Friday 11 April: How Britain can better withstand the volatility unleashed by Trump

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

478 thoughts on “Friday 11 April: How Britain can better withstand the volatility unleashed by Trump”

  1. Morning sleepyheads. Day off for me but dad’s flight set off an hour late from Dubai. Still, there’s always housework

    1. He'll feel chilly when he gets back.
      My wife came back last weekend and has complaining that it's cold here eversince.

      1. Obviously not ones good enough for the Royal Posterior.
        Morning, Bill.
        How eco-friendly of the Royals. I wonder if He sees the disconnect between his eco-messages and his non-eco actions? Man's a two-faced plonker.

      1. Not so much a spoiled brat as one who had an overbearing father and, in league with the boy's sister, took great pleasure in mocking him mercilessly. The press pack who chased him into a pub where he took refuge and ordered a cherry brandy, then crucified him for ordering said drink, didn't help him either. I agree that as an adult he has not turned out to be all he might have been had he been given a more loving set of parents, but I think one has to bear in mind the context of his early experiences. It is also said that the cancer he has developed means his life expectancy will be quite short; this may be just a rumour, I am not privy to his medical team's views, but I tend to think "There but for the grace of God, go I".

        1. More than one on here didn't have particularly happy childhoods. We had to learn to cope with what life had to throw at us and I like to think we've all turned out okay.

          1. I’m glad that you did learn to cope, Conners. Sadly, I still struggle to do so.

  6. Morning all 🙂😊
    Sunny but still in the shade, a touch of frost showing on the darker cars. Forecast rain over the weekend.
    I'm not sure as are probably many others, exactly what Trump is upto. Some one explained he's countering other countries acts of import taxes. Perhaps it will level out eventually. But it won't help our country get back on track in it's cultural and social destruction of our own version of 'government'.

    1. Trump knows exactly what he's doing. His aim is to get industry working in the US again and stamp out unfair tariffs from other countries.

  7. Putin’s use of banned weapons will do him no good, thanks to British help. Hamish de Crettin-Gordon. 11 April 2025.

    Russia is using chemical weapons on an industrial scale in Ukraine and has been for 18 months, because it is the only way it can make any progress.

    As Putin steps up his spring offensive, he also appears to be stepping up his chemical weapons usage. Medics in the Pokrovsk area told me that they have been dealing with multiple chemical casualties over the last seven days.

    This is despite the fact that chemical weapons were banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1996 – to which Russia is signatory. Putin fights dirty and his enemies need to be able to operate in a contaminated environment.

    Tear gas. The horror.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/10/putin-war-crimes-gas-chemical-warfare-ukraine-cwc/

  8. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sunny, should be almost 20C later, so the forecast says.

      1. The weather app has all over here coloured somewhere between meltdown red and inferno yellow…

        1. I'd seen a similar weekend forecast map for the UK. Apparently, there will be a magma lake between Milton Keynes and York, so thick-soled boots may be in order as the mercury hits 20°C. Phew, what a scorcher! Thankfully I cut my grass yesterday morning so expect a deluge.

      1. Morning, Maggie. The bowls green opens tomorrow and after the last fortnight the forecast is rain.

  10. Good morning, all. Sunny, chilly.

    Today would have been my son's 56th birthday. I am in no way morbid or maudlin – just struck by the totally weird idea of Jim being that old!

    1. Good morning Bill ,

      Most of us on here were extremely saddened when we were informed about the health decline of your darling boy and your subsequent grief afterwards.

      Yes , he would be the same age as my no 1 son .

        1. Is he the father of your bright granddaughter?
          (I use present tense because his genes are still living.)

          3. Spot on. As dear old Plum Tart said: “You don’t get over it; you just get used to it.”

      2. Our sons are now talking about their friends' 60th birthday parties.
        How the hull did that happen?

      3. Our sons are now talking about their friends' 60th birthday parties.
        How the hull did that happen?

    4. Being a bit younger than you, his age hit me, my eldest is now the same age yours was when he died. Too young.

  11. I see UKs BitChute an alt-tech version of YouTube known for accommodating faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar right groups and individuals (what grown ups call "politically neutral") has stopped all uploads & viewing for UK residents.

    The introduction of the UK Online Safety Act of 2023 has brought about significant changes in the regulatory framework governing online content and community interactions. Notably, the Act contains sweeping provisions and onerous corrective measures with respect to content moderation and enforcement. In particular, the broad enforcement powers granted to the regulator of communication services, Ofcom, have raised concerns regarding the open-ended and unpredictable nature of regulatory compliance for our platform.

    Handy work of Rishi Sunak I believe.. Sir Keir is proud of the boy.

  12. Good morning, chums. I'm late on parade today. But thanks, Geoff, for this morning's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,392 6/6

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

    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      I got to use one of my favourite second words today, and it paid off
      Wordle 1,392 3/6

      🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟨🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        1. Good heavens, what kind of word did you think it is? My words for Starmer are unlikely to be valid for Wordle!

  13. Good morning all from a chilly but sunny Basingstoke.
    Daughter & I had a good afternoon yesterday, a Wetherspoon's lunch and The Working Man at the Vue Cinema.
    Now sat with Dau. in the other Wetherspoon's up Winchester Street for breakfast.

    Not a bad night's sleep either, much less cold than Wednesday night.
    Spitting feathers at Basingstoke Council.
    Because I arrived at the car park a bit after 07:30, I've had to pay the FULL £2.30 overnight charge on top of the £2.40 2hr fee!
    Bloody livid!
    And the breakfasts have arrived!

  14. Waltzes in, hello a glorious spring day, good morning .

    2. Does her husband use her as a trampoline?

      To read this article you have to subscribe to the DM which is not what I am prepared to do.

  18. Yo and Good Maoning to you all, from a sunny and warm C d S

    The 'chizzits' from the midlands will be getting ready to invade us.

    (The midlanders, when going into shops would ask How mu Chizzit?)

      1. Rule number 1; Trump has to be made to look stupid and as though he doesn't know what he's doing.

  22. I might as well break the mould and comment of today's letters

    "Rod Ellis, the writer of the first letter, for PM!! "

  23. Good morning Nottlers. 6°C and rising, fair with a light wind. I'm off to Ayr Hospital this morning to drive my sister to a consultant following up on her 'tumble' yesterday. First I knew was a call from her around 4pm asking if I could pick her up and take her to hospital (apparently an ambulance would take too long). She'd fallen in a main street shop and I never got the details of how she and her man had got to the surgery. I dropped them off at the door to the assessment unit about 5pm before headingto the carpark and settling down to a couple of hours with my kindle. I should have headed home; over the next six hours she was scanned and x-rayed before being released into the wild with an appointment for this morning. Last October, she had a tumour removed from her brain and has apparently been recovering well. She'll not be able to keep this episode under the family radar.

    1. Poor your Sister. My sympathies!
      That's not fun, and will likely dent her confidence a fair bit, so she'll need some encouragement to get going again.
      I've noted, since my sudden periods of unconsciousness a couple of years ago, that I use the lift and not the stairs, in case it happens again.

    3. Pesticides could be to blame – they like leatherjackets and grubs in fields. Our farmer neighbour's fields are organic.

  26. Mr Magoo & his mate Stevie Wonder saw this from 40 miles away about five years ago..

    Officers from 19 police forces across England knocked on the doors of 265 premises, that included; Turkish barbers, car washes, nail bars, mini-marts, American-themed sweet shops and vape shops, which were being used by criminals to hide dirty cash and high street money laundering.

    Nice work Sherlock & the Teletubbies police. What next?
    Police may investigate reports of constant screams of teenage girls from above kebab shops across every city in England.

    1. Steady on. They were white trash just asking for it.
      As any dutiful Muslim woman will confirm.

  27. Mr Magoo & his mate Stevie Wonder saw this from 40 miles away about five years ago..

    Officers from 19 police forces across England knocked on the doors of 265 premises, that included; Turkish barbers, car washes, nail bars, mini-marts, American-themed sweet shops and vape shops, which were being used by criminals to hide dirty cash and high street money laundering.

    Nice work Sherlock & the Teletubbies police. What next?
    Police may investigate reports of constant screams of teenage girls from above kebab shops across every city in England.

  28. Price of gold has risen, what about Bitcoins?

    SIR – I can’t help suspecting that some people in the know will have profited from insider trading in recent days.

    Adrian Koe
    Cambridge

    1. Warren Buffet has the midas touch. He sold a great many shares before the slump. He convinced his investors to hold off on dividends while his companies were holding billions in cash. I expect he has now gone on a massive shopping spree.

      My gold has increased £2,500 since the beginning of this month.

      Bitcoin is in the toilet.

  30. Good morning, all. Another fine day in prospect following an early light frost.

    What's all the fuss about? He's off to chop some firewood for his little old granny whom he loves to bits.

    Seriously, this offence requires adequate prison time in an attempt to deter people from carrying weapons, either concealed or as brazenly and threateningly as in this example. Sadly, in the current state of the UK I do not see this happening.

    https://x.com/TiceRichard/status/1910583827090579948

      1. Snap. I enjoy chatting on here and do not wish to be banned.
        We've all nattered away for so many years we can take an educated guess at what words would be chosen.

