Friday 6 September: MPs should act swiftly on the recommendations of the Grenfell inquiry

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

538 thoughts on “Friday 6 September: MPs should act swiftly on the recommendations of the Grenfell inquiry”

    1. 392580+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      I do not hold with there are "good muslims" I do give that you could grade them but, they, in my book would abide by the basics laid down by MO.

    2. All ethnic dress should be banned in the west. It is intolerant, divisive and demonstrates that the individual has no interest in adapting to this country.

      2. H'mm, opening a can of worms there.
        A version of sumptuary laws, but based on ethnicity rather than social and financial status.

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

    A golfer who went out for a round with his friend the vicar

    When he fluffed his putt on the first green he exclaimed: "Oh, damn, I missed."

    The vicar who was easily shocked and said: "My friend you must moderate your language or God will send a thunderbolt to punish you."

    At the third hole the chap had a double bogey and in exasperation and his language grew more extreme: "Oh, bloody Hell, I missed again!" Once more the vicar warned him about God's thunderbolt

    At the ninth hole he added obscenity to blasphemy: "Oh bugger it, holy shit, Oh Christ, I screwed up here. I missed again."

    Once more the vicar told the chap that the Lord his God was an angry god who had a quiver full of thunderbolts and mixed metaphors in his pocket.

    After the final hole as he walked towards the clubhouse after the worst round, he had ever had he uttered the most obscene flow of obscene and blasphemous invective the poor vicar had ever heard.

    Suddenly a thunderbolt came down from heaven and struck the vicar dead. And then a voice from the sky said: "On the life of my virgin mother, fuck, fuck, fuck – I missed."

    1. Morning, Tom.
      Years ago, the vicar of Lexden church was struck dead by lightening while playing on a Colchester golf course.
      It was our school church and we reckoned it was judgement for boring us to death.

      1. About the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me – that I wasn't the instigator of – was a tree practically evaporating as I stood under it during a massive storm.

        All the water exploded in one go, there was an almighty crack and the tree just turned black. No giant fire or anything, just a whoomph, steam and soot.

  6. Good Moaning.
    Pay up, peasants. Episode 1.

    "For a car park outside one of England’s most congested cities, Eynsham park and ride is a remarkably peaceful place. Bright, freshly painted white lines lie unmolested on the virgin tarmac.

    Between and around the bays, there are well-maintained flower beds of purple verbena and bright yellow rudbeckia, as well as hundreds of saplings in protective sleeves. A stern metal fence runs around the perimeter, while the only sign of a human life is a security guard, perhaps the most bored man in Oxfordshire, who sits waiting to shoo away anyone who threatens to disturb the tranquillity.

    No, Eynsham park and ride is no place for motor vehicles. Or at least it will not be for a few years. Although the car park was finished earlier this year, with 850 spaces and at a cost of £51m, it has yet to be connected to the A40 that roars alongside it. At the earliest estimate, the Park & Ride will not be operational until 2027……"

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/372366661d8fa86a7f14678af3bd0d5e47981bafd413cdf144d9fc0e8642d4df.png

      1. Why not? is tax payers money. They've no choice in how it's wasted. Why not just spend it?

        Comically it's a really inefficient layout.

  7. Jeremy Kyle appears to goad sobbing guest who was found dead a week later. 6 September 2024.

    Jeremy Kyle appeared to goad a sobbing guest who failed a lie detector test days before his suspected suicide in footage played to his inquest.

    Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, a week after filming for the ITV programme in May 2019.

    An inquest is considering to what extent the talk show, which was axed four days after his death, had been aware of his mental health troubles before allowing him to appear on the show.

    While not wishing Mr Dymond any personal ill can I say that anyone who was stupid enough to appear on this deeply unpleasant show with its even more repellent host deserved everything they got?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/05/jeremy-kyle-arrives-inquest-suspected-suicide-show-guest/

    3. I think anyone going on this nonsense is slightly unbalanced. It is entertainment for nasty people to mock unhappy, maladjusted folk hurt one another for money.

      That applies to all those involved, not just this fellow. Bluntly, if you don't trust someone to the extent you fall back on a lie detector there is no relationship anyway.

      1. That is the problem. Only the thick and/or mentally unbalanced would appear on such a show.
        It is the C21 equivalent of throwing people into snake pit.
        These who watch it are equally sick.
        As are those who created and ran the "entertainment". It is corrosive to the soul.

        1. There appears to be much of this dumbed-down on TV. I'm glad I don't have TV in my house.

    4. After the event, staff on this man's show claimed that he had nothing but contempt for the "participants", allegedly saying that he considered them to be "thick as sh1t."

  8. Jeremy Kyle appears to goad sobbing guest who was found dead a week later. 6 September 2024.

    Jeremy Kyle appeared to goad a sobbing guest who failed a lie detector test days before his suspected suicide in footage played to his inquest.

    Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, a week after filming for the ITV programme in May 2019.

    An inquest is considering to what extent the talk show, which was axed four days after his death, had been aware of his mental health troubles before allowing him to appear on the show.

    While not wishing Mr Dymond any personal ill can I say that anyone who was stupid enough to appear on this deeply unpleasant show with its even more repellent host deserved everything they got?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/05/jeremy-kyle-arrives-inquest-suspected-suicide-show-guest/

      1. May I rephrase the question

        Name someone smarter thicker, denser, stoopider than David Lammy?

      2. Anyone who has appeared on 'Celebrity' 😂🤣 master mind and scored more than 13.
        And might have been able to work out that after the death of Henry the 8th it wasn't Henry the 7th who succeed him.
        I think he will be on the list of Starmer's downfalls.

        1. If I recall correctly he only got 13 because the question master was somewhat generous in accepting some of his answers.

          5. I certainly scored more than 13. You can find it on line Sos. Just search for you tube Lammy Mastermind 2021.

          6. I used to watch it years ago, but it was rare that I scored more than the contestant on their specialist subject.

            In Lammy’s case I think I got more than double his score on Ali.
            He was pathetic.

    2. That is so reflective of what the present government is made up of and what it represents. And how it works, it's similar to putting unleaded petrol into a diesel car. After stalling and stuttering along you'll just have to pull over before the engine is shot.

  10. Yo and Good Moaning to you all, from a Sunni Costa del Skeg

    we are off to see the Toothwright today………… aaaaarrrrgggghhhh

    (welll her to see us, they will ask me if I am pregnant, there will be a pause)

      1. Yo, Nd

        I was 78 at the dentist. I said yea and I was suffering from Morning Sickness

        Ask a stoopid question:
        Get a stoopid answer

  11. Russian unit linked to Salisbury poisoning ‘is behind cyber attacks’. 6 September 2024.

    On Thursday, the US charged five officers of Unit 29155 and one co-conspirator, all of whom are Russian nationals and residents, with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud.

    The hackers were identified in a now-unsealed indictment as Col Yuriy Denisov, a commanding officer of cyber operations for Unit 29155, and four lieutenants, Vladislav Borovkov, Denis Denisenko, Dmitriy Goloshubov, Nikolay Korchagin, and civilian Amin Sitgal.

    This is just propaganda waffle. It has a few buzz words; Novichok, Salisbury, Skripal; to boost its credibility but apart from that nothing of any significance. The Moscow telephone directory would be more informative. Its real import is that it fills a space on the reporting from Ukraine. After last Wednesdays reluctant confessions in the MSM that the Kursk offensive is as dead as mutton, silence has fallen again on the Donbass. We know that things are going badly, but how badly? Possibilities suggest themselves. The Ukies are withdrawing from the Kursk Salient to reinforce them and don’t wish to advertise it for obvious political and military reasons. In accordance with military doctrine they are falling back on the Donbass to new defensive lines. Or. The front is not only crumbling but the soldiery have, like the French Armies in WWI, lost the will to combat. This latter would be terminal for the Ukies.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/09/05/russian-hackers-salisbury-poisoning-cyber-attacks-uk-attack/

  12. 'Morning all
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/72a824b6db95f0684f5a614f59dfe0e6e45ac7de1322a7c6eebdcf9065eeee02.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a3b7dbf97eef1e5174167cc724853265368672fe1937b1521b3ca0fb37b97406.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c190b5c676c8afc8cca3761e2a8e0449c094a6e7fc91ecc8580d45324c7c7901.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7d11216a785813619fbcddb9a6952f9ae11757519289c6e8d25303fd1c5d043f.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7883bafc0af032d251d88e41fdfa8b0e517fd84407be953ac7509a2768be80ec.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c53fd5732134d0c67b2528444ad66547a453a27b72d9b3d01dfb6d8131e785e8.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/732ac1099d7d3711b44d91d73af5990b8736d5a364af389d892c7eaf180a9dc3.jpg

  15. Morning all 🙂😊
    Misty and Murky again.
    We once had two goldfish with those names.
    There's more, not just this government, past governments and future governments could have done and indeed do about everything in general.
    But the problem is they don't seem to live in the real world, too aloof to care. And never take any notice of the knowledgeable public who do unfortunately live in the very uncomfortable world's they create.

  16. 392580+ up ticks,

    Proving that the political murder inc.have a very devious mindset when dealing with the indigenous herd, nothing in the heinous department should be a surprise this self flagellation shown by acceptance really is going OTT.

    Boomer Karen thinks her phone will help win the battle!
    Boomer Karen thinks her phone will help win the battle!
    🧐 🧐
    🧐 🧐
    Good 👩
    Good 👩
    image
    They’re not exactly stylish themselves
    They’re not exactly stylish themselves
    Literally drove off a bear 😂
    Literally drove off a bear 😂
    Why did she stop on the bridge!!
    Why did she stop on the bridge!!
    She's a keeper because she gave her honest opinion about something and then felt bad and said sorry when she saw it hurt his feelings. Never be sorry for y
    She's a keeper because she gave her honest opinion about something and then felt bad and said sorry when she saw it hurt his feelings. Never be sorry for your beliefs.
    image
    image
    image
    haven’t seen a color like this before. #bears
    haven’t seen a color like this before. #bears
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021

    ·
    2h

    And who do you think would be the most likely candidates to be sent to do their time in Estonia?

    That’s right, the ordinary British people who had the temerity to question the wisdom of transforming Britain into a borderless third world anarchic state.

    And with a bit of luck they can be murdered in a foreign jail & the political establishment will be rid of them.

    I wonder why Estonian jails are only half full? Could it be because most of their more enterprising criminals came here?

    Prisoners could serve their time in Estonia – The Tel…more

  17. 'Morning everyone especially Geoff x….apologies to anyone I missed replying to late yesterday, comments were closed by the time I got to them. As usual, head in the clouds :/-

  19. What's the bit dedicated to Gerard Batten?

    And yes. The state could simply remove the foreign criminals and clear more than half of all prison places. For the remainder who have more than 3 convictions simply melt the key in the door and forget about them.

