Friday 11 October: Do the Tory contenders really have what it takes to revitalise the party?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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558 thoughts on “Friday 11 October: Do the Tory contenders really have what it takes to revitalise the party?”

  2. Morning All – another week nearly gone
    Today's Tale
    The charges were being read against the man in the dock. “You are charged that on the 25th February you murdered your wife with an axe.”
    From the back of the Court someone yelled, “You bastard!”
    The judge brought down his gavel and sternly demanded that there be silence in the Court.
    The Clerk of the Court continued. “You are further charged that on the same day you murdered your mother- in-law with an axe.”
    “You rotten bastard!” came a shout from the back.
    Again the Judge brought down his gavel and ordered that the interjector be brought before him.
    “What’s the meaning of this outburst?” he demanded.
    “I’m his next door neighbour. Your Honour. Only a month ago, I asked to borrow his axe and the swine said that he didn’t have one.”

  3. 'Morning one and all, especially, Geoff, and a big thank you to him for all his sterling efforts on our behalf.

    1. Good morning Johnny

      John Redwood is quite right – The Spanish/EU are correct – the UK is a soft touch. The current UK government is very happy to bully their own people but cave in immediately to our enemies and potential enemies.

    4. And all paid for by people who don't get it themselves.
      And the buffoons wonder why there is resentment towards them and the gimmegrants.

    1. The Reign of Terror in the Summer? Wish I was clever and could think of a pithy epithet. Someone is bound to have got one.

  10. Morning all,

    I didn't realise how much Sir Kier's mum and uncle didn't feature in Government decisions about the NHS and overseas territories.

  11. Good Morning Folks

    First frost of the autumn this morning
    Had to scrape the car windows, of course Mrs B didn't want to take the car in the garage.

  12. So it looks like Labour wants to create a hostile environment for employers as well as landlords.
    Maybe the deal is to make it as hard for businesses to employ people as it is in France so we don't have an unfair advantage.

  13. Good morning, chums. And thanks to Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,210 4/6

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  15. Have a happy, happy day, Craggy, followed by 364 happy unbirthdays.

    We don't see enough of you here.

        1. They are all too self important to believe it would have effected their lives. But they don’t seem to be able to see past an arms length.

      1. 394495+ up ricks,

        Morning R,
        In my book with many party crossers
        just change the name of the party……….again.

        To the reformed / tory (ino) MK2 party
        and have continuation of the status Quo.

  19. Morning all 🙂😊
    Frosty start, wonderful northern lights photos from our neighbours. Heating on to compensate, we will be bankrupt by Christmas.
    And no the Tories don't have a clue, they have already done more damage than a hurricane would have to our country.
    Reform is now the best option.

    1. It seems that the Government are determined to make me personally pay for all the damage done to me on my behalf by those who are well paid to know better.

      I agree with you about the Tories, but am keeping an open mind. Reform is all rhetoric right now, and I see little indication that they would be any better than the Tories if they ever got into office. They have considerably further to go than the Liberals in 1974, or even Corbyn's Labour in 2017, which only manage to stop the Tories getting an overall majority.

      One glimmer of optimism lies over one of their leadership contenders, who was not implicated in any business scandal, unlike her rival, and did what she could in the time to sort out the Post Office miscarriage of justice that swallowed up the reputations of most of today's leading politicians including Sirs Keir Stamer and Ed Davey. It is telling that Kevin Hollinrake, one of the few politicians to come out with anything positive in this, was sponsoring Kemi Badenoch.

      She is doing the right thing right now by dwelling on principles – on what it is to be a Conservative, rather than producing a programme for office which can hardly be implemented in this decade. That will become clearer as soon as the damage done by the forthcoming Budget hits home with the nation.

    2. I failed to see the Northern Lights, although some pretty spectacular photos were posted from south of here 🙁 No sign of them tonight, either.

  20. Morning all 🙂😊
    Frosty start, wonderful northern lights photos from our neighbours. Heating on to compensate, we will be bankrupt by Christmas.
    And no the Tories don't have a clue, they have already done more damage than a hurricane would have to our country.
    Reform is now the best option.

      1. We went driving with my sister and BiL to find some dark sky, then came back to find a brilliant display from the garden ! It’s the first time Vaggelis and I have seen them! Fairly made our day/night, it did!

        1. I had to ride up a ski-lift, in an icy wind (–15ºC,) to the top of an arctic mountain, in Christmas week, to see the spectacle.

          It was worth it though, Pet.

        2. I've only seen them in green, not colours. First time was from the flat's balcony in Newport Pagnell, all lit up over Northampton way.

    2. Lovely Sue almost identical to the pictures our near neighbours took last night. I turned in twirly to see that. 🤔

    5. Good morning Sue, and everyone.
      I like your daughter's eco-friendly Guest Lodge. Designed by the Welsh Tourist Board?

  22. SIR – From casual observation, I fear the fate of the tie is also befalling the “proper” leather shoe.
    Phillip Pennicott
    London E18

    Na then, Phil lad, calling a standard leather shoe 'proper' marks you down as a bit anal. My inherited pes planus (fallen arches) coupled with arthritis (nine titanium bolts in my right foot) ensure that wearing such footwear is impossible.

    My black, highly-polished, Reebok training shoes may not look as 'smart', in your eyes, as an Oxford brogue but they are a vital necessity for me. Would you prefer me to suffer constant pain, just to ensure that your sensitivities to tradition are not breached?

    1. So what you are saying Grizz is that, in terms of sartorial elegance, trainers are your Archilles heel?

      Morning G and all….

        1. I've tried slip-ons, Rastus but, since there is no method of adjusting the tension (as with lace-ups), they give me acute pain.

          That pain is deeper across the top of my instep (especially on my right foot) than it is under my fallen arches. My current preferred footwear has a soft cushioned tongue that alleviates the sharp pain.

        2. Sop what you are saying Richard is that part of your daily routine is to have socks with Caroline before breakfast?

    2. Fair enough, Grizz but the majority of people wearing running shoes in the office don’t have any special needs, just slovenly standards.

      2. Morning, Sue. Well, that's telling me! I never consider me to be in the 'special needs' category.😘

      3. I wear trainers for everyday wear because shoes are not made in my size (10 and a half) in this country. 10s are just that bit too small, 11s are like wearing buckets. For smart formal wear I bought a pair in black the right size imported from Germany that cost several times the cost of shoes made here, and I don't want to wear those out and have to buy another pair.

  23. Happy Birthday to you Craggy, have a lovely day today and best wishes.🥂🍾🍻cheers.

  24. 394495+ up ticks,

    Morning R,
    Can’t be done, those here are in breeding mode, so in 1 more decade of Dover invasion action
    added to these NEW british, get the picture, he knows that already,
    already.

    1. I wonder what would happen if Spain etc kick all the brits out and they landed at Dover begging.
      Dopey Wokey Ms balls keeps talking about making a start. But her battery seems to be flat.

  25. Leftie Irony Alert.
    .
    'Anti-Hate' Art Exhibit in LA featured participants kicking around Donald Trump's head.
    At another art exhibit in Los Angeles, a statue of a naked Trump with his genitals mutilated is on display at Subliminal Projects Gallery.

    Trump is lidderally committing gennycider.. they scream
    https://x.com/amuse/status/1844495623409762606

    1. The mentally deranged Bolshevik cult on display.. trying to provoke.
      Think it might get a bit testy soon?

      About 20 days to go.

    1. 1c here at the moment. Glad I picked the last of the tomatoes last night as they'd all be squish now.
      Lovely and sunny but frost on the windscreens.

    3. Morning, Paul.

      We've just had two days of torrential rain. Bit brighter but cooler (+7ºC) this morning.

      1. Hooshed down here the last two days, too, so was a bit surprised with the frost. Ice even sealed SWMBO's car door shut…

  27. Reposted from late last night

    Friday 11th October, 2024

    Hardcastle Craggs

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fdbd73a4314be7cf48cd5cf6313624fb291152ef7de62ef94af41b68c7264e35.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f75ccfb6bd85def69825568622dde4a22e87c908f64eac068db19b7e77812703.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f15108925be65a9a2608d8e25edca14c950fe7218c958fddb1d38927a117d0b9.png

    With very best wishes,

    Caroline and Rastus

    We always enjoy your posts – we need more of them!

      1. I thought he posted a while ago that he had moved to France……….. but it's a long time since he was here. Much missed.

        1. Hardcastle Craggs disappeared from this forum around the same time that Horace Pendleton did. Both were similar in their comments.

          1. When my father edited the Sudan Diocesan Review – which kept those who had worked in the Sudan in touch with each other – he had to sort out the Matches (Marriages), Hatches (Births) and Despatches (Deaths) and it was not always easy to garner all the information.

            And so it is with the Nottlers Birthday list – I don't think that there are many matches and hatches to report but I need help to keep up-to-date with the Despatches.

            Here is the list I have at the moment.

            Please let me know if the information is correct and also if you would like to be added to the list if you are not already on it.

            02 January – 1947 : Poppiesmum
            08 January – 1941 : Rough Common
            09 January – **** : thayaric
            10 January – 1960 : hopon
            16 January – 1941 : Legal Beagle
            18 January – 1963 : Stormy
            21 January – **** : Nagsman
            23 January – 1951 : Damask Rose
            23 January – 1960 : Kifaru
            27 January – 1948 : Citroen 1

            10 February -1949 : Korky the Kat (Dandy Front Pager)
            11 February- 1964 : Phizzee
            22 February- 1965 : AW Kamau
            22 February- 1951 : Grizzly (Alan/George)
            24 February- 1941 : Sguest
            28 February- 1956 :Jeremy Morfey
            29 February- **** : Ped

            02 March- **** : Garlands
            05 March—– 1957 : Sue MacFarlane
            08 March—– 1957 : Geoff Graham
            26 March—– 1962 : Caroline Tracey
            27 March—– 1947 : Maggiebelle
            27 March—– 1941 : Fallick Alec

            19 April——- 1954 : Devonian in Kent
            22 April——–1950 :Jay Sands
            26 April——- **** : Harry Kobeans

            06 May———1949 Dave Sergeant
            18 May———****: Hertslass
            24 May——– 1944 : Sir Jasper (NoToNanny) (Tom)

            01 June——- 1952 Bob of Bonsall
            02 June——–1939: Clydesider
            08 June——– **** : Still Bleau
            09 June——- 1947 : Johnny Norfolk
            09 June——– 1947 : Horace Pendleton
            23 June——– 1961 : Oberstleutnant (Paul)
            25th June——-1952 : Corrimobile

            01 July———-1946: Rastus C Tastey (Richard)
            12 July——— 1956 : David Wainwright/Stigenace
            18 July——— 1941: lacoste
            19 July——— 1948: Ndovu (jules)
            21 July———-1960: Richard II (ex Tier5Inmate)
            26 July——— 1936 : Delboy
            29 July———- 1944 : Lewis Duckworth
            30 July———- 1946 : Alf the Great

            01 August—— 1950 : Datz
            03 August—— 1954 : molamola
            10 August—— 1967 : ourmaninmunich
            18 August—— **** : ashesthandust
            19 August——- 1951 : Hugh Janus

            04 September- 1948 : Joseph B Fox
            07 September- 1946 : Araminta Smade (The Mighty Minty)
            09 September ———: Conway (Connors)
            11 September- 1947 : Peter Anderson (ex peddytheviking)
            12 September- 1946 : Ready Eddy (ex Eh Calm Down)
            13 September- **** : Anne Allan (The Push Nurse)
            15 September- **** : veryoldfella
            26 September- **** : Feargal the Cat
            30 September 1944 : One Last Try

            07 October—– 1960 : Bob 3
            11 October—– 1944 : Hardcastle Craggs
            25 October—– 1955 : Sue Edison
            26 October——-1948: Jonathan Rackham

            12 November- ***** : Cochrane

            01 December– 1956 : Sean Stanley-Adams
            06 December– 1943 : Duncan Mac
            10 December– **** : Aethelfled
            16 December– **** : Plum
            21 December– 1945 : Elsie Bloodaxe
            (E&OE)

        2. He was in France for many years. A couple of years ago he sold his house and moved to a flat in a nearby town. That was the last I heard.

