Friday 21 March: Does Donald Trump understand the man he is trying to deal with?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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543 thoughts on “Friday 21 March: Does Donald Trump understand the man he is trying to deal with?”

  2. Good morning all.
    A bit overcast today, but still dry with an almost warm tad under 6½°C on the thermometer.

      1. I've only seen the display in green, never other colours. I didn't take the photo, sadly.

        1. The most spectacular one I ever saw was in Yorkshire, at the southern edge of the Dales. It was like a gigantic firework display of red, bright green, yellow and blue. Sometimes coming in waves. sometimes in great explosions right up to the zenith. It went on for a long time. An experience not to be forgotten.

  6. Good Morning Folks

    Overcast grey start to the day here, makes me think of Starmer for some reason

  7. Does Donald Trump understand the man he is trying to deal with?

    Yes, nobody can understand Starmer at home either

  8. Tommy Robinson kept in isolation ‘over murder threats after conflict with Muslim prisoners’. 21 March 2021.

    Tommy Robinson is being kept in isolation over fears he could be killed in a prison with a “significant Muslim population”, a court has heard.

    The 42-year-old would allegedly be in danger at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes if he was moved out of segregation as there were tensions between “Muslims and non-Muslims” which would be “inflamed” by his presence.

    This is just a story. They are trying to break him.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/20/tommy-robinson-isolation-prison-death-threat-muslim-inmates/

      2. I wonder how many people in Farage's Bogus Reform Party are all in favour of Tommy Robinson being imprisoned for a non criminal offence?

          2. I am no expert on the law but we have a lawyer on the forum who who can put me right.

            This comes from the Standard:

            Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed for 18 months last October for the civil offence of contempt of court and is currently incarcerated in HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

            https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/tommy-robinson-hmp-woodhill-high-court-government-ministry-of-justice-b1217887.html

            I have no idea whether or not contempt of court is a criminal offence or if it is usual to imprison people for civil offences.

          3. The courts take contempt of court very seriously.
            One might admire the stance he is taking.

            But, he brought it upon himself.

          4. https://www.gov.uk/contempt-of-court
            https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/contempt-court

            As to whether contempt of court is civil or criminal in nature, the distinction is blurred. There is overlap and some argue the distinction should be abandoned.

            One matter to take into account concerning Robinson's sentence is that it comes in two parts: punitive and coercive. Robinson was given a 14 month sentence as punishment for the contempt already committed and a further 4 months for not agreeing to desist in future. Given an opportunity to agree not to continue committing the offence, Robinson apparently declined, hence the additional 4 months.

            https://www.mountfordchambers.com/nobody-is-above-the-law/ agreeing

            I have found other examples of 18 month sentences for contempt of court.

            https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/committal-for-contempt-of-court-graham-darby/
            https://7kbw.co.uk/ocm-maritime-nile-llc-anor-v-courage-shipping-2024-ewhc-1226-comm/

    3. We need a two tier prison service. Muslim prisoners and Non-Muslim prisoners should not be put together.

      If the PTB insist on imprisoning Tommy then they should not put him in any prison in which Muslims are housed or where Muslims are working as prison staff.

  9. Heathrow shut and large parts of the surrounding area without power.

    Nobody has mentioned sabotage yet.

    5. PUTIN

      Or Albanians trying to steal electricity for their drug operations, perhaps.

      1. We have been paying 50 pounds extra for around 3 years for garden waste. We have to place a large sticker on the front of the bin to say we have paid.
        But I have noticed some don't have it and still have the waste taken.
        The council recycle the green waste and sell it to farmers to spread on their fields.

        1. I find it hard to see how this is economic; lots of my neighbours have refused to pay so there are very few bins out for collection. The cart has to go round all the roads still to empty those which are part of the scheme (and in addition the crew has to check that they have the sticker).

          1. But the end results are and not of course implicating you neighbours Conners, but is general fly tiping.

      1. The Union Flag has a correct way up – in the half of the flag nearest the flagpole, the wider diagonal white stripe must be above the red diagonal stripe, as Scotland's St Andrew's Cross takes precedence over Ireland's St Patrick's Cross. It is most improper to fly the flag upside down.
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a8485a78eaa64a0d61157892f630db8d439f37acaf829334f741dc3b4764062a.png
        We were taught this at Prep School at the age of 8 in the Cubs before we joined the Scouts at 11.

        1. I thought it was permissible to fly the flag upside down when in distress. Perhaps all Union flags should be flown this way given the current state of affairs?!

          1. "I thought it was permissible to fly the flag upside down when in distress."

            And I wonder how many people would notice.

          2. A small percentage. I doubt I'd notice and wouldn't be much fussed if it were pointed out to me.

          3. The poet's Jerusalem is often put forward as a suggestion for it to be our national song; unlike William Blake's large feline, our national flag is not symmetrical.

            What immortal hand or eye
            Dare frame thy fearful symmetry.

            [William Blake: The Tyger]

          4. The poet's Jerusalem is often put forward as a suggestion for it to be our national song; unlike William Blake's large feline, our national flag is not symmetrical.

            What immortal hand or eye
            Dare frame thy fearful symmetry.

            [William Blake: The Tyger]

          5. My thoughts too, Grizz. I think I'd try to do something more noticeable if in distress.

  16. My father witnessed this kind of trickle out in the late 40s through the 50s. Two headlines tell us to make preparations.

    The Rong family had long wanted to escape, taking trillions of assets and fleeing from China. (Rong with close ties to the CCP is known both in China and in the Western world as "the Red Capitalist" because his family were some of the few pre-1949 industrialists in Shanghai.)

    Hongkong tycoon Li Ka-shing urged to reconsider the sale of Panama ports to a consortium led by US investment firm BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager.

    Btw, Li Ka-shing successively invested in three important ports in the UK: Port of Felixstowe, the largest specialized container port in the UK, 35 miles from London, London Thames Port.

    Xi Jinping is livid.

    1. Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison has announced plans to sell 80% of its stake in 43 ports across 23 countries. This includes the UK's Felixstowe, Harwich, and Thamesport. These assets will be acquired by a consortium comprising MSC's Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) and the US investment firm BlackRock.

      Hutchison Whampoa was condiseed one of the 4 Hongs.

  18. 403632+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    This is the mindset of a WEF / NWO / RESET demented activist the S(TOOL) & team, seeking, IMO, photographic proof of fields of body imprinted paving stones to be displayed at the next davos bloodlust meeting.

    Dt,
    One Trident sub could ‘incinerate 40 Russian cities’: Why Putin should fear Britain’s nuclear arsenal

    1. And in return Russia could turn the entire UK into an uninhabitable nuclear wasteland.
      Forever.

      1. Given the oft repeated grim prospects for the UK posted on this forum, I would have thought an uninhabitable nuclear wasteland would be warmly welcomed.

  19. Wednesday 29 November 2023 09:35, UK

    Why you can trust Sky News

    The largest shareholder in London's Heathrow Airport has agreed a £2.4bn deal to sell its entire stake to two vehicles, including Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

    Ferrovial revealed late on Tuesday that French private equity firm Ardian and The Public Investment Fund (PIF), run by the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, would take stakes of 15% and 10% respectively.

    It added that the agreements remained subject to regulatory clearance and rights that could be exercised by other shareholders in Heathrow's parent firm FGP Topco.

    They include the Qatar Investment Authority and the Australian Retirement Trust.

    Ferrovial, a Spain-based infrastructure specialist, once had a majority holding of almost 56% but has gradually reduced its interest since 2012.

    Its holding has remained steady at 25% for the past 10 years.

    It had warned about a threat to investment at Britain's hub airport after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ruled the airport must cut the fees it charges airlines for the period 2024 to 2026.

    Yep, nothing belongs to the UK

    Heathrow is just another cash cow for investors , as we are just another cash cow for blinking illegals , who get a foothold in the UK , buy housing property , cash only restaurants , barbers, car washes , old peoples homes , and taxi franchises , building companies , positions on councils , government .. yeh flash the cash .. and asset strip the UK ..

    1. I guess the current owners / shareholders were the ones to offer best money when they bought. That was likely open to all with enough money (including me, if I'd had enough), so that the UK couldn't or wouldn't pay up means they were not able to be part of it.

  20. Free Speech Union member suspended by Waitrose for tweeting conservative views

    FSU member Ben Woods has worked at the Henley branch of Waitrose for 25 years, having started as a teenager, and is popular with local customers in his capacity as head of the wine department. Now the company has suspended him for ‘misconduct’ after presenting him with a dossier of more than 30 of his social media messages.

    His apparently unacceptable tweets include supporting Reform UK and reposting a Matt cartoon from the Telegraph. Ben also questioned whether a book entitled In My Daddy’s Belly: The Story of a Transgender Dad Giving Birth was “spreading misinformation”.

    According to John Lewis, which owns Waitrose, its social media policy prohibits employees from posting anything that could be considered “bullying, harassing or discriminatory towards any individual or group of individuals”. Understandably, however, Ben believes he’s been targeted because of his political views. “Waitrose has been treating me like a criminal,” he says. “I’m a conservative. That’s not illegal.”

    John Lewis has yet to make a decision on whether to fire him, but is likely to reach one in the next few days. Meanwhile, here’s a link to Ben’s crowdfunder. If he’s dismissed, he’ll need our help to take his case to the employment tribunal. If he isn’t, he may well still claim against the company – because, as he says, “the investigation and disciplinary they have put me through has been awful”. Any money not spent on his case will be given to similar causes via CrowdJustice.

    Needless to say, the FSU believes supermarkets have no business policing their employees’ lawful political views.

    I would tell the overblown, pretentious, pompous, anally-retentive, chinless wonders at Waitrose where the hell to shove their overpriced and vastly overrated food.