    1. If he doesn't like it, he should leave. We could encourage this by cutting off welfare and housing benefit, child benefit completely. He'd go of his own accord then.

    2. Thanks ogga. Douglas Murray popped up earlier on my YouTube feed, giving a talk about Islam, and having a discussion with at least one member of the audience. Seemed a shortened segment. Bravo Murray, more please.

    3. Thanks ogga. Douglas Murray popped up earlier on my YouTube feed, giving a talk about Islam, and having a discussion with at least one member of the audience. Seemed a shortened segment. Bravo Murray, more please.

  21. Universities are looking at raising their tuition fees from £ 9,250 to £ 12,500

    Getting the young generation brainwashed with communism has never proven so expensive, still all those academics need their huge salaries, privileged living in a green paradise costs a lot of money

    1. Close down private schools.

      Slacken discipline in schools.

      Raise university tuition fees.

      The first two are definitely aimed at thwarting the aspirations and achievement of those keen to learn. You could argue that even though many young people would be better off not going to university there are many who need to do so. These people, if they are not wealthy, may decide that the cost is too high.

      1. My two sons both had their university courses fully funded and as I was a single parent at the time, they got grants as well towards their living costs. The rest they funded themselves with menial jobs in the holidays.
        Times have changed, haven't they.

        1. Having lots of well-educated people in the country was once seen as a good move, for common prosperity.

      2. Sometimes, there is little alternative to private education. In my case, there was primary schooling in Nigeria, but othing after that, so I was sent to boarding (= private) school in the UK, paid for by Father's employer. It was part of the employment terms and conditions, as were repatriation flights. I recall seeeing the same process listed in job advertisements including posting to, for example, Oman, as military advisor.
        How will these be handled?

    1. Morning Paul – yep in fact it's too hot in the sun to do any hard work, thankfully I'm mostly working in the shade

  23. – Starmer won’t be satisfied until he has put barriers up around every avenue for ordinary hard working people that want to financially better themselves, like all good communists, destroy all aspiration, leave people feeling like polar bear in a small enclosure in a zoo.
    Come to think of it, this is what the 15 minute neighbourhoods are all about.

    1. Reading Tim Shipman's All Out War (which I recommend) when the Leave MPs identified themselves the civil service were isntructed by the head to not let those leave MPs from seeing any EU documentation.

      The intent was to deliberately hamstring them from the data – but the EU is so incompetent it fouled up anyway.

  25. Good morning from the Ambassadors Hotel, Bloomsbury.
    A dull but currently dry start.
    A rather disturbed night. A combination of backache and a bloated belly.
    The DT's not a lot better, she's got a stiff neck.
    About to get dressed and off for breakfast.

  26. Good morning all,

    Tropical 15c, overcast, damp , and it will be raining again very shortly .

    The snails and slugs love this weather . How on earth do snails of all sizes find the energy to climb up walls, outside doors , dustbins , window sills?

    Trees are now colouring up, and sweet chestnut and horse chestnut trees are the first to look Autumnal.

      2. Quercus palustris also known as Spanish oak.
        I photographed your photo using the free iplant app.

        1. I’m upgrading my phone today! I must get that app! My husbands phone told me it was ‘a plant’!

          1. Ah! The place where the men take their shirts off and sunbath at 10C because its a heat wave!

          4. Good grief, Conway! Don’t you ever pass my door again without coming in! What on earth brought you to Denny?

          5. Racing. It was central; Ayr, Musselburgh, Hamilton Park and Kelso in a week. I also fitted in a riding lesson at the riding school there and went to Stirling, intending to go to church, but I couldn't find the one that was open 🙁

    2. The trees on a dual carriageway near me were turning yellow at least 3 weeks ago. Hottest summer ever?

    1. Is it because they are bullies that attracts so much scum to politics and especially to left wing politics?

      Part of the lust for power is the desire to dominate, frighten, control and bully. Starmer, Reeves, Cooper, Miliband and Lammy are good examples of those whose main pleasure seems to come from deliberately hurting and causing pain to those who cannot defend themselves.

    2. Pdfs are well known to be cliquey, power-mad, devious and willing to travel the country far and wide to fulfil their jollies. They become great targets of foreign agencies for blackmail. Unfortunately or fortunately their feeling of invincibility becomes their downfall.. after a few decades of wild abandon though.

  29. A prime example of the BTL comments being the best reading.
    From the Tellygraff.

    "Welsh Senedd ‘cannot function if one MP goes to the lavatory’
    First Minister Eluned Morgan says ‘you cannot run a parliament that way’ as she defends plans to increase number of members ……"

    Neil K W Jones
    14 MIN AGO
    Oh dear, what can the matter be?
    One Senedd member locked in the lavatory!
    REPLY
    2 REPLIES
    3
    0
    REPORT
    Reply by denz parkin.
    DP

    denz parkin
    12 MIN AGO
    Reply to Neil K W Jones
    Probably too many Senedd pods
    REPLY
    1 REPLY
    2
    0

    Neil K W Jones
    14 MIN AGO
    Bog standard devolution.
    REPLY
    1
    0

    2. How are 'members' defined? Are they masculine or feminine in Welsh, and can anyone have more than one if they so identify?

  31. In the original my favourite Old Lady was Mrs Humphrey:

    The first lady's name was Old Mrs Humphrey,
    She sat herself down and made herself comfy,
    Alas and Alack she could not get her bum free
    And nobody knew she was there!

  32. There's a new adventure of Sherlock Holmes by Paul Sutton at free speech it anyone fancies a chuckle and some respite from the sense of impending doom.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. Thanks Tom, took a look earlier what you were up to 🙂 will head back later when I have the time, don't want to miss anything.

      1. Keeping up with Tom's site could turn out to be a full-time job, there's so much good gets posted there.

        2. Hi Tom, just had a quick read through – excellent analysis where the situation is now, and how it came about. I’ve read similarly from RfKJr about the Israeli efforts to pass on knowledge about growing crops in Palestine, I understand the Israelis were about to, or already had, set up de-salination plants, obviously vital in this regard. So, we are where we are, and what can/should happen next. I don’t think anything meaningful will happen until America and Iran re-establish diplomatic relations. Iran has been going the wrong way about this, and America (in terms of the Lobby) can do nothing towards this without Israel co-operation which they will not get as long as Netanyahu remains PM and funding remains in place thanks to the Lobby. There are some questions Israel needs to address – not least the Iron Dome and Electric Gate/fence apparently turned off. Ugly rumours are surfacing re Netanyahu seeking his personal legacy, which I really hope have no substance, and a number of historical legal cases ready to be brought against him post war settlement. I suspect the situation will limp along for some time, every so often more activity, followed by some sort of stalemate, rinse and repeat. You will know better than I the narrative re Hamas being embedded in the general Gaza population. Here again, if so, this will likely only change once some kind of rapprochement agreed between America and Iran ( back channels will surely be open btw), that’s not going to happen as long as Netanyahu remains in place, and the Lobby continues to fund him. A rock and a hard place, indeed. Finally, Tom, I have no skin in this game as many many others do including journalists, these are just my thoughts off the top of my head – essentially I agree with Trump saying ‘Stop the Killing’ which I think he referenced Ukraine (I agree with his analysis there, too) but applies equally to Israel Gaza. End of the day, as with Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Palestine will be neighbours. Sorry I’m not better informed/more knowledgeable, and I apologise if I offend anyone with my views. All the best to you Tom, keep up the writing – I always read what you write:-) Love, Kate x

        3. Reading it now, Tom.
          I was surprised at the start, the way the article seemed anti-Israel, but as it got going, my appalling memory kicked in and I recalled the news of the events, so what you wrote was clearly real. Particularly the Hamas – Fatah civil war.
          It might have been worth making the point that Hamas kick Israel in the ankle, and Israel uses a nuclear bomb in response – and that raises two points: By using that inevitability, Hamas win the propaganda war, and maybe Israel could nuance their response a bit? But – I don't hear the reaction of Israelis and those that support them (there are so few) to this kind of response, that my opinion should caarry much weight. It's complex… and a ceasefire worked for a while up until about a year ago, when Hamas decided to take Israeli hostages, and now has murdered many. That doesn't look like the action of a "peaceful" wronged party, to break the peace by jabbing Israel knowing that the response will be apocalyptic – as usual., because that's how the Israelis respond.
          It's interesting to see that the other Arab countries don't want the excess Palestinians. I wonder why that might be…
          But, in all this mess, I'm ashamed that the country of my birth sees fit to restrict Israels response as a result of propaganda, and hope very much that the result is negligible. In such an awful mess, I stand with Israel and the Jews.

    1. Reminds me of Uncle Remus's Brer Rabbit who told Brer Fox that a briar bush was the last place he wanted to be put in.

  35. Sir Terry Wogan’s wife Lady Helen dies
    Son Mark announces the news on Instagram saying he hopes his mother and father, who died in 2016, are ‘sharing a vodka martini’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/06/sir-terry-wogan-wife-lady-helen-dies/

    No BTL comments allowed.

    I had a great affection for Terry Wogan and his sense of humour. He was obviously a charming man both inside and outside the public eye and he clearly enjoyed a very happy and fulfilling marriage.

    I knew nothing much about his wife – but the photos of her show an attractive woman with personality and joy.

      1. He was also professional qualified to manage a bank – something which a number of Bank CEOs were not!!!

    2. Lady Wogan of course. We seem to have gone back to medieval protocols where titles are whatever is popularly agreed. I always thought Wogan was entertaining and a good communicator and seemed honest but our Bill didn't like him very much!

    3. That's really sad news, Rastus. I didn't know that Terry died a while ago. I liked his broadcast style, and as far as I could tell, it was genuine.
      RIP, Margaret & Tel. Enjoy that cocktail!

    4. Thanks for posting, Rastus, hadn't heard/read this anywhere else. I remember his R2 programme with great affection, and even bigger laughs. May they both Rest in Peace, together.

  36. morning all. DT strapline (?) says. Britain to send 650 air defence missiles to Ukraine. If we could on,y strap an MP to each one … 🙏

    1. At a cost of £162 Million; that's only 810,000 lots of £200 winter fuel allowances.
      Next to nothing really.
      Think how much heat those missiles will generate warming the air in Ukraine. /sarc

    2. I think it might be value-for-money to pay our boffins to find a cheaper way of shooting down Russian incoming than surface-to-air missiles at millions per pop.

      1. I think we should be keeping our nose out of the whole thing. What’s the big attraction about provoking Russia, what’s it all for? HMG should never have got involved.

        2. Everything changed on 24th February 2022. Whilst Russia was making warnings by holding military manoeuvres in Belarus, there was every argument against prodding the bear.

          The minute his troops crossed the border ininvited, Russia became the aggressor. Britain needed to ask "how far will it go if Putin felt emboldened by an easy victory?" Chamberlain asked the same question in 1939, and got precisely the same answer – when they invade Poland.

          This time, we're not going to let them invade Poland, which means bolstering up anyone getting in the way, such as Ukraine.

