Sunday 25 September: The Chancellor has set out a bold strategy – and put his opponents firmly on the back foot

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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685 thoughts on “Sunday 25 September: The Chancellor has set out a bold strategy – and put his opponents firmly on the back foot”

  3. 356534+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Linking the two together then I take opponents to mean the decent peoples & their feelings, the decent peoples being the silent majority, regarding the economy and the daily invasion.

    They are ( the decent peoples ) after all, funding the governance’s campaign.

    Sunday 25 September: The Chancellor has set out a bold strategy – and put his opponents firmly on the back foot

  4. Urgent overhaul planned for Prevent which is ‘protecting terrorists and not the public’. 25 September 2022.

    He heard “time and again about how Prevent saves lives, helps tackle the causes of radicalisation, prevents individuals from potentially carrying out an act of terrorism, and assists others to disengage from extremism”.

    But he warned that Islamist extremists were now “severely under-represented” in referrals to the programme, with a significant emphasis on Right-wing extremists instead.

    Mr Shawcross states that officials involved in Prevent may be focusing on Right-wing extremism “above and beyond the actual threat it posed”, in order to “try and fend off accusations” that its earlier focus on Islamist extremists was “stigmatising minority communities”.

    Show me how many lives Prevent has saved in the last twenty years! By its very nature its supposed successes can never be measured and thus any claim must be false.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/24/urgent-overhaul-planned-prevent-protecting-terrorists-not-public/

    1. Perhaps they need to focus more on preventing more government cock ups.
      The government don’t seem to understand that there are some people who have long (centuries old) standing issues and have come to Europe to wreck the culture and social structure. So far doing quite well so far with all the financial and moral assistance they get.

    1. When we lived out in the sticks, we had a Jack Russell who was expert at the ‘JR Hop’. (Yes, I do know about luxation.)
      One day, a group of children brought him back; they had carried him for a good mile or so. The moment they put him down on the ground, he rushed into the house for his supper.

      1. Yes, I met a poorly Yorkshire terrier yesterday at the park.
        It couldn’t walk, but had been fine earlier.
        Talking to the elderly owner’s friend fifty yards away, after a couple of minutes she let slip that the non-walking dog was six and appeared to resent a new puppy which was getting all the attention.
        And the friend had her own Yorkie puppy, so the 6 year old would have been outnumbered on the planned walk.

    1. What a difference a year or two makes! A 40 year old man who marries a 22 year old woman does not attract much opprobrium but a 30 year old who has a relationship with a 12 year old does. Does Biden fail to see this?

  7. ‘Morning, Peeps. A fine, sunny day forecast here.

    Today’s leading letter:

    SIR – Kwasi Kwarteng’s “mini-Budget” on Friday was one of the best enunciations of Conservatism I have heard since the day Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister. The only thing missing from it was the requisite economy on the spending side of the nation’s financial ledger.

    Moreover, this radical growth plan has thrown the opposition parties into disarray, exposing their lack of any alternative narrative, let alone policies. It is very early days but the new Prime Minister has played a political blinder. If the economy is growing again in two years’ time, she will win the next election; if it isn’t, Labour will fight an election with a commitment to tax rises across the board – hardly a winning strategy.

    Philip Duly
    Haslemere, Surrey

    Mr Duly is right to touch on the absence of any attention to the spending side. I would like to have seen the announcement of a comprehensive review of spending, which seems to grow relentlessly as each year passes. There is so much waste and expensive over-regulation to eradicate, and the markets might have been more inclined to support this budget has this aspect been included.

      2. Gordon Bennett! What were they thinking of? What next, politicians (particularly Liebore ones) advocating sex with children? Oh…

        1. Harriet Harman and Patrician Hewitt have still not succeeded in convincing everybody that they were not in favour of reducing the age of sexual consent to 12 and that they supported the aims of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).

          The narrative soon shifted away from the difficult subject of paedophilia to the question of whether Harman and Hewitt were the victims of slurs.

          Already discussed here on the Nottlers’ forum is the topic of Naz Shah tweeting that white girls who had been raped by West Asian rape gangs should keep quiet about it ‘in the interests of ‘diversity’. The case ended with Shah being awarded damages even though she did make the tweet ‘by mistake’.

          Of course Prince Andrew makes the claim that he is not guilty of any wrong doing and he has not been convicted of having done so – but the left who screamed for fair treatment for Hewitt, Harman and Shah don’t want fair treatment for him!

  12. Morning all 😉
    Not so bright today and with the biting northerly, a bit nippy out side.
    That’s what a black fur coat is for. Not weeks of high temperatures. The old girl seems a bit more contented at the moment.
    Our black Lab Lottie in case you were wondering.

  13. SIR – Jacob Rees-Mogg is ill-informed, I’m afraid: the problem with fracking is not earthquakes, which happen occasionally in north-west England, but groundwater pollution.

    The small amount of peer-reviewed academic study to have leaked out of America shows that fracking has made groundwater in some parts of America undrinkable and toxic to many aquatic animals, including salmonids.

    Michael Heaton
    Warminster, Wiltshire

    I fear that it is Mr Heaton who is ill-informed. Fracking takes place at great depth – a mile or more is not uncommon – and this is well below our water courses. I think he may be basing his view on the very early experience in Wyoming, which resulted in a review of the process and subsequent modifications. And anyway, deposits in the USA tend to be nearer the surface, such is the geology over there. Provided the well is properly constructed, and any water reaching the surface is collected and correctly disposed of, the risk of contamination is eliminated. Nevertheless, the procedure needs to be monitored to ensure compliance by those licenced to conduct fracking.

    1. In Britain various oil companies have been fracking for oil in the last forty years.

      There have been no complaints about contamination of water courses.

      Why would fracking for gas, at the same depth, be any different?

      1. In Britain various oil companies have been fracking for oil in the last forty years.

        AFAIK, the oilfields of Dorset and Nottinghamshire were drilled conventionally.

        1. Most North Sea gas is fracked – this has extended the production of many older oilfields well beyond their expected lifespan.

    2. Fracking can be done under the North Sea so no disturbance to the good neighbours of NIMBYtown. Ah, but no one mentions this because it is more expensive as you cannot just trundle up with a lorry with a drill. Although given the way gas prices have been manipulated* upwards that should be of little concern to the exploration and extraction companies.
      To those who produce oil and gas the raw material is nearly free. The extraction costs money, of course. Also, the government charges companies a licence fee. I cannot find out how much that is, but it hardly makes sense as it is a barrier to extracting the oil/gas. Oil/gas destined to provide energy for UK homes and businesses. Especially as the soi-disant green energies are heavily subsidised.

      * It is not market forces of supply and demand.

    3. Edwin Pugh, of BTL fame, appears to know his stuff when it comes to fracking:

      Edwin Pugh
      7 MIN AGO
      A myth about fracking. In the UK ALL liquids used in the process are requred by law to be non-toxic. Further, freshwater aquifers are normally a few hundred feet below the surface, whereas oil and gas wells are over 7,000 ft. underground. Both are separated by a layer of solid rock. Drilling companies have to form a solid shell of concrete and steel around the periphery of the drilled hole to prevent any leakage of oil, gas, or fracking liquid into underground freshwater bodies.

  14. Good Morning. Dull and cold this morning, but dry. It’s still dark, really.
    Oh, the controversy! Non striking batsman person run out in “ladies cricket”! BBC stirring up a storm! See their little survey questionnaire! Were India wrong or were India wrong? Hang on! A totally biased, only one answer phrased two ways? Not on the BBC surely!
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/63023469

    1. She was out – no question. Don’t leave your crease until after the ball has been delivered. And yes, that questionnaire doesn’t ask whether you think it’s within the laws of the game, but gives you the choice of ‘win at all costs’ or ‘it’s not fair’.

      1. Yep. As a former cricketer (Ha-Ha) I considered that it was almost impossible to cheat at cricket.

      2. If she was out, which I believe she was, she was caught trying to steal an advantage.
        In other words she was cheating, and deserved to lose her wicket.

        1. Good Point! Like the extra couple of feet some rugby teams take at the scrums and breakdowns. Yes, looking at you, New Zealand.

    2. ‘Morning, HP. My knowledge of sport wouldn’t fill a half-side of A4 (in large print) but even this ignoramus knows from his miniscule involvement in schoolboy cricket that she was fairly and squarely OUT! Never mind all the screaming and squealing, thems is the rules!

    5. 👆🏻There has long been a convention in the sport of cricket — going back to well before the time of W G Grace (a commensurate bender of the laws) — that a bowler, noticing that a batsman was leaving his crease prematurely, would firstly (as an act of sportsmanship) show him the ball to let him know that his actions were being noted. Then, on any subsequent attempts at doing the same, it was considered fair play for the bowler to remove the bails with the ball and successfully appeal for a run out.