    1. And there is more:

      Ben Woods, a member of the Free Speech Union (FSU), has worked at Waitrose’s Henley branch in Oxfordshire for 25 years, having joined the supermarket as a teenager. However, after accusing its long-serving employee of misconduct over a dossier of more than 30 social media posts, the company has now swiftly suspended him.

      His tweets include a repost of a Matt cartoon in The Telegraph joking that a child had failed a sex education class for being unable to name 100 different genders, along with comments about banning the burqa and marriage between cousins. Another questioned whether a book titled In my Daddy’s Belly: The Story of a Transgender Dad Giving Birth – which describes “two Dads eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child” – was “spreading misinformation”.

      Waitrose later provided him with a file containing the 30 tweets they deemed ‘problematic’. Among them was a post joking that a horse standing beside an obese woman should “run away as fast as you can, old boy”, and a poll asking whether the UK should close its borders, which received more than 4,000 votes.

      In previous tribunal documents, John Lewis, which owns Waitrose, stated that its social media policy prohibits employees from posting anything that could be considered “bullying, harassing, or discriminatory towards any individual or group of individuals”.

      A Waitrose spokeswoman declined to comment on the specifics of Ben’s case, saying: “We would never discuss individuals.”

      Ben believes he has been targeted because of his political views.

      “My employer is attacking me because of my personal opinions,” he said. “It’s a witch hunt. I’ve been thrown to the wolves to protect their image. It looks like they are going to sack me. They just want to get me out of the way.”

      Despite working his way up through the ranks and becoming a wine specialist after years of training, Ben’s career came to a halt when strangers began reporting his social media activity to Waitrose. The backlash intensified after Elon Musk retweeted one of his posts calling for a national inquiry into the grooming gang scandal, which was seen by 63 million people.

      Following the viral retweet, Ben was doxxed, with social media users posting details of his workplace online.

      “I was getting quite a lot of visibility,” he explained. “Two accounts posted that I worked at Henley-on-Thames along with a photo of me. That got seen by a million people, and Waitrose was aware by then. I’ve had death threats.”

      One particularly disturbing call came while he was at work.

      “I picked up the phone and said, ‘Hello, Waitrose wine department, how can I help you?’ This person said, ‘We know who you are. We’re going to kill you.’”

      Ben rejects accusations from social media users calling him a “white supremacist” or a “Nazi” and insists none of his tweets were racist. Where he did express opinions, he points out that plenty of people agreed with him.

      “I’ve given them my life,” Ben said. “They are supposed to be a family-run company and the bastion of the high street who had a reputation for looking after their staff and being a good employer, which is what I used to think. Waitrose has been treating me like a criminal. I’m a Conservative. That’s not illegal.”

      The FSU, which is supporting Ben’s legal fight, told The Telegraph: “Our case and legal teams have been assisting Ben throughout this process. He is one of 260 ordinary people we’re assisting right now who are being punished for their opinions. We’ve seen a spate of supermarket workers investigated and penalised for their lawful beliefs in recent months.

      “Supermarkets have no business snooping on employees’ lawful views.”

      The FSU’s intervention follows a pattern of employees being investigated or dismissed for expressing mainstream political views, including those who support Reform UK.

      We are also supporting Saba Poursaeedi, a father of two, who is suing one of Britain’s largest housing associations for political discrimination after being sacked as a resident involvement officer. Hightown Housing Association justified his dismissal by claiming that Reform UK’s policies on immigration, net zero, and housing were “in direct conflict” with its own “values”.

      Remarkably, Hightown used another Matt cartoon from The Telegraph – by the same cartoonist as in Ben’s case – as evidence against him. Poursaeedi had simply retweeted it.

      Published in January last year, the cartoon depicts a housewife in a burqa commenting on the prospect of Abu Dhabi purchasing the paper– a reference to concerns over human rights violations in the Gulf state.

      There has never been any suggestion the cartoon is racist while award-winning cartoonist Matt Pritchett is widely recognised for his gentle perspective on British life.

      His lawyer, Elliot Hammer, head of employment law at Branch Austin McCormick, said: “Employees like Ben have rights under the Equality Act and Article 10 to manifest lawful beliefs and engage in robust debate about political matters.”

    2. It has been many years since Waitrose shared my values. Consequently I'm not inclined to share any valuables of mine with them….

  21. Seasonal Madness
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a172c0a66590448c07c08bf9e90bac3479830e79/0_0_2506_1670/master/2506.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=6c076f42fe6bbb132be191d8aac750bf Frankfurt, Germany
    Hares play in a field on the outskirts of the city
     https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/650d2e6b924d8049db64e9692f2f27bce63f7088/0_0_5025_3350/master/5025.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=486855f5d70099adf6b6e3f156a03177 Keir Starmer meets the drag queen Blue Hydrangea during a reception at 10 Downing Street to mark Saint Patrick’s Day.
     https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/20d5d592e184b0c099d46d58bd4c084058a371d0/0_0_5500_3666/master/5500.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=dc129f72e1a71ed2c36bd9b670c55059 Wiltshire, UK
    Druids conduct equinox celebrations at Stonehenge

  23. The ground keeps breaking and deforming’: life in Italy’s volcanic Phlegraean Fields. 21 March 2025.

    In the square in Monterusciello, a few kilometres from Pozzuoli, 12-year-old Angelo Di Roberto climbed into the civil defence bus with his grandfather. “None of my schoolmates wanted to come, but I wanted to” he said. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”

    He was right. It was important. The authorities were simulating a large-scale evacuation, the kind they would have to carry out in the event of a volcanic eruption in the seismically active Campi Flegrei or Phlegraean Fields near the southern Italian city of Naples.

    The Phlegraean Fields are one mark below being a super volcano and one doubts that a bus ride would be sufficient to escape. We would not avoid its effects here in the UK. Super volcanoes have Global Reach.The half a million people who now live in the caldera would probably be vapourised and one suspects that they would be lucky. .

    https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/mar/21/the-ground-keeps-breaking-and-deforming-life-in-italys-volcanic-phlegraean-fields

    2. 3,500,000,000 years ago, one microbial mat says to another, "No one said life would be easy.".

      1. And the amazing thing is we've ended up being governed by Hairdressers and Telephone Sanitation Engineers.

        Morning mola and all….

  24. The ground keeps breaking and deforming’: life in Italy’s volcanic Phlegraean Fields. 21 March 2025.

    In the square in Monterusciello, a few kilometres from Pozzuoli, 12-year-old Angelo Di Roberto climbed into the civil defence bus with his grandfather. “None of my schoolmates wanted to come, but I wanted to” he said. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”

    He was right. It was important. The authorities were simulating a large-scale evacuation, the kind they would have to carry out in the event of a volcanic eruption in the seismically active Campi Flegrei or Phlegraean Fields near the southern Italian city of Naples.

    The Phlegraean Fields are one mark below being a super volcano and one doubts that a bus ride would be sufficient to escape. We would not avoid its effects here in the UK. Super volcanoes have Global Reach.The half a million people who now live in the caldera would probably be vapourised and one suspects that they would be lucky. .

    https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/mar/21/the-ground-keeps-breaking-and-deforming-life-in-italys-volcanic-phlegraean-fields

  27. That's me dressed and ready to go off on my auction pickup.
    Sadly, the DT's not feeling too good, not having slept well overnight so is staying at home.
    TTFN!

    1. Yo B o B

      The "DT" has not been goor for a while, which was why HRH, Lord Geoff had to start the Nottler's page

      PS Hope she gets wel soon

      2. Thank you for that. She's OK now.
        It was down to a disturbed night I'm afraid.

        I was looking forward to stopping somewhere for lunch with her too.

  28. ‘Ukraine accuses Russia of bombing own gas pipeline to sabotage peace deal. 21 March 2025.

    Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up its own gas pipeline in order to pin the blame on Kyiv and undermine the proposed energy ceasefire.

    Lol. These people, like the rest of Europe, have parted company with the truth. It is no longer possible to believe anything that they tell you.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/21/russia-ukraine-war-latest-news-drone-attack-energy-sites/

  29. 'Morning All
    The Starmbannfuhrer has finally lost his mind
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7e62240ed41bf6ce6dba8f479203fa51c4add8103b2b1b574b8223040660f882.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/76e2f958bd84f4841ac7f201c8d4d60401120fc5b1b92e416399bde3506644d5.png
    Russia possesses a total of 5,580 nuclear warheads as of 2024, the largest confirmed stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world. Russia's deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,710, also the largest confirmed strategically deployed arsenal in the world as of 2024.
    Meanwhile the Ukie grifter says no peace until he gets all his territory back Forever war it is then
    https://x.com/amuse/status/1902768011393499596

    1. I seriously hope that Vlad understands that starmer the harmer does not represent the majority of the British people.

  30. BTL Guido

    Netzero
    7h
    Growth forecast halved to just 1% by the OBR. Who would have thought that after taxing the job market so much and everything else! Tax and spend never worked. Neither does giving 22% pay rises to your union mates either.

    In Crawley
    Netzero
    7h
    She will blame Trump.

    1. Ten warheads? Notionally 'Yes' but we still don't know if they will fit when it comes time to screw them onto the top of the rockets.

  32. Overslept again, chums! Ah, well, at least I'm sleeping well these days. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe page.

    Wordle 1,371 5/6

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

  33. Good Morning!

    Today FSB has an important article – Personality, and How They Are Shaping It – from professional psychologist Xandra H on how the globalist elite is trying to use the development process to create an unthinking, conformist general population. It really does explain an awful lot. Please read it and comment on how you see it. Please note that Xandra is recovering from a very painful operation so might be a bit slow in responding. So please show support by commenting anyhow.

