746 thoughts on “Monday 20 January: The Queen is to be applauded for her swift and sensible decision”

  1. Good Morning, all

    SIR – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have well and truly been cast aside.

    They have brought it on themselves. All credit to the Queen for taking such decisive action.

    John Pettifer
    Huntly, Aberdeenshire

    Tim Stanley in the DT
    *
    *
    Rebellion isn’t what it used to be
    Oh Harry, lovely Harry, you did all this wrong! If you were going to walk away, you should’ve run away and made it romantic and tossed your titles in the river. If this was 1968, you and Meghan would disappear and reappear in Marrakech, living in a riad with flowers in your hair and nappies on the line, looking beautiful and radical.

    The Sussexes say they want to move in a “progressive” direction, and it’s fascinating how the meaning of that word has changed over time. We knock the Sixties, but at least the flower power radicals took risks and gave things up – at least Jane Fonda had the guts to give her money to the Black Panthers and meet the Viet Cong. Hanoi Jane is 82 now and she’s still getting arrested: she was clapped in irons again last month in Washington DC, along with Sally Field and Ted Danson.

    But when a rich celeb goes woke in 2019, they rarely join a picket line or give away all their money; they call Trump a fascist and adopt a koala. It’s an odd complaint for a conservative to make – that revolution ain’t what it used to be – but for all the errors of the Sixties, I admire that generation’s “all or nothing attitude”. The closest we have to it now is the green movement, but even that has to compromise here and there. I bet Harry and Meghan used up a few air miles during this family crisis.

    The most self-giving person in all of this is also the quietest. I refer, of course, to the Queen. She was at church on Sunday, always on time, without a hair out of place or a hint of melancholy, despite everything she’s been through. Kids nowadays call this sort of behaviour “fake” because she doesn’t share her feelings on the internet, but actually it’s a special kind of integrity. The Queen has devoted her life to maintaining a way of existence, to service and duty. She is the most privileged person in the land but, apparently, free of ego. She has never, ever let us down. That’s why we need her more now than ever.

    2. …and with her Mother’s record of longevity, let’s hope that Brenda has a few years more to set that example.

      Will her successor have the same calm, sang froid?

      1. I suspect that when her grandson’s marriage to Meghan Markle ends – perhaps in a few years’ time – her successor (Prince Charles) will welcome his son back to the UK from Canada with open arms.

          1. I do remember it but for very different reasons. Being very afraid on a fighter squadron at 2 minute readiness during the Cuba crisis, taking a year-long fitter’s course, getting married in 1965, my daughter arriving in 1966, being posted to Germany and coming back in 1969 because of my first wife’s infidelity – yes, those 1960s.

            But there was also a lot of love and laughter and thankfully, I’ve found them again albeit in my 70s.

    4. I have much respect (and sympathy) for the Queen, but I have to disagree about the statement “She has never, ever let us down”. She certainly did just that when she gave her Royal Assent to Gordon Brown scuttling across to Europe to sign the Lisbon Treaty and thus make us all (and herself) EU citizens. And, come to think of it, if Mr Pettifer’s “All credit to the Queen for taking such decisive action” is true, could she not now devote her energies to ensuring Her Government moves quickly to ensure Big Ben bongs on Friday week at 11 pm?

    5. I’m pretty suspicious that this was never the “couples” plan but Meghans and that they expected to simply walk away and expect the usual suspects to fawn on them full time, lending them private jets,, luxury homes to stay in etc etc. But the Queen is no dummy. without their royal titles and no chance of “inviting” people to Garden Parties at Buck house or any greater contact with the Royal family their allure to the faux friends in Hollywood etc will quickly fade.
      As others have suggested, it will then be an expensive divorce and Harry sent home for the fatted calf routine.

  3. Three men dead in Ilford east London stabbings. 20 January 2020.

    Three men have died after being stabbed in east London. Police responded to reports of a disturbance in Elmstead Road, Seven Kings, in Ilford, on Sunday at 7.38pm. All three men were pronounced dead at the scene.

    The Metropolitan Police said the victims are believed to be aged in their 20s or 30s.

    So they weren’t pensioners then? Their ages and the number suggest gangs. The method, criminal not social conflict. The silence Black on Black.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/20/three-men-killed-east-londonstabbings/

    1. Minty, notwithstanding my earlier comments about my respect for your views, I have just heard on the radio that the men were Sikhs (rather than men “of Asian heritage” used to describe Muslims).

  5. How has immigration changed in your area? asks the BBC – and then proceeds to tell us.

    I don’t need the BBC to tell me about the levels of immigration, I can see it with my own eyes every time I walk around town, especially through the town within a town where the immigrants are dumped.

    I could go on but that would be repeating the same old thing.

    1. Three men dead in Ilford east London stabbings. 20 January 2020.

      Three men have died after being stabbed in east London. Police responded to reports of a disturbance in Elmstead Road, Seven Kings, in Ilford, on Sunday at 7.38pm. All three men were pronounced dead at the scene.

      The Metropolitan Police said the victims are believed to be aged in their 20s or 30s.

      So they weren’t pensioners then? Their ages and the number suggest gangs. The method, criminal not social conflict. The silence Black on Black.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk…

      Seven Kings used to be a nice, relatively peaceful, non-stabby place to live back in the eighties and nineties. Then it started to resemble Karachi more and more, and we moved out in 2000. I gather it’s gone really downhill since then. I really can’t think why….

      1. Now, here’s a point, and Good morning, London Midland Scottish, because they only give the ages and the offence is murder by knife-crime in East London, one automatically assumes the dead are black or Muslim or both; in fact, I understand, they are Sikhs who are not normally involved in this type of blood-letting. More sins of omission, either y the Police Farce, the MSM or both.

    2. Having been one of the most negative about immigration in 2011, now the UK emerges as one of the most positive about the benefits foreign arrivals have brought to Britain.

      Really? And who is it that says this?

      1. Morning Araminta.

        Don’t start me off this early in the day 😉.

        The issue isn’t about the benefits or otherwise, it’s the SCALE of the influx.

          1. Clearly they didn’t learn the lesson of importing feral species, enter the cane toad. Other species are available, I believe.

          3. The point, Eddy, is that the numbers are difficult to control once a male and a female come together – am I allowed to say that? – your, “It’s only a couple of rabbits, Bruce,” indicates the problem is the species and that species’ fecundity.

  6. Paddy, a quite handsome lad, is sitting on a train across from a busty blonde wearing a tiny mini skirt Despite his efforts, he is unable to stop staring at the top of her thighs. To his delight, he then realises she has gone without underwear.
    The blonde realises he is staring and inquires, “Are you looking at my vagina?”
    “Yes, I’m sorry,” Paddy replies and promises to avert his eyes.

    “It’s quite all right,” replies the woman, “It’s very talented, watch this, I’ll make it blow a kiss to you.” Sure enough the vagina blows him a kiss.

    Paddy, who is completely absorbed, inquires what else the wonder vagina can do. “I can also make it wink,” says the woman. Paddy stares in amazement as the vagina winks at him.

    “Come and sit next to me,” suggests the woman, patting the seat.

    Paddy moves over and she smiles and asks, “Would you like to stick a couple of fingers in?”

    Stunned, Paddy replies, “You’re fooking kidding me—you mean it can whistle, too?”

    1. ‘Morning, Tom.

      Strewth! Either that Mick has got X-ray eyes to be able to see a woman’s vagina without using a speculum; or that busty blonde must be a Yank, who are known to be anatomically-challenged and don’t know the difference between a vagina and a vulva! :•)

        1. I’m still laughing at the joke, Tom. It’s very good.

          I just can’t stand the Yanks’ routine abuse of English.

          1. Good to know that despite having the grumps from time to time, we can all laugh.

            Apropos, abuse of English, I agree and for that reason I refuse to call the language that is spoken In America and by Americans, anything other than that which it is – American.

          2. I think it is quite interesting linguistically what is happening to English. Having become the universal language, much like Latin, are we now seeing the start of its break up into a series of different related languages, the same way the Romance languages developed?

          3. I go further Tom. I call it “Americanese” just to rile them even more. I wind them up on YouTube and most of the time they simply don’t get it.

          5. Even Prince Harry has jumped on the Yankese bandwagon. In this morning’s paper he is recorded as having said:

            “It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I haven’t always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.”

            You would never hear HM the Queen speaking like that.

          6. I always tell our American cousins that there is no such thing as “American English”. There is only “English” or “Mistakes”

          8. And he talked about the charity “that me and Prince S. founded”. The “Me, me, me generation” once again. He means “which Prince S. and I founded” – “me founded it”? (At least he didn’t say “that myself and Prince S. founded”.)

            I despair.

          9. With further Americanization, I can envision the time when we wear vests over the shirt.

  7. Mrs Merkel take note – Brexit will prove there is an alternative to the atrophying EU
    ROGER BOOTLE – 19 JANUARY 2020 • 4:00PM

    If the EU’s leaders see Brexit as a threat their response will be to try to nullify it
    In an interview last week Mrs Merkel, the German Chancellor, was very revealing. Although she didn’t quite use these words, she is concerned that, shorn of EU rules and regulations, the UK could become something like Singapore-on-Thames. How will the EU respond to this threat?

    Most EU leaders and officials think that the EU enterprise is a great success. So if the departure of a major member threatens to force it to change this can only be a bad thing. Hence the insistence of EU negotiators that the UK will only be able to secure full “access” to EU markets if it adheres to EU regulations.

    The reality is that over recent decades the EU has been a zone of comparative economic failure.

    It has under-performed most major developed countries and its share of world GDP has been falling relentlessly. You might well think that this indicates that the EU is doing something wrong but apparently this message is not heard in Brussels.

    Why not? One reason is the all-consuming nature of the European dream, as laid out in the Treaty of Rome, signed in 1957. It tends to blind adherents to practical failings.

    But a narrower explanation is that the EU project has been driven by lawyers. Now let me say that I have nothing against lawyers in general. Indeed, some of my best friends are lawyers. And lawyers have their place – if only they recognised what it is.

    But they don’t seem to comprehend the law (as it were) of unintended consequences. And they certainly don’t understand the economics of international trade.

    If the EU’s leaders see Brexit as a threat their response will be to try to nullify it.

    One of the EU’s tactics in negotiations will be to rely on the ticking clock. Already a number of EU figures are saying that a trade deal by the end of the year is impossible.

    This is pure political posturing. If indeed it transpires that we do not get any sort of agreement by the end of the year the reason will be EU intransigence.

    The incremental approach
    In view of the tight timetable, one possibility is to move towards a new relationship with the EU in stages.

    It should be relatively easy to conclude a tariff-free deal for goods by the December 31st deadline, leaving other issues to be agreed later.

    Leading EU figures think that this would suit them because the EU has a massive surplus with the UK in goods trade, only partially offset by a deficit in services trade.

    This thinking shines a light into the very essence of the EU’s economic philosophy.

    Time and again it has been made clear that the EU establishment thinks that exports are good and imports are bad.

    Accordingly, securing tariff-free access to the UK market is a great prize, whereas allowing EU consumers to benefit from British-produced goods and services is a concession that may need to be made but is best avoided.

    Economists have a name for this derangement. It is “mercantilism”.

    According to the same EU establishment, trying to secure a trade agreement with America will undermine the attempt to secure an agreement with the EU.

    European officials are worried that in order to secure a deal with America, the UK would have to depart seriously from current EU regulations and standards, including on those two fabled bêtes noires, chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef. They fear contamination, if not from these particular foods, then from lower standards in general.

    Whatever you think of this argument, the economics point in the other direction.

    If we leave the EU without a trade deal then we will levy tariffs on EU produced goods entering the UK. This alone would deliver a blow to EU producers.

    But if we reach a deal with America, leading us to reduce or even abolish tariffs on imports from America, then the pressure on European producers will be even greater.

    As the price of goods imported from the EU went up, so the price of goods imported from America would go down.

    Recognising this looming possibility, continental and Irish businesses will put serious pressure on their governments to do a deal with the UK by the end of December this year, even if it is a partial deal, covering only goods.

    Small is beautiful
    There is another general reason for the EU’s failings of comprehension and economic policy.

    Why is it that across the world so many small countries do well?

    Although there are many specific factors that apply to different individual countries, I think the general answer is that small countries feel the chill winds of competition acutely and they readily understand that bad policy decisions will bring adverse results. So their policy-making is forced to be better.

    By contrast, large economic entities that impose the same regulations and standards across their territories and actively seek to suppress competition with regard to economic governance, are shielded. Accordingly, it takes longer for the full effects of bad policies to show up and for the penny to drop with the policy-makers.

    The EU suffers seriously from large country syndrome. It has not only been a large entity from the beginning but over the years its bounds have been set wider and still wider.

    This has served to confirm its belief that its model of economic governance is the right one. Indeed, to use the phrase coined by a lady of very different views, it has seemed to believe that “there is no alternative”. But Brexit is going to show that there is one.

    The effect will not happen overnight. Indeed, it will develop over a run of years. But provided that we do not cave in and accept regulatory alignment with the EU, once we have overcome the initial dislocations, I expect to see the UK decidedly outperforming its former partners in the EU.

    Paradoxically, as Mrs Merkel hinted, this might be just what the EU needs.

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

    Ian Crompton 20 Jan 2020 6:25AM
    America innovates. China replicates. EU regulates.

    William Raaf 19 Jan 2020 7:55PM
    Hear, hear

    Let’s Albion be the hammer which will shatter the shackles of all (imprisoned) freedom loving Europeans. In my country (the Low Countries) the anti-democrats in Den Hague and their MSM simply abolished the referendum after we voted No against the EUSSR in 2005 (an astonishing 62% versus 38%). Democracy died that day. You give us hope. Succeed and God spede !

    1. “Lawyers have their place – if only they realised where it is”. Are you listening, Uncle Bill? Your place is back on the NoTTL site. Please come back!

