Thursday 15 August: The spread of worklessness is having a demoralising effect on Britain

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 – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

678 thoughts on “Thursday 15 August: The spread of worklessness is having a demoralising effect on Britain”

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

    Prison Diet

    A shy, nerdy white guy gets thrown in prison for embezzling. He gets a huge, mean-looking black guy as his bunkmate.

    The black guy goes over to the new inmate and says "Me and you gonna play HOUSE. You wanna be de MOMMY? Or do you wanna be de DADDY?"

    Thinking fast, the terrified little white guy says, "I’ll be the daddy, if you don't mind."

    “Hell no, I don't mind!" the black inmate responds, "Now come on over here and SUCK MAMMA'S DICK!"

    1. Morning Oggy. I think that any sensible person knew that once the principle of Hate Speech was estabished by prosecutions it would quickly morph into any dissenting views.

    2. Morning Oggy. I think that any sensible person knew that once the principle of Hate Speech was estabished by prosecutions it would quickly morph into any dissenting views.

    3. Morning Oggy. I think that any sensible person knew that once the principle of Hate Speech was estabished by prosecutions it would quickly morph into any dissenting views.

    4. 391623+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Could it be the guilty are judging the alledged guilty, guilty. as in, attack is the best form of defence.

    1. Looks like the Europeans are giving their Muslim residents even more incentives to flee to the UK…..

    3. Tomorrow, The Caliph of London (TTK) will declare ALL women (and Wannabee wimmen) in UK will have to wear either Burqa or niqab, fom 01 September 2024

  7. Morning – Not easy
    Wordle 1,153 4/6

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  9. Good morning, chums. And thank you, Geoff, for today's NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,153 4/6

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    1. Par 4, too
      Wordle 1,153 4/6

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  10. Career criminals walk free in soft justice scandal

    Offenders with more than 100 convictions get ‘slap on wrist’ instead of jail time

    Charles Hymas, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR and Dominic Penna
    14 August 2024 • 9:40pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/08/14/TELEMMGLPICT000388324675_17236651191790_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqek9vKm18v_rkIPH9w2GMNpPHkRvugymKLtqq96r_VP8.jpeg?imwidth=680
    Many people convicted in the recent riots had long criminal histories CREDIT: Joel Goodman/LNP

    Career criminals with more than 100 previous convictions are being spared jail, The Telegraph can reveal.

    In more than 4,000 such cases since 2007, offenders have avoided prison. The proportion walking free from court has quadrupled in the past 16 years, with an average of five a week being spared jail in each of the past 10 years.

    The Ministry of Justice data, the most comprehensive analysis of its kind, shows that offenders with more than 50 previous convictions have been spared jail in more than 50,000 cases since 2007. The number of career criminals avoiding jail has nearly tripled from 1,289 in 2007 to 3,325 in 2023.

    The figures follow warnings by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, in the wake of the recent riots that a soft approach to justice has led too many people to “feel as though crime has no consequences”.

    Among the rioters were many prolific offenders. Adam Wharton, 28, who admitted burgling a library in Liverpool, had 16 previous convictions for 26 offences. A fellow rioter who torched a police van had more than a dozen previous crimes, from robbing charities to dealing drugs.

    After the Metropolitan Police arrested rioters at a protest in Whitehall, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that about 70 per cent had previous convictions, including for weapon possession, violence, drugs and other serious offences.

    Senior advisers to Labour have warned that, with police solving just 5.5 per cent of all crimes, a third of the rate of seven years ago, offenders have become “emboldened” by the low chances of being caught, convicted and jailed.

    Neil O’Brien, a former Tory minister who obtained the MoJ data through parliamentary questions, called for longer prison sentences for repeat offenders. They account for half of the 20 million crimes in England and Wales, despite representing less than a tenth of the five million offenders, according to MoJ research.

    “A fortune is being spent on catching and prosecuting people who then get a slap on the wrist and offend again,” said Mr O’Brien, the MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston. “With 50 per cent of crime committed by just 10 per cent of offenders, the case for longer sentences for those super-prolific offenders is strong.

    “Most people would expect that sentence lengths would massively increase if you were being convicted for the umpteenth time but instead sentencing gets weaker for those with many previous convictions – the ‘more crime less time’ effect.

    “Too many people in the criminal justice system are obsessed with community sentences and modish ideas, but the evidence is that jailing the small number of super-prolific offenders who commit an outsized proportion of crime for longer is an effective way to make the public safer.”

    Last year, the number of people with 100 convictions who were spared jail hit 252, up from 132 in 2007. The total number of cases over the past 14 years is 4,008. The proportion of those avoiding jail despite 100 convictions has climbed from 0.03 per cent to 0.12 per cent.

    Soft justice was evident even when the courts dealt with criminals convicted of violence. Since 2007, 39,000 violent offenders have been spared jail despite having more than 10 previous convictions. Of these, there were 9,688 instances of criminals with 25 previous convictions avoiding prison. Last year alone, it was 532, nearly triple the 184 in 2007.

    Even when the courts were confronted with criminals who had repeatedly been convicted for the same offences, including burglary, knife possession and assault, they still did not send them to jail.

    The data showed that, in the past three years, offenders had avoided prison despite having up to 21 previous convictions for burglary, up to seven previous convictions for carrying a knife, up to 34 previous convictions for assault, up to seven for sexual assault and up to 14 for robbery.

    For every offence type other than drugs, the number of previous convictions that criminals had before they were jailed has increased compared with 2007.

    People jailed for burglary had on average 26 previous convictions for any offence. Those jailed for robbery typically had 14.5 previous convictions. For assaulting a police officer, it was 19.6 convictions. Possession of an offensive weapon it was 14, theft 26, and sexual assaults five. For breach of an Asbo, it rose to 38.3.
    https://cf.eip.telegraph.co.uk/illustrator-embed/content/7a2f08c686b22218ca5e5ed317ead602cc3a49b9/1723667458951.jpg

    More than 50 Tory MPs backed proposals by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, that offenders who hit 45 crimes should face a mandatory two-year custodial sentence each time they are convicted of a further serious offence. The plans, tabled as an amendment to a sentencing Bill, were never put to the vote.

    Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has pledged to conduct a review of sentencing but faces an overcrowding crisis in prisons which has forced the MoJ to introduce an early release scheme from next month.

    A Ministry of Justice source said the figures illustrated “the mess the last Conservative government left the criminal justice system in”.

    Tom Tugendhat, the shadow security minister who is also a Tory leadership candidate, said: “Criminality and lawlessness should not be met with empty words but with the full force of the law.”

    He added: “Prison works because it punishes offenders and takes dangerous criminals off our streets. Repeat offenders, and the most violent in our society, should face tougher sentences, not softer treatment and early release. Anything else will make our streets and communities less safe and lead to the continued erosion of public trust.”

    A government spokesman said: “The first job of this Government is to keep people safe, and the new Lord Chancellor has taken action to make sure the justice system is always able to lock up dangerous offenders, protect the public and reduce reoffending.

    “Independent judges and magistrates decide sentences, but we are committed to making sure punishments fit the severity of the crime.”

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

    Pamela Wakeling
    9 HRS AGO
    Rape 3 months
    Murder 4 months
    Theft , 0 months
    anti government. Ten years

    Stephen Luscombe
    9 HRS AGO
    Reply to Pamela Wakeling
    And they say there is no Two Tier justice system

    Jean Langan
    9 HRS AGO
    BBC is reporting a man has been arrested in Lincolnshire for amongst other things ‘antiestablishment rhetoric’. What the hell? https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/08/14/bbc-court-hears-man-arrested-for-anti-establishment-rhetoric-on-social-media/

    1. 'Morning C1 just beat me to it
      A staggering article especially when you realise that for every conviction probably a dozen crimes went unprosecuted
      No wonder police morale is in the toilet as they watch the "justice" system operate on "catch and release"
      Makes the current draconian treatment of rioters even more of a stark contrast

    2. How are the Tories suddenly finding out about this?
      A high prevalence of past offending among those convicted of riot casts doubt on 2TK’s ‘far-right’ rhetoric. It is also true that those who are radicalised within the RoP are more likely than the average to have a criminal history and/or be otherwise dysfunctional but part of that will be because our prisons have provided fertile ground for radicalisation.
      Maybe we could deport some of the foreign criminals who are choking up Chokey? But I suppose 2TK would be concerned about their human rights.

    3. In the USA they tried to introduce a system of 'three strikes and you are out'. And that's generous.

  11. Labour’s real agenda for Britain is far more terrible than anyone imagined

    The new Government has been unleashed, dedicating itself to total victory in both the class and culture wars

    ALLISTER HEATH
    14 August 2024 • 7:20pm

    Welcome to Sir Keir Starmer’s cacotopia, his wretched vision for Britain in which everything will soon be as bad as it can be. The Cassandras – of which I was one – who warned that Labour would prove to be a catastrophe, the most Left-wing administration since the 1970s, an existential threat to Britain’s prosperity, freedoms and national unity, have been vindicated in record time.

    I already miss the Tories, for all their incompetence and cowardice and lack of principles: at least they sometimes got it right. Starmer’s Government, by contrast, is a ruthlessly efficient, highly focused, “progressive” wrecking machine, led by true believers dedicated to total victory in the culture and class wars. They have delivered a masterclass in how to seize the levers of power, harness a sympathetic Blob and ram through a revolutionary blueprint to empower the state, cut down tall poppies, promote radical greenery, undermine self-government and turbocharge wokeism.

    The Government has achieved almost as much in 40 days as the Tories managed in four years. Labour’s miserable 33.7 per cent of the vote isn’t providing any kind of psychological restraint or self-doubt about legitimacy: as far as the Starmerites are concerned, this is their moment, and they are going for it.

    Take immigration: Angela Rayner has dropped Michael Gove’s proposed “UK connections test” that would have limited social housing applications to long-term UK residents. Labour has scrapped the Rwanda scheme, and replaced it with nothing: we are meant to pretend that illegal immigration is no longer an issue, to turn a blind eye to the small boats crisis, even though there were 703 arrivals on one day alone this week.

    The Government is fanatically supportive of the European Convention on Human Rights; many of its activists support entirely open borders. Yvette Cooper has watered down plans to increase minimum salary requirements for spouses of migrants, and Starmer’s likely inability to meaningfully reform welfare means that he will soon face pressure from employers to import even more labour.

    Or take education: a Left-wing academic has been tasked with reviewing the national curriculum, fuelling worries of dumbing-down or politicisation. Higher standards in maths and English are a key Tory achievement: destroying this progress by banning phonics, as some would like, would be a calamity. Academies will be subjected to the national curriculum, and free schools will see their autonomy curtailed. Free speech protections in universities are being axed. The 20 per cent VAT on private schools is being accelerated; parents who pay for their children’s education should be lauded, not persecuted.

    Labour believes that prison works for thuggish, far-Right racists, which is good, but why not extend that to all kinds of law-breakers? Where is the credible prison-building plan? All the signs are that Labour is far too “progressive” on crime.

    The Government won’t increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030. It can’t confirm whether we will participate in the Global Combat Air Programme to build a sixth generation fighter jet. MoD budgets for science, tech, and research and development face cuts. The Minerva satellite project is under threat. There seems to be no strategy to reinforce our nuclear deterrent or fix the MoD’s crippling pathologies.

    In the meantime, David Lammy has turned against Israel. He has dropped the UK’s case against the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s ludicrous request to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu. He is mooting a ban on arms exports to Jerusalem. He reflexively condemns attacks on Hamas, failing to accept that the terror group uses civilians as human shields. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remains unbanned.

    The Government is desperate to move closer to the EU’s orbit; the dream of divergence is over for now. The Product Safety Bill gives Starmer fresh powers to shadow single market rules, even though Germany’s economy is in dire straits. It will seek to sign up to endless EU projects, and embrace even fewer Brexit opportunities, fuelling Rejoin sentiment.

    Claims that the Government is pro-growth are delusional. Yes, its supposed plans (targets, rather) to boost housebuilding, as well as a few infrastructure projects, are welcome. But Ed Miliband’s dislike of North Sea oil and gas is a disaster; his decision to sign off big solar farms and onshore wind farms won’t be enough to prevent blackouts caused by absurdly ambitious decarbonisation deadlines.

    The avalanche of red tape on employers and the empowerment of unions will restrict job creation. The war on non-doms will backfire; the UK is suffering an exodus of millionaires. Far too much is being spent on pay rises for public-sector workers.

    As a consistent opponent of welfarism, I support scrapping the universal winter fuel allowance, but the looming tax raids on pensioners, hard workers, savers and investors to fund Reeves’s alleged £22 billion “black hole” are abhorrent. Will she reduce pension tax relief? Or slash the tax-free pension lump sum? Will she introduce a vicious gift tax, or force even more people to pay even more inheritance tax? She will surely increase capital gains tax, making it less profitable to invest.

    What about the taxation of property? Will she revalue council tax bands? Introduce an explosive wealth tax? How bad will it get?

    We should be grateful for small mercies. In Facial Justice, his masterful political satire, L P Hartley imagines a post-nuclear war hellscape that forces the last 20 million humans to live in underground caves. Britain is run by the Darling Dictator and infected by egalitarian madness. “Legal justice, Economic Justice, Social Justice, and many other forms of Justice, of which we do not even know the names, had been attained; but there still remained spheres of human relationship and activity in which Justice did not reign,” Hartley explains.

    Hence why citizens must wear sackcloth and ashes not to be “anti-social”, why they are restricted to a 17.5 per cent quotum of personality not to inspire envy, and why Jael 97, an increasingly rebellious alpha, classified as “over-privileged” because of her beauty, must report to the Ministry of Facial Justice for reconstruction.

    If you need cheering up during these grim times, read the book: by comparison, even Starmer’s Britain’s will seem like a conservative utopia.

