Friday 2 December: Sadiq Khan’s war on emissions penalises those who can least afford it

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

715 thoughts on “Friday 2 December: Sadiq Khan’s war on emissions penalises those who can least afford it”

  4. Replacement Windows

    Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive, double-pane, energy-efficient kind.

    Today, I got a call from the contractor who installed them. He complained that the work had been completed a year ago and I still hadn’t paid for them.

    Hellloooo …just because I’m blonde doesn’t mean that I am automatically stupid.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c0c5d987814771ccaca241d64f1665cebf408a669d54d22c93cb480b0b99149b.gif

    So, I told him just what his fast-talking sales guy told me last year…that these windows would pay for themselves in a year.

    Hellloooo? It’s been a year, so they’re paid for, I told him…

    There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally hung up. He never called back.

    I bet he felt like an idiot.

  5. Covering up a Covid cover-up of vaccine related deaths?

    Chris Whitty warns Britain faces ‘prolonged period’ of excess deaths NOT caused by Covid due to collateral effects of lockdown
    Chief Medical Officer said heart disease and cancer cases were missed in Covid
    Comments came in a ‘technical report’ published on the pandemic challenges
    Warned speed of vaccine development could lull UK into false sense security

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11491871/Chris-Whitty-warns-Britain-faces-prolonged-period-excess-deaths.html

        1. What about the poor florists if people stop going there to put flowers in their hair?

    1. Agree with your comment. “familiar faces” indeed! Charles, William and Kate only like meeting people from the same bubble, that confirm and reiterate their ridiculous CO2 fraud.

  9. Good morning all. Another tiny dip towards winter weather this morning with -½°C on the thermometer. Still fairly dark, but it looks misty again.

      1. Good morning m’Dear!
        Clear at ground level, but the valley sides are shrouded in mist again.

        Are you having an “at home day” today or are you treking into Gloucester?

  10. 368570+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Friday 2 December: Sadiq Khan’s war on emissions penalises those who can least afford it

    London is now a minority white lost city given over in treacherous appeasement to a foreign element, as one of a current politico’s the javid chap said to Mark Steyn
    “so what”

    Sadiq Khan’s war on emissions penalises those who can least afford it will come from the “so what” department
    dealing with the repress, replace,RESET and in all probability chastisement for getting out of line in regards to Brexit, green issues, anti jab, and not being nice to paedophiles etc.

      1. Well, there is always next month.
        And the month after, and the month after that, and the month after that, and the month after that, and the month after that…..

    2. Morning Bob – Ernie was good to me. £650 from 3 sources. I couldn’t believe it. No £25 prize. £500, £100 and £50. First £500 in years.

      1. The £1,000 I received a couple of months back was the 1st prize over £25 I’d received ever since the £25 consolation prize was introduced!
        Since then I’ve has 1 x £50 and today’s £100.

  12. The letters headline from yesterday was bothering me all day! “Hastened the decline” of Christianity suggests that the decline is inevitable.
    It’s not.
    Now is the exact moment when people are sensing that they have been let down by the relentless consumerism, sex and fake science that has been pumped at them by the media.
    That’s why destroying the Church of England was so important for the elite that owns everything, and why they lose no opportunity to try and run down Christianity in the media.
    I can’t remember where, but I read that worldwide, Christianity is the fastest growing religion.

      1. That is what I thought, but apparently that is contradicted. I will see if I can find more information.

    3. Good morning bb

      I have argued ion this forum for some time that David Cameron deliberately chose Welby to be the Archpillock of Canterbury with the specific purpose of destroying the Church of England.

    4. The nuclear family underpins society. the Church used to underpin the family. The state has deliberately eroded the family with the intent of replacing it. After all, the family doesn’t need the state. Nor does the Church.

    1. I had a look on the Charity Commision website for the accounts. They go into no detail at all about their income and expenditure. I posted the links on Nottl last night.

    2. The deliberate baiting and continued erosion of society by the Left is never ending. The BBC doesn’t lie. It just doesn’t tell the truth.

  14. ‘Morning, Peeps.  What a strange country we now live in – a race-baiting guest attends a Buck House reception and claims victimhood on Twatter after a Lady in Waiting may have asked some relevant questions in perhaps a rather clumsy way.  It looks as though the ‘victim’ went equipped with a recording device, in which case who else was she hoping to trap…perhaps the Queen Consort?  The Palace’s response was too swift and too brutal for someone who served the late Queen loyally and impeccably for 60 years.

    Anyway, on to the letters:

    SIR – The Mayor of London’s decision to ignore Londoners’ objections and expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone is undemocratic and a hammer blow to households’ budgets.

    Thousands of people and businesses responded to Transport for London’s consultation in good faith – and overwhelmingly said no to Ulez expansion. But Mayor Khan is imposing the daily £12.50 charge regardless, giving people only nine months to prepare. With sharply rising energy bills and inflation, few can afford the charge, let alone buy a compliant vehicle.

    Outer London doesn’t enjoy the same public transport as central London. Nor does it have the same air-quality problems. It is also inseparably connected to the Home Counties, with thousands of people driving in to work, shop and visit each day. We need targeted solutions, not a blanket road charge.

    The Ulez was never intended to apply to outer London. This is a smash-and-grab raid on drivers’ wallets that has nothing to do with air quality and everything to do with Mr Khan’s mismanagement of TfL finances. And it comes at the worst possible time for household incomes.

    We urge the Mayor to cancel his Ulez expansion. It is regressive, unfair and a waste of money. Instead, outer London needs more electric buses, charging point infrastructure, and public transport options.

    This is a multi-sig letter from 35 Tory MPs.  Nevertheless, I’m willing to bet this will just encourage Khan’t to press on with his money-raking and highly damaging racket.  Might this be the beginning of his long awaited downfall?

    SIR – I live outside the proposed new Ulez but my local Tube station is Northwood. It is too far from home for me to walk (I am 83), and there are no buses. The station car park is at the end of a 200-yard cul-de-sac, all of which will be just inside the new Ulez.

    At present, if I want to go to London I park my “dirty” old car there and catch the Tube. But from next August it will cost me £18 (Ulez plus car park) before I even get on the Tube that the Mayor would like me to use. Hardly an incentive to travel by public transport.

    Michael Peaker
    Northwood, Middlesex

    Quite right, Mr Peaker.  Khan’t is a menace and I suspect he has overreached himself this time.

    1. I’m afraid demographics will ensure that Khan or something of his ilk will hold sway over Londonistan throughout our lifespan.

    2. If the conversation was recorded, then I would suggest that is the biggest story of all. Who goes to a Buckingham Palace reception armed with a recording device and uses it?
      Perhaps the Palace ought to invite more loyal Britons and fewer loud leeches.

      1. I am not sure that it was recorded. Ngozi Fullanus has given her account of the conversation confident that it will be believed and even if opinions may vary it will be her version that is accepted because that’s where we are in Britain now.

      2. Who would go armed with recorder? Someone whose hatred of Whitey knows no bounds I imagine. That’s blatant racism in my book. I’m guessing that this horrible specimen won’t be invited back in a hurry!

    3. He’s got an entrenched voting bloc in the welfareists who infest London, don’t work and never will. While the capital is overrun with foreigners parasitically loafing on the money from those who travel in to work he’ll stay in post and can do what he wants. The solution is to divert the Thames. Despite being full of sewage and effluent it’s cleaner than London.

    4. He’s got an entrenched voting bloc in the welfareists who infest London, don’t work and never will. While the capital is overrun with foreigners parasitically loafing on the money from those who travel in to work he’ll stay in post and can do what he wants. The solution is to divert the Thames. Despite being full of sewage and effluent it’s cleaner than London.

    5. One can but hope that this will bring about his downfall. If the ULEZ reaches Biggin Hill, that will mean I won’t be going there again, despite my camper being LEZ compliant. The irony is, the M25 goes over the current LEZ – pollution in spades as traffic is crawling along most times – but is not subject to it.

  16. SIR – I am shocked by what has happened to Lady Susan Hussey (“Lady-in-waiting resigns in palace racism row”, report, December 1). I have been acquainted with her for many years, as we attend the same church in London.

    Lady Hussey is a modest, kind and devout Christian who would not intentionally offend anyone. At our church, which is very ethnically diverse, she has always got on extremely well with parishioners of all origins. I can say categorically that she is not racist. I am quite sure that her intentions have been misconstrued, and that she was doing nothing more than taking an active interest in the lady involved in this debacle.

    What shocks me even more is that she has effectively been “dumped” by the Royal family after decades of loyal service, given gratis.

    John Vaughan
    Tiverton, Devon

    Good letter, Mr Vaughan. I trust that it will give Billy Wales and his dad cause to reflect on what appears to have been a brutal and hasty outcome.

    2. Events like this highlight more about the charcacters of the “Compainant and Supporters” ,than it does about nature of the True Victim, Lady Hussey.

      The late Queen will be turning in her grave, at the endless mess this country has become, in so short a time

    3. Is Billy’s dad up to the job of King? I think he is too old coming into the job. Billy’s brother and wife have been causing trouble for Billy and Kate over in the USA during the Royal visit.

        1. I am beginning to hope it will never happen.

          But as with the wretched government it must go but whatever replaces it will be worse.

      1. Thank you, Anne, nicked for Ar5ebook. Let’s give it all the publicity the MSM will not.

  17. SIR – Whether or not we agree with strikes (report, December 1), their timing, in the run-up to Christmas, says more about the unions than the need for action.

    In addition, there is a war taking place in Europe, and Britain is a major player in helping Ukraine. Surely, at this time, the country should be pulling together to improve productivity and help pay our way out of the problems caused by the pandemic, the recent political upheavals and the conflict in Ukraine.

    Jackie Perkins
    Whitstable, Kent

    On the contrary, the wreckers have seen their opportunity and intend to exploit it!

    1. Yo Hugh

      Our Non Trade Unions just seem to be another arm of the WEF

      They are just exercising control over us, my another avenue, just the same as the antii Oil people, who probably drive to their demonstrations in posh cars,

    2. Surely, at this time, the country should be pulling together to improve productivity and help pay our way out of the problems caused by the pandemic, the recent political upheavals and the conflict in Ukraine.

      Coal miners went on strike during WWII. Not much ‘pulling together’ then.

      2. They also went on strike during one of the hottest summers and after Maggie built up the coal reserves

      3. No, we shouldn’t be paying our way. The state should be spending less. That is the only way to create wealth and prosperity.

        However, when you realise big government has no interest in creating wealth, then you understand what the real goal is.

          1. I must have got the wrong impression from what I read, then. The Commies were striking and sabotaging the war effort, then, after Barbarossa, it was claimed (in the books I read) that they ceased and came on board because the Reds were now our Allies.

  18. Britain is sleepwalking into censorship and we’re running out of time to stop it. Fraser Nelson. 2 December 2022

    Earlier this week, we heard that the Online Safety Bill was to be amended and the threat lifted. But this turned out to be a false alarm. The legal-but-harmful rule remains, albeit intended for the under-18s. The problem, of course, is that cyberspace does not distinguish between children and adults. Nor can it, if anonymity and privacy are to be preserved.

    All this from someone who cannot abide the opinions on his own articles and censors them with neither explanation nor apology!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/01/britain-sleepwalking-censorship-running-time-stop/

    3. Ah, but the state wants to remove anonymity and privacy. After all, nothing to hide, nothing to fear, for the cheeeldren, they say.

      Well, the country is overrun with criminals because of appalling law. When those trying to stop it flag a problem, the police ignore it and arrest the person raising the issue. The entire system of law is back to front. Heck, there are parasites using public money to bring an avowed terrorist back in to the country.

      Criminal gimmigrants receive free healthcare while ew can’t get a GP appointment. They get their dentistry paid for, free housing, heating and food while the state forces us to freeze. These are criminals. Not refugees, not migrants, just criminals. The entire edifice of government is fighting the public and rewarding criminality. We don’t need more oppressive, abusive law. We need the state to start serving the pubic.

    2. I simply cannot believe anyone with a functioning wit would be taken in by a document coming from “Sandford Police”.

      Are you aware of any county, metropolitan area, or city in the UK named “Sandford”? I’m not!

      1. 368570+ up ticks,

        Morning G,

        Try, Sandford is a village between Churchill and Banwell on the A368 in North Somerset, England.

        The local rozzers name is Albert and he holds very strong views.

          2. 368570+ up ticks,
            G,
            I have a feeling it could very well be
            vigilantes, plus a bit of the black arts in play even a bit of straw man action would currently not surprise me.