    3. Ah yes! the bitch who thought the idea of an enquiry into Men's problems, particularly the appalling suicide rate of young men was to funny she burst into hysterical laughter in Committee.

  33. OT – to make you smile. The joy of cats.

    Last night we were getting ready to call it a day and go to bed. G & P were asleep in front of the stove. The MR got up to to go the utility room. Pickles scurried after her as that is where they are fed. He is greedy. Just before the utility room is the boiler room. Pickles peeled off into the boiler room. The MR looked in. There was the body of a headless rabbit. Pickles picked it up at the same time as Gus came into have a shufti. Much growling – doors were opened and a clear passage indicated into the night. Pickles left swiftly plus rabbit. Gus looked puzzled. Th MR cleaned up, put Gus out – and we went to bed.

    Neither of us know when the late rabbit was brought into the house. It must have been several hours before the discovery.

    Cats, eh?

    EDIT: because I pressed "comment" too soon! Rabbiting on, doncha know!

  34. No matter what the media say, its all going to plan for Trump. of course he has to deal with the unexpected but its all coming together. Tax cuts for his people next. The price of eggs has droppped 60% now its not in the news.

    1. The Left are calling Trump's actions a U-turn.

      I thought it rather Pavlovian the way he got world leaders to sit up and beg.

      1. I think he has drawn their attention to the drift that has been the accepted norm for decades.

      2. He will make the deals and China will be out in the cold if they do not join in.

        1. China does have a weapon. It is one of the largest holders of the US debt. If they decided to dump all that paper they own, there would be a real economic melt down in the US – and in other places, too.

  35. Yesterday I posted on this forum the fact that I have suspended my support of the RNLI. I received an anodyne reply from the |RNLI which failed to address the points I made.

    I replied :

    I am more than happy for the RNLI to do their job: saving lives at sea.

    But, Like many supporters of the RNLI, what I am not happy with is that the RNLI is being exploited for political ends by the criminally obscene smuggling gangs which deliberately put just enough petrol into the outboard motors of the rubber dinghies to get them out of French waters.

    Save lives – that is your job. But providing a ferry service for criminal gangs is not your job. You can save lives by taking back those you rescue from the water to the place whence they came. Indeed by doing this fewer people would decide to make the perilous journey in the first place and more lives would be saved as a result.

      1. I very much suspect that the great majority of those who support the RNLI are people who do not think that uncontrolled illegal immigration is what the UK needs.

        But the RNLI is not alone in disregarding the views of those who support it – look at what has happened to the National Trust.

          1. I don't know what the UK public truly wants. It is not of one mind. Ascribe any opinion to the UK public and screams of outrage will claim the polar opposite.

          2. There is probably a difference between those who support the RNLI and the rest of the general public.

          3. Probably the same people who fall for UNICEF campaigns on Facebook and Water Aid adverts on Freeview TV channels? If you point out to them that the cute baby is just a library picture used in several campaigns and sinking more wells is useless if you don't teach the villagers not to pee in the same water source that they drink from, they accuse you of being some kind of monster. The same people cheered when Bishop Mariann Budde accused President Trump of being heartless when he turned off the USAID tap. Bishop Budde had creamed off $53m of public money for dodgy immigration causes.

          4. It’s always those who shout the loudest who get the attention though. I’m confident that the majority want the NHS to work a great deal better, that one can have a GP appointment within a week, that all government institutions work efficiently and swiftly and that illegal immigration, at least, is halted. Or at least reduced. And that illegals do not have the right to jump the housing or any other queue.

      2. I very much suspect that the great majority of those who support the RNLI are people who do not think that uncontrolled illegal immigration is what the UK needs.

        But the RNLI is not alone in disregarding the views of those who support it – look at what has happened to the National Trust.

    2. Similar to the replies I have received from the complaints Departments at my two local hospitals.
      They will not accept any responsibility for their actions or inactions and attempt to place the blame on the complaintent.
      I have also come to the conclusion that they store phone numbers of the people who might complain and when you ring them on the number supplied, it recognises the number and automatically switches to answer phone. And they never ring the caller back.

    3. When younger, me and friends used to do fundraisers for the RNLI – such as a sponsored canal swim across Bedfordshire, with rattle cans and so on; I had them on a reasonable standing order until seeing pictures of them bringing smuggled people in from French waters to British. Then, we stopped all donations, and never again.
      That event made me really sad, after the decades of support. But I cannot be part of it.

  36. Good grief – I see that "Lord" Gove is in the offing. About as deserved as "Lord" Comical Alli.

    1. Sorry – don't agree. As a lawyer, one accepts instructions to act for someone. So doing does NOT mean that you think or feel the same way as the client. Someone defending a person accused of murder does NOT think that murder is a good idea. You simply present a case.

        1. A solicitor certainly can – and a barrister (despite the faux "cab rank" rule) can also decline. But taking a case on does not smear the lawyer. On simply presents the client's case. It is for the court to decide whether it is a valid case or not.

          1. Whilst one case should not, taking on several cases for similar clients surely does.

            Agreeing to defend the morally indefensible, such as terrorists, suggests a lack of morality, certainly to me.

          2. Mass murderers – (any number of slammers), Dr Shipman, Southport, Letby – you name it – are all entitled to be represented to have a case presented against the allegations.

          4. True.
            But being the "go to" lawyers eg Matrix Chambers, rather suggests that certain lawyers have little moral compass.

          6. I am sure the government which funds their actions provides a decent income for them.

            In the US, people either have to pay for defence lawyers themselves, or a lawyer from the public defender's office can be appointed by the court if the accused can't afford one. As such lawyers do not get the sky high fees that many US defence lawyers get, there is a much smaller burden on the tax payer. On the other hand, in all probability they will not get as good a defence.

          7. In many “‘uman roits” cases I also suspect that luck of the judge and jury plays a big part nowadays.

          8. I used to know a young woman at church who spent a lot of time in Wormwood Scrubs. She was a criminal defence lawyer. I asked her if there are not times when she's sure that her client is guilty. She said yes but her job is to put their case and defend them as best she can regardless of her own beliefs.

          10. I believe that what you are saying is absolutely right Sue, it is as it should be. But I would repeat that this man is doing rather more than that. His statements are riddled with bias and hostility toward Israel that make it quite clear that he is speaking for himself and not just for his client. What I see in that man is a straying away from basic moral decency. Something, I must say, you see all to often in todays courts where law appears to have been reduced to a game where legalities and cleverness has usurped justice and mercy, where the desire to win is paramount no matter what the cost is to truth or the human beings that come before the court. Lucy Connolly being just one current example. Our law is rooted in Christian values but you would never know that from watching the procedures in so many courts where rapists are not even given a rap on the knuckles but where someone, speaking their mind, ends up years in prison.

          13. Or he could pass it on to a junior claiming that he was busy on that day and didn't have room in his (or her) diary.

      2. The lawyer says thing that are blatantly false but in favour of Hamas. I'm aware that a lawyer "accepts instructions to act for someone." But he is doing more than that, a lot more in his characterization of Israel and the IDF is language that a sympathizer to Hamas would make. I would say that he most definitely feels the "same way as the client." In this case and is not just representing the opinions of his client but his own.

  38. I see that Ukraine is such a dangerous place that Meagain's husband has joined the crowd of wannabe statesmen and fading celebs who have visited!

    1. I'm sure if MeGain rocked up at the Kremlin with basket of her goodies, Putin would crumble and stop the war.
      (If only to send her away.)

          2. I thought it was amusing the way they said that it was “sold out”. They did NOT say how many jars had been produced!

    2. Not exactly a “war zone” as the DT put it. Lviv is in the extreme west of Ukraine, about 700 miles from the fighting.

    3. Be fair, he decided to go there for a holiday because it's much safer from stabbings, shootings and muggings than large parts of the UK.

      1. Of course Brash wouldn't spot the exquisite irony of visiting a country at war (admitted 700 miles from the action) while suing the British government for failing to give him enough securiddy when visiting the country where he was born.

        Stupid berk.

  39. China hits back at Trump with 125pc tariffs on US
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/04/11/trump-tariffs-latest-ftse-100-markets-share-price-china/

    But this is just what Trump wants – reciprocal tariffs that are the same.

    We must remind ourselves that the EU imposes 39% tariffs on US goods and Trump has started with imposing just 20% tariffs on the EU. The tariffs imposed on the UK are the same as those the UK imposes on the US – 10%.

    Surely the EU should be grateful to Trump!

  40. Good Morning, children.
    Your task today is to translate the following into English.
    “We are on track to deliver commitments for access milestones and mitigations for those outstanding in place”, according to the most recent ‘Summary of NHS Performance’ while acknowledging: “One of the most critical interventions to reduce the variability of performance across the country will be to support systems to rapidly codify, share, scale and embed existing improvements.”

      2. "Vincit omnia" featured on our school badge.
        "Fimum" wasn't needed for "O" level Latin.
        On what other site would one be presented with a Latin translation exercise?

          2. Thanks! I knew enough Latin to translate 3 of the words…
            And if I’d thought long enough I’d have got fimum!

          3. Thanks! I knew enough Latin to translate 3 of the words…
            And if I’d thought long enough I’d have got fimum!