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

    Patrick Hunt
    11 HRS AGO
    Never in the field of human history has a government, elected by so few, become so authoritarian and so hated, by so many, so quickly.

    1. I went off Starmer years ago when he u-turned on the bulldozing of the hedgehog sanctuary in his constituency to make way for parking for HS2 contractors. At election time he said he would not do this.

      What we have now, and until 2029, is damage limitation. Democratically, the Conservatives are in meltdown, and all the other parties not strong enough to take on Change UK (aka New New Labour). Direct Action has been pre-emptied by revisions to the Riot Act to emcompass political opposition (using "Safeguarding" precedents over Disclosure & Barring to get over Habeas Corpus objections). There is peaceful non co-operation of course, but I am sure that Rachel Reeves is working on this, along with the tech cabal to make life very hard for the uncompliant to regulations.

      It is quite similar to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, who did it because they could. Very recently, Ukraine has gone on the offensive, opportunistically going for the unprotected soft underbelly of the beast. Maybe the same could be applied when tackling a hostile Government? Starmer's putrification machine cannot be everywhere at once.

      1. Good morning Jeremy and everyone.
        Sir Starmer has an authentic constituency? I assumed that he only represented Whitehall & the Civil Service.

    2. Cacotopia. A new, most worthy entry into my personal lexicon. I feel it will be much used.

  12. 'Morning All
    The memes must flow………..
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/396a0844f720a74b0cb8d5771f10edc8e730058bc117909d4db1a9588315da04.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ca0b306e39fe86fdfcc9577519f31aa3811418e36063ea0b04dab83649c985ce.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0a410c8620d8bcf38ef11ac3d327cb2c83fed38491258dedafb9a69c23fbf955.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c1879c1c8b31a78b4f96fd67180d7713c06b9716148713fb7b19dcba88b5d6b.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c6d86f047d891ecdd1dd3941fb554c6b6f0775bef7ecc6fdafc46d1e3a834369.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/88a9e913caee91c5705eb53049ea50e4337175bc47818044ef99b5509e90ace6.jpg

    1. Apropos the last:
      When the Nazis came for the communists,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a communist.

      When they locked up the social democrats,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a social democrat.

      When they came for the trade unionists,
      I did not speak out;
      I was not a trade unionist.

      When they came for the Jews,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a Jew.

      When they came for me,
      there was no one left to speak out.

      Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller
      (14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984) was a Protestant pastor and social activist.

    2. And who funds the World Economic Forum?

      The massive global corporations who rely on it.

  14. Good morning all,

    A pleasant, sunny start at Castle McPhee, wind in the South-West, 13℃ rising to 22℃ as it clouds over.

    What people should be sent to prison for…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32f739a8dc86e415d803c07d1f9569b4423025c1efaecf091b805536d1b1fd8f.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/14/soft-justice-scandal-as-career-criminals-spared-jail/

    What they are being sent to prison for….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/78c2099d16c80e544359a7ed53e39e14ca3610bdb857c41e51daae85958bd4e2.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/14/judge-jails-keyboard-warrior-over-blow-up-mosque-post/

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c4c656886ecbb2cd95f55acc1fa6474017f992b566f807bfaedd5b5fe355174d.png

    We don't have a government; we have a regime.

  15. Good morning all,

    A pleasant, sunny start at Castle McPhee, wind in the South-West, 13℃ rising to 22℃ as it clouds over.

    What people should be sent to prison for…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32f739a8dc86e415d803c07d1f9569b4423025c1efaecf091b805536d1b1fd8f.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/14/soft-justice-scandal-as-career-criminals-spared-jail/

    What they are being sent to prison for….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/78c2099d16c80e544359a7ed53e39e14ca3610bdb857c41e51daae85958bd4e2.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/14/judge-jails-keyboard-warrior-over-blow-up-mosque-post/

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c4c656886ecbb2cd95f55acc1fa6474017f992b566f807bfaedd5b5fe355174d.png

    We don't have a government; we have a regime.

  16. Awkward……………
    Did you know –
    "MPs already have redundancy packages at twice the amount enjoyed by regular workers. Seeing as 175 incumbent Tory MPs got the boot in July, the taxpayer is in the process of forking out £3,706,500 in golden goodbyes."

    That would have kept 12,355 OAP's warm this Winter.

    Perhaps every leaving MP should be Means Tested before receiving this extra taxpayer's gift ?
    I did mention Starmtrooper's special pension arrangement as well but i think I got away with it…………..

  18. Morning, all Y'all.
    Raining. Day off work due to gastric turbulence, cause unknown.

    4. Feel better…did you eat salad/esp lettuce, greens, yesterday. Boiled cooled water few grains of Maldon might help? (Better Half tells me sometimes medication can be the cause.)

  19. My better half said that politics is definitely the thing to be in, spend your time waffling, telling lies and filling your wallet.

  20. Good morning all.
    A bright but cloudy start with a light breeze and a pleasantly cool 10°C outside.

  21. There is no Two Tier policing..
    Two headlines
    Two legal judgments
    Two tier country

    A 61-year-old Sutton man jailed for 18 months for chanting “who the fuck is Allah” and telling police officers “you’re not English anymore”.

    ‘Palestine Convoy’ pair hate charges are dropped.. shouted "Jews and the rape of their daughters.“ The inexplicable and disgraceful decision by the CPS to now drop all charges against anyone involved

    https://www.thejc.com/news/anger-as-hate-charges-against-palestine-convoy-pair-are-dropped-xcj4ae9w

    1. driving up Finchley Road with a loudspeaker calling for the grape of Jewish daughters.. isn't really hate.
      not when you place it in context.

  23. 391623+ up ticks,

    Regardless of the 24/6/2016 result the lab/lib/con majority voter, have made their choice, and are pleased to accept through the generosity of their misguided choice free gifts
    (tax payer funded) of sweat head bands with their names & ID numbers on (2 off), and ( lioncloths2off ) again named & numbered.

    https://x.com/MusafirDavid/status/1823979247720861996

    1. 391623+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      48% / 52% of our electorate were seen to accept serfdom as a way of life.

      The "remainers" (48%) are in reality, government supporting lice, leaving 52% of us trying to scratch our way to independence & freedom.

      1. We have a short article today on that subject at Free Speech today Sos, please nip over and let us know what you think and if possible of more cases of injustice.

    3. "The [WEF] plan is replace and then to eradicate the hard-to-cpontrol people of Western nations who value the concept of individual freedom."

      Oh, yeah? (1) It appears a majority of Westerners have already given up on the idea of individual freedom. (2) Anyone who thinks the African can be controlled is a fool.

  25. Protests prevent Met Police from tackling antisocial behaviour. 15 August 2024.

    Policing the protests in recent months has left the Metropolitan Police unable to tackle antisocial behaviour effectively, a highly critical report has found.

    Inspectors warned that the constant “abstraction” of neighbourhood officers in the capital to deal with large-scale demonstrations was having a significant impact on the force’s ability to prevent and deter crime that was blighting people’s lives.

    Lol. You couldn’t make it up. The Police do nothing about crime. They gave up years ago. That’s why they are so enthusiastic about hunting down Online Posters. It requires no effort.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/15/protests-stop-met-police-from-tackling-antisocial-behaviour/

    1. Perhaps later this year when we have frosts the officers might spend time checking to see if poorer pensioners who don't receive benefits because they might own their own houses. Are kept warm during the winter months.
      If they don't have the means to be comfortable, they can arrest them and put them in prison. At least they will get three meals each day and heating.

    2. Morning Minty

      It's a bit dull today so I thought I might indulge in a bit of abstraction today. Any other NoTTLers care to join me?

      "'Ello, 'ello 'ello…wot are you abstracting on the King's highway when facing in a Northerly direction?"

      1. You don't need to know how the coffee maker works, just add water and beans and turn it on.

        Or

        You can drive a car without knowing how the internal combustion engine works, you can walk to the shops without knowing how your brain stem is controlling your walking or breathing rate, and you can pay for your groceries using our universal abstraction of 'value': money.

        Am I on the right track with regard to your mind melding?

          1. From Starmer's point of view it will be far easier to imprison people who are worried about the spread of Islam if people are not reminded of murders and rapes committed by Muslims.

    3. KCH in Denmark Hill has had lots of practice in dealing with multiple stab wounds over the decades…..

  27. Over at Free Speech we have a short piece by Paul Sutton on two-tier justice. Please nip over to read it and, importantly, leave a comment and let us know of any other examples of how our once proud criminal justice system has been corrupted by the woke globalist state, if possible with links.

    We are collecting them for further use.

    freespeechbacklash.com

  28. Dunno about anti-in-general government Rhetoric, or Woderic, therefore I wonder if the Rhomans have a word for antidisupstartstarmertarianism? And how should it be declined?

  29. Roman Catholic boarding school which charges up to £41,634 per year becomes one of the first of its kind to close following Labour's VAT raid on private education

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13744887/Roman-Catholic-boarding-school-charges-41-634-year-one-kind-close-following-Labours-VAT-raid-private-education.html

    A perfect site to house hundreds, if not thousands of illegal gimmegrants, a win-win for the socialist scum now in charge of the UK.

      1. Much, much cheaper to put up barbed wire and electric fences around the grounds than to newbuild on greenfield sites.

    2. If the Idiot King knows what's good for him he will relinquish the title of Head of The Church of England and see if he can persuade his Islamic chums to appoint him as The Grand Mufti of England and make sure the title is passed on to his children and grandchildren because it is likely that during William's reign – and certainly during George's – the majority of people in the UK will be Muslims.

      King Charles has always liked to be considered progressive and I am sure he has noticed that Islam is the future and Christendom is the past.

      2. I don't know about Muslim although I tend to agree, but I am certain white people of British ancestry will be in a minority.

        1. In my You Tube feed, the other day, was a documentary about the English longbow. I was surprised to find that it is still legal in Britain. I'm not making any suggestions or implying anything but, you know, history does tend to repeat itself.

  31. Morning all 🙂😊
    Sunny but a chilly breeze. Better than sweating buckets.
    Someone needs to organise a stupendous event for sake of rescuing our country from approaching armagedon Where they move into parliament and clear all the obvious debris.
    Are the royal marines busy ?

  32. 391623+ up ticks,

    Thursday 15 August: The spread of worklessness is having a demoralising effect on Britain

    Little wonder most likely reason being Dover instigated and the invasion fall out.

    The numbers opting out of work will increase as the numbers of morally illegals in hotel accommodation increases.

    It all aids & abets the WEF / NWO program of eventual take over,
    legal immigrants will take up employment vacancies, in time there will be NO NEED of an indigenous workforce so they can sit at home feeling demoralised, until it is time to attend the mosque.

  33. Trump should be screaming about this from the rooftops. Democrats love wars. This was handed to the Taliban of a golden platter by Biden and Harris

    Gloating Taliban stage military parade to celebrate three years in power after seizing control of Afghanistan – with a swarm of fighters riding motorbikes joining a party at a former US airbase
    Taliban forces seized the capital on August 15, 2021, after the US-backed government collapsed and its leaders fled into exile.

    The anniversary is marked a day earlier on the Afghan calendar.

    The Taliban first took to the streets showing off dozens of US-made armoured vehicles and weaponry during victory parades on September 1, 2021.

    One event, in the southern city of Kandahar, even featured a fly-past from a Black Hawk helicopter flying the flag of the Taliban.

    The parades of the hardware, captured from Afghan forces during the group's takeover of Afghanistan, were held just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden defended his decision to end two decades of American presence in the country.

    The Islamist hardliners celebrated the final withdrawal of U.S. troops as an historic victory after taking control of all but one of the country's 34 provinces in a two-week offensive

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13744137/talbian-military-parade-celebrate-power-afghanistan-airbase.html

    1. The front page headline was altered from

      Thanks, Biden! Gloating Taliban parade $85b worth of bling left behind by fleeing US forces during catastrophic withdrawal – as they mark three years since return to power

    2. "Democrats love wars."

      They waged a civil war in an attempt to retain slavery.
      The initiated the Jim Crow laws.
      They are the only political party … in the history of the universe … to drop an atomic bomb on another country.

      I bet I could add much to that list if I were so arsed.

      A proper — ongoing — shower of shit.

        1. Not if it opens the doors for similar events with weapons hundreds of times more destructive. Humans are the most only stupid organism to ever have evolved.

    4. If Trump had been in charge those weapons would have been removed or rendered useless and those reviewing the parade would all be dead.

      1. I was utterly flabbergasted that the US military just left the gear, rather than at least blowing it up. Hell, even Firstborn's military Series 3 Landy manual has a section on vehicle demolition with & without the use of explosives.

        1. There are instances where the rule that the military must cede to the instructions of politicians becomes very unwise. I'm not sure how one could devise a mechanism where the military authority can overrule but this was certainly an instance where that sort of possibility should have been an option.

          2. I grew up in the Army and would have been a soldier as my forebears had traditionally been. I cannot speak for the modern army but I know that it used to be that in the main the military were far more intelligent than the politicians they served. They had to be because they had to change their strategies on a continual basis to keep up with the political will. But, at the same time, could not afford, unlike politicians, to make a mistake that could cause a defeat or the death of thousands. Further more, the aim of the British army was to keep the peace, aggression was a last resort once all alternatives had been exhausted. That is a point of view that required what would now be called “holistic thinking”. All and anything feasible was considered from all and any angle, strategic planning.

  34. Good morning all .

    Breezy morning , cloudy 17c.

    SIR – There are 9.5 million people neither in work nor looking for it, and the fastest growing cohort are those off as a result of illness, a group that has grown markedly since the pandemic.

    In March 2023 an estimated 1.9 million people in the UK were experiencing self-reported long Covid. In my household, both my adult daughters are now disabled due to its effects. One, a GP, lost her medical position because of the disease.

