Monday 24 March: The Heathrow shutdown shows that a vital Covid lesson was not learnt

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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501 thoughts on “Monday 24 March: The Heathrow shutdown shows that a vital Covid lesson was not learnt”

  2. Good morning chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe page.

    Wordle 1,374 5/6

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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Wordle 1,374 3/6

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    2. JJust Because I am always later than you early rises, doesn't mean that I cannot agree with your thank you to Geoff.

      Oh and early wordle before my long drive home through the states

      Wordle 1,374 3/6

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  4. Good morning all.
    A dull but dry start, but a little cooler at a tad over 6½°C.

    2. Safe journey Bob. It's creeping up here but there's a lack of activity from the staff.

  6. Good morning Geoff and everybody. A Catholic Monday Chuckle today.

    Four Catholic ladies were having coffee. The first said: “My son‘s a priest. When he walks into a room, everyone calls him ‘Father'.’"
    The second lady said: “My son’s a Bishop. When he walks into a room, they say 'Your Grace'.”
    The third lady said: “My son’s a Cardinal. When he walks into a room, they say: 'Your Eminence'.”
    The fourth lady sipped her coffee in silence.
    “Well?” asked the other three.
    Finally she said: “ My son is 6‘2“ tall, wealthy, and gorgeous. When he walks into a room, people say 'Oh my God! '“

  8. 403788+up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Migrants to be housed in hotels for years, Treasury admits
    Assessment will come as blow to Government, which has pledged to save the taxpayer millions

    Lies,lies,and more damn lies.

    Without the rebellion date being firmly fixed, soonest,
    instead of some time in the future, as is, we are now being told that the biggest dairy herd in existence will fart its financially taxing way into the far distant future.

    We are, before our very eyes, being stripped, as in
    NO FARMERS= NO PLOUGHSHARES= NO WEAPONS.

    1. It is one of many obvious things wrong with this country. Why are the gimmigrants even here? Why have they not been removed immediately?

      Oh, we don't know where they come from bleats the home office.
      No one cares. Get rid of them.

      1. 403788+ up ticks,

        Morning W,
        The young invaders / breeders I believe to be are the foundation stones of the strength through joy campaign put in place via ex PM "miranda" decades ago.

        Doubling up with being a protective force in regards to politico's.

  10. So Canada’s shoo-in Leader has called a snap election, citing the Trump administration’s unfair treatment as regards high tariffs over their imbalance of trade,while trying to bully their country into becoming the 51st state of the USA.
    I note the Left are very much on the Canadian’s side.
    Yet it all looks like very similar to what is and has happened with our country and the EU to be fair almost identical with tariffs, trade imbalance but in the opposite direction and bullying.
    Another case of bare faced hypocrisy with our political classes.
    In my opinion the Canadians should take up Trumps offer, the USA is far more democratic than the globalist controlled EU.
    I seem to remember Carney supporting our membership of the EU and giving warnings of recessions if left.
    One rule for us, another for his own country.

    2. Hypocrisy runs through them. They can't help it. If they don't sustain doublethink their heads explode.

      However I genuinely don't understand Trump's tariff walls. What's he trying to achieve?

  12. The Heathrow shutdown shows that a vital Covid lesson was not learnt

    Apparently now we are hearing that there were other energy sources and that there was no need for a full shutdown.
    Unless they thought it wasn't and accident and some sort of outside attack, I suppose.

    1. The incident still wouldn't make sense. Let's assume it's a data centre type arrangement, with multiple sources of power, able to switch between them at will, on demand. If one goes down, one of the other 3 kicks in.

      Why did this one cause the airport to shut down? I think what we're seeing is spin, an attempt to say 'everything was fine with the grid, it's Heathrow who failed' to push the blame backward. After all, if people start questioning the stability of the grid – if it gets out how vulnerable and overloaded it is (apparently the sub station was running at 6MW overcapacity?) folk might start to question the 'green' agenda for what it is.

      As it is, having a biomass 'thing' (I envisage a wood burning stove, to be honest) running Heathrow is idiotic.

      It's critical infrastructure. An Amazon data centre nearby barely registered the outage. What you did feel was first the heat from the battery backup and then a minute or so later the generators start up to take some of the load away from the grid and recharge the battery.

      1. I agree. Actually this reeks of set-up. Every company has back-up systems; the place where I am working recently went through a drill for switching to back-up systems in the event of a power failure.

        1. We have one in our building every 3rd Monday. Power protected sockets continue to work, others not on a UPS go out.

      2. I agree. Actually this reeks of set-up. Every company has back-up systems; the place where I am working recently went through a drill for switching to back-up systems in the event of a power failure.

      3. A DT letter mentions "paper insulation" in substations.
        All that I could think of was a tramp snuggling down on a park bench under a wad of old newspapers.

      4. If I recall from decades ago, when I joined the electricity generating board, the grid is a complex and sensitive beast and prone to imbalances and surges. The sudden trip of a significant consumer may well have caused all kinds of problems.

  14. Good moaning – if Dunkleflaute floats your boat.
    I see a nurse is getting it in the neck for calling a cokk in a frock "Mr".
    As she was expected to catheterise him for urinary problems, it doesn't take much imagination to realise that the techniques would be somewhat different for males rather than females. (And yes, like several NOTTLers, I have had to inflict that procedure on patients.)
    The whole farrago of competing "human rights" shows that Blighty has gone down a rabbit hole of total lunacy.

    "The paedophile, a patient from a high-security men’s prison, called Jennifer Melle, 40, a “n—–” three times during an aggressive tirade at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Surrey.

    But it was Ms Melle who was investigated and disciplined by the hospital in October 2024, with a final warning and a referral to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

    Now she is filing a legal claim against the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust for harassment, discrimination and human rights breaches.

    Ms Melle said: “Ever since I have expressed my Christian beliefs under extreme pressure, I have been a marked woman.”

    Last year, the patient, known only as Patient X, arrived from a men’s prison at Ms Melle’s ward to receive treatment for a urinary problem.

    During the evening shift, a colleague told Ms Melle, the senior nurse on staff, that the patient wanted to self-discharge and a doctor was called for guidance.

    Ms Melle spoke with the doctor on the phone outside the patient’s room, during which Ms Melle referred to the patient as “mister” and “he”.

    She said she was discussing a catheter, for a male person, which needed to be removed, adding: “This was a real-life medical scenario that required accurate terminology to avoid any doubt between medical professionals.”

    Overhearing Ms Melle, the patient who was born a man but identified as a woman, took issue with the male pronoun and title.

    The nurse replied that she was “sorry I cannot refer to you as ‘her’ or ‘she’, as it’s against my faith and Christian values but I can call you by your name”.

    The patient began to verbally abuse the nurse, saying: “Imagine if I called you n—–? How about I call you n—–? Yes, black n—–.”

    The patient also lunged at her despite being restrained and threatened to make a complaint, she said."

    1. It's ludicrous. Clearly he is a man and likely wanted to get into a women's prison to – well, that's fairly obvious.

      It is long past time pandering to these characters. They can pretend to be whatever they like, but the reality is they're men (or women) playing dress up. That's mental illness.

      1. He'll It'll not be wanting treatment for prostate problems or testicular cancer, then, as only men suffer those.

        1. Wax model with pins inserted in relevant areas could be the answer.
          Anyone know some really effective curses?

        2. I advocate giving these men in a dress a female anaesthetic dose. They'll soon learn that reality enforces itself sooner or later.

      1. At least we get a picture of victim priorities in the lunatic asylum named Blighty.
        Black – but holding down a worthwhile job – is trumped by paedotransism.

        1. First prize for neologism of the month goes to Anne Allan. A weighty lexicon from Countdown's Dictionary Corner will wing its way to you in short order.

          1. Oh dear, DW! We're not back to weighing books again, are we? I started that a year ago.

    3. Trigger Warning for anyone who has had a urinary catheter inserted.
      The nurse should have stuck a fresh catheter up the other hole and inflated it.
      Or better, just removed the existing one without deflating it. AAAARRRGGHHHH!

      2. A rather yummy nurse arrived at my home and removed mine.

        I did not make it difficult for her by becoming over-excited first!

    4. Much like in Tayside, it appears that the union are in support of the deviant rather than the nurse.

    5. My younger son , a few years ago when he lived and worked in Sussex and worked at M+S was punished badly and sent on a course , his promotion delayed and a payrise curtailed for 1 year , by being overheard at a lunch break discussing his late grandmother (my mother ) who was killed in a car crash in South Africa 40 years ago by an idiot black African .. Poor son became a victim of diversity and inclusion , despite the fact he is a superb man but has a male partner .. so Moh and I wanted to interfere and stand strong because we felt he was being victimised by the company at the behest of a touchy black manager.

      Son told us to stay quiet !!!

      Poor chap was sent on a DEI course and told in no uncertain terms he shouldn't say hurty things ( One of the senior staff overheard his conversation, guess what the member of staff was black.)

      We had none of these problems years ago, the more people poured into the UK , our problems started .. and the villains changed the course of our brave British history of resilience , free speech, bravery and lawful intercourse .. ( if that is the right word)

  15. Morning, all Y'all.
    Spring not so far advanced that we can't get frosty starts to the day…

      1. Since I make breakfast on weekdays, it's smart of her to present a warm front…

  16. 403788+ up ticks,

    Monday 24 March: The Heathrow shutdown shows that a vital Covid lesson was not learnt

    The only lesson that was meant to be learnt was one of obeyance to the governing classes
    political / pharmaceutical duping many a fool, one small point, large in content was hancock entering number ten masked then removing the mask upon entry, he was the purchaser of much of the PPL material.

    1. In other words, had Matt Hancock not needlessly spaffed a great deal of taxpayer money on unnecessary PPL material, the Heathrow shutdown would have been avoided.

      1. 403788+ up ticks,

        Morning DW,
        In the long run and viewing the big picture I believe you to be right.

