Sunday 27 July: The resident doctors’ strike has drained any lingering public sympathy for them

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.

514 thoughts on “Sunday 27 July: The resident doctors’ strike has drained any lingering public sympathy for them”

  1. Good morning Geoff and chums. First – and only just made Wordle with the help of some "hints"

    Wordle 1,499 6/6

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

      2. The older Blair gets the uglier his facial features, it's as if his true evil character is being revealed year on year. One of the most treacherous people in the land.

    3. How come many non-EU nations trade with the bloc without having to pay for the privilege? Answers on a postcard.

  4. Camilla Tominey
    Labour’s cruelty towards grieving parents is totally unforgivable

    We have migrants attempting to squander our hard-earned cash – and then when British taxpayers need help from the state, they’re abandoned

    26 July 2025 12:00pm BST
    Camilla Tominey
    How can the British state be so generous towards foreigners but so mean towards its own citizens?

    The cost of housing migrants has tripled to £4m a day as Channel crossings continue to soar.

    On top of this, we are giving asylum-seekers taxpayer-funded payment cards for buying essentials such as food – which this week we learnt some were using for gambling.

    A Freedom of Information request found that more than 6,500 payments in gambling settings were attempted by those with Aspen cards, given by the Home Office to those awaiting an asylum decision to allow them to buy basic items, with small weekly top-ups.

    So we’ve got migrants attempting to squander our hard-earned cash – and then when British taxpayers need help from the state, they’re abandoned.

    This week, Labour lords blocked a move to give parents of critically ill children workplace rights and financial support. Currently, only parents of newborn babies who become unwell within the first 28 days of life are entitled to paid leave and job protection to be by their child’s bedside.

    But if their child is diagnosed with cancer at 29 days old, the parents get no help beyond unpaid Carer’s Leave, capped at a week a year.

    On Sunday, I spoke to Ceri Menai-Davis on my GB News show. He and his wife, Frances, lost their six-year-old son to cancer in 2021 and are campaigning through their charity, It’s Never You, for Hugh’s Law, which would give parents 12 weeks statutory paid leave if their child is diagnosed with a critical or terminal illness, up to the age of 16.

    But Labour peers blocked it, despite it costing a minimal amount due to the mercifully small number of parents affected (around 4,000 a year).

    Surely this is a no-brainer? Your child is dying, you have to be at their bedside, you need help to pay the bills. If this isn’t what the welfare state was built for then what is? It certainly wasn’t designed for illegal migrants to try to place state-subsidised bets.

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

    Alan Entwistle
    17 hrs ago
    And on the news this morning and inoffensive Christian man was approached by FIVE plod in Rotherham (remember Rotherham Police's inaction on the rape gangs)? He was arrested for refusing to give his details so that an NCHI could be recorded against him. His (non) crime, he asked a question about the Quran's teaching of a husband's right to strike his disobedient wife. He asked this question of a Muslim woman manning a stall. FIVE plod surrounding one old man for daring to ask a question. This is a terrifying vision of what will happen once Angela Rayner's definition of Islamophobia is passed. This amounts to this: Do not question Islam about anything otherwise you are staring arrest and charge in the face.

  5. Hundreds of Nigerian ‘authors’ use visa scheme to enter Britain

    ‘Poets and bloggers’ can come to UK on talent visa despite Labour’s pledge to reduce immigration

    Hundreds of Nigerian “authors” have come to Britain using a visa scheme for literary talent, The Telegraph can reveal.

    Nigerians have made the most applications for entry to the UK via a little-known “literature” visa for writers, which covers professed “poets” and oral “storytellers”, than any other nationality.

    Applicants from Nigeria have also been the most successful in having claims to exceptional literary ability endorsed by the government quango Arts Council England, which has powers to review and endorse applications for “Global Talent” visas.

    This visa route supports entry to Britain for exceptional individuals in music, theatre, and dance, with applicants expected to possess and prove artistic merit.

    There is also a category for great talents in “literature”, which covers a range of writers, including novelists, poets, spoken word performers, storytellers and creators of “graphic novels and comics”.

    Successful applicants can bring their family to the UK as dependents and stay for up to five years at a time once endorsed by the Arts Council, and signed off by the Home Office.

    A rise in applications
    Nigerians have dominated this visa scheme over the past five years, putting in 125 applications for the literary category, more than double the 61 received from the USA and far more than other Anglophone nations like Australia, Canada and New Zealand combined.

    Across that five-year period, 70 were rejected, and 54 were endorsed – more than any other country represented in official figures.

    Lee Anderson, a Reform UK MP, said: “As the country boasting some of the world’s best literature, the last thing we need is to import more foreign poets and bloggers. What we urgently need are doctors, builders, and entrepreneurs. We need people who will contribute directly to our economy and public services.

    “Our soft-touch immigration policies have allowed for total abuse of the system. And one where everyone benefits except the hard-working taxpayer.

    “Reform will implement a freeze on all immigration. Then, gradually, we will welcome the world’s best and brightest, those who will adhere to our culture and contribute to our workforce. Reform will not continue to treat this country like a charity.”

    Analysis of the talent visa numbers comes amid growing pressure on the Labour Government to tighten their stance on immigration, which in recent years has reached record levels both for legal and illegal arrivals.

    The past five years have also seen the making or securing of reputations for some prominent Nigerian writers, including Ben Okri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀.

    The work of the late writer Chinua Achebe’s famed 1958 novel Things Fall Apart has become common on schools reading lists.

    However, the use of the literature visa appears to be part of a broader trend.

    The number of Global Talent visa applications being submitted from Nigeria has risen by 2,225 per cent since 2019.

    There were just 12 applications in 2019, but this rose to 279 in 2024.

    Across that entire period, Nigerians made 729 applications across artistic Global Talent categories – dance, fashion, music, film and TV, theatre, combined arts, and visual arts – second only to the US, with 977.

    Despite the glut of applications, just 59 per cent of the entries from Nigeria were endorsed – the lowest of any country apart from Ghana.

    Since 2019, more than 5,000 applications have been made across all nationalities, with 3,600 endorsed by the Arts Council.

    The Home Office does not break down figures for how many of these endorsements then lead to visas being signed off by Whitehall officials.

    Other nationalities have also submitted large numbers of applications including Russia (725), China (492), Australia (233) and India (160).

    The revelations about the Global Talent route come after The Telegraph reported the Labour Government intended to protect skilled worker visa routes for diversity and inclusion experts, despite their promise to reduce immigration.

    The Home Office has safeguarded visa application routes for those with specific skills, creating a temporary list of “shortage” occupations.

    This list safeguards the positions of “poet” and “blogger”, roles that come under the visa route for the broad category of “authors, writers and translators”.

    The median earning for a self-employed writer, according to a 2022 report by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, was just £7,000.

    While only the median, this is below the £12,570 personal allowance for income tax.

    The shortage occupation list will drop out of use, pending a review, in December 2026.

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

    John Beck
    19 hrs ago
    Reply to Proud British
    To be fair there are a number of very convincing Nigerian authors, although their stories tend to cover the genre "I'm due a shed-full of money from a deceased distant relative/the World Bank, and I need your help to obtain it"

    1. Just the thing the economy needs – thousands of Nigerian authors scribbling away to generate millions of pounds.

    1. A number of plants/eco systems need fires for regeneration.
      Clear old the old and the fallen branches etc and new growth flourishes.

    1. Our once safe and efficient country has now been destroyed by a bunch of nasty politicians who should never have been able to have been in government.

      1. It was when I see an MP elected with less than 10,000 votes, and sometimes with little more than elects a county councillor, it shows me that the entire electoral system in Britain is a sham.

        I do not call for the abolition of democracy, to be replaced with a dictatorship. Some take this path when calling for the abolition of public broadcasters, to be replaced with something run by American supertech, with the option of extortionate subscription, with ads every ten minutes, or nothing. I prefer the BBC to be properly run, and fulfil its brief to operate in the public interest, rather than a shouty mouthpiece for the trendy.

        Likewise, I think time has come for our national institutions to do their job properly, and for there to be consequences if they don't, such as a mass sacking and banning those responsible for the breakdown from public office, and imprisonment of those who are currently getting immunity. If they don't, then we may well get our Hitler, and all I can do then is to say "I told you so".

        1. I totally agree JM.
          I often wonder if our over active TV journalists are actually predicting the future when they spend so much time in the middle east trying to blame Israel for all the problems there now. The way things are going in our our own country, eventually we could end up with exactly same problem.

          1. Indeed. Christianity, on whose principles our nation have established their laws for a millennium were based on the teachings of an Israeli Jew. If there were ever a special relationship, this is it. When Blake wrote his aspirations for England, later set brilliantly by the composer Hubert Parry, it was a prayer that the Enlightenment established in Jerusalem were built in “England’s green and pleasant land”.

            Today, Israel is a sorry place, overwhelmed by the most appalling regime, over which the people there have little control, so dogmatised their majority has become. What afflicts the Jews there, could easily come here, if we are not more viligant than they are.

      1. The Taliban will do what they always do. Forced conversions of all muslims to their cause. Then they will come for us as is happening in Syria right now. Be afraid.

  15. Rogerborg ⬛🟧
    13h
    Al Beebya in full Pallywood mode today, I see. Understand that every picture like this is carefully staged and controlled, with some AK-armed porky-Pally goon ordering the actors to look more anguished, and wail it up a bit. They'll take hundreds of pictures, then discard the ones where someone is giving the game away by smirking or winking. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f698854502bfe86b73b85b1d86223141793e94210e94549d753c8e8a70fe1849.png

    1. Why the hell aren't those manning the roadblocks and border posts letting through independent war reporters who can and will report on what is really going on?

      Every BBC broadcast has Jeremy Bowen in Jerusalem moaning that this is the closest he's allowed to get, and is having to rely on footage from the ground taken by locals, with the only balance showing IDF footage of smirking generals and well-turned out troops slagging off Hamas.

      If I were to see up-to-date footage of well-ordered distribution of food and medical attention amid buildings that were only suffering superficial damage, then I could make my own judgements based on evidence now to hand, and I'm sure Bowen would too.

      1. Woman on GB News yesterday said that Palestine doesn't exist. So why did Balfour mention it in his Declaration?

        1. What evidence did that woman provide to back up her assertion that somewhere that has a flag, a number of self-declared citizens and supporters worldwide, and was named as a province since Roman times, “does not exist”? Was she making it up?

          1. Quite so! The belief that Palestine is on all fours with "only white people are racist" and "a woman can have a penis". Palestine has existed for a lot longer than England.

    2. I caught the BBC radio news yesterday evening and they simultaneously said that babies are starving but food drops from the air are unacceptable because too dangerous.
      WTF?

  16. Stuart
    So Labour's strategy can be summed up as “manage the public, not the problem”
    I’ve got a feeling that may not work out as intended…

    it would seem that Labour are part of the problem, it’s not going to work out well for them either.

    PollyTicks
    Stuart
    6d
    Labour aren’t part of the problem. Labour are the problem!
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d828593d1bef09e57df39b2f5ee268fd9ed8202c263c72e61fc1e9071a9dad19.png

    Lord Farquard
    The regime will do anything to stop it spreading:
    Jail many more Lucy Connollys
    Deploy Antifa to call protesters Nzis and start fights
    Describe protestors as far right
    Censor the news

    THEY'll do everything apart from the one thing that could defuse the situation: do everything it takes to stop the boats: call a state of emergency, withdraw from UN compact on refugees, withdraw from ECHR, start remigration program.

    Boudica
    They have no idea, or dont want to know, how much anger is building up over the never ending migrant crisis. If it doesnt affect them they dont want to know or care. Well the public do care and wont keep quiet

    1. 410166+ up ticks,

      Morning C1,

      I know silence is golden but, by the same token action speaks LOUDER than words.

