1,129 thoughts on “Monday 4 November: The England rugby team should remember they are ambassadors for the country and the game”

  2. On a more serious note:

    Nigel Farage risks becoming the ‘man who threw away Brexit’, warns senior Tory backbencher

    Nigel Farage risks becoming the “man who threw away Brexit”, the most senior Tory Eurosceptic backbencher has warned, as the Brexit Party leader prepares to unveil his 600 election candidates.

    In a blistering attack on Mr Farage, Steve Baker, the chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), accused him of “setting out” to create a “weak and indecisive” hung Parliament.

    BTL Comment: Far from being the man who wrecked Brexit, I would heap that responsibility on Johnson’s shoulders;

    a). because his Deal is BRINO, and

    b). because he has spurned the opportunity to work with Farage to get a clean-break Brexit.

    Until and unless Johnson overcomes his ego and works with Farage, I shall vote Brexit Party.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/03/nigel-farage-risks-becoming-man-threw-away-brexit-warns-senior/

    1. Is there one person out there that believes that under Boris’s surrender treaty that we will ever properly leave the EU?

      1. ‘Morning, Bob, there obviously appear to be more than a few – even BTL in that Telegraph article.

      1. I have no vote, due to being away too long. I shall cheer on the Brexit party instead.

    3. I’m listening to LBC and Ferrari has just interviewed Chuka Umunna. The latter is of the opinion that political alliances are more important than ever, if not essential, in the current political climate i.e. Remain versus Leave.
      If Remain do come together, even informally, then Johnson is going to look rather foolish in spurning Farage’s offer. However, I think Farage should pull his 600 PPCs and focus on around a 100 Labour seats. Winning 40 or so seats would put TBP in a strong position to frustrate Johnson’s BRINO plan.

      1. That’s fine until Red Leave voters ask Farage why isn’t he smashing into the Blues? UKIP showed that once UKIP was seen as favouring the Blues by picking ex-Tories in Red seats…the Red Leave wing of UKIP melted away and UKIP were smashed.

    4. This and Jacob Rees-Moggs silence tells us that the ERG and its members have signed up to Boris’s BRINO!

      1. Araminta, what has Johnson promised them? The possibility of walking away to WTO terms next December? Walking away if the EU demands are too onerous – which they will be – and a clean break?
        He promised them, and the nation in an interview, that the WA was dead and then went and re-invented it by having what had been made the bogey-man of the plan, the backstop, dropped. Many thought that a tougher stance by the Government would have that dropped – May was too weak and also nasty enough to want to see the backstop implemented – be able to claim a victory and then meekly succumb to all the other quite disastrous terms. Lo and behold, here we are. On this one instance he has destroyed his credibility, who will trust him now? Another hung Parliament would be preferable to either Johnson or Corbyn having a majority.

  3. Any idea why the England side removed their medals, I must have missed that as I turned it off after the second SA try.

        1. The refereeing was up to the usual standard of the Frenchman, before the game started I jokingly said that he normally gives load of penalties to the opposition.

        2. True but not that it made any difference – England were lousy and the Boks had the ref on their side.

          1. They believed the hype in the week; that made them nervous. Nervousness breeds errors which, in turn, make you even more nervous.

            Stlll, they did the biz against the Kiwis. If they hadn’t – they would not have played the Boks!

  4. The progressive revival of family values. Spiked. 4th November 2019.

    The researchers found that in 1989, 40 per cent of adults considered gay relationships between consenting adults to be morally wrong. Asked the same question this year, just 13 per cent said gay relationships are wrong. Again, in 1989, when asked if homosexuals should be treated like other people, 52 per cent of respondents said they should, while 24 per cent said they should not. Today, a massive 82 per cent believe gay people should be treated equally.The same shift is discernible in attitudes towards abortion. Thirty years ago, 35 per cent thought abortion morally wrong, compared with only 18 per cent today.

    This change in attitudes is a fundamentally positive development in British society. The survey shows that Britons are becoming far less bigoted and intolerant than so-called progressive commentators tend to suggest.

    Morning everyone. Well it’s nice to know we are no longer bigoted and intolerant about the mass murder of unborn children! And there I was thinking that we might be regressing into a respect for human life and the normalities of heterosexuality. Thank God for Cultural Marxism!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/11/04/the-progressive-revival-of-family-values/

      1. Morning Bob. That’s a good question! I am inherently suspicious of surveys for all sorts of reasons and even more sceptical about the conclusions drawn from them.

      2. Since the GBE has been saying for decades that homosexuals should not be locked up….I reckon you’ve got a big hint…..

    2. Given the relative ease and fairly reliable methods of preventing pregnancy I find it so sad that in the UK (from memory) around 250000 TOPs are performed each year. Grim not only for the women, late term foetuses, and the staff involved in the procedure.

      1. It’s amazing that so many people believe that our society has progressed and become less bigoted and then they support the most brutal form of contraception, abortion. Truly, modern teaching and ideas have turned the World upside down.

      2. THe intention of the abortion act initially was reasonable but it has now turned into an abortion on demand system

    3. Yo Minty

      Just been for a spin in my Tardis

      The researchers found that in 2089, 40 per cent of adults considered gay heterosexual relationships between consenting adults to be morally wrong.

      Seriously, if it is OK to be Gay, and Gaysters have parity and equal rights with everyone, I must be allowed tell jokes about them, call them names, and do all the other things that I do to the non Gays

      You cannot and must not say that a treating them like the masses is a Hate Crime.

      Their parity seems to be above the law

      This goes for all minorities in our once liberal country.

      1. 2089? Even today, anyone seriously considering initiating a heterosexual relationship with a woman could be picked up for prospective abuse, harassment, stalking or threatening behaviour and put on a register.

      2. What utter sh1te….do you actually know, personally, any amount of gay people who object to jokes being told about them?

    5. I don’t see that as a positive development at all. It seems to be an acceptance of moral turpitude.

  7. ‘Morning All

    Returning to the MSM it is clear the agenda has been set,”cling to nurse for fear of something worse”

    Poll manipulation is in full flow,I am expected to believe that from a high of 28% the TBP are down as low as 6%

    So clearly a TBP vote is wasted and we should all huddle in the Tory sheep pen for fear of the Epsilon semi-morons of the Labour Party coming to power

    Well Bollocks to that,fool me once shame on you,fool me 108 times??Shame on me

    It isn’t Labour that have faied to control immigration (although they would)

    It isn’t Labour that signed us up to Pesco(although they would)

    It isn’t Laboiur that signed the UN Migration pact (although they would)

    It isn’t Labour that’s failed to redraw constituency boundaries(although they would)

    etc etc etc

    The Tory party is just another pus-filled Blairite boil on the globalist arse and as for Brexit??

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EIcH4OgWwAAxAV8.jpg

    Not this time matey,not this time,I am no great fan of Farage(nor I’m sure would he be of me,I’m a bit “knuckledragger” for his taste) but he seems to be the only politician that doesn’t think I’m a blind illiterate cretin.

    Right end of rant but just remember………….

    https://i.imgflip.com/3esyic.jpg

    1. Good morning Rik

      Wow, and wow again, you have saved me the effort and headache of trying to find suitable wordsmithery and frustrated exasperation re the hopeless political hole this country is in.

      2. Yet..the GBE, especially older voters keep voting Blue or Red and then whinged that the Blue and Red govts ignored them. The Blues and Reds will never, ever really fear the GBE while safe seats exist.

    2. It’s important, Rik, to distinguish between political parties and politicians, e.g. Jeremy Corbyn and Kate Hoey, Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

      2. Kate Hoey…panting to be a Blue but knows if she stands as anything but Red….she’s out on her arse.

  8. Father Christmas Corbyn is handing out ever more Freebies each day. His latest ones being Free Prescriptions for ALL. . £60B to insulate homes in spite of the vast majority of homes now being well insulated and now he has added Free TV licencesa for the over 75’s

    What next Free Public transport for all ?

    1. The only proviso for all these ‘free’ gifts, is that you:

      Must not have born in UK
      Paid any Income Tax
      Worked, except in the ‘black’ economy
      Paid National Insurance
      Have a ‘UK’ passport
      Have any form of insurance
      Only voted postally
      Not be a UK citizen

      etc

      Get the drift?

    2. well someone has to use up all those combustible insulation panels that Mr Rashid no longer requires.

      1. That is the biggest drawback to the universal franchise.
        Political campaigning consists of bribing voters with their own money or that of the current hated group.
        At least the Eatonswill candidates raided their own pockets to bribe voters.

        1. What you have to remember is we have an ever increasing population that derive most of their income from the stater and they are not directly impacted by the costs of all these freebies

          The problem is in my view that the fiscal model is broken. The super rish pay very little tax as a proportion of their income and the Benefits class pay almost no tax so you have a relatively small middle income group who are being expected to fund Corbyns Freebies

        2. Aided by the fact that MP’s are Free to lie to the electorate and the parties manifesto’s are not worth the paper they are printed on and of course MP’s think it is their right to move to any party of their choosing after they are elected

          1. Circumstances can alter manifesto commitments; I’m not talking about political finagling, I mean outside events that are beyond government control.
            However, when an MP, who is elected under a party banner and therefore can be assumed to hold a particular set of beliefs, moves to another party, then that should definitely lead to a by-election.
            And don’t be blinded by all the guff about a ‘personal’ vote; it doesn’t apply.
            There is nothing to stop the minuscule number of voters who vote for the person rather than the party, from showing their support in a by-election.

          2. I seem to recall the great Enoch Powell would never accept any pay rise given to MPs during a Parliament..he accepted the rise (no back pay) only once he had been re-elected as then the voters would have mandated that he was free to take the pay rise by virtue of his reelection.

  10. Poll reveals majority of eastern Europeans ‘fearful for democracy’. Mon 4 Nov 2019 00.01 GMT.

    According to the YouGov poll of 12,500 people in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, published by George Soros’s Open Societies Foundations, majorities between 51% and 61% in six countries – including Germany – feel democracy is under threat.

    You cynics! It’s just a coincidence that none of these polities are signed up to the Soros globalist agenda.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/04/poll-reveals-majority-of-eastern-europeans-fearful-for-democracy

  11. What a great metaphor for Brexit the RWC final was,all that hard work and hope thrown away at the final hurdle…………..

  13. Voting Trends

    Since the general election was announced there have been 3 significant polls and they all show a common trend of the Conservatives lead shrinking. During a campaign it is quite common for the incumbent party to finds its lead narrows

    The actual voting pattern is interesting. It shows both the Conservatives and Labour gaining ground but Labour is gaining ground faster than the conservatives

    The increase in vote share by Conservative and Labour comes at the cost of the other parties and that’s mainly the Lib-Dem’s. Brexit Party & Green’s

    I think Nigel needs to change hi approach on a deal with the Conservatives. It does not look likely that the Conservatives will change their Deal approach to Brexit and time i starting to run out. I think Nigel should drop his approach yhat the Conservatives drop the deal. That is not going to happen in my view. If that is dropped a deal with the Conservatives may be possible, The Brexit Party still keeps its policy of No Deal

    Without a deal with the Conservatives it increases the chances of Corbyn getting in and it also reduces considerably the chances of the Brexit Party gaining seats

      1. Yep,polls are an attempt to manipulate the electorate into voting for the ‘favourites’, not accurately report voting intentions.

      2. True, Johnny. When the first “the Tory lead is narrowing” appeared in The Telegraph I wondered if that was a scare poll story concocted to encourage Conservative supporters to strain every muscle to ensure victory and – at the same time – to inject a bit of complacency in Labour supporters.

    2. It’s a complete project fear myth that Farage’s tBP will damage the traiTory vote., As he did with UKIP in 2015, he will be taking votes from liebour & limp dims, the traiTory vote will be barely dented.Then of course in 2017 liebour still failed despite the blue section leader ( May ) of the Globalist controlled liblabcon uniparty trying to gift a win to to Corbyn’s red section of the Globalist controlled liblabcon uniparty.

      1. The facts do not support your claim though and in any case without a deal the Brexit Party is highly unlikely to gain any seats with its current 11% of the poll

        1. The desperation of pro Globalist / proEU troll / shills to skew the polls and propagandise in favour of Bojo’s BrINO surrender treaty, which in the interest of Brexit and democracy is a complete no go, is palpable.

          1. The Brexit Party needs to be a great deal more forensic in its analysis of the Boris Deal. Bluster or handwaving with a political assurance that it’s the same as May/Barnier is not good enough. If we are not told where it has changed, very many Tories might take Boris’s word that the really bad bits have been taken out, and it’s worth returning to the fold to prevent Labour or the Lib Dems getting in.

  14. Good morning thinkers

    We have just had a horrendous downpour .. almost monsoon proportions .. now a just pouring , as it normally does.

    Who do you think should be the new Speaker.. and can we cope with Hardbint if she is selected?

  15. Essex migrant lorry deaths should be wake-up call – MPs

    Another attempt to try to justify open door to mass migration from around the word

    The cause of this deaths in my view is down to our politician, our charities, the EU and UN and our judicial system. They all send out the clear message that anyone is welcome to come to the UK. They just have to make their own travel arrangements

    What we should be putting out is the clear medaage that anyone that enters the UK will be returned and will never be allowed into the UK. Those that destroy their papers and refuse to state where they come from will be sent to a camp abroad.

    1. Seems strange, that ‘our government’ cares more about the deaths of Illegal immigrants, than they do about the deaths of our Armed Forces in Northern Ireland’

      The ethos is similar though, the government prosecute surviving troops , but plan to open the floodgates to more immigrant invasion, by those whose ulitmate aimi in many cases, is to harm UK.

      Defend our way Sovereignty, prison
      Smuggle your way in here, freedom

      Does not seem right to me

    2. It should be, but it won’t be the sort of wake-up call that’s necessary (turn them back, stop all benefits and deport illegals).

    1. Morning Rik. I like the two guys in front turning their backs on him when they realised he was going to say that which cannot be said. Lol!

      2. Well it could be that, unlike recent scenes in our own Parliament, the EU at least allows its MEPs to speak without interruptions.

      3. TB,
        I worked in Poland when there was a Russian behind every tree, what struck you was there were giant Crucifixes alongside roads never
        seemingly short of fresh flowers, there are many ways to skin a cat.

    4. Rik,
      Discussing it in Poland, we are way ahead proving our progressiveness in, along with FGM, mosque building,
      allowing it to operate full on.

