Monday 10 March: Reform must shape up if it is to challenge Labour at the next election

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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587 thoughts on “Monday 10 March: Reform must shape up if it is to challenge Labour at the next election”

    1. I noticed that too. One might almost call it lying by omission?

      Good morning Johnny and all…

  5. From the start of April, all my State Pension is to be swallowed up by Council Tax, for which I get very little benefit. I am having to live on savings until they run out, and then I will be destitute in old age.

    The rules are unfair and wrong. What democratically can I do about it?

    3. Many people will not be paying Council Tax this year, a peaceful form of protest. You will not be alone if you take this course of action.

  6. Good morning Geoff and all NoTTL folk.
    This morning's Monday Chuckle comes frm New York.
    A meek little man appeared before a judge. “In your own words,“said the judge, “I want you to tell me exactly what happened.”
    The little man said: “I am a mathematician dealing in the nature of proof, and on 12 August last I was in the city library conducting some research. There were two books I wanted to take out, so I got in line. But when I reached the desk, I was told that my library card had expired. So I filled out the forms for another card, got in another line and waited patiently.
    Then, when I got to the desk, the guy asked me whether I could prove I was from New York City. So I stabbed him.”

  7. Good morning Geoff and all NoTTL folk.
    This morning's Monday Chuckle comes frm New York.
    A meek little man appeared before a judge. “In your own words,“said the judge, “I want you to tell me exactly what happened.”
    The little man said: “I am a mathematician dealing in the nature of proof, and on 12 August last I was in the city library conducting some research. There were two books I wanted to take out, so I got in line. But when I reached the desk, I was told that my library card had expired. So I filled out the forms for another card, got in another line and waited patiently.
    Then, when I got to the desk, the guy asked me whether I could prove I was from New York City. So I stabbed him.”

  9. Good morning all.
    A misty start to the day, cool with a tad under 4°C on the thermometer. Promises to brighten as the mist clears.

  15. Good Morning Folks

    Cloudy and trying to rain here, I though we were supposed to have one more nice day before we went back to winter

    1. I don't know the truth about the chemtrails. Yesterday the sky was clear and very blue. By afternoon the chemtrails were appearing and then the sky misted over.

    1. Given the history of his 'success' at the BofE, I don't think Canadians have to worry about President Trump….

    2. Was it the same Canadians who whinged about the last one who have elected this one?

      What have they been feeding them?

      1. II think it was just his party that elected him. As usual the population aren't allowed a say.

      2. Grizzly, are you green with envy at Mark Carney winning the Canadian election or planning to support Ed Milliband's Greeen energy policies?

    3. He looks like a particularly nasty snake oil/used car salesman! Is he making that "W" sign because he's a, er, banker

    4. Mark Carney, a former Goldman Sachs *anker, is set to become the Prime Minister of Canada. Carney, who served as the governor of the Bank of England 2013 to 2020. Appointed by Gay-Boy Cameron. Strange how so many Western politicians and bankers rise to the top with so little intellectual aptitude. Must be something in the water – or their loose trousers.

  17. Reform must shape up if it is to challenge Labour at the next election

    The Party chairman needs to step down, by the look of it.

    1. Could it be that the higher echelons in Reform think that they need to attract a proportion of the Muslim vote (who might otherwise vote for Labour) in order to win seats? It would also explain their desire to be shot of anti-immigration Lowe….

      1. If Reform are not anti immigration there will be no need to worry about the Muslim vote.

      2. 402962+ up ticks,

        Morning S,
        I am not being impolite when saying " how your thinking"

      3. Immigration, legal or illegal, is the backbone of their pledges. It's an integral part of almost everything they stand for. Without it they're dead and they must know this.

    2. Morning Bob. It's looking bad. My own support for Reform is fading. I am no longer sure that Farage can carry out the actions necessary to save the UK.

      1. 402952+ up ticks,

        Morning AS,
        IMHO the first priority in the
        " nige" book is save farage.

      2. It seems to me that Farage seems to go a certain distance in what he is involved in. He carries out massive amounts of talking and arm waving but never seems to actually do anything practical and then flits off. He's a bit like 'a secret agent'.

        1. I seem to recall a definition of a "seagull manager" is someone who flies in, squawks a lot, covers everything in carp and then leaves?

  18. Ukrainian troops ‘trapped’ by Russian Kursk advance. 10 March 2025.

    Ukraine had been hoping to hold onto the Russian territory it seized as a potential bargaining chip in any negotiations. It came as Russia announced on Sunday it had captured territory in Ukraine’s Sumy region for the first time since 2022.

    Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has travelled to Saudi Arabia for tomorrow’s talks with Ukrainian officials. US officials said they believed Kyiv was “ready to move forward” with ceasefire negotiations.

    Obviously the denying of US support for the Ukies is having an effect. I’m sure that this is intended. They are being relentlessly squeezed to fall in with US demands for a settlement. This is only necessary because Zelensky is opposed to it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/10/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news529/

  19. Indeed, but without power huffing and puffing about immigration won't halt it….

  22. 402962+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Monday 10 March: Reform must shape up if it is to challenge Labour at the next election

    A large segment of the herd are at it again, NOT daring to use the word in a serious questioning mode, the word being farage.

    Truth be told the peoples content of the party MUST shape up, are they members ?

    Ask themselves " have we dug beneath the polished, IMO glib, veneer of nige in a deeply serious manner"

    The nations stance currently is in the, passing beyond
    redemption state, in reality that means we need leaders ( plural) NOT politico's of dubious pedigrees, read up,rethink, the fish torso OK, check the head.

    In parallel start building another party to reform as a
    fall back party prior to the shite connecting with the fan as IMHO it surely must.

    ALL eggs in one basket is guaranteed to lose one a Country, as we are proving to our cost.

      1. A hypotenuse distance of 8·48528 feet would be beyond the Covidiots wouldn't it, Pythagoras?

    1. I knew nothing about International Women's Day – even the fact that it existed – until we visited Russia in the late 1990s.
      Rather ironic. Has life improved for women in say the Middle East, Afgaff, the whole of Africa etc…..?

      1. Morning Anne
        Or even those who waddle along British streets , clad in miserable tent like clothes, waddling because their genitals are sore thanks to FGM.

        But more importantly those woman who have had their retirement postponed and their pension wrecked.

          1. To me, the burka will always be a symbol of repression and coercion, no matter how much its wearers might claim otherwise. As for the image I did choose, buying ready-ripped jeans and leggings is one of the more egregious modern day examples of how the freedom to choose includes, however unfortunate the outcome, the freedom to choose badly. Rips through wear and tear are one thing, but buying garments that already have them – which would once have entailed taking them back for exchange or refund – or even adding them to newly bought garments, I think is just bizarre.

  27. Good morning, chums, I overslept a bit today. And thanks, Geoff, for Monday's NoTTLe page.

    Wordle 1,360 5/6

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

    1. 402962+ up ticks,

      Morning Bob,

      They could always be advised by Gerard Batten on Tommy, but then again the letter sent by "nige" in pro ukip NEC mode 2019 has fingerprints on the knife,so to speak.

    2. Reform have shown they air their dirty laundry in public. They're just not ready. People can shout 'reform!' as much as they want but clearly they're just not there. he country needs more than waffle and bluster. It needs real, data driven decisions, real understanding of law and policy. It needs discipline to present a united front. It cannot be the cult of Nigel.

    3. They also need to get behind deportations. My uncommitted friend noted that they weren't in favour of getting rid of foreign criminals unlike most of the rest of the country.

  29. SIR – How sad to see William Sitwell applauding the death of Latin in state schools (Features, March 8).

    The study of Latin is both useful and pleasurable: not for all the clichéd reasons about “training the mind” and “helping you to understand French and Spanish”, but because if we didn’t keep learning Latin, we wouldn’t be able to understand thousands of years of documents from across Europe.

    Cutting the Latin Excellence Programme is a great shame.

    Philip Womack
    London NW1

      1. I enjoyed Latin, too (I did pass A Level). I found translation a bit like solving a crossword puzzle.

    2. I hated Latin, and dropped it as soon as was allowed.
      I would have preferred to do more years of German or French, something I might have a use for.

      1. There is a rather bizarre idea that Latin is "the key to all languages". Well, how come the Dutch and Scandies often speak several languages with having to study Latin first? I first learned about tenses, prepositions, pronouns etc when I started French at grammar school. I should have already done this at primary school. I took German for O level and when it came to inflections, Der Die Das etc, I understood the principle from Latin but this was the only way Latin helped. It would have been much better cutting out the Latin middleman and going straight. English, after all, is a Germanic language.

      1. Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.

        In other words, say it in Latin and you will appear to be smarter than you actually are.

    4. I like that with a bit of Latin you can brute force decode most other European languages.

    5. A good grasp of Latin is essential if you want to visit South America as Dan Quayle, who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush, observed:

      "I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people."

      2. Dan Quayle has certainly uttered his share of malapropisms, solecisms, and straight-up absurdities, but he didn't say this one. According to the indispensable urban-legend-debunking website http://Snopes.com , the quote originated in 1989 with Representative Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island, a Republican.

        Speaking to a group of fellow Republicans, she recounted that the she and Quayle had attended an event at the Belgian embassy, where then-Vice President Quayle complimented Representative Schneider on her command of French (this was back when speaking French wasn't regarded as a political liability).

        Schneider then attributed to Quayle the belief that Latin was the lingua franca of Latin America, before concluding that the whole story was a joke. But many publications, including Newsday, The Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, and Time, reported Schneider's joke as fact, further cementing in the public consciousness the perception of the vice president as an intellectual lightweight.

        https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0603/Political-misquotes-The-10-most-famous-things-never-actually-said/I-was-recently-on-a-tour-of-Latin-America-and-the-only-regret-I-have-was-that-I-didn-t-study-Latin-harder-in-school-so-I-could-converse-with-those-people.-Dan-Quayle

        1. I never found any use for phrases such as "Oh, Caesar, your cohorts have returned from Gaul".

          2. “My hovercraft is full of eels” M. Python
            “My bicycle has been struck by lightning” Jasper Carrott.