          1. Russia was there because Ukraine was shelling the Donbass region. Russia was then asked by the ethnically Russian citizens of that region to 'protect them'.

            Russia hasn't moved forward into the rest of Ukraine. It doesn't really want to.

            We're selling them arms because it does our balance of trade good and our politicians want the publicity and the civil service likes Russia being the bad guy – we're also over-exposed to gas which Russia contributes a lot to world markets, so making gas expensive was a win win for the state as it got to further another ideological position with the excuse of 'oh, nasty Russia, not our policies, no!'

          2. I think you might be being a tad disingenous when you speak of "shelling the Donbass region". As I recall, there was a considerable and violent civil uprising, bordering on local terrorism, including an incident that brought down a civil airliner. This was in protest to the usurping of Yanukovich and the resumption of moves towards a treaty between Ukraine and the EU that the Kremlin was bitterly opposed to. The Maidan Government was duty-bound to quash the rebellion, restore order to the region and assert Ukrainian sovereignty, but this was very much opposed in Moscow.

            My response at the time, considering Ukraine's history and the geographical and political division between regions traditionally associated with Russia and those traditionally associated with Poland and Lithuania was that Maidan should abandon any moves to align with either side and adopt strict neutrality. The alternative was partition.

            However the invasion of 24th February 2022 rather forced the issue, and the Russians are entirely to blame for the consequences of this. Zelenskyy could justifiably plead self defence from then on.

            There is nothing to be gained in the West by losing access to cheap Russian energy.

          4. With its huge land mass and phenomenal resources I can't for the life of me fathom why Russia would want to invade any country in Western Europe?

          5. I personally do not think they are after any country in Western Europe, but Putin makes no secret of his imperial nostalgia, when the USSR ruled over large parts of Eastern and Central Europe, including Poland and part of Germany.

          6. Putin was sorting out a little local difficulty on the easter Ukraine border until the US and UK went and shoved its nose in for its own purposes. I do not see Putin gallivanting through western Europe at this time. You may recall that Hillary Clinton back in 2014 was alarmingly gagging for war with Russia.

          8. It’s only in the last few weeks that he has had any “local difficulty” on home territory.

            Hillary Clinton may have been a bit emotional when they shot down that airliner. I have flown over Ukraine in the past on the way to Australia.

          9. You are delusional. Russia has no intention of invading anywhere. It's pretty obvious that all you do is listen to one side and swallow the propaganda, hook, line, and sinker. You are supporting nothing but furthering the interests of Blackrock and other corrupt big business.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBpPPki-7Rc

          10. It is a strange way of not having any intention to invade somewhere by launching an invasion. I didn’t have any intention of responding to your comment, but I can’t help myself sometimes.

          11. After 7 years of Ukraine shelling the Donbass, Putin finally retaliated. But you aren’t interested in the facts are you?

          13. Nope. I’m an individual that spends hours researching and listening to alternative voices so that I don’t swallow the party liner. In other words I use my brain, you evidently don’t . Are you aware that many of the USA top generals advised against this adventurism? And obviously RFK, who obviously knows a great deal more about this than you or I do. You honestly think that generals and politicians of long standing are dupes? If so I have a bridge to sell you. Its been sold already but , no matter, that wouldn’t bother someone as unthinking as you.

            And, where is the lie about the shelling? That is a matter of fact well documented by Western as well as Russian sources

          16. I thought everything changed when the US manoeuvred a coup in Ukraine, ousting an elected president, and installed Zelensky – who proceeded to slaughter about 14,000 Russian speaking Ukrainians. Russia wanted to defend those people and so the war began. To me it seems Russia has no desire to invade the whole of Ukraine or anywhere else. Boris Johnson scuppered a truce/cease fire in the offing early on when he went to Ukraine and egged Zelensky on.

          17. Safeguarding one’s own ethnics in the Sudetenland and the Danzig corridor?

            Habeas corpus comes to mind when plucking 14,000 Russian speakers out of the air, even if some were non-combatants not actively engaged in a hostile occupation.

            When the 40,000 civilian dead and few dozen or so combatants and hostages were claimed by the Hamas news agencies, they at least had the decency to count the bodies they buried. Their killers claimed the moral high ground there, but I am always a bit suspicious of the self-righteous.

            At the start, Russia had every intention of invading the whole of Ukraine, using the same methods that worked so well in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. March a huge convoy of tanks to the capital, overtake the TV and radio studios and the presidential palace, make an announcement. Job done.

            Didn’t quite work out like that though, any more than it did in Afghanistan (nobody has ever successfully invaded Afghanistan even though many have tried). So Plan B is to knock out anything that makes life tolerable for the citizens and wait until exhaustion sets in and/or they run out of ammo and supplies. Then move in on the TV and radio studios and the presidential palace with a flag and a puppet. Takes longer, but they’ll get there in the end, because there are two things Russians have in plenty, and that is an extraordinary capacity to endure suffering and endless patience.

        3. Exactly, vw. Don't think they've seen too much of Boris Johnson in Ukraine recently, American puppet that he is. Wonder what he got out of it, from the Biden administration – and whilst we're asking that, we can ask what Biden senior and junior have got out of Ukraine, rumours are a) something to do with aluminium and b) kickbacks from the likes of Blackrock/GS.

  37. Good Morning All. 17C Raining and humid. Ordered wine online from Tanners in Shropshire yesterday lunch time
    Delivered this morning at 09.40Hrs.by APC. not bad eh.

        1. Yesterday during my long 'interview at the hospital I felt frowned at when I told them I drink a glass with my meal.
          Clearly something against the enjoyment wine as in alcohol seems to be afoot.
          I expect they'll ramp that one up as time goes by.

          1. It's a new thing, Eddy, the NHS (Nag Health Service), from Streeting. . Pretend to go along with it at the point in time, but then behave like the adult you are. (I have my own condition, btw, diagnosed as irascibility, no cure in sight as yet.)

          2. I bet you could go a long way declaring that as a 'condition'. No-one under the age of 50 would have a clue what you meant! 🤣🤣

          3. That would be a good bet. I’m coaching younger famalams…:-DD It is my sworn duty as crazy grandma….

          4. I take no notice of these people..A little often is the way. I refuse to tell them what I drink or smoke ( about 3 cigars a year.) its non of their business. I always ask why do you want to know that. .

        2. I tried switching to winebox wine, but found that it was so bland, I'd drink a lot in an evening. Tried sevral boxes in case they improved, but the same result. Then went back to bottled Chianti (Ricasoli), and the difference was enormous – it tastes! It has body, colour and character! and a bottle (with cork or screw cap) lasted 2 to 3 days! So it's cheaper per week, too!
          What's not to like?

          1. We only buy our wine from Tanners and Corney & Barrow. We gave up on the supermarkets some time ago.

          2. In Norway, we only have the Wine Monopoly who are allowed to sell alcoholic drinks over 5%.
            To be fair, though, they have a huge selection of wines and spirits (some of their wines are stupendously expensive and rare vintages), and will order in to the shop for you Their staff are the most cheerful in the entire country. I definitely approve!

        3. I tried switching to winebox wine, but found that it was so bland, I'd drink a lot in an evening. Tried sevral boxes in case they improved, but the same result. Then went back to bottled Chianti (Ricasoli), and the difference was enormous – it tastes! It has body, colour and character! and a bottle (with cork or screw cap) lasted 2 to 3 days! So it's cheaper per week, too!
          What's not to like?

        4. Very abstemious.
          I was asked whether I drank one or two litres a day by the hospital and when I replied less than a litre and generally only in the evening, they thought that wasn't too bad!

          That's France for you, but attitudes are certainly changing.

      1. Not my sot of thing. I do not drink cocktails or liqueurs. Now a glass or two of port is a different story or a single malt whisky.

    3. Good to know some things still work in the UK, Johnny. Is it because they are private enterprise? <ponders>

    4. Until recently, 0ur alcohol sales outlets were all government run with typical inefficiency. I can order online and then for an additional $12, they will deliver – in about a week if you are lucky. Strangely orders placed for store pickup take two weeks.

  38. I wonder if the media etc is trying to suggest that all tower blocks in the UK should be demolished in order to build new homes in their place and or to give sanction for thousands of homes to be allowed on green belt and agricultural land ? I wouldn't put it past them dodgy dealings.
    There are thousands of tower blocks around the world but it's strange how many seem to to catch on fire in the UK. Perhaps the 'They' should focus on that, instead of blaming the builders, the cladding companies and the fire services for turning up a few minutes late.

    1. I notice their reluctance to acknowledge that the EU climate change regulations being followed were dodgy. As for Labour's building targets, where are the raw materials and skilled labour with a small L going to come from, not to mention the water, energy etc to make them functional.

      1. EU regulations are guided by "business-friendly" influential corporate lobbyists, and any democratic accountability (actually insisted on by the Labour Government of the 1970s) is for show only, and has very little actual authority.

        Somehow those qualified to wash cars are, by magic, going to be able to build houses, without the bother of re-opening or supporting the colleges. The miracle of political thinking at work.

    2. Margaret Rothwell has written an excellent piece on today's Daily Sceptics, on this very subject. Tried to post the link, couldn't for some reason. If interested search Daily Sceptics on t'web.

    3. Also….why do they leave that morbid mausoleum standing as a bleak statue to commemrate grief…and grievance? Pull it down and build some new homes which we are constantly reminded that we need to do

      1. I used to be able to see it from my office window but there are now a couple of thousand "new homes" blocking the view. Fortunately at the moment those too are mostly hidden by the lovely leafy trees along Wood Lane which sadly will soon be shedding and White City Living as it's branded, is a very ugly development.

    4. Times change, and what was quite acceptable fifty years ago ain't so now.

      When the blocks were built, using unadorned concrete, they were a cost-effective way of housing the masses, but were quickly notorious at leaking heat in winter and being baking hot and airless in summer. Natural ventilation was also poor. This was not a problem in the 1970s, or at least before 1973, when energy was cheap and plentiful, but by the 2000s, their shortcomings were becoming obvious.

      Polyurethane foam is about the best way of insulating a home with the minimum of loss of living space and minimum cost. Look up the u-values, comparing this foam with, say, shredded paper or sheep wool, which are far more environmentally benign and fireproof, but are more expensive and take up more room. Even three inches lost to a room, not big to start with, is noticed, and fitting screws three inches longer makes quite a difference to the budget.

      However, like those expanded polystyrene tiles put on ceilings in the 1960s, they would become death traps if they caught fire. It seems that people forgot the horrors of these, and failed to use commonsense when cladding tower blocks. They presumed that PR could bury any objection and with a bit of spin, any dissenting voices could and would be silenced. It's how democracy works these days. As Margaret Thatcher once said "there is no alternative".

    3. I guess it's one way of cleaning your cat, just put it in dishwasher. Brilliant! Aim to try it with Terriers later, I may need a lie down afterwards.