    2. And Squeeze the tax payer's dry and blame everyone else for the rest of the disgusting mess they are making of everything thing they come into contact with.
      And arrested the public for pointing it out.
      How long will it be before 'they' our useless political idiots are comendeering spare bedrooms in our homes ?
      And they have a new afghan police force to back up their actions.

  17. Good Morning!

    A double-header from Paul Sutton today on the subject of the day, uncontrolled mass immigration. In THE GLOVES ARE NOW OFF ON IMMIGRATION Paul looks at the righteous anger of the British people in what the Establishment is doing and, in a revised version of his THE DRENCHING ARMS series, tells the story in fine prose and poetry of the woke degeneration into serfdom and deracination through the eyes of his hero, Raven.

    New writer to FSB Darren Gee writes of the hypocrisy of John Torrode's cancellation and says that it's all about who can use the 'N' word, as we are all obliged to call it. Read his article John Torode's Fateful Rendition of Gold Digger and let us know if you agree with the sensitivity over this word, and unapproved words in general.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 23.9%; Solar, 8.1%: Wind 16.8%; Imports, 24.2%; Biomass, 7.4%; Nuclear 17.8% and Miscellaneous, 1.8%. We are, idiotically, importing more electricity than from any other source, almost as much as wind and solar combined, while our gas power stations run on half load or less.

    And two more things: it seems that some of you have not been getting out (almost) daily newsletter. If that's the case please let us know and sign up again. Secondly, we know have 'Our Picks' Page for stuff we like on Amazon. I know, but the unsung hero of this site, No.2, gets a small commission if anyone clicks on an item. It's the least I can do for him. If you spot something you think our readers will like on Amazon, let us know and we'll include it.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. That'll be the summer riots caused by police bussing-in Antifa and the like to peaceful demonstrations, will it?

      1. 410166+ up ticks,

        Morning O,

        Lest we forget, first the politico’s create the problem then……..

      2. Kipling is trending.

        The Beginnings.

        It was not part of their blood,
        It came to them very late
        With long arrears to make good,
        When the English began to hate.

        They were not easily moved,
        They were icy-willing to wait
        Till every count should be proved,
        Ere the English began to hate.

        Their voices were even and low,
        Their eyes were level and straight.
        There was neither sign nor show,
        When the English began to hate.

        It was not preached to the crowd,
        It was not taught by the State.
        No man spoke it aloud,
        When the English began to hate.

        It was not suddenly bred,
        It will not swiftly abate,
        Through the chill years ahead,
        When Time shall count from the date
        That the English began to hate.

    1. A sample of one of his posts:-

      Ivan John Edwards
      31m42
      ·
      FACE THE FACTS
      There will be no real action taken to stop illegal boat Immigrants.
      There will be no deportations of any of the 300000 plus that have already arrived. Until enough social housing can be found they will continue to be accommodated in Hotels at tax payers expense. So who should be held responsible, Not the Labour, Conservative, Liberals or any other political party. Its not even the dregs of todays MPs that are to blame for the problems they have all had a hand in making.
      The blame lies with the whole of Westminster's outdated corrupt and antiquated system of Parliament. It needs an Oliver Cromwell to throw the whole rotten system out Start again from scratch and if it is to continue as a profession rather than a service it should require the highest qualifications ,moral standards for its members to sit in Parliament. But the whole blame really lies with us the General public who stand by and do nothing .

      1. 410166+ up ticks,

        Morning Bob,
        I dropped the Daily Express a line in Thatchers (RIP) time asking for a detachment of SAS to enter parliament and do an "OLLY" only to receive a knock back reply, I do agree totally with the post.

    2. He's an opinionated old bugger. Re his piece about 'invasive surgery' – I'm quite glad I had my appendix removed when I was 10. Breast cancer nearly 30 years ago could have seen me off too if untreated.

  21. 410166+ up ticks,

    All incorporated into the political coup, these being airlifted in will go towards acting as marrow to the backbone of troop / terrorists running the length of, once aptly named, sadly no longer"Great Britain",

    Dt,
    Taliban fighters ‘brought to Britain’ in airlift after data leak
    Afghans with ‘British blood on their hands’ living in UK after corrupt officials facilitated evacuation of jihadists from Kabul

    1. Hello Ogga,

      I love it , if the Taliban are here , let us hope they send a shiver through all Muslim enclaves based here in the UK .

  22. Morning All 🙂😊
    A Cloudy unsure outlook, the same as our government.
    Doctatorship as well.

      1. I hate to think of the infertile, watery solution the chap would produce if Bill's name for him is accurate.

      1. Even lifelong monarchists can see that this cannot go on.

        The Idiot, Lunatic King has just one chance to save the monarchy and that is to abdicate.

        1. When I was a child, Old Noll and his chums were the baddies.
          Nowadays, I think he may have had a point.
          Stubborn adherence to failed ideology is not a good look.

    3. Has the JWK looked at their employment status. They contribute nothing. They are parasites. Bringing an alien culture and a death cult religion.

      1. Contribute to the numbers of raped little girls, to the increase in violence generally, and especially towards women, contribute to hotel chains profits (indirectly through the government renting hotel rooms), contributing to shoplifting…

    4. What a knee bending plonker he's turned out to be.
      The 'they' can't understand what is happening and jointly see no further than the ends of their own noses.

    5. 410166+ up ticks,

      May one ask,

      Has his royal thingee got a clean shirt on standby ?

    7. He is certifiable – the sooner he is sectioned the better.

      He has now gone far beyond mere idiocy and entered a state of lunacy

  25. Good Moaning.
    Apologies to any heat loving NOTTLers, but Temperate Zone Gal is well happy.

        1. Morning J.

          Oh yes, but the AG boys are busy doing an early harvest , and judging by the grain crop , which hasn't grown tall and bountiful, there will be a very poor crop of barley/ wheat/ rye etc

          1. It's looking good here, Belle. Oats and barley have short stems but the heads look pretty big; Hay and silage – earliest first cut I can remember. Plenty warm, sunshine & just about enough rain has been good so far this year.

          2. There are newish breeds of wheat etc. that were developed to produce shorter stems.
            As less thatching or animal litter is needed, longer stems are a waste of energy for the growing plant. (And taller breeds are easily flattened by the wind.)

  26. Morning, all Y'all.
    Overcast & pleasantly cool. Rain forecast for later. Excellent! Woken awfully early by sheep baa!ing so loudly they could have been in the house!

  29. SWMBO is listening to "Yesterday in Parliament" or something. What a roomful of utter wankers they all are, scoring political points and getting nowhere near to any real issues at all.

  30. Good morning all,

    This morning has a stillness that seems more like early September weather .. nice and cool, low cloud , misty fresh, and that Autumn feel and quirky sound from singing robins ..

    Son was up and away from the house at 6am , an arrangement with a friend to run the coastline from Weymouth to Ringstead bay and back again , in a loop inland and back to Bowleaze Cove .

    I am following him on Strava! (on line )

    2. Someone remarked this morning that there was a noticeable change in the air in the morning now.

  31. I thought I had been relieved of it. I had recently had slight gout in my left foot. Who needs it ?Along with the recent knee operation, same side.
    But last night I cooked smoked salmon linguine. Wadda mistaka to make.
    My word I'm suffering, I had to get up at 2am to put an ice pack on it and take paracetamol.
    Apparently I should be drinking 2 to 3 litres of water a day……see you later. My initials are PEE.

    2. Take a course of an anti-inflammatory such a voltarol, eat lots of cherries (currently in season) and drink plenty of water. Once the gout has eased take a daily dose of allopurinol. This is a bad time of year for those prone to gout, the warmer weather means we perspire more and need more liquid replenishment and certain gout inducing foods are in season such as broad beans and some soft fruits. Been there, done that!

    3. Harry (below) recommends eating cherries. Kill two birds with one stone and drink cherry juice.

      I also have to drink 2 to 3 litres of water a day but i dilute it with whisky. :@)

    2. Expect those law-abiding traffickers will carry out a stringent head count!

    3. Any boat carrying over 80, who do you think will be chucked overboard?

      Women and children.

      And those dead bodies will be used by the MSM and the pro-refugee people to try to force the UK to pick up anyone who wants to come here directly from the French beaches.

      Sickening stupidity.

    4. This is announced as policy to alleviate the growing tension within the UK?

      "Lost the plot" doesn't come close to describing this declaration.

  33. Oh well onwards and upwards, my two sisters and sadly now only one BiL are coming to lunch today. Things to do…..slayders.
    I feel as I'm in the oh limp ics.

  34. Genders are in fact infinite..
    Muslims are mostly peaceful..
    Progressive Liberals are a not danger to society and themselves..

    The Online Safety Act makes the sending of these inaccurate messages a criminal offence…
    Section 179
    (b) the message conveys information that the person knows to be false.

    My Truth, Your Truth, And The Truth

    1. The online harm act is a travesty. It is nothing but the suppression of free speech for statist power.

      That the damned Tories pushed this through is even worse. The Left will use it horrifically now.

      1. They all serve the same agenda, you should know that by now. The Tories aren't 'our' party any more than Labour is.

  35. How one million white Europeans – many seized on the south coast of England – were sold to the Muslim world and brutally exploited in the slavery scandal the Left DON'T want to speak about
    By CHRISTOPHER STEVENS

    Published: 01:14, 27 July 2025 | Updated: 06:29, 27 July 2025

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14943981/white-Europeans-south-coast-England-sold-Muslim-slavery-scandal-Left.html

    When Englishman Thomas Pellow was 27, he led a slave-hunting expedition to the West African coast. His orders were to plunder the villages, kill the adults and capture the children.

    But Pellow was not a mercenary employed in the transatlantic slave trade, which sent millions of its victims across the ocean. He was a slave himself – taken prisoner as a child by the Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail. And 300 years ago, he was far from alone.

    The sultan owned an estimated 25,000 European slaves, many seized in raiding expeditions on the south coast of England as well as countries as far afield as Iceland.

    Though it is almost forgotten today – suppressed, perhaps, by some squeamish historians – the Muslim trade in both black African and white European slaves was deeply feared for three centuries.

    Yet, at the time, dozens of memoirs, many of them bestsellers, were published by former slaves who had escaped from captivity, with horrendous stories of torture, rape and cold-blooded murder.

    Now, a book by historian Justin Marozzi unflinchingly reveals the extent of slavery in Arab countries, which was conducted with unequalled brutality.

    More shocking still, he shows that it continued in much of the Islamic world well into the 20th century – and, for hundreds of thousands of West Africans born into life as slaves, carries on to this day.

    For Marozzi to investigate these stories, let alone publish, is courageous. His book invites an inevitable backlash from Left-wing academics and broadcasters who focus solely on the slave trade triangle between Europe, West Africa and the Americas that operated from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

    To accuse Arabs, Turks and other Muslims of complicity in slavery is likely to be met with accusations of 'Islamophobia'. Yet, as Marozzi's research proves beyond doubt, slavery in the Muslim world has existed for far longer, caused even more deaths and misery and inflicted tortures that exceed anything imagined by the worst of the transatlantic traders.

    Treasure hunters finally reveal their discovery of one of the 'great maritime horrors'
    article image
    As a single example: in the Victorian era, Sudan exported countless thousands of eunuchs to serve as slaves in Turkey and the Arab countries. Eunuchs, male slaves who had been castrated as pre-pubescent boys, were valued for their inability to procreate, and so could be trusted not to get sexually involved with their master's wives and consorts.

    An estimated 35,000 pre-pubescent boys died from botched castration in Sudan every year, in order for 3,500 to survive without a penis or testicles.

    Thomas Pellow escaped castration. But he suffered the worst a life of slavery could inflict in many other ways for more than 20 years.

    He was an 11-year-old cabin boy on a ship skippered by his uncle, sailing out of Falmouth, Cornwall, in 1715, when he was taken captive. Off Cape Finisterre on Spain's Atlantic coastline, his craft was set upon by North African pirates and, after a battle in which young Thomas nearly drowned, he was taken in chains to Meknes in Morocco as a gift for Moulay Ismail – self-styled Prince of the Faithful.

