660 thoughts on “Sunday 1 December: Mobilisation of younger voters leaves a Tory election victory in doubt”

  5. Good morning.
    Up at 4 am this morning to start work at 6 am – long drive in after staying O/N at a friend’s 🙁

      1. It really was.
        Great atmosphere, emotional goodbye from the crowd to Gatland, and a six try to five victory for Wales.
        Trebles all round.

  6. My secret meeting with mole at the heart of The Great Poison Gas Scandal. 1 December 2019.

    The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had become so important that it could no longer be allowed to do its job properly.

    Too many of the big powers that sponsor and finance it were breathing down its neck, wanting certain results, whether the facts justified them or not.

    My source calmly showed me various pieces of evidence that they were who they said they were, and knew what they claimed to know, making it clear that they worked for the OPCW and knew its inner workings. They then revealed a document to me.

    This was the email of protest, sent to senior OPCW officials, saying that a report on the alleged Syrian poison gas attack in Douma, in April 2018, had been savagely censored so as to alter its meaning.

    Morning everyone. Here’s Mr Hitchens with a rather melodramatic follow up to his story last week. The OPCW has already been penetrated by the West and will, with its new powers, soon become simply another addition to its propaganda arm. This is partly due to events in Syria and Salisbury, where MI6’s False Flag Chemical attacks have failed to convince and the intelligence community not once having heard the military aphorism, never reinforce failure have decided that they weren’t just lousy ideas incompetently performed but what was needed were more bureaucrats on their side.

    There is good reason to think that this is just the latest takeover of what were once independent institutions that acted as guarantors of the West’s probity. Though it is in the nature of things that one cannot know with absolute certainty, behaviour is a good guide as to whether this has already happened. The Nobel Peace Prize for example has long since been simply dispensed to Washington’s order as Obama’s receipt of the award amply demonstrates, while WADA now looks to be under outside control. Whether this program of takeovers will ultimately benefit the West seems unlikely. As decisions become ever more obvious in their bias, faith in them will decline and the existence of East/West cooperation and events like the World Cup and the Olympics will be endangered and in the end fail in their purpose. As to politics if “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” then it is also the last resort of those who cannot get a hearing for those politics.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-7742255/PETER-HITCHENS-secret-meeting-mole-heart-Great-Poison-Gas-Scandal.html

    2. It is quite a game to get to the truth when confident that pretty well everybody is lying, or is being accused of lying by those with skills of persuasion,

  7. Morning all

    SIR – Boris Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings was right to caution on Wednesday against expectations of a Conservative majority come December 12.

    Beneath the surface, membership of the hard-Left political movement Momentum has been increasing, mostly among younger voters who can be expected to turn out in large numbers. Conversely the Young Conservatives have largely evaporated in recent decades, leaving the Conservative Party deprived of its energetic youth membership that once numbered over 100,000.

    The effect of this change in the demographics of both parties is not to be underestimated.

    John Pritchard

    Ingatestone, Essex

    SIR – The Tories are in danger of playing the election game too cautiously, whereas Labour is mobilising Momentum activists.

    Small-state conservatism versus drab Marxism should be easy to sell, but the message is not being hammered home with enough vigour.

    Brian Pegnall

    Falmouth, Cornwall

    SIR – As the founder of one of Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises, employing around 65 staff, and having struggled through the recession in 2008, I have grave concerns that Labour’s business policies would plunge our economy into freefall, resulting in a much deeper recession than we have known in recent history.

    The proposal to nationalise industry is a sharp swing to the hard Left, and nationalisation has not proved to be an efficient business model. The attempt to woo voters with promises of giveaways is mischievous. There is no such thing as free student fees or free broadband. All costs will have to be borne by taxpayers.

    Ian Price

    Danbury, Essex

    1. SIR – Jeremy Corbyn is not prepared to stand up for the Jewish community as it faces intimidation from Islamists and from the far Left.

      His political priorities and his hunger for power override any pretension to creating a fair society.

      Gerald Heath

      Corsham, Wiltshire

    2. I had this out about renationalisation a few years ago when attending a Green Party meeting in Malvern with then-leader Natalie Bennett. This was at the time when Caroline Lucas was attempting to push through a Private Member’s Bill to renationalise the railways.

      My concern is that in order to reduce the pressure on the Treasury to finance HS2, the Cotswold Line from Paddington to Malvern would either have to be axed, or ticket prices put up substantially. There are also cases that other lines competing with HS2 would need to be closed, in order to force passengers to pay the premium prices. On that we were agreed.

      However, I then asked whether the railways were in private or State hands when Beeching axed much of the railway network, often after a very dodgy and short-sighted use survey, designed to justify a lucrative motorway infrastructure project. I also asked how many of the heritage railways, which alone have been doing much in the last half-century to right the damage, are in the public sector?

      1. The railways are already in State ownership and in theory understate management. Corbyn prefers not to mention that
        All that is really outsourced is the Train Operating companies

        The problem is more how the government manages the railways currently the approach is the TOC’s in theory compete with each other but in practice due to the nature of railways running on tracks there is very little real competition and frequently what little competition there is works against passengers. If you want to get from A to B you will want to get on the first train and not have to wait for a particular companies train

        The other current problem is with investment. That is really down to the government but like with housing it triers to push it onto the TOC’s so it is a mess

        The Railways should be run in my view as a proper franchise business. It should also be run as a network and not as dozens of TOC’s pretending to compete. If you take London buses the services are all run by different companies but it is run and managed as a single network with a single brand and a single fare structure so you an get on any bus that comes along and takes you to where you want to go. You do not have to wait for a particular companies but to come along

        1. Conventional wisdom dictates that the Philippines is a Third World Country, and therefore inferior in every way to the UK, which is Developed Economy.

          One thing that struck me during my visits in the mid-2000s is that back home I am lucky to find a bus passing my home twice a week, and that ticket prices are pretty ruinous. A car is essential.

          Out in the Philippines, one can stand at the side of the road and within 90 seconds someone will turn up in something prepared to take you where you want to go. It could be a taxi (expensive, but air-conditioned), a jeepney (like a communal minibus with a driver capable of driving while handling fare money while going along, with the help of a little religious icon dangling in the window) or a tricycle, which is a moped with sidecar. We managed to get 14 people onto one of these, but it didn’t go very fast. Quicker to walk, but less cosy. They were cheap though – about 10p a ride. Scheduled buses do not leave until the bus is full enough to make money for the driver. There are also boats of varying seaworthiness, and where I stayed an airport a mile away.

        2. Theimage conjured up by the term “Train Operating companies” is far removed from the reality. When a franchise changes from one “Train Operating” company to another, all of the staff remain. Staff transfer to the new franchisee under TUPE. The only change is in the senior controlling cadre. This could be as few as six people.

  8. SIR – Our Armed Forces are underfunded.

    Whatever the various parties may say about maintaining the commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence, they ignore the steady reduction in funding that has taken place over decades, compared to other areas of government spending.

    Between 2010 (when it was 2.2 per cent) and 2018, Ministry of Defence expenditure as a percentage of GDP decreased by a larger proportion than the reductions in NHS, pensions and benefits and education spending. Since the end of the Cold War, expenditure on the NHS had doubled as a proportion of GDP. By contrast, defence expenditure had almost halved.

    This seemingly inexorable reduction in defence spending, with no real reduction in what is expected of our Armed Services, is extremely dangerous. It is accepted wisdom that the world is more chaotic and threatening than at any time since the early Fifties. All our political parties prefer to ignore this fact.

    We need to reinvest in defence or the security of our nation and people will be at risk.

    Admiral Lord West of Spithead

    London SW1

    2. That would be the Labour peer Admiral Lord West of Spithead.
      Why doesn’t he have a word with Jezza?

  9. Morning again

    SIR – Most general practices are owned and run by independent contractors rather than by a salaried workforce, and most GPs put loyalty to their patients ahead of any loyalty to the Department of Health.

    Over many years and under governments of all persuasions, the Department of Health’s approach has been to reduce GPs’ autonomy and increase bureaucracy, making their workload unsustainable. This has led to a long-standing manpower crisis, which in turn has led to lengthy waiting times for routine appointments and the current threat to home visits.

    Such a situation is clearly bad for GPs and patients, and it is also bad economics. Done well, general practice is far more cost-effective than hospital care.

    Dr Tim Cantor

    West Malling, Kent

    1. SIR – It is a sad fact that “fast dentistry” (“‘Slow dentists’ say it’s better to be patient in the chair”, report, November 24) is the reality for NHS patients across England and Wales. The system, and our contracts, put chasing government targets ahead of patient care.

      Every year, it’s not about the oral health improvements we secure, but about the boxes ticked. Hit targets early, and we can’t see any more NHS patients. Fail to make the grade, and we face financial penalties. It’s a system that means a dentist gets paid the same for one filling as for five, and one that can leave practitioners out of pocket when treating patients with high needs. As health professionals, we need the next government to give us time to care.

      Mick Armstrong

      Chairman, British Dental Association

      London W1

    2. “…most GPs put loyalty to their patients ahead…”

      Do these letters cross over from parallel Universe?

  10. Britain couldn’t confront Putin if Jeremy Corbyn were Prime Minister. DOMINIC RAAB. 30 NOVEMBER 2019.

    The terrorist attack at London Bridge on Friday provided a harrowing reminder of the security threats we face, and the challenge of defending the freedoms we prize. The horrific attack was met with breath-taking courage from members of the public who tackled the perpetrator, and the brave professionalism of police and medics who stopped the rampage and tended to the victims. They are all in our thoughts.

    This is idiocy in print. Britain with a moribund military is not going to be confronting anyone let alone Russia and what Putin has to do with the attacks on London Bridge is anyone’s guess. Even Raab seems unable to connect it in the text. As to, “defending the freedoms we prize”. What Freedoms are those? Freedom of Speech? Well that is long gone along with a controlled media and censorship. Freedom from Fear? We all of us now live with one ear tuned for the knock on the door from the Thought Police. Freedom of Worship? That’s reserved for True Believers. The truth is that the Britain Raab talks about here exists only in his imagination as a residue from the past. It is actually a fragile polity poised on the edge of becoming a fully-fledged Bananarised Police State.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/30/britain-couldnt-confront-putin-jeremy-corbyn-prime-minister/

    1. Morning AS,Is anyone about to write “the self captive Nation” yet ?
      or,
      13 sure fire ways to lose a country via
      the ballot booth.

    2. Morning Minty

      A fully-fledged Bananarised Police State…. a fully-fledged Bananarised Labour government … fully-fledged Bananarised BBC.. fully-fledged Bananarised legal system .. fully-fledged Bananarised British cities and so it goes on … oh yes and a fully-fledged Bananarised British airways .

      1. Good morning Truthful Loveliness

        The high priest of bananisation is David Miliband who is now paid over $750,000 a year by a charity in a Banana Republic.

    3. …provided a harrowing reminder of the security threats we face, and the challenge of defending the freedoms we prize.

