Friday 22 August: The longstanding neglect of working-class pupils puts Britain to shame

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.

597 thoughts on “Friday 22 August: The longstanding neglect of working-class pupils puts Britain to shame”

    1. With apologies to Virgil:

      Beware of Tories advocating sudden changes to decades' old policies.

  3. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's new NoTTLe page. Today I made a Par for Wordle.

    Wordle 1,525 4/6

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

    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Wordle 1,525 4/6

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

          1. Don’t be silly! It’s only the red and white ones that are dangerous!

          2. We should mess with their heads by printing that koran verse in the white parts of the St George flag. Prosecute or protect?

  6. A Irwin
    12h
    “UK summons Israeli ambassador over controversial West Bank settlement plan”
    How about the French Ambassador to discuss the invasion they are facilitating?

    2. Hermer is toxic – he should be imprisoned and put in solitary confinement for the rest of his repulsive life.

    2. We had one in our village a few years ago. But now too many drivers just drive over the roundabout, it's seems beyond their capabilities to go round it. Too dangerous to paint.

    2. Our neighbours lovely Norway Maple is already shedding its leaves all over everyone else's gardens and driveways……

    3. Over here near Oslo, autumn started on Monday. The same weather as Sunday, but cold, whereas Sunday was warm.
      And it's got colder since.

    2. Yesterday's DM was quite normal and even with several positive stories. Today it's back to the usual "Sleb's husband caught with drugs, pants down" type of stuff.

    1. Why didn't we send all illegal immigrants to Chagos Islands when we had the chance?

      1. They're rather beautiful, delicate areas that don't deserve a horde of savages being forced on them?

        Borrowing a couple of acres from a middle eastern country is a good idea. Fence it off, giant concrete walls around it. No comms in or out. If lawyers want to talk to their clients they go there.

        Of course, no method to travel back is available. Leaving the area is properly policed.

  14. Morning, all Y'all.
    Chilly, and rain. Ukk.
    But here's one for you: Company internal news just mentioned that the Hugin A topsides is being assembled at our yard in Stord, Norwegian west coast. Once put together, it will weigh around 29,000 tonnes! This will be floated out to the AkerBP Yggdrasil field next year and lifted by crane onto the substructure, which was installed this summer.
    Think of the size and weight, all hanging on two cranes on a semisubmersible crane barge! I'd love to see that! When younger, I did Marine Warranty work, and the biggest lift I ever had anything to do with was 13.000 tonnes (Phillips Judy topsides, sadly now decommissioned, removed and scrapped).
    That's the reason I enjoy the offshore oil & gas industry, engineering side. You get some real challenges, and big kit!

  15. EXC: Peter Kyle’s Staff Use VPN He Claimed “Put Children at Risk”

    In the latest example of Labour’s troubles navigating the concept of online privacy Peter Kyle’s own staff have confirmed that they use a VPN. Hope they aren’t looking at any X posts from Tory MPs…

    Peter Kyle previously said:

    “For everybody who’s out there thinking of using VPNs, let me just say to you directly: verifying your age keeps a child safe, keeps children safe in our country. So, let’s just not try and find a way around.”

    DSIT confirmed to Guido in response to an FoI request that “the department uses Zscaler, which provides a suite of secure access services including VPN functionality.” That’s part of a £2.17 million contract. The rest of you can save the children and verify your age…

    August 21 2025 @ 16:35

    Notional Trust
    12h
    It really was tremendously silly setting a dyslexic with the reading age of an eight year old to oversee a department and a sector heavily reliant on acronyms and tech speak. He was always going to be overwhelmed, SFF.

    Foulan
    13h
    This Kyle person is the 'Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology', no less. He left school "without any usable qualifications", according to his own words. Whatever knowledge he has seems to be based on geography, 'international development', environmental studies and 'community development', whatever that is.
    He has no discernable knowledge of science or technology. As for innovation, who knows? Those in Starmer's cabinet seems to have been deliberately chosen for their incompetence and profound ignorance. The only recurring theme is that they are all of the far left, bordering on Marxism
    Not to worry, only four more years of these ignoramuses!

    Massey Ferguson
    13h
    Is Pete banging on about child safety again. He needs to check out his mates. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0e248d9e6e1ad71f511cb35b428a70250461dec8022e989745aa9f69199be611.png

    1. Dear God, another one.
      Is everybody in the UK a pædo? It seems that way, from the news.

    2. Verifying your identity does absolutely nothing to keep a child safe. Not a whit. It's you, not them. The state has no interest in child protection. That is down to parents.

      The correct course of action was to make parental controls easier to set up (they're already very, very easy). Junior's phone has such enabled – he can't use the camera or send messages except to us when he is at school. He can't change the settings except when we enter a pin. The state is an appalling parent.

      But of course, this has nothing to do with children. That's just the excuse. It's always the excuse. It's a desperate attempt to control what people can see and hear. I imagine as soon as Labour are embarrassed or frightened by wham! They'll decide that's got to be blocked for 'the cheeldren' too.

      The political class must be brought to heel. Their traffic must be exposed and ours hidden. Goodness knows what they'll do with ipv6 when everything is encrypted.

  16. 411670+ up ticks,

    Friday 22 August: The longstanding neglect of working-class pupils puts Britain to shame

    Friday 22 August: The longstanding neglect via working-class peoples puts Britain to shame more like.

    The unions are on par with these odious political overseeing cartel's, they are good in guaranteeing safe and fair working practices,but anti Brit. when in greed and threat mode

    The nation is in a dire state through polling
    station via tactical spite and abuse OR lack of use, we urgently need UNITY in peoples and pupils alike encapsulated in a PATRIOTIC party that puts the COUNTRY first and foremost.

    1. The various government departments really work for the unions. The unions then work for their members, right? Wrong. They have their own agenda which is more unionism. This ensures that nothing really improves or changes because the unions don't like it – translated as :it threatens their hegemony.

      For example, school vouchers. I the parent were placed in command of the school's funding then that school would have to improve. If it went on strike for political reasons the parents could simply move the child elsewhere. The union grip is broken because the money is moved to the customer. The power leaves the state entirely.

      Poor education? Then a parent says to a retired teacher 'look here, could you start a school? My kid and 5 others?' and the only judge is the parent. Really good schools buy up bad ones and rise standards. Every kid gets the choice of going to 'an' Eton.

      The unions are smashed, the state removed from education and the parent made responsible. Of course, this also means that there is no need for the department for education, either which is a good thing. The money bypasses big fat state, is never seen by local councils and goes directly to children's education.

  17. SIR – William Sitwell (“Join me in the battle to preserve our great British puddings”, Features, August 16) stirred memories of the lab staff canteen where I worked in the 1950s and 1960s. Every day there was a delicious pudding on the menu. It might be a marmalade roll, appearing out of a corrugated cylindrical tin, or syrup sponge running with golden syrup. Or possibly spotted dick, bursting with dried fruit. But my favourite of all was a baked jam roly-poly covered with lashings of custard (Bird’s, of course).

    After a large plateful of chips, and cheese and onion pie, it’s a wonder I managed to climb the stairs to the lab for the afternoon session.
    Sadly, the nearest approximations today are the small sponge desserts that are available from supermarkets – but they are not even close to the real things.

    Terry Mcdonald
    Derby

    The dinners at my school were very basic but delicious. A common theme was large pies baked on huge trays that were cut into squares for serving. Main course favourites were meat pie and cheese pie. A typical dessert made in this fashion was filled with currants soaked in golden syrup.

    However the sponge puddings were the best and lightest I've ever tasted. My favourites (in order) were: spotted dick, ginger, raspberry jam, golden syrup, lemon, orange, and neapolitan (three colours). I was not especially fond of the other (chocolate) since it had a burnt quality to it but the others were simply scrummy.

    1. My school dinners were also very good.
      But my all time favourite is Christmas pudding. I use to help my mum make from her own mother's recipe.

      1. At Christmas the whole school would have to gather in classes in the dining hall. I hated it. It was too loud, with too many people so I would call it off sick.

    2. When I was at primary school the dinners were pretty awful. But my secondary school was a new set of buildings, with a proper kitchen. It is from there that I, too, remember those trays of meat pies cut into squares.

      1. Meat pies the size of a garage roof, I recall.
        With meat in them, too, and lashings of gravy (not Bisto, either).

        1. In Naval veteran's circles, all will remember one of the highlights of the Chef's (sic) output which was the appearance at lunch of what is universally referred to as "Babies Heads"!

          These were Suet Steak and Kidney puddings, they were the fantastic 'stick to your ribs' style served, half-a-can, per man (person).

          1. I can [no pun] still remember a climbing trip to the Lofotens where almost all our rat-packs [rations packs] contained babies heads as the main meal – we were there for a good while and it felt longer!!

          2. I read recently about the food on board Navy vessels. Still good scran and everyone happy.

            Then there's the Army. 95% of their catering went to crapshit companies like Serco. Squaddies served fried eggs that when you turned them over were covered in mould spores.

          3. Last time I went to a dining in night I wasn’t impressed. CFS in the seventies was good.

          4. I left in 1997 before Serco took over. I much preferred the old system. For my last tour, I had to live in the Sgts' mess and the food was always of a very high standard.

      1. The food at my Primary school was as Grizz describes and much better than anything i had at home.

        At my Secondary school they changed to canteen style and a 25p dinner ticket which once gave a full meal and dessert would only buy one sausage and a small portion of beans.

        There is terrible and then there is terrible.

        My mother's response was…'well you still get your tea a tea time'.

        No wonder i'm so short.

        1. The primary school food was made at some central kitchen and delivered to several small village schools. It was disgusting. The senior school did not have that excuse but the food was no better.

          1. The food at my primary school was worse than pigswill. The stench of over-boiled cabbage from the kitchens was nauseating. The mashed potatoes were unseasoned and lumpy. Everything was vile. It was conveyed 200 yards from the kitchens at the nearby girls' secondary school every day before being served and it was invariably lukewarm.

            The massive increase in quality and delectability at the secondary school was palpable. For the first time in my school life the food was enjoyable.

