Tuesday 9 July: Labour’s housing plans show scant regard for the natural world

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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607 thoughts on “Tuesday 9 July: Labour’s housing plans show scant regard for the natural world”

  1. Morning. Back to the disgusting coalface of grease, grime and general dirt left by previous owner. Hope to catch you all later.

  2. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, today’s (recycled) story

    Still Relevant Today?

    Bill Clinton and Al Gore are standing next to each other in the bathroom taking a leak.

    Bill peeks and sees that Al has a huge shlong on him. So he asks Al, "How'd you wind up with a dick as big as that?"

    Al says, "Every night before I go to bed, I grasp my penis and hit it really hard on the night stand, three times in a row. That makes it all swollen, and after a while, it just stays that way."

    So later that night, Bill goes home and Hillary is already in bed sleeping. He walks quietly into the bedroom and takes his dick out, and proceeds to hit the night stand with it, three times.

    Whereupon, Hillary wakes up and whispers, "Al? Is that you?"

    2. It is a very long time since Bill Clinton and Al Gore were running the White House. Maybe this joke should be updated, using Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump?

      1. It may seem like a very long time, but when you’re 80, it’s a bit like yesterday

    1. When I listen to that flat, spiritless voice, I am reminded of Lord Beeching contemplating his plans for Thomas the Tank Engine or Ivor the Engine. They are talking of replacing all public services with AI – the zombification of Government.

      It is another appointment that gives away the true intention for England's green and pleasant land. The new Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is a former leader of Lambeth Borough Council, whose primary concern since becoming an MP in 2012 has been addressing the alleged bullying of young black men with mental health issues, forcing a programme of unconscious bias training on the NHS. His constituency is Streatham and Croydon North, which is hardly rural.

      He is gay, so I suppose this makes his appointment appropriate. Or this may expose ChangeUK's true intentions for the countryside.

  7. Good morning, chums, and thank you, Geoff, for today's NoTTLe page.

    Wordle 1,116 5/6

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  8. Good morning, all. Rain. Grey. Strong winds. Cold. Bloody labour government.

        1. I know., Ndovu 😀 But the saying is ‘Flaming June’…little joke. Weather similar today, but bit worse in Scotland, where I’d planned to be but couldn’t make it. Hope the sun’s shining for you 🙂

          2. If only it were only the weather, Ndovu. At least no-one’s blasting out ‘Things can only get better’…

  9. Parents dive on disabled children to save them from Russian hospital attack. 9 July 2024.

    The surprise attack came as Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, met Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, to discuss a potential peace deal to end the war. Mr Orban has also visited Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin in recent days.

    Joe Biden, the US president, said the strikes were “a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality”.

    “It is critical that the world continues to stand with Ukraine at this important moment and that we not ignore Russian aggression”, he said.

    I don’t usually comment on the individual incidents in this war because they are pointless amid the general carnage. In wars people get killed. That is the way things are. Nevertheless this incident made the BBC headlines last night. One supposes that the propaganda siren call of Children and Hospital proved irresistible to them so I will make an exception. Though I’ve selected the quote the entire article misses no opportunity to slate the Russians and dismiss the possibilities of peace.

    Insofar as one can excuse this event it might be said that the attack was probably unintended. Strikes on hospitals, as can be seen here, do not make for good publicity and the destruction is not commensurate with what might be expected from a ground strike. Only a part of the building has collapsed and one suspects that it was an expended munition falling to earth.

    The linking of the strike with Orban’s attempt to broker a deal is typical. The truth is that the United States wishes this war to continue. It suits their geopolitical aims. Biden’s comments themselves are particularly risible. During the Iraq War the United States targeted the Amiriyah air raid shelter in Baghdad killing over 400 women and children. No one has ever been brought to book for it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/08/parents-of-children-hit-russian-strike-on-hospital-ukraine/

    1. We have seen with the precedent set by Israel, which cannot be criticised without committing a hate crime, that hospitals may contain combatants using patients and medics as human shields. They are therefore legitimate military targets, regardless whether this is indeed true. A suspicion and an assertion is enough to warrant a strike. It is also now legitimate to strike hospitals, claiming either faulty targeting or that it was enemy defences misfiring. The result is that hospitals will get hit and the perpetrators will get let off the hook.

      Putin cannot be ignorant of this development of the rules of war, and used it to advantage.

      1. If there are "rules of war" the use of hospitals, mosques, schools and similar to house weapons and fighters, using the patients, worshippers and children as human shield is equally forbidden. This is what Hamas does and has even admitted that such is a good tactic for the bad publicity and worldwide condemnation it creates for the Israelis.

        Trying to suggest that Putin has learned something and is thus is deliberately attacking hospitals is disingenuous. It is extremely unfortunate that a hospital was hit but I think it will have been error or accident rather than deliberate targeting.

        2. It is for the jury to decide.

          I don’t know what the burden of proof is, when conducting a war trial, but “beyond reasonable doubt” is what is used in criminal cases.

          Often verdicts are set by the victor, according to rules set by them. Truth or justice need not apply, just the persuasiveness of the propaganda.

          In between is civil law, where the balance of probabilities applies.

          What is your burden of proof when making your assertions?

          1. Factual evidence is a good start, I would trust the Israelis’ bodycam footage long before I would trust the Jihadists’. Recall the repeated rescues of the same child.
            I would also be extremely wary of trusting anything produced by Ukraine, not that I particularly trust Russia on this.
            As to USA, I wouldn’t trust anything they say if there is a scintilla of US interests behind the scenes.

    2. Apparently the hospital was hit by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft misfire.

  11. 'Morning All
    I'm not saying I'm antisocial but………..
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2376d88d4c2a133e9db33f09aecbb97fb312902c5da8846eec28bef80676dc78.gif
    Rest
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        1. It's nearly as warm as a bath. Also for some reason it's easier to float. High salinity i expect.

      2. Now, how do I discover the address of wild party on the 10th. We shd be on our way and try and stay in the local area.

        1. Hertslass has my address if you have her email. Failing that Geoff. Several people are staying at the Red Lion in the High St.

  12. Labour’s housing plans show scant regard for the natural world

    At least we know it isn't going to work.

  14. Tricky one today after a good start

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    1. Your result helped me out.

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  15. 389551+ up ticksm

    Morning Each,

    Tuesday 9 July: Labour’s housing plans show scant regard for the natural world

    Tuesday 9 July: Labour’s housing plans show scant regard for the natural world or for the indigenous peoples of these Isles today Sherwood ,Epping,forest of Dean, all will fall to the axe to regain favour with the muslim brotherhood among many other daily invaders.

    The 4th of July will go down in history as the day democracy in Great Britain ceased ti exits, and will be forever known as CAPITULATION day.

    Don't kid yourself, as of yet there ain't no saviours on the political scene only political manipulating controllers.

      1. 389551+ up ticks,

        Morning O,
        Mostly, but some off white. and some with a definite tarten hue.

        1. From Coffee House, the Spectator

          Cameron and Holden resign as Sunak announces shadow cabinet
          Comments Share 8 July 2024, 8:20pm
          Richard Holden has resigned from his role as Conservative party chairman. The news comes as the Tory party has announced its shadow cabinet reshuffle – after it won just over 120 seats in Thursday’s election.

          Despite holding onto the safe seat he was parachuted into just days before the nomination deadline, Holden has left his chairman role – with Richard Fuller take the post in the meantime. In a candid admission, Fuller said that the party has had had ‘a difficult election’, adding: ‘We should also challenge ourselves candidly and deeply on the strengths of the Conservative party across the country and outline where improvements can be made.’ You can say that again…

          The move accompanies the news that Lord Cameron has resigned from the Conservative frontbench, with the former foreign secretary having being replaced in his shadow role by his deputy Andrew Mitchell.

          In other developments, Kemi Badenoch has become shadow levelling up secretary, James Cartlidge is now shadow defence secretary to replace Grant Shapps while former justice secretary has been replaced by Ed Argar in the shadow role. Andrew Griffith is now the shadow science secretary and Julia Lopez has been given the shadow culture brief after Lucy Frazer was ditched. And Scottish Tory MP Andrew Bowie has taken the shadow veterans minister role from Johnny Mercer.

          1. Of all the morons who could have taken over from Lord Greenswill, why Mitchell?

      2. 389551+ up ticks,

        O,
        And given consenting support via the majority voter / the polling stations.

        1. How would you define "majority voter"?

          If 33.7% of voters voted Labour, and that there was national turnout of 60%, I make the majority that delivered that landslide was 20%.

          40% of voters abstained. Is not that more of a majority? 40% of voters also voted Labour in 2017, when it was led by Jeremy Corbyn, and that was on a 69% turnout.

          1. 389551+ up ticks,

            Morning JM,
            I define the “majority voter” as those that put the same parties back into power initially regardless of the parties continuous prior odious actions, or lack of actions, purely on the party’s name, and even that’s a deceitful tag.

            That has been IMHO, the voting pattern these past 40 years.

  16. Imagine wanting to turn away tourists (revenue) but welcome 'refugees' (a drain). Crowds of migrants are actually a disincentive to go somewhere. Who'd visit Paris now? Still, it's a very useful guide to aid you when deciding where to go for your next holiday. Happily, the places I'd choose to go have a low anti-tourist score.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f8cde488899b4e5a68e0f76fe9f0b144cddd92f1b1a16997a33ad658f1a530ad.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/hostile-holiday-destination-british-tourists/

      1. Any thicko paint-spraying graffiti should be tied up in chains and thrashed with a cat-o'-nine-tails.

    1. Good morning Olt.

      Similar weather here , wet wet and wet again , slugs and snails and the resident mole are having a field day .

  20. Good morning all.
    A bleak and wet start to the day. a steady rain and 9½°C on the Yard Thermometer.

    1. Morning Bob,

      Damp damp, rain and more rain here as well, wet muggy 17c.

      The BBC Countryfile bods were talking about the new 2025 Christmas calendar , so submit your bestest photographs now!

  21. Good morning all,

    Don't take this the wrong way , but Rishi was incredibly active and fit and 44 years old . He didn't have a dull mind , he wanted to please , and needed to be all things to all men .

    He was earnest but not really in touch . His energy level was superb . so pleased he wasn't a head wobbler , but he gave politics a whirl , even though he was rather tame and out of his depth .

    Starmer is 61, rigid , staid , not very fit and I think his edge has been depleted , age will catch up with him very quickly
    He has been amazingly busy since Friday, can he cope with such a rushed lifestyle , and think clearly ?

    NO, I don't think so.

    Seriously, I don't think so.

    3. You may well be right in predicting an early arrival of Bidenitis for Starmer.

      And after him – in the words of Madame de Pompadour – Le Déluge.

