Saturday 15 October: Conservative voters look on in despair as the party lurches from one fiasco to another

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

598 thoughts on “Saturday 15 October: Conservative voters look on in despair as the party lurches from one fiasco to another”

  3. Conservative voters look on in despair as the party lurches from one fiasco to another

    How else can we be governed under world government rule that intends to impoverish us all.

    1. A little over three weeks to the USA’s mid-term elections and the Republican/MAGA coalition is predicted to take control of both the Senate and the House. The danger that the presumptive world government could initiate an ‘incident’ that would be the basis for the Biden administration to cancel the elections grows every day.

  4. Morning, all. Misty, murky and very damp here in N Essex. If this weather continues I may soon be able get a fork into the ground.😎

    A comment on Hunt’s appointment from the Daily Sceptic caught my eye:

    A Heretic
    11 hours ago

    This doesn’t sound like a person I’d like to be making decisions next time the world panics over a nasty cold.

    This doesn’t sound like a person who should be out unsupervised in public.

    Appears that Bob Moran agrees.

    https://twitter.com/bobscartoons/status/1581019589797814272

    2. I wonder if the media might ask him to explain why he thinks he was sacked.
      There’s not net gain…..

  7. Good morning, everyone. A weekend with nothing logged in my diary. At last a chance to take it easy after a couple of challenging weeks.

  8. Devon and Cornwall Police joins six other forces in special measures. 15 October 2022.

    Devon and Cornwall Police has become the seventh force to be placed in special measures over failures to respond to 999 calls and protecting the public from sexual and violent offenders.

    HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said that the force would now face an “enhanced level of monitoring” by inspectors as it attempted to turn around its performance.

    It said that the force did not answer, or respond to, emergency or non-emergency calls within adequate timeframes, and too many calls were abandoned.

    Identification of repeat and vulnerable callers was missed, and callers were not always given the appropriate advice on the preservation of evidence or crime prevention, the inspectorate found.

    It also revealed that the force was unable to adequately manage registered sexual and violent offenders, which it said meant that an increasing risk of further offending may not be identified.

    The force did not always record crimes against vulnerable victims, particularly violent or behavioural crimes, and anti-social behaviour.

    This is just one department in a country in the process of dissolution! You could compile a similar list for every state institution. The Home office, the NHS etc. None of this would be beyond fixing were it not required of the people who caused it! This is the result of twenty years of Cultural Marxism!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/14/devon-cornwall-police-joins-six-forces-special-measures/

    1. Don’t worry, Araminta.

      A simple PESCO signature by our PM, and Britain can be garrisoned by the EU Army.

      Then all will be peace on the streets.

    2. Don’t worry, Araminta.

      A simple PESCO signature by our PM, and Britain can be garrisoned by the EU Army.

      Then all will be peace on the streets.

  10. 366095+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 15 October: Conservative voters look on in despair as the party lurches from one fiasco to another

    “lurches from one fiasco to another” correction, is steered from one fiasco to another, NO party can be this inept without purpose.

    It really can now be clearly observed that without the continuing input from this lab/lib/con coalition these past 30 + years we would NEVER as a nation, reached the depths of despair / fear we find ourselves at today.

    IMO destination brussels is still on track.

  11. Morning all,

    This piece raised an interesting question for me.

    Would it be legal to sell a car with a valid MOT that has a flashing DPF light and a solid engine warning light?

    https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/unscrupulous-car-dealer-fined-for-knowingly-selling-unroadworthy-hyundai-on-the-day-it-failed-mot/273094

    My old diesel had a valid MOT and was perfectly driveable but my OBD2 diagnostic tool interpreted sensor data as having an excessive level of soot and ash in the DPF with insufficient time in regeneration.

    This doesn’t mean to say that the DPF was completely blocked although some diesels will show 100% blockage whilst continuing to drive without going into limp mode until 150% or more.

    Nonetheless, my understanding is that my driveable diesel would not have passed an MOT in that condtion.

    1. ‘Morning, Minty. Not of satisfactory quality etc? In my experience used car dealers always provide a new MOT certificate – although a few will have been ‘supplied’ by a dealer’s friendly tester of course. A partially blocked cat would certainly affect the emissions test result. This one was definitely in the ‘walk away’ category!

        1. I sometimes wish I’d had somewhere to work on my old “D” Reg Trannie, chopping the rot out and welding new metal in.

    2. I understand that any warning caption on the dash these days is an MoT failure. The certificate is only good for the day it is done although you can sell a car without an Mot, so long as the buyer knows.

    3. Take it for a good, long motorway run, so he cat gets properly hot and can regenerate. I suggest Glasgow to Cardiff by way of Luton.

      1. Owner of local garage does just that decause its safer than leaving it parked and setting off a self regeneration under OBD2 control.
        However, whilst you may get a degree of soot and ash clearance with either method, the DPF will never get anything like as clean as new.
        I bought a new DPF but the instructions for fitting it saiid in the last stage that it might not work if the exhaust pressure sensors or the exhaust gas regeneration systems were not working properly,

        I gave up at that point, got a refund and bought the Hyudai Kona that the sales guy reckoned he could get in before the diesel MOT ran out.

          1. If that’s the case then the interpetation of an OBD2 analysis of the degree of soot and ash in the DPF could be completely up the spout and the only way of checking is to open it up as is done in big trucks.
            You can then wash it all out if is clogged creating a disgusting mess but that’s a job for a DPF doctor.

      1. 366095+ up ticks,

        Morning A,

        May one ask,

        Any to spare for the indigenous kipping under the viaduct ?

    2. By Normandy, do you mean D-Day?
      On that Day the Free French military had 12 warships, including two cruisers, crewed by around 3,000 personnel. The ground force consisted of 177 marines, this group took 25% casualties, including 10 dead, on D-Day.
      The Free French had much larger land forces involved in the North African campaign.

      1. 366095+ up ticks,
        Morning KtK,
        Then I stand corrected, wrong in judging their actions then compared with their actions today.
        Apology offered.

  14. Good morning, all. Grey. Chilly. Cold still present.

    One would have thought that Untrussworthy’s husband would have gently urged her to pack it in…. But perhaps he is as dim as she is.

    2. Bill, I replied to your last question about Eurostar processing at Amsterdam Centraal, but I can’t find my reply in my posting history. Did you get my reply?

      1. I did, many thanks. The train times are awkward – because we’d need a train from King’s Lynn which gets in about 11.30 (when it is running). And I don’t fancy changing at BX.

        And getting to St P three hours ahead is as bad as doing the same at Norwich International Airport….

        Tricky – all this stuff.

        1. I agree train times are a challenghe. I chose to overnight in London but I may consider leaving Brum at about 06.00 to get to St Pancras by 9.30

  15. Truss sacking Kwarteng was disgraceful but necessary – and a victory for the Blob. 15 October 2022.

    Everyone – not just the Truss administration, but also the British economy – is now back in captivity. The morale of the prisoners has collapsed.

    So whereas Tony Blair could settle down to plan for Cool Britannia as his country got richer, Sir Keir Starmer has to work out how he would lead a country which is fast becoming relatively (and perhaps absolutely) poorer, hemmed in by weakening public finances and multiple world crises.

    I don’t think I am being unfair to him if I say that he shows no signs of knowing how to do this, except by not acting like Jeremy Corbyn. That is a necessary condition for economic success, but not a sufficient one. Sir Keir is not a fool, so he will know – although, of course, he cannot admit – that if a general election were held in the next few months and his party won, he would be in the most desperate state.

    Starmer should be the final nail in Britannia’s coffin. All things being said the Old Girl has had a good run. She has left a legacy worthy of her greatness. Its memory will ring down the ages. The Greatest Empire the world has ever known, not just in its extent, but Its achievements. Scientific advance without parallel. Literature without equal. It brought Personal Freedom, Democracy and the Rule of Law to those who had never experienced its like. Now it’s finished!

    All Great Civilisations are followed by a Dark Age. This is now upon us!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/14/truss-sacking-kwarteng-disgraceful-necessary-victory-blob/

    1. Sir Keir Starmer has to work out how he would lead a country…

      I doubt he’s capable of working out how to have his breakfast eggs: boiled (soft and runny, or firm), scrambled or fried?

