Saturday 14 September: Starmer needs to realise that blaming the Tories is not a plan for government

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

491 thoughts on “Saturday 14 September: Starmer needs to realise that blaming the Tories is not a plan for government”

          1. I lived in Minnesota when I was small. The winters were harsh but the summers were magic.
            My son lives in California so when I go to North America it’s the Pacific Ocean.
            But I still dream about the lakes and forests.
            Enjoy the rest of the summer.

    1. Does this mean he actually understood a joke, or even more unbelievable, he cracked a joke? Must be fake news.

      1. Reminds me of all those eager beaver North Koreans frantically noting down the Dear Leader's every thought and feverishly laughing at his jokes.

    1. He doesn't want to upset people by wearing leather. However, I have an ounce of sympathy because after a long flight, his feet may be temporarily swollen and foreign leather shoes seem to be designed for pixies.

      1. I only wear leather shoes and leather lined if I can find them. Leather is far more sustainable than synthetics that do not breath no matter what they tell you. Leather Vs plastic I know what I prefere.

  6. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for Saturday's NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,183 4/6

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    1. A stroke of luck here…..

      Wordle 1,183 2/6

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      1. Me too. What are the odds?

        Wordle 1,183 2/6

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      1. Catty Common Rooms
        On the Staff side, my late wife was Head of Biology at several schools: Comprehensive, Girls' grammar and Private ones. She was later a Supply Teacher and said that the worst Common Rooms were the all-female ones, and that the ones with a mixed bunch that included a number of male teachers were a lot less catty and cliquey.

      2. Catty Common Rooms
        On the Staff side, my late wife was Head of Biology at several schools: Comprehensive, Girls' grammar and Private ones. She was later a Supply Teacher and said that the worst Common Rooms were the all-female ones, and that the ones with a mixed bunch that included a number of male teachers were a lot less catty and cliquey.

  9. Seven men jailed for sex abuse of girls in Rotherham. 14 September 2024.

    The agency said Mohammed Amar, Mohammed Siyab, Yasser Ajaibe, Mohammed Zameer Sadiq, Abid Saddiq, Tahir Yassin and Ramin Bari were jailed on Thursday and Friday for the offences which were committed between April 2003 and April 2008.

    The length of the sentences is not given and one doubts in the present climate of political repression that they will serve any time at all.

    N.B. No comments allowed.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/13/seven-jailed-rotherham-child-sex-abuse-operation-stovewood/

    2. Doesn't the tariff depend on the respective protected status under Diversity, Equality & Inclusion rules? Black – tick; Muslim – tick; Male – not tick; Heterosexual and Binary – not tick.

      As for the victims – Female – tick; Children – tick; White – not tick; Heterosexual and Binary – not tick.

      On balance, perhaps average sentence ten months, reduced to four under the Early Release scheme.

    6. That’s still only an average of 14 years. Take time off in custody and for “good behaviour” and I bet they are back on the streets in 4 years.

    1. Commentators should vent their anger at 'the powers that be'.. that persist with this grand social engineering experiment.

      As David Starkey says.. "they believe the moment Mohammad sets foot on our soil.. they instantly want to drink coca cola, wear short skirts and watch reruns of Friends."

        1. Whilst this is a problem for the immigration services of Canada and any other Western nation where this is happening, given the oppressive nature of Pakistani culture, does anyone blame these women at all?
          Highly intelligent, better educated than many of their compatriots, they will have seen how much better are the opportunities open to women of their standing in the West than compared to their home society.
          In the long run, Canada may actually benefit from these women coming in.

          1. Yes Bob, we agree.

            Funny how so many Western countries wish to emulate the way of life in Pakistan though.

    3. In which case he must go and live in a land where Allah's law holds sway. This not in Italy – and not yet in the UK – but how long before it does?

  12. 393016+ upticks,

    Talking of domineering fingers bare in mind if the kneeling tools finger is anywhere the nuclear buttons he is in, thanks to tactical voting, position to give culling a major,major boost.

  13. Morning all! Sense of time upside down again after a rather enjoyable night of dancing, during which I won a couple of tickets to a cabaret tonight, which should be fun – so, given that it appears, unaccountably, to be approaching 4 a.m. again, I am going to shut this silly phone down, wish you all a pleasant day, and see if I can manage to get some sleep.

    (You'd think that dancing for pretty much seven hours in a day would guarantee sleep, but my fiendish mind has other ideas… 🤣🤣)

  14. We thought this is important, so we repeat it:

    What worries us is the continual mischievous brinkmanship played by Starmer and Lammy over Ukraine.

    Sooner or later they're going to get it wrong and really bad things will happen.

    As there appears to be a large pro-Russian standing army of young men from the Middle East already in this country we

    wonder whether our small and demoralised military can keep the peace here, let alone get involved in an European war?

    Does anyone else think about this possibility?

    1. Putin has given us a clear warning: if we sanction the use of our long-range missiles, we shall be de facto at war with Russia . . .

      2. It is reported that he said “tantamount” to war – that leaves a lot of wriggle room. Going to war with a third party because they provided weapons to your enemy would cause most of the world to be at war with each other.

    2. The whole thing is a set up by the neo Cons to start WW3 . Ukraine must be left as a buffer state between Europe and Russia. The EU should never have tried to bring Ukraine into its evil Empire.

  15. Good morning everyone.
    About the Lucy Letby / NHS saga.
    Three days ago there was a BTL comment (Telegraph or Mail?) in which a person with knowledge of arithmetic and access to statistics posted that he (she) would make it really simple for the readers, by showing what happened using a table of numbers and averages.
    Irritatingly for NTTL readers, I failed to copy & paste.
    To summarise from memory, at the Countess of Chester hospital, neonatal deaths were shown as being typically between one and four babies per year over a period of years. Rounded, that's an average figure of 2 babies per year.
    When Nurse Letby was working on the neonatal unit, in 2015 there was an increase to 15 (?) deaths.
    Next year, 2016, there were 12 deaths.
    However, of those 12 in 2016, 6 deaths occurred after Ms Letby was transferred elsewhere.
    Here is the sting: even if you remove Ms Letby's murders & attempted murders, the 2016 statistics show that the death rate (6 babies) was THREE TIMES the long term average. After that, the neonatal unit was downgraded and vulnerable babies (premmies I suppose) were sent to other hospitals.
    My summary is vague enough to make Stig choke on his cornflakes, but 'When there is doubt, there is no doubt'.

  16. Good morning all,

    Blue skies with some tell-tale signs of chem-trailer activity at Castle McPhee, wind South-West, 7℃ going up to 18℃ later so a tad warmer than of late.

    Not worried about Starmer, Lammy and Storm Shadows? You should be. Let Tim Davies explain.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDwZXiuNZw0

  17. Morning all 🙂😊
    That's better a cuppa consumed and not a cloud in the sky (yet) calm and quiet. Two maggies perched on a neighbours new roof areiels. Steam emitting from a gas boiler and a noise from nearby agricultural land.
    And let's face the facts apart from being viciously vindictive towards the long established culture and social structure of the country, slagging off the opposition is all the labour party have. But I must say that the tory government were not listening to public opinion. As is usually the case with all of our useless political classes.

      1. How kind of the DT to provide free-of-charge front-page publicity for his book. I shall waste no time in reading it.

      2. Absolutely right Ellie.
        Most if not all are Habitual and pathological liars, greedily scooping up what they refer to as ‘expenses”.
        Including heating.
        Costing the taxpayers billions, whilst ignoring our opinions.
        Self opinionated self serving arrogant and over all useless bastards.

      3. I would have thought that being head of the 22 Committee would require a degree of discretion and confidentiality. Calling his memoirs "Kingmaker: Secrets, Lies, And The Truth About Five Prime Ministers” is too pompous for words.

  18. Good morning all.
    Not a particularly brilliant night's sleep, I've woken up still feeling bloody knackered, so that trip to Stoke is off, I've done too much driving this past week.
    A bright morning with a thin cloud cover that's kept the temperature up to a somewhat less cold 6½°C and forecast to stay dry so I might get some logging done.

  19. The left’s insatiable appetite for cruelty
     https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-lefts-insatiable-appetite-for-cruelty/

    This article tells us what we already know: that the left are cruel and evil. Starmer, Reeves and Cooper are not normal human beings – they are subhuman!

    A poster called Bonce posted this BTL under the article
    There does seem to be a trend.

    *Punching the air at pro-abortion protests and banning silent prayer outside abortion clinics. *Using covid to roll out the home abortion kits which led to the record ever year for abortions, leading to the statistics being discontinued in 2022.
     *Progressing official assisted dying laws.
     *Progressing unofficial assisted dying laws via cutting winter fuel allowance.
     *Forcing untested ‘vaccines’ on the entire population.
     *Forcing hard lockdowns including shutting down of the NHS on the population.
     *Forcing unvetted criminal migrants on populations leading to incidents like Southport.
     *Responsible for the Liverpool care pathway.

    The trend is difficult to deny.

    1. As Winston Marshall (son of Sir Paul, now owner of the Speccie) pointed out on Thursday, since Marx all socialist regimes have committed mass murder. It didn’t go down well but it’s true.

      1. I don't think I'd want to see the army on our streets but the way things are going it might be the only option. It seems our government are turning our country into 1970s Belfast.

        1. That's why successive governments have reduced the size of the army, now outnumbered by the illegals.

        2. My crurrent book, “Between Extremes” by John McCarthyism and Brian Keenan follows their travels in Chile. Published in 1999. I was doing the same thing there in early 1997.

