Friday 14 April: Mounting evidence that Labour is rattled by the PM’s strong leadership

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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591 thoughts on “Friday 14 April: Mounting evidence that Labour is rattled by the PM’s strong leadership”

  2. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    It’s Magic
    A magician worked on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The audience was different each week, so he would do the same tricks over and over again.

    There was only one problem, the captain’s parrot saw the shows each week and began to understand how the magician did every trick. Once the parrot figured out a trick, he would shout the secret in middle of the magician’s act:
    “It’s not the same hat!”
    “He’s hiding the flowers under the table!”
    “All the cards are the same! CAW!”

    The magician was furious but couldn’t do anything. It was, after all, the captain’s parrot. Then, one day, the ship struck a mine, exploded and sank.

    The magician found himself on a piece of wood in the middle of the sea. As fate would have it, the only other survivor was that stinking parrot, and they shared the piece of wood in angry silence.

    They stared at each other with hatred but neither uttered a word. This went on for days until, on the third day, the parrot could not hold back;

    “OK, I give up! Where’s the boat?”

  5. I can’t be sure small boats will be stopped before election. 14 April 2023.

    Rishi Sunak has risked provoking the ire of Conservative MPs who want a swift end to people crossing the Channel illegally, by refusing to guarantee that his pledge to “stop the boats” will be fulfilled by the next general election.

    A hot topic, given that the number of landings is expected to increase as summer approaches, the prime minister tempered expectations by stressing it would not be easy to deliver on his promise.

    I on the other hand am absolutely positive that they won’t and furthermore that they won’t be stopped after the election. Why people buy into this fraud and blatant lying is beyond my comprehension. Surely any sensible person would see that this is not mere negligence. It is a deliberate policy of the Political Elites, both Left and Right to replace the indigenous population.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/13/rishi-sunak-small-boats-channel-crossings-pledge-conservativehome-interview

    1. I can’t be sure small boats will be stopped before election. 14 April 2023 ever

      1. No chance, Stormy; it’s all part of the same conspiracy and we are destined to end up as just another Caliphacy.

        I just thank OUR God that I shall not be here to experience it.

    2. Every rational person in the UK will agree with your comment, Araminta. Sadly, rational people are few and far between, hereabouts.

    3. They could be stopped tomorrow.
      Aiding and abetting – like the RNLI – arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts.
      Navy in the channel to turn back the boats, and fire on them if necessary.
      Boarder Farce given direct instructions, on pain of dismissal.
      All ordered – so no space for personal feelings, just do as yer fcuking told.
      Oh, yes, stop paying the French to do nothing. Use the money to pay the Navy’s fuel bills.

      1. One might think that as the French can’t seem to stop them leaving that the British could round them up, tie them up, and return them in the same small boats they arrive on.

    4. I quoted him before – he will doubtless be quoted again and again until it is too late:

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6aa75c414757a8a6f1a3ae3c1108a0484f1bbdd65c556d746b98384678863cd6.jpg

      “We must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependents, who are for the most part the material of the future growth of the immigrant-descended population. It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre.”

      Retrospectively we can see that the only thing that Powell got wrong was his use of litotes.

      1. Apparently they both wanked into the same test tube, mixed it up and injected it up her fanny.

        Highly romantic.

        NOT

    2. Interestingly there was an article in the paper about a doctor in Scotland walking out of a blood donating centre because they insisted he answered a question about whether he was pregnant.

    3. Yes it is. One wonders how the child will feel about all this. A child needs a mother when it is growing up, if possible. This is deliberately and consciously writing the mother out of the equation from day one. It’s not a right to have children.

    5. How will the little girl learn how to be a woman, if there is deliberately no mother there?
      There’s a good reason why single-sex marriages are barren.

      1. When will Mrs May be ennobled and take her place in the House of Lords as Barrenness May?

      2. “There’s a good reason why single-sex marriages are barren.”

        These partnerships are NOT marriages.

  7. Good morning, all. Bright-ish and dry.

    Whatever the headline writer is imbibing, smoking etc. I do not want to go near it.

    1. I reckon the reason we are being forced down the route of blanket 20 mph speed limits (apart from the obvious one: coercive control when we all get done for “speeding” at 23 mph and are too frightened to drive in case we get points on our licence because we have been brought up to be good, law-abiding citizens) is to enable this (unwanted) technology to be introduced. A “self-driving” car wouldn’t be able to cope at speed.

      So, even though we don’t need these things, they are supposedly “safer” because they rely on “technology” rather than flaky humans, we are going to get them, good and hard.

      Meanwhile we will lose our autonomy to drive ourselves, and our privacy, as these things will be monitored everywhere they go.

      It’s all about control over us, the plebs.

      On a brighter note I will be going to the anti-ULEZ demo at Trafalgar Square tomorrow, in case anyone else is – see you there🙂!

      1. Good for you. Alf and I will be at our bowls club Open Day where we hope people will come in and give bowls a try. We hope to attract new members (to replace the old, ill or dead ones!).

      2. What time in Trafalgar Square? I didn’t know about this but I’m a bus ride away and I’ve grown a tad militant in the past three years so I’m up for it!

        2. I’ve looked it up again, 12-3 tomorrow “Action against ULEZ extension”

  12. Mounting evidence that Labour is rattled by the PM’s strong leadership

    No they are rattled because Rishi is better at selling us out to the WEF than they are.

    2. How stupid can people be if they seriously believe that a man who caves in completely to the EU on the precedence of the ECJ over British Law is a strong leader?

      Rishi Sunak is not a strong leader but it is terrifying to think that people think he is.

  13. Sad to read of the death of Bryn Parry (Help for Heroes) from cancer at 66.

    Also interesting to read that doctors have a non-contributory pension of 20% i.e. we need to gross up their salary by 20% to get a number for what their remuneration actually is. I would suggest vanishingly few private sector workers get a 20% non-contributory pension.

    4. Yet they are asking for over 30% salary increase. Some hope to gain public support by claiming they are striking for ‘patient safety’. If the salaries are so bad, why are medical school places so vastly over subscribed?
      They should be ashamed of themselves for striking in the first place, never mind for 4 consecutive days.

  14. Sad to read of the death of Bryn Parry (Help for Heroes) from cancer at 66.

    Also interesting to read that doctors have a non-contributory pension of 20% i.e. we need to gross up their salary by 20% to get a number for what their remuneration actually is. I would suggest vanishingly few private sector workers get a 20% non-contributory pension.

  15. At least 18,000 cows killed in dairy farm explosion. 14 April 2023.

    The bodies of at least 18,000 cows have been discovered in the charred remains of a milking shed on a farm in Texas following a massive explosion.

    The livestock deaths at South Fork Dairy are the most in one incident in the United States since the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), a Washington-based animal advocacy group, began tracking barn and farm fires in 2013.

    Milk shakes all round?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/04/14/texas-dairy-farm-explosion-kills-18000-cows/

      1. Morning Ndovu. There are some oddities about the report. There was only one human casualty! 18,000 cows need a lot of looking after. What was the explosive?

        3. Automatic milking & feeding systems? See my response to Bell just a couple of posts away from this one.

        4. I can only guess that the explosive originated with Bill Gates, the latest bastard amongst us.

          We must rid ourselves of these potential tyrants.

        5. Reports indicated that some device caught fire and that the fire spread to insulation, (remember the easy-burn foam stuff that Grenfell Tower was smothered in) and I will dare to assume that the cattle were asphyxiated.

      2. There are a couple of mega farms here , hundreds of dairy cattle, all calving at the moment .. that is why milk price has been reduced in price .. the grass growth is lush , but the dairy cattle remain in huge open air sheds .. .

        It is a heartless way to keep cattle .

        1. Our local cattle will be out on the Common in May. They were testing the traffic speed cameras yesterday. The light up ones.

        2. The cattle that run on Firstborn’s farm are still inside – there’s no grass visible, let alone to eat. I guess they are calving now, as in the autumn, the heifers will be on Firstborn’s farm after the last cut of silage.
          The farmer has a magic milking parlour: When the cow wants to be milked, she walks in the door, is identified by a RFID tag in her ear, weighed, teats washed and automatically hooked up to the milker, milk volume and quality, plus bacteria count measured, she’s fed and the weight of food measured, and when the milker is done the machine releases, washes her teats and itself, and she moseys on out of the door. Status for each animal is recorded and reported, with alerts for potential illness.
          This means each cow can get milked when she feels the need, rather than once or twice a day. No huge, pendulous udders at this farm, just waiting to be stood on and have the teats split by another cow. It also means the farmer can run the whole dairy farm pretty much on his own, except for when he’s moving the cattle to another location. Goof for the animals, good for the farmer – what’s not to like?

  16. Good morning all,

    Very wet morning , had to towel the dogs down after their early cock a leg routine .

    My little outdoor camera has picked up hedgehog activity in the early hours of the morning , eg 0230am etc, goodness me, they really do run fast and scurry around .. and even during the storm we had the other day, lots of activity, you could hear the wind and see the branches waving around , but hungry hedgehog concentrated on the area where the bird feeders are .

    I think I will ask nicely for another camera for the other end of the garden …

    1. Great that you see them in the garden. We never see any sign of them here though they’re not far away. It’s been raining here but seems to have stopped.

      1. Morning J

        I really think you should invest in a waterproof outdoor camera .. mine cost £50.. and son set it up timers etc and we moved it to strategic points of the garden .. the bird feeder position was amazing .

        1. We have one but haven’t used it much for a long time. We have cameras in all the bird boxes though – nearly 20 of those! They are all wired up to controllers so he can monitor them on the telly screen.

          2. The bluetits have been busy nest building, the greattits are starting and the starlings squabbling around their boxes. The swifts are on their way – crowds now seen in Southern France. Our friends in Bristol are tracking their progress. Mark does a great blog – have a look at Bristol Swifts.

      2. Good morning,
        Other than their ‘calling cards’, we haven’t seen a hedgehog for a few years.

    2. Perhaps the rain brought lots of juicy slugs and snails out for the hedgehogs to feast upon.

  19. 373388+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    To my mind the coalition is still in the malleable stage, as in a
    mob waging a rhetorical war of words and not yet taken to the mattresses.

    So far the Dover breachhead operating 24/7 and a trial run of
    fear & mutilation via jab is seen to operate, the first to build up a controlling force “kapos” awaiting in hotels ( money no object) for postings, the latter, already showing success in controlling the herd.

    Friday 14 April: Mounting evidence that Labour is rattled by the PM’s strong leadership

    The race to be the United Kingdoms Capo Dei Capi is most certainly on awaiting the shite graders ( electoral majority) input.

      1. 373399+ up ticks,

        Morning SJ,

        Funny that tis how I find your regular whinge,surely with four languages on your tongue you should have no problem deciphering my post, try harder.

      1. Good Lord. Who’d a’ thunk it?
        Has their attitude changed in the intervening 8 years?

    2. And once more and the same pattern, over and over again,…….everything they come into contact with they eff it up and big time. Everything.
      Three words Mr soonhacked STOP THE BOATS. It really is that simple.

  21. Best letter for ages, sums up Wokeworld

    SIR – Oprah Winfrey will be shocked to hear that, even knowing it was his grandson Archie’s fourth birthday, meaning his daughter-in-law
    Meghan would not be able to attend, King Charles did not change the date of his Coronation.

    Roger Foord

    1. Good morning OLT

      I read that as well , and thought , What?

      Another letter caught my eye

      SIR – I regularly use a very handy little egg separator that I “won” (I had to name something beginning with T) at a Tupperware party in the early 1970s.