          1. Shame he’s not the Agricultural Minister, he could sent out to milk a bull. That would solve a problem for all of us.

  16. Breitbart don’t like him much

    Anti-Brexit, China-Linked Covid Authoritarian Jeremy Hunt Becomes UK Chancellor

    https://media.breitbart.com/media/2022/10/GettyImages-1007597900-e1665762618325-640×480.jpg

    Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed Jeremy Hunt, an anti-Brexit MP who advocated China-style lockdowns and whose wife has actually presented propaganda shows for a state television corporation, as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

    The appointment of Hunt, who backed Rishi Sunak over Truss for the party leadership earlier this year — having been rejected by ordinary party members for the role by a landslide when he stood for it himself against Boris Johnson — signals she is highly unlikely to implement even the mildest of fiscally conservative reforms, with the establishment “blob” now in full control.
    *
    *
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/10/14/anti-brexit-china-linked-covid-authoritarian-jeremy-hunt-becomes-uk-chancellor/

      1. Hunt……rhymes with front, …. line dangerous idiot.

        Perfect set of replies on twitter.

  19. 366095+ up ticks,

    Tis my belief that surely the time draws nigh when the pikes must come together by the rising of the moon,

    nti-Brexit, China-Linked Covid Authoritarian Jeremy Hunt Becomes UK Chancellor

  20. Morning all 🙂
    Broken cloud sun trying to achieve a look in,
    Perhaps Martin Lewis should get a look in on the Financial situation, he’s seems to be the only person who knows what he is talking about.
    It’s difficult to understand what Truss is actually trying to achieve by bringing Hunt back. Unless it’s to bump off the pensioners by making them pay for their medication.

    1. One can assume that the creepy Hunt was forced on her by the Remainer grouping of Tory MPs.

      Just storing up trouble for herself and the nation.

      1. It’s difficult to understand what (WTF)
        politicians are trying to achieve.
        Going against the grain is not the way out of trouble.
        He has absolutely no experience of financial issues whatsoever.
        It’s like getting a plumber to repair wiring. Although they’d probably make a better job than anything he will do.

        1. Many are determined that Britain will re-enter the EU, and are willing to accept poorer terms from Brussels.

          Soon Britain will be garrisoned by the EU Army, and then there will be no escape from the Brussels asset stripping.

          3. He use to be regular in the public bar of my old local pub.
            The Adam and Eve, Ridgeway Mill Hill.
            He hated it when people made a big deal of his fame.

    3. Hunt represents a big state, high tax, Pro EU farce.

      High taxes will ensure that the economy continues to crumble and suffer, unable to move away from the destructive, socialist misery of the hated EU.

    2. My family are fed up with me telling them that this country is finished. By the time it sinks in I won’t be here, but sadly they’ll have to agree that I was right.

  22. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    For me this letter says it all:

    SIR – I cannot understand why Conservative MPs would rather defenestrate their newly elected leader than defend lower taxes as a prerequisite for growth and prosperity.

    The size and cost of the state have ballooned in recent years. The scope for cuts is enormous.

    The party seems to have swallowed the narrative, perpetuated by Labour and much of the media, that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are personally responsible for this country’s present economic woes. Do they not see that this is a long-overdue reckoning caused by endlessly deferring and repackaging pain and liability, from the financial crisis to Covid lockdowns and energy bailouts? Cheap debt, rising house prices and handouts have been no substitute for genuine growth and a healthy economy. The party was about to end anyway: Liz Truss only turned on the lights.

    Why won’t Conservative MPs explain these issues to the public? Do they not understand them? Or, worse, do they no longer believe in the Conservative economic principles they were elected to represent?

    Iwan Price-Evans
    Croydon, Surrey

    If only she had declared a war on waste at the same time…

    1. Certainly our local Tory MP does not believe in Tory principles.

      We doubt that he is the only one.

    2. One other point which effects nearly every honest working member of the population and most people who are self supporting. We are surreptitiously being forced to finance thousands of illegal immigrants with price increases.
      All this is due to the present government no matter who they put in place as ‘leader’. They have made the slightest effort to address this terrible and very dangerous invasion.

    4. Agreed. Whatever measures any PM or chancellor would take in the current climate would be criticised and the individual bombarded with vitriol.

      It’s the shape of the world now – licenced and unlicensed media freely take potshots and sling venomous accusations around. Politics and politicians are no longer given the time for policies to work – if someone is against you in principle, you’re done for, whatever you try. Better than getting rid of politicians would be international news and social media blackouts, but before I’m accused of Sino style censorship, I do mean for the politicians as well as the hoi polloi.

      1. The uncontrolled behaviour of the media is giving the advocates of a Sino style system of censorship an open goal.

      2. But why? I know the bigger the state the more the press has to write about but it’s all so idiotic.

    5. There is no interest in spending less. It’s all too messy now. Brown forced so much welfare and state on the country that everything went wrong. In some places it is the only employer! In others, the major employer. The problem is these jobs do not need to be done. If they did, the state would already do them.

      Take for example a chum of mine – she provides debt advice to poor people. Banks will already do that, the CAB will already do that. The state, being the one causing the debt is part of the problem so it’s created a job to advise people on the basics of budgeting and common sense to salve a problem it is causing.

      It’s tiresome.

      Alongside a complete lack of infrastructure, – digital mainly: there’s no reason a chap in Nova Scotia couldn’t work for me but over a rubbish vdsl line that we have he’s going to struggle.

  23. SIR – Is this madness ever going to stop?

    Hannah Hunt
    Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

    No, the media feeding frenzy will become more shrill as every day passes. I’m pleased to say that I have avoided every news bulletin since it was rumoured that KK wouldn’t be on the No 11 bus but under it. I gather that our PM’s performance yesterday was about as bad as it gets, so I’m relieved to have missed it.

  24. Good morning all.
    It is a damp, dull dreary Derbyshire this morning. 6½°C and raining.

  25. 366095+ up ticks,

    May one ask,

    During this morning’s interview did hunt fondle a white Persian cat on his lap’

    1. Grr, Tom, I was looking forward to some moving poetry.
      Well, you certainly got me going!
      ;-))

  27. SIR – Having given blood all my adult life (Letters, October 14), I suggest it is time that NHS Blood and Transplant updated its criteria for donors.

    I am a healthy 74-year-old with AB negative blood – which is relatively uncommon – but can no longer donate. The cut-off point remains 65, even though increasing numbers of people my age are still fit and well.

    Esther Drewett
    Otley, West Yorkshire

    Same here, Ms Drewett, although I had to give up before age 65 because my veins were no longer keen to assist. I can remember very clearly my last session very well – after digging around, and failing, to find one that worked the Dr came over and said “I think this is nature’s way of telling you that you have done enough.” Thankfully I still got my tea and bickies, ‘cos by now I was feeling rather fragile and there was still the walk home to complete…

    1. Esther Drewett is wrong. Existing blood donors can continue to donate past the age of 65, up to the age of 70. If you are over 70, you need to have given blood in the last two years before donating again.

      I had to stop giving blood when I was 66 after 37 years as my iron level had dropped marginally below the minimum for a man (which is higher than for a woman). After three attempts to give blood, separated by a few months each time, I was told I could no longer donate – three strikes and you’re out. I have since had routine blood tests organised by my GP which indicate my iron level is normal, but blood donation requires a slightly higher iron level.

      1. I found the old drop-in system much easier. I used to give blood every six months (on armful #34) but can never seem to get an appt these days. When trying to book, available dates are always months or miles away.

      2. You’ve raised an interesting point.
        Is the sex of the donor noted on the blood bag, and does that mean only the same sex patient gets the blood?

        1. I shouldn’t think so. The difference in iron level requirement (actually haemoglobin level) between the two sexes is that women naturally have a slightly lower level than men.

    2. And Caroline and I were not allowed to donate blood in France when we arrived here 34 years ago and were young enough to do so. This was because we had lived in England during the Mad Cow time. Ironically, most people think that Mad Cow was just as widely spread in France but they managed to hush it up.

      2. Gosh, what a surprise! They still managed to unload beef from our lorries straight into the harbour. To my knowledge they never paid the fine imposed by the EUSSR.

      3. JCB Disease.
        So called because JCBs were used to bury the carcases without them being reported.

  28. Good Moaning.
    I no longer care.
    All my adolescent and adult life I have been interested in politics and done my best to ensure that what I believed to be the best for this country; not dogmatically, but by thinking matters through and coming to what I hoped were logical conclusions.
    What a shame this considered approach is not exercised by British politicians or all too many of their lickspittles and apparatchiks.
    The decay in this country first put in an appearance with the hysteria over the death of Princess Diana, herself a fatuous confection of self regard and wantoness. Twenty five years later, the degeneracy of this country is all too clear.
    Get on with it; rat on your neighbours; take the money from a decreasing pool of productive workers; hide away in your house and take the money for doing the square root of bu88er-all; ponce around in your sodding masks and unquestioningly obey every arbitrary government diktat. You will get what’s coming to you in spades.
    My poor grandchildren.