  22. Morning all 🙂😊
    Over cast slightly warmer and rain later, much rain according to Carol yesterday.
    With the introduction of AI I'm wondering why our useless governments are stuffing our country especially the English countryside full of their joint illegal immigration results. Labour in terms of manual and public services will be less important when AI is used at check-outs check-ins etc etc. And after years of allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal invaders into our country still not a single word of an explanation of why and how its being allowed to take place.
    5 million plus new homes to be built to accommodate them. How do the government idiots justify this ? The materials to build such an enormous amount of work simply does not exist. And the people who are coming here for a free life all come from countries far bigger than England. But are too lazy to improve their own living conditions. It would have been better to have exported materials to where they are coming from.

  23. Labour, AI, Taxation
    Tony Blair was on Today on Radio 4 (spit!) just now. He was really energised by the growth of Artificial Intelligence, which will handle lots of jobs being done too slowly and inefficiently by humans (HMRC please note). The interviewer, Nick Robinson, didn't ask the crucial question: what happens to all the thousands of people whose jobs are no longer required?

    Yesterday I came across this old letter to The Torygraph in the Boris era: recognise any similarities? Perhaps I should send it on to Rachel Reeves.

    Quote: Sir – The wealthiest one percent pay around 28% of income tax collected by the Treasury. Since a surprising number of the electorate are unaware of this, I hope Boris Johnson makes it clear in the run-up to the election. Many Labour supporters seem to be anti-Rich.

    Mr Johnson should also ask Mr Corbyn how he would make up the deficit if he took steps that drove the rich to move their wealth to more favourable climes. The wealthy are an asset that the UK cannot afford to lose and Labourites would be foolish not to acknowledge this.

    1. Does anyone still listen to Radio 4? Wow, well done you, taking one for the team!

    2. Does anyone still listen to Radio 4? Wow, well done you, taking one for the team!

      2. From Coffee House, the Spectator

        Should this Anglo-Saxon drama have a diverse cast?
        Comments Share 9 July 2024, 8:27am
        A new eight-part TV series co-produced by the BBC about England in 1066, entitled King and Conqueror, has diverse actors playing Anglo-Saxons. Elander Moore will reportedly play the real historical role of Morcar, an Earl of Northumbria who fought against Viking and Norman invaders.

        At first sight there might be plausible precedents for the choice of black actors to play leading parts in this kind of historical drama. But looking more closely you have to wonder whether ‘my truth’ is taking over from ‘the truth’ and generating false views of the past.

        The show presents an unusual angle on the well-known history of England at that critical moment
        More than 30 years ago, a much-praised film of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing featured the black actor Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, prince of Aragon. His casting worked very well, even though there were no black princes of Aragon. One reason it worked was that Washington’s physical distinctiveness could be seen to signify his special social status, as a royal prince visiting Sicily. Shakespeare was right that Aragonese kings ruled Sicily during the late Middle Ages, but in other respects the story makes no pretence to historical accuracy.

        When it comes to contemporary productions, we can probably say the same about the dramatisation of Shardlake, a crime story by C.J. Sansom based in an invented monastery overlooking the English seashore, on the eve of the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. Here the abbot is played by a black actor. Here too, the casting is neither here nor there, since the story contains a large number of fictional figures alongside several historical ones, such as Thomas Cromwell, and the monastery itself is pure invention. If Sansom could invent a monastery, his film producer could invent a black abbot. Fiction is piled on fiction. Creative licence has a long history. Shakespeare had a yearning for non-existent Roman clocks. In Julius Caesar, the dictator asks ‘What is’t o’clock’, and Brutus responds ‘Caesar, ‘tis strucken eight’, building our sense that time is marching on to the moment of his assassination.

        What we do know about the series King and Conqueror is that it presents a, shall we say, unusual angle on the well-known history of England at that critical moment. Here is a brief description from the BBC website:

        Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.

        It is true that they had no claim to the British throne, because at this point there wasn’t one. But if the blurb means ‘English monarchy’, William of Normandy did have a claim through kinship with King Edward the Confessor. All this makes me think that the series will have a rather detached relationship to real events, and at that level one might apply the principle I applied to Much Ado and Shardlake. If you can invent a black abbot and a black prince within a fictional setting, then you should perhaps feel free to invent a black Earl Morcar within what will certainly be a largely fictional setting – imagined conversations, inauthentic locations, and so on.

        But there is a real problem here, since, as has been said, Earl Morcar did exist, along with Lady Emma (Juliet Stevenson) and Harold Godwinsson (James Norton), though other several other roles are pure invention. Audiences may find the episodes much more authentic than they really are.

        Making Earl Morcar interesting is not really a great challenge. He had a tumultuous career, quarrelling with King Harold and resisting William the Conqueror. Perhaps, though, the producers of King and Conqueror regard him as somewhat boring and in need of a makeover. Lewis Carroll included him in Alice in Wonderland, where the Mouse wants to dry himself by telling a very dry story: ‘“Ahem!” said the Mouse with an important air, “are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria…”’

        Lately, though, bad history books, sometimes written for young children, have been spreading the news that there were plenty of black people in ancient and medieval Britain, including an early abbot from North Africa (unlikely to have been black). And also, in one bizarre version, the builders of Stonehenge.

        Then there is the argument that we should stop talking about the Anglo-Saxons, partly because they were (it is claimed) not really German invaders but a mixture of highly cultured Celts, kind-hearted Teutonic volunteers in the Roman army and, subsequently, cuddly Vikings who settled in the north and east of England. Although if you follow this logic, surely you can’t use the word England either, as it incorporates the questionable term ‘Angle’, so maybe ‘southern Britain’ will have to be used instead. This was missed by Cambridge University Press when it recently reacted to American dislike of the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ and changed the name of its much-respected journal Anglo-Saxon England to Early Medieval England and its Neighbours. In the United Sates the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ may have racist overtones, but we should not let our use of terms be dictated by ignorant extremists.

        So when it comes to King and Conqueror, the question is whether this is simply colour-blind casting, or whether the BBC and the others involved in this production are trying to make a point about modern society or about a wrongly imagined medieval society. In this age of trigger warnings we perhaps need something different: ‘WARNING: the events portrayed in this series bear no relation to historical reality.’ Then no one needs to question the casting, and the production team can feel free to introduce Merlin the Wizard, Sir Galahad on a white horse and fire-breathing dragons, whatever they like, into the story.

        King and Conqueror could then be constructed along the lines of Game of Thrones. A Game of Thrones actor has in fact been cast in this new series as William the Conqueror – he will feel he is in the right place. But don’t assume any of this is credible history.

        1. I believe there was once a production of Othello where all the characters were black except Othello who was white.

  25. Tax question removed. The MR, being a determined lady, discovered what to do – and has done it!

  26. We could have written this letter ..

    SIR – The Labour Government is about to drive bulldozers through what remains of our countryside – the idea plainly being to get the work done quickly in the hope that the electorate will have forgotten about the carnage in five years’ time (“Labour to bring back housing targets”, report, July 8).

    The green belt is now regarded as merely another planning hurdle, and no longer a secure bulwark against development. The continuation of urban sprawl, and Labour’s election pledge to impose wind turbines and solar panels on fertile farmland that should be producing food, will further degrade what remains of Britain’s natural world. Already there have been local extinctions among once-common species such as skylarks, yellowhammers and corn buntings.

    These were the formerly abundant field birds of my north-east Warwickshire childhood, and I mourn their loss.

    John Phillpott
    Worcester

    1. Interesting letter in The Grimes this morning:

      "Sir, I was a planning officer in local government for more than 40 years and when I retired I was approached by developers to help them get permissions. I did this with honesty and common sense and never saw it as corrupt or motivated by money.

      What I saw from the outside was that council planners are difficult to contact and wary of giving positive advice, apply policy rules without common sense and are too quick to block sensible ideas. This needs shaking up, but the average time from planning discussions to bricks on the ground is seven to ten years. Labour will need two terms to make their changes achievable.

      Steve Dance
      Bramcote, Notts"

      1. Good morning Bill ,

        I am fearful that huge pressure will be put on councils to ignore neighbourhood plans and planning appeals .

        Our village has been earmarked for 1,000 new homes .. yes , here in the countryside , all because we have a railway station and military camp up the road , rural lifestyles , and a small decommissioned nuclear experimental power station at Winfrith , loads of land there, but still under licence .

        https://twitter.com/True_Belle/status/1810581703628296261

        1. Good morning Maggiebelle

          Are they trying to pull the wool over your eyes?

  27. Good morning, all. Wet and breezy here.

    The Labour government has started its queue of disasters with the outrageous plan to build 1.5 Million homes front and centre with Miliband minor's energy stupidity in second place.

    Now, is it homes or is it houses? The two words would appear to be synonymous but in Labour speak, are they? The brick situation isn't looking too good and several Nottler comments have offered alternatives e.g. wood and block and ship containers as alternatives.

    Regarding the traditional building of a house as a home: information from Purple Bricks 2023.

    The cost to build a house per square metre in the UK can vary greatly depending on a number of factors, such as location, the type of materials used, the complexity of the design and the level of finishes and fixtures.

    As a general rule of thumb, the cost to build a basic, standard-quality house in the UK can range from £1,200 to £1,500 per square meter. This would include the cost of construction materials, labour, utilities and basic finishes such as flooring and walls.

    Land is not included.

    There is a variation in the size of the average house living area data but the figure below will suffice. Data also indicates that house living space is being reduced. Google & InsightDiy.

    How many m2 is an average 3 bedroom house UK?
    88 square meters

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5a1d3c48039e45addcfa170ff24f42e2ab27ff6d3b0d42d2d9e786543a03e05b.png
    Construction costs for a basic traditional house based on the data:

    Least expensive

    88 x 1200 = £105,600 1,500,000 x 105,600 = £158,400,000,000

    Most expensive

    88 x 1500 = £132,000 1,500,000 x 132,000 = £198,000,000,000

    Add in the cost of the land, the provision of services, road access etc. and the cost is…

    Going long on shipping containers might be a good investment.😎

    1. Yo KtK

      The first places that the required 'dwellings' should be built on the property/properties owned by
      The Liebour Elite (Bliar etc)
      Liebour MPs
      Donaters of over 50 grand to Liebour Party coffers
      Those Empeered by the Liebour Party

      etc

    2. There is a global shortage of shipping containers. The shipping container village in London ended up infested with drug dealers and prostitutes. The decent but poor people are begging to be rehoused.

        1. I made such an observation when stationed in Germany. Travelling out of Birmingham city centre, there were lots of businesses where the upper stories were unlit at night, clearly uninhabited. Where I was stationed, Krefeld, all such businesses had flats above, inhabited right into the city centre. There must be plenty of scope for such a system here (provided Starmer's mob don't force landlords to throw in the towel with their new regulations).

    1. Of course they would. No surprise there. But can you imagine them using white actors in a drama about Zulus? It's all part of the relentless globalist propaganda drive to eradicate national feeling, and it's going on all over the West.

          2. It’s real? it would be ten years in the chain gang for making that now!

    3. Why was King Lear such a prescient play?

      "That nature that condemns its origin cannot be bordered certain in itself."

      In other words: those who scorn and deny their heritage and history cannot be considered to be mentally stable.

