Saturday 9 September: HMRC’s abysmal customer service reflects a broken public sector

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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335 thoughts on “Saturday 9 September: HMRC’s abysmal customer service reflects a broken public sector”

    1. Morning, Johnny.
      Cold and foggy here. Had hoped for some warm to encourage work outside – seems I’m becoming a reptile!

  4. Good morning, all. Early signs of another hot late summer day.
    Very pleasant day down on the beach yesterday. Sea very calm, slight breeze, not too hot and best of all sufficient haze out to sea to hide the ‘bird choppers’ from view.
    Late on a perfect example of wind-power appeared in the form of an old sailing barge serenely making its way south.

    Apropos the debate yesterday on meat: (Quotes from Google)

    The prevailing view, supported by a confluence of fossil evidence from sites in Ethiopia, is that the emergence of flaked tool use and meat consumption led to the cerebral expansion that kickstarted human evolution more than 2 million years ago.31 Mar 2019

    Did cooked meat help humans evolve?
    Cooking had profound evolutionary effect because it increased food efficiency, which allowed human ancestors to spend less time foraging, chewing, and digesting. H. erectus developed a smaller, more efficient digestive tract, which freed up energy to enable larger brain growth.

    Did cooked meat make humans smart?
    Unlocking these additional nutrients literally allowed our brains to grow smarter, fueling our growth as an intelligent species. Many anthropologists have said that fire was the catalyst for our evolution into what we are today, due to how cooking meat gave us advantages and advances that raw meat didn’t.

    Did cooking food make our brains bigger?
    Homo erectus, considered the first modern human species, learned to cook and doubled its brain size over the course of 600,000 years. Similar size primates—gorillas, chimpanzees, and other great apes, all of which subsisted on a diet of raw foods—did not.26 Oct 2012

    Check the date on the picture below. Modern thinking/influence, anyone?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bce69cf762eb95ba1522cf6278c873b222cd4aa1dacb7dc70ab49ef04ec44104.png

    Of course, there always is debate around scientific theories and especially at the moment when interested groups backed by powerful and rich donors demand that, “The Science is settled”. Anyone making or supporting that stance should be treated with the utmost caution. “Settled Science” is dangerous nonsense and certainly not Science.

    For well over a thousand years the Church’s dogma controlled what was, and what wasn’t the truth, scientific fact etc.
    Now, we have a surfeit of wannabe medieval and pre-Renaissance/Enlightenment Pope imitators
    who would impose their dogmatic views on the World.
    Probably the greatest retrograde step in the history of mankind. (No apologies to Carlsberg)

    1. “Better the question that cannot be answered than the answer that cannot be questioned.”
      R Feynman, a well-known scientist.

    2. “Better the question that cannot be answered than the answer that cannot be questioned.”
      R Feynman, a well-known scientist.

    3. ‘Morning, Korky.

      This is a documentary examining a lot of the recent findings by scientists, from all over the globe, who have discovered new data in their ongoing search for the perfect human diet, based on archæological research. It is presented by a very personable chap who had serious health problems when younger and it charts his search for a diet to restore his health. I found it fascinating but many, I’m sure, will still refuse to watch it.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y_1fiN-1SI&list=WL&index=30

  5. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Sensitive
    Three guys were working on a high rise building project: Steve, Bill and Charlie. Steve falls off and is killed instantly.

    As the ambulance takes the body away, Charlie says, “Someone should go and tell his wife.”

    Bill says, “OK, I’m pretty good at that sensitive stuff, I’ll do it.”

    2 hours later, he comes back carrying a 6-pack. Charlie says, “Where did you get that, Bill?”

    “Steve’s wife gave it to me.”

    “That’s unbelievable, you told the lady her husband was dead and she gave you beer!?”

    Bill says, “Well not exactly. When she answered the door, I said to her, ‘You must be Steve’s widow.’

    Then she said, ‘No, I’m not a widow!’ And I said, ‘Wanna bet a six-pack?'”

  6. ‘Morning All

    With some delicious irony,

    I see that the BBC’s ‘disinformation correspondent’

    has been accused of lying on her CV.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c7fbad6aedd99d11d1135aa13d52720a6cf27cedac42d58cca8221155c91299a.jpg

    Rest of the medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2f089ba7ceb13ae3d3f3db28effebfbb39a3215ddd546023d23fa6187c31cf98.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8f376633e46b9aa7bce104e4023150508af4ecbfd4e5d7e6237d976489481489.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0bb262dc305bdab9fbe57621d50a5733adb2cb050f81ca6cc0157bc17102cb1f.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d64e0d0dabc152e731eddee383fbac6f37312f5a634fd3cc9855044b6cb33d0.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/032825f2cad24fd99f2f1d1e291b7e7879d78dd70f3518803d7f2eac18eb6a39.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3a6615e2073c963fd5cfe2680cd0fc2c8e25a5e1ada51e29c0b9cabe67f828f3.jpg

    1. You need kanht and ULEZ 😉 we’ll send him across. With three large nails. 🤗 🔨📌📌📌

  8. 375992+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,
    Dt,
    A year into the job he’s trained his whole life for, King Charles has proved his naysayers wrong

    The speed with which he was accepted as head of state suggests he was always hiding in plain sight

    The question is ” accepted by whom” My feelings are his FULL potential as a WEF / NWO activist is yet to be realised.

    The lab/lib/con coalition once again given full rein to operate
    (coming shortly) and given the Great Seal of the Realm should, achieve what England’s external enemies never could.

  9. ‘Morning, Peeps. A nice fresh (ish) start to the day, with a 7am dog walk. Didn’t see a soul – delightful. We are said to be due 29°C today, but on past performance that will probably turn out to be nearer 31°.

    Some encouraging anti-Nut Zero articles in today’s DT:

    “Lord King: Net zero obsession ‘has fuelled inflation’

    “It should not be in the Bank’s remit to help world fight climate change, former governor warns”

    “Full interview ‘The transition to net zero has turned into a quasi-religious debate’”

    “ANDY MAYER. The renewables fantasy is coming crashing down”

    “Wind power’s benefits have been overblown”

    Peoblem is, the lunatics in charge are not listening.

        1. Thatcher.
          Colonialism.
          Mathematics.
          Music notation.
          Literacy.
          Statues of white people.
          Ditto portraits of white people.
          Christianity.
          All these have inexorably led to cremated bangers in Acacia Avenue.

    2. “Wind power’s benefits have been overblown” by the wind underblowing and only blowing erratically when it does blow!

  11. Good morning all,

    Ninth day of our glorious Indian summer. Clear skies at the McPhee’s, wind in the Nor’-East going to the Sou’-West mid morning, 19℃ at 7am going up to 28℃ again.

    The Gatesograph has announced the death of comedian and impressionist Mike Yarwood with an article which completely misses how great a performer he was.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/09/mike-yarwood-comedian-impersonator-death/

    He was not only able to mimic the voice and mannerisms of the people he was impersonating but he could bend his facial features to resemble theirs too. The result was hugely funny.

    The captions under the photographs completely miss this. This one is “Mike Yarwood Being Silly in 1975”.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/13e788d7a522bcdddc95797da3832a584c33ac698482552dbb047337c5c27977.png

    I think it’s Mike Yarwood being Terry Wogan.

