Sunday 30 April: Can voters really trust Labour to solve the problems in general practice?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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515 thoughts on “Sunday 30 April: Can voters really trust Labour to solve the problems in general practice?”

  3. Good Morning Folks

    Bright start here, I think a long arduous walk has been planned for later

    1. Not for me, Bob3. I plan to spend some time sitting in the garden soaking up the sun and catching up with my reading.

  4. Can voters really trust Labour to solve the problems in general practice?

    Ask a silly question, I guess they will just doctor the figures and their mainstream media will not ask too many difficult questions.

  6. Public invited to swear their allegiance as king is crowned. 30 April 2023.

    Members of the public watching the coronation on television, online and in parks and pubs will be invited to swear aloud their allegiance to the monarch in a “chorus of millions of voices” to be known as the Homage of the People.

    People around the UK and abroad will be invited to say the words “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God”, in a declaration that replaces the traditional homage of peers.

    That country I was born into is no more and as I feel no allegiance of any kind to this one I’ll be giving this a pass.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/29/public-invited-to-swear-their-allegiance-as-king-is-crowned

    1. First of all, I think that the King should disavowal all his former allegiances to the nefarious globalist institutions that will only do us harm

    2. …and I hereby rescind and withdraw the oath of allegiance I swore too, when I joined the Royal Air Force, at age 15½ all those 53 + years ago, to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors.

      1. Morning, Elsie.
        My first thought, then I plumped for – see my comment below. Both ideas are extremely dangerous paths to tread.

        1. I cannot see it Korky, either above or below. That’s the danger in mentioning its position in the thread.

          I usually refer to any comment as ‘earlier’.

          1. Ah, I see it now, apropos the ‘Divine Right’ of monarchs. ‘Above’ in my case, as I sort by ‘Newest’.

        2. Sorry, Korky, I can’t see your other comment about swearing allegiance. PS – Found it. I was looking for a reply to me and not to Minty. Sorry.

      3. (It wasn’t nazis, Elsie, it was ordinary Germans. Even kindergartners. If four year olds didn’t make the odious salute on the first day, the parents were asked why.)

        1. It was the Army troops who had to swear allegiance, bb2. I think children and all other adults were simply warned that they had to give the Nazi salute and shout “Heil Hitler”.

    4. Good grief, are Charlie boy and his hangers-on attempting to resurrect the divine right of kings. How very WEF elitist.

    5. What?
      Did the British people do that when Elizabeth was crowned?

      Hello, Charles the Cloth-Eared? The Coronation is about YOU swearing YOUR loyalty to US, not the other way round!

      Edit: Peers swear their loyalty because they get something out of the system! We the peasants don’t, so you can do one! We will choose whether to take your shilling or not, thank you very much.

    6. I bet the real reason for this preposterous nonsense is that they know perfectly well that half the current House of Lords would refuse to swear allegiance, and if they all did, it would take 3 days because there are so many of the troughers!
      Still no excuse. They ought to have them in privately for witnessed ceremonies that aren’t part of the main service.

    7. James Delingpole’s Twitter followers don’t seem too impressed either.
      Someone says that the Creed has been dropped from the service. Does anyone know if this is true?
      If true, then that is appalling, but entirely in tune with his pick’n’mix approach to religion, constantly sucking up to other religions.

      This swearing allegiance is the most foolish and arrogant thing Charles has done to date, and that’s saying something. In southern Africa, “humble” is often used as a word of praise, as in “She is very nice, very humble.”
      They won’t be at all impressed by this.
      He is annoying Christians and loyal Britons, and he will not buy the support of one single muslim or lefty or republican.

      Bring back the true King, frankly.

      https://twitter.com/JamesDelingpole/status/1652545311913672704

      1. “Bring back the true King…”

        That’ll be George VII, Both Charles and his son are too woke to be kings.

          4. Thank you, BB2, so it’s a Jacobite thing. No standing in the UK, think Culluden 1745.

          5. A great friend of mine used to be a keen member of the Royal Stuart Society.

            When we were at UEA Albert of Bavaria was the Pretender and Roger made stickers proclaiming “ALBERT FOR KING” for us to put in the rear windows of our cars.

          6. I never came across Jacobites in Oxford, which is supposed to be the home of lost causes. There was a rather annoying chap who kept pushing the theory that his aristocratic ancestor had written Shakespeare! I suppose it couldn’t possibly have been a middle class man from a minor Midlands grammar school!

    8. He can stick his crown and sceptre up his wreqtum. On second thoughts, he might like that, especially if one of his muzzy friends did it. The man is a wet W⚓️and a liability to all his subjects. I was more than happy with Liz and Phil, they served the nation. Charlie can go **** himself – and take his second son with him

  7. Public invited to swear their allegiance as king is crowned. 30 April 2023.

    Members of the public watching the coronation on television, online and in parks and pubs will be invited to swear aloud their allegiance to the monarch in a “chorus of millions of voices” to be known as the Homage of the People.

    People around the UK and abroad will be invited to say the words “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God”, in a declaration that replaces the traditional homage of peers.

    That country I was born into is no more and as I feel no allegiance of any kind to this one I’ll be giving this a pass.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/29/public-invited-to-swear-their-allegiance-as-king-is-crowned

  8. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Ventriloquist Story

    A ventriloquist is walking across the desert and it’s beginning to get dark and he wants to find a place to bed down for the night. He comes upon an Indian who has made camp in the desert. The Indian has with him a dog, a horse, and a sheep. “Well”, the ventriloquist thinks, “he sure looks cosy. I wonder if he would mind if I stay here with him for the night.” The ventriloquist asks the Indian, who agrees to let him camp with him that night. After dinner the ventriloquist decides to have some fun.

    He says to the Indian, “Excuse me Indian, you mind if I have a talk with your dog?”
    The Indian replies, “Dog not speak!”
    “Sure the dog speaks!” answers the ventriloquist. “Hey dog! How you doing? You like living with the Indian? He treats you ok?” Throwing his voice, he makes the dog say, “Oh yeah! The Indian treats me real good. Gives me good food, exercises me, and shares his food with me. I like the Indian.”

    The Indian looks astonished and says; “Me not know dog speak!”
    Next he says to the Indian, “Excuse me Indian, you mind if I have a talk with your horse?”
    The Indian replies, “Horse not speak!”

    “Sure the horse speaks!” answers the ventriloquist. “Hey horse! How you doing? You like living with the Indian? He treats you ok?” Then throwing his voice, he has the horse say, “Oh yeah! The Indian treats me real good. Washes me down, gives me a nice blanket and saddle, and feeds me good oats. I like the Indian.”

    The Indian looks astonished and says; “Me not know horse speak!”

    Next he says to the Indian, “Excuse me Indian, you mind if I have a talk with your sheep?”

    The Indian yells out, “Sheep is LIAR!”

    Well done Elsie, et al. I temporarily dozed off so, was literally caught napping.

  9. Morning all. I had to rush to copy this letter from a John Stewart, who echos my thoughts on this matter:

    “ Matthew Lynn’s article on the Government’s war on landlords (Business, April 24) highlights the unintended consequences of government intervention in the marketplace.

    It started with Gordon Brown’s removal of tax relief on pension contributions, which undermined the private pension market to such an extent that people invested long-term in the buy-to-let market. This meant that low-cost homes, which would have been available to first-time buyers, were being snapped up by investors, and led to a hike in prices, fuelled by increased demand.

    This has resulted in successive governments attempting to drive landlords out of the market – with considerable success – resulting in fewer homes to rent; rents being increased in response to both market demand and the increasingly onerous demands placed on landlords; and the homes coming back on to the market being too expensive for tenants to buy.

    It’s time that the Government either provided its own low-cost rental accommodation or stopped tinkering with a market it simply doesn’t understand.”

    I would add that importing over 10 million people in 20 years has not helped, nor expanding the higher education sector where students are taking up houses previously available to first time buyers. Nor is the stamp duty system helping (the one introduced by Brown was especially disastrous, where he removed the 1% across-the-board tax with a “slab” system).

  10. Good morning, chums. Enjoy April whilst it lasts. Tomorrow will be a Pinch and a Punch day.

  11. 374066+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Sunday 30 April: Can voters really trust Labour to solve the problems in general practice?

    Trust these last four decades has rarely entered the equation
    gullibility, stupidity in abundance, trust NO.

    The toxic trio lab/lib/con via mass uncontrolled
    immigration,labour the latch lifters joined with the the tory / lib/dems and formed the coalition party, with amendments .

    A major amendment being agreed on via this coalition
    being, precedence is to be given to young males of fit fighting age
    and a force is being formed that will be used as an appeasement gift to ease re-entry to the eu.

