Saturday 5 July: Trump must see that a victory for Putin would be a blow to the whole free world

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.

768 thoughts on “Saturday 5 July: Trump must see that a victory for Putin would be a blow to the whole free world”

  4. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site. Total failure with today's Wordle. I got letters 2, 4 and 5, but there were then far too many options, so I failed. Ah well, at least I am first today! PS – Sorry, folks, Johnny Norflok, Delboy and Sue Mac beat me to it.

  5. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site. Total failure with today's Wordle. I got letters 2, 4 and 5, but there were then far too many options, so I failed. Ah well, at least I am first today! PS – Sorry, folks, Johnny Norflok, Delboy and Sue Mac beat me to it.

      1. 408845+up ticks,

        Afternoon BB2,

        I am at a loss there,but would like to think
        one of the same mindset of ALL British Women.

    1. Good morning Citroen

      Excellent .. first giggle of the day .

      Tickets for Oasis’s long-awaited reunion tour are being resold for more than £3,500 as the band prepares to take the stage in Cardiff tonight (Friday) for their first gig in nearly 16 years.

      Seats for the opening show at the Principality Stadium are being listed for between £265 to £3,555 on StubHub, as fans scramble to see Liam and Noel Gallagher reunite for the first time since their explosive split in 2009.

      No wonder Reeves wants to put taxes up!!

  12. Good morning all,

    Breezy , damp and 17c, dog woke us up at 6am , could have done with an extra hour.

    We were disturbed during the night by a very loud scratching and banging in the utility room . There is a waste pipe that goes upstairs to the loo, boxed in with with wood and screws .

    Moh and I are fearful that a rat has come in via a pipe.. what do we do . We flushed the upstairs loo and the pipe noise vanished .

    What is the solution?

    2. Could be a rat or a squirrel TB.
      Do you have boxed in soil pipe work on the outside of the house. Check for an entry hole.

  14. 408845+ up ticks,

    This screams set up, retractabal /rubber knifes and an all french cast,ALL went home for dinner.

    Dt,

    French police puncture migrant boats at sea for first time
    Yvette Cooper welcomes change of tactics as Channel crossings reach record high for this stage of a year

    2. Ernest Nowell
      8h
      Note the Gendarmes are actually doing what they are paid for ! When is Monsewer Macron coming here?

      Sue Denim
      Ernest Nowell
      7h
      They did it because the cameras were there.

    3. The usual from British politics, get someone else to do it, in case it goes wrong, then you can wriggle out of it.

    1. There are so many photos of Rayner looking downright mean, it's not just one or two bad ones.

      1. Paleface
        9h
        He made himself an enemy of the people when he completely misjudged the population's feelings when the Welsh choirboy filleted young children.

  21. The Tax Poem

    Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table at which he's fed.

    Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule.

    Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway!

    Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.

    Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.

    Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries tax his tears.

    Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass.

    Tax all he has, Then let him know, That you won't be done till he has no dough.

    When he screams and hollers, Then tax him some more, Tax him till he's good and sore.

    Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he's laid.

    Put these words Upon his tomb, 'Taxes drove me to my doom…'

    When he's gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply the inheritance tax.

  22. I seem to remember when he visited T May that he promised to send the Bayeux tapestry over on loan. When did that happen?

    2. Did you see the article in the Terriblegraph about Germany. Hang on let me see if i can find it

      “GERMAN council has been criticised for a sexual harassment poster that depicts a white woman groping a black boy with a prosthetic leg.
      The poster was put up at an outdoor swimming pool in the western town of Büren with the caption: “Stop! Grabbing is forbidden.”
      At the foot of the poster, a turtle wearing goggles and rubber armbands informs the reader: “If something doesn’t feel right, you have the right to call for help by calling out my name: Tiki!”…

      The campaign comes after a furore in Germany over a recent incident where a group of Syrian men were arrested for groping girls at a pool in the nearby region of Hessen….”

      I posted three other ridiculous stories on yesterday’s thread earlier this morning

      1. egyppius posted some of those posters – they are incredibly offensive. White German men are depicted harrassing dark skinned women and children on most of them.
        Meanwhile, somewhere in southern Germany, I forget where, the body of a migrant woman was found recently. Murdered by the migrant husband apparently, not one of these evil predatory German men. Incredible.

    3. Did you see the article in the Terriblegraph about Germany. Hang on let me see if i can find it

      “GERMAN council has been criticised for a sexual harassment poster that depicts a white woman groping a black boy with a prosthetic leg.
      The poster was put up at an outdoor swimming pool in the western town of Büren with the caption: “Stop! Grabbing is forbidden.”
      At the foot of the poster, a turtle wearing goggles and rubber armbands informs the reader: “If something doesn’t feel right, you have the right to call for help by calling out my name: Tiki!”…

      The campaign comes after a furore in Germany over a recent incident where a group of Syrian men were arrested for groping girls at a pool in the nearby region of Hessen….”

      I posted three other ridiculous stories on yesterday’s thread earlier this morning

    4. Those German passengers are lucky.
      If it had been a British train, Plod would have scooped them all up at the next station for the crime of racism.

      1. And assault. The dindu savage would then have been given compensation for his ordeal and the white folk jailed.

    5. I clip the dog's harnesses to the ISOfix points in the car. Increasingly I think when a diversity gets on public transport they should be collared and chained as well. Refusal leading to them not being allowed to use it – with lethal force.

  26. Good morning, all. Grey day and chilly. The MR swears that she heard rain when she went to bed but there is no sign of it anywhere.

    1. We had rain overnight.
      It's grey and windy this morning (note to self: don't give MB baked beans).

      1. Yes…and it's an old joke…but as an RC, I love anything that takes the P out of the Vatican (as did Cardinal Basil Hume who used to regale HM with all the latest salacious gossip each time he got back from a visit to Rome)

    3. Ahem. Her. Not him.

      And it's in the Vatican.

      I am convinced people who write these things are thick.

    1. All we get in the news is how bad Russia is.
      It's probably because Vlad and his government are exceptionally good at Defending their country at all costs.
      And he shows the rest of the world's 'governments' exactly how weak and pathetic they all are.

  29. Morning All 🙂😊
    Cloudy start, 'cool wind in my hair'……
    I made it through the night 🤗😊 There's a song in that as well….
    Thank you all for your kind comments.
    Pulse now around high 70s, not bad. For an old geezer. What a relief that is.
    But something I have learned and accepted without any confusion at all, there is always someone worse off than yourself. So be very grateful. Which I can assure sure you all, I am.

    3. Good morning. Saturday is one of my days for sending the NHS readings via their Doccla app. The first blood pressure reading was way higher than they like it so I did it a second time and got 115 over 67. Pulse 68. The KadiaMobile ECG always looks more erratic than the multichannel ones they do in hospital and registered “possible Atrial Fibrillation”. Well yes, I know that!

      2. I always take 3 readings. The first is invariably high and the other 2 more sensible. Do you follow the BHF method, no hot food or drink for at least 30 minutes before taking the BP, sit in a straight backed chair with feet flat on the ground. When you put the cuff on you should be able to slide 2 fingers under tye cuff, use your left arm supported to be level with your heart. I have on many occasions had to correct nurses about talking to me whilst taking the BP as that raises the reading.
        If I had readings like yours I would be dizzy and feel really unwell. Mine are best at about 135/80 pulse 70.
        Worrying too much about your blood pressure causes high blood pressure. Ask vw about that.

        1. One has only to say the words 'blood pressure' to me, and I have only to think them, and it starts to rise. The application of the cuff is a trigger.

  30. Good morning all.
    A warm 18° degrees start with sunshine and a hazy cloud.
    Not a lot planned today so I might get another lot of gooseberries picked!

    2. Gooseberries ? You obviously don't have any problems with pigeons, magpies crows and squirrels Bob.
      Earlier between them all they have stripped the Damsons, Gooseberries later grapes and then my olives. The birds are getting stuck into our neighbours apples as well. Every year is the same.
      I made a frame covered with chicken wire front and back to stop the birds and the squirrels got in. Three Gooseberries left.

      1. I have two bushes, one on the upper level of the "garden" that I've already largely picked and the other lower down and up towards the Bonsall end which is up a bloody steep bit of bank so is awkward to get to.
        No idea whether they are cultivated varieties or self seeded, but they are two distinct varieties.

      2. I've yet to pick my Gooseberries and I have squirrels running around but I do have one thing in my favour, my neighbour has an enormous Walnut tree and presently the squirrels are occupied with that. I hope I'm not tempting fate, my berries are a red variety and they aren't fully ripe yet.

        1. We have had several walnut saplings sprouting. I have no idea where the local tree is, but the squirrels seem to be burying them in gardens. The walnut leaves have a lovely aroma. One of the saplings along with a few oaks and conifers, has been taken to the north Pennines and planted oop naarth by my Nephew.

  31. 'Morning All
    Weekend Medley
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9cd3938b5c010dd9d7686bdc65bd16affaea853345e6966270699adcb4978381.jpg
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    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/84bfad56293e8a8ee8c1f71a68136cd2994e0ebd39e4019d4b060aa12a7f16b0.jpg
    https://i.imgflip.com/9z0lv7.jpg

    3. G'day Rik, thanks for good start to day, yet again 🙂 x quite a few chime with me…

    6. Captain Planet was on TV when I was an 'older' kid. At the time it was about real environmentalism, cleaning up rivers, nuclear waste and all that. Nowadays green has no interest in anything like that. 'Modern' green is solely about control and suppression. It's just another communist ideology.

  33. Good Morning!

    An old friend, Eleni Papadimitriou, tells of the growing sense of betrayal and hopelessness many Greeks feel in her very well-written piece The Ugly Truth About Greece. She blames the EU.

    Iain Hunter's third part of his series on Common Law and the Magna Carta i s something any believer in free speech and the liberty of the individual should not only read, but also study. The concepts underpinning this historic document, exceptionally well set out by Iain, still forms the basis of our law, but is being steadily eroded by a tyrannical government a complicit parliament and a corrupt judiciary. Please read it.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 13.5%; Solar, 9.5%: Wind 43.8%; Imports, 7.8%; Biomass, 8.1%; Nuclear 14.4% and Miscellaneous, 3%.

    https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/

        2. He seems to have been away a long time. Last posted on Tuesday 27th May.
          Come back Grizzly!
          Last two posts: perhaps we've pissed him off………
          "
          Grizzly
          sosraboc
          a month ago

          "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."
          Mark Twain.
          1
          Reply
          View in discussion
          Grizzly
          Grizzly
          sosraboc
          a month ago

          There is more than adequate empirical proof that eating vegetation increases human stupidity.

          I rest my case.

          Most people would rather continue to express their ingrained inadequacies and reluctance to educate their feeble minds that learn how to eat properly and stop acquiring most acute and chronic diseases and illnesses. More fool them. "

    3. Do they mean takeaway food , where high streets are littered with some very disgusting outlets?

      Why do authorities allow planning permission / change of use for places like that.

      I really am not being funny , and not being snobby, but I hate the sight of people walking along munching food apart from eating an ice cream .

      1. Unprocessed food is a potato or an egg or a piece of raw meat, I think
        Processed is milk, cheese, bread with only a few ingredients, butter, pasta
        Ultraprocessed is breakfast cereal, biscuits, crisps, shop cakes, bread with lots of ingredients, various spreads, jars of pasta sauce etc

    4. Hang on, I'll just nip out and slaughter Daisy, then pick the tomatoes, but the crop failed for the pasta wheat and oh, the cheese isn't ready either so I can't make the sauce.

      1. That's what the Russians did off the coast of Somalia ….that stopped the hijacking.

        Why can't drones be used to wreck the rubber boats.

      2. I remember seeing those A-10s circling slowly and menacingly above when on exercises in Germany in the 80s. Most reassuring.

        1. Hiking in the Yorkshire Dales, I heard what sounded like a vacuum cleaner from somewhere ahead of me and an A-10 popped over the wall!

  37. New MI6 head traced back to Cheltenham’s unofficial spy school

    Little is known about Blaise Metreweli, the new head of MI6, but information has appeared on WhatsApp, generated by old girls of Cheltenham Ladies College. A well known breeding ground for spies, it now appears that this “Eton for girls” educated Metreweli until sixth form.

