Friday 26 January: Complacent politicians have allowed Britain’s fighting power to wither

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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605 thoughts on “Friday 26 January: Complacent politicians have allowed Britain’s fighting power to wither”

  3. Good morrow, gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) story

    To Those Of You Educated With Some Math Ability

    This is a concept that I have been working on for most of my life. I am delighted to say that I believe I have refined it sufficiently to share it with a select cadre of intellectually mature colleagues and friends that might appreciate its elegance and simplicity https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7e875fb7dfe092362801bc9a06775545d596d5f7a75f0fad96a416081655e1cd.jpg

  4. Dear Lord above! The Gummint seems to have grown a pair in its negotiations with Canada.

  5. More info required

    23 minutes ago

    Oh dear oh dear

    “SIR – A period in opposition is not what the Conservatives need (Letters, January 25). There is a leadership candidate who can unite both party and voters against Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour. Her name is Penny Mordaunt. Dale Fletcher“

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    Bob of Bonsall More info required

    4 minutes ago

    I would have agreed before I realised how heavily she is involved with the WEF and she reveled her support for men pretending to be women.

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    Sailing Gypsy More info required

    16 minutes ago

    Good God!!! No, no, no, a thousand times NO!

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    Sailing Gypsy Sailing Gypsy

    16 minutes ago

    Good morning all, by the way!

        1. I couldn’t stand her before I knew about her WEF connections. She has the reek of May about her.

  6. Putin sparks fears of war with Nato with visit to Kaliningrad. 25 January 2024.

    Vladimir Putin has raised fears of war with Nato by threatening the EU nations bordering Kaliningrad on a surprise visit to the Russian exclave.

    The Russian president flew into the territory, which is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, amid growing concern it could become the flashpoint for a future conflict.

    Putin appeared to taunt the Baltic nations, flying close to Estonia and hugging the coasts of Latvia and Lithuania in his “Flying Kremlin” presidential plane, before landing in Kaliningrad.

    Fighter jets were deployed off the eastern coast of the Swedish island of Gotland as Putin approached the Baltic Sea.

    This is quite ludicrous. Kaliningrad is surrounded. The only way into it is by air and Presidential jets are not used to “buzz” hostile states. This said Vlad was foolish to do it. One misfire as we can see from Wednesday is not beyond imagination. The warmongering aspect of the article is unmistakeable. It is repeated elsewhere and 77 Brigade are active in the comments. Are the PTB stupid enough to start a war with Russia? The answer is yes they are. Might pay to keep an eye open for a False Flag!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/25/putin-sparks-fears-war-with-nato-with-visit-to-kaliningrad/

  7. Good morning all.
    Still a bit windy overnight but the moon has dipped below the hill behind the ex-pub and is illuminating the cumulus clouds that are flitting about.
    Not raining and a tad below 2°C.

  8. Good morning, chums. No Wordle for me today, I have had 5 attempts so only 1 more chance but I am incapable of finding a solution using my remaining letters. (I have the first, second and fourth correct.) Anyhow, enjoy your day, chums.

    1. Was he not sedated?

      I read recently that a new form of suicide/euthanasia has been developed for Dignitas. A pod that looks a bit like a Sinclair C5. You enter the pod and it requires you to answer some questions. Once done you press a button and the air is replaced with Nitrogen. Obviously the person is not going to struggle as it is their choice.
      I believe the device has been approved for use.

      1. If he had been sedated, he wouldn’t have resisted the inevitable, and would have lost consciousness swiftly and painlessly.

  10. Britain will lose the next world war. It’s too woke to fight. 26 January 2024.

    Swiss neutrality began half a millennium ago, after the Battle of Marignano, which ended in a thumping by the French. The humiliation was enough to put then off ever going to war with an external enemy again. That policy has long been the butt of British jokes – but they may soon be the ones laughing at us. If war comes tomorrow, the Swiss will be surprisingly well prepared, whereas we may struggle to muster enough volunteers to fight.

    The terrible truth is that, in our hunger for cheap labour and casual abandonment of our borders, we have imported vast numbers of people whose primary allegiance is not to this country. As we have seen in the appalling rise of anti-semitism and seas of Palestinian flags on our streets, a disturbing number of those we have welcomed with open arms do not share our values. Indeed, some might even be readier to fight for the other side.

    Someone else who woke up ten years too late. The truth is that there is nothing left to fight for. By some mockery of history Russia more nearly resembles what we were!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/26/britain-will-lose-the-next-world-war-its-too-woke-to-fight/

    1. I’m fed up with reading these Oh-goodness-me-I-have-just-realised-that-we’ve-accidentally-destroyed-the-country articles from the kind of people who have been comfortably sitting on the mainstream bandwagon looking down at people who have been pointing it out for years!

    1. Good morning.
      I had a rough night and wasn’t awake for my 7am to 11am Sainsbury’s delivery slot. Of course he arrived at 7am on the dot !

  12. Wordle 951 6/6

    I didn’t really get it in six. What I did was to look for a “Wordle Clues” site which was very interesting. Alas, I followed it down the page and accidentally discovered the answer. Not really a cheat for it was unintentional, but if I need help in the future then I will be sure NOT to scroll right down to the answer, but stop at the “clue” section.

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

    1. Good Morning Elsie,

      Five here

      Wordle 951 5/6

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

    1. The old bus driver joke was, when it broke down the conductress would shout….. “Do you need a screw driver”?
      Driver replied “No thanks were 20 minutes late already”.

      2. We had a guy who we called Harpic because he was clean round the bend (remember the ad?)

  18. ‘One in four chance’ Russia will attack UK ally by 2025. 26 January 2024.

    The Government has warned of a more than one in four chance that Russia will attack another British ally within the next two years.

    Ministers said in an official risk forecast that the UK would have to trigger a military response to counter any new act of aggression from the Kremlin, following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

    What did they use? Tea leaves? A crystal ball? Who is this British Ally that Russia has attacked?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/25/one-in-four-chance-russia-attack-uk-ally-nato/

    1. The Government has warned of a more than one in four chance that Russia will attack another British ally within the next two years.

      Two years or so in the future: is that sufficient time to whip the conscripts into some sort of shape? Armaments and ammunition could be a problem as we appear to be giving what he have to Zelensky to waste.

      Was future conscription merely the musings of a general with too much time on his hands as the Army shrinks to the size of a Corps or is Shapps conspiring behind the scenes?

      Oh! Sunak has denied the rumour. So that’s alright, then.

      2. Surely we could have mass produced a cheaper and more sustainable way for Zelenskyy to shoot down cheap Iranian drones?

      3. Does this mean that the West needs to concentrate more on stirring up the trouble ?
        But of course if someone got rid of Zelensky, world peace wouldn’t be a problem.
        Apart from the usual morons in the middle east.

    2. The Government has warned of a more than one in four chance that Russia will attack another British ally within the next two years.

      Two years or so in the future: is that sufficient time to whip the conscripts into some sort of shape? Armaments and ammunition could be a problem as we appear to be giving what he have to Zelensky to waste.

      Was future conscription merely the musings of a general with too much time on his hands as the Army shrinks to the size of a Corps or is Shapps conspiring behind the scenes?

      Oh! Sunak has denied the rumour. So that’s alright, then.

    3. “A one in four chance that Russia will attack ….” …. a totally meaningless phrase, impossible to quantify. If that is the state of thinking in the hierarchy of the Defence world, heaven help us.

    4. We have witnessed possibly the worst failure of intelligence in the matter of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

      The western intelligence agencies never noticed the productive manufacturing capabilities of Russia nor its advancement in technologies including jet engines, missiles and guidance systems, drones, tank and artillery weapons in general.

      The fools in Westminster have sleep-walked us into a position of conflict with Russia, a country hitherto posing no threat to us and an otherwise friendly state.

    1. Apparently Paris is now almost starving due to the blocked roads causing lack of deliveries.
      Let them eat cake eh.

  20. Complacent politicians have allowed Britain’s fighting power to wither

    I guess the plan for the end of the nation state includes not having armed forces.

    1. Our own Military were allowed to wither to bring us in line with the EU. What was left would contribute to EUFOR/Joint exercises and NATO.

    2. 382446+ up ticks,

      Morning B3

      Was there not an underground army set up in ww2 to combat a successful German invasion ?

      Currently we have a successful invasion……..

    1. Not for much longer if the water company get their way and pour sewage into the river Test.

      Part of the agenda to destroy fishing and hunting i suppose.

  23. 382446+up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Friday 26 January: Complacent politicians have allowed Britain’s fighting power to wither

    NO, no,no,no,
    Over the last near four decades the complacent electoral majority has repeatedly returned the same political parties / political overseers to power without let or hindrance in regards to building on a patriotic fringe party in opposition to the lab/lib/con coalition close shop.
    Face the fact that a great many of our troubles are self inflicted and until that radically changes, nothing else will.

    1. The poor old voters have not been given any sensible alternatives.

      As NOTA votes are not counted the only thing they can do is abstain and unless everybody abstains the horribles will still get into power.

      Is there a candidate for whom you will vote in your constituency at the next election and does he or she represent a political party?

      1. 382446+ up ticks,

        Morning R,
        When I posted yesterday
        ” Daisy the cow” as a focal point leader, mass marked on voting papers it would not only give self satisfaction
        but also, be making a very serious point.
        Currently vote tory (ino) you get lab (ino) vote lab (ino) you get tory (ino) vote lib/dems as with lab / tory you get, & deservedly so, all round royally stuffed.

      3. 382446+ up ticks,

        Afternoon JBF,
        Thanks, good link.

        Sorry would love to join your army but I consider myself not worthy having been told so by the state and must join their self flagellation campaign.

  25. OT – in this months (excellent) magazine “The Critic” there is a reference to that chubby teenager who nearly won the darts.

    “He looks older than the new French prime minister”…!!

  26. Good morning folks…..

    Mending ways
    SIR – While preparing my address for a Burns Night supper, I came across an epigram by the great man that definitely continues to resonate.

    I am sending it to East Sussex County Council’s highways committee – more out of hope than expectation that its members might heed Rabbie’s message.

    I’m now arrived – thanks to the gods!
    Thro’ pathways rough and muddy,
    A certain sign that makin roads
    Is no this people’s study:
    Altho’ I’m not wi’ Scripture cram’d,
    I’m sure the Bible says
    That heedless sinners shall be damn’d,
    Unless they mend their ways.

    Roger Bishop
    Crowborough, East Sussex

    2. Highways ?
      It’s the councilors and political classes that should all be present at Burns night. For obvious reasons.

      2. Impoverished incomers defending themselves against unarmed indigenous people. Get real!!

    2. Oh dear Ben perhaps you should have stayed on at school a bit longer.
      If you could read yourself you might be able to work out, with some help from your guardian colleagues. It’s probably illegal invaders etc that are the main causes of growing crime rates in the UK.

    1. These frantic health-scaring headlines make me feel quite exhausted now. My supply of any anxiety in that area has been permanently depleted. ‘Wolf’ has been cried far too often.

      1. It’s a wearing down process aimed at those who do not/cannot think very clearly. Masks are still around, in fact I was served in Dunelm the other day by a young masked shop assistant and there remains a few customers wearing them in both the local Lidl and pharmacy.

