Friday 23 February: Nothing but sound and fury during a disgraceful day in Parliament

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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518 thoughts on “Friday 23 February: Nothing but sound and fury during a disgraceful day in Parliament”

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

    I DID NOT KNOW THIS...

    When you drink vodka over ice, it can give you kidney failure.
    When you drink rum over ice, it can give you liver failure.
    When you drink whisky over ice, it can give you heart problems.
    When you drink gin over ice, it can give you brain problems.

    Apparently, ice is really bad for you.
    Warn all your friends.

          2. No, but I have to clean his ears (no hairs to catch the muck) bath him once a week to get rid of all the muck and sweat he hasn’t removed in our bed, and when he’s finally decided where he’s going to sleep for the day, cover him up in his fleecy blanket! Oh! And I have to cut his claws, risking life and limb in the process!

          3. Does he mind being bathed?

            I use a heated mat for my two but you can also buy heated beds and igloos.

          4. Some days he likes it, some days not so much…! He likes the warm water and bubbles but gets yowly when I clean his feet and tummy! Then he leaps from the bath, across the (closed) loo and skates across the floor to the (closed) door! He then glowers at me ‘til I give him a treat and a towel!

          5. Some days he likes it, some days not so much…! He likes the warm water and bubbles but gets yowly when I clean his feet and tummy! Then he leaps from the bath, across the (closed) loo and skates across the floor to the (closed) door! He then glowers at me ‘til I give him a treat and a towel!

          6. Does he mind being bathed?

            I use a heated mat for my two but you can also buy heated beds and igloos.

  4. Good morning all! Waiting for our new grandson to be born! He’s 2 days over due date now!

  5. Islamists are bullying Britain into submission. 23 February 2024.

    The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now. They have bullied the Labour Party, they have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission.

    But what is our response? Our leaders bury their heads in the sand, preferring the illusion of a “successful multicultural society”, terrified of being called “racist”. But the law has not changed, mass extremism parades itself proudly, campuses remain dangerous places for Jews, and Labour is still rotten to the core.

    Well at least she has come out and said so! The rest are still in denial. The reality of yesterday’s events are to show us that the incoming Labour Government will be a de facto Islamic tyranny!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/22/islamists-are-bullying-britain-into-submission/

    1. Now that the slammers have exercised their power and found that there is no resistance, expect all sorts of campaigns to turn us into an islamic state. They already have the numbers, but with breeding and importation the flood is soon to become a tsunami.

      1. Not only no resistance Kaypea. Positive grovelling to the Muslims.

        In 2021 a Muslim suicide bomber tried to blow up the Liverpool Hospital for Women.

        Fortunately his bomb malfunctioned and he was the only one killed.

        Two Labour MPs commented on this sympathetically.

        One comment is below. Sorry, the other wouldn’t copy.

        Liverpool

        Charlotte Nichols, Labour MP for Warrington North, said: “Incredibly disturbing news.

        “Wishing those investigating all the very best as they work to ascertain what happened, and sending love to the family and

        friends of the person who was killed in the incident.”

      2. Not only no resistance Kaypea. Positive grovelling to the Muslims.

        In 2021 a Muslim suicide bomber tried to blow up the Liverpool Hospital for Women.

        Fortunately his bomb malfunctioned and he was the only one killed.

        Two Labour MPs commented on this sympathetically.

        One comment is below. Sorry, the other wouldn’t copy.

        Liverpool

        Charlotte Nichols, Labour MP for Warrington North, said: “Incredibly disturbing news.

        “Wishing those investigating all the very best as they work to ascertain what happened, and sending love to the family and

        friends of the person who was killed in the incident.”

  8. Good morning, chums. And here is my Wordle attempt this morning: Wordle 979 3/6

    🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
    🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Good Morning, Elsie.
      You are getting better at this.

      Wordle 979 3/6

      ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
      🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  10. Nothing but sound and fury during a disgraceful day in Parliament

    Well in a Hoyle, they should learn to stop digging

  11. Matthew Lynn wants us all to ‘combat climate change’

    Europe faces industrial wipe-out

    Instead of sparking a manufacturing renaissance in Europe, the pursuit of net zero is leading instead to imminent deindustrialisation

    MATTHEW LYNN
    22 February 2024 • 7:08am

    In the United States, there are massive subsidies. In China, there is an industrial strategy pursued with ruthless effectiveness. And yet in Europe, there are just “deadlines and fines”.

    Luca de Meo, the boss of the giant French car manufacturer Renault, didn’t mince his words when he called this week for a coherent response from Britain, France, and the rest of the major European industrial nations, to the threat posed by imports of cheap foreign electric vehicles.

    Sure, it would be easy to dismiss that as just another industrial leader calling for soft loans and tariffs to rescue an uncompetitive industry. And yet de Meo is on to something. Net zero has turned into a Chinese weapon aimed right at the heart of Western competitiveness.

    If we don’t wake up and recognise soon that we have to figure out a better way of combatting climate change, our industries are about to get wiped out.

    The transition from petrol to battery-powered vehicles is not working quite as planned. It was meant to spark a wave of investment, create a swathe of “well-paid green jobs” and dramatically cut carbon emissions at the same time.

    Renault, in turn, looked set to play a leading role. With models such as the ZOE, the company was an early pioneer in the space of relatively affordable EVs. It looked as if it was all set to become a global leader.

    Right now, that seems far from the case. Chinese firms are about to dump millions of cheap EVs on the European market.

    “The UK may no longer be part of the EU, but on this issue I think we face the same challenges together,” argued De Meo in an article for Autocar.

    “With the internal combustion engine, our leadership was undisputed…and it was a barrier to entry for newcomers. Today, Europeans find themselves in a position of relative fragility”. His argument is that the EU and the UK have to work together to fight back, and protect what remains one of the continent’s most significant industries.

    He is certainly right about that. In the US, President Biden has launched a tax credit scheme that will pour nearly $400bn into subsidies, and while not all the money will be well spent it will give America a chance to build a substantial industry.

    Meanwhile, China has funnelled massive amounts of money into building EVs, it has taken control of critical minerals needed to make them cheaply, and it is now about to flood the West with models that could well outcompete European manufacturers on both quality and price.

    Instead of sparking a manufacturing renaissance in Europe, the pursuit of net zero is leading instead to imminent deindustrialisation. It might be starting with the mighty automotive industry, in which the Continent once led the world, but it is being repeated again and again elsewhere.

    Indeed only this week a group of major European industries launched the “Antwerp declaration”, calling on the EU to relax regulations, lower energy costs and increase investment, while it still has some industry left.

    Signed by 73 major companies, from 17 sectors including chemicals, pharmaceuticals and engineering, it argued that “sites are being closed, production halted, people let go…Europe needs a business case urgently.”

    Here’s the problem, however. All the major European governments, including the UK of course, are still fanatically committed to net zero, and that stops them from responding properly.

    Take cars for example. Normally, the EU or Britain would likely launch an “anti-dumping” action against cheap imports of Chinese EVs, and impose tariffs to allow our manufacturers to compete.

    But how can we do that when we have banned the sale of petrol cars from 2035, and we are committed to phasing them out as fast as we can?

    Likewise, we could put restrictions and tariffs on Chinese solar panels, which now dominate that particular market. But how can we do that when we have legally mandated targets to increase the share of alternative energies?

    The price tag is already fearfully high, and we have miserably failed to build up the capacity to make our own equipment at competitive prices. If given a choice between net zero and economic success, our politicians are disturbingly clear which takes precedence.

    It’s the same story throughout the economy. We have allowed energy prices to soar, planned to close down our own offshore oil fields, and held back the growth in fracking even as it has delivered economic booms in North America.

    We have ignored the fact that these choices are putting companies out of business – and are allowing Chinese rivals with far lower power costs to trample all over European businesses.

    The harsh truth is that China has weaponised net zero, and turned it into a way of seizing industrial leadership. America is responding, admittedly perhaps too late, and with too much state control. But Europe has been left floundering, and it is about to get wiped out.

    The Continent has made a complete mess of the transition to net zero, naively assuming that it would create jobs, and that its rivals were only interested in saving the planet, and not in securing an edge for their own industries.

    It is perfectly possible to combine the two objectives, but it won’t be done simply through “deadlines and regulations”, or with naive rhetoric about “green jobs”.

    Both the UK and the EU need a complete reset, working out what industries need to be protected, how to keep costs competitive and, where necessary, figuring out how to cut carbon emissions over a realistic timetable.

    It is not yet too late to do that – but by the time Renault has closed down, and even the French are driving around in Chinese-made BYDs, it will be.

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

    Roscoe Johnson
    22 HRS AGO
    No Matthew, woke, weak, nut zero zealots in Governments across the west have put us all in this position of self harm. The Chinese just can’t believe their luck, & from their point of view are quite sensibly exploiting it to their benefit. The fault is our own for allowing this climate dooms day cult into politics & our institutions. Without the nut zero push & nonsense, we wouldn’t be facing this issue.

    Dominic English
    20 HRS AGO
    Reply to Roscoe Johnson
    Exactly this. Also, the UK hardly figures when it comes to climate emissions. We’re destroying what is left of our economy for nothing. It matters not that China is sending us all its cheap EVs. Pretty soon no one in Britain will be able to afford them. https://open.substack.com/pub/lowstatus/p/holidays-in-the-sun?r=evzeq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

    James Richard
    17 HRS AGO
    Reply to Roscoe Johnson – view message
    Matthew Lynn still (despite all evidence) believes in man made climate change!! He’s not for turning is he?
    As long as people follow Matthew’s line of thinking we are in for a lot of pain. CO2 is NOT heating the atmosphere. Everything we do to ‘contain it’ is a waste of time and money.

    1. Climate Change Committee “deceived Parliament and the British people”
      Press release
      21 Feb
      NZW team

      The Government is facing demands to launch an urgent inquiry into the conduct of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), as evidence accumulates that the cost of Net Zero will be trillions of pounds more costly than the Committee has claimed.

      The call comes in the wake of comments from Olivier Blanchard, a former chief economist at the IMF, who told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that Net Zero will be “much more expensive than people imagine”.

      Mr Blanchard’s remarks are just the latest confirmation that the public have been systematically misled over the cost of Net Zero :

      In 2021, it was revealed that the CCC had used spurious weather data in their modelling, thus enabling them to reduce the capacity of electricity generation and storage equipment apparently required.

      It was also revealed that the CCC used spurious figures for the cost of electric vehicles, thus reducing the apparent costs.

      More recently, the CCC admitted that its electricity system modelling is inadequate. The resulting understatement of costs is as much as tens of billions of pounds per year.

      It has also been revealed that the CCC “waves away” most of the cost problem, simply by assuming extraordinary cost reductions in future. With current technology, the cost of Net Zero will be hundreds of billions of pounds higher.

      And the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Hammond, has said, quite bluntly that the political establishment has been “systematically dishonest” about the cost of Net Zero.

      Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:

      There is no longer any doubt that the Climate Change Committee has deceived Parliament and the British people. The only question is whether Rishi Sunak is going to do anything about it. He has a simple choice – launch an inquiry into the Climate Change Committee and all the other institutions involved in the deception, or go down in history as a party to the fraud.

          1. I say, steady on Citroen1, next you’ll be getting really insulting and calling them Silly Sausages. Lol.

      3. “There is no longer any doubt that the Climate Change Committee has deceived Parliament and the British people.”

        Deceived, I don’t think so. Parliament has gone along with the scam for its own agenda, while any British people taken in by it must be as dense as f***!

    2. Climate Change Committee “deceived Parliament and the British people”
      Press release
      21 Feb
      NZW team

      The Government is facing demands to launch an urgent inquiry into the conduct of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), as evidence accumulates that the cost of Net Zero will be trillions of pounds more costly than the Committee has claimed.

      The call comes in the wake of comments from Olivier Blanchard, a former chief economist at the IMF, who told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that Net Zero will be “much more expensive than people imagine”.

      Mr Blanchard’s remarks are just the latest confirmation that the public have been systematically misled over the cost of Net Zero :

      In 2021, it was revealed that the CCC had used spurious weather data in their modelling, thus enabling them to reduce the capacity of electricity generation and storage equipment apparently required.

      It was also revealed that the CCC used spurious figures for the cost of electric vehicles, thus reducing the apparent costs.

      More recently, the CCC admitted that its electricity system modelling is inadequate. The resulting understatement of costs is as much as tens of billions of pounds per year.

      It has also been revealed that the CCC “waves away” most of the cost problem, simply by assuming extraordinary cost reductions in future. With current technology, the cost of Net Zero will be hundreds of billions of pounds higher.

      And the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Hammond, has said, quite bluntly that the political establishment has been “systematically dishonest” about the cost of Net Zero.

      Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:

      There is no longer any doubt that the Climate Change Committee has deceived Parliament and the British people. The only question is whether Rishi Sunak is going to do anything about it. He has a simple choice – launch an inquiry into the Climate Change Committee and all the other institutions involved in the deception, or go down in history as a party to the fraud.

