Monday 1 August: Rishi Sunak’s £10 fine for a missed appointment will not dent the problems of the NHS

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

620 thoughts on “Monday 1 August: Rishi Sunak’s £10 fine for a missed appointment will not dent the problems of the NHS”

  2. ‘Morning, Peeps.  Happy 1st of August!  A nice cool start to the day here, but the rain is still avoiding us…

    Today’s leading letter:

    SIR – Rishi Sunak plans to fine patients £10 for each missed NHS appointment (report, July 31). Will he also fine those patients who never received the letter confirming their appointment, or those whose letter cancelling it was sent out in error? Will persistent “offenders” get black-listed by the NHS and so die untreated?

    He seems to have no idea what most of us have to put up with. I despair.

    Michael Round
    London SW19

    I’ll go along with this if we, the poor sodding taxpayers trying to use many broken public services, can do the same.  If, for instance, the renewal of my driving licence took 5 months then surely I should be charging the DVLA for missing (by miles) their performance target?  Seems only fair and, at a stroke, someone in our useless government might start to demand a decent service from our AWOL snivel serpents.

    2. I can beat that; I was SIX months without my driving licence while the DVLA faffed around.

  3. SIR – If women who identify as men choose to become pregnant that’s 
up to them. Perhaps they see themselves as “seahorse” dads – a species where the male goes through pregnancy and childbirth.

    But if the term “breastfeeding” (Letters, July 30) is offensive to transgender people, perhaps we should consider the affront to others caused by “chestfeeding”.

    Does this not diminish the uniquely female gift of being able to feed your child and obliterate a word that defines a feminine power?

    A person could say the colour red is blue or call a cat a dog – that doesn’t make them correct. Some may decide to use the term chestfeeding in a vain attempt to kowtow to an increasingly sensitive and victimised culture – that doesn’t make them correct either. Facts and science can’t be altered to make a group of people feel better.

    Breastfeeding is challenging, self-sacrificial, beautiful and something that only a woman can do. A new term can’t and won’t change this.

    Emilie McRae
    Trowbridge, Wiltshire

    Bravo, Emilie McRae, you are so right!

  4. SIR – Surely the ultra-woke Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists should be renaming midwives midspouses. Or if that isn’t imposing enough, birthing facilitators?

    Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
    Northwood, Middlesex

    Come now, Cynthia Double-Barrelled, their wokery is bad enough without giving them further ideas.  Take the pi55 by all means but please don’t lead them on!

  5. A couple of headlines in today’s DT:

    British motorists second only to Finland in high fuel prices

    Petrol prices in UK are higher than in 26 out of 27 EU countries

    And then we have this one, from the same person who so generously cut our fuel duty by a miserly few pence:

    Rishi Sunak promises biggest income tax cut in 30 years

    Former chancellor vows to slash basic rate from 20pc to 16pc, as he fights to overcome Liz Truss’s lead in Tory leadership contest

    He takes us for complete idiots.

    1. When comparing the two candidates for leader of the Conservatives, I preferred Rishi Sunak’s initial statement that it was better to suffer a bit of pain now than a lot of pain at a later date, when strikes for higher pay would simply stoke higher inflation which would lead to increased pain in the future. I preferred this approach to the one from Liz Truss – a former Lib/Dem – who suggested she would give handouts willy-nilly as these were what the public wanted. But now they are both as bad as each other, since Sunak has done a 180 degree U-turn. What, in my view, is needed is reduced Government spending. But, since I am neither a Conservative MP nor a card-carrying member of the Conservative, my influence on who is our next Prime Minister is absolute zero. I suspect that Truss will be the winner; I only hope that our third female Prime Minister will be closer to Margaret Thatcher than to Theresa May.

  6. Good Morning all.

    Today’s Telegraph mentions that Spain and Gibraltar are close to agreeing passport-free access to and from the Rock.

    I first visited Gib on 18th September 1961 as a student. I remember it accurately as it was the day that Dag Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General, was killed in a mysterious plane crash in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. We took the ferry to Tangier – a ‘day trip to Africa’ and an unforgettable change of scene.

    38 years later I drove my wife from Spain into Gib, wanting to show her the fabulous view of Africa from the 1397 foot summit of the Rock as well as its Barbary apes. Alas, it was Gibraltar Day, September 10th and the cable car to the summit was closed for the holiday. The inhabitants were relaxing in the many bars and wearing red shirts to celebrate Gibraltar’s continued independence from Spain.

    What did Spain do? On the border exit road they posted just one guard who insisted on examining the contents of every car leaving the territory and causing a huge tail-back. There were long banners on lamp posts urging visitors to complain to their governments about this deliberate and illegal restriction on tourism and trade.

    I wish Gibraltarians well in their attempt to relieve this daily bottleneck to both visitors and workers to and from Spain.

    1. Gibraltar constitutes the largest employer in Andalusia, excluding the Spanish public sector. The government elite in Madrid have never cared much about the fringes of the kingdom of Spain, but without Gib there would be muchos problemas.

      1. It is just a teeny bit hypocritical for Spain to insist that Britain hands back Gibraltar to them while refusing to countenance the return of their TWO Spanish enclaves in Morocco – Ceuta and Melilla.

    2. Does this mean Spain will be adopting the nasty froggy trick with running illegals across in rubber boats.

    3. My only visit to Gibraltar was in the early years of the century, when my father was working there as a locum. He’d somehow wangled a pass to drive up to the top of the mountain, and we spent pleasant hours admiring the view, greeting the apes, and playing with thr gun emplacements. It was only as we climbed back over to the fence to get back in the car that he expressed relief we hadn’t been shot down by the army and I realised we’d been up there illegally 🤣 Ah, life was never boring with him around.

      1. As a child my father always enjoyed creeping up behind me and jabbing me in the ribs. He did it in Gib to a monkey which turned around and bit him. He had to have stitches at the hospital. Oh how i laughed and then laughed again.

  7. Good Morning all.

    Today’s Telegraph mentions that Spain and Gibraltar are close to agreeing passport-free access to and from the Rock.

    I first visited Gib on 18th September 1961 as a student. I remember it accurately as it was the day that Dag Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General, was killed in a mysterious plane crash in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. We took the ferry to Tangier – a ‘day trip to Africa’ and an unforgettable change of scene.

    38 years later I drove my wife from Spain into Gib, wanting to show her the fabulous view of Africa from the 1397 foot summit of the Rock as well as its Barbary apes. Alas, it was Gibraltar Day, September 10th and the cable car to the summit was closed for the holiday. The inhabitants were relaxing in the many bars and wearing red shirts to celebrate Gibraltar’s continued independence from Spain.

    What did Spain do? On the border exit road they posted just one guard who insisted on examining the contents of every car leaving the territory and causing a huge tail-back. There were long banners on lamp posts urging visitors to complain to their governments about this deliberate and illegal restriction on tourism and trade.

    I wish Gibraltarians well in their attempt to relieve this daily bottleneck to both visitors and workers to and from Spain.

  10. Morning all. If you came to the site before I edited it to add a link to today’s belated letters page, you may wish to refresh the page, which is now complete.

  12. Nadhim Zahawi: Vote for ‘booster’ Liz Truss over ‘doomster’ Rishi. 1 August 2022.

    Nadhim Zahawi formally endorses Liz Truss to be the next Conservative Party leader on Sunday night, comparing her “booster” economic approach to her rival Rishi Sunak’s “doomster” attitude.

    Writing for The Telegraph, the Chancellor says that Ms Truss, the Foreign Secretary, “will overturn stale economic orthodoxy and run our economy in a Conservative way”.

    Surprise! Surprise!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/31/nadhim-zahawi-vote-booster-liz-truss-doomster-rishi/

  13. Rishi Sunak’s £10 fine for a missed appointment will not dent the problems of the NHS

    Typical nationalised industry thinking, the customer is always wrong, the customer needs to be bullied, the customer should be grateful for all they get even crap service or no service at all, the people that work for a nationalised industry are more important than the customer, those at the top should be paid more than the PM for a paper shuffling non-job.

