scotland, and No 10, should take note of the consequences that such policies bring.

    Professor R G Faulkner
    Loughborough, Leicestershire

    Sorry to disappoint, Prof Faulkner, but Johnson’s obsession with ‘net zero’ blinds him to all rational debate, which will result in our nation’s serious impoverishment in less than a decade from now. In fact, the process has already started, with the complete absence of a sensible and independent energy policy. This is a far better reason to get rid of him when the opportunity of ‘partygate’ presents itself!

    1. Is there a single potential replacement for Johnson who will promise (and deliver on the promises) to scrap Net Zero and the Northern Ireland Protocol, sort out illegal immigration, and stop the interference of the ECJ and the ECHR in British affairs?

  9. Biden threatens Putin with personal sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine. 24 January 2022.

    Joe Biden has said he will consider personal sanctions against Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine, as western leaders step up military preparations and make plans to shield Europe from Russian gas being cut off.

    The rare sanctions threat came as Nato placed forces on standby and reinforced eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets in response to Russia’s troop buildup near its border with Ukraine.

    If Russia attacked, Biden said, it would be the “largest invasion since world war two” and would “change the world”. The president said he would consider adding direct sanctions on Putin to a raft of measures being drawn up.

    This suggests that the only danger to the gas supply is the pipelines being bombed accidentally/on purpose by the US. Russia needs the revenue that it brings in so they are not going to be so foolish as to cut it off! There seems little doubt that the main driver of the crisis is now the West with a whole list of threats and sanctions in preparation.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/26/biden-threatens-putin-with-personal-sanctions-if-russia-invades-ukraine

    3. Does the White House dumbo think it’d be larger than Korea ? Or Desert Storm ? Or the Bush-Blair Iraq boogaloo ? He really oughtn’t to be allowed out without a keeper.

    4. Does the White House dumbo think it’d be larger than Korea ? Or Desert Storm ? Or the Bush-Blair Iraq boogaloo ? He really oughtn’t to be allowed out without a keeper.

    5. I think this is one big psy-op. Now that the ‘pandemic’ is unravelling it’s “Bring on the War!!” to distract attention. Unfortunately there isn’t one readily available so they’ve had to pull the usual bogeyman out of the cupboard, the media has been prepping and sowing the seeds in the nation’s mind – when there was a gap in the covid nonsense – for some months now. I thought the photographs of the transported tanks looked like images from the cold war era.

    6. I think this is one big psy-op. Now that the ‘pandemic’ is unravelling it’s “Bring on the War!!” to distract attention. Unfortunately there isn’t one readily available so they’ve had to pull the usual bogeyman out of the cupboard, the media has been prepping and sowing the seeds in the nation’s mind – when there was a gap in the covid nonsense – for some months now. I thought the photographs of the transported tanks looked like images from the cold war era.

  10. Biden threatens Putin with personal sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine. 24 January 2022.

    Joe Biden has said he will consider personal sanctions against Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine, as western leaders step up military preparations and make plans to shield Europe from Russian gas being cut off.

    The rare sanctions threat came as Nato placed forces on standby and reinforced eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets in response to Russia’s troop buildup near its border with Ukraine.

    If Russia attacked, Biden said, it would be the “largest invasion since world war two” and would “change the world”. The president said he would consider adding direct sanctions on Putin to a raft of measures being drawn up.

    This suggests that the only danger to the gas supply is the pipelines being bombed accidentally/on purpose by the US. Russia needs the revenue that it brings in so they are not going to be so foolish as to cut it off! There seems little doubt that the main driver of the crisis is now the West with a whole list of threats and sanctions in preparation.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/26/biden-threatens-putin-with-personal-sanctions-if-russia-invades-ukraine

  11. SIR – During the first lockdown, government ministers were actively encouraging citizens to rat on their neighbours if they became aware of illegal gatherings taking place. I therefore have little sympathy for them now that they, in turn, have been ratted on.

    John Godfrey
    Hitchin, Hertfordshire

    Me too, John Godfrey!

    SIR – Perhaps they will tell us they sang Happy Birthday twice, while washing their hands.

    Claudia van der Werff
    London SW1

  12. Why work that is too flexible tends to collapse

    SIR – In the 1990s I was a director of a company that helped create the technology to facilitate remote working by computer.

    The motivation was to assist mainly American and Japanese cities to reduce their pollution from car commuting by working from home one day per week. Since then there has been a steady trend towards more flexible working, which has by and large improved the productivity of organisations and employees.

    The technology was a godsend to help keep the economy moving during the pandemic.

    However, as your Leading Article (January 24) points out – and my experience of local government confirms – civil servants are reluctant to return and senior managers are promoting working from home as the new normal, often only requiring office working one day a week.

    This is a step too far, and instead of improving organisational productivity will have severe short-term and long-term effects.

    “Managing by walking around”, one of the most effective management tools, will become redundant. Many important outcomes from informal meetings, coffee breaks or water-cooler conversations will be lost. Team working, which often relies on continuous interaction, will not be as effective, and on-the-job coaching and mentoring of staff will suffer, disrupting personal development.

    The sooner we all get back to meaningful flexible working, the better.

    Cllr Alan Law (Con)
    Streatley, Berkshire

    SIR – If civil servants are now refusing to return to normal working, preferring to work from home, can we, the taxpayers, be assured that any London weighting attached to their salaries is removed?

    Ann Wright
    Cambridge

    Nothing will change until someone is prepared to take charge of the civil service and put a stop to the rotten service provided by some departments, notably the DVLA and HMRC.

  14. From today’s DT:

    COMMENT
    Care homes chose ‘safety’ over compassion and it’s nothing short of barbaric

    I cannot recognise the nation where such a scandal is taking place, yet I know that heartless place is our country

    ALLISON PEARSON
    25 January 2022 • 7:00pm

    As the Plan B restrictions are lifted, much of the country will mercifully go back to normal – but not for hospital patients or residents of care homes.
    On Saturday night, I raised a glass of Prosecco to an unlikely freedom fighter. Mario Finotti suffered a fatal injury after he made a rope out of bedsheets, tied it around his waist and dropped out of the first-floor window of the care home where he had lived for more than a year in Papozze, a town in northern Italy. Signor Finotti was 91 years old.

    According to reports, the director of the home said staff were shocked: “Mario Finotti was not suffering from any degenerative pathologies. It is not known what was going through his head because, from a psychological point of view, he was peaceful.”

    Actually, it’s not terribly hard to imagine what was going through the elderly man’s head as he waited until dawn before lowering himself out of the window, summoning what strength remained to swing clear of the ledge. What else was it but one final act of daring, a bloody-minded refusal to accept Covid captivity? That same “lonely impulse of delight” that drove the poet WB Yeats’s Irish airman who, sensing that he will soon die, chooses, if only for one more day, one more minute, the exhilaration of flight.

    The mayor of Papozze, Pierluigi Mosca, confirmed that “loneliness was a likely motive” for the attempted escape. A determined character who had never married, Mario was passionate about politics and would often drop in on Mosca in his office. Harsh Covid restrictions meant he was no longer able to leave the care home. Nor were family or friends allowed to visit. For the last three weeks of his life, the nonagenarian’s only contact with the outside world was via phone calls with his nephews and nieces.

    Finotti’s great escape sounds like a crazy one-off, but it is symbolic of a universal predicament. Trapped inside our care homes, hospitals and institutions are men, women and young adults who languish, unvisited and isolated. Given the choice, they would choose hugs and reassurance from those they love (and who love them) over a sterile, zero-Covid bubble. The flesh may be weak, but the mind is out on that window ledge with Super Mario.

    As I write what follows, I may struggle to contain my anger. Forget recriminations over No 10 parties, however thoughtless and hypocritical they may have been. What we are talking about is a vast, suppurating national scandal, a grievous wound to our shared humanity. Unimaginable barbarism is going on every hour of every single day in a land we once believed was kind and decent. Well, it isn’t. Not any more.

    The suffering caused by puffed-up little public-health Hitlers, by safetyist care-home regulators, by Government ministers who look the other way in a shabby attempt to cover their backsides for the public inquiry, is despicable. This has to stop.

    Louise’s mother has been in hospital for nearly four weeks. The hospital trust doesn’t permit visits. She caught Covid there and is now on oxygen. On Monday, Louise went to the ward and pleaded with the nurse to let her in to see her mum. Request refused.

    “I watched 12 people entering and leaving the ward without any PPE, apart from blue paper masks, one of which was being worn below a porter’s chin. My poor mum is on her own, being fed through her vein, with no one able to see her. She’s now tested negative for Covid, as have I, and she’s in a side room on her own, so where’s the risk? My mum needs me. Allison, please can you write about this scandal? Please.” This has to stop.

    Tim and Helen’s daughter was moved to a new residential home on October 1 last year. Since that date, she has endured 42 days of being locked in her bedroom with staff only visiting her periodically. “Our daughter is 36, a vulnerable, profoundly disabled but gregarious, fun-loving woman who enjoys being around people. So this must be torture for her.

    “Her first isolation was after a stay in hospital with a urine infection. When she returned to the home, they followed government guidelines to the letter and kept her in her room for 14 days, despite the fact she provided two negative PCR tests in the 48 hours prior to hospital discharge and ongoing negative tests thereafter. They took over seven days to allow us to visit as essential care-givers. In the New Year, the home declared what the guidance calls an ‘outbreak’ – that is where two or more residents or staff test positive or have Covid symptoms. We understand it was one resident and seven staff testing positive without symptoms. All, we assume, are triple vaccinated.

    “We were officially informed on December 31 that the home was going to prevent anybody other than staff leaving or entering, but that communal areas would remain open, with only the infected residents being isolated. (Government guidelines state that a home should get advice from the Health Protection Team and conduct a risk assessment.) However, on January 7, we had a video call with our daughter and discovered that all residents had been confined for the whole time in their rooms.

    “We have complained to the care home provider. We have pointed out that our daughter is being held against her will, and they are in breach of her human rights unless a proportionate and justifiable case can be made for their action. To date, we have not received an answer. We were told that our daughter’s current period of solitary confinement would end on January 17, providing that there were no new cases.”

    Let’s press pause for a second to consider this. The Supreme Court describes the “segregation” and “removal from association” of prisoners as “solitary confinement”. Segregation can be used as a punishment for adults who break the rules, although it is limited to 21 days. Prisoners can also be segregated if it “appears desirable, for the maintenance of good order or discipline or in his/her own interests”. There is no time limit for this, although after 42 days the governor of the prison must seek authorisation from the Secretary of State for it to continue.

    Tim and Helen’s gregarious, fun-loving daughter has been segregated for 42 days and counting. Although she was perfectly healthy, her freedom to associate with others was summarily removed. What right of appeal do her parents have, Secretary of State? A murderer or a rapist has more rights than their daughter. This has to stop.

    Sue’s mother is in a care home. The care home manager’s husband has Covid. The manager tested negative so she can still go to work. Sue’s mother tested negative, Sue tested negative. “But we can’t visit Mum, and Mum cannot leave the home. She cannot even leave her bed for 14 days, because the manager’s husband has Covid!” This has to stop.

    It’s a Monday nine weeks ago. Adam’s terminally ill father is in hospital on antibiotics. Adam and his sister are told he has about two days to live. But a nurse tells them they can’t visit their father until he qualifies for “end-of-life” care on Friday, when his course of antibiotics finishes. “But the doctor says Dad will be dead by Wednesday,” Adam protests. The brother and sister are told that, if they give permission to halt the treatment, they can say goodbye in person to their father. This has to stop.

    Mathew writes: “My mum had a stroke. We were not allowed to see her in hospital when she most needed us. She was scared and alone. I wrote to the hospital management and, after three weeks, my dad was allowed to visit. Both Mum and Dad had to wear full PPE, mask, plastic pinny and gloves. They weren’t allowed to hug, kiss or touch. Barbaric. They had a nurse sitting there watching to make sure they didn’t touch. The window was wide open and they both got very cold. Dad is a bit deaf and he couldn’t hear Mum through the mask. I am sending you a photo, Allison, of the nurse keeping watch over my poor parents. I wasn’t allowed in to see my mother, but I took the photo from the corridor.” This has to stop.

    And here’s Sally: “Last January, my husband, who has a diagnosis of young-onset Alzheimer’s, was admitted to a specialist hospital for dementia. At the time, he could talk, walk, use the toilet and eat independently. As it was high-Covid time, I was not allowed to go with him or visit for five weeks. They told me he was constantly looking for me. He became very agitated and aggressive with staff, resulting in him spending over 100 hours in a seclusion room on 11 occasions. He developed Covid, cellulitis in his legs, wouldn’t sleep in his bed, had a seizure, allergic reactions and two bad falls to his head, all of which resulted in four trips to A&E.

