Friday 18 August: This year’s cohort of A-level students has been let down at every turn

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

496 thoughts on “Friday 18 August: This year’s cohort of A-level students has been let down at every turn”

  2. ‘Morning, Peeps and Geoff. Heavy rain (and funda?) forecast for here, so my bus duty this morning should be reasonably quiet. Frankly I’d rather be busy…

    A letter in response to the sanctimonious posturing from the teaching unions as they shed crocodile tears for the damage said to have been caused by government-inspired Covid lockdowns – and yet they themselves wreaked havoc on both pupils and working parents with their strikes:

    SIR – When the Covid inquiry gets round to examining the effects of lockdowns on children, will anyone question the leaders of the teaching unions over the part they played in keeping schools closed?

    Rosemarie Lawani
    Stanford in the Vale, Oxfordshire

  4. Good Morning Folks,

    Looks like we are in for a humid wet and thundery day here

    More rain forecast for later today and tomorrow

    Which proves that a normal British summer is no place for climate change wildfire arsonists

  5. SIR – Large numbers of HMRC staff are working from home because it saves them the cost and hassle of commuting, and it means there is little control over how their time is spent.

    Such practices will continue until employers establish their requirements in contracts of employment, and make a differential in pay between full-time office staff and those working flexibly.

    Tony Jones
    London SW7

    I like your thinking, Mr Jones, in fact I like it a lot. However, your scheme would require retrospective alteration to existing contracts of employment and that in turn would trigger an avalanche of strikes. (One the other hand, since the ‘service’ now provided by HMRC is so poor would anyone notice??)

    I think the best course of action now is to implement Ronald Reagan’s solution – terminate all contracts and tell the staff that they must re-apply. Only then will we achieve control over the shirking-from-home brigade.

    I know, I know…but we can fantasise, can’t we?

        1. Given the Border Force is all at sea (where it should be) then the question should be ‘Working or sinking’?

  6. This year’s cohort of A-level students has been let down at every turn

    All part of the great reset, I suppose

  7. Good morning, chums. Weather forecast includes the possibility of rain, so I’m off in a couple of minutes to do an hour’s weeding.

      1. Yes. Bob3, but I prefer to sit outside on sunny days looking at a blaze of colour rather than a jungle!

    1. It all fell here at lunchtime. People were coming into church looking like drowned rats.

  10. Headline in today’s DT:

    “France stops fewer Channel migrants – despite £480m funding from UK

    Just 45.2 per cent of those trying to cross Channel have been halted, even with extra financial support from Britain”

    Time for a substantial refund, methinks?

    That’s me done for now, off to ‘work’.

    1. Thr UK Border Force is now working from home and has delegatrd its operations to the French Border Force which is forcing their immigrants to cross the Channel ably assisted by the RNLI and not quite so ably by the French Navy.

  11. Good morning and Grattis på födelsedagen, Katy (Ashesthandust).

    Hope you have a wonderful day. 😘🥂👍🏻🎂😊

    1. Tak, dear G. I’ll do my best! Looking forward to cooking fegato alla Venezia for my cousin and myself tonight, washed down with an excellent red. 😎

  12. Inheriting ISAs

    Good morning all,

    I would guess that many on this blog are in what is euphemistically called “the twilight of their lives”. So here is a lesser known piece of information which might help some of you if you have substantial ISA savings. If you know all this already, just skip to the next post.

    If your spouse or civil partner dies leaving you one or more ISAs, the complete contents of those ISAs can be passed to you in full, however large they are, without damaging your annual ISA allowance or losing their tax-free status. This process is known as Additional Permitted Subscription or APS, and only works if you were living together before the death of one partner after 3 December 2014. I’m pretty savvy about investments yet hadn’t heard about this ‘loophole’.

    Having been granted probate in April on my late wife’s estate, I am just coming to the end of this APS process, but it has taken an alarmingly long time because of the amount of special documentation involved (different for each ISA Provider).

    If the surviving partner already has ISAs of their own, these ‘receiving’ ISA providers must be asked to write to the deceased partner’s ISA providers to furnish APS Valuations. They have special forms for this.

    APS1 is the valuation at the time of death; APS2 the valuation at the time the ISA is closed down, which is allowed to take up to 3 years following the death. This allows for positive or negative movements in the Market to be exploited.

    The deceased’s ISA providers are obliged to pay out the greater of those two APS values. In my experience this has not always been the case, and I have had to fight for the correct valuation to be applied.

    It is vital to do the transfer properly to keep the funds within their tax-free ISA wrappers, or their interest may suddenly become taxable.

    Here is a nice clear guide from a Financial Advisor: https://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa/additional-permitted-subscription-aps#How1

    And here is the Official Government Guide on how it’s done: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-additional-permitted-subscriptions-into-an-isa

      1. ISAs etc – Some Pieces of Advice for “Twilighters” and their Executors

        Even before you have got the Funeral planning over you’ll need to tell the Banks and Investment Firms about the deceased so they can freeze the accounts.

        Remember, they’ll ALL want to see ORIGINALS of the Death Certificate so purchase at least half a dozen copies. It’s best to ask for these while you are still being interviewed by the Registrar, ‘cos they’ll charge a good deal more for later originals.

        Same goes when you applying for Probate. I ordered 10 original Grant Certificates (with official metallic seals) and have sent out 7 of them. Most have been returned by tracked mail. They aren’t expensive – a few quid each.

        Anyway, when you start phoning Investment-holding firms, ask straight away for the Bereavement Dept, or you will probably waste a lot of phone time talking to ‘generalised’ staff. These will eventually hand you off to the relevant Bereavement staffers who CAN help you with the right forms. After phoning the fourth or fifth firm you learn to cut to the chase.

        Be prepared for long HOLDS on the phone (the Bereavement Specialists, if present are scarce and always busy), and in my case I audio-record ALL these phone calls, just like they are doing. If you have spare Smartphone or even a cheap little pocket voice-recorder it’s worth doing.

        It’s amazing how, when you have to chase them up later by letter (and you will!) you can slip in the innocuous sentence in BOLD : “Like you, I have audio-recorded all our phone conversations so we can both check what was said and agreed.”

        It takes just a day to deposit money into these organisations, but since Probate was granted on April 3rd it has taken me 19 weeks of to-ing and fro-ing so far, and 2 out of 6 of them still haven’t disgorged all the proceeds. Gotta be persistent and patient.

        The Which? online “Your Essential Probate Checklist” (https://legalservice.which.co.uk/probate-checklist) is free, is very good and you don’t have to be a Member.

        Hope all this painfully-acquired information helps.

        1. I’d just like to add:

          Bear in mind that if you tell Nationwide of a death, they will freeze ALL accounts, including joint accounts.

          When my mother died we had big problems getting money out of my parents’ joint account for the benefit

          of my very elderly and distraught father.

          1. My father’s pension was paid quarterly and I made the mistake of telling Lloyds Bank in Milford-on-Sea, where had had an account for over 20 years, that he had died. His pension was due to be paid into his account that very day and the bank manager stopped it. When I said that this was not fair on my mother who would have no income for three months he said that he would be happy to lend her money – at an exorbitant rate of interest – to tide her over until the next pension payment arrived.

            I very much hope this repulsive little bank manager had a nasty, long and lingering death and that his whole body was covered in septic blisters, pustules, ulcers and sores.

          2. I think you will find that all banks and building societies will do this. My father provided me with his online info a few months before he died. This meant that minor bills could be dealt with and the occasional cancellation refund could be paid in. I had a stand-up row with Barclays – with whom he had banked for 63 years – when they refused to pay in a modest refund cheque where there was a small error with the payee name. It was obviously for my father but they didn’t want to know. Unfortunately they had been informed of his death and refused to do the decent thing.

        2. None of this applies to me, roughcommon, because I live alone. But well done to you for posting this information which I am sure will be invaluable to many NoTTLers.

  13. Good Morning.

    As I don’t subscribe to the DT, I can only scan the front page. Today’s front page caused me to wonder if the title should be changed from Daily Telegraph to Dystopian Times?

    Yesterday morning I cycled the 8 miles to the dry dock along an extremely bumpy tow path. If I had an enlarged prostate before I set out it got such a pummelling that by the time I arrived it was more than likely 50% of its former self!
    Having got the boat back from the dry dock I cruised(far too many connotations!) motored along the canal at less than walking pace and read various inscriptions on the ‘tumblehomes’ of various boats.

    One inscription read: “Life is a bowl of soup and I’m a fork” – ‘Forking Hell’, I thought.

    You may have observed that many boat owners proudly inscribe where their boat was first registered with the authorities. For example:

    ‘Registered in Birmingham’

    Yesterday I saw one which was:

    ‘Registered in Sane’

    1. Noël Gallagher, of Oasis, was discussing his headstrong brother, Liam. He said: “Our Liam’s like a man with a fork in a world of soup.”

    1. 375479+ up ticks,

      Morning Each,

      O2O,

      I believe that rotherham as revealed by the JAY report was a classic cover up by sick indigenous peoples to enhance the paedophilia program within the nation and protect the “good” name of the party.

