779 thoughts on “Monday 26 August: Add to slave reparations a claim by Scots exiled by the Clearances”

  1. Good Morning, all

    SIR – The article by Andrew Roberts about the Mini took me back to 1961. Having returned from two years in Australia, I could just afford my first car. It was a tartan red Austin Seven Mini, with no heater – which would have cost me a pound a month extra over 36 months.

    I was serving at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall and living in Camborne. The Christmas pantomime that year was Snow White and I was one of the dwarfs. The dress rehearsal didn’t go too well, and it was almost midnight before the producer was happy.

    I didn’t change, but jumped in the car and set off for home across the moors. Half-way across, I was stopped by a police sergeant and a constable. “Good evening, Sir, would you mind stepping out of the car?” This I did, as he shone his torch into the car. “Will you open the boot?” This I did. “Thank you, Sir. Goodnight.”

    As I got into the car, the sergeant turned to the constable and said: “I wondered who bought these cars.”

    Derrick G Smith
    Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex

    Luckily Plod didn’t find Bercow at the wheel.

    1. As I got into the car, the sergeant turned to the constable and said: “I wondered who bought these cars.”

      I always wondered the same about the Audi A3.

    2. I had a red Mini, bought in 1967 when it was already several years old. It had a disconcerting habit of stopping in heavy rain because the water got onto the distributor cap.

    1. In the light of news emerging from Brazil, this cartoon makes no sense.

      Boris has now swung behind the EU against Trump over sanctions against Brazil if Bolsonaro fails to be serious about putting out these fires, his campaign for jungle clearances and conversion to ranching, and his pathetic efforts in scapegoating everybody but himself and the evil intent of his associates, that must alas include Trump.

      I have been a Brexiteer since I was a teenager, yet on this issue I think the EU, and also Boris Johnson is right and our potential trading partners Brazil and the USA so wrong, I would rather we got into business with Iran and revived our close relationship with the EU. The alternative is evil in the extreme.

      I have now asked Lidl to source corned beef from somewhere other than Brazil. I have long enjoyed this delicacy, but the pack I have in my fridge will be the last I will eat until they do so. I will also refuse to give my custom to anyone promoting any international football venue that still admits Brazil.

      These personal sanctions remain in place until the fires are out, and the international conservation zones in the great forest are given adequate protection.

  3. I am an eco fascist and wish a very lingering and painful death on President Bolsonaro of Brazil and all his associates and collaborators so that their screams can be heard on every mobile phone with access to YouTube. If a million guilty people are summarily tortured to death, then it cannot come too soon.

    The destruction of the Amazon is a far worse crime even than mass genocide, since genocide only affects one species. This crime not only wipes out countless species, but threatens the Earth’s capacity to sustain civilisation for 7.7 billion people. Bolsonaro is therefore a worse criminal that H*tler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao Zedong combined. There should be no mercy for anyone supporting or collaborating with his dreadful campaign of wholescale destruction.

    At the very least Brazil should be kicked out of FIFA and the World Cup and until the fires are out, we should forego all trade with this horrible nation, with the exception of Brazil nuts, if there are any still left.

    1. SIR – In Andrew Roberts’s excellent review of the Mini at 60, it was nice to see the name-check, “as Christy Campbell notes in her indispensable book, Mini: An Intimate Biography”.

      I would like to reassure readers and former colleagues at The Sunday Telegraph (where I was defence correspondent for 10 years) that I was at the time – and remain – a bloke.

      Christy Campbell
      Great Barton, Suffolk

      Oh my dear, it’s all so confusing these days.

      1. Why is this a response to my cry of despair over Brazil’s contempt for the Amazon, rather than a post in its own right?

      2. These days?
        The names Shirley, Beverley, Hilary and Lesley/Leslie have always been confusing.

    2. Who is actually clearing the Amazon? The Brasilian state, or the local tribes? AFAIK, the government are trying to prevent it (Norway pays a whopping sum to preserve part of the Amazon – sort of “rent”), but short of shooting the locals, it’s difficult to stop the deforestation. The Norway idea is that it needs to be made more lucrative to preserve the forest than to clear it and plant crops, so that’s what they are trying to do. I’m not sure how effective it is, though.