          1. That must be what I read. That he’d moved in France rather than to France. I don’t think I’ve seen anything since then.

  28. Good Day!

    This morning Free Spoeech has two new articles, one a book review by Paul Sutton in which, with his usual dexterity, he covers 'The Vice of Kings' , relating child abuse to left wing proclivities and the Fabian Society in particular.

    The next is by yours truly, provoked by Iain Hunter's article yesterday in which he voiced the 'unacceptable' opinion that the Israeli government knew in advance of the 7 October attack but did nothing to stop it, as they wanted a war against Hamas. My article is the antidote, giving the facts as I understand them and showing that although there was an intelligence failure, it was down to human error.

    Please read and don't forget to comment – we need your views.

    freespeechbacklash.com

  29. Good morning all,

    Clear skies and a chilly 4℃ risng to 10℃. Wind light and variable. Was planning to go fishing yesterday but rivers were too high. Still too high today.

    Boo hoo. I'm not playing any more and I'm taking my toys home.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/880e06f751ad14a48157da93ab708fa44464c9972ea9f7b3d22faa4327d84a4f.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/10/tory-centrists-threaten-revolt-over-jenrick-badenoch/

    It appears that the split in the Conservative Party may not just be in Westminster. Good.

    1. It is time for the Conservative Party to disband. It does not want to be right of centre and has no sensible raison d'être any more.

      Who wants to destroy the Conservative Party?

      Has Nigel Farage an agent in the CP who has subtly organised this absurdity in order to destroy the Conservative Party beyond any chance of resurrection?

      2. Its left can join the Lib Dumbs. That's what most of them are anyway. The right should amalgamate with Reform.

        1. Spot on. Our "Tory" MP is certainly lefter than many Limp Dumbs. Trouble is, he has one of the safest seats in the country. He'll never get my vote. An "absolute shower"….© Terry-Thomas..

          2. Our ragingly leftie "Tory" MP took the hint and stood down before the last election.

            He was beloved by the BBC for his "leftie" themes and was always given a very easy ride by BBC interviewers.

          4. Our LD MP was at the service tonight. Like all the big wigs she was at the front – a pity because she then didn't have anyone to copy and had to turn round to see what the rest of us habitues was doing.

      3. The Tory party has killed itself. When it moved selection of prospective MPs from the branches to Central Office it started the move to the left.Thats what caused me to leave the party as I knew what was afoot and I have been proved correct. They are refusing to let the party return to the right and that has nothing to do with Farage. He has kept true.

    2. Translation: Wet Tories at Conservative Party HQ much prefer wet Tories in charge rather than these faux right wing conservatives. Anyhow, why would the country want a centre-right party when there isn't a demand. These marxists in govt now will grow out of it soon. There isn't a migrant problem. And we've never heard of CRT or DEI or ESG.
      The country is gasping for Jeremy Hunt.

  31. Eventually:
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    1. I made a lucky guess today
      Wordle 1,210 3/6

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      1. Well done. As for me, talk about wrong guesses. All wrong.
        Wordle 1,210 X/6

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  32. OT My oldest living relative died yesterday. She was in her 91st year. Daughter, wife, mother and grandmother of farmers – she was an amazing person. She could drive a tractor, plough a field, deliver a calf while raising a family and running a B&B. In her later years she became an expert in family history and the history of the South Hams (in Devon). She saw me the day after I was born , looked after me when I was a very sickly child and loved me all my life. Forthright, spoke her mind and was razor sharp mentally until two weeks ago when she went to hospital. She never lived more than 5 miles for where she was born and yet was interested in international affairs. I adored her.

    At funerals, she (and my late brother) always used to say, "Who's next?" Well, folks, it's me. That sobers one up a bit!

      1. When people ask "Where are you from?" it becomes a story, long enough to require a tea break. So, I'm from all over the place. Lived about 12 months close-ish to where I was born (Ilkley Moor).

        1. My dear late great Aunt , who would probably be 120 years old now , was a district midwife in the Guiseley area , she delivered many babies , home births ..

          She might have delivered you?

          1. There’s a thought. I became an independent creature in a nursing home on the moor, so I reckon it’s possible.

        2. Rombalds Moor is an area of moorland in West Yorkshire, England, between the Airedale and Wharfedale valleys. The towns of Ilkley and Keighley lie to its northern and southern edges, respectively. The moor is sometimes referred to as Ilkley Moor, though technically this refers to the section of moor on the northern flank, above the town of Ilkley.
          The name Rombald, however, is more likely to be a corruption of Romille, the moors surrounding Skipton having been given to Robert de Romille by William the Conqueror.

        3. When we were explaining the meaning of omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent to our children Christo, whose room often looked as if a bomb had hit it – said: "Maybe God is all powerful and all knowing – but he's also all over the place like the things in my room!"

    2. From my own generation, two cousins, one sister and two brothers-in-law have predeceased me. I am now the second oldest among the survivors.

      1. At 80, I am the sole survivor of what was a much extended family, traceable back to 530 in Sweden.

        1. My sister, Belinda, is 89 on Christo's birthday – 3rd December.

          My other sister, Mary Faith, died 14 years ago aged 73.

    3. I'm sorry for your loss, Bill. Se sounds like a wonderful, kind and interesting person, a real role model for women and men.

      1. She was. I saw her last in January. We had been told not to tire her. After lunch I said that we’d be off as she probably needed her rest. “Don’t be such an arsehole,” was her instant reply. We stayed two more hours.

    7. Morning Bill,

      Your relative sounds amazing , and your memories are important .

      I suspect she had a profound effect on the direction the your successful life took .

      I have no one left who cuddled me when I was a baby , neither has Richard .

      This wretched village holds the majority of people waiting for God , yep it is my generation and older ..

      What depresses me now is the horror that the new chancellor is going to weigh us down with .

      Moh and I say that we haven't much time left for optimism , nor any other say in the matter .

      No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

      If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of they friends`s or of thine own were.

      Any man`s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

      John Donne (1572 – 1631)

      Sorry to sound droll, if that is the right word .

    1. The government really hates the private sector don't they. Recruitment will become a case of "spot the potential union grifter".

    2. Surely the word “pilgrim” must be “racist” (if the word “Crusader” is?)

  35. Dangers of CO2 Capture & Storage
    (In response to Nickr's post yesterday).

    As a retired scientist I have just watched the short film ‘The Pipeline Deception’ with awe and astonishment. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/llcvrKDJRo0
    Briefly, in pursuit of Carbon Dioxide Capture in America, tens of thousands of miles of underground pipelines are being laid across the country. They are already carrying carbon dioxide pressurised to a huge 2100 pounds per square inch (140 Atmospheres).

    On several occasions, these high-pressure pipelines have exploded (e.g. Satartia, Mississippi in February 2020) releasing large quantities of pure CO2 into the neighbourhood. Being denser than air, carbon dioxide flows downhill like mist and fog do, invisibly settling in low-lying areas and causing severe breathing problems and loss of consciousness for the folk who live there.

    When First Responder vehicles attempt to arrive, as soon as they encounter higher CO2 levels, the vehicles just STOP. And folk trying to escape the invisible CO2 cloud discover that their cars won’t start either.

    Senator Robert Kennedy Junior introduces this as a huge problem and encourages every American to oppose it on public safety and other reasons, among which are the conclusion that the far ends of the compressed CO2 pipelines end at oil drilling sites, where they plan to use the high pressure gas to extract the last drops of oil from the rocks. Big Oil again?

    This 26-minute video is a MUST WATCH for us in the UK, as Milibrain is pressing for £22 Billion funding for Carbon Capture and Storage, an unproven technology. He MUST be made aware of the toxic properties of high levels of pure CO2 at ground level following leakages.

    I am off to mail him the link now that I have his email address. But I won’t be holding my breath.

    1. So many small pipelines, all likely designed and built on the cheap, without proper survey of the soil conditions and need for corrosion protection, I'm not at all surprised they will be damaged, corroded and burst. And – how's the CO2 inside the pipeline – properly dry, or is there water vapour present that will condense, then form H2CO3 – carbonic acid, causing CO2 corrosion and, well, bursts and leaks.
      And CO2 is asphyxiant gas – as posted above. Vehicles won't run due to oxygen being displaced, and people the same.
      Scattering these things all over the countryside is pure stupidity.

          1. Some years ago, a major British sugar manufacturer used to pump CO2 generated from the refining process into huge greenhouses to grow tomatoes. They were one of the UK’s major tomato suppliers. A few years ago they ditched the tomatoes for cannabis plants.

      2. I have just sent this email to Ed Milibrain. Doubt if it will even get a reply, but maybe one of his minions will view the video.
        =======================================

        Dear Mr Miliband,

        Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage

        I wonder if you are aware of the thousands of miles of CO2 pipelines in the United States? Because they are pressurised to 2,100 pounds per square inch, these underground pipelines have already experienced at least 62 incidents where the pipes exploded, releasing large clouds of invisible CO2 into the immediate surroundings.

        But being denser than air, carbon dioxide flows downhill like mist and fog do, invisibly settling in low-lying areas and causing severe breathing problems and loss of consciousness for the folk who live there. When First Responder vehicles attempt to arrive, as soon as they encounter higher CO2 levels, the vehicles just STOP. And folk trying to escape the invisible CO2 cloud discover that their cars won’t start either. Many end up in hospital, having lost consciousness at home.

        Here is the link to a short (26 minute) film about the problem. I urge you to watch it.

        https://youtu.be/llcvrKDJRo0

        The US Oil and Gas industry is planning to install close to 100,000 miles of high pressure CO2 pipelines. These terminate at oil extraction sites, where they will be used to extract the last drops of oil from the rocks.