    She was “very popular and good at everything”, which is perhaps why she was marked for espionage. In 2009, Jonathan Evans, then MI5 director-general, said the school was “deliberately targeted” for recruitment, which the writer and alumna Kate Johnson put down to the skills girls acquired in dormitories, such as those in interrogation and mental disintegration.

    “The fourth form forced us to explain the facts of life,” she said. “The girl after me knew nothing; when they explained to her, she burst into tears, sobbing, ‘My mum and dad would never do that!’ ”

    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/new-mi6-head-blaise-metreweli-cheltenham-s6qwxqfpb

    2. The more I think about that appointment, the more uneasy I feel about it.
      She works for the government and her face and background story suggest that she is capable of being ruthless towards the government's enemies. The question is, who are the government's enemies?

      (And no, not all of us just happen to have a grandfather who was nicknamed "the Butcher"!)

  38. Village bans cricket after ball hits man in car park
    Three clubs are prohibited by Danbury parish council from playing at Dawson Fields, while costly netting or relocation are mooted as solutions.

    The thwack of leather on willow has been a fixture in the village of Danbury for centuries, but devotees in Essex now fear the sound of silence after a member of the public reported he was hit by a cricket ball while standing by his car at a leisure centre.

    Three clubs have been banned from using Dawson Fields for matches after the alleged incident before a fixture on May 17.

    The developments have spread panic among Danbury, Oaklands and Tuskers cricket clubs, which are unable to play home matches and face uncertain futures.

    Cricket match in progress on a grassy field.
    One option is to pay tens of thousands of pounds to install a protective net around the ground
    Almost 3,000 residents have signed a petition urging Danbury parish council to overturn its suspension of cricket. Rory Carlton, club secretary of Danbury Cricket Club, said the clubs faced the option of having to pay tens of thousands of pounds to install a protective net around the ground or relocate.

    “I think the council acted from a good place initially, they are trying to act in the interest of their residents, but I think they’re just scared of the legal impact were something to happen,” Carlton said.

    Advertisement

    “We’ve been playing in Danbury since 1798. Our team have been playing at that specific location for well over 50 years, and in that time probably well over a million balls have been bowled, if not more, and there has not been a single recorded incident of a member of the public actually being injured.

    “The proposals on the table at the moment are either to ­essentially put up nets, which would be, as it stands, 20 metres high at a cost of around £100,000, which is just ­completely prohibitive for the council and us.

    “The other option is to relocate; the costs for that are also of a similar ­magnitude, so it’s kind of left us in a spot where they’re saying, ‘You know, we want to support cricket, but you just can’t play here’, which is really disappointing.”

    • 25 of the prettiest village mini breaks in the UK

    Danbury has managed to arrange to play their remaining home games for the season at Rayne Cricket Club, which is more than an hour away in Braintree, a journey which Carlton fears could lead to members leaving the team.

    Advertisement

    Carlton, 36, a financial adviser from Haybridge in Essex, believes the council’s ruling could become a precedent that could leave grassroots clubs at risk of closure.

    “I think if we start going down this road of, you know, members of the public have to be completely protected at all times, it becomes very difficult to actually engage in any kind of amateur sport, unless you’ve got a facility that is completely segregated from the general public who aren’t participating,” Carlton said.

    “There are countless cricket clubs, some really lovely grounds I’ve played at that are right next to a road or a pub.”

    Three cricket players in white uniforms conversing outdoors.
    Members of Danbury Cricket Club
    Danbury parish council was ­approached for comment.

    A spokeswoman for the council previously said that it had hoped the suspension would be temporary and that the council had taken professional advice on how to minimise the risk to members of the public in areas ­surrounding the ground.

    “The fact that there were at least two car windows, within the last year, smashed by cricket balls being hit into the adjacent car park, across a public footway, indicates that there is a risk to people accessing the ­facilities,” she told The Telegraph. “As such, it would potentially invalidate its insurance cover and risk litigation if it were to totally ignore the advice that has been received.

    “We are waiting for the ball trajectory report that the Essex Cricket Board have recommended to both the cricket clubs and the parish council in order to determine the correct ­mitigation.”

    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/village-bans-cricket-after-ball-hits-man-in-car-park-pw9kj69n0
    Neil Miller
    11 hours ago

    Village cricket is one of the characteristics of our nation. This is daft – we cannot protect all citizens from all harm (or risk or being sued). Personal responsibility to be aware if you are near a cricket pitch.

    Nick Reay
    11 hours ago

    As I keep saying, put up red flags when cricket is being played – as the Army do when firing on ranges.

    Then people will know to keep clear from stray bullets or cricket balls.

    G Armour
    8 hours ago

    I do hope you’re being ironic. Or do you think people can’t see the cricket pitch, or the 15 people stood on it, in bright clothing?

    🙄😮

    1. People have to take responsibility for their own safety for gods sake.

    3. Near us watching a local game a couple sat on a boundary bench were involved in an incident. The player fielding on boundary apparently noticed his boot lace was undone. Rather than bend down in front of them he faced them and apologised and bent over and started to tie his lace.
      The batsman then hit a massive six and the ball ripped through the fielders trousers and became lodge between the cheeks of his backside.
      After being blue lighted to hospital, he had an appointment two days later with his GP. After close examination despite the dreadful bruising the GP
      seemed happy with his progress.
      And told him to get dressed. The GP said you're doing very well and it'll clear up inside a couple of weeks..
      He replied its not just the pain and bruising that's the problem Doc. It's having a terrible psychological effect on me. The Doc replied sorry I don't understand….How's that ?
      Oh don't you bloody start !

    4. It's easy for folk to complain that the council doesn't want to get sued, but if someone did get nobbled by cricket ball that's a broken limb or worse, brain damage. The compensation would be significant. If the cricketers were lumbered with that cost they'd rapidly put up netting.

  39. https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/us-supreme-court-upholds-parental-religious-rights-in-landmark-education-ruling/

    An excellent article in TCW about how the US Supreme Court ruled against schools have the right to override parents rights to withdraw their children from Perversion Lessons (LGBQWERTY) from the age of 5. The case in question was Mahmoud v Taylor and the article is written by a Rabbi. This is important as the Schools Bill (for perverts) s making its way through Parliament. Please read it as it affects our young children and grandchildren and the rights of their parents to withdraw them from these horrific lessons.
    There is also a petition to sign https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/727458 . I know many say it’s pointless but to nothing and not sign it and abstain is, to me, condoning it.

    8. I know Rachel from accounts was on the slippery slope but i didn't think she would fall that far so soon.

        2. It looks as though my dual band router changes both WiFi channel and power level on the fly but what metrics does it use to decide?

          It’s confusing my old tablet so I’ve bought another one which is WiFi6 compatible.

          2. So if a good dual band router talks WiFi to a good dual band receiver do they need to negotiate which band to use or does one of them have priority over the decision?

      1. Thanks – my old tablet has somehow adjusted itself to talk to the Homehub2 via WiFi at a download speed of 50Mbit/s.

        I haven’t a clue how it did it!

  43. OT – there is an article in the DT today about the inestimable George Ford – a rugby player who has for so long drawn the short straw. Today – a last – he receives his 100th cap for England.

    From the piece I select two journalistic gems:

    "He's got to be right up there in the conversation…" (me neither)

    "…then came Sept 9, 2023 and the narrative was put to bed." All clear?

  44. George Finchley
    14m
    Max Young’s video says it all; one year of Labour, and we’ve gone from the “sunlight of hope” to the fog of managed decline.
    Remember the pundits? Krishnan claimed we were entering an era so quiet that broadcasters might struggle to fill airtime. Marr said a “wall of money” was inbound. James O’Brien welcomed the return of the “grown-ups.” Well, one year on, the U-turns are so loud they echo from the despatch box to Dover.

    U-turn on grooming gangs
    U-turn on winter fuel
    U-turn on welfare reform
    Taxes rising
    Channel crossings smashing records
    A Chancellor crying on the front bench
    And a PM who’s “proud as hell” of this mess
    But the real issue isn’t just Labour’s failure, it’s that Starmer, like every PM before him, doesn’t actually govern. He manages. The show is run by the same unelected blob: civil servants, Treasury mandarins, judges, quangos, regulators, and treaty obligations signed by past leaders to tie the hands of future ones.

    And it started long before him:

    Blair gave power to unelected regulators
    Brown surrendered monetary policy to the Bank of England
    Cameron expanded international legal commitments
    May and Johnson lost to their own civil service
    Sunak waved through it all
    Now Starmer finds himself in office but hemmed in by a system he’s too cautious to confront and too compromised to reform. His “quiet revolution” turned out to be just a softer tone for the same technocratic status quo.

    Meanwhile, voters are treated like children: told that tough choices are inevitable, that their elected government can’t do what it promised, that treaties and processes matter more than mandates and manifestos.

    And when Labour MPs rebel, as they did on welfare, we’re told it’s chaos. It isn’t. It’s the last remaining sign that democracy still flickers in Parliament.

    Until a leader, left, right or Reform, is willing to actually confront the embedded state and repeal the power handovers of the last 30 years, we’ll continue swapping faces while Britain continues its elegant managed decline.

    As Max’s clip shows: we didn’t get peace, we got paralysis. We didn’t get grown-ups, we got caretakers. We didn’t take back control, we gave it away, again.

    1. This "article" needs editing….too much repetition being repeated – again.

    2. Well, it depends how you look at it. To us, Labour have been a complete disaster. However if you look at it from hteir perspective, enforced decline, poverty, unemployment, rapists let out, high crime, cultural rape, ever higher debt.

      That's Labour's 'mission': to destroy the country and make it a third world hell hole. It already resemble pakistan in some places – filthy, polluted, littered with the filth lounging about as if they owned the place.

    2. I wonder how well the world would get by without the super-rich. (Runs for cover.)

      1. There are 5 different sets of road works along the way to the docs. New traffic lights, a road crossing being put in at the confluence of 4 roads (just at the bottom of a hill, just after traffic lights – because that's the stupidiest, most gormless place to put a crossing that could be imagined, that's what Soton council chose, a fibre line going in, a burst water main and big police cones – with no one doing anything in them.

        When there are people working there's one consistent characteristic of all of them (well, several). They shout at one another when they're a foot apart. They don't wear ear defenders when using power tools and oh yes. They're all men. In fact, they're all white men.

    2. This isn't enough. Only with the complete removal of the equalities act and HRA will this nonsense be unravelled. removing the books is small. Removing the entire farago from statue must be the goal.

      Yet Reform don't seem interested or even aware this is what must be done.

    1. The woke Left always seem to be headed by a truly incompetent, idiotic woman who thinks what others have earned is their to take.

      Notable that she studied politics here, then in frogland. Then did an advanced degree in how to learn – no doubt to understand NLP.

      She has no financial skill whatsoever, no training, has never run a business. She is simply another incompetent big state, high tax Lefty.

    2. I hear Monaco is quite nice at this time of year.

      Monaco taxes: Monaco has no income tax, wealth tax, property tax or tax on capital gains, dividends, investment income or directors' fees.21 Mar 2025

  50. 408845+ up ticks,

    In realising the seats of power within this country we are a high percentage of the way there NOW, politically following our usual trend and the daily invasion numbers increasing, knee-pads will become a daily necessity fivefold.

    Really sad the fact that,

    UKIP under Batten was a winning formula but

    🎵
    Someone left the fruitcake out in the rain, and currently we lost the recipe for patriotic parties.
    https://x.com/PWestoff/status/1941384453630329338

    1. If he won't confront them then we're doomed.

      Newsflash Nigel. There's a lot more white people than there are stabby stabby dindus.

      He needs to start talking seriously about banning welfare for gimmigrants. He doesn't seem willing to do what needs to be done. He doesn't talk about big picture work, such as resolving the crushing tax code but goes on about increasing the lower tax allowance: what's the point? They spend all their money on essentials. The middle classes spend theirs on luxuries.

      I am not saying the lower paid don't need help, but it's a damned sight more sensible to start with the stealth taxes that hit the poorest, hardest than just increasing the allowance.

      1. "There's a lot more white people than there are stabby stabby dindus."……..for now. When your Junior's grown up there might not be.