        1. Yes, I have seen more masks post-Christmas than pre-Christmas, there are usually one or two check-out people wearing them whichever supermarket I enter and two or three customers here and there amongst the aisles.

  30. Morning all 🙂😊
    My word what’s going on in the sky today that huge yellow ball has joined us.
    Calling our political classes complacent is far too polite, it’s unfortunately the same old story as everyone knows. Everything they come into contact with they eff it up and big time. Too much time sorting out their expenses and other outside interests, as usual.
    Australia 🇦🇺 day today 🙃🤠😎 half way through now. I expect a few thousand litres of cold beer will have been consumed by now. And probably a few glasses of their fine wines.
    Poor old Cookie took a tumble in Melbourne.
    There are plenty of morons around anywhere now.

  31. The Tories need a reboot to beat the virus in the Lords
    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-tories-need-a-reboot-to-beat-the-virus-in-the-lords/

    BTL

    As long as the House of Lords is politically motivated it is not fit for purpose..

    The truth of the matter is that the hereditaries were far more likely to give impartial, unbiased judgements than political placemen, former MPs and those who are in the HoL as a reward for political or financial favours.

    1. That will never happen, it’s the continous aggravating flow of the ‘old boys’ network taking care of each other.

    2. This is why Blair stacked it full of cronies, chums and wasters – to get his legislation through.

      The Tories then did exactly the same and on and on until there’s now 800 politically motivated wonks, safely immune from the annoyance of democracy. all happy chums together claiming £300 a day for very little who, now ennobled have no interest in allegiance and are looking for their next non-job from a position of safety.

      1. ”

        Most members do not receive a salary for their parliamentary duties
        but are eligible to receive allowances and, within certain limits, the
        travel expenses they incur in fulfilling their parliamentary duties.

        Members of the Lords who are not paid a salary may claim a flat rate
        attendance allowance of £171 or £342 (new rate from the 1st April 2023)
        or £166 or £332 (old rate up to 31st March 2023), or may choose to make no claim for each sitting day they attend the House.”

      2. It was all started in the early 20th century; enough peers were created to get legislation through the House. Clearly, as it worked, the PTB thought it a great wheeze.

    1. The Canadians have only themselves to blame. They have has numerous opportunities to rid themselves of Trudeau and have serially failed to take that opportunity.

      Vacuum-heads proliferate on this planet. As is the case in many other countries, you cannot educate a vacuum.

      1. I have some friends in Canada but they never seem to react as expected regarding as I call him True Dough. They should rise up they can’t need him anymore.

      2. Problem is, much like Labour if we say 30% of people vote, and only 40% of those vote Labour it isn’t support for Labour, it’s the tyranny of the minority. Once one side learns it can keep a free lunch arriving it keeps voting for that.

  33. SIR – I was dismayed to learn in Andrew Rixon’s letter (January 12) that sand eels have been fished for burning in power stations.

    Some years ago I dined at a restaurant in Shaldon, Devon, where I had the pleasure of eating sand eels as a starter. They are prepared and cooked in the same way as whitebait (though the head must be removed). However, I found them to be tastier: seven or eight in a deep wine glass, with a dip on the side.

    Regrettably I have never seen them on a menu since.

    Nick Sweet
    Chippenham, Wiltshire

    Listen up, Sweetie.

    I don’t know which is the more appalling: trawling the sea empty of sand-eels for burning in power stations; trawling the sea empty of sand-eels to make into agricultural fertiliser; or trawling the seas empty of sand-eels for your occasional delectation.

    Sand-eels are a vital source of food for most seabirds (the only source of food for many species). Human interference with the balance of nature has to stop before we are the only animal species left. And who the hell would wish to live in such a nightmarish world?

        1. There are those who contend that our plant can support any number of us. This is patently absurd so, what is the limit? BTW, I believe that we have passed the 8 milliard mark.

          2. There’s no practical limit to how many people can live on one planet. The question is one of quality of life. After all, if we all lived in a 5m square concrete cube and were fed from a paste made from recycled waste through a chute twice a day; there’s no real limit.

            Life would, of course, be hell, but then London is.

            We urgently, desperately need to get into space. We need to get ‘out’ and up. Shift folk on to Europa or somewhere. Move the muslims to mercury. Shift the Chinese to Saturn. Get building orbital plates.

            But before that we need to reach about 95-97% recycling and re-use. We need honest environmental policies not the trougher lies. We need, fundamentally to stop paying people to breed.

          3. The WEF have realised all this for decades. This is why they are stepping up their human annihilation programme.

  34. Fox is correct here.

    Reform/Tice have to put some clear water between themselves and the current political establishment i.e. the Uni-party. If a party’s aim is to appeal to the conservative population then it has to be seen to be conservative on the issues. Forcing people to accept a medical intervention, especially an unproven novel one, pushed by those who should be your implacable political enemies is not good conservative politics. Likewise the support of the totalitarian Zelensky regime. Two gaffs that are raising doubts about just where Reform/Tice stand.

    At a time of political turmoil, in which the Tories are self-immolating, is a 2% rise in the polls really a great improvement? It is not breakthrough territory by some way.

    https://twitter.com/LozzaFox/status/1750480940877414584

      2. This is the sort of bollocks I really don’t care for. Either work together in private to present a united front or shut up. Stop trying to undermine each other. The public are tired of bickering.

        1. How can these small parties work together if they hold fundamental differences in policy e.g. free choice and bodily autonomy? These are two big issues and the latter will cause huge problems for the people with the faux Tories appearing to be keen give carte blanche to the globalist owned WHO. IMO Fox is right to call out Reform/Tice if he believes that the latter are too close to the establishment. Let Reform /Tice reply and clarify their position.

      1. It will happen again. Some people like being controlled and worse, having that power over others.

      2. 382446+ up ticks,

        Morning N,
        Sad to say “never again”does not seem to linger long in the memory bank, the run up to the holocaust is currently being reenacted.

    2. That’s stinks how can anyone go to a pub wearing a mask.
      And personally attack someone else who doesn’t have a mask on.
      It’s not at all possible to take a drink wearing a face mask.

        1. We travelled home from Oz during the SARS scare, nearly everyone at Singapore Air terminal were wearing masks. And also some on our flight back to London. Until of course in a sealed air conditioned environment they had to eat or drink.
          It’s about the only time I haven’t caught something flying.

    3. The bloke standing up and being offensive didn’t seem bothered about health as he shoved right into the woman’s face. It was clear it was about obedience and control rather than healthcare because people just did not understand how viruses worked.

      The medallion man is all very happy pushing a woman about but what if that’d been a bloke? Would he behave that way toward a threat he can’t intimidate?

      1. 382446+ up ticks,

        Morning W,

        “what if that’d been a bloke?

        When sensibility returns to the peoples I do believe we will find out, in no uncertain manner,
        especially in the corridors of power.

    4. People shouting are more likely to spread covid than people just breathing. Engaging in arguments ditto.

      Edit. I wonder which pub in Richmond this was,
      (given I live in Richmond)

  36. I was quite worried about the ‘Thought for the Day’ coming out from the present Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis. He is a hypocrite, separating off his own people, and urging them to unite and defeat the forces of those that may insult the Fatherland, whilst claiming somehow that his words are enlightened.

    I can also identify from the man by his language the origin of numerous troll attacks against me personally in recent years each time I criticise the actions of the Israeli Government over the scale of their retribution against Palestinians, over the calculated destruction of the careers of at least two senior Labour politicians, and over my suspicions of a covert alliance with ISIS.

    He became Chief Rabbi at a time the then Home Secretary Theresa May was urged to set up a task force with the Chief Constable of Manchester with the intention of identifying and harrassing critics of Israel, regardless whether this criticism was that of a concerned friend of the Jews or not. I was thus identified by a fellow Disqus commenter ‘robbersdog’ whom I have since blocked. There seems to be a gang of them on board, and I have little doubt now where they originate from. Their stock-in-trade is libel and chutzpah; that they detract from genuine antisemitism that we saw all too much of in the last century, is lamentable.

    The more I hear about or from the man and the way his tentacles have interfered with my own national culture, the more I lament the passing of Jonathan Sacks, who was a wonderful man and someone I could listen to and learn from any day.

    Those that insist on how we must genuflect to Mirvis is like suggesting that Andrew Bailey is a more worthy steward of the nation’s currency than Mervyn King.

    2. He became Chief Rabbi at a time the then Home Secretary Theresa May was urged to set up a task force with the Chief Constable of Manchester with the intention of identifying and harrassing critics of Israel, regardless whether this criticism was that of a concerned friend of the Jews or not.

      Theresa May and her husband were having dinner with Mirvis when they learned that she had been elected leader of the Conservative Party!

      1. They are resisting the Federal governments agents to open the border. Texas called in the National Guard of Texas to patrol the border and set up razor wire to stop the flow of illegals. The Feds have been coming in and cutting the wire to let the illegals in.

      2. The Governor of Texas is calling out the Texas Guard to erect Razor Wire to stop illegal border crossings. The Biden Wuckfit is opposed to such measures – it seems to be a significant development eliciting a “Wow”! response from one E Musk

      3. I posted this yesterday evening.
        https://twitter.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1750551445991002286?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1750551445991002286%7Ctwgr%5Ee1967b9a31775f662f7f5ca7322d4c69825f85cf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dnottlt_i%3D370220https3A2F2Fnttl.blog2F3Fp3D3702t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fnttl.blog2Fthursday-25-january-a-period-in-opposition-might-force-the-tories-to-come-to-their-senses2Ft_e%3DThursday202520January3A20A20period20in20opposition20might20force20the20Tories20to20come20to20their20sensest_d%3DThursday202520January3A20A20period20in20opposition20might20force20the20Tories20to20come20to20their20sensest_t%3DThursday202520January3A20A20period20in20opposition20might20force20the20Tories20to20come20to20their20sensess_o%3Ddescversion%3Dcb3f36bfade5c758ef967a494d077f95

  38. Daft question re the Nottingham killer. He was charged with manslaughter because he was too nutty for it to be murder. Yet he was also charged with attempted murder – not attempted manslaughter – for the people he drove into.

    Either they were all potential murders or none were. Not three of each. I don’t get it.

      1. I think they couldn’t bring themselves to convict him for three racist murders, it was better just to say he didn’t mean it.

      2. Given the repeated opportunities to stop the bloke killing anyone it’s long past time the state were held accountable. Specific individuals must be punished for their failures. The box ticking ‘no me guv’ nonsense of ignoring the problem must end.

      3. If they wanted it tidy it’s a pity that he wasn’t sentenced to deportation at the end of his time in secure accomodation.

    2. I don’t think there is an offence of ‘attempted manslaughter’, so it would have to be attempted murder or something like GBH.

      2. I know. But what I am trying to get at is, at what point does attempting to murder somebody suddenly become “oops, wasn’t really intending to do that”?

        1. Hasn’t this to do with ‘mens rea’? That is, there has to be an intent to kill in order for a death you have caused to be murder. If there is no malicious act intended then it isn’t murder, an intentional act.