        America has lots of wide-open spaces, where CO2 explosions cause little human grief. But here in Europe we are packed much more closely, and moreover, the Storage technology here is unproven. Please consider these facts and stop the horrendous waste of 22 Billion pounds for no biological or climatic reason.

        Signed: My Name

    3. Letting CO2 clouds of gas permeate into air at ground level is equivalent to having a pillow pressed into your face or a spud stuffed up your car's exhaust.

      Mind you, you could still drive around in an EV wearing SCUBA gear.

    4. " But I won’t be holding my breath." Well if Millipede gets his way , one day you may have to!!!!

    1. Nip out with a patrol boat and a minigun. Give the dindu invaders a choice. Turn back or be shot.

      When they turn back, shoot them.

  38. That was rather indulgent of me.
    BBC R3 just played the Intermezzo from Sibelius's Karelia Suite so that was the volume turned up to rather loud!

    1. Correctly observed. It never ceases to amaze me that in one of our nearest small towns every year there is some minor flood or other and the new arrivals in their "Persimmon Homes" style new builds go, "this is terrible, it's climate change."

      Instead of being gulled by the fast buck developer who sold them it as "situated in the heart of beautiful rural England affording views of the picturesque ancient town", all they needed to do was read the names of the nearest streets in said ancient town. These include "Water Lane", "The Splash", "Low Road", besides others.

      It doesn't take much to work out how the world works.

      1. Quite. The rivers Ouse and Foss in York have always been prone to break their banks. The square of land where the Roman fortress was built never floods and the medieval wall never completely encompassed the city because there wasn't any need. Much of it was impassable marsh land anyway. What's happened in the modern era is building on the land our forebears knew to avoid.

        1. Lees? Interesting. I associate lees with the detritus in winemaking, being a winemaker myself.

          It is of course a gratuitous moment here to quote Shakespeare for nothing other than the sheer enjoyment of doing so:

          “Had I but died an hour before this chance,
          I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant,
          There’s nothing serious in mortality.
          All is but toys; renown and grace is dead.
          The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees
          Is left this vault to brag of.”

        1. Yes indeed. I know a chap who worked for 40-years as an Environment Agency reed cutter and labourer. He said that around late 90s they started ordering the planting of reeds rather than cutting them to encourage wildlife. The rivers are left un-dredged to encourage the reeds. He doesn’t think they have ever rescinded the policy.

  41. Denmark to fund new limb for shot pirate

    Nigerian who lost leg in fire fight with navy is given residency deal and guidance to find work

    The Daily Telegraph, 11 Oct 2024, By James Rothwell

    A NIGERIAN pirate who lost his leg in a shoot-out with Denmark’s navy will have his new artificial limb funded by the Danish taxpayer as part of a residency deal granted by the government.

    Lucky Frances, who lost a gunfight with the Danish navy in 2021, will receive an education plan, guidance on employment and an “integration contract” to ensure that he becomes a productive member of society. The Right-wing Danish People’s Party [DF] said the decision made a mockery of the country’s migration and security policy.

    Mikkel Bjørn, the DF’S integration spokesman, said: “This is absolutely absurd. That man should never have been in Denmark and to imagine that he can now be meaningfully integrated in Denmark is completely beyond the pale.”

    Frances’ run-in with the navy has gripped Denmark since 2021 when he was severely wounded in a firefight with the Danish frigate Esbern Snare in the Gulf of Guinea. The vessel was taking part in international anti-piracy efforts. Four of his fellow pirates were killed but Frances himself received medical treatment, including the amputation of his bullet-riddled leg. Three other survivors were set free by the Danish navy.

    Frances was brought back to Denmark due to his severe injuries, where he recovered before being found guilty of endangering Danish lives. Nonetheless, he was spared jail and later attempted to claim asylum in Denmark.

    His application sparked a lengthy and complex government process, which culminated in him receiving a residence permit and the integration plan. This includes a language programme so that Frances can become fluent in Danish, as well as assistance in finding a job as an amputee, BT, a local news outlet, reported. He will also receive an allowance for his new leg. Frances must also sign an “integration contract”, which “contains a number of set goals that he must meet in order to be integrated and otherwise continue to receive his self-support and repatriation benefits”, the news outlet reported.

    Frances’ case is so far estimated to have cost the public 4.2 million Danish Kroner (£300,000) in addition to his medical bills, according to DR, another local media outlet.

    The former pirate said last year that he initially wanted to recover in Denmark before returning to Nigeria, but later changed his mind and applied for asylum.

    “Going back to Africa will not be good for me,” he said. “I have thought about my situation. I have also spoken to my family and explained to them about my physical condition. They are okay with me applying for asylum, even if my daughter is not completely satisfied.” Danish Right-wing politicians are even less pleased than Lucky’s daughter with the state’s generosity.

    Steffen Larsen, a spokesman for Denmark’s Liberal Alliance, said: “This shows that [famous Danish comedy writer] Erik Balling’s Denmark is alive and well. It looks like a satirical side story in an Olsen Banden film.

    “After we have shot the man’s leg off in battle, we must then send him on a work trial and teach him Danish. Good luck with that.”
    ‘To imagine that man can now be meaningfully integrated is completely beyond the pale’

    I used to hold Denmark as a beacon of sanity. What happened?

    Any comment, Hertslass?

        1. The Pale in Ireland covered the area safely under English control, so beyond it was the wild west (other compass points available). The Pale of Settlement in western Russia and Poland was an area where Jews were allowed to live.

    4. Every country has its twits. The difference is that Denmark usually manages to keep them fairly low-key, whereas here they comprise most of our parliament.

    5. Well, I for one wish him a long and successful piracy career in Denmark, and anyone who would deny him this opportunity is clearly a bigot.

    2. "Gang specialized in theft of luxury watches in UK. What do you notice?"

      That's easy – They all use the same hairdresser. Giv us anover one.

      2. 394495+ up ticks,

        I believe ALL the turkish barbers
        rolex wearers in any given English town refuse to cut their hair, throats maybe, hair NO.

    4. Ooh, I know this one too. Like the Army question above. It is the Strength that is our Diversity!

      1. I'd lay a bet – and I don't gamble – that they all have multiple (dozens, if not hundreds) previous convictions for theft, assault, drug dealing.

  43. Female British captain’s gender ‘played no part’ in sinking of navy ship. 11 October 2024.

    The sinking of a Royal New Zealand Navy ship in the South Pacific had nothing to do with the fact that the British-born captain is a woman, the country’s defence minister said, criticising “armchair admirals” who are speculating on the causes of the disaster.

    HMNZS Manawanui ran aground on a reef off the Samoan island of Upolu on Saturday in rough seas and strong winds. The next day, it caught fire and sank, becoming the first ship that New Zealand’s navy had lost at sea since the Second World War.

    All 75 passengers and crew were evacuated onto lifeboats and rescued, although some were injured.

    The captain, Yvonne Gray, who is originally from Harrogate, Yorkshire, previously served in the Royal Navy before moving to New Zealand with her wife after they fell in love with the country during a campervan trip.

    How does she (the Defence Minister) know this? I would like to say that a Board of Inquiry would solve the problem but I doubt it. The Armed Forces of the West have declined from being the founders and exemplars of modern military force into a laughing stock.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/10/female-gender-british-captain-sinking-navy-ship-new-zealand/

    2. Much like the Titanic.. everybody focussed on the sinking and failed to acknowledge the 4-5 days of pleasurable cruising.

      New Zealand Press conference aired live on Facebook late last night heaped praise on Commander Yvonne Gray's bravery in a challenging situation.

      Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Garin Golding, said she made the "right decision" to evacuate the 75 people aboard, praising her for saving lives ..
      She called the evacuation "something of a triumph, frankly"..

      MSN: Clearly a strong case for DEI in these challenging times what with the Climate Emergency.. and Donald Trump about to destroy democracy and commit gennercider.

    3. Her gender and her sexuality played no role in her being in charge of a ship that ran aground, caught fire and sank.

      Well, if you say so. I doubt any enemies will be quaking in their boots when a ship captained by Yvonne Gray comes over the horizon though.

    4. Her gender and her sexuality played no role in her being in charge of a ship that ran aground, caught fire and sank.

      Well, if you say so. I doubt any enemies will be quaking in their boots when a ship captained by Yvonne Gray comes over the horizon though.

    5. “I am New Zealand’s first female defence minister. The army has its first female chief of army, Major General Rose King, Manawanui’s captain, Commander Yvonne Gray is female. We are all appointed on merit, not gender.“

      Course you were, dears.

      1. It's a pity that the other lady captain bumped her ship into a part of New Zealand about five months ago.

        Weakens the Defence Minister's case.

    6. “I am New Zealand’s first female defence minister. The army has its first female chief of army, Major General Rose King, Manawanui’s captain, Commander Yvonne Gray is female. We are all appointed on merit, not gender.“

      Course you were, dears.

    7. What did surprise me was that according to an RNZN bulletin [dated Dec 2022] "Her campervan passion is still going strong, but the call of the sea is always there too. Commander Gray returned to the RNZN earlier this year after heading off in late 2019 on a 57,000-kilometre road trip around Australia with Sharon and their dog Dennis." I'm amazed that the RNZN allowed her the time off for a road trip of over a year, especially as it seems to have been at least in part during lockdown??

      1. If you knew how dangerous and useless she was wouldn't you encourage your employee to spend as much time away unpaid as possible?

    8. What did surprise me was that according to an RNZN bulletin [dated Dec 2022] "Her campervan passion is still going strong, but the call of the sea is always there too. Commander Gray returned to the RNZN earlier this year after heading off in late 2019 on a 57,000-kilometre road trip around Australia with Sharon and their dog Dennis." I'm amazed that the RNZN allowed her the time off for a road trip of over a year, especially as it seems to have been at least in part during lockdown??

    12. The question I have is, What efforts were made at Damage Control to prevent the ship from sinking?
      The way I read the reports I've seen, it sounds as if she may have panicked.

      1. The newspaper report stated that once she ran aground she called for abandon ship, later on it caught fire and sank.

        As you say, pity that she didn't try some Damage Control

        [perhaps her sailors didn't want to chip their nails?]

  44. Good Moaning.
    Had a wonderful day at the Knitting and Stitching Show at the Ally Pally.
    First day and it was absolutely heaving. I suspect the weekend will be mayhem.
    Apart from what Sunny Boy correctly described as women and gay men there was a sprinkling of thoroughly bored and disgruntled husbands.
    Both the large halls were stuffed with interesting stalls; it is always the smaller stalls that have the more interesting people and items.
    p.s. Take your own sarnies; the catering is, to put it mildly, absolutely crap.
    Oh, and DO use the shuttle bus; it is long and weary walk from the station to the palace. I kept telling myself that I needed the exercise because I wouldn't be walking Spartie.