  40. 239580+ up ticks,

    I do believe a repeat of the 1642 peoples actions to be the only viable action option left to the peoples, it will not be an easy task

    As 48 % of the peoples chose voluntary incarceration in the referendum joined by a mass unknown quantity of foreign " guest's.

    But I do believe the climate is right, the peoples reasoning is sound and we have charlie the third , top WEF / NEW whacko leading opposition in continuing the suppressive murderous replacement campaign against just over half of the so far right population.

    This will be the endgame IMHO.

    1. If thousands upon thousands of people were to write posts that contravened what this regime deems to be illegal but was simply the truth, then the government has a problem, they can't jail everyone and their system of oppression would breaks down.

      1. 392580+ up ticks,

        Evening JR,

        I do agree with you totally,

        Although I honestly believe that thousands upon thousands of peoples are in the hypnotic state of unbelievability and will take no action prior to the orchestrated
        debacle, only after, MAYBE.

        Prevention is better than cure is not heeded by the herd.

        1. When they bring in the easy gender recognition certificate, we should all apply for one. All the men can “become” women and all the women could “become” men. It would cause chaos. Sadly, no-one will take me up on my plan.

    1. :-DD I once asked my mother who the little girl was with my name, she asked who did I mean, I replied 'Katherine Winterfuel'….(I'll get me coat)….

        1. Sound fab, do they also have cheese filled crusts tho?……..askin for a mate….(seriously, yours better and more up to date, in fairness I was preschool, possibly three or four years old…)

      3. Sir Kier Harmer at last looked out
        On the feast of Stephen
        When the snow lay round about
        Deep and crisp and even
        Brightly shone the moon that night
        Though the frost was cruel
        When a poor sod came in sight
        Gath'ring winter fuel

        "Hither, Ange, and stand by me
        If thou knows it telling:
        Yonder peasant, who is he?
        Where and what his dwelling?"
        "Kier, he lives a good league hence
        'Neath a debt mountain
        Only the Pawnbroker fence
        Now can help sustain him…."

        "Bring me flesh and bring me wine
        Bring me Choc logs hither
        Thou and I will sit and dine
        and talk about the weather"
        Ange and Harmer, as their wont,
        Ate and talked together
        About the rude wind's wild lament
        And the bitter weather…..

        1. This is so good, Stephenroi…I think you are my husband ;-), you share the same name, and he thinks (wrongly) he is the king of all he surveys….

          1. Why thank you KJ – I for one will not disillusion your hubby as I am of course Le Roi of all I survey!

  42. Up on Free Speech just now is my article on where Israel is now, almost a year after Hamas's attack. It;s the first of a series on Israel. I'll be grateful if you read it and leave a comment telling what you think folk. Thanks.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. I made a note there, Tom. Bit garbled (nowt fresh theer as my dad would say), hope it's not too bad :-D!

        2. It’s either being monitored somewhere, or has disappeared entirely Tom. If you don’t see it in a few hours, let me know? I’ll also look for it. Not the first time, doh. Kate x

          2. Hi Tom, just had a quick read through – excellent analysis where the situation is now, and how it came about. I’ve read similarly from RfKJr about the Israeli efforts to pass on knowledge about growing crops in Palestine, I understand the Israelis were about to, or already had, set up de-salination plants, obviously vital in this regard. So, we are where we are, and what can/should happen next. I don’t think anything meaningful will happen until America and Iran re-establish diplomatic relations. Iran has been going the wrong way about this, and America (in terms of the Lobby) can do nothing towards this without Israel co-operation which they will not get as long as Netanyahu remains PM and funding remains in place thanks to the Lobby. There are some questions Israel needs to address – not least the Iron Dome and Electric Gate/fence apparently turned off. Ugly rumours are surfacing re Netanyahu seeking his personal legacy, which I really hope have no substance, and a number of historical legal cases ready to be brought against him post war settlement. I suspect the situation will limp along for some time, every so often more activity, followed by some sort of stalemate, rinse and repeat. You will know better than I the narrative re Hamas being embedded in the general Gaza population. Here again, if so, this will likely only change once some kind of rapprochement agreed between America and Iran ( back channels will surely be open btw), that’s not going to happen as long as Netanyahu remains in place, and the Lobby continues to fund him. A rock and a hard place, indeed. Finally, Tom, I have no skin in this game as many many others do including journalists, these are just my thoughts off the top of my head – essentially I agree with Trump saying ‘Stop the Killing’ which I think he referenced Ukraine (I agree with his analysis there, too) but applies equally to Israel Gaza. End of the day, as with Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Palestine will be neighbours. Sorry I’m not better informed/more knowledgeable, and I apologise if I offend anyone with my views. All the best to you Tom, keep up the writing – I always read what you write:-) Love, Kate x

          3. Do me a favour kate and try to post your comment under the article please. I want to make sure nothing is stopping you posting.

          6. Just did, again, Tom….let me know if still doesn’t appear…third time might be the charm :-DD….if it doesn’t appear, could you post it on my behalf?

            Hi Tom, just had a quick read through – excellent analysis where the situation is now, and how it came about. I’ve read similarly from RfKJr about the Israeli efforts to pass on knowledge about growing crops in Palestine, I understand the Israelis were about to, or already had, set up de-salination plants, obviously vital in this regard. So, we are where we are, and what can/should happen next. I don’t think anything meaningful will happen until America and Iran re-establish diplomatic relations. Iran has been going the wrong way about this, and America (in terms of the Lobby) can do nothing towards this without Israel co-operation which they will not get as long as Netanyahu remains PM and funding remains in place thanks to the Lobby. There are some questions Israel needs to address – not least the Iron Dome and Electric Gate/fence apparently turned off. Ugly rumours are surfacing re Netanyahu seeking his personal legacy, which I really hope have no substance, and a number of historical legal cases ready to be brought against him post war settlement. I suspect the situation will limp along for some time, every so often more activity, followed by some sort of stalemate, rinse and repeat. You will know better than I the narrative re Hamas being embedded in the general Gaza population. Here again, if so, this will likely only change once some kind of rapprochement agreed between America and Iran ( back channels will surely be open btw), that’s not going to happen as long as Netanyahu remains in place, and the Lobby continues to fund him. A rock and a hard place, indeed. Finally, Tom, I have no skin in this game as many many others do including journalists, these are just my thoughts off the top of my head – essentially I agree with Trump saying ‘Stop the Killing’ which I think he referenced Ukraine (I agree with his analysis there, too) but applies equally to Israel Gaza. End of the day, as with Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Palestine will be neighbours. Sorry I’m not better informed/more knowledgeable, and I apologise if I offend anyone with my views. All the best to you Tom, keep up the writing – I always read what you write:-) Love, Kate x

          7. Found it on my Spectator version of Disqus, Tom (go figure)…copied below. Sue E had already voted on it, so it had appeared somewhere, possibly being monitored meantime by Disqus, Israel a sensitive issue.

  43. Found out something mildly interesting this morning. Barron Trump has an I.Q. of 170 and already speaks 4 languages fluently. Clever boy.

  44. Rod L having a bit of a rant………..
    “The woman from the NCSR said this was all the consequence of a nation ‘redefining itself’ and might have added, but sadly didn’t, ‘from being an homogenous, disciplined and decent nation which once ruled a third of the globe to a fetid open sewer full of morbidly obese, illiterate, tattooed chavs, primitive and neurologically diverse jihadis, sexual perverts, Balkan pickpockets, pink-haired student activists with the IQ of an ill-maintained Indesit fridge freezer, mithering, stupid, self-flagellating, Actimel-swigging middle-class liberals, drug lords from the dusty arid wastes of what was once called Turkestan, weird and troubled men-women and women-men, and excitable hordes from the Maghreb and the Levant who have fled terror and repression in their own lands and now wish to establish both here, inshallah’.

    2. A few days ago on a tube train I found myself sitting next to a couple of badly dressed young women who were bitching about how badly one of them was treated by her boss at work. Neither could string together a grammatically correct sentence not fractured by multiple, meaningless misuses of the word "like". As I listened to them, I could only think how grateful they should be that someone had employed them, because I sure as hell wouldn't!

      1. Say nothing of the way they dress, Sue. Burbalsingh should be replicated length and breadth of the country.

    6. The fact that the Jeremy Kyle Show was watched by millions of slavering degenerates every week really underlines the fact that something absolutely terrible has happened to the British people.
      MB and I have seen some hair raising situations in our lives (age and work make that inevitable) but those shots of the show that drove an unstable man to suicide were stomach turning. The people who conceived the idea or were content to be involved in that debasing show are sick to the nth degree.
      It is obvious that the poor – spiritually as well as financially – would be the intended participants.

    1. Sunshine here, but big clouds rolling in. Nice 'n warm, though, for a change.
      Wednesday's deluge has caused a lot of damage around, and Firstborn is going to need the attention of a backhoe and a trailer of coarse gravel to fill in a new hole washed out by his little stream. The buggeration is, the rain has also finished the big part of his blackberry crop (I am at his place today to pick them, but finished very early). Might seem to be no big deal, but blackberries are VERY EXPENSIVE in Norway, and FB has a deal with the local French chef to supply. Many were washed away, many are growing fur, a few are edible.
      Buggerissimo!

  46. How TikTok fuelled the rise of Germany’s far Right. 6 September 2024.

    “Without traditional families there’s no future,” says Maximilian Krah, smartly dressed in a suit with tie and pocket square.

    “If we want to survive, if we want to have a future, if we want to be cared for in our old age and be secure, then we need children. Our own children. Because immigrants aren’t going to care for old Europeans.”

    A cruel truth. The old white indigenes are already being marginalised and impoverished by Starmer’s Marxist Regime.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/09/06/how-tiktok-fuelled-the-rise-german-far-right/

    1. WEF policy and WEF stooges have fueled the rise of the Right. TikTok and other social media not directly under government control terrifies them.

  47. Milipede is entering the realm of Alice in Wonderland
    Energy Secretary puts on his cool act, but hasn’t a real clue about how to ‘decarbonise’ the grid by 2030

    Madeline Grant
    PARLIAMENTARY SKETCHWRITER
    5 September 2024 • 7:56pm
    Madeline Grant

    I’m beginning to think that Ed Miliband might have been created as part of some sort of medieval alchemy test to distil the essence of purest cringe.

    Today he was tasked with the second reading of the Great British Energy Bill – itself named from the Bake Off school of constitutional dignity – and did so with all the heft of a stand-in geography teacher trying to get the kids “down with” igneous rocks during a rainy period 7.

    “Get this,” he lisped at the House of Commons, “the City of Munich owns more of our offshore wind than we do.”

    Wow, Daddio, get you! Even if it was delivered with the unique Milibean charm that made him so electable in 2015, this was all absolutely standard Starmerist bilge.

    “Fourteen years of [insert synonym for horror here]” the Milipede repeated again and again, each time delivering the words as if they were a hoick of phlegm he wanted to expel from his doubtless heavily congested nasal canal.

