Monday 2 June: The Government needs a new plan for stopping small boat crossings

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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517 thoughts on “Monday 2 June: The Government needs a new plan for stopping small boat crossings”

    1. Buenos dias, Señorita Minty. Como estás hoy día? Oops! I meant to say Guten Morgen, Fraülein Minty. I'm out of sync today.

  4. The Government needs a new plan for stopping small boat crossings

    It's quite evident to all now that the dinghy boat arrivals are part of an international agenda that the government unofficially supports and so did the last government.

    All the rest is just gaslighting.

  5. Morning all,

    It's clear that we are now looking seriously for a cunning plan ministry.

  6. Good morning Geoff and all NoTTLers, from Palermo, Sicily.
    Today’s Monday Chuckle is about Birthdays.

    Two married men were drinking in a bar. One said to the other: “I got my wife a bag and a belt for her birthday. She wasn’t happy, but the Hoover works fine now.”

    Tom’s wife had been dropping none too subtle hints about what she wanted for her birthday. She told him: “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in under six seconds.” So he got up early the next day, wrapped her gift, and left it on the driveway. It was bathroom scales. He is due out of hospital any day now.

  7. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for this morning's new NoTTLe page. A par at Wordle today.

    Wordle 1,444 4/6

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

  9. 496664+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Monday 2 June: The Government needs a new plan for stopping small boat,

    correction,

    Monday 2 June: The Government AKA the WEF / NWO cartel needs a new plan for stopping small boat

    These three plus decades these political overseeing cartels
    have NEVER had a plan to stop the invasion, far from it.

    Plus, these morally evil cartels have been backed ALL THE WAY,
    supported through the polling stations.

    Vote and whinge has been the order of the day for decades resulting in being, that's NOT egg on the tribal voters faces that is SHITE.

    The Country currently is nigh on fully stocked with foreign fighting age men that have shown via odious actions to have
    NO LOVE for the mandatory hosts, the only love shown has been via the nations children in towns such as rotherham being an odious prime example, this imported paedophilia ( all toxic trio coalition parties equally guilty year on year on year) has spread like a plague covering these Isles, and still the importation continues , DAILY.

    In point of fact I am beginning to believe that the lab/lib.con parties are vying as to who supports the better class of paedophile.

    1. Good morning. Dolly and Harry are going on holiday for three days. I'm having lunch in London with some Nottlers tomorrow.
      They will be perfectly fine as they are going back to the breeder so they will be with all their brothers and sisters.
      It's me that will be suffering separation anxiety.

      1. Phil, I promised to get back to you on the NoTTLe get-together at your place this year. Alas, that too has proved impossible. Sorry.

        1. Thanks. It's a very grand place. £100 million on a recent refurbishment. Marble and crystal everywhere.
          I had originally planned an afternoon tea @£90 a head but cannie Annie arranged vouchers for a set three course lunch @£52 a head. Clever girl.

  11. Good morning all ,

    Pretty blue sky , blossoms in the garden , elderberry , white roses etc look lovely .
    Woke up far too early , Moh's breathing machine started hissing , so I was out of bed by 5am, and breakfasted.

    My laptop was playing up , no connection . Watched RT news amongst others on the box.

    Oh dear , how many invaders are we expecting this year, some say 60,000 + especially if we have good sailing weather and how many are flying in or being smuggled ..

    What brilliant ideas will Starmer have next?

    1. I posted earlier (on yesterday’s thread) about the James Glancy/Winston Marshall interview. Worth a listen (or watch it on YouTube). Though i don’t agree with Glancy on some of the things at the end of the interview. Will repost.

  13. It feels like we are being conned with spending on defense all being based on GDP.
    When did they stop using the real cost in actual cash?
    How can they plan anything when they haven't a clue what GDP will be in a year, let alone ten years.

    1. As my grasp of economics is on a par with Rachel from complaints I may be confused over GDP. As far as I understand it, GDP is an economic shell game involving debt (how much the country owes and the level of welfare payments) and inflated house prices (how much the mortgage payers owe). Thus increasing the number of gimmegrants pushes up the GDP by increasingwelfarecosts and artificially causing accommodation shortages. Whereas GDP per capita would show a more realistic, and much lower, figure.

    2. As my grasp of economics is on a par with Rachel from complaints I may be confused over GDP. As far as I understand it, GDP is an economic shell game involving debt (how much the country owes and the level of welfare payments) and inflated house prices (how much the mortgage payers owe). Thus increasing the number of gimmegrants pushes up the GDP by increasingwelfarecosts and artificially causing accommodation shortages. Whereas GDP per capita would show a more realistic, and much lower, figure.

    1. Ouch!

      I am a strong advocate in favour of Income Tax, being the fairest and simplest to collect way to pay for public services.

      As with tobacco tax, there needs to be an optimum level. Too much and revenue drops as fewer people smoke; too little, and there is no revenue at all, it all going into the pockets of tobacco company executives.

      When taking honey off bees, if one takes it all, the hive starves and there is no new generation and next year no bees and no honey. However, if one does not take any, the bees are happy, but there is no honey on the table.

      1. What happens when the price of tobacco goes up is that people buy smuggled tobacco. Absolutely rife in Cornwall, aptly I suppose. It's as if there was a tobacconist in the village. Half price aparently.

  15. 406664+ up ticks,

    Do those that put the likes of starmer the tool into power, feel reassured when he talks nuclear.

    May one ask, do the bulk of the indigenous herd have a problem with ivan?

    Will this new plan (annihilation ahoy) jeopardise what remains of the pensioners winter fuel payment?

    Britain’s new nuclear-powered attack submarines to ‘face down’ Russia
    Sir Keir Starmer will commit to building a submarine every 18 months in the most significant defence upgrade since Cold War

    2. Our enemy is not Russia it's the hoards crossing the channel every day – nuclear subs won't stop them

    3. As it seems to take 10 yers just to build one, where will they be constructed China?

      1. 406664+ up ticks,

        Morning OLT,

        I did not realise that the imams and the mullah mob had the knowhow.

  17. Good morning all, on this 72nd anniversary of The Coronation of Her Late Majesty.

  19. A defence of PC Lorne Castle, sacked by Dorset Police for doing his job:-

    "Ashamed": Former Dorset Police Chief Inspector Exposes Scandalous Dismissal of PC Lorne Castle That Has Rocked British Policing
    A decorated officer saved lives and tackled armed criminals, but his career was sacrificed by a police force a retired Chief Inspector, who personally trained him, calls "no longer fit for purpose."

    It’s not every day that a retired T/Chief Inspector steps forward to speak publicly and with such conviction. When they do, and their words spread rapidly across social media, it’s usually a sign that something has gone seriously wrong. That’s exactly what has happened in the case of PC Lorne Castle. (Scroll to the bottom of this blog for a link to the full statement from Mr Amey, the former Chief Inspector who mentored and trained Castle.)

    Chris Amey dedicated 30 years of his life to protecting the public through his service in the police, split between the Met and Dorset. In his own words, he left Dorset Police in 2022 “ashamed.” And now, he’s gone public to explain exactly why, because of how one of the most decent, selfless, and committed officers he's ever worked with has just been treated.

    Lorne Castle was dismissed without notice following a three-day Gross Misconduct Hearing. He had served Dorset for over a decade, first as a PCSO and later as a Constable. Chris Amey first met him in 2013 while recruiting Community Safety Accredited Officers for a project aimed at reducing crime in Boscombe.

    Lorne stood out immediately. Amey recommended him for the regular police because of his drive, discipline, and heart. He trained Lorne personally through both PCSO and Constable roles and describes him as exemplary.

    Reads more at:-
    https://esnreport.substack.com/p/ashamed-former-dorset-police-chief

      1. Good people show up the bad and they must not be forgiven for that.

    1. “A good few” by which you presumably mean the Leftards activists who are trying to usher in a new world order?

  21. Morning folks….

    News from across the pond and it isn't Carbone Neutral!:

    "A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee and five others have been arrested for allegedly defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of more than $66 million in unauthorized transactions, according to Fox Business.

    Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins called it “one of the largest stings” in USDA history, emphasizing, “At USDA, we are hyper-focused… on rooting out that waste, fraud and abuse.” She added, “This is a new day, and President Trump promised… that it would not be the government that we know.”

    The defendants — Michael Kehoe, Mohamad Nawafleh, Omar Alrawashdeh, Gamal Obaid, Emad Alrawashdeh, and USDA employee Arlasa Davis — face charges of “conspiracy to steal government funds and to misappropriate U.S. Department of Agriculture benefits,” according to prosecutors.

    Fox Business News writes that the scheme, which began in 2019, allegedly involved Kehoe supplying 160 unauthorized electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to stores across the New York area, enabling over $30 million in fraudulent transactions. Prosecutors say Davis sold confidential information to criminals, undermining a program that “vulnerable New Yorkers depend on for basic nutrition,” U.S. Attorney Perry Carbone said.
    “These charges should be a reminder that those who exploit anti-poverty programs for personal gain will be held accountable for their crimes,” Carbone added.