    Despite its socio-economic impact, little is known about this illness, and even less about how to treat it. An obvious way to address worklessness in the UK would be to increase research into long Covid.

    Alan Stedall
    Sutton Coldfield

    Long covid is real, debilitating nasty , but is it related to the jabs?

    Back problems , undiagnosed illnesses , the huge queue of people waiting for operations , the NHS has a lot to cope with.

    Bone aches and pains etc , look how difficult it is to find a physiotherapist or access a pain clinic .

    Re jobless figures , the retail industry has suffered hugely , and cast many good employees aside , shops shut / vanished / ghost high streets .

    Self checkouts in practically all the supermarkets and the lack of staff doesn't help matter either .

    Closures of daycare centres for the elderly and the slimming down of our old County Council staff numbers is noticeable.

    What do I know, nothing really, only that people who have practical skills are in great demand , and the talkers those who are meant to be on the end of a phone, their positions are now outsourced to India , South Africa , Philippines etc

    Outsourcing is responsible for the loss of many jobs .

    1. It strikes me Long Covid will not be investigate just in case it transpires the virtual compulsory administration of the novel (i.e untested ) Jabs is responsible…..

        1. Our GP assures me Long Covid Vax is an issue, not much talked about, but he has a number of patients reporting it (incl me). Interesting virus and vaccine now being reported as both developed by Pfizer.

          1. A question:

            Around here one heard of a case of pancreatic cancer every five years or so.

            In the last year there has been constant news of people getting pancreatic cancer.

            Have you noticed the change in your area?

            Has anyone in authority offered an explanation?

            Comments from doctors would be welcomed.

          2. Hi janet…I avoid my GP/medical staff as much as I can, don’t trust any of them now. I’ve read reports of all cancer numbers increasing generally – age, ethnicity etc. Only person I know of to be anti-vax (generally) is RfKJr. Sorry I can’t be more helpful, kind of get the impression ‘under the carpet’.

          3. A doctor is speaking up about the surge in cancer cases among young people – revealing 'every new patient' that comes to his clinic is under 45 years old.

            North Carolina's Duke University oncologist Dr Nicholas DeVito says he and his colleagues have experienced a complete demographic switch in recent years.

            Based on what he's seeing everyday, talking to patients on the ground and analyzing the data, he blames the rise of junk food diets.

            Nearly 75 percent of food consumed in the US is considered ultra-processed and it is teeming with additives and potentially harmful ingredients.

            USA, but it almost certainly applies here too.

            https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13743135/Cancer-expert-young-patient-reveals-common-diet.html

          4. I have had a cough . cold and runny eyes and nose since Christmas , tried all sorts of remedies . Doc says there are many viruses doing the rounds .

          5. Summer cold often worse than Winter ones. Perhaps still part of Lockdowns Legacy 🤢😒 tiredness the main thing for me..get up n go got up n gone🙄 Feel better soon, Belle..thanks again for Osprey links 🦅

      2. Too true, Stephen. I recall the eight mice that were slaughtered two weeks after injection in case they developed long term side effects and to support the usual comment "there is no evidence to suggest….." This can be translated as "we haven't bothered to look for it because the result would not chime with the narrative".

    2. Outsourcing is so rife that even Sniffer Joe's job has been outsourced to an Indian.

        1. Biden. I was alluding to his weird habit of sniffing at any young girls unfortunate enough to be with in grasping distance to his podium.

  35. ”Sir – I must applaud Cornwall council for its splendid initiative of issuing a library card to all newborn babies in the county (report, August 12).
    Libraries remain gateways to the pleasures of reading. They provide an oasis of calm, an atmosphere conducive to opening the minds of young people, and librarians who are able to deliver advertisement free and impartial information in a truly accessible manner. If ever there was an example of local good practice that central government should roll out nationally, this is it.
    Stuart Harrington
    Burnham-on-sea, Somerset”

    Well I thought it was a stupid gimmick. It’s not difficult to go to your local library (if you have one) and get a library card for a child. This is a waste of money. Those parents that take their children to libraries will continue to do so, and those that don’t will continue not to. All that will happen is a lot of money will be spent issuing a bit of plastic. And when we are supposed to be saving the planet, too.

    1. It is a 'stupid gimmick' pretty soon all books will be published on line before they are actually put in print and, I wouldn't be surprised if that will only be done on request. That is already done for books that have a limited audience.

        1. Do you know that more books are published by Spain than published in the entire Islamic world.

    2. We have a mobile library that visits the village weekly, the nearest brick one is 5 miles away. My books are all bought 2nd hand these days.

  37. Sinister vision of an Irish white minority
    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/sinister-vision-of-an-irish-white-minority/

    And now even The Conservative Woman has become nervous of posting a BTL that is implicitly critical of Islam even under an article on the danger of the growth of Islam in Ireland and the planned elimination of the ethic Irish.

    And does Starmer seriously believe that Islam is sympathetic towards Jews and the State of Israel? Does he seriously believe that Islam does not want to take over Britain in the same way as it took over Lebanon?

    Rastus C. Tastey an hour ago
    Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by TCW.

    BTL (waiting for approval)

    And what about the UK?

    Does the prime minister not have any worries about his Jewish wife and Jewish children when he accelerated the process of Islam taking over completely?

    1. People who don't have VPN's should think about getting one because if Herr Starmer gets his way, Twitter and a whole host of other media outlets will be inaccessible from the UK. Last night I watched Mahyar Tousi talking about the threats his channel was subjected to and that he could be closed down at any minute.

    2. " … his Jewish wife and Jewish children.."
      It is debatable as to whether Lady Starmer is Je wish. Yes, she was brought up in the ancient religion, but there is no indication as to whether her mother was Je wish, and jewishness is matrilineal. There are suggestions that her father or paternal grandfather came from Poland, so once again there is a Downing Street occupant whose father had (or has) foreign domicile of origin. Just a comment.

      1. I read that she and the children regularly attend the synagogue each week and that the reason why Starmer refuses to work after 6 pm on Friday has to do with Jewish protocols.

      2. " … his Jewish wife and Jewish children …"

        Not a problem. Two-Tier knows that his lord-and-masters, The WEF, will look after him and his family in some financially sound Utopia, probably Switzerland, when shove comes to heave.

    1. I won't live to see it, but I would have liked a ringside seat for when the incomers turn on the woke morons who imported them all with such enthusiasm.
      I can guarantee that there won't be a black/Muslim woke tendency to try to defend and support them as they are ground into impoverished third class citizens.

      1. Yes, usually I don't listen to her because she becomes annoying. But this was to the point without drama.

    2. I hope everyone convicted by these kangaroos appeals. This is a huge scandal.

  41. Found the likely cause of my many visits to the dunny. Last night, I had a generous helping of Kimchi – love the chilli crunchiness of the stuff. Today, find the ingredients list has E950 Acesulfame K, and E951 Aspartame. Both artificial sweeteners have been shown to have a severe bowel-loosening effect on me (a bit like the tax calculation…).
    Bugger. No more of that brand of Kimchi. That's depressing, 'cos it's good.

    1. Try making your own. Plenty of recipes available.

      Aspartame has the same affect on me. Even in small amounts. Good if you are constipated i suppose.

    2. Not sure which brand Ober? I eat Korean Kimchi (like it) and Hengstenberg (not as much), or yes make your own but will take time…on ebay/or online you may find someone making and selling their own. Good to read you found the cause and doing better. Onward n upward 🙂

      1. I'll have to go to the Asian shop and look at the ingredients for the other brands. This one is from Lotus Food Manufacturing of Ho Chi Minh City.

        1. Best I ever ate was from a girl making her own, online somewhere, years ago. Amazon has quite a lot of choice, ingredients likely listed. Good luck finding a brand with an honest label:-)

          1. There is a very delicious Russian brand available. Kimchi Rorsakov has a great following. Apparently it's the bumblebee's knees.

          2. Ok…read the first sentence thought ‘oh great, they do eat a lot of cabbage’….you got me, Grizz 🙂

    1. omg, there's Sir Mark Rowley under the armpit.. "the over-promoted, arrogant, over-gonged Met Commissioner."
      Former national head of counter-terrorism.. During that time he oversaw the terror attacks in 2017 at Westminster, Manchester Arena and London Bridge.. that went well then.

        1. I was a member of the ACTT, back in the 80’s, and when it merged to become BECTU, I had omitted to ‘re-opt’ out of the political levy. As a result I was given the opportunity to vote for the new leader of the Labour party. I felt that Mr T Blair had an uncanny resemblance to Mad magazine’s Alfred E Newman – obvs., without the missing tooth, and voted for the other guy, callow youth that I was then 😂😂

        2. With his over-sized hat he looks like a comedy policeman off the Benny Hill show.

      1. I should change it to Herr Stormer. Once more people are aware of what Keir means in Persian, I expect greater use will be made of that. The mans politics are a disgrace to the English tradition of politics and a disgrace to English history. He is bringing the country into ill repute and disgracing us to the world.

  46. "We will continue to be your single source of truth," and that, "Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth."

    Jacinda Ardern may no longer be the New Zealand prime minister – she has gone to the WEF. But Keir Starmer has only just arrived as the UK PM.

    Be very aware – it's only just begun.

  47. "Dare I say it.. we urgently need an English Nationalist party. Scotland has one, Wales has one, Ireland has one." David Starkey.

    LOL. that would go down well at The Guardian.

      1. Surprised face.
        :- eyes & nose
        o) Mouth & chin – saying "Oh!" on a rising inflexion.
        😉

    1. irony alert: kinda confirms his point..
      oh i forgot, Lefties dont do.. irony.. comedy.. opinions..

    2. irony alert: kinda confirms his point..
      oh i forgot, Lefties dont do.. irony.. comedy.. opinions..

    3. As I keep posting, the punishment is in fighting the legal case, as most of the time there's no guilty verdict.

      1. "And on and on and on it goes. Today, at the eleventh hour, the Berlin Superior Court postponed my trial, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow, August 15, 2024, for reasons that remain unclear……"

        QED

        1. Perhaps the Prosecutor/judge worked out that he would have his arse handed to him in a carrier bag… so looking even more ridiculous than before?

      2. The whole point of LAWFARE is to grind down the opposition in the hope that they will give up, or a guilty verdict can be obtained from a court the tyrants, generally of the Left, control.

    4. And every other authoritarian regime will be watching carefully, to see what they can get away with.
      Yes I'm looking at you Ku Klux Kier of the Two Tier Fear.

    5. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      The persecution of ‘the plebs’
      Comments Share
      Not so long ago we went to politicians for politics and comedians for comedy. Today, like many others, I watch politicians for amusement and listen to comedians for their political insights.

      Whenever I want cheering up, I watch Kamala Harris riffing on a theme of her choice, or sometimes a Labour politician trying to explain why a woman can have a penis. By contrast Joe Rogan analyses political questions better than any of them, as does Noam Dworman, of New York’s Comedy Cellar.

      So it was that when the question of free speech returned again recently, I did not turn to the hilarious Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, but instead to the sombre and sage Rowan Atkinson.

      It is ‘the plebs’ who have been marched to court sharpish during the speeding up of our justice system
      Readers may recall that some years back both Labour and a Tory-Lib Dem coalition government tried to keep a law that made ‘insulting’ speech a criminal offence. The person who made the best case against this was Atkinson, who gave a speech in one of the committee rooms in parliament which showed a more astute sense of politics and principle than anything that had occurred in that place for years. While our present government tries desperately to crack down on social-media users, one part of Atkinson’s warnings is especially pertinent.

      He noted: ‘I am personally highly unlikely to be arrested for whatever laws exist to contain free expression, because of the undoubtedly privileged position that is afforded to those of a high public profile. So, my concerns are less for myself and more for those more vulnerable because of their lower profile. Like the man arrested in Oxford for calling a police horse gay. Or the teenager arrested for calling the Church of Scientology a cult. Or the café owner [given a police caution] for displaying passages from the Bible on a TV screen.’

      Recently I have been thinking of Atkinson’s wise words while following the cases brought against those who have been prosecuted for things they’ve said online. For instance, it is impossible not to notice that it is indeed ‘the plebs’ who have been marched to court sharpish during the unexpected speeding up of our justice system in the wake of this month’s riots. They include people like Bernadette Spofforth, a 55-year-old mother of three who, shortly after the Southport attack, rather got over her skis. Specifically she was one of those excitable people (and I will never understand why people do this) who wanted to name the suspect in the killings of the three little girls before anyone else did. She wrongly repeated an internet rumour (though caveating it with ‘if this is true’) that the suspect was a man called Ali Al-Shakati who was on an MI6 watchlist and had arrived in the UK by boat last year.

      Of course she was wrong, though the glee with which certain people celebrated those like her being wrong was something to behold. After all, there have been plenty of people with similar names on terror watchlists who have arrived here and carried out acts of terror soon afterwards. The Parsons Green, Reading and London Bridge attackers are a few examples. It’s just the Southport suspect wasn’t one of them.

      In any case, Ms Spofforth is out on bail pending further inquiries. All this despite her acknowledging that her tweet was ‘a spur-of-the-moment, ridiculous thing to do’. Nevertheless, the same police forces that have not solved a burglary in half of the country for years are now policing unwise things people are saying online.

      One oddity about this is, once again, the two-tier nature of the pursuit. People like Nick Lowles, from the incorrectly named far-left campaign group Hope Not Hate, also published fake information online. That particular dolt passed around a claim (swiftly shown to be false) that a Muslim woman in Middlesbrough had had acid thrown at her from a car window. The post was seen by more than 100,000 people and led to Muslim men appearing on the streets in the belief that they had to defend their areas from racist acid-attack monsters.

      Yet so far as I know Mr Lowles has not had his collar felt, perhaps because he enjoys the government’s favour, as well as backing from prominent left-wing philanthropists such as Trevor Chinn. Kenan Malik of the Observer similarly passed around misleading reports in print and online this week, but also seems strangely immune from the law.