      1. 368570+ up ticks,

        Morning AtG,

        True but many of their scripts are used i seemingly in many / much police rhetoric / actions.

  20. Navy’s unmanned sub will be deployed to defend our undersea cables and pipes amid fears of Russian attack. 2 December 2022.

    Britain is to deploy a £15million unmanned submarine to provide around-the-clock protection for internet and energy cables on the sea bed.

    The battery-powered 12metre-long Cetus drone will offer a ‘step-change’ in the UK’s ability to ‘dominate the underwater battlespace’, according to the head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Ben Key.

    An attack by Russia on this country’s underwater infrastructure in the Atlantic and the North Sea would be considered an act of war.

    The last paragraph is less than reassuring since the Americans destroyed the Baltic Pipeline. As to the “sub” it doesn’t as yet exist, and will not do so for another two years at a minimum!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11493245/Navys-unmanned-sub-deployed-defend-undersea-cables.html

    2. Assuming the sub is deployed, considering we can’t seem to stop small boats full of criminals it’ll be utterly pointless, no doubt cost £150 million and be ready by 2032 – for ‘sea trials’ by which time the conflict will have moved on.

      1. Mainly because when we do we get sent to jail.

        What sort of mad world do we live in where rapists and paedophiles get police protection?

  22. Welcome to the FSU’s weekly newsletter, our round-up of the free speech news of the week.

    The FSU Christmas Special – a festive comedy extravaganza!

    With little more than a week to go until the FSU’s live Christmas Comedy Special on Monday 12th December, it looks like being a sell-out event. So if you’d like to attend, please do round up your friends and family today – you can book tickets here. The event takes place at the Backyard Comedy Club, Bethnal Green, London from 7pm onwards. Comedy legend Bobby Davro will be our Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and he’ll be joined on stage by stand-up comedian and GB News presenter Leo Kearse, Comedy Unleashed favourite Mary Bourke, and comedian and Radio 4 ‘personality’ Simon Evans.

    The FSU’s Christmas Review – register for the event here!

    If you can’t make it to London for the Comedy Special, not to worry – you can join us online on Tuesday 13th December for our annual Christmas Review. The Review is a great opportunity for FSU staff and members to vote for 2022’s free speech heroes and villains and to discuss the year’s free speech ‘highs’, as well as its ‘lows’. Please note that this event starts slightly earlier than usual, at 6pm, so as not to clash with the World Cup semi-final at 7pm which – you never know – England might be in. You can register for the event by clicking here.

    FSU’s New Year Regional Speakeasies announced — book your tickets here!

    The FSU is kicking off 2023 with a new series of Regional Speakeasies around the country. Each event will include an address from a senior member of FSU staff on the topic, ‘Why Free Speech is Worth Fighting For.’ The Regional Speakeasies are a great chance to find out why we’re all so passionate about defending free speech, and to hear about the many ways our work is having an impact across various fronts, from case work and campaigning to parliamentary lobbying and policy research. They also provide an important opportunity for us to thank members in person for their continued support. There will, of course, be plenty of time for discussion, as well as socialising with fellow free speech supporters. All event details will be listed here later in the week. Doors open at 7pm, and we kick things off at 7.30pm.

    Get your FSU T-shirts in time for Christmas

    Due to unprecedented demand, we’ve re-stocked our FSU-themed T-shirts – again! Featuring Bob Moran’s fabulous ‘Orwell Surprised’ cartoon, the garments are available for only £20 (including first class UK postage). Show your support for free speech while helping us to raise funds to continue what we do best. If you order quickly, your purchase should arrive in time to make the perfect Christmas gift. Click here to access our sales page.

    Where did ‘wokeness’ come from?

    The sociologist and writer Noah Carl sat down recently with Dr Eric Kaufmann, Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College and an FSU Advisory Council member to record an episode of his excellent podcast ‘Noah’s Newsletter’. It’s well worth a listen – they discuss the origins of ‘wokeness’, whether cancel culture is really that new, the extent to which Britain’s experience of ‘woke’ is different from the rest of Europe, and whether woke activism is here to stay. The podcast is here.

    Public discourse on Twitter is not a matter for the police, says Chief Constable

    Public discourse sometimes involves people knocking lumps out of each other on Twitter, and in a democracy that shouldn’t be a matter for the police – back-to-basics Chief Constable Stephen Watson has told the Times that officers need to avoid the “fluff and nonsense” and get on with doing their job: catching criminals while remaining professional, impartial and apolitical.

    Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester, was brought in to overhaul the force after it was put into special measures for failing to record 80,100 crimes reported to it between July 1st 2019 and June 30th 2020, poor responses to vulnerable victims and huge emergency call backlogs (Metro).

    Mr Watson quickly brought the force – one of England’s biggest – out of special measures, insisting that officers attend every burglary and callout that mattered to the public, such as criminal damage and antisocial behaviour. He has also enforced stricter uniform standards, ordering officers to improve their public image by ironing uniforms, polishing boots, hiding tattoos, shaving and tying up long hair (Times).

    Since the Chief Constable took over, the time taken to answer 999 calls has fallen sharply (from an average of one minute 22 seconds to seven seconds), the number of suspects charged is up 42% and the force is having to build more custody suites to cope with 28,000 more arrests this year.

    There have been several recent incidents in which police have been criticised for their conduct online. Sussex police was condemned by Home Secretary Suella Braverman in September after the force leapt to the defence of a ‘female identifying’ paedophile who had been misgendered on social media (Spiked). Several chief constables have also defended their officers’ right to “take the knee” for the political organisation Black Lives Matter (Mail), and officers have been criticised for being seen to attend LGBTQ pride events but not crime scenes (BBC, NewsLetter, Spiked).

    Watson, who attributes his success to a “back-to-basics approach” and a return to traditional policing, said his approach was not about ignoring complexity but that it was only by tackling the basics properly that police could get “upstream” of difficult issues.

    Ministers are reportedly now studying Mr Watson’s example and want to see Greater Manchester’s success replicated across other forces (Telegraph). Suella Braverman also recently described Watson as “a superb leader”, urging other chiefs to “pay close attention” to his methods, including how he “rejects woke policing and [has] embraced a back-to-basics approach” (Mail).

    Together event on the risks to freedom in a digital society – FSU members discount available!

    The campaign group #Together is hosting an event next week that will explore the threat posed to freedom of speech, expression and belief as western, liberal democracies become increasingly reliant on digital technologies. ‘What, no cash?! Digital ID, Central Bank Digital Currencies and Freedom’ takes place on Wednesday 7th December at Conway Hall, London from 7:30pm. Speakers include FSU General Secretary Toby Young, #Together’s co-founder, Alan Miller, and Cameron Parry, the founder and CEO of Tally Money, a new monetary system using physical gold as digital currency. The FSU has been able to secure a 25% discount for members wishing to attend this event – the link to book tickets is here and the promo code is ‘FREESPEECH’.

    US academics urge university leaders to do more to protect academic freedom – sign the petition!

    The number of academics targeted by cancel culture mobs in US universities has risen alarmingly since 2015, according to a database of incidents compiled by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). According to FIRE’s most recent report, 537 incidents involving “efforts to investigate, penalize or otherwise professionally sanction a scholar for engaging in constitutionally protected forms of speech” were recorded between 2015 and 2021, and more than 60% of those incidents resulted in some form of sanction being applied, including 28 formal investigations, 18 suspensions, and 14 dismissals. Over one-third of the incidents occurred due to the nature of an academic’s research or teaching practices.

    FIRE’s dataset is just one of the many methodological indicators now pointing to a rapid decline in academic freedom and freedom of speech in the US higher education system. Researchers whose findings challenge dominant narratives find it increasingly hard to get published, funded, hired, or promoted. Employment, promotion, and funding are increasingly subject to implicit or explicit political litmus tests, including approval from bureaucrats seeking to impose a social agenda such as specific views of social justice or diversity, equity and inclusion (or ‘DEI’) principles. Activism is replacing inquiry and debate. An increasing number of simple facts and ideas cannot even be mentioned without risk of retribution. And so on and so forth.

    It’s for these reasons that a group of US-based academics have now written an open letter calling on all universities, academic associations, journals, and national academies to adopt the “Chicago Trifecta”, consisting of the Chicago Principles of free speech, the Kalven Report requirement for institutional neutrality on political and social matters, and the Shils report making academic contribution the sole basis for hiring and promotion. The signatories are also urging university leaders to promote and institutionalise free speech and academic freedom. As they point out, “Freedom comes with a culture of responsibility, but responsibilities are better enforced by social norms than by extensive rules enforced by non-academic bureaucrats.”

    If you’re a higher education practitioner – whether US or UK based – and you’d like to add your name to the petition (or sign anonymously, including only the details of your institutional affiliation), then you can do so by clicking here.

    UK Government waters down Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill

    Following the letter the FSU pulled together last week urging the Education Secretary not to neuter the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which was signed by over 50 academics, the Government has tabled an amendment to the Bill in the Lords seeking to strike a compromise with the Bill’s critics over the creation of a new statutory tort that will enable students and academics to take their university to court if they believe it has breached their free speech rights.

    Our letter urged the Government not to ditch the tort, which we argued was an important enforcement mechanism if higher education providers are going to take their new free speech duties, as set out in the Bill, seriously. The Government is not planning to do that, but its amendment would make court action a last resort, forcing aggrieved students and academics to exhaust civil complaints procedures first.

    We’re profoundly unhappy with this. If the government amends the Bill so students and academics are only able to take their universities to the county court for breaching their free speech duties after exhausting every other avenue it will neuter it. One of the things the Bill will do is create a Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom role in the Office for Students who will have the power to investigate complaints, which is welcome, but complaining to him or her may be no more effective than complaining to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which students can do already. The amendment makes the enforcement of the new free speech duties in the Bill contingent on who is appointed to that new role, and we have no guarantee it will be someone who cares about free speech and not some lackey of the higher education sector. That’s a risk under the current government, but it’s a racing certainty under a Labour government.

    All regulatory bodies are susceptible to capture by the sector they’re supposed to be regulating and that’s particularly true of higher education. The only way to make sure universities uphold the new free speech duties in the Bill is to give aggrieved parties the option of suing them in the county court. Without that, this Bill will make no more difference that the Education (No.2) Act 1986. That Act imposed a legal duty on universities to uphold free speech, but it’s never been taken seriously by the sector because there was no accompanying enforcement mechanism. The new statutory tort is what gave the new free speech duties teeth. If that’s going to be reduced to a weapon of last resort, the Bill is a dead letter.

    In a piece about the Government’s climbdown in the Telegraph, Professor Jo Phoenix, who was no-platformed by Essex University, said: “To now think that I would have to go through a lengthy complaints process, well let’s just say that this process is an excellent way that university managers can kick the problem in our universities into the long grass.”

    The FSU will shortly publish a pro forma email that members and supporters can send to their MPs urging them to tell the Government not to dilute this important Bill.

    Update on our petition urging Elon Musk to stop banning gender critical voices on Twitter

    Last week we started a petition urging Elon Musk to restore the accounts of people expressing gender critical views on Twitter, e.g., the view that sex is biological and immutable and women can’t have penises. Since then, Elon Musk has announced that he intends to grant an Amnesty to all suspended/banned accounts provided they have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam” (Telegraph).

    That’s encouraging, although we’re asking members and supporters to continue to sign the petition until we see evidence that Twitter is in fact welcoming back gender critical commentators like, for instance, women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen (@thePosieParker), comedy writer Graham Linehan (@glinner), intersex advocate Claire Graham (@MRKHvoice), barrister Dennis Kavanagh (@jebadoo2), journalist Miranda Yardley (@terrorizerMIR) and philosopher Holly Lawford-Smith (@aytchellesse).

    There’s another reason it’s vitally important to continue to sign our petition. We would like Twitter to change its policy on ‘hateful conduct’ so expressing gender critical views or misgendering or deadnaming a trans person is not classed as ‘hateful’. If that doesn’t change, some of the reinstated gender critical accounts will end up being suspended/banned again in short order.

    Please sign the petition and help persuade Twitter’s new owner to lift the ban on gender critical voices and reconsider the company’s entire approach to gender critical beliefs. You can find the petition here.

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    As with all our work, this newsletter depends on the support of our members and donors, so if you’re not already a paying member please sign up today or encourage a friend to join, and help us turn the tide against cancel culture. You can share our newsletters on social media with the buttons below. If someone has shared this newsletter with you and you’d like to join the FSU, you can find our website here.

