Monday 2 October: It is not Justin Welby’s job to meddle in Britain’s immigration policy

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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434 thoughts on “Monday 2 October: It is not Justin Welby’s job to meddle in Britain’s immigration policy”

  4. Morning all.

    I can’t work out if Hunt is mendacious and thinks we’re all thick or just a complete moron. His hiking the min wage just means more tax clawed in for the state as tax thresholds are crossed and NI hikes bite. The worker gets almost nothing.

    The simplest and better option is to cut taxes – energy, fuel, insurance, corporation tax, VAT, duties – but no. He always reaches for the high tax big state option. Maybe his intent is to destroy the economy? I always thought the destroy economy/Force to IMF/ram us back into the EU was a daft idea of mine but it turns out that is what they want.

  5. ‘Morning, Peeps. Another dry day and a ‘massive, massive’ 22°C heading this way. Thankfully the heating remains firmly off and the fire unlit.

    Plenty of critical letters concerning Welby and his obvious and unwelcome ongoing interference in politics. This is relatively brief and to the point:

    SIR – Instead of asking to meet the Home Secretary, Archbishop Welby should ask himself a few questions, such as: why do large numbers of people want to come to Britain and not remain in one of the safe countries that they pass through en route? How does he expect Britain to cope with this pressure when its limited resources – including the NHS, housing and education – are already stretched to the limit?

    Stephen Bartlett
    Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire

    Well said, Mr Bartlett. And while Welby fiddles in politics the Church is slowly but surely destroying itself. If we mere mortals understood long ago that the vast majority of our invaders are not refugees, it’s time someone sat him down and acquainted him with the facts. And no more virtue-signalling!

    1. It’s supposed to rain here! I felt spots this morning which stopped me putting the washing out, but I’d really like to – if only because the smell of softrinse is suffocating eveeryone!

      Welby is another statist champagne socialist. There is always more of other people’s money to spend and that should just keep going up to let him pontificate (in his job and in the media pulpit).

    2. Apparently the ABC ranks above the Home Secretary.
      In which case, why did he bow to government diktats and close churches at a time when many were frightened and needed consolation?

      1. Fortunately the Government didn’t demand that mosques were closed.

        Yet the ABC did not object to that !!

  7. Ukraine is winning. Now let’s finish the job. Ben Wallace. 2 October 2023.

    As the counteroffensive breaks down the Russian lines, Britain must make sure the West stands firm.

    Whisper it if you need. Dare to think it. But champion it you must. Ukraine’s counteroffensive is succeeding. Slowly but surely, the Ukrainian armed forces are breaking through the Russian lines. Sometimes yard by yard, sometimes village by village, Ukraine has the momentum and is pressing forward.

    TOP COMMENT BELOW THE LINE.

    John Graham.

    What nonsense is this article? Anyone with eyes can see that Ukraine is in fact losing. Their so-called offensive has achieved nothing at all. Now wait until Russia advances further and takes swathes more territory. Eventually, whatever is left of Ukraine will have to concede defeat and the collective West will be humiliated.

    Only six months ago such a post would have been unthinkable let alone be most voted for. It is not at all unusual. Not just in the Telegraph but the Spectator threads as well. Despite the best efforts of MSM propaganda and the establishment trolls they are at least equal if not superior in numbers to the actual Ukie supporters.

    The call for Britain standing firm is particularly ludicrous. The UK has a border that is crossed illegally hundreds of times every day. It cannot turn back a single boat. It is unable to build a railway. Its State institutions are a shambles. It cannot save itself let alone Ukraine.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/01/ben-wallace-ukraine-counteroffensive-succeeding/

    1. Is Russia advancing? From my sources I’m told they’re entrenching and happy to stay where they are. Holding a foreign nation under arms simply doesn’t work which implies the Russians were invited.

      1. Morning Wibbles. My impression is that the Russians have dug in and are simply bleeding the Ukies dry.

        1. To be honest, I don’t now what either side is trying to achieve. The political situation is bonkers and hidden and no outlet is prepared to tell the truth.

          Prior to the ‘invasion’ Ukraine was shelling the region. Now Russia has invaded – seemingly with the permission of the locals – Ukraine is still shelling the region.

          It’s bonkers.

    2. Ukraine is winning.

      Safe and Effective.

      Six words forming the two great propaganda lies of the moment.

      There is, of course:

      You’ll own nothing and be happy.

      However, that lie has had its day.

  8. SIR – Dr Michael Fopp (Letters, September 30) is mistaken: not all National Trust members have received their AGM voting papers. We have yet to receive ours, for example.
    I’m not sure of the reason, though we voted against every one of the committee’s recommendations last year.

    Dr Keith Collard
    Minehead, Somerset

    Oh dear, Dr Collard; the reason could well be in your final paragraph!

    2. Possibly for the same reason the Jewish community in London didn’t receive their ballot papers in time at the last Mayoral election. Administration error ?

    4. I resigned my membership in July. But at least I have received my voting papers, interesting read though presumably it will notice if I try to exercise my now expired rights.

  9. Every month, Mongo and Oscar get paid. Well, that is monies transfer from our joint account into theirs. All our bills go out from that account as does our shopping/dentist/repair bills. Mongo’s insurance is now over £200 a month so for the first time he has more money than the hoomahns.

      1. Yep, it’s creeping toward £3000 a year. It’s not all directly to an insurer. A blob goes to our vet directly so we get a sort of pre-paid lark – deposit, that’s it. The CT scans for his shoulder were £300 alone. An overnight stay is £1200.

        1. Have you thought of adopting Gold bars as pets? They would probably bring much comfort and be less expensive…..

          Morning wibbling and all

          1. When you’re woken up by your door batting open as he’s leant on the handle and decides to hop on the bed (from the box at the end (her travelling trunk) to the bed itself and then bats a paw the size of a cereal bowl in your face I sometimes wonder.

            This is because Junior can’t get to the keys (for safety reasons, maybe we should change that. He’s nearly 9 after all) to open the door to let him out. I worry a lot more about Oscar who won’t ‘go’ until the Warqueen gets up. This has caused some confusion as he’ll whimper and whine, pawing at her as she lays in be reading a book.

    2. ‘Morning Wibb. Don’t forget that the Competition and Markets Authority is inviting submissions from pet owners about the veterinary fees rip-off…

  10. 377263+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Rishi can win this election – if he faces down our complacent elite
    The Conservatives need to show they’re on the people’s side. The bigger the row, the better

    The decent peoples find themselves fighting on two fronts for freedom of expression, against their own kind via the polling stations, is one.

    The other front is the likes of sunak and ilk are active agents of the WEF / NWO cartel , with royal seal, the king chap & sunak
    are self confessed followers.

    What I can’t understand is what part of the facts above the majority voter of the past / recent past NOT understand ?

    WEF ?NWO cartel

    1. Sunak is no more on our side than the neighbour’s cat runs Tesco.

      The problem is most folk don’t understand – or if they do, don’t care – what the real problems are. You have the greedy and selfish, whining about how awful it is that some have more than them. Then you have the idiots whinging about energy companies making profit and why windfall taxes are good. Then there’s the true oafs bleating that taxes on ‘da wich’ should be higher as it’s not fair that ‘da wich’ take what ‘da pore’ earn.

      Only once this ignorance, bitterness and selfish, myopic greed is erased will people begin to understand the fundamental problem and the singular cause of all our problems. Only then can the needy be genuinely helped – through real charitiable organisations and then ‘to each his own’ applied. It is right that I contribute to my brother’s housekeeping. It is NOT right that I should pay 70% of my earnings to fund an egregious, bloated, useless, lazy state machine that can’t be bothered to reply to letters asking for details of his living allowance in less than 2 months.

        1. It’s the process that frustrates most. Our system for customer support works thusly: A person completes a form on the web. That data goes into a database and is triaged within 24 hours (stage 1). That notification is sent back to the customer (stage 2). It is then read and marked as under investigation (3). Then our clock on response starts – this depends on SLA. If we miss that we can’t charge for our time – and when the responder risks losing a % of £50 per ticket their mind is rather focussed on the job.