    The sultan gave Thomas to his own son, Moulay Spha, who forced him to convert to Islam. The boy, brought up a Christian, resisted for months, despite beatings during which he was suspended by the ankles to have the soles of his feet thrashed – a torture known as bastinado.

    Thomas still refused to renounce Christianity, later writing: 'My tortures were now exceedingly increased, burning my flesh off my bones by fire.' Eventually, he pretended to submit – but 'I always abominated them and their accursed principle of Mahometism'.

    His youthful defiance must have impressed the Arabs because he was soon back in the sultan's service.

    Pellow was put in command of a slave-hunting expedition to Guinea, with an army of 30,000 soldiers – all slaves themselves – and 60,000 camels. He was so trusted that the sultan even made him guardian of his 4,000 slave concubines.

    In addition to his British, Spanish, Portuguese and French slaves, the sultan was estimated to own nearly a quarter of a million black Africans. To breed more slaves, he staged mass weddings for up to 1,600 people, marrying couples by pointing to them and declaring: 'That one takes that one.'

    Pellow wrote: 'He always yokes his best complexioned subjects [i.e. white males] to a black helpmate, and the fair lady must take up with a negro . . . as firmly noosed as if they had been married by a pope.'

    Muslims considered all children born to slave mothers to be slaves themselves, regardless of who their fathers were.

    Brave Thomas finally escaped after 23 years as a captive, fleeing over the Atlas Mountains and reaching his parents' home in Cornwall months later, in 1738, after 'long straying and grievous hardships'.

    His resulting book proved a sensation, promising 'a particular account of the astonishing tyranny and cruelty of their emperors, together with a description of the miseries of the Christian slaves'.

    Even Samuel Pepys addressed the topic in his famous diaries. In February 1661, he recorded how he'd been drinking until four in the morning with two British men who had been slaves in Algiers, a Captain Mootham and Mr Dawes.

    They had survived on bread and water, he wrote, and were regularly beaten on their feet and their stomachs. At night, any slave, male or female, could be ordered to their master's tent and raped.

    Muslim pirates sailing out of Algiers raided all along the Mediterranean and out into the Atlantic as far as Madeira. By the 1620s, 10,000 European slaves were being held in the city's dungeons, including Scots, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Slav and Spanish captives. Others included Japanese and Chinese victims.

    The Flemish aristocrat Emanuel d'Aranda, who spent two years as a prisoner doing punishingly heavy labour before he was ransomed, calculated that 600,000 European Christians were enslaved in Algiers between 1536 and 1640 alone. That tallies with the generally accepted estimate that a million white Europeans were enslaved from the 1500s to the 1800s.

    Raids on coastal villages were horrific and bloody. Devon and Cornwall suffered repeated slave raids in the 1620s; and in 1627, two bands of slavers hit south-east Iceland, capturing more than 400 men, women and children. A man named Bjarni Valdason, who tried to escape, was clubbed over the head and killed, his body butchered into small pieces 'as if he were a sheep', according to one witness.

    Houses were torched. One young mother and her two-year-old toddler were hurled into a blazing building and burned to death: 'When she and the poor child screamed and called to God for help, the wicked Turks bellowed with laughter. They struck both child and mother with the sharp points of their spears, forcing them into the fire, and even stabbed fiercely at the poor burning bodies.'

    Those are the words of Olafur Egilsson, a Lutheran minister in his 60s, who was beaten until he could no longer stand, as the pirates tortured him to find out if the villagers had hidden treasure.

    Distressing and deeply shocking as these individual stories are, they are a few cases among millions. The scale of slavery in the Muslim world was vast beyond imagination.

    'At one time,' the eminent historian Professor Robert Tombs says, 'everyone knew about it. It was one of the main hazards of Mediterranean commerce for Western sailors. But today, most people are completely unaware it ever happened.'

    Partly, that is due to the current insistence that the British empire was the source of all historical evils. It does not suit the politically correct narrative to admit that Muslim slave traders were the scourge of Africa, long before the Europeans arrived . . . and long after they left.

    Citing the Encyclopedia Britannica, Marozzi estimates that in 1861, at the start of the American Civil War that would put an end to U.S. slavery, there were more slaves in the Muslim states of West Africa than in the Confederate states of the Deep South of America.

    The Arab slave trade dated back long before the beginnings of Islam in the 7th century. The Prophet Mohammed owned 70 slaves including Persians, Ethiopians, Copts (Christians from modern-day Egypt) and Syrians.

    Between that time and the First World War, up to 17 million people were taken prisoner and used as slaves in Muslim armies and in brothels, on building sites and in private homes. That could be 50 per cent more than the total number of Africans transported across the Atlantic, a figure usually put at 11 million to 15 million.

    By sickening tradition, the treatment of women was especially brutal. A witness at the Persian court of Musa al-Hadi, in the 8th century, described how the caliph once left in the middle of a meal after receiving a message from a eunuch.

    When they returned, the eunuch was carrying a platter covered with a napkin, and trembling. Hadi whipped away the cloth, revealing, 'the heads of two slave girls, with more beautiful faces and hair, by God, than I had ever seen before'.

    Hadi explained, as though nothing unusual had occurred: 'We received information that these two were in love with each other. So I set this eunuch to watch over them and report to me. I found them under a single coverlet committing an immoral act. I thereupon killed them.'

    The castration of boys to make them into eunuchs was still practised as recently as the 19th century. The French aristocrat and explorer Count Raoul du Bisson saw it performed in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), calling the operation 'barbarous and revolting'.

    'The little, helpless and unfortunate prisoner, or slave, is stretched out on an operating table,' he wrote in 1863. 'His neck is made fast in a collar fastened to the table, and his legs spread apart, and the ankles made fast to iron rings; his arms are held by an assistant. The operator then seizes the little penis and scrotum, and with one sweep of a sharp razor removes all the appendages.'

    A bamboo catheter was then inserted into the urethra, to prevent it from scarring over, and hot oil, honey, tar or mule dung smeared over the cuts. The boy, typically aged between six and 12, was buried in warm sand up to his neck to stop him from moving while his wounds healed.

    A majbub, or eunuch without his penis, fetched a much higher price at slave markets than a khasi, one who had merely had his testicles removed. A khasi was more likely to serve as a soldier or policeman than a majbub, who could be trusted in the harem. British people 200 years ago were no less repulsed by such stories than we are today.

    As well as leading the way in ending the transatlantic slave trade in the 19th century, Great Britain put intense pressure on the Ottoman empire in Turkey and the whole of the Arab world to end slavery.

    'Even while suppressing the transatlantic slave trade,' says historian and ethicist Professor Nigel Biggar, 'the British empire was busy trying to suppress the Arab slave trade in Africa – especially East Africa – including using the Royal Navy to intercept slave ships between Zanzibar and the Middle East.'

    But in much of West Africa, slavery continues today. In Bamako, the capital of Mali, Marozzi met an escaped slave named Hamey, in his late 50s, who was living in destitution with his two wives and 12 children.

    'I didn't choose to be a slave,' he said. 'My father was a slave, my grandfather was a slave, and many more generations before them. I was a slave until the day I refused to go on. I'd had enough of it. And that's when the violence began.'

    Hamey spoke out because he was sick of seeing his wives and daughters raped. 'They can do it whenever they like. I could never accept that. My master used to tell me: "She may be your wife but I can take her whenever I want her." '

    But when he pleaded for his family to be given their freedom, Hamey was set upon by the head of his village and a group of young men. 'They ripped off my clothes and, while I lay naked in the dirt, they whipped and kicked me and beat me in public. Everyone was watching. The whole community. They were cheering and filming it all on their phones.

    'It lasted five hours, then the youths rushed to my house and drove me and my family out. They took my cows, my goats and my sheep. Suddenly, I had nothing, but I still had everyone to feed.'

    It's a bleak prospect: slavery or starvation. And for an estimated one million slaves in Mali, an Islamic country, that is all life holds to this day.

    l Captives And Companions: A History Of Slavery And The Slave Trade In The Islamic World, by Justin Marozzi, is published by Allen Lane.

    1. Lefties don't like the truth. They far prefer their own twisted vision which stops at those they hate.

      They're odd like that.

    2. White Slavery
      Sorry it's a bit late in the day to post this, but I've been busy getting ready to zoom off to the southwest of France on Tuesday.

      Two years ago I read a book about Thomas Pellow's experiences and exploits as a White Slave. He was captured by pirates when he was only 11.

      The book: ‘White Gold – The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa’s One Million Slaves’ by Giles Milton is available as a Kindle Edition at just £2.99 from Amazon UK. It is a very moving account, not for the squeamish.

      1. Not happy about squeamish , but I know what goes on .. oh dear..

        Hope you enjoy your escape to SW France on Tuesday ,, for ever or for a break?

  36. 410166+ up ticks,

    Seems to me like we, via political chaff, are mainly only
    acknowledging ALL foreign wars at the cost of criminally disregarding our own folk and Nation and totally ignoring our own plight and internal WAR.

    Beneficial well meaning advice, support the Farmers Food and Freedom party as a stand by, for if the headlong rush offering ALL eggs in one desperate bid for freedom go's tits up then we have a safely net.

    Otherwise have a happy EID.

  37. I'm assuming all Y'all are as in the dark as I am… so I asked ChatGPT abot the Farmers, Food & Freedom party. This is what it responses with:

    The **Farmers, Food & Freedom Party** is a recently established minor political party in the United Kingdom, officially launched on **25 April 2025** in Derbyshire, as part of their “Fork The System” tour ([Farmers Food Freedom][1]).

    —

    ## 🗳️ Who Are They & What Do They Stand For?

    * **Origins & Structure:**

    Formed to represent farmers, fishermen, and food producers, the party is governed by a board of directors drawn from sectors such as agriculture, defence, treasury, education, and health. Leadership is elected democratically by membership, and regional branches are active across the UK. Its constitution envisions democratic localism and adherence to Common/Natural Law ([Farmers Food Freedom][2], [Farmers Food Freedom][3]).

    * **Core Themes:**

    1. **Farmers** – Advocate for local food production, sustainable traditional farming, fair prices, less government interference, reduced planning restrictions, and reclaiming British fisheries ([Farmers Food Freedom][4], [Farmers Food Freedom][5]).

    2. **Food** – Emphasise home-grown, nutritious food and champion food sovereignty over food banks and centralized agribusiness control ([Farmers Food Freedom][4]).

    3. **Freedom** – Call for sweeping civil liberties, free speech protections, repeal of laws they view as harmful, and governance based on natural/common-law principles ([Farmers Food Freedom][4]).

    —

    ## 📋 Key Policy Areas

    Here are notable points from their published policy:

    * **Agriculture & Fishing**

    * Re-establish a Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF).

    * Reinstate marketing boards and promote chemical‑free, sustainable farming.

    * Oppose government land‑grab, solar and wind farms on agricultural land.

    * Prioritise British produce and challenge low‑quality food imports.

    * Push to eradicate bovine TB and revitalise UK fisheries ([Farmers Food Freedom][5]).

    * **Civil Liberties & Governance**

    * Repeal laws inconsistent with Common Law.

    * Resist membership in international bodies like the UN, WHO, and ECHR.

    * Advocate for direct democracy, referendums, and local decision‑making ([Farmers Food Freedom][5]).

    * **Social, Economic & Legal Reforms**

    * Flat 20% income tax, elimination of inheritance tax (IHT) and VAT.

    * Opposition to net-zero mandates, 15‑minute cities, and mandatory climate regulations.

    * Abolition or overhaul of the BBC, CPS, CPS, CPS agencies, and return to jury trials.

    * Tight immigration control, deportation of illegal entrants, English-only public sphere.

    * Reform education: reinstate grammar schools, free university for STEM subjects, return to traditional curriculum (‘the 3 R’s’) ([Wikipedia][6], [Farmers Food Freedom][5], [The Guardian][7]).