          2. My primary school food was as you describe- it was transported from the kitchen several miles away to the village schools within their area. The senior school food was prepared on site but was no better.

          1. It’s why i am prepared to pay £95 for afternoon tea at Claridges. Much better than a fish paste sandwich and a smack round the head.

      2. No mote Latin, no more French
        No more sitting on a cold hard bench.
        No more tadpoles in my tea
        Making googly eyes at me

        When I taught at Allhallows the food was excellent. The school employed a firm called Gardner Merchant which provided very good meals.

  18. Morning All 🙂😊
    High broken cloud only just double figures, still no rain forecast.
    It seems my physio appointment today has now been changed to next Tuesday. They sent me a message, but couldn't be bothered to phone me. Good job I saw it. I had planned to be there at 11:15 today. I tried to ring twice yesterday but no answer.
    I'm not at all sure what today's headline is actually about.
    I have the feeling that this government has not one ounce of respect nor feels the responsibility for any person born and bred from ancestors in the UK anymore.

    1. Classic diversion, I think. They ignore a problem for years, telling us we're racist for noticing it. Then, when a giant problem is looming visibly on the horizon (bond vigilantes), they suddenly start taking the longstanding problem seriously. Not that they will do anything about it, but now we're allowed to notice it and distract ourselves by talking about it.

      1. But blame everyone and everything but themselves for effing up everything they come into contact with…..

        1. Of course. I am sure that their goal is that the people will blame Rachel Reeves for the collapse of the fifty year fiat currency thieving spree.

    2. No, I don't think they do either. We're the tax cows. We obey the laws. The state has it's clients and panders to them. Actually doing something about the problem is anathema because then the state wouldn't need to be 10 times overmanned.

    3. The Left do NOT CARE. As far as they're concerned the entire country should look like Mega City 1.

    2. Just another POS they'll let off.
      How are all those wonderful new face recognition cameras doing ?

      1. As it is only the criminal who hides their face, what is the point of recognition cameras?

        We really are living in a dreadful dystopia.

    1. That word illegal seems to refer to all of them. So why in fact are any of them here at all ?

      1. Radical left Britain-hating Troty commie nonces in control of everything.. have been for a while.

        1. Oh of course 🤗😉
          In other words our political idiots allowing our country and its established culture and social structure to be wrecked.

          1. and the sweetest nut(s) for them..
            you are paying for it.. and you can't vote your way out of it.

          2. And now 'they' can't stand the flag waving either because it shows up all the dreadful and stupid 'mistakes' they are still deliberately making.

        2. They are all uninvited wogs , who have discarded their ID's and their passports .
          They have no right to be here .

          Britain is our home , they have entered our country uninvited , what a joke politicians are especially when one requires visa to visit other countries and we have to have up to date driving licences and passports and TV licences.

          Have any of you experienced an angry panga waving mob?

          Things kick off so quickly , their anger level is uncontrollable , their mob mentality is worse than the British ..

          Hearing and seeing a drugged up panga waving mob moving quickly through a neighbourhood is terrifying .

          When I was a child in Africa , those things happened , we used to hide under our beds ( the days before divans )

          When I was and adult and on a married accompanied with Moh in Nigeria , we had security bars on the windows and a security gate on the doors , but more frightening was the security gate we had to lock in the hallway leading to the bedrooms at night .. se that we felt secure in our bedrooms ..

          Hearing drunk rampages is terrifying , they make noises , and rattle around and shout..

          Yes and when one was travelling in a VW wagon to the shops / market with a security guard , one often wondered whose side he would be on .

          There are many horrible images that I can't let go of .. and that is why I am heartbroken that our own Britain is overrun by those rats of multi hues!

    1. But what about saying something Muslims would like?

      For example: "We want the age of sexual consent lowered to 12!"

      (But didn't Harriet Harman and Patricia Hewitt say that they were in favour of this?)

      1. Jews celebrate the coming of the age of responsibility with the Bar Mitzva for boys at the age of 13. Some Muslims feel that the first menstruation of a Muslim girl should be celebrated because it shows she is ready for marriage.

      2. 9 surely. The perfect man (piss be unto him) waited until his bride attained that great age, I believe.

    2. To see who has the power, look at whom you are not allowed to criticise…

      2. Wah! Wah! Waysist!!!

        joking aside, i get really niggardly when things like this hapen.

          2. Speaking of which…Saw an ad yesterday. For $299,000 you can go on a world cruise that never ends. All inclusive. Not only do they do your laundry they also make your bed.

            I'm considering it.

    2. Be careful what you wish for. Look who’s waiting in the wings. Out of the frying pan into the inferno.

  26. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/22/starmer-insists-britain-is-not-broken-here-is-the-truth/

    Further pain is expected in the Chancellor’s second Budget, with some analysts claiming the size of the black hole she has to fill in the public finances is as high as £50bn.

    Except it isn't. It's far, far worse than that. The state spends almost our entire GDP. The UK is well over 18 trillion quid in debt on a 2 trillion quid economy. We borrow 150bn to pay debt interest of 100bn. Debt interest. Not the debt.

    The debt continues to grow because we're borrowing to pay it off. It is utterly unsustainable. Reeves is incompetent and useless. Every single thing she is doing is wrong. It's not her, of course. She's not bright enough to actually present a budget, so this comes from the Treasury and it's insane obsession with 'modern monetary theory' whereby there are no consequences to massive debt as long as the state keeps spending money: this is moronic, because the only group insulated from that is the state.

    1. Is there anything to be done before the Budget, or do we just wait and see what fresh hell will be unleashed on home-owners?

      1. There is nothing we can do. That's 99% of the problem. These idiots are a bull in a China shop, charging around, crapping everywhere.

        If we could refuse the budget – referism – that'd be something but we can't. Universal franchise ensures society's failures have more of a say than the successful. We have simply got to survive it, then make sure they're erased as a political force forever more.

        1. Labour know darn well they will not be re-elected, so they are inflicting a götterdämmerung on us before they are electorally nuked.
          (Unless they can find a spurious excuse to stop elections because of a "national emergency".)

    1. PS this is hot on the heels of the information published yesterday that suddenly all the rail network is going to be repaired that day.

      1. Funnily enough I can find no mention of TR on that date, but several mentions about "anti fascism" marches – you can even donate and/or download your A5 poster!

      1. 👍 nothing screams “we are going to do Transprode and Diversity” like the word “vibrant” does it??

    4. Will there be Morris dancing twerking? I'm not going if there's no Morris dancing twerking.

      1. This joke was told me by a Jewish friend:

        Q. What is the difference between a Jew and a Morris dancer?
        A. The Morris dancer is a complete prick!

        1. A Jewish man and a Chinese man walk into a bar. A couple drinks in, they start arguing, and the Jewish man says "You know, I never really liked your kind." The Chinese man asks him why. The Jew replies "Because you bombed Pearl Harbor." The Chinese man scoffs. "That was the Japanese!" "Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese–it's all the same to me," says the Jew.

          "Well, I don't like your kind either" counters the Chinese man. "What, why?" aks the Jew. "Because you sunk the Titantic!" The Jewish man rolls his eyes. "That was an iceberg!" "Oh Iceberg, Goldberg, Rosenberg–it's all the same to me!"

          1. True story, probably a repeat.
            Years ago some friends of friends were sailing to Poole for the weekend, on their modest yacht.
            A local young woman was invited, as a treat, but she was most reluctant to go.
            When asked to explain why, she mentioned that her passport was out of date.
            " Passport??!" they asked.
            "Yes" she said, "Poole Harbour, isn't that where the Japs attacked?"

      2. I’m not going full stop as i am going to the rally in London. I have just googled to see what it is called but only getting results from all the trades unions exhorting their thugs to “stand up to fascism” and come and stop the rally. They all say the same thing: stop the fascist TR formerly known as yaddah yaddah

        For example
        https://standuptoracism.org.uk/march-against-fascism-on-saturday-13-september-stop-tommy-robinson/

        Well with the “Antifa” fascists out to cause trouble, i am seeing another side to the issue.

  28. Good morning, all. High broken cloud and sunny.

    My town is now a City of Sanctuary. I am underwhelmed but at the same time bothered by this move approved by our Labour MP.

    I can neither agree nor disagree with Colchester Mum's second sentence as after writing to my MP early on, and being ignored, I decided that she is not worthy of my time and I haven't followed her career, such as it is, being a member of Starmer's crew.

    She is, however, well represented in the voting lists. This morning I did a quick check of her Parliamentary voting record and found only one incidence of her voting against the majority, there may be more as I skipped quickly through but in the main her vote has gone with the majority whether AYE or NO. Hardly a controversial character.

    Plenty of housing development going on around the town, Chesterwell and Gt Horkesley to the northwest, Fordham to the west and some grotesque development happening to the east/northeast bordering with Tendring and the A120.

    https://x.com/ColchMumOG/status/1958473005077573683

    1. What do her constituents think of her decision? Will Ms Cox now take responsibility for gimmigrant crime? How about we start with entering the country illegally?

    2. "Sanctuary" has taken on a new meaning. "Colchester mum" has blocked me. I have no idea who she is or what I might have done to offend her.

  29. A quick run into Twigg's to exchange an empty propane gas cylinder for a full one, which allowed a quick dive into Marks and Expensives to see what not so expensive yellow tagged items they were flogging cheap.
    Not a bad haul!

  30. Estelle Morris was the minister of education in Blair's government. She showed that it is possible to be a Labour minister and honest at the same time. She resigned because she admitted that she was simply not up to the job.

    She should serve as a fine example not just for Bridget Phillipson but also for all the members of Starmer's lamentable government.

      1. I requested a non-"Smart" meter and guess what?
        That request was ignored. I'm not happy.

        1. We had one forced on us a few months ago. The main difference is that OH no longer has to send in monthly readings. We never bothered to plug in the monitor that shows how fast it uses up money.

  32. If we can't deport them tell them
    "So Mr Illegal Migrant, you've lost all your papers and won't tell us who you really are.
    That's fine, given that's the case, you don't get anything whatsoever from Britain and never will.
    The door's over there, good bye."