          1. Exactly. So for the three attempted killings there was intent, but not for the successful ones.

          2. In order for a death you have to be sane. I get the impression from remarks above that the guy is a loon, that means that intent to kill is voided. But anyone got a link to this story so I can understand it.

          4. Read it. The man was a paranoid schizophrenic. I take exception to the sentence however. Should have been Broadmoor for the rest of his life.

          5. No. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. That might hold true for one violent act, but not for a whole sequence of events. Evil exists.

          6. No. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. That might hold true for one violent act, but not for a whole sequence of events. Evil exists.

          7. Yes, but in order for him to have been charged with three counts of “attempted murder” then it must have been accepted that there was “intent”. Just not on the ones where he succeeded.

          8. Not quite, to be charged by the police means little. The real charge would come after deliberation by the prosecutor after having inspected the evidence.

          9. The police wouldn’t, couldn’t, charge that. It is the CPS role to decide what charge will be laid as they will have to prosecute it. This applies to indictable offences only.
            I suspect two sets of charges were laid as an either/or case. If one charge fails the lesser is successful, normally.

          10. Yes, agreed. He attempted to murder five human beings, and when he achieved a score of 3, those attempted murders evolved into manslaughter & diminished responsibility.

            If the expression ‘mentally ill’ replaces the age-old concept of evil, then good must also disappear.

    7. Remember the Frankfurter Schule and its eleven bullet points.

      8. An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime.

    8. Not a daft question. The CPS was covering up for the negligence of the Nottingham Constabulary. One glance at the Post Office Counters Limited saga should confirm that a large part of the ‘Establishment’ is incompetent and mentally ill.

      1. Ah but katherineW won’t understand that because in her world it’s reasonable to only demand respect for those who claim identities which comply with her ideology.

  40. Given the appalling state of our roads, healthcare system (despite chewing through 181bn a year), military, public services and looking at the effective 70% tax rate from direct and indirect taxation – what the bloody hell is all our money being wasted on?

    We have an obese government, atrocious services, demented levels of welfare – concentrated in specific demographics already flooded with money – isn’t it time we stopped pretending throwing money at the problem doesn’t work and actually addressed the endemic problem?

      1. We’ve barely given then a day’s taxes and borrowing in real terms. The kit we’ve handed over is obsolete.

        Is it going on welfare?

        1. Much of what we casually call “welfare” is old age pensions. Be careful what you wish for!

          1. So, precisely what percentage of the “welfare” bill is old age pensions and if all pensioners were euthanised, what impact would that actually have on government spending?

          2. “What percentage of GDP is welfare spending in the UK?
            Total GB welfare spending is forecast to be 10.2% of GDP and 22.6% of the total amount the government spends in 2023 to 2024. Around 55% of social security expenditure goes to pensioners; in 2023 to 2024 we will spend £152.6 billion on benefits for pensioners in GB .21 Dec 2023”

            Happy to help!

          3. Thank you. So the pesnion bill is 55% of 22.6%, which makes it 12.43% percent of government spending.

          4. They’d only find something else to waste it on. I paid for my pension by working and contributing. The fact the govt pissed it up the wall and relied on a Ponzi scheme is not my fault (I didn’t vote for them).

          5. When government calls pensions welfare I get a bit grumpy. It’s an earned return on a lifetime of work.

            If someone never works then they shouldn’t get a pension. We’re so back to front that we punish the worker through tax, reward the shirker , charge people to buy a house and give one away free to those who can’t afford one. When will big state start to realise that starvation is the best motivator going?

      1. All adding up and getting higher by the moment but given the state wastes 2.5bn a day – 2,500,000,000 it’s an (unnecessary cost we should do without) but a small amount.

        1. If doesn’t bother any of them in Parliament the lords or Whitehall. They just take another pay rise, boost expenses by Borrowing the money and we pay the interest.

  41. Trebling Army reservists!!!!!

    The Army cannot get anywhere, without the Senior and/or Junior services, or in Mr Colin Clark’s world will we use Easy Jet etal?

  42. Frankly, I think our leaders have failed to grasp the horrors lurking in the not too distant future.

    More frankly, I think that our ‘leaders’ have done exactly what they have been told to do by their WEF, NWO, etc Controllers, even down to how BLM, and LGBTQisms a greater impact on our lives, than the family life, work ethic, religious beliefs that have slowly evolved over 1000+ years.

    Why was this allowed to happen.

    Can you see a Christian, Hindu or even an Eskimo being allowed to run an Arab State?

  43. As a national service officer on board HMS Vidal, David Bowen would never have spoken about the game Bingo.

    The Royal Navy have always played Tombola, complete with its’ own language for the numbers.

  44. If the world turns to Custard, for whatever reason, there are a number of people in power, in various countries, who just need to “Press a Button”.

    Biden is one of those. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

        1. One Last Try – why, I have no idea unless it was fat finger syndrome (or a dislike of sticky toffee pud).

  45. Good morning all NOTTLERS. Lovely day here. Hope all are well.

    Now.

    ‘One in four chance’ Russia will attack UK ally by 2025

    Putin sparks fears of war with Nato with visit to Kaliningrad

    Britain will lose the next world war. It’s too woke to fight

    Three stories in todays Telegraph. Some people are really spoiling for a fight with Russia and the odd thing about it is no one can actually say what Russia has done against the West. We are doing our best to prop up the Ukrainians, the most corrupt country on earth, with a government that jails its opposition, oppresses the largest, the established Church in the country in favour of
    a denomination it has made up. Last but not least is ruled by a thug who practices ethnic cleansing and likes to assassinate his own people if they try to make peace with Russia.

    Afterthought. By the way how is visiting part of your own country, Kaliningrad, provocation? Would eating borscht, every Russian does although it hails from Ukraine, be ‘provocation’?

    1. Biden and Johnson appealed to Zelenskyy’s hubris and stopped the peace negotiations which were about to take place.

      So assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to WW1and now the vanity of a corrupt and venal thug will lead to the end of civilisation?

      1. I hope you are wrong on the end of civilization.

        I think this has all the hallmarks of an exercise in distraction because of the economic mess that the establishment has landed us in. Threat serves a WEF agenda which people are now seeing through. The WEF people and their ilk are trying, in my opinion, to rally the troops as enthusiasm and protest undermines them.

        Have read/listened to several analysis of war with Russia. The up shot is it is not possible. For starters the Germans would not co-operate, nor the Poles. Basically it would be the UK and the USA going rah rah whilst the rest of NATO are saying shut up.

        Also Rastus, this

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPaVSDnb6Wk&t=5s

  46. Apparently Michelle Mone’s money has been frozen. I don’t understand why she is being hounded except because the Left love to hate someone.

    I’d really like to ask why the Treasury official responsible for handing the cash out hasn’t been the one really targeted. They handed out the cash without checks. They gave the money away. It’s their fault, not the people they gave it to – they’re just profiting from government incompetence.

    1. Since they are looking to punish people, how about Matt Hancock’s mate the Pub Landlord who was awarded PPE contracts with no production facilities.
      There are already factories in the UK manufacturing plastic cups, plates, bowls and cutlery. They had all the stocks of plasctic beads available to make plastic aprons and such like.
      Also, what about the companies the supermarkets use for their bags…

      1. What it showed more than anything was how utterly unprepared and incompetent the state is. Not only could production not meet demand, but we had no emergency plan in place. Everything took far too long. That the Treasury stepped in rather than leaving it to local procurement was symbolic of the shambles.

    2. Oh dear there must be thousand of guys who have had prostate ops who never had a mention.
      One of my mates told me that they turned him upside down feet up, to get other bits out of the way, and set the robot off to do the job.

  48. Moscow ‘used plane POWs as human shields’. 26 January 2024.

    Ukraine has accused Russia of using prisoners of war as “human shields” as the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the downing of an Il-76 transport plane earlier this week.

    Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, Ukraine’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said that, if it is confirmed that POWs were on board, the incident was “the first case of Russia using a human shield in the air to cover the transportation of missiles for their further use against peaceful Ukrainian cities”.

    This is all quite farcical. Just to be clear the Ukies shot this (Russian) plane down and claimed it until they learned of the presence of the POW’s on board. They then denied it and then said there were no POW’s anyway, even though they were to be swapped later in the day. They now say there were POW’s but it was a deliberate ploy by the Russians (disregarding the fate of the crew ) to heap the blame on the Russians. All this is in the cause of ass covering. They have killed, admittedly unwittingly, their own people and no one is willing to carry the can for it, which tells you something about the Zelezny Government. .

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/26/ukraine-russia-war-news-latest-drones-pows-human-shields/

    1. Ukraine killing its own people isn’t new though – they’ve been doing it since 2014!

      1. Google search for “ukraine killing civilians in donbas” brought this up:

        Altogether, about 14,300 people were killed in the Donbas War, both soldiers and civilians. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 6,500 were Russian proxy forces, 4,400 were Ukrainian forces, and 3,404 were civilians on both sides of the frontline.

        Source isn’t some toerag with an axe to grind, either.

        1. Interesting that some of my searches seem to have been “adjusted” since 2022; I used to use the OSCE figures as they aren’t prone to propaganda from either side, but it seems harder to find their figures using the search engines I prefer.

    2. Human shields?

      So fair and foul a day! The word ‘fair’ seems to mean whatever you want it to mean!

      Why do Muslims think is it acceptable and fair for Hamas to use Muslim Palestinian people as well as Jewish people as human shields but unfair and unacceptable for Israel to defend itself?

      It is the same flawed logic as those who claim it is fair for biological men to compete as women in sporting events.

    5. “no one is willing to carry the can”. This is, of course, in stark contrast to the leaders of our government, commerce, banks, public enterprises, quangos and so on.

  49. Moscow ‘used plane POWs as human shields’. 26 January 2024.

    Ukraine has accused Russia of using prisoners of war as “human shields” as the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the downing of an Il-76 transport plane earlier this week.

    Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, Ukraine’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said that, if it is confirmed that POWs were on board, the incident was “the first case of Russia using a human shield in the air to cover the transportation of missiles for their further use against peaceful Ukrainian cities”.

    This is all quite farcical. Just to be clear the Ukies shot this (Russian) plane down and claimed it until they learned of the presence of the POW’s on board. They then denied it and then said there were no POW’s anyway, even though they were to be swapped later in the day. They now say there were POW’s but it was a deliberate ploy by the Russians (disregarding the fate of the crew ) to heap the blame on the Russians. All this is in the cause of ass covering. They have killed, admittedly unwittingly, their own people and no one is willing to carry the can for it, which tells you something about the Zelezny Government. .

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/26/ukraine-russia-war-news-latest-drones-pows-human-shields/

  50. Good morning all

    Sunny and mild and the golfer golfs

    We had a very strong gale last night , and then by about 4am there was a clearance , so I opened the bedroom window.

    I cannot sleep properly with out the top window open or even the big windows .. Moh feels the cold badly, yet he plays golf in all weather .

    2. What’s YOH’s handicap ?
      A few years back I spent a week playing golf in Dorset. Lovely golf courses.
      Our last day was at Isle of Purbeck. Overlooked by Corfe Castle.