  17. Morning, Campers.
    All postings that rant about Bozza/LibLabCon/Soros will be scrolled past at great speed.
    They have now been repeated more than the seven times it takes to register in the human mind.
    This will be my one contribution today to the ‘B’ debate; otherwise it will be other subjects or (gasp) something I consider erudite or funny.
    This is an an article in the DT by Martin Howe QC.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/03/no-mr-farage-boris-johnsons-deal-not-brexit-name/

    “No, Mr Farage, Boris Johnson’s deal is not ‘Brexit In Name Only’

    If Boris Johnson’s deal were still BRINO, then I would unhesitatingly say so. But it is not.

    Nigel Farage has launched his Brexit party to fight in all constituencies in Great Britain because, he claims, Boris Johnson’s deal with the EU is “Brexit In Name Only” (BRINO). I have been one of the fiercest and most persistent critics of Theresa May’s deal, based on detailed study of its 585 pages of Articles, Protocols and Annexes. It was undoubtedly BRINO. It would have destroyed all the key benefits of Brexit by subjecting us for the long term — and without a veto or vote, or an exit clause — to EU laws over wide areas, and ended any realistic possibility of the UK forging a future independent trade policy.

    If Boris Johnson’s deal were still BRINO, then I would unhesitatingly say so. But it is not.

    First, the Northern Ireland backstop Protocol in the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) has been modified to remove Great Britain from being locked into a vassal-state customs union with the EU until the EU chooses to release us.

    Secondly, a word-for-word comparison of the Political Declaration (PD) which sets out the future EU-UK relationship with its previous Theresa May version reveals that it has been amended in vital respects. The PD is important because it is linked to a legal obligation on both parties to use “best endeavours in good faith” to negotiate an agreement in line with its principles.

    The PD as amended now clearly foreshadows a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU and not a customs union. The difference is vital because an FTA, unlike a customs union, allows us to set our own tariffs with third countries and to operate our own independent trade policy.

    Obligations in the PD for the UK to align our future rules to EU rules have been deleted, and any alignment will be optional. The so-called “level playing field” commitments in the PD have been changed. The previous commitment to shadow the EU rules on competition and state aids in Theresa May’s WA has been replaced with a more open ended commitment not to distort competition similar to that in many FTAs.

    There are still serious problems left in the deal, which are the residue of Theresa May’s appalling negotiations. But they do not make the deal BRINO and do not stop us achieving the fundamental objective of Brexit which is to restore our independence and sovereignty over our laws, borders, money and international trade.

    My own preference would be for us all to get into a time machine and travel back to 2016, avoid the disastrous May premiership and instead have a competent and determined PM conduct the negotiations with the EU. The enormous strides which Boris Johnson has made in changing a supposedly “unreopenable” deal in a few short months demonstrate that we could have got a wholly different and much better deal.

    But we must deal with the world as it is rather than the world as we would like it to be. This is something that Nigel Farage should bear in mind now.

    Nigel, you have spent a long time fighting the EU as a guerilla in the mountains. It is now time for you and your Party to come down from the mountains and lend your strength to Boris’s Conservative army to bring us together to ultimate victory in this war for our freedom.”

    2. Morning Anne.

      There are calls for a second referendum to allow the people to vote on the EU deal.

      When people in the know can’t agree on the future implications of the deal, what chance does Mr and Mrs Bloggs have?

      1. Don’t worry.
        The fragrant LibDem Leaderene has already said that they will ignore another ‘Leave’ victory.

        1. Thanks, Anne, that’s put my mind at ease.

          If nothing else, the fiasco of the past couple of years has let the genie of how we are governed out of the bottle – never to return, I feel. For me at least, none of the three main parties, nor the ‘establishment’, are to be trusted – a penny that’s taken many decades to drop.

    3. The cynic in me wonders what they’ve offered him. If we are still subject to the ECJ we are not free. The EU having any sort of power over us is not freedom. The EU is not our friend.

  18. why no BTL comments today on Ye Telegraph letters page? Are they worried about 85% support for Nigel?

    2. Good morning all!
      Seems to work for me.
      Top Comment and responses to it:-

      Bonar Bridge 4 Nov 2019 1:07AM
      Steve Narancic: “…a decent deal is better than no deal or no Brexit, and Mr Johnson’s deal is a decent one.”

      It is an appalling deal, May’s document merely tinkered with. Pass it into law and the EU will own us.

      Flag26LikeReply
      Bernard Mahan 4 Nov 2019 2:06AM
      @Bonar Bridge

      I agree. Has Mr Naranic actually read the agreement or even an analysis of how it keeps us subservient to the EU for evermore if the EU so decides?

      Flag17LikeReply
      Terence Courtnadge 4 Nov 2019 4:54AM
      @Bernard Mahan

      The REAL test will come if the Euro crashes and Britain is called upon to help bale it out with an eye watering mega-injection of British taxpayers’ cash ; strictly speaking, if it happens after 31st Janvier, Johnson should say : ‘not our problem mate, sort it out yourselves’ ; but he won’t.

      Flag9LikeReply
      Mo Bass 4 Nov 2019 5:50AM
      @Terence Courtnadge I think Boris might surprise you. Should he decide to help them out, it would be at a very high cost to them. He’d be like a kid in a sweet shop.

    3. One of my friends remarked today that the knives are out in the media for Nigel. There isn’t a good word to say for him. It seems to me (and I’m no fan of Nigel, as you know, after what he’s said about UKIP) that they see him as a threat and are out to get him. He had better not get a mobile phone out near a courtroom.

  20. Morning

    SIR – My father captained Ireland, and later managed a British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

    When we, his children, were growing up he taught us that we had to learn to play a game, and to be magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat. To him, that was both sportsmanship and a lesson in life.

    There were many teams playing in this World Cup who would have been honoured and delighted to reach the final. To see England remove the medals made for and presented to the runners-up was, to me, symptomatic of the rudeness and bad manners currently endemic in Britain.

    The English team apparently fail to realise they are ambassadors for both their country and the game of rugby. I was appalled by their lack of manners and sportsmanship in front of Japan, which that is known as one of the world’s politest nations.

    I regret to write that the better side won in every way.

    Heather White
    Tandragee, County Armagh

    1. SIR – England were magnificent against New Zealand in the semis, but they were clearly outclassed by South Africa, the eventual winners.

      The really disappointing aspect of the game was England’s churlish refusal to wear their runners-up medals. It disrespected both the winners and the tournament, and I hope it will never be repeated.

      John Ley-Morgan
      Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

        1. Yo Bill

          I bet the ‘referee’ is proud of his medal

          Saved by UK WW!, WWII

          Payback RUWC 2019

        2. We know where they get it from, don’t we, Bill? Those who lost three years ago are still refusing to acknowledge it.

          1. I did take a tiny bit of satisfaction from their petulance when The Spectator revealed that Itoje thought Brexit a disaster.

            As if anyone cares what a Nigerian foopballer thinks about anything.

  21. Channel 4 will have ‘blood on their hands’ if they air new smuggling show, government warns. 3 NOVEMBER 2019.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1066df4fb0ac5412fb8bee5fab53b37c6b041140e660f4ae39126118abbd77ff.jpg

    Channel 4 has been warned by the Home Office that it will have “blood on its hands” if it goes ahead with a programme tomorrow in which contestants attempt to “smuggle” themselves into the UK.

    The pressure will come on and this will be cancelled! It risks revealing the truth to the general public that pretty well anyone can get into the UK on Prime Time TV.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/03/channel-4-will-have-blood-hands-air-new-smuggling-show-government/

    2. Who needs to smuggle? Last time I took the car by ferry to North Shields, there was no passport check and driving into the red lane was optional. The car wasn’t inspected, nor sniffed by a narcodog. We could have had a case of AK47s and 15 bootleg Albanians aboard. UK security is a joke, much like pretty well everything else over there, except pies, real ale and cider.
      Edit: At Easter, we travelled with Firstborn’s truck from Hoek van Holland to Harwich, and it was the same.

      1. The volumes of traffic now mean a 100% inspections are simply not possible. The problem is the necessary technology has not been put in to minimise smuggling

        Smugglers/People traffickers now ten to use the smaller ports as checks at these are very weak

      2. I have found that security is tighter when LEAVING the UK than when arriving back in! We had to unload our suitcases and get out of the coach to stand by them in Dover, but we just had to get out of the bus and walk through passport control in Calais.

  22. SIR – In this age of Brexit chaos and anti-Brexit politics, can we request a rematch of the England vs South Africa Rugby World Cup Final, as I am not happy with the result?

    Richard Harris
    Odiham, Hampshire

    1. It is quite clear we were not properly informed about the gne and that we now have a lot more facts available and we should be allowed to change the result no we know all these facts

  24. Morning again

    SIR – The job of Speaker of the House of Commons is one of the most demanding in British politics. It requires a deep knowledge of the rules, a respect for our history, a lively intellect and the ability to explain complex decisions in plain English. It has to be someone with enough of a sense of humour to defuse tension and enough of a sense of occasion to keep good order.

    Above all, at this critical moment it is vital that the Commons elects the very best person for the job, regardless of party. That is why we are supporting Chris Bryant. He clearly loves Parliament, he knows Erskine May inside out, and he will be an umpire, not a player.

    Michael Gove MP
    Stephen Crabb MP
    Chris Heaton Harris MP
    Bim Afolami MP
    Jack Lopresti MP
    Greg Clark MP
    London SW1

    2. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/88ddf6aec9cfd69017fe76d0b7b689f1569fb0d615aa856575baf2880622557d.jpg

      Bryant claimed over £92,000 in expenses over the five years leading up to the 2009 scandal over MPs’ expenses. During that time he flipped his second-home expenses twice, claimed mortgage interest expenses that started at £7,800 per year before rising (after flipping) to £12,000 per year. He also claimed £6,400 in stamp duty and other fees on his most recent purchase, and £6,000 per year in service charges. Wikipedia.

      He’s also Gay so he’s pretty well a shoo-in!

  25. SIR – Congratulations to Dermot McGough for plans to remove the racist word “white” from Bideford’s town signs (report, November 3).

    Could he now exert his influence on Whitehaven, Whitechapel and the White Cliffs of Dover. He should also consider Blackpool and Blackburn and, to avoid offending any Martians out there, Greenwich.

    Malcolm Allen
    Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire

    3. And quite how the National Black Police Association is allowed beats me that has to be a racists organisation it cannot be otherwise. You can imagine the uproar is a White Police Officers Association were set up

  26. Why are they voting for a new speaker before the election?
    Is it so we get another ghastly remainer in situ to oversee the surrender treaty?

  27. Good morning. everyone. Just received confirmation that I will be marching at the Cenotaph next Sunday. Hope it doesn’t rain.

    2. Good morning

      Which group will you be with DB, are many of you travelling up from Dorset?

      That is a brilliant effort if you do, please be careful though, being mindful of your recent op experience .

      1. We are in the C column towards the back. Shackleton aircrew have been allocated 10 places in the Maritime Section. I think I am the only one from this area.

        1. Moh flew out of Malta on a patrol in the 1960’s as part of midshipman training ..in a Shackleton .. and also on a Meteor jet.. and also when back in Britain , again out of Newquay( He can’t remember ) also on a Shackleton. Another elderly friend flew Shackletons in Scotland , patrolling etc . Sadly long gone now , he would have been nearly 100yrs old !

    3. Well done. We’ll look out for and give you a wave even though we don’t know what you look like! 😂😂

      1. Thank you, Bill. I am determined to do this while I am fit and well. One never knows what next year will bring.

      1. A world cruise where one’s cabin is empty when the ship returns to Blighty/Blighted.

  32. Filed under “Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.”

    “Turncoat Tory MP Anna Soubry, part of the Independent Group for Change who want to stay in the EU, fears she will get the wrong sort of Christmas sack this year.

    She tells her Broxtowe constituents in her weekly blog: ‘This could be my last email newsletter to you as your MP. If it is, be assured it’s been a real privilege and honour serving you for the last nine years.’

    As her party received zero support in a recent opinion poll, it’s a good bet that Soubry is on the way out.

    Her constituency voted 54.6 per cent Leave, although you would never guess that from her attacks on the referendum result.”

    1. I wouldn’t mind betting that the good folk of Broxtowe have a special place for her this Christmas – atop their market place Christmas tree….

      2. Clucking bell. A drunken six foot fairy on top of the tree.
        Mind you, there are Vlad the Impaler possibilities.

  33. Morning Each,
    “The England rugby team should remember they are ambassadors for the country”
    By the same token
    The politicians should never have forgotten they are ambassadors for the country, but they surely have.

    1. “This is all about intimidating people into accepting what they know isn’t normal or true.”

      On spot.

      Let’s hope the term ‘raving lunatics’ never loses its true meaning.

      Morning ogga.

    2. Morning Rik,
      Submission is the name of the game, for conformation
      ask a MR Gerard Batten UKIP he is well versed on the subject.

  36. Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price will say that it wants another referendum on Brexit in which it would campaign for the UK to remain in the EU when he launches his GE campaign today.

    And so ” the party of Wales ” goes against the people of Wales …. .The decision by the electorate was to “Leave the European Union” which won by a majority of 1,269,501 votes (3.78%) over those who had voted in favour of “Remain “.

    1. Not just the ECB, though. The BoE, the BoJ, the Fed, God help us even the Swiss National Bank have all been at it. Here’s an idea: wouldn’t it have been better if they had used their money-printing power to buy up the banks?

      1. Agree with your observation about the other central banks – I just don’t fancy being on the hook for the ECB’s policy mistakes along with the BoE…

        Don’t EU rules prevent states from “nationalising” enterprises including banks?

        1. Rules are words on paper in the EU. Didn’t stop Sweden temporarily nationalising its banks .

      1. It’s called “negligent finance” when your friends are the judge and jury. In the real world is called, fraud, embezzlement, theft and conspiracy. They then throw away the key.
        In EU world your friends ensure that you get a much better job, from which you cannot be sacked and you are trusted with the fortunes of the world. Then they help you to an even better job. With friends everywhere, (including the prison in Marseilles, but we won’t mention that) you are the subject of adulation. The Times 2 days ago described her thus; “Christine Lagarde a trailblazer for female empowerment”.

        https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/christine-lagarde-a-trailblazer-for-female-empowerment-65lvrqk7w

      2. Oops -repetition. I have not got the hang of windows.

        It’s called “negligent finance” when your friends are the judge and jury. In the real world is called, fraud, embezzlement, theft and conspiracy. They then throw away the key.
        In EU world your friends ensure that you get a much better job, from which you cannot be sacked and you are trusted with the fortunes of the world. Then they help you to an even better job. With friends everywhere, (including the prison in Marseilles, but we won’t mention that) you are the subject of adulation. The Times 2 days ago described her thus; “Christine Lagarde a trailblazer for female empowerment”.

