Friday 27 December: Net zero tyranny robs drivers and homeowners of freedom of choice

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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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.

612 thoughts on “Friday 27 December: Net zero tyranny robs drivers and homeowners of freedom of choice”

    1. We need at least one hundred of those, Phizzee. It's no fun counting ONE… ONE… ONE… ONE… etc. (Good morning, btw.)

  3. Good Morning Geoff and Phizzee.

    Awake at 02:45, I've just discovered that NTTL.blog is open already.

    Now Christmas and Boxing Day are over I wish Geoff every success in his surgery, scheduled for. today.

    Today's very brief Tales (Trigger warnings..)

    I gave the postman a right shock this morning by going to the door naked. I'm not sure which scared him most… my naked body or the fact that I knew where he lived.

    What's the difference between Iron Man and Iron Woman? One is a Super-hero, the other is a simple instruction.

  4. Good Morning Geoff and Phizzee.

    Awake at 02:45, I've just discovered that NTTL.blog is open already.

    Now Christmas and Boxing Day are over I wish Geoff every success in his surgery, scheduled for. today.

    Today's very brief Tales (Trigger warnings..)

    I gave the postman a right shock this morning by going to the door naked. I'm not sure which scared him most… my naked body or the fact that I knew where he lived.

    What's the difference between Iron Man and Iron Woman? One is a Super-hero, the other is a simple instruction.

  5. Good Morning Geoff and Phizzee.

    Awake at 02:45, I've just discovered that NTTL.blog is open already.

    Now Christmas and Boxing Day are over I wish Geoff every success in his surgery, scheduled for. today.

    Today's very brief Tales (Trigger warnings..)

    I gave the postman a right shock this morning by going to the door naked. I'm not sure which scared him most… my naked body or the fact that I knew where he lived.

    What's the difference between Iron Man and Iron Woman? One is a Super-hero, the other is a simple instruction.

  8. Labour has established new quango every week since election win

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/27/labour-set-up-new-quango-every-week-since-election-win/

    Ruth Ibbotson
    14 min ago
    “Like any business organisation, you’ve got to understand what you’re dealing with once you’re in a position to deal with it.” You don’t understand anything Keir! No one in your Govt has ever run a business either. Useless and time-wasters, all of you.

  9. 'Morning All
    Early Medley
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    2. The "celebrities" one is excellent! Just get on with the acting, sporting or whatever and leave thinking to those with a brain cell, who have done some research!

      1. I saw some English football on French tele last night. The landlord is a footie fanatic. It might just as well have been transmitted from the Congo. Are there no whities in football nowadays?

        1. She should stop her playground way of politics. It may work in Nigeria, but it's not appropriate here.

        2. She should stop her playground way of politics. It may work in Nigeria, but its not appropriate here.

  13. ONS civil servants still working from home despite year of mistakes
    Daily average attendance as low as 5pc in some offices, with attendance rates averaging less than 10pc in other buildings

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

    Toby Jug
    13 hrs ago
    Make 50% redundant immediately and tell the rest to be back at their desks on January 2nd or they will be next for redundancy.
    The whole public sector is full of work shy grifters and a massive cull of circa 35% is needed, unfortunately politicians are feeding from the same trough and turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
    The country is in the mess it is because from the very top we have self interested, incompetent people who don’t have the courage to do what is necessary for the country. None of them would last two weeks in the private sector.

    1. Oh no! The hurty words! Make them stop, oppressive State regime! I feel ooooofffffeeeended and I’m melting

  14. Good morning, chums, I hope you all slept well. And thanks, Geoff, for another new NoTTLe page. More odd jobs planned for today, followed by a third Christmas meal tonight. No wine, just a mug of tea with my main evening meal tonight. And I think this will be the case for every day until the end of the month. I put out my usual Thursday night rubbish late last night, although I'm not sure whether or not the normal Friday morning rubbish collection will take place today.

    Wordle 1,287 3/6

    🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
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    1. No, the collections for this week and next are postponed to Saturday.
      Moaning, Olaf's Relict.

      1. Thanks for that, Annie, I would have been very frustrated to give up today and put the rubbish in my garage, thereby missing a collection tomorrow. Incidentally, how did you find this out. I can't see the binmen knocking on every single door to advise us. Did you get an email from the council? (I didn't.) Once again, an equally cheery "Good Moaning" to you – and thanks for the very helpful information.

    1. It would seem that someone has hacked Darren Grimes's clip and added a noisy sound track to obscure the woman's voice saying that "95% say that it (multiculturism) isn't working"

    2. The Tory party spent fourteen years trying to woo people that hated & despised them.. and took their own supporters for granted.
      It never works, Charles.
      They still won't turn out for your funeral.
      And now.. neither will anyone else.

    3. The Tory party spent fourteen years trying to woo people that hated & despised them.. and took their own supporters for granted.
      It never works, Charles.
      They still won't turn out for your funeral.
      And now.. neither will anyone else.

  16. Britain’s integration miracle is a beacon of hope amid instability. Fraser Nelson. 27 December 2024.

    For the 13 years in which I’ve had the privilege of writing for this newspaper, I’ve tended to accentuate the negative. It’s a journalist’s job to find out and highlight what’s going wrong. But in this, my last column, I’d like to sign off by saying that the problems are vastly outweighed by what’s going right.

    This is an amazing country – never more so than now. It may be an act of defiance to say it in this era of Starmer miserabilism, but we really do have more reasons than ever to wish each other a Happy New Year.

    This panegyric to Multiculturalism has, predictably; like Charles Moore’s recent article, “Voters will tell Musk where to put his $100 million.” gone down like a lead balloon in the Comments. These paeans to Globalism are no surprise, both men have steered the Telegraph in support of its doctrine. In spite of all his praise for the modern UK Nelson forebears to inform his readers about his own marriage, which aligns with the hypocrisy of his easy support for censorship and the suppression of the views of Telegraph readers. Like most of their ilk they are largely unaffected by the vast influx of incomers. That burden falls on others.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/23/voters-will-tell-musk-where-to-put-his-100-million/

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/26/britain-integration-crime-immigration-birth-rate-hope/

      2. Or the snaps. After all, he will no doubt retire to Sweden when he gets too uncomfortable in our marvellously diverse country.

          1. True, but everything is comparative, Sweden only started getting real diversity via the EU. We had/have been getting it from our former Empire for decades, as well as via the EU. I think overall it is easier to escape in Sweden than in England, for sure.

    2. More than 1700 comments but I can't read any of them. I would guess that about 1699 of them disagree with Nelson – has he been surveying the situation with the telescope to his blind eye? It would seem so.

  17. Britain’s integration miracle is a beacon of hope amid instability. Fraser Nelson. 27 December 2024.

    For the 13 years in which I’ve had the privilege of writing for this newspaper, I’ve tended to accentuate the negative. It’s a journalist’s job to find out and highlight what’s going wrong. But in this, my last column, I’d like to sign off by saying that the problems are vastly outweighed by what’s going right.

    This is an amazing country – never more so than now. It may be an act of defiance to say it in this era of Starmer miserabilism, but we really do have more reasons than ever to wish each other a Happy New Year.

    This panegyric to Multiculturalism has, predictably; like Charles Moore’s recent article, “Voters will tell Musk where to put his $100 million.” gone down like a lead balloon in the Comments. These paeans to Globalism are no surprise, both men have steered the Telegraph in support of its doctrine. In spite of all his praise for the modern UK Nelson forebears to inform his readers about his own marriage, which aligns with the hypocrisy of his easy support for censorship and the suppression of the views of Telegraph readers. Like most of their ilk they are largely unaffected by the vast influx of incomers. That burden falls on others.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/23/voters-will-tell-musk-where-to-put-his-100-million/

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/26/britain-integration-crime-immigration-birth-rate-hope/

  18. Steerpike
    Gangster released early by Labour mocks Sir Keir in Christmas song
    26 December 2024, 5:18pm

    Not even the Christmas season can keep attention off Labour’s controversial policies for long. The furore around this year’s early prison releases is still haunting Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot – and those criminals let out early are doing nothing to reassure the public either. Dear oh dear…

    As Steerpike revealed in October, Isaac Donkoh – a gang member and drill music artist also known as Young Dizz – was among those released under Labour’s new prisons policy. Yet despite the scheme being meant to exclude those convicted of serious violence from getting out ahead of time, Donkoh was still released despite the police chief on the case describing Donkoh’s crime – the kidnap and torture of a 16-year-old boy – as ‘extremely violent’. In fact, ‘Young Dizz’ was initially handed a whopping sentence of 12-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty to kidnap, conspiracy to falsely imprison, conspiracy to blackmail, grievous bodily harm and perverting the course of justice.

    The former inmate was quick to take to both Twitter and TikTok to announce his release at the time – and now has gone even further in making a mockery of the Prime Minister. A new Christmas song released yesterday shows the criminal and a bunch of balaclava’d background dancers celebrating his early release, with Donkoh rapping:

    Now that I’m back, I’m raising the crime rate. Keir Starmer let me out now he wants me back, got me scratching my head like make up your mind, mate.

    Ouch. The PM has already insisted ‘there was no choice not to act’ on the matter of overcrowded prisons but letting out a convicted kidnapper – never mind the 37 inmates who were wrongly released September – raises serious questions about the competency of the new government.

    For its part, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson told Steerpike:

    The new government inherited prisons on the point of collapse with no choice but to introduce an emergency early release scheme. To keep the public safe, we excluded serious violent and sexual offenders as well as a series of offences linked domestic abuse. Offenders left prison under strict licence conditions, subject to recall if they are broken. We must now ensure no government inherits a situation like this. That means building new prisons and conducting a sentencing review to ensure we never run out of space again.

    Tough talk – but if Starmer’s army expected to park this issue in 2024, they can think again…

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

    Cat Dancing
    12 hours ago edited
    "…after pleading guilty to kidnap, conspiracy to falsely imprison, conspiracy to blackmail, grievous bodily harm and perverting the course of justice."
    So where's the problem? It's not like the guy did anything really bad – like using hurtful words on Facebook.

    Bob Johnston Cat Dancing
    10 hours ago
    Exactly. It's not like he's a White tax payer who thinks things could be done a bit better. Those White tax payers really make my blood boil. I mean tax payers in general are another minority so who's listening?

    2. Why are there any questions about the lack of competence of this government? Day by day they continue to prove how unfit for purpose they are.

  20. Reposted from yesterday/the latest Secret Prisoner.

    “I’ve been taken to the prison governor on a charge of disobeying a lawful order. It was the second time I had been formally disciplined following my refusal to return indoors from the exercise yard.

    Officers prised my arms from the prison bench I was trying to hold on to, cuffed me, then marched me back into the wing. I had been outside for 20 minutes. My protest was entirely peaceful – if I could have superglued myself to the bench, I would have done. But the officers were intimidating and wanted to use force rather than persuasion.
    If you are forcibly kept indoors for more than 23 hours a day, outdoor exercise – even if it’s just walking around the trash-strewn yard – is immensely precious.

    To be fair to the Home Office, they know this; a new National Regime Model, leaked in June, stipulated that prisoners should have a full daily hour of exercise outdoors. Here we have only ever had this full hour on weekends.
    At my first hearing, in the summer, I protested against the fact that even the weekend exercise had been curtailed to half an hour, which had happened on two occasions. Though I was found guilty, and cautioned, I noticed that the full weekend hour was then restored. I was also told at that first hearing that the prison did recognise the stipulation for a daily hour outdoors, but would not be able to implement it until the autumn due to manpower shortages. Until then I was advised that the weekday exercise period would remain at 30 minutes.