      2. When Mrs HJ calls me a cynic I counter with “No, just a realist.” This happens most days…

    2. If such a charge is imposed, I wonder if the NHS will actually get round sort out those areas where the appalling booking system is failing to notify patients of their appointments?

      An excellent letter on the matter:-

      SIR – As a GP whose surgery is always overbooked with extra patients needing to be seen urgently, I am quite relieved if the occasional booked patient doesn’t turn up as it is the only way I can even vaguely keep up. This is usually because the patient’s problem has resolved, and the non-attendance allows a slot for an emergency. The time is never wasted.

      I would much rather Mr Sunak focused on recovering the money owed by overseas’ visitors, who are not entitled to NHS care but receive it for free nevertheless because no one bothers to chase it.

      Dr Fiona Underhill
      Woodford Green, Essex

      1. Ah, but Doctor would you be prepared not to treat until the patient coughs up the money?

      1. No, Bob3. In my book Summer is June, July and August, and Autumn is September, October and November. Winter is December, January and February, then Spring is March, April and May.

        1. Thank.you! Can’t bear to think of autumn yet – I haven’t finished with summer!

        2. Sorry, Auntie Elsie, being three weeks early with all of your seasons (which are governed by the earth’s juxtaposition with the sun) would put you in line for a job at the meteorological office, which also gets the seasons’ dates wrong.

          1. I am not talking about the actual meteriological dates, young Grizzly, just the rule of thumb way I see things

          2. But, but, but… Surely the time for dates is mid-December when they arrive at these shores from Tunisia in time for Christmas with a yellow plastic stick in the box to spear them with! (Or were you thinking of the dates I enjoy all the year round when I go out with a member of the opposite sex with hope in my heart for a good long-term relationship?) Lol.

          3. Mum used to buy a box of those accursed things every Christmas: I used to retch at the thought of eating them. Apparently, though, they are a necessary part of a sticky toffee pudding, even though I’m more of a spotted dick man, myself. 😉

      2. ‘Morning, B3. Autumn equinox is 22 September, although ‘autumnal weather’ usually appears before then.

      3. ‘Morning, B3. Autumn equinox is 22 September, although ‘autumnal weather’ usually appears before then.

      5. The time of the Autumnal Equinox 2022, in Northern Hemisphere, will be at 02:03 on Friday, 23 September.

        This coming Friday, August 5, marks the mid-point of summer.

    2. August brings the sheaves of corn
      Then the harvest home is borne.

      [The Months by Sara Coleridge]

      1. After that comes good old September, the month after that I can’t quite remember. [The Months by Elsie Bloodaxe.]

  15. Another highly skilled and courageous flyer leaves us:

    Group Captain Reg Jordan, bomber pilot who flew missions over Burma and Malaya and went on to become an ‘exceptional’ instructor – obituary

    Flying long-range operations, he became adept at nursing his plane home on very little fuel

    ByTelegraph Obituaries 31 July 2022 • 12:35pm

    Group Captain Reg Jordan, who has died aged 98, was 21 years old, and the holder of the DFC, when he completed a tour of operations as the pilot of Liberator bombers flying long-range missions over Burma. He later became one of the RAF’s leading flying instructors.

    In July 1944, Jordan had started flying bombing operations with 356 Squadron, one of three Liberator squadrons tasked with attacking targets over Burma, Siam and Malaya, some sorties more than 14 hours long.

    After two missions as a second pilot to gain experience, Jordan and his 10-man crew flew their first operation together on September 24 1944 when they attacked the railway repair shops at Maymo, 30 miles east of Mandalay. Short of fuel on the return flight, Jordan had to make an emergency landing at a forward airstrip still under construction.

    By mid-October 1944, Jordan had flown just a few missions when he found himself leading a formation of four aircraft to attack the port at Moulmein (now known as Mawlamyine) in southern Burma. Cloud covered the target, so Jordan led his formation to low-level to make visual contact and the outcome was direct hits on the port facilities, despite facing heavy anti-aircraft fire. A few weeks later, a photograph of the formation’s bombing pattern appeared on the front cover of the Eastern Air Command News.

    On November 2, due to a faulty engine, Jordan had to delay his take-off for a night attack against the Makkasan railway workshops on the outskirts of Bangkok. Approaching the target after the main force had bombed and departed, his Liberator came under heavy anti-aircraft fire, but he pressed on.

    When the bomb-aimer released the bombs, the appropriate indications appeared on his panel. However, nothing was seen, and the crew became suspicious that the bombs had failed to release. By the time this was confirmed, the bomber was 100 miles from the target on its return flight.

    Jordan immediately turned back to make an attack knowing that his fuel state would be critical for the return to base.

    The second attack was successful, despite another barrage of anti-aircraft fire. Jordan and his engineer calculated that they had insufficient fuel and they nursed the bomber’s engines for maximum fuel economy before landing at Chittagong with the tanks almost empty after a 14-hour flight.

    On Christmas Eve, Jordan took off to attack the railway sidings at Phu Lang Thuong, 35 miles east of Hanoi, a target 1,300 miles from his base. After they had crossed the Irrawaddy River, the flight was over mountainous country before he let down over the Red River when the target was identified and attacked. Short of fuel on the return flight, he was once again forced to land at Chittagong before re-fuelling and returning to his base, 18 hours after taking off.

    From January 1945, the Liberator squadrons flew in support of the Fourteenth Army’s advance towards Rangoon; this included bombing the Burma-Siam railway from low-level. Jordan and his crew also flew “Pathfinder” sorties illuminating the target for the following bombers.

    In April it was announced that Jordan had been awarded the DFC. The citation made specific mention of his two attacks in October when he “attained excellent results in most difficult circumstances…having displayed outstanding initiative and the greatest determination to complete his missions successfully”.

    When Jordan was rested at the beginning of May, he had flown 35 operational missions.

    Reginald Walter Jordan was born in Wellington, Somerset, on September 2 1923. Hooked on flying from the age of nine, he joined the Air Defence Cadet Corps in 1939 before transferring to the newly formed Air Training Corps in 1941 when he became a flight sergeant. He volunteered to join the RAF on his 17th birthday and was called up a year later.

    He trained as a pilot in Canada and was commissioned. After returning to England on the Queen Elizabeth, he trained on bombers before being sent to India to learn to fly the US-built four-engine heavy bomber, the Liberator. He arrived at the beginning of 1944 and, after completing the conversion course, he joined the recently formed 356 Squadron, based at Salbani, 60 miles west of Calcutta.

    After leaving the squadron, he became an instructor on the Liberator. In November 1946 he left the RAF but re-joined in April 1949 and began training at the Central Flying School (CFS) as a flying instructor.

    In May 1950 he left for Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to be an instructor at No 4 Flying Training School. In December 1952 he returned to CFS, where he joined the staff training future jet flying instructors. Assessed as an exceptional instructor, he was awarded the coveted A1 category.

    In November 1954, Jordan joined 25 Squadron flying the Meteor night fighter. On promotion, he transferred to 219 Squadron as a flight commander, flying the single-engine Venom night fighter. He missed the added security offered by the twin-engine Meteor.

    After a spell in command of a ground radar unit, Jordan returned to CFS to command the advanced squadron in the Standards Flight. It was his responsibility to lead a team inspecting RAF flying units to assess the level of instruction and ensure that the high standards expected were being maintained. In addition to visits within the UK, the Standards team made annual visits overseas to RAF units, and also to foreign air forces where they were invited to perform the examining function.

    Jordan’s appointment gave him ample opportunity to fly a wide variety of the training version of modern fighters. He was involved in investigating the characteristics of the Hunter aircraft during an inverted spin, and the actions necessary to recover to normal flight.

    Leaving CFS on promotion to wing commander, Jordan was awarded the AFC for his command of the Standards Flight. He spent the next two years in the Air Ministry assessing the capabilities of Soviet air defence systems before returning to a flying appointment as the station commander of RAF Manby near Louth, home of the College of Air Warfare and the School of Refresher Flying – the latter giving him ample opportunity to remain in flying practice.