    —

    ## 🧭 How They Fit in the UK Political Landscape

    * The party pitches itself against both **Labour** and **Conservative** mainstream politics, positioning as a populist‑Libertarian alternative. They aim to tackle what they call *taboo* topics: Covid/vaccine debate, child sexual exploitation, knife crime, trans issues, and external global agendas (e.g. UN, WHO) with *"common sense"* speech and policies ([Farmers Food Freedom][2]).

    * They promote a **contract** with the British people instead of a traditional manifesto, grounded in Common Law, and stand on local representation, promising that candidates will be from the constituencies they contest ([Farmers Food Freedom][3]).

    * They just entered the political field and have not yet stood candidates in elections, making them a very new and relatively untested force.

    —

    ## 🧾 Summary

    * **Who:** A newly launched UK political party (April 2025) representing farmers, food producers, and advocates of civil liberties and sovereignty.

    * **What they want:** Policies centered on sustainable British agriculture, food sovereignty, deregulation, elimination of inheritance tax, preservation of civil liberties, and independence from international bodies.

    * **How they operate:** Governed by members and directors from relevant sectors, pursuing local-level democratic structures and campaigning via events like the “Fork The System” tour ([Farmers Food Freedom][1]).

    —

    Let me know if you’d like deeper analysis on their electoral strategy, membership growth, or how their positions compare to other UK minor parties!

    [1]: https://www.farmersfoodandfreedomparty.org/post/news-official-launch?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Farmers Food and Freedom Party News: Official Launch"

    [2]: https://www.farmersfoodandfreedomparty.org/about?utm_source=chatgpt.com "About | Farmers Food Freedom"

    [3]: https://www.farmersfoodandfreedomparty.org/constitution?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Constitution | Farmers Food Freedom"

    [4]: https://www.farmersfoodandfreedomparty.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Farmers Food and Freedom Party"

    [5]: https://www.farmersfoodandfreedomparty.org/policy?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Policy | Farmers Food Freedom"

    [6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Farmers%27_Union_of_England_and_Wales?utm_source=chatgpt.com "National Farmers' Union of England and Wales"

    [7]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/nov/20/farming-inheritance-tax-keir-starmer-angela-rayner-uk-politics-live?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Tories say Labour is weakening national security with plan to decommission drones, warships and helicopters – as it happened"

    Interesting that the AI refers to the FF&F website – something it didn't do for Reform UK. Having a searchable website with the important stuff on it is useful in getting the message out.

    1. I was fine with it until I got to the flat rate Income Tax, which I most definitely oppose to the extent of it being a deal-breaker for me.

      The Starmer Government's greatest sin was the idiotic pledge not to raise taxes for working people under any circumstances, including impending bankruptcy, hyperinflation and war. Instead, either essential public services (and I don't mean hotels for anyone in a protected category seeking a better life) are cut back beyond what it costs to put right corner-cutting or asset stripping, or there are all sorts of stealth taxes ("charges" over which Government claims no responsibility, but adds to overheads rendering pretty well all domestic industry uncompetitive), or there is borrowing from the Magic Fairy, thereby debasing the currency. The pound is already down to the pre-decimal sixpence, and is soon to be overtaken by the Swiss franc. Then there is VAT and Council Tax, extortions penalising anyone wishing to do anything, or even to live in a house or a flat, rather than a free hotel.

      No, the rate of Income Tax should be flexible enough to balance the books, and the burden shared out widely enough not to ruin anyone, and the benefits of living, working and trading here outweigh the tax everyone must pay according to what they can afford.

      I was one of those that felt that the Community Charge (later Council Tax) be abolished in favour of a local Income Tax. One benefits from local infrastructure, and one pays for it in the same manner one pays for national Government.

      I agree about IHT when it comes to businesses such as farming that plan according to generations, rather than quarterly returns. The mechanism should be to discourage land speculation (particularly over land earmarked for development), whilst allowing family farms to be passed down without wrecking their business model.

      The paragraph "The party pitches itself…" contains a contradiction. It claims to be libertarian, and then lists a number of draconian impositions that may appeal to the self-righteous and therefore be popular, but do nothing about mission creep using the innocent as scapegoats so that something "is seen to be done" whilst then allowing the guilty off the hook. We are all then placed under surveillance, with an atmosphere of suspicion for those observed even smiling at a child or chopping an onion. This is not libertarian, or even liberal, and I am surprised this party has allowed itself to fall into the trap.

      1. Hmm. Why should those who earn more than others pay more tax? Surely that is the very basis of unfairness?

        All taxes on business should be scrapped and replaced with a local sales tax 0- say 8-9% that applies to everything. This forces councils to compete for business, which means giving people what they want, not what the state wants. It forces a market and councils have to compete with one another for service provision.

        1. Some might argue that those that earn more get more out of the national infrastructure that supports their enterprise.

  38. Home Secretary to make crowding more than 80 migrants into small boats a criminal offence – but critics say it’ll do nothing to stem the tide.

    Yvette Cooper will use new laws to prosecute migrants who dangerously overcrowd small boats and put women and children at risk.

    The Home Secretary has ordered officials to expand the ‘endangering lives at sea’ offence, currently going through Parliament, to specifically include cases where up to 100 passengers can pack on to a single dinghy.

    It comes as the number of people per small boat has reached record levels this year, with insiders warning it is ‘a matter of time’ before one sinks from overcrowding.

    Ms Cooper is worried about women and children being ‘crushed at sea’ and told this newspaper: ‘If you storm a boat, trampling over the bodies of tiny children, you are complicit in putting other people in danger.’

    She wants to use the new powers in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to tackle migrants who overcrowd the dinghies.

    But critics suggested the plan was ‘pathetic tinkering’ that will not make a difference in stemming the flow of illegal migrants to Britain. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The only way we’re going to stop the boats is to do what America are doing. Deport every single illegal immigrant upon arrival – either to their home country or a third country like Rwanda.’

    And The Mail on Sunday can reveal the second-most overcrowded boat crossed the Channel on July 18 – with 97 on board, including 22 women and 17 children. The dinghy spent around ten hours limping towards the Channel’s midpoint before eventually being rescued by a Border Force catamaran.

    The number of boats carrying 80 or more people has spiked in the past six months, helped by French officials doing nothing to stop smugglers bringing ‘taxi boats’ close to shore.

    By contrast, five years ago the dinghies typically had about 15 on board, sources said, and smugglers have been driven by greed to cram more people on amid helpful calmer seas.

    In the six years since the small-boat crossings began, up to the end of April 2024, only 20 boats crossed with 80 or more people on board.

    There have been 50 such dinghies after that point, and more than a third of those have arrived in the past two months.

    Ms Cooper’s proposals would allow the Government to prosecute anyone found to be enabling boat overcrowding, or endangering passengers’ lives by refusing help from French lifeguards (which would involve them not crossing the Channel).

    A Home Office official said: ‘If the smuggling gangs carry on cramming 80, 90 or even 100 people on to these flimsy dinghies, it is simply a matter of time before the bottom falls out of one of them, and we will see a mass casualty event in the Channel.

    ‘We should not have to wait for that to happen before we take action, which is why we need to get this endangerment law on the statute books and start enforcing it against anyone responsible for putting the lives of women and children at risk.’

    Tony Smith, former director general of the Border Force, said that anything combatting the ‘vile’ people-smuggling trade was welcome.

    But he added the ‘devil would be in the detail’ of Ms Cooper’s powers, warning that pilots of small boats try to conceal themselves among other migrants as their dinghies approach the authorities.

    All migrants who come to the UK on small boats breach the law of illegal arrival, but usually seek asylum immediately – which makes prosecution harder as they wait for their applications to be processed.

    Only 1 per cent of all those who entered illegally since Labour came to power have been charged.

    Ms Cooper is also pushing for French police to start targeting such boats at the moment when smugglers bring them to shore, and force migrants wading through water before boarding to turn back.

    The Home Secretary said: ‘We won’t stand by as lives are put at risk and our border security is so badly undermined. That is why we are making it much easier to prosecute those who act in this callous and dangerous way.’

    The number of boats carrying 80 or more people has spiked in the past six months, helped by French officials doing nothing to stop smugglers bringing ¿taxi boats¿ close to shore

    She added: ‘Vile people smugglers are increasingly cramming more and more people into these flimsy boats to inflate their profits with no regard for the lives they put at risk. Women and children are put into the centre of the boats where we have even seen people crushed to death.’

    But Opposition frontbenchers claimed the plan would not be enough to tackle overcrowding.

    Mr Philp said: ‘It’s pathetic. A piece of tinkering that will make absolutely no difference whatsoever. The Government promised to smash the gangs but has totally failed to do that. The gangs are using bigger boats and cramming more in just so they can make more money.

    ‘It is already a criminal offence to facilitate illegal immigration with a long prison sentence. They need to start enforcing that, not replicating existing legislation.’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14943741/yvette-cooper-overcrowding-small-boats.html

    1. Tinkering whilst the UK burns. This doesn't even count as prestidigitation.

    2. We don't need new laws. Entering the country illegally is criminal activity. Arrest and deport.

      1. Exactly ..

        What on earth is this silly woman thinking , she is actively endorsing criminal activity by quoting suitable numbers ! Hackney carriage rules, bah!

      2. ….and – what women and children!? Most of the photos that I have seen are of boats crammed with young males.

    2. Bringing anyone without papers into the UK should already be a criminal offence no matter how many are in the boat. This is just a tacit admission from government that they are supporting the trade.

      1. It is! I have no idea what this dumb woman is trying to say. Illegal entry to this country is a criminal offence. The dindu invaders are criminals by damned virtue of their method of entry.

  40. 410166+ up ticks,

    I assume naturally this is to be used at tax payers expense, internally,

    Dt,
    Britain to build fleet of spy balloons
    High-altitude craft tested in US to give UK boost in intelligence arms race with China

  41. Passed on from Facebook. Wry chuckles…

    Today I was in a shoe store that sells only shoes, nothing else. A young girl with a tattoo and green hair walked over to me and asked, "What brings you in today, I looked at her and said, "I'm interested in buying a refrigerator." She didn't quite know how to respond, had that deer in the headlights look.

    I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.

    When people see a cat's litter box they always say, "Oh, have you got a cat" I just say, "No, it's for company!"

    Employment application blanks always ask who is to be called in case of an emergency. I think you should write, "An ambulance."

    The older you get the tougher it is to lose weight because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

    The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

    Have you ever noticed: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are XL.

    The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he knows when he's really in trouble.

    Did you ever notice that when you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "Theirs"

    Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

    Some people try to turn back their "odometers." Not me.

    I want people to know why I look this way.

    I've traveled a long way and a lot of the roads were not paved.

    Ah! Being young is beautiful but being old is comfortable.

    Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.

    May you always have:

    Love to share,

    Cash to spare,

    Tyes with air,

    And friends who care.

    1. "The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement."
      "Oh, THAT's where I put it." Followed by long silence.

    1. Sally, you're not 'right' there. Under EU rules we couldn't provide 'state aid' although we did for the northern steel works because we had left the EU.

      However! The Welsh steel works was abandoned because Wales returns fewer votes. Oh, and 'climate change'. The climate's certainly changing in Wales. From thousands of jobs to mass unemployment.

  44. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e59d8a3a045707cf56b27697a87666384ef6eda899a1e182d34285b0fe8ff262.png

    Paleface
    Beebsplaining
    11m
    There's a good quote in the Telegraph about the Starmerfuher and his two-tier police force and all the problems they are creating: "I sense that voters are past caring. They are like a man who is about to take a sledgehammer to his malfunctioning computer. It might not fix the problem, but it will feel good."

    Spot on
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1ba2cc0247a880ba3e5d0931d74dc2c417d850d29d61a51807fb483c448fbc45.png
    Bruce Everiss
    36m
    There are protests all over the country.
    And we are not allowed to know about them. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ad1e42f4a479d73c30a5c6e96e4c7eb37b8a10edaeead6d1bb37926b006c5c8d.png

      2. The state wanted to silence dissent. It wanted, desperately to cover up scandal, muslim atrocity, free speech, gimmigration discussion and everything else it hated. The online harm act was just the weapon they wanted.