      Perhaps Raab should take time out to consider why we have such a challenge to what once were our accepted freedoms. As a politician he holds some responsibility for both the parlous state of the internal security in the Country and the reduction in our freedoms as a consequence.
      Our political class is in full-on denial re their responsibility in the growing problems in society: they are afraid to address the reasons why and therefore fail to address the outcomes. The limp and tired mantra that diversity is our strength and that vibrancy and enrichment should be embraced has lost traction and hence any legitimacy in the face of the violence and culture shock that has followed the influx of too many disparate people.

  11. Usman Khan

    There has been a lot of attempts by the opposition to point score on this which is interesting as they are usually against sending people to prison

    The facts I have manage to establish is that Khan was given an Indefinite sentence. Left wing lawyers then got involved and it went to the ECHR which decided that an Indeterminant sentence breached his human rights so it was sent back to the courts and h was then given a 16 year sentence this then triggers his automatic right to only serve 50% of the sentence subject only to good behaviour in the prision

    2. Left wing lawyers .. They will still be with us if and when we Brexit, and they will still influence policy .. Another area that will never ever be cleaned out!

  12. A little philosophy to start the week and the new month:

    1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow. In fact, just piss off
    and leave me alone.

    2. Sex is like air. It’s not that important unless you aren’t getting any.

    3. No one is listening until you fart.

    4. Always remember you’re unique. Just like everyone else.

    5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

    6. If you think nobody cares whether you’re alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.

    7. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.

    8. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.

    9. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

    10. If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it.

    11. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.

    12. Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree.

    13. Don’t worry; it only seems kinky the first time.

    14. Good judgment comes from bad experience … and most of that comes from bad judgment.

    15. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

    16. There are two excellent theories for arguing with women. Neither one works.

    17. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.

    18. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

    19. We are born naked, wet and hungry and get slapped on our arse …. then things just keep getting worse.

    20. Never, in any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

  13. Good morning thinkers. Our first day of winter

    Winter by William Shakespeare

    When icicles hang by the wall
    And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
    And Tom bears logs into the hall,
    And milk comes frozen home in pail,
    When Blood is nipped and ways be foul,
    Then nightly sings the staring owl,
    Tu-who;
    Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
    While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

    When all aloud the wind doth blow,
    And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
    And birds sit brooding in the snow,
    And Marian’s nose looks red and raw
    When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
    Then nightly sings the staring owl,
    Tu-who;
    Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
    While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

    1. Good morning Belle, 27 degrees here at 12.10pm.
      Today is the first day of BBC winter. Real winter, as I was taught at school, starts with the winter solstice on 22nd December.

      1. Good morning GG..

        Yes of course you are quite correct about winter.

        24 degrees is my ideal temperature .. Never ever enjoyed hot weather .. Spring weather is my nicest season.

        3. Autumn is lovely – nothing can beat September’s gentle air – but it is tinged with sadness.

        1. Send the image to Monbiot.

          That stupid oaf said we would never know snow again.

          Truly the man needs putting in a home for the terminally ‘green’

      3. Beat me to it, Grumps. It is today only meteorological ‘winter’ in the tiny minds of weather presenters. For the rest of us, who can apparently understand these things, it is as you say on the 22nd (at 04:19 to be precise).

      1. I would imagine a Tudor skivvy was a pretty bedraggled and grubby object confined to the scullery, spending her days scrubbing large cooking pots with sand.
        If she was lucky, she would have goose grease to rub into her red raw hands.

        1. Eating in Tudor times appears to have been a necessary but risky pastime. Pass the water.

          1. Drinking water was even more risky in Tudor times. Hence the popularity of small beer.

          2. If we time travelled back to Tudor times, we’d not last a week.
            Apart from low standards of hygiene, we would meet myriad alien bugs that would overwhelm our immune systems.

      2. I think she was a skivvy or maybe she was the cook in charge of the skivvies..

        We all were fascinated by the image of Greasy Joan when we first came across her when we were at prep school.

        When I read the poem to my boys when they were about 8 years old they too wanted to know why Joan was greasy.

  15. Labour say NHS figures show decline in GP services

    The two main course of the problem are down to a) Ever increasing numbers of GP’s choosing to work part time & b) Mass migration

    1. BJ,
      Mass uncontrolled immigration resulting in,
      Mass murder, mass paedophilia, etc,etc, courtesy of the lab/lib/con coalition party.

  16. Boris Johnson thrusts London Bridge attack into centre of election battle. Sat 30 Nov 2019.

    The prime minister reacted to the latest terrorist incident – in which three people died, including the assailant – by promising a package of hardline reforms which also included mandatory minimum 14-year sentences, an end to automatic early release for terrorist and extremism offences, and a new system under which those convicted will have to serve every day of sentences handed down by judges.

    And these measures were already being considered and have just been brought to mind by recent events? This is just vulturelike feeding off the deaths of others for political gain!

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/30/boris-johnson-london-bridge-terror-attack-hardline-reforms

    1. What has this parliament been doing, they have taken their eye off every detail , what happened to scrutiny and review , what were the lawyers / brainbox MPs thinking .. Did no one in the civil service advise on precautionary measures

      What on earth has everyone being doing .. I expect Theresa May as home sec and then PM is hugely to blame for lots of these failings.

      1. Morning TB,
        The semi re-entry ratchet never stopped clicking the
        wretch cameron had a plan if
        the unbelievable happened & it did.
        Him out triggered the mayday farce, closing scenes now being played out.

      2. I think it goes back to Blair’s thoughtful prezzie to his fragrant wife. Cherie needed a ready source of pin money, so he gifted her the Human Rights Act.

        1. In addition she needed a steady flow of clients so foul up the judicial system and open the doors to the World.

          1. Good morning Dandy Front Pager

            Is there anything that the Blairs touched that they did not corrupt and destroy?

          2. Hello, Sailor.
            Self servers, the pair of them. Sadly, their example still lingers amongst the current rabble.

      3. Everything May involved herself with turned to crap. A serial incompetent who somehow managed to scale the political greasy pole.

      4. ‘Morning, Mags, which is why, in my book, the Parliaments that ran from 2015 to date, will always be known as The Contemptible Parliament (s).

      1. Hmmm… I don’t disagree, but I would separate politics from government.

        Good government is often bad politics whereas good politics is always bad government.

    4. Following on from the Tornado’s sonic boom this morning I see that a squadron of Gloucester Old Spots are currently airborne. Do not forget your umbrellas.😎

    5. “This is just vulturelike feeding…” That’s politics!

      Erm, you want proactive politicians to enact laws and processes will take care of future bad outcomes before they happen?

    6. Nothing at all wrong with vultures. They do a great job.

      Indian vultures of nine different species were some of the most numerous large raptors in the world, seen all over the subcontinent until the 1990/2000s, then their numbers suddenly crashed. No-one knew why. It’s estimated that 98% of vultures died out. Now the skies are empty of them, although there are re-introduction programmes in place and numbers are slowly increasing.

      The reason for the population crash was diclofenac, which vets had begun to use as an anti-infamatory drug on livestock. Vulture kidneys can’t handle it and the slightest trace is fatal. The population died of kidney failure. It was estimated that one carcass could kill a hundred vultures.

      The side effect of this was an increase in human deaths from rabies.

      How? Without the vultures to clean up the carcasses of dead livestock and keep other scavengers at bay, the field was left clear for packs of feral dogs, of which there are many, to do the job instead. The dogs thrived and increased in number many times over. More feral dogs, more people get bitten, more deaths from rabies.

      Nowt wrong with vultures. They are the heroes.

      With this knowledge to hand and vulture numbers declining in Spain, Italy and elsewhere, the EU recently introduced diclofenac as an approved vetinary drug.

      1. Cripes. I’m a vulture. I can’t take diclofenac because it sends my blood pressure sky high.

    7. The cynic in me thinks that if the felons were locked up for ever, it would reduce the Chambers’ in-trays……

      1. I can understand why terrorists are against indeterminate sentences.
        Here is my suggestion: a determined sentence of a few weeks and then they are released through a trapdoor in the floor.

    8. I can’t really tell if the Guardian is for or against this policy. Well, one assumes it is against it simply because it’s Boris saying it but the alternative is they are for terrorists to be released.

      It must be very difficult for them – but that’s a known issue for hypocrites generally.

    9. It would save so much time, effort and lives if every dingy that was paddled across the channel was intercepted and forcibly towed back to France. This would stop large numbers of manly men, who believe the same poison that this attacker did, from arriving here in the first place. Then we could try enforcing controls on the other border crossings.

      An unlimited repatriation law would be an idea. So that whenever you are found, even if it is 5 years after you sneaked in hidden in a lorry, you will have a chance to say which country you came from. If you refuse to answer then it is an automatic deportation to one of the more desolate islamic countries. One that cannot say no to having them placed there.

      1. If only. However, having been put in charge of repatriating undesirables, Anthony Layden resigned the position after only a few weeks having concluded that it was impossible to get anyone deported from the UK. (He was head boy at my school, a school packed with smart people, needless to say.)
        Below, I link to a mind-boggling review of the deportations process, and anewspaper report on Layden’s resignation.

        https://onesmallwindow.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/10-years-of-deportation-with-assurances-a-national-security-imperative/
        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11427428/Anti-terrorism-chief-quits-over-failure-to-expel-suspects.html

        1. There do seem to be a group of people, who wield a lot of power, who are very keen to stop these “society wreckers” from being removed.

        2. … if every dingy dinghy that was paddled across the channel…

          Or did you spell it that way because they show no lights? 😉

    1. I love this time of year. Being on the beach at 06:00am day after day, watching the Moon wax and wane. From the bright light of a full Moon that makes the crest of every breaking wave reflect silver for as far as the eye can see, to the lights of a fishing boat out in the bay when there is no Moon at all.

      I do have a small electric lamp that hangs from my pack so that any early dog walkers can see me coming. You don’t want a 6 foot figure dressed head to toe in black emerging from the night 10 feet away when the wind is blowing and you can’t hear each other coming. 🙂

  19. Murder threat to Tory hustings as police arrest a woman who told Conservative candidate she felt like ‘f***ing killing’ him

    Strange the BBC never mentions the very large group of extreme left wingers

    A woman was arrested after threatening to murder a Conservative candidate at a public election meeting.
    Susan Gidman told Jack Brereton to his face that she felt like ‘f***ing killing’ him in front of shocked party campaigners.
    She was arrested at home after other audience members called 999 and has now accepted a police caution for using threatening behaviour and using insulting words.

    1. An exchange that only 10 years ago would have passed without comment let alone the police!

    2. Silly person. Never accept a police caution. (No such thing in Scotland.). Never, ever. The police will try to persuade, cajole, coerce and threaten you into accepting a caution. This is because it is a conviction. It gives you a criminal record. An easy-peasy conviction for police records and helps the crime and clear-up stats. Go to court. First offence – possible absolute discharge. Worst case – fined £5.

    1. Morning Mags

      Yesterday pinhead Cooper was sobbing that the poor, poor terrorist couldn’t get on the Jihadi Detox programme he so dearly wanted because of nasty Tory cuts. The woman has no shame.

      1. I am under the distinct impression that Mr Khan was known to the employees of the DDP. My guess is that the police were ordered to shoot him because in any trial he could have embarrassed their superiors.
        These little attacks work wonders for the budgets of certain govt. departments.

    2. Economy and prosperity can be more important than democracy she says. That is the world in a nutshell for those people she is paid to represent.