    “When he left to go into a nursing home in May, he was doubly incontinent, couldn’t feed himself, had lost his speech, was bent forward with poor mobility and required 24-hour one-to-one care. At a ‘best interest’ meeting, I was denied the right to bring him home. Now he has poor health. He is currently in hospital and as I am Covid-free I hope to visit soon. I strongly feel that if I had been able to go with him into the hospital, the outcome would have been much better. I lost my husband. I feel deep regret that I let him go.”

    Even after all of the horrors listed above, John’s Campaign – which fights for the right of people with dementia to be supported by family carers – had to battle for Sally to be “allowed” to visit her husband in the acute hospital when he was refusing to eat. “They were going to tube-feed him, rather than allow his wife to come in and do it,” recalls Julia Jones, co-founder of John’s Campaign.

    Having read a hundred stories like Sally’s and Adam’s and Sue’s and Tim and Helen’s, I feel almost chemically altered. The sadness seeps into your cells like icy water dripping into a cave. I cannot recognise the nation where such things are taking place, yet I know that heartless place is our country.

    Early in the pandemic, many rules were devised by Brains-from-Thunderbirds types at the Department of Health and in Whitehall’s “Nudge Unit”. They lacked compassion and basic common sense, but people were threatened and ostracised if they dared challenge them. Yes, there are lots of good, kind nurses, doctors and carers in the system, but they were intimidated and uncertain about what they were “allowed” to offer desperate relatives.

    Tomorrow, as the Plan B restrictions are lifted, much of the country will mercifully go back to normal. But not for hospital patients or residents of care homes. As Simon, a former inspector for the Care Quality Commission, wrote to the Planet Normal podcast: “Care homes will be left behind in a morass of badly written and unduly restrictive government guidance. My concern is they will become clinical ‘protection’ facilities, with constant testing, isolation and mask-wearing.”

    Although omicron and a successful vaccination campaign have vastly reduced the risk to elderly and vulnerable people, the tinpot dictators at PHE and local authorities still can’t get enough of enforcing guidance. Care homes are locked down if only two Covid cases (either staff or residents) are recorded. I was staggered to learn that roughly half of all care homes are currently in lockdown. Some older people have hardly seen a person’s face for two years.

    Residents are heartily sick of it, but they are treated as possible units of infection not as human beings with needs and desires. Most directors of care providers privately agree that testing should be stopped immediately and things allowed to return to the “old normal”. But, as a group, care providers are not well organised. Individual companies are reluctant to go against the guidance for fear of being picked off by the authorities. At some point, the social-care sector needs to take a stand against the patent madness of a PHE-mandated lockdown of an entire care home on the basis of just two asymptomatic cases.

    In our hospitals, other monstrosities continue unchecked. A paediatrician tells me how much she hates the “widely adopted one-parent rule”, which means she has to break difficult news to either a mother or a father on their own, with parents unable to comfort each other or be together with their sick child. “Did the risks to staff wearing PPE (who were more likely to catch Covid outside the hospital) outweigh the harm of this brutal policy, which is still in place? I don’t think managers ever asked themselves the question,” she says.

    Why didn’t they ask the question? What manner of society stipulates that a mother must hear the news that her child has cancer alone? Or that an 88-year-old grandfather must depart this life, also alone, in the name of keeping him “safe”?

    The safetyism-gone-mad public health scientists will point out that 30,000 care home residents died of Covid (or, just as likely, “with” Covid). Perfectly true – but a third of care home residents die every single year. Sons and daughters, wives and husbands, will always feel sorrow that the person they love has dementia or is soon about to leave them. Now to sorrow is added fear. Fear of separation, fear of not being allowed to hold your dying parent’s hand, fear that no one will ever care for them as you would.

    The Secretary of State can end this nation-shaming nightmare with a few keystrokes. Into the Health and Social Care Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, Sajid Javid could insert a clause which says that anyone who is disabled, be it by dementia, physical or mental frailty or sickness, should have an inalienable right to direct personal support from someone they love. As Julia Jones puts it: “In very simple terms, think of this as the right for a sight-disabled person to be accompanied by a guide dog.” In our darkest hours, love is the salve to all hurts, our truest salvation.

    I hope that putting an inalienable right to direct, personal support from a loved one onto the the statute books will command wide, cross-party support. Please lobby your MP. Tell them that, when Covid restrictions are lifted, they must be lifted for everyone. These are our fellow citizens. Their imprisonment in perpetuity shames us.

    When Mario Finotti made his bid to escape from the care home, he was saying that, at 91 years of age, he wasn’t merely a potential Covid statistic – he was a man who still had the right to choose. Stepping off that windowsill, he fell to his life.

    Signor Finotti, Super Mario, we salute you.

    1. Well that is one way to solve the care home funding problem – make care homes into places that people try at all costs to avoid. Didn’t Britain try that before our oh-so-enlightened age?

    2. Good article, thanks for posting.
      Right from the start this has been an inhumane practice carried out with grim determination by those in charge. I think it’s only now dawning on hospital staff and others how barbaric this treatment has been. Cruel beyond belief.

      Unfortunately the public has adopted all the restrictions with great alacrity without any thought for possible consequences or future government actions. Having taken these powers HMG will not give them up so easily.

  15. Fat chance!

    COMMENT
    If Boris survives this mess, he needs to start governing as a Conservative

    Tory MPs will be asking what is the point of the PM staying in office, if all he does is raise our taxes

    PHILIP JOHNSTON
    25 January 2022 • 9:30pm

    In the old silent movies, the hero used to extricate himself from his predicament accompanied by the words “with one bound he was free”. The phrase could serve as the political motto of Boris Johnson, dubbed the Great Houdini for confounding previous predictions of his demise.

    He awoke yesterday morning to find the front pages and TV news broadcasts focusing on a celebration of his birthday during lockdown in apparent breach of the rules. That’s it, said the pundits. All over. Yet by the end of the day, things didn’t look so clear cut.

    The expectation that matters would come to a head this week with the publication of a report by the senior civil servant Sue Gray was temporarily stayed when Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Met Police, announced that her force would conduct its own investigation.

    No 10 sensed an opportunity to delay Ms Gray’s findings until the police had concluded whether there was any case to answer for breaching the lockdown regulations. That could take weeks. But when the Met indicated it would not object to Ms Gray’s report coming out since these were not matters likely to end before a court, Downing Street was forced to back down. The report may yet come out this week.

    Ms Gray is said to have found prima facie evidence that eight parties breached lockdown regulations, which could result in fines for those involved, possibly even the Prime Minister. Were that to happen it might galvanise Tory MPs into firing off the 54 letters needed to trigger a no-confidence vote.

    With anger running high with the incessant drip-drip of allegations, Mr Johnson’s best hope of survival is for Tory MPs to shy away from the dislocation that would be caused by a leadership contest. In truth, he is less a Houdini than a Mr Micawber, always confident that something will turn up. Indeed, it already has with the threatened invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Mr Johnson took the chance to make a statesmanlike appearance in the Commons yesterday to call for Western unity in the face of the Kremlin’s aggression.

    In this he was performing the proper task of the Prime Minister; but it allowed him neatly to contrast “Cakegate” with the stark realities of a real crisis. Moreover, when Labour’s Angela Rayner raised the latest revelations in the chamber, a claque of Tory backbenchers had been corralled to support Mr Johnson and emphasise the successful vaccine roll-out, the refusal to enforce tough controls during the omicron surge and the strong diplomatic position the UK has adopted over Ukraine.

    Perhaps the Prime Minister can see a way out of his plight, charting a path across the political quagmire that would see lesser mortals swallowed in the mud. But there are two questions here – not just can he survive but should he? Many say that his integrity and authority have been shot to pieces by the cavalier culture in Downing Street during lockdown, with staff blithely flouting rules the rest of us followed diligently.

    His supporters maintain it is ridiculous to topple a Prime Minister over such trivial matters. But that is not the point. Many of us felt the rules were disproportionate, but we obeyed them because they were the law of the land. We did so under protest but observed them none the less, in some cases even when it meant not being able to say farewell to dying relatives. It is hard to forgive insouciance in high places while there was such misery elsewhere. The law is not just for little people, as some in No 10 appeared to believe.

    However, the fact that there is now a police probe is not of itself a reason to resign. Tony Blair was interviewed twice in 2007 (though not under caution) in connection with the “cash for honours” scandal. At the time, Labour called it a “passing political hoo-ha”, while the Conservatives demanded Blair’s resignation “in the national interest”. Plus ca change…

    The parallel with Mr Blair is not an auspicious one for Mr Johnson, as the Labour leader left office a few months later to avoid a leadership challenge. Can the Tories engineer something similar, a deal to let Mr Johnson remain in No 10 before standing down later this year or early next? That would require the Prime Minister to agree and he shows no inclination to do so.

    Then there is the argument that, with war looming in eastern Europe, now is not the time to defenestrate a Prime Minister. In fact, there is a long history of getting rid of leaders in a time of conflict. Lloyd George replaced Asquith in 1916 and Chamberlain was pushed aside by Churchill in 1940. More recently, in November 1990, thousands of British troops had already been deployed to the Gulf when Mrs Thatcher was forced out by a Cabinet putsch.

    Mr Johnson seemingly retains the support of his top team – or at least no one has resigned as he did from Theresa May’s Cabinet, precipitating the crisis that led to her downfall. But the big question is this: if he manages to slither out of his immediate predicament, to what purpose? The eminent office he occupies does not exist simply to provide a vehicle for his greater glory. He remains Prime Minister under sufferance of his MPs who expect him to lead a government that is both competent and Conservative.

    The recent shenanigans have convinced many Tories that No 10 is an irredeemable shambles, while others question whether the direction of policy can any longer be construed as Conservative. Under a Tory Government – albeit one assailed by a pandemic – the tax burden is rising to a 70-year high, more money is being poured into an unreformed NHS and an unfeasibly precipitate dash for carbon “net zero” risks harming living standards and growth.

    This raises serious questions about the direction of policy that transcend other considerations. Opposition to high taxes and excessive, wasteful, spending should be a Conservative article of faith, one central to the concept of a free country. There is a moral case for lower taxes that only the Tories can credibly espouse. If he does bound out of this mess, Mr Johnson needs to make these fundamental tenets of Conservatism the bedrock of his programme for government, not just seek survival for its own sake.

    * * *

    Remember that scathing Eton school report? Here we are, 40 years on, and it is as relevant now as it was then. For those who may not have seen it:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f1431389a2693e04c993ae4206bcf13a29d119d768cac8cbe298702ff60be9b5.jpg

    1. “But when the Met indicated it would not object to Ms Gray’s report coming out since these were not matters likely to end before a court, …”
      What is the point of a police investigation that the police have already decided will not lead to Court proceedings? Oh, well, it’s just taxpayers’ money, flim-flam, and whitewash.

    2. There’s more.
      “Tory backbenchers had been corralled to support Mr Johnson and … the strong diplomatic position the UK has adopted over Ukraine.”
      “Strong diplomatic position”? We’ve sent troops. That is not diplomacy, it is a clear prelude to war!

      2. Of course it is, interesting that the default response is a threat (they think) that is supposed to intimidate the plebs.

  22. 334660+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    LEST WE FORGET,

    For the good of the party.

    Wednesday 26 January: Britain’s short-sighted defence cuts have played into Russia’s hands Wednesday 26 January: Britain’s short-sighted defence cuts have played into Russia’s hands.

    Private tapes recorded by Sergeant Steven Roberts to his wife Samantha days before his death have revealed that the British solider was forced to hand in his protective armour due to an equipment shortage.

    The 33-year-old sergeant was serving with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment when he was killed in so-called friendly fire near Al Zubayr, southwest of Basra on March 24 last year.

    Mrs Roberts, 32, who was handed the tapes at her husband’s funeral, said she had opted to make them public to highlight the plight of soldiers.

    She has accused Mr Hoon of having “blood on

  25. Good Morning, all

    Scottish government tries to translate Burns Night into Gaelic … and ends up getting scorched

    Officials behind social media account left red-faced after wrongly translating surname of Robert Burns

    By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT
    25 January 2022 • 9:15pm

    Her government spends millions of pounds a year promoting Gaelic and has ensured the language is plastered over everything from emergency vehicles to road signs.

    But Nicola Sturgeon’s administration was left red-faced on Burns Night after publishing an embarrassing translation error as Scots all over the world gathered to celebrate the country’s national bard.

    An official Scottish government social media account wished Scots all over the world “Oidhche Losgadh Sona”, in what was supposed to be a translation of “Happy Burns Night” on Tuesday, alongside an image of a traditional supper of haggis, neeps and tatties.

    However, the patriotic tweet, issued to almost 5,000 followers by the nationalist government’s devolved rural affairs department, backfired when it emerged that “Losgadh” was not Robert Burns’ Gaelic surname but the word for a physical injury caused by heat or chemicals.

