Tuesday 16 July: The trend towards intimidation in politics must be firmly resisted

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Todayā€™s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) areĀ here.

763 thoughts on “Tuesday 16 July: The trend towards intimidation in politics must be firmly resisted”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, todayā€™s (recycled) story

    The Difference Is Reality

    A group of psychiatrists toured an insane asylum that was renowned for their progressive rehabilitation methods.

    The doctors began by meeting with some of the patients. The first patient they visited was a young woman. She was practising ballet. One of the psychiatrists asked, "What are you doing?"

    She replied, "I'm studying ballet so when I get out of here, I can possibly join a dance troupe and be a productive member of society."

    The doctor, quite impressed, said, "Wow, that's wonderful."

    The next patient was a man reading a book with a stack of books next to him. The same question was asked of him, "What are you doing?"

    "I'm studying biology, science and chemistry so I can enter medical school when I get out," the patient replied.

    Room after room they witnessed the incredible success and attitudes of the patients. That is until they finally reached a room the asylum's director was reluctant to open.

    Finally, the director was persuaded to open it. Inside was a naked man balancing a peanut on his very erect and stiff penis. The reaction of the psychiatrists was one of utter shock, as one of them stammered, "My God, what are you doing?"

    The patient looked up at the psychiatrist, with a wide grin, and said, "Hi, Iā€™m David Lammy I'm fucking nuts and I'm never getting out of here!

    We wish! "

  2. Thank you to all who posted a message below yesterday's announcement of Pat Bryant's death. I will pass them all on to Rich and Lizzie later today.

          1. Bugger! Summer seems to be a washout – we only had two evenings sitting outside with a sundowner so far.
            Teach me to get the jolly parasol out…

  6. Good morning, chums, and thank you, Geoff, for the Tuesday NoTTLe page.

    Wordle 1,123 3/6

    ā¬œā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØ
    šŸŸ©šŸŸØā¬œā¬œšŸŸ©
    šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

  7. Morning, all Y'all.
    Somewhere between "about to rain" or "just stopped raining". In any case, cloudy & dull.

      1. Keep reading reports that it's hot further south, and of course alarmist stuff on glowbawl warming, so it must be summer somewhere. Not too many years ago, it was so dry at Firstborns farm that his stream dried up completely, and we feared for his borehole water supply. That was OK, but the lack of rain would be very welcome just now.

        1. At least my plants are enjoying the weather. Cherries, apples, chillis, tomatoes and peppers are doing well.

  9. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/15/trumpism-is-future-of-right-across-declining-west/

    As the state has become ever more aggressive, intrusive, authoritarian and expensive (because it has realised it can get more power by having more money which lets it take more power) that use of violence and thuggery has emboldened it to do whatever it wants – and what it wants are not what the people want.

    Thus the public are looking for a leader to stop this encroaching abuse of power. This is why we turned to Reform and why the Tories lost. The problem for the normal people in the world is that the Left are vicious, spiteful, abusive whelps who when pushed back against try to cut your throat (lawfare, debanking and assassination attempts). They don't understand restraint because, as always, to them, the end justifies the means.

    1. 'They' will do their utmost to end him. He is becoming far too popular now and the Left are going into meltdown.

    2. This will lead to more protection from MPs being ā€˜harassed or spoken toā€™ by you and me – keeping our ā€˜lawmakersā€™ away from any interaction with the public in case we say hurty things to them. Demonstrations are already banned from Wastemonster. Maybe theyā€™ll will want more protection at their surgeries. Or maybe cancel the surgeries altogether in case of far right nasties.

    3. Don't give a monkey's for MPs safety. They shouldn't have imported 30 million foreigners.

  13. Good morning, all. Rain in the night. Rain now – rain on the way. Bloody global boiling.

  14. Good morning, all. Broken cloud, bright with showers forecast for this afternoon.

    Trump's Vice President pick poking fun at the UK's state of affairs re islamism and the Bomb?

    It's more likely that smart people such as J D Vance et al. on the conservative side in the USA are concerned with what they see happening re political affiliations in these islands.

    I know that I'm concerned!

    https://x.com/made_63/status/1812982471950020855

    4. We seem limited to 4, as an annual Northern NTTL Lunch. Mind you, Geoff travels to Carlisle to be picked up by RichardIII.

      1. I expect more people would turn up if it was mentioned here. My invitation obviously got lost in the post.

  16. Good morning all,

    A sunny morning here at McPhee Towers but we're expecting a showery day. Wind West going North-West, 14ā„ƒ with a forecast for 19ā„ƒ.

    It must be galling to be a leftie and have the people you go in to bat for turn around and bite you. The revolution always eats its own.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1eb973b66f3a2e96a6b5143441b2978c1e0d6f9ea96a6fee748172fca6f66bcf.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/15/bbc-breakfast-presenter-charlie-stayt-190000-tax-bill-pay/

    Will the odious Munchetty be next?

      1. On the rare occasions that I have watched BBC news programmes I have always found this nasty woman to be completely odious.

    2. How do so many of these ā€˜celebritiesā€™ end up owing the tax man so much money? Do they not have the gumption to set money aside like the rest of us?

      1. They use barely legal schemes to avoid paying tax. Footballers were investing in films which were made to lose money so they could write off the tax and still be paying less than someone that works at MacDonalds.

        1. Mel Brooks' comedy 'The Producers' explored this theme. 'Springtime for Hitler' turned out to be a great hit on Broadway though.

          There must be more reliable ways to lose money. Paying tax maybe?

          1. Never found Brooks in the tiniest bit amusing, let alone funny. Maybe Deffo I'm weird.

          2. You're not weird, Paul. If you are then I am too.

            I find Brooks's "humour" puerile and that goes for many other "Hollywood stalwarts" of his ilk and acquaintance. I'm talking about nonentities such as, Zero Mostel (aptly named); Gene Wilder; Jeff Goldblum, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller and a few other pointless and unfunny nobodies.

          4. Tax is basically theft. Far better to lose it investing in something designed to fail. At least that way you're creating jobs rather than letting the oaf Miliband hand it to the latest Lefty troughing such as Vince.

      2. Clearly not – or maybe they think it doesn't apply to them. In any case, do they not have an accountant to optimise their tax? That was the first thing Firstborn did, when he bought his farm: Hire a good (by reputation) tax accountant with specialisation in agriculture, to set up his accounts for him.

      3. For 27 years I was involved with the BBC. Throughout that time I would be confronted by weeping researchers – who were on contracts and not employees – moaning that they had received a tax bill and had not the wherewithal to pay it.

        I explained – endlessly – about the wisdom of putting 20% of EVERY pay cheque into a building society so that there would be funds available – and, indeed, some left over.

        They thought I was mad – and whimpered away….

        2. I used to do that when I rented out a room. When the tax bill came, there was money to pay it.

      4. They probably think a pay rise will cover it, eric -somewhere online there's a list of BBC salaries I think topped by Lineker. You might need a chair handy to sit down on if you find the list…

      5. Only ā€œlittle peopleā€ pay taxes. They are not ā€œlittle peopleā€, therefore the rules donā€™t apply to them

  17. Good morning all,

    A sunny morning here at McPhee Towers but we're expecting a showery day. Wind West going North-West, 14ā„ƒ with a forecast for 19ā„ƒ.

    It must be galling to be a leftie and have the people you go in to bat for turn around and bite you. The revolution always eats its own.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1eb973b66f3a2e96a6b5143441b2978c1e0d6f9ea96a6fee748172fca6f66bcf.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/15/bbc-breakfast-presenter-charlie-stayt-190000-tax-bill-pay/

    Will the odious Munchetty be next?

    1. Usually ends in a hissy strop-shop..
      wasn't the Columbian suitcase murderer a recent flat mate addition to the two gay victims?

      1. Hadn't heard that but doesn't surprise me. Shame it wasn't Vaz in the suitcase.

      2. A friend of Caroline's parents who used to work in the Met retired to Spain where Caroline's parents lived at the time.

        During his career he investigated many murders and he said that murders involving homosexuals were always the most nasty, messy, vicious and spiteful as if the perpetrators loved to wallow in blood and daub it everywhere.

        1. Urgh. That's a horrible image.
          Never been at a murder scene myself, but murdering two pigs and butchering them has scarred me mentally.

    1. Then you're no Northerner, and so not offended… šŸ˜‰ NOrtheners are made of sterner stuff, offence is for criminals and softy Southeners.
      I was born on Ilkley Moor, you can't get more Yawkshuh than that.

          2. I used to sing that to one of the French choirs I was in. They called it the 'Potato song' because they heard 'baht at' as 'patate'.

      4. Nowt so queer as folk, except for thee and me ………And I'm not so sure of thee!!

    2. Then you're no Northerner, and so not offended… šŸ˜‰ NOrtheners are made of sterner stuff, offence is for criminals and softy Southeners.
      I was born on Ilkley Moor, you can't get more Yawkshuh than that.

  22. 389740+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Tuesday 16 July: The trend towards intimidation in politics must be firmly resisted

    If this be the case then the political overseers must relieve a great deal of tension by clearing the air regarding the" excessive deaths"odious evil issue.

    In short, the herd is not going to stand still for the halal treatment from the political overseers., full political explanations concerning the issue should be top priority.

  23. Resisted my a rse.. the sickness of the Leftie has been building up for some time..

    by slugging his face (Robert De Niro),
    by decapitation (Kathy Griffin, Marilyn Manson),
    by stabbing (Shakespeare in the Park),
    by clubbing (Mickey Rourke),
    by shooting (Snoop Dogg), by poisoning (Anthony Bourdain),
    by bounty killing (George Lopez),
    by carrion eating his corpse (Pearl Jam),
    by suffocating (Larry Whilmore),
    by blowing him up (Madonna, Moby),
    by throwing him over a cliff (Rosie Oā€™Donnell),
    just by generic ā€œkillingā€ him (Johnny Depp, Big Sean),
    or by martyring him (Reid Hoffman: ā€œYeah, I wish I had made him an actual martyr.ā€).

    .. like a herd of emotionally driven children in grown up bodies programmed to stampede in a given direction.

    1. Aren't they all Americans?

      As I understand it, there are very few proper Lefties there – having been neutralized (sic) in the McCarthy era. Politically, the choice is between being sick in the head and being sick in the head.

    2. That said, if a bomb were to fall on the WEF winter summit in Davos, Iā€™d be honest about my approval and only mourn the innocent serving staff. These people deserve to have done to them what they would do to us.

      1. Pack their meeting rooms with uneducated, unwashed thugs from far South. See how they like it.

      2. Empty their bank accounts. Simply take what they have from them and give it to .. me! Then they'll shout and scream about how unfair that is. Then feed them sewage filled water and raw vegetables. Simply say – this is your future. You will own nothing and you will be happy.

    3. Whilst the caring 'Far' Right politely suggest the current President's needs would best be met in a Nursing Home….

    5. Note that we get the same here – Raynor calling those who disagree with her 'scum'. They're just nasty, vicious brats who should be kept in a pen and left to tear one another apart.

  24. Resisted my a rse.. the sickness of the Leftie has been building up for some time..

    by slugging his face (Robert De Niro),
    by decapitation (Kathy Griffin, Marilyn Manson),
    by stabbing (Shakespeare in the Park),
    by clubbing (Mickey Rourke),
    by shooting (Snoop Dogg), by poisoning (Anthony Bourdain),
    by bounty killing (George Lopez),
    by carrion eating his corpse (Pearl Jam),
    by suffocating (Larry Whilmore),
    by blowing him up (Madonna, Moby),
    by throwing him over a cliff (Rosie Oā€™Donnell),
    just by generic ā€œkillingā€ him (Johnny Depp, Big Sean),
    or by martyring him (Reid Hoffman: ā€œYeah, I wish I had made him an actual martyr.ā€).

    .. like a herd of emotionally driven children in grown up bodies programmed to stampede in a given direction.

