Monday 6 June: The Jubilee organisers showed what can be achieved with dedication

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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702 thoughts on “Monday 6 June: The Jubilee organisers showed what can be achieved with dedication”

  1. Morning everyone. Apropos yesterday’s difficulties. The wonder of this forum is that there is so little animosity. There are occasional fractures to be sure but they are as nothing to those that occur away from it. A drink; an imagined slight, the pressure of circumstances in a world where Evil and its Agents are now Exalted and of course the difficulty of communicating using a medium that allows for very little in the way of those typical British qualities of irony and understatement. We must band together since we have only each other against the monstrous forces that now pervade the human domain and threaten us all.

    1. Very well considered words, Minty. Thank you for that and more virtual hugs all round!

    2. It’s also difficult in these cases [using just text – e.g.emails] with no facial expression, tone of voice etc to get the full meaning. I can remember being very annoyed with a mail message I received – once I had discussed it face to face with the sender I realised I’d taken it completely out of context!

      1. Drat and double drat! You must have been hitting the “Post button” just as I was typing my own message. Can we call it a draw? (No, thought not.) Anyhow, a very good morning to you and to Geoff. By the way, Geoff, could you please kindly re-post Hertslass’s late night post at the top of today’s (Monday’s) site as she requested? She asked for it to appear at the top of today’s contributions, but as yet I don’t see it.

  3. Good morning all. I was absent from the site last night, so I don’t know what the ‘difficulties’ were (and frankly don’t wish to know). Hertslass has posted an apology for whatever was said, on yesterday’s page, and asked me to re-post it here. Rather than re-post it, I’m providing this link to the post in question.

    1. This is all very strange. I’d much rather Hertslass felt safe in being able to air her frustrations and have folk ‘understand’ the difficulties than feel they have to be bottled up.

      1. It’s how they are aired that makes the difference, I think..and some things I guess should avoid the public domain.

      2. It’s how they are aired that makes the difference, I think..and some things I guess should avoid the public domain.

  4. Good Morning Folks,

    Dull damp start here, feels like Autumn.

    As usual I missed the storm last night

  5. Good Morning Folks,

    Dull damp start here, feels like Autumn.

    As usual I missed the storm lats night

  6. UK justice ministry offers more support for ICC war crimes investigation. 6 June 2022.

    The UK Ministry of Justice has announced a second tranche of support for the international criminal court’s (ICC) investigations into war crimes in Ukraine, including the deployment of a specialist legal and police team.

    Karim Khan QC, the court’s chief prosecutor, will be in London on Monday to provide an update on the progress of the investigation. During this time, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab will present further support to the independent investigation on top of the £1m of funding provided earlier this year.

    The vast majority of these charges are spurious propaganda while the UK, of all polities, is particularly ill-placed to pontificate on War Crimes. This is a land in which Tony Blair and David Cameron; two of the unsung monsters of the early twenty first century, still stalk the streets of the UK with no fear of the fate that both deserve.

    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/jun/06/ukraine-uk-justice-ministry-more-support-icc-war-crimes-investigation

    2. I trust that they will also investigate Ukranian crimes as far back as 2014, and the US involvement in bringing it about, as revealed yesterday, here:

      https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/e/7/233896.pdf

      Torture by Ukranian Forces 2016. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe published on April 15, 2016, more than six years ago, a report on the torture of Donbass Russians by the Ukrainian military and police forces. The report documents horrendous torture and it was done out of racial hatred of Russians.

  7. The Jubilee organisers showed what can be achieved with dedication

    It all went well apart from the tv coverage.

    1. You can imagine the statist version. They’d get the double decker buses and ignore the bridges they were going under until one got stuck, at which point the state would demand that the bridge be raised.

      Thankfully it wasn’t arranged by big government or a demented Lefty (as the olympics were), but by someone who put Her Majesty first.

  8. Good morning all

    It never hits the headlines (I wonder why!!) but central banks have been buying gold since 2008. I came across this interesting graph (no link, annoyingly).

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/aebf2e68717310482f67db7034f3f48bf82c590ead9f21d9c9c7516730743ca0.jpg
    1971 is when the US severed their link to gold, and the amount held by central banks declined, until 2008, when they all got a wake-up call and started buying as fast as they could.

    I have read that they are all investigating CBDCs, but it seems they are hedging their bets with gold as well.
    I am no expert, but as far as I understand it:
    – the dollar, euro, pound etc are fiat currencies, which means that they fail in a waterfall of inflation when governments print too much of them, which is what they have just done.
    – the normal end to a fiat currency throughout history is a return to the gold standard (or some other commodity).
    – this imposes discipline on the government and banks.
    – this time round, they have had the smart idea of dumping the discipline on us via Central Bank Digital Currencies, which they will be able to control when it’s in our wallets.
    – Under a gold standard, they would have to limit government spending because they could not issue more money
    – Under a CBDC, they award themselves as much money as they want, and when things get tough, they simply impose rules that the peasants aren’t allowed to spend much.

    A gold standard would work in the people’s favour, but will any big countries go down that route? China, India, Russia, Brazil?
    I read that the IMF had linked certain cryptos to commodities, but it’s hard to find more information.
    Other people are probably more expert than I am in this area..

      1. I think Brown selling our gold reserves for peanuts may be that little lurch downwards in the early 90s.

        1. I read an article saying that Gordon Brown had been specifically asked to sell our gold reserves (cheaply) to the US. It was by an American whistleblower-type.

          1. I am sure he was told to do it. What was the lever used, I wonder? Carrot or stick? In any case, it was an appalling thing to do.
            Other central banks are now increasing their gold stock – I see no evidence that Britain is. Where will that leave us in a gold-dominated world?

          3. The USA would probably use both – belt and braces. So that they could hide behind the carrot if questions were asked.

      2. Brown was and remains a moronic oaf who did incalculable damage to the economy. Aside from 12 trillion of debt, the increasing costs through statist expansion, the endless legislation, the relentless addition to the tax code – some 4000 pages of loopholes, exceptions, riders and waffle.

        1. There are still people who point to his being accepted to university at age 16 as somehow conferring him with great intelligence. There are quite a few children who take their A Levels (or whatever the Scottish equivalent is) at age 16.

    2. Gold (read as precious metals) is the only thing with value. By destroying the currency with fiat money, government and banks have been eroding our wealth at a fantastic rate. Of course they want something tangible.

      Imagine a society where money is made increasingly worthless by a government. That government continues to borrow, tax and waste at an incredible rate while making those earning the money poorer every second.

      Now imagine that those economies are close to collapse simply because of that tax, waste and debt. What would you then want to own that would retain it’s actual value against a debased and increasingly irrelevant currency? A material whose value appreciates, is stable and consistent that, when the faux paper money – the fiat currency fantasy – is rendered utterly worthless through hyperinflation you can say ‘I’m still of vallue because I own this’?

      Then imagine that when the eonomy recovers you control the valuable substance that should have been used as the link to ensure you and the state cannot devalue the currency. That you say ‘no, what you had before is now worth this – and it’s much, much less than you thought you had’ – as in a fraction of it’s post collapse worth?

        1. Sad but true. Whenever some moron demands that government do something it should be compared to a mugger stabbing you. Government is the problem. Not the solution.

  9. Beware the dangers of a cashless society. 6 June 2022.

    The problem with cashless society is that it is a surveillance society. And not only can governments, banks and tech companies monitor what you have earned and spent in a cashless world, they can preemptively control it too. As Agustín Carstens of the Bank for International Settlements said at an IMF talk, a centralised digital currency gives the bank “absolute control over the rules and regulations of the use of that expression of central bank liability, and also we will have the technology to enforce that.”

    Yes it is also one in which you can be controlled by forces against which you can neither appeal nor oppose. You can be convicted and fined without ever facing an accuser or speaking in your own defence.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/06/06/beware-dangers-cashless-society/

    1. I’ve been warning about that for a long time.
      I’m taking the liberty of posting the entire article here, if you don’t mind.

      Beware the dangers of a cashless society
      Sacrificing notes and coinage in the name of expediency will trigger terrible unforeseen consequences

      SILKIE CARLO
      6 June 2022 • 6:12am
      As the country celebrates tradition and prepares for change, one major shift is closer than ever – our move towards becoming a cashless society. It is hard to imagine money without the Queen’s profile proudly embossed, defining our Elizabethan generation in a centuries-old British tradition, but the monarch’s face is fast disappearing from our pockets.

      Many of us rarely use cash now at all and increasingly, shops, cafes and transport providers refuse to accept it. Card and contactless payments already outweigh cash payments in the UK. Our shift towards digital payments was further catalysed by Covid – even PIN-pads were deemed risky and life became, in all senses, contactless. But this also signalled an opportunity for the tech industry. Now, Mastercard is urging people to link their bank accounts to their facial biometrics in order to “smile to pay”.

      Creepy? Yes, but it all seems so convenient. Card companies give promises of “frictionless” transactions and “speeding” through checkouts. You don’t need to carry cash or worry about theft – and increasingly, you don’t need to carry a card or even remember a PIN. Digital banking apps also allow you to monitor every penny you spend. But is it only monitoring what you spend?

      The move towards a cashless society creates the inevitability of more granular surveillance than ever before. When everywhere you travel, everywhere you eat, everything you buy and every service you pay for is digitally recorded, your behaviour can be more easily scrutinised whether by your bank, your spouse or the state. Every penny of irregular income, whether a few quid from eBay or a family loan, will leave a digital trace.

      In a system of total financial surveillance, fraud, financial crime, black markets and tax evasion could theoretically be eliminated. As such, HMRC has already drastically ramped up its digital surveillance operation. HMRC’s big data “Connect” system collects over a billion items of data from 30 sources – including tax returns, interest on bank accounts, online marketplaces and social media – to conduct a matching analysis of 800 million monthly credit and debit card payments. Yet as part of this, HMRC unlawfully collected over 5 million biometric voiceprints via its helpline – it was only after Big Brother Watch raised a complaint with the data watchdog that the Department was ordered to delete them.

      The problem with cashless society is that it is a surveillance society. And not only can governments, banks and tech companies monitor what you have earned and spent in a cashless world, they can preemptively control it too. As Agustín Carstens of the Bank for International Settlements said at an IMF talk, a centralised digital currency gives the bank “absolute control over the rules and regulations of the use of that expression of central bank liability, and also we will have the technology to enforce that.”

      We have already seen financial services companies take an interventionist approach to people’s spending. There are now numerous examples of cancel culture driving digital wallets to be frozen – an early notable example was PayPal freezing WikiLeaks’ account in 2010. Just months ago, the Canadian government froze bank accounts of people associated with the truckers’ “Freedom Convoy”, in an effort to quell the campaign against mandatory vaccines. With digital currency, the question fast becomes not only who watches how you spend your money, nor even who controls how you spend it, but who actually owns it?

      The increasingly extinct practice of carrying cash is one of the most disempowering side effects of our technological future, and exacerbates risk for those already vulnerable. Without being able to tuck away some cash income beyond prying eyes, it’s harder for people in oppressive situations like abusive households to plan an escape. Without cash in our pockets, rough sleepers and charities are being hit hard by the loss of casual empathy. People who are unbanked or refuse digital identities are cut out.

      We need to consider the future financial world we are creating more deeply and be careful what we wish for. The British public has far more privacy, control and genuine ownership of our money using hard cash with the Queen’s face to pay than using our facial biometrics.

      Silkie Carlo is Director of Big Brother Watch

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/06/06/beware-dangers-cashless-society

      1. The other day I was demanded to provide my salary and income on our spending card. This is an account which all teh shoppping, petrol and so on goes into. We move £500 a month on to it and that’s it. What bothered me was that you couldn’t *not* prrovide that info, even if it simply wasn’t applicable.

        Why? Not because banks want to know what we spend – as soon as you put money into a bank, it owns it. Not many folk know that – but because the state does. Why? Taxation. It wants to know what bank accounts you have in case you’ve one it doesn’t know about so it can take your money from you.

        No, no protection, no security, just to ensure the state is taking as much as it can, as often as it can.

      2. “fraud, financial crime, black markets and tax evasion” will not be eliminated by a Central Bank Digital Currency. They will simply be nationalised.

      3. This is why I’ve resolved to withdraw my cash at bank, little by little, and start paying in cash – demanding a receipt everytime, in order to keep my own accounts.

    2. It’s worse than that. With money now practically a fictional concept that only exists and has value because we believe in it. When government can create money without it having any value the currency is quite literally debased. When banks create monies for a mortgage they continue this debasement – it’s not linked to anything. Only the fictional belief of it’s worth maintains the illusion.

      This is – partly – why I think debt has become endemic. It’s why welfare is so rife and the shame gone. The state doesn’t value our money because every year it destroys 15-20% of it, the banks don’t care – their failures being protected by the public and their profits being privatised. Why worry about getting into debt with two flash cars and not bothering with savings when the zeroes are utterly invented?

      1. The fiat currency is going to end.
        That is certain – they have printed so much, and enriched themselves beyond our wildest dreams.

        The question is, what replaces it. They want CBDCs, to keep the litlte people down.
        Some kind of commodity standard – gold, silver etc would be better for us.
        They have CBDCs ready to launch, and will push the sheep into accepting them.

        But to enforce a monopoly, they’d have to ban private ownership of gold and silver, ban all transactions with coins in these metals, and ban de-centralised cryptos like Bitcoin, Monero or Dogecoin, or the silver-backed crypto Kinesis.
        All these things would have to be banned if they want complete control over the peasants’ wealth.

        The more people are involved in financial transations outside the mainstream, the harder it will be for them to ban them.