    3. When a Lefty chum started spouting off I wish I had cut him off and said 'Brexit, Trump, blah blah, Russia, Putin, blah, Brexit then I asked when he was joining Jezzbollah to sit with another bunch of uninformed sixth formers.'

      Instead I sighed deeply, gave him a hard stare and asked if he was making overpayments on his mortgage. Then he complained about the price of energy and water and how that was the fault of using gas and climate change.

      I tried again to deflect him by asking if he had bought that new Land Rover he'd wanted. He had, I sad, oh, great stuff, what's it like and he said he had gone for the V8 option with leather trim and what not.

      I thought – but didn't say – sodding hypocrite. I fear I'll run out of friends at this rate.

        1. It is a bit like that saying about talking to idiots. They won't understand and it's a waste of ones time.

          They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

      2. My friends, who always used to give the “correct” performative answers that a “right-on” nice liberal ought to give, are all now beginning to sound like me.

        And they like me because I am a safe space for them to “come out”. I had to hug one friend the other day, when she started to say “I shouldn’t say this but…”. I told her, “there, there, it’s Ok to feel like this, lots of people do, embrace it”.

  45. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02bfa41e52d2d722a95f3a6ec597f19cd3b88d15e71a19e937ac5a7751771351.png
    Beebsplaining
    40m
    On line starmer's stazi🤔so much for open government.
    🤔 so much for Essex plods' freedom to protest
    🤔so much for country before government and party https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/35146ff4461ec3e2f9247bc3bf27aa6a24d0809f0ae23c6ccbe98cf43468e0f5.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8609519d8c492b965643260b4846e2c30a47e14acd6470cf6be2d52f5787a6e6.png

    1. The Left don't understand that they're the problem. They can't see their own spite. They really do – for bizarre reasons – think they are some sort of righteous heroes who are doing 'the right thing'.

      That's why they will never, ever stop suppressing freedoms, promoting their favoured groups, dividing society.

  48. Dear Plod,

    Congratulations on getting such an easy number- much better than catching villains, and you'll probably get time off to recover from the trauma of reading all these far-right posts. I'm dead against mass immigration, and I think that people who cross the Channel in dinghies should be swiftly despatched to somewhere much less attractive than four-star hotels.

    Big hugs,

    Joe

    PS. If you don't know where to find me, you can't have been paying attention.

    1. I wonder if, at a human level Starmer and the rest of the fools actually understand that the mess we are in is their fault. That they are making the wrong decisions, that their ideology is destructive and damaging.

      I get it, they're surrounded by equally stupid, ideologically driven twits who all think the same and mutually reinforce their own idiotic bilge but surely some of them are thinking 'We know this is wrong. This policy has caused carnage and misery whenever it's been tried. Markets work. We should stop trying to break them.'

      Or are they so blinkered that they can no longer detach from the fantasy of soundbite and dogwaffle?

      1. The irony is, the whole “diversity” mantra was originally coined to avoid Group-think – the idea being that the more “diverse” you are (background, thought process) the less likely boards (or cabinets, in this case) would be to succumb to the evils of Group-think.

        Somehow that morphed into “diversity= skin colour”, which is not at all the same thing. Which is why the company I work for employs people based solely on the colour of their skin, even if they had an ultra-privileged education (which a lot of them).

        It is so shockingly bad (the requirement for “diversity” to reduce Group-think and how it has morphed into tick-box skin colour without doing anything at all (if it even ever could) to reduce Group-think) I could scream.

  51. I have had a message from Facebook reporting me on content re the George Orwell quote

    Account Status
    Be careful! Going against the rules too many times can cause restrictions on your account.
    What's in your account
    Your main profile is responsible for all of the things that you manage.

    2. Some bitter Lefty didn't like people knowing where their policies are coming from.

  52. We knew last week that there would be a piece by Matt Ridley in the Daily Mail. We missed it yesterday, but what we didn't reckon was that the piece would have been altered by the paper's editors such that Matt would have to issue the actual article.

    Here is what Matt Ridley said on X:

    Warning! The Daily Mail is carrying an article by me that contains numerous errors, introduced by editors while I was without access to a phone signal or internet, hiking in the Rockies. Below is the correct text that I submitted to them:

    The climate boondoggle is one of the most regressive wealth transfers in history: never in the field of human commerce, or at least not since the sheriff of Nottingham, has so much tax been paid by people so poor to people so rich. Perhaps Ed Miliband is hoping that by giving lots of money to rich people, he can then impose a wealth tax on them in a sort of economic perpetual-motion machine.

    There appears to be no end to his generosity to the rich. He has recently announced an increase in subsidies for electric cars, electric heating and electricity bills, and this week he quietly let slip that he will raise the amount he pays for new wind farms and index-link the payment for an extra five years.

    What’s that? You don’t have a wind farm? Bad luck. Landowners who do can trouser £150,000 per wind turbine per year in rent for twenty to thirty years. One is arguing in court that £10m a year for his wind farm is not enough. The companies that run the “farms” make even more money. (As a landowner myself I am acutely aware that my ecological and economic distaste for these eyesores has cost me dear.)

    Under the delayed AR7 auction for new wind projects, Mr Miliband is promising to pay up to an astonishing three times as much as the Climate Change Committee forecast he would: £113 per megawatt-hour for offshore wind instead of £38. The average electricity price is around £70. Meanwhile Richard Tice MP has sent shock waves through the wind and solar industry by warning them that if Reform gets into power he will cease their subsidies.

    Don’t be fooled by the Miliband largesse: it’s not his money he is handing out; it is yours. The cost of paying all these huge subsidies is added to your electricity bills – which is why they are now the highest in the western world for both industrial and domestic power.

    Mr Miliband argues that sluicing vast sums from the poor to the rich (not that he likes to put it that way) is necessary to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to show “leadership” to the world in fighting the “climate crisis”.

    All right, let’s do the sums: Britain produces 0.8% of the world’s emissions. Electricity supplies roughly 20% of our energy and wind supplied about 25% of our electricity last year.

    Let’s be generous and assume that windmills cut emissions by maybe 60% over their lifetimes compared with gas turbines, though once you take into account the back-up from gas when the wind does not blow, the building and maintenance of power lines to connect distant wind farms to cities, the coal that was consumed in making the turbines and the energy cost of maintaining them, it’s probably way less than that.

    (As for solar, a reputable study concluded that north of the Alps, solar panels probably supply little more energy over their lifetimes – if any – than went into their manufacture and operation. They only generated 5% of our electricity last year, mostly when we least needed it, on summer afternoons. They are contributing next to nothing to emissions reduction.)

    http://www.templar.co.uk/downloads/SolarEROEI.pdf

    It follows that Britain’s wind farms are achieving a reduction of 0.008×0.20×0.25×0.6 = 0.0002, or two hundredths of one percent of global emissions. That is what £25 billion a year, paid by you in direct and indirect subsidies according to the Renewable Energy Foundation, is buying you. At that rate getting the world to net zero will cost £100 trillion a year – or the entire world’s economic output.

    https://ref.org.uk/ref-blog/390-uk-renewable-electricity-subsidy-totals-2002-to-the-present-day

    The climate economist Bjorn Lomborg has calculated that if all of Europe went net-zero today and stayed net-zero for the rest of the century that would reduce the rise in temperature by 2100 by 0.14°C – based on standard assumptions about climate sensitivity. So Britain (with 12% of Europe’s emissions) spending £25 billion a year to cut emissions by 20% of 25% of 60%, or 3%, would reduce the temperature in 2100 by – wait for it! – 0.0005°C, less than a thousandth of a degree.

    Can this really be good value for money? Esther McVey MP asked Ed Miliband in the Commons last week by how much his policies would reduce global temperatures. He refused to answer but what he did say was revealing: “the costs of inaction are much greater than the costs of action.” He is no longer claiming that we are saving money by cutting emissions, just that his policy will cost less than climate change in the long run.

    Is this true? Let’s take Mr Miliband at his word and assume that his widely famed global leadership skills ensure that the whole world achieves global net zero in short order. What horrors will he have prevented?

    https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.70010

    The state of the climate report, which he presented to Parliament last week, says only that “recent decades have been warmer, wetter and sunnier than the 20th Century” with earlier springs and more “lawn-cutting days”. Mostly good news unless you hate lawn-mowing. There has been more warming in winter than summer, so less frost, less snow and fewer “heating days”: good news given that death rates spike in cold weather much more than in hot weather.

    It says we now have 10% more rain, most of it in winter but the report can only “suggest a slight increase” in heavy rainfall while finding a “downward trend” in both average wind speed and maximum gust speed. On balance, good news. The only bad news is that sea level is rising, still very slowly – about a foot per century – but perhaps with a slight acceleration.

    Where’s the horror, Ed? Project these changes to the end of the century, and take into account that crops and oak trees all grow faster these days because of carbon dioxide, and it is hard to call it a crisis.

    The average of 69 estimates from 39 studies by climate economists, summarised by Richard Tol of Sussex University, says that when we hit 1.5 degrees of warming, global GDP will be 0.74% lower as a result; 1.9% lower if we hit three degrees of warming. That’s not 1.9% lower than today: it’s 1.9% lower than a much richer level reached in future.

    https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421523005074

    The business-as-usual model used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expects the average person in the world to be earning 4.5 times as much in 2100 as today – and if we do not prevent climate change that will be cut to 4.3 times as much. The model in which we forget about climate change and just let the fossil-fuel economy rip has the average person an astonishing 9.8 times richer in 2100 even with the effects of rapid climate change, instead of 10.4 times without it.

    https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162520304157#fig0001

    So Mr Miliband is asking you to reduce your standard of living today to save a bunch of very, very wealthy future people from being slightly less – but still very, very – wealthy. Your prosperity is sacrificed to their posterity. This is therefore yet another way in which he is transferring money from the poor to the rich. Was he sheriff of Nottingham in a previous life?

    1. Thanks to the hoax of 'climate change' our living standards and real wealth are declining. The industry that would send us bounding ahead is not coming here – CPU manufacturing, GPU, programmable search engines (pretendy called 'AI') next generation battery technology and multi fuels. It's going to countries with far cheaper energy supplies. Our reduced incomes (lost from opportunity cost due to losing industry and high energy costs) buy less due to inflation caused by, yes, energy costs.

      At every turn, the tax scam hoax of 'climate change' is doing nothing bu costing us money and dragging the country backward. It must be abandoned but it is the new weapon of the Left and they want some form of dystopian communism.

  54. David Abulafia
    Is a keffiyeh really an appropriate outfit for a Cambridge University ceremony?
    26 July 2025, 5:30am

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/3BM94XB.jpg Stormzy (second right) and Angela Davis after receiving their Honorary Degrees at Cambridge (Credit: Alamy)

    Cambridge University’s decision to honour the rap artist Stormzy with an honorary doctorate seemed odd. New universities, rather than our ancient ones, like to parade icons of popular culture.

    When the decision was announced a few months ago, I was asked by a national newspaper to write a piece questioning his nomination. I demurred, because Stormzy was being rewarded for generous benefactions that aimed to bring disadvantaged black schoolchildren to Cambridge University – despite my doubts about reserving scholarships for particular ethnic groups. Stormzy’s honorary doctorate dominated the headlines – and so, none of us really noticed who else was on the list. Looking back, it is almost as if a smokescreen was being created to let through someone far more controversial than the two-times winner of the Best Grime Act.

    An official photo of the awardees, enrobed in doctoral scarlet, has just been released. Vice-Chancellor Deborah ‘call me Debbie’ Prentice is seated next to Stormzy. Behind her, adorned with a keffiyeh, stands the American radical Angela Davis.