  25. Morning all šŸ™‚šŸ˜Š
    Unsurprisingly grey today. I think that amount of rain yesterday evening would have even taken Carol by surprise.
    The only way to change British politics is a good clearout. And including Whitehall.
    I'm off to an opticians appointment now to hopefully get the blurry problem I now
    bave after the cataract removal a month ago.

    1. Nature abhors a vacuum. If you must clear out a sewer, I wonder what would flood back into the space created.

      2. Being an utter pedant, this only happens in a vacuum. If you were to clear the sewage out of the UK then all we'd be left with is a lot more houses, a far lower welfare bill, a vast amount less litter, no deliveroo mopeds, closed 'candy' s(t)ores and turkish barbers and a lot less crime and, over time, higher wages.

        Sounds awful, doesn't it? Diversity strength (more like stench) and all those lies.

    2. Be prepared for the opticians to tell you to go back to the cataract people…

      And for the cataract people to tell you they won't do anything for at least six months after the op, "To allow the eyes to settle…."

      1. All ready had that, but the very good thourough and professional opthalmology lady is a step ahead.
        She’s photographed a area of fluid in the back of my eye. And things have started to move already.
        Had a phone call on the way home.

      1. Ha..reminded me of my grandmother complaining about her eyesight..she had toffee smeared over one lens…always a sweet tooth. We could only think her Parkinsons shake contributed to it.

        1. Mother had her cataracts removed some years ago, and said she wished it had been done earlier – everything was so clear and bright, to the extent it hurt for a while, she had to wear sunglasses indoors.

          1. Good she found the solution..I have a glare problem, tinted glasses for many years. I believe you can get all colours now. Multifocals work for me, I never even notice them.

    4. Good luck, Eddy. Husband been there done that, ended with a Paul's tube (successfully).

  26. The "Secret Service did not follow protocols" and was there some kind of collusion? The sniper who speaks is Dallas Alexander- a former Canadian Army specialist marksman who holds the world record for such activities in terms of the longest shot ever taken. He is now a Country & Western singer whose music appeals because of "its honesty and integrity" and I assume he does his own on-stage security preparations.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs8U_eINPdc

    1. Believe a Ukie claimed the longest snipe award just recently, a distance that I'd need to take a taxi for.
      Don't have a link.
      But, won't things get interessting if even the Secret Service are shown to be suffering Trump Derangement Syndrome, to the extent that they allowed a shot to be taken at him? If that's the case, expect a great deal of disturbance in the USA – now, where did I put my gold reserves…

        1. I thought that was Harry Windsor? Isnā€™t that what he told everyone?

        2. I thought that was Harry Windsor? Isnā€™t that what he told everyone?

    4. Mike Benz- who is definitely worth listening to in terms of his knowledge reckons the lack of any "internet footprint" from Crooks is not a coincidence- it has been wiped.

  27. As the rain falls – I note that tomorrow may be DRY. I expect urgent "advisory" messages from the Wet Office warning of excessively hot weather – and how to cope with it (temp may reach 23ĀŗC….)

    1. We got the yellow peril, floods of Biblical proportions, stay at home if you're over 65 bollix in Suffolk yesterday. Have none of them ever experienced a British summer for heaven's sake? It's 9.30 and temperature is 18ā°C. It'll be 23ā° by 1pm, yes I expect so and at least here I'll be surprised if we get anything more than a light shower frankly. Looking forward to it.

        1. Oh I will. I'm sure that come the climatic conflagration I'll be desperate for advice from weather pontificates and children, many of whom haven't actually seen more than twenty five summers in their entire lives – yes siree.

    2. We got the yellow peril, floods of Biblical proportions, stay at home if you're over 65 bollix in Suffolk yesterday. Have none of them ever experienced a British summer for heaven's sake? It's 9.30 and temperature is 18ā°C. It'll be 23ā° by 1pm, yes I expect so and at least here I'll be surprised if we get anything more than a light shower frankly. Looking forward to it.

  28. Morning all, a cloudy but not unpleasant one here.

    Conveniently I note, following the security debacle stroke conspiracy resulting in a shot at Trump, the 'hoarding national secrets in your garage' lawfare has been summarily dropped. But then it would be. Always would have, since to tramp through that in detail, in court before the international press would have exposed at the very least the utter incompetence of the Americans' security systems. Leaky processes, poor vetting, poor human procedures and poor attitude, it seems. It may have made the Praetorian Guard look like angels in comparison.

    Did Biden really imagine the Service was going to have its dirty laundry aired in public?

    1. Latest info, James (Good Morning btw šŸ™‚ is that Jill Biden is the organiser. Personally, I believe that rather than Joe being in charge of anything at all.

  29. Good run:
    Wordle 1,123 3/6

    ā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸØšŸŸØ
    šŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØā¬œā¬œ
    šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

  30. Probably right, KJ. Morning to you too. Incompetent guards, incompetent organisers of guards, incompetent riflemen, incompetent planning and it turns out, fortunately for Trump, incompetent assassin.

    Personally I thought Fred Karno was running the show.

    2. Why has that site broken images? You can't link to them directly. Getting them out is a pain. It's as bad as linked in.

  32. Speaking as a woman, James, I doubt I’d want women in charge of my security. Too much DEI nonsense. Sincerely hope Vance & Jr sort it out asap, I believe they will.

    1. You will get cancelled talking like that KJ šŸ¤£

      Mind you, like many people being cancelled it appears you have a very valid point.

        2. From Coffee House, the Spectator

          Yes, David Lammyā€™s old tweets are a problem
          Comments Share 15 July 2024, 6:36pm
          David Lammy was always a somewhat implausible choice as foreign secretary. His historical reputation for mouthing off on social media on a range of topics ā€“ not least Donald Trumpā€™s fitness for office ā€“ seemed a blatant hostage to fortune. His ill-judged tweeting has come back to haunt him this weekend.

          A 2019 tweet from Lammy is whatā€™s caused new embarrassment. Trump said there had been no president who had been ā€˜treated so badlyā€™ as he had. In response, Lammy said: ā€˜4 US Presidents have been assassinated snowflake.ā€™ Thatā€™s not the kind of language to be expected of someone who will end up as foreign secretary.

          In 2018, Lammy called then-President Trump a ā€˜neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopathā€™ in an opinion piece for Time magazine. The article was published ahead of Trumpā€™s first visit to the UK, and Lammy publicly committed to be one of ā€˜tens of thousands on the streets, protesting against our governmentā€™s capitulation to this tyrant in a toupeeā€™. For added measure he called Trump a ā€˜dangerous clownā€™ and ā€˜a profound threat to the international orderā€™. No room for doubt there.

          Yesterday, Lammy did condemn the assassination attempt, and he condemned it quickly. No doubt mindful of his earlier rhetorical excesses, he has been busy backtracking in recent weeks and months on his criticisms of Trump. In May, as shadow foreign secretary, he met in Washington with JD Vance, a close Trump ally and potential vice presidential pick. ā€˜It doesnā€™t matter who is in No. 10 ā€“you work with the United Statesā€™, Lammy said in a television interview in January. Lammy added that the job of the foreign secretary is ā€˜also to try and persuade and use your influenceā€™.

          Can Lammy really so easily disown his past public statements? His recent change of attitude is hard to take at face value. Why would Trump go out of his way to work with Lammy? Is he really that dim? It also raises a broader question about Lammyā€™s actual beliefs: did he really not mean the things he said about Trump just a few years ago? And if so, why would anyone choose to believe anything he says now? This goes go the very heart of his credibility as foreign secretary. Aside from possible dishonesty, thereā€™s two possibilities here. The first is that, six years ago, David Lammy was not diplomatically mature enough to be foreign secretary. Either that, or Labour are taking Republicans for fools.

          If Trump does win the presidency in November, Lammy will be in an awkward situation.

          1. As will Starmer, likely why Lammy likely moving on. I saw the Spectator piece, my sub runs out late September, when my D/D ceased they made me an offer of Ā£1 per month for three months, think opopanax may have received similar. Quite a few new names there now, possibly a subscriber drive. I think new Editor needed. Perhaps Johnson will return and do it šŸ˜€

  33. Aha-hahahhaaa!

    I just heard what presidential running mate, JD Vance said about Britain. I quote [sic],

    "We were discussing the other day, which Islamic State was likely to be the first to get a nuclear weapon. Well, we ran through all the usual candidates then decided in the end that it is surely going to be Britain. Labour just got elected."

    A joke I know, but it seems he's willing to dish out as much invective towards Lammy as he was to direct it at Trump. Good man.

      1. Well yes, like all good jokes there's some grain of truth that chimes when you hear it.

          1. When a tongue is in the cheek Bill, I am the first to stand silently in admiration. One or two employed to act as 'straight-laces' in their day jobs were or still are, capable of delivering doozies that way; notably Terry Wogan; Jeremy Clarkson, others too. Looks promising, my popcorn is at the ready, as they say.

      2. Well yes, like all good jokes there's some grain of truth that chimes when you hear it.

      3. Well yes, like all good jokes there's some grain of truth that chimes when you hear it.

      4. Well yes, like all good jokes there's some grain of truth that chimes when you hear it.

    2. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      What does JD Vance want?
      Comments Share 15 July 2024, 9:52pm
      With his selection of JD Vance as his running mate, Donald Trump has signaled that he doesnā€™t simply want to defeat Joe Biden. He also wants to crush the last vestiges of the Republican establishment. No other politician can help him carry out a Maga revolution in Washington more ruthlessly and effectively than Vance. Forget the pundits who predicted that Trump would take a more emollient approach. Forget the talk about trying to be a unifier. Forget the speculation about the assassination attempt changing him.

      Instead of doing what many conservatives have done in the past ā€” waver, flinch, compromise ā€” Trump is going all-in. There will be no Treaty of Fifth Avenue (the pact that Richard Nixon reached in 1960 with Nelson Rockefeller to water down the GOP program) that so incensed yesteryearā€™s conservatives. No George H. W. Bush running alongside Ronald Reagan. Say goodbye to all that.

      Had Trump selected Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio or Nikki Haley, he would have been catering to the party establishment. Instead, Trump is intent on creating a new American republic in his own image. With Vance as his running mate, Trump has set a lasting impress upon the GOP, ensuring that there will be no illusions about his intentions. His ambition is to create an authoritarian, Orban-style takeover of America, from the judiciary to the media, from the Congress to the military, that will endure for decades to come.

      Like Trump, Vance is a fighter. He has steadily transformed himself from someone who once speculated that Trump might be ā€˜Americaā€™s Hitlerā€™ into a slavish Maga pursuivant. The author of the national bestseller Hillbilly Elegy will deliver no elegies during the presidential race, no pious declarations about the need for national unity, other than to line up obediently behind Trump. After the attempted assassination of Trump, Vance immediately asserted:

      Most popular
      Monica Porter
      The London of my youth is gone

      Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trumpā€™s attempted assassination.

      Vance is a Maga Ultramontanist in both foreign and domestic policy. Those intent on remaking American foreign policy adulate Vance. William Ruger, who Trump nominated as his ambassador to Afghanistan late in his presidency, noted: ā€˜This is a big win for Realism and Restraint in American foreign policy. Senator Vance has been a strong voice for more prudentialism in our approach to the world.ā€™

      With Vance at his side, Trump will immediately sever all aid to Ukraine and seek to force it to the negotiating table with Russia. Vance has made his disdain for Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky palpably clear, writing in a New York Times op-ed:

      White House has said time and again that it canā€™t negotiate with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. This is absurd. The Biden administration has no viable plan for the Ukrainians to win this war. The sooner Americans confront this truth, the sooner we can fix this mess and broker for peace.

      Vance will not seek to attenuate Trumpā€™s antipathy toward Nato either. Instead, he will bolster it. Should Trump become president, Article 5 will be null and void.

      In the domestic arena, Vance has called for carrying out a purge of the civil service and stuffing it with Trump loyalists. In a September 2021 interview with podcast host Jack Murphy, Vance said:

      I think that what Trump should do, like if I was giving him one piece of advice, fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people, and when the courts, because you will get taken to court, and then when the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did and say the Chief Justice has made his ruling, now let him enforce it.