          In the book they are obsessed with Pinochet and how evil he was, yet find the Chileans much more relaxed about him – even supportive of him.

          I remember I happened to be in Valparaiso at the same time that he was visiting. The atmosphere was incredible – and tense. Real extremes of opinion on show. I was 29 at the time and knew nothing. I remember making a conscious decision to boycott the parade (I confess to having been got by the propaganda about him).

          I wish I hadn’t now. But we were all programmed to view him as evil in those days. I’m not saying he was a saint. But neither was Allende.

          1. Chile was an outpost of the Cold War. Allende may have been elected (but only just in a very tight contest), was backed by the Soviets and rapidly turned the country into a basket case. It had been, by South American standards, relatively prosperous and peaceful. It was anything but peaceful when law and order broke down in the economic chaos. Allende had trade union leaders imprisoned because he saw them as too close to the 'capitalist bosses' when they were, by and large, sensible and co-operative.

            Unsurprisingly, the USA backed Pinochet and the army. It didn't want another Marxist state on its side of the world.

        3. My crurrent book, “Between Extremes” by John McCarthyism and Brian Keenan follows their travels in Chile. Published in 1999. I was doing the same thing there in early 1997.

          In the book they are obsessed with Pinochet and how evil he was, yet find the Chileans much more relaxed about him – even supportive of him.

          I remember I happened to be in Valparaiso at the same time that he was visiting. The atmosphere was incredible – and tense. Real extremes of opinion on show. I was 29 at the time and knew nothing. I remember making a conscious decision to boycott the parade (I confess to having been got by the propaganda about him).

          I wish I hadn’t now. But we were all programmed to view him as evil in those days. I’m not saying he was a saint. But neither was Allende.

    2. The Southport incident was not perpetrated by an unvetted criminal migrant. His parents were migrants but I've yet to see it reported that they were unvetted criminals. Then again, perhaps the claim refers to incidents like Southport, not Southport itself.

      As for the vaccines, they were tested, perhaps not adequately enough, but they were tested.

      I've not found anything about abortion statistics being discontinued. Public Health Scotland has already published the 2023 figures. Why the England and Wales figures for last year are not yet available, I do not know.

      https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics-year-ending-december-2023/#:~:text=Termination%20rates%20in%20Scotland%2C%202014%20to%202023&text=The%20rate%20of%20terminations%20in,rate%20rose%20again%20to%2017.6.

    1. The Biden that Starmfuehrer found perfectly compos mentĂ­s a week before the Democrats pulled him from view?

  21. Dear God! Why were she and her husband not deported?
    Teacher smuggled girl into UK to be her slave – and hid conviction from school
    Ernestina Quainoo, 53, taught children aged between five and seven until December 2022

    Telegraph Reporters
    13 September 2024 • 7:54pm

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/26a11eb0efc29aa274c67b243bd875b86a2dae943cd86955f305b4dec557f657.jpg

    A primary school teacher has been barred from the classroom after it was revealed she helped smuggle a 14-year-old African girl into Britain to act as her “slave”.

    Ernestina Quainoo, 53, was sentenced for her crime in 2008 but failed to disclose her previous conviction to Cherry Lane Primary School in West Drayton, London, before taking up a teaching role in 2019.

    She taught children aged between five and seven until December 2022, when a colleague received an old newspaper clipping divulging her criminal past.

    Following a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) investigation, Ms Quainoo has been banned from teaching for her actions, which went against “the very core of her practice”.

    Ms Quainoo moved to the UK from Ghana with her husband, Samuel Quainoo, in 2004.

    The pair managed to smuggle a 14-year-old African girl into the country, promising her that she would receive an education and a job, a court heard in 2008.

    The girl was instead subjected to 18 months of unpaid labour that left her contemplating suicide.

    ‘My other name is bitch’
    She was forced to cook, clean the house and babysit the couple’s two young sons, while the couple bought her T-shirt to wear with “my other name is bitch” printed on them.

    The pair kept the girl isolated, preventing her from going to school and forming friendships.

    Falling ill, the girl fled to find medical aid and subsequently escaped, later telling police and social workers that she had contemplated suicide.

    Mr Quainoo is said to have told the police that the girl had cast a “voodoo” spell on them.

    Mr Quainoo, who had a previous conviction for false accounting, was jailed for 18 months and his wife was given a two-year suspended sentence for assisting unlawful immigration into the UK.

    Mrs Quainoo resigned from her role in February but her former employers referred the matter to the TRA.

    The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act affords those with spent convictions and cautions the right not to have to disclose when applying for most jobs.

    ‘Cultural differences’
    However, the teaching panel heard that Mrs Quainoo’s conviction was not protected under the act.

    Teaching watchdogs were informed that Mrs Quainoo had initially denied having any convictions and later declared to the school that she had committed an immigration offence.

    In her disclosure statement, Mrs Quainoo explained: “Due to my inability to demonstrate that she [the individual] was a member [of] the family, I was charged with assisting her unlawful entry into the UK on 11th July, for which I pleaded guilty as I completely misunderstood the cultural differences that exist between the two.”

    Sue Davies, who chaired the TRA hearing, said: “The panel concluded that the information Mrs Quainoo provided on the application form when she answered ‘no’ to that question was not correct.”

    However, the panel ruled there was not enough evidence that she had deliberately lied and therefore found a dishonesty allegation not proved.

    Mrs Davies added: “At the time, the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance did not require that an internet search of candidates was undertaken.

    “The panel accepted that the school chose to still employ Mrs Quainoo on the basis of the disclosure statement and the DBS check giving them no reason to believe the offence might have been in relation to a child.”

    The panel described a lack of further investigation from the school as “regrettable”.

    Banning the former teacher from the profession for two years, Sarah Buxcey, head of the TRA’s teacher investigation unit, said that Ms Quainoo’s past actions went against the “very core of her practice as a teacher with a duty of care towards children”.

    She added: “A prohibition order would therefore prevent such a risk from being present in the future.”

    2. The State of Ghana whence she came should be ordered to pay billions of pounds in compensation for slavery.

    3. Phew !

      They managed to avoid being deported.

      Once he gets out of prison they can continue on the gravy train.

    4. 'cultural differences'
      Her time in the British education system clearly taught her what to say to excuse her actions. Not sure I would want her teaching my child two years from now either.

    5. "Banning the former teacher from the profession for two years, Sarah Buxcey, head of the TRA’s teacher investigation unit, said . . ."

      How cruel, two years before she can resume lying and indoctrinating choggies with anti-white hatred. Is there no end to the persecution of the down-trodden, diversity improving immigrants who have sought sanctuary in this land of white luxury and riches?

    6. "Banning the former teacher from the profession for two years, Sarah Buxcey, head of the TRA’s teacher investigation unit, said . . ."

      How cruel, two years before she can resume lying and indoctrinating choggies with anti-white hatred. Is there no end to the persecution of the down-trodden, diversity improving immigrants who have sought sanctuary in this land of white luxury and riches?

  22. Perhaps, one day.. Normies will get organised like Leftie activists and seize the moment that will become a defining moment.. like Rosa Parks.

    For instance, instead of banging on about "Mohammed & Yasser stealing her childhood" at yesterday's Sheffield court impact statement reading.

    Why not seize the moment, knowing that the judge won't interrupt and with the press present she reads aloud..
    "Shame on that evil bostard Sir Keir Starmer for turning a blind eye. Shame on the cowardly BBC for their absense. Shame on the pathetic College of Policing for for not protecting me. If these shameless bostards allowed hundreds of thousands of their children to be tortured, raped and killed.. then these bostards like Sir Keir, like the ginger gobble queen will stop at nothing. Beware. They will lie. They will jail you. They have no qualms about anything."

      1. TR needs to stay away from the UK, what is now effectively a police state with several mini-sub Islamic states within.

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

    Statistic

    THIS IS A FRIGHTENING STATISTIC, PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST WORRISOME IN RECENT YEARS.
    25% of the women in this country are on medication for mental illness.
    That's scary. It means 75% are running around untreated.

    1. I might suggest that most women of childbearing age are out of kilter for a few days each month.

    2. I have argued in favour of this for some time. It is one remedy to the Laffer Curve problem I have long believed to be at the core of why Government cannot balance its books, however much it cuts and makes "hard decisions" on public services deemed essential by the electorate or the law.

      Unlike the Iron Curtain, the wealthy are free to leave when they wish, and may seek their fortune elsewhere, if they feel this is right for them. However, money made whilst benefiting from national infrastructure here, stays here until fair compensation is applied in the form of taxation.

      I must pay a heavy tax if I sell assets that have appreciated in value, even if this is only because the value of the pound has plummeted, giving a paper profit that is none the less taxed punitively. Why should those less loyal to the country be spared?

      1. If I make a 10% gain on an investment when the inflation rate has been 10% is it fair for me to have to any CGT on it when I have made no capital gain?

        Governments' ideas about morality – and what is and what is not sheer theft – are very different from mine!

        1. Quite. CGT lost its index-linking in 1965 under the Wilson Government. It was restored under Thatcher in 1982, but withdrawn again in 2008 by the Brown Government in response to the Great Fraud of that year, and has not been restored since. It is quite unfair not to index-link Capital Gains Tax. The pound has halved in value since the Great Fraud.

      2. It is a stupid tax as the example I give above demonstrates. The wealthy leave and it results in the state being poorer as they take their business, and therefore jobs with them. But then, Socialists in the mentality that they use to justify grabbing other peoples resources to waste on their ideologically driven stupidity, are not known for their intelligence or insight into human nature. The result in California is destroyed and lawless cities.