    1. Good morning Anne .

      If Labour get back in , chaos again

      Just one example and there are many more .

      “The East African groundnuts scheme was postwar Britain’s equivalent of the Millennium Dome. In pursuit of a laudable objective, millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was poured diligently into a sump of official incompetence. Started in 1947 by the Labour government, to grow peanuts in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) as a contribution to both the African and the British economies and to alleviate a world shortage of fats, the scheme was ill planned, failed to allow for the area’s soil and rainfall, and employed unsuitable agricultural methods, including the wrong kind of machinery for the terrain. Nor had local traditions and attitudes been taken into account. The scheme’s most successful crop was a bountiful harvest of official gobbledegook.

      The plan called for the clearing of five million acres of land in the first five years and the creation of a new deep-water port and railway in Tanganyika, and was expected to create 32,000 jobs for African workers. The project was suggested originally by the United Africa Company, a subsidiary of Unilever, but was soon handed over to the government’s Overseas Food Corporation. The prime mover was the colonial secretary, Arthur Creech Jones, but the principal responsibility rested with the minister of food, the Old Etonian ex-Communist John Strachey. Both men’s reputations were ruined.

      By 1949 it was clear that things were going badly wrong. In the House of Commons in July 1950, Maurice Webb, now minister of food, admitted that the scheme had been pushed forward at breakneck speed and the methods used had not been adequately tested. The accounts were in chaos, too, though he did not put it quite like that, but he said it would be wrong to abandon the scheme or ‘retreat in any fundamental way’. The best course was to drop ‘the purely food producing idea’ and reshape the scheme as ‘a broad project of colonial development with a wide and varied agricultural content.’

      The Overseas Food Corporation appointed a working party, which reported at the end of September that the scheme was costing six times as much to produce the crops as the crops were worth and that the administration in Tanganyika needed to be ‘much smaller and more flexible’ and released from ‘the burden of preconceived objectives and targets’, as well as ‘undue or premature publicity’. Plenty of time was needed to foster the growth of viable economic units suited to the local conditions, which evidently needed to be shielded from both the public eye and any particular expectations.

      The writing was on the wall and the effective abandonment of the groundnuts scheme was announced in the following January. The debts were written off to the tune of £36.5 million. No one seemed eager to acknowledge responsibility.”

      1. ‘Morning, N. The poor sodding council tax payers of Brighton have just been saddled with a bill for £44m for the i360, otherwise known locally as the ‘stick and doughnut’. I bet they are chuffed to Naffi-breaks with a bill like that!

        1. Brighton’s i360 ‘could end up being torn down’, councillor claims
          14th October

          A councillor says the i360 could end up being torn down if visitor numbers do not improve.

          https://www.theargus.co.uk/resources/images/16045933.png

          Councillor Dawn Barnett said she “wouldn’t be at all surprised” if the seafront viewing tower was eventually demolished after owners announced that no new sponsor would replace British Airways when a contract ends next month.

          She said: “I can understand businesses being a bit weary about taking it on – I think it’s going to be left to the taxpayer to tell you the truth.

          “I always thought it would end up like this.”

          ollowing the news earlier this year that British Airways had parted ways with the i360, Cllr Barnett said that the split could mark the “beginning of the end” for the tower and predicted the structure would be dismantled next year.

          The i360 said no new sponsor would be replacing British Airways from November and announced a rebrand which will see references and livery linked with the airline removed and replaced with new designs, staff uniforms and logos.

          The Brighton seafront attraction has struggled to meet high expectations for visitor numbers and was forced to miss repayments of a £36 million loan from Brighton and Hove City Council in the midst of disruption caused by the pandemic.

          A new agreement was reached between the tower’s owners and the council earlier this year, which will see the council carry out a “cash sweep” every six months and take all the spare cash in the business, leaving enough for operational needs.

          The i360’s next loan repayment of £900,000 is due to be paid to the council in two months’ time.

          Cllr Barnett said: “The next payment is in December and we’ll see if they’ll come up with the money they’re supposed to.”

          Readers said they were unsurprised by the news, with some calling for the controversial landmark to be scrapped entirely.

          One reader took to Twitter and said: “Just scrap the damn thing and use the proceeds from it to rebuild the West Pier.”

          Reg Dove said he felt sorry for taxpayers in the city, as the attraction owes millions to the council after being granted a loan in 2014.

          He said: “Most locals thought it was a folly to start with.”

          In an interview with The Argus, chief operating officer of the Brighton i360 Ian Hart said that a sponsorship arrangement was “not essential” to meet the demands of loan repayments.

          He said: “Within our five-year plan we have produced, which the council have gone over, the numbers are robust and they do not include any sponsorship at all.

          “Although we are talking to people about sponsorship, and of course, it would be a positive thing to get if we get it, it is money over and above what we’ve already got in our plan.”

          A council spokesman sought to reassure residents and said the lack of a sponsor for the attraction “does not in any way affect the loan repayment scheme” agreed earlier this year.

          He said: “This is because the five-year business plan we based the restructure on assumed no sponsorship income.

          “It is entirely a matter for the i360 whether they choose to have a sponsor or otherwise.”

          The i360 declared to comment further.
          https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/23048284.brightons-i360-could-end-torn-down-councillor-claims/

          1. When England is finally under Muslim control , the Brighton Islamic Council will doubtless instruct the LGBT Community to hold their meetings atop the tower.

          2. I remember when the post office tower had a restaurant at the top. Then the immigrants started appearing in volume in our country and it had to be closed because of fears of its destruction via terrorism.

          3. Indeed jdg! And it revolved! Going to the loo was an experience as your table was likely to have moved when you came out!

          4. The restaurant was closed after a bombing in 1971 possibly by the Angry Brigade operating on behalf of the IRA.

          5. If something built by the council fails to make visitor numbers, then the councillors and management should pay the bill – personally. If they’re willing to waste other people’s money, then they should have their own wasted first.

      2. Moaning, Maggie.
        Thank you. I knew something about the scheme, but not in that detail.
        TBF – it did succeed in one area “and to alleviate a world shortage of fats”: if you look at the average British heffalump it succeeded beyond the apparatchiks’ wildest dreams.

    4. Good morning Anne, it appears the Conservative Party have a death wish. I am happy to say that I have become their biggest supporter in this desire and will help them achieve their aims at the ballot box.
      The adage of “if you don’t vote for us you will get Labour” has no effect on my voting intentions.
      Edit. I told all my grandchildren they should consider making their futures outside the UK some years ago.

      1. We’re getting Labour policies anyway – higher corporation taxes, more waste, more debt.

        1. Certainly every western country appears to be infested with box-ticking, hope sapping lice.

        2. Agreed, what I once thought as obvious choices has revealed themselves during this Covid hysteria as unsuitable.

      3. If Richard Tice and the Reform Party cannot capitalise on this then politics in Britain will become entirely pointless.

        1. Agreed Richard, we can but hope the Reform Party benefits from voters looking for a natural home to lodge their votes.

    6. Absolutely spot on Anne.
      My next aim with our grandchildren is to try to ensure they will be Wanted Down Under. Where the father of two of them was born.

    7. I know how you feel Anne. I had some hopes for Truss (I wouldn’t say ‘high hopes’ as I’ve been disappointed far too many times before). But she has shown herself to be a coward and dishonorable, throwing her Chancellor under the bus for doing what they worked on together. It’s not like he was some go-it-alone maverick, they were apparently friends for years, and she would ultimately have signed off the budget as PM!

      I can only assume that whatever shadowy forces are actually in charge of our country had a ‘quiet word’ with her, and with Hunt installed, the Agenda is back on track. Sadly, it is not an agenda which is going to benefit ordinary people.

      But rather than give in to despondency, we must try to rally support for the smaller parties – and make them big parties! Labour, Libs, Conservatives, SNP, Greens, they have all had their chance and led us to the sorry state we find ourselves in today. We must organise, fund, publicise and vote for a proper right-of-centre party – for the sake of our children and grandchildren and the great country that our forefathers bequeathed to us.

    8. Absolutely spot on, Anne! The problem is we have an excess of politicians and not enough government.

    9. Good morning, Anne

      Well done – an excellent post!

      I love your description: Princess Diana, herself a fatuous confection of self regard and wantoness.

