Friday 25 September: Lockdown suppresses Covid-19 but with no vaccine we must live with it

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/09/24/letters-lockdown-suppresses-covid-19-no-vaccine-must-live/

714 thoughts on “Friday 25 September: Lockdown suppresses Covid-19 but with no vaccine we must live with it”

  5. So stage one of reset is complete, stage two has begun, time to unleash Attenborough and ramp up the climate change agenda.

    1. 323971+ up ticks,
      Morning B3,
      “How green is my pillow talk ?
      Did I hear him say yesterday, once we have dealt with covid then the green issues must be dealt with, that surely is TOP threat so far.

    2. ‘Morning, B3. I wonder what has happened to the Superbrat? Hardly a whisper from her (thank goodness).

    3. According to Radio 3 News this morning the Wildfires (note not set by arsonists) in American beyond a doubt caused by Climate Change (man -made implied)

      3. …and made worse (as in Australia) by the green lobby seeing cutting firebreaks as an intrusion into a natural habitat.

        Similarly our annual floods caused by the green lobby’s insistance on no dredging.

        As Grizz intimated yesterday, common sense is out of the window.

  6. SIR – The Prime Minister’s diktats have debased and dehumanised British citizens by treating them as inanimate elements of a biological experiment, the aim of which is not well defined and which has no clear end in sight.

    As I come up to the age of 97, today I shall opt out of this experiment and instead exert those personal freedoms of thought, word and deed for which my generation fought 80 years ago.

    Professor Sir Bryan Thwaites
    Fishbourne, West Sussex

    A distinguished mathematician, he made a £1.2 million donation to help poor white students.

    1. SIR – As a “vulnerable” granny, I don’t particularly want to die yet. But far less do I want the future of my children and grandchildren to be destroyed by any more government interference.

      Since Covid-19 seems not to be dangerous for the young, it makes sense to let them get it and develop immunity. Youth passes all too quickly. Let them be free to socialise and work and start to rebuild the economy.

      I can be responsible for my own safety, order my shopping online, speak to my doctor by video call, FaceTime my grandchildren, and limit my socialising. And if I end up dying then it’s one less pension for the overstretched coffers to deal with.

      Caroline Brice Standen
      Peasmarsh, East Sussex

  8. Small Mercies Department

    Let us give thanks that Sir Lindsay Hoyle replaced John Bercow…..(and that it wasn’t Harriet Harman)

  10. Morning all

    SIR – The key word in your Leading Article (September 23) is “suppress”. Lockdown suppressed the virus. With the relaxation, it has resurfaced, and is making up for lost time.

    When the new measures are relaxed, the same thing will happen. The only way forward, until we have a vaccine, is to learn to live with Covid-19.

    Martin Coomber

    London SW19

    SIR – Since the end of the first lockdown, an epidemiologically significant minority – I would estimate at least 15 per cent – has flouted both the advice and the rules on distancing and hygiene on public transport.

    These are not libertarian heroes; they are the same litter-dropping, speeding, loud-music-playing elements who made life miserable for many of us long before Covid.

    When lockdown was policed, these elements were controlled, but when policy was based on appeals to people’s common sense and social goodwill, the outcome was entirely predictable. This is all the more upsetting because lockdown reminded people that there are such things as community and a caring society – though they need policing in order to work.

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    Yes, it is unpleasant when the whole class gets detention because of the actions of a few, but don’t blame the headmaster for taking action. Detaining everyone at least prevents a minority from going out and killing your grandmother.

    Victor Launert

    Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

    1. So, Vic…what you are saying is that NoTTLers are ” litter-dropping, speeding, loud-music-playing elements who made life miserable for many of us long before Covid.”

      Run>>>>>>

    2. Morning Epi,

      Victor is an ignorant dimwit. Since deaths due to untreated cancer and suicide are rising and those from rather than with Covid were never high and are now lower still, it’s he and his fellow lockdown luvvies who are the murderers.

      1. My #2 son sent me a picture he took in Switzerland (which I’d post here if I could figure out how) of two people he saw in the street in Fribourg – a couple both wearing gasmasks, plastic capes and rubber gloves. Or maybe they were just coming home from a fetishists convention.

  11. ‘Morning again.

    From the Tellygraff…it is shameful that this serviceman has been pursued so relentlessly, and in stark contrast to the pitiful lack of effort when it came to the investigation of the Asian rape gangs in this country. A conspiracy on the part of Iraqi civilians? Gosh, whoda thunkit??:

    An Army major subjected to eight investigations over the death of an Iraqi 17 years ago has finally been exonerated after a senior judge concluded witnesses had colluded against him to pervert the course of justice.

    A new 88-page report into the death of Saeed Shabram, who drowned in a Basra dock in 2003, has concluded that Major Robert Campbell jumped in to try to save the young man, only to find himself victim of a conspiracy which “likely began on the day Shabram died”.

    The report also found that the military was aware that witnesses “had colluded and were dishonest” as long ago as 2006, raising serious questions over why the major’s ordeal lasted a further 14 years.

    The official Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI) report by Baroness Hallett, a former Court of Appeal judge, found that Shabram, 19, and his older cousin Munem Auda, who survived, “must have slipped or jumped into the water” after being caught by soldiers trying to steal electric cable.

    Baroness Hallett concluded that “a number of [Iraqi] civilian witnesses” who came forward to give evidence against Major Campbell and two other soldiers in 2003 and again at a later criminal inquiry in 2014 to 2016 were “inherently unreliable”.

    Identified in the report only as SO70, Major Campbell has waived his anonymity to speak out against the system and the years spent under investigation.

    Baroness Hallett said in her judgment: “The fact Iraqi civilians were prepared to claim falsely that they had witnessed the events leading to Shabram’s death raises the question of collusion and inducement. I must consider, therefore, if there were attempts to encourage or intimidate witnesses into giving evidence that Shabram was pushed into the water by members of the British forces.

    “I have concluded that there is clear evidence of collusion and possibly a conspiracy on the part of some Iraqi civilians to pervert the course of justice and the collusion/conspiracy likely began on the day Shabram died.”

    In 2011, the MoD paid out £100,000 to Shabram’s family and a further £45,000 to Mr Auda although it refused to accept liability.

    Baroness Hallett described an Iraqi fixer, Basim Jabir (hired by the dead man’s father Radhi Shabram) was a “major player in the collusion/conspiracy”.

    She added: “Basim Jabir plainly took on this task. He organised the witnesses and escorted them to the authorities.”

    She said Jabir and another Iraqi had “lied about their presence and what they had seen” and said Jabir “arranged for other witnesses to ‘assist’ the investigation. Some of them too then gave false accounts”.

    Baroness Hallett wrote in her judgement: “My ultimate conclusion is that there is no reliable evidence upon which it would be proper to conclude that SO70 or any other British soldier pushed or forced Auda and Shabram into the water. It is most likely that they jumped or fell into the water in the process of trying to escape what they believed would be dire punishment for looting.”

    In her report, she says that both Major Campbell and another soldier, known only as SO72, “both entered the water and attempted to rescue him [Shabram] but were unsuccessful.”

    She adds that the soldiers only gave up the search when they “were too exhausted to continue”.

    The IFI report said that about two hours after the drowning, seven Iraqi men, including Shabram’s father, arrived at the Army’s base in Basra, demanding justice.

    The Royal Military Police began an investigation and Auda, who had survived, identified four witnesses that “he claimed had seen everything”.

    Their version of events has since been discredited.

    Auda insisted he and Shabram were only at the docks to graze their animals.

    Auda gave three further accounts, one in testimony in 2006 at a Formal Preliminary Examination, again in 2010 as part of his civil claim and finally in 2014 when he was flown to Istanbul to be interviewed by investigators working for the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat), a controversial unit set up by the Ministry of Defence to investigate thousands of criminal claims, the vast majority brought to it by Phil Shiner, a human rights lawyer since struck off for dishonesty.

    But an Iraqi fisherman Walid Jasim, who had been asked to interpret by Major Campbell, disputed Auda’s claims. “He saw the two Iraqis run and throw themselves in the water,” said the IFI report.

    In her conclusion, Baroness Hallett said: “Witnesses who do have a motive to lie are not necessarily unreliable and inaccurate, but their accounts must be analysed carefully. In this case some of the Iraqi witnesses had a possible reason to lie, namely, to gain justice and or compensation for the family of Shabram and for Auda.”

    She added: “Most of the accounts given by Iraqi witnesses to investigators were analysed and rejected as inherently unreliable.”

    1. They are Arabs, ergo liars. Anyone who knows them knows this.

      Our political elite blind themselves of this trait. The question is why.

    2. And what has happened to the desk jockeys who continued to push this and will the legal aid be reclaimed from the human rights scum who have profited, at our expense, and are laughing all the way to the bank.

    3. And this has taken 17 years….! I was going to write “unbelievable” but “inevitable” is better.

      1. That’s nothing, Sue.
        Hillsborough = 30 years and counting. This once-great country is a shambles, and elements of it are rotten to the core.

        1. ‘Morning, Hugh, and the rotten core is in the judiciary, supported all round by Common Purpose.

        2. I think there has long been more corruption in the police than most folk, particularly judges and magistrates, were willing to acknowledge. However, the police have now added wokeness and ineffectiveness to their previous attributes and this (alongside what they interpret as our Cabinet’s priorities) has made their incompetence and corruption greater than ever.

  12. Wretched National Trust….

    SIR – The National Trust must really have to scratch around in its determination to find properties with links to slavery (report September 22).

    I was bemused by the inclusion of Bodiam Castle, built by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge in 1385. Its “crime” was to be saved from ruin in 1828 by John Fuller, the eccentric Squire of Brightling.

    Fuller, the son of a rector, was from a family of wealthy Sussex iron makers. By chance he was a left a Jamaican plantation by an uncle. This twist of fate saved a castle for the pleasure of thousands of visitors each year.

    Brian Cole

    Robertsbridge, East Sussex

    1. SIR – Like others, the man on the rice, Uncle Ben, falls (report, September 24), to make way for the new dystopian society. Is Aunt Bessie to be next?

      J A Porter

      River, Kent

      SIR – What will happen to the Colston bun of Bristol, named after Edward Colston? Will it be the Freedom bun?

      Lyn Hopkins

      Dereham, Norfolk

          1. I think It is the first letter re Uncle Ben which is significant – the clue is in the address. A former resident of the county of Devon.

          3. Oops, my manners – such was my haste. Good morning Hugh from a sunshiney east-Devon-almost-Dorset (but chill, though not much breeze).

            I may well be wrong re the Devonian one.

          4. Good morning, poppiesmum

            Are you now living at Axmouth and how long have you been there?

            I looked at googlemaps and saw that there are two pubs overlooking the Cobb – the Cobb Arms is the one we visited more often. It looks as if the second hand bookshop has gone and the area to the west of the Cob is very different from what I remember.

  13. For God’ sake ?

    Baptist call to resist

    SIR – In the absence of any serious resistance to the regulations imposed upon the Church, we feel compelled to voice dismay at the ongoing incursion of the state into congregational life.

    We urge Christian communities to push back, as appropriate, not only in the precincts of church gatherings but also in the routines of everyday life.

    The ostensible reason for lockdown, namely to “save the NHS”, has long since passed. Notwithstanding the latest modelling predictions and apparent increase in infections, death rates from Covid-19 are very low.

