Wednesday 19 October: The Tories’ troubles reveal a party that has seriously lost its way

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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586 thoughts on “Wednesday 19 October: The Tories’ troubles reveal a party that has seriously lost its way”

  1. Good morning.

    I have a lot of books that I’m about to donate to a large book sale, and I shall write in all of them short messages telling people where to find information on the internet about covid vaxxes and other nonsense. Every little helps!

    2. Just bear in mind that if someone – anyone – is offended or upset by the words – it is a HATE CRIME.

      1. A frightening book.
        It was serialised on R4 at the same time as I found a copy in a charity shop.
        I still have it.

  2. Am I talking to myself? Have the rest of you been nobbled by GCHQ? 🙂

    Re the headline: the Conservative party lost its way when it was run by Cameron and Gove, who laid the foundations for the current disaster with their notorious “A-List” of malleable candidates. Oh what fun it would be when Gove could control all the MPs! Leading to the current sh*tshow and lack of talent.

    1. A comment on Conservativepost:-

      Robert Spowart 18 October 2022 At 9:51 pm
      The Rank & File members of the constituency parties must accept their share of the blame.
      For too long they have allowed their local leaders to accept Central Office diktat on who they select as candidates and have thus handed the leadership of the party to the Blairite, New Labor Lite, TINO clique, beholden to the WEF Globalists.
      It is time for them to wake up and get a grip on their leadership or, if that is too difficult, dissolve the party.

      https://conservativepost.co.uk/party-members-must-retain-the-right-to-choose-the-party-leader-says-constitutional-expert/#comment-1618

    1. Hello Bob, thank goodness someone else has turned up! I like the sound of my own voice, but not that much!

  5. The Tories’ troubles reveal a party that has seriously lost its way

    It’s been like that since they ditched Thatcher and the slippery Europhiles took control.

  6. The murder that reeks of a lawless France. 19 october 2022.

    The further details are beyond sick. Lola appears to have been stripped naked and raped before she was butchered and killed. The police have been reticent but it’s reported Lola was literally eviscerated, during or after her killing. It’s reported that the numbers 1 and 0 had been written on the girl’s feet. There are suspicions that one of the suspects attempted to sell the body.

    This is not just another crime story in a city celebrated for them. It has rapidly become political. The left, terrified of offending its Islamist allies, has been mostly silent. But Éric Zemmour, the failed presidential candidate, has declared the killing to be yet another example of ‘Francocide’, a neologism he has created to describe the terrorisation of the French by jihadists and Islamist immigrants. Zemmour’s comment was quickly denounced by the interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, as ‘indecent.’

    The French seem to be ahead of us in individual Islamic Horrors but I’m pretty sure we are outdoing them on the quantity front. They don’t appear to have anything like the Mass Rapes that have characterised the Muslim Occupation of the UK. The real similarity is the absolute and total pusillanimity of the so called authorities. I strive to find historical parallels to the present situation since in that way one can assign some sense of proportion to events. There doesn’t appear to be any! It would be like reading that Churchill had invited the SS in to round up some Jews for the gas chambers. The one certainty seems to be that we in the west are finished!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-murder-that-reeks-of-a-lawless-france

    1. It most probably happens here just that they hush it all up.

      I remember a story, not sure if it is true about a girl and a kebab shop some time back but I don’t want to put people off their breakfasts.

    2. It is no surprise that these things happen. What is both truly shocking and frightening is that the authorities, the forces of our law and our order, do so very little.
      (The first time that I visited France my French penpal and myself were given a severe lecture by a gendarme for jay-walking. I was being led astray even then.)

      1. It’s not just a matter of hushing it up.
        The authorities deliberately intimidate and criminalise anyone who objects to the way their country is being betrayed.

      1. Morning Oberst. I wasn’t sure that I should post it. There’s an element of horror porn to it but the author is Jonathan Miller. Another Globalist apologist!

    4. There may well have been mass rapes in European towns. How would we know when the BBC considered the gilet jaunes protests not to be newsworthy.

    5. I think we would need to go back to England in the 1290s to find such deliberate cases of genocide.

  7. Good Morning. The night has not yet shuffled off it’s dark blue dress to put on the the golden gown of day.

  9. I saw Putin’s new commander up close in Syria. Worse is to come. Hamish De Bretton-Gordon 9 October 2022.

    Alarmingly, Putin seems to realise this, recently appointing General ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin as the overall commander in Ukraine. I saw Surovikin up close in Syria, an architect of what I’m coining “unconventional warfare”. With Russia’s conventional war machine failing so badly in Ukraine, Putin seems to be taking out his unconventional playbook from Syria, which kept Assad in power against all the odds.

    At the heart of unconventional warfare is attacking the civilian population directly. Having failed to overcome the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line, Surovikin is now attacking their families at home, murdering children in their schools and injured soldiers in their hospitals. The World Health Organisation reported last week that over 500 medical facilities had been directly attacked by Russian missiles and bombs. This is a repeat of the Syrian campaign, where the charity I advised during the 10 years of that conflict, UOSSM, had over 1000 medics killed by attacks on their hospitals..

    Bretton-Gordon did indeed see Surovikin close up in Syria being his opposite number in the UK’s attempts to destabilise and overthrow the Assad Government. There was nothing “unconventional” about the Russian’s tactics then; he was faced with Islamic Jihadists, financed and armed by the West through its proxies, and simply bombed them quite conventionally out of existence; much as NATO was doing in Mosul at the same time.

    Attacks on civilian infrastructure are nothing new. That they specifically attack hospitals and schools is a propaganda ploy since both are now routinely used to shield defence forces from attack.

    There are no real parallels between Syria and Ukraine except perhaps the levels of disinformation. One is compelled to look at this war through a media hostile both to Russia and the Truth. I doubt that 10% of what we are told, as here, is true!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/18/saw-putins-new-commander-close-syria-worse-come/

  10. I saw Putin’s new commander up close in Syria. Worse is to come. Hamish De Bretton-Gordon 9 October 2022.

    Alarmingly, Putin seems to realise this, recently appointing General ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin as the overall commander in Ukraine. I saw Surovikin up close in Syria, an architect of what I’m coining “unconventional warfare”. With Russia’s conventional war machine failing so badly in Ukraine, Putin seems to be taking out his unconventional playbook from Syria, which kept Assad in power against all the odds.

    At the heart of unconventional warfare is attacking the civilian population directly. Having failed to overcome the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line, Surovikin is now attacking their families at home, murdering children in their schools and injured soldiers in their hospitals. The World Health Organisation reported last week that over 500 medical facilities had been directly attacked by Russian missiles and bombs. This is a repeat of the Syrian campaign, where the charity I advised during the 10 years of that conflict, UOSSM, had over 1000 medics killed by attacks on their hospitals..

    Bretton-Gordon did indeed see Surovikin close up in Syria being his opposite number in the UK’s attempts to destabilise and overthrow the Assad Government. There was nothing “unconventional” about the Russian’s tactics then; he was faced with Islamic Jihadists, financed and armed by the West through its proxies, and simply bombed them quite conventionally out of existence; much as NATO was doing in Mosul at the same time.

    Attacks on civilian infrastructure are nothing new. That they specifically attack hospitals and schools is a propaganda ploy since both are now routinely used to shield defence forces from attack.

    There are no real parallels between Syria and Ukraine except perhaps the levels of disinformation. One is compelled to look at this war through a media hostile both to Russia and the Truth. I doubt that 10% of what we are told, as here, is true!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/18/saw-putins-new-commander-close-syria-worse-come/

  12. During my many waking hours last night, I realised that the “government” farrago is like Wendyball.

    Teams keep appointing new managers then sacking them after a month or so when the foopballers fail to win matches.

  13. 366285 + up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Wednesday 19 October: The Tories’ troubles reveal a party that has seriously lost its way,

    Wednesday 19 October: The Tories’ troubles reveal a party that has seriously lost its way, seriously openly, when major found love ,of a sorts for curry.

    Never able to look these Isles in the eye again with a following that currently, surely cannot do the same now.

    The electorate in majority are seemingly striving for the lowest point two signs of that being achieved are, becoming mandatory to eat only halal and legalising paedophilia with legal aid on tap .when needed.

    If ever a multitude of peoples were deserving of losing a Country through
    misguided democracy via the polling booth we Brits are a country mile
    ahead.

    ALL change, terminus ahead, on alighting the mullahs will show you the exits ahead … or without a head that choice is now coming to fruition. rapidly.

  14. Britain is set for an almighty squeeze worse than 1976. 19 October 2022

    I wrote last week that although it came close, this wasn’t quite 1976 all over again. I fear that I was wrong; it is actually much worse. What Jeremy Hunt announced on Monday has not been formally imposed on the UK by the IMF, but it might just as well have been, for it strongly resembles the sort of programme the IMF routinely demands of emerging markets when they apply for emergency support, and indeed was asked of Britain back in 1976.

    The only difference is there is on this occasion no application for an emergency loan. Instead, Hunt is taking pre-emptive action in order to head off such an outcome. Early signs from the markets are that, in this regard at least, he might succeed. The doom loop in bond markets has for now been defused.