        1. There is a balancing act here. If the benefits of using British infrastructure outweigh the costs, then it is worth staying put, whatever the State claims in tax.

          It is beholden on any British Government that this infrastructure be both efficient and cost-effective, using whatever mechanisms that work best. Unlike some others here, I do not rule out socialism if it compares well to what is being offered by Free Market capitalism. Nor do I rule out the opposite. Horses for courses.

          However, there are many instances of unfair competition, whereby some unscrupulous people snout in the profits and pass on the risks, the costs and the liabilities to their hapless competitors, relying on them being too weakened to fight back. This is where the global free market breaks down, and protectionism takes hold for self-preservation.

          1. Well then, it is obvious that what they are doing is an abject failure because nothing is working and thus there is no reason to stay if you have the means to leave. Unless you are the sort of person that realizes that our country and culture is being destroyed and thus you chose to stay and fight. But that requires an honest assessment of what is going on and who the enemy is. That, unfortunately, means the government, either Labour or Conservative, and the realization that we have an enemy in our midst that the government is aiding and abetting for its own reasons. Reasons which do not harmonize with the wishes of the native people of Great Britain, reasons that also aim at the eradication of our culture. Our enemy, as symbolized by government, is infected with a loathing of Britain and especially England that Orwell so eloquently spoke about and thus happily colludes with a foreign ideology to get rid of that which they so despise.

          2. Well then, it is obvious that what they are doing is an abject failure because nothing is working and thus there is no reason to stay if you have the means to leave. Unless you are the sort of person that realizes that our country and culture is being destroyed and thus you chose to stay and fight. But that requires an honest assessment of what is going on and who the enemy is. That, unfortunately, means the government, either Labour or Conservative, and the realization that we have an enemy in our midst that the government is aiding and abetting for its own reasons. Reasons which do not harmonize with the wishes of the native people of Great Britain, reasons that also aim at the eradication of our culture. Our enemy, as symbolized by government, is infected with a loathing of Britain and especially England that Orwell so eloquently spoke about and thus happily colludes with a foreign ideology to get rid of that which they so despise.

    3. I wonder if he got the idea from Gov. Newsome of California. People with money have been fleeing the state, Musk, Joe Rogan, Dave Rubin among them . Newsome imposed an exit tax because with them went billions of dollars. Musk alone was paying out $2 billion to the state.

    4. Exit Checks
      In 1969-70 my wife and I worked in a hospital in Albany, upstate New York. At the time we were allowed by Harold Wilson's government to take just ÂŁ50 each out of the country. Luckily my brother was living in Oregon and had a UK bank account, so I deposited a reasonable sum there and he sent me US Dollars after I arrived in USA.

      But when we left after 12 months, I had to have a certification that I had settled all State debts (in this case 2 outstanding parking tickets) before being allowed to exit. So it's not a new idea.

      2. The very wealthy will manage to get round things – they always do. Most of their wealth probably isn't in this country anyway.

      3. The very wealthy will manage to get round things – they always do. Most of their wealth probably isn't in this country anyway.

  25. I like the DT’s Michael Deacon’s lighthearted take on the news. He has this one spot on.

    The real problem with reparations
    The clamour is growing. During a visit to London this week, politicians from three African countries argued that their peoples should be paid reparations for the transatlantic slave trade. According to the Guardian, Shirley Botchwey, the foreign minister of Ghana, said: “Financial reparations is good.”

    No reasonable person could possibly deny that the slave trade was barbaric. When politicians demand reparations, however, there’s a question they tend to overlook. Which is: how exactly did European slave traders acquire these African slaves in the first place?

    The answer is somewhat awkward. They often bought them from Africans.

    As rarely seems to be mentioned when the slave trade is discussed nowadays, slavery existed in Africa long before the Europeans turned up. But when they did, African ruling elites were only too delighted to offer their slaves for sale. Such an arrangement made these elites all the richer and more powerful. Which is why, when Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807, the king of Bonny (which today is part of Nigeria) wrote to Parliament to complain.

    Among the African elites to profit from the slave trade, as it happens, were those who lived in the Ashanti Empire – which, these days, is a region of Ghana. As in, the country whose foreign minister says that “financial reparations is good”.

    So, if African politicians think that the people of today should be made to stump up for wrongs perpetrated hundreds of years ago by their fellow countrymen, perhaps they should demand reparations from themselves.

    1. They might demand reparations because of the British Royal Navy enforcing anti-slavery rules in the 19th century. This denied their ancestors the profits from the sale of slaves, thereby impoverishing them and their descendants.

      1. Old Shola Mog-Shagbamimu or whatever she is called would be in there like a flash. Her family were royal African slave sellers. No shame about it, though.

    2. It was a win-win situation for the chiefs.
      They flogged off inconvenient relatives and criminals.

      1. I was listening to a podcast earlier in the week, can’t remember which, but it basically said that Haitians have an average IQ of 80 or so and that basically means they are not fit to do anything

    3. It was a win-win situation for the chiefs.
      They flogged off inconvenient relatives and criminals.

    4. The descendants of the people who survived the transatlantic crossing enjoy a much higher standard of living than those left behind. They should be grateful.

        1. Not grateful exactly. But perhaps relieved that they are where they are. There are certain types of people who have no Western morals, and who may well never have. Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie.

        2. Not grateful exactly. But perhaps relieved that they are where they are. There are certain types of people who have no Western morals, and who may well never have. Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie.

    5. Perhaps we should demand reparation from Islam for the theft of British nationals up and down the west coast in the 16/1700s – nearly 1 million souls were stolen from their homes at night, never to return.

    1. As Lynne (now Baroness under the political appointment provisions for the House of Lords) Featherstone once said during a public consultation "you'll get this whether you like it or not. All we are interested in is the most effective way to implement it".

      1. As they discuss above. There is no benefit to the native people of this country. We are simply cash cows.

  27. Started under a thundercloud and continued under heavy showers. (The white squares are black in the original)
    Wordle 1,183 5/6

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    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Surprising three today
      Wordle 1,183 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  28. Good Moaning.
    Well, apart from a nice lunch, did Friday 13th live up to its reputation!
    1. Patio door lock appears to have given up the ghost and we cannot open it. Fortunately the weather is cold and we have another door into the garden. Email to locksmith.
    2. 10.30 at night, the bathroom loo flushing gizmo collapses. Cue very sleepy MB crawling around with a screwdriver to shut off the water supply to that cistern. Email to plumber.
    3. I'm about to undertake a baking session. Is this a wise decision?

      1. I burnt a lemon drizzle cake at only 7 am this morning. Still, I’m sure the hockey crew will eat it. Well, I hope they will.

    5. Hello Annie,

      Belated Happy Birthday wishes for yesterday – glad you had a nice lunch at least. Have you tried WD40 in the lock (I mean drenching it) – it has been known to help chez nous.

    6. Hello Annie,

      Belated Happy Birthday wishes for yesterday – glad you had a nice lunch at least. Have you tried WD40 in the lock (I mean drenching it) – it has been known to help chez nous.

  29. Good Moaning.
    Well, apart from a nice lunch, did Friday 13th live up to its reputation!
    1. Patio door lock appears to have given up the ghost and we cannot open it. Fortunately the weather is cold and we have another door into the garden. Email to locksmith.
    2. 10.30 at night, the bathroom loo flushing gizmo collapses. Cue very sleepy MB crawling around with a screwdriver to shut off the water supply to that cistern. Email to plumber.
    3. I'm about to undertake a baking session. Is this a wise decision?

  31. The DWP has Form(s)
    I don’t know if any Nottlers have tried applying for Pension Credit to replace the £100-£300 winter fuel allowance which they will no longer receive. The Government is encouraging Pensioners to do so, but clearly it has absolutely no idea what is involved.

    On the radio this morning it was estimated that 750,000 pensioners will not apply. I imagine the Department of Work and Pensions will be breathing a sigh of relief, for If all applicants MAILED in 24 pages each that’s 18 MILLION pages of forms arriving at the DWP. Even if everyone printed double-sided, that’s still a little over 2,500 tons of paper, not including envelopes.

    Being over 80 and for idle curiosity I navigated to the government website to get a Pension Credit Application form, just to see how difficult it might be and how long it might take. If I can see it through I'll let you know.

    By the way, the instructions said it is much better to do it over the telephone (Imagine – over 230 questions! I wonder what the queue is like). And they point out that filling in the form on line doesn’t work on tablet computers, e.g. iPads (the most likely devices that the elderly will have been given by their loved ones), so you have to do it over the phone or on a printed 24 page copy.

    The instructions say “Just download and print the form (24 pages, 234 questions), fill it in and post it.” I wondered how many over 80s could actually do this. Even the Notes for filling in the form run to another 24 pages.

    I have depended on AgeUK for their expertise and experience when filling in these forms, especially the AAI Attendance Allowance Form, which runs to 31 pages, and the Blue Badge Form, where you have to use very careful language (nudge, nudge).

    1. Afternoon RC. It is obvious that the length of the application is to discourage anyone thinking of applying. My guess is that it also acts as an enquiry into your income and assets. Anyone foolish enough to apply will probably find their benefits cut at a minimum and/or end up in front of the beak for fraud.

      1. Reduction of 25% in Council Tax for people who are severely mentally impaired.
        Araminta (and others): Sorry this is rather long but if it applies to you or a loved one it’s worth reading.