      Lord Denning said in 2006: ‘The law must be accessible and so far as possible intelligible, clear and predictable.’ The government’s attempts to crack down on this month’s spontaneous and grass-roots riots is anything but intelligible, clear or predictable. Perhaps because (and this may be controversial, but it nevertheless seems true) there is no evidence the disorder was centrally organised. What appears to scare the authorities and much of the media is that the lawlessness was spontaneous and uncoordinated – something the ‘anti-fascists’ hoping to have street clashes with some British Nazi party appear rather disappointed about.

      ‘…with violent Twitter storms from the west sweeping across the entire country.’
      Meanwhile the uneven and unpredictable application of the law continues. Just last month, on arriving into office, Mahmood warned that UK prisons faced a ‘total collapse’ due to overcrowding, and that Britain risked ‘a total breakdown of civil law and order’, before announcing she would release thousands of inmates early.

      Yet just weeks later, this threat of overcrowding seems to have magically disappeared. Indeed Mahmood appears intent on overseeing the locking up of any low–profile ‘pleb’ who has ever tweeted something incorrect or distasteful online.

      I do not doubt that she, Keir Starmer and others will continue to give us all a laugh as they struggle at their jobs. But couldn’t someone arrange for Rowan Atkinson to become justice secretary?

      1. Nevertheless, the same police forces that have not solved a burglary in half of the country for years are now policing unwise things people are saying online.

      2. "Lord Denning said in 2006: ‘The law must be accessible and so far as possible intelligible, clear and predictable.’ "
        He passed away in 1999, aged 100.

        1. Interesting!
          The article now reads "Lord Bingham famously said in 2006: ‘The law must be accessible and so far as possible intelligible, clear and predictable.’"

        2. Lord Denning was a hero of a university lecturer who taught me contract law. Openly socialist, of course. He admired Denning, had met him and if I remember correctly was working on a book about him.
          Any illusions I might have had about him were shattered after the remarks he made regarding the people wrongly imprisoned after the Birmingham and Guildford bombings.
          ‘Hanging ought to be retained for murder most foul. We shouldn’t have all these campaigns to get the Birmingham Six released if they’d been hanged. They’d have been forgotten, and the whole community would be satisfied … It is better that some innocent men remain in jail than that the integrity of the English judicial system be impugned’

    6. Is it the whole western world that’s so anxious to shut down any criticism of government? Of what WEF/UN don’t like being in the news? It’s really very worrying what’s happening in the U.K.

    1. Oh, dear! I can look forward to a grumpy Kadi then because I've put his bed in the wash to be done later.

  51. Apparently Extinction Rebellion is planning to storm Windsor Castle, this or next month. If they do, I would expect them to be shot by the guards. Especially if the King or another member of the Royal Family is in residence.

    1. One can but hope. Do I get 10 years for that? Of course it's possible that Charlie has issued an invite. Do come and spray red paint on my priceless works of art my dears. (One of my brothers, as a child, once asked his art tutor, "What's the difference between priceless and worthless"?)

    2. I doubt it – that would only get Starmer et al coming down on the Royals for preventing freedom of expression (or some other hypocritical stance). The PTB have no self-awareness whatsoever, and their adoption of double-think is complete.

      1. Thanks, I could see teachers wince when I put my hand up to raise a question….never a one for following the rule book….

      1. Juan created 29 agents 'working in Britain for the Nazis' His 'intelligence' was highly regarded by the senior echelons to the point where German troops were not only delayed from responding to the D Day landings but a crack Panzer Division was actually turned back towards Calais on the strength of his urgent messages….

        1. The genius was in the way the British counter espionage worked in using his skills to create fictitious agents.

          There was a theory that there wasn't a single German agent in the UK who hadn't been either turned or imprisoned/executed

    2. “Eisenhower reckoned his work was worth an entire US Army Division or a British Company” .

  54. Good morning dear NoTTLers!

    I don't wish to bring anyone down, but this BTL on a TCW article about what is happening in Ireland so sums up what I feel

    "This must be the first time in human history when the majority of us older people would never wish to be young again. This sums up in a nutshell what the psychopaths in charge are doing to Western civilisation."

    1. Why are we letting them do this? Unwinding the current position will be difficult enough without allowing it to get worse.
      The People must take charge and destroy those promoting the population change, and soon, before it's too late (It might be so already).

        1. I fear it involves violence, and a lot of it.
          Question is, whose side are the military on? So far, they have been smart & kept well out of it. Also, what civilian will lead? Farage (no), Robinson (no)… Wat Tyler?

          4. With their oath of allegiance to KCIII I'm not banking on the military. The monarch would have to take an official stand – and I fear it would not be supportive of the British people. IMO QEII was always a little over-zealous of "her" Commonwealth people.

          5. Her Majesty was heavily influenced by Prince Phillip. Once he was gone, she became somewhat soggy, bless her.

        2. Civil disobedience. We have the entire East European block to learn from for tactics. All of those revolutions against Communism were peaceful except for 1, Romania.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience

          “It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do.”
          Edmund Burke,

      1. …and they've only been in power for the blink of an eye. Imagine the harm they can do in 5 years.

    4. And, despite the sense of loss for not having grandchildren, I am starting to feel relieved because I can see what they would have to face in the future.
      God help us.

      1. The same feeling we have , Bob, no grandchildren , and no chance of that .. 2 adult sons , and that is that.

        I am also glad I didn't decide to foster a child or two, but pleased that I have had the pleasure of owning spaniels for over fifty years , in twos and threes!!!!

    1. anyone that trades knows that trends are rarely straight line linear.. powerful trends go parabolic. Suddenly.

      In 2023, Muslims made up 10% of the French adult population. Their tipping point may have already happened because there's always a lull before a surge. And during that lull there's zero political Will.

      As for UK.. the tipping point may occur within the Starmer-Stasi regime. Especially if he secures another landslide majority.

      1. Which he may well do if he gets the ever-increasing potential muslim vote. Just for long enough for Labour to fulfil its usefulness…

    1. Didn't know they did that….how bizarre…what a change…:-( at least now seem to be taking note of readers/subscribers..

  59. 391623+up ticks,

    True knowledge of wrongdoings if any in issues such as the plane crash has to warrant the deepest of deep inquiries, as with the excessive deaths in the United Kingdom.

    Seems to me peoples are getting very dead ,very quick, in very big numbers, no one can argue with that.

    https://x.com/tpvsean/status/1823356443824672771

    1. I'm miserable enough already, I think I might skip that and watch Kenneth Clark's Civilisation… (whoops, no "e" in Clark)

  61. KHAN FAILS TO BUILD HOUSES, MOVES TO IMPOSE RENT CONTROLS IN LONDON

    After managing to get 2% of his targeted affordable housebuilding projects started, Sadiq Khan is giving up. The mayor is pushing Labour for permission to impose rent controls on the capital – requests Labour is minded to accept. A long-running campaign of his…

    An act of parliament would be needed to hand over the keys to the rental market. Rent controls fail wherever they are implemented, most recently in Scotland, where rents rose higher than anywhere in the UK by a large margin after their imposition. They went so badly in Berlin that the courts declared them unconstitutional. Caving to socialist impulses at the first sign of pressure is standard…

    https://order-order.com

    1. Even more properties for sale as landlords just say to hell with it and take their money elsewhere.

      1. Precisely how we bought the Dower House.
        Gove bumped his gums, suggesting the "Conservative" government would ensure there would be no way a landlord could get rid of a bad tenant …. and the owners decided to give up on renting out the house.

  62. Just found a copy of the "Nordic Diertary Advice" – Oh, yes, I thought, might be interesting.
    Click on the link https://pub.norden.org/nord2023-003/index.html
    The first thing I see is that the subtitle is "Integrating Environmental aspects"
    Then I read "This new edition of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations makes a powerful link between healthy people and a healthy planet. We must work to promote and protect both. Focusing only on one could result in nutritionally inadequate diets or large environmental impacts.
    Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization"
    So, I know it's all bollocks. Won't read any more, as it will be about population extermination and one-world government.

    1. "OVERALL DIET RECOMMENDATION
      Overall, we recommend a predominantly plant-based diet rich in vegetables, fruits, berries, pulses, potatoes and whole grains, ample amounts of fish and nuts, moderate intake of low fat dairy products, limited intake of red meat and poultry, and minimal intake of processed meat, alcohol, and processed foods containing high amounts of added fats, salt and sugar."
      So, how will we grow this, if farmers are so awful? Where's the tillable land area for this? Firstborn has a large area of farm, almost none of it tillable because it's mountainside and covered in trees. However, it does have plants that deer, cattle nd sheep can eat and digest (remebering that they are ruminants, and can turn harsh vegetation into tasty steaks) that humans cannot. We don't ruminate, nor re-chew our excreta… so humans eating plant eaters is the natural way of things. A few veg now and again, and fruit also helps – that's why we have omnivore teeth, for example.

      1. Talking of alcohol, I'm off to t'pub to meet Second Son for a beer or 3. Fullers London Pride, they just got some in at the weekend.
        Slayders.

        3. One of my favourites, enjoy all.
          Early 70s, before we went to Oz i was working at a school Chiswick. Close to the Fullers Brewery .
          The car taker was an ozzie and one of his mates came over for a holiday. He was moaning about everything from the weather to what was one TV. They told hem they would be taking him out to the local pub and he moaned about what he called 'pommie piss'. as in beer. In the pub the caretaker bought a bottle of Barley wine and topped up the pint glass with ESB. after the second pint of the same, the moaner fell off his bar stool.

          2. Nearly 6% and a fine balanced flavour, until you’re half way through the third pint.

      2. They are still following the discredited advice of Ancel Keys, the dangerous American idiot who persuaded the world to eat more and more carbohydrates and sugar while cutting out animal fats and proteins. The very opposite of what humans have done since the time they came out of the trees.

        So-called "health authorities" still following this crassly stupid and dangerous advice need replacing with others who possess common sense.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMZPiWe7xQM&list=WL&index=32

      4. I must have told you, Ober, about my husband who's been on Carnivore Diet for a while now? Quite the change. Happy to give more details, any interest:-)

          2. He’s been a Type2 Diabetic for decades. His GP is aware of what he’s doing – coincidentally doing similarly cutting out carbs. Initially started by reducing carbs, then cutting them out completely. He has reduced his sugar levels dramatically, and also his blood pressure. Both are now in normal range. Has far more physical energy than previously (spends quite a lot of time as woodsman, heavy physical job). Basically the diet is meat, fish, dairy, eggs. He starts the day with coffee/ full cream. Drinks water during the rest of the day, if he wants/needs a drink. No alcohol. Snack is lump full fat cheddar or other similar cheese. Dinner (evening) is usually rib eye steak, chicken thighs, lamb chops, bacon – any combination. He says the animal fat is very important to give energy, along with the meat protein. Medication is nil – diabetic, blood pressure, statins, all given up, just takes 2×4000 Vit C daily. There are many videos on YouTube, some of them nutty…he likes Anthony Chaffee, or LowCarbDownUnder. NB: Anyone thinking of changing their diet should discuss this with their GP prior to starting, so they are aware of changes. If you find eating carbs initially gives you a high (blood sugar spike) then when that fades feel tired that could be an indication to cut down, or cut out completely. Good luck 🙂 Any other questions, just ask, Hertslass. I know this sounds counter intuitive to what doctors have been advising for many years. Best of luck if you try, Kate.

          3. I am very carnivorous by inclination anyway – I couldn’t follow any diet religiously but I’m glad it’s working for your OH. I must admit I think I overindulge from time to time… :o(

          4. I remember I always thought I didn’t get enough meat, eggs, cheese as a child. Milk I hated – no fridge those days..

          5. Oh yuk – we had free school milk and it was HORRIBLE – little lukewarm bottles with watery milk with little globules of fat (or whatever it was). And the milk monitors were bullies – obviously would have been destined to become policewomen, except that it wasn’t really a feeder school into that particular branch of employment.

          7. Can see my reply not registering, must be being moderated. Just wanted to add, no fruit or veg. As I said, counterintuitive.

    2. "OVERALL DIET RECOMMENDATION
      Overall, we recommend a predominantly plant-based diet rich in vegetables, fruits, berries, pulses, potatoes and whole grains, ample amounts of fish and nuts, moderate intake of low fat dairy products, limited intake of red meat and poultry, and minimal intake of processed meat, alcohol, and processed foods containing high amounts of added fats, salt and sugar."
      So, how will we grow this, if farmers are so awful? Where's the tillable land area for this? Firstborn has a large area of farm, almost none of it tillable because it's mountainside and covered in trees. However, it does have plants that deer, cattle nd sheep can eat and digest (remebering that they are ruminants, and can turn harsh vegetation into tasty steaks) that humans cannot. We don't ruminate, nor re-chew our excreta… so humans eating plant eaters is the natural way of things. A few veg now and again, and fruit also helps – that's why we have omnivore teeth, for example.

    3. The whole family came together at the weekend to celebrate my daughter's birthday. I asked my granddaughter, who will shortly become an F1, if it was true that the human brain was mainly fat.

      She confirmed that it was and this was substantiaed by this medical reference:

      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20329590/#:~:text=The%20human%20brain%20is%20nearly,integrity%20and%20ability%20to%20perform.

      It is clear to me that eating other animal meat has been and always will be the only way of sustaining the human race and that any scientifically based iniatives to save our planet by by eating only plant food substitutes might well save the planet but also end human civilisation as we know it.

      1. "I asked my granddaughter, who will shortly become an F1 …"

        driving for Ferrari or Mercedes, Angie?

        1. It’s my grandson who now aspires to driving very expensive fast cars.
          He was treated recently to a weekend in London where he was allowed to walk around a Park Lane showroom full of them.
          He currently is allowed to drive performance cars on an airfield before he gets his licence.