    At last, at the end of October, the new regime was implemented and the timings put on display for all prisoners to see. Exercise would start at the earlier time of 7.45am and run until 8.45am, with an opportunity for prisoners to return to the wing at 8.15am if they wanted. But officers, even senior officers, seemed not to understand the changes and never gave us more than 30 minutes. So when time was called just 20 minutes into exercise one recent Tuesday, I kicked off.
    Pulled back inside to the Wing hub, I continued to protest. Prisoners were hooting and cheering – they find my middleclass righteousness hilarious.

    “You have half an hour, not an hour!” shouted the hot-and-bothered young officer who had heaved me indoors.
    “Alright then, give me half an hour,” I protested. “I only got 20 minutes!”
    This caused amusement among prisoners and even some officers. Afterwards a wag on Spur Two impersonated me: “I say, officer, this is jolly unfair, a chap needs his fresh air you know!”
    At my hearing, the governor made short shrift of my argument that an order that contradicts the stated policy of the regime [to ensure an hour’s outside time] cannot be deemed lawful.
    “If an officer gives an order, it is a lawful order.”
    “But –”
    “That’s enough of this. I find you guilty. Three weeks no canteen; three weeks half pay.”

    As my weekly pay in distance learning is £7.50, I was not too gutted by the loss of the £11.25. But the loss of canteen for three weeks was painful to hear: no instant coffee or whole milk; no tinned mackerel for protein; no weekly supplement of fresh fruit and veg. It was a proper punishment.

    Leaving the hearing, the officer who had escorted me expressed her own view that the exercise situation was “all over the place”. She was not the only officer who took the trouble to express sympathy with my position. There are a lot of decent people here. Even the officer who had hauled me inside said later: “It was nothing personal.” Naturally, I concurred.

    And this morning? A full hour of exercise – well, 7.50am to 8.40am. A chap did get some fresh air.”

  21. 399377+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Friday 27 December: Net zero tyranny robs drivers and homeowners of freedom of choice

    The BIG question today is,

    WHAT YOU GONNA DO???

    The starmer's on the A-train
    Takin' it the wrong way
    Shiny on the surface
    Rotten on the inside

    1. 399377+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Telegraph View,

      Sir Keir Starmer is derailing Britain
      Bringing railways into the public sector seems unlikely to improve performance

  22. Good morning, all. Dark and damp here, forecast is for overcast and little or no air movement.

    Although it's pantomime season – "Oh no it's not" shouts Starmer et al. – this actually could be close to the truth.😒

    https://x.com/JanneyNick/status/1872246255122088075/photo/1 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2e50762f7e540dac062224ab7e4c080b419acc0b02f69e3301e1a2a793cc10ac.png
    And there's more.

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    Add your own…

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    1. Upticks except for the Christmas tree comment.
      Some of us remember the wherefore, particularly the bravery of the people of Norway.

      1. That tree could have been dressed so much better. What's the betting that Khan gave orders for the bare minimum…

          1. People of Khan's ilk have no finesse, no class, and very little in terms of civilised behaviour. Most proper indigenous London bus-driver's sons would behave rather better than he does,

          2. People of Khan's ilk have no finesse, no class, and very little in terms of civilised behaviour. Most proper indigenous London bus-driver's sons would behave rather better than he does,

    2. Upticks except for the Christmas tree comment.
      Some of us remember the wherefore, particularly the bravery of the people of Norway.

    1. Good morning afternoon, Bill. As Mark Steyn memorably joked: "Men are from Pluto, Women are from Goofy".

  28. Gulf between public and private sector pay widens under Starmer
    Growing wage gap raises fears that Government is prioritising unions over taxpayers
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/12/27/gulf-between-public-and-private-sector-pay-widens-starmer/

    And when the far more generous pensions in the public sector are taken into account the gap is very much wider. The Labour government wants to discourage private enterprise as much as possible in order to bring forward the communist state. It is high time for those with talent, vision, enterprise and ambition to leave the UK – there is no future there for them!

  29. Good morning. Still exiled upstairs to the laptop until Dr.Daughter and boyfriend have got out of bed.
    They're decamping back to Newcastle this afternoon and t'Lad is heading to Bury to visit a friend so at least tomorrow I'll be able to sit downstairs using the main PC.

    Another dry start but a bit cooler than of late, 2°C outside with a maximum of 8.9°C and minimum of 1.8°C.

    Pleasant walk with t'Lad yesterday evening, but the King's Head was shut and there was only one, rather intoxicated, customer in the Barley Mow, though another two turned up just before we downed our 2nd pints and headed home.

      1. Sitting room has Dr.D & BF, Front Room has t'Lad so until they get out of bed I'm stuck up here.

  30. As we wake up from our Christmas excess, Free Speech's former insomniac Mark Smith reminds us that many folk just can’t sleep very well. His new article ‘ Insomnia ’ explains why and gives remedies for sufferers.

    And a reminder that we run a Boycott Book , for you to list any company that you think we should avoid, either because it has gone woke, or provides appalling service. The BB has just been updated so that as well as writing a comment, you can know list companies in a permanent record of the woke we want to go broke.

    Energy watch: Demand: 17.01GW. Supply: Hydrocarbons 56.2%; Wind 7.4%; Imports 7.5%, Biomass 7.5% and Nuclear 15.7%.

    Even with demand at an abnormally low 17GW, wind is only supplying 7.4% of it. Imports are also down, obviously as the usual suppliers have no excess. Gas is supplying almost 60% of our power supplies. Any one who things we can de-carbonise power production is linving in a fool's paradise.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. Good morning Tom and all Nottlers everywhere. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and St Stephen’s Day.

      Your last sentence, Tom. Surely the whole of the U.K. population must know this, including the MPs. So, why has there not been a huge revolution by all the MPs to stop this dreadful net zero business. When is it all going to be brought to a shuddering halt.

      The HoC should be protesting loud and clear about what is being done in the name of ‘climate change’, it’s sheer lunacy. How many MPs have had their gas boilers removed and heat pumps installed? How many now own electric cars – better yet how many now cycle everywhere when in London? How many have discarded every single item in their homes made from plastic, how many have had their wood burning stoves removed?

      I’m struggling to see what future there is for our grandchildren in this country. To achieve growth, prosperity and improved living conditions for al, putting up taxes, increasing the cost of employment and IHT, and stealing our money in so many ways is not short sighted, it’s totally counter productive. Nit to mention depressing and demoralising. Why should anyone work hard to better themselves when all there is to look forward to is having it taken away from you.

      Sorry to sound so gloomy. But ,,, and we’re already being told taxes will have to rise again.

      IMO it’s all being done to reduce us to depency on the state for everything, going hand in hand with CBDC and ID cards with every purchase being controlled.

      1. Every word the truth vw, though I think it’s being done, ultinmately, in the name of Globalist totalitarianism.

        And it’s not just here, it’s all over he western world. Trump offers some hope, perhaps, but in the end it’s down to us.

      1. It all comes from the same source Tim. My source right (12:00) now has demand at 36.02 GW. The earlier figure was the lowest I’ve ever seen it.

  32. Not sure what day it is today – but nottl says it's Friday so it must be. Telegraph readers are tearing Fraser Nelson to pieces in the comments and x readers are telling the King he's deluded.
    Welcome to our multiculti heaven!

    1. That idiot says that other countries are worse off than us but they are worse off because of mass immigration. Fraser skips over that reality, of course. And by every metric we are heading in the same direction. The terrifying thing is how these people double down when all the evidence is to the contrary of what they believe. What a job Reform will have; they will need our support.

    1. As Edwin says btl on the DT, the big numbers are in legal migration, most of whom will not return to their roots. The millions of Brits apparently unable to work need to be pushed off the sofa and eliminate the excuses for the demand for workers. The illegals will continue until there is a political will to stop them, that's not going to happen in the next 5 years at least.

  35. Fraser Nelson writing for the Daily Telegraph today. What a lunatic. Don't read if you are feeling a bit down at the way our trash elite have trashed our country. When challenged in the comments section he replied that the answer to mass immigration is to simply build more houses. Of the 906K who came here last year, only 15% to 30% (they're not sure) came for work. Who is expected to pay for all these houses and for the general welfare upkeep payments? Don't think he quite joined the dots on that one. As you can imagine, commenters were disgusted at him. Many forms of crime are down due to better anti burglar IT system, not due to social harmony. Many crimes now go unreported ie shoplifting. And many police do not prosecute those with protected characteristics, of course. As I commented to this nutter: what happens when welfare payments run out? How socially cohesive does he then think we will be? 53% of the UK on benefits and the money is running out. One in five councils said to becoming bankrupt within the next five years.

    If Barack Obama’s signature theme was the “audacity of hope”, then Keir Starmer can claim to be pioneering the opposite. Since entering office he has demonstrated the power of pessimism. If you talk about “black holes” and how awful things are with enough relentlessness, business and consumer confidence can plummet so much as to take a country to the brink of recession. Investment plans are shelved, billionaires head for the departure lounges. I wonder if the pessimism has been overdone.

    As the essayist Nassim Taleb once put it, judging a country by its news is like judging a city by spending the night in its A&E department: you only ever see what’s gone wrong. But look at longer-term trends and you can see a Britain that’s a better place to live – or invest in – than anywhere else in Europe.

    We could start by looking at problems we don’t have. The Christmas market attack in Magdeburg has shaken Germany because it comes against a backdrop of nationwide violent crime surging to a 15-year high. The link to immigration is impossible to ignore, with foreign nationals accounting for 40 per cent of criminal suspects. Britain’s migration levels have certainly hit unprecedented levels but, over the past 15 years, our violent crime rate has halved to an all-time low. Our streets are now safer than they have perhaps ever been.

    This may sound impossible. How to reconcile this with all those social media videos of bike thefts and masked, knife-wielding thugs? What about the talk of a crimewave? For decades, the British Crime Survey has gauged how many crimes have taken place, reported or not. It shows assault and neighbourhood crime down by 50 per cent over 15 years, bicycle theft down by 60 per cent over 15 years and criminal damage down by 75 per cent. Some crimes (snatch thefts, knife crimes) are rising, but in the context of a stunning overall decline. Our immigrant population has almost doubled while our crime rate has halved.

    Why has our experience been different? Don’t thank Westminster. Ministers had no clue what was happening and nowhere near enough homes or public services have been provided to match the rising numbers. But we seem to have attracted immigrants who, by and large, are prone to integrate and strengthen the social fabric. The secret sauce is our concept of Britishness, which is not about ethnicity or religion but a way of life with global appeal. It’s a set of values that anyone can adopt.

    New arrivals to Britain often speak about our sense of community. Official surveys show, for example, that 94 per cent of Britons believe that, if they needed help, there are people who would be there for them. Some 80 per cent consider their neighbourhood a place “where people from different backgrounds get on well together”. This is about society, not government, and figures show no discernible change from years of unprecedented migration.

    Odd? Not if you consider that newcomers might be keen to adhere to the values that drew them in the first place. As the King said in his Christmas message, the way people came together to clear up after the summer riots was a less spectacular but truer reflection of the country.

    This is not to deny the existence of serious problems, or jihadist nutcases. But the British experience is defined by smaller, less spectacular things that seldom make the news. A reminder came on Christmas Day, when Liverpool FC’s Mohamed Salah, perhaps the best footballer in the Premier League, posted a picture of his family in matching pyjamas under a Christmas tree. He does this every year: to annoy the trolls who fume that, as an observant Muslim and captain of Egypt’s national team, he should not be joining Yuletide festivities. As his picture gently shows, such petty sectarianism is just not the British way.

    To understand the long-term prospects of a country, look at its birth rates. Italy has just recorded its lowest ever. France says its demographics mean its pension system is unaffordable – yet attempts to fix it lead to riots. In Tokyo, government workers are about to be put on a four-day week in the hope that they will have more children. Britain is the only major European country not heading for a working-age population decline.