          The back and forth with the customer continues until the ticket is resolved (4) and the customer notified of that resolution and they have to agree to that resolution, or else it stays open (5).

          Most of our tickets are closed within a day. Last month we had 316 of them. There’s 2 of us answering these things. Perhaps if the state were pushed into a market of competing providers or paid on resolution it would buck it’s ideas up.

          (and yes, technical support is not as complex as mental healthcare, but the principles are the same – communication, response, consideration and crucially paid only by result).

  11. Alarm over oil spill risk in English Channel as Putin relies on 23-year-old tankers. 1 October 2023.

    The risk of an oil spill in the English Channel is growing, analysts have warned, as Russia relies on 23-year-old tankers to shift supplies around the world.

    Concern across the shipping industry is mounting due to Vladimir Putin’s reliance on ageing oil tankers, which he uses as part of his “shadow fleet”.

    The so-called shadow fleet is used by Russia to skirt the G7’s price cap on oil exports, but experts fear this has increased the prospect of an environmental catastrophe.

    Torrey Canyon. Exxon Valdez anyone? This of course is all about Vlad dodging their sanctions.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/01/alarm-over-oil-spill-risk-in-english-channel-as-putin-relie/

    1. Remembering the effects of oil spills in The Cruel Sea, maybe they will stop the over-loaded dinghies from reaching the Kent shores.

      1. Morning Anne. I can still remember that scene from the book and it’s sixty years since I read it aloud in class!

      2. I think you are onto something Annie. After all, Southern Water’s cunning plan to discharge lots of sewage to deter the illegals hasn’t worked, and has only served to restrict the indigenous popularion to the beaches instead of taking a swim and catching something horrible.

  12. Alarm over oil spill risk in English Channel as Putin relies on 23-year-old tankers. 1 October 2023.

    The risk of an oil spill in the English Channel is growing, analysts have warned, as Russia relies on 23-year-old tankers to shift supplies around the world.

    Concern across the shipping industry is mounting due to Vladimir Putin’s reliance on ageing oil tankers, which he uses as part of his “shadow fleet”.

    The so-called shadow fleet is used by Russia to skirt the G7’s price cap on oil exports, but experts fear this has increased the prospect of an environmental catastrophe.

    Torrey Canyon. Exxon Valdez anyone? This of course is all about Vlad dodging their sanctions.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/01/alarm-over-oil-spill-risk-in-english-channel-as-putin-relie/

  13. Morning all 🙂😊
    Not looking good our there, but quite warm.
    And yes archbishop think about why your churches are so empty now. Follow the public opinion and you might (scuz pun) get more people in the church pews.
    Illegal invaders are not good for our country.
    They are law breakers and should be treated as such.
    Sending them back is the only sensible and safe option.

    1. ‘Morning, Eddy. I think you may be preaching to the converted here…unlike this wretched government we Nottlrs know instinctively when something is fundamentally wrong.

  14. Good morning, all. Overcast and calm.

    U-turn central strikes again within the completely disorganised, leaderless, amateurish and extremely dangerous rabble posing as a conservative government as Sunak slaps down Shapps re UK troops heading for Ukraine.
    Is it credible that the PM was unaware of his Defence Secretary’s plan to send troops to the Ukraine? If so, just who is pulling the strings of this shower?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3ee233da4d4548eb55d868c8b8a530a3d0889f257051f6ee3cc3ba6dae4263a8.png

    1. Moaning, Korkers.
      In fairness to Sunak, he has some awful dross to face down; the legacy of Cameron, May and Johnson.
      I’m afraid the Spiv element – which has always plagued the Conservative party (it’s their equivalent of the running sore of Trade Unions for Labour) – yet again needs slapping down.
      I don’t envy him the task.

      1. I agree, although Blair Mk 2’s (alleged) embracing of a few Conservative principles has come rather late in the day. Anyone would think there’s an election hurtling towards him…

    2. Good morning, Korky. After our communications problems yesterday I will now phone you on your landline.

  15. Good Moaning.
    Quentin Letts writing about the Con conference in the Wail.

    “Tory conferences no longer attract rank-and-file members with tweed skirts, brown brogues and hairy ears. Is that because the party stopped letting them speak in debates? Or because such stalwarts preferred it when conferences were held at Blackpool?”

    Yup. There is a wonderful decaying splendour in the Winter Gardens- and similar places in other resorts.
    Plus, the accommodation prices were lower because hotels and B&Bs were glad of an extra week’s trade.
    But the thrusters and shysters of the modern Conservative party don’t have to think about such things; another link broken with most of the membership who have to be more thrifty.

    1. Are there any vacant hotel beds in such places? I understood they were all full entertaining our new guests…..

      1. :-). These decisions were made prior to the invasion. Could be another reason for members’ absence. Most are not bloated plutocrats; they have lived thrifty lives so they have a little spare money.

        2. Which the government is determined to remove from them in taxes to fund the feckless wasters.

    2. We have a friend staying with us for a couple of days. Life long Conservative voter now firmly adamant she will not be voting for the Conservative candidate at the next election…

    3. There’s also the possibility there is no room at the Inn.
      Full up with Illegal invaders.

  16. The West must choose: borders, or destruction. 2 October 2023.

    If left uncontrolled, mass migration confirms Right-wing anxieties and undermines Left-wing projects. The South African state, for example, confers limited rights upon all residents, regardless of nationality, and attracts millions in search of work; truly, it is a rainbow nation.

    It is also weakened by competition for jobs and resources, and has an anti-immigration party, Operation Dudula, that makes Ukip look like the New Seekers. Last year, even a spokesman for the sainted ANC said foreigners “come here to sell drugs”, to live “here illegally, undermine our sovereignty, create illegal business”. Sound familiar?

    South Africa is a good example. It is even further down the road to total collapse than the UK!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/02/braverman-migrant-crisis-refugees-borders-or-destruction/

    1. Friends in South Africa have a daughter who could use a shotgun aged 12 and has considered one of those spiked anti rape things.

      Rainbow nation? Rape, mugging and murder capital. It is horribly dangerous because of the diversity.

      1. I wonder why the two countries in Africa 50 years ago which worked were Rhodesia and South Africa and what has happened to change that?

    2. South Africa went down the pan soon after the ANC took over. They allowed many thousands of black people to cross their northern borders.
      Drugs and prostitution are rife in many towns, especially JHB. Robbery and murder rates have escalated beyond control.
      Our neighbour is originally from JHB her mother and sister moved to Simonstown in the Cape.
      People travelling by train are often robbed and the train drivers are threatened with their lives if they stop when the communication chord is pulled.

      1. Viva, the old South Africa
        Though at times it may have irked
        Viva, The Old South Africa
        They say it wasn’t just or fair –
        But at least it bleary worked.

        [From a song by Jeremy Taylor]

      2. People do not realise that the Bantu Tribes, who now form the majority in Southern Africa, originated in West Africa and did not arrive in the region until comparatively recently, pushing out and in many cases exterminating the non-Bantu tribes as they expanded through the continent.

        1. Most of the people who have taken up residency in South Africa have arrived having been attracted by the wealth and lifestyle set up by the now born and bred hated whites. A classic example of treacherous behaviour was the sacking and destruction of Rhodesia.
          By Harold Wilson and more recently the lying murdering cheat Mugabe.

    1. It’s not really getting up to much down here either. We’re due some rain but the current is just a bit overcast. I’d like it to get on with it one way or t’other!

  18. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12581993/Russell-Brand-faces-second-investigation-sex-predator-claims.html

    I remain bothered by this. Despatches shouldn’t be making hay out of this. These allegations should have gone to the police not for ratings. I don’t like Brand. His past behaviour has been revolting. That he happens to have millions of folk on his channel and raises relevant issues I believe should be aired is not absolution or atonement but, throughout he deserves justice in law, not trial by media.

    1. Why pictures of Plod standing outside a pub owned by Brand?
      What has that got to do with anything – other than try to reinforce a “guilty” verdict?

