Sunday 8 January: The Conservatives are more concerned with re-election than the success of the country

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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541 thoughts on “Sunday 8 January: The Conservatives are more concerned with re-election than the success of the country”

    1. Yep, check out today’s story, Philip, and you’ll find others on here who care to comment.

  4. Good Morrow, Gentlefolk. Here is today’s story:

    Hi-Ho Silver

    The Lone Ranger was ambushed and captured by an Indian war party. The Chief proclaims, ‘So, you are the great Lone Ranger! In honour of the Harvest Festival, you will be executed in three days! But, before I kill you, I will grant you three requests. What is your first request?

    The Lone Ranger responds, ‘I’d like to speak to my horse.’
    The Chief nods and Silver is brought before the Lone Ranger who whispers in Silver’s ear. The great horse gallops away.

    Later that evening, Silver returns with a beautiful blonde woman on his back. As the Chief watches, the blonde enters the Lone Ranger’s tent and spends the night.

    The next morning the Indian Chief admits he’s impressed. ‘You have very fine and loyal horse, but I will still kill you in two days. What is your second request?’

    The Lone Ranger again asks to speak to his horse. Silver is brought to him, and he again whispers in the horse’s ear. As before, Silver takes off across the plains and disappears over the horizon.

    Later that evening, to the Chief’s surprise, Silver again returns, this time with a brunette, even more attractive than the blonde. She enters the Lone Ranger’s tent and spends the night.

    The following morning the Chief is again impressed. ‘You are indeed a man of many talents, but I still kill you tomorrow. ‘What is your last request?’
    The Lone Ranger responds, ‘I’d like to speak to my horse – ALONE.’

    The Chief is curious, but he agrees, and Silver is brought to the Lone Ranger’s tent.
    Once they’re alone, the Lone Ranger grabs Silver by both ears, looks him square in the eye and says, ‘Listen very carefully, you deaf and dumb heap of s**t, for the last time – BRING POSSE!’

  5. There are no good options in Ukraine, but the least bad is to push for Putin’s total defeat. Daniel Hannan. 7 January 2023.

    There are no good options – there haven’t been since 24 February – but the least bad option is to push for total Russian defeat. Not just a withdrawal from Ukraine, but the handing over of war criminals and of the men who planned and effected the Litvinenko and Skripal attacks, and the disgorgement of other annexed territories. We can start with Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and leave Karelia, Köningsberg and the Kuril Islands for negotiation. There should also be a campaign of national deradicalisation. Russia after 1990, unlike Germany after 1945, never confronted its past. Until it does, it will remain a rogue state.

    It is extremely doubtful that Ukraine on its own, even with Western Weapons, will manage to reclaim the Donbass and Crimea. It is quite clear that the Russians under the Cloak of Winter are preparing for a war of attrition, similar to WWI. Russia has a population of 143 Million. Ukraine 43 Million. The arithmetic is stark. The Russians can afford to lose three for every one and still win! If this goes on long enough the latter will be bled dry within a year.

    The definition of a total Russian defeat would include the destruction of the Russian Armed Forces; the invasion and occupation of the Federation in its entirety and the overthrow of its government. If it were kept conventional such an operation would require the entire military and economic resources of the West! This military being the same one that could not even subjugate Afghanistan! Does Hannan; does anyone, actually believe that this is feasible without a Nuclear Exchange of some kind? The only real solution is negotiation but the Donkeys are in charge,

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/07/no-good-options-ukraine-least-bad-push-putins-total-defeat/

    2. They West should have negotiated before the war started. Even an idiot could see that the Russians would invade.

      It’s worth noting that negotiations need to be between Russia and the West. The Russians negotiated with Ukraine leading to the Minsk Agreements and Ukraine largely ignored them. The question is whether Russia trusts the West any more than it trusts Ukraine.

    3. Araminta, I have no doubt that Russia will win for, not only, the reasons you cite but because, as people become more familiar with the truth that Zelenskyy and his regime are neo-Nazis, the tide of public opinion will turn against him and his goons. That has already happened in Asia where the propaganda war waged by America, is weakest, and, I notice, that slowly but surely, videos are beginning to appear that are anti-Ukrainian and that cynicism is beginning to creep in as this evil man, Zelenskyy, persecutes the established Church of 1000 years and now tries to move Orthodox Christmas to the Western calendar. Persecuting monks, nuns, and priests is not a good look, it’s rather reminiscent of a couple of other tyrants in the 20th century. Eventually people will see that he is indeed an actor, playing the part of being a “democrat” whilst really being a fascist.

  6. Morning all.

    Rant of the day…the Terriblegraph’s continued and egregious use of the verb “force”. Oh, and our regressive, complicated and harmful tax and benefits systems:

    “WORKERS could be forced to turn down pay rises or risk losing thousands of pounds owing to “ridiculous complexities” in the tax and benefits system.
    In the worst-case scenario, a £1 salary increase could cost a worker £14,000, as they are stripped of valuable tax breaks and childcare allowances.”

    1. Is it possible, Mir, that valuable tax breaks and childcare allowances are already a step too far in allowing the Gimmegrunts too much wonga to finance their idle lifestyle?

      1. All part of the Great Reset to punish the indigenous population in order to benefit others.

    2. Well then, Bill, close the curtains and pull your pants up. (Good morning, btw.)

  9. The Conservatives are more concerned with re-election than the success of the country

    I thought under this global reset that the purpose of government was to make everything fail so that they can rebuild it back.

    1. They haven’t thought it through though. The people will get rid of the government and build it back the way they want. It’s called revolution and those being revolted against rarely get a say.

        1. The UK government have headed that off by replacing all the lamp-posts with LED versions that are much taller and lack cross pieces. We revolutionary types notice such things.

          1. Too bloody right we do, but there are other ways to decapitate the 650 and the 800 plus in the ‘Upper Chamber’

        2. The UK government have headed that off by replacing all the lamp-posts with LED versions that are much taller and lack cross pieces. We revolutionary types notice such things.

          1. If you hang people with piano wire then you will more likely behead them as not.

            The idea of piano wire being used to hang people goes back to the execution of Mussolini in 1945. He along with others were actually executed by firing squad and the bodies suspended by the ankles in a public square like pigs. That is what the piano wire was used for!

  10. 369583+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Sunday 8 January: The Conservatives are more concerned with re-election than the success of the country

    If so their saving feature will be a multitude will be out to “rub labs nose in the ever present shite”, party before Country has been the majority voting pattern for the last 40 years and has cost us dearly as a Country.

    AS with the tory (ino) party partners in the coalition as a whole their true allegiance is given to brussles, this has been witnessed
    since the 24/6/16 & confirmed via the nine month delay.

    1. ALL, parties, Ogga, are only concerned with the short-termism of worrying about the next election.

      That’s why nothing concrete is ever considered in their manifestos (all of which lie).

      We desperately need a new party to emerge SASPO and challenge this short-termism. I’m fed up with marking my ballot with NOTA.

    2. I think the same can be said of all professional politicians. Basically they see it as a job that is done for pay and little else.

      If you want to fix that problem then you need to change the system such that politicians once again become the representatives of the people.

      1. You forget the directorships, plus the opportunity to tell everyone how to run their life.

      2. Another “improvement” brought to us by Bliar. Changing the sitting times to during the day where they now have no opportunity to do a proper job and have all the time in the world to wreak havoc and meddle.

      3. 369583+ up ticks,

        Morning JOH,

        I do not think think so, take for instance A founder member of UKIP Gerard Batten
        A long term politician with honesty & integrity to spare .
        His leadership for one year clearly showed what could be achieved he put the party financially in the black, was gaining members daily and taking on the mantle of being a major threat to the lab/lib/con mass controlled immigration/
        pro eu/paedophile umbrella ( ongoing)
        coalition.

        2019 treachery was triggered the majority decided to kick UKIP / Batten into touch.

        Then the true colours of the coalition were unfurled and the fan is labouring under a heap of shite accompanied by the shout “we need a new party” this after decades of, via the ballot booth, building a political society we are now ALL suffering under.

  11. Good morning all. I hope everyone had a peaceful night.
    Another dull, overcast and wet start today, light rain and 3°C.

    3. Good morning all and thank you Richard for your ever faithful Birthday wishes. At present I am a bit too busy to thank any Nottlers’ posts individually, as you may soon read. So please accept this one.

      Next, I cannot thank Geoff Graham enough for faultessly maintaining this very important website for us to let off steam. He has been literally run off his feet for several years (sorry, Geoff).

