Friday 4 December: The Government will let vaccination certificates become compulsory

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but not as good as ours),
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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/12/04/lettersthe-government-will-let-vaccination-certificates-become/

628 thoughts on “Friday 4 December: The Government will let vaccination certificates become compulsory”

  1. ‘Morning All
    Got the grandkids Christmas shopping sorted yesterday
    The lad was easy,those few flat sheets of cardboard,I’ve no idea what he’s planning to make but if an Ex-Box is what his heart was set on an Ex-Box it will be,can’t wait to see the tears of joy on Christmas morning
    The lass was trickier,I couldn’t find anyone selling single Eye-Pads but Boots has a pack of four for a fiver so I pushed the boat out
    Their parents seemed concerned I was being extravagant but its all comes out very reasonable even for a pensioner and it is Christmas after all……….

    1. Morning RR, you be careful, with that sort of unrestrained extravagance there could be a job waiting for you at No11 next door to the buffoon.

  2. SIR – It should be remembered that the British, like the Irish, bargained away their sea fisheries for a share of what was to become the Common Agricultural Policy.

    Since the British will not be receiving the benefits of the latter, they should not be expected to endure the hurt of the former.

    Cal Hyland
    Rosscarbery, Co Cork, Ireland

    Quite so, Cal Hyland!

  5. Supply fears hit coronavirus vaccine amid warning over initial 800,000 doses. 4 December 2020.

    NHS front-line staff will no longer be prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine, amid confusion over the number of doses that will arrive by the end of the year.

    Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said that an initial 800,000 doses “could be the only batch we receive for some time”.

    This is despite the UK originally expecting 10 million shots by the end of the year, and the chief commercial officer of the vaccine creator BioNTech Sean Marett saying on Wednesday that the UK was likely to get at least five million doses by the New Year.

    These people have no idea what they are doing! This vaccine ought to come with a Health Warning. TAKEN AT YOUR OWN RISK.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/03/nhs-front-line-staff-no-longer-prioritised-coronavirus-vaccine/

    1. Morning, Araminta.

      If lazy unthinking people have not taken the time to research and discover that the cohort of charlatans allegedly in government have indemnified the pharma companies, the people who are to administer the potion and the government themselves from responsibility for this assault on people then they deserve all they get. Those in care homes who are not fully aware of what is going on should be protected from threats, both imminent and potential. Isn’t that the first responsibility of government? Not that we have a government, more a cabal of self-servers.

      1. After all the talk about indemnifying themselves this pops up. What DO they know but aren’t telling the people?

      2. I mentioned this to one of my friends on the telephone the other day when I said I was adamant I wasn’t having the jab. She had no idea.

    2. That’s enough vaccines to inject MPs, then send them all to care homes for their 2nd shot [following your warning sign message of course]

      And who the hell is Chris Hopson, what does he/she actually do [apart from drawing a huge monthly wedge?]. Open lift doors / collect plastic cups?

  7. Looks like they are going to try the vaccine out on care homes at first and not NHS staff, for some reason

    1. One wonders why an effectively untested vaccine might not be injected into the people who might need it most, yet if they keeled over as a result, might also be most missed… I must think about it some, and I’ll revert with my conclusions later.

    3. Apart from the staff, is there anyone left in care homes? The gummint did its best to wipe them out during Lockdown1.

      ‘Morning, B3.

    1. Let’s chivvy them along than Araminta [mng btw], given yesterday I had rarely, for here, power all day and once on this “anti vax” topic, net went haywire for 45 mins.

      Lock downs don’t work as cases increase even among those in self isolation and there is no 2nd wave [virus don;t do waves]. A virus with a 99.9% survival rate is not deadly to the whole population just a small number of people ( mostly aged 80+ who also die in similar numbers every year from flu and pneumonia). Pubs and Bars were never the main spreaders of C-19, that’s hospitals as the hygiene standards in UK hospitals are a national scandal.

      UK Govt screwed up at the beginning and continue to double down and have destroyed the UK economy. This was about control and see how much they could get away with. Well now they know

      1. Morning, AWK.
        Hygiene in NHS hospitals is an international scandal. Here in Norway, if you go into hospital here (in- or outpatients), you have to declare if you have been in a UK hospital within the last few (don’t recall how many) months, and if so, they quarantine you! To stop (I very much hope) the spread of awful infections. It’s been like this for years now. The UK is the only country this is valid for, so officially, UK hospitals are less hygienic than those of Lagos.

        1. I don’t doubt it for 1 second Obl. On the bright side,here if you walk through the car park of Nbo hospital, you’re counted as one of those who’ve been traced and tested, even if you’re only using the car park as a short cut. Same if you enter hospital to visit an in-patient, you’re counted [not tested]. That said, Nbo hospital’s quite decent and services provided are good. The food’s garbage. The only age old problem here, regardless of injury = pay first, then “we’ll think about treating you”…. for another price. Even if you have insurance. If one dies, then fee doubles to remove body. All part of the gig.

          Last time I was in UK hospital was 1983 [Greenwich] having plaster removed having snapped achilles in West Berlin. The place was run down, the staff were good. I think Greenwich hospital – Maze Hill Rd [next to Greenwich Park] is now a block of flats

          2. lol. I snapped achilles in West Berlin [playing badminton representing Greenwich which is “twinned” with Rheinickerdorf [ W Berlin district]. Got the achillees repaired and plastering done there, by W Germany’s sports surgeon. I never knew seriousness of it at the time, til he said to me before operation, if not fixed within 48 hrs, yr a permanent cripple. It got my full attention!

            Shared room wth 2 x East Germans who’d jumped the wall and been shot. My colleagues, humanitarian and sympathetic that they were, ate the grapes they brought, but brought 2 x crates of beer and went and got 2 more crates for the East German lads. And a whip round among us, covered their grub for 1 month. I was lucky re achilles getting the top W German Dr. The memory of leaving the room for final time on crutches leaving the two lads drunk as skunks, will always remain with me. Am glad they got through, what they’d endured and went through put my predicament into the weeds, and rightly so

  9. Government these days seems to work to a mathematical formula whereby Government (A) tells people (Z) that they have to self harm (S) because of the greater good (I) as directed by world government (N).

    Therefore NA = Z (I + S)

  10. Government these days seems to work to a mathematical formula whereby Government (A) tells people (Z) that they have to self harm (S) because of the greater good (I) as directed by world government (N).

    Therefore NA = Z (I + S)

  11. The high street is doomed? Tell that to the people queuing outside Primark. 4 December 2020.

    Yet the assumption that customers have abandoned bricks-and-mortar shops for good feels instinctively wrong to me. The future of shopping may well be either small and hyper-local or glitzy big-destination retail, with little surviving in the once vast Debenhams-land in the middle. But at least it has a future, or it could.

    It feels wrong to me as well. Shopping is a strong leisure and therapeutic activity and it will return. The reason it’s being allowed to collapse is that it will give an unprecedented opportunity to the Carpetbaggers when the Covid crisis is over. The world is literally being stolen!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/04/high-street-doomed-primark-shopping-covid-restrictions

    1. Shopping for me is tedious, if it must be done i.e. new shoes , I try to plan the exercise as efficiently as possible.
      1. Identify goal
      2. Locate goal
      3. Get in ,purchase goal, get out and get home.

      I think I may be alone in this.

      2. Works for me, except for the following specific circumstances:
        – Skiing equipment
        – Firearms
        I can look at those all day…

        1. Too right, Bill. Back in our teenage years my sister and I went shopping for a family present. After no fewer than 9 shops we finished up in the first and bought it there. I’m convinced that this induced a hidden trauma that has remained with me for life!

      4. You have just described a man’s way of shopping. Women, on the other hand, like to spend much more time browsing, and can return after a full day’s shopping with hardly anything.

        2. ‘Morning, A. I can agree with the first part of your post, but not necessarily with the second…yesterday our d-i-l carried out her regular trawl of the charity shops. She is now the proud owner of a coat that originally cost c. £600. She bought it for just £8.

          2. Dr. Daughter used to do the same when she was studying in London. She found the charity shops of Hampstead and similar monied areas VERY rich pickings!

      5. Not at all, Datz! (And the whole wretched exercise has to be completed in the shortest possible time, too.)

        1. #Me Too. When I shop for food I make my list in the order in which I encounter the goods in the supermarket (and curse if they’ve moved things round). Then it’s a case of going through the list until I’ve got the last item and checking out asap. I do NOT like shopping.

    2. 327161+ up ticks,
      Morning AS,
      ” The world is literally being stolen”

      In many respects given away with
      a kiss X.

      The United Kingdom being a prime world leading example.

    3. Shopping is also a social activity, and so people, being more or less social, will still want to go shopping.
      Besides, browsing the interweb isn’t so much fun, especially if what you buy is wrong and needs returned. It’s a hassle of the first water.

      1. It is the social side as much as anything.
        We have small towns and even villages round us with individual shops. Shopping in those and having a lunch or coffee as well makes for a pleasant, undemanding day.
        It’s something I really do miss.

  12. British troops start deploying on ‘dangerous’ mission to Mali to stop Islamist terrorists crossing Europe’s southern border. 4 December 2020.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8f1c2c6d887b93718df6560420905468ac62eba9ca173757545c44565a80febb.png

    The force of 300 UK troops have started arriving in the West African country as part of the UN’s peacekeeping mission.

    Major General Nick Borton said the mission would be “dangerous” and the troops will be there to “gather and report information to deliver intelligence-led operations”.

    He said the deployment, to one of the poorest regions on the planet, will help prevent “migration to Europe’s borders [from] the violent conflict that has destabilised the region”.

    I don’t dispute that Mali is dangerous but that it will prevent by pacification migration to “Europe’s borders” seems unlikely. In fact it will probably facilitate it by enabling safe passage from the countries to the South and East. The Mediterranean is the key to stopping the influx. A robust defence by sea would have almost no casualties and a high certainty of success. This is probably the reason it is not being carried out.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/03/british-troops-start-deploying-dangerous-mission-mali-stop-islamist/

    2. This is attempt by Africom / UK and France as lead partner to block Russian involvement post August’s coup in Mali which removed “Western” / French influence https://www.globalresearch.ca/mali-opens-doors-russia/5724884 under the auspices of UN Peacekeeping

      Russia has further encroached on France’s reduced footprint of Françafrique “sphere of influence” in Africa after signing its military agreement with Mali, where Paris had deployed several thousand troops as part of its years-long anti-terrorist intervention from 2013 onward [Op Sahel] against Al Qaeda in Mahgreb [AQIM] [Afrcom placed mercenaries] .

      France had been unable to thwart these threats and the situation continues to spiral further out of control resulting in Mali coup earlier this year. And the instability aroud Mali spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, ergo Bamako’s interest in seeking Moscow’s “Democratic Security” services.

      This refers to Russia’s unique method of defeating Hybrid War https://orientalreview.org/2016/03/04/hybrid-wars-1-the-law-of-hybrid-warfare/threats through “military diplomacy”, which in the African instance concerns the sale of military equipment, the dispatch of advisors, and/or the employment of private military contractors (“mercenaries”), all of which combine to create a low-cost but highly effective solution that’s proven its success in the CAR.

      All part of the Belt And Road Initiative [BRI] where BRICs put money on table where Western entities deploy military proxies. It’s got zero to do with border migration and as yet, UK / EU not mentioning LNG and its preferred pipeline North

        3. Text version with weblinks embedded

          Mali Opens Its Doors to Russia

          By Kester Kenn Klomegah

          September 25, 2020

          With strict pressure from the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the August coup leaders have installed an interim government that will run state affairs until next elections. Plucked from obscurity, the former Defense Minister Bah Ndaw became the transitional President, while Colonel Assimi Goita serves as Vice President. The transitional committee made up of representatives of political parties, civil and religious groups agreed on both positions.

          According to their biographical reports, both had part of their professional military training in the Soviet Union and Russia respectively. The transitional civilian government, swearing-in ceremony and inauguration into office took place on Sept 25, completely closed the political chapter on the political administration of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

          The military takeover, Mali’s fourth since gaining independence from France in 1960, came after months of protests, stoked by
          Keita’s failure to roll back a bloody jihadist insurgency and fix the country’s many economic woes.

          Over the years, reform policies have had little impact on the living standards, majority highly impoverished in the country. As a
          developing country, it ranks at the bottom of the United Nations Development Index (2018 report). The country, however, is a home to approximately 20 million population. The primary task, right now, is to draw up “a comprehensive road map” for economic recovery.

          Earlier before the Sept 25 ceremony, Assimi Goita had issued a public statement at a media-covered conference to the Malian
          population,

          “We make a commitment before you to spare no effort in the implementation of all these resolutions in the exclusive interest of the Malian people. We request and hope for the understanding, support and accompaniment of the international community in this diligent and correct implementation of the Charter and the transition roadmap. The results you have achieved allow me to hope for the advent of a new, democratic, secular and prosperous Mali.”

          While West African leaders would likely remove the economic sanctions imposed in the wake of last month’s coup, following the
          installation of a civilian interim president, a number of foreign countries including Russia have already recognized these new developments taken toward stability.

          Russia, apparently, is exploring all possibilities to regain part of its Soviet-era influence as Mali begins to restructure and
          systematize its state administration. In an official statement to mark Mali’s 60th anniversary of its independence from France, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) hoped that Mali would fix in place civilian form of government and, focus on holding free and democratic elections following a short transitional period with the assistance of the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union.

          It is noteworthy to recall here that Russia and Mali are linked by friendship and cooperation. In 1960, Mali attained independence
          following a prolonged struggle and opted for a socialist orientation. There were major projects implemented with Soviet assistance. These includes a cement factory, the Kalana gold-mining company, a stadium in Bamako, the Gabriel Toure Hospital, an airfield in Gao and a number of national education facilities. Large-scale prospecting operations were conducted, and 9,000 hectares converted into rice paddies.