    According to officials, the group also submitted fraudulent USDA applications, misappropriated license numbers, and doctored documents to benefit unauthorized stores.

    1. “The defendants — Michael Kehoe, Mohamad Nawafleh, Omar Alrawashdeh, Gamal Obaid, Emad Alrawashdeh, and USDA employee Arlasa Davis —”

      Stop your bigoted fascist racist faaaaaarrrrt riiiighhhttt thoughts immediately. Diversity is our strength and all cultures are of equal value.

  22. Depends depends depends.. on your divisive political viewpoint.

    BBC: Paris St-Germain's fans celebrated their Champions League victory in the city on Sunday afternoon

    Reality: Two killed in migrants riots in Paris. 560 arrested.. 192 injured.. 260 vehicle fires. 30 police injured one in coma. Lots of Tunisian Pally Moroccan flags.

  23. Depends depends depends.. on your divisive political viewpoint.

    BBC: Paris St-Germain's fans celebrated their Champions League victory in the city on Sunday afternoon

    Reality: Two killed in migrants riots in Paris. 560 arrested.. 192 injured.. 260 vehicle fires. 30 police injured one in coma. Lots of Tunisian Pally Moroccan flags.

  24. Good Morning!

    In her article The Rise of Chrislam (or Islamianity) Sonya Porter argues that the accommodations made by Christians in Europe to the new force that is Islam will result in the merging of the two religions and largely, in effect therefore, the incorporation of mainstream Christianity into a new, but little changed, Islam. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.

    In Anti-Free Speech Laws Are Illegal! FSB argues that the State is now acting illegally by removing rights it has no right to remove, as guaranteed by Magna Carta, The Bill of Rights and Common Law. It also states the Parliament cannot pass laws inhibiting these rights without destroying the democratic accountability that gives it the right to make laws. We are, therefore, suffering tyranny.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 11.3%; Solar, 9.2%: Wind 44.6%; Imports, 10.9%; Biomass, 3.8%, Nuclear 17.7% and Miscellaneous, 2.5%.

    1. Morning Ogga, to be fair if they do try and stop them they get attacked

      1. 406664 + up ticks,

        Morning FA,
        Seemingly then the waiting queue at Calais has a tail end in Paris.

    1. To be fair from what Tommy said the guards asked him to do nothing. He has taken it on himself to drew attention to the situation because it is horrendous, not only for the guards that he points out are ordinary people who supported him. But because the prisons are, apparently, now run by Islamic gangs and are breeding grounds for radicalism. He is pointing out that something has to be done about the situation for the sake of us all.

      1. Prisons must be made far more austere and practise a sort of apartheid to keep Muslims in different prisons than the rest of the prison population.

        But of course Starmer and Mrs Balls are probably quite happy that, as you say, prisons are, apparently, now run by Islamic gangs and are breeding grounds for radicalism.

          2. As long as the MR does not look back and turn into a pillar of salt.

    2. Apparently Lucy Connolly gets on very well with her prison guards and has made new friends in prison. Her husband said this on an interview on GB News last week. He also said that when she is released she is thinking of training to be a prison officer herself.

      People who shouldn't be in prison in the first place are far better prisoners than many of the nasty scum who are there because they deserve to be there.

    1. I believe Clydesider lives up in North Yorkshire , but I seem to remember he had developed mobility issues , that was from a post last year or longer ago.

  30. What does entitlement mean to any of you?

    Does being retired for over twenty years entitle you to say to your wife , "Well I am retired so I am entitled to play golf three times a week plus travel to faraway golf venues" .. to abandon your wife for 6-7 hours a day .. then of course make excuses the day after each game by saying one is too tired to do anything ?

    I would have taken Phizzees kind suggestion happily , but the last time , over 14 years ago some one invited me to London , rail ticket paid for, to visit an exhibition, lunch and enjoy a good day out .. I prepared for my day out the day before , to make life comfortable for the family re meal etc, and came home to find ALL my clothes thrown out of my bedroom drawers on the front lawn .. yes , that is true .

    Coercive control , and exhausting , and still the same , as was proved this morning , and when my sisters stayed with me !

    1. There is no entitlement in a fair partnership. But what to do is not easy. Conflict is not pleasant and a break up is really not desirable later on in life. Try and develop your own interests and let a few things in the home be left undone. Aim for living together as a convenience rather than a duty. Straws in the wind really TB, each relationship is different and there is no one solution. If you want to go nuclear, arrange the next Nottler party at your place….. just joking (maybe!).

      1. Hello KP

        I have loads of interests, and am quite active , people know me , and there in lies the main problem ..

        Moh goes through the " likes ", even on F/B!

        Dare I say Happy Birthday to bods on here or on F/B or anywhere .. or who ever says hello to me .. produces questions ..

        Golf gives me a rest , a long rest , I am not short of pals or my many interests .. but this good little wife thing is like modern slavedom.. I have no entitlement !!!!

        I guess I am just tired this morning , not enough sleep .

        1. Don't let yourself feel Snook-ered!

          Like most Richards your man is a good man!

          1. In your household do you control all the money? Check your wife's phone and internet posts? Continually ask her questions to justify herself? Allow her to go out on her own?
            Have male acquaintances?

          2. Everything I own belongs to Caroline; everything she own belongs to me. In 37 years of marriage we have not once had an argument about money and we opened joint bank accounts the moment we married. We use the same email address and so we don't have secrets from each other. Caroline spends a lot of her time on her music lessons and playing the organ in church for all the regular services and many funerals and weddings and does this without me. We are not jealous of each other. We both have male and female friends but she is my best friend and I am hers.

            Sounds like boastful, self-satisfied smug washing of clean linen in public – but what the hell we don't care what people think of us!

          3. It's a joy to read this post, Richard. You and Caroline are a wonderful couple.

          6. Don’t understand how you can say “Like most Richards your man is a good man!”.

          7. I am biased because of my own name! There may be rare exceptions to that rule.

            But TB is very fond of her husband just as he is very fond of her. She's just having a little grumble.

        2. Set foundations for a Plan B. One day you might not be able to continue with this. Book an appointment at the solicitors to determine your rights if the worst happens. Every now and then look at properties you could live in on your own. Put the feelers out. Sometimes these things just explode all of a sudden. Make a list of all the bad and good things happening so you gain an overview to help with your decision-making.

    3. Peter O'Toole did exactly that to Sian Philips. The one saving grace in your relationship is the old bastard doesn't drink.

    5. I'm arguing with the current wife all the time, Maggie, but no, we don't do jealousy or control I guess. If I went out for a full days fishing 3 days every week she might well get very upset with me.

      1. Best not to argue, Mm, words harm us , I cannot shrug stuff off that easily , but distractions help.
        I have been out and about most of the morning and afternoon… after completing domestic tasks .

        I drove into Dorchester with several ideas to crack on with. My specs are making the side of my nose sore , so first visit optician , had to wait but one of the bods adjusted them , I had a good walk , then wandered into various clothes shops to try to find a light weight pair of summery trousers.. I would have been successful if I were 6 foot tall .. and had a huge amount of cash to splash!

        It was good to see retail is grappling with business and reducing some prices 😉🙄

        1. Difficult to explain, Maggie, but 'arguing' seems to be the reason we've been together for 45 years. We're not wealthy but not poor. Two kids, a good one and a dodgy one. Ain't life strange? Would be great one year to meet everyone at Phizzy's!
          Take care, Max.

  31. Morning All 🙂😊
    Lovely sunny start a bit breezy but warm.
    The government needs a new plan for stopping small boat crossings! Let's face the facts the UK government have never been honest enough to explain why its been happening for at least ten years and costing our country an absolute fortune in more ways than the obvious. And they, this and the previous morons obviously have no idea how or any intention of stopping it.

    1. I don't think there was ever a plan, Eddy…like Topsy, grown out of all proportion and now it's way too late to go into reverse. Starmer like a deer in the headlights, similarly ministers. And even if they were onboard, the CS would ensure it never happened – a number of Muslims/supporters employed there.

  32. Worth checking out the James Glancy interview by Winston Marshall:

    “…Right now, Britain is in a serious period of decline, and it's been deliberately, that decline has been deliberately sped up by the Labour government under Keir Starmer, under Ed Miliband, the drive to net zero, handing away the Chagos, higher regulation, borrowing. We'll see how the strategy defends with you, but as everyone knows, that Britain isn't working.

    Unbelievably high immigration. The next election is absolutely crucial for this country. We're at a crossroads of, do we go into a state of decline where it's never recoverable to be a prosperous and powerful nation again, where we become one big welfare state?