    3. Once the government decides that we now have imported sufficient numbers of this foreign militia to mount an insurrection, will they then start to send over boatloads of camels for their cavalry/comfort?

  47. No sniggering please. You is fuel in stereo types & stuff.

    Cocaine ring of British Army soldiers jailed after selling nearly £100k of drugs to fellow personnel..
     https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8550706d9a28adeec2d74f71642e1fe37290c0936ac664b3ea690a4bfe99d738.png
    Rfn Saedi also ran a 'double bubble' payday loan scheme to colleagues which the court heard contributed to the suicide of a young soldier, 20-year-old Rifleman Nathan Worner.

    Army's first black colonel encourages youth to seek out the heritage in the Army.

    2. I thought squaddies had to be clean-shaven. The face fur will affect the seal of their gas masks.

      1. Not any more; a full set is no longer just for the RN. It just doesn't seem right to me to see RAF officers and ORs sporting a beard.

    1. Ah! Rejoice in the Strength that is our Diversity.

      RIP Rifleman Nathan Worner – the same age as my son.

      Scum. And the people that enabled it.

    2. Ah! Rejoice in the Strength that is our Diversity.

      RIP Rifleman Nathan Worner – the same age as my son.

      Scum. And the people that enabled it.

  49. There are plenty more in hotels in line for recruitment.
    When politicians make mistakes…….

  50. Kansas professor raged against men who don’t back Kamala Harris: ‘Line all those guys up and shoot them’..
    His name is Phillip Lowcock.

    Don’t snigger Babcock it's not that funny..

    2. All jokes aside, if he’d said that in the UK about illegals immigrants he would be in choked by now for incitement.

      1. Indeed. And for those already in jail the spiteful Starmer has some juicy political comeuppance ready for them in the showers.

        Jailed rioters are being targeted by existing inmates

        1. If that’s true, I’m saddened. I would have thought they would have been cut some slack.

          I do hope they tell their stories when they get out.

    1. Good grief, that’s incredible. Where is Amnesty International? Human Rights lawyers? Habeas Corpus? The ECHR?

      1. They're all arms of big state.

        The ECHR isn't going to care – controlling the public is part of their role. HR lawyers won't touch him because the the state won't fund it. Habeas corupus doesn't – I think – apply in German law and even then, the intent is punishment, not justice or law.

  53. Why Queen Camilla wouldn’t be seen dead using a fish knife
    Princess Margaret’s former lady-in-waiting Lady Anne Glenconner tells the Cheltenham Literature Festival how the Queen reacted to being offered the utensil.

    “Phone for the fish knives Norman/ As cook is a little unnerved,” Sir John Betjeman wrote in his 1958 satirical poem How to Get On in Society.

    Just like wielding a fork for one’s pastries or using a “serviette”, the poet laureate mocked the utensil as a telling sign one had not entirely mastered the etiquette needed to “get on”.

    And while the poem may have been written more than 50 years ago, it seems that fish knives are still being maligned — with the Queen apparently among those who would not be seen dead using one.

    Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, sponsored by The Times and The Sunday Times, Princess Margaret’s former lady-in-waiting Lady Anne Glenconner revealed Camilla’s reaction to being offered the utensil while out for lunch with her sister, Annabel Elliot.

    After the restaurant had placed both a fish knife and an ordinary knife on the table, Glenconner, 92, recalled: “The waitress came and asked, ‘Which knife would you want?’ and the three of us said, ‘Phone for the fish knives, Norman’. And the Queen, she knew all the words, everyone in the restaurant was just amazed.”

    Indeed, the utensil’s reputation is such that Buckingham Palace does not have a single example in its vast cutlery collection, according to the etiquette expert William Hanson, who joined Glenconner at the discussion.

    • Is etiquette expert William Hanson the politest man in Britain?

    Explaining why the utensil was missing from the Palace’s cutlery collection, Hanson said: “There are two things: one is the class thing and fish knives are seen as down-market. But Buckingham Palace’s cutlery goes back to Georgian times and fish knives had not been invented then so they don’t have them by default.

    “When fish knives came in at the end of the Victorian period they were seen as a little bit middle class, which was the class that boomed during the Industrial Revolution [and they] invented cutlery for everything.”

    In his book on etiquette and manners, Just Good Manners, he writes that a fish knife was a “social marker that the host was a touch common” and that the Queen Mother would instead eat fish with two regular forks.

    Glenconner, who was speaking about her new book The Picnic Papers, also revealed that Princess Margaret had unsurprisingly forthright views on etiquette. The late princess considered using French replacements for English words “snobby”, preferring loo instead of toilet or napkin over serviette.

    But Margaret did allow herself to break protocol on at least one occasion, when she asked Glenconner to curtsy to Wallis Simpson, to please the late Duke of Windsor, despite the fact Simpson did not have an HRH title.

    “In the car going [to meet them], I said to her …‘Ma’am should I curtsy?’ And Princess Margaret looked at me and said, ‘Why not, it will please Uncle David so much,’ so I did curtsy,” Glenconner said. “I think that was polite, that was good manners, although strictly speaking one shouldn’t curtsy to her, but I did.”

    • There’s a global shortage of butlers, can I make the cut?

    Hanson, who has millions of followers on social media where he explains etiquette rules, agreed that in some cases it was more polite to break etiquette and that what is considered good manners will change as society develops.

    Other etiquette rules
    Gravy should not be poured from the gravy boat but from a ladle.

    Table cloth for lunch but not dinner.

    It is rude to ask someone to pass a dish at the table as it implies the host is not doing their job.

    One should not ask someone’s occupation during smalltalk. Other taboo topics include sex, religion, politics, health and money. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/arts/article/why-queen-camilla-wouldnt-be-seen-dead-using-a-fish-knife-km0f8xz2t

    Gawd help us all .. I have a set of fish knives and forks and a pair of fish servers .. and corn on the cob holders, avocado shaped dishes , boiled egg de toppers , a swizzle stick that belonged to my mother , and other numerous gadgets and cutlery pieces that I no longer use .

    Yep, we use lap trays , and why not ?

      1. I was trying to get away from politics and stuff , I flicked through the article and wondered what the Grunties talk about , and do they sneer at the rest of the population .

      2. It was serviette in our house. Napkin would have been considered pretentious. And yes, we had fish knives.

    3. Isn't "wouldn't be seen dead" a silly expression. Dead people don't use cutlery of any kind. Or anything else for that matter.

      1. I've often wondered if the mother in law is actually dead, but hasn't sober enough to realise.

    4. Strewth, what a load of pretentious fuss.
      You want to have / use a fish knife, why should I care (except we don't have any).
      We have a chipped glass measuring jug for the gravy.

      1. Ours is plastic! It's a measuring jug. You stop being house proud when you have three large bears trying to climb on to the table.

        Although, Lucy sits in a seat. Mongo's the only one who goes straight for the table. You need stuff you can easily replace.

    5. Fish knives just aren't useful enough to merit the extra space. Mocking them in a restaurant is a bit…unnecessary though.

    6. “One should not ask someone’s occupation during smalltalk. Other taboo topics include sex, religion, politics, health and money”

      So that leaves immigration and the weather.

    7. My mother had a set of fish knives (part of a canteen bought as a wedding present). She never used them. I tried on a couple of times to use one but gave up, exasperated. My personal view is that they were designed by a retard. A standard dinner knife does the job much more efficiently.

    8. Nouveau Riche

      When I went to live in Hampshire, I couldn't understand
      The jeers and sideways glances when people shook my hand
      For I am a self-made nouveau-riche – the salt of all the earth
      And I don't know why my presence makes them squirm or shake with mirth,
      For I'm trying, yes I'm trying to be
      Socially
      Acceptable and U
      But somehow things don't turn out right and I don't know what to do

      My lounge is large and spacious and my toilet's shocking pink
      My cruets bear my monogram and my wife has got a mink
      I wear a mohair blue tuxedo when I go to the county ball
      But I overhear them muttering – 'He's not our type at all!'
      For it seems, yes it seems to me
      That society
      Is not at all impressed
      By the snappy way I'm dressed
      And my vocabulary
      It's very clear to see
      Is not used, I much regret,
      By the people from the pages of Debrett.

      I've got a great big gothic house with turrets here and there
      And had the grounds all landscaped with gnomes leaping everywhere
      I've a lovely crazy-paved patio and an ornamental lake
      Where my wife and I take mid-morning tea with a slice of Madeira cake
      Oh I wish I could succeed and be a social winner
      And I wish my friends arrived at one when I asked them out to dinner
      Oh I know I've got the brass
      But I haven't got the class
      And the whole situation Is getting up …. I mean's become a farce.

    9. We have a set of fish knives and forks that I bought from a charity shop for a fiver.
      They are real 1950s jobs; box and contents in mint condition. I assume they were an unwanted wedding present and were tucked away until the recipients died or down sized.
      I use them as a joke when doing a fish starter.

    10. Two things; Camilla is the Queen Consort and The Queen Mother regularly got fish bones stuck in her throat. PS I have a set of fish knives among my cutlery, but I rarely if ever use them. Must bring them out!

        1. Has this chap never seen a chicken's backside..they're not the cleanest of birds. There were stories of Russian soldiers and sheep during WW2. Again, had they never seen the backsides…

      1. Given his performance as DPP over Rochdale grooming, Savile and other BBC favourites, the PM will chicken out.

  55. Good morning, all. Sunny but chilly day here.

    For anyone still harbouring doubts about all the attacks on those "safe and effective" potions released, and in some instances forced, on much of the World's population by their own governments, Naomi Wolf exposes just what the potions are for and the clear link to the USA's FDA. Naomi uses Pfizer's own data and shocks Del Bigtree with some of the contents.

    Here in the UK we have our own oversight organisation, the MHRA, how much does that organisation know, or not know? The continuing pressure, I've received three notifications in the last two weeks to book my CV-19 booster and flu jab – a text and a letter from the NHS and a text from my GP surgery, all immediately binned – continues.

    If the MHRA is still ignorant of what is in the Pfizer documents that organisation needs to be asked, why?

    From an hour in.

    The Highwire – Naomi Wolf Exposes Pfizer Information

  56. Hydrogen-powered buses have been introduced on my favourite route. Very nice too, but I note that they are co-sponsored by the EU. Didn’t we leave? Or was it all a dream?

    1. Co-sponsored…. paid for in taxes.

      I think a battery powered bus is a good idea – ish, ignoring the fire risks and so on. However when the battery is flat after a single route, what will it do when it needs two hours to recharge?

      1. I have a Renault Zoe, can go through more than a couple inches of water…seem to remember battery powered buses failing for similar reasons? They add quite a bit of weight to a vehicle, and mine takes several hours to fully charge so a bus might take even longer? There used to be three different speeds of charger – Fast (basically Teslas) Medium-ish (mine and most others) Slow (for the ones who don't mind waiting)….

        1. I really liked the Zoe when I drove it. It was a simple, straightforward little motor.

          We're scuppered by not being able to put a car charger on the front of the building by Warqueen dictat.