    The end of the tax year looms (while tax freedom day recedes) so if you missed it read the account by Frederica, HMRC are coming! of her dealings with HRMC. It might help get your affairs in order and fulfil your patriotic duty to keep your cash out of the government’s thieving hands. And the assault on free speech gathers pace, and we talk about this and the Online Harms Acts latest iteration in force on 16 March in Do No Harm , focusing especially on comments

    Energy watch 07.30: Demand: 33.43 GW. Total UK Production: 25.96 GW from: Hydrocarbons 9.8%; Wind 49.7%; Imports 23.2%; Biomass 1.4%; Nuclear 10.6%. Solar: 2%.

    Today’s breakdown demonstrates the government’s priority, and it is not providing cheap electric power. We are currently importing almost 25% of our electric power requirements, while gas plants are paid to shut down, just because Miliband and his gang of zealots and declare today a ‘low carbon intensity day' – the first for a while. Over the last 24 hours, renewables have provided 28.8% of our electric power requirements.

    1. That was the report of the test I was going to post too! This bit was interesting "Test-fired missiles are not armed with their nuclear warheads." Well who'd have thunk it!

  37. Morning all 🙂😊
    Warmish bright grey rain later.
    I do believe that Big Donny knows what he is dealing with he's surrounded by advisors who are aware of what needs to be done. Unlike our 'leader' who make it up as he goes along. And carries a pile of paper work around with him. In case he needs reminding of world affairs.
    But who is pretty well versed when it involves wrecking our country.

    I missed sir Alan's interview last night apparently he was on the ball.

    1. I just watched the interview.
      I am surprised that he wasn't pro brevity. The Brussels mafia are still getting one over on us with all these terible law breaking invaders.

  38. Mass migration and anti-white discrimination has broken British patriotism
    How can we feel as if we’re all in it together when we plainly aren’t?
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/20/decline-of-patriotism-citizenship-merely-paper/

    Some of us here have said that the DT frequently removes or censors our comments. This comment by Lestat Noir managed to get through on the third attempt.

    BTL by Lestat Noir

    The DT have deleted this comment twice, why? They delete almost all my comments now! Extraordinary censorship!

    "This is an invasion, the Great Replacement. We were never asked, there was no vote or referendum. It is slow motion treason.

    10,000s of military aged men crossing the channel every year is an invasion. It is a national security threat and a constant threat to the sovereignty of the country. It must be treated as such. The only solution is to dismiss their human rights and repel them at sea. These economic migrants are criminals under our laws and our European neighbours. How is this ever going to end if the threat of violence is not used?

    What of the rights of the law abiding, tax-paying, citizens who were born here?

    Over the next decade there may be another million illegal men entering the country. 5 times the population of the City of York. Where will they go, who will pay for them, what will they do? It is most likely that 90% plus are unskilled labour.

    Legal mass uncontrolled immigration may add another 5-7 million over the next decade. The country is being over-run. Every characteristic of Second and Third World nations will soon be present here. Our tiny Island cannot sustain this level of forced population growth.

    Has mass immigration helped resolve our fiscal and economic problems? No! It is hastening our economic collapse.

    Recent successive governments are a disgrace, they have no honour or sense of duty. They have catastrophically failed to protect their own country. This mass invasion is slow motion treason. Politicians must be threatened with prosecution for dereliction of duty.

    Eventually there will be a revolt and the public will take matters into their own hands; or we will just collapse into being a Third World country?"

  39. £25,000 payout after boss sent worker unwanted birthday card

    AN HMRC worker who complained after her boss sent her a birthday card has won £25,000 for harassment. Kani Toure was off sick with work-related stress when she “clearly explained” she wanted correspondence to be kept to a minimum and via email, an employment tribunal heard. But despite telling her manager she did not want to mark the occasion, she was still sent a card. A judge concluded this was “unwanted conduct” and that the “repeated contact” she received while off sick was harassment. After winning 10 claims of race and disability harassment and discrimination, Ms Toure has been awarded £25,251.62 in compensation including £20,000 for injury to feelings.

    The tribunal in south London heard Ms Toure, a French national of African origin and Muslim, started working as a customer service consultant at the Croydon office in October 2019. In March 2020, as a result of Covid, she started working from home.In July 2020 after difficulties claiming utility expenses, she told her boss Hugh Henderson via email she had been discriminated against, “mostly because of my foreign accent and origin”. On Aug 2 2020, Mr Henderson mentioned in a meeting that it was her birthday. “He had a practice of keeping a list with the birthdays of each member of his team on it,” the tribunal heard.

    The next day, Ms Toure emailed him saying although it had been “very kind”, she was not celebrating it for “personal reasons” and asked her details be taken off any list. Mr Henderson apologised and said he would remove them.

    In September 2020, Ms Toure made an informal complaint that she was feeling left out of training opportunities. She submitted a formal 11-page grievance in November 2020. As a result, she was transferred to HMRC’S Canary Wharf office in London’s Docklands for six months. She was told she would have to withdraw her grievance if she wanted the transfer to be made permanent. In June 2021 she saw occupational health, where a report found a pituitary gland tumour caused her to suffer from stress, anxiety, migraine, vertigo, loss of weight, poor sleep and low mood. She was on sick leave from June 30 2021. Ms Toure asked for correspondence to be by email and limited to only what was “essential”. However, she was sent 11 emails in July to check on her wellbeing as well as a birthday card in August.

    HMRC said it had a duty of care to check on her welfare. An HMRC spokesman said: “When colleagues raise concerns about unacceptable behaviour, we have robust processes to ensure they are supported.”

    More unequivocally clear evidence for my theory: Mankind: an exponentially — increasingly — stupid species, that is at least a century-and-a-half past its 'use-by' date.

    1. Perhaps HMRC could apply their tiny minds to dealing with taxpayers' correspondence in a timely way.

    2. As a manager, I would have followed up any sick colleague in the same way – in fact, although not in a management position now, I still do – birthday wishes, the occasional ping to see how things are going, important news (such as the death or resignation of a mutual colleague).
      It's what being human and including is about – be sure that the other person is OK and not being left out.
      Can't please some people. She'd likely have whined if she'd been ignored as she asked. Should have been told to bugger off and grow a pair.

      1. My internet mobile phone provider — tele2 — sends me a birthday greeting.

        Shall I sue them for "injury to my feelings"?

          1. Clearly she saw that. French national of African origin – why was she working here, if her "foreign accent" was such a hindrance?

    3. I never celebrate my birthday but If someone wishes me a happy one, I thank them and move on.

  40. "Starmer 'threatens' Putin with severe consequences"?

    Is this a remake of the 1959 Ealing comedy, "The Mouse That Roared"?

    1. I fully expect to see these seven consequences inscribed on a monolith please, a la Edstone.

  41. Yo and Good Moaning all, from a sunny and not too cold C d S

    I have not read all the posts, but this caught my eye:

    Treasury blocks £10bn investment in defence

    Decision to block use of green gilts for MoD environment projects described as ‘utter madness’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/20/treasury-blocks-10bn-investment-in-defence/

    My first

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

    of the week

      1. He said AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

  43. Wadda loada Dopey Wokey bolero by Waitrose, I hope Mr Hammer head of employment law, gives them a damn good hiding and Ben (I'm sure it's not what he actually wants) walks away with a fat cheque.

  44. Heathrow were going for net zero and got rid of their back up diesel generators , and were relying on bio fuel .

    Sustainability for blinking net zero .

  45. Not only watery but now non-existent AND it is decidedly chilly. So much for the "heatwave".

  46. Perhaps the Heathrow "outage" was Milipede's revenge for the Dinner Lady's extra runway plan.

  47. How a sadistic armed burglar has evaded the police for 20 years

    The perpetrator – who has now been linked to more than a dozen thefts dating back to 2006 – can be heard beneath a balaclava, threatening his 63-year-old victim at gunpoint in broad daylight at her home in Sevenoaks, Kent. After striking her across the head with the weapon and tying her hands and feet with electrical cables, he fled on a bicycle, with more than £1.5 million in jewellery stolen from the property stuffed into his bag.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/20/night-watcher-evades-kent-police-surrey-king-charles-ii/

    Now, if he had been non-Woke and spoke advervely about the goings on in Southport, ete, every policeperson in UK would be hunting 'it'

    Very anti woke of the DT to label 'it' a man!

    2. If we are stupid enough to allow the French to get away with this then of course they will do so – the French don't want the illegal immigrants any more than we do.

    3. The most rational below-the-line comment is given by someone called Claus Jensen:

      "I have no idea why nobody post a source. Can anybody explain to me why you just start discussing something based on a picture and a claim made from somebody's basement?"

    2. I don't understand what he means. Is the intent to suggest that Heathrow in going 'net zero' (It's a sodding airport!) hasn't adequately provisioned power backups?

      The amount of fuel needed for backup of Heathrow entire would be staggering. The generator for our building is the size of a big room and it's only 3 storeys and about 20 rooms long.

    1. Couldn't latch on to either of her explanations with the result that in my humble opinion she is (un)clearly speaking bullshit.

      1. No idea what this person is adding to the world, but clearly they know nothing about colonies. Has she not realised that americaland is itself a colony? Would she destroy the very thing that has allowed her the opportunity to do so little, contribute so little?

        1. There are many in Canada intent on destroying the very fabric of Canadian society.
          Village idiot Trudeau declared Canada to be a post national state and spent ten years trying to demolish many aspects of our countries history.

        2. Sadly a lot of our politicians and the sheeple who vote for them are doing just that.

  55. I hope they have a roster on the number of bodies who were left at the ice station.

    1. I thought the diversity didn't like the countryside?

      As it is, they should be collared and chained, not allowed to build such eyesores.