      Whether Vance will help Trump win the battleground states is an open question. His choice is an inflammatory one, putting the liberal left on further notice, if itā€™s needed, that Trump is its mortal enemy. But perhaps Trump is so confident in victory that heā€™s already thinking beyond it, beyond them.

      1. Leftist authoritarians projecting again. Their morals are lax not liberal and their degeneracy is not, for the most part, supported by the demos.

      2. Um yes. Thanks, interesting.

        I don't know if the Speccie is just behind the curve a lot of the time. I'll cut them some slack, because they are after all the Conservative mag. In which case they can't have the benefit of seeing things from the outside looking in. Hence why the Speccie is a bit Wet these days rather like the party it serves.

        Do people still not get the obvious? Nigel names his party "Reform" with an eye to "Reforming" the Right in the UK. Funny enough Nigel's big mate Donald chooses someone up for reforming the Right in the USA too? šŸ™„

        The old Cons and the old Republicans have to go. It's been coming down the tracks like a runaway train. Nice that the Speccie is beginning to catch up, of course. Might Reform them in the process, too. If we are lucky.

        1. The Spectator is lost. Like everything else of worth in our country. Fraser Nelson needs to go.

          1. Ah, that's hot off the press. I did not know. I give him some credit, since he got us to two thirds of the finals we've reached since 1966 at least. But as I wrote recently elsewhere:

            "Southgate: a good footballing technician I grant; but too timid tactically; generally unimaginative in footballing terms I'd say; a conformist and definitely no leader of men, more like a corporate managerialist; will only be remembered by future generations as long as his successors achieve similar levels of mediocrity."

            Maybe Lammy next? I hope not. The comedy value is just too great to want to miss it all.

          2. Seems to have been a failure too far, I understand one of the aims in sport generally is winning? Sounds good to me :-D. Lammy likely stick around for a while until Starmer wakes up and appoints someone else..wonder how long that will be, I suppose if MSM focusing on Lammy they may not be focusing on things like policies (good luck with that one) :-DD

          3. Sir Cursed Harmer has shot himself in the foot.
            There are too few Bames in the cabinet to be able to sack Lammy any time soon.

          4. Too right. Shocking lapse on Cur Ikea Slammer's part.

            Still, Lammy would be a good England manager…

          5. More shots likely to come, sos. DEI the problem (witness the Trump shooting fiasco).

          7. It kind of follows that sensible black and Asian people are not socialists, no?

          10. There's a new vacancy for "someone that looks like me" in Wales.
            Just saying.

          11. You could be right, DEI in action (see Trump protection). I notice Prince William has thanked Southgate for his ‘humility, compassion, and true leadership under the most intense pressure and scrutiny’ (but not for winning games).

          13. Southgate was an 'FA-type' inasmuch as he ticked all the boxes of the pink-gin and prawn-sandwich brigade. In that way he followed such similar types as Ron Greenwood, Graham Taylor and Don Revie et al; safe, uncontroversial and boring journeymen when adventure and a maverick touch was called for. Brian Clough and Jack Charlton types didn't stand a chance.

            A similar sitation has long reigned at both the ECB (formerly MCC) and the RFU. All run by harrumphing establishment private Gentlemen's club types. Their choice of 'safe' national coaches/selectors follows the same pattern.

          14. Yes, spot on Grizzly. That attitude has extended right down to player choices down the years too. Your face or attitude didn’t fit and the stuffed shirts would ensure you didn’t darken the national squad’s doors. When I think of the sort of damage that the likes of Alan Hudson, or Rodney Marsh, plus many notable others could have inflicted on teams around the world over the years, it makes one weep. Nowadays we go to corrupt Qatar to play in competitions and our chief concern is weather or not the team will be allowed to display their stupid ‘Pride’ flags or not.

            The reasons it ain’t “coming home” are the same ones that have prevented it from “coming home” ever since the 1960s.

          15. We also don't cultivate the younger cohort coming through.. Muddy uneven playing fields and reliance upon stirling dads to give the kids any kind of training. Meanwhile, in Spain there are state of the art stadiums everywhere and kids run around in the heat (in moderation) developing stamina and proper skills.

  35. SIR ā€“ Any sane person, regardless of political beliefs, will condemn the attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.

    Yet among the conspiracy theories doing the rounds are allegations that Democrats were responsible ā€“ in spite of confirmation that the gunman was a registered Republican voter.

    The real cause of such incidents is clear. It is estimated that about 44 per cent of American households own at least one gun; in 2023, 42,000 people died from gun-related violence.

    Lacking the will to change the gun laws, any American government must face the probability that prominent politicians and, more importantly, schoolchildren will be victims of lunatics with imagined grudges.

    This prioritising of votes over lives will result in the deaths of thousands of American citizens year after year.

    Doug Morrison
    Tenterden, Kent

    More than half of that number was accounted for by suicides. Looking further into those numbers you see that murders by firearm use is more than 3 times the rate in the black/hispanic populations.

    https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/

    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7242a4.htm

    1. I guess the concept that the shooter being s registered Republican might be some kind of misdirection hasn't occurred to the meejah folks yet?

    2. I would put good money on the reason he registered as a Republican was to vote for Nikki Haley against Trump in the primaries.
      A good number of Democrats dis so.

          2. No, the Germans are eager to convince qualified people to move to Germany. Some years ago they organized a campaign to convince Spanish engineers to accept posts in Germany including the offer of classes in German. Spanish engineers preferred the UK as they already spoke English and because German everyday existence is notoriously unattractive.

        2. From Coffee House, the Spectator

          How will Labour deal with a problem like JD Vance?
          Comments Share 16 July 2024, 12:18pm
          JD Vance, unveiled last night as Donald Trumpā€™s pick for vice-president, has claimed that Britain is ā€˜the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weaponā€™. Vance made the comments at a National Conservatism Conference in Washington on Thursday. This is what he had to say: ā€˜I was talking with a friend recently. And we were talking about one of the big dangers in the world, of course, is nuclear proliferationā€¦And I was talking about, what is the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon and we were like, maybe itā€™s Iran, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts. And then we sort of finally decided maybe itā€™s actually the UK, since Labour just took over.ā€™

          It is not hard to imagine what Rayner would have said about such comments if Labour were still in opposition
          It has been suggested that the remarks were made jokingly and not meant as a prediction. Maybe, maybe not. Even so, the actual comments are outrageous and nothing short of blatant prejudice. Surely the government would not allow Vance to get away with promulgating such nonsense? Yet what we heard in response was not quite that.

          Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, was quick to say on TV this morning that Vance was wrong about the UK. But, when asked how she felt about his description of Labour, she replied that Vance ā€˜had said quite a lot of ā€˜fruityā€™ things in the past but that she did not ā€˜recognise that characterisationā€™ of the UK. She went on:

          ā€˜I think political leaders across the world all have different opinions, but we govern in the interests of our countries. The US is a key ally of ours. If the American people decide who their president and vice-president is, the man we will work with themā€¦ thatā€™s grown-up politics.ā€™

          It is not hard to imagine what Rayner would have said about such comments if Labour were still in opposition and a Tory minister had refused to explicitly condemn Vance. There was also a deafening silence from the usually garrulous David Lammy, the foreign secretary, whose job it is to manage future relations with Washington. He has previously referred to Vance, as ā€˜my friendā€™. Lammy praised Vanceā€™s memoir about growing up poor, Hillbilly Elegy (ā€˜These are themes in my own political story,ā€™ Lammy told Politico) and met the Ohio senator in May on a trip to Washington. The foreign secretary has, in the past, been quick to take to social media to condemn prejudice from every quarter. Will he do so now? No one should hold their breath.

          Instead it has fallen to the Tories to speak out in plain language against Vanceā€™s ill-informed comments and even defend the Labour party in doing so. Andrew Bowie, the Conservativesā€™s shadow veterans minister, dismissed the notion that Labour was creating an Islamist country. He told Times Radio:

          ā€˜I disagree with the Labour party fundamentally on many issues, but I do not agree with that view, quite frankly. I actually think itā€™s quite offensive, frankly, to my colleagues in the Labour party.ā€™

          Why does all this matter? First, it highlights some of the problems the government will face in managing relations with Washington if Trump does indeed win the election in November. Second, Labour already has problems with Muslim supporters of the party, alienated by its stance on the Israel-Hamas war: it will not escape their attention that the Tories used much more robust language to dismiss Vanceā€™s claims. The government is in a difficult position. It no longer has the luxury of being in opposition and must now engage in ā€˜grown-upā€™ politics. Welcome to the real world.

      2. He was apparently despised by others in his school for being wirdly right. Not exactly a Haley supporter characteristic.

        They are going to find(?) that he was a far right loner who followed the far right extremists in condemning Trump for being too soft.

    3. Did he not register as a republican almost very recently? Curiouser and curiouser.

      1. It's not the firearms that are the problem, it's the culture. From Wiki, referring to Norway:
        "As of 2017 there were 1,329,000 registered firearms owned by 486,028 people, which means approximately one in ten people own a registered firearm. Civilian firearms licenses are mostly granted for the application of hunting and/or sports shooting."

        1. My elder son is a member of The Sealed Knot – he had to get a shotgun licence for his musket.

    4. The "registered Republican" thing needs looking into. As Sue Ward has pointed out this would be useful in getting closer to the target.

      2. I've seen this discussed somewhere by posters who understand how the US system works. It is apparently common for activists to register for the opposing side because it gives them a vote in the primaries (although states vary on the system for primaries – some are completely open). They can therefore influence who gets chosen as the candidate for the party that they will ultimately vote against.

  36. Damning Trump with faint praise. What a terrible moral and intellectual snob Tim Stanley has become, at times indistinguishable from Fraser Nelson.

    Trump has pulled off another triumph ā€“ and chosen a VP who'd be an even better president than him

    JD Vance is a man who will carry forward the populist revolutionary flame

    TIM STANLEY ā€¢ 15 July 2024 ā€¢ 9:24pm

    Donald Trump's choice of JD Vance for vice president is very exciting, and illustrates how Trump has conquered and transformed his party.

    When Trump ran with Mike Pence in 2016, it was a same-sex wedding to the Republican establishment. Pence was an orthodox conservative; insiders hoped that he might temper his boss. Vance, by contrast, is a total product of the populist revolution.

    Born to a blue-collar family in southwest Ohio, with a traumatic upbringing made famous by his book Hillbilly Elegy, Vance embodies the left-behind people Trump seeks to represent ā€“ ground down by low paid work and an unhealthy culture (his mother struggled with addiction).

    A former marine and venture capitalist, he was critical of Trump in 2016, even comparing him to Hitler. But Vance warmed to his views on free trade, immigration and foreign intervention, and gradually established himself as an unofficial philosopher of the Maga movement.

    In 2022, he won the GOP nod for Senate for Ohio following Trump's endorsement. In other words, Trump has picked a man who owes his career and political identity to…Trump. This is a potential successor, a man who can carry the torch of his revolution, perhaps giving it the intellectual coherence it otherwise lacks.

    If Trump is motored by instinct, Vance, a convert to Catholicism, proceeds by philosophy. As a senator, he has been a textbook social conservative, yet defended social security and attacked big banks. This is unusual on the American Right, perhaps closer to European Christian democracy. It's a politics aimed squarely at the values and needs of the working-class.

    Moderates will be disappointed ā€“ some fantasised that Nikki Haleyā€™s return to the convention meant she might join the ticket ā€“ and critics will pore over Vanceā€™s opposition to US funding for the war in Ukraine.

    But for anyone who cares about the future of conservatism and the art of politics, this is a win. Vance will wipe the floor with Kamala Harris at the VP debate. And as parts of the Right descend into know-nothing anti-intellectualism, Vance will bring ideas to the next White House.

    Trump has done something highly unusual. He's picked a VP candidate who would make a better president than him.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/15/trump-has-pulled-off-another-triumph-and-chosen-a-vp-whod

    1. ā€˜But for anyone who cares about the future of conservatism and the art of politics, this is a win. Vance will wipe the floor with Kamala Harris at the VP debate. ā€˜

      Trump is not just thinking about the next four years but also the 2028 election and the following eight years. This could change US administration and world order for a very long time.

