Sunday 2 August: Why won’t the Government let people make their own decisions?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but not as good as 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:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/08/01/letterswhy-wont-government-let-people-make-decisions/

1,012 thoughts on “Sunday 2 August: Why won’t the Government let people make their own decisions?”

  1. ‘End the prejudice against Travellers’ – police chief. 2 August 2020.

    A senior police officer has condemned deep-seated prejudice for making it acceptable to label the UK Travelling community “inherently criminal”.

    Speaking after the three killers of PC Andrew Harper were jailed for manslaughter, Janette McCormick, deputy chief constable at the College of Policing, said attention was required to tackle the inequality and job prospects facing Travellers.

    Morning everyone. Senior Police Officers who believe that they are actually Social Justice Warriors and not Enforcers of the Law are not now unusual. Think the Bristol Police Chief who actually approved of pulling down the Edward Colston statue and prevented his officers from interfering. This trend is in fact pretty widely spread over the Civil and Military management. This is partly due to a selection procedure which weighs in favour of such and partly that Cultural Marxism has become an unconscious part of mainstream culture. We can see this latter in the large number of Whites who demonstrate in favour of Black Lies Matter. Sadly there is not much now that can be done about this. The poison has been injected, usually via the education system, and it is slowly killing its host, European Civilisation. We here on NoTTL are among the last generation who retain an untainted memory of the past. I am not averse to change per se, in fact I often use to rail against the sclerotic, class ridden, British State long before the rise of Political Correctness but what we are seeing is not improvement but dissolution. It will not be a Multicultural Phoenix that rises from the ashes of Christian Civilisation but an Islamic Vulture.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/01/end-the-prejudice-against-travellers-police-chief

    1. Morning Minty. Interesting observations. If we project your conjecture forward 100 – 150 years will the result be a confrontation between a West dominated by Islam and the East dominated by the latest incarnation of the CCP? (That Land & Sea Belt project might come in handy for moving vast numbers of troops!)

      1. Morning Stephen. One would have thought that China would be the eventual winner since Islam is incapable of maintaining a technological society which is inimical to their belief system. Over the long term Europe will probably regress to a semi-barbaric Caliphate riven by religious differences!

      2. Don’t forget the balkanisation effect. I’m guessing that rather than one amorphous islamic whole, we will see lots of Kosovos.

      3. The autobahns from the East? I was thinking that earlier today, quite randomly. Will China need lebensraum soon? It would be quite handy if the indigenous folk of India and all points West suddenly vanished, like a plague in a science fiction story.

        1. Some years ago China built a city in Angola, which remained largely unpopulated. Not sure how many live there now. China has invested heavily in infrastructure in many African countries. When they have wiped out the rest of the wildlife they will have their lebensraum there.

    2. Well, apart from travelling salesmen, there are not many good jobs that are going to suit their self imposed life style.

      1. Travelling salesman translates into German as fliegender Händler, which is considered to be an insult.

    4. I long for the day when people like Janette McCormick personally suffer from the depredations of these criminal thugs.

      She is obviously looking to tick box her next promotion.

      I wish her and her ilk nothing but ill.

      Disgusting bitch.

    5. Personally I would like to see an end to public pronouncements from the College of Policing, the NPCC and other unaccountable bodies about what they will or will not do. This one in particular is crass in the extreme, and will surely be found by PC Harper’s widow and her family to be hugely offensive so soon after the trial of those responsible for his death. It is high time these bodies were reined in by government (fat chance, of course).

      ‘Morning, Minty.

      1. Morning, Hugh.

        Priti Awful will turn her attention to this just as soon as she has stopped the mass daily arrival of hundreds of illegals…..

    6. Good morning, Minty.

      ‘Black Lies Matter.’

      I am undecided, is that a typo
      or deliberate? :-))

    7. Morning, all.

      Mission statement of the Powers of Law and Order.

      Avoid confrontation with, appease and tacitly approve the actions of the criminally inclined e.g. moslem rape gangs, illegal immigrants, BLM and their followers , modern slavers, travellers and any and all extremists who claim to be anti-fascist.

      N.B. This list is non-exclusive and Leaders are empowered to widen the scope as they see fit.

      On the other hand attack, assault, arrest and demonise those law abiding people who protest and rail against the breakdown in the enforcement of law and order. The foregoing applies to all those participating in street demonstrations and especially, keyboard protestors whose reach is difficult to ascertain and must be curtailed.

  5. Britain unlikely to use Russia’s ‘untrustworthy’ Covid vaccine. 2 August 2020.

    Britain would be likely to reject a potentially game-changing coronavirus vaccine from Russia amid strong reservations about the trial process there, the Telegraph can reveal.

    That approach chimes with the US, where Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease official, raised doubts about the testing regimes for potential vaccines in both Russia and China. There are strict international protocols governing the development of new drugs.

    This is the second anti-Russia vaccine article in the MSM and will probably be followed by others shortly. I of course am not qualified to comment on immunology but there’s little doubt that this is a political decision. Will it affect anyone in the UK? I doubt it unless the virus takes an especially virulent turn and all the Western Vaccines turn out to be duds.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/01/britain-unlikely-use-russias-untrustworthy-covid-vaccine/

    2. I don’t think there is any non-political science left in the world now, especially any that is influencing governments. One of the most depressing yet utterly predictable aspects of the corona scare was the “scientific” papers that “proved” that hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work after Trump mentioned it. The way they fiddled the results by dosing at the wrong time and in the wrong amount was child’s play.

      Graeme Simson’s novel “The Rosie Effect” describes a scene in which the hero catches a team of researchers fiddling results to get their desired measurements.

      1. I agree with you, bb2. With so many vested interests fighting for dominance the word ‘independent’ has lost all meaning…and the word ‘trust’ has gone the same way.

      2. My fellow pupil and I did that in a science class. An experiment to find the atomic weight of magnesium, or something. Not sure what really, but there was flame and burning and smoke, possibly in a fume cupboard. Quite good fun. Our result was wildly off the mark. We had looked up the answer, of course. As we had time left we repeated the experiment. Again the result was completely wrong, but the other way. We took the average. When the teacher went round the class asking the class for results we gave him our average. He was very surprised as the result was a mere 0.5% adrift of the actual figure. We smiled gently and modestly as he heaped praise upon our careful, meticulous and accurate approach to the experiment. Naturally we made no mention that our answer was an average of two utterly wrong, nonsensical, blazingly careless and amusing bungled excuses for experiments.

        1. I remember a chemistry lesson when the teacher left the class for a few minutes and came back to find one girl had tipped some sulphuric acid down her legs, causing some nasty blisters and ruined the thick “indestructible” tights her mother had recently invested in. During all the mayhem an inspector walked in.

        2. I remember fiddling the results of Chemistry & Physics practicals, but not in such a bold way.

      3. They’ve been doing that since the UEA climate change team found their data didn’t get them the results they wanted.

    3. Yo Minty

      Where is Dr Kelly when you need him

      Answers please to Mr A Blair, Soros Mansions, c/o Bill Gates at World Control HQ,

  6. “The leader of controversial far-right political party Britain

    First has avoided jail despite being convicted for the second time of

    wearing a political uniform.

    Paul Golding, 34, had been charged after

    leading about a dozen activists on a “Christian patrol” through Bury

    Park, Luton, in January while wearing what prosecutors said was an

    “intimidating” Britain First-branded fleece.”

    https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/britain-first-leader-paul-golding-convicted-wearing-intimidating-fleece-1573621

    Ahem

    https://twitter.com/TomlinsonCJ/status/1289671242371366913

    https://twitter.com/GerardBattenUK/status/1289636347687260160
    I’m looking for the reports of mass arrests and the demo’s being dispersed
    Oh Wait……………………..
    “That’s Different”

    1. An intimidating FLEECE?
      Oh please.
      That’s like saying “a terrifying cardigan”

      1. Don’t know, but the fact you have asked the question has put you on the “watch list”.

  7. YO all

    SWMBO and I, me, myself had our big adventure yesterday

    We crossed the Border into Wales and without having masks on shopped at a Co-op

    Should we now cwarantin ourselves for fourteen days?

    We did not even have to dodge any of Boros’ thunderbolts on the journey home

        1. It reminded me of your holiday diary
          of your Italian Holiday…..perhaps you
          will enlighten us about your travels in
          the UK?

      1. Btw, only one of those needles has been stuck in a safe place; it has to be the upper outer quadrant of the buttock.

  10. Nigel Farage seems to have inspired some “citizen journalists” revealing awkward facts,they should be careful,they don’t have his profile and TPTB would love to reward them with the full “Tommy”

    https://twitter.com/Bollocks_Dogz/status/1289648102370979841
    I wonder when the Sunday Times Insight Team will be doing the in depth investigation into this scandal
    Slotted in for the 2nd of Never I hear………………..

    1. That was a hotel receptionist in Britain? I didn’t understand a single word.

      1. Receptionist my backside – he was a security “officer” employed by Serco.

      1. How long after he has arrived in Dover does an illegal immigrant get classified as an asylum seeker?

        Why does the government allow these poor people to endanger their lives in rubber dinghies for the brief time until they are picked up by Borderfarce? Surely P&O and Brittany Ferries can be commissioned to take them from a French port to an English one. They can be given the best cabins on overnight crossings and fed in the more upmarket ferry restaurants and given a £100 voucher to spend in the ferry shop.

        Fair’s fair!

        1. I get the impression that the transmutation is pretty well instantaneous on stepping ashore.

          1. Not quite. The paperwork has to be completed and given the official Government stamp. This can take up to 24 hours. Thereafter it’s a free lunch (and everything) forever.

  11. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Breathe

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Someone’s getting sacked for this for sure,from the Sun

    “HUNDREDS of protesters took to the streets of London to march for Afrikan Emancipation Day.

    Protesters waving flags and wearing uniforms held the rally to call

    for repatriations to African nations and descendants of slaves.”

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12288814/hundreds-protesters-london-march-afrikan-emancipation-day/
    Finally a demo cause I can get behind,repatriation indeed,the list is long headed by “I’m A Liar Brown”

    1. Seems a good idea to free them from the tyranny of British residency and citizenship.

      Before making reparations for imperial exploitation, then I might remind them that the USA was not a British colony after 1776, and that all aid payments made to Africa by the British Government should be deducted from the claim.

      I presume an invoice is going out to the Chinese Embassy for reparations for current imperial exploitation.

  15. Further to our trip into Wales, Covid has had a side effect there: it has stopped all the Wind Power Turbines from turbining.

    A bit like Boros, they are in the Doldrums

  16. JULY 30, 2020 / 2:22 PM / 3 DAYS AGO
    AstraZeneca to be exempt from coronavirus vaccine liability claims in most countries

    “AstraZeneca
    has been granted protection from future product liability claims
    related to its COVID-19 vaccine hopeful by most of the countries with
    which it has struck supply agreements, a senior executive told Reuters.”
    Oh Goody,what could possibly go wrong……………………

    1. Top comment BTL at present –
      “The suggestion of locking up the elderly again is outrageous . We are told that the resurgence is partly caused by certain ethic groups predisposition and living arrangements, so focus on that instead! Also how come no mention of all those protesters who were allowed to ignore social distancing etc….nobody is pointing out their role in spreading Covid. These people referred to as elderly have generally contributed to the economy throughout their lives , only to be locked away in their twilight years. I cannot believe that a Tory government is even considering this….. shame on you!“

      1. Be careful what you ask for.

        The BAMEs will demand far, far more housing, to be paid for by the taxpayer.

        1. Morning sos – I think they are already expecting that. They don’t want to live in high rise flats either. At the moment our government seems sympathetic to their plight.

      2. Have there been any ‘spikes’ in areas that were blessed with BLM demonstrations?

    2. Top comment BTL at present –
      “The suggestion of locking up the elderly again is outrageous . We are told that the resurgence is partly caused by certain ethic groups predisposition and living arrangements, so focus on that instead! Also how come no mention of all those protesters who were allowed to ignore social distancing etc….nobody is pointing out their role in spreading Covid. These people referred to as elderly have generally contributed to the economy throughout their lives , only to be locked away in their twilight years. I cannot believe that a Tory government is even considering this….. shame on you!“

    3. Is that the same thing that was reported in the Mail as “over 50s might have to stay at home?”

        1. It doesn’t make you angrier than the Telegraph, and it’s free. The best part is the comments.

          1. My younger colleague in a previous practice would bury his head in the Mail at lunchtime & not respond to anyone. Quite rude & it put me off, both him & the paper.

          2. Oh dear, I do that at work too. I need the mindless hour with no communication from others to wind down before facing the afternoon.
            Was your colleague by any chance an introvert?
            Introverts get energy by being on their own, extraverts get energy by communicating with others.
            It’s torture to force an introvert to have a jolly, sociable lunchtime break – they will go back to work feeling even more tired and stressed.

          3. I am certainly an introvert first thing in the morning! Don’t expect me to talk and be cheerful at breakfast time!

          7. Looking back I suppose he was. I remember once when the practice staff went out for “Christmas dinner” he was the only one who ordered “turkey + trimmings”. When he looked around at others’ plates, he expressed amazement at other people’s choices – he thought the Christmas fare was obligatory. He took patients’ criticisms very personally – on one occasion I had him crying on my shoulder because of a catty remark from a patient’s mother, although as a former rugby player he was nearly twice my size. As a dentist one needs to have a thick skin. He moved to Cardiff & the last I heard was that he was retraining to become an orthodontist.

          8. I’d heard it was an occupational hazard – looking down in the mouth.
            (Well, someone had to say it.)
            Morning hall.

          9. I met a similar case in Germany, which resulted in my doing a 2-month locum near Stuttgart. 2 dentists trained together, one went into practice, the other became an oral surgeon working in hospital (i.e. a consultant). #1 decided it would be handy to have a surgeon in his practice so he invited #2 to join him, which he did, but soon discovered he couldn’t face patients’ criticisms, so went back to hospital leaving a gap for 2 months, which I filled. It was one of the most enjoyable locums I did & the owner gave me a brilliant reference (& a dozen bottles of top-rate German wines).

    4. Yo Peddy

      That should harm the pockets of those in the House of Lords, who will not be able to go to ‘work’

      My mortal coil is ready to be locked away or expired and I just cannot stay in and watch TV
      as I ‘cannot’ will not pay the Tax on viewing

      1. They will be able to sign in remotely . No chance of them missing out on the “attendance” payment.

    1. We were in Norfolk last week, walking a couple more sections of the coast path, and it certainly wasn’t a place of solitude! Trying to find somewhere to eat on the first night was difficult, to put it mildly – the places that were open [lots of them, as it turned out] were fully booked; the car parks were heaving and the villages along the coast full of holiday makers!

      1. Youse shuudda called at Bill’s

        By all acounts, well from what he says on here, he eats very high off the Hog

    2. Yo, Mr Effort.

      Norfolk is very posh, but not quite as posh these days since I moved away.