  29. Playing Gooseberry.

    SIR – It is sad that gooseberries (Letters, July 8) are difficult to find – as, indeed, are gooseberry pork pies.

    These were made in Mansfield as the traditional dish of the annual July Fair. The fair celebrated the granting of the market charter by Henry III in 1227, meaning that Mansfield could hold a market in perpetuity.

    The highlight was when the town’s mayor cut the pie in front of the gathered crowds. They often contained more than 60 pounds of gooseberries, and were shared among the people.

    A recipe can be easily found for this most delicious of pies. Try it.

    Stuart Duckmanton
    Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

    As all Chesterfield people are only too aware, Mansfield folk are not that bright. Their "Gooseberry Pork Pies" contain no pork. The dimwits are probably not aware of that fact but continue to delude themselves that they are still "pork" pies.

    1. Good morning Grizzly ,

      I am surprised that you haven't picked up on the surname

      Stuart Duckmanton
      Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

      All the bods we have met from Nottingham area and know , always end their greetings with duck, duuuk, dook.

      Rather endearing and delightfully warm , how many regional niceties still exist , I wonder?

      1. Here in the North East its 'pet', like 'well done pet'. Hinney was also common, but I've never heard it for years except when somebody is putting it on.

        1. Yep , I love the expression Pet , it is a warm greeting .

          I call everyone darling, I don't know why .. always have done .. even before that daft Ad Fab Lumley series .

          My father was a strong Yorkshire man , of the Fred Truman type, not the Boycott type.

          Dad called females darling , and chaps , lad , endearing , thinking about it really , but nice .

          1. I do like a good proper Yorkshire accent, and the Lancs accent too. We also use lad, and formally 'marra' for mate. It's a mining expression so now dying out.

          3. How do?

            Na then! I'll 'ave thee know, I'm 'aif Yorkshire an' 'aif Derbyshire, and I can spake proper, like, me sen!

          4. Jeremy Lee the chef calls everyone darling and dear. Even the men. He is a little camp.

          6. From Fred Trueman’s 2004 autobiography, As It Was, The memoirs of Fred Trueman.

            In the early sixties, following a test match in Melbourne, I joined my team mates for a post-match drink. The atmosphere was convivial and I was sharing a joke with my good pal and ‘Roses’ adversary, Lancashire’s Brian Statham. The room was filled with the soft hum of conversation when I herd a plummy, Old Etonian voice elevate itself above all others.

            ‘Trueman! Over here!’

            I felt the hackles rise on the back of my neck. I turned to see where the voice was coming from and saw a knot of MCC selection committee members, seemingly doing their best to help the profits of Gordon’s gin and Schweppes’ tonic. ‘Trueman!’ repeated the plummy voice, the owner of which was now crooking a finger, beckoning me to join him.

            ‘Excuse me, Brian,’ I said to my England colleague before making my way across to the gentleman who was so rudely demanding my presence.

            ‘With all due respect, who the hell do you think you’re talking to?’ I said as I joined them. ‘My parents christened me Frederick Sewards Trueman. Now friends may call me Frederick, Fred or Freddie. I don’t mind. But what I do not respond to is “Trueman”!” Especially when beckoned. I have a dog, it comes to my side when I call its name. I’m not anybody’s dog to beck and call by shouting “Trueman”.

            By way of emphasis I gave a sharp nod of the head and watched the faces of those committee members fall like a cookbook cake. The Old Etonian in question was none other than the Duke of Norfolk. Credit to him, he never said such again. In fact, from that day on, we were to have nothing but the greatest respect for one another and became good friends. I was later to learn, however, that my forthright attitude hadn’t gone down well with the other MCC selection committee members. In time stories got back to me of conversations and mumblings that had taken place within Lord’s committee rooms and gentlemen’s clubs.

            ‘That Trueman, always seems to be upsetting the apple cart. Bit of a rebel if you ask me. Must keep an eye out for him, what?’

            ‘Trouble with Trueman is, he won’t listen to advice.’

            Such comments would eventually make their way back to me and, though never one to go for hearsay, I was left in little doubt such comments were true. The truth of the matter is, I was never a rebel. neither was I anti-establishment. On the contrary, I was wholly supportive of cricket’s hierarchy. What I objected to was the attitude, snobbery and bigotry displayed by some who, by way of their heredity, money or social connections, beset cricket’s establishment in my time as a player — and beyond.

        2. Hadaway, man Tom.

          Why-aye. My ex-wife's mother (from Co Durham) gave me a book entitled "Larn yersel' Geordie". It gave me an insight in to the lores of gannin' and plodging. It told me a 'hinny' is a donkey and a 'cuddy' is a horse.

          "Divven't drop your prottle on the proggie mat" is an instruction not to drop your cigarette ash on the rug.

          2. Aye, my auld Nan had a copy, and she could quote it by heart. She was a character all right, a pitman’s daughter and wife, whose party piece was signing ‘Nobody Loves a fairy When She’s Forty’, dressed in a fair dress, with wings, a broken wand and a pair of my Granda’s pit boots. Her rendition of The Lambton Worm brought the house down every time.

          3. "Wheesht, lads an' had your gobs, I'll tell ye aal an aawful story,
            Wheesht, lads an' had your gobs, I'll tell ye 'bout the worm …"

          4. or 'Wheesht, lads had thee gobs, an a'll tell yes aal an aawful story' in Pitmatic.

          5. or 'Wheesht, lads had thee gobs, an a'll tell yes aal an aawful story' in Pitmatic.

      2. "Me duuk" was my Great-Aunt's usage. She was from Birstall, in Leicestershire.

        1. Are men referred to as drakes or is it a concession to those who think sex and gender are unfixed to address men and woman as 'duck'?

          1. Midlands people used 'duck' as an impersonal mode of greeting for members of both sexes, in the same way that Scots use 'hen'.

            Sheffielders say 'owd love'.

          2. It seems to have died out recently but back in the 1970's it was not unusual, but a tad disconcerting, to be addressed by male Plymouthians with an accent as thick as clotted cream: with "OK my lover..." (They can't all have been sailors!!!!)

      3. Good morning, Maggie.

        Ayup, me duck.

        Duckmanton is also the name of a mining village a few miles to the east of Chesterfield, just outside Bolsover. That's probably why I gave it no attention.

    2. I was in Chesterfield in May, on a romantic tour for our 37th anniversary. I was impressed. It gets a mention in my article entitled ' A Trip to Stoke ', with which we were also pleasantly surprised.

      1. I’ve not been back to my home town since July 2015. I have to say that I was very disappointed to go there. Long gone is the old beautiful and characterful market town with its huge variety of independent retailers of my youth. There is a lot more concrete and glass and it has become yet another “Anytown” with the same old, same old, multi-nationals dominating. My old police colleagues tell me that it is now a junkie’s haven with hypodermic needles discarded in every shop doorway.

        1. We were only there a day. I only live just over an hour’s drive from where I grew up, in and around Sunderland, but I always feel depressed by it on the rare occasions I go back.

      2. I’ve just read your excellent A Trip to Stoke, Tom and hugely entertaining it was. Thanks.

        I’ve only visited Stoke-on-Trent’s railway station, on the occasion — en route home to Chesterfield from Lancaster — I was diverted to go through there due to a rail strike on the Midland Line between Manchester and Sheffield.

        Funny thing I have an expat British chum living a few miles from me here in southern Sweden. Pete is a Stoke lad and we often have a bit of a joky discussion on the relative merits of Staffordshire oatcakes being better/worse than Derbyshire’s equivalent. There is not much to choose between them but they are an essential part of a fried breakfast in our part of the world.

    3. I assume they are pies following pork pie recipe for the pastry side, filled with gooseberries (goosegogs, as my Great Aunt used to call them).

      2. Indeed, it is a hot water crust; but, then again, a lot of pies use that pastry without calling it ‘pork’.

    4. Having worked there, I always thought, If God were to give the world an enema, Mansfield would be where to stick the tube.

      1. It doesn’t have a prominent place in The Book of Crap Towns for no good reason.

  30. Morning all. If you have time pop over to Free Speech (FSB) . We have new articles and there is a good discussion stating about House of Lord's reform.
    Cheers,
    Tom

    1. I'd say that Commons reform is more pressing, after the latest election travesty. Tinkering with the Lords is akin to deckchair rearranging.
      I'll be over at wine o'clock.

      1. Yes, that's agreed. But the reader that wrote the article argues that HoL reform should not therefore be ignored.

      2. Only heredities in the Lords. Send the mealy-mouthed place-men to fester in York, or Scapa Flow.

    2. The best way to reform the Lords would be to bring back the hereditaries and kick out all the others.

  31. The DT's thought police are making hay since Labour came to power.

    An article in today's DT talks about a rise in deaths from smoking and the Labour government will doubtless soon try to ban smoking anything other than cannabis and opium as soon as Streeting becomes street-wise.

    Here is the BTL comment which was immediately taken down by the censors for being off message.

    My dear old Uncle Dick was killed at the age of 91 by the fact that he had started smoking at the age of 11. He did not make the problem any better by drinking a couple of pints of beer each day and a stiff whisky after supper.

    Mind you my mother smoke and drank in moderation and got to the age of 97 while one of her sisters drank and smoked enthusiastically and only got to the age of 89; her elder sister who drank but did not smoke got to 92 and the sister who neither smoke nor drank died at 76.

    Maybe their longevity was to do with their genes and not tobacco or alcohol?

  32. Talking of Yorksheer – dear old Hardcastle hasn't been here for some time. Does anyone have any news?

        1. We haven't heard from Duncan for ages but I think I saw a comment from him recently somewhere else.

          4. Sunday 30th June was the last comment he made. On holiday or just taking a break from us? Anyway I hope he'll be back.

          6. One of his last comments was to offer you condolences on the sale of your barge.

  33. Hugh Gaitskell (born April 9, 1906, London, England—died January 18, 1963, London) was a British statesman, leader of the British Labour Party from December 1955 until his sudden death at the height of his influence.

    Gaitskell was chosen to succeed Clement Attlee as Labour leader in 1955, in preference to two more experienced candidates, Herbert Morrison and Aneurin Bevan. He seemed discredited in 1959 when his party lost the general election, and in 1960 when the party executive, which opposed unilateral nuclear disarmament, was defeated on that issue at the annual party conference.

    At the 1961 party conference, however, he secured a reversal of the decision on nuclear weapons and then was able to reunite the party. In 1962, again at the party conference, he made a notable speech opposing Great Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community (Common Market), for which the Conservative government was unsuccessfully negotiating.

    1. Died suddenly, like Cook and John Smith paving the way for Blair.
      It's not very safe being on the Left when you don't tow the line.

      1. Sir Tony Blair has warned Sir Keir Starmer that “people want controls” on immigration as he declared: “If you don’t have rules you get prejudices.”

        The former prime minister said he believed a balance needed to be struck between people appreciating the “enormous benefits” of immigration and the desire for restrictions on people coming to the UK.

        Sir Tony was asked about a recent warning he made about the threat posed by Reform UK to the Labour Party.