  63. Whilst VE Day marked the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, many thousands of Armed Forces personnel were still involved in bitter fighting in the Far East.
    Victory over Japan would come at a heavy price, and Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) marks the day Japan surrendered on the 15 August 1945, which in effect ended the Second World War.

    Dad was based in Southern India, Ceylon and on the Shah and the Raj .. aircraft carriers which were patrolling the Indian ocean .. He was a PO aircraft fitter/mechanic , and saw a lot of action of course .

    His war was hot sticky, uncomfortable , wrought with Jap attacks , lost aircraft and friends .

    https://twitter.com/BLAIMGame/status/1823965911637758429

  65. Ukrainian team blew up Nord Stream pipeline, claims report. 15 August 2024.

    The Nord Stream gas pipeline was blown up by a small Ukrainian sabotage team in an operation that was initially approved by Volodymyr Zelenskiy and then called off, but which went ahead anyway, according to claims in a report in the Wall Street Journal.

    How convenient. It was blown up without any political fallout. This is just a cover story of course. It was the US; only they possessed all the motives, means and opportunity.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/15/ukrainian-team-blew-up-nord-stream-pipeline-claims-report

    1. Do I remember a strange message from the UK to the USA "It's Done"
      Just the sort of job the "Boys from Portland" specialise in………..
      Just saying……..

    2. Here.. this was leaked on some Swedish web site, that monitors NATO flights.. and gives you the timeline.

      It happened “overnight” on the 26th of September

      We have a US Navy P8 fly from the United States to a refueling rendezvous point over Grudziądz Poland at 0210 hrs GMT

      The two aircraft, Callsign N/A, and BART12 sync up at 26,400 ft for an extended 1:20 minute refueling, disconnecting at 0328 hrs GMT

      The BART12 air refueler RTB’d to Spangdahlem Air Base Germany and one should note the flight record has been wiped

      The Navy P8 then continues onto the Nord Stream Pipeline location and descends to an altitude of <10,000 ft at 0345 hrs GMT

      The Navy P8 exits the area just prior to 0700 hrs and is the only aircraft over the area the entire time

      At 0709 hrs GMT the Navy P8 returns back to the United States. Note: the US Navy P8 HexCode is AE6851 and is NOT listed in the aircraft database. Furthermore, the aircraft flew as “masked” meaning it did not want to be tracked

      Datapoint, there were recorded 2.3 magnitude shakes in the area at that same time

      The following morning NATO Forces announce that overnight the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline has been sabotaged

      On September 29th in front of the UN Security Council a Russian Federation spokesperson presents the known facts and asks the United States representative directly in a yes or no requested response, “did the United States take out the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline” in which the US representative did not confirm nor deny it and didn’t answer the question, but instead took an offensive posture

  66. The raison d'être of a prime minister has always been the safety, security, defence and protection of the Realm. It is their priemier duty, above all else.

    By Realm, it is taken to mean all natural-born subjects of that country. To be born in a place is to be a national. To be a national means that you automatically have all the rights (and responsibilities) of a citizen, and that your elected representatives should place your welfare first and foremost. This has forever been the case.

    The current prime minister is clearly and demonstrably not fulfilling his principal remit; consequently, his actions of late more akin to those of an invader — the very type of marauding conqueror who wishes to overthrow the state.

    For the urgent safety, security, defence and protection of the Realm to be reinstated, surely he should be arrested, tried and incarcerated, for High Treason.

    It is also way past the time when the traditional penalty for High Treason was returned to the statute book.

    1. "Treason" is still extant – it's just that, as with so much of our constitution, there is no effective means of exercising any punishment – Blair nobbled our parliamentary system and our legal system, but governments have for generations been driving a coach and horses through our constitution and our rights.

    2. The long established treason act was interfered with by B Liar and his old flat mate years ago and it's been going on ever since. And every single one of the boat landings are and act of treason against the British nation.

    2. When I was a kid one of the jibes directed at Catholics was that we believed in Mary. Whatever that was supposed to mean.
      Here in Spain it’s a national holiday and the beginning of a long weekend.

      2. Everyone has a pair of headphones connected to the sound system, so there is no sound audible in the venue! All you can see is a group of people dancing !
        Very popular with hen dos!

  72. A small noisy demonstration riot* outside the Indian embassy (looks like Sikhs) in aid of Khalistan (?).

    *using the 2TK Starmfuhrer definition (this updated modern definition obviously not applicable to peaceful, definitely not anti-semitic marches organised by the anti-semites in our society)

    1. From Wiki.

      The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno‐religious sovereign state called Khalistan (lit. 'land of the Khalsa') in the Punjab region.[2] The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary between different groups; some suggest the entirety of the Sikh-majority Indian state of Punjab, while larger claims include Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.[3] Shimla and Lahore have been proposed as the capital of Khalistan.[

        1. Kashmir is also part of the dispute. It's a while since India and Pakistan had a spat about that.

          2. If only all the interested parties in the UK were to go over there and sort it out face to face…

    2. About time that the Sikhs had a go outside Canada. Their antics have caused a lot of unrest over here and given trudeau an excuse to upset India.

  73. A small noisy demonstration riot* outside the Indian embassy (looks like Sikhs) in aid of Khalistan (?).

    *using the 2TK Starmfuhrer definition (this updated modern definition obviously not applicable to peaceful, definitely not anti-semitic marches organised by the anti-semites in our society)

    1. 93 cases of monkey pox in Toronto this year and they are strongly suggesting that people get vaccinated.

      If it was that serious an issue, they would have been more bothered about stopping the spread of the disease and less worried about the name upsetting someone.

      1. The biggest monkey in Canada is Trudeau. Hold him down and jab him (for his own good, of course!).

        1. Can't get near the village idiot, he is surrounded by countless layers of security whenever he steps foot outside his fortress.

          I am really not sure that we can survive another year of the liberal mismanagement of the country.

  76. Being a lover of over-ripe bananas, I went slightly overboard on them yesterday, so to use a couple up I've just made my 1st cake!!! A loaf of Banana Bread!! Not tasted it yet, but it looks and smells delicious!
    Still got more bananas to use up!!

    2. Bob,

      Grill /fry a couple of rashers of bacon , toast a couple of slices of toast , not soggy toast , well done brown toast .
      Mash up a soggy banana, spread a smidgen of mustard on each slice of toast , spread your smashed banana on top and then your cooked crispy edged bacon and sandwich your other toast on top , press down and cut in half ..

      DELICIOUS… and a nice meal ..

      1. That will be my breakfast Saturday morning TB
        I made and baked four medium size whole meal granary loaves yesterday.
        And I love bananas and normally eggs and bacon.

    3. Mu mum’s uncle swore by mashed banana and grated cheddar sandwiches (easy on the cheddar i think but apparently delicious)

      3. Banana smoothie with double cream topped with strawberry syrup and mini marshmallows……………………………………..and sprinkles.

        I'll get me spoon.

    1. Hilarious. Trying to combat “misinformation”(sic) by …using misinformation, and utterly failing spot the irony

      1. This is the woman who couldn't see Muslims under her nose at the GE but could see anti-Muslims where they didn't exist.

        1. Phillips is both naive and stupid. She complained it was 'MEN' who were being awful to her at her seat win. Was she unaware she was standing against Hamas?

      1. Good evening Grizzly

        If you hadn't become a policeman you might have become a missionary!

        1. Good evening, Rastus.

          Maybe, but I certainly would never have become a religious missionary.

    2. I remember reading that the five most critical nutrients for brain function are all predominantly from animal sources – Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, and magnesium. (Though the main source of Vitamin D for the body is from the action of sunlight on the skin rather than from the diet.) Adopting a vegan diet will most likely result in a deficiency of these nutrients, and a consequential impairment of mental function, evidence for which can be seen in vegans such as Roger Hallam, the founder of Extinction rebellion..

      1. That is true. It is a now proven fact that eating vegetation damages the brain and the body. That's why it is impossible to enter into a rational and sensible discussion with vegetablists. Weeds do not want to be munched, that is why they produce various toxins and chenicals to put animals (like humans) off eating them, since they cannot run away. Vegan idiots also need to supplement their cretinous diet with pills (vitamin and mineral supplements). No other animal in nature has to do that: they all know instinctively what their proper food is.

        Thought for the day: There are no prehistoric cave paintings of vegetation, only of animals being hunted for food.

        1. Giant Pandas are a bit thick when it comes to understanding what they ought to be eating. They should feed on fish and berries like other bears but they prefer bamboo despite having a short gut and not being able to digest it properly. In captivity they too are apparently given supplements.

          1. Our younger son, Henry, always says that the panda is so stupid and maladjusted to its environment that it should already be extinct. Notwithstanding its cuteness.

        1. Eat proper food and you don't need supplements. Beef has all the essential minerals and vitamins you need. Carnivores already think clearly.

          1. Send us a couple of T-bones will ya………….Don't !

            I have the odd other problem. Appetite for a start.

        2. I think I could do with help there! And isn’t Magnesium a treatment for leg cramps? I’m getting those when I wake up in the morning.

          1. I have been taking it as a supplement daily and i till get painful cramps in my feet but then i also have blood clots in my leg. Have to do your own specific research i'm afraid.

            Tonic water is also supposed to ease cramps. Don't know if it works at all because all that Gin knocks me out. :@)

  80. LEADERSHIP CONTENDERS CAN’T DUCK THE NIGEL FARAGE QUESTION

    Given the shrunken Tory activist base and the few Tory MPs still remaining are furious with Reform it is entirely unsurprising that the Tory leadership candidates seeking their votes are signaling “no deal” and saying words to the effect that they will have no truck with the catalyst for their general election thrashing. However if the Tory leadership contenders really don’t have a Farage strategy they are going to remain in opposition for a long time. Whilst Reform take votes from all quarters, research by YouGov immediately after the last election shows they took most of their voters from the Tories. That is the reality of the political predicament the next Tory leader will find themselves in.

    Half the candidates standing are implicitly saying that they will occupy the same policy ground as Reform on immigration and somehow this will displace their rivals. Guido’s not so sure voters will trust them to execute on the policies better than they did last time. The other half of the candidates say the party must not occupy the same ground and that “elections are won from the centre”. The latter is a centrist’s nostrum that Margaret Thatcher and Boris Johnson might dispute.

    There is no evidence that Nigel Farage is going away, he’s been in politics a quarter century and he’s now inside the Westminster parliament. There is arguably as much chance of Reform displacing the Conservatives as vice versa. Some argue that the British political system has a two-party centre of gravity and two-party politics will reassert itself, that may be true, however there is no guarantee the Tories will be one of those parties and the precedent of the SDP keeping Labour out of government for over a decade is not one many right-of-centre voters will relish.

    The contenders for the Tory leadership have to articulate a real strategy for what to do about Nigel. Or else Nigel will do for them…

    15 August 2024 @ 13:35

    1. Occupy the same policy ground…hmmm…why would we trust them. Don't bother to answer that.

    2. I have to confess I have a soft spot for the Conservative Party. It's a bog in southern Ireland….

    3. The great tragedy of the election was:

      i) Too many Conservative voters lost their nerve and voted Conservative even though Reform represented their views far more closely;

      ii) Too many conservative voters did not vote at all.

      Whether or not Reform is the party of the future many not yet be clear – but what is clear is the Conservative Party is dead and now represents the past and not the future.

      Of course Boris Johnson only borrowed the mantle of being right wing. He bodged Brexit and fell in line completely with Net Zero and dropped the right wing pretence as soon as he had won the 2019 election.

      On the other hand Margaret Thatcher was sincerely pro business and pro the individual rather than the state and won three consecutive elections on the trot.

      1. The problem we have now isn't that the country is more politically Left wing, it's that Labour understood you could bribe people with other people's money.

        They set about a massive expansion of welfare until almost everyone was a claimant.That group played the system and got richer.

        Other people, cripplingly taxed and fundamentally state dependent then realised if they voted one way they'd lose out significantly, so kept voting Left.

        Thus more and more and more people were forced into the welfare trap of tax, waste and welfare it became generational and more and more freeloaders emerged dependent on an obese, corrupt government for their own lives.

        Thus we get thick, nasty kids, illiterate adults and an anti business, anti work, unmotivated society.

        1. Productive people emigrate, freeloaders never do. Therefore any society giving away free money is going to collect more of the latter over time, quite apart from the other corrosive effects of free money

  82. Suspected sabotage attack on drinking water at German army barracks. 15 August 2024.

    ‘Abnormal readings’ and hole in fence at base lead to suggestions of Russian involvement.

    What are we to make of this? It was a Russian shaped hole with Cyrillic Script around the edges? This is a part of an ongoing propaganda campaign against Russia. Despite the sub-heading there’s no evidence here of their involvement though the Brits have concocted a more compelling story complete with a mysterious Russian (he had snow on his boots) who hired a gang of UK arsonists to set fire to a warehouse. It is no doubt a part of my obtuse nature to wonder how he found them. Did he advertise? Did he slink up to some likely looking lads in the pub? “Pssst. You interested in fire Comrade? Many roubles.”

    What I fail to understand, assuming any of this were to be true, is its utility. What possible effect could any of these actions have on the outcome of the Ukraine war? There is also the point that it would be counterproductive. The losses in credibility would far outweigh any logistical or military gains.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/08/15/suspected-sabotage-attack-on-water-at-german-army-barracks/

  83. I have just got to ask. Who is this Molly that the press are up in arms about? They are certainly attempting to distract from any real news with countless tales about what I must assume is some sleb or other.

    Not a word about the 15 year old being charged with rioting – and a potential ten year prison term.

    1. Bread and Circuses.
      Distract the proles from anything that might affect them adversely.
      Don't let them realise that they are helpless.