    3. Matthew, the public realised this lunacy right from the start. (Once again, it is not we, Joe Public ) who has embraced the most ridiculous idea that co2 is bad for the planet. And the western world should not be concerning itself with “protecting the EV industry in particular”.

      This net zero is being driven by UN, WEF and other billionaires who are working to impoverish us all, starve us to death (you will eat bugs) or freeze us to death (HMG has caused the cost of energy to rise when we have our own gas and oil to use) simply to depopulate the world and enjoy complete control over us all every which way. That is, if the Muslims don’t get there first.

  12. Our democracy is endangered when politicians give in to threats

    The Speaker ought to be a defender of our system, especially when the mob is seeking to subvert it

    FRASER NELSON
    22 February 2024 • 7:24pm
    *
    *
    *********************************

    Conte di Faraglione
    10 HRS AGO
    Although I fully understand Paul Bristow’s wish to protect his family, it should be equally clear to him that the only honourable thing for him is to resign. He’s announced to the world that he’s willing to appease the Muslim mob when it threatens him.
    The second point to make is more important: nothing like this would have happened if we hadn’t imported 4-5 million Muslims into the UK.
    Trump was derided when the stopped immigration from Muslim majority countries in 2016. He seems prescient today.
    Our political class, Conservatives and Labour, are responsible for this. Mass immigration in general, and from Muslim countries in particular, must cease. Now.

    M P Griffiths
    11 HRS AGO
    What would the US Secret Service or German plod have made of a genocidal slogan being projected onto the Capitol or Bundestag?
    The Met are led by cowards. EDITED

    malcolm ingham
    11 HRS AGO
    Reply to M P Griffiths
    The MET are led by sympathisers with the radicals who intimidate the law abiding and protect terrorist supporters and their mayor Khan.

    Phillip Westwood
    10 HRS AGO
    Too late. Politicians and other public figures are frankly too frightened to call out militant Islam these days. The country has fallen to it and we will all live in fear as Islamists take over and start to round us all up.
    The politicians and elites are starting to reap what they have sown with their insane immigration policies.
    We are heading to civil war and bloodshed on our streets.

    1. Well Phillip, if you don’t like living in an Islamic state you can always claim asylum in another country.

  14. ‘Morning All

    Rather pointed medley

    https://twitter.com/abhijitmajumder/status/1757874732613976339?s=20

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d6194f069ad7343fb27b2e2adb6485349be2e2c487db70e27106a742ae52ba7.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/edd252280162c291e61232b833ead351b0a93092aca867a673d89e095c47ec5f.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5d5b66500c112e5c9dd169cd7ab93b34b2fd99232be5a2a30b5214b98cd590ad.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/861e9ac2850d791d4a8c3dcb8f0f8204c40305279060556c5641dcd305eaf2a5.png

    We? WE??

    https://twitter.com/RobertJenrick/status/1760648828095463845
    You mean YOU!! you woke weak appeasing cretins who called every warning voice far right racists for decades…..
    Too little,too late hell is coming to our country either submission or a bloodletting like nothing ever before seen in our country

    1. 383800+ up ticks,

      Morning Rik and sorry BUT, you MUST accept the leadership of the remnants of the United Kingdom….. after breakfast.

    3. “…Islamist extremists…”

      Muslims.

      “…a debate on extremism…”

      Which will include the massed armies of the Far Right.

  15. 383800+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Internally & externally the end really is nigh,

    I would think by now even the electorate majority would have had their GLUT of these anti United Kingdom parties they keep returning to power.

    This will come to an end shortly when the NON BELIEVER ( that it couldn’t happen) realise there is a caliph in place, and heads were beginning to roll.

    https://x.com/habibi_uk/status/1760766836247830731?s=20

    1. 38380 + up ticks,

      O2O,

      Inside the chamber,

      Friday 23 February: Nothing but sound and fury during a disgraceful day in Parliament

      The political enemas have it,

      The political enemas have it.

  16. I’m shocked,shocked I tell you

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dfa2124b04d2dd0aa019523d66b48235b9fed47d0611f8944867ec9832473517.gif

    DE
    “Tower Hamlets Council investigated over serious concerns about the way it’s run.

    The local authority, under the leadership of Mayor Lutfur Rahman and his
    Aspire administration elected in 2022, will be scrutinised by inspectors
    over the coming months.
    They’ll be looking into a range of issues
    including high staff turnover in senior roles, budget plans, financial
    planning, the use of policy advisers, the £1.4million expansion of the
    mayor’s office, and how grants have been distributed.
    On Thursday
    (February 22), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
    (DLUHC) sent a letter to Stephen Halsey, the CEO of Tower Hamlets, about
    the impending inspection”
    See Birmingham for corruption on an even grander scale,everywhere Islam goes third world standards become the norm
    Edit
    It’s all perfecrtly justified of course gotta extract that Jizra from the Kuffah somehow

    1. Those poor citizens who spent years of their lives proving Lutfur Rahman’s unfitness to take part in democratic politics, and then all he got was a slap on the wrist and he’s back.

    2. I believe Something else is also waiting to be exposed. Many people who currently have blue badges in London, are not actually disabled, they just have friends in the right departments. And free parking of course.

      1. You don’t get free parking round here if you’re a blue badge holder. You have to pay, but get an extra hour’s leeway. In the socialist republic of Wales, of course, parking is free if you’re a blue badge holder.

        1. That’s unfortunate we seem to have a lot of disabled parking areas that don’t have meters.

  17. Apparently the slammers who projected their vile message on Parliament “committed no offence”. What a relief.

    1. Funny, if I were to project “Stop the Invasion” onto Parliament, I’m fairly sure I would be charged with something.

    1. Some readers appear to misunderstand the objectives of Nett Zero.

      Nett Zero is not designed to eliminate the car industry, but only to eliminate the British car industry.

      1. It’s designed to erase personal mobility entirely. And energy use. And freedom of any sort.

        By destroying our industry, self sufficiency, economic potential we will be forced into utter poverty as the final hammer to destroy this country. Then there will be a desperate flailing to say ‘we must do this’ rather then reverse the obvious problem they’ll push ever more globalist, Left wing idiocy.

  19. Good morning.
    Apologies for the sombre post, but in case anyone has any doubt where euthanasia in Britain would head, here’s a telling story from Canada via Twitt.

    The Canadian Independent
    @canindependent
    EXCLUSIVE: Young Ontario woman’s life becomes a living hell after Moderna booster shot leaves her paralyzed. Doctors confirm vaccine connection and offer Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID).

    1. I’m sorry, whittering on about Parliamentary procedure while we are subjected to Agenda 21, Agenda 2030 and nett zero, uncontrolled migration, LGBTQWERTY madness, soaring energy costs and shortages, the war on farming, potholes, you name it, just shows us how out of touch the stupid bitch is. Margaret Thatcher she ain’t.

      1. Remember the Right Said Fred song “I’m too sexy for my shirt.“?

        Maybe she thinks that she’s too sexy for her skirt?’

    3. But they’re all the same. They are ALL THE SAME. Mordant and every other MP thinks the same. If they don’t completely comply with the groupthink they are ostracised and that’s it.

      The political class are all the same. They’re all liars, thieves and scum. To say I hold them in contempt is the lightest possible term. They are everything wrong with this country and they know it. Worse, they know there is nothing we can do to stop them.

  21. This mornings lesson is taken from:

    1 Corinthians
    55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The statistics of death is sin

    “We don’t pretend to understand the ONS’s overview of the change to its methods. Given what we know of the problems in Government decision-making, the British public is entitled to a better explanation for the change in methods and its impact. Only a clear explanation will exorcise the ghost of misgovernment.

    Other estimates for excess deaths last year remain substantially higher than those produced by the ONS’s new method, and until it is fully understood why, questions will remain outstanding. What are we now meant to believe?

    As always, we can trust the evidence. And what we can see in the data is that, since the pandemic, deaths have remained high in all three of the ensuing years – above 650,000 annually across the UK. Compare this with 2011, when just over 550,000 deaths occurred. Changes to the size, age or gender of the population seem unlikely to explain an increase in 100,000 deaths over this period.

    It is clear to us that something is not right; while we do not fully understand the ONS’s new model, there have been more deaths than expected since the pandemic.

    Last year, the British Heart Foundation reported that, since the onset of the pandemic, “as of June 2023, there have been nearly 100,000 excess deaths in England involving [ischaemic heart disease] or other cardiovascular diseases”. The number of premature deaths from heart disease soared to a 14-year high in the wake of Covid.

    Yet the Government appears to lack any appetite for investigating the root causes. In May last year, Esther McVey MP submitted a written question in Parliament, asking the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care if his Department would conduct an investigation into excess deaths.

    Back came the response: there were “no plans” to commission such an investigation. Instead, it ran for cover behind the usual waffle of “high flu prevalence” and ongoing Covid “challenges”. In the meantime, we are left with a confusing and complex system for reporting and analysing excess deaths, and a deep sense of doubt as to whether the true numbers and causes will ever be investigated.”

    Carl Heneghan is director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Tom Jefferson is a senior associate tutor at the University of Oxford

  22. Morning all 🙂😊
    Beautiful Sunshine today, wonders will never cease.🌞
    And parliament ? What else would we expect from these greedy self important over rated, do nothing imbeciles.

  23. Well, Enoch told them, but they wouldn’t listen.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/be6c9fc735dcc2ca656be0fd090f86d4b59a355a12d970a4e13abcbabc11dd89.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/22/islamists-are-bullying-britain-into-submission/

    They’re in the schools getting white British children to say the shahada.

    “The Shahada, also transliterated as Shahadah, is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: “I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” The Shahada declares belief in the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God’s messenger.”

    The gloves need to come off, they really do. Voting will not fix this.

      1. Civil War may become unavoidable. The longer the confrontation is postponed the lower the chance of indigenous British people with traditional British views prevailing.

    2. You are missing the point – this is what that oaf Cleverly refers to above. It is Openness, Liberalism, Freedom of Speech, Democratic Process and The Rule of Law.

  24. Home Secretary rejects Braverman’s claim that Islamists are in charge of UK. 23 February 2024.

    Asked if his predecessor at the Home Office was right, Mr Cleverly told Times Radio: “No. I can understand her frustration but we do still live in one of the greatest countries in the world if not the greatest country in the world.

    “We have a high functioning democracy. We live by the rule of law. And I don’t think it is right or appropriate to imply anything other than that.

    “But what we value needs to be defended. I and the Prime Minister and the rest of the Government are absolutely committed to defending those things that we value: Openness , liberalism, freedom of speech, the democratic process and the rule of law. And that will remain an absolute commitment.”

    You do have to wonder. Does he really believe that?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/02/23/rishi-sunak-latest-news-cleverly-hoyle-braverman/#1708675813915

    1. Good morning Minty .

      I feel we have lost a 7 year silent war since Brexit .

      The UK has been undermined by toxic forces , far too many to mention , and after watching and hearing repeats of the debacle in Westminster the other day, I fear that those who support the Allah worshippers , the people who have put the Allah worshippers needs before the indigenous inhabitants of Britain have won the day, and the projection of messages on Big Ben have NOT incurred the wrath of the police or politicians .

      I fear we are sliding down the slippery slope rapidly.

      1. It’s deliberate. The decline has been engineered deliberately, viciously to ensure this country cannot succeed outside of he EU. That’s deliberate. It’s not an accident, the state wants this. it is intentional To believe otherwise is simply pretence.

      2. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman watcheth but in vain. Christianity has been deliberately sidelined.

    2. Correction – what he should have said:

      We have a mal functioning democracy. We lived by the rule of law. And I don’t think it is right or appropriate to imply anything other than that.

      Morning Minty and all.

    3. The man’s a deluded fool. People are judged by their actions, not their verbiage. A word salad tossed in total unreality: people can see what is happening before their eyes and the events are not in accord with Cleverly’s rose tinted falsehoods.

      Double standards applied to religious affiliations i.e. a Christian lady being harassed for silent praying(?) but a horde of moslems is allowed to deliberately block pavements and roads when they decide to have a prayer meeting.

      Khan’s London has become a dangerous lawless cesspit and other occupied cities are following closely behind.

      The list is long and disheartening, as planned.

      1. He’s not deluded, he’s a liar. He refuses to admit the truth because it harms him politically. He like all the rest, is scum. Utter effluent who are self serving, arrogant, ignorant, egotistical, stupid, mendacious, psychotically greedy revolting scum.

    6. I have one objection to Braverman’s article. The term “Islamist” which she insists on clinging to because she is to afraid to tell the truth that it is Islam itself that is the problem. As I have pointed out before, Al-Azhar University, the oldest and most respectable Islamic educational establishment in the world, founded in 970 AD, refused to condemn Islamic State because it’s teachings were not contrary to Islamic teaching. If the most respected mainstream Islamic educational institute in the world refuses to condemn extremists how can you pretend there is some real division between ‘Islamists’ and Islam itself?