      1. It is not effective because Bolsanaro has put in place, with malice and political determination, a policy of forest clearance letting in and encouraging the ranchers, the poachers, the loggers and the miners, along with the infrastructure that services them and opens up the forest. The forest dwellers, the rubber tappers and brazil nut gatherers are pushed aside.

        Yes, this has been under way for quite a while now. Previous governments did make some effort to conserve the globally important national park, whereas Bolsanaro has made it clear that it is no longer sacrosanct and must not get in the way of business interests.

        I have not had such white hot fury against a man since Sukarto of Indonesia sold off the forests in Java, Sumatra and Borneo to the loggers to bolster up his personal fortun

        1. Catholic and Muslim countries over breeding program .. South America and Indonesia and Malay and the POPE has encouraged the requirement for ruining our rainforests .

          I share your concerns . We have witnessed similar ruination in West Africa.. and more focus should be aimed on Equatorial Africa.

          Whilst I am on the subject, the destruction of green productive rural England for the building of new homes and roads is also something else that needs to be addressed ..Our countryside problems are microscopic compared to rainforest destruction, but we have to curb the excessive destruction, it cannot go on .

          We are just a small island .874 miles in length..and the 3rd most populated island in the world .

      2. Rather than edit my comment below, I must point out that it’s settlers from the cities who are clearing the forests, while the forest dwellers are being pushed aside, and often murdered in their beds.

        This attitude of settlers pushing aside the indigenous folk extends way beyond Brazil. The United States is a nation of settlers. In Europe, many are feeling their indigenes are being pushed aside by hostile settlers, who have been breeding way beyond what their former homelands could sustain without neighbour tribal conflicts over resources and religion.

        It is a moot point in that little hotspot, Israel, who are the settlers and who are the indigenes.

    3. Goodmorning JM,

      I feel the same as you , that Brazilian is the very devil, he has probably destroyed the Atlantic weather systems for ever by desecrating the rain forests , he has destroyed life , the wonderful and amazing environment is ruined .. in just under a year , virgin forest has been wiped out .. What an ignorant man, and whilst our attention is on Brazil, what about the rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia where wild life and primates have lost their homes.

      The planet will be in cinders soon, and our rivers and oceans full of detritus because ignorant greedy countries just breed and breed and breed.

    4. Boris has offered £10 million of our money to assist with reforestation. BBC Radio 4 News.

      1. Is it possible to reforest the Amazon? It’s a unique ecosystem that has evolved over many millennia with unique plants, animals, soil structure etc. Once destroyed, how can it be recovered?

        1. The key lies in the UK. I hesitate to name this institution, lest it be closed down because of “difficult decisions to prioritise and to cut taxes” and the very expensive real estate sold off to deal with the housing shortage in London.

          It has gone perhaps further than anyone else in attempting to map out the Amazon’s special ecosystem before it is lost, and cannot recover for a million years, thanks to the likes of Bolsanaro, and those on this very board backing him up.

          I agree that not even this place has got far in exploring the complex interactions of the micro-organisms that make happen so many processes in nature we take for granted, as if they come by magic.

  4. Morning, all you peskies!
    :-D)
    Autumn in full swing. Fog… dull & cool, but apparently summer again tomorrow, followed by thunderstorms Wednesday.
    Last week to wear short-sleeved shirts before return to bearskins and thermal undies.

  5. Although I don’t follow the game, I watched the cricket on last night’s news.

    Seems to me we Brexiteers need a our own Ben Stokes to get us over the line in October and knock the remainers for six – especially their arch bowler, Blair.

    1. And let us not forget that, after John Major’s policy decree that all major national sporting events should remain on terrestrial TV, it was Blair who let Sky Sports into the bidding arena in return for support from the Murdoch press. There is nothing that Charles Lynton didn’t corrode and corrupt.