    Even so, in almost every other respect today’s situation looks utterly dire, and a good deal more troubling than it did back in the 1970s.

    The challenges in the 70s – loss of international competitiveness, terrible industrial relations and rampant inflation – look relatively tame compared to what we face today. Back then we were “the sick man of Europe”; it felt like the whole place was going to the dogs. So unstable did things seem to be that a number of City types I knew of fled London to barricade themselves into their country retreats, shotgun at the ready, in anticipation of a Bolshevik type uprising to come.

    But although things seemed bad, the crisis was actually a good deal less intractable than what we see today.

    Debt was much lower as a proportion of GDP, we still had a substantial manufacturing base, productivity was on a rising trend, the discovery of North Sea oil and gas offered the promise of energy self-sufficiency, and because the workforce was still young and growing (the result of the 1945 to 1960 baby boom), we could still afford the post-war settlement of a big welfare state.
    The situation was awful, but we knew that with the right therapy, we could make it better.

    Today we have an ongoing energy crisis which is multiple times worse than back then, we’ve just virtually bankrupted the country in paying for lockdown – pandemic related policies cost more in Britain as a proportion of GDP than any other advanced economy bar Canada – productivity growth has ground to a halt and the ageing characteristics of today’s society in combination with a progressively workshy labour force has rendered much welfare and healthcare spending effectively unaffordable.

    Geopolitically, the world also looks considerably more unstable. For all the warnings of nuclear apocalypse, everyone at least knew where they stood in the standoff of the Cold War. With the rise of China, today’s superpower confrontation looks potentially far more dangerous.

    Just something to cheer you all up!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/10/18/britain-set-almighty-squeeze-worse-1976/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    1. Thanks – I feel even more jovial, now.

      What the hell could the IMF do, anyway? No-one’s got any money that they are not just printing and the West is on a kamikaze mission to attack its own commodities and everyone else’s.

      1. I believe the IMF is intent on forcing any bailout – a certainty under a Labour terror – to ram us back in to the hated EU under onerous conditions.

    2. Lockdown wasn’t the problem. Stop pretending it was. The issue started with Brown’s debt. All 12 trillion of it. Not only his debt, but all the offbook waste and commitments that oaf made.

      Then Cameron and Osborne refused to do anything about the problem. He continued to tax and waste at the same level, inflating the currency to afford the last allowance increase. We go the idea of more money, but the currency was made worth half as much almost overnight, so we were really no better off.

      Since then no party has had any interest in doing anything to reduce state spending and cut taxes specifically on those things that underpin our economy – fuel, energy and food. The state clearly wants inflation and to make everyone poorer.

  15. To the title:
    Do you bloody well think ?
    The trouble is that the their internal strife does not seem to be between conservatives and globalists but between power-seeking factions of the globalists.
    Now that Hunt is poised there seems to be little to be done to save Brexit.

    This is all very discouraging.
    EDIT
    Good morning all, BTW.

    1. 366285 + up ticks,

      Morning Lim,
      I do not believe supporting their ilks in the overseeing
      governing politico kapos parties by the electorate majority is the way to go.

  17. Short & Sweet – But Not Very PC – 1

    Got an e-mail today from a bored local housewife, 43, who was looking for some hot action!
    So, I sent her my ironing. That’ll keep the lazy bitch busy.

    I got invited to a party and was told to dress to kill.
    Apparently, a turban, beard and a backpack weren’t what they had in mind.

    After a night of drink, drugs and wild sex Bill woke up to find himself next to a really ugly woman.
    That’s when he realised, he had made it home safely.

    Paddy says to Mick, “Christmas is on Friday this year”.
    Mick said, “Let’s hope it’s not the 13th then.”

    My mate just hired an Eastern European cleaner, took her 5 hours to Hoover the house.
    Turns out she was a Slo vak.

    Since the snow came all the wife has done is look through the window.
    If it gets any worse, I’ll have to let her in.

    Came home today to find all my doors and windows smashed in and everything gone.
    What sort of sick person does that to someone’s Advent calendar…?

    I’ve been charged with murder for killing a man with sandpaper.
    To be honest I only intended to rough him up a bit.

    After years of research, scientists have discovered what makes women happy.
    Nothing.

    A lad comes home from school and excitedly tells his dad that he had a part in the school play and he was playing a man who had been married for 25 years.
    The dad says, “Never mind son, maybe next year you’ll get a speaking part.”

    Just had my water bill of £175 drop on my mat. That’s a lot.
    Oxfam can supply a whole African village for just £2 a month: time to change supplier, I think.

    I’ve just come out of the shop with a meat and potato pie, large chips, mushy peas & a jumbo sausage.
    A poor homeless man sat there and said ‘I’ve not eaten for two days’
    I told him ‘I wish I had your fucking will power’

    I see that Paddy O’Reilly, an electrician, has been sacked by the US Prison service for refusing to repair an electric chair.
    He said in his opinion it was a fecking death trap.

  18. An informative BTL comment on TCW:
    Pretty Polly • 5 hours ago • edited

    BlackRock and the WEF Rule Britannia! Truss, Hunt and Britons are their Slaves!

    Just look at the members of Jeremy Hunt’s new ”Economic Advisory Council”…..

    Initial list of Council members:

    Rupert Harrison, BlackRock.
    Gertjan Vlieghe, Element Capital.
    Sushil Wadhwani, PGIM Wadhwani.
    Karen Ward, J. P. Morgan Asset Management.

    This is shocking and a financial markets coup with close links to the World Economic Forum.

    So the UK has been captured by the Green Blob and the World Economic Forum
    where BlackRock’s Larry Fink is an ”Agenda Contributor”. This is from a World Economic Forum press release………..

    ”The head of BlackRock Larry Fink has warned companies must act now to step up their efforts to tackle climate change.

    In a letter to CEOs, Fink forecast a “fundamental reshaping of finance”, i.e. green finance, which has been welcome by climate activists. BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink warned company boards to step up efforts to tackle climate change, a significant shift by the world’s top asset manager as it faces mounting concerns about its fossil fuel
    investments.”

    So Larry Fink and Klaus Schwab run Britain with Jeremy Hunt as their local manager. Pretty much as expected in fact!

    1. Pretty Polly doesn’t seem to come here now- she used to drive us all mad with her repetitive posts – but she’s right this time.

      1. Yes.
        Irritating does not mean wrong.

        She seems to have a bee in her bonnet about certain things but she is more often on the ball than not.

  19. An informative BTL comment on TCW:
    Pretty Polly • 5 hours ago • edited

    BlackRock and the WEF Rule Britannia! Truss, Hunt and Britons are their Slaves!

    Just look at the members of Jeremy Hunt’s new ”Economic Advisory Council”…..

    Initial list of Council members:

    Rupert Harrison, BlackRock.
    Gertjan Vlieghe, Element Capital.
    Sushil Wadhwani, PGIM Wadhwani.
    Karen Ward, J. P. Morgan Asset Management.

    This is shocking and a financial markets coup with close links to the World Economic Forum.

    So the UK has been captured by the Green Blob and the World Economic Forum
    where BlackRock’s Larry Fink is an ”Agenda Contributor”. This is from a World Economic Forum press release………..

    ”The head of BlackRock Larry Fink has warned companies must act now to step up their efforts to tackle climate change.

    In a letter to CEOs, Fink forecast a “fundamental reshaping of finance”, i.e. green finance, which has been welcome by climate activists. BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink warned company boards to step up efforts to tackle climate change, a significant shift by the world’s top asset manager as it faces mounting concerns about its fossil fuel
    investments.”

    So Larry Fink and Klaus Schwab run Britain with Jeremy Hunt as their local manager. Pretty much as expected in fact!

  22. You should never do business with Putin’s gangster state. 19 October 2022.

    It was a turning point in Putin’s rule. But little did the world know that it would become the playbook for what is now taking place with increasing regularity inside Russia, as he punishes Western multinationals for wanting to pull out of the country in protest at the invasion of Ukraine.

    Undeterred by a ruling in the Court of Arbitration in the Hague in 2014 that the Kremlin must pay $50bn (£44bn) in damages – the world’s largest ever such award – to Yukos’s former shareholders, the Kremlin has since been busy seizing the assets of foreigners as well as Russian businesses.

    The attempt to link Khodorkovsky with the present situation is transparently false. Vlad is just playing copycat here. The west has already seized Russia’s Foreign Currency Reserves and the Private Property of individual Russians. This is called theft in any other sphere. He is at present sequestering assets that have been abandoned by their former owners! To suggest that he should compensate them for their own actions is beyond risible.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/10/19/should-never-do-business-putins-gangster-state/

  23. Morning all 🙂
    Typical grey day.
    Noisy builders started bang on 8 am.
    I’ve got an online appointment with a techie at 9 to sort out the problems with our PC.
    Caused by someone pretending to be from Virgin Media, but a scammer from somewhere in Asia. I chopped him off, but I daren’t use on line banking until he’s made the checks.