    7. If “Cleverly” [was ever a man so badly named?] does believe that he’s a complete moron; I suspect he’s just another “out for myself” liar! This country may be a lot of things at present, “basket case” being one of the more polite options, but a democracy it certainly isn’t.

  25. Neither do I, Belle! Smug and self-satisfied! Like the Chairman of the local Soroptomists!

    1. It is her association with Gates that for me is not only off-putting but a complete No! No! I am sure she is as putty in his hands…. She is smug and self satisfied because she sees herself as The Chosen One. Good morning, Sue, Belle, Bob, everyone!

  27. Good Morning to all😊 Sunny day here in the deeply racist West Sussex countryside.

    Thought I would post this in full for the benefit of those who don’t sub to the Telegraph, because it is probably the most important article in the Daily Telegraph today.

    Islamists are bullying Britain into submission
    This isn’t just about my colleagues in Parliament. Our values and freedoms are under attack in all walks of life

    SUELLA BRAVERMAN

    They started with the Jews; there were stern words of disapproval from the top but things only got worse. The Islamist cranks and Left-wing extremists then took control of the streets; the police looked meekly on. They harassed teachers through the courts; our human rights and equalities laws were used against us. They threatened to kill an MP; he decided, justifiably, to leave public life. A respected peer, Lord Austin spoke out against terrorism and Islamism; he was suspended from a job he loves. They have hijacked a by-election in a deprived town in northern England. We see their influence in our judiciary, our legal profession and our universities.

    And then they came for Parliament. On a day when Keir Starmer should have shown strength of character, he bowed to the mob, abused his position, and undermined the integrity of Parliament. Conventions cast aside, the Speaker’s legitimacy destroyed, and democracy denied. Trust was shattered by Starmer’s grubby backroom deal. The mask has slipped: in hock to the Islamists, he is responsible for one of the most shameful days of our democracy. By effectively taking the Speaker hostage, he brought Parliament into disrepute. This is the behaviour of tyrants. Just imagine what Starmer would do as Prime Minister.

    The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now. They have bullied the Labour Party, they have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission.

    But what is our response? Our leaders bury their heads in the sand, preferring the illusion of a “successful multicultural society”, terrified of being called “racist”. But the law has not changed, mass extremism parades itself proudly, campuses remain dangerous places for Jews, and Labour is still rotten to the core.

    Let’s not forget how, in the short term at least, we got here. On October 7, an Islamist death cult attacked one of our closest allies on a scale never before imagined. More than 1,200 citizens of Israel, the vast majority of them Jews, were butchered in their homes, communities and at a music festival. Many of the women were raped and then murdered. Another 250 people were kidnapped and taken back to the terrorists’ lairs, where many still languish.

    Now we’re told that Israel, in its noble mission to recover those poor hostages, must cease. Its defence forces must put away their weapons. Let’s hear from those naysayers, both inside and outside Parliament, the alternative, practical solution first.

    But this isn’t just about my colleagues in Parliament. Our values and freedoms are under attack in all walks of life.

    What is happening to our great country? That one which was respectful, welcoming, and where speaking your mind did not mean losing your job, or your life? Where different faiths and races co-existed peacefully? I remember that country, but it’s not the Britain I see now.

    We cannot accept defeat. We need to find our courage. But we can only do that with honesty and determination. That’s why we must resist the attacks against the Prevent programme, designed to tackle extremism in whatever form it takes and stop people being radicalised into terrorism. It has been labelled “Islamophobic” and “racist” because, in the main, it is set up to tackle the most dangerous terrorist ideology facing our country: Islamism.

    But Prevent needs urgent reform. It is disappointing that, one year on from when I started the programme of changes set out by Sir William Shawcross, there are now major shortcomings. This was one of my priorities as home secretary and improvements were on track when I updated Parliament after six months. But progress has stalled: we need to keep the spotlight on Hamas networks in the UK. We know that some on the marches have links to that Islamist terror group.

    We need to get over our cultural timidity to refer budding Islamists, where they are a threat, into the programme. The Government has failed if 75 per cent of MI5’s caseload consists of Islamist terrorism yet the proportion of Islamist referrals into Prevent is only 11 per cent and falling. It’s not Islamophobic to challenge Islamist fanatics; it’s a civic duty.

    Lastly, no progress has been made on introducing guidance to stop blasphemy laws being introduced by the backdoor. We cannot allow teachers to be hounded out of schools because a picture of Muhammad was shown, or children to be censured because a Koran was scuffed accidentally. In this country, it is perfectly lawful to criticise any religion or God. One may disagree passionately, but it is not criminal.

    None of this is easy. I’ve written about how the protests could be policed better. Others have set out how we can clean up campuses, mosques and councils and, more fundamentally, how we can promote better integration. I may have been sacked because I spoke out against the appeasement of Islamists, but I would do it again because we need to wake up to what we are sleep-walking into: a ghettoised society where free expression and British values are diluted. Where sharia law, the Islamist mob and anti-Semites take over communities. We need to overcome the fear of being labelled Islamophobic and speak truthfully. Enough of the hand-wringing and apologies. Turning a blind eye to fanatics has got us into this terrible situation: it needs to stop.

    This is a crisis. And the fightback must start now, with urgency, if we are to preserve the liberties we cherish and the privileges this country affords us all. If we are to have any chance of saving our country from the mob.

    Rt Hon Suella Braverman MP is a former Home Secretary

    1. The only way to restore sanity to this country is to reverse the last 25 years. The 30 million forced on us, repeal the climate change act, the HRA, Brown’s pension raid, the migration pact, untangle the mess of railways privatisation – designed by the state for the state, close multiple government departments, defund councils and enforce strict pay limits, revoke massive welfare, scrap child benefit, scrap housing benefit, enact Brexit policies of free markets, low taxes and small government. Permanently revoke any ability for the state to raise or levy taxes without referendum by tax payers, ban any woke nonsense, stamp on criminality especially if from ‘da communidy’, sack Khan and send him the bill for every penny he has cost this country. Seize all of Mandelson and Blair’s assets – those they’ve hidden away in tax shelters.

      Punish the Left and their flag bearers. Ban Thunberg from the country as a terrorist. Anyone chanting pro Palestinian slogans gets sent there and forbidden return.

        1. Send them either back to the middle east or to Siberia where they can dig metals and oil and gas for the west. Force these useless fools to serve this country.

    2. It’s a bit late, isn’t it? Just WHO is going to start the fightback? The people have been disarmed, the police have been politicised and the young imported jihadis outnumber us.

      1. I agree. But you know that The English Bill of Rights, which has been trampled on, gives us the right to bear arms. It is from that the Americans get the second amendment to the Constitution.

  28. Good Morning to all😊 Sunny day here in the deeply racist West Sussex countryside.

    Thought I would post this in full for the benefit of those who don’t sub to the Telegraph, because it is probably the most important article in the Daily Telegraph today.

    Islamists are bullying Britain into submission
    This isn’t just about my colleagues in Parliament. Our values and freedoms are under attack in all walks of life

    SUELLA BRAVERMAN

    They started with the Jews; there were stern words of disapproval from the top but things only got worse. The Islamist cranks and Left-wing extremists then took control of the streets; the police looked meekly on. They harassed teachers through the courts; our human rights and equalities laws were used against us. They threatened to kill an MP; he decided, justifiably, to leave public life. A respected peer, Lord Austin spoke out against terrorism and Islamism; he was suspended from a job he loves. They have hijacked a by-election in a deprived town in northern England. We see their influence in our judiciary, our legal profession and our universities.

    And then they came for Parliament. On a day when Keir Starmer should have shown strength of character, he bowed to the mob, abused his position, and undermined the integrity of Parliament. Conventions cast aside, the Speaker’s legitimacy destroyed, and democracy denied. Trust was shattered by Starmer’s grubby backroom deal. The mask has slipped: in hock to the Islamists, he is responsible for one of the most shameful days of our democracy. By effectively taking the Speaker hostage, he brought Parliament into disrepute. This is the behaviour of tyrants. Just imagine what Starmer would do as Prime Minister.

    The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now. They have bullied the Labour Party, they have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission.

    But what is our response? Our leaders bury their heads in the sand, preferring the illusion of a “successful multicultural society”, terrified of being called “racist”. But the law has not changed, mass extremism parades itself proudly, campuses remain dangerous places for Jews, and Labour is still rotten to the core.

    Let’s not forget how, in the short term at least, we got here. On October 7, an Islamist death cult attacked one of our closest allies on a scale never before imagined. More than 1,200 citizens of Israel, the vast majority of them Jews, were butchered in their homes, communities and at a music festival. Many of the women were raped and then murdered. Another 250 people were kidnapped and taken back to the terrorists’ lairs, where many still languish.

    Now we’re told that Israel, in its noble mission to recover those poor hostages, must cease. Its defence forces must put away their weapons. Let’s hear from those naysayers, both inside and outside Parliament, the alternative, practical solution first.

    But this isn’t just about my colleagues in Parliament. Our values and freedoms are under attack in all walks of life.

    What is happening to our great country? That one which was respectful, welcoming, and where speaking your mind did not mean losing your job, or your life? Where different faiths and races co-existed peacefully? I remember that country, but it’s not the Britain I see now.

    We cannot accept defeat. We need to find our courage. But we can only do that with honesty and determination. That’s why we must resist the attacks against the Prevent programme, designed to tackle extremism in whatever form it takes and stop people being radicalised into terrorism. It has been labelled “Islamophobic” and “racist” because, in the main, it is set up to tackle the most dangerous terrorist ideology facing our country: Islamism.

    But Prevent needs urgent reform. It is disappointing that, one year on from when I started the programme of changes set out by Sir William Shawcross, there are now major shortcomings. This was one of my priorities as home secretary and improvements were on track when I updated Parliament after six months. But progress has stalled: we need to keep the spotlight on Hamas networks in the UK. We know that some on the marches have links to that Islamist terror group.

    We need to get over our cultural timidity to refer budding Islamists, where they are a threat, into the programme. The Government has failed if 75 per cent of MI5’s caseload consists of Islamist terrorism yet the proportion of Islamist referrals into Prevent is only 11 per cent and falling. It’s not Islamophobic to challenge Islamist fanatics; it’s a civic duty.

    Lastly, no progress has been made on introducing guidance to stop blasphemy laws being introduced by the backdoor. We cannot allow teachers to be hounded out of schools because a picture of Muhammad was shown, or children to be censured because a Koran was scuffed accidentally. In this country, it is perfectly lawful to criticise any religion or God. One may disagree passionately, but it is not criminal.

    None of this is easy. I’ve written about how the protests could be policed better. Others have set out how we can clean up campuses, mosques and councils and, more fundamentally, how we can promote better integration. I may have been sacked because I spoke out against the appeasement of Islamists, but I would do it again because we need to wake up to what we are sleep-walking into: a ghettoised society where free expression and British values are diluted. Where sharia law, the Islamist mob and anti-Semites take over communities. We need to overcome the fear of being labelled Islamophobic and speak truthfully. Enough of the hand-wringing and apologies. Turning a blind eye to fanatics has got us into this terrible situation: it needs to stop.

    This is a crisis. And the fightback must start now, with urgency, if we are to preserve the liberties we cherish and the privileges this country affords us all. If we are to have any chance of saving our country from the mob.

    Rt Hon Suella Braverman MP is a former Home Secretary

  29. Study of 100million confirms risk of vaccine damage, yet still the MSM play it down
    Kathy Gyngell : https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/study-of-100million-patients-confirms-risk-of-vaccine-damage-yet-still-the-msm-play-it-down/

    BTL

    Of course we are all peddling fake news, misinformation and disinformation and are conspiracy theorists!

    But how can we be anything else when the accumulating emerging evidence continues to support us?

    Bill Gates is on public record saying the world’s population must be dramatically reduced. How can a rational person not link this to his heavy involvement in Covid gene therapy and his financial support of the WHO?

    1. The press publicised the vaccine to the roof at government demand. Of course they’re going to play down the consequences.

  30. Study of 100million confirms risk of vaccine damage, yet still the MSM play it down
    Kathy Gyngell : https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/study-of-100million-patients-confirms-risk-of-vaccine-damage-yet-still-the-msm-play-it-down/

    BTL

    Of course we are all peddling fake news, misinformation and disinformation and are conspiracy theorists!

    But how can we be anything else when the accumulating emerging evidence continues to support us?

    Bill Gates is on public record saying the world’s population must be dramatically reduced. How can a rational person not link this to his heavy involvement in Covid gene therapy and his financial support of the WHO?

  31. The Conservative Woman
    Is anyone on NTTL a Moderator for The Conservative Woman (TCW) blog or is anyone in contact with one? If so, would you please investigate why I have been banned from the site and if the ban can be removed. I have absolutely no idea why such drastic action has been taken against me and my emails to TCW have not been answered. Many thanks in advance.