  19. I joined an interesting discussion on currency on The Spectator just now, and thought I’d extend this idea for deliberation by nottlers before they get too masked-up to care:

    “I idly decided just now to work out the correct value of the pound sterling, as promised by the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England on every banknote.

    This is based on the value of one troy pound weight of silver. It should be sterling silver, which is slightly less pure than bullion silver, but I’ll work on the mid-market bullion price, which gives an indication, which is currently £600 per kilogram. A troy pound weighs 373.24g. The correct value of a pound on the promise therefore is not £1, but rather £223.94.

    If we round it up to £240, that means that the correct value of the old penny, converted to the British currency in circulation today is £1.

    The Bank of England therefore has effectively turned a pound into a penny!”

    1. Nice one! I did some number crunching of my own and concluded that gold is grossly over-valued by historical standards (it’s got worse since). Went down like a lead balloon with mu gold-bug friends.

      1. Which just goes to prove that you just can’t turn base lead into fine gold.

      2. I agree. I spent a few thousand on some gold as an insurance policy against a run on the banks or a hyperinflation, and this lack of confidence in money and our financial institutions might explain this gross over-valuation.

        If we actually get round to sorting out the mess caused by this virus before the Chinese or the Muslims do, then a lot of people might cash in their gold and put it in the bank again, so that it can be distributed as cash flow for industry again. Interest rates would need to cover inflation first though, and that would lead to negative equity at every level from those maxing out their credit cards to national governments hooked by the Magic Fairy.

  20. Morning All

    A leading Tory MP was last night arrested on suspicion of raping and sexually assaulting a Commons researcher in the latest abuse scandal to hit the Government.

    As the former Minister was being held in custody in an East London police station, his accuser – a woman in her 20s – was being interviewed by Scotland Yard officers yesterday at a separate location.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8584027/Ex-minister-held-police-custody-sexually-assaulting-Commons-researcher-twenties.html

    Who is this 50 something?

        1. These days, you just never know though. He could have said “Nice outfit you’ve got on today.” I suppose all will be revealed in due course.

    4. I certainly think that his name should not be announced until he has actually been charged and brought to court.

      Look at the damage inflicted on Lord Bramall, Leon Britten and others when their names were announced to the MSM but the odious liar ‘Nick’ had his anonymity respected.

    5. I wonder why Cyril Smith was never investigated with/for Fiddy Kidling, whilst a whole raft of MPs, Army officers etc were

      Would their political outlook have anything to do with it?

      1. There seems to be a tacit agreement that they will only be investigated after they are dead.
        Never forget that Keir Starmer as DPP made some of these decisions, notably Jimmy Saville not being prosecuted.

    6. Since the alleged assaults took place until January 2020, when the minister was still in a position to put pressure on the researcher, any unexplained sackings in the February 2020 reshuffle might inadvertently reveal the suspect.

      Unlikely to be Savid Javid, whose bust-up over the sacking of No.11 staff is well known. Nor would it be Julian Smith, who is known to have personal differences with the PM. Nor would it be Sir Geoffrey Cox, who we know wanted to go back to his day job. Chris Skidmore was born in 1981, so he is not in his fifties, so it cannot be him either. There are a number of women who were sacked then, such as Andrea Leadsom, Theresa Villiers or Esther McVey, so it’s unlikely to be them either.

      1. There are loads of minor ministers that we’ve never heard of, probably one of them.
        (Have to admit, I would laugh my socks off if it turned out to be one of the over-promoted jackasses that I knew at Oxford. Schadenfreude is a terrible thing, especially on Sundays 🙁 )

        1. It’s entirely in keeping with what the gods have been serving on the man, that it could be the PM himself. He is certainly a Conservative MP in his fifties.

          However, she might have once thrown the laptop at him, and possibly threatened to murder him a few dozen times, but as far as I know they are still together.

  21. Good morning, all. I am wondering whether to open the front door and risk bringing the Grimes into the house.

          1. But wear disposable gloves while cutting it up.
            Non-latex; can’t be too careful.
            Oh, and those blunt scissors we had at kindergarten.

          2. The ones that never cut anything? Remember how you just ignored the round ended ones, and homed in on the useful sharp ones?

          5. I’m getting complaisant; no wonder Boris is fretting. I forgot to advise wearing a mask.

      1. Love the post, Maggie.
        It represents the space between my ears after another sleepless night.

      2. As King Lear said to his daughter:

        “Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.”

        (I am afraid that all I get in your post is a blank space)

    3. The PTB have decided to give in without even pretending to put up a fight.

      Many of us here are near the end of our lives – it is our children and grandchildren who will face the full horror.

    1. Good morning, Anne

      It’s what we all need:

      Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care,
      The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,
      Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
      Chief nourisher in life’s feast.

    2. But guns are illegal. Surely Londoners respect the law? All those luverly Cockneys singing ‘Knees up, Muvver Brahn” while Mr. Hilter’s bombs rained down.

  25. Morning all, an update on my “sunny start today” from first thing this morning.
    The forecast was sunny spells but we have had a burst of drizzle and the Met Office has now updated the forecast to rain showers.
    The weather forecasting is a piece of cake if you update the forecast after the event!

    1. The weather forecast on TV always starts by telling us what the weather has been like – they even show photo’s of it sent in by the little people

  26. Apropos the arrested Tory MP – this was reported a week or so ago:

    “A FORMER parliamentary aide has claimed that a Tory MP “did nothing” after she said she was sexually assaulted by him while working in the Commons last year.

    She also said that when she reported the assault to Mark Spencer, the chief whip, he took no action against the MP.

    The Times reported that is understood that Spencer does not believe that a sexual assault was reported to him in their conversation, but acknowledges that she reported abusive behaviour and threats.

    The woman, who is in her early twenties, said: “Our conversation was brief. He didn’t seem interested in the details of the allegations but spent most of the time saying how I shouldn’t worry about the threats. His response was, ‘Well don’t worry, because the MP won’t actually carry out those threats’.

    “I asked to speak to him again and raised complaints that he wasn’t taking this seriously and he just had his [special adviser] send me a message saying I should go to [the independent complaints and grievance scheme].

    “He never suggested I should go to the police. In fact I asked him when he would withdraw the whip, he first said when he had a police report, then changed it to a charge, then he said ultimately he’d need a conviction.”

    She said: “I felt like he did not take me seriously or recognise the severity of what had happened.”

    A spokesman for Spencer said: “The chief whip takes all allegations of harassment and abuse extremely seriously and has strongly encouraged anybody who has approached him to contact the appropriate authorities, including parliament’s independent complaints and grievance scheme.””

    1. I gathered from the Mail’s article that they were in a relationship, and at some point, she realised, or decided, that it was a controlling relationship.
      So the sexual assault/rape probably happened within the context of an existing relationship.
      It sounds like just another power tripping MP shagging his assistant with no intention of marrying her, and bad behaviour on both sides – but we don’t really know enough to judge yet.

  27. 322025+ up ticks,
    The construction treadmill is being triggered as in build,build,build, as in
    Dover intake in, accommodate, done, Dover intake in, accommodate, done,
    Dover intake in, accommodate, done.
    Ongoing.
    Campaign organisers priti johnson.

    Automatic green light for building new homes, hospitals and schools in biggest shake-up since WW2
    Boris Johnson’s new scheme will slash red tape in a ‘once in a generation’ reform of the planning system

  28. Good morning, my friends

    I watched the BBC News last night. It was a mistake.

    In a couple of minutes I saw both footballers and cricketers grovelling on their knees to the memory of a violent black American criminal.

    We should be looking to a new political party to replace the three dysfunctional Conservative, Labour and Lib/Dems but it is probably far too late to carpe diem – we are finished.

    1. Western civilisation as we knew it since the Enlightenment is finished.
      We’re entering a new post-democratic phase.
      I saw an interesting video from the US on youtube recently, that discussed whether large entities like the EU would break up on nation state lines, or balkanise along cultural lines.
      My guess would be the latter, as mass migration has destroyed nation states.

    2. Anyone watch the BAFTAs? Put all the nominees and presenters together and I’d say about 30% were white.

      2. Nope. I tried to watch the Bond film on ITV, but no matter what I did it kept buffering every few minutes.

    3. 322025+ up ticks,
      R,
      REAL UKIPPERS ( not the current ersatz mob) have a
      no surrender policy that most certainly does NOT include ” we are finished”

  32. Locking down the over 50’s is a completely logical step for the government.

    The very last thing they need at the moment is people out and about questioning the politically correct consensus of the young, let alone physically challenging project fear by living normal lives.

    The under 40’s can congregate, march, protest and even riot to their heart’s content, but woe betide an oldie who wants to go shopping or have a quiet drink or sociable meal out without full protective gear.

    1. They should just let the virus run its course as flu does every year. Those who are young have very little reason to fear it, and those who do should get in a stock of antimalarials to take at the first signs. Anyone on the more at risk list should stay at home and let the rest of us get on with life.

      1. Will tonic water work? We are keeping our stocks up, but they do become depleted over time.

          1. Our gin stocks are quite healthy, and are the main reason for our depletion of tonic. We do have to keep going out to buy lemons and limes.

        2. What a bleedin’ coincidence: I read a review of tonic waters online only yes’day. I seem to remember Fever Tree came out tops for quinine content.

          1. Oh, that’s good to know. We have a supply of Fever Tree. As well as Schhh…You Know Who, the one that paid for William Franklyn’s mortgage, children’s school fees, and holidays, as he informed an interviewer who asked if he would not have preferred to be a “real actor”

          2. BTW, Fever Tree ginger ale is quite excellent. It makes you know who’s taste like sugar-water.

      3. Throughout our lives, we did not visit elderly relatives if we had sniffles, throats etc….
        But that was in the days of commonsense and good manners (RIP).

  33. Great excitement – we are going to leave the county of Norfolk for the first time since 21 March to go to Wivno (Essex people will understand) for a night. Best to do so now before both of us are locked into the house for eternity. Date to be arrange later this week.

    I’ll take my passport and police authorisation….

          1. I knew you wouldn’t let that pass you by! I don’t know how to get umlauts and cedillas and the like on my keyboard.

          3. If you have a keyboard with a number pad on the right – I can e-mail you a simple list to use with the ALT key.

          4. Thankyou – but I probably wouldn’t really be bothered to use it. And the Alt key on my laptop has dropped off, though it would probably still work.

          5. I use it all the time when writing French. It is second nature.

            Up to you to decide.

          15. It’s on the bookshelf beside me but has been waiting for a dab of superglue for months.

          19. I know it looks all wrong when they are missing. And I do have a cedilla in my second name…….

          20. Another way is to write a foreign word containing a ‘symbol’ & Google it, then C&P the result into your text. A bit of a palaver, but it works.

          27. I have an umlaut key. Press it and the lëttër you want umlauted next, and äwäy yöü go…

          28. That’s because you have a Scandi keyboard. I had one in Sweden which I brought over to the UK. It’s probably in the garage.

          29. Correct. I’d prefer a Norwegian keyboard, as the universal one gives you alternatives for the keys – so you can have Ö. Ø or Æ on one key, and Ä, Æ or Ø on the one next to it, depending if you switch to Swedish, Danish or Norwegian.
            :-((

          31. It was very amusing in yer France, when the occasional French visitor wanted to check his e-mails using a Qwerty keyboard….

          32. Being a touch typist, I have to have a rethink when I use a AZERTYUIOP keyboard. I really struggled when I was in the Czech Republic to type readable messages!

  34. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    SIR – Boris Johnson has decided against the further lifting of lockdown restrictions, on the grounds that “we cannot take the risk”. I take issue with the Prime Minister on two fronts.

    First, we are thinking adults, capable of assessing risk and acting accordingly. If we can choose for ourselves whether to drive, smoke or make babies, we can choose whether to shake hands or wear masks.

    Secondly, the Government’s Covid-19 risk assessment is incomprehensible. For the vast majority of the population, the risk of serious illness or death is very small. Hospitals are not going be overwhelmed: in fact, they currently lie empty. The chance of transmission is small unless people are together in an enclosed space for at least 15 minutes. The likelihood of a second wave is overstated, given that increases in infections are not now accompanied by increased hospital admissions or deaths.

    Meanwhile, the risks of a continued lockdown to health, wealth and education are immense. Why does the Government persist in making every decision for us?

    Iwan Price-Evans
    Croydon, Surrey

    Mr Price-Evans has a point and one with which, I suspect, many Nottlrs will agree. This one certainly does because a) he doesn’t trust the figures, and b) if we are not careful we will find ourselves back in the Stone Age at this rate.

    1. ‘Morning Hugh. Another letter on the subject suggests that maintaining lockdown restrictions is a necessary move due to the considerable numbers of people who are behaving irresponsibly. Both letters are correct to a degree, but whatever happens don’t mention Eid.

      SIR – Since early March, my wife and I, both in our eighties, have been following the guidelines laid down by the Government – and no, we do not find them in the least confusing.

      We are, however, confused by the large crowds of people gathering on beaches and at pubs, making no attempt at social distancing. Street parties are springing up and people are complaining when their holidays are disrupted.

      It seems to me that the older generation is being asked to keep quiet and keep out of the way for the indefinite future.

      Mike Aston

      Stourbridge, Worcestershire

    2. ‘Morning Hugh. Another letter on the subject suggests that maintaining lockdown restrictions is a necessary move due to the considerable numbers of people who are behaving irresponsibly. Both letters are correct to a degree, but whatever happens don’t mention Eid.

      SIR – Since early March, my wife and I, both in our eighties, have been following the guidelines laid down by the Government – and no, we do not find them in the least confusing.

      We are, however, confused by the large crowds of people gathering on beaches and at pubs, making no attempt at social distancing. Street parties are springing up and people are complaining when their holidays are disrupted.

      It seems to me that the older generation is being asked to keep quiet and keep out of the way for the indefinite future.

      Mike Aston

      Stourbridge, Worcestershire

    3. Hugh, I would agree that NoTTLers are “thinking adults, capable of assessing risk and acting accordingly”. But the general public? The ones Churchill called “the sheeple”? I think not. Just look at the lemming-like rush to the beach on recent sunny days, BLM gatherings and so on.

      1. Of course, those rushing to the beaches were all aware of what it would be like. The previous occasions were all publicised. So they all knew what they were doing. They ignored the instructions and went and had fun, like normal people.
        As for the BLM terrorists, that is rather different.