      A good friend of mine whose songs I often paste here wrote a brilliant song about the woman: I am a caring carer and I care most carefully and the song drew attention to some of her self-serving self-pitying nonsense including her desire to be: THE QUEEN OF PEOPLE’S HEARTS.

      Jeremy sang this song only once in public – he was booed and would have had rotten vegetables thrown at him if the audience had been suitably armed. and so he decided it was imprudent to keep it in his repertoire! But he played it for us when he came to stay with us a few years ago.

  29. SIR – The Koh-i-Noor diamond (Letters, October 14) has been a spoil of war on multiple occasions, meaning that, even if it were given to India, this could well be contested by countries such as Pakistan.

    It was also never in the possession of anything approximating to a modern state or nation; rather, it was the personal property of various emperors and always seized by force or traded for help.

    It was finally, and entirely properly, gifted to Britain. In 2016, India’s then solicitor general stated: “It was given voluntarily by Ranjit Singh to the British as compensation for help in the Sikh wars. The Koh-i-Noor is not a stolen object.”

    The calls for the “return” of this diamond are a mixture of Indian domestic politicking and British guilt-tripping wokery. They should be ignored.

    Victor Launert
    Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

    SIR – Let us remember that the three queen consorts who wore crowns containing the Koh-i-Noor diamond were from a different age, and all were styled Empress of India.

    Our sovereigns are no longer emperors of the subcontinent. Like it or not, the diamond is a symbol of Britain’s imperial power, which ended more than 70 years ago.

    What happens to it in the future is for others to decide. But at least it is in safe hands for now.

    Rosie Harden-Vane
    Holywell, Northumberland

    I’m with Victor Launert on this. The last thing we need is a colonial guilt-trip and the breaking out of hostlities if it were to be returned to the wrong country!

    1. Rosie Harden-Vane needs a healthy kick in the direction of reality! It was gifted to Britain and here it should stay!

    2. If it goes to one side, the other side will start a war. Much like a parent dealing with children squabbling over a toy you take it away from both.

    3. Indians are the largest group of Visa overstayers in UK . If the diamond goes back it must be escorted by a sizeable security force of such scofflaw returnees.

  30. Some gay old actress (Margo?) talking about the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who was interviewed just before her, meant to say ‘F*ck you’ to him but didn’t. The microphones were still open – Justin and his fellow wets didn’t know what to say but there was much chuckling in the flustered ‘shushing’ from Justin Webb, Martha Kearney and friends.

        1. Beeboids rarely sack other Beeboids. Besides, James Windbag-McNaughtie walked on water in the eyes if his enployers.

    2. A spoiled rich Lefty living a privileged life insults a Conservative and it’s laughed at, not reprimanded.

      That’s why we’re in the mess we are. Margoyles should have been censored and criticised, reminded she is rude and foul mouthed, unprofessional spiteful bigot.

  31. SIR – While launching a boat at the beach earlier this week, I met a somewhat eccentric individual who, out of the blue, told me that he uses a leaf blower (hopefully battery-operated) to power a float board.

    Apparently, it steers very well.

    Michael Sullivan
    Southend-on-Sea, Essex

    Yes, but is it water-proof when he falls off?

  32. Off to Durham to collect my new passport – I wonder what colour it will be. Back later, much later.

    1. Goodness, all these children are dying. What happened recently to the mothers? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. Look the other way. No, don’t make 1+1 add up, we’re ruling that out, permanently. Stop mentioning it, stop talking about it. Ah, for goodness sake, you keep pointing out the obvious and we’re tired of it, we’ve ruled it out, entirely.

  34. Ah! Staggers back in amazement!
    The rain has stopped and there is even blue sky visible!

  35. Our new PM appointed a new Cabinet. (Well, shuffled the old one a bit). She has now dropped her budget policies and sacked her chosen Chancellor of the Exchequer. This was done because some people, including members of her Cabinet and a number of MPs did not like her proposals. Instead of grinding all of her internal opposition into the dust, she gave in. Her voluble detractors outside Parliament have not ceased to complain vociferously. Ms Truss has fallen into a trap. Instead of exercising her power, power given to her by the Party members, she has succumbed to influences from outside like a damp marshmallow.
    What, I wonder do politicians read? Macchiavelli’s “The Prince” should be in every politicians hand. A book at bedtime, a handbag essential.

    1. Morning Horace. She will be doing a lot of spouting about Vlad as a distraction and because no one will contradict her!

      1. 0 – 13 now. 63 minutes gone.
        Oh dear I’d better shut up France scored a try.
        7 – 13

  38. I have the greatest respect and admiration for all wartime aviators, and I reckon that the early carrier landings must have been particularly terrifying!

    Ken Atkinson, naval fighter pilot whose Sea Hurricane became the model for an Airfix kit – obituary

    Atkinson crashed his Sea Hurricane NF 672, nicknamed Nicki, into the barrier of HMS Nairana and was sent for more practice in deck landing

    ByTelegraph Obituaries13 October 2022 • 4:05pm

    Lt Ken Atkinson, who has died aged 100, was a Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot whose Sea Hurricane gained worldwide fame as an Airfix model.

    On February 10 1945, during the short winter’s day north of the Arctic Circle, Atkinson took part in a decisive air battle over Convoy JW 64 (28 merchant ships being escorted to the Kola Inlet in north-west Russia), which was attacked shortly after first light by 32 German Junkers Ju 88 bombers and torpedo carriers of Kampfgeschwader 26 flying from occupied Norway.

    Despite the bitter cold, heavy seas and gale force winds, and with the flight deck heaving and twisting 30-40 feet, 835 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) launched its Wildcat fighters from the escort carrier Nairana. In their distinctive – and unofficial – all-white camouflage, the Wildcats intercepted the enemy about a dozen miles beyond the convoy screen, where a chaotic series of dogfights was fought out in the pale ribbon of sky between cloud and sea.

    By 11.30 the main attack was over; no ships had been hit, but at least four Germans had been shot down and several damaged.

    While the Wildcats of NAS 835 were rearmed and refuelled, the New Zealander Lieutenant “Al” Burgham, with Atkinson as his wingman, launched on combat air patrol. Promptly, they saw and chased two Junkers: one disappeared into the cloud just as Burgham fired a long burst from astern and they had the satisfaction of seeing it plunge out of the cumulus and into the sea.

    The second Junkers jettisoned its torpedo and disappeared into the swirling mass of cloud, and though Burgham and Atkinson skirted the cloud base, it did not re-appear.

    It was a famous victory for the Wildcats and no friendly aircraft were lost, even though many of them were fired on by the very ships they were defending. Atkinson recorded laconically in his logbook: “Engaged by own flak”.

    Kenneth William Atkinson was born on December 19 1921 at Horsforth, West Riding, where his mother was a barmaid at the Friendly Inn. His love of flying was inspired by seeing Cobham’s Flying Circus at Yeadon Airfield (now Leeds-Bradford Airport), and he was educated briefly at Harrow County School for Boys, leaving at 16 to work as a storeman at Glaxo Laboratories. There he studied for his Higher School Certificate in the evenings until called up as a rating into the Navy in 1941.

    While in the stores carrier Ulster Monarch Atkinson persuaded his officers that he wanted to fly, and in 1942 began to learn in Tiger Moth biplanes at Elmdon in Birmingham, flying solo on December 11 1942 after seven hours and 20 minutes’ instruction. After advanced training at Kingston, Ontario, he was awarded his wings in June 1943.

    While in shore-based flying appointments in training squadrons in the UK, Atkinson flew his first Sea Hurricane on September 3 1943, and made his first deck-landing in the training carrier Argus that December; his first attempt did not go too well, and he hit the barrier, but he climbed out and completed a further six landings in another aircraft without incident.

    On June 27 1944, however, Atkinson crashed Sea Hurricane NF 672, nicknamed “Nicki”, into the barrier of Nairana while on Gibraltar convoy. Atkinson’s was the specific aircraft used by Airfix – with markings K7 and serial number NF 672 on the tail – for their kit of the Sea Hurricane, well-known to schoolboys and older modellers.

    Although Atkinson had been rated “above average” as a student pilot, his squadron commander decided that he needed more practice. Nairana’s flightdeck was only 60 ft wide, but she was in company with the larger Ravager, so Atkinson was flown across to her and undertook a mini deck-landing training course.

    By late 1944, 835 NAS was due to be re-equipped with the much more capable American fighter, the Grumman Wildcat IV, which was purpose-built and carrier-borne. It was more manoeuvrable and had a better rate of climb and endurance than the Sea Hurricane, and had been designed for seaborne operations with its powered, folding wings.