      Ros Mackay
      Helston, Cornwall

      That was the time I lived in Helston when Moh was based at Culdrose , I wonder whether she attended the Tupperware party I hosted or I attended .. all the squadron wives went to things like that , and that was when I accummulated bits and pieces …

        1. Well sort of , I suppose ..

          More like a 3 line whip , because if you didn’t , one became outcrowd !

          There was a heirarchy .. sprog Lt pilots wives were coerced and controlled in those early days by older Co’s wives ..

          2. A rather affable chap I used to know in Cornwall, Mike Sharp, used to be in the fleet air arm. He had to eject from a plane at Yeovilton and escaped uninjured but forgot to report his accident and went on a pub crawl instead. On retiring from the RN he went and flew planes for a shah in the Middle East for a few years to get together enough money to buy a pub. The last time I saw him he was running one in Crewkerne, The King’s Arms, but that was 40 years ago. Your husband must have known him as he is the same age as Mike.

      2. I once went to a patchwork party, where all items were made of ….. you’ve got it.
        The nadir of the experience was a brown patchwork cover for a toaster.

  22. Bloody hell, it’s chilly out there!
    Just been out to check the van’s tyre pressures and we’ve just had a brief rain shower so the temperature feels like it’s plummeted 10°!

  24. Guten Tag Alles,

    Wet day all day today at Schloss McPhee with wind in the SE and temperature not set to go above 7℃. Spring?

    How To Win Friends and Influence People – Not. A little snippet from today’s Gatesograph:

    Living in Wales is vile, says Tory councillor

    A Tory councillor candidate has described living in Wales as “vile” and said Welsh people “have lower IQs”.

    Jasmin Cogin, 23, stood to become a councillor in Cardiff last year but launched a diatribe on the Welsh capital in a video on social media.

    Rival politicians have demanded she apologise for the TikTok footage that was accompanied by the text: “Welsh people have lower IQs. Sorry not sorry”.

    In the video, the qualified lawyer says: “I find it so tough to find someone who is intellectually on my level… People are just so OK with mediocrity in Wales and it’s vile to be around. It’s disgusting.”

    What a perfect illustration of lack of self-awareness. She’s 23, bless her, and thinks she has the knowledge, wisdom and experience to be a councillor. And to put it out on the internet too. I’d suggest her ‘career’ has just been still-born.

    Meanwhile this chap just can’t stay out of the news.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f1a50df7f085c30f1ad792b54aefd4b8e826c2246b6031eaec453aef5a3d5e44.jpg

    He says he’s sorry. Just not for the things that he should be sorry for, like excess deaths rising threefold or the delaying of his uncle’s hernia operation. He’s sorry for undermining the ‘action’ (funny word for what is in reality inaction) by having a holiday. What a worm.

    1. Jasmin obviously comes from the same background and mindset as the woman who crashed Bud Lite. Soooo intelligent, all the Welsh sheeple aren’t anywhere near her level. Bah!
      How about moving, if you don’t like Cardiff, shitforbrains?

      1. The Daily Fail writes this about her:

        “A prominent Young Conservative politician has sparked outrage by describing living in Wales as ‘vile’ and saying that Welsh people ‘have lower IQs’.

        Jasmin Cogin failed to be elected a councillor in Cardiff last year, coming fifth with 737 votes, and has now denounced the Welsh capital in a video on social media.”

        Prominent? Politician? She LOST. She was FIFTH with 737 votes.

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11968373/Prominent-Young-Conservative-sparks-outrage-claiming-Welsh-people-lower-IQs.html

        4. O/T Were the trout being cooperative yesterday or did they stay indoors hiding from the rain?

          1. It was cold with a stiff breeze and the odd hail shower. Not ideal you could say. Nevertheless, undaunted, I managed to extract 4 under-sized ones by dredging the bottom of the deep spots with a weighted nymph pattern. The bigger fish are still in hiding in winter quarters.

          3. In some cases, yes. To understand you have to ‘think like a trout’. Its life is about food, oxygen and energy balance. In winter there is a food shortage because invertebrates on the river bed, in the weeds and in the water are ‘lying low’ themselves and water flies are not hatching except on the warmest days. Trout will not expend energy looking for them. They normally take up station in the current and wait for food to be brought to them. Holding station in even a gentle current requires energy expenditure. If there’s little or no food they won’t do it. They’ll seek lies out of the current which may be at the bottom of the deeper spots or it may be in marginal reeds or among tree roots. They won’t expose themselves to their own predators (herons, egrets, mink, otters etc) searching for food that is not readily available. They tend to get thin in winter. Add to that higher water levels or even floods then the places they go will change. Fish lie in different places when the river is higher than normal as they nearly all are at the moment. You have to pick your river too. For example, I didn’t go to fish the Salisbury Avon because it was nearly 50cm up on the gauge. It would be coloured too reducing visibility (for the fish, not me). I went to a smaller stream, the Lambourn, which, although it was higher than normal (I don’t know by how much, no gauge – maybe 10-20cm), was running clear.

            HTH.

      1. I think a slap is far too lenient – what that face needs is something that will take it to A&E!

      2. We’ve adopted schadenfreude, maybe we should also take on, ‘backpfeifengesicht’ – A face badly in need of a fist’

      1. Good morning,
        I reckon it isn’t sure what it is. Something of a drip which gets a shampoo & set each Friday.

    5. I hope he doesn’t trip on his shoelaces while his colleagues indulge in their ‘industrial inaction’.

  25. Humza Yousaf: confiscated motorhome belongs to SNP
    The First Minister said he only discovered the party had bought the vehicle after winning the leadership contest
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/13/humza-yousaf-confiscated-motorhome-belongs-to-snp/

    BTL Percival Wrattstrangler

    One of my relations by marriage is noted for his marital infidelities. He has bought a luxurious motorhome which enables him to pursue his carnal activities with more efficacy. This is referred to by his long-suffering wife as his mobile fornicatorium.

    I wonder what Mrs Murrell wanted hers for?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3eabfd7c650616ebcd2ab2bc7c426d75e4c83055daf571b60f751d08a219c1af.jpg

  26. Morning all 🙂😉
    High cloud, rain later. Better for the weekend. Seeing is believing.
    Labour rattled by Richie it must be the way he’s been getting on with Bye Don. Fond of Lying has him where she wants him.

  27. Good Moaning.
    Off for a spot of culture in ……. wait for it …. Ipswich.
    Mind you, parking the car in a convoluted traffic system with added roadworks, means we’ve spent more time and energy plotting our route than the Germans put into the planning the invasion of Poland.

    2. My Browser/Disqus borked again

      ‘Morning All

      Medley pt1

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/df26d46d6f70ecef14e3a33369adc24486e80dec3902d41dd3a2c8c2fb80ccfc.jpg

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c8c6389aa61cd03d3c6c4ada74d8c7bbde330466703aa9287fc1ac64c1e50d9d.jpg

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/08b8b60e869a1eb08d0ef7e0057a2438bcbb7d858abeee6cd5600acd52c700eb.jpg

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/734ef118c0d411850f8c893a3da3e4d0d92cbdcf93168ea98940068937d1927d.gif

      1. Part2

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2739e4d78021b88d86f2a0f58697e0d49159238fe59c59eb4a1b537ea5977561.jpg

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d8a234610dd0316b7abaf6314ae41680224b3ac7e8d2b92ad06859ba0fb8f4a9.jpg

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b2a0cc681f88743bdd4727657241516b1c0cea7d1ed0b8ccf8646f6b03866b8a.jpg

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dc4f919337ce16bf405532a129a7e7fda3b6cbf151c976d46ffd736e6dfc9549.jpg

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/88a84d54998cc328268368773f255d6d2df6593628b8030599b29c4b9051975d.png

  28. Intense Russian artillery bombardment forcing ‘orderly withdrawals’ by Ukrainians in Bakhmut. 14 April 2023.

    The UK’s Ministry of Defence has claimed in its daily intelligence briefing that Ukrainian troops have been forced to make ‘orderly withdrawals’ from positions they previously held in the highly contested town of Bakhmut, and that the last two days have seen an intense artillery bombardment from Russian forces.

    Orderly withdrawals? This is the first time that I have seen the latter word!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/apr/14/russia-ukraine-war-live-pentagon-leak-suspect-to-appear-in-court-on-friday-eu-adds-wagner-to-sanctions-list?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-6439074d8f0891526bb4242a#block-6439074d8f0891526bb4242a

  29. I’ve just been reading about a young mother in Derbyshire who after collapsing in her kitchen was found to be suffering from a return of atrial fibrillation. She suffers like I also do from chest pains. She already has an appointment later this year for a second ablation. But meanwhile she is planning to run the London marathon for the heart foundation. That is Wonderful Sophie, I don’t know how you can do it. (Not sarc)
    I can’t even walk 50 yards with out getting out of breath. And to make me feel better, I will be having a phone call from the cardiology department next January. I must be doing something seriously wrong.

    1. I’ve just been reading about a young mother in Derbyshire

      Is Young the operative word Eddy? I’ve just had a very mild cold and it’s left me absolutely shattered!

      1. Are you sure it was a cold Minty ?
        I’ve had a runny nose since January. It’s never happened in my life before.

        1. Well it had a beginning Eddy and an end to the symptoms. I’m left with extreme tiredness. In fact I am very shortly going back to bed for an hour. This doesn’t help at the end of the day needless to say!

          1. What really pisses me off To is. I estimate that I have paid in around a quarter of a million in the 53 years of conforming to the regulatory and compulsory government payments.
            And so far I’ve had a hip replacement and a complete 30 year on-going mess up of my left knee. Surely there’s enough left to fix and cover the cost of this second NHS cock up…. Oh no of course not. So many ‘king millions of none brits have never paid in a penny towards the health service.
            But of course there are never any questioned asked.

          2. Interesting, Eddy. I wonder how you calculated what you’ve paid in.

            I paid for 50 years – 15 – 65, can you give me a clue as to what I might have paid in?

            Drawing pension for 18 years – 65 -78, 79 next month.

    2. I’ve just been reading about a young mother in Derbyshire

      Is Young the operative word Eddy? I’ve just had a very mild cold and it’s left me absolutely shattered!

    3. This is 3rd world health ..

      Please ask family to intervene and protest on your behalf .. you are a precious asset.. why on earth is your local doctor not insisting on early intervention ?

      I am feeling your frustration and anxiety ..

      1. Thanks TB 😊 and other Nottlers.
        It’s been over a week since I sent a plea for help to my GP surgery.
        I’ve sent another plea on a form on their website yesterday.
        I have requested a transfer to another cardiology department at another hospital. As the one I am currently registered with is absolutely useless.
        I had the impression that the cardiologist had not even heard that I had a cardioversion last August and it went pear-shape in November.
        And I have also made several enquiries with private health care to try and discover if I can afford to pay for the treatment I require. I still have not received a reply from anyone.
        Although I haven’t yet checked my email.
        PALS were excellent they replied within 24 hours. If they are capable of this the rest of the NHS should be. I’ve also tried to contact the cardiology nurses for advice.
        I left a message. …….

        1. Just had a reply from the private health care. Costs are between 10 and 20 thousand pounds and does not include consultant fees and any related tests. So at least 20 thousand.
          I am so glad that I paid in to the system for 53 years.
          Does anyone have a rubber boat I can borrow ?

      2. I just a a reply from the cardiology nurse. She offered to put me through the the cardio’s secretary. I refused telling her about the stupid letter I had from them, and how long it will be until they phone me How they can get a way with this nonsense I have no idea.
        And my GP has not replied because his is on annual leave. The letters have been looked at and possibly been read and now hopefully someone else is onto it, today.