        He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “I think it is very clear that on immigration I think there is a centre ground that can hold which is where people understand there are enormous benefits to immigration, and by the way a lot of what we are talking about, these great AI innovations, look at the people leading them, many of them are immigrants into this country.

        “But at the same time I think people want controls. So this is the balance that you need to strike because as I say, if you don’t have rules you get prejudices.”

        Asked if he was convinced by Labour’s immigration plan, Sir Tony said: “I think what they are doing on border control and so on, if they can make it effective, will make a huge difference.”

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/09/politics-latest-news-starmer-labour-tories-sunak/

          2. I should hope not – disrespect to weasels, and stoats, will not be tolerated!!

        2. That's what happens when your immigration policy (or for that matter any policy) is set up to rub the other side's noses in something.

    2. Died suddenly, like Cook and John Smith paving the way for Blair.
      It's not very safe being on the Left when you don't tow the line.

  34. Yes, the DT is almost fully woke now Mrs Tastey. Allison Pearson and Alistair Heath are good, but the rest are predictably woke, and the comments section a pale shadow of what it was when I used to comment, what, ten years ago an more? The Spectator is going the same way. That's why I set up my new (free) magazine FSB . Hope to see you over there.

    1. I could only read half of that Angus before my rage made me cut it off.

  38. Why not just delete the Lords? You can't have them elected, as there's already one elected chamber and there's no point in two. Appointed – on the basis of what? Guilds, professions, unions, one rep per county (how to choose?)… Just turn it into a museum.

  39. Why have two chambers, anyway? I'm assuming that the Lords was set up when democracy kicked off, ust to be sure the uppity Commons didn't do anything the Establishment didn't approve of.

    2. I think the Lords ran the show before the commons came into being in its current format.

      1. Yes, the Lords began in the 11th century as the Great Council, advising the king. Cromwell abolished the House of Lords in 1649 and it was reinstated by Charles II in 1660.

  40. Currently I'm re-reading Michael Woods' The Search for Troy – bought for me by my wife on our 15th anniversary – and the chapter I've arrived at is, The Peoples of the Sea. This chapter outlines the mayhem and slaughter that befell the Mycenaeans, Hittites, Egyptians etc. at the hands of migrating, possibly displaced by famine and drought, hordes of different tribes, around 1200 BC.

    Nothing much changes except that unlike Ramses III, who defended his country and made great slaughter on these people – he may have resettled some e.g. those we know as Philistines, in what is now Gaza – whereas our gutless leaders are only too willing to invite them in.

    https://x.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1809874964264124893

    1. KK
      Good morning .

      The complications of tribes shown in the Old Testament .. and then again in the New Testament .. now reflected in real life and if people read more history , and listened carefully , we wouldn't have all these tribal upheavals .

      We will be facing new up upheavals here in the UK again, Sectarian politics ..

      The next few months will be very interesting .

    2. Morning Korky. You could try 1177 B.C. The Year Civilisation Collapsed. by Eric H. Cline.

      The argument as to whether the Sea Peoples were the cause or a symptom of the Bronze Age collapse is by no means settled. What can be said is that there are strong parallels between now and then.

    3. Morning Korky. You could try 1177 B.C. The Year Civilisation Collapsed. by Eric H. Cline.

      The argument as to whether the Sea Peoples were the cause or a symptom of the Bronze Age collapse is by no means settled. What can be said is that there are strong parallels between now and then.

    4. Two recommendations (as audio books – for the insomniac…)

      The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean by David Abulafia (Author), Jonathan Keeble (Narrator), Penguin Audio (Publisher)

      Tutankhamun's Trumpet: The Story of Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects by Toby Wilkinson (Author), David Timson (Narrator), Picador (Publisher)

      Each deal in part with the area you have been reading about. Both are rivetting.

    5. I loved Michael Woods in my youth, but that book shattered all my long-held learning on the subject! I studied a lot of Greek and Roman mythology and history outwith school and thought I was a bit of an expert! But that book – well, I could have cried! And when he wrote about the Labyrinth at Knossos, and said it hadn’t existed, but the title referred to the maze of corridors within the palace….! When I finally visited Knossos I decided he was fibbing!

    3. Obviously, those as well and various Martens [apart from the ones in Germany that bite lumps out of brake cables!]

  43. New government reinvents the wheel:

    A former counterterrorism chief is the frontrunner to oversee Labour’s attempts to stop migrants crossing the Channel.

    Neil Basu, the former head of the UK’s counterterrorism policing network, is the leading candidate to head the home secretary’s new border security command.

    He is the ex-Met wazzock who believes that all police and white people are inherently racist. Anyway, the last mob installed Dan O'Mahoney in 2020 as Clandestine Channel Threat Commander. That worked well, didn't it?

    It is all just window-dressing and complete avoidance of the REAL issue – that we are slowly but surely being overrun.

    1. He is quite obviously inherently racist no doubt about it.
      I see that little shiite was at the government cabinet meeting . He's not a politician but he serves the same order of preference.

      I must have a serious word with our grandchildren. Get a suntan or else…..

    3. Employing Basu to curb immigration is akin to employing a rat as minister for health and safety. Labour are blatantly taking the p*ss. They'll be employing Blair as chief advisor next. Or Lammy as Foreign Secretary.

  44. Oh yes they do – if they can show that they are descended from enslaved groundhogs…!!

      2. Those idiots are going to let more prisoners out, because they think the prisons are over crowded.

        1. If you say so…! (interestingly, it is used – in the old meaning – very frequently in the Diaries of Chips Channon).

    1. We set the trend – others, eventually, follow.

      What an irritating website, by the way.

    2. I once saw daubed on the walls of an urinal:

      Hip Hooray and dance for joy
      I was here before Kilroy"

      1. In Cardiff I saw this:

        Australians are a cross between an Aborigine and a kangaroo!

      2. I saw this ..

        Mary Rose sat on a pin , Mary rose

        Where on this place you enter
        to give up what you eat,

        Please place it in the centre
        and not upon the seat !

      3. I saw this ..

        Mary Rose sat on a pin , Mary rose

        Where on this place you enter
        to give up what you eat,

        Please place it in the centre
        and not upon the seat !

  51. Suella Braverman claims Tory rival Robert Jenrick is on ‘the Left of the party’
    Former home secretary portrays potential leadership contender as pro-Europe on Brexit as she calls to abandon ‘liberal conservatism’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/09/suella-braverman-claims-tory-robert-jenrick-left-party/

    Who won the biggest majorities for the Conservatives in the last 40 years?
    Answer: Margaret Thatcher – a politician who was right of centre.

    Who could only scrape in only with the help of the Lib Dems in 2010 after the disastrous Brown Labour government?
    Answer: David Cameron – a politician who was left of centre and hoped to be the 'heir to Blair'.

    Who turned a lead in the polls of 28% in 2015 to a scrape in only possible with the cooperation of the DUP?
    Answer: Theresa May who was left of centre, thought the Conservative Party was nasty and lied about Brexit.

    Who pretended to be right of centre and promised to get Brexit done?
    Answer: Boris Johnson who won a large majority in 2019 but was kicked out by his own party.

    Maybe the main reason why the Conservative Party has fallen flat on its face has something to do with the fact that it has failed to see that
    the more they move to the left the more they will fail.

    1. Why does the UK need another amateurish left-of-centre party? Aren't there enough already?

  52. 389551+ up ticks,

    Legalise carrying a full set of condiments,

    ogga1
    @ogga_1
    ·
    3m
    Clinically knock the prosecution officials to the ground
    and via AI, strip them and commence to rape & abuse
    stopped only by the pepper spray they are allowed to hold.
    Then make a judgement on their reactions.

    https://x.com/LeilaniDowdin…

    .

    1. So is assault & attempted rape. Will he also be prosecuted? Not holding my breath…

    2. Demonic grin = duper's delight. My sister-in-law possessed (perhaps still does, we haven't seen her for 15 years) the same sort of smile, I called it her crocodile smile. It is the smile of a psychopath, they simply cannot help themselves.

  54. Just been out – in a lull in the rain. If it wasn't such a horrible day, it would be quite nice – as it is very mild.

    1. Moh dashed out during a break in the weather and flattened five molehills .

      The rain is sheeting down , everything is so green , stuff growing very quickly, the sunflowers seem to be growing 3inches everyday , now they are nearly 3ft high .

      When you pruned your wisteria back, will it flower next year, mine has never flowered , Moh prunes it back every year because it is so vigorous .

      He also took the clippers to the Clematis montana which was huge , last year , so this spring we only had a few green bits and very few flowers … The wonderful kind rainy weather has encouraged new growth , so next Spring I hope to see an abundance of flowers .

      The weather is causing problems rurally , I hope the farmers managed to wrap their hay before the bad weather set in, and the sheep have been sheared .. they are looking very miserable in their fields .

      Oh well, summers come and go, we have never ever had it so good!

      1. Wisteria? Yes. All of them flower, so long as the pruning is done correctly and at the right time.

        1. The wisteria needs to have originated from a grafted rootstock plant to produce an abundant flower display Maggie?

          In a past life I sold many such specimens through the Wednesday market in Dorchester.

      2. Clematis Montana? Plant one at your peril. They're triffids.

        Tip: Never plant a Virginia Creeper of any variety against a wall of your house. Even the less vigorous ones need constant cutting. Ours is a Henryana. I wish I'd never put it in.

        1. We found the same with bougainvillea when we were living in France. We planted it early July, returned home to England in August and back in September to discover a plant with leaves the size of dinner plates, we could scarcely find the door.

      3. Don’t talk to me about moles! In my part of east Anglia we have mole netting put down in the back and the little so and sos moved to the front.

      4. Don’t talk to me about moles! In my part of east Anglia we have mole netting put down in the back and the little so and sos moved to the front.

      5. Don’t talk to me about moles! In my part of east Anglia we have mole netting put down in the back and the little so and sos moved to the front.

    1. Old Joe had probably already fixed the next poll which is why he was so confident! But a replacement is likely to beat Trump fairly as many Western voters seem to have swallowed the 'far right' scare stories and have no thoughts of national pride.

  56. Can't help but notice a theme..
    Macron & Sunak both call a 'want-to-lose election' and get the hell out of office asap after receiving notification from the Global New Elite that war with Russia is inevitable and about to happen.

    Anti-War Trump must be stopped, by any means.

    1. Seems to me that it was a good speech. Iain Dale is the one who should get out of town.

    2. The banners are still on display in Regent Street in 100% Nazi style and they really do resemble the swastikas in form and manner of display as well as representing an ideology rather than being tied to a place in the manner of a national flag.