    Nevertheless, when on September 26 1944 Atkinson flew the last operational Sea Hurricane (231) from Nairana to Abbotsinch airfield near Glasgow, he felt as if he was saying goodbye to a friend. Just five days later he was airborne in a Wildcat.

    In April 1945, Atkinson joined 853 NAS in the escort carrier Queen, and on May 4 took part in Operation Judgement, the last air raid of the war in Europe and the last naval offensive operation, when the Fleet Air Arm attacked the German U-boat base at Kilbotn, northern Norway. The attack was notable for its suddenness, brevity (it lasted seven minutes), and precision. Two aircraft out of 44 were lost, while a U-boat and German depot ship were sunk, and there were no civilian casualties.

    In his short wartime flying career, Atkinson had flown 500 hours in 20 distinct types and made 72 deck-landings. He contemplated transferring to a permanent commission in the Royal Navy, but instead left in 1946. Postwar, he returned to Glaxo, before working for several other companies and retiring as company secretary of Sturtevant Engineering.

    He married, in 1951, Elizabeth Brough, a South African; she predeceased him and he is survived by their two sons.

    Ken Atkinson, born December 19 1921, died August 20 2022 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/341531c3e795d093f424e55efc96a14a233869c9a8eb244117205ce6f62d90ab.jpg
    Atkinson’s Sea Hurrican K7 after hitting the flightdeck barrier https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a200ba963071bd6c3bef52f90994ef110532393445c14a9a5290c6cf6a0f46a5.jpg

  39. Why Liz Truss has crashed and burned. Spiked 15 October 2022.

    She has no mandate and no clue what she is doing. Britain deserves better.

    In what should really be Truss’s honeymoon period as PM, she is commanding the support of just nine per cent of the electorate. This is what pollster and academic Matthew Goodwin calls ‘Prince Andrew territory’. Ouch. She is even more unpopular than Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn were at their own respective nadirs.

    Meanwhile, a visibly exhausted Tory Party is polling at just 19 per cent. Truss appears to have almost overnight turned Keir Starmer’s soggy blancmange of a Labour Party into a would-be ‘party of government’. Labour is now more than 30 points ahead of the Tories in many polls, sparking talk of a John Major-style wipeout or worse.

    I think I remarked on Nottl a few weeks ago (after listening to her talking about Vlad and Russia) that Truss has no understanding of geo-politics. This lack unfortunately seems to extend to the principles of ordinary politics. In some ways she is reminiscent of Mary Queen of Scots. A woman who occupied the highest position in the land and was incapable of understanding even the most elementary rules of political behaviour. She thought that just by being Queen this guaranteed success of itself. It was this ignorance that led to her doom. By contrast her rival, Elizabeth of England, was a master player who seemed to understand the rules almost from the cradle. Though surrounded by enemies on every hand she was able to outwit them all and eventually gain the throne. Alas we have no Elizabeth to save us.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/10/14/why-liz-truss-has-crashed-and-burned/

  40. Just caught the end of virus experts Chris and Linda on BBC Breakfaat talking about a virus outbreak in Uganda.
    I think it was this:

    https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o2420

    No need to panic howeever – it’s not as bad as COVID!

    Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, has downplayed the current problem despite the fact that in just under three weeks the virus has spread to five other districts in Uganda to the north and west of Mubende. “Ebola is not as dangerous as covid-19. It’s easy to fight this enemy—there is no need for anxiety,” he said.

      2. Yep. Bit like communism.

        James Delingpole is right. It’s satanic inversion. China has lived with pneumonic plague, which has a 100% fatality rate, for yonks yet they lock down millions for what is, after all, a bad cold?

        1. I think their zero covid policy is just so that they can micro-manage economic activity during the current financial reset. They are teetering on the brink of economic collapse.

      3. Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab are working on developing a more contagious form of the disease with the aim of reducing world population by 60% by 2030.

  41. Does anyone know what is happening with the cancelation of the 1.25% NI increase from 6th November? I was looking forward to being allowed to keep a small extra morsel of my take-home pay, and I’m sure many employers were looking forward to having their employment costs reduced.

    Will cancelling this cancellation be one of the ‘difficult decisions’ that Hunt has to take? Not difficult for him personally of course, as he is a very wealthy man who has never run a business, made, sold or employed anyone or anything.

    1. ‘Morning, JK.

      “Has never run a business…”

      For all his faults:

      From Wiki – “Jeremy Hunt is to land a £15 million windfall from an education company he helped to set up as he faces mounting pressure over the latest crisis in the NHS.

      Hotcourses – the company Mr Hunt established with business partner Mike Elms in 1996 – is on the verge of being sold for between £30 and £35 million.” (Jan 2017)

      1. Yes, but it was not like Joe Bloggs from the council estate starting a business, was it.
        When Hunt was a student, and everyone else was doing crappy student jobs, his father called Lord Weinstock, the then head of GEC about some work experience for his son, and young Jeremy was sent out to GEC’s Hong Kong office if I remember rightly.
        One can probably safely assume that his business starting experience was similar.

    2. I doubt the current government can get a finance bill through parliament anymore. If so then you can forget about the 1.25% cut in NI and the 1% cut in the base rate. Not certain whether the energy price guarantees need a vote but if they do then you might need to forget about those as well.

  42. The letters are still banging on about leaf blowers. I have two questions
    i. Why can’t leaves be left where they fall? The wind will shift them after a while
    ii. If (i) unacceptable, why not use a leaf hoover instead?

    2. I get the mower out, set it high, and pick the leaves up. If they’re left on the grass you’re more likely to get moss and that’s worse than not removing them.

        1. Hello Geoff
          We don’t seem to be troubled by cats but the occasional fox dollop is annoying.

          1. Quite. Re-turfed the lawn about this time last year. The soil improver I worked into the clay soil has been brilliant. The lawn stayed resolutely green throughout the drought period, and needs cutting almost twice a week. Even in Winter. Perhaps the poo is helping to fertilise it?

            Might dig out the old B&D Lawnraker before long…

    3. My parents had a leaf vacuum, called a “Billy Goat” – with a petrol engine, is hoovered up leaves into a sack that you could then empty on the compost heap and watch them blow back over the garden…

    5. I agree that leaf blowers largely just re-arrange the leaves. But with a bit of practice, you can persuade them into piles, to be lifted up by non-mechanical means. I had a gravel drive at the last place – good luck with raking up the leaves. I’ve an 18V Bosch blower, which is useful for freeing leaves from borders and long grass. I also have a mains-powered Bosch blower / vacuum which blows noisily, and sucks somewhat. The best use I’ve found for it is after weddings, to remove confetti before it contaminates the entire churchyard…

    2. Brexit hasn’t really happened so will it make much difference?

      The EU is still calling the shots in Northern Ireland and our fishing waters are still being looted by EU fishing boats. Add to this the pathetic British government has refused to implement any of the changes in legislation which would have set us free from the EU.

      1. Border Customs checks on both sides have resulted in very long delays in everything from containers of lamb to postcards from your granny in Holland.

    3. Infuriatingly I believe all along the plan has been to cause such absolute carnage that when our economy collapses we’re sent to the IMF who stipulate that we must rejoin under the most onerous of circumstances.

  44. Obese people twice as likely to die from Covid
    Condition is linked with several other ailments, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and asthma, which may lead to worse outcomes

    Lizzie Roberts: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/14/obese-people-twice-likely-die-covid/

    BTL Comment

    Our lives are diminished if we spend too much time obsessing about death.

    Yes, I am overweight but I am relatively physically active; no I have not had the Covid jabs (but I have had the properly tested jabs for other things); yes I have had Covid but I had it far more mildly than my family members and friends who got it at the same time as I did but were fully jabbed.

    I’m in my late 70s; the men in my family usually live until their late 80s or early 90s; the women until their mid or late 90s. So there’s probably a few years left in the tank for me but, as Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar said:

    “Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”

    1. The doc said I was unlikely to see 30. Now I’m not sure about 60. I have got to diet. It’s no good burning up 4000 calories a day only to shovel in 4001.

      1. Have you looked at intermittent fasting? I have lost weight by only eating in the evening. Others eat within a certain time period. Low-carb eating also works irritatingly better for men. As all this is not ‘dieting’, you don’t get the impulse to cheat.

    2. Richard, if I recall correctly you mentioned once that your prescription medication includes an anticoagulant.
      It became apparent in early spring 2020 that Covid 19 was potentially a blood disease which harms the circulation.
      The danger is microthrombosis, ie microscopic blood clots; these clots may have been causing lung damage in older covid patients, leading to multiple organ failure. As your own, richly historical, de Tracey blood is constantly being ‘thinned’, it is possible that your daily medicine saved you from severe symptoms of Covid.