      1. Indeed. Couple weeks ago, it was colder than a witches, but this time only a few minus degrees. Thank God – the ‘leccy bill and wood consumption for heating were truly awful.

        2. Yep, I second that. The 400 surplus we had nigh halved. Not needed the heating on for more than a couple of hours and that only to bring a room up to 16 or so.

    1. My friend Dave early sixties, recovered quickly. He was riding his bicycle within a few weeks.

  54. My best friend is a transvestite. He lives in the greater Manchester area. He has a Wigan address.

    2. His best friends live in Mankinholes – just over the border in Yorkshire. They are famous for the expert use of hand-looms and enjoy displaying their prowess to their close friends.

  56. Hmmm. What exactly does that achieve? Look at the result of the truckers “movement” in Canada.

    1. They achieved quite a lot by forcing Turdeau to take actions that have subsequently been proved to have been illegal and thus opened the eyes of many Canadians to his faults.
      Whether it opened a sufficient number of eyes, remains to be seen.

        1. Straight from the fascist playbook. Disproportionate punishment vis a vis “crime” allegedly committed. See also J6 Insurrection (sic).

    2. The truckers’ movement gave hope to the people in Canada, they realised they were not alone which, in times of turmoil, counts for a great deal. It also unnerved TPTB as they realised that people would not calmly go about their business in the manner they thought they would when threatened with tyranny. It brought home to them that populations are rather large in number. Sadly though it fizzled out because it seems the truckers’ organisers had no endgame planned except to arrive in Ottawa and do a bit of honking.

      The truckers’ departure for the southern border does have a definite aim – to protect the border.

    1. Overwork, they believe. Trying to press on like I was 40 and hadn’t had a stroke.
      Not happened since October, thank God.

  58. Love it…throw him in the Bastille

    EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS BLAST KHAN’S ULEZ OVER “LARGEST DATA BREACHES IN EU HISTORY”

    Looks like Khan’s love-in with the EU is going through a rough patch as European governments are furious with TfL for wrongly fining hundreds of thousands of EU citizens for driving the in ULEZ area. One poor Frenchman was wrongly fined £25,000 for driving in ULEZ…

    Five EU states accused Khan’s TfL of illegally obtaining names and addresses, resulting in 320,000 penalties since 2021. Sleuthing Belgian MP Michael Freilich said “this is possibly one of the largest privacy and data breaches in EU history, but so far no concrete action has been taken while responsibilities are being shunted on to driver.” No amount of smoke can get Khan out of this one…

    Even the LibDems have blasted Khan, calling for an immediate investigation as this may damage the city’s reputation. Susan Hall weighed in, telling Guido:

    “These are incredibly serious allegations that must be investigated urgently. There can be absolutely no justification for illegally obtaining people’s private information to enforce Sadiq Khan’s unfair ULEZ expansion.

    “It is telling that even Sadiq Khan’s friends in the EU are saying he can’t treat drivers like cash cows. As Mayor, I will scrap his ULEZ expansion on day one and ensure these allegations are looked into.”

    Since Brexit, the UK is banned from automatic access to personal details of EU residents, so Khan’s indiscriminate ULEZ tax grab from EU citizens violated the law. Khan can raise the EU flag all he wants, this isn’t going to get him in the good books…

    https://order-order.com

    1. No probs for SWMBO and me.

      We will never set foot in Londonistan, either alive or dead.

      Let the Furriners, who comprise 60ish% of the population, sort it out.

      If Sad Dick Khant is taken to task over the ULEZ, it is totally his responsibility and any costs must be paid by him/istanis.

      They have a chance soon to get rid of him. The outcome will show the way ahead for the rest of UK.

      1. Amazing. Hats off to these heros and heroines.

        My husband knows where they all are because his white van sets them off. I fantasise about “doing something” but unfortunately I am supposed to be “whiter than white” for my job. But in 2 1/4 years’ time…..all bets are off.

  59. Netzero Watch

    Director’s column
    24 Jan
    Andrew Montford

    Four national institutions have failed to model the 2050 energy system correctly, and all of them in ways that lead to understatement of the costs of Net Zero.

    Over the weekend, the Sunday Telegraph reported that the Climate Change Committee has got its energy system modelling wrong. The revelation was made by Sir Christopher Llewellyn Smith, the lead author of the recent Royal Society report on electricity storage, in remarks made at a seminar at Oxford.

    According to Sir Christopher, the Climate Change Committee’s estimates of the costs of Net Zero are fundamentally flawed because they have only modelled isolated years. As he pointed out in the seminar, low-wind years can happen back to back, which means that the Climate Change Committee need twice as much storage capacity as they thought. As a result, they have underestimated the costs.

    However, the Sunday Telegraph didn’t mention that it’s not just the Climate Change Committee that has made this mistake. In the same seminar, Sir Christopher pointed out that the National Infrastructure Commission has done the same thing, despite being warned of the problem of clusters of low-wind years. So they too will have underestimated the costs.

    The National Infrastructure Assessment…is also based on one year…they were told by the Met Office ‘you can get extreme events’…it’s not enough to look at one. They looked at one, so they got the answer wrong. The Met Office are really angry, because they told them ‘don’t do it’, but they did it.

    I can also reveal that National Grid ESO, in its Future Energy Scenarios, has done the same thing. I wrote to the NGESO team to ask how they did things, and was told that their models are prepared using weather conditions in 2013, which they describe as an “average year”. They are starting to run tests against low-wind conditions (so-called ‘dunkelflautes’), but back-to-back wind droughts don’t seem to be on their radar yet:

    The generation provided from renewables, as well as the demand profile, is typically based on an average weather year (2013). For FES23, we also conducted an initial piece of analysis looking at abnormal weather conditions (resulting in abnormal supply and demand patterns), the results of which can be found in our FES23 publication under the title Dunkelflaute Period. We took a period of extreme weather, in this case between Jan-Feb 1985, and applied it to our Consumer Transformation scenario in 2050, to look at how the system would respond to a sustained period low renewable output…We are planning on looking at abnormal supply and exceptional demand in more detail going forward as well as the effects of more extreme weather. That means that they too will have underestimated the cost of Net Zero.

    The Royal Society is to be congratulated for clarifying the problem. However, it turns out that their own modelling is fundamentally flawed too. That’s because, while they model 37 years of different wind speeds, they assume that electricity demand is always the same. Sir Christopher has admitted that this is not correct, in a podcast broadcast last year. As he put it then:

    And now I confess something that is a bit of a weakness in our report. We’ve got this model of one year of demand…based in the weather in 2018…We simply repeat that 37 times.

    This is clearly wrong, because in 2050 it is imagined that we will all heat our homes with electric heat pumps. Electricity demand will therefore be much higher in cold years than in mild ones, and if we have back to back cold years, we are going to need much more storage.

    So, four well funded national institutions have failed to model the 2050 correctly, and all of them in ways that low-balls the cost of Net Zero. That’s a remarkable coincidence, and one that should probably raise alarm bells about the extent of the rot in the British establishment.

    Appendix
    Film of Sir Christopher’s comments can be seen in the video below.

    https://youtu.be/Fy_cm1_7dfI

    Net ZeroCosts

    1. It just doesn’t matter. Errors, lies, deceit, failures, incompetence, facts, science – none of it matters. The green agenda is about power. It’s about controlling who can do what and when.

      The state won’t say his, of course but it’s just a tax scam. Big state know it, we know it. The only people who won’t admit it are Lefties and those profiting from it – which is much the same group.

      1. It’s about controlling who can do what and when.

        We recently had a power outage after building contractors hit our area’s electricity supply cable.

        It is clear with increasing dependency on electricity for everything that nobody can do nothing not nohow when there’s no leccy.

        The saving grace for our household was that I kept the BT copper landline which allowed me to get in touch with the
        UK network provider and get status update texts on my
        battery powered Voip phone.

        The biggest problem in a national emergency is the widespread unavailability of WiFi as the router connections to the internet go off. Even routing through the internet may be problematic resulting in people wandering around outside to try and find out what’s going on.

        1. Named storms tend to put the lights out here. Arwen was the worst. I keep an analogue phone handset for emergencies, but no-one I tried to call had done the same. The local cell towers have little or no backup power*. Hence I found myself battling through the wind and climbing the footbridge of my local rail station (3 minutes’ walk away – 10 with the headwind). I managed to get a useable signal from Hindhead, 9.5 miles away.

          Having worked on reative maintenance contracts for BT and the bloody Post Office, I used to have a key to every telephone exchange in the land. And they all have diesel generators. Even the ones with no mains water, and a rainwater collection tank.

          Vodafone tells me that my copper landline is to be converted to Digital Voice. But I’ll remain on FTTC, so the interweb won’t improve. Not too bothered, since the vast majority of calls are on the mobile. Ironically, the mobile signal on all 4 main networks is so poor here, that my phone is geneally on “WiFi Calling”, which diverts calls over the copper network…

  60. French Peasant Revolt: Nine in Ten Support Farmer Protests Against Globalist Government

    https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/01/GettyImages-1950955814-1-640×480.jpg

    he French public overwhelmingly supports the farmers, with nearly nine in ten backing their protest against globalist policies from Eurocrats in Brussels and President Macron’s government in Paris.

    According to an Odoxa-Backbone Consulting survey conducted on behalf of the Le Figaro newspaper, 89 per cent of the French public support the tractor protest of the nation’s farmers as they have risen up against EU green agenda policies, overregulation, increased fuel taxes and prices, and unfair pricing practices from supermarket chains.

    The survey found that the support for the farmers spanned the political spectrum, with 97 per cent of centre-right Les Republicains voters backing the farmers, followed by 95 per cent of right-wing populist National Rally (RN) voters, and 94 per cent of Socialist Party voters. Support dropped slightly among Green party and leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) voters at 88 and 87 per cent respectively.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, supporters of President Emmanuel Macron were the least favourable of the farmers, with 81 per cent saying that they support the movement, but just 38 per cent saying they “completely” back the farmers.
    *
    *
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/01/25/french-peasant-revolt-nine-in-ten-support-farmer-protests-against-globalist-government/

    1. Surprised at the green party support. After all, they’d rather farmers went away completely.

      1. I would think members of the green party are ordinary folks who are not WEF stooges. Unlike the government.

        1. If they were, it makes more sense, however the greeniacs seem obsessed with shutting down farming, fertilizer production and all sorts solely to ‘let nature take it’s course’.

          1. There was somebody on social media who complained about horses leaving manure on the roads. When he was told it was free, organic fertiliser he was horrified.

    2. I simply do not understand the need for these protests. Such inconvenience to the public.

      Everyone knows that food comes from supermarkets – nothing whatever to do with farmers….

          3. Glass bottles? I gave up with Milk and More, partly due to their unreliability, but they also had an annoying habit of substantially increasing the price (and the direct debit) without telling me. Their excuse was that I’d unticked te box to receive marketing emails. Then there was the rancid out-of-date milk which they were happy to deliver…

            I now tend to get Cravendale semi-skimmed, which lasts for weeks, and I can add a couple to a supermarket delivery so I don’t have to carry them. I still get Graham’s (no relation) Gold Smooth for my porridge, though. Flavour, Grizz? Yes – I add salt, and chuck in some ground Cinnamon. And Mornflake Jumbo Scottish Oats, while containing a modicum of carbs, at least they’ve no added sugar, and aren’t especially processed.