    And this is captioned “Pulling Faces for The Camera in 1968”.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/118b4adb0b7f0a4094c145cc0321d2da08f9957a434d76bbf109a7ec282a27d2.png

    He’s clearly being Ken Dodd.

    One of the funniest series of sketches he used to do were the ones in which he alternated his persona between Harold Wilson as PM and Ted Heath as Leader of the Opposition or vice versa, facing left as Harold Wilson and right as Ted Heath.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/63b45235a8164242f990c255e6139d4faf3e093d5d9e3c1e998201423885f250.png

    RIP Mike.You were one of the best.

      1. A tricky one to pull of if they impersonate people who were either not alive or not well-known at the time MY was active.

    4. The BTL comments are scathing; whoever wrote the article was about 15 and had no knowledge of his subject.

    5. The Royal Variety Charity said it was deeply saddened to announce his death, adding: “He leaves behind an immeasurable void in the entertainment industry.”

      That’s just being kind. The void he left was when he dropped out of public life about 40 years ago. He’s rarely been seen since. While his death will be mourned by older people who remember him, most people under 50 will know little or nothing about him.

  12. Two decades after 9/11 Condoleezza Rice says the War on Terror has been won… and I think she’s right. Andrew Neill. 9 September 2023.

    We have come a long way since 9/11 and, despite the self-inflicted setbacks, there is progress to celebrate.

    And lessons to learn. Above all, that winning the peace is as important as winning the war — perhaps even more so.

    America and its allies won the war in Afghanistan and Iraq but lost the peace in both places, thereby prolonging the War on Terror. In stark contrast, America lost the war in Vietnam but won the peace — the Vietnamese are now one of America’s most important political and economic allies in the Pacific Rim.

    On Monday, as we remember those who lost their lives on that terrible day 22 years ago, we can take some comfort from realising we have, at last, largely won the war on Islamist terror.

    I used to like Andrew Neill when he was on the Daily Politics. He held the politicians to account with really probing questions and didn’t hesitate to point out when they were lying. His brain has obviously softened since then. The West has won all the battles and lost the War! The jihadists have won. Every day more of them enter the EU and UK. Within twenty years both will be a part of the European Caliphate.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12497583/ANDREW-NEIL-Two-decades-9-11-Condoleezza-Rice-says-War-Terror-won-think-shes-right.html

    1. The one thing the warmongers refuse to understand is the Clausewitzian statement that war is an extension of politics. The Department of State had a post conflict plan for Iraq which addressed how Iraq should be governed, and they were ousted by the DoD who wanted a military based solution. I watched the film JFK not so long ago, which purports Kennedy was assassinated by agents of the military industrial complex because he wanted to end the Vietnam war. That would have reduced the military industrial gravytrain by $80 bn a year and they didn’t like that. War is big business, they don’t want conflicts to end, so don’t care about the aftermath. Ukraine is evidence thereof.

    2. Andrew Neil has lost his marbles and is no longer a competent journalist or commentator on events.

      I had hoped that before the 2019 general election, when Neil was still a rational and penetrative force in interviewing, that he could have had that promised interview with Boris Johnson. Unfortunately Boris Johnson was aware that he could not stand up against incisive questioning and so the interview was called off.

      Johnson’s “oven-ready” EU deal was the same disastrous deal that the evil Mrs May had tried to get through. And from this deal sprung two drastic concessions to the EU: the Northern Ireland Protocol which broke up the integrity of the UK and the total sell-out of UK fishermen.

      Johnson is falsely lauded for Getting Brexit Done: he should be pilloried and condemned for killing Brexit at its very birth.

      People defend Johnson by saying his hands were tied by the Benn law – but with an 80 seat majority Johnson should surely have got this annulled before starting his negotiations with the EU from such a position of weakness and bumbling confusion.

      1. There was not a total sell-out of UK fishermen. Had he refused to budge an inch, perhaps the EU would have blinked. If not, other parts of the UK economy would have suffered harm in excess of whatever may have been won for UK fishermen.

  13. Good morning.
    A fund manager called David Webb has written a short book (130 pages) called The Great Taking, available as a pdf here
    https://thegreattaking.com/

    Parallel Mike has made a (one hour) video exploring it:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIoGu692a64

    What The Great Taking is saying is that the laws have been changed all over the world regarding financial products like stocks/equities. Instead of owning such things, you only have an interest in them. The equities themselves stay in a pool, and are allowed to be used as collateral by the intermediary from whom you bought them.
    The obvious implication is that if the whole financial ponzi scheme comes crashing down, then the stocks that we thought were ours will belong to someone else who has a greater claim to them. That means also real assets of real companies.
    Does anyone know anything about that?

    I watched the video, but I haven’t read the text yet.

  14. Morning all 🙂😊
    A nice calm sunny start…….
    And yes another Whitehall government department led by our political classes and other idiots, wrecked.
    Is it Conners birthday today or did I miss it ?

  15. Suspected terrorist was seen walking away from lorry less than a mile from prison . 8 September 2023 • 9:33pm

    It came as Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, told LBC that Khalife’s escape was “clearly pre-planned” and said detectives were investigating whether he had received help from prison staff or fellow inmates.

    Asked if police are looking into whether Khalife’s escape was an “inside job”, Sir Mark said: “It is a question. Did anyone inside the prison help him? Other prisoners, guard staff? Was he helped by people outside the walls or was it simply all of his own creation?”

    Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Sir Mark Rowley added it was “odd” that Daniel Khalife had not been h eld in a maximum security prison.

    Police have warned that Khalife’s army training and obvious ingenuity means he will be skilful at avoiding detection.

    Mr Murphy urged Khalife to hand himself in to police, warning officers were “closing in”.

    He said: “My message to him is to hand yourself in, either call us or go to a local police station and hand yourself in.

    “With the reward we are offering today and the amazing support we have had from the public and the media, we will be closing in on you, Daniel, you really need to come in and give yourself up.”

    This is Fred Karno’s circus! The audience keep shouting “he’s behind you” while the clowns scratch their heads in bafflement.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/08/daniel-khalife-terror-suspect-escape-latest-manhunt-live/

    3. Khalife undoubtedly had help inside the prison to escape, and will have accomplices outside to hide him then smuggle him out of the country.

  18. SIR – When will this Government stop messing about with half-baked energy solutions such as wind farms (report, September 8)?

    The screamingly obvious solution is to back Rolls-Royce and install mini nuclear power plants at several locations to give us the cheap, reliable and home-grown electrical power we so desperately need.

    Roy Thomson
    Sheffield, South Yorkshire

    Quite right, Mr Thomson. There can be no greater urgency than the implementation of the Rolls Royce SMRs, and yet the paralysis gripping most of government includes the basic but essential requirement to provide reliable and secure energy, without which we shall rapidly become a third world country. Burning coal in high summer should have jolted this myopic government into action – but no sign so far.

  19. Morning all, looks like going to be another roaster.
    Yesterday I ignored all the dire threats of danger to life and went on one of my long London walks, in this case a re-walk of London Loop section 1 from Erith to Bexley. I last did this bit in 2019 but not much had changed. Yes it was hot and I had to keep the water intake up because I was sweating so much. But great fun along first the Thames (to the current end where it meets the Darwent), along the Darwent and then along the Cray to Crayford. I was decidedly wilting by the time I got to Crayford at around 2pm so after lunch (fish and chips and the very refreshing Eton Mess in the Bear and Ragged Staff) I decided to leave out the last couple of miles to Bexley and headed to the station there. Exhausting day but worth every minute of it.
    I am determined to keep doing these weekly walks as long as my body allows me. 74 now and guess I can carry on for quite a few years yet.