      1. Hi Elsie, I’ve been out of the loop for a bit. Is Bill tied up with his house sale in France?

        1. He said he had had enough of NoTTLers (at least some of them) and would be leaving permanently.

    2. Re “Singapore-on-Thames”.

      Someone needs to remind these London-centric journalists that other rivers are available and that there is a world outside the M25. In fact, I suspect that that world is far more likely to be chomping at the bit of Brexit opportunities than that inside the M25.

      Morning zx.

      2. I fear that Britain will never regain its greatness until we cut out that cancer within the M25, tow it out into the South Atlantic, and then NUKE THE F*****G THING INTO OBLIVION!

        1. Said with feeling, Grizzly.

          Another idea on this nippy morning would be to tow the rest of us out to a warmer spot.

        2. Ahem some of us try to exist within the M25….A better solution (once I’ve moved out) might be to build a Wall all the way around the inside lane …….

          1. I’ve no objection to finding the nice guys—who reside in that hell— a nice home outside in somewhere like Liverpool, Luton, Kingston-upon-Hull, Mansfield, Rotherham, Weston Super Nightmare, Glasgow or Cardiff! :•)

    3. “Most EU leaders and officials think that the EU enterprise is a great success.”
      It is: for them.

    1. ‘Morning, Minty, has at least one of the Four Horsemen seen the necessity to ride again?

      Are the other three not far behind and about to steal many a childhood, green or not?

  9. The Duke of Henry seems to have forgotten that his dear old gran is not just some little biddy old lady he can go to for a hug, a bar of chocolate and the odd ten million quid. She is the sovereign Crown of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth.

    She is the boss he never knew he had.

      1. For the 3rd time, Minty, to my knowledge, but still worth watching IMHO.

        Good morning.

        2. Good morning, Peddy

          Are you beginning to change your mind about repetition and become more tolerant of it?

  11. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3bdb57a88c1dc97295765a0d7447bf8898ec50036d063ffa99945b9c9e496d0d.png If you think the decimal system is sensible then you are about as bright as those fools who clamoured for its introduction.

    10 cannot be halved again after 5 and still get a whole number. 10/2 =5, 5/2= 2.5!

    If we had introduced a far more logical octal, root 8, (or even hexadecimal, root 16) system, we would have had an intuitive method of halving and halving again, all the way down to unity (1). 16/2=8, 8/2=4, 4/2=2, 2/2=1.

    People are instinctively used to dealing with whole numbers in ones, twos and so on.

    1. Imperial is more in line with the digital age than metric as Digital works to a base 2

    2. Similarly, it is easier to pack a dozen rather than 10. Consider why wine is still sold in dozens or half dozens, as are eggs.

      As for £sd. it’s very useful for confusing foreigners and our ‘woke’ youngsters.

      1. If I had a farthing for every time I’ve broken 2 eggs trying to ram a dozen in a ten pack I’d have enough groats to buy two gills of mead yes I would.

        1. Since eggboxes in sixes are ubiquitous, then I suggest only bakers would break eggs trying to get a dozen of them into two boxes.

        2. Groats (4d) are capital, Datz, and Pieces-of-Eight are similarly recherché, since both will fit appositely into both the octal and hexadecimal systems.

    4. Time works to a base 60, which is a splendid number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30. Bring in the week and the lunar month and you get 7 and 13 thrown in as well.

  12. Good moaning. Savour this paragraph; you may need to to read it more than wernce.

    “With the Home Office silent, we must turn instead to research by one of its agencies. Child sex abusers are not disproportionately likely to be from any one racial or religious group, but according to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre, for gangs that target underage girls because of their vulnerability to exploitation – rather than because of sexual interest in children – 75 per cent of perpetrators are Asian.”

    Whole DT article below:

    Liberalism is collapsing under the weight of its own hypocritical intolerance

    NICK TIMOTHY
    19 JANUARY 2020 • 9:30PM

    “Lawrence Fox has been shouted down for arguing that fear of accusations of racism is a factor in grooming gang cases.

    From grooming gangs to woke campuses, the liberal left’s double standards are clear for all to see.

    Many liberals seem utterly baffled by the crises that have enveloped their creed over a decade or more . Yet the events of the past week provide them with the conclusive evidence that their problem is not – as they often like to tell themselves – Tory lies or media bias, but lies much closer to home, in their own beliefs and behaviour.

    Last Tuesday, the country learned of yet another grooming gang scandal. After similar and harrowing tales from Oxford, Rochdale, Rotherham and other English towns and cities, we can now add Manchester to the list of places where the authorities watched mainly Asian men systematically abuse vulnerable white, working-class girls for years – and do nothing.

    Already, it is clear that these new stories of appalling abuse will fall on deaf ears. Few want to address the issue that everybody knows is most pertinent: the abusers were, once again, mainly South Asian, Muslim men. Eighteen months ago, Sajid Javid, then Home Secretary, commissioned research into the characteristics of grooming gangs to understand what role cultural factors might play in the abuse.

    But last week, after a long-running battle with the BBC, Home Office officials confirmed that they would not publish the report. They gave the standard lines – they wanted to avoid disclosing personal information, or disrupting ongoing investigations – but the true motives were obvious. As a senior police officer said of the Rotherham abuse, “with [the perpetrators] being Asians, we can’t afford for this to be coming out.”

    With the Home Office silent, we must turn instead to research by one of its agencies. Child sex abusers are not disproportionately likely to be from any one racial or religious group, but according to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre, for gangs that target underage girls because of their vulnerability to exploitation – rather than because of sexual interest in children – 75 per cent of perpetrators are Asian.

    And yet this knowledge does not make the authorities more alert to the danger: it appears to make them more nervous about confronting it. The inquiry into the Rotherham scandal concluded that the majority of perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage, but the authorities were “inhibited by the fear of affecting community relations.” A Rotherham social worker reported, “if we mentioned Asian taxi drivers we were told we were racist … the young people were seen [by the authorities] as prostitutes.” And so liberal decision-makers – supposedly believers in universal rights and responsibilities – end up moral relativists, expecting less of some citizens and granting fewer protections to others.

    Two days after the Manchester story broke, Equity, the actors’ trade union, called on its members to “unequivocally denounce” Laurence Fox. Among other things, the actor had raised grooming gangs during an appearance on the BBC. His crime was to deny that criticism of Meghan Markle was racist, and to argue that fear of accusations of racism was a factor in the grooming gang cases. Given the evidence accumulated in abuse inquiries to date, he was quite clearly correct. And yet the liberal-left reaction was to shout him down, attack his character and insult his “white privilege”.

    This example of illiberal liberalism is not a one-off. Last Tuesday, Sheffield University confirmed it plans to pay students to police behaviour on campus, challenging perceived “microaggressions” deemed to be offensive. Examples of microaggressions provided by the university included students arguing that too many problems are “turned into a race issue”. Restricting free speech, it seems, is not enough: the university’s policy prevents discussion even about the parameters of acceptable speech.

    Next up, Rebecca Long-Bailey was attacked for her position on abortion. A practising Roman Catholic, the Labour leadership candidate had questioned whether women should have late-term abortions on the grounds that their babies were disabled. Denying any legitimacy to her argument, and ignoring that abortion has always been a conscience issue in Parliament, meaning MPs are not whipped to vote in any particular way, Long-Bailey’s beliefs were attacked as “absolutely toxic”, and critics suggested her policies would be “dictated by the Vatican.” Of course, the liberal-left would never dream of using such language about other faiths, yet the logic of their position is that Catholics should never hold office.

    But why is this happening? Why is liberalism – especially on the left – becoming so illiberal and intolerant?

    There has always been a split among liberals between those who value pluralism as the means by which we manage difference in complex societies, and those who value difference only as a means to truth, and with it an increasingly perfect society. These tensions go back to liberal thinkers like John Stuart Mill, but they are becoming more pronounced as left-liberals become more assertive.

    If difference is only a means to truth, and reason is what leads us to truth, then those with whom liberals differ must be irrational. They represent institutions, norms, traditions and opinions – “prejudice!” – that must be overcome. Just think about how they talk about anybody who disagrees with their positions on almost anything, from immigration to transgender rights.

    And if identity politics are what matters most – and for left-liberals the old liberal dream of equal political rights is no longer enough – then immutable characteristics, like race and sex, can be attacked, but only if you are attacking white men to compensate for their privilege.

    This is how liberalism has become so confusing and contradictory. It is how it has grown increasingly illiberal, intolerant and – strangely for a supposedly universal theory – morally relativistic. For left-liberals, the systematic sexual abuse of white, working-class girls by Asian men must be swept under the carpet, the Catholic beliefs of politicians must be suppressed, and the language of students must be monitored and restricted. Sure, it’s liberalism, but not as we once knew it.”

        1. Health and safety precautions are advised to prevent injury should they fall out of bed as a result of energetic sex

        4. …where do you stand on overage sex?

          You haven’t defined ‘overage’ in regards to sex. However, as a septuagenarian I’d say nowhere when the old knees are on their last legs.

      2. ‘Morning, Mags, unless we start doing something about it now, the future is indeed dark.

      3. Morning TB,
        It is in the main abusing the ballot booth voting & keeping in power those politico’s who refuse to recognise the odious
        anti GB campaign they have triggered and kept alive.
        Aided & abetted via the ballot box.
        These issues have been known by the public and out in the public arena for ALL to see
        courtesy of the JAY report.

    3. Morning Anne,
      How about we start at the root system
      with every school, along with their
      multiplication tables learn by ROTE
      Submission, PCism, appeasement
      ………………… KILLS.

    4. Morning Anne.

      I read that Equity has since back-tracked but the question still remains about why someone shouldn’t have a personal view on a subject and to air that view when asked. What is Question Time if not to ask questions and get answers?

      From what I saw of what he said, he never mentioned Equity, so what’s it got to do with them?

      1. The equity members who attacked Lawrence Fox for his views should be given a live platform by the BBC so that they can explain:

        i) why they think that it is acceptable for Pakistani Muslim gangs to rape underage poor white girls;
        ii) why it is acceptable to attack white males for their opinions and not racist to do so.

        A phone in facility should be provided so that people can challenge their views.

        1. My issue – and a major one – is that such organisations as Equity (or certain members, as it turns out) feel they have a right to tell others how to think and what to say.

          Day by day and bit by bit, the UK is starting to get like East Germany was, where saying the wrong thing got one into hot water and where snitching on close friends or relatives was considered acceptable.

          This needs to be stopped in its tracks and sanity restored to the UK (or at least that country within the M25). The PC brigade have had their 15 minutes in the sun and it’s time for the rest of us to call Last Orders on their antics. Enough is enough.

  14. Malaysia sends 42 containers of plastic waste back to UK

    Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly rich countries, including 42 to the UK, since the third quarter of last year.
    The country’s environment minister warned on Monday that those who want to make Malaysia the rubbish bin of the world can “dream on”.

    1. Just pitch it all in the sea. Isn’t that the usual “processing” they do over there?

    2. Well done Malaysia.
      We’ve been offloading our crap for others to sort out for FAR too long.

    3. Incineration, incineration, incineration, as a former (and much missed) PM might have put it.

      1. WE are building modern incinerator plants in spite of the protests of the Greens.

        They are a form of recycling and nothing i wasted. They produce electricity and heat and waste metals are recovered and the wast ash used for road building an the waste does not have to be handles several times and shipped around the world

        1. If we were to incinerate all the rubbish, would we really need the multiplicity of recycling bins? Apart perhaps from metals and glass to be separated, couldn’t everything else just go in together and be burnt?

          1. It makes sense to recycling newspapers and cardboard and tin cans , glass & plastic bottles but the rest is best incinerated

  15. Hundreds of EU companies rush to enter Britain as January 31 nears

    I am sure this report must be wrong as we were endlessly told companies would rush to leave should we leave the EU. They said nothing about companies rushing to com to the UK

    OVER a thousand European financial firms have applied to enter Britain despite the scaremongering surrounding Brexit.

    The UK is set to leave the trade bloc on January 31 and according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there were a total of 1,441 company applicants to enter Britain between 2018 and 2019. Under the temporary permission regime, European companies will be allowed to operate in Britain after Brexit but they will eventually need to seek full authorisation to remain past a certain point.

      2. Would the likes of Bercow, Grieve, Hammond, Benn, Gauke, Blair, Major and Co lie to us? What a suspicious and cynical nature you must have!

    1. Have you never considered taking up a worthwhile and stimulating hobby?

      Or is posting trite and pointless posts on a forum such as this your hobby?

      Just asking.

      1. AIUI, it’s possible to block posters that you find tiresome, though it’s not something that I would ever do. Carry on , Bill!

      2. We all post such stuff on here from time to time for the amusement of others. If you want something more serious, there’s the Speccie website or others.

  18. Health warning in place ahead of ‘coldest nights’ of winter

    I guess they have to try to protect the snowflakes

    A health warning has been issued with temperatures set to plummet well below zero as winter really sets in amongst reports of potential blizzards and snow flurries.
    UK health chiefs have warned the dramatic cold snap increases the risk of “deadly heart attacks and strokes” with temperatures as low as -7C expected from today thanks to an arctic blast of freezing air.

    The temperatures are perfectly normal for a UK winter. I guess though that given ho many girls go out dressed for a weekend drinking session they might get a little chilly

    1. Or a certain golfer who lives here , who hates the cold , and shivers and shakes , yet the alarm went off this morning , and he was up at 7am , breakfasted and out of the house by 8am .. car dethawed for 30mts!

      1. Actually that was the Renault Clio, not the Megane, of which Best Beloved has an ‘S’ registered version, loves it and doesn’t wish to part with its shaking bones.

        2. That’s a Megane in the advert Tom, that curve on the distinctive rear end is still apparent in my Megane Coupe in the dashboard

  20. Are Pakistani Men Institutional Racist

    I would argue that at minimum there are overtones of racism. How do I reach this conclusion? I base it on the Pakistani Grooming gangs who invariably target young white girls and sometimes underage white girls. Strangely the media does not mention this form of racism

    I am sure some will disagree with me. Lilly Allen for starters

        1. And Sikh men are not prepared to allow this,
          they have more bollops than yer average Englishman!
          There will be trouble before bedtime!!