  58. Footie player decides to speak out.. finally, after retiring.

    Soccer Star Toni Kroos: Germany's No Longer The Country It Was 10 Years Ago Thanks To Mass Migration
    is staying in Spain because he’s afraid to let his daughter go out at night…

  59. The low-key lunacy of Britain’s new ruling class. Spiked 9 July 2024.

    One of the worst loony moderates, as I think we should call them, is David Lammy, the new foreign secretary. Let’s leave to one side his old sneering at gender-critical women, who he branded ‘dinosaurs’ hell-bent on ‘hoarding rights’ for themselves. More striking is his complete inability to temper his thinking. He’s a moderate who is unable to moderate his speech. He once suggested that the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs are worse than Nazis. It was historical illiteracy on steroids. He called Donald Trump a ‘neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath’. He channels Rick from The Young Ones, who also loved calling people fascists, more than he does Lord Hurd or Ernest Bevin or any of the cool-minded foreign secretaries of old.

    I was pleased to see people revisiting Lammy’s maddest gaffe after he was made foreign secretary. It was in 2013. A new pope was being elected. The BBC tweeted from the Vatican: ‘Will the smoke be black or white?’ A fuming Lammy responded: ‘This tweet from the BBC is crass and unnecessary. Do we really need silly innuendo about the race of the next pope?’ What can you even say? Let’s just hope he’s better briefed before his first official visit to the Holy See. Of course it was an honest, if demented, error on Lammy’s part. But it was revealing, too. It suggests our new foreign secretary sees racism everywhere, even where it clearly doesn’t exist. It was an early sign of the sixth-form-style politics of our new ruling class who call Tories ‘Nazis’ and rapists ‘women’.

    But it is Lammy’s agitation with democracy that should concern us most. This is a man who devoted himself, with uncommon passion, to overthrowing the 2016 vote for Brexit, the largest act of democracy in the history of this nation. ‘We can stop this madness’, he said in the days after the referendum. We must ‘bring this nightmare to an end’, he insisted. That ‘nightmare’ was ordinary people freely and fairly choosing to withdraw the UK from the EU. With superb, Victorian-level snobbery, Lammy said we cannot ‘usher in rule by plebiscite which unleashes the “wisdom” of resentment and prejudice reminiscent of 1930s Europe’. Again with the Rick-style wailing about the fascists.

    For good or ill, one of the jobs of Britain’s foreign secretary is to put pressure on less-than-democratic nations to give their people a say. Yet what is Lammy going to do when a CCP tyrant from China or one of the ruthless rulers of Egypt says they can’t have democracy because the ‘wisdom’ of the people is a myth and really they’re a bunch of backward plebs who cannot be trusted to make big decisions for the nation? I mean, he said the exact same about us. That the man in charge of our diplomacy throws around the word fascism like confetti, doesn’t know how popes are elected and once set himself square against the democratic wishes of the British people is outright terrifying.

    Your new Foreign Secretary.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/07/08/the-low-key-lunacy-of-britains-new-ruling-class/

    2. He represents the Lammy nation, all the shortest thickest planks united under one glue.

    3. "…our new foreign secretary sees racism everywhere…"

      He is not alone in the BBC-Lab party

    4. He won't be an asset for Starmer. Amazing how far tokenism can take you. Thing is, such as he block talented black people. And give them a bad name.

    1. There have been only two instances in the fifty years I have voted in where the abstentions outvote the winning party forming a Government. This was in 2005 when the shortfall was 3.4% and in 2024 when it was 6.4%.

      2024 Starmer 33.7%, Abst. 40.1% [Sunak]
      2019 Johnson 43.6%, Abst. 32.7% [Corbyn]
      2017 May 42.3%, Abst. 31.2% [Corbyn]
      2015 Cameron 36.8%, Abst. 33.6% [Miliband]
      2010 Cameron 36.1%, Abst. 34.9% [Brown]
      2005 Blair 35.2%, Abst. 38.6% [Howard]
      2001 Blair 40.7%, Abst. 40.6% [Hague]
      1997 Blair 43.2%, Abst. 28.7% [Major]
      1992 Major 41.9%, Abst. 22.3% [Kinnock]
      1987 Thatcher 42.2%, Abst. 24.7% [Kinnock]
      1983 Thatcher 42.3%. Abst. 27.3% [Foot]
      1979 Thatcher 43.9%, Abst. 24.0% [Callaghan]
      Oct 1974 Wilson 39.2%. Abst. 27.2% [Heath]
      Feb 1974 Wilson 37.2%, Abst. 21.2% [Heath]

      [edited to add leaders of the Opposition at the time]

    2. From the Daily Mail.
      Clearly imminent new tobacco taxes planned

      Smoking-related cancers have reached a record high with 160 people diagnosed every day, new figures show

  61. Braverman coming clean now that the dust is settling on the rotten remains of the Tory party.

    Somewhere in the comments is a piece where Braverman tried to have the 'pride' flag that was flying on her building removed, but couldn't.

    Whoever is bankrolling 'pride' and 'trans' activities apparently has some serious clout in political circles. Now, how would that be possible?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7d460c1fec10beacba0b370802467ca125a64ec8d58a1e8adad9fc6d8bd1642.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/280f6434bcd458c50dc50e83a5223a821c95fcca95f4a2e316984a90175de51a.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/83c6491d974a6740226979991d4857636083d7321e054ea254db6bf09236deb3.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d5e93b412841b27c64464277babcd56b2096c62f003eaba3f872d01d38c183ea.png

      1. If one suspects the worst possible motives as far as govt is concerned, one is probably correct, Sue. By itself it perhaps wouldn't make a lot of difference in the short term, but coupled with the ''a woman's right right to choose' programme, vaccines, the breakdown of traditional family life, then serious inroads can be made into depopulating our people, 'thinning out the herd'.

      1. 389551+ up ticks,

        Afternoon SJ,
        Only lab/lib/con supporter / voters are, giving consent via the polling station, I’m NOT.

    2. We'll all be wearing helmets and stab proof vests soon if we don't get rid of this scum

  66. What utter bollocks:
    "Thames Water blames climate change after sewage discharge into rivers doubles
    Firm under fire as it admits huge increase in pollution as it pushes for 59 per cent bill hike and pays out £195million to shareholders"
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/thames-water-sewage-discharge-rivers-doubles-bills-rise-b1169571.html
    Nothing to do with that the whole 3rd world has decamped to the UK and most of them take a dump in the dunny at least once a day? (some just crap anyeverywhere).

    2. I tried to post what I remembered reading in Midnight's Children, but stopped – just digesting my lunch…….

    1. "It's the way we've got to go for climate reasons."

      The presenters might jeer at him for not having an electric car but it's time someone prominent in the media challenged the fallacy in those ten words.

  68. Just tried to do a fiddly job in t'greenhouse. Very muggy out – plus a PLAGUE of flying ants – that get everywhere. So have returned to the house – bringing with me, I see, several said ants…

    2. Blazing sun all day so far – I've baked a loaf, done 2 lots of washing (from the free electricity), harvested some weeds from one of the gutters and done the crossword and it's not 3pm yet

      3. Same here, just for once, and 60mm rain forecast for tomorrow.
        Almost finished the tiling job, and whilst it all dries out, we've dealt with a load of other smaller jobs in the barn.
        I'm utterly wrecked again (regaining some semblance of fitness when one has passed 60 is very difficult), so enjoying a sleep-inducing beer now I can sit down with good conscience (she is having orange juice).

  69. People condemning Russia but not Israel are hypocrites, says Yousaf. 9 July 2024

    People who condemn Russia but not Israel are hypocrites, Humza Yousaf has said in an apparent swipe at Sir Keir Starmer.

    Mr Yousaf, the former Scottish first minister and SNP leader, compared Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine with Benjamin Netanyahu’s bombardment of Gaza following the Oct 7 Hamas terror attacks.

    Sir Keir, the Prime Minister, said Putin was guilty of “the most depraved of actions” after Kyiv’s main children’s hospital was struck on Monday in a Russian missile barrage that killed at least 22 people.

    There is nothing surprising about Yousaf’s claim though it is a false one. Any sensible person has always known that he is a closet Palestinian. His Scottish identity is a sham. Adopted simply for convenience. Did he have to choose between Scotland and Gaza he would consign the former to perdition without the slightest hesitation. He is sadly not alone. The vast proportion of incomers share no fellow feelings with the indigenous population.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/09/humza-yousaf-hypocrites-russia-ukraine-israel-keir-starmer/

  70. Watching the clown show which is the election of the Speaker in the House of Cards. It is comical that Starmer’s smug tools seem to to expect anyone in the real world will take any of them seriously.

    2. It's an important choice.
      The Speaker could essentially silence Farage and Reform from most debates by ignoring them.

        1. The Speaker has the powers to tell him to shut up, and if he doesn’t to have him evicted, by force if necessary.

        1. Yes but sometimes they have a foot in both camps, the weight on one foot being heavier than on the other.

        2. Once upon a time in a better country, far far away..
          That went by the board years ago.

      3. As we have seen with the Canadian speaker who has shut down opposition MPs very effectively in recent months.

        Farage could very quickly be expelled from the house just like our conservative leader has been expelled. Good TV footage as the belligerent MP is ejected but no way to question or comment on matters before the house.

      4. The Speaker would by wise to recognise that Farage/ Reform represent over Four Million votes . . .

        [Sky News: Number of overall votes: 4,072,947]

        1. Quite, but whether he will or not is a different question.
          It will be interesting to see what the ratios are at the end of this session Labour Tory, Lib Deem Reform etc.

  71. Speed course tomorrow. Has anyone here been on one? Any tips? I feel so depressed about everything today. This horrid weather and accompanying mugginess doesn't help. I feel so lethargic.

      1. Speeding. I refer to it as a speed course (curse), it takes the edge off it…! I was doing 60 mph in a 50 mph area.

        1. 35 in a 30 zone in Norfolk for me. I used Carol’s tablet and did the course on Zoom. Relatively painless, somewhat informative and if anything too long but we were allowed a break for tea.

      1. Yes. I decided to put myself through the humiliation. It's only 3 hours, and better than having to 'fess up to ins companies for the next three or so years and have increased premiums as well.

        1. Close and intelligent friend has been on one and , to my astonishment, said it was actually really interesting, despite being prepared for catatonic boredom. His was run by ex-coppers.

          1. Someone told me it was a social occasion…! She has been on two over the years (there has to be a 4 year gap between getting caught. I have managed 44 years.)

          1. No, that is why I am putting myself through this. £89 though (strange amount).

          2. Worth the fee then. Otherwise, you can be sure your premium would rocket up by considerably more than £89.
            Good luck.

    3. Speed awareness course? You been a naughty girl then?
      I wasn't offered one – 3 points and £100 fine

        1. 42 in a 30, I had been stuck at 20 behind a lorry in a 40 zone and just as I came into the 30 zone I saw a gap and went for it as I was taught (by a police driving instructor) that you overtake as fast as you can therefore being on the opposite side of the road as little as possible. Unfortunately there was an unmarked police car sitting on a private road which clocked me. No point in arguing with them – they also breathalysed me (zero). Informed insurance co and they stuck another £56 on my premium. Luckily the points have gone now as it was more than 5 years ago.

      2. I had to pay £89 for my speed course, but at least I get another three chances after that to speed before my licence is removed! And it doesn't go on my licence. If I had been been speeding at 64 mph instead of 60 mph (50 mph area) I would not have had the choice.