          1. No such luck after I spoke to someone at my surgery. They sent me a message inviting me to book a phone appointment from the 5th of May onwards.
            But I did miss a call on my mobile two hours ago, private number.

          2. Push push push. I’ve spoken to one of the most stroppy receptionist. Apparently my gp will not be back until the end of the month and the only appointment available is a phone call on the 2nd of May.
            With a little persuasion she found a face to face with another at GP on the 29th. She said we are short staffed.
            That’s not my problem.
            What an absolute nightmare all this has been turned into. All it should have taken was two or three phone calls from the surgery I’ve supplied all the information, contacts and numbers.
            Did I mention that a private op and consultation could cost upwards of 15,000.
            I’d better by a lottery ticket or two.

    4. Can a mobility scooter do 26 miles? Not convinced the heart foundation are the good guys.

    2. Of course, one doesn’t have to go out and set fire to piles of rubbish and rip up paving stones and throw them at the perlice.

      Just saying.

      1. A thought provoking piece by Dalrymple re the riots.
        The concluding paragraph:

        Civilization is a veneer, it is often said, as is the facing of a building. But the facing of a building is what can make the difference between a beautiful and a hideous construction. The cult of authenticity, or truth to materials and underlying structure, that has been assiduously promoted by driveling modern architectural theorists has led to the visual nightmare that is most modern cities. Destruction is always authentic, because it appeals to a kind of joy that is waiting patiently to emerge from every human breast, or at least from many of them. To see and hear the joy, the pride, of those who burned the doors of Bordeaux’s town hall sent shivers down my spine. And do not ever take comfort by saying, “It couldn’t happen here.”

        https://www.takimag.com/article/a-riot-in-bordeaux/

      2. Neither did the police have to gratuitously spray tear gas into the crowds, liberally spraying people under awnings and in cafés earlier on in the proceedings when it was relatively peaceful.

        1. I agree that the French police can be violent. But many of the casseurs taking part are just as violent.

    3. Would any of Les Plods fancy a spot of practice on the Kent beaches?
      Or on a static Aintree course?

  31. Right, that’s me off to Nottingham to try out the trams from Phoenix Park & Ride.

    TTFN.

  32. 373399+ up ticks,

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    53m
    How many US food production facilities have now gone up in smoke? Now 18k cows roasted alive.

    I can’t see how its not possible to be a ‘conspiracy theorist & not see this as sabotage. Accidents happen but not continually in the same way.

    Klaus told us ‘eating meat would become a treat’. Any bug food production facilities burning down?

    Fiery explosion at Texas dairy farm kills 18,000 cows

    Nearly three times the amount of cows slaughtered each day in the US perished in the fire

    http://www.independent.co.uk

    https://gettr.com/post/p2ed2ta3f24

    1. Polling clerk: “That’s all right , dear. We trust you.”
      Waves through black letter box concealing its Adam’s Apple and 74 neatly completed ballot papers.

      1. It’s beyond belief that WE have to prove our identity but that lot get away with everything. Headscarves are one thing but the veils need totally banning in all public places, indoors and outside.

          1. All down to their pathetic ‘men’ wanting total control over their ‘property’ – aka girls and women. They obviously can’t control their own urges and assume civilised western men are the same.

        2. Never forgotten the time on a flight which stopped off in Kuwait and picked up a lot black-garbed women? (who knows) and one sat just behind us. When we reached Heathrow and were looking for our jackets in the overhead lockers, one was missing. The person in the seat behind appeared to be asleep, but underneath the black garb I could see a green cuff. I told the flight attendant and he was able to recover it.

        3. I’ve noticed that there have been more sightings of muslim women in and on TV programmes recently, this will be the same move carried out against the indigenous population by advertising and the the BBC in general with featuring out of all proportion people of colour at every single opportunity.

      2. And let’s not forget how kahnt managed to return to his wrecking London and beyond agenda.
        ‘Administration error’, the vast majority of his Jewish constituents didn’t receive their ballot papers.

    1. Morning Anne. Every time I read about Radcliffe my appreciation of JK Rowling rises in proportion!

      1. Same here.
        I was unimpressed with her huge donation to the Labour Party, but given events in North Britain, she was backing the party most likely to overcome the evil (and I rarely use the term) Scots Nats.
        They are not motivated by love of Scotland but by bilious, visceral hatred of the English. If we didn’t exist, they would find some other group of people on whom to focus their rancour.

    2. I did like “But if it wasn’t for Rowling, it’s highly likely that the most creative
      job he’d be doing would be drawing hearts on coffee foam      “

    1. Labour: totally clueless. Not that the net zero conservatives are any better…

    2. One possibly relevant question. Why would we need to insulate against the cold with the warnings of Glow ball warming ringing in our heads ?
      The photo of the condensation looks like it’s on a double glazed unit. That’s quite unusual.

      2. It’s when it’s wet inside and the wet air can’t get outside – as is usual in winter when you’ve clothes – or even people – indoors and the windows closed.

        It’s precisely the problem this stupid woman would cause.

        1. These people obviously have never had their net curtains frozen to the insides of their windows. How would they cope with that ?

    3. This is, as usual, the idiotic response. Meet demand for energy, don’t keep trying to force it down. These people are morons who don’t understand the market.

        1. I seem to recall my parents telling me I had been immunised against diptheria as a young child. I hope that’s right!

          1. Yes, probably, I had the diptheria one too. It was standard in those days. They’ll probably tell us it has only a limited life in order to get us to partake once again, but no matter. We will stand firm against their onslaught once again.

  38. To laugh or not laugh , that is the question …. to be sure …

    A man boarded an airplane and took his seat. As he settled in, he glanced Up and saw the most beautiful woman boarding the plane. He soon realized She was heading straight towards his seat. As fate would have it, she took The seat right beside his. Eager to strike up a conversation he blurted out, “Business trip or pleasure?”
    She turned, smiled and said, “Business. I’m going to the Annual Nymphomaniacs of America Convention in Boston.”
    He swallowed hard. Here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen Sitting next to him, and she was going to a meeting of nymphomaniacs!
    Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, “What’s your Business at this convention?”
    “Lecturer,” she responded. “I use information that I have learned from my Personal experiences to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality.”
    “Really?” he said. “And what kind of myths are there?”
    “Well,” she explained, “one popular myth is that African-American men are The most well-endowed of all men, when in fact it is the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is That Frenchmen are the best lovers, when actually it is Scotsmen who are the best. I have also discovered that the lover with Absolutely the best stamina is the Irish
    Suddenly the woman became a little uncomfortable and blushed.. “I’m Sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t really be discussing all of this with you. I don’t Even know your name.”
    “Tonto,” the man said, “Tonto McTavish but my friends call me Paddy”.
    🤣

    1. A late and missed local councillor was forced to undergo retraining when she referred to herself as the ‘n’ in the woodpile. This was several years ago. It’s only got worse since then.

    3. I don’t want to see them either, and I have no intention of undergoing “training.”

    4. I imagine the public don’t want to see them either. Therefore it is the other councillors who do want that fascist banner forced on them who need re-educating.

  42. In a series of articles The Conservative Woman has identified the four men of the apocalypse who are hell-bent on the destruction of human kind. They are George Soros (92), Klaus Shwab (85), David Attenborough (96), and the youngster Bill Gates (67). https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-indoctrinators-part-4-david-attenborough/

    Here is the conclusion about Attenborough:

    No one should be taken in by his saintly-sounding mantra ‘save the planet’. These are the siren calls of a sinister apocalyptic cult of climate change, the vehicle through which an ever more powerful global elite will wrest power from the people and leave us at their mercy. The effects of this barbaric religion are already being felt as the world fast disintegrates into an Orwellian dystopian present. These self-appointed ‘saviours’ are our new feudal lords, fitting for the New Dark Age they are foisting upon us all.

  47. What a miserable day today, non stop rain which has caused me to delay our trip to the garden centre. I will wait until walking around the centre will be more enjoyable, I hear fine weather is promised sometime soon. In the meantime I will spend some time catching up with the world news. I hear ByeDen has insulted us in NI, at least his speech writers have, I think old Joe is incapable of stringing more than a few words together. Is Obama the real power in the White House?

  48. One for Minty…

    Look out for me on the next edition of Dragons Den.

    I’m trying to get 50k investment for a ‘What 3 illnesses has Putin got today?’ lottery.

    3. The plans are set so that nobody but the ‘elite’ will be able to fly by 2050. That’s why they have plans to shut all airports except Heathrow.

    5. And then where would the energy come from to charge the batteries?

      An alternative is nuclear power, or better, hydrogen fuel. Lighter and contains more energy per kg.

  51. Busy morning – 120 seedlings potted on… A touch tedious…!! This afternoon I shall SOW Cobra beans. A magnificent and prolific climbing bean.
    I recommend highly.

  52. Re the Envy of the World. Dr Stupid (remember him – three years ago?) rang me this morning to tell me about the results of blood tests. He told me there was a slight reduction in kidney function and he prescribed a tablet.

    Just collected the tabs. Looked at the two page elfin safety bumph. “Do NOT take if you have kidney problems…”

    I’ll give it a whirl for a week or so.

    2. At your advanced age a slight reduction of function in any bodily organ is probably normal. Take the advice of the safety leaflet.

    3. Not the remdesivir stuff that was used for convid? Apparently that causes kidney failure, which was observed in clinical trials blah, blah, blah but prescribed and administered anyway.

    4. Don’t touch with a barge-pole. The nhs isn’t interested in your health, the focus has changed. Remember that you named him Dr Stupid for a reason.

    5. I’ve just been prescribed Beta blockers for a tremor which has started in my hands – on the box it says ‘One daily if needed for temor(sic). Warning: do not stop taking this medicine unless your doctor tells you to stop’.
      Does that mean once I’ve had one I can’t stop having them (when needed)?

  53. https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/what-you-are-not-being-told-about-outrageous-plans-to-give-the-who-power-over-your-life/

    THE World Health Organisation (WHO) is proposing the adoption of a
    ‘Pandemic Treaty’, or ‘Pandemic Accord’ as it is now being called. On
    Monday, 11 months after a UK petition calling for a debate on the matter
    reached the threshold of signatures to require a debate in Parliament,
    this will take place at last.

    You may be aware that the unelected Director General of the WHO,
    Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has been on social media recently claiming
    that this new treaty will not affect individual countries’ sovereignty.
    However, what you are not being told is that in conjunction with the
    Pandemic Accord, amendments to the International Health Regulations
    (2005) have been proposed and are being negotiated. Some of these
    amendments would cede unprecedented authority to the WHO and raise
    serious questions with regards to state sovereignty.

    1. Have the charges against Tedros of terrorism and attempted genocide in Ethiopia been dropped yet? This is evil without even the thin veneer of civilised values.

  54. Don’t know if this has been posted on here before but in the name of humanity I beg you to read it again and send your donations . . .