          Thousands of Soviet educators, doctors and other specialists worked in Mali. Over 10,000 Mali citizens received higher education
          in Russia.

          “We hope that the time-tested Russia-Mali ties will continue to develop steadily in the interests of both states. We would like to congratulate the friendly people of Mali on their national holiday and to wish them every success in achieving nationwide reconciliation, reviving their country as soon as possible, and we wish them peace, prosperity and well-being,” the statement particularly stressed.

          As Russia pushes to strengthen its overall profile in the G5 Sahel region, Mali could become a gateway into the region. Russia has made military-technical cooperation as part of its diplomacy and keen on fighting growing terrorism in Africa.

          Experts suspected that the regime change in Mali could see Russia-friendly new leaders taking over the country from the French-friendly Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his government, thereby dealing a severe blow to French influence and interests not just in Mali but throughout the Sahel zone.

          Research Professor Irina Filatova at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow explained recently in an emailed “Russia’s influence in the Sahel has been growing just as French influence and assistance has been dwindling, particularly in the military sphere. It is for the African countries to choose their friends and people who are now in power will be friendlier with Russia.”

          That said, the transitional government could continue to leverage with Russia. Reports indicate that Russia has established cordial
          relations with transitional government. On August 21, Russian Ambassador to Mali and Niger Igor Gromyko met with representatives from the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP). The CNSP is an umbrella organization of military personnel involved in the coup, which wishes to oversee an 18-month transition https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/mali-military-backs-18-month-transition-government-talks-close-200912191004885.html before returning power to civilian authorities. Russia signed a military cooperation agreement https://worldview.stratfor.com/situation-report/russia-mali-moscow-inks-defense-agreement-sahel-nation with Mali in June 2019.

          In November 2019, demonstrators in Bamako urged Moscow to repel Islamist attacks https://regnum.ru/news/polit/2848706.html
          in Mali as it did in Syria. At the Independence Square demonstrations in Bamako that followed the coup, protesters were spotted https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-security/u-s-halts-military-cooperation-with-mali-as-coup-supporters-celebrate-idUSKBN25H190 waving Russian flags and holding posters praising Russia for its solidarity with Mali.

          Samuel Ramani, DPhil candidate at the Department of Politics and International Relations at St. Antony’s College, University of
          Oxford, wrote in the Journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute that “Since Russia possesses a diverse array of partnerships in Mali and Sahel countries are frustrated with the counterterrorism policies of Western powers. Moscow could leverage the Mali coup to secure economic deals and bolster its geopolitical standing in West Africa.”

          According to the expert, Kremlin-aligned research institutes and media outlets have consistently framed France’s counterterrorism
          operations https://russiancouncil.ru/blogs/Alexandra_Fokina/migratsiya-vooruzhenie-imidzh-zachem-frantsii-kontrterrorizm-i-sakhel/
          in Niger and Mali as a façade for the extraction of the Sahel’s uranium resources. Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom, which directly competes https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/russian-military-influence-sahel-terrorism-france with its French counterpart Avenda for contracts in the Sahel, could benefit from favourable relations with Mali’s new political authorities. Nordgold, a Russian gold company that has investments in Guinea and Burkina Faso, could also expand its extraction initiatives in Mali’s gold reserves.

          As one of the largest on the continent, Mali is a landlocked country located in West Africa. For centuries, its northern city of
          Timbuktu was a key regional trading post and center of Islamic culture. Mali is renowned worldwide for having produced some of the stars of African music, most notably Salif Keita. But, this cultural prominence has long since faded.

          After independence from France in 1960, Mali suffered droughts, rebellions, and 23 years of military dictatorship until democratic
          elections in 1992. Mali has struggled with mass protests over corruption, electoral probity, and a jihadist insurgency that has made much of the north and east ungovernable. President Ibrahim Keita, who took office in September 2013, proved unable to unify the country. With time and commitment to sustainable development and good governance, there is still hope for Mali.

    3. I wonder how many people have heard of the Battle of Chinagodrar.

      Turkey has been moving thousands of mercenaries into western Libya, many of them members of ISIS. These evil people are using Libya’s lawlessness to infiltrate regions in the south, especially Niger. In the meantime, the UAE has built a military base in Niger to counter such terrorist insurgency. The terrorist-loving Left naturally accuse the UAE of ‘expansionist aims’. Behind this are the ever present tentacles of the Muslim Brotherhood of which Turkey is a principal proponent and is heavily present in Tripoli. The MB is banned in the UAE and other countries, such as Egypt (but allowed to operate in the UK with impunity).

      Chinagodrar is in north-west Niger and is the location of the UAE base. The Battle of Chinagodrar took place earlier this year when members of the ‘Islamic State of Greater Sahara’ (headquartered in north-east Mali) assaulted the base with the death of 79 people. Chinagodrar is only 8 miles from the Malian border.

      Perhaps Europe’s ‘southern border’ is rather more elongated than the UN thinks. British troops beware!.

      1. Zapping Ghaddafi was such a good idea.
        Note to Call Me Dave; deploying British Forces is not the same as playing Candy Crush

        1. But if only the ultra-socialist, President Nasser, in 1969, had not allowed Gaddafi to zap His Late Majesty King Idris the First and the Last. I was there at the time. It was an open society and Libya could have been a wonderful country – the playground of Europe, perhaps!

          Oil was at the root of Gaddafi’s coup. And Libyan oil is at the root of Turkey’s current interference in Libya.

      2. Turkish proxies under the Muslim Brotherhood banner, moved from Syria [and UK knew about that at inception], the remnants were recently on the Armenian – Ajerbaijan front. Russia’s already in Mali as well as it’s mercenary forces in Libya for over a year fronting Turkey’s MB expansion around Tripoli. Russia, acting under it’s UN Security Council P5 position, is aware of UAE angle [and being used by US / Israel as their own proxy aka Israel-UAE restoring diplomatic ties.

        It’s Hybrid warfare, assymetrical. UK’s trying to keep their skin in the game under UNDPKO angle and as P5 member. Nothing to do with terrorists, it’s command and control of resources, uranium in particular

  13. Good to see that my old mate, Toots, former NoTTLer and DT commentator, has got another letter published in the DT today. That’s two he’s had printed since my last one in November last year! :•)

  14. SIR — I am disappointed that Royal Mail will increase the price of a first-class stamp by a huge 12 per cent to 85 pence on January 1 (report, December 2). The reason given is that fewer letters than usual were delivered in the first six months of 2020 due to the pandemic.

    Surely this will encourage people to switch to email and so increase the £180 million loss. Why not reduce the price to attract more people to use the service?

    Howard Clapp
    West Byfleet, Surrey

    I wish people would stop griping about the cost of stamps, they are dirt cheap compared with over here. I pay the current equivalent of 97p to post a letter or card within the country and £1·94 to post one abroad.

    An economy cannot continue to run successfully on the magic money tree. There comes a point when it all comes crashing down.

    1. I work on the 20p penny principle. The penny when I was born in the 1950s now has the spending power of about 20p today. We used to “spend a penny”. Nowadays the slot machines opening the door for the public’s convenience accept 20p. 85p is therefore about 4d in old money. If I recall, a stamp in the 1950s was 3d (or 2 1/2d for a postcard). It became 4d in the early 1960s. Taking into account the competition from email and the hiving off of lucrative parts of the Post Office that were supporting the letters, such as telecoms and parcels, it’s not far off it in price.

      1. You are quite right. It is just (to old fogeys) the thought of paying SEVENTEEN SHILLINGS to post a letter…….

      2. The penny when I was born in the 1950s now has the spending power of about 20p today.

        I think you have that the wrong way round and your sums are wrong!
        What cost 1d in the ’50s now costs 20p or 48d in old money.

    2. But…but…I’m willing to bet that average pay in your neck o’ the woods is significantly greater than ours, or are you about to disabuse me of that thought?
      ‘Morning, Grizz.

          1. They not only loved it, I also gave them a bag of teacakes to take home and toast. Funnily enough I’ve just this minute had one myself.

          1. Firstborn had all-weather M&S tyres on his Landy – for about 2 weeks, until, pulling out of our road, he spun it into a bus stop (unladen 110 rear has little grip at the best of times). After that, he bought studded tyres. But we typically get it colder here than most – the winter tyres are “Nordic” type with soft slotted compound, rather than “European” (warmer, more bare tarmac driving, harder rubber compound).

          2. Ah, therein lies the problem. I no longer pay the bBC tv tax, so therefore no longer view ‘livestream broadcasts or bBC i-player’ and I do not increase their clickbait numbers by clicking on bBC links.

            The bBC and their eco-loon chums are becoming eskimo-like in their ability to have numerous names for weather phenomena.

          4. Thank you, I understand that but I’m loath to add to the viewing figures for their webpage let alone any videos. Fortunately, damask_rose has saved me the very minor trouble of searching DuckDuckGo and has posted a link (below/above?) to an electoverse.net article on the subject.
            A thunder storm in winter that includes snow rather than rain, i.e. a winter storm.

          5. Thank you, I understand that but I’m loath to add to the viewing figures for their webpage let alone any videos. Fortunately, damask_rose has saved me the very minor trouble of searching DuckDuckGo and has posted a link (below/above?) to an electoverse.net article on the subject.
            A thunder storm in winter that includes snow rather than rain, i.e. a winter storm.

          6. Thank you, I understand that but I’m loath to add to the viewing figures for their webpage let alone any videos. Fortunately, damask_rose has saved me the very minor trouble of searching DuckDuckGo and has posted a link (below/above?) to an electoverse.net article on the subject.
            A thunder storm in winter that includes snow rather than rain, i.e. a winter storm.

    2. Morning Peddy,
      Grim grey damp day here , although I did quickly pop out into the garden in my jim jams to call the dogs in.
      Brrr chill ran through me, but at least it isn’t scorchingly hot, which I hate.

        1. Yes!

          The garden has corners and hidden places, and the neighbours have hens , we also have a hedgehog hibernating somewhere in the garden!

        2. One shouldn’t have to… but one often does.

          The saying that labradors are born half-trained and spaniels die half-trained is an exaggeration; but only just. Nine mornings out of ten the spaniel will come when called, on the 10th morning you have to go and get it because it is busy doing something more important than being obedient (in its woolly little spaniel mind at least). Also Belle has 2 spaniels and spaniels are rather like boys; whereby every additional boy/spaniel increases the level of disobedience by a factor which is determined by age, training and circumstance… but it always increases.

    3. Morning, Peddy.
      Very white and Christmassy here.
      I hope Half-hour doesn’t notice; he’s bound to put the kibosh on such lovely scenes.

          2. It’s at least as far north as Ipswich now, Bill – it’s probably coming to get you!

            I can still wish you not only a Good morning but also a Good day.

    1. Now, may that be because:-
      a: The virus actually originated in the USA?
      b: The samples reacted to tests for Sars-CoV-2 antibodies because they were triggered for a common cold virus with elements common to those of the CoV-2, perhaps even indicating strong cross immunity between the two illnesses?
      c: The virus was extant in China long before the Chinese admit and had already infected the USA?

      1. the plan for C-19 certainly [a], which knowing both the seasonal increase manipulated [b] of “sample tests” [as a worst case scenario for planning purposes] to underpin [c] argument to blame on China given US corporate funding was provided earlier to “retained staff” in Wuhan lab before release of strain at World Mil Games in Wuhan

    1. John Ward is becoming prunelike and more cynical than ever.

      His negative style can be quite tedious .
      He has lost the power of positive thinking and optimism.

      1. What really does it for me is that back in the Summer Government put out a contract with a company called Gentect (American owned) for a software system to monitor and record the expected large volume of ADRs (Adverse Drug Reactions).

        I have seen the contract and it specifies the purpose in those very words.

      2. “The effects of the vaccine on fertility are unknown” “No interaction or contraindication studies” Yep, my worst suspicions too!

        1. No evidence of any problems. Not that they are looking for any.

          The reason trials went on so long was a response to Thalidomide, which was regarded as safe at the time. I am not sure though the economy has the luxury of such rigour now, so the future of civilisation now hangs on a gamble.

          Which is how economies have been financed for centuries.

  19. 327161+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    “The Government will let vaccination certificates become compulsory”

    I cannot comprehend why PEOPLE POWER has not only allowed this treachery to continue unabated but sealed their own fate along with their children’s with a loving kiss X again,again,& again.

    Seemingly it has reached a point where the ovis still insist on
    supporting / voting for the same political sh!te ie lab/lib/con
    coalition party alternately to replace sh!te with sh!te.

    “Your MP” the very fact that he is still “your MP” is a major part of the problem.

    The very fact that this treachery has been allowed to continue since the major era, followed by the wretch cameron,clegg, may, johnson surely points out that this anti United Kingdom political campaign has peoples backing.

    IMO far from the re-set being triggered it is sadly / gladly
    going to trigger the ” Beginning” & will most certainly have a higher death rate than covid and more clearly seen as injured,dead, due to over zealous truncheon work & bullets.

    .

  20. The Daily Telegraph‘s sports’ editor failed (again!) to publish my letter on boring rugby:

    Get the administrators of rugby to watch a few games from the amateur era of the 1970s when the formidable Welsh team was dazzlingly rampant.
    Then return the game to be played under the rules of that era with quickly-taken scrums, straight put-ins, lots of running and jinking, more tries
    and much more excitement.

    A Grizzly B.

    1. The day the game turned professional put paid to attractive rugby. The game became driven by monetary goals, motivated by profit rather than enjoyment. Brute force took over from individual skill.