    Great British Energy wasn’t just the answer to our energy woes, it was also wildly popular with the general public.

    “I have a free idea for the not very Famous Five still left in the Tory leadership race,” he snarked. “Back an idea that voters support!” An amorphous vision is one thing, but what happens when the bill arrives?

    For all his insistence that this was the best thing since sliced Ed, Miliband’s trademark policy is already on the rocks.

    Last week he wrote a dribbling incoherent letter to the National Grid, essentially admitting that he had no real clue about how to “decarbonise” the grid by 2030.

    An incoherent letter for an incoherent policy: he might as well have sent them a guide to Apophatic Theology in Swahili.

    The Milipede has clearly been smoking whatever it was the Caterpillar had in his hookah: the more we learn about Great British Energy the clearer it becomes that we are entering the realm of policy-making by Lewis Carroll.

    Unfortunately for Ed, shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho was on hand to provide an accomplished demolition job.

    She reminded the Commons of his promise to save consumers £300 a year on their bills and various other impossible things to believe before breakfast. Coutinho mostly stuck to the lack of detail – a trickier complaint for a “Government of Grown-Ups” (™) to fend off. “This bill is four pages long. There’s barely anything in it.”

    She feared the handing over of absolute authority, and a multibillion-pound budget, to a man with little experience of investment – or indeed, anything beyond Westminster.

    Ed’s CV was allowed to speak for itself. “His only period in the private sector was as a researcher at Channel 4,” she crowed. (“That’s very poor”, harrumphed Ed.)

    Determined to continue his supply teacher impression, Miliband flew off the handle whenever someone requested the most basic clarification.

    Wera Hobhouse politely asked about private sector investment potentially being crowded out by GBE. Miliband’s eyes bulged dangerously.

    Poor Wera was accused of being a “slow learner”, an “Orange Book Lib Dem” and a free-market ideologue – all in the space of about 30 seconds.

    The Energy Secretary joins the ranks of his Cabinet colleagues who appear to be allergic to challenge. “We’re in power and questions will not be tolerated”’ is the general mantra.

    He may only have been an intern at Channel 4 but it’s clear he’s a valedictorian from the Keir Starmer School of Dishing it Out but not Taking It.

    1. He's an absolute boy isn't he, as we'll all discover this winter especially if it's a cold one. Meantime, keep an eye on your leccy bill…ouch…

    1. I would be interested in knowing how many stabbings end in death and likewise for shootings. I have the feeling from living in the USA that you are less likely to die if shot.

  50. US sees increasing risk of Russian ‘sabotage’ of key undersea cables by secretive military unit. 6 September 2024.

    The US has detected increased Russian military activity around key undersea cables, and believes Russia may now be more likely to carry out potential sabotage operations aimed at disabling a critical piece of the world’s communications infrastructure, two US officials told CNN.

    Russia has put increasing emphasis on building up a dedicated military unit, which deploys a formidable fleet of surface ships, submarines and naval drones, according to one of the officials. The unit, the “General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research,” is known by its Russian acronym GUGI.

    “We are concerned about heightened Russian naval activity worldwide and that Russia’s decision calculus for damaging US and allied undersea critical infrastructure may be changing,” a US official told CNN. “Russia is continuing to develop naval capabilities for undersea sabotage mainly thru GUGI, a closely guarded unit that operates surface vessels, submarines and naval drones.”

    That’s rich coming from the state that sabotaged the Baltic pipelines.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/06/politics/us-sees-increasing-risk-of-russian-sabotage-undersea-cables/index.html

    2. Of course they have, Araminta. We're so darned lucky they found them aren't we. Makes a change from ME I guess.

  51. Trip to Tesco in Dorchester , pouring with rain, mild 15c.

    Tesco , 12 miles away , Sainsbury Weymouth 12miles away .. very small Sainsbury and Coop in Wareham .

    During lockdown , couldn't get slot for home deliveries.. so endured the queuing outside the stores , face masks and fear of the unknown .. was that really real?

    We have just about coped with fuel shortages , Foot and Mouth , Covid and the fear of terrorism in our 25 years here in the village , so many changes and much more to come .

    I have a physio appointment later, my right leg , foot and hip are painful , sacro iliac area ..all because of lockdown and rushing around the village pavements which are rough and uneven .. during our hour of exercise .

    My left knee is now arthritic, but I am seriously worried about my leg. The quack did blood tests for clots , okay there , I think I keep dislocating my hip , I can touch my toes , but it is difficult climbing the stairs and coming back down , and getting out of the car is agony .

    I am not looking for sympathy, but have any of you had similar problems to mine?

    1. Not currently, Belle, but have sympathy anyhow, in tankerloads! Poor you!. Hope it goes over quickly.

    2. Belle, so sorry you are in pain and stressed. Why not take up yoga classes to get you out of the house for some relaxation. Let the menfolk take up some of the slack.

      They seem to have plenty of play time. Look after yourself first.

    3. You may think this is nuts but it actually worked for me on an arthritic knee, acupuncture. I was a complete sceptic but a friend was so enthused he actually paid for it and, my god, it actually worked!!! Other than that I have no experience of your other problems and so cannot comment other than my right hip keeps giving out. It aches and I assume it is a penalty of age. I should talk to the Dr about that but I will wait until I see him for other things. Really don't like to bother him.

          3. Not talking about her husband but i have had experience.

            Easier now with airtags but i know from personal experience having the mile gauge noted and then asked casually where i had been that day.

      3. My mother had a painful arthritic hip and found acupuncture gave her some relief. Her GP organised it and it was done at the York Hospital but this was quite a few years ago when we still had a family doctor.

        Edit: Just looked up the doctor in question and found his death notice. August 2022 aged just 67. I remember him as a young man in his 30s. He looked after my mum when dad died. Sad.

      4. I have made a note of that, I have a problem knee, a torn cartilage, I have had it for getting on for a year and it has not healed. I am attending for an MRI scan on Sunday at Milton Keynes to find out exactly what is the damage. I will bear your suggestion in mind.

        1. I have arthritic knees and hips plus severe degeneration of lower vertebrae. Have considered acupuncture, but not actually got around to it.

    6. Hello Belle, very sorry to read of your trouble. Sciatica (left leg) started during lockdown, so painful couldn't put my heel down, walking on my toes made me unbalanced (physically, always a bit unbalanced mentally). Seriously, tried everything – in desperation spent a small fortune on chairs/cushions/physios/books/videos etc. Bob and Brad's videos didn't help, made it worse if anything. By accident, on YouTube, came across someone who'd had a similar problem, said try Dr. Charlie Johnson, I did and that worked, two exercises take around 10-15 seconds each, still do them most days. His channel was free then, but now he charges. Might like to see what he says, otherwise I can tell you mine?

        1. It could easily be ‘mum, mine started pre-jabs – I do have jab problems, mostly memory 🙁 Whatever starts it, it’s horrible, trapped nerve pain.

      1. Indeed. They have been doing it probably since the advent of mass communications but it is interesting to learn how they are doing it now.

        1. It has been noticeable that government for many years needs new disasters and crises to justify themselves. If there isn't one they then invent one.

          3. I read his book down and out in London and Paris and also the Road to Wigan Pier. Though i might not like his politics he came across as honest.
            We no longer have honesty.

          4. You may like Animal Farm, surely recognise the characters. Something more serious try 1984, we’re there now, albeit later. Here’s an Orwell quote: ‘Those who control the present control the past and those who control the past control the future’.

          5. Yes. I didn't read that book. Though i saw the cartoon film. But i understand the concepts. It is why our history is being trashed. The long march has succeeded.

          6. I have a lot of his writing, published in one large book I bought for 50p at a car boot sale (remember them?). At the moment propping up a silverpoint, waiting for it to tarnish, may take some time..:-DD

          7. We still have car boot sales !

            Don't understand your last sentence though. What were you in for. :@)

          8. The silverpoint drawing is done with a piece of silver rather than graphite. The silver is faint at first, but gradually tarnishes with air, goes slightly more brown, very beautiful. Has to be done on different surface than for graphite. I prop it up in a corner where I can see the progress the air is making, the Orwell book is sufficiently thick to prop it up. If any interest to see what a master can do with s/point, search web for Viktor Koulbak, a Russian chap I think now living on Malta. I've been lucky to have some correspondence with his assistant, how sad am I 😀

          10. Thanks Phizzee, tried to post a link to Koulbak’s work but it was very long. If interested/have time search Koulbak silverpoint, some good examples:-)

          12. Thanks so much for this:-) I love Malta, he’s lived there for some time, previously in Paris where he lasted precisely one day trying to teach. He once visited a Russian cathedral and fainted at the splendour and beauty, had to be carried out. Perhaps these are rumours, perhaps not. One of my art heroes. Today, silveroint artists can buy a specially coated paper from Legion art company, it’s very useful – I think Viktor would dismiss it as a gimmick 😀

          13. Sure it's not Eurasia?
            We are certainly at war in Oceania – against our effing treacherous ruling class.

  54. See told you so. The evil bastard is going to off Larry.

    OPINION – What does Keir Starmer's choice of cat say about him?

    You might have heard of people who look like their dogs. But what about politicians who govern like their pets?

    Perhaps in need of a positive story to offer some much needed “little more hope”, Sir Keir Starmer has said his family has bought a Siberian kitten.

    But as an announcement to offset the “painful” Budget decisions in store, this one landed about as well with me as the time Boris Johnson tried to distract the nation by buying a dog.

    Instead, my initial feeling upon reporting on this was to feel sorry for Larry, the existing chief mouser of No. 10. Not only has Downing Street said that they have a plan to announce his death — but now Larry finds himself in danger of being replaced and usurped by a younger rival.
    Larry, however, is still very much alive and this all feels a bit like a real life version of a Family Guy episode where the Griffin family replace their dog, Brian. Poor Larry.

    Credit to Starmer, though, he did at least send himself up when he discussed how he lighted upon a rival to Larry.

    "There's been a long summer of negotiations, back and forth,” the PM told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Matt Chorley.

    "But now we've gone for — and this is agreed after long negotiations — I said we'd get in the room and sort it out — we are now getting a kitten instead of a dog.

    "This is a Siberian kitten, which is being picked up today by my daughter, and so that's where it ended up."

    Still, though he was joking, I couldn’t help but raise an eye. How much of the real Keir Starmer are we seeing here?

    The cat was the product of long negotiations and was chosen above a dog as a safer option, something unlikely to cause offence. Siberian cats don’t even trigger allergies — how boring.
    Then there is the nature of the breed of cat. “Siberian cats are typically cool, calm, and confident,” says Better Pet. It makes it sound like the type of feline who could bring you bad news; you could trust with money; which wouldn’t embarrass itself too much. It definitely wouldn’t hold a party with its cat friends after you announced on TV that having a party with cat friends is not allowed. It’s a cat that might blend in rather than set pulses racing.