      I haven’t written anything on NTT L since Friday 16th of December when my dear wife died. Yes, it was very peaceful, but in England palliative care in the home consists of withdrawing all food and hydration for 10 days (in this case) and maintaining a patient on anxiety-reducing and painkilling drugs until they expire (from dehydration or kidney failure probably). If you did this to a dog or a cat you would correctly be prosecuted. Rant over.

      Registering a death, organising a funeral and a Celebration of Life (not a Wake) has been an interesting challenge over Christmas and New Year. The alleged legal requirement to register a death within five days is just not true, according to the Registrar.

      Because my dear wife of 57 years’ marriage had dementia and was bed-bound, I have effectively been living on my own for several years, with carers being the only people to interact with face to face. The one silver lining was that she was not able to wander around, hurt herself or let herself out of the house. The NTTL blog has been a daily place to go for mental refreshment.

      I am not gloomy – it was a blessing to both of us when she died. I am preparing my on-line statements of opinion to the Government’s current Consultation on assisted dying/assisted suicide about which I last posted on NTTL on 13th December, three days before she passed away (an interesting euphemism).

      If any other Nottler is in or near the same unenviable position that I was in, the Government’s Health and Social Care Committee has ‘launched a new inquiry to examine different perspectives in the debate on assisted dying/assisted suicide’. Your opinions must be received by 20th January 2023.

      You will find the link to that Consultation here:
      https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6906/assisted-dying-assisted-suicide/

      I would guess that many who have been through home hospicing or lived with the gruesome depredations of End-of-Life would support MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) – under strict conditions and controls. But I am ready to bet quite a large sum that again, nothing happens. Many other western countries have seen the light. I do hope it happens here before it’s my turn to go.

      1. Nice to hear from you RC though commiserations on your difficulties. Nottlers of course by their natures and situation are sympathetic to your views!

      2. So sorry, Roughcommon, to hear of you wife’s demise. I can offer no palliative sympathy except to say I hope you have some strong support during this awful time.

        To wish you a happy birthday is more than a trifle crass, I just hope that you may weather the storm and come out the other side – a bit more lonely but stronger for the experience.

        Good luck old, troop – hugs.

        1. Tom, I downloaded and read your book ‘Not a Bad Life’ with interest and enjoyment, as I was also an RAF cadet in the ‘Dim & Distant’ and went on to fly in the RAF Reserve. I believe you have another tome either ready to publish, or out there already. Please can you give us all [another] link? Regards, RC

          2. Thank you Tom, I’ve downloaded it and shall read it with interest.

            When my mother died in 1992, my Dad didn’t know what to do with himself, so I gave him a stack of typing paper and asked him to write down his own early years. Three months later he gave me back 80 pages of his small handwriting which I typed up in WORD, half an hour each morning before work. It was a revelation, and caused me to start on my own life story, for the benefit of my two sons and their children.

            I think everybody should have a go at this. Only when we are adults and our parents are gone do we yearn to know what they did in their earlier lives – and then it’s too late to ask.

            My elder son (aged 48) has already taken on this idea and has actually produced more pages than I have, with lots of embedded digital photographs. With modern word-processors that can take dictation and turn it into typescript, we’ve got no excuse. And it doesn’t have to be great literature either.

          3. Bang, nail on the head. That’s why I’ve written Not a Bad Life and followed on with Passing Three Score Years and Ten.

      3. Good to see you again, roughcommon albeit in difficult circumstances. Condolences to you on the death of your dear wife. I hope you are at peace with her passing and that you have help and comfort at home.
        I send good wishes to you for a Happy Birthday and hope your day goes well. 💐

      4. My condolences to you in these difficult times. You do sound as if you are keeping things together. If however you need us, you know where we are.

      5. Happy Birthday, hope you have a good one in spite of the circumstances. Been there myself about 18 months ago except my wife was in a care home and was very well looked after right up to the end although Covid messed up visiting arrangements until the final couple of weeks when I could visit and be with her anytime

          1. It can be a long process Tom, they say time is a great healer…..they lied, the loss may go further back in your mind but it never goes and it keeps coming back. Support is important and we have that in spades here.

          3. Never the only option Tom however bad things seem, help often comes from unexpected places

      6. My condolences.
        It sounds as if you lost your wife a long time ago but are only now able to wrap things up and rebuild your own life.
        Hopefully your birthday today can be viewed as a starting point.
        All the best for the future.

      7. Good morning, RC. What a hard time you have been through. Nothing I can say will be of much help to you, except that you are amongst friends here and I know we all wish you well. Regarding the consultation, I regret to say that you are probably right – like all these things it has been pre-determined and therefore is likely to be just another can-kicking exercise, although I would love to be proved wrong.

        KBO…

        1. Hi HJ, Just had a flaming argument with my elder son who phoned to wish me Happy Birthday. He said that the Parliamentary Commission/Debate on Assisted Suicide was NOT a Healthcare issue but a Moral one.

          When I couldn’t get a word in edgeways I slammed the phone down on him. He immediately re-dialled and we continued – I said that it was COMPLETELY political.

          When he said that MPs are supposed to reflect the views of their Constituents, I told him that according to some sources, there is over 70 percent support in England for Assistance in Dying, but that this would NOT be reflected in the minds of the 650 MPs. We shall see if the Commission proposes yet ANOTHER parliamentary debate. I’m not holding my breath.

          1. I’m sorry to hear you are at loggerheads with your son. It’s the last thing you need.

          2. As Nottlers know Caroline is Dutch and the Dutch have far fewer restrictions on assisted suicide. And of course assisted suicide can become a very touchy subject in family relationships. As an active Roman Catholic Caroline’s views on euthanasia and assisted suicide are rather less liberal than those of her compatriots.

          4. MB and I have seen it abused, without the legislation.
            Some cases were positively Dickensian.

        2. Hi HJ, Just had a flaming argument with my elder son who phoned to wish me Happy Birthday. He said that the Parliamentary Commission/Debate on Assisted Suicide was NOT a Healthcare issue but a Moral one.

          When I couldn’t get a word in edgeways I slammed the phone down on him. He immediately re-dialled and we continued – I said that it was COMPLETELY political.

          When he said that MPs are supposed to reflect the views of their Constituents, I told him that according to some sources, there is over 70 percent support in England for Assistance in Dying, but that this would NOT be reflected in the minds of the 650 MPs. We shall see if the Commission proposes yet ANOTHER parliamentary debate. I’m not holding my breath.

      8. I was simultaneously saddened and gladdened by your post, the death of your cherished wife but the relief and celebration of your long time together. May you constantly recall the happy memories and may the tribulations of the last few years be soothed away.
        I hope we will continue to see you as a regular visitor.
        Best wishes for the future

      9. Condolences, RC. May your dear wife rest in peace. Many happier returns for your birthday.

      10. Condolences from me too – and it sounds as though your dear wife passed away peacefully and out of pain. You must have had a hard time over the last few years while she was ill. I hope your birthday today is the start of better times for you.

      14. Many sympathies. May your late wife rest in peace now. If today can’t exactly be a happy birthday, then I hope, as she would surely have wished, that happier times will return for you in the future.

      15. My heartfelt sympathy is with you , RC.

        What a terrible time you have had .

        Suitable words are difficult to find .

        Please relax now and take care .

      16. My condolences, RC. I went through a similar scenario with MOH, but I can’t condone MAID – it would end up like abortion. Mission creep (considering the statement that the population is too high) would be too tempting. Happy birthday anyway.

    1. My word that’s a bit of a worry for people who are taking similar medication for blood thinners.

        1. The problem is Phiz, a month after I had my catheter ablation 6 years ago. I had a TIA. Probably cause by the Op.
          What do you do ?

      2. I take just pure warfarin but I know that If I wanted to commit suicide I could stop it for 4 days, suffer a lethal MCI (Myocardial Infarction) and do nothing.

        Goodbye, cruel world.

        1. Don’t go there buddy, there’s always the chance of something good around the corner.
          They changed my Warfarin to apixaban.
          One of the things I promise if I win the lottery, is a Nottler party weekend.

          3. Thanks, Paul, but ha. I can drive, provided it’s not too far and that there’s adequate parking. for disabled.

        3. Or get a stroke that leaves you as a dribbling vegetable for years. Not a good option, Tom.

        4. I take half an aspirin a day and aspirin has been my blood thinner for 20 years. I buy the aspirin ,split them and I have no side effects. Shaving wounds heal quickly.
          You can get Aspirin on prescription as I did from the surgeon after my recent hip replacement

      3. I’m on a FactorX anticoagulant, in the same drug family as Rivaroxaban, prescribed by my consultant after diagnosed with heart failure after supraventricular tachycardia. I believe a fellow Nottler has also reported in this forum of irregular bleeding after taking such a drug and his doctor advised that his decision to cease taking the drug was not inappropriate.