    2. I think they were the first couple to win Love Island reality show. All promoted as love's young dream where in our reality they are just a couple of over promoted, money grubbing narcissists with mental health issues.

          1. How do you know?! Although happily i don't do the "press"so I knew nothing about whatever these people are doing, or who they are.

            My song: https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0TLJINq9MLsowYPRSyFRIzFVIVMjNz0lVSMxLAfJzMstSFTLzgIIZQEEAb74PVQ&q=i+am+a+mole+and+i+live+in+a+hole&rlz=1CAZJQH_enGB1033GB1033&oq=i+am+a+mole&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEC4YgAQyCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyBwgBEC4YgAQyBggCEEUYOTIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABNIBCTYxOThqMGoxNagCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:77f49e10,vid:kTvpKkIdPIs,st:0

            Come oout to parties every now and then though!

    1. And ASLEF didn't even have to attend a 'beer and sandwiches' meeting at no. 10. Not quite back to the 1970s, but it's early days.

      1. While I won't cheer when train drivers are walked out en masse as trains are automated, I won't care about them either.

        1. They won't be allowed to be automated – we're back to Diggers and Levellers (not that those groups didn't have some good ideas, at the time).

      2. Donors to Labour Party get above inflation pay rise. Who knew that'd ever happen? I must point out in these straightened times where dissent from the political orthodoxy is discouraged, sometimes quite forcefully that I in no way wish to imply that this is evidence of cronyism.

        Let's make that absolutely clear. No doubts. No.

    2. Something that came up at our get-together. The other three all chorused, "where's the money coming from?"

  85. What a surprise?!

    “For the second time, a federal court in Texas has dismissed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging Pfizer and two of its contractors manipulated data and committed other acts of fraud during clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in 2020.

    In his Aug. 9 ruling, District Judge Michael J. Truncale sided with the U.S. government, ruling the government had demonstrated “good cause” to intervene and dismiss the case. He wrote:

    “The Government’s desire to dismiss the case — because of its doubt as to the case’s merits, differing assessment of the Pfizer vaccine data, desire to avoid discovery and litigation obligations, and belief that it should not have to expend resources in a case that is contrary to its public health policy — constitutes good cause to intervene.”…

    According to the lawsuit, the three companies “deliberately withheld crucial information from the United States that calls the safety and efficacy of their vaccine into question,” thus defrauding the federal government, which purchased the vaccines.

    The FCA allows the government or a party suing on its behalf to attempt to recover money for false claims made by parties to secure payment from the government.”

  86. An oaken Birdie Three?

    Wordle 1,153 3/6
    🟩⬜🟩🟨⬜
    🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Just a par for me.

      Wordle 1,153 4/6

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

    3. My normal starter word is giving good results

      Wordle 1,153 2/6

      ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. 5 for me.
        Wordle 1,153 5/6

        ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
        ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
        🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨
        🟩🟨🟩⬜⬜
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
        You had an amazing start, well done.

      3. Nice one! Boring par here….

        Wordle 1,153 4/6

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

  87. It would be brushed under the carpet as an attack on Russia not a NATO member.

    Ukrainian military officers came up with idea of blowing up Nord Stream pipeline 'during night of heavy boozing', ignored Zelensky's pleas not to go ahead, and set off blast that 'qualifies as attack on NATO', bombshell report claims
    Russia's Nord Stream pipelines suffered a sabotage attack in September 2022

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13745985/Senior-Ukrainian-military-officers-came-idea-blowing-Nord-Stream-pipeline-night-heavy-boozing-ignored-Zelenskys-pleas-not-ahead-carried-plot-technically-qualifies-attack-NATO-bombshell-report-claims.html

    1. That's a point. Slow on the uptake here.

      Why has no one criticised Ukraine for invading Russia?

  88. Although I can sympathise at the personal level, you really couldn't make it up.
    My Bold

    Hamas guard executes Israeli hostage in 'revenge' after IDF strike killed his two children: Terror group condemns prisoner's murder as 'against our ethics and religious teachings'

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13746661/Hamas-guard-executes-Israeli-hostage-revenge-IDF-strike-killed-two-children-Terror-group-condemns-prisoners-murder-against-ethics-religious-teachings.html

    1. But it is perfectly okay to take hostages, instill terror into them and starve them. That's all fine then.

      Hamas must be being advised on PR by Alistair Campbell

      2. Yes, I believe I heard Hamas issue a statement saying that they only went to war because it had evidence of Israeli Weapons of Mass Destruction. There's a dossier written by a PhD student involved, I believe.

        1. Do you know. My Aunties knickers are loose because of this she can't go out without one hand holding them up?

      3. Yes, I believe I heard Hamas issue a statement saying that they only went to war because it had evidence of Israeli Weapons of Mass Destruction. There's a dossier written by a PhD student involved, I believe.

    3. Standard terrorist mindset. I had to kill that hostage and it's your fault; you caused it basically. I don't know why the Mail serve it up as a revenge story. Has the BBC begun calling Hamas terrorists yet, or will they desist from issuing disinformation?

      I imagine the Hamas leadership telling us all that theirs is a more humanitarian policy for hostage taking will take the sting out of any response by Israel. Yes, that'll sort it.

    4. Standard terrorist mindset. I had to kill that hostage and it's your fault; you caused it basically. I don't know why the Mail serve it up as a revenge story. Has the BBC begun calling Hamas terrorists yet, or will they desist from issuing disinformation?

      I imagine the Hamas leadership telling us all that theirs is a more humanitarian policy for hostage taking will take the sting out of any response by Israel. Yes, that'll sort it.

  89. Sussexes invited to Colombia because vice-president was ‘moved’ by Netflix documentary

    Francia Marquez thought a visit from Meghan would ‘strengthen so many women around the world’

    Hannah Furness, ROYAL EDITOR
    15 August 2024 • 5:24pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/royal-family/2024/08/15/TELEMMGLPICT000390159071_17237360095590_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqLc_cJTiTjh98kbFAu58HqKf7gUXtoxPXJqamuZC6xmI.jpeg?imwidth=680
    **********************************************

    Peter McMahon
    4 MIN AGO
    What an absolute crock of spit.
    Still waiting for her to call out the black African tribal leaders who sold the slaves in the first place.
    Every single slave was sold by a black person. And they were for hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived and for decades after the Europeans and Americans stopped.
    But that's an inconvenient fact for the Duchess of Netflix

    Aunty Vee
    JUST NOW
    "Francia Marquez is one of the world’s leading campaigners for REPARATIONS, arguing Caribbean and Latin American nations must be compensated by European countries for their colonial actions." THIS is what this visit is really all about.

    Barbara Mcneil
    1 MIN AGO
    According to reports from Colombia Márquez is regarded as a grifter who only looks out for herself and has done nothing since assuming the vice presidency. Birds of a feather flock together. Again, this tour is all about Meghan, why is Harry even there? Oh I forgot, he can make some purchases from the source.

    John Voss
    21 MIN AGO
    After a grueling 2 hour car chase the paparazzi finally managed to lose Harry and Meg

      2. She and Haz, apart form the colouring, have very similar features. Tiny eyes much too close together, ski run nose, phony smile.

        1. :-DD now I have an impression in my mind of him on all fours doing exactly that…..aaaaaaaaaarghh

    1. I didn't know I was really a millionaire. I still don't know it but a jab might make it so?

    2. A Monkey-Pox on all Politicians, Global Corporation Chairmen, WEF Members, and Billy Goats.

    3. A Monkey-Pox on all Politicians, Global Corporation Chairmen, WEF Members, and Billy Goats.

  92. 391623+ up ticks,

    Surely if Zelinsky is using British tanks in an attack mode we the British nation, to all intents & purposes, are aiding & abetting in an aggressive manner.

    In a defence role maybe so, NOT in attack.

    Could we be looking at "English boots on the ground" surely a referendum is needed on that one, I believe that we have NO argument with Ivan so it could be left down to the political kneeling twisted tool, and supporters to become, as the whistle blows, over the top material, Tis an ill wind……..

    Ukraine using British tanks to invade Russia
    Russian and Ukrainian sources suggest the Nato-standard main battle tank has joined the incursion force for the first time in recent days

    1. "…we the British nation, to all intents & purposes, are aiding & abetting in an aggressive manner."

      A point I believe Vlad has alluded to already.

      1. 391623+ up ticks,

        Evening JG,
        Sad to say there must come a point when the rhetoric stops
        and ……

  93. Monkey pox pandemic coming our way, now we know why Sunak threw the election and called it early

  94. Monkey pox pandemic coming our way, now we know why Sunak threw the election and called it early

  95. Good evening, all. Haven't had time to post anything earlier, or much yesterday, as I've been erecting my DIY metal shed: Meccano it ain't.

    Yesterday I was fortunate that Elsie came round to pick some black bullace and he helped me put the roof on, not a heavy job but it had to be precise. Anyway, front of shed is now in place and I've anchored the shed with 4 x M8 coach-screws to stop it blowing away; quite breezy here at the moment.

    Tomorrow I've the funeral of my mother's youngest, and last brother of six, my favourite uncle. He was 11 years older than me and in my teens and early twenties he was more of a big brother figure and he was the best man at my wedding. An all-round sportsman I believe he was the first council school pupil to play cricket for the Essex boys' eleven. His stepson is travelling from the US to be with us tomorrow.

    While on the subject of the USA, here is a Redacted interview re Chicago, the Democratic National Council, mass immigration, crime etc. from a Chicago born and bred man who is very worried about what is happening to the 'Windy City' and its residents. Does it chime with anything you Nottlers have concerns about?

    https://x.com/TheRedactedInc/status/1823886071135891516

  97. Not 'appears' but 'is'. There is certainly no doubt that Lammy is a dangerous dunce. He will eventually put his foot in it up to his thick neck and disgrace the nation.

    David Lammy's new hire shows the Foreign Office's true colours

    Minouche Shafik appears to be another prominent public figure with a blind spot towards anti-Semitism

    NICOLE LAMPERT • 15 August 2024 • 6:35pm

    Taking the helm of one of America's oldest and most prestigious universities as its first ever female president on October 4 2023, Minouche Shafik spoke the progressive mumbo jumbo required. She was committed, she said, to the tenets of "diversity and inclusion" and Columbia University should be "a beacon in this world". Hamas invaded Israel just three days later and it's fair to say her high-minded hopes evaporated quicker than you can say the words, "social justice warriors and their anti-Semitic blind spot".

    Baroness Shafik's name will now go down in infamy as that of a university leader whose ham-fisted attempt to quieten down anti-Semitic pro-Palestinian protests led to Columbia becoming an epicentre of a new brand of violent activism which had the world aghast. After a summer break that saw calls for her to be fired from across the American political divide, and three members of her staff forced out after it emerged they'd mocked Jewish students complaining of anti-Semitism as coming from "a place of privilege", she has resigned three weeks before a new term starts.

    Typically, in that way that establishment people only ever fall up, however much they fail, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England and director of the London School of Economics has been given a plum new job by David Lammy, leading a review in the Foreign Office on the UK's approach to international development.

    Announcing her resignation, the crossbench peer, ennobled by Boris Johnson after he failed to make her Bank of England boss, gave a typical example of what the youngsters would call a humble brag. "My whole professional life has been devoted to public service and my time at Columbia has been an important part of that commitment," she said of a role that came with a £12 million mansion.

    Failing to apologise for months of hatred on campus, which led to a university Rabbi telling Jewish students that "extreme anti-Semitism" made it too dangerous to attend, and which eventually led to all lessons going online and graduation ceremonies being cancelled, she actually patted herself on the back. "Even as tension, division and politicisation have disrupted our campus over the last year, our core mission and values endure," she insisted.

    The truth is that, for months, anti-Semitism went unpunished and therefore mushroomed. By the time she realised she had to take a stand with actions not just words – when fellow Ivy League presidents slowly lost their jobs after they failed to say that calling for the genocide of Jews was wrong – it was too late. Calling the police on protesters led only to more "occupations" which were copied all over the world, including in the UK.

    You might think she will be right at home in Lammy's Foreign Office, given that he made restoring funding to UNRWA, a UN agency that had housed Hamas terrorists, one of his first acts. Standing down a challenge to the International Criminal Court against its application to target Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes came next. Lammy's feed on X is, meanwhile, filled with attacks on Israel.

    Shafik appears to be another prominent public figure with a blind spot towards anti-Semitism – like so many associated with Labour, which only came out of special measures for acting unlawfully in its treatment of Jewish members 18 months ago. We are beginning to see a pattern and it is becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/15/david-lammy-new-hire-shows-foreign-office-true-colours/

  98. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c8c9138cc86cd26f8133f92e399c2527328182329394ba4aeb6670054adb4e5d.jpg I baked the most delicious suetcrust steak and kidney pie of my life today. I made it from Carl Smith's award-winning recipe and it is head-and-shoulders the best Kate & Sydney I've ever experienced. It was a sort of cross between a S&K pie and a S&K pudding. The suetcrust top was meltingly delicious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwiTcCQuo0M&t=28s

    1. Ooh! That really looks yummy! Pity about the kiddly! I don’t like kiddly – the texture is like chewing an eraser! Don’t ask!

      1. It were canny scran, Pet.

        Kidney was only 25% of the meat in it and you don't need to add it.

        1. How on earth do you do that? I heard a Geordie accent there. And you only typed words !

          Note to other half asleep Nottlers

      2. It were canny scran, Pet.

        Kidney was only 25% of the meat in it and you don't need to add it.

          1. Possibly acts the same way as vinegar and balances the sweetness.
            I will stop peeing on my compost heap and tart peeing in the food i serve to guests.

        2. Well, there is that too! When I was cheffing I had no bother at all with offal or game or anything unpleasant, but as I’ve aged I’m a bit more bleurgh when it comes to gutting things

          2. Then you don't like that particular offal.

            Whatever you do…don't go to Andouilette. Though in most places in France they do smell the same whatever you are eating. Shit and piss together. Not kidding. Must be all those Gauloisses cigarettes. Destroyed their taste buds and sinuses.