    This force, concerning the United Kingdom, is mainly in situ being topped up daily through the Dover ” Gateway of treachery”
    and finding via the polling booth support & votes backing the coalition.

  12. Also, if anyone is cleverer than me, a nice photo of an albino blackbird chick is on page 12 of today’s Terriblegraph.

  13. Vladimir Putin’s once feared and almighty navy is sinking into a sorry state. 30 April 2023.

    The sophisticated craft represents how the Russian navy wants to be seen by its enemies, although the sorry state of its legacy Soviet capital ships may be a more potent image.

    Last week, Russian media reported that the nuclear-powered flagship of the Northern fleet, the Peter the Great, will probably be scrapped because it was too expensive to modernise.

    With a crew of 700 sailors, the cruiser is the world’s largest non-aircraft carrier warship and was supposed to project Russia’s power and influence when it was launched in 1998.

    But it has never seen battle, and now likely never will.

    There’s a lot of cherry picking here to produce this piece of anti-Russian propaganda. The problem with it, as can be seen below the line, is it invites comparisons with the Royal Navy which is in even worse shape than this largely fictional analysis. A glimmering of its problems can be seen here.

    https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/hmsprinceow-cannibalised-breakdowns-outservice.

    There’s good reason to believe that the Ministry of Defence and the UK’s armed forces are now running parallel to their civilian counterparts in being totally dysfunctional.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/04/29/russian-navy-problems-vladimir-putin-flagship-being-scrappe/

    1. So far I’ve avoided reading beyond the headlines about Chinas’ collapse, Germany going under and the Russian navy not being up to scratch. Makes a change from Putin’s ingrowing toe nail or whatever else is likely to carry him off before the end of the century.
      Oh, and I gather HMS Prince of Wales being cannibalised – like Soviet tractors.

  14. Good morning.
    Do we even need to ask the headline question? (that’s rhetorical by the way!)

  15. Liked the Daniel Hannah piece too…

    “… Far more serious is our cowardice when it comes to deregulation. MPs refuse to countenance short-term unpopularity for the sake of long-term prosperity. Worse, they shuffle off key decisions to quangos (such as the CMA) which are, by their nature, rigid and bureaucratic…

    … But blaming our quangocracy gets us only so far. Politicians could, if they really wanted to, alter the Bank of England’s mandate, liberalise the housing market, declare that EU laws will lapse unless expressly readopted, amend the net zero targets, scrap the Equalities Act and cut spending. At the very least, they could do some of these things, rather than being ruled by the fear of opinion polls and Twitter storms.…

    …Poverty is a political choice. No one is forcing it on us.”

    (Re the last sentence. We could have a very long discussion on that!)

      1. Ha ha! Earlier in the piece he defined it as the Competitions and Monopolies Authority (or simikar)

  16. Police move the goalposts so they can ‘count fewer burglaries’. 30 April 2023.

    Fewer burglaries are likely to be solved following a shake-up in the way forces define the offence, a senior police leader has warned.

    Since 2017, police in England and Wales have considered any domestic burglary to include not just the house but also outbuildings such as sheds and garages.

    They don’t investigate them anyway! Pretty soon; apart from On Line Hate Crime, the UK will be a crime free zone. Lol!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/29/police-burglary-statistics-sheds-outbuildings/

    1. Here’s the answer – posted many days ago:

      How To Call The Police When You’re Old
      Phillip Hewitson, an elderly man, from Norwich, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. Philip opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

      He phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?”

      He said “No,” but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.

      Then the police dispatcher said “All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available.”

      Philip said, “Okay.”
      He hung up the phone and counted to 30.

      Then he phoned the police again.

      “Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well you don’t have to worry about them now because I just shot them.” and he hung up.

      Within five minutes, Six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Hewitson’s residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

      One of the Policemen said to Phillip, “I thought you said that you’d shot them!”

      Phillip said, “I thought you said there was nobody available!”

          1. Well, I’d care if he was arrested for requisitioning police resources or something like that.

    2. It’s not just the police forces that are realigning their commitments to the public. The NHS is probably the most infamous at the moment but in my area the local council is doing its utmost to annoy people.
      The council is nibbling away at services and provisions e.g. bringing in a booking system for using the recycling and rubbish tip (Anne mentioned this some time ago), reducing parking and hence customer access to the last decent shopping street in the town city, reducing traffic flow capacity by adding cycle lanes within the centre and ‘discussing sustainability’ that some see as a precursor to the 15 minute neighbourhood. So much appears to be happening to increase despondency with the people’s resignation and acceptance of all things as the goal.

      1. The booking system for the tip here came in during lockdown times – actually it works better than having to queue all along the road and block the traffic.
        Reduced parking just means I seldom venture into town.

  19. NoTTLers will know my views of the egregious, self-promoting “Cur” Anthony Seldon – who believes himself to be the greatest educationalist since Matthew Arnold. He also thinks he is the finest biographer of the age.

    His latest book – on Johnson – was reviewed in the Telegraph yesterday. I went to be happy in the knowledge that “Cur” Seldon would be incandescent with rage.

    The reviewer said that his book was, “flashy and shallow”. Bit like the little man himself!!!!

    Breakfast calls.

  20. Good morning all. A dry, but cloudy start with 7°C outside after last night’s rain. I see more rain forecast for this evening.

  21. Guten Tag Alles,

    Sunny at the McPhee Manor with the chance of the odd light shower early afternoon, wind South, 7℃ rising to just 13℃ today.

    Not much in the Gatesograph letters to excite apart from the headline “Can Voters Really Trust Labour to Solve The Problems in General Practice”.
    Er, no. Voters can’t trust them with anything. Remember the last time? Stupid boy, Pike. Mind you what we’ve got now is eerily reminiscent of ‘New Labour’.

    Further down is this, one of two on the subject:

    SIR – The suggestion that hereditary peers may not be allowed to wear their robes at the Coronation is extraordinary. This, the greatest ceremony in the world, must be magnificent and splendid.

    The majority of British people are patriotic and traditional in their approach to the Crown. The Palace must listen to them, not to those who seek to diminish this majestic event.

    Simon Gordon
    Harbertonford, Devon

    By going woke, his Royal Wokeness will be deliberately passing up the opportunity which would be welcome to the vast majority of his subjects to demonstrate to the World just whose country this is.

    2. I was thinking today (dangerous, I know) that if the indigenous boycotted the coronation, the streets would almost certainly be empty.

  22. Good Moaning (dammit).
    Clean brushes and bucket of fence paint giving me significant looks.

  23. Morning, all Y’all.
    Woken at 02:30 by brilliant moonbeams, finally resumed slumber 04:00, and woke again 08:30.
    Cats miffed at the Chef being late with breakfast, but otherwise a beautiful brilliant sunny day, already 10C.
    Looks like I need to wash the terrace and get the furniture out before winter resumes.

  24. They really can’t help themselves, can they?

    Leftist Guardian Newspaper Condemned for ‘Antisemitic’ Cartoon of Jewish BBC Boss
    https://media.breitbart.com/media/2023/04/GettyImages-905150766-1-2-640×480.jpg
    *
    *
    https://twitter.com/LozzaFox/status/1652238835835719680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1652238835835719680%7Ctwgr%5Eab4e1635e63b136aa52e57df2b70b7c115e3c1c4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Feurope%2F2023%2F04%2F29%2Fleftist-guardian-newspaper-condemned-for-antismetic-cartoon-of-jewish-bbc-boss%2F

          1. It looked as if the first two words merged. Perhaps it’s the semi-Gothic script.

          2. I find Gothic very difficult to read – we have Firstborn’s Farm Bible here – it’s Danish, written in Gothic type. Urgh.

  25. ‘Morning All

    Sunday Medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d664e654aeee5578725bf00f0cb7c5652872b2b79d889de9462178448a64f888.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6f157d88c8424bf242829d5fc872d024bae581796224df9d5d745d3ade3efa8f.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bddd0ca7ff3eb34425cf5b860fb5d37ce5bf9697679495fedc0e3b4630df3ecf.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/436ff17887d2308c2a4b9750c177cb95e2a58aea7cc1c7723001fdccbae22e16.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cd2bae076dd3e2f16961dc4acb4e722a22c834b2f0d6a8f1db9fa85fce743536.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f887a37a8f4af0ceecb4c0cbce5685ad2491d865e4e5b45e7ae062a6250aaa6d.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/39c4f6b83500d4442c51f6b3262aa9b1d62c20a2fd9749c674533c26a643e84b.png

  27. I had the same problems setting up BACS payments for some work we had done to the Buy-to-let we have. I’ve found the easiest way to do it is to set up the payment for a small amount as a starter and then follow up with the bulk of the amount after that has gone through.