      This interpretation of the laws of cricket proliferated until the infamous ‘Mankad’ incident, when it was decreed that no prior warning be necessary. In my view, it was at that point that the spirit of cricket was diminished for good.

      1. Very good point. Now some teams hit the other side with sledges. Ball fiddling was a thing for a while, although it was obvious. You wonder why they do not play nicely. It is nice to win but better to be a sportsman.

  15. Labour republicans say Britain faces a ‘future with a white privileged male’ as head of state. 25 September 2022.

    Dozens of ‘woke’ republicans including a Labour MP have begun agitating for the abolition of the monarchy as they warned against a future with a ‘white, privilege male’ as head of state for the next century – just weeks after the Queen’s death.

    At a fringe event at the Labour Conference in Liverpool last night, guests including Richard Burgon heard activists claim that power by ‘accident of birth’ is ‘incompatible’ with the Labour Party’s democratic values as they made the case for a British republic.

    Without even being a royalist this argument is hard to beat for sheer stupidity. A white privileged female by an accident of birth has just relinquished the role after seventy years. The new (male) incumbent is already seventy three so his reign by the nature of things will be much shorter. All this at a time where the UK faces unprecedented challenges that the present elected representatives seem totally incapable of meeting!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11247053/Labour-republicans-say-Britain-faces-future-white-privileged-male-head-state.html

    1. 356534+ up ticks,
      Morning AS,
      Tis the way of a coalition first you create the problem
      rhetorically then leave it to NAN (no action needed).
      It amazes me that they still have a following with rotherham plus & and an ex PM who haunted park toilets
      for his out of office kicks.

        1. Charles Lynton.
          It was his youthful hobby. Nowadays, he sticks to making unfeasibly large amounts of money out of thin air.

    2. Thus confirming the theory that our political classes f*ck up everything they come into contact with.
      It’s time we had a ‘vessel for dismissal’ for all this shite. In the form of a large steel tube decending half a mile into the earth. Let’s face it these people are no fracking good to anyone.

    3. I think the point is that it’ll be Brian, then William then George.

      It’s a shame W&K didn’t have a daughter first after the succession rules were changed

      2. Keep up the good work, Naz! The more you can show your utter stupidity, the less likely it will be for Sir Beer Korma to get anywhere near Downing Street.

        ‘Morning, BoB.

      3. I think the queue for dramatic adjustment involving Naz and a baseball bat would be at least half a mile long.

    2. As long as it doesn’t effect political classes. They don’t seem to have a clue or a care in the world. Except about themselves and future good fortune.

      I remember how the electrical regulations were changed suddenly and rapidly when a politician wife was electricuted and died in her kitchen because of a faulty installation. The regs changed very quickly and rightly so. But I’m afraid in this case also, it will take some similar until they take notice.
      They all live on another planet.

      1. 356534+ up ticks,

        Morning RE,
        They are wheeling dealing in
        sampling the same PIE menu,
        C smith was a BIG prime example.

        1. The problem is that I’m sure they are all open to bungs from outside agencies. The outstanding evidence is they do absolutely eff all for anyone. If you write to them with a serious question or enquiry they either ignore you or reply with a few sentences of well practiced BS.
          I know I keep mentioning it but on top of their 90 grand plus, between them took home nearly 132million pounds in ‘expenses’ last year. I believe that works out around 200 thousand pounds plus per member. And in the meantime people who have spent 50 odd years working for a living are expected to live on the basic state pension which is under 8 grand a year. Or sell their house to survive.

          1. 356534+ up ticks,

            RE,
            Trouble is the people continue to write to these MPs
            after they have been knocked back time & time again.

            Get this also those same peoples are actually supporting & voting for those same type MPs that are selling the Country out under the supporting / voting peoples arses as we type.

            Your / my replacement could very well be sitting in a hotel in Dover with you / me footing the bill.

            How do you like them
            apples ?

        2. The problem is that I’m sure they are all open to bungs from outside agencies. The outstanding evidence is they do absolutely eff all for anyone. If you write to them with a serious question or enquiry they either ignore you or reply with a few sentences of well practiced BS.
          I know I keep mentioning it but on top of their 90 grand plus, between them took home nearly 132million pounds in ‘expenses’ last year. I believe that works out around 200 thousand pounds plus per member. And in the meantime people who have spent 50 odd years working for a living are expected to live on the basic state pension which is under 8 grand a year. Or sell their house to survive.

  18. SIR – In August you reported on warnings from wildlife campaigners that, because of the extreme heat and dry weather, badgers were in danger of dying from a lack of water and earthworms to eat. The campaigners called on the public to supply the animals with fresh water to drink, along with fruit and nuts.

    As I occasionally saw badgers in my garden, I duly provided them with a nightly feast. Now that weather conditions have improved (for badgers), when can I stop doing this?

    I ask because every night, at about 10.30 pm, I find two badgers outside my kitchen door, waiting for my offering.

    Pamela June Thomas
    Fleet, Hampshire

    What did you expect, Ms Thomas? Get a bloody grip, woman! Next you will be telling us that you feed foxes and tree rats too. Badger numbers are out of control since they were declared sacrosanct, and the damage they do to the ground, the fast-disappearing hedgehog population, and cattle by the spreading of bovine TB, is vast. For pity’s sake, wake up! And stop listening to Packham and his fellow eco-nutjobs.

    1. I ask because every night, at about 10.30 pm, I find two badgers outside my kitchen door, waiting for my offering.

      Wait till they mug you on your way to work. At least they were born here!

    3. Good morning Hugh and everyone.
      Badgers must tick a box in the MSM because they happen to display an integrated mixture of white and Black (and grey).
      In my case, one appeared a few months ago, eating whatever wheat the waterfowl had left. As there is a pond there was no need to worry about thirst, but I made an effort to leave stale bread or leftovers. There are now some windfall apples.
      Mallard eat the slugs etc, thus hedgehogs do not get a look in.
      Since human beings have squatted on most of the planet, the least I can do is make an occasional gesture towards indigenous creatures, even those that bite.

    4. Same thing with illegal immigrants – give them benefits and they’ll keep coming back for more!

  19. Morning, all. Bright and calm in N Essex.

    In the CV-19 era misinformation is the bane of our lives, we’re told. To reinforce that idea world renowned doctors and scientists have been banned, de-platformed, ridiculed and have had their grants and licences revoked for speaking out about the problems that the “vaccine” is producing, and instead, promoting alternative treatments that work. Here’s the other side’s misinformation that will not be exposed by the PTB.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/acb02683666d0c31a09303439451878bfd017a9364448e54562b5b33b6177310.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/df59b2d796552e1a4cd50d78194e17a8762321e57aefacc7d1d6df844ddd901a.png

    1. Every week I get a message from my GP practice to register and book for the latest jabs. I’ll drop a note in and tell them I’d rather be Covoid.

      2. This has been a bone of contention for some time i.e. has he, or has he not taken the jab? Perhaps there is a jab available to the elites that does not have the ‘extras’ that the public is being jabbed with? If so, then it appears just as useless. Whatever the truth, his announcements are not favourable for his product.
        In USA the ‘new booster’ is as popular as a cup of cold sick at the moment. It appears that people may be waking up at last.

        1. When are they going to have sperm banks that promise – and can verify – that the donors have not been Covid jabbed?

          1. If a woman needs AI from a sperm bank, Is she allowed to choose the donor’s ethnicity I wonder? If so, I can’t imagine the wokerati will allow that for much longer.

    3. Is that the Kayla Moran woman? The idea that being vaccinated sudden;y makes you immune and not a carrier is idiotic. You don’t start breathing out nano antibodies. You’re still infected, just protected from the virus.

      1. You are not even protected from the virus, judging by the people I know who are fully vaccinated and still go down with Covid.

  22. Good morning all! Blimey it’s chilly here! Our visiting doglet, Lyra decided that 6.20 was a good time to get up today! I think she must have known that our daughter and family were about to take off from Edinburgh airport, and wanted to let me know so I could check Flighttracker! Cold and pretty dark!

      1. Absolutely Eddy! She arrived on Thursday, to avoid the last minute packing, shouting and general chaos! 😁

      1. ’Morning pet! It was a very peculiar coloured sky here about 6.30! Orange/grey/pearl! And both dogs shot out of the door to bark at the resident hedgehog, Russell!

        1. ‘Morning Sue. Frequently in our back garden is a crow with a serious limp. He too is a Russell. Contrary to expectations he is able to resist going round in circles.