    2. He’s just another POS that has an unbudgable medieval mindset.
      1200 AD onwards at the Alhambra Palace the muslims used young children kidnapped by their sailors from Southern Ireland and the south coasts of Britain.
      They kept them in caves used them for their pleasure and then fed them to the pet lions. He should have been arrested on a hate crime charge.

      1. 375479+ up ticks,

        Morning RE
        I would agree, so why does the majority voter support parties that are importing his sick ilk on a daily basis ?

  15. ‘Morning All

    Medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e12a984acec5d7cc23da78a0e3f598cecba83f8ce4739f64fa68a848fb4d92bb.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2b89fe06684924be77ad2dd794c1ce0f30ac01de5c898c67138debd7541fd7db.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32ce4b3a5e220e3e51745f33a4b63a7d36955183da4c21d68a313e2c755a0de1.png

    https://whoresandale.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/70s_pfizer_today.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d8a4b37264a62332ab3642577941e5b520c7d0b777fb9369ac80a215902018c4.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/378bc061e33965dd745016e958da04a9d4e9e87ee62b3478189b9ab3692a35af.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/49d7810ad036dfc9d3267c6185789012b780c541c9c59af9a61ad8158479442d.jpg

    1. Re the final one…

      “Via NTD News:

      “According to two executives at Pfizer Inc., Australia-based staff at the pharmaceutical company were provided with their own separate batch of specially imported COVID-19 vaccines. The executives spoke at a hearing in the Australian Senate, where they were questioned by Queensland Senator Malcolm Roberts.
      An excerpt from the hearing was subsequently shared by Mr. Roberts on his YouTube channel. The shared segment depicts the Pfizer representatives—Dr. Krishan Thiru, Medical Director for Pfizer Australia and New Zealand, and the company’s Head of Regulatory Sciences, Dr. Brian Hewitt—fielding the senator’s questions.”

      As the shots were free for all Australians at the point of service (Pfizer got the government to foot the bill) and there was no supply shortage, there is no apparent legitimate reason for Pfizer to give its employees shots from a separate batch.

      Given the totality of the evidence – the massive spike in cancer and heart attacks (and innumerable other devastating health effects) worldwide post-2020, the varied side effect rates based on batch, and Pfizer reserving a select batch for its own employees in Austrtalia (and possibly likely in every country where it operates?) – the picture of what Pfizer has done begins to paint itself.

      1. Shame we don’t have her with us anymore.
        We are going to Cornwall next month……..

          1. She should have shared it, it helps so much when you have sympathy from many others who have suffered similar circumstances.
            Such a shame.

    3. Number one, something serious needs to be done about that lot for the sake of all of us and our earthly home.

    4. I know that the idiot King is quite outstandingly stupid but does he seriously believe in the environmental crap he keeps spouting and the inevitable damage Net Zero will inflict on the peoples of all countries which aim for it?

      I still want him to spend the whole winter in a thin cotton tent in a remote part of the grounds of Balmoral with nothing but an electrical heater and a Baby Belling cooker powered by one small domestic wind generator and one small domestic solar panel attached to a 12 v battery.

  17. Brendan O’Neil

    Surely nothing better sums up the irrationalism of the 21st century’s

    eco-elites than their cavalier attitude to the rights and happiness of the people who make our food.

    Ritual sacrifice to mollify the heavens is once again all the rage

    among the rulers of Earth. Sacrifice not only of animals this time, but

    also of livelihoods and even liberty. Dairy farming, food production,

    pesticide-use, cheap flights, our right to drive – all are being offered

    up at the apologetic altar of Net Zero. ‘Forgive us our hubris’, cry

    the elites as they sacrifice, one by one, the things that make life good

    and tasty. It is time for a rational pushback, surely, against this

    modern paganism.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/08/17/the-return-of-animal-sacrifice/
    Nearly there Brendan if you think those “elites” are giving up their juicy steaks for bugs and their private jets for bikes I have a bridge to sell you…………

    1. Brendan O’Neill has fallen in my estimation due to his continuing association with Fraser Myers ( who lost badly to Andrew Bridgen n a GB News debate) and his denigration of those who talk of the ‘plandemic’ or ‘scamdemic’.

      I no longer bother with ‘Spiked’. There are better websites out there.

      1. It won’t be long before people with an ounce of commonsense will be fined for having a different point of view.

    2. 375479+ up ticks.

      Morning Rik,

      Yet another bloody fruitcake, good old Godders, he fell long ago, victim of the fruthspeakers cull.

    3. Net zero is absolutely impossible.
      This idiot government has allowed hundreds of thousands of illegal invaders into our country and now seems they have instructed councils in the home counties to build new homes for them. The carbon emissions and therefore the precious much talk about carbon footprint will never be reduced while development in this respect keeps going ahead.
      The government are completely and utterly stupid.
      Of course the invaders will never be able to afford the running costs of these thousands of new homes.
      So council tax will rise each year to try and amend for their ongoing errors of judgement.

    4. “Broad support,” dream on you moron. Within the nodding sycophants of the HoC, maybe but they are not typical of the people that will be affected by this utter nonsense.

    5. I don’t think “most people” are committed to achieving nut zero. I’m certainly not committed in the slightest.

      1. “Most people” get their news from the BBC. It is impossible to watch/listen to its output for more than 5 seconds, without being presented with the Climate Emergency/Catastrophy/Arnageddon/etc.

        CO2 is a benign plant food.

  19. Russia kidnaps children for ‘patriotic training’. 18 August 2023.

    Hundreds of Ukrainian children have been sent to mainland Russia for “patriotic training” as Moscow appears to have resumed its programme of mass indoctrination.

    Ukraine’s Centre for National Resistance, a group that collects intelligence from occupied areas for the Ukrainian military, said more than 400 children had been sent to summer camps in Russia in recent weeks.

    It is the first time Moscow has sent Ukrainian children to recreation camps in Russia since Vladimir Putin and his ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova were issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) this spring over the forcible removal of Ukrainian children.

    They haven’t been” kidnapped”; they have been sent to the seaside for their Summer Holidays. They are no more being subject to “patriotic training” than anyone who went to Butlin’s in the sixties. It is this sort of story that makes me so suspicious of Ukie claims of Atrocity and Genocide. They seem incapable of telling the truth about anything.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/17/ukraine-children-sent-russia-patriotic-training-kidnapping/

    1. The youngsters would almost certainly be cultural Russians. This is shameless propaganda. Colonel Douglas McGregor has been particularly good on the lies told about Russia.

  20. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Get The Right Name
    Bernie goes to a friend’s home for dinner. Morris, the host, precedes every request to his wife with terms of endearment, calling her “Honey… My Love… Darling… Sweetheart… Pumpkin…” etc.
    Bernie looks at Morris and remarks: “It’s really nice that, after all these years, you still call your wife by those corny pet names.”
    Morris hangs his head and whispers, “To tell the truth, I forgot her name three years ago!”

    1. 🙂🙂🤣 I love it! May have to add a couple of pieces of fruit to the flowers in my hair on the strength of that.

      As I only have a punnet of rather overripe strawberries to hand, this could get messy…🤣🤣

      5. Some of the fruit I have is residing in a summer pudding at the back of the fridge. Home grown blackberries and autumn(?) raspberries with the addition of poached peach slices and strawberries.
        A very Happy Birthday to you.

        1. Thanks, Korky.

          Definitely autumn raspberries – the weather always tips over on this day of the year, and today has not failed to disappoint. 🤣

      8. Happy Birthday🎶, ashesthandust, have lovely day with much 🎉🥳🥳🎉🤣🍰🎂🥂🍾🍹🎁🎈fun and laughter!

      9. I’ve packet of Iceland summer fruits that would add a bit of colour.
        You’d have to perform at sub-zero temperatures, but I’m sure you’d like to suffer for your art.

      10. I’ve packet of Iceland summer fruits that would add a bit of colour.
        You’d have to perform at sub-zero temperatures, but I’m sure you’d like to suffer for your art.

  22. Good Moaning.
    This English Rose is coping with grey skies.
    Takes me back to childhood camping holidays …. “DON’T touch the roof!”

    1. Reminds me of a scout camp in Sussex a long time ago.
      We actually had to get up in the night and move the tent because of the dreadful rain. Fortunately only a short way up the hillside.

  23. Good morning all,

    Pulled the curtains back on heavy rain this morning, lasting into the afternoon when it may stop for a while. Wind in the East-Sou’-East, 16℃ going to 20℃.

    A boring bunch of letters. They seem to be getting more and more anodyne although these two invite derisive comparisons with Dad’s Army.

    The case for flexibility on Forces retirement

    SIR – There is nothing new in the defence minister Andrew Murrison’s suggestion that Armed Forces personnel should be able to serve beyond their notional retirement age (report, August 14).

    Certainly within the Royal Navy, depending on the requirements of the service, best practice has always been to retain those with certain skill sets, either through an extension of regular service or through full-time reserve service.

    More recently, individuals have been considered for retirement at 60 – and, having served until the age of 62 in order to fill a particular niche, I am able to vouch that such an arrangement can benefit all concerned.

    Tim Horne
    Petersfield, Hampshire

    SIR – Increasing the retirement age for the Armed Forces to at least 65 would bring them into greater alignment with other public services.