          4. There were some issues with deliveries here a couple of years ago but on the whole they’ve been very reliable and always come sometime during the night. The milk is good too and not stale so maybe it’s a local problem. Certainly it is more expensive but that’s not surprising. We like the cream off the top on our breakfast.

        2. Making Karen Rausing a fortune. At least she spends a lot of it on breeding and racing horses, so it can’t be ALL bad 🙂

      4. That reminds me of the scene in the “Dynasty” tv series where Krystle gives birth and someone lifts the counterpane on her bed and pulls out a baby – probably a doll – already dressed, wrapped in a shawl.

  61. I left some keys in England at my last visit. My friend posted them to me here in France. They are being held by the French postal system and cannot be delivered because the UE (sales) tax on British imports has not been paid! The tossers in Brussels and their allies in UK politics should be fed to the dogs and crows – they cannot accept that the British were right to vote Brexit in an attempt to free themselves of the totalitarian dictatorship and loss of freedom of life and expression imposed by the unelected communistic cabal.

    1. Your pal presumably did not attach a customs declaration describing the contents and stating that they had no value….

        2. The sole purpose of this obstructionism is to punish the uppity British. How dare they vote to be free? They should capitulate like a good Frenchman and collaborate with the Germans!

  62. Burns’ Night? Who he?

    With no disrespect to all the genuine Jocks on this forum, now that the plastic Jocks have finished celebrating Burns’ Night, with their toasted haggi, neeps, tatties and their ‘wee dram’, I ask them this: why are Englishmen celebrating a minor Scottish bard when a far superior English poet (though born in British India) goes uncelebrated?

    It is beyond time that we English annually raised a toast to Joseph Rudyard Kipling, surely the finest English poet. We could celebrate the date of his death — January 18 — since his date of birth, December 30, is too close to the New Year.

    Kipling’s evening would have none of the branded nonsense (those sugar-laden cakes, which have nothing to do with him, would be banned) served. Instead of “The great chieftain o’ the puddin’ race”, we would devour “The emperor of all puddings”, a huge, steaming, steak-and-kidney pud. This would be served with: mashed spuds, onion gravy, broad beans and carrots. It would be paraded into the room accompanied by the strains of Greensleeves, played on a Harp.

    To accompany it, freshly-drawn pints of an English cask-conditioned best bitter would be quaffed.

    Afterwards, an equally huge spotted dick with custard would be the order of the day.

    The Master of Ceremonies would quote the following lines, written by the nonpareil:

    Prelude (To “Departmental Ditties”)

    I have eaten your bread and salt.
    I have drunk your water and wine.
    The deaths ye died I have watched beside,
    And the lives ye led were mine.

    Was there aught I did not share
    In vigil or toil or ease,—
    One joy or woe that I did not know,
    Dear hearts across the seas.

    I have the tale of our life
    For a sheltered people’s mirth,
    In jesting guise—but ye are wise,
    And ye know what the jest is worth.

    Other examples of the man’s exceptional output could be recited throughout the remainder of Kipling Night.

    2. I am a great enthusiast of Kipling’s stories as well as his poetry. He is certainly a major poet but my subjective assessment is that he was not the finest – he is up against some pretty stiff competition.

      But tippling to celebrate Kipling sounds like a good idea.

    3. I do love Kipling. The first thing I thought of when all this Russia attacking us bull-crap started was Tommy Atkins. However, I also love George Herbert, John Keats and William Blake plus the Irish poets Thomas Moore and WB Yeats, both fine exponents of poetic English language. Also of course, whether Shakespeare’s works were written by Will of Stratford or the Earl of Oxford, they’re still matchless.

      1. My own favourite poets are: Kipling, Browning, Betjeman, Larkin, Yeats, Coleridge, Blake and Lear.

      2. My own favourite poets are: Kipling, Browning, Betjeman, Larkin, Yeats, Coleridge, Blake and Lear.

      3. Yeats (not the racehorse):

        I know that I shall meet my fate
        Somewhere among the clouds above.
        Those that I fight I do not hate,
        Those that I guard I do not love.

        My country is Kiltartan Cross,
        My countrymen Kiltartan poor.
        No likely end will bring them loss
        Or leave them happier than before.

    4. In the latest Daily Sceptic podcast, Toby Young mentioned that when he went to see Katherine Birbalsingh’s Michaela school, the pupils marched down the corridor to lunch reciting “If”.

  63. Good day all,

    I’m a bit late here today – it’s been a busy morning what with one thing and another. Anyway it’s been a lovely so far at the McPhee ranch in the NW Hants/ W Berks borderlands. Wind Westerly, 7℃.

    Who’s heard of The Great Taking? If you haven’t you’re just about to and I think it would be a good idea to pay attention. This is how they are planning to do the Great Reset, the whole ” You’ll Own Nothing and Be Happy” bit because the central banks will own everything – if we let them.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3260e1e386f6d3de4f5cbd300a1eecfea1fa27097dca88e32a64ac464c23a457.png

    David Rogers Webb worked in Wall Street and became a highly successful and committed head fund manager – until the day he realised something wasn’t quite right and started to look a little more closely at what was going on. He then got his clients out and finally his friends, family and himself.

    The book is available as a free.pdf download at https://thegreattaking.com and I recommend it to all. If we let them do this to us no-one will escape. They will take everything – homes, cars, savings, investments, pensions, the lot. You won’t be able to keep any gold either. It’s been done before – in the USA in the 1930s. This time they mean to take it global. Then, of course, the solution will be presented – digital IDs and CBDCs.

    As well as a book there’s a documentary video on YouTube and Rumble.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk3AVceraTI&t=244s

    Spread the word. We need The Great Awakening. That’s the ONE thing THEY (central bankers) are scared of.

    1. Yes, I ordered the book at the end of last year. I hesitated to spread it too widely because it is absolutely devastating. If the great taking goes ahead, we can all kiss goodbye to anything we own that’s in the financial system, including your bank balance, stocks, shares and bonds, pensions and anything with a loan on it including your house etc.

      I’ve been looking out for what financial commentators are saying about it. One (Lawrence Lepard) said that he thought it wouldn’t happen, because it would rouse people to too much anger and a lot of very wealthy people would lose everything, which might provoke the kind of reaction the predator class wouldn’t want. Some of the people who are spreading David Rogers Webb’s warning have an interest in gold investment companies – gold being the obvious wealth store outside the system.

      I personally am taking steps to reduce my exposure to financial products and pay off my mortgage, but this also makes sense going into the end of a fiat currency.
      I do take seriously the warning that they stole people’s money in the US in the 30s by closing a lot of banks and re-opening only those that were approved by the Fed. We’ve also seen a blatant property theft just last year in Lahaina in Hawaii. The predator class would steal everything we’ve got if they could get away with it.

  65. GB News has given Ofcom chief ‘biggest problem he’s ever faced’

    Jim Naughtie says rise of the rival broadcaster is worrying and insists the channel has a legal duty to be impartial

    Anita Singh, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
    25 January 2024 • 8:48pm

    The rise of GB News has presented the head of Ofcom with “the biggest problem he’s ever faced”, according to Jim Naughtie.

    The BBC Radio 4 presenter said the emergence of partisan news channels in the UK was a “worrying” development, making reference to Fox News’s support for Donald Trump.

    “Oh, it’s worrying. And I think anybody who looks at what has happened in the States, if they do care about the free flow of information and proper debate, would have to be worried about it,” Naughtie told Roger Bolton’s Beebwatch podcast.

    “Comparing GB News and Fox isn’t entirely fair. We’re not in that situation yet. But I do think Ofcom has now got a situation that it’s never faced before: not a complaint about a particular programme, a particular presenter, [but] a general kind of balance issue running up to an election when the rules become extremely tight.

    “There are legal obligations on people who have access to the public airwaves to behave in an impartial way.

    “GB News are open about it; they say, ‘Look, we’ve got an agenda, this is what we believe, and too many people are not getting our point of view so we’re going to give it to them. We’re not much bothered about anyone else’s point of view.’”

    ‘People just aren’t going to watch it’
    The former presenter of the Today programme said that GB News has obligations as a public broadcaster, unlike “some nutty podcast from a bedroom in Colchester”.

    “Not an absolute duty to have two minutes of one side and two minutes of the other, that’s the kind of impartiality that doesn’t make sense, but an obligation across the piece to be fair-minded,” he added.

    Lord Grade, the media veteran, is the chairman of Ofcom and Naughtie said: “I think this is one of the biggest problems that he’s ever faced and I think it’s extremely important that it’s grasped.”

    Ofcom is investigating several impartiality complaints against GB News. Last year, it ruled that a programme in which Tory MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies interviewed Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, breached guidelines.

    Naughtie said most viewers do not want to see politicians being interviewed by representatives of their own party.

    “I do think the common sense of the viewers will kick in here. Of course there will be partisans, doesn’t matter if it’s Right or Left, who would want to see that kind of thing but they’ll always be a minority.

    “I think the idea that you could sort of pull the wool over the eyes of the population at large by saying – ‘We’re going to have a proper political discussion of this, the only thing is that the four people involved in it all have the same view’ – I mean, people just aren’t going to watch it.”

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

    Daddy Danny
    8 HRS AGO
    Reply to Asa Brick – view message
    Said it himself in the last line ‘ people just aren’t going to watch it’ – free country, free choice, people can watch lefty BEEB, very left C4, or right leaning GBNews. Choice, freedom, he just doesn’t get it.

    Rodney James
    7 HRS AGO
    Reply to Asa Brick – view message
    Or about the telephone to Sachs.
    Naughtie has no credibility.
    He needs to act against the BBC, but it’s staffed by ex BBC execs as a semi retirement home.
    OFCOM sucks.

    Mark Norton
    6 HRS AGO
    Reply to Asa Brick
    Ofcom is our woke censor and should be abolished

    2. What a stinking odious hypocrite Naughtie is!

      And it was Naughtie who openly supported the Labour Party during BBC live election coverage expressing glee every time Labour won a seat.

      And here is a BTL comment posted by Charlie Flindt.

      Would this be the same James Naughtie who asked Ed Balls something about Gordon Brown’s future “if we win the election”? Even Ed had to politely correct this less-than-discreet display of pro-Labour bias.

    3. Eighteen years ago today, the BBC held a day-long high-level seminar at the Television Centre. It was there, according to Christopher Booker, that an editorial decision was made that no climate change ‘sceptic’ should be allowed to appear on any BBC programme without a supporter to counter the argument. Warmists, of course, were to be allowed a free run. To this day I have not read of any official change to this policy.

      1. “the channel has a legal duty to be impartial”

        Why, the BBC is not

        PS Naughtie by name, Naughty by Nature

    5. Err… has he looked at the other channels regarding impartiality? I’m very confused. Is being ardently Left wing really impartial?