  45. I can’t sit about here when there are crosswords to do. I have managed to persuade the MR to stay in bed….. Gus has joined her. So with luck they’ll both be there all day.

    See you later.

    2. Oh dear,

      Poor MRS T..

      I expect you have loads of things to occupy yourself with.

      Blowing a gale here , a fierce squall went through earlier .. blue sky with fast moving clouds now .

      1. Bed’s the best place to be I guess.
        Get well soon Mrs T.

        Weather wise.
        Yesterday I’d just got everything ready to burn a huge bag of wooden offcuts from my workshop. And a large box of more than a thousand sheets of A4, bills, bank statements, invoices etc, from my business years.
        Dating back to the late 90s onwards. Piles of it. And it started to drizzle. But I carried on and the light rain help to stop the ashes floating off over other people’s gardens. But I’ve got lots of sweeping to do. But straight onto soil.

      1. What would happen if everybody stopped making donations to the RNLI?

        Or is the truth of the matter that they are being well financed by large and wealthy woke enterprises and the taxpayer and do not need donations from ordinary people any more?

        1. They certainly aren’t getting any more money from me – I stopped supporting them a while ago! Same for the Salvation Army.

          1. And the use of lifeboats on the South Coast has gone up exponentially so where are the entirely voluntary crew members coming from and being trained? Or are they being given enormous untaxed ‘expenses’ in lieu of pay so they don’t need to bother with their ‘day jobs’ any more?

          2. I am a Shoreline member of the RNLI which means I pay a sub and get a quarterly magazine which gives the stories of heroic lifeboat men and lifeboat women who have fought against storm, hail and monstrously high waves.

            Strangely enough there are no accounts of heroic rescues made of people in rubber dinghies in calm weather in the English Channel who are assisted by the organisation to enter Britain illegally. The RNLI is clearly very modest and does not want to draw attention of ordinary donors to this vitally important work.

          2. I’d guess that they have lost 50% of will donations over the last few years and that’s why they are appealing for funds.

        5. They have a cash pile, apparently. Plus as Kaypea says, there is no way the UK government will let the vital work they are doing go unfunded…

        6. I know nothing. But if private enterprise were to subsidise the RNLI, Serco would be the one to do it?

  50. Apols to NOTTLers living in benighted areas of Blighty where wind and rain are prevailing.
    Spartie and I have just had a wonderful walk over Hilly Fields; October sun and a light breeze. THAT’s what I call a walk.

  51. Afternoon All
    Are we living in another Tom Clancy novel??
    It was in one of his books I first read of a hijacked airliner used as a weapon of mass destruction not so long after………….9/11
    Now “Rainbow Six” postulates a group of mad greens seeking world depopulation (excluding them of course) via an engineered infectious disease released at a major games to ensure worldwide distribution
    Funnily enough the mass killer was not to be the disease but the worldwide vaccination AGAINST the disease
    Just saying……………

  52. Drat. 5 today. I can think of another word ending with same 4 letters, so it was nearly a 6.
    Wordle 483 5/6

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

    1. Birdy Three – a lucky guess from five words ending with same 4 letters!

      Wordle 483 3/6
      🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
      🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Wordle 483 4/6

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

  53. Nice day for it.

    “‘Ere we go, ‘ere we go, ‘ere we go”

    People on the beach at Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France, prepare to embark in an attempt to cross the Channel

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2c01a2f9538964a6931104363ef019988464b022/0_0_4895_3257/master/4895.jpg?width=720&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=c3967c3ddecc42740e4e1daec2270215
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a079c4ef97b0bad2e4684a90ebafe54ac9430406/0_0_5767_3837/master/5767.jpg?width=720&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=f478520e415f0f8e07757a6af5e243c1
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/996ab756d7e43fc0ce6f7c0934b0c3064631df55/0_0_5477_3644/master/5477.jpg?width=720&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=1210c5cdc968dc76628b721a7da28f5b
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/72992534a21c7ebac4a6f2a12bf4751ca09562a1/0_132_2772_1663/master/2772.jpg?width=720&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=291424f16540292053e8bb6afbdb49ee
    People wave to the smugglers from the boat
    Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images

    1. It really is simple. We fly a Predator drone over there armed with a machine gun. When they head for the beach, shoot the dinghy. Yes, some of the criminal gimmigrants will get caught as well, so go around for another pass and finish them off.

      Get the frog plod as well.

    2. I do hope we’re keeping hold of all the used RIBs. Once former Hulture Secretary Jeremy *unt and Prime Minister Sunak have their way, they’ll be needed for the mass exodus from this Sceptered Isle…

    3. Heartwarming – especially the way they wave at the ferry company staff people smugglers.

      One might almost think they are friends…..

  54. Russian troops have raped more than 100 Ukrainians with victims as young as FOUR as part of military strategy that has seen troops equipped with Viagra, UN says. 15 october 2022.

    Russian troops are using rape as a weapon of war against Ukrainians, according to damning evidence collected by the UN.

    Pramila Patten, UN special envoy on sexual violence, said she has verified more than 100 cases of rape against Ukrainians during the eight-month war – but the true figure is almost certain to be higher.

    Patten said survivors have told her of genital mutilations and of soldiers ‘equipped with Viagra’ in what appears to be a ‘military strategy’ to dehumanise people.

    Soldiers equipped with Viagra? God give me strength. If I’ve learned one thing about Ukrainians in this war it’s not to believe anything they say!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11315675/Russian-using-rape-weapon-war-Ukraine-says.html

    1. A toothy read,thank you

      Oof

      “A Great Theft facilitated by corrupt governments, an enormous transfer
      of wealth from ordinary people into the already-bulging pockets of a
      tiny but ruthless ultra-rich ruling class? If that doesn’t sound
      familiar to you in the 2020s, then you haven’t been paying attention!”

    2. WWI, the destruction of the Romanovs, Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns and the redrawing of the map of Europe. A great reset of sorts. Certainly destroying the old powers and not for the better. The next reset may fail though, because it’s intended to be global and the southern nations, as well as Russia, may not play ball.

  56. Modern Life……….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/521872ca89f2214e7657586ebd7a560523f612d070a68dd9521403d26a08b025.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/951cd12d05df9f5f08c7571ffc299d3e9a6e4d9cd26f0a95ba3815e5c1b54dda.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/303ad5adb33fbed466f8cf5263602ef747dd798cbe16272533b34f58245cf0fd.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/56b123735b88d31c694a7d48e69d587b6a5e3b0e7802c04da45e406959718e05.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6469fcdd92aa5f7d919379a240300302d37e58950f144912cf6eda0184699fb6.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/022f3b26ab2bf8c10a61569a6746654290b0f296d4d8720ac0c68bdab9ac2eef.png

    Lastly one for the Laydees

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7fbf8433e5b3ff842615225eb43448216a53884b6c24b93cc71da33bea516e63.jpg

        1. The old-man trunks could hardly be called budgie-smugglers… more ostrich-smugglers, they are so huge & baggy.

    3. Shame you posted them together, Rik – you could have had another six upvotes from me alone…

      As for hymns, who could ever have imagined that they would become illegal. First during lockdown, now this. Its Harvest Festival tomorrow. I’m getting nervous – will “We plough the fields and scatter” be subject to demonstrations by Keep Britain Tidy, or Just Stop Oil (ploughing needs diesel).

  57. 366095+ up ticks,

    What one finds puzzling is that morally reprehensible can be strongly applied to the lab/lib/con/current ukip coalition party as a whole when one views their shared input regarding nurturing paedophilia.

    Since anthony charlie lynton AKA the bog man as PM gave worldwide PIE members a ticket to ride they have never looked back, fact, if truthsayers
    point out these odious creatures they, the truthsayers are promptly incarcerated.

    So the puzzling question is , among the lab/lib/con/current ukip
    supporter / voters there has to be parents, surely why then do they continue to support & vote for more of the same ?

    1. The native population of the UK have been subjected to the most intense public indoctrination program in history. It even exceeds that of the Third Reich and the Soviet Union since it not only includes political instruction but social and sexual programming.