      3. Working in Mozambique, the crew spoke a form of Portuguese (In addition to their own tongue) and I often found my failed Spanish O level was useful. No need for Latin, it's a case of commonality of vocabulary., as with Germanic languages.

    6. I found it invaluable when I studied Russian from scratch at university; similar structures in declensions and conjugations, agreement in number, gender and case …

    7. I found it invaluable when I studied Russian from scratch at university; similar structures in declensions and conjugations, agreement in number, gender and case …

  30. Good Moaning.
    I'm starting the week not so much with a bang as a snap, crackle and pop; this morning I visit the chiropractor to be grunched.
    Wonderful excuse to be pathetic for the rest of the day.

  33. Good Morning!

    It’s Monday, and we all have plenty to be blue about, so to cheer us up Nanu is back with a further instalment of the book he is writing with your help. Please do read Project Fear , part three of his Brexit Revisited satire, and tell him what you think.

    Yesterday was Covid Remembrance Day, which should be a day of anger by the people and shame for the Establishment, but instead they are still trying to cover up the damage they did with nauseating sugar-coated pusillanimous platitudes. Read Covid Day of Reflection? for both a personal and a political ‘reflection’. Please do let us know what you think.

    Energy watch 07.00: Demand: 32.77 GW. Total UK Production: 29.57 GW from: Hydrocarbons 42.4%; Wind 29.4%; Imports 11%; Biomass 3.4%; Nuclear 12.3%. Solar: 0%.

    We are importing 3.11GW while exporting 2.9GW. It is clear that the Establishment regards our power system as part of an integrated Euro-wide network. It is not operated for the benefit of the British people.

    And please sign David Bizley’s petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/712680/signatures/new

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. Can't sign it as it doesn't tell me what change to the oath they want. I took the military oath in 1955 and took it seriously.

  34. Morning all 🙂😊
    And back to normal, grey but dry.
    Reform Reform. Sort it out you lot, or was this deliberately set up because you really don't want to be the British government.

    1. The EU is just like the USSR used to be. Why do people want a dictatorship.?

      1. Because Lefties like having a bastion of statism safely removed from democratic control that thinks like them, does what they want and has broad sweeping and crucially unopposed power where socialist attitudes – stealing from the earner to give to the shirkers can guarantee the situation expands.

        All it has to ensure is that governments continue to support the Hard Left hated EU with endless amounts of other people's money. This is why Brexit so angered them and they're still fighting democracy. It's why Lefties head into the state – they want to be surrounded by other useless wasters to expand their own petty little ideas without the annoyance of having to achieve anything.

        It is all about control and power.

    2. The EU has always despised democracy – run by the unelected, for the unelectable!

    1. Hard labour sounds a good idea. Re-open n the coal mines and kick them down it. If nutjob 'rights' lawyers complain, put them in as well.

      1. Mugabe got away with it. 20 thousand plus people who he knew would never vote for him, ended up in mine shafts.

    2. Same old story as far the usual, difficult to manage, do you know who we are, out of control people on the planet are concerned. Every where they are and every where they go. They cause as much trouble as they can and are destructive and murderous.

    3. And the moment Assad left Syria, Lammy gave them millions in aid. The man is truly and idiot.

    1. No one is allowed to listen now. The Hard Left are destroying those who speak out.

      1. I have just listened to it without difficulty. Maybe the sound has only been cut off in the UK?

    2. I'm slightly surprised that Danny Lockwood's book 'The Islamic Republic of Dewsbury' is still available. It really ought to have been banned by now for telling the truth of the Islamic conquest of West Yorkshire.

    1. Walk down Northam and it already looks like that. Grubby, ugly, messy, gardens clarted with junk and rubbish.

      Wherever the diversity go they ruin it.

          1. Ironically, the new "Local Residents", after many years, managed to get the "massage parlours" the street was famous for closed down.
            I say "ironically" because the pimps controlling the girls were, all too often, men from their own community.

    2. Summary
      On 25 August 2023 between 10.45pm and 11pm Special Constable Hassnain Shahzad sexually assaulted a 14-year-old female in Tesco Express, 158-164 Bishopsgate by touching her bottom, twice, over clothing.

      MSC Shahzad was charged on 19 April 2024, with two counts of Sexual Assault. On 6 January 2025 at Inner London Crown Court, a unanimous verdict was reached. He was found guilty of sexual assault by touching.

      The officer was not legally represented and was not present at proceedings.

      https://www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/metropolitan-police/misconduct-outcomes/2025/february/special-constable-hassnain-shahzad-outcome-summary/

      Unpleasant, no doubt, but a custodial sentence in light of the details would have been excessive in my view.

      1. Whilst that might be true, if that had been a white police officer doing the same to a Muslim or black girl do you think he would have been imprisoned?
        I do.

        1. I'm rather less sure than you. I'd like to find an example, but an equivalent is probably hard, if not impossible, to find.

        2. This case doesn't match the particulars of your example, but the man concerned was given a suspended sentence for touching a woman's clothed bottom.

          https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/crime/corby-man-put-on-sex-offender-register-after-touching-womans-bottom-4017988

          In this example, a victim was just 9-years-old, which might have attracted a heavier sentence. Nonetheless, the offender's sentence was suspended.

          https://www.keighleynews.co.uk/news/24853040.george-szulhan-keighley-court-sexual-assault/

          It would be difficult to deduce that the sentence would be heavier given the circumstances you describe in your example.

          That said, this solicitors' guide indicates, under Culpability A, that where race or religion is involved, it might be deemed to be an aggravating factor.

          https://www.jdspicer.co.uk/site/blog/crime-fraud/can-you-go-to-jail-for-touching-someone-in-the-uk

    1. Belle, in many areas this 'tool' doesn't know his arse from his elbow but where the gangs and their illegal customers are concerned he know exactly what he is doing.

  42. 402962+up ticks,

    We in England are awaiting what our outcome will be on the final takeover,I believe many think that enough
    kneeling will be a head saver and we should accommodate the islamist to the extent thatm a scimitar sharpening stone at the front door is a sure sign of commitment.

    https://x.com/RadioGenoa/status/1898858002498703791

  43. King Charles’s playlist is fun, spirited and slightly eccentric
    The King’s Commonwealth Day choices, featuring Diana Ross, Al Bowlly and Michael Bublé, is a random jamboree
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/king-charles-playlist-commonwealth-day/

    Give him all 17 on the list (rather then the usual 8), a copy of the Koran rather than the Bible, forget the Complete Works of Shakespeare and send him to Roy Plomley's Desert Island and make sure he stays there!

    (Give him an ecologically sound record player which does not require any electricity!)

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c5004b173918360b0f6d6ad731abc961cdd8b1541134a6dfbad3454e215c722.png

    1. It's a wind-up, that'll needle him – especially if he doesn't have a footman to change the real needle.

  44. 402962+ up ticks,

    Dt

    King reveals his music playlist that ‘never fails to lift my spirits’
    Special episode for Apple Music marks Commonwealth Day

    May one of his subjects ask does " Onward Christian
    soldiers "rank among his repertuar ?

    1. I think his love of music is genuine. He turned up unannounced at a Wigmore Hall concert not long ago. Publicising his musical taste is surely about quashing the rumour that he's become a Mohammedan convert?

      1. I did not usually agree with his first wife's judgement but she was right when she said that he would not make a good king.

        1. Oh he's a lousy king but we've had bad kings before. Will the institution of the monarchy survive this one?

      2. 402962+ up ticks,

        Morning SE,
        Accepted, my comment was slanted at his
        WEF / NWO /RESET ties.

      3. Morning Sue! Not all Muslims are anti music. In Libya Om Khalsom was played constantly from loudspeakers hanging out side the shops. I ended up with her as my favorite singer to this day. The classical music of Andalusia was also preserved in Libya and played on occasion. Fascinating to listen to because it becomes very obvious where classical flamenco/Spanish guitar comes from.

        Thought some might like to hear. This is the music that would have been played in the Alhambra palace, Spain.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBmp0eMPavE

        1. Fascinating; thanks. Difficult to listen to, as my brain keeps trying to 'correct' to western tuning. 🤪

          1. Well then, just listen to Ravels Bolero, that’s a piece of Islamic music too but Turkish. I have heard the original and it is actually nicer. Try a bit of Om Khalsom on You Tube, actually a piece called Al Atlal, it’s my favorite piece of music.

          2. Will do!! I have no problems with really Arabic-sounding music – the quarter tones make sense. The structure of the first piece felt more Western, which is why my pore brane was attempting to retune some notes… 🙄

    4. Young man trying to impress a young lady in a restaurant: "I'll have the hoo-say red please".
      Waiter: "That's the red, sir…"

  47. Morning all. Sort of overcast here and not very warm but I suspect it is going to become a clear day later on.

    Question. Are people having problems getting on X ? Tried several times and nothing is happening. Trying to find news on Syria because I see absolutely nothing on the Telegraph. Apparently being a fat self indulgent elephantine git is a more important topic for that rag. By last night 20,000 Alawites, supposedly, had been massacred. Don't know about Christians, I was hoping to find that out now but no X. Saw a picture, awful, even little children shot and piled up in a heap of bodies with adults, their parents one supposes.

    1. We are now seeing that even though neither Labour nor the Conservatives could destroy it the Reform Party has managed to do it from within.

      Perhaps Christians cannot destroy Islam – maybe the best way of destroying it is by Islamic groups wiping out other Islamic groups.

      1. I am not comfortable saying it in the slightest and I say in with great reluctance. But I think that for are own safety we need to call on the resources that the Irish used before it is to late.. Forgive me for being oblique.

          1. This is the miserable and totally absurd answer to the question
            Are there any legal self-defence products that I can buy?
            Police Reply
            The only fully legal self-defence product at the moment is a rape alarm. These are not expensive and can be bought from most local police stations or supermarkets.