  37. This global boiling malarkey – plus the rain – is so overwhelming that I have been forced to light the stove.

  38. Gareth Southgate has resigned.
    I wonder which one of the know all Gobby tv critics will be in line for the job……..hello ?

        1. Ah yes, needs to look in the mirror, check his privilege or whatever the phrase is šŸ˜€

  39. The Nigerian First Minister of Wales has just resigned. Corruption! Well no surprises there..

    2. It took only 6 weeks for him to jump after losing a vote of no confidence in the siop siarad.

    3. 12:39pm
      Welsh Conservatives leader Andrew RT Davies has said Labour figures ā€œall the way up to Keir Starmerā€ were ā€œculpable for the breakdown of governance in Walesā€. Responding to Vaughan Gethingā€™s resignation, he said: ā€œVaughan Gethingā€™s resignation is long overdue.
      ā€œBut there can be no doubt that his Labour colleagues, from those who resigned today all the way up to Keir Starmer, have stood by his side and are culpable for the breakdown of governance in Wales. Wales will remember.ā€

      12:22pm
      The statement in full: "I have this morning taken the difficult decision to begin the process of stepping down as leader of the Welsh Labour Party and, as a result, First Minister.

      "Having been elected as leader of my party in March, I had hoped that over the summer a period of reflection, rebuilding and renewal could take place under my leadership. I recognise now that this is not possible. It has been the honour of my life to do this job even for a few short months. To see the dedication to public service from our civil service, and the dedication to civility from the Welsh public.

      "To see the election of a new government in Westminster, and the fresh hope that brings to Wales. I have always pursued my political career to serve Wales. And being able to show underrepresented communities that there is a place for them, for us, is an honour and privilege that will never diminish. Itā€™s what drew me into public service. Before becoming an MS I fought employment cases for people whoā€™d been mistreated at work.

      "I wanted to give power those without a voice. That has always been my motivation. I also campaigned to help create the Senedd, clocking up 30 years of work to support Walesā€™ devolution journey.

      "This has been the most difficult time, for me, and my family. A growing assertion that some kind of wrongdoing has taken place has been pernicious, politically motivated and patently untrue. In 11 years as a Minister, I have never ever made a decision for personal gain. I have never ever misused or abused my ministerial responsibilities. My integrity matters. I have not compromised it.

      "I regret that the burden of proof is no longer an important commodity in the language of our politics. I do hope that can change.

      "I will now discuss a timetable for the election of new leader of my party. Finally, I want to say thank you to those who have reached out to support me, my team and my family in recent weeks. It has meant the world to all of us.

      "To those in Wales who look like me – many of whom I know feel personally bruised and worried by this moment, I know that our country can be better. I know that cannot happen without us. There will – and there must be – a government that looks like the country it serves. Thank you."

      2. ā€œWho look like meā€.

        What the f has ā€œwhat you look likeā€ got to do with anything? God i hate Wokeism.

        1. He was the one who said that despite his name and upbringing he was, "First and foremost, Nigerian…"

      3. Labour politicians are always from backgrounds where they leeched from the public purse – often standing up for miscreants.

    4. My clever Welsh friend explained it all to me a few weeks ago. Apparently he has been a successful businessman.

    6. Having spent a lot of time in Nigeria and other West African ratholes, I sometimes fantasise about sentencing race-baiting lefties to a six month stretch in Lagos or Conakry. It would either kill them or cure them.

        1. I’ve removed my email – do you want it again? I only leave it on for a couple of hours for obvious reasons.

          1. I sent you an email responding at 9:46 this morning. I will give it another push

    1. Wouldn't any mortal feel stress at that point? Last time he spoke in front of a crowd some kid took a shot at him!

      I was taught that if you are not nervous about giving a presentation, you need to be worried. There he is I. Front of how many people, he needed to be anxious.

      1. Adrenaline is useful – sharpens you up. Too much can make you a quivering jelly, not the most convincing of speakers.

        1. 'Bless relaxes, Damn braces'. William Blake in his Proverbs of Heaven and Hell.

      2. Bob Monkhouse said he always got butterflies before going on stage or in front of cameras and reckoned if you didnā€™t you werenā€™t taking it seriously enough.

      3. Oh yes, I quite agree, but some people feel that the attempted assassination event was ‘staged’, as opposed to a ‘set-up’ and I was trying to point out that the degree of stress shown on his face which couldn’t possibly be acted to that degree rather rules out that the attempted assassination was a staged event. As I said, it was not a criticism.

    1. Aw, I'm more than happy with a three! Sheer fluke whenever it happens :-))

      Wordle 1,123 3/6

      ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØā¬œ
      šŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

      1. For just a second Sue I thought you were referring to the photo immediately above.

  45. Medley
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cab8dee3a7c840326bb4f4bc8f288c1dddf922aeb2b86cc6f9fb53dfc3279e57.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/553add6f1ced851a3dd02b19ab205049a0a2e8ea23b3fa9a274b5c36fdbbcee9.gif
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7e676b8c666a49a1201b55e0cc6cf89931396c4af0bc3c34c23c190f2989deee.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0d12bbe4ff739ccdef4e26df1d08425912596599162d5a342376da0089e3e7fb.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7bec36bec46b8667ad0193a1f20c071f73d46834fcd3440c065a277006ec21a2.jpg

    https://x.com/JonErlichman/status/1812505505245397481

  47. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e2b2587687364ae8be957b63d35479ac73345c104b61e07b47dd08a0ec642b04.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a728b5fc3087a88f08f095f633ceb6de3b9c0d1d74e327419bd5366f883e88a3.jpg
    I've just enjoyed sampling the latest version of a pork sandwich that I have created as part of my quest to make a pork sandwich for the ages. This will be the beta version of that sandwich since an essential component was missing.

    On one half of one of my home-baked white bread cobs [you may use 'rolls' or even 'baps' but I will not permit 'buns'!] I spread some freshly-rendered pork dripping. On the other half I spread some home-made potted pork (rillettes) that I made yesterday. I oven-roasted a piece of pork belly, having first removed the skin, which I turned into crisp crackling in my air-fryer.

    I then laid, on top of the potted pork, a couple of slices of the pork belly on which I spread some Colman's English mustard. On the other half I laid a layer of freshly-made apple sauce and some caramelised onions. Sandwiched together, with the crackling as a side nibble, it was delicious.

    Being in Sweden it is difficult to source offal (they don't understand it!). After trawling through seven retail outlets in three towns, yesterday, and failing to source any pig's liver (or beef kidney), I discovered an outlet online that delivers said foodstuffs in frozen form. When my liver arrives I shall mince some and mix it with a similar weight of fatty pork mince. To that I shall add a chopped onion, some bread soaked in milk, sage, nutmeg, salt and black pepper and pour the mix into a loaf tin to bake and create a Haslet [correctly pronounced "Hace-let", never "Hazlet"!], a Lincolnshire speciality meat loaf much treasured in the north and midlands.

    A slice of that Haslet, inside my sandwich, will then provide the alpha version of my quest for the perfect pork sandwich.

    I shall report on my success/failure anon.

    [My potted pork (which the French call rillettes) was made by putting some cubed pork belly into the pressure cooker along with a chopped onion; a chopped carrot; a chopped chunk of turnip; a little fino sherry (I have no white wine); a little water; some sage, parsley and thyme; salt; and a dozen black peppercorns. After cooking under pressure for two hours I removed the meat and shredded it before placing it into two ramekin dishes and covering with a thin coat of pork fat. It is delicious on its own on a chunk of fresh bread and some piccalilli.]šŸ‘šŸ»

    1. Looks good Grizz No mustard for me thanks! I've got a little bit of cold lamb. And some fruit.

          2. Crackling done well is excellent. Sadly, a lot of crackling is done badly and not worth bothering with.

        2. I'd heard there were a handful of weird people on the planet who ā€” for some unfathomable reason ā€” do not like the ambrosial flavour, and texture, of the world's greatest food: pork crackling.

          2. Salads. The childhood nightmare food with the nutritional value of grass.

          6. I’m not talking about individual preferences: I’m talking about how the species evolved over a few million years.

          8. Not so. There is now clear, irrefutable archƦological evidence that informs us that for over 4Ā·5 million years (i.e. 96% of mankind’s existence), a strong, healthy and developing species ate only meat and fish.

            Agriculture only started around 10,000 years ago (i.e. 4% of mankind’s existence) by the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians. That coincided with the physiological decline of humanity and an exponential rise in the occurrence of countless previously unknown diseases and ailments.

          14. Nowt weird about following my species’ natural carnivorous instincts and eating meat. Humans only started developing pathological diseases when they unnaturally started chomping on weeds.
            This is not an opinion; the indisputable proof, my learned friend, is in the archƦological fossil record.

          15. You may think that; I think otherwise. Let us leave it be. But crackling is still disgusting.

    5. Be prepared to be disappointed with the frozen offal. In my experience the texture of offal deteriorates with freezing.

    6. Proper Haslet is hard to find,. We used ti buy some great meats from Wigan Market before they pulled it down..

  48. The answer to failure is more failure. The answer to bad EU rules is to have more bad EU rules. The answer to Covid Jabs and Lockdowns is to have more Covid Jabs and Lockdowns. The answer to windmills not giving us enough electricity when the wind doesn't blow is more windmills (same with solar panels when the sun doesn't shine). The answer to the Conservative Party not being right of centre is for it to move further to the left.

    As Bob Dylan wrote in his song 'Love Minus Zero': "There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."

    1. The regressive-progressives in the Church of England work on the same principle. The answer to driving people away with their woke nonsense is to become even more work because obviously the problem comes from not being woke enough…

      1. From Coffee House, the Spectator

        The London of my youth is gone
        I fell in love with the city when I moved here ā€“ now I want out
        * Comments Share 15 July 2024, 10:55am
        I fell in love with London when I arrived here as a teenager at the start of the 1970s. Straight out of an American suburban high school, Iā€™d dreamed of the great metropolis of Shakespeare and Dickens, and I vowed never to leave. Why would I, when, as Dr Samuel Johnson famously declared, ā€˜He who is tired of London is tired of lifeā€™?
        If I am to depart this city which no longer feels entirely like home, where to go?
        Half a century on, I regret to say that leaving the capital is the very step Iā€™m now considering. Iā€™m not sure I love it anymore and, to be frank, I am rather tired of it. Iā€™m a lifelong aficionado of big, bustling cities and for a long time London was the best. Countless corners of it hold memories for me. And if youā€™re passionate about history, as I am, then London is a vast tapestry into which are woven the events of 2,000 years. Sadly, developers have been doing their best to erase them with an insane skyscraper boom, so todayā€™s London is an ancient capital as re-imagined by Chinese investors and Gulf sheiks.
        The London with which I became enamoured in my youth has virtually disappeared. It is still full of cultural attractions, but these days Iā€™m wary of stepping into one of the great museums or art galleries only to be lectured about our wicked history of colonialism. This obsessive national self-flagellation makes a laughing stock of us in countries which still take pride in their past ā€“ and that includes countries which have rather less to be proud of than Great Britain. Enough already.
        I used to enjoy going to the theatre in London. But why fork out to see some new production when youā€™re liable to be force-fed yet more woke dogma on race and gender? I moved here in the first place because Iā€™d planned to be an actress and had been accepted at a top drama school. During my early years I saw every great British actor of the day ā€“ Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson et al. ā€“ tread the West End boards in brilliant plays, both classic and contemporary. Now any talentless newbie can get their semi-literate script produced on a London stage, so long as it adheres to the ā€˜diversity, equity and inclusionā€™ agenda. No thanks.
        One of my long-time pleasures has been to explore on foot interesting London neighbourhoods and observe city life (just as dear old Dickens used to do). But our streets are now too often commandeered by hordes of intimidating, placard-waving political protesters and fanatical activist groups such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, intent on disrupting our everyday lives while police officers loiter about looking gormless. Who could blame you for preferring to stay at home?
        When I relocated all those decades ago from a monochrome American suburb, I was thrilled to discover a city so cosmopolitan. Iā€™d attend a gathering of 50 or so people, who would be from 20 different countries. The populace was, in the very best sense, diverse. But London was nevertheless still palpably English.
        I was watching The Gentlemen recently, Guy Ritchieā€™s gangster comedy series on Netflix. Not my usual fare, but I found myself warming to it immensely. Then I realised why. Itā€™s full of Cockneys. And it was endearing to hear those old-school East End accents. You rarely hear Cockney voices in London nowadays.
        In 1945 the English writer Norman Collins published a novel called London Belongs to Me. For much of my life I too felt that London belonged to me. Those days are over. But if I am to depart this city which no longer feels entirely like home, where to go? Perhaps a quaint Cotswold village where I can find comfort in an oldie worldie tea room. Or a traditional market town (preferably with medieval castle) where the genteel locals might afford a welcome. But those options donā€™t sound much like me, the hardboiled urbanite, and I fear the joys of the (excuse the term) provincial life might pall after a while. Besides, we canā€™t all simply run away and hide. So maybe I should plump for Plan B: to stay right here, in the down-and-dirty thick of things, and stand my ground. What would you do?