    Liverpool Hurricane Appeal
    A major tempest (Hurricane Scouse) and an earthquake measuring 1.8 on the Richter Scale hit Liverpool in the early hours of Tuesday with its epicentre in Toxteth. Victims were seen wandering around aimlessly, muttering “f’kinnell”.
    The hurricane decimated the area causing almost £30 worth of damage. Several priceless collections of mementos from Majorca and the Costa Del Sol were damaged beyond repair. Three areas of historic burnt out cars were disturbed. Many locals were woken well before their Benefit Orders arrived.
    Liverpool FM reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered and were still trying to come to terms with the fact that something interesting had happened in Liverpool. One resident – Tracy Sharon Smith, a 15-year-old mother of 3 said, “It was such a shock, my little Chardonnay-Mercedes came running into my bedroom crying ‘What the f’k was that!’ My youngest two, Tyler-Morgan and Melanie-Victoria slept through it all – but that could have been the Rohypnol they drank by mistake last night. I was still shaking when I was skinning up (rolling a joint) and watching Jeremy Kyle the next morning.”
    Apparently looting, muggings and car crime were unaffected and carried on as normal.
    The British Red Cross has so far managed to ship 40,000 crates of Special Brew to the area to help the stricken locals. Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found large quantities of personal belongings, including duplicate benefit books, jewellery from H Samuel and Bone China from the Pound shop.
    HOW CAN YOU HELP?
    This appeal is to raise money for food and clothing parcels for those unfortunate enough to be caught up in this disaster. Clothing is most sought after – items most needed include:
    Fila or Burberry baseball caps
    Kappa tracksuit tops (his and hers)
    Shell suits (female)
    White stilettos
    White sports socks
    Arsedangling blue jeans
    Any other items usually sold in Primark.
    Food parcels may be harder to come by but are needed all the same. Required foodstuffs include:
    Microwave meals
    Tins of baked beans
    Pork scratchings
    KFC and mushie peas
    More cans of Colt 45 or Special Brew.
    22p buys a Biro for filling in the compensation forms
    £18 buys chips, crisps and cola drinks for a family of nine
    £25 buys 6 reefers and a lighter to calm the nerves of those affected.
    BREAKING NEWS
    Rescue workers found a little girl in the rubble, smothered in raspberry Alco-pop, and were worried she had been badly cut…
    …”Where are you bleeding from?” they asked,
    “I’m from bleeding Knotty Ash” said the girl, “Wot the f’ks that gotta do wiv yew?”

    Calm down! Calm down! 🙂 🙂 🙂

    1. Some of the survivors have been evacuated to Aintree Racecourse in the cold and rain wearing the only clothes they have left

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/14/12/69827615-11972335-image-a-95_1681470104459.jpg

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/14/12/69827639-11972335-image-a-117_1681470866873.jpg

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/14/12/69829765-11972335-image-m-198_1681473470059.jpg

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/14/13/69829513-11972335-Taking_a_break_and_some_shelter_This_pair_sat_back_with_drinks_a-m-18_1681474501009.jpg

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/14/12/69829313-11972335-image-a-169_1681472290613.jpg

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/14/12/69829319-11972335-Dressed_in_a_netted_white_dress_and_a_straw_yellow_handbag_this_-m-174_1681472490442.jpg

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/14/12/69828911-11972335-image-a-135_1681471489940.jpg

      7. One of the judges in the BTO (Best Turned Out) competition was a blek with her tits virtually hanging out. Supposedly she’s famous, but I have no idea who she is.

      1. New species – Useless Tit! They have sprung up everywhere and reproduce at an alarming rate – I am not eggs-agerating.

    5. My answers:

      1 Pheasant
      2 Curlew
      3 Corn Bunting
      4 Nightingale
      5 Spoonbill
      6 Kittiwake
      7 Toucans
      8 Kingfisher
      9 Nightjar
      10 Waxwing
      11 Nuthatch
      12 Magpie

  57. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/13/ben-thornbury-crazy-golf-potholed-road-malmesbury-wiltshire/

    “Watch: Teenager turns below-par pothole-ridden road into crazy golf course

    Ben Thornbury, 18, hopes playing the game in the middle of the Malmesbury street will force Wiltshire authorities to fix the rutted surface

    13 April 2023 • 6:30pm

    tmg.video.placeholder.alt s9I_bQYpIZs

    A teenager frustrated with the pothole-ridden roads in his town turned one street into a crazy golf course to attract the attention of the council.

    Ben Thornbury, 18, mocked up a sign and opened the course in the middle of the market town of Malmesbury, Wiltshire, last Friday.

    He said more than 20 residents turned up to have a go – and he hopes it will force the authorities to take action.

    “I’m really proud it was my idea,” he said. “People were playing crazy golf in the middle of the high street while all the cars were coming past.

    “Probably more than 20 people turned up – for a small town, that’s very good.

    “A family had just come into town for the day, they rocked up in the middle of the road and started playing golf with us.

    “It’s just been such a rewarding feeling and people have been messaging me saying: ‘You’ve done it again for the community.’”

    ‘Fed up’ of potholes

    Ben enjoys spending his free time volunteering for projects in his local area, taking on tasks like cleaning the streets and trimming overgrown hedges.

    Using supplies he already had from his volunteering work, he created a sign reading “High Street Crazy Potholes Golf Now Open” and set up the course using mini traffic cones.

    He posted about his idea on Facebook and, as the likes started rolling in, people started turning up.

    “The potholes in town have been a massive issue for months now,” he said.

    “Residents have been complaining on Facebook saying all the roads and the High Street is full of them.

    “We’ve been reporting it and had no response from the council and now people are getting fed up that nothing is being done about it.

    “With my community work, I had some signs I wasn’t using – I mocked up a design on my phone for a road sign saying ‘crazy pothole golf’ and that’s how it all came about.

    “People thought it was a brill idea and were saying it was about time someone did something about it to raise awareness.

    “The council might not respond to a letter, but I hoped using a bit of humour would get their attention straight away.”

    Wiltshire Council has been approached for comment.”

    1. True story this….I went to the supermarket in NC town which had a couple of large potholes. One day, as I pulled into the parking lot, the large pothole, which was full of water, had two Canada Geese swimming around in it.
      Pothole was fixed not long after.

    2. “‘Fed up’ of potholes”

      He may be good at designing and building golf courses but his language skills are shit.

      “‘Fed up’ of with potholes” you illiterate clown.

  58. A lawless eco-elite now rules rural Britain

    Those of us who manage the countryside are rapidly losing control in favour of pro-rewilding zealots

    JAMIE BLACKETT

    You don’t have to be an eco-fanatic to love trees, particularly if they are growing on your land. So it is easy to understand the dismay of the couple who discovered a beaver destroying trees in their Pembrokeshire garden – in an area in which the wild beaver population was thought to be non-existent.

    Riparian householders everywhere should be on their guard: beavers are coming, whether they like it or not. “Beaver bombing” – illegal releasing of the rodents – is the latest tactic deployed by the loose coalition of fanatical “environmentalists” and virtue-signalling rewilders who want to see the animals restored to their historic ubiquity in our countryside. Ben Goldsmith, a leading light, calls their campaign: “One of the most successful conservation interventions that we have seen in Europe, ever.”

    Their arguments are not without merit. In the right circumstances, beavers are unrivalled eco-engineers, braiding streams with their dams, mitigating flooding by slowing down water flow, and creating habitats for spawning salmon, kingfishers, dragonflies and other species. They do kill trees, even very large ones, and they don’t care how special they are. But this can be an ecological good as we lack standing deadwood in the British countryside, which is a vital habitat for certain birds and many insects.

    So it is easy to see why, if you were a single-issue fanatic with no self-awareness or regard for other people’s property, you would get carried away and release them everywhere. But after a decade of illegal beaver releases there is enough empirical evidence – I hesitate to call it science, only because that word has been thoroughly debased in arguments about the environment – to show that, in certain settings, beavers can be disastrous.

    In the River Tay catchment in Perthshire, drains have been blocked by their excavations and they have tunnelled through flood defence banks. The pro-beaver argument is that they create wetland – and our desiccated landscape does need more wet habitats – but when it is created out of grade one arable land without the landowners’ consent and food prices go up because we produce less of it, the need for robust controls is clear. And that, of course, is why it is illegal to release beavers anywhere in the UK without a licence.

    Ironically, beavers might have fared better without the baleful help of the environmentalists. Landowners are not anti-nature ogres. Many are quietly getting on with rewilding schemes of varying sizes, normally alongside – but sometimes instead of – their farming operations. Indeed, Britain is experiencing a boom in habitat creation. I would be eager to experiment with beavers in the burn on my farm. What stops me is the thought that I might not easily be allowed to cull them or even eradicate them, as I could any other rodent or, for example, deer, if the damage proved to outweigh the benefits.

    And that is rather the point: we’re rapidly losing control of the countryside. Guerilla rewilders feel entitled to act as they will, while policymakers often seem to share their agenda. In contrast, those of us who have to live with the consequences of their decisions are left powerless.

    Precedents from other reintroductions are concerning. Some have become steadily less popular when it becomes apparent that populations can grow unchecked if there are few natural predators and the animal remains protected forever. Red kites, numerous though still being fed by well-meaning people, are now seen as a menace by many in the Chilterns.

    By surrendering the conservation narrative to “environmentalists”, most of whom are armchair land managers with no need to take a holistic view, we have stymied progress on this and many other issues. If we love wildlife and want to see it flourishing in the countryside, we have also to be prepared to cull it to preserve a balance. In the meantime, politicians need to stop listening to eco-fanatics and be firm in enforcing the law to protect property rights, while working with landowners to find opportunities for animal reintroductions without the heat and noise being generated by guerrilla rewilders.

    Jamie Blackett farms in Dumfriesshire and is the author of ‘Red Rag to a Bull’ and ‘Land of Milk and Honey’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/12/a-lawless-eco-elite-now-rules-rural-britain/

    Blackett refers to the gardening beaver in Wales:
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/11/beaver-wales-sighting-pembrokeshire-garden/

    Derek Gow, a wildlife expert, said it was highly unusual to spot a wild beaver in a domestic setting. The ecologist told The Telegraph: “It’s quite good that the animal’s out. The licensing system to try and release beavers in Wales is just useless. Obviously somebody has somehow from somewhere released some beavers there. That’s a good thing.

    “We know that beavers deliver life. All the science there is, and there is a vast body of scientific material with regard to this creature, shows you that when they create landscapes and impound water, that every class of life that uses water returns in great abundance. The fact that there are beavers now in Wales is entirely welcome.”

    A spokesman for Wildlife Trust Wales said: “We are aware of a small number of beavers living wild in a handful of river catchments in Wales, some of which have been present for many years. We are keen to receive reports of beavers in the wild and we can offer advice and assistance to landowners who have beavers on their land.”

    I don’t think the public will be seeking the advice of Mr Gow or WTW…

    1. Maybe that other illegal wildlife, needs to be let loose in the countryside with no benefits.

      Let’s see how well it fares by being forced to live off the land. Citizens, arm yourselves and shoot on sight.

    2. There is a very beautiful place in Staffordshire called Trentham Gardens. It has a large lake with a path round it, woods and some formal gardens as well. It is a lovely place to go for a walk and we do frequently, making full use of our annual membership.

      Recently, the owners of the gardens decided it would be good for the environment to introduce beavers to the area. Cue the construction of a very ugly fence around the lake running alongside the lake path, equally ugly fence cages around some of the trees (not all – the choice of trees seems a bit random), gates along the path and a large, ugly metal fence thing across the waterfall at the end of the lake, presumably to stop the beavers legging it.

      So what was once a very lovely place to take a walk in the countryside is now like taking a stroll around the perimeter fence of Stalag 13. And all for the sake of introducing 4 beavers into an area that doesn’t need improvement and that is paid for by its visitors, who seem to come a very poor second in the priorities of the garden’s owners.

      1. My ex had his graduation ceremony there- from what was North Staffs Poly. It was lovely.

        1. Hi LotL. Yes, it used to be quite a big occasion with marquees and stuff. Covid stopped it, not sure if it resumed last year.

    3. Maybe they’ve travelled up the Severn. They have decided to introduce beavers near Shrewsbury.

  59. Just noticed today’s headline. Mounting evidence that Labour is rattled by the PM’s strong leadership?

    What?
    The useless errand boy only said yesterday that women don’t have penises!
    Is that what counts as “strong leadership” these days?
    Give me strength.
    I’m tired of the media’s attempts to gaslight us.