        I believe that the controlled use of this drug is better than warfarin with testing but I think its dosage is not managed appropriately by medical professionals leaving the patients to get on with it.

        One has the stark choice of either suffering from a stroke induced clot or bleeding uncontrollably to death with a possible haemorrhage.

        Here the lowdown from http://www.patient.co.uk

        https://patient.info/medicine/rivaroxaban-tablets-xarelto

        1. Interesting thanks.
          I’ve had to self regulate some of my medication. Mainly because GPS are hiding behind their receptionists.
          The only difference it has made to me is, I don’t have to go back to bed in the mornings. No other side effects.

          1. In the end it is incumbent upon the patient to decide what are tolerable side effects of treatment for a complaint given the balance of risks of harm facing that particular individual,

      4. I’m on a FactorX anticoagulant, in the same drug family as Rivaroxaban, prescribed by my consultant after diagnosed with heart failure after supraventricular tachycardia. I believe a fellow Nottler has also reported in this forum of irregular bleeding after taking such a drug and his doctor advised that his decision to cease taking the drug was not inappropriate.

        I believe that the controlled use of this drug is better than warfarin with testing but I think its dosage is not managed appropriately by medical professionals leaving the patients to get on with it.

        Ona has the stark choice of either suffering from a stroke induced clot or bleeding uncontrollably to death with a possible haemorrhage.

        Here the lowdown from http://www.patient.co.uk

        https://patient.info/medicine/rivaroxaban-tablets-xarelto

  14. Morning all 😉 😊
    My elder sister has her scattered family visiting. Some from Cape Town others from North Pennines and North east. My good lady and I drove over to see them. Lovely to see them all, but my how they have grown, one 6ft-6in.
    Today it’s our youngest sons 33rd birthday and our immediate family are coming for their favourite lasagne dinner. Later the 8 we met up with yesterday are coming here to see our boys and girls and grandchildren. Some for the fist time. There will be 23 of us in the house. Wish 🤞 us luck. The cameras will be clicking away.

    1. Good luck with all of that, Eddy, considering you current health situation.

      How many will offer you help through this trying time?

      1. And that’s not quite all of them.
        Three missing. One is a nurse. And two had to stay in SA for work commitments.
        I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone one together.
        I might have to get a few bottles of the home made cider out.

        1. I’m jealous. Could hold a similar family gathering of my clan in a telephone box, with room inside for the braai as well!

          1. #MeToo, Paul. I am so bloody lonely and isolated, I wish I could die – nobody, apart from NoTTLers would miss me.

    4. Morning Eddy! We had a family party yesterday at our elder daughter and son in laws farm! 7 children under 8 and 10 adults! It was my nephews name day, and his brothers birthday is today. We all took food and had a riotous day! The last time we were all together (minus some of the younger children) was our daughters wedding 4 years ago! Quite a day and I hope yours is wonderful!

    5. Post a snap – I dare you!!

      Enjoy the day. Then relax when they have all gone home!

      1. I’ll try but I’ll have get some one to do it, I can’t download pictures/photos on to my PC.
        I might have to hire the village hall to fit everyone in.
        I think we will be shoving every thing except the glasses into the dishwasher and going to bed.

  15. ‘Morning, Peeps.  It isn’t raining! (yet)…

    Today’s leading letter, and deservedly so:

    SIR – In his New Year speech (report, January 6), Sir Keir Starmer said that the Conservatives “believe a good government is one that gets out of the way”. If only.

    The days are long gone when a Conservative government concentrated on the safety of the country and law-abiding people, and otherwise contented itself with creating the conditions for businesses and families to thrive. In contrast to the so-called Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Keir says that private wealth generation is crucial – but he is still clearly wedded to big government.

    Pretty much everything governments have done in the last few decades has made life worse for the British people. Neither Sir Keir nor Rishi Sunak recognises the catastrophe unleashed by the draconian response to Covid. They fail to grasp that it is the state’s tentacles strangling our health and education systems, rendering both unfit for purpose.

    After 13 years of Conservative government, not least the appalling Boris Johnson era, almost everything run by the state is broken, but the reason for this is that governments have become steadily more socialist and more interested in re-election than the sustainable success of our country.

    Tim Coles
    Carlton, Bedfordshire

    Mr Selves – he of BTL fame – is also spot on:

    Martin Selves59 MIN AGO

    Reluctantly I have to agree with Tim Coles. “After 13 years of Conservative government, not least the appalling Boris Johnson era, almost everything run by the state is broken”, We must admit this is true, because it is true. I would never have dreamt I would write this, when I was so excited the people had voted to leave the EU, the right thing to do, and Boris Johnson would lead us into the sunlight. Well, since he entered No.10 the Sun went down on most things I believed in with it, and Green and Net Zero broke though the clouds into the open. It is quite unbelievable the opportunity Brexit should have given us, and an 80 seat majority to radically alter the UK, free from the tentacles of Brussels and its dead hand legislation, is still their. Sunak seems to have decided all the rules holding us back, will “remain”. Rees Mogg must be furious. I am. As an ex Conservative, appalled at the governments failure to implement Brexit, my only vote must go to a Party that has no chance of gaining power. Reform, with Nigel Farage embedded in it, will do well, but will only ensure a Labour victory.

    Sadly I will still vote Reform, because the Conservatives do not deserve another 5 years, when they kicked the last 5 years down the road in a tin of Liberal Globalism, and all the other holograms popular today. Sunak’s 5 promises seem a faint memory already.

    1. The basic and most obvious problem is politicians.
      It makes no difference who they are, in order to make and maintain their claims for their own self importance, they eff up everything they come into contact with.
      Even local councillors have the same ambitions.
      One of their finest examples is making charges for general and green waste. Now it costs the general public twice the amount to tidy up the countryside.

      1. Our local déchèterie is open four days a week until 1745 hrs in the evening. We can make unlimited visits to dump our garden waste at no charge. When in the clipping season I can fill three trailer loads a day and take them to the dump.

        Some of the electricity in Dinan is generated in an incinerator which burns the garden waste and is economically very viable.

        1. We don’t get charged to dump garden or household waste. The tip is about five miles away so we wait till there’s a car-load.

          1. Good morning, Ndovu

            Ours is just a mile away and we can go there and back to dump our garden waste in 15 minutes.

          3. In mid Suffolk, you’re charged £50 for a brown bin and any visits to the tip have to be itemised to your calendar with no help from the idle itinerants of the site.

            I have yet to find out what happens here in the Scottish borders.

          4. I’m probably tempting fate by merely mentioning this, but so far we just rock up at the tip with stuff or use the designated days.
            Although we couldn’t do it, I do understand fly tippers’ frustration.

        2. I’ve noticed how organised French rubbish collection and disposal is on our holidays there.
          There is so much fly tipping in the UK now it’s disgusting.

          1. There will be more as councils charge for waste collection and green waste collection (as mine is contemplating doing because they have mismanaged their money).

    2. I have been banging on for some time that the only hope to get Brexit completed and clean up the mess the Conservative government has made would be for at least 100 Conservative MPs to resign their seats and join Reform.

      If everyone who is disaffected with the current government who is represented by a Conservative MP wrote to his or her MP saying :

      “I shall only vote for you if you resign as a Conservative MP and join Reform

      it might have some influence and concentrate their minds. If the status quo continues we are irredeemably lost.

      1. Not a bad suggestion Richard, but they have too much to lose.
        Even in opposition they can still draw vast amounts in expenses.

      2. Copy of my e-mail to my local, jock, candidate:

        Sir, I have to inform you that until and unless you resign your current seat as a member of the broken conservative party and join a party such as Reform, I shall not be voting for you whenever there is a general election.

        I need a parliamentary representative that will follow my viewpoints into the lobby and promote a UK point of view.

        Do you think that you can consider constituent’s views to the detriment of the party’s requirement?

        If not, you’re not my candidate.

      1. Morning, Bob. Strange weather. Brief, heavy showers followed by a quiet period until the next shower.

    2. Good morrow, Delboy, Late on parade – many have been on here for 3 hours plus. Pull your socks up and get here sooner, or follow my example and go back to bed and say fcuk it.

  17. Yo all and good morning

    Nuclear waste

    This is a step in the right direction, but must be sped up. It is one of the largest environmental protection and infrastructure
    programmes in Britain, but failure to expedite it will impact our civil nuclear programme.