    We become essentially an international refugee camp, or an international charity for everyone from all around the world, where we've lost our identity, our history, our heritage, our Christian values, our armed forces are completely in the doldrums, and we end up signing up through the back door to the European Union, and become a vassal state again of the EU. That's one path, that's one pill that you can choose to swallow. Or there is another one, which is national renewal….”

    “…Without cheap energy, you cannot be a prosperous nation, re-industrialize to some extent, and have a vision which is we believe in Britain, we believe in our values, but to do that, we have to love ourselves and we have to want to be prosperous and we have to want to be powerful. We have to give the country an option, decline or rebuild…..”

    From The Winston Marshall Show: James Glancy – They Erased Our History AND Gutted Our Army: How Elites Are COLLAPSING Britain, 31 May 2025
    https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show/id1727337401?i=1000710674112&r=1981
    This material may be protected by copyright.

  33. Worth checking out the James Glancy interview by Winston Marshall:

    “…Right now, Britain is in a serious period of decline, and it's been deliberately, that decline has been deliberately sped up by the Labour government under Keir Starmer, under Ed Miliband, the drive to net zero, handing away the Chagos, higher regulation, borrowing. We'll see how the strategy defends with you, but as everyone knows, that Britain isn't working.

    Unbelievably high immigration. The next election is absolutely crucial for this country. We're at a crossroads of, do we go into a state of decline where it's never recoverable to be a prosperous and powerful nation again, where we become one big welfare state?

    We become essentially an international refugee camp, or an international charity for everyone from all around the world, where we've lost our identity, our history, our heritage, our Christian values, our armed forces are completely in the doldrums, and we end up signing up through the back door to the European Union, and become a vassal state again of the EU. That's one path, that's one pill that you can choose to swallow. Or there is another one, which is national renewal….”

    “…Without cheap energy, you cannot be a prosperous nation, re-industrialize to some extent, and have a vision which is we believe in Britain, we believe in our values, but to do that, we have to love ourselves and we have to want to be prosperous and we have to want to be powerful. We have to give the country an option, decline or rebuild…..”

    From The Winston Marshall Show: James Glancy – They Erased Our History AND Gutted Our Army: How Elites Are COLLAPSING Britain, 31 May 2025
    https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show/id1727337401?i=1000710674112&r=1981
    This material may be protected by copyright.

    1. We watched it on a small screen TV at my mother’s brother’s house in Hendon. But my father took my elder sister and myself up to London next day. All the bunting was still there but not the huge crowds.

    2. That's 1 billion extra in tax that needs collected… about £20 a month or £240 a year addition to income tax each.

    1. Faced with a European Commission whose authoritarian policies and federalist ambitions are brutalizing national sovereignty, Karol Nawrocki's victory in the Polish presidential election is welcome news. It is a rebuff to the Brussels oligarchy, which intends to impose a standardization of legislation on member states, contrary to any democratic will.

      1. It was one piece of very good news this morning amidst the disaster that is the government, Starmer and Hermer poisoning our country. Then dreadful things happening against Jews in the USA. I heard this morning that the young couple who were shot, the man was a Christian. Misdirected fanaticism just about sums up the pointless and idiotic intifada.

        2. Or – as reported in The Grimes online:

          "Why have Poland’s voters signed up for two years of chaos?"

      2. Good morning, Johnny

        I am convinced that Starmer will pay an enormous fee to get the UK back into the EU.

        A month or two after the UK's re-entry the EU will collapse and the UK will then be obliged to pay the largest part of the dissolution costs.

        1. I only did French to O level, and that was in the 1950's, but I could translate her post.

          I also did German, but have pretty much lost it all.

          1. I too did O-level French in the 50’s but I can’t recall much of it. I can read but can’t really speak it.

        2. I only did French to O level, and that was in the 1950's, but I could translate her post.

          I also did German, but have pretty much lost it all.

  38. Good morning all. Quite chilly at the moment and not set to go above 67f today. But there is sun.

    With regards to todays letter. How about having the boats greeted by the army with guns and the invaders immediately taken, not in buses but in army lorries, to barracks, where they can be suitably welcomed without benefits. In effect, imprisoned for the criminals they are. I have the feeling if that were done for just a month the invaders in France would be less liable to get in their dingeys and impose on the goodwill of the English.

    1. 406664+ up ticks,

      Morning JR,
      Agreement, no need of guns, guns will entice the anti brit BRITs to act in a similar manner, just sheer weight of numbers would suffice.

      Day one turnabout would in my book, show beneficial results to the indigenous peoples and come as a very nasty surprise to the invaders and their political anti brit protectors.

  39. Hope Cur Ikea Slammer's new nuclear submarines will be better built than the recent aircraft (what aircraft?) carriers.

    1. Didnt they say the great threat was from Vlad rolling his tanks across Europe. Not sure subs will have much part in a land battle.

    2. Starmer will have an input into the design.

      He will say they HMG has learned from their mistake with the Two White Elephants they had buiilt , they will be fitted with
      Cats and Traps (Catapults and Arrester wires)

        1. I thought the actual contract was the work of one Gordon Brown? I see that "they" are now talking about building a third carrier of the same class – they could have 1 aircraft each!!

          1. I think you are right – but that wouldn’t stop Slammer slagging off the Tory scum!

          2. Ordered by Gordon Brown as a sop/bribe to the Scottish ship building unions.
            Ironic as it was the Scottish ship building unions that effectively destroyed the Scottish shipbuilding industry.

        2. Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition Government, 2010–2015

          Sorted sorted

  40. What nobody will admit about the Reform takeover (and why we are where we are today)
    Kathy Gyngell: https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/how-britain-got-to-where-it-is-today/

    BTL

    I cannot forgive Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf for the disgraceful way in which they treated Rupert Lowe.

    Rupert Lowe said very publicly what needed to be said but which Nigel Farage is too timid to say.

    And at a time when the benefits bill is far too high why is Farage proposing to raise benefits for large families many of whom will be Muslim? Isn't that taking populism a bit too far?

  41. If you're gonna beat yesterday's record.. then it will require more funding.

    France stops fewer Channel migrants despite more funding.

    One thing you may want to consider..
    A one-way ferry ticket from Liverpool (Birkenhead) to Belfast typically costs about $130 .. then add the cost of an AA roadmap plus a handy compass. Then send 'em back to the EU down south with a promise of an EU O'passport and free lunch.

    1. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney claimed that up to 90 per cent of migrants seeking asylum in Dublin are arriving from the UK

      2. A swap for all those Irish tinkers camping up all overf the place, I assume.

    2. Better still, pay for their tickets on the Roscoff-Cork and Cherbourg-Dublin ferries and cut out the stopover in the UK.

  43. Here's a useful little trick on how to open a solar connector (but you must only do in the dark!):

    https://youtube.com/shorts/wo3NGFdpNfI?si=bsOi–6rXScezZAq
    The reason why it is so difficult is because there it is potentially very dangerous to open them when the sun is shining.

    This video explains why the MC4 solar connector has instructions not to open it when under load. This video explains the reason for the high incidence of burn injuries and fires when solar installers use MC4 knockoffs to save money:

    https://youtu.be/43dh2M_hNJo?si=zY_J9xJQqBn4Z1Pg

  45. Good Moaning (just).
    Wot a way to start the week.
    MB and I have been organising, printing, copying and filing insurance paperwork.
    Aaarrgghhhhhhh ………………………..
    I need a lie down – preferably with some v.v. strong nerve tonic.

    1. I’ve just had my house insurance renewal notice from Axa, who seem to think that a 14% increase in premium is reasonable despite no claims of any kind, ever. Shopping around now, but one doesn’t know how good an insurer is until one needs to make a claim.

        1. I will be having a conversation with them once I have some competing offers.

          1. Don’t mock it.

            Very good and reasonable household and car insurance AND Holiday insurance.

          3. Saga have a nett debt of over £650 million against market capitalisation of £175m. I will get a quote from them but they look shaky.

          4. W e were recommended to NFU. They wanted over double the existing house premium – and when I queried it was told to, “Take it or leave it.” I followed the latter part of their advice.

    1. I'm sure you'd be Abel and enjoy administering the Cain.

      edit for auto correct

    2. I'm sure you'd be Abel and enjoy administering the Cain.

      edit for auto correct

  47. Read the small print. Some insurers offer a better price but you may not have as much cover as you think you do.
    Money supermarket is a good place to start.

    1. Yup.
      I'm outside Sandvika Sportsbar, in the sun, a craft Stout of unparalleled bitterness in hand, Nottl on phone.
      Couldn't be better.

    3. I suppose we should be grateful he doesn't want to trade on the Churchill connection. Earl Spencer and the Duke of Marlborough are cousins, albeit a few times removed. Jamie Spencer-Churchill was a waster when young but he grew up and now serves the family estate. Harry? No need to spell it out, is there?

  50. Grey day yesterday afternoon with a little drizzle but a good turnout for the farmers show. Lots of very young children riding on a train made of little plastic barrels and towed by the event organiser on his tractor. Don't think it would be allowed in UK. On a good run with Wordle:
    Wordle 1,444 3/6

    ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Nice shape too – winners podium!