          4. Thanks! I knew enough Latin to translate 3 of the words…
            And if I’d thought long enough I’d have got fimum!

          5. Thanks! I knew enough Latin to translate 3 of the words…
            And if I’d thought long enough I’d have got fimum!

    4. Aaahhhh, an alumnus of the Stanley Unwin University of Tripe and spoken in italics, too.

    5. ….aiming to avoid, where possible, negative patient outcomes [previously known as death!]

    9. Translation: this was produced by AI. We will continue to regard patients as inconveniences and any improvements will be lost in the bureaucracy.

      2. Hi, I'm Ell (they/them pronouns). I'm a disabled non-binary trans person with pink hair + big glasses 🥰
        Trans and disabled people are being relentlessly targeted by our cruel right-wing government. Please support us by opposing Labour 🏳️‍⚧️

        We deserve much better hair removal products to hide our five o'clock shadows and the Government refuses to support the necessary research.

  42. Possibly, though he usually has a prominent signature. Glad I saved a copy 'cause I've not been able to find it again online.

    1. He does, and more pronounced black lines too? Not seen him for ages. Yes, I keep things too 🙂 wonder who the artist is?! x

    2. Thanks for checking it out, Still B….what a great website, have subscribed – thanks! x

    1. 404314+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      It seems like the islamic lab party are to continue sampling their padophilic
      prizes of war many indigenous refuse to accept is in progress.

    2. "The Home Secretary must act now.." LOL
      "I urge The Home Office to see through.." LOL

      It'll snow in hell first.

    3. All we will get from Starmer is how great a contribution the muzzies have made to the country.

    1. Oooo.. with Labour & Reform MPs on board with Rupert Lowe's inquiry.. this aint Right vs Left. It's sane vs. insane.

      As for This will bring down..
      As if..

        1. 404314+ up ticks,

          Afternoon BT,
          So to do the eyes tight shut brigade far more so.

          The optimist are on the side of the right thinkers , the eyes tight shut brigade are strongly allied with the political pedophiles.

    2. It won't

      Guess who (postal) vote Labour (although they do not know it) via their local meeting place leader

  48. Nanny state moves fast when necessary..

    Mother arrested and held in cell for ‘confiscating child’s iPad’

    Ms Brown was taken to Staines station, where she was searched, and had fingerprints and custody shots taken before being placed in a police cell for several hours.

    Surrey Police also sent officers to her children’s school, pulling her daughter out of class in the process.

    “The woman was subsequently released on conditional bail while further enquiries were carried out. The police bail conditions included not speaking to her daughters, who were connected to the investigation, while officers carried out their enquiries.

    1. "Police! We're armed.. Step away from the iPads." Prevent & Hope-Not-Hate brought in.

      Yvette Cooper announces iPad police patrols in neighbourhoods at peak times as part of her Neighbourhood iPad Police Guarantee scheme.

    2. Who can have any doubt that the UK is now a Police State.

      The Prime Minister and several members of his government are communists and so this is exactly what they want the UK to be.

      1. I find it difficult to believe she didn't tell the police that the Ipads belonged to her daughters or that she denied having them.

        Sounds to me like family trouble from the man.

      2. I have a feelin this may have been her ex or boyfriend getting his own back over some previous domestic.

  49. M40 shut junction 13-14 – chaos.

    No parking and ended up in a pre-booked parking only – which i hadn’t done.

    Why is life so stressful? It really shouldn’t be.

    1. Ah, you've encouraged a rant I was going to have anyway! The cultural relativist fetish for spicy food makes no sense. The tradition of heavily spiced food in the third world originates from the need to disguise bad ingredients, especially dodgy meat and fish. If you have access to decent quality food, why torture your gut. A little salt and dairy, possibly a drop of wine, might enhance flavour but nothing more is necessary.

      1. People from cultures where spicy food is prominent believe British food to be bland.

        I suppose it depends what you are used to.

        Personally i don't like excess heat but i do enjoy spices like cardamom.

          1. That was a good piss take and mostly true. Try doing it in reverse and see how far you would get today. Probably six months.

      2. The food this year at my Summer extravaganza will be bejeweled spiced lamb where people can make up their own stuffed chapatis. Lots of herbs and onions and peppers.

        I will be doing two shoulders so i will make one hot and spicy for as 'some like it hot' and the other will be flavoured with milder spices for the lightweights (you). :@)

        1. I guess you've been given advice and followed it. Sorry to read you suffer, I had it for a short while, changed diet especially alcohol and smoking. Good luck Conway x

          1. I’ve never smoked and I’ve given up alcohol for Lent. That hasn’t stopped me having a pretty severe attack the other night. Gaviscon is your friend in those circumstances. I put it down to Lasagne being the only edible option on the Fellowship lunch menu, so suffering was inevitable.

          2. Perhaps a spice?…in my case (diverticulitis) supposed to follow a low fat diet, it does help but gets a bit boring. Hope you’re soon past this bout x

          3. It didn't last long, but it was unpleasant while I suffered. I knew it would affect me because it happens every time I eat Lasagne (unfortunately, I like it so will continue to indulge and pay the price).

          4. Is it all lasagne, home and shop? How about spag bol or similar….that’s less rich, less cheese….if Gaviscon works for you, you’ll be ok 🙂

          5. This was a restaurant, but home made in their kitchens. Shop bought is even worse. I don't do complicated cooking like making dishes from scratch. I can just about manage meat and two veg and fish and chips – oh and jacket potato with various fillings.

          6. Similar, in that I no longer cook (syncope), not ‘allowed’ to. So I buy the best ready meals I can, cook in air fryer. Meat/two veg/chips, fish & chips, and jacket potato various fillings, all sounds good to me:-) currently drinking port whilst waiting for steak n chips..

          8. Bed time glass it is, then, Conway 🙂 I don’t think your meeting will be work? I used to hate those, talking shops……..

          11. Similar, in that I no longer cook (syncope), not ‘allowed’ to. So I buy the best ready meals I can, cook in air fryer. Meat/two veg/chips, fish & chips, and jacket potato various fillings, all sounds good to me:-) currently drinking port whilst waiting for steak n chips..

          12. Diverticulitis runs in our family and i got my first bout a few years ago when i was working in Colombia. A second bout when working in Saudi. A third bout when i was with my daughter in Argentina. I am now pretty nervous about travelling. On all occasions i have never experienced pain like it (and i had two children with only gas and air). First time, when i didn’t know what it was, i spent two days in bed in the hotel “floating above myself”. Work asked the hotel to check on me. I remember hearing the knock on the door and eventually someone entering but being utterly unable to speak or move. Happy days.

          13. I had two children similarly 🙂 Had no idea what pain was, had previously had appendix removed so not that. GP pretty useless, husband took me to a private chap who diagnosed straightaway. There isn’t a pain killer can touch it. Supposed to follow low fat diet, do you? It’s a bit boring, just had steak and glass of port, can be a good signal when I feel the jab of pain, to slow down and eat differently, and just live with it best I can. I didn’t know it ran in families but then most things seem to 🙂

          14. I had two children similarly 🙂 Had no idea what pain was, had previously had appendix removed so not that. GP pretty useless, husband took me to a private chap who diagnosed straightaway. There isn’t a pain killer can touch it. Supposed to follow low fat diet, do you? It’s a bit boring, just had steak and glass of port, can be a good signal when I feel the jab of pain, to slow down and eat differently, and just live with it best I can. I didn’t know it ran in families but then most things seem to 🙂

        1. My bobby-soxer cousin, 10 years my senior, adored him, So much that she named her pet rat [sorry: "Yorkshire Terrier"] Lonnie.

          1. I especially loved the board with thimbles, tried on my grandmother’s laundry board, not impressed ….Yorkies are very small but with big hearts and personalities (and tempers). I have a Patterdale and a Border. They’ve never been on speaking terms. Do you have a dog/pet Grizzly?

          2. Grizz has been adopted by a cat (who now runs the household and ensures the staff are up to the mark). My Patterdale and Border (both crosses) got on fine, but the Border made sure he was top dog.

          4. The Patterdale here is thick as mince, but very loyal, and loves me to the end and beyond. Border is more clever by far, but she lets him think she isn’t (so perhaps not as clever after all). I think if I suddenly die they will eat me, starting with my mouth, seeking food, as wild dogs do………..

          5. I often think that should I die and no one find me for a while, Winston would have eaten most of me and Kadi had a nibble at what was left.

          6. Definitely. Me – I’d die happy as I could with my dog by my side, although I hope he goes before me, he has to have eyes on me all the time he’s awake.

          7. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0396238f61006cac21c85b1f1b2754c16947a7f16fe7893e78344393750e29cf.png Findus (don't ask!) became homeless when my mother-in-law died last October. He has been here since the first week in January and took over the house instantly. He is six years old and is the only cat I've ever met who doesn't know how to growl, spit or hiss. He is friendly and playful at every waking moment (which amounts to about an hour a day).

            I've had cats and dogs in the past, in the UK, but he is the first since I moved to Sweden.

          8. Because he liked fish (fingers)?…very handsome cat. Have had several in the past, wish I could have one now but terriers/cats not the best mix.