    2. He won’t get justice in law.

      The Sunday Times pointed out that none of the complainants has made an official complaint to the Police.

  19. Good morning all.
    Banished to the bedroom with my laptop because t’Lad is occupying the bed-settee in the living room.

    A bright morning, if a bit overcast with 9°C on the yard thermometer.

    Regarding Brother in law, the DT arrived back with her sister fairly soon after I’d logged off.
    It seems to have been a fairly minor stroke and BiL was apparently recovering use of his left side.

  20. Has anyone else got a robot vacuum cleaner? I’ve considered one simply because the hoovering is nigh endless and it means lugging the hoover upstairs.

    I suppose a cordless hoover is probably the way to go?

      1. Don’t tempt me. Although, if I lived in a house that big I’d be very, very happy.

        I’ve a Miele one and I looked at their cordless hoovers but there seem to be numerous gripes over the battery and suction.

        We’ve a plugged in one that’s great, but carrying the damned thing about is a pain in the proverbial.

    3. I was staying in a Travelodge hotel which uses them in the corridors.
      I was impressed by how well they appeared to operate and they cleaned right up to the head of the stairs and changed direction to avoid falling down. They also appeared to be able to generate enough suction to get dust right out of the corners.
      I didn’t notice if they were using them in the rooms, but the staff said they were surprised by how well they worked, having been sceptical initially.

      1. I am too – despite my trust in such devices. I am a bit concerned with the doors, desks and so on. I’m not dementedly houseproud and corridors might be easier than busy rooms. There’s also the stairs to consider.

        There’s a Bosch one that’s about £200 I’ll research, as that could do the stairs. It’s not masses of cruft just would be nice to grab something off the wall, run it about and give the floors a once over each week and a proper drubbing at month end.

        1. There are robots that clean swimming pool walls and stairs, so I presume there must be a land version, although probably extremely expensive.

    5. My younger son, Henry, and his fiancée, Jessica, have one which vacuums their flat immaculately.

      Mind you Henry writes IT computer programs and his elder brother Christo designs robots.

      They set in on a timer so it works when they are not there to get in the way.

    7. I don’t think that a robot vacuum cleaner would work here – with a 1-year old Pup who regards the operation of anything like that as an outright attack, she would be beyond demented after trying to bite it for hours on end.

    8. Our son’s family have a cordless hoover.
      Fine for a quick whizz round when you’re expecting ‘company’, but useless for a proper house hoover. Unless you do it in shifts and have a v.long break in-between to recharge it.

      1. My last cordless Dyson could do (and still does) an entire village church (including the pews) on one charge. On the ‘low’ setting. I’m reduced these days to a 1 bed retirement bungalow. My Dyson V10 can deal with the whole house without breaking sweat. As long as I don’t use ‘Max’ setting.

    9. Depends on the floor area of Wibbling Towers, but I’ve been very happy with my cordless Dyson V10. Its predecessor (V7?) is still in regular use in the church where I was Verger. They all benefit from regular filter cleaning (worth buying a spare). I bought mine, principally because – with two BK prostheses – one can be caught unawares by trailing leads. Same applies to electric garden implements.

    10. No, but I still have a robotic mower. Bought after I had the legs off – I didn’t think I would ever be able to mow the lawn, physically. But the lawn at the last place had a steep slope towards the hedge, along one boundary. I placed the boundary wire as far from that slope as I thought necessary. 80% of the time, all was well. But from certain directions, ‘Mowhammed’ (all robots require a name) would overshoot the boundary wire and bury himself in the hedge.

      My lawn, here at the new place, is small, and level. I can’t justify a robotic mower any more, but I have yet to get around to listing Mowhammed on eBay. Meanwhile, any sensible offers considered…

  21. Morning all. Like many on here I have survived the past three years by listening to Talk Radio instead of the Today programme and Juliet Hartley Brewer has cheered me up over breakfast for a long time. But for no longer. Today they have launched their new autumn schedules and Julia has been moved to the 1pm-3pm slot (when I never listen) to be replaced by a new Talk Today with Nicola Thorp and Jeremy Kyle. First impressions, and not being aware of the changes until I switched on, is a disaster. The 7.45-8am slot seems to be given over to sport which I hate with a vengeance. And much more jingly, not something to ease gently into the day. OK Mike Graham is still there as normal but that is about it.

    So choice of GB News with its questionable future, back to Today, or probably stick with Classic FM.

    1. From Wiki: “In May 2019, the recording and broadcasting of The Jeremy Kyle Show was suspended after a guest committed suicide shortly after appearing in an episode of the series. A review of the episode occurred before any resumption of the programme’s transmission, and on 15 May 2019, ITV confirmed that the series had ceased production with immediate effect. It has since been revealed that more guests had taken their own lives following their appearances in this and another programme hosted by Kyle on Channel 5, Britain’s Worst Husband.“

    2. From Wiki: “In May 2019, the recording and broadcasting of The Jeremy Kyle Show was suspended after a guest committed suicide shortly after appearing in an episode of the series. A review of the episode occurred before any resumption of the programme’s transmission, and on 15 May 2019, ITV confirmed that the series had ceased production with immediate effect. It has since been revealed that more guests had taken their own lives following their appearances in this and another programme hosted by Kyle on Channel 5, Britain’s Worst Husband.“

    3. From Wiki: “In May 2019, the recording and broadcasting of The Jeremy Kyle Show was suspended after a guest committed suicide shortly after appearing in an episode of the series. A review of the episode occurred before any resumption of the programme’s transmission, and on 15 May 2019, ITV confirmed that the series had ceased production with immediate effect. It has since been revealed that more guests had taken their own lives following their appearances in this and another programme hosted by Kyle on Channel 5, Britain’s Worst Husband.“

    5. Morning Dave. That they employ Kyle tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the BBC!

  22. Got to keep the fear factor going to fill the big Pharma coffers.

    Swine flu could return this winter, warn experts, as ‘vulnerable’ told jabs are vital
    Pregnant women, young children, the unvaccinated and those with chronic health conditions particularly at risk, says public health chief.

    The virus responsible for the 2009 swine flu pandemic is set to be the dominant strain this winter, health officials have warned in a plea to the public to be jabbed. Swine flu has had limited circulation in Britain since 2019, with other flu variants spreading since the Covid-19 pandemic and end of social distancing measures. Last winter, flu was responsible for more deaths than Covid for the first time since coronavirus emerged. About 14,600 people lost their lives to flu, compared with about10,300 Covid deaths, according to analysis by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). This year, the swine flu strain, officially known as influenza H1N1, “could return”, experts have warned.

    Lots of “coulds”, “risk” , ” experts warn”.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/02/swine-flu-dominant-winter-strain-for-first-time-since-2009/

    I’m not having any vaccinations again, I don’t trust anything that comes out of this Government agency.

  23. G’morning all,

    Grey and misty over the McPhee demesne this mornin, rain later. Wind in the South but wafting all around the compass thropiughout the day, 15℃ with 18℃ in prospect.

    A quick scan of the letters shows us that some people are, alas, unreachable:

    SIR – We are being sent numerous emails and letters by the NHS reminding us to book seasonal vaccinations.

    These have, in fact, been booked for some time. All the unnecessary communication must be using up valuable resources. What are managers doing to curb such waste?

    Alethea Milford
    Plymouth, Devon

    Alethea should pop along to the new offices of UK Column which happen to be in the same town as her and have a quick word with either Brian or Mike who may be able to assist her with her concern.

    1. Justin Welby’s job spec was given to him by his fellow Old Etonian, the atheist David Cameron:

      “Destroy The Church of England!”

      Who can deny that he is fulfilling his brief very well?

  25. A bit of light relief in the letters to distract one from Welby.

    Sharing bathwater

    SIR – Over 42 years of marriage, my husband and I have always shared our bathwater (Features, September 29).
    In the summer we save the water overnight and then siphon it on to the vegetables.

    Robyn Maitland
    Sherborne, Dorset

    I suppose it’s a bit better than all those communal baths I used to plunge into in the rugby club after a game in the 1960s and 70s. At least it keeps the bugs in the family.