    1. I use NFU for motor insurance and have approached them for a quote for house cover. In the past they have been way too expensive.

  53. 405554+ up ticks,

    Who's we ?

    This WEF / NWO political agent speaks I believe on their be-half The decent indigenous folk of these Isles are already AT WAR with the political odious overseeing kapo's in parliament and have, in my book, NO QUARREL with with the likes of their counterparts in Russia.

    I have a warm glowing feeling that the political starmer tool and
    kit, are going to find it lonely at the meeting of their well deserved Waterloo.

    https://x.com/UnityNewsNet/status/1929487675947377079

    https://x.com/UnityNewsNet/status/1929487675947377079

    1. Ref Waterloo… How much damage will be done by then? And will they all retire with their fortunes intact, or will they be hanged in the streets as they deserve?

      1. 406664+ up ticks,

        Afternoon O,

        Their treasonable actions have hastened death in many cases thereby duly deserve the
        black cap punishment, the bulk charged with corporate manslaughter, as a show of mercy
        a choice of death or very long term incarceration.

    2. Surely these emissions must be anthropogenic – high chance it's the Mafia.

    3. Vesuvius & Stromboli, too.
      Maybe God is trying to tell us something?

    4. We sailed around the Western end of Sicily from Trapani down to Licata before heading south to Malta in Mianda.

      l always enjoyed this poem about a snake in Sicily though we were nowhere near Etna..

      Snake: D. H. Lawrence

      A snake came to my water-trough
      On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
      To drink there.

      In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob tree
      I came down the steps with my pitcher
      And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough
      before me.

      He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
      And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over
      the edge of the stone trough
      And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
      And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
      He sipped with his straight mouth,
      Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,
      Silently.

      Someone was before me at my water-trough,
      And I, like a second-comer, waiting.

      He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,
      And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,
      And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused
      a moment,
      And stooped and drank a little more,
      Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels
      of the earth
      On the day of Sicilian July, with Etna smoking.

      The voice of my education said to me
      He must be killed,
      For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold
      are venomous.

      And voices in me said, If you were a man
      You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.

      But must I confess how I liked him,
      How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink
      at my water-trough
      And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
      Into the burning bowels of this earth?

      Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?
      Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?
      Was it humility, to feel so honoured?
      I felt so honoured.

      And yet those voices:
      If you were not afraid, you would kill him!

      And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid,
      But even so, honoured still more
      That he should seek my hospitality
      From out the dark door of the secret earth.

      He drank enough
      And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken,
      And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black,
      Seeming to lick his lips,
      And looked around like a god, unseeing, into the air,
      And slowly turned his head,
      And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream,
      Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round
      And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.

      And as he put his head into that dreadful hole,
      And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders,
      and entered farther,
      A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his withdrawing into
      that horrid black hole,
      Deliberately going into the blackness, and slowly drawing
      himself after,
      Overcame me now his back was turned.

      I looked round, I put down my pitcher,
      I picked up a clumsy log
      And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.

      I think it did not hit him,
      But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed
      in an undignified haste,
      Writhed like lightning, and was gone
      Into the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front,
      At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination.

      And immediately I regretted it.
      I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!
      I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.

      And I thought of the albatross,
      And I wished he would come back, my snake.

      For he seemed to me again like a king,
      Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,
      Now due to be crowned again.

      And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords
      Of life.
      And I have something to expiate:
      A pettiness.

      1. Thank you Rastus. I truly enjoyed that. I found myself sympathizing with the snake and truly appreciating the poem, how it echoed the albatross and then on to the verses that followed to the end. I will keep this poem.

  55. NEW REPORT: Reeves Inheritance Tax Changes to Cost Economy £14.8 Billion

    Independent economics consultancy CBI Economics released a large-scale analysis of Reeves’ changes to death taxation at the Budget. APR and BPR hikes will end up costing the Treasury more than they raise:

    Anticipated economic costs include Gross Value Added loss of £14.8 billion by April 2030.
    Includes the loss of 208,500 jobs by 2030.
    55% of family firms + 49% of family farms have paused or canceled planned investments
    That’s a 16% average decrease in investment.
    Almost half of family businesses predict reduction in headcount – average decline of 9% in employment.
    Agriculture and horticulture firms foresee average turnover reduction of 11%, while real estate and construction sectors expect 9% reduction.
    Employment in construction, manufacturing, and accommodation sectors to decrease by circa 11%.
    Of the predicted 208,000 job losses 180,000 will take place in family firms – 0.7% of all UK jobs.
    28,000 job losses will occur in the farming sector, an 8.% decrease in sector employment.
    Most startlingly the analysis estimates the net fiscal impact of the tax changes will reduce Treasury tax revenues by £1.9 billion, which is just above the £1.8 billion the Treasury optimistically claims it will raise by 2030. Rendering the punitive changes completely pointless…

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

    It’s only Me
    4h
    it's nothing more than a Labour Envy tax. It only makes them happy but does nothing to help the economy. Again, real damage is being done here to the economy.
    This is NOT the change that people wanted!!!

  57. “As promised, Reform have created a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting-edge technology and deliver real value for voters.”

    5 4 3 2 1..

    Sir Keir Starmer man of the people dressed in Rambo gear approaches the Lectern.. surrounded by Union Jacks.
    "We will be creating a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting-edge technology and deliver real value for voters for the country wot I love."

  58. Kamal Ahmed
    Starmer has entered the ‘degeneration’ phase. His MPs are in despair

    What is this Labour government for? Nobody seems to know, not even members of its Cabinet

    Kamal Ahmed
    01 June 2025 2:00pm BST

    Shortly after the general election, The Daily T – the podcast I present with colleague Camilla Tominey – held a live event for Telegraph readers at our headquarters in central London.

    It was a very jolly affair, with prosecco on hand as Camilla, Gordon Rayner, our Associate Editor, and I discussed the state of politics and answered questions. The biggest worry in the audience was that Starmer was simply Tony Blair in disguise, and was being “run” by Labour’s most successful Prime Minister in history via his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute.

    This was nonsense, I suggested. Blair was far too Right-wing for Starmer.

    Chatting afterwards, a number of attendees came up to me to make a point about what being “Prime Minister of the country” meant to them.

    “We have to give him a chance,” one Conservative voter said. “He won, it’s good to end the chaos, and he is the leader now. As long as he is sensible, we will see how it goes.”

    This is a very British view of politics and one I wholeheartedly support. The office of Prime Minister is one to be respected, politicians need time to affect change and following the psychodramas of Boris Johnson and the rest a period of calm would be very much welcomed.

    I wonder how that Conservative voter is feeling now. After a reasonable opening day speech about governing for everyone, Starmer has induced nausea. Freebie gifts revealed that it was still “one rule for them”. With no discussion or preparation, the Winter Fuel Allowance was scrapped for all but the lowest paid pensioners. A £22 billion “black hole” appeared to come as a shock to the Chancellor despite every sensible analyst saying before the election that the public finances were shot. The Budget raised taxes after Labour promises that it would not.

    “I need to fix the foundations,” Rachel Reeves told voters as the polls started slipping. Starmer agreed. “Growth” was everything and “tough Labour” would not be indulging in any U-turns. Even that gargantuan and ever-increasing benefits bill would be tackled.

    Being controversial can have a point in politics – as long as you stick to the course. Starmer has done the opposite, the lead character in a political tragedy about a man who wanted to be king but did not know why. The PM has confused noise from opponents, backbenchers and pressure groups with the very different purpose of running the country.

    The result has been strategic chaos – a disaster for anyone residing in Number 10. Where once he was positive about the effects of immigration, now he is talking about “an island of strangers”. Where the cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance were an absolute necessity – now they will be at least partially reversed (although when and by how much will be a political running sore for months to come). The two child benefit cap is likely to be lifted. The UK will be in and not in the European Union.

    I speak to many senior Labour figures every week. They pinpoint the disastrous local elections as the moment Starmer buckled afresh, casting around in desperation for anything that might shift momentum. A caucus of Red Wall Labour MPs, led by Jo White, demanded changes, particularly to disability benefit cuts. “We will not budge,” Downing Street insisted, exactly as they had done over the Winter Fuel Allowance. Few believe that position will hold.

    Negative briefings are starting to swirl around Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff. Enemies point out, and there are many, that the “hard choices” approach has given way too easily to “I’ll U-turn if you want me to”. Policies that MPs expended a lot of energy defending are now being abandoned, the quickest way to lose faith on the back benches. Nearly 200 Labour councillors lost their jobs in the May elections, a rich seam of angry activists who blame the man at the top.