    2. Each month Farage adds at least two red flags to his ever growing list of reasons he should rename his one man & his iPhone party.. The Conformist Party.

      June 2025
      Calls for the sacking of a Labour councillor over his support for Tommy Robinson.
      Rowed back on July 4th election pledge to deport every migrant.
      July 2025
      LBC Q&A "Do you know what Nick we've got to the point, the size of the Muslim communities is such that anything is quite difficult to do. I'm gonna argue we've got more urgent priorities."

    3. Each month Farage adds at least two red flags to his ever growing list of reasons he should rename his one man & his iPhone party.. The Conformist Party.

      June 2025
      Calls for the sacking of a Labour councillor over his support for Tommy Robinson.
      Rowed back on July 4th election pledge to deport every migrant.
      July 2025
      LBC Q&A "Do you know what Nick we've got to the point, the size of the Muslim communities is such that anything is quite difficult to do. I'm gonna argue we've got more urgent priorities."

  51. Yo and Good Moaning to you all, from a warm and sunny C d S.

    Took 'New Wheels'for a 20 mile drive around the Lincolnshire Coast roads in the Chapel St Leonards area and got an MPG of 70.1!!

    Things are looking up. The touch screens are becoming more familiar.

    2. In Soton MPG is measured in GPM, so held up, hindered and traffic jammed are we.

    1. It's a difficult one to answer.

      Do you mean was the 'index page' – listing all the daily entries was slow to appear, or when this days entry link was clicked on the page loaded very slowly – and then was it the disques content, or the heading?

      I ask not to be awkward (although that's always fun) but the comment thread is mostly javascript, which can be solved by clearing the browser cache. The top bit is static, and if that's slow to load there's something else going on.

    2. I've noticed that the internet has been running very slowly this morning. When accessing mainstream websites such as Spectator, Telegraph, and even the browser page of DuckDuckGo I've been getting timeouts.

    1. I just click on the tab with yesterday's page still open. The "Not the Telegraph Letters " banner at the top takes you to the new page. I very seldom shut it all down. I just close the lid on the laptop and all is still there when I reopen it.

      1. Hmm… It could be that your ISP's DNS server (the thing that translates the name to the numeric addresses) is having a fritz. If this is the first time such has happened, ignore it. If it's a consistent issue then you can always change the DNS server you use.

        Apologies, I don't mean to 'dumb it down', but I don't expect folk to know what a DNS or IP is, let alone how it works.

        1. I don’t even know what a DNS server is – le alone how to change it.

    1. Amazing! LotL would have loved that. We used to have a Golden Retriever called Bollinger who only had one ball and was as dumb as they come but everybody adored him.

    2. Amazing! LotL would have loved that. We used to have a Golden Retriever called Bollinger who only had one ball and was as dumb as they come but everybody adored him.

    1. THAT would give me a lead over the chap 2 doors down who's just bought a 1956 Chevvy with a Wisconsin registration.
      It's bloody ginormous!!!

    2. Daft woman to ask that. You can't put love on a scale.

      Besides, it's a different form of love for different things. If we had an emergency here I'd get Junior and the dogs out first.

  63. A lot of supremely intelligent people can be as thick a three short planks. I'm guessing dogs are no different.

  64. Exposed: The British website advertising virgin Muslim brides
    ‘Deeply disturbing’ platform offers ‘halal’ matchmaking with ‘shy, untouched’ spouses

    A Muslim matchmaking site for men to find virgin brides and take multiple wives is operating in Britain, The Telegraph can disclose.

    NikkahGram, a UK-registered company, describes itself as an Islamic solution for men seeking “a shy, untouched spouse” or wishing to take a second, third or fourth wife.

    Virgin women under 35 are promoted as ideal first wives. Those older or with sexual histories are likened to “low quality products”, with their only hope being to share a husband.

    The organisation’s social media page features a video on when to beat your wife, as well as claims that sex with non-virgins can cause cancer and that women are intellectually defective.

    Advertisement

    NikkahGram lists Asif Munaf, a former NHS medic suspended for anti-Semitism, among its staff. Until contacted by The Telegraph, the site described him as their “associate qualified doctor”.

    Mr Munaf, an entrepreneur who has appeared on Dragon’s Den and The Apprentice, is now listed as the “associate coach”. The link to book a £99 “mental wealth coaching call” in which he offered his “medical expertise” no longer works.

    Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: “This vile site promotes domestic abuse. It shouldn’t exist. The fact it does shows yet again how our immigration and integration policies have failed.

    “Mr Munaf’s views are abhorrent and should have no place in public life.”

    Baroness Gohir, the chief executive of the Muslim Women’s Network UK, described the revelations as “deeply troubling” and said the site promotes an extreme ideology that does not reflect British Muslim communities.

    She added: “What they present as ‘family values’ is thinly veiled misogyny, targeting vulnerable women – especially new converts, those with limited religious knowledge, and insecure young Muslim men struggling with identity.”

    The NikkahGram website
    The platform matches men with ‘shy, untouched’ brides
    Founded in 2022, NikkahGram aims to “facilitate marriage for Muslims who stick to core Islamic values of modesty and submission to Allah without modern excuses”.

    Advertisement

    The company’s website claims it exists “for sisters who value their virginity and preserve it, and for brothers who remain chaste and wish to find an untouched wife”.

    Women who join must declare if they are virgins – defined as no “previous relationship, haram physical touches or any type of intercourse” – and whether they would be willing to marry a husband with more than one wife.

    Virgin women under 35 get free access, while most men pay £24.99 per month or up to £499.99 for “lifetime VIP” access.

    Once registered, users can browse and express interest in someone else’s profile, but all contact is channelled through the woman’s legal guardian, preventing private conversation between prospective couples.

    Men are advised not to register Islamic marriages in the West, where bigamy is a crime and divorce law ensures assets are split.

    NikkahGram claims that registering a marriage means “one or more parties will always be treated unjustly”. It even allows customers to select a spouse who agrees to a “non-registered” union.

    The company defended its position to The Telegraph, saying that “users are made fully aware of the legal and religious distinctions regarding marriage”.

    Its Instagram account has posted over 500 times, often featuring Right-wing clerics and male Muslim influencers.

    In videos bearing the site’s logo, male figures promote the wearing of a niqab – a veil which covers the whole face apart from a slit for the eyes – advise divorcing “feminist” wives who fail to meet “60 per cent” of a husband’s demands, such as serving breakfast in bed, and suggest that wife-beating is “symbolic”, not “abusive”.

    A post made just six days ago features footage of Sheikh Assim Al Hakeem, who said men displeased with their wives should first advise them to change, then deny them sex, and “if they persist, finally strike them lightly”.

    “Not with a baseball bat,” he added. “Not from the very beginning, boom, no, but gradual. And this is for the goodness of the marriage.

    “You don’t beat a wife just out of the blue. You have these instructions in the Koran and the beating has to be in accordance with Islam. So it has to be with a miswak that doesn’t leave a mark, doesn’t shed blood. Doesn’t break a bone.

    “It’s something symbolic to show her that you have reached the end of the rainbow. If nothing is fixed, then divorce can be resorted to.”

    Another post features Hocine Based, a Muslim fitness influencer, claiming that sex with non-virgins can cause cancer.

    He claimed: “Even the exchange of saliva, even exchange of looks, and eyes, and even pheromones, a woman will be adaptive, because she’s a host, so she prepares her body which adapts to the man’s DNA… because a baby is an external organism that’s actually growing within her.

    “And if it doesn’t align with her DNA, guess what? We get cancer!”

    There is no medical evidence to support this statement.

    Though NikkahGram presents itself as a religious matchmaking platform, critics argue it repackages Western misogyny in Islamic language, echoing the online “manosphere”.

    Lady Gohir told The Telegraph that the men behind the site “appear threatened by Muslim women who are confident, religiously informed and aware of their rights whether that means pursuing education and careers, seeking legal protection through civil marriage, or choosing divorce to escape abuse.

    “Influenced by figures like Andrew Tate, these fringe voices use a veneer of piety and scholarship, but their message is neither authentic nor aligned with the ethics and spirit of Islam.”

    She said there is a danger the content could fuel prejudice against Muslims.

    The website also risks fuelling fears that some migrants to Britain are reluctant to integrate. Sir Keir Starmer earlier this year suggested Britain risked becoming an “island of strangers”, a comment he later claimed to regret making after a Left-wing backlash.

    Particular concern centres on videos posted by the website on Instagram and TikTok, promoting what it calls an ideal Islamic marriage. These state that women must not work, must home-school to avoid secular education and must always acquiesce to marital sex.

    Women are encouraged to remain virgins, marry “very young”, and “mix it up in the home and the bedroom” to stop men straying.

    One branded video states: “You cannot stop your husband’s desire [for a second wife] because it’s natural, you can only make him love you so much that he doesn’t bother to pursue it.”

    Naz Shah, the former shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, told The Telegraph that NikkahGram’s messaging and business practices were “frankly vile and deeply disturbing”.

    The Labour MP, who has spoken about her own experiences of being forced into a violent and sexually abusive marriage in Pakistan aged just 15, said: “The categorisation of women into so-called ‘virgins’ and ‘non-virgins’, along with different membership ‘tiers’ based on such degrading labels, is nothing short of dehumanising.

    “This kind of rhetoric has no foundation in Islam, nor in any ethical framework rooted in dignity or respect.”

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/93ea1413da9f53cada2a19d4971610351b992102ad5c36e774370dbdf450a9f4.jpg Mr Munaf, who was listed as NikkahGram’s “associate qualified doctor”, was temporarily suspended from the medical register last November pending a General Medical Council investigation into anti-Semitic posts, including Holocaust denial and claiming 9/11 was “a Jewish job”.

    Despite being subject to an interim suspension order, he continues to promote pseudoscience on NikkahGram’s social media.

    In a video posted on April 3, months into his second suspension, he warned fathers about the dangers that “modern medicine” poses to their daughters.

    He endorsed false claims that contraceptive pills can make women “kind of bisexual” as they disrupt “not only your menstrual cycle but also your personality, attraction levels and emotional connection to your husband, making some women kind of bisexual as their hormones get unsynced”.

    The Medical Act 1983 states that suspended doctors “shall be treated as not being registered” and that anyone who “wilfully and falsely pretends” to be a registered medical practitioner may be committing a criminal offence.

    Mr Munaf has disputed that his involvement with NikkahGram, or any of his other medical ventures, could constitute an offence under the Act.

    In a post still visible on the platform from last September, Mr Munaf claimed that women have “defects in their intellect” and “don’t have the ability to make decisions for themselves”. He argued that because men “can marry without discussing it with anyone”, while women require a legal guardian, the sexes “aren’t the same”.

    He continued: “Women do need to be treated with a bit more support and advice. Because they don’t have the ability to make decisions for themselves, hence why women can’t become leaders. How many prophets were women? Zero. How many Khalifs were women? Zero.

    “So women can’t take up leadership positions because they have defects in their intellect. I’m not ashamed to say that, as a man, as a doctor.”

    Asif Munaf
    Asif Munaf claims that women have ‘defects in their intellect’
    Mr Munaf told The Telegraph his belief in female intellectual inferiority was grounded in centuries of Islamic scholarship.

    In another post on NikkahGram’s social media, the suspended doctor claimed that women should not take or post selfies because they are “more prone to emotionality, to being satisfied by external validation”.

    The website urges men and women to seek spouses abroad.

    An Instagram post from the official NikkahGram account last September reads: “We encourage brothers to get married from overseas, second wife especially but first wives too.

    “Less prone to feminism, more traditional, and many virgins! If you’re tired of Western sisters and want a wife (or second/third/fourth wife) who respects your role as a man and a provider, and hers as a homemaker, you should consider this.”

    In a video, Mr Munaf said: “We’ve got a service that matches quality brothers, professional brothers of the UK, who don’t want to get married in the UK to Moroccan ladies, North African ladies.”

    He added: “There’s a lot of brothers now going to North Africa for second wives, or even first wives, actually. Because a lot of brothers have gotten sick of feminism in the West, generally.”

    The revelations follow a Telegraph investigation last week that found Mr Munaf’s business, Dr Sick Ltd, issued sick notes to let people go on holiday, take leave for alleged Covid infection, or care for an ill dog. He had also been offering “online medical consultations” for £150.