    1. We ought to get some value out of the Chagos Islands for which the UK has to pay rent to Mauritius.

      If Rwanda is no good then why not use the Chagos Islands as the place to send all illegal immigrants?

      Who knows – Australia was the place to which criminals were sent in the19th century and it has flourished. Maybe the Chagos Islands could flourish in the same way if it were peopled by deportees from the UK?

  33. Amazing how TV has changed so much in such a short time. This time of day we have lots of shouting people who have obviously had their teeth whitened waving their arms around trying to make some sort of personal but vague point.

      1. Not all the time, but because of my mobility problems I need to sit a lot.
        Am I being naughty auntie Anne ☺️🤔😉

          3. In the past I have read a lot of books Anne I couldn't put them down sometimes. But my traditional make up has changed a lot over the past decades. I can't seem to get much further than the first two chapters, sometimes feeling, oh no not that one again.

          4. Some are certainly heavy going – it's good to find something that captures your interest.

          1. I’d gladly give up paying the telly tax but OH watches quite a lot of sport so we still have to pay it. The free licence for over 75s stopped before I reached that age.

  34. I will be the first to point out that we are only seeing one side of the account; and it is the DM.
    However, given the claimed 3 prior years of bullying and the sustained effort that it took to inflict that degree of damage, should the school and its staff be examined more closely?
    Or – perish the thought – is this another Sharon Matthews type case?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15023975/bullies-Cinderella-tears-tearing-dress-pieces-school-prom.html#newcomment

    1. What are all these "school proms" for? They didn't exist in my day………….then it was teenagers at a leaving do, or post exams – and now 11year olds??

        1. We had the same. A lunch, of food that we recognised from the canteen, on the front lawn. After all that work for A levels…I remember thinking, is that it? is school now over forever? Some kind of ceremony would have been better, I think.
          It was such an inadequate way of marking the end of that time, in my head I still sometimes can't believe that I have left school. On some subconscious level, I expect to be going back there…then I remember that both my parents are dead and I have grown up children.
          My children's school had a formal evening with photos and presentations when the certificates came out.

          2. I started grammar school in 1967. About a dozen of us still get together every Christmas.

          4. My last day at Primary School i sobbed my heart out. The teachers were more like parents than my parents.

          1. Another clue for those confused by Mr Tastey's clue: He is between the person on his left and the person on his right. Lol!

          3. Was the entire staff female, Ndovu? (Not including the person who came to take the photo.)

      3. We used to have a Sixth Form Ball with tuxedos and ball gowns and ballroom dancing when I was teaching. When I was a pupil we had nothing.

    3. Prom? ugh.
      £450? What no limousine & security?
      btw, several of the children at my daughter's school had bodyguards.. ex gurkhas in suits. For different reasons, obv.

    4. When I was a housemaster three boys in my house were caught bullying. They were expelled immediately.

      Bullying is a cancer in schools and especially in boarding schools. It has to be cut out and the only solution must be fast and decisive .

      1. I was given to understand that it was character-building. Not sure what sort of character they had in mind.

      2. Or in my case (I was the victim) take steps to stop it yourself. A split lip ended the bullying. They don’t like it up ‘em.

  35. Obvious but nevertheless to the point, trolling of the SUTR clique by Lee Anderson MP.

    How do the SUTR clones feel about their Country being literally invaded day by day by young men from the Third World? I'm assuming that these SUTR types have some cognitive capacity remaining. Of course, I may be somewhat generous in my assumption.

    And the answer to his request is…

    https://x.com/LeeAndersonMP_/status/1958805624239628484

    2. “This means you can now open up your own homes at your own expense to provide meals and accommodation.

      Please drop me a note below if you want to help.

      Or give me an excuse why you can't.

      This will be wonderful.”

      Somehow i don't think Mr Anderson will be hearing anything from the race grifters

    1. Oh dear. Not a fact. Never mind, keep making it up, Femi.

      (Who she anyway?)

    2. Rum and Black have started a political party for people like you, Kemi – good luck!

    3. She didn’t advocate it (defective English comprehension there) she said she wouldn’t be bothered if someone did. I suspect she is not alone.

    4. Dan Wootton says Lucy Conolly is a hero. She is not, she is a heroine. (There, that's confused many of the younger generation who can't spell.)

    1. When we first moved to our part of North Essex 35 years ago, several of the fields around us were orchards. Those are not particularly large acreages but have for the past 30 years been given over to wheat, barley or oats or rape.

      I understand that the wheat and rape is grown for bio- fuels. Recently the same fields have grown maize which I believe is for cattle feed.

      I would rather that our agriculture returned to smaller holdings and concentrated on a market garden model viz. growing food for human consumption. Even our brewers have to import barley from Vietnam.

      1. Biodegradeable plastic is made from maize, I believe. I agree, where I live there is very little food produced.

        1. Yes, all the orchards around north Colchester were grubbed up.
          Many seem to have grown a fine crop of houses.

    2. As many people here are scornful of any linkage between food transportation mileages and environmental sustainability, I imagine that argument will cut little ice on this forum.

    3. So, would that mean only seasonal food & veg could be sold and many foods would disappear – as avocados don't grow in the UK anyway unless you use a lot of greenhouse energy, oranges the same. Have to be replaced by apples and blackberries.
      The price includes for farming, transport, logistics, staff and margin – and margin is small, under 5% – see ChatGPT's input below:

      Here’s what I found regarding the **profit margins on food at Sainsbury’s in the UK**, particularly in their grocery/food retail segment:

      #### 1. Operating Profit Margin (Retail)

      * In the UK and Ireland last year, Sainsbury’s reported an **operating profit margin of approximately 3.2%** ([Financial Times][1]).

      * By comparison, Tesco's was around 4.6%, and Asda's was below 3% ([Financial Times][1]).

      #### 2. Gross Profit Margin (All Retail, Including Food)

      * **GurusFocus** data indicates a **gross margin of 6.66%** for the quarter ending February 2025 ([GuruFocus][2]).

      * **AlphaSpread** lists Sainsbury’s gross margin around **7.8%**, compared to an industry average of ~32.8%, highlighting the tight margins in grocery retail ([ http://www.alphaspread.com ][3]).

      #### 3. Net Profit Margin

      * According to MarketScreener, for Sainsbury’s last reported periods, the **net income margin** ranged between **0.4% and 2.26%**, with fluctuations over recent years ([MarketScreener UK][4]).

      #### 4. Broader Grocery Sector Context

      * A general indicator for **retail grocery and food sector** profit margin in the US is around **2.0%**, reflecting typical low-margin food retail dynamics ([Wikipedia][5]).

      | Typical Grocery Retail (US) | ~2.0% |

      ### Insights & Context

      * The **operating margin of ~3.2%** indicates that Sainsbury’s follows the **very tight-profit model** typical in grocery retail, where **scale and volume** are essential to profitability.

      * The modest **gross margin of around 7%** further underscores the limited buffer between selling price and cost of goods.

      * The **net margin**, sometimes below 1%, demonstrates how many operating costs—like staffing, logistics, taxes, and energy—quickly erode profitability.

      * These figures align with broader industry norms where **grocery margins hover around just a few percent** even in favorable conditions.

      [1]: https://www.ft.com/content/8501386c-3653-43ca-a71c-9704964ac373?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Asda fires opening salvo as UK supermarket price war looms"

      [2]: https://www.gurufocus.com/term/grossmargin/LSE%3ASBRY?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Sainsbury (J) (LSE:SBRY) Gross Margin %"

      [3]: https://www.alphaspread.com/security/dus/suy1/profitability/ratio/gross-margin?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Gross Margin – J Sainsbury PLC (DUS:SUY1) – Alpha Spread"

      [4]: https://uk.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/J-SAINSBURY-PLC-9590189/finances-ratios/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "J Sainsbury plc: Financial Ratios (10 years), Financial Data | MarketScreener UK"

      [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_margin?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Profit margin"

      1. So, reducing margin at point of sale wouldn't do farmers much good, all assuming that the prices paid to the farmers were increased by that %age.

  39. My mum has just put me on to this, from yesterday’s Daily Fail:

    “an asylum seeker living in a taxpayer -funded hotel is running a lucrative graphic design business from within his lodgings and ‘making thousands’.

    Extraordinary footage obtained by the Daily Mail of the man’s room at the Thistle City Barbican in London shows a Macbook laptop and imac computer, Selfridges bags and a £580 Louis Vuitton wallet.

    The migrant, understood to be originally from Sudan but spent the last two years living in Dubai before coming to Britain, was said to have been working on ‘Silicon Valley-style’ pitches on a third Mac laptop at the time the footage was taken.
    A source who filmed the room said the man spoke openly about the fact his asylum claim was based on persecution for being gay.

    The source said: ‘I asked if the claim was legitimate, and he said “of course not”.’
    The Daily Mail has since discovered that the man appears to have a wife who is still living in Dubai who works for a major Emirati investment firm.

    On top of thousands of pounds worth of Apple equipment, the Sudanese designer’s room also contained a large printer, a bag from London’s designer department store Liberty, a Nespresso coffee machine and two bottles of luxury Voss water.
    Asylum seekers typically get £49.18 per week from the Government to support their living costs as well as having their accommodation paid for. They receive £9.95 per week if their accommodation provides meals…..”

    Later on it says how he refused to be relocated from the City of London to Manchester.

    And they wonder why we are at boiling point.

    1. I wouldn’t mind if he weren’t using tax payers’ money and paying back in to the Exchequer. This is just fraud.

      1. Yup. But not if you are Diversity because “black and brown people” can’t do any wrong don’t forget.

    2. I thought sub-Saharan Africans were only capable of starting fires with sticks and hunting animals with spears. Something here doesn't add up.

      1. After a few years of solid religious education at St Mary's SM, at 15 and a half I decided to leave of my own accord. I could never see the point of it.

        1. You wouldn’t have a choice under submission. Grow a beard wear that nightshirt or else.

          5. I use to be in the top 5 in the class exams. But the best religious instruction teacher we ever had who made it all sound interesting was a Jewish lady. That sort of countermands my previous comment to Ogga's comment.