    Jordan arrived at HQ RAF Germany in November 1967 in charge of air plans. “I could hardly have chosen a more interesting stage to take up my post,” he commented. “The outline plans for the introduction of the Harrier, Jaguar and Buccaneer had to be prepared for the arrival of the aircraft.”

    During the following three years, his team devoted a large amount of time preparing for Harrier operations, and plans had to be made to secure the major airfields against air attack by building hardened shelters, and siting air defence missile sites.

    In February 1970, Jordan took early retirement and accepted a post as an aircraft sales manager with the Manchester division of Hawker Siddeley Aviation and its successor organisations, duties which involved extensive travel overseas.

    Jordan enjoyed fell walking, bridge and golf – the last outside the strictures of formal competitions. He wrote an autobiography, To Burma Skies and Beyond (1995). In 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

    Reg Jordan never married.

    Reg Jordan, born September 2 1923, died June 30 2022 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/17fd7a91ba83a867bca324b5c990fddb922d58b83e7d24f262141dbfa136c32c.jpg

  16. Earth records its shortest day ever. 1 August 2022.

    Earth experienced its shortest day since records began last month, with 1.59 milliseconds shaved off the usual 24-hour spin on June 29 – raising the prospect that a negative leap second may soon be needed to keep clocks matched up with the heavens.

    Usually, Earth’s average rotational speed decreases slightly over time. Timekeepers have been forced to add 27 leap seconds to atomic time since the 1970s as the planet slows.

    But since 2020, the phenomenon has reversed – with speed records being frequently broken over the last two years.

    I put it down to Climate Change myself!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/31/earth-records-shortest-day-ever/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

  17. Good morning and a happy 1st of August to one and all!
    A bright & dry start with a tad under 9°C outside.

    Though the sun is not visible from where I am, from the way it is shining on the ex-pub over the road, it is obvious that it is not as high in the sky as it was a few weeks ago. The seasons are moving on.

    2. Morning Bob. A sentiment that might have been expressed by one of your ancestors ten thousand years ago. LOl!

    3. Morning Bob. A sentiment that might have been expressed by one of your ancestors ten thousand years ago. LOl!

      1. We have some friends cruising your western coast line at this very moment Obs.
        I hope they’re enjoying the rain.
        The scenery is beautiful.

    5. Not just the seasons Bob, noticeably the years, in 5 years I’ll be as old as my father made it to. More than a bit of a worry.
      Oh well I’d better get on. I’m setting up a watering system for my veg and greenhouse. Using a timer and old push fit with small holes drilled in.

  19. Right, that’s me done for now, the community bus ain’t going to drive itself (but it probably will one day long after I am gone).

    Have fun.

    1. Morning Hugh

      When Moh retired from flying , he decided that retirement was too early for his active self .. so he drove a DAY CENTRE bus until he was over 70years.

      My goodness, he had some stories to tell about events that happened. He loved the bus .. he said he could see more than he could driving a car .

      1. A friend who lived out in the Australian bush drove a school bus for many years. When we walked in town with him, almost every other person we passed under the age of about forty seemed to know him.
        He used to carry a very large metal club to dispatch any kangaroo that jumped in front of the bus and had to be put out of its misery, fortunately it was not a very frequent occurrence.

      3. That is one of the most frustrating things about driving over the Orwell Bridge; the barrier is just that bit too high for car drivers see anything other than the blasted road.

      5. Your MOH is spot on! I did the hosp Day Centre buses (registered as ambulances) for 12 years, until we moved here 18 months ago. I immediately applied to drive for the local DC, having been NHS trained and assessed, but instead someone suggested the volunteer-run Community Bus. I’m currently on my tea break, with the shift finishing at 12:45. It’s good fun, and Mrs HJ and I have learnt much about our new life on yer sarf coast.

  20. Morning all 😃
    A Pinch & a Punch.
    Still waiting for the much spoken about rain. 🤔

      1. As I mentioned yesterday I bet the Welsh (West Hendon) Harp reservoir has taken a bit of a hammering keeping the Wembley pitch as green as it is.
        I’d forgotten what green grass looks like.

          1. You’re right Obs two years ago it was changed. Only the outside edges are grass. Well I never did…..nobody told me 🤔😆

  21. Russia-Ukraine war: First ship carrying grain departs Odessa. 1 July 2022.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/90db4bb9cf707f0a31b0b0d65fe7425cfb35165d8c4bbfc9524531572e52275a.png

    A war crimes prosecutor examines the damage in a destroyed building, following Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

    A War Crimes prosecutor in Ukraine with a logo in English?

    Propaganda much?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/08/01/russia-ukraine-war-latest-news-live-putin-shelling-mykolaiv/

        1. Yes, despite the obvious huge explosion the china ornaments survived unharmed.

          I’m so pleased.

        2. Yes, despite the obvious huge explosion the china ornaments survived unharmed.

          I’m so pleased.

    2. Where did all that rubble come from? No hole in the ceiling, walls still there.

  22. White Rabbits!
    Morning, all Y’all!
    Torrential rain last night. Can hear the grass growing…

  24. Good Moaning.
    OK: I get the message. Sunshine is just sooooo July ’22, but could we now have some rain as well as grey clouds?

    1. Morning, Nursey.
      It’s cloudy here for the first time in over a fortnight; however, we are due sunshine again with a high of 30ºC on Thursday.

    2. Yes, rain would be incredibly welcome. That soft fluffy rain to soften the ground, then a few weeks of thunderous down pours to get it into the soil again. The field is just dust.

  25. 354770+ up ricks,

    Morning Each,

    Monday 1 August: Rishi Sunak’s £10 fine for a missed appointment will not dent the problems of the NHS

    Those , the dangerously misguided that are feeding the hydra
    power biscuits will eventually acknowledge the fact that we are at war and taking unacceptable casualties, as in the 9 year old Boston child,
    rothergam,rochdale etc,etc.

    You miss a GP appointment without viable cause, you are out of the system for a designated number of months.

    These overseeing politico’s are once again tempting the ” believers” with vows,promises & pledges, no action to be taken ,rhetorical carrots.

    Without doubt this electorate has created over the last three plus decades, not so much
    an Alice in wonderland Country as a
    Malice & sorrow for every tomorrow Country.

      1. 354770+ up ticks,

        Morning N,
        My view,
        Seeing as this odious voting pattern really came to light triggered by shirt tail major
        a number of years ago the voting pattern has not altered one iota.

        In my book if people at e still paying the TV licence then they are in collusion with the bBc and it’s policies, same applies to the lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration ( ongoing) foreign paedophile umbrella
        ( ongoing) coalition party.

        This “coalitions” odious damning history over the last three decades is all recorded

          1. 354770+ up ticks,

            Morning W,
            There are other facilities instead of condoning / financing blackmail.

          2. True, viewers wanting to view any ‘livestream broadcasts and/or the bBC i-player’ must pay the bBC TV tax. That’s why I no longer view ‘livestream’. TBF, this is no hardship on my part as my viewing was restricted to the occasional film and re-runs of ‘Frasier’ when I had a late start.

            I couldn’t trust any newz programmes or their associated ‘documentaries’ with out resorting to fact-checking anything they spouted; ‘reality’ shows are as pre-scripted as the woke dramas and soaps; ‘comedy’ shows had all the funny bits removed by committee and sports coverage was reduced to highlights or wimmin’s football.

            I haven’t missed it one bit.

          3. Why people pay the licence fee is beyond me – you can view 90% of all programs on catch-up platforms. You only need a licence if you watch any LIVE tv (ie as it’s broadcast) or watch anything on iPlayer.

          4. Not according to the blurb on the demand. You need a licence to watch a recording of a transmission that was live at the time.

          6. You can do it, but you need a licence to be legal. It’s why I have to pay the tax. There are things, like the racing, that I record to watch later.

    2. That favours those with infinite time and opportunity. For those who are busy earning the money that pays for the doctors to charge the fees it’s a little bit daft.