    Therefore, unless there is a view that the Government can actually eradicate the virus, not to mention mortality, we should resist being instructed in the way that we are. We should take all commonsense precautions, and then urge congregations and fellow citizens to get on with their business.

    If we do not act now, then masking our faces, shaming our neighbours, and a national culture of fear will indeed become the “new normal”.

    Our children’s education will be irrevocably damaged. The economy, which is the basis of the NHS’s future, will cease to provide. Ironically, the physical and mental health of our country will deteriorate further.

    And our churches, which ought to be under our own jurisdiction, will become a shadow of the light they could be in our land – nothing more than a leisure activity.

    As Baptists we have a long history of dissent. As Nonconformists we are not bound by the constraints of the establishment. What we urge now, however, is not simply for the freedom of our own Christian communities, but of the country that we love.

    Rev Dr Ian Stackhouse

    Rev Dr Alasdair Black

    Bishop Francis Sarpong

    Rev Philip Fellows

    Peter Jeffery

    Guildford, Surrey

    2. I wonder what the authorities would say to someone who stated that they were a conscientious objector, and whether such people could be fined and successfully prosecuted for non-payment..

      Even in wartime such people were believed and generally spared active service.

      1. ‘Morning, Sos. In WW1 some were used as stretcher bearers on the frontline…and that was probably one of the more dangerous jobs.

        From Wiki:

        “Conscientious objectors were made to take on medical roles and other “work of national importance” on the roads and land. “But policy towards them grew harsher as the war went on,” says Mr Pearce. They could be placed as far as 100 miles from home with a soldier’s wage to ensure “equality of sacrifice”.

        1. Indeed.
          I knew that that happened, and also that many of them volunteered to be stretcher-bearers. They just refused to bear arms.

          (hence generally)

  14. Morning again

    SIR – Visitors to the Cloisters at the northern end of Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River will see a complete medieval priory purchased by Americans and transposed to America.

    This religious edifice was acquired like Lord Elgin’s legitimate purchase of the marbles from the Acropolis. Will those who presume to advise us to return the Elgin Marbles (“US members of Congress urge Britain to return Elgin Marbles to Greece next year”, September 22) do the same with their antiquities?

    Tony Jones

    London SW7

    SIR – The Americans feel we should give back the Elgin Marbles to Greece. Fine – when they give back New York to the Indians.

    Dick Arnold

    Chard, Somerset

    1. In 1626 Manhattan Island (not NYC or NY State) was bought by the Dutch for $24 worth of trinkets. Unfortunately they paid the Canarsees, a bunch of conmen from Brooklyn and not the Wappinger tribes who actually occupied Manhattan. And so began a story that continues to this day….

    2. Frankly, my dear, I couldn’t care less (Translation for US NoTTLers: “could care less”) whether or not they return the Cloisters to Europe or New York to the Indians (Translation for US NoTTLers: “Native Americans”) just as long as they don’t return Meghan & Harry to the UK.

    1. 10 o’clock! Oooh-er. Isn’t that when Covid transforms itself vampire like into an Agent of Death and Stalks the Streets laying waste to all human life!? Why are these people not running screaming for their homes?

    3. I am mulling over going to a printer, get a mass print, and deliver this throughout Bournville and Northfield and hand out** at shopping centres. It needs to be supplemented by data on NHS waiting lists and empty beds 2020 vs. 2019.

      ** MOH, a CovidHyperHysteric would go bonkers at this

  18. Just been up to collect the windfalls. Thought the veg garden looked a bit odd. All the frames and netting have been blown off and are about 20 yards away! The tomatoes and beans are horizontal…. And the gale is continuing until Sunday…

      1. Put them in newspaper in a covered box and you’ll have nice red ones at Christmas (if Christmas is permitted, of course).

          2. ‘Morning, Bill, are you getting all excited over ‘The Governess’ usually introduced as, “Old frosty knickers, herself”

    2. I’ve picked most of my apples today and finished pruning those trees. I only have the Braeburn to do now. I am starting to put the garden to bed for winter.

  19. Landmine detection rat awarded gold medal for ‘lifesaving bravery’

    I bet it would have preferred a bit of cheese.

    Mornin’ all.

  20. Good morning all,

    Beautiful sunny blue sky day here, but very chilly and windy.

    Here is a rather heartwarming story I found amongst all the doom laden stuff.

    Boom crown rat: Magawa the bomb disposal rodent is awarded animal George Cross after discovering dozens of explosive devices
    Bomb disposal rat Magawa scratches the top of the ground when he detects a landmine which alerts handlers
    He can search tennis court size area in 30 minutes which can take a human and metal detector up to four days
    Magawa has been formally recognised for his work and been presented with a miniature PDSA Gold Medal

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8769677/Boom-crown-rat-Magawa-bomb-disposal-rodent-awarded-animal-George-Cross.html

    1. The only chance Oggy is if Nigel Farage decides to change the Brexit Party to the Reform Party!

          1. I very often agree with ogga – but he has a very unforgiving nature when it comes to Nigel Farage.

            Although ogga agrees with many of us here that Brexit was necessary he is not prepared to give any credit to Farage for it. Mind you, I am still not convinced that a proper Brexit will happen and I agree with ogga that the Conservative Party cannot be trusted.

      2. 323971+ up ticks
        AS,
        Here is where we differ slightly, many will trust farage out of desperation, I mistrust him by virtue of his treatment of those who initially gave him a platform the decent membership of UKIP.

        AS in his LBC rant and input along with the ersatz UkIp Nec in taking down the real UKIP under Batten / Braine etc.
        There are those in the brexit group who now question his motives regarding his last outing.
        He carries to much questionable baggage to be trusted again.

        Was the brexit group a top up for the ” in name only” tories ?

        In retrospect,

        Keep in mind we in the UKIP party acting as say frogs, gave a boost to a smooth talking scorpion across the river of politics
        then found ……..

    2. 323971+ up ticks,
      O2O,
      After decades of deterioration appertaining to these Isles
      from continuing lab/lib/con coalition input surely people power can be used in a beneficial way to benefit the nation as in a fight the sh!te manner ?

    3. Gerard (yes I know he can’t see this) -really. There is no such time as 12pm. It is either mid-day or midnight.

      2. 323971+ up ticks,
        Morning VW,
        To err is human so I do believe that most people can self assess the timing.
        I respect him because as a politico he errs, unlike a great many politico’s, in a NON treacherous manner.

          1. 323971+ up ticks,
            Morning Atg,
            Tell me, how can peoples be so righteous in correcting the English
            language and lettering, and as we witness again,again,& again,
            misplace an X in the polling booth which incurs very dire consequences, again,again,& again ?

          2. Really O this is nothing to do with voting, UKIP or an other political party. The M stands for meridian and it is neither morning nor evening, north or south, east or west. It is a matter of understanding what time it is. Nothing more and nothing less

          3. 323971+up ticks,
            Atg,
            In the nicest possible way I do disagree with all of your points
            not in their validity but in the context they are being used in this
            non issue.
            I then fall back on an old saying in defence of the Batten initial post, to err is human.

  22. Morning all.
    Granddaughter just reported in from Uni halls of residence,
    Fire alarm drill resulted in COVID suspected isolating students mixing at rendezvous point with students who might well have tested COVID negative up until now.
    If they had all downloaded the recently released NHS COVID app then all students in the halls that have had fire drills would be asked to self isolate.

    1. Doesn’t surprise me. When we had a real fire alert in the practice, most of the staff ran towards the source of the fire instead of taking the nearest designated exit.
      Luckily there was no real fire; some electrical component had over heated.

      2. When I taught at Allhallows School, in which three of the boarding ‘houses’ were housed in the enormous building called Rousdon Mansion, one of the masters – whose living quarters were adjacent to some classrooms – managed to set fire to his rooms by injudicious use of an electric kettle. Of course the fire alarm went off and all the boys in the Rousdon Mansion houses hurried to their assembly points. It seemed strange to me that the boys were required to leave a building which was not on fire to assemble in one that was.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/892d8ed6153e902588ec252df5e45646e604c82fe8b01c391b8c5673c88516e2.jpg

  24. The BBC surpassed itself this morning. Nick Robinson gushed over his interview with Diane Abbott on Toady then Desert Island Discs entertained a half caste writer who rattled on about how disadvantaged she was in this country owing to her being a black woman.

    The woman was a recipient of a Booker Prize.

    2. So she is disadvantaged in that her book is such utter tripe no one will ever read it, let alone buy it.

    4. Our local paper’s gone woke – every week now there’s some piece called “Stroud against racism”. I’ve given up sending in my monthly hedgehog article – they kept the last couple back for weeks, but printed all the woke rubbish.

  26. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    The debate kicked off by Frederick Forsyth continues. The point about the JU87 Stuka is that it was an effective dive-bomber provided no allied fighter aircraft were in the vicinity. If there were then it was a sitting duck when climbing away from the bottom of a dive.

    SIR – Frederick Forsyth (Letters, September 23) overstates the ability of the Luftwaffe to take on the warships of the Royal Navy, had an invasion been launched.

    Admiral Dönitz subsequently revealed that the German air arm had no effective torpedo bombers; furthermore, it did not at that time possess the kind of armour-piercing bombs it would need to counter the Royal Navy’s warships.

    The Stuka (JU87) dive-bomber, a potential major anti-warship asset with the right payload, required a high cloud-free ceiling and good visibility to operate effectively. Not a bomber for a British summer, then.

    In any event the Stuka – up to that point so very good at attacking fleeing civilian refugees and terrorising cities – proved a disaster in the Battle of Britain, suffering such heavy losses that it was withdrawn from the battle.

    Rob White
    The Maritime Foundation
    London N3

    SIR – Frederick Forsyth notes that the German navy expected the German air force to deal with the Royal Navy in the event of an attempted invasion.

    But only in late 1941, belatedly realising the value of interfering in Arctic convoys, did the Luftwaffe train a torpedo-bombing unit – which, like the Stuka, could function only in the absence of fighter opposition.

    The Royal Navy units likeliest to interfere in an invasion attempt by Germany would in any case not have been capital ships, but destroyers. These were capable of swamping invasion barges simply by passing among them at 30 knots, at which speed and, given their small size, they would also have been hard for unpractised air crews to hit.

    The Luftwaffe of 1940 was optimised for close support of an advancing army. The Royal Air Force was not the only formation it was ill equipped to defeat.

    J P Redman
    London NW11

    1. Admiral Dönitz subsequently revealed that the German air arm had no effective torpedo bombers; furthermore, it did not at that time possess the kind of armour-piercing bombs it would need to counter the Royal Navy’s warships.

      If this is true how to explain the sinking of four British destroyers during the Dunkirk evacuation?

      Grenade, sunk by air attack at Dunkirk on 29 May.

      Basilisk, Havant, and Keith, sunk by air attack off the beaches on 1 June.

      1. Presumably those destroyers were stationary, picking up toops, a significantly easier target than a moving ship.

        2. …and ‘ordinary’ bombs could penetrate a destroyer’s armour plating but would be far less effective against a battleship’s armour. Hence the Tallboy bombs used against the Tirpitz.

  27. I feel a bit like Captain Oates – we went out to rescue the netting – and were nearly blown over. Managed to get it all into a shed to dry off. Although it is pouring, the wind is so strong that it blows the raindrops past you!

    1. Still dry here – though the sun’s gone in and it’s breezy.
      I just went out to hang up the washing and surprised Mr Roebuck on the lawn – he trotted off and jumped over the wall into the field. He’s a regular visitor here – but he ruins my geraniums! He waits till they’ve recovered from the last feast, then eats all the flowers.