    1. Been going on for years. Obama & Biden encouraged it.
      Everybody knows about the 50/50 partnership.. you lose 50% of yr IT & investment in the first year, and the remainedr 50% in the following year.
      Lastly, Gawd that woman.. imagine waking up to that voice.

    2. Been going on for years. Obama & Biden encouraged it.
      Everybody knows about the 50/50 partnership.. you lose 50% of yr IT & investment in the first year, and the remainedr 50% in the following year.
      Lastly, Gawd that woman.. imagine waking up to that voice.

    1. Christianity has become rather a set of guiding principles than the force it used to be. The problem is, 'rights' overrode welfare, duty and community. The state took over the Church's role of provider of last resort and welfare exploded. Morality crumbled, the diversity raped her and the end result is the broken society we have now.

      It wouldn't take a lot to repair the damage Blair caused but the will needed to do so is phenomenal.

      1. 404314+ up ticks,

        Afternoon W,
        I would consider a theme on east enders / corrie would prove to be a big help in guiding the peoples along the right lines, poor simple souls.

    1. I reemmber when I went into Lewis to ask about their kitchens in scruffs. You get looked down on as if you're about to pinch something.

      Then I started talking (and I can do a proper Hugh Grant when I need to) and showed the chap our old kitchen dimensions form the plan we had.

      I know a bloke who owns an old pile in Suffolk. He regularly mucks in with the digging and farming side. The only time you'd pick him out from his ground staff is when it's timie to get a round in – as it's his pub.

      1. Same thing happened to my mother when she went to buy a sofa straight from work.

        It is no surprise people treat you differently when you are not dressed appropriate to the situation. I wouldn't dream of going to a hotel or restaurant dressed in scruffy jeans or jog pants.

        1. Scruffy jeans are the ideal wear for long distance flying. But you do get the odd look when you roll through the doors of the Bristol or the Georges Cinq in Paris. Especially when dragging a beaten up suitcase behind you.

          1. I very much take the view that if I'm paying then I also get to choose what to wear, and if that means checking into the Fairmont looking like an aged ski-bum then so be it.

        2. Then those people are pathetic. How you dress is irrelevant. I appreciate some people judge others by it but I have no time for that.

      2. As I usually say, I don’t dress up in London as nobody knows who I am. I don’t need to dress up locally because everybody knows who I am 😀

          1. Yep. Except when I’ve got a horse running and will go in the parade ring. Then I’m in the running for the Best Turned Out award 🙂 Oh and when I go to church. I don’t want to show my Maker up as having formed a slob 🙂

      3. When we built our last house we were shopping for fancy front doors and one not so fancy building supply store told us that we couldn't afford their models. OK, goodbye.

        I was shopping for a car last year and one sales pimp was trying to upsell me onto something way more expensive than I wanted to spend – well just finance the extra cost and we can do a deal. He lost the sale but only after I pointed out that I could have easily paid cash for that nice almost new Genesis sitting in their showroom. Their sales manager heard and was not impressed.

        1. Bought my Genesis in 2017. The most trouble free vehicle I have ever owned. And the 5/10 year warranty is good too.

    3. This is a direct copy of the Beverly Hills shopping scene in the 1990 Julia Roberts film Pretty Woman, where her character was thrown out of a high-class boutique for looking cheap. The next day she returned wearing haute couture from another shop before telling the staff that they had made "A big mistake … HUGE!"

  54. From the Telegraph

    Hundreds of barbers raided across England
    Turkish-style barbers targeted over suspicions they were being used as fronts
    Telegraph Reporters11 April 2025 10:52am BST
    Hundreds of barbershops have been targeted by police in a three-week crackdown on money laundering and modern slavery.

    Dozens of people were arrested and more than £1 million was frozen as police raided 265 high street cash-intensive businesses.

    Businesses included nail salons and vape shops, with 10 shops shut down and further closures expected, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

    Many of the targeted shops were Turkish-style barbers which have appeared on Britain’s high streets in increasing numbers over recent years.

    Most of these barbers shops are legitimate businesses that usually offer a shave with a hot towel and cut-throat razor. But security experts have previously warned that some are being used by Albanian and Kurdish gangs to conceal human trafficking, slave labour, and drugs.

    Operation Machinize targeted the shops in an effort to tackle “high street crime” and prevent criminal gangs from using cash-intensive businesses to conceal the proceeds of crime, according to the NCA.

    The law enforcement agency said the raids, which involved 19 different police forces and regional organised crime units, resulted in 35 arrests and 97 individuals suspected to be victims of modern slavery were placed under police protection.

    Officers secured freezing orders over bank accounts totalling more than £1 million and seized more than £40,000 in cash, some 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco and more than 8,000 illegal vapes.

    Two cannabis farms containing a total of 150 plants were also uncovered. The NCA estimates that £12 billion of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year.

    Goods seized by Greater Manchester Police during a visit to a vape shop in Rochdale
    Goods seized by Greater Manchester Police during a visit to a vape shop in Rochdale
    Rachael Herbert, the deputy director of the National Economic Crime Centre at the NCA, said: “We know cash-intensive businesses are used as fronts for money laundering, facilitating some of the highest harm and highest impact offending in the UK.

    “We have seen links to drug trafficking and distribution, organised immigration crime, modern slavery and human trafficking, firearms, and the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes.

    “Operation Machinize targeted barbershops and other high street businesses being used as cover for a whole range of criminality, all across the country.”

    The agency said in a statement: “Cash-intensive businesses such as barbershops, vape shops, nail bars, American-themed sweet shops and car washes are often used by criminals to conceal the origins of illicit cash.

    “Crime gangs use them to enter cash into the financial system, mixing legitimate funds with criminal profits to hinder subsequent law enforcement investigations.

    “They are known to buy such businesses using the proceeds of crime, which provides them with a legitimate income and opportunities for money laundering.”

    Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said: “High street crime undermines our security, our borders, and the confidence of our communities, and I am determined to take the decisive action necessary to bring those responsible to justice.

    “This successful NCA-led operation highlights the scale and complexity of the criminality our towns and cities face and demonstrates our collective determination to make our streets safer, a key pillar of this Government’s plan for change.

    “We will continue to support the NCA, and other law enforcement partners, as we make the UK an even more hostile environment for organised crime.”

    1. All caused by a Leftist obsession with 'diversity'. The foreigner shouldn't be here. They're nothing but trouble.

    4. ….. more than £1 million was frozen ……

      That's absolute peanuts. Or was it just one shop?

  55. 404314+ up ticks,

    You listening Mr LOWE MP,

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021

    ·
    3h

    We don’t need a national rape gang enquiry. It would be a waste of time, effort & money. Books have already been written about it, eg see Easy Meat by Peter McGloughlin.

    What we need is action: prosecutions by the police on a national level. They should invite victims to come forward & give their historic & current statements to a special force. Then proper police enquiries & prosecutions can begin.

    We already know: where its happening, whose doing it, & their motivations. I’m sure many police officers, serving & retired, would volunteer for the job.

    https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/produ…
    Easy Meat: Inside Britain's Grooming Gang Scandal

    Peter McLoughlin spent years believing it was 'a racist myth' that organised Muslim groups in Britain were luring white schoolgirls into a

    1. Does the book discuss the extent muslim councillors, police, social workers and various officialdom were in on it?

      1. Does the book discuss the jail time awaiting anyone that dares mention the extent muslim councillors, police, social workers and various officialdom were in on it?

    2. I think a national rape gang enquiry should be exactly that – so the whole nation can see, hear and understand the situation. The book may be good and highly recommended but possibly not get the same coverage (it's not available, as yet, on Amazon).

    1. Expect sleeves rolled up at the lectern.. and yes in irritating nasal whine..

      "Let me make this clear, my government will always act in the national interest. (LOL)
      All actions we take are in the name of British industry, British jobs and for "British" workers."       A bigger LOL.

      1. We could revive much of our heavy industry if we stopped Starmer from giving our billions to his crooked friends in Ukraine and spent it wisely at home instead.

        Starmer has no plan for trade or for the economy but is obsessed with Ukraine, a country about which he knows nothing and about which the rest of us care nothing. The man is a cretin and a sick joke.

        1. We'd need to remove Milipede and dump him where he can't affect the levers of power and ditch all the net zero nonsense first.

    2. Expect sleeves rolled up at the lectern.. and yes in irritating nasal whine..

      "Let me make this clear, my government will always act in the national interest. (LOL)
      All actions we take are in the name of British industry, British jobs and for "British" workers."       A bigger LOL.

    3. I can understand the privatisations. Many here can remember just how dire the nationalised services and industries were.
      However (with hindsight) there should have been a stipulation of British investment only and/or the government holding a golden share; which I think does apply in some cases.

  58. Just starting watching the first episode of the new series of HIGNFY. I gave it 5 minutes. The lead story was Trump's Tariffs of course when it should have been Starmer and Jess Philips and the Paki grooming rape gangs.

    I know the Trump story is big news but they should be focusing on the UK not America.

      1. Yes. Now looking like an overfed jowly git. All those lunches on expense accounts i expect. You can see the same thing happening to Starmer. Watch how fat the pigs get.

        It was so good once i can't let go but when i realise i am sitting watching it stoney faced i think why bother…?