          1. I often think about London when reading articles from Cornish and welsh villagers complains about outsiders in their villages.
            Now there are protests in Spain and other European countries.
            But Londoners have been stoically accepting everything theyā€™ve been given for years @nd as you point out protests only receive angry retorts.

        2. No point in running to the countryside – apart from the smells and noises, it's been "diversified" by dumping loads of unwanteds in it. My view of London is that it's the Great Wen and it hasn't improved.

    2. As panjandrums used to say in the EU when we were still in it: the answer to the EU's lack of influence over member nations was to have more democracy.

      Within their democracy there lurks a demon.

  49. So with the Nig… "First Minister" resigning we have the first case of Labour sleaze – so far; and, despite Cur Ikea Slammer's stupid remark the other day, that "England hasn't lost a match under Labour"…it has now.

    All we need is for Double Lammy to declare war on Israel…

    1. Gething lost a no-confidence vote in the first week of June but refused to jump. He had received his Ā£200K donation from the professional fly-tipper early in the year.

      1. Remember The Landlord (Al Murray)…variation 'Oh dear what a pity never mind'….both equally good šŸ™‚

        1. I don’t think I’ve seen that. Surprising as I’m a particular fan of the Pub Landlord. I went to see him at Ipswich on his ‘digging for Britain’ tour last year. Hilarious. Basically a piss take of the national COVID response.

          1. Sounds excellent. I went online to see if I could see a trailer, search came up with Starmer being thrown out of a pub somewhere in Bath – landlord was Labour, said Starmer failed during Covid/lockdown..almost as good as Al Murray šŸ™‚

        2. Hmm. It's good, but the original wins. Especially in the many forms Windsor Davies said it.

          1. Thanks, it’s just the one I remember the best…too much time in the kitchen, perhaps:-D

        3. Sorry but I disagree. I hate it when people make an abomination of an unimprovable original.

          My pet hate is when people misquote George Bernard Shaw. In Man and Superman he posited the unimprovable:

          He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.

          No one, it seems, can get this correct. The idiotic nonsensical word "those" inevitably gets inserted in place of the correct "he".

    4. So we have lost a Hindu PM, Muslim Scottish first minister and now a Zambian Welsh 1st minister. Not bad for a 'diverse' nation !

  50. OnlyFans model denies assaulting Farage. 16 July 2024.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/479fb498227a18fc2c4cead111eb362928e3861b59c32f8f2a7e855227e2e99f.png

    A young woman has denied assault by beating and criminal damage after a milkshake was thrown over Nigel Farage.

    The Reform UK leader appeared to be doused with a McDonaldā€™s banana drink as he left the Moon and Starfish Wetherspoon pub in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, on June 4.

    Victoria Thomas-Bowen, a 25-year-old OnlyFans model, pleaded not guilty to both charges at Westminster Magistratesā€™ Court on Tuesday.

    Sheā€™s obviously innocent.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/16/onlyfans-model-denies-assaulting-farage-throwing-milkshake/

      1. What annoys me most about these sort of sewage is that they can't engage in discussion because they're ignorant. They can't debate the merits of a case because they don't understand them.

        Thus they resort of thuggery and abuse because it's all they have left.

        1. The Left are incapable of reasoned debate. All they can do is spout the blind dogma they read in the Guardian or hear on the BBC.

      2. I think the charge relates to damage caused to Farage's agent's suit standing next to him. Ā£30- expense apparently. Clever move, keeps the MP out of the case unless the defence digs its heels in. Not criminal damage but PO resulting in a tangible nuisance.

      3. I think the charge relates to damage caused to Farage's agent's suit standing next to him. Ā£30- expense apparently. Clever move, keeps the MP out of the case unless the defence digs its heels in. Not criminal damage but PO resulting in a tangible nuisance.

  51. Afternoon all,

    Further to our discussions on the advisability of taking statins yesterday, I came across this video from a doctor who believes that taking loads of different drugs in old age may actually be counterpoductive to health as one gets older. He advocates for de-escalating unnecssary medications with the caveat that we all react to drugs in different ways (and that includes withdrawals):

    https://youtu.be/pcWib5ySQh4?si=wE8pGLlf9K7-7fIf

    This is even more relevant today as Labour's health advisor has warned the Government must adress GP and care services as a priority in improving the health of an ageing population (Times front page today).

    1. About 30 years ago a Consultant Geriatrician told me that he and his colleagues standard treatment for the elderly who had to be admitted to hospital was to take the patient off the cocktail of drugs prescribed by their GP. Then do a thorough assessment of their physical condition. Instigate a new drug regime, see how that went for a week and then where appropriate discharge them home……

  53. OT – a question for well-travelled NoTTLers. Can any recommend a good restaurant du coin in OSTEND?

    2. La MouliniĆØre Oostende in the harbour, perhaps, Bill.

      I was there off a yacht, Second Life, in 1974!!!

      1. It still exists! But I dursn’t eat mussels or other shellfish these days.

          1. Last two occasions = dramatic disaster filled night….{:Ā¬((

            Pity – I used to love all shellfish. I fear I have contracted a personal allergy. I certainly do NOT wish to try a third attempt!!

          5. I am afraid that my post was a pathetic attempt at a joke based on your typo…

            I am ashamed and will have a lie down.

    3. The Beeb has had an ex-room mate frothing away with venom about Vance in particular and Trump in general as part of a spiteful hatchet job In the customary vein. Fell just short of saying that Trump incited violence against himself, at least in words. Fury about the England/Islamist remark. Seems a good egg. Bright and robust.

      It is a pity that "J D Vance" sounds like a brand of court shoe, or even smart/frumpy crimplene wear for the Mother-of-the-Bride

    1. Don’t be silly. Trippo is far less useful than it once was. I was hoping for a personal recommendation.

      1. At least you will be able to pin point the resto. Then go to their website and see if you like what is on offer. Simples.

        1. I know how to use it, you fool.

          I was hoping for a personal recommendation. Do try to keep up.

  58. Another par 4 here
    Wordle 1,123 4/6

    ā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸØā¬œ
    ā¬œā¬œšŸŸØā¬œā¬œ
    šŸŸ©šŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œ
    šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    1. lucky is as lucky does

      Wordle 1,123 2/6

      ā¬œšŸŸØšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

      1. Well done.
        Wordle 1,123 4/6

        šŸŸØā¬œā¬œšŸŸØā¬œ
        ā¬œā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØ
        šŸŸ©šŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œ
        šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

  61. 389740+ up ticks,

    The truth will out at long last, Britain is ā€˜first Islamist country with nuclear weaponsā€™ under Labour, claims Trump VP pick.

    He surely must have been reading my posts, lab is the ragheads overcoat, not very well at concealing the islamic content, but who cares about the consequences as long as the party name (ino) hits the number ten spot.

    1. Vance is a good man. He was against the Ukraine war from the start and outspoken on vital freedoms such as food supply and energy. His wife is a lawyer and clerk to Supreme Justice Roberts.

      I listened earlier to Robert Barnes on Locals. Barnes is in Milwaukee at the RNC Comvention and is overjoyed at Trumpā€™s escape from a Biden Deep State assassination attempt that went wrong in all ways bar its obvious timing on the eve of the Republican Convention.

      Barnes is a friend of Vance and pointed out that Trumpā€™s nomination on Day One and his immediate announcement of VP Vance means that both have immediate enhanced security protection. It also means that should the Deep State assassinate Trump then Vance automatically replaces him either as candidate or eventual President.

      As regards the assassination attempt Barnes says the nerd on the roof will have been groomed as the patsy but that there was a hole in Trumps jacket and that there was another shooter.

    1. Seems I was wrong about today's weather. It got finer, nearly reached twenty degrees then rained a few showers. Now back to seventeen. Typical.

        1. Oh dear, very unfortunate! The gods being particularly spiteful with their timings this year.

    1. Tony Blair wanted to give Gibraltar back to Spain, too. Thatā€™s why, against the British governmentā€™s wishes, a referendum was held.

        1. But not to be handed to Spain. I guess they thought that their best chance of remaining British was for the whole of Britain to remain in the EU. But the rest of Britain thought differently and wanted to regain their sovereignty before it was too late. Gibralterians should be given a referendum on whether they want to be British or Spanish as things stand, now.

  65. Such a shame to see Southgate go today, he was a great advertisement for this country, he brought woke to international football, kneeling, rainbows and pride.
    But above all he gave us Net Zero football.
    No doubt a place in the Lords beckons.
    After all he has done

  66. Sex offender attacked eight women in four days after walking free from secure hospital. 16 July 2024.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2038cd2103f41a44790df8b568e56be8b7d15baf76d93731a583a7c8271ad6f9.png

    Louis Collins, 29, hit the woman over the head and forced her to the ground in Marble Hill Park in Twickenham, south-west London during the hour-long attack on Aug 21 last year.

    Brandishing a knife and a broken bottle he said ā€œdonā€™t scream, nobodyā€™s going to help youā€, before tearing her clothes off and assaulting her, the court heard.

    Two women began to approach after they heard the victim screaming for help, but Collins yelled ā€œf— off or I will kill youā€ and they left.

    Patricia May, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing that Collins was let out of Lambeth Hospital without supervision on Aug 18 last year after doctors agreed he could have an unescorted absence.

    One wonders about the doctors.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/16/sex-offender-walked-free-hospital-attacked-eight-women/

    1. More to the point, why wasn't he castrated and permanently chained in a hole in a main sewer?

      They've got to go. Every foreigner, ever welfare waster. Our prisons are overflowing because they're full of the utter dross of the world.

      1. Should have operated on him to remove everything but his memory? Yes.

        Bluntly, castrate them then fore them to serve the community after implanting them so they can never hurt anyone again. Make them mindless slaves.

      1. Won't make any difference. If it's not them it'll be some other lot. The real way to stop it is to stop them getting here and remove the ones who are.

    5. One years solitary confinement with minimum food then voluntary exile/return to origin or another ten years confinement. Same for murderers, and death sentence if they ever return.

    6. Back in 1973 when I lived with the Swiss miss (wife to be) just over the wall of Marble Hill Park, someone looking like that would have stood out a mile.

      1. In 1974-75 I played cricket on the green in front of Marble Hill House for Darbourne and Darke architects whose offices overlooked Richmond Green. The green at Marble Hill was bordered by Turkey Oaks with low hanging branches and occasionally a dog Walker would amble through.

        That image I have of a serene Summer evening in England is long gone. We played against other firms, quantity surveyors, engineers and other architects. Other venues were Richmond Green and Old Deer Park.

        1. Lovely, I’d watch a match for a while without knowing who was playing. Richmond Green with a beer outside the Cricketers or the Princes Head, good days.