          1. Us two too. sitting in a street cafe watching the world going by is more our cup of tea.

      2. I still can’t send any messages to Mr Lime. I have no way of finding my way around the catacombs of Wien. 🤫

        1. Good morning, Grizzly. Thanks for your concern. Late last night Mr Lime followed your advice and deleted dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of emails in his In Tray as recommended by you, all to no avail. He will be spending most of today attempting to get a human being at his internet service provider to help him solve his problem. Unlike your message stating that his “In Tray is full”, the message Mr Lime received was “We couldn’t access this account: Ntlworld. You might need to update your password or give the account permission to sync to this device”. (What on earth does this mean?) The only option given after the above message is DISMISS which we assume means “ignore this message”. When attempting to enter the Ntlworld site all it does is ask for a password. Mr Lime tries a number of his passwords, but all are rejected. Then a message appears saying “Forgotten your password?”. When he clicks on that he is prompted to create a new one, then re-type it in to ensure that he has entered the new one in correctly. When he then presses “Enter/Continue” all that happens is that a new blank form appears, asking him to enter (and re-type to avoid errors) a NEW password, ad infinitum. All that the main Ntlworld site does is give him convoluted incomprehensible messages such as “Do this, that and the other” [yes, but how?] and suggest that he explore the site, read the Frequently Asked Questions (none of which address his problem) or seek further help – which is promised once he enters his (unknown) password. So it suggests he enters a new password twice, then brings up the blank form again to enter yet another new password twice, and so we have gone round in circles without getting anywhere. The language I hear from Mr Lime is absolutely appalling, but mine is even worse; “These computer thingies are very, very Silly Sausages” I have said on more than one occasion. Steam is now coming out of our respective heads, so I may do a bit of gardening before returning to the battle with Mr Lime, who has retreated to the sewers of Vienna for a lie-down.

          1. Why don’t you just go into Google and sign up for a free (and hassle-free) Gmail account. I’ve had mine for years with never any problems. As long as you delete all read messages every now and then (I do mine annually) it gives you no trouble whatsoever.

          2. I have several of those and have had no problems with them. I do have a clear out occasionally.

          3. Wanna bet, Grizzly? Check your email in box and read my latest woes from my new Gmail account!

          4. Sounds rather like the trouble OH is having trying to get into his online bank account.

          5. It’s darned frustrating, Ndovu. Even following Grizzly’s advice and setting up a new email address on Gmail doesn’t seem to be helping. If I don’t post on here for the next week or so don’t send Annie or Korky around to see if I am OK – it’s just me attempting to get to grips with my @*^g!%^@ computer.

          6. OH has now narrowed down his problem a bit as we were able to access his account via this laptop – but he can’t get in via the PC which he uses. Not sure what your problem is – with a gmail account you can let all your contacts know it’s your new address, and stop using the NTL one.

    4. With the vast increase in testing now over and above what was done in the height of the pandemic, the small increase in numbers now found to be positive is only to be expected. They are not telling us how many of those cases are actually seriously ill.

  36. MANZOOR MOGHAL: I’ve lost count of the times I’ve spoken to my community about Covid – and people just shrug off the risks –
    I have experience as a community leader in Leicester, where the Covid
    restrictions were widely ignored by the city’s minority ethnic
    population – and where the Government ordered the first local lockdown
    after the rate of infection soared last month.

    From today’s Mail on Sunday –

    1. The first thing wrong with that article is the words “my community.”
      There should be no “communities” in Britain – there should be one community of all Britons.

        1. Not quite the same, I think, Missus. They don’t come round lecturing. Indeed, here, they don’t come round at all.

          2. Indeed – but I would never, in a million years, think of them as “community leaders”.

          4. Ours has gone Woke. They no longer bother printing my hedgehog column which I used to send in monthly. Instead we get propaganda pieces about what it’s like to be black, disabled, or whatever is flavour of this week. And the weekly column from the Labour council leader. The Tory MP does her best but is under siege from people who write in to ctiticise whatever she does or doesn’t do.

      2. Last Friday Someone post footage of hundreds of men showing the back sides to the west, as he drove past a park in the midlands.
        There is of course that well known adage often mentioned when people don’t care, or respect the rules….”they don’t give a Shonet”. But it seems they actually do give plenty of it out to the rest of the world, every where they populate.

    3. Clearly, from that, we need to isolate these “communities” and put them where they can do no harm. The Sahara has plenty of room.

    1. That cartoon is wrong in one aspect.
      He didn’t say “Please” to those filthy, disgusting white people, he demanded help as his right.

  38. Tommy Robinson does U-turn on ‘Spain move’ and says ‘snowflakes’ haven’t got rid of him. 2 August 2020.

    Far right extremist Tommy Robinson says he will be returning to the UK – after reportedly weighing up a permanent move to Spain.”I’m not moving abroad, I’m not permanently moving anywhere. My home is England.”

    And signing off the end of his latest message, the extremist said: “I’ll see you soon when I’m back in the UK, on the streets of England doing what I do.”

    I’m pleased to see that the Mirror is not prejudiced! Lol! I Wouldn’t have blamed Tommy if he had departed. He has taken more than his fair share of flak.

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tommy-robinson-u-turn-spain-22450281

    1. Yo Minty

      Far right extremist Tommy Robinson accused , under EU rules, of stealing Spanish Air and deported

      As there are no flights from Spain to UK, arrangements being made for him to travel back
      via France across the Channel on The Immigrant Express, to Dover

      On landing at Dover Dick Cranium of the Yard will have him arrested for exhaling Covifd ridden Spanish air (ie breathing)

      Another thorn in the side of Boros HQ pruned

    2. ‘Morning, Minty.

      I note that the Mirror is still referring to him as an extremist.

    3. Yo Minty

      Far right extremist Tommy Robinson accused , under EU rules, of stealing Spanish Air and deported

      As there are no flights from Spain to UK, arrangements being made for him to travel back
      via France across the Channel on The Immigrant Express, to Dover

      On landing at Dover Dick Cranium of the Yard will have him arrested for exhaling Covifd ridden Spanish air (ie breathing)

      Another thorn in the side of Boros HQ pruned

  39. I dont often stay far from the front page and ‘Opinion’ pages on the DT website but this morning I’ve been browsing the ‘Women’ and ‘Men’ pages. I cant see why these two sections need to exist; many of the articles on both pages could be interesting to both sexes and would fit better under the ‘Lifestyle’, ‘Culture’, ‘Sport’, ‘Fashion’, etc tabs.
    I wonder who decides whether a particular article is of no interest to a woman or another to a man.

    3. Allison Pearson’s articles are filed in the ‘Women’ section.
      I really have absolutely no idea why that is so. I would be bloody insulted to be filed under either; my pearls of wisdom are aimed at all 47 sexes.

  40. Good morning all.

    Bright sunshine again but there is an autumnal crispiness in the air.

      1. It speeds up rapidly. Like sitting on a grassy hill. You slide a little and then gather speed very quickly as the slope becomes steeper. In an instant you can no longer slow down or stop, but hurtle to the bottom.
        When we reach the cusp, it is all over. The slope to the cusp is gentle and then it is steep.
        This is not just a physical circumstance pertaining to hills and roofs. It can be seen and experienced in social interactions, large and small. We saw it in Germany in the 30s in respect of the support for NASDAP. There are some pubs where it can be seen on many an evening, a slight disagreement in a corner, and within five minutes the whole place is a scene of fighting and flying chairs. I remember much the same at dances in the 60s, including those in church halls.

    3. Good morning, Rik.

      ‘(Some may find this distressing);

      I think we all find it distressing…….
      but truly a real possibility!!

      1. Some of us are the lucky ones – we are getting near the end of our natural lives. But what about our children and grandchildren?

  43. Someone is Lying About Covid. SST. 1 August 2020.

    Contrary to claims by the media and the ego maniac Dr. Fauci about a tidal wave of Covid infections, I have first hand, albeit anecdotal evidence, that there is a lot of bullshit surrounding reports of people who have “tested” positive for Covid. My old friend Janet, who was the GM of a very popular hair salon, heard yesterday from two of her former employees that they had “tested positive” for Covid. At first she was very alarmed and concerned for their welfare until she heard the rest of the story. Both reported neither had been to any testing facility nor had they provided any sample of any body fluid. But both were notified in the mail that they had “tested positive.”

    Then there is my friend Rob. I learned from him this week that four of his buddies in the Miami area had gone to a testing facility and had filled out paperwork in preparation for being tested for Covid. But faced with a long line and interminable wait they drove off and did not have any samples collected. But guess what? All four were informed that they too were “positive” for Covid.

    While this is anecdotal, these accounts are real and are not just isolated mistakes. Somebody in the testing chain is playing a dangerous, dishonest game. Informing perfectly healthy people that they have a positive result for a disease they have never been tested for is nothing more than Mega Bullshit.

    I only know one person in my social network that has had Covid. He was never hospitalized and only felt tired and decided against spending the day skiing at Vail. I am not denying that Covid is real and that some people are infected by it, some are hospitalized and some die. But it is a very small percentage.

    The view from the United States.

    https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2020/08/someone-is-lying-about-covid-by-larry-c-johnson.html#more

      1. Read somewhere that Federal support is based on the numbers of people with Covid.
        Go figure.

      3. Morning Sos. They obviously get paid for the tests so it is always in their interest to claim regardless of the outcome.

        1. It’s the apparent skewing towards positive that made me wonder if there might be two pay rates.

      1. Even Boris is not that stupid. Besides, Boris is not in control of anything, and the mysterious culprit was accused of running a controlling relationship.

    2. This man? “A Conservative MP has spent more than £25m buying a six-storey central London house and a string of commercial properties over the past three years, earning him hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in rental income on top of his parliamentary salary.

      Nadhim Zahawi, who is also a director of an oil company operating in Kurdistan, spent £10m on the commercial sites in the 18 months to December, adding to a family portfolio that includes a stucco property in one of the most exclusive streets in Belgravia, central London.

      Zahawi bought the Belgravia house, which is close to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s long-time home, with his wife Lana for £13.75m in 2013. The couple have applied for planning permission to extend the basement and put in a swimming pool as part of a major overhaul. They also asked to turn the property, which had been divided into three flats, into a single residence.”

      He was a junior education minister.

      2. If the money is a return from his efforts and investments and not related, influenced or affecting government policy whatsoever, fine. Don’t care.

        If, at any point he has used his position to influence policy toward his company in any manner whatsoever, he should- along with Blair, Mandelson and all the other Labour crooks – be thrown into a deep pit with 3 litres of sewage water then sealed in.

      3. And he is 53.

        Cultural misunderstanding. In the land of the Kurds – you can get awhey with many things that are not acceptable in yer UK.

      4. In late January 2018, it was reported in the media that Zahawi was one of the attendees at a men-only dinner event organised by the Presidents Club at the Dorchester Hotel in London. Media reports have alleged that female hostesses were subjected to sexual harassment and incidents of groping and inappropriate touch.. Following the revelations of his attendance at the event, Zahawi posted a tweet condemning such behaviour and stated that he felt uncomfortable at what he saw happening. He has also stated that he will never attend such a men-only event again. Wikipedia.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadhim_Zahawi

      5. In late January 2018, it was reported in the media that Zahawi was one of the attendees at a men-only dinner event organised by the Presidents Club at the Dorchester Hotel in London. Media reports have alleged that female hostesses were subjected to sexual harassment and incidents of groping and inappropriate touch.. Following the revelations of his attendance at the event, Zahawi posted a tweet condemning such behaviour and stated that he felt uncomfortable at what he saw happening. He has also stated that he will never attend such a men-only event again. Wikipedia.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadhim_Zahawi

        1. No, I didn’t miss it because Geoff had already removed it. I have only just seen his comment (Geoff’s). I am not nottling all hours of the day, sometimes duty calls! I will edit the third paragraph name now. The quote was from The Guardian.

          **Actually I have tried removing it and it won’t let me as it tells me that this has been already redacted by a moderator**

    3. In his 50s. And he retained his seat at the last election. Should narrow it down a bit.

        3. From wiki:-

          “In late January 2018, it was reported in the media that Zahawi was one of the attendees at a men-only dinner event organised by the Presidents Club at the Dorchester Hotel in London. Media reports have alleged that female hostesses were subjected to sexual harassment and incidents of groping and inappropriate touch.”

          Just saying.

    4. Do you know, Phizzee, not only do I not care
      I find myself not remotely interested…………..
      After all, it is not News, it is just an ongoing
      repeat!

  45. 322025+ up ticks,
    Morning R CT,
    My answer to your post last night there have always been other parties out there what has been lacking is the peoples will to support them and MAKE them work to successfully benefit the Country.
    Do this with the same intensity that has been done by continuing to support the lab/lib/con coalition
    in the Countries destruction campaign and we will be on a winner FOR ONCE…

    1. Good morning, Ogga

      I don’t think anyone of my acquaintance is actually enthusiastic about any of the existing mainline parties.

      At the moment only ‘None of The Above’ would get my vote if I had one!

      Indeed, I have argued for some time that ‘None of the Above (NOTA)’ votes should be counted and when NOTA gets more votes than any other candidate then nobody is returned to office. A virtually empty House of Commons would be an improvement on what we have now!

    3. And yet, as reported earlier: The leader of controversial far-right political party Britain First has avoided jail despite being convicted for the second time of wearing a political uniform. Paul Golding, 34, had been charged after leading about a dozen activists on a “Christian patrol” through Bury Park, Luton, in January while wearing what prosecutors said was an “intimidating” Britain First-branded fleece.”

      An intimidating fleece leading a dozen or so is not OK but military style anti stab vests by the hundred are fine? FFS!

      1. Where is Spode (aka Lord Sidcup)? The leader of The Black Shorts should issue them all with black footer bags

  49. Britain’s ship of fools sails on, rudderless amid the Covid seas. 2 August 2020 • 5:00am.

    Back in Blighty, things scarcely look much better. An indecisive and cowed government is plainly making it up as it goes along, quarantining here and locking down anew there, seemingly cheered on by a public that has been terrified by overly zealous messaging, but for now is insulated from the consequences of the resulting economic damage by government income support.

    I hesitate to use the word propaganda, but there really is no other way of describing the scaremongering, magnified as it is by the hysteria of the 24-hour news channels and the misinformation of social media. The response seems out of all proportion to the magnitude of the threat. There is no logic or consistency in the Government’s approach or, indeed, apparent end in sight to the economically crippling measures deemed necessary to contain the pandemic.

    Yup. We’re screwed!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/08/02/britains-ship-fools-sails-rudderless-amid-covid-seas/

    1. I still think the level of deliberate incompetence is such that the public will be clamouring for a General Election in November. We’ll get to stay in the EU and the result will be the UK’s EUthanasia!

        1. So do I. However, if one is disinclined to agree that the dire performance to date is simply to support universal vaccination, nothing else makes sense.

          1. Could be that Boris was far more affected by the virus even than we suspect.
            The problem is, he is one of those arts graduates that leads by the seat of his pants, and so is most of the civil service. Hardly a scrap of methodical thinking among them, but they think their high IQs will carry them through.