          3. I used to subscribe Private Eye, editor Ingrams and Foot investigative journalist. Went downhill when Hislop appointed editor, unsubscribed,

        2. Haven’t watched the Beeb for years – only on for MotD but he even seems to be going off that. Netflix mostly, some Amazon (Reacher at present). Trouble is, we all have to/should pay the tv licence because it’s apparently for all terrestrial tv and not only the Beeb. Never seen a van out and about, anywhere.

        3. Starmer now looks remarkably like one of the pigs in the Shaun the Sheep videos, especially when he’s caught off guard a bit rather than made up for a press conference.

    2. Crumbs, I didn't realise HIGNFY was still running.
      Used to be a Friday night highlight, but I haven't watched it for yonks.

  59. Afternoon, all. Lovely sunny day but the wind is still a bit nippy. Will have to cut the lawns shortly.

    The only way we’ll be able to withstand anything is by getting rid of the incompetents in power and replacing them with people who have an understanding of finances and business.

  60. Afternoon all

    I was taking Moh to the local cottage hospital for a diabetic eye check, eye drops etc , so poor thing was fuzzy sighted for a few hours , he had to wear his sunglasses .

    I should have done the same because the sun was so bright and warm .. the colours of all the blossoms are beautiful and the wild hedgerows are white with blackthorn blossom .

    Funny thing was I had a little walk whilst Moh was being looked at , and enjoyed a stroll.

    There are more mums with babas in prams than ever before , and I love peeking in and chatting to young mums , who are so proud of their little ones .. I can remember older women doing that when I had tiny children , and a new baby always attracts lots of attention .

    One young mum had one of those go faster all treking very expensive adaptable push chair/prams with a young baby sucking a dummy( don't agree with that ) but anyway I admired her pram and baba , and said can I guess four months old , mum answered yes .. she was so pleased .. and then… to my utter shock told me the baby was teething and already had one tooth !!

    Yes one tooth at four months old … are babies really maturing so quickly .. and she also told me her baba was on solids .. four months old ..

    Will Nottler grandmas please set me right here , are babies maturing at a quicker pace?

    Both my sons could toddle at a year , but I can remember them teething at about 6months , that is when feeding became a sore issue ! So then came the bottle and TommyTipee.

    1. Oh dear, Maggie.
      Remember the punch line for some laundry capsule advertisement? "Keep Away From Children."
      Those four words were crafted with me in mind. Until the rug rats can talk and become recognisably part of the human race, I'm afraid I give them a swerve.
      But then I'm an intolerant old bat with a low boredom threshold.
      However, like you, I do not approve of dummies or mothers yacking on their phones and ignoring the children.

      1. I'm less bothered by a two year old with a dummy than a twenty two year old still sucking their thumb. It's easier to take a dummy away. Do agree about the phones. No-one should have their phone out in company.

        1. I get ratty when dog walkers are constantly on their phones.
          It is the dog's special time; give them your time and attention.

          1. If their dogs are anything like Winston, they'd need all their attention on him to stop him getting into mischief!

    3. Hi Belle! I certainly think they are! Daughter just sent a video of Finlay, who was a year old in March, kickking a football round the garden and climbing the climbing frame! He got his first two teeth at 4 months and currently has 8! Eats anything, unlike his brother and sister!

    4. Hi Belle! I certainly think they are! Daughter just sent a video of Finlay, who was a year old in March, kickking a football round the garden and climbing the climbing frame! He got his first two teeth at 4 months and currently has 8! Eats anything, unlike his brother and sister!

    5. I was looking at a video of our foals; they are good looking lasses and lads, cantering round the paddocks while their mums kept an eye on them.

    6. I was looking at a video of our foals; they are good looking lasses and lads, cantering round the paddocks while their mums kept an eye on them.

  61. Afternoon all! We had a stressfree journey this morning- trains on time, booked seats not already taken. Anthony was waiting when we arrived in Sheffield.
    We've had a musical afternoon – both the boys and their father have been playing the piano, and now it's J's turn.
    Had a job to get logged into Nottl but tried another link and here I am.
    Anything exciting happening?

    1. Sheffield, the city I know better than any other. Or, at least I did in the 1950s to the 1990s.
      I've watched more headline musical acts at the City Hall than any at other venue.

          5. You’re not alone, Grizz…I sometimes wonder ‘how did I end up here, like this’……

      1. Must be important, the Canadian house has not sat since mid December, apparently nothing is more important than fixing an election.

    3. Nothing exciting mainly politics. But a wonderful programme on bbc 2 tv this afternoon filmed in Samburu Park Kenya 🇰🇪 Nature's Epic journeys. All about the wonderful life of Elephants.
      You have probably seen it or been there, but if not you probably find it on catch-up.
      Enjoy your weekend away.

        1. Just for a change. 🐘
          When I was in Rhodesia touring with my friend Mike, we popped across the northern boarder into Zambia to take a short cut to the Kariba dam and the Chirundu crossing. Driving in the pitch-black night we rounded a tight bend and a huge bull elephant was in the middle of the road. Judging by the mess. The whole herd had obviously crossed several minutes before. The huge beast stopped and stood and stared as it towered over the VW Beetle and fortunately decided to follow his friends and relations.
          Phew that was a close one. No room for mistakes

      2. It wasn't very efficient when it was a nationalised industry last time (I worked for it for a short time). Why it should be any different this, given who's in charge and the net zero nonsense. It'll just be another drain on the taxpayer.

      3. The union leaders will love that, they can get back to the strikes they all love.

  63. Wordle No. 1,392 3/6

    ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 11 Apr 2025

    A bolt for Birdie Three!

    1. I took the roundabout route again.

      Wordle 1,392 5/6

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

    2. Well done. Par four for me.

      Wordle 1,392 4/6

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

    3. Nice one! I found this tougher than perhaps I should? Bogey!!

      Wordle 1,392 5/6

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

    6. Missed all this earlier.
      Too easy with a good start word.

      Wordle 1,392 2/6

      🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  65. Swirls onto the page. Good late afternoon, a gloriously sunny Friday .

    1. Audrey and K
      A twirly swirl , yes , and I expect you do dance around abit ..

      Lovely sunny Friday afternoon , but slightly chilly , dry , might have to water the garden again.

    2. Audrey and K
      A twirly swirl , yes , and I expect you do dance around abit ..

      Lovely sunny Friday afternoon , but slightly chilly , dry , might have to water the garden again.

  66. Phew. Four hour baking session; shoes feel full of feet.
    Just hoping the freezer is full of space.
    And the real downside is I have to be my own kitchen porter. Maybe if I shut the kitchen door, the washing up will magically do itself.

    2. Have a good rest after you've done the washing up and made a cup of tea:-)

      1. Now on the red wine. Found a rather nice Portuguese red lurking in the rack. No idea where I bought it.

    3. Have a good rest after you've done the washing up and made a cup of tea:-)

    4. What on earth are you baking Anne ?

      A special occasion perhaps?

      I haven't baked for ages , in fact I cannot remember the last time my oven was switched on .. I use my gas hob or my air fryer these days ..

      1. Yes, air fryer the most used bit of kit here, too, had it for quite a few years. I think there are some now, larger, but with an actual small oven.

      3. This sounds like the 12 days of Christmas.
        24 Carrot Cake buns
        24 Choc Chip buns
        4 Lemon Syrup (Drizzle) cakes
        2 Choc. Swiss rolls
        1 tray of Shortbread.

        Oh, and a small carrot cake from the surplus bun mixture.
        I had planned to make Lemon Curd but ran out of eggs.

        (I find buns are better, as often full size cakes are half eaten when we have "company", and the other half develops a fur coat because MB and I cannot get through it.)
        I was stocking up for when locusts aka grandchildren/friends/plumbers/electricians/helpful chap who does the jobs MB and I cannot do or cannot be RRsed to do; or even if sons descend.

    5. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/85ed06530c0d0c700c2156f1909803fa9fd86df3c055c71a0073e677f9f8489c.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0a9279a25e93f9d4bd1633562099ccd23a0e76bac7ddd99f6fdbf70fab8b4245.png I've had my apron on in the kitchen all day today too.

      I first made 8½ pounds of sausages (from the sausage meat I made yesterday.) Half are English breakfast and the other half are a Midlands' pork-and-tomato (my favourite).

      I then boiled some pigs' hearts before mincing the cooked meat (for the cat).

      I then simmered some pork rind in pork stock for some crackling that I shall make tomorrow.

      I have also mixed some dough for sandwiches to entertain a friend on Sunday. I shall bake the bread tomorrow after an overnight initial rise in the fridge.

      Apron now hung up and I am now resting my sore back!

    6. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/85ed06530c0d0c700c2156f1909803fa9fd86df3c055c71a0073e677f9f8489c.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0a9279a25e93f9d4bd1633562099ccd23a0e76bac7ddd99f6fdbf70fab8b4245.png I've had my apron on in the kitchen all day today too.

      I first made 8½ pounds of sausages (from the sausage meat I made yesterday.) Half are English breakfast and the other half are a Midlands' pork-and-tomato (my favourite).

      I then boiled some pigs' hearts before mincing the cooked meat (for the cat).