    And while some names do have Gaelic translations, this does not apply to Burns, Gaelic language experts confirmed, and speculated that a hapless official had merely typed the greeting into Google Translate before publishing it to the world.

    Advertisement

    Advertisement : 23 sec

    Donald Cameron, a Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands who took his parliamentary oath in Gaelic last May, said: “Whoever was responsible will be sat eating their haggis with a bit of a red face tonight.

    “It is just as well Burns showed more attention to detail in his works, than this official did in this tweet.”

    In its most recent budget, the Scottish government committed £25.3 million in taxpayers’ cash to Gaelic learning and a further £3 million to a “Gaelic Capital Fund”.

    Last year, it published a 48-page Gaelic plan, in which it hailed the language as “an integral part of Scotland’s heritage, national identity and current cultural life”.

    A devoted Gaelic government agency, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, is based in Inverness and is tasked with overseeing the plan.

    Among their roles is to advise the Scottish government on “Gaelic issues”.

    Another of its missions is to “influence national and international events and celebrations… to ensure Gaelic is featured prominently.”

    However, it appeared that civil servants had failed to consult an expert at the agency, which employs the equivalent of 19 full-time workers. The tweet was swiftly deleted after the error was pointed out by Roger Hutchinson, an author and journalist.

    He tweeted: “So glad the Scottish government has a salaried Gaelic officer, who trusts Google Translate to know the difference between heat burns (losgadh) and the surname Burns (Burns).”

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

    gary rogers
    8 HRS AGO
    Thankfully his name wasn’t Cockburn

    David Boyd
    9 HRS AGO
    Burns had nothing to do with Gaelic. He wrote in Lowland Scots which is actually English with some localisms from Ayrshire and Dumfries. The rest of the time he spoke English. Typical SNP cultural ignorance.

    3. One must presume, then, that no-one in the Sturgeon administration actually speaks Gaelic.

    4. Now, therein lies a question.
      Is Lowland Scots a dialect of English or a Dialect of Scots? Scots being a language VERY closely allied to English but with sufficient differences to be set apart as a language in its own right?

    1. Paul Scully MP, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, responded for the Government.

      I bet he’s known as a Scully-wag….

  28. Note to juvenile whiling away the long hours in the “Bòrd na Gàidhlig”:

    “Oh, what a tangled web we weave
    When first we practice to deceive”.

    (© The other Scottish literary giant)

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/25/burns-night-blunder-scottish-government-makes-gaelic-translation/

    “Scottish government tries to translate Burns Night into Gaelic … and ends up getting scorched

    Officials behind social media account left red-faced after wrongly translating surname of Robert Burns

    25 January 2022 • 9:15pm

    This statue of Robert Burns has been reinstated in Leith, Scotland, following the completion of transport improvement works. Burns was the subject of an embarrassing blunder on Tuesday on the Scottish government social media accounts

    This statue of Robert Burns has been reinstated in Leith following transport improvement works. Burns was the subject of an embarrassing blunder on Tuesday on the Scottish government’s social media accounts

    Her government spends millions of pounds a year promoting Gaelic and has ensured the language is plastered over everything from emergency vehicles to road signs.

    But Nicola Sturgeon’s administration was left red-faced on Burns Night after publishing an embarrassing translation error as Scots all over the world gathered to celebrate the country’s national bard.

    An official Scottish government social media account wished Scots all over the world “Oidhche Losgadh Sona”, in what was supposed to be a translation of “Happy Burns Night” on Tuesday, alongside an image of a traditional supper of haggis, neeps and tatties.

    However, the patriotic tweet, issued to almost 5,000 followers by the nationalist government’s devolved rural affairs department, backfired when it emerged that “Losgadh” was not Robert Burns’ Gaelic surname but the word for a physical injury caused by heat or chemicals.

    And while some names do have Gaelic translations, this does not apply to Burns, Gaelic language experts confirmed, and speculated that a hapless official had merely typed the greeting into Google Translate before publishing it to the world.

    Donald Cameron, a Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands who took his parliamentary oath in Gaelic last May, said: “Whoever was responsible will be sat eating their haggis with a bit of a red face tonight.

    “It is just as well Burns showed more attention to detail in his works, than this official did in this tweet.”

    In its most recent budget, the Scottish government committed £25.3 million in taxpayers’ cash to Gaelic learning and a further £3 million to a “Gaelic Capital Fund”.

    Last year, it published a 48-page Gaelic plan, in which it hailed the language as “an integral part of Scotland’s heritage, national identity and current cultural life”.

    A devoted Gaelic government agency, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, is based in Inverness and is tasked with overseeing the plan.

    Among their roles is to advise the Scottish government on “Gaelic issues”.

    Another of its missions is to “influence national and international events and celebrations… to ensure Gaelic is featured prominently.”

    However, it appeared that civil servants had failed to consult an expert at the agency, which employs the equivalent of 19 full-time workers. The tweet was swiftly deleted after the error was pointed out by Roger Hutchinson, an author and journalist.

    He tweeted: “So glad the Scottish government has a salaried Gaelic officer, who trusts Google Translate to know the difference between heat burns (losgadh) and the surname Burns (Burns).”

    3. Good morning Anne

      I know that in your case it is a typo and I must confess that I can hardly write a sentence without a typo in it!

      In the absence of Peddy and Grizzly it might be worth being pedantic and saying that advise and advice follow the same rule as practise and practice.

  30. A letter and BTL Comment:-

    SIR – I am a former police prosecutor, defence barrister and stipendiary magistrate (Letters, January 25).
    Tinkering with the powers of magistrates, while welcome, fails to address the shocking backlog of cases in magistrates’ and Crown Courts.

    For a woman who has been raped to wait years before reliving the experience in a court is unacceptable. Radical action is required, but there is no sign of it happening.

    The remedies are clear enough. We need to have hundreds of suitably qualified lawyers appointed as stipendiary magistrates, the raising of the retirement age of lay magistrates to 80, the sharp restriction of jury trials, and the reintroduction of summary justice as the norm within reopened local courthouses throughout the land.

    Such measures would save public money, as well as restore confidence in our justice system.

    John Twitchen
    Leigh-on-Sea, Essex

    Robert Spowart
    JUST NOW
    Message Actions
    John Twitchen’s letter reminds me that when the closure of the Magistrates’ Court in Matlock was proposed I wrote a letter to the local press, The Matlock Mercury, that “For Justice to be done, it must be seen to be done.” By moving the court to Chesterfield, enforcing long bus journeys onto those due to appear at the court, whether as accused or witnesses, the Authorities ensured that Justice was, in all too many cases, not seen to be done.

    1. “suitably qualified lawyers appointed” They’d all be the type the law schools have been turning out for 30 years or so, since the incomers realised it was an easy route to power, assisted by quota.. I prefer 12 good and true Englishmen.

      1. Wokeism may have only recently surfaced, but it’s been bubbling away for a long time.
        Even jury selection can be tampered with.
        I’ve been there.

    2. “suitably qualified lawyers appointed” They’d all be the type the law schools have been turning out for 30 years or so, since the incomers realised it was an easy route to power, assisted by quota.. I prefer 12 good and true Englishmen.

    3. “suitably qualified lawyers appointed” They’d all be the type the law schools have been turning out for 30 years or so, since the incomers realised it was an easy route to power, assisted by quota.. I prefer 12 good and true Englishmen.

    4. I agree. There were, originally, 13 Magistrates Courts in Surrey. When I joined the court as an Usher in 2001 that number had shrunk to four – Redhill, Guildford, Woking and Staines. The idea of ‘local’ justice had diminished considerably. In 2010 with the advent of the Coalition Government it was decided that one of those should close. Criteria were set to decide which court would close. The only court to satisfy the criteria for staying open was Woking and that was the court that closed. Now tell me the decision hadn’t already been made.

      A couple of years later Redhill Court was closed which meant those living in East Surrey, Magistrates included, then had to travel a comparative long distance either west or north west to attend either of the two remaining courts. At about the same time paperless disclosure was introduced that had the reverse effect of speeding up cases. Mayhem.

      I think the object of closing Woking Court was to sell it to the Council for redevelopment. Unfortunately the fairly new court could not be sold as it was shared with the Surrey Coroner who had been granted a 99 year lease and refused to move.

      I know a lot of very good criminal lawyers who would make good District Judges, the successor to Stipendiary Magistrate.

      Some of the lower end of the ‘either way’ cases could be recategorised as summary only to speed up the process through the courts. These is less chance of being convicted or a lower sentence in a Crown Court.

  31. Eleven people were hanging on a rope under a helicopter, ten men and one woman. The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one has to drop off, otherwise they are all going to fall.
    They were not able to choose that person, but then the woman made a very touching speech.
    She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because as woman she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids, and for men in general, without ever getting anything in return. As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping ………..

    1. All along I had the feeling that there was/has been something very dark and sinister about this ‘pandemic’ and the so miss named ‘vaccines’.

  33. Africa’s unprecedented population growth will impact geopolitics, global trade, migration and almost every aspect of life. It’s time for a reimagining of the continent

    The populations of more than half of Africa’s 54 nations will double – or more – by 2050, the product of sustained high fertility and improving mortality rates. The continent will then be home to at least 25% of the world’s population, compared with less than 10% in 1950. Expansion on this scale is unprecedented: whereas the population of Asia will have multiplied by a factor of four in this timeframe, Africa’s will have risen tenfold. “Chronic youthfulness”, as demographer Richard Cincotta has termed it, is the result: 40% of all Africans are children under the age of 14 and in most African countries the median age is below 20.

    African mothers will have about 450 million children in the 2020s. This is projected to rise to more than 550 million in the 2040s, about 40% of all children born worldwide in that decade. Overall, low or rapidly declining birthrates remain the exception rather than the rule in most of Africa. Globally, the number of births are at their highest level ever – 140 million a year – and are unlikely to fall by much in the course of the next two to three decades. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jan/20/by-2050-a-quarter-of-the-worlds-people-will-be-african-this-will-shape-our-future

    4. But pause to consider, before they increase their own carbon emissions and footprints. After all ‘glow ball’ warming reduction is the responsibility of all humans.
      Hopefully they might learn to be more efficient and proactive at looking after themselves for a change.
      There are examples of decent and tidy cities and towns in Africa. But also many are not fit for human habitation.
      But let’s hope they face up to reality and stay put and work at it.
      But frankly I can’t ever see any of that happening.

      1. Morning Eddy,

        The way I view things is that areas of our big cities and towns have deteriorated so much so that many areas are no longer fit for civilised English habitation .

        African/Carib culture has ruined anything that could be described as normality .

    5. Hopefully disease and starvation will limit that number unless the benevolent West interferes

  34. I will be very grateful if as many of you as possible, will sign this petition and share it with friends and neighbours: (Repeat from last evening.)

    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
    caresuffolk | January 25, 2022 at 9:44 pm | Categories: Agricultural Land, Climate Change, News | URL: http://www.caresuffolk.org/…
    Comment See all comments

    1. It occurs to me that when the time comes to replace the solar panels due to the end of their life expectancy, the land will probably be reclassified as ‘Brown field’ and therefore ripe for a Housing development (with the new solar panels positioned on the roofs of the new houses) – et Voila!

      1. In my neighbourhood there is a development of 10 or so new houses. Each house has some solar panels built into the roof. I suppose it makes some sense if the benefits eventually gained will outweigh the impact of manufacturing and transportation. That folks is what it all comes down to, the pros and cons. At least there is no additional land being given over to solar power in this case.

      2. Exactly the point made by me a few days ago, Stephen, and highlighted in the objections already lodged against ENSO and EDF’s plans to take some 500 acres of good arable land for so-called ‘Solar-Farms’ which also will compact the land, causing precipitation run-off and flood nearby single-track roads.

    2. It occurs to me that when the time comes to replace the solar panels due to the end of their life expectancy, the land will probably be reclassified as ‘Brown field’ and therefore ripe for a Housing development (with the new solar panels positioned on the roofs of the new houses) – et Voila!

    3. ‘Morning, Nanners. Happy to do so, but with all the net zero/decarbonisation/saving the planet bolleaux daily raining down on us we could be deluged with petitions, the sum total of which would amount to bugger all when it comes to achieving their aims. Sorry to sound defeatist.

  35. I will be very grateful if as many of you as possible, will sign this petition and share it with friends and neighbours: (Repeat from last evening.)