    Starmer and Sweeney go back, to the dark days of the Hartlepool by-election loss in 2021 when Labour was trounced by the Conservatives. Starmer considered quitting and outsourced much of his political thinking to McSweeney, who picked him up and dusted him off. The Corbyn-lite approach that had won the PM the Labour leadership was jettisoned and “sensible Starmer” took its place, the dry technocrat who would focus on what works.

    Labour MPs of the modernising tendency fear Corbyn-lite is creeping back. Adrift in a sea of collapsing personal ratings, Starmer is trying his own form of “back to basics” – the basics of “all will have jam” Left wing economics.

    “We have no idea who is driving the bus,” said one well placed Labour figure on the chopping and changing at the centre. “It is not about jam today or jam tomorrow. With no growth there is no jam.”

    Reeves is in an increasingly precarious position. She marched into the gunfire with a degree of political bravery, insisting that her decisions had to be taken to re-energise the economy.

    My Treasury sources insist there are glimmers of hope that the strategy is working. The first three months of the year saw growth above estimates. Business confidence has started to pick up. In the spending review on June 11, the Chancellor will announce billions of pounds in capital investment in transport hubs, energy, schools, hospitals and research and development. These are the right policies.

    The PM is striding in the opposite direction, creating a tension between Number 10 and Number 11 that never augurs well for good government. When Labour published its manifesto in 2024, the only person beyond Starmer himself to appear regularly in the glossy photographs was Reeves. Now it would be Angela Rayner, who is noisily demanding more tax rises.

    Like grief, governments travel through five phases. Euphoria, honeymoon, stability, degeneration, failure.

    Starmer has managed to leap-frog the first three and has entered “degeneration” well before the first anniversary of a victory which gave him a 171 seat majority. Even his allies look on baffled, failing to understand that government is difficult, that you cannot gyrate between policy positions and expect appalling poll numbers to improve. Leading requires courage, vision and an ability to communicate. Consistency is the prosaic truth that the Prime Minister has failed to grasp.

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

    Ryan Brighton
    23 hrs ago
    A week of crossings at around the 1K number per day, and he won't have to worry, the public will kick off and whoever is Prime Minister won't really be relevant; the country will be ungovernable.

    Having the Defence Minister admit that we don't control our borders any longer may well have been a disastrous move.

    Michael Flood
    22 hrs ago
    The man has no moral compass: look at his negligible or misjudged reactions to Southport, Grooming Gangs, Lucy Connolly, free speech concerns.

    2. There's many things wrong with the article, the first being that no conservative would trust Starmer.

      There was no 22bn black hole. reeves lied. What she wanted to do was destroy private education – out of sheer spite – and promptly gave that money to her union paymasters for their election funding.

      Reeves has no interest in resolving the problems the country has because doing so means cutting taxes, not increasing them. She's a bad demolition mob, not an architect.

      The Left do NOT want growth. They say they do, but they don't know what it is. What they want it to mean is being able to spend more money by making the economy bigger, by spending more money. So their (and the OBR, BoE and Treasury) response is to hike taxes, because they're all moronic Left wing failed Keynesian social democrats.

      Starmer, desperate beyond measure to stay in office, ignorant of the problems, too arrogant to accept his own pointless stupidity (and that of his cabinet), surrounded by sycophantic fools all desperate to keep their jobs keep telling him to adopt policies he simply does not hold to and has no interest in fulfilling.

      Thus he is blown about, unwilling to explain his ideological basis – because it's nothing but destructive and flinging policy he has no intent on implementing to placate idiot voters into thinking that what he's really going to do.

      It is classic Lefty doublethink. He's trying to force big state high tax socialism while pretending to a be a freemarket low gimmigration Righty. Knowing Lefties they're mostly unaware of their psychosis until confronted with it, then they become angry as hypocrisy breaks their minds.

    1. Difficult summer ahead, Sue. Hope someone's keeping some kind of eye on social media, whilst organising water cannon.

      1. I don't think we've got any water cannon in this country since Theresa May sold them off.

        1. May was considered a good constituency MP in Maidenhead. She still has hers of course. Which is why she wanted to destroy us all by signing up to the Migration Pact treaty.

          I wonder if when her constituents twig to the fact they will stock up on piano wire.

    2. It isn't the fault of the PBI though. It comes from on high, with hard Left woke home office, an even more dangerous police officer structure almost certainly politicised and the Left desperate to produce 'numbers' rather than do the actual work to solve very difficult crime.

      As it is, why bother when the punishments – from hard Left wafflers – are so weak that the criminal vermin just reoffends because… why bother?

      The state would far prefer to use its power against those who oppose it.

    1. I don't think she knows, Eddy. And this on top of lockdowns, supermarket booze, homebrew, and the cost of tobacco. She probably won't dare to backtrack, that could open the floodgates to other complaints.

        1. And as for needing a new plan for stopping small boat crossings, anne – I’d be interested in seeing a plan at all, I don’t believe there is a present one or a planned one.

      2. They are currently stealing the money from savers to try to cover up their dreadful mistakes they are appalling people.

        1. And yet for Labour supporters/voters the appalling people are 'right-wingers'.

  61. Countryfile from Bradford, City of Culture, was only half the horror show it threatened to be. If you ignore the cultural bits – naff sculptures, the tower of sheep's wool, the tuneless choir – and the dozy students on a ramble, you'll find some proper farming in it, although the grinning countenance of Sean Fletcher is always an invitation to the launching of tea cups. He was indulged by the participants, including the sheep farmer who I thought at first was Joe Root's dad, and the staff of the Bradford wool depot (it was encouraging to see the wool trade holding up). Adam Henson chortled his way across the moors at Hellifield to report on a farmer running cattle in the high moors throughout the year – low input (no feed costs for keeping them indoors over winter), good profit.

    If you can bear it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002d33v/countryfile-bradford-city-of-culture

  62. Hamit Coskun, the man who set fire to a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish Consulate, has been convicted of a “racially aggravated public order offence”(sic), with the judge claiming he has a “deep-seated hatred of Muslims”.

    The Free Speech Union tweeted:

    This is deeply disappointing. Everyone should be able to exercise their rights to protest peacefully and to freedom of expression, regardless of how offensive or upsetting it may be to some people.

    https://dailysceptic.org/2025/06/02/hamit-coskun-convicted-after-burning-koran-in-public/

    Some good.btl comments

    1. Islam isn't a race and I have a deep-seated, although I wouldn't go as far as hatred, but certainly dislike of fundamental Islam as a religion.
      I know numerous Muslims and have found them to be agreeable as people, but they are not fervent Muslims.

      Islam goes far beyond being merely a religion in its objectives.

      1. Even the ones who are not "fervent" often applaud the evil doings of their more "right on" brethren. "I wouldn't dream of doing it myself, but you can see his point of view…"

        1. Quite.
          One always suspects that if Islam takes over they will be the ones doing the turning in of people like me.

          1. If muslim continues to expand at the same rate there won't be an economy to pay their bennies, and they'll leave to pollute somewhere else.

          2. No. They come from shitholeistan, and have the talent to turn everything to shit. They won't leave ever, and will likely eat the inhabitants.

          3. Not before our country is sucked dry and in rubble. Take a look at their home towns.

        2. There's one thing definitely wrong with that image – the use of the word 'my' before Allah. No Muslim would ever say that – there is only one God in their religion, who is distant, remote, and immune to any concept of relationship implied by the word 'my'. This is in complete contrast to the God of Judaeo-Christianity, who seeks through the person of Jesus a relationship with mankind, hence the declaration by the disciple Thomas “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

          1. If God wants to get to know me, he's taking his time. That laying on of hands would be most welcome.

          2. Not sure I should share this…
            Some years ago, I was in an argument over God and religion, and I came out with: "There is no God!"
            and immediately after, a small voice in my head asked "Is that really what you think?"
            I was absolutely gobsmacked, was unable to continue.
            So, maybe, there is a God after all. How God manifests him(?)self isn't clear, but…

      3. Far beyond a religion, it is a defined way of life, with its own legal and justice systems.

        And of course, severe punishments for apostasy, heresy and even being an "unbeliever".

        Cults: The three main characteristics of a cult are: authoritarian control, extremist beliefs, and isolation from society.

        QED

  64. Very satisfactory, weeding. Just finished the main rose bed – 20 yards by three. Not a weed left! The bloodstained shirt, however, shows that the roses fought back…

    Have I missed any important news from the Ukraine? No? What a relief.

  65. What a beautiful drive!
    Over to Stoke to check up on Stepson and help him sort his gas & electric bills out, then he came with me up to near Jodrell Bank for an auction pickup, then down to Congleton for a bite to eat and away for the bus back to Stoke whilst I headed home via Harpur Hill and the A515/A5012 Via Gallia.

    Lovely sunshine all day.

    1. Turned out sunny here, too. This morning was chilly and cloudy. Then – it as though someone had thrown a switch…

    4. That's lovely.
      You could make yourself 'quit a few Bob' if you had a few of those printed and framed Ashes.

      1. Ha! If only. Making money in photography is a bugger. Even when I’ve exhibited, people really don’t want to pay actual money for the prints.