        1. 😉🙃 I’ve had three steroid injections so far but the effect only last a few,months.
          Good thing is doggo is 12 now and could probably use some steroids as well.
          She has a You Move tablet everyday.
          I’m thinking of trying them 😉

          2. No good Sue, I’ve got a wear gap on the inside of the joint and the bones rub against each other.
            The results of years of athletics, cycling, football, golf and squash.
            The price of being fit as a fiddle.
            Now an out of tune relic 😏 🎻

          3. I know the feeling! Swimming, squash, gym and tennis! Now reduced to ‘ambling’ and gardening plus football with the twins, at least while I can still beat them!

          5. Oh yes! Definitely better than the alternative! And I’m not complaining – the new hip transformed my life!

          6. Osteoarthritis in both hips for me.

            There’s a saying “Pain is weakness leaving the body unless you’ve served, then it’s probably arthritis“

          8. “Don’t just lie there, boy. Do press-ups.”

            PTI born, PTI bred, strong of the arm and thick of the head.

  24. By the way, yesterday I was able to defeat the DT’s firewall by doing the old “ESC” key trick.

  25. Morning all. Bright and sunny but nippy. 9degs with a north westerly wind. Hope it warms up later for our bowls match.

    All three grandchildren are now off to (younger grand daughter) or back at university (elder grand daughter and grandson). Mums and Dads now rattling around at home and worrying about the offspring. Will they make friends, will they be sharing with nice people … waved them all off earlier this week, with a little pocket money, and feeling lucky there’s WhatsApp and phones to keep in contact.

    2. Is she really trying to cover the dreadful mistakes of her predecessors. Dear PM, you can’t and wont fix their stoopidity.
      And you won’t repair the damage inflicted on our country by the tyranny and treasonous lies inflicted by our dreadful politicians.
      She needs to lie down in a darkened room and think about what has actually happened to this country in the past 25 years. Following the previous adgenda is an appalling route to take.
      We don’t have the infrastructure to support this current invasion. Let alone inviting more scroungers in.

  27. Bit tricky today

    Wordle 463 4/6

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    🟩🟨⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  29. Good morning all. Whisper it, but do we actually have a conservative government again? Tax cuts, lifting the cap on banker’s bonuses (an EU directive intended to hurt the City), lifting the ban on fracking, scrapping the 45% rate of tax and Sunak’s planned NI and corporation tax rises, Suella Braverman as Home Secretary taking an axe to Prevent. All this in the first few days of the Truss administration!

    All we need are politicians who are prepared to take sensible decisions which benefit the country – essentially doing the opposite of what has been done for the last 30 years. Doing the right thing, not just courting the votes of the Left who would never note for ‘Toree scum’ in a million years.

    Let’s see what happens, but do we dare to dream?

    2. Not a chance – UNLESS they do something positive and effective against the endless tide of illegals.

      1. The only people who vote labour are those on benefits, irrespective of the fact that most of them were let in by the tories and live here for free.

    5. The Left and state are out in force trolling every forum going. A slew of new accounts never having existed before, all posting the same big state, Left wing nonsense.

    2. I don’t agree with the nationalist fellows. Genuine refugees are welcome, as long as they apply properly from the first safe country.Equally folk coming here to work, with a confirmed job that no one else in the UK has.

      Illegal economic migration is the problem.

  31. Schools in England warn of crisis of ‘heartbreaking’ rise in hungry children. 25 september 2022.

    Community food aid groups also told the Observer this week that they are struggling to cope with new demand from families unable to feed their children. “We are hearing about kids who are so hungry they are eating rubbers in school,” said Naomi Duncan, chief executive of Chefs in Schools. “Kids are coming in having not eaten anything since lunch the day before. The government has to do something.”

    In England, all infant schoolchildren are entitled to free school meals from reception to year two. But beyond that, only children whose parents earn less than £7,400 a year are eligible, and 800,000 children living in poverty are missing out, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.

    Eating rubbers? Really? The kids around here all look like missing a few meals wouldn’t do them any harm at all!

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/25/schools-in-england-warn-of-crisis-of-heartbreaking-rise-in-hungry-children

    1. Why has “the government” to do something? It is the responsibility of PARENTS to feed their children.

          3. I remember years ago wiring a couple of kippers to the manifold of a car just before the newlyweds set orrf.
            Well ………come on……… it was all the trend back in the late 60s.

          4. When he was a child, my Dad put a couple of kippers through the neighbours’ (who they all hated) front door just after they had left for a fortnight’s holiday…..

        1. A woman had 10 children, all boys, and all called Wayne. Ask how she got the one she wanted when she needed something done she said it was simple. She just called out the surname.

      3. Good grief! Are you suggesting people should be… shock! Responsible for themselves?

        How heinous! What nonsense you speak.

    2. Absolute hogwash. Look at the price of these chicken thighs in Sainsbury’s. £2.15 per kilo. I can’t believe there are people who can’t afford these on and they would suffice for a family of 4. Add a few potatoes and other fresh veg and you’ve probably fed a family of 4 for a fiver.

          1. There is a time element as well.

            That said, I’m off to get the bits for a vegetable stew with cheesey dumplings.

          2. Throw everything in a slow cooker. All done by 5pm. They probably don’t like peeling veg though.
            There is a bbc TV prog called ‘Eat well for Less’. I am amazed at the amount of adults who don’t recognise common vegetables.

        1. I don’t think I’ve had a McDonald’s since our children were young and they’re now in their 50s.

          2. I think I tried one of those once and thought it slightly less worse than the McDonald’s I remember.

          4. Yes. Remember looking at fillet steak I. Morrisons, I think it was, and the butcher said a nice piece of fillet steak for the price of a burger meal. A great analogy.

    3. Typical of the usual invented guardian crap.
      A lot of people are too lazy and irresponsible to look after their kids properly.
      Not long ago the Dopey Wokies were looking into kids lunch boxes and banning certain types of treats children enjoy.

    4. How on earth did we manage in the 50s when there were no food banks and none of the junk foods people crave these days?

      1. And I didn’t like the flavour of erasers. The cedarwood of the pencil was quite nice though, very chewable.

      2. And I didn’t like the flavour of erasers. The cedarwood of the pencil was quite nice though, very chewable.

      3. Food banks are a political tool of the left and nothing more. People just go for free food most do not NEED to go.

      4. Family assistance. Members of families helped each other. They generally lived close together. Now mothers go out to work. The grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters are all over the country maybe live hundreds of miles away.

        1. I don’t have any family left to assist, apart from my daughter in Tasmania. I’ve outlived all the rest. It’s a bit lonely in the UK, these days.

        2. We had no family near. My mother was a widow who worked full time. My Grandmother lived with us for less than two years and she had dementia.

      5. There was one family in my primary school where the children were always hungry for school dinners. Don’t know how they managed in the holidays, but the children managed to be grow up into decent human beings without the Guardian’s tears.

    5. Chefs in Schools CEO paid £42,000! And there are 7 other ‘executives’! What on earth is this about? It’s a bluddy charity!

    6. I do make my own soup , but a pot full of soup that lasts for a few days can be boring as Moh says .

      I visited Sainsbury’s yesterday and browsed around their tinned soup section … On the very bottom shelf , hidden away, were their own brand soups , what a huge selection of flavours … at 55p a tin .. pea and ham is acceptable .. looks and smells as it should , and I am sure the others will be just as tasty.

      Modern children won’t eat tinned sardines on toast , will they, or scrambled egg or an omlette, maccaroni cheese , cauliflower cheese , fish pie etc .

      Modern parents will spend more on their lip fillers , tatts or Vapes than food for growing children , simple nourishing stuff.

      1. Sainsbury has an economy range marketed as Hubbard; there is spaghetti at 46p for a packet. If people are hungry it is often a matter of their having prioritised items such as tobacco and alcohol and processed foods.

      2. Start your soup off simple like a chicken broth. Pad that out with crusty bread. The following day add fine diced veg. The next day add chicken or meat. The next day add spices. Simples.

      3. Do they even teach kids how to cook any more?

        Even your basics like cooking spaghetti require a modicum of knowledge.

    7. More likely the pupil was eating sweets, but quickly stuffed a rubber in its mouth to fool the teacher.

  32. Just seen our new chancellor speaking about ‘growing’ the economy. Is he really serious? Is he aware of how many people are living in this country who have never worked never paid taxes and live entirely off the taxpayers, being perminately and totally surviving on
    the benefits system ?
    Not sure who he was but Liz Truss has sacked someone else.
    Does anyone know if you are allowed into the HoL after being a politician, can this person still be investigated for dodgy dealings ?