        2. No space to put that.
          However, instances of Sikh lasses being raped declined dramatically with the Sikh men started kicking the shonet out of the rapists.

    4. Are Pakistani Men Institutional Racist.

      One of the best laughs I get out of the endless accusations of White Racism is the unspoken assertion that it doesn’t affect anyone else. It is ubiquitous throughout the world and it’s most avid practitioners, the Chinese, Indians and Japanese make us look like beginners!

  21. Shopping centre owner Intu seeks emergency cash

    Not surprising lots of empty units and CVA’s pushing rents down. IT may be putting good money up for bad though and these are some of the better shopping centres. In what financial state re the others ?

    Intu, which owns some of the UK’s biggest shopping centres, has approached its shareholders to ask for more money amid a downturn in the retail sector.
    Reports suggest that the company could be asking for £1bn from investors. Intu owns Manchester’s Trafford Centre, and Lakeside, at Thurrock, Essex.
    Last year, retail sales fell for the first time in a quarter of a century, according to trade body the British Retail Consortium.
    The tough trading conditions have hurt landlords, who are struggling to fill vacant stores. Firms like Debenhams, Toys R Us, House of Fraser, New Look and HMV have all tried to negotiate with landlords to reduce rent.
    Intu has been at the sharp end of some of the most high-profile retail failures as more firms shut up shop amid heightened competition from online.

    1. This old fart finds shopping centres very dispiriting.
      Noisy, hard floors and cloned shops. Glitzy rabbit warrens.

      1. #MeToo

        …and they’re all the same, the world over. I have experienced them (out of necessity) in France, Spain, America, Singapore and Australia. Not an original thought among the lot of ’em

        ‘Morning, Anne.

    1. The idea is to influence existing customers to spend more on higher margin ‘luxury’ prepared foods, alongside their regular weekly shopping.

    2. The ‘Wonder of Woolies’ adverts didn’t halt the decline.
      They went on as long as a series of The Crown.

  24. Two DT headlines:

    How to cut down on wasteful meetings – the biggest source of inefficiency in UK business.

    European shares slip as business elite make way to Davos for WEF.

    Join the dots?

      1. School staff meetings are an abomination.

        I always scheduled an extra class for my Upper Sixth English set at the time scheduled for a staff meeting.

  25. The Rat Pack! Eight terriers kill record 700 rodents in just seven hours – after desperate farmer called in handlers in bid to fix vermin crisis once and for all
    The small pack of terriers caught the rats at a pig farm near Eye, Suffolk
    It’s the biggest haul of vermin terminated by the Suffolk and Norfolk Rat Pack
    Pig farmers called in the pack after potential danger to livestock
    *Graphic content warning*

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7904439/Eight-terriers-kill-record-700-rodents-seven-hours-desperate-farmer-called-handlers.html

  26. Department store Beales collapses into administration

    Unfortunately I dont rate the chances of them surviving as high. All department stores are performing badly and Sport Direct got their finger badly burned when they took over HOF

    One of Britain’s oldest department stores has collapsed into administration, putting more than 1,000 jobs were at risk.
    Beales has appointed KPMG as administrators after failing to secure a sale.
    The department story began trading in Bournemouth in 1881 and has 22 shops.
    It is understood that there will be no immediate closures and Beales stores will continue to trade.
    In the year to March 2019, Beale Ltd reported a loss of £3.1m, up from £1.3m for the year earlier as costs swelled and sales dipped.

    3. I hope you will forgive me for saying so but I initially thought it was a photo of the Reginald Dwight before he became Elton John rather than a photo of Grizzly before he became a rozzer.

    4. I was this big in 1972. (That is not actually me just a random internet picture. I will probably be on some list now for typing “3 year old boy” into a search engine.)

      I remember having a 28 inch waist as well when I was 19. It would take some effort to get back there again. They say that your body changes shape as you mature. I read that somewhere and I’m sticking with it.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/df0163f4d0d40b49ab1d59a3f25ef2a0ac8155106a84ad32e34274c03ed6ca46.jpg

    5. My weight loss has had a bit of a boost this weekend!
      Compared to Friday morning’s 14st 12½lb, I was down 5½lb this morning to a smidgen under 14st 7lb!

          3. xxx

            I wish I knew how to post gifs and, especially, tweets on here.

            Some people have no problem in transferring a video on a tweet but I don’t know how to. I can do a YouTube clip, but that is easy since you get a link.

    7. What a fine fugure of a man……!!! Been to York races many a time….but not for the horses…for the dollhouse miniatures.

      1. Well, let’s put it like this, Jenny. Once-upon-a-time I could slip into a pair of 28″ waist trousers.

        I no longer can!

        2. That’s Kodak for you. They were actually navy blue.

          [David Bailey: “I shoot in back and white because I’m not having Kodak tell me what red is!”]

      1. 16 months before.

        Photo: July/August 1972
        Recruitment (and 3 haircuts in first week!): Nov 1973.

    1. “Before long, this daughter of immigrants – her mother, who raised her as a single parent, is British-Indian; her father is of Punjabi heritage – was protesting against the bedroom tax alongside Tony Benn and organising with Deliveroo riders against gig economy working practices.” (the Guardian)

      My edit and highlights. She may be a very capable young lady, but campaigning alongside Tony Benn before she was 15 years old does seem to be a bit of a stretch. This is especially so as the “bedroom tax” was introduced in 2013 and Tony Benn had stroke in 2012 and was in hospital for months.

    2. She’s a child who has never had a proper job.

      I don’t dismiss her working as a carer, but she barely did it for 2 years. If she’d been 20 years in the role, or even 3 or four then she has worked, but she went in to use it as a platform. Not as a career.

      Rather than donating your salary how about you simply refuse it and us tax payers get a break, eh?

  29. When will we get sensible politicians?

    With migration e have had politicians practice disintegration rather than integration. WE now have lots of alien ghettos with very little integration and the encouragement of the more extreme cultural practices

  30. Africans been accused of cultural appropriation after black models took to its runway wearing straight hair
    as a part of the company’s men’s autumn and winter collection on show as part of Paris Fashion Week.
    Critics on social media called the styling for Friday’s show “offensive”.

    1. Very good, only it was the white models with cornrows that caused a fuss, not the black ones, as you well know. Good spoof.

  31. Morning Geoff.

    Alfie Fried.

    Who???????

    No one in particular, just a corruption of my schoolboy French – Il fait froid.

    Walking home on Saturday night and wishing I’d worn a thicker jacket, I wondered why people travel to the polar regions to experience a cold they probably don’t experience because of the clothes they wear when they could walk round in skimpy clothes in an English winter and feel the same effect.

  32. No change in UK’s stance on Salisbury attack, PM tells Putin. Sun 19 Jan 2020.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1cf26f44fa0512e821760a81afb0b4df3609f980b4711e048687198f315deebb.jpg

    Boris Johnson has told Vladimir Putin there will be no normalisation of the relationship between the UK and Russia, almost two years on from the Salisbury attack.

    The pair met in Berlin on the sidelines of an international summit about the future of Libya. According to an account of the conversation released by Downing Street, Johnson stuck closely to the robust stance taken by Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May.

    Morning everyone. Here’s a picture of Vlad quaffing a political aperitif to set him up for the main course at the Libyan conference to follow. He knows that Johnson is lying to him about the Skripals but better than that he knows that Johnson knows that he knows. To an operator of Putin’s calibre this is of course much more than the simple pleasure of watching Boris squirm, he learns from it, watching for the “tells” that indicate the UK’s Prime Minister’s personal diplomatic and character failings.

    The Salisbury False Flag operation originally created to taint Russia’s World Cup and embarrass Putin personally has become a geopolitical millstone around Britain’s neck. It cannot normalise relations with Russia because they might ask the not unreasonable question as to what has happened to Sergei and Julia Skripal. Well since they have almost certainly been murdered by the UK Security Services, this would take some explaining in itself, but even were they still alive it would still see the whole mess exposed and have incalculable consequences both for Boris personally who was a Minister in the Government that authorised it and the UK’s standing on the world stage. So it’s the Big Freeze for the foreseeable future!

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/19/no-change-in-uks-stance-on-salisbury-attack-pm-tells-putin

    1. Morning, Araminta.

      If the Skripals haven’t been eradicated perhaps they’re in Canada, you know, the place where the UK sends all its undesirables. The new Botany Bay.

      As for Dawn Sturgess, who sadly died, and Charlie Rowley, were they collateral damage or were they the result of a later targeted attempt to kill someone, anyone, in an attempt to strengthen an establishment story that has more holes in it than a colander? The obvious target would have been the person who emptied the rubbish bins as the ‘novichok’ was well presented in an apparently unopened bottle of perfume.

      1. Morning Your Excellency. I am pretty certain that they were kept alive for a while but eventually the political arithmetic made their demise inevitable. What if they escaped or the Russians rescued them? The immediate damage done would have been a great deal worse than that of only possibly being exposed in some indeterminate future. They are certainly dead.

        Sturgess and Rowley were collateral damage in a blundering attempt to fill in one of the larger gaps (Where exactly did the “Novichok” come from) in this false narrative of truly staggering incompetence.

        1. Good morning, Minty. I certainly do agree that the entire Salisbury “operation” is beyond parody and have always been impressed by your extensive and deep knowledge on all manner of political subjects. However, did I not read shortly after the Novichock incident that Julia Skripal had returned to Russia to tie up some loose financial(?) ends and had been allowed by the Russian authorities to return to the UK? I would be pleased to be enlightened about this.

          1. Morning Elsie. Julia has never returned to Russia though she did make one public appearance after the incident where she hinted that she would like to do so. Since then she has never communicated directly with anyone of her family and friends even though she has nothing to fear from the Russian authorities.

    2. Actually, I was wondering if Putin wasn’t putting in a polite request to have Cummings restored to the Russian Federation. He is just the sort of character they can use to his fullest capabilities without having to worry about any niceties. It isn’t as if he doesn’t have some prior history with Russia, enough that labour….. with no sense of irony…. are questioning his links….
      Ah, the old “It was Putin what dun it” claims. Still, while Cummings may have been involved in trying to set up an airline there he wasn’t the one that Gifted Stalin with a Rolls Royce jet engine and then gave them a license to manufacture it….. the “Mig surprise” that grounded the US airforce in Korea. But perhaps only because of circumstances.

  33. SIR – As a regular listener to BBC Radio 4, I was surprised by Ben Lawrence’s claim that it has become a “tarnished jewel”.

    As I write I am listening to the Today programme, which has aired the most moving interview with an inspirational Auschwitz survivor, another with an extraordinarily courageous father who has just lost his son to a sudden heart attack (and is a consultant in this field), followed by a hilarious moment when a band stopped playing just as the programme cut to it.

    I do not believe that any other broadcaster or channel consistently delights its listeners with such varied and impressive content – not least PM’s wondrous handling last week of an interview with the wrong Robert Shapiro (the American political adviser, rather than the lawyer, as had been planned). So although it does not and cannot please every listener all 
the time, for many of us Radio 4 is still a sparkling jewel in the nation’s cultural crown.

    Esther Rantzen
    London NW3

    “Gizzus a job”

    2. Of course, Esther, hearing about Auschwitz & heart failure in swimming pools is, especially at this early hour, is indeed delightful.

    3. That may be true, but personally all I hear is wall to wall ranting about ‘climate change’.

      It’s beyond parody.

    1. Won’t happen. The Left would be too embarrassed to allow it. They’re only any good at lecturing everyone else.

      1. Evening LM,
        Is it only the left then that
        continue to support / vote for
        mass uncontrolled immigration parties ?

        1. No. The Tories/Republicans do as well, because they’re lobbied by businesses who claim that they “require” continued immigration to fill all the vacancies the current population won’t (can’t afford to), because their businesses will suffer otherwise, i.e., they’d have to pay higher wages, and they can’t afford to do that, can they?
          This is the downside of globalism, and why increasing numbers of people around the world are opposing it.
          Steve Turley covers this in his videos. He’s always very cheerful, so he’s a nice antidote to the rest of the bad news.

          1. Ims,
            So in this instance there is no left / right wings in play, seeing as
            mass uncontrolled immigration is a shared ALL party commodity hence the lab/lib/con coalition.

  36. SIR—If the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made a vow (Report, January 20) to uphold the seven “Nolan Principles” of public life—i.e. Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty and Leadership—which apply to the duties of Royal Family; why can’t politicians be required to make a similar vow?

    A Grizzly B…

    [I know it won’t be published!]

    1. Good grief Grizz!

      This morning we started our spring session of
      ‘Ladies Bible Study Group.’…studying
      Revelations…..

      The first question :-

      ‘How many times is the number seven mentioned in the Scriptures?

      Spooky or what My Dear?!!

  37. List of Beales Stores at Risk of Closure

    Beales’ chief executive Tony Brown led a management buyout of the firm in 2018.

    Beales has stores in the following towns and cities:

    Beccles
    Bedford
    Bournemouth
    Chipping Norton
    Diss
    Fareham
    Hexham
    Keighley
    Kendal
    Lowestoft
    Mansfield
    Perth
    Peterborough
    Poole
    Skegness
    Southport
    Spalding
    St Neots
    Tonbridge
    Wisbech
    Worthing
    Yeovil
    The company’s decision to appoint administrators comes at a difficult time for UK retailers.

    1. Very few of these towns have a substantial immigrant population.
      This seems to prove that immigration is good for our country.

  38. Sir – For my wedding in 1969 I received two toast racks, along with a set of fish knives and forks. Who still uses separate cutlery for fish?

    Ros Fitton
    Solihull

    Those of us who eat fish-on-the-bone, Rosalind. Standard table knives are clumsy when it comes to filleting a cooked fish on the plate; that is why fish knives were so designed.