    Ultimately, the Siberian kitten just feels like the least bad option. It makes me wonder if Sir Keir sealed the deal by telling his children, ‘Imagine waking up to FIVE MORE YEARS of a German Shepherd’.

    Don’t tell me that tactic hasn’t worked for Labour.

        1. Thanks John…this looks good, will read in full later (especially like the photo Tottenham Turnip)..

    2. As far as 2TK is concerned, the important thing is that it isn't a native English breed. Foreign cats are to be preferred.

  55. I've just done the equivalent of dropping over 1000 dressmaking pins over the carpet but with no magnet to pick them up! One thousand unzipped files had to be transferred to a SD Card so I could up date my car's Sat Nav. Unfortunately I dropped the files just before they reached the SD destination – The result my computer Desk top decorated with 1000+ files. I'm slowly gathering them up by placing them in the Bin – all being well I will be able to gather them up again and effect a proper transfer…. 🙁

        1. It's my problem again, speed reading and skipping over words…missed the 'equivalent'…I'll get me coat…

    2. Must be damned irritating, but you have brightened up my wait for a bit of bureaucracy on a sunny morning in Buenos Aires – thank you! 🤣🤣🤣

  56. BTL Comment from the DT:

    '1.2 million immigrants a year and politicians wonder why there's a housing crisis…
    They literally couldn't be more stupid.
    At least not unless they grew another head to keep more stupidity in.'

    2. Unfortunately it just shows the whole world what a completely smug and self centered bunch of absolute morons we are paying to ruin our country. Between them all, they have absolutely ruined our long established culture and social structure.
      It is usually known as treason.
      They should never been allowed to get away with it.

  57. Good grief, I never ever thought I would write this.
    Barnier looks a better bet than most Tories, let alone Labour.

    From an Anglo-French newspaper:
    As the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is named as France's new prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron, we look at what is known about his policies and values.

    Mr Barnier will likely be best-known to Britons for his role as the chief Brexit negotiator for the EU after the UK’s vote to leave the Union.

    However, as the new prime minister, Mr Barnier will still have the task of forming a group that can push bills through the Assemblée nationale despite having no clear governing majority.

    Based on his previous election pledges and policies – the most recent being when he ran to be the candidate for Les Républicains in the 2022 presidential election, before dropping out to support Valérie Pécresse – we can surmise that Michel Barnier’s stances on the following areas may be along these lines:

    On Europe
    Mr Barnier once said that he was in favour of “regaining legal sovereignty so that we [France] are no longer subject to the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union or the European Court of Human Rights”.

    This provoked much backlash in Brussels, where the former Commissioner was accused of “cynicism and demagoguery”.

    Mr Barnier said that on the contrary, his experience in European affairs meant that he was in a strong position to understand and criticise the dysfunctions of the EU and attempt to remedy them, “to avoid another Brexit”, he said.

    On business and work
    Reducing social security contributions, cut production taxes by €10 billion.

    He also supported pension and retirement reforms put forward, and backed the idea of raising the retirement age to 65.

    On employment and purchasing power
    Introducing a capped single social allowance, suspending unemployment benefits after two refusals of ‘reasonable offers’ and increasing the pay of those on the front line in health and education.

    On the environment
    Introducing a carbon tax at the EU's borders, and including nuclear power as part of clean energy projects.

    On immigration
    Overhauling Frontex (the EU border security agency), renegotiating the Dublin agreements (which focus on who is responsible for accepting migrants which arrive in the EU), and making the conditions for family reunification more stringent.

    When campaigning to be the presidential candidate for Les Républicains in the 2022 election, he said he wanted a national referendum on immigration to France. It is unknown if he still supports the idea of a referendum following the 2024 immigration law.

    On security
    Opening 20,000 additional prison places, reinstate the double penalty and minimum sentences.

    On rural France

    In 2022, he campaigned on the idea of selling off and privatising around €7 billion of state-owned assets 'in non-strategic areas', that would be reinvested in improved services for rural residents.

    This 'rural Marshall plan' would include high-speed internet connections, more railway lines with more frequent services, and new public service information centres, amongst other infrastructure improvements.

    LGBT rights
    Following the announcement of Mr Barnier becoming prime minister, commentators pointed to a parliamentary vote in 1981 in which Mr Barnier voted 'against the decriminalisation of homosexuality'.

    However, homosexuality was partially decriminalised by this time – the vote was on ending the disparity in the age of sexual maturity between couples of different sexes and of the same sex (which at the time was 15 and 18, respectively).

    When the vote passed (by 327 votes to 155) it effectively 'decriminalised' homosexuality by making all rules on sexual activity the same regardless of who they were conducted with – the age of sexual maturity the last remaining legal difference between straight and homosexual people.

    It is also worth nothing figures including François Fillon and former president Jacques Chirac also voted alongside Barnier against repealing the law.

    He did not take part invthe debate on marriage equality in France, as at the time he was working with the EU, and not involved in domestic politices.

    Opposition reaction: ‘The election has been stolen’
    The right-leaning career politician is not popular among left-wing MPs.

    He likely faces an uphill battle in parliament, after a group led by La France Insoumise (LFI) called for President Macron’s impeachment due to what they see as his failure to appoint a left-leaning PM.

    “The election has been stolen,” leader of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has said.

    And just before the announcement, Mathilde Panot, leader of the LFI MPs in the National Assembly, said: “[Macron] continues to see himself as an autocrat. By appointing Michel Barnier, the President is refusing to respect the sovereignty of the people and the choice made at the ballot box.”

    She called for people to move “against this coup de force, which is unacceptable in a democracy”, and reiterated calls for protests on September 7.

      1. That was exactly what he was appointed to do by Brussels, and he did it superbly.
        He even got the UK to pay for the bog-paper and wipe his arse.

        I wouldn't trust him, but on the whole his policies look relatively good.

      2. Hang on there.. the superb hard-as-nails negotiator Theresa May meekly submitted a Surrender Treaty drafted by Olly Robbins and Sabine Weyand.
        Barnier didnt even need to look at it.. Olly & Sabine had followed his instructions to the letter.

        On par with Percival's humiliation in Singapore.

        1. Ironic that Baroness Thatcher had testicular strength and had two children; Barreness May had neither ovarian nor testicular strength and was both literally and metaphorically sterile.

          1. I take exception to the implication that Theresa and Philip May's inability to have children is a character flaw on her part. It isn't even evident to me that it's Mrs May who has the medical condition to account for it.

          2. Correct. Nevertheless, voters (and selection committees) appear to have a respect or a preference for potential leaders who appear to be fecund.

          4. Correct. Nevertheless, voters (and selection committees) appear to have a respect or a preference for potential leaders who appear to be fecund.

          6. You were in your forties when you first became a parent. Did you hitherto feel that you were incomplete as a human being?
            Maybe Me and Mrs May are "fertile" yet choose to not to have children.

      3. He was sticking up for his own side which is more that anyone on our side was doing. In his view he had a job to do and if the UK was too weak and spineless to put up a proper fight it was hardly his fault.

    2. Never forget the Channel 4 Fly on the Wall documentary on the Brexit negotiations, wherein Barnier says "So, ve vill get them on Northern Ireland". Ie he was prepared to reignite civil war within the UK as a bargaining chip. (NB I cannot now find this on youtube).

      1. I’m not sure I agree with your conclusion regarding reigniting civil war.
        The Irish aspect was principally a border issue re trade and movement, rather than sectarian in nature.
        If the UK had said “fine, if that’s how you wish to play it, we’ll stop all trade and nothing can go across UK air land and shipping space” Eire would have vetoed the EU’s stance as it would have crippled their economy.

        We backed down, as always.

        1. Hear you, sos…I suspect a) there was no government plan and b) the Civil Service had a plan (a different one). In essence, never going to happen.

        2. Agreed. Considering how Ireland's economy is intertwined with ours, it would have been in their interests to try to get the EU a good deal for the UK. Instead, Varadkar chose to take the EU side.

    3. Mr Barnier said that he was sympathetic to the UK's wishes for Brexit but it was his job to negotiate for his own side.

      He was astonished at how weak his negotiating opponents were – he said that they had no passion for their cause and were not prepared to put up any sort of fight for it.

      Is it surprising that our oldest enemies (and friends) are now regarding us with total contempt?

  58. A rehashed Par Four?

    Wordle 1,175 4/6
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
    🟩🟨⬜🟨🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Par for me too. I stared at it for ages, gave up and went to get lunch then came back and the penny dropped!

      Wordle 1,175 4/6

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

    2. Me too.
      Wordle 1,175 4/6

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

    3. Yawn, aussi….

      Wordle 1,175 4/6

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

  59. Royal Society understates Net Zero cost by £500billion

    Key points from a newly published Report by TCW – September 2, 2024Net Zero Watch analysis:

    Net Zero grid will cost at least £38 billion per year to build
    Scientists have failed to correct a major error

    A key report published under the auspices of the Royal Society understated the cost of building a Net Zero electricity grid by half a trillion pounds.

    According to Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford, the error revolves around how the costs of building wind and solar farms and other equipment will change over the next 25 years. The Royal Society has used Whitehall estimates of the costs for 2040 but has applied them from the start of the build period.

    Mr Montford says that there is no doubt about what the Royal Society has done, since the basis of the figure they have calculated is clearly stated in the report. However, although the Royal Society author team has been aware of the problem for several months, they have made no correction.

    He said: ‘If the error is corrected, the cost of decarbonising the grid looks unaffordable. £960 billion is £38 billion per year, at a time when we are cutting winter fuel allowance to save less than £2 billion per year. Setting these painful facts out clearly would certainly be politically inconvenient for the Government.’

    The Royal Society report, entitled Large-scale Electricity Storage was published last year.

    3. Let's cut to the chase. Net Zero refers not to Carbon Dioxide, a benign plant food. They insist on leaving out the "dioxide" bit, and frighten us with nasty black stuff. As a carbon-based lifeform, we're the target. Net Zero Humans. Increasingly, I feel they may have a point. Admittedly, I'm quite pissed off at present, for various reasons… 😕

    1. Blimey, Paul. That's from my late teens, prolly 50 years ago. I don't remember owning or playing it, nor even liking it. Yet I knew the lyrics (not to mention the accompaniment) word/note perfect as I heard them. The human brain is amazing…

      The downside is that I now have "Liverpool Lou" as an earworm… 🙂

      1. #metoo – both the (early) teens and earworm bit.
        I’d completely forgotten about it until it popped up in Youtube… I can even see the cassette recorder and hear it’s truly awful reproduction (scratchy & automatic vibrato…).

  61. The British people are being treated as dupes and mugs!

    Cost of furnishing asylum seeker flats too ‘sensitive’ to be released, says watchdog
    Information Commissioner rules in favour of Home Office, which refused to reveal cost of furnishing Hampshire accommodation
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/06/sensitive-costs-furnishing-asylum-seeker-flats-watchdog/

    Just as they refused to release the statistics about how many violent crimes were committed by illegal immigrants.