    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
    caresuffolk | January 25, 2022 at 9:44 pm | Categories: Agricultural Land, Climate Change, News | URL: http://www.caresuffolk.org/…
    Comment See all comments

  36. Morning all I was awke earlier but I dozed off again after my cuppa.
    How interesting is that 🤔 😅

      1. My good lady made it around 8 ish parked on my bed side cabinet. o
        On the mug it has printed ‘seize the day….or y’ know mess about on the Internet.
        And here I yam 🍠 😆
        Yam I bovvered 🤗

          1. Along with youms, I Fortunately didn’t hear his awful ‘song’ Merry Christmas. Last December.

    1. This begs the question, if I have the same blood group as my triple vaxxed siblings and one of them needs a transfusion, after the attitudes they’ve taken towards me, would I?

      1. He doesn’t need it, since he’s been PM he’s had 24/7/365 armed protection and he had an 8 feet high brick wall built around his Buckinghamshire country mansion. What on earth is bothering him ?

    3. Morning T-B -GB News commented last night on Farage that a minor case like Covid rule evasion cannot lead to prosecution 6 months after the event. I am wondering if the G7 and Cop 26 are being investigated. They were the worst blatant failures to observe the Covid rules. Boris and Nicola would be under suspicion in these cases.

  43. A maskless trip to Tesco. Though I appeared to be the only one who had taken advantage. Still signs up saying masks are compulsory!

          1. Capital punishment still in vogue? My car has a heads up display to tell me how fast it’s going and what the posted speed limit is. It’s 2019, and if what I hear is true about new EU regs requiring speed regulators in private cars, then I shan’t be buying another one…

          2. Not quite – though the flics do shoot the occasional driver! But the radar system is universal and enforced. I always slavishly observed the limits – the ONLY time I was fined was when I was approaching the end of a long straight – where I had held to 70 kph – and began to accelerate as the delimit sign was nigh. “Flash”. The barstards had put the radar 25 yards from the END of the restricted bit.

          3. I have seen the speed camera propped up against the sign for leaving the village. When they reduced the speed limit to 80 on main roads in France, I discovered the cruise control on my car – very useful for sticking to irritatingly slow speed limits. I wouldn’t be without it now.

          4. I loved the speed limiter in my Kangoo. My latest car – a Yeti – doesn’t have the same sort. Maddening!

  44. David Cameron has been in the headlines recently over his alleged involvement in a lobbying scandal with a firm he advises and the Treasury.

    Sky News has broken down what is going on, who the key players are, and why the former prime minister is under fire.

    What did David Cameron do?

    Mr Cameron approached a number of government ministers on behalf of Greensill Capital – a financial services firm he started working for in 2018. He was trying to secure Greensill access to a loan scheme called the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF). The former prime minister wanted Greensill Capital to be able to issue loans using tax-payer cash through this scheme. According to newspaper reports, Mr Cameron stood to make millions of pounds through his share holdings in the firm.

    Who did he approach?

    Mr Cameron sent multiple text messages to the personal phone of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and approached two junior treasury ministers. According to the Sunday Times, the former prime minister also sent an email to a senior Downing Street adviser saying it “seems nuts” to exclude companies like Greensill from the scheme.

    The proposals from Greensill Capital were ultimately rejected by the Treasury and the firm was not given access to the CCFF scheme. However the firm was allowed access to tens of millions of pounds of tax-payer cash to issue loans under a separate pandemic support scheme known as the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).

    But did Mr Cameron’s influence get the firm special access?

    It’s hard to say. Text messages sent by Mr Sunak to Mr Cameron show the chancellor said he “pushed” his team to examine Greensill’s proposals. Official records also show that representatives from Greensill had 10 meetings with Treasury officials in just over three months last spring. Minutes from one of those calls reveal the conversation was taking place “at the Chancellor’s request”. Treasury sources say it is right they look at all proposals and were unaware of Mr Cameron’s “it seems nuts” email at the time it was sent.

    Did Mr Cameron do anything wrong?

    The former prime minister was cleared of any wrongdoing by the official watchdog in March 2021 on the basis that he was an employee of Greensill Capital rather than a third-party lobbyist. He joined Greensill more than two years after leaving office, meaning he didn’t have to clear the role with a specialist vetting committee. Critics say Mr Cameron has got off on a technicality and there should be stronger rules to increase transparency in this area.

    Did Mr Cameron approach any other cabinet ministers?

    Yes. In October 2019 he went for a “private drink” with Lex Greensill – the founder of Greensill Capital – and Health Secretary Matt Hancock. They discussed a payment scheme that the firm wanted the NHS to start using.

    Was the payment scheme used by the NHS?

    Yes. It was used in parts of the health service. But allies of the health secretary say everything was above board and he “updated officials on the business that was discussed” in the October drinks meeting. Advice was also commissioned from civil servants on the payment scheme when it was first put forward in August 2019. Sources say Matt Hancock was clear that other providers should be able to offer the work as well.

    Did Mr Cameron know Mr Greensill when he was prime minister?

    Yes. In fact a business card published by the Labour party suggests Mr Greensill was a “senior advisor” to Mr Cameron while he was in Downing Street. At the time, Mr Greensill was instrumental in setting up a payment scheme for pharmacies that was based on his firm’s ‘supply chain finance’ model. Greensill Capital began providing funding to pharmacies through this scheme in 2018.

    Pic: Labour Party
    Image:
    Lex Greensill apparently called himself Mr Cameron’s senior advisor. Pic: Labour Party
    What has happened to Greensill Capital?

    The firm went into administration in March this year with the loss of 440 jobs. Thousands of further jobs are also potentially at risk in companies Greensill lent money to, including GFG Alliance – the owner of Liberty Steel. Before going into administration, Greensill Capital was stripped of a government guarantee to provide loans through CLBILS for breaching the terms of the support scheme.

    What has Mr Cameron said on the matter?

    Mr Cameron has accepted he should have acted differently over his role in the Greensill lobbying controversy, but insisted he broke “no codes of conduct and no government rules”, but having “reflected on this at length” accepted there were “lessons to be learnt”. In a lengthy statement, the former prime minister also said that while he accepts he could have done things differently, he “thought it was right… to make representations on behalf of a company involved in financing a large number of UK firms.” He also denied have a close relationship to Lex Greensill prior to being involved in his business.

    Why does this matter?

    It matters because the private companies the government works with often stand to make a lot of money from the state. Rules about procurement are intended to make it a levelling playing field for firms to bid for public sector contracts. But there are concerns that former-politicians can use their influence and connections in Westminster to get priority access for companies they stand to benefit from. Mr Cameron warned of this issue while he was prime minister, predicting that lobbying was set to become “the next big scandal”.

    https://news.sky.com/story/greensill-what-is-the-lobbying-scandal-and-why-is-david-cameron-involved-12272518

    1. …and Ian Paterson’s ‘lobbying’ sin?

      He merely brought to the government’s attention, certain dangers by milk producers.

    2. Do I gather that the NHS is using factors? That is the sign of financial trouble; or, in the case of a government behemoth, screwing the creditors.

      “Yes. In October 2019 he went for a “private drink” with Lex Greensill – the founder of Greensill Capital – and Health Secretary Matt Hancock. They discussed a payment scheme that the firm wanted the NHS to start using.

      Was the payment scheme used by the NHS?

      Yes. It was used in parts of the health service. But allies of the health secretary say everything was above board and he “updated officials on the business that was discussed” in the October drinks meeting. Advice was also commissioned from civil servants on the payment scheme when it was first put forward in August 2019. Sources say Matt Hancock was clear that other providers should be able to offer the work as well.”

    1. Whoever Tom Chivers is, he is a vile creature who has no concept of what it means to be a man.

        2. I can think of circumstances where to save several others a harsh decision might have to be made, but certainly not what he is suggesting.

      2. Apparently, he is a freelance ‘science’ writer! 🤦🏻‍♀️
        Edit: I think he may have left the word ‘fiction’ off his CV!

        1. Neil Lyndon was cast into the darkness for daring to suggest that feminism had left men at a disadvantage, and this little POS overturns one of the most basic tenets of any civilised society.

  47. A special edition of Question Time for vaccine sceptics. Has the BBC lost its mind?
    Wherever you stand on the issue, this ill-advised programme may easily make a bitter conflict even worse
    Michael Deacon : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2022/01/25/special-edition-question-time-vaccine-sceptics-has-bbc-lost/

    I have noted that GB News tries to present a balanced view of the news but some of the people it chooses to defend points of view with which the presenter disagrees are so irrational, unreasonable and offensive as to give more credence to the view opposite to the ones they express.

    I very much suspect that the BBC is playing the same game. When they select people who are sceptical about vaccines and the politicians who have imposed such draconian rules and policies they will not try to find balanced sceptics – they will try to find cranks, oddballs and lunatics in an effort to prove that anyone who holds unorthodox and politically unacceptable views is mentally deranged.

    Do not trust the BBC (and don’t trust Michael Deacon either – he is intellectually sub-standard)

  48. ‘He’s our hero’: Driver who killed knifeman should escape murder charge, say victim’s family

    The Knife man:

    Relatives alleged that McCaskre, 41, abused the mother-of-two during their two-year relationship.

    After they split up three years ago, Ms Chkaifi secured a restraining order against McCaskre and installed a panic alarm in her flat, one of
    her sons claimed.

    McCaskre had missed a scheduled court appearance on January 4 where he was due to face a charge of breaching a stalking order that forbade
    him from contacting Ms Chkaifi.

    Court staff said a warrant was issued that same day for McCaskre’s arrest.

    “Leon was a monster, a demon. His behaviour towards her over the years was harrowing,” said a member of the family

    .https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/25/maida-vale-woman-killed-frenzied-stabbing-attack-named-angelic/

    1. But he was blaaaack – and therefore exempt from any investigation by the, er, perlice.

      The “hero” has the misfortune to be white…….

    2. We should not confuse his being arrested with being charged. That he was arrested under suspicion is purely procedural so that the Police can interview him as part of a proper investigation to ascertain the facts. After all, he did kill someone.

        1. I hope they don’t charge him with anything, but I suspect you’re correct.
          If they do it will be interesting to see what a jury decides.

    1. Yes this is true, how else do you think they manage to hide all the vaxx deaths in “covid death” numbers?

  53. Meant to drop these off last night but I dozed off……..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f491f4ae356ca99b86e2bdb466f1a9f8046ed8db185a0b574a969ba3f90f5fb.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c6d46b285b783c859958b00748f9c505d0f206ac685394c9498ff68f571fa4dd.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/11c84b38ae22ade2dc5b83a3f357838d8f4c0956a98b074eb9cd0ffa0437d397.jpg

    The first time I ever ate a Lobster I have to put it down as a draw,cut myself to ribbons,not sure I fancy crab either……….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/78ac4027dcf43a5c0771931a4b5a66ebd91e1a459b08de90f3a10643e65e2664.gif

  54. 😮😮😮

    At least 100,000 “ghost flights” could be flown across Europe this winter because of EU airport slot usage rules, according to analysis by Greenpeace.

    The deserted, unnecessary or unprofitable flights are intended to allow airlines to keep their takeoff and landing runway rights in major airports, but they could also generate up to 2.1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions – or as much as 1.4 million average petrol or diesel cars emit in a year – Greenpeace says.

    “The EU Commission requiring airlines to fly empty planes to meet an arbitrary quota is not only polluting, but extremely hypocritical given their climate rhetoric,” said Herwig Schuster, a spokesperson for Greenpeace’s European Mobility for All campaign.

    “Transport emissions are skyrocketing,” he said. “It would be irresponsible of the EU to not take the low-hanging fruit of ending ghost flights and banning short-haul flights where there’s a reasonable train connection.”

    When the Covid pandemic began, the European Commission cut the benchmark for flight operations that airlines must meet to keep their slots open from 80% to 25%.

    But last December, Brussels upped the benchmark to 50%, rising again to 64% in March.

    Lufthansa CEO, Carsten Spohr, said that his airline may have to fly 18,000 “extra, unnecessary flights” to fulfil the adjusted rules, and called for the sort of “climate-friendly exemptions” used in other parts of the world.

    A Lufthansa spokesperson said that between January and March 2021, just 45% of its flights were full.

    The other 5%, or 18,000 flights, “we define as unnecessary”, the spokesperson added. “If we wouldn’t risk the loss of slots in certain airports in Europe, we probably would have cancelled them and put them together with other existing flights.”

    Greenpeace applied Lufthansa’s proportion of ghost flights to other European airlines based on the German carrier’s 17% market share, using a conservative estimate of 20 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a flight.

    The research assumed an average flight time of 90 minutes by a 200-seater plane, over a distance of 800-1,000km.

    Tim Johnson, director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said that the Greenpeace assumptions were “spot on”.

    “It looks like an example of wastage in the industry and I think people will be surprised by the scale of it,” he said. “It hints at a real problem of airlines being forced to operate either empty or very low-occupancy flights in order to maintain their slots.”