        1. And to those who are interested in this subject – get some decentralised buying power.

  10. Thieving Gulls
    SIR – You describe the thuggish behaviour of gulls (Leading Article, June 1). Last year, my wife and I were enjoying an al fresco cream tea in Salcombe, Devon, when I was dive-bombed by this pirate of the skies, who grabbed a scone from my plate, swallowed it whole and flew off, all in a nanosecond.

    My screaming at it attracted the attention of other customers and staff, and a sympathetic waitress kindly gave me another scone free of charge.

    This is a three-pound bird with a wingspan of five feet, which can do serious damage, so outdoor diners should beware.
    Martin Henry, Good Easter, Essex

    In 2007 my wife and I were on holiday in Perth, Western Australia. We had just crossed over to Rottnest Island, home of the Quokka, a cute, wallaby-like pouched animal the size of a domestic cat, almost restricted to 2 offshore islands because of introduced predators.

    We had just sat down at a picnic table to eat our sandwich lunch when a large gull landed on the table and was looking to snatch my wife’s sandwich. I grabbed the heavy bird by the neck, swung it round and pitched it away. It did not return (to our table at least).

    The Aussies love their quokkas but insist that you do not feed them. To illustrate this, an infringement notice carrying a A$300 fine can be issued by the Rottnest Island Authority for such an offence.

    1. Just south of Fremantle, we witnessed a family being mugged for their sandwiches by a large pelican! Now, that’s a beak!

      1. „A wonderful bird is a pelican,
        His bill will hold more than his belican.
        He can take in his beak
        Food enough for a week;
        But I’m damned if I see how the helican.

        Ogden Nash

      2. „A wonderful bird is a pelican,
        His bill will hold more than his belican.
        He can take in his beak
        Food enough for a week;
        But I’m damned if I see how the helican.

        Ogden Nash

      3. I have to say that when I had lunch at the Catalina Restaurant on Rose Bay, the pelican that sat on the balcony rail beside us behaved impeccably.

    2. Talking of thieving gulls, we also had lunch at a riverside restaurant in Brisbane, when this chap (a Sacred Ibis, I’m told) came and stood on our table. Not an easy task to shoo him away – we just moved tables.
      EDIT – just been checking on line and this bird, the Australian White Ibis, one of three species of ibis in Oz, is widely referred to as the bin chicken, tip turkey or dumpster diver. They are opportunistic scavengers.
      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2e8d77e976c088565f485eb3b94b31d603808c485e856a97cd3589827d4eddbf.jpg

  11. Good morning all.
    A damp start, but not raining at the moment, and rather cool with a tad under 6½°C outside.
    Woke to find the power off, something had tripped the main breaker which reset at 2nd try.

          2. Sorry, BoB, but seeing to whom you were replying, I thought it was a weather comment.

  13. In the USA Steve Kirsch continues to offer open debate with journalists and/or doctors re the “vaccine”. In the past he has offered seven figure sums to anyone who will turn up to debate with him. No takers. Ever!

    The ‘hold’ over these people must be immense. It’s impossible, even with the low level of reported adverse events (the USA’s VAERS system is known to be at around 1% of the total as normal, with up 10% on an exceptional day), that doctors, nurses etc have no knowledge of the serious bad effects this serum is responsible for. The excuses being given for what are “vaccine” induced health problems are risible, even devising a new syndrome, SADS, as I reported yesterday. Excess deaths are rising and explaining this phenomenon with ever more outlandish excuses is going to become more difficult, if not impossible.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7f92db19b620b3a49ddf423237b0e2ee0df0240d74338e572eed43d786d99cba.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7ce4d80517e80096b6e26bc9769a0ebf8336fa5e5ec8a677f17a57748354407c.png

  14. Concern over ‘hate preachers’ in Belfast City Centre. 6 June 2022.

    Brian Redpath, who has staged a number of counter protests at their displays, spoke to Belfast Live regarding his concerns involving the street preachers saying they are using aggressive language to demonise the LGBTQ community which has resulted in attacks.

    He said that last week while protesting the preachers on Donegal Place he was approached by a man and spat on.

    Brian said: “Every day these preachers are in Belfast City Centre promoting hate against the LGBT community and it shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

    Just how many “street preachers” are there? Two? Five? Ten? Fifty? What would be the attraction of so many to Belfast City Centre? Is it a hotbed of Gay Activism? This reads more like a staged operation than reality. The Weasel Words in support of Free Speech but how it really ought to be curtailed is a typical LGBT trope.

    Concern over ‘hate preachers’ in Belfast City Centre (msn.com)

    1. It appears that they can give it out, but are unable to take any criticism!

    3. For such a piddling minority the LBQUERTY… faction are experiencing a great deal of traction for their ’cause’. They are the people causing the upset by their attempts to politicise their views and therefore impose those views on the majority, especially on the impressionable minds of our children. I suppose people of this inclination have been with us for ever, and for the most part were ignored by the vast majority, and rightly so. Live and let live was the manner by which people lived. Put a stick into a wasps’ nest and then be surprised if you get seriously hurt is a lesson that these activists should take heed of. The real problem they have is that they have somehow cajoled many within the political class to support them: never a very clever strategy.

      1. Replying here, as I cannot find anywhere else that’s appropriate.

        I agree with Richard, Lass, and I applaud your fortitude and strength in making that apology.

        We can only hope that Bill is like-minded to accept it.

    5. I didn’t even know that basketball hooligans were a thing. Oh, wait…

    6. Are they complaining about him, or are they gimmigrants in a camp? I don’t understand the context.

      I also find it astonishing that none are bright enough to work out a basic trebuchet.

  17. Reposted from yesterday:

    Well done Hertslass.

    “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” – as the very wealthy pansy sang, but you have managed to do it!

  18. Reposted from yesterday:

    Well done Hertslass.

    “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” – as the very wealthy pansy sang, but you have managed to do it!

  19. A poem picked up from Going Postal:-

    Croxj • an hour ago

    Little Ships (Unknown)

    It was a quarter to six, on
    the morning in June
    When the little ships took to the sea
    Loaded with men of all nations
    The “Vanguard”, to set the world free

    They were guarded aloft by the
    Air-Force
    And covered each side by the fleet
    Each clad-man was sure of his task
    In smashing the foe he would meet

    The sea was white-crested and
    angry
    As the little craft closed into line
    But the Royal Marines who were forming the crew
    Were undaunted, by wave-top or brine

    For more than eight miles they
    struggled
    To keep their formations intact
    And when close to shore, where they came under fire
    Neither mortar, nor shell, held them back

    They all heard the fire of the
    big naval guns
    And the shells that were screaming o’erhead
    Exploding with roars, midst the enemy ranks
    And strewing the fore-shore with dead

    As these tiny craft beached at
    seven twenty five
    That same morning on Normandy shore
    To a person who watched could plainly be seen
    That freedom was saved “Evermore”

    As the allied troops swept up
    the beaches
    Those small craft again faced the sea
    Save those craft that were sunk by gunfire or stake
    And had perished for “Liberty”

    Any now the Invasion is over
    And soon will be talked of no more
    Still, I know that “Glenearn” will never forget
    That day, June the sixth, forty four.

    (HMS Glenearn was a mother ship that carried minor Landing Craft, their crews and human
    cargos from UK waters to 8 miles or so off the Normandy coast, where
    they were lowered into the water to make their way to the landing
    beaches under their own power.)

    2. My father was a matelot crewing an RN LCA (Landing Craft Assault) of 550 Flotilla on D-day. The boats were launched from the troop carrier SS Empire Anvil, carrying GIs to the eastern end of Omaha Beach.

      Dad was 20 years old at the time of D-day.

      1. My father was tucked up in a bed on a ward verandah, marmalising the mycobacterium tuberculosis with bracing Solent air.

      2. My father was tucked up in a bed on a ward verandah, marmalising the mycobacterium tuberculosis with bracing Solent air.

  20. 352979+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,
    Monday 6 June: The Jubilee organisers showed what can be achieved with dedication

    For me the referendum done that in no uncertain manner then many of the flag wavers over the past few days post referendum returned to supporting / voting for the lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella / wide open people smugglers coalition.

    Many were, in the main, dedicated in showing their dedication since the referendum in a very pro brussels manner, and surely noticeably running these Isles only one way, & that is DOWN.

    The arse is falling out of the phony tory (ino) party if the fat yank / turk is out which I doubt then a non practising muslim (he says) is in the running, ( they can I believe tell lies to non believers) so currently he will be well suited within todays ruling political class.

      1. 352979+ up ticks,

        Morning HL,
        Good to hear from you, It is among the political classes but to lie constantly to the electorate who are in the main
        lab/lib/con supporter / voters, abusing the mentally afflicted, and that ain’t nice.

    1. It would be so much more interesting if they were allowed to indicate their confidence in the Prime Minister by chucking chairs!

    2. Union flag waving Sunday
      Back stabbing Monday
      White flag waving Tuesday
      EU flag waving Wednesday.

      1. I fear that will happen .

        We will slide back into the EU, just like that .

        Quicker than the blink of an eye .

        A cure all, according to many .

        1. Oh boy, will we be punished if we do. And our politicos will bow their heads and mutter platitudes.

        2. Brexit is dead?

          Long live the glorious EU!

          My solution to this rapidly approaching nightmare, which I have stated here before, will not be adopted because the Brexiters in the Conservative Party are far too spineless to do anything:

          Boris Johnson’s great mistake was not making an electoral pact with Farage before the general election. He needed a far more pro-Brexit Conservative party behind him and many too many remainers – who should have been deselected – are still in the parliamentary party. Many of these are now grabbing the opportunity afforded them by Johnson’s weakness and lack of commitment to Brexit.

          If Johnson is kicked out the only solution I can see is for all the Conservative MPs who are in favour of Brexit to resign their seats and either form a new right of centre party led by Lord Frost or a committed Brexiteer like Steve Baker or join Richard Tice’s Reform Party.

          1. A problem is that there are far more rejoiners than Brexiteers in the Tory party. The new party would be quite small, and I imagine some mildly Brexit-leaning MPs would stay put simply in order to have a greater chance of getting in with an influx of lefty-green new Tory candidates.

        3. Brexit is dead?

          Long live the glorious EU!

          My solution to this rapidly approaching nightmare, which I have stated here before, will not be adopted because the Brexiters in the Conservative Party are far too spineless to do anything:

          Boris Johnson’s great mistake was not making an electoral pact with Farage before the general election. He needed a far more pro-Brexit Conservative party behind him and many too many remainers – who should have been deselected – are still in the parliamentary party. Many of these are now grabbing the opportunity afforded them by Johnson’s weakness and lack of commitment to Brexit.

          If Johnson is kicked out the only solution I can see is for all the Conservative MPs who are in favour of Brexit to resign their seats and either form a new right of centre party led by Lord Frost or a committed Brexiteer like Steve Baker or join Richard Tice’s Reform Party.

    3. Another distraction.
      I wonder what horrors are being hidden as we write!
      If it generates a leadership competition the opportunities to sneak through yet more external control will be very tempting.

        1. Naval escorts to guard Ukrainian grain shipments, the returning ships provided with armaments perhaps.
          Russia controls those waters and it could turn very nazty very quickly

    4. There must be more naysayers than supporters still on holiday for it to be held with so little notice!

    5. There must be more naysayers than supporters still on holiday for it to be held with so little notice!

    6. There must be more naysayers than supporters still on holiday for it to be held with so little notice!

    2. The equivalent of a delivery driver claiming he tried to deliver a parcel to your home but no-one was in – whereas you were actually indoors the whole day.

      In other words – nothing.

  24. Louis Windsor: the making of the next generation of an over-entitled and boorish “spare”, to follow in the privileged footsteps of a number of self-possessed and ill-disciplined forerunners (Andy and Henry being the previous two). Is history repeating itself?

    1. Our Queen is the last of an old fashioned generation whose values are not mirrored anymore .

      We see ladies like the Queen out and about quietly going about their daily business, dignified and elegant , possessing quiet calm and wisdom.

      Sadly all families have a wide variety of children and adults who don’t quite cut the mustard.

      I am so shocked that the Queen has bred 3 children who have created DIRTY marriages … but I guess it is better than Henry her relative , who beheaded his wives

      1. I like to think, Maggie, that you and I (and a few more on here) are still in the vanguard of that “old-fashioned generation”. Long may we hold out with our discipline, good grace, proper manners and etiquette.

      3. What’s a ‘dirty’ marriage?
        In the days of short life expectancy, two partners surviving long enough to grow apart was very rare, plus social and financial pressures meant marriage could be a trap.
        Nowadays, a life long commitment can mean fifty rather than ten years. Over the years, people develop in different directions; no fault on either side, you have merely changed from love’s young dream.

        1. As one who divorced an abusive husband 30 years ago – followed later by a second marriage, which has been a happy one – I wonder if Belle means I should have stuck willy-nilly with the first one, even though he left. These things happen, especially in an age where people live longer than they used to.

  25. America’s great cities are gripped by decline and disorder. Spiked 6 June 2022.

    Even the denizens of left-leaning cities are rethinking progressivism. Last year, Austin – Texas’ blue capital – rescinded provisions, backed by progressives, that allowed vast homeless encampments to spring up across the city. Earlier this year, similarly left-leaning Seattle removed its ultra-progressive district attorney and Buffalo voters defeated a socialist-backed Democrat in favour of a moderate African American. Even in San Francisco, progressive school-board members were overwhelmingly defeated in February 2022 – an ominous development for Boudin’s chances next week.

    I wish that I could write something similar about the UK but the gloom is unrelieved by any ray of democratic light!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/06/05/americas-great-cities-are-gripped-by-decline-and-disorder/

    1. A conservative is a socialist who’s been mugged.
      Add raped/fire bombed/ robbed/maimed or murdered to the list of the enriching processes that society must now endure.