          1. I understand your view – but there are far too many wild deer in the UK. We are overrun in Norfolk.

          4. Muntjak; roe deer. They swan round the garden eating what they like – and are not exactly tame, but shrug as they saunter off.

          5. We don’t see so many Muntjak now as we used to. And our Mr Roebuck is the only one we’ve seen in the garden for several years. Some of our neighbours have installed deer-proof fencing.

          7. Whenever I read of muntjac I see the simpering Ellie Harrison on ‘Countryfile’: “What a privilege it is to see deer in the wild.” Especially when they are jay-walking…

  28. France: Covid cases hit record high as anger grows over restrictions. 25 September 2020.

    The number of new Covid-19 cases in France has jumped to a record high as the government faces an ongoing backlash against strict measures to halt the spread of the virus.

    Santé Publique France, the French public health authority, recorded 16,096 new infections in the previous 24 hours on Thursday evening.

    The surge is not entirely due to increased testing; while the authorities claim to be carrying out 1m Covid tests a week, the number of positive results has risen to 6.5%. On 14 August it was 2.4%.

    All this and the last paragraph says :

    The number of deaths in France attributed to Covid-19 is now 31,511, an increase of 52 in the previous 24 hours, according to official figures.

    In other words only 52 people died in France from the virus yesterday! Though these are personal tragedies they are in no way, as in the UK, a justification for the measures being taken!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/france-covid-cases-hit-record-high-as-anger-grows-over-restrictions

  30. Bond, James Bond

    SIR – My father, the late Berkely Mather, wrote the final shooting script for the first James Bond film, Dr No. He worked from two previous versions by American scriptwriters in which, when Bond is first introduced, sitting at a roulette table in Crockfords, he said: “My name is James Bond.” My father changed that to: “The name’s Bond, James Bond.”

    My brother and I were granted a night out from our boarding school for the premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, and I remember the audience erupting when Sean Connery turned to face the camera and uttered those words. It is debated as to whether that line or “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” from Gone With the Wind, is the best-known line in cinema history.

    My father was offered either a percentage of the earnings of the film or a flat £1,000 for the script, paid in two instalments of £500. He took the latter, a mistake he was never to repeat – although such an opportunity did not come his way again.

    Wynne Weston-Davies

    Calne, Wiltshire

    2. If the opportunity never recurred – then his Dad was never going to be able to repeat his mistake…

    2. I had the heating on last night! It was 17’c indoors with all the windows closed.

      At the same time, my internet fell over.

  32. Lib Dems to call for possible sanctions against China over Uighur abuses, 25 September 2020.

    The Liberal Democrats are to call on the government to consider sanctions against Chinese leaders over rights abuses against the Uighur people, and urged the British public to think about boycotting Chinese firms such as TikTok and Huawei.

    Layla Moran, the party’s new foreign affairs spokesperson, is to use her speech to the party’s annual conference at the weekend to castigate what she calls a lack of government action over Chinese repression against people in the western Xinjiang region.

    We are going to sanction the Chinese? You would like to think this was a joke but experience unfortunately tells you that it is probably true! A couple of gunboats would probably be more use!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/lib-dems-to-call-for-possible-sanctions-against-china-over-uighur-abuses

    1. So the Liberal Left spends decades closing down industry here and packing it off to China, now we are an insignificant broken small island they want to start telling China what to do.

          3. Yes, I noticed that your follower number had been reduced to zero when I went to RT your comment above…now following your new account.

            I recently had a complaint about a Tweet I made re paedos, ‘Rusty piano wire around the testes will soon sort that out.’
            Twitter informed me that they had investigated the reported content and could not identify any violations of the Twitter rules or German law (!) but in accordance with applicable law and their policies, Twitter is now withholding the above content in Germany.

            It’s a funny old world.

        2. Amazing what you can learn from the Internet.

          Layla Moran is of mixed British and Palestinian descent. She was educated at Roedean and Imperial College London. She is a Lib/Dem MP.

          She physically assaulted her boyfriend in their hotel room at a LibDem conference and though she was not prosecuted the relationship with her boyfriend ended.

          She challenged EdDavey for the Lib/Dem leadership and is now a lesbian living with her partner, Rosy Cobb, who had been suspended from the party for forging an e-mail.

          Layla Moran is an interesting woman – the sort of person we need to lead us forward into a brave new future.

        3. 323971+ up ticks,
          Morning Bob,
          IMO it is well past time for us to call for sanctions against the lab/lib/con coalition
          party, that would be far more beneficial to these Isles on health & safety grounds alone.

    2. 323971+ up ticks,
      Morning AS,
      Currently in reality that issue she has brought up has more chance of being debated than that of deportation,
      de-funding the BBc, Dover troop intake, etc,etc, by the coalition party’s.

    3. ‘Morning, Minty, “…the party’s annual conference…” held in the usual Brighton Telephone Box?

    1. Afternoon Anne , you are the expert on this sort of thing I expect .

      Would you agree that the Sussex pair are suffering from this?

      People with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are characterized by the personality traits of persistent grandiosity, an excessive need for admiration, and a personal disdain and lack of empathy for other people.[7][8] As such, the person with NPD usually displays arrogance and a distorted sense of personal superiority, and seeks to establish abusive power and control over others.[9] Self-confidence (a strong sense of self) is a personality trait different from the traits of narcissistic personality disorder; thus, people with NPD typically value themselves over others, to the extent of openly disregarding the wishes and feelings of anyone else, and expect to be treated as superior, regardless of their actual status or achievements.[7][10] Socially, the person with narcissistic personality disorder usually exhibits a fragile ego (self-concept), intolerance of criticism, and a tendency to belittle other people, in order to validate their own superiority.[10]

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

      2. Markle maybe, Harry is more a victim of needing someone to ‘enable’. His own childhood was (I imagine) pretty horrible. A loveless marriage, a distant father, a mother constantly in the public eye.

        However, narcissim opens the door to her actions being a result of her upbringing and lack of love as a child. That would make her ill, at the best suffering and an object of pity.

        Instead she is someone who is supremely manipulative and abusive of others for her own ends. She refuses to face the consequences of her decisions preferring instead to use the power, not the responsibility. These are the traits of a narcissist, but they’re more those of an egotist or a psychotic.

        1. don worry, the US taxmanwill take care of him, or at least his wealth. A foreign citizen living in the US is liable for US taxes.

        3. Yes. I suspect regardless of her childhood upbringing, she is innately nasty and manipulative.
          I don’t think her parents need to beat themselves up about how she’s turned out.

        4. Yes. I suspect regardless of her childhood upbringing, she is innately nasty and manipulative.
          I don’t think her parents need to beat themselves up about how she’s turned out.

      4. Reminds me of our psychology lectures.
        With character like MeGain, I do like the American description of sociopath; there a difference between psychopath and sociopath. Sociopaths are probably what we’re more likely to deal with in everyday life.
        Sociopaths are manipulative and totally self-centred. They have a hard, cold intelligence concealed under a civilised veneer; it’s a form of emotional intelligence in that they know how to trigger other people’s emotions. They are like small children who have never learnt to grow up; that’s what makes them so dangerous. They have had many extra years to refine their manipulative behaviour.
        Their behaviour goes well beyond merely throwing a strop and hitting someone – which is essentially what a psychopath does, but the action is rather more deadly when 6 foot of grown male indulges in such behaviour. Funnily enough, most psychopaths grow out of their “childishness” at around the age of forty.

    2. Imagine there are a few of us who would happily put up with what Harry regards as the disaster of being disenfranchised to sample his ‘pre-Meghan’ lifestyle.

    3. Why do these demented Lefties insist on labelling everyone different to them?

      Why can’t they just sod off, stop preaching and treat people as individuals?

          1. The only thing that could possibly dent his reputation would be if it was discovered that he was in any way related to Yvette Balls.

    1. It’s lashing down here again in yer E Sussex. Even the dogs are reluctant to go out. Stove was lit yesterday evening. And we are promised a lot of wind this afternoon…

    2. Morning Bill et al.
      We had heavy rain in the small hours, but it’s passed over us and we’ve now got bright sunshine coming up from the Cromford direction.

    1. I haven’t made a decision on that yet – I’ve never had the flu jab, but it’s 25 years since I last had flu so my number might be up.

    2. No need this year, allow the distancing being done for covid means that we will not be close enough to another person to catch flu.

      Our canadian mob have started the flu vaccination campaign, trouble is they were late ordering the vaccine. Maybe next month they say!

    3. The only thing you actually know is that something from a syringe was put into you. What, is a different matter.

      1. Agreed, that’s why I refuse now and will, evermore. In my 77th year I think I might have done enough. But I’m still ruddy truculent.

      2. Well – They’ve already ferried them in, had them checked over by the NHS medical staff ( remember what they are? ) fed them, put a roof over their heads and got them free tvs with no licenses to pay. What do you expect?

        1. How long will this go on or will the indigenous population continue to shrug their shoulders and do nothing?

          1. Probably go on until the last of us drops. Too many are totally transfixed by their little screens to see what is happening. I really REALLY am glad I am nearer the end of my life than the start. The young have so little to look forward to – they just don’t realise it. They think they live in a free world, but is now the most watched nation on the planet. The govt MUST see what the end result is going to be, they honestly CANNOT be that blind – so therefore they MUST want it to happen.

          2. ‘Afternoon, Walter, “The govt MUST see what the end result is going to be…”

            Revolution? Will the Armed Forces be on our side?

          3. The army is to be used against us in keeping us indoors. The navy is NOT used to stop those coming from Dover. BLM marchers get a police escort. Pakistani Independence day celebrations were left to go ahead by the police. Now we hear students may be told to stay away from home at Christmas. It’s not looking good for us.

          4. I’m just hoping that the army might just disobey orders and turn their weapons against those who would oppress us.

          5. Not unheard of. The Catalan Police and Fire & Rescue defended the Catalans from the Spanish Police. No shots fired, I think.

  39. There is no real mechanism for No 10 to challenge Sage. 25 September 2020.

    Given that the virus has not yet taken a million lives worldwide, 500,000 dead on our island may seem a bit of a stretch. But this figure is now back, being used in government calculations – and defended to Boris Johnson as entirely plausible.

    It helps explain his sudden change in language, the cancelled Budget and his claim that this virus is the greatest threat Britain has seen in his lifetime.

    It’s not about what he has seen so far, but about what he fears could still lie ahead: a second wave, far, far bigger than the first.

    They’ve obviously taken Fraser Nelson to see the Man with the White Cat. Boris Johnson is under no obligation; legal, moral or political to accept the advice of Sage. The clue is in the name; The Scientific Advisory Group! The Group Advises and the Government Decide.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/09/25/no-real-mechanism-no-10-challenge-sage/

    1. Nothing to fear except fear itself.
      (c) Benjamin Franklin D Roosevelt?
      EDIT – covering both bases following Alf’s correction…

          1. Nothing to fear but fear itself may refer to: A phrase from the 1933 inaugural address of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

            Nothing to fear but fear itself – Wikipedia

    3. They now no longer give the murderer’s ethnicity and a physical description but they do not give his name either as it might enable you to work out more than you need to know. We do, however, know that he was 23 years old which narrows the field a bit!.

          1. I lived near there in the 60s and then worked there (briefly) about 20 years ago. It had slid down the ladder of gentility over 35 years – God only knows what it’s like now.