        So I just enjoy sharing them. 🙂

    1. I think of Islam as the content that escaped Pandora's box, all that was left was Hope.

    1. I enjoyed watching the people. Some hurrying away. Others heading upwards. Pyroclastic flow would take all of them.

      For myself, i wouldn't be on the slopes at all. I would be watching from my terrace…in Corsica.

      1. Sit outside a bar in Catania, glass or several of good Sicilian red wine, and watch!

    2. Flew past Etna about 45 years ago. There was an impressive display of red hot larva spouting from the summit, not he angry black clouds of yesterday.

        1. In Greek and Roman mythology, Aetna is a Sicilian nymph and daughter of Uranus. Vulcan was the Roman god of volcanoes. Which came first, the Vulcan or the volcano?

          7. I thought so too, but when I looked it up here in France, he is a Vulcain, hence my spelling.

          8. Didn't know the Académie Française stooped to meddle in "space operas" as they are called here.

          11. Ponders…still pondering…tries pondering while smoking a pipe…..erm…what was the question?

            I didn't have a classical education. :@(

          12. As the volcano had to exist to fire the imagination of the chap who thought 'that must be controlled by a giant version of me' defacto the volcano had to already exist.

            Mankind likes ascribing himself to natural elements.

            However, what's more interesting is why do completel geographically separate, never met since the modern era socities share such common mythologies? The Phoenix, dragons (and the Norse didn't have snakes yet do have Linnorms).

          13. And many societies also share the myth of a great flood. Yet if those floods had been as "great" as is regularly claimed, there would have been no-one left alive afterwards. The Biblical flood was probably a disaster in the eastern Med and surrounding areas. and up into the Black Sea – not that surprising given how geologically active that area is. A good tsunami would be the most likely "flood" to occur there.

          14. The 'Flood' was a simple way to explain the presence of shells of sea creature on the slopes and tops of mountains far from the sea. Plate tectonics and continental drift was first postulated in the 1950 and had to wait until the 60s before it was generally accepted.

          16. And even the top of Everest. That make a change in altitude of minus minus 4000 metres to +9000 meters. Mother nature is very powerful.

          17. The Indian sub-continent is trying to move North, has run into Asia and the Himalayas are the bow-wave.

          19. Ever watched film of a tsunami? The water surges in, then flows back out. Drop a stone in a puddle to see the small size "model".

        2. The one the Italians worry about is Vesuvius, as millions live close enough to be impacted and would need evacuation if it blew a gasket.

          And of course both Vesuvoius and Etna have "form".

          1. Yes. This volcano hasn't gone off in a while. Let's build a city in a caldera…

    3. My father was station in Scilly second part of WW2. He brought home a piece of pumice stone from Etna. We had it in our bathroom when we were children.

    4. What a catastrophe! (clutches pearls) This will increase Global Boiling by a factor of ten! We're doomed!

      [As published in tomorrow's Grauniad]

      2. Fear not – the Swedish Muppet has altered course and is about to land in Sicily and demand that Etna eruption is put out.

        1. I think one or two folk have already said she should be sacrificed to appease the God of the Volcano…..

        2. I think one or two folk have already said she should be sacrificed to appease the God of the Volcano…..

  70. "Police announce new phase of their investigation of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust where hundreds of babies have died or been injured"

    Yeah, right. Two year "investigation". Proposed charges considered by the CPS for another year. A two year trial – followed by an appeal a year later.

    Eventually – possibly – the "Trust" will be fined a lot of money. No one will lose their job, or their pension or their enormous salary or their other perks.

    While I feel deeply for the despairing parents so shoddily treated – I am blowed if I can see the advantage of what I have described.

    1. Fining government departments is always pointless. Those responsible carry on, wafting from incompetence to incompetence without barely a flicker. It's a putrid, incestuous gravy train.

    2. I would be surprised if any maternity hospital is performing well. Hence Letby.

    1. You’re having a laugh aren’t you? I may have come from humble beginnings but there is no way I am leaving my Crockett & Jones outside.

  73. Both. Apart from English, French and History with Cliff Lummis (before your time).

        2. It was compulsory at my institution, Some small number (those who were deemed likely to fail their O's) dropped Latin to focus on the old concept of a passing their GCE's. i.e. 4 subject passes. Usually English, maths, a language and either a science or history or geography.

      1. Party drugs like alcohol affect the body differently when traveling at 35,000 feet. He was naive and should have been warned in his crew training.

          1. We don't know really. Could have had his coffee spiked by a crew member who wanted to get rid of him. Such things do happen.

    3. I have worked and partied with several BA crew. Almost all the men are gay. The ones that take their job seriously are good at what they do but are unutterable bores with a rod up their erm..backs.
      Younger ones tend to be more party animals and don't stay the course.

    4. Um, what's the problem with dancing naked in the toilet?

      Asking for a friend…

      1. I dont have a problem with it myself (provided I know the individual concerned) but it does make it harder to reach the paper………

  76. Wordle No. 1,444 2/6

    ⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 2 Jun 2025

    Groom for an Eagle!

    1. Well done, could only manage a par here.
      Wordle 1,444 4/6

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

      Also realised I've reached 1,000 Wordles;

      Statistics
      Number of games played, 1000
      Win percentage, 98%
      Current Streak count, 142
      Max Streak count, 203

      1. I reached 450 today, win % 99, current/max streak 226 and an almost perfect sinusoidal wave of guesses (1 to 6) of 0 – 16 – 102 – 209 – 101 – 16 so 6 fails……(more than I thought actually! I can only remember 3…)

        1. I've calculated that I need the next 67 consecutive correct answers to get back to 99%.

    2. Blimey, very well done Rene!

      I thought I was doing well skanking a birdie – I took ages on it but still think I was lucky!

      Wordle 1,444 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
      ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Wow. Amazed to have a birdie.

      Wordle 1,444 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. #metoo.
        Wordle 1,444 3/6

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

  79. Le mugs..

    French MP Eleonore Caroit says it is "unfair" to suggest that there is a lack of will in France to intercept vessels, there need to be more co-operation and tools and more funding.

    Irritating nasal whine in background..
    "I want to be really clear: We are working very closely with our counterparts in France and elsewhere to take further action in northern France, and of course, we are giving enhanced powers to our own law enforcement through the Borders Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.”

    2,000 in a single day.. me feelin it.

      1. Young ladies talking about who is better in bed, Indians or Bretons. Father Christmas introduces himself as Geronimo Langadec (Breton surname, Native American first name).

      2. In brief: (1) It says the Indians have the best 'members' – (2) I have heard that the Bretons are the best performers in bed. Old bloke: Good day, let me introduce myself, my name is Geronimo Lagadec. Lagadec being a Breton name. 😄

  81. Is he going for a Baker's Dozen?

    Fourth man arrested over Starmer firebomb attacks

    Man, 48, arrested at Stansted airport on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life

    Three other men have been charged in connection with the three alleged arson attacks

    Martin Evans
    Crime Editor
    02 June 2025 4:45pm BST

    Detectives investigating a series of alleged firebomb attacks at properties linked to Sir Keir Starmer have arrested a fourth man.

    The 48-year-old was arrested at Stansted airport on Monday. He was initially stopped by officers under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, before being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.

    The fires occurred last month at the Prime Minister’s family home in north London and a property in Islington he had previously owned. A car he once owned but sold to a neighbour was also allegedly set alight.

    Three men have already been charged, and have appeared in court in connection with the alleged attacks.

    Roman Lavrynovych, 21, a Ukrainian national living in Sydenham, has been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life.

    Fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 34, who was living in north London, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, a Romanian national, have both been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.

    All three have been remanded in custody and are due to appear at the Old Bailey on Friday June 6.

    The investigation is being led by detectives from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command.

  83. LOL.
    Progressive liberal open border defund the police advocate Susanna Reid.. chastises Robert Jenrick for not reporting fare dodgers…

    "And you didn't report it to the police."
    "Why not?"
    Repeat ad infinitum.
    https://youtu.be/6wDtw-Rz59E?t=89

    1. What would be the point? And why doesn't she understand this?

      Perhaps when it gets to a level where she is affected she might begin to understand. She can afford the travel costs from dodgers because she probably gets a travel allowance.

      I am watching Brave New World at the moment and when eventually people are faced with the reality they just look blank. Then die.

    2. Of course, a real person would have replied t the totty's knife question:

      "What would have ben the point? The police – as we all know – are effing useless. Nothing would have been done. Next stupid question."

      But Fuckrick is a "politician" – so he can never answer a question truthfully.

      1. Even when asked if his party would abolish something he complained Labour wouldn't abolish he said 'err, no.. we wouldn't'.

        For crying out loud!

          1. Badenoch? Don't know on that front. I think the Tories are lost. Confused and muddled, not sure where they fit in.

          2. They do not understand that real Conservatives see them as eco-freak limp dumbs

  84. "The investigation is being led by detectives from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command" – Well it seems they are well and truly bu@@ered now!