    Banks’ priorities
    SIR – I recently had to distribute significant funds to my brother and sister, who were beneficiaries of a will.

    My sister wanted the money sent by Bacs, while my brother was happy with a cheque, which I posted using the Post Office tracking facility.

    Conversely, I spent three frustrating hours on the phone to my bank – which had commendably intercepted my electronic transfer for fear it was a scam – proving that it was legitimate.

    The irony is that banks are very keen on reducing costs, but spend what seems to be a huge amount of resource on preventing and compensating for electronic scams. My brother’s cheque sailed through without a hitch.

    Peter Horwood
    Heathfield, East Sussex

    1. Morning Bob. The Bank questioned my last Gas Payment. If there any scammers reading this blog please feel free to pay any of my bills!

  28. From the Mail’s description of how the coronation ceremony is supposed to go:

    “The Oath

    The Archbishop of Canterbury reaffirms the belief of Queen Elizabeth II by saying the Church will ‘seek to foster an environment in which people of all faiths and beliefs may live freely’.

    The Archbishop asks Charles III if he is willing to take the Oath …”

    So Christianity is reduced to merely a doormat upon which other religions are to wipe their feet, in tune with Charles’s one world government true religion.

    1. Eddie, 18th Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal (Ampleforth & Lincoln, Oxford), recently married his 2nd wife who lived in the village down the hill with a service of ‘blessing’ in Shalbourne CofE church (sniggers from fellow Catholics) The word is that, whereas he was given free rein to do what had to be done for the State Funeral of the late QEII, he is being substantially frozen out of the arrangements for the Coronation by ‘The Palace’ (= KCIII and his woke entourage). In Catholic circles, we are being told “Embarrassing shambles…not my fault” and I bet the word is spreading further afield.

      1. More fool Charles.

        I really do not see why people persist in speculating about Harry’s parentage – he seems to me to have a lot in common with his father!

    2. I wouldn’t call myself a christian but I was brought up in the faith and my parents sent me to a C of E school. Which I found boring.
      But it’s become perfectly clear that Christian kindness has been taken a huge advantage of and because many Christian people have spent less time in sunny climates they are now being targeted by others who have. As the relatively newcomers, keep demanding more than they are historically entitled to. This will not end happily. It’s not racism, it’s a given and obvious practicality.
      Those who could not be bothered to ‘put their own houses in order’ have no right to change or make demands on wherever they turn up for a better life. Accept it for what it is or go back.

      1. Could be that my 5 year sojourn in Sunny Southern Spain has hardened my heart toward the gimmegrunt invaders. Slaughter the f**kers.

        1. All I say is I went to Benidorm in 1967 with 6 life long friends. It was fairly quite, a bit shabby no high rise but we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
          But from what I have seen and heard I have no desire to go there again.
          Once on a beach in Majorca we moved our spot to be closer to the German holiday makers. The noisy out spoken English were an embarrassment.

          2. Whats quite nice about Fuengirola is the train from Malaga airport.
            Javier and around Murcia is quite nice.
            We’ve had a couple of holidays on the Atlantic coast.

      2. They won’t have a better life.

        They will feel the cold , live in mouldy homes because they never open their windows , everything will be expensive but they will carry on breeding .
        I am seeing more black babies / brown babies than I have ever seen before , when I am shopping .

  29. Morning all 🙂😉
    Sofar a lovely bright sunny start. But rain forecast. Out to lunch with number two and family.
    Why would people ever expect Labour to be more efficient that our useless government.
    All politicians are the same. There may be some exceptions but they are ignored and sidelined. As we have recently seen.

      1. I think I may do the Same, Jules, not much sleep last night, just dozed in front of the pooter.

          4. Maybe you should just relax and stop worrying about it. I don’t do anything other than lie down in the dark. Has to be warm though so a quick blast with the electric blanket before I turn off the light and put my phone down.

          5. I’ve yet to find a solution – even sleeping pills just leave me feeling dopey in the morning.

            “What’s new” I hear you say.

          6. The only time I took a sleeping pill was in Tidworth hospital having given birth to my first son. It made me feel so ill I’ve never even thought of taking another.

          7. A very long time ago I was taken to Tidworth hospital with a broken heel bone. They put me in a bed next to an ‘immigrant’ with a deadly lung disease. No masks in those days.
            Many, many years before that I went to the dentist there to have a tooth extracted. The Colonel/dentist was so old he couldn’t control his trembling hands so he had a Gurkha soldier to assist him. He injected me in the roof of the mouth – right through to my nose. When he pushed the plunger all the aesthetic ran down my nose and over my mouth. It worked within a second or two and my lower face was frozen solid. It didn’t stop him pulling the tooth though.

          8. Bloody hell! I thought the gynae department were butchers!
            I remember the Anglo/Indian sister coming at me with a huge pair of scissors………

          6. The squadron markings on the Airfix box are 79 Sqn. It looks as if 2 Sqn was an option. Unfortunately for the Swift it was up against the Hawker Hunter.

          7. In 1945, the Second World War came to a close and a new post-war Labour government, headed by Clement Attlee, came to power in Britain. The incoming Attlee government’s initial stance on defence was that no major conflict would occur for at least a decade, and thus there would be no need to develop or to procure any new aircraft until 1957.
            After a protracted development period, the Swift entered service as an interceptor aircraft with the RAF in 1954. However, due to a spate of accidents, the Swift was grounded for a time, and had a relatively brief service life. The problems with the Swift led to a public scandal surrounding the development and performance of the aircraft, harming the reputations of the British government, the RAF, and the British aircraft industry.
            Britain was then a world leader in aircraft and nuclear technology. With the help of the Americans and the post-war governments all was squandered for political and financial gains of the leading politicians. Still happening to this day.

          1. You provide very luxurious superior accommodation. Free Continental Breakfast included?

        3. No swallows have yet appeared in this area on the Kent/Sussex border.

          Avian ‘flu?

          1. Nor here. That’s the modern generation of Hirundinidae for you! They’re getting lazy playing with their iPhones rather than doing proper migration and all the rubber dinghies are full. Innit.

          2. Certainly none, Swallows, Swifts, House Martins in The Borders, if they appear at all.

          4. Saw our first 2 swallows fly up the Tamar valley 2 weeks ago, but haven’t seen any since, but it’s still damned chilly here.

          5. And my conclusion is that they’re not going to arrive properly until it’s warm enough for insects to be flying about in numbers.

    2. Who in their right minds expect Labour to be more efficient than our present lot.
      I only have 2 expectations, the first being that politicians are self serving pond life, the second that the plebs will continue to return them to Westminster.
      An interesting fact that I noticed is that on my travels in and around my local Norf Zummerzet area I have yet to see a Conservative or Labour election poster, only Lib Dem.
      What does that say about the voters I wonder?

      1. Voting can be a frightening factor.
        It’s an open door for what should be considered as a change, but it can of course undermine any good we might have hoped for. But in the situation we have reached, an all time low. From my own point of view I am only going to vote for an independent or one of the smaller parties if they actually place candidates.
        I can’t bring myself to vote for any of the three major parties. Or anyone already in Westminster. They don’t have the public interest in mind. Only their own.
        As is pretty obvious.

        1. I am in total agreement with you, I will not vote for one of the major parties either. As there was no alternative last time I refused to vote at all. I hope next time I will have a candidate worthy of my support.
          My local town council is controlled by Independents for Frome (ifF) winning all 17 out of 17 seats. There are still policies I disagree with but I think things are better than the established party political lines.

  30. Youse who complain that people are getting stupider over time is borne out by research on Swedish TV:
    (From Google Translate) Edit: Reference https://www.nrk.no/nyheter/helse-og-livsstil-1.10902983

    Research: Humans are getting dumber A number of studies that have been carried out on human intelligence show that we are getting dumber. IQ tests carried out on several hundred thousand Norwegian conscripts show that IQ results no longer increase, but show a decrease in men born after 1975.
    – It is especially in vocabulary and mathematics that it starts to decline, says researcher Ole Røgeberg to SVT.

    He believes the decline is due to environmental factors more than genes, and links it to the time when calculators became common in schools. – Then the knowledge of how to solve math problems quickly with just pen and paper went downhill, he says.

    Ulf Danielsson, professor at Uppsala University, tells SVT Idebyrån that he agrees that humans have become dumber. He believes that this is partly due to technical developments.

    – It is possible that we reached the peak 20,000 years ago, he says.