    Socialist MEPs in the European parliament have demanded answers on the problem, and Greta Thunberg, the climate strike leader, sardonically tweeted that “the EU surely is in a climate emergency mode”.

    The European Commission denies that air carriers are operating ghost flights, or that its “use it or lose it” slot rules have created problems.

    A commission spokesperson said: “Empty flights are bad for the economy and the environment which is exactly why we took several measures allowing companies to not have such empty flights. If airline companies decide to keep empty flights, this is a company decision, which is not the result of EU rules.”

    Brussels argues that it has already cut slot requirements and that airlines can request that even those be stood down if flights are disrupted by “severe sanitary measures” such as new government travel restrictions.

    Earlier this month the Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary, complained that big airlines benefited from generous EU breaks, “and now Lufthansa’s still not happy. They don’t want to operate ghost flights because: ‘Ohhh, the environment’,” he told Politico.

    The cut-price Irish airline wants Lufthansa to sell unsold tickets at cheap prices and for the commission to force it to release unused slots.

    Air France says that it wants greater slot rule flexibility, but a spokesperson said that it would not give data on how many under-capacity and unnecessary flights it was currently flying.

    Johnson said that it was right to focus on climate impacts when huge amounts of CO2 were being emitted unnecessarily but that there was a “wider industry battle” which pointed to the need for slot reform.

    “We need something that genuinely rewards efficiency,” he said. “Some sort of efficiency metric as the basis for allocating slots that would allow an operator with a modern full plane to be preferred over rival carriers, who are operating with much lower load factors or older technologies.”

    1. NO! Don’t let the politicians go deciding stuff! “….and banning short-haul flights where there’s a reasonable train connection.”.
      What’s a reasonable train connection? 400km? If you can whoosh along in a nice ICE at well over 150km/h, maybe, but in Norway it’s 450km from Oslo to Bergen or Stavanger, corresponding to around 8 hours (!) rail journey, or 40 minutes by air. Additionally, the air fare is noticeably cheaper, and if you are mandated to take the train, then guess what would happen to the rail fare?

    2. Should have thought of that when you tried to destroy air travel.

      I wouldn’t mind but the greeniacs are always the worst polluters. They call their cause righteous and just, but suggest that they give up the trappings of modern life is met with disdain and horror.

    1. No mention on the BBC either. Instead, lots of drag act nonsense. The state machine hates opposition. It is a cowardly, craven, pathetic entity.

      Much like Gollum, it hides in the dark, wanting what is not it’s to take.

  56. Forcing vaccinations on NHS staff leaves the health service at the mercy of future variants

    There is no logic mandating a policy that will lead to the loss of tens of thousands of healthcare professionals

    KATIE MUSGRAVE

    With the ongoing Partygate saga, events in Ukraine, and the end of ‘Plan B’ restrictions, it has been easy to miss another story rumbling away in the background this week: the matter of compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff.

    According to the rules, NHS staff must have a first jab by February 3 and be fully vaccinated by April 1 to continue in frontline roles – a move predicted to force tens of thousands out of their current roles or out of the health service altogether.

    In light of this, it is worth remembering one of the central reasons why the latest round of restrictions were brought in – not due to high infection or mortality rates, but to their predicted impact on hospital capacity and staffing issues, which – it was feared – would cripple the Service and lead to excess deaths.

    Many doctors such as myself, therefore, are asking where the logic is in mandating a policy that will certainly lead to the very result that was feared in the first place: that is, tens of thousands of NHS staff away from the frontline?

    There are other unanswered questions too. Does mandatory vaccination really make an appreciable difference to the rates of Covid transmission, or is it a needlessly draconian intervention – which risks undermining long standing ethical principles – in an attempt to be seen to be ‘doing something’?

    I would argue that three conditions ought to be met before mandatory vaccinations ought to be considered. Firstly, the vaccines should ideally have long term safety data, and lack significant adverse effects (these vaccines are currently only authorised for emergency use). Secondly, the vaccines should be known to prevent or markedly reduce transmission. Thirdly, we should be facing a crisis situation (for example, hospitals at risk of being overwhelmed by Covid cases). If these three conditions were met, there might be some justification for temporarily setting aside our ethical norms in order to subvert a catastrophe.

    The evidence that vaccines protect the vulnerable against severe disease and hospitalisation is without dispute. However, Imperial College’s recent study of Covid-19 transmission between household contacts did not find a statistical difference between the onward transmission of Covid by vaccinated individuals compared with unvaccinated individuals. Any differences in transmission rates are believed to be limited, and fairly short-lived. Vaccination is primarily useful in protecting the individual who received the vaccine, and not in protecting those around them. Testing and PPE are therefore likely to be more protective in the healthcare setting.

    Put simply, the criteria upon which one might build an argument for mandatory vaccination of NHS staff cannot be met – hence, in my view, the policy should be abandoned.

    Autonomy – Latin for ‘self-rule’ – is a central principle of medical ethics, familiar to every doctor in the UK. It is a fundamental human right that individuals should be allowed to accept or decline a medical procedure. Legal precedent states that “a mentally competent patient has an absolute right to refuse to consent to medical treatment for any reason, rational or irrational, or for no reason at all, even where that decision may lead to his or her own death”. Consequently, it is difficult to find a group of clinicians who will defend the policy of mandatory vaccination, which wholly undermines the individual’s right to autonomy.

    Indeed, NHS staff have been protesting on the streets in defiance of the move. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and the Royal Colleges of Nursing, Midwives, and GPs respectively, have all spoken out against mandatory vaccination. These organisations have highlighted the severe problems they face with chronic workforce shortages, which would be further exacerbated by any loss of staff, affecting patient safety and morale.

    Through the pandemic, our leaders have repeatedly fallen for the erroneous belief that they must ‘do something’. Whether that be closing schools to millions of healthy schoolchildren, shutting down whole swathes of the economy, or legally enforcing lockdown or isolation rules. Yet, the Government has a duty to ensure the measures they choose are not needlessly harmful to health, nor morally questionable, and crucially do not jeopardise the ability of the healthcare system to function.

    As such, a U-turn on mandatory vaccinations would undoubtedly be welcomed by NHS leaders. Furthermore, this move would demonstrate that the Government was indeed ‘following the science’, while upholding long standing ethical principles and respecting individual liberties.

    But finally, in a world where every click of our smartphone is monetised, do we seriously believe that there are no organisations ready and willing to profit from the introduction of mandatory medical treatments? If we have been so quick to lay aside our ethical principles to introduce mandatory vaccination against Covid (even at a point where the pandemic is undoubtedly waning), then what hope have we in avoiding compulsory medical interventions over the years ahead?

    More than any practical consideration, to go down the route of mandatory vaccination is to open a can of worms which could have unimaginably wide-reaching consequences. Fundamentally, we should be asking ourselves: if we have come so close on this occasion, with such doubtful justification, does our country need stronger safeguards against medical authoritarianism?

    The more pressing matter, however, remains the question of how Ministers can square the circle of mandating for a policy that will almost certainly trigger a mass exodus from the NHS. A U-turn, or a delay, seems inevitable. Only then can we feel more confident that if – or when – another Covid variant arrives, we will have built enough healthcare capacity to fight it off. And this time without restrictions.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/25/forcing-vaccinations-nhs-staff-leaves-health-service-mercy-future/

    1. Did anyone receive the email about the parliamentary debate on these mandates following the petition we signed? A quick skim through the transcript showed nearly all those speaking were against this coercion and on the side of the health workers.

        1. They only had the debate on Monday. I don’t think any further action has yet been taken but it does look as though the government may row back from this.

    2. The whole pandemic has been managed without considering the grievous costs of lockdown, so why should this policy be any different? Furthermore, this is in line with so much of politics and our institutions that defy reality and common sense, including Wokism, immigration and so-called Climate Change with its associated Net Zero stupidity, that are the biggest acts of self-harm this country has ever seen.

      1. 334660+ up ticks,

        Afternoon BB2,

        To be expected as in the electorate, and the lab/lib/con coalition the majority being self harmers no thought at all of the innocents as in the Children who are damaged, re the JAY report.

      2. The policies come from ideologues who theorise in a vacuum without recourse to empirical evidence, believing their idiocy to be based on a priori knowledge and not requiring anything so mundane as proof.

  57. Nicked

    An Englishman is being shown around a Scottish hospital. Towards the end of
    his visit, he is shown into a ward with a number of people with no
    obvious signs of injury. He goes to speak to the first man he sees and
    the man pipes up:

    “Fair fa’ yer honest sonsie face, Great
    chieftain e’ the puddin’ race! Aboon them a’ye tak your place, painch,
    tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o’a grace as lang’s my arm.”

    The Englishman, being somewhat taken aback, goes to the next patient and immediately the patient launches into:

    “Some hae meat, and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it. But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit.”

    This continues with the next patient:

    “Wee
    sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie, O, what aq panic’s in thy breastie!
    Thou need not start awa sae hasty, Wi bickering brattle I wad be laith
    to run and chase thee, Wi murdering pattle!”

    The Englishman turns to the doctor accompanying him on the visit and asks what sort of ward this is. A psychiatric ward?

    “No, No,” replies the doctor, “It’s the serious Burns unit.”

    3. The SNP Gaelic translation people (all19 of them) did exactly that yesterday, in a Burns Night tweet to 5000 cult members! They translated the bards surname as a heat burn! And I have to pay for these clowns!🎪

      1. The carer who was cleared appears to be white (from the court sketch). No mention of the ethnicity of the burglar.
        Edit: Photo on BBC News web-site shows the deceased to be white.

  60. Burns night. The guests brought me a bottle of Jura for my trouble. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/446425c49e064994ad187ec8df7f1b81107f21240acb8d9724bb96190427c3de.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f926e6dd20520c4bed47b61392485560e1ea3bd8f4a7c991b7c645089e10459e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/41cc6646b72ac06535086d02b82c31941639f1344f34d1b47ca1756fdeccac25.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/66c59d5e71c6279f77a35c53f17cea0de3292c66f4e2055e22cacd1ed1d04eb7.jpg

          1. We did. That’s me marching around the table just before the knife stabbed the damned thing to stop it running away.

          3. I had my first one in a restaurant on the Isle of Skye (back in 1996 I had my first langoustines in the same place); it was made with the local Talisker. I loved it so much I asked for the recipe and I’ve made it a few times since. It demands the best quality raspberries.

          4. You were on Skye in 96. The one and only time i was in Chimneys. You could easily have been the person on the next table.

            I kid you not. I was the guest of a history lecturer from Aston University.

            She would not be a lady you could miss with an asteroid.

          5. Alas, I never got to sample Michael Smith’s excellent cuisine when he ran the Three Chimneys. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant I visited but it was in Portree.

    3. See U Jimmie.
      But I got it all wrong again Burns night,………. I found my old gas Blow lamp but there was no gas left in it so……………

    5. We got it all wrong, apparently; we should have been celebrating the conversion of St Paul on the Road to Damascus 🙂

    1. 334660+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Starmer forensic as ever ( forensic = forescin ) which sits a lot more comfortable with me Og.

      2. I had a small boy in a class I taught who was like that. He simply couldn’t keep still- hyperactive was an understatement.

  64. Good Morning. The Telegraph today is classic Nothing to See Here. Right across Europe there is popular revolt, with Kazakhstan having removed its government as a result of the Virus Fraud and its attendant oppression and Bulgaria in turmoil and a million out raising hell in Brussels. Canada has the greatest truck demo in history and the popular demonstrations everywhere are gathering massive numbers including here.
    The credibility of the media is in total free fall. Lies lies and more lies and the desperate clinging to party politics as if that has any relevance in the war between the people and the evil of globalism.
    Watching Ms Truss and her warmongering is the emetic fairy atop their fecal pile!

    1. Thank you, JWE, Copied and posted on Letters page as a BTL comment by Best Beloved – who has the subscription.

    2. Yet no one bombed Davos. Sigh…

      The warmongering is pathetic, isn’t it? They’re threatening to cut Russia out of the SWIFT banking network. Interestingly, Ruptly (Russia Today) are registered in Berlin, with a German bank account.

    3. The hidden message here is a warning to young girls that certain ethnic groups may have extensible and uncontrollable appendages that may approach John Dillermand proportions. 🤔

      1. I was in two minds about posting that. Once seen, it can’t be unseen.
        But we ought to know about such things, because one used to assume that children left watching kiddy TV cartoons would be safe.

    1. You could probably sell carbon burial credits to the same customers. They pay, you promise to bury a certain weight in carbon in the earth.

      2. There is a cleaning company whose van I see occasionally called the vegancleaners or some such! What?

          1. Dunno. It’s a couple of wimmin (I’ve seen them on occasion getting out of the car with the name on the side to go to houses).

    4. Anger after government refuses to back bid to protect waterways from raw sewage
      The Environment Agency has reported that in the last year, raw sewage was discharged into coastal waters and rivers in England more than 400,000 times.