        If a member of your household has severe mental disability (e.g. dementias) it is possible to apply for a 25% Council Tax Disregard (it’s a Disregard, not a Discount or Benefit). To qualify you already need to have one of the disability benefits, e.g. Blue Badge or Attendance Allowance, see well below.

        This does not seem to be widely known. Long after my late wife was diagnosed with Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) I discovered this, applied for it and got a 25% refund of 4 years back Council Tax in the form of a “year off” – worth over £2,000, then an ongoing 25% discount because I am now a single occupant. A relative who was diagnosed last year with Alzheimer’s Disease has just followed my guidance (especially the AgeUK bit) and received his Blue Badge, Higher Level Attendance Allowance and is waiting to hear about his Council Tax Disregard. His GP supports this and has signed the CTD form. The Disregard is back-dated to the date of Diagnosis.

        So first you need to get the Blue Badge. The form comes from your Local Authority and will be typically 6 pages with maybe 7 pages of explanatory notes. The best thing to do is approach your local AgeUK branch, which will probably have a specialist who knows exactly the form of words to use in your replies. Ours has a 100% success rate, as well as for the 31-page AA1 Attendance Allowance Form. Without their help you’ll probably fail.

        The possession of a Blue Badge helps you to apply for Attendance Allowance on the aforementioned 31-page Form AA1. With help from AgeUK you can pass this hurdle too.

        Armed with an Attendance Allowance benefit (currently over ÂŁ100 a week and NOT means tested) you can apply for the Council Tax Disregard from your local Council responsible for Housing.

        The following comes from the CT Disregard part of my own Council’s website:
        =====================================================
        When you apply you will need to have your form signed by a doctor or someone in the medical profession and submit proof of one of the following benefits:
        • Attendance Allowance
        • Constant Attendance Allowance
        • the high or mid rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
        • an increase in the rate of Disablement Pension
        • Incapacity Benefit
        • Employment and Support Allowance
        • Income Support (which includes a disability premium)
        • the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
        • Severe Disablement Allowance
        • Unemployability Supplement
        • Unemployability Allowance
        • Universal Credit (that includes an element for limited capability to work, or limited capability for work and work-related activity)
        ================================================
        After paying Council Tax for 45 years it is nice to get a bit back.

      2. Reduction of 25% in Council Tax for people who are severely mentally impaired.
        Araminta (and others): Sorry this is rather long but if it applies to you or a loved one it’s worth reading.

        If a member of your household has severe mental disability (e.g. dementias) it is possible to apply for a 25% Council Tax Disregard (it’s a Disregard, not a Discount or Benefit). To qualify you already need to have one of the disability benefits, e.g. Blue Badge or Attendance Allowance, see well below.

        This does not seem to be widely known. Long after my late wife was diagnosed with Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) I discovered this, applied for it and got a 25% refund of 4 years back Council Tax in the form of a “year off” – worth over £2,000, then an ongoing 25% discount because I am now a single occupant. A relative who was diagnosed last year with Alzheimer’s Disease has just followed my guidance (especially the AgeUK bit) and received his Blue Badge, Higher Level Attendance Allowance and is waiting to hear about his Council Tax Disregard. His GP supports this and has signed the CTD form. The Disregard is back-dated to the date of Diagnosis.

        So first you need to get the Blue Badge. The form comes from your Local Authority and will be typically 6 pages with maybe 7 pages of explanatory notes. The best thing to do is approach your local AgeUK branch, which will probably have a specialist who knows exactly the form of words to use in your replies. Ours has a 100% success rate, as well as for the 31-page AA1 Attendance Allowance Form. Without their help you’ll probably fail.

        The possession of a Blue Badge helps you to apply for Attendance Allowance on the aforementioned 31-page Form AA1. With help from AgeUK you can pass this hurdle too.

        Armed with an Attendance Allowance benefit (currently over ÂŁ100 a week and NOT means tested) you can apply for the Council Tax Disregard from your local Council responsible for Housing.

        The following comes from the CT Disregard part of my own Council’s website:
        =====================================================
        When you apply you will need to have your form signed by a doctor or someone in the medical profession and submit proof of one of the following benefits:
        • Attendance Allowance
        • Constant Attendance Allowance
        • the high or mid rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
        • an increase in the rate of Disablement Pension
        • Incapacity Benefit
        • Employment and Support Allowance
        • Income Support (which includes a disability premium)
        • the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
        • Severe Disablement Allowance
        • Unemployability Supplement
        • Unemployability Allowance
        • Universal Credit (that includes an element for limited capability to work, or limited capability for work and work-related activity)
        ================================================
        After paying Council Tax for 45 years it is nice to get a bit back.

      3. Reduction of 25% in Council Tax for people who are severely mentally impaired.
        Araminta (and others): Sorry this is rather long but if it applies to you or a loved one it’s worth reading.

        If a member of your household has severe mental disability (e.g. dementias) it is possible to apply for a 25% Council Tax Disregard (it’s a Disregard, not a Discount or Benefit). To qualify you already need to have one of the disability benefits, e.g. Blue Badge or Attendance Allowance, see well below.

        This does not seem to be widely known. Long after my late wife was diagnosed with Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) I discovered this, applied for it and got a 25% refund of 4 years back Council Tax in the form of a “year off” – worth over £2,000, then an ongoing 25% discount because I am now a single occupant. A relative who was diagnosed last year with Alzheimer’s Disease has just followed my guidance (especially the AgeUK bit) and received his Blue Badge, Higher Level Attendance Allowance and is waiting to hear about his Council Tax Disregard. His GP supports this and has signed the CTD form. The Disregard is back-dated to the date of Diagnosis.

        So first you need to get the Blue Badge. The form comes from your Local Authority and will be typically 6 pages with maybe 7 pages of explanatory notes. The best thing to do is approach your local AgeUK branch, which will probably have a specialist who knows exactly the form of words to use in your replies. Ours has a 100% success rate, as well as for the 31-page AA1 Attendance Allowance Form. Without their help you’ll probably fail.

        The possession of a Blue Badge helps you to apply for Attendance Allowance on the aforementioned 31-page Form AA1. With help from AgeUK you can pass this hurdle too.

        Armed with an Attendance Allowance benefit (currently over ÂŁ100 a week and NOT means tested) you can apply for the Council Tax Disregard from your local Council responsible for Housing.

        The following comes from the CT Disregard part of my own Council’s website:
        =====================================================
        When you apply you will need to have your form signed by a doctor or someone in the medical profession and submit proof of one of the following benefits:
        • Attendance Allowance
        • Constant Attendance Allowance
        • the high or mid rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
        • an increase in the rate of Disablement Pension
        • Incapacity Benefit
        • Employment and Support Allowance
        • Income Support (which includes a disability premium)
        • the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
        • Severe Disablement Allowance
        • Unemployability Supplement
        • Unemployability Allowance
        • Universal Credit (that includes an element for limited capability to work, or limited capability for work and work-related activity)
        ================================================
        After paying Council Tax for 45 years it is nice to get a bit back.

      4. Hi Araminta,
        I just re-read your comment and checked my copy of the Attendance Allowance Form AA1. Your guess is incorrect.
        Since it is NOT means tested, nowhere does it ask about your income or savings, e.g. whether the affected person (or partner) has more than about ÂŁ23,000 (we both do/did). It doesn't ask about anything other than your diagnoses, medication, need for Carers (but not what you are paying for them). No financial or housing details, though it does ask whether you have needed (and perhaps obtained) modifications to your accommodation.
        Have a look at the L O N G Form AA1 – here's the link:
        https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/attendance-allowance-claim-form

    2. Afternoon RC. It is obvious that the length of the application is to discourage anyone thinking of applying. My guess is that it also acts as an enquiry into your income and assets. Anyone foolish enough to apply will probably find their benefits cut at a minimum and/or end up in front of the beak for fraud.

      1. That billboard is just asking for a Banksy artwork which could raise at least that amount in a shorter tineframe.

    3. Think of the tax he has to pay on that. Will keep a few illegals in luxury accommodation for a day or two.

    4. Campaign group Led By Donkeys have rented out a billboard in Clacton for the next 6 months

      The difference between “rent” and “rent out”?
      .
      To be clear: “Rented out” means that you, the owner, offered your owned apartment to someone to rent.

      So, Led By Donkeys are paying rent for the billboard, to themselves….

    5. I hope Nigel has shares in the company which rents out the billboard. That would really get up the wet nickers of the campaign group leaders.

      2. I suppose the irony is the desperate attempt to play on Lions Led by Donkeys – yet they're rather forgetting that it is the Lions who liberated Briton from the hated EU.

    1. I hope with all my heart that Starmer and his minions show some respect on Remembrance Sunday and stay away from the service and parade. You are not wanted. You all should be ashamed .

    2. I hope Lammy Lammy looks at the colouring-in instructions for his book

      Otherwise he might just read it

      2. Read it? You're taking the p*ss. He has been carrying it for more than a month asking his fellow cabinet members how to open it. They have swiped the back and front and pressed every corner of the cover but none of them know how.

    1. "We are living in the post-democratic age."

      Peter Mandelson.

      The evidence would seem to suggest that he is right – the PTB do not give a toss about ordinary people and what they want.

  37. And rather than use public office to feather his own nest, Mr Trump has relinquished his business interests for the good of his country.

    John Kirk

    Leicester

    Mr Kirk,

    I am completely, utterly, absolutely, thoroughly, downright and out-and-out surprised that you letter got printed

    1. Not all will have read the letter, OLT…

      SIR – I am baffled by the hostility displayed by your correspondents (Letters, September 13) towards Donald Trump.