        1. You have a vivid imagination. May I now argue that had a different sperm from Matt Hancock's father's testicles impregnated Matt Hancock's mother's egg on the day he was conceived, that Heathrow would not have been plunged into chaos on Friday?

          1. 403788+ up ticks,

            DW,
            Correct, IMHO that is very much so, the same goes for starmer, miranda, harman, browne,
            the wretch cameron, davy, clegg, could have been a different “ball game” totally.

    2. It's the state. Nothing is ever learned except how easily frightened people are controlled. If they needed to learn that they've not read a history book.

      There's a Deeps Space 9 episode where Quark, an alien (a Ferengi, the representation of human greed and avarice) stuck in a warzone comments:

      Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people… will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes.

      The soldiers he comments on have been at war, but the point stands: folk are OK, very pleasant while everything works, but frightened them, scare them and you can manipulate them as much as you want.

      https://www.thecollector.com/psychological-warfare-strategies/

  17. Damon Joshua commits career sewagecide by failing to support Hamas.

    A sewage worker was reportedly sacked over a post calling Hamas 'disgusting terrorists' on an internal staff site.

    1. While it's good to see Free Speech Union fighting his dismissal (why, in the name of trousers does there need to be a union to defend freedom of speech? Of nothing else, that should bellow at the problems this country has).

      But mate. Seriously. You posted a message on a forum at work. You could guarantee what the outcome would be a mile off. The hard Left have spent decades infiltrating all levels of society. This sort of comment won't be tolerated.

    1. It will be life or death if he manages to send our young people into the meatgrinder of war.

      I have a horrid idea it might go something like this:

      – PM: Conscription for all young British citizens, but people are allowed to renounce their British nationality and depart for other shores if they so wish.
      – British people: Yay! It's worth a war to get rid of all the young migrants who don't want to fight for Britain!

      – Young Britons without dual nationality depart for war.
      – Young Britons with dual nationality depart for other countries.
      – Financial crisis (maybe disguised as other crisis like last time) happens and payments of welfare benefits are disrupted.
      – Millions of hungry newly arrived migrant young men without British passports go on a looting spree and only children or older people are left to defend the country.
      – Apart from conscription-exempt police who protect MPs during the short chaos of course.
      – Financial reset done.

      1. The financial reset is still in progress. Despite the damage the Left do, it's not working so they're trying ever harder to destroy things now.

        Now, imagine if you gave a bunch of motivated patriotic white Britons basic military training and told them to defend their country.

        Who'd be their first target?

        1. At some point, there are going to be a few weeks of chaos though, possibly cloaked in some red herring “crisis” where the credit will simply freeze up. At least that is what I can gather from what I’ve read?
          They would only give Gen Z military training and tell them to defend their country, IF they want to start a civil war. 🙁

    2. The battle cry of 'Vote Reform!' is rather wearing thin. Labour have been in office for months, have caused incredible damage and Reform are fighting one another with the same tedious muckraking you get from the others.

      Lowe was right to push for policies. Something tangible to actually campaign on and for.

    3. It might tell us something about Spectator readers. Not so much about all those contemplating casting a vote for Reform. The two cohorts overlap but are by no means identical.

  22. https://youtu.be/gW4Pbgti5OU Dinner with friends on the watercress line. All the staff are volunteers/enthusiasts. Even the waiters work for nothing. So i left them a big tip. Last time i went i had to wait a year before a table became available.

    1. I did a couple of stints working on the Watercress Belle back in the '80s when I was a volunteer, doing the washing up!

    2. Work… for nothing?

      Does not compute. Imagine if you get some complete drongo on there. A grumpy, short tempered half wit who's having a bad day because his dog decided to wee in the kitchen and, not only did he stand in it, but promptly slipped over, leading to all clothes having to go in the wash?

      Asking for a friend, of course.

      3. Winston weed in the kitchen while I was out. He even managed to miss the training pads I had left. I was away less than 4 hours and he had weed on his walk as well as being sent out before I put him in the crate. He got a severe telling off. Fortunately I didn’t slip in it and no laundry was necessary.

    3. Good morning Phizzee

      Sounds like a lovely journey with friends , what was the menu like ?

      The video brought back so many memories , the clickety clack of childhood travels .

          4. Is he purple and eats people?

            Or is he normal and only eats purple people?

            We must be told.

          7. Something to stop your mouth getting bored whilst waiting for the 1st course.

    5. I live nearby the line and occassionally ride the Line (when I can get a booking). They used to close the line bewteen Alton and Alresford once a year so walkers could enjoy the line. Unfortunately about 5 years ago the H&S twats got involved and the annual walk was canned.

      1. The next Frome independent market is on the 6th of April.
        Very much worth going to.

  24. You can blame Taxpayers Alliance & Douglas Murray for these fun facts.. that may cause 'significant offence' to a minority group.

    75% of all govt jobs created since 2003 have gone to a foreign gimmegrant.

    Executives of Government Departments issued with with Procurement Cards, the recommended method of paying for goods or services under twenty-thousand pounds.. managed to spaff £675 million in 2024/5.

    My favourite.. £2,493 spent on shoes at a fashionable store in Barbados by WFH Foreign Office executive.

    1. spent on shoes..
      Apparently, the only work she did in the month of October 2023.

      1. I could sort of explain it as 'you snapped a heel on the way to work and needed a pair very quickly', but still.

    2. This is egregious. I have to account for every penny for tax purposes. If I buy kit on a credit card the auditors demand to know why I bought it.

  26. Yo and Good Moaning all, from a cool and damp C d S

    The good news, our new freezer is arriving today

    The bad news, we have to transfer all it's contents into the new one.

    I expect to find at least one package of sausages date Best Before January 1985 (or earlier)

    1. Where you normally keep the peeled apples for when you knock up a quick crumble for unexpected visitors – c. 1991.

        1. I found a choc ice at the back of ours. Great success!

          I do need to run the freezer down though. We're quite heavily loaded.

    2. I'll bet you find a ton of frozen peas and carrots in the bottom when you empty it

    3. Freezer Insulation
      Wot a coincidence – I have 2 upright freezers. One, in the garage, died last Thursday and went to freezer heaven. It held only forgotten stuff anyway, so was a chance for a clear-out.

      My new upright freezer, ordered last Friday afternoon, was delivered yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. They texted me a few minutes before arriving so that I could pull out all the (full) drawers of the existing upright freezer, in the kitchen, and put them on the kitchen floor under a blanket, so that this freezer was empty when the men arrived.

      The two guys arrived, moved the 'dead' one from my garage to their van for recycling, moved the empty 'live' one from my kitchen to the garage, unboxed the new one and placed it in the kitchen, They arrived at 15:59 and left at 16:13 by my outside CCTV. All over in 14 minutes. Mine was the last drop and they wanted to get home. I replaced all the 5 full drawers in the (now) garage freezer within 5 more minutes. All done.

      Here's the reason for this post, for when the Power Cuts start to occur due to Milibrain's diktats:
      I read the instructions, which said that in the event of a Power Cut, leaving the door firmly CLOSED would protect the contents and keep them frozen for up to 17 hours. That's fairly remrkable insulation for a thin-walled freezer.

      50 years ago, working as a researcher, I had a 5-gallon (22.7 litre) large vacuum flask containing Liquid Nitrogen at minus 190 degrees Celsius. It was sufficiently insulated that if it was filled with boiling coffee, the contents would be too hot to drink more than a month later. Modern ones (for storing tissue samples, embryos etc) can hold Liquid Nitrogen for up to 70 days with a normal daily leakage of a few percent. That's progress in insulation technology.

      1. Just getting the loft insulated has done wonders for our comfort. There are really efficient, super thin insulating materials which have incredible deltas for heat loss. Personally if I could take our walls apart and put these new meta materials in I would. It'd make a massive difference. The house could be warmed from a lightbulb or just human activity.

        1. I used polyisocyanurate boards to line the walls of our basement. Highest insulation per unit of thickness available. With fire rated surface materials.

          One of the options here for a new build is factory made insulated panels for walls and the roof. Essentially a poly sandwich with ply or OSB faciings that can be made in almost any size or thickness. Done properly, they provide both structural rigidity and insulation levels needed for a highly efficient house.

      2. Some freezers are not suited to being in unheated garages. Too cold for them to operate properly.

      3. We lost the contents of our 10 year old freezer a few months back. The predecessors had lasted 20+ each!
        New one at £1200+ merited a repairman to see what could be done. Several local / not so local phoned – no luck.

        Turned the freezer around, took off 4/5 screws and looked in – pretty grotty dust/grit etc. Having already disconnected it I thought I'd give it a clean with a small paint brush & the vacuum cleaner.

        5 minutes later plugged it in and bingo the fan spun and around 20 minutes later -18Deg C.

        £75 call out charge + time+ materials- cured in minutes. 4+ months on no repeat issues.

        £150-£200 of food lost but only freezer losses in 54 years

    1. Actually Boris wanted more evidence and information and did say 'we're not sure, let's go for herd immunity' but as over-ruled by the medical establishment who presented dodgy models.

    1. They contribute nothing and are not wanted or needed. They do vote Labour to soak up tax. That's why Labour want more muslim in this country.

      I'm sure some muslim are decent, law abiding folk however they're an absolute, tiny minority.

      1. Isn't that the fund they're planning to found by nicking everyone's "private" pensions?
        The same idea is being pushed through in the EU apparently. Pure coincidence of course!

    3. In reality that's absolute pin money. It really, truly is. The government's coffee budget is likely higher than that.

  30. Good morning, all. Overcast and dry with the promise of sunshine later in the day.

    If you want to make yourself look, and let's be kind here, uninformed, then this is a prime example. A LibDem trying to be clever and making a complete hash of it.

    https://x.com/SCThorley/status/1903814083125604379
    BTL has not been kind.