    1. Hunt will do whatever the WEF tells him, as would Truss, but she’s just a distraction.
      Nobody wants Jeremy Hunt – he was Boris’s preferred opponent in the final round last time for a reason! Because Boris knew he could beat Hunt!

      1. I think Johnson will probably win the vote of confidence but it will still set the cat amongst the pigeons regarding his position. We’ll just get another shill in eventually.

      2. Yo bb2

        Do not forget. I have the job Monday and Wednesdays, with Lotte (Lady of the Lake) on Thursdays

      1. That would be one of the biggest plusses of ousting Johnson. I mean, of course, her beheading.

          1. He’s got a nicer wife and he’s a Brexiteer, despite his being a greeny.

          2. Oh that’s good, I read somewhere about a potential get-together between the two of them; obviously rumour-mongering.

  27. BBCBreakfast are mendacious,malicious and Momentum Labour led . Chris Mason is a prime example .

    Leftie s##t stirring BBC ..

  28. BBC apologises for Goodman remark on ‘foreign muck’

    THE BBC has apologised after former Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman said he had never eaten Coronation Chicken and his grandmother called it “foreign muck”.

    Talking with host Kirsty Young as part of yesterday’s pageant coverage, Goodman was asked if he was a good cook. He replied: “No. My wife did Coronation Chicken yesterday for our tea. I’ve never had it before. I’ve never had curry powder before.”

    He added: “My nan used to call it all foreign muck. But I must say, it was delicious; so tasty.”

    Commentator Clare Balding apologised for comments made earlier in the show. A BBC spokesman confirmed that her apology “related to remarks made during the section of the show” in which Goodman made his comments.

    When is the BBC going to apologise for being “woke”, Left-wing, out-of-touch with public opinion, and incessantly inflicting their pretend man (Clare Balding) on us?

    1. What a ridiculous “apology!”
      I doubt any single Indian person recognises a link between Coronation Chicken and Indian food! It’s like an Indian apologising because they called a dish containing parsley “foreign muck.”

        1. How dare they mis-gender a Spotted Rastus! They should all apologise immediately!

        3. Richard Burton: “Please don’t call me ‘Dick’. That’s not a name, it’s an appendage!”

      1. How stupid can these Dopey wokey people get.
        My mother use to call spagbol foreign muck.

        1. As do the Bolognesi themselves; but without bothering with the qualifier ‘foreign’.

    3. Why was he supposed to apologise for that? My mother would have said the same thing- she’d never eat curry.

      2. Nor would I, appalling stuff. I recall going to dinner with my new boss once, and his wife had prepared a curry. Ten minutes into the meal, my stomach started making the most appalling and audibly eruptive noises. Hated curry before, and after, even more…

          1. I was 9stone then. There was only a thin layer of fat to silence the internal organs…

          2. I was 10 stone between the ages of 16 and 33. After that I started to slowly swell. ☹️

          3. I’m still a stone heavier than pre-lockdown, Cold grey weather continues not to encourage exercise…

          4. #Me Too, only in my case it’s dodgy knees and hips that are the obstacle to taking up running again.

          7. Yep, I really like such foods. I know the root is to disguise cheap meat, but in this house we use good chicken and I make the effort to actually make coronation chicken properly

      3. Nor would I, appalling stuff. I recall going to dinner with my new boss once, and his wife had prepared a curry. Ten minutes into the meal, my stomach started making the most appalling and audibly eruptive noises. Hated curry before, and after, even more…

      4. He wasn’t asked to apologise. The BBC’s execrable, risible pretend man, Balding, did that, on his behalf, and without asking him.

    4. Why on earth did they feel the need to apologise? A generational observation is all it was. My mother in law from the far north never used black pepper nor herbs etc. It was all ‘foreign muck’!

      1. Very true, Mrs Macfarlane. My mother never came across black pepper. Even if she had done, it would never have gone anywhere near her sulphurous over-boiled cabbage, or her cremated roast beef.

        1. Ah! The cremated ‘beef’! Any joint or chicken was ‘beef’ (sometimes tae bile) then overcooked and cut into 4/6 lumps! Nae finesse whatever!

          1. I was 17 before I tasted medium-rare roast beef (and a similar sirloin steak). It was only then that I discovered what the term “juicy steak” really meant. Mum still wouldn’t listen and continued to cook her beef to the flavour and texture of an old doormat.

    5. I could have understood it if the phrase ‘foreign muck’ was uttered as a spoonerism!

    6. Years ago, in a very small RN ship, the Coxswain and I were responsible for the catering, among a raft of other duties. On night in harbour the menu featured something with a little spice in it – one sailor heading ashore was heard to remark “I’m not eating that foreign muck, I’m off ashore for a Chinese”

    7. Goodman was only relating to his Grandmother’s opinion about 60 years ago. She is/was as entitled to her opinion as any on here and elsewhere in the wide world.

    8. For pity’s sake! What a Grandmother might think is nothing to apologise for!

    9. My Indian friend also thinks curry powder is muck.
      Maybe the Beeb would think she’s the wrong sort of Indian.

      1. Your Indian friend thinks the same way as most Indian people (and I) do: commercial “curry powder” is muck. Even the word, curry, is never used in the sub-continent, it stems from the Raj. Proper Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisine is made from a selection of separate spices, freshly ground and either roasted or fried before use. The difference this makes to just chucking in a few teaspoonfuls of ready-made “curry powder” muck is like comparing calcium carbonate with camembert.

  30. The end paragraph of an unusual perspective on what is happening in America and what lies behind it:

    The emergence of a ridiculous class in an empire is the proverbial bell that rings at the top of a cycle. When elements of the elite begin making war on the rules that make the elite possible, it is only a matter of time before everyone does the same. This is what we are seeing in the Global American Empire. It is now ruled by ridiculous people who care more about mocking the lower classes than doing their duty. It is just a matter of time before they follow similar phenomena to the dustbin of history.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/wholly-macaroni/

    1. It is just a matter of time before they follow similar phenomena to the dustbin of history.

      We can only hope so!

      1. The obvious alternatives, China, Islam, Africanisation don’t look too attractive

    2. Interesting. 🤔
      Something almost identical has been happening in our country for many, many decades. We even have people with strange hair styles in charge.

    1. Words fail me! The stupidity of some people is staggering, and appears to be becoming more widespread.

        2. Well I have voted No, but it’s 50% fruitcakes at the moment. Twit is a lost cause…

      2. “Words fail me! The stupidity of some most people is staggering, and appears to be becoming more widespread.”

        1. You win! I nearly posted ‘most’ but thought it was a bit pessimistic!

          1. I wasn’t in competition with you, Mrs Macfarlane (I’d invariably lose if I was 😬); I was just pointing out something that I’ve said for some time now: Humanity is getting stupider by the second.

    5. As long as a parent does no harm to the child, then they are free to do so.

      Equally the child is free to ignore their parents when they choose to and the parents don’t stand in their way. It’s called choice. Part of the human condition.

      Now if the question is ‘is it OK for an owner to feed a pet as vegan’, unless that pet is a herbivore, then no, it isn’t. Humans can digest almost anything. Look at our teeth. A child raised as a vegetablist will, as soon as they smell a bacon sandwich change their minds.

      1. Mankind has evolved the dentition and digestive tract of an omnivore. Even the similar chimpanzees hunt, kill and eat colobus monkeys.

          1. As are gibbons and orang utans. Chimps, though, are closer in DNA to Homo sapiens sapiens.

      2. One of the problems with being vegan or vegetarian is that it becomes increasingly difficult to digest meat so I’ve been told by a vegetarian, so any child brought up on it could find it difficult to change to an omnivore diet. I don’t think parents should force their eating fads on their children. I’ve always wondered why veggie burgers and veggie sausages are produced for them too – why would you want something masquerading as meat?

    6. If both parents are Vegan, it’s hard to see how they could or would raise their child as anything but Vegan. Likewise Vegetarians. Likewise members of a religion. It’s when the parents views are shown to be harming the child that the state should step in, not before.

  32. Back from my private cryogenic session. Now to see whether I get infected like last time with the NHS…

    1. Christians don’t attract victim status and are of no political use to BLM.

  34. ‘Morning All
    Deep Joy an upcoming leadership contest??
    Why now??
    The Fataturk has failed his globalist/WEF masters,even though his demented “Net Zero” support for the Uke war etc are just what they demand he has failed them over Convid
    He failed to lock us down again at Christmas and “Partygate” means further calls for a new lockdown this winter by him would be laffed to scorn…….
    My money is on Grima Govetongue,currently at Bilderberg getting his orders…..
    Buckle Up,it’s going to get messy

    2. ‘Morning, Rik, “Buckle Up,it’s going to get messy.”

      I’d say it’s pretty shitty already.

    1. Yet the beauty, craftsmanship and labour that went into creating that little joke is immense. Someone cared about that building.

    2. The X Files exerpt must be Fauci’s instruction to Wuhan – Let’s get this done.

      1. TPTB used the script from ‘Contagion’ as a template for their latest #scamdemic. Unfortunately, for them, whilst all the world is a stage and we are merely players – as Mr Shakespeare put it – too many of us improvised our lines. Hence the push to have the WHO control future scamdemic measures rather than ‘independent’ governments.

      2. I stopped watching the X Files when it became clear they’d just turned the lights off. It was tiresome not seeing anything – literally a black screen, not emotive, exciting, or suspenseful, just boring.

    4. Children don’t need flu or covid jabs in a normal year. People need to wake up and stop blindly trusting the government.

  37. 352979+ up ticks,

    A repeat from a yesterday post I do believe it needs another airing,

    34
    Post
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    18h
    People not bothering to vote for a simple reason: it doesn’t matter who they vote for because they get the same things whichever of the Lib-Lab-Con parties is in power.

    The same people complaining that there were no Tory candidates. But ask them if they would join a political party, donate to its funds, go to its branch meetings, or deliver leaflets for it, & they will look at you as though you are mad.

    They think democracy is a social service provided free of charge, effort, or obligation, & it’s NOT.

    Politicians don’t care if only 25% of people vote, it’s which party wins that matters.

        1. I do not want to be cheered up! I like being miserable and grumpy! Unadulterated rage and vengeance is what gets me though the day!

          4. I can be. Especially recently. Everything seem to annoy me. Petty frustrations.

          5. Sounds like stress. I think we are all suffering from it at a low level. Try to find a space for *YouTime.

  39. Okay,

    Deep breaths ,one and two and three.

    Some one is playing the race card again .. and look who is doing it !

    https://twitter.com/nazirafzal/status/1533684701373861889

    nazir afzal
    @nazirafzal
    Nobody should criticise Prince Louis or his parents for his behaviour, that’s what kids do..
    The point, however, is that had it been Harry & Meghan’s child, she would have been pilloried, parenting & Netflix blamed & African genes thrown in for good measure
    Prove me wrong
    6:38 AM · Jun 6, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

    1. Nothing like sowing division with a bit of race baiting on a Monday morning, after the country has enjoyed a national event.

      1. I remember a well known BBC announcer asking a slanted question of a non white person at the Jubilee.

        Strangely no one criticised her, probably because she was light brown herself.

        1. I wish the weather would improve so I can get light Northern European brown…

    2. Junior can’t sit still through a 15 minute parents evening, let alone for 6 hours. As for ‘if he were African’, who knows, but anyone branding a small boy ill behaved because of his parentage is an idiot.

      When my chum visits his son and Junior form a sort of destructive whirlwind of 7 year old madness. Neither are poorly behaved, they’re just young kids.

    3. Why should anyone bother engaging with Nazir Afzal’s racist fantasies, whoever he is?

    4. Who the hell is he? And why does he feel the need to comment? Divisiveracist!

      1. Chief Crown Prosecutor
        In 2011, he was appointed North West Chief Crown Prosecutor covering Greater Manchester, Cumbria and Lancashire. At that point in his career, he made it clear that prosecutors are public figures and should be out there engaging with the people, explaining themselves via the media.”[17] As one of the 13 chief crown prosecutors that cover England and Wales, he was responsible for over 100,000 prosecutions a year and managed 800 lawyers and paralegals

        Afzal’s work against grooming gangs led to criticism from “members of the Asian community” and a campaign to have him sacked and deported by the far right.[38] Despite his actions being the catalyst for the successful prosecution of the Rochdale child sex abuse ring, he was targeted by the English Defence League and door-stepped by Nick Griffin, resulting in him needing police protection.[39] Regarding far-right campaigns to deport Afzal, he reiterated “I was born in Birmingham. They can deport me to Birmingham if they want to”, and said “I think if you are getting it from both sides, you are probably getting something right.”[38]

        He used his position to stress that abusers were found in all communities, and that the vast majority of paedophiles in Britain are white.[40] In May 2013, he was responsible for the prosecution of disgraced former BBC presenter Stuart Hall, who was convicted of multiple sexual offences against girls and women.[41] He promised to turn the attention of the CPS to forced marriage in the Traveller community, which he claimed was rife.[40] Afzal put forward the theory, also proposed by Rochdale’s then-MP Simon Danczuk, that one explanation for the profile of the town’s abusers was the prevalence of Pakistani-origin men in the night-time economy, i.e. as taxi drivers and workers in take-away shops.[38]

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

        2. Thing is, the vast majority of child abusers are not white. The state found that they were because it didn’t want to judge per capita. In reality, the mechanisation of serial child abuse is solely within the pakistani muslim community. It’s not a nice thing to say, but it remains fact.

    6. “Prove me wrong”. Well, Nazir Afzal, you were the one who made the assertion, so it is up to you to prove that you are right, not the other way round.

  40. Moh has told me that Sweet Caroline , sung by Rod Stewart on Saturday (QPJ concert) was chosen by the BBC for him to sing …

    Sweet Caroline song is used by Rangers supporters , but ROD is a Celtic fan .. no wonder he felt uncomfortable .