    The retirement age of judges, for example, has recently risen to 75. The benefits to the Forces would be many: increased numbers, increased expertise, increased experience and perhaps overall a wiser, more effective military.

    Lt Cdr Christopher Samuel RN (retd)
    Haslemere, Surrey

    In armed forces slimmed down to the point of anorexia surely everyone needs to be fit and able to fight, including in close combat, if the need ever arises? It’s hard to see how anyone near or even past the age of 65 could possibly do so unless they were daily pumping themselves full of testosterone and going to the gym in a vain effort to retain some bulk and strength. I would put up as evidence my own loss of over three stones of bone and muscle during the last ten to fifteen years.

    1. The Ancient Athenians used to serve until they were sixty five. In fact of course very few of them reached retirement. The never ending wars ensured that.

  24. Good morning all,

    Pulled the curtains back on heavy rain this morning, lasting into the afternoon when it may stop for a while. Wind in the East-Sou’-East, 16℃ going to 20℃.

    A boring bunch of letters. They seem to be getting more and more anodyne although these two invite derisive comparisons with Dad’s Army.

    The case for flexibility on Forces retirement

    SIR – There is nothing new in the defence minister Andrew Murrison’s suggestion that Armed Forces personnel should be able to serve beyond their notional retirement age (report, August 14).

    Certainly within the Royal Navy, depending on the requirements of the service, best practice has always been to retain those with certain skill sets, either through an extension of regular service or through full-time reserve service.

    More recently, individuals have been considered for retirement at 60 – and, having served until the age of 62 in order to fill a particular niche, I am able to vouch that such an arrangement can benefit all concerned.

    Tim Horne
    Petersfield, Hampshire

    SIR – Increasing the retirement age for the Armed Forces to at least 65 would bring them into greater alignment with other public services.

    The retirement age of judges, for example, has recently risen to 75. The benefits to the Forces would be many: increased numbers, increased expertise, increased experience and perhaps overall a wiser, more effective military.

    Lt Cdr Christopher Samuel RN (retd)
    Haslemere, Surrey

    In armed forces slimmed down to the point of anorexia surely everyone needs to be fit and able to fight, including in close combat, if the need ever arises? It’s hard to see how anyone near or even past the age of 65 could possibly do so unless they were daily pumping themselves full of testosterone and going to the gym in a vain effort to retain some bulk and strength. I would put up as evidence my own loss of over three stones of bone and muscle during the last ten to fifteen years.

  26. Photo of fisherman casually standing next to crocodile triggers calls for fines. 18 August 2023.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/116d6fdd13652249e12060557465b0098f1a206d0c1d001ced790591a7a604d5.jpg

    Footage of an Australian fisherman nonchalantly standing feet away from a giant crocodile has sparked incredulity and calls for such behaviour to be punished with hefty fines.

    In the video clip, the man is shown on the banks of a river in tropical northern Queensland with his back turned to the apex predator, which was estimated to be around 13ft long.

    I’m not sure that the crocodile would pay the fine. That said the man is portraying a common misperception about them. That they are slow on land. In actuality they are pretty quick and nimble with it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/17/australia-queensland-fisherman-crocodile-fine-robert-irwin/

        1. No not all of them
          The only trouble I ever had was because of no work I took a job in a builders merchant on the counter.
          A man with an Italian accent once came in and because we didn’t have what he wanted, started moaning blaming me and called me a pommey bastard. In front of the crowd now behind him. I told him I’d been in the country for over 12 months and had never experienced such disgusting animosity and that he had no right to call me names and many other etcetera’s from me. I had a round of applause from the dozen or so people behind him. He walked out.

    2. I am sure he noticed the creature and did a risk assessment.

      Crocodiles are primarily nocturnal animals, being most active at night, so they spend much of the day asleep in the sun.

    3. I am sure he followed the sensible advice not to smile at the beast!

      https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0TItPyakqNjM2YPSSykstSy1SKM7NzElVSCxRSFRILspPzk8BcgEsBA5j&q=never+smile+at+a+crocodile&oq=Ner+smile+at+a+crocodile&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgBEC4YDRiABDIGCAAQRRg5MgkIARAuGA0YgAQyCQgCEAAYDRiABDIJCAMQABgNGIAEMgkIBBAuGA0YgAQyCQgFEAAYDRiABDIJCAYQABgNGIAEMgkIBxAAGA0YgAQyCQgIEAAYDRiABNIBCDk0MjdqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:74284bca,vid:dIq3W_ungWA

    4. No dramas, Sheila. It’s probably only a freshie. That fishie dude wouldn’t be quite so sanguine in saltie territory,

  27. Photo of fisherman casually standing next to crocodile triggers calls for fines. 18 August 2023.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/116d6fdd13652249e12060557465b0098f1a206d0c1d001ced790591a7a604d5.jpg

    Footage of an Australian fisherman nonchalantly standing feet away from a giant crocodile has sparked incredulity and calls for such behaviour to be punished with hefty fines.

    In the video clip, the man is shown on the banks of a river in tropical northern Queensland with his back turned to the apex predator, which was estimated to be around 13ft long.

    I’m not sure that the crocodile would pay the fine. That said the man is portraying a common misperception about them. That they are slow on land. In actuality they are pretty quick and nimble with it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/17/australia-queensland-fisherman-crocodile-fine-robert-irwin/

  28. Morning all 🙂😊
    Grey and rain on the way. There’s a surprise.
    Not sure what the headline re the A levels is about I did see some bbc footage a couple of days ago. But wondered if they were actually filming in the UK.

    2. Another cloudless start to the day – it’s going to be a hot one – I’ll be away most of the day, got a care home gig 70 miles away

        1. Strathcarron – the oldies like a selection of different genres for a couple of hours and 1/2 hour of rock to finish with. I play mostly 60s stuff plus a bit of Dire Straits…..something for everyone

    3. Another cloudless start to the day – it’s going to be a hot one – I’ll be away most of the day, got a care home gig 70 miles away

    4. The A-Level issue is quite simple. For two years – while the plague “raged” – all exams were assessed by teachers NOT by external examiners. Teachers who get “good” results get better pay. Voilà. Surprise, surprise – for two years children had outstanding “grades”.

      This year, the system is back to examinations with external marking. Grades back (roughly) to pre-plague levels.

      Children mortified because teecher had promised that they were little geniuses and had “predicted” much higher grades.

      Hence disappointment. But a false disappointment because the grade they received was the proper one.

      1. It’s not so much that. It’s the Uni response that’s been the problem. The kids know that grade inflation is not good. And this year’s kids are of course worried that in the future an employer won’t realise the difference between their (very acceptable) BBB where last year the same marks got kids 3A*s.

      2. It’s not so much that. It’s the Uni response that’s been the problem. The kids know that grade inflation is not good. And this year’s kids are of course worried that in the future an employer won’t realise the difference between their (very acceptable) BBB where last year the same marks got kids 3A*s.

      3. Well I never did…..are you suggesting cheating has been happening?
        Perhaps some should have made sure that the youngsters could have accessed organised information and studied at home instead of playing games on there mobiles and other electronic devises.

      4. I am afraid that the grades are still very far from ‘proper’.

        Caroline reckons that the standard has fallen by at least three grades since we started our residential course in 1990. Ergo somebody who got a C grade in 1990 would have produced work that would now be assessed as A or A* grade.

        1. Of course they are not “proper” in reality.

          Just that the grade level (wholly wrong, of course) has returned (although slightly higher) to what was expected before the plague.

  29. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b365953807f36be446cce7df58fa1bf031b0d195e0e0ee23ba75ee6ce6b0d904.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/17/france-stops-fewer-channel-migrants-480m-funding-from-uk/

    BTL

    As Nigel Farage has pointed out there is a perfectly legal way of postponing the Ulez expansion until after the next mayoral elections.

    But will Sunak take it? No he won’t.

    With determination and resolve Sunak could act decisively, stop naïfly paying the French to do nothing and turn the boats round and send them back to France.

    But will he do it. No he won’t.

    Sunak has no interest in Britain or the British people. He seems to have no interest in winning the next general election – he seems actively to want to lose it. He is either incredibly weak or incredibly duplicitous.

    You cannot blame the French. They don’t want the illegal immigrants and if Sunak is stupid enough to give them millions and millions of pounds for doing nothing they would be foolish not to take it.

    1. Put them in life jackets, take them back, close to the French coast, and throw them overboard.

        2. So that they can’t say they can’t swim and it would inhumane treatment to chuck a non-swimmer off, even if within wading distance

      2. You’ll be getting a knock on the door of Chauteu Sos if you’re not careful 😃😏

  30. Reposted from late last night.

    ashesthandust

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e281877e66f9640965428cfaf7612b736a56b10f037dc7830d6ff3f7e0f8aba9.png

    and very many more joyous celebrations

    I know we quoted Jack London for you last year – but it certainly bears repetition.

    “I would rather be ashes than dust!
    I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
    I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
    The function of man is to live, not to exist.
    I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
    I shall use my time.”