    If this is the type of generator Thorley is acquainted with then he's correct…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/63ec8f60ad6f86b8be65b79c13093c73d744d4f32eb833c653dfa499fdc55390.png

    This is a different kettle of fish…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c4c40651018e5cea097d23b7e673ef51cd4e98645f4ba223df615559e39e1d7.png
    And this is what sensible people have at large airports. Just in case.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7254616408201d9a0ca0c3d6172c3f743f55640f32bf84e20d1ec1ab8999e94b.png

    3. I appreciate he doesn't know, and can excuse that. Some modern data centres have their own micro nuclear reactors. Microsoft are planning to buy 3 mile island specifically to site a nuclear power station there for it's data centre.

      Modern processing racks are heading toward 0.6MW – in a 42 U rack.

    4. Rather than admit their obvious mistakes its easier to wind up the msm and social media and blame Vlad.

    5. I have seen at close quaters a number of heavy duty back up systems. The data centres my late employer ran all had heavy duty back ups – needed in the era of mainframe computers, the big ones being liquid cooled. Our biggest had mutilple diesel generators tied to a UPS system which was actually and continually powered by batteries, normally charged by the grid (we had two feeds from two different sub stations) such that if the grid failed, the batteries carried on while the diesels spun up. Our European operation used a gas turbine generator to provide back up – same arrangement with batteries. Sounded like an aircraft taking off when we tested it.

      But my award goes to the back up systems at Bradwell Nuclear power station. A row of what were ship's diesels, normally "declutched" from large flywheels which were kept spinning by the grid system. If that failed, the electromagnetic clutches let go and the diesels were immediately brought up to speed by the inertia in the flywheels. As the power engineer there said, "You do not want to lose power at a nuclear power station". I asked for a demo, but no luck with that request. I did get to start up the equipment in our data centres though.

      Fun and games for young and old. And I was (relatively) young then.

  31. These fall outs within Reform are all getting a bit tedious now.
    No idea who the destroyers from within are, I expect there are people offering huge bribes somewhere to help bring it all crashing down.

      1. Oh Yes it's almost as if he can't stand the heat. Perhaps he, for the sake of the people who want change, should get out of the proverbial kitchen.
        I've always been of the opinion he's bitten off more than he can chew.
        Perhaps he talks far age too much.

    4. The problem is Farage. Above in the video I just posted, Andrew Bridgen accuses him of being "controlled opposition". Which goes with my contention that what Farage wants to be is Tory Prime Minister. He certainly doesn't want to save the country from immigrants or Islam. From the point he destroyed UKIP I have always thought he was a first class jerk.

    5. The problem is Farage. Above in the video I just posted, Andrew Bridgen accuses him of being "controlled opposition". Which goes with my contention that what Farage wants to be is Tory Prime Minister. He certainly doesn't want to save the country from immigrants or Islam. From the point he destroyed UKIP I have always thought he was a first class jerk.

    1. What a bunch of shiite these politicians are. What are they actualy doing to the world.
      Culture degradation. Spot on.

  33. Good morning Nottlers, 8°C, clear skies, and a light wind on the Costa Clyde. Walking football should be fun this morning.

    1. Morning, Korky.

      This chap speaks a lot of common sense and is certainly worth listening to.

      I do wish, though, that they had chosen a better name for the party. I have a pathological adverse reaction to political parties that contain any of the words, "Social", "People's", "Worker's" or "Democratic" in their title. That is why "Reform" and "Reclaim" were so refreshing.

      Why not "The Common Sense Party"?

      2. "Democrats" has a left -wing feel to it. Countries with "Democratic" in the title seldom are democratic.

        2. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and The Democratic Republic of the Congo are two compelling reasons why any party containing any variation of the word Democrat should not be permitted.

          Democrats = Demonrats = Demotwats. All of them a contra-indication of humanity.

          As for "People's". Seriously, don't get me started on that.

          1. On arrival at that nation's capital airport, look out of the plane window. If there is a large portrait of the president, it's that kind of country.

        1. I think the Left would attack anything, to be honest. It's time that 'far Right' was adopted as a marked of rationality and common sense, same as 'racist!' is now irrelevant and means simply 'I have no rational argument and so am trying to silence you through abuse'.

          1. I think a new party should be called OSIFR (pronounced as in "Not a drop, ossifer, honest hic").

            Stands for 'Oh Sod It, Far Right'…

        2. These Lefties need educating that the risible term "far-Right" is as idiotic at "beef custard", "giraffe seaweed" or "sensible socialist".

          In addition, Lefties should be prevented from taking jobs in education, the news media, health, the judiciary, politics or the police. They should all be conscripted instead.

        3. "I suspect the plain "British Party" would not be allowed"

          Agrred – much too close to British National Party.

        4. Anything with " British" in the title would be instantly banned as racist, What a world we live in,

      4. Good morning, Grizzly. I signed up for BDs daily email, have little time today, back and forth to vets. See y'all later Kate x

      5. Morning, Grizz. Refreshing to hear someone speak clearly and without having continuously to refer to notes. Being a university lecturer helps but nevertheless, good to see and hear.

  36. Morning All 🙂😊
    More government weather, cold cloudy more rain forecast. Northerly wind.
    Covid was an organised deceitful con by the NWO ETC with our own government's involvement.
    Remember Boris being in hospital ? Play acting. And as soon as he got out his nurse quickly left the country. Perhaps she was about to tell the truth.
    How many other politicians caught covid ?Practically none of them. Compared to the percentage of the public.

    1. I do not buy the "play acting" claim, nor do I believe there was anything shady about the nurse leaving the country. She returned to New Zealand, where she originally came from.

      1. Can you explain how someone who was at death's door emerged from hospital not having visibly lost weight?
        Someone I knew spend time in hospital with flu in about 2015, he lost about a third of his body weight.
        Of course nobody who wasn't there can say for sure, but that factor does seem a little odd.

        1. Trump was taken to hospital for Covid. He did not come out any less obese. Severe weight loss in hospitals only occurs when food intake is drastically reduced.

          1. Is that a neutral control though?
            You wouldn’t expect someone gravely ill and hospitalised with a respiratory virus to be eating a lot, would you.

  37. Reeves to cut £2bn from Civil Service as unions warn of massive job losses

    Comments now at 3795.

    I think Mr Edwin Pugh from the letters page will have read them all

    2. 2,000,000,000 is peanuts in real terms.

      Better to say to officialdom: find 7% savings in your departments. If they can't sack them. If the next lot come along and do the usual civil service 'we will cut services rather than waste' sack them too.

      In no time will the money be found and after the 4th layer of management get the hint the cash will likely be saved.

    2. That is bad, BUT how many people in the village attended the church and how many were happy to say, "I don't believe in your sky fairies, I'm not a churchgoer?"

      1. It was a Methodist chapel- always a niche worshiping community- and anybody who is rash enough to voice that opinion in future is likely to get short shrift.

      2. It is the belief which is important, which knits communities together, not whether ‘something’ exists or not. I am a churchgoer, but not in the accepted sense. I cannot tolerate the namby-pampidness of today’s lefty vicaresses. I go when the church is empty (it is only 50 or so yards away); I try to tune into the fire and brimstone that resonated through our village churches over the centuries. It is not so much the fault of the congregation, but the intentional destruction of the church by government policy – an aim of the Frankfurt School ’emptying the churches’.

    3. How is it there are more Muslims than villagers there? How have Muslims managed to drive this through?

  39. From: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/23/heathrow-airport-enough-power-avoid-shutdown-national-grid/

    The airport was plunged into chaos in the early hours of Friday morning following the blast at the North Hyde electrical substation.

    Heathrow’s management acknowledged on Friday that the site was served by two other substations, but claimed that, in order for these to be used, the power supply to all terminals needed to be re-engineered.

    While this happened, Heathrow said it relied on its backup supply, which was not sufficient to run the entire airport.

    However, speaking on Sunday, Mr Pettigrew said: “Two substations were always available for the distribution network companies and Heathrow to take power.

    “Losing a substation is a unique event – but there were two others available. So that is a level of resilience.”

    He added: “I can’t remember a transformer failing like this in my 30-plus years in [the] industry.”

    If the airport had to re-wire everything to have a central hub feeding the airport and then power distribute from that then yes, that is a major piece of work. However, it is so major that, arguably it shouldn't be necessary because the UK grid has – prior to 20 years ago – the grid was phenomenally stable and resilient, with sufficient capacity.

    It is the unreliability of, well, unreliables, the obsession with green, massive over population in centralised areas, a complete lack of capacity planning on both sides and a consideration that everything was fine as different systems 'just worked'. In the 'climate change' obsessed world blackouts and brown outs are the new normal. Oversubscription simply soaking of assets. There is no consideration or interest in the consequences.

    There's also the diversity quota-ing of inndustry that simply has no place for it. Reducing and carrying failure at such a level simply cannot be permitted, yet it is enforced by state dictat. The industry has a lack of experienced technicians and engineers because they all come in full of idiotic ideas about provision and scalability and software rather than hard kit – because the state refuses to build in more capacity despite radically forcing an increase in demand.

    A question though – if the station failed now, when demand was low in early spring, how will it cope come the height of summer when demand for air conditioning in the terminal is vastly higher?

  42. Morning all. Rather cold and gloomy, an appropriate atmosphere for Monday.

    Posting the below. It is rather long. Of course you can watch all of it if it pleases but Andrew doesn't really start talking until about 30 minutes in. At that point it is more interjections rather than Andrew in full flood. But helpful to start there in order to get the gist of what he says later on. Very worth listening to. Yet more disgraceful conduct by Farage that Andrew experienced first hand when Andrew asked him for help in stopping children being inoculated for COVID amongst other things. Farage is really getting to look worse and worse as people pop up from his past who have remained silent until now.
    .
    A new BEGINNING + The School of SHAME – With Andrew Bridgen
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6b6hBNmf6g&t=3899s

  43. Morning all. Rather cold and gloomy, an appropriate atmosphere for Monday.

    Posting the below. It is rather long. Of course you can watch all of it if it pleases but Andrew doesn't really start talking until about 30 minutes in. At that point it is more interjections rather than Andrew in full flood. But helpful to start there in order to get the gist of what he says later on. Very worth listening to. Yet more disgraceful conduct by Farage that Andrew experienced first hand when Andrew asked him for help in stopping children being inoculated for COVID amongst other things. Farage is really getting to look worse and worse as people pop up from his past who have remained silent until now.
    .
    A new BEGINNING + The School of SHAME – With Andrew Bridgen
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6b6hBNmf6g&t=3899s

    1. We have often driven from Bilboa down to the Med and seen row after row of three-bladed statues, waiting to be woken up by the wind

  45. And that is me logging off to go travelling.
    Might be back on my laptop if I can get a link, otherwise bye for now.