      5. I know what you mean but the best way is to prep the kidneys. Wash. Remove all little white bits and only put them in the stewed steak and gravy ….which has cooled slightly so as not to upset the pastry and cause a meltdown !
        Then bake.
        You can send me love or money for that advice.
        I'm easy.

          3. Of course as a modern parent i couldn't possibly restrict their access so i will just have to ask them to be more reasonable and offer them Filet Mignon to wean them off their excesses.

            Perhaps paying their £5000 plus surplus to drive my top of the range BMW with tinted windows might do the trick.

            Or i could just take control.

          1. It's always worth watching, though … and listening to that sumptuous Tom Kean music too.

          2. Yes of course. And of course the Lady Nottlers need to be properly trained in how to do it properly for their menfolk.

            Joking aside. This is what real fine dining is about. Perfectly cooked tasty food. And each time it was as good as the last time.

            Possibly with a sprig of Parsley… :@(

          3. I made my suetcrust with milk, instead of water, and made it much wetter. this meant that I could spoon it over the meat (instead of rolling it). This is an old-fashioned way of making it and it works a treat.

          4. That does sound familiar. Though difficult to get a finish where you can slice it rather than spoon it as per your video.
            Though as long as there is a crust to the paste it can be done.

  100. Slightly on topic. Where do women in burqas eat out? Ponders…………..Just watching sleb Masterchef in London suburbs. Borough Market and the like. Though i know they are everywhere they aren't eating in these places.

    1. 391623+ up ticks,

      Evening Pip,

      I believe they have an inburka larder, at least that one did who triggered a search in the supermarket some time back.

      3. Liz Jones of the Mail once went out and about in a burkha iirc, and she went to a café to test how to drink a cup of coffee with the face covering. A muslim man stopped and scolded her for sitting in a café.

    3. Monmouth coffee, opposite Borough Market, serve the best coffee I've tasted in England.

      The Baker's Oven, The Rocks, Sydney, serve the best coffee I've tasted in the world.

    4. There are some niche restaurants in up-market areas where you will have to jump off the pavement for fat sheiks and their entourages of (women? who knows) with their little metal visors and black crow robes. If you are a western woman indigenous to this country you are invisible or despised, depending on whether or not you leap out of their way in time.

      1. Much as i thought. A cultural thing then. Just not ours.

        As an aside………..i have been in Malta when 3 cruise ships docked almost at the same time. Given the passengers are pretty much all full board the majority don't spend money when ashore. Perhaps a coffee and cake. And of course some will want to experience local food but………….What you get is swarming of the streets. I am not all that keen on crowds and a way i found to deal with hundreds going in two different directions was just to stand there. Not fight the tide. And suddenly…they were gone.
        Doubt that would work with them though…some minion would push me over and trample like they do every year at Mecca Bingo.
        Ooh ! Did i say Bingo?…must be all those sharp Granny elbows ! Don't mention Anne Allan !

          1. Lucky i will be elsewhere then.

            For balance. The more orthodox Muslims and Jews are similar. They both have people dead because of stampeding in their personal raptures and forget those around them.

            Such is faith.

    5. Few years ago, pub garden in Cornwall, family of three – father, small daughter sitting at one end, eating luch….other end, a female covered head to toe, not speaking, not eating. The mother, a nanny…???? who knows…..

        1. No idea. Was taken aback at the time, not so much now. Can still see them in my mind’s eye. Male and female child conversed a little, clothed figure not at all.

          1. Playing devils advocate…perhaps that was Security?
            Again playing the fool… My Grandmother who i visited in Weymouth on holidays as a child for 7 years never said a word to me. Nor did my Grandparents on my Father's side.
            Though i think on my Father's side they may have spoken but with no teeth i didn't know if they were speaking or chewing their food.

          2. I don’t know what it was, Phil. The man and child were dressed Western clothing. I remember my grandparents similarly especially grandfathers. Paternal grandfather never spoke to anyone except my father. I loved my paternal Grandmother but she and my mother had a falling out so didn’t really get to know her well until I was adult. Families eh…no wonder politicians don’t always have a meeting of minds 🤔😖😄

    7. I watch them regular in my trips to Saudi. It’s pathetic. They have to move then”face covering” (sic) to put the spoon/ fork in, ugh.

      1. Gold medal and diamond cluster with extra sparkly bits for you.

        Seems you are the only one left with a sense of humour.

        Don't bother applying for a comedy role at the BBC. They might look at you a bit strange and call the SWAT team.

      1. These people are all perverts. I understand that this particular one is under suspicion of genocide in his own country, in addition to his lack of qualifications to police the entire world on health issues and controlling the weather.

          2. Always try to look on the bright side of life, then I look at the contents of the commons and the lords, and despair.

    3. Ffs. No wonder the world is falling apart. How do these people get to these positions of power? Ffs. It’s immoral. (With which I show my age).

  102. John Stevens, the current Mirror political editor, is leaving the Lobby to spin for the government.

    And you wonder why no one believes the press anymore.

      1. Labour very quickly returning to type once it has its feet under the table. I suppose if nothing else this government being so unpopular people are pointing out cronyism right from the off. It took them a few years before they’d actually admit to Blair doing it.

          1. There's no 'tufted' in the name, Pet, but you got it bang on with red-necked grebe Podiceps grisegena.

            Personally I find them the most attractive grebe species and I feel so lucky to have them breeding, in good numbers, locally. They are a rarity in the UK.

        1. Haven’t seen mallards for a few seasons now…possibly a disease? You know any info please, Grizzly? 🦆🦆🦆🦆

          2. Thanks Conway, that’s good 🙂 I was reading just now about how low levels of water can cause botulism and affect them.

      1. Indeed it is a grebe, Alf, but not a great created grebe as in your photo. Mine is a related red-necked grebe.

  104. from Coffee House, the Spectator

    What today’s A-level results reveal about boys
    Comments Share
    In her first speech as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves made much of being the first woman to hold that position. ‘To every young woman and girl,’ she said, ‘let today show that there should be no ceilings on your ambitions.’ Britain has already had three female prime ministers, two female foreign secretaries and six female home secretaries – so what makes Reeves think that girls and young women have low ambitions? This week’s A-level results and accompanying university offers will show that it’s the boys she should be more worried about.

    For every 100 girls who secure a university place this week, about 75 boys will do the same
    For every 100 girls who secure a university place this week, about 75 boys will do the same. Why should that be? Look at the most prestigious courses and the gender gap deepens. On law and medical courses, for every 100 girls who are enrolled, just 57 boys are. In subjects such as maths there is a heavy bias towards boys (173 for every 100 girls) but in vocational degrees that lead into high-paid professions, women are dominant and more likely to graduate with a first-class degree. The dropout rate for male students is also higher.

    The news headlines will declare that a slightly greater share of the boys who do sit A-levels attain As or A*s. But what no one seems to talk about is why so many more boys opt out of taking such exams at all. Typically, about 85,000 more A-levels are taken by girls than by boys. As a result the higher-
    education entry rate is now around 43 per cent for girls vs 32 per cent for boys.

    When Mary Curnock Cook ran UCAS, the university admission service, she raised this matter. One factor, she said, could be a potential lack of male role models in a country where 13-year-olds are significantly more likely to own a smartphone than to have their father still living at home. Many children may go to primary schools where the only man they see is the PE teacher. We assume that girls and young women need female role models, Curnock Cook pointed out, to persuade them to pursue STEM subjects. Why don’t we realise that male role models for boys are just as important?

    Surveys show that a large number of parents worry that boys in school are made to feel ashamed of being male, and that children are being taught that young men are a problem in society. The phrase ‘toxic masculinity’ is quickly becoming a new kind of prejudice, a lazy stereotype that is perpetuated in classrooms instead of being denounced as discriminatory. But this will never be recognised while governments cling to the old myths. Why, for example, is there a minister of state ‘for women and equalities’ rather than just for equalities?

    A great deal of political attention is lavished on gender inequality in boardrooms, but this mostly concerns disparities that affected people born in the 1960s and 1970s. Ministerial attention should be focused on who can be helped now. Ministers should be asking why, for every 100 grade As that girls achieve at A-level this week, boys will get about 85. Some 220 boys are expelled from school for every 100 girls. For women born after 1980 there is no gender pay gap. The trap for the Labour government is that its outdated ideas of inequality blind them to the reality of the sex divide now, which reveals itself in exam results and university admission data.

    Ethnicity is a factor. Take the latest figures for 16-year-olds from households that are poor enough to qualify for free school meals (a common marker of socioeconomic status when analysing education performance). Among Asian girls, 64 per cent will go into higher education: narrowly behind the 77 per cent who are not on free school meals. Black girls are not far behind: 61 per cent and 75 per cent respectively. But for white boys the figure is just 15 per cent, compared to 38 per cent of those not on free school meals. The group less likely than any other to win a university place are poor white boys, and that gap is wide, growing and completely indefensible. Just 2 per cent of poor white boys make it to a top university.

    The outlier in Keir Starmer’s government is not Reeves but Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, a white boy who grew up in poverty, qualified for free school meals and went on to Cambridge. Why, we should ask, has his story become so unusual? Is it to do with wealth, culture, family structure, educational norms – or gender-based clichés and outmoded ideas about the sort of pupils who most need help and encouragement? Streeting is in a powerful position to lead this debate, if he chooses to do so.

    Most popular
    Douglas Murray
    The persecution of ‘the plebs’

    It is time to set aside the assumptions of past decades in order to recognise that the plight of poor white boys is a new burning injustice. This needs to be more discussed, better understood and remedied.

    1. Ironically, Wes Streeting is the posterboy for "toxic masculinity", openly fantasizing about murdering famous women on twitter

    2. Poor white boys were being left behind even when I was still teaching (I've been retired nearly 26 years), so it's not a new thing. With "positive discrimination" (against them) it's far worse now.

    3. I can think of many women who having gained high office have been utter failures in office. There was Bandaranaike in Ceylon, Indira Ghandi in India, Golda Meier in Israel, all of the Swedish, Norwegian and Baltic State women ministers, Theresa May, Liz Truss, Ursula von der Leyen, then to add a few Victoria Nuland, Hillary Clinton and lately Kamala Harris in the USA.

      I agree the men are equally stupid and uneducated as the women but that is not my point. The women are as bad if not worse than the men. Some are particularly vicious. Ghandi wished to sterilise the male population of India for example.

      Golda Meier was happy to send most Israeli men into the war machine.

      Victoria Nuland is the engine behind the war in Ukraine because for familial reasons she simply hates Russians.

      The lesson to me at least is that the combination of confused emotion and destructive action as demonstrated by these ruddy women is that they are unfit to govern.

    4. I can think of many women who having gained high office have been utter failures in office. There was Bandaranaike in Ceylon, Indira Ghandi in India, Golda Meier in Israel, all of the Swedish, Norwegian and Baltic State women ministers, Theresa May, Liz Truss, Ursula von der Leyen, then to add a few Victoria Nuland, Hillary Clinton and lately Kamala Harris in the USA.

      I agree the men are equally stupid and uneducated as the women but that is not my point. The women are as bad if not worse than the men. Some are particularly vicious. Ghandi wished to sterilise the male population of India for example.

      Golda Meier was happy to send most Israeli men into the war machine.

      Victoria Nuland is the engine behind the war in Ukraine because for familial reasons she simply hates Russians.

      The lesson to me at least is that the combination of confused emotion and destructive action as demonstrated by these ruddy women is that they are unfit to govern.

  105. from Coffee House, the Spectator

    In defence of Douglas Murray
    Comments Share 12 August 2024, 6:30pm
    Even by its own standards, Twitter has been an asylum of late with a lynch mob going after our associate editor Douglas Murray. An interview he gave months ago has been selectively edited and republished to misrepresent him and, in effect, make out that he was encouraging riots. This is how Twitter works. People respond, others respond to the response and an inverted pyramid of piffle is built. I don’t follow Alastair Campbell, but it seems he has been telling me that unless I condemn Douglas then I myself would apparently ‘stand condemned’. By no less a moral authority, it seems, then Campbell himself.

    Andrew Neil has rightly pointed out that hell really will freeze over before a Twitterstorm makes The Spectator turn on a star columnist who has brought so much to the magazine over so many years. The idea that we would do so now, at Campbell’s behest – or that of his fellow trolls – is laughable. Andrew has also banned advertisers who complain about our columnists. Hopefully the message has gone out by now that The Spectator isn’t edited by Twitter.

    The Spectator will not be bowing to the mob. Not now, not ever.
    We never normally refer to Twitter madness in The Spectator. ‘Never waste time bouncing off the effluent of morons’, Douglas wrote in one of his superb Spectator columns. ‘For instance, it is a rule among British columnists never to use the term “Owen Jones” in an article. It is too easy. Every couple of hours there will be another gaseous eruption.’

    So we do not, in The Spectator, refer to characters in the Twitter freak show: Katie Hopkins, Campbell, Jones, etc. Reacting to their nonsense consumes mental energy that can be more usefully deployed elsewhere. The answer to ‘why haven’t you responded to this comment on Twitter’ is always a simple one: ‘because we are not certifiably mad and will leave such debate to those who are’. Twitter is dedicated to breaking down such restraint, finding ingenious ways to provoke and serving a menu of things to abhor: real or concocted. Its ‘Live on X’ sidebar identifies comments the user is likely to regard as egregious, so as to solicit a reaction. Its QT function lies waiting for you to pour scorn over the comments of an idiot. It is saying: ‘Look at what Campbell has said now, Fraser. Outrageous! Surely you won’t let him get away with it? Click here, to express your condemnation.’ In this way, Twitter users are invited to join its moronic dance. If you start to boo, you become part of the show.