    With very best wishes,

    Caroline and Rastus

      1. She certainly played an ignoble role in creating the atmosphere in which this appalling affair took place.

          1. It wouldn’t surprise me.
            She is rich enough and posh enough to ignore anything that affects the proles.

    2. Malkinson deserves some serious compensation but, of course, you know who will do the paying – us. In my view it should come from the salaries and or pensions of all the police and lawyers involved

    3. I am sorry to say that all that happens while we focus on these local creeps is that the robber barons are stealing the familiy silver. What is now all too clearly at stake is the future of humanity as sovereign individuals. The Commons, like Maui and the Ukraine is just a heap of ash of our civilisation. If that seems melodramatic then turn up the sirens…… The Quiet Man must and shall rise, but will it be in time?

        2. IDS, son of Wing Cmdr (“Drunken Duncan”) Smith? To be fair, Smith Senior did fly Spitfires in Malta.

  32. Right. Need to go out in the rain to put grand-daughter’s child seat in the back of the car then off to Chichester for the day.

    1. Gates and Schwab are already recruiting arsonists for the WEF globalist international fire raising squad.

    2. One of my first cousins once removed was at Radley in the same year and in the same social (house) as Andrew Strauss and he lives at Risby just outside Bury-St-Edmunds.

      I bet not many people knew that – and I bet that even fewer are interested in the fact!

  36. We started the “I Claudius” last night. Not bad – though I did drop off – so we stopped and will continue tonight. You DO have to know your Roman history – I suspect we were all better at it 47 years ago…

    Before the episodes began, there was a half hour interview with Sir Derek Luvvie about preparing for and playing the leading part. That was – really – fascinating, once one got over the “luvvie” bit (and how simply WONDERFUL all the other luvvies were)…

    It is worth seeing on catch-up.

    1. That’ll be 47AD ?

      “The Roman invasion of Britain: The earliest campaigns, AD 43–7. In AD 43, the Roman emperor Claudius launched an invasion of Britain, and over the next 45 years the Roman army gradually extended its control over much of present-day England and Wales and ventured into territory now in Scotland.”

  37. BREAKING NEWS (Gosh – the surprise is just so great I had to sit down):

    The former deputy chief medical officer who featured prominently in the government’s response to the pandemic has become a senior medical consultant to Moderna, one of the world’s leading vaccine makers.

    Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, 59, who became a familiar figure at the regular Downing Street press conferences as a member of the government’s vaccine task force, has been appointed as a part-time consulting clinical advisor to the American pharmaceutical company.

    Van-Tam, who stepped down from his government role in March 2022, took up his post at the company in May, according to an announcement from Moderna. The company said his appointment was “in accordance with the Department for Health and Social Care in England’s business appointment rules policy”.

    3. Oooh, “one of the world’s leading vaccine makers” is not quite true. Moderna was created specifically to create mRNA injectables. It may have branched out since but to represnet it as an established pharma company with a history of producing vaccines, which that line implies, is misleading. Deliberately so of course and doesn’t Fishi Rishi also have a financial interest? Jobs for the boys luvvie.

      1. Stinking Fishi invested £500 million last I read. The little shit has also given permission for a Moderna plant in the UK where they intend to produce mRNA vaccines for perpetual applications.

        Anyone accepting mRNA injectates need their head examined. These are both dangerous and poisonous toxins.

    4. “Has become a senior medical consultant to Moderna” ? I think not! “Has long been an under-cover agent of Moderna and several other ‘medical’ organisations”. Professional thief!

    1. Oliver Anthony has written a moving account of his life and has rejected multi-million dollar offers from the usual suspects. Catturd has spoken about him to John Rich who is giving advice.

      Millions around the world have been moved by the song.

      1. Yes I’ve heard about him before C and then I ran across his name this morning on Spiked so I thought I should listen. He’s not my thing I’m afraid and I’m also going deaf which probably limits my appreciation.

    2. Not surprisingly some “commentators” describe the song as “regressive”, “a right wing anthem” and “fatphobic .. it draws on negative stereotypes about welfare recipients”. Sounds like Oliver is over the target!!

    3. I found the words difficult to hear and understand. Perhaps being deaf doesn’t help.

    4. Stephen Daisy at the Speccy has already savaged this, to the extent that I’m tempted to pay for a download. It’s not to my taste, but I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment.

  39. The things that randomly spring to mind.
    This morning it was “The Family From One End Street”; I could remember their surname and the names of 6 out of the 7 children – even the reason behind each choice of name. The embarrassing thing was, I couldn’t remember Baby William. Eventually I had to cheat and Google it.
    For goodness sake, don’t let on to MB; he’ll be so hurt.

    1. Yes, very compelling arguments.

      BUT there is just one little Guy Gibsons dog in the woodpile that penalises hydrogen cars in ULEZs.

      It is NOx emissions as specifically mentioned in Toyota’s video – especially nitrous oxide which is a bit of a laugh really particularly for Elon Musk.

    2. Yes, very compelling arguments.

      BUT there is just one little Guy Gibsons dog in the woodpile that penalises hydrogen cars in ULEZs.

      It is NOx emissions as specifically mentioned in Toyota’s video – especially nitrous oxide which is a bit of a laugh really particularly for Elon Musk.

    3. Yes, very compelling arguments.

      BUT there is just one little Guy Gibsons dog in the woodpile that penalises hydrogen cars in ULEZs.

      It is NOx emissions as specifically mentioned in Toyota’s video – especially nitrous oxide which is a bit of a laugh really particularly for Elon Musk.

    4. Yes, very compelling arguments.

      BUT there is just one little Guy Gibsons dog in the woodpile that penalises hydrogen cars in ULEZs.

      It is NOx emissions as specifically mentioned in Toyota’s video – especially nitrous oxide which is a bit of a laugh really particularly for Elon Musk.

    5. We were persuaded 25 years ago to replace our inefficient filament light bulbs with those useless CFLs, which contained mercury. I still have three in Schloss Fuchs, but all the rest have been replaced by LEDs. Not being a driver, I was never cajoled into buying a diesel car…

  41. There is an article in the DT today “Navigating Saudi relations”

    Naturally, no mention of Saudi Arabia these days is complete without a reference to Jamal Khashoggi and the way he was murdered by the Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman.

    I claim to know a great deal about Saudi Arabia, having maintained a residence in Jeddah for 30 years. Unlike 99% of other British and westerners, I did not live on a compound and did not restrict my meeting Saudis and other nationals to those with whom I worked. Furthermore, I had learned to speak Arabic, so I had an excellent rapport with the locals, especially Saudis and Yemenis. I enjoyed the company of people in Jeddah, an extraordinarily cosmopolitan city of many nationalities and fascinating people. I was also fortunate to befriend a few Saudi women and many members of the Saudi Royal Family. I knew many diplomats, among them westerners who spoke fluent Arabic having been trained formally. However, many of them wasted their talents by only associating with other diplomats and high-ranking officials, not the general population.

    Among the people I knew was Jamal Khashoggi. He came across as a quiet, charming person who spoke excellent English. But still waters ran very deep in his case. His politics were those of the far left and he was a senior member of that malevolent organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood. Consequently, it’s no surprise that he disapproved of the reforms taking place and which have since been gathering steam, especially to enhance the role of women

    Khashoggi was a thorn in the side of the Crown Prince who was accused of murdering him. However, those on the left for whom Khashoggi was a hero, have little or no evidence that the Crown Prince orchestrated the murder.

    Although I never met Mohamed Bin Salman, there is one thing that I do know, namely that he is not stupid. Why would he order the gruesome murder of Khashoggi in Turkey with the inevitable media coverage, when he could so easily have had him quietly bumped off in Saudi Arabia with hardly anyone noticing?

    The Biden administration has done a great deal of damage to relations with friendly countries in the Middle East, allowing China to get the upper hand. On the other hand, Trump initiated the Abraham Accords which have been a resounding success. Therefore, I personally, think that the Crown Prince should be welcomed in the UK. To those who believe he is a murderer, perhaps they could name any country in the world that does not have a few skeletons in its closet!

        2. You could collaborate with a ‘ghost writer’ to put those anecdotes together as a cohesive whole. It would definitely be worth reading.

    2. David Kelly cough… cough…
      Had a few short spells in Saudi a few years ago, and, given the propaganda about the place, was surprised to find that the Chief Engineer at Saudi Aramco was a woman – and she dressed Western style, too.

    3. “Why would he order the gruesome murder of Khashoggi in Turkey with the inevitable media coverage, when he could so easily have had him quietly bumped off in Saudi Arabia with hardly anyone noticing?”

      Pour encourager les autres.

  42. Nietzsche disdained the multitudes and thought that it was superior persons who should seek power, admittedly not in the political field. What happened, however, was that huge numbers of people sought power as the only transcendent good; and given the normal distribution of most human qualities such as talent, it was inevitable that most people who sought (and achieved) power were mediocrities. In other words, the decline of religion, far from conducing to an age of personal and artistic superiority, as Nietzsche hoped, conduced to the very opposite, the flowering (if I may be allowed what seems like an oxymoron) of mediocrity.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/the-flowering-of-mediocrity/

    1. Power for its own sake will surely inevitably produce that result. At least when power was gained on the battle field it was the result of tangible qualities such as strength and courage, if not intellect. Now it’s the most cunning and corrupt, who thereby care the least for morality, who claw their way upwards.