      When he became president, we were warned that we were on the brink of World War Three, with North Korea conducting missile tests. Mr Trump rapidly quashed that threat, though he was denounced for using "the wrong type of diplomacy".

      By the end of his term, the American economy was growing, and there was record high employment, especially among minorities, after the stagnation of Barack Obama's pitiful presidency.

      Many seem to think Mr Trump's at times obnoxious personality should disqualify him from office. To others, however, he is an incredibly successful businessman first and foremost, not a politician. And rather than use public office to feather his own nest, he has relinquished his business interests for the good of his country.

      John Kirk
      Leicester

      1. And in order to outtrump Trump Starmer is going to tell all MPs that they will be losing their heating allowances?

  38. Building with timber

    SIR – The Government has set itself the target of building 1.5 million homes over the course of the parliament.

    This equates to an average of 300,000 net new homes each year – a figure never achieved by any government in British history. To meet the target, some 1,000 new homes will have to be built in Britain every day.

    The public is rightly demanding that Labour gets Britain building. But at the same time, the Government has the gargantuan task of decarbonising the economy and accelerating Britain's path to net zero. The built environment is responsible for about 25 per cent of Britain's total greenhouse gas emissions.

    If Sir Keir Starmer is to succeed where many a premiership has failed on housing, the Government must embrace change in how we build and the materials we use. Timber frames take less time to install than masonry, and can, according to Future Homes Standards, deliver a 16 per cent carbon saving during construction. There is capacity in the established structural timber manufacturing sector to rapidly double timber frame manufacturing output in order to achieve 100,000 homes per annum – equivalent to one in three of those needed each year.

    Britain's housebuilders are getting on board, with companies including Vistry, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, Cala Homes and Avant Homes seeing the benefits of building in timber frame. It's high time Whitehall showed similar enthusiasm in putting timber at the heart of its strategy for housebuilding.

    Andrew Carpenter
    Chief executive officer, Structural Timber Association
    Alloa, Clackmannanshire

    Plenty of timber in Scotland as millions of trees are cut down to make way for wind turbines and their power lines.

    1. The public is rightly demanding that Labour gets Britain building.

      They are? No matter how many houses are built there will never be enough to accomodate the vast numbers that are entering the UK.

      1. Unfortunately, Labour don't do numbers. 'Erm…1 and 2 = 4', said Growler.
        'Nope, 5', chirped Lammy.
        'What's more important', Starmer, solemnly intoned, 'is that a number can be a letter and vice versa. So, 1 and 2 = success, or something like that.'
        Mumbles to himself and walks off. After all, it's Friday afternoon and he has places to be.

      1. Timber framed houses built now won't last anywhere near as long in your example.
        What is likely is to cut corners and save money they will use barely seasoned wood. The houses will warp and collapse within a decade.

        1. No Problems. They will be voted out of office by then so collapsing buildings wil, be the nasty Tories fault.

        2. No Problems. They will be voted out of office by then so collapsing buildings wil, be the nasty Tories fault.

      2. Timber framed houses built now won't last anywhere near as long in your example.
        What is likely is to cut corners and save money they will use barely seasoned wood. The houses will warp and collapse within a decade.

    6. How about prefabs, or converted shipping containers for the Irregulars (a dose of Senopod first, that will soon make them more regular). Thoughtfully converted containers can actually make quite decent housing for a small family.

      1. I remember a Court case run by "irregulars" complaining about their accommodation, and the High Court's answer was to

        make it a ruling that all illegal immigrants had to be given three or four star hotel accommodation.

        ………so only native English to be housed in shipping containers.

      3. I agree on shipping containers. However don't furnish them, nor have them as one each. Pack in about a hundred of the unwanted criminal savages and haul them off on a container ship to be rolled back where they came from.

        If they try again, tow them back to france. If they won't stay in france, well, then we use stronger methods.

    7. How about prefabs, or converted shipping containers for the Irregulars (a dose of Senopod first, that will soon make them more regular). Thoughtfully converted containers can actually make quite decent housing for a small family.

    8. How about prefabs, or converted shipping containers for the Irregulars (a dose of Senopod first, that will soon make them more regular). Thoughtfully converted containers can actually make quite decent housing for a small family.

      1. You would need that very very hard stuff (can't remember what it's called, but it's even harder and oilier than teak, and needs no maintenance). Any native hardwood would also need to be seasoned – which, of course, takes time. This government is composed of absolute imbeciles.

  39. A bit over half a tank of fuel used in the chainsaw, so refilled and the chain given a few hundred strokes with a round file.
    Now sat with a mug of tea before restarting!

  40. Morning all. Surely we all know by now that Starmer's plan for government is to try to destroy the few freedoms the Tories left us and, if he gets the chance, cull the population by starting WW3.

    Just posted on Free Speech, two really good articles. The first by poet, humourist and satirist Paul Sutton, with another of his lost adventures of Sherlock Holmes, this time with Holmes on the trail of a Jihadist plot. The second article is by James Gatehouse on the effects the bossy Nanny State has on society and the creeping limitations it places on freedom and free speech.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. And another two https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/households-face-630m-bill-as-miliband-takes-control-of-britain-s-electricity-network/ar-AA1qwNdC?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=e0b6fd7648e144ac9f87eec1ca8d41ec&ei=62

      https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/starmer-branded-utter-disaster-as-trump-camp-fears-uk-infected-by-unbound-wokeness/ar-AA1qwLRE?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=e0b6fd7648e144ac9f87eec1ca8d41ec&ei=68

      And there is talk of removing bus passes from retirees.

      1. It might be reasonable to take it away from people like me who are still working but I don’t feel guilty. Especially after the “you haven’t paid enough tax this year” letter I received from HMRC last week.

        2. When I applied for my OAP two years ago, I had a year of NI contributions missing due to back problems in 2001. I had to add ÂŁ700 to get a full pension. I should break even on this in early 2006!

      2. With regard to the second story. I was pleased to see that the Americans are not enthused about Little Lammy's idea to send rockets to Ukraine. I'm sure Black Rock and Co are not enthused by the idea of having their investment in Ukraine turn into an irradiated desert.

      3. Yes, and where did wokeness come from? Same place as CRT, BLM and a great many wars – the US of fA. The people of that country seem largely so nice and decent, but the underlying ethos of the majority of the rulers there (I'm talking families – especially those with R in their name) has been more selfish, grasping and downright evil than most (obviously not all) of ours have been.

        Why was it so materialistic a society long before we as a nation swallowed that poison pill to the same extent here?

      4. Yes, and where did wokeness come from? Same place as CRT, BLM and a great many wars – the US of fA. The people of that country seem largely so nice and decent, but the underlying ethos of the majority of the rulers there (I'm talking families – especially those with R in their name) has been more selfish, grasping and downright evil than most (obviously not all) of ours have been.

        Why was it so materialistic a society long before we as a nation swallowed that poison pill to the same extent here?

    2. Forgot the Christmas bonus. Should take that from the old bastards too. Only waste it paying for heating.

    3. What the "journalists" don't seem to get is that Starmer couldn't give a tinker's cuss about winter deaths. Or getting the blame – he'll just shrug it off.

      Seeing his dead eyes, and those of some other Labour ministers makes me for the first time ever think that there might be something in David Icke's lizards theories / :o)

    4. What the "journalists" don't seem to get is that Starmer couldn't give a tinker's cuss about winter deaths. Or getting the blame – he'll just shrug it off.

      Seeing his dead eyes, and those of some other Labour ministers makes me for the first time ever think that there might be something in David Icke's lizards theories / :o)

  46. Turkish gangs.. Tottenham Turks' & arch-rivals Bombacilar from Hackney dominate the heroin trade in Britain. Both supply narcotics, usually on credit, to county lines gangs who sell it in the home counties, the south coast and further afield.
    Their money is easily laundered in legitimate businesses in London, like minicab businesses, barbers' shops, kebab shops.

    Not crime though is it?

    Last week at an Old Bailey gangland murder trial.. Judge Whitehouse said: 'It is plain that the principal movers recruited others to carry out crimes while avoiding detection themselves, and have so far escaped justice.

    If the police, Govt & agencies really thought this was proper crime they would act. I mean.. they acted really swiftly over them Facebook posts.
    And it's not that difficult to spot a Turkish barber shop in Chiddingfold.. Oxshott.. Chipping Sodbury.

    1. And it's not that difficult to spot the multiple Turkish barber shops in Chiddingfold.. Oxshott.. Chipping Sodbury.

    2. They are in every small town now. The little town where I have my hair done (by the same hairdresser for 36 years) has at least two.

  47. Lovely day out there! Doing a bit of tidying up in the garden and just come in for a break and a nectarine for lunch.

    2. I've just had a tin of tomato soup and have a mug of tea after my arborial session this morning.

    3. Off cuts from the Swiss rolls and tea.
      Have returned to old chocolate filling since the grandson spurned my new, improved version.
      Cut the quick, I was.

    1. Nah, we'll be the last to be protected. It's all about empire/leaving the EU/being white trash. Fancy needing protection from people in our own country who we are paying for. Politicians have never needed "disciplining" as much as through the last THREE DECADES! Smug, complacent, well-off (certainly as MPs with their salaries, perks and expenses), cocooned little sh1ts.

      Look where being liberal-minded got us; dross like Lammy, Abbott, Butler, Khant and loads of others of the same ilk. The Ben Habibs and Konstantin Kisins have successfully integrated and are a welcome benefit to this country – and they agree with the rest of us. Home Office and other emanations of the State full of people who only want more like themselves here. Third world …..