    He points out that it is not necessarily the case that the development of civilization coincides with us becoming smarter.

    – We don’t need to become smarter in step with the computers. In that sense, stupidity is a way of life, he says.

    The philosopher Karim Jebari points out in the program that society has changed, while IQ tests have not changed much in 100 years. He does not believe that people have become less smart after 1975.

    1. I can only thank God that I was born in 1944. Smarter than your average bore, Yogi.

    2. And the same goes with language. Look at the calls for rewriting hymns in “accessible” language as opposed to the older, more complex and precise use of English these days.
      And – nobody is allowed to criticise incorrect use, either, so the poor quality is allowed to continue.

      2. No one will … or can …. stop me criticising. It is apparent (from that SVT report) that the universal use of vapid Americanisms is part of the problem.

        Their routine used of ‘dumb’ for stupid and ‘smart’ for clever grates my teeth. Just this morning (in the ‘virtual’ Sunday Telegraph) I have been moved to remonstrate with a reporter for calling a dog lead a ‘leash’.

        My personal opinion is that human intelligence continued to rise right up until the commencement of the 20th century (the period between Chaucer and Kipling was a golden age). Since the invention of the aeroplane (not ‘airplane’, you halfwits!) and other modern technology, the rise of that technology has been inversely proportional to the decline in human intelligence. In fact technology is supplanting human intelligence to such a degree that the much-vaunted rise in so-called ‘AI’ (Artificial Intelligence) will soon replace the necessity to think.

        And that is precisely what the rulers of the planet want.

    3. We now have many ‘quiz shows’ on TV all channels, most are like watching paint dry.
      But the people who usual succeed are the older generation and dare I say white.
      But there maybe an obvious reason why this happens. Perhaps it’s Because nearly all other people of diverse backgrounds are heavily involved in TV advertising.
      Nothing to learn here, move on.

      2. I used to see if I could beat the till in arriving at the total price of my supermarket shopping. I don’t do that any more.

        1. Just kidding. I’d be delighted to sample your scones.
          PS It rhymes with ‘gone’.

          2. I’d send you some in the post (or is it ‘poost’?) Trouble is it would be well stale before you got it!🤣

      1. As I said, above: bugger the jam and the cream. I like mine with lots of raisins in them and just decent butter, nothing else.

        Plain scones are for feeding to the ducks in the park. 👍🏻

        1. I agree. There are many fruity variations, some with a hint of cinnamon. I like a cheese scone too.

        2. I agree. There are many fruity variations, some with a hint of cinnamon. I like a cheese scone too.

          2. Wild horses will not make me admit to ever having laughed at one of your terrible jokes 🙂

    8. Reminds me of the end of the Scottish play and how Malcolm will be crowned!

      Milk and then just as it comes dear,
      I’m afraid the preserve’s full of stones
      Beg pardon I’m soiling the doileys
      With afternoon teacakes and scones.

      From John Betjeman’s poem How To Get On in Society in which he ironically and mischievously teases the lower- middle classes for their vain attempts at ‘gentle’ pronunciation.

      1. Not currently, but next week I’m going to knock up a batch of both pikelets and crumpets. Same recipe: pikelets are unmoulded, crumpets are moulded (in a ring).

  32. Right, that’s it from me for a while (loud cheers). I’m off to bend a fly-rod into some trout on the Salisbury Avon.

    1. Lucky devil. Tell me, do rivers like that have just a natural trout stock, or are they supplemented by stocking?

      1. It has both. The fishing pressure is such that if it wasn’t stocked the river would soon be empty. The stretch of the Avon where I fish is very well managed and keepered. From tomorrow, 1st May, we can take four fish per day for the table if we want. Catch and release is widely practiced now and, like me, most anglers content themselves with taking one or two occasionally. Everyone I know ensures all wild fish go back unharmed so only stocked fish are killed. It’s quite easy to tell them apart especially since the ‘stockies’ are bigger than the average ‘wildie’. The keeper is trying to reduce the stocking levels and is structuring the 6 miles of river he looks after to create more trout habitat so that it may be possible in the future to be an ‘all wild’ trout fishery. Other clubs and associations on the Avon have already achieved that. The grayling, of which there is a large population, are all wild.

          1. I had 9 with 3 escaping. 6 stockies, 5 about 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half lbs, the biggest just over 2lbs. All on a deep-fished hare’s ear nymph. Olives and some grannom were hatching and a fair number of hawthorn flies were about but nothing rose. I don’t think they realise it’s spring yet. The day was cooler than the last two days (13℃) and it rained. The water was cold and I hadn’t taken an extra pair of socks to wear inside my waders nor did I wear thermal underwear. Big mistake. I’ve only just warmed up!

          2. Well done. I’ve seen a few black hawthorns along the Tamar the last couple of days when walking the dog, but not many.

          3. I had 9 with 3 escaping. 6 stockies, 5 about 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half lbs, the biggest just over 2lbs. All on a deep-fished hare’s ear nymph. Olives and some grannom were hatching and a fair number of hawthorn flies were about but nothing rose. I don’t think they realise it’s spring yet. The day was cooler than the last two days (13℃) and it rained. The water was cold and I hadn’t taken an extra pair of socks to wear inside my waders nor did I wear thermal underwear. Big mistake. I’ve only just warmed up!

      1. When I said a few words at the reception after getting married I quoted these words from the song:

        At seventeen he falls in love quite madly with eyes of tender blue
        At twenty-four he gets it rather badly with eyes of a different hue
        At thirty-five you’ll find him flirting sadly with two or three or more
        When he fancies he is past love
        It is then he meets his last love
        And he loves her as he’s never loved before.

        I was 41 when I married my lovely young bride and so the song was especially appropriate.

        1. I am 67 and have not got that far yet. According to Polish tradition though, I have until September.

  34. Stop cancelling Russian artists for Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine. 30 April 2023.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0ae7fc485ea48c1838101fe7d225f9c4eb3068f5f779bdbd743134d1bfd281e1.png

    Anna Netrebko may be one of the best sopranos on the planet. But because she was seen to have been close to Putin and failed to denounce him quickly enough after the invasion last year, she became untouchable – fired without ceremony by the Met Opera in New York and most other engagements in the West.

    This logic, especially at the time, was understandable. But Netrebko did later denounce the war, which is sacrilege for an alleged Putinista and quite perilous for Russians like her who have deep ties to their motherland. Yet, as a prominent Russian in the arts, her desirability was doomed regardless. She was warned that she may never return. It’s a real shame, because Netrebko is a fabulous singer.

    There is nothing so revealing of the Western Elites motives as their treatment of individual Russians and their property. The former are ostracised and the latter stolen with no pretence of legality. This I might point out is a State with which we are not at war so the usual rules of Interdiction and Blockade do not apply. These actions have no basis in Natural Justice. It is simply State sponsored Theft and Oppression.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/30/stop-cancelling-russian-artists-for-putins-war-in-ukraine/

      1. Morning Ndovu. I have to confess i haven’t heard her myself so can offer no opinion!

    3. I swear that I will pay no attention to Your Majesty, or to your ears and excretions and accordingly guffaw. So God help me.”

    4. I thought he was supposed to swear allegiance to his people, to protect them from their government. Allegiance has to be earned.

  36. From the DT letters

    Dr Sam Goodhand
    Specialist registrar, intensive care and anaesthesia
    Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex

    I think he has a lovely name .. inspires confidence and care .

  37. The Church of England has rediscovered its natural authority with the King’s Coronation. 30 April 2023.

    Canon law of the Church of England, which prohibits other faiths saying prayers, has been adhered to. Lambeth Palace was also keen to point out that the Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Jewish peers involved in carrying coronation items are not holding objects with Christian symbols, such as the orb topped with a cross. The most notable involvement of a non-Christian is the Hindu Rishi Sunak, reading the Epistle, but he takes his place by reason of his office: it has become traditional for the Prime Minister to read a lesson at a Church-meets-state-meets-Crown occasion, as Liz Truss did at the late Queen’s funeral.

    Yes it’s all Canon Law except for what isn’t. This piece of elliptical sophistry makes one wonder if they are getting the jitters.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/30/coronation-church-has-rediscovered-its-natural-authority/

      1. And if it’s not diverse enough for you it must be that you’re not being sufficiently inclusive in accordance with government guidelines.

    2. As you know, I do not adhere to religion, any religion, nor do I think that the current king is a worthy successor to his mother.

      Having said that I am a firm believer and advocate of tradition, of pomp and ceremony, and of pageant. With that in mind I shall sit and enjoy watching every aspect of the coronation.