    2. 70% of the muslim population and over 60% of the middle eastern population (statistically) have never and will never work. It is also amongst that demographic that we have the highest welfare fraud, corruption and theft.

      The only rational thing to do is to revoke welfare entirely. It’s utterly putrid that people are just given money for nothing when they plainly can work.

      1. Oh what an effing mess our politicians have made of this once proud and efficient nation.
        Just think about the thousands of lives that were lost saving these islands from invasion and repopulation and now look what has happened.
        They just walked in any way.

        1. Back to the workhouse for you.

          Not that I am opposed to work for benefits but I thought that I would get in early before the apologists resurrect fears of hash conditions in nineteenth century work houses.

    1. I saw lots of these creatures walking around in Birmingham on Friday – several with veils across the face. It didn’t feel like an English city. In Iran they are burning their hijabs, while in the UK they are making a point by wearing these rags.

        1. Yeah, but Iran did just declare for the China-Russia-India commodity backed currency group, so they were due a dose of freedom and democracy to teach them a lesson.

      2. AND they were using EU freedom of movement rules to move to the UK from other parts of Europe where the full veil etc was being banned.

  37. Sadfrankie
    @Sadfrankie1
    ·
    2h
    Replying to
    @MigrationWatch
    Brexit just replaced Eastern European with African & East Asian workers. If anything Brexit will increase immigration as the Eastern Europeans were more likely to go home after making a few bob. “But, but I voted Brexit for less immigration” you cry, yep you’ve been had
    Shahid
    @Shahid36391962
    ·
    1h
    No where near the same level.

    Non EU people need visa’s/work permits too, that is a massive difference compared to freedom of movement rights that EU citizens had.

    1. No. Brexit offered us the ability to apply our own migration policies. The state has simply ignored them to punish Brexiteers for voting against their plans.

  38. 356534 + up ticks,

    The wonders of nature continue without our input.

    Mail headline Baby gets a good kicking.

    ://twitter.com/Gabriele_Corno/status/1573640242539773955?s=20&t=t3uczQ3Z4DBlLdspKAdeiw

  39. There are far too many people who seem to think the state should take every penny of what people earn, have the state dole out the same amount to everyone, regardless. Are they ignorant, malicious, stupid or all of the above (a Lefty)?

  40. I forgot to mention banana custard , jellies , blancmange , stewed apple and custard.. puds that don’t need to use the oven .

    I noticed the meat in the refridgerated sections were full, and I don’t think people are cooking a Sunday roast / buing meat .

    Many new homes have tiny backyards , no room for a rotary clothes line or a full line , and a friend told me that clothes lines are banned on the Poundbury estate in Dorchester .

    2. I absolutely hate clotheslines, of any shape.
      Norway’s weather doesn’t lend itself to them, so we have a tumble drier – as another pet hate is lagging the radiators with wet clothing, so nothing escapes except moisture. Doesn’t help that we have 2 small radiators only, most of the house is heated by underfloor cables, with wood burner to top up those sudden cold evenings and provide a nice, cosy glow.

    4. I had a washer-drier before I retired but I only used the drier when I had to. When it was replaced we just got a washer, so my stuff always goes outside to dry. If it’s wet I either do it another day or if it gets rained on we have the conservatory and it dries quite quickly in there.

    5. I had a washer-drier before I retired but I only used the drier when I had to. When it was replaced we just got a washer, so my stuff always goes outside to dry. If it’s wet I either do it another day or if it gets rained on we have the conservatory and it dries quite quickly in there.

  41. Taking a coffee pause in the clearing-out. Got part-way in the spring, then stalled, so now trying to finish off. Junking of papers, magazines, old bank statements, old instruction manuals for equipment we no longer have… and binning seriously out-of-date food (2015, anyone?), as well.

    1. We need a serious clear out .. clutter that we don’t need but don’t know what to do with .. Sentimental stuff.

      Moh’s old RN uniforms , bone domes , his manuals , his parents bits and pieces , post cards from WW1.. from grandparents .. toy cars , NPS cutlery not dishwasher proof , tea sets , we use mugs now , stuff when we fed many , seviettes and table clothes , tureens , oh goodness the list is endless. silver stuff and ..the list goes on .. Old original computors … all in the loft .. yikes …

      1. We learned a lot clearing Mother’s house.
        Pass it on to someone who will appreciate it, by flea market, charity shop or whatever. Boot sale. But let it go.
        It hurts for a while, then you get over it.
        And, unless you are a museum, nobody needs outdated computers that can barely add 2+2 in under 15 minutes.

          1. They’ll keep a few things, but yes, most of it will be given away or binned. Sadly, but nobody has the space to keep their own stuff accumulated over the years, let alone their parents stuff as well.

          2. That’s why we bought this house! Space for all my mother’s clutter and hundreds of books and LPs………..

          3. Our place looks a bit better now, but it’s a wrench to throw out cherished magazines, and the like.

          4. That’s what ours have threatened! The elder one would, not so sure about the young one! She’s moved from a two-bed house to a 4 with garage, has filled it and half of it still seems to be here!

        2. My mate makes a good living from retro computers. He mostly deals in Acorn systems (BBC micro, electron, BBC master, archimedes). He’s never short of work.

      4. Worth a fortune on ebay, I should think.
        Don’t sell any silver yet, wait for the price to go up (yes, I know people have got old and grey waiting for silver to rise in price, but it’s close to lift-off now! well the internet says so anyway!)

      5. Aaarrgghhhhhhhh ……………………………..
        We have worn a groove in the road between Allan Towers and the tip.
        Ditto the charity warehouses.

        1. I can’t wait to get rid of my financial documents as soon as they’re ten years old. 2011 will light a few fires this winter!

    4. Best to clear out before downsizing.

      I am now in a battle with herself about items that we moved but have nowhere to go. To date success is being allowed to put stuff in our storage locker where it will no doubt continue to gather dust but never be used.

      Only three months until Christmas but the Christmas decorations are out – try the boxes in the dining room.

    5. I opened and enjoyed a Presto’s Christmas pudding about the same time Safeway’s got taken over by Morrison.
      So long as the cans are not rusted through or blown they should be safe.

  42. A harridan screaming about “Evil Toreee Tax Cuts” revealed she worked 10 hours a week which earned her approx £350 a month,this was topped up with just short of £1500 a month of Universal Credit

    You would need to work full time and earn £27,000 a year to get the same net income

    No wonder there’s a “Labour Shortage”

    We’re being taken for mugs

    https://www.reed.co.uk/tax-calculator/27000

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fbe695697fa7e6f37e813d736888d4ac6d23e8203186d66d403cff89f7806154.jpg

      1. It has always been so. My brothers were taught about the benefits system at schoo – back in the sixties.

        Around Brentwood, young girlies were bragging about how they would get knocked up so that as single mothers, they could claim a council flat. Career aspirations went as far as popping another sprog or two in their quest for a bigger place.

        1. Yes, it’s a very sad state of affairs that for some that’s their ‘promotion’ system.

          The only rational solution is to stop bloody paying them!

      1. For there to be anything for the government to spend, it must first be earned. With taxes at the rate they were and income falling; something had to be done.

          1. Problem is, NI isn’t a savings scheme, it goes to pay the current penioners. So, if here’s not much NI because many folk are out of work…

          3. Belive Chile did that. Individual savings account – but with the benefit, you also get the risks.

  43. Just been talking to a contact in Germany. They’ve had letters warning them to have ten days’ food and water in the house in case of electricity cuts. This has always been official government advice, I remember it from years ago in that country, but the letters have alarmed people a bit!
    She also said that people are having trouble buying firewood as many sellers are sold out, and that she’s heard of wood that was cut and left in the forest to dry being pinched (not that that’s anything new…happened to our neighbours in Alsace some years ago). The forest owners are putting RFID tags on the wood.

    1. Dry or canned food, I hope, or the leccy cuts will mean your larder defrosting and spoiling…

      1. We have all kinds of food, including a freezer in the cellar. Half the freezer is full of stuff like cheese or butter that could keep for several weeks in the cellar even without electricity. If the electricity’s off for more than a couple of days, we’ll have to stew and can a lot of meat. Not perfect, but it’s hard to find tinned meat with healthy ingredients.
        The food stock is also for possibilities like me losing my job, or meat disappearing from the supermarket.

      2. If the power goes off don’t open your cold stores until it comes back on again. Given where you are you should have a generator.

    3. This makes a lot of sense in respect of the vastly increasing numbers of people experiencing the thrombolytic effects of the COVID-19 virus.