    The far Right is on the march in Europe, but there is no British equivalent of AfD in Germany or Marine Le Pen in France. Reform UK can hardly be seen as such when it’s chaired by Zia Yusuf, a self-described “British Muslim patriot”. Britons of all ethnicities worry about immigration. Thanks to Brexit, that’s a dial that can be adjusted at any time. But no government, anywhere, has found out how to reverse a birth rate crisis. It’s a good problem not to have.

    Plenty more could be thrown into this mix. Britain is in a golden era of environmental improvement, with air quality purer than at any time since records began and, perhaps, since chimneys were invented. Sadiq Khan’s claims of an air quality “emergency” are helpful for raising taxes but not for understanding the situation. Our services-based economy is exporting more services to the EU (and the rest of the world) than ever. Yes, our growth prospects are dull – by our standards. But which European country will do better?

    France is mired in a political crisis that has years left to run. Germany’s government has just collapsed. Canada’s looks set to be next. America is now braced for another four years of the Trump roller-coaster, which most voters saw as a necessary corrective to an even worse alternative. Against all this, Britain looks like a beacon of political stability. If people in small boats were leaving Dover and risking death to reach Calais, we’d have more cause to worry.

    For the 13 years in which I’ve had the privilege of writing for this newspaper, I’ve tended to accentuate the negative. It’s a journalist’s job to find out and highlight what’s going wrong. But in this, my last column, I’d like to sign off by saying that the problems are vastly outweighed by what’s going right.

    This is an amazing country – never more so than now. It may be an act of defiance to say it in this era of Starmer miserabilism, but we really do have more reasons than ever to wish each other a Happy New Year.

    1. "Our streets are now safer than they have perhaps ever been." What is he drinking? Even in my neck of the woods I am reluctant to walk at night. It never used to be so; I regularly walked at night in Colchester and never felt a qualm in the seventies. Now, too many dindus and victims of "don't care in the community" about to feel safe. Gone are the days when I'd take my dog in the woods and never give safety a thought.

  36. DEI University Challenge Christmas 2024 E03 Manchester Metropolitan v Brighton hosted by ear studded Amol Rajan.. didn't disappoint.

    Pick of the bunch of DEI contestants..
    Leo Chambers specialist in male allyship & workplace inclusion.. in 2022 he was inducted into the Black Cultural Archives.
     https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/92b8f9bd4ede11be091850e454936778847d6d09a01cb6dbd41ee6610e9a600b.png
    Lesbian Archdeacon of Salford & Bolton..
    A comics creator male/female.. take your bets.
    and Disability Activist Adam Pearson..
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5b33b4dfe6703ce166b5a5fe49f5349793a4cecc198d48be749b502f5f1ec0e8.png

      1. and best BTL comments..

        I'm unfortunate enough to live relatively close to one of MMU's campuses and I just gotta say, this performance makes perfect sense.

        Normally I love watching University Challenge. Normally.

        2. I watched it and thought it pretty dire. I was chuffed to get one of the answers that neither team did – the short piece of music to identify the composer. The style just shouted out 'Beethoven' to me, which was correct.

        1. He's 39.

          Wiki:
          Adam Pearson (born 6 January 1985) is a British actor, presenter and campaigner. He made his acting debut in the 2013 film Under the Skin.[1] He has neurofibromatosis and has been involved in outreach programmes to prevent bullying associated with deformities.[2][3]

          Early life
          Adam Pearson was born in Croydon, London, on 6 January 1985, along with his identical twin brother, Neil.[4] After he hit his head at the age of five, the resultant bump persisted instead of healing. He was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type I, which causes non-cancerous tumours to grow on nerve tissue. Both Adam and his brother Neil have the condition, which manifests very differently between them

        2. At the risk of being flippant I would say he was kissed by Angela Rayner – or Rachel Reeves.

  37. Britain’s integration miracle is a beacon of hope amid instability
    Keir Starmer talks doom and gloom, but this is an amazing country – never more so than now
    Fraser Nelson : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/26/britain-integration-crime-immigration-birth-rate-hope/

    There was a scene in When Harry Met Sally when, at a restaurant table, Meg Ryan, who was talking to her lover on the telephone, became orgasmically excited. A rather plain woman on an adjacent table was shown the menu and said to the waiter: "I'll have what she's having!"

    I wonder what Fraser Nelson is having to be so happily deluded.

    BTL

    Integration will have to be done by the current indigenous population when they are no longer the indigenous population. And let's be hopeful that our grandchildren will be happy living in an Islamic state with Sharia Law having replaced British law.

    1. I would have liked to have had grandchildren but now I'm quite glad I haven't. My sons are both in their 50s now.
      This country has gone to the dogs.

      1. Nowadays a mark of shame for most recipients – a recognition of woke grovelling in many cases.

    3. "He is married to Linda, a Swede, and said in 2014, "I am a soppy Europhile who speaks a second language at home. The idea of a united Europe was one that really excited me when I was younger, and which I love now"

      1. It is likely that Fraser Nelson and his wife own, or have the use of, a rural property in Sweden and that their children have dual citizenship. Therefore as EU nationals his youngsters' University tuition in Sweden would be free.
        Although Mr Nelson states that he is Scottish, he was born in England; as a child of (internal) migrants it would be awkward for him to criticise those rubber-dub-dub men in their tubs.

    4. Whether our grandchildren are happy or not will be a matter of supreme indifference to the PTB.

  39. 399377+ up ticks,

    One wouldn't mind if this clash actually took place on site, as in the invasion bridgehead at Dover but many peoples seem happy
    with an indigenous numbers tally, and their chosen political group taking the lead, and NOT the foreign invaders hitting the beach / welfare office on a daily basis..

    Badenoch and Farage clash over ‘fake members’
    Conservative leader claims online membership tracker ‘coded to tick up automatically’ as number surpasses last known Tory total

    Endgame result,

    Egos temporarily satisfied,

    Final victory = foreign invaders 100% success indigenous imbecilic defenders 100% failure.

  41. Morning all,

    What a load of rubbish… idiot shouldn't be called Nelson, he is a traitor to the noble name standing aloft in Trafalgar square

    So much I could pull apart .. but this caught my eye.

    "Plenty more could be thrown into this mix. Britain is in a golden era of environmental improvement, with air quality purer than at any time since records began and, perhaps, since chimneys were invented. Sadiq Khan’s claims of an air quality “emergency” are helpful for raising taxes but not for understanding the situation. Our services-based economy is exporting more services to the EU (and the rest of the world) than ever. Yes, our growth prospects are dull – by our standards. But which European country will do better?"

    Hang on , the air quality purer than at anytime ?

    The country is covered in a fog , has been for several days , probably due to nearly 80 million people breathing and farting , aircraft taking off every minute taking the Asians back to their roots for a quick holiday courtesy of the tax payer.

    The motorways are crammed jammed with motor cars /coaches/ lorries etc because the infrastructure isn't capable of running cheap inexpensive rail travel .

    Hospitals are creaking to a halt because multicultural societies means more diverse diseases .

    The government is bowing down to illegals , farming them out to hotels and our genuine homeless are having to rough it , how I cannot guess.

    Our water supply and sewerage system is creaking because of the density of new build and flats ..

    Mean while our army… yes our army … 16 ,000 troops resigned recently .. who can blame them ?

    Schools in our big cities and towns are now awash with non white children ..

    Bah , enough .. Fraser Nelson , you are a twat of the first order , are you expecting a gong as a contribution to journalism .. I bet you are !

  42. Let the lawfare begin.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14229051/Inside-Chuck-Schumers-stealth-operation-block-Trumps-MAGA-revolution.html
    "he'll do" refers to Trump

    'I don't know exactly what he'll do. But I can tell you this: The judiciary will be one of our strongest – if not our strongest – barrier against what he does,' Schumer told Politico last night.

    The New York Democrat says he and Biden hatched a scheme at the start of his term to put confirming judges at the top of their agenda, sometimes even coming before passing policy goals.

    'When we started out, we knew it would be a very difficult job to do more than Trump had done but we did,' Schumer said.

    While Biden will only end up sending Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Schumer says this president's nominees now make up 25 percent of the federal judiciary.

    It appears that will remain the case after the president infuriated Republicans earlier this week, vetoing bipartisan legislation that would have created 66 new federal judges.

      1. I was furious and switched it off in the end can't the bastards leave anything alone??
        Swine!!
        Happens to so many other films too

        1. Some films get cut depending on the time of day they are shown. If you watch after the watershed you might see the uncut version. Just a thought.

        2. (Totally off topic, but for some reason "Swine!!" tickled my funny bone. I shall make it a goal to insert that into a conversation today. 😈

          Now to find someone with whom to speak English… 🤣🤣)

    4. No – telly has been silent and dark the last few days. Though we did watch a Yorkshire Vet episode last night.

  44. We watched the first 10 minutes of the new Wallace and Gromit last evening – then turned it off and deleted because, as the MR so pithily put it, "This is just not funny". Gawd knows what "Outnumbered" will be like…. I fear the worst.

    1. It was absolute tripe, to put it mildly.
      They all managed to look ill for some reason, perhaps it is the jabs

    2. It was absolute tripe, to put it mildly.
      They all managed to look ill for some reason, perhaps it is the jabs

    3. The animation is still clever but Aardman seem to be running out of ideas. My two little great nephews, aged 6 and 9, got bored with it. The little one was supplied with paper and busied himself drawing with coloured pencils. Copying cartoons from his iPad. He’s showing talent.

      1. I never missed watching Porridge, Ripping Yarns or Fawlty Towers since they were the epitome of really funny comedy.

        I have never watched (nor ever will) utter crap like Outnumbered, Gavin & Stacey or Only Wankers and Donkeys.

        Yes, I know, some people actually watch that tripe and find it funny. I don't!

        I have a theory that there are no two people alive who share the exact same sense of humour.

  45. Christmas is a time for forgiving, and that includes the Royal family
    Sinners should be in church, not excluded
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/27/christmas-forgiveness-royal-family-prince/

    This article asks where the spirit of Christian forgiveness has gone and questions how much Christian forgiveness there is in our rather petty, small-minded idiot king when it comes to his brother and his younger son! It also asks if the Archbishop of York is being cruelly targeted by those who heap opprobrium upon him.

    To quote from the article:
    "But it hasn’t stopped the BBC, which uncovered the story, and a couple of female bishops from piling in to cast the umpteenth stone. The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, described his contrition as “empty words”, which usefully gives the lie to the notion that female clerics are any more forgiving than men. For them, the idea of reconciliation at Christmas doesn’t cut much ice."

    BTL

    There are few things more depressing than a female bishop on the make.

    1. Hmmm… Melanie might have a point but of course it's hardly her place to dispense law over who does or who does not need forgiveness. Likewise the two lady bishops she's been castigating there. In fact the whole conversation is underpinned by everyone involved in the notion that it's society's or the state's forgiveness that counts here. I'm unsure if they are just confused. Aren't they really talking about good old fashioned fealty to the crown here?

      Did no one at the Telegraph stop to wonder if Andrew wants or even asks for forgiveness.

          1. In the case of the Chinese 'spy' he probably didn't – plenty of politicians were grubbing along there as well.

          2. There were bound to be and I don’t even have to know that for sure with proof positive. It is an iron rule that where you find a member of the Royal Family there is a vast coterie of hangers-on lurking in the background.

      1. 399377+ up ticks,

        Morning T5,
        Thanks for your correcting input,
        I still believe that currently rough street justice will be the order of the day as the forces of law & order are in such
        sad neglect.

          1. Gandhi wasn't protesting in the same kind of circumstances as those we have nowadays. The non-violence would need to take a very different form from that used by Gandhi, and would be far more difficult to carry out.