  43. Nicked:
    A Royal Engineer dies.. and goes to Hell. Dissatisfied with the level of comfort, he starts designing and building improvements. After a while, Hell has air conditioning, flush toilets and escalators. The engineer is a pretty popular guy. One day God calls and asks Satan, “So, how’s it going down there?” Satan says, “Hey things are going great. We’ve got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there’s no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next.” God is horrified. “What? You’ve got an engineer? That’s a mistake – he should never have gone down there! You know all engineers go to Heaven. Send him up here! “Satan says, “No way. I like having an engineer on the staff. I’m keeping him.” God says, “Send him back up here or I’ll sue.” (Now remember, God is in heaven.)”Yeah, right,” Satan laughs, “and where are you going to get a lawyer?”

  44. Hello all and a very happy day to Katy.
    Fairly good night and sleep.
    Someone below mentioned that patients are an inconvenience to the NHS- true. Anytime I complained about pain, i was simply offered more pills; no attempt was made to fine source of the pain;
    And it’s not just them. Phone call from the council about registering the death. ” If you could just come in and do that.” Told the woman I was in no fit state to go anywhere right now. She is going to ask the office here- it can’t be unique and other folk must be alone in the world.
    These authorities simply don’t give a shit unless it’s themselves- god forbid they should suffer a loss or be in dire ill health.
    I’d be angry but I cannot expend the energy for that.

    1. Glad you got a decent zed, Ann. Makes everything better, or at least less shit.
      I get the same from UK bureaucracy – to register a Power of Attorney at the Pru, Mother has to go there, with her passport and an original of the PoA – which she cannot do, as she can’t go anyplace and anyhow has dementia.
      I wonder if she has to go there in person to register her death? That should be interesting!

    3. Good to hear from you.

      The registry is where we came up against bureaucrats when we had to register my mothers death.
      You had to make an appointment to see the registrar but appointments had to be made in person, no phone reservations allowed. Further, you could only make appointments for the same day and they had limited spots available.

      I was not kind to the registrar when I finally got to see her.

      Talk about being there for their own convenience.

    5. Hi Ann. I had depressingly familiar issues when my 89 year old Mum slipped off. She spent her last week in Newcastle General, having been moved there from the Cumberland Infirmary, a week before. 3.00 am, I received a phone call from the ward: “I’m afraid your mother has died – you need to come as soon as possible to make arrangements.” So, pausing only to get dressed and grab some breakfast, I left Mum’s place in Carlisle and hit the A69.

      Got to her ward. She had been cleared out of the way. Tried to speak to the phalanx of nurses at the Nurse Station. They all ignored me, discussing last night’s TV. After the best part of an hour, I finally emanaged to get one of them to acknowledge my existence. “I had a phone call to say my Mum had died – what should I do now?”

      “Have you made an appointment with the Bereavement Officer?” “No-one mentioned that – I just drove over here as instructed.” “Well, you should have made an appointment with the Bereavement Officer – he’s very busy, I suggest you go home and make an appointment.”

      “Home is in Surrey. I was told to come here. I don’t care how busy your Bereavement Officer is, I’m not leaving here till I speak to him (this was 2003 – these days using a male pronoun would have had me arrested).

      By lunchtime, I had a death certificate. It shouldn’t be so hard. I can’t begin to imagine how much worse it is for you in these post-Covid rational days.

      I once took a urine sample to the local outpost of my GP surgery. “We can’t accept this – you’ll have to drive it to Fairlands.” Three buses pass this outpost per week. “Hw do you propose I do this, on account of me not driving since I’m a bilateral below-knee amputee whose eyesight is borderline for driving?” That’s not our problem.” The only other chap in the waiting room kindly offered to take my vial of piss to Fairlands, but being somewhat independent of mind, and bloody minded. I declined his kind offer, and got the bloody sample there by hook and by crook.

      1. There seems to be a deliberate attempt to belittle patients. I found that the doctors don’t talk to you, they talk AT you. Perfunctory examinations at best as it’s easier to send you off for a test rather than them exerting themselves. I have not been impressed with what I have seen.

        1. Quite. I remain generally satisfied with Frimley Park , but I had a few run-ins with registrars who appeared to have deficiency in comprehension skills.

          I’ve seen one GP face to face, post-pandemic. It was in connection with my loss of feeling in two fingers, post AZ “vaccine”. It turned out that I knew her parents through church. Feeling is mostly restored, but no more “vaccines” for me, thanks.

          I hope you are getting all the pain relief you need, Big Sis. If there’s anything, at all, that we can help you with -just say, either here or by email.

          1. The morphine really helps as the pain in my face is severe. Stomach area very uncomfortable but pain level not that high, thus far.

    6. It was me who opined that patients were a nuisance, based on my latest GP appointment. I was able to register the death over the telephone – the doctor was dragging his feet over issuing the death certificate and the Registrar badgered him until he coughed up. She was very good and kept me informed about (the lack of) progress.

    7. Thank you so much! How lovely of you to think of me amidst all your travails.

      I am so sorry you are being treated so appallingly by uncaring bureaucrats. Sending hugs x

    1. I read today in the Herts Advertiser on line, that little turd has been pleading with Herts county council to include his Scam ULEZ scheme in the whole of Hertfordshire. As has been predicted, I expect he’s doing this with all of the home counties as he tries to capture all of the territory in side the M25 to make it his own.
      Time to get rid.

    3. Could someone point out it is not the responsibility of the state to feed children, but that of the parents. If the parents can’t afford to, then they shouldn’t have had the child.

      1. Wot, Hitler? Couldn’t be anything but. A man who hated everything his country was and sought to change it from the inside.

    1. If we ever have another EU referendum to rejoin I wonder how they are going to sell the EU to the British public.

      1. We will never have another referendum on anything. Even now the state fights, viciously; to enact everything it said would happen but didn’t to *make* it happen and then blame Brexit.

      3. Eventually, a party which has re-joining the EU in its General Election manifesto will form a government and will claim that it has a mandate to do so without the necessity of a referendum.

      4. They are not going to have a referendum, are they? We might still be refusniks. We’ll just be taken back in by stealth, against our will.

      2. She should have been hauled over the carpet for her dishonest dealings and intrigues with Bernard Tapie.

    3. For remoaners, it is not enough to rejoin. We, Leavers, must be beaten. We must accept we were wrong to disobey them.

      It’s psychotic now. Some of them blame Brexit for things so obviously unrelated – such as inflation. Facts and reality are anathema to Lefties.

    4. There is no when. They’ll all remain members, citing the half-hearted, anaemic example of the UK as a reason not to leave. I see nothing to suggest that they want to leave or would do so with vigour if they did. At most, if their people were ever to elect a government with the inclination, they’d join EFTA or make arrangements similar to those of EU-Switzerland.

      1. The more supine Europeans become the more Islamists will rub their hands in glee!

    5. The central bank will write to Ms Meloni’s government complaining that Rome
      failed to alert it ahead of the decision, as it was required to do. The
      shock windfall tax, which is expected to raise €3bn (£2.6bn), left the
      bank and its president Ms Lagarde blindsided.2 hours ago

      Can’t have her banker mates paying taxes. That’s for little people.

  49. You want unethical behaviour?

    It has been discovered that Steven Guilbeault,, the Canadian Minister for the Environment is also Executive Vice Chairman of a Chinese government organisation – The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development..

    MPs having side jobs is one thing but having a cabinet minister actively employed by a Chinese government organisation is way beyond acceptable.

    1. Tut tut – the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s missus works for the Chinese Communist Party!!

  50. I see the Letby “nurse” has been convicted of SOME of the murders of babies. So even a partly sensible jury was bewildered.

    For the life of me I cannot understand why this trial lasted TEN MONTHS.

    1. They had look look at all the evidence. She could have been being framed by someone else who was killing babies.

        1. Yes Bill, but at the Nuremberg trials they had already decided most of them were guilty before the proceedings began.

    3. Some one in the department stopped the possibility of an investigation. And even apologised in writing, for people who were suspicious of her activities.
      Still no word on the poor ten year old girl and the cause of death, possibly the reason why the people involved have run away.

  51. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cb17001520a0c337a9b79bda50bd03a2ac3ead9fdd7e394db31c2f2b116fce6b.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8f4e87ad5937a68549e6b2f5f2df861d524e51961b6fe06c21efe3aacdd4ccca.png

    BTLs

    Percival Wrattstrangler

    Let us never forget that Sunak is a TRAITOR and he deliberately betrayed a part of the United Kingdom into being subject to the laws of a foreign, hostile power, the EU.

    May he rot for eternity!

    Steven Rose

    Man exports one animal, from England, but within the UK – Full force of the law.
    France exports hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants – nothing to see here, would it help if we sent a boat to meet you half way?

    1. Capybaras should always be accompanied by one of Johnny Morris’s snooty voices.

    2. Capybaras are excellent high speed under water swimmers particularly when accompanied by plinky plonky music.
      Is is thought they can traverse the Channel crossing entirely beneath the surface which accounts for very few of these French escapees being picked up by the UK Border Force (aka the RNLI).

      https://youtu.be/rQgsiKqPmF8

    5. You can see why they had a problem with the Capybara; he clearly is a member of the Orange Order 🙂

    6. What is meant by “smuggled”? Was the animal deliberately concealed during transit across the Irish Sea? if so, I have little sympathy with the defendant’s representative in court.