    1. Not a moderator on CW but I would like to answer your last post to me. I lived in California for 40 years so am just as, if not more so, familiar with the USA than you.

      I f your friends in the USA are well informed on law etc. then they must know that the Democratic Party and its acolytes are rigging the legal system. And, they must know that the myth of Trumps collusion with Russia was created by the Democratic Party. In particular by Hillary Clinton. They also must know that the allegation that Trump incited rebellion was false and that parts of his speech to the people on the Washington Mall were deliberately edited to give a false message. They must also know that Trump is being deliberately targeted by the Democrats using the legal system and the media to lay charges against him the are false and which they know to be false. Trump is not a dangerous demagogue at all. In fact his politics have been compared with JFK, hardly a right wing fanatic but in todays climate would be unelectable on those false grounds.

      As for support. You are, of course, quite right in stating that. “I do not think that Trump has anywhere near as much support as the noise and claims of his supporters would suggest.” In fact his support is much larger than your thinking supposes. That you think otherwise is due to the measure of self deception that Democrats and the Left Wing suffer from in ignoring and pretending that Biden, due to a rabble of hysterical historians, is in full possession of his faculties and ranks above Regan, and both the Bush presidents in terms of Presidential achievements, whilst Trump ranks last. Thus the wages of Trump Derangement Syndrome that you will believe anything and everything as long as it serves to put Trump in a bad light. Including Hillary comparing him with Hitler. This from a women who destroyed secret files, should be in jail along with Bidens son, but both get away with their crimes because no one will prosecute them with a Democrat Government in charge.

      1. I am afraid that our views remain almost diametrically opposed. However, it is something to be cherished that we can express those views openly – whatever our dislike of the current political situations in the UK and US, at least some elements of democracy remain.

        1. ……… at least some elements of democracy remain.

          Is that the bit where the plebs get to go to the polling station and vote for all the promises which are then totally ignored for the next 5 years?

          1. There’s plenty of Democracy in the USA but if Trump loses the next election it will die, due to the Democrats giving citizenship to the illegals, 10 million + and thus creating a permanent Democrat majority, a dictatorship. At that point, I hope, there would be revolution.

        2. I would agree with your sentiment but there is a difference between having a point of view and facts. The items I have enumerated above are facts not points of view.

          But Trump Derangement syndrome has people on the left retreating into a world of fantasy and fleeing from reality hence you have Bill Maher, a hardcore Democrat believing that if Governor Gavin Newsom ran for President, he would win against Trump. He cannot see that this Democrat with the usual Democrat policies has run California into the ground, a one man wrecking crew as vicious as a major earthquake in destroying the state. People are actually fleeing due to his disastrous policies and then he taxes people for daring to escape California and moving elsewhere. But Maher actually thinks he is magnificent. The wages of TDS are a lack of good judgement and retreat into insane ways of thinking.

          1. I don’t think that they are facts but the facts that you think they are and that I don’t is part of democratic debate.

          5. I have just watched the video and it consists of a collection of assertions and ad hominem attacks on Trump’s opponents. President Biden may be past his sell-by date and with a failing memory, and Kamala Harris is of questionable competence but that in itself does not mean that Trump is everything that they are not. The idea that there is some sort of widespread conspiracy across the whole of the US to deny Trump’s candidacy is, in my view, ludicrous. To believe in a conspiracy, one must first accept that the presumed conspirators have the wit, wisdom, organisational ability and competence to carry out the conspiracy. That’s why I don’t believe in any so-called government conspiracy.

          6. It’s really weird that you call facts assertions. It is as inaccurate as your trying to make a false affinity between the miners of the UK in the 60’s and the truckers of the USA in the 2000s. You seem to conflate things at your convenience. Is this taught in Woke, confusing and redefining words, events and facts by false equivalence in order to create a false reality?

          7. Assertions become facts only when they are supported by credible and compelling evidence – repetition and calling your opponents names simply demonstrates the weakness of your case. Let me give you an example. I said “I do not think that Trump has anywhere near as much support as the noise and claims of his supporters would suggest.” That is not even an assertion but just my thinking, as you accepted in your reply: “In fact his support is much larger than your thinking supposes”. Given that I never quantified what I thought Trump’s support was, I am not sure how you can possibly make the statement that you did. Nevertheless, you have declared it as a fact so where is the evidence to support your assertion? What figure for nationwide support of Trump (not voting intentions as that often means unwillingness to vote for the alternative) has been provided by, say, two or three respected, non-partisan organisations? Actually, I have no evidence as to what the figures might be but if they are substantially above 35%, I would be happy to accept that your assertion is indeed fact. Over to you!

          8. If the election was held today. https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-win-election-joe-biden-1857100 Newsweek which is not exactly pro-Trump. In short you do suffer from TDS. It is rather obvious when you consider the attempts by Democrats to block him from being on the ballot in various states. The bogus criminal offences pursued by political actors, all Democrats. The false accusations such as the Russia hoax. etc etc etc. The raid on Mar-a-Lago , he list goes on interminably. The fact you can’t even admit there is an anti-democratic campaign against Trump, a campaign contemptuous of the Constitution by bad actors, is prove positive that you do not want to see that the Democrats are a corrupt and rotten party aided and abated by RHINOs only interested in winning by foul means because they cannot win by fair.

    2. Not a moderator on CW but I would like to answer your last post to me. I lived in California for 40 years so am just as, if not more so, familiar with the USA than you.

      I f your friends in the USA are well informed on law etc. then they must know that the Democratic Party and its acolytes are rigging the legal system. And, they must know that the myth of Trumps collusion with Russia was created by the Democratic Party. In particular by Hillary Clinton. They also must know that the allegation that Trump incited rebellion was false and that parts of his speech to the people on the Washington Mall were deliberately edited to give a false message. They must also know that Trump is being deliberately targeted by the Democrats using the legal system and the media to lay charges against him the are false and which they know to be false. Trump is not a dangerous demagogue at all. In fact his politics have been compared with JFK, hardly a right wing fanatic but in todays climate would be unelectable on those false grounds.

      As for support. You are, of course, quite right in stating that. “I do not think that Trump has anywhere near as much support as the noise and claims of his supporters would suggest.” In fact his support is much larger than your thinking supposes. That you think otherwise is due to the measure of self deception that Democrats and the Left Wing suffer from in ignoring and pretending that Biden, due to a rabble of hysterical historians, is in full possession of his faculties and ranks above Regan, and both the Bush presidents in terms of Presidential achievements, whilst Trump ranks last. Thus the wages of Trump Derangement Syndrome that you will believe anything and everything as long as it serves to put Trump in a bad light. Including Hillary comparing him with Hitler. This from a women who destroyed secret files, should be in jail along with Bidens son, but both gets away with their crimes because no one will prosecute them with a Democrat Government in charge.

      1. Thanks for the advice but, unless I have missed seeing it, I can’t find her email address anywhere. The contact email on the web site is info@conservativewoman.co.uk and I have twice sent email to this but have had no response. Do you have another email that I might try?

        2. I have only written to her at that address and had a reply from her within a couple of days. Sorry can’t help further.

    1. Astonishing how little they do know. The irony is there are many things they deliberately know nothing about because the truth is so destructive.

      Politicians are perhaps the only group who ensure they know as little as possible about the drivel they spout.

  34. I have a friend who began as a colleague back in 1980- he had just joined us from the Home Office, Prison Dept. His family were Hindu Indians- from Tanzania who had to leave but he was pure south London, in every way.
    I can remember him one day showing me a newspaper news report about an early example of an “honour killing” by a member of a certain community. He remarked about it and said: “That bastard will go to jail with a smile on his face because he thinks he has done the right thing for his community. The good news is, in this country, the law applies equally and his community beliefs and behaviour count for nothing as the law is imposed regardless of whatever values you may hold.”
    Of course, that was 40 years ago, and the equal application of the law and a belief that it is imposed without “fear or favour” has been scattered to the winds. We now see what has been long predicted, that as certain segments of this fast fragmenting nation, reach critical mass, they will become ever more muscular and the authorities- which have aided and abetted this process, will prove to be utterly supine when dealing with this development which is the ultimate test in social cohesion which they protest is so important.
    Something’s going to give and those that are forcing against this unlocked and now rickety door are not the ones who will do so, it seems. They know they are in the ascendant…

    1. The state keep rewarding them for their abuses. The muslim threat has been tolerated, pandered to, coddled and protected by big state.

      Both need burning out.

    2. Here’s another likely example of different rules/concessions for different people. Retrospective planning permission granted, in spite of strong opposition from some councillors.
      I wonder what the ‘background’ of this family is.
      There are some clues – the road in question is in a neighbourhood heavily dominated by enrichers, and two massive misogynistic indoctrination centres ‘buildings’ to cater for them. Further, this household appears to be multi-generational with 5 adults, the child in question and another baby on the way in a 3 bedroom house. They claim they cannot afford a bigger house – are they all getting benefits? (Including extra for the disabled child) Or are some of their benefits being siphoned off to ‘back home?’
      They openly flouted the planning regulations by building this extension (there were already at least two add-ons) before getting permission. Such over-development is widespread in the area with multiple extension (and many dubious-looking ‘sheds’ in back yards).
      “The majority of Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) planning committee voted against officers’ recommendation to refuse the retrospective application at a meeting this week.” There are certainly multiple members of a certain ‘community’ on Peterborough council and working in assorted positions of influence.
      https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/housing-extension-for-autistic-child-in-peterborough-approved-by-council-after-plea-from-grandmother/ar-BB1iHzrd?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=7b04ff549edc40a8857c63fd7e854e29&ei=69

  35. Let me get this straight:

    Government massively subsidises unreliable, inefficient windmills.
    As wind energy cannot compete in a market, massive taxes are levied on conventional fuel producers (making them expensive) and customer bills (making them expensive) to allow windmills to compete.
    Energy costs soar, and people can’t afford the new bills so the government hikes the standing charge which goes to those who can’t pay their bills.

    In return, energy gets more expensive.

    The government has deliberately broken the market for energy. At what point does this mendacious act of socialism stop and sanity, and markets restored?

  36. 383800+ up ticks,

    8:10am
    Home Secretary rejects Braverman’s claim that Islamists are in charge of UK

    8:03am
    Cleverly ‘comfortable’ with Hoyle staying in role amid push to oust him
    James Cleverly has rejected a claim made by Suella Braverman that Islamists are now in charge of the UK.
    She knows full well that these Isles are governed by the WEF with royal seal.

    1. They’re not funny though. The political class have been unntold horror on to this country over the last quarter century. They have wreaked havoc on a masive scale, done nothing of value or use and continue to embarrass and ashame this great nation with their spite, malignance and arrogance.

      Their selfishness, stupidity, egotism, mendacity and ignorance are monumental.

        2. It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

          Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter’d your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

          Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil’d this sacred place, and turn’d the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress’d, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

          In the name of God, go!”

          Oliver Cromwell – April 20, 1653

          3. Although he sits in the middle, he’s obviously far left.
            No particular mechanisms to have him kicked out !!!! Really ?

      3. I have never found clowns to be funny. Even as a child I was more bemused than amused.

        Clowns are nobbut clueless, unfunny idiots, and Spikey’s excellent cartoon shows them quite appropriately.

        2. I agree. I always enjoy verbal and contextual and situational humour. Slapstick without a trace of irony is not my bag.

          1. I wasn’t correcting your post, Rastus. I just wanted to mention that it was one of the excellent Gerry Rafferty’s first outings. He was previously in the Scottish folk-rock band The Humblebums along with Billy Connolly.

  38. Southern water hacked. No mention of reparation, just some dribbling experian thing. You can’t reply to them directly, either.

    Simply put, no consequences for those who created the problem, absolute hammering for the innocent.

  39. LET THEM EAT VEG!

    The Mayor of Worcester gives guests a choice of food at functions: vegetarian or vegan. He says it is more inclusive. Not everyone eats ham sandwiches, he says, but “everyone can eat plant-based food”. So they can, just as they can drink water. And the joint leader of the city council (like the mayor, a Green), asks: “Is it really such an imposition to be deprived of meat on these occasions?” No, indeed, nor would it be unbearable to go without sugar in one’s coffee or heating in winter for the duration of the mayoral misery meetings. It might be good for the planet – though not necessarily for Worcestershire, where many run livestock farms. A county sandwiched between the fictional Empress of Blandings and the factual Gloucester Old Spot, should find room for a plate of sausage rolls beside the carrots and hummus.

    As a committed and exceptionally healthy carnivore, following the natural diet of my species, I would tell this cretin of a Mayor that under no circumstances would he tell me to eat inappropriate items of rubbish that he calls “food”.

    1. By excluding a choice of food, the Mayor of Worcester says it is being more inclusive. Doublethink.

  40. Oh dear, Joy.

    “ SIR – I cannot believe so many people are demanding the Speaker’s resignation. He has, until this point, been an exceptional Speaker. He made a mistake. How many have never done that? Forgive the poor man.
    Joy Carroll
    Stockton-on-tees, Co Durham”

  41. And from the business section. The article is entitled “ South Africa’s des­per­ate spi­ral makes it un­safe for tourists as links grow with axis of ter­ror”.