  46. The Mankad debate: Perfectly acceptable or just not cricket?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2022/09/25/mankad-debate-perfectly-acceptable-just-not-cricket/

    The old unwritten rule was that the bowler warned the batsman that his backing up left him exposed to being run out. If the batsman continued to do it he was fair game and deserved to have his bails taken off.

    BTL Comment

    What is illegal and what is wrong?

    When David Blunkett committed adultery Blair defended him saying that he had done nothing ‘wrong’ – what he should have said was that he had done nothing illegal but most Christians, and Blair claims to be a good Christian, would say that committing adultery is morally wrong.

    On the other hand there are many things which are illegal but not immoral. Driving at 75 mph on an empty motorway in clear visibility is not morally wrong – but it is against the law and illegal.

    In the question here we must ask is this fair play, is this sporting? Surely a woman should be just as capable of behaving like a gentleman as a man and the person who does not do so is a cad.

    1. The England ‘batter’ is deliberately cheating – a long way out of the crease. Unti recently she would have been dismissed for ‘unfair play’. There is no law that says she should have been warned first but sportsmanship isn’t regarded as a virtue nowadays, especially with you-know-who’s.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cricket/2022/09/25/TELEMMGLPICT000310546291_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqKi6rltZFBXl4Naz-Z8Ky_1VdfMcRqDjtuAM3L2VSpvs.jpeg?imwidth=680

      1. There’s no law that says the batter must remain in their crease. They just can’t encroach on the ‘protected area’ which is a two feet wide strip down the middle of the wicket that starts five feet outside of both creases. Batting outside of the crease lessens the effect of swing, but it’s stupid against fast bowlers bowling the odd bouncer.

        1. I think you are confusing issues here.
          The one at the non-striker’s end isn’t allowed to leave their crease for a two or three yard head start as the bowler is about to bowl.

          2. Where they can stand laterally as opposed to down the wicket is still a completely different issue from the run out in question.

          3. The non-striker is free to leave the crease and the bowler can actually stop his run up and run him out.

          4. Which is exactly what happened. The fact that the bowler can stop and run the batter out demonstrates that he isn’t allowed to do so “legally”

            Did you actually read what this discussion was about?

      2. This photograph clearly shows the idiocy of the batswoman. How the hell can she complain when deliberately standing so far out of her ground?

      3. That frame is misleading. The batter had trailed her bat about a foot or less from the crease at the point at which she anticipated completion of the delivery. The batter was not seeking an advantage in real time.

        Check the videos.

        As a former club cricketer I abhor actions which are against the spirit of the game. In this case the Indians were staring at an unexpected defeat which makes their tactics even worse in my view. It is however a form of gamesmanship and to be expected from the likes of India,
        Pakistan and Australia and our team should likewise have anticipated it.

        Edit: I would never expect the New Zealand team to act in such an underhand way. They show true sportsmanship time and again and moreso in defeat.

    3. Did Lord Blunkett plead innocence on account of not knowing who he was making love to ‘cause they all feel and sound the same to a blind man. Worth a try.

    4. Here is the relevant law:

      41.16 Non-striker leaving his/her ground early

      41.16.1 If the non-striker is out of his/her ground at any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be Run out. In these circumstances, the non-striker will be out Run out if he/she is out of his/her ground when his/her wicket is put down by the bowler throwing the ball at the stumps or by the bowler’s hand holding the ball, whether or not the ball is subsequently delivered.

      The relevant law which I posted above has been moved this year but still applies:

      Law 41.16 – running out the non-striker – has been moved from Law 41 (Unfair play) to Law 38 (Run out). The wording of the Law remains the same.

      1. Those, indeed, are the relevant laws of cricket covering the situation; however, as I explained in a post on the topic earlier this morning, those laws do not cover the spirit of cricket: an honourable concept that had always been part and parcel of the sport until more recent, less gentlemanly, times. I repeat my earlier post (below) for the benefit of those not reading it:

        There has long been a convention in the sport of cricket — going back to well before the time of W G Grace (a commensurate bender of the laws) — that a bowler, noticing that a batsman was leaving his crease prematurely, would firstly (as an act of sportsmanship) show him the ball to let him know that his actions were being noted. Then, on any subsequent attempts at doing the same, it was considered fair play for the bowler to remove the bails with the ball and successfully appeal for a run out.

        This interpretation of the specific law of cricket proliferated until the infamous ‘Mankad’ incident, when it was decreed that no prior warning be necessary. In my view, it was at that point that the spirit of cricket was diminished for good.

      1. It’s been imported from the US, where over 30 Food Manufacturing Plants have gone up in smoke. Blame the vegans.

    3. Just one of those things, apparently…. Nothing to do with arsonists or slammers or greeniacs… apparently

  48. The hysterical over-reactions to the Budget betray ignorance of history and economics

    Many observers, including economists and market players, simply don’t understand what Kwasi Kwarteng is trying to do.

    TELEGRAPH VIEW • 24 September 2022 • 10:00pm

    It is starting to feel like Brexit all over again, such is the hysterical, almost deranged reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s excellent Budget. The response of many critics has been laughably over the top. Mr Kwarteng has done what the Tories should have done at least as early as Brexit, tearing up the Gordon Brown redistributive consensus to set Britain in the direction of a low-tax, competitive economy that is a magnet for global investment.

    But to the technocratic Left, which has got used to its ideological hegemony, this approach is anathema. As far as they are concerned, tax cuts for anybody who earns more than average incomes is always “wrong”; all tax increases on the “better-off” can never be reversed; and only the “poor” are morally entitled to lower levies.

    Too many otherwise intelligent people appear to believe, implicitly, that inequality is always bad, that, in effect, everybody should earn much the same thing, regardless of the work they do, their performance, productivity or ability to provide goods or services or capital in a way that best meets demand.

    Tax reductions are always seen as a “cost”, as if the Exchequer is entitled to 100 per cent of GDP, and always have to be justified. That is proof of deep bias. Why shouldn’t spending need to be justified in the same way? Or all taxes? The BBC needs to be careful not always to fall into the same intellectual trap.

    There is also a view, shared sadly by too many in the financial markets, that this Budget was some sort of shocking, surprising loosening in fiscal policy. It wasn’t: almost all the policies were already known. We knew the cost of the energy bailout (and it is probably smaller now) and that the corporation tax hike will be cancelled and National Insurance cut. The only truly new policy was the slashing of the top rate of income tax – but why do the markets treat this as some kind of “populist” move? It is the very opposite: an unpopular measure but one that will make the UK more competitive and boost GDP.

    It is nonsense for the likes of economist Nouriel Roubini to claim that we have turned into an emerging market economy poised for an IMF bailout. Yes, the markets are penalising Britain, partly because the Government needs to do more to explain its strategy, and partly because it must now also announce spending cuts and credible new fiscal rules.

    But the markets are in turmoil everywhere. UK 10-year yields have risen nearly 3 percentage points in the past 12 months, but French yields are up 2½, and the US and Germany 2¼.

    All of the criticism is based on a limited understanding of economic history and of all the bitter controversies that have pitted economists against each other over decades. Yes, Mr Kwarteng’s was the biggest tax cut since Anthony Barber was chancellor in 1972. No, this doesn’t mean that it will end in the same boom and bust. The Barber debacle was caused by exploding money supply and an excessively loose monetary policy. That is why it finished off the Keynesian orthodoxy, and led to the monetarist counter-revolution that eventually propelled Margaret Thatcher to power. The very same people who support the tax cuts today – free marketeers, the Institute for Economic Affairs, neo-monetarists, Austrians – were the ones who spotted, and warned about, the Barber boom (and also the Lawson boom, which similarly allowed demand to explode).

    The problem is that many observers – including Left-leaning economists in the US, in financial institutions and international bureaucracies – don’t understand what Mr Kwarteng is trying to do. Their economic understanding is too narrow and conventional, their models faulty. He is a supply-sider, not a Keynesian: he wants to boost incentives to increase investment and work. Mr Kwarteng and free-marketeers believe that it is the job of the central bank to control inflation, and the role of the state to drive growth via reforms.

    The Left stubbornly refuses to believe that anybody might believe that lowering taxes boosts growth: to them, reductions can only be understood as an attempt to curry favour with the rich. The reality is very different: as ever in economics it is hard to “prove” anything, but one seminal article in the Quarterly Journal of Economics in 2018 showed that higher earners rapidly see their income increased when their marginal tax rates are cut, and that the same applies with a lag to the rest of the population – and, yes, of course, inequality increases, but so what as long as the overall economy grows? That is exactly what Mr Kwarteng hopes will happen, and the £2 billion he gave up with his tax cut could in fact end up a lot smaller if more people work more, or additional skilled workers move here, as a result.