    1. Excellent!
      BTW, Mother-in-Law has appointment as Chancellor for Wednesday this week, 12:30 to 14:00.

  62. Seems that Twitter censored the Florida Surgeeon-General’s post that their Department of Health recommends that young men don’t take the Covid vaccine due to risk of myocarditis & consequent death. So, Twitter stes itself above Government specialist agency, do they?
    https://youtu.be/VCf4jDWIh2A

  63. Buggerit.
    Crazed Teacher friend’s birthday soon, wanted to send a present from Amazon.co.uk, but the selected gift could only be sent if I signed up (and paid) for Amazon Prime. I don’t want Prime, just to send 2 prezzies a year in the UK.
    So, got to think of an alternative…

    1. I think you can get an introductory offer to Amazon Prime; use it to have your prezzies sent and then cancel without having to pay anything. Caroline knows how to do theses things but I am not so good.

          6. Off-topic.
            You want to fcuk with the enemies’ telephone system?
            Shoot an arrow with a vial of bromine through the window into the switching room.
            Bromine and copper don’t get along at all well, and the result is that all the copper connections fall apart.
            Hah!

          7. They didn’t put that in our tea at prep school but they did when we went on to a senior school at the age of 13.

          8. My prep school, they should have put it into the master’s tea.
            Place was closed a few years after I left due to kiddyfiddling.

    4. About two or three times a year, I get an invitation from Amazon to try Prime free for 30 days. I do this, then cancel before the free trial runs out.

      1. Aha!
        I had a pop-up that wouldn’t go away unless I agreed to sign up.
        Thanks! I’ll try again.

    6. Can’t you buy the present from a shop and take it to the house. You might get a drink for your efforts.

      1. Unfortunately no. She’s in Dorset, not far from Belle, and I’m in Norway.
        Personal vist would cost approx. £400+. Or I would, not seen her for 3+ years.

    7. What Rastus says, below. You can always cancel, but while you have it, you can trawl through Prime Video.

      Me – I would rather shop in the High Street, but Amazon the former bookseller can deliver stuff tomorrow which is unobtainable in any local shop. I make the most of Prime. Including Amazon Fresh, who will deliver foodstuffs same day, unlike the major supermarkets.

      I wish it wasn’t the case. When I was born, my Mum had to push me + pram to the local grocer, half a mile away. Like it or mot, things have improved.

      1. I’m wary of these “sign up & cancel later” offers.
        I often forget, and by that point they have my credit card details.

        1. I agree, plus I suspect that there will be a tick in the “Mug” column of the database and they will push even more unwanted offers at me in the future!

      2. My mother likewise and we lived up a hill in sarf London. The maisonette had a flight of steps going down to the houses and then there was another flight up to our house. How on earth she managed I have no idea.

        1. Tough old girl, I expect. As was common, since there was no alternative.
          SWMBO’s father’s mother lasted to 102 years. Wars, influenzas, you name it. She was born into service, and was as tough as boots, so she was, despite being tiny.
          My Great- Aunt Hilda was the same.
          Somewhere, someone broke the mold.

    8. Amazon offer me ‘7 days free trial’ whenever I want to buy something (not very often). As long as you remember to cancel before the 7 days is up, you have a week to binge watch foc.

    9. Google mug or whatever any present is. You’ll find loads of alternative sites (and prices).

    11. It is possible to navigate through without signing up to Prime. You have to keep your wits about you, but have another go and look carefully. Good luck!

  64. Cambridge academic Dr Ha-Joon Chang has made controversial comments about the origins of the British Christmas dinner:
    The potatoes are from Peru, turkeys are from Mexico, the carrots are from Afghanistan, the brussels sprouts are from Belgium.

    What a clueless fool, I get it all from Asda!

    3. Another bluddy race baiter. He’s a commie from South Korea. Should be deported to North Korea.

      1. He will there enjoy a state media almost as Leftist as the BBC while he woks his dog.

    4. Yes, it’s called being part of a global capitalist society. The bloke who’s living here as an ‘academic’ from China should realise that.

  65. Cambridge academic Dr Ha-Joon Chang has made controversial comments about the origins of the British Christmas dinner:
    The potatoes are from Peru, turkeys are from Mexico, the carrots are from Afghanistan, the brussels sprouts are from Belgium.

    What a clueless fool, I get it all from Asda!

        1. I get annoyed because the Left and state, by force and intent are making us all prejudiced.

          We have a clear immigration policy. We have a very generous refugee policy.

          Neither of them permit accepting wasters, thieves and such who arrive illegally on boats.

      1. Iiiiin seven
        Daily Quordle 264
        2️⃣4️⃣
        6️⃣7️⃣
        quordle.com
        🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
        ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
        ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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

        1. Gosh – that was one of the many songs I learned at primary school. I bet they don’t do that nowadays.

          1. Yes thank you, lovely – very beautiful part of the world, lovely autumnal colours. So many trees! – all over the place. We got to Fakenham market and paid a visit to the cheese stall, I loved the Dutch gable end at the top end of the market, not so sure about the green colour…. very nice little market, compact and friendly. We didn’t get to Martin’s Farm at Hindolveston because we both came down with sniffles on the Friday morning, it meant going back further northwards on the route (not by much, admittedly) but with the sniffles and a bad night (dog) – we felt demotivated and headed south homewards. We stayed at a little place by the name of Brinton nr Thornage.

            It was all like England used to be – sixty years ago.

  69. Couple of questions for all y’all:
    How does anybody manage to write music so fantastic as this?
    How do people manage to train and actually play with the skill to present the result as good as this?
    https://youtu.be/uj8w0Sm7l-M
    I can’t even wash up the dishes in time to a beat, let alone make what must be the world’s finest music.
    It just blows me away. Thank God for talent!

    5. ‘The Emperor’ is one of my favourite pieces, every time I hear it, it’s as if I am hearing it for the first time. The pianist was the only one – and the conductor – without sheet music. Both he and Bernstein were wonderful. So uplifting, all of it.

    6. I remember attending a Halle concert in Sheffield City Hall circa 1970 and first hearing that played by John Lill under James Loughran.

      I also first heard Krystian Zimmerman playing Chopin in Warsaw. He won the Warsaw Piano Competition early seventies, either 1974 or more likely 1976 the years when I was there.

    2. He always reminds me of the favourite card game we played in the sixth form common room. When we were being polite it was Chase the Lady. Otherwise, Hunt the C*nt.

  72. MIGRANT SNUB Suella Braverman cut out of immigration reform planning as PM prepares to relax visa rules
    Noa HoffmanNatasha ClarkHarry Cole
    23:21, 12 Oct 2022Updated: 8:58, 13 Oct 2022
    Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    HOME Secretary Suella Braverman has been cut out of immigration reform planning as the PM prepares to relax visa rules as part of her growth push.

    Tory MPs with concerns about local businesses being short-staffed have been told to go to the Cabinet Office and Business Department rather than the Home Office in a snub to Ms Braverman.

    Ms Braverman has been cut out of immigration reform planning as the PM prepares visa rule relaxation
    1
    Ms Braverman has been cut out of immigration reform planning as the PM prepares visa rule relaxationCredit: Reuters
    Broadband engineers, butchers and care workers are all in line for the visa bonanza — as the Treasury tells No 10 it is the quickest way to go for growth.

    On Tuesday the PM let rip at squabbling Cabinet Ministers for publicly breaking ranks on the mini-Budget.

    She read the riot act to her top team at just their second meeting following an astonishing collapse of discipline where several broke ranks to urge her to keep benefits in line with inflation.

    One source said of chief agitator and former leadership contender, Penny Mordaunt, who was one of those who spoke out last week: “She spent the whole time looking up at the ceiling instead.”

    -ADVERTISEMENT-

    Ms Mordaunt said last week that she backed “benefits keeping pace” with inflation – and the government should not “try to help people with one hand and take away with another.”

    The PM was said to have been “frustrated” by her intervention.

    Government insiders blamed new Chief Whip, Wendy Morton, for failing to enforce Cabinet discipline – just four weeks into the new Government – saying she’s not spent enough time meeting MPs.

    One source said: “It’s important that the Chief Whip proactively meets colleagues, and gets the chance to hear their feedback or concerns on the government’s agenda, before she asks them to vote on it.

    “If she is learning from the papers that MPs are unhappy about government policy, that needs to urgently change.”

    Meanwhile, Ms Braverman has been accused by Tory moderates of freelancing on immigration policy and running her own leadership campaign inside the Home Office.

    A source told The Sun: “It is clear that there is widespread frustration in Government and in the Party with Suella’s freelancing and her consistent blocking of the Government agenda.

    “She is running a blatant leadership campaign but it’s having a destabilising effect on the Government. She needs to focus on the day job and stop her antics otherwise she won’t last very long.”