    For context. I did my dissertation on (along the lines of) the influence on events in Germany on South Africa 1929-1939. One chapter was on the Jewish question.

    Quote from towards the end of the article:

    “ South Africa has recently banned David Teeger from captaining the South Africa under-19 cricket team, because he is Jewish and he spoke up for Israel.”

    Nothing changes, does it?

    1. I’ve lost patience with many on “our side” because they first assert that the evil Jews run the world then go on to name Gates, the Rockefellers and the WEF without pausing to acknowledge that Gates, the Rockefellers and Schwab are not Jewish and while some members of the Rothschild clan may have undue influence, others such as Nick de Rothschild who owns Exbury Gardens, clearly don’t. Yes, the Jews are the most successful ethnic minority in the world. Suck it up James Delingpole and Bob Moran. Whether it’s evolution, God’s favours or a combination of both, that’s just how it is, buddies!

    1. Let joy be unconfined.
      I wonder how many shyster human rights lawyers are rubbing their hands at the thought of multiple appeals?

    3. Praise be the Lord! (well, such a phrase might rile her up, so it’s worth saying 🙂 )
      I wasn’t aware there was yet another appeal, but very happy to hear the outcome.

  43. Dalrymple on cancellation

    https://www.takimag.com/article/judges-of-history/

    At the end of my talk, I suggested that the town should erect a plaque to her memory. (I should add that our town, though ancient, is not one in which droves of distinguished people have made their home. We still have far more pubs than writers.)
    It was to this suggestion that the middle-aged man responded (in private). He and others, he said, had had the same thought, but they had met with strong opposition. This was because Frances Pitt, in addition to her other activities, had been a master of the local hunt—the fox hunt, that is. And since so many people consider this to have been a cruel sport (it has now been outlawed), they also consider that Frances Pitt deserved no memorialization. For them, her participation in fox-hunting more than canceled out her positive achievements.
    I should point out that in her time fox-hunting was accepted locally as perfectly normal and even laudable. It was supposed to keep the number of foxes down at a time when chickens were not yet farmed in batteries. (Talk about cruelty!) The meeting of the hunt was a great social occasion for the whole town, in which almost everyone, hunter or not, took joyful part.
    The miserable attitude of the local Savonarolas is surely an indication of how far has gone the habit of requiring all past figures to have complied throughout their lives with our current moral outlook before we honor them in any way. This means, of course, that we cannot honor anyone from the past, and if we cannot honor anyone from the past, eventually our civilization will collapse—as the Savonarolas and Robespierres of our town probably wish, seeing in it nothing but its defects, the better to feel morally superior. It does not occur to them that their own outlook might one day (possibly the day after tomorrow) be superseded.

    1. Once upon a time, fox hunting was legal and buggary wasn’t. How times have changed (and not for the better).

      1. ♬In the middle of a caravan
        On a four-wheel-drive oasis
        There’s a man with a thought in mind
        To cash in on the desert faces

        He’s got a truckload of Yorkshire girls
        For your harem going places
        And the border bums never saw
        The guns in the whisky cases

        There’s a real, big demand
        And it’s written in the palm of his hand
        He’s gonna change the face of the desert
        He’s gonna sweep away the sand

        Hang on sheik, I’ve got a yellow streak
        I ain’t here, I’m a mirage
        Get back Des, keep it under your fez
        And don’t give us away in the massage

        Look what I did for the pyramid
        I put a pool in and made it pay
        I built an elevator and a film theater
        And I shipped it to the U.S.A.

        ‘Cause there’s a real big demand
        And it’s written in the palm of my hand
        I’m gonna change the face of the desert
        I’m gonna sweep away the sand

        Hang on friends
        There’s a lot more goodies in the pipeline
        So this ain’t the time to close the deal
        Here’s the deal …

        Ooh, now you’ve got a Howitzer all of your own
        Ooh, and a Panzer division to chauffeur you home
        Gun running is fun
        But hang on, friends, hang on friends …

        Allah be praised, there’s a whole new craze
        We’re gonna shoot up the foreign legion
        And it’s up with the sheik and down with the frog
        We’re gonna liberate the region

        Oh Effendi, we’re gonna bury your head in the sand
        Oh Effendi, you better get off my doggone land

        Hey, Prince of the moonbeams, son of the sun,
        Light of a thousand stars
        Your gorillas are urban and there’s bourbon on your turban
        And the sun shines out of your arse

        Oh Effendi, I’m gonna grovel in your wake
        Oh Effendi, it’s all been a big mistake

        You’re gonna cut out my liver if I don’t deliver
        Things are getting out of hand
        I’m going to ride off into the sunset and
        Make a deal with the promised land

        Goodbye friends
        There’s no more goodies in the pipeline        ♬

        Oh, Effendi (10cc)

        1. Hopefully.
          But isn’t this why we have been invaded with the idea of taking control of our country, they wont take NO! for an answer.

    4. She must be even more enraged than us lot at the government’s acceptance of the dinghy invasion whilst not accepting someone who was born here.

    5. Handel’s masterpiece celebrates the Christian Messiah, Jesus.

      What glorious works of music, art or literature have been inspired by Islam’s prophet Mahomed?

    7. Not much diversity there (apart from about three orientals and one from the Indian subcontinent).

      Like the omission of the Gloria, Alleluia is missing from Lent.

    1. If they ever existed one should feel pity for them, but certainly not her.

      If there is a pity, it is that so many of her fellow jihadists are almost certainly wandering freely around Europe.

  49. A comment below the video.

    “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” – George Orwell,
    1984
    Exposing the Manager Behind Racist New Google AI That Won’t Show White People, with Ruthless Podcast

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pYCkwUoa98

  52. Another day, another useless performance by a delivery company! We ahd a message from DPD saying they would deliver today between 1001 and 1101; while I was reading it we had another message saying it had been delivered at 1010 and left in a safe palce – the photo is most certainly not of our property! As I thought it might be our immediate neighbour I went round there – no similar layout, and no parcel. There was a DPD van there however, but the driver denied having delivered anything in the previous 10 minutes! Presumably just a coincidence?? A phone call to DPD was a trial as I had to listen to a pile of pre-recorded rubbish before speaking to anyone – they have promised to investigate! Luckily my wife recognised the photo an d we now have the delivery. Yet another fail by DPD – they used to have a very good driver who knew us all here but he’s been moved – great ,management!!

    1. Our DPD are also hit-and-miss. We also used to have a very good driver whom I would reward with a bottle of English ale, but since he moved on their delivery got slipshod. I now ask them to drop all my parcels at a nearby post office, which seems to work.

    2. I had to ring up my internet provider the other day; their blurb includes the advice “if you are driving, pull in and park then call us back when it is safe to do so”. Talk about the nanny state.

      1. She’ll win in the end. The woke “supreme” court will find in her favour – and there is always the famous ECHR…..

          1. Hundreds of thousands. The remaining millions are simply welfare dependent which makes them just as dangerous to the country.

          2. Yes, the law is applied in a spirit of appeasement not justice. The issue ceases to be her crimes and shifts to the unequal and preferential treatment of her fellow jihadists.

        3. One day, very quietly she’ll be brought back by the Home Office and waved through, then set up with welfare for life. Like the rest of the muslim.

    4. It might take a few days before the blurriness disappears and the eye drops stop stinging. I would be interested in how you feel in a week or so’s time.

      1. I know. It is just that when they did the right eye – the blurriness was gone in 24 hours. I am hoping the same thing happens to the left eye. Just a bit despondent right now.

        2. If you are past the first flush of youth, you might find that even though you have excellent sight for most purposes, close-up objects are a bit blurred. It’s presbyopia and the reason why most old folk need reading glasses. I never noticed this much when I wore glasses but, after the procedures, one eye finds it difficult to read small-print and see small objects. I bought a bunch of 2.5 category glasses from Poundland so have a pair in every room and just pop them on to read a book or newspaper. Hang in there!

        1. I remember a book about 6O years ago called “The Third Eye” by a Tibetan Lama called Lobsang Rampa (or something like that). He claimed that he was given a third eye, I think by a hole drilled in his forehead. He turned out to be a total fraud – what you believe it? The glass of red medication you suggest is very plausible.

    5. In a few days’ time you will be astonished to discover just how much your eyesight has improved. I was similarly astounded in 2016 and remain so today.

    6. Percy Vere Bill.

      My ‘second eye’ caused a few problems to me start with, but had laser treatment to sort it out.

      You may find that both eyes do not look at the same ‘level’, ie look at the mantlepiece, with one eye covered, then change eyes: it may be higher or lower. That can easily be fixed with a prism effect in your new specs.

  57. The have been a number of articles in the news this past couple of days about London’s BT Tower being sold to become a luxury hotel. Numerous mentions are made about its former ‘revolving’ restaurant,

    That building never had a ‘revolving’ restaurant. It had a rotating restaurant. For those (reporters?) who cannot fathom out the difference, lexicons are available for your elucidation.

      2. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e20ddb0c64aa67c90ec3102a37cf7d574f7485cd3729f638c3e2c1181ca2166.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/20394a080455629ab43663f8f944d4e28e5e198d777b4b296f08c2b4a0785cb8.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fe4eb3b88e051f384de28734b6f39b3e9d7f98fcd5f4c9c462141ebaf52a7962.jpg It went well for me, Matey, but it turned into a bit of a carb-overload.

        I roasted the rib properly (i.e. medium-rare) but that turned out to be a bit too pink for the squeamish so I was obliged to put their slices int a frying pan for a couple of minutes to remove the pinkiness (and destroy the exquisite flavour)! More fool them who like their beef to taste like cardboard.

        The pudding was also a bit of a disaster since I was the only one to enjoy the galettes. All the other plates had big chunks of uneaten buckwheat pancake on them (“Ooh, it’s a bit weird that flavour!”). They mopped up the peach melba sitting on them, though.

        Finally came an apelsin torte (orange gateau), bought — not by me — from a nearby bakery to assuage the sweet tooths (sweet teeth?) of those present.

        I enjoyed the meal in full. The others present were a bit picky. My gravy, though, got a massive thumbs-up from all present.

          1. I did wonder. I would keep it simple with buttered carrots sprinkled with parsley and frozen petit pois. I have never served frozen veg to guests !

        2. Looks very good. Perhaps the pancakes were a bit overkill. I was hoping when i saw it that you had made the gateau yourself ! An epic feed.

          I make a giant Pavlova when i entertain. Even the ones who say they are too full can manage that.

          Fussy guests should be made to do the washing up.

          1. Time constraints were against me making that torte (which was baked with potato flour since one guest is gluten-intolerant).

            Having said that, in a couple of months’ time I shall make an original-recipe Black Forest Gâteau using kirsch and decorating the top with cerisettes chocolates. I’ll post a photo when the time comes.

          3. Very indulgent. Make it the day before you serve and serve a main course that can be made then reheated like Lasagne, Moussaka with salads or a casserole. On the day you have more time with guests.

            Not teaching Grizz to suck egg, honest. :@)

          4. Funnily enough, next Saturday I will be entertaining friends with a Chinese-style menu. To avoid overload on the day I have already prepared one dish, a beef and green pepper stir-fry, which now sits in the freezer. On the day I shall make orange chicken; salt-and-pepper king prawns; stir-fried Chinese veg (beansprouts, bamboo-shoots, water-chestnuts, mushrooms, etc) and noodles. Pudding is to be a key lime pie.

          5. Water chestnuts are always good in a stirfry. Crunchy.

            I find it is better to have separation in these dishes.

            And different saucing.
            I would be interested in your orange chicken….

          6. I have some cubes of Seville orange pulp, in the freezer, that was left over as excess from when I last made marmalade. I shall season some chunks of chicken thigh with salt, pepper and chilli powder before giving them a light roasting. I shall then melt the orange pulp in a saucepan and add a little sugar and cornstarch to make a thickened orange sauce to coat the chicken pieces with.

        3. We’re available. And we don’t complain or have funny eating habits. Just saying’🙂

    2. Hey Beatnik, those swivelling and snivellin’ wordsmiths, don’t know squat, Dude. They don’t know sh*t from shinola and need to learn to differentiate up from down and round from round, Hombre.

      1. Hey Dean, you’re not wrong, Compadre. The DT’s present-day cartel of word-manglers don’t know their principles from their principals, or their bunches from their pigtails, Man.

        Word round the campfire has it that when the towel-heads take over, Dude, we’ll all be reading the newsprint from Right to Left.

        1. Hey Beatnik, when the takeover happens, Dude it’s going to be Year Zero with Total Zeroes calling the shots, Hombre.

    3. Good day to you, Sir. I hope the augmented total of years are not weighing too heavily upon you.

      Grizzly the Grammarian today; George the Gourmet tomorrow. What next? Alan the Alchemist?