    1. I used to get these scam emails regularly, threatening to expose to all my contacts and Facebook friends images hacked from my laptop of me pleasuring myself to flesh-coloured images unless I coughed up a large quantity of bitcoin to an anonymous account.

      I was looking forward to seeing how they could, with the wonders of high technology, turn an old bloke grumbling about the state of the world into a husky young stud aspiring to inseminate the virtual world, but they never came up with the goodies. Some of my friends even paid their subscription to this new entertainment channel.

      1. I remember a film many years ago following the crew members of a ship during their shore leave in, I think, Liverpool where one of the ship’s officers got intimately involved with a woman and when she tried blackmailing him with by threatening to send compromising photos of them to his employers, gave her £5 and asked for several copies of the pictures to show his colleagues that he wasn’t past it!

      2. I have just this minute had another phone call purporting to be Virgin media, same Asian accent. I didn’t swear, but i told then where to go.

        1. My landline is only used to ‘host’ my broadband, with no phone attached, but I give the landline number out to the companies that insist that they have my contact phone number.

          On my mobile, I only answer callers that I can identify. If it is someone I know – but for whatever reason I don’t have the number logged on my phone – I expect that they will leave a message and I will return their call. Any other callers can go swing.

  24. Good morning all.
    A dull and overcast start to the day, but at least dry and a fairly mild 6°C outside.

    1. The real bollocks is that there are (and have been for over 100 years) perfectly good laws banning the obstruction of he highway.

      No “new powers” are needed – just the WILL to using existing, tried and tested ones.

    2. 366285+ up ticks,

      Morning Bob/Boc,
      Such is the current odious state of daily affairs that
      “extremists” MUST have a true & peoples agreeing meaning, NOT be what the true political “extremist in parliament say it is.

    3. The powers were there already.
      What was missing was the will to enforce them. Plus a deliberately wet reading of the various ‘Ooman Rites Acts.

    1. Every university student should be compelled to listen to this. Calvin Robinson is a very good chap and full of common sense – his description of the WEF is very clear and shows just how terrifying the tentacles of the WEF are. King Charles is a keen supporter of the WEF which should be something that republicans seize upon if they want to depose him!

      Indeed Calvin’s sensible approach to life is not at all appreciated by the repulsive Church of England which did its best to stop his ordination.

      Whenever I accidentally think about Welby I am almost overcome by a feeling of intense loathing! The Arsehole of Cantebury has a far firmer belief in Schwab than he has in Jesus Christ.

      1. The basic truth is that monolithic, controlling, central organisations do not work, cannot work and never, ever will work.

        The UN is incompetent, lazy and navel gazing. NATO is now scuppered by a weak and clearly ill US president.

        Soviet Russia tried central planning. So did China. It doesn’t work. Never will, never can. The place to prove this to the weffers is to put them in that situation and see them starve.

    2. Somehow, I don’t think this cleric has the right credentials to become a bishop in the Anglican communion. He would, of course, be perfect for this role but I think he has blotted his copybook.

  29. Liz Truss most unpopular PM on record, poll finds
    The Prime Minister is now viewed unfavourably by 80 per cent of voters, a new YouGov survey suggests    .
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/18/liz-truss-unpopular-pm-record-poll-finds/

    BTL

    Ms Truss pretended she was strong, she pretended she was ‘not for turning’, she said her plans were the best plans for Britain to regain prosperity.

    I feel very sorry for Ms Truss – but if you promise to stand firm and then immediately give in you must expect that your enemies will capitalise on your weakness. If she did not believe in herself and did not believe in her policies at the very outset then she has deceived her supporters and has no right to be prime minister.

    2. Truss may well be “viewed unfavourably”, and for good reason, but for generating sheer visceral hatred I think you’d have to go a long way to beat Blair.

      1. They should run a poll for the most despicable person in politics in the 21st century – there would be a strong field and, as you suggest, Blair would be high on the list backed up by his henchman Alastair Campbell.

        But the Conservative Party has some promising despicables too! Opinions may vary but I would place Theresa May very high on the list and also Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron. And who would overlook Gideon Osborne?

    3. I don’t care any more. We had an opportunity to reverse the carnage caused by the last 20 years and the Left and statists screamed blue murder.

      What do they want? We can have a small government, growth focussed, pro business government or we can have a continuation of this decline.

      1. I’m past caring.
        I’m more interested in what goods and chattels can be auctioned. And what absolutely flies out of the house if you Freecycle it.

  30. SIR – I’m 60, and among my friends of a similar age I count eight who have spent their working lives in the NHS.

    Overwhelmingly, they love their jobs but agree that the health service is no longer fit for purpose and requires a radical overhaul. Tinkering, with a bit of extra funding here and there, won’t be enough: it needs a complete review of how best to provide care, in many cases for conditions (and with treatments) undreamt of when the NHS it was founded.

    Everything else has changed since that time – and so the NHS must change too.

    Antony Thomas
    Esher, Surrey

    I am in contact and meet up when we can with girls ( we were girls , and still are ) I trained with 57 years ago .

    The strong wake up call was when many service hospitals closed and some of my friends then transferred to the NHS..

    Of course we are all in our seventies now , when we met last month and had lunch .. all of us agreed that everything in the Nhs has changed dramatically, our QARNNS training was the best in the world … and modern nurses don’t appear to give a fig about their patients , and neither do doctors…

    1. Morning, Maggie.
      The Military Hospital in Colchester was by far the best in the area.
      The ‘girls’ in my age group always chose it in preference to the local maternity home when they were giving birth.
      We worked with military trained nurses, and always found them far more efficient and disciplined.

      1. Morning Anne ,

        So glad to hear nice words like that .

        Military nurses/ tutors who taught us served during WW2, some were dragons and many were brilliant beyond all realms .

        We were so lucky and grateful to be looked after and treated with respect .

        1. Personal experience?
          We have acksherley been there; once to a fund raising dinner and several times delivering desserts for posh do’s.
          Jolly polite staff!

        2. Bill, it is not a Prison and hasn’t been for decades.
          It’s the Military Corrective Training Centre, but yes, I will agree it is bloody effective.

          A soldier sentenced to a term in Colchester and “Soldier on” rather than be discharged at the end of sentence, is very likely to gain promotion to Corporal and may even get to Sergeant.

      3. Morning Anne – The Catterick Military Hospital was a highly respected one and was open to civilians. It was shut down several years ago and now it is being converted into a major hub for GP’s which will be available to military and civilians.

    2. I have twice had to have short stays in hospital in France and I must say the nurses were friendly, cheerful, flirtatious and great fun and, even more important, they did their nursing job very well. To be honest the time I was in Treliske Hospital in Cornwall in 1983 for an appendix op the nurses failed to change my drip and my arm swelled up like a balloon and took some time to go down fully again.

    3. Our neighbour now early 80s was a nursing sister, she says that people should do as they did. Get the job and learn on the job. Taking exams as they progress. Not go to university get a degree in something irrelevant and come out feeling over important. As many graduates do.

    4. I had my elder son in Tidworth Military Hospital in 1970 and I can honestly say they didn’t care much for patients there – the attitude was that we were just a nuisance, the midwife in charge was overbearing and shouted at me, the ward was overheated, and we had to take the used bedclothes with us when transferring from the post-labour ward to the recovery one. I was there for 10 days and it was nightmarish.

  31. Furious dad LOSES IT as Australian workplaces are told to stop using the words FATHER and MOTHER: ‘Stop spending our money on this crap’

    Indignant Aussies parents hit back at new plan to ban words ‘mother’ and ‘father’

    Sydney health organisation ACON said replacing words would promote inclusion
    The words would be replaced with ‘primary caregiver’ and ‘secondary caregiver’
    2GB Radio host Ben Fordham slammed initiative as a ‘crackpot idea’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11330055/Parents-slam-plan-ban-words-mother-father-workplaces-bid-inclusive.html?fbclid=IwAR35eLVhupihiuAjWG3q8EbdhpfHOG-yQ89Prvax1Ms-KR7fjbNd3BHfHOM

    2. Goodonya sport. I hope they have a few riots over that.
      Perhaps the Drongo’s might prefer Mater and Pater
      Or just Sheila and Bruce.

    4. My paternal Grand mother’s maiden name was Fordham. We might be related. Unbeknown to me I had a person in my year at school named Robert Fordham he was a second cousin and I had no idea.
      Unfortunately, he died in his mid 30s.
      The great grandfather was a shoe maker from the village of Fordham near Colchester.

    1. You can bet that the cuts in public spending will not include closing down 13 billions given in Forgien aid. Or financing the on-going illegal invasion.

    2. Close the department for climate change. Look at government departments and offer voluntary redundancy and significant cuts.

      1. Watching TV programmes and global news footage, the much spoken message of toning down lifestyles and the frugal use of resources has not traveled any further than the straits of Dover. But the irony is, while the government are preaching to us, every single person they allow into our country increases the known carbon footprint.

    3. What about small businesses which pay their taxes?

      If the pension was in line with the profitability of our business in 2021 it would have gone down by 80%.