  47. Two errors on Sky News have irked me this morning.

    Summarising the Giselle Pericault case in France, the newsreader said her husband had invited dozens of "other" strangers to rape her. Strangers, for sure, but "other"? Only if her husband was also a stranger.

    Another newsreader, in a brief weather forecast, said thinning cloud will bring "extra amounts" of sunshine. No. Longer spells or periods of sunshine.

    I find English as spoken by others increasingly alien, even by those as pale and Anglo-Saxon in appearance and name as the two on Sky News, inni'.

    1. When i'm teaching English, I quite often have to caveat a bit of grammar with "That's the correct usage, but sadly most native speakers get it wrong". 🙄

        1. Hehe 😈

          Obviously, I have no qualifications other than a good education, photographic memory for spelling, grammar honed by learning several other languages, and what used to be a BBC accent. I’m winging it! 😉🤣 x

    3. Whenever I have railed against this creeping abomination — and I have — I invariably get told by some that English is 'constantly evolving'.

      These people should put on a thinking cap and stop conflating 'evolving' with 'deteriorating'. They should also read some of the prose of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, the Brontës and Kipling (among countless others) then listen to some obscene 'rap' lyrics. Then try again to tell me that English is 'evolving'.

      The only thing 'evolving' in this world is the unstoppable rise of stupidity.

      1. I say change not evolving other than in the sense that all languages evolve. If they didn't we would still be talking Old English. In the days of Shakespeare etc they had their own versions of "rap" or abysmal English. It has been forever thus for all languages..

      2. Speaking of "evolving", when did the usage of the verb "swerve" end up with an object (that being avoided) attached. From my online reading of British publications, quite recently it seems.

        Older changes include "meeting with" as against just meeting and the absorption (one of many) of the American phrase, "sit down with" to describe a meeting.

        The problem is, all countries that use English evolve their own versions. I enjoyed "Indian English" when I was there, but "preponing" a meeting (common there) has not caught on anywhere else that I know of. First time I heard it, the meaning was obvious, but the usage unexpected.

        What has to be faced is that in world terms, English speakers in Britain are nowadays a minority.

        1. Indeed, Jack, and that is all a very sad fact of life. My lament, though, remains the fact that the language is being systematically diminished by this ongoing deterioration.
          There will be soon be no need for lexicons, thesauri or dictionaries of synonyms and antonyms as the vocabulary of all English speakers is categorically annihilated.

    4. Whenever I have railed against this creeping abomination — and I have — I invariably get told by some that English is 'constantly evolving'.

      These people should put on a thinking cap and stop conflating 'evolving' with 'deteriorating'. They should also read some of the prose of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, the Brontës and Kipling (among countless others) then listen to some obscene 'rap' lyrics. Then try again to tell me that English is 'evolving'.

      The only thing 'evolving' in this world is the unstoppable rise of stupidity.

    5. Her name is Giselle Pelicot – and certainly her husband was a very strange man, though in a different sense of the word.

      I find people use their own versions of English – sometimes quite unrecognisable as my native language. I believe grammar is no longer taught in schools, which may account for some of these errors of usage.

  48. Unsustainable, the money (borrowing?) will run out eventually. What then?

    12 X the WFA, spent on incomers. And Reeves has to faff around to find more areas to cut when the answer is staring her in the face. Let's not get on to the 1.5M new homes or the extension of the 'immigrant hotel fiasco' until 20209. Now, where's that "Black Hole"?

    https://x.com/Basil_TGMD/status/1904039632657903706

  49. Chinese Bible found in Oxfam sells for £56,000
    The rare text, which dates back to around 1815, was originally valued at between £600 and £800

    Telegraph Reporters
    Related Topics
    Oxfam, Bonhams, Essex, Christianity
    24 March 2025 9:13am GMT

    11

    The first Bible written in Chinese has sold for more than £56,000 after Oxfam staff found it in a pile of donations.

    The rare text, which dates back to around 1815, had been donated to an Oxfam bookshop in Chelmsford, Essex.

    Volunteers Chris Tyrrell and Eleanor Atac spotted the book, thought it might be valuable and put it up for auction at Bonhams.

    The Bible, which was translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman, was originally valued at between £600 and £800.

    But after two weeks of online bidding, it sold for £56,280.

    Staff said they were left “absolutely speechless” by the final price.

    Nick Reeves, Oxfam Chelmsford’s bookshop manager, said: “The Bible was originally found in a pile of donations by some of our brilliant volunteers who suspected it could be worth something.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/24/chinese-bible-found-oxfam-chelmsford-essex-sells-56000/
    The comments are very interesting .

    2. It actually strikes me as cheap for something so unique and of great importance in Chinas modern history. Pity that it is Oxfam though, another truly corrupt charity that I would not give a penny to. The CEO gets £120,936. So the bible bringing in £56,000 is chicken feed.

  50. The West has blinded itself to the suffering of Middle Eastern Christians
    There is no shortage of protest for Palestinians, but only silence for religious minorities facing great persecution

    During the second half of 1915, in a giant outpouring of empathy and generosity, many thousands of Americans, organised by the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, donated millions of dollars to aid the survivors of the Muslim Turkish genocide against Asia Minor’s Armenian communities.

    By the mid-1920s, more than £1.5 billion in today’s values had been raised to help the surviving Armenians and those still alive after the Turks went on to destroy the other Christian communities of Asia Minor, the Greeks and the Assyrians. Hundreds of American volunteers travelled to the Middle East and the Balkans to distribute food and set up orphanages, vocational schools and hospitals for the remnants of the once thriving Christian communities.

    How times change. The slaughter, between 1955 and 2005, of up to two million black African Christians and animists in southern Sudan by Sudan’s Muslim Arab government – bent on Islamising and Arabising the territory’s non-Muslims – generated little interest or coverage in the Western world.

    Slightly more attention, though no mass outpouring of aid or empathy in the Christian West, accompanied the slaughter of thousands of non-Muslims in northern Iraq during the 2010s by Islamic State, most of the victims Yazidi “infidels” as well as not a few Christian Arabs.

    Perhaps the starkest indication of the disappearance of the Middle East’s Christians is the demographic evolution of Bethlehem, the city in Palestine (or the West Bank) where Jesus was born. The British Mandate census of 1922 registered 5,800 Christians and 818 Muslims (and two Jews) in the town.

    In 1948 Bethlehem was still 85 per cent Christian. In 2016 only 16 per cent of the town’s residents were Christians, the rest Muslims. The town’s Christian population is today probably smaller still, given continued Christian emigration (and higher Muslim birth rates).

    The steep decline in Christian numbers in the Middle East began with the Ottoman imperial and republican Turkish anti-Christian genocide, though what was to come was already augured in the large-scale massacres of Christians in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860 by their Muslim and Druze neighbours and Ottoman troops.

    Before 1894, the year the Ottoman government-ordered anti-Armenian massacres began, Christians represented 20-25 per cent of Turkey’s population. Today they represent less than 2 per cent.

    The depletion in Christian numbers and the steady ejection of Christians from the Middle East was driven by the emergence of the anti-Western Arab nationalist movements and their conjunction with Islamic revivalism.

    Islamist nationalists viewed the Christian imperial powers, mainly Britain and France, as mortal enemies and regarded the local Christian Arab communities as their potential or actual allies. In British Mandate Palestine, for example, the Palestinian “Arab Revolt” of 1936-1939 against British rule and the Zionist enterprise was accompanied by the slogan “First Saturday (Sabbath), then Sunday,” meaning first we will smash the Jews, then the Christians.

    Many Muslims suspected their Christian neighbours of harbouring pro-British sympathies. Later in Palestinian history, individual Christian Arabs, as if to compensate or allay suspicions, were prominent in the vanguard of nationalist militancy. In the 1960s and 1970s, the terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a world innovator in airplane hijackings, was led by two Christian Arabs, George Habash and Wadie Haddad.

    Such terrorist organisations were lauded by Leftists and even “liberals” in the West, who viewed them as ideological brothers in the struggle against Western imperialism and colonialism – and, more generally, regarded the Arabs as perpetual victims of the West. This mindset translated into indifference to the suffering of Christian Arabs.

    These Leftists and “liberals” looked at Christian Arabs with suspicion, viewing them as projections of the Christian West and its values and possible abettors of Western political and military power.

    Perhaps the root of the widespread Western indifference to the suffering and fate of Christians in the Middle East lies beyond the restrictive purview of religion or its absence. Perhaps ideas and ideologies, of any sort, no longer play a significant role in the lives of most people in the West.

    Perhaps in the Age of Ideology, when socialism and communism flourished, the reality of an encompassing collective present and the prospect of a collective future, and a sense of class or national or racial brotherhood, were common coin. But in today’s West these are relics of a long-gone past.

    And, of course, domestic political and economic calculations also come to bear when considering voicing a protest or calling for political or military intervention to save Christians in the Arab lands. Anger in your own country or neighbourhood may well lead to violence. The economic clout of Arab countries, significant in our age of oil and petrodollars, must also be taken into consideration when contemplating acts that may be painted as anti-Muslim or anti-Arab.

    So Western Christians keep their peace in the face of oppression or even genocide in the Middle East – unless, of course, the victims happen to be Arabs, in which case the Western Christian conscience is quickly stirred to righteous protest and rhetoric, and even action. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/23/west-blinded-itself-suffering-of-middle-east-christians/

    Brilliant article and the comments are really excellent , honest and illuminating .