            There are other self-defence products that claim to be legal (e.g. non toxic sprays), however, until a test case is brought before the court, we cannot confirm their legality or endorse them. If you purchase one you must be aware that if you are stopped by the police and have it in your possession there is always a possibility that you will be arrested and detained until the product, its contents and legality can be verified.

            However, accepting there is a lot of concern about street crime, we can try to clarify matters a little by putting forward the following points.

            You must not get a product that is made or adapted to cause a person injury. Possession of such a product in public (and in private in specific circumstances) is against the law.
            There are products that squirt a relatively safe, brightly coloured dye (as opposed to a pepper spray). A properly designed product of this nature, used in the way it is intended, should not be able to cause an injury. However, if an injury does occur, this may be assault.
            Any products bought from abroad have a greater chance of being illegal.
            The above advice is given in good faith, you must make your own decision and this website cannot be held responsible for the consequences of the possession, use or misuse of any self-defence product. See Q85 for information on the use of reasonable force.

      2. That will not happen until they have wiped us out. There is a certain order they observe.

        1. Islamic saying we all should pay attention to. "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people."

      4. I have been convinced for years that Farage is a mole. He is really a Tory.

    3. I am finding I have to make several attempts especially in the evenings these last few days.

      1. Hi Poppie. You might have noticed, my favorite flower.
        This is the first time I have had problems with X. Paranoia, immediately thought of the government and its grubby desire to shut us all up. But X is back up. It is disquieting to think that this one thin thread keeps us able to be informed in a so called, free society.

          2. "By last night 20,000 Alawites, supposedly, had been massacred. Don't know about Christians, I was hoping to find that out now but no X"
            X is a vital source of (hopefully) non-biased news.

          3. I found the 20,000 Alawites last night. If I find it again I will post it. But it truly disturbs me. Last night I saw a young man being shot. It is still haunting me. First thing I thought of this morning. I honestly have a great deal of difficulty at the idea of killing men, women, and children just because they think different things than you do. Killing people who want to kill you, well that is different but not the optimum solution to a problem. better exile, drive your enemy out never allowed to return.

          4. I know what you mean, Jonathan.
            The play loop in the head… hope you can wipe it quickly.

        2. Hello Jonathan! I would know nothing without X (or not very much about the world out there). It has enabled me to put must of the scattered pieces of that which is Going On in the world together. Without it I would have been a very puzzled person, at the mercy of government manipulations, even though I have been on the case of what is Going On for the last twenty years or so – thank heavens for the internet – when I realised that Government was 'governing' in a somewhat illogical fashion. Nothing surprises me now.

          X does have its moments of difficulty, I think the problem is its success, too many people trying to get on board at once and it can't cope with the vast numbers. Only recently it was heralded as being the No 1 'go to' news site for reliable information. And not only news, I find people's comments so informative too. I feel not so alone with my thoughts. Access to X is particularly bad late evening which I think is probably all of America trying to get online. I thought I needed a new iPad at one point recently!

    4. Your description of that is bad enough, so I won't go searching for it. Don't have the mental fortitude to process images like that just now.

  48. 402962+ up ticks,

    Morning PM,
    Without doubt, before the sword strikes many are going to say “what the hell is hap…………

    2. To be fair. That would mean any nutter would have easy access to the queen, book a slot for a potshot! She would be in a state of siege in her own home.

      1. I don't blame him, I would have done the same – but does it sit well with his woke image?

        1. No. I think at this juncture he should come out and say that he is unequivocally for Christianity. Sooner or later he is going to be forced into that position by the discontented population. He is supposed to be very pro-Orthodox which is good. But if that is so he can't waffle. It is by no means as ambiguous as Western Christianity in its position with regard to Islam. If it was up to me I would encourage Orthodox missionaries, show people that there is still a living Christian tradition, not a hollow shell controlled by Woke Canterbury and Woke Rome. Perhaps then people would rally around the flag, as it were, and form a coherent resistance to Islam. You do Orthodoxy, not just believe it, it is a mans religion that makes you grow a spine. Left to Western attitudes both Christian and secular, we are doomed to defeat because this is a spiritual war that has its consequences in the form of untold misery if nothing is done and it can only be defeated by another spiritual entity. You are not dealing with rationalities here but almost dark chthonic forces that can only be driven back by forces as deep in the psyche but of the order of Light. Excuse the metaphysical tone but I believe that is where we are at. Romans 13:12 "…So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light."

          1. Islam is opportunist – and the absence of Christian opposition has given Muslims many opportunities.

  50. How the globalists dug their own grave. Spiked. 10 March 2025.

    Donald Trump didn’t cause the liberal international order to crumble. But he has undoubtedly thrived among its crumbling, riding to power on a wave of popular discontent and hope for a freer, more democratic, less war-mongering future. One in which the interests of workers are put ahead of those of the globalist elites.

    Then again he hasn’t done much to stop it. Lol. We can see this disintegration most obviously in Europe where the Globalist Elites are scrambling frantically to shore it up with an enhanced anti-Russia program. If they can establish a credible enemy abroad it will give them someone to blame for the coming decline in Welfare and the Standard of Living and a breathing space to reorganise. I don’t think that they can do it. The people of Germany and France have already woken up and the UK will shortly dissolve as a viable State. Bad things are coming.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/03/08/how-the-globalists-dug-their-own-grave/

        1. I am invariably on the ‘newest’ page and I can see your grey ‘pin’ request to the Mods, but nothing with it!

    3. Thanks for that.🤣 I suspect PIP’s days are numbered.
      I have a similar situation at my annual diabetic review, when the nurse asks to check my feet…

      1. It’s a pity you didn’t have them preserved and kept in a shoe box for such eventualities!

  54. Phew!
    Not such a warm morning today, but still pleasant enough for pulling ivy runners and digging up bramble roots.
    Daffodils still not quite in blossom, though not far off.
    Last year I had a couple out on the 1st of March, St. David's Day!
    From last year:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e2882369a7dabc93860f4d7c11daf222824a9da6efc9bf1916fa62c2077c6b4c.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c69612d6b04767adc3c63b1103f06a15bf6b4cef2d15c831bd6378575983c1b4.jpg
    And I stand corrected!
    One of the small varieties I planted this autumn has flowered! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/16702b296ad78cff782ebbcbd5a7152aa89d34aaf6978e414ca07924b30ec27d.jpg With another not far behind. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/339dbead13c11ee45ab1b431b2b1b036fb79374b1261a34d970cd5f71e2bc2e5.jpg The large varieties are a bit slower;
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6b53e7c06c77c8e15125e34e008ce849250e7695c3d4a2f963d85c2b363ed75d.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/69dac84f92dfa0f94d61e407fe0ab8c03cfcd0a27a9cf7f53445470bf3c34290.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f7f3e55db15f0002b59b3d3d47b4785e27fc16bf5c540c98c742261b73f85e88.jpg
    I'm now in the habit of planting a couple of dozen bulbs, tulips as well as daffs, along the verge to brighten it up.

  56. Ministers will also set out proposals to create community funds worth up to £200,000 per kilometre of overhead electricity cable in their area, and £530,000 per substation, to pay for projects such as sport facilities and youth centres.

    Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said that to “bring down bills for good” through renewable power “we need to get Britain building right now. And as part of that, we are delivering on our landmark commitment to ensure that people who live near infrastructure are properly compensated.”
    Thousands of residents living near electricity pylons could be given up to £2,500 off their bills as ministers overhaul planning rules to push through new development and homebuilding.

    Under plans to be set out this week, households living within a half a kilometre of new or upgraded power infrastructure could see their average electricity bill fall by almost 40 per cent a year.

    The move is intended to reduce opposition to renewable energy infrastructure as Sir Keir Starmer makes a building boom the cornerstone of his push for growth.

    The Planning and Infrastructure Bill to be set out on Tuesday would also strip quangos of the power to block developments and require environmental regulators to speed up decisions. However, ministers are facing pressure from Labour MPs to go further and scrap environmental rules that “simply do not work”.

    The bill discount scheme — which is the equivalent to an annual payment of £250 over ten years — would apply to new above-ground transmission cables as well as structures such as substations and some significant upgrades of existing pylons. The government is also expected to extend the scheme to other green projects such as new onshore wind farms.

    While communities most affected by the development needed would be given incentives to support projects, at the same time local people’s ability to block or delay them would be curtailed by changes to the legal process around nationally significant infrastructure projects. This would allow energy companies to purchase land needed for pylons and make clear that firms only need to pay for more expensive underground cables in limited circumstances.

    Under the present proposals nearly 620 miles of electricity transmission lines would be installed to link offshore windfarms with urban centres where power is most needed. Existing pylons will also need to be upgraded or replaced, with some estimates suggesting that across the country more than 300,000 miles of new cabling will be needed.

    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/energy-bills-could-fall-by-250-a-year-if-you-live-near-new-pylon-project-3z9sfzm97

    What a repellent concept: bribing people to accept grotty disfiguring development.

    1. Institutionalised bribery, maybe they got the idea from Derek Hatton and his friends (allegedly).

  60. Syria leader vows to hunt down those responsible for bloodshed

    Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold anyone involved in harming civilians accountable after days of clashes where Syrian security forces allegedly killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority.

    A UK-based monitor said 830 civilians were killed in "massacres" targeting Alawites on the west coast on Friday and Saturday.

    The BBC has been unable to independently verify the death toll of the violence, which is believed to be the worst since the fall of the Assad regime.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crknjgrd3geo

    But Israel did definitely bomb the hospital in Gaza.

    Come on, Marianna. Where are you?

  61. Syria leader vows to hunt down those responsible for bloodshed

    Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold anyone involved in harming civilians accountable after days of clashes where Syrian security forces allegedly killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority.

    A UK-based monitor said 830 civilians were killed in "massacres" targeting Alawites on the west coast on Friday and Saturday.

    The BBC has been unable to independently verify the death toll of the violence, which is believed to be the worst since the fall of the Assad regime.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crknjgrd3geo

    But Israel did definitely bomb the hospital in Gaza.