          1. I rejected battery cars as the range is no good for me. Ok for a local runaround. They wont be around in max 10 years.

    2. The Hindenburg and the R101 were both hydrogen-powered.

      Hydrogen vs Stupidity.

      “Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.”

      Frank Zappa.

      1. Good one, Grizzly. I have a friend in the hydrogen business, tells me the best and brightest minds are working on safety. I'm quite interested in RR's SNR as an alternative, but that's never had much attention so I guess way down the list.

          3. Rolls Royce (RR) small nuclear reactor (SNR)…they’ve been working on it for some time, first read it mooted many years ago I think in NatGeo, apparently it’s time is coming…we’ll see :-)) far as I remember one could power a certain area, suggesting several placed around the country. I’m not fully convinced re hydrogen but my friend is and so are his colleagues, so that could be a future option too.

      2. Emm, err, whilst the LIFT was provided by hydrogen, they were actually diesel powered!

      3. Being pedantic Grizz, the lift was provided by the fact that they were filled with hydrogen which is lighter than air – they were 'powered' by diesel engines turning propellers 😇

    3. Hydrogen is expensive to produce – needs lots of electricity(!) – and is dangerously difficult to contain.

  57. ‘I could catch 20 or 30 in a day’: The cycling ‘vigilante’ policing Britain’s drivers
    GoPro-wearing bike riders are leading a revolution against reckless motorists – and it’s leading to a spike in convictions
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/11/cyclingmikey-vigilantes-get-drivers-banned-youtube/

    When I was at school sneaks were despised – and rightly so.

    When they are still sneaks when they leave school it suggests they are just as nasty and vindictive as they always were!

    1. The self-righteous little shits. Their efforts would be better directed at the nasty bastards who hurtle along footpaths at 20mph or more, especially on electric bikes.

      2. Again, I have to pull you I up on this, e-bikes are limited to 15 mph and need to be pedalled. Illegally converted bikes are what you are thinking of.

          1. On that I agree. I see at least half a dozen a day, on my commute into work on my (legal) bike. Dangerous doesn’t begin to describe it.

    2. Cyclists should be registered. They needn't be charged more than an admin cost but bikes should have a registration number clearly displayed. With the hire bikes there must be a payment record, so that the rider can still be traced? There are cycle lanes on Wood Lane W12 which are used by push bikes, motor bikes and e-scooters. I saw a woman on a push bike in the cycle lane on the wrong side of the road. If she was hit by a motor bike or e-scooter coming the other way it would be her own stupid fault.

      1. I'm not registered.

        However, I only cycle out in the sticks where there is neither traffic nor pedestrians. You couldn't pay me enough to have me cycle in a town or city.

        1. I see you're wearing your viz, Grizz…will look out for you 😀 Can't recall the last time I was in a town centre, must be several years..

          1. I've still got that coat, Katy. It was part of my uniform in my last job. It's very handy to wear on a walk out in the wilderness on the dark lanes of winter.

            You need to wear yellow, here, since Swedish drivers haven't a clue which side of the road they're driving on.

          2. Of course, I keep forgetting that similarly to the past, you're in another country…mind, country roads here too…and groups of walkers…

        2. Was an avid cyclist, it was my preferred means of transport. Coming back to England put an end to that. Anyone trying to cycle here has to be certifiably insane. It has to be one of the most hostile environments for bikes on the planet.

    3. Are these the ones who cycle up behind you and ring their bell rather than actually speaking and asking to pass?

      Ah, I love those ones. I have a habit of wildly gesticulating when they try to push past.

      1. I've said this before, but I doubt anyone was listening.

        I have long held that a dismounted cyclist is a pedestrian, and a cyclist with both feet off the ground is a vehicle. The rules of the road apply in either case. I have no problem with a dismounted cyclist pushing it through a red light, and when on a footpath, a cyclist should dismount when passing pedestrians. The bell is sounded when cycleways are shared with pedestrians, such as a canal towpath.

        1. Good question. I heard that years ago cyclists were regarded as road users, thus they were guilty of riding on the pavement while pushing the bike on it. Correctly speaking, a legal chappie said they should push the bike on the road and while doing so walking on the pavement next to the curb.

      2. If only the buggers had bells and used them properly instead of simply hurtling up from behind without a sound.

        Properly means far enough away to hear and avoid them, not so near that you jump out of your skin.

      3. If they try that with a horse and rider they are likely to end up with a half a ton of horse sitting on their handlebars. It tends to concentrate the mind.

    4. Goodness me, has he nothing better to do? And, Ts, cyclists are the worst of all for ignoring traffic lights.

    5. On the geriatric wards, we always reckoned that the patients who bit, scratched, pulled hair, slapped us etc…. had been spiteful little girls and had merely reverted to type as dementia stripped away the veneer of civilisation.

  58. I could take photos of as many cyclists breaking the law and cycling dangerously- through red lights and pedestrian crossings – but because there’s no way to identify them, they get away with it.

    I don’t like dangerous driving – but I like vigilantism less.

    1. Exactly, many people have called for visible id as with motor vehicles but seems to be no idea of how to do it/enforce it. I'd set up groups of pensioners to be monitors, as a start.

    2. Your first sentence brings to mind the old but still relevant joke:

      Q. What’s the difference between a red traffic light and a green traffic light?”
      A. None at all if you’re a cyclist.

  59. 394495+ up ticks,

    Always been the feelings of many voters but for the last three plus decades kicked into touch by the majority voters.

    All these decades totally ignoring the evil. nasty dangerous . actions taken by the lab/lib/con pro eu/wef/nwo political assets
    coalition.

    The name of the party was ALWAYS put before the parties odious actions were considered.
    https://x.com/FlowersEnglish/status/1844684142547452133

  60. PHEW! That's about 4h done up the hill and the last of the larger logs, about 10" dia, cut for chopping and a lot of 6" & smaller brought down.
    It's absolutely beautiful up there today, clear skies and bright sunshine.
    Now waiting for the Dearly Tolerant to bring me the mug of tea she said she began making!

  61. Now this is an interesting story, one where I can see both sides of the argument.
    I came across something similar only last Christmas. On Boxing Day friends and family came for lunch and as is the tradition we planned to have a pint or two down the local beforehand.
    A few days before Christmas we were in the pub and I asked if they were open Boxing Day lunchtime as the family were planning to visit. I did mention one of which is 17. I was told we were not welcome if we brought the granddaughter who is the 17 year old. I replied we will not come down then.
    The 16 of us went to another pub, a bit farther away but nicer in many ways, one where we were all welcome, I even made a point of checking the granddaughter was allowed in.
    I suppose the loss of our cash on Boxing Day made no difference to the first pub, nevertheless they have not seen anymore of me, I prefer to drink where I am more welcome.
    Young kids running riot I could understand but anyone under 18 is not allowed in the pub garden let alone inside.

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1960466/landlords-ban-kids-pub-backlash

    1. Your brother/cousin/friend who calls himself veryoldfella has his birthday on 15th September.

      Would you like to be added to the Nottlers' Birthday List?

      1. There is no 'veryoldfella', Rastus.

        There is one veryveryoldfellaand one veryoldman.

        Also 'corrimobile' is spelt corimmobile.

          6. ‘Guantanamera’ Stig! It means the girl from Guantanamo! The Cubans are very proud of it!

          10. I take it Richard that the confusion has now been sorted out.
            I have been called many things in my time, most of which is not suitable for publication on this forum.
            I will however now tell you the story of when during my career of gainful employment, I attended a full days training course run by one of my colleagues. At the end of the day the normal statement was made "any questions". I felt obliged to pipe up, "yes why have you been calling me Dave all day, when my name is John?"
            With this in mind I leave it to you how you wish to address me.

          11. I would like to add veryveryoldfella to my Nottlers'Birthday list birthday list. Give me the date and I shall add it!

          12. There's an old story of a northern mayor asking QE2 how he should address her and legend has it that she replied, "Well you've been calling me Luv all day, why change now"?

          13. Not been called Luv before but who knows in this trans age, there could be a first time

          14. It's long been a common form of address for members of both sexes in Sheffield, usually as 'owd luv' but often on its own.

            'Flower' is another common word for the samr thing in Sheffield.

          16. ‘Duck’ is the favoured term of endearment in the East Midlands, especially Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

      2. Richard, veryoldfella is not me. I have only been known as veryveryoldfella. Perhaps Geoff could confirm this although having the same birthday as myself on your records indicate a mix up somewhere.

    2. I understood 14 was the age at which children could be allowed in – not to drink alcohol, obviously, but I used to call at a pub on the way to my grandmother's and have a Vimto and a packet of crisps. I'd be about 14 then and unaccompanied.

      1. Yes I think you are correct. I was a little surprised by the landlady's intransigence and the manner it was delivered but never mind, we had a good time elsewhere.

  65. For those who remember Angela Davis, the great black Marxist agitator. This is the most delicious video especially when it gets to discussing her grandfather, at that point it is hilarious. The universe plays a cruel, cruel trick on her and well deserved it is.

    The Whitest Black Woman
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTxebhxWUxo&t=14s

    1. University of Frankfurt.. nuff said.
      Complete waste of life..
      Complete waste of space..
      USA conquered by these people..

    1. "she would also be reunited with her many dogs" Presumably she will also be reunited with a flock of 96 Thanksgiving turkeys.

    2. I remember being carried across the Rainbow Bridge (the one at Niagara Falls) in a 'human crutch'. I had already crossed from the USA side into Canada and spent just three hours in a tiny corner of that vast and wonderful country. Unfortunately I was struck down by an intensely painful bout of sciatica and lower back pain, so bad that I could not walk unassisted. The border guards gave me a wry look as I re-entered the USA.

      1. Niagara is as far into Canada as I've been too. I was fifteen and I think we did stay overnight on the Canadian side. I remember how it seemed to take forever to walk past the Horseshoe Falls and wanting to pee. We didn't go under or over. I remember a nice view of Lake Ontario from a bridge but I don't know which one.

        1. Lord Emsworth's son, Freddy Threepwood, married Niagara Donaldson, the daughter of the man who made his fortune out of manufacturing Donaldson's Dog Joy the food which kept the Amercan dog fit and spry.

          Aggie was named Niagara because her parents had spent their honeymoon there.

          Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten starred in the thriller film Niagara.

  67. "The Crown Prosecution Service was approached by Scotland Yard on five occasions between 2005 and 2023, the force said, but no further action was taken against Fayed.
    The force said that while it would not be possible to bring criminal proceedings against Fayed –who died last year aged 94 – it would “continue to explore whether any other individuals could be pursued for any criminal offences”.
    It comes after the Telegraph revealed that an enabler for Fayed sought out young women in pubs and clubs for the Harrods billionaire to prey on."

    The ever-so-dry wit of the Metropolitan Police!
    One extra difficulty is that the “pretty young girls” allegedly recruited in public houses were of course over the age of eighteen and were therefore adults, and old enough to vote.