      2. Yup. Trains go from their to Dover and Brighton and Hove from memory.

        There is a Home Office resettlement building in Croydon as well and a headquarters building appropriately named Lunar House.

        2. Sorry corim – didn’t see your reference to Lunar House. I was in there once, in the course of a rather strange working day. Very depressing place and area. This was around 1984.

          1. I was obliged at that time to attend meetings with the ghastly Property Services Agency both at St Christopher House in Southwark and at Lunar House in Croydon.

            Both miserable dehumanising buildings containing miserable skulking civil servants.

            I had to sign in and wait for some lift attendant to usher me into a lift to a meeting room. When the tea trolley arrived the civil servants would snaffle the biscuits. Memories eh?

        1. In which case, I hope he’s paralysed from the neck down and that that is his “life means life” sentence.

  41. time to give up hope.

    We were on the ferry to the mainland yesterday (all of 500 yards).
    Before we drove onto the open deck, we had to put on facemasks AND close all of the car windows. We were out in the open, a gentle breeze was blowing and we were at least a car length from the next person, we wouldn’t have caught novichucky from a well trained Russian hit squad!

    The driver of the Porsche convertible was not amused and it was interesting to see a motorbike rider take off his helmet to put a facemask on, I am sure that achieved a lot.

    1. Do those “eyes only visible ” Burka wearers have face masks on underneath? And how are the men with massive beards suppose to get any “seal” to the mask?

      1. The ndp leader is Sikh, he makes a dashing figure in parliament with a simple mask balanced infant of his beard. I doubt that it does any good.

        In preparation for winter, we are looking for facemasks with attached earmuffs.

        2. “with a simple mask balanced infant of his beard.”
          Nice that the child was balanced, but a bit cruel all the same.

    2. Yes, it’s crazy. I watched the Tour de France. Up on a lonely road in the middle of the Pyrenees, swept by the wild winds, the spectators had to wear masks. It was a rule of entry to the closed road area. The riders, cars and advertising cavalcade passed at speed, there and then gone. On the last day on the Champs-Elysees there were no spectators at all. Madness.
      Except that it is good training.

  43. Do students actually learn anything at university these days ..

    University cannot consist of boozing and parties, I mean, how can they afford to socialise.

    Perhaps they should just sit in their rooms and study , it seems to me that the university barriers aren’t set very high.

    2. To be fair both my sons worked far harder at university than I did and deservedly got better degrees than I.

      I spent a few years after university being rather aimless and pretending to be interested in the jobs I had in assurance and financial investment before going back to Southampton University at the age of 27 to get my PGCE. Christo has always been focussed in aviation and Henry in computers.

  44. 323971+ up ticks,
    Just heard a mother who’s son started uni last week she said two lads in the accommodation had tested positive she was worried about her 18 year
    old first time away not knowing what to do.
    I thought the only scramble he has to face is eggs for breakfast, far different than his age group of 80 years ago.
    I then thought on if the accommodation was short of blankets a roll in a bed of nettles would not be on the cards.

    1. I don’t trust charity appeals on tv. My mate is in hospital, nearly ripped to shreds, he replied to the Adopt-a-jaguar ad. It was delivered yesterday.

    2. I worked in the truck sales department at Leyland HQ. A dealer rang me asking if any other dealers had a Bison (6-wheeler) in stock. So I rang round to find out. I mis-dialled Aberdeen Motors and the person answering the phone reacted very strangely when asked if he had any Bisons. It turned out to be Iceland Frozen Foods.

  46. Morning all, literally leaving in half an hour i thought you’d all like to look at this.
    What a brave meaningful piece of journalism more than a cut about our MSM who hide in their cupboards or delight in standing out side downing street slagging off the government. I love the way she mentioned Hamilton and the dick heads who kick a ball around for a living.

    I fear she is right – most certainly when she says “the white’s peaceful subservience to BLM is taken as a sign of weakness” – and they will not hesitate to use it….as do the Muslims!

    Signs in the garden will not stop these nasty people – they are organised and well financed…and armed! Not a good situation.

    ===============================================================

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/09/minneapolis-guilty-whites-think-blm-lawn-signs-katie-hopkins/

    2. I don’t know what nutters frequent these boards but the comments blame the Muslims, then ‘da jeewz’, then Palestine, then caffolicks!, the masons and anyone else, anyone at all apart from the simple facts:

      A lack of education, a lack of integration, a lack of discipline, easy access to lethal weapons, broken homes and basic, plain greed that others have what they want.

      Since the black looting mob have come about they’ve killed more white and other black people than the police have in either country. The entire farcical bunch needed beating, reminding they were a petty mob of spoiled children. The same tired anarchist groups seeking to destabilise society leapt at another chance – this time the police indulged them to the braying of the hard Left, feather bedded, immune to this nonsense as they puttered about the horrors of white people over their Islington dinner tables.

  47. The copper shot in Croydon was apparently shot in the custody suite.

    They let someone in with a gun into the custody suite.

    Is this what diversity and tick box hiring gets you?

    1. 323971+ up ticks,
      Morning Rik,
      I do believe that a body search could fly in the face of
      the rhetorical rulings regarding submissive pcism & appeasement.

      Sad to say, RIP one policeman and sorrow for the family
      waking up to this.

      1. The police are now terrified to do a proper stop and search thanks to the screeches of Diane Abbott and Dawn Butler and the Lammy bloke.

        Labour have taken the knee, and the wild tribes do exactly as they please..

        (Sorry I am jumping to conclusions)

        1. 323971+ up ticks,
          Morning TB,
          No need for sorrow, BUT they act as a coalition and are as politico’s interchangeable.

    3. Presumably the suspect wasn’t a little white haired English granny, so his human rights took priority.

      1. That is old and now discredited advice. Eating three meals stocks the body up on carbohydrates, which are stored in the body as fat. The body simply cannot cope with all that food.

        One substantial (low-carb, low sugar, high protein, high fat) meal a day is all you need for health and vitality. I’ve lost over three stones adopting that strategy and I don’t find myself hungry or needing to snack.

        1. Eating three meals stocks the body up on carbohydrates, which are stored in the body as fat. The body simply cannot cope with all that food.

          It depends on a) whose body b) what else the body is being asked to do c) other conditions that may affect the digestive system ….

          As with almost everything there is no “one-size fits all” answer to diet, or how or when we eat.

      2. That is old and now discredited advice. Eating three meals stocks the body up on carbohydrates, which are stored in the body as fat. The body simply cannot cope with all that food.

        One substantial (low-carb, low sugar, high protein, high fat) meal a day is all you need for health and vitality. I’ve lost over three stones adopting that strategy and I don’t find myself hungry or needing to snack.

      1. Lily doesn’t eat as much as our previous cats and is rather on the thin side, so I think we’ll continue as we are.

    4. I normally have only one meal a day. Lunch. Unless i’m going to dine out in the evening. The downside of that being the Bill reflecting more in alcohol than food.

  49. Just back from shopping, but first to the Docs for annual MOT. Yet another nurse practitioner. She let slip she was from Sweden so I bowled her over with, Det hadde du kunna tidigare säger!” (You could have said that earlier!) So we carried on in Swedish; I was 40 minutes with her. She was good with the needle when she took blood.
    When I left her 11.30 & jumped into the car the outside temperature was 9C, subtract the wind chill factor & you can imagine it was bloody cold.
    After w/rose I dropped into a shop which was having a sale & bought 2 old-fashioned white enamel with the blue rim oven dishes. The cold wind has aggravated my arthritis, so I won’t be doing much active today.

    1. I hope you hadn’t forgot your long johns, gloves, scarf and hat. If you put a live chicken under your hat it will keep your head warm The eggs are a bonus.

      1. Du har inte sett henne; hon var ful – you haven’t seen her she was ugly.

        Besides, the damage was done later when I was shopping in St Ives.

  50. My first flight was straightforward. I walked into the airport, I showed my ticket. I walked onto the tarmac. I stopped to reply to a questionnaire about plane travel. I then climbed the wobbly aluminium steps to the plane. I was last on to the plane. There were no seats. An off duty pilot was moved to the cockpit and I got a seat next to the window. I had my Barlow knife in my pocket in case we crashed into the sea and I had to cut my way out. The jet engines roared and we were off.
    The 60s and the 70s were the heyday of aircraft hijackings. In the 70s the IRA got busy. Airport “security” was introduced, routine luggage searches, body scans, X-Rays and “please step this way”…
    The Home Secretary admitted in an interview that all of this was worthless as security. He did say that it was entirely to make people feel safer. “If all this is happening, it must mean something, right?” Well, two hours in a hot, tiring queue will obviously make you feel safer.
    The real effect of airport security is to inculcate the habit of routine obedience to petty authority. Most of the population are familiar with it, having been through it many times.
    So we are are where we are. That is, the majority of the population are used to doing what they are told, even when the person telling them is a person with foreign antecedents, an IQ of 70 and a badly fitting cheap uniform.
    Given all that, which is surely incontrovertible, how can any sensible person think that the lockdowns, house arrests, restrictions, fines and all the rest of it have anything at all to do with medical facts, rather than plain old population control?

    1. “That is, the majority of the population are used to doing what they are told, even when the person telling them is a person with foreign antecedents, an IQ of 70 and a badly fitting cheap uniform.”

      Fuck off, Horace! Is that what you think of me? I was an aviation screening supervisor from 1999 to 2007 and I have a higher IQ than most on here (as did many of my staff).

      I spent a great deal of my time in those days arguing with the Department for Transport’s (DfT) inspectors and airport management about the necessity for what we were doing, and why “rules” and diktats were changed, sometimes daily! None of us liked the over-the-top approach of the DfT, who seemed clueless about how to handle the crises that came one after the other. As a consequence, staff-turnover was huge and recruiting and training replacements was a never-ending chore.

      Just try, for even one day, to be in a job where the pubic are in your face, hour after hour, aggressively shouting and whingeing at you. See how long you would last.

      Eventually the DfT and my employers tired of having me there, constantly snapping at their heels, so they conjured up a way of disciplining me. I sought legal advice and they backed down, giving me a decent severance package.

      The question I have for disgruntled passengers, like you, is this: “How differently would you feel if airport screening was disbanded and then your loved ones ended up as the victims of another Lockerbie?”

      Yes, I know that successive governments since Lockerbie have been running around like headless chickens and wanted to do something (anything) to “show the public we are doing something”. Unfortunately they never took advice from those in the know.

      4. Well dear, have you been through airport security recently?
        The security stuff at airports started long before Lockerbie. I would suggest that planting a bomb on a plane is always going to be fairly easy for the “security services” to do. As happened with the Lockerbie bombing. The bomb was planted by the Americans in all likelihood.
        Maybe have lie down, dear. Then you may not take everything personally, get all frothy and make rude ad hominem attacks?

  51. China prepares to declare victory in global vaccine race – and assures the world theirs is safe. 25 September 2020.

    Sinovac is one of four Chinese vaccines in last-stage human trials, a higher number than any other nation in the world. Also in the leading pack are a handful of final stage vaccines being developed in countries including the UK and US.

    “Our goal is to provide the vaccine to the world, including the US, EU and others,” CEO Yin Weidong said this week, though it remains to be seen if the company can win approval in Western countries with tough regulatory processes.