    One can pass over Ms, or should one say Dr, Davis’s predictable loyalties in the Middle East, while still asking whether it is appropriate for her or anyone else to wear a political badge in an official photo of this sort, and, more importantly, whether Cambridge acted responsibly in releasing it across the globe. More to the point is the simple question why Angela Davis is thought to be a suitable recipient of such an honour in the first place. It cannot be because she is descended from the Cambridge graduate William Brewster, who centuries ago sailed to North America on the Mayflower.

    If there is an answer, it may lie in the encomium written by the University Orator. It is a toe-curling document, particularly in the translation from Latin, which is all most people will be able to read. Understandably it lays stress on the appalling treatment of black people that she witnessed as a child in America; but it then turns to the occasions when she has suffered persecution because of her staunch adherence to communist beliefs.

    If we believe in freedom of speech we do have to tolerate those who express such beliefs. But to hold her up as a model of free speech taunts the rest of us: she was long a stalwart of a party that failed to speak out against the often violent repression of political opponents in the Soviet Union (from which she obtained the so-called Lenin Peace Prize); and she received a degree in the (so-called) German Democratic Republic. Davis studied there during the years when its government was second within eastern Europe only to Albania in the strictness of its repression. Indeed, the Lenin Peace Prize is even mentioned in her Cambridge citation – a slap in the face to all my colleagues who have experienced the regime in the Soviet Union and its satellites. Some years ago, King’s College, Cambridge showed great insensitivity by hanging a painting of the Soviet flag in its bar. Davis’s citation puts that painting in the shade.

    So here are some excerpts from a document that quite simply brings shame on Cambridge University:

    ‘IT IS WITH joy and reverence that your Orator presents to you this woman of erudition and eloquence, whose very name is synonymous with the long and bitter struggle for all people to enjoy without fear equality of rights and freedoms, regardless of class, of colour and of gender… How worthy they are, who defend freedom of speech only as long as they agree with what is said!… Taught, then, by her own experience, on behalf of those the world over who lack their own voice and defence, she resolutely defends justice, she tirelessly opposes slavery, with almost divine strength she fights on behalf of liberty… In this present age, when we see civic virtues and the very foundations of civil society faltering under the attacks of billionaires, when the foul stench of fascism rises again across the globe, who could blame even the staunchest lover of liberty for feeling despondent?… She shows us that it is possible to be an academic, an activist, a scholar and a revolutionary.‘

    Davis may, nonetheless, be offended. She is described as ‘eloquent’. I have been warned by the equally radical Professor Priyamvada Gopal (the one with views about Winston Churchill) that I was wrong to praise David Olusoga on one occasion as ‘eloquent’, as the word is apparently seen by ethnic minorities as condescending.

    That apart, we have to ask whether she has ever criticised the appalling abuse of human rights and the suppression of free speech in the Soviet Union. One of her critics who attended school in the Soviet Union has described her as a ‘Soviet propaganda icon’ in those days. And although she studied Kant under the philosophers Herbert Marcuse and Theodor Adorno she is clearly not being awarded her honorary degree on the grounds of scholarly attainment comparable to those figures.

    I have served on the Honorary Degree Committee in the past and have been impressed by the care and thoughtfulness given to each nomination, and by the sheer amount of detail about the nominees. Alas, the online page listing current members of this committee has been taken down for ‘maintenance’, but it is hard to escape the conclusion that places on the committee have been hi-jacked by those who prefer activists to real academics. As for the Orator, he really should know that his task is to address the whole University and the world beyond, and not just like-minded folk. Perhaps, though, he was acting under orders and does not believe anything that he said. He is the author of a learned article entitled ‘Bulls’ testicles and Mycenaean onomastics’, and conceivably his encomium is, if not bull’s testicles, deliberate bullsh*t.

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

    Veritas numquam perit
    a day ago
    It is nice to see no words minced, well put David Abulafia. It doesn't bode well when a man who blatantly uses his wealth to discriminate is rewarded or that a Communist shill and apologist is praised for her stedfast embrace of the 20th centuries worst and most murderous ideologies (100+ million dead).

    Old Fox Veritas numquam perit
    a day ago
    Well said. Can there be any doubt now that "woke" and all its abominations are the latest iteration of Marxism? Let us have no more confusion: these people are reds, not "Liberals", perhaps not even American style "liberals", but hard line communists. Think of the denizens of "SAGE"; think of all those university colleges in receipt of funds from communist China; think, above all, of the slanted, one sided history which blames Europe exclusively for slavery when it was the universal practice of mankind before European powers – starting with Britain – began to put it down. Before we can take this enemy down, we must strip away its camouflage – and this is now a matter of extreme urgency.

    Haecceity
    a day ago
    Here’s an interesting fact for you: I was an intermediary in a very wealthy person’s attempt to set up a significant scholarship fund at Oxford for white working class kids.
    The university turned it down flat.

    Skeptopia
    a day ago
    The keffiyeh is now the signature accessory of virtue chic — a wearable hashtag for the morally vain. And Cambridge, like most elite institutions today, isn’t a university so much as a finishing school for luxury beliefs, where grievance is currency and activism wears the robes of academia.

  55. Given the muslim caused the Israeli/Palestine war, that all they had to do was… nothing (something i manage with no effort) even given Israel's right to defend itself and remarkable restraint even I want this damned war to stop.

    Yes, muslim needs to learn they are unwelcome, yes muslim needs a thorough beating the likes of which it never recovers from and eventually dissolves entirely but the whole war is pointless. No one can win. All that's happening is people are dying. Not the muslim fanatic murderers. Just people.

  57. 410166+ up ticks,

    "To defend Britain's coastline" is that right ?

    SAY NO MORE,

    Dt,
    The killer speedboats designed to defend Britain’s coastline
    British start-ups with roots in sport turn their tech know-how to robot warfare

    One patriot sitting in Dover with a view of the ENGLISH CHANNEL could control our destiny.

    2. You don't need these speedboats to stop the dinghies. A Stanley Knife costs £6.58 from Screwfix.

      1. 410166+ up ticks,

        Afternoon A,
        Ask any thug, stanley knife wielders tire, these coast protectors are 24 / 7 then some.
        Also they will cut down the need for the rnli as thanks for services rendered.

        As they can double as patriotic soul savers.

  58. Truth Hurts
    57m
    Essex police say that there will be a ban on anyone wearing face coverings at protests today. Funny that they bussed in ones wearing face coverings, last week!

      1. Except for muslim women and riot police.

        They make it so easy to spot the enemy.

      1. They could just put their helmets on those and go home for tea and cake. No one would notice.

        1. Spot on! My only quibble is that the bollards are rather too slim to be coppers.

  60. Ed Stourton interviewed representatives of Hope Not Hate and Stand Up To Racism and a Labour MP. There’s impartiality!

    1. Ed Stourton wrote a piece on a BBC Editors Blog in about 2015 which insisted that the main reason white folks had moved out of London so dramatically since 1990s was because their incomes had increased. Ding-dong.

  61. Afternoon All
    Nicked Epic Rant
    "Yet again our Government prove themselves to be on the wrong side of the fence.

    Monitoring "hurty words" on the internet in order to arrest ordinary people who are concerned about their safety and want to protect their families, is an abomination of free speech.

    Nothing has changed since Southport last year. Ordinary citizens who are sick of being bled dry for money for gimmegrants, foreign wars and bribe money to third world despots, lack of employment, lack of opportunities for their kids and shitty wages, are being labelled "far right".

    "Far right" for not wanting undocumented, illegal males, mostly Muslim, rampaging in their towns and villages. Third World males from medieval shitholes for whom anything is fair game for rape, sexual assault, murder, violence and other criminal activities.

    We are the collateral damage. The ODHSNM for the State, the legal and criminal justice system. The Government's first priority is the gimmegrants and you can see it daily as they bend over backwards to garnish their lives, ensuring the best of everything.

    We get nothing. We get long prison sentences for upsetting them, a knock on the door for voicing nonviolent dissent about the levels of immigration forced on this country by political sociopaths.

    Killing, raping, maiming and being cannon fodder for Muslim jihadists is what we are. Our Government wants us to FOAD whilst fiscally raping us to fund these illegal savages and telling us we're facists for saying we don't want our communities filled with terrorists and sexual predators. Our safety isn't their concern. It is the safety of the Islamic savages that is paramount."

    2. In particular, i don’t want to pay tax to give to them for doing nothing

    4. Those poor, poor Russians.
      Their lives are so unenriched.
      How do they bear it? (ho ho)

    1. You can bet none of the directors swim in British waters or rivers. Barbados for them. With any luck their luxury yachts will come aground off Haiti.

  67. Have just collected the annual half a hogget from a nearby farm. The flavour is unbeatable.

  68. Afternoon all. Just back from church and a 50th wedding anniversary celebration. I am shattered! All this socialising is wearing me out!

    I don’t think that there’s much sympathy left for doctors given how difficult it is to get to see one and the lack of treatment if you should be lucky enough to get an appointment.

    1. No-one much bothers with GP Surgery, difficulty getting appointments. Repeat scrips can be ordered online, and delivered to home address. Otherwise, straight to A&E, often a long wait – reminds me of when the first NHS GP came to my small village 70 odd years ago, but you will get seen, eventually. If you're tired, get your feet above your head for 10 to 15 minutes – old pregnancy advice :-DD hope doggo not too whacked with the heat.

    2. Nice interview posted here on Thursday/Friday, where the Dr spokewoman refused to answer how much she earned, absolutely refused. Made herself look "a right plank" as the interviewer said.

    3. On Friday, even Bill Rammell – the token Leftie on Patrick Christy's GBN show – laid into them.

    2. No it isn't. Perhaps we can get the trawlermen to drop a few tons of fish guts around the dinghys.

  70. 410166+ up ticks,

    Will our nigh on 650 lightly political lads /lasses & others, be enough may one ask ?

    Dt,

    Britain ‘ready to fight’ over Taiwan
    Defence Secretary: ‘If we have to fight, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together’

      1. The New Model Immigrant Army….

        Why else have we been welcoming these savages?

          2. We already have gang warfare in every London borough. And that's from home grown wogs.

      4. 410166+ up ticks,

        Afternoon Pip,

        The near 650 & followers in the front trenches will suffice, get them taken out will prove beneficial on ALL fronts.

    2. Britain ‘ready to fight’ over Taiwan..

      And you should, along with Oz. It's the big one that the Orange Oracle knows the US will have to deal with one day.
      For starters try to resist giving away strategic airbases to the PLA.
      Trump has already hinted that Britain's role lays in Europe & supporting the inevitable sanctions.. as the US can only fight one war not two.

      Everyone will have ample time to prepare because it will take 6-8 months for China to get the troops lined up for the Satellite imagery, also there are only two windows per year.. one in March & one in October.
      Recently Typhoon Wipha demonstrated why you don't mess around in the Taiwan Strait outside those windows.

      2. 410166+up ticks,

        Afternoon KB,
        “So we should ” currently” regarding priorities we must first take on board our own internal state of the nation.
        Dog rough and cat melodeon is understating England’s present stance, fighting two fronts can also be applied to the United Kingdom.

        First things first then ……

  72. Each Sunday I get the DT newsletter from Matt the cartoonist. Under one of the cartoons he had written the following. It tells you everything you need to know about Jeremy Corbyn.
    "Finally, we get to my fractured history with Jeremy Corbyn.

    Many years ago The Telegraph ran a piece to celebrate thirty years of my cartoons. As such, they wrote to all the party leaders at the time for a comment. Theresa May was very kind, Sir John Major said I had a "gentle, understated humour", but my favourite of all – even more than our current King's words – came from Jeremy Corbyn's team who declined to provide a comment. Instead, they replied saying that none of the cartoons they had seen were funny. This became a favourite quote for everyone in the office."

    1. We know the Left don't have any sense of humour unless it is someone they dislike who is suffering.

    1. And – like so many people who completely lack a sense of humour – he believes himself to be hilarious.

      1. His laughter is as absurd and false as everything else about him. He has no genuine wit and no intellectual ability to understand verbal humour: in a word he is DULL.