      2. We are in the End Times Stephen!

        Reducing the process to its essence, a civilization declines when it has exhausted its physical and moral capital. A civilization begins with abundant resources, inspiring ideals, strong morals, solvable problems, and high morale. “Green and fresh,” it accumulates wealth and power. However, its rise to dominance also prepares its downfall, for although greatness brings “bustle and abundance,” it also entails scarce resources, faded ideals, loose morals, intractable problems, and, in consequence, lost morale. In addition, because “the general tendency of wealth and power is to enervate a people, to make them proud and indolent,” they succumb to hubris and become the authors of their own demise.

        William Ophuls, Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail (pp. 65-66).

        1. Ophuls in the Underworld!

          I’m currently ploughing my way through Arthur Bryant’s ‘The Years of Endurance’ covering Britain in the lead up to the French Revolution and Napoleon’s subsequent rule. What is striking is how the somewhat aloof and effete French Aristocracy caved into the incoherent multi-various demands of ignorant groups. Not at all dissimilar to the craven response both here and in the US to unreasonable and incoherent demands of minority groups who do not speak for the cowed majority. C’est la Vie ou peut etre C’est la Mort!

          3. Would it be too fanciful to suggest that there is a Common Cultural Consciousness that breaks down under the assault of scepticism and doubt and which leads to a loss of confidence and mass cowardice among the Elites of all Times and Places?

          4. Seems a reasonable hypothesis since out of the inevitable chaos there arises the inevitable strong leader willed on by the general populace to re-instal law and order.

          6. Other flavours of dictatorship are available e.g
            Turkish delight
            N Korean Curry
            Chinese carry out
            etc…

          9. I have just finished Antonia Fraser’s Marie Antoinette and another book entitled How To Ruin A Queen, about the affair of the diamond necklace. It’s clear how much whipping up public opinion by the libellistes and newspapers helped stir up revolution.

        2. OK, we can see that happening around us. Does he have any useful advice for those who have retained their sanity about how to act in the end times?
          Logic would suggest switching one’s allegiance to an up and coming society, but none of them appeal particularly.

      3. 322025+ up ticks,
        Afternoon S,
        It was on the cards and triggered by the cries on the 24/6/2016 victory we are out ” leave it to the tories” I likened it after the mayday leadership farce as a three tier rocket, the wretch cameron stage one, may stage two, then the semi re-entry nose cone johnson.
        Four years plus of being taken to the wire by tory
        politico’s time & time again.

      2. Maybe next Spring, your green head can ask your blue head that very question.
        Morning, bb2.

        1. Hi Anne.
          I am not an early adopter of any new technology, my usual strategy is to wait and see how many heads other people develop.
          It’s frustrating not knowing enough about medical matters to make an informed decision on vaccines though. When I listened to the Dolores Cahill interview, I realised how little I knew – and the government pretending that all vaccines are always 100% safe (while absolving companies of liability) is not helping either.

          1. It looks as if we soon won’t be able to poke our noses out of our front doors without an ausweis stating that we’ve been vaccinated against the latest common cold variant.
            Oh – and don’t forget your birth certificate as well.

          2. A simple coloured (and serially numbered) armband should suffice. For now.

  51. “The land with no face masks: Holland’s top scientists say there’s no solid evidence coverings work and warn they could even damage the fight against Covid-19”

    Following the science….

  52. Watching yesterday’s FA Cup Final, I was struck by the number of players who suffered from leg strains. Must have been all the pre-match kneeling…

    2. Unfortunately, except for we few, this will never see the light of day in the press and TV.

  55. “322025+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    “Why won’t the government let the peoples make decisions”

    1 It is averse to their ( government ) fear / control campaign.
    2 For many peoples it is just not possible ( the hope brigade)
    3 Many prefer the butler telling them how to maintain the house even though the butler had been judged mentally, dangerously insane.
    4 We still have peoples saying “my MP” has informed me, would he be one of those swearing on an instruction manual in parliament then noshing halal
    in the canteen?

    The truth lies in the fact that a great multitude have a political odious, scabby, rabies ridden tiger by the tail but are lacking the bollocks to let go whilst admitting we have made a mistake in NOT building a credible opposition party.

    In construction years & years ago I was informed by the safety officer
    You are your own safety man, good advice.

    1. Let people make their own decisions?

      Are you crazy? They must know who are their masters!

      1. 322025+ up ticks,
        Morning BB2,
        Whoever holds the whip is deemed master, fact.
        We are witnessing currently what people power wrongly used via the ballot booth can do.

          1. 322025+up ticks,
            BB2,
            People power via paper used in a common sense manner can work.
            If not,
            People power used in a physical manner for the benefit of the Country has proved to work before.
            I truly do believe that the old pikestaff had no conscience.

  56. I gave grandson, eight, a lump of clay last week and he made an eggcup.
    This weekend he found it had dried up and decided to hack it to pieces:

    To regain some sense of artistic merit I balanced the remaining bits together:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0b7a6edafe8779bde03ac4e80926d3070b98ad979b0d06eecb74cc09eb232ae.jpg

    and suggested it should be called Disassembled Eggcup.

    After a little postprocessing this was the resulting photograph:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c93b611a73b20104d38882935ce77e1581071131562d827cba6c69ee5a0c771.jpg

    1. For I remember stopping by the way
      To watch a Potter thumping his wet Clay:
      And with its all-obliterated Tongue
      It murmur’d—“Gently, Brother, gently, pray!”

      And has not such a Story from of Old
      Down Man’s successive generations roll’d
      Of such a clod of saturated Earth
      Cast by the Maker into Human mould?”

  59. 322025+ up ticks,
    It is becoming so bloody obvious that another species of black rod is knocking on the door of England,LOUDLY.
    The lab/lib/con coalition party has created this odious situation in physical
    form, so now will proceed to rectify the problem they created, rhetorically.

    Using a great deal of submissive pcism & appeasement and a great deal of
    polished patter they will once again convince the ovid that things are getting done.

    With the lab/lib/con handling of these issues and the current voting pattern
    I can see it being on the cards as being compulsory for ALL peoples to attend a daily black mass.

      1. “But soon there’s a whisper, ‘Arise! Arise!
        Tomorrow belongs to me.’ “

          1. That was one terrific film! I never tire of watching it, whether in English or German.

        2. 322025+up ticks,
          Morning PTV,
          I agree with your sentiment but for many tomorrow never comes, it is viewed as being to
          uncomfortable to consider.

          1. I charge you with reading too much Sidney Sheldon & claim my 5/- postal order.

          4. 322025+ up ticks,
            PTV,
            I believe early days he was some sort of semi bond
            be did not stick around long enough to go full bond.
            Regarding illusions who can differentiate between
            smoke/ mirrors, truth / fiction ?
            Regarding illusions there are a great many peoples
            under them as in continuing to support / vote lab/lib/con under the illusion it is beneficial for the Country after the party of course.
            Plus these same peoples appetite for the BS fodder
            in the manifesto’s is unbelievable, “give us more of the same” which is duly served up, guaranteed.

          6. 322025+ up ticks,
            PTV,
            No doubt & I don’t make you wrong but that is way down my list of priorities I find it to be of more importance that the peoples ween themselves off of their suicidal voting pattern as the time fast approaches when it will be to late.

            I do not mind if they condemn themselves that is their right to prayer 5 times a day if they so wish but they condemn their kids & that is unacceptable.

            An illusion = a perception given to the brain that does not add up, ie lab/lib/con.

          7. 322025+ up ticks,
            PTV,
            No doubt & I don’t make you wrong but that is way down my list of priorities I find it to be of more importance that the peoples ween themselves off of their suicidal voting pattern as the time fast approaches when it will be to late.

            I do not mind if they condemn themselves that is their right to prayer 5 times a day if they so wish but they condemn their kids & that is unacceptable.

            An illusion = a perception given to the brain that does not add up, ie lab/lib/con.

          9. Lie & lay, uninterested & disinterested, envious & jealous, prescribe & proscribe, it just goes on & on…

          10. Teachers themselves probably never learnt those things and so it goes on as people become more ignorant and the language further declines.

      3. There’s going to be an almighty bust up before long – The indegenous population of this country will only stand so much – it’s a powder keg situation!

        1. 322025+ up ticks,
          Afternoon S,
          I must agree it has been on the cards for a long time, for the young it will just be an extension of what has been allowed to build up.
          Courtesy of lab/lib/con parties and their supporting cast.

        2. Looking at the masked sheep leaping out of my way, I think we may be harking back to the long lost tribes of Blighty.

  61. So many boxes to tick.

    Edit, If only she were blind, had one leg, loved the girls, was a vegan and ate in Ali’s Snack Bar, she would be a shoe-in
    as PM in UK

    Joe Biden buries the hatchet and looks to bring in Kamala Harris as running mate

    Kamala Devi Harris is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from California since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Harris is the second African American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the United States Senate.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/01/joe-biden-buries-hatchet-looks-bring-kamala-harris-running-mate/

  63. And we thought Gordon Brown got it badly wrong….

    “If you’re holding your pension with the Bank of Ireland, you are now officially being charged to do so.
    In a move that we’re sure is going to have absolutely no consequences, the bank is starting to impose negative interest rates on cash held in pensions, according to The Irish Examiner. The bank is applying a rate of 0.65% on pension pots, which means customers will now pay the bank 65 Euros on every 10,000 held.
    The bank commented: “European Central Bank interest rates have been negative since 2014. Since then banks have been subject to negative interest rates for holding funds overnight and market indications are that rates will remain low for some time.”
    It continued: “As a result, we have applied negative rates on deposits for large institutional and corporate customers since 2016. We recently wrote to 14 investment and pension trustee firms to inform them about a rate change to their accounts, which is reflective of the negative interest rate environment.”

    2. Let’s not forget the bale-in carried out in Cyprus. Desperate measures in desperate times, beware!

    1. Or, the ignorant, uninformed and sheeplike people of this country. There are vast numbers of idiots and we all suffer for their stupidity.

  65. I thought I misheard the beeboid announcer on Radio 3.

    There is – right now – a repeat of Wednesday’s live Choral Evensong from St Martin in the Fields.

    Singing. Organ. People. A shocking breach of the very prudent virus rules (sarc).

        1. I had a thought, Geoff. If St Martin-in-the-Fields can have a LIVE choral service – then so can any other church. You might run that past your feckless bishop, who so muzzles his clergy.

          6. Indeed, Bill. I listened to the service as it was being broadcast on Wednesday. I believe it wasn’t quite live, since CofE advice* currently states that:

            “Groups of professional singers are now able to rehearse and record in churches and church halls for broadcast.”

            Elsewhere, they state:

            Q. Can the organ be played?
            A. Yes. Organs can be played for services, practice and general maintenance, but should be
            appropriately cleaned after use.
            Q. Can we sing?
            A. There should be no group singing inside churches when worshippers are present.
            If worshipping in a churchyard small groups of professional singers (those who are employed to do
            so) will be able to sing in front of worshippers. Singing in groups should be limited to professional
            singers only and should be limited to a small set group of people. Both the singers and the
            worshippers should be outdoors, as defined as a place of worship.
            When inside churches, where essential to an act of worship, one individual only should be permitted
            to sing or chant, and the use of plexi-glass screens should be considered to protect worshippers from
            them, as this will further prevent transmission and the screen can be easily cleaned.

            *While the above is only advisory, singing is also discouraged in the government (they don’t deserve an upper case “G”) Covid guidelines. So none of the above carries the force of law, but everyone from the Antichrist er… Archbishop to the lowliest village curate is so terrified of the shonetstorm which would ensue, should they break the guidelines and a single soul be infected, or worse, that it’ll never happen.

          7. Well, you know what’s what. I thought that they said it really was “live” – on Wednesday.

            The “advice” about choirs is unbelievable. If a choir can assemble and sing, why on earth cannot a congregation – small if need be – do so too? Won’t the singers be at risk of infecting other singers?

            Cowardly charlatans – is a summary by a neutral, non-church going NoTTLer….

          8. Frankly I’m past caring. I ‘attended’ the Zoom service this morning for the first time in a month. The numbers are down from a peak of around 50, to 30-ish. It does nothing for me, other than to remind me of what I’m missing.

            Apparently the plan is to have a physical morning service in either of the larger churches, to allow distancing, and broadcast a Zoom service in the evening from one of the smaller two.

            Experience in the Deanery, among those churches which have opened for worship, is variable. Some are oversubscribed and having to turn folk away. I’ll guess they are the happy-clappy evangelical ones. Others are having turnouts of eight of fewer.

            I think the writing is on the wall for the likes of me, and I’m beginning to embrace the prospect of full, rather than semi-retirement.

          9. There have been congregations of 30 – 40 on the occasions I attended church post lockdown. I have no idea how many are there now (except there will be one fewer) as I am not going to wear a mask, so am not attending. I’ve sent my apologies to the Rector so nobody will worry why I’m not there.

          10. Still, would have been nice for it to be your choice, Geoff, rather than forced upon you by dim ecclesiasticles and circumstances.

  66. Like Charles Dickens’ other novels, “A Tale of Two Cities” was
    originally published in serial form, in this case in two local
    newspapers.
    It was the Bicester Times, it was the Worcester Times.

          3. Sounds familiar.

            A quick guide on “How to fall downstairs”:

            Step 1

            Step 6

            Step 8, 9, 10, 11.

    1. The Met have issued a statement thanking the people of London for a peaceful demonstration.
      More Reinforcements for the next demo arriving today, 4 star accommodation available.

        2. In ten years it’ll be real gun and they’ll kill their chums.

          London is a toilet. It needs to be flushed and given a good scrub to get rid of decades of ingrained sewage.

  71. How to start the day right… in socked feet, stand on a nice, ripe tick so it goes click-squelch, then trample blood all through the house…

    2. I stood on a very large cockroach on the landing outside my room in the Gasthof in Gangkofen (Bavaria). It was still there 3 days later.
      Ever morning there would be up to a dozen baby cockroaches in my shower tray every morning. Of course, running the shower until warm got rid of them.

        1. I put my bare foot on a decapitated young robin under the table. I had rescued it once from Missy’s clutches & having checked it over, put it back in the nesting box, but the little minx later fished it out again & left it as a ‘present’, as if to say, “You can’t get the better of me.”

          1. Is she still predatory or has she slowed down? Lily so far has caught one shrew but J managed to rescue it in time. Pineapple next door is a bit younger and catches quite a lot of things and brings them indoors.

          2. Almost every day I used to come home from work to find a dead, or worse, half dead bird or mouse. Les PCs haven’t brought a thing in for I’d say over year. They’re about seven years old now, so settling into middle age.

          3. No, she is slowing down & becoming very gentle, even with me. That incident with the robin was when I was still working.

            She also cleared out a bluetit family in a box which I had placed 3 metres up on the garage wall, thinking it couldn’t be any safer. While my father & I stood there a day or so later, she actually demonstrated how she had done it – by jumping down on to the box from the garage roof, paw in, &… She actually looked at us to see if we were following her demonstration!