    2. Most mosques look foreign and out of place. If you were building a house, you wouldn't get planning permission for many of them. So I wonder why they can build something that looks totally out of place in this country?

    3. Beautiful. In contrast, I cut back my hedge that was growing nicely to let sun get to the bottom of it and it's in the process of dying on me.

  63. I am like, OMG, WOW – this is sooooo wonderful news:

    "For centuries the Latin used during degree ceremonies at Oxford University referred to “masters, ladies and gentlemen”.

    Possibly not for much longer. Proposals to amend the language to make it more inclusive for non-binary individuals are being recommended to the 5,000 academic and other staff that make up Congregation, Oxford’s governing body — often referred to as its parliament.

    Under the changes, those “supplicating” for doctorates in divinity, civil law, medicine, master of surgery or master of arts will no longer be asked to swear an oath of loyalty to the university with the introduction “Domini doctores (magistri vel domini)”: Doctors (masters or ladies/gentlemen).

    Similar amendments are being recommended for ceremonies across the university from October. Oxford states that the “changes are necessary so that the Latin used can refer to those who identify as non-binary as well as those who identify as male and female”.

    1. My brother-in-law, who is now a retired solicitor, studied Roman Law at Oxford and studied it in Latin.

      My father studied Latin and Greek at Cambridge.

      I gave up Latin after "O" level but some Oxbridge candidates needed to prepare for an Unseen Latin Prose Paper.

    2. Barmy, isn't it. People who identify as things they're not used to be kept in secure facilities. Now we trash civilisation to accommodate their delusions. It's a game of course. If I turn up at the hospital on Sunday and say sorry, you can't x-ray my heart because today I identify as a tea pot, the medics won't ask me which end is the handle and which the spout.

      1. If you were going for an x-ray you would be very unlikely to identify as anything else but what you actually are. If you were being identified for having a broken spout, it might be different.

    3. How about those making a choice to stand out by pretending they're something they're not simply shut up and accept that language, and thus society has no place for them?

  64. 403632+ up ticks,

    Little wonder he is unpopular among the eu and the remnants of england politico's, coming out with such
    common sense, no messing statements like that.

    We have no "leaders" of such calibre we have more like
    deceitful,treacherous, conniving kapo bastards, open to scamming on a daily basis.
    https://x.com/Lord_Talbot64/status/1902623719320686635

          1. Who knows. You'd have to ask the man himself. My point is only that reference to dodgy "fact checkers" doesn't prove otherwise.

          3. Frankly I doubt he would say anything that imprudent considering that there are 14 million Muslims in Russia. I just looked it up. And when you consider all the -stans Kbeer this and Astro that, Russia is aligned to. It must be an incredible amount of Slammers that you would not want to upset.

          4. I think, though, that slammers respond to toughness because it accords with their own modus operandi. It's weakness they take advantage of.

          5. Absolutely. I have witnessed that myself in Libya. Essentially they are cowards.

          6. Chances are you probably could email Vlad and ask him. He's more likely to reply than our own useless government.

      2. It might or might not be true, but Snopes isn't a source that I would trust.

        In my opinion they have a tendency to be economical with their choice of sources and their analyses using a few contrary comments to debunk something when there are more that confirm it. They are also inherently biased against things they don't like, such as anything good about Trump.

    2. That, folks, is why the Left dislike Putin. That and his selling gas. They hate him because he says no to all the hard Left dribbling nonsense forced on decent countries now infested with foreigners.

      1. I'm satisfied he never said those words, although I wouldn't be much surprised if they align with his sentiments.

        What's somewhat dismaying is the alacrity with which undocumented, unsourced, undated words found on social media and attributed to a foreign hardman, admired here in some quarters because of his toughness in dealing with matters treated with kid gloves in this country, are then re-circulated here as if stamped with the kind of divine authority usually granted to Shakespeare's first folios. Stuff you find on X isn't always sourced from tablets of stone.

        1. There is also a tendency for several disparate quotes to become conjoined and reported as if they were a single statement.

          The bits might be true, but whole is not the sum of the parts.

  65. Morning. Grey and damp.
    Wordle 1,371 4/6

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

    1. Hah, hopeless six here…but I don't look up anything so it's just my little brain – which sometimes doesn't work that well!
      Wordle 1,371 6/6

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

          1. I'd prefer the soldiers around him, especially the confused bloke back right loaded their weapon and opened fire at close range.

            Yes, they'd be charged with the bullets and likely the gun would jam but it's worth a try.

    2. I know he holds a rank within the military but it's a bit cosplaying soldier. Although, i also think he knows this. To his credit, he has never spoken out or made a fuss about it.

    3. Beards used to be allowed only in the Senior Service, The Royal Navy.

      When did this change?

  67. All three dogs going through the carwash now. Later on dentists and Lucy has her next series of jabs for vaccinations. She is 4 months ahead of Oscar – ish.

    She's too young to be spayed yet, and Oscar and Mongo need to go in. Mongo's bred 3 litters with 2 different female dogs (I know the right term, I just don't like using it. Dogs are too special).

    He's met his puppies and mothers after the breeding and has been very good with both – bright enough to bring the water bowl back to the kitchen and shoo away and play with the pups from mother when she'd had enough.

  68. Morning all. Sun hasn't come out yet. I'm happy with that. Besides things busting out all over in Turkey, they are bubbling in Iran. All rather good. Of course our miserable corpse of a government will do nothing to encourage it even though it will help us immeasurably with out Islamic problem. I tend to doubt that Starmer will even acknowledge it except maybe to complain about traffic blocked by demonstrations outside of the respective embassies.

    I also note that today letter is tripe. Russia does not need Ukraine for minerals. It has huge deposits far larger than anyone else, in point of fact. But the letter is right in one instance. This is all about China. It threatens us all and in particular Russia. The Chinese have been redoing their maps, yet again, stealing Russian Lands and pretending there Chinese. At some point, emboldened, they will try to take it. Just as they are stealing India's land in the Himalayas.

    Two videos. more on Turkey and the second. Iran ready to rumble. Note Iran anti-Islamic demonstrations. Enjoy!

    Huge CLASHES Between Turkish Patriots And Erdogan's Forces
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M9nX-Q7Z4o&t=4s
    Iranians RISE UP Against Islamic Occupiers On Persian New Year
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSP76Gv2T8o&list=TLPQMjEwMzIwMjXiip0jlC70uA&index=2

    1. Fortunately each country has a powerful and effective internal security force. So that'll be the end of the demonstrations.

      1. You are probably right Bill. But I have been reading that the Iranian Basij which usually keep order are losing enthusiasm. Apparently they know the writing is on the wall and they don't want to be singled out for revenge when the regime falls. They are not being paid properly either, due to a failing economy. Another factor that tends to make people somewhat apathetic.

        1. But, but – when (if) the regime falls, they’ll be employed by the NEW regime. Just as the Shah’s Savak moved smartly to “serve” the Ayatollah

          1. The new regime will be the return of the monarchy and it will be thoroughly Western and pro-Israel. You can listen to the future king, Reza Pahlavi, not only in the video today but in a video interview he did with Tousi about 3 weeks ago.

          2. In that case the SAVAK will definitely be back in force. Just changing cap badges.

          3. I doubt that. This guy is to Western, his education is American. He wants a secular, parliamentary democracy and is pro Israel.

  69. 403632+ up ticks,

    Makes to much sense to be acceptable in today's
    political odious clown world.

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021

    ·
    17h

    If Tommy’s life is in danger due to ‘lifers’ with nothing to lose, & muslim prisoners who might attack him for ideological reasons this leads to two logical conclusions.

    One, move him to an open prison which presumably houses non-violent inmates intent on peaceably seeing out their sentences.

    Two, hardcore muslims should have their own separate prisons. Muslim gangs are a feature of our prisons & they prey on non muslim prisoners & try to convert them by intimidation.

    I suggested the segregation of hardcore muslim prisoners when I was the UKIP Justice & Home Affairs Spokesman & naturally got called ‘racist’ by the MSM.

    However, the chickens will come home to roost as time goes by.

    Tommy Robinson segregated in prison due to ‘mark on his head’, High Court told – The Standard, https://apple.news/AeGCd_pNYSPKQo …

    Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is serving an 18-month sentence for contempt of court after breaching an injunction

    http://apple.news

    1. Far simpler to just hang muslim. They're mostly paedophiles, rapists, murderers. Solve the problem.

      2. I cooked a pork meal once, for a chap named Singh!

        He refused to eat it! He was pigsikh!

      3. I cooked a pork meal once, for a chap named Singh!

        He refused to eat it! He was pigsikh!

  73. Unsustainable State Pensions
    While writing up my Life Story for my sons I happened to dig out the National Insurance payments I made during my lifetime and compare the total with the State Pension I have received so far. I am totally anal about record-keeping and have all my incomes, NI and taxes paid since 1963 on one big spreadsheet.

    From 1963 after I graduated (when my ANNUAL NI was £31 on a gross salary of £775 a year) to 2006 when I finally reached the (then) retirement age of 65 I had paid in a total of £26,588 in National Insurance, plus several years when NI was credited. Sounds like a lot, but one of my sons is now paying over £6,000 A YEAR in NI alone.

    In the 19 years since I reached 65 I have received £203,261 in State Pension. That's 7.6 times what I paid in (so far). Pensioners who bleat that "they have paid in all their working lives, so they should be entitled to receive the State Pension" haven't done the sums.

    State pension is predominantly funded by ‘live’ NI contributions. No wonder the UK State Pension System is unsustainable.

    P.S. I phoned the Dept of Work & Pensions this morning at EXACTLY 08:00 to change the Bank into which my State Pension should be paid.