          2. Well, I got that wrong – have been puzzled at the animosity towards the person in the picture, who I took to be Lance Percival, Enlightenment has slowly dawned.

  74. 9584 comments on the Thought Police item in the Telegraph.
    And there's still another 5 hours to go before its been up for 24 hours.

        2. Well Sue, thanks for the link as I don't subscribe to the Telegraph, so don't normally have access to comments. (I do read it online).
          The comments from so many like minded people give me hope, I won't be alone on the barricades when the time comes. Now the state and their operatives are the enemies of normal population, unless they change tack, serious unrest is going to start.

    1. A bit of damage limitation being pushed out there..

      The Manchester Sharia Council, a subsidiary of the private company Islamic and Family Services CIC, is advertising for an administrative position.

      The DWP have included this job in their search results.

      The MSC claims to offer advice and mediation services related to Sharia law. They don't receive taxpayer funding or have any enforcement powers.

      Also, it would be easy to interpret this as saying the job is with the DWP, being paid by the DWP, which it is not. This is a job with a private company that you can find on the DWP's website, along with thousands of other jobs.

      This job advert is not an endorsement of the MSC or of Sharia law, in the same way that if the DWP advertised a role as a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, it would not be a government endorsement of Chinese food.

      1. The Manchester Sharia Council are seeking a full-time grifter to assist in the slow takeover, violent or otherwise, of the UK by any means possible in conjunction with our progressive liberal partners. No kaffirs need apply. obv. Don't know why we mentioned it.

    2. Looking at the salary that must be the cheapest full time lawyer in the cuntry. (sic)

    3. What is absolutely sickening is that it's based in Didsbury, Manchester.
      It is not so long ago that it had a very significant Jewish population, so much so that it was referred to as Yidsbury by locals.
      Presumably it's now known as Kidsburied.

    4. Presumably the team that work in this new waste of money group are the Knights who say NIII??

    5. Presumably the team that work in this new waste of money group are the Knights who say NIII??

      1. Must be. Wenyball is the only English activity we are allowed to hold in high esteem.

          3. Funny isn't it that women's football is played as it should be and men's football is considered 'wendyball'…

          4. Women's professionals play like men, and men's professionals play like…

            (This as an ex-amateur footballer).

          5. Play what like men? It certainly isn’t football! Under 12’s boys maybe, but their skills and speed are lacking.

          6. Sorry, bit of a sexist remark, but the women play the game as it should be played, whereas the professional men are cissies.

          7. I beg to differ, but I can’t be bothered! They are dreadful to watch and the commentary is pathetic. The squealing ‘crowd’ don’t help!

          8. What is apparent to me is that the women don’t go down rolling about in feigned agony like the men. The standard of play is obviously not the same, but it seems as though the women follow the spirit of the game more than their male counterparts (and I’m talking about professionals rather than amateurs).

          10. Sorry, Bill. I don’t agree (at least as far as the England players are concerned).

          12. I have to agree. I enjoy watching women’s cricket more than women’s football, as cricket depends more on skill rather than strength/skill as does football.

    3. There are restrictions on flag flying and displaying St George's Flag in this manner may well be illegal – I think a lawyer should be consulted.

  78. Wordle No. 1,499 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 27 Jul 2025

    Complete for Birdie Three?

    1. Total surprise with a birdie

      Wordle 1,499 3/6

      ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      Beats Friday on the golf course where I missed two birdies – one from two feet, the other from four feet

    2. Well done, I thought this was trickier than the early scores would suggest – bleedin' bogey here!
      Wordle 1,499 5/6

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

    4. Me too.

      Wordle 1,499 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    5. On a bit of a roll here. No idea why. Perhaps the word pool is getting smaller.
      Wordle 1,499 2/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. 295,859 signatures on the “repeal the online safety act” petition

  80. Our 57th wedding anniversary today.

    I suggested we have a speedy boat trip from Lulworth to Durdle Door .. some sea time .. We had a great walk along the pathway to the cove via Stair Hole and then down to the Cove where there were a couple of very fast Rib boats .. and a queue of people . The boat could accommodate 12 passengers .. so there we were , life belted up and raring to go !

    Calm sea conditions , and wow did that boat pull away and shift !!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4869bc2784406229072588c420f7b99fa736d8eaf131d298a0b689aafe9618d3.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0cf8242d709db4e12dcdd8694a3616b4d10e4790031c14e5b4b3b663bfa0d6b9.jpg

    Durdle Door , looks like a feeding sea dragon!

    5. You suggested nothing of the sort. It was your trafficker wannafight.

      Just trolling the git on behalf of all those he upset on here……. :@)

      1. 😉🙄👏🏼😊

        It was me !!!! Moh wanted to listen to the Crickeeeeeeet , and he never ever has a clue or idea , every year is the same .. so a walk, quick boat ride and an ice cream a few photos .. and there we are!

        1. I hope you enjoyed the boat trip and have had a lovely day. I saw the wedding photo on your Fb page – you've weathered the years better than he has!

        2. I hope you enjoyed the boat trip and have had a lovely day. I saw the wedding photo on your Fb page – you've weathered the years better than he has!

  82. Giving nothing away (Spikey) – I think when India were 2 down for 1 run, the Bazboys (see how up to the minute I am) thought it would be all over in an hour or so….

    1. No worries Bill – I logged off until the match was over on TV. The Indians fought well but given an easy time by the English bowlers on a flat pitch

      1. We should stop holding Test Matches at Old Trafford. The pitches are flat and mostly devoid of life.

        The management at Old Trafford seem more interested in revenue streams and attendances over five days than cricket.

    1. The empty benches are such an indictment on the grifters who are MPs.

      I suppose the woman in the front who is obviously not paying any attention, but just copying something down is an improvement on MPs who are on their mobiles…

    2. Two things puzzle me about this post, Herr Oberst. First of all, is that Sir Keir Starmer who is discussing a matter whilst the Bill Proposer is speaking? And secondly, when asking Parliament for a vote, since the Deputy Speaker does not look up to see the members present vote, how can she assert that "the Ayes have it"?

      1. Not sure.
        The level of interest shown by the number of MPs present – ie, bugger-all. Starmer knows how he will vote anyway, doesn’t need to listen to any discussion, so he’s just there to show his face.
        It’s all a sham, really.

  84. I've just found this quotation from Revd John Wesley (1703 – 1791) the founder of Methodism: "People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense."
    They clearly had the same problem with militant offence-takers in the 18th century as we do today.

  85. I've just found this quotation from Revd John Wesley (1703 – 1791) the founder of Methodism: "People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense."
    They clearly had the same problem with militant offence-takers in the 18th century as we do today.

  86. Britain ‘ready to fight’ over Taiwan
    Defence Secretary: ‘If we have to fight, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together’

    Britain is ready to fight in the Pacific if conflict breaks out over Taiwan, the Defence Secretary has said.

    John Healey was speaking on board the HMS Prince of Wales with Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister, as the ship docked in Darwin to join war games with allies, including the US.

    Asked by the Telegraph about what the UK is doing to help countries like Taiwan to prepare for potential escalation from China, Mr Healey said: “If we have to fight, as we have done in the past, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together. We exercise together and by exercising together and being more ready to fight, we deter better together.”
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/27/britain-ready-to-fight-over-taiwan-china-john-healey/

    John White
    1 min ago
    Any talk about protecting others countries is nonsense when we are being constantly invaded.

    At least the Taiwanese are Chinese ethnically and cultural. Our heritage and ethnicity is under threat. edited

  87. That's me for today. It was sunny this morning and we had a line of washing out. This arvo it looked like rain – though it didn't.

    Have a spiffing evening hoping the Girlies win. Much work required, I'd say.

    A demain.

  88. Louis Bunn, with a Union Flag, voicing fears about the future of his young daughter. “I am not fascist,” he said. “I am not far-Right. I used to vote for the Labour Party. But please, all of us need to come together. All of us British – white, brown, black, whatever colour you are, whatever faith you are, whatever race you are – you need to come down here and protect our f—ing children, because this is getting mental.”

    Louis Louis Louis.. nice idea but..
    don't expect any support from one key demographic.. in fact they're eyeing up your daughter right now.
    Labour Party? protect our children? You havin a larf?

  89. Louis Bunn, with a Union Flag, voicing fears about the future of his young daughter. “I am not fascist,” he said. “I am not far-Right. I used to vote for the Labour Party. But please, all of us need to come together. All of us British – white, brown, black, whatever colour you are, whatever faith you are, whatever race you are – you need to come down here and protect our f—ing children, because this is getting mental.”

    Louis Louis Louis.. nice idea but..
    don't expect any support from one key demographic.. in fact they're eyeing up your daughter right now.
    Labour Party? protect our children? You havin a larf?

    1. Labour would far prefer her daughter were put into a gulag where muslim were enforced and rape compulsory.

      There's something desperately wrong with the Left.

  90. Notional Trust
    2h
    Old enough here to remember what it was like pre these clampdowns when we had a libertarian in charge. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/922bac2bd9a54a40c791d750d9e4bd3992eb4a1c37ec3a4a3c6b8d6434b6feda.png Cliff Langdon
    Notional Trust
    50m
    I heard Keith wanted it longer and harder.

    Monty
    Notional Trust
    1h
    It's never been explained why Fauci was pardoned…for being innocent! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a91ee90f24489a44f5e63ef9baac3412fc7043df3903bdffa81921f1c9a1e068.png

  92. Cjamesk
    1h
    Von der lying….green energy is great

    Trump…It’s a sham and energy shouldn’t be subsidised 😂 look at the state of Germany

    Von der lying…irregular migration

    Trump…illegal migration

    Night and day difference

    1. Der Lying seemed to struggle with an elected president. The difference between them was comical. There's her, an unelected, unwanted, unaccountable failed bureaucrat crushing nations against the will of the people under increasingly destructive socialist reglation and there's Trump, letting market economics do it's job and leaving the people of America twice as well off as the richest Europeans.

  93. Rick B
    2h
    This creature is still plotting and scheming against us from her UN hideout.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/296ba37287b869f369c84feb4c0acc7697bb014d732e6d6aa98d38e0ef72ad4b.png
    Notional Trust
    Susan Michie. Ѕhе'ѕ thе соmmіе (rеаl асtuаl mеmbеr оf Тhе Соmmunіѕt Раrtу Оf Вrіtаіn) bеhаvіоurаl ѕсіеntіѕt рut іn сhаrɡе оf ɡоvеrnіnɡ аnd рrеdісtіnɡ уоur rеѕроnѕе tо thе сооf ѕсаm bу thе Jоhnѕоn ɡоvt.

    It wаѕ рrоbаblу hеr іdеа thаt уоu bаnɡ а fuсkіnɡ ѕрооn оn а раn in gratitude for your freedoms being taken away.

    2. I knew her brother, Jonathan, at University – he was an extreme leftie nutter as well…….

    3. It's the mindset I don't understand. What sort of person sits there and thinks 'I want to control how people think.' It's anathema to me. I'd say 'give people the facts and let them make their own choices'.

        1. It just… I can't honestly conceive of the mindset. I appreciate there's marketing but the point there is to promote a product, not control how you think.

          What sort of a person supports the ideology that always leads to the slaughter of millions of people? I also note that she doesn't move to a communist country – nor, I imagine has she ever had a job outside of the state.

    4. Her family came by a Picasso and sold it for millions thus enabling the ignorant cow to live the life of Reilly and secure her positions in ‘life’.

    1. Surely it's quite simple? After all, how difficult is it to say 'deport them'?

      It is a monumental waste of public money though, and another reason why councils must be restrained.

  95. I'm watching the final. I have never seen such terrible refereeing, every single time a Spanish player dives or is tackled and falls over.
    That referee gives them a free kick.
    English girl gets knocked over nothing.