  53. Why is Keir Starmer pretending he ‘likes and respects’ Donald Trump? 24 March 2025.

    The British Prime Minister told the New York Times, with every semblance of earnestness, that he ‘likes and respects’ Donald Trump – and saw that interview blazoned internationally.

    The answer to the headline is that he has to. He actually loathes Trump but fears him more. He is doing his best at the moment (with Macron’s help), to sabotage the Donald’s attempt to bring peace to Ukraine. This treachery can only be tolerated by a pretence of staggering duplicity. Any overt hostility and he and the Government will be swimming against a tariff tide that will sink them like stones. Trump understands this of course (he has much more political savvy that he is given credit for) but his view is very probably that if they block his peace efforts he will just walk off and leave them to stew. What they will do then is beyond imagination.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-starmer-pretending-that-he-likes-and-respects-donald-trump/

      1. As a good Commie he no doubt thinks of those as tools to get his totalitarian way.

    2. So much relates to the Second World War. America never had to live with the consequences of appeasement, whereas much of Europe was occupied, with Britain only just hanging on at enormous cost, but it had to be done. The only country properly prepared was Switzerland. No-one messes with Switzerland.

      The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought America into the war, was a surprise assault. Nobody suspected Japan had designs on conquest that far into the Pacific, and certainly there was no appeasement on America's part.

      This might explain why America, and those who think like Americans here are more content to appease Putin over Ukraine than the Europeans.

      Trump is right in pointing out that Ukraine's aspirations to recover its pre-2014 territories are unachievable, and someone has to point out that home truth, however unpalatable and whatever bad a precedent it has set. The real villains here, apart from those who actually instigated hostile and aggressive encroachment on internationally recognised neighbouring territory, is the UN, which has failed to honour its brief and prevent this sort of thing. Putin spotted an opportunity and exploited it – some may argue that this is no crime, especially since this has always been the way empires (including the British one) have been built up.

      Whilst I have grave reservations about Britain getting involved on the ground, other than perhaps defending rather than regaining lost territory, and that should be under the auspices of the UN, I do think it is the right and decent thing to do to help Ukraine shoot down these damned incoming missiles that are being targeted way beyond the battle zone. Whilst I condemn the supply of weapons to bombard Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, Israel rightfully has foreign support for its Iron Dome, why shouldn't anyone else?

      1. You more or less make the false equivalency of the USSR with Russia. I understand why you might do so but it is not the case. Russia is not the USSR and has none of the ambitions of that political entity. This war was entirely made by the policies of the West who were repeatedly warned not to encroach on what the Russians term their "Home Abroad" or "Near Abroad". It has been rightly pointed out that the USA would not tolerate missiles in Cuba. Why in Gods name should Russia have missiles pointed at it from Ukraine? There quite a few American generals and politicians that sympathized with the Russian position and warned repeatedly that NATO and the contemptible EU should not provoke Russia because they would resist. The blood is on the hands of the West in this matter, not Russia's.

        1. If I recall, the USA was widely condemned in 1962 for the Bay of Pigs fiasco, its attempt to solve the problem through “Special Military Operation”.

          The USSR was a very centralised nation, with practically everything ordered from the Politburo in Moscow, which is now the capital of the Russian Federation. Putin makes no secret of his dismay over the loss of Russian control over the independent republics, some of whom are potentially hostile, and his ambition to restore these to the motherland is barely concealed.

          At no time in the past did Ukraine even remotely threaten Russia in the manner it was threatened by Russia. Compare the damage done in the respective places if you doubt me. Ukrainian incursion into Russia is very recent, and largely to divert Russian military activity away from the Dnipro.

          I do not doubt that some wealthy and influential Americans have business interests in both Russia and Ukraine, and may well be using military support for private commercial purposes. This confuses the issue somewhat, as does the endemic corruption that is normal in both places.

          As for pushing Ukraine westwards, I have long said (and been conveniently ignored) that the prime mover is Poland and Lithuania, eager to restore some of their historic territory in the same spirit Russia is, in the Donbas and Crimea. The only reason for the West to get involved is out of solidarity with Poland, Lithuania, the other Baltic states and Finland which are now both EU members and signatories to the mutual defence treaty that is NATO.

          A far better solution might have been for Russia to follow them in, and direct the future destiny of both institutions from inside. This would mean negotiating with other EU members, which any British diplomat can tell you, is fraught with difficulty, but none the less not as costly as starting a war. Russia had practically bought Germany with cheap energy deals, and France will always be chauvinistic, but a bit of Slavic charm goes a long way. Italy will always be politically chaotic, and a source of great amusement to Russian intriguers out to play.

          1. The Ukranian Nazi (swastikas and all) Azov Brigade slaughtered 14,000 Russian speakers in the Donbass. Putin went to protect his countrymen.Zelensky banned the use of the Russian language in Ukraine.
            Ukraine was and is the most corrupt state on the planet.

          2. Sources?

            The Azov Brigade was formed as a counter-insurgency in 2014 and many of the Russian speaker casualties may well have been combatants in what was turning out to be a bloody civil war. 14,000 seems to be a number plucked out of the air, which really should be verified by reliable and independent war reporters (Al Jazeera maybe?). A fair number of Russian speakers were killed either by Russian troops or by pro-Russian paramilitaries, who seemed to care little for civilian collateral damage.

            The brigade was pretty well wiped out during the siege of Mariupol.

            As for corruption, I’d have thought Nigeria could knock spots off Ukraine (or Russia for that matter).

          3. Actually Putin has expressed his belief that anyone who wishes to reconstruct the USSR is a fool. And anyone who would negotiate with the perfidious EU is mad. How quickly you forget what they did to us and in particular, Northern Ireland.

    3. The view from Russia Today is that the Ukraine situation will be resolved between Russia and the US and what the Europeans think about it is irrelevant. They actually do seem to like and respect Donald Trump.

      1. Like or fear? Europe they can probably handle through a bit if misinformation dividing the paper Tigers but the US under mercurial Trump is a different matter.

      2. I suspect Putin/Trump see it as a (minerals) business deal between Russia/America. The only other factor involved is NATO, which Putin wants to keep away from Ukraine/Russia border, and Trump will comply with that because he's fed up with other NATO members (especially Germany) of not paying up as they should. He'll pull America out of Ukraine as soon as he can imo, then focus on Iran.

    4. I saw that earlier, thanks Araminta. As if Starmer could have any influence. Trying to ride two horses, he'll fall into the gap (sooner rather than later be good).

  54. Why is Keir Starmer pretending he ‘likes and respects’ Donald Trump? 24 March 2025.

    The British Prime Minister told the New York Times, with every semblance of earnestness, that he ‘likes and respects’ Donald Trump – and saw that interview blazoned internationally.

    The answer to the headline is that he has to. He actually loathes Trump but fears him more. He is doing his best at the moment (with Macron’s help), to sabotage the Donald’s attempt to bring peace to Ukraine. This treachery can only be tolerated by a pretence of staggering duplicity. Any overt hostility and he and the Government will be swimming against a tariff tide that will sink them like stones. Trump understands this of course (he has much more political savvy that he is given credit for) but his view is very probably that if they block his peace efforts he will just walk off and leave them to stew. What they will do then is beyond imagination.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-starmer-pretending-that-he-likes-and-respects-donald-trump/

  55. And the DDR – the former Eastern side of Germany which now seems to be firmly AFD voting.

    1. Hi Ashes – did you see my post about yesterday's concert? Including Piazzolla Tango music? I thought of you …..

          1. Accordion or bandoneon? The latter is traditional in tango. I have come to love its sound.

          2. A classical button accordion, played by Milos Miliojevic (sorry no diacritics). Absolutely amazing. Guitarist was Craig Ogden – superb as well. a great last concert for the season.

    2. Well that's a very long-winded way of justifying mass migration – which (in my opinion) has been a disaster for the UK.

      1. Not only is it ongoing, Ndovu, it's ongoing in ever growing numbers. Anyone who can leave is planning to.

    3. G'day! Hope you are well and voice in fine fettle as per. Everyone I know has permanently high BP when this subject is mentioned, including me but I calm down when I watch/listen to your vids, although green with envy ….have a great day, ashes x

      1. The young guy who took my blood pressure after a CT scan yesterday refused to accept it but ideas about what constitutes desirable blood pressure have changed in the past 40-50 years. What's now classed as normal was once considered worryingly low and normal is now used as an excuse for medication. I'm on Ramipril but take it half an hour before bed because the blood pressure drop makes me dizzy. I'm told that it's protecting my liver and kidneys from the other meds. One pill is never an option unfortunately.

        1. Were you advised to take the Ramipril before bed? I find it a little worrying about reducing BP before sleep.

        2. Hello, Sue x….here’s my husband’s history. Type 2 diabetic for many years, many different meds (which I didn’t realise until he had to make a hospital visit for twisted foot, doc said his legs swollen due to one of meds and to come off it). Long story short, he changed his diet to carnivore and now off all meds including BP. NB not recommending this in any way, for anyone, just a suggestion to possibly find out if something in your current diet affecting BP? Good luck:-)

      2. Kate! Hello. Was it you who was asking about me recently? If so, thank you. I am well and dancing up a storm. (Quite literally; summer is coming to an end here and we’re getting build-ups of sweaty heat which break in massive thunderstorms. These require me to don my wellies, which makes me a bit grumpy as wellies were NOT part of my mental picture of living in a South American city… 🤣🤣)

        How are you doing?

        Katy x

  57. I’ve made it. I first had it at the excellent Peak District pub, The Druid, in Birchover.

    Bobotie is a curried beef mince containing pieces of apricot, topped with a scrambled egg. and then browned under the grill.

  58. Bonfire eventually "caught". All the trimmings from the chestnut have burnt. Just a matter of tidying up after lunch. Chilly day, though.

    Anything happen while we were out?