      1. I might fall asleep – it is emphasised that one has to be seen to be contributing. And I mustn't wear anything that could cause offence.

    5. If you are going to be a getaway driver you need to learn some new tricks.

      Fake plates for a start.

  72. Blair predicts £50bn Labour tax raid. 9 July 2024.

    Sir Tony Blair has warned that Sir Keir Starmer will have to put up taxes by more than £50 billion unless he comes up with radical new ways to improve productivity.

    The chief economist at the former prime minister’s institute forecast that taxes would have to go up by 1.9 percentage points of GDP by the end of the Parliament to stabilise debt.

    It is amazing how quickly Mr Blair has emerged from under his rock.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/09/tony-blair-predicts-50bn-labour-tax-raid/

    3. He was kept out of sight in the months and especially weeks leading up to the election. Then out he came like a jack-in-the-box.

    4. "….unless he comes up with radical new ways to improve productivity."

      He's correct.

    5. Can't quite remember who I'm quoting here (others will surely know), but Mr Blair should quite frankly shut up and go away. He's going to do neither, his baleful influence likely to be permanent not least through his Institute.

      1. “I can assure you there is widespread resentment in the Party at your activities and a period of silence on your part would be welcome.”

        © C Attlee (to Harold Laski – a well known leftie trouble maker (and father of Margarita Marghanita )

        1. Thank you, Bill. Have certainly heard of Margarita Laski but not her father. It’s a great put-down, and I’ll endeavour to remember it when my grandchildren visit 😀

          2. Thanks, think I've heard her in the past R4, not listened for a few years now though.

        2. Father. Uncle.
          When a lecturer, Harold Laski had Miliband senior as one of his students.

    7. These governments work in sync so don't be surprised if they pop up with a wealth tax on your homes.
      Trudeau has been heard musing about how taxing homes worth more than a million dollars (that is all of them in the cities) would help to overcome the wealth gap between generations.

      1. I'm sure he'd find a way to ensure that him'n'his'mates were excluded from any need to pay a "fair share"

      2. Or, the younger generation could work it's arse off, going without, as their parents & grandparents did, to be able to afford a house/apartment.
        It's only this year, now I'm 63, that my mortgage is paid off – that's 37 years in total of most of my salary every month, spent buying three houses over the years. Firstborn is following the same path; Second Son doesn't have enough employment to buy a place.

        1. Many (most?) of the younger generation simply do not budget or prioritise their spending. They are reluctant to give up their plastic nails, coffees and eating out, holidays, the latest mobile phone, TV packages and excessive spending on all sorts of unnecessary items. I have little sympathy for these people.
          And that includes younger son and his other half, who are currently worrying about nursery fees when baby starts in a few months.

  73. Good afternoon all,
    Another u-turn by liebour. Charges that were 'ruled out', are now on the cards. Initially, they may just be for the super-rich (who may not even use the NHS in the first place), but the cut-off point of the proposed means testing will get lower and lower.
    This is from the Spectator email of this morning:

    Streeting doesn’t rule out NHS charges
    By Kate Andrews
    Wes Streeting has spent years talking about NHS reform – but he’s always had a red line on ‘free at the point of use’. At the start of the year the Health Secretary suggested he’d rather ‘die in a ditch’ than give up on this principle. But is something about to give?
    Asked at a Tony Blair Institute conference if the UK needed to keep the NHS ‘free at the point of use’ throughout, or if some kind of top-up system could be considered for those who can afford it, Streeting did not give his usual, straightforward answer. Instead, he seemed to create a new definition of the concept.
    ‘Free at the point of use is about fairness and equity, and defending a system that means when you fall ill, you do not need to worry about the bill,’ he said. ‘And I think that’s an equitable principle that’s worth fighting for.’ The Health Secretary then reiterated his case for involving more private sector provisions in NHS care. ‘People are already making the choice. And what we’re seeing is the opening up of a two-tier system,’ he noted. ‘Why should those without means wait longer while those who have means are seen faster. That’s an affront to my left-wing principles.’
    Not paying anything upfront for treatment has long been the UK’s way of making sure no one is landed with a bill they can’t afford if they get ill. But rather than ruling out charges completely, Streeting has left open the idea that perhaps some people would be able to afford a small bill – or something similar – in a way that would not be seen as unfair.
    If Streeting is as serious about NHS reform as his comments indicate, it’s wise not to rule out the possibility of co-pays or top-up charges, like the kinds used in the social health insurance systems throughout Europe (which still guarantee universal access to care). Having spent time in Australia and Singapore last year, Streeting knows there are plenty of ways to structure a health service.
    He seems acutely aware of his limited time frame to make such changes. Perhaps that’s why he’s not sugar-coating the way he speaks about the NHS: he wants to signal that change, of some kind, is on the way.

    2. We have a NHS in Norway.
      You pay to see the doctor, hospital outpatients (about £20 a pop), and for pharmceuticals up to Kr 3 000 (about £280) in a calendar year, after which it's free. Children & OAPs – free. It reduces timewasting and contributes to their budget. Seems to work OK.

      1. If nothing else, it might make the over fussy parents think twice before bothering the doctor (or, as it now is, the pretendy doctor or the nurse). If there was to be a charge, it should only be for seeing a real G.P., not one of the less qualified substitutes.

        1. Norwegian fee to see the Doc is Kr 170, about £15. For about 20 minutes.

          1. That sounds like very good value. Can you easily get a GP appointment, or is it a long-drawn out process of pleading with receptionists, pharmacists and other 'health care professionals' before you are granted a slot with the doctor?
            For such luxury, we'd need a vast increase in the number of GPs.

          2. Book through the web, call if urgent. Maybe charging a fee would reduce demand a bit, making things easier?

    3. In other words Labour will semi privatise the NHS and invite the likes of Bill Gates (Microsoft) and its other billionaire supporters to take over the running of large parts of it.

    4. One thing that irritates me is in our surgery a notice says something like asking for antibiotics when they are not needed is not good’. Can’t remember the exact wording. But it’s the GPs who make out the prescriptions – why do they do it if not necessary?

    5. What about those of us who've paid in substantial amounts in NICs over the years? Have we not already paid up front?

      1. Absolutely.
        There is even talk of making the state pension means tested. Of course, the ne’er-do-wells, both home-grown (a significant number of them being dyed-in-the-wool liebour voters) and the imported savages who never contribute a single penny would not be affected.

    1. Are Day Lilies really edible? Most lilies are a touch toxic, or have I got this wrong (perhaps it's only for cats)?

          1. Why thank you. I've never been called that before – 'Out of touch' but never louche!

          8. How dare you ! I am innocent of all charges ! Actually no….you are right.

            🎵 Where do I begin
            To tell the story of how great a love can be
            The sweet love story that is older than the sea
            The simple truth about the love she brings to me…🎵

            Sniffs………..:@(

      2. Day Lilies can be fatal to cats but are OK for humans.

        Edit: You can eat Borage flowers, Nasturtiums, Pansies, Calendula, Violets, Dandelions, Chive Blossoms, Rose Petals and Hibiscus.

        Many herbal remedies include flowers from the above.

      3. Possibly the roots, opopanax? Amazing variety of lily flowers. I'd be pretty careful about eating anything I wasn't sure about:-)

  77. Just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any worse:

    "Mother of the House Diane Abbott welcomes increase in number of female MPs'

    3. How does she know which of them are females, since the Labour party doesn't seem to be able to define what is a woman?

  78. Just arrived by email.

    Your electricity meter needs to be replaced.

    Hi Minty,

    We recently let you know that your electricity meter has passed its certification date and needs to be replaced.
    It’s important you book your meter exchange as soon as possible. Click the button below to get started.

    Under the Electricity Act 1989, enforced by The Office for Product Safety & Standards (OPSS) we’re required by law to change all meters that have passed their certification date. Under Ofgem's New and Replacement obligation this means that all reasonable steps should be taken to exchange all expired meters with next generation smart meters.

    The installation will be carried out by experienced installers from E.ON or one of our partner companies. They'll show you their ID as they arrive, but you can also set up a passphrase for the day of your appointment for peace of mind.

    We’ll make your installation as quick as possible and we’ll only need to switch your power off at the point we change the meter. Your power may be off for up to an hour per meter, but we do carry power banks, so we can support in keeping power on for an item like an internet router if you need to stay connected. If we supply both your electricity and gas we’ll replace both of your meters at the same time.

    The problem is of course that I don’t want a smart meter. This is simply a ploy to get me to agree to having one. I shall ignore it as I have all the others.

    PS. The OPSS was created in January 2018. We are responsible for the regulation of most consumer goods excluding food, medicines, and vehicles.

    We apply regulations across the product lifecycle from design, accreditation and manufacture through to labelling, supply, end use and safe disposal. Our policy responsibilities cover product safety, legal metrology (weights and measures), standards and accreditation, hallmarking, and Primary Authority.

    We are part of a wider regulatory system. We deliver our objectives through influence, information, and the right systems and relationships, using engagement networks to bring in the views of businesses, consumers and other stakeholders

    1. "We deliver our objectives through influence, information, and the right systems and relationships, using engagement networks to bring in the views of businesses, consumers and other stakeholders."
      "influence?," in other words, coercion, threats and any means we can.
      We have been ignoring these threats for about 8 years now, and have no wish to ever have a 'smart' spy/control meter.

    2. I get this message on a regular basis and as with MiB below, I've been ignoring it for years. My meter still works and I send the readings every month. The readings are consistent, as is my usage, so I've no reason to question the accuracy.

    3. I NEVER "click here" – I get too many emails that pretend to be from a legitimate agency, but when you look at the senders e-address, it's something like @scammersRus.com. That goes for parcels that need collected, great offers – and meter exchange.
      It it trally looks legit, I'll go to the website and do it from there – not from an email.
      Be warned!

        1. Thanks for that tip.
          I’ve had a couple of emails in the recent past that purport to be from Norton, telling me that my subscription invoice is £600+ and to click on their email link if I don’t recognise the transaction. I have deleted as I assume it’s spam but I also gad a quick check of credit cards in case I’ve signed up to something without realising it by accepting some ’free’ offer or other.

    1. True, but it’s in the House where he can show up Starmer et al in one on one debate. I believe for all the public’s boredom with politics he can have a bigger impact on that stage; particularly for any wavering Tories who might cross to reform.

  80. #metoo, KJ! I suppose they could be stuffed with offal/brains and deep-fried like courgette flowers (er – yum 🙁 ) They are odd flowers. Very fleshy and not as dainty as the name would suggest. I have loads but the only ones that seem to thrive (without constant prompting) and reproduce are a sort of old-lady-knicker-elastic colour.

    1. Excellent response, opopanax…would that be the faded white or washed out pink ones?

        1. That could be either….:-DD….would give them a wide berth. Seem to remember their pollen being heavily staining?

          1. I think that's regular lilies, not hemerocallis ( and the pollen is what kills cats)

          2. Hemerocallis …very beautiful to see in groups, the yellow. I associate the others with florist’s bouquets..is that the one that’s poisonous to cats? (I had no idea..)