    Well, Lord West, let the people of East Lyndsey, in Lincolnshire, know where you live and we will ensure that your locality
    is made a dumping ground for the waste, not ours

    1. I see the ginger whinger is on the front page of today’s Telegaffe; why can’t they give it a rest!?

  20. Once again my tenants, both salaried NHS employees with probably around £70k per annum going into the house have just stopped paying their rent. I’ve now got the appalling ‘Countrywide’ management outfit to issue the Section 21 notice confirming that I will not be renewing their tenancy and the notice period expires in April.

    They used to be reliable tenants who looked after the place. I think they must now be being advised by their left wing union that they shouldn’t bother paying the ‘evil landlord’.
    The rule of law is in major decline in this country with people like Gove, Hunt and the courts encouraging its demise.

    2. Oh, man. My sympathies. With crap like that, no wonder the rental market is shrinking…

      1. I might understand it if there had been problems from my side, but I haven’t changed the rent for three years now and I have always ensured that any issues are rapidly dealt with. Maybe they’ve just decided I’m a soft touch….

    3. They’ll have assets, an easy job for the bailiffs at the end of the process you’ll get your money and the extra charges will teach them a lesson
      Pain in the ‘Arris but persist and cause them the same pain they’re causing you!!

      1. I did approach my own solicitors over the issue when the arrears first started occurring. but their advice was to leave it to the existing management agents, ‘Countrywide’ until the section 21 process is complete. At present, other than wait until the tenancy actually finishes there seems little I can do.

        1. Oh it’sa long game for sure although bloody irritating don’t get worked up about it revenge is a dish best eaten cold warm yourself with visions of the bailiffs hammering on their door and clamping their cars in the future
          Just what the little shites deserve

        2. Hope the agents are still paying you the rent. How they recover it from the tenants is surely their problem.

          1. No rent, no income for the agents, so no payments. They are simply ‘estate agents’, they have no responsibilities.

    4. Do you know any large blokes with violent looking dogs? They could just “pop round” to check that all is well…..

      1. As a war baby yourself, you know that respectable people of our generation were not brought up to do such a thing.

    5. Call a few friends over and have a ten minute clapping session outside the house for a couple of evenings. Just to make them feel good about themselves.

  21. The American fast food invasion under way on UK high streets.

    As Britain is seen as a bellwether for success for US brands in Europe, Daniel Woolfson looks at what is driving popularity.

    ‘As a nation, we are generally becoming more American in our eating habits’
    ‘There is incredible demand from a younger audience that’s well aware of what these brands are and are keen to get hold of them’

    The first Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen store to open in London is barely more than a counter over which fried chicken passes. But the site in Stratford’s Westfield Shopping Centre has been so popular with the British public that it required a complete redesign of the food court to accommodate the queues.

    “We had three to four hour queues for the first three months,” says Tom Crowley, who heads up the chain’s UK operations. More recently, “at a weekend we could have up to 50 to 100 people waiting at any time”.

    Popeyes, founded in the 1970s, is well known for its chicken sandwiches and American-style biscuits in the US. But over the years to come, it wants to become a UK high street staple with more than 300 sites.

    And it’s well on its way. The Stratford branch, which opened in November 2021, is now the bestperforming Popeyes restaurant in the world out of 3,500 sites. “It defies all thoughts that a fried chicken brand could be so busy,” says hospitality analyst Simon Stenning.

    It isn’t the only US fast food giant drawing crowds. There’s Little Caesars, which is hoping to shake up the pizza market by offering freshly-cooked pizzas to go for just over £5. And Wendy’s, which returned to the UK in 2021 and has embarked on a nationwide expansion.

    American chains like Taco Bell, Shake Shack and Wing Stop are already staples across the UK. The $3.5bn (£2.95bn) Buffalo Wild Wings chain denied it was planning to open in the UK, but registered its trademark here last week. So why has Britain developed such a ravenous hunger for American fast food?

    As a nation we are “generally becoming more Americanised in our eating habits”, says Stenning. According to Future Foodservice data, fast food sales in 2022 were 10pc higher than 2019, making it the fastest growing sector of food and drink in hospitality.

    The UK is a logical next step for US brands looking for fast growth, says John Eckbert, UK chief executive of burger brand Five Guys. “[The UK] is culturally adjacent. We have the same music, a lot of common heritage and the same language.”

    Five Guys is, compared to new entrants like Popeyes and Little Caesars, somewhat of an old hand in the UK market. Its UK launch, in 2013, is widely credited with sparking Britain’s love affair with American food – and signalling to businesses in the States that there was serious money to be made. “We had a wave of franchises come over about 50 years ago – McDonald’s, Burger King etc,” says hospitality consultant Peter Backman. “Then nothing much happened until Five Guys pitched up. Five Guys showed there were still opportunities and has now encouraged these other US brands.”

    Thanks to the combined effects of social media and globalisation, there is now a legion of young British people that, while they might not have ever been to the US or even seen an ad for a business like Popeyes or Little Caesars, are well aware of these brands.

    “There is incredible demand from a younger audience that’s well aware of what these brands are and are keen to get hold of them,” says Stenning.

    The UK is also often seen as a proving ground for international success. “Success in the UK means you can make it in Europe, which means you can make it in Asia and the Middle east. It’s like a domino effect,” says Eckbert.

    “We see the UK within Europe as a powerhouse, a place to be and a place where certainly as an American brand there’s good brand recognition,” agrees Little Caesars chief development officer Jeremy Vitaro.

    Which makes it all the more tempting for businesses looking to please hungry investors. “US chains are under pressure at home,” says Backman. There is a lot of competition and the US consumer has got fed up with some of the brands, either where there’s no differentiation or the brand hasn’t changed.”

    But there’s a caveat: what you’ll get in some of these restaurants is not, strictly speaking, a completely accurate representation of their stateside offer. In fact, some dishes have had to be made healthier just to be able to be launched here.

    “Some products on the US menu couldn’t be here because of salt levels,” says Crowley.

    “That’s pretty normal for US brands – UK legislation is slightly different when it comes to nutrition and salt levels. And the UK palate doesn’t like that much salt. It was an easy move.”

    Popeyes also had to make its chicken spicier to please British diners. “The spice level we turned up for the UK – the UK really likes spicy food.”

    And the chain nearly didn’t launch its signature biscuits – a bestseller in the US – over here for fears Britons wouldn’t know what to do with them. But now “people are mopping up their gravy as they do in the US”, he laughs.

    Should established players be worried? Potentially, if they can’t match the American chains on price.

    The appeal of these brands is likely to intensify as the cost of living crisis continues because fast food is generally a lot cheaper than traditional sit down meals.

    “The average price for a Popeyes chicken sandwich meal is £7.99 and that’s really good value,” says Crowley.

    “We’ve seen it before in recessions where people just can’t afford the casual dining meal – therefore it becomes a QSR (quick service restaurant) occasion.” Little Caesars, meanwhile, has launched by offering a whole ‘hot n ready’ pizza for £5. ”We’re making pizzas fresh throughout the day, consumers can walk in and the pizza is ready to go,” says Vitaro, adding it is able to offer such prices because it is a “high volume, high transaction model” that works in smaller spaces.

    Stenning says mid-tier sit-down restaurants and pubs are the most likely to be affected, because those with cash people are not necessarily cutting down on high end restaurants.

    He says that while there will always be demand for these types of meals from older customers, there is currently a polarisation in the market, which means shoppers are either going for more sociable, value-driven meals or spending on up-market experiences.

    “What happens if you get caught in the middle? You’ve got to fight for your life.”

    The exponential increase in the availability of ‘fast food’ is directly proportional to the escalation of stupidity in the species. Intelligent people buy healthy ingredients and cook nourishing food. Stupid people — who are incapable of rational thought let alone the ability to cook — simply buy and eat junk.

    1. “We had three to four hour queues for the first three months,” says Tom Crowley, who heads up the chain’s UK operations. More recently, “at a weekend we could have up to 50 to 100 people waiting at any time”.

      A bit ironic queuing for three to four hours for ‘fast food’.

    2. “The average price for a Popeyes chicken sandwich meal is £7.99 and that’s really good value,”
      The price of a whole large chicken from Waitrose is £5,55,chuck in a few veggies,herbs etc and that will generously feed 6
      I think I know which is better “value” and will taste far nicer
      Morons as you say……..

    3. “The first Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen store to open in London is barely more than a counter over which fried chicken passes. But the site in Stratford’s Westfield Shopping Centre has been so popular with the British public that it required a complete redesign of the food court to accommodate the queues.”

      British or English?

      1. Well you can bet your life if it had opened in Cardiff or Glasgow, the word “British” would NOT have been used…

    4. Obviously people like the stuff. I mostly don’t, so I don’t go there. There’s no compulsion.
      Value-driven meals = cheapo.