      1. On the other hand Richard, if the public pensions were in the same line as the pensions for the political classes, we’d all be happy.
        The basic state pension in the UK now is a joke.

    4. Well the last pension increase was so small as to be unnoticeable so what’s new? It was only while inflation was so low that they could keep the triple lock. Once inflation and pay increases sky-rocket again it is obvious they will break this ‘promise’.

    5. Well the last pension increase was so small as to be unnoticeable so what’s new? It was only while inflation was so low that they could keep the triple lock. Once inflation and pay increases sky-rocket again it is obvious they will break this ‘promise’.

    6. It’s just a suggestion being floated to see public reaction.

      If the pensioners don’t object it will be made official.

      I’m objecting, I hope that you are.

  33. Who knew……Liz Truss’s nickname is the Human Hand Grenade. Let’s hope she inflicts a lot of damage to her nasty colleagues before she pops off.

  35. Awkward……

    Spiked Online:
    ‘Brexit did not plunge Britain into this economic
    crisis. Brexit did not take a sledgehammer to global supply chains.
    Brexit did not run up public debt and force us to print half a trillion
    pounds. And Brexit certainly did not run down our energy supplies. These
    problems stem from failed elite orthodoxies – from the very
    technocratic elites who are now trying to pin everything on the Leave
    vote.’
    Yup it’s a remaniac coup

    1. The crisis has been building for many years with one announcement of massive borrowing after another. Every time they debase the currency, every time spending has increased.

      Global supply is our own fault because the state has tried desperately to run down our economy in the name of the green agenda. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-63269974 – yet they refuse to acknowledge the reason why is energy supply and cost. As most of the parts come from that area of the world it’s simply cheaper to build it there. The Left destroy jobs.

      No, Contracts for difference, a frenzied effort to run down our infrastructure and leave us vulnerable to high prices wrecked our energy market. The State was warned and made it clear this is the outcome it wanted.

      Most of our problems come from the idiotic green agenda – energy, fuel and food underpin our economy. When those are scarce and expensive our economy stalls.

  36. I don’t know if anyone has posted this already. As of yesterday, and for the next nine days, part one of the film taken from many of the core facts of Robert Kennedy Jr’s book “The Real Anthony Fauci” is available free. It is about 100 minutes long and is a great insight into the long histories of Fauci and Gates and is a shocking catalogue of horrors going back 40 odd years. You can register to watch it here:
    https://www.therealanthonyfaucimovie.com/trailer/

          1. That is odd as I registered again on that screen and immediately I was taken to the start of the film. I hope you can see it later.

          2. I caught the first few minutes at least; thank you. Nothing I hadn’t come across before but good to see it well presented in one place.

  37. I’m happy to say that after 40 minutes work my technical expert found nothing untoward on our PC. Only a few minor issues that he put right. Watching the arrow flashing about on the screen I could see he knew exactly what he was doing remotely. Conversely I don’t have the remotest idea what I’m doing.
    Job done. And I’m happy.

      2. Happens to your computer first thing every morning, doesn’t it? And when you sign off for your 6:00pm tincture, you claim that it was ‘the unseen hand’ using your name and avatar that was being a pain in the arras all day long….but we know the truth!

      3. To sit and watch the arrow flicking about and very comforting when you know the person and he plays guitar as well.

        1. If anyone has a problem, they are called Tech Angels.
          Tech Angels – Computer Support – 01727 568869 – Harpenden

  39. Although I published it here yesterday, since I want it published far and wide I used the letters BTL comments.

    Climate Change and You
    The climate ‘science’ is wrong. CO2 being 0.04% of the atmosphere is a cause for good, as it is essential for plant life.
    The atmosphere is 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen. The remaining 1% are various trace elements of which CO2 is but a small part.
    The greatest cause of any change in the Earth’s climate, is due to the cyclical nature of the Sun’s phases, which may lead to vast differences between ice ages and continual heatwaves.

    REPLY
    8 REPLIES
    33

    I am heartened by the replies and 33 likes to date.

      1. When you watch Sir David on tv, every other phrase he uses is climate change. And the old footage of blocks of ice falling into the sea have been about for years.

  41. 366285+ up ticks,

    May one ask,
    Are we as a nation proud of the fact that we are revealing these numbers, all the while in the way of priorities the economy takes the
    -ucking top spot over children’s welfare.

    The economy as with the water,the gas,the food ALL manipulating material being used
    by the political overseeing KAPOs.

    Water lacks reservoirs, gas lacks fracking,food production is seconded to housing the worlds, in many cases, paedophiles, assorted dangerous villains etc,etc.
    A major factoring need is lack of need for decency, integrity & common sense within the electoral majority voters, if the cap fits, YOU.

    https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1582648919783510016?s=20&t=NDWETsBfImcCVoy71UtbwQ

    1. “Missing” or snatched with the connivance of social services and police? All the wee white girls abducted and raped by muslims “were asking for it” according to police. It is beyond belief that there were not dozens, even hundreds, done away with. This has never been looked into. There has never been an audit of social services and children’s homes to check on the whereabouts of all those children who passed through social services. No”where are they now” investigation.

      1. 366285+ up ticks,

        Morning HP,
        As in my post prior, could very well be with the PIE menu in mind rotherham received the eyes shut treatment for 16 plus years, even with what the JAY report revealed not an iota of difference in the voting pattern.
        Long as it is someone elses kids the party comes first.

    2. We cannot have a situation where we wait until we have famine on the scale of what we saw in Ethiopia in the Bob Geldof era in the late 1980s.
      “We can’t wait for that”.
      “We need to intervene now.”

      Although this has been happening for hundreds of years. Off you pop then, show them how to farm and produce their own crops, to drill for water, install desalination plants pipe lines and teach them to make bricks and build permeant homes and towns they can be proud of. But until something does go wrong, as it does, they’ve been quite happy to live a medieval way of life for many decades.

      1. Well, actually, we can wait. Famine and pestilence is nature’s way of controlling the population.

      1. Well, Lammy, there ain’t any “Black Saviours” except those who ‘liberate’ whitey’s goods; and that applies to you, you racist bar steward.

  43. Morning all,

    A guy from the ONS waa on Radio 4 this morning and suggested we could check our own individual inflation rates by going to the Government’s ONS website and filling out our expenditure profiles:

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/howisinflationaffectingyourhouseholdcosts/2022-03-23

    I tried it and our household works out at 11.3%.
    There is a caveat in the sense that the calculation is only valid for owner occupiers and evaluates the value of a quantity called CPIH.

      1. I accept all cookies because Angie O’Edema is not my real name but I do use her Android tablet.🤔

    1. Bad news. If they do vote to add it, the DoH will come under enormous pressure to do the same… 🙁

    1. She stated that she is no longer committed to uprating pensions in line with inflation.

      With twelve million pensioners voting in this country it looks like a foolish comment.

    2. If she really feels threatened, while on her feet, she should call a General Election, sit down and listen to the flurry of oohs ans aahs from the backbenches as they quake at the thought and knowledge that they will never lounge in those seats again. Once it is set in motion, she should then resign as PM and resign the Tory whip. Job done.

      1. She could also join ‘Remain’ provided they agree with amalgamating with ‘Reclaim’. She might also bring Brexiteers from the Tory party with her. As the Chinese say, “May you live in interesting times.”

          1. I certainly did, Connors, it is her only avenue of escape and I believe ‘Remain and ‘Reclaim’ both wish us to remain outside the EU.

            ‘m just hoping that any Tory Brexiteers on the backbench would have the guts to join her. At 78, all I may do is hope that younger generations could get their thinking straight – I shall not live to see it.

  47. I gave up after ten minutes. When the hag started quoting Peter Mandelson and then had a rant about the railways, I went off to get lunch!

    Cur Ikea Slammer was – of course – useless. And there were too many patsy time-wasting questions from Tory (sycophant) MPs.

      1. The cost of the war to the West in terms of economic damage is immense. A price worth paying. No thanks.

  49. 366285+ up ticks,

    Bloody stories these far right ,racist fruitcakes come up with.

    https://gettr.com/post/p1uq0tj948f

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    4m
    The CCP’s diversity policy is a lot more useful to them than ours is to us.
    TommyRobinson1
    @TommyRobinson1
    ·
    14h
    We are a woke laughing stock, we are only hurting ourselves, well our CONservative government and the MOD is.

    You really couldn’t make it up could you???

    We are a woke laughing stock, we are only hurting ourselves, well our CONservative government and the MOD is.

    You really couldn’t make it up could you???
    0
    4
    1
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    3h
    Yes! Westminster is abusing the electorate. Stop the abuse!

    * Political parties lie in order to get elected.
    * Once in office they don’t do what they lied they would.
    * They serve the interests of Globalists & not their country.
    * if they even look like doing what they said they would the civil servants prevent them.

    And they are all in in together – whichever bunch of shysters you vote for.

    https://gettr.com/post/p1usjw3f2a0

  51. Good afternoon from a Saxon Queen with longbow and axe .

    Not quite sure what to do. We have our civil war course tomorrow, I cannot go as I did another Chinese Bat Flu test and it says still positive,, my husbands test says he’s negative ( free of it ) but he doesn’t think he should go because I’ve got it .. I have said he cannot infect others in the hall if he’s negative .. I think he should go but he’s not happy about it .