      He got this daft idea from some twonk who said ‘that’s what they do in Germany’. yes, that’s because Germany uses an insurance model, it doesn’t pay the doctor regardless of whether you’re seen or not.

  26. Genuine question. I know nothing about soccer. I was puzzled last night. When England desperately needed to score a goal, and with four minutes of the main match remaining – WHAT was the plan behind the goalie throwing the ball to one of the backs – who passed it to the other back – who then kicked it back to the goalkeeper? I’d have thought that they would have wanted the ball as close to the Cherman goal as possible.

    Perhaps a foopball expert would enlighten me…

    1. Sometimes, when booting the ball upfield, it is picked up by an opposing player who then has the opportunity of starting a move that maybe would lead to a goal for them. The tactic for England, at that time, was keeping possession and thus preventing Germany from having a scoring opportunity.

      1. Indeed – that led to the German goal.

        But England HAD to score to win…. I remain puzzled.

        1. By running down the clock in “normal” time they were hoping the match would go into extra time to give them two more lots of 15 minutes to score.
          By not risking giving the Germans the ball in the last four minutes they avoided a German goal being scored, with insufficient time to recover.
          They were backing their own levels of fitness and the quality of their substitutes against that of the Germans.

          1. I am much obliged. At least you understood my question!

            I think their blunder was not to get a second goal very quickly. They appeared to sit on the first goal, thinking it was enough.

            It seems to me relatively easy for the opposition to equalise. But if they need THREE to win – and time is running out, the pressure is far greater.

          2. Oddly enough, one of the most dangerous times for a team is just after they have scored a goal, they drop concentration in their euphoria and the opposition equalises.

          4. It’s like batsmen who get out immediately after scoring 100 – and the chap who shared the big partnership often follows a few balls later.

    2. Sometimes, when booting the ball upfield, it is picked up by an opposing player who then has the opportunity of starting a move that maybe would lead to a goal for them. The tactic for England, at that time, was keeping possession and thus preventing Germany from having a scoring opportunity.

    3. The idea was for the English ladies to keep possession, waste time and as was clear to see, frustrate the opposition.
      Wonderful stuff. 🤗

      1. I see. But simply retaining possession and wasting time would not give you the goal you needed to win!

        1. If one side can retain possession successfully and force their opponents to chase the ball then the chasers will tire, physically and mentally, the goals should follow. The great sides, Hungary in the 50s; Brazil, almost forever; Barcelona, Liverpool and currently Manchester City employ/employed that idea. Let the ball do the work is a great maxim in football.
          I didn’t watch the match last night but from your comment can I assume that the English team ran the clock down to go to a penalty shoot-out?
          My interest in ‘taking the knee’ and ladies football is down at the watching concrete set, level, these days.

          1. Fortunately, it did not go to penalties. I always think that tossing a coin would be fairer.

            I do not watch any soccer – EXCEPT for the big international competitions when I do look at a few matches – mainly in the hope of seeing own goals – one of my great delights.

            The England women did not worship the dead black criminal.

          2. Sadly, on Saturday I heard that the local League team ‘took the knee’. I used to support them, unlikely that I will darken the turnstiles of their stadium again.

        2. I thought you were talking about after they scored the winning goal.
          Perhaps they were having a bit of a natter about who’s shout it was to get the cocktails in.

          1. No. The end of the first 90 minutes Four minutes to go – bugger about with the ball instead of going for a goal.

        3. Women’s logic ?
          Did you notice how the two England players with yellow cards were exchanged for fresh talent ?
          Good move by the management, keeping 11 players on the pitch.
          And I thought it amusing how those in the studio didn’t hold back regarding the obvious one sided bias of the ref and even at one stage the line person..

          1. Indeed. I’d have done that sooner.

            I couldn’t hear what the “experts” were saying. The Ref appeared to be grateful to England for the support given to the regime in Kiev!!

          2. She might be living in the UK already, sarf ‘arrow, standby for a representation from ze Deutsches Reich.

    5. Back in the 1970s I was taught by a FA coach that no matter where on the pitch ‘we’ have the ball ‘they’ cannot score a goal i.e. retain possession. I took that idea into my coaching of youngsters with some success. Attempting the same idea with older players who worked on the idea of getting the ball as far forward and as soon as possible was a very hard, and usually unsuccessful, task.

        1. We regularly have boys and girls from Rugby on our courses. This week we have four boys from Winchester with us but they play Kevball there. However they are all very competent cricketers.

          1. I have no idea what they’re called! fly wheel, great western, first lieutenant, capstan, green goblin. It’s all weird. Never understood football.

      3. Just discovered that Oscar can multi-task. He was balancing on three legs while he had a wee and barking his head off at the same time 🙂

        1. Dolly squats with one leg sticking out. As if she were taking tea with her pinky finger out.

          You sure Oscar isn’t in pain when he wees?

  30. 354770 + up ticks,

    Did I read a notice that stated the “mods” had
    control of the reply / up / down facilities, and is this being put to use ?

      1. 354770+ up ticks,

        Morning N,
        I did read said notice yesterday, curious, was I the only one who did so ?

          3. 354770+ up ticks,
            N,
            In the nicest possible way, I did , could very well be a misleader.

          5. 354770+ up ticks,

            Morning R,

            “Please would you give the source? I’d like to read it myself”.

            I can assure you, so would I, I have searched for it with no success.

            Do I sense a faint aroma of mistrust ? I ask again did anyone else see it ?

          7. 354770+ up ticks,

            R,
            If myself & said comment cross paths again I most certainly will.

  31. Why ‘White rabbits’?
    It would seem to be a superstitious belief designed to bring good luck, but surely white rabbits are a modern development.
    Was it a reference to the very occasional albino rabbit? And, if so, why was a sighting thought lucky?
    Was it a version of the reaction that endangers the lives of albino children in Africa?

    2. Much the same that elephants are being born without tusks, evolution is pushing toward the successful.

      1. Many French people love eating rabbits and keep cages full of them for that purpose. We have years when we have scores of rabbits in our garden and then years when we have none. It is quite distressing to come across a rabbit suffering from myxomatosis which is endemic in the wild rabbit population in France.

        1. A good friend of ours, now deceased, was working in the Min of Ag when there was an outbreak of myxomatosis in Kent in the 1950s. He was put in charge of dealing with the outbreak so he based his HQ in the pub in Ide Hill. His wife will shortly celebrate her 99th Birthday. In July 1939, at the age of 16 along with 5 other women she was assigned to The Admiralty for the duration of the war taking dictation from the Commander of the Fleet, typing up the results which were then passed to signals for dispatch. The women worked in pairs working a rotating 12 hour shift.

          2. I remember myxie arriving in Essex.
            On the one hand the rabbits needed culling – on the other, that was not a pleasant way for it to happen.

  32. August 1st – Yorkshire Day. A day to celebrate God’s country and its people. Best wishes to you all.

  33. Why were no HABs on view (or, indeed, given the preferences of many of the players, WAGs)??

        1. I think there is a mild sexist implication that women are better than men and they can stand on their own without having to parade that they have a wimpish and heavily tattooed man in tow. But I believe that just as some men wendyballists have come out as being queer so have some women kevballlists come out as sapphist.

          2. I watched a wee bit of the Ladies Rugby Sevens. I saw one NZ player who looked like a man. I then saw her go into a ruck with three other players and half lifted them and shoved all three along the ground. A prodigious feat of strength. I suspected that she is “trans”. Looking her up, she is apparently famous. Also a lesbian. Portia Woodman.