  6. For those without Premium….

    Boris has brought a miraculous change to the political weather, as the Remainer world order falls apart
    CHARLES MOORE – 25 AUGUST 2019 • 6:00PM

    While everyone else was looking at Donald Trump and Boris Johnson as they complimented each other across the table at the G7 meeting in Biarritz yesterday, my focus was two places to Mr Johnson’s right. I was studying the face of Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador to the French Republic, Lord Llewellyn of Steep.

    As plain Ed Llewellyn, Lord Ll was David Cameron’s chief of staff, and also his closest aide on all EU matters. Most particularly, he advised Mr Cameron on how to win enough concessions from the EU to secure a Remain vote in 2016. The concessions offered by Mrs Merkel took no tricks. The referendum was lost. Mr Cameron resigned, ennobling and promoting Mr Llewellyn as he left.

    And yesterday our ambassador was sitting with our new Prime Minister, smiling tightly as he watched the whole diplomatic world that he had fought to defend falling apart. When Lord Ll was in 10 Downing Street, the then President of the United States said that Britain would have to “go to the back of the queue” for a trade deal if it left the EU. Yesterday, the now President of the United States said that a deal could be done “pretty quickly” and told Britain that the EU was “the anchor round its ankle”. (An odd phrase, but we know what Mr Trump means.)

    Lord Llewellyn is an able and professional man. No doubt he will take it all in his stride, but his presence reminded me of how miraculous the change taking place is. Until Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, the governing classes saw Brexit as a nightmare from which they would quite soon awake. Either it would be nullified by Mrs May’s capitulation to Brussels’s demands or it would not even nominally take place. Now they watch it happening before their eyes, and they fear they cannot stop it.

    Enter every caveat you like – that Mr Trump is an unreliable interlocutor, that Congress, not the President, will decide what trade deals are made, that Philip Hammond and other leading MPs working, unpaid, for the European Commission will find a last-minute spanner to throw into the parliamentary works – and you still see a most dramatic alteration in the political weather. Even the EU leaders who attended yesterday’s G7 accidentally reveal this. When it was Mrs May, whom they had nothing much against, they shunned her like a wallflower at a party because of her weakness. Now it is Mr Johnson, he, or rather he and Mr Trump combined, form the centre of their attention.

    The Brexit process has often seemed irrational and emotional on both sides, but this column keeps trying to point to its underlying logic. We clearly and (to use a Trumpism) bigly voted to leave. So we must. And when we do leave, we must follow the logic behind leaving, which is of divergence, not convergence.

    This should not, and need not, mean antagonism, but it does mean embracing difference. We are rejecting membership of a big bloc of the sort familiar to readers of Orwell’s 1984 (“Eurasia”) and striking out for a freer world. Some say we are merely embracing “vassalage” to the United States, but it would be strange to argue that Canada or Australia – both economically much smaller countries than ours – are American vassals. Besides, deals with America do not involve the transfer of our law, legislation and ultimate authority to it, which is our situation in relation to the EU.

    With two months left, I feel too superstitious to shout out “Westward look – the land is bright”, lest a nasty dark cloud appear. But I am enjoying the spectacle of Lord Llewellyn of Steep’s learning curve.

    Conservative faces
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2017/06/10/TELEMMGLPICT000039761820_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqaRL1kC4G7DT9ZsZm6Pe3PehAFAI_f6ud569StXyOKH0.jpeg?imwidth=1240
    Owen Paterson is a rare example of a conservative face on the Conservative benches

    Last week, I aired the idea that there is such a thing as a Left-wing face: I feared that Olivia Colman’s possession of one might make her unsuitable to play the Queen. There is also such a thing as a conservative face. It is quite different from a Right-wing one, which tends to look severe and vain (think of Oswald Mosley).

    The conservative face takes many forms, but in general it is one which you rarely see among bureaucrats, television presenters or masters of public relations, but do find among soldiers, farmers or engineers. It tends to be what people used to call “an open countenance”, with a suggestion of humour, of being outdoors a good deal and (in men) of liking whisky.