      1. My water authority is one of the worst offenders. Southern Water. Every time it rains they open the shit gates.

        1. Ah, baffled response. I can see that his long white hair has been forced down hi back and presumably into his bum-crack but If that’s all they did, I’m only moderately surprised that, while down there, a little amputation wasn’t deemed necessary.

  68. Sainsbury have anounced that they wil continue to encourage customers to wear masks. If you wish to complain about this telephone their customers service dept on

    0800 636262
    as I have just done.

    1. That would be the same Sainsbury’s that try to sell you LBGT politics along with cornflakes, I assume. They have the wokey custom, they don’t need mine…

    4. John Lewis/Waitrose and rail companies as well.

      Why use a face covering?
      Scientific evidence has suggested coronavirus transmission mainly happens indoors where people are closer together. Covering the nose and mouth can help reduce the spread of virus droplets from coughs, sneezes and while speaking. The main purpose is to protect others although there is some evidence masks offer protection to wearers       (link to 18-month old report).

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60137428

      2. That is true. However, the masks do nothing to protect anyone from virus particles floating freely in the air, which is all of them once the tiny droplets of water have evaporated.
        Best get in and out of the supermarket first thing in the morning before everyone else has been round breathing viruses out!

      3. Reply to BBC’s statement, “Covering the nose and mouth can help reduce the spread of virus droplets from coughs, sneezes and while speaking.”

        In much the same way that knickers prevent the smell of a particularly odoriferous fart from spreading.

    5. John Lewis/Waitrose and rail companies as well.

      Why use a face covering?
      Scientific evidence has suggested coronavirus transmission mainly happens indoors where people are closer together. Covering the nose and mouth can help reduce the spread of virus droplets from coughs, sneezes and while speaking. The main purpose is to protect others although there is some evidence masks offer protection to wearers       (link to 18-month old report).

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60137428

    6. “Your call is so important to us that we won’t bother to answer it…..thank you for calling Sainsbury’s”

      1. I just don’t like their lefty take on so many things – a supermarket too far. (Or to Fart at).

  71. The hypocrisy of the knee-takers. Spiked 26 January 2022.

    Footballers like Rashford and Lingard take the knee against racism and then hang out with a man who views Jews as snakes. We need to reflect on this. It suggests, as powerfully as anything else I can remember, that the identitarianism that now infects every aspect of public life, from football to politics to culture, is not confronting racism in the way we need to.

    Brendan’s overthought this a little. Most of these people are just falling into line and virtue signalling. Very few of them as individuals could present a convincing case for the Woke cause. I believe Rashford and Lingard when they say they didn’t know Wiley was racist. I doubt that they even know who Malcolm X or Martin Luther King is. The truth is there’s a limited number of targets for the Woke to concentrate on if they are not to get lost. Anything with white heterosexual males will invariably attract their ire. These are easily identifiable and envy can be guaranteed to help.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/01/26/the-hypocrisy-of-the-knee-takers/

    1. One only has to watch quiz shows like the chase or the penny-drop series to understand the general, appalling ignorance of the under 30s.

  74. Just in from 2 hours in the garden. A lovely sunny afternoon. 14ºC in the greenhouse – where I have put out the propagators to do some early sowing next week.

    Another joy – the snowdrops are all showing and beginning to flower – one could almost watch them coming out. As we have thousands of them – it is a great pleasure to see nature at work.

    Time for a cuppa – the MR is still slaving outside…

          1. Looks like a plant trough to me. No bird holes.
            The white one behind the scaffie’s arse, I mean

          3. Looks like an open-top trough to me. Even got a rim, and is wider at the top than the bottom.
            But – weird…

    2. My snowdrops are starting to flower, too, and the hyacinths are in bud. It’s been a gloriously sunny day here, but bitterly cold in the shade and exposed to the wind. Otherwise it was 10 degrees C.

    1. There were at least 8 party that broke the rules. Members of the public were fined and intimidated.

      They should be punished or cancel and refund all covid fines.

      Boris needs to remain PM. He deserves it.

      2. My feelings as well. I don’t want to see some slimy replacement pretending to be all virtuous, when they’ve been going along with this all the time.
        Of course, if we had the chance of getting a good leader who would break away from the globalist agenda, that would be best.

        1. That would look good-ish ethically but, given that there was a £4.5billion ‘errors and omissions’ rooster-up on the furlough figure, the cost of administering such a programme would double?triple?quadruple? its price plus lotsa, lotsa fraud.

          1. ‘They’ do need to feel the pain of bad decision making in some way. Not just keep getting promoted.

    2. Frankly , I don’t gve a damn , they all lie like hell. The only thing is , that Boris is a very likeable fibber , he has energy and general cheerfulness and wants to please .

      I couldn’t bear the idea of Slippery Starmer or anyone else in charge of the country .

      For these modern decadant immoral times , where anything goes , Boris is the man for all seasons … at least he is all man.

      1. Have you seen Boris recently? He’s become haggard. Stress, I guess, but it’s of his own making, so, frankly, I have negative levels of sympathy.

    4. They need to make some sort of apology and also lift any further restrictions still in place and cancel vaccine passes and mandates. Then we can all move on. Enough of this storm in a tea cup.

    5. Wot I wrote yesterday in the DT letters comment column.

      Boris, time to divorce Carrie and move on ,
      She is ruining your career and building up debts .
      She is interfering in state affairs , we didn’t vote for her to make decisions .
      Your choice of pals is abysmal. Why on earth did you get Cummings on board ?
      The Chancellor is a very rich boy who is being careless with tax payers money .
      At the moment you are batting at a sticky wicket .
      Go back to your desk and start working hard . You should be putting the public first , alot of people are frightened of the huge power bills that are looming, the increase in Nat Ins, the mess the NHS is in , price of travel, rail tickets , fuel etc .
      Do something about the Channel invasion , kick this blooming diversity / race nonsense into touch , and stop being bullied by those who use the race card every five minutes. Protect young women from priapic illegals , and restore that young teacher from Batley who was forced out of his job .
      Bring back commonsense into politics , stop this so called modernising palavar , we all need a rest , and just some political tranquility .
      Stop all this jokey blustering please , don’t forget that many of us voted for you , just get back to the original Tory manifesto and stop messing around!

    6. As I said before, I don’t care if they were as pissed as rats- it’s the hypocrisy that makes me angry.
      Boris needs to get his ass into gear and do something about all the serious issues; immigration, rising prices, increasing fuel charges etc.
      But no, the media fuss on about this and the government wastes time and money farting about with the highway code.
      Much as I find him a joke and a useless PM- who else is there? They are all as bad as each other.

      1. The media just keep ramping it up! I listen to Talk radio most of the time but today I’ve switched it off! So many people were phoning and texting to say ‘give it a rest’ and then I heard Ian Collins say something along the lines of ‘if you don’t think this is a national issue, then there must be something wrong with you!’ I don’t give a toss about it, but I do care about what has been going on with convid, the greenie carp and the cost of it all!

        1. Do radio presenters normally rubbish callers on Talk Radio?

          I know the BBC find some excuse to cut them off.

          Perhaps they should rebrand themselves as Talkonmeassage radio.

          1. I must admit I was a bit taken aback! They really do normally debate, but this seems to have set them off in a big way. I didn’t hear Julia H-B this am so I don’t know if she was the same!

          2. Talkradio (styled talkRADIO) is a talk radio station broadcasting nationally in the United Kingdom, which was relaunched on 21 March 2016. Based in London and owned by Wireless Group, a subsidiary of News Corp., it is the sister station of national stations Talksport (itself originally known as Talk Radio UK), Talksport 2, Virgin Radio UK and Times Radio.[1]

            News Corporation, stylized as News Corp,[7]
            is an American media and publishing company operating across digital
            real estate information, news media, book publishing, and cable
            television. Incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York City, it was formed in 2013 as a spin-off of the original News Corporation (founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1980). Its notable assets include Dow Jones & Company (publisher of The Wall Street Journal), News UK (publisher of The Sun and The Times), News Corp Australia, REA Group (operator of realestate.com.au), Realtor.com, and book publisher HarperCollins.
            It is one of two companies that succeeded the original News Corporation, alongside 21st Century Fox—which consisted of broadcasting and media properties such as Fox Entertainment Group.[8]
            The spin-out was structured so that 21st Century Fox was the legal
            continuation of the original News Corporation, with the new News Corp
            being a new company formed by a stock split. Following the acquisition of majority of 21st Century Fox assets by The Walt Disney Company in 2019,[9] Fox Corporation, which is News Corp’s sister company and successor to the former 21st Century Fox, is also owned and controlled by the Murdoch family.

          3. Thanks for that…I think! I have noticed it changing recently, particularly since the hyperactive Jeremy Kyle arrived. Mike Graham can be pretty abrasive, and Christo is grumpy but generally it is a station of proper debate. Perhaps I’m getting even more stroppy!
            And you don’t have to agree!

      2. 334660+ up ticks,
        Afternoon LotL,
        Set a new trend, a mass fringe take up would suit a great many.

      3. “Farting about” is not the way I would describe what they’ve done to the Highway Code; completely buggering it up would come closer! That and removing the need for new drivers to take a trailer test are accidents waiting to happen.

        1. I agree- I was trying to be vaguely polite as I had already used rather immoderate language.

    7. Not in itself, no, but leading a government that ensured people were arrested and harassed for, for example, taking tea in a park whilst he and his co-shits parties, he needs to be pilloried – as should all the others in No. 10.

    8. On a personal basis it matters not a jot to me, but it will matter a lot to Johnson and his fellow Cons.
      Johnson is incapable of changing direction and start acting like a Conservative PM and as a result they will suffer enough of a voter backlash at the next GE as to deprive them of a majority. All this deflection about there is no one better will cut no ice with the voters when the energy bills land on the mats or any other consequence of his policies he has implemented.
      He will not suddenly become a true Conservative again, to think otherwise is delusional.

      1. My worry is that the backlash will be sufficient to give us a “return to EU” Parliament

        1. I agree that is a real danger. IMHO only a return to conservative values by a conservative minded PM will stand any chance of avoiding that. As a first step local constituencies should be allowed to choose their candidates. Perhaps then we would then have Conservative not bloody Liberals wearing a blue rosette. Imagine a Conservative parliamentary party reflecting their members views, a Conservative leader in step with his or her members. Go on you useless waste of space Johnson, grow a pair and do it, IF you care at all about this country, or just go into obscurity.

    9. It matters because we, as a nation, are generally law-abiding; we believe in the rule of law. To have the chief member of the government showing contempt for the law is an appalling example. It’s appalling, (Prime) Minister!

  77. Rude…

    Metropolitan Police Chief Cressida Dick is investigating Boris Johnson.

    Dick investigates C**t.

    These jokes write themselves.

  78. Some mothers do ‘ave ’em.

    My mum said to me when I was a gobby teen,

    “Any more shit out of you, and I’ll knock you into the middle of next week. ”

    “Don’t show your stupidity mum, ” I answered, “we all know that’s never going to happen and it defies the laws of physics. ”

    Well she give me such a f00king crack, I remember it well, it was dinnertime Sunday. I woke up the following Wednesday.

          1. She said things like that and was quick with the back of her hand.

            One time roller skating at Southsea Common my father crashed into her and broke her wrist.

            Some time later my cheekiness came out about something and she went to whack me. Oh how i laughed.

            Just in case you haven’t noticed…i’m still cheeky. :@)

          2. Phizzee ,

            You look as if you have a happy presence , unless of course it is all a front .

            I feel so sorry for you and your current predicament .

            How are you, have you had anymore tests/ consultations ?

          3. No need to worry about me, Belle. Just ask any Nottler that has met me.

            I have a call from the Consultant next month. A year to the day as it happens.

            The Meds are working fine and though i can walk a bit better because of them i certainly can’t go dancing with you so don’t ask. :@)

          4. My grandmother once smacked my cousin (aged about6) when he was having a bath. He ducked under the water and she burst 4 blood vessels on her fingers as she hit the water! We reckoned it would have been a hell of a crack!

          5. These poshish middle class Nottlers don’t know the half of it. :@)

            It’s why i like them so much. Their behaviour doesn’t continually remind you of what you had to put up with.

          6. I was at my happiest when I was shoved into Boarding School. Stability … routine , care , patience, being taught things I enjoyed , freedom .. and space .
            Better than being hauled around as I was previously in Africa , though that didn’t stop, but I was able to handle life better .