      I then simmered some pork rind in pork stock for some crackling that I shall make tomorrow.

      I have also mixed some dough for sandwiches to entertain a friend on Sunday. I shall bake the bread tomorrow after an overnight initial rise in the fridge.

      Apron now hung up and I am now resting my sore back!

  67. The House of Lords will meet from noon on Saturday 12 April.

    Members will consider legislative proposals to ensure the continued operation of British Steel blast furnaces is safeguarded.

    Watch live on Parliament TV from noon on Saturday.
    When the Lords is not sitting, the Lord Speaker has the power to recall the House following consultation with the government. The House of Lords is usually recalled at the same time as the House of Commons.

    The last time the House of Lords was recalled was on 18 August 2021 to debate the situation in Afghanistan.

    Find out more about recalls of Parliament.
    Latest from the Lords
    A busy House of Lords chamber
    House of Lords recalled on Saturday 12 April
    The House of Lords will meet from noon on Saturday 12 April to consider future of British Steel

    https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2025/april/house-of-lords-recalled-on-saturday-12-april/

  68. The House of Lords will meet from noon on Saturday 12 April.

    Members will consider legislative proposals to ensure the continued operation of British Steel blast furnaces is safeguarded.

    Watch live on Parliament TV from noon on Saturday.
    When the Lords is not sitting, the Lord Speaker has the power to recall the House following consultation with the government. The House of Lords is usually recalled at the same time as the House of Commons.

    The last time the House of Lords was recalled was on 18 August 2021 to debate the situation in Afghanistan.

    Find out more about recalls of Parliament.
    Latest from the Lords
    A busy House of Lords chamber
    House of Lords recalled on Saturday 12 April
    The House of Lords will meet from noon on Saturday 12 April to consider future of British Steel

    https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2025/april/house-of-lords-recalled-on-saturday-12-april/

  69. Mother jailed over Southport post has bid to see daughter rejected
    Lucy Connolly is refused temporary leave to spend time with her 12-year-old girl and sick husband
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/11/mother-jailed-social-media-southport-attack/

    I would like see those responsible for this jailed indefinitely in the same prison cell as Brigid Phillipson who gleefully poured metaphorical excrement on school children.

    Their release would only be secured when a large sum of compensation and a grovelling apology was issued by Starmer's evil government to Mrs Connolly and all the VAT paid by independent private schools repaid to them with interest.

    1. It's just pure spite refusing this permission to Lucy Connolly. She's hardly a dangerous criminal. At this rate, she's going to leave prison to a heroine's welcome. I can't believe anyone is stupid enough to keep persecuting her unless they actually WANT to stir up a civil war.

      1. You can't believe anyone is stupid enough? This is LABOUR we are talking about. Stupidity (and viciousness) runs through them like Blackpool through a stick of rock.

  70. Mother jailed over Southport post has bid to see daughter rejected
    Lucy Connolly is refused temporary leave to spend time with her 12-year-old girl and sick husband
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/11/mother-jailed-social-media-southport-attack/

    I would like see those responsible for this jailed indefinitely in the same prison cell as Brigid Phillipson who gleefully poured metaphorical excrement on school children.

    Their release would only be secured when a large sum of compensation and a grovelling apology was issued by Starmer's evil government to Mrs Connolly and all the VAT paid by independent private schools repaid to them with interest.

  71. That's me done for today. After a chilly start, a lovely summery day. Got the well pump out and it worked first time! Potted on 80 more bedding plants. Time for a little drinky-poo.

    Have a jolly evening

    A demain.

  72. Mark Harper and Jeremy Hunt are both to be knighted.
    How ludicrous.

      3. Probably all done to keep them quite and not to spill any important still secret beans. None of them are worth rotten carrot.

    4. Well one thing this country needs more of (along with immigrants, legal, illegal and “irregular” (sic)) is peers @ £300+ a day.

  73. Well, I'm back, totally cream crackered having cut both the lawns. I let Winston stay outside this time and he was good and didn't get in the way (until I was putting the mower back in the shed, when he got underfoot and was stepped on). I felt he was sufficiently used to being in the garden by now (8 weeks) not to be too much of an idiot and so it proved. He found a shady spot in the front border and settled.

  74. House of Commons recalled on Saturday 12 April
    11 April 2025

    Apr
    11
    2025
    There is no description available for this image (ID: 206407)
    The Speaker of the House of Commons has granted a request from the Government to recall the House of Commons at 11am on Saturday 12 April.

    Recall of the House of Commons
    If there is an important development during a recess period, the House of Commons and House of Lords may be recalled.

    Standing Order 13 gives the Speaker the authority to recall the House of Commons, if he is satisfied it is within the public interest.

    About Parliament: Recall of Parliament
    House of Commons Library briefing note on recall of Parliament

    Previous recalls
    The House of Commons was last recalled on 18 August 2021 to debate the situation in Afghanistan This was the 34th recall during a recess since 1948. 

    History of previous recalls.
    https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2025/april/house-of-commons-recalled-on-saturday-12-april/

    1. I'm feeling quite queasy at the thought of supporting Mad Max & Co in their desire to save British Steel from closure by nationalising it (whatever nationalisation means today).

      1. Unless energy prices are reduced (net zero is thrown out of the net) then BS can never be profitable.

  75. Three children among six killed in New York helicopter crash

    SIX people have died after a helicopter plummeted into the Hudson River in New York.
    Eric Adams, the city’s mayor, said three children from a family of Spanish tourists were among the victims.
    The first calls to emergency services were received at 3.17pm. The aircraft is believed to have taken off from a downtown Manhattan skyport at around 3pm. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

    Michael Roth, 71, the owner of the doomed aircraft, said: “Every employee in our company is devastated. My wife has not stopped crying. The death of the child of any human being is a monumental disaster.” At least a dozen rescue and police boats were on the scene, with police blocking off the main westside traffic artery of Manhattan. The Fire Department of New York and marine units were also at the site and divers were still searching last night.

    A large staging area was set-up off Pier 40 in Manhattan to aid operations after emergency services received notifications that a helicopter had crashed in the river off at the pier at West Houston Street. A witness said the helicopter was headed south when it went down at a 45-degree angle in seconds, between Lower Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey, before becoming completely submerged in the water. Dramatic footage shared on social media appeared to show the craft crashing towards the river, its tail and rotors having become detached. Witnesses described hearing a “loud thumping noise” before the helicopter fell into the river, according to the New York Post. One witness told ABC News: “I saw the helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off. It sounded like a sonic boom.” Eric Campoverde, a second witness, said: “I was walking by and the helicopter went down at 45-degree angle. Big splash – it was very scary.”

    The New York police department said in a statement: “Due to a helicopter crash in the Hudson River, in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street, expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the surrounding areas.” Pictures and videos posted online showed the craft, believed to be a Bell 206, mostly submerged, upside-down in the water. Multiple rescue boats were seen circling the helicopter. Mayor Adams said the incident was “heartbreaking and tragic”. He added: “The team is on the scene at the heartbreaking and tragic crash in the Hudson River.”
    Writing on social media, he said that New York’s fire and police department were “assisting first responders closer to the New Jersey side of the river”. He added: “Please avoid the area near Pier 40 in Manhattan in the meantime.”

    The crash took place in a busy flying route, often frequented by tourists on sky sightseeing tours. The craft is said to have flown over Governor’s Island and near the Statue of Liberty, headed up the Hudson River on the New York side, before turning around near the George Washington Bridge and flying along the Jersey City stretch of the river. A taxiing plane at Washington’s Ronald Reagan airport recently collided with a parked airliner. Several members of Congress were on board the planes. New York Congressman Nick Lalota wrote on X: “Another plane just bumped into our wing. Heading back to the gate, but thankfully everyone is OK!”

    New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer added: “While waiting to take off on the runway at DCA just now, another plane struck our wing. Thankfully, everyone is safe. Just a reminder: Recent cuts to the FAA weaken our skies and public safety.”
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ccf05143e52da6745831a497ba6545583a2cf9e56a360adabf8890207f032e33.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6b33cbc5c9c5a506d2d9124d086a6035fba542a0642c6cf202c30ac961554b58.jpg
    I have been a passenger on a number of helicopters in the past four decades. My very first trip was in a Bell 206 on the New York sightseeing trip, similar to the one that fatally crashed into the Hudson River yesterday. One difference being that back in August 1983 these helicopters were permitted to fly directly over Manhattan. We flew right up Manhattan, along Central Park, and down to the World Trade Centre and the Statue of Liberty. We hovered directly above the antenna atop the Empire State Building and I personally had a magnificent view of this through the window between my legs, since I was fortunate enough to have been permitted to sit in the co-pilot's seat in the cockpit.

    The (crap quality) photographs, above, are what I took, from that seat, on a cheap little Instamatic camera. My own Canon AE-1 Program having been stolen from my hotel room the previous day!

    The second article is of the helicopter crash in July 2002 in the North Sea. Only two months prior to this I had been a passenger on that very same Sikorsky S61N helicopter on a visit to the Sole Pit Clipper gas platform from Norwich Airport where I worked.

    My other helicopter trips (around 12 in all) were aboard the shuttle flight (another Sikorsky S61N) between Penzance heliport and St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, between 1993 and 1997. In 1983 one of that fleet of helicopters had a similar accident.