  48. Good Morning Folks,
    Another damp dull day.
    Family gone home, all is peaceful.
    I even have time for posting on here

  49. Net zero tyranny robs drivers and homeowners of freedom of choice

    As we have all been saying for many years

    1. And what's more important is that those powerful committees & quangos & courts can & will protect themselves from abolition.
      Not that a wet Tory would ever dream of confronting their power.
      And so to Reform.
      This is where Farage will require the services of Dominic Cummings.
      Go in there with the military if necessary.. and restore power to parliament.

    2. And what's more important is that those powerful committees & quangos & courts can & will protect themselves from abolition.
      Not that a wet Tory would ever dream of confronting their power.
      And so to Reform.
      This is where Farage will require the services of Dominic Cummings.
      Go in there with the military if necessary.. and restore power to parliament.

  51. "Friday 27 December: Net zero tyranny robs drivers and homeowners of freedom of choice."

    Since when did freedom of choice matter to socialists?

      1. To be able to exercise choice, one needs a functioning intelligence. They haven't got that, and wouldn't be able to cope with it and stay socialists.

  53. Ask a Lefty about shop lifting, muggings, drive by shootings, Christmas market attacks, organised cultural abuse of girls from other communities and you will be met with a shrug at best or face accusations of being far right at worst.
    But mention trail hunting and they really get their dander up and rage on Facebook for some reason they have all the wrong priorities

    1. Good morning Bob3 and everyone.
      It's a war against toffs on horses, simple as that.
      Mrs, now Lady, Bla ir was allegedly the anti-hunting supremo.

      1. Cherie didn't and still doesn't know anything about hunting. However, she was and is the anti-toff supremo.

        1. As I may have mentioned previously, friends of friends of friends were at a dinner party 25+ years ago, where the future Lady Blair allegedly expressed her opinions about fox-hunting etc. Most of those present were liberal lefties, but not everyone….

          1. An acquaintance of mine was in No 10 for some do or other. Apparently Mrs. B went round boasting about how valuable all of the various items furniture/ ornaments were: no class whatsoever. He described her as "very odd".

            I have known several working tradesmen with far more class in their little finger than that ghastly woman can ever aspire to.

    2. They feign concern for foxes and say nothing about halal butchery. It isn’t about animal welfare.

      1. They are not very good at thinking, or making connections. The apparent ease at which they can indulge in doublethink shows that there is nothing actually working in their brains.

        How are you feeling?

        1. Just home from York and no palpitations. It feels fairly calm. Not sure I dare put the finger clip on but my brother put his on my finger the other night and my pulse settled at 93 which is OK. The meds seem to be effective. More blood tests on Monday. Reported weight loss to my GP. That’s the diuretics.

      2. They are not very good at thinking, or making connections. The apparent ease at which they can indulge in doublethink shows that there is nothing actually working in their brains.

        How are you feeling?

      3. It's NEVER been about animal welfare. If it had been, the useless Hunting Act wouldn't have been such a dog's breakfast.

      1. It's more than that, GQ. It's a load of brain-dead Useful Idiots baa-ing a mantra they have been fed by others, who have the disintegration of our society in mind.

      2. It's more than that, GQ. It's a load of brain-dead Useful Idiots baa-ing a mantra they have been fed by others, who have the disintegration of our society in mind.

  54. Does Kemi's recent attack on Reform prove that
    Kemi isn't leader of the Opposition
    She is just the leader of the Opposition to the Opposition

  55. 399377+ up ticks,

    My belief is we are badly in need of a petition inclusive of
    60 million names demanding ANN as this Countries QUEEN
    Nobody but nobody with WEF / NWO ties should have a say in the running / welfare of this nation.

    1. You mean ANNE? She has an E in her name. Anyway, by accident of birth she is not Queen and I doubt very much if she would want to be.

      1. 399377+ up ticks,

        Morning N,
        A figurehead with a powerful rhetorical shout, heard by many at 3 pm Christmas Day.

          1. Ditto. I didn't want to spoil my mood of goodwill. Apparently he was saying how positive everyone should be about the wonderfulness of diversity, and how we should all live together in peace and goodwill. Try telling that to the incomers.

          4. We are…. I know that. Our house dug into a hillside, with 11 steps up to the front door is not really suitable for "old people" but I don't want to leave…….. good neighbours count for a lot as well.

          5. I've been here over 40 years – and still an incomer because I'm not related to the rest who live here! We have been enriched, though, and it isn't good.

          7. He made a huge mistake. At the start he was praising the WW2 veteran's. Then he went on to suggest that our country should be welcoming people who have been effected by wars and that sort of disturbances. But he should have mentioned that our own veteran's after returning to the country of their origin. Set about making repairs and maintenance returning the country of their own origin back to as normal as possible.
            Not one of the illegal invaders has been returned to the country of their own origin where they should also be making repairs and rebuilding. Its not our responsibility.

          8. Shortly after the war it was near impossible to rebuild anything due to lack of materials; I remember playing on bomb sites in the fifties when I visited my aunt in Exeter (subject to the Baedeker raids).

          10. My parents were lucky I guess, they moved out of their childhood home’s in North London ending up close to the countryside. Brand new homes. Council, but a very friendly estate. Schools close by shops and transport.

    3. Doubt she'd want to take it, ogga1. William not too keen, due to Kate health. Remember the old 'Stuck in the Middle with You' song…well, we're stuck with Starmer likely for what remains my lifetime. Depressed or what.

    4. I've the perfect candidate for PM and King. For King, I present Lord Mongo of Fluffy. Impossible to dislike, utterly apolitical. Never said anything contentious. Would happily go tot he WEF and eat the food but would do little else.

      Not intimidated but easily bribed – but unlikely to do as the briber asks.

      For PM I present myself. I dislike everyone equally so would immediately suspend all elections and get on with governing the country. My first act would be reducing government department budgets by 50% and all funding for quangos. I would brand hate no hope terrorists and disband the regulators as useless.

      Then I'd begin deportations. If they don't give a home country I'll drop them in the Sahara. Ed Miliband, Blair, Mandelson, raynor, Reeves will be subject to a lie detector and drugged and made to admit they are thoroughly evil, mendacious, nasty people. Then they'll be left chained in London's main sewer.

      That's 20 minutes in. The next 40 will be spent shutting down quangos.

      After that a new budget will be passed with a tax code that's 3 pages (the Warqueen's favourite one) who will be made Chancellor. I shall declare myself emperor for life, remove all the Labour peers, then all the Lib Dem ones, remove all property from every Green party waster and give it to homeless charities. The same with Blair's corrupt gains.

      2 hours in and the country is already in far better shape. I now disband the OBR and Treasury, department for net zero, destroying business and countless others. I ban lunges as a form of exercise and make it statute that Liz Hurley be allowed to only wear 10cm of masking tape.

      Next day we invade France and annex Calais.

  56. Morning all 🙂😊
    I suspect due to all of our social events we have recently been to, someone had an upper respiratory infection and my own version has settled in with avenegence. It seems to have a similar effect on me as this pointless government. Extremely disturbing and uncomfortable.
    And only two paracetamol's remaining in the packet.

      1. Uptick on the Vit D3 – I take a 1800 mE dose daily, and haven't had a cold since I started, back at the beginning of lockdown.

        1. I take a 25μg capsule of Vitamin D3 daily; alongside 3 Ω3 fish-oil capsules; 1 multi-mineral tablet (200mg Mg, 5mg Zn, 0·5mg Cu, 0·7mg Vitamin B6), and a tiny 75mg aspirin. Oh, and a shed-load of pork fat!👍🏻

        2. 4000 iu for me from October to March, along with K2 and 1,000 mg C. I had a two day sniffle in November but it was a nuisance rather than anything more.

        1. Same as me then- but hopefully we've detoxed from those by now. Not sure about OH – he had two Pfizer ones and a booster. Heart trouble followed a year or so later.

          1. Not saying you are wrong but you can get heart trouble from teeth extractions. Especially when older.

          2. When he was in hospital two years ago they insisted on removing most of his remaining teeth before they would do the heart surgery. So I think you've got it the other way round. It was supposed to be to avoid endocarditis.

          4. My second version of afib, first 7 years earlier, started within a few days of having the first jab. It settled down but came back and stayed soon after the second jab.
            It took nearly three years for them to get back normal. Now after 17 months it's back again.
            I've been referred back to cardiology.

          5. Oh dear. OH seems to be ok following his cardioversion last January. But the cough he started last month has really knocked him sideways. He's been a bit more like normal the last few days so hopefully is recovering now.

        2. I had two AZ and one Pfizer, the same. The first AZ immediately affected me..Peta said I should record it on Yellow Card system to flag it up, when I tried – already full. We're not alone.

    2. Same here, Eddy. VV low today. Try the ones with added caffeine, or take with cup strong coffee. It'll take its time, good luck, Kate. Edit: try Echinacea drops daily basis, cold or no cold, shouldn't get as many infections. Supermarkets/HealthShops/Amazon.

  58. Getting the first letter was the hardest:
    Wordle 1,287 4/6
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Ditto and I took longer to get the last four.

      Wordle 1,287 5/6

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

    3. Choices, choices
      Wordle 1,287 5/6

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

      P.S. Sorry if I missed something, but how is it that you are now Per (a Scandi name)?

          1. No, they call me Pierre or Peter. I don’t speak much Breton but they declared me an honorary Breton. Probably because I can sing a few songs.

    2. I signed, N (good morning, or afternoon is it now)…however it will be dismissed because we are signed up to ECHR as part of NI Agreement. Worth it, though – just to see strength of opinion.

    5. 20,339. It won't do any good of course as TTK will ignore it, just as he has the more than 3 million who want a new general election.

      1. It will be another irritation, and they will have to reply and also hold a debate of sorts when it gets to 100,000.

    6. 20,339. It won't do any good of course as TTK will ignore it, just as he has the more than 3 million who want a new general election.

  63. Photographed in February so by my calculation aboit five weeks before they resurface: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d023b08c5e124bad9947946c0ebfaf7d30dfea5cc00ef79babe1a44ce56d9de1.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/13b9a23372e179df286bf998194a63c3a2e3a3bb94b830177607aea5164b770c.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cdefa7d6fa25254504f3ec35751a71b2d7fb526dfb9dc513a44e47846eccebb4.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6f4e6bac632fd017c01ffb2248e56dbb9e740fd88d7dd005dcfda3f7450ada43.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/60fc7f4411c7a29581b381e5f3d079ee11615266267d6909bb16cb5e330ddf6e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/01538d6b924988f12d373a19cec03e2d4935cf6c08cbf4729d0a9a78c8ade032.jpg

    1. Here is southern Sweden we are around four weeks behind the UK with the emergence of our winter flora. The first to bloom are the yellow winter aconites in mid-late January closely followed by snowdrops and winter snowflakes. Crocuses do not emerge here until late February.

      1. Hello George, no aconites for quite a few years, with the SPO changing direction looking forward to a colder winter when they will surely resurface. Many molehills now, another sign of return. Snowdrops in the green.

          1. Good….be very happy to see that if you’d like to post? x……collared doves returned today, first time for many years, another sign. Very large numbers of molehills, see the earth being scooped but no sign yet of inhabitants :-)) K

          3. Me too 😊 long tailed ones not returned – yet. I can hear the jays screeching, but rarely see them, ones I did see were juveniles.

  64. This from Google AI.

    Tooth extractions can increase the risk of heart-related complications, such as a heart attack or stroke. This is because the extraction procedure can release bacteria and inflammatory molecules into the bloodstream, and the healing process can stress the body. The risk is temporary, but it's slightly higher for a few weeks after the procedure.

    Again. Who knows.