    For a publication to be drawn into Twitter nonsense, even to condemn it, is to be indirectly edited by Twitter. This is why we never do it. But when I went through my inbox this morning, I found emails from many readers who could see a character assassination attempt underway and who had written in, defending Murray. We only print letters in the magazine in response to articles, but I thought I should publish the below email from Justin Stebbing, a renowned oncologist. It resonated with me because it sums up my own feelings – and, I suspect, those of a great many readers.

    I am writing to express my unwavering support for Douglas Murray, whose insightful and articulate commentary has been a beacon of clarity and reason in today’s complex political landscape. His contributions to The Spectator have consistently demonstrated a profound understanding of global issues, particularly the intricacies of Middle Eastern politics and the defence of Israel.

    His writings provide a balanced perspective that champions truth and moral clarity, qualities that are increasingly rare yet desperately needed. His ability to dissect and articulate the nuances of geopolitical conflicts with precision and empathy is a testament to his intellectual rigor and commitment to justice.

    His stance is rooted in a deep understanding of historical and contemporary contexts, which he conveys with both passion and reason. As he aptly stated, ‘It’s moral hygiene to try and clean some of this up. When 99 lies are being told and one truth, the truth will eventually win.’ This commitment to truth is what sets him apart as a commentator and public intellectual.

    His broader contributions to political commentary, such as his critiques of western self-laceration and his defence of western values, highlight his role as a crucial voice in contemporary debates. His ability to engage with a wide range of topics, from the rise of extremism to the cultural and political challenges facing the West, underscores his versatility and depth as a thinker.

    The attempts by political figures like Campbell to silence him not only undermine the principles of free speech and open debate but also seek to deprive the public of a valuable perspective that challenges prevailing narratives. It is imperative that we stand by commentators like Murray, who courageously speak the truth, even when it is unpopular. His brilliance, clarity of thought, and unwavering commitment to truth make him an indispensable asset to your publication and to the broader conversation on critical global issues.

    Amen to all that. Douglas wrote the definitive piece about Twitter lynch mobs when he exonerated Roger Scruton by securing the raw footage of the interview that had been so egregiously misrepresented by George Eaton. His scoop and cover piece changed the debate: it was the high water mark of Twitter character assassination because Murray had calmly taken this madness apart and it stood exposed. So did those who get sucked into them. We saw how partial quotes can be maliciously assembled to smear – and how easily a mob is assembled to condemn.

    His column last week, incidentally – looking at the deprivation levels and local economic dysfunction in rioting areas – was thoughtful, original and generated more new subscriptions than any other article we published this year. That’s proof of just how utterly detached these pointless Twitterstorms are from the real world.

    It’s almost exactly 15 years since I first became editor and was told about Douglas by the writer Ruth Dudley Edwards who said he was one of the best young essayists thrown up by our country for quite some time. I’d remove ‘one of’. So, sorry, Alastair Campbell et al: The Spectator will not be bowing to the mob. Not now, not ever.

    PS For those asking, it is our house style to keep calling it Twitter because most people still call it Twitter rather than X. Words like “Twitterstorm” are now well-known and relevant in this context. Elon Musk does not (yet) own the English language so we’ll keep calling it what most people still call it.

  108. It’s a beautiful bird, Grizz, but it was a guess! It’s a grebe with a red neck! Where do they migrate from?

    1. They breed in numerous places, mostly inland in the northern hemisphere, Mrs Macfarlane, but tend to move to the coast in winter.

      1. Dunno Mola, thanks for the thought. I guess that, as a fish that does not do the underwater thing and sails above by the imperative of your being, you will understand

    6. These things happen as we all know.
      Don't get into areas of arrears, Air your Aria.
      …….I'll get me dressing gown…..

    7. Sorry to hear you've had a bad day. Why not stay and benefit from everybody else's miserable experiences, so you know you're not alone? Can't hear the aria, unfortunately.

      2. I can vouch for that.

        Actually I went for drinks with a much younger colleague and a few “select” employees. I know everyone, it’s my job, as did the birthday girl (out receptionist). Stayed much longer than I should have. I need you all to remind me tomorrow that my daughter’s and son’s cars are both being serviced=MOT’d and I MUST get both cars to the garage and NOT forget!

  111. Evening, all. Had a triple bonus over coffee this afternoon – three old friends came! I'm afraid we are all hopelessly extremely right wing. We all, for a start, went to the same church before the rectorette began her age of destruction.

    There are a lot of things that are having a demoralising effect, of which "worklessness" is a long way down the list! Since when did that neologism replace "unemployment"?

    1. Of course, if you don’t want a war, don’t provoke a war. Fairly obvious, one would have thought.

      1. The idea of Lammy going anywhere on a diplomatic mission, let alone one to prevent a war, is beyond satire.

    2. Given that he's restored funding to UNWRA, the UN's Palestine support group, and withdrawn objections to the ICJ's petition against Netanyahu for war crimes, I'd say the bull-necked dolt was all for stirring up more trouble.

  114. Canada is probably one of the more Muslim subservient countries of the West.
    Here's their list of unacceptable Muslim organisations.
    Very short isn't it? /sarc
    Currently listed entities in XML format RSS
    https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx
    Abdallah Azzam Brigades (AAB)
    Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
    Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
    Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade (AAMB)
    Al-Ashtar Brigades (AAB)
    Al-Murabitoun
    Al-Muwaqi'un Bil Dima
    Al Qaida
    Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
    Al Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)
    Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
    Al Shabaab
    Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (AGAI)
    Ansar al-Islam (AI)
    Ansar Dine
    Aryan Strikeforce
    Asbat Al-Ansar (AAA) (The League of Partisans)
    Atomwaffen Division
    Aum Shinrikyo
    Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)
    Blood & Honour (B&H)
    Boko Haram
    Caucasus Emirate
    Combat 18 (C18)
    Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN)
    Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA)
    Fatemiyoun Division (FD)
    Front de Libération du Macina
    Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)
    Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
    Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Faction of the Hezb-e Islami, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)
    Hamas (Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiya) (Islamic Resistance Movement)
    Haqqani Network
    Harakat al-Sabireen (HaS)
    Harakat ul-Mudjahidin (HuM)
    HASAM (Harakat Sawa'd Misr)
    Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham
    Hizballah
    Hizbul Mujahideen
    Indian Mujahideen (IM)
    International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy – Canada (IRFAN – CANADA)
    International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)
    Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
    Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
    Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force
    Islamic State
    Islamic State – Bangladesh
    Islamic State – Democratic Republic of the Congo
    Islamic State East Asia
    Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
    Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP)
    Islamic State in Libya
    Islamic State – Sinai Province (ISSP)
    Islamic State West Africa Province
    Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)
    Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin
    James Mason
    Jaysh Al-Muhajirin Wal-Ansar (JMA)
    Jemaah Islamiyyah (JI)
    Kahane Chai (Kach)
    Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
    Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ)
    Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)
    Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
    Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA)
    Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
    Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
    Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC)
    Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
    Proud Boys
    Russian Imperial Movement
    Sendero Luminoso (SL)
    Taliban
    Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
    The Base
    Three Percenters
    World Tamil Movement (WTM)

    1. Oh dear our neighbours daughter just had a first at Uni, is going to Canada soon to work.
      I daren't tell them.

      1. They wouldn't believe you, anyway. Even now I am hearing people enraged by the UK planning on moving to Canada or NZ. Frying pan/fire situation.

        1. Hi Miserable Bunny….

          I am just a Bunny Rabbit living in a hutch
          I don't like this end nor the other end much
          But if I remember rightly
          And with a bit of luck
          I think tomorrow's Friday
          The day they pass the buck

          (Pam Ayres)

      2. Probably of an age where she'll fit in well.
        I fear for the long term safety of the young, they don't realise that a significant proportion of the "foreign friends" they welcome are serpents in disguise.

      3. No chance of finding anywhere reasonably priced to live, even less chance of finding a GP.

        Trudeau and co are fuffing around with temporary work permits, student visas and who knows what else as they try to look as if they are doing something about the lack of infrastructure to support the million or so that they bring in every year.

        She needs to be wary and keep a return ticket in her pocket!

      4. I have these moments too, where someone tells me some piece of normie "good news" and I have to hide my reaction!

    3. That is the list of banned organizations, you missed the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network hat is still allowed to operate here. Some delightful person from that group has been in Iran celebrating October 7th. She already has form after many outrageous speeches but no arrest record.

      They are actually considering stripping two recent arrivals of their Canadian citizenship, they have a record as ISIS supporters and were close to carrying out a terrorist attack in Toronto.

      How does the UK fare with banned terrorist organizations?

      1. The point I was trying to make was the very large number of them in a place that is very Muslim tolerant.

  115. How about this, I was chatting to a lifelong old friend and neighbour and surprised him when I told him that I had a lottery win………4.50 no more noughts. Then he told me his younger brother had also a had win. I think he said 50 thousand on premium bonds. And is now enjoying a luxury cruise somewhere. It's all right for some eh.
    Good night all. Fortunately my multipul eye drops three times a day are at last having the desired effect. Hooray. 👁😴

      2. ha! I can relate to that one.
        I now have my mortgage with the same bank that I have my online bank a/cs wth. So now I can log in and see a big fat "your balance is -xx 0000" because they lump all the accounts together and give you your total balance!
        It's very motivating to make overpayments!

    3. I have been cogitation all day. Last year my English son’s* A-level year all got marked down, to allow the overseas students to take their place. This year there is a dearth of foreign students and we were already told the English exams’ boards were going to increase the grades. So, how do I responfpd to my friends’ children who have got their A*s and As, when my son last year got 3Bs (but the year before, would have got 2A*s and an A). This year – probably similar, the whole system stinks.

      2. Tricky one. It's all such a sham, Especially the continuous assessment rubbish – which means that the vicious ideologue who loathes a particular child gets to mark him down.

        1. What annoys me is that the three mothers in question this year are all “socialists” and two of the three sent their kids to private school (I am rabidly right wing but my two were at an interesting mix of private/state throughout their schooling*),

          It’s the hypocrisy that kills me. My one friend’s daughter is off to Cambridge via a private school, and the other to a Conservatoire. And yet they both claim to support socialism. Except when it applies to them.

          I feel terrible for thinking evil thoughts.

          1. Don't feel terrible. These people are hypocrites. Worse – they are grabby. Life in the material world is always unfair. If you are a Christian then you get to inhabit an alternative kingdom. But i do see that that is not for everyone.

          2. Don't waste time thinking of other people's kids. The ones who especially irk, I find, irk because their parents want you to feel irked. And they want you to feel irked because they know there is something wrong with their family set up and that their kids are lesser because of it. All show. Give it ten years or so and see how their little darlings are in reality. Show can only hide so much. Cripes I wish I had the time back. If I did i wouldn't have wasted it on trash in fancy clothes. Hope that makes sense. You being grounded and well-informed is the most valuable lesson your kids will ever learn. And they will be, in turn, loved because of it.

        2. Continuous assessment leaves the examination process open to teacher favouritism. Assessment should be by others than the teachers involved, should be independently assessed based upon examination results and if necessary independent interviews.

          In my day we obtained the necessary quota of O-Levels and then sat three or four A-Levels. We applied to University and were interviewed and subsequently given the Grades needed to achieve admission to that University.

          If the University really wanted you they would ask for three E Grades, knowing that you would be awarded higher grades based on the interview and examination of your portfolio. (I am writing with respect to Architectural School). If not so sure they would seek say three A Grades or else two A Grades and a B Grade pass.

          For entrance to the Oxbridge and Redbricks we were required to pass Usage of English.

          1. Oxford required that you took their entrance exam – or at least they did when I was applying.

      3. What a fraud.
        I can only tell you that one of my sons left the education system with four GCSEs and six months at a private art school. He spent his teenage years building a professional network of young animators and game writers on the internet, not doing homework. He has multi-millionaire friends now, has an unearned income and his current income goal is to get into six figues. He's 23. Oh and he has no university debt.
        The education system is turning into a scam, especially for white boys. It's not what it was when we were young.
        The contract that if you study hard and do all the right things, you'll end up with a house, a car and able to support a family was broken a long time ago by Blair. But so many kids are still following this path, unware that there is only a crock of sh* at the end of the rainbow.
        Kids need to think outside the box.

      4. Tell him to jack it all in and train as a plumber/lecky/bricklayer. He will never be out of work.

  117. Michael Deacon writing in the DT:

    By dating a man almost 40 years her junior, Madonna has become an embarrassing cliché

    Top BTL Comment:
    Ian Wheaton
    My mum warned me about women like Madonna. I’ve been looking for one ever since.

        1. That first name is just a word to me that occasionally pops up in the newspaper. I then turn the page. I know nothing (nor need to know anything) about such people.

          I am completely out of touch with ‘celebrity’ culture and happily intend to remain that way.

  118. Absolute grifter with no scientific qualifications and a charge of genocide hanging over him. Perfect.

  121. The Hong Kong Chinese serve bar snacks which are made from pig intestines from the colon.
    Very tasty. Properly cleansed. Dried and deep fried. Puffs up and a sprinkle of salt and spices.

    Much better than having a candle in your room smelling of Gwyneth Paltrows vagina.

    1. Could hardly agree more. i didn't even know that one could buy such candles, but will avoid, obvs.

  123. To anyone who would just like an inoffensive lunch and i include myself in that but…taste varies.

    From my own point of view going into a restaurant in the evening in the UK (warm and no real air conditioning) where both fish and meat are being served makes me gag.

      1. Na na…And Elon will back me up on this…oh sorry wrong platform.

        I am not PICKY !

        I think another Nottler said so and i didn't contradict what (Sosraboc said) some boring old fart that lives in a mansion France. :@)

  125. Beeb News just now about Gaza etc stated 40,000 dead, mainly women, children and elderly. Hardly a surprise as all the young men from the region have left them and run away to here.

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