    1. SiL collapsed recently when getting out of bed with a temperature and collapsed on the floor.
      Paramedics attended and called an ambulance.
      In hospital he had two negative LFT screenings for COVID but after being admitted his definitive PCR test came back positive.
      He came home the next day and now appears to be none the worse.

      We have to make our own decisions now about living with a virus as the science cannot now keep up with its evolution.

    2. You had to take a test to see if you might be ill?
      Them govts lied, and they are still lying.
      BTW, would you like to buy a bridge?

      1. I don’t believe in any of these things, I’m tired of the lot of it and want to be left alone .

    3. Just think it was a false positive. Go to the meeting. Start living your lives. You only get one chance.

      1. No, that’s dogs. Hence the Korean saying “A dog is not just for Christmas. You can have the leftovers on Boxing Day”.

      2. Koreans, Japanese, SE Asians and Chinese eat anything….. Save the planet and sustain what is available.

  53. Right – ladder work calls as it is fine – and rain forecast tomorrow.

    I shall “deliver” apples to “protect the economy”. You see, Untrussworthy’s meaningless slogans are catching!!

    Back son.

    2. I was at London Zoo when a child and we were by the chimps’ cage. The bloke next to me was combing his hair. The chimp reached through the bars, grabbed the comb, dipped it in some pee and then combed his hair. The bloke said, you can keep it now mate. Very amusing.

  56. Just had a look at the Mirror-on-Line and it has the same stories written very similar to the Daily Fail. It also has about 75%+ of ‘blicks’ and ‘benders’ in the images. Is it owned by the same people?

  57. Meghan trades on her looks – to pretend otherwise is disingenuous
    The Duchess of Sussex was happy to be objectified for 34 episodes of Deal Or No Deal, before clicking that it reduced her to a bimbo
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2022/10/19/meghan-trades-looks-pretend-otherwise-disingenuous/

    “In fact, you could say, it helped land her the rather good job of Duchess.”

    BTL

    But she had to settle for the dumbest duke in Christendom.

    But as the fairy-tale princess sang ‘Some day my Prince will Come’ she was banking on the fact that he would do so and provide her with progeny to guarantee her future if he ever left or if she could stand his dimness no longer and kicked him out.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQ2sYxktMQ

    1. My BTL comment:

      I’m afraid that this wrinkly, left-leaning, little old lady, is no longer fit for purpose and needs to be put out to grass with no compulsory funding by the population at large. She needs to succeed or die by her own effots, not ours.

  63. Mother Shipton, born in Knaresborough, Yorkshire WR in 1488, made many prophesies. Here are just a few:

    “Three times shall lovely sunny France Be led to play a bloody dance. Before the people shall be free Three tyrant rulers shall she see.”
    “England and France shall be as one.”
    “Yet greater sign there be to see; As man nears latter century. Three sleeping mountains gather breath, And spew out mud, ice and death. An earthquake swallow town and town; In lands as yet to me unknown. And Christian one fights Christian two And nations sigh, yet nothing do. And yellow men great power gain; From a mighty bear with whom they’ve lain.”
    “The king shall false promise make; And talk just for talking’s sake. And nations plan horrific war; The like as never seen before. And taxes rise and lively down; And nations wear perpetual frown.”
    “When pictures seem alive with movements free, When boats like fishes swim beneath the sea. When men like birds shall scour the sky. Then half the world, deep drenched in blood shall die.”
    “Then love shall die and marriage cease And nations wane as babes decrease.”

    What do you read in that? Three world wars. atomic warfare – 3 sleeping mountains – (USA,Russia,China), an idiot king spouting nonsense, gay marriages. China collaborating with China. She has been right many times before.

  66. This piece was mentioned on here a couple of days ago but not reproduced.

    I resent what’s been done to Liz Truss and regret this ‘very British coup’. Any Tory who welcomes it is a fool

    Deviate from orthodoxy, and you’ll be crushed by the Remainer, ‘expert’-driven establishment

    TIM STANLEY • Monday 17 October 2022 • 7:00am

    I didn’t like the mini-budget. I reject its policies and philosophy. But even though I’m on the populist wing of conservatism, I resent what’s been done to Liz Truss and regret this “very British coup”. Any Tory who welcomes it is a fool.

    Reputationally, the Conservatives are sunk. Labour will win the next election; Brexit is imperilled. Hitherto the argument against Brexit was emotional, but watch as it becomes technocratic: “in light of our political and economic turmoil”, the grey men will say, “it’s not something we can afford.”

    And make no mistake, those hollow-men are back in charge. The imposition of Jeremy Hunt as chief executive to Truss’ chairman of the board – the language is theirs, not mine, and tells you everything you need to know about their ghastly worldview – is a reassertion of orthodoxy, revenge of the Remainers, capture by experts. British policy, you see, must always operate within certain parameters; anyone who dares to step an inch too far to the right or the left will feel the full force of the establishment. Not by sending in the army, that would be unBritish and, besides, we haven’t got an army to send – but by the removal of confidence, via the markets, the Bank, the IMF or our good friend, Uncle Sam.

    All of the above have, in their time, made mistakes far worse than Kwarteng and Truss. The Bank kept interest rates ridiculously low while pumping our economy with cheap money, fuelling an inflationary spiral that it now believes is the sole job of the Treasury to cure. It was Andrew Bailey, widely criticised for poor judgement, who finished off the arrogant Mr Kwarteng when, last Tuesday, he informed pension funds that he’d stop bailing them out on Friday.

    Flying home from a meeting with the IMF on Friday morning, no doubt with his seat pushed so far back his head was in someone’s breakfast, Kwasi was sacked. The following day, Bailey announced that he had full confidence in his replacement, Hunt – and Joe Biden, doing his best to eat an ice-cream without falling over, declared that Truss’s tax plan had been a mistake all along. Challenge these trans-Atlantic gods of the financial order and, to quote Barack Obama, you go to the back of the queue.

    This time it happened to a Tory chancellor. It could so easily happen to a Labour one. Imagine if Corbyn had won the 2017 election: do you think that the city boys and the right of the Labour party would’ve tolerated his economic plan? If you have any doubt that there’s a vein of centrist Stalinism running through our institutions, consider where Corbyn is now. The man who won a historic vote share in 2017 and turned Labour into the largest party in Western Europe is currently expelled from the party’s whip. The Labour right claimed that Corbyn planned to use deselection campaigns to purge them – but not one MP was deselected this way under his watch (though admittedly several moderates were driven away), and the first MP actually booted out via that mechanism, in the last few days, was a Corbynite called Sam Tarry.

    His crime? He joined a picket line. Labour has concluded that its only shot at ousting the Tories is to portray themselves as the disciplined, pro-market party the Tories used to be.

    After a few, bright years of grassroots activism and open debate – the essence of Brexit – there is pushback against democracy. This year, the Conservatives have kicked out a PM who won a landslide and then effectively imprisoned a second PM who, for all her faults, was at least elected by the members. Mr Hunt, by contrast, was beaten solidly by Boris in 2019 and didn’t even make it past the first round against Truss. He has no popular mandate.

    Yes, Boris spectacularly imploded; he had to go. And, yes, Truss has the political acumen of a washing machine. But what is doubly depressing is the nastiness and hypocrisy of the campaigns against them, traduced as corrupt or stupid all in the name of restoring decency to politics. Live on Radio 4, Miriam Margolyes said she wanted to call Hunt a b****d and tell him to f**k off. Twitter promptly labelled her a national treasure. That’s the same precious jewel who said she “had difficulty” not wanting Boris Johnson to die of Covid.

    Well, the Left can revel in the mortality of this government, at the schadenfreude of a pro-market chancellor undone by the markets, but now is not the time for socialists to drink champagne. Comrades, we’re in for two years of painful austerity. And Labour, having implicitly demanded it from Kwarteng, will now condemn it from Hunt – but be forced to do it when it forms the next government. Sir Keir will be told that his one job is to balance the books, likely on the backs of the middle-class, while an uncompetitive corporate rate shreds the high street.

    I suspect there’s going to be an awful lot of kneeling under Labour. Not because black lives matter more to Sir Keir than the rest of us, but because culture war theatre costs no money.

    As for the Tories, Truss will be gone within days – weeks at the most – perhaps replaced by Hunt himself, who has none of Rishi Sunak’s baggage and does a good impression of a safe pair of hands. I am not saying there is a conspiracy afoot. There’s no need. Our system is ancient, sophisticated and surprisingly transparent. We have a way of doing things, old bean, and we make it gently inconceivable to do it any other way. This is the dictatorship of consensus.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/17/liz-truss-victim-british-coup

    What’s the point of ‘democracy’? How will this all end?