      1. Thousands of churches across France have been attacked. The BBC doesn’t consider it newsworthy.

  22. Good morning all,

    It is a typical November day here in Wiltshire – cold, grey and wet.

    Only another 20 days until the days start to get longer. I am on count down.

    4. Hi, Nagsman.

      I’m the same. November and the first three weeks in December are to be endured! The rest of the year I’m more than happy with.

      1. I describe it as the 5th season, Grizz, when it’s cold and dark and raining, between autumn and winter. Once the snow comes, it all lightens up nicely. The time to retreat to Australia where the sun is shining and warm, and the is beer cold (we tried that in 2000 – excellent move)

    5. They’ll report it as another one succumbing to Corona. Within 28 days of catching something toxic.

    10. The underlined bold 36pt block capitals script ?
      He’s missing a sun tan, not been out side for a long time ?

          1. Mng = Morning Elsie. 1 hour ago when Geoff opened this thread, there were only veryveryoldfella, Hugh and I online.

            And out of courtesy TGIF = Thank God It’s Friday NOT Thank God It’s Feminists

        1. It does, thankyou…well, under the circumstances. Our house move is well advanced, but not without a lot of chasing on our part. Our solicitor is always on the ball, but it only takes one lazy solicitor further up the chain to slow everything down for all seven ‘links’. Grrrrr!

          1. I remember the “joys” of house moves, last experienced for us over 35 years ago. I remember saying I won’t be doing that again in a hurry and so it has been proved to be so.
            I would like to think I will only move from here in a box but eventually we may decide to find something smaller now there is only the two of us since the kids has flown the nest.

          3. Every so often when suffering a fit of practical thinking, I look round Allan Towers, and think “Oh Gawd”.

          4. Would that be a good Oh Gawd or the other sort of Oh Gawd.
            Soon I will have to venture into the loft to look out some decorations, at which point I will think “Oh Gawd look at the stuff up here”.
            How anybody seriously expects me to empty the loft so I can move house is beyond me. When we are both gone the kids can do it. 😂😂

          6. “Working from home”. A couple of our friends are caught in that bind with the buyer for their house.

  27. Good morning all
    Something to, hopefully, take your minds off all the drudge of Covid and other blood sports.

    Every day, a small Ant arrived at work early and started work immediately, she produced a lot and she was happy. The boss, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was Antworking without supervision. He thought if the ant can produce so much without supervision, wouldn’t she produce more if she had a supervisor!

    So the lion recruited a cockroach who had extensive experience as a supervisor and who was famous for writing excellent reports. The cockroach’s first decision was to set up a clocking in attendance system. He also needed a secretary to help him write and type his reports. He recruited a spider who managed the archives and monitored all phone calls.

    The Lion was delighted with the cockroach’s report and asked him to produce graphs to describe production rates and analyze trends so that he could use them for presentations at board meetings, so the cockroach had to buy a new computer and a laser printer and recruit a fly to manage the IT department. The Ant, who had been once so productive and relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and meetings which used up most of her time.

    The lion came to the conclusion that it was high time to nominate a person in charge of the department where the ant worked. The position was given to the Cicada whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office. The new person in charge, the cicada, also needed a computer and a personal assistant, who he had brought from his previous department, to help him prepare a work and budget control strategic optimization plan.

    The department where the ant works is now a sad place, where nobody laughs anymore and everybody has become upset. It was at that time the cicada convinced the boss, The Lion to start a climatic study of the environment. Having reviewed the charges of running the ant’s department, the lion found out that the production was much less than before – so he recruited the Owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant, to carry out an audit and suggest solutions. The owl spent 3 months in the department and came out with an enormous report, in several volumes, that concluded that “The Department is overstaffed.”

    Guess who the lion fired first?

    The Ant of course “Because she showed lack of motivation and had a negative attitude.”

      1. I used it to my ex colleagues of the Courts Service. Ballooning Whitehall staff while closing courts. Down to two in Surrey from the original 13. Thinking of reopening Woking Magistrate’s Court but where are the staff coming from. All made redundant/retired.

        1. I remember reading on a blog that Magistrates were becoming disheartened after hearing all day long mostly single mothers being prosecuted for TV license non-payment. Then travelling to a different court the following day and having to listen to driving offenses all day. At the time being paid a derisory amount in travel expenses.

          What annoyed them a great deal was the biscuit subsidy being removed.

          Mean time civil servants at Whitehall enjoying first class travel and posh hotels.

          Call me a cynic but i think it all part of a long term plan. Destroy areas where power pools which you have no direct control over. Typical of the Left.

  28. ‘Morning, Peeps. Eton mess, episode 37:

    SIR – It was with a sense of irony that I received the Old Etonian Association’s 2019-2020 review. It arrived against the backdrop of the controversy over Eton’s dismissal of Will Knowland (Letters, December 3), an English teacher.

    This followed his refusal to remove a lecture, “The Patriarchy Paradox”, from YouTube. Mr Knowland says the lecture questions “the current radical feminist orthodoxy, which insists that there’s something fundamentally toxic about masculinity”.

    On the cover of the Association’s current review is a bust of George Orwell, an Old Etonian, wearing a surgical mask that covers his mouth. Behind him on the wall an inscription reads: “If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.”

    How true.

    Gerard Conway
    Cuckfield, West Sussex

    SIR – Eton has twice won the FA Cup (1879 and 1882).

    The current manager (Simon Henderson, the Head Master) has lost the dressing room (pupils, beaks, parents and the Old Etonian Association).

    The chairman (William Waldegrave, Provost) has proffered his unconditional support.

    I think we all know how this will end.

    Dr S P K Linter
    Taunton, Somerset

    SIR – Eton College’s attempts to appease the woke movement have baffled me. As the popular misquotation e of Churchill goes: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile – hoping it will eat him last.”

    If the woke revolution comes, surely the college must realise that it will be eaten first, regardless of what it does now.

    William Fisher
    Theydon Bois, Essex

    SIR – I was Drawing Master at Eton College for 22 years.

    One day, the then Provost, Martin Charteris, came into the drawing schools.

    “Good morning, John. I’m just off to the House of Lords to make my maiden speech.”

    “Well, Provost, what are you going to talk about?”

    “Education, of course!”

    “But what aspect?”

    “Well, the public schools.”

    “That’s a difficult one, Provost. ‘Excellence’ – fine. But ‘elitism’ – I’m not so sure.”

    “My dear John, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with elitism.”

    And with a smile he was off.

    John Booth
    Norwich, Norfolk

  29. Merry Christmas Boris…

    “Here lies a toppled god.

    His fall was not a small one.

    We did but build his pedestal,

    A narrow and a tall one.”

    Frank Herbert

  30. That Pushy Nurse was right. There are some snowflakes blowing around here now. Not settling – yet. Bloody global warming.

    “Cold weather in winter shock…”

    1. We had an inch of snow last evening. Most of it melted overnight and the temperatures are set to ‘soar’ to 8º (from 0º) over the weekend.

      1. They haven’t noticed it – and it isn’t settling. Never mind, with all this global warming, there will be plenty more for them…!

    1. That song was my other choice to post here, although I was going to use the Sarah McLachlan version!

      1. Harry Belafonte also recorded it but like Sarah McLachlan his version was far slower than that of Gordon Lightfoot who wrote it.

  32. SIR – I am disappointed that Royal Mail will increase the price of a first-class stamp by a huge 12 per cent to 85 pence on January 1 (report, December 2). The reason given is that fewer letters than usual were delivered in the first six months of 2020 due to the pandemic.

    Surely this will encourage people to switch to email and so increase the £180 million loss. Why not reduce the price to attract more people to use the service?

    Howard Clapp
    West Byfleet, Surrey

    Why not, indeed? However, quite a long time ago I made a point of avoiding Royal Mail wherever possible because they kept raising postage charges well beyond inflation, and their service deteriorated here to the point whereby First Class (so-called) was nothing of the kind. Furthermore, our collections were re-timed to 7am, instead of the far more useful 4.30pm. Our local sorting office also dropped the ‘last collection’ marker, despite requests to reinstate it. This took only a second or two to change, thus removing any uncertainty as to whether or not it had been missed. Scanning, wherever possible, is many times quicker and almost free. And for parcels, I use one of the well known courier services which, again, is cheaper, more reliable and ‘trackable’.

    1. Sorry, missed off two more letters about the ‘Royal Fail’:

      SIR – I consider myself fortunate now if I receive first-class letters within two days of posting, and up to a week later is becoming quite normal. I hold out little hope of a better service with the price rise.

      Rachel Backhouse
      Thatcham, Berkshire

      SIR – It’s all very well Royal Mail planning to reduce deliveries to five days a week (report, November 27), but if my Saturday influx of periodicals arrives on a Monday, my weekend reading schedule will be disrupted.

      The blame is put on to staffing shortages due to Covid, but last week (not for the first time) I got no delivery on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, but received 18 items on Monday. I live 300 yards from the postal sorting office.

      Keith Appleyard
      West Wickham, Kent.

    2. Why was the Mail allowed to keep “Royal” in the title? It is a poor expensive service now. I got several unaddressed fliers in my post yesterday including Rishi Sunak’s local page to his constituents.

    3. I’m always amazed at how the post offices behave – it’s the same in Norway as the UK.
      The only organisation with the capacity to deliver to every dwelling in the country, daily, is cutting and closing, whilst the trent accelerates towards online shopping, involving delivery! You can’t email a box of groceries or a jiffy bag of electronic components… so, these daft buggers want to pull out. Post offices close all over the country, our deliveries are twice in one week, thrice the next, and the prices now so steep that nobody uses it anyhow.
      Oh, yes, and post boxes are a rare thing. I know of one only now, close to my office (on the outside of the closed post office, in fact). So, even if I wanted to send a letter, it’s almost impossible.
      Bah! Birdbrains, the lot of them.

      1. A local post office was closed a few weeks back; since then, the next nearest – roughly a mile away – has constant queues.
        I take something to read; it reminds me of my childhood queuing with my mother for bread, greengrocery and so on.

    4. At the moment I’m waiting for a Healthspan order – made 3 weeks ago and despatched a couple of days later – plus card paper and ink cartridges ordered on Tuesday and despatched the same day for Wednesday delivery.
      The Spekkie’s delivery days have been all over the place, but have improved since they changed from a transparent plastic wrapper to a plain white paper envelope. So possibly, there were political reasons for the magazine’s delay.

      1. ‘Morning, Anne.

        Healthspan sent me an email about 3 weeks ago saying that there would be delays with their deliveries. I can’t remember the reason given. Sure enough, my latest delivery was delayed by about 2 weeks, whereas they normally take about 3 days.

        1. A fortnight is what they are now mentioning.
          I always bank on 3 days.
          The PO seems to be in one heckuva muddle.

  34. Nicked

    Remember this……..from 2000

    “According
    to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research
    unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter
    snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”.

    “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” he said.”

    Must be a friend of Professor Ferguson, we have had in the very same East Anglia snow in 16 of those twenty years since.
    It’s snowing here now.

  35. Today’s DT Leader:

    It was always likely that the trade talks with the EU would go down to the wire. On the face of it, each side has every incentive to reach mutually-beneficial terms, given the enormous amount of trade we do with each other, as well as our close diplomatic and military partnership. But the EU is not a simple trade bloc. It is an ideological project devoted to ever-closer union. No country has ever left before, and Brussels has been determined from the start that no country would ever do so again.

    Set against the EU’s intransigence, the UK’s position is not unreasonable: it wishes to regain its sovereignty and be treated like any other third-country, while enjoying friendly trading relations with its European friends. In practice, this means UK control over its laws, borders and waters.

    On this last point, however, the talks are stuck. The UK has made a series of generous offers to the EU, which would allow European vessels to continue to fish in British waters, at least for a transition period. These offers are generous not just because they represent a dilution of British sovereignty, but because of their political symbolism. Our fishing rights were compromised in a fog of incompetence and deception back in 1973. The British fishing industry was largely ruined, and seaside towns from Cornwall to Scotland were driven into poverty. Reviving that industry is a small but important part of the Prime Minister’s levelling up agenda, as well as crucial to saving the Union.

    But Emmanuel Macron is said to be resisting, mindful of the complaints of his country’s own fishermen. The French president faces a re-election battle in 2022 in which he may encounter a Eurosceptic challenger of his own. Mr Macron poses as a European federalist, but like his predecessors is jealous of France’s position in Europe. He is said to be quite prepared to veto any deal that Michel Barnier reaches with the UK if he believes it to be too generous to the British, in an attempt to force further concessions.

    Mr Macron should be careful not to overestimate the Prime Minister’s room for manoeuvre. The UK wishes to maintain friendly ties with France, and has sent hundreds of troops to join a peacekeeping mission in the former French colony of Mali. But Britain’s patience is not unlimited. If no deal is reached, not only would French fishermen lose all access to British waters, it could poison the well of relations for decades.

    * * * * *

    Wind your neck in, Macron…our waters, our bloody fish! And if Johnson bottles this one, he’s a dead man walking. It’s not just the fish, it’s the principle involved.

    1. spot on HJ, and DT for reasons best known to them ignore that Macron is in process of attempting to clean his “non-augean” stables [ie; those that got him into power] and get more freeloaders in tune with his ltd thinking [as directed by the finance community] ahead of the next election, Brexit completion and the LNG pipeline from Mali et al across the Med in an attempt to provide an alternative to Nordstream II

      2. If so that’s the end for him.

        Mind you, he has shown himself to be so spectacularly stupid and incompetent he might well be unaware of this.

    3. Johnson is already a dead man walking. This was confirmed by Sir Graham Brady a few days ago. The Covid scam has done for him and his sidekick Hancock.

    4. For all the idealistic claptrap about nation states subordinating their own interests for the higher good all this comes down to the reality:

      Macron cannot afford to give in on fishing – it will destroy him politically.