    Best wishes,

    2. “Ministers are reportedly now studying Mr Watson’s example…”

      Wasn’t there a Tynside Police Chief, who was castigated and sacked for enforcing “Zero-tolerance”?

      1. Robo-cop on Teeside.
        Later became Mayor I believe but was shafted by the Establishment over a made up scandal.

      2. Superintendent Ray Mallon from Middlesbrough (Teesside) adopted the tactics of Bill Bratton, from New York City, in adopting “Zero Tolerance” policing. In both countries, alas, it met political opposition and was stopped.

        1. That’s the man I was thinking of. Sorry for putting him in the wrong area but I knew he was a Geordie of sorts and a no-nonsense character.

  23. Here is Alison Pearson’s column on ‘Husseygate’:

    Lady Susan Hussey doesn’t deserve this vitriol

    Two worlds collided at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday night: a Lady in Waiting encountered a Lady in Wokeing

    ALLISON PEARSON 1 December 2022 • 8:00pm

    Required to deal with an almost unimaginable amount of social change, the oldest generation has done pretty well, I think. Words that were once harmless are suddenly a linguistic IED, likely to blow up the unwary or the merely old-fashioned.

    For years, my incredibly polite mother used to say “coloured people” believing that calling someone “black” was rude. Her grandchildren were horrified. Like all young people these days, they believe they invented virtue. Enthusing to the family about Paul Robeson’s glorious voice, Mum used a now-banned word to describe certain songs of his and all hell broke loose. “You can’t say that, Grandma,” squawked the non-binaries. “What do I call them, then?,” their grandmother asked meekly. They settled on “spirituals”.

    At least my mother’s “unacceptable and racist language” was not the lead item on the BBC News. That hellish mortification befell 83-year-old Lady Susan Hussey. For 60 years, Lady Susan never put a black patent court shoe wrong as Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth (and godmother to Prince William). This week, she blundered into a very modern minefield where one individual who is minded to take offence, whether offence was intended or not, can cancel a lifetime of discreet and loving service.  

    Ngozi Fulani, the leader of Sistah Space, an east London charity for victims of domestic abuse, accepted an invitation from the Queen Consort to a reception at Buckingham Palace to raise awareness of violence against women and girls. According to Ms Fulani, she was approached by Lady Susan who asked her where she was from. When Ms Fulani explained her organisation was based in Hackney, Lady Susan persisted, “No, what part of Africa are you from?” When Ms Fulani said there were no records, the courtier pressed on regardless, “But what nationality are you?” Ms Fulani says she replied, “I am born here and am British.”

    That should have been the end of it, clearly. A younger, more alert Lady Susan might have picked up a growing prickliness in the response, but she was like a corgi with a ham bone: “No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?” In that use of “people” one can hear the terrifically posh (“pipple”), almost extinct voice of the English aristocracy (Lady Susan is the youngest daughter of the 12th Earl Waldegrave.) Reading the transcript of the conversation (a very odd thing in itself; was this private exchange being recorded? If so it was a gross breach of etiquette), you can hear two worlds colliding: Lady in Waiting meets Lady in Wokeing.

    After decades by the monarch’s side, Lady Susan is trained to break the ice and draw people out, which is what she was doing with Ngozi Fulani. Her opening gambit was fine, but the refusal to accept the guest’s insistence that she was British comes across as overbearing and, quite frankly, rude. Was she being racist? No, I don’t believe she was, because there was no malice in her behaviour. She was simply being rather grand and octogenarian; conditions Lady Susan can do very little about.

    Ngozi Fulani went public with her distress on Wednesday morning and the damaging story was swiftly retweeted around the world. If the Queen were still alive (goodness, we miss her), I have no doubt she would have defended her old friend; the woman she chose to accompany her on that last, lonely journey to Prince Philip’s funeral. There might have been some holding statement along the lines of the immortal “recollections may vary”, which is how her late Majesty responded to Meghan and Harry’s allegations of institutional Royal racism during their interview with Oprah. But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s highly-emotive media manipulation has changed the decorous rules of engagement. Within a few hours, the Palace described the remarks as “unacceptable and deeply regrettable” with Lady Susan apologising and resigning from her honorary position.

    Some have accused the Palace of acting with “indecent haste”. The jolly, unrufflable Susan was a shoulder for the sensitive young Charles to cry on; she was one of six female intimates to receive a special gold brooch featuring the ostrich feathers and coronet crest of the Prince of Wales. The select group became known, rather wonderfully, as Charles’s Birds of a Feather. No, the ruthless speed of the banishment is a testament to Palace nerves. They are worried about the reception of the Prince and Princess of Wales on their current trip to the States and even more on edge about Harry and Meghan’s £88 million Netflix docu-series which, with diabolical timing, is due to be broadcast next week. Advance stills show the Duchess in tears, doubtless weeping over further reimaginings of “my Truth”. If, as feared,  the programme rekindles allegations that Meghan was mistreated because of her skin colour, the Royals simply cannot afford to have an allegation of racism hanging over a senior member of the court. Poor Lady Susan is collateral damage in the Battle Royal.

    It is, of course, perfectly possible to take a slightly different view of the clash of the charity boss and the Woman of the Bedchamber. If you turn up at an event in African dress, then don’t be too surprised if questions are asked about your heritage.

    The leader of Sistah Space appears to have previously tweeted in support of Meghan and Harry and made nasty remarks about Charles and Camilla. “Harry and Meghan won’t be allowed on the balcony?,” ran one tweet from the charity, “They’re in a completely different category to Andrew… Harry married & had children with a black woman. An all exclusively white balcony. The only black people, banned. RACISM!”

    And in a second tweet in March 2021: “Our charity supports black women DV survivors. I can’t stay silent about this. I admire Meghan for speaking out. According to clear definition, it seems Meghan is a survivor of DV from her in-laws.”

    Now, why would you willingly venture into a palace that is a bastion of “structural racism” for an event hosted by a person you seemingly believe to be guilty of domestic violence? One Royal insider fumes that it’s a “stitch-up” that could scupper William and Catherine’s visit to the US. I’m not sure about that conspiracy theory, but there is more than a whiff of conveniently confected outrage here. As any fair person looking at photos of the reception Ngozi Fulani attended can see, the Royals are going out of their way to be as diverse and inclusive as possible.    

    In all of the furore, the UN’s “16 days against gender violence” featuring heartbreaking stories of women murdered by their partners is quite forgotten. And one much-admired elderly lady, who served her Queen with great distinction, has her reputation trashed because, just once, in all the decades since 1960 when she took on her role, she got things badly wrong. What a brutal, unforgiving people we have become.

    Lady Susan will be desperately upset that she has caused embarrassment to the King, his Queen and her beloved godson. When cruel things were said about one years ago, Susan Hussey and her childhood friends would chant, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” She will need to call on all that fierce wartime nonchalance, the enduring stoicism of her great generation to weather this storm. Personally, I hope she gets tons of emails of support. Our late Queen is with you in spirit, Susan, sitting right next to you in the back of the car, under the rug you always shared, a gloved hand laid on your gloved hand. So are we.

    * * *

    The BTL posters are far from happy with the behaviour of the self-appointed ‘victim’:

    Elizabeth Gunton11 HRS AGO

    Why would a Black Activist called Marlene Headley change her name to Ngozi Fulani and dress in African Robes to meet the Queen. Then “Race bait” a loyal Lady in Waiting to our queen .On the day William was in Boston to present his award.

    Her real name is Marlene and her married surname Headley and her “charity” refuses to help anyone who is not black. Not even desperate mixed race women, who Marlene says have white privilege. Sistah Space needs to be investigated by the Charity Commission.

    * * *

    I should say so!  It was reported yesterday evening that her charity has received some of its funds from BLM.  If that isn’t dirty money I don’t know what is.

    1. Sistah Space needs to be investigated by the Charity Commission.

      This “charity” recieves subsidies from (surprise surprise) the State.

    4. “an east London charity for victims of domestic abuse”
      No, Allison Pearson, according to its own words, it’s a charity for black victims of domestic abuse.

    1. They’re right!
      I should think the dreadlocks are a minority taste as well – I don’t know any woman with African blood who wears them.

      1. Nigerian women used to have what we called twiglets – like mini-dreads, narrow and tight to the head.

    2. And much of the MSM take her side and both the King and the Prince of Wales immediately capitulate.

      But Harry, Migraine and and Ngozi Fullanus have a point – the monarchy is ‘no longer fit for purpose’ – not because it is racist but because it is completely craven.

      1. Incidentally I never fully appreciated just how grotty and ghastly John Sergeant is until I saw him on The Dan Wootton Show on GB News last night talking about Ngozi Fullanus.

        Fullanus by her dress and adopted name has clearly identified as an African even though she was born in Britain and her parents came from Barbados.

        Now if we treat men who identify as women as being ‘penis owners in frocks’ then we are being sexist by saying that they are not women so if an English woman identifies as being African then shouldn’t we wokely go along with it as Lady Hussey kindly tried to do?

    3. And much of the MSM take her side and both the King and the Prince of Wales immediately capitulate.

      But Harry, Migraine and and Ngozi Fullanus have a point – the monarchy is ‘no longer fit for purpose’ – not because it is racist but because it is completely craven.

  26. Morning, all!

    Yesterday I decided to visit St Ives, as the skies were clear and the sun shining. I wanted to see what was so special about the light there.

    Throughout the day it was lovely; almost Mediterranean in its colours, but I’ve seen that before.

    Then as evening fell, the sky was suffused with an extraordinary flush of gentle pink, seeming to encircle the town. It was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. A transient phenomenon, shimmering and impossible to photograph. There was am arc of.cloud that intensified the colour, though, so here’s at least a shadow of the real thing. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/efef27ef4abaa3bccc53681ba37f55df9f8b737a593a010659d4d4a4d5da7a08.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e3721dd854651df795f5b9f71b8eaea579a443ce24ddadb9e56d838665204c3.jpg

    3. Beautiful – the pink is reflected in the water, it must have been very strong.

      I don’t understand the air flow around the Devon and Cornish coast, but I remember one day when the whole of Devon was covered in snow, apart from a neat little semi-circle around Torquay!

      1. That tick was glowing.

        I meant to say, I have you to thank for my chasing of the light in St Ives! 🙂 Damned glad you put the thought in my head.

        2. A landscape artist friend of mine always hated August. He said that the light then is too ‘flat’ making all the features indistinct. Do you have any opinions on that?

          1. Opinions? Me? 🤣🤣

            Yes; photographers prowl in the early morning and in the golden hour; I’m sure you do so yourself. Full daylight is fabulous, but it does flatten colours.

        1. I think we were on our way to do the Newquay branch but did not appear to take any pictures of that run.
          I know I took some on a later run, but that was on film and I’ve not unearthed it yet.

  27. Today’s Ponderer

    Explain to the world, in understandable English:

    The Core Differences between Sadiq’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and Johnson’s oops the Conservative Party’s Net Zero

    Apart from ULEZ being just in Londonistan….. at present

    They are both wrecking the lives and economy the British n

      3. Came across that when attending the Better Way conference last year. A sign saying I was about to enter the charging zone, no clues as to how to avoid it. Grr.

  28. Astonishing moment migrant PARAGLIDES into Europe: First known case is filmed by stunned Spaniard as man flies over border from North African enclave
    A migrant made history by paragliding into Spain’s North African enclave Melilla
    The unidentified migrant fled by the time officers arrived and has not been found
    The paraglider is thought to have used equipment which cost just £5.50 online

    This is the moment a migrant makes history by becoming the first documented person to paraglide across Spain’s southern border with Morocco and make it onto European soil.

    Two locals driving along the double fence inside Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla filmed the astonishing scene before calling police.

    But the unidentified migrant had fled by the time officers arrived and had yet to be found. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11494247/Astonishing-moment-migrant-PARAGLIDES-Spanish-enclave-Melilla.html?ito=windows-widget-push-notification&ci=551395

      1. Maybe paragliding and hang-gliding clubs ought to set up a business in Northern France so that illegal immigrants can glide into the UK more easily than in rubber dinghies?

        My older son is an aerospace engineer who is passionate about hang-gliding. Maybe this is just the business opportunity he is looking for!

    2. Well, at least it showed some nous.

      Anyone know where I can get a paraglider for £5.50? I fancy having a go.

  29. Captured Russian documents reveal Moscow’s 10-day plan to take over the country and kill its leaders. 2 December 2022.

    A British defence and security think tank has revealed details of Moscow’s pre-invasion plan for Ukraine, based on captured Russian documents apparently signed off by Vladimir Putin.