    How much input did the BBC have , and were all the performers doing it for free or were they paid from licence payers money ?

    1. I’ve found a single cross bun in its packet in the freezer to have with my elevenses. Yummier than ordinary toast!!

      1. The fridge is almost literally bare at the mo, so need to go shopping, Cheese scones are on the menu!

    1. I’d love to learn about Arabic culture – by travelling to the middle east. Any one here should adopt British customs and vanish into our society, not carry on their own.

      1. There are online videos on how to mount a camel. Seems to be a particularly popular pastime. Don’t kiss it though. They have terribly bad halitosis.

        1. I remember the first time I got on a camel, “can you ride a horse ?” I was asked, “good because when the camel gets up, balance yourself as if going over a jump” good advice 🙂

          2. No they’re not, I know that sometimes you hide a genuine comment beneath your humour.

          4. No they’re not, I know that sometimes you hide a genuine comment beneath your humour.

          5. No they’re not, I know that sometimes you hide a genuine comment beneath your humour.

        2. I remember the first time I got on a camel, “can you ride a horse ?” I was asked, “good because when the camel gets up, balance yourself as if going over a jump” good advice 🙂

      2. If you ever do visit then give either Oman or Jordan a go, both have a deep respect for Britain.
        I have always enjoyed their very generous hospitality, especially when they know I was English: Bedouin, Jebel and some very traditional village families will go out of their way to make you feel welcome.

    1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/57f5ac4236e122feaa9e0b57360c2612e7917d0c4e5f39e3b60f13be3360e0a0.jpg

      D-Day Landings – a selection of poems by the late Tony Chapman, archivist/historian for the LST and Landing Craft Association (Royal Navy)

      Keep Moving

      Keep moving lads … keep moving
      Don’t huddle on this beach
      Don’t make yourselves a target
      For those guns up there to reach
      Keep moving lads … keep moving
      There’s the seawall … over there
      Keep moving lads … keep moving
      Don’t falter … or despair
      Don’t look … at comrades falling
      Around you … everywhere
      Keep moving lads … keep moving
      We can take this … on the chin
      Keep moving … and keep praying
      Before those guns … they zero in.

        1. I know Plum

          I feel that the world has forgotten our very brave men who had to confront sheer terror as they approached the beaches of Normandy .

          2. Bloody Americans refused to provide barrage fire to keep the gunners heads down, nor provided armour support for a beach landing, or paratroops to over come the entrenched positions before the landing parties. It was a tactical farce which should have been avoided.

          3. Far too many grow up never being taught about the wars. They’re taught ‘the Egyptians’ or ‘the Romans’ but never WW1 or 2. Worse, the sacrifices are never taught.

          4. That’s bravery. Down the ramp into the machine-gun fire. Unlike using the right pronoun or whatever.

          5. Interesting that the lunch time BBC news didn’t even mention D-day.

            However they did mention the death of a member of a pop band.

  47. Leadership Contest…..?

    So Wot…..

    Sadly we now vote to keep politicians out.
    I want a politician to improve the country as a whole and hopefully my
    quality of life…is there anyone out there?

    1. Cometh the hour…

      Unfortunately there’s too much vetting and grooming for the ‘right person’ to cometh anywhere near a position of power.

    2. In a daft way, one would think that the three tier system of politics and OUR inflence on the ballot boxx would imptove our quality of life , but no , we are dismissed ..

      Government appears to support the idle inarticulate chaotic noisy careless wasteful communities .. Gawd , I hate that word .

      We just get on with life and muddle through .. yet the government , councils and another jobsworth money collector poke their noses into our purses to plunder our slender means of support in order to hand out cash to the great tattooed / fat breeders and neer do wells who inhabit KFC and Burger bars and drug alleys and estates where knife crime is a way of life .

    3. 352979+ up ticks,

      Afternoon P,
      Could always give Ane Marie Waters / Tommy Robinson For Britain a try, but a return to reality & sanity is not everyone’s cup of tea.

  49. https://twitter.com/LesMiserabley/status/1533487249777729537
    I know a lot of NOTTLers take a different view.
    But the hologram Queen is disturbing on several levels.
    The monarch appearing in person to the people has always been important throughout history, and the RF are the first to know it.
    People will say, it’s because she’s old – but it isn’t. It really can’t be. She could sit in a coach, it’s not as though she’d have to walk.
    It’s deeper.
    I think the Palace didn’t want the image of HM in a golden coach to do the rounds on the internet, because they think it would be too politically sensitive and would give ammunition to republicans.
    But people cheering a hologram of our country in the 1950s? That’s just creepy! Did we trade in a golden monarch for a Bitcoin one?
    I think the biggest reason is that the Palace also wants to distance the Queen from the unfolding economic catastrophe. They don’t want the digital currency slaves to be looking back and asking why they cheered HM on the streets of London next year.
    That’s why they’re disassociating her from her own Platinum Jubilee.

    It also disturbs me how quickly XR were bundled out of sight when they tried one of their stupid stunts on. If they can be hauled away when they disturb a State function, why not when they prevent thousands of ordinary people going about their daily business?
    Why is the State suddenly elevated so much higher than the people?

    1. With that many people there, if the police hadn’t dealt with it there would have been a riot and the police wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

      Frankly, the greeniacs were morons. Really what should have happened – as every other time – is plod leaving and saying ‘you sort it’ to the public. You can guarantee they’d never block traffic – or walk, breed or speak – again

    3. I think the golden coach is extremely uncomfortable and bumpy to ride in, and if the Queen has back problems or dodgy hips, then it would be the worst thing for her to ride in.

      You may be making too much of the choice not to have the 96 year old Queen take a bumpy ride.

      1. I agree. An old lady being travel sick would not look good.
        If she could even get up the steps/ramp to get in it.

      2. Hmm, I don’t really buy that. They could pad it with air cushions, none of which would be visible.
        This is the woman who stood for a long boat journey at her golden jubilee, because she knows the importance of being seen by the people.

        1. The golden jubilee was 20 years ago – you meant the diamond one; and it probably helped to finish off the old Duke, who was hospitalised with a bladder infection shortly afterwards. I think she made the right decision. She was seen by the people when she made the second balcony wave.

      3. It rolls like a small vessel hitting a heavy wake. I think they tried fitting dampers to stop this, but I don’t know whether the idea was a success.

      4. Yo Nd

        the golden coach is extremely uncomfortable and bumpy to ride in,
        I found that the other night, when a Palace Moonlighter used it to take me from the Palace to home

    4. I must admit that I was uncomfortable seeing the coach with the hologram of the Queen, but couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Thanks for that!

      1. I suppose the organisers thought it might be better than an obviously empty coach. It was an odd idea though.

  50. If your girlfriend has a friend that annoys you, don’t tell her to stop
    being friends with her. Just casually mention how pretty she is.

    Stay toxic.

    Follow me for more tips. :@)

    1. Oh you are awful Phizzee, .

      When are you publishing your book ?

      Windy weather here . 18c.

      When should we take the bunting down , it looks so pretty flapping around .

      Moh playing golf today.

      1. Most of my jokes are stolen so i can’t claim them.

        The rain held off today which was good as i had the handymen round doing chores. I originally employed them as gardeners. I asked if they were prepared to do other jobs. They said yes, pretty much anything.

        Conservatory roof cleaned. All the fascias and guttering cleaned. All the hard areas power washed. Fence panel replaced.

        They did a great job in three hours which would have taken me weeks.

        I gave them all my gardening books as a tip.

        Leave the bunting up all Summer. It is a Jubilee year after all and there is just the possibility that you will annoy any passing Lefties.

        1. Yo Fizz

          For your gutterings fit Hedgehogs, bluvvy marvelous, especially against leaves and moss

          https://www.bestproductsreviews.co.uk/hedgehog-gutter-guard-brush?targetid=dsa-19959388920&matchtype=&device=c&campaignid=15548184439&creative=569168980240&adgroupid=131395587735&feeditemid=&loc_physical_ms=9044859&loc_interest_ms=&network=g&devicemodel=&placement=&keyword=$&target=&aceid=&adposition=&trackid=uk_all_top_11_2&mId=407-132-4411&trackOld=true&gclid=CjwKCAjwy_aUBhACEiwA2IHHQO2YYTfupDphdmL0SRPF746-poWvRYLd0TSfjci_USlO1Io1wKQ_2RoCc98QAvD_BwE

      2. Yo T_B

        To make it easier for you, just post when he does not play,,,,,hehehehehhe

        Does he employ an ex Wasp Aircrewman to be his Caddy?

      3. Yo T_B

        To make it easier for you, just post when he does not play,,,,,hehehehehhe

        Does he employ an ex Wasp Aircrewman to be his Caddy?

      4. Yo T_B

        To make it easier for you, just post when he does not play,,,,,hehehehehhe

        Does he employ an ex Wasp Aircrewman to be his Caddy?

      5. I took half mine down today, but left the longer string; I removed the two small waving flags from the rose pyramid. I lowered the large union flag and put it away, too.

    1. Too many possibilities, a foul 5.

      Wordle 352 5/6

      ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Better today.

      Wordle 352 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. An ‘Effin Five for me – my first two shots yielded zilch!
      Wordle 352 5/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    4. #metoo.

      Wordle 352 4/6
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
      🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  52. Yesterday I commented on the Government’s requirement that home charged electric vehicles from end of June 2022 must be smart charging compliant.

    Son and family came round to see us yesterday and this affects him in respect that he had an EV charging point professionally fitted to his home a few years ago for his Nissan EV Leaf which he uses for short journeys from home.
    We discussed the future of EVs and charging issues particularly as we both have aging diesel second cars for long jiurneys although our other one is petrol.

    His home charge point recently failed due to an overheated trip and he is now reluctant to have a professional repair/smart uprade or even join other motorists should he need to recharge away from home precisely for reasons like this:

    https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1617989/electric-cars-driving-fine-drivers-put-off-EVs-fined-charging-motorway

    He is falling back on what he calls his granny charger cable which allows him to charge his EV albeit at a lower charge rate of 3kW.

  53. If anyone had a doubt about how feckless and useless Biden would perform at being the USA’s president this clip of Steve Bannon and Ben Harnwell debating the war in Ukraine will eliminate any doubt. Described as being someone who can be relied upon to f*** up any situation he becomes involved with, Biden is confirming that analysis.

    Steve Bannon’s War Room

    1. Senator Joe Biden screwed up the Vietnam evacuation – and he was compos mentis then.

  54. We’ve been engaged in a protracted legal dispute with the University of Essex over its apparent reluctance to update its policies to avoid a repetition of the no-platforming of two feminist law professors. Thankfully, this has now been resolved with the University agreeing to do what it ought to have done some time ago.

    Two-and-a-half years ago, Professor Jo Phoenix and Professor Rosa Freedman, both gender critical feminists, were disinvited from two separate events at the University following protests from LGBTQ+ activists who claimed that allowing them to speak would be a breach of various University policies, including one entitled ‘Harassment and Bullying: Our Zero Tolerance Approach’. Among other things, these policies set out the University’s legal duty to protect minority students from being harassed or discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010. The protestors claimed that merely allowing these two gender critical feminists on campus, even if they spoke about something entirely unrelated to trans rights, would be against the law.

    This double no-platforming provoked widespread condemnation and the University commissioned the equalities barrister Akua Reindorf to review its policies. She concluded that the University was in breach of its statutory duty to ensure freedom of speech for visiting speakers, as well as its regulatory obligations, duties under charity law and – in all probability – its legal duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010. Reindorf pointedly said that the University’s policies that had been invoked to no-platform Professors Phoenix and Freedman interpreted the law “as Stonewall would prefer it to be, rather than the law as it is”. It goes without saying that Essex is a member of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme. (You can read a summary of Reindorf’s report here.)

    The report made 28 recommendations, some of them concerning Essex’s policies which, according to Reindorf, were based on a misunderstanding of the Equality Act arising from Stonewall’s flawed legal advice. The University duly apologised to Professors Phoenix and Freedman and agreed to implement Reindorf’s recommendations – but when the LGBTQ+ activists complained that the apology made them feel ‘unsafe’, the University then issued a second apology apologising for the first, which didn’t bode well. Sure enough, it then dragged its feet over making the changes it had promised to make.

    We wrote to Essex last November threatening it with a Judicial Review if it didn’t amend its policies to ensure they accurately stated the law and weren’t in breach of the University’s free speech duties. Essex wrote back, agreeing to do some of the things we’d asked, although it claimed it was intending to do them anyway, but disputing that it was legally required to comply with all our demands. We then wrote again, extracting a few more concessions… and on and on it went until, eventually, the University agreed to do more or less everything we’d asked.

    Having secured this important victory, we’ve now embarked on a piece of research to determine how many other British universities are making the same mistakes as Essex – particularly those that are members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme. We’ve already discovered several malefactors and we intend to write to them pointing out that Essex agreed to correct these mistakes after they’d been alerted to them by Akia Reindorf and given a not-so-gentle push by us. Hopefully, they’ll also fall into line.

    Bryn Harris, our Chief Legal Counsel and the mastermind behind this campaign, had the following to say:

    The Free Speech Union is delighted that the University of Essex amended its policies in response to legal correspondence from us. We hope other universities will adopt this sensible approach. The Equality Act does not apply in every situation, and where it does apply it doesn’t provide carte blanche for activists to no-platform those whose views they disagree with.

    This isn’t an abstract issue. Misunderstanding of the Equality Act and free speech obligations led to unfair treatment of Rosa Freedman and Jo Phoenix. This matters.

    Universities need to start getting this right, or they face the likelihood of challenge by the likes of us and, in the future, regulatory intervention and even liability in damages once the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill becomes law.

    The Free Speech Union plans to exert continuous pressure on universities that impose unlawful restrictions on the speech of their students, staff and visiting speakers.