      3. It was the thought of having to pack her own suitcase prior to a stay in the hoosegow.
        “Do I pack tooth brush or clean knickers first?”
        Fortunately, her equally corrupt chums saved her from having to make such a crucial decision.

    6. I take it preparing food at home for a child’s Birthday Party is no longer considered an enjoyable part of the celebration?

      2. Have you been living in a cave. Of course not now at massive expensive they bring in a birthday party planning to organise it. You can get a basic children’s birthday party package from £400 it all or the Platinum Children Birthday Party Package at £1500

        1. Pah – that’s nothing. Designer Daughter was given a budget of £30,000 by a client to decorate a house for Christmas…

          1. Ah yes but the cos of the party is on top of that plus nowadays most children’s parties have to be held abroad

        1. Ah but they were not catering for the Trans-man market having no Male maternity wear in the store

    5. Next one is Katie Price she is due in the Bankruptcy Court of the 7th although she will probably be on holiday and not turn up. Given it is claimed she has defaulted on her IVA she does not stand much chance of escaping bankruptcy.

  41. Mothercare has finally pulled the plug and gone bust.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/04/mothercare-to-appoint-administrators-for-uk-chain-putting-2500-jobs-at-risk
    The picture at top of the article shows a Mothercare shop front with a black woman pushing a pram with a sprog, in front.

    Representative of the New England. I keep rebuking people for using the f word but there are times when I want to use it myself.

    Noted comments below about unacceptable names for towns.
    I hear a woman called Blanche White is to burned on a fire in East London tomorrow night.

  42. Colchester murder arrest after man killed as car hits pub

    A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died when a car hit a pub in Essex.
    Police said a 36-year-old man died when the white Nissan Qashqai hit the Spinnaker Inn in Hythe Quay, Colchester, at about 00:30 GMT.
    Three others who had been at the pub were taken to hospital, including a man who has life-changing injuries.
    The 40-year-old man is also being held on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, death by dangerous driving and assault.

  43. Slightly off topic,
    “Lab MP is supported by tory’s to become speaker ”
    If he / she / it, is a P.O.R.G may one suggest that a sycamore tree is in close proximity to the chair for him / her / it, to clime to aspy anyone
    bearing rhetorical gifts of patriotism, integrity, common sense.

  44. “The proportion of children convicted of a crime who are from black,
    Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds has nearly doubled in eight years,
    an increase experts have described as an urgent problem.”(Guardian)
    You don’t say Blimey, you had me fooled.

    1. Who would have thought it on a percentage basis of the population about 4% of the population account for 90% of the crime

      Watch any of the endless police programs on TV and the vast majority are non white. Was the same with a program on TfL about fare dodgers 90% were not British

      1. Same with the ‘Can’t pay , they’ll take it away’ or ‘the sheriffs are coming’. They’re all here for the free ride

  45. DIY….?
    In the gales a section of plastic window trim blew away and landed in the hedge.
    Luckily I found it so it’s just a simple job of sticking it back on.

    Can i use No more nails…?

    Other suggestions app.

        1. That’s fine – use a two pack: e.g Soudal Superglue and Silversil cyanoacylate Activator spray. Apply glue to one part and spray activator on the face of the other part wait a few seconds and press the two parts together. Be accurate because the glue will stick fast.

          2. With a metre length you made need a second pair of hands to hold the piece away until the first edge is correctly aligned and stuck firmly in place.

          4. OK you could also use white (or brown) coloured Sikaflex a rubberised marine sealant (available from ebay) You’ll need a sealant gun to apply it.

  46. There are cries abroad that a vote for the Brexit party could lead to a Labour government.

    Those cries make it sound as though a Labour government is an unelected foreign power which we can’t kick out of office and which will run our affairs in perpetuity.

    1. “run our affairs inperpetuity”?

      If Blair-Brown hadn’t done it already, I’d suggest changing that to “ruin our affairs in perpetuity”.

  47. I’ve decided to support the 17.4 million people who voted in 2016 to leave the EU by voting for the BXP candidate. I sincerely hope that the same 17.4 million will do me the courtesy of supporting me by voting for their local BXP candidate.

          1. Regrettaby not. I suspect it will mean me donating my vote to the Wessex Regionalist again.

          3. There is no Brexit strategy because it’s all controlled by your archenemy and his fellow globalists.

          7. I dunno, I’d have to look into your father’s and your business interests to be sure.

        2. Doesn’t matter who or what people vote for there will be no Brexit without a fight. Voting in the Marxists will mean the fight will happen sooner.

          2. Miss P, there will be no political solution. Haven’t lost anything. People are getting angrier and angrier. You Yanks are heading for civil war. So are we. The French, the East Germans, the Swedes, the Spanish/Catalans, it’ll kick off somewhere and there will be no stopping it. I was looking for a political map of the recent Canadian vote, some of the provinces there want to break away.

        1. Brexit is pretty well wrecked because nobody, Nigel Farage included, wanted to confront the GS £100,000,000 anti Brexit conspiracy.

          So things have moved on… to stopping Corbyn.

          Brexit peeps had their chance but they messed up.

          3. Unfortunately still too many people believe that our leaders are there to help us and work on our behalf. You only have to read some of the comments on here or when somebody copies over a DT letter to the editor. Everything was against us yet 17.4 million voted against the globalists. Since then many remainers have converted because they believe in democracy.
            This is what EE wrote to me, sounds right up your street to check out.
            “We Never forget that Farage comes from Banking and Finance.
            His financial bloke in the party is Nathan Rothschilds Father in law.
            How close do you get.
            His Americans mates are shockers – All the scandal of Cambridge Analytica – One of his MEPS comes actually from them – all tied in.
            Experts in manipulation and the rest!!One of the things the media has hidden and there is a lot they have (The fact they are promoting and supporting him makes you know) is all the stuff that came out in Bloomberg about him and the hedge funds and the betting on the Brexit vote and his links and actual behaviour.”
            The poem below by Kipling was altered to read Saxon to get the Yanks involved in WWI.
            The most woke place is the Daily Mail comments but they restrict even more comments since they brought in the new leftard editor it’s the biggest online newspaper in the world because of you Yanks.
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb64a15fd20ebe6898f5bd1acdb2fd33be2049429ce61720f3d6404ff9141ae6.jpg

    1. Morning, Belle, no one seems to have really challenged him about the Brino which we all fear the WA Mk2 is.

      1. This is at the root of the problem. Is the Boris deal BRINO or Brexit?

        I would like to see a debate between Farage and Johnson with fully briefed commentators noting all the facts and errors of fact that each has uttered.

        For example: while Britain is still in limbo during the next few years are our armed forces and fishing industry completely safe from possible EU attacks which we are defenceless to counter? Likewise how safe will our control over legal, financial, trade and tax matters be during this time? Indeed. would we giving a hostile EU carte blanche to damage us during the limbo period?

        1. IMO carte blanche is the answer. Plus, the EU are NOT our friends – they have shown themselves to be implacable enemies, and unworthy of us having fought to protect in two World Wars. Let them stew in their Fourth Reich. And NO coming to their aid in any way this time. Enough is enough.

      1. I have become very disenchanted with Jacob Rees-Mogg. He did talk a good game in the past, and looked honestly shocked when he realised that Theresa May had betrayed the country and was working for the EU. I wonder how he was “got at?” He was targeted at his home by pro-Remain fanatics while he was stood next to his son. That can have a nasty effect on the mind of a child, to see angry men shouting at “daddy.” That could have been a warning shot as to what would happen if he did not fall into line.

        He says there is “no mechanism for the EU to keep us in their clutches.” Apart from what we have already seen with extension after extension to Article 50 and the signing of it in the first place. All it takes are corrupt politicians, and we have a few of them, to keep saying “We are close to a deal now” to keep extending the transition period for years. Or until they give the vote to EU nationals living in the UK and they just have another referendum to take us fully into the EU.

        With 6 million of them here by the end of the next decade, the “native British” will lose that vote.

  50. ‘Dire’ German manufacturing survey

    Yet more bad news from German. Germany once the Powerhouse of the EU continues its decline. Remember it is one of the big 4 contributors to the EU funds so it is going to put even more strain on the EU budget

    More weak news on #Italy as purchasing managers report #manufacturing activity contracted at fastest rate since March & for 13th month running in October. PMI down to 47.7 (47.8 in September). Output contracted most since January; new orders fell again but least since July

    1. Germany has had everything its own way since the 1950s. Money for expansion (that we didn’t get – we just got a huge debt to the USA). German war debts to other European countries including the UK) written off in 1954. Fleecing the EU ever since the Euro became the currency of that bloc.

      And still failing?

  51. SDLP will not contest general election in three seats

    The SDLP will not be contesting the Westminster seat in North Belfast for the first time in the party’s history.
    It is one of three constituencies which it will not fight in a bid to secure the seat for pro-remain candidates.
    The other two constituencies are East Belfast and North Down.

    1. Belfast East 2017

      DUP 55.8%
      Allience 36%
      SDLP 0.4%

      Note other parties with small percentages not shown

      Belfast North

      DUP 46.2%
      SF 41.9% (Not to date they have never taken up their seats)
      SDLP 4.6%

      Note other parties with small percentages not shown

      North Down

      MIN 41.2%
      DUP 38.1%
      Allience 9.3%
      Green 6.5%
      SDLP 1%

      Note other parties with small percentages not shown

  52. May one ask, if a current standing MEP won as a candidate in the UKs
    General Election would he / she / it have to relinquish one or tother ?
    Would lifestyles be considered, wonga, perks, etc,etc.

  53. Nigel needs to cease his insistence that the Conservatives drop Boris’s deal. It is simply not going to happen. He should approach the Conservatives about a deal . The Breixt party still maintains its stance on B No deal. Just being stubborn achieves nothing in fact it increase the chances of a Corbyn win
    A deal with the Conservatives will reduce the chance of a Corbyn win as well as increasing the chances of Brexit Party MP’s being elected and with MP’d i Westminster they will have more chance of influencing things

    Remember as well Boris’s deal is not a done deal. It only got through the first couple of stages so MP’s can still try to get changes made to it

    1. If you refuse to budge from your position you can be described as firm, stubborn or pig-headed.

      Is it Nigel who is being firm and Boris who is being pig-headed – or is it the other way round?

      1. That is not correct. We will be able to make our own trade deals t the end of the transition period with some differences for NI

  54. I have just finished reading Ben MacIntyre’s new paperback “The Spy and the Traitor” it is a fascinating book and I can recommend it as Frederick Forsyth and John Le Carre have done on the cover of the book. An insight into the KGB, MI5, MI6 and their interactions with politicians and senior civil servants. It includes a NATO exercise ABLE ARCHER during Reagan’s Presidency which possibly took us closer to a Nuclear war than the Cuban crisis but got little publicity. KGB agents would sprinkle radioactive dust over the shoes and clothes of suspect agents to keep an eye on them. Worth a read.

    1. Agreed, clyde – we had the unabridged audiobook in the car returning from France. Mesmerising

    3. Do you know that the Yanks were depth charging a Soviet submarine in international waters off Cuba and the sub commander wanted to respond with nuclear tipped torpedoes? But the captain needed approval from another officer onboard but he fortunately wouldn’t authorise firing.

      1. Vasily Archipov, the political commissar on board the sub, persuaded the captain to surface rather than return fire. Just as well, really.

        1. Yep. Funny how the trigger happy Yanks portray everybody else as the bad guys. Makes you wonder how many other close calls there were that we’ll never know about.

      2. R S – I think you may be describing a film “Crimson Tide” which featured a USN Submarine which at a time of a nuclear threat got an order to prepare to fire followed by another order which did not get through properly. The Captain, Gene Hackman, decided it was an order to fire the missiles but his deputy, an Afro-American, thought otherwise and advised waiting until the full message came through.. There was a mutiny and the Captain was put under house arrest in his cabin but escaped and the divided crew faced each other with pistols. The Captain relented and gave his deputy a short time before he ordered the missile launch. Needless to say as the last minute was ticking away the full message came through reversing the order to fire and the situation was resolved. Both were court marshalled but were exonerated as it was a situation that had never been considered. Nowadays the decision has to be authorised by the President. In “Thirteen Days”, a film about the Cuban Crisis the submarine was patrolling the line which the Russian Ships taking the missiles to Cuba were not allowed to cross, the submarine, if I remember correctly was going to depth charge or torpedo the submarine in a non destructive fashion to chase it away. President Kennedy was to make the decision.

        1. Really! I’m a bumbling idiot aren’t I? but you lot already knew that. So must that Portillo guy who made a program about it a few months back. He went down a nuclear bunker in Cambridge and went on a Soviet sub being renovated which is tied up on the R. Medwayy. He also interviewed some Soviet submariners. I must have imagined it.

    1. Morning, Plum.

      I sniffed out that it might be a ladder job, so I declined to contribute. Can’t go more than 3 rungs up a ladder these days.

    2. I’d have done it but you’re too far away – bring the window up to Scotland and i’ll do it

  57. Lib-Dem’s caught out misrepresenting a Poll

    “The results of a survey done in a constituency of Jacob Rees-Mogg. You would think this is a two-horse race wouldn’t you, between the Conservatives at 38 percent and the Lib Dems on 32 percent.
    “Until you look at the very, very tiny small print at the bottom, which says: ‘the question was imagine that the result in your constituency was expected to be very close between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidate, and none of the other parties were competitive.
    “In this scenario, which party would you vote for?’ I just want to show the last result from this constituency at the last election, which shows actually the Conservatives won 53.6 percent and Labour on 34 percent, the Lib Dems on 8.3 percent. I mean this is entirely misleading, isn’t it? It’s embarrassing.”

    2. This sounds like testing the water before announcing a Lib/Lab pact to only field one candidate between them.

  58. BBC TV Licence: PM to open talks with Beeb bosses on free licences for over-75s

    I thing the rules could be changed to keep the cost down

    1) Free TV licence linked to state retirement age so you would need to be 19 years over the state retirement age
    2) For couples both have to be 10 years over the state retirement age
    3) Free licence limited to non taxpayers and basic rate taxpayers
    4) For couples both would need to be a non taxpayer o basic rate tax payer

    1. The simplest way would be to keep it for those who are already getting it, but scrap it for everyone else.

      That way nobody actually loses out. There will be lots of squealing from the nearly 75’s but they are already paying so it’s not as if they are suddenly being asked to pay more.

    2. Or – scrap the TV licence and make BBC subscription-only. Then the elderly can choose whether to pay to watch BBC, Netflix or Amazon, or Free-to-view ITV. Just like they can choose to run a car or use a free bus pass (provision of suitable buses is not part of this argument).