    Come on, Marianna. Where are you?

    3. You are lucky to be able to have a good bonfire.

      In our part of France it is forbidden and heavy fines will be imposed.

    1. That photo's been doing the rounds for a while. Peter Hitchens has featured it a few times.

  66. You look very dangerous – hence your Hi-viz romper suit to warn law abiding citizens to keep well away

  68. No warning tape or fencing, no cones, no hard hat, no oxygen mask….no
    neighbours ? 🤔🙄

    1. Yes. He's an Alawite himself and protected the Christians. Assad, like Saddam and Gaddafi, did what was necessary to keep the savages down. Naturally the savages were unhappy with that.

  72. Of COURSE I Did, Mags. We haven't had a hedgehog here for 20 years. There used to be several when I came here in 1984. Badgers kill them.

  73. Have you done an Environmental survey of the potential impact of your behaviour here? Any invertebrates? Any Bats in the locality? Have you consulted an archaeologist for any potential artifacts in the area? How long have you been white and did you get special dispensation for that?

  74. 402962+ up ticks,

    There's a lot of money in scrap, that goes for scrap Countries also.

    X comment,
    The other four parties are all in the same mould so I now see how you did not join any of them

    They are all in place to give the people the illusion there is a democracy when there never was and elections are rigged always by this dominant Uni-party!

    The timing of Reform UK's disintegration may well be by design as Farage has left UKIP and the Brexit Party in the same damaging way after building it up as a people's alternative!

    I think Reform UK has been created by the same people which by the look of allowed Labour back in and gives them five more years to completely destroy the country!

    1. In his collection of English Proverbs of 1678 John Rays included this little gem – “Muck and money go together”. By the late 19th Century this had evolved into that well-known phrase “Where's there's muck there's brass”

  75. Have a look at the comments on this piece. Not one of them in support of the Beeb.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/09/bbc-licence-fee-wealthy-households-should-pay-more/
    Wealthier households should have to pay more for the BBC, the corporation’s chairman has suggested.

    Samir Shah has questioned the current system of a flat licence fee and appeared instead to favour a levy based on the value of the property.

    In his first interview since becoming chairman last year, he told The Sunday Times: “Why should people who are poor pay the same as people in wealthy households?”

    It comes as licence fee revenues have plummeted, with the number of households paying the £169-a-year levy to watch live television or use the BBC’s iPlayer streaming service falling by half a million to 23.9 million in the year to April 2024.

    1. I'd prefer the BBC to be funded by those who want to watch it! They'd probably be bankrupt within weeks.

    2. So, does he expect pricing of other commodities to be based on house values? Cucumbers, perhaps?

      1. Indeed. At every visit to a supermarket, each shopper should have to complete a 20 page document detailing the value of all their assets. Only then would it be possible to calculate an equitable total for a grocery bill. It's a small price to pay for fairness.

    3. and appeared instead to favour a levy based on the value of the property.

      That is particularly stupid, but what would we expect.

    4. Who the FUCK is Samir Shah?
      And why is someone of that name chairman of the BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation?

    5. "In his first interview since becoming chairman last year, he told The Sunday Times: “Why should people who are poor pay the same as people in wealthy households?”

      Would he apply that to car tax, gas bills?

    6. Are they going to get better programmes? The reason revenue has fallen is because the Bbc puts out woke rubbish.

    7. You've got to hand it to the BBC top management, not one person in a million would have thought of suggesting that!

  76. In the direction the wind is blowing, stupid. Unlike some local residents, I always wait until there is a north wind forecast for at least 2 days.

  77. Pay-per-view would be good. Over here, the state broadcaster is funded through general taxation, whether you watch it or not (we don't).

    2. That would be OK as long as it was just one, news oriented. public safety style channel. Once the government broadcaster is competing with private companies across the board, it should not be taxpayer funded.

  78. RAF facing pilot shortage after diversity scheme backfires

    Previously rejected candidates urged to reapply, as well as older applicants who have any relevant experience in ‘flying-related roles’

    An official document has revealed the Royal Air Force’s need for ‘a higher number of pilots in training’ which comes after its diversity drive was found to be unlawful to white male would-be recruits Credit: PHILIP COBURN
    Tom McArdle
    10 March 2025 11:17am GMT

    The RAF is facing a pilot shortage after a diversity hiring scheme backfired.

    An official document has revealed the Royal Air Force’s need for “a higher number of pilots in training”.

    The Air Force is so short staffed that candidates who were previously rejected are being urged to reapply, as well as older applicants who have any relevant experience in “flying-related roles”.

    The pleas come as Sir Keir Starmer reiterated the UK’s willingness to put “boots on the ground and planes in the air” to help Ukraine secure a peace deal.

    The Prime Minister has already announced a boost in defence spending, which will increase to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.

    But the RAF now needs a “higher number of pilots in training”, according to a document seen by the Daily Mail.

    Air chiefs want the gaps filled by those who may have previously been rejected.

    In an RAF internal briefing note titled, “Opportunities for professional transfer to the pilot specialisation”, staff are encouraged to transfer because of a need for more pilots “required for flying training”.

    Candidates must be younger than 24 when they apply, although older applicants with experience in similar roles would be considered.

    ‘Woke manipulation of recruiting practices’
    The same scheme is open to weapons systems operators.

    Mark Francois, the shadow Armed Forces minister, told the paper: “The RAF’s availability of combat pilots has been hit by a perfect storm: including woke manipulation of recruiting practices, the revival of civilian airlines post-Covid and technical issues with training aircraft, particularly engine reliability on the Hawk T2.

    “All this really matters. If we are now going to see ‘jets in the sky’ defending any Ukrainian peace deal, then we need enough trained pilots to fly them.

    “As we approach VE Day celebrations, it is worth remembering that the RAF never ran out of Spitfires or Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain, but we very nearly ran out of fighter pilots.”

    The shortage comes after the RAF’s diversity drive was found to be unlawful to white male would-be recruits.

    Under Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston’s stewardship, the air force committed to having 40 per cent women and 20 per cent of personnel from ethnic minorities by 2030.

    During the drive, leaked emails showed air chiefs were told to stop choosing “useless white male pilots” in an attempt to improve diversity.

    In 2023, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton unequivocally apologised following an inquiry into the bias.

    Sir Richard admitted that the force’s recruitment process had erroneously “fast-tracked” 161 enlisted aviators, who were either women or from ethnic minority backgrounds, into initial training before other candidates between 2020 and 2021.

    Lack of engineers
    He acknowledged that the RAF conceded “some men experienced discrimination” as a result, citing a group of 31 individuals who likely missed the chance to qualify for a £5,000 joining bonus.

    The RAF shortage also comes as the former head of the Army last year warned Britain’s security has been put “at risk” because of a helicopter training crisis.

    Lord Dannatt said underfunding had resulted in a lack of engineers to maintain aircraft, meaning flying lessons had been put on pause.

    An RAF spokesman told the Daily Mail: “We have sufficient pilots and aircrew to conduct all current operations and service the front line.

    “Additionally, active management of the flying training system has reduced training times and the backlog of student aircrew in the training pipeline.

    “This good progress has enabled us to reopen aircrew applications for serving personnel.”

    The RAF was approached for comment.

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

    New recruit? (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) "Don't call me Shirley"
    https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2F57N0K/usa-kareem-abdul-jabbar-in-a-scene-from-the-cparamount-pictures-film-airplane!-1980-plot-a-man-afraid-to-fly-must-ensure-that-a-plane-lands-safely-after-the-pilots-become-sick-ref-lmk110-j6951-100321-supplied-by-lmkmedia-editorial-only-landmark-media-is-not-the-copyright-owner-of-these-film-or-tv-stills-but-provides-a-service-only-for-recognised-media-outlets-pictures@lmkmediacom-2F57N0K.jpg

    2. "An RAF spokesman [man? shirly some mistake?] told the Daily Mail: “We have sufficient pilots and aircrew to conduct all current operations and service the front line. At least until next week?

    3. The real reason is because they need a lot more cannon fodder for the coming war against the Russians in Ukraine and the coolies and trannies will be deserting in droves.

    5. Yeah of course they will sign up in droves now Two Tier has said he’ll send them off to an unnecessary war.

  79. You couldn't make this one up given a million years.

    I did not hear all of it but just now on the radio some one said that a couple driving back from France in their campervan, were fined because they were found to have had an illegal immigrant that had broken in to the van that they didn't know about.
    A drop in the ocean compared to the 6.6 billion we have spent looking after all the illegal cheats and liars.
    But why not fine RNLI ?

    1. They were fined £1,500 for having an illegal on their bike rack at the back of their motorhome

      Human nature suggests in future if people find one on their vehicle they will remain quiet.

      Perhaps that is the intent of the fines.

      1. Dreadful, he was obviously hitching an illegal ride.
        If they had backed into something and squashed him they would have been arrested and fined.
        I expect he's been shown to his new comfy room and fed by now.

      2. If it were me, I would have quietly zipped up the bike cover, jumped back in the cab and driven down to Dover and back to France.

  80. When I said I am going to give you one I meant a parking ticket!
    https://scontent-cdg4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/482084560_10236838253919592_4593471777808574050_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=k1HOReBDsTQQ7kNvgHFIfVE&_nc_oc=AdijIu1eMFjICfpzCOrerNnQe77VL2-sXJmyNcGq2BYjNDeJxJY1clj0XLa0tNXPiJirM8Z3nE8B2ASDwKr0vqwl&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-1.xx&_nc_gid=A9jzZEVRAe_wrH-WwNfQds_&oh=00_AYENoiF66LUXW22102H7GaPoeryKFBGPWwQbQU3LCBf61A&oe=67D4AA97

  83. Colin Seabrook wants the Red Arrows disbanded. 🤬 What an ignorant twat! The pilots would be flying regardless of whether they are in a display team or not, the engineers would be working on other aircraft. The cost of the RAF/country would remain the same. Would he deny the public the pleasure of seeing such a well honed display and the income generated by them not to mention the recruitment it brings. £27.7M is a small price and if saved what would this brainless shower of shite spend it on? Certainly nothing sensible. unless it was a padded cell for this Seabrook twat

    1. They bring in cash I always understood. Displays abroad and at home. God forbid we should fly the flag and demonstrate our excellence.