    6. Naughty Naughtie. Every GB News panel has a token loony leftie and left doesn’t get any more loony than the likes of Benjamin Butterworth and Amy Nickell. They also have Labour politicians. Race baiters and lockdown lovers too. The difference between GBN and the rest is that the loonies are challenged to defend their lunacy.

      1. My theory is that GB News carefully selected Benjamin Butterworth and Amy Nickell because of their undiluted lefty looniness. Thus, far from giving ‘balance’ to any 3 person panel of ‘experts’ sitting on the sofa, they are so indigestibly offensive that they have the effect of rousing support for the centrist/right view to a fever pitch. Ofcom haven’t noticed. {:^))

  66. Well, I can’t sit about here enjoying myself. Must be off to the garden to gather kindling after the gales. I am told by the Head Gardener that there is a lot of it…

    Back son.

  68. Afternoon All

    Disease X you say,WHO treaty you say……..

    Never forgive,never forget

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9efb74d947303652b550bcbc05ae9295ed4b3fe46f5fe7b2f75625820ccf44ab.jpg

    https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1748865346981835019

    Rest

    https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=568,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/157/804/305/original/6ec6232b283321e2.jpeg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/da3ce835243bd73c89506f6343f34fa3622617be93f1cb3b0e7cc6a7a2d7eeff.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5c4dc17f123286b2751159c88ec5a39a869ea1332b51630a292f67b6cda9003f.jpg

    https://twitter.com/andrewlawrence/status/1750464965159321642?s=20

    1. Wow that Oz video is truly disturbing

      Edit. A top posting for the others – all excellent. My fave is the Opinion one.

  69. Afternoon All

    Disease X you say,WHO treaty you say……..

    Never forgive,never forget

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9efb74d947303652b550bcbc05ae9295ed4b3fe46f5fe7b2f75625820ccf44ab.jpg

    https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1748865346981835019

    Rest

    https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=568,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/157/804/305/original/6ec6232b283321e2.jpeg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/da3ce835243bd73c89506f6343f34fa3622617be93f1cb3b0e7cc6a7a2d7eeff.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5c4dc17f123286b2751159c88ec5a39a869ea1332b51630a292f67b6cda9003f.jpg

    https://twitter.com/andrewlawrence/status/1750464965159321642?s=20

  70. Lighter side

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ade2610ac0636a92bdd671faecd8c8f8a3a25c1dbf48db77c11c7d60cf64c3ac.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bb32d8330f640f8f20a6fd97591db015442fae866699c9b3e21f7e9d586380bb.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/84473f50a375436285ef602b21a9698c589466911c2394c468e6d66bb03ba2e3.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e176cc7d5471d6ede5a4c5a842adb7f8bd987973b6adf81fa9cb9980370c1e1.jpg

    Microwave?? AARRGGHHHH

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/925f00a05de0411339a430baeea9ec895c59f8ee23c7542f8ca9dad6c1c27dd4.png

    1. I remember once when the fire alarm went off at Television Centre and a fleet of fire engines arrived amid much noise and pandemonium. An assistant on The One Show had put her coffee in a microwave and it went bang…

    2. The Americans are on dodgy ground (aren’t they always) talking about tea.

      The Boston Tea Party lead them to rebelling against their lawful king. Traitors all.

    1. We’re doing Donne for the Lent Course at my church. The guy leading it did Milton last year and he’s very good. I have a book of selected poems of John Donne already but we’ll be using the Penguin Classics edition so I’ve ordered a copy.
      I also forgot Michelangelo. The finest draughtsman that ever lived and not the finest poet but he was prolific and his poetry adds a great deal to understanding the man behind the art. In his Civilisaton series, Kenneth Clark cited Dante as the God-given genius to rank with Michelangelo and Mozart?

    2. Surely not, Grizzly: “Miss Joan Hunter Donne, Miss Joan Hunter Donne. We stayed in the car park ’til quarter to one, and now I’m engaged to Miss Joan Hunter Donne.” Lol.

  73. Engineers and Ideologues.

    The importance of politicians can never be underestimated, for over the centuries so many of them have strutted on the world stage, prattling their political and ideological jargon and produced little of real value.
    The number of them who have had a real effect on the human lot pales in comparison to the number of scientists and engineers who have produced something worthwhile.
    Who did more for women’s rights than the inventors of the washing machine, the vacuum cleaner and the contraceptive pill?
    Has righteous nannying improved human health more than Lister, Pasteur Fleming or any number of a huge list of bilogists?
    Who gave us more freedom than Henry Ford or more freedom of speech than the inventors of the Internet or more to eat than Jethro Tull or John Froehlich?
    It was Edison who shone real light into our lives, not some dogma.
    However, let us not presume that politicians are ineffectual, for whenever the bombs and napalm are falling, the mines taking off legs and bullets punching holes in human flesh, they are always behind the firing lines deciding who should die.

    Neal Asher

  75. Nagsman forwarded this to me this morning…and we thought NoTTLers were sarcastic…

    Post from a guy called Pete North, His father was the Doc North who worked with Farage & co in the early days.

    Today on the Institute of Liberal Midwits podcast we’re talking about conscription, and how the far right are enabling Putin by refusing to fight for our open, welcoming and tolerant liberal democracy. Obviously we don’t need useless white male pilots as Air Chief Marshal Sir Julian Pronouns explains, but the war in Ukraine is emerging as an exciting opportunity to rid Britain’s of it’s ignorant racist gammons once and for all. Our Research and social media executive, Katie Pinhead, explains how sending our British Lions to Ukraine will will help turn the tide of war while simultaneously freeing up two million homes for asylum seekers. It could also modernise our democracy, ensuring those who are left don’t vote the wrong way. It is vital that we defeat Putin, who is banning political opposition parties, detaining dissidents for social media posts and even arresting people for posting stickers on lampposts. We discuss how right wing opposition to conscription is a threat to democracy, and how the online safety bill can be used to prevent dangerous discourse. Opposition to being machine-gunned to bits for one of the most corrupt regimes on earth is yet another example of the far right’s divisive culture war. Our special media reporter, Laura Ponytail, explains how we must protect free speech by banning GB News, and boosting news funding for our totally accurate, fair and impartial BBC. Ofcom is investigating several impartiality complaints against GB News when last year, it openly mocked Just Stop Oil protesters and allowed a Member of Parliament to openly criticise mass immigration. This is the kind of unhelpful content that poisons the national debate. “We need full and frank debate of the issues, so we must ensure all the people involved in it have exactly the same views”.

  77. I had my Sainsbury’s delivery this morning and i didn’t notice at the time but they had given me two packs of gyoza dumplings which i hadn’t ordered. I wasn’t charged for them.

    I gave Sainsbury’s a call and they said i can keep the dumplings free of charge and for my honesty gave me a £10 voucher.

    I love free money !

    1. Bunch of wusses. I was once at the checkout of a big Spanish supermarket, with a case of red wine, and assorted groceries. The young lass scanned the shopping and got to the case with a hand scanner, and rang up 6 bottles. I explained that there were 12 bottles inside, not the usual 6. She looked at me crossly, as if to say you are an idiot (yes, I know, female intuition) and started to argue. I eventually got her to open the box, but she was still Not Happy; not a word of thanks, I was almost surprised that she didn’t call security.

      1. I don’t take any notice. I avoid busy times like Christmas, Easter and Halloween. One of the benefits of shopping online is you can scroll past rather than stroll past.

        1. Never shopped on line Phiz, only the young people in our road seem to do that. The lazy fur curlers. 😆🤭🤗

      2. I can’t see the comment which prompted your reply, Ready Eddy, but at my local supermarket Hot Cross Buns are available 24/7/52.

    1. Another example of the now commonplace use of ‘multiple’ instead of several, a few, a number, even many!

      “They had multiple chances to score.”
      “The police had multiple chances to arrest the suspect.”

      And so on…

      1. It is nearly as bad as the now commonplace (and teeth-grinding) use of ‘convince’ instead of persuade.

        “I convinced him to take that course of action.”

  80. Life is normal, for the DT Sub Editors:

    Ukraine shot down Russian military plane with its own PoWs, Moscow claims,

    Were the PoWs Air Launched, Ground Launched, if the latter, it would have to be from fixed Batteries, as it would not be

    possible for the operator of Shoulder Launcher to support it, with a PoW sitting on the end of the launcher.

    Also, the Ukraine’s own PoWs would be Russians

    Owsabouta

    Ukraine shot down Russian military plane carrying Ukrainain PoW, Moscow claims,

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/24/russian-military-plane-ukraine-yaboslovo/

    1. Far too sophisticated….for the teenage scribblers (none of whom knows where either Russia or The Ukraine are…)

      1. They probably don’t know where the Isle Of Wight is either. If in doubt it’s at the bottom of the map.

      2. They probably don’t know where the Isle Of Wight is either. If in doubt it’s at the bottom of the map.

    2. Mr Zelensky said he has instructed various state agencies to investigate the crash. Oh right………😏🤔

  81. A full barrow of small kindling and another barrow of 1 to 1½ inch dead wood branches.

    “Helped” by Pickles….who now shares my exhaustion (all that bending and standing) and is asleep by the fire…!

    1. Oscar deigned to come out for a walk this afternoon seeing as the weather was good and it was p.m. He is now stretched out in front of the fire, worn out.

  82. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e5f3914f699af271b703be5241c182882f06eaa0f3e1d68e7540071c054bd83e.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/26/the-electric-vehicle-fiasco-has-become-dangerous/

    BTL

    I should imagine that there are many MPs who know very well that man-made climate change is a myth, that vegetation depends on carbon dioxide, that electric cars and buses are dangerous and impractical with no benefits to the environment and that Net Zero is a complete scam.

    Many MPs must know this – but is there a single one in the HoC who is prepared to stand up and say so?

    1. “Many MPs must know this – but is there a single one in the HoC who is prepared to stand up and say so“?

      None of them is fit to be elected to parliament!

      1. The “People in the HoC”, never travel by ‘bus.

        They have Expense Accounts to cover their travel

    3. Not only ignoring the issue, they are doubling down on net zero dreams over here.

      Never mind that it has been too cold to charge EVs, they are looking at why charging costs are so different at different charging stations.

        2. Nope, it normally comes down to how much the operation is subsidized.

          Our council has just installed four chargers in the county, installation courtesy of a provincial grant. A few vineyards have paid for EV chargers, their usage fees are helping cover the initial cost as well as the running cost. No surprise that the council chargers are cheaper.

  84. Modern-day paradoxes.

    1. Do the massive number of people, on this planet, who voluntarily fund Billy Goats by buying and using computers that run on his Microsoft ‘Windows’ software, realise that they are directly financing the very man who has an avowed intention of killing you all?

    No. I didn’t think so.

    1. The U of C Maths Dept where I worked detested Bill Gates and used Linux wherever possible. I cannot understand how Windows became so widespread. Apple in those days was so much more stable and intuitive as a system.

      1. poppiesmum, there is no such thing as “intuitive” in the world of computers. If there were, I would not be Confused of Colchester. Lol.