      Barry Gibson, who defended Hammond in court, said that before Brexit the trio would not have committed a crime and blamed their convictions on the changing regulations.

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12419227/Irish-TikToker-mother-smuggled-capybara.html

      If the animal was “smuggled”, in my understanding of the word, it means that the defendants knew they were breaching the new regulations. Even if they disagree with them, they can hardly blame the changing regulations for knowingly breaching them.

      As for keeping capybaras as pets, I disagree with that regardless of whether or not they are transported across borders.

    2. Rishi Sunak in particular or the process by which someone becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? Sunak was certainly elected to be an MP by those in his constituency who voted for him at the 2019 General Election. Whether they also wanted him to be Prime Minister will only be true of some of them – probably not many.

  53. Well, I’m glad the MSM told me that the UK is having a heatwave from Wednesday, because otherwise I might have thought it was rather cool and wet! Now we have Storm Betty – how could they predict a heatwave with a large storm on the way?

    1. For the last week we’ve been enjoying very warm, sunny days, often followed by amazing thunderstorms at night, sufficiently violent to bring down trees and with lightning that makes it appear almost like daylight.

      Oddly enough it has been happening almost every year we have been here.

      It is only recently that we’ve had weather warnings telling us of “extreme” conditions.

      Project fear is ramping up some more.

  54. Ukraine likely to fail in key counter-offensive aim, says US intelligence. 18 August 2023.

    Ukraine’s counter-offensive will likely fail in its key objective to cut Russia’s land bridge to Crimea this year, according to a US intelligence assessment briefed to members of Congress.

    Instead, Ukraine’s attack is expected to stop some way short of the key city of Melitopol, the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous officials familiar with the assessment.

    The reported assessment, which The Telegraph could not immediately verify, could foreshadow mutual recriminations between members of the pro-Ukraine alliance over the offensive’s slow progress.

    They are leaking this in dribs and drabs so as not to precipitate a political crisis. Meantime the body bags keep getting filled!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/18/ukraine-fail-counter-offensive-crimea/

  55. According to the ‘B’BC Sevenoaks is a draw for young families leaving London for a bigger house.
    Yes, that is definitely the reason a young family would want to leave Khan’s London.

  56. 375479+ up ticks,

    I see a variation on the COVID theme is being pushed, this if allowed, is going to be the way of things for decades to come.

    We have witnessed the results of how far the
    politico / pharmaceutical coalition will go in manipulating / culling the peoples, are we to accept that as “norm” and if so accept what we truly deserve in doing so ?

    I believe that to be a very important question that requires
    immediate attention.

  57. Nurse found guilty of murdering seven babies. 18 August 2023.

    Lucy Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others while working as a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

    The verdicts confirm the 33-year-old from Hereford as Britain’s worst serial baby killer.

    Letby was convicted of murdering five baby boys and two baby girls during a year-long killing spree between June 2015 and June 2016.

    I’m already sick of hearing about this and I don’t even watch TV. For those of you with a higher pain threshold I’m pleased to tell you that the BBC has an hour documentary on it tonight!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/18/lucy-letby-trial-jury-verdict-live-updates-baby-deaths/

    2. It is horrible , horrible horrible .

      The trust in anyone is zilch .
      Even the Covid jabs we had and reacted to, who do we trust .

      As we get older , how do we know doctors have our best interest at heart .
      The NhS is killing us slowly .

      The strikes that doctors are holding, the long queues for treatment and cancer care, operations .

      Our elderly , look at the Shipman horror , and the Gosport Memorial hospital fiasco with elderly people .

      When Jerry , my eldest was born during a very cold winter , he was less than 12 hours old and an Australian night nurse removed him from the nursery becuse he was crying , and should have been brought to me to cuddle and feed , the bitch locked him in a broom cupboard with buckets and brushes and smelly mops ..

      I happened to stagger to the loo and heard a baby crying in a cupboard, I looked in to the very cold room , and found it was my baby , cold , crying and less than 12 hours old ,,, hungry .

      Moh was based on a warship at the time in Portsmouth harbour , but he saw Jerry when he was a couple of hours old .

      He was going to take a couple of days leave , so he arrived a few hours later just as I was discharging myself from hospital, in those days one had to remain in hospital for 10 days , it was called the laying in period,

      I was also very uncomfortable because the young woman in the bed next to mine had had a still birth , and was sobbing her heart out .

      This all happened 54 years in an old hospital in Southampton .

      There are no words for trauma .

      1. My mother would relate some of the horrible experiences of giving birth in the RUH in Bath in the forties and fifties.

        My late sister Eunice was a year older than me and her third child. Eunice was reluctant to enter the world and caused my mother some discomfort. The nurse or midwife attending shouted “anyone would think it was your first and not your third”.

        1. Glad to report that within the past decade both granddaughters born 3 months premature and received excellent care in the NICU at the RUH. Both have turned out to be very bright bunnies.

          1. Lovely to have rabbits in the family. Will they breed?

            We had brilliant care for my elder son at the old Charing Cross Hospital; dreadful for the younger at Crawley General Hospital. For the first, their mother was in for eight days – and on the last night I was told firmly by the Ward Sister to take her out for a quiet meal. “It’ll be the last you have for 20 years,” she said!.

            The second time, she discharged herself after 48 hours and we took the baby home with displays of anger and disbelief from the unhelpful staff.

          2. Firstborn was born in Crawley. Awful place. Excellent staff facilities, terrible patient food. Sandwich & smash (dry, with a crust), anybody?

        1. Nothing changes………………

          The number of deaths and injuries to newborn babies and mothers in
          Nottingham is set to be the biggest maternity scandal in the NHS. More than 1,700 cases of possible harm are now being examined at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.10 Jul 2023

          Nottingham maternity scandal set to be biggest in NHS

          Sky News

          https://news.sky.com › story › nottingham-maternity-sca…

        2. OB, in those days life was rather difficult if one was a lippy whatsit like me especially as I was ex armed services trained and not wise to the ways of the NHS

          Even these days , a dear friend had a stroke , her speech was stumbling but coherent , but her arm and leg nearly useless.. The blighters forgot about her in the day room , five hours later they remembered , she was also left for 3 hours in the bathroom , and man other incidents , the didn’t comb her hair, do her teeth , rub her bottom , nearly a pressure sore , cut her food up and generally neglected her , this all happened 4 years ago

          I think nursing is now treated as a job and not as a vocation .. no one goes the extra mile .

          4. As you say, Belle, no longer a vocation. In Greece they take a lot of girls who maybe aren’t the most educated, but they know how to care, having dealt with younger siblings and the older generations. They don’t need a degree in caring.

      3. Afternoon Belle. It is difficult to avoid the impression that a Great Evil is settling over the world!

        1. Same as teaching. I have encountered people who should have been nowhere near a school and children!

          2. Turns out that the prep school I attended was a nest if paedophiles. It was closed down. I never knew, and as a child was clearly too repulsive for their attention.

          4. Well, who knows? Waiting for the neuro to report on whether they found a brain with their shiny new MRI machine.
            Thanks for asking!

          5. I recall the excitement at my (boarding) prep school when two military policemen arrived in a Jeep to arrest Mr Ashenhurst – who was a great one for feeling the boys and taking on or two for “long walks” – for desertion.

        2. All the professions that deal with vulnerable or potentially vulnerable people attract sadistic, domineering exploitative people: teaching, the priesthood, medicine, the police, social work etc.

      5. When our elder daughter was born after a long and difficult birth, a very unpleasant Dutch maternity nurse removed her from me to the nursery, as she was crying, on the pretext of me needing to sleep. Being completely out of it I agreed. I found her half an hour later with a bottle teat stuffed with cotton wool. I can see the poor tiny thing (only 5lb 4oz) sucking madly on nothing. I nearly raised the roof!

          1. Yes, apparently I wasn’t alone. She was well known for her lack of care and only worked nights. Of course you don’t find that sort of thing out ‘til after the event.

      6. That is so awful Belle. My own experiences in a small maternity home in Essex with my two, was very good by comparison.

        1. I was really put in my place by the maternity home.

          She is resting, go home and we will call you when labour gets serious.

          Oh we missed the note about calling you, you have a son.

  58. Apologies if this has already been posted:

    The White House has given the two European nations official assurances that it will expedite approval of transfer requests for the F-16s as soon as Ukrainian pilots have completed training programmes for the aircraft, an unnamed US official told Reuters.

    “The United States is in active discussions with our European partners about how we can support the efforts to provide Ukraine with F-16 pilot training as quickly as possible,” Politico quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying.

    Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra welcomed Washington’s decision to “pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine”.

    “Now, we will further discuss the subject with our European partners,” he added.

    Denmark, which is hosting the Ukrainian pilots for training and has said it hopes to see “results” from the programme in early 2024, also said providing Ukraine with the jets would now be discussed.

    Ukraine has actively sought the US-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russian air superiority. But Kyiv said earlier this week that its pilots will not be able to operate US-built F-16 fighter jets this year.