    2. Were we importing the fuel or exporting it?

      Either way, Miliband will use it as an excuse for more net zero zealotry.

    3. "According to ship tracking sit MarineTraffic, the Stena Immaculate (Tanker) had travelled from the Greek port of Agioi Theodoroi, and was anchored outside Hull.
      The Solong, meanwhile, had been sailing from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
      It appears to have collided with the Stena Immaculate at around 9:48 GMT."

      I See the Solong is living up to its name….

    5. Afternoon Phizz. This isn't by any chance one of Vlad's shadow tanker fleet?

  87. France's political co-operation with the UK Government in restricting illegal immigration in pictorial form.
    They are not only getting rid of parasites infesting the northern shores of France but making millions per day into the bargain. Win-win for Frogland. https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/331472126_960831491747412_1465399802564573502_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=kiqqRvrZKwIQ7kNvgHKdMLX&_nc_oc=AdgspzxyuXT9HU-Jpn-IpxYanL6RsB5nrgchj-_JdEWDZ541gkJx__OD9FAENktOLp2D8XHobw08SjRjXRhhvovK&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&_nc_gid=AWzdH-l-N4GEwm905in43tn&oh=00_AYEPyDePWNtJl-0tmBzwOtQGXwd9mSytNrUgqQIUrrFyww&oe=67D4B67F

    1. And why wouldn’t they. Just shows how utterly stupid, gullible and ineffably stupid the U.K. government is.

      BTW hi all.

        1. Hi there. Getting there but slowly thanks. Can honestly say I’ve never felt so bl..dy awful, coughed one night so much I thought I was going to choke, just could not get my breath. It’s really taken it out of me. (What it is I’ve no idea!). Alf is quite a lot better thank goodness. Stress of moving hasn’t helped.

          1. Sounds like the dreaded Lurgy!
            Sounds like you've received a heavier does of whatever it was that I had a week ago!

  88. What is the going rate that the gangs are charging for a place on a rubber dinghy?

    You can buy a rudimentary but tough and seaworthy rubber dinghy and an outboard motor for under £1,000. You can also get a hand-held compass for under £20.

    Whether or not Starmer fails to 'smash the gangs' the enterprising illegal immigrant will be able to cut out the middle man and get across the channel on a calm day by just steering north from the Calais area. The voyage will be safer, more comfortable and considerably cheaper.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ba33711f9b24addf0f3ba9f253daf323b84b237688f92dd2e756842426bae1f3.png

    1. Mobile phones have a built in compass. I expect that the MOD has a procurement department. The supply chain information can doubtless be found there.

    2. Good effort in sending 'em due north. With luck it would be dark and they might not notice as they sailed along east of Norfolk.

      1. But their mobile phone will give the precise bearing which from Calais to Dover is about WNW.

  89. Britain is the world’s biggest “warmonger”, Russia’s foreign intelligence service claimed, accusing the UK of sabotaging US efforts to secure peace in Ukraine.

    “It is time to expose them and send a clear signal to the treacherous Albion and its elites: you will not succeed,” the SVR intelligence agency warned, adding that Britain was also to blame for starting the Second World War.

    It said British authorities were acting to “undermine Donald Trump’s peacekeeping efforts” and the growing rapprochement between Russia and the US.

    Earlier today, Russia expelled two people connected to Britain’s embassy in Moscow, accusing them of engaging in “counter-intelligence work” and harming Russian security.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/10/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news529/

    1. It said British authorities were acting to “undermine Donald Trump’s peacekeeping efforts” and the growing rapprochement between Russia and the US.

      Afternoon Belle. This is actually true though of all the Europeans. Their sudden interest in Peace in Ukraine and their eagerness to foist their ideas onto Trump is an attempt to derail the US efforts.

      1. Well that's true Slitherthing of number 10 skidding over to offer British dead bodies and Russian money to mucus, slug like, Zelenskyy to keep the killing going, was certainly an effort to trump Trump. Another example of his profound stupidity and utter uselessness as a leader.

    2. It said British authorities were acting to “undermine Donald Trump’s peacekeeping efforts” and the growing rapprochement between Russia and the US.

      Afternoon Belle. This is actually true though of all the Europeans. Their sudden interest in Peace in Ukraine and their eagerness to foist their ideas onto Trump is an attempt to derail the US efforts.

    3. "…adding that Britain was also to blame for starting the Second World War."

      I thought it was some funny-looking Charlie Chaplin look-alike with a silly moustache who was responsible for that one (and by the way, the Russians invaded Poland soon after the Germans did. No wonder the Poles hate the Russians).

      1. Now I'm curious at the logic behind that remark. It seems to me to be the French and their insistence on crippling, punitive damages against Germany after WWII which guaranteed that Germany would not be able to get out from under.

        1. I thought Churchill was on record as saying that they could have avoided WW2 had they wanted to.

  90. It seems to me that we get a Far Right party to vote for and when it gains momentum it implodes.
    The common denominator is time after time Farage with the Far Right vote being herded into a dead end and allowing a free rein for the Uni-party.

    2. My dressage rider asked me a while ago about Reform and I expressed my reservations about Nigel. Today, over lunch, she told me Nigel had proved me right.

    1. It's much easier to say that in Poland than here, for obvious reasons. Also for a Polish MP to say it in the EU Parliament…his wife and children won't get killed.

    2. It's much easier to say that in Poland than here, for obvious reasons. Also for a Polish MP to say it in the EU Parliament…his wife and children won't get killed.

  93. Anyone else got a bet on the Cheltenham Festival? I suppose i should have asked Conway for advice !

    I bet on all the favourites and a few outsiders.

    Of course i am going to win ! :@)

    1. Never gambled Pip, not even once. But I wish you all the success in the world. May every bet shower you with dividends!

      1. Why thank you JR. I do seem to have some luck. I have Nottler friends virtual and real for a start.

    2. You could bet on the Irish having most winners. I can’t see too many homegrown champions, to be honest. I would love Constitution Hill to win but Nicky’s horses have not been running very well lately.

    2. Isn’t it mad. I always thought polygamy was against the law in U.K.! The usual two tier justice. And we have to grit our teeth and pay for it all.

      1. Polygamy on benefits was sneaked through while everyone was distracted with Cameron's gay 'marriage' law iirc.

  96. Oddly enough it just struck me. We keep looking for a leader amongst our people, a Churchill who will come forth. But why, in these internationalist times, could it not be a foreigner? Any ideas? Discount Trump because he will be to old, sadly, by the time he has finished as President. But I do think that Tommy Robinson could be a galvanising figure, a sort of Hotspur but not an actual leader. But he is still young yet.

        1. He wasn't good at geography, though. He didn't realise there was also a Berwick in Shropshire.

    3. If one advertises for a leader, how do you know the candidate will be properly committed, rather than seeing it as just a job?

    4. Do we really want a foreigner who has no connection to this country and isn’t steeped in our culture?

        1. If they are of English descent from the Anglosphere they surely would have a connection to the country, albeit a while ago, and have at least a good knowledge of our culture.

    5. Do Kemi Badenoch and Rishi Sunak count as foreigners as both sets of parents were indeed foreign.

      1. As far as I’m concerned they are British if they want to call themselves that but they are not English. Simple criteria. If you can leave because your ancestors called somewhere else home you are not English.

  97. Foreigners convicted of nearly a quarter of sex crimes
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/10/foreigners-commit-up-to-quarter-of-sex-crimes/

    Data from the Ministry of Justice, obtained under freedom of information laws, show that 15 per cent of sexual offences, including rape, were accounted for by foreign nationals between 2021 and 2023.
    A further eight per cent of convictions were recorded as unknown nationalities.
    Those labelled “unknown” are likely to largely include non-British nationals, taking the total number likely to have been committed by foreigners up to 23 per cent.
    This is despite census data showing foreign nationals make up just 9.3 per cent of the population.

    I'm surprised the government has allowed these figures to be published.

    1. "Native Britons convicted of more than three quarters of sex crimes."

      Doesn't, I suppose, have the same shock value.

          1. Oh my, Paul…Disqus has cobbed me out several times (I know not why) so I just kept using different numbers. Seems to accept this one so that’s what I use. Disqus seems to be shared with Free Speech Backlash, and also Spectator – only other two places I subscribe to.

      3. I wonder how many of the Pakistani heritage groomers and second generation Africans/Jamaicans etc etc are identified as native Britons in that three quarters?
        The Stockport Southport stabber is "Welsh".

        Edit to correct.

        Thank you Stig

      4. Point taken – it appears foreigners now make up 25% of the population ( a figure similar to Supermarket estimates…)

    3. As sex crimes are largely committed by adult males younger than, say, 40, the percentage of foreign nationals in that cohort would make for a more realistic comparison. The 9.3 per cent includes women, pensioners and children.

    1. Now that's a question and a half, Grizzly. Burnt Sienna is very useful, both on its own and as a mixer, can obtain main different shades/colours with it. Ivory Black is very useful, too. And Titanium White. And Payne's Grey. And Yellow Ochre. Potters Pink is very pretty, but also very weak. What do you think?

      1. I love all colours, hues, tints and shades, Katy.
        I have a special liking for combinations; sap green with black, and jasmine yellow with white are two specialities.
        I adore ultramarine violet (especially in the garden). Raw umber is my neutral hue of choice, especially for a base.

        1. With you, Grizzly. Sap is useful, it can be pushed further blue or yellow as preferred. I have always loved the murky look of Chrome Oxide, pushed in different directions with different earths. Favourite w/c artist – Andrew Wyeth, Ivory Black/Yellow Ochre, paper left bare for whites – little Cad Red and occasionally Ultramarine 'I paint my life' – good advice. Never think to use the Ultra Violet, will give it a try, thanks 🙂

          1. Did you know that the greens used by John Constable in his landscapes were not mixed with blue? "Constable green" as it was termed, i.e. natural green, was generally a mix of lamp black and lemon yellow. I've tried it and it works wonderfully.