    3. Hejsan min vän.

      It’s not the knives but the hands using them. Filleting fish on the plate is no big challenge for one who has been performing dental surgery for over 40 years.

      2. Goddag, Min Vän.

        I, too, am dextrous from a life of using tools of many descriptions in my first job in mechanical engineering, and my hobbies of woodworking and painting. This means I can use standard tables knives with clinical dexterity.

        However I am also a great believer in the efficiency of using the correct tool for the correct job. I don’t think you ever used a masonry bit in your old Black & decker D500 to clean out a cavity in a premolar prior to stiffing it with amalgam!

        1. …to clean out a cavity in a premolar prior to stiffing stuffing it with amalgam!

          Festina lente!

        2. I understand there is a serious loss in the development of manual dexterity amongst younger generations. My son came across an article on the internet about new surgeons needing special training in manual dexterity. I wonder if it’s something to do with the abandonment of toys in early childhood which help develop that. Certainly looking at the way children use a knife and fork today suggests it’s a problem from early in life.

          1. Modern-day schoolchildren’s eating habits are worse than those of pigs in a sty. The fault lies directly in the hands of clueless, useless parents and hapless, gormless teachers.

          2. I agree table manners have almost disappeared. But on the subject of manipulating a knife and fork, it’s clear that most children (and some young adults) really haven’t a clue how to utilise them efficiently. It seems that manual dexterity is a skill that needs to be learnt very early on, like learning to talk before the age of 5.

  39. Davina McCall’s This Time Next Year gets cancelled by ITV

    Like so many of these programs they are pretty naff so no great surprise

    It’s curtains for This Time Next Year, as ITV has decided to officially “rest the show” after three series.
    Presented by The Masked Singer’s Davina McCall, appearing on This Time Next Year proved to be a life-changing experience for various people, but the channel is exploring other projects now.

  40. HS2 costs could hit £106bn, warns official review

    The cost of Britain’s new HS2 high-speed rail project could rise to as much as £106bn, according to an official government review and this does not include the rolling stock. The Heathrow link has been dropped which was the one business benefit in HS2 they have also lowered the maximum speed and the frequency of the trains in order to cut costs. The £106B is probably based on current cost guesstimates. I can see this easily going to £200B based on previous projects. Just look at how Crosrail costs have incread almost monthly. Since the previous repoort in September last year the cost estimate has increased by 30%

    The review, seen by the Financial Times, says there is “considerable risk” that the scheme’s price will rise as much as 20 per cent beyond the £81-£88bn range set out in a report by the current HS2 chairman Allan Cook last September.

    The review led by Doug Oakervee, a former chairman of HS2, also recommends that work on phase 2 of the project from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds be paused for six months for a study into whether it could comprise a mix of conventional and high speed lines instead

    .“Further work” is needed to assess the scheme’s impacts on regional growth and it is “hard” to say what economic benefits will result from building it. HS2 would need to be accompanied by investment in local transport and “transport investment alone will not ‘rebalance’ the UK economy,” it adds.

    Grant Shapps, transport secretary, said last week that he has had to “ask for more details and figures” after identifying crucial gaps in the final draft of the Oakervee report. The National Audit Office is also due to release the results of its investigation into the project by the end of this month.

    The review, seen by the Financial Times, says there is “considerable risk” that the scheme’s price will rise as much as 20 per cent beyond the £81-£88bn range set out in a report by the current HS2 chairman Allan Cook last September.
    The review led by Doug Oakervee, a former chairman of HS2, also recommends that work on phase 2 of the project from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds be paused for six months for a study into whether it could comprise a mix of conventional and high speed lines instead.
    “On balance”, it says that ministers should proceed with the 250mph railway, which would stretch from London’s Euston station to Birmingham in its first phase and then to Leeds and Manchester by 2040, seven years later than the original target. But although the final draft of the review recommends that the project should proceed, this is subject to “a number of qualifications,” it says.
    “Further work” is needed to assess the scheme’s impacts on regional growth and it is “hard” to say what economic benefits will result from building it. HS2 would need to be accompanied by investment in local transport and “transport investment alone will not ‘rebalance’ the UK economy,” it adds.

    A number of central issues around construction remain unresolved. Contractors building the scheme have not yet agreed “acceptable” prices for the construction, while the existing design for Euston is “not satisfactory”.

    There are also concerns over the project’s management with more scrutiny needed from the Treasury, and its Infrastructure Projects Authority, as well as the Department for Transport. “The review has not seen convincing evidence that HS2 Ltd, especially the phase one construction team, have the level of control and management of the construction normally associated with major projects,” it says.

    Savings could be made by having the private sector contribute towards funding HS2 stations, lowering specifications and improving the “cost performance of the management”, the review said. It points out that no other high speed line in the world runs 18 trains per hour and recommends reducing it to 14.

    1. £106 billion to rid North London of its hedgehog sanctuary. Money no object when it comes to spiting the Greens.

  41. Man stabbed repeatedly on train in west London in front of shocked passengers

    A man has been repeatedly stabbed in front of shocked passengers on a train in west London.

    The victim, aged in his 30s, was attacked on board the train from Ashford to Hounslow while it was travelling into the capital on Sunday evening.
    British Transport Police and paramedics were called to Hounslow station just before 6.40pm.

    The man was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

  42. Tony Hall to step down as BBC director general. 20 January 2020

    Hall, 68, used his departure announcement to send a message to the government, which took issue with the corporation’s coverage of the general election, defending the corporation and its place in the modern media landscape.

    He also praised the values of the BBC, saying the corporation must continue to “champion the nation’s creativity at home and abroad, and help play its part in bringing the UK together”.

    He added: “In an era of fake news, we remain the gold standard of impartiality and truth. What the BBC is, and what it stands for, is precious for this country. We ignore that at our peril.”

    There speaks self-delusion on an epic scale. If he’s going he should take the BBC with him!

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jan/20/tony-hall-to-step-down-as-bbc-director-general

    4. “In an era of fake news, we remain the gold standard of impartiality and truth.”

      Good grief. He really, really doesn’t get it, does he?

    5. “In an era of fake news, we remain the gold standard of impartiality

      Fools Gold

      We ignore that at our peril.”

      You ignore us at your peril

    6. Totaly deluded. How on earth can we have such blind peope in so many top jobs. He wil be replaced by yet another blind leftie

  43. I wonder whether Harry is having second thoughts .. I bet he will be so homesick .. She scripted that damage limitation speech for him to voice last night , of that I am certain .

    We will wait and see what this immature weak minded man does next. Not so excited is he now that the money will be less than he thought … and how the Canadians react to him , the press especially.

    1. The Telegraph headlines hint at what you write, Belle – unless I am overthinking it.
      God morning, BTW!
      :-))

      2. The whole recycling thing is largely a scam. What is claimed to be recycled is just largely exported. Now the countries they have been exporting it to are starting to reject it the scam is starting to fall apart

        1. Well, we shall just have to wait and see what happens to recycled wives who have been exported.

    2. Looks like he didn’t want to throw in the towel but “there was no other option”. No doubt about who forced him into the other option, and there was an awful lot of emphasis on how “happy” they were. There was a missing piece in the drama, no surprises she is hunkered down in Canada and out or range of scrutiny.

    3. Seems to be her pulling the strings. There was no reason as to why they could not have remained in he UK as non Royals a number of the queens family are now live as non Royals. It seems though that Megan was keen to leave the UK

    4. The sooner this ill-starred couple divorce the better it will be for poor Harry.

      A man who cannot stand up to his wife is doomed to a miserable life just as a woman with an overbearing, domineering husband is doomed to misery.

    5. Morning Belle. Moving too and learning to live in another country is very difficult without any personal hassle!

    7. Seems to be her pulling the strings. There was no reason as to why they could not have remained in he UK as non Royals a number of the queens family are now live as non Royals. It seems though that Megan was keen to leave the UK

  44. Angolan ruler’s daughter used her status to build $2bn empire

    I wonder how much of that is from our foreign aid ?

    complex financial schemes that helped Africa’s richest woman amass a fortune at vast cost to the Angolan state can be revealed for the first time after a huge leak of confidential documents from her business empire.
    Isabel dos Santos, who is known as “the princess” in Angola, the oil-rich nation her father ruled as president for almost four decades, has long denied that her estimated $2.2bn (£1.7bn) fortune is the result of nepotism or corruption.

  45. Three stabbed to death in clash between ‘Sikh groups’ in east London

    Unusual

    All three victims, thought to be men in their 20s and 30s, were found with multiple stab injuries and declared dead at the scene at Seven Kings, Ilford. This morning the Metropolitan Police said they had arrested two men aged 29 and 39 over the knife attack. Speaking at the scene today, Chief Superintendent Stephen Clayman said the suspects and victims were all thought to be known to each other and were members of the Sikh community.

    Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/20/two-arrested-three-people-stabbed-death-seven-kings-12087289/?ito=cbshare
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

      1. You’ve been eating too many of those sea shells she sells on the sea shore, mola!

        Was in Kernow last week. Rained most of the time but still lovely…

  46. State of emergency after ‘snowmageddon’ hits eastern Canada

    A record-breaking blizzard has buried swathes of eastern Canada in snow, in what residents are calling “snowmageddon”.
    Thousands have been trapped in their homes by walls of snow and left without power after an extreme storm struck the province of Newfoundland and Labradour over the weekend.

    A state of emergency was declared in the capital St John’s on Friday as 80cm of snowfall and wind gusts of up to 81mph battered the region.

    3. Yo JB

      1, Is that God making his feelings known about ‘arrry and the old banger

      2. If they could send the snow to Australia, it could put thr fires out

          1. Before my first trip to the US of A in 1980, I bought a little book entitled, The First Timer’s Guide to The USA, which was a wealth of useful information.

            Inside was a story attributed to Lord (George) Brown, Harold Wilson’s foreign secretary. He told of being invited to a White House dinner and had to wear a dinner suit. He toured the shops of Washington DC desperately trying to obtain the correct apparel. After a while it was explained to him that, instead of asking for “trousers and braces” he should have asked for “pants and suspenders”.

          2. “Gordon Brown is a live wire” – the mnemonic for when appliances came without plugs.

  48. Yo all

    For airline passengers and crew

    Just in case you need a laugh:

    Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one…a reassurance to those who fly routinely in your job.

    After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a ‘gripe sheet,’ which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct
    the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

    Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.

    Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS’ pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance
    engineers.

    By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever had an accident.

    P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
    S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
    *
    P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
    S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
    *
    P: Something loose in cockpit
    S: Something tightened in cockpit
    *
    P: Dead bugs on windshield.
    S: Live bugs on back-order.
    *
    P: Auto pilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent…
    S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
    *
    P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
    S: Evidence removed.
    *
    P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
    S: DME volume set to more believable level.
    *
    P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
    S: That’s what friction locks are for.
    *
    P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
    S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
    *
    P: Suspected crack in windshield.
    S: Suspect you’re right.
    *
    P: Number 3 engine missing.
    S: Engine found on right wing after brief search
    *
    P: Aircraft handles funny.
    (I love this one!):
    S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.
    *
    P: Target radar hums.
    S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
    *
    P: Mouse in cockpit.
    S: Cat installed.
    *
    And the best one for last
    *
    P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
    S: Took hammer away from midget

    And two I have actually been involved with

    P Dirty rag in cockpit
    S Dirty rag removed, washed and ironed and replaced
    *
    P,Bendix radio does not work
    S PTR 170 radio removed: Bendix radio fitted and funtionally tested

  49. Face of Buzz Aldrin seen clearly for first time next to American flag on Moon

    The face of astronaut Buzz Aldrin can be clearly seen for the first time next to the American flag, after a British amateur photographer layered images
    taken from video footage of the Apollo Moon landing.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020/01/20/face-buzz-aldrin-seen-clearly-first-time-next-american-flag/

    and is this apt, for you disbelievers

    ‘Deep fake’ imagery manipulation poses threat to society not just military, US General warns

    The manipulation of digital pictures
    to show misleading ‘deep fake’ images of people will become more
    widespread as artificial intelligence (AI) systems develop, says a
    senior American official.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/15/deep-fake-imagery-manipulation-poses-threat-society-not-just/

  50. Morning Each,
    May one ask, how much does it cost the peoples per head to keep the Queen performing royal duties benefiting these Isles.
    Compared say, to membership fees of the lab/lib/con parties who, to date over the last two decades especially, have done nothing to benefit these Isles, quite actively, the reverse.

    1. The fact that the Constitutional Monarchy exists and prevents there being a President Major or a President Blair or a President Brown etc is priceless.

      1. Morning S,
        I agree, any answer to the question posed as in
        what is the cost to the peoples per head for the Queens upkeep compared to membership fees
        paid to the lab/lib/con parties ?

    2. Probably not that much. The Royal palaces etc would have to be maintained etc as most are listed. There could be some loss of tourism if we had no Royal family so the net costs is unlikely to be that high

    3. I understood that it was in the order of £1.50 per head. Whether that is per day/week/month/year, I know not but whichever, it’s worth every penny.

      2. NtN,
        Precisely, for works of good.
        Compared to membership fees of lab/lib/con for works of treachery to date.

  51. UK-born children of migrants ‘face more prejudice’ than foreign migrants

    One explanation might be migrants expected to have to work hard. Second generation etc migrants are less likely to have that work ethic

    Gosh more nonsense. In most cases you would not know whether they were UK born or not o that blows a great big hole in that claim

    People born in Britain to migrant parents are more likely to feel discriminated against than migrants who are new to the UK, research suggests.
    Evidence from two 2018 surveys points to ethnicity being at the root of any perceived discrimination rather than a person’s status as a migrant.
    Among immigrants, more than 70% say Britain is welcoming and 90% believe migrants can make it if they work hard.