      1. It will probably evolve to that as fewer and fewer people are buying a TV licence and the business model only real work if most people buy a licence

        Given the BBC now only accounts for a small amount of TV now as well gives another reason to phase it out

        1. More likely they either:
          a) Make it a criminal act to not have a TV licence, or
          b) Add the licence fee + mega-inflation to income tax – as they have done recently in Norway.

      2. Most of the BBC TV output is commercial junk and there should be no obligation to pay for it.
        There could be a separate State Broadcasting Channel,, financed out of general taxation or a nominal tax ( £10, not £145 ), like a dog licence
        on condition that the news and comment would be strictly un-biased, not antiTrump, anti-Israel, anti-Brexit, pro-Climate Change, etc.

    3. No free licence for any household where there are people under 75 – kick granny out!

        1. May be the licence fee is linked to its average annual audience, If it falls the licence fee goes down

  59. My dog sleeps about 20 hours a day. He has his food prepared for him. He can eat whenever he wants.

    His meals are provided at no cost to him.

    He visits the Doctor once a year for his check-up, and again during the year if any medical needs arise.

    For this he pays nothing, and nothing is required of him.

    He lives in a nice neighbourhood in a house that is much larger than he needs, but he is not required to do any upkeep.

    He makes no contribution to the running or maintenance of the house.

    If he makes a mess, someone else cleans it up.

    He has his choice of luxurious places to sleep. He receives these accommodations absolutely free.

    He is living like a King, and has absolutely no expenses whatsoever.

    All of his costs are picked up by others who go out, work hard, and earn a living every day.

    I was just thinking about all this, and suddenly it hit me like a brick in the head.

    I think my dog is an illegal IMMIGRANT

    1. You’ve helped me make up my mind who to vote for on December the 12th, NoToNanny – you!

      2. ‘Morning, Elsie, a bit long in the tooth for standing for Parliament, I thought about it when I was in my thirties but married life, children and the need to earn an honest crust put a bar on it.

        Thank you for the confidence though.

  60. BREAKING NEWS

    Parliament LOCKDOWN: Police cordon off Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson office – suspect package

      1. Jo Swinson has a strange, semi-animated way of speaking. As if she has been put together in a backroom in a hurry, and some of the wires are letting electricity through in bursts. It causes her to jerk about a lot and have very “mobile” expressions. You almost feel sorry for the cameraman trying to keep her in the centre of the shot.

        Either that or someone has put a bat up her frock.

        1. I am delighted to say that I have never heard the woman.

          I’ll take your word for her way of speaking.

          1. Jo Swinson is the teenager playing student politics as the leader of the Liberal Democrats. The one whose husband works for a company who has been well payed by the EU in the past. She wants to revoke Article 50 right out of the gate. She is that democratic.

          1. It’s not only the legs, Belle, it’s standing with hands on the hips, elbows out to the sides… I have encountered this in supermarkets when they’re standing in front of shelves and IN YOUR WAY!! – poppiesdad does this in the kitchen when looking out of the window at the bird feeders and I am trying to get on with making something, I can’t open drawers or cupboards without pushing him out of the way.

      2. May be I have an over suspicious mind but could this be a stunt by the Lib-Dem’s to gain votes. They say get a package come in which would have been security cleared ans say we were not expecting one and it could be suspect lets call the police

      3. It appears to hae been an envelope with a powder inside.

        I wish she’d take a powder and disappear.

      4. First Tour Dates And Venues announced

        The Brexit Party General Election Tour
        November 5 (11:00 am)
        Bolsover Boxing Club – North Gate Bolsover Business Park, Bolsover, S44 6BJ

        The Brexit Party General Election Tour
        November 5 (07:00 pm)
        Bentinck Colliery Miners Welfare Social Club – 18 Sutton Road, Kirkby in Ashfield, NG17 8GS

        The Brexit Party General Election Tour
        November 6 (11:00 am)
        Washington Central Hotel – Washington Street, Workington, CA14 3AY

        The Brexit Party General Election Campaign Tour
        November 6 (07:00 pm)
        Crown & Mitre Hotel – English Street, Carlisle, CA3 8HZ

    3. Don’t worry it’s only a couple of books – “A Dummy’s Guide to Democracy” and “How to Declare Conflicts of Interest”

    7. “Police were called to the Lib Dem leader’s office at Portcullis House, in Westminster, at 9.51am this morning. The contents of the package are now being investigated to determine what they are. The Daily Mirror’s political editor Dan Bloom wrote on Twitter: “Multiple sources confirm suspicious package was found in office of Jo Swinson. Her office and staff are thought to have been quarantined while checks carried out.””
      https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1199782/London-news-Jo-Swinson-Lib-dem-office-police-cordon-suspect-package

      2. Far better for the country if they simply quarantined Ms Swinson till after the election…

  61. London stabbing: Teenager rushed to hospital following brutal Dagenham attack
    A TEENAGER was rushed to hospital on Saturday night following a stabbing in Dagenham.

  62. Children’s literature? OMG:

    …..

    Feminist rewriting of fairy stories has been the other big thing. Usborne’s Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave and Brilliant Girls begins with ‘The Daring Princess’, who rescues a prince whom a witch has trapped in a stove: our heroine takes a knife from her tool belt and gets him out. Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror (Zephyr) is about a magic mirror that travels through time and place and ‘reflects princesses who refuse to be pretty, polite or obedient’. Power to the Princess from Quarto is: ‘Fifteen Favourite Fairytales retold with Girl Power’. So Beauty tells the Beast: ‘Don’t you threaten me!’

    But now environmentalism is where it’s at. For the young XR reader — or rather, their gatekeepers as they’re known in the trade, viz. parents or school librarians — the front of house displays in Waterstones bring together titles like Little Book for Big Changes: Activities and tips to make the world a better place; Be Green and Kids Fight Plastic. There’s the hagiography there too — Earth Heroes: 20 Inspiring Stories of People Saving Our World. Fronting the genre inevitably is young Greta Thunberg: as in, We Are All Greta; and Greta’s Story — The Schoolgirl Who Went on Strike to Save the Planet, with a cover illustration that makes her look a bit like Little My from the Moomintrolls.

    There’s more to come; the International Publishers Association is joining forces with the UN to publish more books to promote its Sustainable Development Goals. Can you wait?

    Ethnic representation is a big thing too: the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education has undertaken a survey of the depiction of non-white characters in children’s fiction which it’ll publish every year and is urging publishers to make this a priority. These things can feel natural — Chris Riddell, a brilliant illustrator, has three protagonists in his new book; two of them are non-white and they’re all beautifully drawn. At other times, it really does feel like authors tick boxes as they go: strong female lead, tick, ethnic minority interest, tick.

    This move from boys to girls isn’t, I think, unrelated to the trend away from pure adventure stories of the Rider Haggard sort — which is why books like Katherine Rundell’s lost-in-the-jungle yarn The Explorer are such a relief. Julia Eccleshare, the Guardian’s former children’s book editor, writing in the Bookseller last year about book award submissions, observed: ‘It was striking just how many were stories with domestic settings where the drama depended on the internal conflicts … family breakdown, deaths, mental health problems from depression and addiction to borderline personality disorders.’ As a result, she finds, ‘outdoor adventures … have been dwindling as a fictional form, except where the outdoors is either fantastical or historical, but this year it seemed almost to have disappeared.’

    US publishers, meanwhile, have signed up for the We Need Diversity campaign, which very much includes disability and sexuality. British publishers are following their direction of travel. The young adult genre for older teenagers is dominated by identity issues, except now, the trans/bi/lesbian identities are part of the story. Publishers Weekly notes that ‘there’s a bumper crop of novels where nobody comes out — rather, the sexuality of the characters is treated like a given’. It mentions Shatter the Sky from Simon and Schuster, by Rebecca Kim Wells, whose heroine sets out to rescue her kidnapped girlfriend by stealing a dragon. The zombies in Out of Salem, a murder mystery, are ‘genderqueer’. Popular series such as Rick Riordan’s subversive takes on the Greek and Norse myths feature gay and trans characters (one of the latter is, for good measure, Muslim).

    Then there’s the other new big issue in children’s books: mental health. That took off last year with Matthew Syed’s You Are Awesome, which is meant to teach children self-worth. Mental health is now an entire section, with titles like: Be Kind and The Teenage Guide to Stress; It’s Not OK to Feel Blue.

    If you think this is getting us quite a long way from actually readable children’s books, fiction and non-fiction, I’m right with you. Because what we’re talking about is that killer of reading pleasure, books as propaganda. C.S. Lewis warned that you must never make children’s stories a vehicle for a moral message. Philip Pullman is very much an author with an agenda — anti-Christian, anti-clerical — but he’s an excellent storyteller; his world view is embedded in a cracking narrative.

    I met Michelle Paver the other day, the author of the ace Wolf Brother series, set in prehistoric times, who says that one of her cardinal rules of writing for children is that you mustn’t preach. That series happens to have a female character who is very handy with her bow, but she came with the story, as these things have always done. There is a no more feisty female character in children’s literature than Maria with her pistols in The Box of Delights (perhaps the most perfect children’s book), but John Masefield wasn’t ticking boxes; there weren’t any to tick in 1935.

    Which isn’t at all to say that books must be amoral or value-free; quite the contrary. You carry into your writing your moral sensibility. C.S. Lewis was a Christian and a medievalist and that’s the world his characters inhabit, just as all the stories in the Arabian Nights are set in an Islamic world. E. Nesbit was a socialist (who later became a Catholic), but although her children are subconscious Fabians they don’t parrot the pamphlets.

    Actually, I rather enjoyed the propaganda I grew up with: saints’ stories, which combined sensationalism and good morals. Joan Wyndham’s can still be read with pleasure now. Which is more than you’ll be able to say for Judge Brenda and the Supreme Court in a couple of generations’ time.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/11/childrens-literature-has-become-horribly-right-on/

          2. I particularly liked the passage where Florence is about to cross the desert in searing heat and his companion says: “Don’t go! In this heat your brains will melt like butter! What are you Man or Teacake?” Florence replies “teacake….”

  63. Central line cuts: Uproar at plans to axe peak services

    Thousands of commuters are urging Transport for London to scrap an “unacceptable” decision to reduce peak-time Central line Tube services.
    Customers have been told that services between Debden, Theydon Bois and Epping stations at the eastern end of the Central line are to be cut by two trains per hour as it begins a “modernisation programme” of the ageing fleet.

    TfL plans to withdraw trains to install CCTV cameras, wheelchair bays and new motors to improve reliability.

    The loop services between Hainault and Woodford are also being reduced to a shuttle service with shorter trains adding to congestion at Woodford in the mornings,

  65. Christine is fighting for hidden disability awareness after a man challenged their blue badge status

    Paddy McGuinness and Christine have two children diagnosed with autism.

    The Blue Badge Scheme is just getting silly. It should be limited to those with very severe physical or mental illness and Autism does not fall into either of those categorys. Half the population will have a Blue Badge before long. Perhaps Brexit voters get one as they keep claiming they are stupid

    1. Had to turn off the radio phone-in on the subject. With an ageing population and more awareness of mental conditions, the scheme will run out of control. It should be limited to those with mobility issues.

        1. It’s all about supporting minority groups to weaken the majority – slicing and dicing.

    2. ” It should be limited to those with very severe physical or mental illness”
      You are arrogant, selfish and cruel. You have no idea of the nature of disability and you have no idea of how difficult it can sometimes be to obtain a blue badge.
      You have put the cart before the horse. A caring society should look after its age and disabled and funds and parking spaces should be made available where required.

      1. I tend to agree, but I would take very harsh measures against people who abuse the system. And unfortunately there are too many who do.

        1. Not half as concerned as I was when I took out a car breakdown and recovery service policy earlier today: “This document is also available in Braille” !

          1. If you can declare yourself as another gender which is physically impossible, then opting to be blind is relatively straight forward.

          15. I was a pioneer – 1966. My GP was livid and called it, “fringe medicine”….

            Four years later, he stopped me in the street and apologised.

          16. Well done! The bloke who went in before me screeched and howled (as if he was being boiled alive in a Cauldron by Genghis Khan) when the spray on antiseptic was used post op. To be fair it did sting a bit as if someone had placed a Bunsen burner where they shouldn’t. I went to work the following morning…

          18. We both escaped relatively unscathed. A Doc decided to have the procedure performed by a female Urologist. He wrote up his experience: ‘Delvin, D “Blackballed”. World Medicine, 28 June 1978’ – Needless to say all did not go well although I’m sure Plum T would have approved of the ingenious use of a tennis racquet between his legs and held from behind to support, well how can I put this?, his grossly swollen plums….

          22. I did wonder if they were looking into the future and preparing for self-driving vehicles but I’m not sure they are that far sighted….

        2. I have a mental deficiency. After years of driving in Canadas, I find it almost impossible to park a car in those tiny spots that you call parking spaces.

        3. I think that would be fine where appropriate for a passenger. Blue badges are available in such cases.

      3. T,
        “There should also be in a caring society” which we had up until the mid 70s, then via lab/lib/con
        coalition party, members / voters decided that our
        hard earned assets should be shared world wide
        as in medication, education, accommodation, incarceration.
        We are suffering the consequences of
        voting fools.

    3. There soon will be a nominal number of spaces, in every carpark, reserved for:

      Non Blue Badge Holders

      1. I do have issues with badge holders who park in the few 30 min everyman slots in our village and stay for 3 hours.

      3. For someone with a severe mental disability fair enough. The only one I can think of are severe dementia

        1. The issue doesn’t arise in that case because they will have forgetten where they parked.😕

      4. In the Borders, and possibly other places, lay-bys now have a segment of the parking area painted “disabled only”.
        In smaller lay-bys this makes it awkward for HGV drivers. HGV drivers do need somewhere to park for the break periods required. by law.

      5. A few years back, our local ALDI – no doubt because they were made to comply – added ‘Family’ parking spaces to the disabled ones.
        This meant the loss of at least six spaces in an already small car park.
        I suspect I’m not the only one who has fruitlessly driven round and gone to the Lidl with its bigger car park.
        Families may buy more at a time, but I imagine those larger spaces have come at a high price.

  66. How the political class sold our sovereignty. Spiked. Doug Nichols. 4th November 2019.

    Brexit is about independence from unelected power over our decisions. National independence is an essential condition for democracy and socialism. It is something which millions have sacrificed their lives for throughout the world. Yet any opposition to parliament’s attempts to act against the majority will of the people has been stereotyped as ‘right wing’.