          2. I think it’s a British / generational thing. I didn’t believe in therapy until I went to Germany, where it is a way of life.
            It can help you see things differently. There are various different kinds.
            One is a group, where strangers in the group pretend to be members of your family, apparently it can produce a lot of different ways of seeing things.
            Another is trauma therapy that helps people who are stuck at the point where they experienced great psychological trauma (I think this is what my son needs, he is stuck in childhood).
            Another is family therapy.
            It is a great comfort if you can come to value to the positive aspects of those members of your family that you get on with. It can also be amazingly comforting if you realise that other people in your generation (siblings, cousins) were going through the same that you were. Also, your cousins can tell you their parents’ recollections of your parents as children, which can shed a lot of light on their characters, and and things that repeat through your family.
            You can’t leave your family behind, wherever you go and whatever you do they will be part of you, so the next best thing is come to terms with them, and if therapy helps you do that, then it’s worth it.

          3. I cannot think of anything more ghastly.

            When i made the decision to walk away i never felt better in my life. I was in my 40’s.

            I didn’t walk leaving responsibilities. I just left. No children or spouse involved thank God.

    2. Try putting that in a comment on the Guardian, it would need trigger warnings and assigned psychiatric help for readers.

      It wasn’t quite like that for me, more of do that again and you father will knock you into next week.

      1. I was always in trouble as a child- primary school age. Quite often sent to bed without supper. However, I planned ahead and had various snacks hidden in my room.
        Also, there was an apple tree in the garden which I could climb into and there was a long bough where I could sit with a book; the leaves hid me and my little brother couldn’t get up there. Spent quite a lot of time up in the tree.

      3. The Guardian only reports after the child has been murdered. They don’t see themselves as part of the problem.

    3. ” You’ll be laughing on the other side of your face” always baffled me. The other one was “if you beak your leg don’t come running to me”

      2. That one cracked Billy Connolly up too. As well as “I’ll take my hand off your face!”

    2. One for Minty…

      The US isn’t the only country with a leader who can’t control his bodily functions.

      After being threatened by Biden and Boris, Putin has pissed himself laughing.

    3. So that’s where our chief squirrel, Nutkin, is!! Guess he’s in command of the Acorn Brigade.

    1. The paps aren’t that interested in these shots. However he does have a designated photographer. As is obvious to anyone with eyes that see.

      1. If he had kept his dick inside his trousers, he wouldn’t BE poor, Mags. He would still be happily married to someone who cared for him.

    4. A bizarrely contrived picture!

      The shadow is artificial and cartoonish; the light sources are ‘staged ‘…

  83. That’s me for today. A two of two halves. Lovely gardening. Beautiful sunset – but all tempered by the news that my last surviving brother had died at lunchtime. He was 88. He had been unwell for some months. He was simply tired out. His brilliant daughters found him a friendly nursing home for his last weeks and his eldest was with him at the end.

    He was a kind, thoughtful brother with a dry sense of humour – which was always quite unexpected, because he seemed too serious. I’ll miss him. Contact in our last years was tricky because he was stone deaf and I am half that way – so phone calls tended to be shouted misinterpretations! We thanked God for e-mail.

    Carpe diem.

    A demain.

    4. Sorry to hear that. It’s a blow to lose a sibling.
      How many siblings were there in your family?

    6. My condolences Bill. I lost my young brother last May just days before his 81st birthday on 7th May which was the date his wife died on. I miss him much more than I thought I would. He was suffering from spreading cancer and wanted to die.

    13. Sorry to hear that, Bill. Losing a kind, thoughtful member of the family always leaves a big hole, even if you weren’t in regular contact. RIP.

    14. Having lost my last surviving brother, with whom I was closest, a couple of years ago, Bill, you have my sympathy – it can be gut-wrenching.

    17. I’m sorry for your loss, Bill. My condolences. Sounds like he had a good departure.

    1. Yep..the deer one is true.You don’t want a ton of dear suddenly appearing in your headlights on a snow-covered road.

        1. She’s gorgeous, isn’t she! Came into our life 2 1/2 years ago, after Suzie disappeared. Lily was waiting for a home as her elderlies had died/gone into care, and so did she. She hissed at everyone who went to see her, but we took her home, anyway. She was a bit traumatised for a couple of weeks, then decided she was staying.

      2. “Do not go quietly into that dark good night
        Rage, rage ,rage against the MSM light…..?

  89. Prevening, all. Britain’s short-sighted defence cuts (not entirely convinced they weren’t planned with this aim in mind) have left us at the mercies of our enemies. I’m not sure that I number Russia among those, at least until we are subsumed into the caliphate, in which case, they may end up being our saviours.

      1. I have been incandescent about the run down of the armed forces. The first duty of government is defence of the realm.

        1. Agreed, Connors, 100%.

          After all it’s why I joined up at 15½. To help defend my country and I was called upon in October 1962.

  90. Last post.

    Thank you all for your very kind comments about my late sailor brother.

    As a man who – throughout his very long life – loathed cricket, he will be smiling at the suggestion that he had had a good innings!!

    2. Clearly his balls were not Daisy Cutters!

      To the tune of the Sailor’s Hornpipe:
      “You’ll never be a sailor if your balls hang low”.

      Condolences on the loss of your brother and a fine man.

    3. Perhaps he was more of a bingo enthusiast, in which case he scored two fat ladies.
      My condolences.

  91. BBC News at 6: Accusations of PM further lying about intervening in rescuing animals from Pen Farthings Afghan charity shelter.

    Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace:

    “As I made clear at the time, we were not going to put pets before people and as the actions showed, Pen Farthing left last and his workforce had to leave after the evacuation was concluded via other means.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60143279

    I understand than ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing’s animal evacuation flight was a civil flight funded by donations and the UK Government did not even take up his offer of transporting civilians.

    I have no problem about putting pets before people – it’s a British thing!

      1. The love and loyalty of a dog, (in my experience Golden Retrievers), is heads above any of those pieces of rubbish in government. And many ordinary human beings.

        1. Loyalty.
          In my view, one of the most under-rated of virtues.
          Anyone who stands by their friends in the hard times deserves respect and a true and loyal friend will tell you when you are wrong.
          Prince Andrew needs a few, but I doubt he has many, if any.

          1. Which is why, Sos, I truly value my friends. I am still in contact with a grammar school friend- she who helped in the explosion in the chem. lab. Also, a friend from teacher training days.
            All my friends from CT and GA are still in touch even though we are as far apart as AZ, China and other places.
            I would trust any of them with anything. I wrote to a pal in CT last week about something and had a thoughtful and helpful response. She is having serious health issues so I try to support her even from this distance.
            edit: Three very dear friends died far too young- I still miss them and think of them often.

          3. I have friends still from childhood and school. Also work friends from the last 40 years. We may not agree on lots of things but we’re all still friends.

          4. I am still in touch with a friend from grammar school. I, too, value my friends and try to keep in touch with them. I had a phone call the other day from a friend from college and my art student friends are still in touch, too. We keep vowing we’ll meet up, but life gets in the way (some of them live in Wales, which makes life tricky).

          5. I am a bit of a loner and an anti-social bastard.
            Who knew?
            But I am lucky to have made a few VERY good friends.
            We still keep in touch regularly even though it’s 50+ years since we met. The only person who has put up with me longer is HG.

          10. Most of mine nowadays are in the US so it’s not on the cards. Unless, they come here, which is on the cards. A friend in GA is an Anglophile and before the covid BS she and her husband went to France. She is very keen to come to England so, once all this is finally over, I think we will see her. Hope so.

          11. In the past couple of years I have managed to reconnect with several friends from grammar school, one in South Australia, two still in the UK me over here in Canada.

          13. I’m still in touch with some of the guys I went to junior school with.
            I messaged one who lives in Somerset today. Getting sorted for an overnight stay on our way to Cornwall in August.
            And my next-door neighbour I grew up with.
            There were a group of 7 friends but we’ve lost 3 now, two only last year. Non covid.
            The 7 went to Benidorm in 1967.
            We had a great holiday.

          14. Both our sons do that. The younger one meets up with a group of his school friends for a boys’ weekend every so often.
            Our older one goes out with a group of his local friends quite regularly and in early February he’s meeting with university friends for a weekend in Bristol.

          17. One of my social highlights last week was meeting a friend who I’ve known for years. I’ve always known her as a proud, very self contained widow; she is retired teacher who, I would imagine had no trouble in controlling a class.
            I don’t remember her at school as she was old enough to be amongst the dreaded prefects when I was first in senior school. Her youngest sister was in the same class as me.
            She has recently down sized from her lovely little house into a nearby block of flats. Spartie and I met her while we were out walking; I was touched by how dejected she seemed; she had deliberately gone out for a walk to get ‘a breath of fresh air’. I had never seen her look so vulnerable and lonely.
            Anyway, she came back to Allan Towers for a cuppa, cake and a gossip. We had an hysterical hour or so chatting about schooldays (many late teachers must have been falling off their clouds in shock) while MB looked discombobulated and Spartie turned on the charm.
            A really enjoyable and low key afternoon. All thanks to happenstance.

      2. Having had to ask a vet to put my apparently healthy dog down after doing everything I could to try and save him from ongoing periodic paralysis I don’t wish to ever have a dog again.

    2. Apparently, many of the animals rescued had been adopted by the troops as they served in the country, so to me it seems only fair that they be assisted to come over here!

  92. An enjoyable drive to North Manchester and back to pick up my auction purchases. Stopped off at Bakewell going to buy a new pair of slippers and, on the return, Disley, ‘cos I’d passed through there many times and never stopped to look round before, then Whaley Bridge to look in a charity furniture shop followed by Buxton for the same reason.
    Then, when I got home, had a bite to eat and did an hours wood chopping.

    Now relaxing with a bottle of beer from Aldi and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle on Youtube:-
    https://youtu.be/qm3Jdem-ALg

    1. Thanks, an excellent article and some good btl comments. Top of the list is this:
      “Tiredofeulies

      Top tip #104
      If you’re being chased by a police dog; try not to go through a tunnel,
      then on to a little seesaw, then jump through a hoop of fire. They’re
      trained for that. “

  96. 334660+ up ticks,

    This “deportation” could it have more of a launching flavour about it,say from down Calais way.

    DT,
    French Minister: 1,100 Most Dangerous Foreigners Deported in Last Six Months

  97. 334660+ up ticks,

    This I believe is similar removing shite from a blanket once it as it’s hooks in with the children once again in jab jeopardy,

    They are out for 100% take up, WHY.

    What if ALL those under threat of the sack, QUIT on the 27/1/2022 to bring it home to the political dangerous treachery artist.

    https://gettr.com/post/pqotcg7129

  98. Watching ‘Architecture the Railways Built’ on Yesterday channel.
    Really well presented by Tim Dunn.
    Worth watching.

    2. Rob Bell is a very good TV presenter; his subjects are historic engineering projects. He is informative and enthusiastic without the weird grin or the irritating puppy dog bounce.

    3. Been watching Dibnah on Four.
      They don’t make many presenters like that now, unfortunately

        1. I bought a house from a man who went on to be the curator of the tank museum.
          George Forty.

  99. Russia unveils military plans in Cuba & Latin America
    Putin has agreed on a new collaboration with Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua to develop partnerships in a range of areas, including stepping up military collaboration, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced.

    Speaking on Wednesday in an appearance in front of the Duma – Russia’s parliament – Lavrov reported that Putin had talked recently with the leaders of the three Central American countries, and that they had agreed to work together to strengthen their strategic cooperation.

    “President Putin held recent telephone conversations with his colleagues from these three governments, with whom we are very close and friendly, and they agreed to look at further ways to deepen our strategic partnership in all areas, with no exceptions,” Lavrov stated. He noted that Russia already has close relations with these countries in many spheres, “including military and military-technical.”
    Asked about the prospects of increased military cooperation with the three countries, Lavrov answered, “for the immediate future, we are counting on regular meetings of the corresponding committees.”

    Earlier this month, Moscow’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov was asked about the possibility of sending troops to Latin America, and he refused to rule out the possibility. “It’s the American style to have several options for its foreign and military policy,” he said. “That’s the cornerstone of that country’s powerful influence in the world.”

    “The president of Russia has spoken multiple times on the subject of what the measures could be, for example involving the Russian Navy, if things are set on the course of provoking Russia, and further increasing the military pressure on us by the US,” he went on. “We don’t want that. The diplomats must come to an agreement.”

    2. Wow!
      Those are world beating allies.
      Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, they’ll soon conquer the whole of South America.

      2. I think he’s just winding the Americans up.
        Putin has a sense of humour – who’d a thunk it?

        1. I’m far more worried about Biden than ever I am about Putin.

          Biden is the real loose cannon at the moment, I just hope Putin doesn’t over-estimate him. Biden’s a clear and present danger, as the saying goes.

      4. Look a little bit deeper.
        Another country also has developed trading relations with those countries………………………China.

        Putin is always two steps ahead of the game.He offered the US and NATO a deal.
        They didn’t take it.