    1. Well his remaining teeth (after he ruined the rest as a child and young teenager) were in good shape as he'd looked after them as an adult. He was in hospital for five weeks altogether and he had the brutal dentistry done in Gloucester hospital before being decamped to Oxford for the heart surgery. I guess the gums had healed sufficiently by the time he was taken there.

  65. Did the forces of world government shoot themselves in the foot when they got rid of Boris for not being totalitarian enough with the pandemic measures?
    He was far far better than Starmer at deceiving the public, he managed to stall properly leaving the EU with obfuscation under the name of Brexit, he managed to bring in more immigrants than ever before, he had us signed up to all the net zero nation destroying initiatives, all the wokery hate laws went through without a murmer.
    Now we have Starmer, he is making it all so obvious now and broken the Labour / Conservative two cheeks grip on Westminster.
    Although the same thing is happening throughout the West, to be fair.

    1. I think people were well taken in by his sunny personality – unlike the dour Starmer who would put the sun out if he could.

  66. I had no reactions to mine but I only had them for travel reasons as I had a trip booked. I've had loads during my life and decided three years ago enough was enough. My 10 year jabs have expired but I stayed well in Brazil.

    1. I reckon each climate has it’s own set of viruses/illnesses. Agree with RFKJr re vaccines and living conditions, from my own experience as a child pre age 5.

      1. The dread diseases like scarlet fever and diptheria were already in retreat by the time I was a child. We had indoor sanitation but no heating and our maisonette was damp and cold.
        I had whooping cough, measles and chicken pox and survived all those plus tonsilitis and appendicitis and surgical removal of both organs. I also had earaches and what have you – far more illness as a child than my sons did. Mumps I had at 25, and they did too, aged three and three months. We were all ill.

        It's made me a stronger and healthier adult. We don't need all those vaccinations.

        1. I seem to recall being told I had jabs against diptheria and scarlet fever as a young child. My mother had scarlet fever and was in an isolation hospital for a while but long before I was born.

          1. I think I probably did too. My mum told me I’d had the smallpox one and pointed out the very small scar that only showed as a pale patch if the rest got a slight tan. Some of my mother’s cousins died as young children from diptheria – a young brother and sister within a week of each other. Another aged five two years earlier. So she may have been a bit careful.

  67. Do people still question whether Boris Johnson was near death with Covid or whether it was a publicity stunt?

    1. He did look ill at the Thursday clap session before he was carted off. Maybe not as ill as he was made out to be.

    2. It was very convenient, wasn’t it, when we were all being coerced into being jabbed! Anyway, in light of what’s happened since, I’m glad neither Alf nor I caved in.

  71. That is called a constitutional crisis.
    In the UK they have a habit of resolving itself on the right side of the argument.

  72. That is called a constitutional crisis.
    In the UK they have a habit of resolving itself on the right side of the argument.

  73. PHEW!
    That's us back to the usual madhouse!
    T'Lad has revved his BMW R100 up in the Bury direction, Dr.D & BF likewise to Newcastle and peace descends on the house.
    For now at least!

    1. My two have gone to their father's for a couple of days so it's quiet here but they will be back tomorrow.

      1. T'Lad is due back here for the night tomorrow evening, but at least tomorrow morning I can come down and sit with my mug of tea and leave the DT in peace up in bed.
        Plus, I don;t even have to get dressed until I'm ready to!

  74. Countdown to WW3 begins in 2025 with huge land grab forcing UK into war, says expert. 27 December 2024.

    But Prof Glees believes we will move closer to war in 2025 even if it doesn’t break out so soon. “I do not believe for one second that Putin will stop with this deal. Putin also said today that Russia was now well-placed to 'establish our primary goals in Ukraine',” he stated.“Please note the word 'primary' because there are also 'secondary' goals. They are even more horrific than his 'primary' ones. By 2027 he will be busily undermining the rump Ukrainian state in all the usual ways and I also think we will go out of his way to kill Zelensky.”

    And then Putin will carry out his “big grab” which will lead to WW3, said Prof Glees. "He will turn to his strategic plan of re-establishing the USSR and its satellite system in all but name by turning on all the post-1997 NATO states," he continued. " He's said it is his intention to force them to leave NATO and I believe we should take the threat very seriously, as we should have taken all his threats seriously but signally failed to do.

    "We're talking about Finland, Sweden, Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia; Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and West Macedonia. In other words, a really big grab by Putin, so big that I am confident we will oppose him by force and that will be how WW3 will develop. This will shape our deteriorating relations with Russia. Trump's foolish and false peace deal will start the clock for the countdown to war."

    Perhaps some insight into Professor Glees opinions can be gleaned by noting that he is a product of the University of Buckingham. No. Me neither.

    I’m not a professor but think that an army that cannot take Ukraine is not going to overthrow Europe and re-establish the USSR. In fact anyone who thinks that, regardless of their Academic Credentials, is a fool.

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/countdown-ww3-begins-2025-huge-34348975

    1. I have to admit that Kemi's "…..eh Nigel?" galvanised me into joining Reform late yesterday evening, at very close to midnight after a couple of glasses of a lovely red.

      1. Absolutely pm! I’ve just joined, having read Kemi’s silly and petulant tweet! What a stupid childish girly she is!

        1. I had been thinking about it for some time, but did I really want to part with £25 for a political party!? – but that comment decided me. It was so unnecessary.

      3. In a strange twist, my husband has just tole me he has joined, and for the same reason.

        And i thought i was the political one in the family!!!

      4. I voted for them in the election but will hang fire on joining……..I've never been a member of any political party. But it looks as though you are not the only one to prove Kemi wrong.

        1. like you I voted for the candidate but I am already a member of ukip and unless that disbands I shall stay.

  76. This is not a hoax…(but is good for a laugh)

    The Observer's obituaries of 2024

    Camila Batmanghelidjh remembered by Lemn Sissay
    1 January 1963 – 1 January 2024
    The poet tells of his relationship with the founder of Kids Company, who was the ‘embodiment of integrity’ in her work for children in need

      1. Over the years, too many of the PTP had been chummy with her thus they couldn't risk her being found guilty of any wrongdoing. However, The Great British Public wasn't fooled and could spot a fraud from a mile off.

  77. SOS. I will be cooking a slab (not strips) of belly pork tomorrow. Can anyone give me tips, pointers, recipe on how to cook it properly, so it doesn't dry out? It is approximately two and a half pounds. Meat cooking is not one of my strong points, I am at my happiest beating and whipping and with a rolling pin in my hand…… but seriously, I thought the slow cooker might come in handy for this little porky project… any ideas, anyone?

    2. Gat a bottle of cheap cider and soak it in that, I believe the term in "marinade", then use the cider to make up some stuffing, place the stuffing in an oven dish with the belly pork on top and roast like that.

    3. You'll soon find that you have attracted a whole new fan club having advertised your prowess at beating and whipping.

    4. Score the skin at approx. centimetre intervals (I use a Stanley knife). Be sure to get right to the edges and don’t go deeper than the skin.

      Sprinkle the skin with salt and leave the joint uncovered in the fridge overnight.

      Remove excess salt with a bit of kitchen roll and put the joint in an open ovenproof dish. Put it in a preheated oven (200C) for 35 minutes, then turn the oven down to 150C for 2-2.5 hours.

      Voila! Nicely cooked pork belly with crackling.

      BTW – a slow cooker will ensure rubbery uncrackled skin.

        1. Thank you Ndovu, I will follow Harry's instructions above and rub the skin with oil as well.

          1. The recipe from sos looks good – and specfies "No scoring" – I must try it like that sometime. Very long slow cooking and then crank the oven up to crisp the crackling.

      2. I concur with what you, Harry (and Jules, below) say on this matter.

        Lately I have discovered that if you leave the pork uncovered in the fridge, for a couple of days, the skin will dry out completely and the resultant crackling is brittle, crunchy and utterly divine.

        I have also, recently, started to thoroughly stab the rind all over with a sharp pointed knife as an alternative to scoring. This is the way the Chinese do it and it bubbles up wonderfully by this method.

          1. Thank you, I will bear that in mind, ours will be coming up for renewal before not too long. It is a pre-'covid' era model.

          4. Depends. I do that but often it's just one or the other. If I want a long, slow cook then I use the oven at 140ºC.

  79. Christmas University Challenge isn't quite as much fun as it used to be. When it started, a lot of the competitors were journos, slebs, luvvies and other media hangers-on who displayed little knowledge of anything much, not least their own subjects. The best winning teams relied on one or two members who still had their faculties.

    It's changed. I hardly recognise any of them now. There are still worthies but more of the members are serious, probably because they're a bit younger. Still, it's only three episodes in so it might improve. So far we've had a couple of crossover artists (think 'Rebel Rebel'), Adam Pearson (serious competitor – look him up), Bristol MP Carla Denyer, a green headcase who is claims she is a bisexual, vegan, nontheist Quaker, Paul Boateng, Labour MP turned peer who actually answered some questions correctly, and Debra Stephenson, who did a good impression of a dumb blonde…

    1. You know you are getting old when the alumni of universities you once thought shouldn't exist look young.

    2. They do seem to pick the most PC/woke choices now. Last night on one team we had a race grifter and the transgender CofE archdeacon Rachel Mann.

  81. My last book for those year/first book for next year is going to be Lark Rise to Candleford. We read it at school when i was about 13 and it’s been winking at me from my bookshelf for a while now.

  82. My last book for those year/first book for next year is going to be Lark Rise to Candleford. We read it at school when i was about 13 and it’s been winking at me from my bookshelf for a while now.

  83. 399377+up ticks,

    Tis my belief and the figures that i'm hearing support it as in 1000 invaders since Christmas Day leads me to suspect an ultra secret plot making the indigenous peoples a minority in the United Kingdom, to be kept by the invading majority, clever a, the lab/lib/con coalition supporter, voter really had me worried for a while.

    1. That works until you consider that we can't pay for them. The diversity are almost entirely welfare dependent, consume vast amounts of public sector time and services in prisons, policing, welfare, health, social housing.

      They cost an absolute fortune and return almost nothing in tax. The white population, should it become the minority (as it likely will, soon) simply cannot pay enough tax to keep the diversity as they have been.

      2. 399377+ up ticks,
        W,
        Rationing stopped in 53 will have to be reintroduced with peoples security enforced.

        Food issued on a NI number only.
        indigenous woman & children first
        Any do gooding agents NI number erased for 6 months.

  84. Why Germany’s wind fiasco is a stark warning for Ed Miliband
    An explosion of renewable capacity is creating chronic bottlenecks and rocketing bills

    Matt Oliver

    The He Dreiht development – which translates literally to “he turns” – sits more than 50 miles off the coast and is being rigged in a hurry after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked fears about energy security.

    Yet there is a significant and growing problem: much of the power generated by wind farms like He Dreiht is being thrown away because of Germany’s basket-case electricity grid.

    This might sound eerily familiar to politicians over in Britain, where Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is pressing ahead with his own plans for a clean power system by 2030.

    Just like Germany, most of the UK’s wind power is generated in the North while demand tends to be concentrated in the South. And as is the case there, chronic bottlenecks in the system are stopping electricity from getting to where it needs to be – pushing up bills for all consumers.

    Over the past decade, the cost of German network congestion, which is paid for through energy bills, has skyrocketed from a few hundred million euros per year to billions of euros.

    The problems are a taste of the dysfunction that could lie ahead for Mr Miliband if he cannot sort out Britain’s own grid, experts warn.

    Already, wind farms in Scotland are regularly handed millions of pounds to switch off when there is nowhere to send their power.

    “The UK’s clean power target is very aggressive, and my worry is that if we don’t get things right, because of these very short timescales, we risk running into the same issues that countries like Germany have experienced,” says Jan Rosenow, an energy markets expert at the Regulatory Assistance Project (Rap).