    1. To be fair – so do we. I lie in my Epsom salts bath but I am not dirty and then MOH usually uses the water afterwards. Last year I recycled some of it for the garden but mostly I can’t be bothered.

      When the kids were little, we got 4 baths out of one sitting. If that isn’t eco-friendly, I don’t know what is!

      1. We had foot basins at school. You sat on a fixed wooden seat and washed your feet and legs before getting in a bath alongside two other boys with your bottoms in the bath and your legs dangling over the edge.

  26. From the FSU.

    In a ground-breaking judgment against workplace cancel culture and for lawful freedom of expression, the Employment Tribunal has ruled that ACAS employee and FSU member Sean Corby was expressing a legitimate philosophical belief when he challenged Critical Race Theory in his workplace!

    It is believed to be the first time a judge has ruled that holding a contrary view to Critical Race Theory is a protected characteristic under equality laws.

    This is a terrific result – the FSU has been supporting Mr Corby every step of the way in his dispute with ACAS, and helped him secure top-drawer legal representation!

    Back in August 2021, Mr Corby had written on a workplace equality and diversity online forum that Critical Race Theory is divisive because it portrays white people as racist, and argued that a better approach to addressing racism in society is to follow the approach of Martin Luther King, who said we should aspire to a day when people would be judged by the content of their character rather than the colour of their skin.

    However, some of Mr Corby’s colleagues then complained to bosses that his comments “demonstrated a deep-rooted hatred towards black people”, that he was “promoting racist ideas”, and that they would not feel “safe to be in contact with him in person”.

    Although ACAS dismissed these complaints, they instructed Mr Corby to remove the posts on the grounds that employees had found them offensive.

    Mr Corby then took ACAS to an employment tribunal, claiming he had been unlawfully discriminated against and his views were protected under the Equality Act 2010, in the same way as his colleagues’ views on critical race theory.

    Employment Judge Kirsty Ayre, presiding over the case in Leeds in a three-day hearing earlier this month, ruled in Corby’s favour on the basis that he had given his beliefs careful consideration and much thought.

    As such, his belief amounts to a characteristic that will now be afforded protection by Section 10 of the Equality Act.

    This is a significant victory for the cause of freedom of speech in the UK!

    Employees have of course always been legally entitled to hold colour-blind ‘opinions’ on race and race equality – but in the wake of Mr Corby’s Employment Tribunal ruling, employers will have to consider the fact that manifesting those opinions through lawful speech and action have for the first time been granted protection under the Equality Act.

    1. I wonder how Shapps can explain why it is acceptable for Kosovo to be a sovereign state, because of its ethnic make-up, yet it is unacceptable for ethnically Russian peoples in Ukraine to do similarly?

      2. 377263+ up ticks,

        Morning S,

        Good question BUT,

        Being of English stock, currently “yours is NOT to wonder why yours is but to get jabbed ,and die”.

        For the benefit of the party of course.

      3. He’s one of the small-hatters so he’s probably on-board with the anti-Orthodox Christian brigade not to mention the Kalergi-inspired dilution of indigenous European peoples.

        Edited to add:

        The war-mongers don’t really care whether it’s mostly Ukrainians or Russians who do the dying. They’re all Orthodox Christian men. It’s a ‘brother war’ fomented by foreigners. As usual.

        1. He claims to be agnostic and indifferentist although he follows traditions.
          I suspect similar applies to many Nottlers and their own family traditions re religion.

          1. Here’s another take on it. The population of Ukraine has fallen from 44 million to about 36 million as people have fled. many saying they will never return. A prolongation and spread of the war towards central and Western Ukraine will exacerbate matters. The emptying of this territorially large country will leave the room for the re-migration of Israelis with an Eastern European background, who don’t feel safe in Isreal, to their ancestral homeland in the old Jewish pale of settlement once enough Orthodox Christians have been removed by being killed or turned into refugees. It’s the same game that the Jewish Bolsheviks played.

          2. It’s dem damned jewboys again, of course it is. /sarc

            Seriously, how many such Jews would flee Israel to leave themselves defenceless and unsupported in a ruined area?

            It’s far more likely that the incomers into Western Europe from Africa and the Middle East will be encouraged into any vacant territory.
            Kills two birds (or more) with one stone as far as Europe is concerned.

          3. Here’s another take on it. The population of Ukraine has fallen from 44 million to about 36 million as people have fled. many saying they will never return. A prolongation and spread of the war towards central and Western Ukraine will exacerbate matters. The emptying of this territorially large country will leave the room for the re-migration of Israelis with an Eastern European background, who don’t feel safe in Isreal, to their ancestral homeland in the old Jewish pale of settlement once enough Orthodox Christians have been removed by being killed or turned into refugees. It’s the same game that the Jewish Bolsheviks played.

    2. 30 plus million views – perhaps the message is finally beginning to permeate wider society. No wonder those favouring censorship are keen to restrict internet access.

    1. Would it be indelicate to note that those most in favour of prosecuting the war against the Russians in Ukraine , Blincken, Nuland and now Schapps all have the same heritage?

  30. Is it possible to get rid of the advertising on the replies section. It’s driving me nuts.

    1. Depends on your device I think – I get them on my phone but not the laptop, where Adblock+ takes care of them.

  34. Late on parade this morning, slept in after a night interrupted by the side effects of Metformin, I won’t go into details but suffice to say the bog seat never had time to go cold between visits 😖

  38. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to a pair of scientists who developed the technology that led to the mRNA Covid vaccines.
    Prof Katalin Kariko and Prof Drew Weissman will share the prize.
    The technology was experimental before the pandemic, but has now been given to millions of people around the world.
    The same mRNA technology is now being researched for other diseases, including cancer.
    The Nobel Prize Committee said: “The laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.”
    Both were told they had won by telephone this morning and were said to be “overwhelmed”.

    3. Overwhelmed with the number of injures and deaths their research has led to? The huge increase in “died suddnly” heart attacks, young people with turbo cancers……. not to mention the numbers of people who will have to live the rest of their lives with heart damage?

      1. I forgot to mention the men and women whose reproductive systems have been permanently damaged, the unborn who were spontaneously miscarried………..

    5. It’s has done wonders for cancer. I’m seeing more and more testimonies on TwitX from people whose nearest and dearest have developed multiple fast growing cancers post jab. Yes, it’s anecdotal evidence. These days, that’s the kind I trust most.

      1. I attended the funeral of a friend’s wife in Suffolk, in August. She was in remission from breast cancer. Until it returned in turbocharged form. It would have been somewhat insensitive to ask of her widower “So, Trevor, was Lesley up to date with her Covid jabs?” But I think I know the answer…

  39. Afternoon All

    Belated Medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/47b2aba8be8a04f3986a0234fefffb795fbc9b49f35b79470b8aba06dc965df2.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c8aa52930571a7e9f4344acc49bc665d307737280c677f5da01aecddf039cdb.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3f2c9ccb8d86b3c468a9bf80f9d32980f03526d2201ec030c6004e59770d013a.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f343b9ab935c2682e899dd2f845259d14d250810a5e7c5b79dc5c4cf2f4e8d31.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c56f418692364bd3e83eb7da608f4962629a2ef89d8b5f5a203f5c15027a6bb0.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/035009505982be23bdb24a967ce5d2299b46f0c1e942988595ef2907a0d0ea23.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02c1bfd7b88b26ffcf2c46a590c1a8d5f69b45e55b3c2794f952914aeb02790b.jpg

    1. The glue one reminds me of a comment by Swift:
      “It was a bold man who first ate an oyster.”

      2. The French were happy to eat frogs and snails. It was several hundred years before they thought of cooking them first.

        1. The Welsh used a sheeps intestines as a condom. The English came along and took them out of the sheep first

      3. What about the guy who said “I’m going to eat what has just dropped from that hens arse”

          2. Grate some trombetti into a jar. Add a teaspoon of salt. Leave for a week or two on the side. Shake occasionally. You have now made your own fermented probiotic. Excellent for upset tummies.