    How can the PTB talk about FAKE NEWS and MISINFORMATION when they cannot be open with the truth themselves?

  62. A late Good Morning, chums. And thank you, Geoff, for today's NoTTLe site. Now to discuss yesterday's (Thursday's) Wordle attempt. The answer, as you will all know, was WIDEN. En route to the solution (which I did not get) I entered BIDEN, but the New York Times would not allow this as a word!?! Is this an attempt to erase Sleepy Joe from people's memories? Today I started with AUDIO in the hope that I would get a single U, and I used this to write TRUMP to see what happened – somehow it allowed TRUMP as a word, although this was not the final correct result, which I eventually got on the 5th attempt (see below). Very strange!!!

    Wordle 1,175 5/6

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

    3. #metoo, 5.
      ETA. Wordle 1,175 5/6

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

    4. #metoo, 5.
      ETA. Wordle 1,175 5/6

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

  63. The IPOC are upset about the leaking of the Manc Airport CCTV Footage to Manc Evening News.
    Of course they are..

    As for the Muzzie brothers accused of lamping the policewoman.. may as well let them off.

  64. The IPOC are upset about the leaking of the Manc Airport CCTV Footage to Manc Evening News.
    Of course they are..

    As for the Muzzie brothers accused of lamping the policewoman.. may as well let them off.

    1. I guess you mean IOPC; IPOC is sumpthin' to do with sepsis!

      However, I take your point, kowloonbhoy!

      Why do Airlines encourage investigations of 'mishaps', whilst the Police and the NHS avoid them?

      1. Because safety is a selling point for air travel (i e sorting out and preventing problems) while the police and the NHS are sacred and immune from criticism, no matter how dire their performance?

  65. I see the The Network of Sikh Orgs will fight tooth & nail in opposing any kind of "Islamophobia" definition.
    They note it will almost certainly be illegal to point out anything about age of Mohammed when he consummated his marriage to Aisha.

    They also point out they have a wonderful lived experience of Muslims..
    From about 1000 AD the Muslim Moguls invaded India leaving a trail of death & destruction. Estimates of 10 million Sikhs & Hindus murdered hold water.

    Luckily Lefties don't do history n stuff, so they will ignore.

    1. I remember in 1964 watching the full-length cartoon film "Hey there – it's Yogi Bear" ("filmed in Yogi Color"!) in which at one point Yogi sings a song (voiced by James Darren). Entranced by Yogi's singing, his little pal Boo-Boo bear says "Hey, Yogi, you sound just like James Darren!" which had me in stitches at the time.

      1. Not to worry, plenty more opportunities available.

        A 50-year-old man who is married to three wives recently celebrated the birth of his 60th child and doesn't see a reason to stop having more.

        Pakistani-born Sardar Jan Muhammad Khan Khilji finds himself struggling to make ends meet and support his large family, to say the least. He lives with his three wives and all his children in the district of Kota.

        One of the women gave birth to the man's latest son this week, whom he named Khushal. Khilji, a doctor by profession, told the local media that even as a father of 60 children "he does not intend to stop procreating" and claimed that he is looking for another wife with whom to have some more children.

        https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-728507

        I thought it must be a spoof, but it seems not

    2. HG worked in the special care baby unit in Bradford in the early 1980's.

      It was full of such cases.

      I have no doubt that it is worse now, much worse.

      1. '76 in my case, sos, also in Yarkshire. Another case, a wife had died in childbirth, he fetched her sister from Pakistan and married her to help with sister's children. Sister pregnant, obvs. England been on the skids for some time.

    3. Let’s get this right. It doesn’t ‘cost the NHS £2bn a year – it costs you and me £2bn a year.

    4. Who are we to dare to even think to criticise the wonderful culture that Islam brings to this country? Think of the diversity!

    1. Doubtless all the stamps you now hold will be useless on their own.
      It's a right royal rip-orf.

    3. Gosh, I must be old because I remember a time when Christmas Cards were more expensive than the cost of postage.

    4. Gosh, I must be old because I remember a time when Christmas Cards were more expensive than the cost of postage.

    5. It will be cheaper for us to drive down to Wales From Skeg, in the Disco, to deliver the family cards than to post them

    6. It will be cheaper for us to drive down to Wales From Skeg, in the Disco, to deliver the family cards than to post them

    7. I sent a birthday card to a small child , one of those pretty novelty 3d cards, and enclosed £20, postage cost me £2.10d .. I felt robbed , and there is no midday postbox collection either .

      2. You may well have been. The birthday cards, I and my son sent to my daughter in June, never arrived. A signed for letter in Feb to the tax people… never arrived. The service is terrible.

    8. Hmmm… Time was when I was sending in excess of 100 Xmas cards. The number is high, since – as a church organist – I receive quite a few. Last year it was down to 63. This Christmas, those with email addresses will get a virtual one. Those with a phone number may get a phone call. Those in reasonable walking distance will get one through the letter box. Those whose cards need to be posted may well be disappointed.

      1. I used to get in excess of 60 cards at Christmas. Some senders have fallen off the perch in the meantime, but even then, I tried to hand cards out when I saw people before the Festival rather than pay the postage.

    9. The Post Office has killed the business by crude overpricing.

      Henceforth, Christmas cards – unless hand-delivered – will be a nostalgic memory.

      Game over.

    10. The Post Office has killed the business by crude overpricing.

      Henceforth, Christmas cards – unless hand-delivered – will be a nostalgic memory.

      Game over.

    1. I should have noted, this account is satire. I think we may soon need something like this though!

      1. Meanwhile in Tehran, knocking off 'ayatollah-style' headwear has become a popular female pastime, Sue!

  70. 392580+ up ticks,

    If this is allowed to pass trouble free, plus the
    political / pharmaceutical alledged odious link in excessive deaths / serious life long injuries, then the indigenous adults must accept the expense of individual rough ended pineapples for some well deserved, self inflicted punishment ( a diagram will be inclusive)

    https://x.com/RupertLowe10/status/1831979941228900525

    1. Dont worry, i’m sure the public sector workers with their already-risk free pensions wont suffer!!!

      1. Our sons are sometimes working 12 hour days with no extra income for their efforts. If we leave property or savings behind for them that will all dissappear into the political void and vacuum.

    2. One of my fellow racegoers informed me today that Germany is now going to take up the Rwanda plan. Not that we'll see a penny of the money spent on the facilities the Krauts will take advantage of.

      1. I heard that today as well Conners. Are we going to be sending our invaders to Germany for processing…… of course not.

        1. I suspect that setting up an internment camp on the Falklands would have been cheaper and one Hell of a lot more daunting for gimmegrants, if they knew that they would be sent straight there on day one, for processing.

          Not much opportunity there for rape, robbing or vanishing into the local immigrant community.

          3. I thought you weren't allowed to call them Bennies.

            So more correctly referred to as: 'Stills'….(on account that they are still Bennies…)

          7. The Australia's tried off shore holding areas for illegal invaders and the invaders burnt down the premises. I believe the Ozzies left them to it.

          8. Given the rate of increase in boat people and the way it put the brakes on the Aussies got it right.

          15. Given the influx of peoples from Latin America it won't be too long before the US is completely 'Latinised'. I suspect Falkland Islanders are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the forthcoming Presidential elections and if Harris wins a bleak future may beckon…..

          16. It wouldn’t be fair on those who have made it there homes and raised their families Sos. I have ever respect for those people.

          17. True

            Put them in barracks guarded by the service personnel who are already there.
            In fact, if given the choice of Falklands or immediately go back where they came from I suspect most would choose to leave.

            I think one boatload would have had a significant deterrent effect.

  75. Evening, all. What a difference a day makes! Yesterday I needed the heating on, today, it's been sunny, warm and dry. Been at the races, meeting friends, gossiping and generally trying to avoid the nastiness in govt. I give due notice that from tomorrow until Wednesday 11th I may be offline. I'm away (again) racing (again) and may not have internet access. So don't panic if I disappear for a while. Not that i think you will, but just in case … 🙂

    1. We always panic if someone disappears for more than a few days, rest assured. Enjoy your racy hols!

      1. Thank you. By the time I come back I shall have visited ALL the mainland UK racecourses. All 60 (there are only 59 now, but I visited Folkstone before it closed).

          1. Once I've completed this quest, I shall have to find another, so maybe cathedrals would be the way to go 🙂

          2. Little joke, bit silly, soz. I never bet, family member once lost a property in a card game. I didn’t know until I bought the same property decades later.

      1. Yes, he's coming. He'll be coming racing with me. He is now a seasoned motorhomer, having been to Norfolk, Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Scotland once before already. He's also getting used to coming racing with me. This will be the third time he'll have been racing.

  76. It's a bit early for bed, but I've had quite an awkward rather unpleasant day.
    BP up and very tired. These repulsive and hideously vile political AHs we are obliged by tradition to call a govern-ment are making me very angry.
    I might even do a B. T. and take sometime off.
    Maybe. We'll see. 😏🤐 Goodnight all 😴

    2. We all feel the same Eddy, and quite honestly , here is a good forum to let off steam and show our displeasure with government .

      News papers / online or otherwise are not very truthful , news gets buried , I need to know what is going on .

      1. I totally agree TB thanks for your input.
        It’s just that my BP seems to be pretty high recently. There’s no specific reason. If I go to the Doc’s they’ll just dish out more meds and IMHO I’m already taking too many.
        Perhaps it’s just my age now. And perhaps it’s time to admit that I’m just another old fart eh.
        The age group at our golden wedding aniversery lunch, spread across 45 beings last Saturday, was from 14 months, just starting to walk, to 89 walking with a mobility frame.
        And such a variation in between.
        And the thought that none of us would have been there if it hadn’t been for at the time, two young ladies, Helen from Glasgow and Angela from Liverpool. Who moved out of the 5 bed house in Whetstone, 104 Chandos Avenue (have a look on Google earth) to Avenue Road
        Highgate and held a party. Inviting their old house mates and the other people in the other two flats at the new dwelling. Amazing how these things occur. 😉🤗

    1. I don't know why this was happening, but I feel really sorry for the bride.

      Potentially one of the best days of her life ruined.

      1. I cannot imagine why it was arranged for her to traverse such a precarious, flimsy bridge. It is one of those situations which you fear will happen, actually does – the thought being father to the deed. And the groom didn’t know what to do with the bouquet, whether to hang on to it or rescue the bride. I must admit my laughter was sympathetic, there but for the grace of God go all of us, one way or another.

    1. He's fine, Sos. He and his partner went off on Monday for around ten days for a break. He will be back on here early next week.

  79. Just had a Telegraph item drop into my screen about how Private School Parents may pull out and overload the local State Schools.