            My favourite watercolourist was Rowland Hilder. His studies of the Kentish Weald are stunning.

          2. Yes, thanks Grizz. I’m always interested in the pigments too – lamp black for example can be 6, 7 or even 9 or 11. Lemon yellow lovely on it’s own and as mixer. I don’t know Hilder, thanks for h/t will be looking him up. I’m never too sure about Turner, I think as with Wyeth – many pieces been published, some of which the artist may not have wanted to see the light of day. You may be interested how Wyeth gained fame, btw – he was an egg tempera artist (there’s another subject), and he painted a nude of a neighbour’s 14 year old daughter ‘Siri’…it went to New York and people queued round the block. Wyeth was the son of NC Wyeth himself an artist, and he learned technique from him. He married into a wealthy family, and painted initially for his own interest. I like Constable, also Seago I have a book of his works. Sorry for length of pos……..

          3. What do the lamp black numbers mean? Fine-ness, intensity, or weights in a mixture? Or… ?

          4. Sorry Paul, they are Pigment numbers. Somewhere online there’s a register of pigment numbers with their relevant chemical composition, if they are lightfast etc, which companies manufacture them. Might be handprint.com, also recommend various palettes (colours/pigments) to use, or used to.

          6. Some prefer one over the others eg in black. You choose whatever you like, Paul. I’ve used most mediums….just make that mark! :-))

          7. One of the regrets in my life is that I love watercolours, but have less than zero talent when trying to paint. I love the opportunity for hard, soft and really fuzzy edges, the colours, and so on, but even despite a course some 30+ years ago, I’m useless. So, pigment numbers are outwith my experience.
            I’m equally shit with singing, or playing music.

          8. Watercolour is difficult, paper can sometimes make a difference. I painted portraits for some years, during lockdowns paper unobtainable, and now super expensive. You might like gouache? Daler do a nice one, designer brand – it’s not as thick as other brands, and reasonable price (plus a UK company). Mixed media paper pads good too. I need to start something else before I finish the one I’m doing…procrastination/anxiety. Currently in that mode. You may like drawing? charcoal, pen and ink…trouble is, so much to choose from now. Good luck. I’m shit with singing too, usually do it when I’m on my own – i.e. quite a lot of the time 🙂

          9. I love discussing art, Katy. Just ask Katy. No post on the topic is too long for me. I am just happy to have found another fellow artist on the forum. :•)

          10. Ah..a kindred spirit. Have you ever used a medium you don’t like? For me…acrylic paint…🤯 as if we’ve messaged all this time without knowing we both like art 😄

          11. Hertslass has a catalogue of a good number of fellow NoTTLers’ email addresses. If you so desire, you can ask her for mine and then we can discuss art matters, as and when, without boring everyone else.😊

          12. OK, thanks…which medium are you using now…guessing oil…acrylic…I painted oil with a palette knife for a while, was a lot of fun:-)

          13. My first painting was in acrylics. I was introduced to the medium by a work colleague back in the 1970s. For some strange, unfathomable reason, I was wary of oils (I can’t explain why) so I never attempted their use. I’ve not yet tried palette knife.
            I then tried, on an innumerable number of occasions, watercolours but my pathetic attempts were invariably a joke, despite taking advice from expert users of that medium. It is only in the past ten years that I tried oils and I astounded myself at how easy they are to use.
            In the past I was always better at drawing than painting so most of my output has been on my favoured scraperboard — in the main, white scraperboard. I prefer white to black since I can add the colours of my choosing or, if simply monochrome, I can add the lines in ink first.
            Linocut and air-brushing are methods that I intend to attempt soon.😊

          14. I struggle with acrylic paint – it dries too quickly (I think some of the modern ones may stay open a little longer). Acrylic ink a little better. Oil painting with a knife is good if you like a more slightly abstract look. I keep meaning to try linocut and printing, but time as ever runs away….speaking of which, have to go now, see you sometime this aft if you’re still around. K x

          15. Hi Grizz…I thought I replied to you late last night from my mble but can’t see it here…all I said was g’night and I couldn’t believe we’d been messaging all this time without knowing we like art 😀 Long busy day ahead here, might be around after lunch if lucky. You have a good day, and everyone else too x

          16. I love discussing art, Katy. Just ask Katy. No post on the topic is too long for me. I am just happy to have found another fellow artist on the forum. :•)

  100. Someone on Facebook the other day made the claim that God is a socialist. I pointed out that the Ten Commandments suggest not, given that socialism has broken all of them, especially thou shalt not covet and thou shalt not kill. No reply.

    Thou shalt have no other gods
    Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
    Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
    Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
    Honour thy father and thy mother
    Thou shalt not kill
    Thou shalt not commit adultery
    Thou shalt not steal
    Thou shalt not bear false witness
    Thou shalt not covet.

    2. The hard left are actively seeking the end of Christianity whilst promoting and supporting the blasphemy that is Islam.

      1. If it happens I guess our Jewish brethren will breathe a sigh of relief and get back to the business of anticipating the arrival of their Messiah…..

        1. I'm in with a chance then – None of the neighbours have oxen or manservants. However, a couple have some good looking wives…..

  101. Afternoon all. Lovely day; warm, sunny and a lot of laughs during the dressage session.
    Isn’t that what Rupert Lowe said and got expelled for it?

  102. Should we expect better in the next couple of weeks now that tanker full of cloud seed has gone up in smoke?

  103. Just an observation.

    I was following the story of how Yvette Cooper has rejected calls from the family of Sir David Amess MP for an inquiry into his stabbing by an Islamic State nutter – no surprise there, Yvette!

    I was struck by just how alike Sir David and Rupert Lowe look, they could be brothers…..

    I do hope history does not repeat itself and Rupert suffer the same tragic fate??

    1. It's quite a worry for us brits when we have to try and guess when this stupid and ignorant pile of political garbage will actually get a grip.

        1. Blimey BB2 – you must have guessed all the wrong options first!! No wonder you’re cross 😉 !!

  106. Where's the Beef?

    Steak prices are soaring across Britain as a cattle shortage pushes the cost of beef to record highs.
    Restaurant owners and butchers have warned of significant price increases because of a supply crisis amid growing demand for red meat.

    Amir Batito, co-founder of Epicurus and The Black Cow restaurants in London, said he is preparing to raise steak prices by as much as 40pc and is charging an extra £2 for a beef burger, up from £13.
    He said: “The price of the steaks increased, the price of labour increased – everything has increased.”

    It comes after the average dead-weight price of a cow – the price paid once it has been slaughtered – has risen by 15pc since the start of the year to hit record highs, according to the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

    1. This has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of land taken out of agricultural production by the green lobby one way or another and anyone who claim it does is a racist.

    3. "said he is preparing to raise steak prices by as much as 40pc"

      Bit of a gamble, raising the steaks like that, I would have thought.

  107. 'Night All
    I've just paid 100,000 Yen for a giant bottle of Tippex. The gentlemen who sold it to me assured me it would be a corrector's item.
    I'll get me coat

    1. And lammy handed £50 million to their persecutors, I am in despair at these idiots.

  110. Parliamentary Accountability Not “Appropriate” For Me Claims Chagos Sellout Merchant Powell

    https://order-order.com/2025/03/10/parliamentary-accountability-not-appropriate-for-me-claims-chagos-sellout-merchant-powell/

    The government has backed National Security Adviser and Chagos surrender deal negotiator Jonathan Powell’s refusal to appear before Parliament’s security committee. Despite three invitations from the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, Powell has not responded. Unlike every previous holder of the post…

    JCNSS chair Matt Western wrote to Keir Starmer demanding answers, but was fobbed off by Pat McFadden, who claimed Powell’s attendance was “not appropriate.” McFadden argued that special advisers don’t give evidence, instead offering Powell’s deputies and the Cabinet Secretary as substitutes…

    Western pushed back, arguing that the government’s stance on Powell’s attendance “appears to depart from convention.” He cited the JCNSS’ Osmotherly Rules, which state that ministers generally accept when a select committee seeks evidence from an official, “including special advisers.” Meanwhile, Labour is also withholding National Security Council agendas from Parliament, breaking a precedent upheld since 2013. More obfuscation from Labour on the Chagos sellout…

    10 March 2025 @ 15:06

    ******************************
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/20cb5ef6772b01ceca82cff637e1b55427e07dc1241f7dc0b2c725aec4eed74e.png

    Beebsplaining
    2h
    The robotic 2tier Rodney does not want to answer questions does he
    😡at pmqs
    😡on Amiss
    😡on nonce gangs
    😡on the Harrods boss
    😡on his voice coach

    And now on this quisling deal, that will one day see all involved in clink for the traitorous act it is😡
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7a00fec2ee6f241c4fcbd2173892685154c8c443e7c350c7dfebe27473d359b2.png
    Jos
    2h
    Starmer, Powell, Hermer are totalitarians. Their driving force is that power belongs to a small core of people like them. Democracy is an unwelcome distraction. Accountability is for the little people. They do not even bother to hide it. I fear for my country, I just hope that there is sufficient democracy left to replace them in four years time. Regardless, the damage they can do in four years is massive.

    Captain Sensible
    2h
    As my granny said, people who hide something have something to hide. This stinks. It is hard to believe that any government could conspire to give away £9 billion for no return, without palms being liberally greased.

  111. Sentencing Council Slaps Down Mahmood’s Call to Scrap ‘Two-Tier’ Guidance

    The two-tier justice row rumbles on, with the Sentencing Council now firing back at Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s call to scrap their new guidance which some say makes it easier for minorities to avoid jail. In response to Mahmood’s letter, Council chairman Lord Justice William Davis hit back, accusing her of undermining the judiciary’s independence. He made it clear he “did not accept the premise of [her] objection” before delivering a pointed rebuke:

    “In criminal proceedings, where the offender is prosecuted by the state, the state should not determine the sentence. If sentencing guidelines were influenced by Ministers of the Crown, this fundamental principle would be violated.”