    Classic conservative faces include Mrs Thatcher’s convivial deputy, Willie Whitelaw, and the late, great W F Deedes, who appeared on the page opposite. Female examples would include Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

    Current examples are worryingly rare among big C Conservatives, but one would be the Brexiteer Owen Paterson. What about Boris Johnson himself? It looks like a conservative face, but this can only be confirmed after October 31.

    A restaurant for ordinary people
    This column’s suggestion of a restaurant chain – working title, Hobson’s – offering absolutely no choice of food and therefore freeing the customer from the agony of decision is gaining ground.

    A learned reader points out that such a phenomenon existed in the 18th century and was called “the ordinary”. I had often noticed the word in writing of the period, but thought it just meant a basic inn. In fact it means (I quote from Johnson’s dictionary) “a place of eating established at a certain price”. Customers of my chain will be proudly known as “ordinary people”.

    1. Far too early to count our chickens, I feel.

      I also feel that the six months we’ve wasted have been very costly and that there needs to be a criminal offence of “Abuse of the public purse”.

      It seems our politicians can chuck public money around like a drunken sailor and, even if it involves waste on a colossal scale, walk off into the sunset with either an honour, a fat pension or both.

      Morning zx.

      1. The jury’s still out on Bojo as far as I’m concerned. I’ll applaud him when we have actually truly left on the due date.

    2. This column’s suggestion of a restaurant chain – working title, Hobson’s – offering absolutely no choice of food and therefore freeing the
      customer from the agony of decision is gaining ground.

      Been there, seen it done it. There were at least two ‘British/Civic’ restaurants in Coventry in the late 40s, early 50s

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Restaurant

      1. Some good BTL comments too:-

        John Bracewell 26 Aug 2019 8:02AM
        I like the caveat that Boris’s face can only be thought conservative after 31st October. So much else is is qualified by that date. If the desired outcome of Leavers, either a new deal that contains none of the traps set by the May agreement, or, a no deal, then apart from the democratic referendum vote being upheld, a General Election win for the PM would be on the cards, uncertainty in the politics and business of this country would be removed, we could get back to normal politics about the economy, education, health and fighting crime.

        We could, with tongue in cheek, after the “catastrophic” injuries sustained from throwing ourselves off the “cliff edge” and “crashing” to the rocks below have healed (so by the end of November), look forward to a future in which our politicians would have to earn their corn once more after a long period of leaning on others who have their own republican, undemocratic and socialist agenda which does not suit the majority in this country.

        Blaise Morris 25 Aug 2019 6:41PM
        Good to see centre right politics being restored.
        The lefties don’t know what is hitting them, Day by day ordinary folk are seeing the light. The Middle Class who pay for everything are getting their mojo back.
        Populism thanks to Nigel Farage and later Donald Trump is at last winning. Boris finally saw the light and jumped on board. Better late than never.
        Now we need a General Election to remove all the bed wetting Tories who should be in the Labour Party.

        John Francis 25 Aug 2019 6:15PM
        The “Little Europeans” are looking like lost souls.

        They are coming to realise that it is Leavers who have the big, open, and inclusive horizons, not them.

        It is a terrible shock to them. We must be kind, as we tear up their world.

        Flag245LikeReply

        Andy Watson 25 Aug 2019 6:45PM
        @John Francis “We must be kind”

        No we mustn’t!

        You can be absolutely certain they wouldn’t be kind to us if they’d won, just look at the hatred, racism, ageism and venom that drips from 90% of Remainling posts.

        They’d have put us in cattle trucks and dispatched us to the Eurofascist gulags at the drop of a hat.

        Flag238LikeReply

        Blaise Morris 25 Aug 2019 6:43PM
        @John Francis Take No Prisoners

        1. I agree with not being kind to remainers – they have been trying to put us to the sword and wish us dead for over three years.