    [From Hansard]:

    The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Tom King) At approximately 12.40 pm on Saturday, a British Airways S61 helicopter engaged on a passenger service between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly, carrying a crew of three and 23 passengers, crashed into the sea in poor visibility one and a half miles east of St. Mary's aerodrome. The two pilots and four passengers were subsequently rescued by the St. Mary's lifeboat, but 19 passengers and the cabin attendant are missing and must be presumed dead. No bodies have yet been recovered. The response from the rescue services was prompt and effective. In particular, the swift recovery of the six survivors from the water by the St. Mary's lifeboat is to be highly commended.

    The air accidents investigation branch of my Department is conducting a formal inspector's investigation into the accident and will report to me. Arrangements were made immediately for an investigation team to go to the scene. With the help of the Royal Navy, the crash beacon has been located. Efforts are at this moment being made to recover the helicopter. Diving conditions are, however, not easy and the weather and difficult tidal currents in the area may bring problems.

    I might now think twice about taking another Whirlybirds trip, no matter how exhilarating they are.

    1. I have to confess I am not enamoured of rotary wing flight. It seems you have a charmed life, though.

        1. To be fair, the rotors are wings. It just seems to be that if anything goes wrong with the whirly bits you have less chance of recovering from it.

    2. I have to confess I am not enamoured of rotary wing flight. It seems you have a charmed life, though.

    3. I did that NY one at around the same time.

      I don't like them, having used one several times between Monaco and Nice, short hops, but not something I enjoyed.
      The cost in those days was less than the rip off taxis and much quicker.

    5. Another Hudson River incident, RIP. The investigation will tell. I've only been in a 'copter a couple of times, an old one, when I visited Bryher. The locals loathed the then PoW, now King.

    6. From some of the video posted, ikt looked like the rotor was stationary when it went in. Could be just optics tho' . But it would explain why it just "fell out of the sky".

      1. It is said that the rotor and gear box were detached from the aircraft at height by those who have studied the video.

        1. That would do it. Sad. Only ever been up in one once, and that was a touristy ride along the Riviera to/from Monaco. courtesy of my then ever grateful employer. Along with the cruise they paid for – by chartering the ship.

          Sighs for good times past. All that jollity came to a halt in 2008.

      2. You can see the rotor detaching and falling separately. The tail and tail rotor are also missing . Looks like the main gearbox and rotor have come away taking the tail and its rotor with it.

    7. Absolutely hate helicopters.
      Aged 19, first trip offshore to Southern North Sea, that week two choppers crashed, one in our field.
      Shudder.

    8. Been on more chopper flights than I care to remember. All terrifying. The family (the kids) brutally forced me to fly us by chopper to St Marys from Penzance. We came back by fixed wing, I think my fear and hatred of helicopters was transmitted to them somehow. Saw one crash in the Atlantic off of South Africa as it took off from our vessel (thankfully just pilot and co-pilot on board as a practice for the co-pilot). Sank like a brick as it hit a large swell 200 yards from the boat. Miraculously, both got out and we picked them up with one of our FRCs.

      1. I have only been in a helicopter once. This was after I had spent 4 weeks working as a roustabout on a drilling rig in the North Sea when I was a student and the chopper took us to Great Yarmouth from a few miles off the Dutch Coast.

        1. I've only been in a chopper once; a Wessex out of Wittering. It was an experience, shall we say?

        2. I was a core catcher offshore northern and southern North Sea as well as onshore rigs in Lancashire before going to sea in the marine seismic survey vessels. Had a few good evenings in Great Yarmouth.

        3. I was a core catcher offshore northern and southern North Sea as well as onshore rigs in Lancashire before going to sea in the marine seismic survey vessels. Had a few good evenings in Great Yarmouth.

      2. We flew from Penzance to St Mary's in 1990 by helicopter – it was the first time I'd flown anywhere. I remember how noisy and juddery it was.

    9. Helicopters are notoriously dangerous. My father-in-law was rotary wing fleet air arm and has stories (never told). I used to work for a marine and aviation Lloyd’s underwriting agency and know the stats.

      1. Thanks for that, Paul. Since my team of screeners at Norwich Airport had formed a close link with Shell (we processed their gas-rig workers — “riggies” — through our department before each flight), the Shell management decided to treat a number of of us to a day out on the rig. We changed into a flight suit, and flew out on that very helicopter. After landing on the massive platform we changed into standard rig clothing before were given a full tour of the platform, being shown how it operated as a self-contained mini-city. After being treated to a hearty meal we returned to the airport on the same chopper.

        It was a wonderful experience, especially for me since I have an engineering background and could fully appreciate the work taking place on that platform.

  76. Three children among six killed in New York helicopter crash

    SIX people have died after a helicopter plummeted into the Hudson River in New York.
    Eric Adams, the city’s mayor, said three children from a family of Spanish tourists were among the victims.
    The first calls to emergency services were received at 3.17pm. The aircraft is believed to have taken off from a downtown Manhattan skyport at around 3pm. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

    Michael Roth, 71, the owner of the doomed aircraft, said: “Every employee in our company is devastated. My wife has not stopped crying. The death of the child of any human being is a monumental disaster.” At least a dozen rescue and police boats were on the scene, with police blocking off the main westside traffic artery of Manhattan. The Fire Department of New York and marine units were also at the site and divers were still searching last night.

    A large staging area was set-up off Pier 40 in Manhattan to aid operations after emergency services received notifications that a helicopter had crashed in the river off at the pier at West Houston Street. A witness said the helicopter was headed south when it went down at a 45-degree angle in seconds, between Lower Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey, before becoming completely submerged in the water. Dramatic footage shared on social media appeared to show the craft crashing towards the river, its tail and rotors having become detached. Witnesses described hearing a “loud thumping noise” before the helicopter fell into the river, according to the New York Post. One witness told ABC News: “I saw the helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off. It sounded like a sonic boom.” Eric Campoverde, a second witness, said: “I was walking by and the helicopter went down at 45-degree angle. Big splash – it was very scary.”

    The New York police department said in a statement: “Due to a helicopter crash in the Hudson River, in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street, expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the surrounding areas.” Pictures and videos posted online showed the craft, believed to be a Bell 206, mostly submerged, upside-down in the water. Multiple rescue boats were seen circling the helicopter. Mayor Adams said the incident was “heartbreaking and tragic”. He added: “The team is on the scene at the heartbreaking and tragic crash in the Hudson River.”
    Writing on social media, he said that New York’s fire and police department were “assisting first responders closer to the New Jersey side of the river”. He added: “Please avoid the area near Pier 40 in Manhattan in the meantime.”

    The crash took place in a busy flying route, often frequented by tourists on sky sightseeing tours. The craft is said to have flown over Governor’s Island and near the Statue of Liberty, headed up the Hudson River on the New York side, before turning around near the George Washington Bridge and flying along the Jersey City stretch of the river. A taxiing plane at Washington’s Ronald Reagan airport recently collided with a parked airliner. Several members of Congress were on board the planes. New York Congressman Nick Lalota wrote on X: “Another plane just bumped into our wing. Heading back to the gate, but thankfully everyone is OK!”

    New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer added: “While waiting to take off on the runway at DCA just now, another plane struck our wing. Thankfully, everyone is safe. Just a reminder: Recent cuts to the FAA weaken our skies and public safety.”
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ccf05143e52da6745831a497ba6545583a2cf9e56a360adabf8890207f032e33.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6b33cbc5c9c5a506d2d9124d086a6035fba542a0642c6cf202c30ac961554b58.jpg
    I have been a passenger on a number of helicopters in the past four decades. My very first trip was in a Bell 206 on the New York sightseeing trip, similar to the one that fatally crashed into the Hudson River yesterday. One difference being that back in August 1983 these helicopters were permitted to fly directly over Manhattan. We flew right up Manhattan, along Central Park, and down to the World Trade Centre and the Statue of Liberty. We hovered directly above the antenna atop the Empire State Building and I personally had a magnificent view of this through the window between my legs, since I was fortunate enough to have been permitted to sit in the co-pilot's seat in the cockpit.

    The (crap quality) photographs, above, are what I took, from that seat, on a cheap little Instamatic camera. My own Canon AE-1 Program having been stolen from my hotel room the previous day!

    The second article is of the helicopter crash in July 2002 in the North Sea. Only two months prior to this I had been a passenger on that very same Sikorsky S61N helicopter on a visit to the Sole Pit Clipper gas platform from Norwich Airport where I worked.

    My other helicopter trips (around 12 in all) were aboard the shuttle flight (another Sikorsky S61N) between Penzance heliport and St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, between 1993 and 1997. In 1983 one of that fleet of helicopters had a similar accident.

    [From Hansard]:

    The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Tom King) At approximately 12.40 pm on Saturday, a British Airways S61 helicopter engaged on a passenger service between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly, carrying a crew of three and 23 passengers, crashed into the sea in poor visibility one and a half miles east of St. Mary's aerodrome. The two pilots and four passengers were subsequently rescued by the St. Mary's lifeboat, but 19 passengers and the cabin attendant are missing and must be presumed dead. No bodies have yet been recovered. The response from the rescue services was prompt and effective. In particular, the swift recovery of the six survivors from the water by the St. Mary's lifeboat is to be highly commended.