          4. That is the downside of having young cats and the upside of oldies.

            When Suzie and Sam were very young I was quite upset one Saturday morning to find they’d caught a frog and brought it into the kitchen. J came home at lunchtime, put it in a meat tray while he got changed – and it suddenly came to life! It had lost a little blood but seemed relatively unharmed. He released it on the edge of the pond – it said “thanks” and dropped into the water.

        2. Our cat Jason, was black and slim, resembling a small panther, but with a darker personality. We would find rabbit heads at the back door. They were unmarked, but the body was missing, removed as cleanly as if by a guillotine. He was knocked down by a car (or maybe kicked by a nasty neighbour) and had a broken jaw and other injuries. The vet fixed him up and his jaw was wired for a few weeks,. We fed him mush of some kind. He was not allowed out during this period and was going stir-crazy. He was eventually dewired but kept in for another week or two, until the vet said we could let him out again. He had lost one of his big fangs and we wondered how he would cope. Within half an hour of being let out, he was back, dragging a large dead rabbit. As if to say, I can still do it, so there!
          Lovely cat. Alas some few years later we noticed that he was not eating and was getting thinner. We took him to the vet who diagnosed an inoperable stomach tumour. He was thirteen. Poor cat, we missed him.

          1. Sounds like a superbly professional cat!
            We have two Norwegian Forest cats now, both definite characters and great fun, yet still miss the old cat, Magnificat.

          2. Our black cat Sam had a lovely nature and was an excellent ratter. He was once mistaken by someone looking through binoculars across the valley for a “big cat” which was supposedly on the loose around here.

            He developed some tumours and we had to have him put to sleep at 15.

          4. Sam was his name but he was often called Sambo – I was told by a friend that it was not PC.

          6. Our black cat Sam had a lovely nature and was an excellent ratter. He was once mistaken by someone looking through binoculars across the valley for a “big cat” which was supposedly on the loose around here.

            He developed some tumours and we had to have him put to sleep at 15.

          7. Sounds like a lovely cat.

            Our last black cat would come charging into my study and under my desk, where he would demolish his prey. One day this happened and he seemed to be there for much longer than usual with considerable loud crunching going on. When he finally wandered off I dared to look under my desk to discover the back half of a rabbit. When he returned at the end of the day he was extremely dismayed to discover I had removed his late night snack he was expecting to find.

  72. I accidently shot a Golden Eagle while out Duck shooting and ended up in
    court. The judge said..”this is a very serious crime, do you have
    anything to say in your defence?”
    “Yes your Honour, it was very misty and the light was fading and, once I
    realised the horror of what I’d done, I remembered what my late father
    said. ‘If you kill an animal you must respect it’s spirit and eat every
    part of it’ so I took it home and fed my family for a day”
    ” That’s very moving young man and, under the circumstances, I’m
    prepared to admonish you but..just before you step down..I’m curious,
    what did it taste like?”
    “Hard to say Your Honour, kind of like a cross between an Osprey and a
    Peregrine”

    1. Good grief! That’s huge! You can close the door with the clothes in there as well!

  75. Did you know taking LSD can cause weight loss?

    You can’t get nowhere near the fridge when there’s a dragon guarding it.

    1. “Your Honour,
      Dianne Abbott’s son’s defence is that he was actually trying to help her lose weight but bought the wrong stuff.”

  76. My mate said, “I like your sports car.”
    I said, “It’s not very practical now we’ve got a baby.”
    He said, “How about I buy it off you.”
    I said, “Yeah go on then. Four grand?”
    He said, “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
    I said, “Nice one… you’re going to make a brilliant dad.”

  77. My mate said, “I like your sports car.”
    I said, “It’s not very practical now we’ve got a baby.”
    He said, “How about I buy it off you.”
    I said, “Yeah go on then. Four grand?”
    He said, “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
    I said, “Nice one… you’re going to make a brilliant dad.”

  78. I went to my local GP complaining of hearing problems and the doctor asked me if I could describe the symptoms.

    “Yes”, I said. “Homer is fat and Marge has blue hair”.

  79. Primary school under pressure to ditch ‘Rhodes’ from name even though founder has no links to colonalism
    Campaigners have argued the Rhodes family “has a legacy born in white supremacy, imperialism, and apartheid”

    A primary school is facing calls to ditch “Rhodes” from its name in the wake of the Black Lives Matters movement despite its founder having no links to colonialism.

    Former pupils at Rhodes Avenue school in Wood Green, North London, are among those calling for a clean break with “Rhodes” because of an apparent immediate association with British imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

    But it is understood the school’s name was adopted after his great uncle Thomas, once a wealthy landowner in the area.

    And while no evidence implicates Thomas Rhodes with colonialism, campaigners have argued the Rhodes family “has a legacy born in white supremacy, imperialism, and apartheid”.

    Former pupil Alex Wiffin told the Ham & High newspaper: “What we really want to stress is that whatever the link to the family, the fact is that when most people hear the name, they do immediately think about Cecil Rhodes and Rhodesia. Trying to find ways around that is missing the point.”

    A petition has now been created calling for the school to be renamed after Oliver Tambo, a prominent Anti-apartheid activist.

    Frances Browning, founder of the petition and former student, described Cecil Rhodes as “one of the most controversial figures of the British Empire” and argued that the name Rhodes “is a family name which cannot be disentangled from the pursuit of white supremacy and the dehumanisation and subjugation of Black people.”

    The movement has attracted the support of local politicians such as Joseph Ejiofor, Labour leader of Haringey Council.

    He said : “If we were naming roads today, we would never choose Rhodes Avenue, which is named after Thomas Rhodes, great uncle to Cecil, an imperialist, colonialist, and white supremacist.”

    “The Head of Rhodes Avenue School hopes to be guided by the Mayor’s Commission regarding the changing of the school’s name” .

    Thomas Rhodes owned a 450 acre dairy farm across the areas now known as Muswell Hill, Wood Green and Hornsey. Upon his death in 1856, his family inherited Tottenham Wood Farm which later became the site of Alexandra Palace.

    However, Trevor Phillips, former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, told the Mail on Sunday that he was puzzled by the outrage over the name.

    He said: “I find it puzzling that the most important thing about this school is thought to be its name, which refers not to Cecil Rhodes, but to Thomas, who can hardly be held responsible for his great nephew’s actions.”

    “Rather than trying to erase a tenuous link with the past, shouldn’t we be focusing on the black lives of the future?”

    Haringey Council and Rhodes Avenue Primary have been contacted for comment.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/02/primary-school-pressure-ditch-rhodes-name-even-though-founder/

    It can’t be much of a school, if people such as the past pupils calling for it to be renamed are typical of its level of education.

      2. I’d be willing to place a wager that most of the people calling for “Rhodes must fall” and the change of name of this school in London had never previously heard of Cecil Rhodes.

    4. Thomas Rhodes enslaved innocent cows, and – like the milk he forced them to produce – he was white. Ergo, he’s guilty as charged. Dig him up, then hang him.

    5. Why do they never look into their own history and family connections to see how *their* ancestors profited from the slave trade?

      Oh! Hang on. Because they’re a backward society that simple things like keeping records were beyond.

    6. In honour of BLM, I would like to start petitions for the beatification of

      Robert Mugabe

      Idi Amin

      Winnie Mandela

      Papa Doc Duval

      Floyd the Neck

      for the care and consideration that they have shown to their countrymen & women

  80. There is a farm, just outside Leominster giving Hansard away for nothing.

    The sign says Horse Manure Free

    1. I bet your bottom dollar they are all terrorists.. DAESH.. .. they are just practising .

      You ain’t seen nuttin’ yet.

      This is a horrible situation , and I expect things like that are putting off decent workers from returning to work in the city.

          1. Me too. The most recent Street View shows just three posts, and no sign. But there’s no flyover in the background, so Rik’s snap must be elsewhere.

    3. Soros has given a quarter of a Billion pounds/dollars to BLM. It’s a lot of dosh whatever the currency.

    4. The ‘FF’ logo is that of ‘Families Need Fathers’ – a self help charity I was an active member of in the 1990s after I had been discarded by my wife, who wanted to replace me with a better model, and then poisoned our children against me. She used the social presumption against men to her advantage. I have not seen my son since 2001 and my daughter once. They were brought up to believe that fathers are not important. Their mother knew what she wanted and she knew how to get it, and the law was on her side.

      I had enough of Peter Lilley putting discarded fathers on his little list when he set up the Child Support Agency, run by militant feminists, and your last sentence I really find rather offensive as well as quite prejudicial.

      1. Sorry, Jeremy, but “Families Need Fathers” has an entirely different logo, and is highly unlikely to have any connection to the BLM mob.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b2bf6390343914d6969973e8b71934ad33bc0d5900c01bd101e3dc8bf523b394.png

        “Forever Family” is a cuddly name for a different organisation altogether…

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8585073/Who-secretive-British-protest-group-Forever-Family-Force.html#v-8729552276255949669

        1. On the upside, considering the level of fatality from blacks stabbing blacks maybe they’ve got the right idea?

      3. RR was referring to absent fathers in the “community”. I think we know what type of parent his comment is aimed at.

      4. Worked many years ago (1990) with a very skilled welder, who could have written exactly what you wrote here, Jeremy. It was heartbreaking to hear his side of the story. I’m sorry that you are in the same boat – I hope your children get in touch with you to check the veracity of their mother’s claims.

  82. DT Story

    Conservative Party stands by decision not to suspend MP arrested over rape allegation as criticism mounts
    A spokesman for the Conservatives said the party would review its decision after the police investigation has concluded.

    We have become far too eager to say that people are guilty before it has been proved in court. Look at the devastation caused to his victims by the fantasist “Nick” with his wild, unsubstantiated accusations. I must say that you cannot and must not punish a person unless and until he or she has been found guilty and it is entirely justifiable to protect his or her identity until guilt has been proved..

    Maybe the Conservative Party should now reflect that it is wrong to treat people like Tommy Robinson in the way he has been treated by the MSM, the Police, the courts and the politicians?

          1. From wiki:-

            “In late January 2018, it was reported in the media that ****** was one of the attendees at a men-only dinner event organised by the Presidents Club at the Dorchester Hotel in London. Media reports have alleged that female hostesses were subjected to sexual harassment and incidents of groping and inappropriate touch.”

            Just saying…

          5. My bet is that he will be in the box, but if it turns out to be another man, and heaven knows there must be others who fit the Belgravia, Conservative, ex-minister description, he should be given some benefit of the doubt

          7. There are not many recently resigned ministers who live in London and are in the 50s.

            Just saying. Of course – innocence until proved otherwise rules – just ask that chap from Bristol and, er, Robinson….

          8. I’ve not read any of the press reports, but “recent” is a flexible friend for journalists.

          3. I have. As mentioned earlier. We all know who we think did it, but I don’t want to prejudice his chances of a fair trial before he’s found guilty, if you see what I mean.

            Chances are, it would pass unnoticed, but in these censorious times, one can’t be too careful. It’s not as though we’ve never had someone posting on the Grauniad, naming us as a bunch of far-right extremists, after all…

          5. Geoff, my apologies. I returned to my comment, and the third paragraph – the name needs removal; also, I feel under the circumstances, his wife’s name further along in that same paragraph. Do remove the whole comment if you feel that is the correct thing to do.

          6. On the Grauniad? Wow! Far right extremists! Fame at last? Us?
            Infamy, infamy…

            Any names?

    1. Dolan could have added that Plod rarely observes social distancing, either. Perhaps they’re being issued with all the HCQ which we allegedly stockpiled?

      1. I’ve seen at least 10 sitting next to each other travelling in a people carrier Sans masks!

        1. It’s a very clever virus – not only can it tell the difference between shops and pubs, and customers and staff – it knows to avoid the Met as well.

  84. Just now on al-beeb … some medic trud referred to ” the white community ” . And now, the people of the UK are just a sub-group … Bliar you should be tarred and feathered,

    2. 322025+ up ticks,
      Afternoon IA,
      How many times was he returned to power ? and no improvement since, in point of fact the establishment are courting the followers of islam swearing by it in parliament
      & swallowing it via the canteen menu.

      Consider we still maintain indigenous people power and that should be used via the polling booth to benefit the UK,
      & not in an abusive manner as in voting lab/lib/con.

      1. Who or what do you suggest we vote for next time, Ogga? Assuming we are allowed another vote…..

        1. 322025+ up ticks,
          Afternoon N,
          To start with I would not. could not support / vote a party that had continued to mislead the peoples
          via lies & deceit resulting in peoples deaths & kids
          scarred for life mentally through paedophilia actions, much of which was / is covered up.

          UKIP as was, was a success in the building during the Gerard Batten year.
          I do believe another such party will arise and this time will be built on and continue to be built on
          through the years, Mr Batten proved this could be achieved, and many REAL UKIP members are still out there.

          Brexit party OK although misguided in their leadership he carries to much baggage of an odious nature.
          N,
          Why “assume” we will get another vote
          the peoples well outnumber the politico’s
          Demand is the way to go with many issues , Dover for one, not being least.

          1. I’ve nothing against Gerard Batten but UKIP is a busted flush now. At least Farage is not afraid to speak out on a variety of topics.

      3. Hand on heart, ogga, I never voted for the b’stard. I spoiled my ballot paper if there was no alternative to the mainstream charlatans.

        1. ‘For a good time call 555-643-849’.

          I tried the number and i got the local tennis club. 🙂

    1. 13 ingredients? I couldn’t be @rsed!
      A cookery book was published some years ago “Cooking with Four Ingredients”
      I believe it was a best seller…

        1. I don’t normally respond to cookery posts….it’s boring…
          Why some people make such a fuss about their culinary skills I can’t imagine..
          I placed a fillet of smoked haddock in a casserole dish with some frozen broccoli and a cube of spinach. Covered it with 1/2 a can of chicken soup soup and shoved it in the oven.
          Just enjoying a sherry whilst it cooks to perfection in about 30 mins….

        2. I don’t normally respond to cookery posts….it’s boring…
          Why some people make such a fuss about their culinary skills I can’t imagine..
          I placed a fillet of smoked haddock in a casserole dish with some frozen broccoli and a cube of spinach. Covered it with 1/2 a can of chicken soup soup and shoved it in the oven.
          Just enjoying a sherry whilst it cooks to perfection in about 30 mins….

          2. “Why some people make such a fuss about culinary skills I can’t imagine..”

            Same could be said for tennis.

            Horses for courses. 🙂

          11. I am obliged to my technically skilled and learned friend for his helpful intervention.

      2. Nowt wrong with 13 ingredients, as long as they are all in the larder/fridge/spice rack.

          2. Nante panic. I have enough of the ingrdients to repeat it later in the week with mozz after i’ve been shopping.

          1. Oven roasted ratatouille tonight, 90% of the ingredients picked today.

            It’s really easy, freezes brilliantly, and it’s delicious. You can even substitute trombetti for courgette later in the season.