    Morning everyone. A concise history of the UK and its interaction with the EU, by of all persons, a Trade Unionist. Well worth a read from this unusual and probably solitary viewpoint!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/11/04/how-the-political-class-sold-our-sovereignty/

    1. Mr T Benn was of the same opinion

      Mr E Heath, Curry luvin J Minor, SATAN, Ms Cameron, Treason May and Boris would disagree

      It is a funny old world

    2. So you’ll have no objection if Scotland or NI or Wales seeks independence from England….

  67. In 2018, UK exports to the EU were £289 billion (46% of all UK exports). UK imports from the EU were £345 billion (54% of all UK imports). The share of UK exports accounted for by the EU has generally fallen over time from 55% in 2006

    Difficult to get an accurate figure but estimates of the Rotterdam affect are suggested as being about 10% so 41.4%

  68. ‘Painful to watch’ Fierce backlash as Long-Bailey dodges question on Labour Brexit policy

    Seen her on other programs and she is useless. She was supposed to be on LBC as well but ducked out of that

      1. Perhaps Mr Baker would like to explain why he was so sincerely against Mrs May’s WA and is now is so ‘sincerely’ in favour of the Johnson deal which, apparently, is 95% the same as the May Vassal State Surrender WA?

        Some have wondered whether Mr Baker has been either bribed or blackmailed into changing his deeply held convictions.

        2. The entire Conservative government has gone party first, country second. That’s if they even put the country as high as that on their priorities. Many will have their ‘careers’ as number one.

          1. Spot on MM

            They are practising damage limitation ..

            Goodness me , the weather here is appalling .. really dark skies , and down pours that a fierce short and furious.

          2. I don’t suppose any of them were planning to face an election before 2022 and a good number on both sides are l suspect looking down the barrel of a 17.4 bore shotgun hence disparage the Farage!

      2. Social Media legions being roused against Nigel Farage’s idea of dropping the Withdrawal Agreement, and having the United Kingdom actually leave the EU once and for all by the end of the year… Surely not. 🙂

        1. Afternoon MM,
          If possible would he stand for it this time?
          because three plus years ago he laid legs
          when Brexitexit was very near in the bag.
          looking for his lost life if I remember right.

    3. To state something does not mean that it is true.

      There are many reasons put forward as to why the Boris deal is not Brexit but BRINO. Each reason both for and against should be carefully examined.

    4. My MP said Boris’s deal does mean out. When I asked him to confirm that we will not be paying the £39 billion or any other money, that we will not be subject to EU law and the ECJ and that we will regain control of our fishing he hasn’t answered so far. That was sent over a week ago. It’s the first time he has not replied to an email.
      I think we can safely say that we are not leaving and at best it’s Hotel California.

      2. That is exactly what my clued up son says . So if Farage is saying this not Brexit ..Did LEAVE mean LEAVE.. David Cameron should answer that question. It needs CLARIFYING .. WHAT does LEAVE mean .

        There will be a hung parliament !

      3. He cannot give the answer you want. We will nevr leave if we go down the boris route. He lies.

    5. He is right if you care to look at the deal. at LEAST three more years. it will run on and on and we will never leave another massive Tory con.

  71. Time for a larf. Well, a smile, anyway.

    November’s Literary Review has just arrived. In the biogs of the reviewers, there is a chap called Patrick Scrivenor, very keen on dogs.

    He is writing a book called, “I Know that my Retriever Liveth”…. Can’t wait for it!

  72. What a hypocrite a GP complaining about privatisation. He was not even talking about privatisation but outsourcing. GP’s are Outsourced. The fool even wants to bring catering and cleaning back in house

    1. GPs are Independent Contractors, and, unless it has changed, with Schedule D taxation benefits and membership of the NHS Pension Scheme.

      1. I have never worked out as to why GP’s are allowed into the NHS pension scheme when they are sub contractors

        2. You do not exect governments to manage things properly do you. They never do as they are just so lazy.

  73. I have just e-mailed another letter to the DT which they will not publish:

    Sir,

    ‘Does Boris Johnson’s ‘fantastic new deal’ take us completely and cleanly out of the EU or is it Brexit In Name Only?’

    Surely it is the job of a responsible newspaper – which the Daily Telgraph would like to claim it is – to produce the facts dispassionately rather than to present biased opinions? Each point that Mr Farage raises saying that the deal is not Brexit but BRINO should be examined and assessed carefully and explained clearly as to whether or not it is based on fact and is true; each point that Mr Johnson and his colleagues in the Consewrvative Party make saying it is a proper Brexit should be placed under the same scrutiny.

    If the electorate is going to make a sensible decision it must be given the unvarnished truth – facts rather than opinion.

    Richard Tracey

  74. A not about Brexit post…..

    Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen.

    I have been married twice. My first wife passed away after eating poisonous mushrooms.

    My second wife died from a fractured skull. She wouldn’t eat hers.

  75. Would a spokesman / woman / thingy, regarding the lab/lib/con current governance parties be right in saying no blame should be attached to us
    for the near destruction of a nation.
    We politico’s, being in the main pro eu, are safe in the knowledge that the peoples will complete our task for us, looking back one would judge they have done an excellent job, to date.

  76. The Snowflakes are at it again

    Pamela Anderson is under fire after posting photos of herself wearing a Native American headdress in honour of Halloween.
    The Canadian actress and animal rights activist, who rose to fame for her role as a lifeguard on the series Baywatch, took to Twitter like many other celebrities to post photos of herself in her Halloween costume.

    1. Perhaps appropriation should extend to people not moving to other lands. Why should these people appropriate space I may want to stand in, air I may want to breathe?

  77. Corbyn is in my view lying when he says workers rights will go when we leave the EU. That is simply incorrect

    Workers rights are specifically covered in the WAB

    (e)
    health and safety at work.
    European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill
    Page 66
    (2)
    The reference in the definition of “workers’ retained EU rights” to
    rights which continued to have effect by virtue of this Act includes
    a reference to rights which form part of retained EU law by virtue
    of section 2 but which would have continued to have effect
    5
    irrespective of that section.
    (3)
    References in this Schedule to rights being of the same kind as new
    EU workers’ rights are to be read as references to rights being of
    the same kind so far as that is consistent with the United
    Kingdom’s domestic legal order following its withdrawal from
    10
    the EU.
    (4)
    For the purposes of this Schedule a right under the law of England
    and Wales or Scotland is conferred whether or not it is in force.
    (1)
    The table referred to in the definition of “workers’ retained EU
    rights” is as follows:

    https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2019-2020/0007/cbill_2019-20200007_en_8.htm#sch6

    2. He is sort of implying that Labour will never get into power, instead relying on a foreign entity to enforce workers rights.

  78. The Confusion over EU standards

    A lot of media and even the politicians do not understand the issues and they are supposed to be discussing the WAB

    The current situation is all goods put on the market in the UK have too meet EU standards even if they are not going to be exported to another EU country

    Under Boris’s deal Goods on the market inm the U will not automatically have to comply with EU standards. so if we produce goods that are solely for the UK market or Non EU market we will not have to meet the EU standards. If though we wish to export goods to the EU we will need them to meet EU standard

    In practice standards across the world are slowly converging but are not quite there yet but there will be quite a lot of read across. Large companies are likely to automatically comply with EU standards as they will be exporting there

    EU compliance is achieved by self declaration

  79. It appears you can shut down Westminster by sending a letter with some white powder in it (flour,sugar bicarb)
    What a terrible shame if this became a Brexiteer disruptive tactic applied to all sorts of places
    (Wanders musingly towards kitchen cabinets)

  80. Debate prior to voting for the new speaker is now underway

    Candidate List Below

    The seven contenders are:
    Chris Bryant – former minister and shadow Commons leader; Labour MP for Rhondda since 2001

    Harriet Harman – former minister and deputy Labour leader; Labour MP since 1982, for Peckham and its successor constituency Camberwell

    Meg Hillier – chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee and former minister; Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch since 2005

    Sir Lindsay Hoyle – elected Labour MP for Chorley in 1997; elected deputy Speaker in 2010

    Dame Eleanor Laing – elected Conservative MP for Epping Forest in 1997; elected deputy Speaker in 2013

    Sir Edward Leigh – Conservative MP for Gainsborough since 1983; former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee

    Dame Rosie Winterton – elected Labour MP for Doncaster Central in 1997; former Labour chief whip; elected deputy Speaker in 2017

      2. It is convention that the Speaker is appointed from the two largest parties and that the post alternates between the two.
        Amazingly, John Bercow was officially a Conservative, but Labour deliberately chose him because they knew he is a little tick who would do anything to damage his own party.

    1. And that is what transgenderism is leading to, allowing children to make their own decisions about their sexuality and taking parental care out of the equation.

      1. And at the same time the school curriculum is being changed to “instruct” children from primary school upwards in all aspects of sexuality and sexual activity with no brake on what is and isn’t “normal”.

    3. I didn’t realise what the “P” was that this man wanted to add to the meaningless jumble of letters that those who are confused about reality use to define their latest sexual lust.

      Then I saw that it was Paedophile…

      It has been said for years that all of this watering down of heterosexuality into 100 different fragments had one end goal in mind. These sick men and women want to get children’s pants down. It seems we have gone far enough into madness that they think they can come out of the shadows again.

      It is difficult to express suitable reactions to this. What you feel like typing would get you instantly arrested. But one thing does give comfort. If we stay under the control of the EU for years, and law and order do break down… At least we will know who these people are.

      1. Its difficult to respond to anything that the woke generation comes up with almost every day. They simply do not accept facts as part of a logical argument, and once you ditch morality or social norms, there is very little that can be said. I shall live in my own cocoon and choose my friends carefully and look in here now and again to confirm that I have not gone completely nuts!

        1. I don’t care what adults do to each other if they both give consent, use the flying helmet and wet celery if you wish, but not with a child. They cannot possibly give consent. There was some mental professional rabbiting on a few months ago, saying that the human brain can still be developing into maturity in the early 20’s.

          Saying that an 8 year old can know what they are doing is off the scale on the absurd meter. It can mentally wreck children for decades, if not for life.

        3. Interesting that if you have an adult consensual heterosexual relationship, its regarded as a sacking offence, as the Macydee’s boss has discovered. How values have changed.

      2. Afternoon MM,
        Unlike the mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella / PC / Appeasement
        lab/lib/con coalition party, there is a party formed 27 plus years ago who have the bollocks to tackle that odious issue.

        Even though p hewitt & h harman were conversing with PIE & the age of consent was
        talked of being lowered to something like 12 these sh!te parties LLC still found support & vote’s as they still do now even after the JAY report.
        Little wonder UKIP is suppressed and the likes of Tommy Robinson is castigated all done to protect the guilty, and the guilty are not only the paedophiles.

        1. Do give it a rest you sad excuse for a human being.

          Trying to use child abuse to score political points is a sick low point, even for you.

          I am glad that I am offline for a few hours now. You are a disgusting human being. Any reply to this comment will be ignored.

          3. Not in this instance.

            You’ve been an almost complete waste of space ever since you started polluting this forum with your blanket accusations that anyone who votes for any of the mainstream parties is supporting and condoning mainly Muslim rape gangs.

            As far as I’m concerned your garbage is both offensive and untrue and you make me sick, you obnoxious little man.

          4. Made my day, believe me to make your ilk sick
            is a pleasure, squirt.

            To continue to vote for a party again & again shows satisfaction
            with policies, lab/lib/con policy is mass uncontrolled immigration.

          5. I think you get a little too much pleasure from your unhealthy interest in the gangs. Do you think you’re missing out?

          7. Feel good did it, being accused of the type of thing you accuse others of?

            Off you go now, and find some other sordid tales to salivate over.

          8. Are you really implying that the contents of the JAY report & likes is unhealthy and justice should not be sought ?
            PC / Appeasement rules in your book then ?

          9. The reports and the court actions are entirely appropriate.

            It’s the lascivious pleasure that you personally seem to get out of the stories that I find disturbing.

            You should consult a suitable psychiatrist before your fantasy gets out of hand and you join a gang, purely for research and undercover reporting, of course.

          11. And yours is coming out of the shadows and into the daylight.

            You really do get an awful lot of pleasure from posting about these cases don’t you? I worry about you, I hope any young female relatives’ parents are aware.

          12. Won’t wash, but tell me you were a
            rotherham councillor at the time of the concealment were you not ?

          16. Won’t work, mass uncontrolled immigration is the cause of most of our problems and these party policies are given carte blanche to continue with every vote they receive.
            You types lay off problems on others when the blame lays squarely with you, fact dodgers.
            The keep in / keep out voting pattern as seen over many a decade does not work.

          17. Listen up toptw@t I am nowhere near as nasty as your ilk who
            covered up for 16 plus years rotherhams odious issues as in the
            rape & abuse of 1400 / 1600 children or those that made a political point of continuing to support & vote for mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella parties and continue to do so.
            I hope my reply is not ignored by people of decency because the subject matter has been ignored and covered up far to long by your kind.

  83. Why is the NHS always a political football between political parties , Unions and Doctors. It is getting in the way of reforming the NHS and getting it patient focused and well run

    1. As the national treasure is a money pit Labour can always criticise the opposition for not throwing enough at it.

  84. You can’t win a battle by not engaging the opposition.

    Brexiteers didn’t engage, probably because they didn’t understand or were too frightened… so they lost.

    Time to move on and stop Corbyn.

  85. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/03/former-britains-got-talent-contestantsmarionettes-banned-fair/

    Former Britain’s Got Talent contestant barred from performing with ‘racist’ marionettes at fair

    A veteran one-man band entertainer who starred on Britain’s Got Talent and has appeared on TV’s CBeebies was banned from a major textile fair because two of the string-operated marionettes he makes dance to his music have black faces.

    Grandfather Roger Butler, 73 – who uses the stage name Chucklefoot – was told by organisers that people had complained his 12-inch high puppets were “politically incorrect” and “casually racist” .

    And he was asked to leave them behind when he returned to play on the second day of the weekend-long Fibre East event at Redborne School in Ampthill, Beds, because of “cultural sensitivities”

    Organiser Alison Lane texted him to say: “Bit awkward but I had a few comments about your puppets and the fact they are a little politically incorrect.

    “It’s the two front ones they don’t like. The words ‘casual racism’ were used. I can’t just ignore the comments or social media will tear me apart.”

    Mr Butler – who plays a banjo, blows his kazoo, shakes a tambourine and bangs a big bass drum strapped to his back – said: “You could have knocked me down with a feather. Nobody has ever complained before so I was absolutely flabbergasted.

    “When I asked her if she was being serious, she told me, ‘I am afraid so.”