    I passed the big wind turbine near Erith in the car park of Dartford Yacht Club. At first it was, as expected, standing still. But then a little breeze appeared, very welcome to me, and it slowly started to turn. Not sure how many Watt Hours it contributed to our supplies but guess it wasn’t very much…

    So I missed yesterday’s conversation. No sign of Tom again this morning, is there news?

    2. A staggering feat. 😉 Well done, I’m so envious. I use to walk miles every week with our Lab but she died on April 1st and my major joints are totally worn out.

    4. We used to do our fell walking in the lake district but no longer but my memory and Wainright books make up for it.

  20. SIR – I agree with John Howells (Letters, September 4) about the “intrusive clapping” at the Proms.

    I would also like to ask: when did clapping at church weddings become acceptable?

    Alexandra Elletson
    Marlborough, Wiltshire

    And funerals!

      2. In his case his head should be displayed on a spike. There are others who deserve the same fate.

      4. Is clapping allowed in a mosque? It must be difficult to clap with your bottom in the air and your face on the ground.

      5. Ditto Blair. Although he is six years younger than me, I may well be still around at his departure. He looks awful and I come from a long-lived family.

        1. The picture of Dorian Grey looks positively brimming with health compared to Blair.
          Possibly his confessor is not automatically chanting “ego te absolvo”.
          Time for the Pope to restore the concept of Purgatory.

    2. …and they all waved goodbye….and a few were waving with all their fingers……

      Morning Hugh and all.

    3. Not just weddings. They encouraged us to clap during morning service for various reasons. I felt that if I wanted to go to a theatre or sporting event I would attend one. Church isn’t either, in my view.

  21. The Daily Mail has removed its Ukraine and Russia sub heading. This is probably because the comments are no longer supportive of the war! Keep an eye open for the Telegraph’s “Ukraine” tab meeting the same fate!

  22. SIR – I completely agree with Judith Woods (Features, September 8) about vets ripping us off.

    We have a diabetic cat. He needs two injections of insulin a day. Buying the insulin from the vet costs twice as much as buying it online. However, in order to buy online we need a prescription, costing £20. To get a prescription the vet needs to see a glucose curve, which we email in. Cost of interpretation: £40, even though it only takes 30 seconds.

    Then, every six months, we have to take our cat for a check-up, otherwise the vet will not issue prescriptions; this despite the fact that, as the owners of the cat, we are perfectly capable of assessing whether he is ill or not.

    We were also told that his teeth were bad and needed urgent attention – another £700. This may or may not have been necessary, but I couldn’t help feeling that we were being conned.

    Stan Kirby
    East Malling, Kent

    A gentle reminder to get those submissions into the CMA as soon as possible.

  23. The sooner this utter noncesense is stopped, the better.

    If it’s allowed to continue, women may as well give up trying to become elite athletes altogether.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12498289/Two-transgender-cyclists-hammer-female-competition-Illinois-THROUPLE-controversial-trans-rid-filmed-shoving-biological-woman.html

    The “trans” lobby is merely a host of inadequate bullies who can’t make it in their biological sex, taking advantage of the fools who permit it to happen.

      1. I agree.
        There is no such thing as transphobia, there is transreality and the reality is that they gain an unfair advantage.

        1. This whole business has a distinct whiff of The Fall of Rome, particularly as depicted in some of the more over-heated 1950s epics.

          1. The solution is in the hands of the real women themselves.

            If they ALL boycotted any event where men were competing, the transsexuals would be left with miniscule numbers of competitors, sponsorship would vanish, and all financial incentive would go too.

            It might be a painful year for the elite women who earn their living at the top level but I’m convinced it could be eradicated swiftly.

          2. Exactly. I know that a lot of time, effort and money goes into their success, but a year of non-attendance would expose this evil farce.

      2. Women should refuse to compete against these cheats. It’s the only way to make the sports’ governing bodies see sense.

    2. The cry ‘Trans women are women’ and the less often heard ‘Trans men are men’ can be disproven by a simple observation.

      What really puts the argument to bed is that If transwomen really were women, no one would listen to them (vide the lack of column inches about trans men… who actually are women)

      1. From Wikipedia.
        I had vague memories of reading about this some years ago. (No: not contemporaneously.)

        “Sporus was a young slave boy whom the Roman Emperor Nero had castrated and married during his tour of Greece in 66–67 AD, allegedly in order for him to play the role of his wife, Poppaea Sabina, who had died the previous year.

        Ancient historians generally portray the relationship between Nero and Sporus as an “abomination”; Suetonius places his account of the Nero–Sporus relationship in his scandalous accounts of Nero’s sexual aberrations, between his raping a Vestal Virgin and committing incest with his mother. Some think Nero used his marriage to Sporus to assuage the guilt he felt for kicking his pregnant wife Poppaea to death. Dio Cassius, in a more detailed account, writes that Sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to Poppaea and that Nero called Sporus by her name. Some modern scholars, however, question this account and claim that Sporus was by no means a willing participant in his fate. In contrast, they suggest that “the marriage of Nero to Sporus had nothing to do with love, and probably little to do with lust either. It was not some form of prototype ‘gay marriage’. It had been intended simply to humiliate a potential rival for the throne through the use of sexual violence against him.”

    6. I gave up roughly about the time I failed to clear the “wooden horse”.
      So, around the age of 13.

  26. Good morning all. A delayed start today, but bright & sunny with 14°C outside already.
    A few things to sort out before I head off for a few days up in Westmorland on the Settle Carlisle line. Apparently the Flying Scotsman is doing a run over The Long Drag on Sunday.

    2. I was at the Ribblesdale Viaduct five years ago. It is a spectacular vision in wonderful scenery. Shame that I was only on the road though and not the rails..

    1. We need a Cromwell (Oliver, not Thomas).
      And no, he was not the Christmas zapper; that was an example of underlings taking matters into the realms of madness (see, C21 civil service).

  29. Village show preparations underway with over 300 entries. I had paid a princely entry fee of 30p for the smallest ripe tomato exhibit. Seeing the other entries (one of which was smaller than even the smallest petit pois) I simply offered my entry to my granddaughter who promptly digested it. I don’t expect any of my other entries to win!

    Yesterday evening ready for the exhibits:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9348b63747344ad67857778541742a0bfbd6934924af8b6aca53abf5e254c68e.jpg

    8:30 am this morning – exhibits being arranged….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9749c36ae464d691e62c109112453df816f6436f99d16a031a7164667047ffba.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cae9cc78fbf63551df766b2b76708062a64938693e31cff3217b019727b67512.jpg

      1. I could be wrong but I think I’m right in saying it is probably a 99.9% – 100% English activity!

        1. It’s the sort of Englishness the woke are keen to extinguish.

          In France when we have people to lunch they often bring produce from their own gardens with them as a present. When we go out to lunch or dinner Caroline takes her home made jams or pickles. We have two very productive walnut trees in our garden and we often take walnuts when we visit our friends and give them walnuts when they visit us.

          If any Nottler is passing this way then please give us a call and we shall give you a big bag full of walnuts!