    3. Yeah. He's a complete berk, but another reason why these people cannot be permitted to be in this country.

    1. Well done the Lionesses – a great set of role models for young girls!

      PS I secretly fancy Sarina as well……

  99. Brilliant team..

    Who on earth would have thought that Female football was far more exciting and skilful than the male game ?

    They are superb.. despite their wretched ponytails and tatts!

          1. Bloke in the docs had 3 letters of Kanji on his face. I didn't like to tell him what they said.

            You see that sort of person and think – what is wrong with you? Did you not want to work?

          2. He was likely there to renew Disability Cert or similar, continuation bennies….

          3. Your exasperated final question made sense to me until I realised that the un-tattooed talent pool is now very small. Employers will struggle to find able candidates with 'clean' skin.

        3. as a lad we used to go to the circus to see the tattooed fat lady – now they're everywhere

    4. They seem more focused than the men – they keep running, no silly falling about and histrionics. They look pretty fit.

      1. All I can say is the first half must have been much better than the last part of the second half that I saw! Spain were much much better than our girls. Spain ran at us, something I always wish the men would do, run at the opposition.

        Anyway the penalties were great, especially the last one!

  100. About half 3 I fell asleep in my chair reading. I came to to find Oscar and Lucy legs to legs flopped out beside me, like a big bear circle.

    Mongo, of course spent the afternoon building Lego.

      1. He's an expert at pointing out the pieces (apparently).

        I've seen Junior point at a piece in the instructions and Mongo will bash his paw on it. I don't know if he gets it right or just bashes in hope, but he sits, drooling on Junior's shoulder, paws on the floor.

    1. Some fade away, the older versions eg sailors would have…new ones seem almost 3D, the ones I’ve seen anyway.

    4. Sorry, Citroen, I don't find it funny. Credit to the England team – I didn't think they were capable of winning the tournament. Their performances have been very uneven. I'm glad to have been proved wrong.

        1. I’m still unimpressed. Maybe it’s a joke about the commentators, but the players have proved their worth on the field, which is where it counts.

    5. That bunch wouldn’t know ‘pressing’ if they fell over it! And they probably would!

  105. I paid a visit to Saint Nicholas', Worth Matravers, near Wareham today.

    St Nicholas of Myra Church in the pretty village of Worth Matravers is one of the oldest churches in Dorset. It was built, or rebuilt, around the year AD 1100. Though the bulk of the church is Norman, some of the stonework appears to come from an earlier building, suggesting that there was a church here in the late Saxon period.

    The oldest part of the church is a blocked Saxon doorway. The nave, tower, and windows are Norman, and the chancel was rebuilt in Early English style (roughly 1300). The church fell into decay in the Victorian period, and was in such poor condition that church services had to be held in the village school before it was finally restored in 1869 by architect John Hicks of Dorchester.

    The chancel arch and south doorway date from around 1160, and may have been brought to Worth from another church elsewhere. That theory seems to be based purely on the fact that the arch seems very wide for the width of the building, but there is no actual evidence to suggest that it was not built into the original church.

    One of the most interesting features is a 12th-century corbel table (second picture down) running under the roofline. The corbels are carved with an array of figures including a musician playing a harp, a rabbit, a bird, a running animal, and a sheela-na-gig, a fertility symbol of a woman displaying her genitals.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e3fccae7c77e09799e3b218d656417efeb0bb5d5ca394787ddbaedd5264412c7.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f53b2faa535cfa94ddea45c2f4c761a11c726265c98e21a056f4023c3b1ad9cd.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/83e0c2fdb5240fdf943bb38412d2609073ef1a5613d5cb1cee24819798f9f0eb.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c41d9a15e83d01e0af675bcc3e96f6cf9efaaaba747ec6eef9b12e672412dcef.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/be31ab0a1d61165f54e76b021309a934e0d137421ad0552de406d6dffc5da54b.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c531421e0fe7ae3716996b5e2d6b9ceac38177e4504e3a9f663a2c8c3b3381cc.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/077837e79c4c20051869e25b7967baa3b0954005bfc21d40110c541970be0139.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6b56a43655ee53b7984da88598e9b95badaae15becf1618e3afcc17140913bff.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/57002eb1239b1ecae2d9b35e98e1a1dd184a2a87cdde052bed276f22f85490ba.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a297a2eb10847891f98dfc0320ba711bb9667255831202896f52763824d80829.jpg

    1. I specified Purbeck limestone from Worth Matravers and nearby quarries for several projects over the years.

      For example the polished stone floors in Christ Church Spitalfields (Haysom) and other major projects.

      Purbeck limestone is found in many historic buildings far from its source. I counted almost 30 ‘beds’ of varying colourings and hardness in the excavated walls of the deepest quarries. In earlier times the stone was excavated from the seashore forming what now appear to be caves.

      On my last visit to the quarries, in the late eighties, Purbeck stone was being cut for the restoration of the sea wall ramparts of the naval dockyards in Portsmouth.

      1. Mr Haysom died last year , he was a splendid knowledgeable gentleman , who knew so much about stone and quarries and where his stone was used .

        It was such a pleasure to have met and spoken with him a couple or more years ago .

    2. I specified Purbeck limestone from Worth Matravers and nearby quarries for several projects over the years.

      For example the polished stone floors in Christ Church Spitalfields (Haysom) and other major projects.

      Purbeck limestone is found in many historic buildings far from its source. I counted almost 30 ‘beds’ of varying colourings and hardness in the excavated walls of the deepest quarries. In earlier times the stone was excavated from the seashore forming what now appear to be caves.

      On my last visit to the quarries, in the late eighties, Purbeck stone was being cut for the restoration of the sea wall ramparts of the naval dockyards in Portsmouth.

      1. I don't remember seeing that Belle. It's the fourth photo down, on the right hand wall, just before you get to the arch.
        A pointed archway set into the wall.

  107. From the substack of John Leake: thou shalt not try to make the architects of the covid vaccines face justice

    "the Netherlands police have arrested attorney Arno van Kessel, the lead attorney suing Bill Gates, Albert Bourla, Mark Rutte et al. for COVID-19 vaccine injuries.

    The civil process was scheduled to begin on July 9; Mr. van Kessel was arrested … by police in the early morning of June 11, where he was reportedly blindfolded, bound, and taken into detention, where he remains almost two months later."

    2. On what charge? There's more and more evidence coming out of the harmful effects.

    3. Arno van Kessel has been imprisoned for 90 days, so far without any charge, under suspicion of being involved in a criminal network.

      1. Sounds a bit like that German lawyer Reiner Füllmich. He’s been in prison for some time as well, I believe.

        1. I think Habeas Corpus is peculiar to countries, former British colonies, where common law still has a presence.

  108. We had a lovely lunch today (Tarragon chicken casserole) with my two sister's and one remaining BiL. Lots of fun and laughter fond memories and a few glasses of vino.
    And putting the world to rights, all hate this government. No surprises there. Elder sister has house on the market hoping to buy an available ground floor apartment in a private complex. But has a problem with so much surplus as in 'collectable items'. Over 60 years of married life easily done. We might have to help out but probably won't have enough space.
    Oh well nearly time to turn in, physiotherapist appointment in the morning.
    Good night all Nottlers sleep well. 😴

    Well done ladies ⚽️

  110. A longish day on the water, one 'keeper' bass and a trio of large mackerel. My two fellow anglers had about the same. Hard work, but always enjoyable. Mackerel fillets fried in butter to be eaten tomorrow and bass in the fridge, maybe for the freezer.

  111. We've finished dinner & cleared up……. early night tonight as we should have the plumbers coming in the morning to fit the new hot water cylinder in the loft above our bedroom (if it's arrived at their depot).

    Some of our swifts are still here and some have left. All the chicks have fledged. Susan next door still has two in her box so they will be here for a while.

    Cats are in and settling down for the night.

    Well done the Lionesses……

    1. Bats are the thing here…pipistrelles…quite a few this year…fab. How lucky you are to have swifts – especially with chicks! And yes, Lionesses, well done 🙂

      1. All down to OH getting the boxes up – it took five years before the first pair arrived in 2016 – roosted in the box for two weeks to stake their claim and been back every year since then. Always the first one back is box 3.
        They usually stay for a while after the chicks fledge but this time they've gone already. We still have a pair in box 9, and the young pair in box 6 will be back next year. Box 4 was a disaster, but hopefully they will do better next time. He's got a camera in every box so we can see what goes on.

        Still some wonderful flying this evening while we had our dinner.

        1. You must have masses of airborne insects for them to eat, because here is worrying , not many airborne insects, not seen many moths , and a lack of swallows and martins , and where have the swifts gone down near the river.. not been seen at all.

          1. We've seen a lot more butterflies this year than for some time, and the swifts seem to have been feeding well and bringing home plenty for their chicks. Four of our pairs each raised three chicks this time, I think two is more usual though we have had nests of three before – but not so many. Our friend Mark in Bristol has one pair sitting on a second brood of eggs, which is quite unusual.
            We have seen a few martins this year but nothing like the numbers we used to see – the population seemed to crash a couple of years ago. Don't see many swallows here.

          2. My heart aches with pain when I worry about the loss of what were regular insects and birds .. on species in particular that I used to see threes and fours of … green woodpeckers.. where on earth have they vanished to.. also fields of plover , wagtails, thrushes ..where are they?

      2. Bats used to be regular here, but we're not seeing nearly as many these last few years.

        1. The ones here disappeared for a few years – this is the first year back, glad to see them. Seems to be various reasons they disappear. They need to clean out their roosting places, perhaps that’s one reason, prefer to move on 😀

          2. Yes – wish I had echo-location :-)) just reading up on Liam Halligan saying economy about to blow…hope he’s wrong…

    1. The colours of the liturgical calendar vary according to what's being celebrated; white for Christmas and Easter, red for feast days and Pentecost, purple for Lent and Advent. By far the longest period is called "ordinary time", when the altar frontals and vestments will be green. We're in "ordinary time" now.

        1. I was asked to serve again this morning; when I put things away, the covers for the chalice etc are green as is the chasuble and stole the priest wears.

  115. Keir Starmer to recall cabinet for emergency meeting on Gaza crisis
    Prime minister expected to press Donald Trump to take tougher stance towards Israel when they meet in Scotland

    Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis this week as cross-party MPs warned his talks with Donald Trump provided a critical juncture in helping to resolve the conflict.

    Amid growing international horror over the situation on the ground in Gaza, he will urge the US president to take a tougher stance towards Israel and will push for ceasefire talks to resume, when they meet in Scotland on Monday.

    David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, is also preparing to attend a UN conference on a two-state solution in New York this week at which the pathway to formally recognising a Palestinian state will be under discussion.

    Government sources insisted that formal recognition of Palestinian statehood was a matter of “when, not if”, with the Labour government under intense domestic pressure to take further action as UK public opinion hardens.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jul/27/keir-starmer-to-recall-cabinet-for-emergency-meeting-on-gaza-crisis

    As long as Starmer doesn't forget these!
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d763a73326e77ae2142c277de2e2c0136e07ec954d0506368b11a29f5ddeba8f.jpg

    2. How about Starmer and his cupboard (really can’t call them a cabinet) taking a firmer stance with the proscribed Hamas.
      Thought not.

  116. Once again, I have reached the Sleeping Hour. Good Night to you all, and I hope to see you all again on Monday morning.

  118. Stuart
    13h
    Well Trumps visit is going really badly for Rodney…as reported in the Indy.
    Trump was cheered on by supporters urging him ‘not to trust’ Sir Keir Starmer as he took to the green at his golf resort in Scotland for the second day.

    I wonder how Labour will spin this?

  119. Beebsplaining
    Martin Brookes
    9h
    15 year old kid on gbnews interviewed at Epping
    Wore a Reform badge to school and got detention despite his classmates wearing rainbow and other badges and nothing done🙄

    The young like to push back at the establishment, the uniparty and quangocracy is the establishment 🤔

Comments are closed.