      1. And a good day back to you, Sir.

        From someone who considers himself to be pretty bog-standard, but brighter than the average Lefty.😉

    4. Do I recall correctly that the restaurant was closed for most of its existence due to fears of terrorism?

      2. Bombed by the Angry Brigade.
        Allegedly, it was they, or an associated offshoot, who also carried out several other bombings at the behest of PIRA, including the Warrington Bomb.

    5. By the same token, a Colt 45 handgun (and similar) should not be call a ‘revolver’, since he chamber does not revolve. It rotates, so should properly be called a rotator.

  58. Tucker Carlson talking to Stephen Miller

    Donald Trump is facing nearly 100 criminal charges in courts all across the country.

    This is one of the most brazen displays of actual election interference in U.S. history, and it’s happening at permanent Washington’s longstanding behest. The goal is simple: do whatever it takes, very much including bankrupting or imprisoning Trump, to prevent American voters from casting their ballots for him.

    Stephen Miller has a deep understanding of how truly corrupt this scheme has become, and he and Trucker for Trump Jake Logan joined Tucker Carlson Uncensored to preview what’s next.

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1760800383566311742

    1. He absolutely must prosecute all of these people and ensure that others within the system are purged, otherwise it’s over for him and everyone in America that believes in a democratic country. Barring civil war, that is…

  59. Minister calls for Putin’s removal in break with Government’s position. 23 February 2024.

    A Home Office minister has said she wants to see Vladimir Putin removed from power, in a break with the Government’s position.

    Laura Farris, the safeguarding minister, called for the Russian dictator to be replaced on the eve of the second anniversary of his illegal invasion of Ukraine.

    How I wish he were Prime Minister of the UK!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/02/23/laura-farris-vladimir-putin-removal-break-government-policy/

      2. Oh dear – PPE, worked for BBC, worked for Hilary and takes the knee – is that what passes for a Conservative MP these days?

        As an afterthought, wouldn’t such a gathering, in June 2020, have been illegal??

    3. I, One Last Try, propose that the incumbent POTUS, Forgetful Joe Burden, be replaced on the eve of the second anniversary of his illegal invasion of Ukraine.

    4. As Laura Farris worked for Hillary Clinton, she’ll know how to take out a contract on someone.

  61. Afternoon all.

    Just looked at the DTheadlines. Bl..dy Begum’s lawyers appealing again for her British citizenship to be restored. Why is there no end to all this appealing? When will it stop? And who is funding it?

    Sunak: Voters can see that things are getting better. Haven’t read the piece but, really? Getting better? Where and in what way? Parliament spent two days this week “debating” Gaza and Ukraine. What the heck for? Neither should be any of our business. And, apparently, a Home Office minister (never heard of her) said on QT last night that “UK needs to work with NATO et al to depose Putin. Have these people no brains? Sorry, no need to answer that last one!

      1. Funny you should say lif you pay tax…”. Retired in 2010, delayed pension for a year for small enhancement, and last year for the first time had to pay tax on a tiny private pension. Stopped work in 2010 and now paying tax.

  62. 383800+ up ticks,

    Adhere to the same voting pattern that has got us,without doubt, to where we are currently, up to our lower lip in SHITE with regular daily intakes as in compulsory swallowing,due to the government run Dover “invasion” campaign.

    This BLACK PRINCESS of terrorism will shortly be back in the United Kingdom via sharia law once the take over is complete.

    3. Relativists feel the need to invent a “far right” threat in order to give the illusion of balance.

    5. Another attempt to smear the killer of Jo Cox as “far right” – the man was mentally ill and didn’t get treatment!

      1. There is no ‘Far Right’ in the UK. It’s just another invention of the left to deflect from their responsibility in causing grief and misery in this country.

      3. And the judge refused to allow evidence of his mental problems to be placed before the jury.
        A decision that stinks to high Heaven.

    7. The chap who murdered Jo Cox was not involved with any political, ethnic or religious group.

      It is a downright lie to say that this man – with mental health problems – was a far right extremist. But the Left, including this Speaker in whom I too have lost all faith, are very prepared to lie to try and take our attention away from the real root of the problem.

  65. Voters can see ‘green shoots’ of recovery, insists Sunak. 23 February 2024.

    Speaking during a Q&A, the Tory leader said: “I see it from going out and about across the country every week, talking to people and there is a palpable sense out there, regardless of what Keir Starmer might want to say because he is always keen to talk down Britain, I can tell actually on the ground people are at the beginning of this year feeling that the economy has turned a corner.

    “They do see those green shoots. They can see that things are getting better.”

    You do know that these people are all certifiably insane?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/02/23/rishi-sunak-latest-news-cleverly-hoyle-braverman/

    2. The more hordes of unemployable, prison fodder, rapid-breeding, third world savages that settle here, the more the ever diminishing number of tax payers will have to work to fund their life on easy street. Yes, Sunak, a sure recipe for recovery.

    4. Clearly, many politicians have been nothing short of confidence tricksters and some have been very successful. Sunak isnt and never will be in the first rank of that disreputable club.

      And as for the green shoots, it’s late February after a mild winter. They’re effing daffodils you pillock.

  66. I’m sure he desperately wants to believe that, but it’s not true. The country, because of his policies; is being driven relentlessly downward. The future is going to be worse than it has ever been precisely because that is what he wants.

    1. I am not even sure that he actively wants the country to go downward – he is only interested in status, money and therefore doing what he is told. The fact that it is killing this country and the people in it simply doesn’t bother him in the least.

  67. From RT News.

    22 Feb, 2024 15:12
    Russia to welcome foreigners who share ‘traditional values’: What we know so far.

    The idea was floated at a Moscow forum by an Italian student who calls it a process of “impatriation,” and is supported by President Putin.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported a proposal to simplify the process of moving to Russia for immigrants who share the traditional values that are nurtured and protected in the country.

    What did Putin say?
    ”It’s a good idea to focus on traditional moral values when welcoming people who want to live here,” Putin said, during his appearance at the ‘Strong Ideas for a New Time’ forum in Moscow on Tuesday. However, he wondered if there was a way to correctly establish what moral code a person really follows.

    The president stressed that Russia has recently been seeing “more and more supporters around the globe” because of, among other things, its policy of protecting traditional values. It has turned out that such values are dear not only to Russians but to “healthy people” everywhere, including in the West, he remarked.

    1. If I was fit and younger, I would certainly go. However, it would have to be to the Crimea. The cold in most of Russia is not terribly conducive for plant lovers.

      1. I couldn’t live anywhere that doesn’t have a rocky, storm-lashed Atlantic coast. I’m an Atlantic Celt. It’s in my soul.

    2. I’d be tempted by Leningrad St Petersburg, but I’m too set in my ways to up sticks now. Moscow is far too cold in winter, even with triple glazing.

  68. A useful mini-tutorial. Which, judging by my relatives via my stepfather, is true. I haven’t thought about it. But listening to this, I cannot recall one conversation about “freedom” in the Western sense and it is not as if they feel oppressed.
    PM Viktor Orbán at Tucker Carlson: The Surprising Truth About Russian Politics
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QeQeoHxpOc

      1. It really would be nice. More than nice, it would inspire confidence that the UK was in good hands.

    1. I think that counts as the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen since having access to the internet , and I’ve seem some pretty bizarre sights

        1. Get out more? – I’ll have you know I’ve travelled nearly 500 billion miles with my 71 free trips around the Sun!

          1. Just as with the ‘green faced lady’ i do these things occasionally. Some people think what they see in your home is what your personality is. Like perusing someone’s bookcase.

            I like to wrongfoot such shallow people. ;@)

  71. Shamima Begum appeal rejected. BBC has begun first of 200 programmes castigating the Court of Appeal, the Home Office and anyone else who is involved in this inhumane travesty of justice and Islamophobia. The BBC licence will almost certainly have to be increased to pay for the ‘public’ funded appeals which may go on for many years. Send your contributions to Slamadammadingdong.co. or to any of your nearest mosques – If you can get past the burning churches and rioting crowds.

      1. Cynic that I am, I suspect they are witholding that particular event for some moment when they want to divert us from something else.

    2. After losing yet another appeal, human rights lawyers representing
      Shamima Begum promise to continue and will not stop until their swimming
      pools, Ferraris and villas in Spain are fully paid for.

      1. There surely has to be an end to all these appeals? It’s ridiculous. She should be told in no uncertain terms NO.

        Why are these lawyers so desperate for her to return here? Is it just to make a name for themselves? Enough is more than enough.

        1. Why not just pay for her to get one of those one way dinghy trips across the channel and then they can get paid for defending her against deportation.

          2. No, no way let her back in. HMG must show they can prevent at least one Muslim, sorry, ethnic minority, from entering the U.K.

  72. South Africa’s desperate spiral has made it unsafe for tourists. 23 February 2024.

    Recently listeners to a commercial radio station heard the hosts give away a prize of a holiday in South Africa to one of their listeners after he correctly guessed a word game, or some equally anodyne achievement.

    But South Africa is clearly not currently a safe place for British tourists. It is on a desperately spiralling path, socially, economically and politically and it should not be a holiday destination for British tourists now or indeed for the foreseeable future.

    In my youth I once stopped off at Cape Town. With Table Mountain as a backdrop I thought it was the most beautiful City I had ever seen. It had a glamour to it that is not easily explained. I did plan to return and work there for a couple of years but it was not to be. The decline of South Arica and even more so Rhodesia is of course the living irrefutable evidence that the native inhabitants are incapable of running a modern state. This is always denounced as racism but things are the way they are. The worst aspect is their importation into the West. Why the Elites thought that they would change with an airplane ticket will be a puzzle for the anthropogists of the future as they study the Fall of the West!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/02/23/south-africa-desperate-spiral-made-it-unsafe-tourists/

    1. My cousin, C.G. Tracey, was a leading businessman and farmer in Rhodesia. Indeed, he served as Ian Smith’s envoy at the time of UDI.

      The title of his autobiography: All For Nothing (available at Amazon) has the ironic title:

      “All For Nothing?”

      C.G.’s farm was stolen from him and given to friends of Mugabe, the young black men whom he had trained and sent to university to learn agriculture so that they could take over were murdered and the other black workers, their wives and families were sacked and made homeless and jobless and the school and medical facilities for the community which had been run by his wife, a qualified nurse, were destroyed.

      Things fall apart. The centre cannot hold
      Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world

      Those with passionate hate-filled intensity rule the roost and the best are nowhere to be seen – and this isn’t just in South Africa and Rhodesia Zimbabwe.

  73. Leave your homes by 2pm: Thousands of Plymouth residents are sent emergency text alert ordering them to evacuate before Army begins nerve-shredding operation to remove unexploded WW2 bomb found in family’s garden and drop it into the sea

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13117553/Plymouth-residents-nazi-bomb-military-convoy-sea-leave.html

    Give Shamima Begum a hammer and chisel. Tell her she can stay if she successfully defuses the bomb.

  75. I went to a bar last night and saw a fat woman dancing on a table.
    I said, “Nice legs.”
    She giggled and said with a smile, “Do you really think so?”
    I said “Definitely! Most tables would have collapsed by now.”

    My fractures will probably takes months to recover.

        1. They will just spend more of tax payer money on protecting themselves. While still not admitting it is all their fault.

  77. Rupert Darwall
    Net Zero’s days are numbered
    23 February 2024, 12:18pm

    If a week is a long time in politics, then 2023 belongs to a different age in the politics of Net Zero. Less than eleven months ago, the government was saying that ‘Net Zero is the growth opportunity of the 21st century. Earlier this week, former IMF chief economist Oliver Blanchard effectively poured water on that claim when he told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that there would be a ‘substantial fiscal cost to achieve anything close to Net Zero’.

    ‘The public does not believe, or has not been made to understand, that [it] is going to be costly for them,’ Blanchard cautioned. He then went on to suggest that Net Zero should be funded by higher public borrowing.

    In similar vein, Sir Dieter Helm told the committee that it was ‘delusory to think’ that the Net Zero transition would pay for itself. It was his 2017 cost of energy review that warned ministers the energy policy was not sustainable. Sir Dieter could also have added that it is a delusion promoted by climate lobbyists.

    As if to validate what the two economists were telling the Lords committee, the German-owned electricity producer RWE briefed the Financial Times that the level of government support – funded through the guaranteed prices electricity consumers are forced to pay for wind energy –is too low to offset rising wind power costs. The government’s model used forecasts of wholesale electricity prices that were too low and its assumptions on wind power performance assumptions too high.

    That in itself is a big story: The wind industry is admitting that the ability to generate wind power has been vastly overestimated. With the bursting of the wind bubble, the industry’s messaging has switched to crude blackmail. As RWE’s German boss, Markus Krebbers, told the FT in September, ‘it is, of course, concerning because the UK climate targets cannot be achieved without offshore wind.’ Translation, if any were needed: consumers better pay up or else the government will miss its legally-enforceable decarbonisation targets. Yet only eleven months before, the climate lobby was making the ludicrous assertion that offshore wind was nine times cheaper than natural gas, a claim repeated by Boris Johnson in one of his last appearances as prime minister.