        1. I don’t watch/listen to the BBC.
          Says it all. They don’t face more prejudice, they’re just seeing what’s not there most of the time. It’s easier to blame someone else for “racism” than admit to your own failings.

          Or it might be that all the endless highlighting of “white privilege”, “institutional racism” etc, etc, has made race relations far worse over the past two decades.
          And maybe, just maybe, tribalism makes the fashionable dream of peaceful multiculturalism impossible. People are tribal. They usually seek out people they have a lot in common with, rather than those they have nothing in common with (think of successful versus unsuccessful marriages).

  52. Gordon Brown: Give regions a ‘voice’ or UK may end, ex-PM warns

    Tend to agree with him on this. we need a proper Federal UK with an English Parliament and proper devolved regions and not the adhoc Devolved Mayors we have now

    Having 9 Regions or England is sensible and we could have a proper link between the various layers of administration. so the current County Councils and unitary authorities could be absorbed into the English Regions. Some of the councilors on the English Regions would have a joint remit and would also serve as regional Assembly members. The major services could be aligned with the Regions ie Fire, Police, Ambulance Transport, NHS and Social Services and housing
    Beneath the regions you would have local councils this though would have fewer powers

    Westminster & the Lords would be considerable reduced in size as they would have fewer responsibilities

        1. That does not matter, if the EU gets what it wants. If you can live in a house and enjoy it, it may not matter whether you own, rent or squat?

      2. It has been a long-term plan of the European Union to break up the United Kingdom into regions, as we have been such an obstacle to those who want to rule the world in the past. This was gleefully helped along with regional assemblies to divide us as a nation and get us fighting among ourselves instead of facing the real enemies in the world.

        They will be trying to dismantle the House of Lords and House of Commons next, and move them out of that highly visible symbol of British Government and rule. Anything to rip apart the strength and traditions of this country.

    2. Sad Dick Khant would immediately negotiate (give in to any terms) to get Londonistan back in the EUSSR

      1. Further regional development
        Of the Scandinavian countries, it now seems to be Norway’s turn to alter the geographical structure at the local and regional levels through the merging of municipalities into larger units and the assignment of additional tasks to these new units – at least if Norway’s central government fulfills its ambitions.
        Therefore, issues such as the tasks the local and regional tiers should be entrusted with, the degree of autonomy from central state control, and the geographical size of the new regions are on the agenda. The schedule for the reform is set for 2017. Thus, the regional tier is currently influx and the future for a democratically elected regional tier is difficult to predict.

        1. “Reform” happened 01-01-2020. Chaos. Only wanted by Government, not the electorate.

    4. They tried that before, and the people turned it down. It’s just another layer of bureaucracy and politicians.

    5. Sorry, Bill, a ‘Federal’ Britain is, in my opinion, a bloody stupid idea. We are already one sovereign nation comprising four countries. The devolved assemblies and the wee pretendy Parliament are a drain on the economy and have proved to be ineffective in taking over and running certain aspects of their individual countries.

      It all worked quite well with Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and there was an inability for various Nationalist factions to influence government in any detrimental way.

      Your idea would splinter and divide the country even more so than at present.

          4. The state of Virginia, control by the Democrats, is currently trying to do away with the second amendment rights of its citizens. That’s at state level, not Federal level, so there’s an obvious point of conflict.
            The UK is really not big enough to have that kind of governance, nor does it need it. It’s a way of dividing the country.

          6. They wouldn’t be disappointed if it did. It would be the perfect excuse to go full speed ahead with their gun confiscation.

      2. “It all worked quite well with Secretaries of State for Scotland,…” Well, no, it certainly did not. At best it was perhaps slightly more focussed perhaps than the incompetent, corrupt, misguided and stupid government we now have, but that is not saying much.

        1. At the moment everything is Central in England (well with few exception) . If a region in England wants funding for say a new by pass they have to try to get their MPs to should in Westminster and hope they cough up some cash but the answer is usually No as they want the funding for their per projects such as HS2 and Cross Rail

          If we had an English Parliament the Funding would broadly be split amount the 9 English regions and those regions decide ho to spend it, At present about 70% of the funding goes to London and The South East leaving the crumbs to be fought over for the rest of England

  53. Do We Need the Lords ?

    Do we really need the Lords with devolved powers. The Lords currently only cover legislation covering the whole of the UK or legislation just covering England

    Wales, NI and Scotland seem to work perfectly well without the Lords. WE need to look at how it works in those administrations. Has not having a second chamber caused any problems?

      1. Bur the Lords have nothing at all to do with legislation produced by those assemblies.

    2. “Wales, NI and Scotland seem to work perfectly well without the Lords.”
      I live in Scotland and beg to differ. Driving out of Edinburgh on Friday we were in a tailback of traffic on the bypass*. Huge tailbacks on the slip roads to join. Turnabout filtering before two lane traffic increased in speed to a slow crawl. Inching forward we then did turnabout filtering into the outside lane. Three hundred yards in 15 minutes. Blue lights ahead. We crawled past the obstruction. A devastating multi-vehicle smash? A bus on fire?
      No, a car with a puncture in the inside lane. But being Scotland, there is no hard shoulder as our roads are built on the cheap, very cheap.
      “Perfectly well”. – delusional, surely.
      This is also the A1, the main road between Edinburgh and London and the South.

      1. Thats nothing to do with a second chamber. A second chamber just peer reviewers legislation

        1. I know it isn’t about a second chamber, but it is about the quality of the first chamber.

  54. Heads up boys and girls – there’s a new downtrodden minority with it’s own doomgoblin

    A bird watcher from Bristol is the youngest person in the UK to receive an honorary degree.
    Mya-Rose Craig, also known as Bird Girl, from Compton Martin, Somerset has been birdwatching nearly her whole life
    In August 2019 the 17-year-old became the youngest person in the world to see half the world’s birds, that’s 5,369 in total.
    Now, she has been given an honorary degree by University of Bristol and she has visited 38 countries over all seven continents, including trips to the Amazon, Australia and Egypt. Mya-Rose also heads up Black2Nature, campaigning to get equal access to nature for visible minority ethnic (VME) people.

    edit link :- https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/bristol-birdwatcher-gets-honorary-degree-3738933

    http://www.birdgirluk.com/2020/01/black2nature.html

    4. “Mission: Entice VME communities to engage with their natural environment in order to better reflect the ethnic diversity of the UK in nature.”
      Well we have plenty of Blackbirds in UK, not sure what she is getting at. Dont ask me what VME is, I looked it up and couldn’t find anything.

        1. I have emailed Black2nature for an explanation and asked whether is is just for blacks as the name implies.

    5. Why does the last sentence bring to mind natives in grass skirts, or less, as seen in the Young Elizabethan? magazine, National Geographic, and early 20th century films of Africa, such as “King Solomons Mines”?

      PS. She must get quite a lot of pocket money to be able to trot around the globe, as well as time off school?

      1. “Over the last couple of years, she has been campaigning for climate change, joining protests and visiting her home town of Bangladesh to engage with young children on environmental issues. “It has been a hard journey, as I have had lots of racist and Islamophobic trolls and haters.” She said.”

        For myself, I became “self-aware as an individual” when I was 8 years old. If she started seriously watching birds at the same age, then she has had 4 overseas holidays a year, every year, since then. This would tend to indicate that the family has more money than the average one, especially if she is from Bangladesh. It is not very charitable of me to re-write the headline for this story, but she is another one of those who is telling real people how to live:

        “Woke little rich girl self-publicises to tell the poor unwashed how to be better people by dismantling the society that provides them with the actual chance of advancement.”

        It is the people who achieve these things and keep it to themselves that I admire. But, obviously, you don’t hear about them in newspapers. You just meet them in real life.

      1. It was the VME that I objected to as it deserves ridicule for being an answer for which there is no problem and further promotes divisiveness , the girl herself is admirable but typical of a teenager who may not see the irony of jetting across 38 countries and being a climate activist at the same time.

    1. Good afternoon Jenny, its been cold ( 12’C ) and rainy by me from the early morning till around 15:30 PM when it stopped, its now dark by me at 17:37 PM & more rain forecast for tonight & tomorrow – must be because of Global Wetting

      1. Afternoon Mahat. We had a lot of rain recently but it’s better than the whte stuff. I see the nights getting lighter and spring is just around the corner once January is over – in my books anyway.

          1. It does the heart good does it not….I detest September because I know how long we have to wait for lighter nights and warmer weather. Jan and Feb I don’t mind at all…..because we’re nearly there…..last February I remember we had a couple of lovely warm days…T shirt weather.

          2. I love January to October. The first six because it gets lighter each day, and the second four because they are still light and warm.

            I utterly detest November and December because they get darker, and are wet, cold and miserable.

          3. Snowdrops ( WW2 nickname for white helmeted US MP’s )
            https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/8ec13323-fddd-4ace-8615-c0576ef56a03/dahua4z-3476ba73-178a-4ac0-bd15-459251549c39.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzhlYzEzMzIzLWZkZGQtNGFjZS04NjE1LWMwNTc2ZWY1NmEwM1wvZGFodWE0ei0zNDc2YmE3My0xNzhhLTRhYzAtYmQxNS00NTkyNTE1NDljMzkucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.y8TqhVidUmFkgdWDx6Q7oLvntECPltqT3I-ORtv1b2A

      2. Twelve minutes Celsius (12’C)? Was it that temperature for a whole seven hours and thirty degrees?

        Wow, That’s cold (I think?). :•)

  57. Another three stabblings in London. I love our capital so much, especially the history – so much to see and learn. What a shame it always makes the news for the wrong reasons.

  58. Telegraph pulls out of ABC circulation audit to focus on subscriber-first strategy

    Translated it means the circulation figures are embarrassingly low

    Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, is pulling out of the ABC newspaper circulation audit, saying it is no longer a “key metric” for its subscriber-first strategy.

    The group said it would instead publish its core subscriber numbers each month for the first time as it focuses on its target of reaching 10m registered users and 1m paying subscribers by 2023.

    The latest ABC figures, published today, were the last that will include the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles, the group confirmed.

    They show the Daily Telegraph had an average circulation of 317,817 last month while the Sunday Telegraph was on 248,288. Both saw a 12 per cent decline from December 2018.

  59. Bletchley GP’s surgery attack: ‘Five people’ injured

    At least five people have been attacked at a GP’s surgery in Milton Keynes, where staff declared a major incident.
    Emergency crews were called to Parkside Medical Centre in Whalley Drive, Bletchley, at about 09:00 GMT.
    Thames Valley Police said two members of staff and three members of the public were hurt. A man is being held on suspicion of multiple assaults.
    South Central Ambulance Service said two people had been taken to hospital but there were no serious injuries.
    The surgery has been closed until further notice and a post on its Facebook page claimed eight people had received injuries: “Due to a major incident at Parkside Medical Centre we are closed until further notice.
    “We are deeply upset by this incident and wish everyone involved a speedy recovery.

  60. Yay! William (the shy) Barter of DT letters notoriety is being interviewed on the Beeb about HS2.
    The interviewer is giving him a grilling.

  61. Lord Hall to step down as BBC’s director general

    Tony Hall is to step down as director general of the BBC in the summer, after seven years in the role.
    Lord Hall said it had been “a hard decision”, adding: “If I followed my heart I would genuinely never want to leave.”

    2. Yep, privileged white male steps down to make way for black one-legged trans-lesbian. I jest of course but one suspects the worst.

      1. Sue, you suspect a really, really woke appointment, then? If it happens then it will be another step on the road to perdition for Al-Beeb.

      2. Yo Sue

        You will be invited to the new DG’s

        Vegan
        Teetotal
        Music Free
        Woke
        Multi-Culti
        LGBTetc….
        Pay to Attend

        introductory Barbie?

        or are yo too ‘White’?

      3. …
        BBC puts Muslim in charge of religious television shows
        THE BBC has appointed a Muslim to be in charge of religious programming.
        By KATIE MANSFIELD
        PUBLISHED: 11:47, Sat, Feb 25, 2017 | UPDATED: 12:51, Sat, Feb 25, 2017

        Fatima Salaria has been made the new commissioning editor for ethics and religion making her responsible for all the BBC’s religious content, including Songs of Praise.

        Ms Salaria has previously commissioned Muslims Like Us, a reality style show and produced Britain’s Jihadi Brides.

        She was made an assistant commissioner in 2015 during a BBC diversity drive.

        https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/772016/bbc-muslim-editor-religious-television-programming-fatima-salaria

        1. Good morning Wonder Woman of Wool

          How can a country with an Established Church do this?

          Imagine them putting a Jew or a Christian in charge of religious broadcasting in Pakistan, Iran or Saudi Arabia?

    3. If only, we could get rid of real Remoaners just by ringing bells (or wringing their collective necks)

  63. MRD Award of the Day:
    “Radio presenter Sarah Montague has confirmed she won a £400,000 settlement and an apology from the BBC after being treated “unequally” by the corporation for years.
    The World At One presenter said she would “prefer not to be talking about my pay” …..

    1. The writing is on the wall. The BBC is about to lose its funding so the rats are all scrambling to grab what they can before it collapses entirely

    2. Samira Ahmed wins BBC equal pay tribunal. The Newswatch presenter claimed she was underpaid for hosting the audience feedback show, when compared with Jeremy Vine’s salary for Points of View.
      Very strange, as it is not the same programme. If a presenter is paid via a company and is not a direct employee such claims should not be possible, as they are dependent on individual negotiation.
      the comparison was with Jeremy vine. Perhaps the BBC should cut his pay to match hers now?

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-51063082/samira-ahmed-wins-bbc-equal-pay-tribunal

      1. I think if the beeb attempts to do that it will be in breach of contract. The only sensible thing would be to give her equal pay until the end date of JV’s contract and then when the contracts come up for renewal offer a more realistic /affordable equal salary to both (assuming they want to continue the employment….)