      Money is more important than freedom.

      And as the Bible passage goes: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”

      1. Money *is* freedom.

        Having lots of it means choice. Having none means having no choices. Consider: you’re a chap on 20K a year. You bring home what, £1500 a month? From that, your rent is £500. You have to drive to work. You’ve a small family to support and no other income.

        Now, the state takes from you every month, assuming an average vehicle, over £70 in car taxes alone. It then takes £140 in council tax. (2 bed house in my area). That’s £210 already for… nothing. Your income is now 790. You do 4 weekly shops and pay 20% VAT on them all. Where you shop passes it’s business rates, rent and waste taxes directly on to you as well, so making prices more expensive.

        Our chap is left with barely a tenner at the end of the month. Why? Because of tax. If he didn’t have to pay the taxes companies pay, if he paid no council tax – as he’s already paid it in income and NI – if his vehicle were not taxed and the maintenance not heavily taxed and their jobs not taxed he would be far better off.

        He would then be able to buy more. He could save for his daughters education. Money buy him choices.

        Money isn’t evil. Money is just the medium of exchange we invented to swap time.

        1. ” assuming an average vehicle, over £70 in car taxes alone ”
          Since when was car tax £840 a year ????

          4. Do you not include MOTs, maintenance, tyre wear, fuel?

            My car ‘tax’ is 0, but I still count those as the running costs/month of the motor.

        2. wibbling – that was a long comment that was slightly unnecessary, could have been avoided and is, dare I suggest, common sense. 🙂

          If you had read the Bible quote I referenced it says: “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” Not money itself. It is those who LOVE money (and the power that it brings) above human beings that are on a dark path. Having money is not evil. You can do a lot of good with it.

          As for your first line “Money *is* freedom” that is a bit much over-emphasis on the importance of money and what freedom really is. You cannot take money with you, and it can be taken from you at any time. That “freedom” is somewhat of an illusion when it is based on something so fragile. In my opinion anyway.

          It is a Sunday so I would hope that no offence is taken by you for this viewpoint. 🙂

        1. A Tale of which the very personification is Tony Blair, delivered straight from God’s central casting as a reminder to us all. The older he (TB) gets, the more the Pardoner’s characteristics slither forth from his face.

    3. Maitliss said of the EU ‘Free, tolerance and democracy’ as if it were a mantra. In reality the EU stands for oppression, fascism and control.’, but hey. She’s never let the truth bother her.

      Her argument is that we must not leave the EU because it makes us ‘prosperous (massive trade deficit, slowed growth, huge debt in the Eurozone, high taxes, poverty in Greece, Italy and Spain’ As for stability – the EU makes us unstable as it is a plunging ship of utter economic chaos.

      It is democracy that keeps our country fair. Our deficit is created because of the EU. She doens’t realise this of course but putting two and two together for a fanatic is like asking them to explain why we should remain in the EU.

      Sadly, such people do not understand. We’re in a mess because the state consumes 45 % of the economy. It’s like having a lodger who uses all your food, drives your car half the time, never fills the tank up, ruins the engine, leaves you to do all the tidying up, washing up, hoovering, who never flushes the loo and never pays any rent. The worker is burdened by the shirker of the public sector. Until that is shrunk back to 25% at most the economy is stagnant. While we are chained to the endless pettiness of the EU nothing will change.

      1. Corbyn’s Labour is pretty much the former Communist form of Labour. The last country left practising that is Cuba and they are slowly moving away from it. I guess there is also Venezuela and Columba although technically not communist in practice they pretty much are

        1. They relied on a charismatic visionary, such as Castro and Chavez, being in reasonably good health, which neither are right now.

          Momentum’s division between the young Left and the traditional 1970s socialists over Brexit is tying the old man hand and foot, with each month delay over Brexit turning the ratchet. One end of the rack binds us to the EU, and the other to America.

    2. I tried to find out if this was true or not.

      The first website, fullfact.org said it wasn’t. Now, as I just don’t trust that one source (as it has form for attacking the Boris bus numbers without providing the whole truth – that the rebate is being scrapped, that the money spent in the UK is controlled by the EU and that it was the gross figure) I looked deeper and it appears that fullfact.org is sponsored by the Open Society foundation – which is sponsored by our old chum George Soros. SAdly, anything with his name on it I cannot trust.

      Then there’s this document: https://landforthemany.uk/ which is written by that old liar, fool and Lefty, Monbiot. A fanatic green communist who would deliberately tax property on a ‘progressive’ scale. I.e if you own land, over time he would make it so uneconomicaly for you to leave it alone that he’d tax you to oblivion – because he’s a mendacious git.

      Thus I’m not sure if they would remove the single person’s allowance. As it is, my council tax increased – within three years of the hated Brown’s government – to vastly more than the full amount I started off paying. It is obvious that Labour would immediately attack any and all tax levers they could and council tax is an easy one, either abolishing it or changing it to one far, far higher under the pretence of ‘helping make tax fair’ by taxing old ladies in big houses.

    1. However the important question is – are the public seeing that politicians on the Right are tired of being insulted and abused by biased reporters or are they seeing petulant school boys refusing to talk to them?

      1. The politicians on the right need to get some training in dealing with the likes of Channel 4, e.g. from Jordan Peterson or Ben Shapiro. They don’t back down or apologise, and usually make the other side look like fools.

        1. The problem there is that Ben has a razor sharp intellect and a gift for words that is as astonishing as it is crushing to those that challenge him.

          1. It’s easier to defend yourself and keep to your point if what you’re saying is the truth (as you see it) rather then defending a position that’s not tenable or just a political talking point.

  25. This election is not going to plan.’ The Lib Dems feel the big squeeze. Andrew Rawnsley. 1 December 2019.

    Some of it is down to tactical mistakes. During an election, broadcast airtime is strictly apportioned between the parties. All need to be mindful of the stopwatch. In the opening phase of this campaign, the Lib Dems consumed a lot of their ration in not making their arguments and pushing their positions but complaining that Ms Swinson had been excluded from the first leaders’ TV debate. There may have been some justice to that complaint, but it is the sort of processology dispute that switches off a lot of voters. When Ms Swinson then did get her opportunity to shine, she didn’t. I thought she turned in an entirely respectable performance on the leaders’ Question Time, but it must have been morale-draining to strut before a studio audience that would not reward a single one of her applause lines with a clap. Woundingly, some polls suggest that people like her less the more that they see of her. Her colleagues sound a bit baffled trying to explain this to themselves, one speculating that “maybe there is prejudice against a younger woman”.

    Lol! They didn’t clap? This is the woman who on numerous occasions has told half the electorate that they can vote till they are blue in the face they are still not going to get Brexit!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/01/this-election-is-not-going-to-plan-the-liberal-democrats-feel-the-big-squeeze

    1. The Lib Dems -and Swinson specifically – have used language that goes utterly against the British spirit of fair play. When she says ‘we have wasted three years over Brexit’ she thinks she is being clever and pro active. In reality she’s spitting on democracy itself, the very franchise, the very thing she relies upon for her legitimacy.

      Even if she disagrees with Brexit,t o describe it as a waste of time is offensive to those decent remain voters (the forgotten silent majority) who have said that while they didn’t vote for it, the country did so we must implement it.

      2. Surely the forgotten silent majority is the Leavers. Have to admit I haven’t seen any of the “debates” (thank goodness) but seems to me that nobody is making the Brexit case, least of all Boris. And, I suppose now it’s election time, nobody wants to rock the boat by criticising his “WA”, which is the last thing we want – it’s worse than staying in the EU and having a say in

    2. Ah, I see the default excuses of misogyny and ageism rather than no one outside the Lib Dems likes her.

  26. Terrorists should ‘not necessarily’ serve full term, says Corbyn

    Below shows the naivety of Corbyn he says it depends o what they have done in prison. Well they generally play the game and behaviour whilst in their. Khan would have been in their for more than 8 years had he not done so

    Jeremy Corbyn has told Sky News that convicted terrorists should “not necessarily” serve their full prison sentences automatically after Boris Johnson said violent offenders “must serve every day of their sentence, with no exceptions”.

    Pressed on if convicted terrorists should serve their full prison sentences automatically, Mr Corbyn said: “No, not necessarily”.
    He said: “I think it depends on the circumstances and it depends on the sentence but crucially depends on what they’ve done in prison.

    1. We put them in the khan, I mean can, to stop them killing people as well as a punishment. If the terrorists prefer capital punishment, which is illegal, they can take the suicide option so long as they don’t hurt anyone but themselves. They have forfeited their right to belong here.

      1. ‘Morning, Tony, “If the terrorists prefer capital punishment, which is illegal…”

        For now. I can see it’s re-introduction if we continue to face these terror threats and, since it is mainly Muslims perpetrating the terror, then it will not only remove their chance to re-offend but also prevent them radicalising their fellow prisoners and, at the same time, reduce the prison population. Seems like win, win, win to me.

        1. NtN, the clever moslems are playing the long game through their women’s wombs. With the ongoing help of our politicos they are likely to succeed unless the majority wake up in time and put a stop to the takeover. The not so clever moslems perpetrate acts of terror because that’s what they have done since the 7th century; they can’t help themselves.
          The terrorist are advertising their intent and what we should expect from them if they succeed: the responsibility for the many innocent victims lies with the various governments that have not only allowed this incursion but continue to encourage it even when the end-game is obvious. If all those responsible are ever brought to account the trials will make Nuremberg look like a sideshow.

        2. I wish there were a word to replace radicalised when what is being described is encouragement of faith in those for whom religion has faded or never been established.

    2. These terrorists intend to kill people. A prison sentence will not change their way of thinking. The only way to prevent them from killing or attempting to kill again is to keep them in prison for the rest of their lives.

          1. Morning Tom – There should be a mandatory death sentence for all terrorists and the lawyers who try to get them off

      2. I certainly don’t think terrorists should be given indeterminate sentences.
        A month would be long enough and then they can be released via a trapdoor in the floor.

    1. As the unfortunate Mr Merritt was an organiser of the conference of thieves and murderers, may I nominate him for a Darwin award.

      1. How many Jack Merrits will it take before the appeasers and do-gooders realise that you cannot negotiate with ardent followers of islam. It’s their way or death, it really is that simple. They make it plain enough, to be honest.

      2. We don’t know the details of the circumstances, but the link below gives a good idea. Mr Merritt is not named as an organiser.
        However, be that as it may, the attendees were clearly a mixed bunch, from academics to convicted criminals. Difficult to find out more as the Fishmongers website is down for “maintenance”.
        We should not blame the innocent, naive, and good for the actions of bad people. Murderers can be rehabilitated. I worked, for a time, for an organisation that encouraged prisoners to keep in touch with their families and which assisted this. This contact helps prisoners integrate into society upon release. Some convicts are in prison 50 or 100 expensive miles away from their families.
        Jihadis and muslims can not be rehabilitated, or de-radicalised.
        (How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Just one, but the light bulb has to want to change.)

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/29/london-bridge-terror-attack-event-centre-incident-anniversary/

        1. He had some good lines, especially on the wisdom that he had gained with his age. When he was asked, after his lifetime of being a barbarian, what were the most important things he cherished, he said:

          “Hot water. Good dentishtry. Shoft lavatory paper.”