  22. Good Morning all, another typical day of drizzle!

    An interesting excerpt from a talk by Scott Ritter on the current situation in Ukraine. There is nothing new in what he says for me but, perhaps, others might find this enlightening because it combats/contradicts the lies the West is propagating against Russia and Putin.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkLU0vFAUQs
    Scott Ritter: Russia is on the right side of history

    1. Fascinating historical perspective. I wonder how long the Americans will let Scott Ritter go on saying that Russia is on the right side of history.

      Unfortunately for us, I do believe this is the truth. The west, under the leadership of corrupt politicians answering to a satanist elite (if you think that’s hyperbole, look at the latest stuff that came out of the WEF since Christmas), has lost any semblance of the moral high ground.
      Even the Russian and Chinese people are motivated by the knowledge that they are fighting against something very corrupt and evil.
      An image went viral in China recently that showed a Russian knight and a Chinese knight standing together facing a multi-headed monster, each of whose heads was labelled with the name of a G7 country. You can’t purchase this kind of moral certainty.
      Or at least, the West managed it for years, but it’s passed its sell-by date now.

  23. Good Moaning.
    Strange big yellow thing in the sky and we can see without putting on the lights.
    This must not be allowed to continue: I’m nipping out into the garden to erect an humungous windmill.

  24. Climate doomsters are once again hijacking science to push a toxic agenda
    The discredited fallacies of a few blinkered scientists and activists are fast becoming troublingly mainstream

    Zoë Strimpel : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/07/climate-doomsters-hijacking-science-push-toxic-agenda/

    Another BTL from Percival Wrattstrangler

    I think it is now about time for a new ice age to become our greatest apocalyptic worry about the weather and the environment.

    Global warming and CO2 have had a good run for their money – now its the turn of the fear of global freezing to be at the top of the list.

    1. Morning Richard and all.

      So far we have had a relatively mild winter. If in the future we get one with snow on the ground for three months, with the current price of gas, we won’t be worried about global freezing, instead domestic freezing will be the main worry!

    3. I can only repeat:

      Climate Change and You

      The climate ‘science’ is wrong. CO2 being 0.04% of the atmosphere is a cause for good, as it is essential for plant life.

      The atmosphere is 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen. The remaining 1% are various trace elements of which CO2 is but a small part.

      The greatest cause of any change in the Earth’s climate, is due to the cyclical nature of the Sun’s phases, which may lead to vast differences between ice ages and continual heatwaves.

      Please feel free to copy and paste this anywhere appropriate.

      2. Effect of CO2 is demonstrated by tomato-growers blowing extra C=2 into their greenhouses for a quicker, better crop.

      3. Absolutely right.

        My father was a geologist and he told me, from when I was old enough to understand, that if ever in my lifetime there was a long spate – several decades – of unsettled, bizarre and/or extreme weather across the planet, this would probably be a sign that the next Ice Age is on its way.

    5. If anyone listens to real weather experts, they are saying that we’re just going into the next maunder minimum which will cause another mini ice age.
      “Her calculations predict that the upcoming grand solar minimum will last from 2020 to 2053, with global temperatures dropping by up to 1.0 degrees Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in the late 2030s. ”

      https://www.climatedepot.com/2020/10/05/physicist-upcoming-grand-solar-minimum-could-wipe-out-global-warming-for-decades/

      Plus the % of CO2 in the atmosphere is very low compared to the historic average.

      You can just hear the hysteria now “Even though you peasants are freezing to death, we must not burn any fuel, because otherwise we will fry when the sun activity increases again!”

      1. Ha ha i thought the same but sadly have just spent 5 minutes perusing it….the perils of social media.

        (Am still in bed desperately trying to make sure I am OK for tomorrow as I have a v. imp. work meeting that I don’t want to postpone, but am clearly perkier than i was yesterday/earlier today…)

    2. Little boy copying tv shows, with a firearm. Who left it out, and loaded, for him to get access to?

      1. The closest I came to serious injury in school was when a large boy found a broken bottle and was waving it around at the kids who were lined up to go in after recess. He kept brandishing the bottle in my face. If he’d had a gun I probably wouldn’t be here.

          2. Nah: Danger of death or great bodily harm to you and/or pupils. Might have spent a while on bail wheilt the investigation went on, but I reckon you’d be OK.

          5. In the days before Hungerford I remember being shown a miniature .22 rifle, probably manufactured by Greener pre WWI. Lovely item, barrel no longer than 12″; it looked fairly illegal even in those days. I can’t locate an example online.

        2. Holy Smoke: that puts giggling over Miss Hayden keeping her hankie in her bloomers into perspective.

    3. Little boy playing with a firearm. Who left it out, and loaded, for him to get access to?

    4. Little boy playing with a firearm. Who left it out, and loaded, for him to get access to?

  28. Christmas is Officially Over.
    Decorations (including the Christmas barbed wire, bobble wreath, and neon snowflake) all stabled back in the roof. Sigh. Pine needles everywhere, including my underpants (How does that work??), and a naked tree outside.

      1. …nor let your family stick you, like a fairy, on the top of the Christmas tree!

        1. Bought the tree from a bloke in a car park.
          “Will you be putting it up yourself?” he asked.
          “No, in the sitting room!” I replied.

      1. Not sure, but I think he’s trying to tell us that the tree was wearing his underpants?

        1. An unusual decoration. Still, I suppose it’s better than him wearing them on his head.

    3. I didn’t get the needle but I have to cut the tree up as soon as it stops raining. And put all the pieces in our recycling bin. It’s a shame really it’s a nice healthy looking specimen.

      1. Just dragged mine up the “garden” and plan dragging it up the hillside above and planting in later this week.

          1. Mine was in a pot, but it was repotted to a small builder’s bucket. I had planned keeping it for a couple more years, but the central growth spike died off during the heatwave so it’s being retired early.

  31. That’s the 60s is on Freeview channel 75. The tossers insist on stretching 4:3 to 16:9.

        1. I read somewhere, that in SPARE he says that he laughed his head off when the press criticised him for wearing that uniform.

    2. Swop the words ‘Muslim’ and ‘dog’ to correct this statement and remove ‘Islam’

    2. I get the dog carrier down from the attic and Dolly jumps straight in. Getting her out is more problematic. I have to up end it so she slides out.

    4. Gus and Pickles send their feelings of empathy.

      It was their turn last week. Despite playing and sleeping in the carriers when they are put by the front door – the moment the lids are closed and travel begins….they start making a noise. A VERY quiet noise, because they never learned to “miaow” – but a noise, nonetheless. Thank goodness the vet is only 10 minutes away.

      1. Same here, but being big cats means big noise – and they are normally totally silent.
        That and a turd the size of a small car, of course. With accomanying pong… 🙁

    6. Beast has a much bigger cat box and by starting at one end of it, throws himself headlong at the door. The whole box can move a foot with his momentum.

      Getting him out almost requires body armour. You open the door and stand back as this hissing cyclone of razor blades tries to take your skin off.

      In contrast, Mongo pootles in with his harness on as if he owns the place, plonks down beside me and only ocassionally lifts his ear up. Then he gets called by his vet and after I’m told ‘he’s very big for his age’ I get a huge bill that he pays from his account.

        1. When he next deigns to visit (usually when he’s hungry and has finished off killing a deer, fox, wolf… bull) I shall take a picture.

    7. Our cat Chaucer love travelling in the car. So much so that we often found that he had slipped into the car unobserved when we were about to set off. He never needed to be put in a travelling cage as he behaved very well and did not interfere with the driver.

      1. No, I don’t believe she did …he does love his food, but is also fairly active, especially during his “witching hour”.

        1. We got a “yellow card” because GUS was 300 g over the supposed ideal weight. 5.3 kg instead of 5 kg “max”….

  38. Rishi Sunak refuses three times to say if he uses private healthcare
    Mr Sunak has faced criticism from political opponents on the issue as he is thought to be the wealthiest prime minister in history
    Dominic Penna: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/01/08/rishi-sunak-refuses-three-times-say-uses-private-healthcare/

    Another BTL comment from Percival Wrattstrangler:

    True Conservatives believe in Private enterprise. If Sunak does not use private health care when he can afford it then how can he say he is a Conservative?

    It was the same with the pathetic David Cameron – another non-Conservative Conservative prime minister – who put his children into state schools when he was prime minister. In his defence he put them straight into private schools the moment he left politics to show that the least he could do was to proclaim his hypocrisy.

    Do you remember the fuss everyone made when Diane Abbott, a Labour MP, put her son into a private school? Surely even more fuss should be made when Conservative politicians who can afford it and thereby relieve the state health and education services do not use the private alternatives?