    1. F16 fighters are past their sell by date. The Russians have far superior fifth generation fighters and highly sophisticated defence systems.

      In any event Ukraine has lost almost 300,000 men and lost countless tanks and other military vehicles. I doubt the latest recruitment drive will raise a new army.

      The truth is that the Ukrainian regime comprises mere actors, small men owing their positions to corrupt and rancid oligarchs. These small men have no geopolitical experience or knowledge of world affairs. Had they studied history they would have realised that they are a tool of the neo cons in Washington. The latter care nothing for the people of Ukraine, nor for that matter the people of America.

        1. A cunning plan Baldrick. A fine opportunity for NATO to see how effective the F16 defence suite is without putting any NATO pilots at risk.

        2. I am sure many in the west will already be shocked at the evident superiority of Russian military equipment and defences over everything thrown at them from NATO and the US.

          All that remains are eagerly awaited images of British Challenger tanks blown to pieces in the fields. Everything else from Leopards to Abrams and Bradys has succumbed to superior firepower.

    1. Wow. Bogey five for me.

      Wordle 790 5/6

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

      1. Me too
        Wordle 790 5/6

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

    3. Back to par here.
      Wordle 790 4/6

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

    4. I’m more concerned about the wire up his arse where he’s getting his instructions on what to say.
      Hi risk anus indeed.

      Edit, thanks BT

      1. It’s in the reference to London Pride, which was once an excellent beer but is now more akin to horse piss.

          2. Excellent beer – unobtainable in Norway. My local gets Pride just for me, so I feel obliged to maintain a reasonable turnover for him.

        3. London Pride has been handed down to us,
          London Pride is a flower that’s free.
          London Pride means our own dear town to us,
          And our pride is forever will be.
          Whoa, Liza,
          See the coster barrows,
          The vegetables and the fruit piled high,
          Oh, Liza,
          Little London sparrows,
          Covent Garden Market where the costers cry.
          Cockney feet
          Mark the beat of history.
          Every street pins a memory down.
          Nothing ever can quite replace
          The grace of London Town.
          There’s a little city flower,
          Ever spring unveiling,
          Growing in the crevices,
          By some London railing.
          Though it has a Latin name
          In town and countryside,
          We in England call it
          London Pride.
          London Pride has been handed down to us,
          London Pride is a flower that’s free.
          London Pride means our own dear town to us,
          And our pride it forever will be.
          Hey, lady,
          When the day is dawning,
          See the policeman yawning
          On his lonely beat.
          Gay lady,
          Mayfair in the morning,
          Hear your footsteps echo
          In the empty street.
          Early rain,
          And the pavement’s glistening,
          All Park Lane
          In a shimmering gown.
          Nothing ever could break or harm
          The charm
          Of London Town.
          In our city, darkened now,
          Street and square and crescent,
          We can feel our living past
          In our shadowed present.
          Ghosts beside our starlit Thames
          Who lived and loved and died
          Keep throughout the ages
          London Pride.
          London Pride has been handed down to us,
          London Pride is a flower that’s free.
          London Pride means our own dear town to us,
          And our pride it forever will be.
          Grey city,
          Stubbornly implanted,
          Taken so for granted
          For a thousand years.
          Stay, city,
          Smokily enchanted,
          Cradle of our memories,
          Of our hopes and fears.
          Every Blitz,
          Your resistance toughening.
          From the Ritz
          To the Anchor and Crown,
          Nothing ever could override
          The pride
          Of London Town.
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJPmAHSwnS4

    2. Q.1 Which is the deadliest sin – envy, gluttony, greed/avarice, lust, pride, sloth, or wrath?

      Q.2. Which ones have you tried?

      Q.3 Which was the most fun?

  63. Evening, all. Not long back from a celebration of an old (82) friend’s life and a wake with a good buffet and plenty of craic. As for the headline; grade inflation fools nobody because when the A* brigade actually have to get down to some work and they can’t spell, punctuate or string together coherent sentences they will be found out.

    1. Who will find them out, Conners? Most of their bosses may not be able to spell, punctuate or string together coherent sentence either. The Plowden Report in the mid-60s was instrumental in “encouraging pupils” not to be corrected in their spelling, etc. in case this caused them suffering.And children at school in the mid-60s will by now be retired from work.

      1. Thankfully, the Plowden report didn’t touch my schools. I did suffer from it when I did my teaching practice, though; I was chewed out for correcting my pupils’ work because it would “stifle their creativity”. I retorted that there was no point in their being creative if people couldn’t read and understand what they’d written. I have always been a dinosaur!

        2. Our sons went to the local primary school in the 1970s.
          Luckily, the headmaster was old fashioned and the pupils even had to learn their times tables; In fact, once the pupils could recite them accurately and answer the questions that ‘jumped’ from one table to another, they were awarded a certificate.
          There was no private primary school around Colchester that could have given them a better start.
          We were very lucky to live in that catchment area.

        3. No, Conners, you were not a dinosaur. You were telling the exact truth about there being no point in people being “creative” if people couldn’t read and understand what those people had written.

          1. It’s a wonder I got my PGCE with retrograde views like that, though. These days I would have been cancelled.

      2. Caroline is beginning to wonder how much much French grammar some of the “A” level French teachers in some of the leading independent schools actually know!

        1. My niece studied French & Russian at St. Andrew’s and spent a year in Odessa to polish her Russian.

    3. If grade inflation is as widespread as suggested, it means that many other candidates with good grades will not come up to scratch. The pool of candidates with grades that truly reflect their abilities will be much smaller and good applicants hard to come by.

      1. I can only speak about the (lack of) quality of the academic work of young students when I did my art degree (graduated in 2008). They found it hard to read instructions, couldn’t spell and the thought of stringing a 15,000 word dissertation together caused many of them to ask for extensions and assistance. Indeed, the staff put on a “how to” lecture, complete with pictures of a slice of lemon meringue pie, to show them how to tackle it bit by bit.

      2. Did you see the past Common Entrance French Papers we posted here last week. Many of our “A” level French students – who go on to get A grades and secure places in good universities – would have trouble passing that examination aimed at 12 and 13 year olds.

        This is not because the students are less intelligent than they used to be – it is because the exams today are very much easier than they used to be.

        To get into a top university today you need to get 3 A* grades – in the 1960s and 70s you could get into Oxbridge with an A, a B and a C. Indeed these grades got my niece into St Hugh’s College Oxford in the 1975.

        I taught “A” level English for some years but I find when I now talk to our students who are studying English as well as French that they know very much less about their books than I expected my pupils to know in the 70s and 80s.

    4. The trouble is that by the time their illiteracy is discovered, they will have been placed in an nsuitable degree course or even havestartec work. It will be others that have to sort out the mess .

      I don’t suppose that anyone with a measly 3 A grades or perish the thought, a couple of Bs will consider a nice trade apprenticeship.

  66. Oh drat. I had a sore throat yesterday and it’s turned into a cold today. I do have a fever – 38.7c/101f.

    1. Mask; tests; social distancing; check your will…

      Take paracetamol with a glass of whisky and go to bed early, Our Susan.

    4. I sympathise, Sue; mine is still here after rumbling around for a couple of weeks.and keeping me up for a few nights. I think Jules (Ndovu) may be right and I picked up something in the horse piddle.

    5. I have confirmed GOUT experience in my right wrist.

      It ain’t funny.

      My right wrist and lower hand are inflamed and extremely painful.

      Fortunately, I have had an excellent response from NHS; online consultation yesterday; nurse home visit for blood tests today, new prescription tomorrow . . .

      And, Lee, the District Nurse will re visit to check my wrist on Tuesday morning!

      1. I’ve heard of gout in toes, feet and knees but never wrist and hand. If you’ve had gout before, you’ll know that it’s most unpleasant while it lasts but it does pass, although recurrences are probable. I understand that omega-3 oil, beneficial for general health, can help to ward off or ameliorate future flare-ups. It might be worth adding it as a supplement to your usual diet. In the meantime, the new prescription should help. Some claim glucosamine supplements can protect against future flare-ups but this is contested. What’s more, glucosamine doesn’t combine well with some other medications such as Warfarin and diabetes treatments, amongst others. I wish you a speedy recovery.

          1. Jeremy Rhyming Slang is apparently very good (according to him) at controlling inflation. I think he may be inflatuated with his skills.

          2. Jeremy Rhyming Slang is apparently very good (according to him) at controlling inflation. I think he may be inflatuated with his skills.

        2. I take Glucosamine in addition to Gliclazide and Metformin for my diabetes and suffer no ill effects (others might disagree with that)

          1. It’s a tricky one, Spikey. Some say to consult with a doctor before taking glucosamine if you’re taking medication with which it might not agree. Some tolerate it well, apparently. You’re probably in that category.

      2. My brother-in-law, who suffered from gout, used to swear by black cherries. He claimed they gave him relief – even the tinned ones.

  67. Time for me to go and pour a glass of medicine – I don’t want to pick up Our Susan’s germs through the internet.

    Have a spiffing evening – I WILL be watching I Claudius AND staying awake. It is most odd seeing the ArchLuvvie Brian BLESSED being so quiet and, sort of, like an actor!!

    A demain.