    3. Thank you. Excellent piece by Charles Moore, we did indeed vote clearly and bigly to leave.

      1. I pointed out yesterday to someone who said it was “close” that it was over a million more votes!

  7. Gordon Brown has made another belated comment on the run up to Brexit on 31 October He wants the MPs to take over the HoC for a day to debate ways to stop a No Deal Brexit. He also wants a full report on the consequences of a No Deal Brexit. One thing I agree with is his warning that there should be no referendum on Scottish Independence. BBC Radio 4 News.

    1. If populism is desirable then aren’t referendums desirable too ?

      After all, Brits were heavily in favor of their EU referendum, so it doesn’t seem fair to deny one to the Scots.

      1. They had two, and it’s important the order they were in.

        Firstly the Scots decided through a Referendum to remain a part of a single entity, the United Kingdom. Two years later, that single entity decided as a unit to leave the European Union, again through a Referendum.

        If they wanted this to be otherwise, then Scotland (and London, Northern Ireland and University England) should have secured sovereign autonomy first.

        1. But if a majority of Scots clearly want another referendum, who are you to say “No” ?

          After all, the result of the EU referendum has changed circumstances for them.

          1. They need to establish sufficient autonomy from the UK to preserve their membership of the EU. It need not be complete sovereign independence – there are already provinces of member states that are not themselves members – Greenland, the Channel Islands and French possessions around Africa come immediately to mind.

            For this to work though, the EU needs to recognise Scotland as an ongoing part of the UK with ongoing member rights and responsibilities, even though England and Wales are provincial non-members. At the moment, Westminster will not accept this.

          2. Scottish EU membership is surely something Scots themselves can deal with after independence, if it happens.

            Westminster as everyone knows is anti democratic. They have no moral right to stop Scottish independence if Scots want it.

          3. In 2017 the SNP received a 36.9% share of the vote which, by my reckoning, is substantially short of the 50.1% share required to claim the support of “the majority” of Scots.

          5. Back at a previous election when the SNP had around 56 Mps out of 59, and a majority of the MSPs at Holyrood. They had enough democratically elected representatives to call a general conclave of MPs and MSPs. Had they done so and had voted to secede from the Union it would have bee both legitimate and within the terms of the UN articles. It did not happen. No guts.

            This is from memory. I worked out the figures at the time , more than two-thirds for independence. I have concluded that the SNP are more interested in being in power than implementing the votes of the people. Does that ring any bells in the wider world?

          6. I agree. If I could have voted for the SNP in Worcestershire in 2015, then I would have done, in the hope of transferring the UK Parliament from Westminster to Edinburgh.

            The Scots have got to want independence though. Last time they voted more convincingly against independence than the UK voted for Brexit. I felt that they have work to do first on their military defence capability and their financial reserve, independent of the Bank of England.

          7. I think it would be far better to transfer government to Stormont and let Arlene deal with everything.

            Westminster could then become the latest Trump Heritage Destination with indoor golf and games in the debating chamber.

          9. If I could have voted in the Scottish independence referendum in Shropshire I would have voted for them to go. Unfortunately, neither I, nor my Scots neighbours, were able to.

          10. Westminster has no “moral right” to behave the way it does over Brexit. But it does. I hope that a root and branch reform will follow after October, but I doubt it.

          11. Scottish independence on what terms? And how about Cornish independence? Anyway, if the rest of the UK was polled, Scotland would be independent tomorrow.

          13. Legally Wales as a country does not exist. It is part of England. “Wales” is a courtesy .

          14. The Scots won’t accept autonomy if it comes with having to pay for themselves. They want it all. Well they can’t have it all. We should have an English Parliament. The ridiculous, outdated Barnett formula should be consigned to the dustbin.

          16. Just the SNP.
            The SNP, whilst receiving the largest share of the vote in the 2017 Election, still fell far short of 50%, so it seems there is still no majority wishing another independence vote.

      2. Populism is frowned upon and very undesirable, according to the current wisdom.

        Plus: the Scots had a vote. They voted to stay.