    Checking first on the Internet, I expected a 45-minute wait to be connected to an advisor. Miracle of miracles! after a long explanatory Prologue I was immediately connected to an Advisor (in Northern Ireland, with accent to match) and the whole call, including an after-call Survey, took just 9 minutes and 14 seconds. And yes, I DID record the call in case the Advisor had taken down my Sort Code and Account details incorrectly. That's how I know it was 9 minutes and 14 seconds.

    EDIT: In case you ask, I converted the Lsd amounts in the pre-Digital age (pre-15th Feb 1971) into pounds and pence.

      2. What do you think? They are exactly as paid in and received. The 4-bedroom detached house that I bought 46 years ago (and still live in) cost just £1,000 less than the new car I bought 2 years ago. And the house's sales value has gone up by a factor of 20. Go figure.

        1. British house prices have definitely gone up by leaps and bounds. The Essex house we sold in 1979 for £30k is now valued at £500k+. Meanwhile the house we bought in the Washington 'burbs for $105k in 1979 is now worth around $650k.

          The huge difference is that house building has kept pace with demand in the DC 'burbs, which of course now stretch out further than they used to, with multiple satellite developments, including lots of jobs, in what were green fields when we arrived. As against Britain where opoulation growth (and concentration) has happened with almost zero action to mitigate the effects.

    2. Today's workers are paying the pensions for today's pensioners as you were in 1963.

      Your 31 equates to ~ 550 and your 775 to ~ 13,850 in today's money

      1. I was just fact-checking: the BMC Mini was launched in 1959 at a street price of £496. When colour ITV broadcasting started in England in December 1969 a 25-inch colour TV was typically £370, about the same as a male manual worker's weekly wage before tax. the Basic State Pension was £4 a week. The Colour TV licence, at £10, was twice that of a B&W licence.

        EDIT: The 1969 start of colour broadcasting was for ITV. I was too quick on the draw.

        1. I think colour TV was earlier than that.
          A friend’s father had one of the very first, he was one of the boffins developing it.

          My parents bought one when they thought I might qualify for the 1968 Olympics.
          I promptly went down with glandular fever and never competed at remotely the same standards ever again. Glandular fever can be extremely debilitating and have long term effects.

          2. Yes, Sos, my Dad started selling TVs just in the run-up to the Coronation in 1953. But although Baird demonstrated colour TV in 1928, colour broadcasting didn't start in England until 1 July 1967, when BBC2 launched colour television to the British public with the Wimbledon tennis championships, presented by David Vine.

        2. My dad who was American was appalled when colour TV came out in Britain at a cost he said of a thousand dollars. Yes your 370 pounds that nowadays might fetch maybe 390 dollars.
          He spent years paying for a pension and died too young to get anything.

          1. rob232: In September 1969 I went to work as an Experimental Pathologist and "Associate Professor" in a large hospital in Albany, upstate New York. The salary was US$7,000 a year, and I was delighted, until I discovered that "the guy who pushes broom in the corridors" was getting nearly US$6,000 a year. The Americans loved fancy Job Titles, like "Associate Vice President." They got me cheaply and my wife needed to work as well.

        3. "… £370, about the same as a male manual worker's weekly wage before tax. the Basic State Pension was £4 a week."

          There's something wrong there!

    3. Very lucky person. There’s a reason why it’s called insurance. Lots of people who’ve paid into this scheme, never reached retirement age or received pensions for only a few years.
      People who began working in 1963 not only paid NI contributions. They also paid very high taxes. Highest rate was 19/6d in the pound. This oppressive fiscal system affected the economy with low productivity, low wages. Married woman were also castigated. If they worked, their salaries were included with that of their spouses and they immediately found themselves in higher tax brackets.
      People are quite justified in demanding that their pensions be paid after a lifetime of supporting the national economy

      1. People are quite justified in demanding that their passions be paid after a lifetime of supporting the national economy

        Hire a whore on the state?

      3. If NI were properly invested, tended and allowed to accumulate as a normal pension fund retirement would be straightforward.

        But the state prefers to spaff that money on windmills and other nonsense.

        1. Yes, in between being eligible for the pension schemes at Selfridges and the BBC (when the Beeb had me on short term contracts) I paid into a private pension fund. I only paid £30 a month for three years – just over £1,000 in total – but that little fund is miraculously now worth £28,000 because it was invested.

          1. I paid into a Prudential AVC for about 12 years – £100 per month +the extra from the taxman. When I decided to buy an annuity, I had the option the leave the lump sum (which by then was £25,000) in the Pru's with profits fund. So far the pension has increased a bit each year.

      4. rob322, sorry I spotted your passion.. now edited.
        Yes, I am a very lucky person. Because of a very generous set of workplace pensions I am comfortably off. But over 90 percent of my full State Pension goes straight out again in PAYE Income Tax. And don't tell me that State Pension isn't taxed, because it simply pushes up my total income, thereby pushing it well into the 40% tax band.

        1. I'm in the same boat RC. I have been drawing the State Pension and my Company Pension for 29 years. Next year I will have been drawing my Company Pension for as long as I worked for the company. 😀

    4. The head of the paper company 'gb energy' is getting paid half a million quid a year. That's where pension monies are going. Waste.

    5. Before retiring I had the option of paying a few years (class 3?) NI contributions to top up my contribution record, which would increase the pension that I receive.

      The conversation was along the lines of pay £330 for each missing year and you will receive an additional £5 a week on your pension.

      What a deal – if I started receiving my pension at age 65, I would break even before I reached the age of 67. The cheque was very quickly in the mail!

      1. Before I retired I was receiving my State Pension at 90%, which was fine while I was still working. Shortly before I stopped work there was a short period when it was possible to pay for three years from the 1970s when I was not working, and Home Responsibilities Protection didn't start till 1978. So I paid up those three years, which cost me about £1800. I got all that and more back in arrears, plus an extra 10% for the rest of my life – so it was a no brainer.

      2. I owed the one year's contributions and made up the difference. I should break even in about one year's time.

    6. Before retiring I had the option of paying a few years (class 3?) NI contributions to top up my contribution record, which would increase the pension that I receive.

      The conversation was along the lines of pay £330 for each missing year and you will receive an additional £5 a week on your pension.

      What a deal – if I started receiving my pension at age 65, I would break even before I reached the age of 67. The cheque was very quickly in the mail!

    7. When I started my working life, I guessed that, by the time I retired, there would be no State pension, so set up private schemes to account for that. Later, I moved my private pensions abroad, out of the reach of HMG.

          1. I know it's unrealistic but I keep believing in the goodness of man. That tends to make me optimistic even though I know that people will not often do what is right if it effects their bread and butter.

          2. Lucky you. I, on the other hand, do not. And my experience, in the main, has shown me to be right.

            The advantage of my position is that one is rarely disappointed.

          3. Are Starmer and some of the other denizens in our legal system actually "man" as we knew it – or just male and female versions of an evil corruption of humanity?

          4. Without a doubt, the latter. It is difficult to my mind in attributing human decency to any of them.

          5. Are Starmer and some of the other denizens in our legal system actually "man" as we knew it – or just male and female versions of an evil corruption of humanity?

        1. As Mr Churchill (as he then was) once said, “I have not always been wrong…”

          1. An excellent quote. And, sadly accurate.
            What now worries me is will they immediately arrest him under the terrorism act for failing to give them his phone code they wanted when he came back from Spain. Once he has done his time on the present charge.

          2. I thought that they already have a court date planned for the 'terrorism' charge. They have seen Tommy's support on the streets of London and will keep him banged up for as long as possible.

          3. They could have banged him up for 2 years on a contempt of court conviction. That's a six month opportunity foregone.

      1. Heartwarming.

        Why doesn't the Pencil Monitor INSTRUCT police forces to get their bloody act together?

      2. Just bugger off. If you've money to waste on this nonsense then you've too much money. Do your job and stop wasting my money.

      3. This must be satire writ large. While the bisexual community has been much persecuted for centuries, and some of its present day members will see this as long overdue, if token, redress, some must cringe at the overt fawning.

      4. The next Bi Visibility Day is Tuesday, 23 September 2025. I've looked at the Surrey Police X page for the past two Septembers and cannot find this posting. It's either been deleted, or it's older than 2023 or it's a spoof. Any ideas?

      6. OMG! If I were still a member of the constabulary in this day and age, I would be the subject of permanent disciplinary investigations.

        Inspector: "I ordered you to carry out the force's instructions, constable!"
        Constable: "Fuck off, sir!"

        1. "Constable, you are in deep trouble"

          "Why, for telling you F… Off"

          "No, for calling me Sir"

        2. "Constable, you are in deep trouble"

          "Why, for telling you F… Off"

          "No, for calling me Sir"

    4. Reported by Reuters, eh? Probably a fabrication. A most untrustworthy news source, so I am led to believe.

      1. I think you may have missed the correction. It wasn't Reuters error but the Guardian.

        1. I think the Guardian was initially quoting Reuters and then corrected the mistake.

          1. It was the Guardian that made the SAS error. Perhaps they are employing ex-Telegraph juniors.

      1. “When everyone is somebody, then no one’s anybody.”

        [W.S. Gilbert: The Gondoliers]

  78. Good morning, all. Sunny and breezy, perfect weather for drying my washing. Gardening later with planting the shrubs I bought yesterday followed by digging out the dahlias and begonias from their hibernation.

    Master strategist and all-round World statesman putting in his ha'penny's worth in.

    https://x.com/paulmasonnews/status/1902836551295344668
    Mason most definitely over-egging the pudding where Starmer is concerned!

    The Belgians are involved, the Belgians whose King in 1940 surrendered to the Germans without informing the Allied forces and left the BEF's left flank wide open to the sea: those Belgians?