      Johnson cannot afford to give in on fishing – it will destroy him politically.

      The whole of the EU’s foundations are about to crumble because of the basic lie at its very heart. The French are French before they are European and the English are English before they are European and this will not change.

      1. We’ve never been (continental) European, though, Rastus. That’s why we’re a square peg in a round hole in the EU. There are too many things we’ve developed over the centuries which are different from the continental way of doing things, chief among which is our Common Law vs their Code Napoléon.

    5. The “massive amount of trade” is in the EU’s favour; we are one of their best customers. They sell more to us than we do to them. Even so, they aren’t prepared to co-operate to get a good deal for us.

  36. Just had a renewal letter from RHS, which we’re thinking about cancelling our membership for, offering a £10 money off voucher for purchases in the gift shop if you spend £50. Letter mentioned “facing multi-million pound losses” due to the dreaded virus.

    Decided to look up the DG’s salary. £190,000-£200,000. Not bad eh? Didn’t say if she’d accepted or volunteered to be furloughed. They make me sick these people taking their full salary whilst lots of those who support the RHS have had their salaries cut to £2,500 per month for nine months so far. Same as MPs. They should have been treated the same as the general population.

    2. MPs also received a one-off £5,000 payment to cover their costs for ‘working from home’ during the covidscam.

          1. I have been banging on about this for some time. And now a pay rise of over 4%.

            MPs are the avaricious scum of the earth.

    3. How can the public sector demand pay rises when so many people in the private sector have lost their jobs or have gone bust?

      1. How? Easily. They say ‘I want more money.’ However it shows a catastrophic lack of awareness as to how they’re funded.

  37. ‘Morning again. Not before time, but I’ll believe it when I see it!

    Murderers and rapists could be barred from claiming asylum as part of Priti Patel’s crackdown on immigration

    Home Secretary Priti Patel plans to overhaul Britain’s ‘completely broken’ asylum system, and will unveil reforms in the new year

    By
    Charles Hymas,
    HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR
    4 December 2020 • 1:14am

    Murderers and rapists to be prevented from claiming asylum, says Priti Patel, after the Jamaican deportation flight row.

    In an interview with The Telegraph, the Home Secretary said it was “completely wrong” that convicted killers and rapists released from jail should be able to exploit the asylum system to remain in the UK.

    She also indicated that asylum will be “streamlined” to prevent migrants making multiple claims that can be lodged and heard hours or even minutes before their removal.

    It will be part of a major reform of Britain’s “completely broken” asylum system, which is due to be unveiled in the new year.

    Her comments came after a murderer, two rapists and two would-be killers were among 23 criminals who escaped deportation to Jamaica early on Wednesday morning after lodging 11th hour appeals including claims for asylum. One was removed from the flight just minutes before the flight after a judge granted a stay.

    Speaking as she observed a raid in North London to arrest a migrant trafficking gang leader, she said: “This is exactly a part of the system that I am looking for reform and change. The reason they were taken off the flight was last minute legal claims put forward by legal firms making representations.

    “One judgment came through in the early hours by a duty judge who declared the representations to be totally wrong. This speaks to why the system is broken. We can’t have last minute appeals coming for to stop individuals like this.

    “Some are trying to claim asylum which is completely wrong if they are murderers and rapists. That is part of the system change we want to bring in. They are using it to stop being deported.

    “That’s not what the asylum system is geared up for. It is not there for rapists and murderers who have lost their appeal. That’s part of the wider reform.”

    She pledged the Home Office would continue to “pursue all legal avenues” to remove the 23 who avoided deportation.

    They included Michael Antonio White who was sentenced in 2003 to a minimum of 18 years for murder after shooting his victim six times in a drug deal that went wrong and Jermaine Stewart, sentenced to six years in 2014 for raping a woman who went to sleep on his sofa.

    Home Office sources revealed that criminals claim asylum on the basis that their lives will be at risk from drug dealers if they return to countries like Jamaica.

    One man in his 20s had even claimed that he could not be returned because he had been victim of modern slavery when he was eight and forced to shoeshine for no money.

    Officials also disclosed that one of the criminals due to be deported to Jamaica had to be removed from the flight just minutes before it took off, while a class action injunction was only resolved an hour before it left the UK.

    “Look at their conviction history, murderers, rapists, criminals who have served sentences in prisons.

    They are foreign national offenders. We are doing the right thing in terms of deporting them. That gives their victims justice,” said Ms Patel.

    On Thursday’s raid, she was for the first time wearing a protective jacket (below) specially fitted by the Metropolitan police after her protection team recommended it because of her regular visits to observe officers on such operations. It is badged with “Home Secretary.”

    A source said: “A lovely lady came to the Home Office to fit her all up and suggested instead of having just the union jack she could get her own badge.”

    Ms Patel criticised Labour for failing to back the deportation, citing a letter from Liam Byrne, who piloted the Borders Act through Parliament.

    “The man who took the Act through Parliament – requiring the Home Secretary to deport foreign offenders – now wants these criminals on Britain’s streets,” she tweeted.

    Last night, the Home Secretary hit back at “do-gooding” celebrities such as Naomi Campbell* who opposed the deportation flight who she accused of likening criminals to the Windrush generation that “made an enormous contribution to our country and were wronged by successive governments”.

    “To see ill-informed Labour politicians and do-gooding celebrities attempting to conflate the victims of Windrush with these vile criminals set for deportation is not only misjudged and upsetting but deeply offensive,” she told the Daily Mail.

    * And, I hope, that sanctimonious, hypocritical creep Olusoga!

    1. What crackdown on immigration? Nothing happens, and they are so utterly incompetent taht they can’t even eject the undesirables.
      Or is it deliberate? Look at the results to see the motivation, not the son et lumiere show in the press.

      1. In any sane society the news that all the hotels were full of immigrants would ring the alarm bells!

    2. I’m not as anti PP as some people on this site are. I think she’s as angry about the Blob as the rest of us, and she is the one responsible for their actions, but unable to stop them. Her recent tactic of going public about the opposition to deportations is a good one!

      1. I buy into your final point totally bb2, she knows she can’t stop them currently viz ECJ rules which we still sit under. That said, UK’s quite good at rendition, so it’s not difficult to remove such people fast

      2. Hmm, it’s the language that makes me suspicious (well, it would be, wouldn’t it? I’m a linguist). Saying that murderers and rapists COULD be barred is a meaningless platitude to placate the plebs. It’s like saying it could warm up tomorrow. It’s a possibility, but for most regions, given the time of year, it’s unlikely.

    3. Naomi Campbell spends most of her time swanning around Malindi [informal Italian country Annex of Kenya coast] spending Flavio Briatrore’s wedge from his F1 Bennetton days. No doubt her gripe is not being allowed to use his private jet back to UK.

      Disastrous Petl should have no problem either, remembering her illegal flight / mtg in Kampala [her native soil no less] with Liam Fox over contra oil deal in DR C with the Israelis, which May sacked her [as Dfid Min I think] over. As the topic’s aylum, Patel might ask how she arrived in the UK in the first place given “all legal avenues” are still the same now as was then.

  38. When in the Eton hole of your own making, Trendy Hendy, don’t throw away the shovel and reach instead for a JCB. From today’s Tellygraff:

    Eton College’s Head Master has said that he will not apologise for ensuring that staff and students “feel comfortable” but insisted that he does not want to “shut down debate”.

    Speaking out for the first time amid a free speech row that has engulfed the 580-year-old institution for the past week, Simon Henderson said that the school makes “no apology” for teaching pupils to respect each other’s differences.

    In a letter to parents, he said: “I went into teaching because I believe in the values of a liberal education and the importance of independent thinking and intellectual freedom.

    “Eton’s same belief in these values inspired me during my eight years as a teacher here from 2001 and were a key reason why I was so proud to return as Head Master in 2015.”

    Mr Henderson said these values are “non-negotiable”, adding that he “believe[s] passionately that our pupils must learn to think for themselves rather than waiting to be told what to think”.

    But he added that both pupils and Masters should “feel comfortable being who they are and to treat each other’s differences with understanding, tolerance and mutual respect”.

    It is the first time that the Head Master has waded into the debate to defend his record on free speech. Last week a row broke out after The Telegraph revealed that a Master was dismissed for gross misconduct after recording a lecture which questioned “current radical feminist orthodoxy”.

    The controversial lecture was part of the Perspectives course taken by older students to encourage them to think critically about subjects of public debate.

    Will Knowland alleged that he was banned from delivering the lecture to pupils and then dismissed after he refused to remove a video of the lecture from his personal YouTube channel.

    Eton College has said that the dismissal was “not a matter of free speech” and instead one of “internal discipline”. An internal panel, chaired by the school’s vice-provost, will meet on Thursday to consider Mr Knowland’s appeal.

    In his letter to parents, Mr Henderson said he could not comment on the disciplinary process, but added: “I trust and respect a disciplinary process where I was not a member of the initial disciplinary panel, which consisted of three of our most senior teachers.”

    He also thanked parents, pupils and staff for sending him “letters of support” during the week.

    On Thursday the Education Secretary said that Eton College should admit girls, adding that this would be a “good step forward”.

    Gavin Williamson said he would be “very much in favour” of the £42,500-a-year Berkshire boarding school admitting female students, after being asked whether this would “sort out their problems”.

    Pupils have launched a petition calling on the Head Master to reinstate Mr Knowland, and accusing the school of “institutional bullying”.

    Earlier this week, an Eton College Master broke ranks to attack the school’s “indoctrination” of students. Dr Luke Martin, who teaches Divinity at the school, recently stood down from his role as the Master in Charge of Perspectives.

    In a letter to the school’s vice-provost, he said he is beginning to “lose faith” in Eton’s ability to promote independent thinking among its pupils.

    A spokesman for Eton College said the school has no plans to admit girls and that the vice-provost is chairing Mr Knowland’s appeal panel so cannot comment on the contents of Dr Martin’s letter.

    The BTL comments will not make good reading for Henderson. And as for Williamson, who is still in post despite his convincing performance as a congenital idiot…

    Stephen Speakman
    4 Dec 2020 12:53AM
    What the hell does Gavin Williamson have to raise the prospect of admitting girls for?Did Carrie give Bunter this gem to pass on?

    The issue is about ‘woke’ nonsense and even invoking law saying Mr Knowland breached equality legislation.

    If Mr Knowland did breach law then that law is an ass.I have seen the video and it is very thought provoking and totally decent.

    Good luck Mr Knowland you deserve absolution.

    Your ‘trendy Hendy’ well words fail me….you have a good man in Knowland and what you have done in sacking him is a disgrace!

    Jack Norris
    4 Dec 2020 3:11AM
    I agree but think Henderson should face prosecution for harassment and abuse of power. His actions and misapplication of the law should not go unpunished

    John James
    4 Dec 2020 1:50AM
    If Mr Knowland must be removed from his post, would he be free to take up the post of Head Master at Eton? As it appears to me that Mr Henderson is totally unsuitable for being charged with shaping the minds of the next generation and should be relieved of his duties as a matter of urgency.

    Michael O’Flaherty
    4 Dec 2020 1:03AM
    He wants to defend liberal values by no platforming diverse views, shutting down debate and sacking those who don’t hold his views .., sounds like the Woke Reich … at least this is a warning to parents who might now chose other schools .

    May Dupneuse
    4 Dec 2020 12:45AM
    That does not sound like a reaffirmation of a process followed for an infraction. It reads like a defiant defence of wokeism.

    Maybe this impression is due to omissions in the article or maybe not.

    But what has pupils’ feelings of comfort and respecting each other’s differences got to do with a teacher’s departure. It is irrelevant. Sounds like woke lecturing again.

    1. Typical liberal doublespeak. I’m going to defend free thinking by shutting down the opinions I don’t agree with. What an ass!

    2. “teaching pupils to respect each other’s differences” – respect, like shutting down debate on any slightly contentious subject? Sure teaches the pupils about how life really is, for a male. NOt allowed to even discuss the antimale attitudes.

      1. “In a letter to parents, he said: “I went into teaching because I believe in the values of a liberal education and the importance of independent thinking and intellectual freedom.

        …

        Mr Henderson said these values are “non-negotiable”, adding that he “believe[s] passionately that our pupils must learn to think for themselves rather than waiting to be told what to think”.”

        HA! HA! HA! Doesn’t do irony, then.

  39. 326171+ up ticks,
    More codswallop,

    Brexit deal on the line over French fishing as talks head for weekend showdown.

    They = ALL participants omit to mention “In United Kingdom waters”

    May one ask, why is there no true, trusted, opposition on the British side combating these french ?

    1. aftn ogga, some Rockspider apparently has C-19 so no cricket today. The only trusted opposition on the British side are the people themselves. What passes for opposition in the HoC is another hologram [with bent knee]

      1. 327161+ up ticks,
        Afternoon AWK,
        48% of them cannot be trusted as has been proven.
        Then you have a good % who really do think they are supporting / voting for the genuine party as was & not the dangerous political sh!te as is.

        They are also a continuing danger to the return to a decent
        society.

  40. December 4, 2020
    It’s up to the Supreme Court to hold America together
    By Terry Paulding
    The best outcome for maintaining a constitutional America is for the Supreme Court to make a unanimous finding of fraud that allows it to remedy the current election outcome. Otherwise, the Democrats will succeed with planned, blatant fraud to unseat President Trump, irrevocably destroying the necessary trust Americans must have in their political system.

    For mid-20th century Americans, raised on Rawhide, Superman, Perry Mason, Leave it to Beaver, Lassie, morality was clear. Uniformly, these shows had themes that included moral Goodness conquering cold, calculating Evil. The plots were just as black-and-white as our TV sets.