      1. Yes but i only put it in near the end because of danger of splitting. If it’s off don’t use it.

          2. Taste it. If it doesn’t taste as it should then bin it.

            I sometimes have to scrape a bit of mould off but the yoghurt is fine.

          3. Careful with that. Mould on the surface, but the mycelia go deep. I always took the view that to scrape the mould of the surface of , say, jam, but one time I was really ill.

          4. I am aware of that. After opening and using some of it and putting it back in the fridge some mould spots appear around the top rim. Not actually on the yoghurt.

      2. Dip a finger in, smell/taste it. Depends how out of date it is & what you plan to do with it. Is it still sealed?

          1. It’s probably OK for cooking. What’s the date?

            Yu could always use it as a pack around your tendon. 😉

          5. o, yog
            is
            quite different. Yours is probably OK. I would certainly use it if it passed the sniff test.

  87. OK, folks. I’ve done a little editing. I’ve redacted the alleged name of the alleged Tory rapist. It’s important that he gets a fair trial before he’s found guilty, and I don’t wish this site to give him any excuse. We all know who we think did it; no more posting his name please…

    3. Looking back to see whether I had offended, I notice that the surname is still there in several posts.

    5. I have no idea who might have done it (nor, frankly do I care). I saw the Labourites baying for his (anonymous) blood and thought, “whatever happened to innocent until proved guilty”?

      3. Der Regen kehrt nicht zurück zum Himmel.

        Was gemacht wird, kann nicht ungemacht werden.

        Wenn die Wunde nicht mehr schmerzt, schmerzt die Narbe,

        B. Brecht.

        1. So you’re saying Peddy (© Cathy Newman) that the MP in question was one Bertold Brecht?

  88. The scariest thing i’ve seen today…………….

    “The BBC should take a greater role in children’s education and

    replace some of the “traditional” elements of teaching, one of its

    senior executives has suggested.

    James Purnell, head of radio and education, said the BBC had created

    such excellent online content for schoolchildren during the Covid-19

    crisis that it had changed the game.

    The BBC now has “a huge opportunity” to increase its reach in the education field, he said.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/31/bbc-wants-play-bigger-role-childrens-education/
    A telescreen in every room no doubt,1984 rushes on apace

      2. My history teacher was a fully paid up member of the communist party. It never took much to set him off on a rant. Never learned a thing in his class.

        1. History was the only O-level which I failed. Both teachers were excellent; I think it was down to my handwriting.

          1. Snap. It was the time period of the syllabus (and my inability with numbers) which caused my downfall.

          4. That good? My history teacher was also my Math teacher. He was as good at it as Miss Dianne.

        2. Mine wasn’t.
          Mrs Brill …..aroused my interest in history..she certainly was Brill…iant and I an ever indebted to her for making history exciting.
          All those evil Tudor plotters…

        3. Mine was dreadful too. Married with a Turkish name (although I think she was probably part-English, and didn’t look dark-skinned) history I remember as boring and turgid Except when it came to the Ottoman Empire and Mo.She spent a whole term on that. This was in 1970 in a girl’s private school. I thought nothing of it at the time, but nowadays I wonder what she was doing.

    4. Wouldn’t the BBC be delighted to be able to have supreme influence on children from a very early age? Was it the Jesuits were reputed to have said ‘Give me the child for the first seven years and I will give you the man’? Would solve the BBC’s problem recruiting younger viewers and listeners. And what about all those lovely new licence fee payers.

    5. James Purnell used to be a half decent conservative journalist when he was at the Times.
      Joined the Beeb & got Woke…

  89. Latest email from the Brexit Party about last week’s survey. The numbers are something of a surprise!

    Over the course of the last week, tens of thousands of you have spent time giving us your feedback and views on the mainstream media. As ever, we’re delighted by the response and want to say again how important your thoughts are in shaping the future direction of the party.

    Today, we’re giving you the highlights from those results, which paint a very clear picture of your views on how the mainstream media are choosing to operate.

    To start, only 1% of you feel that the mainstream media give a fair and balanced hearing to views such as yours; a staggering indictment of the bias currently operating within the organisations bringing us news.

    At the same time, 83% of you feel that broadcasters should have to be impartial, rather than allowing them an explicitly partisan editorial line, as happens with newspapers.

    Only 2% of you thought that mainstream media coverage of the Black Lives Matters protests and activities was honest, with only 7% believing the same about the coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    After nearly 93% of you told us that the BBC should be defunded, there was a range of views of what would be the best model to replace it with, with each of our three options getting significant support.

    Free speech is a subject we know to be of huge importance to our supporters. 91% of you felt that for institutions of education that receive public money, freedom of speech should be a prerequisite whilst 84% of you think we should have a free speech guarantee in law!

    Finally, on Shamima Begum, 92% of you believe that she shouldn’t be allowed back into the UK under any circumstances!

    We’re excited already about our next Sunday Survey, which we’ll send to you this time next week. We’re going to be focusing on how the politics of our country operates and perhaps more importantly, how you think it could operate better! It will be one not to miss!

    1. What’s the use of CCTV when most of those taking part are masked with more than just a cloth face covering – they are wearing helmets and dark glasses. None of those people will be arrested but they are all breaking the law.

      1. Makes you wonder how present day mask-wearing fits in with the Vermummungsverbot introduced at the time of the Baader-Meinhof problems.

          1. Apparently not. This is the situation I Googled for 2020… (My underlinng)

            FAQ: Vermummungsverbot
            Was besagt das Vermummungsverbot in Deutschland?
            Im Versammlungsgesetz ist festgeschrieben, dass Vermummungen bei öffentlichen Versammlungen oder sonstigen öffentlichen Veranstaltungen, die im Freien stattfinden, verboten sind. Auch auf dem Weg zu solchen Veranstaltungen dürfen Sie keine Utensilien tragen oder mit sich führen, mit denen Sie sich vermummen können.

            Was passiert, wenn ich mich zu genannter Gelegenheiten dennoch vermumme?
            Sie begehen eine Straftat, wenn Sie das Vermummungsverbot missachten. Das wird üblicherweise mit einer Geldstrafe oder mit einer Freiheitsstrafe bis zu einem Jahr geahndet.

            Gilt das Vermummungsverbot auch an Karneval?
            Ja. Prinzipiell können die Behörden allerdings eine Ausnahme machen. Mehr dazu erfahren Sie hier.

            Verstößt das Tragen eines Mundschutzes während der Corona-Pandemie gegen das Vermummungsverbot?
            Nein. Es gibt kein generelles Vermummungsverbot in der Öffentlichkeit. Dieses gilt wie erwähnt nur für Versammlungen und beim Führen von Kraftfahrzeugen. Demnach fällt das Tragen eines Mundschutzes in der Öffentlichkeit nicht unter das Vermummungsverbot.

    2. Because the Met commissioner is f- ing useless and should be fired, preferably from a cannon pointing towards the mid Atlantic.

    5. This is due to years of failed appeasement. The law should apply to all. We are in a very dark place at the moment where the politicians are afraid to act. led by Boris Johnson.

      1. The irony is that they appear to be “black-uniformed paramilitary stewards”, a phrase I have borrowed from a Wikipedia article about a lad called Oswald.

      3. 322025+ up ticks,
        Evening JN,
        They act alright but NOT in a way beneficial to these Isles, same as the last lot, and the one
        before that, then the one prior to that one, then…….

  93. If masks are normalised, we all become subservient

    Masks come with a whole bunch of exciting associations, but when they’re forced on us, all the fun gets sucked out of them

    JULIE BURCHILL

    Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water – or rather into the museums, galleries, cinemas and places of worship where we seek our pleasures sacred and profane – the Government has announced that face-coverings will be mandatory in these spaces, as they are in shops, banks, takeaways and post offices. (The last one makes me wonder how easy life must be for hold-up artists now that it’s normal to roam the streets in a mask.)

    It is bitterly ironic that the most hail-fellow-well-met of Prime Ministers should now be overseeing the isolation of the nation; you could tell it hurt this inveterate table-hopper at the banquet of life to say “I don’t want to tell people to spend less time with their friends. But unless people follow the rules and behave safely, we may need to go further. This is how we will avoid a return to full national lockdown.”

    Masks come with a whole bunch of exciting associations, from superheroes for the kiddies to exotic, erotic gatherings for the grown-ups. But when they’re forced on us, all the fun gets sucked out. Both Mammon-wise and morally, I believe they’ll be bad for the nation’s morale. Getting the retail section going again? Forget it. The only reason people still go shopping in the age of Amazon is as a social occasion. “Retail therapy” was never really about buying things except for the emptiest of us, but as a way of being with friends, drifting around like we still had all the time in the world, trying on possibilities. In masks, all we feel is our limits, and it doesn’t make us generous.

    But that’s a trivial matter compared to the damage a masked society will inflict on those with concerns more pressing than trying out lipstick testers. Masks are manna from heaven for the Worried Well who fuss about their banal anxieties while disregarding those with real disabilities for whom masking will make life a whole lot worse.

    Around one in six are thought to use lip-reading to make sense of the world; during one radio phone-in I heard the mother of a deaf child explaining how sad it is for her lip-reading daughter to see everyone wearing masks; “She was such a chatty little girl and now she’s just completely silent in public. It’s heartbreaking.” At least 10 schools have made coverings mandatory for pupils and teachers, prompting an inevitable battle with parents like Molly Kingsley, co-founder of the campaign group UsforThem, who told this newspaper “Based on the anger we have seen … there is a very visceral reaction among parents to face masks in schools.”

    On the radio I heard the mother of a boy with additional needs; “He’s terrified of masks. He’s already lonely. He’ll be an outcast if masks are mandatory.” We are told that masking-up shows that we care, but treating our fellow human beings as germ-spreading units is not my idea of kindness.

    And as for the practicalities! When the PM promised “a greater police presence to ensure face coverings are being worn” I certainly hope the manpower will come from a new division – the Toytown Police, perhaps – not from the current force who seem powerless in the face of cities running red with the blood of our youth. The idea of jails being emptied of violent criminals in order to make way for incorrigible Bare Faces is like something from a dystopian novel, back when there was still a market for them, before life imitated art.

    Of the many totalitarian hellholes in the world, some specialise in suppressing women with face-coverings, while others are equal opportunity oppressors. The poor beaten-down people of Islamist Iran and Communist China must cover their faces and know their place. There’s something extremely anti-human about forced masking, which is why the PM in an earlier, carefree incarnation triggered such a fierce backlash for his remarks about the Islamist mode of female garb.

    “Fame is a mask that eats the face” goes the old saying – but so is fear. If masking is normalised, we will soon become subservient creatures, government-licensed gimps. I’ll try not to shame those who embrace their masks as scared sheep – but only so long as we who resist aren’t demonised as murderous wolves.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/02/masks-normalised-become-subservient/

    1. Has anyone else noticed the creeping contol being applied in towns via Covid

      Streets have had the 2 metre distancing applied to the pavements, which have become one way

      Distance markings and direrection arrows applied IN PAINT to the pavement surface.

      This is not Covid Control, but population subjugation

      1. Utterly ridiculous. There is nothing like that in Germany, for example, and the Krauts are already protesting more than the Britons are.

      2. Yep. Saw this in Topsham the other week. Most people were oblivious to the markings. I noticed them, but ignored them on principle. Unlike some towns (Farnham, for instance), the roads there are too narrow to erect hideous red and white barriers down both sides of the main street.

        1. Nice place, Topsham. A good Hotel (The Globe) and the only pub ever visited by HM the Queen. The Bridge, if I remember correctly. Quirky place.

          1. I visited both pubs between the 23rd and 24th of last month. The Bridge is more quirky than an extremely quirky thing. But it does a great selection of ales. At the moment, you have to sit in the car park. You climb up the stairs at the entrance, and shout your order over the top half of a slightly open sash window, then press your contactless card to the window, where you can just about see they’re holding the reader. Then to the next window, to collect your pints.

            Had a lunchtime pint or two at the Globe. Have eaten there before, and was impressed on both occasions. The Lighter Inn is another good pub – though I wasn’t blown away by their fish and chips, eaten in the car park in the rain. Last but not least was the Kings Arms at Otterton. Great food. Shame about the f**kwit who took Dianne’s booking, for a table by the window. Instead, we were pushed into a dark corner of the Conservatory. Di’s mushroom failed to materialise, and my new potatoes turned out to be chunky chips. These errors were remedied, but then my steak knife disintegrated, the sharp bit flying across the table and narrowly missing Di’s left ear. Had there been a handy bottle of ketchup, I would have feigned a death scene. In the end, they were sufficiently embarrassed to waive the bill for the food, which was actually rather good, errors notwithstanding.

            I agree. Topsham is a great place to live, and I intend to be a frequent visitor. I went with Dianne to view various properties last Autumn. Most were in the old part of town. They oozed character, but most were totally devoid of parking facilities. In the end, she opted for a ‘zero-carbon eco home’ on the fringes of the town. I spent my working life in construction, and the standard of finish was exceptional. It’s still within walking distance of the town centre, and the 57 bus stops just by her small estate. She’s already involved with art lectures, guiding walking tours, distributing parish magazines, rambling, etc., etc. The only ‘downside’ is the place is hideously white…

          3. Sounds good! And, of course, Topsham is within striking distance of Exeter with all it has to offer. ‘Hideously white?’ Pity.

          4. Sadly, our bombsite has long since been built over – hideous concrete council flats. The bombsite had more character – and architectural merit!

  95. Having wasted an entire weekend unsuccessfully struggling to enable my laptop to receive emails from my service provider (ntlworld aka Virgin Media) I now plan to take a break from NoTTLing for the rest of this month until I can get myself sorted out with this blessed computer thingy. Don’t send Annie or Korky round to see how I am. I am fine, apart from my head exploding because of modern computing technology. It’s like Annie with Maffs.

    As Uncle Bill says, “a demain” or should that be “au mois de Septembre”.

      1. Good evening, Our Susan.

        Now, tell me honestly – in your forthright Yorksheer way – are you interested
        in the sermon at Bill Scott’s (final) funeral?

      2. Sue, I can post on NoTTL. What I can NOT do is access any email which is sent to me. When Grizzly sends me an email it simply bounces back to him and I have no idea what he is trying to tell me. (Hence his flagging up this problem to me on the NoTTL site.)

          3. I sold one on eBay about 12 years ago. It was white (ivory) bakelite with the plaited braid. £90.

          7. Ten pulses per second signalling and a carbon granule microphone – boo hiss, plenty of hiss from the granules – thank goodness technology has moved on.😎

          13. We don’t have a high speed line. It’ll ring in hour or so, and I’ll speak to you then.

          16. I ordered a 42 inch TV recently and when i opened the box a transvestite dwarf jumped out !

          19. It is original, and from Germany (W48). Not quite the one in the picture as I could not be bothered trying to upload a photo, given the quirks of Disqus, so I copied from online. Our one has a centre roundel with the emergency numbers, (DRK 115), although I doubt if they will send an ambulance to Southern Scotland.