    3. Chestnuts roasting by an open fire
      Jack Frost nipping at your nose
      Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
      And folks dressed up like Eskimos

      Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
      Help to make the season bright
      Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
      Will find it hard to sleep tonight
      They know that Santa's on his way
      He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
      And every mother's child is gonna spy
      To see if reindeers really know how to fly

      And so I'm offering this simple phrase
      To kids from one to ninety-two
      Although it's been said many times, many ways
      Merry Christmas to you

      And so I'm offering this simple phrase
      To kids from one to ninety-two
      Although it's been said many times, many ways
      Merry Christmas to you

      1. 403788+ up ticks,

        Afternoon BT,

        I tend to believe there is a difference betwixt
        falling out and planned treachery.

      2. It wont be a "splinter group" Bill. Farage's Reform will end up as non-existent. He has said very clearly that he will not deport and he will not do anything about Islam. He just wants to sit back and do nothing. He is a cop out.

    2. Considering that most of the rank and file of Reform, 99%, support Rupert's policy on immigration there will be mass defections to Rupert Lowe. So I think it is worth it. Rupert's policies resonate far more with Reform supporters than they agree with Farage. 66% of the general public support Rupert Lowes proposal. So a new party with that policy will wipe the floor with Farage.

      1. Since Farage's own falling out with UKIP was on this very issue, notably engaging with Tommy Robinson, then I wonder why Rupert Lowe doesn't simply take over UKIP and revive it.

        1. Actully Jeremy see my post (video) of Andrew Bridgen. He talks about that but seems to think it not possible unless Zia Yusef and Farage go.

          2. I don't recall him mentioning Tice. Probably because he is a non-entity that can run off to Dubai or wherever it is that his girlfriend lives.

        2. Reform has always been the only small conservative party that wasn't open to cooperation or joining together.

        3. It hasn’t gone away. Nick Tenconi is doing very nicely, thanks. You just never hear about it on the MSM.

      2. Even if Lowe were wildly successful and formed the next government more than 5million more migrants would have entered the country.

        Labour in its usual spiteful way would have made them all citizens by then.

    3. Considering that most of the rank and file of Reform, 99%, support Rupert's policy on immigration there will be mass defections to Rupert Lowe. So I think it is worth it. Rupert's policies resonate far more with Reform supporters than they agree with Farage. 66% of the general public support Rupert Lowes proposal. So a new party with that policy will wipe the floor with Farage.

    6. They'll need £15-50 million.. + a charismatic somebody willing to do the traipsing around the four corners of the country.

      1. 403788+up ticks,

        Afternoon KB,
        I believe a sincere patriotic person is needed charismatic is sometimes the rhetorical cloak of a con man.

        As for finance, with what is at stake it will be found.

    1. That is appalling. It wasn't an urgent call-out, they shouldn't be disturbing people at 2.30 am. That's before you even get onto the rights and wrongs of the case.

    2. Yet Plod does nothing for my crazed teacher friend who is being harassed, insulted, filmed and threatened by her neighbour. They obviously do have the manpower to come out in the middle of the night to deal with insignificant crap.

      1. It is all about fear and intimidation. If someone else is doing that then plod is fine with it…calling it a civil matter where your friend is concerned.

        Personally i would escalate.

  62. Well that didn't take long.

    Canadian election called on Sunday and Carneg has already started on the Conservatives are just like Trump mud slinging.

    Never mind that Trump has said that he doesn't like Poilievre and would prefer to see Carnage in power,

    2. That's because PP is similar to Trump in that he's 'Canada First and Last' whereas Carney is 'Carney First and Last'.

    3. It's Carney's job to mislead Canadian voters. That's what elections are for.

    4. Thing is, you imagine Canadians to be somehow 'bright Americans' but then you meet them and realise they're much the same as anyone else in the world.

  63. So Labour are now considering cutting free school meals of infants schools, at least Thatcher only stopped the milk.
    Just a suggestion, why don't they keep the free school meals if parents aren't feeding their children properly and take it out of child support?

    1. Some children won't get a meal at all if free school meals are cut. But I still haven't heard "Labour will save money by sacking all the diversity managers in the civil service, nhs, police etc."

      1. It isn't the job of schools to feed children. If parents are not doing this then they shouldn't be breeding in the first place.

        1. Children need a meal in the middle of the day when they’re at school, and a hot meal is better than sandwiches. Breakfast clubs and food in the holidays is another thing altogether and is government overreach.

    2. The footballer Marcus Rashford campaigned and raised money for free school meals and breakfast clubs. Alongside Tom Kerridge.

      If the government cared at all about school children going hungry they would give up the subsidy across the Westminster Estate for cheap food and booze.

      But they won't will they…Because they are a bunch of self centered narcissists who think they are better than everyone else. Bastards all.

  64. I looked online first and then discussed it with the medics and yes, Ramipril can be taken at night. It's recommended that it be taken at the same time every day. Blood pressure tends to be higher at night than in the morning. Apart from Apixaban, which is to be taken night and morning, my other meds state one to be taken every morning. Ramipril doesn't specify so I checked.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/88084ad4c00dfb802ff352fa5f8798f1e7c1c57fcc655209b07ee815751120fb.png

    1. I take them twice a day, first thing and last thing.
      The packet is designed with two per day.

  66. 🤣🤣🤣 Weirdly enough, I actually have a pair of Crocs with heels, although not *quite* as high as those, and in black.

    Sadly, I daren’t wear anything more glamorous than wellies when the streets are in full flood. Very conscious that a snapped ankle would be a disaster!

    1. The guvunment has specifically called on gimmegrant drivers and said you do not need a licence be allowed to drive."

      Neither do you need Car Tax or motor insurance

      1. Yes it's becoming pretty obvious that there are hundreds of people driving on our roads now who have never passed a driving test. Let alone even looked at the highway code.
        Why would they even bother with tax and insurance because they know they will get away with it.

        And I wonder how much money they will loose After many hundreds of thousands are stopped from driving. Road tax insurance fuel duty maintenance on vehicles etc.

        1. I don't believe the dindus bother with annoyances like road tax, MOTs or maintenance, let alone insurance.

    2. When I renewed online six years ago my optician said I could read a number plate to the required DVLA standard without using glasses but I didn't realise that the paper version now required the ability to meet the DVLA driving requirements using a Snellen chart to test eyesight for driving with a minimum visual acuity of 6/12 (20/40) in the better eye, and 6/60 (20/200) in the other eye.

      I got my optician to give me the Snellen test and was able to confirn to.myself that I could pass the test with my driving glasses.This enabled me to sign the paper version of the over 70 renenwal form at my last renewal.

      I am not sure that a road traffic officer would be able to carry out a Snellen test at a roadside stop.

  68. We may have been asking about each other…great minds eh…good to know you are well…summer seems to have begun early here, currently cracking the pavements. Wellies? Ach you’ll look cute in anything, and sound equally good. I’m good but dog of 15 years (had him since six week old) seems to have developed some liver/digestion problem…I’m currently ‘in discussion’ (polite version) with vet. Off to another appt just now. See you anon x

      1. Thanks so much, Kathie – you’re very kind x He has a problem with liver nodules which give him some gyp, but other than that vet thinks he’s doing ok for an old dog, he sleeps quite a lot now. Eventually he’ll leave, as everything will, but for now doing OK. He chose me when I went to look at a puppy litter, they were 6 weeks old, all having a great time and I sat on the floor to play with them, he came and sat on my knee – did the same thing a couple weeks later when I went back to collect him. Obviously knows a sucker when he sees one 😀

  71. Ben Habib & Rupert Lowe are missing something aside from money.
    They need an English or Welsh or Scottish.. Conor McGregor 🇮🇪.

      1. They are both pro Tommy.

        I see that this The Daily Telegraph: "Why Elon Musk is wrong about Tommy Robinson." Is still there. It must be a record it has been 3 or 4 days now. The establishment is obviously nervous. People below the line are still not buying these putrid slanders either.

      2. Yesterday afternoon I made a rash decision to apply to HMP Woodhill to visit everyone’s favourite extreme far-right fascist racist etc etc “thug”. Because i had read that he wasn’t allowed many visitors as his are not allowed any “social media” presence. I have sent him a few postcards, not saying much – what is there to say? – but he doesn’t know me from a bar of soap. Anyway turns out j have to be on his list, so I may mention it on my next postcard to him. In the meantime my request to visit has been rejected (which is fair enough, given, as I said earlier, he doesn’t know me from a bar of soap).

  72. Do you realise that following the Heathrow shutdown nobody was reported has having died from COVID as a consequence of the fire at the electricity sub-station in Hayes so the decision to shut down the airport should be seen as an unqualified success.

  73. When you wreck your car wheel after encountering a Spanish pothole do you exclaim:
    'Poth Olé!"

    1. I'd swear in English. The Warqueen, speaking 6 languages has a choice but I'd bet she goes for French.

  74. Pollo alla cacciatora for lunch in the work canteen today. Not had it before and will make a mental note not to have it again. I've eaten as much as I deemed edible, which means the chicken meat I could easily detach from the bones, the olives and the potatoes. Otherwise, yuk! The sauce is tomatoes with garden waste.

    1. It looks at though you had a remarkable escape – are you sure that was not listed on the menu as A Pollo 13?

    2. It looks at though you had a remarkable escape – are you sure that was not listed on the menu as A Pollo 13?

    3. Afternoon Sue. I once went out to dinner and the main dish was Fish Pie. Unfortunately the fish was mackerel in some sort of slimy (skins still present) tomato sauce and was dreadful beyond belief. I did try to eat it to avoid giving offence. I couldn’t wait for the meal and the evening to finish.

      1. There are times when you just have to throw in the towel napkin. If it were so bad i would refuse to eat that slop…even at a Wake.

        Being assertive is not being rude.

    4. Afternoon Sue. I once went out to dinner and the main dish was Fish Pie. Unfortunately the fish was mackerel in some sort of slimy (skins still present) tomato sauce and was dreadful beyond belief. I did try to eat it to avoid giving offence. I couldn’t wait for the meal and the evening to finish.