    It looks like Mahmood may now have to make good on her threat to “legislate in the Sentencing Bill” to overturn these new guidelines. She’s got 21 days to act…

    10 March 2025 @ 17:19

    3. Why should the state not decide penalties? Certainly sentencing rules should not be set by unaccountable bodies.

      If course, here we go a bit extreme, with juries setting sentences in many cases. And every juror looks at the victim and has a "there but for the grace of God go I" moment. And a few more years get piled on.

      1. The state DOES decide penalties – they are set out in the legislation. It is for the trial judge to choose what would be appropriate. Not for a group of DIE wanqueurs to set out "guidelines". Grrr.

        1. Isn’t the tariff set by parliament but the sentences are subject to mitigation.
          The tariff for Perverting the Course of Justice is life but I’m not sure anyone, in recent years at least, has ever been sentenced to life for that crime.

        2. Isn’t the tariff set by parliament but the sentences are subject to mitigation.
          The tariff for Perverting the Course of Justice is life but I’m not sure anyone, in recent years at least, has ever been sentenced to life for that crime.

  112. Bonfire extremely successful. A large heap of stuff – 12 yards by4 yards by 4 ft high – has all been burned. There is now a small heap of very hot embers slowly getting through what is left. North wind continues tomorrow, so the MR will continue pruning the shrubbery and, thus, adding to the compustible material.

    The grass had its first cut today. As a concession to my advanced age, a bloke in the village does it. He started with my mower which, predictably, after ten minutes, packed up. He had brought his own with him – so that was fine. After an hour, he tried mine again and it worked like a treat.

    Typical, eh?

      1. The odd thing is that it has worked without a hitch for the last three years. Mus have been some cack in the fuel line.

        3. In the UK, petrol is now deliberately contaminated with 'bio-ethanol' which is hygroscopic. Not only is there a risk that the ethanol will slowly dissolve various flexible components (i.e. those made of plastic or rubber) but it will slowly absorb H2O from the air that we breathe. (cue song). Apart from cans of petrol available to professionals, one possibility is to purchase Esso's Synergy Supreme+ 99 petrol. However, the little squirts who run Exxon may already be messing up the stuff by adding up to 5% of the bio-rubbish. The pure traditional stuff is available under the brand Aspen.
          https://aspenfuel.co.uk/products/aspen-4/

      2. I used to have a mower like that; I got rid of it and replaced it with one that was reliable.

        1. Mine has hardly been used Conners.
          I’m going to have to get it going this season.

  116. The Runcorn and Helsby MP said he will begin the "statutory process" of winding up his office before resigning as an MP "as soon as possible".

    My mate in UK says he's thinking of standing in a new party set up.. called the Fairness Freedom Security Party. FFS for short. Here's their logo. He pledges to be two-faced about everything so there's no comeback.
    .
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b10d6f239e7c33be5e8a70d841da13898bec400254a3dbbcdf179bd2b2da26a5.png

    1. A few weeks ago, one would have expected that to be won easily by a Reform candidate.

      Not now.

  118. Last rugby comment (until Saturday)! That Smith bloke with the funny hair – he's a sort of Marmite. Half rugby followers think he is the best player since Peter Jackson (that dates me); the rest that he is a show-off one trick pony too big for his boots. There seems no middle ground.

    I must say that had I had 100 caps under my belt, I would not have appreciated the little squirt coming on the field and immediately ordering everybody about.

    The press, I notice, are very silent about yesterday's referee…..

    1. In my view Richard Sharp of Blundell's, Oxford University, England and the British Lions was the most graceful fly-half ever to grace the game. Mind you, Barry John a decade later did run him close.

      I saw him play when I was 10 years old and my father took me to visit my future school when the First XV was playing so I may be a bit biased.

      1. A great player amongst many.

        In that era, Cliff Morgan was pretty good too.

        Fly half has so many greats it is hard to choose.

        I admired Jonathan Davies being able to play at the highest levels in both league and union

      3. I share the honour with Richard Sharp of captaining Balliol College at Rugby – he was, unsurprisingly, a legendary figure to the College (me, less so…) – I think he's still alive!!

          1. It was only College Rugby, Oberst. Sharp was actually capped by England while he was at Oxford!

          2. I remember my father saying to me during the match (against Sherborne) that that fair-haired stand-off half will be in the England side very soon.

        2. Were you there at the same time as one of my college's more famous Cambridge players, Phil Keith-Roach?

          1. Keith-Roach was a brilliant scrum coach (to the World Cup winning side!) but he is a lot older than me at 79 (thanks Wiki) – I'm 67.

          2. He was there when I was, we had a brilliant college front row, P K-R Hugh Munro and Keith Pritchard, two blues and a LX.

          4. Much better than I am then, I only trialled.

            Rugby was my 4th best sport, even though it was the one I enjoyed the most and the only one I continued with competitively in later years.

          5. I played a number of times for the Greyhounds and three times for the University – but I didnt really get that close to a Blue, the side was packed with bleedin’ Internationals – I was playing back row then and the Oxford back row included Dugald MacDonald, who captained South Africa against the Lions, his brother Donald who got a barrel load of caps for Scotland (yes, work that one out!) and Peter King who was capped for Australia. I was 19 so had no chance….

          6. I am was an enthusiastic but mediocre player of several sports.

            However Susie, one of my nieces got blues at Oxford for rowing and gymnastics. She is now 68. Her husband rowed for Goldie at Cambridge. Susie's sister, Harriet, went up to Oxford ten years later and was captain of the Oxford VIII.

            My father just missed his blue but he was in the Lady Margaret Boat at St. John's College at Cambridge.

            They didn't row at Blundell's, UEA or Southampton University.

          7. Good stuff!

            I didnt do a lot of Rowing – the Rugby Club used to put a boat into the Summer Eights (usually as Balliol 3rd or 4th boat) and we were invariably rubbish – no co-ordination etc.

            It’s a tough sport – often likened to lifting weights whilst sprinting – your relatives did well!

          8. It was fairly common in that era at both universities, people doing masters and PhD’s.
            A friend of mine, slightly younger but I played rugby with him regularly was probably the best all rounder of my era.
            Alastair Hignell. Rugby, cricket, single figure golfer, county standard squash player and thoroughly modest, brilliant man.
            It’s possible you may have played against him.

          9. At Oxford we had the Rhodes Scholars (eg Clinton), I knew a number of them and they were generally very impressive people – dont know if there’s a Cambridge equivalent?

            Yes, I know of Alastair Hignell – a rare talent, and one of the last stupendous all-rounders but no, he’s a little older than me and we didnt ‘overlap’ – what a superstar though, and a fantastic Rugby player!

          12. Well that didnt go too well!

            I was feeling buoyant after a lucky eagle on today’s Wordle – I was flying right up to level 18 (score 52000 or thereabouts) and level 20 (9 jacks or similar) – those two levels took me about 30 minutes each and I ended on 1:39.45 – dont think I’ll trouble the leaderboard!!

          15. Good time, you clearly werent as stumped on the later levels as I was…..

            Saw your earlier posts about your health, take it easy and get well soon, buddy!

  120. That's me gone. Pleasantly exhausted after a rewarding day.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

  122. Labour Says Civil Servants Working In Office Is “Good” After Years Promoting Work From Home

    Hell froze over in the past twenty-four hours as Labour pivoted towards reforming its permanent bureaucratic wing, otherwise known as the civil service. After years defending the bloated state, and working hand in hand with civil service trade unions, Labour now wants to wield the axe in Whitehall…

    Starmer’s key ally Pat McFadden said he wanted “radical” civil service reform including digitisation and performance targets (both of which have been commonplace in the private sector for many decades). The government is trailing an announcement that could see useless officials effectively paid off to leave their roles and introduce performance-related pay for the senior civil service. Sounds good to Guido…

    McFadden also said there was “value to being in the office” and it was “generally a good thing”. Tell that to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was relentlessly attacked by Labour when he left notes on the desks of absent ‘working from home’ civil servants back in 2022. Back then, McFadden’s Cabinet colleague Jonathan Reynolds called Rees-Mogg’s intervention “bizarre”. Labour ally Dave Penman, then the general secretary of the FDA union, said it was: ““the most crass, condescending act I’ve seen from a minister”. How times change…

    March 10 2025 @ 14:20

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

    keith waites
    4h
    And if you believe this, you'll believe anything.. the CS provide Spanner with a large chunk of his voter base, he's not going to p them off

    Rogerborg ⬛🟧
    keith waites
    52m
    Take away now to give back just before the next election.

    Captain Sensible
    3h
    Civ Serv staff numbers: 2016 – 384,000 2024 – 513,000 ( http://civilserviceworld.com ) Unsustainable growth.

        1. I taught for a quarter of a century and have never voted Labour (or Green or Lib Dem).

  124. Canada is about to discover Mark Carney is the man with the reverse Midas touch

    The ‘rock star’ former Governor of the Bank of England has left a trail of destruction behind his glossy jobs

    10 March 2025 4:10pm GMT
    Matthew Lynn

    He has global experience. He has proven leadership skills. And he has the connections and the clout needed to steer his country through a perilous moment in its history. As Mark Carney succeeds Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada, he has made much of his credentials as a “rock star” central banker and of his undoubtedly impressive collection of other grand-sounding jobs.

    There is just one snag. As it turns out, it takes only a cursory glance at his record to work out that Carney’s reputation is completely overblown. In reality, he has been over-promoted all over again.

    If politics was simply a matter of CVs, then Carney would be Roosevelt, Churchill and De Gaulle rolled into one. He is perhaps one of the most qualified men ever to take charge of one of the West’s major democracies. A Goldman Sachs banker by training, he served as Governor of the Bank of Canada, before being persuaded by George Osborne to become the first foreigner to run the Bank of England. Since then, he has distinguished himself as the leader of the Net Zero Banking Alliance, as a UN Climate Change Envoy, as chairman of the asset manager Brookfield, and of the financial news giant Bloomberg. He was, according to Osborne when he appointed him, “the outstanding central banker of his generation”.