  70. This dangerous parasite is just one of the thousands who will land on be escorted onto our south coast will almost guaranteed permission to stay at our expense and at very serious risk to this country. national security? Not only do the government and snivel serpents not care, they are actively encouraging this takeover/invasion.
    https://x.com/ActivePatriotUK/status/1844389978245050824

  71. Ed Miliband’s new ‘pylon hotspots’. 11 October 2024.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0d2c6350a37dfd3594e79c95fa273888fd10f5b89ffb7f0fa88228434756c84c.png

    “I’m sympathetic to people’s concerns and anxieties, and I do understand that,” Mr Miliband told The Times on Monday. “But I make two points. Are we going to leave people in fuel poverty? That’s the choice we face – we are in a very unstable geopolitical world, and we are very exposed as a country unless we have clean energy.

    “Point two, the biggest threat to the countryside is the climate crisis. The question for Britain is: are we actually going to tackle this?”

    Thank Goodness I saw the Highlands in all their stunning beauty before this visual vandalism was inflicted on it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/net-zero/ed-milibands-new-pylon-hotspots/

    1. " Are we going to leave people in fuel poverty? That’s the choice we face …. " Then why did he shut down the last coal-powered generating plant before fully functioning and reliable alternatives were up and running?
      Instead, regardless of all valid objections and practicalities, this demented moron blunders on destroying everything he can. He is either incredibly thick (ok, yes, there isn't much doubt there) and/or he wants to deliberately impoverish this country and take back living standards hundreds of years.

    3. The Great Grid (in red) indicates the enormity of his plans for solar farm development i.e. redundant agriculture and associated communities.

    4. Yes, we need energy. Coal, gas and nuclear. All of these are clean. They create jobs, wealth and growth.

      There is no 'climate crisis'. There's a tax scam and science.

      Tell me, Milioaf. When your gormless policies have forced us back to the Dark Ages will the climate suddenly stop changing? What will happen when we all start dying at 36 thanks to your socialist madness?

      1. Just reading John Evelyn's diary entries for 1683-4 when they held ice fairs on the Thames. He lost a lot of his plants (he was a keen horticulturalist and his Silva about trees ran to several editions) and his tortoise, who'd managed to survive other severe winters. Plus cela change …

      3. Toads.

        Why should I let the toad work
         
        Squat on my life?
        
Can't I use my wit as a pitchfork
         
        And drive the brute off?

        Six days of the week it soils
         
        With its sickening poison -

        Just for paying a few bills!
         
        That's out of proportion.

        Lots of folk live on their wits:
         
        Lecturers, lispers,
        Losels, loblolly-men, louts -
         
        They don't end as paupers.

        Lots of folk live up lanes
         
        With fires in a bucket,

        Eat windfalls and tinned sardines -
         
        They seem to like it.

        Their nippers have got bare feet,
         
        Their unspeakable wives

        Are skinny as whippets-and yet
         
        No one actually starves.

        Ah, were I courageous enough
         
        To shout Stuff your pension!

        But I know, all too well, that's the stuff
         
        That dreams are made on.

        For something sufficiently toad-like
         
        Squats in me, too;
        
Its hunkers are heavy as hard luck,
         
        And cold as snow,

        And will never allow me to blarney
         
        My way to getting

        The fame and the girl and the money
         
        All at one sitting.

        I don't say, one bodies the other
         
        One's spiritual truth;
        
But I do say it's hard to lose either,
         
        When you have both.

        Toads: Revisited.

        Walking around in the park
        Should feel better than work:
        The lake, the sunshine,
        The grass to lie on,

        Blurred playground noises
        Beyond black-stockinged nurses –
        Not a bad place to be.
        Yet it doesn't suit me.

        Being one of the men
        You meet of an afternoon:
        Palsied old step-takers,
        Hare-eyed clerks with the jitters,

        Waxed-fleshed out-patients
        Still vague from accidents,
        And characters in long coats
        Deep in the litter-baskets –

        All dodging the toad work
        By being stupid or weak.
        Think of being them!
        Hearing the hours chime,

        Watching the bread delivered,
        The sun by clouds covered,
        The children going home;
        Think of being them,

        Turning over their failures
        By some bed of lobelias,
        Nowhere to go but indoors,
        Nor friends but empty chairs –

        No, give me my in-tray,
        My loaf-haired secretary,
        My shall-I-keep-the-call-in-Sir:
        What else can I answer,

        When the lights come on at four
        At the end of another year?
        Give me your arm, old toad;
        Help me down Cemetery Road.

        Philip Larkin.

      1. A better question is why could they refuse it. Why is a government department, owned, employed and paid for entirely by the public allowed to refuse this information? It's our money for goodness sake!

        2. If it is, the Covid Conservatives must run it close.

          Given all the lies surrounding the pandemic, the injections, the death statistics, the overwhelming (not) of the NHS etc etbloodycet, I would put that crew as even worse.

    1. Thanks Grizzly. I do love a bit of Liddle. Just occurred to me that some pensioners might ask their offspring to help with heating costs, if so – young relatives who are Labour supporters may have to carry the cost after all, to one degree or another.

        1. OK, possibly others will help in that case – charities, churches, relatives, neighbours? Would need a hard heart to refuse if someone was genuinely in need.

    2. There are a few references to Liddle as long-standing Conservative supporter, which is completely wrong. He was a member of the Labour Party until a few years ago and now is part of the fringe Social Democrat Party.

  75. Afternoon, all. Will only be dipping in briefly as I'm off to a Festal Eucharist to celebrate a 175 year anniversary later. Will see what the Bishop of Lichfield , who;s celebrating, has to say (probably nothing) about the latest scandal caused by "enrichment" as regaled here yesterday.

    None of the contenders is remotely what I would call "Tory" let alone "conservative", so the answer is almost certainly "no".

    1. Good evening, Conwy. I missed "the latest scandal caused by "enrichment" as regaled here yesterday." Can you give me a pointer?

      1. The newly appointed (but not yet ordained) Bishop of Wolverhampton, who appears to have been chosen to increase the diversity level of Lichfield diocese (his main claim to fame was doing things for Africans in London and supporting BLM) has been reprimanded by the ABC for ordaining another black "Bishop" in a non-affiliated church in Germany, contrary to the polity of the CofE and without the proper authorisation (which clearly would not have been forthcoming). He's issued an apology, claimed he didn't represent the CofE and only did it to support a friend. Ain't diversity wunnerful – we have an elder of the church who has no idea of what's not allowed in the church he's supposed to guide. I'll see if I can find the Church Times article and post the link. Bear with me.

        1. Thank you – how very appropriate that the diverse one started his UK ministry in Slough…

          3. First off, Conway – I speak from a position of complete ignorance where the CofE is concerned – but I'd have thought if someone spoke like a bishop, dressed like a bishop, conducted what seems like a ceremony a bishop would carry out, a congregation would believe that…might just be a bishop?

          4. Especially if he signed the ordination certificate as the ordaining bishop (see photo at the bottom of the article).

        2. Thoughts on Bishop Tim:
          Agreeable name? Tick
          Married with children? Tick
          Protege of Richard Chartres? Tick
          Served in the Royal Navy? Tick

  76. A squally Par Four!

    Wordle 1,210 4/6
    ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Six here.

      Wordle 1,210 6/6

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

    2. Yes, same here…. there seemed to be a lot of potential (although a little obscure) answers….

      Wordle 1,210 4/6

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

    3. Ditto. Should have paid closer attention as a Birdie goes begging.

      Wordle 1,210 4/6

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

    4. And then there was my poor effort

      Wordle 1,210 5/6

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

    5. 3 here, just back from early doors at the pub. I sensibly Wordled before pubbing.

      Wordle 1,210 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  78. https://order-order.com/2024/10/11/rayner-and-haigh-wreck-1-billion-of-investment-ahead-of-international-summit/

    Utter. Clucking. Morons.

    These people are fools. Absolute, complete fools. There's a reason wages are low on cruise ships. It's called supply and demand. These stupid, stupid Left wing oafs are petulant toddlers, not serious people with an awareness of how the world works. They are stupid, braindead idiots.

    Oh, they've a low cunning, a spiteful, profiteering sense of entitlement and arrogant, corrupt egotism but they are playground teenage Marxists, not adult politicians suited to leading the country. A classroom debate maybe, but nothing else.

    Damnation, we lost work because of those fools! They simply cannot be permitted to continue. Parliament must be dissolved and an election held and Labour forbidden from running.

    1. Stupid oafs don't realise that they are playing in an adult league now. Reform has to be done carefully, thoughtfully – not by shooting their mouths off.
      That's what we get for having a Cabinet, none of which has ever run a business – have any of them even worked in the private sector?
      Meanwhile, the Arabs will be off to the BRICS summit soon where they will talk gold-backed currencies with the grown ups.

      1. Just think – Cur Ikea could have paid P&O to import the illegals – saving all the money for Border Farce "patrols" and the RNLI bollocks in the Channel.

  79. Blow to No 10's investment summit as port giant pulls £1bn announcement over P&O row

    News Home Friday, 11 October 2024 15:16 Coast Local Radio

    By Paul Kelso, business correspondent

    The government's Investment Summit has suffered a major blow after ports and logistics giant DP World pulled a scheduled announcement of a £1bn investment in its London Gateway container port, following criticism by members of Sir Keir Starmer's cabinet.

    Sky News understands the Dubai-based company's investment was due to be a centrepiece of Monday's event, which is intended to showcase Britain's appeal to investors and will be attended by the prime minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

    DP World's investment in the port is now under review however, following criticism by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner of its subsidiary P&O Ferries.

    1. Britain doesn't appeal to me as a place to invest money and I live here! They really haven't got a clue.

      1. The damage is immeasurable.
        Even if we ever get a sane government, there will always be the risk that vindictive twonks like this lot could be voted in again.

        1. It’s utterly depressing. I heard a guy on Talk this am who has run a small business for 38 years and because of the loony new employment laws he has decided to close, and make his staff redundant. SMEs are the life blood of this country and this bunch of immature cretins with no discernible experience of life or work are going to destroy this country.

      1. Ah yes, just the person we want representing us on the international stage….said nobody, ever.

  81. That's me for today. A very cold day leavened by the sun shining most of the time. A chilly night ahead and a cold day tomorrow (and Sunday). Then it starts to get warm again – God Bless You Global Boiling!!

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

  82. Sooooo the current status with the paper's legal team is.. if someone can prove that Keir Starmer used Lord Alli's flat because he was kicked out of the marital home and not for GSCE revision.. then the mystery Labour MP/Peer & fifteen yr old son can be revealed & he's gone for lying.

  83. Ad blockers – help!

    I've been using UBlock but it's just been switched off. AdBlock is advertised as free but it's not. Any suggestions?

      1. Installation kept taking me to the pay page.

        Finally managed to install it after cookie blitz. No ads on here but C4 objects to it.