    In a statement on Saturday, NikkahGram attempted to distance itself from Mr Munaf, claiming that the suspended doctor “is not engaged in any medical capacity on our platform nor do we represent him as such”.

    “His presence on the platform has been in a personal capacity, limited to lifestyle coaching and men’s personal development,” it said, claiming his use of the “Dr” title was “retained for identification, not to indicate ongoing clinical authority”.

    A spokesman said: “NikkahGram operates strictly within UK law and Islamic principles. We provide a religious matrimonial service that reflects the values and preferences of many practicing Muslims.

    “All participation is voluntary, and our platform facilitates lawful introductions between consenting adults who seek to marry in accordance with their faith.”

    “We do not promote abuse, coercion, or illegality. We only discuss and endorse faith-based preferences that are protected under religious freedom laws,” they added.

    The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

    Keith Jones
    just now
    Totally alien to our culture. Enoch Powell was right.

    Comment by Nick Barnes.

    NB

    Nick Barnes
    just now
    Double check the ages Police Cybercrime Unit.

    Comment by Rob Sadler.

    RS

    Rob Sadler
    just now
    How many UK laws does this website infringe? That should all go to jail

    Comment by Mary Treacy.

    MT

    Mary Treacy
    just now
    "Men are advised not to register Islamic marriages in the West, where bigamy is a crime and divorce law ensures assets are split."

    This is the nub of it. What the site is really for. Find a wife who won't have any rights (they think) in British law.

    This site is for men who want to perpetuate a deliberate fraud on a woman.

    Comment by Bobby Bobster.

    BB

    Bobby Bobster
    just now
    If I cut a slit in my pillow case and pop it on, can I register as a virgin. Imaging their surprise when they meet this hairy 48 year old on first date night.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/05/british-website-advertising-virgin-muslim-brides/

    1. She said there is a danger the content could fuel prejudice against Muslims.

      No one needs a reason to be prejudiced against muslim. They're vile.

  66. Muslim men seem to have an overwhelming obsession with sex. This extends to their idea of Heaven, where apparently they will spend eternity shagging and drinking booze.

          1. My idea of heaven is a place where there are no Muslims. Or Jehovah’s Witnesses. Or Liverpool supporters.

          4. Don't know about the Jehovah's Winesses – last time one of those knocked on our door was when we were still living in England. But where I live now, is about 93% White, 3% Black and less than 1% Asian. 70% registered as Protestant, with another 20% "unaffiliated" – that would be the independent churches, including the snake handlers, etc. Oh, and 1% Muslim.

            Add in the spectacular scenery and a population density of 75/sq mile, about 1/10th of Britain, and as John Denver sang, "Almost heaven…"

          5. Don't know about the Jehovah's Winesses – last time one of those knocked on our door was when we were still living in England. But where I live now, is about 93% White, 3% Black and less than 1% Asian. 70% registered as Protestant, with another 20% "unaffiliated" – that would be the independent churches, including the snake handlers, etc. Oh, and 1% Muslim.

            Add in the spectacular scenery and a population density of 75/sq mile, about 1/10th of Britain, and as John Denver sang, "Almost heaven…"

          6. Don't know about the Jehovah's Winesses – last time one of those knocked on our door was when we were still living in England. But where I live now, is about 93% White, 3% Black and less than 1% Asian. 70% registered as Protestant, with another 20% "unaffiliated" – that would be the independent churches, including the snake handlers, etc. Oh, and 1% Muslim.

            Add in the spectacular scenery and a population density of 75/sq mile, about 1/10th of Britain, and as John Denver sang, "Almost heaven…"

    3. Trying desperately to prove their worth on the planet earth. It's all they have.
      The problem is, wearing a long heavy skirt makes it difficult to kick them in the balls.

  67. Thought I'd get it in three. Nearly didn't get it at all:
    Wordle 1,477 6/6

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

  68. Good morning, all. Overcast and breezy. Heatwave has eased off for a few days.

    You do not have to be an economist of any standing to understand what Jamie Jenkins is stating. Why, then, does the entirety of the Labour government seem oblivious to the economic disaster that is unfolding under their mis-management?

    If it's not down to incompetence then it must be planned and therefore deliberate. Either way we are up that particular smelly creek without any form of power or steerage mechanisms. Where is the money for all the grand plans: 1.5 Million homes; remodelled and more efficient NHS; conscription and expanding the security of the Country; carbon capture machines at £30Billion a pop etc. etc. coming from? The government are dreaming and we, the people, have to suffer the nightmares.

    https://x.com/statsjamie/status/1941252584293138781

    1. Labour really, seriously HATE this country.
      All their actions, whether deliberate or happenstance, flow from that basic emotion.

    2. Labour are fabulists. Have been for years. Wilson probably kicked it off when he got away with telling us that "the pound in your pocket has not been devalued". Which it had been of course. But at the time, most people believed him.

      1. It's quite an achievement to ensure people are so thick that they don;t understand the simplest of economic principles.

        1. Why do you think Labour dumbed down education under Wilson and Blair, and is now bent on abolishing the private sector? That way, no-one will learn critical thinking and instead will accept whatever they are told.

    3. Labour are fabulists. Have been for years. Wilson probably kicked it off when he got away with telling us that "the pound in your pocket has not been devalued". Which it had bben of course. But at the time, most people believed him.

  69. Mary Wakefield in the Spekkie.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-idea-for-a-new-grooming-gang-inquiry/

    "The grooming gang inquiry we really need

    Mary Wakefield

    It’s disorienting but satisfying that Labour now accepts that Asian grooming gangs exist. Some of my left-identified friends are even beginning to share the outrage – over Qari Abdul Rauf, for instance, one of the nastiest of the Rochdale rapists, who still lives in Rochdale a decade after the first steps to deport him were taken. Rauf simply ripped up his Pakistani passport and couldn’t then be shifted. He’s cost the taxpayer nearly £300,000 in legal fees, but still has enough dosh to throw regular house parties and, it was reported this week, to start building a second home back in Pakistan. Pimping out children pays.

    It’s nice that the left and right share the impotent anger. But as there’s nothing for the moment to be done about the Raufs, why don’t we channel that rage into trying to make sure the same thing isn’t happening again?

    It was girls in care who were mostly targeted by grooming gangs. They were far from home and desperate for affection. Easy prey. And honestly, nothing much has changed. The system that took abused children and served them up to Pakistani predators is still functioning in the same way. More and more damaged children enter the system every year and there’s a drastic shortage of places to house them. Councils are desperate, so for want of local homes the kids are dumped in distant, unfamiliar places; in institutions that are often unregulated or simply ignored by Ofsted. Look them up yourself on the Ofsted site: not yet inspected; pending inspection. Happy hunting, paedos.

    ‘Looked-after’ children, they’re called. The joke’s in the name, because these kids are often sent many miles, sometimes hundreds of miles, from any extended family, grandparents, aunts or uncles who might do some looking-after. Here’s a little taste of the madness for you.

    Children taken into care stay in their existing schools. This seems fair and decent – they need some continuity and stability. But because the homes they’re put in are so far away, they have to travel – sometimes for hours – by cab to get to class and back again. Councils, already cash-strapped, are bankrupting themselves paying for cabs for kids.

    The money wasted is staggering. In my neck of the woods, the north-east, Newcastle council’s taxi bill last year for children in care was around £1.2 million. That was a 35 per cent jump from 2023, so Lord only knows what this year’s bill will be.

    All over the country, children are rising at dawn to ensure they arrive at school on time. No clubs, no playdates afterwards, because it’s back in the car again. And – no disrespect to cab drivers in general – who is driving those taxis? Who’s incentivised to drive them? Four men in the Rochdale gang were taxi drivers; some members of the Oxford grooming gang too. The Oxford Pakistani gang, who targeted very young girls in care, specialised in what the girls called ‘torture sex’ and made £600 an hour selling torture rape services to other Pakistani men in the Cowley region. They relied on the taxis to ferry the often comatose children about.

    When people bring up the predicament of kids in care, they often insist the problem is under-funding. But the bleak absurdity of the care homes scandal is that they’re a product of too much money as well as too little. A private provider can demand an astonishing amount to look after each child – sometimes as much as £25,000 a month, depending on the child’s ‘needs’. This is guaranteed money, so of course private providers have risen like carp. The majority of care homes for children are now privately run and it’s money for old rope: much less public oversight and the children can hardly complain or choose a different provider. A private care home answers primarily to shareholders, which is why the homes are clustered in parts of the country with cheap property and cheap staff. What does it matter to a private care-home provider if the children are commuting for pointless hours? It’s the council that foots the taxi bill.

    An interesting case in point is the private company that dominates the sector, CareTech, founded by two brothers, Haroon and Farouq Sheikh, of Pakistani origin. CareTech Holdings is one of the biggest providers of children’s homes in the UK, often under the auspices of its wholly owned subsidiary Cambian Group, and the Sheikhs do very well for themselves. In 2021, the Times reported Farouq Sheikh’s total remuneration package was £833,000. Haroon’s was even tastier: £971,000. In the same year, Cambian posted pre-tax profits of £24.45 million.

    Also interesting is how unreliably this financial success translates into decent childcare. Ofsted’s reports from the same year showed it had judged nine of Cambian’s 173 children’s homes ‘inadequate’ in two months, and inadequate in Ofsted-speak really doesn’t mean inadequate; it means catastrophic. While there were no actual allegations of abuse at the home, children there, at potentially high risk of sexual exploitation, had allegedly gone missing without staff seeming to think it a problem. Girls had seemingly told staff they had met unknown adult males and had sex in exchange for cash without triggering any alarm.

    I accept that this isn’t the Sheikh brothers’ fault. They can’t visit every one of Care-Tech’s homes, and safeguarding guidance has been put in place on how to spot and address signs of possible abuse. But Farouq Sheikh has been a significant donor to the Labour party, in particular to Sadiq Khan, whose mayoral campaign he supported. In 2020 he was awarded an OBE for services to specialist care, after which he humbly said: ‘As a family we will continue to play our part in helping local and global communities.’

    I have an idea about that. Given his experience and his connection with government, Pakistan and the care-home industry, wouldn’t it be a grand idea if Farouq Sheikh OBE led the UK’s Pakistani community in a grooming gangs inquiry of its own? That really might play a part in helping local communities, and the vulnerable children to whom they owe their fortune."

    1. A Paki Community rape gangs enquiry? It would probably just suggest bigger and better scandals.

    2. The Left aren't angry about it. They're angry it got out. A start is denying legal aid to such creatures. A start is preventing welfare for gimmigrants.

      A start would have been, when this was flagged a decade ago doing something about it rather than the state protecting the vile paki muslim paedophiles.

      A start would be cutting their balls off, flogging them every day for a month and then hanging them.

  71. During the winter we sometimes watch episodes of the Yorkshire Vet – but we can fast forward through the ads so they don't touch the sides here. Can't remember anything I've watched recently. I glance up occasionally at the Noos I suppose.

    2. Tesco suggest 85 million. At least 20 million are foreigners.

      But Nigel, you said you weren't goin to do anything about it?

    3. Mr Mark is correct, come one come all. They've heard the message, and many others will in due course.

    1. Just two weeks before I was born………but my mother had already booked into a private nursing home for my birth. It's still a nursing home………for old people. I might book in there to die.

          1. Now a care home as you say.

            I read that where is was born is now a gated private community, no longer a hospital.
            My mother lived in Hendon just about 4 miles north of there. I often wonder who they all got around in those days.

      2. A year before I was born. My parents thought it manna from heaven – they'd often been unable to pay prior to it. Now, it's used, over used, abused – like Topsy it's grown and grown. Many have private schemes, usually staffed by NHS people, and that will possibly also only grow and grow. Please don't die xx :-)))

  76. 408845+ up ticks,

    They will own you arsehole to breakfast time, then some not so bad for those 100% card users, they will deserve it but how about the children of cash users & their children, innocents, dictated cradle to dictated grave electronic slaves.

    The world majority of peoples must be in an odious state as is witnessed compared to, the healthy glowing complexions of the political elite.

    https://x.com/wideawake_media/status/1941425924823482765

    1. It's purely for tracking their citizens every minute of every day – for control and to manage their "social credit system".