    1. Remember the Tory MP who realised he was no longer wanted by his constituents, Bath 1992 general election. A leading light of his party at that time.
      Imagine then the sitting Tory MPs that failed to be returned to the feeding trough in Westminster, what downcast looks will be in evidence on election night of the next election, will they be thinking all this shambles is down to me and my parliamentary colleagues?
      Perhaps a tiny crumb of comfort to those of us who feel we deserve better than what we are getting at the moment, possibly just a smidgen of democracy being experienced.

        3. Lord Patten Governer of Hong Kong, like many of our MPs he couldn’t run a ‘bath’………
          I’ll get me towel……..

    3. That really sums up my feelings – I didn’t like Truss but she was chosen iaw the Tories own system, and the betrayal by her MPs is truly shameful.

      Tim Stanley is spot on here – “Mr Hunt, by contrast, was beaten solidly by Boris in 2019 and didn’t even make it past the first round against Truss. He has no popular mandate. … And, yes, Truss has the political acumen of a washing machine. But what is doubly depressing is the nastiness and hypocrisy of the campaigns against them, traduced as corrupt or stupid all in the name of restoring decency to politics.“

    4. We don’t have democracy. It finally died when they failed to honour the result of the referendum because they didn’t like it. It will end disastrously, particularly if they succeed in taking us back into the EU. We must all pray fervently that the EU implodes before that can happen. It’s our only hope.

      1. It just gets worse every day! Goodbye Tories – Rhyming Slang and Shitts in the same cabinet – whatever did we do to deserve that??

      2. According to WIKI:
        Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who is currently the Home Secretary and who served as Secretary of State for Transport in the Johnson government from 2019 to 2022.[1]

        3. Calling him ‘Shitts’ on the BTL comments caused it to be removed – I had to revert to his correct name to get it published.

    4. On reflection – two hours later – she wasn’t pushed; she chose to depart from this Cabinet …

  70. Afternoon, all. Been a mixed day; the rectorette decided to cut out most of the “comfortable words” from the BCP service because it was “too long”. I pointed out that she said ALL the sentences where the instruction is to say ONE and that should have been cut if it were necessary to shorten it. I might have added that if it is not applicable, the words in square brackets (which she always says even though they don’t apply) could have safely been omitted, too. There was, apparently, a “discussion” (to which neither I nor the rest of the faithful attendees was party) beforehand. In my view the “discussion” would have consisted of the rectorette saying we need to do this and the verger (who is too nice to be contrary) agreeing. To the best of my knowledge, nobody in the congregation had said it was too long – most of us stay on afterwards for a cup of coffee and a chat, so we aren’t in a rush. We are, also, regular Wednesday churchgoers, yet she treats us as though we’ve never been before. I sometimes wonder if she thinks what she’s saying or if it’s all automatic. I foresee that the next PCC meeting will be lively. I am already marked down as a trouble-maker, I fear, despite reading the lesson again (and no, it isn’t harder for me to volunteer to read than to put a £20 note in the collection!). On a better note, Coolio did a Novice dressage test in its entirety, without breaking canter even on the 15m volte where he needed to do a bit of counter canter, hitting the markers spot on and not being too tight despite wearing a bit (I normally ride him in a hackamore because he’s much more relaxed). Good pony! Extra Polos were the order of the day.

    1. Perhaps you should try the Polos on the rectorette !

      Well done to you and Coolio. It would be nice to see some pics…

      1. Unfortunately, I can’t get pics of me riding. I did put one up of him in his stable a while ago.

          1. I have to say, the dogs (and I’ve put up photos of them before now) are a LOT more photogenic than I am! I really don’t like having my picture taken.

    2. Do you still get wine/Blood of Christ at Holy Communion, or has that tradition been euthanized by Covid supporters?

        1. We don’t take the plate round on Wednesdays (hence no need to add “alms and oblations” which is in square brackets), but we do on Sundays. It isn’t a plate, though, it’s an oblong box on a long handle.

      2. We now take communion in both parts at last, although it’s emphasised that nobody is under any obligation to drink the wine. Needless to say, I partake of the Blood of Christ. I’ve survived Covid once and the chalice is silver, for Heaven’s sake (and it’s wiped and turned after everyone drinks from it).

    3. I admire your patience. We had this problem in 2004 when a new Rector was appointed. To my everlasting shame and regret, I voted for him at the interview. One applicant made everyone’s flesh creep: deepest black, huge white collar, “Call me Father”. No 2 was an elderly career priest – who would have been ideal but would be gone in five years thus causing a new recruitment campaign. The third – a lorry driver – promised to follow the BCP to the letter. And agreed to do other forms of service for the six other churches in the group.

      He lied through his teeth. He was an appalling man. Always late; dilatory, forgot services. Never did any of the usual priestly things – such as visiting the sick (or even the well). Took enormous holidays. Tried to nick the church roof fund which we had built up to six figures. We all believe he stole the 1827 church plate. In the end the group split. Three parishes made a formal complaint. Four backed him (out of fear – he had a filthy temper and the folk were retired and gentle.). Bishop was useless (surprise, surprise). After three years, a new sub-bishop took charge of the issue. At first he thought we were exaggerating – then th scales fell from his eyes. He managed to extricate our Parish from the group and attach it to Fakenham. That was in 2010.

      Ever since – happiness all round. The last Rector was a decent chap – though left-wing, thought Brexit a disaster, climate change = end of world etc etc. We had (and have) a very decent farmer’s wife who is a deacon and she kept us going for years.

      I fell out with the whole caboodle (and kit) for many reasons – 100% loss of faith/belief, I suppose. I still go for what I think of as civic services – Remembrance, Christmas – and support the church with money and what physical assistance I can still manage.

      We have a new Rectorette – lesbian of course – who has just started. I went to her first service – Harvest Festival. A mixed bag. The MR – who is PCC secretary thinks the newby is a good chap. We’ll see.

      1. Hmm, it’s starting to sound familiar with our rectorette; she was chosen from “two very good candidates” because she was younger. She’s already wanting to ditch services in one of the parishes (she was told they were happy with retired clergy and wanted to continue with services) and wants holidays (she was off “on retreat” shortly after she’d arrived). She’s usually last minute and doesn’t talk to the congregation. She talks of “five year plans” (tractor production?). Our harvest festival (of which I’ve already complained on here) was like Janet and John go to communion. The last PCC was, as one of the church wardens remarked to me, the J***** show. This morning, the verger took most of the service. I shall ask the verger what the rectorette gets paid for.

        1. Oh dear oh dear © KCIII)

          The “J” word is beyond even my wildest guess. Gissa clue.

          1. It’s her first name. I didn’t put it in full, because, as you know, no names no pack drill.

        1. Total collapse of the Cabinet; should not the Tories order a flat-pack replacement from IKEA?

    2. Oh, well said, Madam, I applaud your honesty.

      Would that we all, who voted for Brexit could stand up as proudly.

  72. Appeal for Crowdfunding

    Douglas Murray
    How to protest the protestors
    Will you join my crowdfunder?
    19 October 2022, 4:20pm

    These are bleak times in our land, and we must take our pleasures where we can. Personally I have been able to find a great deal of consolation over recent days in watching members of the public confronting protestors from the Just Stop Oil movement. There is some especially pleasing footage of van drivers in south London hauling protestors off the roads by the scruff of their necks. The colourful language which accompanies these acts is an additional delight, for the irate British public is not always immune to using words that polite people might deplore.

    All the videos bring some satisfaction. This week a strange-looking man-child with a comb-over sprayed orange paint on to the Aston Martin showroom in central London. As he issued his subsequent sermon for the cameras, various off-stage motorists could be heard shouting unkind comments about such things as the man-child’s crop top.

    My sympathies in these exchanges are entirely with the motorists. While I do not own a van, I would like to think that if I encountered these protestors I too would do my bit.

    At the Uffizi this week I happened to see Botticelli’s ‘Spring’, which environmental activists glued themselves to in July. The sight of the masterpiece reminded me to compliment the gallery’s staff. Because when the eco-loons glued themselves around the Uffizi, the gallery’s staff ripped them off and away immediately. They did not stand around like their counterparts at the National Gallery when similar stunts were attempted. The London guards seemed principally interested in speaking into their walkie-talkies and protecting the protestors – which doubtless encouraged the protestors to return.

    I suppose we all have our breaking points. Mine came last week when Just Stop Oil protestors threw a tin of tomato soup over Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’. It is hard to know precisely why the synapses exploded this time. Maybe it was the sense that here they have despoiled too holy a place. Just consider what Van Gogh went through to produce this masterpiece. But if ever there was a moment when the instinct for rage flared up then this was it.

    What had Van Gogh ever done to them? What did the barbarians think they were achieving, other than publicity? Do they really imagine that in the midst of an energy crisis, the desecration of masterworks is going to persuade the government to get off the most reliable forms of energy that we have?

    As it happens, the lunatics do now have a specific demand, which is that the government stop all further exploration of North Sea oil and gas. The protestors are of course already opposed to nuclear energy and to fracking. If they had their way the country’s lights would go out this winter and stay out for good, which is not a policy most of us could go along with.

    Still, my personal tolerance limits – never very high in the first place – have finally been breached. So I should like to suggest two policies for the betterment of the land.