    1. ‘Penises’? Penii!

      I have never know a chap (or pretend chap) to have more than one! 🤣

      1. Pagan pantheons featured a fair few multi-breasted goddesses. Were all fertility deities female? No multi-penised gods?

        1. Third declension (mixed)

          Singular————————————————Plural

          Nom. pēnis——————————————pēnēs
          Acc. pēnem—————————————–pēnēs / -īs
          Gen. pēnis——————————————-pēnium / -um
          Dat. pēnī———————————————-pēnibus
          Abl. pēne———————————————pēnibus

          The declension tables very seldom include the vocative. Winston Churchill said the vocative was unnecessary because he never needed to address a table.

          However he might have liked to have said: ” You prick!” to his chancellor and “You pricks!” to the opposition front bench.

          1. You’ve missed out the Vocative – but that is only used when addressing someone like Neil Starmer.

          2. No I didn’t – I commented on the fact that the declension tables usually omit the vocative which in this particular case is necessary! In most – but not all – cases the vocative is the same as the nominative.

            It is difficult to post columns – you have to put in dashes and use trial and error to line them up which is why it took some time to get my post up with the fact that calling someone a prick in Latin would require the vocative case.

          3. I put that bit in to set up the joke about Starmer!
            PS – you decline a noun but conjugate a verb.

          5. I put that bit in to set up the joke about Starmer!
            PS – you decline a noun but conjugate a verb.

        2. Third declension (mixed)

          Singular————————————————Plural

          Nom. pēnis——————————————pēnēs
          Acc. pēnem—————————————–pēnēs / -īs
          Gen. pēnis——————————————-pēnium / -um
          Dat. pēnī———————————————-pēnibus
          Abl. pēne———————————————pēnibus

          The conjugation tables very seldom include the vocative. Winston Churchill said the vocative was unnecessary because he never needed to address a table.

          However he might have liked to have said: ” You prick!” to his chancellor and “You pricks!” to the opposition front bench.

        3. Third declension (mixed)

          Singular————————————————Plural

          Nom. pēnis——————————————pēnēs
          Acc. pēnem—————————————–pēnēs / -īs
          Gen. pēnis——————————————-pēnium / -um
          Dat. pēnī———————————————-pēnibus
          Abl. pēne———————————————pēnibus

          The conjugation tables very seldom include the vocative. Winston Churchill said the vocative was unnecessary because he never needed to address a table.

          However he might have liked to have said: ” You prick!” to his chancellor and “You pricks!” to the opposition front bench.

        4. Third declension (mixed)

          Singular————————————————Plural

          Nom. pēnis——————————————pēnēs
          Acc. pēnem—————————————–pēnēs / -īs
          Gen. pēnis——————————————-pēnium / -um
          Dat. pēnī———————————————-pēnibus
          Abl. pēne———————————————pēnibus

          The conjugation tables very seldom include the vocative. Winston Churchill said the vocative was unnecessary because he never needed to address a table.

          However he might have liked to have said: ” You prick!” to his chancellor and “You pricks!” to the opposition front bench.

    2. You forgot the cringing stance in the presence of Biden, like a Hindu delivery boy would.

    3. In todays world to say that women don’t have a penis is pretty tough and strong speech, it goes against perceived wisdom.

      Budweiser won’t be sending him any free bud light after he said that.

  60. Hi all

    Just looked at front page of daily fail and saw the laydees competing for “best dressed” prize. How ghastly these women look and one’s a bloke it looks like. How can they demean themselves like this?

    1. The Warqueen’s there in some sleeveless floral print lark. Thankfully in none of the photos but if you do see a 5’8 goddess with a waspish crone that’s the Warqueen and mother in law. The blonde will likely be scowling until there’s horsies about.

    3. They were just the slappers that the DM brings out every holiday to show drunken misbehaviour.

    4. I think the DM bypasses the pictures of well dressed women and homes in on the sartorial disasters so that everyone can laugh at them.

      I think it’s nice that everyone gets out their glad rags and has a good time, especially at this time of year.

  61. Complete memory miss.

    I just woke up at 13:25 and thought, “I must have slept through for 12+ hours.” but checked disqus ‘by oldest’ and find I posted a story about 7 hours ago.

    I remember none of it – help. psychiatrist!

          6. I’m relying on a good snifter of Ruby Port just before bed-time.

            It’s worked before.

  62. The green agenda has become an embarrassing failure. 14 April 2023.

    It may well be that Rishi Sunak is experiencing similar sentiments. The government’s initiative to rationalise recycling bin collections, with the result that all homes could end up having up to seven wheelie bins or other containers, seems to have been binned itself. Meanwhile, the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which seeks to persuade us to rip out our boilers and install heat pumps instead, has turned out to be a miserable failure, with only 10,000 installations in its first year. The government had made enough money available for three times that number – and by the end of the decade is counting on 600,000 installations every year. Nor is the great switch to electric cars exactly going to plan: the proportion of car sales made up by pure electric vehicles has stalled at 16 per cent, with petrol cars still accounting for a stubborn 41 per cent in March.

    Another small step on the Nottlerisation of the Telegraph? The measures themselves are of course redolent of any totalitarian Marxist State with a Command Economy where The Party knows best about everything, until it turns out that it doesn’t know anything at all; though it’s usually too late by then. One suspects that will be true here as well!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/14/the-green-agenda-has-become-an-embarrassing-failure/

      1. Afternoon Fiscal. Back in the days before the first version of Nottl when we used to post on the Telegraph threads, they used to censor my posts quite shamelessly, culminating finally in one where they rewrote the entire comment and then froze it so I couldn’t change it back. Lol!

        1. They shadow banned me for being ‘counter narrative’ and posting links to Dr Mike Yeadon and Dr Wolfgang Wodarg.

      2. No ban here Fiscal so you can Nottl all you like! Just post what you would have said on the DT for our enjoyment as Percival Rattstrangler does.

    2. One of the problems getting people to buy heat pumps is that they are far more costly to run than the makers claim.

      This not only bites the buyer, but it also requires the Government to build additional power stations to supply the extra electricity.

      2. Same here; my garden furniture, including recliner, is made of teak. I do, however, have wheelie bins.

    2. The previous owners of our house had a BBQ built into the wall – I don’t think we’ve used it for at least 25 years…….. does it make us upper class?

    3. The previous owners of our house had a BBQ built into the wall – I don’t think we’ve used it for at least 25 years…….. does it make us upper class?

    4. We had two council provided wheelie bins in our last place. Does that make us posh gardeners?

      1. We have 4, yar boo sucks

        Black =Rubbish
        Green= Garden Waste (costs 40 quid
        Purple= dry clean paper & cardboard N0 shreddies
        Beige = rest of recycling

        1. All we have is a green box, a green bag and a roll of beige binliner bags. We have to dispose of our garden waste at the tip.

          1. We have a blue bin for recyclable stuff and a green bin for everything else. What little garden waste there is is composted

        4. Just two bins here:
          Standard-sized for general household rubbish (green).
          Narrower one for recycling (brown).

          All garden waste, newspapers, cardboard, electrical, timber, metal, cans, chemical, hazardous, plastics and other assorted refuse to be taken to the local council tip. We have three within a five-mile radius. One of those is a small area in the centre of the village for cardboard, paper, metal and plastic waste. Everything else may be taken to the larger facilities.

        5. I have black (general rubbish collected once a fortnight)
          Black with purple lid (recycling, same collection gap)
          Two green (garden waste – as recycling bin)
          Blue plastic bag (paper).

      2. I find ours makes a great fishpond.

        It’s a good place to store them before slinging them on the barbie at any rate.

  64. I didn’t realise that FSD on a Testa means Full Self Driving and is available on all new Teslas.
    In software this is known aa Crippleware and is sneaky way of selling a product that can do something extra but only if you pay a subscription. You may also buy a product that fully functions and stops doing so after a short time unless you pay extra or subscribe.

    Any ideas what the latter product is called?

    https://youtube.com/shorts/5iQYr4pZGQs?feature=share

      1. 11, Jules, I’ve stuck with Win 7 professional.

        I have the software if anyone would like a copy.

    4. My little car is not self driving even though it has all of this lane centering and cruise control stuff. I found this out by surprise when we were driving back from holiday when I had just one hand gently holding the bottom of the steering wheel. All hell broke loose with flashing lights and high volume buzzers accompanying a warning message on the dash telling me to hold the steering wheel properly.

      I prefer the warnings that it comes up with after a couple of hours driving when it quietly suggests a coffee break.

  65. An interesting juxtaposition of two articles in the Telegraph last night.

    No proof that masks work against Covid was right beside India reintroduces mask mandates.

    1. If they’re smart, the Conservatives won’t let this drop. Defending the indefensible brought down Sturgeon, and the same could happen to Starmer if he prevaricates on the transgender issue.

          5. She didn’t shoot Rhett though she would have done if he had carried on dissing her dress made from curtains…

    3. Martin Scorcese directed = Good! Music = Good! Lack of subtitles to understand the song and what they are saying to each other = Bad! Shirt open at the top button but tie (half) worn = Worse! Neither pair fastening their seat-belts = Potentially Positively Disastrous!

    4. The UK’s obsession with things American robbed us of sharing a vast range of beautiful music from that era.

  68. It’s being under-reported in Britain as far as I can see, but Macron went to China last week and came back proclaiming that Europe should divorce from the US; Charles Michel, President of the European Council is saying the same today and at the same time the German Foreign Minister is in China lecturing Xi about his responsibilities to tell Russia to pull out of Ukraine.
    Seems that France has broken away, but (US occupied) Germany has not.

      1. Yeah, the odd reference to cheese-eating surrender monkeys didn’t go down too well, I’m guessing.

        At the German peace marches in March, there were a few “Amies Go Home” placards visible in some photos.

    2. Toyboy poking his nose in us he ?
      The last time the French were in those almost Chinese area’s they had a bit of a problem. Mid 1950s I believe. Another interferring episode listed and lost in their history.

        1. Only one I’ve got Bill.
          Can I take the sidestepping brick walling bustards to court for dereliction of duty?

          2. Yeah, I’ve tried A&E twice two years ago. When it first restarted.
            And I was in for 3 days just before last Christmas. The whole situation gets worse every day.
            I’ve now got a face to face at the end of the month.
            Hopefully it won’t be cancelled.

          4. Good luck mate! I should have been seeing the so-called consultant this afternoon but have been slaving in the kitchen for the visit of the grand monsters tomorrow. Only got a month + to wait for next attempt- we shall see…

  70. Knock, Knock – Who’s there?

    Joe O’Biden visiting Knock where, in 1879, the peasants were conned into believing a few photographs projected onto the gable end of a church was an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint John the Evangelist, angels, and Jesus Christ (the Lamb of God). It now has a Marian shrine, a basilica and a multi-billion pound tourist business. I am praying for another miracle but not that sort.
    https://media.knockshrine.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20123906/IMG_7499-1024×768.jpeg

  71. Tougher sanctions will leave Putin with nowhere to hide. 14 April 2023.

    It is time for the West to get tough with some former Soviet satellites, and ensure the Kremlin’s war machine is fully isolated.

    New evidence released in recent weeks shows why it is more important than ever to act. Sanctions simply are not working as they should. The Kremlin has been able to swiftly and neatly bypass nearly every barrier placed in its way.