    1. Very amusing, but within five years Starmer will have changed the nation so much that the situation will be irretrievable.

      Never forget that he has always been a dedicated Trotskyite.

  51. Phew!
    That's all the wood left by the woodsmen that is worth keeping for the fire scavenged and brought down the hill.
    Still needs tidying up, but I can safely say that I have sufficient firewood, including stuff already chopped and stacked, for at least 3 winters.
    Now, or at least after I've tidied up what I've just brought down which will be less than an hour's work, I can get on with other things!
    But first and most importantly, I need a mug of tea!!

    1. I suspect we'll be in for a hard winter/possibly spring this coming season – haven't seen that for a while, must be due.

  52. Storm Shadow decision will only be announced ‘when first missile lands’ . 14 September 2024.

    On Saturday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov claimed that Kyiv had been informed of a decision, though he did not say what it was.

    And an anonymous Western official told PBS correspondent Nick Schifrin that if there were to be an agreement, “The first announcement of this policy will land when the first missile lands in Russia”.

    And you will know fellow Nottlers that we are at War when you look out of your window at a large mushroom cloud on the horizon.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/09/14/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news7/

    2. If Zelensky/Ukraine's forces chose to, surely they could launch at will?
      Or do the missiles need to be fired by British personnel?
      What is going on all seems very strange to me.

      1. My understanding is that the missile's navigation system is out with the missile and any carrier system, sos.

          2. From Zelensky’s list?

            There is one Hell of a greater risk here if Ukraine starts raining missiles down on what would clearly be NATO priority targets rather than Ukraine specific threats.

          4. Yes, but why do you not think that the Ukrainians do not have the technical competence to do this – high-tech weaponry is almost always given with training and instruction documents.

          5. Possibly true, or even capable of reverse engineering, although that would likely be extremely complex.
            So now they or the Russians if they capture any can replicate them.

      2. I understand Ukeland has no targeting capacity that has to be provided by US/Nato forces
        As an aside I read there may be a reason the US is less than keen on direct strikes on Russia……..
        "Stormshadow strikes on Moscow you say be a damned shame if the Houtis discovered a warehouse full of serious anti-shipping missiles wouldn't it"
        Two people can play games

      3. These particular missiles require a flight profile being fed into them prior to take off. The Ukies are incapable of doing this. It has to be carried out by UK/French personnel.

        1. That's what I suspected.
          Putin's claim that if those missiles land that NATO will have attacked first looks ever more plausible.

          1. A deduction from a video I watched yesterday where a former RAF pilot tried to avoid saying so since it's Top Secret.

  53. Biden inches towards authorising Storm Shadows in Russia
    14 September 2024, 2:25pm

    Storm Shadow, Britain’s highly-prized, air-launched cruise missile, is not going to win the war for Kyiv against the Russian invaders. However, this particular weapon, along with the American ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) are literally waiting in the wings for Kyiv to launch a new-style, more deadly and more provocative strike on air bases and missile sites deep inside Russia. They could transform the near-31-month war into the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

    President Putin has warned that if authority is given for these weapons to be used against targets inside Russia, it would mean war between Russia and Nato. Storm Shadow, a heavyweight weapon with a range of more than 150 miles, and ATACMS which can reach 190 miles, have already played significant roles in the war, but exclusively against Russian targets in occupied eastern Ukraine and Russia-annexed Crimea.

    Ever since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, 2022, the US-led coalition supporting Kyiv has ploughed billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian military to fight off the Russian aggressors – in the hope of protecting Ukraine’s sovereignty. However, there was from the beginning a proviso, set in stone by President Biden., that the weapons which progressively became more advanced and more sophisticated should be used to defend Ukraine from attack, not deployed to mount over-the-border strikes into Russia itself.

    To Kyiv this made no military sense. If Moscow could launch attacks on Ukrainian cities from the safety of the Russian motherland – stand-off cruise missiles fired by bombers well away from Ukrainian air defences- then why should Ukraine not do likewise and hit the very bases inside Russia from where the strikes originated.

    A basic military maxim is that you hit the enemy where it hurts the most.

    Will Starmer and Lammy continue to comply with POTUS Dopey Joe?

    2. The western nations have been supplying military hardware and missile defence systems to Ukraine since the coup of 2014. The aim has always been to build Ukraine’s military strength in order to use it in a proxy war against Russia.

      The US imagined that by using Ukraine to provoke Russia that the disruption it anticipated to Russian society would see the overthrow of Putin and allow regime change. This plan has backfired badly as Russia is defeating Ukraine.

      The war in Ukraine is about US designs on the territory of Russia itself. The US cares nothing for Ukraine.

    3. The western nations have been supplying military hardware and missile defence systems to Ukraine since the coup of 2014. The aim has always been to build Ukraine’s military strength in order to use it in a proxy war against Russia.

      The US imagined that by using Ukraine to provoke Russia that the disruption it anticipated to Russian society would see the overthrow of Putin and allow regime change. This plan has backfired badly as Russia is defeating Ukraine.

      The war in Ukraine is about US designs on the territory of Russia itself. The US cares nothing for Ukraine.

    4. All very true, but the Ukrainians would say that, wouldn't they. For them, everyone else getting sucked in to the fight is a win-win. Not so much as a matter of common sense tactics; more a matter of desirable strategic advantage.

      Sir Kneelalot will do whatever he's ordered to do and as for Lammy: just sit him in a room and then tell him there's nothing to see. He's not going to understand what's going on in any case.

  57. You know those red flashing lights & klaxons sounding at the end of the 60s James Bond films.. well, if you like charts and Elliott Wave structures in particular.. we have a two-decade long er,.. crash coming up.. To be precise when SP500 hits 6017,30. (It's at 5,626.02 at Friday's COB).

    And it doesn't matter who the President will be.
    btw, it's a long way down to 1,500.

    1. "You know those red flashing lights & klaxons . . ."

      They pale into insignificance when the mushroom cloud appears, kowloonbhoy!

      1. Cmon the crazy psychopaths that run the world.. the ones that are building bunkers in Hawaii & New Zealand.. the ones that are opening the borders to Africans.. steal elections.. industrial scale child grape.. Epstein's friends..
        They wouldn't do that?

      2. Cmon the crazy psychopaths that run the world.. the ones that are building bunkers in Hawaii & New Zealand.. the ones that are opening the borders to Africans.. steal elections.. industrial scale child grape.. Epstein's friends..
        They wouldn't do that?

      1. Ha. Chart says 247,90 SPDR Gold Shares (GLD).. then it will too will peak.
        238,68 Friday close.

    1. Wordle 1,183 3/6

      🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. After Trump Springfield Ohio memes go viral.. MSN kicks into action to claim it's all fake news about mostly peaceful Haitian migrants eating pet ducks, cats and dogs in Springfield.

      And of course Leftie YT delete all videos of Haitians going in stores and opening jars and eating stuff out of it and just leaving the jar on the shelf.. carrying ducks & swans.
      Swifties all agree.. and demand X be shutdown indefinitely.

    2. An ample Par Four?

      Wordle 1,183 4/6
      ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟨🟨🟨🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. What’s the golfing term for a miracle?

        Wordle 1,183 2/6

        🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        3. Wow! Him Indoors was boasting three 😀 I got tired of crashing n burning, do the Spelling Bee now…get to the max without subscribing but I can see that happening soon….

          3. Search Wordle, should come up with NY Times, Wordle is above Spelling Bee. I can’t do Wordle, but husband and daughter compete every day. Neither of them can so Spelling Bee, I soon get to a ‘Solid’ score but to go further subscription req’d. See which one you like, vw – good luck!

      2. A 3 today.

        Wordle 1,183 3/6

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

  62. Kursk clashes becoming deadlier, say Ukrainian troops. 14 September 2924.

    Clashes in the southern border region of Kursk are becoming deadlier, Ukrainian troops say, as Russian resistance and counterattacks slow Kyiv’s advances.

    Ukraine launched its first major incursion into Russian territory last month, quickly capturing nearly 500 square miles.

    But after President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Russian forces had begun a concerted counterattack, Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front report that clashes are growing deadlier as Moscow deploys more soldiers and increases aerial bombardments.

    A translation of this would read something like. The Russians have now summoned up sufficient forces to put the Ukies in the Kursk enclave under pressure. There’s no hurry. The only place they can go is backwards to Ukraine.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/09/14/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news7/

    1. "There’s no hurry. The only place they can go is backwards to Ukraine."

      Perhaps, President Volodymyr Zelensky doesn't quite see it like that, Minty!

  64. There’s a group of people on the central island between Shepherd’s Bush Green and Holland Park Roundabout waving placards with a yellow ground and solid black lettering declaring Peep for Freedom on one side and Cash is Private on the other. It’s very noisy as many drivers are supporting them.

  65. So how about making MPs work in Parliament for nothing but then let then earn as much as they can from having their own tv and radio shows.

    1. So how about making MPs work in Parliament for nothing but then let then earn as much as they can from having their own tv and radio shows.

    2. Suspect they'd leave constituency work to staff (most seem to anyway), and earn as much elsewhere as they can, including making contacts. A few honourable exceptions perhaps….

      1. TBF, MPs were more grounded when they pursued their old jobs (i.e. made use of their qualifications) and treated Parliament as an add on activity.

    3. My idea was to make them contractors subject to IR35. They're paid their salary of 85K or whatever and have to sort out their own taxes and pension. If they want an office then that is funded by the party – there are plenty of civil servants and library staff.

      Once they see they're taking home about ÂŁ40,000 they'll swiftly change their minds about that spiteful legislation.