    Across burgeoning suburban communities, public schools taught a traditional curriculum of history, English, math, and science, with a dose of physical education, drama, and music. Most importantly, that generation still learned that America’s foundation (although sometimes imperfectly executed) was that citizens had equal opportunity and the liberty to pursue their dreams. Much has changed from those rather idyllic times, but we have to hope that some of the Supreme Court justices, who also hail from that era, will remember what that was like.

    In the coming days, these same justices will inevitably be faced with a historic decision. Anyone paying attention (including 30% of Democrat voters) knows that massive voter fraud pushed Biden into the lead. Fraud was the only way Joe Biden, who did not campaign and appeared so de-energized as to be mentally feeble, could win the election.

    Mainstream media bias, the tech giants’ censorship and cancelation, and the lies of elected and appointed officials worked together to hide the evidence. These institutions, plus woke leftists in our daily life, have put enormous pressure on Americans not to see the truth and, as importantly, not to speak the truth.

    Back in the 1950s, kids chanted “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me” at schoolyard bullies. Today, though, generations of young people have been taught that words do hurt, and they zealously police freedom of speech, with older Democrats happily climbing on board the censorship bandwagon.

    For example, on the local Nextdoor app, we are warned to not mention anything that counters the current COVID “accepted science.” Support for Trump is also forbidden. The normal back and forth political discussions that are part of a functional republican democracy have turned from healthy to rancorous, often pitting family members and erstwhile friends against one another without hope of agreement. Our black and white morality of yore is now a dirty, yellowish, dingy gray.

    Nevertheless, even if muzzled, anyone paying attention can see the pattern of cheating and ferret out its cause. For weeks now, from one swing state to another, Americans have seen election fraud documented through countless sworn affidavits, photos, and videos.

    What’s most concerning is the utter depravity of the effort. How can so many people in authority have so little respect for the American people, for the history of our country, and for election integrity? How can greed for power and money corrupt, so absolutely, a vast number of those in charge of our government? How much money has changed hands and how large a network of evil has been set up over what amount of time to accomplish this steal?

    And we have to ask: Was this election an attempted coup d’etat, funded by outside interests, playing on the greed of corrupt officialdom? Were the powers behind it deliberating working to turn our Republic into a socialist Banana Republic that empowers and enriches the few, and subjugates the many by controlling them and silencing all objection.

    Currently, it looks as if too many craven state Republican officials, cowed into silence, will not be a bulwark against election fraud. That means that the matter will go before the Supreme Court which has the power to sort this disaster before it’s too late to do so. Thanks to Amy Coney Barrett’s presence, there’s reason for hope.

    If the judges are incorruptible – if they are not swayed by personal threats or the leftist promise to again run riot in the street if the election doesn’t turn out as they wish, and if they look honestly at the facts and the law — it’s likely that conservative justices will conclude that election fraud affected the outcome. However, that’s not enough.

    To ensure a peaceful resolution, once it’s clear that a majority will not allow fraud to destroy our republic, the leftist justices must join with their conservative colleagues in a unanimous decision. Without that unanimity, Democrats can justify another four years of extended hysteria and hatred. It’s time for all of the Supreme Court justices to act to return America to normalcy, rather than to allow it to be wrested from us forever.

    Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/12/its_up_to_the_supreme_court_to_hold_america_together.html#ixzz6fenGfA5Q
    Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

    1. Good article – and what starts in the USA always makes it over here, as we saw in the summer, and also with all this ‘wokery’. we are muzzled, but fortunately we still have brains and can think for ourselves, when we have access to alternative information.

      I was never a conspiracy theorist, but we cannot discount the whole “Great Reset” which is so plain to see, for those who look.

      The US election has been exposed as fraudulent , but it would take a miracle for all the damage to be undone.

    2. If the Supreme court even gets to consider the election that is, most of the election machinery is at state level, not federal. It might have been set up with good intent but the elections system needs a complete overhaul from top to bottom with consistent rules from state to state. I also think that their electoral college system should see states elect voters based on the percentage of votes cast by candidate, not the winner take all approach.

      If the Supreme Court try to overturn the election result, it will signal to democrats that it is the end of democracy in the US. The riots of summer will be nothing compared to what will happen after that little act.

      Don’t look for any unanimous decisions from the court, the US is now far too polarized for that to happen,

      1. agree wth most of yr points Richard. Trump gave power to Supreme Court well before election day before voting they over rule Federal / State ruling and given the powers to do so. the machinery’s been out of kilter for yonks. If Supreme Court according to wording in Constitution declare invalid election, for sure it’ll glow, but it will be the end of the Deomcrats. Democracy in US ended when Clinton got in and continued downhill ever since. US has reached it’s own critical moment, their hegemonic global hold has gone, the world knows it, Trump knows it. Let it roll

    3. spot on corimmoble, Supreme Court either abides by the Constitution and declare election invalid / fraud, or follows the money and the pandoras box is wide open. Which has been the case since this circus tee’d off

  41. It’s vital we protect migrant women from violence. 4 December 2020.

    Failing to provide support for victims, is not only unacceptable in its own right, but it can also allow perpetrators to go unpunished. This can result in even further abuse occurring and more people being victimised.

    Yes just like the Feminist community protects indigenous girls from migrant abusers.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/migrant-refugee-women-violence-b1765932.html

    3. And a BTL response on the Open Comments section:-

      bob_of_bonsall right now

      No one will deny the importance of this, but coming from a member of the political party that not only tried to cover up the decades long abuse and sexual exploitation & trafficking of underage girls by the predominantly Pakistani Rape Gangs it does smack very heavily of the sort of political grandstanding we have come to expect from her.

      Reply
      Delete00

    4. Jess Phillips – the thought of being trapped in a house with her and unable to throw her out the window is “failing to provide support for trapped victims”.

      Reading the thread, Jess seemed to enjoy her acid trip while her staff penned this piece

  42. DT Story

    “Murderers and rapists could be barred from claiming asylum as part of Priti Patel’s crackdown on immigration“.

    The key word is could.

      1. The result and the intent usually match, despite the rhetoric.
        No halt to immigration must therefore be the intent – also see the UN compact on migration.

  43. Good morning, all. Another wet, grey dreary start to the day. No sign of any sun. Grrr.

      1. Morning, Korky. Hope all’s well with you.
        We got snow last night. :-D)
        Admittedly, not a huge amount, but it really lights the place up. Also, a chance to test the new path heater, and it works!

          1. It’s a freaking emergency when SWMBO slips on the path and breaks her coccyx, I tell you (as happened 2 years ago). Screw the environment…

          3. We only have renewable power in Norway – wind and hydro. So much so, we export to Europe, bizarrely giving us the threat of shortages, and higher prices!

          5. That’s the spirit, Oberst! (The climate is changing without any help from us and, therefore, we can’t stop it.)

          6. It’s a freaking emergency when SWMBO slips on the path and breaks her coccyx, I tell you (as happened 2 years ago). Screw the environment…

        2. Morning, OB. I’m chugging along, thanks.

          Heard the other day that an old work chum is suffering from full-on Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home. Spent a long time on the phone yesterday talking to his wife, she didn’t know that my wife had died and so the call was doubly sad. She’s lost her husband but he’s still alive, very sad indeed.

          1. Man, that’s sad.
            I understand – my mother is rapidly going that way, and being in Wales, isn’t the easiest place to visit. I suspect her (likely last) Christmas will be a lonely one.

    2. As presented it seems highly suspicious.

      They should have turned off the surveillance cameras before their nefarious deeds, just like they do in all great robbery films. They must have known that even the cleaners activities would be recorded.

      But why is it that every time these accusations go before a judge, facts seem to disappear.

      1. ‘Follow the money’…………only those who want to see will see. Others will look and see nothing.

        1. Only those who want to see will see.

          What I see is a very divided US. Many of the state and county level elections moved towards the right, Republicans made gains there. However, Trumps BS bravado has turned many middle of the road voters against him so although they voted for republican senators, congressmen, judges and such, they held their nose and voted for Biden.

          There are so many fake accusations appearing now that this video can easily be dismissed by the democrats, a thirty second forensic review of the tape will be enough for them to say that they uncovered anomalies showing that it is a spoof.

          Both parties had high priced ethic free lawyers watching these counts, why did these lawyers not raise objections at the time.? As it is, I believe that the legal action runs at something like 20 losses to no wins.

          1. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. If Biden is confirmed as the winner, he will be a lame duck, managed by his handlers.

    2. To be fair – don’t we all do that? I am very capable of looking for things right in front of me. The other day I spend a couple of minutes looking for a screwdriver which was in my hand.

      2. I’ve been known to get in the shower without removing my glasses. The very fact that I could see where I was going should’ve given me a clue…

  46. This may have been posted before so apologies if it has.

    The Pfizer vaccine trial included nearly 44,000 people. Half getting their vaccine, half getting a placebo. In total, from the 44,000 people, 170 were later recorded as having become ‘infected with Covid19’. 162 of them were in the placebo group, 8 of them in the vaccine group.

    The vaccine is therefore credited with preventing 154 cases of Covid19…or 95%.

    Full link here.

    https://off-guardian.org/2020/12/02/5-burning-questions-about-the-new-covid-vaccine/

    Statistics eh!

    1. So taking the easy calculation and just keeping infection rates as is. Scale it up to 70 million and that would be about 260,000 infections avoided.

      I will not project hospitalizations and deaths from that, the numbers lose their impact if I do.

        1. This is because the vaccine contains an inert form of the virus – most vaccines do, after all.

      2. But there is no exact reliable test for COVID-19 the test will identify any coronavirus including dead virus I.e. remnants of a previous common cold or other coronavirus.
        I’m happy to stay with the approx 99.5% chance of surviving the virus should I happen to catch it.
        https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-test-types
        As you will note it starts off mentioning Covid-19 but quickly switches to coronavirus, the actual test.

  48. Didn’t the fireplace salesman shine for Britain yesterday afternoon?

    Yet another brain-dead wanqueur in a position of power.

  49. Snow has stopped. Didn’t settle.

    Off to take G & P for their, vaccine…..second dose. Back later.

  50. We are about to lose control of our fishing waters to the EU. With the leader of the Tories in Scotland making comments like “we can’t do anything with the fish anyway” the EU will have been given great encouragement.
    This is not about the value of the fish, although that is substantial, and would in the fulness of time be worth £6bn or more to the UK economy.
    It is about a marker of victory. A sign of conquest, and a symbol of triumph.
    When the Scots Greys captured the eagle of the French 45th Line Infantry Regiment, it had little or no significance in respect of the outcome of the battle that day in June 1815 at Waterloo.
    It did, however, represent an honour, a glorious triumph that has echoed down the years. That is what the French are pushing for. They want to rub our noses in defeat.
    They want our fish. What could be more symbolic of their superiority, their overlordship? (Even if we tariff the EU car businesses till they vanish.)

    1. Do like canada did, claim overfishing and shut down all fishing for a few years.
      If the UK cannot claim its own territory, that is the next best thing.

      1. That would require someone with the will, as well as the power, to do it. Sadly lacking, I”m afraid.

    2. 326161+ up ticks,
      Afternoon HP,
      As in my post early doors,

      Brexit deal on the line over French fishing as talks head for weekend showdown.

      They = ALL participants omit to mention “In United Kingdom waters”

      May one ask, why is there no true, trusted, opposition on the British side combating these french ?

    2. Could be an honest mistake, W.

      In Gaelic, the word for “Scotland” is “Alba”. Perchance the Albanian had a Gaelic map and was just trying to get home.

  52. Government will never make vaccine certificates compulsary. That’d be electoral suicide.

    No, what it’ll do is make it impossible to live without them.

    1. aftn, agree, they’re in the mode at present of trying to frame the narrative.

      Thanks for the posts late yday btw, interesting exchange with the “trolls”

    2. 327161+ up ticks,
      Afternoon W,
      You mean they have NOT already sealed their political fate ?

      You mean they will be given carte blanche in the future via the polling booth, the very substance of which got these Isles into a high state of sh!te as we have been witnessing the past three decades ?
      Why would a multitude of peoples ( voters) want to do that, other that “for the good of the party” by putting the party first they endanger their families & Country.

      The lab/lib/con coalition party are the intended political nails for the orchestrated demise of the United Kingdom.

  53. A couple of random questions.

    Could being vaccinated against the current corona virus make one more susceptible to a cross species transfer of a similar but deadlier version?
    Could it make one more susceptible to the common cold but in a worse form?

    1. sosraboc aftn. !st Q is exactly what Billy boy Gates / Fauci has intended. 2nd Q depending on one’s immune system and age, it can well do increase what passes for “normal symptoms” of common cold. Followed by another variant vax, from same source. All with the intent to weaken body resistance and more susceptability to other illnesses floating around

    2. Its like flu the virus changes al the time. I have never had a flu jab and I will not have one of these.

      1. I won’t if I can avoid it, but if the French Govt. makes life too difficult without one, as well they might, then I’ll have little choice.

      1. I pleasant surprise when I phoned the Bank of Scotland security line t’other day. The “hold” music was some Italian sounding (Vivaldi?) brass piece! Most pleasant to listen to!

    2. I actually visited the practice to arrange my annual BP test – it’s next to the pharmacy where I was collecting my meds. All done very quickly.

    3. Morning, Delboy.
      Afraid this is the wrong place to ask for an appointment. Better luck with your GP!

      2. A mistake easily made, considering the number of so-called medical experts here.

        ‘Morning, Paul.

        1. I’m a Dr., but no medic. I do have experience running a body for around 60 years, though, and my fees are quite reasonable, considering.

      1. 326161+ up ticks,
        Morning Bob,
        The only way we can combat this sort odious incidences is by
        kindness, submission & appeasement as shown by parliament.