          6. Many RI or RE or in my case SK (Scripture Knowledge) teachers were not specialists but just allocated lessons in their timetable. They probably had as much enthusiasm for it as I did when I was told I had to teach a taster French lesson to the future year 7 intake w hen they were still in junior school.

      2. …a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

        Or that is how it must seem. I have not been back to England since the early noughties, and it would I think be a huge shock to go back now. In contrast, I went to my local bank and our local supermarket yesterday – friendly staff, all locals, and not a hijab or similar to be seen.

          1. 93% white, ethnic origins mostly English, Scots or German.
            96% Christian, 1% Muslim.

            What's not to like?

        2. There are few hijabs round here – just the girl in the post office – but this is a quiet enclave.

    2. From my secondary school headmistress: "Some people say that we should teach comparative religion. Well, Hindus believe that women are reincarnated as birds!"

      1. I thought they were birds when they were still young women – at least that's how they were referred to back in the day.

    3. Children in British schools now get lessons on Islam as part of their curriculum

      Lesson No. 2 – Bomb-making for Beginners.

    4. When picking up our five and a half year old grandson after school I have noticed that one of the teachers or an assistant is dressed in a colourful long gown and head scarf. At C of E primary school.

    5. Ha.. brilliant.. Children in British schools now get lessons on Islam
      The law of unintended consequences.. can lead to unexpected/undesired outcomes.
      Going down any of those rabbit holes and the kids will soon get wise to the 'unmitigated success' of Islam over the centuires.

      1. Hopefully learning from parents and Grand parents. And The wonderful stories told in the TV programmes Blood and Gold.

    6. I did too, in RE lessons. Also Christianity, Judaeism, you name it.
      Wasn't listening, as wasn't interested.

    8. Will. Muz kids have to visit RC churches and hold mock communion ceremonies? Answers on a postcard…

  41. Morning all. Just drinking my second coffee before I take the dogs.

    Working class pupils have been shafted since Tony Crosland vowed to close every effing grammar school.

    1. Upward mobility? Don't want that. It reduces Labour's support.

      A lot of the pupils at my school were on the assisted place scheme and regardless of background, were very bright, And all the parents were very supportive. None of the "class" nonsense for them.

    2. And Crosland of course was Highgate and Oxford. Just keep the proles in their place thinking.

    1. Not too long ago we use to make completed aircraft in the UK. My late F i L use to work at Handley Page and British aerospace.

      1. Sadly, thanks to the ineptitude of Politicians, poor management and the recalcitrance of Trades Unions, British Industry had had its wings clipped!

        1. Yes with the given risk of repeating my self ….."Everything they come into contact with they eff it up and big time"!

          2. Oh, it can be! It has been said – also perhaps too often – that variety is the spice of life.

        2. Not just ineptitude. More like spite. They not only pulled the plug on the TSR2 they had the jigs destroyed. Labour of course.

    2. This is how the modern world works. Elements are made globally and assembled in stages. The motors for hard disks are made by a single company in Japan. It's precision engineering and the tooling is complex, but I imagine they buy parts globally.

      Everything is interconnected.

    3. When I was at anchor in Tenerife in 1984 there was a sand storm in the Sahara and the decks, cockpit, and coach-roof of Mianda were covered in a film of sand a couple of mm thick.

      1. Myths and legends. Aussies know the big wet is a fairy tale they tell to children. Even the boats have holes in the bottom to get their legs through for a boat race. pfft !

        1. That's in a town like Alice.
          I've been with and old buddy when we stopped the car after a huge rainstorm and we picked some large fish off the road.

  44. Interesting point raised in the BTL comments in a Telegraph article today which reports that the Home Office plans to appeal against an injunction granted to Epping District Council. The Home Office was not party to the proceedings in the High Court; it was Epping DC v Somani Hotels Ltd.
    Any Nottlers who understand about judges' attitudes?

    2. A big mistake from the Home Office. The consequences could bring down the Gumment.

      2. It just keeps the matter in the public eye.
        But this government is stuffed with vindictive ideologues, not pragmatists with an understanding of human nature.

      4. The Government will just cling on, whatever the outcome. The days of of a government here being "brought down" before a General Election went at the same time as people falling on their sword and resigning. Profumo is past.

      2. Me. If he is a he, he cannot be a “she” and as a woman i object vigorously to having men pretend they are women. I know it’s something men just don’t understand. And that’s yet another reason why men cannot ever “be” women.

    2. Is it really any one's business but his/her own?

      Are they commiting a crime? Are they demanding obeisance be paid to their ideology? No. They're not causing me any problems, let them do what they like.

      1. If they were lobbying for "trans rights", I'd have an issue but otherwise, live and let live. If he/she had children in his/her previous marriage then presumably like the Obama children, they were adopted or there was a surrogacy arrangement. I'd rather such arrangements weren't legal but since they are, it's hard to blame the participants.

        1. me too.

          Do what you like if you aren’t in the public eye.

          But not if you are and are pushing “gay” marriage laws and “trans id”.

          1. I don't care if they are in the public eye. As long as the other doesn't make a fuss what's the harm?

    3. I'm not getting the point of this. Are those grainy monochrome images of a young man supposed to be Brigitte Macron? I know nothing about Vegas other than it's in Nevada, renowned for its casinos and night-time economy, and was revered by Elvis Presley in a song. As for a 9/11 kiosk ring, I've no idea what that is. Was it a phone call from a telephone booth on the day of the Twin Towers atrocity? I gather that Candace Owens has garnered a reputation for spreading scurrilous gossip. It wouldn't be my way of seeking attention, but each to their own.

        1. Mere trifling details for the likes of Candace Owens. She has a scoop of her own invention and will not be deflected.

      1. In the case of an emergency in flight that requires oxygen, you are told to don your own mask first before trying to help others.

        1. If you want a laugh – if the person seated next to you has fallen asleep put on your lifejacket and oxygen mask then give them a nudge

    1. My good side doesn't want anyone to be hurt.
      My bad side hopes it's a disaster and is subsequently banned.

      2. It would never be banned, that’s the trouble. We would need to reclaim the capital first (on the way to a Reconquista of the whole country).

      3. Ask yourself: would Little Oozing-in-the-Mud carnival be allowed to cause such disruption?

        1. "It's always a disaster."

          As The Donald might say, bigly disastrous, way beyond the recent levels of criminality, depravity, debauchery and plain unpleasantness.

    2. I always feel that way when there's a stampede at Mecca. If they trample each other to death then so be it. No blood on my hands. I've been caught up in the Notting Hill fiasco in the past by just foolishly trying to go about my normal business and get from A to B. Best not to try.

      1. Some words from Jeremy Taylor's London Talking Blues in the 1960s

        Now England's a multi-racial state
        They don't have no apartheid
        Especially around Notting Hill Gate.

        They got two way traffic up there – the blacks moving in and the whites moving out.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxc3UtC8eX4

        Would you believe it – Jeremy now lives in France! (ref: the last couple of lines of his Blues)

    1. This government proudly boasts that it's delivering on its electoral promise of change, as if change is a desirable end in itself, irrespective of what's being changed or how.

      1. TBF: it has delivered change.
        But, as you say, was it change that voters actually wanted (or thought they were getting)?

      2. They say change because they've nothing else. Weak people never think 'from what, to what'?

        No one really wants their 'change'. If it's a plan, they need to be locked away.

    2. What 'plan'? You mean this chaotic, spiteful insulting destruction was planned? Why have you capitalised it? These are not proper nouns.

      Who cares about 'communities'. There's only one society, one culture – British. If other 'communidees' don't like it, get rid of them.

      The way to allow children to thrive is to not destroy their schools, you stupid, arrogant bastard. It'd mean leaving them alone to make their own choices. To encourage freedom of choice and opportunity – the last thing you vermin Leftists want.

      Of course, he's slapped inheritance tax on farmers, an intergenerational business. He's going after inheritance tax. He's an utter, complete liar and I hate him.

      Sod of, you lying sack of excrement. No, that's unfair. Poo is the product of an efficient system. You're a cancer. A malfunctioning, destructive element that must be cut out.

  49. My jam roly poly was a success. Though it took twice as long as the recipe stated. I like my suet puddings to be crispy on the outside.

    Half a bucket of Madascan vanilla custard and strawberry jam like lava.

    That's desserts sorted for the next week.

      1. Inspired by the Letters and the William Sitwell article about great British puds.

        It was very nice. I have decided to rename it 'breakfast'.

  50. I meant to say before that I took note in Ward A9 at Hammersmith Hospital that my bedside cabinet contained a copy of the New Testament and Psalms. Presumably that's throughout the hospital and while those books won't be paid for by the NHS, there is clearly – and thankfully – no objection.

    1. I suspect it is the Gideons Bible , they leave a Bible everywhere .. including hotels .
      Good for them , and bless them .

      https://gideonsinternational.org.uk/

      Will you be alright Sue , and when is your procedure .

      My younger sister has just had a new hip , her hips were a mess, she climbs mountains , trail walks with groups , and she lives in Cape Town .. well probably 20 miles away in Muizenberg .. both sister were top hockey players , and youngest sister will be having two new hips nearer Christmas , after my nieces wedding , aagain probably in a clinic near Johannesburg .

      I am waiting for MRI results , I hope to goodness I don't need a new hip .. I live in a difficult house with stairs , and have a resident son and husband who wouldn't cope !

      1. Hopefully I'll be done on Tuesday 26th and from 2nd Sept I'm booked in to the convalescent wing at the nearby Chiswick Nursing Centre.

      1. A very forgetful bloke – he stays in hotels a lot and keeps forgetting to take his bible with him when he leaves

    3. I learned a lot from staying in Marriotts in the US back when I was travelling extensively on business. The Book of Mormon was in every bedside cabinet, the founding Marriott family being devout Mormons. Having met many, while I may look askance at some of their beliefs, they are mostly very honest, upright citizens, who believe in the sanctity of marriage among other things.

      For example, when the New Orleans flood occurred, the first relief supplies came from the local LDS Bishop's Storehouse, which is there to provide food, clothing, etc., to the needy.

      Could never be one – no alcohol or coffee allowed.

  51. No wonder I have a bad night's sleep , and recurrent nightmares .. and the stuff I know all about is now well bedded in here in the UK.