    The first is this. Just about the only good thing the present government has done is to say that it will allow further North Sea concessions. I say: drill, baby, drill. What a wonderful thing it would be if the North Sea could give us another energy boom and Aberdeen become the new Dubai. As a side pleasure, we would be able to watch Nicola Sturgeon keep opposing on green grounds a policy that would be excellent for the economy of Scotland and the whole nation’s energy reserves.

    Additionally I say: frack, baby, frack. If you look at the parts of this country that would benefit from fracking, they are precisely the parts that need regeneration the most. I know many people believe the propaganda that fracking can cause tremors almost as large as those created by heavy motorway traffic. But seeing Blackpool and other areas experience an economic high should override such exaggerated doubts.

    So, yes, first the government should respond with a massive expansion of oil and gas exploration and a reasonable increase in nuclear as well. But I promised a second policy, and here is where I can be of some more practical assistance. As my own form of protest, I would like to encourage the public to take matters into their own hands. I know the editor will say that I must not use the pages of this august publication to condone the breaking of the law, so let me phrase my invitation with uncharacteristic care.

    If people see protestors in the middle of the road, haul them away. Do not just stand by. You will notice that the people doing the protesting are not always the fittest-looking members of our society. You do not have to be an MMA fighter to deal with them. But since the police seem to think their job is to protect the protestors, it is down to everyone else to do what the police are so unwilling to.

    As for the people throwing paint, glue and soup at our nation’s cultural heritage – again I am trying to word this carefully – do not stand by. Make the despoliation of our heritage something we do not simply observe with interest, as though it is mere performance art. Stand up for things, instead of standing by. Don’t just take some footage on your iPhone. Get stuck in there.

    It is not enough just to encourage. I should also like to assist. Thus I propose the setting up of a bail fund for protecting the public from Just Stop Oil. I am willing to start the crowdfunding. And I would like to offer a cash prize too, to be paid to the first person who stops anyone attacking a painting. I may even name the award in honour of the security guards of the Uffizi, who showed us the proper attitude to take when the barbarians attempt to rush through the gates.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-to-protest-the-protesters

    1. If these protestors were ever foolish enough to glue themselves to a solid surface in any prison, it is likely that they would regret their behaviour when they woke up in hospital with a sore behind.

      2. Maybe the po-lice should just drag them away, leaving their palms in the middle of the road.

  75. Is it true that the Christmas Panto at the Whitehall theatre is going to be ‘Snow Good and the 40 Thieves’?

  76. A Bogey Five: I made a silly mistake!

    Wordle 487 5/6
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Can’t remember what the word was, but I got a par.
      Wordle 487 4/6

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

        1. I got a 4 but very nearly put in a c where the r should be. Speedy not oddly.
          Wordle 487 4/6

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

  77. That’s me for this eventful day. The MR says that she expects James Stupidly to resign next – so that all the “Great Offices of State” will have changed hands in days. Braverman was loathed by the greeniac/eco-freak-wokerati at the Spectator – and in what is now the mainstream of the shower calling itself the Parliamentary Conservative Party. Their mantra is to welcome illegals; praise urban terrorists and back living without cars and electricity.

    I am surprised Braverman took the job, to be frank.

    Shitts – a dependable Young Global Leader – will fit like a glove into the new WEF appointed Cabinet.

    I shall risk a drink – the first for nearly a week. Have a smashing evening drafting your resignation letters.

    A demain.

    1. We are done for (and I’ve cleaned that one up). There’s not one of them fit for office in any party

      2. 366285+ up ticks,
        Evening FA,
        Been building for three+ decades via the polling booth.
        Many of us could only stand & watch
        after years of pounding pavements to change things after designing & triggering the referendum.

    2. At coffee after church we recounted our experiences of winter without central heating. I spoke of one of my mother’s friends who lived in a tied agricultural cottage in the fifties. No central heating, obviously, and no electricity (oil lamps), no running water (they had to prime the pump to pump the water up to wash, etc and the loo was an earth closet). Preparation for Net Zero, in fact.

      1. Lived in an old farmhouse near Earls Colne just like that.
        We had Calor gas for cooking, one light in the kitchen and sitting room and it also fired the tin boiler that provided hot water. Apart from that, it was candles and torches and an open fire in the sitting room.

    3. Hence Truss calling a GE to rid the commons of these back-stabbers, who obviously are hell-bent on destroying our UK and our sovereignty.

      They don’t realise that they are signing their own Death Warrants.

  78. Thank you, Conservative MPs for making sure that Braverman was not among the final two candidates.
    Will Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox be helping Shapps to totally eff up the Home Office?

  79. Kurten, Tice, Farage, Hamilton et al, a word of advice, you need to park your egos and get your ass in gear, I suspect you may not have as much time to prepare for the next GE as you may think you have.

      1. 366285+ up ticks,
        Evening C,

        Tis like trying to run up a treacle hill,

        lab/lib/con/current ukip are a coalition.

        tory (ino) Mk2 would be the outcome.

      2. I heard Tice in an interview state that they planned to stand 600 candidates at the next GE. As I said, they need to park the egos and come to an agreement to best serve us the electorate. It serves no purpose splitting the vote and time may well be running out for them.

        2. I agree. They should choose the best candidate (local, sensible, well-established) for the constituency and then help that candidate irrespective of which branch of the coalition he/she stands for.

  80. Who in the faux-Conservative Party set up Johnson to fail over a piece of cake/glass of wine? While I accept that Tattyhead’s ability as a PM was limited, it was he who won the 2019 election. The guilty men and women should be exposed.

    And if all those Labour voters who switched to the Tories to ‘get Brexit done’ are thinking of going back to Labour, they should think again. The party will want to return to the EU, even if Max Headroom says he doesn’t.

    Some of my weekend beer ration is going to be consumed tonight…

          2. I don’t quite feel like that – I am actually enjoying life at the moment after having had a very stressful time of it last year. I just don’t see the point in being miserable and denying myself. I won’t live any longer, it’ll just seem like it!

          3. Whilst being an agnostic and a believer in something bigger than us, I’m also a believer in re-incarnation and that each life has a lesson to be learnt, therefore I couldn’t comit suicide, as I’d only have to come back and learn it all over again. This life’s lesson was ‘disappointment.

            Two failed marriages and a failed relationship have fed me a fair amount of disappontment, so I’m ready to go as soon as I’m called.

          5. Funnily enough, I’ve enjoyed mine, Connors, read Not a Bad Life on Kindle for just USD5.00

  82. Ms Braverman has made a “mistake” that was probably noticed by nobody. She has done the honourable thing and resigned from the Cabinet. In one stroke she has disentangled herself from the present morass surrounding the Prime Minister, and confirmed her status as honest, trustworthy and principled. This puts her in a very strong position when it comes to the battle to replace Truss.

      2. Tony Blair said, “We’ve got to be whiter than white if we are to rebuild trust in government.”
        Suella Braverman is positioning herself to be able to say the same. 🤔

        1. She is certainly the only member of the Conservative party who has said anything worth listening to this week.

        2. Please, Truss, have the guts to call a GE. It’s the only way to cleanse the Augean Stables.

      3. I think it might have been. She has walked out of the shambles after taking responsibility for her “mistake”. Very different to having a row with the PM and leaving. That would have shown disloyalty.

    3. “confirmed her status as honest, trustworthy and principled.”
      How’s that going to help in the “battle to replace Truss.”? It’s the very last thing they want.

    4. That is like saying she will be the next captain of the Titanic as the band played on.

    5. 366285+ up ticks,

      Evening HP,
      But surely those are the very qualities that are totally unacceptable within the party make up.

    6. I imagine Braverman is mightily relieved to leave the shambolic Truss government.

      Truss is not PM material and we all knew it. This was confirmed when she surrounded herself with lightweights whose qualification was that they were her ‘friends’.

      1. In particular, she promoted Coffey. Coffey is one of those girls who are always in the popular girl’s gang. You don’t promote them. They will always be loyal as long as you’re popular. If you promote them, their lack of credibility rubs off on you.
        Sounds harsh, but politics is a harsh game. You need a much bigger personality to get away with Coffey’s casual attitude towards her appearance (cigars and stained T shirts).

      2. A totally honest and brave woman. No place for the likes of her in the current Tory Cabinet.

  83. Goodness, it’s been an eventful day. Just catching up. I had no idea. Had lunch and a nice afternoon walk with an old friend who’s over from Cyprus for a few days. We were at York Art School together in the 70s. Not seen her for years but happily it turns out we’re on the same page with regards to Covid, Ukraine and the state of things in general. Had a good natter.

    1. It’s so satisfying when that happens – meeting up with someone you haven’t seen for a long time, and discovering that they’ve seen through the scams!

      I didn’t know you studied art, Sue? What did you specialise in?

          1. Sadly no, except for repairs. My last real sewing effort was relining a favourite winter coat.

  85. There is no longer a credible Government; there is no longer a discernable Conservative Party.

    The Tory Party needs an urgent replacement – for a General Election in the immediate future.

    4. I assume this is connected to the latest U-turn: tonight’s fracking vote is no longer a vote of confidence in the government i.e. one that was to be subjected to a three-line whip.