      1. That can already be done, Ndovu, but you're right it will likely be extended. This is new – CBDC, which means no cash at all, only cards, online transfers etc. I can buy what the devil I like with cash, not so much with my card/s. It will be spun as a safety/crime thing, but it's really more control of us by them. Look out for even more card detail robbing/copying. Sunak started looking into it when he was PM – bet he's advising.

        1. I have just bought an antique with cash. I never even considered paying by card.

    3. Digital currencies, unless backed by blockchain are worthless – just like our current currency. The difference is the state will find it far easier to steal from them. It's about control.

      Someone should point out to liar that China is a communist country, and therefore the Eurocracy is finally admitting it.

      Although Starmer will force it on us as well. He won't be far behind his beloved, hated EU.

    1. Didn't the French do that with a whole fleet of new trains and then spend millions shaving a few inches off platforms.

      Nothing wrong with fifty year old rolling stock like we have in Canada.

    2. I imagine there's some sort of antennae that doesn't fit. The tube is ancient, I'd be more surprised if modern trains did fit.

    1. He's throwing money at some car company so they don't leave the UK because of offensive taxation.

      That and no dobut something pointless about electric cars no one wants.

    2. Pretty much a perfect score on the Starmer bingo card – only "twenty billion pound black hole" and "my father was a toolmaker" missing.

    3. They are all doing it:

      Mark Carney unveiled a $2-billion proposal to protect Canada's auto industry.
      Calling it a "strategic response fund," Carney said the money would be used to boost the auto sector's competitiveness, protect manufacturing jobs, help workers gain expertise and build "a fortified Canadian supply chain."

      1. The Canadian auto industry consists of factories producing vehicles for Ford, GM and Chrysler (lately Stellantis), so I am not sure what Carney thinks he is "fortifying".

          1. Those American companies own lots of other factories. Canada is only attractive because it's a little cheaper to build cars there than in the US. ESpecially with Canadian government subsidies.

          2. Those American companies own lots of other factories. Canada is only attractive because it's a little cheaper to build cars there than in the US. ESpecially with Canadian government subsidies.

    4. They are going to borrow loads to shore up the electric car market because nobody is buying them.

    1. Ooh; were I in England I'd be there like a shot. Dick Delingpole is excellent company and I would love the chance to bow down to Bob. 🤣

      1. They are selling VIP tickets for 120, but I draw the line at paying 120 pounds to have dinner with some git that I could have talked to for free at university.
        yes, I always love the delingpods with DD.

        1. That’s quite the wodge of dosh!! Totally with you on that. (Although 8 think I talked to everyone at university, except that gorgeous but terribly shy ranked mathematician I would have liked to chat up. .. 🤣🤣). I met DD on that first glorious freedom march. Hadn’t a clue who he was.

  81. 'Why would I get a job? I get your monthly wage in a week!' As Starmer's bid to cut disability benefits is sunk by Labour MPs, social media tutorials show claimants how to milk the system – and you'll be the one left feeling sick

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14876857/disability-benefit-social-media-tutorials-claimants-cheat-system.html

    Just a thought, but why not put an absolute cap on benefits for any individual at the amount they could earn on "minimum wage" for a 40 hour week? That amount to include cash, and the cash value of Motability and all other benefits that they receive.

    1. Your suggestion still provides no incentive for someone to find work, since they would receive as much in benefits as they would if they had earned it. The cap should be less – perhaps 50% to 75%, with a time limit.

      1. Agreed, but it would be an absolute cap.
        The less "the need" the less benefits that would be paid.
        I would also put a limit on the time benefits are paid for those deemed "fit".

        1. Unemployment here is only payable for 6 months, plus people have to have a "termination letter" showing that they involountarily lost their job, i.e. did not just quit.

          Then they have to report interviews sought and attended in order to keep receiving unemployment pay.

    2. The trouble with that is that some (a tiny percentage) of those who are not playing the system really do need accommodations to be made so that they can live as normal a life as possible, and those can be expensive. I don't know what the answer is, but an absolute cap would in my opinion hurt the.very people who actually need help the most.

      1. So turn the vast resources of the state in to actually finding these people and talking to them. The DWP employs millions. Use them.

        I know folk who have an 'autistic' child. She's not. She's just rude and poorly behaved but the diagnosis gets her a few grand a month.

      2. I agree that there are some to whom that applies.
        The problem we have is that the whole system seems to be based upon the
        "if it saves one life"
        it's worth it point of view.

        Those that abuse the system are the ones at fault, if it became much, much harder to get it at the bottom end, there would be more available for those at the top, i.e. those you refer to.

    1. Charles Moore
      Starmer has revealed himself to be the most politically hopeless PM of
      my lifetime
      No wonder the Chancellor was crying. Such a serious failure of economic and political will is very hard to come back from.
      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9b57e68af7aefa1d2b5a1eb22dacd002a36ec9a3e6e6d26aed888ecfa41cc7ce.png
      Charles Moore
      We are told that it was “personal” reasons which caused Rachel Reeves to weep at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday. No doubt that is true. But when a prominent person weeps on a public occasion, the tears are prompted by a confluence of the personal and the political.

      Whatever upset Ms Reeves felt was surely compounded by her desperate and isolated political situation following the collapse of the Government’s welfare reform Bill.

      The first Rachel wept, as is recorded in the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah. She was weeping for her children, but hers were public tears too: she was revered as the wife of the patriarch Jacob and mother of Joseph. God told her: “Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine ears from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded.”

      It has to be said that Sir Keir Starmer was rather less generous to his Rachel than was the Almighty to the Mother of Israel. When, across the floor of the House, Kemi Badenoch pointed out to him that his Chancellor “looks absolutely miserable”, he did not turn round to comfort or even to check. Nor did he take up the Leader of the Opposition’s invitation to confirm Ms Reeves in her post.

      Before the session ended, the Prime Minister did say something about being “grateful” to her, but by then it was too late. Afterwards, No 10 declared that Ms Reeves was “going nowhere”, a phrase which, in the circumstances, was either tin-eared or barbed.

      In an interview, Sir Keir insisted she would continue as Chancellor for the next election and for years beyond. He is in no position to make such a promise.

      People often complain about the “bearpit” of PMQs. This week’s half hour was certainly uncomfortable to watch, but it did show why such occasions can make a difference. In a few minutes of parliamentary theatre, we got to the heart of the matter.

      In passing, it is worth pointing out that Mrs Badenoch did well. With wit and concision, she identified Labour’s key embarrassments – the second U-turn at the very last moment, the fact that a cost-cutting Bill will now save nothing at all and Sir Keir’s problem that “he does not know what he believes”.

      She seized the chance to get her own party back on the long road to the economic respectability it so badly lost in government. Whereas Labour had just voted for spending more money, she said, the Conservatives know the nation must “live within its means”. Sir Keir’s capitulation vacates the political ground of prudence, giving the Tories the chance to re-occupy it – and at a time when Reform has decided to become a big-spending party.

      In the end, those who want to give ever more public money to people who do not want to work are fewer than those who do work and will now almost certainly have to pay higher taxes. On this point, Mrs Badenoch spoke with justified confidence.

      An oddity caused by the slow Conservative leadership election process last year is that Mrs Badenoch has still not addressed her annual party conference as leader, so the troops do not feel they know their general. Now she has a victory under her belt to celebrate with them. She has won on some other subjects recently, such as the grooming gangs inquiry, but this week was her first big breakthrough.

      More important right now is what all this means for the Government which we might still have for four more years.

      Again, PMQs gave useful optics. Most of the time, the camera concentrated on just three people on the front bench – the Prime Minster in the middle, inexpressive as usual; to the right, the crumpled Chancellor, in a blue suit, trying and failing to conceal her distress; to the left, in a striking all-red number, the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, head erect and smiling in a nothing-to-do-with-me sort of way. You could see the future, and why it won’t work.

      It still seems almost incredible that a government only a year old should have cut off its room for future progress so early. There may be a case that the public finances, though bad and getting worse, are not so disastrous that all is lost, but history does suggest that such a serious failure of economic and political will is very hard to come back from.

      Wilson’s Labour government lost confidence after having to devalue the pound in 1967, and lost the election in 1970. Heath’s Tories executed their U-turn on free markets and non-intervention in 1972, and lost (twice) in 1974. Labour went “cap in hand” to the IMF in 1976, and lost to Mrs Thatcher in 1979. John Major’s Tories won a general election in April 1992 but had to take the pound out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in September. Tony Blair trounced them in 1997.

      In some of these cases, notably Major’s, the economy did recover, but in all of them the government was seen to have failed in its economic stewardship. The voters duly punished it.

      This time, the Government has undoubtedly failed. Labour’s selling-point to the electorate a year ago was that, unlike the Tories, and particularly the horror story of Liz Truss, it would restore growth and control the public finances with enough discipline that the proceeds of that growth would improve public services. It has taken only 12 months, almost to the day, to discredit all those promises.

      In reaction, some have criticised the rebel Labour MPs who forced Sir Keir’s retreat for their economic illiteracy. Downing Street special advisers speak unattributably to lobby journalists with foul-mouthed quotations about the idiocy and self-indulgence of their party’s backbenchers.

      It is true that social media have made MPs more narcissistic and less loyal to their party. It is also true that failure to rein in welfare spending is – along with the NHS – the road to national ruin. But Sir Keir and his political advisers seem to have a very hazy idea of what it is like to be a member of Parliament.

      With all aspects of social policy, MPs will have numerous constituents who will be directly affected and will complain to them. Most MPs of the governing party will be prepared to justify unpopular government policy if they can do so as part of a big story of foreseeable recovery or of dire necessity. It is incredibly hard to do so, however, when the policy unexpectedly removes existing money from claimants, and when the overall picture of what the government is trying to do is so contradictory and confusing.

      In the case of personal independence payments (PIPs), there are a great many scandals (some recently documented by the TaxPayers’ Alliance) about how easily people can get the money for inadequate or trumped-up reasons. A government set on persuasion could have dramatised such freeloading to win over voters. It did not. Instead, it suddenly threatened millions of claimants, thwarting reasonable expectations. You don’t have to be a Zarah Sultana-style Corbynista to worry. Any decent MP would want to voice those discontents at Westminster.

      In my lifetime, and therefore in the lifetime of the great majority, no Labour government has ever been able to cope with bad economic conditions. They have been boom-time phenomena, triumphantly so in the case of Tony Blair’s first two terms. Sir Keir’s administration has quickly reverted to this depressing type, adding a political incompetence that would make anyone weep.

      1. Reported something to do with ISAs…Ms Reeves had rec'd inheritance and signed up for tax free ISAs, but then also clamped down on them in her Budget. Starmer informed just prior to PMQs and having a chat with her about it, not impressed apparently, thinking the press be all over it. The cause of her tears. This narrative may be true, or not.

  85. 408845+ up ticks,

    Would it not be a decent idea to re-instate common sense and build on a safety net party, seemingly patriotic peoples are coming together to form satellite
    parties /groups as MP Lowe Restore , Ben Habib Advance UK.

    As I repeat, coming together under the umbrella of the
    Farmers Food and Freedom Party I would have no worries of them being patriotic as this has been proved via generations over centurie https://x.com/gazcon/status/1941393901769863358

    2. Simple demographics, ogga…Muslims are increasing in population numbers, rest of us declining.

      1. Only because they're paid to breed. The first, and biggest reason to scrap child benefit.

        1. White people would also be paid similarly, wibbling. Post Women's Lib, they either have fewer children or often not at all. If Muslim population all pay their taxes…..

          3. I doubt they pay taxes. Jizya is what the dhimmi pays for the privilege of living in a muslim country.

      2. 408845+ up ticks,

        Afternoon KJ,

        Get the political scene right and modern armaments will take care of the rest , in a defensive manner.

        1. Afternoon, ogga….I suspect the bigger threat is an as yet unkown crazy getting hold of a nuclear device.

  86. Ladderwork calls – cutting back the wisteria YET AGAIN. Back later – unless I fall.

  87. 408845+ up ticks,

    Texas floods: 24 dead and up to 25 children missing after summer camp washed away
    Parents frantically search for children as state officials admit they do not know how many people are missing

    Tell me could weather tamperers be linked to the Texas children's RIP camp horror scenes, because the
    political / pharmaceutical criminal lunatics have no
    bounds for their horrific actions inclusive of the innocents MUST suffer.