          Going on to add: “I losht a lot of reshpect when my teeth went. They would shay “Shit down by the fire Granddad and have shome shoop.” That’s a nashty cough you have there boy…”

  29. Christmas excitement here in Dubai.
    Youngest GD and S-i-L have bought a Christmas Tree 🎄 and daughter and granddaughters now decorating the tree and the rest of the house with lights and baubles. Sipping champagne now as S-i-L makes panini for lunchtime snack. Christmas music playing on TV via YouTube. A bit surreal. 29 degrees C and clear blue skies.

      2. We received our first Christmas Card yesterday, ie in November!

        [Complete with round robin annual litany, of course.]

    1. Of course he would. He blames the UK for everything. It’s almost as if he’s the leader of Palestine.

  32. Who was the second victim killed by the terrorist, please ? It’s surely past time for her name to be released ?
    There is so much censorship in the media these days I am paranoid about everything I read.

  33. Radio Five: Pienaar’s Politics first guest, an Oirish comedienne named
    Grainne McGwyer, says “The whole way we are talking about this [terror
    attack] is so depressing. When you label things like this a terrorist
    attack you make it sound as if it is this big organised cabal that’s out
    to get us rather than probably a very mentally ill, vulnerable man who
    wasn’t given a lot of support.”
    Fuckwits,fuckwits everywhere

    1. Then how about calling it an Islamist attack instead?

      The Lefties are very quick to say “Oh it’s the Zionists we were talking about, not the Jews”

      So it’s the Islamists not the Muslims who are the enemy.

      1. Most muslims are peaceful. (True, but read on.)
        During WW2 most Germans were peaceful. True. But at the same time there were hundreds of Germans over London, dropping bombs on the peaceful British living in the East End of London. So we laid down flowers and tea lights and felt empathy with the peaceful Germans. Not true. We bombed them flat.
        Most muslims are peaceful. True, but also a Big Lie.
        Joseph Goebbels must be laughing his socks off.

        1. As we have said many times, it’s not the Muslims we have to worry about, it’s the Muslim Muslims.

          2. I never get tired of watching that clip. So direct and to the point. Well worth 4 1/2 minutes of anybodies time. The response of the audience shows how good they feel to finally hear someone telling the truth on this subject.

          3. Well worth 4 1/2 minutes of anybodies anybody’s time.

            I thought I’d get that in to show that the apostrophe is not dead yet. I won’t dwell on the split infinitive.

    5. Propagandist for lefties. Keep playing down the problem i.e. appeasing and see where that gets you. Lessons from history not learnt and acted upon.

    6. Mnetally ill lone wolf.

      Heck, we called it right!

      He was an Islamic fundamentalist whose religion says he can kill people and be rewarded for it. Nothing more.

        2. It’s a Gap bag; a successful clothing company which was founded by a Jewish couple who became billionaire philanthropists.

    2. I wouldn’t be surprised if that image was faked by the Labour knuckle-draggers at Momentum, just so they can say “Look at how racist and islamophobic the right wing are! They make images such as this to trick people!”

      The rosettes have clearly been reversed and then photo-shopped on to the image. It is very crude and roughly done, as is most far left propaganda. Those of us “on the right” do not need to use fake images so bluntly, as the reality of this invasion is bad enough already.

      When we do alter images to make a point, we do it with far more style with a good reason behind it.

      1. Hang on. Those roseettes just look like smiley faces on a yellow back ground.

        As it is, those women (one assumes they’re women) have expensive handbags (so the wife tells me) and shop at ‘the gap’ whic, despite it’s name appears to be a filled in gap.

        Thus they obviously enjoy the fruits of capitalism.

    1. “Build it up with silver and gold.”

      Is that when they put the civil service in charge of administering the contracts?

    1. Watched it earlier it was a terrible interview by Marr, constant interruptions, Boris couldn’t get a word out. All Marr succeeded in doing is irritating the viewers and letting Boris off the hook.

      1. Marr is not a good interviewer because of the interruptions. N Farage put him in his place a few months back and on a subsequent interview Marr was less aggressive.

    2. It wasn’t a good move to try and avoid Neil and then being badgered into doing the interview isn’t a good indicator of his strength of character for when he comes up against Barnier et al. Weak and vacillating politicians are the bane of our lives.

    3. ‘Morning, Rastus.

      Does that mean that you’ll stop repeating yourself like a long-playing parrot?

      1. The truth needs an hourly
        airing, lack of it has got us and kept us as nation in a state of perpetual sh!te.

      2. I shall stop repeating my erudite observations when you undertake to stop repeating your repetitive criticisms of my repetitions!

  38. First letter:

    “SIR – Boris Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings was right to caution on Wednesday against expectations of a Conservative majority come December 12.

    Beneath the surface, membership of the hard-Left political movement Momentum has been increasing, mostly among younger voters who can be expected to turn out in large numbers. Conversely the Young Conservatives have largely evaporated in recent decades, leaving the Conservative Party deprived of its energetic youth membership that once numbered over 100,000.

    The effect of this change in the demographics of both parties is not to be underestimated.

    John Pritchard”

    Good point, Mr Pritchard. Is there no ‘Young Conservatives’ organisation or equivalent any more? I seem to recall that Mrs T was less than impressed with their drunken antics. Nevertheless, a party without a youth movement must surely be missing a trick.

    1. Youth is a fickle thing. Blink, and today’s teenagers become tomorrow’s grannies.

      The Youth of Momentum were recruited from those who were upset by Clegg’s false pledge on tuition fees that put so many of them into debt most of their adult lives. Someone age 18 in 2010 would have been born around 1992.

      Today’s 18-year-olds would be born in 2001. Should we look now at their contemporaries? The only famous person I know born in 2001 is the actress who played Karen Brockman from ‘Outnumbered’. During the series, she was the intrepid inquisitioner, but has changed a lot since the show ended.

      Coming up are Greta Thunberg (born 2003) and Alma Deutscher (born 2005). Both are quite capable of forming their own political pressure groups, never mind Momentum. One is radical environmentalist at the level of a strict religious order, the other promotes a form of ultra-conservative neo-romanticism founded on a concept of beauty and harmony. Can Momentum (or indeed any of the existing parties) have much to offer either movement?

  40. Apostrophe society shuts

    Living languages change and some people find that change difficult

    A society dedicated to preserving the correct use of the apostrophe has shut down because “ignorance has won”.
    Retired journalist John Richards, 96, started the Apostrophe Protection Society in 2001 to make sure the “much-abused” punctuation mark was being used correctly.
    But Mr Richards has now announced: “With regret I have to announce that, after some 18 years, I have decided to close the Apostrophe Protection Society.

    3. I still ask people why they are talking about religious dogma and why they seem to wont for something.

      It appears that literacy has not so much fallen, as nose dived. Frankly, kids today are illiterate, stupid and thick, unable to string a sentence together.

      Gentlemen, I give you the start to an email to a client written by one of our juniors:

      “Hi Dave, I hope your doing good.”

      Dear life it made me wince in horror. The felow has never once replied as ‘Dave’, always David. I call him David because I’ve known him for a year and that is how he signs his emails to me. I started off calling him by his Surname, Mr [Surname]. For our first meetings, ‘Sir’, despite his being younger.

      I despair. It’s when you correct their illiteracy that they say ‘it doesn’t matter’. or ‘grammar Nazi’. If only I could have them executed for changing the meaning of a sentence entirely. It is simple laziness by the uneducated and stupid. If I had my way every missed apostrophe would be subject to a flogging.

      1. They shouldn’t’ve made such a pig’s ear – Peddy’ll want to go down b’low with the b’sun and drown his sorrows in the fo’c’sle.

    1. Spoofchecker would be more appropriate. The LD’s can promise the Earth, Moon, Sun and the Stars knowing that they will never be in the driving seat. (Not even on a bus!).

    2. It is possible that cavity wall insulation can cause what is known as interstitial condensation where damp on the inside of an external wall can bridge the cavity to the internal wall via residual splats of mortar on the wall ties known as snots.

      This is so prevalent that cold callers can convince home owners that they not only live in a house that has cavity wall insulation but also that any internal visible incidence of damp is actually due to that insulation.

      I have actually been pestered by such callers telling me that according to their records my cavity walled house had been insulated at some stage and that they were offering a service to take it out.

      I have lived in my home for over forty years after seeing all stages of construction and feel insulted that a cold caller should try to convince me of something I know to be completely false.

      1. I had a similar experience recently. I had to interrupt his rehearsed speech and tell him that i knew what he was saying was utter rot. I also told him that if he did not leave the area immediately i would call the Police. We are in a no cold calling zone. Many elderly and infirm neghbours that shouldn’t have to put up with that nonsense.

        I was in a bit of a snit. I’m normally much more forbearing but i’m not going to put up with blatant lies.

    3. Ah, there’s an answer to that:
      Ode to a Spell-checker

      Eye halve a spelling chequer

      It came with my pea sea

      It plainly marques four my revue

      Miss Steaks eye kin knot sea.

      Eye strike a key and type a word

      And weight four it two say

      Weather eye am wrong oar write

      It shows me strait a weigh.

      As soon as a mist ache is maid

      it nose bee fore two long

      And eye can put the error rite

      Its rarely ever wrong.

      Eye have run this poem threw it

      I am shore your pleased two no

      its letter perfect in it’s weigh

      my chequer tolled me sew.

    5. Matt Severn?
      God, how I feel for my old constituency.
      When I grew up there, the Member for Penrith and the Border was Willie Whitelaw.
      As in ‘every PM needs a…’
      More recently, the poor buggers have had to be content with Rory bloody Stewart as their MP.
      What did they do to deserve this?

  43. Ex-transgender man, 33, who now identifies as an ‘agender

    Clearly in my view he is mentally ill

    A 33-year-old, who was born as a woman before transitioning into a man, has revealed that they think they belong to any gender, and is an alien.
    Jareth Nebula, from Edmonds, Washington, transitioned from female to male and changed their name at the age of 29.
    The barber’s shop receptionist, who also works as a model, has even gone as far as having their nipples removed in order to ‘feel less human’.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3452a988e30bfbe6943198ea7e4a01c1003a44dda9efc29abbeeaf80beaa2c02.jpg

    1. Over to the US taxpayer.
      Or did its earnings as a ‘barber shop receptionist’ cover the cost?

    2. Someone who identifies as a robot. They have rights too, you know.

      Do they need separate toilets though? And prisons?

    4. That looks like one of those bodies that’s been dead on Everest for 100 years, c.f. pictures of Mallory’s body

  44. A Trans human president? An interview with Zoltan Istvan. 28 November 2019.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b66e8b1a385d9f16023d8d30912f15534f03c0b1c4e834a8a9d7ec22a93f8c83.jpg

    Human rights for robots, free money for everyone and an end to death. These are the policies of the latest presidential candidate to officially declare his candidacy for the 2020 American presidential election. Such policies might sound a touch ambitious and incredibly left-leaning, especially when you consider they come from a candidate representing the Republicans – a party that likes to flex its muscles at poverty-stricken babies etc. Are they suddenly trying to broaden their appeal?