          1. I usually eat walnuts everyday.
            Someone near us has a tree, because squirrels have buried at least three in our garden, one will topple one of the shed over if left with in ten years. And because they grow so large, one including a large pine and an oak are now growing in the north Pennies, courtesy of my nephew.
            Is it Conners Birthday today Richard ?

          2. If so he is not on the list.

            September is a busy month:

            4th Joseph B. Fox
            7th Minty
            11th Peddy the Viking – aka Peter Anderson
            12th Ready Eddy
            13th Anne Allan aka The Pushy Nurse
            15th veryoldfella
            26th Feargal the Cat
            30th One Last Try

            Please let me know if there are any omissions so I can add them to my list.

        2. It’s not the actual number but rather how very, very “English” the activity is.
          Straight off the top of my head, I can’t think of many other activities are that similarly “English”, it’s rather like Highland Games being so very Scottish, or Eisteddfods being Welsh

  30. Good moaning.
    I’ll start the day with a book recommendation.
    I’ve just finished “The Whalebone Theatre” by Joanna Quinne.
    There are not many books that keep me reading until 1 o’clock in the morning, but this was one of them.

    1. I used to start a novel when I went to bed and kept reading it until I had finished it. Now when I read in bed I fall asleep after a few minutes and the book has fallen on the floor.

      1. Same as.
        I knocked my glass of water over on the bedside cabinet and my/the book I was lent and was recommended to read. Soon ended up back on the shelf.

      1. :-). Began it about 5 days ago. Books I read at bedtime, though in this hot weather I’ve been reading during them during the afternoon as well.
        I was on the last few chapters of this book that night and just had to find out the ending.

  31. Just finished reading the Daily Sceptic piece on the ruinous energy bill the lazy morons in the HoC have passed. If these useless MPs haven’t already sowed the wind then when reality hits the uninformed electorate they will know that they will inherit the whirlwind. Confiscating property, making people poor along with forcing them into living a cold and hungry existence will have consequences.

    To me it appears that the Tories, knowing that they are finished, both as an ideology supporting freedom, choice etc. and as a party of government have treacherously salted the earth in readiness for Smarmer’s equally noxious group of morons to do the actual dirty business of confiscating people’s homes, extracting huge fines and imprisoning people for not obeying the Lords of Net Zero.
    This disgusting declaration of war on the populace is straight out of the WEF playbook. By all that is right and just Sunak, Hunt et al. should be held to account for this treachery. As for the flock MPs I wouldn’t waste a moment’s sympathy if they fell to baying mobs.

    Some interesting BTL from the DS. Basic maths but not far from being close to the truth, I think. Perhaps someone smarter than me e.g. OB could confirm or deny the rough estimates?

    Dinger64
    14 hours ago
    The average heat pump (reverse fridge!)
    Works on 4.5 kw per hour for a 3 bed semi.
    Heats the whole house and water all the time (when was the last time you turned your fridge freezer off to save electric??)
    So, it must remain on, 24/7 to be economical.
    It has a back up you know? An immersion heater, yes, that kicks in if, it can’t get to your set temperature on your thermostat!.
    If your house is incredibly well insulated, then the heat pump will serve all your needs without! having to use the immersion heater.
    The problem is, …35°c at best! That’s the best heat pump on the market can heat water to, so insulation is paramount if you don’t want the immersion heater on all the time!
    Think of it this way, if you can put your hand on your radiators and think, “ooh, that’s warm!..that’s the best you’ll get! Forever!
    with your new heat pump!

    The Real Engineer
    17 minutes ago
    The MPs are all stupid, and brainless. Ok we all install heat pumps, and what will happen? There will be no electricity! Doing so will require 30 million homes times lets sat 3kW average power = 90 GW. We only have 45 GW available on a nice windy day! So nothing else (the usual 40GW or so) of other electrical appliances if we want heat. The plan is so unworkable that this legislation is instant total failure of the country! Of course there are endless other problems too, but they passed this? In fact passing it is committing Treason. I hape(sic) that there are 635 spare spaces in Cat A Jails, because this should be the result!

    2. Morning Korky. The UK/India Free Trade agreement, which will almost certainly contain access to the UK for Indian Nationals in its final form, will be signed after the General Election for the same reasons!

    2. Menopause tends to lower the desire. Mama Nature has no use for us having sex if we can’t produce babies.

    2. Why can’t the French just puncture the rubber boats? No air, no float, no leave.

      They want them to go.

      2. Well it is a good way to swell the numbers of potential voters for a Pro-immigration / amnesty party who in all probability will want the UK to rejoin the EU so that it continues to pay more than its fair share into the EU coffers to support amongst others the French!

      3. If hordes of illegal immigrants wanted to leave the UK in rubber boats and go to France would we really want to stop them however much money anybody was foolish enough to give us?

        1. But do you think that the French would just roll over and escort them all across the channel to France and put them up in hotels?
          I don’t.

    3. “Two migrants who were at the forefront of a mob that confronted French police officers on a beach near Calais have been jailed.”

      Gaoled? They should have been shot dead where they stood. In more enlightened (i.e. intelligent) times, that is precisely what would have happened.

      Every boat approaching the UK shore would have been sunk without remorse.

  36. There are some truly evil folk in this world.

    From the US:

    “The premier professional membership organization for obstetricians and gynaecologists accepted $11.8 million from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promote COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women, despite the exclusion of pregnant women from clinical trials and regulatory data showing the vaccine had not been tested for safety during pregnancy.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/government-gave-millions-top-reproductive-health-org-promote-covid-19-vaccines-pregnant

  37. Morning all,

    Rusty Twig sent a comment recently with an image that Rusty had created of the sun with some sun spots.
    I’ve enlarged it to show the sun spots in better detail:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4dc01cf5f6ea41f2e0aaba261b8f99975874f79d319dbb233ac2e035ff5be4ba.jpg

    Here are today’s sun spots so you can see the difference:

    https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/sunspotssolar-cycle

    The low sun was shining through the atmosphere this morning at 6:30 am on our way to MOH’s lodge on the Suffolk coast where the climate is a bit more tolerable.

  38. Something new to behold.
    That would be the more than half the population. Who the hell does this unelected WEF stooge think he is?
    Sunak wants to arrest EVERYONE who disagrees with the Net Zero SCAM
    Not only is it a scam it’s full to the brim with hypocrisy. While he’s trying this Net Zero scam on, thousands of new homes are planned and are being built all over England.

    Remember – Sunak is not even British. He’s a denizen. Which makes his actions ILLEGAL

    1701 Act of Settlement – an English constitutional law that cannot be repealed – does not allow denizens or naturalised subjects to receive orders of nobility, to sit in either House of Parliament or the Privy Council or to hold any office of public trust military or civil. Naturalized subjects’ first duty of loyalty is to the country of their birth OR if born in UK, to the country of their father’s birth. It takes ten generations of living in UK (about 300 years) before the eleventh generation are considered English in their own right. THIS is enshrined in our Common and Constitutional Law and the Custom and Practice of England..

    So he’s not even lawfully in office. What he’s trying is not only TREASON against the British nation
    THUS ILLEGAL

    https://youtu.be/GiBxyYFL48w?si=yS3FSD_vm9uTxSXu

    ——————

      1. What ever you do Sue, don’t wave that old hammer and sickle around. Red white and blue now.

        1. Nah, water will do. My father was the first generation of his family born here but he learnt English and Hebrew only, not the Yiddish his parents spoke or the Russian they must also have known.