    But one BTL comment, from Robert Anthony, was illuminating:

    Robert Anthony
    1 min ago
    My wife is a member of a Facebook group dedicated to resisting this proposed policy. A couple of people in the group are saying that private schools (in Surrey) have been contacted by Surrey council which is enquiring whether those (private) schools have space to take state school kids (ie Surrey council will pay the fees!). Apparently there is no space in the local state schools so the council is having to consider other ways of getting the surplus kids educated!

    Reminds me of the Private Hospitals that were contracted to help out during the Covid fiasco, and were grossly under-used.

        1. Not in America, whilst they can still make money out of crazy cases, sos. But it would be a good thing.

          1. In this instance it’s not the crazy class action damages cases that I’m bothered about, good luck to the plaintiffs and their lawyers.

            What I object to is the way that politicians and people of “the right” are being hounded through the courts on spurious lawsuits, purely on political grounds. It seems to me that the “Left” are particularly keen to use this route to silence their opponents.

  81. Just an update on my physio session .. Brilliant .. and even though still have a painful hip/leg, the verdict is that I have a back problem .

    Lumbar spinal stenosis occurs when the spinal canal in your lower back narrows, placing pressure on nearby nerve roots. It can be caused by the formation of bone spurs, thickening of a nearby ligament or degeneration of a lumbar disk or joint.

    The physio examination was methodical and thorough , and I now have a set of exercises to practise .. and one thing I mustn't do is put my legs up on the Stressless foot rest .. that is the worst thing I have been doing , lifting and standing around isn't helpful either .

    The real pain came on during that hot spell , I was carrying watering cans and buckets of water to replenish the pot plants .. blinking nuisance this peat ban .. plants needed watering more often , especially the hydrangeas etc.

    Yes we have hose pipes , but the hot weather also made my legs uncomfortable so had to elevate my legs..
    The physio was shocked that I had had the initial pain for four years ..

    I have another physio appointment next week , I feel a lot happier now knowing the problem it isn't my hip.

  82. Just an update on my physio session .. Brilliant .. and even though still have a painful hip/leg, the verdict is that I have a back problem .

    Lumbar spinal stenosis occurs when the spinal canal in your lower back narrows, placing pressure on nearby nerve roots. It can be caused by the formation of bone spurs, thickening of a nearby ligament or degeneration of a lumbar disk or joint.

    The physio examination was methodical and thorough , and I now have a set of exercises to practise .. and one thing I mustn't do is put my legs up on the Stressless foot rest .. that is the worst thing I have been doing , lifting and standing around isn't helpful either .

    The real pain came on during that hot spell , I was carrying watering cans and buckets of water to replenish the pot plants .. blinking nuisance this peat ban .. plants needed watering more often , especially the hydrangeas etc.

    Yes we have hose pipes , but the hot weather also made my legs uncomfortable so had to elevate my legs..
    The physio was shocked that I had had the initial pain for four years ..

    I have another physio appointment next week , I feel a lot happier now knowing the problem it isn't my hip.

      1. That is where my pain is , Conway, Sacroiliac joint , but there in is the story of nerve irritation and pain, either moderate nagging pain or a real flare up .

        1. Sacroiliac joint pain is not in your groin. It's to the left or right of your coccyx (depending on which side is affected – in my case, it's my left).

          1. My right side rear cheek near coccyx, thigh , behind knee, pain front shin, calf and down to foot .

            I can still touch my toes though , standing up, but have great difficulty climbing stairs and coming down

          2. This sounds very much like the pain my husband had before he finally decided he could go on no longer, and had replacement hip operation. No pain since. Good luck, Belle.

          1. Prior to hip replacement, husband was on that for pain relief. Was OK at first, but body gets use to meds, had to finally admit he couldn't go on and went for operation.

    3. Belle, delighted about your physio! Quite a relief for you after so long!
      Do you have a Home Bargains or B&M anywhere near you, or somewhere else who stock Westland compost products? They are peat based and I find them very good for pots and seeds.

      1. Thank you Sue , yes there is a B+M in Weymouth , I will investigate them .

        All the garden centres are moaning about the new rules , and funny that the Welsh and Scots can burn peat and use it for gardening but some Woke government twerp is anti gardening and hasn't a clue .

        1. Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) has confirmed that while some peat-containing products will be banned from shelves in 2027, others will be exempt from a ban until 2030. This means that for some professional growers, peat use will still be permitted for the next seven years.
          It really should be available!
          Edit: that was published in 2023!

        2. Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) has confirmed that while some peat-containing products will be banned from shelves in 2027, others will be exempt from a ban until 2030. This means that for some professional growers, peat use will still be permitted for the next seven years.
          It really should be available!
          Edit: that was published in 2023!

  83. Heaping misery upon misery…

    "Parents have been asked to provide evidence they can no longer afford private school fees to secure a place at a state school.
    An email sent out by Buckinghamshire council, seen by The Telegraph, showed a mother being told her daughter had been rejected by two local secondary schools because “they are full”.
    She was then asked to prove her financial situation in order for her daughter to be considered for another school in the area.
    The mother, who asked not to be named, had applied for a place at two schools via the council’s online portal amid fears she could be priced out of her daughter’s private school by the Government’s VAT raid.
    The email from Buckinghamshire council said: “Unfortunately we cannot offer any places at your preferred school/s as they are full”.
    The email continued: “In this circumstance, we would normally advocate that [the child] should remain at their current school. However, if you can provide evidence that you can no longer finance the independent school fees, please advise and we can make a local authority non-preference allocation.”

    All children in England between the ages of five and 16 are legally entitled to a free place at a state school.
    The Government’s school admissions code also states that in some cases, local authorities may seek supplementary information from parents if schools are oversubscribed.
    However, the code states that councils must not ask for information relating to a family’s financial status, criminal convictions, language ability, disabilities or medical conditions.

    Buckinghamshire council’s website claims it has received a “large number of applications” for schools in Aylesbury and High Wycombe, and that schools are currently oversubscribed."

    1. By that token why are they not means testing all parents and insisting that those with sufficient marginal income should send their children privately, particularly those whose children attend Grammar Schools.

      And by marginal income I include expenditure on holidays, new cars, fancy clothes etc etc that parents who send their children through the private sector sacrifice.

    2. Utterly disgusting. I hope most of them home educate or go abroad for their children's education (as we did).
      Personally I would (read: did!) move heaven and earth to avoid the British state system.

  85. Not much you can do with the sacroiliac joint. May eventually get my knees done but at the moment, I've been referred back to my GP (who has probably lost the paperwork) to be referred to a consultant to be looked at with a view to going on the waiting list of 18 months +.

    1. Ah sorry, just typed in sacroiliac joint op, seemed to come up with a couple of options (AI strikes again, perhaps). Husband decided on his when consultant showed him the x-ray, he then asked consultant about private op, borrowed and that's what he did. Worth every penny for the ability to live without pain. First thing he did when allowed normal activity was back on tractor. Go figure…:-D

      1. In the past i have had steroid injections which helped. Cash strapped Salop has told me that if I want that I have to cough up 4 grand. I told them what to do with it. I also told them what to do with the "mindfulness" programme they suggested!

          1. That's the one. The subtext is, we can't afford to treat you; you've paid in all your working life. We're spending too much on new arrivals who've contributed nothing.

          1. I don't have that much free cash to keep paying for treatment (that isn't a permanent cure and only offers temporary relief).

    2. Correction, big apologies all round – he's now telling me he didn't go privately but thinks possibly jacked up the list because he was so bad. He was actually put into a private ward for recovery (flowers, own bathroom, very quiet). Tells me he asked the consultant cost of going privately, was told around £10k.

  86. A BTL from today's Letters Page

    Never mind wasps. While filling my log shed to the gunwales, I found that European hornets had taken up residence.

    An analogy of life in UK?

    1. European hornets are long established in the UK and of little concern. It is the Asian species that is the predator of bees.

      2. And what happened to the red squirrels when the grey squirrels were introduced into England?

    3. I hope they are correct.
      Asian hornets have a propensity to choose such locations and the queens are particularly keen to over-winter in wood piles.

    4. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      Why is no one marching against VAT on school fees?
      Comments Share
      How passively we respond to revelations of Labour’s real direction of travel. As millions of pensioners brace for the confiscation of winter fuel payments and other Budget tax raids, shouldn’t they be pinning on their medals, raising their banners and marching down Whitehall – alongside columns of private school parents, furious at the imposition of VAT on fees? Yet so far barely a whimper of protest, as though those affected are racked with guilt at having kept the Tories in power for so long.

      In response to the school-fee fait accompli, Eton with its mile-long waiting list will hit parents with a full 20 per cent VAT hike from January, taking the annual cost per pupil to £63,000. The Girls’ Day School Trust, representing 23 schools, will hold the increase to 12 per cent (£20,000 for day pupils) by squeezing pre-VAT fees. As 2,500 other schools fall into line, parents must either pay up or give up their aspirations for their offspring. But as the last VAT-free term begins, there’s still a moral case to be made against this Corbynist measure and plenty to play for before the legislation passes. So here’s my question sheet for your Labour MP.

      If parents are admired for spending taxed income on piano lessons or maths tuition for their children, how can it be acceptable to penalise them for paying fees? Isn’t there a principle that essential goods – food, medicine, books, children’s clothing and hitherto education – are not subjected to consumption taxes such as VAT? Indeed, wasn’t the only known example of a tax on school fees, in Greece under the hard-left Syriza regime in 2015, swiftly scrapped as a disaster?

      Then again, how fair is it that only 8,000 pupils with ‘education, health and care plans’ will be exempt from VAT while 100,000 others with special needs, and indeed whole specialist schools providing for them, will not? Shouldn’t someone take that straight to the European Court of Human Rights? And why argue (as the Adam Smith Institute did last week) over Labour’s thin-air fiscal arithmetic, which says £1.7 billion raised will fund 6,500 new teachers? Since it’s going to happen anyway, why not insist that the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility make the experiment totally transparent? Count the tax collected, then deduct a cost per pupil for transfers from private to state and an estimate of tax revenues lost from private school closures. Declare the real net sum raised over the next four years, track how many new teachers are funded by it, and publish the audited result ahead of the next general election. That way we’ll know whether the VAT grab was a worthwhile transfer from the advantaged to the less advantaged – or a worthless exercise in class warfare.

      1. Nothing really matters. The collective policies of the western governments have ordered the transfer of billions from the middle class to the oligarchs. Many local businesses have been ruined, millions of formerly prosperous middle class are put out of work and seeking alternative careers.

        In addition the UK is exposed to the degradation in the quality in those overseas visitors allowed to work here. Productive European workers have been alienated and instead we now have an excess of useless and wholly inadequate imports from Africa and other failed Third World countries.

        These imported men sit on their haunches in the shade of a tree and expect their women to go fetch for them. This method or modus operandi does not import so well into an industrialised society where women are equal and treated with respect.

        We are allowing oil to be mixed with water. The two are incompatible.

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