    1. Err…. could it not be that they simply camped in the wrong place, considering the weather turned very suddenly?

      1. 408845+up ticks,

        Afternoon W,

        Could very well be, but also could be seen as poking Thor in the rear regions with a very sharp stick, AKA unnecessarily meddling with
        unknown consequences, as in a butterfly flaps its wings in China……..

    1. Sort of… perfect world, yes. In reality it's the congestion that does the work. More, OFDMA, or, – I think – orthogonal frequency multiple access division multiplexing / access.

      However! It is still a dinner party with lots of people shouting at one another to be heard. When you've lots of competiting access points the bandwidth fabric – the road itself – still has a lot of traffic on it. This is why we have ethernet and fibre running everywhere here. It's why I recommend it to customers for their telephones.

      1. I think there are potholes starting to show in the digital infrastructure just like the breaks in the pylon wires, doldrums over the windmills and clouds over the solar panels.

      1. Lorna Clark

        Annual remuneration (as at July 2024)
        £215,000 – £219,999

        Which is a lot more than 'token' in my world.

    1. With all this free surplus energy consumers are having to pay for prices can only go up faster to meet the demands of Net Zero.

  95. Seems to be a theme today……..
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/05/1948-luckiest-year-to-be-born/
    Why 1948 was the luckiest year to be born

    From being the first babies delivered by the NHS to experiencing the most social mobility of any generation, they had it best.
    What do King Charles, Lulu, Gerry Adams, Eliza Manningham-Buller, Ian McEwan and Ozzy Osbourne have in common? The answer is that they were all born in Britain in 1948, widely thought to be the luckiest birth year of the 20th century.

    1. Eliza Manningham-Buller was my English teacher for a couple of years, I think it was. Little did I know then….

      1. The M-Bs were friends of Wife1's family. When in the army, her father was known as Reggie Bullying-Mannner.

    2. And me and my French friend. I don’t think I was delivered by the NHS. I was born at home and our neighbour acted as midwife because the official one didn’t turn up until after I did.

  96. Afternoon All
    As i sit here rolling another cigarette I thought you might be interested to know the latest thing is a "war" on illegal tobacco
    https://x.com/UKJTI/status/1937828153302585508
    I wonder why there is such a huge demand??
    For years I just endured the ever increasing prices but I finally snapped and recruited non-smoking friends and rellies to hit the duty free shops for me
    Now remember these shops are certainly not selling at a loss so what are the numbers??
    Latest two arrivals 20 times 50g pcks total cost £280
    Retail cost UK?? £940
    So for a minor faff I have deprived the government of £660 tax something that fills me with deep joy as thanks to fiscal drag my previously tax free tiny private pension is now taxed at £71 per quarter the bastards!!

    1. There was a bat in church. It was on the floor by my pew. We were invited to reflect on what Christ had to say to us…

    2. Given the fact that there seem to be so many celebrities who tend to be lefties, perhaps moving more invaders into their areas might help them reconsider their positions.

    1. Indeed.
      Stop the bennies and 'free' stuff and watch them fuck off.

    1. Daft bint wouldn't recognise democracy if it jumped up and bit her on the nose.

    2. If she is a member of a terrorist group, by her own admission, she should be arrested as soon as the act becomes law!! Never going to happen though.

      1. No doubt there would be riots by the uncivilised people in her constituency. We have to keep "communities" sweet, don't we; never mind about the indigenous community of this country.

    4. It's the misuse of 'genocide' that bothers me. Quite apart from the fact that in parts of the Muslim world it's a way of life, what the Israelis are doing, however much you may dislike it, is not genocide. If they'd wanted to kill every Gazan, they'd have carpet-bombed the place and been done with it.

        1. Not such a good idea when it's only 30 miles away and a westerly wind is blowing.

      2. Gazan women specifically and "Palestinian" women generally, have some of the highest fertility/child producing rates in the world.
        The number of Palestinians living within Israel and Gaza and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights has increased at a far higher rate than Jews.

        At current rates, if Israel remained a democracy, the Muslims could eventually be able to take over Israel without a shot being fired.

        Of course, being Palestinians, shots will be fired and bombs exploded.

    1. How about targetting immigrants to have come here/overstayed without permission, Yvette you ghastly woman?

          1. And it should not be. No-one who iis not 100% pro Britain, with no other loyalties should work there.

        4. The HO don’t want to know. Not surprising, given the demography of the HO.

      2. They are all hell bent on well practiced awkwardness. They don't care about the damage to our culture or social structure.

  106. Bobby Lobster
    4h
    Miliband forced to pay solar farms to switch off

    Operators paid to shut down for first time to avoid grid power surge

    they don't work at night, on cloudy days, and would only waste the sun on sunny days, because they aren't plugged in to the grid properly. Like in the Public sector – paid to do nothing.

    1. Preferable to MPswho are paid to destroy our country.

      Or illegals who are paid to be here.

    2. Preferable to MPswho are paid to destroy our country.

      Or illegals who are paid to be here.

    1. "My Lord, you will see that my well dressed, middle class, professional clients would never stoop to fisticuffs…."

      1. Aamas Anwar is an extremely dodgy and devious paki lawyer from Scotland via Manchester. He has h defended some very unpleasant clients. He plays the race card at the drop of a hat, and people are scared of him.

      2. Aamas Anwar is an extremely dodgy and devious paki lawyer from Scotland via Manchester. He has h defended some very unpleasant clients. He plays the race card at the drop of a hat, and people are scared of him.

  109. Sparkles
    2h
    Gb News reporting Pixie was told on March 13th that Palestine Action had reached the threshold fir prescribing but delayed till June in fear of losing the mudslime vote in the local elections. Labour looking after itself rather than the people of this country

    2. If you do fall, act like a American paratrooper and shout out the Indian's name Ranjit Sighn, not Gerominoo

  116. We have been busy in the shed (aka the garage) and found out tht it has a (concrete) floor!

    Some neighbours keep a cars their's, but that is soooooo Middle Class.

    1. Ah yes…we have a garage….both cars are on the drive, but the large building is full of stuff!

      2. I keep the car in the ventilated car port, all the important stuff is in the attached garage 😘

          1. My tools, gardening stuff, chain saws washing M/C, treadmill, log splitter, bicycle, 2 freezers, generator, tinned food, compressor, ladders, scaffold tower…are just a few of the things x

          2. ‘when the dog bites, when the bee stings’….good morning Alec, have a great day x (guessing you might add painting equipment, btw have you tried watercolour pencils?) x

          3. Morning Kate, painting stuff is in my music room/studio. No I haven’t tried those pencils – are there any advantages over watercolours with a brush? x

          4. Mine is scattered around 😀 Advantages…you draw with them similarly to any crayon (now re-named ‘coloured pencils’), then smooth over with a damp brush, and then if req’d final layer of any crayon (I like Polychromos). Claire Milligan has some examples on YouTube. So you can draw but then add water if needed, whereas watercolour paint needs tubes/pans and water. Does this make any sense, Alec x I just find them easier I guess is the simple answer 😀 I think I’m gradually coming to a stop, we’ll see.

      1. Nice to design your own place – the garage is 3 bay, 26" by 36'. one car at present and two bays of crap. Next project is a monster clear out.

    3. When we bought our house 34 years ago it was in an awful mess.
      And we quickly put in plans for an extension. It had a small detached garage, so I knocked it down and built a double storey extension integral garage and we have never had a car in the garage.
      Thought about knockin right through and changing it for an extended kitchen diner but couldn't really be bothered as there are only two of us living here.

      1. It's a lot of mess, expense and inconvenience unless needed, Eddy. Been there, lived through that.

        1. We had been in Australia for four years. Sold our house before we left and had nothing when we returned. Four (two young sons) of us lived with the in-laws.
          We were lucky and given a really nice council house in a lovely Hertfordshire village with a ‘10,000’ pound view across farmland and countryside. We bought it under the Thatcher regime. Brought a larger house on the edge of the village that needed a lot of work. Which as a tradesmen I did most of the work on.
          Been here ever since.
          Next door to our old house was recently sold for just over half a million. We have been very lucky.

          1. We’ve moved around a lot, all in the UK. Katie Hopkins is one of my favourites, was watching her today in the IoM, one of her favourite places. Looked up the property prices there…eye-watering. I’ve had the habit of buying land when I could. Valuations now are high, possibly too high, can’t see it changing anytime soon according to agents. I was initially raised one-up, one-down, then a council house which my dad bought with my help, then sold and moved to a smaller flat. I don’t think any of our experiences are unusual, Eddy :-), from friends, relatives, neighbours. I remember Mrs T going to see the first people bought their council house – as my dad in law said at the time ‘I’ve bought every ******* brick in this place ten times over with the rent I’ve paid’.

    4. I am sooo middle class then. I have a garage I keep my cars in, a shed and a summerhouse (better known as my studio).

        1. Also have a wooden loose box which is rather like most people’s garages inasmuch as it contains a lot of stuff but no horse.

      1. They shouldn't immediately be able to claim benefits (paid for by UK tax payers). Should only be able to stay if they have a firm offer of permanent employment which they've undertaken to accept, or at minimum stay with relatives who will take on the burden of supporting them until they're in gainful employment.

    1. What is striking about COVID fraud is that it was not just career criminals who exploited the scheme, many previously legitimate business owners and individuals have since been found to have knowingly and actively stolen money.

      The true amount that was stolen via these loans and payments is not yet known, in part due to massive backlog of cases in the court system, but it is estimated to have been at least £4.5 billion. This does not include PPE supply fraud or crimes committed by fraudsters that targeted businesses and individuals.

      James McMurdock took out Covid loans totalling £70,000 relating to two businesses.

      In order to qualify for a £50,000 loan from the government, companies had to have a turnover of more than £200,000.

      Documents on Companies House showed how the firm's 'current assets' jumped from just £125 in 2019 to £50,137 in 2020, the year of the loan. After receiving the money, McMurdock allegedly then resigned from the company and gave his shares to his mother.

        1. Was it all some sort of scam? Remember Johnson in hospital, with nurses adjusting his oxygen supply – none of them can be found now, or so it seems. How odd that he was at Goodwood, shook hands with tens of people, caught Covid but Carrie didn't. Cabinet meeting – only Hancock tested positive (kits another story, from a 'friend' of his) with no symptoms. Hallett an expensive whitewash.

      2. I know at least one local tradesperson who carried on working, for cash, whilst claiming for not working. Likely thousands more cases, nationwide. An open goal.

    2. So… 20% of Reform MPs suspended for fraud, and another 20% ejected from party for having opinions.

          2. Hmm…I guess so, Ndovu. Is it yet another thing we should feel suspicious about. Doh.

          3. Like many other things, MP's are not what they were. More like filling their pockets than serving the country.

            The US however, has been like that for a long time, driven by an electorate that thinks their Congress Critters (yep, that's what we call 'em) are there to deliver goodies to their local voters, and screw everybody else. Despite the fine words we hear, campaign donors expect a quid pro quo.

  119. I am sure they would be smart enough to do it on a day when the wind is blowing away from them

  120. I am sure they would be smart enough to do it on a day when the wind is blowing away from them

  125. Michael Deacon
    Liberal hypocrisy over immigration has just been brutally laid bare

    Now it’s the turn of middle-class university graduates to fear for their jobs – and the following response says it all

    05 July 2025 6:00am BST

    The Guardian is increasingly worried about a grave threat to British jobs. In an editorial this week, it begged UK firms not to replace university graduates with Artificial Intelligence – because AI “must not be allowed to eclipse young talent”. It would be awful, the Guardian continued, if graduates’ prospects were “short-sightedly shut down in the name of cost savings”.

    Quite right, too. I agree with every word. There is, however, just one small thing that puzzles me.

    Glad as I am to see the Guardian highlighting this threat to middle-class jobs, why does it rarely seem quite so concerned about an equally grave threat to working-class jobs?