    2. My first quibble is that Prime Ministers, neither now, before nor later, arrest anybody. My second is, whatever the truth in this, it will not be for holding anti-net zero opinions. Third and finally, this legislation does not impose these strictures directly. It gives powers to future ministers to impose them through secondary legislation. That is more likely to be a Starmer-led Labour government starting some time next year. Nonetheless, it’s a horrible piece of legislation which risks criminalising many tens of thousands of people. Only the woefully inadequate capacity of our prisons will prevent the imprisonment of all but a few of them in years to come. Perhaps agreeing to a year in a re-education camp will suffice, rather like attending speed awareness courses when caught driving too fast.

  39. Well that’s a surprise. Postman just called and among a larger pile of letters than normal (maybe today is this week’s delivery) was the latest National Trust magazine and AGM voting details. After I resigned in July, just checked to make sure they hadn’t taken my direct debit anyway but they haven’t. Maybe I should try voting and see what happens?

  42. This must be the best and most interesting English lesson of all time……

    Did you realise that “listen” and “silent” use the same letters ?

    Did you know the word “racecar” spelt backwards is the same word ?

    And that “eat” is the only word that if you take the first letter and move it to the last, it spells its past tense “ate”.

    And have you noticed that if you rearrange he letters “illegal immigrants” and add just a few more selected letters It spells: “Go home you ‘king free -loading, benefit-grabbing resource-sucking, non English speaking scum bags. And take those other hairy faced , sandal wearing, bomb making camel riding, goat shagging raggedy arsed bastards with you.

  43. A testimony from a woman whose life (and health) has been changed for the better since adopting a carnivorous diet.

    @JennifertxCarnivore

    Since we are talking about people curing things with carnivore diet – here is my story!

    Everyone knows I am 46, turn 47 soon- but look like I am in my early 30’s. I am now 122lbs and 5’7”. I have done a zero carb carnivore diet for 10 months now. Before I was saved by the carnivore diet I was 165lbs (weight would continue to creep up since I was 40 years old.) And I had so many other issues that are now cured. One was i had fibrocystic issues before carnivore. It built up over a six year period of western / SAD diet. Doctors said it was normal, nothing we can do. “Part of aging and now normal.” Nope! Then I tried the Mediterranean scam grain diet for 6 months- made things worse and even put me into peri menopause and many other issues like cysts that got to be quarter size round, so painful! Fibrocystic masses too were big! I was fed up and decided to go dig and dig to see if anything would reverse this! Found Dr. Baker, Dr. Berry, and Dr. Chaffee with carnivore diet! Then found out cruciferous veggies can ruin your thyroid and prevent natural absorption of iodine found in foods! I had eaten lean skinless chicken breast (a half of one maybe once a day), rices, and broccoli for 6 years- age 40-46 and daily! I want ladies to know they need to avoid cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, and cauliflower to prevent fibrocystic breasts- but plants in general cause it! Your body needs iodine for your lady organs and all other organs, but especially your thyroid! They really mess up the thyroid which messes up your hormones and causes all other issues! One big domino affect! I ask people to go watch Dr. Chaffee with Dr. Sally Norton on plant toxins! Fibrocystic breast issues are now what doctors have settled as “normal!” I truly feel it is considered an auto immune issue / plant toxic illness of inflammation that can be reversed with carnivore! If you look the rates of fibrocystic illnesses is drastically increasing- including breast cancer- and it’s posted on line that nobody knows what causes those! They tell people not to eat saturated fats! I eat fatty meats of beef and eggs- and 8 months on carnivore no more cysts and i have only one smaller fibrocystic mass left that is super small- continues to shrink- not the large mass it once was- shrinking drastically on carnivore diet!

    Carnivore diet cured so much for me!

    *No more perimenopause- completely reversed!
    *Period cycles all timed perfect with 4 week intervals.And no PMS symptoms, but only the actual menstrual cycle itself!
    *No more night sweats
    *No more waking every 2 hours at night!
    *It used to take me 20 minutes or longer to fall asleep at night when I would first go to bed at night- before carnivore. Now it takes like a minute or less. Haven’t noticed since I am out fast!
    *No more life long eczema
    *No more cold hands
    *No more cold body temp in general! Used to feel like a reptile – only warm in texas sun.
    *No more IBS symptoms (gas, bloating, stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea)
    *No more feeling low energy by 12pm and zombie by 4pm
    *No more purple looking hands in winter
    *No more brain fog
    *No more arthritis that I felt in hands, knees, and hips- or elbows
    *Lost 45+ pounds from former baby weight and peri menopause weight.
    *Always had 20/20 vision with slight astigmatism- but in March doctor said my astigmatism is reversing!
    *Don’t sunburn as easily anymore and tan well.
    *Wrinkles around eyes seem to be much less. I am 46 and look like I am in early 30’s.
    *Gums look super healthy. Dentist seems irritated as my teeth are not dirty when cleaning every six months. Think they know they won’t make money off me.
    *No more sore chest from monthly periods- no swelling feeling of fullness or discomfort that prevented me from sleeping on my stomach. Now I sleep every night on my stomach!
    *Fibrocystic Breast issues reversing! Almost all gone after 6 years of buildup!
    *No cravings unless they are for meat
    *No more angina symptoms before a period- which started about 3 years ago.
    *No more feeling weak like almost passing out and dizzy around ovulation and periods
    *No more fingers swelling- that started a few years ago- rings kept being tight- is pattern I noticed. One ring I had resized larger and it’s super loose now. Will have to resize smaller.
    *I feel stronger- now lifting barbells not just hands weights. Dr. Baker said since I am 46, and 5’7” at 122lbs- need more resistance training to add more muscle weight. . So bought a 47lb barbell off Amazon and have 40 extra pounds added to it. Will continue to progress with that.
    *I had started growing grey hairs in one of my eyebrows, few hairs at a time, but no grey in my blonde hair yet – but assumed it was coming before Carnivore. Now on carnivore I have had no new grey hairs growing in eye brows and still no grey hair in my natural blonde hair. And in the sun it gets super light highlights.
    *No more body odor!
    *I used to get a little anxiety with large crowds- like if attending special events- but since on carnivore I don’t get it that much.
    *I was a bit OCD before carnivore, but so much more relaxed so barely like that.
    *I was a relaxed person before, but somehow am even more relaxed and never stress about things.
    *Since I was a young child my sense of smell has been terrible. But not even a month in on carnivore my sense of smell has gone crazy! I smell things even far away! Amazing!
    *No more allergies! I was allergic to cedar and oak pollens- and mold- but since carnivore I am no longer reacting to those outdoor pollens which is amazing!
    If I think of anything else will add. ☺️👍🏻

    I know when people go on carnivore they are trying to heal something, but if they aren’t like me and notice small things- they may not notice they are healing way more than they realized- things plant foods were causing! And they need to remember, processed foods are made from plants- but so are whole foods (raw or cooked!) they are all toxic!

    The carnivore diet cures! ☺️👌🏻 The body is a network made of multiple gears- and if one gets messed up it causes a whole domino affect of problems like I had! The carnivore lifestyle is not a fad, it’s the ancestral human way of eating! Go Carnivore for a few months and see how you feel! ☺️

        1. Torode, an Aussie, visted Argentina to study barbecuing. He remarked, “I’ve been barbecuing beef, wrongly … all ma life!”