          1. Still lovely, hubby was i. The Cricketers watching the football on Sunday and we were in the Princeā€™s Head (aka the Ted Lasso pub) a year ago celebrating the ladsā€™ winning the u18 Surrey football cup.

    7. One wonders about the crass stupidity of a species that doesn't permit shit, like this turd, to be shot on the spot ā€” no questions asked ā€” when commiting vile atrocities such as this.

      BANG! Next?

  67. It's looking like Labour during their honeymoon period are going to tidy up and wave through all that awkward tricky Supranational stuff that the Conservatives couldn't get away with during their 14 years.

    Closing down farmland and converting to wind and solar panel farms.
    Building over the green belt.
    Shutting down North Sea oil and gas.
    Pay per mile motoring.
    Means testing pensions
    Welcoming in all the dinghy boat people in their hundreds of thousands.
    Releasing prisoners early.
    Rejoin the EU and create EU army
    Give away Gibraltar and the Falklands.
    And many more dystopian agendas we can only guess at.

    All on fewer than 10 million votes the country is being taken to the breakers yard.
    And who benefits?

    2. 389740+ up ticks,

      Afternoon B3,

      All supported via the polling stations, electorate in "Oliver mode", can I have some more please.

    3. Somewhere in the debate following Charlie's address will be the phrase 'a cleaner, greener, kinder world' or words to that effect, followed by mindless cheering from the mentally and morally retarded voting fodder on the Labour benches. And when, a year or so on, food and energy prices are rising as fast as unemployment, it will still be the fault of the Tories.

  69. – I see the Welsh bloke as stepped down, just another

    Gethin today and Vaughan tomorrow politician

    1. He – Clive Lewis – should be fined Ā£500 and his seat declared vacant ā€œas if he were deadā€.

    2. Lewis likes to present himself as a great fighter against prejudice and privilege, a man daring to say what others won't say in challenging stuffy tradition. In reality, he's a petulant, ill-mannered arse who needs taking down a peg.

      1. "In reality, he's a petulant, ill-mannered arse …." with, in common with too many of his fellow 'well-tanned' people, a massive chip on his shoulder. Something of a yob in his arrogant demeanour.

  73. A luring Par Four?

    Wordle 1,123 4/6
    ā¬œā¬œšŸŸØā¬œā¬œ
    ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œā¬œšŸŸØ
    šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©ā¬œ
    šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    1. 3 again today.

      Wordle 1,123 3/6

      ā¬œā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸØ
      ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØšŸŸØ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

      1. Uninspired here…
        Wordle 1,123 5/6

        ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØā¬œ
        šŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØ
        šŸŸ©šŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØā¬œ
        šŸŸ©šŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œ
        šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    2. Surprise three today.

      Wordle 1,123 3/6

      ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØā¬œ
      šŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

  74. Elon Musk reportedly plans to give up to $45m (Ā£35m) a month to support Donald Trumpā€™s presidential campaign.

    The Tesla chief executive intends to donate to a political action committee (Pac), which raise funds for candidates in US election campaigns, alongside several other wealthy business leaders, according to the Wall Street Journal.

    Mr Musk, one of the worldā€™s richest men, had reportedly been planning to make a ā€œsizeableā€ donation to the super Pac.

    1. It's interesting as Musk is a libertarian by default. His ethos is 'you want it, you earn it'.

      1. Perhaps he thinks that Mr Trump is earning it or perhaps he himself can earn more by supporting Mr trump than by supporting the current incumbent….?

        1. I think Uncle Bill got the dooble ontong.
          He was pretending be an innocent little soul.

  76. I'm often appalled by the state of the unisex loos at work and have some sympathy with the ladies at church who have firmly rejected the idea that the new utilities extension should have the same set-up, on the grounds that men's toilets are dirty. I'm chuckling to myself because a distant recollection of an elderly friend of my mother came to mind. The old lady once declared, "Men! Dirty creatures! Should be kept in the back yard!"

    1. Sue; I'm appalled to learn that you have unisex loos at work; I thought that you work for the BBC?

        1. There was an incident where it was found on the floor and smeared on the walls. The notices that went up afterwards were very carefully worded.

          1. We had that on the last building i worked on ten years ago; and weā€™ve had it in our current building tooā€¦

          2. You'll always get where certain types are allowed in. Pity they were allowed into the country, let alone its loos…

    2. It's a shame that disabled loos are often unisex. When I used to take my late auntie into disabled loos, it was always evident when a man had been a recent user, filthy creatures. Having limited mobility, she was unable to 'hover' over the seat to avoid anything unpleasant. (Even when wiped down, I still cover one side with loo paper – a habit from childhood when I hated using public facilities.)
      Even in Reception classes/ Infant schools, it is always easy to tell from the corridor which are the boys toilets.

      1. Some guys pee like they are leaving a scent trail, so all over the goddamn cubicle, the dirty bastards. It's a shame on manhood, that they can't point it towtards the wee (!) water splodge in the middle of the ceramic.

        2. I wonder what their homes are like? If they behave the same in their own bathrooms, it must drive their mothers/wives mad – and I bet the filthy, lazy devils don’t ever clean their bathrooms themselves.
          I trained my husband and sons! The previous owners of our house had 3 boys – I’ll leave the state of the floors to your imagination!
          Goodnight Obers.

    1. It was me. And as i don't get credit for my humour or invited to Nottle lunches in the North i am retreating to my safe room to bang my X box and…and…and…and…………….

      3. Gawd! Are you still moaning? We had a wonderful time and the invoice is on its way to you! Thank you on behalf of us all!

          11. Donā€™t know who said what about whom, but sometimes the written word comes across different from the spoken word.

          14. Tom looks a bit like he's just received the bill… someone needs o wind up his clockwork!

          17. I told you to get rid of the bags under my eyes! The waiter said there was a filterā€¦.

          19. Delightful photos! Now, I can make a pretty incontestable guess as to which one is Sue. Of the other three, I know that one is Geoff and one is RichardIII. Have yet to sleuth out who the other one might be.
            Anyone care to enlighten me?

        1. Thank you. Conway Towers is a footie-free zone (except for when Ed Chamberlain forces it into the racing programme – spit!).

    5. Thanks. The Warqueen has one of these. She looks amazing in it. Now the beardy one is all I'm going to see.

  79. Tom Tugendhat to announce Tory leadership bid ā€˜within weeksā€™
    Shadow security minister preparing to launch second shot at the top job as hopefuls line up to succeed Sunak
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/16/tom-tugendhat-announce-tory-leadership-bid-within-weeks/

    BTL

    The sooner all right of centre Conservativre MPs defect to Reform (or another right of Centre Party) the better for them and the better for the country.

    The Conservatives had the chance and blew it. It is time for them to go away and die quietly and allow a new, right of centre party to replace them.

    How about the Preservative Party: it will keep what's worth keeping, get rid of what isn't and take the Con out of the Conservative Party. It will be the party that can be relied on when the country is in a jam!

    1. Not this tosser? God help us – and all true conservatives. He makes other candidates look bright, efficient and electable. NOT.

      1. Tom Tugendhat.. He is okay, , young , enthusiastic , probably pure old fashioned Conservative

        At least he isn't a spiv , well I hope not .

        He is deeply , very deeply into the complicated divisions of the Middle East , as well as the far East . have re overseas politics

        I think he is highly intelligent , clever but too smart to be left to his own devices , and his own interests could conflict with the dumb arse attitude the British have towards overseas politics , so therefore we could end up in a lot of trouble .

        Did I explain that correctly ?

        In August 2020, Tugendhat received a letter at his home address, sent from Hong Kong and containing a prayer regarding his criticism of China's policies. On Twitter, Tugendhat said that this was sent by the Chinese authorities to threaten him, though this was not independently verified.[59][60] On 26 March 2021, it was announced that Tugendhat was one of five MPs to be sanctioned by China for spreading what it called "lies and disinformation" about the country. He was subsequently banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau, and Chinese citizens and institutions are prohibited from doing business with him.[61] The sanctions were condemned by the Prime Minister and led the Foreign Secretary to summon the Chinese ambassador.

        Clever young men should steer clear of the Tory party leadership for a while .

        Toryism is Toxic , it will take years to fix it .

        1. With a bit of luck, any real conservatives left in the party will defect to Reform or simply resign and stand as independents.

      2. That's probably the reason they're putting him up…members will be begging for Jeremy Hunt by the end of the process

    2. Some Tory apparatchik announced on GBN today that "The 1922 Committee will select the two contenders" – and another committee will decide on other members involvement in the selection process for the new leader …

      Are we still living in the Dark Ages?

    3. Took my car to the garage today. The chap who runs it had a real rant about the government before I could hand the keys over šŸ™‚ "You vote conservative thinking you'll get conservative," he growled, "but you get Labour mk II".

    6. Doesn't matter who leads. They're over. Done. Either Reform gets going for the disenfranchised or there really will be a violent revolution. We have been so shat on.

  80. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/910b639a41e644e56be575753b0545040bbb69fa2a898615816c8be36db9ba67.jpg
    Here's one for Philip (who has a weird aversion to beige and brown-coloured food).

    This photo is from a chapter in Dr Desmond Morris's superb observation of the human species, Manwatching, where he discusses our natural aversion to foods of a weird colour (blue, for example), stating it is natural to prefer foods that are white, red, brown and yellow.

    2. Athletes love red , my fridge is full of cooked beetroot, no vinegar , just sweet beetroot. No 1son eats beetroot everyday .

      Moh and I will eat it .. but not every day .

      4. I have never understood why they put beetroot in vinegar.
        It absolutely kills the already faint flavour.

  81. I told a lie. The Nig…"Welsh" chap who is out of office for being corrupt is, in fact, ZAMBIAN. That was how he described himself – "First and foremost, a Zambian".

    Ideal material for the Welsh pretendy parliament, look you.

    1. I assume that now he is no longer First Minister of Wales, he'll be heading home to Zambia, then.

  82. That's me for today. Bloody sun shining now. And some warmth expected tomorrow. I'll wear a hat, carry a large bottle of water and stay in the shade…

    Have a spiffing evening – eating your greens and, especially, salad.

    A demain

  83. Please, please, please make it stop!!!! I canā€™t stand anymore. I put on the tv at six to watch the news and it has been kicked off to show the qualifying for next years wendyball.
    I donā€™t think I can take much more; my spirit is broken and Iā€™m almost at the stage where I love big brother.

      1. I have mostly. I turn on for the itv local news and weather and for a couple of programmes on talking pictures about twice a week, which is why Iā€™m so upset.
        Fifteen minutes is not a lot to ask, then I go and water the plants and if Iā€™m not going out, sit down with a good book.

        1. It's on here as OH likes to watch footie but I can zone it out and read and chat here.

        2. I couldn't even get away from footie references on the racing programme. The number of times I shouted at the screen, "I want to watch the RACING! If I'd wanted to know about football, I'd have tuned in to a footie programme!" doesn't bear thinking about.

    2. I think the wimmin are around the track somewhere trying to qualify for some competition. Beware though, I hear they are still taking the knee. It was suggested (by an acquaintance) that they just know their place. I'll accept the red card and start running…

    3. We don't watch broadcast TV any more. Have a dongle to transmit YouTube or other internt stuff to the TV, and that's it. We get to choose.

        1. We bought a dongle that plugs into the tv, then you link your phone to the dongle, and stream Youtube. Need wifi, though.

          1. I must get one of those to watch the racing (ITVX) when I give up paying the telly tax at the end of August.

  85. Evening, all. Have a meeting later, but will be here to torment you until then šŸ™‚

  86. Hmm, I can relate to that….

    katie
    @katefeetie
    we stayed at an air bnb with the most perfect pillows. a revelation. perfectly firm but soft. my neck stopped hurting. so I wrote down the brand and item number from the tag and looked it up and they're the same pillows we have at home

  88. We spent the afternoon with a lovely group of people , celebrating the 100th birthday of an amazing woman , in her own home , nibbles laid on and lots of jollity .

    We contributed a collection of money for her birthday charity to go towards the Air Ambulance .