    Sanctions might more aptly be described as: if you don’t do as I say I’m going to shoot myself in the foot. They must by their very nature be a double edged sword. A denial of service must always imply some loss to yourself! That they have never yet succeeded in achieving their aims tells you everything you need to know about them. This is even more applicable in the present situation where Russia retains open relations with the majority of the world’s countries; many openly supportive, (something omitted by the author) and eager to deal for reduced prices. There is good reason to believe that Russia is winning this part of the war!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/14/tougher-sanctions-will-leave-putin-with-nowhere-to-hide/

  72. After a few days break away from everything, grocery shopping done and put away, a weekend of nothing planned to look forward to, here’s hoping all is well in Nottler kingdom!! See y’all around!

    2. We’re off to Cyprus for 10 days on Sunday. First holiday for three and a half years.
      Looks like it could be 20-25C next week. That’ll do us.

      1. Hope you both have a lovely time and come back here feeling relaxed and refreshed!!

        1. Thank you Jill. We hope so too. The hotel we’re going to has 5000+ Tripadvisor comments and show a 5 rating. A NoTTLer recommended it but can’t remember who.

          1. It wasn’t me !

            BTW..Urchins are a delicacy. Once you crack them open you eat their reproductive organs…just sayin’….apparently they taste fishy… :@)

          2. Mmmmm. I was always told there are only two things in the world that taste like fish and one of them is fish…….

          1. It’s a nice place and near the sea, Watch out for the sea urchins and their hurty spines. Make sure vw has tweezers for the extraction operation.

          2. We’re not beach people, Tom. Swimming pool for us but will visit the harbour and town. As we’ve never been to Cyprus it will all be an adventure.

          5. Paphos, or just outside it, is where I first had a properly cooked lamb shank – buried in a fire-pit for seven hours – it was delicious.

          6. It’s a great place to visit. Watch out for seafood prices for fresh fish close to the beaches, you can be horribly surprised by restaurant bills.
            It can be a bit eerie but a wander along the buffer zone in Nicosia is fascinating. (assuming things haven’t changed since the late 1990’s early 2000’s) .
            Make sure to visit both sides of the island, the differences are very interesting.

            Enjoy your trip.

          9. I like the Turkish side of Nicosia. Kyrenia is worth a visit too. An old friend I was at York Art School with in the 70s is from Kyrenia and now lives in Limassol.

          10. I used to use a small restaurant regularly, and became known to the proprietors. My wife was coming over for the weekend and I booked as usual.
            We tend to eat early by Mediterranean standards. When we arrived, we were the only guests. Then a large Israeli group arrived with senior politicians and what were obviously bodyguards.
            Other bookings appeared to be honoured later.

            For the previous week I had had the feeling that I had been being followed! My suspicions were probably correct.
            There was dancing and a party atmosphere and we joined in the noise. A more than slightly surreal experience.

      4. I’ve only done a course there, followed by a flight to Libya, but a very memorable trip up in the Troodos mountains one weekend was lovely.

  74. A bright lil’ Birdie Three today.

    Wordle 664 3/6
    🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. I might have got it in two but if there are wrong alternatives, I’ll choose them!

      Wordle 664 4/6

      ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Just a par for me.
      Wordle 664 4/6

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

  77. That’s me for this interesting day. I told the GPs that I was giving up the tablets. A delightful woman (sounded like a dinner lady) rang to “talk it through”. I remained adamant. She finally said OK. And that’s that. I’ll dispose of the tablets thoughtfully.

    Tomorrow – a bonfire. The MR is taking part in a rehearsal and performance of Haydn’s “Nelson Mass”. I was down to take part – but can no longer hold a tune (or sing in tune , for that matter). But I’ll go to the actual show – it is one of my favourites. Sang in the chorus yonks ago.

    Have a jolly evening getting your gilets jaunes ready for the fight that is to come.

    A demain.

    1. Bad luck re the singing Bill but you’ll enjoy watching. Interesting about you giving up the tablets. May I ask which? Alf was prescribed an inhaler a few weeks ago, which was then changed by the surgery pretty soon afterwards. New inhaler didn’t suit him so he stopped taking it, told the surgery, and has at last been referred for a CT scan. I stopped taking Amlodipine some weeks ago, it made me feel bloody awful after a while. Anyway hope you’ll soon be feeling ticketyboo again.

        1. Did you have the annoying, dry cough and headaches? It can be an unpleasant drug and when I was in the pharmacy a lot of patients changed tablets. Same as the bloomin’ statins!

          1. No – I just felt, very quickly – within 10 minutes – dizzy and not-with-it.

            Something will eventually take me off. I’d rather it wasn’t “medicine”….

        2. Well I’m glad you’re feeling fine. I think GOs don’t care to listen properly to their patients, they like to tell people what they must have and that’s the end of it We all have to take note of how these drugs affect us not just blindly go along with things.

      2. In addition. I was on Lercanipidine and Ramipril and it was making me very strange. When i reported my alarming symptoms to a locum at my practice they sent me to A&E with a suspected heart attack. Total effing waste of time, Spent many hours waiting to be discharged via a non existent consultant. I am beginning to wonder how much they get for pimping drugs.

        1. I have been taking Ramapril for three years without any problems; it is remarkably effective at controlling my BP.

          IMHO, the problem probably lies with the Lurkininthepipedine …

          1. I’ve been switched from Ramipril to Entresto and from Warfarin to Clopidogeral.

        2. Can you define ‘strange’, Phil? I’ve been on Ramipril for years with no issues, but the BP has crept up. So the GP put me on Lercanidipine. Assured me there was no downside. So I was slightly alarmed to receive a communication from Pharmacy2U, saying one of their pharmacists would like to discuss the introduction of this med with me by phone.

          I’ve read the Patient Information Leaflet, and am aware of the published common, less common and rare side effects, and can’t say I’ve noticed any of them. But – after the last three years – I’m highly suspicious of Big Pharma. The pharmacist is phoning again in two weeks, so clearly these drugs are not entirely benign…

          2. To begin with I stopped taking Lercanipidine and my adverse symptoms abated. Directly related or a mix of meds i have no idea.

            It began with a buzzing in the ears. Progressing into a beat. Then the same beat in the back of my throat. Obviously my heart beat. Dizziness and mild nausea.

            When i reported my symptoms to a GP she called me in for an ECG. She said she believed i had had a heart attack and sent me to hospital.

            The hospital were curious as to why i was there as i had not had a heart attack.

            This GP wasn’t my regular one. Also she didn’t have her computer on and wasn’t scanning my history.

        3. Can you define ‘strange’, Phil? I’ve been on Ramipril for years with no issues, but the BP has crept up. So the GP put me on Lercanidipine. Assured me there was no downside. So I was slightly alarmed to receive a communication from Pharmacy2U, saying one of their pharmacists would like to discuss the introduction of this med with me by phone.

          I’ve read the Patient Information Leaflet, and am aware of the published common, less common and rare side effects, and can’t say I’ve noticed any of them. But – after the last three years – I’m highly suspicious of Big Pharma. The pharmacist is phoning again in two weeks, so clearly these drugs are not entirely benign…

        4. I’m beginning to suspect GPs get paid extra for many, if not all the
          Drugs they write scripts for. I know that doesn’t really make sense but when you think of the gene therapy jabs that were pushed at £12.50 a shot extra for the doc … I am positive they’re paid extra for statins, something Alf was told by a GP she “was obliged” to offer him even though his cholesterol level was 3.6! The criterion has been changed, no longer your c level, it’s your profile”.

    2. Going straight cold turkey might be the Norfolkian way, but be careful, a gentle withdrawal could give room for manoeuvre if it causes problems.
      With wishes for the very best of good luck.

  78. Got back from Nottingham about 3:15, diverting via Blue Monkey Brewery Shop near IKEA at Ilkeston for a few bottles of ales.
    Not bad, 1h10 from leaving home in the van and getting off the tram in the city centre.
    An enjoyable, if rather painful 1h lunchtime concert. The seats were bloody torture!

    1. My comment:

      “I’m withdrawing my limit of £300/day as often as I can, without buggering up any current DDs and SOs.“

    1. Much as I dislike Macron, the changes are necessary.
      I am sure they could have found a better way of doing it, but long-term they’re needed

      1. MOH will start receiving her OAP this coming December. She’ll have lost 6 years of pension. I did just point out to her that she was warned about it some 7 or 8 years ago. An immediate pensionable age increase would have caused something similar to what we’re seeing in France, hopefully.

        1. It’s all about the timing, we were lucky, HG and I are the same age; she only had an extra year before hers was payable and mine came in at 65. I used to tease her that I was married to an OAP when I wasn’t eligible for mine.

          2. We’ve been “an item” for nearly 55 years, and “officially” an item for 50 this year.

            She has the patience of a Saint and the philosophy of Aristotle and I cannot imagine being without her!

      2. It’s not about the changes, it’s about the WEF take over of government. Macron is WEF ‘young global leader’. The pension changes were the last straw, and the fact that this was done in a non-democratic manner underlined the tyranny which is now emerging from behind the curtain.

        1. Probably true, but the courts have approved it, and from a purely economic perspective it’s necessary.

          I am far, far more concerned by the demographic changes being encouraged by your behind the curtain people. People arriving from all over the world, who will never produce enough to pay for the pensions of the already and nearly retired, let alone the people in the 50-64 age ranges.
          And those arriving won’t roll over, they will take; violently if necessary.

          It won’t affect the bastards in charge, they are totally insulated from financial reality.

      1. They’ll need about 10 for the number of twisted criminals in the big cooncil building!

    3. Most people think that the SNP symbol represents a thistle.

      Those of us in-the-know, though, are persuaded that it is, in fact, a money-bag.

          1. Yes, and am pretty knackered.
            Luckily, since I was ten, I have had no dealings with British coppers. When I was ten, I threw a stone through a window of a derelict house. A plod appeared from out of nowhere and told me off. Have been quite good ever since. Hence my unfamiliarity with plod transport.

  84. I am saddened to see how many Nottlers appear to suffer from heart and BP problems and then it occurred to me.
    I’m the problem, and my initial thought was: “guilty as charged.” but after further careful consideration:

    I’m not the problem after all, it’s the drugs

    2. I was OK until my GP started prescribing drugs for blood pressure.
      The drugs gave me heart rhythm irregularity.
      A cardiologist diagnosed atrial fibrillation and prescribed a different set of drugs followed by a cardioversion.
      I had an ECG at the heart centre but prior to the procedure I asked the nurse to explain why my ECG demanded a cardioversion,
      After a discussion behind the scenes the nurse returned saying I was in sinus and was immediatelly discharged.
      Since then I decide which drugs and dosage I take based on my personal interpretive ECG and pulse oximeter readings.

      1. You are fortunate to have the knowledge and skills; so many don’t.
        Best of luck, and a long life!

        1. Thanks sosraboc,

          I did take a cardiology online examination where questions came up randomly and couldn’t be predicted. I got a score of 80%.
          I actually went further and took the advanced test but got only 40%.
          I don’t know how that should be interpreted cardiologically but it waa good enough for me to challenge some of the treatment regimes propsed by the medical professionals I came across.

  85. More on the rail closure between Oxford and Didcot. Notwork Rail reckons it can dig out the old abutment and replace it with a new one in 8 weeks…

    https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/network-rail-engineers-work-around-the-clock-to-repair-nuneham-viaduct-with-the-line-expected-to-be-closed-until-early-june

    This is what NW had been apparently monitoring for some time…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/37c5a18639bc8731fa964d2644b5fc1a154ae1b6e11a6c6eccc8cae191fed703.jpg

      1. “The line closed after monitoring equipment installed by Network Rail detected increasingly significant movements of the viaduct. The company described this movement as a ‘rapid deterioration’ of the bridge that previously posed no risk to trains or passengers.”
        (Oxford Mail)

        1. “The company described this movement as a ‘rapid deterioration’ of the bridge that previously posed no risk to trains or passengers.”