    “We’re actually in a situation that is not that dissimilar. And so if we cannot build up the grid quickly enough, we will run into similar constraints.”
    *
    *
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/12/27/why-germanys-wind-fiasco-will-ring-alarm-bells/
    *******************************

    graeme scott
    1 hr ago
    Miliband is the son of a devout communist , he himself is a devout communists and has put in place legislation and plans to hobble the UK, deindustrialise the nation and bankrupt the average citizen. He’s the second most dangerous man in Britain

    Michael Constantine
    1 hr ago
    Well, if the Germans are struggling we can be sure that our Marxist Minister will make a complete hash of it in the UK.

    Schrodinger's Parrot
    21 min ago
    Reply to Ian Tench – view message
    Marx was an immigrant who lived on the profits of sweated labour in Lancashire cotton mills owned by the Engels family. Two middle class boys theorising on matters of which they knew nothing. Socialism comrades!

    Oldmanof Whitchurch
    1 hr ago
    What a complete waste of money, as at 12:45 today wind was generating 2.5GW or just 7% of our requirement. Thankfully gas and France gave us 60%.
    Energy security my backside.

    1. Miliband doesn't care. Green, the 'climate change' scam is not about energy. It's a control system.

      1. I think he's finally lost what few marbles he ever had, is deeply envious of brother David's more suave demeanour and ritzy way of life on the international stage in NYC, all of which outshines Norf Lunnon.

      2. I think he's finally lost what few marbles he ever had, is deeply envious of brother David's more suave demeanour and ritzy way of life on the international stage in NYC, all of which outshines Norf Lunnon.

      4. Everything he does is focused on himself.
        He hasn't got a clue what he's doing.
        Same old story everything they come into contact with they eff it up and big time.

    2. As far as secrets go it seems that one wasn't the best kept. Their total disregard for democracy and the will of the people is insulting. Let's say Trump was part of "the insurrection", which, a) it was not and, b) he wasn't, then so what? Insurrectionist, criminal, upstart, insulter, cretin even, if you actually believe any of that nonsense. He's the people's choice. End of.

      If there's one thing lefties abhor it's democracy in the name of and by the people.

    1. Yep, I've always known this. As I tell vegans and vegetarians too, fat is positively healthy. You need fat to maintain the myelin sheath on your nerves, I surmise. No wonder they all look so nervy and worried. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

    2. Love fatty pork. I like lamb but not so fatty. Still got to have roast potatoes but i'm sure you approve that they are cooked in goose fat.

  87. My brother has broken his wrist. He has been keeping his bathroom door open and the frame has swollen with ever increasing amounts of steam build up. Thus he got stuck in there and pressed his panic button but the staff folk were on the other side of the residential unit and he expects them to teleport as soon as he shouts. As a result he tried to bash his way out and as this is a firedoor… I did it myself at university. Seems it runs in the family.

    Going to visit (which'll cause a tantrum as it's the wrong day) and take him to hospital (which'll cause a meltdown as there are too many people there).

  88. We've a cupboard full of crisps, chocolate, biscuits.

    I sliced up a carrot and Junior had those as well. Did some cucumber as well and the Warqueen went for those. I never thought I'd go for salad over biscuits.

    2. You may keep your salad, I don't eat it. I only eat health food (which must come from a dead animal or a dead fish).

  92. Turns put one of my work objectives for this year is to do some “training” on CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive). So i am now “mugging up” on it, to tick a box.

    Suddenly the insistence by the UK’s ICAEW on “Sustainability” (for trainee Chartered Accountants, its woven throughout the entire syllabus) makes sense. It can all be traced back to this EU Directive.

    Funnily enough, “in scope” companies are required from 2025 to get “external assurance” over their reporting on their compliance with these EU requirements. I wonder who could possibly provide such “external assurance”? Answers on a postcard please.

    NB it’s an extra-territorial directive so if you sell into the EU, you can get caught.

    All the “hot topics” are there – environmental protection, social responsibility and treatment of employees, human rights, anti-corruption and bribery, “diversity” (sic) on company boards.

    Nice work for thems that can get it.

  94. The perpetually offended are at it again:

    "Pharmacists across the UK should refrain from using “harmful” language such as “blackmail” and “blackout” to become more inclusive, a senior figure at the profession’s largest union has said.

    Nav Bhogal, chair of the southeast committee of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA), said much of the language used in the healthcare sector carried “racial undertones” and suggested “neutral alternatives”."

    3. As if the word "black" didn't exist and wasn't used until they came here. We have a history independent of him and his acolytes, and people like him should bog off.

      3. His brother's life sounds sad but he also did his best with his life.
        Apparently he was mentally handicapped but held down a job (as a scaffolder, I think) and got married.

  97. Earlier my wife was wondering what gifts to give to her relatives in Norfolk

    "Gloves with six fingers," I suggested.

    1. How about when Miriam Margolyes plays Lady Whiteadder in the 1986 Blackadder II episode "Beer". In the episode, when Edmund apologises for indulging in the luxury of a fire, Lady Whiteadder says, "Cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics".

        1. Buried in sand up to the neck covered in honey. Thousands of Amazonian soldier ants. Let's make it slow and painful.

      2. I suppose the line was written by Ben Elton or his co-writer. Jo Brand has no such excuse when she said the milkshake should have been acid.

        2. I was simply trying to indicate how ridiculous the apparent Ross arrest is. J Brand is a disgrace to humanity – all I can say is that thank goodness some mental patients have been saved from her ministrations (given that she was apparently a mental health aux., or nurse, or something once before she went off the rails and decided to inflict herself on the public).

  102. Evening, all. I did try to log in on my phone earlier, but it wasn't very successful so I'm now on the laptop. I have succumbed to the lurgy (I blame Eddy) despite the Vit D, echinacea, Vit C + zinc. Whether I picked it up at church or at the meet I have no idea, but I've been languishing in bed all day, only broken by having to get up every two hours to let Kadi out. I could explain to Charlie that I wasn't feeling well and he'd settle down. Not so, Kadi; he doesn't like having his routine interrupted. I did manage to watch the videos of my horses running – one won, the other finished second. The most important thing for me was that they both finished safe.

    The whole point of net zero is to control people and remove their autonomous choice. It makes no sense otherwise.

    2. Ditto, Conway. Family booked Panto – I couldn't go due to sciatica. They all came home with the virus, which I caught, so I'm the only one now with the virus, and the sciatica, and didn't see the panto. Enjoying some herbal tea (Pukka) lemon, ginger, manuka honey and taking (soluble) Aspirin. Had elevated temp, slowly coming down. You keep warm, liquids up, hope for better tmrw x all the best.

      1. That really is bad luck in spades! Not only not able to go to the panto, but still in pain and now struck with a virus.

        1. I went down with this thing on Sunday and am only just recovering.

          Luckily that we didn't shove a stick up our noses and call it covid, the whole neighbourhood would have been lockdown

    4. I suspect I'm 24 hours behind you.
      Bad night's sleep, felt knackered all day and feeling distinctly below par this evening.

      3. I think that's why I went down with it; I was very busy over Christmas and didn't get much sleep, so I was probably run down. Cue sneaky virus seizing its chance.

      4. Doctors orders… Take two Tramadol and a large shot of vodka or gin.
        Then go online and abuse all your relatives that didn't give you the presents you wanted.
        Then switch off your phone and laptop.
        Then delete any messages when you wake up.

        Works for me !

  103. Is it the same hospital that he said was such a terrible place and he never wanted to go there again?
    Thankyou for visiting him, it sounds as though they are looking after him well.

    2. Good. They should replace them all with statues of Tom Sowell, Clarence Thomas and Ben Carson to give kids something to aspire to!

    3. There is an article about the oiky Sweeting in The Grimes today:

      "The prime minister isn’t getting any younger. Some day it will all be over. Who’s next? You’ll have read that people in No 10 want it to be the health secretary. And he does seem to have it all, doesn’t he? Young, telegenic, thinking the unthinkable on health policy. Whenever his name’s in the paper it’s as a leader-in-waiting. Some of his colleagues resent that, granted, but he can’t necessarily help it. What should worry him is this: if he doesn’t make good on all that bold rhetoric about reform, he’s surely done for.

      The year is 1987. The race for the Tory succession is being led by John Moore, Margaret Thatcher’s favourite minister. Sorry, did you think I was talking about Wes Streeting? Well, it’s funny you should say so. Moore, as you know, never did become prime minister. Never has a politician of such promise and prominence been so comprehensively forgotten. When he died, having spent a 27-year retirement from elected politics in near-total silence, the obituarists called him the Icarus of Thatcherism. Today we might call him Streeting’s ghost of Christmas past and maybe — just maybe — future.

      Last week I was discussing Streeting with a person I am obliged to refer to as a “Labour veteran”. Nothing unusual about that: any conversation one has about the government these days very quickly arrives in Ilford North, so central is Streeting to Sir Keir Starmer’s definition of success in government. Anyway: what my companion of a certain age then said crystallised something inchoate, bubbling beneath the cabinet table and nether regions of the parliamentary Labour Party. “There’s just a touch of the John Moore about Wes.”

      It was delivered as if a joke. But as with every good joke, it was revealing of subconscious truths. What does this one tell us about Streeting, the minister whose media profile, departmental budget and fluency before a camera so irritate his cagier cabinet colleagues?

      It’s a much bigger question than one minister because Keir has made Wes too big to fail. Forget the milestones and the missions: the three things they worry about in Downing Street are disposable household income, NHS waiting lists and immigration figures. In this government, the health secretary is surely first among the unequals of cabinet.

      So what does that mischievous comparison with Moore tell us? If you sympathise with Streeting, you might say the similarities are silly and superficial. Like Moore, he’s young and image-conscious, a living embodiment of the sort of social mobility that defines his political project — Streeting grew up in an east London council flat, Moore above a pub in Croydon — and can be relied on to give his leader’s opponents a good kicking on the telly. But that’s it, you could say. That one failed to transform the NHS in their own image and live up to their billing as a leader-to-be need not tell us anything about the other. And Streeting, unlike Moore, at least uses the very NHS hospitals of which he speaks.

      But consider why Moore failed. Thatcher, his biggest admirer, gave him the sprawling brief of health and social security so that he might reimagine the welfare state and NHS in his own image. Quite apart from that one ministry being too big for any one person to master, he failed because he never betrayed any sign of the intellectual or political substance that might sustain the hype. Having helped win the miners’ strike by stockpiling coal, and primed British Telecom and British Airways for privatisation, throwing open the doors of NHS hospitals to the private sector was the battle Moore, more Thatcherite than Thatcher herself, was born to win. But he lost it.

      Why? A bad bout of pneumonia that cut him down in his prime didn’t help. Just as decisive, though, were questions of policy and judgment. Ministerial colleagues tended to find Moore inscrutable and unbearable.

      Edwina Currie, one of his long-suffering junior ministers, says as much in her diaries again and again. Of Moore’s plans to introduce a league table of health outcomes: “If health improves, do you cut the NHS? If it worsens, do you go begging for more cash?” Moore was not a details man, either. “He likes doing managerial things, but has no feel for important issues.” Then there were his obvious ambitions. “There’s a naivety about him, and an arrogant intolerance, that comes from a man of not excessive ability in a hurry.”

      And so on. What’s most arresting now, as one rereads the ebb and flow of petty resentments and long-buried grudges that made Thatcher’s reforming government tick, is just how much Moore’s colleagues came to dislike him. John Major, then at the Treasury, was “only too pleased to grind John Moore’s pretty face in it”, says Currie, when he came knocking for cash. To Ted Heath, Moore was “one of the biggest shits in Christendom”. Julian Critchley, the backbench scribe of the Thatcher years, concluded that Moore could sing beautifully but was no lyricist himself. (My colleague Matthew Parris, who served with Moore, once suggested he “lacked the brass neck” and “innate conviction that the whole universe reels about oneself” required to make a break for No 10. Reading his contemporaries, he seems to have been kind.)