    It’s understandable that elected politicians are not candid with voters about the sacrifices entailed by climate policies. In his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama writes of what he calls his ‘happy talk’ of a painless shift to a carbon-free future, which the former president justified by quoting David Plouffe, his 2008 campaign strategist. ‘We won’t be doing anything to protect the environment,’ Plouffe remarked ‘if we lose Ohio and Pennsylvania.’ The inference is that saving the planet necessitates concealing from voters what it’s going to cost them. Dishonesty is thus baked into politicians’ claims about how Net Zero will make voters better off or, at the very least, have minimal impact on their standard of living.

    The constraint of needing to get elected does not apply to the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Rather than speak truth to power and produce anything remotely resembling objective economic assessments of Net Zero, both bodies are deep in the tank with the climate lobby. In its July 2021 Fiscal Risks Report, the OBR states that unchecked climate change ‘would ultimately have catastrophic economic and fiscal consequences’. It cites accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet as an example of a climate tipping point, but doesn’t mention the scientific opinion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that a hypothetical warming of 3-5°C is projected to lead to a near complete loss of the Greenland ice sheet ‘over multiple millennia’. This is a timescale that hardly fits with the OBR’s end of century fiscal horizon that sees public debt exploding to 289 per cent of GDP as a result of a series of unspecified climate ‘shocks’.

    If anything, the Treasury’s Net Zero review, produced three months later, is even more controversial. The review had been set in train by Philip Hammond when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer pushing back against Theresa May’s desire to write the policy into law. Indeed, Hammond is the only senior politician who has flagged up the costs of Net Zero, last year criticising Conservative prime ministers for being ‘systematically dishonest’ about the costs.

    In its review, the Treasury review assumes wind power costs of £50 per megawatt hour (MWh) based on non-binding subsidy allocation bids by wind investors. ‘It is not unreasonable to expect lower strike prices,’ the Treasury says of the government-guaranteed price received by wind investors. Estimates of break-even prices for offshore wind were, however, at the time in the range of £125-152 per MWh and are considerably higher now thanks to higher interest rates and materials costs.

    However, the Treasury’s most egregious misstep concerns its analysis of the implications of Net Zero for productivity growth. Although it acknowledges that extent to which additional investment will translate into additional GDP is ‘uncertain’, it argues that Net Zero offers the opportunity for innovation, as if there is no opportunity cost to innovation. ‘All other things being equal’, the Treasury says, ‘additional investment will translate into additional GDP growth’. Other things aren’t equal, as Net Zero policies are forcing investment into less productive means of generating electricity.

    Publicly available data, which the Treasury didn’t bother analysing, shows that between 2009 and 2020 there was a 28.3 per cent decline in output per unit of generating capacity. In 2009, one megawatt (MW) of generating capacity produced 4,312 MWh of electricity. In 2020, 1MW of capacity generated 3,094 MWh of electricity. Producing less with more is the fundamental fact of the energy transition. It is why having more wind and solar on the grid makes electricity more expensive.

    The OBR correctly notes that long-term productivity growth is the key determinant of fiscal sustainability because it underpins the growth of the tax base. Productivity growth also drives the rise in living standards. Net Zero’s more-to-produce-less paradigm depresses productivity. It is an anti-growth strategy that makes public spending less affordable and reduces the government’s borrowing capacity. For this reason, Blanchard is mistaken in suggesting Net Zero should be financed with higher public borrowing. Instead, Net Zero inflicts unending public sector austerity and a rising tax burden.

    The purpose of writing Net Zero into law is the anti-democratic one of putting Net Zero beyond politics. Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer are trapped by it. All their other policy priorities must be subordinated to the government’s legal duty to meet the Net Zero target in the Climate Change Act. As eminent economists like Blanchard and Sir Dieter begin to speak out about its costs, the firebreak between Net Zero and democratic politics becomes less tenable by the day. Sooner rather than later, politicians are going to start telling the truth about it. When that happens, Net Zero’s days will be numbered.

    Rupert Darwall is a senior fellow of the RealClear Foundation and author of Green Tyranny

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/net-zeros-days-are-numbered/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CampaignMonitor

    1. Why are they numbered? It never was based on science, but on a Marxist ideology of control. So what’s changed? The same people still believe the same things. Facts and figures mean nothing now, as they never did before, otherwise Net Zero would never have been a thing.

  78. Steerpike
    Home Office director: we should ‘leverage’ George Floyd’s death
    23 February 2024, 2:35pm

    These days, it’s not hard to find an example of departmental failure. From procurement problems at the MoD to accounting errors at the Treasury, Whitehall offers a rich mine of failure from which to draw. But of all the great ministries of state, few provide more gems than the Home Office. The mandarins at 2 Marsham Street are always working on some hair-brained scheme that can destroy a Home Secretary’s career. The trouble is, in the words of Richard Wilson, not only does the minister ‘not know who they are, but neither will they.’

    So it is with a sense of weariness then that Steerpike brings news of some of the more interesting views being spouted by one of the department’s directors. Back in July 2022 Nurjahan Khatun, the-then deputy director of the UK Health Security Agency, gave an interview to the Dods Diversity and Inclusion website in which she suggested that ethnic minorities should ‘leverage’ the death of George Floyd. Describing her time working in Whitehall, Khatun said:

    We can’t ignore that the murder of George Floyd sent waves of change to all spectrums of society, and it is a great time as an ethnic minority to leverage that in a positive way and where possible use that as an opportunity to develop and grow yourself. Departments are realising the benefit of diversity, and that’s good news for you.

    A month after that interview and Khatun was named ‘Director, System Leadership’ at the Home Office, a role for which she will be paid more than £95,000-a-year. A departmental spokesman told Steerpike that ‘The role of the Home Office is to protect the UK from harm and support economic prosperity, and our staff are focused on that endeavour.’

    What would Sir Humphrey say?

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

    Cheshuntboy
    an hour ago edited
    I was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of Tony Blair’s compulsory ‘diversity’ training in the Civil Service of the late ’90s, and it was already clear that sex and ethnicity would trump competence for advancement at every level of the public sector, and, having sown the wind, we’re all reaping the whirlwind. To add to the disaster, this madness has taken-over the private sector as well, fourteen years of so-called ‘Conservatism’ have done absolutely nothing to restore sanity, and now it’s the turn of Starmer, Rayner and Lammy – God help us!

  79. Just back from the my neighbour’s “funeral” – actually a memorial service. As I mentioned yesterday, he was a staunch Methodist – but their chapel is tiny so we offered the parish church. Nearly 200 people filled – the largest turnout for 25 years. He was also a poet. He as born on the Holkham Estate (his father was a tenant farmer) and was buried there this morning. He wrote this poem some years ago in contemplation of his interment there.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5d10f7fde4084263603e0710a47f1762e00f9f38cc1f4e4b69129d2a49460067.jpg

    1. That’s a lovely reflection. How is the left eye? Taking my glasses to the opticians tomorrow afternoon to have new lenses fitted so will have to wear old ones for a couple of hours.

    3. I have visited the graveyard in South Hams where MiL would like her ashes buried in the grave of one of her relatives. The graveyard has been closed for many years and no longer permits additions. Thinking about the problem of honouring MiL’s wishes two options have been suggested. One, our seamstress inserts a full length inner pocket in one of my trouser legs so that when over the right grave gravity can be employed to release her ashes (a la the Film The Wooden Horse). Alternatively we simply buy a Patio rose and a large pot mixing ashes and soiln and plant said rose on the grave. As you can imagine I favour the last option as I can’t stand having grit in my shoes!

  80. God help us. “Experts” have just gone and re-written the libretto for Mozart’s Magic Flute and have changed racist and sexist allusions to less offensive words.

    Apart from a certain amount of outrage on Twitter, I’ve not found anything in English about this yet – you heard it on the Nottlers first! But this seems to be what they have done:

    – The Moor, Monostatos, has become the illegitmate son of Sarastro
    – The elderly Papagena has become a powerful Amazon
    – One of the slaves no longer refers to Pamina as “charming” but rather as “wily”
    – The Queen of the night’s daughter is no longer described as “shy” and “defenseless”
    – Papageno is no longer asked to “behave like a man” but to “be as brave as a lion”

    The libretto apparently also highlights “problematic” references which the experts have chosen to keep, the main one being that the opera is set in Egypt.

    Next stops: Bach’s St. John’s Passion; Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Bizet’s Carmen.

    For Nottlers who speak French, you can read the full delightful article about his here: https://www.diapasonmag.fr/a-la-une/des-experts-reecrivent-une-flute-enchantee-woke-45079.html.

    For Nottlers who speak German, the revised libretto can be found here: http://criticalclassics.org/ – it’s worth going to this page (in English) even if you don’t want to download the libretto, because it shows just what a bunch of vandals these people are!

      1. No mention of it in the articles I’ve read about it in the French press, so probably not. I’m afraid my German isn’t up to reading the libretto, so I can’t confirm that. But I guess these people are too stupid to recognise Masonic references and, even if they could, they wouldn’t mind provided they weren’t “offensive”.

  81. CAPTION CONTEST (SMART SPEAKER EDITION)

    https://order-order.com/2024/02/23/caption-contest-smart-speaker-edition/#comments

    Granny Weatherwax
    I thought you were great in “Airplane!” Mr Neilsen

    Captain Sensible
    Speaker, tweeter, woofer.

    Simon
    Hoyle – “Hahaha! So I apologised and everything is OK now”.
    Starmer – “Next time, even better…use the beer and curry excuse…and pretend you weren’t even there. Angela can give you tips, about doing that”.
    Sunak – “Please Sirs. Can I say something?”.

    1. Neil Kirby
      ‘And then I said to Flynn, the only SNP Motion you’re going to hear today is yours when you evacuate your bowels!’

  83. I used to be able to do cartwheels. Now I tip over putting on my underwear.
    I hate it when I see an old person and then realize we went to high school together.
    I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes… so she hugged me.
    My wife says I only have 2 faults. I don’t listen and something else….
    I thought growing old would take longer.
    I came, I saw, I forgot what I was doing. Retraced my steps, got lost on the way back, now I have no idea what’s going on.
    The officer said, “You drinking?” I said, “You buying?” We just laughed and laughed…. I need bail money.
    I think the reason we are born with two hands is so we can pet two dogs at once.
    Scientists say the universe is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. They forgot to mention morons.
    The adult version of “head, shoulders, knees and toes” is “wallet, glasses, keys and phone.”
    Life is too short to waste time matching socks.
    If you see me talking to myself, just move along. I’m self-employed; we’re having a staff meeting.
    My doctor asked if anyone in my family suffers from mental illness. I said, “No, we all seem to enjoy it.”
    I don’t mind getting old, but my body is having a hissy fit.
    Camping: where you spend a small fortune to live like a homeless person.
    Project Manager. Because Miracle Worker isn’t an official job title.
    I told my wife I wanted to be cremated. She made me an appointment for Tuesday.
    THINK! (It’s not illegal…. YET)
    I’ve reached the age where my train of thought often leaves the station without me
    If you’re happy and you know it, it’s your meds

  84. A lonely Par Four!

    Wordle 979 4/6
    🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Four for me too.

      Wordle 979 4/6

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

    3. Me too.

      Wordle 979 4/6

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

  85. The Telegraph has kindly published my memo of last night:

    IH

    Ian Halligan
    8 HRS AGO
    Message Actions

    Arguably, British Democracy collapsed last night in Westminster.

    Parliament ceased to function.

    The Speaker was compromised.

    The police failed to restrain the mob outside Westminster.

    The police made no effort to stop the genocidal message – From the river to the sea – projected onto the Elizabeth Tower.

    Our Military was entirely invisible.

    This may well prove to be our Day of Infamy.

    3 Replies
    Likes 62 Neg 0

    1. More to the point, so few people (a) understand (see Joy’s letter) (b) appreciate the significance.

      Including politicians.

        2. SIR – I cannot believe so many people are demanding the Speaker’s resignation. He has, until this point, been an exceptional Speaker. He made a mistake. How many have never done that? Forgive the poor man Joy Carroll

          2. Joy Carroll:

            Sir Lindsay had decided to allow a vote on a Labour amendment to an SNP motion, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, sparking fury among SNP and Conservative MPs who accused him of breaking with parliamentary convention.
            [BBC]

            I fear that he has compromised – with the best of intentions – on an existential political matter.

  87. That’s me for today. Left eye still blurred and a bit sore. It would be so bad if the right eye hadn’t returned to good vision within hours. Oh well, have to be patient (not one of my strengths). Would be Lent so that alcohol is hors de question..

    Have a jolly evening and I hope t see you tomorrow. A cold night in prospect.