          Well, they would, wouldn’t they?

    2. 8 Weeks??? And the bloody rest!

      Slew the track sideways to a temporary alignment, clear of the bridge, get the Sappers to put a triple-triple Bailey in similar to ones used in ’45 at the end of the war to replace railway bridges in Europe, renew the entire bridge and reinstate back to the original alignment.

    1. 373399+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      18 years in Huddersfield,16 plus years in rotherham long time to suffer shut eye
      syndrome OG.

    2. Dracu-Phizzee cuts out the middleman, and sucks the blood directly from his victims.
      Allegedly…

      1. ‘‘A thousand guilders? The mayor looked blue,
        And so did the corporation, too”

  90. Civil servants are going on strike again. This’d be the same bunch who Serwotka said ‘err, go back to work’ as no one noticed or cared. Their striking made NO difference to the public. When this becomes common knowledge the strike will end but the useless government will make no effort to simply destroy all those jobs. It’s an ideal opportunity for real reform of the civil service, NHS – no doubt that’ll be completely wasted by the cretins in government.

      1. Aye – I’ve been waiting 6 months for a kidney stone op. I imagine they’ll ignore it until something goes wrong then I’ll happily sue.

        However… what’s the point? Government pays, not the hospital executive board. That’s the problem. There is no accountability, no risk, no interest in the customer. The useless Tories have had 13 miserable wasted years to break up big state and they’ve just made it bigger and more useless.

    3. What your mob of slackers as well?

      The Canadian civil service types are about to go on strike for more of everything. Massive pay raises (up to 30% in some cases), permanent work from home, extra pay for shift work after 4PM, new ergonomic desks for when they must go into the office, late work meal allowances and so on and so on.

      The union has told the poor dears that they will need to turn up on the picket line, they cannot strike from home. The betting is that some of them cannot find their office building.

  91. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/14/reform-uk-would-ban-gender-teaching-in-schools-says-leader/

    Reform banning gender ideology:

    No. This isn’t the right approach. The right one is school vouchers. Don’t ban from on high, break the state machine up. Remove the power of big government to control what is taught. If parents can choose where their money goes then they are invested in the education of their child.

    That ensures that the customer – the parent by proxy of the child – demands a better product. Don’t dictate: demolish. Break apart big, entrenched, useless government.

    1. “Richard Tice will also unveil a new ‘net zero’ policy on migration”

      We’ve had one for years. For every Briton unemployed and on benefits, there is a cheap (and often illegal) imported worker, hence net zero unemployed…

  92. I’m not going to bed but my battery is almost flat. And my phone battery.
    Hopefully back on line Tmz. I’m not sure it should be like this, but life becomes tougher by the day. All prearranged for us of course.
    No wonder they took away all the guns.

      1. My word that goes on forever TB. 😉 but it seems that our political classes were more concerned with keeping the people happy and comfortable.
        Unlike our modern day versions. Who clearly believe they are more important and are extremely self-serving.
        I vaguely remember my parents paying 6 pence for a visit to GP surgery.
        And being chased in our garden at home for treatment to my ears around 4 years old. I hated it.
        They use to cycle to cover their daily routine.

      1. Health care before the NHS

        https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/chapter/inheritance

        We are a pragmatic race. We make things work even when they seem, by theory, to be unworkable. We shall probably do the same with our health services.
        Lord Horder 1939

        Having been at the centre since the earliest planning day I am well aware of the many occasions on which mistakes have been made and yet, not withstanding considerable knowledge of comparable services of other countries, in a time of need for myself or my family I would now rather take my chance at random in the British National Health Service than in any other service I know.
        Sir George Godber 1972

        People did not trouble GPs without good cause. Early in recovery patients might dispense with their services. Most had to pay for the doctor and the medicines. The professional attitude to working-class patients was frequently robust, and sometimes downright rude, but this was accepted with tolerance. In middle-class homes there were greater courtesies. There was the ritual preparation of a napkin, a spoon and a glass of water for the doctor’s visit. There might be five shillings (25p) on the mantelpiece for the fee; three and sixpence (17½) if the family was not so well off. High up the social scale the doctor might be treated as a rather superior type of servant.

        General practice and primary health care

        General practice covered workers under Lloyd George’s National Insurance Act of 1911, but not their wives and families, whose proper demands were curtailed by the need to pay fees for service.4 When they were sick, it was the GP to whom people wished to turn. The work of the GP had been described in idealistic terms by Lord Dawson in his report of 1920, which laid out the structure a health service might take.5 The GP should be accessible, attend patients at home or in the surgery, carry out treatment within his competence and obtain specialist help when it was needed. He would attend in childbirth and advise on how to prevent disease and improve the conditions of life among the patients. He should play a part in antenatal supervision, child welfare, physical culture, venereal disease and industrial medicine. Nursing should be available, based with the doctor in the primary health centres Dawson envisaged.

        Contents
        Health care before the NHS
        Health care before the NHS
        In this chapter:
        Introduction – the inheritance of the NHS
        General practice and primary health care
        Local authority services
        Hospital services
        Pharmaceuticals
        Nursing
        Towards a health system
        We are a pragmatic race. We make things work even when they seem, by theory, to be unworkable. We shall probably do the same with our health services.
        Lord Horder 19391

        Having been at the centre since the earliest planning day I am well aware of the many occasions on which mistakes have been made and yet, not withstanding considerable knowledge of comparable services of other countries, in a time of need for myself or my family I would now rather take my chance at random in the British National Health Service than in any other service I know.
        Sir George Godber 19722

        Introduction – the inheritance of the NHS
        Of course the health service in this country did not begin in the year 1948. Many of us have associations with the between-the-wars health service; a great patchwork, a good deal of good intentions, a great deal of inadequacies.
        The Rt Hon Jennie Lee MP, Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Aneurin Bevan’s widow)3

        The designers of the NHS did not start with a clean sheet of paper. The service was a rationalisation of what existed, conditioned by a need to cajole rather than coerce somewhat reactionary interest groups. Some countries, such as New Zealand and Sweden, had forms of health service but they were not used as models; insularity of outlook prevented that. On the basis of wartime experience it was the hospital service that was most in need of reorganisation. Hospitals were in a muddle and financially at the end of their tether. There were prestigious voluntary hospitals, municipal hospitals displaying the entire spectrum of standards and entrepreneurial cottage hospitals in which local doctors could resurrect dormant surgical skills. In 1948 it had been little more than a decade since the first sulphonamide gave doctors a powerful weapon against streptococcal, meningococcal and gonococcal infections. The next ten years saw dramatic improvements in treatment greatly accelerated by research and development carried out by the medical equipment and pharmaceutical industries.

        General practice and primary health care
        General practice covered workers under Lloyd George’s National Insurance Act of 1911, but not their wives and families, whose proper demands were curtailed by the need to pay fees for service.4 When they were sick, it was the GP to whom people wished to turn. The work of the GP had been described in idealistic terms by Lord Dawson in his report of 1920, which laid out the structure a health service might take.5 The GP should be accessible, attend patients at home or in the surgery, carry out treatment within his competence and obtain specialist help when it was needed. He would attend in childbirth and advise on how to prevent disease and improve the conditions of life among the patients. He should play a part in antenatal supervision, child welfare, physical culture, venereal disease and industrial medicine. Nursing should be available, based with the doctor in the primary health centres Dawson envisaged.

        This picture was in stark contrast to the day-to-day pattern of the GP’s life. In inner cities, overcrowding led to domestic violence, lice infestation and skin diseases such as impetigo. CAH Watts, a GP writing of his experiences in a mining community before the second world war, recalled the waiting room with rows of seats for about 60 patients who sat facing a high bench like a bank counter.6 Behind stood the three doctors and, behind them, the dispenser. The doctor called the next patient to come forward. Having listened to the complaint, he turned to the dispenser to order the appropriate remedy. There was rarely any attempt at examination. Visits usually numbered about 50 and were made by bicycle. Diphtheria was endemic and every sore throat was viewed with suspicion. Antiserum was one of the few active treatments available to the GP, and if given within 24 hours of onset, the results were excellent. Otherwise, the mortality was about 20 per cent. Patients with diphtheria or scarlet fever were taken away in a yellow fever van to the infectious diseases hospital for at least six weeks; no visitors were allowed. Lobar pneumonia was common, and with the more fortunate patients, there was a crisis about the seventh day. It struck terror into the patients’ and the doctors’ hearts, for the mortality was popularly thought to be at least 50 per cent, and sulphonamides were not invariably curative. Most dreaded was tuberculosis, blood in the handkerchief after a fit of coughing. Some families were especially vulnerable, and it tended to strike young people. The course could be lingering or extremely rapid, with death within weeks. Lung cancer was rare. If it occurred, it would probably not be recognised.

        Almost half the babies were delivered at home, mainly a matter for midwives. Pain relief in labour, although available in hospital, might not be provided in the home. When things went wrong, the GP would be summoned, because procedures such as breech birth or manual removal of the placenta might be required. Most GPs used chloroform as an anaesthetic, though some felt it was quicker and safer without. As they might have neither the skills nor the equipment to handle problems, in many places obstetric ‘flying squads’, based on the hospitals, had been established. These could deal with haemorrhage, shock and eclampsia (fits during late pregnancy, labour and the period shortly after), transfuse patients, give anaesthetics, and undertake operative obstetrics in the home.7 Tales of obstetric disaster, haemorrhage after delivery and problems with forceps were only too common, although remarkably many women survived crises unthinkable today. Serious infections (puerperal sepsis) killed mothers after childbirth, particularly if there were sore throats going round.

        Pain and discomfort were accepted as part of life to be endured with stoicism. The family doctor had to be tough to get on with his many interesting and rewarding tasks. If he had access to a hospital, he might set a simple fracture or reduce a dislocation. Working-class people did not expect to be comfortable. Most went hungry and their undernourished children showed evidence of rickets until vitamin D supplements, provided by welfare clinics, controlled it. Many were miserably cold in winter, unless they were roasting in front of the coal fire in the kitchen. Successful treatment by the family doctor was accepted with gratitude and the many failures were tolerated without rancour or recrimination. Patients’ expectations were not high. The death of children from infectious disease was the way of the world. Mothers of feverish children expected, if the child was not to be admitted to the fever hospital, to be told that bed rest was crucial until the fever had fully subsided. One of Watts’ predecessors in practice was described as “a right bastard but a bloody fine doctor”; he used to whip the children out of his way as he rode past. GPs’ hours were long, as most practices were single-handed and deputising services were non-existent. Local rota systems operated on a ‘knock-for-knock’ basis to make a half-day practicable. A car and a telephone were desirable – but not essential. If it mattered enough, there was always a way of contacting the doctor sooner or later.

        People did not trouble GPs without good cause. Early in recovery patients might dispense with their services. Most had to pay for the doctor and the medicines. The professional attitude to working-class patients was frequently robust, and sometimes downright rude, but this was accepted with tolerance. In middle-class homes there were greater courtesies. There was the ritual preparation of a napkin, a spoon and a glass of water for the doctor’s visit. There might be five shillings (25p) on the mantelpiece for the fee; three and sixpence (17½) if the family was not so well off. High up the social scale the doctor might be treated as a rather superior type of servant. Medical diagnosis was often of academic rather than practical importance. Treatment was limited to insulin, thyroid extract, iron, liver extract for pernicious anaemia, digitalis, the new mercurial diuretics, barbiturates, simple analgesics, morphine derivatives and harmless mixtures.8

        Entry into a practice was generally by purchase of goodwill, the usual price being one-and-a-half times the annual income.9 GPs started with a substantial debt. On average about 1,000 national insurance patients generated about £400–£500 per year, an income boosted by the care of the families who were not covered by national insurance.