    5. Who has the contract for the canteen. Not Serco or Crapita is it? They are notorious.

      I can make that dish for you easily and you would love it. Very close to a French classic

      2. Ah. Serco. And isn't there another one called Clearsprings or something similar? These troughers also need looking into. Fatty Soames allegedly made a fortune out of government contracts via SERCO, for example. More money laundering.

      1. I have learned that you let great ingredients speak for themselves. Marinade the meat/poultry if need but the sauce should stand out and elevate the dish.

        A mirepoix reduced with vermouth and a small amount of cream or butter goes perfectly with a fresh cooked quality chicken breast.

        Throwing in a load of other stuff just confuses the plate/palate.

    7. Loosely translated as chook a al canteen! You thought that it was some fancy French dish didn't you?

      1. I was told it's the most common dish in Italy. I was sceptical, having toured Italy four times and never noticed it before but willing to give it a try.

        1. Filippo Trapella serves up a classic pollo alla cacciatora recipe, or hunter's chicken stew as it's known in English. The key to this dish lies in the intense tomato and red wine sauce flavoured with fragrant rosemary and juniper. For some handy tips, check out our guide to jointing a chicken – you can use the remaining carcass to make a fantastic homemade stock.

          (Found courtesy Mr Google)

  75. I spotted a poster at a bus stop, earlier, saying how "Give us a smile, Darling," is an example of sexism and encouraging others to report it.

    While I concede it might be unwelcome, at times, I'd hardly regard it as a most heinous example. Perhaps the campaign hopes to snuff out minor infractions as a way of discouraging the much less savoury "show us your t***", "suck my d***" or "fancy a f***?".

    That said, the Huffington Post tackled this subject 9 years ago.

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/its-important-for-men-to-stop-telling-women-to-smile_b_9655246

    1. There's genuine praise and objectifying. It's a narrow line.

      What all this control over speech has done is alienate people to one another. People are afraid of saying hello.

      1. That’s the intention isn’t it? Divide and conquer. Pit people against each other, isolate them (Covid), two tier policing, two tier judiciary …

    2. "show us your t***", "suck m d***" or "fancy a f***?".

      I suppose where you are and the context is everything. On the South Bank under the Arches clubs that is banter.

      I say yes to all three for a large dry Martini but then i have always been a good judge of character. Erm…

    3. Considering that now a days it could consist of being dragged behind the bus shelter and raped. A "Give us a smile, Darling," counts for nothing. Just another example of the lack of proportion about the reality that women and girls have to deal with.

      1. I would say it was an interesting comment except for the fact that the cheeky naif white guy was looking for a date or a friend as opposed to someone who would drag them into the bushes to rape and kill them.

        Even PREVENT are desperately trying to balance the figures to hide reality when it is becoming abundantly clear why it is happening.

        It is happening because tens of thousands of single men from a culture where girls and women are not easily available to them feast on ours.

        I would also add to this that most of the white rapists and paedophiles choose to transgender is because they will again get preferential treatment even when convicted.

        I look forward to some diverse fucking plod coming to my door at 2.30am.

        Surprise !!!

      1. A dog watch in a maritime watch system is half the length of a standard watch period. This is typically formed by splitting a single four-hour watch period between 16:00 and 20:00 (4 pm and 8 pm) to form two two-hour dog watches, with the "first" dog watch from 16:00 to 18:00 (4 pm to 6 pm) and the "second" or "last" dog watch from 18:00 to 20:00 (6 pm to 8 pm).

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d885ab32533d2b81b14733a48fe6b61a1c2e04e2fc7f3fafc22e1cc3ec44e7d9.png

        1. And why are they called dog watches?

          Because they are curtailed.
          © Patrick O'Brian.

        2. I’ll be sure to use the dog watch when we sail in Turkey again this Sept. Although at that time the main responsibility will be to ensure glasses are full. We will have 5 or 7 on a 37 footer this year. I like Gocek bay for what we do. Not so keen on the deep water anchoring though.

  78. Just in from checking what's left of the bonfire. Very satisfactory day. Turned out sunny eventually – but still with that damned small japanese in the wind.

    Any new political parties started while I was out?

  80. Sat in the hairdressers just now I had the unfortunate experience of hearing the local radio station 'news'.

    Hundreds of unjustified arrests of anti-government protesters in Turkey – total coverage.
    Hundreds of unjustified arrests of anti-government protesters in Britain – tumbleweeds.

  81. Cows trampled grandfather to death on Hadrian’s Wall walk. 24 March 2025.

    A grandfather was trampled to death by cows during a walk with his friend along Hadrian’s Wall, an inquest has heard.

    Retired teacher Malcolm Flynn, 72, was tossed into the air after cattle with their calves charged at him, with one of them kicking him in the head as he lay seriously injured, the hearing was told.

    I was once followed by huge herd of yearlings near the south end of Chatsworth Park. They were amazingly persistent. It was quite scary. I escaped by jumping through a style in the stone wall and then running down parallel to the wall and jumping into another field.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/24/grandfather-trampled-to-death-cows-hadrians-wall/

    2. He was said to be an experienced rambler. Well, walking into a field with cows and calves suggests to me that he was either NOT an experienced rambler or someone out to "make a point" or, simply, a bloody fool.

  82. Afternoon, all. Lovely sunny day and warm with it. Unfortunately I have had an attack of vertigo and have put gardening on hold. I don’t get them often, but I can’t do much when I do,

    Precisely what essential covid lesson was missed? How to scam a nation?

  83. Wordle No. 1,374 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 24 Mar 2025

    A bendy Birdie Three?

    1. Well done, #MeToo! Guessed right one of two possibilities…..

      Wordle 1,374 3/6

      ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
      🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Took me a while.

      Wordle 1,374 5/6

      🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
      🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
      🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
      🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Wordle 1,374 4/6

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

  84. More spring cleaning.
    Not too difficult today:
    Wordle 1,374 3/6
    🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨
    🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  85. That's me gone for today. Very satisfying bonfire. Lawn cut by paid neighbour (slavery alive and well). Mower doing the same "conking out" thing as it did last week. So it is off to the workshop. Few things more irritating than intermittent, untraceable faults.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain – if I am spared.

    1. Just a thought:
      Are you using 95 as opposed to 98 octane petrol?
      I was having no end of problems with motors and someone suggested that it might be the fuel.
      Swapped to 98 and (touch wood) no problems since.
      More expensive, but a lot cheaper than a trip to the workshop.

      1. It is the 98. We have used it since I bought the mower before the plague. Never so much as a cough.

          2. Change the pipe-lines between the tank and the motor, they might be furred/clogged up?

            There comes a point where it's cheaper to get a new mower and sell the old one to a sucker on ebay than to persevere with a dud.

          3. Clean the carburettor jets could be useful. Send the machine in for a service.

          5. I came to that conclusion when my mower went intermittent. I'd tried all the common tricks and it still wasn't reliable so it went.

          6. Way beyond my capability. Machines and me clash. That’s why it is at the mower repairers!

            Have thought about a new one – £1500 is a lot of money to a pensioner.

    2. Forgive the question, but do you use ordinary petrol which has ethanol in it? The ethanol component causes problems if left in storage, such as over winter. For my small garden machinery I use alkylate fuel (Aspen brand name but I think there are others). It's pricey, but worth paying the extra for the reliability and absence of infuriating problems caused by that blasted petrol contaminated (in my view) with ethanol.

  87. Well, that's very annoying [polite version]. We had booked a holiday with the return travel a flight from Stockholm to Manchester. The original plan would have involved a change at Paris CdG but there were direct flights, which we prefer, but only on weekdays! At considerable trouble and expense we opted for the optional 2 extra days in Stockholm and the direct flight! Tried to book our seats today and discover that SAS have swapped the flight – now via Copenhagen instead of direct! There are now no direct flights to Manchester!! The optional extension seems to have been a waste although I suspect we will enjoy it, although we have been before? not impressed – effin airlines!

    1. Maybe a Northern NoTTLer could offer an overnight? We're not too close to Stockholm, but you'd be welcome to visit.

      2. Very kind – the problem isn’t so much getting home as working hard to arrange things so we had a direct flight – which is what we booked – only to find that the bl00dy airline has swapped it to a one stop trip, with different timings, with no notice!

    1. Someone high on drugs who has access to powerful guns. Possibly not a Christian.

      Police "baffled" etc etc

    2. Alpacas are lovely animals (not to be confused with llamas, who are related to camels).

      2. They are all closely related camelids (and extremely cute). What is the matter with these people? Why>?

    1. Indeed. I wonder if he could produce his own version and upload to a YouTube channel? Many have done very well by taking that route.

  92. Completely and, hic, utterly, hic, off topic.

    This place sells some wonderful products.

    We were given some at Christmas and have been enjoying them since.
    And we use the "remains of the liquor" for new fruit, and it works very well.
    https://www.distillerie-perigord.com/en/products/

    The recipe ideas might even attract our resident gourmets and gourmands.

    DRINKING IS DANGEROUS FOR HEALTH AND SHOULD BE CONSUMED WITH MODERATION.

    1. Heavenly indeed. The prunes in armanac on icecream are divine, the very definition of,

  93. I have completely lost the place and the plot below, but my contribution was going to be that one must never underestimate the deterrent effect of attiring oneself in a boiler suit, bovver boots and a woolly hat.

      1. How to avoid being raped, or otherwise targeted, whilst being an obvious woman in public these days :-))

          1. Tee hee. It's a sure-fire way of avoiding attracting anyone. Anyone at all.Works like a dream.

        1. I recall the havoc, I wasn’t one to join groups/gangs.

          Anti-social bastard, me.

          But then I’m guessing you may have worked that out!

          1. Yes 🙂 And I do need to apologise for urging you to Fuck Off t'other day. I am genuinely sorry that i lost the plot.

          3. I'm sorry I missed that – without knowing the context I don't think I can in all fairness give you a well deserved uptick!!

          4. Just another incidence in a long list of Nottlers who tell that evil bastard sosraboc to FOAD.

            Leave well alone.