        1. I was careless with the word “now”.
          Of course I meant that “the BBC should take steps to advise Mr Vine that his contract was unlikely to be renewed on the current terms, or at all. Furthermore when it did come up for renewal the terms might be unfavourable. He should consult his financial and legal advisers in advance, and prepare for an outcome not perhaps altogether to his liking.”
          But that takes longer to type!

          1. Bill T will be pleased that you are advocating spending a fraction of his (JV’s ) hard ‘earned’ dosh on legal advocates…..

          2. Bill T will be pleased that you are advocating spending a fraction of his (JV’s ) hard ‘earned’ dosh on legal advocates…..

          3. There are advocates and advocates, lawyers and lawyers. IMO, BT despises some of them (to the extent that he actually despises anyone, but you know what I mean).

      2. It only needs to be considered equivalent, not the same. That has caused lots of difficulty with supermarket check-out staff claiming equivalence to loaders etc behind the scenes – types of comparisons.

    3. The BBC will go bust at this rate. IT is long over due that reality came to the pay in the TV industry particularly as audience figures are dropping like a stone.The pay rates are totally out of touch with reality

  64. Brexit immigration reform to see low-skilled migrants banned from Britain this year

    In reality from the beginning of next year

    Low-skilled migrants are likely to be banned from moving to Britain at the end of this year after the Government moved forwards its plans for a new immigration system.

    The UK will have the power to end free movement and set its own rules on migration at the end of the Brexit transition period, which runs until 31 December.
    The Government was previously expected to keep the current rules in place for a further two years, before introducing a “points-based” system which would make it almost impossible for less skilled migrants to work in the UK.
    But ministers are now planning to set up the new system as soon as the transition has ended.

    4. The majority of immigrants, and probably the vast majority of low-skilled immigrants, are from non-EU countries and we have always had the wherewithal to limit this immigration if we wanted to. I am sceptical that our leaders will suddenly gain the courage and determination to deal with immigration just because we leave the EU – they’ve had half a century to do so and have failed.

      1. EdA,
        Because over the decades they had peoples support via the polling booth to do precisely that, nothing.
        They were always guaranteed
        via the vote in / keep out, party
        before all else regardless of consequences to Country, voting pattern time & again & again, guaranteed.

  65. Seems like an officer involved in the failed operation
    Augusta was made chief of the child exploitation unit
    currently there seems that there is nothing like failure to boost ones CV.
    Those involved in failed operation Augusta were told to
    spread the blame among other ethnicities so it does not appear racist hitting on one.
    Submitting,PCism, Appeasement in full flight working in unison with the guardians of the decent people, supposedly.
    Fact,
    Submitting, PCism, Appeasement, destroys lives from a very early age & also KILLs.

    1. Look at who we have heading up the Met. A prime example of being Useless getting you promotion

  67. I have always liked Lawrence Fox and his father, James, who, in the 1960’s was one of Britain’s most prominent film stars.

    However it would be a good idea if someone in Britain organised crowd funding to raise the necessary money for Lawrence Fox to get those disfiguring and vulgar tattoos removed from his hands and arms.

    I am sure he must be beginning to realise that tattoos are becoming obligatory emblems for those who wish to be ‘woke’ – why else have David Dimbleby and Judi Dench had body graffiti iinjected into their skin?

      1. Yes, professional sailors used to have tattoos – which was accepted if not acceptable. But Lawrence Fox is not a professional sailor – not even of the ‘Hello Sailor’ variety.

    2. I was surprised how tottooed his arms were – like built-in sleeves. I would suspect it limits his range of characters, as he can’t easily go in tee-shirts or bare top without looking like a failed Hells Angel.

    4. Harry you have a mission. It’s a big job are you prepared to accept it ? The mission is to bring Canada back under UK Control

      You & Megan will then get the titles Emperor & Empress of Canada

          9. Strictly speaking, the 1Co-Co1 is the wheel formation. They were just known as EE Type 4s at first but became Class 40s in the early 1970s when BR began computerising.

            Nicknames amongst platforms anoraks included Tats, Big Ds and Whistlers.

        2. Aw…when my eldest brother and his wife emigrated in 1963 they sailed from Liverpool to Montreal on the Empress of Canada. I was 8 and remember very well going with Mum and Dad to see the ship and waive them off.

    1. Its sort of like a reverse pilgrimage to Mecca with every Chinese factory worker leaving the big cities to go back home to their little countryside villages and spread infectious diseases on the way in overcrowded trains, planes, buses & river boats!

  71. One person has behaved with poise throughout – Her Majesty the Queen
    NORMAN TEBBIT – 20 JANUARY 2020 • 12:42PM

    Amidst all the fuss, nonsense and speculation about the consequences of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s marriage, I could not but admire the poise, calmness and moderation of Her Majesty the Queen.

    It has been a sad affair as the Duke has had even to cut his links with the Army, but an officer is bound by his oath of loyalty to the Monarch.

    Age seems only to deepen that Monarch’s understanding and knowledge without in any way diminishing her unfailing good judgement.

    God Save The Queen, I say.

    Courts must not take on the role of MPs

    I feel that I cannot write so favourably in drawing attention to the words of Amanda Pinto, the Chairwoman of the Bar Council, reported in The Times on Thursday. Her words were prompted by those of Simon Davis, president of the Law Society, praising the doctrine of judicial review as “a vital part of the checks and balances necessary to protect people from powerful institutions and underpin the rule of law”.

    Ms Pinto went rather further, saying that, “Judicial review exists to challenge decisions, including government decisions, which are sometimes wrong.”

    Of course governments may make poor decisions and from time to time simply gets things wrong, but I was surprised that a chairwoman of the Bar Council seems not to understand that Parliament exists to challenge and, if needs be, to revoke or reverse decisions made by government, or indeed other authorities.

    One of the most far reaching decisions of recent years was the decision of the governments of both Mrs May and then that of Boris Johnson to uphold the referendum vote of the British people to leave the European Union. No doubt some judges – like some company directors, bricklayers or shopkeepers – might believe that decision of the government to uphold the people’s vote is wrong, but it is Parliament alone which has the authority to support or oppose the legislation to do so.

    The House of Commons, with the mandate of the 2019 General Election, has passed the legislation to leave the EU at the end of this month. Last week the House of Lords made plain its dislike of that decision and next week I confidently expect that after a ritual fuss the unelected peers will back down.

    That is how Parliament works and what it is for.

    Judicial Review exists to investigate whether an authority has taken a decision which was contrary to law, or for which it had no authority, or one so bizarre that no reasonable minded person would have taken it.

    Parliament, not the Judiciary, exists to correct a decision which might prove to have been wrong and I hope that it would never lack the will to do so.

    Young Blair’s vision of the future
    Oddly enough reading that same paper I found to my astonishment that I agreed with Euan Blair, son of former prime minister Tony Blair, who had described some universities as ” simply broken”.

    As he put it, more people are now looking at apprenticeships as the best route into a great career. Naturally being the son of his father, Euan Blair is the co-owner of a business, White Hat, which organises white-collar apprenticeships at companies such as Google, BP and L’Oréal.

    Rightly his firm focusses on the jobs of the future “in tech, data, digital and project management”.

    For a long time I have argued for the closure of the third-rate universities granting valueless degrees and the establishment of technical colleges teaching commercially valuable skills from the traditional crafts needed in building and construction to those needed in the newer high tech industries.

    So good fortune to the young Blair. I hope Boris Johnson’s ministers will now follow his example

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

    Graham Nibblet 20 Jan 2020 2:10PM
    I’m afraid Harry and Meghan have made the same mistake as many very successful executives in global firms with long established brands. They think their success is all down to them, not the firm and the experience and expertise that resides within it. Neil Woodford was another prime example.

        1. As the EU have had plenty of time to prepare for these negotiations the fact that they are not ready is entirely down to them we will therefore deduct 25% from the £39B

          Lets call it £40B so we deduct £10B should they delay the talks b 3 months

          1. BJ,
            That is a partial re-entry politico’s way of doing things, a real
            Brexitexiteer would deduct 100% from the 39B they would never have offered to start with.

          3. BJ,
            You might want it ( have you a vested interest)
            I most certainly do not, in point of fact I left on the 24/ 6 /2016
            under a total severance banner.

          6. We should not be paying to protect their £90 billion trade surplus. Turn it around and they pay us £39 billion for a trade deal with us.

    2. They can sit there in a sulk until NYE 2020; and beyond, if they so wish.
      We’re going, and if the EU chooses to do eff all, then it will be the loser.
      There’s a whole wide world outside the borders of a moribund semi-continent.

  75. Running Cars on CO2.

    Several companies are working on this.. THe main issue at present seems to be cost

    Byron Elton, President and COO of Carbon Sciences, his company hhas developed a breakthrough technology that can take CO2 and use it along with methane and a catalyst to create a synthetic gas (syngas) in a process known as gas-to-liquid or GTL. The resulting syngas can, and has, been used to create clean diesel fuels. Elton says that after diesel will come jet fuels and even a CO2 fuel that will power existing gasoline engines. No need for retrofitting or costly conversions.

    While GTL technology has been around for decades — Elton notes that the Fischer–Tropsch process, a key component of GTL technology where carbon monoxide and hydrogen are combined to produce a petroleum substitute, was used to fuel the war effort during WWII — it hasn’t been competitive with, or superior to, crude oil. Elton says that has changed.
    He adds, “Carbon Science’s technology can not only give us a viable, clean alternative to fossil fuels, but it can also help significantly reduce the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere.” While it will take some time to get it to market, Elton says diesel fuels made from CO2 will be available relatively quickly. And he points to a proposed joint $10 billion project between the state of Louisiana and South African energy company, Sasol, to build a huge GTL plant near Lake Charles, LA as proof that this alternative fuel has been embraced and is coming fast.

    Ozzie Zehner, visiting professor at UC-Berkely and author of the upcoming book Green Illusions (Lincoln and London: Bison Books, 2012), says all this CO2-as-a-fuel talk reminds him of the failed hydrogen dream of just a few years ago. That technology used excess solar wind power to create hydrogen to power cars. The only problem was in order to make that happen you needed to put more energy in to create hydrogen fuel than you got out of it. It’s like having a machine that creates $20 bills, but it costs $23 to create each one.

    And Zehner says creating CO2 fuels is just as energy intensive. “The process can be used to store heat or electrical energy in a dispatchable liquid form for later use,” he says, “but CO2 is not a fuel on it’s own.” It must be refined into other things that can be used as fuels, like methane, which is the primary component of natural gas. And the problem, Zehner notes, is you need an endothermic reaction to make that happen. You need to provide a lot of heat and energy to get your resulting fuel, and you’ll get some, but not all, of that energy back. “Until they figure out how to change the laws of thermodynamics,” Zehner says, “we are stuck with what we have.”

    1. Sounds like bollocks really. CO2 has no real use in the Fischer-Tropsch process. Methane is the feedstock which is broken down to CO and H2 by steam reformation before being reacted to create alkanes ( Fischer-Tropsch process), such as octane and heavier diesels. Any CO2 scrubbed from the atmosphere would be released again when the fuel was burnt anyway.
      OK in theory CO can be produced from CO2 by dissolving in water and electrolysis but CO2 doesn’t dissolve very well and electrolysis is expensive in terms of energy. The steam reformation of methane provides enough CO and is the industrial standard currently.

  76. Dolittle’ bombs at the box office, and could lose studio £77 million

    Films are always quite high risk. You never really no whether a film will take off or not. May be the very highly paid stars should take some of the risk

    Robert Downey Jr’s Dolittle has tanked at the box office, and could cost Universal a hefty sum in losses unless it picks up pace.
    It made just $30 million – £23 million – in the US over its four-day opening weekend, and a further $27 million (£20.7 million) abroad, making $57.3 million (just over £44 million) worldwide.

    This wouldn’t be such an issue, but the fantasy family movie cost an eye-watering $175 million (£134 million) to make, perhaps connected to its star-laden cast.

    1. MP railways but as usual they have a vague idea of where the want to go but no earthly idea on the route, the cost of getting there and no concern of the damage caused on the way.

      1. A great movie but I recall reading somewhere that actually most of the soldiers were not Welsh but English.

        3. All the British soldiers killed died of bullet wounds, not spears. But the core of the films very true, “Because we’re here, lad.”

          1. I was not aware of that. I assume that the Zulus got hold of firearms at the Battle of Isandlwana but I am surprised that they gained the skill to use them so quickly.

          2. I don’t think that there was any restriction on the arms trade prior to the war. Traders from many countries would be offering things in exchange for whatever they could get from the Zulus and other tribes. Rifles would be quite useful for shooting game.
            Yes, they would have captured weapons at Isandlwana. Having diverted our French teacher from discussing weapons in Indo-China (Pecheurs d’Islande) he told us that the British rifles were not that good, prone to overheating and jamming, allowing the Zulus to overwhelm their poor, and open, position.

          3. Interesting comments! If the movie is anything to go by, and I am not saying it is, the British rifles worked pretty darn well at Rorke’s Drift.

  80. Good afternoon all

    Front Porch

    A man was walking down the street when he noticed his grandpa sitting on
    the porch, in the rocking chair, with nothing on from the waist down.

    “Grandpa, what are you doing?” he exclaimed.

    The old man looked off in the distance and did not answer him.

    “Grandpa, what are you doing sitting out here with nothing on below the waist?” he asked again.

    The old man slowly looked at him and said, “Well, last week I sat out here with no shirt on, and I got a stiff neck… This was your Grandma’s
    idea.”

      1. Afternoon, Lass.

        She’d probably slap me!

        Hope all is well for you both. Have got a viral chest infection — feel like grot!
        Have funn.

        2. Not fun, dear. In bed with cough and streaming cold. D had it in Kernow and I showed it the morning after we came back. 3rd day at the moment. I think we caught it at a friend’s mother’s funeral Friday before we went. DiL has been in hospital and in bed with it for around 2 weeks…there’s a lot of it around just now.

          Hope you feel better soon.