    1. If you have money, I would say it is incumbent on you to use private health and education. It leaves more for those who genuinely can’t afford the fees.

      “Lord Finchley tried to mend the Electric Light
      Himself. It struck him dead: And serve him right!
      It is the business of the wealthy man
      To give employment to the artisan.”

      1. I also think it should be tax deductible. You’re already paying for an NHS so inefficient it takes them a month to write a letter. You should have to pay twice.

        1. The ‘insurance tax’ they add to BUPA premiums is inexcusable, like every other tax.

          1. Just made a comment on this above – apologies. But referencing the fact at least IPT used to be tax-deductible (before Gordon Brown i think)

        3. There was tax relief for pensioners on their private health premiums; on account of the fact they were more likely to need health care.
          Blair and Brown cancelled it as one of their first acts of socialism (I can’t remember if zapping the Assisted Places Scheme came before or after that action.)

    2. Of course he does. We have BUPA amongst the three of us. Costs £250 a month.

      Politicians lie habitually because if they tell the truth they risk appearing as if they set themselves above other people, yet by their actions they do that anyway. They’re all scum.

        1. He is very wealthy in an of his own efforts. Whatever you (in the plural) make of banking as an industry, he made a lot of moeny in it.

          I imagine mostly by buying and selling other people’s cash – he got paid either way. Being an MP can’t be that different.

      2. Conservatives should be proud to support private schools and private medicine. If the Conservatives do not support private initiative and private enterprise I can see no point in their existence at all.

        If they are afraid of seeming to ‘set themselves above other people’ then they lack the testicular strength to adopt any strong positions on anything and they are not good for anything.

        I went to a public school. I am happy that my parents were prepared to do this for me but there is no point in me being personally proud of the fact as it was my parents’ decision, not mine. By the same token I am not ashamed of the fact – just as I am not ashamed of the fact that my skin is white.

        By the same token my children should not be proud that they left university free of debt. They left university free of debt because their parents paid their university costs and fees. They should be happy rather than either proud or ashamed.

        However, we would feel ashamed if we felt that we had not done what we hoped was the best for our children.

        1. “… to ‘set themselves above other people’ then they lack the testicular strength to adopt any strong positions on anything and they are not good for anything. …”

          Rastus my dear fellow, you’ve just summed up politicians!

          They don’t. All they’re interested in is getting re-elected. To do that they can’t let themselves be seen as anything but an everyman. This is, arguably, a failure with the public’s weakness and shallowness, but there are an awful lot of people who exist on pure envy.

    3. I’m sure they will all use private health care.
      And would add the costs to their annual expenses list.
      One of thecother labour mps (can’t remember his name) for then Brent use to send his son to a semi private school in Harpenden.
      I guess his confidence in his local school was lacking.

  39. Am I alone in wanting to exit ASAP this spell of wet weather, which sèms to have gone on for several weeks. It’d be nice to leave the house without the need to check whether I’ve remembered the umbrella.

    1. The plus side to today’s intermittent showers was that Spartie met loads of chums while out on his walk: their servants were also trying to dodge the showers.

    2. Just had a spell of 4 hours of rain on 2 feet of snow and frozen ground.
      Oh, joy and slipperiness…

      1. Sounds horrendous but I’m sure cold Viking north is prepared and doesn’t come to a standstill as it does here,

      1. Yes indeed. Actually it’s been dry here for several hours – blowing too, so the washing dried more or less. Now airing on the radiators.

  41. Hello from a Saxon Queen with blooded axe and longbow in handbag accompanied by marmalade sandwiches- as Queens do.

    We had kippers for Sunday brunch with crusty bread and lots of butter, coffee too. Always drink a cup of tea first thing ( fresh lose tea ) but drink coffee around 10.30 .

    A bad storm appeared during the time just before dawn but the sun had come out a moment ago but sadly has vanishes again ,

  42. Telegaffe today seems to be all about Hairy & meagain. Is there no other “news”?

    2. If they missed any tidbits, the Daily Mail has gone overboard with their Hello mag imitation.

    1. I always worry when government says ‘we will do something!’ when what almost everyone wants is for government to bugger off and abolish itself.

      1. The feckers who are net gainers from the system always want the government to tell them what to do!
        They’re the same ones who relied on the lord of the manor to tell them what to do in the old days.
        We’re doomed!

    1. Yes, I think he’s right. Only one quibble; we know that the batches contained mixtures of varying toxicity levels because this was clearly proven by the VAERs data and plotted in graphs of damage vs batch number on howbadismybatch.
      I think it’s a mixture of loons like Gates and Charles, who genuinely seem to see themselves on a mission to reduce world population, self-important barstewards like Schwab and his little familiar who just think the peasants are disposable bug-eaters, but the most important factor is that the western pension funds are apparently all insolvent.
      Follow the money; what better solution could there be than to resolve the pension insolvency crisis AND make giant profits for oneself at the same time?

  45. Russia claims to kill 600 Ukrainians in single ‘revenge’ attack. 8 January 2023.

    Russia said it killed 600 Ukrainian troops on Sunday in revenge for a Ukrainian assault on New Year’s Eve that reportedly killed hundreds of Russians.

    The Russian defence ministry said it struck a building in Kramatorsk, in Eastern Ukraine, with a massed rocket attack.

    It said the building was being used as a temporary barracks and that it targeted two dormitories that were housing around 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers.

    Now what was I saying this morning?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/08/ukraine-russia-war-latest-putin-ceasefire-fighting-vehicles/

    1. Feck off, foreigner! I suppose there’s an irony that they’ll ruin this country, leaving theirs for the taking. The sane people can restore it to a civilised nation with Marks and Spencer, roads, inside toilets – or just toilets – and no doubt they’ll want to come back to ruin it for us again.

      However the next time we deal with them properly.

      1. 369583) up ticks,

        Evening W,

        “next time” ? mo don’t do next rimes, this is a one off, besides there is no opposition, the voting pattern allowed the thin end of the wedge, the quran into parliament, the electoral majority will do the rest.

        1. I have a rattling cough, Bill. The kind that usually comes on the tail end of a cold except there’s been no cold, just the cough. Fine at night and I’m sleeping. I wake up thinking it’s all gone then it starts again. Shallow to rattle to bark – but not so frequent that it’s preventing me doing stuff. My temperature is 36.2 in the morning and 37.2 by evening. I expect it’ll settle in due course. Seemed too good to be true that I’d get through the winter without any ailment. Hey ho.

          3. That’s how mine was, the sort of cough you get at the end of a cold. In my case it was preceded by the worst sore and painful throat ever, for four or five days, then it morphed into the cough. Two or three days’ pause, then a terribly runny nose, if anyone had offered me a “finish me off” pill I would have taken it, I felt so miserable with it. I am just about over it, but I feel wrung out now with no energy – the body works hard to get rid of these things. Just about four weeks from start to finish i.e. from sore throat to last tissue in the bin!

          4. PM,

            See my reply to Sue , I am sure a bit of chocolate dissolved in your mouth helps with throat and cough , have a look at the link I have provided .

          5. Thank you Belle, I will remember that for next time (and there will be a next time, such is life). I copy and paste useful information into my notes. I also found Alf’s tip of a teaspoonful of honey helpful as well for the throat.

    3. First lesson – how to pray in mosque.
      Second lesson – how to construct a suicide bomb vest.

    4. First lesson – how to pray in mosque.
      Second lesson – how to construct a suicide bomb vest.

    5. I wonder how many Muslim children are encouraged to pray to the Jewish and Christian God in a synagogue or church for the sake of tolerance and diversity?
      And I wonder how long it would be before the riots and bombings would start if such lessons were compulsory.

        1. And just for sake of argument, I wonder how long a teacher might retain their job if they actively encouraged Christian, Jewish, or Muslim children to pray to Hindu Gods at a temple.

          1. The accusers would bring racism into the equation. As we all really know race has really nothing much to do with religion. It’s an invented side line.
            Let’s face the facts how can you pick out a Catholic or a Christian in a crowd.

  47. A billion unaccounted for here, a billion over-spent there, who cares? It’s only other people’s money.
    Small wonder the God-damned politicians and civil servants don’t care two hoots about the amounts being wasted.
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/olympic-games-money-sport-participation-commons-mps-report-b1051511.html

    When I started as a cashier in a building society if the till didn’t balance to the penny you stayed at work until it did or a plausible explanation could be provided to the manager. And heaven help you if the till was short rather than over.

      1. There was an account in the ledger to deal with the accounting aspects, which is essentially similar.

    2. The amount of money wasted by politicians is just another shoulder shrug to them.
      As usual everything that goes wrong in political circles, is everyone else’s fault.