    The Chinese probably made the vaccine before the virus! Lol! I’m taking none of them!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/25/china-prepares-declare-victory-global-vaccine-race-assures/

    2. ” Our goal is to provide the vaccine to the world ” – – I wonder what amount that would bring them in?

      1. 300 billion today. Then there are the boosters at another 300 billion. Then there will be a new improved version at 500 billion. Then the boosters at another 500 billion.

        2. The French will be pissed off, they supplied much of the expertise for the secure lab and the training in the expectation they would get a share in any drugs developed.

  52. Last night I switched the TV channel to BBC News channel. (In the morning that channel is on because it has a clock on the screen to time spent on the exercise bike.)
    I caught a couple of segments before switching off. The first was an interview with some black female in Louisville about some upcoming demonstration for “Descendants of Slaves”. At the end of the interview the news reader, a blonde lady, thanked the black profusely and wished her well in her endeavours*.
    The next segment was a report from somewhere in China. The reporter was reporting the plight of a peasant woman who breeds snakes to sell in the wet markets. Alas, these markets are currently closed so the peasant woman has no income. How sad.
    This was like stepping into some strange parallel universe. An alternate world
    The BBC encouraging black terrorism in the USA, and bewailing the loss of filthy Chinese food practices. Oh, well. The new normal, I suppose.

    *The riots seem to have gone well. https://eu.courier-journal.com

    2. We have not only lost our moral compass we have also lost our moral sextant, our moral GPS and all our moral charts.

    3. On similar lines, MB and I started watching Grayson Perry. We don’t get exercised by his alter ego as he often has something interesting to say.
      However, on this occasion he started his USA tour in Atlanta, Georgia. After 15 minutes of trying to untangle the black argot, we gave up. Perry may have been trying to draw them out to expose their real motivations, but it was just too long winded and like trying to understand a Glaswegian during a stairheid rammy.

  54. At least four people are attacked with a meat cleaver near the former offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. 25 September 2020.

    At least four people, including two journalists, have been brutally stabbed with a meat cleaver on the same street as the former offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

    Two victims are fighting for their lives after the brutal attack which was carried out in broad daylight on Friday.

    Police have arrested two men after they were spotted with blood on their clothes near the Opera Bastille.

    Hmmm. They are gearing up!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8772267/At-four-people-stabbed-near-former-offices-Charlie-Hebdo-Paris.html

  56. Boris has only got one ball,
    Hancock has two but very small,
    Whitty has a tiny dicky
    And Cressida’s got no dick at all.

      1. I was just trying it out Walter! The posting of video’s is tricky and this one still didn’t turn out as I wished!

        1. I don’t know if it is the same on Parler but when i want to copy a video from YouTube i right click the mouse on the video as it starts, which brings up a small menu and then click copy URL. Then post it here.

          1. Pretty much the same Phizzee but I wanted the still in the box to show people what it was. Nevertheless it’s a nice straightforward link to Parler!

        2. I had some emails from a mate onto another laptop – copied them onto this laptop – and cannot shift them – or their content. Tried copying the text, tried copying the video – absolute nowhere. At least you managed it – even if you weren’t sure how.

    3. Yep. The riots are the actions for which the BBC newsreader offered her best wishes to the Louisville organiser.

    4. I have no polite words left for what passes as the majority of ‘news’ organisations here and in the US….

  58. Just back from a lightning trip to Morrisons. Minimum of buggerment – just one queue for the fully manned checkouts. In fact it was quicker than doing what I usually do – choose the slowest…!

    But – with pouring rain – you do see just how badly laid supermarket carparks are – deep puddles all over the place. One would have thought in the late 20th century – when that one was built – they would have been able to get it right. I bet yer Romans could get surfaces right…

    1. Morrisons Reigate went back to the old queuing system when the oppression was relaxed, but now they’re back on the one-queue-fits-all setup, which I prefer.

    5. Good morning, Bill

      Our local supermarket’s carpark is on a slope. This means that as you are putting your shopping into the car the trolley runs off down the hill.

    6. I would imagine they were laid very quickly when the retail sheds were built and the ground is still settling.

  59. 323971+ up ticks,
    Under the governance coalition party & their adherence to applying the submissive pcism & appeasement unwritten rulings with great vigour that sort of rhetoric could not be heard in the UK, could it ?

    French Prosecutors Treating Machete Attack Near Former Charlie Hebdo Offices as Terrorism

        1. As our WWII debt wasn’t finally settled until 2006, that means MB and I spent most of our working life paying it off.

      2. He’s made every single Labour chancellor since WWII look like a fundamental Conservative with the amount he has borrowed & spent……

  61. I have just read the updated DT report on the murder of the policemen in Croydon:

    The Telegraph’s Crime Correspondent Martin Evans understands that the suspect may be of Sri Lankan origin.

    {Please try, Nottlers, to suppress your gasps of surprise)

    2. It seems that the policeman was shot when doing a Covid temperature test.

      Will it count as a Covid related death?

      Sorry, black humour.

    3. And the BBC reports:
      The Reverend Catherine Tucker, who was at the centre earlier, said: “The action taken against the police is really unacceptable but I also feel sorry for the perpetrator.”
      The reverend, who went to the centre to see if anyone needed prayer or support, added that she was “sadly not surprised” to learn of the shooting.

      1. The faux nobility of the Social Justice Warrior. I love everybody! Particularly if it doesn’t impact on me!

        1. She is blind.

          “When religion and politics travel in the same
          cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their
          movements become headlong – faster and faster and faster. They put aside
          all thoughts of obstacles and forget the precipice does not show itself
          to the man in a blind rush until it’s too late.” ― Frank Herbert, Dune

          1. Firearms suspect, 23, who shot dead police sergeant doing Covid temperature check INSIDE police station was ‘on terror watch list’
            Detective was shot at 2.15am this morning by man at Croydon custody centre in South London
            Officers and paramedics treated officer at the scene before he was taken to hospital and died
            Incident marks first time a police officer has been shot and killed on duty since September 2012
            Unnamed man is tenth police officer to have been killed in the line of duty in the past decade

            https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8771713/Gunman-shoots-police-officer-dead-Croydon-HQ.html?ito=push-notification&ci=35974&si=7271111

      2. Everything that is wrong with the clergy right there. Reverend Tucker should firstly be concerned with the Soul of the dead Policeman. Then secondly the soul, but not the life, of the perpetrator.

      4. The perp should have been blown away by the police. Problem solved. Time to arm the police in the UK if this shit is going to happen.
        So, a copper’s family has an empty space where once there was a loved person – parent, sibling, uncle, whatever. But no sympathy from the Rev Tucker, the bitch.
        Man, I’m furious.

      5. She feels sorry…….for the perpetrator!!! When will the virtue signalling end? It has probably always been with us to a greater or lesser degree. Unfortunately we are living in times when Virtue Signalling Matters. Well – I am right out of virtue and compassion, except for my own British tribe. Blowing my own trumpet simply isn’t me – I was brought up in times when it was a virtue that children were raised to be modest.

        1. And much good did it do them, when the modest ones with talent watch the immosest ones without go soaring past them on the career ladders.

  62. 323971+ up ticks,
    May one ask,
    Can anyone shed any light on ” is this the end game being played out of the nation ?
    Surely no governance party can be voted back into power after putting into place & carrying out such odious anti peoples actions.

    The make believe opposition party is, if not on par then worse and besides is a third of the coalition.

    It does seem as though the same voting pattern will be continued until the
    shriek of mandatory mosque attendance is echoing from every street corner.

  63. There are the usual emotional responses to the shooting dead of a policeman. My response is much harder, more analytical, and unlikely to be liked very much. I kept my mouth shut and blogged no blogs when a policeman on security duty at Westminster was murdered. He was given a hero’s funeral. My thoughts were not in line. He was killed because he was not paying attention. He was not doing his job. He was chatting to tourists. That was not his job, it was a distraction.
    It seems likely that a similar failure occurred in Croydon. It may be that the police reception assumed that the killer had already been searched before being brought into custody. We may find out.
    However, we need to look at our language and how we describe people. Description results in mental and physical response. When we use a term such as “frail old lady”, it conjures up a mental picture that assumes a number of things based on our experience and how the description relates to this.
    Words like “refugee” and ” asylum seeker” prompt us towards sympathy, care and generosity towards helpless, suffering, displaced victims.
    We need to reconsider this as many, if not most, of those arriving our shores illegally do not fit this view. There are few who are old, female or children, far fewer than one would think reasonable and proportional. Compare those arriving here with photos of the lines of refugees fleeing Paris in WW2, old, weak, and miserable.
    We need a new description that will strip away those connotations that elicit sympathy. Sympathy begets a weakness in us that makes us vulnerable to exploitation and attack.
    I suggest “Civilian Invader”. There would be different categories: Category 1 – Armed Male, Category 2 – Unarmed Male, Category 3 – Female Armed, Category 4 – Unarmed Female and so on.
    Such nomenclature would predispose our officials to treat such people with extreme caution, rather than the lackadaisical, let them get on with it in 4* hotels, and complete freedom to roam our streets approach that we have seen up until now.

      1. I know. The Guardianistas, the BBC, the charities, the politicians, the suckers, are sorry for them. Or claim to be. Or are paid to be.

    2. “… “refugee” and ” asylum seeker” prompt us towards sympathy, care and generosity towards helpless, suffering, displaced victims….”

      Not any more. Now they bring to mind an early 20s middle easterner sponging off welfare who’ll never work or contribute to this country and will lie in wait as a threat to the public until he stabs people or blows himself and others up.

      There was a time when a refugee was a genuine individual seeking shelter from suffering. Those we should welcome. Same as we should welcome immigrants who speak our language, want to work here and have skills we do not and will contribute and integrate into our society while we, in turn respect their traditions and values that they practice in private.

      For the same reason that ‘mentally ill lone wolf’ is media short hand for radicalised Muslim immigrant fanatic so too has refugee been twisted from economic freeloader who has arrived illegally that the state supports and endorses to destablise the nation.

  65. France: Covid cases hit record high as anger grows over restrictions. 25 September 2020.

    The number of new Covid-19 cases in France has jumped to a record high as the government faces an ongoing backlash against strict measures to halt the spread of the virus.

    Santé Publique France, the French public health authority, recorded 16,096 new infections in the previous 24 hours on Thursday evening.

    The surge is not entirely due to increased testing; while the authorities claim to be carrying out 1m Covid tests a week, the number of positive results has risen to 6.5%. On 14 August it was 2.4%.

    All this and the last paragraph says :

    The number of deaths in France attributed to Covid-19 is now 31,511, an increase of 52 in the previous 24 hours, according to official figures.

    In other words only 52 people died in France from the virus yesterday! Though these are personal tragedies they are in no way, as in the UK, a justification for the measures being taken!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/france-covid-cases-hit-record-high-as-anger-grows-over-restrictions

    1. I’d like to know how “the authorities” know there has been an increase in the number of cases, if not by test results. Do people ring them up and say, excuse me but I have Covid 19. And if they do how do they know? And why would people even do that? Why are the authorities desperate to keep us all under control? Would it by any chance be so that they can vaccinate us all, mandatorily? And then, if you have no certificate, prevent any overseas travel or, indeed, travel at all?

      There are quite a few people “in the exclusive club” who are going to make one hell of a lot of money out of this. Our imprisonment continues. For no proper reason other than we do not revolt nationwide.

      1. “Do people ring them up and say, excuse me but I have Covid 19. And if they do how do they know?”