          3. It's the ordinary lilies – the Madonna Lilies and the Stargazers etc. that are poisonous for cats and other creatures. The pollen is prolific and brushes onto their coats, which they then lick off and it is deadly to them. Not a lot of people know that – i didn't until recently.

          4. Thanks, I didn’t either until you just told me…this is what I found online…. ‘All parts of the lily plant are toxic to both dogs and cats. That includes the pollen and stamens, the flower petals, sepals, leaves, stems, and bulbs. The bulb is significantly more toxic than the rest of the plant.’ I have two dogs one is the leader the other the follower, she constantly grooms his fur, so likely to pick up pollen if we go anywhere near lilies. More misery – just watched Blair pontificating how wonderful AI is , something else he’s likely to be involved in and likely we’ll be seeing/hearing more from him. The joy. ‘Night…likely see you tomorrow 🙂

  82. A honking Birdie Three?

    Wordle 1,116 3/6
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Well done. It took me a crappy six today. There was at least only one option left!
      Wordle 1,116 6/6

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

      1. similar here!
        Wordle 1,116 5/6

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

    2. So many options for that first letter

      Wordle 1,116 5/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Nice one Rene,

      Bogey boy strikes again!

      Wordle 1,116 5/6

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

      1. Me too.
        Wordle 1,116 5/6

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

    4. Been fishing, but something I did earlier.

      Wordle 1,116 3/6

      🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. A comment from a twitter user: "'This is Trudeau's Canada. Where the loud minority dictates the policies.'"
      Sounds just like the UK.

      1. What really pisses me off about all the pandering to the Muslims is that it is always but always one way traffic.
        We give, they take.

    2. It's not just the blood letting and cruel slaughter, I don't want my meat to be 'prayed' over by a backward, superstitious man from an evil, savage, misogynistic, pseudo religion. It's enough to turn many people vegetarian.

      1. Why don't the wretched people open their own KFC equivalents for Muslims?

        Because they would make relatively little money, so we have to change to suit them. I'm sick of it.

          1. Of all the fast food places it was my preferred choice, but I can’t remember the last time, it must be at least 30 years ago.

          2. I prefer McDonalds. I like their pickles, and as long as you don't mistake it for food…

          3. I use Maccies once in three or four months but mostly through desperation….coming out of a 14 hour wait in A&E.

        3. After a supply problem Covid and of course the French there was a shortage of chicken for the chicken shops. Guess what happened next. Suddenly lots of young black people suddenly felt the need for Nike trainers. Funny that.

        1. I had Welsh rarebit with a sprinkle of Cayenne pepper. Home made bread toasted and extra mature cheddar and a hint of mustard.

  84. How decriminalisation made Vancouver the fentanyl capital of the world. 9 July 2024.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/64047791cb438a72509696ba505f090350d86b10d0e24f8935b415fb4133c010.png
    A man struggles to keep his overdosing girlfriend moving, as they await help from emergency services

    The city is gripped in an opioid crisis worse than America’s. Locals say overly liberal drug laws have sparked a catastrophe.

    The photographs on this article are graphic to say the least. Nevertheless, it is wise to look so that you can recognise it when you see it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk…

    1. What a depressing view of what used to be a great city to visit.

      Far from easing the problem, these safe supply sites are exacerbating the problem. Druggies pick up the free drugs and sell them to pay for their fentany fix, the free drugs then enter the black market and get sold to a new cohort of drug users.

      it has become totally politicized, the conservatives are pushing to stop the handouts and get addicts into treatment programs, the liberals are saying that the best way to handle the issue is to destigmatise drug taking.

    2. Comments have closed on this article, so I will post here what I was going to write.
      I don't think that homelessness is at the root of the drugs problem, but you only have to change one letter to get to it: hopelessness. And there's no political solution to that, only a spiritual one.

      2. "I don't think that homelessness is at the root of the drugs problem,"
        Exactly. It is, in many cases, the drugs problem that is at the root of homelessness.

    3. The article mentions the astounding increase in homelessness. Regrettably the author doesn't connect the dots that making the use of highly addictive opioids legal is bound to attract bums from far and wide….Sadly the only way to solve the problem is to let those who inject themselves knowing the danger get on with it without intervention….

  85. Braverman not the person to reunite Tories, says ex-deputy chairman
    Jonathan Gullis says: ‘I think Suella’s rhetoric at times could be overly explosive, overly divisive’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk…

    There speaks a man who does not think the Conservative Party should stand up for anything!

    BTL

    Jonathan Gullis says: ‘I think Suella’s rhetoric at times could be overly explosive, overly divisive’

    Is Gullis afraid of his own shadow?

    Does this silly man not understand that it is this sort of mealy-mouthedness which has destroyed the Conservative Party?

    1. "Divisive" has been a word used to shut people up whenever they point out the inconvenient truth for quite a while now.

  86. I see that Dyson has had enough of Labour already

    All we will have left under net zero is Trigger's Broom

  88. Time for me to say farewell – as the rain falls heavily and the flying ants, er, fly. It is said that tomorrow will be dry. Don't believe a word of it. Still, the builder did come and measure up for the scaffolding so he can sort out the leaking roof. He'll be here on the 20th.

    We have had some comments lately about interviews. I'll leave you with this anecdote:

    J C Masterman* owed his job, incidentally, to an interview at Christ Church, Oxford,
    that consisted of four questions.
    ‘Mr Masterman, are you a candidate for this lectureship?’ He answered, ‘Yes.’
    ‘Mr Masterman, are you married?’ He answered, ‘No.’
    He similarly said ‘no’ when asked whether he was involved in any ‘entanglement’.
    Finally, when asked, ‘Mr Masterman, what do you do in the afternoons?’
    he responded, ‘It depends on the weather.’ And so his career began.

    * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cecil_Masterman They don't make them like this any more.

    A demain

  89. Due to a lorry spilling diesel, the A24 northbound between Beare Green roundabout and the Leatherhead M25 junction (J9) has been closed today (Tuesday 9 July 2024).

    Surrey Highways teams are on site making the area safe and cleaning up fuel over 10 miles of road.

    Early investigations indicate that an excess of 75,000 square metres of road will require resurfacing. We are doing everything we can to get the road re-opened as soon as possible, but this is likely to take some time as the spillage has affected such a large area.

    We want to extend our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and disruption this incident has caused. The safety and well-being of residents is our top priority, and we are committed to resolving this matter urgently.

    One heck of a spillage.

    1. Even now 16 years since I last used a motorcycle the moment the hint of a diesel molecule landing on my scent receptors causes my buttocks to clench fir to crush a walnut.

  90. Last post – off topic – suggested books for "summer" reading in front of the stove:

    The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance that Won the War by Giles Milton

    Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister by Nicholas Shakespeare

    The Army That Never Was: D-Day and the Great Deception by Taylor Downing

    We listened to all three on Audible while driving on holiday. Excellent narration. Compelling stories.

    1. Also by Giles Milton:
      White Gold.
      Nathaniel's Nutmeg (or how Britain won New York!)
      Paradise Lost
      In search of Sir John Mandeville – The Riddle of the Knight

      Well researched narratives…

      1. As Rastus is a sailor i recommended Nutmeg on two occasions and got no response. I think he might have been a pirate !

  91. Hear this folk … hear this .

    In the current Parliament, on 09 July 2024, at least:

    64 MPs are LGBT+
    5 parties have LGBT+ MPs


    This data shows the number of LGBT+ MPs sitting in Parliament on 09 July 2024. This data may have changed since this Parliament began.

    View data from previous time periods and Parliaments

    Conservative

    5 LGBT+ MPs

    Green

    1 LGBT+ MP

    Labour

    50 LGBT+ MPs

    Liberal Democrat

    7 LGBT+ MPs

    Scottish National

    1 LGBT+ MP

    https://mps.whoare.lgbt/

      1. My goodness , brings another dimension to cottaging ..

        I actually feel horrified .. there will be no such thing as trust , it will be a parliament of service … hmmm oh yes , they will be motivated by principles , and nothing else

    2. So 10% of MPs are LGBTQWERTYUIOP. That seems rather out of proportion to the population as a whole. Only 3.2% identified as such in the 2021 Census.

      2. I suspect that the numbers reflect recent changes in the numbers who admit to this new fashion accessory.

    3. England and Wales census 2021
      In total, 44.9 million people (92.5% of the population aged 16 years and over) answered the question. Around 43.4 million people (89.4%) identified as straight or heterosexual. Around 1.5 million people (3.2%) identified with an LGB+ orientation (“Gay or Lesbian”, “Bisexual” or “Other sexual orientation”).

      On that basis the numbers for MPs seem fairly representative.

      1. What is "Other Sexual"? Does it involve animals, motorbikes, plants?

      2. Surely 64 is about 10% of the total so the alphabet people are over-represented. Then, they would be wouldn't they, because they like to be political activists.

        1. It is, but given the make up of MPs, who really aren’t representative of the general population and the fact it’s a badge of honour amongst such people the numbers seem about right.

      3. I’d be more interested in the numbers of snivel serpents who are LGBT+QWERTY as they run the country not the MPs.

      1. Gay men use the most expensive colognes , so I wonder what will be the most popular .

        THE King is scentsing a profit — with bottles of aftershave costing £135.

        He is promising would-be buyers they can smell just like the gardens of his Highgrove country pile.

        But best not to splash it over your freshly shaven face too liberally — as you only get 100ml of cologne for the hefty price tag.

        The product, Highgrove Splash, “brings a touch of luxury to every shaving experience with its sophisticated aroma”.

        Highgrove’s website goes on: “Highgrove Splash embodies elegance, bringing a touch of luxury to every shaving experience with its sophisticated aroma.

        “The lively citrus notes mingle with the exquisite essence of cypress, instantly awakening the senses and revealing a heart of serene lavender and exotic copaiba balsam. https://www.thesun.co.uk/royals/29046525/king-charles-aftershave-garden-highgrove/

    5. 389551+ up ticks,

      Evening TB,

      That should solve the problem of daisy chain materia then.

    2. Like Nigel Farage and Hitler i only have one due to an accident. I'm called Mr Lopsided now.

    2. The Speaker should exercise his authority and ask Mr Bonnar what that was all about, and if he states he won't take th oath he should be told to leave. At least Sinn Féin people are honest about it.

      2. All of his friends are judges and lawyers. Tells us what needs doing when the muslim shit hits the fan

  96. Matt Goodwin delivering his post-mortem on the Conservatives..
    10 KEY Messages from the 2024 General Election
    Summary; being attacked from all sides, they are doomed.

    Should be 11 KEY MESSAGES.. 11th message = if you asked 99% of Tories, Party HQ and esp Boris Johnson if they should change.. their answer would be; Why? What did we do wrong?

    1. Typical of our political classes they never take the slightest notice of on-going public opinion. After they have effed up everything it's the fault of the public. It never changes.