        The instruction manual rests between the dispatch boxes, & to confirm the governance ongoing policies the halal is proof of the pudding on the parliamentary menu.

        Thoughts / actions of number 10.

      1. 327161+ up ticks,
        Morning R,
        Rightly so, as sure as it cannot be denied it was continued input
        via lab/lib/con coalition & supporter / voters that created that opportunity.

  58. I suggest Matthew Banks (rhyming slang?) reads his post again. If you take the minimum length of a football pitch as 100yds and the maximum width of 100yds you get a square pitch

    1. Morning, Spikey. That fact is very true; however, the laws of the game state that a square pitch is not permissible.

      You may have a pitch measuring 105 yards by 100 yards; or one measuring 100 yards by 95 yards, but one measuring 100 yards by 100 yards is outlawed.

        1. There are a few pitches around the world at the maximum of 130 yards by 100 yards, and a few tiny ones at 100 yards by 50 yards.

          I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few square ones knocking about in countries where the officials turn a blind eye to the goings on.

    1. Good morning, Caroline.

      From studying the photograph, and checking my library of ornithological literature, I am 99·9% satisfied that you have a juvenile red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa.

      Appreciation of size is not an easy task given that there is nothing nearby with which to compare it. Partridges are quite fat birds and may look larger than the far slimmer members of the pheasant family. Also, the lighting of the photograph does not readily help positive identification but the shape and markings are all typical of the red-legged.

      1. Thank you Grizzly. Alectoris rufa is also known as French partridge, so that would make sense. From photos on the internet, we see that these birds normally have red beaks and red markings around the eyes – presumably if this is a juvenile, the colouring comes later?

        And would this be a domestic bird?

        1. I’m not sure if there are domestic birds, as such, but there are certainly those that are bred specifically for shooting.

          2. A great looking bird.
            Been to France for many holidays but I’ve only seen them at an old farm in the town of Lalinde where we stayed near the Dordogne. But a few have even been seen in England.

          3. That’s just down the road from here.

            I think it is one of my favourite garden visitors.

            Because of our position, near mixed forests, agricultural land, livestock and arable, and lots of streams and rivers and the odd ponds as well as small lakes, we seem to get an extraordinary range of birds.
            I’ve counted well over a hundred over the course of the year.
            We had a “birder” staying in the cottage and he was staggered how many different ones appeared in the short time he stayed.

          4. We loved the area, the old paper mill was interesting. There is a decent restaurant towards the end of the town centre, four of us had a meal at one the outside tables one evening and as we paid the bill we said to the waitress our compliments to the chef. Oh she replied he’s English….he was standing out side the street door behind us having a smoke.

      2. I was thinking on those lines, too – but less eruditely.

        Suggest Richard catches, kills, plucks and draws it…..and that you have it for lunch in a couple of weeks!

          1. By the time I got to where it was it wasn’t. So no new photo but we shall try again if we see it again.

          1. There was an Italian (Salv) Guy who had an allotment two down from mine. He kept Chickens as well as i did, but had a couple of turkeys in a separate pen. They put him in the local A&E after drawing blood by pecking and scratching his legs by attacking him. We did have a laugh, but never saw the birds again.

          2. Anything is a substitute for (and has more flavour than) bloody turkey.

            Even tofu! Even a cup of lukewarm water!

        3. As my old dad never tired of telling me, “There is more meat, pound-for-pound, on a partridge than any other bird.”

          1. Oh i don’t know. Remove legs and wings. Make a herb butter and gently push it under the skin until the breast is covered without tearing the skin. Liberally slather butter all over the crown and roast on high for 20 minutes then reduce heat and finish off cooking. Continually basting.

            I think even you would like my turkey roast because i know how to cook one. What does your brother think about turkey?

          2. One brother loves them and the other is ambivalent. My point, though, is this. What is the point of going to a lot of trouble trying to make a bland meat taste better when you can buy, instead: goose, duck, chicken, guinea fowl, pork, beef or lamb. none of which need any tarting up to taste excellent?

          3. I understand what you mean but for many people it is traditional and gives a sense of continuity.

            Guinea fowl is superb. Much better than chicken or turkey.

            Last Christmas i was invited to friends and they did all the work. For New Year i repaid the favour and cooked a foot long Chateaubriand, covered in dijon, wrapped in minced mushrooms, thin pancakes and pastry. Quite an easy one really.

          4. You cooked a classical Filet de beouf en croute (Beef Wellington). The duxelles gave it away.

          5. It’s a favourite of mine for a dinner party. I get to spend more time with my guests as it takes care of itself. Make a crumble or a cheesecake and i get to enjoy it all as well.

            My neighbours use any excuse for a garden party so they are on the A list. He is a real carnivore so it’s simple cooking for him. Last year he had an unusual surprise for his Christmas present. I bought him a one kilo Tomahawk steak which i wrapped in Christmas paper and put it in their freezer.

            He laughed and told me he had never had a Christmas present from a freezer before. Dare to be different. 🙂

          6. I never do ‘neurotic’ food for guests.
            I like to enjoy their company, not practically snatch the drinks out of their hands and frog march them into the dining room for something that needs split second timing.

          7. I did once go to a dinner party hosted by a Lecturer in philosophy and psychology at Aston University.

            When the first course arrived the guests tried to pretend everything was entirely normal.

            He and his wife served Nouvelle Cuisine. The largest component on the first plate was a pea.

            As he was my neighbour i knew he was having a laugh and wanted to to see how people would react.

            He did have Sirloin steaks waiting in the bottom of the oven served with a nice green salad.

            Those other guests coped remarkably well but that was then. (1986)

      4. The tail is too long and the legs are too pale… frenchies have red feet from the get go and that bird has pale legs.

        I agree that size is hard to gauge but if Caroline thinks that it is too big for a pheasant then it is certainly too big for a partridge.

        I would say that it’s a hen pheasant with her head tucked in and her feathers fluffed out – because it’s a cold morning.

        1. It is always difficult to judge the size of any bird from a photograph, especially one where the extreme lighting washes out many features and there is insufficient background detail to effectively judge the relative size properly.

          However, you are mistaken to assume that “‘Frenchies’ have red feet from the get go”. I have consulted my library of erudite ornithological literature and the array of first-class eminent ornithologists who have written and illustrated them all express the same fact. Which is that juvenile red-legged partridges do not have the diagnostic red legs of the adults, but instead they are of a pale greyish-pink hue. Guy Mountfort (in Peterson, Mountfort & Hollom) quotes: “Juvenile is very like young grey partridge”.

          Any such pale-legged bird would have their colouration washed-out in an over-exposed (or over-lit) photograph, such as the one we are responding to.

          References:
          Birds of Europe (with North Africa and the Middle East). Lars Jonsson (Helm).
          A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe. Roger Tory Peterson, Guy Mountfort, PAD Hollom (Collins).
          The Shell Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland. James Ferguson-Lees, Ian Willis, JTR Sharrock (Michael Joseph).
          The Birds of Britain and Europe (with North Africa and the Middle East). Hermann Heinzel, Richard Fitter, John Parslow (Collins).
          The Collins Bird Guide. Killian Mullarney, Lars Svensson, Dan Zetterström, Peter J Grant (Collins).
          The New Generation Guide, Birds of Britain and Europe. Christopher Perrins (Collins)

          1. You have consulted your literature and your references are impressive. But how many juvenile red-legs have you seen? And do you realise how quickly they mature?

            I didn’t make any assumptions because I’ve seen thousands of both red and grey partridge… from hatch, to release, to game bag (though we didn’t shoot the greys much as we were maintaining stubbles and trying, with some success, to re-establish a good wild population). By the time they are fully fledged they have orange legs. The two sets of poults are very similar between the months of June and August, but after that they are easily distinguishable. By October they have very near adult plumage and are not easily distinguishable from the adults unless you actually have the dead bird in your hand (again I’ve handled a good few hundred); we are now in December. In December you can tell this season’s frenchies from greys when they are in flight – if you are looking at them several times a week. Below is a picture of a first season frenchie sometime between October and January… not complete adult plumage, but not far off.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3dafa237d835d8af0c6ccc9e242d786bf08156d9e006ce89112035b5ae5da496.jpg

            That bird isn’t a partridge, quite apart from the plumage it’s not the right shape. It’s just a hen pheasant on a cold morning; again I’ve seen thousands in hedge bottoms on winter mornings looking just like that, keeping their heads down and hoping you won’t notice them.

            On most birds I bow to your far superior knowledge (and that’s not sarcasm), but on these common game birds I’ve got years of experience up close and personal, live and dead.

            Were the photograph in another location I might suggest that there’s a resemblance to a grey hen (though they are a little darker in colouring as well as slightly larger than a hen pheasant – though the overbright light might conceal that) but unless black grouse are found in that part of France then that’s a very unlikely prospect. Sadly black grouse are no longer found in the fields where I grew up, though I once watched them lekking in the field below the house from my bedroom window, and I haven’t seen one for a couple of decades. I was, just once, fortunate enough to encounter a hen capercaillie with chicks in a birch wood in Aberdeenshire – I’m not sure which of use was most surprised but I changed course and left her in peace.

  60. Some good news today, my GP phoned me and told me I am down for the vaccine next week, having some concerns I asked if I would be able to play the Piano afterwards, my GP assured me it wouldn’t be a problem – which is great as I have never played a Piano in my life.

    1. Ah, back to the “falling off a cliff” disparagement of Brexit. Shows a total lack of the inter-connectedness of things.

  63. 327161+ up ticks,
    You must give the overseeing politico’s credit for creating & running the biggest penal colony on the planet with a difference, yet another first.
    The difference being the innocent indigenous are incarcerated / penned & herded whilst the multi national felons roam the streets.

    Alcatraz on steroids.

    2. We’ll be watching that! I quite like Chris Packham – he’s odd because he has Aspergers. He did a good series of talks in small town theatres a few years ago and i met him then as I was helping on the AfriCat stall – one of his chosen charities.

      1. I’m not sure that he’s odd just because of the Aspergers. I find him unwatchable because he is so unbearably smug and out of touch.

      2. So, we’ll have an hour of animals prancing on TOTP on BBC4, followed by animals drinking at a waterhole. That’s what I call balanced programming.

          1. I watched the snooker in the end, but I’ll have to catch up with the Waterhole over the weekend. Can’t keep my eyes open.

            Kwa heri, Ndovu.

  66. I am not holding my breath:

    Dear (HJ)

    Parliament is going to debate the petition you signed – “Prevent any restrictions on those who refuse a Covid-19 vaccination”.

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/323442

    The debate is scheduled for 14 December 2020.

    Once the debate has happened, we’ll email you a video and transcript.

    Thanks,
    The Petitions team
    UK Government and Parliament

  67. 327161+ up ticks,
    🎵
    Should we stay or should we go ? IMO the final clash of treachery is about to take place.

    Trade deal ‘imminent,’ EU official says.

  68. Russians are wary of Putin’s vaccine. 4 December 2020.

    This points to a particular problem in Russia where a combination of reluctance to admit mistakes at the top of the system and a culture of cover-up in the regions means the government is often working off inaccurate data and the population habitually mistrusts the official line.

    That mistrust is already evident in reactions to Russia’s own, much-vaunted Sputnik V vaccine. Its developers claim it is 95 per cent effective after a second dose. The trouble is that the process looks to many like it’s been rushed and is based on too small a sample. This caused initial controversy, although the science seems sound and the general international consensus appears to be that it should perform to, or close to, those claims, and is both relatively cheap and easy to store and transport.

    You could substitute UK for Russia and Johnson for Putin without changing another word in this article and there would be more truth in it than the original!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/russians-are-wary-of-putin-s-vaccine

    1. spot on re substituting Russia for UK and it’s word for word perfect. Russia’s vaccination centres have been open for 10 days for those that wish to be jabbed, more virtual signalling from Speccie. Maybe the author will appear on here direct and offer more pearls of wisdom?

    2. It’s the old adage; nyet pravde v Izvestiye, nyet izvestiye v Pravde No truth (pravda) in News (Isvestiya), no news in Truth.

          1. I liked it that the corrupt bastard died in one of those tower blocks he so scornfully bragged no one would ever see him living in.

          2. Poulson had the ‘largest architectural practice’ in Europe at its height, based in Pontefract of all places.

            The succeeding ‘largest architectural practice’ in Europe was based in Preston of all places. Join the dots as they say.

          7. The Shepherds in Arcadia innit.

            I have hundreds of postcards of paintings collected from every art gallery I have ever visited. It is my method for recording and memorising, sometimes by reference, the wonderful paintings I have viewed.

            Edited.

          8. That edifice was designed by Don Kenyon. I think it clumsy and gratuitous. Some fine buildings were demolished to clear the space for it. Newcastle retains Grainger Town but much of similar quality was lost, including Eldon Square.

        2. Precisely. You have only to look at the hideous developments on the River front such as the ridiculously named Fourth Grace which has nothing whatever of the quality of the Three Graces. There are other monstrous developments by the usual suspects.

          I was working on the University Theatre in Newcastle on Tyne when T Dan Smith was operating and the City Architect was the rogue Don Kenyon. Eldon Square was demolished, a square equivalent to any London Square, and replaced by a hideous shopping centre which hopefully will itself be demolished, having the ambience of a subterranean car park.

          1. My father had an office in Eldon Square. It was a very lovely place. However I do like the Civic Centre and the sea horses and crowns on the tower. The carillon is beautiful and I remember the seahorses being winched up to the top! The Unversity Theatre was my go-to venue on Saturday mornings when I was at school! Then to the fabulous Sandwich Boutique next to the Theatre Royal, for prawn open sandwich! Ah! Memories!