    Listen , a few of us on here swore loyalty to the Queen when we were younger , and joined our various career groups to support our armed forces , and as I have said before I was a student Naval nurse , QARNN.. in the 1960's , will be 60 years since I was 18 years old , and when I and a few others were selected to be accepted ..

    Hey , what happened .. we were the children of parents who fought for the Great Britain during WW2 .. What on earth will their reaction be if they came back and saw this?

    https://x.com/MartinDaubney/status/1958206939772424521

        1. Yes, we saw how good they are in the news coverage of the Gulf War. Straight down the building lift shafts as I recall.

    3. It's neither brainwashing nor normalising radical Islam. It merely sets out some basic facts and tenets of the religion and says nothing about the radical elements intent on waging Holy War.

    4. Missed out one..

      Imposition

      "Oh btw we dont like; bacon, women, gays, music, alcohol, Christians, Dues.. oh definitely them oh yes, museums, artefacts, your law, your culture.."

      "Oh btw it's never enough for us.. we expect (actually demand by force over time you'll realise kiddies) you to refrain from liking; bacon, women, gays, music, alcohol, Christians, Dues, museums, artefacts, your law, your culture.."

    5. Ffs. Why the constant continuous continual pushing of this ideology? Are they trying to incite us? No wonder they are trying to shut down the internet and GB News. They must hate us finding out about this.

    6. Are they not proving that their entire religion is nothing but a hate filled fest where killing people is acceptable and that they're appalling myoginists?

    7. Presumably there will be similar posters outlining the basic tenets of other religions? If so, I don't have a problem with this one describing Islam. RE in schools makes pupils aware of the beliefs of the major faiths. It is not meant for proselytising.

  52. I am a bit shocked…a colleague has died suddenly. Started getting dizzy a few months ago, had a stroke a couple of weeks ago and passed away yesterday. She was a very nice person and very popular. Rather overweight and I believe – covid jabbed, probably multi. Whole company very upset.

    1. So sorry , really shocking for you .

      A 62 year old neighbour , chap on his own died last week , and no one knew until a close neighbour spotted several discrepancies which looked suspicious .. lights on etc .. poor chap had been dead 2 days ..

      Things happen ..

  54. Just dropped into my in-box.

    Dear Anne,

    I’m happy to be able to share some welcome economic news with you in these troubled and depressing times.

    One sector of our otherwise flatlining economy seems to be thriving. If you’re a manufacturer of flags (specifically, the St George’s Cross or the Union Jack), you have been coining it over the last couple of weeks.

    According to one report, 50,000 such flags were sold over a three-day period this week. That’s pretty good going – especially considering there’s no major sporting event featuring England this summer (apologies in advance for offending anyone who will be glued to the Women’s Rugby Union World Cup).

    The protests outside asylum hotels have taken on a carnival-type atmosphere. There is anger for sure but no sense of poisonous racism – just a steely determination. This has been helped by the presence of the Pink Ladies and I particularly like their slogan – “We’re not far right but we are not far wrong!”. I wish I’d thought of that for PopCon.

    Of real interest to me over recent days has been to watch liberal-left commentators and pundits seek – and typically fail – to explain their attitude to flag waving. I heard one suggesting that it was fine to wave the Union Jack outside asylum hotels but the St George’s Cross? No, that wasn’t appropriate apparently. Why this should be the case wasn’t made at all clear.

    Another suggested that the use of either flag should be cautiously welcomed – but only if it “united rather than divided us”.

    This seems to completely misunderstand what a flag means. It unites a particular group, cohort or tribe – but also distinguishes its bearer from other groups, cohorts and tribes.

    As an obsessive football fan, I own many more Southampton FC shirts, scarves, caps and badges than I do British/English flags (although I do have several of the latter).

    When I wear any item from my (ridiculously extensive) collection of Saints clothing, I’m not advertising that I am broadly sympatico with the many hundreds of millions of people across the globe who have a general interest in association football. Absolutely not. Instead, I’m displaying my specific loyalty to Southampton FC and my comradeship with those long-suffering souls who share my allegiance.

    In much the same way, our flags show BOTH unity AND difference. This causes a mixture of distress and confusion for those of a universalist liberal mindset who cling to the bizarre concept that all peoples and cultures are exactly the same.

    Diversity (in its literal rather than DEI sense) – not dull conformity – is something to cherish. I just wish we had a proper English phrase for “vive la difference”.

    Keep all your flags flying high,

    Mark Littlewood : PopCon Director

    1. Wow ! Well said.

      Shame he's a Soton supporter. Losers !!!

      I have to say that because my neighbour is a lifelong Pompey supporter. He is also from Leigh Park. You don't mess with them. They make Milwall look a bit sissy

      1. It's always nice when there's a Derby on. The roads are quiet, Tesco is nigh empty and you can get real work done.

        1. Best Derbies ever were Liverpool vs. Everton and Celtic vs Rangers. Good tribal battles – and results settled in the pubs afterwards.

      2. Leigh Park – my first ever holiday destination, aged four. Aunty Mary and Uncle Ken lived in Soberton Road. I suspect it was less of a shithole in 1961…

        1. Is that the Aunty Mary who had a canary up the leg of her drawers? – I'll let someone else finish the ditty……

    1. There was no chance the Home office would ever let it go. They will never, ever permit the invasion to stop. As soon as the public get uppity, they'll simply fight harder.

      It's pure, simple spite. They hate us and want to replace us with the diversity pollution: all because we said no to them.

    1. You'll either have to hire either an assassin or a snoop willing to stake him out and take images of him in a compromising situation. I cannot think of any other way of hastening his departure.

      1. It's getting to the point that'll be necessary. The problem is another fool steps in his place. This stops when the entire hoax is abandoned.

        1. It will not be abandoned in my lifetime. Only violent terrorism will bring about an end to the environmental and climate policies you disapprove of. Voting will not work. You just have to weigh up whether the blood, guts and destruction will be worth it, as well as the high risk of your own incarceration.

  58. I AM THOROUGHLY FED UP with the bleating about the poor immigrants who undertake the dangerous, life-threatening journey to cross the English Channel.

    In 2024 the number of deaths crossing the Channel was apparently 82. That is of course, sad.

    In 2024, there were an estimated 1,633 road traffic fatalities in the UK, and approximately 128,375 casualties of all severities. Perhaps we should prohibit the poor darlings from going on our roads after they have made their perilous journey…

      1. I wonder what proportion of those casualties are due to drivers over 70 years old? Other useful stats might be under 25s and those who never took a test and/or have no insurance!

        1. Some, no doubt, but by far the most dangerous drivers are chavs in their Fiat puntos with a pringles tube for an exhaust.

        2. According to stats both in Britain and here, older drivers have less insurance claims than younger ones. Including the over 70's. Here. there's a compulsory eyetest with every licence renewal, i.e. every 5 years typically.

        3. Ask ChatGPT.
          I got:

          If looking at all road deaths: approximately 22 % involve drivers aged 70 and over.
          If focusing on car driver fatalities specifically: about 25 % are drivers aged 70+.
          A December 2023 RAC Foundation breakdown shows around 51.86 million driving licences registered with DVLA, including 41.99 million full licences and 9.87 million provisional ones

    2. Oh I thought that the government had all that covered they are reeling in over 60s now for extra driving licence requirements. And seem to have launched a cowardly attack by blaming all elderly drivers for problems on our roads. Basically by refusing to acknowledge the oldies have all passed a driving test in the UK and are aware of the rules and regulations. And of course make far fewer journeys than the rest of the road users.
      Unlike the other lot who have never taken a test in the UK 🇬🇧 or even seen the highway code.

    3. I don't care. It isn't sad. If you ask someone to jump off a cliff and they do then there's nothing sad when they die at the bottom. They made a choice to do something.

  59. It seems that a large proportion of the population will be heading for retail parks this bank holiday weekend browsing the shelves of Curry's for computers, washing machines, dishwashers and refrigerators. That's the impression I'm getting from being bombarded by its saturation television advertising.

    2. She's probably already been set up to 'take it on the chin' that'll keep the attention off of where it really should be. On the rest of the useless front bench.

    3. Somewhere else, I saw a very pertinent observation – the court case has nothing to do with the Home Office, it was between Epping and the hotel owner. Someone with a better legal knowledge than mine (no names mentioned!) might like to comment.

  61. I see the chub ster Lammy has got away with fishing without a licence! Hands up who is surprised!🙄

  63. Cartmel Bank Holiday Race Meeting starting tomorrow so we're laying low – the tiny roads around here are a nightmare of massive horse boxes and fairground equipment and rides being brought in.
    I get fed up reversing sometimes over a hundred yards to get to a potential passing place.
    We're close enough to walk to the racecourse (less than a mile) but we dont bother – around 10,000 people arrive in what is basically a tiny village and the place is inundated…..

    1. 411670+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Health & safety alert,
      Let NO foreign element stand betwixt an Englishman and his bacon buttie.

    2. 411670+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Health & safety alert,
      Let NO foreign element stand betwixt an Englishman and his bacon buttie.

  65. Police have arrested 100 people and taken dozens of weapons off the streets in a major operation ahead of this weekend’s Notting Hill Carnival.

    The Met said the arrests, which have resulted in 21 people being recalled to prison, are intended to disrupt and deter people posing the greatest risk to public safety at the event – expected to be attended by around one million people.

    As part of the operation, officers seized 11 firearms and more than 40 knives. Some 266 people now either have police bail or probation licence conditions not to come to Carnival this year.

    That'll make it safer.
    /sarc

    1. Why does there have to be a potential massively criminal event for the police to do this kind of thing?

      1. Enrichment, natch. Strange how many recalls to prison there were – wonder how they were let out? /sarc

    2. Proves the Caribs are a menacing troublesome bunch of louts !

      So , lets lay bets on , er how many do not see next next week breathing ?

  66. Wordle No. 1,525 3/6

    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 22 Aug 2025

    A scruffy Birdie Three?

    1. Well done, #metoo – my run of good fortune continues!!

      Wordle 1,525 3/6

      🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    4. Good one. Par for me.