    He added: “I’ve been using those marionettes in my act for 25 years, ever since a craftsman carved them specially for me in Durban, South Africa. He was black – so was he a racist?
    “How can a marionette be racist just because it is black? I use several other puppets of all different hues in my act, including one wearing a fez and another with a big nose.

    “Some people might think they also look a little bit ‘foreign’. So perhaps they should be considered racist as well.

    “If I just used white puppets then some idiot would no doubt accuse me of being racist because my act wasn’t ‘inclusive’ enough. Some of these snowflakes seem to go round just looking for reasons to be offended.”

    Mr Butler, who lives in the nearby village of Maulden and is often seen playing in local pubs, went on: “It’s political correctness gone bonkers.

    “She told me there were ‘cultural sensitivities’ about the black marionettes and some petty-minded snowflake individuals, who hadn’t even the courage to be identified, accused me of being casually racist – whatever that might mean.

    “I play the banjo which was originally an African instrument and arrived in America via black slaves. I play blues harmonica which came from the same people. And I sing blues, jazz and skiffle and jug band songs, which are all from black musicians.

    “So I told her that if I couldn’t use my puppets she could stuff her job and refused to go back for the second day. I said, ‘The puppets will be staying at home – and so will I!'”

    Mr Butler added: “I lost a day’s booking because of this, but there was a principle at stake here. I’ve never been a racist in my life – and neither have my puppets!”

    Ms Lane did not respond to a request for comment.”

    What a good thing he didn’t take along this chap:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBvfiCdk-jc

      1. “I’m just off to see the little darlings in the cabinet – I hope they’ve done their homework or else they’ll be getting the whip again!”

    4. “We are leaving when the big hand is on twelve and the little one is on eleven.”🕚🤔

  88. General election news latest: Independent MP John Woodcock (Defected from Labour)( to step down at December election

  89. The reality of splitting the Leave vote when the Remains are working at consolidating theirs may be coming apparent to both the Tories and Farage. If not fully signed up allies, they could at least be co-belligerents against the Remain cabal. Some interesting points in Guido’s article.
    I heard Ferrari interview Farage this morning and I thought there was a slight softening of Farage’s stance in the tone of his replies. Let’s hope that both Johnson and Farage see sense and do not fight each other in areas where both could be losers. There’s plenty of scope for TBP in Labour heartlands where the Tories are seen as worse than a dose of the pox.

    https://twitter.com/andywigmore/status/1191367105616207873

  90. Good morning all.
    Chucking it down in Derbyshire and I’ve got to leave to for a Retinopathy check in Bakewrll in an hour!
    However, Rain radar suggests a pause in the rain is approaching!

  91. Even those Conservatives whom many of us trusted to be genuine Brexiters have chosen to champion BRINO rather than a proper Brexit.

    The ‘unpleasantness’ between the Conservative Party and TBP is beginning to make people question whether the Boris deal is or is not Brexit and the more it is put under the spotlight the more people can see that it is not.

    If Francois and Baker had had any integrity about Brexit they would have applied real pressure on Johnson and if this failed they would have joined Nigel Farage and joined the Brexit Party.

    The unavoidable question is: ‘Have Baker and Francois been bribed or blackmailed?’ Whatever the answer to this is, those who supported Brexit used to think that at least there were some honourable MPs in The Conservative Party. That illusion has now been destroyed and the Conservative Party is truly finished as it is rotten to its very core.

      2. Good morning Lovely,

        I don’t think Nigel Fragae is a charlatan – I am sure that he is committed to Britain and Britain leaving the EU completely. On the other hand I consider Boris Johnson to be far less trustworthy.

        But whether or not Farage or Johnson is the more trustworthy is less important than the inescapable question:

        ‘Does Boris’s plan take us completely and cleanly out of the EU or is it Brexit In Name Only?’

        Let us hope that the MSM can address this question dispassionately and help us make a balanced judgement.

        2. 😅😅😅😅😅 ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha aha gasp what a joker you are Rastus. Discuss something dispassionately, who, our MSM? Biggest joke of the year!

        3. Rastus – As we know, the Mainstream Media are owned by people who want to end our democracy and take the United Kingdom fully into the Empire of the EU. They will not mention what is in the Withdrawal Agreement at all if they can possibly avoid it.

      3. I think his current strategy is wrong. Like it or not a Deal is on the table . It may not be idle but the choice looks to be to run with Boris deal or get No Brexit

        It should be still possible to change the deal as it never got to the committee stage. Nigel main issues seem to be with the Non Legally binding political document and that should still be open to change

      4. True_Belle – Nigel Farage was told that there were credible threats against the life of his son, this was not because he was trying to keep us under EU control. Farage has picked up the baton again and put himself back in the firing line. He has offered Boris and the rest of us the chance to have a Full Brexit and to have a WTO approach to the EU in the years where we work out a Free Trade Agreement.

        We could be free and clear of the EU by the end of this year. No massive payments to them, no handing over control of our legal system to the European Union, no being forced to do as we are told by them for years. Boris has chosen to reject this chance of real freedom, so far.

        With what we have seen from the Conservatives this week, there would appear to be only one real one left – John Redwood. We already knew that all of the other parties wanted to stop us leaving. There is a simple reality in front of us. If Nigel Farage does not want us to Leave the EU then why offer this excellent option to us? Even more bluntly, if Farage has sold us out in the way that so many Conservatives have, then our country is lost.

        We might as well get used to having the Euro as our currency. I believe that Farage is sincere, and there is no other choice at this dire point that our politicians have brought us to.

    3. It would appear that on LBC this morning JR-M said that it was likely that Bercow WOULD get a peerage… The swamp gets deeper.

    1. In respect of the question it seems they are all sperm donors rather than receivers…..

    4. Are they all footballers , hurdlers, long distance runners , sprinters , eye surgeons , scientists , pilots , water engineers , blood donors, farmers etc

        1. It was one of the reponses on the feed that got me wondering, and it took a little tracking down, because there are lots of fake news people doing what ZOD 14 did.
          Even the person who questioned it had a different explanation.

          I can’t even be sure whether or not my site is accurate, such is the distrust generated by these things.

  94. Don’t forget to check your Premium Bonds.

    This month. 1 X £100 + 1 X £50 + 3 X £25. :o)

        1. Are you defying the odds or within the margin of error, in terms of the number of prizes rather than the amounts?

          1. I’m too thick to understand your comment. I have the max investment and use about a £1000 a month to top up the budget. So it was dropping. Then i move funds from elsewhere to top it back up again. My point is that the investment isn’t static.

          2. The in/out tilts it slightly, because of the lag before eligibility.

            If you take the assumed return as an interest rate, say 1%, if you are getting more than that you’re beating the odds.

          3. I see.

            An interest rate of 1% lol.

            My bank is asking me to tie up my funds with time limited withdrawal resrictions of 0.02%. The bandits !

          5. I think the current return is 1% or thereabouts. It was 1.25% a while ago, but it rings a bell that they cut it further.

            That’s more or less what we’ve been getting for the past few years.

          6. Luckier than we are.

            We really should sell them back, because in France the winnings are taxable.
            But we live in hope of the big one, ideally in the first six months of the tax year, so we can chage tax domicile.

    3. Lucky man. Enjoy the fizz.

      I had some relatives who held the maximum number for several years and never won a bean.

      Probably God saying they were already rich enough.

  96. I may be regarded as a political 1/2wit on here (am I bothered?) but I cannot see the point of choosing a new Speaker now.

    What if the successful candidate loses his/her seat in the forthcoming election?

    4. Isn’t it a convention that nobody stands against the Speaker?

      Once he/she is elected he/she will get a free pass.

    5. By tradition no one stands against the Speaker so whoever wins is virtually guaranteed a seat in the new Parliament.

      1. Come on guys, be fair! Nigel Farage explained perfectly clearly in a TV interview yesterday that he found the decision not to stand to be an extremely difficult one, but he ultimately decided that he could do more good by criss-crossing the country supporting The Brexit Party candidates than by confining himself to a single constituency had he stood for election in one.

        Furthermore, it is totally unfair to claim that he is only concerned with his MEP salary. He has campaigned fearlessly and relentlessly for many years both inside and outside the EU for Brexit. And, however the December General Election pans out, once we are out of the EU all UK MEPs will be out of a job in Brussels.

        By all means criticise him for “splitting the Leave vote” if you believe that his ultimatum to Boris Johnson is a wrong one. But badmouthing him the way several posters have done is not on in my opinion.

    3. If I were cynical I would say that he will keep his seat in the EU parliament and his very generous package off pay and perks only if Britain stays in the EU.

      But as all my NoTTLer friends know I am not remotely cynical and very seldom risk trying to be ironic.

  98. Evening, all. I shall only be popping in briefly this evening, as I have meetings to attend. Busy time for me at the moment.

    1. It means there will be three candidates going through to the next round of voting – Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Chris Bryant, and Dame Eleanor Laing.

    1. It’s getting close, and in my opinion they have come down to the best three.

      And that’s a surprise in itself, I feared they might elect Harman.

    2. I realise my reaction is not quite the point, but I wouldn’t weep into my tea if all these blasted ‘debates’ were axed.
      But, if they must be held, it is for the broadcaster to decide the format, not a politician (of any party).

      2. Every time this Swinson woman is ranting on Sky News on the telly in the kitchen my wife starts throwing the pans around and shouting at the image.

        Swinson is just about the most unattractive of the female MPs of all parties and there is hell of a lot of competition led by Jess Phillips and Harriet Harman and the fat teletubbies who sit huddled in sisterly embrace next to the Speaker on the Labour benches.

    3. What the hell has her being a woman got to do with it ?
      And the BBC don’t know what the word ” impartial ” means, so why should ITV have to include her if they don’t want to?
      She is getting a bit too big for her boots, is that lass.

      1. All that needs to be said to Bercow is:

        Good riddance, and sorry we won’t give you the peerage.

      2. I’ve an aunt who lives in the Epping Forest constituency. Aunty celebrated her 100th birthday last month and couldn’t care less who’s in government. We’ve cancelled her postal vote.

          6. I can see almost blind MIL asking for help on her ballot, she would have no idea what was written on the paper.

  104. On LBC lots of people are trying to blame profit for poor social care but that has nothing to do with it. It is the councils are not adequately funding it

  105. Asa Bennett has written an article on today’s DT saying:

    Nigel Farage’s war on the Boris deal has left him out in the cold with Brexiteers

    However, if he looked at the ‘Top Comments’ under every single current article about Brexit and the disagreement between the Cons and TBP he would see that the support for Farage is unanimous and that those who post their comments can see that Boris’s ‘fantastic deal’ is not Brexit at all.

    The fact of the matter is that Asa’s conclusion is completely wrong.

    Why are so few journalists capable of telling the truth?

        1. I refer my honourable friend to recent articles about rates of pay at the Brussels Broadcasting Company.

    2. Nigel in my view is playing this wrong. Boris is not going to back down. Nigel is best dropping his requirement that Boris has to to No deal all that’s going to do is increase the chances of Corbyn wining. Better to get a deal than the Brexit Party on the sidelines with no seats and a possible Corbyn or Rainbow coalition. Better to know when to make a tactical retreat and regroup. With a deal the Brexit party could possibly gain a dozen seats which is far better than none

      2. With the Globalist common purpose infiltration of the liblabcon having a controlling influence over them, there really is little other than their ‘party’ colours separating them. It looks like all the so called ‘Brexiteer’ traiTories have been turned & are toeing the party remain line. If we fail to elect genuine Brexiteers to hold the traiTories ( or any section / coalition of liblabcon’s ) feet to the fire, the BrINO surrender Treaty will be imposed on us, Then the ECJ will have pretty much complete supremacy over our judiciary. Anything we try to implement as an independent nation can then be judged by the ECJ as non compliant with the surrender Treaty, getting out will be more difficult than at any time since the 1975 Referendum.

    3. Evening R,
      Trust none in the brexit political play, there is many a change between the rhetoric outside the polling booth &
      the kiss inside the polling booth.

  106. Grieve is writing to the EU to demand a 10 month extension to Article 50 [Daily Express] He is determined to destroy Brexit.

        1. That doesn’t mean the EU wouldn’t agree. It’s in their interest to keep us in, subject and paying.

        2. Ims2 said “demand”, BJ, not “request”. If he can write (as you say) to them and he writes “I request a 10 month extension” then he is perfectly entitled so to do.

          PS – You seem to have confused Ims2 with Bill Thomas (as I just did – my apologies).

      3. He will be out at the next Election . He is an Independent now and will not win a seat

    3. Grieve doesn’t have the authority to demand anything. He does not represent the government. He should be charged with sedition or something.

  107. Who pours millions of dollars into legal activism ?

    Is it the same individual who part funds an organization
    allegedly linked to Jo Swinson, and which gave Dave Cameron a presumably very lucrative speaking engagement ?

    3. Quiz night again. And the answer is, the same as most of the other questions, FFS. I’ll be playing my Joker any time soon.

  108. I see that Harperson has “pulled out”. I always assumed that was what Dromie did…

  109. The forthcoming election seems to be an irrelevancy. The Brexit thing will be decided by the EU and the MPs, whether current or previous ones.
    The electorate made their minds up a long time ago. They are irrelevant and be swindled. Whether leavers or remainers, they count for nothing now.

  110. OT – a lifelong aviation lover – I am still, at my advanced age, staggered to see a plane, that can fly at 1,000 mph, STOP in midair and go backwards.

    I was watching the prog about the new HMS White Elephant last night and the American planes doing trial landings which have a V-TOL capability.
    The MR was gob-smacked, too.

    I told her about the “Flying Bedstead” – of which she had never heard. There is a super little Pathé News clip about it on Youtube – filmed in 1954 – the year of the MR’s birth. She was equally amazed to see it.

    I’ll get me goggles….

        1. He has never denied it, Conners. So when Uncle Bill replied to Tony “And a bloody sight less rude than you” Bill was absolutely correct. Shame on you Tony.

          3. I haven’t a clue what you are talking about. I asked you, is there something I don’t know ? Or is it just one of those days when most of you have seen your backsides ?

          4. Bill is a rather sensitive soul, Tony. And you wouldn’t want to see Elsie’s backside. It’s huge.

          6. Okay. Rudeness.

            Personally it doesn’t bother me much but you don’t know the temperament of people you have never met.

          7. Okay. Rudeness.

            Personally it doesn’t bother me much but you don’t know the temperament of people you have never met.

          8. Answer to Question 1 (already given) is “Yes, how to interact on this site without giving offence to others”.

            Answer to Question 2: I sit down on chairs, not on mirrors.