        GPs and specialists
        Since the middle of the nineteenth century the voluntary hospitals had been expanding their outpatient departments, for these were their shop windows. The British Medical Association (BMA), representing the GPs’ point of view, opposed expansion because of the effect it had on GPs’ earnings, but they expanded none the less.10 By 1939, 6 million attended them every year, in spite of complaints about inadequate waiting facilities and perfunctory and inconsiderate treatment.11 In contrast, the hospitals run by local authorities had poor or non-existent outpatient departments and less reason to build up large ones. The London County Council (LCC) rigidly enforced conditions of attendance at outpatient departments to people referred by their GPs, although patients might be seen once without a doctor’s letter, then being referred back to their GP.12

        In 1946, like everyone else, Britain’s GPs were tired from six years of war. The younger ones had been called up, and the older ones had stayed behind – including many women doctors who had qualified at the time of the first world war, when medical schools had opened their doors wider to women. Some saw an atmosphere of demoralisation and disillusion, with poorer relationships within the profession than ever before.13 Those who had stayed behind had done their own work and that of their colleagues as well, and felt that doctors who had been in the services had enjoyed an interesting time. Those who had served were resentful that their practices had disintegrated, and they had returned to a vastly different world.

        Local authority services
        In 1948 there were over 150 local authorities in England that had wide and major health responsibilities. Each had a medical officer of health (MOH) who was a chief executive, responsible to his council. His department ran midwifery and child welfare services. Then there was the school health service, under the Education Act 1944, which provided “all forms of medical and dental treatment, other than domiciliary treatment, to children attending maintained schools”. It was not until 1974 that the school health service became part of the NHS. Environmental pollution, food inspection and food and drugs legislation were also within their province. Some ran district medical services under the Poor Law.

        The Local Government Act 1929 had given authorities the power to appropriate Poor Law institutions and develop them into modern hospitals. Medical officers of health (MOsH) such as Sir Frederick Menzies and Allen Daley in London, Tate and Macaulay in Middlesex, Campbell in Lincolnshire, Parry in Bristol, Ferguson in Surrey and John Charles in Newcastle had developed and extended the local authorities’ general hospitals. The local authorities also ran fever hospitals, sanatoria and mental hospitals under the supervision of the Board of Control. As a result, MOsH had a role, not only in the health of the population, but also in the cure of the sick. Allen Daley, as Sir Frederick Menzies had been before him, was interested in medical education partly because of the need to staff the LCC’s hospitals; they fought for the establishment of the British Postgraduate Medical School at their Hammersmith Hospital. Indeed, the LCC would have liked an undergraduate teaching hospital of its own.

        Local authorities ran the tuberculosis sanatoria: 32,600 beds in England and Wales. A suggested norm for tuberculosis was 1.5–2 beds for each death annually; there were 23,000 deaths and 52,000 new cases in 1947.14 The local authorities had a responsibility for infectious diseases; in the early 1930s, 800 children out of every 100,000 died annually from them. Diphtheria, which had affected 50,000 children a year, was coming under control by immunisation at the start of the NHS. In 1947 a major poliomyelitis epidemic led to 7,000 cases and 500 deaths. There were 1,693 cases in 1948, of which two-thirds were paralytic. In the record time of two weeks, the Ministry produced a 15-minute film on its early diagnosis. With the co-operation of the BMA an intensive effort was made to screen it; cinemas and halls were booked on Sundays and local doctors were invited. Within six weeks 17,500 doctors and 16,000 nurses had seen the film. By contrast, smallpox was rare, although there was an outbreak in 1948 with 78 cases and 15 deaths. Venereal disease increased with the disturbances of war but some control was kept by better systems of contact tracing.

        Health promotion
        ‘Britain’s Health’ reportHealth promotion was generally regarded as a good thing. It was stressed both by Lord Dawson in 1920 and by the 1937 report on health services produced by Political and Economic Planning (PEP), a pressure group of businessmen, educationalists, architects, economists, social scientists and sympathetic MPs such as Harold Macmillan. PEP believed that the GPs’ non-essential tasks should be removed, that standards of training and equipment should be raised to create in the GPs a more effective family health adviser, and that efforts should be made to promote healthy living to reduce the number of sick people needing continuous treatment.15 There was an active public health movement during the years of war that included GPs, public health departments, health visitors and a few health education officers.16 Health promotion met clear and obvious needs, and was directed at large-scale but simple improvements. Much effort went into sex education, venereal disease, infectious diseases, and maternal and child health. Exhortations on growing your own food, eating well on your rations, and getting fresh air and exercise were plentiful. Many leaflets were targeted at women, to teach them how to care for their families and, in the interests of hygiene, to bring death to bugs and flies. Wilson Jameson, the government’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), broke new ground when he spoke openly on the radio about the prevention of venereal disease.

        Hospital services
        War had badly damaged hospitals in urban areas; not one hospital in London had escaped the bombs. The buildings were not a rich heritage. At St George’s the flowers in the ward were placed on a glass-topped table so that the reflections could be seen. At Paddington General, the legs of the cots in the maternity department stood in tins of oil to discourage the cockroaches from crawling up. Two-thirds of the hospitals had originally been erected before 1891, and 21 per cent before 1861. They were in poor physical state and lacked diagnostic facilities, pathology and radiology, and operating theatres. During the 1920s and 1930s there had been substantial expenditure on hospitals, but hospital infrastructure, catering and heating, required urgent attention. Most steam heating systems had been introduced around 1900, and the life of boilers was about 50 years. Hospitals in 1948 provided far more accommodation for chronic illness in the elderly, both physical and mental. Medical wards were full of patients with pneumococcal pneumonia, lung abscess, acute nephritis (inflammatory disease of the kidneys), rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, tuberculosis, syphilis in all its stages and brucellosis (an infectious fever usually the result of drinking unpasteurised milk). Treatment was often based on good nursing, bed rest, barbiturate sedation at night and attention to pressure areas. Compared with today, there were few drugs to offer: salicylates for rheumatic fever, digoxin for heart disease, sulphonamides and penicillin which were controlling the pneumonias, and soon streptomycin.17 About 16,000 people were dying annually of rheumatic heart disease. Although the incidence was falling, there were still about 5,000 new cases among children and adolescents each year. Surgical wards had many patients with perforated or bleeding peptic ulcers, bone infections (osteomyelitis) and goitre, as well as urine retention from prostatic enlargement. Tuberculosis of the lungs and of the joints formed a major part of operative surgery.

        Patients were often admitted at a late stage in their disease. Diagnosis, prognosis and treatment were often a matter of clinical judgement based on bedside observation over a period of time. Anaesthetics was not yet fully distinct as a specialty and a basic knowledge of its techniques was a useful skill for any young doctor, indeed for medical students. Open ether (dropped onto a mask) was still in use, particularly for children (‘blow the gas away’). Induction with nitrous oxide or an intravenous barbiturate followed by nitrous oxide and oxygen, plus ether or triethylene, was the common technique. At the London Hospital, any house surgeon who happened to be having a rest or a cup of tea was likely to be summoned to give an anaesthetic for an emergency forceps delivery in the labour ward, above the common room.

        Virtually all hospitals were subdivided in the same way: general medical and general surgical wards. The maternity department, if one existed, would be separate, as would the gynaecology ward. Children were frequently placed in adult wards, perhaps in a cubicle. In the larger hospitals there might be separate orthopaedic wards, and provision for infectious cases or for sick members of staff. Hospitals had few consultants, specialisation being in its infancy. Generally there would be only two or three on any one ward. The consultants and the ward sisters therefore came to know each other’s ways, and to trust and be loyal to each other. It fell to the sister to help and train newly qualified doctors in the ways of the ‘chief’. In the traditional medical ‘firm’ junior doctors of all grades worked predominantly for one or two consultants, ensuring continuity of care for the patients, a clear chain of command, regular contact that helped the education of the juniors and camaraderie under pressure.18 The junior doctors, virtually always unmarried, lived in a bachelors’ mess and were available night and day.

          2. Not sure what I had – but because I didn’t cry I was first to go to the operating theatre

            There were three or four other kids on the trolley being wheeled along. When I came round I was choking on horrible gunk and my throat was so sore.

          5. I have more than the average number of legs and fewer than the average number of bladders, having had gall removed about seven or eight years ago.

          7. I am missing an appendix. It be was removed when they were treating me for an intestinal cyst when I as an infant.

            Edit: I still have the stomach scar but magnified by a hundred and a dimple in my thigh and scar in my ankle where they put the blood transfusion in. I think blood transfusion was required after the stitches burst but my late mother never properly described the circumstances.

            I believe they removed the appendix as a formality, when the occasion arose, in the fifties.

          8. I had acute appendicitis, one Sunday in January 1959. I was whisked off to hospital in an ambulance and had it removed that evening. The scar is there, but not a problem.

    2. “When I started in 1974 (ouch) I worked on average 120 hours a week over a two-week period, generally with alternate nights and weekends off”
      I can’t quite get that to add up.

  95. Evening, all. What is the lead letter writer on? What strong leadership? As the cons are anything but conservative, all Labour has to do is field some decent candidates to be home and hosed (or possibly end up in a coalition with the illiberal undemocrats).

    2. 373399+ up ticks,

      Evening C,

      ALL three have had equal shares in the coalition formed 3 plus decades ago.

  97. Goodnight and God bless, Gentlefolk.

    Taking to my bed having consumed 3 glasses of Co-op rotgut port and hoping to sleep.

    A la matin.

    1. Now on glass 4. Waiting for download.

      That didn’t work 05:49 and still here, despite walking down to the bank’s ATM.

      God, that’s tiring.

    2. Morning Tom. Port is a favourite of mine if I drink at all. I like quite a few wines but just don’t drink a lot of it. A small glass is enough. But what I was going to say, was, is rotgut port any good? Have a nice port, that will help you sleep. Ever tried Fonseca Bin 27? Alf used to sell it when working for Seagram. It’s dry nice. It’s always worth drinking a decent port, or wine!

      1. I call it ‘rotgut’, vw ,cos it’s cheap from the local Co-op at £7.85 per 70 cl bottle.

  98. Guess everyone is up the pub;-)
    Anyway, after two busy days, am off to bed. Another busy day tomorrow but at least all the food prep is done. All we need now is the promised sun and dryness tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
    Goodnight Y’all.

    3. Enjoy your day with the family, look forward to hearing all about it on Sunday ;-))

      1. Have to ever tried E Bay for Kindle books

        I got twenty odd Robert B Parker ones for about 4 squid

    2. Good morning, Geoff. The e-mail address I have for you doesn’t seem to work. Could you possibly mail me over the weekend so that I can check?

    4. Happy Saturday Geoff

      I hope you & family are well.
      There
      is the possibility that I can get Disqus to restore the missing
      Upvotes of a number of posters on NTTL whose upvote count is Zero. It
      can be done on an individual basis upon specific request, I had all the
      upvotes of my veteran Mahatma acct https://disqus.com/by/mahatmacoatmabag/comments/
      restored
      by an English “All Star” poster Kieran who posts on Discuss Disqus .
      NTTL posters with Zero upvotes can either post a request to Kieran

      Kieran · Profile · Disqus on the Discuss Disqus channel

      Discuss Disqus Channel · Disqus or make a post requesting update restoral to me on my blog the Coconut Wisperer https://disqus.com/home/forum/the-coconut-whisperer/
      and I will pass on the request to Sam my contact at Disqus HQ via the
      Intercom Link in the Mod panel or you can attempt it yourself via the
      Intercom link if you know how to use it.

      All the best
      Pud (hatman) in Tel Aviv.

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