          8. Strangely enough farting is good for the biome ! Doesn’t stink either because of the speed !

      2. I wonder if joining via zoom is still an option. How many might be still hiding at home, masked and with a laptop and lateral flow test?

    3. I didn’t realise that so many doctors and consultants formed the core of the conservative party. 🤔

    4. I didn’t realise that so many doctors and consultants formed the core of the conservative party. 🤔

    5. Afternoon Anne. I can remember when these affairs were attended by zealots of both persuasions. Even the one where the real Labour supporter was arrested as a terrorist by Blair and his pals. They made sure that he and his like never attended again!

  41. Just heard the news that I am to become a Great-grandad for the 7th time – is the fact that non of their parents are married just a sign of the times or a sign of non-commitment?

    2. Congratulations, Spikey! In answer to your question I think it’s definitely a sign of the times!

      3. If you stopped playing “Fight the good fight” as the bride comes down the aisle perhaps more couples would hire you?

        1. “Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways” is a popular wedding hymn. Said no-one, ever.

          At the marriage of a couple of friends, way back, they returned to the church for more photos, after the Mendelssohn Wedding March. Accompanied by the Muppet Show theme. “I’ll get you for that!”, quoth the bride. Entirely coincidentally, of all the Grahams at the reception (Dawn of that ilk was the bride), they managed to omit yours truly from the seating plan…

    4. All three of us : my best man, the father of one of my godsons and I all waited for 5 years or more after we married before having children. The marriages have all lasted and the children all flourished.

      In my view having children is a greater responsibility and commitment than marrying – and yet people today are prepared to take on the greater commitment of having children but are not prepared to take on the lesser commitment of marriage.

      One of my nephews planned to get married but owing to Covid his marriage was postponed twice so finally he and his now wife decided to get started before they were married.

      1. “In my view having children is a greater responsibility and commitment than marrying – and yet people today are prepared to take on the greater commitment of having children but are not prepared to take on the lesser commitment of marriage.”

        An excellent observation and a great truth. I shall use it.

      2. To me, marriage is a state of mind, not a state of contract.
        It took us ten years to start sprogging, and there is 10 years between the two lads. Marriage has lasted 41 years so far. Aren’t we dull?

      1. I think the biggest problem is the cost of housing , living apart with their respective parents seems to be the cheapest option whilst saving for a deposit. One grandaughter was paying £1000 a month for a flat yet a mortgage on a house would be a lot less than that but she couldn’t save enough to get a mortgage so lives with her parents

  42. According to Katie Hopkins the good people of Wales are out with battery angle grinders (£39.99 from Argos) felling the 20 mph signs.

    1. As someone who may or may not be wiser than me said on this forum last week, we may or may not wish we were able to partake in this Anglo-Saxon rebellion against repression/disgraceful unlawful behaviour*

      *delete as applicable

    2. As someone who may or may not be wiser than me said on this forum last week, we may or may not wish we were able to partake in this Anglo-Saxon rebellion against repression/disgraceful unlawful behaviour*

      *delete as applicable

    3. As someone who may or may not be wiser than me said on this forum last week, we may or may not wish we were able to partake in this Anglo-Saxon rebellion against repression/disgraceful unlawful behaviour*

      *delete as applicable

    5. The only cordless angle grinder on the Argos site is £130. Hacksaws are cheaper, if slower. Amazon has cheapo angle grinders from £15, but they’re ‘bare’ – i.e. the battery is extra.

  43. 377267+ up ticks,

    MRNA researchers win nobel prize, to my mind , we witnessed it being used in its uncertain, tested fit to use beyond doubt on humans stage, resulting in death and serious ongoing injuries.

    To me it smacks of those who were responsible for its use initially without full safety certainty are, as in mafia speak,
    ” making their bones”

    2. High on the agenda is eradicating the blasphemy culture surrounding the NHS. It is not a world-beating health service and the longer we lie to ourselves that it is, the more patients will suffer.

      Hear hear.

  46. I’ve just set my machine to record the Gunpowder Plot on Timewatch tonight. Just to brush up you understand?

  48. CULTURE CLASH
    Black Market Traders
    Steven Tucker
    https://www.takimag.com/article/black-market-traders/

    So, let’s get this straight: A certain type of black person in Britain wants to live separately from other races in their own little Bantustans, to buy products and services only from other blacks, and to live according to their own black laws, under their own black police forces. Why don’t they fuck off and live in Africa, then? Perhaps because if they start acting like this over there, the modern-day equivalents of Idi Amin will immediately kill them.

      1. All a bit silly really. There are far more whites than blacks. If we quietly do the same they will all go broke.

        2. Not on a global scale, Phil. Globally, we’re the minority. What did the Whites ever do for this world? Er – where to start? It’s a long list…

        1. Had my delivery today at noon. A whole side of salmon half price at £11. All portioned up and in the freezer.

          2. No food poisoning in this household !

            Skin the salmon place a sprig of dill on top and wrap in puff or flaky pastry. Egg yolk glaze.

            Bake for 15 to 20 mins until nicely browned and serve with a homemade hollandaise. Green beans and new potatoes. Serve with a nice Sancerre.

            No need to thank me.

          3. We have a smoker and Caroline smoked a 5 pound salmon a couple of weeks ago. Delicious.

            We have already eaten half of it and the rest is in the freezer.

          4. “Caroline smoked a 5 pound salmon a couple of weeks ago” I always preferred a Davidoff cigar, but each to their own…

          6. Like the sound of that, I have the requirements, including the Sancerre, so I will give it a try.

          7. Great!
            You can make up the parcels and freeze those ready to bake. Takes the hassle out of dinner parties.
            Easy to scale up as well using a whole side and two sheets of Jus-rol pastry. Makes a showstopper Salmon Wellington for the center of the table.

          8. My daughter makes a good hollandaise (using my butter). We freeze it in ice-cube trays. Works well.

          9. Excellent. You can’t beat homemade hollandaise. Or rather you can ! Shop bought just doesn’t do it. I like a lot of lemon juice in mine.

        2. The media called Dame Sharon White “Dame Empty Shelves”

          She countered this by spending large amounts of company money on advertising.

          The media no longer call her “Dame Empty Shelves”

          Pity that she didn’t spend that money on improving her supply chain.

      2. I bought a lovely bottle of pink champagne from M&S last week. Part present for my good ladies birthday.
        It was my thankyou for my Illegal Eagles birthday day surprise. The other part was some sparkling earrings.
        Can you see what did there ?
        Perfect choice for the start of our family lunch gathering yesterday.
        Dela Court medium dry Rosè.
        £ 26.00. Excellent. Much cheaper than a round of drinks. 🤗 🥂🍾

      3. I bought a lovely bottle of pink champagne from M&S last week. Part present for my good ladies birthday.
        It was my thankyou for my Illegal Eagles birthday day surprise. The other part was some sparkling earrings.
        Can you see what did there ?
        Perfect choice for the start of our family lunch gathering yesterday.
        Dela Court medium dry Rosè.
        £ 26.00. Excellent. Much cheaper than a round of drinks. 🤗 🥂🍾

      5. We bought sandwiches in M&S recently and Carol gave the cashier an old John Lewis plastic bag for the purchase. The chap said it made his day to put M&S products into an empty John Lewis carrier bag.

    2. Far too late for them. You cannot run a business on free newspapers and free cups of coffee. WhenI saw people wandering round the food store slurping their coffee it was the last time I went in.

      1. Funny she didn’t leave immediately. I suppose £1,000,000 a year is a bit of a draw….

    3. She’ll blunder into her next 7 figure salary without any issue and ruin that, move on again and again up the quango/globalist chain until she ruins at ever more damaging levels.

      Although, eventually she, like all the other globalist wonks, will reach a point where they find themselves climbing a scaffold and facing justice for their oh so well meaning malice.

  50. Dropped off some jigsaws at British Heart Foundation this morning and i had a look at the menswear. Two Charles Tyrwhitt shirts for £7. I also got a Breton stripe tshirt for £2. Bargain !