        A large and credulous proportion of the population has been frightened into believing that the virus is the plague returned so upon suffering the mildest of cold-like symptoms they panic and offer themselves up for a test.

        1. I fear you are right! They obviously have no idea that, for a start, these tests are only 60% Covid 19 specific.

    4. “Infections” or “cases”?
      The key to government strategy has been to deliberately confuse the two terms and obfuscate the difference.

          1. Absolutely. The question is how do “they” know about them if not by testing? Not that that matters but …

          2. They make everyone go for testing because a child has a cough, now that they’re back at school. The whole year group has to go home and quarantine – so people get tested to be let out.

          3. When you say ‘remains of past infections’ does this mean any old generic coronavirus Infection, N, or the coronavirus that is specifically covid?

        2. No, not at all. Ndovu answers this below. If all the “cases” discovered today from testing had had Covid-19 last February, as might well be the, erm, case, then why is that figure used to justify a further 6 month lockdown? That is what is happening.

    1. even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. I disagree with a lot of what trum7 says but when he’s aid that Harry (of Ginger and Whinger fame) needs all of the help he can get, I was in full agreement.

  69. Ventured out to Slavery Central earlier today to go to the nearest branch of an obscure building society just to inform them of my change of address. On the train there I wondered whether the interest I had earned on the account over the past 12 months would actually cover the £8 return rail fare. Sadly when I got to the branch I was told “their system is down”….. so I will have to wait to find out.

    Stopped at an old fashion sandwich shop (No brand image and very local staff). I said that if I ever come back to Slavery Central again I’d pay another visit. I also took the opportunity to ask why the African Entrepreneurs who procured the slaves in the first place never seemed to get a mention……

    Waiting for the train to depart for the return journey I took a photo of the Station Sign….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/999863f2bf91ac9cf5793f027e9ae77d6fc03efcd43825058362ec28d48092b2.jpg

    2. Wait until the slammers work out that the Temple refers to the Knights Templar. The remains of an elliptical Templar Church exist just off Castle Street.

      Other examples are the circular church in the centre of Cambridge and the circular parts of Temple Church in the Middle Temple in London.

      1. But that consideration is counterbalanced by Bristol Parkway being named in memory of Rosa Parks, obvs. {:^))

    3. Wait until the slammers work out that the Temple refers to the Knights Templar. The remains of an elliptical Templar Church exist just off Castle Street.

      Other examples are the circular church in the centre of Cambridge and the circular parts of Temple Church in the Middle Temple in London.

    4. The British Empire & Commonwealth Museum used to be adjacent to Temple Meads station? I read at one time that it was moving to London but it seems to’ve disappeared altogether.

      1. It opened in 2002 and went into liquidation in 2013. The collection is in the care of Bristol Museums and Bristol Archives.

          1. I confess to knowing nothing about the museums in Bristol, it’s a city I have yet to visit (like so many others).

            This old world keeps on turning and the time to go places and do things gets spent on earning a living and keeping one’s head above water – so most of the places don’t get visited. Add elderly parents an 8 hour car journey away – and the time for other exploring gets even less – but I’m not wishing them away.

          4. I’ve skirted around Bristol on the M4 and M5, but that’s as close as I’ve been – though neither frequently nor recently and generally on the way to a more rural area somewhere in the south west. I know something of its history (it is, after all, one of our oldest port cities) but I’ve never been much of a city girl. Having inherited my father’s excellent night-sight I’m quite happy to stroll down a country lane in pitch darkness – but far more nervous alone in a well light city street.

            When Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last prince of Gwynedd was captured in 1282 – his sons were imprisoned in Bristol Castle. The elder died within a few years but the younger was still there over 30 years later, still imprisoned…. not a happy fate for two little boys from the Welsh mountains.

      1. I look back to the old corridor Mk.1s with a lot of nostalgia!
        The number of times I travelled on a postal service stretched out on the long seats!

      2. My 1956 Hornby railway train set has a couple of these coaches along with two small dull red coaches….

    6. I’m impressed with the fact that you captured two BR Mk1 carriages in 1950s carmine & cream (blood and custard) livery. This indicates a loco hauled special. Steam or diesel?

      I found this on YouTube, the train in question – York to Penzance:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxxCTLszRKU

      Two class 47 diesels hauling an interesting variety of stock. Five Mk2 coaches, and four Mk1. The two in the photo being the 7th and 8th coaches in the train.

    2. HMQ: “You should be very grateful, it will allow you to remind the American people why they sought Independence rather than subservience under the thumb of the BLM.”

      DT: “Britain’s Legitimate Monarchy?”

      HMQ :” No Donald, we always refer to her as Bloody Little Markle”

  71. I see that Sadiq Khan is commenting on the Croydon murder and is suggesting one should not jump to conclusions.

    Fair enough.

    May one at least ask a few questions.

    If the man was arrested for carrying ammunition and was known to terrorist specialists why wasn’t he stopped and thoroughly searched before being brought into the custody suite. Were the police super-wary because of fears of accusations of racism and the known attitude of the mayor and many London MPs to stop and search.

    If the man was handcuffed, how on earth could he be permitted to access a hidden weapon? Fears of being accused of police brutality and racism as he was digging into his pockets/trousers.

    Do not jump to conclusions but at least question how on earth the dead policeman could have been exposed to such grave danger in what one might have expected to be a secure area.

    3. Obviously the Police learned nothing from the David Barber incident, where they hadn’t handcuffed or searched him before putting him into a police car.

  72. Latest Breaking News just in – A man has been arrested on a bus for pulling off other peoples face coverings, sources say he is believed to be from Damascus.

        2. Wasn’t he a Loony Tunes cartoonist,
          I seem to remember at the end he used to sign off That’s Saul Folks

  73. Great excitement – a power cut. As – apart from the AGA – everything depends on electricity (not the car, obviously…am I mad?) we have been sitting in the growing twilight….

    It is on again. Frankly, given the “near gale” since midnight, I am amazed that it didn’t go off earlier. And fully expect it to do so again.

    Any news since 4 pm? Thought not.

  74. DT Article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/what-if-trump-refuses-us-election-2020-defeat-biden-win-president/

    What happens if Donald Trump refuses to accept US election defeat and go quietly?
    The Telegraph reveals secret ‘war game’ planning amid fears of a legal challenge after November’s election

    What has become of the DT – it is almost as ridiculously wokish and pro-democrat as the pathetic sub-royal Sussexes.

    Here is a comment from under the article with which I agree:

    The Democrats are going to cheat in every way they can.

    How will they react if, in spite of all their machinations, Trump wins? Will they accept his victory or will they organise riots?

    3. I hope that those woke young things saved their “Not my President” placards from the last election. They can either reuse them or sell them.

      It’s going to be a mess, faith in the system is at a really low level.

    4. Just imagine the riots, if Trump manages to get a nomination onto the SC before the legal end of his Presidency, as he is entitled to do.

      And then imagine the riots if that court rules that his election was legitimate after a Democratic legal challenge to a Trump victory.

      1. So what about five years ago when the Republican Senate blocked appointment of a new judge because as they put it “it was too close to the election”?

        What has changed and why are those senators not just a bunch of Hypocrites?

        1. I guess you haven’t seen all the Democrat speeches, from years ago, telling the public that a President has the obligation to appoint promptly.

          Even Ruth B-G made that very point.

          Now, obviously it’s political, but please don’t try to tell me that a President (of either colour) isn’t within their rights to do it.

          I fear you’ve swallowed too much Dem Kool-aid up in Canada.

          1. The senate Republicans refused to go forward with nominations.
            That is regardless of the Kool aid being swallowed by the dems.

            So it is OK for these politicians to completely reverse course?

    5. I hope that those woke young things saved their “Not my President” placards from the last election. They can either reuse them or sell them.

      It’s going to be a mess, faith in the system is at a really low level.

  76. French news has reported that “Zlatan Ibrahimovic positif au Covid, Lineker s’inquiète pour le virus”. Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested positive for Covid,. Gary Lineker is concerned for the virus.

  78. That’s me gone for this horrible day. Murder; attempted murder; gales; power cuts…

    A demain.

        1. You posted twice that you were now going to bed. I posted “Good night Peddy” on the first post I read, then “Good night again, Peddy” on the second one.

  79. Does anyone else get this message when trying to upload an image?

    ‘ You must be logged in to upload an image.’

    I am logged in (obs) and I have tried logging off and back on again, same problem.

    Edit: btw, I’m using a MacBook Air running MacOS Catalina, V.10.15.6

      1. Yes. It is a Disqus fault.

        When you click your little image box and you get that message, try clicking at least twice more and then it will post.

        *note. Most Nottlers are having their afternoon snooze. 🙂

        1. Hi Phizzee. Thanks for the reply, glad to see that you, like me, are one of the Woke. No, wait…

          Actually, when I click the little image box it takes me to Finder and I can select the file for upload. It’s at that point that the message comes up. I’ve played around with what you suggested but no joy.

  80. The speed of transition from summer to autumn here is rapid, to say the least. Up until last Sunday daytime temperatures were consistently mid 30s and today? 12C, a cold wind and driving rain. Trousers for the first time since May, it’ll be socks next. Brrr.

      1. I’ve given up on forecasts, there’s one showing 2C for tomorrow night and another showing 7C. Not even close. And the second one says no rain here this evening. It’s pissing down.

        1. They are mostly rubbish. That one was from the weather channel for Bergerac.

          Of the various one I still look at I find that Accuweather is easily the best of a bad bunch and they will forecast at commune level. (ho ho ho) They are suggesting 1 tomorrow night, but I thought Bergerac might be closer to you, being nearer the river than I am.

          2. Meteo was poor for us, I deleted my bookmark, have not looked at it for ages.

            It would be difficult to be very accurate here, because our slightly odd geography gives strange atmospheric conditions. For example, we had what was to all intents and purposes a mini-whirlwind go through the other day.

            Good bottle of TV Pecharmant at lunch today.

  81. BBC and “experts” and the authorities bemoaning Covid increases yet again to justify lockdowns.

    14 days is suggested to be sufficient quarantine time for the virus to manifest itself.

    And yet we have had massive interactions of people for weeks, with protests over BLM, (St George of Floyd died at the end of May!) extinction rebellion, doubter marches, crowded beaches, town centres and parks full of people, why didn’t the infection rate go through the roof weeks ago?

    Either 14 days is far too little or something is amiss.

    It is all VERY odd.

    2. I had to spend three hours attending to various matters in downtown Marlborough, Wilts this morning. The place was swarming with spotty teenagers returning for the beginning of term at the College (mostly accompanied by Mummy)
      https://keyassets.timeincuk.net/inspirewp/live/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2014/11/Marlborough.jpg
      The most intriguing exhibit was a large section of the main drag that was cordoned off with orange barriers for impending ‘Road Works to Improve Social Distancing’. Wot Bollux. Nobody knows what is really going on.

      1. I wonder what to put in my time-capsule to be opened in 100 years to tell the enslaved masses what really happened in 2020!

          3. Are you suggesting that 100 years of incarceration, in a time capsule, would mature you like a fine wine?

        3. I am writing an addendum to my autobiography, Not a Bad Life, which closes in 2014 when I was 70. Maybe that should be encapsulated for open in 100 years. Shall I send you a copy?

        1. You don’t know what they talk about in Davos. Gates, Blair, Soros. They are the enemy. When will we start to fight them?