        1. Agreed.
          And China is doing similarly all over the world.
          However, the populations of the countries in question wouldn’t need too much provocation to turn on their rulers with extreme prejudice.

          1. Putin has his ducks in a row.He’s had to suck it up for 20 years.
            Now he’s coming out to play.

          4. I’m probably being a bit of an idiot here but most of the conflicts and police actions throughout the world in recent times have been for other purposes other than…

          5. Putin has watched US/NATO edge closer and closer to the Russian border.When Maidan happened he wasn’t financially ready to react.
            Russia has spent an enormous amount of money on infrastructure,education,health,pensions .
            Now he obviously believes he can step out of the shadows and spread a little confrontation around.

          6. What’s good for the goose…
            The US was very unhappy when the Soviets were arming the Cubans with serious weaponry… why would anyone not think it would apply the other way around, with the US lookig like they’d arm the Ukrainians – or move in themselves? There’s the issue of face, as well.

          7. We used to get lots of Russians here during the Summer and New Year.
            I don’t think “face” is a big issue for them.

          8. I think, for Putin, there is. He needs to show he, and Russia, are strong, virile, and not to be messed with.

    1. That would be on a par with a Golden who can hear a bottle or can of beer being opened from the bottom of the yard- NC- it was an acre; and that was the fenced part. He was there in seconds!!

          1. I’m not in a position to judge her motives, but my nasty skeptical mind suggests that you are right. Easy money, fame… Who would sleep with that fat bastard anyway?

    2. There’s always the film rights to fall back on – “The Prince and the Pauper” (working title…..)

  102. The dishwasher (sorry!) has had a new hose attached. It took a lot of swearing and struggling as there’s no space and hoses don’t run around corners easily but it is on, tightened, tested and the valve open.

    A wash is running. Both Warqueen and I nip back and forth occasionally to check on it but so far, so good.

    On brighter news not washer related, I had the Warqueen playing with Junior’s He Man figures. We’d become so uptight and flustered over the washer, her new boss, the kitchen redesign, Mother In Law’s flustering that we had both forgotten to play.

    1. Play, eh? That sounds fun. Been a long time since there was enough space to be playful.

      1. I am always Skeletor. He’s far cooler. She played with Teela. At first she felt silly. Then she started to remember that part of being an adult is knowing you are also a child.

        Teela lost though as Man at Arms changed sides.

        1. My son was SO into He-Man…there are lots of toys somewhere, I hope he has them. I left NC many years ago.

          1. My folks sold a lot of mine at a car boot sale.

            One day I saw a load on eBay and bought them – and then some more.

            Since then it’s been MASK, Lego, Thundercats. You name it.

          2. My train set which was a Christmas present 65 years ago is currently in storage. I hope to reclaim it next month…..

          3. Excellent! I have one, in boxes, and another live steam version out in the garden (in need of repair).

          4. I’ve wanted to convert the attic into a big train set, a proper scale model with trees, buildings, rivers. Junior’s not quite got the patience yet but he enjoys some of it.

          7. There’s also a video on YouTube of Rod Stewart’s model that he built! It’s amazing but I don’t seem to be able to paste it!

          11. Somethings never change- your son is 6, mine is 41! But Lego, Thundercats, and He-Man….blimey, that takes me back.

          12. I’ll let you into a secret – I bought them for me. When we forget to play we stop enjoying life.

          13. !000 up votes!!! I asked MH for a box of colouring pencils for my birthday…he bought me a lovely box and today, I finished a hand drawn birthday card for my sister in law. It isn’t perfect but I will get better as I am out of practice.
            Re your attic and trains…go for it. My late brother had one such set up in his attic.

    3. I remember an old TV show. Something like Tales of the Unexpected. It’s you isn’t it…..

      3. Sky Arts are re-running Tales of the Unexpected. The early ones were written by Roald Dahl and feature an introduction by him.

          1. Back in the 50’s, when I were Nobbut Alad, to watch ‘television’ we had to sit outside Radio Rentals shop window.

            I could see the screen, but not hear the words: not good for Brains Trust

          2. Once a week on a Saturday I used to visit my Auntie to see Richard Greene in Robin Hood on her TV. That was it for a week, a visit to see the only TV in the family. If I remember correctly it had a green screen that flipped down in front of the screen to help see it on sunny days.

            https://youtu.be/kIXiESqT_jY

        3. Love Roald Dahl- he gives children permission to be wicked. Did a unit on Revolting Rhymes in a third grade class but we called them Fantastical Fairy Tales. What the kids wrote was wonderful.

          1. Yes, he was the friend of the Doctor in BRIEF ENCOUNTER who loaned his flat out to his friend to use as a place for the Doctor’s intended assignation with the housewife.

          1. Not me but i know J has been having problems. I even got a letter by snail mail. I have tried phoning.

          2. Does any other NoTTLer besides you, Philip, know her address and could they go and check on her as Poppies mum did with Peddy?

    2. Nothing stupid to ask after another person . It’s nice to know that there’re people thinking of you.

      1. In this case it it me me asking the boss. As we all know God doesn’t do requests. Geoff is a few steps below. Hope they have a ramp available…

  104. Much hilarity in the DT! Fatty Blackford’s deputy, some numpty Nat bint, has accused Boris of ‘fat shaming’!
    I thought his remark about cake was funny!

  105. Just watching 24 hours in a & E. Colombian woman rushed to hospital with DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis, life threatening, in a coma, doesn’t (can’t at the moment speak) have a word of English apparently. Son arrives. He can’t speeka da engleesh. Interpreter on phone to relay everything. How do these people live here if they can’t speak our language? How much are they costing us? Makes me cross.

  106. IT’S HAPPENING!
    Denmark just announced they will be REMOVING all restrictions, including covid passports and face mask requirements.
    Life is going back to normal.

    1. They said that the sooner everybody has had the Omicron version, the sooner there’s flock immunity.

        1. I agree, the one here has really gone down hill- and it looks dirty. Shall not be going there anytime soon.

          1. Precisely, boycott the silly sods.

            Stopped using Sainsbury’s because their lean mince contained gristle. Not a nice discovery in a spaghetti bolognaise or cottage pie.

          2. Precisely, boycott the silly sods.

            Stopped using Sainsbury’s because their lean mince contained gristle. Not a nice discovery in a spaghetti bolognaise or cottage pie.

      2. And Morrisons and John Lewis apparently. They’ll soon change their minds once they start losing customers.

    3. Quebec have just announced an easing of restrictions. As of Monday, it will be possible for four people from two different households to meet indoors.

      And they wonder why people treat politicians with contempt.

      2. Who makes these rules. An airborne virus does not choose the hour of the day at which it might infect people.

        This absurd notion is assuming that there is a novel virus and not simply a particularly infectious laboratory manufactured Corona “cold” virus.

    4. Yup. About time too. The globalists have lost and are in retreat. We should prosecute them and their political puppets which include Johnson, Hancock and the rest of our incompetent politicos plus the medicos whose ignorant advice they blithely swallowed hook, line and sinker.

  107. That’s me for today.
    Sympathies to Bill for his Brother. Concerns for Jill.
    Need a zed. Have a good one, all Y’all.

  108. I have just had a most disturbing 45 minutes. Cheering Simon Jenkins and Ash Sarkar (doves) in their disagreement with Anne McElvoy and Tim Stanley (hawks) over the subject of intervention in Ukraine in tonight’s ‘Moral Maze’ has left me quite disorientated.

    Sadly, no marks for any of them for not picking a fight with Mary Kaldor of the LSE for this:

    “In Putin we see a new type of authoritarianism married to crony capitalism and ethnic nationalism…characteristic of most wars around the world…it’s not just confined to Russia, we see it in Hungary, in Brexit and the Trump phenomenon…Putin is scared of democracy which poses a huge threat to that kind of system.

    “I’m very sceptical about sanctions, I want us to cancel Nordstream2 not because of sanctions but because of climate change…

    “At the end of the Cold War, it was wrong to expand NATO, we needed a pan-European security system based on human rights, not national security…”

    The world’s gorn mad, mad I tell ya…

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0013rc5

    3. Can’t she start by cancelling the gas or electricity to her own home because of climate change?

    1. The next Holocaust will be when our ‘visitors’ decide the time has come to Wipe Out The Christians

    2. The covid scam, coupled with the carbon scam is becoming the world’s worst atrocity and you, Halfcock, are at the root of it.

    3. What a dishonest prat that Hancock thing is. The fucker ranks along with Goebbels (aka Fauci in the States and Farrar in the UK) as one of the most evil persons in the UK.

      Edit: Hancock, you murderous prat are responsible for a multiplicity of crimes against humanity with your scientifically flawed pronouncements over the Covid ‘pandemic’ and your ignorance of the strictures you visited on the British people throughout.

  110. Commons whips don’t deserve their bad press

    If you see yourself as a courageous whistleblower and publicly talk about private conversations with whips, you damage the interests of all

    CHARLES MOORE • 25 January 2022 • 7:00am

    It is time to defend the role of parliamentary whips as they are assailed on all sides. The term comes from hunting, where the whippers-in only rarely use their whips. Their main purpose is to keep the pack together. If they are not permitted to do so, the pack falls apart.

    This seems to be happening at present. Some Tory MPs, chiefly new ones, appear not to understand what “taking the whip” means. You sign up for the party, without which you would almost certainly not win a seat. You must accept discipline, yes, but you also receive information, protection and guidance without which your life would be lonely indeed, and you could not rise within the system. If you see yourself as a courageous whistleblower and publicly talk about private conversations with whips, you damage the interests of all. Trust vanishes.

    To be fair to both sides, the problem has got much worse because of Covid. Personal meetings have often been impossible. MPs, even of the same party, barely know one another.

    There is also a longer-term difficulty. From the Tony Blair era onwards, our political culture has come to see 10 Downing Street as the equivalent of the West Wing of the White House. That is wrong in a non-presidential system like ours: a British prime minister must govern through the House of Commons, or he/she comes a cropper (which is happening now).

    This means, among other things, that the prime minister should see the chief whip almost every day. Since the whips were moved out of 12 Downing Street, they have become cut off from No 10. In the Thatcher and Major eras, well over half the Cabinet had whips’ office experience and many had been chief whip. The whips’ office was a central part of training for governing. No prime minister this century has been a whip. It shows.

    The other day, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff reportedly ordered 20 parliamentary private secretaries in to lecture them on how to do their job. That is hopeless. He is a civil servant: how can he know how to handle elected Members of Parliament?

    To try to mend the relationship, another metaphor from hunting may help. Hounds are trained by the whips not to “riot” after the scent of anything but the approved quarry. At present, this is not happening, so the parliamentary party is rioting.

    Matters of conscience should not be slipped into government bills

    Those who advocate assisted suicide (I prefer that term to “assisted dying”, since all decent people want to help others who are approaching death) are having yet another go. This week, in the Lords, probably tomorrow, an attempt will be made to amend the Government’s Health and Care Bill. If passed, the amendment would force the Government to bring forward an Assisted Dying Bill within a year.

    This is a strange way of proceeding. There is already an Assisted Dying private members Bill before Parliament. Constitutional convention frowns on trying the same thing twice at the same time. It confuses everything and is unfair to other legislation.

    Besides, assisted suicide is, in terms of law, not a health and care issue: its introduction would require a change in the criminal law. By slipping in the word “medical”, the amendment seeks to evade this problem, but it does not solve it. I am sorry that Lord Forsyth, one of the very best performers in the Lords, is pursuing the issue in this way. If he felt differently about the subject, I can imagine him launching a brilliant forensic assault on his own method.

    Matters such as assisted suicide are rightly classified as questions of conscience. If they can be slipped into government bills, then no legislation is safe from pressure-group hijack.

    Parliamentary guerrilla warfare is a bad way to deal with such a serious subject. I am struck by the letter released to all peers from James Jones, the former Bishop of Liverpool, who led the review of the Hillsborough tragedy. Bishop Jones also chaired the inquiry which investigated the extraordinary unnecessary deaths of 456 patients at Gosport War Memorial Hospital (a criminal investigation is still in progress). He writes that his knowledge of what happened after the Hillsborough disaster and allegedly at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital gives him little confidence that the treatment of vulnerable patients will be benign: “I fear the patronising disposition of unaccountable power in our institutions when treating those who have little power to speak up for themselves.”

    So that problem is grave even under the existing law which forbids assisted suicide. Imagine how much worse it could get if the same authorities were allowed to help the almost powerless kill themselves.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/25/commons-whips-dont-deserve-bad-press/

    1. His analogy between hunting with dogs, and politics, is revolting, but probably accurate.
      As for his, “Those who advocate assisted suicide (I prefer that term to “assisted dying”, since all decent people want to help others who are approaching death).”, is bollocks too.

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