    Russia had planned to take over Ukraine over 10 days and annex it by August this year, the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) said.

    Oh God! Hitler Diaries anyone?

    https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-captured-russian-documents-reveal-moscows-10-day-plan-to-take-over-the-country-and-kill-its-leaders-12759836

    5. This is entirely plausible, and probably true.

      Few predicted however the resilience and bloodymindedness of the Ukrainians, led by a clown pianist, to lay into the might of Russia and stop them in their tracks.

      Maybe Putin should have reflected as to which people actually did the lion’s share of resisting both Hitler’s and Napoleon’s march on Russia before either made it to Moscow?

  31. No sooner had Ms Fulani published her version of events than Buckingham Palace agreed that the comments were ‘unacceptable and deeply regrettable’ and said that Lady Susan had stepped down as a royal aide known as Lady of the Household. A Kensington Palace spokesman added, with Prince William’s blessing: ‘I was really disappointed to hear about the guest’s experience at Buckingham Palace last night. Racism has no place in our society. The comments were unacceptable, and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.’

    ‘The individual’? Wow. That is not just cold. It’s cutting, stinging and glacial. This is Prince William’s godmother, not some two-bit flunkey.

    I am bound to ask: will the Royal Family stop at nothing to survive? Just like the Conservative Party, it seems hell-bent on abandoning its principles – even if that means sacrificing its loyalty to one of the late Queen’s closest friends – just to avoid one iota of controversy. https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-brutal-cancelling-of-prince-williams-godmother/

    1. I don’t think it’s just to avoid controversy. The royals are true believers in the ideology.

    2. Well done Ngozi Fullanus – you have converted me into being a staunch republican. Prince William and his dreary father are a disgrace to Britain.

      1. On reflection, done the opposite for me. Ngozi’s racist and hateful vision of Hackney for all is wretched.

        The worst thing done by the Prince of Wales was to pander to it, but perhaps in the light of an important State function in Boston, Massachusetts, he had no choice, since Americans are notoriously narrow-minded about such matters.
        [edit-typo]

        1. As the unfortunate Liz Truss discovered – if you start off by giving in and showing you are weak you are not going to last very long.

    3. Well done Ngozi Fullanus – you have converted me into being a staunch republican. Prince William and his dreary father are a disgrace to Britain.

  32. Joe Biden: I’ll sit down with Vladimir Putin if he pulls out of Ukraine. 2 December 2022.

    The US President then said he would “choose his words carefully”.

    He said: “I am prepared to speak with Mr Putin, if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war. He hasn’t done that yet.

    “If that’s the case, in consultation with my French and my Nato friends, I’ll be happy to sit down with Putin and see what he has in mind. He hasn’t done that yet.”

    Well that’s as good a reason as any and better than most to keep it going!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/12/01/stop-calling-putin-step-russia-peace-talks-emmanuel-macron-tells/

      1. He’s been around for so long that he can remember when they weren’t and being senile he’s reverting to former memories.

  33. by election results
    Turn out 40.76%
    Lab 61.22%
    Con 22.4%
    Lib/Dem 8.37%
    Green 2.78%
    Reform 2.73%
    Rejoin EU 0.98%
    UKIP 0.63%
    Freedom Alliance 0.32%
    Monster Raving Lunacy Party 0.55%

    1. Always what is more telling is who the Loonies are currently beating. Lunacy over Freedom always! Those that govern us receive that message loud and clear.

          1. UKIP need to join in with Reform which is the better prepared for the next election. We can’t have 3 parties with similar objectives competing with each other. – ” divided we fall”

          2. That’s why I refer to them as “Vote-splitters”, Clyde.

            Far better that they get over their egos and AMALGAMATE.

      2. Ouch! Hadn’t spotted that. But in fact, all except around 4% voted for more lunacy, IMO.

      1. Reform need to abandon net zero and forcing Electric cars and Heat Pumps on the majority of the country. We need oil and petrol for our vehicles and items such as chain saws, grass cutters etc. Reform need to stop subsidies to wind farms and solar panels in fields. Gas has been a safe, clean and useful heater/cooker in homes in my lifetime and should remain as such. Reform should promise to destroy Net-Zero confident that no harm will be done to the climate.

        1. They must abandon the complacent thinking that being anti-Tory and anti-Labour is enough. They have, as you say, got to offer something better.

  38. No Christmas turkey? No worries!

    Avian flu is devastating Britain’s traditional festive dish, but fear not – Silvana Franco has alternatives

    The avian flu crisis has seen half of Britain’s free-range turkeys destroyed, which means we need to make crucial decisions now on what the Christmas Day roast should be. Turkeys are available: farmers have been allowed to slaughter birds early and freeze them, thawing them before sale. The frozen aisle will supply blast-frozen free-range birds and although fresh turkeys will appear, numbers will be greatly reduced, so get your name on a butcher’s list, sharpish. However, you may want to swerve the turkey debacle entirely and decide that Christmas 2022 will herald a new centrepiece. Here are my six suggestions.

    GOOSE

    Like turkeys, many geese were culled early, frozen and will be thawed for Christmas week. Free-range, higher-welfare goose is usually pricier than turkey – a 5.5-6.5kg whole bird to serve six to seven from Field & Flower costs about £125. For some, the deeper flavour and resulting goose fat is worth the expense. Otherwise, consider the 4.2kg frozen whole goose from Lidl priced at £24.99.

    To prepare, remove giblets to make stock, keep the liver for pâté and take out the two lobes of white fat inside the cavity to freeze. Prick the skin all over and sit the bird on a rack, so the fat drains and can be used later. Sprinkle with salt and add bay leaf, orange and onion to the cavity. There’s a risk that to cook the legs through the breasts may dry out, so baste regularly.

    DUCK OR CHICKEN

    A classic duck or large chicken can make a wonderful festive offering for smaller families. No endless leftovers to plough through, but still enough meat to make a reviving Boxing Day soup. A 2.5kg Yorkshire Wolds duck from Farmison that feeds four is priced at £19.95, and a 2kg Gressingham duck from Ocado ordered before December 28 currently costs £11.

    PORK

    A grass-fed 2kg loin of pork from Swaledale butchers will feed eight to 10 (£31) but must be cooked carefully to avoid drying out. An alternative is a boneless rolled leg, which is fattier and more forgiving and £22 for a 2kg joint.

    For crackling, score the pork rind and salt it generously before leaving it uncovered for at least two hours in the fridge. Pat the skin dry and baste regularly with the rendered oil as it roasts.

    RIB OF BEEF

    Cooking large joints of beef on the bone prevents the meat from drying and adds flavour. A 3kg grass-fed rib of beef costs £59.45 from Dorset Meat Company and feeds seven to eight.

    Take your joint out of the fridge 30-60 mins before roasting and avoid trimming the fat; you’ll use it to baste the meat. Initially, cook a large joint in a very hot oven, then once the meat has coloured, lower the temperature and cook to the desired doneness. It’s essential to rest your joint for at least an hour so the juices are reabsorbed.

    ‘BAKED’ ROAST HAM

    While we associate baked ham with Boxing Day, for many it’s preferable to turkey. But you will need to rethink what you eat with it, as traditional trimmings don’t sit so well. Try skin-on baked or roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese or shredded greens. There’s gammon to suit most pockets, such as a 750g unsmoked joint from Sainsbury’s (£4.25), through to a Ripon Cathedral horseshoe gammon from Farmiston serving eight to 10 (£65).

    First, simmer in a large pan of water for half the time to reduce saltiness. Then roast, usually with a sweet, sticky glaze such as honey and mustard or quince and orange to complement the salt.

    Turkey is flavour-free pap. All other meats are moister and massively more delicious. If I couldn’t obtain: goose, duck, capon, rib of beef, shoulder of lamb or (my choice) loin of pork for my Christmas dinner, I’d rather have camel or penguin ahead of disgusting turkey.

    Also, why do they insist on calling roast ham, ‘baked’ ham? It isn’t. Baking is cooking dry goods in an oven (i.e. bread, cakes, etc). Cooking moist fatty food, such as meat, in an oven is known as roasting. This has always been the case since Elizabethan times, despite the Yanks being clueless about what roasting is.

    1. Turkey is flavour-free pap.

      Is Silvana Franco the pen name of King Meleagris Gallopavo Domestico, who is on a mission to save his subjects, unlike

      Riski Sunhat (and the INO conservatives)

      King Charles

      Prince of Wales

      Kier Stammer and the Trotskies

      World of Woke

      WEF/Unions

      etc

  39. If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
    ~Jay Leno~

    The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
    ~Henry Cate, VII~

    We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office
    ~Aesop~

    If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union speeches, there wouldn’t be any inducement to go to heaven.
    ~Will Rogers~

    Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
    ~Nikita Khrushchev~

    When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I’m beginning to believe it.
    ~Clarence Darrow~

    Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.
    ~John Quinton~

    Why pay money to have your family tree traced: go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.
    ~Author unknown~

    Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realise that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
    ~Ronald Reagan~

    Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
    ~Oscar Ameringer~

    I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.
    ~Adlai Stevenson, 1952~

    A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
    ~ Tex Guinan~

    I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
    ~Charles de Gaulle~

    Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.
    ~Doug Larson~

    We’d all like to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate.
    ~Kin Hubbard~

  41. Dalrymple on form again;

    One of the most astonishing things about the woke is their high boredom threshold. They seem to have the same thoughts about the same subjects, expressed in the same language, all their waking lives. They never tire or let their vigilance down. They look at Raphael or Botticelli and see only social injustice. They are terrible bores.
    The explanation of their persistence, which resembles that of flies on a corpse, is that truth, which holds no interest for them, is not their object, but power, the cynosure of every ambitious mediocrity’s eyes. To change the metaphor slightly, the lunatics have taken over the asylum or, in the case of the museums, the philistines.

    The woke will not be satisfied until every cultural institution is examined microscopically for the moral purity of those who founded it, according to their latest and current moral certitudes—which, of course, may change, usually in the direction of more stringency and stridency. There is no such institution that can pass their test.

    We were appalled (rightly) when the Taliban blew up the statues of Buddha in Bamiyan and ISIS destroyed Palmyra, but we have our own Taliban, the woke, eager to experience the joys of destruction in the name of absolute good—as defined by themselves.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/the-woke-chokehold/

  43. Given the media’s penchant for reminding us about Tommy Robinson’s previous name at every opportunity, will they do the same with Ngozi Fulani as Marlene Headley?

    1. It’s soo sad that these two private creatures cannot find peace from the intrusive media!🙄

          5. That is unpleasant.
            Her mother trained as a nurse; London life in the 1960s for afro-caribbean expats and their children was not a bed of roses.

  47. Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian Genocide: Nobody can claim they did not know. 2 December 2022.

    This grim process has already been repeated in hundreds of liberated villages, towns, and cities throughout northern and eastern Ukraine. On each occasion, retreating Russian troops have left behind a vast crime scene of mass graves, torture chambers, sexual violence, and deeply traumatized communities. Specific accounts of civilian suffering are strikingly similar from region to region, indicating that these crimes are the result of deliberate Kremlin policy rather than the rogue actions of individual Russian army units.

    Wherever Russia establishes control, anyone regarded as posing a potential threat to the occupation authorities is at risk of abduction. This includes elected local officials, military veterans, civil society activists, journalists, and anyone suspected of overtly pro-Ukrainian sympathies. Many victims are subjected to torture and execution. Others simply disappear. Those who avoid abduction face the threat of forced deportation to the Russian Federation. Millions of Ukrainian civilians, including thousands of children, are believed to have been deported in this manner over the past nine months.

    Beside being part of the program to bolster what is clearly a lack of support for the War this is unutterable nonsense; particularly to those of us who can remember Vietnam; where these things did indeed occur and were carried out by the United States and their South Vietnamese allies.

    What one notes when reading the reports of supposed War Crimes in Ukraine is their lack of resemblance to the Vietnam Experience or indeed to any other War. There is no Abu Ghraib. No My Lai. No Babi Yar. I’ve examined several incidents closely and been convinced by none of them, except possibly that the Ukies are liars on a scale that makes Pakistanis look like beginners.

    https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/vladimir-putins-ukrainian-genocide-nobody-can-claim-they-did-not-know/

    1. I am not an enthusiast for Mr Putin, and I respect Mr Zelensky’s chutzpah, and a friend was in the Ukraine a few years ago on business, and was very impressed by the place and the well educated youths. But the MSM coverage is so peculiar that it is impossible to take the conflict at face value.