          5. Oi! you also called me a blinkered twat that evening (had you been on the pop??) and have failed to apologise, even though you may well have been technically correct.

            I was mortified, I tell you, mortified……

          7. I dont know Stephen, I’ve never been called anything like that before in my, admittedly very sheltered, life……

          8. You should, like me ,get out more. To date I've travelled 366 billion miles around out galaxy….

          9. Sorry for the length of this response, but I can always hear Eric Idle singing it – and it is surprisingly scientifically correct!

            Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
            And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour
            That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second so it's reckoned
            The sun that is the source of all our power

            The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
            Are moving at a million miles a day
            In an outer spiral arm, at four hundred thousand miles an hour
            In the galaxy we call the Milky Way

            Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars
            It's a hundred thousand light years side to side
            It bulges in the middle, six thousand light years thick
            But out by us, it's just a thousand light years wide

            We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point
            We go 'round every two hundred million years
            And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
            In this amazing and expanding universe

            The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
            In all of the directions it can whizz
            As fast as it can go, of the speed of light, you know
            Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is

            So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure
            How amazingly unlikely is your birth
            And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space
            'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth

          11. Sorry, I edited to ‘scientifically correct’ as that was more in line with what I meant – however the fundamental point remains the same!

    3. You are Compo (if you wear wellies) , and I claim my fiver…:-)) well done, opopanax

    1. RIP.
      One misses those no longer posting. I refer to a few posts yesterday about the empty chair at the table.
      BTW, I have a PPK, no suppressor, though. That's on my P.22…

    6. We just drove through LOTLs old stomping ground in North Carolina

      All I saw was the freeway, the town certainly is set back from the road and hidden behind countless pine trees.

  96. Had a busy day.
    Pleased that yesterday's rain topped up my wildlife pond in the garden. Its got a lot of frog spawn floating in it.
    Early start tomorrow eye appointment at 9 am.
    Good night all. 😴

  97. Just had a very screaming message from Rachel my dog breeder. Can't cope with it now. Archie who is Dolly's sire was attacked and killed by a mastiff when they went for a walk this afternoon. I really can't cope with this shit. I certainly won't be leaving my dogs with her in future. I don't know the details as she is incoherent at the moment.

    I'm going to take a pill.

    1. Oh, Pip! What a dreadful thing to happen. Kadi was lucky when he was savaged by the Thing next door. I managed to hoik him up out of the way and the idiot who owns it came and dragged it off and away.

    2. That's awful.

      But if the mastiff appeared out of the blue how could she have done anything?

      Give her a little slack, and a lot of support, it must have been horrific for her.

      1. I can vouch for that and Kadi wasn't killed, just bitten and bleeding. I'm not the sort of person to throw a fit of hysterics, but I was really shocked and shaken. My neighbour, who saw it, took me and Kadi to the vet's because she said I wasn't fit to drive.

    6. Sorry to hear that, I'm thinking of carrying a stick. Not that I want to hit a dog, but…

  98. The Employment Rights Bill is morally wrong

    Workplace privileges should be earned, not handed out as automatic entitlements

    Charles Moore • 24 March 2025, 5:29pm GMT

    Labour's Employment Rights Bill is working its way through Parliament. Its Second Reading is in the Lords on Thursday. It is a bad Bill in pretty much every respect, loading extra duties and costs on employers.

    It is also an affront to free speech. The Bill's already infamous Clause 20 makes employers liable for the harassment of their staff by third parties. The definition of harassment includes the indirect "effect" of harassment. This can be deemed to have happened even if the "victim" was not present.

    Thus, for example, a pub customer making rude remarks about an ethnic minority might have harassed the pub's staff even if they were not themselves members of that minority and did not hear the words spoken. The landlord could be held responsible in law.

    The excellent Free Speech Union is spearheading the campaign against this insane measure.

    But I want to focus today on a different aspect of the Bill. It is obvious that the "Day One rights" it confers on new employees will be vastly expensive for employers. These include paternity leave and unpaid parental leave, rights to flexible working and claims for unfair dismissal. It is perhaps less obvious that these new provisions will also upset longer-established employees.

    Nothing demoralises a workplace more than staff who lack commitment. The commonsense way to avoid this is to take new workers on probation. They may turn out to have the wrong attitude or skills. They may be unreliable, malingering, stupid, rude, lazy, or just utterly maddening. This will emerge over time, almost never on Day One.

    If new entrants acquire immediately the rights which, until now, have vested much later – six months for paternity leave, two years for unfair dismissal – this gives them a great incentive to game the system.

    The ideology behind the Bill assumes that workers enter the workplace fully formed and with nothing to learn. This is rarely the case, almost never so with first-time employees. It implies that employers have all the duties and gives workers, because of some supposed pre-existing virtue, all the rights straight away.

    This defies human experience. It is rather as if children, once admitted to a school, were immediately deemed to have passed all the ensuing exams. Yes, a good workforce will be the better for having good rights, but the incentives will be perverse unless those rights are, literally, earned.

    The unsung accomplishments of an exemplary courtier

    Great people often cannot organise their own lives. Their minds tend to be on higher things. They therefore need extremely high-grade people to help, especially when they suffer what General de Gaulle called the "shipwreck" of old age. Such people are too often unsung. So I pay tribute to Sir Julian Seymour, who died suddenly at the weekend. He worked the necessary magic for Margaret Thatcher. Because she was such an effective leader, people assume she was an efficient self-organiser. As she herself liked to say, in other contexts, "Poppycock!".

    When Mrs Thatcher was suddenly forced to resign in November 1990, she was clueless. For 11 and a half years in 10 Downing Street, she had been working flat out. All arrangements had fallen to her private office (professional civil servants) and her small personal staff.

    Her removal shocked and profoundly upset her. She and her husband Denis did not know where to live – although they had bought a thoroughly unsuitable house in Dulwich. She had no income outside politics, no proper office, and a prime ministerial pension of a mere £25,000 a year. Literally thousands of letters from the public piled up unanswered in her borrowed premises. She had almost forgotten how to dial people direct.

    Generous friends tried to help, but it was chaos. Mrs Thatcher's son Mark briefly took charge, but he was not a team player and not resident in Britain. Potential donors to a charitable Thatcher Foundation did not want it run by him.

    After a few months, Seymour became director of her private office. He was an outspoken, independent-minded advertising executive who had also been the impresario for Anyone for Denis?, the stage play based on Denis's imaginary letters in Private Eye, supposedly written to Bill Deedes, editor of this newspaper. Mrs Thatcher had hated the show but did not hold this against Seymour.

    He held her in deep respect, but (which put him in a small minority) was not afraid of her.

    Seymour had to keep what was practical, profitable and ethical in balance. He made sure, for example, that "Lady T" – as he always called her, refusing her invitation to call her "Margaret" – avoided the mistake (made by some of her successors) of undertaking paid lobbying: she always lobbied for British companies, unpaid, when she visited foreign leaders.

    He helped negotiate the book and TV-documentary deals for her memoirs and find the right ghost-writers. He sorted out her foundation, her extremely lucrative global speaking tours, and helped find her the right places to live and work.

    Seymour superintended her finances, secured her archives for posterity, organised her authorised biography (which I wrote) and negotiated with government and palace about her state funeral.

    In her old age, with her mental powers severely diminishing, he recruited for her the best and kindest carers her by then much-improved finances could buy.

    Seymour transacted all this business with a short fuse, a keen sense of humour and a warm heart. Without people like him, great people like Lady Thatcher are vulnerable to exploitation or neglect. For nearly 35 years, he did a true public service.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/24/the-employment-rights-bill-is-morally-wrong

    Of course, the bill is the work of the Stockport Slapper, featured at the top of the piece in a most unflattering photograph.

    1. I can't think of one piece of Labour legislation (and I'm going back to 1997 now) that hasn't been a disaster with unintended consequences.

  100. Had a meeting to attend earlier this evening .

    What are your experiences of 20 mile per hour speed limitations through your villages ?

    1. There's no speed limit through ours – but as it's so steep and narrow it's pretty impossible to do as much as 20.

    3. Ridiculous, you hardly ever see a car through our village yet the next village where the main road is is 40mph

    5. When it was introduced I found that I could walk cross the road safely. Now however the limit is ignored by 3 in 4 vehicles so it is now a mad dash to get to the other side.

  103. Well, it's now my bedtime. Good Night, NoTTLers. Sleep well and hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

  104. Currently watching an edition of The Good Old Days featuring Ken Dodd as the headliner. It's part of a series of repeats dedicated to Doddy on BBC4. Thus far we've had a singing and dancing troupe doing music hall songs, a ventriloquist and a singer who invited the audience to join her in a tongue-twister. Now we have a juggler twirling a piano on his feet. As ever, the audience is garbed in Edwardian outfits and Leonard Sachs is the loquacious MC. Am very much looking forward to seeing one of my favourite comedians.

    1. Worth watching but Doddy was constrained by the time constraints of television. In his own shows, he was notorious for over running until after the last buses had gone, but his audiences loved him nonetheless.

      Last night a programme looked at both his life and legacy. The latter has been curated by his long-running girlfriend, Anne Jones, who has been very much involved in creating a museum, the Happiness Centre, located by the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. He married her shortly before his death.

      When I was young, I thought Knotty Ash, Dodd's birthplace, was a creation of his imagination, just as much as the Diddymen were. Later, I discovered it was a real place, and when I hear Cilla Black sing Liverpool Lullaby, which mentions Knotty Ash, it's so touching it can move me to tears. Dusty Springfield's Goin' Back and My Colouring Book can both have a similar effect.

      I wasn't always so easily moved. Does the ageing process make us more sentimental?

      1. Ageing and the loss of a much loved one, in my case, my darling wife, has had that effect. Yesterday I was cleaning my sitting room and to while away the time I had music playing on YouTube. A couple of songs, The Eagles No more Cloudy Days, and especially, Mick Hucknall's version of You Make Me Feel Brand New, recorded on the steps of the Sydney Opera House brought back wonderful memories and a little more.

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