    3. One of my favourite poems in A Shropshire Lad. My very beloved father read this to me when I was a young man.

      The foolish man who gave his heart away at 21 can receive our sympathy – but a grown man in his thirties to have thrown his heart away for his dominatrix to flush down the lavatory deserves only our contempt.

  84. BTL under the Tellygraff letters:

    “Bond cursed his luck.

    ” Too many martinis old boy and you fell for the oldest trick in the book” he said to himself.

    Bond was strapped to a work bench with an electric circular saw, ready to slice his privates, at the other end.

    He looked up at his arch enemy Greta.

    ” Do you expect me to talk, Greta?”

    ” No, I expect you to die, horribly!” cackled Greta.

    This is it thought Bond and he thought of his past good life especially the femmes fatales: There was the mysterious PJ, Kathleen,Wendy and the Scottish minx Isabella,and of course the Double Agent known only as S, or was it J?

    But a stroke of luck as the power supply failed and with a bound Bond was free.

    The wind had dropped!

    ” Blast these renewables” said Greta.

    ” I told you we needed back up” said her assistant.

    ” Shut up Attenborough!” said Greta.

    Bond laughed, ” I’ve always said we need nuclear energy and not windmills Greta, when will you Greens ever learn?”

    And with his riposte Bond was away shaken but not stirred.”

    1. Good night, Peddy. Just about to eat my evening meal: a home-made curry with a banana for dessert, all washed down with a can of lager – drunk out of a glass tumbler, of course.

  88. What an utter joke.
    This has just pooped up (Sic for popped) on the DM website:
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8771977/Is-Britains-coronavirus-outbreak-taking-Infections-48-week.html

    “Super Saturday”, the 4th of July.

    Let’s look at that:

    4th -18th
    18th – 1st August
    1st- 15th
    15th- 29th
    29th -12th Sept
    12th – tomorrow.

    That’s six iterations of a quarantine fortnight.

    That’s TWO weeks, not every seven days. (sorry Nottlers I know you know that but the capital letters are for emphasis)

    Remind me, how bad will (should) it be under Whitty Vallance projections?

    50,000 a day in a fraction of the current exposure.

    So half-Whitty, soiled-bed-Vallance, why don’t we have 250,000 new infections a day?

    Minimum.

      1. Bristol is in Africa, Bob3? Was it the Hotel Bristol in Africa where they were holed up?

        :-))

        1. I doubt it. The Hotel Bristols around the world are named after the Second (?) Earl of Bristol who travelled widely buying the treasures of Europe and beyond.

          He is referred to in Pope’s Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot as Sporus “that milk white curd of asses milk”.

          The last Earl and occupant of Ickworth House (in Horringer near Bury St Edmunds) was evicted by The National Trust when, drug addled, he attempted to run down visitors to the house using his Range Rover.

          Needless to say some 33,000 acres is now reduced to less than 10,000 acres. God only knows how the Trust will portray the history of that conspicuously rotten family.

    1. Closing the meeting, David Monk, leader of Folkestone and Hythe District Council, said: “We are a tolerant society, the people of Folkestone are nice people and I am sure it will work out all right in the end.”

      Aye, right, Mr. Monk. What could possibly go wrong?

      1. I feel that is exactly what the Queen thought to quell any misgivings when she signed our accession to the eu “I am sure it will work out all right in the end.”

        1. Perhaps HM, brought up and serving during the war, couldn’t quite believe that her government ministers would be so treacherous.

    2. I still say, set up containment camps on remote islands until their claims are accurately assessed. If not legitimate claimant, or not first ‘safe’ country, deportation to their last country or, if not provable – dumped in their underwear on a Somalian beach.

  92. Scotland’s imprisonment of students is extreme and dehumanising

    Any students who are able to should escape the hazardous clutches of the Scottish universities before it’s too late

    TOM HARWOOD

    It’s easy to shut down your economy when you know you will not have to the bill. This has been the clear strategy of Nicola Sturgeon throughout the pandemic, happy to restrict businesses safe in the knowledge that the trade-offs that strain the relationship between the UK’s economy hawks and safety doves do not apply to her. Safe in the knowledge that the economic might of the United Kingdom can and has paid for billions in economic support.

    Everything had been relatively easy for the First Minister, gliding over a care home death scandal with distracting noises about shutting the border with England, evading serious scrutiny despite the average Scottish R-number soaring past England’s, and being gifted an hour-long daily address to the Scottish people long after the pandemic peaked. Yet this week things changed.

    England’s new restrictions – the bizarre and potentially counter-productive venue curfew notwithstanding – have been relatively minor compared to what many were expecting. The Prime Minister was at pains during his statement to stress that his measures did not constitute another lockdown, that businesses were remaining open, that we have to learn to live with this virus for the time being. England balanced the risk of the spread of the virus with the other real risks of economic Armageddon and social degradation.

    The SNP on the other hand threw caution to the wind when it comes to mental health and wellbeing, by going after people’s families. Even before the chaotic new student restrictions were announced on Thursday, the draconian ‘no visiting other households’ rule has been implemented so heartlessly that it became illegal for children who have just moved out to university to return to see their parents, who now constitute a separate household.

    As Nicola Sturgeon’s National Clinical Director Jason Leitch tweeted yesterday clarifying the Scottish Government’s position on student seeing their families, “the law is clear: they can’t meet indoors with another household – even mum and dad. Sorry.”

    And this weekend students are being walloped yet further with new long list of restrictions, so reviled that it has attracted criticism across the board from the Scottish National Union of Students to the Scottish Conservative Party.

    Students in Scotland now face no socialising, no parties, no bars, no pubs, no clubs, no family visits, harsh discipline, and belittling Covid patrols from university staff. From this weekend, to be a student in Scotland is to be a second-class citizen.

    To be a student is to take on freedom, personal responsibility, social life and intimacy. Scottish students have been inhumanely robbed of all of that, and to little benefit. Banning students from bars will simply not work. Student IDs will be left in halls as those who aren’t barricaded in naturally go out to drink. The only students who will really be hit by this boneheaded preclusion are those who work in bars to help ends meet. They will lose their income and face untold anguish as a result. Others will sit in halls alone, terrified of the patrolled block they unknowingly signed up to move in to.

    Dealing with the real threat of this virus should not have to mean extreme and dehumanising indiscriminate solitary confinement. It should not have to mean banning students from venues. And it certainly should not mean the heartless policy of separating children from their parents at Christmas.

    The haphazard, poorly explained, and last-minute lurches from the SNP over their university corona crisis are not only dehumanising, they will serve to be utterly counter-productive. It’s clear that any students who are able to do so should escape the hazardous clutches of the Scottish universities before it’s too late.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/09/25/scotlands-extreme-imprisonment-students-spiralling-chaos/

    1. When are they going to stand up to the idiots and revolt? Probably never as that would mean taking responsibility for their actions.

      1. Not so sure. I visited a previous project in Hills Road in Cambridge on Wednesday. Tables spaced at 2 metres, hand gel dispenser at the entrance and staff wearing masks. Students mostly enjoying coffee and some ordering hot food. Very few mask wearers in the restaurant.

        The company are planning a takeaway version in St Andrews Street, a unit part of Grand Arcade. The directors are optimistic that the Chinese students will be back and are pressing ahead with the investment.

        I believe most sentient persons have realised for some time that the ‘science’ is merely conjecture and that powerful philanthrocapitalist forces are at work.

        We have all known for some time that Soros’s Open Society and Bill and Melinda Gates’s Foundation are dictating this unnecessary and sporadic lockdown and that Boris and his cabinet have either bought into the Gates’ agenda, or else have been bought by Gates or both.

        We should all just ignore these silly and ineffective diktats and return to normalcy ASAP. The authorities can do nothing about a widespread ignorance by the people of their threats of enforcement.

      2. Not so sure. I visited a previous project in Hills Road in Cambridge on Wednesday. Tables spaced at 2 metres, hand gel dispenser at the entrance and staff wearing masks. Students mostly enjoying coffee and some ordering hot food. Very few mask wearers in the restaurant.

        The company are planning a takeaway version in St Andrews Street, a unit part of Grand Arcade. The directors are optimistic that the Chinese students will be back and are pressing ahead with the investment.

        I believe most sentient persons have realised for some time that the ‘science’ is merely conjecture and that powerful philanthrocapitalist forces are at work.

        We have all known for some time that Soros’s Open Society and Bill and Melinda Gates’s Foundation are dictating this unnecessary and sporadic lockdown and that Boris and his cabinet have either bought into the Gates’ agenda, or else have been bought by Gates or both.

        We should all just ignore these silly and ineffective diktats and return to normalcy ASAP. The authorities can do nothing about a widespread ignorance by the people of their threats of enforcement.

  93. 9pm
    Triangles in the sky – Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon, in the south.

    You haven’t got long…

  94. Evening, all. I had not realised that the curfew for shops and cafes was now 3pm. I took MOH into town to get a drink (what a palaver! They refused to serve us unless we wore a mask while standing – we could take it off once we sat down – and, predictably, I left one for MOH in the car, which, fortunately, was parked outside). Most cafes and the post office, however, closed at 3.00. I shall not be rushing back to spend my money in town any time soon. They are doing an excellent job of killing the High Street and trashing the economy. Racing will cease if they haven’t come to their senses by March (a multi-million pound industry down the drain). Meanwhile, they keep trawling for incomers and bringing them in, unchecked, to be housed in five star hotels at our expense and spread disease. My household expenses are soaring (my house insurance and campervan insurance are both significantly higher this year than last as they claw back their losses) and Tesco is starting to ration pasta and loo rolls.

    1. Morrisons also had limits on pasta and loo rolls.

      I didn’t know shops were closing at 3pm though! I normally shop late afternoon, early evening and all was as normal.

      1. It may be a local thing, but all the cafes bar Costa (spit!), the post office, clothes shops and charity shops seemed to be closed at three.

        1. I did notice a poster in one of our local shops saying theirr new opening hours woud be 9am – 4pm – and that was a food shop and fishmonger.

  95. It’s all kickin’ off in SW1.

    The cracks between the Government and its scientists are beginning to show

    Behind the scenes, experts are becoming increasingly concerned that their views and recommendations are being ignored

    By Sarah Knapton, SCIENCE EDITOR

    Since the coronavirus pandemic began, ministers have insisted that science is their guiding light. So it was illuminating that the word “science” did not appear once in Boris Johnson’s statement to the Commons on Tuesday, in which he outlined a raft of new restrictions. Behind the scenes, experts are increasingly concerned that their views and recommendations are being ignored as case numbers rise and panic sets in.

    Take the 10pm curfew. The Telegraph understands that Sage did not include such a cut-off in its list of recommendations put forward to bring down case numbers – but Downing Street pressed ahead with it anyway. Government sources say the requirement was added based on “back of the fag packet” calculations, without any scientific research or modelling to back them up. Scientists on Sage are said to be irritated that they are being blamed for restrictions that they did not recommend, and are calling for Number 10 to publish their original recommendations.

    Asked by The Telegraph whether we could see the Sage advice that prompted the new restrictions, the Government responded: “The advice will be published online in due course as part of our regular publications. We continue to publish Sage minutes and available evidence when they are no longer under live consideration for policy decisions.”

    The problem with such an approach is that, by the time it no longer impacts policy decisions, the damage has already been done. And nobody has been able to question the legitimacy of the action.

    Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, has consistently called for Sage advice to be published more quickly, believing that scrutiny from outside scientists is crucial to check their findings, challenge assumptions and supply new thoughts.