        1. Look…I can show you how to do it. It takes time and patience. A good focus is required for what the long term thrust of your work is required.
          Ask Anne Allan for details on Embroidery

  87. That's me done for today. Just in from watering. Gosh -it is hard, tiring work. Twenty 12 litre cans lugged fifty yards.

    Time for a drinky poo. Or two.

    Have a jolly evening

    A demain – if I am spared.

          1. There is a ten feet drop between the south and north of the garden.

            Norfolk flat – my arse. Try bloody cycling.

      1. Clearly you are not a gardener with 10 water butts 50-100 yards apart. And the vegetation requiring irrigation 50 yards away. Stick to your dogs…

  88. Jacinda Ardern: I Never Wanted to Be New Zealand PM Anyway

    Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart have just given ex-New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and former progressive heroine a typical softball interview on their Rest is Politics podcast. Ardern is promoting her new memoir “A Different Kind of Power” which is apparently “powerfully evocative and refreshingly open, it is for anyone who has ever questioned themselves, or has wanted to make a difference.” Campbell said he picked up no “yearning political drive” from her memoirs. Look how that went…

    Ardern said she never wanted the job:

    “I had political drive I didn’t have personal drive. Now that’s not to say I had no ambition for myself – I wanted to be good at my job, I wanted people to believe I was good at my job. But that did not in my mind need to equate to a particular level of office. I certainly didn’t have the ambition to lead my party and I absolutely therefore did not have the ambition to be prime minister.”

    The ex-PM then went on to congratulate herself for slugging it out in opposition: “a fairly brutal place to be for nine years – because I was highly motivated by issues and and change.” Ardern quit with her New Zealand Labor Party tanking in polls, the country on the brink of recession, at the lowest business confidence in the OECD, and inflation at the highest level for a generation. The public didn’t fancy her as leader either…

    June 2 2025 @ 17:32

    Special Kaye
    32m
    What saddened me the most about this article is to find out that Alistair Campbell is still alive…

    Pitchfork Revolt
    29m
    Another unlamented leftie who left her country in ruins. Socialism always fails. Krankie's the same. When will they learn. Where would Scotland be now, if England hadn't bailed them out. On and on we go. The same mistakes repeated.

    1. These people are criminally insane. This is why humans need to raise armies. It isn’t because we’re unreasonably aggressive, it’s because some of the most powerful among us are mad.

    2. …….What saddened me the most about this article is to find out that Alistair Campbell is still alive…

      What saddened me was to find that Roy Stewart is still at large and not confined in the local asylum for mental defectives,

    2. Dear President Trump.
      Allow summary justice in such events.
      Shoot the bastard.
      If he survives, shoot him again, rinse and repeat until the cycle is finished.

      1. There would be plenty of volounteers to exact retribution – most of whom would happily bring their own weapons.

  91. Army needs more troops to take on Russia, Starmer told
    Armed Forces are more suited to ‘a peacetime era’ and must be optimised, says Strategic Defence Review
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/02/army-too-small-protect-britain-starmer-strategic-review/
    What the actual fuck is going on in the UK? Who in their right, or wrong, minds thinks that squaring up to Russia is a good idea? Atomic war on the near horizon, and if that happens, everything will be smashed and radioactive forever?

    2. J Laws
      9 min ago
      Amazing isn't it, a sea-faring nation, we managed to keep out our enemies for centuries, with only sailing vessels and still having to cope with the vagaries of the weather in the Channel. In those days French shops could be spotted by their white sails because they were kept in port. I would put good money on the Navy and the SBS being able to sort something out. We could begin by keeping the RNLI and border force inside our 9 mile limit.

    1. Sad thing is I can't tell if he's a Scotsman in pakiland or is in, say, Glasgow.

      Claiming 'European' culture is a bit of a stretch though.

    2. Sad thing is I can't tell if he's a Scotsman in pakiland or is in, say, Glasgow.

      Claiming 'European' culture is a bit of a stretch though.

      2. Yes. Well spotted. The MR grew up in Cullompton – just a few miles away. She has quite a lot of tis.

    3. Perfectly formed prize winning roses , do they also have a delicious scent ?

      I love your vase , perfect for displaying them x

  94. Are we on the verge of global cooling?

    Some volcanoes on a Soviet military base caused significant sun dimming 200 years ago with the ensuing temperature drop causing crop failures:

    https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanos/quadruple-volcanoes-on-secret-soviet-military-base-linked-to-climate-altering-eruption-200-years-ago-earth-from-space

    The same could happen again given the current world's volcano activity:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/06/02/mount-etna-erupts-volcano-tourists-run/

    2. We've been either boiling or freezing since the early 70's according to whichever group wanted to trough. When one nation has a bad crop, the important thing – for humans – is having the ability to recover from technology.

      Of course, Miliband doesn't agree. That's why there's huge problems brewing.

    3. Valentina Zharkova has been predicting for years that the next sunspot low point will be bigger than usual and will tip us into a mini ice age in the 2040s.

      1. Caroline's father, a geologist, was convinced that global cooling was far more likely than global warming.

  95. Given how far down in the polls the Tories are, the lack of faith people have in them and the almost demand for honesty in politics (however vague that might seem) is it not an opportunity for them to start speaking some simple home truths?

    That we are spending too much, that people are not mentally ill but exploiting that benefits system, that we are over populated, that we do have a massive uncontrolled gimmigration problem, that state waste is far too high, that we do need to cut government and that it is not able to, nor right to look to the state for every answer?

    1. Russia has no interest in the UK. It has no real interest in Ukraine, either. It has been invited to protect ethnically Russian folk in the Crimea.

      1. Vlad has a very well documented desire to reconstitute Russia along the borders of the old USSR. He has made no secret of it. His expectation, probably set by what fawning minions told him, was that a quick dash into Ukraine would be welcomed. It was in the majority Russian area, but not in the rest, where families would have long memories going all the way back to being starved by Stalin.

    2. Let's all club together and buy Starmer a rifle with bayonet so that he can go and start a war with Russia on his own. He seems awfully keen.

    3. Our enemy isn't Russia – it's the illegals coming across the channel and the government for doing FA about it

  98. That's it for me.
    Flooded with radioactive sugar to see whether there's any brain activity has left me utterly wrecked, at 20:30 local, so I'm hitting the sack. Don't start any wars overnight, FGS!
    Bis morgen früh / sees i morgen!

    1. The only one I disagree with is Ukraine not joining NATO. It is a sovereign nation. It should be free to do as it pleases.

      2. A long time ago, 4 Years maybe. General Sir/Lord Robert Dannatt appeared on a bbc new programme and explained the problem with Ukraine and their attempt to join NATO. No country can join NATO if they have a border dispute with neighbours. In this case I believe what we are seeing is it goes both ways. Russia does not want a border with a NATO country.
        And strangely the ex army General hasnt been seen on tv since.

        1. Wouldn't resolving making those regions 'part of Russia' sort the border dispute and thus allow Ukraine to join NATO?

          As it is, NATO is really americaland, as the European nations have, thanks to the hated EU, been forced down a hard Left social democrat model and are practically impotent.

      3. It was a condition of the earlier Minsk ‘Agreement’, one of the terms of Ukrainian independence from Russia. The West is not to be trusted, its word is not its bond. I am old enough to remember the Cuban affair, the Bay of Pigs. The US didn’t like it up ’em, either.

    3. Britain and France were wrong to back the Ottoman Empire in Crimea in the 1850s. They’re wrong to back the Kiev regime now. Notice the Turks are now siding with Russia but they threw in their lot with their old enemies, Austria and Germany, in WWI as well. The old world order versus the new.

        1. Russia had the affront to reject communism and return to Christianity. The union of soviet socialist republics was the blueprint for the new world order, not the enemy. That’s clear now.

    4. Those are very reasonable in the circumstances actually, apart from the Nazi one. Pretty much everyone agrees with it, but how do you define 'Nazi' in the context of modern Ukraine, apart from historical figures?

  100. From the Telegraph

    Greta Thunberg’s narcissism has escalated to terrifying levels
    This is a self-serving stunt masquerading as a daring act of charity
    Brendan O'Neill02 June 2025 12:34pm BST
    Bored with saving the planet, Greta Thunberg now wants to save Gaza. Yes, Sweden’s prophetess of doom has a new moral crusade.

    It’s no longer the coming heat death of the Earth that keeps her up at night – it’s Israel’s “live-streamed genocide” in Gaza, as she calls it.

    She and a gaggle of self-righteous pals have set sail for that benighted strip of land. They departed Sicily yesterday, their boat a riot of keffiyehs and Palestine flags. They hope to dock in Gaza in a week’s time.