          Looking forward to end of Feb. Regards to TLK X

          1. Had the same thing a week or so back. I just took to the sofa for a couple of days. Got over it relatively quickly, i.e. it wasn’t one that developed into a cough that lasts for weeks, but didn’t have much energy for a few days.
            Hope you recover quickly.

          2. Thank you.

            Glad you shook off yours – my cough has unfortunately increased, but there you go. At least I don’t have to get up. It makes me realise how bloomin’ lucky I am! :o)

    2. The old Morecombe & Wise joke :
      Two dirty old men sitting in deckchairs, one says “Its nice out today” The other one says ” Yes but put it away now there’s a Policeman coming ! “

      1. Not quite, Mahatma, Morecombe and Wise played that joke without the punchline for weeks. It was finally revealed as, “Is it? Then I’ll get mine out as well.”

  81. COFFEE HOUSE – The terrifying parable of Laurence Fox’s Question Time appearance
    Douglas Murray – 20 January 2020 – 6:28 PM

    In what turned out to be the last year of his life, Roger Scruton often mulled on the nature and techniques of twenty-first century denunciation. For Roger, like others who had seen totalitarian societies up close, knew what intimidation and officially-imposed forms of thinking were actually like.

    Which is not to say, of course, that modern Britain or America are totalitarian societies. Only that we have people among us who act with precisely the same techniques as those did in totalitarian societies. In modern Britain, as in communist Czechoslovakia and elsewhere, the habits are the same. A member of a profession comes into their workplace in the morning to find a letter of denunciation signed by all their colleagues. An organ of official opinion castigates someone for having fraternised with the wrong elements. Almost all of this is done by people who think they are doing good. As it happens I have spent the first part of the year reading Vasily Grossman, and this last notion has been particularly striking of late. Bad things are rarely done by people who think they are doing bad things. They are almost everywhere done by people who imagine that they are acting for the common good.

    Which brings me to Laurence Fox, or rather the response to Laurence Fox in recent days.

    The actor appeared on Question Time last week. And for social media – and some denizens of the real world – it was as though the space-time continuum had ripped. As it happens, actors are quite often asked onto Question Time, where they sprinkle star-dust and disappointment in equal measure. The disappointment comes from the fact that when actors speak in public with words that have not been written for them, they tend to demonstrate a number of mental deficiencies. One is their holding to the core fallacy, that some politicians such as Jess Phillips also tend to display, which is a belief that the problems of the world would be largely solved if other people were more like them. This belief extends to the idea that if only there were more ‘empathy’, ‘sympathy’ and general niceness in the world then questions like how to curb China’s exploitation in Africa would solve themselves.

    Last week Laurence Fox did something unusual. He did not play the game that – cynically or sincerely – most actors and actresses play. He appeared, on live television, and appeared to think for himself.

    Naturally he was offered precisely the same traps as every other public figure is now offered in lieu of discussion. Lady (Shami) Chakrabarti, to Fox’s right, tried to play the game of ‘Let’s pretend that all men are misogynists unless they prostrate themselves to prove otherwise.’ On this occasion she tried this by pretending that Fox’s casual suggestion that Keir Starmer might be best placed to lead the Labour party was in some way anti-women. Fox dealt with this typically underhand little Chakrabarti-ism in a rather deft way, as well as politely.

    And then there was the audience member (who naturally turned out to be a low-grade academic) who decided to try to play the inevitable race card. Meghan Markle was leaving Britain, according to this person, because Britain is a racist country. Fox suggested very politely that we are really not a racist country. At which point the audience member accused him of ‘white privilege’. Fox, again perfectly reasonably, pointed out that he has had no more say than anyone else in choosing the colour of his skin and that in such circumstances the person who imagined she was being anti-racist was in fact being perfectly racist herself.

    Naturally social media was immediately filled with people intent on doing good by making not just Fox’s name trend, but also making the name of his ex-wife trend. Because in the process of imagining you are doing good it is very important to use a divorced couple against each other and to make sure that their children are used as weapons in order to gain a social-justice triumph.

    In the real world, the actor’s union Equity issued a Soviet-style denunciation of Fox. The union’s ‘minority ethnic members committee’ called on all fellow actors to ‘unequivocally denounce’ Fox and labelled him a ‘disgrace to our industry.’ This denunciation stayed up for a time before Equity – wisely – decided to take the official denunciation down. But other actors attacked Fox for his ‘rants’ rather than arguments (look what they did there) and Lily Allen demonstrated her characteristic self-awareness by issuing a condemnation of actors who talk about things they don’t know about. Doubtless the Allen denunciation would have been longer but for the background demands of the Syrian refugee family who Allen must surely by now be housing in her multi-million pound home.

    So here was indeed something remarkable and noteworthy. Not just a member of the acting profession thinking for themselves and expressing themselves articulately. But someone willing and able to stand up and keep their head about them when the would-be totalitarians and censors of the age went about their nasty little business.

    Since the imbroglio Fox has made a number of admirably unflapped interviews (notably in the Sunday Times and on Julia Hartley-Brewer’s show on TalkRadio). So I do not fear that all this stampeding is going to affect him or make him beg for mercy. But it is a telling and slightly terrifying parable of our times.

    Nothing that Fox said on Question Time was at all controversial. He suggested that the Labour party leader might be selected on merit and he suggested that Britain is not a racist country. Both these sentiments are held by the majority of the public. Yet so dominant have the minority-opinion pushers become that many people are persuaded that it would not just be career-damaging but socially fatal to say anything to the contrary. Even when that thing is the truth.

    Which is why we should watch the fall-out from situations like this carefully. What is important now is not the minority of bullies and would-be totalitarians. People are increasingly proving able to survive their onslaughts. What matters now is observing who stands up and survives the stampedes, so that we can replicate such successes until such a time as the new totalitarians go the way of the old ones.

    2. It’s worth reading what the Guardian has to say on this matter but even more so the BTL comments – their belief that QT is right wing in it’s panel makeup and the audience planted with a mixture of right and hard right activists is bewildering as is the venom for Fox. Our BoB made a very cogent comment which seems to have invoked the 3 monkey response.

      https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jan/20/question-time-jump-the-shark-laurence-fox

      2. Those on the left, who were holding out hope that lies and propaganda could pervert the country into their way of thinking, have just had a shock at the last election when the Conservatives won such a large majority. All of those Labour voters in the “red wall” switching to the Brexit Party were supposed to be too brainwashed to think for themselves. But what is happening in our country now is known to those voters who walked away from their old party after labour tried to stop us leaving the EU.

        The real world is now knocking on their door and it is not wearing a “brainwashed scared liberal-marxist” t-shirt. The left wing cannot tell the truth about their empty policies or people would be kicked out of their jobs across the media, some MP’s would be mobbed and party membership by “normal people” would cease. So they are going all-out on lies now in the hope that something drastic happens to make their problems go away.

        Or just to buy some time to grab as much public money as they can in damages payments from the BBC to make their future unemployment as comfortably rich as possible.

        1. MM,
          This so called “left” is awash among the toxic trio & up until the 24/6/2016 they were happily content rubber stamping for the benefit of brussels.
          ALL of them have the party before Country
          regardless of consequence attitude, proof of that being the horrendous state of the Country after decades under their governance.

    1. Mr Bray — who has described his alleged assailants as “unpleasant thugs masquerading as Brexit zealots” — told the Independent the men were known to him, having previously hassled him and other activists.

      “They’re not real Brexiteers or leavers, they just jumped on [the bandwagon],” he said.

      “It’s actually made me want to stand up more to be honest, because this is not the Britain we’re patriotic about.”

    1. Presumably the WAB will now be sent to the Commons where the amendments will be voted down and sent back to the Lords who will have to vote the WAB through unamended.

        1. The first on was just daft. It wanted to give EU nationals the automartic right to reside without having to apply. and that is simply unworkable as how would you identify those who have the right to stay fronm those that do not

  87. LOL….

    ”A caged tiger that turned out to be a stuffed toy is just one of the strangest calls the RSPCA responded to last year.

    The animal welfare charity – which responds to 1.1 million calls and rescues more than 110,000 animals each year – has revealed some of the jobs its officers were sent to in 2019.

    On May 10, officers received a call about a tiger being kept in a cramped cage in a garden in Exeter.”

  89. Word of the week: White Privilege
    Andy Shaw 17 JANUARY 2020

    Special benefits accrued by people who are not ‘of colour’

    Derivation

    ‘Critical race theory’ and ‘whiteness studies’ have proven, scientifically, that inequality stems from the persistent and unconscious racism of all white people everywhere.

    Oddly, opinion polls show that racist attitudes in the UK are at a historic low and that most people judge others by their character, not their race. This apparent dichotomy has been resolved thanks to the theoretical advances made by prominent Racism Experts, who are invited to discuss Meghan Markle on the television. They have measured white people’s brains and discovered that racism thrives at a subconscious level, specifically in the basal ganglia and cerebellum area of the brain – known as ‘unconscious racism’. Although some Race Expert activists have argued for the surgical removal of the cerebellum in white people, this is frowned upon in some quarters. The more moderate Racism Experts simply ask that, once-a-day, white people apologise to at least one person of colour for all the slavery up until 1833.

    The hard work of Racism Experts has ensured that we now judge people’s motivations according to their race. This is a great advance on the outdated notions of previous campaigners, such as Martin Luther King, who naively yearned for the day when people were judged solely by their words and actions.

    Use: “I may be an unemployed man from Newcastle, but I apologise for my white privilege, Ms. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown”.

    https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/word-of-the-week-white-privilege/

    1. The woke should simply remove from their lives everything invented by white men. Simples.

    1. Anyway….they have died off one by one. There is nothing left of the dead plant below the soil line – all ‘eaten’ away by something. I am replacing the plants with artificial ones.

      1. Too much watering?
        Something (tiny slugs?) in the soil?
        Try completely fresh soil, plants, and a damn good clean of the basket – even bake it in the oven at a low temp to kill off the beesties.

        1. Thank you Obers……I have read of a spider could be the culprit? Slugs…..hmm. There is a washing machine below them – you can just see. Next to it, there is a brick grate….perhaps it could be. I think I shall do as you say and empty all the soil out and maybe try potting up one basket and keep the artificial plants in the others. I bought some of those succulent artificials…they look okay but nothing like the real thing. Than you.

          1. We planted tiny privets, that died. On pulling them up, the roots had tiny brown slugettes amongst them that had been eating them. Don’t know about spiders.
            Before using the basket again, you need to be sure that none of the whatevers are still alive, nor their eggs.

          2. Don’t worry, I will. Each basket has a special memory for me so I want to keep them, I will remove the plastic liner too and throw them out. I loved the ivy ging around the handles, all gone too. Grrrr. I can buy well established ivy to replace.

          3. Oberst is right. Lose the soil and give the baskets a serious, deep clean. Starting again is the only solution I’m afraid. Good luck with it. Are there any other plants nearby, or a fruitbowl perhaps?

          4. No…Harry, thank you. I have them on the window sill so my cats can’t reach them. No fruit or anything edible anywhere near. There is only the sink drainer on the right, these are the only plants in the house – because of the kitties.

          7. If the baskets are plastic, a good hot wash with scrub and detergent might do. Boiling water will likely shrivel them up, so not that hot.

          8. They are wicker with plastic liners. A good scrub and replace the liners. I have had these baskets for years, no trouble before.

      2. Did you find white grubs in the compost, or the remains thereof?
        There are diverse insects that will lay eggs in plant pots and the grubs will chew their way through the roots unnoticed until the plant dies off.

        1. I have not emptied the compost = just stuck the artificial plants in and resigned myself to losing them all. This spring, I will make sure all is cleaned out and start again. I do get so much pleasure from them.

          1. Vine weevil grubs, as suggested above by Bob, will eat anything and kill the plant from below. I don’t like killing things but i do squash those.

    2. Over watering and poor drainage could be the cause, if not replace all the compost and start again. You can buy sticks that you push into the compost to kill bugs and fight disease.

      1. Thank you Johnny, I didn’t know about the sticks…..I have kept these baskets for years…no problem. They are sprayed with water mist so I don’t think drainage is a problem. Very sad about it but yes, I can start again in spring. Love the palms and ivy the most, we can buy again. Sometimes, the odd plant would become rootbound and I would replace it…I am wondering if I have bought an infected plant somewhere and it has spread. I will certainly look for those sticks you mention. Thank you.

    3. Try dowsing the baskets in a weak bleach solution and air dry if you can. That will kill off any insects hidden in the weave of the basket.

  92. Government reveals support worth £620m for UK-Africa projects

    Absolutely staggering. No money for our NHS but pots of it for Health services in Africa

    Some of the main projects supported by the fund, which is overseen by the Department of International Trade, include:
    Ghana

    Support worth £110 million for Contracta Construction UK will upgrade Kumasi teaching hospital, creating 750 beds for maternity care.
    £40 million worth of support to enable the further development of Kumasi Airport, improving transport links for tourist and commercial use – increasing capacity by an extra one million passengers a year.

    Zambia
    A direct loan of £244 million for 108 rural healthcare clinics – powered by solar energy – and three hospitals by NMS Limited.

    Gabon
    £40 million to upgrade 83km of roads through the capital Libreville by Colas (Gabon) UK Ltd.
    Uganda

    Support worth almost £185 million to build the Kampala Industrial Business Park. Belfast-based Lagan Group limited has partnered with Ugandan company DOTT services on the project which aims to create 200,000 jobs.

    A £1.5 million loan to enable the sale of machinery from Unatrac for use on road building to the north east of the country.

    1. The hospital work is good. Makes sure thay are in all in good health when they move to Londonistan.

    2. BJ,
      who is actually voting these politic cretins into power, this type of issue is not new but has been ongoing for years.
      By the by I take it that all those indigenous awaiting social housing have been housed then, and all the potholes in the UK filled & mended.

      1. Evening M,
        We are at war and a good many of the enemas are wearing pinstripe and within the confines of the UK borders.
        We still don’t know if the “deal”
        will be all round “ideal” or an
        odious heel of a deal for the decent peoples of the United Kingdom.