    The Growth Plan will only succeed if it is the beginning of a long-term strategy, as the Government fully understands. Benefits have to be reformed to encourage productivity: so part-time workers will be encouraged to put in more hours or seek better pay. Unions cannot be allowed to cripple infrastructure: so tougher ballot requirements will clip their wings. And regulation has to go on the bonfire, so it’s a good start that remaining EU laws are scheduled to be torn up or replaced by the end of next year.

    The Government is preparing many other pro-growth policies. Voters who have tired of the stagnation and decay of the past years will be hoping that its strategy reaps rewards.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/09/24/hysterical-over-reactions-budget-betray-ignorance-history-economics/

    Generally well-received BTL but worries about state spending and, especially in respect of housing and loosening of planning control, immigration.

    1. How can immigration be looser? The whole world just walks in as they please. Immigration needs to be stopped except for very specialised folk, and out-of work benefits reduced drastically to force people to go to work and solve the labour shortage – NOT import more people who don’t even spikka da Eengleesh, and are just a cost.

      1. You have misunderstood what I wrote. There are worries (also expressed here previously) that loosening planning control for housing is an admission that immigration cannot or will not be controlled.

        1. Maybe, but I read somewhere this morning that Truss wants more immigration – isn’t there enough already?

          3. When oh when is Untrussworthy and the new Home Sekertry going to stop the daily flood of illegals?

            They have been absolutely SILENT about this appalling problem.

          4. Supposedly we’re not growing because we don’t have enough workers.

            Well I’ve applied for over 300 jobs in 4 months and most of them don’t really exist. I found the same IT job advertised by 10 agencies. To the government that’s 10 vacancies.

            We’re not growing because people don’t have money to spend. We’re officially now in recession. Giving money to the richest isn’t suddenly going to spark growth.

          6. Same thing.

            What do you expect that to do?

            It’ll boost a few London nightclubs whose workers are low paid.

            Cocaine dealers will do well.

          7. “Maybe…”

            Definitely, though it might have been clearer like this:
            “…worries about state spending and – especially in respect of housing and loosening of planning control – immigration.”

    2. The Left persist in this stupid ideology that allowing people to keep more of their own money is a heinous affair. They truly are communists.

      It’s not their money. What about society! They wail. Well kid, society has been driven to destruction by Left wing policies. It’s not fair! They say – what isn’t? That people should keep more of what they earn? Yes!.. errr… it should go to the needy! Like who? Windmills? The wealth gap is wider than ever. Redistributive economics is the wrong attitude and must be binned along with all the wailing, Left wing socialists big state baboons promoting it.

        1. He’s entirely right, and an apt quotation. However, for some insane reason, the Left really do think that whatever you earn must be taken from you and force redistributed via the state.

          They are truly deranged.

          1. It works on the basis that anyone earning more must be exploiting someone earning less therefore deserves to be punished. Champagne socialists encourage that idea, to exploit the politics of envy.

    2. The Trianon Palace Hotel would probably suit you.
      You’ll need to sell Dolly.
      We stayed there once (using hotel points, so it was free). A superb place to stay.

      1. That looks nice too and although those will be accomplished chefs they are not Alain Ducasse.

        I also note Gordon shouty sweary fuckface Ramsey is associated with it.

          2. I suspect that if you were presented with 10 “non-signature” dishes by different, cheaper restaurant’s chefs that you would be hard placed to identify his.

    3. Dreadful usability. Looked at the menu. Blasted thing is a circle so much of the text is at the wrong angle to read.

      As for that squggly line following you down the page…

          1. LOL.

            It doesn’t matter anyway really as you get what they are cooking.

            Bet they don’t pander to vegans and people allergic everything.

    6. You realise, of course, that M Ducasse will be many miles away overseeing his international empire.

      Trainees will do the cooking – but charge as though M Ducasse had done everything himself.

    4. Someone put up a card advertising Fridays for Future in our local supermarket noticeboard. I bent it double so that it wasn’t readable. The following week, I noticed that it was behind another card. Then I saw someone picking it off and dropping it in the bin.
      These things are far less popular than the media would have us believe.

    1. I imagine they’ve no control over it whatsoever. These places sell an advertising space and companies bid to fill it.

      It’s all transparent. However, I once wrote to a site asking what all the blank space was for and could they not put their 500 word articles all on one page. Apparently they padded every paragraph with a whacking great advert for some nonsense that my various blockers didn’t show.

      They thought this very poor form as I should be made to look at their ads. They can do one!

    1. It must have been at least 12 months ago that I went to see my older sister and BiL And she had the latest and huge Tome written by the scary H.M.
      I was afraid to touch it in case I caught something.

    1. That Was The Week That Was – 1963?

      First Judge: “What do you give these homosexual johnnies?”
      Second Judge: “Half a crown and an apple…”

  54. Wordle 463 4/6

    🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Bad Quordle today 🙁

    Daily Quordle 244
    🟥6️⃣
    8️⃣7️⃣
    quordle.com
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
    ⬜🟩🟨🟩🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

    ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

    Word 1 is unfair lol, it’s a bloody americanism.

  56. An excellent piece about the late Queen from an American perspective.

    And when news of her passing was announced, there were tears in London and Cardiff and Aberdeen, but also in Cape Town, and Singapore, and Nassau. One of her titles was “Defender of the Faith,” and none can say she didn’t keep the faith. In fact, as Mick Jagger—Sir Michael Jagger—once said, “She’s the only woman who never let me down.”

    Well said and amen.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/she-gave-her-best/

  57. The mini cyclamen are putting on a good show again this year – even after the deer came round and had a munch a week or so ago – they’ve recovered. I spent ages last month trimming off the suckers that grow from the roots of the hedge – they cover them up – but the hard work was worth it.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/991fd7655272f76f8cbfb106ee4abb8b60d74fd17134e05c3107e5558f34a0f9.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eeed37c4ecd68800b644b18d865016c48c4a0e6b8f8dd4778a1ad4dfe0ecf6c1.jpg

          2. Bambi’s mum?

            Look….if you accept they will eat your flowers then you just hang your geraniums above the point they can reach. Next to your Swift boxes perhaps. :@)

          3. He’s a roebuck – don’t see him very often but we know when he’s been round. He’s a bit of a nuisance but I wouldn’t want anyone to harm him. The hanging baskets with the pansies in have just gone up today – at least they’re out of reach.

      2. He waits till things are in bloom then chomps them off – he must have good colour vision – he likes pink things, especially geraniums.

      1. I prefer the autumn ones to the spring flowers.
        The bane of wards was forced cyclamen brought in for Mothering Sunday that wilted the moment the heat struck them.

    4. Lovely pictures. I’ve noticed that they’ve done well this year. Maybe the lack of grass has allowed them to shine.

      1. These are in a border at the side of the ‘lawn’ but a few have spread to the grass as well. It’s quite green again now.

    3. Whenever I have the (now rare) dream about falling, two things inevitably happen:
      1. At the bottom of my fall I slow down and make a gentle landing on my feet, a bit like a bird.
      2. I then, without fail, wake up.

      A more common dream, these days, has me being atop a wall that is too high for me to jump off (or hang from prior to jumping) and with no obvious way to climb down from. Sometimes there are other people with me, none of whom have any trouble from getting down to the lower level. This is both scary and frustrating in equal measure. I tend not to wake up immediately from such dreams, though.

      1. When i don’t immediately wake up i experience them again until i do. I know it is a bit mystical but taking charge of said dreams is my only option.

  60. Italy heads to the polls as country is expected to elect first far-right female prime minister:
    She would be the most right-wing leader since Mussolini. She favours blockading nearby Libya to halt migration and has spoken out against the so-called ‘LGBT lobby’. D Fail

    Probably as far-right as, as, as… I don’t know any far-right politicians – do you?

    1. Libya is the mass transit point to Europe and the UK where they all want to come because of our favourable terms re benefits and turning a blind eye to their criminality.

      The elites turn a blind eye to the rapes, murders and abuse in this region as they have all conveniently signed the treaty and have nothing more to do with it leaving the criminals in charge.

      I expect Georgio Meloni to have a sudden fatal accident soon. Or one of her nearest and dearest to warn her off. Clinton/Mafia/CIA tactics.

    3. 356534+ up ticks,

      Evening P,
      If it helps the only SO far right politician I have known of late has been Gerard Batten.

  61. Strictly star Giovanni Pernice ‘frustrated’ with same-sex dance partner Richie Anderson after ‘failing to click’ during rehearsals. D Fail

    O dear, is this an end to the romance – or was ‘the end’ the start of their romance? Probably both.