    Over the past couple of decades, any number of working-class people have complained that their livelihoods are under threat from mass immigration. Again and again, however, the Guardian has published articles flatly dismissing these fears.

    It’s run headlines such as, “The Tory Fallacy: That Migrants Are Taking British Jobs and Driving Down Wages.” And: “We Keep Hearing About ‘Legitimate Concerns’ Over Immigration. The Truth Is, There Are None.” And, as recently as May this year: “‘Things Could Fall Over’: Businesses and Public Services on Starmer’s Immigration Crackdown.”

    Anyone who disagreed was liable to be accused of racism – even if they were children. “Racist and Anti-Immigration Views Held by Children Revealed in Schools Study,” reported the Guardian in 2015, noting with horror that “60 per cent of the children questioned believed it was true that ‘asylum seekers and immigrants are stealing our jobs’”.

    Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall the Guardian thundering that immigrant plumbers and builders “must not be allowed to eclipse young talent”. Or that working-class people’s prospects must not be “short-sightedly shut down in the name of cost savings” offered by cheap foreign labour.

    But perhaps it’s different, when it’s your own children’s futures at risk.

    Slaves to wokery
    Believe it or not, some MPs are still insisting that our country owes reparations for the transatlantic slave trade. Even in happier times, it would have been difficult to persuade the wider public of their case’s merits. But imagine trying to do it right now.

    “Good evening, sir, I’m from the Labour party. As you will be all too well aware, these are very tough times for the nation’s finances – so I’m afraid that at the next Budget we will have no alternative but to increase your taxes. Oh, and then increase them a bit more, so that we can give away vast sums of your money to countries thousands of miles away in compensation for crimes that took place hundreds of years ago and which you personally had nothing to do with.”

    Not the easiest sell. None the less, the campaign continues. Last week, the Jamaican government – which is extremely keen on reparations – petitioned the King to seek legal advice on the issue. And this week, Bell Ribeiro-Addy – the Labour MP who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Afrikan Reparations – said: “I think it’s important that people are moving forward with legal remedies, because ultimately enslavement was ended with the law, the reparations to slave owners happened under the law, and so reparations to those affected must happen under legislation.”

    Reparations to “those affected”? Very well. If she can find me an 18th-century Caribbean slave, I will be only too happy to compensate him. He can use the money to throw a lavish party for his 250th birthday.

    Unfortunately, however, I won’t be able to make the same offer to anyone born more recently. Because they’re no more victims of the slave trade than I’m a victim of the Great Fire of London.

    Sultana fruitcake
    Personally I’m delighted that Zarah Sultana, the 31-year-old ex-Labour MP for Coventry South, is about to launch a new Left-wing party. Because it will give us the opportunity to ask her an important question.

    On January 29, Ms Sultana voiced her furious opposition to the planned expansion of Heathrow airport, denouncing it as “reckless, short-sighted and indefensible” in the face of the “climate emergency”. Yet, on March 26, she readily endorsed a campaign for a brand new international airport to be built in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan – on the grounds that it would “serve the vibrant, worldwide Kashmiri diaspora” (of which Ms Sultana happens to be a member, as her grandfather came to the UK from Kashmir).

    The question for this exciting new political leader, therefore, is: what changed? In the eight weeks between these two pronouncements, did the “climate emergency” suddenly end? If so, I’m surprised that the Government hasn’t made more of this wonderful news. Think of all the money it can save, now that net zero is no longer required.

    Alternatively: perhaps the “climate emergency” is still raging, but a new Pakistani airport wouldn’t exacerbate it, because, unlike nasty British planes, Pakistani ones don’t emit greenhouse gases. In which case, we must beg Pakistan to share its astonishing aeronautical secrets. When Ms Sultana becomes prime minister, I hope it will be the very first thing she does.

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

    John Riordan
    9 hrs ago
    How much foreign aid have British taxpayers sent to African and Caribbean countries since 1945? How much are we still sending ? I suspect we have already paid reparations and should actually be looking at winding those payments down now, this should not go on forever.

    Meanwhile if people in those countries still haven't got their societies in order, they could try asking Arab countries for reparations for the trans-saharan slave trade which went on for a thousand years and was every bit as barbaric as the transatlantic slave trade. I don't think they've paid any reparations in the form of foreign aid.

    Margaret Robinson
    9 hrs ago
    Good job Michael, thanks.

    On reparations, we have lovely West Indian neighbours. They’re no more interested in reparations than is Kermit the frog. Apart from anything else, it would mean they were paying taxes to award themselves money they’re not entitled to.

    The utter crassness of the whole idea is a planet size con!

    Garden Shed
    10 hrs ago
    I worry where Sultana’s loyalties are. I think they are somewhere far from mine. And I’m a British patriot

    1. "the reparations to slave owners" – but paid by UK so that slaves could be freed. And, don't forget the costs of the RN anti-slavery patrols, in both manpower and cash. We owe them nothing – they owe us considerable thanks, ungrateful bar stewards!

      1. As someone said here in the US, when reparations were mooted: "I already gave, I have ancestors who were killed in the Civil War fighting to free the slaves."

      1. The real problem we have is the previous and this government.
        Crime rates have gone through the roof but they haven't seemed to notice. But of course they have, so what exactly is going on ?

    3. The Guardian's audience these days is the champagne socialist crowd. They only care about the young Arabellas and Sebastians who have degrees in twee subjects. Anyone who works with their hands is considered part of the servant class.

  126. England's cricketers are heading for the thrashing we thought they they were going to get at Headingley…

    1. please don't spoil it for those of us who will be watching the highlights this evening

      1. It's no spoiler really given the scorecard at the close of play yesterday, the state of the pitch and the inadequacy of England's bowling attack, which might just have made it as the third choice in the days of Anderson and Broad.

        1. I shall have to remember not to come on this site when there's cricket on

      2. It's no spoiler really given the scorecard at the close of play yesterday, the state of the pitch and the inadequacy of England's bowling attack, which might just have made it as the third choice in the days of Anderson and Broad.

      3. Here's something to look forward to in the highlights, Spikey

        "Zak Crawley takes one in the crown jewels from the final ball of Akash Deep's over. He manages to drag his foot back behind the line, before regaining his composure."

        1. Thank you Citroen but I'm quite capable of seeing this for myself – see response to William S below

  127. A bit of a give-away.. if you ask me.
    Why not just post a picture of her mangina?

    Candace Owens claimed that she received a personal phone call from President Donald Trump on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron, urging her to stop pushing the wild conspiracy theory that Brigitte Macron, his wife, was born a man.

    1. Yeah, right. And Santa comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve, to deliver presents.

      1. Given that not too many houses have big open fireplaves and traditional sized chimneys these days, I wonder how that myth keeps alive? And that's not considering that most "chimneys" these days are narrow tubes attached to appliances of some sort.

        If Santa made it down my chimney, he would be the other side of the fire proof glass panel. Anyting moves back there and the fire goes on high!

    2. What is it about Presidents' wives that attracts the attention of barmy theories – remember Michelle Obama, or 'Big Mike' as she was routinely referred to on-line……

      1. That was so funny watching her do that. Then them both pretending nothing happened.

          1. I virtually know you. I also know that your beloved would never have done such a thing to you.
            To wipe a smut off your face would be an act of love not anger. Done in such a way that didn't draw undue attention.
            And anyone around you like in a nice restaurant would have ignored it.
            This was in full view of a global audience.
            They despise each other.

  128. Wordle No. 1,477 5/6

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

    Wordle 5 Jul 2025

    A bundled Bogie Five?

    1. I was down to only one possible – but what does it mean?

      Wordle 1,477 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
      🟨🟩🟨🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. Google:
        "4. Baling: This is the final step, where the hay is gathered and compressed into bales using a baler. "

        'Baler' is not a commonly used word, Sue!

    2. Only one choice for me too, like Sue. But plenty of them around here at this time of year.

      Wordle 1,477 3/6

      🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟨🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. Well done.
        Wordle 1,477 4/6

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

      1. Just go by hair colour. It's easier. Green and purple are the ones that need stoning.

  130. My starter word is constructed to address 'difficult' words like this – so I'm slightly annoyed that I missed out on a birdie, selecting the wrong one of two options , so just a par……

    Wordle 1,477 4/6

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

  131. Slightly better for a Par. I thought I had a nailed on Birdie.

    Wordle 1,477 4/6

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

  132. Well if it is good enough for you

    Wordle 1,477 5/6

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

  133. She wore a low cut at the back gown when she met the Queen. Shoulders like an American football player. Without all the padding.

  135. The British Grand Prix is looking as though it might turn out to be a proper race.

    In most instances I err on the side of the result being mostly down to the cars, this one looks as if the drivers and pit teams will have a greater influence on the result rather than one marque being marquedly better, ho ho.

    2. Lately, the cars have dominated. But now Red Bull has lost its chief "genius", things are a little different. And earlier Mercedes dominated because they had the most powerful engines.

    3. I must admit I find it hilarious when the commentators refer to a 3 second pit-stop as 'slow' – they change all four tyres ffs!

  136. I've been watching a wonderful programme I had recorded by Dan Snow on the Lost City Machu picchu. Dan Snow & The lost City.
    If you haven't seen it, try to find it on catch-up. He explains so much about the culture and how and why it was built.
    I couldn't recommend it more.

      1. I remember you telling me you have been there. I would have loved to have been there. But unfortunately it’s beyond my wildest dreams now.
        But marvellously explained.

  137. Is it known as pork-barrelling, jack? that’s democracy, some will be really decent people – I remember Frank Field, for one.

    1. Poor barreling it is. Part of the problem is that it's easy for Amendments to be added to any bill going through Congress. Basically, any congressmen can try to get his/her per project funded by proposing an Amendment. And if the voting will be tight, anyone whose vote can be counted on, can slip something in there.

    1. In prison? Definitely a different trade, depending on what you’ve got and what you’re prepared to deal (or so I read……..)

  140. I am off now – to prepare flood barriers, buy a generator, check how to drive the car etc etc.

    Have a jolly evening

    A demain – if the thunder permits…!

        1. Have you tried putting a thermometer on the tarmac at Heathrow? Pleasantly breezy outside but still 25c inside.

          1. Oh you are lucky. 28C here this afternoon, 31C anticipated tomorrow.

            Thankfully the golf club has now renewed its alcohol license.

  143. Got the 2nd gooseberry bush picked, over 2½lb and a bit under ½lb of raspberries. Still more of the latter to pick.

    2. Firstly..
      "I'm a Christian.."
      You're only making it worse for yourself. LOL

      Secondly..
      BBC pin up boyz..
      The singer of punk band Bob Vylan said the “only good pig is a dead pig” in an anti-police rant, new footage has revealed.

      1. The disconnect is astonishing.

        Though i understand how that doesn't filter down to 'officers' who have undergone 'training'.

        Those same white nominally Christian officers will believe all their 12 and 13 year old daughters were sluts and asking for it?

  145. I'm a big sports fan – enjoyed the Lions earlier on today (a win despite an error-strewn performance) and the Test Match where thousands of runs are being scored.
    But I just dont get the wall-to-wall BBC coverage of Wimbledon, both channels all bloody day – is it because it's the only big sports event the BBC has left?
    I'm not keen on tennis (and would be interested to know if any other Nottlers are?) so I took refuge in ITV – a rare event – and found they were deluged by the Womens football Euro 2025 ffs…..
    No Bargain Hunt, no Escape To The Country – I am bereft!!…..

      1. Ta Sue, but it's Saturday night and I'm on the beer now – Escape to the Country is a strict daytime activity……..

        1. As Bill says, try TPTV. Showing Rank “Look At Life” films right now. Always good.

      2. Talking Pictures TV – loads of OLD films – "Look at Life"; "Out of Town". French (outstanding) Maigret. And lots lots more. For nothing.

        1. BBC Programme Acquisition used to own a catalogue of 30s/40s b/w B movies. Noel Cronin bought them.

          1. I bet the two “Pick of the Week” progs that I was on no longer exist!

    4. My OH watches the tennis. And the Rugby. And the ladies' footie. I take refuge here.

    5. And why do they need at least 2 commentators per match when they hardly say anything of any value.

  146. Zia Yusuf announced Reform UK’s latest policy this week: the Britannia Card..

    Conor Tomlinson reviews the latest Reform Red Flag
    Reform voters want lower migration not for logistical or economic reasons, but out of concern for the pace and scale of demographic and cultural change. They don’t want a revolving door of wealthy strangers, no matter how much money it might bring into the Treasury.