      2. Last night I was watching a WW1 [in colour]DVD that I got free with my Daily Telegraph in the good old days. The UK had developed the Dreadnought battleship by the start of the war and the Germans followed suit . Both sides decided that the expensive ships would stay out of the war in case they were sunk. It was 2 years before they went into action. I suspect our 2 aircraft carriers will not be used in earnest for a similar reason. The WW1 DVDs were in a set of DVDs in which the black and white images had been changed to colour. I am about half way through them.

    6. One assumes it will count as ‘foreign aid’ and come out of the £14bn FA budget. Oh, and when will health tourism be counted as FA?

  93. Update: 18th of January 2020

    In line with the statement by Her Majesty The Queen, information on the roles and work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be updated on this website in due course. We appreciate your patience and invite you to explore the site to see the current works of Their Royal Highnesses.

    https://sussexroyal.com/about/

    https://madebyarticle.com/

        1. You could get rich with an advert banner. 1p a click could buy us all lunch ! The downside is we would have to employ Polly as the clicker…:o(

  94. Prince Harry and Meghan could face costly fight for Sussex Royal brand

    Oh dear they may have already place a large order for Sussex Royal Woks

    The Duke and Duchess of Sussex face an “expensive and complicated” battle if forced to change their Sussex Royal brand, experts have said.
    The future of the brand name is in doubt after the Queen banned Harry and Meghan from using their HRH styles, and announced they would no longer act as official representatives of the royal family.
    The couple was forced to sacrifice their royal status in return for “complete and absolute” freedom from any financial constraints by Buckingham Palace over future commercial deals, sources said.

    1. Well to set up a website under that name was very premature. Meghan obviously thought that HM would be the easy walk-over that Harry has been.

    1. Glossary for those uninitiated in the weather phenomena of the Iberian Peninsula!

      Gota fría, or “cold drop”, is a weather phenomenon often occurring in the Spanish autumn. It is experienced particularly along the western Mediterranean and as such, most frequently affects the east coast of Spain (although it is by no means limited to this area).

      In the Event of a Gota Fría.

      Expect extremely heavy rain, flash flooding, power cuts and no telephone reception.

      3. A GretaThunbia Event

        Uncontrolled global climate event – expect melting glaciers, shrinking ice caps, greenhouse tundra emissions and burning bushes followed by momentous downpours and biblical floods.

      4. It is persistently precipitating.

        The kerbstones of the roads are channelling the water, just the way the towpath of a canal does.

        It is……. interesting

        The last two Gota Fria in this area caused masses amounts of damage: some houses are still not habitable from the storms in September 2019

  99. Moving the house of lords to York will only incur more
    expense for the taxpayer, what with there only being one Black Bess, & that being long dead it would have to be a taxi and that will come to more than the daily £300 signing in payment.
    Best bet is to gooner the lot and put the monies saved daily on the first fav at Haydock, winning proceeds to a proven good charity.

    1. Agreed. The House of Lords needs possibly 150 members at most chosen for their expertise in essential subjects from manufacturing to life sciences. There should be a cull on lawyers. There should be no overtly political appointments such as those most recently proposed by Jeremy Corbyn, the filthy wretch John Bercow and the equally discredited Tom Watson.

      Bercow was appointed by Labour in order to annoy the Tories and is now being recommended for a peerage in order to repeat the performance. The episode stinks.

      The place at present is stuffed full of political appointees, generally and with few exceptions, utterly failed politicians. These folk contribute nothing but merely obstruct government policy and know that they are paid generously for so doing in the best “Gentleman’s Club in England” (Quote from arsehole Clement Freud after he lost his seat and hope of elevation to the Lords).

      The Liberal Democrat’s, a decrepit and useless party are vastly over-represented and their numbers should be drastically culled. Likewise the number of Labour peers is not representative of their much reduced presence in the Commons. These matters would be irrelevant if those in the Lords were experts in their own disciplines and experienced in commerce as opposed to being political failures.

      1. Let’s not forget the barefaced robbing of the treasury by each one of the leeches to the tune of £300, each and every time they walk through the doors, even if it’s only for a few minutes!

        Take that way from them and they’ll soon start handing in their ermine robes.

        1. Quite so Grizz. To earn £300.00 I would have to sweat away solving problems and preparing both solutions and drawings for a whole day which means 10 hours in my practice.

          By contrast the old geriatric fools we see in the Lords can sign in, fall asleep, snoring loudly, on their luxurious upholstered hide benches with those heated air grills (brass or gunmetal portcullis design) then go to one of the many highly subsidised restaurants and bars before signing off for £300.00 per day attendance allowance. I imagine they also claim other expenses for duck houses and the rest.

          The last time I experienced the sort of prices these wretched enjoy for their dinner was when I was invited to give advice on one of my buildings (Richmond House Whitehall) to the Parliamentary Works Office then based in Norman Shaw South (hitherto Cannon Row Police Station).

          I was lead along s stainless steel lined tunnel and taken to a modern lift which delivered me to the upper floor of a building at the intersection of Parliament Street and Westminster Bridge Road. The food cost next to nothing. The restaurant was populated with SPADS on their iPads I was told on enquiry. It was a real eye opener.

      2. C,
        I suggested years ago for a body in the commons / lords made up from the shop floor trades purely in a common sense adviser
        stance.
        But it really is a close shop.

        1. Of course trades should be represented. By this I do not mean Union leaders but experienced practioner/educators in the field of building and other trades.

          When I trained in Architecture we had a Building Science Department. One of my lecturers, the late Geoff Tattersall, had been prominent both in British Steel Special Steels Division and the Cement and Concrete Association.

          When someone suggested that Roman concrete was superior to our own he replied tersely that we would have to wait 2000 years before making such a judgement.

          1. C,
            I certainly did not mean union leaders, far to political, but on the job trades foreman, use to solving on the job problems, and seeing the job through to a successful conclusion.
            As with sergeants run the army foreman can make or break a company.
            Common sense is sadly lacking among the governing politico
            bodies.

    1. Oh dear, I fear the cartoonist may receive a knock on the door from the wokies to complain that Sparky’s mouth is way cist.

  101. ” The future of HS2 is in doubt with both the chancellor and the transport
    secretary said to be “lukewarm” on the project after a leaked
    government review found that the project’s cost could rise to £106
    billion.”
    Can we get rid of the word ” leaked “, except when it is appropriate ?
    A leak is when something is disclosed that should not have been disclosed.
    In a case like this, and many others, the correct word is ” released ” . There is more than a subtle difference.

    1. “Leaking”means that it can be denied and blamed on some poor junior so-and-so who had “an early draft”.

  102. Radio 4’s 6pm news has been editorialising rather more than usual. Apparently, if Boris drops HS2 he will alienate the midland and northern voters who ‘lent’ him their votes. Yet much of the BBC’s recent reporting has been about opposition to the project. Labour’s Manchester mayor Andy Burnham might support high-speed rail (though he doesn’t say why a 50-mile journey across the Pennines should be at 200mph) but locals and some of the new Tory MPs want improvements to roads and railways right across the north.

    This wasn’t news but a hatchet job on BJ.

    1. It is only the Major and a few companies with vested interest in the construction of the line that are in favor of it. Only about 9% travel by rail and most of that is commuter traffic and not intercity so to claim that HS” will transform the economy in the North is laughable. What is needed is better commuter service and better links between the Norther Cities and better links tio the Northern airports

      1. Better travel facilities to thre North will be needed by the time work is completed. Remember, once we are out of the EU, all the world will beat a path to our country, and the North will realise its full potential. London is incurably overcrowded.

        1. The outer London Borough used to be quite nice but they have been pretty much run down now

      2. A majority might agree with you but I was commenting more upon a shoddy piece of programming by the BBC. The 6pm radio news is usually one of the better bulletins but today it appeared to be in the control of twenty-somethings with bad diction and bad attitudes.

        1. The rain in Spain has been/still is deluging us for hours.

          Just found my old Seamanship Qualifications, have taken wheels of tintent and converted it into a barge

    2. Man made climate change deniers dismiss actual climate change experts who have the necessary scientific qualifications.

  104. The Queen ‘considered stripping Harry and Meghan of their Sussex titles and HRH but feared looking “petty”…
    Her Majesty considered stripping the couple of their most prized titles and instead referring to them as the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton..
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/index.html

    A couple of Royal Dumbo’s …..oh well at least they kept the Sex https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bdf6b03d4fdbfc2acbc395055377a15d3109b70b28d76beb9292bfa539f41462.jpg

    1. According to that article, they lose or forego their royal titles, yet they are allowed to make money out of their Sussexroyal brand. That is as clear as mud.

      1. Charles Moore seems to be the first journalist to have linked their website name with potatoes.
        Dare I go one step further and label them as Spud-u-like and Spud-u-dont?

  105. I won’t miss it when all of this Royal coverage has gone away and news that matters reappears. I did think about where they will be in 10 years time, and for Prince Harry I hope that it has worked out and he is happy, either with his wife over there or back home here with another wife who will treat him with respect.

    When it came to Megan though, a long forgotten cartoon dog sprang to mind from a decades old newspaper series called “The Perishers.” Tatty Oldbitt (The Sailors Friend.) This series followed the lives of some children and “Boot” who was an Old English Sheepdog. I looked online and found one drawing of her. I also found this description of her from an old comics website, and I have not changed a word of it:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2ff90fbdcde8ea19577a922dd7263b209c1da950e11d25a78fa2bc2acebbcf99.jpg

    “Tatty Oldbitt is an amorous, gin-loving female Bassett hound who spends her life wandering from place to place and, each New Year, usually fetches up in Croynge and hangs out with Boot and B.H. for a few weeks.

    She is deeply attracted to men in uniform, hence her nickname of ‘the Sailors’ Friend’, though in reality Tatty is attracted to pretty much anything male (especially Boot, who always spurns her advances with a stern “Devil take it, madam — desist!”). She usually ends up going off with B.H.”

    https://britishcomics.fandom.com/wiki/Tatty_Oldbitt

    1. …and for Prince William Harry I hope that it has worked out and he is happy, either with his wife over there or back home here with another wife who will treat him with respect.

      1. Ha – I noticed and changed it before you did. You must be getting slow in your dotage.

      2. …and appreciate him enough not to take him away from a very elderly and much loved Gran who has been there for him his whole life since losing his Mother. Shocking really.

      1. Yes, I think it was running for a fair few years. From what I have seen of that paper, the cartoon pages would have been the best thing in them.

        I was given one of those books that have lots of the strips in them, which is why I can remember the dogs and some of the recurring stories. There was one story where they would go on holiday to the same beach every year, and the Old English Sheepdog would go to the same watery pond to look at the crabs in it.

        The crabs developed a priesthood from this and would gather each year to look up and cry: “The eyes! The eyes in the sky have returned!” It was well-written for a cartoon strip. 🙂

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/820d2d4d2284b8eaeb32493d94d8f355d2cf6c8f867919ff3afc836756d98e4e.jpg

        1. Don’t forget Jane and Garth. For some unknown reason they never became an item. A shame really.

        2. My dad took the Daily Mirror and The Perishers were a daily treat.

          Wellin’ton was the orphan who lived alone with Ole Boot. His birthday is October 25, but he never gets any older!
          Marlon was his thick, vacant-expressioned friend who ate “inch-thick ketchup sandwiches” for school dinner that covered all his friends when he bit into them.
          Maisie was the demanding and overbearing girlfriend of Marlon.
          Baby Grumplin’ was the wiser-than-his-years infant brother of Maisie. He carried around his pet teddy that was called “Gladly, my cross-eyed bear” [think about it!].

          Other occasionals were:
          Plain Jane.
          BH Calcutta (failed), a bloodhound friend of Ole Boot.
          Fiscal Yere, a rich kid who ‘smoked’ chocolate cigars and handed them around.
          And (as Merry Mac has stated) Tatty Oldbitt ( a slapper of a bitch who was always sniffing around Ole Boot.

          “The Eyeballs in the Sky” saga came every August when the whole gang decamped to the seaside.

          One of the best cartoon strips ever. Many thanks to its originators: Dennis Collins and Maurice Dodd.

          1. You have just reminded me of more of those characters that I had forgotten. I am now eyeing the Amazon webpage where some of those old omnibus books are for sale for £1 – £5, although some of them must be rarer ones at £25 – £40. I am resisting the temptation to buy one, just for the 40 year old memories. 🙂

  107. FFS. That’s it – I’ve had enough. All hell broke loose on this site last night, and now one of the offenders has the temerity to blame me. Some of us sleep at night; other Mods were run ragged trying to put a lid on things. I’m closing all open pages to comments. Have a taste of life without NoTTL. It might return in due course, but don’t hold your breath.

    1. Understandable – I get the impression that some folk are deliberately trying to sabotage the existence of this site.

    2. Geoff, whilst I admit my part in the fight & apologize to you personally & my fellow Nottlers for falling into the trap set for myself & others by NTTL’s resident Agent Provocateur you need to realize that your ” Hands Off ” approach to moderation is what has allowed the problem to fester & explode last night .

      Therefore I will no longer participate in NTTL as I don’t enjoy sharing a space with the Troll , nor did I with Polly. In the past several of us including Truth Revealed, Spam Fritter & myself implored you to ban such posters, with no avail & as a result we left to create an alternative venue to the NTTL channel.

      It was possibly foolish of me to return to post on NTTL as basically nothing has changed vis a vis your policy on failing to deal with hard left disruptive posters and it seems that I too did not learn my lesson. I wish you well & all Nottlers for a happy Brexit next Friday, kindly do me two last favors – ban me on here lest I be tempted to return & please re-post my comment here on your next page uncensored so that Nottlers can comment on it.

      You & all Nottlers remain welcome as Trusted Users on the 5 blogs I own or am a Mod on. All the best, Pud in Tel Aviv.

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