    Their aim is nothing less than to “break the Israeli blockade” of Gaza. “We are seeing a systematic starvation of two million people. Every single one of us has a moral obligation to do everything we can to fight for a free Palestine”, said Ms Thunberg.

    Of all the smug stunts of the faux-virtuous activist class, this is surely the most preposterous. The idea that 12 woke fainthearts from Europe might “liberate” Gaza would be funny if it were not so dangerous.

    What does Ms Thunberg plan to do when she gets there? Bellow: “HOW DARE YOU” at a column of IDF soldiers? Such daft antics might work on the self-hating political elites of the West who love nothing more than being told off by eco-pompous children.

    But it won’t wash with the army of the Jewish State that is in hot pursuit of the anti-Semitic terrorists that butchered more than a thousand Israelis on October 7 2023. Game of Thrones star, Liam Cunningham, is on the boat too. So he’s gone from doing fantasy drama to doing fantasy politics.

    He cosplayed as the “onion knight” in that TV show – now he’s cosplaying as a white knight who might rescue the wretched of Gaza from Israel’s cruel grip.

    This is sanctimony on the high seas. It is oceangoing virtue-signalling. It’s a self-serving stunt masquerading as a daring act of charity. It will achieve precisely nothing for people in Gaza. If Gaza’s two million inhabitants really are being “systematically starved” – they aren’t – then how on earth will a small boat carrying little more than boxes of spare keffiyehs and turbo-smug activists help them?

    The aim of these seafaring missionaries is less to draw attention to the undoubted suffering of people in Gaza than to advertise their own puffed-up moral rectitude. The boat Greta and chums originally intended to sail on – before it was allegedly damaged in a drone strike near Malta – was called “Conscience”.

    That sums up the colossal immodesty and self-regard of the Gaza saviours. These unmerry few fancy themselves as the “conscience” of humanity. I reckon that boat was called “Conscience” because “Look How Wonderful and Caring We Are!” wouldn’t fit on the hull.

    The most hilarious part of this watery clown show is that as these narcissists cross the Mediterranean wailing “Feed Gaza!”, that’s exactly what Israel is doing.

    Israel has handed out millions of meals over the past week through its Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). In the first four days, the GHF gave an astonishing 2,170,822 meals to Gaza’s needy. If these numbers stay consistent, then in the seven days Greta and her apostles are on their stupid boat, Israel will give Gazans close to four million meals.

    What a perfect illustration of the hollow virtue of 21st-century activism: as the Israel-haters bloviate on their boat to any media channel that will listen, Israel does the hard graft of feeding Gaza.

    As they take selfies of themselves sobbing into their keffiyehs over what a uniquely barbarous nation Israel is, Israel is literally saving Palestinian lives. They do moral pantomime, for likes and clicks – Israel does actual aid, with very little thanks.

    Rarely has the pointless and performative nature of modern Left activism been so gloriously exposed. All that these boat people have to offer to Gaza is cheap slogans and lame platitudes. They can’t eat those, Greta. It’s clear now that the old omnicause of “the climate” has been replaced by the new omnicause of hating Israel.

    It’s out with the hemp sweaters, in with the keffiyeh. Out with the hysterics about billions dying at the altar of modernity, in with the equally shrill claim that millions of Palestinians will perish as a result of Israeli wickedness.

    I can’t be the only person who finds it chilling that the world’s only Jewish nation has become the target of rich, bored Westerners’ fashionable rage. This activism isn’t just risible – it’s dangerous.

    1. No surprise with the ‘onion knight’! He’s an Irish Israeli-hater!

    2. The situation should be judged on right and wrong, not on the religion of the countries involved.

      I wonder who put Greta up to her latest ridiculous stunt…

    1. I remember it well! It also snowed in Newcastle on my Mums birthday on June 14th!

      1. What year would that be, Sue? My mum talked about it snowing on her birthday, July 4th, but I can't recall the year.

          1. Lolz..not that, she was born '26, so around early 30s I reckon, to be followed soon enough by blackouts and the rest.

          3. No..:-DD…I only remember being told it as I grew older, my family would still be talking about the war in the '50s.

          5. For my parents, it was the most significant thing happened in their lifetimes, and for grandparents it was additionally WW1. ‘Tommy’ (Kipling) sums it up.

          6. Yes; my grandmother used to say that things never returned to how they were before the Great War. Of course, that was the tipping point for Britain falling off the economic peak of the world.
            People point to social security in later years, but lots of jobs and sunny summers must have brought a lot of well-being that was missing later.

          7. Was often said the flower of England’s youth cut down WW1. World policeman baton passed to America end of WW2, which country will take it up next (or none)?

          9. The summer of 1975 was also very hot, but not for as long as 1976. The heat of 1975 seems to have disappeared down the memory hole. I was camping in Corsica in '75…. as soon as we arrived the clouds rolled over and by evening it was raining, then it was stair-rods for days with terrifying thunder and lightening. We drifted off to Genoa and then Florence, but it was nearly as bad – the cause bing a very stable high pressure zone over the UK channelling Atlantic depressions around it and into the Med, combined with a 'Gulf of Genoa' low pressure area. However, back in dear old Blighty the population was basking in non-stop glorious sunshine and heat. We arrived home as white as we were when we left these shores.

          10. I remember 1975 well enough but, as you say, many don't as it was eclipsed by 1976. I saw my first day of Test cricket in that year's Ashes series, the second day at Lord's. Not a bad place to start…

            Here are the Met Office monthly weather reports. August included the great Hampstead thunderstorm on the 14th, when six inches of rain fell in a couple of hours.
            June 1975
            July 1975
            August 1975

          11. I remember 1975 well enough but, as you say, many don't as it was eclipsed by 1976. I saw my first day of Test cricket in that year's Ashes series, the second day at Lord's. Not a bad place to start…

            Here are the Met Office monthly weather reports. August included the great Hampstead thunderstorm on the 14th, when six inches of rain fell in a couple of hours.
            June 1975
            July 1975
            August 1975

          12. I remember 1975 well enough but, as you say, many don't as it was eclipsed by 1976. I saw my first day of Test cricket in that year's Ashes series, the second day at Lord's. Not a bad place to start…

            Here are the Met Office monthly weather reports. August included the great Hampstead thunderstorm on the 14th, when six inches of rain fell in a couple of hours.
            June 1975
            July 1975
            August 1975

          13. I remember 1975 well enough but, as you say, many don't as it was eclipsed by 1976. I saw my first day of Test cricket in that year's Ashes series, the second day at Lord's. Not a bad place to start…

            Here are the Met Office monthly weather reports. August included the great Hampstead thunderstorm on the 14th, when six inches of rain fell in a couple of hours.
            June 1975
            July 1975
            August 1975

          14. 1975? I remember that as being a wonderful summer, only eclipsed by 1976! But we were down South, maybe that was it.

  102. Fine BTL Comment:

    "Russia has a civilian evacuation procedure before nuclear launch.
    The USA and EU have a politician and military leadership evacuation program.
    Let that sink in."

    Well the good news is – It has been demonstrated that an Englishman can run a mile in under 4 minutes

    1. I am very happy with that, but only if we all get to know where they are being evacuated to.

      Where is that?
      Asking for a Russian friend…

      1. There's a lot of empty space in Russia. But it is very empty. A full on exchange would leave the whole of "European" Russia glowing in the dark.

        Would not be much fun anywhere else either…

  103. Ave atque vale amici. I shall disappear before I run out of data. I wish you all well and look forward to getting a proper internet connection again someday.

    1. Oh Conway, you're not still struggling with talk talk, are you?

      Call the regulator, make them 'do' something.

      Then get a better ISP. One that answers the ruddy phone. I can't recommend plus net any more. They used to be good, they're not any more.

      Andrews and Arnold are expensive, but you're paying for a person who knows their stuff to answer the phone.

      1. The problem is compounded by my bank branch having closed so I can’t access the information they want to raise a missing payment. I will be out of contract in August. Can’t come soon enough.

          1. Hello! I have NO internet! I can’t do anything online unless I can log in to an unsecured network.

      1. Don’t think so. I did look at a comparison site for what was available and 3 was possibly the best.

  104. I'm orff till the morning light, I've a feeling it might be just another dusty delta day. But I won't be out picking cotton……
    Good night all Nottlers.
    Enjoy your day out tomorrow.

      2. But (my) brother’s not bailing hay.
        Bobby Gentry all those years ago on the third of June.

    1. I am up unusually late for me, especially on a school night and especially especially because i have a v. eatly start tomorrow. Enjoy your drink!

  108. Well, chums, it's now past my bedtime. So I will wish you all a Good Night. Sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

  110. Good morning chums, and thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe page. Eight days ago, on Monday the 26th of May I scored an "Eagle" by getting my Wordle of DRONE in just two attempts. I did exactly the same, i.e. an "Eagle" by getting it today on Tuesday the 3rd of May. I'm really chuffed!

    Wordle 1,445 2/6

    🟩⬜🟨🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Comments are closed.