      1. See below (or above!).

        Also, it's not that Ublock has been switched off as much as Chrome has dropped its support. It might return with a newer version of the blocker.

  84. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f1c079fdb0eebbeee86532029f793f26bd8d353cee8724ed7fd715586d69e4fe.png Just been looking at some old monochrome snapshots of my home town, Chesterfield.

    This long-gone location, Horn's Bridge, marked the only place in the UK where three separate railway lines crossed each other on different levels.

    The top level was the long-defunct Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway main line, which had a station in the town's market place.
    The middle level is the still-operating London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS or 'Midland'), the station is at the bottom of Corporation Street.
    The bottom level is the old Great Central Railway branch line on the 'Chesterfield loop', the station being on Infirmary Road.

    This takes me back, so it does, even if I can't remember the top level line.

    1. I remember travelling by train through Chesterfield to Sheffield in the 1960s, and I remember just alongside the Midland line was an isolated brick pillar or buttress of an arched bridge that had been left standing. Do you happen to remember that? I suppose from the picture and info posted it must have been the remains of the top-level LDECR viaduct/bridges after the line had been closed.

    2. The Somerset and Dorset from Green Park Station in Bath to Bournemouth is now a linear park used mostly by cyclists. The same is true of the branch going north with its tunnels. The Pines Express is but a fading memory.

      In Sudbury we still have the modern Lovejoy Line to Marks Tey but the old track bed from Sudbury to Cambridge is now the Valley Walk.

    3. The Somerset and Dorset from Green Park Station in Bath to Bournemouth is now a linear park used mostly by cyclists. The same is true of the branch going north with its tunnels. The Pines Express is but a fading memory.

      In Sudbury we still have the modern Lovejoy Line to Marks Tey but the old track bed from Sudbury to Cambridge is now the Valley Walk.

  87. "P&O Ferries owner pulls £1bn UK investment after row with Transport Secretary"

    "Qatar dumps £300m Sainsbury’s stake as Reeves prepares tax raid'

    I suppose it's unrealistic to expect a British government made up of adults.

  89. Every day I log on here in the hope that the World might be a brighter place. Every day that hope is diminished…. 🙁

  90. I'm amazed that not one of McCullough's sisters ever attempted to visit their parents in the four years they were 'travelling'. For heaven's sake, retirement to Clacton from Chelmsford is hardly like settling in Thailand.

    "John and Lois McCullough were described by neighbours as being a “quiet couple who kept to themselves”.
    The parents of five girls, they had lived in the quiet street for decades."

    This seems to be one very weird family.

    1. I thought that – beyond belief!!! – there's more to come out here, I'm sure……the behaviour and spooky demeanour of the perpetrator was particularly unsettling……

      1. It’s in Saturday’s Terriblegraph. Daughter killed both her parents, hid their bodies in the house and frittered their money away while pretending to their friends and her siblings they were still alive. Got away with it for c. 5 years.

  91. I didn't sleep last night so, for me, another day is done so, goodnight, Gentlefolk. Bis morgen fruh. Schlaf gut. Ich hoffe.

  93. Ad block problems from earlier…

    UBlock no longer works on Chrome. Free AdBlock installed but has to be switched off for the commercial TV stations.

    UBlock works on Firefox for ITV and C4 but not C5.

    1. "Jailed for life with a minimum of 8 years". I have to say I rather thought a life sentence may well stretch past 8 years.

  97. from Coffee House, the Spectator

    Admit it, roast dinners are bad
    They depress both body and spirit

    Zoe Strimpel11 October 2024, 5:01am
    Sunday lunch is a bit like the Edinburgh festival. People make a big thing of it, it’s considered a British treasure, and I am meant to book it, go to it, and like it. But I don’t. If Edinburgh is forever associated in my mind with glowering edifices of grim dark stone, hostile chilly sun between spells of overcast cold skies, the worst comedy and theatre I have ever seen, and paying a king’s ransom for a nasty little room a 20-minute taxi ride out of town, then Sunday lunch is, for me, forever intertwined with desperately wishing to be somewhere, anywhere else. Maybe even the Edinburgh festival.

    Sunday lunch is what people traditionally do when they don’t much like each other, or at least don’t know how to talk to each other. That’s why it’s such a stalwart of the British family. It’s also the lynchpin of British friendships, where everyone schleps out to the pub to see their ‘mates’ but, once the buzz of the first glass or two wears off, wishes they were on the sofa with Netflix instead – toddlers included.

    At home, it’s a more intense misery. The focus is on timing the potatoes for perfect crispiness, considered of vital importance when all naturalness of intimacy is out of the question. Nothing could be more depressing than the sheer dedication to ensuring that a meat slab, unappetising greens, soft carrots, gravy, and Yorkshires are always present and correct. Sunday dinner takes five times as long to prepare as most families like to spend eating it.

    If this sounds too harsh, let’s back up and look at the food itself – the dreaded roast dinner. The roast is the last close relation to the school dinner left in British cuisine. School dinners might be avoidable, but why do we still court the Sunday roast? Despite decades of high-voltage celebrity chef culture, only a few have dared to break from the mould. Yotam Ottolenghi and Claudia Roden helped light the way for Middle Eastern flavours, and now chefs like Sabrina Ghayour, Selin Kiazim, and Yossi Elad bring Persian, Turkish, and Israeli influences. But the big names – Nigel, Ainsley, Jamie, Gordon, Nigella, Delia, Rick, and co. – still peddle English cooking that boils down, come Sunday, into the dreariest of national meals.

    There are more reasons to throw Sunday lunch in the bin. Its timing – on Sundays – is a big one. Anyone who’s been to school will feel in their bones the inherent dreariness of Sundays. The evenings are terrible, but the moment the winter sun draws in might be the worst. Sundays are, of course, far heavier with dread in winter because that’s when school drags on and on. Even as a grown-up, there’s little pleasure in sitting down to a heavy load of fat, salt, and meat, drinking red wine you don’t want, eating roast potatoes you don’t want, while the fat of the gravy congeals on the plates and afternoon fades into evening – and the next day is Monday.

    Then there’s how you feel before: hungover and heavy, or light and hungry, depending on the kind of night (and breakfast) you’ve had. And how you feel after: even fatter, with indigestion. Either way, you end up feeling worse, physically and mentally, due to the cloying social nature of the event.

    Sunday lunch squats on the face of your day. You enter it when you’d be most productive and emerge from it with the same pile of bills and admin tasks hanging over you – except now you feel like you’ve been attacked by a social and gastronomical sledgehammer.

    Ultimately, if the Sunday lunch is carved from the same depressing stuff as Sundays, the Christian Sabbath of old, then they’re also bound to the heavy block of the family itself. Families can be wonderful, but many are dreadful. Read any number of memoirs or talk to people about their childhoods, and you’ll hear memories of family that are truly grim – where that vaunted unit is little more than a framework for physical abuse, emotional violence, conflict, blame, and fear. Tales of families from the rough 19th or early 20th centuries paint a picture so oppressive, you wonder how anyone survived it – let alone went on to have families of their own.

    In 2024, most Sunday lunches aren’t marked by the barely suppressed violence of the old-school patriarchal family. But they remain a terrible tradition – depressing in taste, heft, and colour. A quick fix might be moving them to Saturdays, but even that, I fear, wouldn’t be enough.

    1. Christmas day and Easter Sunday are about the only two days I make a 'roast' late lunch/early dinner. Other family get togethers I might do a slow roast leg of lamb, but Sundays are like any other day of the week for cooking now. The missus and boy have basically come off their 'meat diet' and I'll be making home made pizzas this Sunday.

      1. I love roast Sunday lunch. Beef, lamb or pork. Roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding. Rarely do this now unless we have guests for lunch. Not difficult to make. I remember young people who spent the night drinking and then were obliged to get up on Sunday morning in time for lunch would complain about eating Sunday fare with a hangover and I think this what is behind this writer’s complaint. It’s not the food but her own unsettled stomach and splitting headache.

        1. It's not difficult to make, but very very labour intensive, especially if making all ready at the same time, which in my mad head is vital.

          1. I have the perfect solution, chums, which is to go to a local pub on my birthday (December 21st) with a friend and celebrate with a glass of Chilean Merlot with the full Christmas menu at a fraction of the December 25th pub menu cost. Then on the day itself I can choose exactly what I want to cook and eat.

          2. In Spain the 6th and the 8th of December are national holidays which means that at the beginning of December there is often a long weekend covering some six days. We used to take advantage of this holiday to visit my mother in London. Great time to go because you can enjoy Christmas decorations, Christmas fare and atmosphere without the burden of celebrating Christmas itself. We used to have a great time.Sadly those days have passed.

          3. I used to think that and got stressed trying to have it all ready at the same time. However after so many Christmas dinners where people refused to come to the table as latecomers insisted on opening presents before eating, I discovered that roast meat tastes better and is easier to carve if left to rest outside the oven. Roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding will also resist resting in the kitchen. Even my carrots in parsley sauce can be left on the counter. It’s really only the gravy I like to have freshly made. And of course brussel sprouts are not permitted anywhere near the property.

      2. Strimpel appears to be a miserable old bag in my opinion. It is true that providing a decent Sunday Lunch requires practice and expertise but it becomes natural to folk like my late mother, my late mother in law and my beloved wife.

    4. I loved Sunday lunch in the family home when I was a boy right through until I married and left home.
      Sunday was the day when my family found the time in our busy lives and came together and talked to each other as a family.
      Perhaps Zoe Strimpel never experienced the sort of family life as I did.
      I certainly tried to carry that through to my own family as the years progressed.

      1. If you don't enjoy a roast dinner there's something wrong with you. It's the best meal going. A bit of an effort I admit otherwise I'd have it every day.

  98. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Nick Clegg embraces Brexit benefits
    Steerpike11 October 2024, 10:35am
    Well, well, well. In his new job as president of global affairs at Meta, former leader of the Liberal Democrats and staunch Remainer Nick Clegg has announced a widespread roll-out of Meta AI across countries including Brazil and the UK. Yet, rather interestingly, the Brexit-opposed businessman noted that the software was unable to be rolled out in the EU ‘because of the regulatory uncertainty we face there’.

    Taking to Twitter, the Remoaner noted:

    We’re expanding Meta AI to more countries, including Brazil and the UK. Unfortunately, we still can’t roll it out in the EU because of the regulatory uncertainty we face there. I hope the new Commission looks afresh at these issues, consistent with President Von Der Leyen’s aim of completing the EU’s digital Single Market, so Europeans can benefit from this new wave of technologies.

    How curious. The former deputy prime minister spent much of him time in and out of office lamenting the fact of the UK leaving the European Union, warning of a ‘disorderly and chaotic’ exit and even publishing a guide entitled ‘How to Stop Brexit’. Yet despite spending years lecturing the British public on why membership of the EU was crucial to keep Britain competitive, in his new role at Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – Clegg has been forced to face reality. In his new line of work, the ex-Lib Dem leader is seeing firsthand how, out of the EU, the UK can access new technological innovations which the European Union can’t.