      1. I was actually wearing my Picasso Breton when i went in. That one cost £51. Never knowingly underdressed me.

          1. It is a shirt much like my sparkly dinner jacket to wear on special occasions to wow any Nottlers to join me for lunch. Works every time !!!

    3. My Dad died from a pulmonary embolism so all my larks go to British Heart Foundation. When I handed over about £4000 worth of lego and Star Wars games – practically brand new – the lass didn’t really know what to say.

      2. You should have Ebay auctioned them ! The volunteers don’t necessarily know what they are getting. They are just volunteers unpaid in a shop. Nice to find the odd pair of barely worn top end shoes though.

    4. I’ve bought the occasional CT shirt and even a jacket in charity shops. Good qualilty clothes at a fraction of the price. Doing my bit for recycling and the planet 🙂

    2. Foxes, badgers, deer, boar, rabbits, hares, cows, cats, dogs, squirrels, hedgehogs, weasels, stoats, horses, mice, voles, moles, humans, and a very smelly goat have all visited our garden. That’s about it for mammals and of course many species of bird.

      Some are more welcome than others!

      Funnily enough we have never seen a rat – but I’m sure that rats have come.

      1. A rat in the wild is not a problem. The numbers remain in balance. It’s only in urban areas with all the rubbish and fast food everywhere that they become a problem.

      3. We used to get rats coming out of the beck behind the house to forage on seeds lying in the chicken run. They were quite brazen until I got a new dog. He has a bit of Lurcher in him and goes like a train – overconfident rat got caught and killed. I threw the carcase over by the beck pour encourager les autres.

    3. I’ve had my little grandson ‘helping’ me make bread and a squirrel just arrived on the wall by the kitchen window. Looking at us briefly. Now we have thunder lightning and heavy rain.

    4. He looks a bit thin and threadbare. I saw one this afternoon while I was walking back up from the Post van – I thouht at first it was a brown dog on its own – then he turned round and I could see the white tip of the tail – as he trotted off and out of sight. He (or she) looked healthy.

      1. One of my 1st runs on the Gospel Oak-Barking line, somewhere near Upper Holloway I think, there was a fox struggling to climb a 1m high concrete revetment at the bottom of a cutting so it could get off the line.
        Poor bugger was riddled with mange and had next to no fur left. A .22 bullet through it’s brain would have been a kindness.

  52. HS2 to Manchester to be scrapped. 2 October 2023.

    The Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 will be scrapped, The Telegraph understands.

    The decision not to go ahead with the northern leg of the high speed railway is expected to be announced by Rishi Sunak when he delivers his Tory conference speech on Wednesday.

    They can’t even do this right! The whole thing should have been chopped.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/10/02/conservatives-truss-hunt-tory-party-conference-2023-live/

    1. The construction is going to be stopped but the payments will continue for the next twenty years.

    2. They won’t. Too much money and special favours pouring into London, too many jobs for the boys out there. Far too much of a political loss to scrap the whole thing.

      And that is the reason why this abomination should be scrapped.

    1. For reasons I don’t understand – at any level – this government refuses to accept that the only way to grow the economy is to cut taxes. They seem pathologically determined to do the exact opposite of what should be done. Their every action is wrong, and the laud it as a success.

    1. Those soldiers are not going be greatful Mr Shllapps.
      You are in danger of repeating the same deadly errors that Blair and d
      Daft Vader made.
      These young brits would have been better employed sorting out our own problems, those being caused by Westminster and Whitehall. It’s bound to become another parliamentary eff up.
      EVERYTHING THEY COME INTO CONTACT WITH. Just watch.

    2. Who’s fighting who in Serbia…sorry, Kosovo?

      RT did a feature last night on the elections in Slovakia. Even before polling closed, the pro-Russia party had almost certainly won but will need to form a coalition in order to govern. Even if they succeed, EU HQ will be furious and try to take them down.

      1. I see…. the pro-Russia party….. the West didn’t waste any time. I’m so fed up of all this.

        1. All those publications are deeply biased with an agenda to push. They can’t be trusted.

  56. The Critic has a couple of important articles: one on IPSO and the grooming gangs, and one on the state of free speech in Britain’s state-run universities. You won’t read this in the MSM.

  57. S.S. Hatasu.

    Complement:
    47 (40 dead and 7 survivors).
    Ballast

    At 23.45 hours on 2nd October 1941 the unescorted Hatasu (Master William Johnston Meek), a straggler from convoy ON-19, was hit by one of two torpedoes from U-431 (Wilhelm Dommes) about 540 miles northeast of Cape Race. The ship opened fire with a stern gun and forced the U-boat to dive, but broke in two and sank after being hit by a coup de grâce at 00.28 hours on 3rd October. The master, 33 crew members and six gunners were lost. Seven crew members were picked up from a lifeboat after seven days by USS Charles F. Hughes (DD 428) and landed at Reykjavik.

    Type VIIC U-Boat U-431 was sunk on 21st October 1943 in the Mediterranean Sea east of Cartagena, Spain by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (179 Sqn RAF/Z). 52 dead (all hands lost).

    https://uboat.net/media/allies/merchants/br/hatasu.jpg

  58. BBC headline: The chancellor has vowed to freeze civil service expansion, return staffing to pre-pandemic levels and save £1 billion.

    It’s a start but getting back to pre-Blair levels ought to be the target.

    1. And how many times has that been said! We dont need words or new policies, just get on and sythe through the nlob.

  59. Another five here

    Wordle 835 5/6

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

    1. A pleasant 3 today.

      Wordle 835 3/6

      ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Snap.

      Wordle 835 5/6

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

      1. Probably because I’ve just got home after 8 days’ incarceration with heart problems

        1. Whatever else life might throw at me, being a heartless bastard ensures that at least I won’t have to go through that!

  62. That’s me gone. Quiet evening. Decent night’s sleep (some hopes) and a gentle day at home alone tomorrow. The MR is attending a study day on jewellery and then – what larks – a PCC meeting. So I shall have baked beans on toast for my luncheon.

    Have a smashing evening.

    A demain. Prolly

  63. The crime wave is about to swamp Britain’s economy. 2 October 2023.

    The American retailer Target last week announced that it was closing nine branches across the US, including in Harlem, Portland and San Francisco. The reason? Not rising costs, as you might expect, or weak demand, or shifting patterns of shopping. It was something far more sinister. According to the company, the levels of crime made it impossible to do business anymore.

    We may think that is just an American problem. But British retailers are facing the same kind of crime wave – and if we don’t get a grip on it soon it is going to swamp our economy.

    It was one of the bluntest rebukes to the US’s dysfunctional policing system yet seen. In announcing a round of store closures, Target stated that “we cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organised retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance”.

    There’s nothing we can do about any of this except watch out for ourselves. This is the culmination of years of Political Incompetence and Socialist Fantasy.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/02/the-crime-wave-is-about-to-swamp-britains-economy/

      1. I read today that boarded up shops and other buildings were being used to grow ‘MaryJane’. Some of those other buildings turned out to be closed Police stations. I know smoking that stuff can give you the giggles but that is not funny.

  65. Sigmund Freud walks into a bar:
    Sits down and orders a banana daiquiri and a hotdog. He looks over to the stage and Mozart comes out and starts going crazy on a keyboard. Freud downs his drink, flips a few tables and runs out angrily. Mozart looks at the barman and asks, “What was that about?” The barman replies. “Pianist envy.”

        2. Glad you’ve resurfaced, hope all is as well with you as you would hope for yourself.

        3. Hello sj! We’re relieved and glad to see you’re still alive, kicking and ready to join the fray once again. Welcome home to Nottleland.

    2. If you are employed by me you are now fired ! If you are not employed by me my toilet needs unblocking.

  66. Off topic, re thugby

    Eddie Jones: Wallabies’ World Cup coach backed by Rugby Australia chief

    More fool them.
    He’ll coach out talented runners in favour of kick and charge players. The only possible saving grace is that the most talented footballers head for “rules” and league so he might not have the pool of thugs he usually prefers and be forced into running rugby.