      1. See the Alisdair Macleod essay I linked in a post just now! It seems to be a fair attempt at an unbiased assessment of the situation.

    2. I am not an enthusiast for Mr Putin, and I respect Mr Zelensky’s chutzpah, and a friend was in the Ukraine a few years ago on business, and was very impressed by the place and the well educated youths. But the MSM coverage is so peculiar that it is impossible to take the conflict at face value.

    3. Aided and abetted by the European Union, NATO and the US CIA – not forgetting the idiotic UK politicians.

    1. I was about to paste this song by Freddy Mercury before seeing your post. But thank goodness Squalid Jawdrop has gone though his former paramour might be disappointed.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e68995dca2e696a8dbca2afb798fcde3dc62cd2b6e6658dd4846ea2aa3bd73d.jpg

      https://www.google.com/search?q=Anothe+One+Bites+the+Dust+youtube&oq=Anothe+One+Bites+the+Dust+youtube&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i13i512l3j0i22i30l4j0i15i22i30j0i22i30.11604j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a59aef78,vid:rY0WxgSXdEE

      1. Upharsin – Isn’t that (Sir) Elton John’s motto – To be found on his heraldic shield and every bedhead he has ever owned?

          1. That, I know not, old chap. I’m not a great Bible reader and had to admit, just this evening, that I have no copy of The Bible (King James version).

            I must get one.

  50. Brooding on the alleged Royal Fox Pox, in Lady SH’s position I would have sensed trouble as soon as I clocked Marlene Headley.
    My conversation with her would have been brief and v.v. superficial. Just enough for appearance’ sake.

    1. The fox got the lamb. Lady Hussy is better off out if that is the way the RF treat a loyal servant.

      1. Has any one on this forum found that he or she has now got more respect for the King Proper Charlie or the Silly Billy Willy Prince of Wales? They are both clumsy and ignoble to my way of thinking.

        As far as I can see this heralds the end of the royal family – it does not deserve to survive now that the Gracious and Noble Queen Elizabeth has left us.

        2. Her Majesty’s death marked the end of more than a millennium of royal tradition. There were ups and downs along the way but it ended on a high.

          I am now seriously reconsidering my oath of allegiance to the Crown. I’ve never previously felt this way.

          1. It’s only in the last several weeks that I’ve realised that my severance from the British State is total. This is not because I’ve changed or altered my views. I am pretty much as I’ve been since I was around thirty. It is that this is no longer the land of my birth and is in fact its complete opposite.

          3. Charles, you do your sainted Mama no favours – you and your son are both hideous caricatures of what Monarchy should be.

            The sooner you both die the better and we can only hope that George VIIth will rise above it – but not in my lifetime, alas.

        3. You have lived in a republique for too long.
          Kate will keep her consort under control until the 3 mini-kates are well baked and ready.

        4. I was dubious about Jug-Ears years ago. A soppy, silly spoilt child who had no idea how to carve out his own life. His self-indulgence was an absolute red flag. Diana, the brood mare was treated like a toy, then cast away. I know she was complicit but for goodness sake, he was a pathetic specimen of morality.

        5. How do you know Willy was involved in her ‘resignation’? I suspect Wet Charlie was the driving force, he is thicker than a LibDem leader and twice as opinionated.

      2. I recon LH has had enough of being polite to people over the years, so she just thought, f**k it, I’ll go out with a bang!

      1. Poor Lady Hussey was just trying to be kind by showing an interest in this absurd woman. Of course a white person being kind to a black person is seen as being patronising and being patronising is racist.

        The woman identifies as being African but it is racist to ask her what sort of African she is? I suppose if you meet a trans woman it would be insensitive to ask what sort of woman she is. Has she got a penis and if not when did she have her willioscopy?

        1. Yo Rastus

          How would it went down if she had said, “Which part of Brixton do you come from?

          The bit with knives, drugs or machetes?

          1. When the black said she came from ‘Ackney, I’d have looked her up and down and remarked, “I had no idea Hackney had national dress”.

      1. No, Araminta. Bubble and Squeak is fried. Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish. A bit like their other staple, Champ, but with cabbage as well as the spring onions.

        Good afternoon, by the way.😉

      2. Tomorrow I’m having a day off the vegan crap. I’m cooking Madhur Jaffrey’s Biriyani and serving it with dhal.

        1. I’m cooking Madhur Jaffrey’s Biriyani

          She does not mind you cooking her food for her then?

    3. Colcannon – to feed the fart cannon?
      Nothing that couldn’t be improved with a deal of bacon added!

  52. Phew!
    That’s the 1 ton bag of ballast now emptied and 11 sandbags ready for carrying up the hill.

    Staggers back in amazement though. The low cloud/fog that has cloaked the top of the valley has now dispersed and there is a very weak and watery sun intermittently making its way through the higher level clouds.

    3. Just a thought, could you use the van to take them up the hill and then barrow them down to where you want them?

        1. Drive it?

          From you previous posts about your home and garden I got the impression that your house is on the side of a road.

          3. Yes, it is.
            However that bit of road is at the front of the house and goes down towards Cromford adjacent to the bottom of the bit of hillside that misleadingly calls its self “my garden”.
            Where I am working is about 25′ ABOVE the road level.

            This is the 1st wall I did taken whilst I was still building it.
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8990c8c0dcf255e522e42499daa38befe5914728b0077d5ad619627d63075df1.jpg
            Notice the lower part of the roof of the house is about the same level as where I am stood.

            This is a delivery of sand from 2½y ago. Notice the sandbags up on top of the wall and woodstack roof waiting to be carried up to where I was working.
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5a416ee234618b698bc905fa80d4e21fc32796e47bf86ee2a183a0ade7bdaf80.jpg

            This is again from 2½y ago from the 1st wall level looking down to where the sandbags in the previous picture were;
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/20594fec268d122f64bee6bdec8528b3e83746897473f84eabd39b5170557bf2.jpg

            I think Elsie and Ashes would agree that these pictures give enough of an impression of how restricted access is to where I am working and yes, a mini-funicular/pully system etc would make the task of shifting materials easier, but the work involved in building such a system would be excessive for the tasks it would be used for.

        2. Can you do it the other way around, and get to the top of the hill via another route, thus making carrying ‘down’ rather than up? I assume not, as if you could you likely would have.

          1. Getting to the “top of the hill” via another route would entail a trip round into Ball Eye Quarry, carry the stuff up to the top of the hill from the quarry floor, and then a couple of hundred feel down the side of the hill above the bit I own to where I want it.

    4. Asked the Warqueen about all your efforts. She said ‘You’d spend more time working out a conveyor belt powered by the rainwater tubs and a pump than actually building the wall.’

      I don’t know if that was admission I over engineer, get distracted or just dislike manual labour.

    5. Please, BoB, use one of those ballast-bags to beat some sense and reality into that that thick little Swede’s swede.

      1. Might be better to shove her into one, sew it up with a decent weight attached and chuck it into the pond over the road.
        With a bit of luck it might sink into the silt never to be seen again.

    1. If only I had the opportunity of meeting the vacuum-headed little Pinko puppet. I’d tell her a few things that she wouldn’t want to hear. And I’d save some for her puppet-masters too.

    1. Ngozi was born on 27 February 1965 in London in the United Kingdom. She follows Christianity. She is 57 years old now. She had 7 siblings. She belongs to a mixed ethnicity of African and Caribbean. She belonged to Igbo Tribe. Her father was Gladstone Headley and her mother was Mildred. Though we exactly don’t know her husband she is married to him and she is a mother of 3 children (Adwa Headley, Stushie, Djanomi Headley, and Kas Headley)

      https://jkhealth.org/ngozi-fulani-net-worth/

  56. Meghan and Harry complaining about their lives, is a bit like the
    hangman moaning to the man who is about to be executed because he has to
    walk back in the rain.

    1. Just dialling 111 and working through the symptoms checklist is an inbuilt delay to seeking medical treatment. My limited experience and from reading threads here is that having spoken to the folk staffing 111 the advice is to get the patient to A&E….

      1. One is trapped between Scylla and Charybdis, no GP access => A&E => more contacts => more cases => faster spread.
        A&E triage would probably rank the symptoms initially as low risk. They wouldn’t be expecting what were rare diseases to be appearing, in any number, if at all.

    2. “Leading experts today warned lockdowns may be to blame for the uptick in cases, with children shuttered away during Covid having less immunity towards the routine bug.”

      Precisely my thought. These children have spent up to half their lives shut away from normal human contact and have had little chance to develop normal immunity.

      1. I’m sure that a lot of bugs going around just now are a little more severe for exactly the same reason.

      2. We are of an age to recall “parties” organised to ensure the childhood ailments that were not too bad for children, but would be dire as an adult, eg mumps and chicken pox, could be caught.

        I suspect that Covid might actually have been similar, but in the early stages we didn’t know how relatively harmless it was for most youngsters; and boy are we paying for that fear now.

  59. As the result of a special request made by our good friend, Tom. I have trawled through the Free Speech Union’s weekly newsletter and found no fewer than 25 links to further reading. Here is the list for anyone interested:

    https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_maojdGKiSbO2TR1W3MIuxA

    https://noahcarl.substack.com/p/where-did-wokeness-come-from?utm_source=podcast-email,substack&publication_id=92018&post_id=87304879&utm_medium=email#details

    https://freespeechunion.org/events/

    https://freespeechunion.org/product/orwell-tee/

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stop-tweeting-and-get-on-with-the-job-police-told-d5g7cdvhb?fbclid=IwAR2pWj5KdUhBQip3Km3FRorBh-2kaqwJNibEy_OeM-a5uaL-svZ0CDVdwDA

    https://metro.co.uk/2020/12/18/greater-manchester-police-to-be-placed-in-special-measures-13772208/

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/10/04/why-no-one-trusts-the-police-anymore/

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8405363/Police-chief-constable-took-knee-Black-Lives-Matter-event.html

    https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/foyle-pride-festival-uniformed-dancing-psni-officer-sparks-debate-3823249

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-62630867

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/08/23/how-the-police-became-the-footsoldiers-of-woke/

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/29/rishi-sunak-stamp-woke-policing/

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11471159/Top-police-chief-demands-officers-Twitter-focus-catching-criminals.html

    https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wot-no-cash-central-bank-digital-currency-digital-id-freedom-tickets-463557702567?discount=FREESPEECH

    https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/scholars-under-fire#home/

    https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/scholars-under-fire-2021-year-review

    https://freeexpression.uchicago.edu/

    https://provost.uchicago.edu/reports/report-universitys-role-political-and-social-action

    https://provost.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/shilsrpt_0.pdf

    https://freespeechunion.org/letter-to-the-education-secretary-about-the-higher-education-freedom-of-speech-bill/

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/01/free-speech-law-stop-university-cancel-culture-watered-no-10/

    https://www.change.org/p/stop-banning-gender-critical-voices-on-twitter?recruiter=1048024041&recruited_by_id=e9c089a0-61f6-11ea-8fb2-fb3607423f11&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_35068001_en-GB:6

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/11/25/elon-musk-vows-unblock-thousands-banned-twitter-accounts/

    https://www.change.org/p/stop-banning-gender-critical-voices-on-twitter?recruiter=1048024041&recruited_by_id=e9c089a0-61f6-11ea-8fb2-fb3607423f11&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_35068001_en-GB:6

    https://freespeechunion.org/join/

  61. 368570+ up ticks,

    Sajid Javid ( of the so what party) to step down as Tory exodus grows
    Former health secretary says that after ‘much reflection’ he has decided not to stand again at the next general election

    The political Odessa line has gone fully operational.

    A lab landslide is summed up by

    THE END IS VERY NIGH

    1. Apparently it’s almost impossible’ for the Tories to win.

      Well, it wasn’t as clearly the nation voted for an end t the bickering and to leave the EU. Instead, you followed every EU dictat, crippled the economy, pursued the green twaddle to the greatest extent you could, hiked taxes on business sending inflation soaring, robbed the high achievers, punished investors and rewarded the welfarists.

      Everything they have done is wrong.

      (edited as my sign off made no sense).

      1. 368570+ up ticks,

        Evening W,
        Then as an extension to major,leg over clegg, the wretch cameronn, treacherous treasa they have been a resounding success,

      1. I suspect after his”so what” tweet, he rapidly learnt that his chances of being re-selected as a candidate, let alone being re-elected as an MP were somewhere below zilch.