          9. It’s people like you who are destroying this site. I have no idea yet what you are talking about, but you seem out for blood with that silly axe of yours.
            You still have not told me why I upset the gentleman, if I did. Try answering the question instead of spitting venom. Thank you.

      2. P1127 (Kestrel) was the subsonic precursor of the Harrier, so couldn’t do the 1,000mph Bill mentioned.

        The P1154, which was the prototype for the next generation was supersonic, but they scrapped it at a time when they were doing their best to make us rely on the USA.

    3. Interesting that it appears to land vertical but appears not to be able to take off vertically

      1. Not quite correct, BJ. It was christened the VTOL, meaning Vertical Take-Off and Landing.

        1. Interesting as to date they have not shown it taking off vertically. They were showing it taking off in bad weather as well . I would have thought a vertical take off would be safer in bad weather

      2. It takes less fuel. forward speed gives lift over the wings.

        A bit like you dragging a tree stump, instead of you lifting and carrying it

        A normal landing would not be ‘vertical; either

      1. A typical 1980s film of a 1920s pilot with totally inappropriate 1980s pop “music” added to the soundtrack.

          1. The Master (Mr Lime) has told me that you should not speak so disrespectfully of the Most Recent, Uncle Bill, Sir.

            :-))

            PS – I have today just seen a quite good new film called “The Aeronaut” set in London in 1862 and starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne. When the pair start their ascent in a hot air balloon they are advised by a black scientist (scientist of colour) and watched by crowds which include an Asian member of the upper classes. Why must they add these ridiculous “inclusive” elements to films nowadays. Will we soon see a remake of “Tarzan of the Apes” where a local African tribe consists of wheelchair-bound Japanese, nubile white Scandinavian blondes, a couple of hand-holding men with spears adorned with a rainbow pennant and so on?

    5. Yo Bill

      The facts

      Airspeed is measured in knots
      The F35 has ONE engine
      The problem with going over Mach 1 (The speed of sound,) is fuel consumption is exponetial

      I doubt if the F35 can reach ‘1000mph’: if it did, then stop, it would be because it was out of fuel.

      The F35 should be renamed White Howdah

        1. I am a Phantom PHixer, from 892 NAS on Ark Royal 06

          We had proper aircraft, sub and supersonic

          The Bucanner was ‘Trans Sonic’ hard to be detected by Radar and was nuclear armed. The tooms wer there to defend it and Mother, our ship.

          The QE2 would not even survive as a Cruise Liner.

          I am sad

          https://youtu.be/ve2HVVamMl4

        2. Harrier was subsonic. It couldn’t do anywhere near 1,000mph. The supersonic follow-up, the P1154 was quicker and could go well over 1,000

      2. Most fighters – combat aircraft – don’t need to travel super fast all the time. Isn’t actual dogfighting speed much lower and more reliant on flexibility?

    6. When I lived in East Anglia, I could never understand those drivers who would screech to a halt in the middle the A1065 because some American flying machine was leaving RAF (sic) Lakenheath.

      I admit however, to being somewhat gobsmacked, whilst driving down the A1 at Wittering, to see a Harrier suddenly take orf, behind a perimeter hedge.

      I made an Airfix model of the Hawker P1127 as a child; this would become the Harrier.

      Sadly, we flogged them all off to the Yanks. I still have a soft spot for the Euro(spit)fighter Typhoon, though. My ex – and still good friend’s – eldest used to fly these. He still does, but for BAe, training Saudis.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b999e5011456a2fe70eeb3d79d1108346424f012ced486f5bf3c8db7c199d73d.jpg

      1. I sat in a Harrier with No 1 Squadron at RAF Wittering in the seventies. I was surprised how cramped and narrow it was.

        1. Yup, they’re like bus seats.

          A chum offerede me the same and on getting up the ladder full of enthusiam I looked in the cockpit and I called down ‘I could get half a leg in?’ but we did talk through the controls and so on. It was a huge privilege.

          1. I had another sit in a Harrier at Brooklands last year. That one (a later version, I think) didn’t seem so tight. I don’t think I’d lost weight since the seventies 🙂

    7. I love jet aircraft. The amazing technology and engineering is fascinating.

      Wanted to be a pilot before the blood clot issue came to light which put a kibosh on that, then I got too tall and my body is too heavy – even my lean weight . Still, I know a fair few fighter pilots in the Navy and RAF and envy them hugely.

  112. As my thumbs dwindle by the hour, it is time for me to leave you.

    A demain – possibly. Dentist + car service. Play nicely.

    1. Make sure you leave your teeth at the garage………

      The dentist will do your car for fun

    2. You’re leaving at just the right time, Bill. I fear that playing nicely is on the point of stopping for the night. So I too will now sign off, NoTTLers. See you all tomorrow.

    4. Get the car done first, you wouldn’t want to uin your teeth gnashing over the car’s Bill.

  116. Netflix’s ‘The King’ is anti-French nonsense that flatters a war criminal, says director of Agincourt museum. 4 November 2019.

    Gallic blood is boiling over Netflix’s star-studded film of the battle of Agincourt, the King, amid claims it is riddled with historical inaccuracies, dangerously jingoistic and “anti-French”.

    “I’m outraged. The image of the French is really sullied. The film has Francophobe tendencies,” he said, taking offence at Pattinson’s hammed-up take of the French Dauphin Louis de Guyenne, Henry’s nemesis.

    “The British far-Right are going to lap this up, it will flatter nationalist egos over there,” he predicted.

    Hmmm. Sounds OK! Lol!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/04/director-agincourt-museum-says-netflixs-king-anti-french-will/

    4. So it’s a good film that shows the Frogs up as daft, lilly livered half wits who charged cavalry across a muddy field?

    5. So it’s a good film that shows the Frogs up as daft, lilly livered half wits who charged cavalry across a muddy field?

  118. Just realised that the only way the Conservatives can win a small majority,
    Is if they start off with a large majority

    1. That’s a good film, Road to Purdah with Tom Hanks. Pity he dies in the end. But if you live by the sword what can one expect?

        2. Jennifer was controversial, to say the least; did not suffer fools gladly.

          Hasn’t been seen for quite some time.

          1. You lot probably drove her off with your ganging up on her and bullying, or she thought you were a bunch of fools!)))))

          2. You lot probably drove her off with your ganging up on her and bullying, or she thought you were a bunch of fools!)))))

      2. I might well be in a minority here.

        Even though I regularly had blazing rows with JSP I think it’s a pity she’s gone.

        2. Ditto. Just ‘cos she was often (note, not always) right didn’t make her a bad person…

        3. Didn’t we all? I agree with you, though, JSP added interest and spice to conversations, even if they sometimes became too personal.

          1. She always took the trouble to quote her sources and they were generally good rather than fake news.

      1. Let’s see if the person who said it remembers it. They are currently in the building.

        1. That’s always assuming that the person in question can be arsed with responding to you.

      2. Did I take something the wrong way, and say it? I don’t think so, and I don’t remember doing it, but I would say please.

        1. No it definitely wasn’t you. I don’t think I’ve aggravated you before, apart from now by not telling you the answer.))))

          1. Oh dear, I’m not very good at riddles. You’re not aggravating me at all, just it gets to a point when I think that I’m going round in circles, and therefore that the best option for me is to leave the thread.

            Anyway, I for one am sorry if that is the kind of welcome you received here. You have to admit, though, that you can be quite scathing generally if you want to be , so if someone was going to take offence, they might have done. Not that that is an excuse.

          2. One has to exercise one’s brain or you’ll end up losing it. I could be far worse because my factory default setting is to use foul and abusive language, it’s what we Chavs do. Everybody on here appears to be on the same side, it’s not like Breitbart where there are leftards and lots of Soros bots and dumb a$$ Yanks, so I see no reason for swearing or insulting each other. spoiler>Answer is Phizzee

          3. People do fall out here, you know. As for exercise, well there is useful exercise, and possibly less useful exercise.
            of one’s brain (or do you mean one’s mind?)

            Healthy debate is always good exercise, so long as it doesn’t degenerate into personal insults, which I have seen so much on places like Guido, Breitbart and even Conservative Woman. Apart from that I used to frequent the Bruges Group and the Norths’ pages – except that Pete North got peed off that I was peed off with him, and barred me. And Spectator and other pages which people post links to (and is one reason why NoTTL is so useful).

          4. I took umbrage tonight at people ganging up on ogga1.
            I loved the Spectator but when you had to pay, that was it for me.
            Peter North? Peed? Naughty Hertslass. Xvideo or on Xhamster?))))
            The question on exercise for you is whether or not you have the bingo wings.
            I play 5 min games of chess online, badly and go to the gym 5-7 times a week. Walk or bike the 4km round trip.
            The best one for learning lots of stuff is Going Postal but…

          5. Worryingly EU referendum has become a collective of remainers promoting Dr North’s attitudes.

            I respect Dr North – he knows his stuff but he forgets that other people simply aren’t as clever and capable as he is (this is obviously an assumption) and thus in his presentation we should join EFTA I don’t disagree, but his fora have been hijacked by people just saying ‘the Conservatives are rubbish, we should revoke Brexit and do it again, right this time’ – because they know we’ll never be offered another referendum ever again.

          6. Dr North’s view was predicated on both sides behaving reasonably, such that the EFTA period would be temporary. I think we have seen that the EU is incapable of behaving reasonably, and that EFTA would have been a no-go.

          7. Worryingly EU referendum has become a collective of remainers promoting Dr North’s attitudes.

            I respect Dr North – he knows his stuff but he forgets that other people simply aren’t as clever and capable as he is (this is obviously an assumption) and thus in his presentation we should join EFTA I don’t disagree, but his fora have been hijacked by people just saying ‘the Conservatives are rubbish, we should revoke Brexit and do it again, right this time’ – because they know we’ll never be offered another referendum ever again.

          10. As Breitbart is American, you would expect Yanks. But as a long time US resident, I have long given up on the idea that either country has a lock on the dumb a$$ syndrome. You got yours, we got ours. Yours tend to be very left wing, ours tend to be very right wing.

          11. Ours are left wing? You’re having a larf? How come 17.4 million voted for Brexit. then? You think because people vote Labour they are left wing? If you put a blue rosette on a porky pig the people on here would vote for it.
            So you regard yourself a s a god damn Yank? Hmmm funny how Miss Polly regards herself as a Yank too.
            I don’t go shouting my big gob off on articles about the USA but the Yanks have to do in on London/Europe articles. When it all kicks off, we in the UK will win easily, the right wing Yanks wont, despite their big guns and big mouths. We are more tolerant. I had a job that involved lots of direct contact with people in an enclosed area. Over 4 years ago they would say “I’m not racist, but…” I’d jump in straight away and say “I’m racist… then they’d go “So am I, I hate the…” But people then just kicked off. We were the least racist people on the planet but now after 70 years of enforced immigration, well…

      1. You’re so droll, Bob, baby. You never told me who the troll was you were talking about the other day was.

    4. That’s reasonably polite. More to the point, what was your comment that elicited the response?

        1. Seems like the two of you got onto the wrong footing from the start.

          Anyway, least said, soonest mended, and I’m going to read a book for a while. No doubt I won’t be able to resist coming back later, though…!

          2. Nope nothing untoward. But as for me and the Alpha male, formerly know as sobasroc, your summation would be correct.

          3. Oh dear. Really? ‘Alpha’ male. That’s just daft. Treat people as individuals worthy of respect in and of themselves and you’ll find life a lot easier.

          4. So the person I’m referring to isn’t an Alpha male? So have you read all the conversations between me and the aforementioned Alpha Male? Enough that is to formulate an opinion? Or do you just rely on hearsay and gossip? I’m all for the easy life. You have your opinion I have mine. I’ve shown respect but others have shown it to me, so when I return the lack of respect they go biatching to their mates or the mods. That’s Ok in your book because you only want people with the same viewpoint. It’s exactly the same on Going Postal. Wonder what the common denominator could be?

        2. Well that’s bally stupid, isn’t it?

          There are plenty of fair minded mods who’ll prevent you posting. The point of this forum is fair minded and calm chat, with a lot of dark humour, gloom, joy and commonality. Behave, or bug off.

          1. What’s stupid?
            Two rules, one for you “regulars”, another for the ones that the regulars don’t want irregularising their quaint little world. Go read the psychological pressing aimed at ogga1 early yesterday evening. You clearly think it’s fine because it’s regulars vs an irregular.

      1. Maybe, but on my first day? Very impolite. Yes, you lot don’t like anybody different or with different views, do you?

  121. Sir Lindsay Hoyle retains lead in third ballot results
    The results of the third ballot in the Speaker election are in.
    Here are the results in full:
    Chris Bryant (Lab) – 169
    Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Lab) – 267
    Dame Eleanor Laing (Con) – 127

    1. Head to head now between Chris Bryant and Sir Lyndsay Hoyal Seem pretty certain now though that he will win

    3. Thanks for the update, BJ. That means that the one with the lowest votes (Dame Eleanor Laing with 127 votes) is eliminated. I would therefore guess that Chris Bryant will shortly concede in order to stop a fourth ballot humiliation.

        1. Sore losers.

          The man of prinicple must get in. But are there any prinicpled men in parliament?

  124. Night All

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6ee8cb78cc7f8415541c27814ff4efd982f95f1b41ea6a82e731e332bd5bc4c2.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c2dc5f87fa31248e1ea20339cfb3a3baaf383d6b87961c11392e54e74a2e317d.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0fc1cb609d9d6f666970b70252f4bae147ce16c2d1128728633b45b0e4cdf38c.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/12374713c4b3bbc2cc8c4aa9e2df920a04d2358ae80c0728595d58a8bfe42906.gif

    https://media.giphy.com/media/ZFbbDLOmPZS3A2JtYX/giphy.gif

    And Remember

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/553add6f1ced851a3dd02b19ab205049a0a2e8ea23b3fa9a274b5c36fdbbcee9.gif

    1. Did you see korky’s dog/cat cheese yesterday?

      He was a good substitute for you, but you’re still the man!

  126. Hoyle’s been elected.
    Best of the available as far as I’m concerned.

    Let’s hope his big bang works out better than Fred’s.

      1. My assessment, from what I’ve seen so far, is that he is the opposite of your caricature.

    3. Wait until the complainers attack

      Male

      Fathered children (regretably one is deceased)

      Has experience in the chair

      I stand by what I said, I stand firm, that I hope this House will beonce a great respected House, not just in here but across the world.
      It’s the envy and we’ve got to make sure that tarnish is polished away, that the respect and tolerance that we expect from everyone who works in
      here will be shown and we’ll keep that in order.