    3. It was the same when I was a Saturday girl in Boots, which would be around 1972-73. The till was manual, with a lever and a bell and yes, you stayed behind and counted again until it all added up.

      2. When I counted the church collection, if I was 20p out, then life was easier to take a coin from my pocket to balance it up and get out sooner. No doubt coin that jumped off the table would end up in the hoover at some time.

    4. A billion hers or there?

      Cost of The Canadian government payroll system is now sitting at around $2 billion. After 11 years it still doesn’t work and they are talking 500 million to fix the data before moving to an alternate system. It’s not even custom code, they are using the package Peoplesoft. Maybe IBM were bounced from the project, no civil servants have suffered.

      New frigates for the navy are estimated as costing 2 billion each. That is before construction starts and price overruns are counted. The US can build aircraft carriers at that price, we get long delayed frigates.

    2. Indeed. The American numpty who chose the title of Harry’s alleged book cannot have been aware of the British love of word play, and the many meanings that can be extracted from the word “Spare.”

          1. Moh and I were shopping earlier , before walking the dogs and my word , people were buzzing with their opinions on the appalling betrayal and fallout .

            People genuinely believe national security is in now in a very bad place .

            People living in this area are either army/ ex army and ex RN.

            Still very much a white area.

          4. I think they are just hoping that the flak will damage Harry and Meghan more than them, if they remain silent.

          7. Yes, enough already. I really don’t care- it’s between them and the rest of the Royals. If everyone shut up about it maybe it would go away.

    3. Baroness Bruck
      @BaronessBruck
      ·
      12h
      <[M]“bounced on a giant purple ball” as she went into labour &then climbed into a bath &listed to “soulful hymns” as Harry illuminated the room with electric candles &placed a photograph of his late mother Princess Diana on a table in the delivery room>⬇️

      https://twitter.com/00StarBuck00/status/1611946951150272512

      Can we just all agree that this makes an alleged surrogacy more plausible? NO hospital/hospital staff would be okay with the partner getting high in the hospital room, regardless of celeb status! None! He may have been getting high, but it certainly wasn’t at the hospital.
      4:44 AM · Jan 8, 2023

    4. Supposing Harry was firing blanks because of his drug habits , and she didn’t want to ruin her bits and pieces , then surrogacy might have taken place?

      If they can lie about lots of things they can lie about births .

      1. Did you see the clip showing her more pregnant in February than she was in March and of the baby bulge swinging to and fro as she walked as if it wasn’t inside her body at all?

        DNA tests all round are needed.

        1. She nearly lost the prosthesis during the visit to Birkenhead, it just, but only just, didn’t quite make the hem of her fortunately longer skirt. She was dressed in purple with a red jacket à la mode Diana sitting outside the Taj Mahal.

          1. It would put them out of the line of succession. The child has to be “of the body”. However, I am of the wild opinion that there aren’t any children, just rent-a-child ‘actors’ and very badly photoshopped photographs. In view of the swinging and changing shape pregnancy, and do you remember she nearly lost the prosthesis at Birkenhead when something gave way? Who knows what to believe.

  51. Struggled for Bogey Five.

    Wordle 568 5/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. A lucky birdie.
      Wordle 568 3/6

      🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
      ⬜🟨🟨🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  52. That’s me for yet another dreary day. Hope it was better your way.

    Funny how silent Trash has been lately. She must be LIVID at the publicity the Ginger Tosser is getting….

    Have a jolly evening – lots to drink should help.

    A demain.

    1. Never interrupt the enemy whilst he is busily making a mistake.

      It has been very dreary here today. Night night, Bill, see you tomorrow.

    3. We’ve remarked on the silence.
      I think she’s realised that they’ve gone over the top and it’s time to cash in her chips.
      Next: a 90 year old billionaire with a dicky heart.

      1. Nope, she is probably orchestrating his witterings in an effort to judge how far she can go with her autobiography stories .

        2. Well fans, I’ve brought down the British Monarchy, I should be President, I’m even better than Washington.
          /sarc

        1. Does the MR know:

          A) that you’re really 90 years old, although looking at you I should have thought she guessed.
          B) that you’re a billionaire with a dicky heart or a heartless dick
          C) that you have so little self respect that you would hook up with me-me-me-again

          2. You two should keep your trysts to yourselves, it was cold-showery enough the lust between lacoste and Plum Tart…

    4. “Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a a mistake”.
      Edit: Beaten to it again by Poppiesmum!

  55. Happy hour! (with apols to Plum)

    Time Magazine has an annual Person of the Year feature.

    Who would make Nottl’s Prick of the Year feature?

    4. As long as it is a feminist prick of the year, I could suggest a despised Canadian emporer.

      With a bonus offering of an entire ineffective lying, deceptive set of ministers.

    5. As long as it is a feminist prick of the year, I could suggest a despised Canadian emporer.

      With a bonus offering of an entire ineffective lying, deceptive set of ministers.

    6. Are you thinking of a spare prick? If so, he’s just masking the rest of the pricks we have governing us.

          1. Doesn’t the UK also have laws about drug use? So won’t he now be refused permission to ever return to the UK?

          2. I don’t think the Border Force cares who they let in these days – hence the invasion.

    7. I’d nominate arch-prick Harry. I watched a doco on Sandringham and apparently he was arrested on suspicion of having shot two hen harriers. He was let off because the bodies had disappeared (that would have been the gamekeeper who was out with them, no doubt).

  56. Happy hour! (with apols to Plum)

    Time Magazine has an annual Person of the Year feature.

    Who would make Nottl’s Prick of the Year feature?

  57. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ea650c143eb21534174a1a357595634c72cd82a9d29ffd2818961ee805edc762.jpg

    Interesting historical perspective…
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c81ac5937532ada234298d089e72873b4ec39a9381bc07277f147278a6c16ac6.jpg

    Maybe the Chinese will succeed where the Romans British Russians Americans failed.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e31b8a744ec5e55664140d921f7ad9cddbd4a3a2f40639f0dd42a48fc665bfee.jpg

    Food price inflation
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7048527df157f1ba658568ba77af76d8cace76bf0769e67f930f9a704f71151.jpg

    From Wallstreetsilver. Apparently buying precious metals can get quite addictive. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3dfa1a5b2fd035a363c60db6d10ac3b161930db17cd48237d2b81f66c1a90b41.jpg

  58. – Just imagine being the person that had all the jabs and boosters and wore a mask and complied with all the social distancing and never saw Granny for a year.

    And is still being denied hospital treatment along with everyone else.

    2. I met an ex-colleague this morning who was walking his dog. He told me that over Christmas he, his wife, his son and family had all had covid (he isn’t much of a conversationalist!). My immediate thought was he would have been vaxxed to the eyebrows – I didn’t need to ask as he told me he’d had all the vaxxes and the boosters. You’d have thought he might have questioned the efficacy, but no! He said if he hadn’t had them it would have been much worse!

      1. I know folk who have had it 3 times. Vaxxed, natch.
        When I was vaxed/boostered for cholera, yellow fever and a whole slew of others, I never caught them at all, never mind at a reduced rate.

      2. As I understand it, the covid is in the ‘vaccine’. But not actually in the ‘vaccine’. If one deconstructed the vaccine, one would not be able to find it. The ‘vaccine’ causes the body itself to make the most toxic part of the virus, the spike protein. And because the body itself is manufacturing the spike protein, it evades the body’s immune system. It simply does not recognise it. Thus the spike protein rampages merrily through the body at will. And it is these spike proteins that cause the symptoms of covid to be produced within, usually, two weeks of injection. So how much worse these people are for having had the injection, rather than how much worse it could have been.

        If I have got this wrong someone, anyone, please feel welcome to put me right! I have spent many a long hour mulling over medical articles trying to get to grips with this.

        1. I forebore to mention that if he hadn’t had the jabs, he probably wouldn’t have got covid in the first place. I don’t think he would have believed me (he’d clearly been drinking the Bbc koolade).

      3. Your colleague would probably find it most unfair that Caroline and I who are both unjabbed had Covid so very mildly!

    2. Wise words from Col Richard Kemp:
      https://12ft.io/proxy?ref=&q=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2023/01/06/prince-harry-accused-putting-serving-soldiers-danger-revealing/
      ““He has chosen a path that is alien to us in the UK and the Commonwealth, pursuing US identity politics and casting slurs or racism around where none exists in any manner comparable to the USA.
      “I wonder whose path he has chosen? In the end, I see only disappointment and misery in his pursuit of riches he does not need and his rejection of family and comradely love that he badly needs.”

          2. Yes, srb:

            Plum intends to find a
            new dog – not supported by her daughter.