    But the truth is rather less glamorous. Over eight years at the Bank of England, Carney was at best an indifferent Governor, and, at worse, a disappointing failure. Despite his huge salary of more than £600,000 a year, more than any of his predecessors had been paid, he seemed to have little feel for the role. The City quickly nick-named him “the unreliable boyfriend” for his constant changes of direction on interest rates.

    He printed too much money in the wake of the financial crisis, and then repeated the mistake all over again in the wake of the referendum on leaving the EU, responding as if he was in the middle of a financial emergency instead of dealing with a minor blip in trading relations. At the same time, regulatory standards were allowed to slide, and the City started to lose its role as one of the major global financial centres, with over-complex rules deterring companies from listing their shares in London.

    By the time he left office, Carney had created a mess which his successors have struggled to clear up. Inflation spiked up to a peak of 11.1 per cent in the UK, compared to 5.2 per cent in France, or 8 per cent in Italy, hardly a country known for controlling prices effectively, largely because the Bank had printed too much money.

    As the LDI crisis in 2022 made clear, the Bank has lost its once formidable grasp of the inner workings of the City, and allowed pension funds to build up far too many high-risk assets, triggering a potential collapse of the gilts market that the Bank had to bail out. It had become far more interested in the climate emergency, and in pronouns for staff, than the old-fashioned businesses of keeping an eye on the amount of risk building up in the system.

    The years Carney spent running the Bank were characterised by stagnant growth, stalled living standards, and declining productivity, and while there are many explanations for that, the “rock star Governor” clearly did nothing to improve the performance of the British economy.

    Even worse, he politicised the role, taking sides on the Brexit debate as one of the main authors of the ludicrously over-blown “Project Fear” when it would have been far better to remain neutral, and then using his authority to endorse Rachel Reeves as Chancellor in a high-profile intervention just before the last general election, praising her energy and vision (a decision he surely regrets, since even many Labour MP’s now concede privately that Reeves has proved hopelessly out of her depth). Time and again, Carney has proved himself a man of high intelligence, but remarkably poor judgement.

    It has not gone much better since he left the Bank. Over the last year, his Climate Alliance has started falling apart. Created in the wake of the COP26 conference in Glasgow, it was designed to mobilise the power of private capital to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into accelerating the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Yet in January this year, the Financial Times described the Alliance as “unravelling” as a series of major banks including JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citibank pulled out.

    Carney is the epitome of a remote, globalised, technocratic elite. He is very good at self-promotion, at collecting trophy jobs, and of course negotiating fabulously generous salaries and expenses for himself along the way. He is just not very good at delivering.

    Canada is facing a perilous moment in its history. For reasons best known to himself, President Trump has turned on his northern neighbour, imposing steep tariffs on the country that threaten to wreck its economy. Much like the UK, record levels of immigration mean that GDP per capita has now been falling for six consecutive quarters. Its economic and social model will have to adapt if it is to survive a bitter row with the United States. It will take vision, courage and determination to overcome those challenges, and to steer a new course for the country.

    Instead, Canada is going to get a self-regarding technocrat who may have plenty of connections but has left behind a trail of wreckage in every major job he has ever held. Carney may get a short term boost in the polls as he takes office, and may even win the general election later this year. Sure, PM will look good at the CV. But Canada will pay a high price for feeding his ego.

    3. "For reasons best known to himself, President Trump has turned on his northern neighbour,"

      Perhaps the POTUS doesn't want to fend against future illegals crossing from the south and north.

  125. I just realised what Reform are doing.
    They are having a false flag spat, to make it look like they have imploded.
    Labour and the Conservatives will think it is safe to restore democracy and put the local elections back on again.
    Then Boom, Reform MPs make up and they win all the local councils.
    They give local people the choice on having globalist Mayors rule over them and they throw out all the plans, no more 15 minute neighbourhoods, no more 20mph, no more high density building for immigrants.
    Win Win Win

      1. If I had joined The Reform Party |I would now be cancelling my membership but I didn't so I don't have to!

  127. Farage responds to calls to get tougher on deportations..

    Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has proposed a “net zero” policy on immigration with “one Muslim fighting age paedo terrorist in, one Muslim fighting age paedo terrorist out”

  128. Oh, joy.
    🙁
    "A container ship that collided with a tanker holding 35 million litres of jet fuel off the Yorkshire coast was carrying toxic sodium cyanide. Solong, the container ship, collided with tanker Stena Immaculate just before 10am. The Solong was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, according to shipping data company Lloyds List Intelligence. Meanwhile spokesman for Crowley, the American company which operates the Stena Immaculate, told the Telegraph that the ship had been chartered as part of the US Government Tanker Security Programme. The ten US-registered tankers that are part of the programme can be called upon at short notice for US government work. The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels – 34.97 million litres – of Jet-A1 aviation fuel which then leaked into the North Sea after a series of explosions, the owners said.
    Greenpeace UK said it was “too early” to know the extent of any environmental damage.
    Graham Stuart, the local MP for Beverley and Holderness, said he had spoken to the Transport Secretary and understood only one person was in hospital following the collision. He added: “The other 36 mariners across both crews are safe and accounted for.”
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/10/oil-tanker-cargo-ship-collide-north-sea/

    2. Seems the tanker was at anchor, so the fault lies with the container ship. Were they all at dinner, nobody on watch, looking at the fcuking radar? Or, even out of the window?

      2. It was parked in an off shore area where several other ships were anchored nearby. Negligence as you suggest Obs. When I awoke and looked out this morning and saw what looked like mist at first seemed to heavy and thick. Until I saw the news tonight. Smoke blown in by the North wind, I'm now quite sure it was smoke.

        1. Yukk.
          Where's home, Eddy? You may have said in the past, but my memory is buggered…

          2. We live in mid Hertfordshire just north of snorbens.
            Unless of course it was smoke from BBB, burning bill’s bonfire.

      3. My youngest brother as a boy worked for Shell Tankers. His first voyage was from Rotterdam to Valparaiso.

        Whilst he was mostly engaged in chipping paint on the decks he noticed that the captain and officers were mostly drunk. He expressed surprise that they actually made the destination.

    5. That is an astonishing rescue/ survival rate following a collision between a tanker – loaded with aviation fuel – and a container ship.

      1. Sodium cyanide, a highly toxic compound, is used industrially for extracting gold and silver from ores, electroplating, and in the production of certain chemicals and pesticides. It's also used in fumigation and metal cleaning

      2. Afraid not – maybe something to do with developing photographs. Some metal heat-treatment is done in molten cyanide.
        Pictures of the aftermath look pretty apocalyptic.

  129. So, it appears there has been a concerted Denial of Service attack on X-Tw@ter as well as protests against GOGE and arson attacks on TESLA stores.
    Also, Lefties have allegedly taken to misidentifying photos of Woman's Day Marches in Chicago as being anti-Musk demos.

    But aside all that, a cooler day with a brief burst of brilliant sunshine this afternoon which has allowed my to more or less clear the bank behind the sheds of brambles etc.
    Also, I've dragged down some of the brash and thinner lengths of wood that are still lying after the tree lads were busy earlier in the year so I can get a fire going and get rid of it.
    Have also shifted the chopsaw bench, after first removing the saw, so I can clear the heap of sawdust out from beneath it.

    A trip to the scrappie planned for tomorrow and a run into Matlock. I still need to sort my now redundant Passbook Account at the Nationwide and, as it's Tuesday, will see what is worth buying in Iceland as it's 10% Tuesday!

    And, with that, I'm off to bed.
    Goodnight all.

  131. One to warm the cockles of your heart…

    "A former Bristol MP and shadow minister has taken her seat in the House of Lords after being awarded a life peerage.
    Thangam Debbonaire had served as the Labour MP for Bristol West since 2015 but lost to the Green Party's co-leader Carla Denyer in the new seat of Bristol Central in the 2024 general election.
    She will now be Baroness Debbonaire of De Beauvoir Town in the London Borough of Hackney.
    During her time as an opposition MP, she held a number of shadow cabinet positions over a period of four years – most recently as shadow culture secretary.
    Baroness Debbonaire wore the traditional scarlet robes for the introductory ceremony.
    Her election defeat marked a rare loss for Labour as they cruised to a resounding majority win in July.
    She later said she expected to lose her seat over the Labour Party's "lack of a strong narrative" over the war in Gaza….."

    2. Another failure as a politician given a life time supply of freebies just for signing in!

  133. 402962+ up ticks,

    Pillow Ponder,

    Lord Talbot
    @Lord_Talbot64
    ·
    Mar 9
    So Nigel Farage is calling Reform supporters far right. He really is going out of his way to destroy the Reform Party.

    Lest we forget,
    The take down of a genuine UKIP under Gerard Batten
    leadership a success story in the building, and another brick laid in Tommy Robinsons incarceration cell. https://youtu.be/Fc7iuUHk3Yk?si=m-IgMYsDidTG2xEq

    1. Where does Nigel Farage call Reform supporters "far right"? In that video clip, posted here more than any other, he doesnt mention Reform.

      1. 403023+ up ticks,

        Morning MM,
        Then I stand corrected, even so I do believe that rhetorical tools MPs & lackeys use should
        be open for ALL to use, it is not unreasonable to think that he ” thought ” along those lines
        he has form in the name calling department.

      2. 403023+ up ticks,

        Morning MM,
        Then I stand corrected, even so I do believe that rhetorical tools MPs & lackeys use should
        be open for ALL to use, it is not unreasonable to think that he ” thought ” along those lines
        he has form in the name calling department.

  134. Well, chums, I'm off to bed now. Good night, sleep well, and see you all tomorrow morning.

      1. Morning, Minty. I'm fine, thanks. My problem has been poor vision, following a series of retinal bleeds in the "good eye" last year. Things are improving, slowly, and if the blood doesn't clear completely of its own accord, there are things which can be done.

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