    An update on the case of FSU member Simon Isherwood

    The case of one of our members, Simon Isherwood, was back in the news last month. Among others, the Telegraph, the Mail, GB News, Reclaim the Net and Zero Hedge reported on the Employment Tribunal hearing of the railway conductor who is suing his former employer after he was sacked when he was caught questioning “black privilege” during video-conference diversity training on “white privilege”. The session in question was attended by around 80 staff members from East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Railway and Mr Isherwood’s former company London Northwestern Railway, which is owned by West Midland Trains. At the end of the session, while staff were thanking the host, Simon accidentally left his microphone on and was overheard telling his wife: “I couldn’t be arsed because I thought, ‘You know what, I’ll just get fucking angry.’ You know what I really wanted to ask?… and I wish I had, ‘Do they have black privilege in other countries?’ So, if you’re in Ghana?…”

    After an internal disciplinary probe, West Midlands Trains sacked Mr Isherwood, claiming the comments “caused offence, brought the company into disrepute and breached our equality, diversity and inclusion policy and the code of conduct”.

    Speaking to the Telegraph, however, Simon pointed out that he made these comments in his home when he had a reasonable expectation of privacy. “It was a private conversation, I had no idea anyone was listening to me,” he said.

    Unsurprisingly, the effect of the sacking has been devastating for Simon. “I’ve lost my job, my income, my reputation, my health is absolutely shot to pieces,” he said. “I’d worked there for 11 and a half years and never had anything but promotion, praise and awards and even now I can’t believe it.”

    Simon’s hearing was on 5th and 6th May before Judge Wyeth in the Watford Employment Tribunal. As expected, Simon was an honest and compelling witness, and stood up to cross-examination with aplomb. We drafted in leading civil liberties barrister Paul Diamond to represent him. Paul has fought landmark cases in the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, and, as you might expect from someone of that caliber, was unrelenting in picking apart the holes in the other side’s evidence. He also successfully convinced the judge that the freedom of speech issues in this particular case require close attention. Indeed, it’s for that reason that the judge reserved judgment, rather than giving it extempore. The timescale is uncertain, but we hope Simon will receive the judgment this month. If Simon wins his case, the remedy hearing, where the size of his award will be decided, is scheduled for 19th September.

    The FSU’s packed summer schedule

    Now that we really are ‘back to normal’, the FSU has great pleasure in unveiling our packed programme of summer events. We have two Online Speakeasies coming up: How Woke Won with Dr Joanna Williams on Wednesday 15th June and Trans – When Ideology Hits Reality with Helen Joyce on Tuesday 12th July. If you are a member, look out for emails inviting you to register so that you can receive the Zoom links.

    In addition, we’re launching a series of Regional Speakeasies. Some of you may have already come along to our in-person meet-ups in pubs and bars, where members can socialise while exploring free speech issues. During late June and July, Regional Speakeasies will be happening in Birmingham, Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester and Oxford. Dates and details will be emailed to all members next week, with links to register on Eventbrite. Members are welcome to bring guests, particularly those likely to join the FSU!

    London members, many of whom came to our packed meet-up in March, are encouraged to get tickets to our Summer Special Comedy Night on Wednesday 29 June, where there will be plenty of opportunities to meet other members and the FSU’s staff. This extravaganza of comedy and music is being held in association with Comedy Unleashed – the home of free-thinking comedy. The MC for the night will be FSU favourite Dominic Frisby – who you can watch talking about the event here – and Dominic will also be performing a special set of comedy hits with his band the Gilets Jaunes. Also on the bill is comedy crooner and ubermeister of lounge, Frank Sanazi, described in Chortle as “the extravagantly offensive love-child of Adolf Hitler and Frank Sinatra”. Frank will be accompanied by his legendary friends Dean Stalin, Spliff Richard and Tom Mones. As this event is also a fund-raiser it is open to the public – you can get your tickets here.

    You can see all our upcoming events on our new Events page and get tickets to some events, such as the London comedy night. If you’re not yet a member, take a look and find out what you are missing or if are a member it’s a good way of persuading a friend to join.

    Academic removed from academic event for “disruptive” questions

    Dr Jon Pike is a member of the FSU. He’s also a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University. His specialism is the philosophy and ethics of sport, and he’s also a global expert in issues surrounding transgender inclusion in women’s sport. On 16th May Dr Pike attended an online event at Loughborough University entitled ‘IAS Festival of Ideas: Transitions – Festival and Book Launch Gender Diversity and Sport: Interdisciplinary perspectives on increasing inclusivity’. This topic was well within the parameters of his research and expertise, but he was removed from the event for asking questions about the fairness of allowing biological men to compete against female athletes. Dr Pike later received a terse email from Loughborough University’s Institute of Advanced Studies informing him that his removal had been necessary “due to the disruptive nature of [his] questioning”. The Free Speech Union has written to Loughborough University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Jennings, to express its concern. We think this to be a failure of the University to discharge its duty to uphold free speech on campus, and an act of discrimination against Dr Pike on the grounds of his gender critical beliefs. The full text of the FSU’s letter is available here. We are currently awaiting the University’s response.

    Douglas Murray Speakeasy best attended yet

    Last month’s Speakeasy with FSU Director and best-selling author Douglas Murray was attended by over 500 members, making it the most popular one we’ve held so far. After a short interview with me, Douglas answered questions from our members about his new book The War on the West. You can watch the whole thing on our YouTube channel here. And don’t forget to subscribe – once we’ve reached a certain number of subscribers we can start selling ads on the channel.

    NCHIs – a request for members in Greater London to get in touch

    As many of you will know, in December of last year, the former police officer Harry Miller won a landmark legal battle against the recording of NCHIs, and the College of Policing guidelines were ruled unlawful. The Free Speech Union was proud to back Harry in that case. Had he lost and had to pay the other side’s costs, we’d pledged to help with that bill. There is, however, plenty of work for the FSU to do. That’s because police forces in England and Wales aren’t required to notify someone if an NCHI is recorded against their name – and for all we know, the police are continuing to log ‘non crimes’ in the same way. Given that an estimated 250,000 NCHIs have been recorded since 2014, it’s likely that hundreds of thousands of people still unwittingly carry one around on their records.

    At the moment we’re really keen for members to come forward if they’ve been given an NCHI from the Metropolitan Police, or if they think they might have been. The Met’s jurisdiction, by the way, covers the 32 boroughs within Greater London, excluding the City of London. You can find a map here.

    So please do ask around friends, colleagues and family members. You can reach our case team on help@freespeechunion.org, or drop us an initial direct message via our Twitter page (@SpeechUnion), our Facebook page (@SpeechUnion), our LinkedIn page (Free Speech Union) or our Instagram page (@FreeSpeechUnion). Of course, if you think you might have received an NCHI from a force other than the Met, then do also get in touch via the same channels. The FSU’s FAQs on how to find out if you have an NCHI recorded against your name is here.

    Forcing children to use the preferred gender pronouns of their classmates is against the law

    In the US, the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) has written to the principal of a Middle School in Wisconsin in response to an ‘incident report’ submitted through their transparency website (which you can access here). The details are scarcely believable:

    A Wisconsin school district has filed sexual harassment complaints against three middle schoolers for calling a trans classmate by the wrong gender pronoun. The school district in Kiel has charged the three eight-graders at the Kiel Middle School with sexual harassment after an incident in April in which the students refused to use “they” to refer to a classmate who had switched pronouns a month before the alleged incident.

    As FAIR concede, “it may be polite for students to use the preferred pronouns of their classmates”, but in the US, “punishing them if they do not” is to “disregard their First Amendment rights”.

    Just as forcing American schoolchildren to use the preferred gender pronouns of their trans classmates would be a breach of their First Amendment rights, so forcing British schoolchildren to do likewise would be unlawful under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights – or so we believe. If any of our members have children (or grandchildren) who are being forced to do this – not asked to do it because it’s polite, but threatened with a punishment if they don’t – please get in touch. We would be happy to write to the school in question pointing out that insisting on this is probably unlawful.

    General fighting fund

    This month we’ve helped people from all walks of life, with cases ranging from people being kicked off social media for questioning trans ideology, to members losing their jobs and livelihoods for comments made outside of work. People contact us every week who never imagined they’d need our support. Help us to help them: if you can, please donate to our general fighting fund.

    Sharing the newsletter

    As with all our work, this newsletter depends on the support of our members and donors, so if you’re not already a paying member please sign up today or encourage a friend to join, and help us turn the tide against cancel culture. You can share our newsletters on social media with the buttons below to help us spread the word.

    Kind regards,

  55. Well, we’ve made the decision; Allan Towers is on the market.
    It has to be one of the most difficult decisions we’ve ever made. For over forty years we’ve owned this place and for over twenty years it’s been our home.
    But, like Fawlty Towers, we are getting out while we’re still at the top. Currently, MB and I can cope; we can nip up and down the stairs; the garden is manageable. But we know that life can turn on a sixpence and there are already two houses in our road where the owners have hung on for too long. Those houses are now the sort of properties that only a builder would ever take on.
    So, if my posts are rather variable in quality, please make allowances for a rather emotional time.

    1. Oh gosh – what a difficult decision…….. I know our house is probably not suitable for old people, but neither of us wants to leave here. I hope you find another house that meets your needs and that you are happy with.

    2. A big decision ! Property prices are good at the moment. I bought a 2 bed bungalow 30 years ago for £70,000 now worth £350,000.
      The south coast has a lot of bungalows but you can’t bring all your stuff, though you do get a nice size garden which should be manageable.

      Or go north ! prices there are rock bottom but your neighbours might not speak English.

      Hold out for a high price. Don’t believe a word an estate agent tells you. Best of luck.

    3. Oh no – what a horrid decision to have to make. Are you at least a little bit excited about looking for somewhere new?

    4. Very sensible. Nothing worse that growing old in a deteriorating pile. Visit offspring if you feel the need to engage in DIY, otherwise grow old disgracefully. That’s my plan anyway.

      1. When I am old I shall wear purple
        With a red hat that doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
        And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
        And satin sandals
        And say we’ve no money for butter.
        I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
        And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells.
        And run my stick along public railings
        And make up for the sobriety of my youth……

        & etc “When I am old” by Jenny Joseph.

        1. Is that what inspired The Red Hat Ladies group who lunch? We have seen them dressed up in red and purple at nice restaurants in various places we have lived here in US.

          1. I think so. It amazes me what I can still remember but just don’t ask me what I had for breakfast ;-))

        2. Of course the Bishop of Birmingham was, according to the limerick, not just clad in episcopal purple.

          Lady Circumference in Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall believed strongly that women should wear vulgarly bright colours.

          1. For the bun fight here on Friday, I wore my jeans, as always. A bright pink tee shirt with black stars on and a smart black jacket. I thought I looked quite spiffy and MH agreed.
            Then we got bloody soaked to the skin!

          3. Jeans, eh? For our celebration on Friday night, I was in a suit (and overcoat – it was darned cold).

        3. The Answer To Jenny Joseph’s Warning

          When she wears purple and I’ve grown old
          I’ll hope to continue being so bold;
          Bold enough that most of the time
          I can write verse that might just rhyme

          I admire the sentiments expressed therein
          They certainly made this old fart grin.
          Though for lack of rhyming there is no excuse,
          I think it’s a poet just being abstruse

          I too will piss and I’ll moan
          About the “yoof” that’s just half-grown;
          But full of certainty that they’re so right,
          When all they mouth is so much shite!

          I’m sitting composing in an aftermath of riot
          Enjoying the sense of peace and quiet.
          Knowing too soon it’ll all be shattered
          By drunken louts who thought that it mattered:

          Who thought that it mattered what they say
          Because it’s not said by the old and the grey.
          If only they learnt the lesson of history
          Their future might not be such a mystery.

          You can make noise with your stick and the railing,
          My contribution will come when I’m ailing.
          I’ll cough and I’ll splutter
          And spit in the gutter

      4. Judging from the shortevity of my male predecessors, I’d better be disgraceful whilst till pre-retirement.

        1. I’m lucky enough to have had a job that took me from one bar to the next, so my crimes haven’t caught up with me yet.

    6. That is a difficult emotional decision Anne , but a brave one .
      Where will you move to?

      We were going to move years ago, here needs so much updating , and I am just about crawling up the stairs now , difficult bends in the staircase , no room for a stair chair .. my hip and my knee cause me gyp. Of course I can do it , but sometimes hard work .

      We are totally private which is bliss but Moh has hedges to maintain .. we are getting creaky , just a little , not alot .

      1. Do you have a downstairs room you can lay claim to? If wannafight is out running marathons and playing golf all the time he can climb a rickety staircase !

      2. We had 2 stair lifts put in for my mother, because of the changes of direction. You can get ones that can go round corners, but they need a wide staircase

      3. We had 2 stair lifts put in for my mother, because of the changes of direction. You can get ones that can go round corners, but they need a wide staircase

      4. Caroline and I bought Le Grand Osier in 1988 – the year we were married. And now, 34 years later we have never lived anywhere else for so long.

        We have just bought a new ride-on mulching lawnmower:

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8118d0dca66b63e080b58af04da66718073fddb0c22120bbf65ffacce3fd6c2a.jpg

        It looks rather crab-like but, so far it is working well which is good as it has a large area to cut.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4aff7689c77ce65c890ea10115e1738b6917180776ede00928fa1d40de14259a.jpg

      5. We have a gardener for the hedge, I don’t do ladders, it’s an accident waiting to happen. A neighbour of 74 fell and broke his leg some years ago and he was never the same again.

        2. My OH is 79 and only started climbing ladders about five years ago – it was mind over matter. He still plays tennis twice a week too. Over the last few years he’s put up 14 boxes for swifts and other birds and last winter made use of the scaffolding which was up for roof repairs, to drill more holes in the gable end for swift nest holes going into the loft space.