    “If you sign up to science, you sign up to the idea that others should review your work,” he wrote in The Telegraph in May.

    The Government, on the other hand, chooses to dump dozens of documents on a Friday afternoon, often giving journalists less than an hour to sort through them before organising background briefings. The most important have regularly been buried in the largest data dumps, making them difficult to find. Timely access to information is one of a number of areas in which cracks are beginning to show between the Government and its experts.

    When Sir Patrick unveiled the 50,000 cases a day “doomsday” graph (illustrated in the graphic below) alongside Professor Chris Whitty earlier this week, he seemed like a man being forced to read a hostage demand by kidnappers. At pains to point out that the graph was “not a prediction”, he repeatedly insisted it was “simply a way of thinking about how quickly this can change”.

    For a man who sets so much store in creating a transparent and evidence-based response to the pandemic, it must have been excruciating. Equally troubling was the decision to allow no questions from journalists, which only added to the impression that the Government was keen for the pair to not go off-script.

    Insiders claim there is also a growing divide between Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick on how to control the virus. While the chief medical officer is an advocate of increased restrictions to stamp it out, Sir Patrick is more pragmatic, believing we will need to find ways to live with the disease. He said as much at the press briefing, explaining: “We will be living with this virus. This is circulating amongst the population worldwide. It will continue to do so. We will be learning how to live with it.”

    It is likely that such an approach will involve vaccinating the most vulnerable and allowing the virus to circulate in the population (the graphic below shows projections for its growth) until herd immunity is achieved. The worry is that the Government, and Professor Whitty, will deem such an approach too risky. For now, the Government is finding that rowing against the stream of science is leading to difficult questions. Evidence for a 10pm curfew simply does not exist, and academics are divided on whether it will make any difference.

    Several argue that alcohol increases risk-taking behaviour, and believe – somewhat optimistically – that a 10pm cut-off will keep people more sober. This week, Mr Johnson noted that “the spread of the disease does tend to happen later at night after more alcohol has been consumed” – although again, there is no evidence to support that statement. Others believe a curfew will have little impact and misses the point that cases have been rising steeply in religious communities in which most people do not drink. Some scientists even think it will make the problem worse because public transport will be busier.

    On Friday, Jeremy King, the CEO of Corbin & King, which owns restaurants including The Wolseley and The Delauney in London, demanded to see the evidence behind the decision. “What is the science behind putting people out on the streets at 10pm, filling the tubes and buses?” he asked on Sky News on Friday.

    The Wolseley, in Piccadilly, is a favourite spot for politicians. But ministers may end up with a fly in their soup and a flea in their ear if they continue to impose economically reckless policies without the science to back them up.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020/09/25/cracks-government-scientists-beginning-show

    1. “Several argue that alcohol increases risk-taking behaviour, and believe – somewhat optimistically – that a 10pm cut-off will keep people more sober.”
      What tripe and shite.

      1. Turfing everyone out of pubs at 10.00 pm simply means a mass exodus on the streets in close proximity, many tanked up and heading for each other’s homes to continue their evening session. Utter madness to have presumed otherwise.

        The whole idea of extending licensing hours was originally to avoid this occurrence. Our current politicians are brainless idiots to think otherwise.

        I would imagine that the present ever changing diktats have driven more people to drink and to calling the Samaritans than the actions of any previous government.

    2. I think this is an important article and implies great trouble for the Johnson government when all the lies and truths are laid out a year-or-so down the line.

    3. There was never any science. We have been fed pseudo science by people committed to (and with vested interests in) global vaccination.

      As many may recall we had the same panic and huge economic damage caused by such as Neil Ferguson and Imperial College deathly projections previously, tens of thousands of healthy cattle burned and buried in trenches, millions of dubious SARS vaccines paid for by the taxpayer and never employed because the hysterical projections of deaths was found to be utterly false and overstated. There are other examples of wrong advice and examples of failed vaccines which have brought misery and disablement to the unsuspecting people administered these vaccines.

      Imperial College sail on without regret or apology for their many false predictions and yet successive governments have gone to them as first port of call. We can now see why. The whole bloody system is corrupt.

  96. sleepwalking into secession”, SST 25 September 2020.

    “No one wanted war, but war came.”. TTG thinks (or hopes) that war will not come. I am not so sure.

    Where I sit in Alexandria, I see the ties that bind in; culture, sentiment, shared history and societal goals being systematically dismantled by a majority population of newcomers and minorities.

    The same thing is happening all down the I-95 corridor all the way to Richmond where the dismantling is proceeding rapidly.

    This is occurring without regard to the opinions and wishes of the rest of the state. “And here’s to brave Virginia, the Old Dominion state…” No more. No more.

    This pattern of potential division is repeated on a grand scale across the country. We are a federal republic and by that very structure we are built for dissolution as a united country. The UK can split along national lines; England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the United States is made up of 50 potential countries. Or, perhaps more if other states divide internally as Virginia might.

    If such a process of dissolution began, how would the forces of order fare? The National Guard? The Regular forces? The police? If you think you know the answer to that question, you probably do not. Pat Lang.

    The view from the United States.

    No one should be under any illusions about where we are going. A Firestorm is being stoked up with the possibility of an American civil war and a disintegrating Europe.

    https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/

    1. Bah, that’s irrelevant. The real issue is who’ll pay for them when that comes about.

      This is what Labour wanted: an enforced voting bloc.

  98. I don’t know if this has been mentioned,,but two people were attacked in Paris this afternoon by a man with a machete – who turns out, wait for it, to have been “known to the police”.

    Striking parallel with Croydon

  99. For goodness sake. This is pathetic.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8772181/Pictured-Rugby-loving-London-sergeant-shot-dead-INSIDE-police-station.html

    It was a black man. Or a refugee. Likely both.

    Why are they not saying anything? In case they either upset the black looting mob scum by pointing out that more blacks have killed police officers than any other group or that we, the white majority might actually demand that the violent inner city blacks stop being pandered to and come under intense scrutiny?

  100. Leo McKinstry is a British journalist and author

    How the Government has declared war on white English people
    England is in the middle of a profoundly disturbing social experiment. For the first time in a mature democracy, a Government is waging a campaign of aggressive discrimination against its indigenous population.       
    By LEO MCKINSTRY
    PUBLISHED: 00:00, Thu, Aug 9, 2007

    In the name of cultural diversity, Labour attacks anything that smacks of Englishness. The mainstream public are treated with contempt, their rights ignored, their history trashed. In their own land, the English are being turned into second-class citizens.

    This trend was highlighted this week by the case of Abigail Howarth, a bright teenager who applied for a training position with the Environment Agency in East Anglia but was turned down because she was too white and English. The post, which carries a £13,000 grant, was open only to ethnic minorities, including the Scots, Welsh and Irish.

    Such social engineering was justified by the Agency on the grounds that minorities were under-represented in its workforce, the parrot cry used by bureaucrats throughout the public sector to justify bias against the English. 

    https://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/leo-mckinstry/15991/How-the-Government-has-declared-war-on-white-English-people

    (Article is 13 years old!) and look what is happening now in 2020

    1. Scary, innit, Polly? I’m afraid that I can no longer get my head around any of the “facts and figures” (as well as conspiracy theories) we are bombarded with on a daily basis. And nor do I any longer care. I shall live my life using my common sense, wearing a face mask where I must (e.g. to do my grocery shopping). I am increasingly singing my favourite Doris Day song: “Que sera, sera – whatever will be, will be”.

      1. They showed The Man Who Knew Too Much starring James Stewart and Doris Day on the Talking Movies TV channel last week. Doris Day sang this song in it and I posted it on this site after seeing it.

  103. Blimey, I think DT readers are getting slightly miffed:

    “Bond was sitting in the train compartment and there only ten feet away was Scaramanga, the most wanted man in Europe and reportedly leaving London that evening on a false passport to South America.

    Bond had to act soon as this could be his last chance to assassinate his deadly foe.

    Bond reached downwards to check that his Walther PPK was there; of course it was.

    Bond was nervous, he took out one of his Turkish cigarettes, made especially by Morland’s, and lit the cigarette.

    It was now or never…

    ” Excuse me sir”, the nasally,whiny voice of the ticket inspector interrupted Bond’s thoughts.

    ‘ It is an offence to smoke on this train Sir, I will have to enforce a £60 on the spot fine”.

    ” But,but…” said Bond ” I’m working for the Government and…” His voice trailed off as the inspector would have none of it.

    ” Yes sir,and I work for the public and I will issue your fine”.

    Bond paid the fine,looked up and Scaramanga was gone.

    ” Blast!” said Bond.

    ” And may I also point out that you are not wearing a mask sir,so that is another fine”.

    “I need a drink” said Bond.

    “It’s after 10pm sir” said the ticket inspector, ” there is a curfew on ,you know”.

    Next week: Bond incurs the wrath of the Environment Agency for disposing of a dead body in the Thames without the correct paperwork.”

    Reply

    Tom Archer

    25 Sep 2020 5:37PM

    @Brian Thorne

    “He also forgot to write a risk assessment before shooting Scaramanga..”

  105. DT just now:-

    ‘We will not sign a trade deal while there is a ‘gun still on the table’, say EU sources’

    I’ve always found that a gun on the table works wonders.

    2. You can get more out of folk, with a friendly smile …… and a gun ……. than you can with just a friendly smile.

    3. “The rats require a year of training before they are certified”. Does this mean that after a second 6 months of lockdown we will all be certified – or awarded a Victoria Cross?

      :-))

        1. When I looked at the picture, it reminded me of a Wallaby and then I saw it was a “pouched” rat.

          I can’t believe that they are even remotely related, but it’s odd how one can look at something and see something that it’s not.

          Rather like B of B’s earlier picture!

          2. Odd things, rodents.

            I’ve always had a soft spot for guinea pigs hamsters and things like capybara, woodchuck and the like.

            Rumour has it that lacoste is keen on beaver.

    1. “He was a man, take him for all in all,
      I shall not look upon his like again.”

      [Hamlet}

      We shall certainly not see his like again at the BBC – but we shall see him with a better News broadcaster.

    2. Let’s hope it get’s enough “leverage” to force politicians to feel obliged to be interviewed by him.

      1. I always wanted to see him grilling Boris Johnson before the general election. How much better it would have been if he had exposed all the miseries in the WA that Johnson was so reluctant to talk about.

        Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted – but it would still be interesting now to see Boris Johnson subjected to some close questioning on GB News.

        1. I doubt that any of us could have discerned just how corrupt Boris Johnson has proven himself to be.

          He is in the pay of Soros and Gates plus the Rothchilds and assorted Bilderbergers. His response to the supposed Covid-19 ‘pandemic’ has exposed him and his cabinet for the mere tools of the globalist agenda that they are.

  108. FEARGAL THE CAT’s birthday 26th September.

    Let us all wish Feargal a marvellous birthday and Many Happy Returns.

  110. A new scam NOT from DVLA

    Report it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk

    9/26/2020 1:54:10 a.m. e.Ticket #fogoyb – Status: Unverified – Routine check –

    ‘Accunt Information Confirmation’ | ‘ Receiving Account Communications ‘ | Current Profile 9/26/2020 1:54:10 a.m. ` ->

    Residential Information

    Driver and Vehicle Agency – Update required on 9/26/2020 1:54:10 a.m.

    1. Thanks OLT – good to see you again! Those scams are a trap for the unwary, aren’t they! Their spelling is usually bad.

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