            She is reluctantly accepting that her tennis days are over/ Achilles tendon injury.

            She continues to have an temporary (?) aversion to computers.

            She is pleased to hear of Nottler’s continued interest and concern . . .

          3. Why does her daughter not support Plum getting a new dog? Plum needs companionship and a dog provides that, along with unconditional love.

          4. I wish I could have a dog but, where I live (flats) it is not allowed – no cats, nor even a budgerigar.

    2. It is a generally accepted fact that if you import the third world, those imported will change wherever they go into the third world.

      In the case of Rotherham, however, not much work needed to be done.

    3. what a complete waste of police resources. Firstly, the kneelers shouldn’t be there, they should be in their own home, in the middle east. Secondly, if they’re going to cause this need for security on us, then we should have them covered by heavy weapons so when they get uppity we remove them the only way we should.

  64. I just watched a documentary on marijuana.
    I think all documentaries should be watched that way!

    1. I have never, ever done illegal drugs. I am now beginning to wonder what I missed. But not enough to try, I hasten to add.

      1. Having got someone off cocaine I can tell you – nothing.

        In the same way drugs stop the world being that cold, gloomy place and turn the world into a perpetual summer (while the high lasts) the long term damage makes the cold gloomy world even darker, colder and more frightening.

      2. I had the opportunity when I was at college, but I passed it up. It never appealed to me. I like to be in control of my faculties.

        1. Yes, that’s it – being in control of yourself. I was offered marijuana when I was going through a bad patch but I said “no thanks, I’ll get through this by myself.” Having said that, I am very susceptible to a glass of red wine in the evening from time to time!

    2. I smoked pot once- never again! Believe I had what is known as a bad trip. Yuk. Will stick with Pinot.

      2. I was a rebel when I was at university in the 1960s so I rebelled against the crowd and had nothing to do with drugs.

  65. Evening, all. Been very wet (flooded roads again), windy and dark today. Driving to church this morning I had my headlights on and it could have been pre-dawn! As for the headline – why is anyone surprised? ALL political parties put re-election ahead of the needs of the country – that’s why they lie to get elected and then renege on what they’ve said.

  66. Labour would ban cigarette sales to stamp out smoking, says Wes Streeting
    The shadow health secretary said more radical options were needed as the UK was set to miss its target of being ‘smoke-free’ by 2030
    So, where would all that lovely foregone tax and duty come from?
    More control of what you do. Fascists taking over everywhere. Burn them.

    1. I bet the smugglers are rubbing their hands! Watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by.

      1. “Watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by.”

        Strewth, Connors, I haven’t heard that since my Mother’s day.

        “Tobacco for the parson and brandy for the clerk.“

        1. I had to learn it at school (we had to learn a LOT of poetry, most of which I can still recite).

  68. We turned the ITV Harry interview off after five minutes . Ir was all too much .. I was shouting at him .

    Moh wanted to carry on viewing him . but I begged him that it was too terrible to watch .

    It was a ghost of a man with ginger hair and a bald head with pin prick bloodshot eyes sitting on a dining chair talking …

    I fear that things will untangle unhappily .. and that so much damage has been done , that the aftermath might be worse than Covid , and I am sorry to say , as a nation we are done for . Losing our credibility .

    That fiendish couple are the enemies of the state.

    1. And more importantly it replaced a new Midsummer Murders! [Which we did want to watch!]

    2. We didn’t watch, CBA. He is a stupid stupid man. What on earth does he think will be his life once he really has exhausted his whingeing and whining story? What will he do with his life? I never thought he could stop so low. He is worse than a child with his tale telling.

        1. Drugs have addled his mind .

          My mother was killed in her car by a drug addled car driving monster driving into her .. she was only 60 years old .

          Mum was driving her car to the post office to pick up the letters and birthday cards for my father from their PO box .. My parents were living near Nelspruit in South Africa.

          No one knew where she was .. The South African police are as thick as hell.. so my family had no idea where her body had been taken to .

          1. A chap I know worked in Ghana for Kvaerna building hospitals. He was sex mad and had a child by a Ghanaian woman despite having two children by a first marriage and a son by a separate liaison in the UK.

            Later I received a message that he had to sell his home in the UK because his Ghanaian partner’s family had been wiped out in a traffic collision and he needed to fund the funerals. Apparently whole families travel in lorries and none ever passed a driving test.

            The house, which I had reconstructed after a fire was, with my assistance, duly sold and his UK partner and son were able with some of the proceeds to build a new home.

            God only knows what happened to ‘Big Joe’ as the natives called him back in Ghana.

          2. You were an adult at that time? What a terrible shock for all of you. You found her body eventually I hope.

          3. I was living in the UK, my 2 sisters and brother and father searched / phoned hospitals and police , 24 hours later she was located in a mortuary , her Omega watch had stopped at quarter to three.

        2. Apparently that is quite a common symptom of a child that suffers a trauma – they never grow beyond the age at which it happened.
          I suspect that this may affect one of my children, so I have read up about it a bit. Was normal as a small child, but development very delayed since then until today. Refuses to admit that anything might be wrong. Serious problems only became apparent in late teens.

  69. Please, oh please, can we stop mentioning the diabolical duo on this page? I am sure I am not the only one here who a) doesn’t give a shit and b) is sick of seeing it on every site you want to read and in the news.
    Let them get on with it. No more.

      1. From my point of view Tom , the drugged up ginger twerp has opened a can of worms re our national security , and I do damned well care , because here where we are we had security crises when Blair was in power , The Tank Regiment down the road was on high alert , and our railway station had all the flower containers removed etc , and the fire brigade came out and showed us some new scrub down for chemicals kit , tents etc.

        I really don’t give a tinkers cuss , but deep down I do care about where we are with illegals and their agenda and damage they could whip up in retaliation.

        1. I agree, Maggie, I too have been involved during my 10 years service with the RAF and I became really scared in October 1962 (The Cuba Crisis) as a front line RAF station we would have been targetted by Russian Nukes.

          After that, everything seems mild now, and at 78, going on 79, I don’t give a damn if the world wishes to go to hell in a hand-basket., let it. On their own stupid heads be it.

          I’ve had my life and written it down, so something might be saved for posterity.

    2. Evening Lottie. I believe it was your birthday today? We’ve been out right from this morning until about 8 ish and are only just catching up so, we hope you had a very lovely day today and that you enjoyed yourself. Hope I’ve for that right.

      1. It was yesterday but thank you anyway. We stayed in as the weather was so awful and had a nice dinner at home. The years are catching up with me 🙁

        1. Oh, so sorry we missed it.

          You’re right about the weather today. We drove our granddaughter back to Bath university, about 100 miles, in the most atrocious torrential rain. Because of the train strikes. Thank goodness the trip back was much better..

          Glad you enjoyed yesterday xxx

          1. Caroline spent some years at Bath University in the 1980s and I was at prep school in Bath in the 1950s so we both know Bath well.

          2. I remember having to run a mile on the old cinder track on the present site of Bath University. I walked most of the distance.

            In those days there was no Bath University but The West of England Academy in Bristol on Whiteladies Road. The Bath School of Architecture was based at the great Vanbrugh designed house at Kings Weston.

            I had several relatives in Bristol and would walk across the grassy fields from Kings Weston to the cottage layout of Blaise Hamlet designed by John Nash with its adjacent Manor House designed by Cockerell.

            The modern University of Bath is a sort of invention. It has brought thousands of Chinese and other students into Bath and moreorless wrecked the city of its formerly quiet intellectual and sedate life.

            Much the same has occurred in Cambridge, where I lived centrally for ten years, where streets are now swarming with Chinese students and the residents are reduced to mere observers of the rotting corpse of one of our most civilised cities.

            If anyone doubts that the actual invasion of this country is not the boatloads of ignorant wogs arriving in dinghies but the infiltration of CCP affiliated and funded students they had better wake up soon.

          3. We had a short look around the campus and came away thinking how miserable looking the concrete buildings were. It was a very grey damp day, tru, but it just seemed old and uninteresting. We’d en to Bath some 25 years ago and as we drove out to come home thought all those lovely Bath stone houses even looked miserable. They used to look golden as I remember but it just looked shabby. Probably not the best day to be there.

  71. Goodnight and God bless, GentleNoTTLefolk. I have to make the arduous trip to Dumfries to get the car MOT d.

    So I may be, (as usual) v late on parade but I’ve set the alarm for 06:00. Let’s see what happens.

  74. From the sublime to the ridiculous, just watched ‘In Which We Serve’, now watching ‘The Long Ships’.

    1. Thanks Geoff! Good morning all! Judging by the road noise the world is back to work!

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