    They want to live in a country that feels like a home, with familiar faces; not a frictionless airport departure lounge, cosmopolitan shopping mall, or retail park.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWg7-FabHBY

  147. Had a long discussion with SWMBO about Firatborn's difficulty is getting himself a Lady.
    Do youse have any advice? His problem is, he (being an introvert) doesn't recognise when he's being flirted with (That was my problem too), and so local girls aren't so interested any more. How to fix?

      1. Yes, he's getting upset by it.
        Trying not to bother him by it, I'd love a grandchild.

      1. SWMBO suggested that. Good thought!
        BTW, he's crap at sociaising… and dancing…

        1. Me too, no surprise there but HG and I "partnered" at a dance and married a few years later.

          We had met before, but took an instant dislike to each other: she thought I was a swat and I thought she was a goody two shoes.

          57 years after that and she still puts up with me.

          1. Same here.
            SWMBO came on to me back in 1979 when we met at university theatre as crew, and we married in 1982. I still have no idea what she found attractive about me – I don't look good, I'm not social, so I don't understand that stuff, but it's our 43rd anniversary next week.

          3. I used a whole lifetime's worth of luck meeing and marrying her.
            Edit: spellong…

    4. Does he get out and about, to bars, etc.? Or are the rules so strict that having a drink puts you over the limit.

      I met Jill through a mutual friend – a pretty common thing in those days. That and church activities, but that was not for me. My parents met that way though, back in the dawn of time.

      From what I can make out, a lot of today's younger people use dating apps.

      1. Can't take a drink, then drive. Really bad idea. No public transport… but maybe the Church would be a good start.
        I'll think on't, thanks.

        1. To complete my thought, eldest grandson (27) met his now missus at university – one of their get togethers for new students. But he is the opposite of what you describe, very outgoing – and a good looking, blonde 6' 2", so was always in the centre of things. The other lad is a couple of years younger (and a few inches shorter) and met his gf on line. They are both techies, so to b e expected. Granddaughter met her serious bf at uni. But then she is a very attractive willowy blonde.

          1. Our elder son met his wife on line, they are both techies. Elder son is not as socially outgoing as his younger brother, who met his wife at university.

      2. No.
        He does strength training, shooting, and the drink-drive rules are horrible.

      3. Chances are you won't meet someone you'd want to spend time with at a bar and you can't speak to people at clubs and so on.

        When I tried on line dating I had low self esteem and, after a while it felt like being a toy, played with then put back.

        I had, being honest, given up on the hope and resolved myself to it being me and Wiggy and when he went, so probably would I. I was lucky beyond reason.

    5. What about sports clubs. vw and I met playing table tennis, pure chance of being in the right place at the right time. Are there tennis clubs, swimming, dance classes etc. Think it’s a matter of thinking outride tye box.

    6. I have not tried the internet myself, but I think it probably as safe as meeting an unknown individual whilst under the influence in a noisy club. So long as you have your eyes open to scammers etc, I think it a reasonable way to go, particularly if you are no longer in the school/University social circles. I know a few people who have formed successful relationships in this way. Alternatively, a holiday in the Far East will do the trick!

      1. Nearly all the children of my friends (younger ones – ie under 35ish) have married someone they met online. It seems to be the thing these days.

        1. It seems just as viable as the old techniques and probably more selective than meeting random individuals. The current Mrs Pea is from the East and we have been going for more than 20 years, but you have to be aware that ladies from across the world are all run by the same hormones, so don't be fooled by their outwardly demure characters. They can be little tigers!

    2. Does he like Thai food?

      It happened in the Wild West.

      Poor lonely farmers and also rich landowners who needed someone to compliment them, run the house and produce children.

      I can think of many worse arrangements.

    1. That's sad.
      Firstborn's uncle had no children, but a few girlfriends. Hope he doesn't turn out like the uncle.

    2. Please don't tell me you're prejudiced against such creatures?

      Say it ain't true.

    3. New shiny account with "This user's activity is private"
      quelle surprise.

    4. It is a proud testament to the courtesy of nottlers in general and some in particular that no-one has yet referred to him as "needle dick"

      1. Actually O, my version of that particular insult was always 'pencil dick'… must be the local vernacular….

      1. You can be as rude to me as you like. Except about my hairstyle, my dress sense, my alcohol intake, my poor choice of friends, my cooking, my politics.

        If all of that is acceptable then yes ! I will marry you !!!

        1. I may be wrong here, but I suspect ashesthandust might not be impressed by "my poor choice of friends".

          How very dare you suggest she's a poor choice!

          1. There i have you.

            I have met, swam, dined, drank and played Scrabble on several occasions with Katie. The lady would adorn her armour and her sword to defend me.

            Concede or suffer the consequences ! :@)

          2. QED
            You’ve acknowledged that she was a good choice of friend.
            Do sharpen up.

          3. A couple of points.

            I didn't choose her.

            The second is distraction.

            When certain friends or family notice a connection they vie for prominence.

    2. The post from 30 minutes back was a clear breach of the rules, and a ban is the right response.

      1. We do tend to give people space to redeem themselves. Often a post is made in haste or alcohol or rage.
        Remember Lucy Connolly.

        I myself was banned at one time for intemperate comments by Geoff Graham.

    3. I know people on this site trade insults and can be called banter but not IMO from a newbie.
      What happened to the precautionary period before they could engage fully?

        1. I complain of chest pains and i finally get to see a GP. They then send me to A&E to wait for hours on end.
          I would probably get better and faster treatment if i took a gun or machete when negotiating with the practice receptionist.

          1. Just say you have arrived in a rubber boat and you have no documents.

            They'll see you in five minutes.

          2. They would never believe me. I have red hair and freckles. Comely as they are.

          3. Claim you're an Albino and in danger of having your organs harvested by a witch doctor.

          4. I think you are a little behind the times. Organ harvesting and foetal cell collections happens faster than Amazon deliveries.

    1. I don't care if the Femrobot has a penis. Can it do the washing up without blowing the fuse box?

      1. On the other hand might it get a trip using the vacuum ckeaner should you have a circuit breaker rather than a fuse.

        1. Angie…I love ya but i stopped going to those clubs years ago. Wheelchair access was terrible.

          Are we talking the Oasis concert or Red Dwarf at Comicon?

      1. Apparently they can now reproduce a clone of him.

        Scientists now believe they have been able to recreate extinct species from DNA and fossilised material.

        Why would we want Direwolves, Woolly mammoths, Megaladons and Yul Brynars everywhere !!!

        1. Apparently the Direwolf is a bit of a fantasy, in that it is a genetically engineered creature borne of scientists' fantasies rather than a true clone of the animal that might once have existed bearing that name.

  160. UK support is set to continue, with the additional £94.5 million package announced today, which will provide urgent humanitarian aid to Syrians, support Syria’s longer-term recovery through education and livelihoods, and support countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region.

    The Foreign Secretary will travel on to Kuwait where strengthening regional security and boosting bilateral relations will be top of the agenda in meetings with His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness the Prime Minister and His Excellency the Foreign Minister. The Foreign Secretary will advocate for UK businesses to have access to new opportunities to support Kuwaiti growing markets– further advancing business engagement between UK and Kuwait and the wider region.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-re-establishes-diplomatic-relations-with-syria-in-first-ministerial-visit-for-14-years#full-publication-update-history

    He cannot be serious , does Reeves know about this?

    2. If it keeps Syrians in Syria rather than the UK, it might be the cheaper option!

    3. Meanwhile, RT are reporting that Bkackrock have pulled out of their commitment to fund rebuilding Ukraine.

      1. Signalling not sufficiently safe, Russians there. Putin has said before he doesn't care if Ukraine reduced to rubble and left like that.

    5. Foreign Secretary will travel on to Kuwait

      Say this to Lammy and he will think that he has to wait in queue to get to where he is going

  161. Is Grizz back? Seems someone is attacking Sos. Can't think why anyone else would troll Sos.

    Elsie where are you?

    3. I am here, Phizzee. I am not aware of Grizz trolling anyone. In fact, I have just checked all of Sos's posts for today and can't see any sign of Sos's being trolled.

    4. I've spoken to Grizz and he's taking a break to get some of the outstanding jobs done

    1. How would i know? I'm just a flibbertigibbet and they all watch over us.

      For my personal development, the MODs on this site have dragged me up from the gutter to the kerb.

      You might or might not be surprised how true that statement is.

  167. I love that word flibbertigibbet, it's one that has been used in my family for years, but I can't ever recall it being used on a blog before.
    As to kerb-crawling, I'll defer to your expertise.

    1. I heard the word for the first time in the film…Joe versus the volcano.

      The film had resonance for me because as a young man i did something similar.

        1. I believe in was also in one of the original Mary Poppins books by P L Travers.

        2. I believe in was also in one of the original Mary Poppins books by P L Travers.

    2. My mother called my sister, 7 years older than me, a flibbertigibbet. It's not a word you forget.

  168. I think it appropriate that your post has attracted a lot of downticks (one, indeed, from yourself!).

    However, I find your offer surprisingly enticing but, alas, I am already spoken for so will, reluctantly, have to decline…..

    1. You can do better than that.

      Orange soda you imbecile ! With a large Vodka of course. You know me.

    1. He's on holiday,

      I believe, amongst other activities, he's bird-watching and ringing.

      1. Ding dong !

        It wouldn't surprise me in the least to take a break from this and other forums.

  172. If you get a chance try to access this lovely story n the DT, yes it is an interesting kind loving story of their life .

    I divorced James Bond actor George Lazenby – now I care for him
    Tennis great Pam Shriver writes about her renewed love for ex-husband, who has dementia, after a turbulent 25-year relationship

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2025/07/05/pam-shriver-husband-george-lazenby-james-bond-dementia/?recomm_id=aa0a3faa-1e08-4bd7-8004-8d75418cf004

  173. Oh dear what's been happening ?🤔😏 I've been busy.
    Anyway off to bed now, goodnight all Nottlers.
    Sleep well all 😴

  177. Just finished watching Argentina v England and a tour de force from George Ford on his 100th cap. 35-12 to England!
    Eva Peron
    General Galtieri
    Lionel Messi
    Che Guevara
    Pope Francis
    Ashesthandust (sorry sweetheart)

    Your boys took a hell of a beating!!……

    1. No hard feelings! 🤣🤣

      I don't think any of the men I dance with tonight are going to hold it against me. 😉

      2. Reminds me of that line in a song
        “If I told you you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?”

  178. Just finished watching Argentina v England and a tour de force from George Ford on his 100th cap. 35-12 to England!
    Eva Peron
    General Galtieri
    Lionel Messi
    Che Guevara
    Pope Francis
    Ashesthandust (sorry sweetheart)

    Your boys took a hell of a beating!!……

  179. Well, chums, time for my bed. Good Night to all, sleep well, and I hope to see you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed early in the morning.

  180. Well, chums, time for my bed. Good Night to all, sleep well, and I hope to see you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed early in the morning.

  182. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4ba71574c82e4c1e42f72bf9c0480eaad016cbad01ca46bd24cd5976c2a14c23.png
    Leon
    14h
    Did he fraudulently claim to be a solicitor or an economist for a top bank?

    HatanakaHacker
    14h
    Strangely, this has appeared almost instantly on the BBC front page.
    And I wouldn't mind that at all, if it applied toe EVERY mp, whatever party, for alleged issues.

    But it never does for some parties' wrong 'uns.

    Leon
    The Lotus Eater
    14h
    Timing is all. Downing street asks around its tame journalists if they have anything going, anything will do, to lessen the kicking Starmer is taking.

    Jess the Grooming Gang Champion
    Leon
    13h
    Exactly, the Times endorsed TTK before last year's election and now have egg all over their faces, okay a full omelette

    Beebsplaining
    12h
    Did someone say iffy finance🤔
    Perhaps the government could appoint a minister to oversee such matters
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d243c9731e8c721f4c06f1eccaf60b932a40ade59e69f8ef111f2099f798c9af.png

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