    1. I didn’t bother reading the article and i don’t watch Strictly. But this sounds like an attempt by their PR to drum up interest.

        1. I would watch as some of the dance routines are very good. Promoting it with inclusivity and pounding that into your head puts me off.
          I am sure Ellie Simmonds did a good job but i’m not going to watch it because she is a PORG.
          It would be better if they didn’t announce who was dancing and surprise us.
          That would be a more positive approach to people who don’t conform to supposed stereotypes.
          BTW I think Ellie is lovely.

          7. Because i’m 5 foot 6 !
            You take the piss out of me and i’ll get Lottie on to you ! She’s half inch shorter than me and a red head !

          11. Huh.
            SWMBO is 5’2″ and the scariest person on earth. Red-hair, too, when it wasn’t grey.

          12. HG is similar, her witches’ trick was that I only noticed it was really red when the sun shone on it at the correct angle.

            Now that’s scary….

          13. I love a red-head, me. SWMBO has he most amazing coppery hair, lovely when the sun shines on it.

          14. “Porgs were a species of sea-dwelling beakless bird. They were native to the planet Ahch-To, where Jedi Master Luke Skywalker made his exile”

          20. And as for the enormous fat slapper……what a stroke of luck that her “partner” is small, thin and, er, dark. Must have been the very devil to find such a person.

          21. I have never watched it but I have seen photos of the contestants and they look as though they have been recruited in asylums, brothels, gay bars and circuses.

          23. It wasn’t on in the 1970s. That was a formal competition between regional teams of dancers and called Come Dancing. This programme only started in 2004 and was named after a successful Australian film called Strictly Ballroom.

      2. The most tedious bit is the filling between the dances. It’s best watched recorded so tou can ff between dances

    3. I used to watch it when it was a proper dancing competition, but it hasn’t been that since Bruce Forsyth died.

      Every year we get more and more cries of “best ever” despite the reality. The standard of competitors has actually gone down; most of them being utter unknown nonentities or failures and rejects from what they once might have excelled at. The woke BBC has ensured a higher and higher (each year) quotient of mulattos, poofs, weirdos and lame failures in order to become more and more ‘diverse’.

      As for the execrable judges, the high standards of Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and Darcy Bussell are long gone and what exists now is a gang of over-excitable and unrealistic self-publicists who routinely over-egg the pudding with their screeching hyperbole and idiotically high marking.

      It used to be a competition between pairs of dancers: it is now an excuse for becoming more and more resembling the routine, ITV-like, Saturday night mind-numbing rubbish. As a direct consequence, I have stopped watching the drivel.

      3. Now i can watch Youtube via the Telly its been totaly freeing. Most nights we tend to watch a Bach or two and any other item we take a fancy to.

      4. It’s become unwatchable, hasn’t it? So degenerate that if they executed the losers, Caligula would feel completely at home with the hideous circus debauchery. Yet the search for that elusive black one-legged trans-lesbian continues.

  62. Evening, all. Went to an interesting belated Battle of Britain service this morning. Like no other I’ve attended. Only one hymn (the Airman’s Hymn) which was accompanied by an i-phone recording and was the slowest I’ve ever heard it played. No sermon, but a question and answer session about the BoB led by the padre with answers from the congregation (I knew all the answers but made little contribution after the first question – nobody likes a smart arse). High Flight acquired a last line I’d never come across before and instead of “wind-swept heights” it became “wind, swept heights”. Followed by tea/coffee and sandwiches and cake in the Sergeants’/Warrant Officers’ Mess (a new experience for me as we’re usually invited to the Officers’ Mess).

    1. Equality and diversity, mon vieux. Welcome to the Great New Reset World.

      I am surprised that there was no criticism of the bestiality of the Royal Air Force in shooting down all those defenceless Germans…..

        1. …on their side – we recruited from the conquered and the Empire. Diverse is us, with no discrimination then, or for the majority.

  64. Down memory lane……

    As I mentioned the other day, my elder son, Dan, is staying in the Sancerre. He and his wife are renting a self-catering place in Aubigny-sur-Nere.

    In Aubigny is a delightful hotel and restaurant called “La Chaumière”. The MR and I stayed there on 5 January 1995 on one of our many, many trips back from Laure. I still have the bill (me, anal? never!) I looked it up and found that the same couple run it today as back then.

    I suggested to Dan and Di that they tried it for a meal – esp a Sunday lunch, when you sit down at 12 and leave at 4. They were a bit chary – they had looked through the window when it was shut and thought it a bit soulless. Anyway, they had lunch there today. They said it was fab. A restaurant full to the brim – they were the only English people there. Just the ticket. And they showed the Patronne the bill – she said it was in her hand-writing – apart from the item for coffee which was in her husband’s!!

    I was very touched that they risked it – and delighted that it turned out as I hoped.

  65. That’s me for today. Gathered winter fuuu-el. Picked up dozens of windfall apples – put them on the side of the road. Free to good home. No takers.

    Hoping builder comes t morrow despite the rain.

    Have a smashing evening.

    A demain

    1. Leave a box with a “50p a kilo” note.

      All the apples will vanish and you can use the empty box and note next time.

  66. I’m just watching Country File. It’s about pig farming and of course because the bbc are hideously woke. There has not been a mention of the real reasons for failing pig meat sales.
    Pressure from the slammers. Especially at the slaughter houses.
    No mention either that pig farmers are still being forced by the EU mafia to feed their livestock expensive grain.

    1. Firstborn’s two pigs got fed all sorts of stuff. Grain, sure, but other things that were virtually giveaway at the supermarket: pumpkins, apples (and his own cider squeeze leftovers), cheap carrots. The only thing they didn’t like was cabbage.
      They are very tasty pigs… !

      1. We had a small pig farm near where I grew up. Every week day the farmers sent a small truck to collect the left overs from school dinners. Probably 20 schools in the area. No waste job done.

        1. There was an event where the pig farmer chose not to heat/purify the waste from such places due to costs to him and then all were banned.

          It may have happened but it was stupid to ban it all.

          1. https://unherd.com/2021/02/foot-and-mouth-taught-us-nothing/

            From a short while ago.

            Quiz of the week, and your starter for 10: Identify the pandemic from the following information: Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College computer-models apocalyptic mortality rates, the Government bungles containment of the disease, movement (and civil rights) are restricted, a miracle-cure vaccine is preferred, the economy takes a hit of billions.

            Covid-19? Those of us who live in the countryside might answer differently. We might reply, “The foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001”, the 20th anniversary of which we commemorate this month.

          2. And for what that sh*tty, lying little creep Bliar did during that dreadful disaster, I would personally pull the trigger. The bastard caused such devastation and grief.

      2. A roasted loin of such a pig, with excellent crispy crackling, would be my idea of the perfect meal. Especially if served with roast spuds, onion gravy, sage and onion stuffing, mushy peas, Brussels sprouts, roast parsnips, apple sauce and Colman’s English mustard!

        1. Just had roast lamb, potatoes, broccoli & cabbage.
          Followed by apple & blackberry crumble. Best dinner in ages!

    2. Excellent.
      Look up Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens. The story of the election of a new Beadle. His name was Mr Bung.
      This form of corruption has been happening for a very long time.
      And I suggest many of our British politicians are still taking bungs from more local sources. That’s probably why they live in expensive surroundings and large homes and never actually do anything about the problems facing their own constitutants. No gain.

  68. Asian women in Leicester ‘living in fear’ as they condemn ‘senseless’ sectarian violence
    ‘Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters’ have called for an end to the clashes between Muslim and Hindu gangs in the city
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/09/25/asian-women-leicester-living-fear-condemn-senseless-sectarian/

    Given how little regard is given to women’s opinions by, especially, Muslim men, what effect is this likely to have in stopping the violence?

    Send them all to the sub-continent and let them fight it out there.

      1. Hence my avoidance – bound to be ‘Brave Little Ukraine’ all the way through – balderdash.

    2. Are these the same grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts and daughters who have turned a blind eye to rape gangs for three generations?

  69. “The Labour leader announced plans to end dependence on fossil fuels, with all the country’s electricity generated by renewable and nuclear power by 2030.”

    Is he as thick as Ed Millipeed and Ed Davey?

    Transition to a new, nuclear-secure, reliable energy generation era will require decades of gas-fired – North Sea and fracked – coal-fired, wood-fired and new North Sea oil – to bridge our national energy emergency – brought about by our Green Lunatics.

    All of this without the huge, new demand (and transmission structures) required by future, elite, EV owners.

    1. The simple solution is we just can’t do it. We are an advanced economy and we need energy. Lots and lots of energy.

    2. If Labour were to get into power, they would wreck the economy (even worse than it is now), so there would be no industry to consume energy, so net-zero by 2030 would be achievable.