    7. Good luck.
      I hope it goes to someone who will appreciate it as a family home and not a potential money machine after being converted into bed-sitters.
      Or even worse, bought for “redevelopment!”

      1. I fear Mother’s house will be redeveloped, but she needs the money and we can’t be squeamish.

        1. Before you put the house on the market did you check to see if there was any chance of squeezing a building plot into the garden? (obviously I have no idea of the house size etc)

    9. Oh Anne! What a difficult and emotional decision to have to make, after so many years and all the memories.
      I wish you and MB much happiness in whatever the future brings. 🌹

    11. We have done the same moving from our farmhouse in Norfolk to a modest bungalow on the South Coast.Best move we could have made.

    12. Good luck, Anne, and hang on to your sense of humour!!! Where are you thinking of moving to?

    13. Been there and got the tee shirt Anne, house sold almost immediately, thankfully I’d already bought the next one so moving was stressless – I moved it all myself – just 2 miles away. The downside was that the vandal who bought my old house ripped out the new kitchen and bathroom I’d put in, ripped out the wrought iron staircase which took me a year to make, threw out the newish dishwasher I’d left him and ripped out the woodburner and large wooden fire surround I’d built. The only upside was he didn’t stay very long and lost £30k when he sold it – oh how I larfed!
      Good luck with the project

      1. I’m sure you laughed your socks off, Spikey. No more than the vandal deserved.

        1. It certainly made me feel better Tom. He’d put in a new kitchen and bathroom and a few other alterations and lost £30k as well so I was well chuffed. A very nice young couple are in there now and they’ve ripped some of his stuff out….ho ho!

    16. I can’t help agreeing with you, Anne, but in my current state I can only say that I am modifying my current Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to Cold, Old and Permanently Distressed but that’s just a state of mind.

    17. I can’t help agreeing with you, Anne, but in my current state I can only say that I am modifying my current Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to Cold, Old and Permanently Distressed but that’s just a state of mind.

    19. Wishing you well, but you will be surprised at the mass of grasping hands after your money.

      Don’t undersell or overpay.

    20. Good luck with the sale, Anne.
      Tough decision, but better to move early. Suddenly, it’s too late, as Mother found out, and the move is too much.
      Good on you: hpoe it goes well. Fingers croxesd 😉

    21. If you should decide to move to another area, check on the local healthcare first. Wiki has a list of UK teaching hospitals, and if you happened to live in the catchment area, you might be in with a chance of recovery when the old age truck gives you a glancing blow.

      1. We intend to stay in our little area. Friends, family, even dog walking acquaintances live in this genuinely leafy suburb.
        We have our eye on a house a few hundred yards away.
        Decisions over what furniture etc.. to keep will be very difficult as so much of our stuff has a history behind it.

    22. Good luck with your move. I’ve had major maintenance done to this house (and more is in the pipeline), so I hope it will remain in a fit state until I’m carried out in a box.

  56. Boris Johnson latest news: Jeremy Hunt vows to cast ballot against Prime Minister in confidence vote
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/06/boris-johnson-news-confidence-vote-partygate-tory-mps/

    BTL

    Have the Brexit supporting Tory MPs the guts to resign from the House of Commons and then run again in the by-elections as Reform Party candidates if a pro-EU successor to Johnson is chosen?

    This is ironically the only chance the Conservative Party has of surviving the next general election at all – but it would have to be in a coalition . The Reform Party in such a coalition could insist that Brexit is properly completed and if the Conservatives renege then the government would collapse and Starmer’s Labour, the SNP and Davey’s Lib Dems would be our new political masters!

    Any Nottlers fancy this scenario?

      1. There was a card game we used to play in the 6th form common room that was variously known as Chase the Lady and Hunt the C*nt.

          1. #MeToo – now disguised by Microsoft as”Hearts”. Variously known by those titles, Spikey, but also as ‘Chase the Bitch’.

    2. I suspect that Jeremy Hunt would not say that if he hadn’t already been promised the leadership.

    3. Let’s face it. Boris Johnson was never really a Brexiteer in the first place. So whoever is elected in his place, if they get a big enough vote against him (doubtful IMO), no MP will resign his seat. They have to do it en bloc for effect and I don’t think they are willing to do that and risk the consequent by-selections.

      It’s the hope that kills!

      1. Boris is an opportunist. He saw the frustration the country had and used that as leverage.

      2. Yes, VW you are right. Unless the cowardly Conservative MPs are prepared to put their parliamentary seats on the line for Brexit then we shall soon be back in the EU after the next general election.

        Where are you Mark Francois?

        Where are you Steve Baker?

        Where are you Jacob Grease-Smogg?

        Where are you John Redwood?

        Where are you Richard Drax?

        Where are you David Davis?

        Where are you Bill Cash?

        Where are the rest of you who claim to want Brexit?

        WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW US THAT THE PRINCIPLE OF BRITAIN BEING AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN HOLDING ON TO YOUR GRUBBY LITTLE JOBS AS MPs?

      1. Actually I think we need another Oliver Cromwell: throw out all of them and start again.
        “Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter’d your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

        O.C – Long Parliament 1653.

          1. I am not a fan of Old Noll and we have had enough Puritanism this last couple of years.
            Yes, clean the buggers out but do it via a general election. Boris will win this evening, I have no doubt. Shame. It’s not about his ineptitude as PM- this is all about parties.

          2. He did give a good speech, though!

            But you are quite right, it should be done via general election.

          3. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen over the last few years, elections just result in more of the same.
            A short sharp shock for the country, electorate and those who would like the status quo to remain, needs to be implemented.
            The way the country is going, it could very well be a replay of the early 1600’s.

    5. 352979+ up ticks,

      Afternoon R,
      Do me a bloody favour the reform party is the brexit party renamed after “nige” marched its candidates up a bloody great steep hill then down again to redundancy in a pro tubby / turk action, after mortally crippling the only decent opposition party that time on the political stage.
      The main problem is there are to many peoples wanting to shore up the ersatz / phony tory (ino) party even to the extent of using farage again.

      .

      1. Good afternoon ogga

        You are fuller of insults of those who disagree with you than you are of practical suggestions!

        I can only imagine that you are longing for a Lib/Dem/Lab/SNP coalition to take over from the Conservatives.

        Perhaps you would give me an honest answer: Would you prefer a government that made sure we had a proper Brexit even if it is a Con/Reform coalition or would you prefer the UK to be fully back in the EU?

          1. Another suggestion I made here a few days ago was that there should be a well organised schism in the Conservative Party led by an avid and committed Brexiteer who could command at least fifty MPs to help bring down the government if necessary. For example, the schism could make a promise that if, for example, the Northern Ireland Protocol was still in place and the ECHR had not been dealt with by a specified date then there would be a completely united vote against the government from within the Conservative party.

            Might I suggest the splinter group/Schism be called: GEBSC (Get ’em by the Short and Curlies!)

          3. 352070+ up ticks,

            Afternoon NtN,
            Long time no hear, suggest you cast you eye upon the reply I sent to R.

          4. That’s because I’d blocked you but have now lifted it, in the hope that you comments might contain a much wider content than the previous repetative ones.

          5. 352 979+ up ticks,
            NtN,
            As if I didn’t know,do you get some feeling of pride in blocking peoples, serious question ?

          8. He likes blocking because then he doesn’t have to have the courage to defend his comments.

        2. 352979+ up ticks,

          R,
          As a UKIP activist for a good number of years i watched this lab/lib/con coalition accumulating anti British shite via the polling booth in a party before Country, nation destroying manner.
          You accuse me of being “full of insults”
          for those that disagree with me, I find that rather rich when those that in the main disagree with me are supporting party’s knowingly who are endangering me, my family, my friends, my country.

          “Would you prefer a government that made sure we had a proper Brexit even if it is a Con/Reform coalition or would you prefer the UK to be fully back in the EU?”

          The former will never happen to many political serpents within the tory (ino) membership/ party.

          The latter part of your post can only be treated with contempt from one who tramped streets leafleting while you I believe most honestly was continuing to support / vote for the tory (ino) party.

          You have no cause whatsoever to say
          “Perhaps you would give me an honest answer” check back my past history on line regarding our post, nothing but repeated honesty tis you, as with a good many who refuse to listen., bring to mind the farage vid.

          1. No point in trading insults.

            My position is relatively simple: I wanted a proper Brexit and we certainly have not got it.

            I don’t think that it matters which party or organisation achieves it but it seems pretty certain to me that Lib/Lab/SNP/Green/etc are not interested in it at all.

            Is there any party represented in The House of Commons which is wholeheartedly in favour of Brexit? Probably not – but at least there are some MPs who say they are in favour of it and most of them are Conservatives.

            Incidentally I have not voted in a British election for 40 years as I live in France and I do not have the right to vote thanks to Mr Blair.
            The last time I voted it was for the party of which Mrs Thatcher was then the leader.

          2. 352979+ up ticks,

            R,
            I am in complete agreement but will not be verbally / physically challenged without retaliation ,the lab/lib/con politico’s / supporters / voters have been doing this for decades & getting away with it, hence todays state of the nation.

            IMHO, the true Brexiteer has not the shadow of parliament over him but will only be found in the fringe party’s
            as in For Britain,
            Anne Marie Waters / Tommy Robinson
            plus.

          3. 352979+ up ticks,

            O2O,
            Hold up Ogga how about three verses of Nor will my sword sleep in my hand , Jerusalem, regarding the lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella coalition party / members the whole bloody armory is asleep.

      2. Good afternoon ogga

        You are fuller of insults of those who disagree with you than you are of practical suggestions!

        I can only imagine that you are longing for a Lib/Dem/Lab/SNP coalition to take over from the Conservatives.

        Perhaps you would give me an honest answer: Would you prefer a government that made sure we had a proper Brexit even if it is a Con/Reform coalition or would you prefer the UK to be fully back in the EU?

      3. The only viable opposition would be a consortium of Remain, Reclaim and For Britain, otherwise they are just vote-splitters and will allow Lib/Lab/Con to continue on their merry, country-destroying ways

        Whether they could ever agree on a common mandate is another thing – so many leaders of these parties are just up for Self-aggrandisement, that I doubt it.

        1. Hi Tom.
          Those wee parties are ego-polishers, not serious opposition to anything. Unfortunately.

  57. Latest News – pint glass manufacturers all over the country are busy sandblasting all the crown marks off

  58. RAC calls for radical intervention as petrol prices hit record high. 6 June 2022.

    Petrol prices soared by almost 6p a litre at UK forecourts over the jubilee bank holiday week to a fresh record, with drivers warned they could exceed 180p this week.

    The RAC called for radical government intervention after figures from the data firm Experian Catalist showed the average cost of a litre of petrol reached a record 177.9p on Sunday, up from 172.1p on 27 May.

    A litre of petrol in Moscow today costs: £0.81

    https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jun/06/rac-uk-petrol-prices-record-high

    1. ….but add on delivery costs from Russia and you are talking serious money…. (Rubles)!

      1. Diesel priced at £186.9 last week at a filling station just off the Hog’s Back….

      2. Diesel priced at £186.9 last week at a filling station just off the Hog’s Back….

    3. “…with drivers warned they could again exceed 180p this week.” Prices have been over 180p/litre several times up here in the Land of Oil.

      1. Huh. Wimps. Our gasoline is £2.30 a liter, sometimes £2.60.
        And we have more oil.

    4. I’ve just filled up today at 169.9ppl, but in places it’s well over 180.9ppl. I go past what used to be a cheap garage twice a week and the petrol and diesel prices go up one or two pence every week between trips.

  59. Funny old World….

    “North Korea has just taken over as chair of the Conference on Disarmament here at the United Nations in Geneva,” tweeted United Nations Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.

    “This is not a joke. When they preside at tomorrow’s meeting, our coalition of 40 UN-accredited NGOs is calling on all democracies to walk out.”

    “Having the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un preside over global nuclear weapons disarmament will be like putting a serial rapist in charge of a women’s shelter,” Neuer added.

    1. Would those be the same democracies who recently voted for a one world fascist government at the WHO?

  65. POLL: Do you blame Brexit for the cost of living crisis? VOTE HERE

    Should Britain rejoin the EU single market to tackle the cost of living crisis?

    Yes
    No
    Don’t know

    A poll by the Daily Express. To verify that you are human (copy the following):

    https://scontent-cdt1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/286295462_10160336654709954_794167693100359392_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=YhF1gqhc-KIAX_3xO0t&_nc_ht=scontent-cdt1-1.xx&oh=00_AT_Ls1iNNq6eMedHfY4faQejTn5PYuPG8NrfP-B1zgz7jw&oe=62A35C4F

    And it is claiming that responders who believed Brexit was wrong outnumbered those that say it was the right decision by 12 points, with 49 over 37 percent. Strange word to choose for an ‘independent’ poll. Couldn’t possibly be a subconscious hint? No, not possible.

      1. Precisely. The cost of living crisis has been brewing for years but the two policies claimed as Johnson’s best decisions viz. one: vaccine rollout, lockdowns, Covid spending waste and profligacy and two: support for sanctions against Russia, have pushed the economy over the edge.

        I doubt we have anyone in the present political class with the balls to admit massive fault and call a halt to the Covid scam continuance, lift sanctions against Russia, start fracking and oil and gas exploration and dump the entire Green agenda.

        Ours is a country of entrepreneurs chafing at the bit to ditch Europe, reclaim our fishing rights and stop grovelling to and funding the UN and its affiliated crooked offshoots such as WHO.

        1. I can only see a replacement for Boris being even more authoritarian and going a lot further than Boris did, as happened in most other countries.