      2. Proton Mail is better for your privacy. Gmail, you may as well just sign your entire life over to Google.

        I checked my browser’s privacy settings recently. Despite not having any Google accounts, and very rarely using their search engine, the browser had recorded that it blocked Google more than 15 000 times. Grrrrrrr.

      3. I have done, Peddy. But when I ask it to connect my contacts’ email addresses to the Gmail account it asks me to log into the Ntlworld account – which necessitates my entering my Ntlworld PASSWORD, which I don’t know and can’t find out because there seems to be no Human Being to whom I can speak for help. All I can get is FAQ sites, none of which give the help I need. When prompted to change my password, I enter a new one and then I receive another blank form to fill in to change THAT password, ad infinitum.

    3. ‘The rest of the month’!! – ’tis only the 2 August today!

      Actually, poppiesdad had this problem only yesterday and did a ‘Reset’ on his iPad – perhaps this manoeuvre is available for laptops? It might be worthwhile googling the problem. Poppiesdad says it is not necessary to do a ‘delete data’ Reset.

      1. I don’t have an iPad and I don’t know if the manoeuvre is available on my laptop. So I desperately need to talk to a Human Being and all I get is directions to this site or the other, none of which are of any help. Someone posted on here the details of MDs of various concerns to whom one could send one’s complaints for proper prompt action instead of “fobbing off” by junior execs. Can you or any NoTTLer on here provide me with details of the CEO of Ntlworld? Oh, I just realised that this will prolly be one Richard Branson. I had to resort to writing to him many years ago and I didn’t even get a reply. In essence they failed to take a direct debit one month from my bank account, then charged me a major fine for “failing to pay last month”. I shall say this more than one time: AAAARRGH!

        1. We have techies on Nottle. Perhaps they can help if you post a query at diff times of day. Obviously not mid-afternoon when we are all snoozing… 🙂

        2. When I have a computery problem that seems insoluble whatever I do, I delete past history and web data (cookies) – that frequently gets things going again. I’m sorry I can’t help further, I am somewhat technologically challenged myself.

          1. Thanks for trying to help me, poppies mum. I will continue to work on this problem at intervals, and report back when successful.

          2. Thanks for trying, poppies mum. As you may have read, the problem is now solved, thanks to a little bit of serendipity.

  96. Evening, all. I am amazed that anyone thinks the government has any interest in letting people make their own decisions. Despite being nominally “Conservative” this lot are as controlling and sure they know best as any Labour bunch of idiots.

    2. Sadly, the Venn diagram for ‘people making their own decisions’ and ‘people using their common sense’ has barely much overlap.

    6. No, just watched Uni Challenge ep 3. The OU won quite comfortably against an Oxford college, much, to my mind, against the wishes of JP.

    7. No. The only Beeb i watch is food and cookery. Fiona Bruce comes across far too slick and patronising.

        1. It’s not that. It’s because she discovered he has woodworm and doesn’t want to catch it.

          2. Well make sure you recycle them properly. You don’t want to be responsible for choking an Orca to death. 🙁

      1. Max the Dog, Cochrane, Angry Lady and Pretty Polly. They lost. Minus 75 to 180. 🙂

    11. Nope. I find her smug and dislike the sight of her large flat face. I can no longer watch Question Time since she was gifted the job of presenter.

      1. I am in awe that you managed to watch QT before FB took over. I gave up on it years ago.

        1. Yup. I actually stopped watching it years ago. I would sometimes watch the first ten minutes or so, see the biased panel for what they were and inevitably the first question would reinforce BBC bias and prejudice.

          After Fiona Bruce, a twat with no background in political reporting, I simply could not bother to watch for that first ten minutes anymore.

          How I yearn for the return of a latter day Robin Day.

          1. I think they dumbed it down on purpose so thinking people would stop watching it. I’m reminded of Crimewatch. They had to discontinue because all the suspects had toned skin. Or were protected minorities.

            Are you aware that the prime suspect in the killing of Jill Dando is still living in the U.K?

      2. I’m confused. I was under the impression that Fiona Bruce was formerly of Border TV. But that’s Fiona Armstrong, who is now High Sheriff of Dumfries. No big deal – one current and one former HS live within a mile of here; both are friends.

  99. Just to be clear. This is an attempt at a joke.

    My favourite teacher in school was Mr Blackwell, in Geography. He was so laid-back and easy-going.

    I wouldn’t have swapped him for all the tea in Denmark.

      2. YO OLT

        We had a science teacher who picked his nose. Then he would ping it across the room. Dirty bastard.

        1. You misunderstood he was just demonstrating ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’!

      3. There was an RE teacher at my school who looked like the figure in The Scream. Quite mad.

        1. All the teachers who took RE acted as though they had been given the poison chalice. They had other, major subjects.

          1. We had a proper clergyman. the Rev “Albert” Hall.

            He was probably old even in BT’s time in the reform school we both attended.

          3. He was my first form master there, he taught Latin as well as RE.

            As you say an excellent man, and to be fair, so many of the teachers of that era were, notwithstanding the absolute sadists and nutcases.

          5. Oddly enough I got on quite well with him.

            I discovered the back ground later, but the shouting and beating never bothered me, my father was much worse.

            RAGS used to run the boxing but it was changed to judo.

            He later joined the judo classes, where I was sufficiently skillful to make his life a misery! He was good enough to accept it and seemed to become much friendlier after the experience.

            A very, very strange bloke.

          7. I only ever met two others, and they were both very strange too.

            Forgiveness wasn’t in the lexicon.

          8. Not surprising when you think what they went through. I know of some that had nightmares for the rest of their lives.

          10. My Uncle Ron was one such. He was a lovely man, but the nightmares stayed with him. He dedicated his life to teaching and helping mentally and physically-disabled children.

    2. One of our geography teachers was the aged ‘Gramps’ Muller. He earned a great deal of respect when entering the classroom one day with a bootleg Stones LP. He earned even more respect when we were probably being even more obnoxious than usual when he faced us down as said:
      ” You may think I’m a right C**t, but you have no idea what I think of you lot!”

    1. Btw, next w/e we’re heading for another scorcher, so I’m saving my empty mineral water bottles so I can store chilled soups in the fridge. I’m not overly keen on gazpacho, but I have a few others up my sleeve.

          1. Just making sure i get my 5 a day and then don’t have to eat green veg with my bangers & mash.

          2. Last time I looked, vodka wasn’t classed as one of your five a day…

            On the other hand, three fresh cream apple turnovers and two bottles of strong cider are absolutely fine…

      3. How about a creamy vichyssoise? I made gazpacho a couple of weeks ago but minus the vodka that Phil suggests!!

  101. Can it get any worse?

    From the DT:

    “Imposing a widespread regional lockdown in the north west was a ‘rash’ decision which is not backed up by the data, an Oxford professor has claimed.

    People in Greater Manchester, east Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire were banned from meeting different households indoors, in a move that Matt Hancock, the health secretary said was ‘absolutely necessary.’

    But Professor Carl Henegehan, director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford said the figures were skewed by delayed test results and when plotted by the date the test was taken showed no overall alarming rise.

    “The northern lockdown was a rash decision,” he said. “Where’s the rise? By date of test through July there’s no change if you factor in all the increased testing that’s going on.

    “As areas are tested, like Oldham, then there’s a slight rise in detected cases, asymptomatics. “

      1. If i actually do get to Malta in September i’m thinking of staying a while longer. At least it will be warmer over the winter and there are not so many people.

          1. The food is good. (cheap). The staff are friendly and polite. (Greek and Polish). All the steps in Valetta make it easier to walk up the steep slopes. (He lied). I always have a wonderful time there. (Several trips to A&E). Other than that……………….I love it there.

          2. I’m not sure what they use to surface the roads, but tyres appear to squeal at anything above 10 mph. I went with a few mates, and stayed in a self-catering apartment in Sliema. Apart from some hideously sweet red wine, ’twas a good fortnight.

          3. Not just the roads but they wax the pavements too. Hence one of my visits to A&E at Mater Dei.

            When asked what side of the road the Maltese drive on the answer was….In the shade. 🙁

            I still love it there though.

          5. I do have some fantastic memories of holidaying there.

            Not like drugged up and drunk Ibiza. (Not me). Or getting skin cancer on the Costas del Newcastle. (Again not me).

            My balcony was just a few yards away from Prince William making his speech when he visited. There was a drone hovering in front of me over the upper gardens. I chose to behave myself for once !

            The lower gardens have some very mature shrubs and trees. One time recently when i visited everything everywhere was all in flower. I have never seen anything like it.

            Oh bollocks. I’m going to steal a dinghy from Dover and row there. !

          7. The best wine when I visited Malta in the late seventies was La Valette. This was a deep red and not dissimilar to the Lebanese wine, Chateau Musar.

          8. Most Maltese wine is Italian. Though the local wines at between 11 to 14 euro for lunch are uncomplicated.

          9. The last time I visited Malta there were some pluses and many minuses.

            The pluses were the fabulous architectural sites and the bookshop in Valletta specialising in Architectural books.

            The professor of Architecture was Quentin Hughes, previously of Liverpool School of Architecture.

            I cherish his books both on Liverpool and Maltese Architecture.

          10. Would you tell us the minuses? Just so i can avoid. 🙂

            I do have my own minuses…corrupt government, Panama papers, Murdered journalist. Birdie hunting for pleasure.

          11. The last time I visited Malta there were some pluses and many minuses.

            The pluses were the fabulous architectural sites and the bookshop in Valletta specialising in Architectural books.

            The professor of Architecture was Quentin Hughes, previously of Liverpool School of Architecture.

            I cherish his books both on Liverpool and Maltese Architecture.

      2. Of course it will get worse…. Boros and Bill have a plan,………..

        Boros hasn’t spent a billion on vaccines for no reason, Sir.

        1. I think you’re partly correct. But all UK PMs for as long as I can remember, have promised the earth at election time, and within a microsecond of winning, have reneged on all their election promises. It’s as though, on Day 1 of their premiership, they are summoned to an secret office, where a chap in an over-large swivel chair with a white cat in his lap explains the true mission statement of the hapless new First Lord of the Treasury….

          1. Since, thanks to Covid, I’ve nothing to do in leafy Surrey, and am about to lose the roof over my head, white flight to Cumbria or Devon is looking increasingly attractive.

          3. I’ve an interview for a charitable retirement bungalow not far from here, a fortnight tomorrow. Doesn’t tick all the boxes, but it’s cheap, and I’m just outside the Parish, which will be handy if there’s ever any organist work in the future. I’m the last of four interviewees, and (frankly) I know most of the committee. Meanwhile, I’m keeping an eye on the rental market. In theory, the parish have offered to cover my rent to a ceiling of £1,250 for five years, for a place within three miles of the parish. That would mean I’d still be looking for an affordable home in five year’s time, and at present, they’re not in a position to make good their offer.

            But – the cheapest rental property within 3 miles of here is a room in a house of multiple occupation, in Aldershot, for £500 pcm. Contrast that with my native Carlisle, where £500 would get you a modern 3-bed semi with an attached garage, or alternatively, 1-bed flats start at £325…

          5. Thanks, BSK. I’ve spent six months not knowing what the future holds. If I’m offered the bungalow, I’ll grab it with both hands. Otherwise, I’ll be seriously considering my position here. There may be cheaper places than Carlisle, but it’s a known quantity, having spent the first 30 years of my life there. I doubt whether there’s a future for church organists, wherever I go, so the future seems to be full retirement. More time on the laptop, putting the world to rights…

          6. That sound like a challenging dilemma Geoff. All good wishes for the best outcome.

          7. Yo, Harry, and thanks. In the overall scheme of things, it’s just a minor blip. I didn’t leave the parental home till I was 30. Bought a house in Norfolk in 1988, then watched interest rates almost double. Repossession followed, together with negative equity. Moved to Hindhead on a house for duty basis. Vicar left, leaving behind a happy-clappy Evangelical curate. Meanwhile, met Dianne, moved to her place in Woking. Swiftly moved out and rented a house nearby. Then found this place. Still being pursued by the Halifax (they sold my £56.5k Thetford house for £11k), and being short of work, I petitioned for bankruptcy – choosing to do this when my income was negligible. Some years on, my credit rating is slightly higher than Di’s, which pleases her no end. Not.

            There are lots of options. Almshouses being one. I have a friend who is a trustee of half the almshouses in Farnham; I’ve only resisted applying since the bus from Farnham doesn’t stop anywhere near the parish. The last Rector took me round https://hospitalofstcross.co.uk/ in Winchester (he was formerly Archdeacon of that City). An email to the Master didn’t receive the courtesy of a reply. In fairness, there may have been an interregnum.

            I’ve also looked at Topsham, but that’s too expensive. I could prolly (©BT) stretch to Exmouth or Dawlish Warren, though. But my gut feeling is that I’m heading North. Currently, there’s a recently-built flat with lift access, a roof terrace, and a GP practice on the ground floor. There’s a pharmacy across the road, a bus station within a minutes walk and a railway station within two. The Cathedral is within five, as are most of the shops.

            These are rather crap, but interesting times…

          9. At the risk of being thought of as a religious nut, I’ve every confidence that they will. I’m not a happy clappy God-botherer, but when push comes to shove, things have always worked out for the best…

          10. Well hopefully you will get the bungalow as they’re selling your home over your head so to speak.

          12. 322025+ up ticks,
            Evening GG,
            More or less, they formed a coalition that’s for sure, and they were given ample support year on year by a segment of the electorate that by now MUST be punchie,
            and so addicted to being bitten that they cry out for “more of the same”

          13. That’s because of the call from Open Society, Sir……….

            ”Hello, I wonder if you’re free for lunch one day at the Ritz…… ?

            Excellent…. George has a proposition which he thinks will be of great interest to you……. ”

    3. By our rules, Henegehan is a sceptic and has been critical of Boris’s Bunker.

    4. Boris and his gang are turning out to be total idiots who have no idea what they are doing.

      1. I don’t think they’re idiots. I think they’re having great difficulty imposing the edicts which are being handed down to them from on high, what/whoever that means, but they’re trying their hardest. And failing.

        I sympathise, in a way. I don’t mind public speaking: if I know the subject, I can witter on incessantly, totally off the cuff. If I don’t, I’m reduced to a gibbering idiot.

        It’s easy to mock our own politicians, but look at the bigger picture. With the exception of a few outliers, every country is subjected to the same utter bollux.

        This whole thing is bigger than national politics, and by concentrating on the same, we’re actually assisting whoever is actually pulling the levers.

        1. Interesting that when covid hit Europe the EU had no strategy and we all became nation states again. So much for a global government.

        2. Evening Geoff
          People have commented that BoJo looks unwell,personally I think it’s just our latest Lizard Overlord struggling to get used to his chubby human suit
          As you say all too well co-ordinated worldwide,the NWO is making its play for total control

          3. Besides being PM with a very short ‘honeymoon’ period he also became a new Dad and got covid.

            I’m surprised he is still breathing.