    The lady is a crisp as a lettuce , and as sharp as a needle .. We did the Moonpig card thing , which should have been delivered this morning, but she will receive her surprise probably this evening according to the email.

    Her late husband was a Normandy veteran who died 10 years ago.

    She must have received eighty b/day cards .. we laughed because they were mostly the same .. it is so difficult finding b.day cards saying Happy birthday 100 years !!

    Our dislodged Tory MP was due to visit her , I know he will because he said so , because I wrote to him , and she also had a lovely card from the King and Queen .

    Her early life was spent working in the leather shoe factories in Northamptonshire .. She told me she was in charge of the mens shoe factory . All the great shoe names were manufactured there .

    She was an acute business woman and learnt accounting , computer office work , and still taps away on her PC.

    Her brother is 97, and still lives up in Northants .

  89. I don't know if this pearl has been posted already. Clearly, there was collusion if this can be announced- or they all need the sack!

    The US Secret Service did not put agents on the rooftop where an assassin shot at Donald Trump for health and safety reasons, the head of the agency has said.

    Kimberly Cheatle, the Secret Service director, said the ā€œsloped roofā€ where Thomas Matthew Crooks was positioned on Saturday could have posed a risk to agents.

    New Info! He should have asked the Secret Service for help carrying it!

    Shooter Allegedly Brought His Own Ladder to Event
    Assailant apparently parked near event and carried ladder from vehicle to building, was apparently trying to crawl backwards to the ladder when he was shot in the head.

    5. I saw that too – you really couldn't make it up. Also, they were apparently watching him as a "suspicious person" for 30 mins before he started shooting and even saw him using a range finder?!! As the Daily Sceptic said today, the conspiracy theories are writing themselves!

    9. Donald Trump demanded that Biden- having turned down numerous requests give Federal protection to Robert Kennedy Jr. This has now been granted-to a man who lost his father and uncle to assassination.

  91. Quote of the day

    ā€˜Fortunately we have in our Foreign Secretary David Lammy, a bestie of JD Vance.ā€™

    ā€“ Labour peer Lord Mandelson on Trumpā€™s running mate.

      1. As Blair said in an ironic impersonification in that brilliant song written in the first years of the New Labour government at the turn of the century:

        Glib and oily Mandy's lies and mortgage I could not excuse
        Twice I sacked the sleazy bugger though his spittle shone my shoes.

          2. It’s ok I don’t hold grudges, excepting politicians, invaders, criminals and especially Labour in all its envy and spite, so all good.

  92. Just back in from dinner and a few drinks with Second Son.
    He is working his way along the shelf of whiskies at the local pub, but since he's on minimum wage, it costs me…(decided Chivas Regal was the best today) but he's a really good and kind person, we have precious little time together, so I'm happy (?) to pay. Followed by curry. Now, I'm blootered. A glass of something soothing, then bed.

      1. Almost as good as a lunch with NoTTLers!
        He's a fine lad, Second Son, the kindest persion I know. And damned good in the kitchen, too.

          2. They donā€™t come with instructions – not that men read them, anyway! šŸ™„

          6. You'd regret it if you didn't. It's only money, after all. Memories are priceless.

    3. Love Chivas Regal – you're son is clearly a class act and you should be delighted to treat him (?).

      Why do they always choose the really expensive ones when their dumbass father is paying? – asking for a friend and spoken from bitter experience…..

      Enjoy! (Have another Chivas!!)

      1. Been working along the shelf. Speyside preferred over West Coast, and blended over single malt. To try yet – Glenlive, Glen Morangie, amongst others. US whiskies not a hit; Jameson was "OK"… the lad seems to have good taste, at least.
        Hope I can afford it.

        1. As long as you have had (or are planning to have) a Macallan – truly the Prince of single malts!!!

          PS Of course you can afford it, what else would you want to spend your money on??

        2. On golf trip to Ireland a few long years ago, we went to the Jamesons distillery and I really enjoyed the product. We had a few different samples to compare with and on offer with local 'brew', that had a distinct smooth flavour. And I'd set it apart from scotch which has so many different surprises in taste.

          1. More than twice the price of the 12yo Singleton I'm currently enjoying a nip of!

            I do have a 71yo unopened bottle of Armagnac which was given to me 21 years ago which, if this particular brand and vintage was still available, would set you back around Ā£1000…..

    1. Scan was done okay, in and out in 10 minutes. Apparently they will have a team discussion about it on Friday, then we see the consultant up in EMBRA next Wednesday. Fourth chemo scheduled for Friday the same week.

  96. I heard someone on the radio yesterday saying theyā€™d been in the gents next to a guy peeing while using both hands to text on his ā€˜phone!šŸ¤£

  97. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhvNJkzcOxk
    The Daily Mail reports on the Birmingham incident but doesn't describe the assailants. It merely mentions 'a gang outside who hurled bottles into the beer garden' and 'men outside the pub…throwing bottles'. It's clear from the video that they're not Scottish.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13637495/Moment-mayhem-pub-England-fans-clash-gang-bottles-beer-garden-four-people-hospital.html

    As for the two lumps in London…

    1. Police are normally around the Cenotaph, notable absent. As for the muslims, now Labour are in, they will be even more untouchable.

      2. Last few times I've been past the Cenotaph, I have seen no police. I paid my respects and passed by.

    2. Don't understand why the pub goers didn't lob a fusillade of bottles and glasses back at the bu@@ers?

      1. My immediate thought, Stephen. then rush out, mob-handed, and beat the crap out of them.

    3. If it were on my watch, I would sack the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, forthwith!

    4. If it were on my watch, I would sack the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, forthwith!

  98. Agreed. The 12y.o tasted today.
    Like an Angel crying on your tongue, so it was.

  99. I always liked Chas & Dave, and this was perfect for our 42nd anniversary recently. https://youtu.be/ifgQepGWFzQ?si=oJz2LwooRj6-MLeP
    But a question remains unanswered: Who has actually had a love song sung or played to them, from either sex? I never have, and SWMBO seemed embarrased… How, actually, does one express the intense emotion that kept one married nearly a half-century… Or, like a mate whose wife died a couple of years ago, he can barely draw breath, he's so distraught at the loss of her?
    What thoughts, folks? I'm at a loss here, how does it work?

    1. They say marriage is a fine institution …but who wants to live in an institution….49 years and counting and they won't even let me out on parole!!!

    2. My lovely Caroline posted this on Nottlers on my birthday last year. This is one of the sweetest and most sincere love songs I have heard.

      I used to write satirical songs but to write a simple love song that does not sound corny but sounds genuine and honest is not an easy task.

      Many of us may have been hurt in our love affairs and we tried to protect ourselves by putting a fence around ourselves. After falling in love with Caroline I no longer felt the need to express sentiments like these in the songs I wrote:

      You can have my affection but don't ask for something more
      Or you'll get my rejection and end up outside my door
      For I don't know what words like 'love' mean,
      And I don't think it's really my scene
      For I'm only a Jack or a Knave so don't try to be Queen.

      Though I do want you near me I don't want you under my skin
      So don't try not to hear me and don't try to take yourself in
      For I want you to know where we stand,
      And I don't want to be underhand
      I just don't want you finding I've shattered the dreams that you've planned

      I don't know why you want to be bothered
      When you've heard the hopeless terms I have decreed
      I cannot understand why you should place your dreams upon me
      I can't see that I've anything you need.
      If you think that given time that I could change my feelings for you
      The please, I beg, you, think again
      For I cannot give you what I know I haven't got to give you
      And I really do not want to cause you pain.

      You can have my affection but don't ask for something more
      Or you'll get my rejection and end up outside my door
      For I don't know what words like 'love mean,
      And I don't think it's really my scene
      For I'm only a Jack or a Knave so don't try to be Queen.

  100. School teachers offered pay rises to give up generous pensions
    ā€˜Short-sighted raidā€™ on savings pots threatens stability of public sector scheme, unions warn
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/state-school-teachers-pay-rise-give-up-generous-pensions/

    BTL

    Pension Apartheid – feathered nests for some; penury for others!

    Chickens coming home to roost?

    Teachers should only agree to give up their gold-plated pensions if all MPs and all those in Whitehall are prepared to do do too.

    1. Very similar to that useless arse hole Wilson's SET. selective employment tax.
      Pay in for 50 years and retire with nothing.

      1. I think that was imposed by Callaghan in his budget in 1966. Imposed on employers rather than workers.

        1. Many people especially in the building industry. Became self employed, transient working conditions didn’t help.
          Pension scheme payments were effected because of it. Even though people were made to make payments out of their annual profit margins, none of them including my self who worked in the UK industry for 47 years received a full pension.
          Then Wilson went on to wrecked Rhodesia.

    2. The pensions given to MPs and Whitehall are excessively generous, and cannot be justified.
      The teachers pension stopped being a final salary scheme some years ago. While still (I'm fairly sure) defined benefits, it is now based on career average salary.

      1. The same with the Civil Service pension. To get the full whack of half final salary you had to work for 40 years. It's career average now. Mine was still final salary when I retired but for 22 years on a fairly low salary it wasn't a huge amount. I'm grateful for it though.

        1. Yes but you got a quite large lump sum on top of your half final salary pension after 40 years? Schemes with a greater accrual rate give no lump sum automatically – you have to convert part of your pension into lump sum. The PCSPS wasn't at all bad, as pensions go; there were some pretty good bells and whistles for different circumstances (which might not affect the ordinary member, but still, they were there).

          1. No – it was a good scheme – that’s why they changed it. I was able to stick with the “Classic ” scheme but new entrants had to take what was then on offer. Later, after I had retired, it was changed to career average for everyone.

    3. Teachers should smell a giant rat at that offer.
      Likelihood is that the promised pensions can't be paid out anyway.

  101. I know it's early but I've had a difficult and Unrewarding day.
    Virgin effing media 'customer service' (none existant) after a long phone conversation yesterday didn't ring me back regarding the garbage nonconnections they expect me to pay for.
    And it was found after over one hour of examination at Boots opticians this morning that I have a small build up of fluid behind the site of my recent cataract removal. This causing unwanted pressure and sight distortions. And nobody except the excellent opthalmology expert I saw today, was remotely interested. Pushed aside by the hospital where I had the operation 4 weeks ago.
    On that note …..Good night Nottlers.

      1. They don’t seem to be interested.
        Although I was told to see the opthalmology department at Boots after four weeks. The hospital has now moved the goal post’s to 6 weeks. Not their fault it seems.
        From recent and previous experiences from NHS treatment when something goes wrong it’s the patient’s fault.

        1. It should be nobody’s fault- these reactions happen and they should be there to put things right.

          1. Absolutely Elie. 2 years ago I complained about the dreadful and rather ignorant treatment I had with the cardiology department. The directors turned the whole thing on its head and blamed me for all. But I met an old work colleague who had the same problem. Complained and changed hospital. The cardiologist and his dishonest secretary are no longer at the hospital.
            I saw that there’s been an earthquake in Kenya.

      1. Heā€™s onstage in Fawlty Towers as the Major : Paul Nicholas apparently..

        2. I remember mum and dad going to see Paul in the panto in Glasgow – and loved it!

        2. Jan Francis, who played opposite him in Just Good Friends, was an exceptionally attractive young woman.

    2. Saw a recent picture of Paul Nicholas, a few months ago. Time has indeed been cruel. Jan Francis – not so much. I loved Just Good Friends. Then again, I just spent a few days in my native Carlisle. I contemplated calling on a few friends. Still on Christmas card terms with them. Then, realising that it's 36 years since I moved South, I came to the conclusion that perhaps I should stick to my memories of them as they were in 1988…

  104. Mr T sent me an email and suggested (well, not in so many words) that I drop in and say hello. Looks like the old gang is still here!

    Hope you are all well xx

    1. Gosh! Were your ears burning? You were mentioned today at the Northern Nottlers lunch in Moffat! Wonderful to see you. How are you?