      1. The funeral arrangements were laid down years in advance and were impeccable. I’m not expecting too much of this ceremony.

      2. The funeral arrangements were laid down years in advance and were impeccable. I’m not expecting too much of this ceremony.

      3. We found it very refreshing to find what I call CofE Muslims in Turkey. Many people in the UK are nominally Anglican but they don’t take their faith too seriously or let it interfere with their lives. And so it is with many Turkish Muslims. They wear western clothes – even bikinis on the beach and when sailing, they drink alcohol and even are happy to eat pork.

        Our friend Ali regularly sailed over to Symi from Marmaris to top up his supplies of gin, whisky, vodka and bacon

    3. The King has a conflict that did not really exist before. Very many millions of his subjects are not Christians, and yet he is duty bound to be as much their King as that of a devout Church of England attender. He cannot afford to exclude non-Christians if he values his head.

      The Archbishop of Canterbury, however, is under no such obligation, and therefore he is the one with the authority to make declarations on behalf of the church of which the King is the titular head.

      I also believe that the current King is very much a worthy successor to his mother, even though he approaches the job differently, as he would. He is a good man, diligent, conscientious, thoughtful, kind and honourable. We are lucky to have him.

      He is more hands-on than his mother, but considering the poverty of talent among our politicians, this may not be a bad thing. He reminds me most of George III, before he went mad, who was a keen farmer, a sponsor of all sorts of enterprising activities, and extremely proud of being British (even though he was mostly German, with just a tenuous ancestry through the female line to the Scottish kings of old).

      Two images of Charles III show he is far from infallible though. One are the pictures of him as a young man, unflatteringly like the Beano character Lord Snooty, and quite repellent to anyone admiring the working class. The other, of course, was that he married the wrong woman, and did not act terribly well during that unfortunate marriage with Diana. His aunt Margaret was denied the love of her life because of royal protocol and never really got over it. Fate delivered the same to Charles, except that he did something about that situation and eventually married the woman he should have done all along.

      1. We will just have to see, won’t we. I think Camilla has calmed him down to some extent.

  38. Good morning all and trust you are all well. Or as well as can be.

    So – how did the Emergency Alert go? Did anyone get it? What did it say? We were in Cyprus and had switched off emergency alerts on our phones. Nobody else’s phone rang. Was it exciting?!

      1. I found that there’s a YouTube channel featuring the Dad’s Army characters and back-story, also the history of the actors. Fascinating stuff, it is. By The History Chap. See https://youtu.be/pLX4nEkT3KM
        Although a comedy show, these were no lightweight actors – and many have amazing war records, as well. Definitely to be recommended.

        1. There was a special biographical subplot written for the mild and soft-hearted Private Godfrey, played by Arnold Ridley, who was in real life a decorated war hero from WW1.

        2. The only character who wasn’t funny was Cpl Jones – played by a ‘comic’ actor. All the others were played by actors who knew their trade.

    4. I wonder if foreigners on UK phone networks got it? Does anyone know?

      vw, it seems to have been as badly organised as any other government IT project.

        1. There are several Naval bases around where i live. I shall be comfortably within the blast zone.

    6. No – not exciting! We were on the train from Sheffield and some people’s phones went off around us – a minute early! Not as loud as I’d anticipated. I’d made sure ours didn’t get it. Then some went off again as people turned their phones on.

    7. No – not exciting! We were on the train from Sheffield and some people’s phones went off around us – a minute early! Not as loud as I’d anticipated. I’d made sure ours didn’t get it. Then some went off again as people turned their phones on.

    8. No – not exciting! We were on the train from Sheffield and some people’s phones went off around us – a minute early! Not as loud as I’d anticipated. I’d made sure ours didn’t get it. Then some went off again as people turned their phones on.

    2. Surely it is fair game if it looks like the man in question? I must say, it would never have occurred to me that that was meant to be a jewish caricature, but then I’m not really interested in seeing prejudice everywhere.

      1. You are too young to remember the War… Yer Germans went in for that sort of “caricature”….

        1. But is this meant to be a particular person or just some anonymous “jewish person”?
          If the former, it’s OK, if the latter, then dodgy.

          1. It assigns negative jewish characteristics to an individual. So both. The cartoonist said that it was just an unfortunate and unintended result of his scribblings, yeh right..

          2. But does it actually LOOK like the individual in question? If yes -> OK, if no, then …

      2. I thought it looked more like Andrew Bailey, who is not Jewish as far as I know.

        I never know Richard Sharp was Jewish until I looked him up. His Jewishness in unimportant to me. What does matter is that Goldman Sachs have been profiting from insider Government lobbying (and who can forget how Royal Mail was privatised), and the general principle that it is not a good look to lend or give the PM a substantial sum of money and then at the same time end up with an important national appointment. Nothing to do with being a Jew.

      1. It’s a squid. I don’t know what it signifies though.
        Squids also double as a “common anti-Semitic motif,” according to Dave Rich, an author who specializes in anti-Semitism. They have been used to depict the conspiracy theory that powerful Jewish forces have their tentacles wrapped around parts of society they seek to control.

        1. I would never have guessed that. Octopus tentacles maybe, though that’s just a motif for any powerful group.

          I’m suspicious of cries of anti-semitism because there are powerful groups manipulating our politicians, and because some of the group members are jewish, crying anti-semitism would be a good way to shut down any criticism.
          One only has to look at Israel during the covid vaxx time to see how much the world elites care about ordinary jews…

  40. Nagsman is still working full time so needs careful nurturing and nourishing. Got to keep her going so she’s coming over for Roast Beef at The Plough today…

    Meat is crucial for human health, scientists warn

    Close to a thousand experts unite behind statement that rejects ‘zealotry’ of plant-based diets and promotes livestock farming

    By Sarah Knapton, SCIENCE EDITOR
    29 April 2023 • 7:04pm

    Meat is crucial for human health, scientists have warned, as they called for an end to the “zealotry” pushing vegetarian and vegan diets.

    Dozens of experts were asked to look into the science behind claims that meat eating causes disease and is harmful for the planet in a special issue of Animal Frontiers.

    They warned that it is difficult to replace the nutritional content of meat, arguing that poorer communities with low meat intake often suffer from stunting, wasting and anaemia driven by a lack of vital nutrients and protein.

    In recent years, there has been a widespread societal push towards plant-based diets, with schemes such as Veganuary and meat-free Mondays encouraging the public away from meat.

    The major Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factor Study, published in The Lancet in 2020, also suggested that a diet high in red meat was responsible for 896,000 deaths worldwide, and was the fifth leading dietary risk factor.

    But researchers argue that unprocessed meat delivers most of the vitamin B12 intake in human diets, plays a major role in supplying retinol, omega-3 fatty acids and minerals such as iron and zinc, as well as important compounds for metabolism, such as taurine and creatine.

    ‘Fatally scientifically flawed’
    In one paper published in the issue, experts found no good evidence to support red meat being dangerous below intakes of 75g per day, and argued that the link between red meat and disease vanished when part of a healthy diet, suggesting it was the rest of the diet that was fuelling health problems.

    Dr Alice Stanton, of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, one of the authors of the review, said: “The peer-reviewed evidence published reaffirms that [the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Risk Factors Report] which claimed that consumption of even tiny amounts of red meat harms health is fatally scientifically flawed.

    “In fact, removing fresh meat and dairy from diets would harm human health. Women, children, the elderly and low income would be particularly negatively impacted.”

    The NHS also advises that red meat – such as beef, lamb and pork – is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals and can form part of a balanced diet, although it warns that eating more than 90g per day can raise the risk of bowel cancer.

    The new edition includes a declaration signed by nearly 1,000 scientists across the globe arguing that livestock farming was too important to society to “become the victim of zealotry”.

    The Dublin Declaration includes signatories from the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bristol, Belfast, Newcastle, Nottingham, Surrey as well as several scientists from Britain’s world-leading agricultural and farming university Harper Adams.

    “Livestock-derived foods provide a variety of essential nutrients and other health-promoting compounds, many of which are lacking in diets even among those populations with higher incomes,” the declaration states.

    “Well-resourced individuals may be able to achieve adequate diets while heavily restricting meat, dairy and eggs. However, this approach should not be recommended for general populations.”

    The researchers warned that those who need to eat animal products included young children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, women of reproductive age, older adults and the chronically ill.

    ‘One-size-fits-all agendas’
    Dr Wilhelm Windisch, a farming nutrition expert at the Technical University of Munich, said: “Farmed and herded animals maintain a circular flow of materials in agriculture by using and upcycling large amounts of materials humans cannot eat, turning them into high-quality nutrient dense food.