        1. I think that after the current debacle in the US they will have to wind their necks in for a while. In France previous elections are coming under scrutiny.
          If the GoP win the GLs are going to go after the GO/CP brigade with a vengeance in Europe as well.

  71. DT Article

    Vain, vindictive Valery Giscard d’Estaing got me fired – and set the stage for 30 years of French stagnation
    A wily technocrat, his reliance on the over-centralised French state still haunts the country today

    ANNE-ELISABETH MOUTET

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/03/vain-vindictive-valery-giscard-destaing-got-fired-set-stage/

    This man d’Estaing was a sordid monster whose grubby personal greed led to France being lumbered with Mitterand for 14 years – a thing which largely destroyed the French economy.

    And who was given the job of writing the EU Constitution?

    Of course they didn’t have to look very far to find a mendacious, thieving sleazeball cut out for the job. And of course, at the EU’s expense, the monster d’Estaing put himself up to write it in a suite in the most expensive hotel where he dined on lobster, champagne and caviar saying, arrogantly, that he had to be comfortable!

    1. And now as if by the influence of a long outstanding grudge, Toy Boy is attempting to undermine Brexit.
      And Barnier is in London all day today. Where are the Kray Twins when we need them ?

      2. At least one French president got it right: Charles de Gaulle said that Britain should never join the Common Market. What a disaster that we did.

  72. Mail to Mr R………….

    In fact, the QinetiQ story looks even worse because John Major’s involvement with Carlyle Group started in the 1990s, and Mr Soros’ $100,000,000, probably part proceeds of the 1992 heist, was invested in 1994 in a new Carlyle fund aimed at ”leveraged buyouts” which ”plan to go public” !

    That is exactly what happened to QinetiQ. So it’s pretty obvious the sale of 31% of QinetiQ by Tony Blair to Carlyle in 2003 was a low price sweetheart deal and landed in Mr Soros’ fund at Carlyle and was subsequently sold for a massive profit in 2006.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/sale-qinetiq-scandal-only-those-who-forget-past-6111449.html

    All facilitated, apparently, by Tony Blair and John Major meeting in Downing Street !

    ”Mr. Major said: “I have enjoyed my time in politics but it is now time to move on. Carlyle is pre-eminent as a private equity firm and I have greatly enjoyed working with them over the past few years as a member of the European Advisory Board.”

    https://www.carlyle.com/media-room/news-release-archive/john-major-appointed-european-chairman-carlyle-group

    NEW YORK, DEC. 7 — Billionaire investor George Soros has agreed to invest $100 million in a new buyout fund to be managed by the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based investment firm, according to sources familiar with the deal.

    The fund, Carlyle Partners II L.P., is expected to raise $500 million to be invested in two ways: First, in leveraged buyouts of manufacturing companies with fairly stable profits, and second, in privately held companies with exciting growth prospects that plan to go public within a few years.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1993/12/08/soros-pledges-100-million-in-carlyle-fund/c679195a-cb3c-45fb-a5f2-4ba0cbf8a583/

    So the part sale of QinetiQ looks like a massive scandal with payoffs for everyone involved.. would you not agree ?

    Polly

  73. Why has the government, with the high command, effectively declared war on Australian soldiers who served in Afghanistan, including those who died?

    But with the targetting of our soldiers, the denial of the presumption of innocence and now the totally unacceptable imposition of collective punishment—the very badge of dictatorship — there is a wave of outrage across the country. True, the usual elites who despise or at least look down on the armed forces are delighted. They are a small, unhappy minority.

    Because of the government’s action and its damaging words in publishing the report, the reputation of Australian soldiers has been damaged around the world, just as the reputations of our athletes were in 2013.

    The real fault here, as in the UK is the hypocrisy of those who send soldiers to carry out impossible tasks and then blame them for adopting methods that raise censure. The Political Elites both here and in Oz are guilty of War Crimes far in excess of that carried out by mere squaddies, there can be no doubt of this, but will avoid prosecution for it by virtue of controlling the agenda.

    https://spectator.com.au/2020/12/military-madness/

    1. The rules of engagement in Afghanistan were more dangerously restrictive than the rules followed by the Met. (Also when the Met shoot somebody, they all get to collude on their story before any review of conduct.)

  74. That’s me for the day – a filthy, cold day with no redeeming features. They say that the sun may shine tomorrow. There again, they say that the vaccine is safe….

    We are having drinks with soldier neighbour. She is a fan of the vaccine – but in all other respects sane. And her drink is as good as anyone else’s!

    A demain

  76. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9015185/British-expat-shot-dead-French-hunter-mistook-boar.html

    Pictured: British expat, 25, shot dead outside his home by French hunter, 33, who mistook him for a boar has been named – as ‘mortified’ gunman is arrested for manslaughter

    Morgan Keane is thought to have died instantly when a bullet fired by a hunter hit him in the isolated hamlet of La Garrigue. A Frenchman, 33, was taken into custody.

    This is a tragic story and a relatively common occurrence in France but I cannot help being reminded of Tom Lehrer.:

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

    1. I’d hate to be hit in the hamlet. Sounds painful.
      But he’d hardy have died had the bullet not hit him. So, who writes this stuff? Did they learn any form of language?

  77. It’s depressing to think that someone somewhere in Whitehall was paid to write this utter bollocks, even more so that someone believes it.

    The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Hold a public vote on HS2 project as it is being paid for by the public”.

    HS2 will transform, and help decarbonise, our country’s transport network, bring our biggest cities closer together, boost productivity and rebalance opportunity across the country.

    As set out in the Full Business Case for Phase One, the Government has carefully considered the merits and disadvantages of proceeding with HS2 and has firmly concluded that it should go ahead. HS2 will transform our country’s transport network, bringing our biggest cities closer together, boosting productivity and rebalancing opportunity fairly across the country. Once operational, it will provide a low-carbon alternative to cars and planes. During construction, we want HS2 to be the most environmentally responsible major infrastructure project in UK history.

    HS2 is at the heart of our plans to build back better from Covid-19, creating thousands of jobs and providing certainty at a time when people need it the most. This railway is a long-term investment which will bring our biggest cities closer together, boost productivity and provide a low-carbon alternative to cars and planes for many decades to come.

    HS2 has rightly been subject to a great deal of Parliamentary and public scrutiny. Phase One was the subject of considerable debate in Parliament during the passage of the High-Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Act 2017 (“the Phase One Act”). The Phase 2a Bill is currently being taken through Parliament, and the Government agreed with the Oakervee Review’s conclusion that splitting Phase 2b into smaller sections, and more than one Bill, could facilitate scrutiny in Parliament, and make its management and construction more manageable.

    The Transport Secretary has made a clear commitment to greater transparency on HS2, and Andrew Stephenson, the dedicated HS2 minister, is reporting bi-annually to Parliament on the project. The Department for Transport has also established a monthly Ministerial Task Force to provide strategic oversight, support and challenge for the successful delivery of Phases One and 2a. Earlier this year, Government reset the funding regime for HS2 Phase One including a Target Cost and funding envelope as well as providing revised estimates for the wider scheme, subject to the ongoing work on the Integrated Rail Plan.

    This Government takes its environmental commitments extremely seriously. That is why the UK was the first major economy in the world to legislate for net zero and why we have published a 25-year Environment Plan setting out what we will do to protect and enhance our natural environment for future generations. The UK is decarbonising faster than any other country in the G20 and is providing global leadership on climate change.

    The environmental impacts of HS2 were closely scrutinised by Parliament during the passage of the Phase One Act, which gives statutory and planning authority for the construction of Phase One of the scheme. Alongside the Act, the Government also published the Environmental Minimum Requirements, a suite of additional environmental commitments to further reduce the impacts of the project.

    As well as environmental protections, a range of measures to mitigate and compensate for environmental impacts have been put in place. This includes a commitment to seek to achieve ‘no net loss’ to biodiversity and the creation of a ‘green corridor’ alongside HS2, which will provide bigger and better habitats for wildlife, and integrate HS2 into the landscape. On Phase One alone over 33 square kilometres of new and existing wildlife habitat will be created, an increase of around 30% compared to what’s there now.

    All environmental measures, whether they be the creation of new habitats or the enhancement of existing habitats, will be supported with long-term management plans and agreements. This will ensure that the new railway leaves a long-lasting legacy for both wildlife and future generations.

    HS2 will give us a step-change in capacity delivering better connectivity between our largest towns and cities. The Government’s decision to proceed with HS2 supports our objectives on climate change as the railway will play a key role in decarbonising our transport sector. This is because, once HS2 is in operation, it will offer a low carbon alternative to cars and domestic air travel. It will also free up space on the existing railway for thousands more passengers to travel by rail and to move more goods by rail freight, taking lorries off our roads.

    Department for Transport

    1. 327161+ up ticks,
      Afternoon WS,
      Cut to the quick, rapid troop movements for
      when the re-set / The Beginning, sh!te hits the fan.

    2. The appalling thing in all this is that years have been wasted, and fortunes committed with next to no benefit.
      We can see on our TVs that Italy, France, Germany, Spain and even Poland have high speed railway systems. We still use the lines that the Victorians built.

      1. I expect it’s our money that’s funded those railways, too. Having travelled regularly on the TGV, I’m not a fan to be honest.

    3. Fantastic use of buzzwords and content free hyperbole.

      Step change – really? What is that, exactly? Where’s your proof? Oh yes, I’m sure you can point to endless 1000 page binders full of facts and figuers – generated by people told to find the answer that suits the government line – but the simple truth is… we don’t need it and you’re trying to justify it.

      As for the environmental twaddle – cripes on a trouser press.

      The last six months have proved that.

      2. How will it bring our cities together? They’ll still be the same distance apart. In fact, given that HS2 won’t go to the centres (and won’t stop at intervening stations), the journey will probably take longer.

  78. My [Dis]Honourable clown found time to respond to my mail[s] with his erratic jottings. Knowing his language style, aside the opening line, most of the response most likely came from Halfock’s outer office preparing a generic response, using standard woke civil service”ees” language, given none of the points I raised were addressed, as expected:

    Dear Andy

    Thank you for your message about the return to the tiered system of restrictions now the national measures ended from 2nd December and trust Kenya’s treating you well and family here are healthy.

    I have received hundreds of emails on this issue, so I am well aware of the strength of feeling and the genuine difficulties many people are suffering, in particular those who have lost loved ones, or their job or their business has gone or is at risk. So I feel it is important to setout my reasoning behind supporting these measures, as well as addressing some of the more common misconceptions. [my emphasis]

    On Wednesday national restrictions came to an end, after I voted on Tuesday for a return to the tiering system. The alternatives of continuing national restrictions or no tiering were not acceptable. The move to Tier 3 is a tightening across the county, not borough, hopefully short-lived. But at this stage we cannot tell for how long it will last. It will be reviewed on 16th December and every two weeks thereafter until 27th January.

    But this change has allowed a big opening up after a month of strict restrictions. All shops can reopen, including hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons, sports facilities, including golf clubs and gyms; cinemas, theatres, museums, and visitor attractions can reopen. In England we can meet in groups of up to six people, but not inside; we no longer need to “stay at home”, but can leave for any reason; we can stay elsewhere overnight but only with your household or support bubble.

    I am well aware of the difficulty for pubs and cafes. While lastorders are extended to 10pm, the lack of social contact outside your family bubble reduces the attractions of going to the pub. A modest further support measure has been developed for pubs reliant on their non-food ‘wet’ or drinks trade, applicable for those in Tiers 2 or 3 in December. I have spoken or had messages directly with several publicans who are very concerned and have lobbied Ministers to provide temporary support to allow them to reopen in due course.

    Prior to lockdown Folkestone and Hythe some have questioned the usefulness of going into a national lockdown to control the spread of the virus. It is unfortunately quite clear that Tier 1 restrictions were not sufficient to keep the virus from spreading in our communities. The infection rates are beginning to reduce, including here in Folkestone and Hythe. But this remains higher than when we entered the recent restrictions.

    I know some people have also questioned why some places with broadly similar case rates are not always placed in the same tier. This is due to the fact the tier system is not solely based on the local case rate, but also takes into account the way in which the virus has spread in our communities, the number of
    vulnerable people, and an assessment of the capacity of the local NHS acute hospitals to cope with current and anticipated COVID cases, at a time when normal winter pressures are building.

    I have been on calls with other Kent MPs with the local Directors of Public Health and NHS leaders who have explained their very real concerns about the risks to our hospitals from being overwhelmed. Hospital admissions with COVID are still rising locally. This has meant, regrettably, that Folkestone and Hythe is placed in Tier 3.

    I know the impact this will have on the hospitality trade, and their suppliers, particularly at a time when – in normal circumstances – they would be very busy. I have stressed to Ministers the need to support the industry, and to review the tiering system regularly and openly, to ensure Folkestone and Hythe does not remainin Tier 3 for any longer than is absolutely necessary.

    The reopening of retail businesses will give a boost to other traders on our local high streets in the run up to Christmas. For those who claim this pandemic should be taken in our stride and is no worse than flu, I would say that despite all the measures we have taken this year, almost 60,000 people have died in the UK with COVID19.

    This is the most serious public health pandemic we have seen in our lifetime. If we were to allow the disease to take its course, the disproportionate number of vulnerable and elderly people in Folkestone and Hythe, and Kent county as a whole, would be put at extreme risk. [my emphasis]. In some places infection rates are still rising. That is certainly the case in the Folkestone and Hythe constituency where the infection rate was higher on December 1, than it was when the tiering restrictions were announced the week before.

    We have also seen a concerning spike of covid cases in New Romney which, in the figures reported on November 30, suggested the infection rates were close to the high figures seen in places like Thanet and Swale. We cannot ignore this data. Our experience of the coronavirus so far is that infections in one location can quickly spread to those near it, and in our local area we cannot say that the virus is under control and that rates are clearly falling.