  62. Oligarch’s $200m superyacht to be sold at auction to benefit Ukraine. 2 December 2022.

    A $200m (£163m) superyacht owned by Viktor Medvedchuk, an oligarch and friend of Vladimir Putin who is under sanctions, is to be sold at auction after its seizure in Croatia earlier this year.

    This sums up to me the arrogance and duplicity of the West. This yacht is private property. There is no moral or legal justification for its seizure and sale. It is in fact blatant theft. I don’t know how Mr Medvedchuk made his money but if the means are doubtful then why wasn’t he charged and put on trial before the War? The truth is that they were only too willing to close their eyes; the UK government in particular couldn’t get enough Russian money into the City!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/02/oligarch-viktor-medvedchuk-superyacht-to-be-sold-at-auction-to-benefit-ukraine

    1. Even better, since the yacht is presumably afloat still, this is surely piracy not theft?? We should surely be able to hang the people who took the yacht from a convenient yardarm?

    2. Thanks BB. A masterly summing up of the true situation as opposed to the guff in the MSM!

  64. Of course she is far too nice an old lady to do it but would it not be splendid if Lady Hussey decided to get her revenge on the monstrous monarch and his son the putrid prince for their great, ignoble and ungracious betrayal of her! Who wants either of these two to reign long over us and who wants God to send them happiness, victory and glory?

    Lady Hussey should get an MSM outlet to publish her account of how inadequate Charles is compared with his marvellous mother and just what treacherous wimpish sons he has. Better still she could get Net Flicks to run a series on how things have gone so very wrong since the death of her beloved queen.

    Hurrah for Hussey! Go for it girl!

    1. I would just like any one in the MSM to tell the truth about Mary Headley (?spelling) and plaster it all over the front pages. But they seem determined to turn the British public against the RF. Sadly the King and his son are nowhere near of the quality of Her Majesty. We really didn’t realise quite how wonderful HM was.

      1. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I thought I’d found a natural place to be about a year ago but they dragged in the truly revolting nutter Vanessa Feltz! A screeching harridan who is so far from objective she has disappeared up her own rear end! She even had the demented Medusa on her outlet last night and was supportive of the race-baiting loon!

        1. It seems that, if you’re not woke, you have to self censor. But what’s happened now means you can’t ask any effnic/foreigner where they’re from in conversation in case they report you for hurting their feelings. We have been cowed.

          1. One of our sons in law is British born, to parents from Guyana. We don’t have a problem with him or his background. Unfortunately, his family appear to have a problem with the British. That is what really hurts.

          3. Simons Dad came over, joined the Army and then his Mum followed and they got married. Simon was actually born in Germany!

          5. We are what we are. We support our daughter, SiL and the twins. We love them because they’re ours! His bunch are a different kettle of fish….no puns!

        2. What is the point of that disgusting Feltz creature? Why are the BBC so enamoured of it? It is fat, gruesomely ugly, stupid, boring, brainless, loud, mouthy, gormless, talent-free and utterly pointless. Are all those “attributes” necessary for an overpaid BBC sinecure?

          1. Unfortunately she has transported herself to TalkTV! Gawd knows who she’s sleeping with this time! She even dragged her I’ll daughter on to her platform last week!

          1. Thank you, Mrs Macfarlane. May in Majorca for the birdwatching at Albufera Marshes and the Boquer Valley.

          3. Oh, I wouldn’t say that. There are loads of female birdwatchers these days. Very knowledgeable about birds many of them too.

    2. Each to their own – it’s not a willy though. It’s a water filled stuck on tube. As for hte NHS paying for it – no, the person wanting it should. Frankly, they’d be better off paying for therapy as they’re clearly ill.

    5. Someone I know had the m->f operation on the NHS. Done in a private hospital, private room etc. Very luxurious.
      The person walked into the hospital in good physical fitness, and came out hobbling, mutilated and requiring post-op care for the rest of their life.

      3. It has crossed my mind that if there’s a bloke who wants his genitals snipped off for whatever reason and there’s a woman who wants a penis, it would be ideal for a transplant.

    2. I thought – of all countries – Sweden was the most sensible over electric cars, offering all sorts of practical incentives – including free charging for one.

      1. There are some free charging points 5 miles away at Tescos, Callington. Sensible? Not to my mind.

      2. I live in Sweden and in October I bought a new petrol-powered car. I’ve not seen an electric one on the road in my neck of the woods yet.

  68. A while back I bought some sugar waffles and made a hash up of cream and maple syrup with strawberries. Today a large 1l bottle of maple syrup arrived.

    It is, apparently, a ‘hint’.

  69. Dr Peter McCullough is one of the most eminent medical scientists in the world, so I regard him as a reliable source of information.
    This is very disturbing (short clip):
    https://www.reddit.com/r/Wallstreetsilver/comments/zagl23/it_looks_like_the_messenger_rna_is_transferring/
    mRNA found in breast milk, plus stays in the body for unknown length of time (which several people I know, including NOTTLers have also observed)
    The whole talk is here
    https://rumble.com/v1yh9zo-dr.-peter-mccullough-mrna-is-transferring-from-the-vaccinated-to-the-unvacc.html

      1. Ted Cruz ought to be informed that the Russian KGB was disbanded in December 1991. Its present-day successor is the FSB.

          3. Have fun.
            You will notice that Nottlers initially tend to be more than slightly suspicious of “private” accounts with few comments.

          4. Friday evenings can be a bit of a free for all. More humour usually. Let’s hope so anyway because I, for one, am sick of doom and gloom.

          14. There used to be an old saying: ”Who watches the watchers?”
            So finally I know. It’s you.
            :>)

      1. Hello Alec. Poppie had a check-up at the vet today. He is really pleased with her heart condition so that is good news, however the lymphoma in her neck has increased in size slightly, he said these things can become very chunky, so there is some way to go yet. And of course being in the lymph gland it eventually becomes systemic and affects the liver. However, at the moment all is as well as it can be expected, and she has a good quality of life. He said to bring her back at the end of January for a further check-up. Because I noticed she had been flicking her head occasionally I asked the vet to check her ears, he found she had a yeast infection in one of them, so again we were presented with a fairly meaty bill! – £70 plus medications £81 plus £36 for the check-up appt – £205 in total so there must have been other stuff as well. And here she is, photo taken this week.
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/37b98a7dc14a869dd24b4bfea34e9c960e81d8b7cc3c85ba74e39b03fdf84bad.jpg

          1. She is! And always so pleased to see either of us if we leave the family ‘pack’ for any reason. In Daily Mail speak, it is so heart warming, and it really is.

        2. Lovely photo – that sounds like good news (except the vets bill) and end of Jan is a long way off in her little life

      1. I encountered a person in Sainsbury’s this afternoon near the wine, not that I drink much wine, of course. Anyway, this person seemed like a woman, very large and heavily made up and the hair, I swear was a wig. Pleasant enough but I had my doubts… not that I really care, as long as these people leave me alone. She made dear Hattie Jacques look like Twiggy;-)

          1. #MeToo, Mola. ‘Twas always the way with queers and others, until they started ramming it down our throats. Now I’m a homophobe, Islamaphobe and any other ‘phobe’ that wants my recognition.

    8. One hopes that it’s a brave man making a point about how stupid the whole or should I say hole, gender-bendering actually is.

      But I doubt it.

  72. Start with some toilet humour then…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e9b8e4af884d216957c3a1a85e61452609c622df390aa0d009a76e4dc481d64e.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ca5bf6306de1399822be8d251706693596c2d8a548744129b2e08930a86bd31b.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/30fcc03a7bd6fff961378356476d7ad46ae56e1dbc09e93d33d13391b2a6eb87.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c60cd21b02a23865f236a698ac2816d718700242c990dc32f73357ff23d4e568.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ac15dd15552e7353030aaec2796b4df22f3ad0967b3c7bd68d62e0e2639f6841.png

    1. The cleaners, who worked at a office block where I was a draughtsman, placed a notice on the door of the Gents. It read:

      From The Cleaners:
      We aim to please. Therefore,
      We’d be pleased if you’d aim!

      1. Seen in the toilets at a clay target shoot – “Our toilets do NOT require lead”

        [“Lead” – the aim off in front of a moving target so that the shot string and the target coincide!]

          2. Shooting, I think you mean – only cads shoot foxes 🙂 I may have been a bit premature, but I know there is a move to ban lead shot. I’ve only shot clays myself.

          3. Hunting isn’t just about foxes!! Some bans seem to be in place for lead shot for certain waterfowl in certain areas; it seems probable that lead shot will be banned for all hunting around 2024 despite the dubious science behind such a ban [why does that sound familiar?} but clays may be able to avoid that. Like you, I only shoot clays!

  73. A wee Birdie Three today.

    Wordle 531 3/6
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟨🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Par 4.

      Wordle 531 4/6

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

  74. Von der Leyen likened IRA to Ukraine freedom fighters.
    Ms von der Leyen noted that Ireland “knows what it means to struggle for the right to exist” in a speech to the Irish Doyle. D Express

    Her words have been condemned for endangering peace in northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement.

    She is right – but not as she intended – a bunch of killers supported by American money and EU and US politicians. The ‘Troubles’ was one of the most stupid terrorist actions ever started. The troops sent to protect the RC community were turned on by the idiots who had been brainwashed since childhood by Irish nationalists and clergy. If they had just waited they would have achieved their goal – they are almost there now – more RCs born and surpassed the Unionist population. That is why there is an unsolvable political gridlock in Stormont.

    1. ‘Irish Doyle’ –

      Dáil Éireann is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad …

    2. Von der Leyen, pushing billions of “vaccines” in the EU whilst married to the director of a company profiting out of …. mRNA “vaccines.”
      She has no credibility.

      1. Fond of Lying is unusually stupid and ignorant, even by the standard of EU politicians, but I bet she’s worth a lot more now than when she took the job!

    3. My apologies, Ped: ‘The Irish Doyle’ is an example of the editorial incompetence of the Daily Express!

  75. Ursula von der Leyen compares Britain’s rule in Ireland with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
    The European Commission president’s remarks to the Irish Parliament were called ‘beyond disgusting’ by Tory MPs
    Christopher Hope: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/12/02/ursula-von-der-leyen-compares-britains-rule-ireland-russias/

    I am beginning to fear that the blob, the MSM and the political establishment will succeed in cancelling Brexit.

    The only thing that could save Brexit would be a prime minister who had the same metaphorical balls as Boris Johnson fancied he literally had hoping it would disguise the fact that as far as Brexit was concerned he was a eunuch .

    BTL
    And yet our craven and spineless politicians are too wimpish to invoke Article 16 and scrap the Northern Ireland protocol whereby The EU is actually occupying British sovereign territory.

      1. 368570+ up ticks,

        Evening VW,
        That is what fruitcake ex leader of UKIP Gerard Batten has been saying for donkeys years.

    3. It is a fair comparison, and I think the UK’s behaviour since Ireland’s independence in 1922 compares quite favourably with Russia’s since Ukraine’s independence in 1991.

      1. I read: Colum Kenny’s
        ‘A Bitter Winter: The Irish Civil War, 1922-23’
        From that book, with reservations, I’m inclined to agree with you.

        The Ukraine, not being so innocent of corruption and their subjugation of Russian speakers since 2014 is when I would strongly disagree with her comments.

      2. I read: Colum Kenny’s
        ‘A Bitter Winter: The Irish Civil War, 1922-23’
        From that book, with reservations, I’m inclined to agree with you.

  77. That utter creep Hancock is all over the news, shafting people left right and centre. Some deserve it, but for that toerag to be claiming he did well is beneath contempt.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11495887/Chris-Whitty-warned-officials-pre-lockdown-820-000-people-UK-die-COVID.html
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11495335/Matt-Hancock-says-Covid-brought-care-homes-staff.html
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11495631/Matt-Hancock-says-forgive-breaking-Covid-rules-Gina.html

    When one considers how many people were forbidden to see dying loved ones his “lurve story” is sickening.

    God I hate that man.

          2. He, and the Savage Jabber are the ones I would cheerfully string up! Along with Witless and Valueless! Apologies to BT!

    2. And we are surprised? The little sh*t has apparently ingratiated himself into every home with a telly who watches the drivel! How low and stupid has this country become?

      1. Totally low and stupid. There is no intelligent life here; if I was an Alien I wouldn’t bother landing.

  78. Beeb wetting itself over a drought in Somalia.

    Population: 2000 8.87 million
    Population: 2022 16.96 million

    And we think our evening telly is poor.