    “One-size-fits-all agendas, such as the drastic reductions of livestock numbers could incur environmental and nutritional consequences on a massive scale.”

    The intervention was welcomed by the National Farmers Union (NFU) who were this week promoting Great British Beef Week.

    Richard Findlay, the NFU livestock board chair, said: “This peer-reviewed research confirms what we’ve always known – that red meat is a quality, nutritious protein that plays a critical role in a healthy, sustainable balanced diet.

    “During Great British Beef Week this week, we can celebrate the sustainability of British beef and the environmental benefits our grazing herds deliver.”

    The Global Burden of Diseases team had not responded at the time of publication.

    *******************************************

    Rebecca Key
    14 HRS AGO
    My family has been raising beef in Texas since the 1880’s. Many of my family members lived well into their 90’s (my father is still living and will be 95 this summer). These people ate beef all of their lives, and they also ate healthy meals that were mostly home-cooked and not full of processed foods.

    The Whistler
    11 HRS AGO
    Reply to Rebecca Key – view message
    let us hope this is the case for all meat eaters and the vegan cult dies out quickly along with the net zero fanatics EDITED

    Mr P the Hat
    1 HR AGO
    Reply to Rebecca Key
    I’ll drink to that (red wine of course)

    3. There is a good environmentalist argument in favour of meat consumption, certainly in places where livestock is reared on pasture, rather than indoors in intensive lots, as is common practice among traditional mixed farms in Britain.

      Not only does exclusive arable farming deplete the landscape, with its grubbing of hedges and destruction of stockproof features that enhance wildlife corridors, the manure from animals feeds the micro-organisms in the soil, rather than sterilising them to oblivion.

      The following fact may please feminists, even though it leaves me somewhat uneasy. Half of natural progeny are male, but one only needs one bull to inseminate a herd of cows; all the others are surplus to requirement. Male animals do not produce milk or eggs or carry the young. Eating the male calves, lambs, piglets, chicks etc. is more efficient and more viable to a farmer anxious to maintain market competitiveness that sending them to landfill.

      1. “Not only does exclusive arable farming deplete the landscape…”

        It also increases the risk of flooding and a consequence of that is soil erosion and damaged river ecology.

  41. Sunak is pulling the plug on the North Sea – watch UK oil drain away
    Windfall taxes will prevent us from bolstering Britain’s energy security
    Liam Halligan: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/04/30/oil-companies-freeze-north-sea-investing-windfall-tax/

    More and more people who post their comments under DT articles such as this are becoming convinced that the destruction of the British economy is entirely deliberate and part of the plan for advancing the Great Reset.

    Here is a sample comment:

    BTL – Percival Wrattstrangler

    The Great Reset requires us to have nothing – however in spite of what Claus Schwab says I very much doubt whether this will make us happy!

    Hunt and Sunak are under strict instructions from the WEF to destroy the British economy. What I find more than alarming is that our new and naïf King is as avid a disciple of Mr Schwab as Mrs Sunak is.

  44. How things look.

    https://twitter.com/nbreavington/status/1652603935297773573

    https://twitter.com/nbreavington/status/1652442142965485569

    Biden is looking to forge ahead with robbing USA citizens by installing a CBDC system as soon as possible. Sunak will follow suit. We are seeing the march of the modern robber-barons. The people will have very little to close to nothing financially and free movement will be a thought from the past. Complying isn’t an option, it has to be ruled out completely.

    Slay News – Biden Advances Plans Americans No Longer Own Money

    1. Will it be compulsory to use this new currency? What about our current bank accounts and investments? Will they all be transferred to the new CBDC? I can see that pensions etc, might be paid using it, but can they then be transferred to an ordinary current account? Will private money cease to exist?

      1. They want to abolish cash. Sorry, I misunderstood – yes, the implication is that money as we know it will cease to exist. But logically, they will have to make gold and silver ownership illegal, and forbid people from using cash, otherwise the CBDC won#t work.

        They’re talking about restricting the amount of CBDC that someone can own, at least to start with. So right from the start, it’s programmable and we as citizens have zero power with the money that we are supposed to have earned. It’s slavery really – we the slaves will work for food stamps, and that’s not hyperbole, it’s the simple truth.

        Several financial commentators have walked through how they think the CBDC might be implemented.
        It seems likely that things would be transferred over gradually, and the old fiat currencies would be allowed to inflate away, thus “solving” the world’s debt problems.
        Someone, I can’t remember who, thought that we would wake up one morning and find that our mortgages had been switched over to the new currency – i.e. no debt jubilee for the peasants.
        There might be a short window during which it would be possible to pay off mortgages with a debased currency.

        The first power cut will show the cruelty of removing cash. Also, some people think a CBDC won’t fly in Europe politically.

        Lynette Zang thinks the CBDC is just the next phase of managing the collapse of fiat currencies. Alasdair Macleod also says that when the CBDC has been tried, everyone will have to revert to some kind of gold-backed currency.
        My guess is that our power-drunk overlords will then try to sell us something like a CBDC with 40% gold backing.**
        Incidentally, that’s due to launch in Zimbabwe on 8th May – a gold backed CBDC.

        I just have a strong sense of watching a theatre production when I see these CBDC plans. It’s so obviously going to fail. I have the feeling that the elites see it as a tool to manage the changeover from the old fiat currencies, so that they will come out on top for the next financial cycle.
        They are distracting us into fighting for our rights so that we don’t turn on them for messing up the old currencies.
        The world has never before seen so many fiat currencies collapsing at once, and with such a scale of derivative debt. Bubbles and currency crashes in the past have been local, and although devastating to the people involved, they haven’t spread.
        This along makes it plausible that a mighty distraction is planned by those responsible.

        I think it’s absolutely on the cards that when the reset is over, we the people will be able to declare a mighty victory over CBDCs, net zero and all that evil stuff, and the rejuvenation phase will begin, just as it did after the banker-manipulated world wars.
        Some of their odious managers are probably due to be collateral damage so that we get to feel that we nailed the perpetrators.

        My concerns are how to survive during the CBDC phase, including the manufactured crisis that will usher it in, and how to transfer wealth over to the other side without getting reaped by those feckers. Plus of course we have to resist the tyranny, otherwise our lives will be unbearable.

        **By the way, it has been calculated that 40% gold backed dollars would require a gold price of 15 000 dollars an ounce. Just saying…

        1. That’s why I’ve been steadily withdrawing CASH from my account, leaving only enough to pay any direct debits and standing orders.

          I want to see a full month’s account of my income and outgoings before doing anything really drastic, I cannot afford to buy gold, silver or bitcoins. We’ll just have to wait and see.

          2. I don’t know but I think it will continue to be acceptable to the man in the street and small traders.

          4. At some point people will lose faith in cash, and that’s when alternative money will be useful.

            Different countries have different gold and silver coins – for example in Austria, the Philharmonikas are produced down to 1 g for the gold ones, and 1/4 ounce for the silver ones. In the USA there are a lot of old silver coins still around, and also a lot of silver and gold rounds.
            Not sure what would be the most widely accepted in Britain – probably some cryptocurrency, as the British are so hooked on digital stuff, and our junk silver coins were hoovered up by the treasury years ago.

          5. I don’t know tha modt people are hooked on crypto – I’m happy to use online banking, debit and credit cards, but that’s as far as it goes.I know people use their phones to make payments but I don’t.

          7. Silver is 25 dollars an ounce.
            Gold is about 70 dollars a gramme.
            Not making a recommendation, just saying.

          9. If burying it in the garden, dig a deep hole. Put the most valuable at the bottom, layer of soil, next most valuable, layer of soil, and so on – in the hope that anyone trying to dig it up and take it stops at the top layer once they find your stash of amethyst or whatever.

          11. You can buy over the counter for cash at a bullion dealer – you’d probably find one in Edinburgh. Some jewellers sell coins, I think, or pawn shops. Avoid ebay or private sales.
            Metals might not be the right choice for you – you’d have to read up on it. If you consider that option, then look up the UK tax rules and current prices and watch a lot of videos about collecting it. Even American videos about silver stacking and gold stacking can have helpful tips. Everyone makes the same starter mistakes, whatever country they are in. Consider the likelihood of the government doing a gold grab (there are lots of videos about this), and consider what kind of products you’d need for your particular requirements, and a way to let your heirs know what’s valuable if you fall under a bus so they can find anything that you leave behind and they don’t get scammed by a dealer. Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing, including us, and don’t do anything until you’ve done your homework to decide what’s the best option for your particular needs.

            Only the last sentence is advice. I’m not financially qualified, I have just read a lot in the last few years and watched a ton of youtube videos. We’ve all got to make our own decisions about what to do with our limited resources.