      1. I don’t understand the desperation of these people to do so much damage to the country. They live in a complete fantasy world. They should be shifted to a world without energy, or one where energy is unaffordable – and crucially cannot be slapped on expenses!

      1. He’s truly delusional. The entire state machine stands against energy production and he states we’ll get new plant on line in less than 6 years ?

        1. Boris came up with the same bollux.
          They are all delusional liars who know nothing about the real world.

      2. In the mid to late1950s the United Kingdom had access to more nuclear power than the rest of the world put together.

        1. UK was leading, then gave it all away.
          My Father was part of it in the late 1940s. I was part of it in the late 1980s.
          Now, it’s all gone.

          1. Along with a generation of British engineers who moved abroad to Australia, the US, Germany etc when the Gubmint decided that only the City of London mattered…

      1. I think it’s meant to be a joke…

        Actually it’s from Wallstreetsilver, and the punch line is “Plan B: Stack Silver” but I thought NOTTL might not be so Ag-obsessed.

          1. Sorry. Comments under have exhausted what little patience is left over from a titanic struggle to ADD A FKING STUPID BUTTON to a fking pretentious Xamarin.iOS code design. The worst programming paradigm on the market today. People who buy Apple products should be lined up against a wall and shot.

    2. Less than two weeks and not another useless prat pretending to be PM. That sort of pathetic garbage is not what we want.

      1. 356534+ up ticks,

        Evening RE,
        The wretch cameron, treacherous treasa, the turkish delight, truss the trustless, see a pattern? this is not new to the voting majority
        this is what they want.

    3. If it’s small numbers of highly-skilled individual, OK (to a point). If it’s more cheap labour (and I have heard worrying talk about ‘social care’) then I expect her get a discreet visit from some men in suits.

      1. Nope. The RT article I alluded to earlier specifically mentions “skilled and unskilled”.

  73. Spent the day correcting a mistake with the remodelling of the steps to the upper level of the “garden” today for the 2nd time.
    When first put in, the kerbstones I used were laid with the front edge of one resting on the rear edge of the lower stone.
    That not only gave a fairly steep incline, it also, with time, caused the stones to become unsteady.

    Because the DT gets vertigo stood on a thick carpet, I decided to space them out and began putting a 4½” space between the stones. Unfortunately, whilst that gave a better gradient, it meant that to finish the job I’d need to dig a bloody huge cutting at the top of the slope!

    Reduced the spacing to 2½” but that still meant a lot of digging, so I’m moving them an 1″ closer, 1½” plus lifting the stones up about an 1″ each. Hard work but it keeps me from misbehaving!

    Just had a bath and I’ve Bruckner’s 2nd Symphony cued up on YouTube with a couple of bottles of ale to enjoy with the music!

      1. Not seen anything like that before, is that extra surface for the crutch end ?
        Just askin’…..

        1. It’s a half-step. Step onto the carpetted step, half step to the bare step at the same level, then step to the next carpetted. Repeat, whilst holding the bannister, to stop wobbling & falling over.
          Neat!

    3. As an apprentice I spent around three years making stairs. And handrails Bob you should have asked me.

        1. They are very noisy, Paul! And not good for oldies in the middle of the night! Our bathroom is downstairs!

          2. The girls hated it when they were trying to sneak in, in the early hours! And trying to remember/count which were the squeaky treads….

          4. I’ve played that game many times on ours. The answer is, there aren’t any that aren’t squeaky! But the second one from the top is particularly so!

          7. We have a very creaky spiral wooden staircase, but I love it and wouldn’t change it for anything.

        2. I loved making stairs Obs. An old guy who’s name was Ernie Gaze from Harrow taught me. We had a pile of timber and some detailed measurements and went for it.
          A lot of it by hand. Especially the opening velutes and ramps of the hardwood handrails.
          Open cut strings were interesting.
          A Very skilled job.

          6. When my daughter got a new desk, the whole family was pushing and shoving to get it round the corner!

          7. The last stair case and handrail I fitted was at the London golf club near Brand’s Hatch.
            The course designer Mr Jack Nicholas was arriving in a weeks time and the only way up to the first floor was a ladder.

          8. Peeps Look at the website of the London Golf Club and there are two photos of the stair case and handrail I fitted.
            The second picture is more comprehensive.

    4. I suspect that all this ‘blood, sweat and toil’ is merely a device to avoid depressing politicians on TV, BoB!

  74. Putin’s desperation
    SIR – It is clear that Vladimir Putin is clinging on to power by his fingernails.

    His mobilisation of 300,000 reservists is, in effect, state-sponsored homicide, as these people will be given a day’s training and a rifle, then thrown into battle to be slaughtered by a well trained, properly equipped and motivated Ukrainian army.

    Putin’s much-vaunted tactical nuclear weapons are, in my opinion, virtually unusable. I would be surprised if the trucks that carry them actually work, as I expect they are in the same poor state as the rest of Russia’s vehicles. As soon as they move – as they must to get in range of Ukraine – Nato intelligence will identify them and could, if necessary, take them out before they have a chance to fire.

    When the Russian population realises that it is not 5,000 soldiers who have been killed, but rather more probably 100,000, they will surely remove this tyrant from office. Then we can get back to restoring world peace, sorting out the cost-of-living crisis and dealing with climate change.

    Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon (retd) – Former commander, UK and Nato chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear forces
    Tisbury, Wiltshire

    I’d have hoped that Col Hamish might have used Google, as I did, and he’d find out that Russians must do 2 years national service. Thus, they have been trained (to what extent is uncertain) and will know how to use an AK.
    Man’s an idiot.
    Military service is compulsory in Russia for males 18 to 27 years of age (AI Apr. 1995, 18). In the 1980s, the length of military service was reduced from two years to eighteen months, but legislative changes in 1995 increased it again to two years (Reuters 30 Apr.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Russia

    1. I really can’t help wondering how many of the “well trained, properly equipped and motivated Ukrainian army” who are doing all the alleged damage to Russian forces actually are Ukrainians and not NATO people?

      1. It is worrying. Our troops get sent to places and we know nothing about it from the MSM. We have troops in Mali.

    2. He is clearly deranged. It is worrying that he was ever in charge of anything more dangerous than a potato peeler. (A colonel was in charge of the NATO nuclear arsenal?). It is very frightening that the MSM is distorting what Putin says to make it more threatening, and our PM, the US President and various others are bandying around the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons. That Col. Hamish de B-G is suggesting a first strike by NATO is scary. I do hope that Matron takes away his crayons.
      I had a restaurant. I hired a Russian chef. He told me that he was called up for National Service. His cohort were on the point of being sent to Afghanistan when the Russians pulled out of that country. He was pleased about that as the cohort immediately prior to his was sent to Afghanistan and they were all killed.

    3. What is it now 12 plus months and still people like him haven’t realised that the EU Mafia and Biden have been behind this alleged invasion by Putin.
      When is someone including the ‘astute’
      journo’s going to investigate the cause of the invasion and deliberate social denigration of the once United Kingdom.

  77. 356534+ up ticks,

    They say everybody has a double, my belief is , in regarding Nation Insurance numbers
    YOURS is probably still waiting in calais.

    But a lab/lib/con coalition vote will, in time make sure no indigenous is overlooked.

    Repress,replace, = RESET.

    2. Giorgia Meloni: Far-right leader on course to run Italy

      For 40 years, Anna Maria Tortora has sold her ripe tomatoes and fresh cucumbers to loyal customers at her market stall in Rome. Little did she realise that the young girl who used to queue up holding the hand of her grandfather would now be on course to be Italy’s next prime minister.

      “He was a wonderful person”, she remembers, “and in love with his granddaughter.”

      With that little girl, Giorgia Meloni, having led her party to first place in the election, Anna Maria swells with pride. “I brought her up on my beans! She ate well, and she grew up well.”

      The market is in Garbatella, a working-class southern neighbourhood of Rome and traditionally a bastion of the left. It’s an incongruous origin for a politician now in pole position to become Italy’s first far-right prime minister since Benito Mussolini.

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62659183

      What does the term ‘far-right’ even mean today? What is the purpose of the reference to Mussolini? Will Giorgia Meloni be sending out onto the streets of Italy’s towns and cities gangs of thugs armed with clubs to crush the skulls of communists?

      I wrote a few months ago that the BBC might have sensed the change of mood in the UK with respect to the EU and immigration, and also to the covid diktats, and that it was becoming a little more balanced in its reporting. I was wrong.

      4. The real comparison to Mussolini is the encroachment of big business into government in the West. Actually, it never went way after the war.

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