      Wordle 1,525 4/6

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

    5. Been Golfing, scruffy pars for me. Who knows how I got the answer,
      Wordle 1,525 4/6

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

    6. Well done, hard going here, long day.

      Wordle 1,525 5/6

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

    1. There is some animal that thinks it is the Andrex puppy (possibly a squirrel) that raids my outside privy whenever the roll is positioned as in 'Yes!' unrolling it and then pushing the accumulated paper into the pan.

      1. No, surely not. Having it shoved in a box I can sort of understand as some plumbing cannot cope with a flushing toilet, but just dropping it on the floor?

    1. Pedant alert – the Union Flag in that painting is anachronistic – it didn't come into being until 1801, more than 20 years after the event depicted.

  71. Every Time Starmer Claimed Britain Is “Broken

    Starmer was the main peddler of the “Britain is Broken” narrative he is now launching a campaign against. Communications strategy’s coherence on display there…

    HuffPost reports that the PM ‘will launch an autumn fightback against Nigel Farage’s claim that “Britain is broken”‘ with Downing Street saying:

    “It’ll be about how the government is a force for good backing Britain, dismissing this sense of Britain being broken which the other parties seem obsessed with.”

    Guido cast his mind back a few months to remember who was claiming Britain was ‘broken.’ Hold on a second…

    Starmer alone declared:

    5 August: Asylum system is “broken.“
    21 July: Water industry is “broken.“
    28 March: Northern transport system is “broken.“
    18 March: Welfare system is “fundamentally broken.“
    13 February: Contract of expecting roof over your head was ‘broken’ by Tories.
    4 December: Railways are “broken.“
    3 October: NHS is “broken.”
    29 July: “The assessment is that Britain is broke and broken.”
    And that’s just the PM. After months of his entire frontbench crowing about how destroyed everything is voters may not be convinced Sir Keir has magically fixed it…

    August 22 2025 @ 09:34

    Notional Trust
    4h
    Did he not mention how the thing most broken is his own word?

    Foulan https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/90f8f95411cea16c203c89546c15082f22b7a9996737af90323469e0a88fac89.png Ernest Nowell
    4h
    Certainly private industry, small business and hospitality is broken. Mostly because of the Labour government’s actions, taxes, employment laws, Net Zero. Thousands of of private sector jobs going none in the bloated blob and Public sector!
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b931a475ad1ea3a62e855e8f5c063368b8472cb81664e76c2f98f553c529352f.png

    1. Britain is broken. The Left took an axe to it, then a hammer and set fire to the remains. All because they're evil, spiteful, nasty people.

  72. Putting the house back this weekend. Cleaning, replacing furniture, putting the house back after replacement floor, walls & ceining in bathroom, replacement of stairs to the 3 floors, replacement of the small playroom & kitchen floors.
    Finally! Thank God. It seems to have been forever…

  73. Big Ant
    O/T. A group of volunteer gardeners, who have more than 100 years’ service between them, have been axed by the National Trust at Mottistone Gardens.
    Around 13 volunteers say they are “shocked and saddened” at the way they have been treated, and claim the allegations around their sudden dismissals have never been explained to them.

    For years, they have lovingly cared for the award-winning gardens, some working through the pandemic in their own hubs, giving up hours of their time each week to keep the grounds looking pristine.

    Graham Field, who is acting as spokesman for the group, twice wrote to the Island’s National Trust asking for an explanation, but their hopes of speaking to senior members of the organisation were dashed this week with confirmation they were no longer working there.

    Graham claims: “Initially, in June, we were told that all volunteering was being paused ‘as a necessary step to address serious concerns regarding the behaviours, attitudes, and values exhibited by some of the members of the team’.
    “We had no idea what the problems were as none of us was taken to one side and told what was happening. There had been no warnings, nothing.
    Too white
    Too English
    Too straight

    Stuart
    Big Ant
    2h
    In that case hell mend the National Trust, let’s see how many BAME “ volunteers will step up to the plate for them now.

    P A Lee
    Big Ant
    3h
    The National Trust is a total disgrace, taken over by Marxists.

    1. "Put not thy trust in Princes" should be updated to "Don't trust spiteful wokies." We have all had ample warning; we should not be supporting them or feeding their empires any longer. Instead, we should recognise that old institutions like universities, the National Trust, BBC etc are gone and not lend them any support or work for free for them.

      1. Univerisities certainly are demented bastions of DoubleThink. Money pours through them and braindead idiots trundle out the other end.

    1. I fancied a choc ice but decided to wafer for the bear to go, Mivvi I'll go back on Sundae.

    2. It may be brown in colour but it is an American black bear Ursus americanus.

      California grizzlies — despite being featured on the state's flag — are long extinct.

  75. Madeline Grant
    Bridget Phillipson is motivated by spite
    22 August 2025, 2:55pm

    There are few more irritating features of the modern apparatchik’s lexicon than ‘lived experience’. It implies the existence of some ‘unlived experience’ which is an impossibility. That said, I’m perfectly prepared to believe that members of the current cabinet know what it is to be zombies. Yet, in at least one area, the ‘lived experience’ tautology is more than just an irritation, but a serious problem: education.

    Bridget Phillipson has repeatedly shown her disdain for people who are actually at the forefront of educational attainment, arrogantly dismissing those with real expertise. One of her advisers told a newspaper recently that Ms Phillipson ‘didn’t need any lectures’ about education because ‘she’s lived it’. This week saw disappointing English and Maths results across the country; more than 40 per cent of pupils now fail basic reading comprehension or maths skills, rising higher among children in deprived areas. Ironically, one of the people at whom Phillipson has sneered is the headmistress Katharine Birbalsingh, whose school in a deprived area achieved, for the first time, an 100 per cent pass-rate in both English and Maths this year.

    One of Phillipson’s first acts in her role was to commission a ‘wide-ranging review’ (read: ideological recalibration) of examinations and the curriculum. This claimed – predictably – that they harm pupil wellbeing and recommended that teenagers take fewer GSCE exams because of fears they are overly stressed and are being taught merely for the test. She halved the budget of the highly-successful A-Level maths support scheme earlier in the year, despite warnings that it would harm the prospects of pupils from poorer areas of the country in particular, who are less likely to acquire the further maths qualifications needed to access top-tier university courses. Such actions point to the oppression of low expectations.

    Alongside the removal of academy freedoms – which have generated better results – there are numerous smaller attacks on aspiration and achievement. She has overseen an axing of support for not only maths but also computing, physics and Latin (the DfE callously pulled the plug on the state school Latin Excellence scheme midway through the year, leaving some participants unable to complete their GCSEs). All this is indicative of the government’s priorities: £135 million to give train drivers a pay-rise despite the public sector’s generally appalling productivity levels; untold billions to be committed to the Chagos insanity. Yet they cannot find comparatively small sums to support these schemes. The general trend is away from the rigour which Nick Gibb and Michael Gove prioritised and which led to measurable success. You detect a particular animosity towards anything which might be accused of ‘elitism’.

    This is best epitomised by the Education Secretary’s bizarre communication style. Every statement or tweet or interview reveals an obsession with the trappings of privilege; championing recent policies by railing against ‘posh blazers’ and ‘embossed stationery’. Ditto her barely suppressed smirk when told of private schools closing. None of this is actually about results but about appearing to punish people she hates. It’s as if someone wearing a blazer was rude to her on the school bus in the midst of that ‘lived experience’ which she so values and so now she’s wreaking her revenge. This is policy by Stephen King’s Carrie.

    We have also seen some quite staggering public deceit by the government. In June, the Prime Minister let the cat out of the bag when he said that the money raised from the VAT raid would be used to fund new homes, rather than recruiting 6,500 new teachers, as he and his ministers had always maintained. Again and again Labour promised that any money raised from the VAT raid would be hypothecated and sent straight into state school coffers.

    Sadly, it seems as if it isn’t only Phillipson who thinks the function of government policy is to punish perceived wrongs or settle the scores of the past. It’s interesting that this bit of obvious fiction has passed largely without comment; or indeed outcry from Labour’s backbenchers. If they cared about improving educational prospects as much as they say they do, they’d surely be lobbying Phillipson hard to ensure the money ended up where she repeatedly promised it would.

    Part of the problem is that the VAT raid won’t raise as much as it claimed in the first place, since so many more children have exited private education than was first anticipated. But again it’s a mistake to look for logical consistency in a policy that was fundamentally about class warfare and keeping the more resentful elements of Labour’s parliamentary party happy. Some of the rare occasions when Labour backbenchers look vaguely happy in the Commons nowadays is when VAT on private schools is invoked. Again and again it seems that, in the hands of Bridget Phillipson, the education of the nation’s children is of secondary importance to the indulgence of her personal spite. It will make the next chapter of her ‘lived experience’ – when she inevitably loses her seat to Reform – all the more sweet.

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

    Maggie Cole
    3 hours ago
    Orwell hit the nail on the head when he said that middle class socialists don't give a fig about the poor. They just hate the rich.

    Trojan
    3 hours ago
    It’s not just spiteful. It is wicked to treat education like this, with no regard to data, facts, aspiration, but as a political tool to satisfy her prejudices. She cannot stand Birbalsingh because she’s succeeded in a deprived area by doing the exact opposite of what Phillipson does, ie believes in respect for the school, manners, uniform, discipline and high expectations.
    When we eventually look back on this awful government, I believe that Phillipson will rank alongside Miliband as the worst ministers in an extremely competitive field.

    1. The Left hate the idea of success though effort and sacrifice. In fact, I think they hate everything, so demented are they.

  76. Fin de Pencier
    Meet the man putting hundreds of England flags up around York
    22 August 2025, 11:22am

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/b55556e2-b7d4-427e-9bcd-f8f05cc54efc.jpeg Joseph Moulton after a day putting up flags (Image: Joseph Moulton)

    Over the last few weeks, Brits across the country have been adorning streetlights and roundabouts with Union Jacks and St George’s Crosses. This is perhaps one of the most benign demonstrations of national pride possible – yet it is being treated by some as a revolutionary act. A recent BBC piece felt it necessary to state that ‘both flags have been used as emblems for far-right political movements,’ as if a country having a flag is far-right. This bizarre self-loathing is one of the reasons the movement has spread like wildfire.