    1. Switched off a water aid advert a few minutes ago and then had a thought about 2 possible solutions.
      1. Dig a well closer to your village or
      2. Move the village closer to the water.
      :-))

      4. 3. What the heck have you done with the billions of pounds poured into Africa by our taxpayers?

  79. Old people at weddings always poke me and say you’re next so I started doing the same thing to them at funerals

        1. Indeed. OK – “I am casting a nasty spell on all those who oppose me.”
          “And I hate England and everyone in it.”

      1. …O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!

        And well you may panic – the Great British Pussycat has you in its sights.

        1. …and here it is in full Burn’s throttle:

          On Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough,
          November, 1785

          Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie,
          O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
          Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
          Wi’ bickering brattle!
          I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
          Wi’ murdering pattle!

          I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion
          Has broken Nature’s social union,
          An’ justifies that ill opinion
          Which makes thee startle
          At me, thy poor, earth-born companion
          An’ fellow-mortal!

          I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
          What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
          A daimen-icker in a thrave
          ‘S a sma’ requet;
          I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave,
          An’ never miss’t!

          Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
          Its silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
          An’ naething, now, to big a new ane,
          O’ foggage green!
          An’ bleak December’s win’s ensuing,
          Baith snell an’ keen!

          Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste,
          An’ weary Winter comin fast,
          An’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
          Thou thought to dwell,
          Till crash! the cruel coulter past
          Out thro’ thy cell.

          That wee bit heap o’ leaves and stibble,
          Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
          Now thou’s turned out, for a’ thy trouble,
          But house or hald,
          To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble,
          An’ cranreuch cauld!

          But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
          In proving foresight may be vain:
          The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
          Gang aft agley,
          An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
          For promis’d joy!

          Still thou are blest, compared wi’ me!
          The present only toucheth thee:
          But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
          On prospects drear!
          An’ forward, tho’ I cannot see,
          I guess an’ fear!

  82. 368570+ up ticks,

    Seems like the old age battle of the supporting zoms is set to continue, it is labs turn in the driving seat that’s how successful coalitions work and one cannot deny this is one hell of a successful coalition.

    In the last three plus decades this political coalition has
    amassed a massive mass of odious shite intending to bring this nation to its collective knee, bowing the head to
    the role models of gangsterism, corruption,heinous dealings with children, etc,etc the frightening thing is this coalition finds support every time, and so the rapid descent into a living hell will continue.

  83. An abbreviated podcast by Neil Oliver on YT…. very good about the so called reset. He seems to be right on what is going on.

    1. I find it strange listening to him and agreeing to so much of what he says, and yet I believe that he was well to the left of centre not so long ago.

      1. I have always enjoyed his history programmes and his archaeological shows. I know nothing about his previous beliefs; everyone is entitled to change their views and beliefs.

          6. Blimey, I wish you were small boys in my classroom! And before your ask- no, I wouldn’t spank you but you would be miserable for the rest of the day. Formidable moi!
            Applies to Stephen also!

          7. I can assure you M’Lady that no punishment you could inflict would be any worse than calling for a volunteer from the 6 year olds to stand by another who had shit his pants and more besides until his parents could be summoned to collect the unfortunate several hours later…

          8. It’s too cold being a Penguin. If I was a Wiccan, maybe I could warm things up a bit- temp wise I mean.

          11. When penguins get cold, they jump in the sea for a swim and a bit of dinner, except that dads must sit in a huddle and shiver.

            Wiccans go skyclad for the winter solstice, I believe. A stiff North wind is forecast for then. If you are going to warm it up, please do the necessaries north of Worcester. Anything to keep the fuel bills down.

          12. You’ll have to wait until December the 8th, if you really want to warm things up.

      3. Never left of centre. Very honest but is generally hated in Scotland by the saltire-face- painted SNP numpties because he dared to say the ‘clearances’, which have been used for ever to spit at the English, were nothing more than a natural move towards better land maintenance and farming. By the Scots! Not the hated Toaries! He was got rid of by the spastic National Trust for Scotland!

      4. Never left of centre. Very honest but is generally hated in Scotland by the saltire-face- painted SNP numpties because he dared to say the ‘clearances’, which have been used for ever to spit at the English, were nothing more than a natural move towards better land maintenance and farming. By the Scots! Not the hated Toaries! He was got rid of by the spastic National Trust for Scotland!

          1. Yep.
            Hey Little Bro, I can’t cope with links etc. Have tried in the past and computer always throws a wobbler. YT isn’t that hard to find stuff on.

  84. Evening, all. Oscar has had a check up at his new vets and got a clean bill of health (for his age – obviously, at 13 he’s no spring chicken). It’s confirmed that his eyesight is poor, but as I explained to the vet (who thought his hearing might be deteriorating) he can hear things like the rattle of the biscuit tin at a great distance. More pleasingly (for my wallet) the drugs he’s on cost me less than at the previous place. I wish I’d moved ages ago rather than staying loyal. On a personal note of triumph, I have finally managed to put up the curtain rail in the sitting room and hang the curtains. Quite how long the rail will remain up is a moot point, but fingers crossed. At least I’ve been able to put the tools and the stepladder away for now, ready for Christmas. The cards are written, the presents wrapped, the food bought (and in the freezer) and all that remains for a great festive season is to erect the tree and decorate the house, etc. Ho, ho, ho!

    1. What a day, Conway! Delighted for you all! Glad you and the doglets are getting festive! 🧑‍🎄🧑‍🎄🎄

        1. I love it too! Alan didn’t know what had hit him when we got together! His North East Scottish coast family had a ‘hen’ for denner! Our family were full on! 18 of us! Charades! Sherry! Drunken Gran!

          1. Ha, NE Scotland, lived in Banff for a few years – does he speak the Doric?

            Fit like the day and all that.

    2. Well done, old chap. nothing so satisfactory as a a good day and good results. Give Oscar a pat and a biscuit from me.

      1. If you don’t mind, I’ll wait until he wakes up by himself before doing that. He is Mr Grumpy personified if he’s woken up!

        1. That’s OK, it’ll wait and the less Mr Grumpy he’ll be.

          I know the feeling, too damned well.

    3. I find that Bonio biscuits are still attractive to my Oscar, although I know he would prefer a bit of sausage or chicken. Balance is everything. Well done on the curtain things, we have stuff to fix on that front, amongst others.

      1. I might buy my Oscar (and his little sidekick) some Bonios for Christmas. They don’t figure on his usual treat list. I shall see if he likes doggy chocs as well. Charlie couldn’t stand them, so I stopped buying them.

    4. Jack spaniel is 14 years old , 15 in March .. he is on palliative care ,one of his medications is 200mgs Corvental .. which we get on line via a prescription written by our vet , which costs us money for him to write it out . If we bought the drugs from the Vet , that particular one would cost us £160 per month .

      Panic stations , there is a national shortage of the drug .. and we don’t have an left , neither does the vet . We had an emergency week’s supply which cost nigh on £50.. poor Jack , I do hope the online company find some to send to us .

  85. How I love modern life. We have all this technology, and none of it appears to work.

    Had a slight shiraz-related incident with the computer keyboard last night. The illuminated one on the laptop (which is silver) becomes impossible to read when it’s illuminated in daylight. So I use an external keyboard.

    Found a replacement online at Currys (who I hate with a passion) at a good price. Email says ‘when you arrive, click this link to say “‘I’m here”.

    So I take the train to Guildford, walk to the bus station (I could walk to Currys, but I’m basically lazy, and I have a bus pass. Thought I’d look at the Stagecoach app to see which was the next bus.

    Bear in mind that I’m in a bus station. This was the result:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f8817d4211a4515b493094ca046d40564d43a981d7adf69f768271322df62b62.jpg

    Despite that, I get to Currys at 1450 hours. Clicked on the “I’m here” link. Get a message to say that I’m Number 12 in the queue. So I wander around the store, looking at stuff which I neither want nor can afford. No sign of eleven customers waiting patiently agead of me. Twenty minutes later, I’m still Number 12 in the queue. Trying to catch the eye of the solitary employee at the collection desk failed miserably. In the end, I intercepted an unwary member of staff, who took my details and found my goods.

    Walked to the nearest bus stop. The display in the bus shelter assured me that the ‘Kite’ would arrive at 1524. The Stagecoach app said the next Kite would arrive at 1544. Since I arrived at the bus stop at 1515, and the Kite runs three times an hour, I can only assume that the 1544 was stolen, or raptured, or something.

    I glanced at the phone a few times, to see that I was still No.12 in the queue. Finally, just before 7 pm, I received this message:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0779f00b2a60f4e81d002ac0cf98660f22f4da5ff1f8af710dde409a5ec8a0a6.jpg

    Nothing works any more.

    2. Sympathies Geoff. I won’t bore you with all the details of my “on-line Chat” I had yesterday with Arindom a BT employee about my Broadband contract renewal. Suffice to say I’ve several screenshots of the ‘Chat” confirming that my renewal will be a fixed price for 24 months and won’t be subject to the April price hike of CPI inflation plus 3.9% (usury or what). As you can imagine I’m not looking forward to dealing with BT’s complaints Department next April!!!

      1. I’ve had similar over the past week with TalkTalk. Was on 65 mbp for £23.95 a month and I’ve been with them since they started. Finally got through to a manager and will now pay £29.95 a month for 18 months but because of the trouble I had I have the first 3 months free, plus £100 prepaid debit card, plus 1 year subscription to Prime Video.
        Quite happy with that.

        2. I had issues with TalkTalk in N London…total rubbish. Plus Net now and, after negotiation our bill will drop significantly in the new year.

          1. We never have a problem with the internet and when I call it recognises my number and I get put through to Customer Retention. The manager I spoke to said if any problems in future ask to be put through to him.

          2. Isn’t that sad, that instead of Customer RELATIONS, they’re more interested in Customer RETENTIONS?

          3. They have customer service but also a department to keep them once they’ve got them.

          4. I have stuck with BT/EE as I realised that ALL the others have to use the BT network to contact their customers.

      2. Yo King Stephen. I hate BT with a pasion. For the last few months at the old place, I ditched the Plusnet landline, bought a 4G router and had a service from Vodafone which was infinitely better. When I moved, I assumed all I had to do was move the router. Nope. Neither Vodafone nor any of the others provide a functioning mobile data service here.

        I get a discount for my landline, since it never achieves the promised speed. I’ve discovered that – with an external antenna – I can pick up a decent service from Three (my phone is with them, but at home, it switches to WiFi Calling.)

        Tomorrow, we have the Parish Christmas Fayre, in a rather isolated part of leafy Surrey. I’ve been asked whether we can take card payments. I have the potential of trying 3 different mobile networks. Wish me luck…

        1. I wish you luck as you wave the cards by
          Cheerio, there you go on your way
          I wish you luck as you wave the cards by
          With a cheer, not a tear, make it pay
          Give a smile, that’ll keep a while
          Not faint of heart, make it Pay!
          Tills receipts once again by and by
          I wish you luck as you wave the cards by….

          1. Such a song and dance!
            So don’t wave, be brave, just pay cash.
            And eat lots of mince pies.

    3. Sympathies Geoff. I won’t bore you with all the details of my “on-line Chat” I had yesterday with Arindom a BT employee about my Broadband contract renewal. Suffice to say I’ve several screenshots of the ‘Chat” confirming that my renewal will be a fixed price for 24 months and won’t be subject to the April price hike of CPI inflation plus 3.9% (usury or what). As you can imagine I’m not looking forward to dealing with BT’s complaints Department next April!!!

      1. Good point, well made. The State Pension kicks in in March. Since I’m already above the threshold, it will be given with one hand and taken away by the other. But, if it saves the life of one illegal migrant, who am I to complain?

    5. That’s because they don’t want it to work for us – just for them.

      A universal boycott might, just might, make it work for us. That means boycotting, food (grow your own), Big Pharma (medicines and vaccinations) Big tech (get off Ar5ebook, Twitter & Google) etc., leave them out in the cold with no customers, and maybe we can just take back the control we have lost.

      But, and a big but, we have to convince the young that they’re being brainwashed into accepting the BS that we are all being fed, but we, the elders are astute, old and experienced enough to know what is wrong. Why do you think that WEF, WHO, The UN and their ilk want rid of us oldies?

      1. Haven’t bought anything from Currys since we went in and wanted to see a piece of equipment. They wouldn’t open a box to show us the other item in the range and expected us to take the one on display. We walked out and bought elsewhere.

    6. How maddening ..

      Curry’s are so clunky and peculiar .. techie minded but not domestically practical .. as was the case when I investigated slow cookers and soup makers .