    Hmmm. Sounds like it would be more at home in the British Labour Party!

    http://www.thewhatandthewhy.com/a-transhumanist-president-an-interview-with-zoltan-istvan/

    1. The idea that the manifestos, interviews or any form of leaflet will sway how I am going to vote is laughable.

      It’s quite simple:

      The Lib Dems are undemocratic fascists who seek to overturn a democratic instruction yet think they would still hold legitimacy in government.

      Labour are a joke.

      The Greens psychotic, insane, stupid fools.

      The SNP laughable fools, and I don’t live in Scotland.

      Conservatives I like Boris. He is bright, intelligent and witty. However he allowed the Benn act to pass preventing no deal Brexit. We could be out by now. Instead he is promoting the slavery agreement.

      The local Tory is a comfortable, slavish party follower. He doesn’t bother replying to my emails though. Nor has he done a thing to progress the unfairness of those credit agreements that make spreading car insurance over time more expensive, so I assume he’s not bothered about his… 30 seat majority.

      Brexit party – Seems the only logical choice left to me. At least their campaign literature is honest, if a bit overblown.

  47. I received a letter from Belgium yesterday. It had a Belgian stamp. It said Belgique Belgie in tiny unreadable writing on the lower right-hand side. It said
    “1 EUROPE” in bold lettering at the top. Following this up I have learned that the Royal Mail now issues stamps with the Queen’s head and a large “E”.
    I think I see where this is going. But the UK would not agree to a European standard postage scale of charges, with Eurostamps? Surely not?
    Tell me it’s not true.

  48. “China has made it a legal requirement for people signing up to new mobile phone and data plans to have their faces scanned, in a major growth of the surveillance state.”

  49. When will we be hearing that Osbourne and Mair have been “Rehabilitated” and the do-gooders are screaming for their early release from their heavy sentences??
    7th of never I imagine,wrong sort of criminals…………………….

    1. Isn’t Osborne’s sister one of the death cultists? Or was it one of Cameron’s who converted.

    1. Or is it more selective editing to fit the “narrative”

      Morning Rik. None of the articles dealing with this in the DT have comments attached for fear of an outbreak of Islamophobia. Lol!

    2. Oh for goodness sake. The state has no interest whatsoevver in recognising he intolerance of some Muslim fundamentalists.

      More, it won’t prevent any more deaths because it’ll let out whoever it wants under soft laws – laws that are, oddly brutal toward the honest – vis thae lady asking the police to move praying Muslims form a village green and very kind to the criminal.

    4. Good people try to do good. We should applaud them, even they are sometimes misguided. (Note however, that the group at Fishmongers’ Hall were a ragbag of criminals of all sorts. This was not about “reforming” jihadis.). Young people, however intelligent, are often wrong. This is because they lack knowledge, especially contextual stuff, and experience. They make mistakes. Good. We need to let them. They will learn.
      (None of the above should be construed in an organisational sense. Organisations are supposed to accumulate experience for the benefit of the members and for society.)

      1. How many times should these do-gooders be allowed to make mistakes before the GBP get a smidge miffed?

        1. Well, a lot. The problem is created, maintained and increased by those, and there are many of them, who support PC and all the ramifications of open borders, diversity and so on.
          If we cleared out all muslims and all non-UK passport holders we would remove maybe 12m people. We would be back to 1970 and could start again…

    5. I wonder how ‘not Politicising’ U. Khan’s death is going down in the fervour’d rest of the World?

    2. Good even Citroen.
      I am a poster boy for Shamina. Dislike her and her ilk but stubbornly believe in the rule of law. She was allowed (or even forced) to travel through London Airport on someone else’s passport because Mrs May and the experts of Westminster REFUSE to have biometric identity systems in operation. Thanks to this negligence, thousands of young people (mainly teenage girls) are still vulnerable to the whims of their parents who can still take them abroad for forced marriage and/or FairyGodMother.
      Those experts have even suggested that potential victims should stuff metal spoons in their knickers to alert staff at airports.

  52. I recently posted a poor review of my trip to Loch Fyne. The misery continues….sadly.

    Sunday Lunch at the Red Lion Hotel & pretend Restaurant.

    I always go for the roast beef and Yorkshire pud. They even, very handily put a picture of it on the front of the menu. What came out of the kitchen was clearly an attempt to dissuade people from eating meat.

    The menu said that the beef is cooked rare (as per the picture). It was so overcooked it was curling up and though my gnashers are good, even after chewing it i couldn’t swallow. Dolly got extras today.

    The menu said fresh seasonal vegetables. They weren’t. The Savoy cabbage was yellow and cold. The roast potatoes were their version of crispy……flaccid. The glob of mashed potato was instant Smash and cold. The sprouts and carrots followed AnneAllan’s suggestion to start cooking them in July. Absolutely dire. I also think the food was put on cold plates and had been hanging around the kitchen.

    I complained to the deputy manager and to his credit there was no quibbling and he offered a full refund.

    I left in a bit of a funk and decided to go into Coffee 1. Doggies allowed. As i am sitting drinking my coffee. (Dolly kindly hoovering up the cake crumbs) I thought to myself……………I’m booked in for Christmas day lunch in that place. Four courses for two people deposit and balance paid as of yesterday. £180. Dolly !!! we’re leaving!.. Back to the Red Lion and a demand for all my money to be returned instantly.

    I’m at a bit of a loose end now for Christmas as everywhere decent is booked. Still, Iceland do a Turkey dinner. In a pie. :o(

    Both Loch Fyne and the Red Lion are operated by Greene King. Twice in one weekend. Unbelievable. I blame Brexit.

    2. Hither, Peddy, and stand by me,
      If thou knowst it, telling
      Yonder Phizzee, who is he?
      Where and what his dwelling?
      Sire, he lives a good league hence,
      Underneath the mountain
      Right against the forest fence
      By Saint Agnes fountain.
      Bring me flesh and bring me wine
      Bring me pine logs hither
      Thou and I shall see him dine
      When we bear them thither……

      1. Bertie Wooster got the flesh and wine wrong and sang ‘Bring me fish and bring me fowl’.

    3. What a real bummer. How can they get it so wrong? Consistently wrong. They obviously don’t give a shit, so you’re better off with sandwiches at home for Xmas din than spending good money on that.
      Narrow escape.
      :-((

      1. Greene King beer isn’t what it used to be, I avoid it like the plague. Too many excellent small, e.g. Woodfordes in Norwich and micro breweries around e.g. Earl Soham – their Victoria Ale is excellent – to bother with GK these days.

      2. I think they cook to a standard that their customers are used to. But when a menu advertises with pictures rare roast beef (as it should be) then serve up shoe leather i will always complain.

        A shame really because i know this Hotel from years back. They had an excellent carvery on a Sunday and as you walked in you could smell how good it was.

        I have no idea how both this one and Loch Fyne on Friday could get it so wrong. This is a business i understand. I haven’t a clue what they are aiming for.

        I’m not expecting fine dining but i am expecting it to be edible.

        Christmas has been sorted. I have a couple of R.N mates who are getting a Christmas invite. They are always and i really do mean always up for scran. They would even eat that rubbish i was served today.

        1. I have an elderly relative who always asks for the rarest beef off the joint.
          The response almost every time is the same: modern catering ovens cook the meat to be the same all the way through. And when it arrives, sure enough, dark grey all the way through.

          1. That’s sad really.

            Also, beef cooked all the way tends to be not only a chore to eat but indigestable.

          2. “Enjoying” a meal with him isn’t fun. He has difficulty swallowing, so chews it and chews it to suck out all the goodness and then deposits the grey cud on the side of his plate. A meal takes ages to finish.

            If the beef is rare, he’s absolutely fine and can swallow it.

            Needless to say, we try to find places that will serve rare beef!

          3. I always slow roast (to 56ºC core) beef – no volume loss, pink (almost red) and tender.

          4. Absolutely right. Almost not much need to rest it. Just take it out and get on with all the finishing touches and then everything is ready. I think a point a previous poster made was that when this type of business is cooking for larger groups they choose to overcook so they don’t chance poisoning anyone. They are more concerned about the brand than offering good food well cooked.

      3. Family and friends from both England and Holland always descend on us for the New Year and we have a feast at Le Grand Osier.

        We also have a feast at Christmas with an Irish friend, Jim. who was widowed five years ago and whom we met when Caroline played the organ at his wife’s funeral. We shall also be joined by a Dutch chap, Gerard, his wife, Simone, and his dog Tara – a lovely Belgian shepherd. They bought a house near Dinan a couple of years ago which they are restoring.

    4. You hoped for a decent roast spud in a pub roast??
      Talk about the triumph of hope over reality {:^))

      1. Haha.

        There is a pub i like to go to and they still do a really good carvery. As much crispy roasties and crackling as you like. Lashings of gravy and as much veg as you want. They even have a ‘go large option’ as if anyone would need it lol.

        What makes it quite special is it’s right by the beach. All for under a tenner. So there !

          1. ….chucks custardy pie at Geoffers….

            I’ve had a hard day !

            Oh okay if you insist….. As many crispy roasties and as much crackling as you would like…….. Satisfied? :o)

          3. Thanks. Had to console myself with half a bottle of Harvey’s Solera. Gently chilled of course.

            Sighing off now.

          4. R U shore?
            The phrase used was “as much crispy roasties and crackling as you like”,

            I agree that “as many crispy roasties and as much crackling as you like” might have been better, but the phrase as written looks fine.

          6. Fairy nuff. Like Phil, I’ve had a hard day. Two services, one being the first Carol Service of the season (Advent, admittedly), which went well. Then a three mile trek to Screwfix for a few bits and pieces. I’m decorating. I took a taxi home, since I was in danger of running out of daylight. I’d have been better off having the stuff delivered, except they won’t deliver 3m lengths of 20mm plastic conduit. I’m adding sockets to the Living Room. One socket may have been sufficient in 1936, but in 2019 is somewhat inadquate…

    5. What a disappointment, you must be really pissed off.
      Around my neck of the woods GK owned pubs do not have a good reputation for food. Perhaps brewers should stick with what they know, beer.
      Hope you find something to make your Christmas enjoyable.

      1. Thanks.

        Actually, i’m glad i went today. It would have been a much bigger disappointment on Christmas day.

        27th dinner with the neighbours then a New Year party with them also. I think i will invite them round for Christmas lunch. Busy busy busy. :o)

        1. ” I think i will invite them round for Christmas lunch.”
          Says the man who eats his neighbours.

          2. I do, but a crate of Chianti would be needed. They drink like camels.

            No fava beans though.