    1. You can see why Khan travels in a convoy of bullet proof range rovers. The Jews would like to crucify him. I know i would and i still have a foreskin.

    2. 377263+ up ticks,

      Evening S,
      Am I hearing right,400 junior schools are running a scheme regarding indigenous children befriending migrant children with nursery classes and, golly me, multi coloured dolls
      Could it be that hopefully the migrant kids could pick up the indigenous kids good points that could be the mindset of the overseers, but more likely the mindset could be to undermine our kids way of thinking, early doors.

      1. Multi-coloured dolls? I could have sworn a publican was arrested last year for the temerity of owning such objects.

      2. In my, albeit limited, experience, most children are utterly colourblind until the ages of 6 or 7, and even then the differences are pushed by adults.

  68. 377263+ up ticks,

    May one say,

    Is it, is it not ? off the track , HS2 that is, if so it’s a sure short term vote winner for the misguided.
    The cartel will retain power and we will still be in the frying pan.

    The alternative is the fire in the shape of lab.

    What a game of soldiers the only ones making money are those producing mini angle grinders.

  70. The NHS will BAN desflurane – an anaesthetic gas used in major surgery – by next year in an attempt to meet net zero targets as #NHSEngland believe it has global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide.

    OK, let’s anaesthetise all “greeniacs” with CO² when they have operations.

    1. Patient: “Ow! Why can’t I have that anaesthetic gas?”
      Surgeon: “Shut up. It’s for the good of the planet”.

      1. Patient: “Oh, Ok; that’s alright then”
        Surgeon: “Bravo, you’re on message, I’ve cancelled your operation for the good of the planet”

    2. Are they going to go back to getting the patient drunk or smacking them on the head with a rounders bat?

  71. Sergeant Thomas Frank Durrant VC (17th October 1918 – 28th March 1942), No. 1 Commando.

    During the St. Nazaire raid Sergeant Durrant was in charge of a twin Lewis gun on board H.M. Motor Launch 306. As it came up the river Loire to the port of St Nazaire ML306 came under heavy fire from the shore and was unable to land its troops at the Old Mole and it is during its withdrawal that it came head-to-head with a pursuing German destroyer of the Mowe class, the Jaguar. In the battle with the German destroyer Durrant was wounded numerous times, in the head, both arms, legs, chest and stomach. After the battle Durrant died of his wounds in a German military hospital in St Nazaire. Following his death he was buried in La Baule-Escoublac War Cemetery, 7 miles from Saint-Nazaire, in Plot I, Row D, Grave 11. A week later the commander of the German destroyer, Kapitänleutnant F. K. Paul, met the Commando commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Charles Newman, in a prisoner of war camp in Rennes. Bringing the action to Newman’s attention, Paul suggested that the colonel might wish to recommend Durrant for a high award.

    His Victoria Cross citation reads:

    For great gallantry, skill and devotion to duty when in charge of a Lewis gun in HM Motor Launch 306 in the St Nazaire raid on 28th March 1942.

    Motor Launch 306 came under heavy fire while proceeding up the River Loire towards the port. Sergeant Durrant, in his position abaft the bridge, where he had no cover or protection, engaged enemy gun positions and searchlights ashore. During this engagement he was severely wounded in the arm but refused to leave his gun. The Motor Launch subsequently went down the river and was attacked by a German destroyer at 50 to 60 yards range, and often closer. In this action Sergeant Durrant continued to fire at the destroyer’s bridge with the greatest of coolness and with complete disregard of the enemy’s fire. The Motor Launch was illuminated by the enemy searchlight, and Sergeant Durrant drew on himself the individual attention of the enemy guns, and was again wounded in many places. Despite these further wounds he stayed in his exposed position, still firing his gun, although after a time only able to support himself by holding on to the gun mounting.

    After a running fight, the Commander of the German destroyer called on the Motor Launch to surrender. Sergeant Durrant’s answer was a further burst of fire at the destroyer’s bridge. Although now very weak, he went on firing, using drums of ammunition as fast as they could be replaced. A renewed attack by the enemy vessel eventually silenced the fire of the Motor Launch, but Sergeant Durrant refused to give up until the destroyer came alongside, grappled the Motor Launch and took prisoner those who remained alive.

    Sergeant Durrant’s gallant fight was commended by the German officers on boarding the Motor Launch. This very gallant non-commissioned officer later died of the many wounds received in action.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/Durrant.jpg

    1. When even your enemy recognises extreme bravery one knows it was a richly deserved acknowledgement of the sacrifice.

  72. Idling through some American newspapers on Press Reader and it seems Pres. Jimmy Carter has just turned 99.

    Turns out Sting is 72 and Phil Oakley is 68. And Don Maclean is 78. Mike Rutherford is 73. (I could probably have got this from the Terriblegraph but whatevs as the kidz say).

    Seems it’s all happening today!

    1. If you want a rebuttal of IQ being a definitive test, recall that Jimmy was one of the highest Presidents in US history.

  74. Well it has been 54 years since I studied ‘Hamlet” for English GCE O level. Haven’t picked up the text since revision for the exam. So it was a delightful surprise to be able to speak out loud a number of lines whilst watching the RSC production with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant (now on iPlayer BBC 4).

    Oh that this too too solid ice would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into my nightcap – Adieu!

    1. Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well. I was excused Eng Lit O Level on the grounds of its being a step too far for taking the exams a year early.

      1. I was excused it because I got zero in the mock exam. I filled out my name and handed the paper in then went home.

        1. I read Romeo and Juliet for my o’level. I was lucky enough to see the Franco Zeffirelli film. The only reason i passed.

    2. Both fine actors. (terrible politics !)
      I had the pleasure of watching Patrick Stewart play the lead in ‘Bingo’ at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Given the lay out of the stage he was within 3 feet. As he spoke his lines i could feel his breath. Very intense.

  75. EU foreign ministers are taking part in a “historic” meeting in the Ukrainian capital, even as the war grinds on into its 20th month. “We are convening in a historic meeting of the EU foreign ministers here in Ukraine, candidate country and future member of the EU,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced. He said it is to “express our solidarity and support to the Ukrainian people,” but also cautioned that the meeting “does not have the aim of reaching concrete conclusions and decisions.”

    “Careless talk costs lives…..”

    1. Ukraine is ideal for the EU. Both are utterly corrupt, both are (currently) lacking any form of democratic control. Both are vicious toward neighbouring nations. No doubt the EU is hoping to profit from Ukraine’s global stage – and all the cash flowing in to it for arms deals.

      1. Just look at the reaction of the EU to Fico’s election in Slovakia. A small country by comparison to Poland yet both are defying EU directives to contribute further arms to Ukraine.

        The aid to Ukraine is the single largest money laundering operation in recent times. Thankfully Russia has the wherewithal to see the existential threat posed and has the firepower to prevent Ukraine from achieving western objectives and ambitions.

        The EU is proven to be the tyrannical and authoritarian outfit most of us recognised years ago. The EU will hopefully lose more member states and disappear in a few years. Those countries adopting the Euro will do well to return to their national currencies and thereby prosper as independent nation states.

    2. The war began longer ago than that. More like when the CIA orchestrated the Maidan Putsch.

  76. £70 dropped on Waitrose online. They *DO* have jus rol pastry, so got some of that and some good sausages. And cakes and pies. And cheese and biscuits. I’ll do another one tomorrow for the dogs and hoomahns, namely getting some vegetables in and some better hams for sandwiches. Only danger is taking the Warqueen with me as being on a long weekend she’ll want to ‘do things’ together and I cannot imagine a more boring activity than shopping.

    No real food, just puff. £70 doesn’t get you an awful lot these days.

    2. I buy things that can be changed around to make different types of meals or snacks. From eggs and ham i could make a dozen different dishes. Especially with things from the larder.
      If i actually enter a supermarket it is just for the ‘puff’ items. My sensible shop is always done online.