    Perhaps Clegg is finally coming to realise the advantages of stepping away from the over-regulation of Brussels after all. Better late than never…

    1. True AI – not the glorified programmed search engines currently pretending – would do away with the entire EU in a weekend. It's a complete waste of time and money.

  100. Done a bit of photo sorting.
    Here's a few from my trip to Denbigh last week:-
    The view across the valley from the B&B
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e2db73ab3fed83f8703d500bab9228d52952fbf401c4c82c6cf9bb8dc7ad511e.jpg

    The back of the B&B with the walls of "Leicester's Church", an abortive Protestant cathedral begun by the Earl of Leicester on the orders of Queen Elizabeth
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/05ca41d47483182ede49891753b1f0ce40d96705eaba27720fd237e0c9372247.jpg

    The rather beautiful Tower House
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e1e2e286057ed8c8ec62d8b72bb8184f27a076670b5597eb17f0fd81154a531.jpg

    A bit more of Leicester's Church
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5bf11b318d96345c817bd856065247e2c964fc7e2246dc441f5121795a50c70e.jpg

    Some fine Cirrus Mares' Tails as the sun went down:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bc3accdaeca2a39d98420958dedb6fd9b7a7569f004626f4c121e864701e075b.jpg

    The same, but from a different location.
    The pub was a bit of a disappointment, it only sold keg.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fc13946f0196552af4784083b53fd56cade1719e8baeecf919735dea331e6119.jpg

  101. And on the way back home, we stopped for a short walk.
    Here's the DT making her way up PenyCloddiau, a tiny part of Offa's Dyke:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bbabb593cffc30e6e9f4419e41ccb1297f1e90a95ad3f708283df9fe0181c1de.jpg

    A view.
    I believe Snowdon is lurking in the haze in the far distance
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9837f7e9691c4a347d8aa375c633101bf23fbd5c7da9271a269ac710e85746b2.jpg

    We got a view of the top, but as the wind was stronger than we expected, we turned back to the car
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/444fb80e6c859098a0190d88855faa925f7b9ad8da3e8d0a4b28a249ebf5847a.jpg

    And the DT enjoying a hot chocolate in the Community Cafe in Mold
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e081bb863d8fe7c12fb1c3d0817290002b293311273c029a862fd1a707e1a78b.jpg

    1. Starmer is back pedalling like mad but has not sacked the two loud mouthed idiot women responsible for alienating this major investor.

      I read that the talks are continuing. Yet more worrying is the failure to invite Elon Musk to the Investment Summit.

      We have to get rid of these Labour fools and quickly otherwise our beloved country is sunk.

  105. It's bedtime for me now, chums. So Good Night, sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

  106. Back now and just thawing out! The boiler in church has broken down and it was extremely cold. Church is normally cold so I wore several layers and even that wasn't enough 🙁

  108. from Coffee House, the Spectator

    Does the Guardian need reminding that Hamas are the bad guys?
    Brendan O’Neill11 October 2024, 5:13am
    The Guardian has found a new minority it wants to shield from offence. A new oppressed group it might shed some virtuous tears over. A put-upon section of society that urgently requires the warm, loving hug of Guardianista pity. And you won’t believe who it is. It’s the mad militants who invaded Israel on 7 October last year.

    I probably shouldn’t call Hamas gunmen ‘mad’ – the Guardian might accuse me of ‘demonising’ them. In possibly the most crackpot piece it has published this year – and that’s saying something – the Guardian has slammed a new documentary about the 7 October attacks for ‘demonis[ing] Gazans as either killers or looters’. That the Gazans who crossed into Israel were killers and looters is immaterial, apparently.

    It’s possibly the most crackpot piece the paper has published this year – and that’s saying something
    It is written by Stuart Jeffries. It’s a review of One Day in October, a hard-hitting film in which survivors of Hamas’s rampage tell us what they saw. Jeffries admits it’s a tough, moving watch that captures the ‘bloodthirsty’ nature of Hamas’s attack. But then he goes off the rails. It’s too reductive towards Hamas, he suggests, lazily depicting them as a ‘generalised menace’. Fancy portraying a tooled-up army of anti-Semites as a menace.

    ‘If you want to understand why Hamas murdered civilians… One Day in October won’t help’, Jeffries writes. One envisions Guardian scribes scratching their chins as they try to figure out why a terrorist group founded to kill Jews killed Jews. Next they’ll be wondering why the KKK lynched black people. It’s all so perplexing.

    The film ‘does a good job of demonising Gazans’, Jeffries blubs, ‘first as testosterone-crazed Hamas killers, later as shameless civilian looters, asset-stripping the kibbutz while bodies lay in the street’. Does Jeffries know this is a documentary? Meaning it documents things that actually happened? There were testosterone-crazed Hamas killers. Kibbutzim were looted. Is truth bigotry now?

    Jeffries concedes the ‘evident evil’ of what Hamas did, but he nonetheless frets over the film’s possibly racist undertones. He is reminded of Zulu, the infamous Michael Caine movie, in which ‘nameless hordes of African warriors [are] pitted against British protagonists with whom we are encouraged to identify’. One Day in October does similar, he says – it ‘others’ one side in the events of 7 October.

    I should think so too! I’m sorry, but if we cannot even ‘other’ racists with guns who raped women and murdered children, then we are lost. Truly lost. Imagine how knee-deep in the weeds of moral relativism you would need to be to haughtily tut-tut over the ‘othering’ of terrorists who phoned home to boast to their parents about how many Jews they had killed.

    ‘Othering’ Gazans as a whole is obviously not on. Branding all Arabs as ‘testosterone-crazed killers’ would clearly be racist. But the men who raped, pillaged and slaughtered their way through southern Israel on 7 October 2023? Yeah, they are ‘the other’. I am happy to call them enemies of civilisation. Sorry if that is a tad too judgemental for Guardian tastes.

    Then comes Jeffries’ craziest cry. The problem with this film, he says, is that it goads us into giving ‘all our sympathies’ to ‘relatable Israelis’ and none to Hamas. So the Israelis we see include ‘a girl sending cute pictures of her playing with friends to her mum, who is cowering in a toilet cubicle, hoping the terrorists she can hear breathing outside can’t hear her’. Meanwhile, ‘Hamas terrorists’ – poor Hamas terrorists – are shown as a ‘generalised menace on CCTV, their motives beyond [the film’s] remit’.

    This is where bleeding-heart liberalism crosses over into amoral lunacy. I can’t believe I have to explain to a well-educated man of letters that, yes, your sympathies should lie with the girl texting her mum who’s hiding in a toilet to avoid being murdered on account of Jewishness. Have we abandoned morality so completely that we now struggle to say that the mass-murdering terrorist is ‘bad’ and the mum trying to survive for the sake of the daughter she adores is ‘good’? God help us.

    Look, I like nuance. I welcome complexity. Things are rarely black and white. But 7 October – that was black and white. There were no shades of grey in those kibbutzim stained red with blood. One side was evil, the other decent. The End.

    How long before we find ourselves accused of ‘Hamasphobia’ if we criticise those murderous loons too harshly? I don’t want to single out Jeffries. I’m sure his heart is in the right place. But his bonkers piece – which has now been taken down – speaks to a moral chaos at large in a chattering class that has swapped critical thinking for a non-judgementalism that sometimes borders on nihilism. I’m just going to say it, brace yourselves: Hamas are the bad guys.

    Brendan O’Neill’s new book, After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation, is out now

    1. Rayner and Haigh don't understand a world where you can't just get more money from the government.

  110. Apparently Zelenskyy was yet again feted by the dolt Starmer in Number Ten. Larry the cat sussed Zelenskyy and was not intoxicated by Zelenskyy Number Five.

    Starmer is a complete idiot. We should never consider sending troops to Ukraine. Could someone please explain to Starmer that the war in Ukraine is a proxy war between the United States and Russia. The UK should have nothing whatever to do with the US neo cons and in any event Russia has already defeated Ukraine.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6d39e0fdc2f3216b658e04aecfbdc49b1ed4804c44b3935fda94758d799556bb.jpg

    1. I don't buy that proxy war between Russia and the US taking place in Ukraine. Rather it's a cork-up-the-bum to stop Russia thinking it can march unchallenged into Lithuania, Moldova, Georgia, Poland or Finland.

      The US are far more interested in picking a fight with Russia with a proxy war in Iran. There are votes in that.

  111. Apparently Zelenskyy was yet again feted by the dolt Starmer in Number Ten. Larry the cat sussed Zelenskyy and was not intoxicated by Zelenskyy Number Five.

    Starmer is a complete idiot. We should never consider sending troops to Ukraine. Could someone please explain to Starmer that the war in Ukraine is a proxy war between the United States and Russia. The UK should have nothing whatever to do with the US neo cons and in any event Russia has already defeated Ukraine.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6d39e0fdc2f3216b658e04aecfbdc49b1ed4804c44b3935fda94758d799556bb.jpg

  112. An interesting article in the Saturday Terriblegraph – they have found Irvine’s body on Everest, 7000 feet below where Mallory’s body was found in 1999.

  113. Also, an article on the odious Earl Spencer’s ex-wife and his new girlfriend. What has irked me is the use if the word “share” when it comes to children. Spencer “shares” a daughter with his ex-wife; the new partner “shares” two children with her husband.

    I don’t “share” my children with my husband. They are ours. We have them together.

  114. North Wales police stop using X to communicate because “we felt that the platform was no longer consistent with our values”.

    And some people accuse the police of being politicised. Unbelievable.

    (/ sarc)

  115. Come on, Geoff, I got Wordle in 5 today and I want to share that with you all before I start today's jobs.

    1. Good morning, rough common, I mistook your "new post" as a being one from Geoff so I posted my Wordle result without realising it was a post from you. I shall now await Geoff's offering of the new site.

  118. Good morning, chums. And thanks for Saturday's NoTTLe site, Geoff.

    Wordle 1,211 5/6

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

  120. Gotta go and get the day going, so I'll post Today's Tale here and then re-post it when Saturday's edition arrives.

    Good morning All
    Today's Tale
    The new slave had just joined the oarsmen in the Phoenician war ship, when one of the rowers collapsed and died over his oar. The dead slave was duly released from his chains and thrown overboard. The Slave Master strode up and down the aisle, separating the rowers, lashing each viciously with his whip. When he had finished, all the slaves laid on their backs and pissed into the air.
    “What’s going on?” asked the new slave.
    “It’s an old Phoenician tradition,” came the reply. “Every time someone dies, there is a quick whip around and a piss-up.”

    NOTE: I was going to alter the word piss to p!ss to get past the possible Disqus censorship. But then I looked up Isaiah 36 v 12 in my old Victorian Family Bible and there it was in the original spelling. So it stays.

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