      1. Gosh – if I still lived in Scotland I could have come down! I have moved to my house in NI and enjoying it very much.

          1. I lost my good mare, which broke my heart. I had a filly out of her, but a certain, nameless trainer ruined her and I could no longer race her. I decided to cut my losses. I had a lot of expense after my mother died and I just didn't need any millstones round my neck.

        3. You bought that house in NI a few years ago, I seem to recall. Was it always your intention to relocate?

          1. Yes it was. I think it was about 8 years ago that I bought it and really glad I did. As long as mum was alive I couldn’t move, but knew that I would. I’m just a bit cross with myself for not doing it sooner.

        4. We'll prolly do it again ne*t year. If I can get there from leafy Surrey, NI seems relatively local. Though, in fairness, I tied it in with a visit to my native Carlisle. I'll email an invite if/when it happens.

          *(the key between z and c has decided not to work. I blame wine spillage… šŸ™„)

        1. The big boss Geoff, Richard 11, and Sir Jasper/ Tom Hunn! And me!
          Pictures below!

      1. Haven't seen you on the Speccie recently – the new comments feature is a nightmare.

        1. Agree in spades. I am still there, against my better judgment, as when I cancelled they made me an offer hard to refuse, which like a nitwit I took (triumph of hope over experience). Rarely comment though (what's the point?) and when I do prepare a particularly good'n a weird banner comes up which disallows it. No joy there, and the utter eejits seem to be taking over (no names no packdrill, but you know who I mean).

          You need to also check out Tom Armstrong's new site freespeechbacklash., which you will enjoy.

          1. I find if I leave a page open too long, I have to refresh it so I can post. I really miss seeing the replies! Not to mention the bloody awful layout. I still subscribe to the print edition.

          2. I had the same offer. Ā£1 per month for three months. I still feel I've been robbed. Already cancelled it, so I'll get the urgent action needed emails in a few weeks, I guess.

            I also recommend Tom Armstrong's site. It;s a huge undertaking compared to nttl.blog. The latter is driven entirely by comments, whereas Tom is looking for "above the line" content as well. So far, so good. Any budding writers should seek him out: freespeechbacklash.com …

      1. I used to come here a long time ago, but something happened. Geoff and Bill know about it.

        Does Polly still post? I haven't seen her on the Speccie recently.

        1. Polly drops in from time to time. Good to see you. Thought of you the other day when I was trying to explain the peerage and correct titles!

          1. Drives me nuts – the Telegraph is terrible but to be fair, when pulled up the Spectator changes them!

          3. Yes. Well past my sell by date but still reasonably compos mentis! I work the old fashioned way. Go to the office and put in the hours Iā€™m contracted to do.

          1. And I have no horses for the first time in my life. Times do indeed change.

          5. It was rumoured Napoleon suffered from Piles during the Battle of Waterloo…

          6. Did he break his ribs, too? Sorry for saying you'd sold your boat. I thought it would have been snapped up when you put it up for sale.

          7. No worries about the boat these things take time – it's a very small market.

            As for Napleon not sure about broken ribs but I bet at the end of the day he had a broken heart!

        2. How lovely to be able to greet you! The Boat is fine but reluctantly I've put her up for sale after 11 years of pleasurable boating around England. (Contrary to rumours I haven't yet sold it!)

      1. See below. No nags and it's quite awful. I want the business to be really generating before I buy another. Mega bucks for a half decent well bred filly, though!

          1. Going up all the time unsurprisingly. Boy was it scary a few years ago, with the German balls in a Russian vice re gas! However, business gathering momentum all the time, as farmers need to cut inputs and farm in a kinder way.

          1. The new commenting system is garbage, but Carter and Harman still bore everyone stiff.

          2. Ah yes, the very models of a party apparatchik and centrist dad. You’re doing a grand job Prickly, in taking one for the team. If ever it changes back to something resembling its former glory you can report back.

          3. I doubt if it will. First rule of improvement is to make things worse! Fraser Nelson pulled me up for saying George Osborne was as bad as Kim Philby!

          4. Oh dear, that’s unsporting of him. I’d have thought Osborne a perfect target for ridicule and comparison with your average dictator. Has the man lost all his sense of humour. Lack of humour is a Wet failure that’s for sure.

    9. Hello PT/TP ! We are all still here, well most of us, sadly some have passed on and a few newbies have arrived fom the Speccie! We are still the same old tumbleweed drifting across the desert floor, all in a bundle by ourselves, arguing and agreeing back and forth. Hope you are well! šŸ˜Š

      1. I was wondering if you were still here! If I may be so rude as to enquire, who is no longer with us? I know you did tell me at least one. Does Jennifer still come and terrorise everyone?

        1. Good to see from you – it's been a while!
          Not seen anything from Jennifer for quite a while now, sadly.
          Nagsman / Patricia Bryant passed away at the beginning of this week, significantly reducing the joy in the world by doing so.

          1. Oh my goodness,
            I had no idea .

            This is terrible news , poor Nagsman / Patricia.

            What in heaven's name is happening to everyone .

            Why are our on line friends dying .

            I am shocked , truly saddened .

          2. Citroen announced it first thing Monday. It was a surprise, and I’m afraid I teared up, making it difficult to read the train annunciator board, so I nearly missed my train.
            At least we know there are some good friends on the other side, so the transition won’t be too hard once the time comes.

          3. Yes, long time. Nagsman – I was trying to recall her name as I remember her well. Now surely, you must be tongue in cheek about Jennifer? !!

          4. I liked her, and thought that some were a bit abrupt in their dealings with her – but would admit, she wasn’t the most easy-going person on the site.

        2. Good to see from you – it's been a while!
          Not seen anything from Jennifer for quite a while now, sadly.
          Nagsman / Patricia Bryant passed away at the beginning of this week, significantly reducing the joy in the world by doing so.

        3. No signs of Jennifer for several years…. Lady of the Lake has gone, she died from cancer of the face (it spread to her liver) last September time, her husband died only a few months earlier; Jillthelass has passed only very recently, about a month ago (I do not know the cause) and Nagsman passed away this last Sunday; Citroen posted the information on Monday 15 July so you should still be able to find it easily. She had lung cancer and she was stoic to the end.

          We are both well so far. Good to hear from you, I got out of the habit of sending emails during the lockdowns, a difficult time especially as I was a ‘non-believer’…! and refused to go with the govt flow. I hope you are well and that life in Ireland is good for you – it seems that Ireland is in serious trouble, it is all on Twitter but nothing in our msm.

          Do visit nottle again!šŸ˜Š

      1. Thank you, Geoff. It was nice to be back, but I don’t want to let myself get addicted!

  105. I'm guessing that Tom is in the foreground next to you. Is the guy sprouting out of your head Geoff or RichardIII? (From which i can guess the other one)

  106. The end of another busy day.. Good night, chums, sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow.

  107. Sorry to hear about the mare. Does the trainer's son ride (I'd like to avoid having a horse with him)?

    2. There are some pretty awful trainers out there, Conners. Don't know how licenses are granted these days. We pulled out of one small syndicate that we used to enjoy because our leader insisted on using a trainer that we didn't like one bit. I'm not an expert on racing, but I do know horses and do have some horse sense – ie I can tell a happy horse from an unhappy one (I could go on).

  109. Another day is done – an enjoyable one with the NTTL luncheon with rattling good company – so, I wish you a goodnight and may God bless all you Gentlefolk. If we are spared! Bis morgen frĆ¼h.

    1. Night night, Sir J. I now have an image of how very handsomely huggable you are. Sleep well and sweet dreams, from the land where the sugargliders dwell

    1. How very, very sinister. Look at those goons, with their weapons and riot gear, WTF is going on?

      1. 389740+ up ticks,

        Evening O,

        Seemingly they beat the opposition until they are suitably malleable.

        1. Oh dear the wheels are falling off the irish wagon, arenā€™t they? But at least they are doing something. Here, we roll over and actively elect a super-majority government which promised to let more of these invaders in.

          Like watching a nation build its own funeral pyre, as the far-right ultra extreme fascist supremacist racist gammon bigots might say (did i miss any pejoratives out?)

    2. At some point the police need to ask themselves whose side they are on. But iirc there have been active efforts to recruit recent migrants into the garda.

    1. Quite. As do ours now. And I so enjoy the preparation and training, perhaps more than the actual races

  113. Good morning folks.

    Hard luck?

    'A Harley Street doctor has been suspended from treating patients for five months after he carried out a Ā£3,500 non-essential penis filler procedure during lockdown.

    Dr Mohammed Sefahn Chaudhry, 35, kept his private clinic open using his website and put up Ā£1,000 worth of ā€œBarbie tip rhinoplastyā€ and ā€œlip fillerā€ treatments as giveaways in a prize draw on social media in 2020.'

    Edited to add a BTL Comment:

    A-Guy-In Pennsylvania
    7 HRS AGO
    I think the most astonishing part of this is that there's a Penisfill website. Yes, there is. It's everything I hoped it could be.

    1. Thanks Geoff! ā€˜Morning all!
      Hope the journey home goes well, Geoff!

      1. Mostly, it went well, Sue. I shaved half an hour off the journey time, according to Trainline.com.

        There was a slight hiccup, though. As I boarded the escalator from Euston Rail Station to Euston Underground Station, I firmly gripped the handrail. As one is enjoined to do. Suddenly, the handrail shot off ahead of me. By the time I worked out what was happening, I'd fallen backwards onto the steps. Now – one downside of prosthetic lower legs is that the forces involved in standing up from the floor will almost certainly detach the legs from the wearer, unless one can haul oneself up manually. It's a long escalator. I composed myself, sat on one step, with my fee two steps down, grabbed hold of the left hand handrail and hauled myself to an upright position. Just in time to step off the bottom of the escalator, rather than being deposited in a heap on the floor.. Several fellow travellers asked if I was OK. "Fine, if a little shaken", I replied, explaining my absence of feet.

        So I dodged a bullet. Seems to be a common theme this week. I submitted a report to tfl. Needless to say, they replied instantly, full of concern and remorse. Oh, wait – did they fuck… No response at all. Thanks, Sadiq.

        1. Good grief man! How very undignified, and shocking for you! I take it no lasting damage was done?

  115. No damage, Sue. Had the escalator been shorter, the outcome may well have been different. Truth be told, there have been more than a few occasions where I’ve tripped or fallen. I’ve mostly dealt with this by myself. There’s invariably something solid you can grab hold of. People are generally helpful, in such circumstances. Embarrasingly so…

    Still waiting for TFL’s response, though…

    1. Yes I understand the embarrassment! And the fuss and explanations and you feel a foolā€¦.poor old you! What a miserable end to your trip! I hope it was worth it, as it was great to see you!

      1. And you too, Sue. And I note that our Richard III is pretty active over at Free Speech Backlash…

        Since this comment is over a week old, no-one else is likely to read it. I've been in regular contact with Tom Armstrong. These are early days for his new site, but it shows great promise. I'd value your opinion. If NTTL was to 'merge' with the 'Daily Gossip' page at FSB, would anyone object? Around half of the comments are from Nottlers.

        Few NTTL comments actually relate to the DT Letters anyway. I'll test the water with those Nottlers at Phizee's party next month. Tom aims to build a team (he's even more ancient than I am). Currently, if I inadvertently step under a passing bus tomorrow (fat chance, admittedly), NTTL will immediately cease to exist…

        1. Please do not step under a ā€˜bus, Geoff! And if youā€™re ancient then I am too! And Iā€™m not! Well, I only feel it some days!
          Richard is doing a sterling job on FSB and Iā€™ve been impressed with his very well-crafted and intelligent articles. His breadth of knowledge and brilliant writing are a joy. Iā€™m so glad he has an outlet for his skills, and can safely ignore the French car man!
          I donā€™t think Iā€™d have any objections to a merger. As you say most of our chat doesnā€™t revolve round the DT letters, although a lot of the discussion comes from the paper itself. I like the way we are – very exclusive, us Nottlers!
          See how it goes at the Summer Extravaganza, but get in before the booze flows! In vino veritas and all that!
          Have fun!

Comments are closed.