          3. I see the grammar Police haven’t been bothered by austerity cuts !

            “To”….dammit. ! :o)

      2. When I lived in East Anglia, I was an enthusiastic end-user of GK’s product. The Dog and Partridge in Bury St Edmunds was a popular Friday lunchtime venue. Practically next door to GK’s brewery*, the IPA was excellent. Back home in Thetford (all of ten miles away), IPA was just ‘fair to middling’. I don’t know what they’ve done to it to make it travel nationally, but it isn’t IPA as I remember it in Bury…

        *The D&P was also Lovejoy’s local, in the first series…

        1. When I was young the two main brews in my area were Trumans and Ind Coope with an odd GK pub, the Norfolk near the main station springs to mind, and one or two Tolly Cobbold houses (Ipswich brewer). GK’s products were better than the two London Brewers’ beers and became the beer of choice if you could find it.
          I remember Adnam’s appearing in Colchester and the stories that it didn’t travel but it was better than the usual fare. GK has become ordinary in my opinion and not worth seeking out as it once was.
          A similar product change is blue cheese; once it was Stilton or Stilton but now… too late to debate that now. Perhaps another day.😎

    6. We went out to a fairly local Greene King pub last night – first class.
      Sometimes it is not nice and we send it back and choose something else.
      The grub comes in large milk churns from a distribution depot in god-knows-where, like in most chain pubs, so you usually get ” there haven’t been any complaints from anywhere in the country ” but they know us at this one and usually sort out problems.
      And of course the end product anywhere depends on –
      1. Who is in the kitchen, and
      2. What is crawling in the kitchen.

      1. I know Chefs expect to be paid. Shocking, i know. It’s probably why so many chains don’t employ them.

        It didn’t occur to me that there wasn’t a Chef in the kitchen. It did occur to me that the person doing the cooking/reheating didn’t know or care what they put on a plate.

      1. Hope you have company. That place is very good. Nice setting as well. Did my invite get lost in the post?

        2. Yep. Going with Dianne the ex (we get on so much better now we’re just friends). Boxing Day, off to her new place at Topsham (she moves there from Woking tomorrow), Bad timing, since Woking now has the Royal Warrant…

          1. Good to know the Marriage/Partnership/Civil Partnership/Friendship and any other type of ship has ended without bitterness and animosity. Better for all concerned. I didn’t know the Mill served Pizza !

          3. Thank goodness for that otherwise you could end up in all sorts of poor company. Errant prints in the tabloids and all that.

    8. You could always eat at home. You can get all you need at Lidl or Aldi. The Lidl Scottish Smoked Salmon is good – prepared in Poland! Or some antipasto. Dill Sauce. The frozen department will supply Beef Wellington or something else, lobster, glazed ham, goose, duck…frozen vegetables, or a few fresh tomatoes, just put in oven for requisite time. Frozen dessert. Serve with your own wine or choose something from the upper ranges of Aldi; Chablis, Fixin, Dessert wine or 10yo Tawny Port. Easy peasy.
      Or invite the neighbours round, three sets of neighbours each bring a course and a bottle!

      1. I am very much appreciative of your suggestions though i don’t know what Fixin is. I like Aldi and Chablis is a favoured white.

        Not keen on Desserts because i know how to make Mont Blanc and St Emillion au Chocolat. Shop bought tends to pale a little………….I sound like a snob .

        I love to cook. All the time in fact. Often dragging people in off the street. About the only thing i am any good at is cooking. But i still like to go out and dine once or twice a month. And be pampered. This weekend has been an unfortunate concatenation of events as far as dining out is concerned. (yes, i’m a bit of a snob). :o)

        1. Fixin is red Burgundy. Being a snob is good as it signifies discrimination, choosing the superior over the ordinary and not accepting second best.

          1. Our brains work on discrimination but on the outside of our skulls we are repeatedly told that we mustn’t.

    9. Come to the Bombay Indian Cafe, in the Alicante region with us.

      Chrimbo dinner and all you can drink 25€

      1. Very kind of you. I’m sure i would be in delightful company. However, i never travel at peak periods. Too much that can go wrong and probably would seeing how my luck is running at the moment.

        A very nice thought though, thanks.

    1. Evening Rik,
      Properly scrutinise a fair number & if a high % is at fault, ban them all.
      Some innocents will suffer, so, that is the current way of things.
      London bridge attack has innocents
      suffer in a much more serious manner.

    1. Well done Sir. There are opportunities that everyone can do to help others.

      I didn’t so much organise as pay for it lol.

      I’m guessing you are the handsome chap on the left. Nice knees… :o)

        1. Oh…i do apologise. Strange isn’t it how we imagine people to be. I thought you would be slimmer. :o)….. Exits stage left>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  57. The final week of GE2019 is the prelude to the final choice. Does Britain voluntarily surrender herself to the machinations of the European Union never to return and eventually be abolished into the new European State forecast for 2030 ? Or does Britain start to free herself from European Union shackles and once again become an independent nation ?

    Everything hangs on the result of GE2019. This is the final chance to escape, it really is the moment of the final choice.

    In a peaceful sense, December 12 2019 is not far removed from the significance of Waterloo or the final battle of WW1, but the closest analogy I can think of is the Battle of Britain. The turning point of the European conflict, ”the end of the beginning”, or will it be the end of Britain and the end of a thousand years of British history ?

    Way back in those days, most British people must have known what they were up against. Nothing was hidden, the issues of the day were clear to everyone. Everyone knew what to do. This time, by no means all British people seem to understand what is at stake. It is as if the national theme for some has changed from ”Their Finest Hour” to ”Alice in Wonderland”.

    Lack of reality looks to be one of the greatest weaknesses of any nation state and it seems that many have that ”quality” in abundance. Probably it is a result of long running socialist inspired ”political correctness” where reality must be buried if it doesn’t sound warm, cozy and cuddly, The fault for that must surely rest mainly with British leaders rather than the British people themselves.

    The British have not been kept correctly informed by their leaders without fear or favor. Leaders have too often put their interests first. Debates on crucial issues have resulted in silence and cover ups. Hard choices have not been properly explained. That is where much of the problem lies, and so unreality is now the pivot on which Britain’s future depends, on December 12, 2019.

    1. Morning PP,
      Good post,
      Great many more black shirts worn
      today internally in comparison to
      39 / 45 at least in 39 / 45 they had the
      bollocks to show their true colours.
      Today all of the in-house political fraternity are pro eu with a vested interest in staying so, IMO that goes for some of the other political players outside of the lab/lib/con coalition cartel.

          4. Gotta keep you guessing then! Though I don’t downvote, so you won’t know when I disagree.

          5. I’d prefer someone didn’t downvote – clicking an arrow is easy but presenting a local thought through rebuttal is much more ueful as it could potentially change the view of the other.

      3. I often – but not always – find myself in agreement with her.

        I am almost always in agreement with the points of view expressed by Rik, Araminta, Meredith. Anne, Maggie and too many others to name them all.

        One of the good things about this site is that we feel free to disagree with each other’s opinions and though we roundly abuse politicians, journalists and slebs we remain polite with each other,

        1. Without irony I agree with you.
          Some other sites I browse appears to be CCHQ Tory Boy forums, unwilling to address serious questions, just following the party line.
          I would much rather read the likes of PP and her dire warnings, P-T and her superb music videos to name just 2, than propaganda from vested interests of political parties.
          Apologies to all others I have not named, you know who you are, being recipients of the fruit of the uptick tree.

        2. Not remaining polite with each other is my bottom line for removing comments as a mod. Politicians are fair game but I do dislike rudeness to each other.

          1. Afternoon N,
            Total agreement, but I must admit I do suffer
            some in silence, gladly, because it shows up more so their lacking in rhetorical content,
            ( negative posts)

          3. N,
            As with the sermon this morning always be prepared for no one knows the moment, If it is
            the self confessed thing then methinks you type to soon.
            No worries, combat his empty negative post
            with silent pity.

    3. An excellent comment and some good analogies.
      Vested interests ? Compare the traitorous Remainers with the Black Marketeers of World War Two.

      1. Marr is a rather nasty, snide, self-important little man who lacks manners and the ability to draw information from the people he interviews.

        Any person who needs to find out things needs to understand that aggression is very often the very worst way of luring people into giving you the information you want to draw out of them.

        1. He does sound like the perfect BBC employee. Uninterested in the truth and only concerned with promoting their agenda.

          I do not watch him, but I have seen clips where he was very hot and bothered when someone more intelligent than he is takes his position apart and shows him up for the puppet that he is

      2. What is the synonym of Marr?
        blemish, bloody, break, compromise, crab, cripple, cross (up), damage, deface, disfigure, endamage, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, injure, spoil, vitiate. Words Related to mar. deteriorate, enervate, enfeeble, undermine, weaken.

      3. When I was a sales manager the rule of thumb was that person asking the questions phrased them to receive the greatest amount of information. The rule applied to interviewers should be the same. They speak for 20% of the time and the respondent 80%.
        People like Marr ask such convoluted questions with further questions within questions that it almost impossible to answer them. Talk 20%, listen 80%.

  59. A Narwhal tusk and a fire extinguisher, sounds like we are back in the days of the home guard.

    2. I would love to have seen the look on the terrorist’s face when he saw that brave soul start to attack him with a damned great spear.

      It’s a great shame that the terrorist wasn’t skewered with the tusk and forced to endure a few minutes of absolute agony, before being shot dead

  60. I couldn’t help myself. As I was dragging my recycling bin to the property boundary, a pleasant young lady stopped, and asked, “Would you like a Labour Party manifesto?” I raised the lid, smiled, and said “Thank you very much. Just pop it in here.”

      1. I actually felt rather sorry for her. They don’t normally bother around here. I beat the Lib Dem into fourth place in the Borough election in 2015 for UKIP, and Labour didn’t even stand. Since said Council has failed miserably to find a venue for the polling station, I have a four mile walk to vote in the next village, if I can be bothered. My response should have been that I’d be delighted to vote for them, if only they could deliver me to the polling station…

        2. Thinking about it, the young lady could have been a Tory who was offering solid evidence as to why people shouldn’t vote Labour…

          2. This constituency is complicated. The sitting MP, Anne Milton, lost the Tory whip, and is standing as an Independent. She is a Remainer; the Remain Alliance has targeted Guildford, but she’s standing anyway, and is therefore splitting the Remain vote. She was a Tory, and retains warm fuzzy feelings among the local Tory voters. So she’s splitting the Tory vote. The Brexit Party aren’t standing. It’s supposed to be a safe Tory seat, yet it’s not that many years since we had an Illiberal Anti-Democrat MP.

            I followed Arron Banks’ suggestion, and joined the Tories, in case there was a leadership election. I voted for Boris. I like him, and think he’s a breath of fresh air after May, but I trust him as far as I could throw him. I hate “his deal”, but there’s nothing better on offer.

            Sadly, once again, this is an election where one has to vote for the ‘least worst’ option, rather than the party whose policies one agrees with.

          5. I understand your position and it is the way that many people think of themselves as being in a trap.

            “I hate “his deal”, but there’s nothing better on offer.”

            We could, as a nation, always do something radical and not vote for those same corrupt politicians who won’t let us leave the EU at all. This means no votes for Theresa May and her like, or those Labour and Lib Dems either. Of course, the standard response that has been drummed into us for decades is: “You cannot do that, not enough will do it and it will change nothing” or the even more desperate: “You’ll get Corbyn and a Labour government!” Which is the last ditch defence against ever trying real democracy in this country.

            I, and I am not the only one, see “Boris’s deal” as being far, FAR worse than even revoking Article 50, because of the financial and social carnage that it will allow the EU to do to our country. So I am rolling the dice in this election and not playing the game that they have made the rules to and chosen to referee themselves. Boris’s deal can be rejected outright if he fails to get a majority, and we can leave on WTO terms.