        2. Dear Confused😳 of Colchester – I understand only too well – but compared with Gates ‘Mystery Windows’ Apple really was relatively easy to use. That was when I finally knew what I was doing. Windows was a long-winded and convoluted way of going about the same Apple process. When I first started using computers I would lose ‘stuff’ – it would disappear into a dark interior never to be seen again, I lived in terror 😱 of this occurring, to the extent that internet banking scares me stiff, I won’t use it in case I lose those numbers….. Poppiesdad has to deal with all the financial stuff. Internet banking is a blight upon mankind. As for using one’s phone for this process, I cannot go down that path. I scarcely use a mobile phone. I am a complete Luddite.

          1. Funnily enough, I felt the same when I had to use a Mac (they were the “go to” for artwork, but for me they were the triumph of form over function). It took me ages to do even simple things that were a doddle with Windows and I kept losing stuff. Each to his own, I suppose.

          2. I have never owned any computer other than an Apple Mac. I was advised to buy one by a fellow Applephile when I first mooted that I needed a computer. I have never regretted that decision and am now on my fourth iMac. On the rare occasions I have attempted to use a computer running Microsoft software, I have found it to be counter-intuitive and far inferior to Apple’s software.

          3. I think it depends on what you’re used to. Your comment about being counter-intuitive and inferior encapsulates what I felt when I used a Mac.

          4. As Conway says below, it depends on what you’re used to. And everywhere I worked for decades used Windows, from 3.1 onwards. There seemed little point in having a competing system for home use. The only Apple product I ever owned was an iPod Classic. And it didn’t impress me at all. Sorry…

          5. When my local bank branch approached closure they said, looking on the horizon, that I could use the Post Office for all my banking needs.

            Well, I think that’s all right – on paper. 🤔

      2. In the consumer world the price of a windows PC is considerably lass than an Apple system and price overcomes all.

        Linux will not take a significant share of the PC user base unless it comes ready installed instead of windows and is ready to go. Downloading an ISO file, unpacking it to USB memory and then running the install is not something that many will attempt.

  85. Modern-day paradoxes.

    1. Do the massive number of people, on this planet, who voluntarily fund Billy Goats by buying and using computers that run on his Microsoft ‘Windows’ software, realise that they are directly financing the very man who has an avowed intention of killing you all?

    No. I didn’t think so.

  86. Has the Chief Cunstable (sic) of Nottingham Musliperlice Farce made any comment on the personal statements by the families of the victims?

    Just asking….

  87. That’s me for today – time to get ready to go to the Fulmodeston and Barney Food Production Club Annual Seed Exchange (no sniggering at the back).

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

    1. They can come over here and dump a few boxes on my property; I’m getting hammered by sin taxes (and I’d break my embargo on EU wine if it were free).

  90. Prevening, all. It’s been a lovely day today here; mild, sunny even and light until gone 16.00. I’ve managed to get some things planted in the borders that had been languishing in pots since before Christmas. It’s made me feel almost energised!

    I’m not sure that the politicians have been complacent, more like complicit – in the destruction of this country.

    I have just started reading Robin Neillands’ book “The Bomber War”. As it’s fairly recent, I thought it might be a bit woke and inclined to rewrite history, but I am impressed so far. He feels (as I do) that Bomber Command was hard done by and is looking at the strategic side of things, rather than pointing the finger of blame. As Sherman remarked, “War is all cruelty and there is no use trying to reform it; the crueller it is, the sooner it will be ended.”

  91. Bring back asylums, and make Britain safe again

    The Nottingham murders must put an end to our insistence that everyone, no matter how incapable, should be left to try and live in society

    HENRY HILL
    26 January 2024 • 12:29pm

    Valdo Calocane, the man sentenced today for the brutal killing of three people in Nottingham last year, will probably spend the rest of his life in a secure hospital. The question is why he wasn’t there already.

    His story is almost a case study in why this country should never have committed so completely to getting rid of asylums.

    Before killing his victims last year, Calocane was already wanted by the police in connection with a previous assault on an emergency worker. He had been previously sectioned four times in the past three years, and reportedly regularly lied to his doctor about taking his anti-psychotic medication.

    The word “asylums” conjures images of institutional abuse and societal neglect, with the mentally ill locked away, out of sight and out of mind.

    Yet while there were certainly problems with the previous system that needed correcting, the ideological fervour with which we moved towards a complete care-in-the-community approach was woefully misjudged.

    Such is the ideological antipathy to asylums in much of the profession that few are prepared to speak publicly in their defence. But privately, some mental health professionals are clear-eyed about the problem: some people are simply not equipped to live independently.

    Commit them, and they will recover. They have the certainty of food and a roof over their head, constant supervision, and are cut off from temptations such as drugs or alcohol. Then, because they are recovered, they will be released – at which point, for some people, they begin an inevitable relapse.

    Sometimes, as in Nottingham, this can have the most horrific consequences. But even when it doesn’t, the cost – both for the patient and society – can be much steeper than many people suppose.

    Individuals are left to indulge in self-destructive behaviour until they reach whatever tipping point gets them back into care. Their neighbours (and they have to be housed somewhere) have to ensure the disruption, anti-social behaviour, or worse.

    Ask the Treasury, and they will point out that providing someone indefinite bed and board in a secure hospital is expensive, and so it is.

    But all that the alternative does is spread the costs around. How much money was spent not keeping Calocane in a secure hospital, over the years? On police time, on emergency services call-outs, on NHS resources squandered because nobody was able to make sure he took his medicine, or council assets used to house or support him rather than someone else.

    But the cost is hidden, spread around different budgets, not attached to an individual name. There’s no one, big line-item to upset the bean counters. So it persists.

    All that, and he ends up facing a lifetime in a secure institution anyway. It just took the lives of three innocent people to pay his passage.

    It isn’t the only problem raised by this case, of course. That he got a manslaughter charge testifies to the weakness of our current, all-or-nothing approach to the crime of murder. Had we first- and second-degree murder, as in the United States, his victims’ families might feel they got a greater measure of justice.

    But if there is one systemic problem this tragedy should put a cold spotlight on, it’s the British state’s insistence that everyone, no matter how incapable, must if at all excusable be left to try and live in society – even if they pose a serious danger to others, or themselves.

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

    Paul Bateman
    5 HRS AGO
    why was he not deported as soon as it became apparent he was going to be a drain on society ?

    Mary Greenway
    4 HRS AGO
    Reply to Paul Bateman
    And take his family too
    Accountability

    Sarah Preston
    4 HRS AGO
    Reply to Mary Greenway – view message
    why should his respectable parents and brother, who contribute to their society, be punished for his misdeeds?

    Irene McGovern
    3 HRS AGO
    Reply to Sarah Preston
    Why should we?

    2. Back in the 80s I worked with a West Indian woman who had a son who’d been diagnosed as schizophrenic but didn’t take the prescribed medication. He’d go walkabout for weeks on end then return home and beat up his mother. She’d then take sick leave till the bruises faded. With all that, she insisted there was nothing wrong with him and that the doctors lied and had it in for him because he was black. Lord knows what became of him.

  92. 382446+up ticks,

    King ‘doing well’ after procedure to correct enlarged prostate

    May one ask, what has he done to sunak then ?

  96. A dreadful Bogey Six!

    Wordle 951 6/6
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜⬜🟩🟨🟨
    ⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
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    2. A poor five here

      Wordle 951 5/6

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    3. Wasn’t easy

      Wordle 951 5/6

      ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
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    4. Sorry, didn’t see your post.

      Wordle 951 4/6

      🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
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    2. “He claims to be a self made man, which at least relieves the Almighty of a terrible responsibility.”

  99. Did I miss the Wordle folk?

    Wordle 951 4/6

    🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
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    3. Par today.

      Wordle 951 4/6

      🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
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  100. The obituary page in today’s Daily Telegraph is given over, in the main, to a report on the death of the ‘minimalist’ American artist, Carl Andre. Now, I normally read obituaries, especially on artists; however, this charlatan was the clown who installed a pile of bricks in the Tate Gallery (back in 1976) that was declared as an important work of ‘art’.

    As a direct consequence I have not wasted my time reading the obit.

    1. I reember mercilessly taking the piss out of those bricks. I wonder if that was the point?

    2. Today I took part in my local Wrinklies (u3a) Quiz, one question of which was “Who in 2023 won the Turner Prize?” On wag on my table (not me) suggested “Tina Turner?” (Well, I larffed.)

    3. Today I took part in my local Wrinklies (u3a) Quiz, one question of which was “Who in 2023 won the Turner Prize?” On wag on my table (not me) suggested “Tina Turner?” (Well, I larffed.)

  102. I see the manager of Liverpool Football Club is standing down…

    Robert Wilkinson
    @robertwlk
    Most scouser tears since the locking wheel nut was invented 🤣

  103. The comic plotters against Rishi Sunak are tragically right about the evils facing Britain

    This is no time for a change of leader. But the Tories do need to contemplate their biggest rethink since the 1970s

    CHARLES MOORE • 26 January 2024 • 7:00pm

    Great political dramas – such as the fall of Margaret Thatcher – are sometimes called “Shakespearean”, the stuff of high tragedy. But Shakespeare has other modes, too. One is low comedy. Look at the cast list of Henry IV part II, for instance, and you will find characters called Mouldy, Wart, Shallow and Feeble.

    Earlier this week, the third item in a “grid” supposedly designed by Tories wishing to overthrow Rishi Sunak was reported on a newspaper front page. The story was that a former special adviser to Rishi Sunak had joined the plot to depose him. His Shakespearean name was Will Dry.

    I had not previously heard of Mr Dry, 26. Further reporting revealed that, in his short life, young Will had originally been a Leaver, but then turned into a sort of Nellie Wet, becoming the co-founder of Our Future, Our Choice, a Remainer group campaigning for a second EU referendum. Now Mr Dry has re-repented, living up to his name and making life difficult for his former boss.

    It is aeons since I worked as a lobby journalist “conveying”, in Evelyn Waugh’s phrase of Randolph Churchill, “political gossip on whisky-laden breath”. So I may be misjudging the situation, but it does seem to me that if Mr Dry – versatile though he is – is considered a stand-alone item in a political assassination plot, then this is a comedy and Mr Sunak need not lose much sleep.

    The full story of the plot is still not known, but its first and second parts appeared in this newspaper. The first was a YouGov poll, anonymously financed, which was “shaped and analysed” (his own words) by Lord Frost [!!!!!]. The second was an article by Sir Simon Clarke MP.

    The poll seemed to show that many voters hold conservative opinions, especially about immigration, but are fed up with the Conservatives. This was weaponised, not very successfully, to encourage revolt against the Rwanda Bill. If faced with a choice between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, many would prefer a better leader than either, YouGov unsensationally found.

    The article, containing an analysis of the current political situation (of which, more later), concluded that Mr Sunak must go now. With a new leader “who shares the instincts of the majority and is willing to lead the country in the right direction,” Sir Simon judged, “we will recover in 2024”.

    Naturally, everyone started asking which new leader was being touted. Rather like a head who cannot keep order, 10 Downing Street exhausted itself trying to identify culprits. Everyone disavowed any involvement. The Growth Group (Trussites) denied any interest in a change of leadership now, preferring Mr Sunak to take the blame for coming electoral defeat. So did the Common Sense Group and the New Conservatives.