  77. The West must find the moral courage to say ‘no’ to refugees

    Elites feel perfectly justified in allowing mass-illegal immigration, assisting it, and then silencing its critics

    CHRISTOPHER BEDFORD • 2 October 2023 • 11:42am

    “Is the German public aware of this?” Elon Musk posted on Friday morning. His Tweet highlighted a video from the Mediterranean Sea, appearing to show illegal immigrants getting rescued from a small craft by the masked and uniformed crew of a much-larger ship.

    “There are currently [eight] German NGO [non-government organization] ships in the Mediterranean Sea collecting illegal immigrants to be unloaded in Italy,” the commentary read. These NGOs are subsidized by the German government.”

    “Yes,” the German Foreign Office responded an hour later. “And it’s called saving lives.”

    It may have seemed like an insignificant interaction–a tech CEO getting snarky and a ministry “clapping back”–but it’s an illustrative back-and-forth, highlighting the forces behind the mass migration crisis facing the West, from Texas’s Eagle Pass to Italy’s Lampedusa island.

    The first thing it sheds light on is how organised mass, illegal migration to the Europe and the United States is. The second is how most people have no idea it’s all organised in the first place. The third is that those behind these efforts shield themselves in a self-righteousness incredible to behold. And finally, that because of this righteousness, they hold the electorate – the angry and the ignorant alike – in total contempt and disregard.

    A common narrative of illegal immigration is a hard-scrabble family striving fleeing war or persecution, boarding a ship filled with other families, and sailing in under the Statue of Liberty. This view of the past may have been rose-colored, but today it’s an utter fantasy, replaced by the reality of teeming caravans and ships filled with military-aged men, actively run (and often, trafficked) by brutal criminal gangs, cartels, and the bleeding-heart NGOs that provide a humanitarian shield for the whole operation.

    Few people realize all this – and that’s intentional. When people, even powerful people like Musk, talk about it, they’re shunned. Commentators who speak to this reality are called conspiracists or racists. Those who warn about the consequences are called the same. It took years for reports of rising homicides or gang activity in Sweden, for instance, to break into the public consciousness. Those who were ostracized for warning it was happening receive no apology, the victims themselves receive little justice, and it all goes on as before.

    There’s a reason Western elites feel so perfectly justified in allowing mass-illegal immigration, assisting it, and then silencing its critics: they hold an ironclad belief in their own moral superiority. Take the tweet from the German Foreign Office: if you don’t think the men in sprawling migrant camps should outnumber citizens on an Italian island, you’re on the side of more dead refugees.

    This belief leads to all sorts of consequences for those on the wrong end of the elite’s debate. Punishments for politicians who fight to protect their country’s borders – from Italy’s Matteo Salvini to the Netherland’s Inger Stojberg to Donald Trump – begin with relentless attack, and end in prosecutions. The message is clear: Cross the system, pay the price.

    The results are clear for all to see. The hundreds of thousands of expensive tents that popped up all over American cities over the past three years weren’t bought by the mentally ill drug addicts who live in them, but by activist groups. The crime waves sweeping American cities aren’t the results of changing weather patterns, but activists and politicians closing schools, decriminalizing law-breaking, ending bail, and handicapping police. The mass illegal migrations swamping Italy, overwhelming Texas and causing panic in England aren’t caused by gravity, but by virtually-open-borders policies facilitated by criminal gangs and lubricated by nonprofits.

    It may be too late to end this, but we have to try. If we’re to stand a chance at stopping this mess, the first step to recovery will be admitting we have a problem, and that it isn’t entirely a natural one. Our decline is a choice.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/02/the-west-must-find-the-moral-courage-to-say-no-to-refugees

    1. No one ever asks if it’s fair on those forced to pay for the criminal immigrants. No one asks what they will do when they’re here. No one asks why they don’t apply legally. It is simply enforced that we will take as many as want to come here, feed, clothe and house them indefinitely, ask nothing of them.

      They’re criminals, for goodness sake. The answer is obvious. Get the Italian navy out there and when the German quango boats appear, sail out and tell them to turn back or they’ll open fire. The invasion must end. It’s either they’re turned back at gunpoint at the outset or they get here and start killing us.

  78. Not a lot done today.
    Took a couple of dozen surplus jars to a lady up in the village and had tea with my Sister in Law in the church. Brother in Law appears to be improving and can now walk short distances.

    Weather’s turned foul tonight and I’m off to bed.
    G’night all.

    1. Your BiL is doing well. I hope he continues to improve. Get yourself a good night’s sleep.

  79. Evening, all. Just back from a Parish Council meeting and worn out 🙁 I’ve been playing catch up all day; was late-ish getting to the RAFA meeting because I had a phone call just as I was about to take Kadi for a walk, then I met two others walking their dogs who wanted to pass the time of day (one can’t be churlish, can one?). Already running late, I discovered that Shropshire Council had shut off the A49 and I had to go all round via Hodnet and Shawbury to get to Shrewsbury. On the way back I took an even more scenic route. Then my alarm didn’t sound to alert me to the need to get going to the Parish Council meeting (I have lots of emails to check beforehand and one tends to get carried away). Halfway there, I realised I hadn’t turned off the heating, but I was already running late so I left it on. When I got there, they had changed internet provider and I couldn’t log in to the new router, which meant I couldn’t access the agenda. To cap it all, I dashed off because I hadn’t sent the boys out for a wee before I left and I was a bit concerned at what I might find (in the event it was all okay) and so forgot to pick up what I should have taken. Aagghh!! As for the headline; Welby was put there to wreck the CofE and to facilitate the destruction of a hitherto largely Christian country. He should be replaced by someone who actually supports England, never mind Christianity.

    1. Oh, dear, Conners it’s rotten when days like that just happen out of the blue. I hope you get a decent night’s sleep and that tomorrow runs much more smoothly.

      1. Thank you, Elsie. I should get a better night’s sleep because I don’t have anything in the morning, just an evening meeting. Also I have finally managed to sort out my house insurance and that’s a weight off my mind (it expires at the end of the week). I really don’t deal with deadlines very well any more.

    1. That is not very inclusive at all. They should be ashamed of themselves. Not only am i not an employee of the NHS or menopausal but i still feel i should be given this benefit !

    2. That is not very inclusive at all. They should be ashamed of themselves. Not only am i not an employee of the NHS or menopausal but i still feel i should be given this benefit !

  84. As with all wars and conflicts these are disputes about resources usually water, oil, minerals and gas. The war in Ukraine is about gas, specifically LNG, who supplies it to Europe and at what cost.

    The reason the US destroyed Nordstream 2 was to prevent Germany buying plentiful supplies of gas from Russia and via sanctions to ensure that Germany would have to buy more expensive gas from the US. More expensive for the reason that the gas has to be transported across an ocean in tankers from source to user.

    The mystery to me personally is why on earth German politicians have gone along with the US attack on their economy. Germany is now in recession and their defence minister (another stupid woman) is being shat on by another Ukrainian politician crook in a suit.

    As in the U.K. our governing politicians are just stupid. They seem to have learned nothing from a study of history, they have no allegiance to our interests in the U.K. and they seem to dutifully follow directions from a bunch of crooks in the US White House.

    I just hope the UK people wake up to what is actually happening in world affairs.

    1. And so ‘The Great Game’ continues. I wonder how many folk in the UK will be bothered to read this piece explaining some of the geo-political machinations around (as one BTL Comment puts it) the oldest continuously Christian country in the World.

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-nagorno-karabakh-no-more

      PS I found having Google Maps open in a separate window helped me understand the geographical implications of the political moves.

    2. And so ‘The Great Game’ continues. I wonder how many folk in the UK will be bothered to read this piece explaining some of the geo-political machinations around (as one BTL Comment puts it) the oldest continuously Christian country in the World.

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-nagorno-karabakh-no-more

      PS I found having Google Maps open in a separate window helped me understand the geographical implications of the political moves.

    3. 377290 + up ticks,

      Morning C,
      The majority voter has not let us down yet in the letting us down department

      Many are wide awake the problem is, party before Country has a stronger pull.

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