            The second that Boris’s Withdrawal Agreement is signed then it a minimum of 9 years before we get free of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. It will be more likely to be 11+ years, which is at least 2 elections.

            If our country is going to crucified under Boris’s deal anyway, then the lesser of 2 evils is voting to try to achieve a hung Parliament again. This will stop Boris and give the voters of this country time to come to their senses, and realise just how bad the EU is as it pushes for ever-closer union and crushes democracy across the continent.

    3. I used to deliver leaflets years ago, if someone happened to be in their front garden I used to say, shall I put it in the green bin and cut out the middle man

      1. We’re all pleasant in leafy Surrey. I think the operative word is “young”. She has been through the education system in the last decade (or four). She hasn’t experienced life under moderate Labour, let alone full-on Marxist Labour. My ex’s daughter is an intelligent, educated twenty-odd year old. A qualified vet. Yet she says she’s voting for Magic Grandpa.

        I hate to say it, but it may be that the only way the young (at 62¾, I guess I don’t qualify) will learn, is to experience a dose of Socialism for themselves.

        God help us…

        1. Tell them to look back 30 years and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Then ask them why it happened, and what led up to it.

        2. Ah, but if when ‘Corbyn’s World’ goes belly-up, it will be the fault of the capitalists and the fascists who subverted the democratic will of the people…

    7. Bad taste i know, but ……..she may have been recruited by Ghislane Maxwell seeing as the demographic in your area would not naturally be a Labour voter.

    1. Morning Rik,
      Slight adjustment is needed I believe
      that number was quoted two years ago on LBC.
      If the number is as you say then the mosques are not doing their job methinks.

      1. In which way are they failing?
        Should the numbers have increased if they were doing their jobs?

        1. Afternoon Anne,
          Number of what ? trainee terrorist ? best ask abu hamza that one Anne.
          The number of mosque inmates have increased over the time period so the number of potential terrorist doing a short term,dead end
          apprenticeship will increase accordingly.
          Courtesy of the lab/lib/con coalition party there are more on the way, daily.

  62. All belief systems must accept the danger of ridicule

    Alison Houston • 3 hours ago • edited

    Hmm, perhaps you should mention this to your friends and employers at the Telegraph, who have banned all comments on articles and opinion pieces since the terrorist attack on Friday. They are terrified their readers will prove to be ‘Islamophobic’.

    The comment I wish to make though is not about religious belief exactly, but about the naivety and arrogance of atheists and what happens when Christ’s teachings, and Christian philosophy in the Western tradition is presumed to be an innate human quality, or even animal, evolutionary instinct.

    Of course I don’t know whether the academics at the Cambridge Institute of Criminology are Christians, but I would put my money on them being left/liberal atheists. But either way, why were they allowed to let their childish and naive belief in their idea of redemption some universal desire of all human beings, allowed to get in the way of common sense? One can look up the credentials, areas of interest and published works of the academics at the institute on their website. One of them for example is an expert on ‘post Colonial thought’. Yet what could be more Colonial or Imperial than the desire to impose Christ’s teaching on a Muslim extremist? And what could be more naive than thinking redemption can be achieved for a person with a totally different religious idea of what it is to be in need of it, by attending a creative writing workshop?

    mouseketeery Alison Houston • an hour ago

    Quite. Islam is, I think, the only religion that contains no concept of a path to redemption for an adherent who strays from piety. In fact, even the most pious Muslim can’t be completely certain of their place in Heaven – Mohammed, whilst claiming to be chosen by God to be His messenger, said he wasn’t even sure of it for himself.

    The only guaranteed way for a Muslim to earn a place in Heaven is “to be slain whilst slaying for Allah”. It wipes the slate clean of transgressions for those that strayed and ensures sufficient piety for those that didn’t.

    The Judeo-Christian ideas that form the basis of the West simply don’t even register in such a schema.

    Afternoon everyone. An interesting post and answer from the Spectator Blogs

    https://disqus.com/home/discussion/spectator-new-blogs/all_belief_systems_must_accept_the_danger_of_ridicule/

    1. AS,
      I do not believe it does a great deal of good for the GBs quota of dance schools either, what with chopping off the right hand along with the left foot.
      Explained tother day by the muslim chap explaining the niceties of the
      muslim ideology.

    2. Journalists are right to be frightened of the smashed glass and shouted praise for an alien deity before holy bullets take them down from their desks. Some may have studied Islam and understood that death means little compared to the expectations of Paradise. Still they will insert “Islamist” rather than the more accurate Islam.

      1. They’re the real Islamaphobes, except they have reason to be afraid, April by with the rest of us.
        The difference, of course, is that we’ll admit it. They won’t, but screech irrationally about “hate”, not from Islam but those who oppose it.

      2. ‘Afternoon, Epi, I prefer Mohammedans since no matter which cult they are, they are all believers and acceptors of the mutterings of a self-confessed paedophile, caveman and, mostl likely, a madman,

        By their works, ye shall know them.

    3. Good evening, Minty

      I am sure that you remember Shylock’s punishment on ‘The Merchant of Venice?’ The worst part was that he had to become a Christian.

  63. Spiked

    The two men’s alleged crimes are incomparable. Johnson once wrote a

    column mocking misogynistic religious dress while defending women’s

    right to wear it. Corbyn once invited Raed Salah – a man convicted in Israel for repeating the blood libel – to tea in the House of Commons. Spot the difference.

    Such whataboutery is bad enough. What’s worse is the way in which

    truly spurious allegations of racism are now used by Labourites against

    concerned Jewish people. When Jews dare to speak up about Labour

    anti-Semitism, genuinely ‘baseless and disgraceful smears’ are flung

    their way.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/11/26/the-lesser-racism/

    3. Strange how, according to the Muslim religion, what is forbidden in this life is the reward in the next.

          1. They are presumably meant to last for all eternity, so is there some kind of reset button?

          2. No need.

            The terrorists in question haven’t the “manhood” to puncture a virgin.

            The point of the women being virgins is that they won’t realise that what they are getting isn’t worth having.

          4. Reminds me of the joke about the Irishman, Paddy, who rescues a leprechaun from a trap, and is rewarded with three wishes. Paddy is unable to decide what to choose. The leprechaun asks “Do you like Guinness?”, to which Paddy replies “Yes”. The leprechaun suggests asking for a a pint of Guinness which constantly replenishes itself. Paddy agrees. “And what are your other two wishes?”, asks the leprechaun. “Sure, I’ll have another two of those” replies Paddy.

            PS before anyone says “Racist!” – both my parents were half-Irish.

          5. Evening, Ae.
            Appreciating the Irish sense of humour is not racism.

            “both my parents were half-Irish.” Does that make you a quarter or wholly Irish?

          6. It makes me entitled to Irish citizenship, should I wish to take it (one only needs one grandparent born in Ireland to qualify for citizenship – and thus a passport – of the Irish Republic).

        2. “Women” covers a multitude of sins. They may be virgins, but there’s no guarantee that they are (a) attractive, or (b) under the age of ninety…

    4. These seventy-two virgins – are they volunteers?
      Oh no, it’s Islam, isn’t it? Silly me.

  67. The second victim of the London Bridge terror attack has been named by the Metropolitan police as Saskia Jones, 23, a former Cambridge student from Stratford-upon-Avon.
    When will these do-gooders learn ?

    1. Whose parents are more Eloi it seems
      Where were these achingly concerned liberals who sob over convicted terrorists and murderers when their victims needed some help and comfort

    7. Mark Carney has had a few years now of learning to talk utter bowlocks at the drop of a hat, and learning to repeat any old nonsense that his masters place before him, so his skills are well polished in that field.

      He has also become accustomed to his doom-leaden predictions proving to be wrong, time and time again.

      He does sound the ideal choice for someone who wants to move up from deceiving on a national level to misleading an audience on a global scale.

    1. Don’t worry, it’s only a matter of time before an eco-warrior points out that narwhals are a ‘Near Threatened’ species and that the Fishmongers’ Hall staff should be prosecuted.

      1. “The narwhal males are distinguished by a long, straight, helical tusk, which is an elongated upper left canine”

        So he was taken down by a Leftie!

    1. So mincemeat with beef suet is fine and butter in the pastry is ok?
      ’tis the season to eat holly………

      1. If it’s a vegan, chances are he/she would be questioning every single item for consumption, whether solid or liquid. Oh, what joy!

    2. It’s ugly, a bit like her, but these ‘journalists’ just have too easy a target with her. Shirley she’ll be stood down soon as she’s an absolute embarrassment.

      1. I didn’t even watch until the end as the smug smirking bastard was just getting on my nerves as she fell deeper into his ‘cunning trap’.

    4. This person could be holding one of the great offices of state in less than a fortnight? It’s not awful, Rik, it’s terrifying. She’s barely coherent: is she ill and they’re keeping her out of way as much as possible?

      2. Korky – I know that the pro-EU YouGov and others are desperate to pretend that Labour are still a threat, so that people are scared into voting for Boris, but Labour are a shambling corpse dropping more and more seats and votes as the days go by. They will lose Northern seats to the Brexit Party, although they are miraculously all going Conservative according to YouGov.

        They also lost another ton of voters today when Jeremy Corbyn suggested that not all terrorist’s who are convicted should serve their full sentences. People do not want to hear that the day after an attack. But YouGov will no doubt still claim with a straight face that Labour are at 32% in the polls. You can tell that some outside company is funding them, as polls that inaccurate would finish them in the commercial world.

        Three elections in a row they have been massively out with their predictions, always erring on the pro-globalist side of the fence. What a surprise.

        1. Walking around Nottingham on Friday I was surprised to see so few Vote Labour posters in what I might have expected to be strong Labour areas; what was even more amazing was to see one poster for someone called Sourberry, or something like that?

          1. It is amazing the “change” that YouGov have managed to detect in parts of the country with their new ways of interpreting the data. In Labour Leave areas in the past, they said that they could never vote Conservative because their parents and grandparents would turn in their graves. But they were happy to vote for The Brexit Party to get us out of the EU.

            All of these people seem to have disappeared or have had a miraculous conversion to Boris. When you take those “adjustments” made by YouGov out, then we are back to Boris not having a majority at all, or struggling to get one. Which does not suit the forces in favour of the EU at all. A hung Parliament will stop the EU gaining control of the United Kingdom, so that possibility must not be spoken of.

            Just like the existence of The Brexit Party, which also seems to be under a media blackout again. Some of these globalists must be worried to be going all out on such media manipulation.

      3. If she was not sick in the canister she would not be seen as suitable material for parliament.

    5. Diane Abbott has sadly stayed too long at the fair. It is an unpleasant reality of the life of a socialist / marxist, that most intelligent or moral people see these ideologies for what they are and grow out of them in their early 20’s. Usually when the real world comes in and they need to start paying bills and taxes.

      This leaves those who still cling on to the left wing’s mantra’s having fewer and fewer friends around them. By the time that even they realise that there is something badly wrong with left-wing politics, then they are in their 30’s/40’s and have burned most of the social bridges with normal people. The only people who are still talking to them are the other depressed socialists who are also starting to suspect that they may have wasted their lives.