    The air accidents investigation branch of my Department is conducting a formal inspector's investigation into the accident and will report to me. Arrangements were made immediately for an investigation team to go to the scene. With the help of the Royal Navy, the crash beacon has been located. Efforts are at this moment being made to recover the helicopter. Diving conditions are, however, not easy and the weather and difficult tidal currents in the area may bring problems.

    I might now think twice about taking another Whirlybirds trip, no matter how exhilarating they are.

  77. Good thermals round here – although you do need long wings to make the most of them.

      1. Losing a rotor is pretty much an end game. We do a lot of gliding with gliders here, though; Long Mynd and Tern Hill.

          1. The POTUS probably doesn't have to go through the HUET (Helicopter Underwater Escape Training) course every 4 years.

          2. I remember one of the presidential helos crashing in Maryland back in the 1990's. No survivors. Turned out to have been caused by a maintenance issue.

            Yesterday, there were 4 Black Hawks flying over the Potomac near the house, three in a group and a "tail end charlie" a little way behind the first three. Not the way to get to Camp David, though.

          3. I seem to recall (although I could be mistaken) that HM the Queen never flew by helicopter – not sure about KC3 though….

  78. Camilla Tominey
    Mass immigration has resuscitated hatred of women across Britain
    Even many feminists don’t want to confront the reality of the racist and sexist attitudes that have been imported into Britain

    Quite how the Government expected to hold “more than five” independent inquiries into grooming gangs for £5 million when the Telford inquiry alone cost £8 million is anyone’s guess.

    Home Secretary Yvette Cooper now insists Labour hasn’t watered down its pledge to “deliver the meaningful change victims deserve” with the announcement of a “more flexible approach” involving the setting up of “victim-led panels”. Yet handing a pittance to the very local councils who seemingly turned a blind eye to these vile crimes for them to mark their own homework isn’t justice.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/11/lefts-wilful-ignorance-of-modern-misogyny-stain-society/

    Robert Gray
    48 min ago
    14,355 FGM injuries into A &E in 2023/4 is a staggering number but which probably represents a very small percentage of the incidence of FGM. Where are all the arrests and prosecutions for this rightly banned medieval practice? We are creating a dystopian religiously segregated society with asymmetric tolerance and indulgence of cultural ‘crimes’. If a white christian girl presented at A & E after a family member had excised her cl it oris it would be banner headlines. How has it come to this?

    1. Of course it would be banner headlines:

      "Britain is tolerant, jump on a dinghy NOW"

    2. 'Meaningful change victims deserve'. Utter horse shit.

      They didn't deserve to be raped by pakistani muslim paedophiles. They shouldn't have ever been in that situation. The pakis shouldn't have been here. The muslim shouldn't have been protected. They shouldn't have been allowed into the country but no. Labour forced them on us.

      Labour councils ignored this padeophilic rape. So, Cooper, stop lying. This is your fault. You won't do anything because as far as your concerned, white girls should shut up and be raped in the name of diversity.

      And you call others scum. You Lefties are revolting, evil, twisted, nasty creatures

      1. My father was closely involved with the development of the weapons control, radar guided systems on HMS Vanguard.

  80. The government – any of them – are dumb. Faced with an 'emergency' that everyone and his dog saw coming, naming a collapsing industrial base especially steel due to net zero, rather than do the sensible thing and stop destroying industry the gormless, dangerous fools in Westminster will no doubt nationalise steel – with predictable results.

    Until they accept that 'climate change' is a hoax and a tax scam they'll keep pouring our money down the drain. It's typical: create the problem, bleat and whine when the obvious happens, then demand more to keep it going on life support while refusing to solve the underlying issue. Fools, all of them.

    1. We want our water companies back from foreign control, we need our power companies back and we must stop foreign companies buying farmland .. the list must be endless.

      1. I'd settle for the regulators to do their job, but they're in collusion with the industry.

        On the otherside I want government out of energy markets. It's obsession with 'climate change' has done incredible damage to our economy. That hoax underpins all manner of problems.

  81. After Moh had his eyes tested and drops put in .. which took ages to wear off .. I took him to Swanage , sunny happy Swanage , bit like old England , lovely sand , bucket and spade and a glorious coastline , places to walk etc

    After Moh 's sight was restored , we walked around the town , his mum was in a nursing home there for over 3 years , she had dementia badly , and died when she was over 91 years of age .

    Husband used to holiday in a caravan with his parents and brother when he was a young lad . He can't remember how they arrived there , probably by train from Southampton .. those were the days .

    When Moh and I were married and living down here , his parents used to stay with us , and we used to visit places like Swanage and Weymouth .. places they enjoyed .

    His father used to browse the gift shops for funny/ silly jokes , not whoopee cushions but that sort of thing !!
    He also used to love looking at all the saucy postcards, intending to buy a few to send off to his pals .. cheap postage in those days !!!

    Today , after Moh's eyes improved , we wandered along the shore line then walked through the small town observing all the hat shops ,book shops , fossil shops , trinkets etc , and we both remarked that there was an absence of saucy postcards .. none in fact .. why ?

    Wokeness perhaps or naughty jokes and certain vulgarities are no longer acceptable, what a shame !

        1. I don't know; they're all rude! Looking at them, I feel like I'm fourteen again.

    4. Many's the time I have sailed out of Poole Harbour, past Swanage, Old Harry and Anvil Point and then West past Lulworth and St Albans Head to Weymouth where, if my mother was with me, we would buy a fresh crab on the quay which my mother would dress.

      In those days we had a lovely little 22 footer called Inca in which we were able to sail up the Frome River as far as Wareham.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/61175087b5cf6423485279cedeb53c6858763833481d1658403f86cc7ea269ce.jpg

      1. We had summer holidays at Weymouth. Both in hotels and caravans. The thing I remember about it was how shallow the water was; you could walk out a long way and still not be in deep water.

        1. When I was down there, in the 70's 80's we used to walk along Weymouth beach "Floppy Watching"

          The first ladies to go topless

          1. I also holidayed in Weymouth all through the 70's. Stayed at my grans B+B in Great George St. Never saw any boobies though. :@(

      2. Lovely photo , Richard .

        We had a little fishing boat, cathedral hull , became waterlogged , literally .. Moh didn't like sailing but liked a motor , we muddled along , unsafely everywhere .

    5. I think saucy postcards went out of fashion. Postage got too expensive and Donald McGill was exposed as an abuser.

  83. Police force accused of anti-white bias has fair recruitment, says Cooper
    Home Secretary will not intervene after West Yorkshire force allegedly prioritises ‘under-represented’ ethnic groups

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/04/10/cooper-urged-end-block-white-police/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJmWuhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHva3Jue5xXalwQl-UUTqsm_pj64c6aWx9ijD_4-0nuis9mgHee-dZ6paGJAi_aem_VCFfSFkD0QV0YxQ2LW0xLw
    Peter Smith
    2 hrs ago
    Yvette Cooper puts another nail in Labour’s coffin

    Comment by H M Mathias.

    HM

    H M Mathias
    2 hrs ago
    No wonder Labour have opened our borders to illegal aliens. The opressed white who have lived and worked are being treated with utter contempt. The illegals will be the only voters Labour will have.

    Comment by Robert Sanderson.

    RS

    Robert Sanderson
    2 hrs ago
    Surely no white people in their right mind can ever vote labour again. Not unless you want to see the final humiliation of your own race in your own country.

    Comment by andrew parkinson.

    ap

    andrew parkinson
    2 hrs ago
    Arrest her, imprison her, a traitororous, vile individual

    How can she look at herself in the mirror?

  84. Very few options to vote for on this year’s TRIC awards. Mostly Lamestream/Legacy media.

    I have voted for GB News’ Charlie Peters, and Diary of a CEO (as Al Beeb’s”Fact checkers” (sic) had a totally unwarranted pop at him last year.

    https://poll-tric.org.uk/

  85. Also, i had to go from my parents’ to Dunstall Wolverhampton today to buy some engine oil. About 4:30 pm. Through Whitmore Reans (our “diversity” area, see Powell, E, c 1968). Full of little girls and boys aged 8/9 clothed as if they live in Pakistan.

  88. Awake far too early , and of course the bird song , chakking pheasants , meowing cat who decided to stay outside all night , but what a welcome when she pawed the window as she meowed let me in please. Her paws were so cold .

    Can I ask , why did Port Talbot close.. because there was no coal?

    So if Scunthorpe is going to be saved , apparently this idiot government will be importing coal from…….. Japan?

    Meanwhile in China and India they are expanding their coal fired operations flooding the world with steel to control the market.

    I saw this comment on F/B , interesting eh.

    Chap worked in a Sheffield steelworks who went to college to study steel making and steel rolling. Blast furnaces produce iron, which is usually poured into moulds called pigs, hence the name pig iron.

    Electric arc furnaces produce steel, the quality of which is decided by what's put into the furnace.

    1. We're staying for the weekend in Sheffield which used to be Steel City. J's nephew is a scientist and he's working in the nuclear industry.

Comments are closed.