          1. I remember seeing that program. The look on his face when he found out most Argentinian beef spends its life stood on concrete and is fed grain and soya. Most people believe the lies that Argie beef is the best in the world. It isn’t.
            There is a higher grade beef from Argentina but that is not what is exported.

      2. I know many do not like the bloke but Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Meat Book is encyclopædic.

        For a more French take, a favourite of mine is Stéphane Reynaud’s Pork & Sons, a cornucopia of piggy goodies.

      1. It is all about making us ill (more profit for the pharmaceuticals) and shortening our lives (fewer pensions to pay out).

        1. That is precisely what is happening, all over the once-civilised world. The Great Reset is not a figment of imagination, nor is it a conspiracy theory.

  45. Proof that politicians are sleazebags. Aftenposten has done some journalism (!) and found that, in the local elections taht are on next week, 492 candidates have been found guilty and sentenced for violence, sexual crimes and kiddy fiddling. https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/EQnqjo/de-er-doemt-for-vold-mishandling-og-overgrep-naa-vil-de-ha-makt-og-tillit-fra-velgerne
    492! Jesus wept! Scumbags all. And bastards, too. Nit as if these are traffic offences, these are sex crimes and assaults.
    Since the names are not given, I cannot bring myself to vote for any of tthem. So’ for the first time in my life, I’m not voting.

  46. Recently installed public toilet in Bradford . . . a great improvement, people can now go for their daily curry without wearing wellingtons.
    https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/369726039_291016060228709_6743367801357789117_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=49d041&_nc_ohc=m5QOfYhcbbcAX-JVcmT&_nc_oc=AQnckAv9lKaw4sbxIsxrJteUnlbwGXZdA3L_5pC4XYjRs6OTPeuyTmDOUkheR3pMXn8&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=00_AfDm7W2LSvIQS70kv9WUEkbsqRDRuA3YegsEY0W_J0h38g&oe=6500FE1F

    3. The Loo roll is on the wrong side.

      If a local uses it, they will have there Right Hand amputated

  47. And – we just commisssioned the honey processing room and equipment, SWMBO opened the hives to retrieve honey – and there’s bugger-all to have – barely a couple of kilos. The swarms are healthy, though, just the weather has been so grotty there wasn’t much to make honey from. So, now the feeders are on and stacked with sugar feed for the bees.
    It’s a bugger, lots of money paid out by Firstborn on honey processing kit, plus we were focused on getting the honey room ready for this autumn’s harvest so we never collected apples for cider – so no 2023 cider, either.

    1. Good afternoon, Joss.

      What makes my blood boil is that, as a retired Peeler, I can say without fear or favour that no police officer, of any rank, back in my day would countenance such crass idiocy. We were public servants sworn to uphold law and order (and woe betide us if we didn’t).

      Since the governments of the UK, from the late 1970s onward, wrested control of the police for their own ends and installed brainwashed puppets in the higher ranks, the standard of service, officers and work ethic that traditionally existed has evaporated. As the WEF’s control increases and the Great Reset moves on apace, expect much worse in the future.

      I am far happier to be 72 than I would be if I were still 27.

    2. I witnessed the Brixton riots of 1981 as not confined to Brixton and we lived in Clapham Common. Then my wife was mugged for her handbag by black youths in 1982. We left London shortly afterwards vowing never to return except for business.

      Blacks have always been hostile and belligerent towards white people in general and the Police in particular.

      It is necessary to instil discipline from an early age, prosecute the pettiest crime and mete severe punishment to major crime. It is those allowed to get away with minor crime who escalate to committing more serious crime.

      For proof look towards New York and other Democrat controlled cities in the US where idiot politicians have defunded the Police and allowed open theft without prosecution.

      1. We’ve been far to accommodating to all migrants. Not many of them really try to fit in with our existing culture and social structure. Sadly keep to themselves in order to advance their own cultures and many of them just moan all the time instead of heading back where they came from. But hang on…….
        I withhold my criticisms from the majority of Indian people, we have friends with some and have no axe to grind.
        I’m afraid for the future of our lovely grandchildren. In our area of WGC, Hatfield, St Albans, Harpenden, and villages. There is a proposal to build 15,000 new homes that would mean around 60, thousand plus people.
        I think I can assume that most will be immigrants.
        Net Zero ?

      2. They’re allowed to get away with it because the state keeps blitering on about racism, when really, we need to admit blacks stab people, commit most rapes, steal and riot. Far too many are nothing more than savages.

    3. How depressing is her attitude. Not just her, of course, subsequent inquiries reaching similar conclusions. Who is going to stick up for us whiteys!

  49. Phew!! It’s warm out there! Just loaded up the car for tomorrow’s event…….we’re setting up the gazebo etc this afternoon. It’s the first time we’ve done this one for a few years so I hope it goes well tomorrow.

    1. As I understand it, there was no such country as India until the British ‘united’ all the kingdoms.
      Which Hindi province is Mr. Modi choosing?

      1. Gave them a common (world) language as well. Perhaps we should ask for all the things we gave them (railways, sanitation, schools, democracy, the legal system) back and let them practise suttee again.

    2. But it meant a lot of energy use, and that’s bad. As is defending our borders – or admitting they exist at all.

    1. I’m spraying myself with water. The relief is temporary of course because it dries very quickly but it does work.

      2. A small towel wrung out and placed over the shoulders helps. As does putting your feet in a bowl of cool water.

        For myself it’s just a case of adding more ice to my cocktails. :@)

    2. 32C out there, 24C indoors, no A/C nor fan. Just an old house with thick walls and drawn curtains.

          1. Oh. Seems these particular ones on Amazon are not so good. Perhaps best to try a different make. Ours have lasted for years and we have had no problems with a leaking, dripping reservoir (see the reviews).

  55. Captain (temporary Major) Patrick Anthony Porteous VC (1st January 1918 – 9th October 2000), Royal Regiment of Artillery, attached No. 4 Commando.

    At Dieppe on the 19th August, 1942, Major Porteous was detailed to act as Liaison Officer between the two detachments whose task was to assault the heavy coast defence guns.

    In the initial assault Major Porteous, working with the smaller of the two detachments, was shot at close range through the hand, the bullet passing through his palm and entering his upper arm. Undaunted, Major Porteous closed with his assailant, succeeded in disarming him and killed him with his own bayonet thereby saving the life of a British Sergeant on whom the German had turned his aim.

    In the meantime the larger detachment was held up, and the officer leading this detachment was killed and the Troop Sergeant-Major fell seriously wounded. Almost immediately afterwards the only other officer of the detachment was also killed.

    Major Porteous, without hesitation and in the face of a withering fire, dashed across the open ground to take over the command of this detachment. Rallying them, he led them in a charge which carried the German position at the point of the bayonet, and was severely wounded for the second time. Though shot through the thigh he continued to the final objective where he eventually collapsed from loss of blood after the last of the guns had been destroyed.