    The consensus was that if any potential candidate was the intended beneficiary of this mini-putsch, it was Kemi Badenoch. But even most of her admirers describe themselves as “agnostic” about whether there should be a contest now. Some say there definitely should not be. Others detect “a whiff of Cummings” in everything, and fret.

    In what I think is a first for a parliamentary conspiracy, an illicit photograph was circulated. It showed Michael Gove having supper on Monday in Parliament’s Barry Room with the high-Tory Sir John Hayes. What were the pair up to, its distributors wondered. Were the Government’s longest-serving Cabinet minister and a senior backbencher of the Right planning a new leader, probably Kemi?

    I rang up Sir John to get his version. He pointed out that he and Mr Gove are such old and good friends that the latter has spoken at the former’s 40th, 50th and 60th birthday dinners. On Monday night, Sir John said, “We talked mainly about aesthetics, as we always do.” Aesthetics and Tory plotting do not go together.

    From all of which we learn that nobody, among a group of people about half of whom expect two by-election losses next month and then to lose their seats at the next general election, knows what to do next. About half of that half, aged over 50 and unpromising “diversity hires” in our brave new world, face unemployment.

    We probably also learn that there will not be a leadership challenge, and that there should not be. Even if a brilliant candidate were ready, he or she would have no time or mandate, after so many lurches of leadership, to effect change. The voters would surely punish at the ballot box a new administration that had put someone in so desperately late after having been around, collectively, for so dreadfully long.

    The last credible chance to be a “change” candidate before confronting the electorate was Mr Sunak’s in October last year. It is unfortunately now clear that he has blown it. But a replacement leader this spring could not invoke any overriding issue of principle or parliamentary stalemate of the kind which, in 2019, allowed Boris Johnson to move from becoming prime minister in July to calling and winning a general election that December. Instead of having their cake and eating it, the Conservatives have now made their bed, so they must lie on it.

    If anything useful has come out of all these speculations and still-born remedies, it is that the Right of the Conservative Party is now more united, not about a candidate, but about what’s wrong. Whether they are from the free-market Right or the more communitarian, often protectionist Right, they are agreed that the present Government has become “unconservative”.

    The fact that Sir Simon Clarke rashly called for Mr Sunak’s overthrow distracted attention from his main argument: that the Government has lost touch with the things that matter. He identified the failure to build enough homes, reform taxes, “protect our culture from the malign actors and useful idiots undermining it”, and, above all, to prevent illegal and excessive legal migration.

    Rather than accusing Mr Sunak of being a cuckoo in the Tory ideological nest, he attacked his failure to “get what Britain needs”, instead “deferring to the failing wisdom of the ‘high status’ – elite international investors, lawyers, technocrats. Instead of conviction, we have convention.” Failing thus, the Tories have created a vacuum which Nigel Farage will try to fill.

    This analysis is roughly correct. In most major current problems – immigration, the end of rising prosperity for the great majority, inflation, government over-spending and borrowing, energy insecurity, net zero, unanswerable bureaucracy, official Brexit negativity, weak public services and an increasingly inadequate defence of the realm – the “high status” answers have proved the wrong ones.

    Most of the wrong answers may not have been conceived by the Conservatives, but since most of these problems have grown under nearly 14 years of Conservative government, those currently in office lack the will to address them honestly. The natural remedy, under our parliamentary democracy, is a change of government. That is very likely what we shall quite soon get. But the problem for the small-c conservative electorate which the YouGov poll captures is that the same applies to the only available replacement, the Labour Party. If you had to seek the characteristic “high status” attitudes of our time in one living human being, you would choose Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC.

    The overarching “high status” mistake began with the West’s victory in the Cold War. We no longer felt we had to guard against preventable evils. Unprevented, they are now well and truly upon us. For the Tories, this requires not political assassination, but the biggest rethink since the 1970s.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/26/rishi-sunak-plotters-are-right-about-britain/

    3. … [T]hey are agreed that the present Government has become “unconservative”. Well, I never. If they hadn’t been so determined to avoid anything the plebs said, they might have become aware of this disastrous state of affairs considerably earlier.

  104. Just poured the last serving from my bottle of Ballentines whisky, watching Spurs trying to help Man City win.
    I don’t think I’ll bother after the half time whistle. Spurs v Man City was the first live pro game I saw. And Floodlit Late 50s. Bert Trautmann was in goal for City not long after he’d broken his neck at Wembley. 1-1 I think…

      2. Mine was from our ozzie mates who stayed with us for a week last spring.
        My favourite is Jura.
        Tesco have a few bargains.
        I’ll have to nip out next week.

  105. Had a few decent (stocked of course) trout on the new fly rod. 2 fellow anglers are trying to move my ‘wild’ fishing fetish to include rainbow trout.
    My second largest went back after a bit of resuscitation and a 5 pounder went back after a major operation.
    4lb fish here, 5 lb fish on friend’s phone.
    The new rod, far more expensive than I’ve paid for any previous rod, worked rather well.

      1. Oh and by the way:

        “The United States is planning to station nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years as the threat from Russia increases, Pentagon documents seen by The Telegraph reveal.

        Procurement contracts for a new facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk confirm that the US intends to place nuclear warheads three times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb at the air base.

        The US removed nuclear missiles from the UK in 2008, judging that the Cold War threat from Moscow had diminished.

        The disclosure comes in the wake of warnings that Nato countries need to ready their citizens for war with Russia”

        (Message for Mr Thomas: Perhaps it might be a good idea after brushing your teeth to kiss your a55 goodnight!)

        1. Good idea, but first move all the illegal migrant from their various hotels to RAF Lakenheath and evacuate native Brits to NE Scotland and SW England before igniting the nuclear warheads.

        2. I shan’t be rejoining the ROC should they revive it. Where are the women of Greenham Common when you need them?

          1. I spent many years on RN ships that had with helos, that could be nuclear armed, to attack “Soviet” subs.

            I was also on the first ‘NATO’ ship to go into the Black Sea, after the “Wall” came down.

        3. Lakenheath cropped up last Wednesday. The housing society (possibly the last volunteer-run one in the UK) has transferred it’s property portfolio to Stonewater, a much larger housing association. Among the various surveyors to visit since, a cheerful female asbestos surveyor turned up. I was reminded of a school refurb project at RAF Lakenheath, where we received a variation instruction to remove all the asbestos-containing floor tiles. By men in spacesuits, with negative-pressure filtered ventilation and a handy shower trailer parked outside. I opined that in living memory, one could buy “Philplug” – a mixture of filler and asbestos fibre for use in enlarged holes where Rawlplugs had no hope. One simply spat on a pinch of the deadly product, rolled it up and pressed it into the hole. It was brilliant. And that the USAF must have more money than sense. “we’re still removing asbestos there”, was her reply…

        1. He’s a weak link. A plant? I don’t know, but he should go. Farage (I know), is probably the the only person who could make Reform gain some voices in Parliament.

  109. Well, chums, it’s now time for bed so I’ll wish you all a Good Night. Sleep well and I’ll see you all tomorrow.

  110. “Admiral Nelson included in National Maritime Museum’s ‘Queer History Night’”

    I suppose the evidence is because he well and truly buggered the French!

      1. I have visited HMS Victory a few times.

        I am amazed that back in the 1800s that they could have installed Electric lLghting and FireMmains ( and guides)

        1. I am aware of that reading. It was more in the context of Horatio being included in queer history that I made the remark.

          1. Sadly, anyone of note historically is fair game for the ‘queer’ tag although ‘black’ appears to be making inroads. Perhaps both black and queer will be in vogue before long. Some sick people out there, I’m afraid.

  113. Military hospitals were similar to private hospitals ..

    We had general wards and sick officers blocks at RNH Haslar ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Hospital_Haslar, another Blair closure , like Britannia .)

    When I was a student nurse in the 1960s , Lord Mountbatten was admitted to a private room on a ward where he was due to have several impacted wisdom teeth removed .

    His valet accompanied him , and helped him undress in order to change into theatre garb .

    I was one of several nurses who were allocated to his care , pre and post op .

    He greeted us with smiley grunts ( the Royal family don’t speak clearly , they grunt language in short bursts ) he had lovely blue eyes, was very handsome and had stature if you know what I mean .

    His underwear was placed on a chair and his outer clothes were hung on hangers ( his underwear was monogramed , bit more uppercrust than school name tapes )

    Sister administered the pre med , then he was taken down to theatre.

    When he returned from theatre , 2 of us attended to him for several hours until he had recovered from his anaesthetic .. he was asleep for a few hours , snoring, we had to do hourly post op checks , when when he woke up allow him sips of iced water ..

    He was a charming man , and when he was able to cope with the after effects of his theatre ordeal , his valet appeared and helped him dress, the dear man grunted his thanks as he bid farewell to us all ..

    That was what the Royal Navy did well ..

    2. I have monogrammed socks!

      Well actually they are marked R and L to specify which foot they should adorn but I can always pretend that they are monogrammed.

      2. One of my Thursday evening drinking partners had at one time a nautical theme for his socks, one green sock and the other red.😎

    3. Hi Maggie. I visited Haslar on a ‘work experience course’ from school. I had zero intention of pursuing a naval career, but the local Recruitment office had offered our Headmaster three places. Two colleagues were interested. One definitely signed up. Not so sure about the other one. But it was a truly interesting visit.

      As it happens, I ended up building or refurbishing hospitals. Amongst other things.

      1. Just noticed this Geoff, I use to work for a company that refurbished hospitals they were know as Heath Construction based in St Albans.
        We moved on to Pub refurbishment later. Much more rewarding. 😉

    4. Mountbattens’ judgement was severely lacking when he described our Idiot King, then a mere Prince Charles, as the “finest man he ever knew”.

      King Charles is in fact a total cretin.
      Jesus, give me strength.

      On a separate matter some judge in America has awarded that mad woman who accused Trump of rape $83.33 million in defamation damages.

      The world has literally gone mad.

    5. I was admitted to RNH Haslar in 1966 and ended up sharing a ward with several members of the ship’s company of a visiting Nigerian navy frigate who were suffering an outbreak of Measles!!!

      Not pleasant!

  114. Saturday 27th January, 2024

    Citroën 1

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

    and enjoy the distinction of 76 of these!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/765a6ae67132e329961369ba89587241cbf02e8606006709800b35319a4e28b0.png

    And very many happy returns,

    With best wishes,

    Caroline and Rastus

    (Have a really upmarket day!)

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/54a245ca00c77e0ab511cf95ebe8f93102045a1614fd1cab50556279da1b2dd0.png

  115. The comic plotters against Rishi Sunak are tragically right about the evils facing Britain
    This is no time for a change of leader. But the Tories do need to contemplate their biggest rethink since the 1970s
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/26/rishi-sunak-plotters-are-right-about-britain/

    BTL

    There is no point in having a new leader – let Sunak go down with the sinking ship.
    What we need is a new party – a completely new conservative party.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0d16f82ac44b26da7ca396508b4feb749dd34ff64cc29a79709fa5129761c30f.png

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