        3. ,352979+ up ticks,

          Evening C,

          I reckon a touch of polish, the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain sort of, Tommy Robinson would fill the bill nicely.

      2. Precisely. The cost of living crisis has been brewing for years but the two policies claimed as Johnson’s best decisions viz. one: vaccine rollout, lockdowns, Covid spending waste and profligacy and two: support for sanctions against Russia, have pushed the economy over the edge.

        I doubt we have anyone in the present political class with the balls to admit massive fault and call a halt to the Covid scam continuance, lift sanctions against Russia, start fracking and oil and gas exploration and dump the entire Green agenda.

        Ours is a country of entrepreneurs chafing at the bit to ditch Europe, reclaim our fishing rights and stop grovelling to and funding the UN and its affiliated crooked offshoots such as WHO.

      1. I didn’t include a link. It was just to show the sly tricks the remainers use. It is on todays website.

    1. If Boris stays we are doomed, if Boris goes we are even more doomed.
      Does Farage not understand that the whole Western world is under a world government coup.
      Nobody will be allowed to come through that can challenge it.

      2. 352979+ up ticks,

        Evening B3,
        You mean a sort of 1000 year Reich,
        once again peoples voted trouble in.

        Bob it will end in tears , if the fighting starts just make sure “nige” is in front of you, health warning.

        ALL this has had electorate backing for decades via the, must vote tory
        ( ino) party keep out lab (ino) party.

        A voting mode nation killer.

    1. If Boris loses- how long do we reckon Carrie will linger? Not long in my opinion.

    2. Hello Plum, nice to see you- to see you nice! Join me in a small glass of something;-)

      2. I started an hour ago HIC…..trying to connect to to Discus……my computer skills are zilch..LoL

        1. That late? My excuse is serious pain…double HIC. God Plum, we should meet at a pub- that would give’em something to talk about!

    2. Someone posted a link to the whole sketch but I can’ find it , if it was you please post it again.

          1. It is there- just watched it again. I love Paddington- used to read the books to my son. And, of course, full of admiration and affection for HM. Bless her.

        3. Hi Sue
          I’m told there is a more complete version, I’ve looked high and low but every one is shorter than this one Any other suggestions for the whole “+ minutes

    1. ‘Heardle in two …’

      How high d’ya haf to jump?

      Is ther a haf-way step?

      1. Now look, I identify as a penguin. If you are going to identify as an owl at least give us some warning;-))

    4. I consider that cartoonist to be disgusting and unworthy; I cannot read his name.
      It conveys loathing and disgust – but without any humour.

  77. Can’t all Conservative branches TELL their MPs to wise up ..

    Boris Johnson’s Guarantee

    We will get Brexit done in January and unleash the potential of our whole country.
    I guarantee:

    Extra funding for the NHS, with 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more GP surgery appointments a year.

    20,000 more police and tougher sentencing for criminals.

    An Australian-style points-based system to control immigration.

    Millions more invested every week in science, schools, apprenticeships and infrastructure while controlling debt.

    Reaching Net Zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution.

    We will not raise the rate of income tax, VAT or National Insurance.
    Thank you for supporting our majority Conservative Government so we can move our great country on instead of going backwards.

    BORIS JOHNSON
    PRIME MINISTER

  78. Things can only get bitter…

    “While Biden is draining the SPR at the rate of 1 million barrels per day, which is the emptiest it has been in 20 years and will be much emptier by the mid-term election which Democrats will lose regardless, oil continues to climb with Brent Crude rising above $120 overnight, rising almost 60% this year, after Saudi Arabia signaled confidence in demand with a bigger-than-expected price increase of its crude for Asia. WTI, which has converged with Brent, also traded near $120/bbl after earlier rising to the highest level in almost three months.

  79. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a speech on how we aim to tackle illegal immigration.
    Here is what he said:
    For centuries, our United Kingdom has had a proud history of welcoming people from overseas, including many fleeing persecution.

    My own great-grandfather came from Turkey in fear of his life, because our country offered sanctuary for his outspoken journalism.

    And when you look back over the centuries as people have come seeking refuge or simply in search of somewhere to build a better life, you see this is the very stuff our history is made of.

    From the French Huguenots,

    to the Jewish refugees from Tsarist Russia,

    to the docking of the Empire Windrush,

    to the South Asians fleeing East Africa,

    to the many, many others who have come from different countries at different times for different reasons,

    all have wanted to be here because our United Kingdom is a beacon of openness and generosity, and all in turn have contributed magnificently to the amazing story of the UK.

    Today that proud history of safe and legal migration is ultimately responsible
    for many of those working in our hospitals and on the front line of our response to the pandemic,

    for more than 60 per cent of the England football team at the final of Euro 2020, for many of our country’s leading figures in the worlds of business, art and culture,

    and, I’m pleased to say, for ever growing numbers of people serving in public life, including colleagues of mine like Nadhim Zahawi who escaped with his family from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Dominic Raab, whose Jewish father came to Britain from Czechoslovakia to escape Nazi Germany, and Priti Patel, whose family fled persecution in Uganda.

    So I’m proud that this government has continued the great British tradition of providing sanctuary to those in need, in fact, doing more to resettle vulnerable people in the UK – through safe and legal routes – than any other government in recent history.

    Since 2015 we have offered a place to over 185,000 men, women and children seeking refuge, more than the entire population of Sunderland and more than any other similar resettlement schemes in Europe.

    This includes almost 100,000 British Nationals Overseas threatened by draconian security laws in Hong Kong, 20,000 through our Syrian scheme, 13,000 from Afghanistan and to whom we owe debts of honour, and around 50,000 Ukrainians.

    And we are not only supporting British nationals and those settled in the UK to bring potentially hundreds of thousands of their extended family from Ukraine, we are also welcoming unlimited numbers of refugees from that conflict, as the British people open their homes, in one of the biggest movements of refugees to this country that we have ever known.

    And as we work with local authorities and the devolved administrations to welcome those coming from Ukraine into our communities,

    we will also find accommodation across our whole United Kingdom for all those who have come here previously but who are currently in hotels,

    because it makes absolutely no sense for the taxpayer to foot those bills,

    running to almost £5 million a day, with the sum total of those we accommodate being concentrated in just a third of local authorities.

    It is controlled immigration,

    through safe and legal routes,

    which enables us to make generous offers of sanctuary

    while managing the inevitable pressures on our public services

    such that we can give all those who come here the support they need to rebuild their lives, to integrate and to thrive.

    But the quid pro quo for this generosity, is that we cannot sustain a parallel illegal system.

    Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not.

    We can’t ask the British taxpayer to write a blank cheque to cover the costs of anyone who might want to come and live here.

    Uncontrolled immigration creates unmanageable demands on our NHS and our welfare state, it overstretches our local schools, our housing and public transport, and creates unsustainable pressure to build on precious green spaces.

    Nor is it fair on those who are seeking to come here legally, if others can just bypass the system.

    It’s a striking fact that around seven out of ten of those arriving in small boats last year were men under 40, paying people smugglers to queue jump and taking up our capacity to help genuine women and child refugees.

    This is particularly perverse as those attempting crossings, are not directly fleeing imminent peril as is the intended purpose of our asylum system.

    They have passed through manifestly safe countries, including many in Europe, where they could – and should – have claimed asylum.

    It is this rank unfairness of a system that can be exploited by gangs, which risks eroding public support for the whole concept of asylum.

    The British people voted several times to control our borders, not to close them, but to control them.

    So just as Brexit allowed us to take back control of legal immigration by replacing free movement with our points-based system, we are also taking back control of illegal immigration, with a long-term plan for asylum in this country.

    It is a plan that will ensure the UK has a world-leading asylum offer, providing generous protection to those directly fleeing the worst of humanity, by settling thousands of people every year through safe and legal routes.

    And I emphasise this.

    So whether you are fleeing Putin or Assad, our aim is that you should not need to turn to the people smugglers or any other kind of illegal option.

    But to deliver it, we must first ensure that the only route to asylum in the UK is a safe and legal one,

    and that those who try to jump the queue, or abuse our system, will find no automatic path to settlement in our country,

    but rather be swiftly and humanely removed to a safe third country or their country of origin.

    And the most tragic of all forms of illegal migration, which we must end with this approach, is the barbaric trade in human misery conducted by the people smugglers in the Channel.

    Before Christmas 27 people drowned, and in the weeks ahead there could be many more losing their lives at sea, and whose bodies may never be recovered.

    Around 600 came across the Channel yesterday. In just a few weeks this could again reach a thousand a day.

    I accept that these people – whether 600 or one thousand – are in search of a better life; the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start.

    But it is these hopes – those dreams – that have been exploited.

    These vile people smugglers are abusing the vulnerable

    and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard,

    with men, women and children,

    drowning in unseaworthy boats.

    and suffocating in refrigerated lorries.

    And even if they do make it here, we know only too well some of the horrendous stories of exploitation over the years, from the nail bars of East London to the cockle beds of Morecambe Bay, as illegal migration makes people more vulnerable to the brutal abuse of ruthless gangs.

    So we must halt this appalling trade and defeat the people smugglers.

    That is why we are passing the Nationality and Borders Bill which allows us for the first time to distinguish between people coming here legally and illegally, and for this distinction to affect how your asylum claim progresses and your status in the UK if that claim is successful.

    It will enable us to issue visa penalties against those countries that refuse to accept returns of foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers.

    It will clean up the abuse of our legal system, introducing a one-stop shop that will end the cycle of last minute and vexatious claims and appeals that so often thwart or delay removals.

    And it will end the absurd practice of asylum-seeking adults claiming to be children to strengthen their claims and access better services.

    Crucially it will also allow us to prosecute those who arrive illegally, with life sentences for anyone piloting the boats.

    And to identify, intercept and investigate these boats, from today the Royal Navy will take over operational command from Border Force in the Channel, taking primacy for our operational response at sea, in line with many of our international partners, with the aim that no boat makes it to the UK undetected.

    This will be supported with £50 million of new funding for new boats, aerial surveillance and military personnel in addition to the existing taskforce of patrol vessels, Wildcat helicopters, search and rescue aircraft, drones and remotely piloted aircraft.

    This will send a clear message to those piloting the boats: if you risk other people’s lives in the Channel, you risk spending your own life in prison.

    People who do make it to the UK will be taken not to hotels at vast public expense, rather they will be housed in accommodation centres like those in Greece, with the first of these open shortly.

    At the same time, we are expanding our immigration detention facilities, to assist with the removal of those with no right to remain in the UK.

    We are investing over half a billion pounds in these efforts.

    And this is on top of overhauling our arrivals infrastructure here in Kent, with new processing facilities now operational at Western Jet Foil and Manston.

    But we need to go still further in breaking the business model of these gangs.

    So from today, our new Migration and Economic Development Partnership will mean that anyone entering the UK illegally

    – as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1st – may now be relocated to Rwanda.

    This innovative approach – driven our shared humanitarian impulse and made possible by Brexit freedoms – will provide safe and legal routes for asylum, while disrupting the business model of the gangs,

    because it means that economic migrants taking advantage of the asylum system will not get to stay in the UK,

    while those in genuine need will be properly protected, including with access to legal services on arrival in Rwanda,

    and given the opportunity to build a new life in that dynamic country, supported by the funding we are providing.

    The deal we have done is uncapped and Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.

    And let’s be clear, Rwanda is one of the safest countries in the world, globally recognised for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants.

    Later this year it will welcome leaders from across the Commonwealth, and before the pandemic, in 2018, the IMF said Rwanda was the world’s fourth fastest growing economy.

    We are confident that our new Migration Partnership is fully compliant with our international legal obligations, but nevertheless we expect this will be challenged in the courts, and if this country is seen as a soft touch for illegal migration by some of our partners, it is precisely because we have such a formidable army of politically motivated lawyers who for years have made it their business to thwart removals and frustrate the Government.

    So I know that this system will not take effect overnight,

    but I promise that we will do whatever it takes to deliver this new approach,

    initially within the limits of the existing legal and constitutional frameworks, but also prepared to explore any and all further legal reforms which may be necessary.

    Because this problem has bedevilled our country for too long

    and caused far too much human suffering and tragedy,

    and this is the government that refuses to duck the difficult decisions,

    this is the government that makes the big calls,

    and I profoundly believe there is simply no other option.

    And I say to those who would criticise our plan today,

    we have a plan; what is your alternative?

    I know there are some who believe we should just turn these boats back at sea.

    But after much study and consultation – including with Border Force, the police, national crime agency, military and maritime experts, to whom I pay tribute for all the incredible work that they do dealing with this problem as things stand – it’s clear that there are extremely limited circumstances when you can safely do this in the English Channel.

    And it doesn’t help that this approach, I don’t think, would be supported by our French partners, and relying solely on this course of action is simply not practical in my view.

    I know there are others who would say that we should just negotiate a deal with France and the EU.

    And we have made repeated and generous offers to our French friends and we will continue to press them and the EU for the comprehensive returns agreement that would solve this problem.

    We remain grateful to the gendarmes on the beach, for the joint intelligence work and the co-operation that has stopped thousands of boats.

    We would like to deepen that work and we continue to believe that a deal with France and the EU is in the national interest of all our countries.

    But we must have our own framework for full sovereignty over our borders and we must find a way to stop these boats now not lose thousands more lives while waiting for a deal that just doesn’t exist.

    And I know there will be a vocal minority who will think these measures are draconian and lacking in compassion.

    I simply don’t agree.

    There is no humanity or compassion in allowing desperate and innocent people to have their dreams of a better life exploited by ruthless gangs, as they are taken to their deaths in unseaworthy boats.

    And there is no humanity or compassion in endlessly condemning the people smugglers, but then time and again ducking the big calls needed to break the business model of the gangs and stop these boats coming.