      I wish him luck

      Abbotopotamus will hate him, as will Korbynski

      1. It’s dem candle á la bras wot gets them over-excited to the point of sponanteous combustion.

          1. We had three tables of nightlights at the All Souls service last night. The church is still standing. There are regularly votive candles near the Lady Chapel.

    3. The Muslims have already destroyed Notre Dame and attempted the same on St Sulpice, the equal in size to Notre Dame. All across France, other churches have been set alight. Nothing of this is reported in the UK press.

      I suspect the same will occur in England. Our useless politicians have invited millions of the equally useless adherents of the Prophet into our lands and we must now expect the worst.

      1. Evening C,
        The party I support have been warning of this for 27 plus years
        and fighting against the mass uncontrolled immigration policy parties, all the while these parties lab/lib/con have found support time after time from the electorate.
        Supporting these parties is condoning their ultimate aim & that is, total submission, .Country / individual.

      2. I disagree here – I would want more evidence.

        The French smoke everywhere. They do so even when there are no smoking signs. I’ve seena baby with a smokers cough and the mother, puffing away lean down and breath poison straight in to it’s mouth, utterly oblivious to the harm it’s doing the kid. They are, collectively, moronic.

        Thus I assume this is some lazy, ignorant Frog worker high up on a building, having a smoke (ignoring the signs) and chucking the still burning butt away carelessly probably over some oil drums. They don’t understand the harm cigarettes do, don’t care about the waste, the litter and are just ignorant. Unlike the UK where, thankfully smoking is considered disgusting (I love coughing over smokers as I walk behind them) the French don’t seem to understand that it is a burning object.

        Thus Notre Dame was just some idiot French worker behaving as they normally do.

        3. That is your view. There are photographs of grinning Muslims laughing as Notre Dame burns in the distance behind them.

          You had better clue up quickly as to the Muslim threat to our country and to its institutions and its basic and fundamental democracy.

          This is nothing to do with smoking but everything to do with religious warring.

  128. Completely and utterly off topic.

    Spurs are appealing Son’s red card and in my view quite right too. (I’m an Arsenal supporter so weakening THFC is good from my perspective, but Atkinson over-reacted)

    Atkinson, my least favourite ref after Dean, changed his mind after seeing the injury.

    Those injuries happen as much by bad luck as deliberate action.

    It’s terrible for Gomes and I hope he recovers. I had a very similar injury playing rugby and I know it’s a dreadful thing to happen; he’s got a lot of hard physio to look forward to, I wish him well.

    1. Regetably, what goes round, comes round

      Many footballers belong to two ‘Trade Groups/Unions’

      PFA and Equity (The Actors’ Guild of Great Britain)

      1. Aimed at the indigenous (and especially the white English male) only, and always, without fail.

    1. Hoorah!!!
      A small victory for decency.
      First step on the road back to a country we can be proud of?

      2. In my ignorance I didn’t know whether it was a good or a bad result. I couldn’t get up any enthusiasm to check out who was on the list. if the result has nottler approval, it must mean Parliament has improved in some respect I hope.

        1. I don’t know. A for Andromeda I liked. It was good enough for Carl Sagan to plagiarize for his book Contact, which spawned a film and made him pots of $$$$.

  132. A visit to the QE Hospital Birmingham last week (to have my eyes scanned psot-injections) reminded me that:

    1. There are lots of people using the NHS for whom English is not their first language (and may not speak any English), and

    2. There are lots of Asian women, and, usually, above the age of 35, they don’t walk, they either waddle or are pushed.

    https://twitter.com/AmirQSurgeon/status/1191365178392293376

    1. More single sex gyms?? surely that’s not “inclusive”Will no-one think of the trannies??

      Oh,stupid me,he means Moslem single sex gyms doesn’t he??
      So that’ll be just fine…………………

    3. I asked a Pakistani friend why so many of her countrywomen appear to be lame. She said, uncharacteristically curtly, “Too many children”. (The friend is in her 50’s, single, no kids, owns two properties, refused to marry her cousins.)

      3. Well your friend must have an unusual amount of backbone and that is such an interesting/encouraging case.

    4. Might have something to do with not having evolved to have paler skin that absorbs sunlight to produce Vitamin D, and covering themselves in clothing that may be suitable in very sunny climates, but not dark and unsunny England.

      1. Might have something to do with not having evolved to have paler skin
        that absorbs sunlight to produce Vitamin D, and covering themselves in
        clothing that may be suitable in very sunny climates, but not dark and
        unsunny England.

        1. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. It’s unkind. I actually have a Muslim friend from Iraq, who has spent Boxing Day with us on a number of occasions, so I wouldn’t tar all with the same brush.
          But they are not adapted to northern climates, especially Africans, any more than we English and other northern Europeans are really suited to countries nearer the equator. We burn too easily and develop skin cancer. There are reasons that we all live where we do, and why we have different skin colours.

  133. The answer to my earlier question, who said to me “Please go away” on my first day on this site, was the very polite, Phizzee.
    I must also unreservedly apologise for making a very risqué joke involving Miss Pretty Polly, about Norway and Indecent Proposals.
    And as for my rugby playing, Gooner, sparring partner, adieu.

  137. Her car was worth £2m? :

    Dutch Olympic athlete Madiea Ghafoor has been jailed for eight and a half years after being found guilty of drug smuggling and trafficking.

    The 27-year-old, who competed in the 4x400m relay at Rio 2016, had £2m worth of drugs in the boot of her car when she was stopped at a routine border check near Elten in Germany in June.

    She had 50kg of ecstasy tablets, 2kg of crystal meth and 11,950 euros in cash.

    “We are stunned by the judgements,” the Dutch Athletics Union said.

    “With the ruling of the German court, the Athletics Union rejects the actions of Ghafoor. The Athletics Union condemns any use or trade in doping or drugs and fully commits itself to the Dutch doping law.”

    At Kleve District Court on Monday, Ghafoor indicated that she is likely to appeal against the conviction, having pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The court heard that she thought she was carrying doping materials and did not know she was transporting ecstasy and crystal meth.

    In court she refused to say who had given her the drugs and said she was afraid for her friends and family.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/50294553

  138. 5 left in the running for Speaker

    Labour MP Meg Hillier and Conservative Sir Edward Leigh were knocked out in the first round of the contest after receiving 10 and 11 votes respectively.

    They dont half drag these things out. No wonder the commons does not get much done

      1. IT is going to go to at least round 3 as they keep going unit one has more than 50% of the vote

        Mind you Labour and the Lib-Dem’s may object if it is 52 48 as they will say it is to close

        Second round of Speaker votes announced
        Chris Bryant – 120
        Harriet Harman – 59
        Sir Lindsay Hoyle – 244
        Dame Eleanor Laing – 122
        Dame Rosie Winterton – 30

        Dame Rosie got the fewest votes, so she won’t be included in the next round.
        The winner is elected when they get over 50%.

      1. Lindsay Hoyle continues to lead Speaker election
        The results of the second ballot in the Speaker election candidate are in – Labour MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle remains in the lead with 244 votes.
        However, he didn’t get more than half the votes, meaning unless all the other candidates withdraw there will have to be a third ballot.

      1. How an earth can they waste so much time on a simple task that should taken no longer then an hour

        Should the last round now as only 3 left in the running after Harman pulled out

    1. They have all dropped the pretence that they were honouring the result of the referendum and only trying to get the agreement right.
      The voters have noticed.

    3. Only got to the end of this week to try, I think Parliament is dissolved on the 9th and I would be pretty certain it could not get through in that time

  142. Second starter for 10. What does sosraboc stand for? They have mentioned it on the site twice before to my limited knowledge, so no excuses for not knowing.

      1. There are 72 genders to choose from, and I’m sure there was something in the news two weeks ago where they were not allowed to call people by he or she but had to use “they.”

        1. There was a student (might still have been at school) who complained bitterly that someone did not call him “they”. Poor official person got it in the neck as a result.

          Unless you are genuinely suffering from DID (used to be called MPD), you should be addressed using the singular not the plural. As for 72 genders, once you are past XX and XY and the rare XYY, the others are about as real as all those promised virgins.

          1. Everything is being reassigned and dumbed down, it literally is a crazy world, we’re all mad.

          2. I refuse to submit. I chaired the HOA meeting for our small “enclave” Saturday, and can report that all home owning couples present consisted of one female and one male. Of course, none of them are of the young SJW ilk – they would not be happy living in this rather traditional part of the country, and they could not afford to live here anyway.

          3. I was looking at where Harvard, Yale and MIT were on a map the other day and was noting all the mainly English town names, with a few Indian ones. My sister works as a breakfast and lunch supervisor at a primary school, she says it makes you want to cry as most of the kids have problems because of the system and having appalling parents because of the system.

          4. Indian names or native American? After all,, Bungalow is an Indian term, not a native American one.

          6. Our address looks typically “English home counties” – apart from the US Zip code, that is. Apart from anything else it includes the words “Water” and “Virginia”.

          7. I’ve only ever been to Yankeeland twice, to meet a gal with whom I played chess online with. She lived where Miss Polly intends to flee to as a bolt hole, not far from where the two battles of The Bull Run took place.

    2. shower of shíts running a bunch of cúnts, a reflection on modern politics and the ruling classes/elites.

      And your point is?

      Look pal, you’re both the S and the C, and as far as I’m concerned you’re just a trouble maker.

      It might well have been me that suggested you slung your hook on day one, and from everyhting I’ve seen of you since your arrival, I would have been right.

      Piss off back to the DM and anywhere else that you care to pollute.

        2. What’s the point in being subtle with you lot? You’ll still be going around and around in ever decreasing circles in 2030.

        3. Yo Nuts (KP)

          I would always support sosraboc, rather than Rainbow Six, whose sole mission appears to be abusive.

          You can disagree with posts, in an amicable manner, indeed in the ‘Olden Days’ MPs of different views (and parties) were friends outside the HoC.

          Now it is 24/7/365 abuse

          I upvoted you on the presumption your comment were geared to RS

          1. Good evening OLT. For me, it isn’t a matter of support/disapproval, but thank you anyway.

            I’ll stand by my views.

            But that’s because I’m an archetypical son of a bítch.

            };-O

          3. That’s it you stick to your ingratiating and up ticking.. Show me where I’ve been abusive, or used foul language?

      2. Have you tried going to see a shrink about anger management? Or don’t they have them in the Haute Sierras? Maybe you should try taking a trip up a mountain for a day then come back down all biblical and cuddly. Or up your daily wine intake to 70cl.
        Now if I reply in the same way as you’ve (always) responded to me, I’ll get my comment deleted or I’ll be banned. Maybe we should have a competition to come up with a better name for you as it’s not very good is it? The C word should be before the S word and it’s lacking in F words.
        My point? I don’t need to say, you’ve highlighted it for me. I’ll think about your request. Maybe I’ll take a break until after the election………………….

        1. Good idea, I won’t miss you.

          If you do return it might be nice if you actually added anything to the debates instead of trying to disrupt them.

          But if you don’t return so what, the DM will still love you.

          1. Are you saying I’m disruptive? How come? You all still carry on thinking the same, saying the same old bowlocks day after day. There’s advisers for the government and globalists reading these pages and you lot make it oh so easy for the SOSRABOCs.
            I made a decision on 25th September 2019, I’m now going to follow it through.
            PS. I go punch hell out of a punch bag at the gym, not got a gym in the Haute Sierras?

          4. Accuracy over power is what he was trying to tell you.
            Perhaps you should try anger management?
            };-O

          5. I practice power and accuracy. I’m pretty certain that if I punch anybody with my right it’ll be game over unless they are a professional fighter/bouncer or have a strong constitution. But my left is a bit ghey but I’ve Improved it from 1/10 to a 3/10. There’s a 195 cm fat plod at the gym, I asked him if the police did any unarmed combat training. I then asked him if he thought he could handle me, bearing in mind he has 20 years advantage. He was unsure, which would have been the correct because he’s seen me doing my 3 x 2 minute on the punch bag.

          6. That’s lovely dear. Punch bags don’t fight back. Stop being a twerp.

            IIn my yoof – so many years ago – I competed for the UWA Muay Thai competitions. We came 2nd. We can all bang on about how ‘ard’ we are. Most big tough chaps I know don’t go on about it. Learn confidence, not arrogance. And yes, the policeman would have you. He’s just too decent to say so.

          7. Are you trolling me?
            Good for you. Isn’t the idea of hitting a punch bag to lose some aggression before one hits somebody in reality? What do you do now? Or don’t you have any testosterone left? I recently did have a run in with two coppers and would gladly have pushed the matter. I’ve also had numerous run ins with motorists who don’t know the highway code with regard to footpaths. When I end up in prison or a gulag it will be for doing something worthwhile.
            The next time the copper’s there I’ll invite him for some sparring. Yes if it lasts longer than 10 secs he’d win,

  144. Netflix’s ‘The King’ is anti-French nonsense that flatters a war criminal, says director of Agincourt museum

    In accordance, with EU rules, the Battle of Agincourt will be refought’

    All English and Welsh Bowman will have two fingers (you know which ones I mean) cut off their right hands, before the battel starts.

    Nowt changes the indomitable views of the French

    WWI lost

    WWII lost

    Vietnam Lost

    Rugby v Wales Lost

    Engand v RSA Referee won for RSA

    The French Resistance in WWII was the largest fighting force ever assembled in Warfare History (after 10/06/1944)

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/04/director-agincourt-museum-says-netflixs-king-anti-french-will/

    1. ‘Evening, OLT, look out for various quotes about the French military tomorrow – you get a mention.

      1. Yo Angie

        I must read more slowerester and carfullyesterer

        I thought I was going to look at appleblossom

      1. Down the back of the sofa?
        In the glove box with the parking money?
        In the gazunder beneath Auntie’s bed?

    3. I despise Jo Swin(e)son and all that she stands for.

      She just wants to be PM !!

      I hope that the undemocratic dumbass remainers can see through her. But, I doubt they will as most of them are as retarded as she is.

      1. Hello Elouise. Long time no see! I’m not certain what Swinsons motivation is unless unthinking arrogance is an explanation.

        1. Hi Minty, yeah, I tend to read the comments (not every day) and do a bit of upvoting. I don’t comment much as I’m in semi-hibernation ;).

          I think JS’s main and perhaps only motivation is that she wants to be PM.

      1. Stopping Brexit is on pages 2 and 7 of this LD leaflet. Also there a kinda newspaper with Stop Boris’ Brexit plans on page 1. Another leaflet doesn’t mention Brexit.

        That’s only today.

        Last Friday we had the 8 pager too…..

        Spect there’s loads more heading this way…..

        Thanks George !

Comments are closed.