    Belgian King Surrenders 1940

    After 18 days of fighting, King Leopold surrendered the Belgian Army without the consultation of the Cabinet or the Allied forces, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Allies from continental Europe. Leopold was held prisoner by the Germans until the end of the war.

    To be fair, the accusations that Leopold's actions were not performed as an ally should have performed are contested. Notwithstanding, the British Third Division – commanded by one Major General Montgomery, whatever happened to him? – had to fall back and block the flank whilst at the same time holding the Germans on its front. The Division's success was very important and due to training and real leadership. Something this current government is clearly lacking.

    1. This is because only Trump wants peace. The others want to continue the war against Russia.

    2. Have Essex and Hertfordshire become much separated overnight by a tumultuous continental drift? I didn't know we were on different plates. Suffice to say it's overcast and still, here.

      2. It’s either because I’m much closer to the coast or the influence of the Stortford fault line is coming into play.

  79. Hallo – I'm back after spending ages trying to restore my usual settings after bu*** everything up. More or less back to how I like it now.

  80. NUCLEAR WAR!

    The French government is preparing to send a new 20 page survival manual to all 31 million households across the country, offering guidance on how to respond to potential emergencies.

    The document, which reportedly includes 63 measures, will provide instructions on how to protect oneself and those nearby, as well as details on how people can contribute to local defence efforts, such as joining reserve units or firefighting groups.

    Miliband has forbidden the publication here in the UK as it will hinder his objective – Ground Zero.

    I heard Miliband on the radio this morning. He is truly moronic.

      1. My sometime secretary explained to me how American schools instructed their pupils to get under their desks if a nuclear attack was imminent – "duck and cover" was the slogan.

        I always felt the much saner advice, was to stick your head between your legs and kiss your a$$ goodbye…

        1. I recall being told that in the event of an armed break-in, it's better to hide than run. That does make some sense?

          1. In the animal kingdom running triggers a chase.

            That is not to say leaving quietly by a side door isn't an option.

            Remember the advice to Grenfell residents was to stay put…

    2. 403632+up ticks,

      Afternoon Per,

      If near the epicentre get under a white sheet, possibly with the maid.

    3. Dig trench 6 ft long, 2 ft 6 in wide and about 2 ft deep. Collect a few leafed branches. On attack lie in trench and cover yourself with leafed branches. It won't protect you but at least will help to leave the place tidy.

  81. I’m just thinking out loud, but the Prime Minister was only showing off our countries fire power on a Sub just yesterday and today a sub-station mysteriously blows up, causing £ billions of pounds worth of damage.
    I Hope he wasn’t pressing any buttons

    2. We are perfectly capable of arranging our OWN sabotage, thank you very much.

      And the maintenance bloke was working from home, anyway.

      1. Apparently some one had gone for 'net zero' and they had changed the power supply from diesel generators to what ever it was, it caught fire.
        Same old story, everything the come into contact with…..

    3. The sub-station for my home area is in the garden cum inner courtyard of the apartment building where I live. I looked this morning and it seemed fine. Mentioned it to the duty porter on the front desk as I was leaving. He knew nothing about the Heathrow fire and told me these stories are exaggerated as click-bait to increase advertising revenue online. Don't know where he's from but he's black and from his accent, definitely Sub-Saharan Africa. I don't know enough to narrow it down further than that.

    4. The reports of blast involving a transformer suggests that there may have been a leak of the insulating fluid whose flashpoint was low enough to cause an explosion.

      This raises questions about the possible use of a low flashpoimt mineral oil in the transformer in question.
      Here are some issues which demand further investigation:

      https://www.swelectric.com/articles/transformer-oil/#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20majority%20of%20transformers,use%20or%20environmentally%20friendly%20attributes.

      1. Reminds me of the story about insulating electrics on cars with a new low enviromental impact material which rats treated as free food.

        'They' never seem to look beyond to secondary and tertiary complications.

    5. So why didn't they supply Heathrow from two separate substations?
      Although it is a much smaller scale, many critical IT systems have redundancy built in and could survive a simple substation failure.

  92. Unusually, the Daily Wail has a witty BTL comment on the Antarctic lunatic.

    "If they hadn't been named out of a Scrabble box this may never have happened."

    1. Are any of them qualified as scientists doing actual research or is this a DEI thing…ponders.

  94. 'Our' Civil Servants are every bit as incompetent as our politicians. They don't know how to do sums.

    BTL:
    LibLabCon Stinks
    5 min ago
    Rachel's hole got bigger ?

    Britons left £2 trillion worse off by ‘flawed’ accounting change

    Office for National Statistics faces scathing criticism over household wealth revision

    Eir Nolsøe Senior Economics Reporter
    21 March 2025 8:00am GMT

    British families are £2.2 trillion worse off than initially thought after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was forced to revise key economic estimates.

    A change to the way the ONS values private pensions, which are owned by millions of people across the country, means that the total wealth of UK households has been marked down by 14pc or more than £2 trillion.

    Despite the ONS changing the calculation, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) on Thursday said the revision itself may be flawed – meaning policymakers cannot actually be sure how wealthy households are.

    In a new IFS report on the £2 trillion revision, which concerns data covering 2018-2020, the group said: “It is quite possible that the ONS’s revised estimates of household wealth are actually further from the truth than the estimates it started with.”

    The scathing criticism marks the latest embarrassment for the statistics body, which has come under fire from MPs and Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England Governor, for unreliable figures.

    Policymakers have warned that they are flying blind, as they can no longer rely on official data to accurately depict Britain’s rate of unemployment.

    Adding to the beleaguered institution’s woes, the IFS said its new methodology for measuring how much pensions add to families’ wealth was a “mistake” – making the flawed approach “substantially worse”.

    The think tank’s economists accused the statistics body of undermining politicians’ ability to make good decisions.

    Isaac Delestre, from the IFS, said: “The economics underpinning this £2 trillion change is fundamentally unsound.

    “If we want our policymakers to be able to make good decisions, we need to provide them with an accurate view of the basic economic facts on the ground. When it comes to household wealth, the ONS isn’t currently doing that.”

    The change has reduced household wealth from £6.4 trillion to £4.2 trillion, with older Britons aged 65 to 74 now appearing 38pc poorer. Young people in the age group 25 to 34 are also deemed to be 11pc wealthier, although the IFS said this reflected correcting a genuine error.

    The think tank is concerned about how the ONS estimates future pension income in today’s terms, shifting away from using borrowing costs to forecasts of economic growth when putting together the figures.

    It warned that it is impossible to get a reliable picture of the wealth inequality between young and old because of the poor data quality – shrouding a contentious issue in mystery.

    The vast wealth gap between boomers and their millennial and Gen-Z children fuelled by surging house prices and stagnant real wages has been blamed for leaving young people despairing over their future.

    The figures are the latest to bring the reliability of ONS’s data into question, after a series of datasets were branded experimental or delayed.

    The statistics agency has admitted that it may not be able to say with much confidence how many people are actually unemployed until 2027.

    Labour market strength is a key consideration for the Bank of England when it sets interest rates.

    Only a week ago, the ONS delayed trade data with just one day’s notice after finding an error dating back to 2023.

    An ONS spokesman said: “The ONS commissioned an external review into the approach to valuing the future value of defined-benefit pension schemes within our ‘Wealth in Great Britain’ statistics, which were implemented when these figures were recently published. They do not feed into our GDP statistics.

    “Any method must make broad assumptions about future economic growth. We sought advice from a range of experts and users before finalising the method used. We outlined these decisions at the time of publication.”

    ************************

    Angry Poster
    4 hrs ago
    I've got an easy one for them. How much better off would the taxpayer be if we sacked them all and banked their salaries?

    Gary Roberts
    4 hrs ago
    Nice to know it’s only the value of pensions stopping MPs from making good decisions. I thought it was a lack of experience, ideological blindness, incompetence, and uncontrolled runaway spending driving debilitating debt?

  96. And that's me home with a mug of tea beside me.
    A decent run up via Buxton, skirted round Glossop and through Stalybridge with a bit of a back street fiddle about for the last bit from Ashton.

    Noted signs for a farm shop going up the hill towards Stalybridge and called in on the way back. Definitely a one worth a revisit in future.
    Then a bit of shopping at Buxton Morrisons, tanked the van up after withdrawing some cash and dropped home down the A6.

    A bit of a queue each way in Dinting Vale, Largely caused by idiots not holding back at parked vehicles to allow oncoming vehicles space to clear the narrow sections of the road.

    DT's now doing some baked potatoes to go with the sausage rolls I got from the farm shop, so I'm going to get changed and do a bit of wood sawing whilst it's cooking.

      2. Man, 24, reveals astonishing 14 stone weight loss he achieved by changing one simple habit

        READ MORE: The little-known signs that your Ozempic jab is a FAKE revealed

        By JOHN ELY DEPUTY HEALTH EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE

        Published: 10:22, 21 March 2025 | Updated: 18:28, 21 March 2025

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        A former McDonald's junkie who weighed 30 stone has revealed he shed almost half his body weight in two years by quitting his snacking habit.

        Harry Spacagna, 24, from Southampton, Hampshire lost a mammoth 13st 13lb (90kg) after realising he had a problem with 'emotional eating' between meals.

        Many of these snacks were high-calorie takeaway treats, like a McDonald's cheeseburger or pack of fries.

        'My meals were pretty healthy, but I was eating lots in between out of boredom,' said the support worker.

        'It’s so easy to go down to the kitchen, grab something or nip up the shop. Also quite a bit of emotional eating as well.

        'Probably, if I went to the doctor’s about it, they would diagnose me with a bit of a binge eating condition.

        'I had struggles with my mental health, so I’d eat to try and make myself feel better.'