    A bientôt

  88. Alarm over 200% explosion in young women and girls getting pancreatic cancer as top experts admit they are baffled by ‘frightening’ rise of deadly disease
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13033795/Huge-spike-cancer-sparks-alarm-experts-baffled.html

    A few days ago I posted that one of Caroline’s best friends is a nurse who had the choice between having the jab or losing her job. She took the jab greatly against her judgement and advice because she felt there was no economic alternative.

    There is a history of pancreatic cancer in her family – but this does not usually manifest itself until they are in their old age. She now has a full blown pancreatic cancer in her 50s and is having to take aggressive chemo therapy which is making her bald.

    May the people who pushed these poisons knowing full well the harm they could do rot in Hell.

      1. 383800+ up ticks,

        Evening VW,

        Deflection, is a very serious infection of the seriously, serious
        guilty.

        1. They are discussing that because they are heavily invested in Ukraine (hoping to acquire property and shipyards on the Black Sea via loan guarantees) and because Israel sits its on potentially vast offshore oil and gas reserves which they hope to snaffle.

          Our governments for the past 30 years or more have exhibited no interest whatever in the indigenous peoples of the United Kingdom. Instead they have sold us down the river for personal gain. Time to wake up.

    2. Gulp.
      DON’T LET SPARTIE SEE THA …………
      Aaaarrgghhhhhh …….. too late.
      Is there an ankle consultant in the house?

    3. Mine used to see the biscuit broken in two and shared between them. Kadi now sees the other half put back in the tin. I think he’s starting to realise that there are downsides to being an only dog.

  90. 38380 + up ticks,

    He has talked himself out of an insanity plea then.

    Left-wing anarchist made plan to kill 50 politicians
    Student Jacob Graham, who said he wanted ‘to stand up for working classes’, is convicted of preparing terrorist acts

  91. We are well and truly FUPT by yet another glaring example of Cultural Marxism!:

    “Russell Group universities have told staff and students that saying “the most qualified person should get the job” is a “microaggression”.

    At least five universities have issued guidance or training courses on how to eliminate “microaggression”, which are defined as subtle or indirect forms of discrimination.

    Guidance from the University of Glasgow and the engineering department of Imperial College London states that saying “the most qualified person should get the job” is an example of a microaggression.

    Glasgow’s guidance, which forms part of the university’s anti-racism campaign, suggests that the statement would be wrong because it asserts “that race does not play a role in life successes”.

    1. “Congratulations, Mr. Ojukwu, you’ve got the job. We couldn’t give it to most qualified person as that would have been a microaggression, so we chose you instead”.

      1. “…although we know that you are really, really dumb and woefully unqualified. I hope you don’t mind if we tell everyone just that.”

    4. So effectively they’re saying that if you’re black, you’re crap but you’re going to get the job anyway because of positive discrimination. What a racist concept!

    5. We have only to glance across the Pond and witness the utter incompetence and corruption of black attorneys such as Fani Lewis in Georgia and Letitia James in New York, prosecuting President Trump, to reveal the stupidity of appointing people on the basis of their colour and gender.

      Those two I mention have to be some of the most repulsive low IQ persons in America. They are both doubtless backed and elected by Soros money but even so what University granted these cretins law degrees?

      I fear much the same has occurred in England. It seems that all of our cherished institutions have been corrupted and senior positions filled by mostly foreign and toned dimwits. This defect was once confined to the Civil Service but is rampant now in our larger businesses and corporations.

      1. “What University granted these cretins law degrees?”
        Probably the same University that granted David Lammy his degree.

  92. Jeeze Rick Stein now,….. what a plonker, he’s just been into a Palestinian takeaway in Shepherd’s Bush. And he’s trying Ukraine food in the same area.
    Politics and lunch or dinner not good, he needs to try and wash up..

      4. So have I. Even more so now.
        I expect he’s being well paid.
        Two years ago we went to one of his or sons restaurants in Padstow to celebrate our middle sons 40th. It’s wasn’t anything special. Dingy in fact. And the wine list was garbage.
        Too expensive and too local.
        Probably his son’s Camel Valley produce.

    2. It’s only poo at the end of the day
      It will all go to refertilize the planet like all animal poo has done since the beginning of time

    3. It might be Lent music, but the church isn’t set up for Lent; it has flowers and a white/blue frontal. No flowers and purple for Lent. More like Candlemas or the season of Epiphany.

    1. The common denominator on all these videos is the fact that for every scumbag attacking someone, there are a few dozen similar pieces of effluent filming it on their mobiles.

    1. That isn’t the surface of the moon! It is clearly the surface of Lancashire.

      Farmhouse Lancashire, that is.👍🏻😉

        2. The designers of the first commercial moon landing udder estimate the potential for milking their investment. 🙂

        1. There were rumours of a Welsh attempt at a moon landing but it turned out to be a false leek!

  98. Some Summer photos of Christchurch, where I was born more Moons ago than I care to think about:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/17ea702d64dfe6c7480154e3de735daf82e57e1868e631690562c1fc52502b03.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1ee150211f438a5b47cb33d8735e061605e572eac7973c82a26f8cbc126212fc.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/140c295822b2f1c89ae4b596c13aaedb27a2ac3366d57a5e6c55face06f709f7.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a90a3926e3b5896efabdd7c3fbbe71ab4b3d792a0c59a10cda84c1c2ee18a4a4.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b4977252a247d685fd070d3f9973febde0114e119b4b8e2c280a9a8e3033c2f1.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/49bc5177497b3153e5a4e7a7056d16a6fad033f68c10093aa3f3a53e7ac934dd.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14d5ddbc52d1ebd37ed6fdeefccd833f1b47326e8b3c1833682d5a23ec78cc27.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e0c3680e92d3a964c63d4d4b66573adcd76568c8f6bbcdc5a6efc5fd92ab4b85.jpg

        1. We have a few places round here that were slighted by Cromwell and quite a few towns that recently have been slighted by TPB introducing masses of illegals.

  99. Evening, all. Happy Shropshire Day! It’s the feast of St Milburga, but Shropshire’s taken it over.

    There have been times when I have thought things couldn’t get much worse, but Wasteminster always seems to find a way to prove me wrong.

  100. If you get the following ‘joke’ you are past the first flush of youth:

    Q) How many Pet Shop Boys does it take to change a light bulb?
    A) Two, one to change the bulb, the other to look bored in the background.

    1. How many members of U2 does it take to change a lightbulb?

      Just one. Bono holds onto the bulb and rest of the world revolves around him.

  101. This is a rather dry piece but it makes a powerful point about sectarianism. The UK has avoided it until now but there is something chilling about the certainty of the Labour Party that it will win the next election and how it will behave. Tories say (well, once upon a time they did) how they will make things better by analysing a problem and suggesting a solution. Labour talks about power and practises tactics…

    The closer he gets to power, the more Starmer behaves like Corbyn

    Last night’s events in the Commons show how much Labour politics has been infested with sectarianism

    FRED DE FOSSARD • 22 February 2024 • 2:16pm

    Yesterday’s procedural dramas in the House of Commons have been revealing many truths. They have shown the extent of the Conservative Party’s weakness. It boasts a large majority, but Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour was able to get its way. They show the continued strain that the politics of Israel-Palestine has on the British Left, which looks only to worsen, as Labour MPs are targeted by flying pickets of Muslim activists in their constituencies.

    Finally, it has shown the weakness of the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who has compromised his position, bowing to pressure from the Labour Party, and is at risk of losing confidence of the House.

    The Scottish National Party’s Opposition Day Debate was designed to extract maximum pain from the Labour Party. That is politics. The SNP has an established third-party privilege to table motions for debate on their allotted Opposition Days. These have been governed by the Standing Orders of the House of Commons for decades. These Orders establish the rules of the Commons, and are the closest thing Britain has to a written constitution.

    These were upended by the Speaker, who changed proceedings to give precedent to the Labour Party’s amendment to the motion. This was extraordinary, and was announced by a haunted, scared looking Hoyle. While procedural chaos proceeded and intemperate speeches were made, the Labour Party ultimately got its way, with the SNP and Conservatives left empty-handed.

    This is a different Labour Party to the one Starmer likes to portray. Starmer has spent the last five years accusing the Conservatives of behaving like populist demagogues whenever they tried to deliver their agenda. Sir Keir cultivated a reputation for himself as Mr Rules, a believer in process for process’s sake. Not anymore.

    Ultimately, double standards are irrelevant. Politics is about power. Sir Keir is close to power, and he can dispense with Parliament’s rules. The Guardian‘s Kiran Stacey was not wrong to describe yesterday’s decision by the Speaker as a political coup for Starmer, which has strengthened his political authority, as he successfully faced off potentially 100 rebels on his own benches.

    There have been reports that Sir Keir and his Chief Whip insinuated to the Speaker that they would not re-elect him if he did not acquiesce. By contrast, Conservative MPs have resorted to tabling Early Day Motions expressing no confidence in the Speaker. It could not be clearer who is acting like a presumptive government, and who is behaving like an opposition, and an enfeebled one at that.

    This offers an interesting insight into how Starmer and the Labour Party intend to operate, and it is remarkably Corbynite. Threatening the Speaker into overturning the rules of debate with insinuations about his political future is not the behaviour of an ordinary parliamentary party.

    It is the action of a party willing to subvert the rules and understandings of British parliamentary democracy to get its way. It is no wonder Labour is planning so-called citizens’ assemblies as tools for locking in progressive politics. This is another attempt to subvert Parliament.

    The Speaker, in his statement, said that the Standing Orders governing Opposition Day Debates were out of date, and should be reviewed by the Procedure Committee.

    Who gave him that idea? The idea that Parliamentary procedure is past its sell by date is a longstanding Left-wing trope. If Mr Speaker really thinks that, why didn’t he ask the Procedure Committee for an update before this debate?

    It is not as if they did not have notice. The Standing Orders govern the proceedings of a legislature. Throwing them aside at the behest of one political party is the sort of thing which could bring the entire rulebook down.

    As if by magic, a chorus of Labour outriders burst into song online throughout the afternoon’s debate, pondering whether Parliament needed such trivial rules at all, considering the gravity of the situation in Israel. But if this Speaker decides to disapply Standing Order 31, as his predecessor John Bercow dispensed with Standing Order 14, why should MPs expect future Speakers to uphold the rules? Many who should know better – MPs, journalists, former advisers and commentators – should consider the consequences of their apologism.

    Yet why is this happening? The Commons Speaker referred to explicit threats of violence towards MPs as a reason for overturning procedure yesterday.

    Labour MPs report that they have been threatened by protestors, hounded by pro-Palestine activists demanding they call for a ceasefire or condemn Israel’s actions against Hamas as a “genocide”. Video footage of Labour MPs like Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting, Rachel Reeves, and others being hounded by activists, many of them Islamists, tells the real story behind the procedural drama.

    As the poisonous Rochdale by-election campaign shows, parts of Britain with large Muslim populations have seen their politics become explicitly sectarian, with Gaza the primary issue. If this spreads across the country, Britain will cease to be a pluralist parliamentary democracy, and will instead become a tribal polity, riddled with ethnic and religious tensions. The slide began decades ago during the Salman Rushdie affair, where the British state tacitly sided with those threatening violence against an iconoclastic author.

    The threat this poses to British democracy and prosperity cannot be overstated, but our political parties have buried their heads in the sand, ignoring immigration-driven sectarianism. Conservative MPs have been in a state of denial, increasing immigration and allowing the Government’s counter-extremism programme to investigate supporters of Tory MPs while Islamist terrorists commit multiple atrocities, including murdering a serving MP.

    Meanwhile, Labour has been thoroughly compromised, apologising for extremism and violence in exchange for votes. For the sake of integration and the betterment of everyone in our country, this was another reminder that the age of mass migration must end.

    Yesterday our lawmakers were the rabbits in the headlights in the face of the sharp reality of multicultural politics. If Labour wins the next election, expect a Government and Prime Minister behaving much more like Corbyn than they would currently have you believe.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/22/closer-to-power-more-starmer-behaves-like-corbyn/

    1. The whole episode showed one thing very clearly, Parliament has lost control of itself and that sectarian interests, in this instance Islamic, are those controlling the shots.
      If it was an issue concerning LGBTQ+ then it would be those pressure groups telling Parliament how to react.

    3. “Starmer has spent the last five years accusing the Conservatives of behaving like populist demagogues whenever they tried to deliver their agenda.”

      I’m just wondering what this Conservative ‘agenda’ was that Starmer regarded as ‘populist’. I remember no such agenda.

        1. Japan, Poland and Hungary are countries that despise Islam. I believe that Japan will not let anyone of the Muslim faith have residency in Japan. I could be wrong…

          2. Wouldn’t it be lovely if someone ‘fact-checked’ the fact-checkers. Next time I have a few hours to spare I might check it out.

          3. Muslims; “47,000 citizens.”
            And how many of those are Asian Muslims I wonder? 99% at a guess.

  106. Well, chums, once again I wish you all Good Night, a restful sleep, and I hope to see you all safe and sound tomorrow.

Comments are closed.