    Joseph Moulton is part of the original group that inspired this patriotic contagion. He’s spearheading the effort in York, and is a founding member of Flag Force UK, which he estimates is the largest flag-organising body nationwide.

    I met Joseph five years ago, in Armenia, when I was reporting on the war in nearby Nagorno-Karabakh. He was a fiercely ambitious and idealistic 18-year-old who cared deeply for his country, but found himself disillusioned with the state of Britain – especially its lack of communitarian ideals. ‘Britain can’t just be an economic zone. We currently don’t have any national dream or civilisational aspiration,’ he said then.

    In Armenia, Moulton found a society that was reeling from war, and poor by British standards, yet it was held together by an unshakable national pride and collective dignity.

    ‘I witnessed a vibrant community – everyone being only one degree of contact away from the next – despite being in a city of millions. People were considerate and familiar, unified by their shared hardship and religion,’ he said. It reminded him of a Britain he was told stories of but never had the privilege of knowing.

    ‘My Nan lived in Thurnscoe, a small mining village, before Thatcher closed down the mines. Everyone knew each other, they would police themselves, if there was an issue in the morning then people would resolve it in the pit that night,’ he said. ‘These were stories of an England I was not born into, unfortunately. An England which was gutted along with the industries which supported it in favour of cheap imports and labour.’

    The idea of plastering York with English flags began with a conversation between Moulton and his mates. ‘We rarely see British or English flags flown outside sporting events or like a coronation, whereas in the rest of the world, it’s common to see national flags all over the place, all year round,’ he tells me when we catch up over the phone this week.

    They started by putting up flags on a few lampposts on their local street and forgot about it for a while. But then they discovered locals on a community Facebook page were clamouring for more. So they ordered more flags – Union Jacks and St George crosses in equal shares – and got to work.

    Moulton and his team have since bought more than a thousand flags and raised tens of thousands of pounds for more. Other flagging groups have since popped up across Britain. What started as a gesture of national pride is being paired with community service. As the York flaggers walk between lampposts, they have bins to collect rubbish on the side of the road. Moulton is helping to facilitate these efforts nationwide.

    After Armenia, Moulton had an exotic and intriguing life as an entrepreneur. He met a security contractor who needed help with business development and sales, so he went to work for them in Ukraine and Libya. He then went out on his own for a similar venture in South Korea. But he never abandoned Britain, and Britain always managed to find him, usually in the form of another wandering Brit. Shortly after meeting some bloke in a dodgy bar, in an even dodgier country, they’d get chatting ‘as if we’d known each other for years.’

    ‘It’s that free speaking and friendliness which is being neutered by the government and reinforced by a censorious, stuffy culture. It prevents the people from developing a political consciousness. But when I’m abroad, that inhibition is just dropped,’ he tells me.

    Moulton was again inspired by his experience working out of Japan. ‘I really felt a degree of culture shock I hadn’t experienced since I first started travelling. I was enamoured by the silent etiquette around how you behave in public, the immaculate streets, and the community volunteers or “Chonaikai” who help keep their local areas clean, safe and happy,’ he said.

    The Chonaikai are neighbourhood or residents’ associations in Japan that handle local community matters – such as disaster preparedness, festivals, waste management, and mutual aid – serving as a grassroots level of self-governance. It’s this communitarian spirit that Moulton is hoping to cultivate with Flag Force.

    He emphasises that the movement has legs of its own and he’s just a spokesman for the York-based team. Others are scared of being linked to the movement, in case they face repercussions.

    If some of the other organisers were to be as outspoken as Moulton, ‘people may call in their work and try to get them fired or do targeted harassment. Abhorrent stuff, but it’s a reality for many people, particularly when it comes to expressing patriotic sentiments,’ he says.

    Not everyone has appreciated this conspicuous reminder of the nation they belong to. Moulton says that of the 300 flags his group has raised, 25 were taken down by the local council, and another 15 by unknown locals.

    York council only took down flags on a street leading toward the Ebor festival, York’s most important annual spectacle. ‘Potentially, they can claim there are security concerns over people hoisting flags on their own accord, but it’s a stretch,’ he says.

    Outside of that, he says the council has been conciliatory and won’t be taking down any of their other flags. But he is demanding the council return any confiscated flags to Flag Force as they belong to the donors whose funds were used to purchase them.

    ‘Ultimately’, he says, ‘the flag belongs to its people and not a government which continues to fail us.’

    Written by
    Fin de Pencier is a journalist. He has reported for Popular Front and Palladium magazine.

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

    Alan Marshall
    7 hours ago
    Seems appropriate that the winter of our discontent is being made glorious summer by a son of York.

    Cunningham Lowe
    7 hours ago
    Top man and a beer drinker too. I've always found that beer drinking is a good guide as to character. People like Joseph are wholly absent in the political and administrative classes of this country and this goes a long way to explaining why we're in our current predicament.

    Thomas callaghan
    7 hours ago
    Well done that man!
    One in the eye for local MP Rachel Maskall, who wants Britain to be 'saturated ' with immigrants regardless of strain on NHS, etc.,

    2. All over the US the flag flies proudly. Even in liberal California flags can be seen in every street. Nothing far right or even political about it.

        1. Saw two Norwegian flags yesterday flying from the sterns of two narrowboats in Bath….

      3. The Left hate patriotism. They far prefer to brand it as racism because they're bigots.

        I think there's a degree of desperation to destroy all unifying symbols, as if when such exist, it creates a rallying point, a focus, a unification and Lefties being comically outnumbered are terrified that they'll be rendered irrelevant by the majority through sheer dismissal. If those ranting Lefties were confronted with a crowd of a hundred thousand they'd swiftly turn tail and run as they'd just walk through the pointless Leftists.

        1. But it's okay when the Pally crowd do it or fly the black jihadi flag. If those aren't rallying points, I don't know what is.

    1. Better if it had been a dog. When I came back into the dining room Kadi was sitting proudly on my chair. I told him he was no longer in Su Kaye's studio and to get off! He did.

      1. If I do that most of the dogs ignore me. If I turf them off, invariably they climb back on.

  79. This is what you are up against.. they're in power.

    Lewis Goodall enrages Twitter with his 100% inheritance tax idea
    (married to Tone Langengen, a net-zero specialist who also works for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change).

    He says, you should rather have Starmer & Reeves.. and the 1000s of dinghy men steal yr money than give to yer kids.
    Oxbridge education.. and spouts about funding a true meritocracy. LOL
    I wanna incentivise people to be productive. LOL
    Commie gibberish.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b3b667277a68689eecee89f4e9c3b9fcc2bcd69c763895e28414ad6a2e9ec554.jpg

        1. Clearly hard of understanding. Man's an arsehole.
          No cash handed down over generations, but also, no property, assets of any type, unless you pay 100% of the value.
          So, government takes your house, boat, car and shares… and why? To what benefit? If there's not allowed to be anything handed on to the offspring, I'll piss it up the wall or burn it myself.

    4. The Left have always hated inherited anything. Goes way back to when the Tories represented the upper classes and passed eveything to their offspring, while the "working class" had nothing to pass on. Obviously very unfair.

      Attlee's introduction of an exam (11+) to sort out who could really benefit from an "academic" education was a huge step forward, but again this was "unfair" to those who failed, so another generation of Labour wanted everyone to go to a Comprehensive school, not quite wearing boiler suits, but the same sort of thinking. Now even worse with Philipson seemingly determined to get rid of any striving for excellence, and dumb down the GCSE even further.

      1. Yet it is that very same aspiration that the lower paid aspired to – a better life for their children.

        When you destroy that you create a generation dependent. Or, in the current farce, 4 generations of welfare.

    5. You don't incentivise productivity by giving people no reason to work hard. Even the Soviet Union realised that.

    6. Inheritance taxes prevent parents saving and passing those values on to their children. An intergenerational saving habit creates more and more wealth over time, creating jobs and real wealth and individuals are happier investing in a new bathroom, kitchen.

      Destroying wealth ensurings that saving habit never appears and forces ever more state reliance,ever more debt and overall destroys growth.

  83. Just taken a ride around the UK on Google Maps with streetview, to visit all the places I and relatives lived, also places of work. It's remarkably good, but leaves one feeling rather sad and empty. So many (relatively speaking) relatives who don't live there any more 'cos they are deceased… it's really rather weird, seeing a place for the first time in 30+ years. Not sure I like it, to be frank.
    Weirdly, Mother's old house doesn't seem to have been painted outside since we sold it around 2021.
    Our old house used to have a dark maroon door, now a while one.
    Weird…

      1. An amazon driver? They never stick around long enough to complain about anything.

        I was so shocked when a Brit turned up that I exclaimed: You're English! The bloke laughed and wished me a good day.

  85. Yesterday I bought some fresh, good quality, fatty pork. I also bought some sheep's casings and a pack of butter-filled puff pastry.
    The price I paid was £29.00.

    Today I made, from all that:
    26 pork sausages,
    5 sausage rolls,
    1 Scotch egg.

    I doubt I'd get all that from a butcher's shop or a supermarket.

      1. A basic recipe on this occasion, Paul. No herbs (although I often use sage).

        2,000g fatty pork (minced)
        64g home-made rusk
        152g cold water
        24g dried onion flakes
        4.8g white pepper
        4.8g black pepper
        40g salt.

          1. If you don't have any skins to stuff the meat into, Paul, you can still shape the sausage meat into patties and fry them.
            Just as delicious.👍🏻

          2. Love skinless sausages, me.
            Firstborn still has plenty of home-grown pork, so …

        2. I've never tried sausage rolls with pork mince, only ever used sausage meat, but woah, that's a good lot of fodda.

          1. Neither have I. I minced the pork then added the other ingredients to make a proper sausage meat.

    2. MoH just ordered 170 (large ) pork sausages from a local butcher at 65 pence each……

  86. Gritted my teeth and tuned in to watch the Womens Rugby World Cup opener – England v USA – and I have to say I'm quietly impressed.