  68. A little four today

    Wordle 790 4/6

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

    1. I’ve had that once or twice – it’s annoying but Disqus makes you log in even though you are already logged in.

  75. Good evening all from Beachy Head.
    Camping in the car park tonight and having a couple of expensive pints in the pub.

    I’m rather out of touch so hope all are keeping well!
    Especially Tom & Ann.

    Progress so far:-
    Saffron Walden on Monday,
    RE Museum, swim at Herne Bay and a couple of pints at Reculver on Tuesday. Absolutely beautiful, the sea was like the proverbial millpond.
    Wednesday began with a short drive, then a 5 mile walk circular walk covering part of the sea wall between reculver and
    Margate. Found a fairly secluded spot for a swim which I really enjoyed. Ended up spending the night on the Lees in Folkestone, after a 2nd swim at the bottom of the Zig-zag path.
    Yesterday I swam at Hythe, spent a couple of hours at Dungeness, including going up the old lighthouse, then drove to Pevensey where I had fish & chips.
    An early swim this morning and drove to Eastbourne for a walk up Beachy Head, during which I got absolutely soaked.
    Spent several hours in Eastbourne after catching a VERY eccentrically routed bus into the town from where I’d parked up and went to see the Redoubt, the drawbridge of which 61 Field Support Squadron replaced in 1973 or ’74.
    Very disappointed with the place, the council has let it rot.
    Van is now parked up in the car park up here and that is where I’m spending the night!

    1. Evening Bob.
      If you go swimming don’t get into difficulties because the RNLI is otherwise engaged.

      1. What’s not to like if he gets picked up it’ll be a 4 Star hotel instead of a van!

          7. So glad you have not lost your sense of humour Ann!! How are you coping? It’s hard to know the right thing to say under the circumstances, but I hope it helps that everyone here wishes you well, and with many hugs!

          8. It does help- not being heartless but a bit of chatter and banter helps no end.
            The morphine really helps with the face pain and the stomach area isn’t too bad as of now. And my son is calling tomorrow!
            Still a bit unsteady on my feet but reckon that’s a result of being in hospital for 2 weeks.
            Hope you’ve got the sprouts on- it’ll be Thanksgiving before you know it.

          9. Sorry. I’m too late….but I have them on ready for Christmas…..
            Just finished making a French Apple cake to take to our daughter’s tomorrow, for joint birthday celebrations, hopefully Jack can keep his hands off the cake, before we go!

          13. Just as well you donot celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. It is just two weeks away so the sprouts would still be raw if you put them on now.

          14. Sorry. I’m too late….but I have them on ready for Christmas…..
            Just finished making a French Apple cake to take to our daughter’s tomorrow, for joint birthday celebrations, hopefully Jack can keep his hands off the cake, before we go!

          17. No, I am being really good as too much Pinot does not mix with morphine. Being in a hospital bed for 2 weeks certainly does a number or your mobility though.

          18. The same with most of the painkillers I suppose. We saved a fortune on wine after SWMBO got false hip last month.

          19. The last time he got a quickie was when he said “please”
            approximately 10 years ago

          21. It’s where the computer stores temporary files and needs to be cleared occasionally.

          23. Look under settings. Cache and cookies. Careful which cookies you delete because some may be logins and passwords.

    4. Glad to see you’ve had such a fun and enjoyable week, BoB. Sleep well tonight.

  76. Damn, damn and thrice damn.
    I was driving very carefully on the look out for the usual radar trap. It’s placed on the curve of the hill coming down out of the village and it only appears as one comes around the gentle corner.
    The bastards have moved it AND placed it at the point where one is coming out of another curve and would normally accelerate into the higher speed limit.
    There is absolutely zero safety element at that point. It’s a money-maker, pure and simple.
    If I’m very lucky I might just be in the margin of error.
    BASTARDS.

    I’m hoping that the trigger was the guy behind me tailgating and trying to overtake.

    Small wonder yer French attack them with paint and long poles to lever them off their stanchions.

    2. The Police cameras in Essex become particularly deviously active around now as we are but a few months from Christmas and the bastards need to raise funds for their parties in advance.

      No sign of coppers on the beat in these parts and no patrol cars either. I imagine they are working from home, that or else eating Polony back at the remaining station.

  79. Going to bed as it takes me ages to get up there.
    I have enjoyed that chat today which has help, also done a few basic jobs.
    Right now bed and comfort beckons.
    Good night Y’all.

  81. Stressful afternoon today – I set off to go over to Cirencester and then do the shopping. I didn’t get far as one of the rear wheels on my car was siezed up and the abs symbol in red on the dashboard. I parked in a neighbour’s drive and walked home up the hill.
    I rang my usual garage and they said I’d need to get it recovered and they wouldn’t be able to fix it for a couple of weeks. My insurance company wasn’t very helpful either. Then I remembered I have RAC breakdown cover through the bank’s travel insurance. So I put the details online and we did the shopping using OH’s car. The RAC eta was a couple of hours. Then I got a phone call and the girl asked if I’d left it in a safe place and if so could it wait till the morning.
    I agreed to that so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. We have family visitors coming tomorrow so I wasn’t planning to go anywhere.

    1. Sounds like the Brakes which shouldn’t take long to sort out, pretty simple repair. Any other garages out there?

      2. It could have something to do with the dried on mud from Gatcombe a couple of weeks ago as I haven’t been anywhere since then.

  83. The Snow White row makes me realise I’m sick of young people

    In the world view of youth it is people like me who need to be changed and re-educated – my patience is wearing thin

    PETRONELLA WYATT • 18th August 2023 • 1:00pm

    By any standards, Walt Disney’s 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a masterpiece, a Sistine Chapel of a film that on its release astounded a world that was not easily astounded. The first feature-length traditionally animated picture, its place in cinema is as significant as that of Citizen Kane. Adjusted for inflation, it is the highest grossing animated film in history.

    The American Film Institute ranks it as amongst the greatest 100 American films, and it was chosen for preservation by the US Library of Congress. This does nothing to impress 22-year-old Latina actress Rachel Zegler, who plays Snow White in a soulless commercial remake.

    I’ve kept my powder dry throughout the Snow White culture wars, but her dismissal of one of the 20th century’s greatest achievements can’t just pass. No one believes in anything absolutely, but according to Zegler, the 1937 film was “weird” because it was “a love story” and the prince was a “stalker”.

    “Weird? That’s what it’s been reduced to; the movie Walt Disney mortgaged his house to make.

    God, I’m sick of young people, sometimes. I’m sick of them lecturing us. I’m sick of them denigrating our beliefs and existence and attempting to reform us into something more compatible with their joyless philosophy. It has always been safe to assume that the young are against their country, i.e., against the environment into which they have been placed. The special quality that defines them is an extraordinary capacity for irritation, and a pathological sensitivity to environmental pricks and stings.

    It should come as no surprise, then, that sociology is now more popular than traditional subjects at A-level because of an increasing interest in activism.

    Prof Alan Smith of the University of Buckingham claimed this week that this is “linked to the attraction of a subject which offers an understanding of the structure of society and ways to change it”. But the trouble is that in the world view of youth it is people like me who need to be changed and re-educated. My patience is wearing thin.

    Reforming people has not always been politic. When William Gladstone lost the 1874 election to the Tories, it was because the public was sick of being lectured. Voters particularly disliked the restrictions on drinking that were introduced by his ministry. The young are always telling me not to drink. In their eyes, one Scotch is an alcoholiday.

    Most of them are possessed of the strange superstition that they can remake human nature, society and the definition of happiness by repudiating the knowledge and experience of their elders. It’s our own fault, I suppose. When I was growing up, the doctrine that parents existed solely for their children was not accepted. The hourly attention now bestowed upon them is ridiculous in the extreme and there is no evidence that today’s method produces a better and happier type of human being. On the other hand, there is much evidence that it produces irritating young people like Zegler.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2023/08/18/snow-white-row-sick-of-young-people

    1. …and how are these ignorant children going to ‘change’ the Nazi culture of the 1930s and 40s? Are they going to stop it being ‘weird’?

  85. Goodnight and God bless, Gentlefolk, having slept for most of the day, I don’t hold out much hope for the night but I hope to be there in the morning’s light.

  87. Just compared diesel prices with the cost of recharging at a high-speed charger. In money per kWhr, electricity is three times the cost of diesel – and takes much longer than 10 minutes to go from empty to full, too.

    1. …and in those few minutes I can put nearly 700 miles in the tank of my 51mpg, 8-year old car.

    2. Worse is over time electricity is only going to get more and more expensive. I spoke to a chum about that a while back and he expected it to come down once the war in Ukraine is over.

      Another ranted about how important it was to move to ane entirely green agenda as it was going to make electricity virtually free. That I just sighed at because it’s stupid.

      The intent of ‘net zero’ is that. To remove our way of life permanently, forever by making energy unaffordably expensive to force down demand permanently. To permanently and irrevocably remove freedoms. Oh, the statists will still have power, but that’ll be only for them.

    3. I only charge my EV for two and a half hours in the morning at night rate of 14p/kWh whilst I’m still in bed.
      That gives me 5kW charge that equates to 20 mile range at just 5% VAT.
      I don’t expect to go to a filling station and queue up ever again.

Comments are closed.