    It is for these reasons, that I decided to support the introduction of these new covid regulations. I hope that over the next two weeks we will see a sustained fall in infection rates, and that we will be able to make the case to the government that Folkestone and Hythe should be taken out of tier 3.

    Some people have said that given we entered the national lockdown in tier 1 but left it in tier 3, surely that means it hasn’t worked.

    I do not believe that is the case, but that without restrictions on contact, to try and hold back the spread of the virus, the situation locally and nationally would have been much worse.

    There is positive news: about vaccination programmes; and rolling out of quicker tests into Shropshire and Kent from this week. Britain is the first country in the world to have a clinically authorised vaccine, through Pfizer/BioNTech, following testing by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The UK has secured 40 million doses, with the first 800,000 arriving within days. These will be rolled out according to the prioritisation advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, a panel of independent experts, including for care homes, health staff, over 80s, and the rest of the general public.

    The vaccine rollout, and more rapid testing in the community, provide hope of a return to something more like normal next year.

    With kind regards

    Damian Collins
    Rt Hon Damian Collins
    MP for Folkestone and Hythe

    “It will be reviewed on 16th December and every two weeks thereafter until 27th January”. That line tells you all you need to know. regardless of any “review” they intend to keep it up until at least the end of January

    1. Where to begin? “Almost 60,000 people have died in the UK with COVID19” is such a carefully worded fudge. “With” not “of “and including road accidents among other wide and varied actual causes of death. Overall death toll for 2020? Is it high? Normal UK mortality runs at around 1600-1700 per day, 10,000-12,000 per week and 40,000-50,000 per month. How many flu deaths this winter? Plus of course the issues around testing accuracy are never addressed, nor is the high recovery rate acknowledged.

      1. Sue, aftn. When his verbiage arrived, first thing I did, was prep a strong coffee, expecting waffle. His generic response to specific points, backed with evidence’s been ignored and he reverted to “baffle with b/s mode” avoiding any real response, including, but not limited to, what you posted.

        His constituency office staff know me well enough and advise him to respond with facts. Which he doesn’t. As said when I thought it worth sharing here, knowing his style and how he replies, most of this has come from Halfcock’s outer office and, as you correctly put “a carefully worded fudge”.

        He knows I won’t let him get off lightly, or let the issues drop, any of them. He’ll want to keep me out of his way, I know what games he’ll attempt to pull. He’s chosen this route, let’s see how well he stands up to it without any tier 1 top cover. He’ll know it’s serious enough to get his attention when reminded he’s neither a Man of Kent, nor a Kentish Man.

      2. But! if you want to scare people and use oblique language you get your message across to the gulible and unthinking.

      3. Many people are waking up to the mendacious politicos and partial supposed medical experts, all of whom are in the pay of China, Soros and Gates and who are heavily invested in drug companies.

        Rushing these vaccines through and bypassing animal testing is an egregious and criminal act. I hope to see the lot of them in gaol.

      4. There have been 30,000 non-Covid EXCESS deaths. I posted the link to the article a few days ago.

      1. if they get their way, as per leaked W.H.O. doc in Feb, it’ll be March 2025. Add in Agenda 21 / Agenda 30 / Lockstep. Dots were joined ages ago. Getting Collins to see the Wood for the Trees is the ongoing issue, and he’s been told numerous times, “like or not you’re accountable for your actions, acting against the constituents”. the next key dates are 16th Dec and 31st Dec [23.59]

    4. Damian Collins is a liar. There is no
      Tested and approved vaccine and neither is a vaccine required since 99.74% of us do not succumb to this common cold.

      We do not require a government mandated vaccination programme. It has all gone too far. Multiple drug companies have been trying to formulate vaccines for SARS for twenty years. The vaccines were tested on ferrets. When the ferrets were exposed to Corona virus the ferrets died because their immune systems had been irreparably damaged by the vaccines.

      Rushing science with untested vaccines is more likely to eventually wipe us all out. This is all about drug companies aiming to hit the multi-billions if their products are adopted. They care not one jot for human life.

      Edit: Bill Gates actually wants to reduce the world population via the vehicle of his patented vaccinations.

      1. Agree with you, I know Collins very well and he knows I don’t take his b/s at all. Everything you raised, I’d pointed this out, repeatedly in mails to him with evidence. He ignores it. I’ve battered him about C-19 since Feb, then all that’s involved in it monthly, plus Great Reset, Climate crap. He buries his head in the sand and ignores reality. And he knows I know he’s lying

        1. Good for you. Many experts in the field of immunology and testing have condemned the potential use of mRNA vaccinations on humans.

          Many clinical scientists have also called for an immediate stop to PCR and other testing for the reason that the tests give 100% false positives.

          I think Hancock is certifiably mad and Johnson brain dead. The idea that you should politicise medicine and compromise the health and well-being of the nation in such a heartless and brutal way is anathema to me and I suspect many others.

          Refuse the vaccines.

          1. agree with you. Having witnessed 1st hand the damage done here in Kenya and south Sudan, that’s what I kept telling people here. When C-19 started getting exposed in non MSM last year, I tracked it like a hawk. When I saw Johnson / Halfcock / MSM spinning this earlier this year, I could foresee what was about to come and that C-19’ll be used as cover for wider agenda, now attempted to be rolled out. And this is likely to continue short term despite PCR tests are flawed below the water line since the beginning

            Here, all Kenyans have point blank, since March, said no vaccines as there’s no virus. UK Govt are too deeply entrenched in it now, and they know backing out openly exposes the whole system as a charade. And they know the people know.

          2. Wider agenda… has anyone heard from Greta Thunderbug recently? Has she shut up because everything is going her way?

        1. vw aftn, all good I trust. I’ve posted this before, not sure if you’ve caught it https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:506291-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0 it’s a money game and AI’s already been purchased [EU tender, but sole source provision breaking all the rules]. Following the ££ ignore Tower Hamlets Govt office crap, follow it through the City, Buckingham Gate str8 into Whitehall.

          I was catching up this am on some of the late posts yday, and saw the screed viz trolls [who seem to be absent at present]. Given their exchanges last night, the above link may well have bypssed you and others.

      2. 327161+ up ticks,
        Evening A,
        I do not believe even he is daft enough to drop his trews in a BBc area.

    3. 327161+up ticks,
      Evening PT,
      He has to be good a something maybe it’s martyrdom on behalf of the eu.
      I would not settle for anything less than the whole cabinet & families.

    4. Puncturing Political Egos (PPEs) should be a regular TV program – to coincide with Happy Hour, sweetie ! … x

          1. I don’t have a problem with needles it’s just when the demijohn becomes half full. 🙁

      1. A lie detector might work but it comes down to who is reading the results. A bit like the U.S election.

        1. One above and one below. And when he sells us out over brexit the Fat Lady can jump atop singing a eulogy.

    7. I don’t give a monkeys what that bloke does. I used to like him. He is on such a short leash that it is pathetic to watch.

      1. He’d just get saline so a pointless exercise. He’s had the virus, so he doesn’t need the vaccine.

    8. Much as I would like to see Boris having a jab, I think this would be a very bad precedent. That would not be democracy, and it wouldn’t be a measure of the effectiveness of the vaccine. If we treat our elected representatives like monkeys we shouldn’t be surprised if only monkeys apply for the job.

      1. Monkeys already apply for the job in droves – and get elected too!

        Why there’s Diane Abbott, Dawn Butler, David Lammy, Marsha de Cordova, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Taiwo Owatemi, Abena Oppong-Asare, to name but a few.

    9. well if Bush, Clinton and Obama are up to it, Boris should be ahead of them because the UK got the vaccine first.

      Make him line up in one of those testing centres with the mortals and remind the staff that they are no longer on the priority list, that will guarantee no saline substitution and a blunt needle.

    11. To be honest I would not wish the mRNA vaccine on anyone apart perhaps from Bill and Melinda Gates, George Soros and Klaus Schwab.

      You may be assured that these four individuals and their cohorts will not be submitting to the vaccine.

      1. I’m told Soros gets a full blood change once a week, but blood only from young virgin females.

        1. 327161+ up ticks,
          Evening M,
          That is why many towns are safe from a visitation from him on account of the lab/lib/con coalition parties
          mass uncontrolled immigration policies.

  84. 327161+ up ticks,
    Opportunities for wanna be shipmans,

    breitbart,

    Protect the NHS’: Doctors Applying DNRs Without Consent May Have Caused Avoidable Deaths.

  87. Good night all.

    This was spectacular, I cooked it on the hob instead of in the oven, with 2 glasses of Ch. Gabaron 2016, which was also very good. Considering I had a struggle to cut the cheek in 1/2 with a razor sharp knife before cooking, it was amazing how it melted in to the sauce under my fork after 4 hours simmering. Plenty of both casserole & wine left for tomorrow.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/ox-cheeks-red-wine-recipe/

    1. I have copied this for future reference. I love ox-cheek. Also the equally delicious joue de porc, which I first encountered in France.

      1. I first encountered pig’s cheeks in Spain. We flew down to friends near Girona for my 60th birthday weekend & that was the supper with which they greeted us. They made us try & guess what it was, but I was stumped. have cooked them many times since & have a few in the freezer.

      2. A slow cooker is your friend. Throw everything in and switch on. No need for sharp knives. Add some buttery mash and greens of your choice at the plating up stage.

        I have no idea why someone would need the Telegraph to tell them how to cook such a dish unless they were showing off.

    2. Thanks, Peddy, nicked for my own cookbook – after I’ve tested it but, like you, I’ve found Oxcheek to be a very versatile meat provided it’s cooked low and slow.

      1. My Advent present to myself is a slow cooker with 7 different functions at a massive discount. T0m0rrow (today) I shall buy some oxtail or similar to try it out early next week.

        1. I have an oxtail in my freezer. Destined to be part of my festive feasting, since 5 days of liberty does not allow for a 1,000 mile round trip to see the family.

  88. Evening, all. It’s naive to suggest that the government will LET vaccination certificates become compulsory; they will ensure that they are.

    1. Business arms will be twisted to have them mandate certificates,the government will claim innocence.

      There, promise kept.

    1. We had an hour or so of sunshine around lunchtime but it’s gone very dark now. Got to go out for the shopping shortly.

          3. The one time I wished I could do early is when MB, while waiting at the breakfast table on the terrace in Taormina, saw Etna chuck out a series of smoke rings.

      2. Absolutely beautiful sky while I was out. An incredible orange glow peering over the horizon which silhouetted the trees and rooftops. As I drove home, the whole sky seemed to be on fire – presumably reflections onto the clouds.

    2. Very, very good choice. We did something very similar for chums about a fortnight ago.
      Our sons’ business used to make a scrummy rhubarb and ginger cheesecake.

        1. Both. First one left to become a ‘consultant’ advising creaky businesses.
          The other sold it on to another company a few months back.

          1. The cheesecake sounds delish. It would probably be good s a pavlova.
            I made a red currant & gin sorbet for my 2nd wedding lunch, which was pretty good.

          3. I like both. It’s like the difference between a simple soufflé & a twice-baked soufflé, both are enjoyable.

    3. Can’t decide whether to rain, sleet or snow at the moment.
      As it eased off I managed to get into Cromford & back, picking several lumps of tree up and dropping them off at the two collection points I’ve got.
      Will have to get the van down to collect them in the very near future.

      Counting the stuff at the collection points and two fair sized tree limbs that have come down, I’ve got at least enough to half fill the stack I’m currently emptying.

  90. Interesting …. if your life is a boring as mine.
    Lidl have largely discontinued their incessant blibble about respecting staff and customers and the till checkouts are no longer wearing masks; both irritating practices preceded last month’s panic.

    1. The checkout staff in our Morrisons are not wearing masks, but ones in the aisles shelf -filling are. There are perspex screens round the checkouts, but one side is open.

      1. Hello Ndovu. I have piggy-backed on to an earlier post of yours so as not to interrupt the flow of conversation today. Thank you for sending the tweet about the photographs – I am fairly new to tweeting. I would love to do the 7 day photograph but a) I don’t know how to attach the photograph. I have looked it up on google but I am none the wiser. What little symbol am I looking for? I have looked through them all but cannot find one that says ‘attach photo’. Have you any ideas about this, where I can find the attachment? I use an iPad – and b) do I pass the message on to another (known to me) tweeter? Sorry to be so dim…. I have only just mastered ‘retweeting’!

        1. The little symbol is similar to the one one disqus – it’s probably quite standard. Under the space for writing are several symbols and the photo one is on the left, and looks a bit like two mountains. Click on that to upload a photo. Sorry I’ve no idea how to do it on an ipad, but it’s similar on my phone. I just took a few photos on my phone, around the house and out of the window, saved them and use one each day. If you can copy on the ipad, that’s the easiest way, and you can use ‘reply’ to attach it to mine. Find someone you know on Twitter – eg T-B – though Tony already invited her and she said she didn’t know how….. she’s been on T for ever! I’m doing it on my laptop, as my phone only works in the other part of the house! Sue Edison is also on Twitter, though I think she might have missed my invitation.

          1. Thank you! That is very helpful. I know the two mountain symbol you mention. I will try later again this evening. Wife of elder son uses Twitter, I will try her. I have been out in the garden trying to finish off the job that I started late yesterday afternoon of fixing the lights around the bushes. I am absolutely frozen now …… my brain has seized up. If the above works you may even see a photograph of the lights!

  91. 329161+up ticks,
    Would I be right in thinking that many of the ovis are giving these governance creatures carte blanche with the jab although strongly disagreeing with it, do these types consider their families at ALL, after already jeopardising the families over the years by supporting / voting for this political tripe.
    We are witnessing the evil consequences of the party before Country / common sense mode of voting.

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