  36. Great to see our that our players were so well supported yesterday

    https://external.flhr10-2.fna.fbcdn.net/emg1/v/t13/11694641125691431118?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.gbnews.uk%2F346188.jpg%3FimageId%3D346188%26panow%3D100%26panoh%3D100%26panox%3D0%26panoy%3D0%26heightw%3D100%26heighth%3D100%26heightx%3D0%26heighty%3D0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D630&fb_obo=1&utld=gbnews.uk&stp=c0.5000×0.5000f_dst-jpg_flffffff_p500x261_q75&ccb=13-1&oh=00_AT-ApU3tw_8nHTY_JZlZMsSGrb1ep5pGZmWcTMTdvU9xtg&oe=62E92032&_nc_sid=c504da

    2. I see the discussions on pay parity with male footballers has already started so money is going to eff up womens football now

      1. Not only that where is all the money going to come from ? A lot of football clubs have been struggling for years. Although yesterday was brilliant in it’s own right and quite refreshing to see reasonably honest play, I can’t see the ladies game attracting enough audience to pay for the money they think they might be worth.

        1. The men are grossly overpaid. If they were fined £1000 every time they grabbed a shirt, tripped an opponent or rolled on the ground clutching their ankle there would be more than enough for the girls/amazons and some left over for the fans.

          2. The men are obscenely overpaid. Paid so much they don’t know what to do with their money. Except get into mischief!

  37. I find it disgusting that government waffles on about reducing the tax rate yet gives no mention to scrapping stealth taxes, those taxes that most unfairly hit the lowest paid. Fuel duty, stamp duty, VAT, energy taxes. Get rid of them and THEN combine NI and income tax to a single flat rate of 16% for everyone and just accept the lower income.

    1. But, but but, how would they pay the benefits to the immigrants, both legal and illegal?

    2. God Almighty. Talk about a Spectre at the Feast! He should be on Nottl! Lol!

  40. Things are looking up:

    Made in Britain: Broken supply lines drive manufacturing back home

    BIRMINGHAM, England, July 28 (Reuters) – In central England, birthplace of the industrial revolution, factories are buzzing anew, hammering out parts for cars, planes and medical machines that used to be made in Asia.

    https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/made-britain-broken-supply-lines-drive-manufacturing-back-home-2022-07-28/

    But not at The Guardian:

    UK businesses slash investments due to soaring prices and Brexit

    As many firms are now planning to cut investment as to increase it, latest polls find

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/01/uk-businesses-slash-investments-due-to-soaring-prices-and-brexit

  41. Today is also the anniversary of the song, Rule Britannia, first performed at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 1 August 1740.

    When Britain first, at Heaven’s command
    Arose from out the azure main;
    This was the charter of the land,
    And guardian angels sang this strain:
    “Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
    “Britons never will be slaves.”

    The nations, not so blest as thee,
    Must, in their turns, to tyrants fall;
    While thou shalt flourish great and free,
    The dread and envy of them all.
    “Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
    “Britons never will be slaves.”

    The lyrics have changed a little but the sense remains – but for how long?

    1. Prior to the Psuedo-Brexit I rewrote some of the words:

      When Britain first, at Heath’s command
      Arose from out the post-war malaise;
      Joined the EEC charter sleight of hand,
      And Guardian writers sang this strain:
      “Rule, Brussels! Brussels waives the rules,
      “Britons ever, ever, ever will be slaves.”

      The nations, not so beset as thee,
      Must, in their turns, to tyrants fall;
      EU Commissioners flourish great and free –
      With dreadful cronies one and all.
      “Rule, Brussels! Brussels waives the rules,
      “Britons ever, ever, ever will be slaves.”

      Still more pathetic are the cries,
      More dreadful, from each foreign stroke
      The pap or news from Beeb & Sky,
      Serves but to uproot thy native oak.
      “Rule, Brussels! Brussels waives the rules,
      “Britons ever, ever, ever will be slaves.”
      These haughty tyrants ne’er shall be tamed:
      All their attempts to bend thee down,
      Will not arouse thy apathetic frame;
      They work with Blair and Cameron.
      “Rule, Brussels! Brussels waives the rules,
      “Britons ever, ever, ever will be slaves.”

      To thee bound up in EU chains;
      The ECB with NIRP will shine:
      All thine shall be subjected to bail-ins,
      And be very sure it envies thine.
      “Rule, Brussels! Brussels waives the rules,
      “Britons ever, ever, ever will be slaves.”
      The MEPs, still with freedom found,
      Shall to thy unhappy cost repair;
      To best seats with the priceless Davos crowd,
      With many police to guard their fare.
      “Rule, Brussels! Brussels waives the rules,
      “Britons ever, ever, ever will be slaves.”

      1. Robert Adam has just released the fourth book in his ‘Charlemagne’ series, ‘A Special Kind of Treachery; 1971, Heath and the Common Market’. I’ve read his previous three books and highly recommend them. He’s woven a fictional storyline around pertinent facts covering the period 1969 to 1971, thus far.

        The appendix alone in the third book ‘Under the Golden Sicilian Sun’ is festooned with enough information to fill a book on it’s own.

        I believe that in an effort to keep the timeline moving forward Robert Adam has moved on from pre-ascension times to Heath keeping his cards close to his chest – ably abetted by the bBC et al – as he leads the snivel serpent charge to sell us down the river to the Brussels/Strasbourg gravy train.

        If searching for his books on Kindle, it’s advisable to use the author’s name and Charlemagne, as Amazon don’t appear to recognise his works without the subject matter connection.

  42. Today is also the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834. Technically, we are still paying off the enormous debt incurred by the slavery compensation bill. I eagerly await the celebration of this event on some or all of the BBC radio and television channels today. Perhaps the recent win by the Wendyballers has delayed the expressed thanks and gratitude due to the long-suffering Brits. Yes! That must be it. The BBC couldn’t forget such a momentous occasion, could they

    1. They apparently renamed our August hoIday as emancipation day in honor of the occasion.

      Oh look, right on cue – here come the survivors of slavery demanding an apology and of course, much compensation!

  43. I thought for one glorious moment at the start of the match that the Lanc was doing a flypast!!

    Sadly not.

  45. Things are looking up:

    Made in Britain: Broken supply lines drive manufacturing back home

    BIRMINGHAM, England, July 28 (Reuters) – In central England, birthplace of the industrial revolution, factories are buzzing anew, hammering out parts for cars, planes and medical machines that used to be made in Asia.

    https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/made-britain-broken-supply-lines-drive-manufacturing-back-home-2022-07-28/

    But not at The Guardian:

    UK businesses slash investments due to soaring prices and Brexit

    As many firms are now planning to cut investment as to increase it, latest polls find

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/01/uk-businesses-slash-investments-due-to-soaring-prices-and-brexit

    Typical of the Guardian to be so pessimistic. Here it is on Brexit, courtesy of blubbering Roy Hattersley (I was slightly surprised to find he’s still alive).

    Brexit is a flop, and the voters know it. So why can’t Labour call for a closer bond with Europe?

    The result of the referendum cannot be ignored, but a bespoke deal with the EU has to be pursued if we are to avoid a shrinking economy

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/31/now-voters-know-we-cant-make-brexit-work-labour-must-call-for-closer-bond-with-europe

    2. What industry we had left is already crippled by the current ridiculous energy prices caused by the lunatic greeniac inspired failure to exploit our own natural resources
      The increases in the pipeline will inevitably finish the job
      It’s almost as if that’s the planned result……..

    1. The lovely Nichelle Nichols was 89. I would never have guessed that she was 18 years my senior.

  47. As my wife sat down to watch the women’s football i started doing the hoovering. That’ll teach her… :@)

    1. There was a nice piece by Rod Liddle suggesting that Sarina Wiegman should be the new manager for the England men’s wendyball – and that Southgate should just deal with the drinks….

  51. Women’s football has come a long way since the first European Championship in 1984. The competition wasn’t granted official status because fewer than half of UEFA’s members competed. Matches were played over 70 minutes, using a size four football.

    England played Sweden in the two-legged final (A then H), losing on penalties. The second-leg was played at Luton Town FC, watched by just 2,567 spectators.

    And so to the BBC. So committed has it been to promoting the women’s game that last night’s 10pm news on BBC1 informed us that “Victory over Germany gives England a major international trophy for the first time since 1966.”

    1. Every bbc reporter i have seen on tv today has been riding on the football band wagon of success, you may have been mistaken for thinking they were all part of the team and the reason for the win.