          12. Thank you for that, BB2, I shall certainly do m y research but at my age, who is going to worry or care enough to worry?

          13. I’m sure your family cares! And you owe it to yourself as a worthwhile human being.

        2. Anyone seen this red banner or know what to do about it?

          You must authenticate the user or provide author_name and author_email

          2. One I hadn’t seen before but Disqus had logged me out and it took some effort to get back.

        3. How does one buy silver and gold, apart from jewellery, which apparently doesn’t count.

          1. I think the answer to that is get an account with something like GoldMoney that stores it in Switzerland, or buy from a bullion dealer and arrange storage yourself.
            Probably a load of bullion dealers in Hatton Garden where you can buy for cash over the counter (i.e. anonymously). Not sure what the limit is that you can buy anonymously. There’s VAT on silver in the UK, but silver is also reckoned to be very undervalued so could still be worth it.
            This is not advice, just stuff I have picked up from reading and watching videos on youtube. You need to look into it yourself.
            If the government does a gold grab, they’re least likely to grab jewelry or antique coins. All the Indians save in gold jewelry of course, and I bet our government won’t want to p*** them off! I bet Mrs Rishi wouldn’t allow him to do that either!

          2. My Russian grandmother was a jeweller. I remember a photo of her wearing a collection of long heavy gold chains. No idea what became of them. Possibly turned into fiat money at some point.

          3. I’ve been using a pawnbroker, paying cash, in the Victoria Market in Nottingham.

      2. I think the answer is ‘yes’ to your last question, Ndovu. It has been said there will not be requirement nor vehicle for saving, and your given cash will have to be used by the end of the month. Any left over will become null and void when the next month is started. We will also be told what we can spend ‘our’ money on. I should imagine under this scheme all investments will be swiped by Government. “Private Property ownership is theft” is the communist mantra, so I can see that going the same way as personal investments and savings. It is one of the aims of the UN Agenda 21 for 2030 as “abolition of private property ownership.”

        The British public don’t have long to get their act together.

        1. People have got to prepare to not work with a CBDC. Have barterable stuff, have small coins with intrinsic worth, have cryptos – whatever you’re most comfortable with. And get as independent from the system as you can!

          A few years ago, I was tired and overworked, and just getting everything from the supermarket. During covid, I woke up and started detaching myself. I now grow more food, buy from farmers and know how to make some more stuff myself. You can depend on the system during the good times – you can’t afford to in the bad times.

          1. I have been getting in a store of pasta and rice and tinned food and dried egg. It is all about personal survival, any which way we can, shoring up one’s property. I have taken a copy of your two pieces of advice above, they are very helpful.

            ‘Non-compliance’ is the motto in this household.

      3. I have tried to get answers to all those questions but all the official blurb just generalise about the “benefits” without going into such practical issues.

  46. It is probably worth reviewing this powerful science based on all-cause mortality. It confirms as does so much else what many of us intuited right from the start of all this, – the malignity behind the events of the so-called pandemic. We are dealing with mass murder by cold calculating and inhuman creatures. We can witter on, or we can do something about it together for the sake of the species and our own futures..

    https://off-guardian.org/2023/04/28/watch-covid-vaccines-and-all-cause-mortality/

    1. Pharma will not hesitate to get him bumped off it suits. They know they are untouchable.

      1. I have to admit, a warning like that would make me think twice. But we can’t stop now, we have to go forward. They can’t bump everyone off.
        Oh, wait a minute…

        Respect to everyone who’s putting their heads above the parapet.

  50. 374066+ up ticks,

    What passes for a United Kingdom government has done what their felonious sort do, they sacrifice the few so the many can prosper .

    The political scamsville ( westminster ) has never had it so good
    since the MPs expenses scandal, the current treacherous scam brings them good profitable tidings daily via the invasion

    Borderless Britain: Just 82 People Smugglers Charged Last Year as Nearly 50,000 Boat Migrants Arrived

    The horrific beauty of it is these political cesspit dwellers are STILL finding mass indigenous support, love and welfare of family has definitely been relegated to the back burner , if in the kitchen at all.

  51. . . . And you’ve got to have this one:

    Mammy, why do we Indians have strange names, like Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Full Moon . . .
    Because it depends on what is happening at that moment. Now go to sleep Holed Condom!

    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/343297506_249745494223572_2947368062568718769_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=8juEFK4HRbYAX-3gH4b&_nc_oc=AQlYw5TAUxuCNmHNxS21EDWGl4aSk0PWHx4MIgCWW7Dr2QuswXsCoA3nYqzpm2u5S-jgm2c0RHnFqXKXgxZeuFUO&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&oh=00_AfAm3kfgyXEVQpaIiHvO43SmScXElhjtR4G1-t-SeqtVOQ&oe=6453F3D1

  52. . . . And you’ve got to have this one:

    Mammy, why do we Indians have strange names, like Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Full Moon . . .
    Because it depends on what is happening at that moment. Now go to sleep Holed Condom!

    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/343297506_249745494223572_2947368062568718769_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=8juEFK4HRbYAX-3gH4b&_nc_oc=AQlYw5TAUxuCNmHNxS21EDWGl4aSk0PWHx4MIgCWW7Dr2QuswXsCoA3nYqzpm2u5S-jgm2c0RHnFqXKXgxZeuFUO&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&oh=00_AfAm3kfgyXEVQpaIiHvO43SmScXElhjtR4G1-t-SeqtVOQ&oe=6453F3D1

  55. What does “authenticate the user” mean?
    I just had to log in again to disqus even though I hadn’t logged out…….. now seem to have switched accounts.

    3. Well, you’re logged in, whatever the device. Authenticate the user only makes sense for me when I’m on the work laptop, which uses the Zscaler security system to authorise access.

    2. This man must read this Blog! The first five minutes might have been taken straight out of last weeks comments about Sudan and Victoria Nuland.

    1. I cannot see the monarchy with the House of Windsor at its head surviving more than a couple of decades at the longest.

      1. The big question is whether it can survive the great reset, given that Charles has thrown his lot in with the WEF.

        1. Which is strange because it appears to us that there is no place for Royal families after the Great Reset.

          1. They’re all on board with it though – not just our lot but Norway, Netherlands etc. They must have been promised to keep their status.

          2. We wonder whether they’ve been promised something, or they’re just grovelling to the WEF because they

            feel that they can’t avoid the Great Reset.

          3. Either is possible, I suppose. Both would disqualify them from any position of leadership in their countries.

    1. Are you on the UK or the US edition? You can choose – there’s a tab on the right hand side of the row near the top, which starts with “News – Coronation – Sport – etc.”

      2. Reading it through 12 foot ladder, it only goes to the US edition. It won’t allow access to the UK edition – dank U vel for the heads-up, Caroline

  63. It rained until 1500hrs.

    Went into Weymouth to B+Q to take a pair of son’s work trousers back .

    Lots of people walking on the beach in weather proof clothes .

    Little yachts bobbing around , quite calm considering .

  66. Good afternoon from an Anglo- Saxon Queen with long- bow in handbag with marmalade sandwich.

    It’s still very cold, I’m sure our heatwave we had last year started by now . Just about to have tea and toasted crumpets with lots of butter .

  67. Just been reading about the Coronation, in the UK papers, and my overwhelming feeling is of sadness.
    I’ve never been at a coronation, and likely never will. I’ve never seen a coronation live, so was looking forward to this one, especially so because it’s from the Old Country, but the amount of restrictions, moaning, blaming, whining and general ill-will rather spoils the atmosphere and any anticipation I might have had. Letters and articles about this eff-up and that ban; this group can’t do that, that group must do the other.
    Surely this should be a joyous and, in turn, solemn occasion, but based on today’s reading, well, Bah! Fuck it. So many miserable bastards pissing on it. I can’t be bothered.
    Sorry, folks. Not in the mood.

    1. No information on the Embassy Facebook pages about the Coronation, any celebration, or anything other than fluff.
      New Ambassadress, dressed worse than our Polish cleaner, presented her credentials to HM Kong Harald… oh goody. HM Kongen was dressed very formally, quite a contrast.

    2. No information on the Embassy Facebook pages about the Coronation, any celebration, or anything other than fluff.
      New Ambassadress, dressed worse than our Polish cleaner, presented her credentials to HM Kong Harald… oh goody. HM Kongen was dressed very formally, quite a contrast.

        1. Ignore the press and the TV stations. We are going to watch, I will be making a Coronation quiche and we will celebrate. Didn’t see the last one and won’t see another one so will watch this Coronation.