    Obviously the physicality is down a notch or two from the Men's game but the skill sets are quite impressive and I think I'm going to watch the whole match.

    One of the USA second row forwards has just scored a try – she's gigantic (but not unattractive!) – and I think its going to be a great game!

    PS I hope none of my old Rugby mates read this, they'll think I've gone fruit…..

    1. It’s OK 4G! I am also impressed with the English women’s rugby! As you say, the handling and ball skills are a revelation! If my father knew what I think, he’d be turning in his grave on the Greek mountainside!

      1. Why would he have a problem Sue? I've just seen another corking try from the (very cute!) England full-back, Kildunne… great stuff!

        1. Because he was a county rugby player, as was his father, and the idea of women playing would have horrified him! The ladies made the teas for the players!
          My sister was the first lady referee ever to referee on a football association ground back in 1971, and he was very proud, but a bit stunned!

          1. Which County? – I'm assuming somewhere in the North-East?

            I played two games for Lancashire – (it should have been more, you bastards!!) – but I think women playing is a generational thing and I'm fully behind it.

            Respect to your sister!!

          2. They both played for Durham! My grandfather was born in 1890, so he was quite an old fashioned chap! They also both played cricket and rugby for North Durham, one of the 2 clubs in Gateshead, the other being Gateshead Fell. I think they’ve amalgamated now.
            I remember going to watch a boyfriend play for Novos, against North Durham and going for a pint or two afterwards in the bar. An older man, who I didn’t know, came up to me and said ‘ Are you Billy McNall’s granddaughter?’ and I had to say I was!

          3. Great stuff! They both sound great lads! I'm guessing when you say Novos you mean Novocastrians (who I played against once on an Easter tour) – you must have felt really proud!!

    2. Moh is watching it as well, and being very rude , but what brave girls they are .. being bashed around , i mean their tender bits must really hurt .

      1. He shouldnt be rude, Belle, I've played Rugby to a pretty high level and I'm impressed with the skill levels on show!

        1. He can't help it. He supports pathetic football teams like Southampton. It's why he is always angry. Besides the fact he is crap at golf.

          6. He does have screaming tantrums regularly when he doesn’t get his own way. Second childhood.

          7. Le Tiss, Le Tiss
            Matt Le Matt Le Tiss
            He gets the ball and he takes the piss
            Matt Le Matt Le Tiss

            (from an old Saints fan I used to know)

          11. I agree the Saints are crap! (although I support the mighty Blackburn Rovers, so I cant talk!)

          12. The Saints were a good team when Matt Le Tissier played for them, if I remember correctly, and before that Mick Channon.

            For a time the club was owned by Rupert Lowe.

  87. I'm orff folks my back ache is driving me mad I've got to lie down.
    Good night all Nottlers sleep well 😴

    3. Good sleep wishes, Eddy….try warmth..hot water bottle? Yoga finally sorted my permanent backache.

  88. Making: tikka paste; plum jam; apricot jam; my world-famous seedy crackers; and two types of cake to be frozen for the our Ladies’ Ones first national premier league game on 20th September. I will be travelling with my folks to Ireland that day, on the Holyhead-Dublin ferry; but we are now required to televise the matches (much better standard than my lowly 7th team effort!!!!) so i will let you know details as and when i know them.

    Seriously, i hear discussions on men’s football vs women’s football. Of course, men are “better” than women at the One True Sport (field hockey, for those that haven’t been paying attention) – but, like tennis, mixed One True Sport is a thing (whereas mixed rugby and mixed soccer not at all).

      2. Moved on to beer now. Well, not really beer. Husband’s crappy lager, but needs must.

    3. "Field hockey?" Oh, you mean Hockey. I loathe Yankisms.

      I also loathe it when Yanks call Ice Hockey just "Hockey".

      1. Yes, i mean plain ordinary common-or-garden variety hockey.

        But… so many people get confused if i call it that, and think i am some ice-skating violent nutter (well, obvs. I am, except i’m not much of an ice-skater).

        I’m just so international, dah-ling

  89. Making: tikka paste; plum jam; apricot jam; my world-famous seedy crackers; and two types of cake to be frozen for the our Ladies’ Ones first national premier league game on 20th September. I will be travelling with my folks to Ireland that day, on the Holyhead-Dublin ferry; but we are now required to televise the matches (much better standard than my lowly 7th team effort!!!!) so i will let you know details as and when i know them.

    Seriously, i hear discussions on men’s football vs women’s football. Of course, men are “better” than women at the One True Sport (field hockey, for those that haven’t been paying attention) – but, like tennis, mixed One True Sport is a thing (whereas mixed rugby and mixed soccer not at all).

  90. Making: tikka paste; plum jam; apricot jam; my world-famous seedy crackers; and two types of cake to be frozen for the our Ladies’ Ones first national premier league game on 20th September. I will be travelling with my folks to Ireland that day, on the Holyhead-Dublin ferry; but we are now required to televise the matches (much better standard than my lowly 7th team effort!!!!) so i will let you know details as and when i know them.

    Seriously, i hear discussions on men’s football vs women’s football. Of course, men are “better” than women at the One True Sport (field hockey, for those that haven’t been paying attention) – but, like tennis, mixed One True Sport is a thing (whereas mixed rugby and mixed soccer not at all).

    1. Evening 'mum…thinking about you yesterday, saw quite a few new videos out re: McCann case.

    3. A disabled kid at that. The only oportunity Starmer is creating is for the next government.

          1. He'll grow up – and all the time he'll be a drain on our finances (the government has no money, only what it takes from hard-working tax-payers).

          3. You don't know that he won't. I don't mind him having brown skin – if he goes where it's the norm (and I don't mean Tower Hamlets). That is what "diversity" has made me feel.

          5. I’m not taking it out on the kids, I’m taking it out on our government. They are supposed to be looking after US and OUR country and I strongly resent that they are prioritising others, especially when it’s my money they’re doing it with. Don’t expect me to go all gooey eyed over people who shouldn’t be here, whatever their age.

          6. Of course you're taking it out on the kids;

            'He'll grow up – and all the time he'll be a drain on our finances'

            That said, I do not disagree with your main points, I just always prefer a little nuance where youngsters are concerned.

          7. That's what they bank on – won't anybody think of the cheeldren … I am so sick of it all. If I've become a monster, it's because of the constant rubbing of my nose in diversity. I don't like it, in fact I resent it. I never used to notice, but now it's so in your face you can't ignore it. RAFATRAD sent me an advert today and who was modelling a Spitfire Tee shirt? A black bloke. I never even bothered looking at the goods on offer – and I used to buy a lot from them.

          8. I dont think you're a monster, fwiw I think you're a good man, but everyone needs to keep cool heads at the moment because it's all getting a little stressful…. we need political change and, despite many people's concerns, Reform remains the only hope….

          9. I've been fighting for political change since 2011. I've campaigned, become a councillor, been out on the streets, leafleted. I know Nigel well – I worked with him at one time. Don't place your hopes on him.

          10. Well thanks for that! In which case, we're totally f***** ………( we are, though, arent we?)

          11. Would you rather I told you everything in the garden was rosy and let you find out for yourself?

          12. Yeah. I fell out with a friend on this the other day. She said, “it’s not the Gazan children’s fault”. Therefore we have to support Hamas, apparently.

            I see it differently. If Hamas cared about the Gazan children, they would release the hostages and discuss peace terms – especially since they started the war.

            But apparently i am a monster for this lucid thinking.

          13. A few non sequiturs in there!

            I do not equate our sets of values with the savages that are Hamas – they dont care about anything!

            PS I dont think you're a minster…..(unless you're from York?)

          17. Yeah. I fell out with a friend on this the other day. She said, “it’s not the Gazan children’s fault”. Therefore we have to support Hamas, apparently.

            I see it differently. If Hamas cared about the Gazan children, they would release the hostages and discuss peace terms – especially since they started the war.

            But apparently i am a monster for this lucid thinking.

          18. This is how we are intended to feel but admonished by the same to feel otherwise. Diversity, y'know.

        2. The point is that politicians should rightly be castigated for exploiting children for electoral purposes. In days gone by some were photographed kissing babies in the pram, a sure giveaway that they were creeps looking for soft votes.

  93. Just finished dinner (fish pie) and went out in the near-dark to water the tomatoes. Now finishing off with a dollop of yoghurt and half an overripe nectarine.

      1. They may not be but that's what I'm eating……….the fish pie was the first course………. it was getting dark and the tomatoes needed watering……….. came back in to finish eating………
        At least i wasn't picking nits.

        1. Phizzee suggests you'll regret that later.

          He always gets rid of his nits before bedtime…

          1. I have them well trained. They have all been studying a picture of you and my kamikazi nits are on their way to you.

            Next time you get an itch…

  96. Watching the two Lucy Connolly videos with Dan Wootton and Alison Pearson – whoever posted, thanks, I’m not much of a You-Tuber as i normally only have time to listen to podcasts as i am out and about, but as i am at home in the kitchen…

    Wow. “Sir”2TFGNH”Kiermageddon” Bier Korma Neil Rodney Starmfuehrer Starmlin will rue the day he banged her up.

    To the 77th Brigade etc. be careful whom you target. It could just backfire spectacularly on you.

    1. I found them unconvincing, I'm afraid. Nowhere did she explain how she was looking after 6-8 children and still found time to be in the top 0.1% of twitter accounts by activity.

      1. Thank you, Elsie. I did. Having a lazy morning and just checking Nottl before doing my ablutions and getting dressed.

  99. Well, chums, once again I've overslept. I think I'm trying to do too much. So I'm off to bed and may be late on here tomorrow. Sleep well, all of you.

  100. Morning all 🙂😊
    Oh dear I've been awake since daybreak.
    I watch a few FB clips and one showed a black guy ripping wing mirrors off parked cars in a quiet street somewhere. I suppose if someone had gone out and knocked his teeth out it would have been considered as racist.
    He was filmed and the footage is public. He is easily identifiable.

        1. I normally never log in or out but somehow this time my phone had logged me out. I don’t know my passwords so it was a case of using Google to do it and I chose the wrong email address 🙃 😅.

Comments are closed.