      1. That was the headline. In the ensuing report: “…for the first time since 1966, England have (sic) won a major international football tournament at a senior level.”

        Unarguably true at face value yet stretching a point a long way.

        1. I heard the person say it live and immediately said to my wife, why did he have to say that ?
          It’s almost seems as if the BBC wanted the Germans to win…………

          2. Since the end of the game the Germans have been moaning claiming a penalty for hand ball. But at least 3 of their players should have been sent off for their disgusting fouls. Perhaps they just weren’t paying attention. The referee didn’t seem to notice either.

  53. My young son pointed at a lesbian couple kissing in the park.

    So I walked over and said, “There’s a time and a place for that, ladies.”

    They looked at me. “Oh, is there now?” asked one lady, folding her arms.

    I said, “Yes. It’s 9pm and my house.”

    2. And what about the Welsh? (I must confess that my great, great, great grandmother on the distaff side was Welsh which makes me 1/16th Welsh.)

      Here are the views expressed by Dr Augustus Fagan the headmaster of LLannaba in Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall:

      From the earliest times the Welsh have been looked upon as an unclean people. It is thus they have preserved their racial integrity. Their sons and daughters mate freely with the sheep but not with human kind except their blood relations … The Welsh are the only nation in the world that has produced no graphic or plastic art, no architecture, no drama. They just sing and blow down wind instruments of plated silver.

        1. I think his academic qualifications were backwards of bugger all!

          Waugh’s Decline and Fall was published in 1928 and Thomas’s Under Milk Wood in 1954 – I wonder if Waugh would have called his school Llareggub iif he had thought of it in 1928?

          The BBC rather primly insisted that the village was called Llareggeb in case the radio listeners were able to spell backwards.

          1. I know about the BBC’s pastiche script. I have my own copy of Under Milk Wood and, when I read it at college some years ago, I took my own copy since the college had the BBC rubbish.

    3. A Norfolk girl goes into the chemists and ask for a packet of condoms. The pharmacist says…you don’t need them, your dad has already bought some.

      I’ll get me pitchfork…

      1. The Two ( Not inadequate & floosie) are listed as Directors. Their website doesn’t disclose who their employees are…
        It seems Olswang were involved early on in the establishment of the initial company vehicle. I wonder if it is Simon Olswang’s outfit?

      2. The Two ( Not inadequate & floosie) are listed as Directors. Their website doesn’t disclose who their employees are…
        It seems Olswang were involved early on in the establishment of the initial company vehicle. I wonder if it is Simon Olswang’s outfit?

    2. Lucky the wining company is based in Penzance, can you imagine what the London weighting would have made it?

  57. A request from my friend in GA US….If she is incarcerated in Leavenworth, she would like cakes with files baked in them;-))

    Gorgeous weather here. Going outside soon.

    1. Yo Lottie

      she would like cakes with files baked in them: She is an office worker then

    1. Apart from the obvious- it’s what else could be in that water also. Copperheads, Crimsons and other very deadly snakes. And other things.
      Tragic for the people and very scary.

      1. Sorry, meant Coral Snakes…. there is a rhyme to help you remember..
        Red touch yellow- kills a fellow
        Red touch black- venom lack.
        Yellow touches red- you’ll soon be dead
        Red touches black- friend of Jack.

        However, by the time you’ve remembered the rhyme…..urk.

  61. I’ve joined the great unwashed: it seems I’ve been exposed to some obscure variant of the plague !
    Please isolate and urgently contact this number for a test kit.

    I don’t think so!! especially as the (text) number was starting with +44 so not a local UK originating phone number.
    I don’t have the trace and track app on my phone. But at least while bothering me, they are leaving some other poor sod alone.

      2. You’re right unfortunately.
        It’s the vulnerable and those who maybe are not ‘worldly wise’ I feel sorry for.
        Anyone else who has been taken in by all this crap – they can whistle Dixie.

      3. Indeed. My young (22) neighbour was complaining this morning about the number of phone calls he’s getting that are scams. He’s blocking the numbers but they try to get round it.

      1. I know, but text messages don’t normally quote the +44. from a UK number and recived on a UK phone.

    3. I had that one yesterday ‘the latest variant’, it said. Suitably vague. I also had two on the same day, ten days ago. It asks you to order test kits from a web site which is presumably where the scam kicks in, as they are no longer free. It doesn’t claim to be from the nhs, and anyway I never downloaded their stupid ‘app’.

      It is a scam.

      1. I have had nothing to do with any of it, including refusing their jabs.
        I had a friend tell me I was ‘very brave’ not taking the jabs.
        I shake my head in despair!

        1. I had a friend who sent me a birthday card with the message “I hope you have had the jab by now to stay safe!” To which poppiesdad commented (to me) “we are not having the jab in order to make sure that we do stay safe.” We are not playing the Great Government Game – no tests, no masks, no app, no jabs (and no tv). We have opted out of it all. Oh, and apart from a Christmas card and a Birthday card my friend of 45 years cut me out of her life.

          2. I ripped the card in two and binned it – she had hi-jacked my birthday to get a political message across.

          5. The brain-dead, like your ex-“friend” are beyond hope. I have members of my own family who are similarly afflicted.

          6. Very sad, but so many people have been taken in by the governments hysterical outpourings.

  62. Great article on the green revolution.

    This is what happens when fanatics are put in charge. They have no internal mechanism to reconsider their fanaticism, so they go as far as reality will let them and then they are destroyed. When the fanatics are put in charge of a society, they take that society with them into the abyss of their fanaticism. The suffering we see coming from green policies is, to the believers, proof that the policies are working.

    One final lesson from the Xhosa is that after the death of 80 percent of their people, the remainder did not turn on the remaining believers. In fact, the location of the prophecy is still called the Valley of Nongqawuse. The skeptics were called “the stingy ones” for their unwillingness to sacrifice their cattle to the cause. It is not hard to imagine something similar in the ruins of the West. Those who warned about the dangers will be remembered as the deniers by the people in the Valley of Greta.

    Prepare to starve

    https://www.takimag.com/article/the-valley-of-greta/

    1. Totalitarianism works because people want to be part of a crowd. Some small group fo disaffected people seek an answer to their unhappiness. One person amongst that number gives them direction. The rest follow along blindly, unthinkingly because to challenge risk ostracism.

      The T-ism spreads by that fear of being excluded from society and thus despite the insanity practiced, the regime trundles along until it obviously collapses when reality smacks it in the face.

      Green is no different, Nazism was much the same. It’s all led by rent seeking fanatics and people’s terrible fear of exclusion.

  64. Sticky, sultry afternoon. Just done an hour’s ladderwork – looking forward to one of Robert’s “mugs of tea”…!!

        1. At one time Leigh Park was the biggest council estate in Europe. That’s where Mary comes from. She has no tattoos and because of the amount i pay her to dust, she holidays in Thailand and the UAE twice a year.

          3. Talk about six degrees of separation ! My father was born in a wooden shack in Soberton.

        2. Reminds me of an old limerick:

          There once was a hooker from Hayle
          With her prices tattooed on her tail
          And because she was kind
          For the sake of the blind
          She also embossed them in braille.

          Any news of Plum? She always enjoys a smutty limerick.

    2. I’ve been doing a bit of clearing a weedy patch where the little cyclamen are about to appear – had to come in and sit down as it got too hot out there.

      Meanwhile OH has collected a grounded swift and is caring for it. It’s a fledgling that has left a bit too soon.

          4. No too far away. There are quite a lot of these huge defensive ditches in the St Albans area. Its said that Julius Ceasar had a few barney’s with the locals.

          6. Catavalunian’s I think were the tribe that had a run in with Caeser. In 54 BC. I wasn’t around then 🤣
            JC and his men came up the river Lea from the Thames opposite the O2 and it all kicked off.

        1. Swifts have a parasite called Craterina pallida – a louse-fly. So far we have seen none this season – he went up the ladder and cleaned out all the larvae after they left last year. This one came from a natural nest and someone found it in their garden. It doesn’t appear to have any.