            Especially as he has got involved with a Greeniac.

            I always feel that disaster strikes after three events.

            Someone had to be in two places at the same time so no-one shut the door.

            Someone else was supposed to report the door was shut but they were off sick.

            Someone else was supposed to check.

            Herald of free enterprise disaster.

  102. Another mail to a Conservative MP………

    So if I may put forward a further hypothesis………….

    I think it’s possible the reason why the Conservative Party gave Tony Blair a free pass to allow his new best friend, billionaire S, to acquire huge profits as a result of a likely dodgy Maperley property deal is because…….

    …….the Conservative Party perhaps has items in their own closet with billionaire S which guarantee complete silence on such issues.

    What could those items be ?

    Perhaps related to occurences in 1992 ?

    By the way, what really happened to the UK’s gold which Gordon Brown sold in approx 2000…. ?

    Polly

  105. Hear hear.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8584511/Pimlico-Plummers-tycoon-Charlie-Mullins-FIRES-staff-refused-return-work-furlough.html

    He said furlough is already causing problems, with some workers ‘milking’ the system and many that ‘are never going to get a job again’ because they have been at home too long.

    ‘We made a decision on Friday that you’re either back to work or we’ve made you redundant,’ he said.

    ‘The furlough scheme was a good idea and it was the lifeline that businesses and workers needed at the time.

    ‘But I think it’s been badly abused and milked by a lot of people who don’t want to go back to work.

    1. Claire Fox,
      Director and founder of the Institute of Ideas:

      #1 ‘Abolish the House of Lords’
      Good one;

      Next ?

    2. In other news, Lindsay Hoyle has outlined his plans to abolish the House of Commons, and Alexander Boris dePeiffel Johnson has revealed his plan to abolish the Conservative and Unionist Party.

      If only…

    1. So, peeing up against a wall, 2 weeks in prison. Paramilitary parade treated as a normal weekend activity. The organisers should be getting early morning knocks on doors.

      1. That won’t happen under the present leadership. Cressida is probably pissing her pants being a white dyke.

        1. But, Fizz, who put their finger in the dyke to stop it leaking, NOT Hans Brinkner

          Edit Note

          Usually called Hans Brinker, the Dutch boy who saves his country by putting his finger in a leaking dike has no name in the American children’s book by Mary Mapes Dodge. It is just one of the stories about Holland told in the 1865 book Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland.

          1. An invention. Code words for an outright lie to tell to children.

            I wonder if China has many Hans to stop the populace drowning given their floods.

  108. I’m watching the programme about cricket – all the England players seem to have had mental breakdowns – all saying how hard it was but not explaining what was hard.

    Kn*bs

  110. Firstborn’s birthday today. SWMBOs lemon curd drizzle cake to celebrate… my favourite!

    3. We will send Cassie, our friends labradoodle over

      She KNOWSthat an LCDC is only made for her, to eat at one standing.

      (She has to stand to reach the cake in the middle of the table)

    4. We will send Cassie, our friends labradoodle over

      She KNOWSthat an LCDC is only made for her, to eat at one standing.

      (She has to stand to reach the cake in the middle of the table)

    2. They don’t muck about like the C of E do they? Nice hats too.

      That vid makes me realise how lost we are under the present religious leadership we are encumbered with.

  112. I am off for today. I must prepare the table for tapas when the MR returns from church.

    I hope to join you tomorrow – though the exciting prospect of a trip to Essex later in the week might be too much for me.

    A demain.

  113. The lockdown debate has morphed into a rerun of the Brexit wars

    It’s not so much Remainers vs Leavers this time as Remain Indoors against Leave the House

    CHRISTOPHER SNOWDON

    As the pendulum moves back towards lockdown, it is interesting to see who thinks the government has become drunk with power and who thinks the new restrictions are too little, too late. I don’t want to be that person who brings everything back to Brexit, but there’s no denying that whether a person is a dove or a hawk on lockdown restrictions can be predicted with a fair degree of confidence by how they voted in the 2016 referendum.

    The loudest of the lockdown sceptics are Toby Young, Daniel Hannan, James Delingpole and Peter Hitchens. Their contempt for the EU knows few bounds. On the other side of the aisle are the likes of AC Grayling, Alastair Campbell, David Schneider and an assortment of #FBPE Twitter personalities who consider any relaxation of lockdown as tantamount to genocide. On the extremes, both sides have their conspiracy theorists and they too divide along Brexit party lines, with Carole Cadwalladr for Remain Indoors and Piers Corbyn for Leave the House.

    There are, admittedly, a few wild cards. Lord Adonis went barmy over Brexit, but thinks the lockdown went too far. Piers Morgan, though a Remain voter, was sanguine about Brexit, but has gone berserk about people going to the beach. Matthew Parris and Jonathan Sumption were pro-Remain but are now, to varying degrees, anti-lockdown.

    https://twitter.com/Andrew_Adonis/status/1272828039043395584
    These outliers aside, it is a good rule of thumb that if someone thinks we should hide in a cupboard until a vaccine is available, they voted Remain, and if they think that bat-eating is a human right and nature should be allowed to take its course, they voted Leave.

    Why should this be? On the face of it, the two issues have nothing in common. It may be that Brexiteers are less risk averse. No Deal Brexiteers, in particular, embrace risk almost by definition. Remainers, by contrast, feel safer with the status quo, and once lockdown became the status quo, any loosening of it felt like a risk.

    Or it could be about settling old scores. Some pro-lockdown campaigners are more or less explicitly anti-Tory activists who oppose any relaxation so they can say ‘I told you so’ in the future when there is a second wave.

    Others are still smarting from the referendum. I swear there are political journalists in this country who will go to their graves convinced that the biggest news story of 2020 was Dominic Cummings driving to Barnard Castle. It is difficult to imagine them getting quite so upset about a special adviser possibly committing a minor breach of a regulation if he had not run the Leave campaign.

    Similarly, it is hard to imagine Sir Ed Davey reporting someone to the police for going to the pub two weeks after travelling to America – and therefore possibly not having quite done the full fourteen day quarantine – if his name wasn’t Nigel Farage (or as Carole Cadwalladr dubbed him, in typically understated fashion, ‘Typhoid Nigel’). Farage’s response was to tell Davey, not unreasonably, to ‘get a life.’

    One similarity between Remain Ultras and Lockdown Bedwetters is their gluttonous appetite for bad news. After the referendum, no rumour about job losses and factory closures was too small to signal the end of the world. Nissan was supposed to be closing its Sunderland plant. Bankers were supposed to be fleeing London. If any company went into administration, from Jamie’s Italian to Thomas Cook, Brexit was to blame. In reality, unemployment kept falling, the economy kept growing, Nissan invested another £400 million and the bankers stayed, but it is the unspoken rule of social media hysteria that bad predictions are never audited.

    It is in the same spirit that Remain Insiders scour the world for any spike in Covid cases that can be blamed on a lockdown being eased. When school children were implicated in Israel’s second wave, it gave comfort to those who screamed blue murder when Boris Johnson allowed a handful of children back to school in June. The fact that every other country has reopened its schools without any problem was ignored.

    https://twitter.com/TheWatc65808911/status/1271877066615635977
    Every Friday afternoon sees Twitter go crazy over the latest reproduction (R) number. If the upper bound of the R estimate creeps just above 1 in any region of the country, #BorisTheButcher and ‘Barnard Castle’ will start trending. People with black spiders and yellow diamonds in their profile will claim to have been vindicated in their warnings about the perils of people going to the park/beach/garden centre/shop/pub.

    Tuesdays are particularly exciting. After all this time, there is no excuse for not knowing that the NHS undercounts hospital deaths at the weekend, leading to an unrealistically high number on Monday, which is reported on Tuesday. Lockdown fanatics are still unaware of this, or pretend to be, and have a weekly fit of the abdabs when the death count appears to have rocketed. As with any good news about the British economy post-referendum, the low figures announced on Sundays and Mondays rarely attract comment.

    One further similarity between Remainers and Remain Insiders stands out – the lack of a plan. If you want to control the virus, keeping everyone at home until a vaccine is available might be the safest option, but it isn’t a workable long-term strategy. People have to earn a living. Children have to be educated. Human beings need social interaction. Endless delay is not a strategy.

    The #FBPE mob never really had a plan either. They, too, preferred stalling for time to coming up with a solution. When (predominantly pro-EU) MPs took control of Parliament last autumn, they couldn’t rustle up a majority for anything. The people who marched through London with their faces painted blue were never going to get a second referendum. The Lib Dems’ plan of simply cancelling Brexit was about as realistic as Independent SAGE’s plan for ‘Zero Covid’. Brexit was put off again and again, but they couldn’t hide from it forever. All they could do was postpone the final reckoning, which came in December 2019.

    You’ll get no argument from me if you say that most Leave campaigners didn’t have much of a plan either. There was a certain amount of naive optimism, just as there is among some lockdown sceptics about the virus tiring itself out and disappearing of its own accord. It remains to be seen whether this optimism is any less realistic than the idea that a vaccine will be produced in record time and we should all hunker down until it appears.

    By supporting something approaching permanent lockdown, the Remain Inside camp can feel virtuous. They don’t want anyone to die from the virus and it’s not their fault when someone does. The Remain camp gets a similar dopamine hit of self-righteousness from supporting the ‘family of nations’ that Brussels supposedly represents. The great irony is that the lockdown has caused an economic meltdown that will dwarf the most pessimistic vision of a No Deal Brexit. Attempting to return to normality when the virus is still out there carries obvious risks to health, but any tightening of lockdown carries risks to jobs and livelihoods, as well as less obvious risks to mental and physical health. There is no safe option.

    It would be easy to look at the way the sides have lined up against each other in the lockdown debate and conclude that it is just a rerun of the Brexit wars. But there is more to it than tribalism. The referendum tapped into psychological dividing lines in the country. The EU was almost not the issue. The divide is between optimism and pessimism, recklessness and caution, liberty and security, short-term risks and long-term gains.

    And yes, okay, a fair bit of tribalism too.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/08/02/lockdown-debate-has-morphed-rerun-brexit-wars/

  115. Mail to a Conservative MP……………………

    So if I may, I will put together a hypothesis………

    I think the Mapeley property deal probably has it’s origins in April 1996 at the New York Plaza Hotel where the UK’s fate was likely decided.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/jul/31/5

    Q. What did billionaire S want from Tony Blair ?

    A. Policy and legislation if he won in 1997. Exactly as admitted in his mission statement. He wanted Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to be in a ”strong relationship” with him to use his words.

    Q. What did Tony Blair want from billionaire S ?

    A. Campaign funds and favors just like Obama.

    So my guess is that the Mapeley deal is the moment billionaire S got his money back from Tony Blair, and maybe some was shared.

    Consequently, if the foregoing is all true, the British electorate, in effect, paid for Tony Blair’s election in 1997.

    Polly

  117. I have just been thinking of BLM. Why? Because I have been watching the incredible re-entry of the space vehicle, Dragon, from the space station, without a single flaw.

    The connection? While the useless communist louts, with the connivance of the MSM and the left wing parties in the UK and the US, besmirch our streets and institutions, the amazing, intelligent men and women who achieve such great things are ignored by the ignorant trash that has infested what was once a civilised society.

    Another thought: Given the extraordinary advance in technology and communications in recent decades, the achievements of the Apollo astronauts were even more remarkable, with their computers less powerful than our current mobile phones!

    Shame on BLM and all of its appeasers who achieve nothing for the advancement of humanity!

    1. And Concorde. The dust from the Comet crashes had barely settled before they were off and developing supersonic passenger flight, using slide rules. Amazing.

      1. It is amazing but we haven’t always been at the top of the game. I think Americans can be pretty savvy. Not black ones obvs.

        Didn’t someone early on try to invent a pen that could write from any orientation? Then they looked at what the Ruskies were using….a pencil. Duh !

        As it happens…i am the proud owner of a pen that writes from any orientation. Crosswords in bed, rude graffiti on bog ceilings and suchlike.

        Garlands gave it to me so it’s her fault. ***innocent face…

    2. Given the extraordinary advance in technology……why is it that CCTV cameras always produce such a poor image?

      1. The images of vehicles docking and undocking from the ISS are crystal clear. It suggests lack of investment or the fact that the Police don’t really like being Police and having to spoil some shoplifters, travellers day.

        1. Oh ! I always thought you a Waitrose type of person. ***makes note to downgrade Geoff as not being sufficiently posh enough…

          1. I tend to use whoever has a delivery slot available. Ocado are improving, and they’re coming next Sunday. I tried Amazon Fresh, and they had half of what I ordered, delivered by a chap in a car older than the one I just scrapped, demanding sight of proof that I’m over 18. Then it turned out that the booze wasn’t available anyway.

            I expect that my use of Ocado will end when they ditch Waitrose for M&S.

            Meanwhile, my milkman delivers quite a lot of non-milk stuff, and if all else fails, there’s always Iceland…

          2. With all the scaremongering over covid i registered with everyone who make food deliveries. Ocado came back to me after a month and all slots cost £6.99. Sod that. that’s half a bottle of cheap Voddie !

    1. Short term memory loss is no laughing matter.

      Short term memory loss is…erm. What was i saying?

      I jest but i have the same problem. I’m never going to be President of the United States.

        1. I vote a triumvirate of Garlands, Nagsman and Nigel Farage.

          I will make the Tea and Cakes.

        2. The Democratic nomination depends crucially on the capabilities of Joe Biden’s carer with Lasting Power of Attorney over the presidency. Trump, in the other camp, would simply point the finger and fire any such person if nurse gets too close with the needle.

          Two things bothered me about that clip featuring frontrunner whitecoat Kamala Harris. One is the way she keeps shifting her gaze off camera, which is classic body language for “I am dishonest, and I’m not even going to try to spin that I’m not”. Nixon was a master of the shifty gaze. What really unnerves particularly the British is how very much she resembles the Duchess of Sussex.

    1. The beginnings of a fight back? I’m glad to see it, although I have a feeling of dread that we are heading toward civil war.

      1. At the moment, civil war seems not only inevitable, but desirable.
        There prolly won’t be a new page tomorrow – I’ll have been carted away by the thought police…

  121. Over-75s’ TV licence scheme in chaos as BBC demands to see bank statements…

    ://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a3d1880ee1a9527149dc3de5b5a37a13ea3d71c69adb2341b659cfe52971ae5a.jpg

    You’re having a laugh BBC…………..

    1. They can take a running jump of a cliff. Which is where they will shortly be. At the bottom.

    2. Gary Lineker, who is the BBC’s highest-earning star with an annual salary of £1.75 million, has volunteered to take a pay cut. The Match of the Day host is currently negotiating a new contract with the BBC.

      That is 11,326 Licences

      Grand Theft in anyone’s language

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