    Major Porteous’s most gallant conduct, his brilliant leadership and tenacious devotion to a duty which was supplementary to the role originally assigned to him, was an inspiration to the whole detachment.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/VCPatrickAnthonyPorteous.jpg

    2. One of my uncles was in the Commandos. He survived the D-Day assault, was wounded in Italy but soldiered on, and survived to a good old age. I only met him a few times and I knew nothing of his service until long after he had passed away

  56. Electric cars powered up by generators as grid delays slow charging point rollout
    Gridserve explores alternatives amid long delays connecting to the electricity grid

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/09/09/electric-cars-generators-national-grid-ev-charging/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    A BTL comment under a DT article on electric cars by Hugh Tredegar cites a letter by George Herraghty on 11th December 2021 from Elgin, Moray:

    http://shet.news/gzlo6

    In our headlong rush to ‘save the planet’ perhaps a sobering reality check for the deluded Greens is long overdue?

    A small, ever-so-green, 100-megawatt wind farm needs 30,000 tons of iron ore; 50,000 tons of concrete and 900 tons of non-recyclable plastic.

    For the same power from an ever-so-green solar farm you need to increase that by 150 per cent.

    An electric car battery weighs half a ton, making just one requires shifting 250 tons of earth somewhere else on the planet.

    All require what are called ‘rare earths’, so a phenomenal 200 to 2,000 per cent increase in toxic mining, processing and shipping is required somewhere else on the planet, usually from unregulated regimes with very lax environmental standards.

    Solar and wind have weather-dependant limits, but we need energy ALL the time, so we have to have permanent back-up. The giant Tesla factory in Nevada would take 500 years to make enough batteries to supply the USA with electricity for 1 day!

    After 30 years and countless billions in subsidies wind and solar supply less than 3 per cent of the world’s energy. On top of that, like all machines ‘renewables’ are built from non-renewable materials – and have to be replaced time and time again, so definitely NOT a one-off cost.

    To accommodate 2,000 MW of gas or nuclear power generation requires the same area of two 18-hole golf courses. Whereas, accommodating 2,000 MW of wind power requires an area the size of Belgium!

    Then, of course, you still need 2,000 MW of gas or nuclear power to accommodate those hundreds of occasions each year when wind and solar power is producing absolutely nothing.

    Renewables will undoubtedly cause far more environmental damage to wildlife.

      1. I’m sure I remember years ago that Jack Warner (‘Evening all’) used bee stings on his back to help his arthritis! Of course, I may have imagined that!

  59. Nobody wants an electric car

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/07/nobody-wants-an-electric-vehicle/

    Having bought an EV I have found out why an EV is an unsuutable replacement fir an ICE car.

    The most oustanding reason for an EVs unsuitability is the lack of an alternator that is always found in ICE cars.

    The alternator in an ICE car enables the regular charging of the car’s 12 volt battery all the time the engine is running but that’s OK as lomg as you run the car engine at least once a week to keep the 12 volt battery sufficiently charged.

    On the other hand, an EV’s way of charging its 12 volt battery can be only achieved during these four scenarios:

    1. When EV has ignition on and is in drive mode.
    This is not a good time draw energy from the traction battery to recharge the 12 volt battery – traction is more important.

    2. When the EV is parked with ignition off.
    This is not a good time to draw energy from the traction battery to recharge the 12 volt battery – it will flatten the traction battery.

    3. When the EV is parked, with the ignition off and plugged into a charger to charge the traction battery.
    This is a good time to charge the 12 volt battery at the same time as the traction battery.

    4. When the EV is parked with the ignition off, the traction battery having finished charging but with the EV still plugged in.
    This is a good time to charge the 12 volt battery as the power to the EV can be dedicated to fully charging the EVs 12 volt battery.

    The problem of 12 volt battery failure in all EVs is the inappropriate use of the car in one or more of the above modes togrther with the improper power management software stored in the EV’s battery management system (BMS).

    1. I’ve never really understood why, if moving, with wheels turning, electric cars don’t charge themselves.

  60. Phew! What a scorcher it’s been, but has now clouded over and become a bit muggy and thundery. Younger daughter and SiL arrived back from a wedding in Loughborough to pick up the twins. MOH had done some very nice ribeye steaks on the barbecue, and the boys had a burger. Sitting eating outside in the garden I said to the boys that a plane was coming over and next second the Red Arrows went over us at about 200 feet! Cue much excitement from adults and children! Several minutes later they came back the other way heading presumably, to Leuchars. A quick local faceache search revealed that it’s the anniversary of the Wallace monument at Bridge of Allan and that was the fly past.
    https://www.stirling.gov.uk/news/national-wallace-monument-to-receive-red-arrow-flypast-birthday-gift/

  61. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    That’s Smart
    There’s this Polish guy who had a Jewish neighbour. He goes to visit him because he wants to know why the Jews are all so smart.

    “We eat a lot of fish,” says the Jewish neighbour.

    “Can I have some?” asks the Polish man.

    “It’s gonna cost you $100 a piece,” replies the Jewish man.

    “If it’ll make me smarter, I’m willing to try,” says the Polish man.

    He ate the fish, but something is troubling him. “You know, a hundred bucks is a lot of money for a fish. I think you screwed me on that deal.”

    “You see!” replies the neighbour, “it’s already working!”

    1. Shame Harry and Meagain couldn’t make it. I expect they were very upset their invite didn’t arrive by Royal Mail.

        1. Being a lower ranked royal gives her the scope to get on with the job without as much scrutiny as the others are subject to. I suspect she prefers it that way.

  65. Beautiful pink fluffy clouds as the sun sets.
    I have just eaten one of my favorite meals.
    One dozen mussels in delicious sauce with earlier home made soda bread to soak it up. And two delicious glasses of Australian shiraz. I’m not a fan of white wine.
    Only three mussels didn’t open. What a lovely end to the day.
    Sleep well folks.
    After the rugger buggers have finished.

    1. Gosh, is this really 33 years old. The Orb’s new-age electronic trance dance music is heading towards middle-age. I did like its hypnotic repetitions but the adenoidal young woman who provides the sampled voice-over becomes irritating on repeated listens.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ecdn5SGT1E

  66. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, traditional Zulu chief who played an ambiguous role during apartheid has died.

  67. Today was the warmest day of the year thus far at my nearest weather station and I’m confident it will remain so. Like June 25, it peaked at 88F, but that day only recorded the peak once whereas today it did so four times. Tomorrow is also expected to be very warm, just a little less so, but from Monday onwards the temperature will become substantially lower. I very much doubt there will be a return to a warm spell such as this until next year. I’m just thankful that 2023 has given us nothing like the freak 102F recorded at this same weather station on July 19 last year.

    1. We’re hoping for a good day tomorrow for the last outdoor event this year. After two cancellations we could do with it. Should be a warm day.

      1. I looked up Stroud, one of your nearest towns, in my weather forecaster and it’s predicting sprinkles and isolated showers from about midday until mid afternoon for you. Here , thundery outbreaks are more likely and expected a couple of hours later but still scattered. I don’t think they should spoil the day for either of us.

  68. Early night tonight! We set up our gazebo etc for tomorrow – had to move it a bit as the pitches weren’t very well defined and another needed to squeeze in.
    Early start tomorrow and a long day.

  69. A view from the Northern Variant on Twitter.

    “Northern variant@FUDdaily

    Yesterday’s events suggest the writing is on the wall for the great renewable energy scam. The industry was already entering a death spiral and it’s difficult to see how even the most determined government could revive it when all other costs and complexities are taken into account. Sadly, that won’t stop them trying, wasting even more of our money, but there is an upper limit to how much delusion the system can tolerate. The industry can’t deliver. The grid can’t support it.