      1. I've always thought that anyone who wants to be an MP or gains a PPE degree should be barred from being a candidate in the first place.

    1. Part of RED Friday:- Remember Everyone Deployed.
      If only we in the UK had as much respect for our Armed Forces.

  67. Mrs VVOF and myself just had a short break in one of those leisure hotels.
    Although we were surrounded by oldies I must say it was very enjoyable with a choice of good food and lots of laid on entertainment.
    On our second evening we decided to watch the Country and Western singer who gave us a rendition of the following song.
    What was particularly amusing to me was hearing the name Starmer come up numerous times whilst he was singing it.
    Coincidence, I think not.
    https://youtu.be/hU-Ytf_WEOo?si=paVWVTeQ44LJk21m

  68. Well, I larfed.

    "It’s taken all of 10 weeks for Sir Keir Starmer to turn into the Alan Partridge of British politics. The signs were always there – from the vanity of his breakfast Brylcreem to his failure to understand that he (and not his hardworking father) was the butt of all those “My dad was a toolmaker” jokes during the general election.

    But like a washed-up radio DJ who cannot take to the wheel without wearing a pair of driving gloves, stickler-for- the-rules Starmer is fast becoming a parody of his authoritarian socialist self.

    The public perception of our nanny state Prime Minister was perhaps best summed up this week by a social media post featuring a picture of a stern-looking Starmer, captioned: “Anyone caught having more than one Greggs per week will be sentenced to life imprisonment.”……."

    p.s. Phew …. Kitchen still in one piece; no exploded ovens or counter tops collapsing under the weight of batch baking.

    1. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the monthly quiz at our social club.. Round one was The News. Question ten:

      What was Keir Starmer's father's occupation? As you can imagine….

  69. I am feeling grumpy .. my leg and hip are painful… I have nerve pain , not sciatica , lower lumber pain .

    Spinal stenosis
    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.

    "When nerve roots become compressed, it can be very painful," says Dr. Palmer. "And spinal stenosis doesn't just cause lower back pain, it can result in sciatica, pain that radiates down the lower extremities."

    My physiotherapist , at ÂŁ50 a session is helpful, she is better than a doctor and empathises with my discomfort .

    She has to refer back to my doctor via the MSK unit .. and she recommends I have an injection for my pain .

    GP's cannot get any work done because they have to spend time referring patients for this that and the other , the paperwork must be horrendous .

    I don't know what the answer is .. but a qualified physiotherapist could have referred me herself ,except there is so much red tape.

    The state of our NHS re all the managers , translators , coordinators , on huge salaries whereby the staff that are necessary are treated like muck by the heads of department etc

    Reading all of that information reminds me of Quango ridden Labour governments of old . In fact , I firmly believe that the poor old NHS is infiltrated by Labour party wokery , and is untouchable . The largest employer in the UK requires a firm hand .. common sense , not common purpose wokery . It has gobbled up money like there is no tomorrow . It has feathered many nests .. and made pen pushers greedy for more.

    1. After my efforts earlier, I've just had an hour in bed and whilst I feel stiff, it's not painful to any extent.
      However, I will be having a hot bath and doubling up with aspirin & paracetamol this evening and probably tomorrow morning.

      1. You believe you are so physically strong and active Bob , just make sure you don't overdo things, getting tired and weary whilst you are chainsawing your logs is not a good idea .

        Take great care ..

    3. I had terrible backpain three burst discs in and around 2004. i eventually had three cortisone injections and touch wood 🌳 I haven't had a problem since. Obviously I am not aware of what your problem is TB but if you are offered it do your research, it worked for me.
      Best of luck with it.

      1. I'll be honest, Eddie, I've no idea at all how I've avoided more serious back troubles than the comparatively mild aches and pains I do have.
        The main back discomfort I have I put down to a stupid incident over 40y when I tried to shift something that was too heavy and felt something go in my lower back.
        Otherwise it tends to be aches and pains arising from general wear and tear on my joints.

    1. And doubtless he believes it's OK for blacks to be claiming reparations because of what happened to their ancestors, not letting go of their heritage.

    2. How about you leave? This is our country, you're not welcome. If you want to carry on being a dindu, stay in dinduland.

        1. I watched quite a good TV drama series called something like The Vikings or Viking Valhalla and Upsala had a black female leader.

  71. The world's largest employers

    US Department of Defense 3.2 million
    People's Liberation Army, China 2.3 million
    Walmart 2.1 million
    McDonald's 1.9 million
    UK National Health Service 1.7 million
    China National Petroleum Corporation 1.6 million
    State Grid Corporation of China 1.5 million
    Indian Railways 1.4 million
    Indian Armed Forces 1.3 million
    Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) 1.2 million

    1. Look at those numbers in the light of the total populations of the countries concerned and the NHS as a % of the whole must be top, probably by a very long way.

    3. Be interesting to see how many are medical staff and how many auxilliary, then to compare that to private hospitals as I imagine much of the overstaffing – and inefficiency in the NHS – comes from those who don't work.

    1. On the plus side, it has given birth to a new game – "Spot the White Man" – so at least we're not zapping the adverts.

      1. Junior's looking at college courses and A levels. It's wall to wall foreigner in the websites. where there is a white lad, he has to be controlled by usuall a black and a diversity – just so he knows his place.

        He made it clear he didn't want to go somewhere he was excluded.

        1. Unless he really wants to go to University, A-levels are useless. Most white collar occupations will be crushed by AI and foreign competition. EDIT: May I politely suggest that it's not worth ÂŁ50k plus interest to acquire a worthless degree.

    2. A marketing company we do work for did a campaign for a client. Lots of diversity in all the materials. Lots of women.

      The client said 'Our demographic is white men – they're the ones working, earning the money to buy our kit.'

      The agency returned their money and dropped them as a client for speaking the truth.

      1. The client had identified their client base. Run this the another way. Insert another ethnic group and the adult human female category which the client has identified as the majority of their client base. Then the ad agency drops the client as a result of the client request to focus on that demographic type. It would be fair to call the ad agency racist and sexist. Was our favourite Spectator commentator involved I wonder?

      2. The client had identified their client base. Run this the another way. Insert another ethnic group and the adult human female category which the client has identified as the majority of their client base. Then the ad agency drops the client as a result of the client request to focus on that demographic type. It would be fair to call the ad agency racist and sexist. Was our favourite Spectator commentator involved I wonder?

    3. F*cking hell. I believe the current descriptive parlance regarding that second advertising board is "somewhat on the nose".

    1. Why oh why do we all have to put up with all this political garbage, how can we stop it all and get rid of them ?

      1. We can't. That's the fundamental problem. In a democracy they wouldn't be able to do anything without our permission an dif they did we'd simply sack them.

        We could call this novel concept… democracy.

        1. I understand what you are saying but what we have is not a democracy.
          They only have around 20% of the vote. Surely there is some sort of loop hole that can be implemented.

          2. Maybe there are but they means have been shoved under a conveinant carpet.
            On the advice of her hubby I doubt if HMQ would have put up with any of these morons wrecking the culture and social structure of our country.

          3. Oh, there's definitely a loop hole, it's on the end of a rope, it tightens suddenly as the floor falls away.

    2. Considering Roach is a demented socialist who hasn't left high school politically and refuses to leave the open sewer that is London his saying such about Starmer is quite funny!

      1. I think the number is the reason there's so much incompetence. As long as private property can be stolen by the state it will continue to expand, get ever larger and more incompetent.

        Increasingly this appears an inside job. My guess is a diversity 'accidentally' missed a decimal point.

    2. If they know that claims were fraudulent why weren't those claimants prosecuted?
      Perhaps they were and let off with a "don't do it again"

      1. It's much worse. It is active thieving rather than a natural disinclination to be robbed by a thieving, dishonest "government" that is not on your side.

        1. I've read a couple of pieces from someone worked in Benefits Office, sounds a bit Dire Straits…money because you ask for it..

          5. Nearly. See FA's post below. I made the mistake of accepting a suggestion by Alexa on my Echo Show 8 (which sits by the 'pooter), to play a Dire Straits track. I liked DS before they were popular. I have several of their albums. But I bought them when that was the only way to access music, other than listening to the radio.

            My collection of CDs is probably rather modest, compared to most. But the discs fill a large "ReallyUseful Box". Over the years, all found ther way onto personal digital devices. As of June this year, every physical CD in my possession was also on my 'phone. Plus a myriad of downloaded music from sources such as that of Mr Bezos. It's easy to transfer stuff from an old to a new phone.

            My less-than-two-month-old flagship Samsung phone slipped off the kitchen table. Despite the resilient case, and the genuine Samsung screen protector, the screen broke. Nearest authorised repairer was EE in Reading. Booked an appointment, attended.

            "You'll have to leave it with us", I was told, "and do a factory reset". "OK, I replied. The backup status was last renewed this morning, I checked."

            By the time I reached home that evening, having failed to use my digital Trainline return ticket (more expense), and suffering from extreme smartphone 'cold turkey', I got home, to be greeted by a cheery message: "your phone is ready to collect".

            Returned to Reading the following morning. Bought a few pointless gadgets in Lakeland, while I waited for EE to open. Having found online that my new screen was likely to cost around ÂŁ400, I was pleasantly surprised that my repair cost me aruond half that figure.

            "Do you need us to help restore your settings?" "No – I'll be OK."

            Trouble is – when you buy a new phone, it's easy to transfer settings between the old and the new. Subsequently, if you've traded in or sold the old phone, you're completely and utterly bolloxed.