      All of these are variations on criticisms you hear of Streeting from his ministerial colleagues. He doesn’t do policy, they moan. He bangs on about reform but it’s all Blairite karaoke. Alan Milburn, another health secretary who took their leader’s mission to its ideological extreme, really does his thinking for him. His judgment’s off: recall the jokes about Louise Haigh and the deniable dig at Ed Miliband.

      And while they accept he might end up as leader of the Labour Party, they can’t help but catch themselves wishing it won’t happen. Too Blairite. Too smooth. Too obvious. That, I suppose, is why you end up comparing someone to a forgettable failure like Moore.

      Not all of those sotto-voce criticisms are fair. Nor is it necessarily sensible for ministers to be sharing them so volubly: Streeting’s success is their success, for without it there won’t be another Labour government. If he does end up like John Moore, then all bets are off for this government.

      There’s still plenty of time to avoid that fate. If he can keep his head and prove that reform is more than someone else’s slogan, then he might really do what his long-forgotten predecessor never managed."

        2. Moore was installed as Thatcher’s Minister for Health. At the time I was responsible for the fitting out of Richmond House Whitehall.

          His first direction was that he wanted the room in Richmond Terrace which has views down Whitehall whereas he had been allocated a ‘fine’ room nearer to the then Curtis Green building on Embankment. We had already designed a special toilet facility for Moore who from memory had some physical disorder.

          Accordingly we put in a new facility at the Whitehall end of Richmond Terrace.

          I remember that Moore suddenly disappeared and was replaced by Tony Newton with Edwina Curry in tow. Newton was a chain smoker but Currie ordered ghastly green plastic NO SMOKING signs to be fixed to my beautiful Bath stone internal walls. Newton ordered their removal leaving plug holes to be filled.

          For a while after its opening by Nicholas Ridley (it was thought too dangerous for Thatcher or a Royal to perform this duty owing to IRA activity) Richmond House became known as The Currie House.

          After having dealt with and outsmarted the useless DoE and its Property Services Agency and Crown Suppliers hooligans in both the construction and fitting out of the building I developed a total dislike and distrust of the entire corrupt government agencies.

    4. So, obviously that is inciting violence – he must be a far right thug so off to prison he goes – oh, wait …

  108. 'Black magic is the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil or selfish purposes. It is the opposite of white magic, which is the use of magic for helpful or selfless purposes'.

    Ooh…Google AI is racist !

  110. I know (wail)…temp slightly reduced so hoping tmrw a better time. Hope yours is short-term x at least can’t pass it on to our dogs..

      1. Lord I hope not, N (although I’m not really a believer of ‘bird flu’…told I’d have to neck hens last time…nope! :-DD All good wishes back at you, Ndovu (Jules?) xx

    1. Likewise – three options for the first letter and I guessed right (first one I thought of tbh) – Whoopee!

      Wordle 1,287 4/6

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

    2. A bit of a problem with the first letter today

      Wordle 1,287 6/6

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

    4. Five today.

      Wordle 1,287 5/6

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

      1. Soo many options!
        Wordle 1,287 6/6

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

    2. Why was he there?
      He is hardly a hands on worker so the only reason I can think of for him going to a place like that would be for a photo op.

  114. That's me for today. Grey and misty and damp all day – and outdoors was remarkably similar. Still had an hour's zoom with the family which was great fun.

    Have a jolly evening, drinking hard.

    A demain.

  120. 451 arrived on Christmas Day…
    407 on Boxing Day…

    This should have the red lights flashing & set off the klaxons.
    That's a lorra houses to be built.. a lorra farmland to be reined in.

    1. That's only around £50,000,000 spent on them by this time next year.

      I' m sure if they work really, really hard spending their benefits they will return £5,000 in VAT and other taxes on their expenditure.
      Big contributors to the UK economy don'tcha kno.

    2. As Winter turns to Spring it will be a thousand a day. When Summer comes…our Winter will descend upon us.

  123. "Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News & FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct."

    Farage milking this spat for every electron. And posting comments from fed-up Tory voters gives him even more publicity.

    2. I don't really understand why someone that age would do such a thing unless his homelife was debauched.

      Of course we are now being fed stories about girls having their period begin at eight years old.

      I suspect it is all part of a plan to get people used to this sort of horror.

      1. Indeed, when I worked in a playgroup (talking 70+ years ago) we had a young boy approaching both the other boys and also girls (won't give you the details). Social Worker commented to me 'that doesn't happen unless it happens in the home'. We also had a village bobby on the beat, I was in the kitchen one day, he came in closed the door…I was a bit wary but he was there to tell me if I heard anything – anything at all, to call him straightaway. All these incidents aren't new, but more widespread now, to say accessible to any child with a mobile phone, unless parent has blocked access – but still likely to see it on another's phone. And of course, no village bobby.

      2. When everything around them, drag queens, sex changes, boys are girls and girls are boys, of course they're confused, and will "check for themselves".
        I would not be at all surprised if it turns out that the woman in question was offering temptation.

    3. "Police are now looking for anyone with information about this incident and the whereabouts of the teenager to get in touch, quoting the incident number 24000747520."
      A boy of 11 or 12 is not a teenager.

    1. Yesterday evening a man in a hi-viz jacket knocked on our car window.
      I feared it was a police check, but it turned out to be a bloke who had run out of fuel and was begging a lift to the nearest petrol station, which we provided.
      He refused a lift back to his car because he had struggled to get fuel into the two bottles and didn't want to make our car smell of diesel.
      We told him we didn't mind but he was insistent that he could walk the mile or so back to his car.

      I always believe that one good turn deserves another and it is surprising how often it arrives, unexpectedly.

      1. You damned fool ! No good deed goes unpunished.

        You should have taken the bottles of diesel and driven to his vehicle. Left your wife to entertain him in the way Frenchmen prefer. Then drove it back to where you were and charged him 200 euro !

        Do i have to teach you everything !

        2. I offered.

          He asked me if I knew a bloke called Phizzee.

          I said “yes”

          He said “piss off I don’t want to catch a nasty disease”
          and before I could explain I only knew you online he had vanished.

      2. Something odd there. Did you see his car? An empty diesel fuel tank means, AFAIK, that the engine may need to be bled, i.e. remove air that could be in the fuel lines.
        Even in France, where some gas stations are unmanned at night, fuel should only be dispensed into approved containers. Could he have been an arsonist who did not wish his vehicle registration number to be recorded on the CCTV?

        1. I saw the car pulled up on the verge.
          Anything is possible, but I doubt he would have used diesel instead of petrol.

      1. Going to be some changes now Scholz brought down, align with Italy. Macron next. Meanwhile, here in the UK we await Reform.

        1. I suspect that Russia’s advance and imminent victory in Ukraine will be a deciding factor.

          Combined with the imminent victory of Russia in Ukraine we now have a new US President who is determined to cease funding NATO and its mad EU unelected institutions.

          I recently told my wife that many of the problems generated in the EU and the Baltic States arise because stupid women have been given powers above their station(s) in life. This is not a sexist remark but the blatantly obvious Truth.

          I would not have employed Angela Merkel just as I would never have employed Ursula van der Leyen. Stupid duplicitous women, and there are many more in Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States.

          1. As a wife myself, cori – I can tell you I (and husband) agree with every word. Have said for a while, many roads lead to Women’s Lib. My money’s been on Trump for a long time, let’s hope ’25 a better year. Also, I think Poilievre on target.

    2. Why are we doing this?
      Because we are:
      Stupid?
      Have a death wish?
      We are woke?
      Silly me, they're all the same.

    3. You should see the size of the oil field just off Falkland Islands.. not quite the size of Saudi or Venezuelan.

      Russia's Rosgeo uncovered oil and gas reserves in British Antarctic territory, estimated at around 511 billion barrels.

        2. The Russians are now much more powerful than the UK thanks to our successive government‘s neglect of our armed forces.

          I suspect that the traitors under foreign direction will give up our interests in British Antarctica, the Falklands and what oil reserves are left uncapped in the North Sea.

          Fucking idiots. I just wish these politicos would die of hypothermia just as they have visited this penalty on millions of our cherished elderly folk.

        3. The Russians are now much more powerful than the UK thanks to our successive government‘s neglect of our armed forces.

          I suspect that the traitors under foreign direction will give up our interests in British Antarctica, the Falklands and what oil reserves are left uncapped in the North Sea.

          Fucking idiots. I just wish these politicos would die of hypothermia just as they have visited this penalty on millions of our cherished elderly folk.

    4. It's possibly worse, Johnny…seems Norway sends it's hydro-powered electricity to us vi NS link, Norwegian population not too happy about that, either. But that way, by not drilling as Alex says, Labour government seems to think it can argue our power is 'green'.

      1. Indeed – by exporting the power, we pay more for ours. And, like everybody, there's only a limited amount.

        1. That's the Norwegian population argument, Paul. Me? hoping for the best, preparing for worst this winter…wood sheds full.

      1. Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious
        If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious
        Um-dittle-ittl-um-dittle-I
        Um-dittle-ittl-um-dittle-I
        Super-coni-disaster-ter-mili-fucks-us-all-cious
        And now you know we're all designed
        To be leg-overed-ocious

    7. Because we are being governed by a cabal of freakish communist globalist idiots determined to destroy our country. I believe they are acting on instructions from their paymasters Soros, Gates and the rest of the WEF and UN/WHO criminals.

      They are prepared to wreck our country because they have been promised senior positions in the WEF Headquarters for World Governance presently being built in Geneva.

      Bomb Geneva and we might survive. Dear President Putin please do us all a favour.

  128. Off to the Orange Tree theatre in Richmond tonight to see 12th Night. My first ever appearance there.

    Apparently there’s a “double header” on at Twickenham as well tonight – women’s rugby, then men’s. Rather them than me though – it’s pretty miserable out tonight.

    1. Homosex was and is prevalent in prisons. There is a saying 'gay in straight out'.

      Clearly some women have joined the service to have sex with male prisoners as they know it will be more intense.

      When you look at these female warders they look like they should be on porn sites anyway.

      Whatever happened to uniforms. And rules about make up?

  134. I request RichardL to go down town Toronto to the Eaton Mall and tell the Lefties & Pally Wally friends to wind their necks in.

    Pro-Palestinian Christmas protest held at the CF Eaton Centre..

    1. Confront that mob and I would be arrested and imprisoned for disturbing the peace.

      The Toronto mayor turned up for the Hanukkah celebrations in Toronto but left before the lighting of the menorah.

  136. Here's hoping the boss has had a successful operation, and can get back to keeping the miscreants in order.

  137. If Geoff manages to open Nottle tomorrow, whoever is "first responder" must express our thanks and do it in:

    CAPITAL LETTERS!

  139. We and Firstborn have reasonable wood stocks; we also have blocks of compressed sawdust that are quite good.
    In case of emergency, we have big, warm, lovely, fuzzy cats…

    2. You lucky thing…I just have an old dog, coat thinner than it was…I still love him tho, and always will. Dread the loss.

        1. I’ve had several rescue dogs, all sweethearts. Was surprised (and sickened) to learn recently that rescue homes now keep the ones they can charge for (rather than a voluntary donation). Vet friend tells me majority are euthanised. They’ve come a long way to a not good place.

          2. Hear you. One time had a dog brought to me by an old chap who found her wandering, a small greyhound. She had no fur, bones very prominent. Brought her in, fed her, took her into garden where she spun round and round for several minutes, I guess happy at being fed. Her fur when it grew back was a beautiful pale cream, she had large brown eyes, very gentle nature, kept her many years until she eventually passed.