          1. Yes, Jules. That is precisely what I posted in that photograph. I used to catch and ring common swifts Apus apus (among many other species) when I was a licensed bird-ringer with the BTO. Those Craeterina pallida ectoparasites would crawl out of the swift’s plumage and run over your hand! We called them “flat flies” due to their thinness, which made it easy for them to slide into the birds’ plumage.

  65. Prince Charles will NOT be probed by Charity Commission over £1m donation from Bin Laden family as he is accused of ‘serious lack of judgement’
    Charity got donation after Charles met Osama’s half-brother Bakr bin Laden
    Meeting came two years after Al Qaeda leader was killed by US special forces
    Charity Commission today said nothing was wrong and it would not investigate
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11069593/Prince-Charles-NOT-probed-1m-donation-Bin-Laden-family.html

    BTL

    Prince Charles is doing a very good job at campaigning for the monarchy to be abolished when his mother dies.

    2. Charlie boy talks of net zero. I wonder what his reception would be now if he visited ground zero. The C%&*

    3. If Charles doesn’t see how awful this looks, then he’s cloth-eared as well as jug-eared.

    4. I remember when the US Navy Seals bravely tacked down captured ‘bin laden’ in Pakistan. And seemingly because of ‘complications’ dumped the body out of the aircraft returning home.
      They didn’t listen to Beneziar Bhutto when she told them he had died of organ failure in Afghanistan
      around 5 years before they captured him.
      And then one day her official government car suddenly exploded.
      And she was murdered, blown to bits.
      No delving allowed, it would be a serious lack of judgement.

        1. That’s why I didn’t mention too many well known names.
          But I suspect most would know who.
          Seen very keenly watching the action from afar.

      1. I’d go for his wristwatch, Griz …

        Once upon a time, I was a Marksman, First Class (Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk1).

        2. I liked the Enfield L39A1, especially with hand loaded 7.62 rounds.

          Ps. Today if I had the choice it would be an Accuracy International Arctic Warfare rifle.

        3. Mk8? or Number 8?
          The Lee Enfield No.8 was a superb single shot, .22 caliber rifle used for training cadets and new recruits to the regulars.

          1. Yes indeed, Bob; I used the Lee-Enfield No. 8 for regular – fortnightly – landscape target shooting.

            I also ‘experienced’ the the Energa known as the Anti-Tank Grenade, No. 94 (ENERGA). It was designed to be fired from the Projector (No. 4 Rifle) Mark 5 (c.1952), an attachment for the Lee–Enfield No.4 Rifle – Covered in (hopefully) blast-confining bindings!

            I survived some simulated attacks!

            A later L-E rifle was introduced in 1959; it was 1lb heavier than the preceding model; it didn’t suit me – I was 6’2″ scrawny 9 stone teenager!.

      2. It seems to me it isn’t Trudeau’s fault – it’s the fault of the pillocks who voted him into office. I truly believed Canadians had more sense.

      3. He has taken his leave and buggered off on holiday to Costa Rica for two weeks.

        What have they done to deserve the idiot.

    3. Remind me isn’t one William Gates the largest farmland owner in the USA. Now who could possibly profit most from ‘Food insecurity’ issues….?

  67. Afternoon all. Trying to find lawn bowls on telly. Nightmare! Schedule seems all to pot. Meanwhile

    Daily Quordle 189
    2️⃣4️⃣
    6️⃣7️⃣

      1. That’s an excellent link Phizzee, thank you. Thing is it didn’t match up what was actually on. I’ll give it a try tomorrow.

    3. Daily Quordle 190
      4️⃣3️⃣
      5️⃣7️⃣
      quordle.com
      🟩⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟨⬜🟨⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

      🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      I did it at 1am so i did 190 rather than 189.

    2. 354770+ up ticks,
      Afternoon W,
      The genuine UKIP was calling for controlled immigration long before it designed & triggered the Brexit referendum.
      The fact is lab under the bog man PM party & followers lifted the latch on hell to rub tory
      party & followers noses in shite
      both party’s (ino) and members have never ceased in their support for the, joined at the political hip, mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella
      ( both ongoing ) coalition party.

    3. Something very dodgy about the South African ‘gospel video’ story. It’s a dangerous area, where was their security?

      1. Security?
        Don’t be silly.
        Who needs security in a country that is predominantly black, and therefore must be safe and crime free.

    2. Aw that’s nothing, you should have seen our gym class on Saturday.

      Oh we were not flailing in sync, it was just a bunch of oldies having a good time!

  72. My self-diagnosis has, sad to say, proved correct: I have the plague, confirmed by £2 test from Boots.

    1. It used to be called “summer ‘flu”…

      You’ll be better in a couple of days. Whisky and lemon and paracetamol. Works a treat.

      1. First symptoms Thursday afternoon. Chesty cough gave way to sore throat on Saturday, now feeling a bit coldy and somewhat fatigued. Southern Comfort came to my aid last night, more where that came from.

        3. I prefer lots of strong beer, with a powerful curry/chilli (might taste something, & clears the sinuses). Then the hottest bath bearable, and bed. Sweat the virus out.
          Alcohol reduces the pain and promotes slumber. Sweat the fever out.

        1. And cloves?
          I use juice of a large lemon, (a pinch of)turmeric, 3 cloves and 1tsp honey) topped up with boiling water, ppm …

          1. Sounds good, I’ll try that next time. The addition of turmeric is interesting.

        2. I have honey & ginger vodka (from Finland) in the fridge. Just saying… it’s powerful juju.

  73. That’s me for this sultry, rather unpleasant day. No rain, of course. so about to get on with watering.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

      2. Purkoy (pourquoi) was the name of Ann Boleyn’s dog. Some b’stard threw it out of a window.

    1. My guesses are that they are going to wipe out every human in Africa and they are using the UK as a safe house to replenish the continent.

      1. 354770+ up ticks,

        Afternoon B3
        The UK as a safe house, Bob , are you experiencing any pains in the canister ?

    2. 354770 + up ticks,

      Afternoon TB,
      “What on earth is going on .”

      The lab/lib/con coalition member supporters are being replaced ALL part & parcel of the great reset their vote is supporting.

    3. Look next door on your picture.
      Rwanda, which has a far larger population per sq km than the UK and is far far smaller, is where we are pretending to send them!

        1. Look on the bright side, lots of newly wealthy Rwandan politicians; probably buying luxury properties in London, as we write.

          1. If Rwandan politicians are profiting you may be assured that our own politicos are also making a mint.

            Just think of the billions of public money squandered and still unaccounted for on Covid pandemic measures from the pathetic failure of our ‘world beating’ Test and Trace and its handmaiden our ‘gold standard’ PCR test to the equally diabolical waste on useless PPE.

            The Tories and their sponsors ‘never had it so good’.

          2. I can only hope that a time will come when a witch-finder general hunts down all the pollical money making scams and prosecutes them and burns them.

    4. Our supposed government are powerless to prevent illegal immigration and boatloads of dinghies containing migrants from reaching our country. This is because they signed up to the UN Migration pact and have become servants to the UN and its evil affiliates including the WHO.

      Whether the globalist aim is to replace the indigenous population of our land, to weaken our resolve to confront evil, to lay the ground for the suppression of our Christian faith and its replacement by Islam or whether this is aimed at poisoning our society from within prior to wiping us out with death shots, induced mental illnesses, bankruptcies, starvation and penury is open to serious question.

      Suffice to say the most evil practices are at work and we will be fortunate to survive the attacks without solid resistance.

  77. 354770+ up ticks,
    What would one think of a society that votes for a political coalition that have knowingly sheltered foreign paedophiles who had mass raped & abused children, whilst at the same time incarcerated tins of spam / ham and sardines.
    To learn more take out lab/lib/con coalition membership.

    https://youtu.be/VwbYrDO_TOI

    1. 354770 + up ticks,

      O2O,
      Check out the co-op a regular prison camp for joints,
      .

      You could say a joint in the joint.

  78. What on Earth has the coronation of some non-entity as leader of the Tory Party got to do with the many millions of us who are not Tory Party members? Yet we are bombarded with the hollow promises of two utter incompetents as though we care.