            Three months later, all my music and most of my contacts are gone. The so-called backup was somewhat limited.

            I can't be arsed to rip two or three hundred CDs again.

  77. Please, please, please cursed harmer, put this in place.
    It would ensure Labour was slaughtered at the next election.

    England faces being banned from its own Euros if Keir Starmer pushes ahead with football regulator reforms, Uefa warns

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13850847/England-facing-banned-hosting-Euros-Keir-Starmer-football-regulator-reforms-Uefa.html
    Good on two counts, it would expose the football hierarchy for what it is, AND destroy the Labour Party.

    2. There's a side show to this. It's likely that Northern Ireland won't stage any matches. HMG has said 'it will not be providing funding to redevelop Belfast's Casement Park stadium in time for the tournament'.

      The ground is the principal Gaelic games stadium in Belfast. Yesterday's reports on BBC radio tried to give the impression that both sides of the sectarian divide would be offended – the Loyalists for not being able to take part in a UK event and the Republicans for not getting their own cultural patch renovated by the Brits. In fact, this report suggests that Unionists are less upset by the possible loss of the tournament than of the Gaelics getting favours. History casts long shadows. Roger Casement's is especially long.

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7899k921ko

      1. A BTL Comment:-

        R. Spowart
        23 min ago
        Message Actions
        How much of this loss is facilitated by DWP Staff?
        ANY member of DWP suspected of participating in fraud should be immediately suspended WITHOUT pay pending investigation.
        If such an investigation finds sufficient evidence of criminal activity, they should then be charged and prosecuted.
        If found guilty they should be sacked with full loss of pension benefits.

    3. Uefa, Fifa, IOC and F1 are locked in a competition for the most corrupt organisation. Thinks – must add a few political parties to that list.

  78. Nicked Oi laffed,loudly
    "If you had told me at the dawn of my becoming politically aware during the Brexit referendum that one day political discourse would involve AI generated memes of heavily armed cats and dogs I would have suggested you see a mental health professional."
    https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20afd587-d3fe-435f-89c3-72de94f7df7a_1024x1024.png?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    3. I remember when we all (innocently/naively) thought that the last few governments' actions were motivated purely by a Europhile mentality.
      Edited for a grocer's comma.

  79. There's a surprise. Couple of pieces on Unherd comparing Starmer to Blair. No.10 sounds quite dysfunctional these days, oh dear…..

  80. I can't remember the exact quotation, but skim-reading the "Lord" Brady book review, I was amused to see him quoting soap-man Cameron as saying that it would help if MPs stopped snorting cocaine and buggering each other. I am inclined to agree that this is a large part of the problem.

    1. "David Cameron reportedly sighed that politics would be easier if his colleagues 'didn't snort coke and sodomise each other', "

      A bit rich coming after his porky dalliances at Uni.

      1. "Thou hast committed – / Fornication Bestiality: but that was in another country, / And besides, the wench is pig was dead." (Apologies to Marlowe)

          1. I don't know, but would imagine that it was very haraam indeed. Maybe not – these people are so irrational

      2. Kwasi Kwarteng at the Queen's funeral was clearly under the influence of something – probably coke.

  81. All the wood not more or less tidied up thought there are still several stumps to be trimmed down, including an ash that the lads cut 5' above the ground, so now I'm off for a bath and bed.
    Goodnight all.

  82. Bedtime for me, after a fairly relaxing day. Good Night, chums, sleep well and see you all tomorrow.

  83. I have had a few bad dreams about Starmer and Bridezillas.

    He and his crowd will be similar to Nazis feeding off the fat of the land where by the true Brits will whither away, and the weaker true Brits will be subjected to a death camp existence .. remember the fear we all had when the plague hit us in 2019, well seriously speaking… Starmer has the strut and vanity of evil leaders who have been empowered by their ego to control and torture, yes punishing us all and calling us right wing thugs and racists… well he is describing himself..

    Starmer is the pompous knighted thug . Emperor Starmer , the BBC and the attendant Bridezillas are finishing us all off.

      1. Evening Mm.

        I hope he trips up and ends up as fish bait

        His attendant Bridezillas , or the three Gorgons of Westminster .

        In the standard tradition, the Gorgons were named Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa. Though Sthenno and Euryale were immortal, Medusa was not, and the Argive hero Perseus was sent to kill her and bring back her head. This head famously turned all who looked upon it to stone.

        The Gorgons were terrifying monsters with frightening eyes. Greeks and Romans often painted or carved Gorgon heads on their shields, doorways, walls, and vases to scare away evil.

    2. Thinking about our new Alien Overlord, I realise, with some terror, that I have only three degrees of separation from him.

      1. I played the organ for Sam Tarry's wedding*

      2. Sam Tarry left wife for Angela Rayner.

      3. The entire corrupt cabal of which she is a part. 2TK especially.

      Have I got this right?

      *1, above, resulted in phone calls from Andrew Gilligan, investigating Tarry's 'official residence'

      Which prolly means that, by six degrees, I'm linked to the entire cesspit that is Westminster. On that thought, goodnight…

  85. Quel domage. I visited Monte Carlo today – the last time I visited was about thirty year ago. I can't believe how much it has changed – I mean, everywhere has changed, of course but MC has changed out of all recognition – all high rise and roadworks.

    The rest of the Riviera has maintained its charm rather better, having resisted the building of anything more than three or four storeys

    2. I’ve only been to Monte Carlo once, about a dozen years ago. I found it a soulless place.

      1. Fifty years ago when I was 19 I hitchhiked from Barcelona to Rome. Passing through Monaco I got a lift from a guy in an expensive looking car. He drove along the curving coastal road (over the years, in movies,I’ve been able to identify the route , I think Grace Kelly met her end on the same road) at a velocity I wouldn’t have believed possible and I wondered if I would survive the trip.
        Luckily he was stopped by a traffic cop dressed in a uniform I had never seen before but I imagined pertained to the local administration. My driver was fined on the spot. He opened his wallet and delivered to the policeman a wad of notes. Gave me a look of complicity, he didn’t seem to mind losing so much cash.
        At a normal speed we drove off and I was left at the Italian border.

        1. Oh, I was waiting for the punch line that the driver was a famous film star or racing driver. I still envy you though as MC has evaded me and I shall never see it.

          1. I wouldn’t have recognized him if he had been a famous film star. I knew little about the cinema at the time.
            A few days earlier exploring the harbor in Marseille I stumbled on the filming of French Connection 2. and the final scene Gene Hackman being pursued along the harbour, Fernando Rey shot on a passing yacht.
            I didn’t recognise Gene Hackman or John Frankenheimer, the director of the movie. But I most certainly saw them shooting the scene and eventually watched it on TV.
            In time Gene Hackman was among my favourite actors.
            But at the time my film knowledge was somewhat scanty.

  86. Lineker at the start of MOTD: "The Premier League returned after the international break, which lasted nearly as long as the Proms."

    Well, it's true that The Last Night overran by about 15 minutes, though it might have ended a couple of minutes earlier if Sakari Oramo had played LOHAG at its proper tempo and not delivered his speech like an Anglican vicar dragging his way through an interminable sermon. It's also true that Lineker is an insufferable bore.

    He should be strapped in his chair for 24 hours and subjected to a continuous loop of the finale.

  87. Lineker at the start of MOTD: "The Premier League returned after the international break, which lasted nearly as long as the Proms."

    Well, it's true that The Last Night overran by about 15 minutes, though it might have ended a couple of minutes earlier if Sakari Oramo had played LOHAG at its proper tempo and not delivered his speech like an Anglican vicar dragging his way through an interminable sermon. It's also true that Lineker is an insufferable bore.

    He should be strapped in his chair for 24 hours and subjected to a continuous loop of the finale.

  88. Lineker at the start of MOTD: "The Premier League returned after the international break, which lasted nearly as long as the Proms."

    Well, it's true that The Last Night overran by about 15 minutes, though it might have ended a couple of minutes earlier if Sakari Oramo had played LOHAG at its proper tempo and not delivered his speech like an Anglican vicar dragging his way through an interminable sermon. It's also true that Lineker is an insufferable bore.

    He should be strapped in his chair for 24 hours and subjected to a continuous loop of the finale.

  90. Rachel Reeves has been urged to impose an “exit tax” on wealthy investors moving their money out of the country.

    Resolution Foundation, a Left-leaning think tank, has called for Labour to hit those relocating overseas with a capital gains tax charge.

    It comes as wealth managers report a surge in the number of super-rich individuals leaving the country ahead of the Budget next month.

    Under current rules, investors pay no capital gains tax on UK shares if they leave Britain for more than five years.

    However, in a report exploring the fiscal choices facing the Chancellor in the Budget on October 30, the Resolution Foundation, which has close links to Labour, recommended scrapping this rule.

    The UK could see a net loss of as many as 9,500 millionaires this year, more than double the 4,200 who left the country in 2023, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/labour-levy-exit-tax-wealthy-fleeing-country/

    You know what, Dalek Reeves is killing the bees that produce the honey! https://media3.giphy.com/media/NFF3TNLjUhDaw/giphy-downsized-small.mp4

    2. Resolution Foundation, a Left-leaning think tank Clique of Academics promoting bullshite ideas.

  92. Government defends early release scheme after freed prisoner charged with sexual assault
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnvdy22gje4o

    Read the wheedling excuses – and then reach for the baseball bat.

    "The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the early release scheme was necessary because it had "inherited prisons in crisis and on the brink of collapse".

    No. Rapists and other violent offenders have been released to make way for angry but uncouth people who protested about the immigration crisis.

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