    One thing is clear, though. The debate is over. But let me qualify that. There are still plenty of noisy advocates for wind but it’s a long time since any of them engaged in honest debate. They take to Twitter to pump out propaganda, but they’re on in transmit-only mode. They won’t engage with critics because there are now quite a lot of technically competent people on Twitter who can take apart every argument they have. The green blob have lost and they know it, but it’s their job to keep misinforming public discourse. They are literally paid to lie.

    Their job, though, is far harder from now on. They’ve been trading on the lie that wind was “cheap” energy that was only ever going to get cheaper. And on the day this lie is exposed the collective output of the wind fleet couldn’t even muster half a gigawatt. You’d have to be a Labour backbencher or a BBC hack to still think wind was any solution to our energy problems. Nobody is else is that dim.

    Wind was only ever cheap on paper by ignoring whole system costs and lobbying efforts to make gas and other forms of energy more expensive. Even at peak gas prices, gas would still be competitive were t not for the green taxes and carbon costs. Not forgetting that the cost per MWh for gas is greatly increased by forcing them to power down when the wind is blowing.

    The clues have all been there though. Ministers have made a big show of blowing up Britain’s antique coal stations to proof their eco-credentials, but the expansion of wind has not led to a single decommissioning of a gas power plant. We current have around 30GW of gas powered energy plant and all of it is needed to keep the lights on. Weeks and months of little or now wind, when battery storage is absolutely incapable of plugging the gap, means Britain needs to retain all of its gas infrastructure – including vast storage facilities.

    Because successive governments have placed the emphasis on intermittent energy, we’ve had no choice but to run a parallel backup estate. In fact, we’re going to need more gas power stations because we’re not moving fast enough on new nuclear. Not only are we unlikely to see additional wind capacity, it increasingly looks like it won’t be economical to renew the existing fleet, some of which is already reaching retirement age. It may be cheaper to simply decommission them – or leave them to rot.

    That, I believe is the final destination for offshore subsidy harvesters. The taxpayer will end up picking up the tab to remove them as they’re a menace to maritime navigation and we can’t leave them derelict. This much was predicted back in 2007 when the wind scam started to take off. The only question is how much more of our money can they rinse us for before even the BBC has to admit that the great renewable experiment has been a catastrophic failure.

    As much as anything, having seen cost increases exceeding forty percent, input costs are not coming down any time soon. There is a global shortage of copper and the money to connect new windfarms to the grid simply doesn’t exist. We cannot afford to waste the copper on long transmission lines to deliver so little energy. If the adults are allowed back in the room, they’ll have to put their foot down.

    Meanwhile, the UniParty presses ahead with its plan to electrify road transport and home heating, even though there is zero surplus capacity to power them. Thanks to interconnectors and gas storage improvements we may not see rolling blackouts, but streets with one EV too many could see localised supply disruptions. Temporary outages will certainly become the new normal.

    As ever, though, hope lies in the proles! It would seem Brits aren’t rushing out to spend all their savings on heat pumps and private buyers are proving reluctant to convert to EVs. Net Zero collapses under the weight of its own stupidity.

    The government can take more aggressively authoritarian coercive measures, but public tolerance will not last forever. With each new measure the state loses more of its legitimacy and moral authority, and the people will begin to fight back. The establishment has picked a fight it cannot win. The sad part is there’s little we can do to stop these wreckers in the meantime.”

    2. I was contacted by my electricity company yesterday to answer a questionnaire. It was testing the water for having the company control people’s energy consumption. I told them I’d be furious and I didn’t want to lose control, but it’s plain the way things are going. We’ll all be made to have smart meters and they’ll switch off the current when there’s a lot of demand. Renewables are unreliable and inefficient. We need fossil fuel generation.

    3. Curiously I have just extended my loan purchase agreement on my lovely VW T-Roc 4 Motion petrol VW for another 2 years. I am not tempted to switch to an EV based on what I have observed.

    5. Just dreaming. The woke governments are pushing ahead with their plans to demolish western civilization.

      Canadas government are fully engaged in shutting down oil and gas production and have yet to realize how much environmental damage will be caused when they allow mining for rare earth minerals.

      The only thing not up for discussion is the export of coal to China- obviously Trudeaus masters want that to continue.

    6. How can you say that net zero has been a failure?

      Lots of The Elite have made obscenely large amounts of money from the taxpayers.

      To The Elite that sounds like a complete success……even more profitable than HS2 !

  70. I’ve never seen England get so many decisions go their way, although the red card was a bit harsh

    2. For once the ref was on our side, The red card was not the ref’s sole decision – it could have stayed as a yellow had the backroom arbiters decided.

  71. Evening, all. A busy day – I had to be in Nantwich for 10.30 to collect my new SIM card. What a palaver! I had to show ID and have my photo taken. Still it’s working, that’s the main thing, although I’ve lost all my contacts and messages unless I can find a phone that will take the old SIM and I can copy them across. Was treated to a folk concert this evening (Ninebarrows – Maggie may know them; they are from Dorset and do musical walks along the Jurassic Coast). Very enjoyable. Spectacular lightning towards the end.

      1. I should have said “replacement SIM”. It was a new, smaller version of the old one because the one I had was a standard size and the new phone only took the smaller version.

  73. I will be surprised – and disappointed – if tonight’s Last Night of the Proms doesn’t make headlines tomorrow. Conductor Marin Alsop used the closing speech to lecture the audience about the oppression of women. A worthy sentiment but it was shockingly ill-judged and ill-mannered to raise the subject in that way at that moment. The Last Night is an occasion to forget about the world out there.

    Some of the Prommers cheered her. They were a minority. The generous part of me (yes, there is one) assumed that the failure of the majority to object was either because they were too well-mannered to tell the bitter old dyke to travel or they were struck dumb by her sheer impertinence.

    I shall provide a longer review tomorrow!

    1. Marin Alsop was I believe a protege of the late Leonard Bernstein.

      Whilst Bernstein was a great conductor and composer he was also a political advocate for the Black Panthers and similar nonsense such as Brokeback Barack’s father’s activities. Tom Wolfe perfectly ridiculed ‘Lenny’ in his book ‘Radical Chic and Mau Mauing – The Flak Catchers’

    2. She is ‘married’ to another dyke called Kristin Jurkscheit. Jurkscheit . . . . . . what a very appropriate name.

    3. Did she mention the worst by far offenders being Muslim men or was her venom reserved for the odd white guy like Andrew Tate?

      1. This was the kind of oppression that kept women off the conductor’s podium for so long but she then went on to tell us that “there are places in the world where women are denied an education and basic human rights”. Of course, she didn’t point to them on a map or a globe. Then “a UN report puts gender parity a staggering 134 years away” and so on. If I’d been there, I wouldn’t have reacted well. It was aggressive, triumphalist and bad-mannered. Indeed, it was notable that the audience, who had been applauding her in the conventional part of the speech, suddenly went quiet when she lurched into her political rant, as though they didn’t quite know how to respond.

  75. Back late. Good band at the pub.

    Bogey on Wordle.

    Wordle 812 5/6

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    ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  76. Early morning/late evening Wordle par.

    Wordle 813 4/6

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    ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
    ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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