      You can see this bitter anger within them growing as the years go by. They see lots of fresh-faced new believers joining the cause, but they know their enthusiasm will wane and they will drift away as they too see the real world unfolding. They are left with only the increasingly twisted and nasty people to call their comrades. Then death starts picking them off.

      So it is a lonely life, that of the elder socialist. It is hard to watch the rest of the world enjoying themselves when they want them to be as miserable as they are.

    6. I pity the interviewer.
      How he keeps a straight face is a testament to his professionalism.

    2. It’s interesting and rings true, but I noticed a bit of a contradiction between his “These four mental factors are anger, self-confidence, responsibility for oneself and intolerance.” and “The cultural and psychological cocktail of anger, low self-esteem, victim mentality, a willingness to be blindly guided by outer authorities, and an aggressive and discriminatory view toward non-Muslims”

  76. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has been accused of diverting donations to give burkinis to Muslim women in Africa while laying off staff in the UK.

    The charity’s spending on lifesaving schemes overseas is rising by more than 10 per cent this year. It said this week that it was preparing to cut 135 jobs.

    Overseas “anti-drowning” projects funded by the RNLI include the Panje Project in Tanzania, which gives devout Muslim women and girls full-length burkini swimsuits and swimming lessons.

    It also funds crèches in Bangladesh, which it claims will prevent children from swimming in the sea.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rnli-funding-burkinis-for-africans-while-cutting-jobs-tnctwwl7d

      1. I have been a Shoreline member of the RNLI for many years and instead of flowers we asked people to contribute to the RNLI when each of my parents died.

        I do not think either of my parents – both if whom were Christians and regular church goers – would be happy that the RNLI should support the Muslim invasion of our country. Of course they did not see it as my father died in 1984 and my mother died in 2001.

    3. When are these charities going to learn that giving money to Africans and Bangladeshis is not something the donors want them to do ?
      I’m not sure that giving burkinis to Muslim women in Dewsbury would be acceptable either.

    2. I can’t understand this fixation with showing Trump and Boris together all the time. Apart from them both being men and each having a (different) idiosyncratic hairstyle, they seem to have nothing in common.

        1. I thought the Welsh chap spoke with great passion and concern for Wales.. he hammered away at the betrayal and neglect that Labour in Wales have wrought.

  80. Night All

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3d9d9fd533921155bdfa86214bf7735b1e926091c8f4bca344f63c759c797765.jpg

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    2. Without being a hippy, peace and love build strong societies that pass on advances from century to century and we have reached for the stars. Violence and hate tear societies apart, and islam has reached for the camel.

      There are areas where islam has stolen old libraries, or rather, refrained from burning them to the ground. But the society / cult is inherently unstable. With the rich and good looking being able to have multiple wives is one example. This means that the poor and ugly will die virgins unless they move into foreign lands and take their women. This makes them inherently dangerous to have as neighbours. It is a complex and corrupted society with many deficiencies that drag it down. But we “peaceful” people in the West have driven them back before.

      It is only our corrupted politicians in many countries who are deliberately shipping these cultists into our lives. We have not been defeated, the politicians are trying to defeat us. Our ideas of right and wrong do not sit well with the globalists. In the meantime, peace through superior firepower and our outlook on life will serve us well. When the time comes to address islam the way they think they want to address us, that is a fight that they are going to regret.

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      1. If we were not so wobbly about our Christianity , and renewed a solid togetherness , a proper Christian exterior that no one would dare challenge .. then Muslims would feel rather intimidated by our national cultural strength, do you think there would there be a problem ?

        If we had strong leadership.. sad to say .. the Royal family doesn’t really define our Protestant strength .. if we had rules and stricter social rules instead of being so liberal , and were more formal , would we encounter the outrages we are currently experiencing .

        I cannot believe there is a cat in hells chance of the deradicalization of terrorists.

        Only those academics who are soft in the head , with missionary zeal believe there is hope for these murderers.

        Why are the liberal academics allowing us all to become victims of circumstance , random execution of us , innocent people .

        Why are we willingingly being used as bait by politicians including Corbyn , the EU , even the Royals , for the great social experiment .. Islam v Christianity ?

        Why?

        1. Our politicians – and even Archidiot Welby – are determined to stamp out any belief in Christ.

          How many people in the House of Commons have Christian faith and how many of those who do actively declare it?

        2. “I cannot believe there is a cat in hells chance of the deradicalization of terrorists.”

          Me neither, sadly.

        3. Reform of Islam is a bit like fixing Climate Change. It may happen, but we won’t see it in our lifetimes.

          1. What I was suggesting Tony , was us becoming a little more formal, less liberal, and an attempt to put these people in their place. We must not be messed with !

          2. I know. Unfortunately, it’s too late. Society has changed. We don’t know how to do it. If we did, we wouldn’t be allowed to.
            We can’t put the clock back.
            We are …..what’s the expression ? …going to Hell in a handcart …..

      2. My teacher’s advice when I was 14 years old.
        “Reach for the stars …you may almost get there. I’ve never forgotten it.

  82. Sod it!

    In a move hailed as a positive step by environmentalists, Washington became the first U.S. state to legalize the composting of human bodies in May of this year.

      1. Only if spread on the Rhubarb Patch:

        “What’s long and thin, covered in skin, red in parts and goes in tarts?”

  83. Watched Cinderella man, better watching time value
    than the debate, just had a glimpse during the adverts.

  84. Why are all the vehicles still stuck on Westminster Bridge? The police were not much use at the time, why are they clogging the streets now?

          3. I was making another attempt at humour, as in “I wouldn’t want to be a member of any club which would admit me.” Attributed to Groucho Marx.

  85. If anyone is watching ‘War of the Worlds’ perhaps they could tell me WTF is going on. It’s so dark and gloomy.
    With computer graphics at our fingertips the invaders are poorly constructed. I’ve seen more scary aliens in Cornwall…

          1. I enjoy Gauguin and Van Gogh,Manet and other impressionists.The loose, free vigorous brush strokes of impressionism was embraced after a period of more detailed painting…pastels are the perfect medium for having a go…

      3. Good evening Maggiebelle

        Have you read William Somerset Maugham’s ‘The Moon and Sixpence‘? Charles Strickland is loosely based on Gauguin.

        1. A beautiful story by a beautiful sad storyteller…..
          Of Human Bondage and The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings …recommended reading.

    3. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s a demonstration of how to Pi55 copious amounts TV licence payers’ money up the wall….

    4. So many flash-backs & flash-forwards I got completely lost. Sound could have been much better.

      Thank Goodness it was only 3 episodes & not 6.

        1. Thanks for the tune, Plum.

          P.S. I’ll be checking the locks and having a peep under the bed tonight just in case.

    6. Can someone tell me how a three-legged beast is supposed to walk without falling over?

    7. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s a demonstration of how to Pi55 copious amounts TV licence payers’ money up the wall….

    8. Come to Woking and see the sandpit where they landed and a sculpture of a Martian in the town centre. Second thoughts don’t bother coming for a few years as the town centre is an absolute mess with new buildings in progress for the last 2 years and likely not to be finished by the time the Martians 👽 invade again. 😂

    9. Plum-Tart – this reply is 12 hours late I know, but your comment did strike a chord. I tend to wait until I have multiple episodes of a series to watch so that if it is good then I do not need to wait a week to see what happens next. I started watching the first episode of War of the Worlds last night as I now have all 3 of them.

      It was slightly grim. That completely unnecessary sub-plot about the social lives of those two characters was just a time-filler. I was thinking “What on Earth did they do to be outcasts?” When it was revealed I thought “Oh. A social commentary on how judgemental society was back then compared to the enlightened modern day. What has that to do with an invasion from Mars?”

      By 45 minutes in I had picked up the remote and was fast forwarding the scenes where the man and woman were talking to each other about how difficult their lives were. If the story telling does not improve in the 2nd episode by focusing on the actual invasion, then the fast forward button will be used far more often.

      1. Apologies for delay…had to belt it earlier to tennis !

        Hope the second episode met with your approval,I gave up half way through. To be fair i found Amy ( Demelza ) a pain in the butt and the aliens would hardly scare a dead rabbit.
        I expect better from Aunty and enjoy a good drama or film but the repeats are annoying.Thankfully I have a library of unread books which I need to catch up on…..

        .

  90. Mail to Sir R…………….

    ”I believe that at least two British PMs since 1990 have always made ”the right calls”…….

    …….for themselves.

    The effect of which I believe is proving to be a catastrophe for others.

    I also believe John Stuart Mill was right. In 1867 he said………..

    “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”

    and….

    ”free discourse is a necessary condition for intellectual and social progress. We can never be sure that a silenced opinion does not contain some element of the truth”.

    Who will open the Pandora’s Box of the British legacy parties and examine what lies therein ?”

    Polly

  92. I’m intending to watch the start of the film “Two Way Stretch” tonight on Talking Pictures. I caught the end of it last week. Wonderful film, gentle and funny. Some of it was filmed on location. Quite a lot of films were filmed on location in the UK at this time. I have noticed that the streets were often quite quiet. There was generally an air of calm, even when the movements were purposeful. Quite a contrast to now where an air of frenetic panic is all pervading. The roads are congested and the streets are overcrowded. Reflecting on this it seems to me that there appear to be at least three times as many people around as there were in the early 60s. Yet according to the Office of National Statistics the population of the UK in 1960 was 52m, and it is now 67m, an increase of 15m or 30%. In simple terms this means that officially where we had 10 people in 1960 we now have 13 today. Yet looking at the visual evidence in photographs and film one would be tempted to say that the population has doubled or even trebled.
    As these are official figures, I am tempted to ask, “are we being told the truth about the size of the UK population?”
    Those Nottlers who are old enough might think back to train travel in the 60s and compare it with now.

    1. The calmess was because all the men worked late in the factories and all the women were at home cleaning the house and looking after the kids.
      So the streets weren’t very crowded.

    2. My memories of the early 60s are of busy rush hours, but mainly of many chockablock buses and fewer cars.

      1. Yes. An all star cast of British faces. The only black people were two half naked men cast as slaves!

    4. Census figures:
      1961 – 52.8
      1971 – 55.9 (+3.1)
      1981 – 56.3 (+0.4)
      1991 – 57.4 (+1.1)
      2001 – 59.1 (+1.7)
      2011 – 63.2 (+4.1)

      1. I suppose that is where the ONS get their figures. We are told that those are the census figures. We do not know. The Government could tell us anything. They tell us lots of lies about stuff. Suppose that the real population is 104m, how would we know?

  93. In the spirit of celebrating the baby cheeses I will share with you all the inaugural opening of my fromage based advent calendar

    actually not that exciting but the wine was nice –

      2. I was given by one of our esteemed Mods a ‘Prestige Liqueurs Premium Dark Chocolate’ Advent calendar. And most generously an Advent calendar for Dolly.

        Opened the first door today. I don’t know what Dolly thought of hers but mine was a bit crunchy.

        BTW….How do you store a cheese Advent calendar?

        1. In the fridge, which is a problem as the cardboard has gone soggy and all the little cheeses have slipped out of their little containment areas and are huddled together in one corner. I like the sound of your Liqueurs

    1. Good morning Geoff. A cool 24 with a gentle breeze
      Edit morning for motivation.
      Both might apply

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