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/20090866/home-sec-snubbed-immigration-reform/

      1. It’s clear that her only role is to get the blame when the WEF have “failed” to stop the invasion.

      1. … will come. but they need to think of the long-term implications before deciding.
        Where did I put those Iodine tablets again?

      2. Not a pleasant thought. The US at war with China and Russia can only have one outcome. And there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of us staying out of it!

        2. Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea produce semi-conductors.

          China will probably invade Taiwan.

  74. Well, that’s me done for another day. Despite challenging light conditions (bright sunshine alternating madly with dark clouds: sort of like painting in a disco), I have got 90% of the base colour finished to my standards (and the 10% is left undone only because dinner is served early).

    My standards are as defined for a friend: No matter a person’s height, their degree of OCD, or the interesting perspectives on corners they may discover after a good party, they will not be able to legitimately complain about the finish of the decoration. (The friend for whom I delineated this is six foot five, likes everything just so, and is partial to a drop of the good stuff 😈)

    I wish you all a pleasant evening and a good night’s sleep.

    1. WTF are you about, atd?

      Do you paint landscapes, nudes – or are you an interior decorator?

      1. I paint portraits. Clothes on or off is up to the sitter. This is a favour to my sister-in-law – poor thing looked at the exquisite yellow ochre faux marbling in her new dining room and saw only nicotine stains. (Her father died of emphysema.) Ergo temporary hiatus in my travels.

        1. My goodness, gracious me!
          I am impressed.

          I do not understand: “Poor thing looked at the exquisite yellow ochre faux marbling in her new dining room and saw only nicotine stains.”

          Nor: “Her father died of emphysema.”?

          1. Ah, sorry. Paint-addled, most probably 🤣

            The yellowish tone of the marbling reminded her of nicotine-stained walls, which she knew well as her father was a heavy smoker, and suffered emphysema as a result. Bad associations.

  75. Watching “Dead Snow” (Død Snø) – zombie movie. A bit different to the usual.
    Quite clever.

  76. That’s me gone. Feeling quite rough just now; was OK this morning but deteriated (sic) as the day wore on. The MR is slightly better but still feels poorly and has a frightful cough.

    Still we KNOW it cannot be Corvid because we are each triple-jabbed and, as Mr Biden and Dr Fauci (and many other liars) said – if you are vaccinated you cannot catch the virus!!!!!

    So have a pleasant evening choosing the next Prime Minister.

    A demain – prolly.

    3. Had a bit of a sore throat and felt rough for a couple of weeks myself,
      Red wine and rum and coke did the trick in the end.
      No jabs yet

          2. Maybe you could extend that to government? They could do with some organisation in anything at all…

    3. She ought to be employed by a church which needs to recruit celibate clergy. I cannot think of anybody who could make one so aware of the advantages of total sexual abstinence.

    4. I’m sad that she feels that political hatred is suitable for display at the death of a colleague.
      She’s clearly a nasty shit.

      3. In any case, who gives a flying one what a socialist luvvie thinks about any damn thing?

  79. I’m knackered!
    Went down to the Apple Day in Cromford and realised that they could do with another apple press, so Dave, owner of Scarthin Books, ran me up home to pick mine up.

    Stayed there helping those wanting to crush their apples and quite enjoyed myself. Then helped clear up at the end.

    1. A Conservative would have drive straight off the road into the other lane and then changed the driver just as they’re about to crash into an oncoming car.

    1. There’s at least 10 times more humans on the planet than there should be, and that’s just for the sake of the environment.

    1. They can eat grass if they want to but wasting good food that others have worked hard to provide and which is desperately needed by many is evil and wholly unacceptable.

  87. Had fish pie for dinner – now sitting and listening to some more Bach on You tube on th etelly, while I eat some fruit and finish my wine.

      1. Yes – he did – he’s sitting next to me with Lily on his lap. He didn’t bother with any fruit for afters. We went to table tennis practice this morning, then later on he watched the England – France rugby match while I got the dinner ready.

          2. An Irishman got a job sweeping up leaves, but fell out of the tree and broke his leg.

    2. I made a large Shepherd’s Pie with steamed greens and gravy. MH had two helpings and has gone for a post prandial.
      It has been a frustrating week and I’m glad it’s over.

      1. Sorry to hear you have had a frustrating week, not the NHS messing you up again, I hope. Time for Kanga juice I think!!

        1. No , this week it’s been the plumbing;-)
          Edit- not my personal plumbing you understand;-) And yes, the Kanga is hitting the spot.

      2. According to Farmers;Weekly there is a shortage of Shepherds. You were lucky to find one

  88. Sod it. That’s me off for an early night.
    Might get some work done up the so-called “garden” tomorrow.

    Good night all.

    1. Were you to speak nicely to your God, Bob; he might give you the day off – and an extra mug of tea …

    1. I got:

      why censorship

      why censorship is important in schools

      why censorship is necessary for children’s books

      why censorship in schools is wrong

      why censorship is necessary for film industry

      A little better, but not much.

  91. Climate protesters throw soup on van Gogh’s Sunflowers in London gallery

    I am appalled.

    I reckon that the punishment should fit the crime.

    Any ideas?

    My first notions are:

    Life -long banishment from the gallery studios, and
    A compulsory, year-long National Gallery contract for meticulous lavatory cleaning …

    1. “The Moon sleeps with Endymion and would not be awak’d”. Words by William Shakespeare -what a player!

  96. I have just received our village newsletter where the ‘editor’ (a silly indoctrinated person) exhorts us to take the flu and Covid jabs and that we must be grateful for the NHS.

    These same fools stood on the street banging pots and pans a year or so ago.

    I realised some time ago, the scenes after the death of Diana to be more precise, that half the nation are stupid and unawares of the world outside of their small compass.

    They rattle on about supposed racial discrimination yet have sat back and watched us, the unvaccinated, discriminated against in ways I could never have predicted in my lifetime. I refer to the threats of vaccine passports, the prescription that wIthout submitting to the jabs we would be compromising the health of others and potentially killing Granny, that if we mixed with friends and relatives we could be fined and that should we refuse the jabs we would lose our jobs and be prevented from travelling abroad. Many other discriminatory actions pervaded the last two years for us, the unvacced.

    Now we discover (some of us few read the script years ago) that the ‘vaccines’ were completely experimental, untested on animals, and created in a laboratory seemingly oto kill and maim us. The efficacy of the Moderna vaccines turns into Auto Immune Disease (AIDS). The Pfizer alternative has caused innumerable health issues in those taking it and as for Astra Zeneca, this was sensibly binned (I hope) after it’s blood clotting disadvantages led to several publicised deaths and the EU itself banned its use.

    1. You may well be right about the dangers of an untested vaccine.

      Unfortunately the brilliant French virologist Luc Montagnier https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220210-luc-montagnier-french-nobel-laureate-who-co-discovered-hiv-dies-at-89 , who who died recently, did discover the HIV virus and furthermore found its genetic code embedded unnaturally in COVID-19, was hounded out of the mainstream scientific community for having an anti-vax agenda.

      It is quite possible that the recent discovery that people with the HLA-DQB1*06 gene can actually survive the various experimental vaccines and possibly even benefit from them leads me to conclude that some of us may have natural immunity from both the possibly engineered COVID-19 and its experimental vaccines.

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/…

  97. I have just received our village newsletter where the ‘editor’ (a silly indoctrinated person) exhorts us to take the flu and Covid jabs and that we must be grateful for the NHS.

    These same fools stood on the street banging pots and pans a year or so ago.

    I realised some time ago, the scenes after the death of Diana to be more precise, that half the nation are stupid and unawares of the world outside of their small compass.

    They rattle on about supposed racial discrimination yet have sat back and watched us, the unvaccinated, discriminated against in ways I could never have predicted in my lifetime. I refer to the threats of vaccine passports, the prescription that wIthout submitting to the jabs we would be compromising the health of others and potentially killing Granny, that if we mixed with friends and relatives we could be fined and that should we refuse the jabs we would lose our jobs and be prevented from travelling abroad. Many other discriminatory actions pervaded the last two years for us, the unvacced.

    Now we discover (some of us few read the script years ago) that the ‘vaccines’ were completely experimental, untested on animals, and created in a laboratory seemingly oto kill and maim us. The efficacy of the Moderna vaccines turns into Auto Immune Disease (AIDS). The Pfizer alternative has caused innumerable health issues in those taking it and as for Astra Zeneca, this was sensibly binned (I hope) after it’s blood clotting disadvantages led to several publicised deaths and the EU itself banned its use.

Comments are closed.