    2. Typical political behaviour. Ignore the problem, deny the problem exists and finally blame someone else.

  98. France has shown how a pushback is virtually impossible.
    The Lefties & Islamists will tactically vote meaning one or the other wins ensuring a few big cities with captive populations of voting multigenerational welfare recipients get to decide that your country gets conquered by a foreign horde.
    https://youtu.be/kS8I7xV__x0?t=40

  99. Have prepared and eaten supper , pan fried haddock ( dipped in egg and then seasoned flour ) vegetables and Jersey Royals , fruit salad ,

    Moh settling down to Lineker and co , same old same old ..France and Spain .

    1. Much more important to some is the Canada Uruguay match this evening. Some dreamers are thinking that Canada might win the match.

      Somehow I think that the result could be akin to the Scotland Canada rugby last week. It was an interesting game with much scoring – 12-73 to be exact.

      2. Erm, I rather think it's Argentina playing Canada, judging from every bloke around being stuck to their phones… 🤣🤣

  100. It seems that the inhabitants of Barcelona are fed up with tourists, and have now taken to squirting them with water pistols to make them go away. The Mayor wants to remove rental rooms (10.000), and increase tourist tax.
    They need to be careful what they wish for: tourists may go away, and take all their money with them – so, hotels, entertainment venues, cafes, restaurants, taxis, wholesalers… will all feel it in their accounts pretty damn quickly.

      1. I'm not over-excited by Spain or Spaniards myself.
        Had a contract at a yard near Cadiz – used to fly to Gib, rent a car and drive over the runway to Espain.
        Stayed in a nice old hotel in Puerto Santa Maria.

        1. Spain is a great place. But I learned many years ago to give Catalonia a wide berth.
          Drive through it on my way to the beach but never like to stay there, generally overpriced, many hostile natives( not everyone, most people are nice everywhere but enough hostility to make you uncomfortable).
          Not all b@d, some nice restaurants. The beer, Estrella Damn, is probably the worst in the world.

          1. I'm not a great fan of their wines, either. It's not that I don't get on with Mediterranean types, had a contract in Sicily some years ago, and fell in love with the place and the people, the food, wines (OK, their whites lack a lot)… Could easily retire there, some part of Siracusa is attractive. Sigh…

          2. Curiously M&S are doing a rather palatable Sicilian white at a very reasonable price…

          3. Most of them lack body and flavour – unlike the reds. But chilled, can be very pleasant.

          4. I’ve lived in Spain for nearly fifty years. Most people I know agree that’s it’s difficult to be served bad wine in Spain.
            Most certainly it’s easy to buy inexpensive good wine here.
            I’ve drunk lots of foreign wine on holiday in London especially at my mother’s house, inexplicably she used to have an impressive wine cellar. Very nice Italian wines and other wines from Australia and South America.
            I thought I wanted to retire to the Mediterranean coast, but I find I prefer to live in my family home in the interior. Prefer the glitter of a large city to a small Mediterranean village.

    3. One wonders where these people go on holiday. Maybe London, Rome or Paris. But that’s just they’re right, I suppose.

    4. If the Brits are not welcome then they should take their money elsewhere.

      However by all accounts some holiday makers are extremely poor company and obnoxious, rude and litter.

    5. The locals are being used. Part of the WEF agenda is discourage travel.

      I understand that AirNB inflate rents in the tourist hotspots but the younger generation should do what countless generations before them did…go where you can afford to rent. People have always migrated from rural areas to cities for work. This is no different.

  102. Family trying to replicate Branston Pickle in the kitchen. Beginning to smell rather good… problem is, we can't get Branston here, and for the home-made version, getting malt vinegar is an issue.

      1. I buy mine online from BritSuperstore (Swedish shops and supermarkets don't sell it). Branston pickle and piccalilli are available there too online.

  103. Just back from a scripture study group in church. One of the young lads in the serving team (just 22) has been away for a few months and was back this evening. He remembered me telling him that as a child I developed psoriasis after the polio jabs and wanted to tell me what had happened to him. Apparently he’s suffered a very bad psoriasis outbreak and is certain it was caused by the Covid jab. He’s a lot better now, as psoriasis is manageable but he was initially terrified that it might be a skin cancer. He’s had a tough time, poor lad.

  104. Robert Wilkinson
    @robertwlk
    If I win the lottery, no one around me will be poor, and I mean that.
    I’ll move to a rich, gated community.

  105. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you more proof that cucumber plants are the stupidest plants in the world…
    I finally got this one to climb up the twig, so it has now rushed off to jam itself under an overhanging plank. The photograph doesn't really do justice to how firmly the shoot has grown under there…when there is a beautiful, light twig with plenty of support just next to it!
    It has produced a cucumber already though so I guess I shouldn't grumble too much.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/40c4c14dde19f1190f16bb118e52aaa42d05758dbe3a1bb680aff22c938d6aa5.jpg

  107. From the DTs Sketch writer…

    "Hoyle was elected unopposed. Smith and David Davis dragged him to the chair, and the speeches of congratulations began.
    Thank you for your service, said Sir Keir Starmer, who seems to think he is not PM but the Archbishop of Canterbury, and led us in a prayer to “hope and trust”.
    This is “the most diverse parliament by race and gender this country has ever seen,” he preached, with “the largest number of LGBTQ+ people of any parliament in the world” (true, but France leads us on bigamists and Japan on people married to a cushion). Rishi Sunak said “sorry” (again). Ed Davey garnered groans by being discourteously partisan.

    The new father of the House is Sir Edward Leigh, who paid tribute to Parliament’s “diversity of thought” – this will include MPs who never think, and can barely read – while Diane Abbott, our new mother, observed how much more welcoming the modern Commons is.
    “When I was a new MP, they just gave you a bunch of keys.” Her hands trembled but her voice was compelling. The Most Rev Keir wanted rid of her; I’m sure she hasn’t forgotten.

    An end to tribal politics?
    Stephen Flynn of the SNP gave the air of the naughtiest boy in the school (if you want to score cigarettes, he’s the kid to speak to).
    The DUP made no apology for Jim Shannon. Plaid spoke Welsh. The Greens, also on brand, were represented by a “co-leader” (pronouns he/she/them/Stonehenge) and read their speech from a tiny sheet of paper as if determined to avoid waste.

    We yearn for an end to tribal politics, said Swampy; the nationalist SDLP nodded towards the unionist DUP and said they look forward to that, too.
    Finally: Farage. “We are the new kids on the block”, he proclaimed, but we know that you, Mr Speaker, have a reputation for fairness and “dignity”.

    The House held its breath: was Nigel going to be nice? He continued “…in marked contrast to the little man that was there before you and besmirched the office” – and the pleasantries ended.
    Evoking memories of John Bercow is akin to reminding diners at a banquet of the experience of food poisoning."….

    We made a note: “Nigel is determined to be a difficult boy.” One suspects the Speaker will soon have to resort to the cane.

  108. Another day is done so, I wish you a goodnight and may God bless all you Gentlefolk. If we are spared! Bis morgen früh.

  109. Evening, all. What's happened to summer? Where's it gone? Today has been cold, wet and thoroughly miserable.

    I try not to think about the damage that Labour will do in the next five years. Sometimes I think we may never recover.

    1. We had quite a good day today. Warm enough to open the beehives for an inspection, and NO FCUKKING RAIN!
      Tomorrow, 2 inches promised. Sigh!

    2. Every piece of film I've seen so far of the cabinet in the cabinet room has Ange (spit) Raynes gloating like the cat that's got the cream. I really don't like her.

  110. I hear that 'The Nineteen-Twenty-Two Committee' has suffered from self-immolation!

    3. Whilst the incorrect timings show a continuing inability to organise a works outing to a brewery, the winning candidate did get 61 votes, so could not have been beaten.

    1. To access some of those churches you have to have nerves of steel. Some of them are half way up steep cliffs. Not much more than caves really but they are covered in frescos of the saints.

    2. To access some of those churches you have to have nerves of steel. Some of them are half way up steep cliffs. Not much more than caves really but they are covered in frescos of the saints.

  113. And I'm off to bed.
    Might be off to Stoke to visit Stepson in hostpital and drop the (hopefully) last lot of his washing off.

    G'night all.

  114. Well, I'm off to bed now. Good Night to you all, sleep well, and I hope to see you all refreshed tomorrow.

  115. Judging bedtime by how dark it is outside is difficult. It's 23:17 and not much darker than some hours ago. Only the post by Elsie just below suggested bedtime, and I'm about an hour past! Time for zeds, comrades. S'layders!

    1. Herr Oberst, in recent weeks I have been staying up until turned midnight in order to try my hand at Wordle, ready for an early post once Geoff posts the following day's site. But this has resulted in my oversleeping so that all day I am "catching up" on my "To Do" list. This isn't good for a stress-free day, so I now aim to head for bed at 10 pm prompt and get up at a normal time (around 6 am) which gives me a chance to work on my Wordle and then wait for Geoff's post at 7 am.

  117. Following the farce of the recent General Election Dyson is leading the exodus with more manufacturing jobs by moving to Asia.

    Meanwhile Starmer is attending a NATO summit which has been aptly described as A Meeting of Ghosts.

    None of those attending the NATO summit has any sense of direction, they act as headless chickens. Zelenskyy is there making a fool of himself and making fools of them.

    Meanwhile Modi is being entertained by Vladimir Putin at his private residence. Both have given up on the western powers and would not touch the US, UK and EU with a barge pole. The Ukraine war is all but lost and no amount of rhetoric and promised guarantees to continue pumping billions of pounds, euros and dollars into keeping the corpse alive will ever achieve a victory over Russia. Russian weaponry is far superior to anything the US can produce so the Ukrainians can never win.

    I would suggest that the ceremonial cinematic clown show we witnessed today in the new Parliament is just that. Labour, despite having unjustly acquired a massive majority along with the Liberal Democrat’s who are neither Liberal nor Democrat should read the writing on the wall. Reform may have been swindled out of a fair apportionment of parliamentary seats but the Labour votes are fragile and that party could very easily fall apart and wither just like the now irrelevant Tories.

    1. 'Russian weaponry is far superior to anything the US can produce'

      Are you sure about that?

    2. Lol I got Modi mixed up with Kody and was wondering for several seconds why & how Conway’s dog was being entertained by Putin!

    3. Lol I got Modi mixed up with Kody and was wondering for several seconds why & how Conway’s dog was being entertained by Putin!

  119. I just read that the Democrats cannot replace Joe Biden as their Presidential candidate for the reason that they have already forged several million voting ballots with his name on them. That figures.

    1. corimmobile, you are Sir Jasper and I claim my five bob postal order. (Very funny, btw.)

  120. Talk about being damned with faint praise….

    A ZH headline:

    'Ukraine Can & Will Stop Putin': Biden Successfully Navigates Teleprompter At NATO Summit

    1. 'Morning, Geoff and thank you for all the work and effort you have put in to keep us all going. Well done!

  122. I would be willing to pay a small fee if it guaranteed a timely appointment with a proper G.P.

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