        Mr Spacagna struggled with his size for as long as he can remember, and suffered a particularly extreme bout of weight gain when he reached adulthood.
        Harry Spacagna, from Southampton, Hampshire, said he had struggled with his weight for as long as he could remember and had used takeaways and fast food like McDonald's as an 'emotional crutch'

        Harry Spacagna, from Southampton, Hampshire, said he had struggled with his weight for as long as he could remember and had used takeaways and fast food like McDonald's as an 'emotional crutch'
        Shocking before and after images show how the senior support worker has lost a total 13st 13lb (90kg), now weighing in 16st 1lb (102kg)

        Shocking before and after images show how the senior support worker has lost a total 13st 13lb (90kg), now weighing in 16st 1lb (102kg)
        But by swapping the takeaways for 'whole foods', including chicken, lean mince and vegetables and playing football once a week he achieved an extraordinary transformation

        But by swapping the takeaways for 'whole foods', including chicken, lean mince and vegetables and playing football once a week he achieved an extraordinary transformation
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        'I've always been active in sports but the bigger I got, the more limited I was,' he said.

        'I'd get out of breath and couldn't keep up with my mates.'

        But in April 2023, the comments from a friend, while on holiday in Germany, triggered a drastic change in his behaviour.

        'A big group of us went on a night out, and we were steaming,' he said.

        'My friend, who isn't usually sentimental, turned to me and said, "Mate, you really need to sort yourself out, we're all really worried about you".

        'That really hit home, it was a wake-up call.

        'I realised I wanted kids in the next five years and to be able to play football with them.'
        He recalled how it a 'wake-up call' from a friend that gave him needed the final bit of motivation he needed to slim down

        He recalled how it a 'wake-up call' from a friend that gave him needed the final bit of motivation he needed to slim down
        At 6ft 1in Mr Spacagna's weight had him with a BMI of 55, firmly placing him in the severely obese category according to NHS guidelines.

        At 6ft 1in Mr Spacagna's weight had him with a BMI of 55, firmly placing him in the severely obese category according to NHS guidelines.

        The following month Mr Spacagna started playing football with other men who wanted to lose weight and radically changed his diet.

        He said the support from this peer group has proved invaluable.

        'I don't think I would have had the confidence or empowerment to keep going without that support,' he said.

        'We'd message on WhatsApp and encourage each other.'

        Mr Spacagna eventually started hitting the gym with a fitness coach to start burning off even more weight.
        Read More
        Millions will be ordered to have annual weigh-ins, health chiefs announce – are YOU on the list?
        article image

        'At first, I did weight resistance training to build muscle because my coach said if I have more muscle, I'll burn more calories.

        'I've also been tracking calories and, because of my exercise, I eat 2,500 calories a day and still lose weight.

        'I still have the odd treat but [I eat] a lot less processed food.'

        He added that his relationship with food is now 'completely different'.

        'It's astonishing … I don't see food as an emotional crutch any more,' he said.

        'I'm a lot better at processing my emotions without food, and that comes from the confidence and empowerment I've gained from this shift.

        'Even my work performance has improved because my confidence has gone up.'

        Mr Spacagna's eventual goal is to lose a further two stone and achieve a six-pack.

        However he said he's already enjoyed a major milestone.

        'Buying a whole new wardrobe last year was so emotional – I'd never been able to walk into a shop and buy my own clothes,' he said.

      1. I get the impression that the judges are trying to outdo each other in their stupidity.

      1. How does one sack a judge? I have asked this before, and it seems that it is impossible.

    1. I discovered that because of net zero a fridge that needed evaporative coolant replaced was achieved with an inflammable gas that had to be exhausted outside in the garden at the end of a long tube. Could this be why a fridge was the source of the Grenfell tower block fire?

      1. Iso-Butane it is. Only certain kinds of refrigeration equipment use it. Since it is widely available, a few likely lads over here tried recharging their car AC's with it. It is very falammabel though.

    2. I discovered that because of net zero a fridge that needed evaporative coolant replaced was achieved with an inflammable gas that had to be exhausted outside in the garden at the end of a long tube. Could this be why a fridge was the source of the Grenfell tower block fire?

    3. Well Vlads not a net giant is he.
      The anti Russian bandwagon is totally over loaded already. I expect it was a large amount of new rechargeable batteries used to replace the diesel generators.
      But that's not what will come
      out is it ?

    4. Using biomass for energy and calling it 'green' is totally doolally. Coal is a biomass fuel, and there is still plenty of it. Burning it 'cleanly' should be where the money is spent.

      1. Actually I have read that with the new technology,(Scrubbers?), that coal is tantamount to being green energy.

  100. I wonder if this fire has triggered some sort of Security Alert. My Disqus and Google acccounts required renewing and I had to log back into my Telegraph account.

    1. Of course they know where you live, but logging in could reveal your current location, presumably a safe house in the West London area.
      Edit: for 'London' read 'Numptyville'.

    2. I once worked on a site which had a sizeable electricity sub station which caught fire. The cause of the blaze was so I'm told one of the bus bars becoming loose causing a build up of heat resulting in a fire. Fortunately there were back up generators on hand to provide electrical power until repairs could be effected. I understand it is good practice to inspect bus bars periodically. The engineers who frequent this site will know a lot more about this subject.

  101. I wonder if this fire has triggered some sort of Security Alert. My Disqus and Google acccounts required renewing and I had to log back into my Telegraph account.

    1. Blimey! Wings actually doing useful journalism, instead of Nationalist, English hating trash! Well done Rev. Stuart!

      1. TBF, Sue, they have always published very well researched, brave articles on the unsayable. Most of the rabid anti-English frothing is BTL. I do respect the Rev. for his courage. I could be wrong, but I believe he is another who has been persecuted – prosecuted – for revealing truths that the PTB would rather stayed well hidden. Another Tommy but of a different hue.

        1. You may be right. There are some days I cannot even be bothered to read the rhetoric. It’s as though he’s schizophrenic! Or am I supposed to say bi-polar nowadays? Anyway, I appreciate his investigative stuff, but his Nats wahay guff leaves me cold.

          5. I haven't looked at the site for quite a while for similar reasons but was curious to see what they had to say about the canonisation of Wee Krankie, McWhirter is practically wetting himself on the Speccie re her sanctity. I was relieved to find an antidote – and then all this other stuff that you will not find on the BBC.

          6. Those are the reasons I read him, but he’s been sadly lacking recently. I thought it must be what happened to Craig Murray.

    2. Blimey! Wings actually doing useful journalism, instead of Nationalist, English hating trash! Well done Rev. Stuart!

  103. The last guest judge on Great British Menu is Mina Smallman. Her two daughters were murdered in a park in London in 2020. No mention of the assailant in this episode but on a closer look the killer was called Hussein.

      1. Of course it doesn’t, but it ticks soooo many boxes for the virtue-signalling Al-Beeb!

      2. The celeb judges are people of note. This woman advises on women’s safety issues. Similar to Stephen Lawrence’s mother.

    2. I suspect the issue of repatriation of illegal immigrants is so huge and has the potential to spark mass civil unrest that the only policy left in the government tool box is to cross fingers and hope for the best….

      1. In the sure and certain knowledge that it will be someone else's problem to deal with it…one day.

      2. The gov has clearly demonstrated what they will do to anyone demonstrating against migrants. And in case anyone were to forget, Mr Y-L will be in jail or constantly hounded through the courts as a result of his activism. Its not a pretty prospect if you have a decent standard of living.

    1. There's a Doomsday Clock that shows the approaching end of the world. Perhaps we could have something similar with our friends who cross the Channel. The Last Boat that broke the UK's back?

  105. Wordle No. 1,371 3/6

    🟨⬜⬜🟨🟩
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 21 Mar 2025

    Elbow for Birdie Three?

    2. Well done! I was overdue a difficult start and I got one here, and a silly error on guess 4 cost me a par. Bogey time!!!

      Wordle 1,371 5/6

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

    3. Well done. I'm always content with a par.

      Wordle 1,371 4/6

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

      1. #metoo.
        Wordle 1,371 4/6

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

      2. Even Two hour later, me too

        Wordle 1,371 4/6

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

    4. Well done. Back from a good 5 o'clock club at the pub.

      A par this morning.

      Wordle 1,371 4/6

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

  107. Wouldn't be amusing if (what's left of) the Armed Forces of the Crown declined to play.

  108. Wouldn't be amusing if (what's left of) the Armed Forces of the Crown declined to play.

  109. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fdfdda56e4abcd245e4f127443e8fc8d4b983354463254ac75c1a81f7fa18378.png Where's Philip?

    Just finished the prep work on tomorrow evening's supper. The porchetta is now prepared [skin dried and perforated all over, flesh covered with a paste of ground fennel seeds with oregano, rosemary, chilli flakes, parsley, celery seeds, salt, black pepper and olive oil]. It will be served with a pork gravy. Tomorrow I shall slow roast it at 130ºC for four hours before raising the oven temperature to 250ºC to crisp the crackling.

    For those guests who like vegetation I will serve it with pommes boulangère, cauliflower, broccoli, French beans and peas.

  110. "Simply Deranged.. no where else like this in Europe.."
    David Starkey

    Since mid 2000s 95% of Somali gimmes in social housing. 47% on benefits. Same story for Mali gimmes.
    Most live in London.. where they are placed in housing stock in Zone 1.. hugely valuable properties.

    2. William is evidently in Talinn posing for the locals in some useless Challenger tank and an equally vulnerable tracked vehicle.

      I wondered what had happened to the Challenger tanks we sent to Ukraine and had assumed they had been destroyed by superior Russian firepower. One such has evidently sought refuge in a Baltic state where the populace have fallen for the anti-Russian utterings of the EU.

      Proof again that our Royalty are completely out of touch with the true sentiments of the British people.