        1. Dunno! Only watched on the telly! It was one of his wonderful Christmas extravaganzas!

  88. I have had a busy afternoon ..

    Baked a gammon joint after I soaked it overnight . Also soaked dried peas on Wednesday and added the stock from the ham later to the rinsed peas and boiled them for an hour in a pan full of water .. Pea soup tomorrow .

    Visited the butcher for some lamb to stew, no neck of lamb sadly, and also asked for shin of beef .. quoted £25 per kilo .. I nearly fainted , so then I visited another game butcher elsewhere where the prices were much more amenable , so I bought 2lbs of lamb cut up for me , and a couple of pounds of shin of beef .. so with all the cold weather due , and the cost of meat going up weekly, I think I think I have done pretty well .. Fresh eggs , large £4 per dozen ..

    3c here , fire going well, but the coal is enormous shiny black stuff and rather damp.. I think it is Polish coal .

    1. I used to use several local butchers for shin beef. All needed the removal of significant amounts of fat and grizzly bits (no pun intended) and then I discovered…. Morrisons!
      Exactly the right stuff, but properly trimmed. I don’t have a lot of time for Morrisons at the moment but their butcher’s department is a big plus.

      1. Is it?

        I will try there next time , thanks for the tip .Iffy .

        Now I am older I really cannot cope with cold flesh and fiddling around,

        When I was younger I could prepare pheasants and rabbits , fillet fish with out even a grimace , but now I usually ask the butcher to tidy things up for me .

        1. I always used to ask the fishmonger to remove the innards from trout when I bought them – and to remove the heads (but I kept them for the dog – he loved a trout head; nice and crunchy).

    1. Fear and despair. Fear of not being able to collect your benefits unless you can cross the Channel in a dinghy?

  90. Well, folks, today has not been too good a day for me. I started the week with a bit of a sore throat, but it has got progressively worse and for the past couple of days I have been”dying” in my bed – I suspect I may have caught the ‘flu. So I am just keeping myself warm and hoping that I will soon feel better. Sleep well, everyone and I shall see you all tomorrow, DV.

    1. Hang on in there Elsie. A nurse will be along soon with comforting words of advice. All I can offer is get well soon.

    2. Thinking of you Elsie. Please take care of yourself and sleep well. Plenty of fluids and keep warm. 😘

    3. PS – I am not a great Wendyball fan, but now that we are down to 16 teams in the knockout stages, I like to see those 5 columns of teams names, i.e. 16 team names in the first column, with 8 empty boxes in the second, 4 boxes in the third, 2 in the fourth, and an empty box for the winner. The first two names in the first column are linked by a line to a single box in the second column, so that you can write the winner of the first two teams’ match there, and so on. Can I find such a chart? Can I heck? If I Google it, all I get is dates, times, venues and television channels for watching the match. Not interested. Can any NoTTLer post such a chart on here? I’d be most grateful.

      1. If you can think of Wendyball as sure as eggs are bloody expensive you don’t have Flu!

      1. The suggestion of a large brandy has some appeal for me, Bob3. I may well try that before heading up the stairs in a minute or two. Good night, all.

    7. The best advice I was given when I had flu was. Go to bed with a hot nurse. Look after yourself.

    8. The best advice I was given when I had flu was. Go to bed with a hot nurse. Look after yourself.

    9. Father in law recommended several Gina and tonics in the evening then once you are safely tucked up in bed, a nice scotch to finish the evening.

      You sleep well and who cares what tomorrow will bring (hangover probably).

        1. A lady with a typing problem after too many gins.

          Several Ginas would beat being alone at night.

    12. A large whisky and water will see yo feeling better tout suite, Elsie.

      And a joke a day keeps the mumbling quacks at bay.

    13. Elsie, sorry to hear that you’re unwell. If you need anything just give me a call and I’ll drop it off for you.

      1. Thank you, Korky, that’s kind of you. I have some cans of soup (one of which I drank last night) and also some whisky. If you could manage to bring me a jar of honey and two pints of milk I would be very, very grateful.

        1. As per call the items will be with you some time after 3. Can’t be exact as Bakewell has just gone into the oven. I’ll throw in a fruit scone from yesterday’s batch.

          1. Korky, thanks for doing my shopping, and for telling me not to get out of bed at 3 pm-ish to open the door to you. In fact I slept from 1.30 pm to around 4.45 pm so I clearly needed the rest (I had taken a small amount of throat linctus which helped), and am now looking forward to drinking a hot toddy of warm milk, whisky and honey before I head up the stairs again tonight. I am very touched by your kindness and that of other NoTTLers who have suggested ways to help me. It reminds me of the way we all got together to let Tom (No To Nanny) know that he was not alone when he had his problems a couple of weeks ago. Many thanks to all of you.

  91. Raspberries and broccoli might give you Covid, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned.

    Experts have revealed that the virus that causes Covid-19 can live on some ready-to-eat groceries for days.

    They found that the virus appeared to live longer on produce with uneven surfaces, such as broccoli and raspberries than on smooth-skinned produce such as apples.

    However, they have advised that the risk to consumers remains very low.

    Experts have revealed that the virus that causes Covid-19 can live on some ready-to-eat groceries for days.

    They found that the virus appeared to live longer on produce with uneven surfaces, such as broccoli and raspberries than on smooth-skinned produce such as apples.

    However, they have advised that the risk to consumers remains very low.

    The discovery was made after scientists for the FSA carried out laboratory tests, purposely smearing the virus onto packaging and foods that are ready-to-eat.

    They chose items such as fruit, pastries, bottled drinks and cans for the tests – all items that people might put in their mouths without cooking or washing.

    Most foods that were tested showed a “significant drop” in levels of virus contamination over the first 24 hours, but results varied.

    The virus was detected on peppers, ham, bread crust and cheese for several days under some conditions, while it was only present for several hours on the surfaces of croissants and pain au chocolat – perhaps because they contain a coating of egg wash which might act as an antiviral.

    Highly noteworthy’
    It can survive for up to a week on plastic surfaces, for several days on cartons and only a few hours on aluminium cans.

    They suggested it could last for possibly a week on deli items because of the high protein and fat content.

    The University of Southampton researchers said the findings were “highly noteworthy”, particularly because in some cases traces of the virus survived for about a week.

    The amount of virus the scientists applied was designed to simulate how much might land on food if someone who was infected coughed or sneezed near it, as Covid is spread by respiratory droplets.

    “For a highly infectious agent such as SARS-CoV-2, which can be transmitted through touching contaminated surfaces and then the face, these findings are highly noteworthy,” they said.

    However, they added that there is no need for shoppers to take extra precautions while handling food in the supermarket other than washing their hands before preparing food and eating it as well as rinsing fresh produce to help get rid of any contamination.

    They noted that foods and packaging used in the study were “artificially inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 and therefore are not a reflection of contamination levels found on these foods at retail, and lower levels of contamination will require less time to decline to undetectable levels”.

    They added the results of the study “reinforce the need to rigorously follow the guidance on maintaining appropriate hygienic handling measures and display of unpackaged foods”.

    ‘Worst-case assumption’
    Anthony Wilson, microbiological risk assessment team leader at the FSA, said: “In the early stages of the pandemic, we didn’t know much about how the virus would survive on different food surfaces and packaging, so the risk assessment was based on a worst-case assumption.

    “This research gives us additional insight into the stability of coronavirus on the surfaces of a variety of foods and confirms that assumptions we made in the early stages of the pandemic were appropriate and that the probability that you can catch Covid via food is very low.”

    Breathing in infected droplets of the virus, rather than touching contaminated surfaces, is still the main way people catch Covid.

    It comes as the recent fall in the number of Covid-19 patients in England looks to have halted, with early signs that levels are starting to rise once more.

    New figures showed on Friday that Covid infections across the UK have risen above one million again, with levels increasing in England for the first time since mid-October.

    The new Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures come alongside early signs that Covid-19 patient levels in England are also starting to rise once more.

    The total number of people in private households in the UK testing positive for coronavirus rose to 1.0 million in the week of November 21, up 6 per cent from 972,400 the previous week.

    During the latest wave, the total peaked at just over two million in mid-October.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/02/why-certain-foods-eat-every-day-could-give-covid-19/?utm_content=telegraph&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1Okt73fUIhMCjqhlXWicK9bfpIoKqBdi6iq0FlpHEFTUnyt7zGPK5dzcg#Echobox=1669994867

    The DT fright team

    1. ‘New figures showed on Friday that Covid infections across the UK have risen above one million again, with levels increasing in England for the first time since mid-October.” So much for the efficacy of the ‘Vaccine’….

      2. Another bluddy scam, like climate change , Net Zero and ‘renewables’.

        We are not bloody fools, Mr Gov’t it’s you who need to wake up.

    7. Why the f..k are people testing? . Unbelievable.
      ETA: We have to laugh at these people, the FSA I mean. They are stark staring mad.

    8. Are these figures being generated by using the long-debunked PCR test on millions of people – why would millions of people submit themselves regularly to testing? – or by extrapolation from sample testing using a model? Either process delivers fear porn.

  94. 368570+ up ticks,

    How seriously bloody true,

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    49m
    The Brexit Party had nothing to do with it. UKIP gained & won the Referendum not the BP, which didn’t even exist until 2019. Having campaigned for Brexit since 1992 I feel affronted.

    What are the two principle causes of inflation?

    1) A reduction in the supply of goods & services.
    2) An increase in the supply of money.

    The lockdowns destroyed supply lines & business – hence less goods & services. Govnts have been printing currency by the trillion for years, & accelerated that process for the Scamdemic, furlough’s etc.

    We are now seeing the consequences of that deliberately engineered crisis. We are in a recession & probably about to enter a depression….more

    Brexit partly to blame for high inflation, says Bank of England economist

    https://gettr.com/post/p20gh8m7802

  95. Right, I think that that is me for the day so I’ll wish you all, Goodnight and God bless you Gentle NoTTLers, until the mornings light (whenever that might be).

    1. About an hour before it starts to get dark again. Saying that, the waxing moon with Jupiter close by and Mars on the rise was a pleasant view on the way back from the pub,

  96. I have just read again one of my favourite books- The Library Dragon. My copy was bought for me by a 5th grade teacher in Georgia and she waited in line to get it dedicated and signed by the author. The dedication says, ” To (school’s name) favorite library dragon, Ann. ” Then signed by the author. It is one of my prized possessions.
    Amusingly, the library dragon’s name is Lottie 😉

  99. Calls grow to disestablish Church of England as Christians become minority
    Role of church in parliament and schools questioned as census shows 5.5m fewer holders of faith in England and Wales

    Census results revealing that England is no longer a majority-Christian country have sparked calls for an end to the church’s role in parliament and schools, while Leicester and Birmingham became the first UK cities with “minority majorities”.

    For the first time in a census, less than half of the population of England and Wales – 27.5 million people – described themselves as “Christian”, 5.5 million fewer than in 2011. It triggered calls for urgent reform of laws requiring Christian teaching and worship in schools and Church of England bishops to sit in the House of Lords.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/29/calls-grow-to-disestablish-church-of-england-as-christians-become-minority?fbclid=IwAR3IgtYJPftCugaMrGvxSdgGl5SvwuZv8AAvF3HRP1M4GHx5mxiSx0QC1fQ

    1. Is there still Christian teaching and worship in schools? I’d be surprised because my own children, now 53 and 50, were only having assembly once a week when they left school all those years ago. RE I seem to remember was virtually non existent too. Morels the pity.

      Anyway. time for bed. Goodnight all, sleep tight.

      1. At Blundell’s we had a short service in the school chapel every morning at 0840 hrs which consisted of a prayer, a lesson (read by a school prefect), a hymn and a brief address from the chaplain, the headmaster or a visitor. One year we had Father Trevor Huddleston who stayed at the school for a week during Lent and addressed us every morning and came and joined in our classes to talk about his faith in Christ.

        On Saturday we had hymn practice so we knew the hymns and psalms we would be singing in the coming weeks. On Sunday we had one compulsory service (either matins or evensong) and a Holy Communion Service for those who had been confirmed.

        I wonder how many schools would dream of doing that nowadays?

      2. It changed in the 80s. I think I was one of the last pupils to have a Christian education.

    3. The funeral this afternoon was quite a nice service but I would prefer to have a Christian service. Today there were no prayers, hymns or singing. The daughter said a few words and read a poem and she did it well.

  100. A bit late this evening- been out for dinner next door. Went to a funeral this afternoon. Will be out most of tomorrow at another charity fair.

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