  145. The good people of UK are about to have an Islamic blasphemy law imposed on them by the moronic progressive liberals..
    Let us see how kind & gentle Islamic cookie giver.. gets offended by everything and is ashamed of nothing.
    .
    https://youtu.be/ZBbK1UBwvQM?t=50

    1. Has that narrator considered that the fact that some muslim women like being dressed like black crows because "they won't be accosted by men" is because it's ignorant muslim men who do the accosting?

  147. 5 o'clock club got extended. A bit of steam let off too. I got (slightly) angry at a couple of friends who are just all too willing to believe the MSM narrative, whether it was Ukraine, ME, Trump, or whatever. Most onside though, with energy sources and EV shit.

    1. Don't lose friends, agree to disagree, and agree to come back to to the topic another day.

      Friendships take a lot of effort, why lose them on a whim?

      And next time get your retaliation in first, a kick between the pockets is a good approach.

  148. Far too early for bed, but after a 3rd consecutive Christmas meal I felt peckish and started on the box of cheeses. So far I have demolished a French Brie and a Blue Stilton so I am off to bed and will no doubt have vivid dreams. Good Night, chums, sleep well and I shall see you all tomorrow.

    1. I remember the Orange Tree back in the early seventies when I worked on Richmond Green. The beer was good and the theatre upstairs in those days.

      I am glad that the place is still operating after 50 years. Crikey, I feel old. Is Richmond Theatre still going?

      And what about Valchera’s Italian restaurant where I enjoyed my first fillet steak in Christmas 1974, courtesy of the Darbourne & Darke office party, The practice had offices at 2 The Green and I was a young prsctioner.

      1. Richmond theatre still going – it’s Panto season there at the moment – but i don’t know the Italian!!!!

        2 The Green is currently empty.

      2. Richmond theatre still going – it’s Panto season there at the moment – but i don’t know the Italian!!!!

        2 The Green is currently empty.

    2. I remember the Orange Tree back in the early seventies when I worked on Richmond Green. The beer was good and the theatre upstairs in those days.

      I am glad that the place is still operating after 50 years. Crikey, I feel old. Is Richmond Theatre still going?

      And what about Valchera’s Italian restaurant where I enjoyed my first fillet steak in Christmas 1974, courtesy of the Darbourne & Darke office party, The practice had offices at 2 The Green and I was a young prsctioner.

    3. That change alone would have destroyed it for me. Our history and culture trashed and disrespected with one word.

  156. 399377+up ticks,
    Dt,

    Bird flu ‘may be mutating to become more transmissible to humans’
    Scientists believe virus, which has spread across bird and cattle farms in the US, could jump more easily to people in future

    A more realistic view is,
    Some "experts" are seemingly saying it needs more lab work before release,

    1. I will add that to the list of emerging pandemics that I should worry about but then just carry on as before.

  157. Why we all need to tackle anti-social behaviour on our streets

    With police presence dwindling and crime rising, it's time for the silent majority to stand up to criminals

    Isabel Oakeshott
    27 December 2024 8:00pm GMT

    For almost 80 years, the Metropolitan Police had a base in the heart of London's West End, perfectly positioned to keep a watchful over theatre and club land. It was from the historic station on Savile Row that officers were dispatched to break up the Beatles' rooftop concert in 1969 following complaints of noise. The impromptu midday performance may have broken a few rules, but by today's standards of anti-social behaviour sounds almost whimsically harmless.

    In 2021, West End Central Police Station was sold to property developers for a reported £54m – more than enough to pay for a few extra officers. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. Today, the Metropolitan Police is facing a recruitment crisis leading to what Sir Mark Rowley has described it as a "deeply concerning" shortfall. Amid less visible policing, some of London's most celebrated areas – Soho; Mayfair; Kensington and Chelsea – feel increasingly lawless.

    According to local retailers, in the past two years muggings in the West End have tripled; while shoplifting is so rife that some business owners have resorted to locking their doors. Perhaps most disturbing of all is the menacing presence of pro-Palestinian gangs on unmarked motorbikes.

    On the Saturday before Christmas, around 20 of these bikers thundered through Soho, revving their engines and flashing their lights. Almost all were toting Palestinian flags. Faces hidden behind black balaclavas, the riders came to a juddering halt on Frith Street, blocking the road. Some then clambered onto the seats of their bikes to tower over pedestrians, while others hung around in groups. This was not an organised political protest but a show of strength from masked men with questionable intent.

    Frith Street is one of the West End's most iconic thoroughfares; a straight thrust of Georgian houses above thrumming bars, running down from Soho Square to Old Compton Street. To the gay community, it is known as the "Compton Catwalk". Everywhere hangs rainbow flags, for this is the heart of central London's LGBTQIA scene.

    Perhaps that is why the district is targeted by the bikers, some of whom make no secret of their disdain for gay rights. Last Saturday, two male friends were confronted by the bikers as they made their way down Frith Street. In a police report seen by The Telegraph, the young men claim they were shoved and pushed. "We don't want no dirty LGBTQ, battymen s— round here," one of the bikers is said to have snarled.

    Video footage on social media suggests last Saturday's show of strength was no one-off. Why are they being allowed to get away with it? To the victims in this case, the masked bikers felt like "Sharia patrols", roaring into the Soho to assert their dominance and demonstrate their disdain for British values.

    Hopefully this is an over-interpretation of an isolated incident of homophobia. Either way, the bikers are an extreme example of the kind of anti-social behaviour that is increasingly blighting our country and changing the way town centres feel. It's not just people with questionable allegiances bringing foreign wars to our streets; and it's not just Soho. [Indeed, not. Wellingborough last week, two small motor bikes, each with two riders, straight through the town centre pedestrian areas.]

    Up and down Britain, city centres and other public spaces – bus stations; trains; shopping centres – are marred by all manner of anti-social behaviour and petty lawlessness that goes unchallenged both by a fearful public and authorised personnel including security staff. The more these louts get away with it, the more emboldened they become, so the rest of us are forced to put up with standards of behaviour that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.

    Examples range from hoodies blasting music from beat boxes on tubes and trains; to yobs openly urinating on street corners; prolific use of vile language in front of children; and masked youths on e-scooters tearing up pavements in search of handbags or mobile phones to snatch.

    Meanwhile in central London a certain demographic – typically young men wearing hoodies or face masks – routinely fare dodge on the tube, tail-gating passengers who do have tickets or simply busting their way through the barriers. London Underground staff do not seem to consider it their job to do anything. Amid the general degradation, the pungent smell of marijuana hangs heavy in the air. In theory, cannabis is a Class B controlled drug, meaning it is illegal to use even behind closed doors. In practice, the police appear to have given up enforcing the law.

    Depressingly, almost nobody seems willing to call any of this out. It is true that there are still a few have-a-go-heroes, like the brave fellow from Warrington who was busy having his hair cut when he spotted a police officer in trouble – and dashed to help. Without a thought for his own safety, Kyle Whiting shot out of his barber's chair, and ran down the street to do what he could. Unfortunately, such courage is rare.

    Confronted with bad behaviour or outright illegality, most folk seem too scared to take a stand. They know that intervening risks becoming a target, either of verbal or physical assault. When serious and fatal stabbings are a daily occurrence, their reticence is not unreasonable. The result is an atmosphere of permissiveness. Good people who hate what they see seem to feel that nothing can be done – or at least that it's not their job to try. As a result, standards continue to decline.

    London is not the only city centre in the UK that now feels perilously close to New York in the early 1990s: a place of crumbling infrastructure and rampant crime. The Big Apple became so filthy and dangerous that some dubbed it the "Rotten Apple". The then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani took drastic action, ordering police to clamp down on the small stuff: subway fare evasion, public drinking, public urination and graffiti.

    Amid a zero-tolerance approach, rates of both petty and serious crime fell significantly. One of the most remarkable features of the turn-around was the way in which ordinary citizens pulled together to change the environment. According to accounts of this period in New York's history, taking their cue from Giuliani's leadership, the population began to exert a kind of informal social control over those who continued to degrade their city. As the culture changed, behaviour that was previously tolerated became uncomfortable for the perpetrators.

    For the same to happen here, political leaders must resolve to make 2025 the year we reclaim our city centres from shadowy figures in balaclavas and the aggressive brandishing of foreign flags. If there aren't enough police, then local authorities and businesses with a stake in city centres may have to club together to pay for private security. This is already being explored in some towns, including Ipswich and Milton Keynes. Good for them!

    Meanwhile the silent majority who deplore the degradation of our streets are going to have to be braver. Collectively, we do not have to resign ourselves to this decline, nor accept it as the new norm. The terrifying descent of our streets is testament to the old adage about the triumph of evil, when good people do nothing.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/27/why-we-all-need-tackle-antisocial-behaviour-on-our-streets

    1. What utter nonsense! Anyone who tackles anti-social behaviour on our streets will be prosecuted for racism, hurting criminals' feelings, assault, disturbing the (criminals') peace and any other charge that can be dreamed up against them.

  158. Good morning folks:

    Whilst awaiting for the boss to open the shop for business you may like to delve into this detailed analysis that is the Syrian fiasco:

    https://internationalman.com/articles/david-stockman-on-the-syrian-fiasco-a-case-of-the-empire-first-folly-in-spades/

    It makes our Government front bench look like they are all Mastermind winners!

    A note of the author:
    David Stockman is the ultimate Washington insider turned iconoclast. He began his career in Washington as a young man and quickly rose through the ranks of the Republican Party to become the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan. After leaving the White House, Stockman had a 20-year career on Wall Street.
    Stockman’s career in Washington began in 1970, when he served as a special assistant to U.S. Representative, John Anderson of Illinois. From 1972 to 1975, he was executive director of the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Conference. Stockman was elected as a Michigan Congressman in 1976 and held the position until his resignation in January 1981.
    He then became Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, serving from 1981 until August 1985. Stockman was the youngest cabinet member in the 20th century.

    1. Oh and to prove Mr Stockman's point:

      "On Thursday, Syria's de facto authorities appointed former Al-Qaeda commander and Nusra Front co-founder Anas Hassan Khattab as the head of the country's general intelligence agency.

      Khattab, also known as Abu Ahmed Hudood, was blacklisted as a "terrorist" by the UN Security Council in September 2014 for his close association with Al-Qaeda.

    2. At the end of the day, not even Washington is stupid enough to waste $40 billion on that. What has really been going on, therefore, is that by the lights of the Empire Firsters Assad had to be removed because he had the wrong allies and the wrong neighbors. The demonization about his tyranny and plunder was just a cover story for the real objective, which was undermining his Iranian ally.

      Sad but true and don't forget the part that the UK played in this tragedy.

  159. Listening to another interesting interview by Winston Marshall with Giles Udy -the dark reality of Socialism – why it’s more dangerous than you think.

    https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show/id1727337401?i=1000681883514

    Giles Udy is Britain’s leading historian of the Soviet Gulag system. He is author of the phenomenal ‘Labour and the Gulag: Russia and the Seduction of the British Left’ and is a regular contributor to The Times, The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the i, UnHerd and the magazine Standpoint.
    We sat down to discuss his new book ‘At Dawn They Came: Soviet Terror and Repression 1917 – 1953’, and his time exploring what remains of the Gulag prison system in Russia. He revealed to me the untold horror of the Gulag.
    We also discuss the truth about socialism, its popularity in the West and its dangers. All this and much more…

    1. The same people who funded the communist takeover in Russia are now funding the same thing on a bigger scale – one world government, introduced with pandemics, the ludicrous global boiling narrative and aliens. These are all issues that allow them to make international bodies to "fight" them, and that's why ridiculous stories about aliens keep popping up from time to time – they still hope the public will bite.

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