    1. Get Zelensky to accept them all in Ukraine.
      If it's safe enough for the British army it's safe enough for gimmegrants.

      1. That didn't apply to gimmegrant accommodation, did it? Good enough for the army, not good enough for the incomers.

    2. Just for the record:

      Wethersfield, Essex: Population: 1,269 (2011 Census)

      If one is having a whinge – at least get the figures right…

  115. Evening, all. Which man that Trump is trying to deal with does the writer mean? If it's Starmer, I doubt anyone can understand him. If it's Putin, then I'd say that Donald knows Vlad is a man who wants to protect his country and they have that in common.

    1. I hope you're right about her getting nothing, but I wonder whether her action was the straw that broke the camel's back and a number of decent hard working individuals lost their jobs because of her.

  117. That's me for today. Not such a nice one as yesterday. Not much sun and a chilly bite to the blustery wind. Still, sawed up one of the heaps of chestnut trimmings in readiness for the bonfire on Monday. Much assisted and advised by G & P. And the first of the tomato seeds sown on Sunday has germinated. Only 100 more to go….

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain – with luck.

    1. I was saying to my wife today – I was disappointed by the weather but only because the forecast had been for much better than actually transpired, and that impacted negatively on my enjoyment of the day.
      If the forecast had been for lousy, rainy and freezing weather I would have been delighted with the actual outcome….. as the day was perfectly fine but not as sunny as predicted.
      Expectations (Great or otherwise) are clearly important!!

    1. In serious cases like this they should lose that right to anonymity if found guilty.

      2. That girl will never forget what they did.

        Trying to protect them with anonymity, so that they cannot be "judged" in future, rubs salt into her wounds.

        1. I think it quite likely that we can guess what their names might be – that they are probably from a non-indigenous "community" wherein the choice of name is limited, and is neither Christian nor diverse.

          1. Pugh! Pugh! Barney McGrew! Cuthbert! Dibble! Grubb!

            Mo, Mo, what do you know, Ibrahim, Ali and Umar

    2. I just can't think why the public might speculate. I've been racking my brains for the answer for at least five seconds…

      1. Five whole seconds?

        When you joined, old school Nottlers suspected you would be slow on the uptake.

        };-O

  120. After my trip up to Ashton today I managed to get one wheelbarrow load of logs cut & split and best part of a 2nd load sawn and awaiting chopping.

    T'Lad's more than delighted with what I picked up today and is even more delighted at the lots I've bought for him at another auction that ended yesterday.
    So this weekend I will need to strip and sweep out the back of the van so I can load my camping gear in for a trip to Frome early next week.
    I think the weather has changed JUST enough to make camping in the van possible, though I am prepared to do a night or two's B&B if it turns colder.
    Some pictures:-
    This is the Pantry Stack, so-called because it's built against the exterior wall of the pantry. that we've almost refilled in less than a week:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/87bae4fb5aee87981b8be1ea7affec327e49a19f3145d293ff79603facfeba84.jpg
    This is two sections of the Triple Stack, you can see how tight we are for space there:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14f023016e40a17a4b79a788fccc8ae80a39bb062283446a930139be12a62273.jpg
    And the 3rd part of it with the Hollybush stack that we started burning at the weekend:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9f9579ac2b1010af22762fea1365b886994717f39ea75eacff4a49d7afdf4f31.jpg
    And a wheelbarrow load of logs ready for stacking:- https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3a1af0df135782d1d90582235a9a651b600fddcebd189ef39a182d44a2058132.jpg
    But first they had to be transferred into builders' buckets for dragging down to the stack:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ec94bbddaaff5da7d731f9fa7a2f50b0e2ae198fda58e3ef470fc5eeffc583e3.jpg
    The sawing and chopping area is on the far side of the 2nd shed!
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3e1da199c1c8f95e7bf9fafb51d889237955c8ed3ba39bf801f7b1bfdfb98e92.jpg

    5. It's hard to tell how much you have there.

      My split log pile is still roughly 30 metres long by 1 1/4 wide and 1 and 1/4 high, having been burning a barrow load a day since October.
      The kindling pile is roughly, 10 x 1/2 x 1.
      I've probably as much kindling still to cut and split and two more large dead oaks to fell.

      Your barrow looks just like my metal barrow, I find my plastic one is easier to push.
      I've moved well over 1,000 barrowloads of wood in the last 18 months.
      My biggest problem is the distances in the garden: a round trip from the house to the pile and back is the better part of 300 yards.
      From the fallen oak to the piles was 200 yards, up hill.

      Still, assuming it doesn't kill me, it's good for my old ticker.

      1. It's a builder's barrow I picked up 30odd years ago at a local auction.
        More than a bit neglected over the years, but it still trundles along.

    6. I am shocked by the amount of space along the path which is NOT filled with logs.
      Clearly Robert is slacking.

    7. Interesting, thanks for posting. I have to build several of those shelters. Not sure how to start, don't want to build one and then it falls down and the neighbours might see and laugh….

  121. Grovelling £5m-a-year Heathrow boss apologises for airport carnage but says he's NOT to blame – as travellers brace for days of chaos and the first flights that will take off tonight are revealed

    Sorry mate, but one of the sub-sections of rule 101 of any major operation is to test your back up and contingency plans.

    If one part of the operation can collapse all the rest, that part needs very serious back up.

    You didn't have it, you're the one who is at fault.
    The buck stops with you.
    Resign.

    3. My second

      AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

      of the day.

      Deport her

  127. Goodnight, all. It's early but I've got another busy day tomorrow with an early start, so I'm off to try and get some sleep.

    2. Ovaltine good, Conway – Original, not Light) Pollen count high here, aaaarghhhh….have a good day tomorrow. Dog doing a bit better on Canin Hepatic food.

    1. Right. I'm going to piss a lot of you off now. I loathe seeing that picture posted as a stick to beat the imported cousin-marriers with. It shows a family tragedy, and they look like triplets to me. It is not, by any stretch, the norm, although you are correct that such disasters do occur more often within immigrant families from (eg) Pakistan. Please stop posting that picture – it, to my mind, shows people (offspring) damaged at birth – a multiple birth – rather than a genetic result of consanguinity .

      1. This may well piss you off, opopanax, but you'll have to try harder if you want to piss me off….:-)) more or less every time I open social media/websites I find something to piss me off. I only came on here now looking for Kathie, see if she'd been singing. Heavy tree pollen this year, that's pissing me off too….early night for me x

        1. My beef is concerning that particular oft-posted photograph – and I knew that saying this would provoke a negative response but I had to say it..There is a scene in the film "Deliverance" that carries a similar message. It makes me feel sick.

          On a lighter note – you are looking for the wonderful Ashes? I'm sure she will appear

          Hope your hay fever improves x

          1. No worries..I get the same thing…yes Kathie in BA she’ll be having fab time and be around soon hopefully singing. Thx for good wishes tree pollen v.high this year ..doh..🙄😄 x

      2. See me screaming here , I am also pissed off .. I am especially pissed off that the great British public has been timid and complacent about the race replacement and terrible violent behaviour brought about by importing a primitive culture who are costing the tax payer a fortune ..

        We have barely recovered from our WW2 debts , we have consigned our beloved parents to the photo album , we are shortly to be remembering the end of WW2 on May the 8th .. yet we have a daily drip feed of murders rapes stabbings gang culture , erratic untrained alien car drivers , hawking and gobbing in the street , littered streets , piles of shit in the countryside / dark corners / unfriendly misogyny from groups of people , then of course our culture is threatened .

        Seaside towns staggering under drug crime and fights and a King who embraces Ramadan , and a blinking idiot Starmer and co who take the knee , and to finish off , the country is flatlining economically , oh yes and my council tax is £ 3,800.

        I am very pissed off and have every right to be .

        1. Sure you are, and sure you have every right to be, Belle. I am just making the simple request that you desist from posting that particular photo, which gives a false impression. Tragedies do happen in families, wherever they're from.

      3. Nope.

        This kind of thing was filling the SCBU in Bradford 40 years ago.

        Special care baby unit.

        1. I know exactly what SCBU is, sos. I spent weeks in there when my son was born. So fuck off.

          1. You might, many people here complain when initials are used.

            We to have had a child in a specialist unit and we were asked if he had been baptised, because if not would we like a priest to do so. He had suffered a significant fracture of the skull and we were kicked out of the room whilst he was prepared to be sent to an even more specialised unit. The police closed every road junction and roundabout between the hospitals as he was blue-lighted across.
            So I have had that kind of experience. He's fine now but required physio for years to mitigate potential weakening down one side of his body

            My wife worked in the Bradford SCBU for a number of years and I can assure you that significant numbers were not damaged at birth, they had abnormalities.
            That picture also disturbs me, but don't you find it strange that there is a fourth child, who looks very similar, and clearly isn't the same age?

  130. Not a bad day, ended by watching That brilliant film The French Connection. It's been a long time since I last saw it. But one of the best of its class.
    Goodnight all 😴

    1. I have/had, haven't heard from her for many years, a cousin named Omo. she always calls herself 'Mo' on any communications.

    2. Who remembers,
      "Omo washes not only clean,
      Not only white,
      But BRIGHT!
      Omo adds bright-bright-brightness"?

  132. I have Amazon Prime and just discovered I can see books online. Just reading 'Old Man's War' on Kindle.. I thought I'd read it before, but evidently not, unless my memory is totally kaput. Liking it.

  133. Well, chums, it's now my bedtime. So I will wish you all "Good Night". Sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow.

    1. Morning Geoff.
      Do You think a sneaky government department has started to undermine us because we speak the truth about them ?
      I have never seen so many 'comment unavailable' in all the years I've been a Nottler. What's going on?

Comments are closed.