        2. We’re having a “welcome the swifts” event in Stroud in the morning, with Morris Dancers and a puppet, and in the afternoon a neighbours get-together. So might not have time to site down and watch the proceedings on the telly, but will probably see bits of it.

    4. The Left spoil everything though. They cannot allow themselves joy because their minds would break.

      All they know is bitterness, division and hatred. Theirs is a sad life.

    5. Paul, I understand. QEII was coronated (OK – I know, crowned, really) four years before I was born. She was a constant throughout my life. Which is why I joined ‘the queue’ last year. I didn’t make to the end, but I tried. Closest I ever got was at a garden party at BP for DofE Award folk. Dianne was the DofE co-ordinator for Mole Valley, and I was the ‘+1’.

      I should be excited, but ‘meh’. We have special services next weekend, and I have to print the orders of service. That’s as far as my involvement goes.

  68. OT – excellent garden news. Yesterday, I asked a young neighbour – a jobbing builder – whether he ever came across second-hand 1,000 litre water containers – those plastic ones in aluminium frames. He said he didn’t. An hour later he came round to say that he had located one – for £50 – and would bring it to the house. Lunchtime today, he was there with said cubi. And some blocks to stand it on. And he took it up to the top of the garden and placed it exactly where required. I have just spent an hour pumping 1,000 litres from the well.

    Job done. Very chuffed!

    1. Personally, I don’t eat avocado skin – it’s too reminiscent of Grandma’s foot sole – but whatever floats your boat.

  70. A pleasant Birdie Three today.

    Wordle 680 3/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. A five here

      Wordle 680 5/6

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

      1. Likewise.

        Wordle 680 5/6

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

    2. Skin of my teeth double bogie. Screwed up on 4th try and omitted a letter I knew was in there.
      Wordle 680 6/6

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

    1. Spun a glider once – deliberately. Came out in a trice by the traditional method of opposite rudder, stick forward.

    2. How many remember doing this?

      BoB, in answer to your question, I have just dug out my Pilot’s Flying Log Book from when I started to learn to fly Tiger Moths.

      On 3rd April 1958, after only ONE HOUR 10 MINUTES of ‘Familiarisation’ we went straight into ‘Stalling, Spinning and Recovery‘: Stick forward, count “One, Two” then full opposite Rudder.

      It was quite hard to make the stable old DH82A Tiger Moth spin, you had to really manhandle/mishandle it.

      I was just 17 and went solo after 8 hours 55 minutes dual instruction. These days it’s MUCH longer. And they almost NEVER let you spin.

      You never forget your first solo flight with nobody in the other seat (and NO radio, NO parachute, NO GPS).

      1. I guess that, ‘Stick forward . . . then full opposite Rudder’ is counter-intuitive, rc?

        1. Sorry Lacoste, I’ve been elsewhere for a while.
          Yes, you have to remember that a spinning aeroplane has a fully stalled wing, so the first thing is to UN-STALL that wing by counter-intuitively pushing the stick forward so that the wing recovers its authority and can work as it should. Count “One, Two” to let it grab the air again and THEN you can start using rudder to stop the hideous, nauseating rotation. But at least you know how to get out of a spin when you graduate to less forgiving monoplane aircraft that drop a wing as soon as you stall.

      2. On the subject of flying, we have YouTube streaming to living room TV, with This is your life! Douglas Bader, black & white. He seems a bit embarrased about it all!

        1. The first sign of emotion – when they brought on the French folk who helped him escape from hospital in St Omer. Wipes away tears.
          A cast of people who really did something, for their countries, and are worthy of respect – including Adolf Galland.
          Recommended. https://youtu.be/4408_DJOu3I

          1. Having benefited from the Douglas Bader Rehabilitation Centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton, what can I say?

            Being bilateral BK rather than AK is a blessing. And the DBRC at QMH is awe-inspiring.

          2. “Rules are for the guidance of the wise and the obedience of idiots”.

            Douglas Bader.

  72. That’s me for today. Smugly satisfied with what was achieved. Not only the new water cubi BUT also I managed to do a lash up repair to put the fallen water butt bank of the wall. About to reward myself….!

    Have a smooth evening.

    A demain.

    2. I need to to go bed soon as I’ve missed out on a lot of sleep recently.

      A glass of port may see me on my way.

      Goodnight and God bless, Gentile Nottlefolk.

        1. lacoste’s New Law:

          ‘A’, ‘E’, ‘I’ and ‘O’ do not need to be proceeded by ‘an’; only ‘U’ needs it.

          Oh shit: innuendo needs it!

          1. Short vowels take an ‘an’ (an apple, an elephant, an Indian, an orange – oh bugger, I sound like I’ve been at Oberst’s joke book! 🤣🤣) – whereas when it’s a dipthong with something preceding the vowel (a yeti, a unicorn), they don’t.

          3. It’s not the vowel but its sound. ‘Unusual’ starts with a vowel, ‘usual’ with a consonant (it’s effectively a ‘y’).

            This applies also to the use of ‘the’. It’s embarrassing to hear educated people failing to use the pronunciation ‘thee’ when the following word starts with a vowel sound.

          4. Word association. You reminded me of the old Yorkshire saying, “All’t world’s queer but thee and me and thou’s a bit off at times”. (Thou being pronounced thew.)

          8. There is this ongoing argument in choral societies about whether the silent French ‘h’ is a vowel or a consonant. This happens whenever we sing Fauré’s ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’. It starts “Verbe egale au très haut…”. If the h is a vowel, then the s should be sounded; if the h is a consonant (even though silent) the s too is silent.

            My feeling is that the French ‘h’ before a vowel signifies that the vowel opens with a glottal, which is a sort of consonant, so the s should be silent.

            The same applies to whenever a French word is used in English, such as ‘hotel’, so in fact “an hotel” is wrong, and “a hotel” where the h is aspirated in English, long considered infra dig, may actually be correct.

          9. An interesting viewpoint.

            Should I ever have sufficient choristers at my disposal, I’ll look at Faurés Cantique with renewed vigour.

            Thanks, Jeremy.

          10. What about “an unusual rule”? “A unusual rule” doesn’t sound right to me. Come on Grizzly, you are the usual final arbiter. Give us some definitive guidance.

          11. ‘Unusual’ starts with a short vowel, so takes ‘an’
            🙂

  78. Well we;ve just sat down to watch the rest of the snooker final…

    We had roast lamb, roast spuds, cauliflower, carrots, leek, gravy………. washed down with the rest of a bottle of Dark Corner, started last night.

    All while listening to Anna Netrebko singing her heart out at The Met. They absolutely love her there – they’re punishing themselves if she’s still persona non grata. Fabulous voice.

  80. That’s me for today, chums. Good night, sleep well, and see you next month.

  81. In the realms of ” you couldn’t make it up” as Littlejohn says. My husband had a phone call this evening from his younger brother to relate that the older brother was in hospital with, guess what? A broken hip- very similar to my husband. Younger brother said he hoped things didn’t come in threes. Seems as though the patient is in a much better place than MH was as he’s already moving about on crutches, been there 8 days.
    I feel so bad for my brother in law as he’s a nice, if somewhat disorganised guy, but has a heart of gold.
    Ain’t life grand… ;-(

      1. Indeed, Lil Bro’- all I have done all my life is be a pain in the arse- guess I’m paying for it.

      1. Don’t think so- he was living with his daughter but apparently they had a big row. He was divorced and his former wife is now deceased so no joy there. We might put out feelers here as there are empty places but it all depends and, right now, selfish as it may seem, we must put ourselves first.
        I know what our generation will be known as….The Expendables.

  83. Trusting Labour to solve any problems is like a second marriage – the triumph of hope over experience!

    Edit as I remembered my manners – Good evening, all!

    1. Well I’m glad to say my second marriage has been a lot more enjoyable experience than the first!

      2. It took me a long time to get round to getting married but I finally did so at the age of 41 and it was the best thing I have ever done!

          1. Ditto the same as mine . 49 years and 54 years , the eldest still living at home .

            Why , don’t ask me .

            Moh and I feel as if we are staff.. and I wish he had his own independent life .

          2. Mine are independent – but I don’t see much of them. One in Swansea and one in Switzerland. The elder one did call in a few weeks ago – he’d been to the funeral of one of his boyhood friends.

  84. Weekend’s been good so far, busy day at the village Festival yesterday. Pub lunch today and very good. Ham double eggs and big chuncky chips. Pint of Abbot ale, one of my all time favourites. Little fella enjoying the swings slides and other toys. Many families seated outside as we were.
    Tomorrow is another day……
    So it’s good night from me.

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