    And there is no humanity or compassion in calling for unlimited safe and legal routes, offering the false hope of asylum in the UK to anyone who wants it, because that is just unsustainable.

    There are currently 80 million displaced people in the world, many in failed States where governments can’t meet their aspirations.

    In an era of mobile connectivity they are a call or a text away from potentially being swept up in the tide of people smuggling.

    The answer cannot be for the UK to become the haven for all of them.

    That is a call for open borders by the back door, a political argument masquerading as a humanitarian policy.

    Those in favour of this approach should be honest about it and argue for it openly.

    We reject it, as the British people have consistently rejected it at the ballot box –
    in favour of controlled immigration.

    We simply cannot have a policy of saying anyone who wants to live here can do so.

    We’ve got to be able to control who comes into this country and the terms on which they remain.

    And we must do this in the spirit of our history of providing refuge.

    And in that way we can more than play our part in offering sanctuary to thousands fleeing persecution.

    But then of course other countries must play their part too.

    And that is what I think is most exciting about the partnership we have agreed with Rwanda today because we believe it will become a new international standard in addressing the challenges of global migration and people smuggling.

    So I am grateful for Rwanda’s leadership and partnership and we stand ready to work with other nations on similar agreements, as well as wider reforms to the international asylum framework.

    As I say,

    we will continue to work with our French friends to tackle the gangs,

    we will continue to lead co-operation with crime and intelligence partners across Europe,

    we will continue to seek a returns agreement with the EU or with France.

    But in the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, we need this new approach.

    The people smugglers are undermining confidence in our borders.

    They are betraying all those who do the right thing who try to come here legally – through forms of migration or the safe and legal routes provided for refuge.

    They are undermining the natural compassion and goodwill that people have towards refugees in this country.

    And they are endangering human life day after day.

    And though the way ahead will be hard and though we can expect many challenges and many obstacles to be thrown up against this plan I believe this plan is the right way forward because the people smugglers must be stopped in order to save countless lives;

    and because tackling illegal migration

    is precisely the way to sustain a safe, legal and generous offer of sanctuary to those in need,

    that is in the very best traditions of this country

    and the values we stand for in the world.

      1. Exactly

        Pure dribble .

        The idiot DOES not know the length of the country is abot 850 miles 360 miles.

        We have limited resources .. you can even hear the traffic noise when you are up 1000 feet in a glider … I know , because I have been there .

      2. My immediate thought exactly, Stephen, I will only believe him when the ECHR can no longer meddle in our affairs and the shyster lawyers have no recourse to the Human Rights Act.

        When that’s done, I shall await the mass deportations and our country is cleansed of this filth.

      1. He didn’t ask us … and we didn’t vote the Tories in for them to overload the system and ruin our safety and security and litter our towns and cities with bleeding Mosques and temples … and force Halal on everything and allow them to get uppity about their religion.

        1. The USA has tons of space. Why don’t the illegals go there? Because it isn’t handy and they know when they get there, they will get nothing. No free hotels, no benefits, no free medical care & etc. The US allows in Hispanic fruit and veg pickers, because no white American will do that, but those fruit pickers are treated like shit on both coasts. I saw this in NC.

    4. For centuries, our United Kingdom has had a proud history of welcoming people from overseas, including many fleeing persecution.

      But not at the rate of n x 100,000 per annum…

    1. Lovely- what struck me was how gentle Mummy cat was. Thanks for that.

    3. excellent – I see the mother had time to put her eye-liner on before filming

  81. Will Bojo be singing this tonight?

    … The Winds of change in Africa
    Last night I couldn’t sleep
    Oh, you know it sure is hard to leave here, Carrie
    But it’s really not my home
    The immigration stats are filthy
    (there’s beach tar on their feet)
    But I’ll miss the clean white linen
    And the fancy country home
    … Oh Carrie, get out your case (Carrie, get out your case)
    And I’ll collect the silver (I’ll collect the silver)
    Oh, I’m a mean old Daddy?
    But I like you fine
    … Come on down to a Westmonster Café, and I will
    Buy you a bottle of wine
    And we’ll laugh and toast to nothing
    And smash our empty glasses down
    Let’s have a round for these freaks and these soldiers
    A round for those ‘friends’ of mine
    Let’s have another round for the bright red devils
    Who booted me out of town
    … Oh Carrie, get out your case (Carrie, get out your case)
    And I’ll collect the silver (I’ll collect the silver)
    Oh, I’m a mean old Daddy?
    But I like you fine….

    1. Brilliant! I had to go and listen to the original – excellent words, King Stephen!

    2. Get out of the public’s way. These are good things, but they don’t address the root problem of big government – it is too big, too powerful and too expensive.

      Instead of demanding the state do more, we should be curtailing it’s power.

      Instead of ending the woke nonsense by dictat, it should be by getting out of education and moving to a voucher system. Same for housing. The government does an appalling job of controlling housebuilding and fixes what, where and the price. That’s driving prices up. It must also never, ever be able to print money through monetary expansion ever again.

      Power stations should come from combined state and private investment, with the profits going back into building more power stations and zero tax. A budget must pass public acceptance through referism. Recall being imposed by default alongside direct dmeocracy. Only net tax payers and those proving social worth can be allowed to vote – and no, a council trougher does not provide a social good. A nurse or doctor does.

      On a personal note as a man I feel for Boris. He has had the crappiest tenure a man could expect and that he hasn’t declared war on every country is astonishing. Howveer his policies are wrong. They’re making us worse off – horribly so. Pretending it’s all Putin’s fault is tiresome. Taxes on energy and fuel are over half the cost. His policy is making us ever poorer. Hiking taxes when the state is so demonstrably bloated and inefficient is just an insult.

      I hope he wins the confidence of the party. However I hope it’s the kick up the back passage to real, genuine reform to a market capital, low tax, competition led, small government approach.

      1. I’m afraid that all those good ideas, Wibbles, including the kick up Johnson’s fundament are, currently, pie in the sky.

        I just hope to God that your wishes come true.

    3. The article mentions the Odessa Massacre. I just did a websearch on that and pulled up a page that details other sites giving details of the events at the House of the Trade Unions in 2014.
      Some of the photographs are VERY, VERY graphic and disturbing.

      Yet we never hear about what happened there.

      2. Perhaps he’s going to take notice and get his fat arse into gear TB.
        And spend more time taking notice of what this country actually needs. Committed honest and respectful leadership.

        2. We don’t need the state to ‘lead’, we need it to go away! To cost half as much and do twice the work. All the wokery, the nonsense, the rent seeking is a result of a bloated and expensive, over funded government. Scrap it!

          1. Well I reckon you’d know that’s going to happen wibbers, it is what it is.
            What we really need is a modern day Guy Fawkes. Or a plague on their house.

          2. What we need is the people who organised the jubilee celebrations to run the country. It all seemed to pretty much run like clockwork.
            Political classes couldn’t and can’t run a piss up in a pub.

    2. Yet I doubt it will change his attitudes or policy. The country is genuinely suffering. He has made every worker poorer. He has squashed business, enterprise, competition and markets. His socialist policy has benefitted the rent seeker – the state aand welfarist – while punishing the productive economy. We’re heading for recession and the lot of those useless wasters refused to reduce fuel duty and energy taxes.

      1. A distraction. The Bilderbergers are meeting behind locked doors in Washington DC. That’s where our future is being decided but we must resist.

    5. How many of the 211 were on the government payroll? Hardly a ringing endorsement is it? Hopefully he loses the two by-elections and those are the final nails in his coffin.

  84. Boris slithered through as I suspected he would. So how much longer of him and his manipulative wife? No wonder we all bloody drink!

    2. So who would you all have liked as a replacement and who would have been likely to follow as next PM?
      I must admit to losing any sense of who might be a viable replacement.

      1. Honestly Richard, I have no idea. They are all as bad as each other – I have no idea. Sod them all.

    1. Nah, they’d be chasing him with a handful of hotel room keys and cheques for stuff.

    2. Don’t be daft. As an illegal immigrant the state would be desperate to give him a free house, welfare for life and all his bills paid on the tax payer.

      However, Paddington suffers from not being a muslim gimmigrant nor a threat to the country, so the state will do what it can to get rid of him

      1. Paddington is wonderful! As a teacher of English Lit and children’s lit- trust me. It is innocent and charming. I love Paddington and Winnie the Pooh. Bears rule.

          1. I heard the song a couple of weeks ago. One of the aerobics instructors had put it onto the play list she was using.
            Only once, the whole class ground to a halt with a really?

          2. Rupert (from the Daily Express) was my childhood bear hero. I had his annual every year and looked forward to making the origami toy from the instructions within each book.

          3. In the sixth form at school, we were allowed to modify our uniforms slightly (within guidelines). One of my fellow students wore a pair of Rupert trousers – it didn’t go down well with the PTB 🙂

          4. I have some braces which are apparently Paddington Bear Check pattern. (Bought from A. Hume of Kelso and made by Albert Thurston).

          5. Most American golfers in the 1960s and 1970s wore Rupert trousers as standard (as did most American tourists).

        4. I liked it when I was a child. It’s well written too. I’m less keen on the adults over-egging the whole concept – media people make everything they touch dirty nowadays.

        2. They are less than one quarter African heritage. All the race-baiting is a storm in a very silly teacup.

    1. Fallick Alec would do an excellent version of this.

      Fred Wedlock has done a version called the Teddy Bear’s Rave Up – unfortunately I can’t find it on youtube but I have the vinyl LP on which it is featured.

  91. Not good here- but no moaning. Was texted today that 3 are putting up their prices for pay as you go- which we do. They are so pissed off that you won’t take a contract with them.
    Going to bed soon as am in extreme pain and MH is not doing too well either.
    Please bear with me with all my BS, I appreciate you all.

    1. Saw a TV advert for guff-gaff saying guaranteed PAYG prices for 2022. Don’t know if that helps.
      May not cure you pain but maybe they’re not a rip off.
      So sorry for all the troubles yo and MH are going through. You’ve got to believe you’ll beat it.
      Good night Ann.

    3. Hope you have a good night, Ann and feel refreshed, tomorrow is another day. Take care, thinking of you and your OT.

    4. I have only just seen this post. So very belatedly, I can only send heartfelt warmest wishes and thoughts and hope that they, like prayers, can do just a tiny bit positive, somewhere. And wish you some peace from your pain and the trauma that you both are going through.

      Are you talking about pay as you go mobile, utilities or something else? I am a member of Which? and get access to all sorts of their research – so if it is something like that I can look online and give you their results, for what it’s worth.

      1. Thanks, it’s been a tough few months and not over yet.
        We are with 3 Mobile and we pay as you go. We don’t over use our phones- mainly fielding hospital calls and calling cabs.
        I think we will stick them for now and see how it goes. We originally used O2 and they were crap. We are on limited resources £ wise so try to conserve where we can.
        Having said that, we are thinking of going out for some fun this evening. A pint in the pub and then a meal in our fave little bistro.
        We need to lighten up and have some fun!

  92. Evening, all. Late on parade because the first Monday is Parish Council night and it went on a bit.

  93. Boris Johnson is delusional if he truly believes the vote of confidence in him was convincing and decisive.

    I imagine a number of those voting against Johnson will necessarily vacate government jobs which will presumably be filled by those lending Johnson temporary support. So on it goes, the revolving door spinning as the principle of trash out and trash in continues.

    Is there no way of getting shot of the whole stinking lot of them? Forget Partygate. The real crimes of the Johnson tenure are the tutored acceptance and following of the Gates and Soros globalist agenda by adoption of damaging lockdowns, unproven and untested vaccines, fear porn, fraudulent purchasing of useless PPE, waste on a monumental scale related to the fake Covid ‘pandemic’, unwise and unnecessary involvement in Ukraine (picking the wrong side), failure to deliver Brexit, fuelling social strife in Northern Ireland, inexplicably rubbishing President Trump and lending support to the Biden creep, failing to lift a finger to halt illegal immigration and in fact actively facilitating the entry of a staggering number of aliens into the country, wilfully presiding over the destruction of what is left of our cultural history, and worse of all being a globalist puppet of the WEF along with many other ‘young global leaders’ most of whom are ill equipped to govern anyone.

    I have developed a certain hatred of Boris Johnson and everything he stands for.

    Edit: Shit! I forgot to mention his loopy adoption of clearly mad green policies. Without the products and by products of fossil fuels we would all be peasants and reliant on subsistence farming at best.

    1. I agree with your criticisms of Boris Johnson but who, other than David Frost, is likely to be any better?

      1. Like you I think David Frost our best hope of effective Tory leadership. I just hope he reads our comments or that they are brought to his attention.

        I liked Lord Frost’s comments about what he termed ‘Covid theatre’ which struck home for me. Also his steadfast refusal to bend the knee to Brussels albeit he was subsequently undermined by that snake in the grass, Gove.

      2. I see the Daily Mail has labelled Jeremy Hunt “Theresa May in trousers!”
        Hits the nail bang on the head in my opinion!

  95. Good night, everyone. Like Bill Thomas, but for totally different reasons, I shall be away from this site for a few days.

      1. Thank you, Conners – I hope that you and Oscar are well whilst I am away. One final comment on this site: tonight I watched for the very first time HOBSON’S CHOICE, the David Lean film starring Charles Laughton, John Mills and Brenda de Banzies. This has shot right up to my list of the all-time films I have seen. A really wonderful, funny and heart-warming film.

        1. Oscar is now into his second year with me – I keep telling him he should be used to the routine by now 🙂

        2. Good morning, Auntie Elsie. I saw that version of Hobson’s Choice decades ago. It has always been one of my favourite films. Scarborough’s own, the irascible Charles Laughton, has long been one of my most admired actors.

  97. Goodnight Gentlefolk and God bless – I’ve just taken a useless sleeping pill but shall read until I feel sufficiently drowsy.

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