    Both of these buffoons and their colleagues should be prosecuted for malfeasance in public office and charged additionally with crimes against humanity for the callous disregard of human life they have perpetrated on the electorate with their lockdowns, social distancing and active promotion of the death shots, otherwise politely called Covid ‘vaccines’.

    These ghastly globalist puppets have blood on their hands. There must be a reckoning.

    2. It isn’t as though it will change anything or improve the state of the country. They were all there with the power to do something (or at least attempt to make changes) before this charade and did eff all.

    1. For once, I’m almost sympathetic. Some of the replies are so righteous and sanctimonious it beggars belief. It was an off-the-cuff remark of the kind that have done for better people than Lineker.

      FWIW, players of both all sexes should keep their bloody shirts on, especially the men who wear sports bras. Silly ***s.

      1. It’s time for the likes of Linecur to fight beck:

        “look you sanctimonious little shit, it was a joke, if you can’t take a joke, cut your balls/tits off and don’t forget to post the TikTok video of it being done!”

    2. I would be sympathetic if it were not for the fact that the man has indulged in wokery many times prior to this ‘gaffe’.

      1. Agreed, but if he did as I suggest re trannies, and hit back hard he might actually do some good

  80. An open letter to all M to F trannies:

    Instead of perpetually complaining that you are not accepted, why don’t you just shut up, grow up, and get a pair?

    Oops, my mistake, you’ve slashed it out of the ballpark, sorreee

    1. Your advice would be better directed to F to M trannies. Perhaps both lots should form a club and arrange swaps of bits.

          1. True, but in 999/1000 cases I would suggest that “grow a pair” refers to balls.

    1. I tried to get hold of a Frexit sticker while I was over there (I saw them on cars in the Midi), but unfortunately missed out.

  82. A few days ago my youngest daughter gave birth to twin girls. I hope that by the time they reach adulthood the World has taken Woke and Net Zero by the scruff of their necks and thrown them in the trash can.

      1. Thank you Bob.
        That’s a tad difficult as they live 200 miles away. I suspect MoH will volunteer like a shot!

    6. Congratulations.
      Just imagine, if they were conceived on your barge, you’ve now got a lock opener and a closer!

    8. When our 6 year old granddaughter was told the news about the twins and the fact that we hoped they would be coming to stay with us this Coming Christmas and it would be very busy, she replied:
      “Well (Auntie) could have had just one…!”

    9. Congratulations. I just know your hopeful prediction will come true, for the sake of all young people the world over.

      I personally believe that we have had enough of the blatant lies and falsehoods issuing from the ruling class and will have our vengeance before more damage is done.

      1. Thanks corim. The World truly has taken a strange turn with the current Barrens (sic) in charge over the past couple of decades. Time for a C21st Magna Carta!

      1. Thanks Conway. My advice to them will be: ‘Never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you…”

    11. Many congratulations to you both, King Stephen! If you need any tips, our twin grandsons will be 2 on Saturday! Cannot believe where the time has gone! Enjoy every minute you get with them! 💕

      1. Thanks Sue. Two years? It seems only yesterday that you announced their births. It will be fascinating watching them grow.

          2. Then please get your daughter to dress them slightly differently! My old man still has trouble identifying the boys!

          3. Point taken. I’m told the in thing is to paint one of them’s toe nail with nail varnish. A young couple with twins we know used this method until one day with the twins in the bath neither parent could remember which twin they had – the nail varnish had disappeared!

    15. Double trouble. Congratulations to your daughter and lock your wallet away in the years to come. :-))

    1. Something very similar happened when England beat the French armed forces at Creasey Ag(z)incourt Trafalgar and Waterloo.
      And they are still taking their revenge.

  84. Evening, all. The NHS needs to be scrapped and a proper health service put in its place.

    2. The only solution. It’s too far gone.
      Problem is, it’s become a religion.

    3. The NHS needs to be scrapped and a proper health service almost any type of health service put in its place.

    4. Sacking all the managers (diversity and others) would be a start. How can they justify paying a diversity manager more than a junior doctor?

      1. But Alec, the NHS recognises 52 different religions and dozens of different languages that’s an awful lot for just one Diversity Manager to manage – two at least required for every hospital….

      2. Then they could stop all the translations into a score or more of languages. Translators and interpreters cost a fortune. I know I used to do it.

      2. You must admit there are far more sexist jokes /cartoons against women on here. Let us ladies enjoy one once in a while! 😂😂😂

  86. Good night, everyone. The Wrinklies watched Ron Howard’s THIRTEEN LIVES today. Ten of us gave it a unanimous “Thumbs Up”.

    1. Hi Elsie! Have meant to ask how your friend got on at the hospital!
      Glad you enjoyed the film!

      1. Nothing found despite various tests. I brought him home and he is now resting at his house with his wife.

    2. Some friends came over for drinkies last night and gave the Crawdads film you mentioned a good reference. Said it was true to the book (which they’d both read). Thanks to you, I didn’t come over as a complete illiterate 🙂

    1. Doesn’t green party women sort of give away the membership? Surely the mentally ill should have their own group: ‘green nutters’?

    2. Since gender is a grammatical concept, and in the English language there are only three genders – masculine, feminine and neuter, it follows that anyone who does not ‘identify’ as masculine or feminine must be deemed to be neuter, and should be referred to as ‘it’.

  90. How wonderful to have some super news here- and best wishes to Stephen and his family- life will become very interesting;-)
    Some good news here too; MH went for an endoscopy today and it’s been a long, tedious day. All is well in his innards. He is now being the great white hunter and killing flies with his swatter. For some reason, we have had several in the house. Yuk. Anyway, the corpses are lining up- all he needs is a pith helmet. Hoover tomorrow….
    I was taking the piss out of Paul earlier because of his curry and beer cure. We ordered Chinese take out because we were both so knackered, so there could be fireworks here later.
    Very tired as didn’t sleep much last night but it’s been a better day.
    I am a great aunt as I said and our Stephen has twin grand daughters- who will have him twisted round their little fingers as soon as they can.
    There is so much BS in this world but also so much joy. We must embrace the joy and enjoy our lives while we can.
    Ignore the idiots in the govt and etc.

        1. In my case they came from a bird that fell down the chimney and died. That was truly gross.

          1. Yes, We have had that experience, too. It got into the room after falling down the chimney and died in a box on top of the wardrobe. We had clusters of flies every so often. Horrible. The dead bird was a starling.

        2. They sometimes get in through airbricks in the walls and come up through the tiniest of gaps where the floor meets the walls. Sometimes they get between the roof slates and work their way in that way. We are plagued with them – cluster flies. I thought it was just us.

  94. Been a long day and I am tired. Am so happy to read lovely news here and to share some positive news myself.
    Sleep well y’all and sweet dreams.
    Hope Tom is OK.

  95. A catastrophic energy crisis will fuel a revolt against our failed elites
    Politicians cannot shirk responsibility now for the extreme hardship millions of people are about to face
    SHERELLE JACOBS : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/01/catastrophic-energy-crisis-will-fuel-revolt-against-failed-elites/

    BTL

    Have any politicians in Britain the strength, honesty and and conviction to tell Bill Gates, the social media megalomaniacs and Klaus Schwab and his loathsome World Economic Forum to Foxtrot Oscar?

    If we are going to be happy with nothing Schwab should think himself very lucky indeed if he escapes the lynch mob!

    1. Politicians will just up their expenses claims. This year it’ll be a collective 150 million.

  96. An early good morning to anyone about.
    DT & Self are sat up in bed with mugs of tea after waking up at the same time. Looking how dark it is outside, the year is certainly moving on.
    14½° outside when I made the tea just now.

        1. Just Joe King. Like you I had been woken up early. I dozed off for another two hours.

  97. Bloody Hell!
    ERNIE’s coughed up £1,025 this month!!
    Automatically added to my existing account.

    1. I can’t remember the last time I won anything on the PBs. My elder sister use to win fairly often.

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