    1. That sounds like a clip from ‘Yes, Prime Minister’. Nearly all of the stuff we hear about today would make good material for Jim Hacker; Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, Animal Rebellion,the police conciliatory behaviour towards the ‘protestors’ – it is all farcical. In fact, back in the day it would be probably deemed too improbable.

  91. The Electoral Commission might be busy in the next few weeks, taking enquiries about setting up new parties. Will the Tory Party finally split? Will Reform split the Right? And what about Labour? If they are convinced by the opinion polls that they could win 400 or more seats in the current circumstances, their own extremist fringe could embarrass them. Could the SDP return?

  92. I’ve had enough today.
    I’ve been a bit off colour and tired. I have a cold sore. I get one every couple of years. Above the chin below the bottom lip. Exactly the Same spot every time.
    I hate the word herpes. A left over from childhood chickenpox.

      2. 1gm of L-Lysine a day taken by mouth stops cold sores from forming.

        Bought from a chemist or a health food store it is a fraction of the price of
        brands like Zovirax, which for me has never worked.

        https://www.hollandandbarre…

      1. Its spread to the bottom and top lips now I’ll have to go and buy some Zovirax my wife went to buy some but the lady behind the counter at the pharmacy sold her Lipsore cream claiming it was as good but much cheaper. Sometimes Cheap is expensive.

        1. Sorry to hear that. Right pain. The L-Lysine i mentioned stops you from getting them in the first place. Unlike Zovirax. Which in my opinion does bugger all.

          1. Went to the local Tesco and bought Zovirax £ 6.35. A Little expensive, but it last a long time Except when yet misses chucks it away. But I didn’t make a big deal out of it.

  94. Seems the party in government has reached a Fuckitshima moment. Cleaning up the mess could take a while….

      1. 366285 + up ticks,

        Evening PM,

        A new Great Charter is definitely called for, this time deep vetting all leaders who
        profess to be brexiteers then on reflection turn out to be covert tory (ino) manipulators.

        ,

        1. Even-ing, ogga.

          Oh, for how much longer do we have to endure this. Where is the man that tradition holds always arises from our midst when England, and by extension the UK, is in deep trouble?

          1. I don’t know how the hyphen in Evening got there. I didn’t put it there, I am blaming the glass in my hand. Nothing to do with me.

          2. 366285+ up ticks,

            Evening PM,
            Take heart, every negative has a positive the seemingly impossible takes a little longer to rectify.
            What the lethargic, misguided electorate mind set has put in place taking the party before Country route, MUST vote tory
            keep out lab will be finally dropped out of dire necessity & the will to survive and revive a once decent nation.

            Advice, beware of fast talking
            political Papillons flitting one party to a renamed other, or one will be right back in the tory (ino) parties foyer as tory (ino) party Mk2

          3. Yes, I know – he is a good orator but that’s as far as it goes.

            Hopefully reaction will one day equal action. When food goes AWOL probably.

        1. She is improving, Alec, but off her own food. Happy to eat ours, though, our chicken and beef meals. I suppose like any invalid she needs (and wants) to be tempted to eat. Sadly she will never return to her youthful self but she can still enjoy being part of family life and take her place on the sofa. Hopefully for a while yet. We are taking it day to day though. xx

      1. Private hospital, Tom. You can’t even pay for decent treatment, away from weirdos and the mentally deranged.

  97. The United Kingdom Conservative Party committed Hari Kari today.

    Perhaps, someone should provide a suitable memorial in stone – or a statue.

    2. I suggest a statue of a dying Black (Colour de Jour) Swan of unknown gender, trapped in a Net made of zero carbon…..

    3. Didn’t some Labour leader called Miliband come up with the idea of inscribing the party manifesto on a stone?

      Oh never mind, the tories keep changing direction, it would never work.

  98. The BBC’s cleaning bill is going to be enormous judging by the excitement amongst the news staff who can hardy believe their ears and eyes over the current mess….

    2. Lots of semen allover the place as they suffer immense orgasms and premature ejaculations.

  100. And to think we scoff and laugh at the miserable antics of the Democrats across the pond…..

  101. On an increasingly depressing day, I will bid you all goodnight.

    At least I got a couple of the kerbstone steps put in place today and a dozen or so buckets of surplus soil shifted to back fill the bit of wall I did yesterday.

    Will be visiting t’Lad tomorrow in the QMC at Nottingham. He needs a phone charger.

    By the sounds of it, his R100 is a total write off and he’s not going to be able to salvage anything from it.

      1. Kt will, but the book value is unlikely to match the value of the bike as a classic in excellent condition.

    2. We may only hope. I’ve been advocating this for ever. Let us live in hope before we die in despair.

          7. As I’ve just asked, Lacoste, do you not remember how they reamed out the leadership after the Brexit vote to further their NEC’s future?

          15. In my view, when Farage upped and left, there was chaos because Nigel had not prepared for a successor and his attempt to shoehorn Bolton in was a disaster. I don’t think you can call all the UKIP rank and file traitorous.

          1. Do you not remember the way they reamed out the leadership immediately after the Brexit vote.?

            That’s when I left ’em.

          2. Perhaps you could recall and remind me, Tom?
            The last dozen or so remarks are vague and inarticulate!

  104. A Lowry painting has just sold for £7million. In 1976 MoH was working in a local Norwich Union office, when Lowry’s death was announced her boss said to her “Oh I’ve got one of his up in my loft”

  105. A Lowry painting has just sold for £7million. In 1976 MoH was working in a local Norwich Union office, when Lowry’s death was announced her boss said to her “Oh I’ve got one of his up in my loft”

  106. A BTL Comment from across the pond:

    gatorengineer

    “Biden had a big lead as the embarassment of the western world, but the brits are putting on a good show”.

  108. So now we know ..

    Liz Truss wants illegals to grow the state .. and Suella Braverman didn’t like it ..

    Dear heavens , where is it going to end .

    By the way I had an HoC letter from my MP in reply to my email to him. I wrote on the 17thOct and he replied by return .. Moh and I nearly fainted .

    Parliament is in a mess.. and that is an understatement .

  109. For some reason my memory popped this up: must have memorised it when very young.
    Strange how memory works.

    Psalm 23 KJV:
    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
    He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
    Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

    Maybe it’s a harbinger of doom, hope not, but one never knows these days.
    I’ll go back to my Shiraz and Vivaldi.

        2. a wee Deoch and Doris, does it for me. A large snifter before bed is the order of the day.

      2. I popped into Tesco hoping for more Dark Horse Merlot, no luck ☹️ all gone.
        So Yellow Tail Shiraz it is.

        1. I went to Asda today….Yellow Tail, or Kanga as we call it, was £6 a bottle.
          Edit- and it was 25% off for 6 bottles or more.

        2. We had a nice Chilean Merlot with our dinner earlier – The Patriots from Laithwaites. Still a drop left for tomorrow.

          1. Chile wines are good, especially as I got several bottles back in the 80’s when they were definitely not popular here in UK.
            Just opening some now.

    2. I learnt a few of those at my Cof E primary school. The Nunc Dimittis was one of my favourites.

      Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.

      For mine eyes have seen thy salvation;

      Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

      To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

      1. One of mine as well, although I have become very much an agnostic, I still enjoy the (comfort?) these words impart.

        1. I think I’ll add the Nunc Dimittis to my funeral list. I’m no longer a churchgoer, but I’d rather have a Christian service than a humanist one.

  110. Anders Leijerstam
    @andersleijersta
    Suella Braveman was our best hope to save Britain.

    Now gone – what are we to do?
    5:33 PM · Oct 19, 2022
    ·Twitter Web App

  111. I recall being taken to the panto as a child. That disgraceful performance in the HoC reminded me of that. All they didn’t shout was “He’s/she’s behind you.”
    They are all of them a total shameful disgrace.

    But I have more important things to worry about…. heard today that the grandmonsters and parents are visiting on Sunday. Will need to hide my walking stick.
    It has a name….Moby Stick.
    So food planning to arrange….

      1. Only from the grown ups;-)
        Honestly Richard, I could do without it as we’ve had a tough few weeks but MH is thrilled as his granddaughter adores him and he is just a big marshmallow when she’s here.

        2. Feed them MaccyDs, they will hopefully appreciate something new, not deride something they always have.

          If they are family you don’t need to try and impress them, just sit back and enjoy happy families.

  112. Going to bed now…worn out. Washing machine guy tomorrow afternoon and he’d better get it sorted once and for all.
    Happy boozing fellow tipplers;-))

  114. LittleBoats 🇬🇧NI🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿En
    @LittleBoats2020
    ·
    4h
    We believe Suella Braverman had a real desire to take firm action on illegal & legal immigration

    Her being replaced by a believer, as is Truss, in relaxing immigration controls is a clear sign the Conservative Party has been hijacked by Quisling Liberals

    We’re now defenceless

    1. Dominic Cummings sent a tweet saying that he thinks Braverman was fired, she didn’t jump ship voluntarily. He points out that documents are sent via private emails and chat applications every day.

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