        1. Yes, but the EU referendum changed everything.

          So surely Scots should have another vote ?

          1. They can have as many votes as they like, as far as I’m concerned. That goes for NI, too.

          3. But I think we know, because I believe you told us so, that you are “indifferent” to the needs of others.

            If that’s true, your opinion should surely be disregarded.

    2. The person who invents a medically safe and effective way of removing tattoos would make a fortune.

      I predicted about 20 years ago that tattoos would become as passé as flared trousers and that there would be a fortune to be made from an effective tattoo removal business. I was wrong then – I really cannot understand why good looking people should disfigure themselves with this sort of self-mutilation. I suppose that if you are really ugly a tattoo might divert attention from your ugliness but why did a good looking man like David Beckham disfigure himself with horrible body graffiti?

      1. For the same reason that some of the most stunningly physically attractive people are the most stupid.

        1. What if you’re both thick and ugly? Surely being both I should get some sort of discount on other benficial life advantages, like socks fitting?

          1. Pull one of your ill-fitting socks down over your head.

            Otherwise I don’t know; I don’t wear them.

      2. Is there a medically safe and effective way of removing flared trousers, especially loon pants, from history?

        1. Judi Dench and David Dimbleby think that their tattoos give them street cred with the younger generation.

          I think it makes them rather sad old people who do not understand that they are most despised by those to whom they suck up. I am sure that your MR will agree with me that the worst thing a teacher can do is to be sycophantic towards his or her pupils.

      5. A friend of mine is having his removed (I suspect because the new wife does not approve) by laser treatment. It looks painful, to say the least.

  10. Why did Obama try to discourage Brits from voting Leave, and why did he tell them they’d be “back of the queue” for a trade deal ?

    Easy peasy…………..

    Who runs the EU ?

    Who was Obama’s best friend according to Peter Schweitzer and allegedly involved in “deals” with him ?

    Who has spent £millions to stop Brexit ?

    2. PP, your fascination with Mr Palindrome (© Rastus, I believe) being Mr Big is wearing thin. This person is a newcomer, a juvenile even, in the control of money, power etc. Isn’t it more likely that the real Messrs Big have been around for generations, centuries even, and that your bête noire is merely their bagman whom they allow to have a few crumbs from their infinitely more richly laden tables?

      1. No.

        The West is dealing with a new phenomenon in Goldfinger.

        You just haven’t realized it yet.

    3. Why was it considered all right for Obama to interfere with the EU referendum but not at all all right for Trump to take sides in the British EU debate?

      Are the remainers incapable of seeing that they are dishonest, inconsistent and hypocritical?

  11. OT – funny thing, life. Last night -a gorgeous evening, the MR and I walked through the village to the lake. Clear sky, sunset just starting. Perfect.

    The village is mediaeval – narrow streets; houses with no gardens (some have a yard at the back where they used to keep rabbits). 30 years ago, on summer evenings, people would be sitting outside every house. A walk to the lake would take twice as long, because one kept stopping to natter.

    Nowadays – not a soul sits outside their house. We saw nobody. Very sad.

    1. They knew that the Eagle was on the prowl, perhaps? 😳

      ‘Morning, Bill. (Only joking, of course.)

    2. Morning Bill,

      I can imagine you will miss your walks .
      Things always change, perhaps all those who used to sit outside are now dead and gone .

      1. Hullo, Mags. We have lots of other walks planned.

        You are right. It used to be the grandparents who sat out; with their children. The old ones are dead. Their children are now old, but choose to watch telly or play with their phones. Their children have left the village.

  12. D-Day: beyond the myth of the Good War. Spiked. JAMES WOUDHUYSEN
    6th June 2019

    Especially given Churchill’s disaster at Gallipoli (1915-16) and his backing for a disastrous test raid by Canadian and British forces on Dieppe (August 1942), Britain’s elite was more cautious than America’s. Helped by a strong Navy, but hindered by a weak economy, limited manpower and earlier wartime reversals, London favoured careful seaborne incursions against the Nazis in southern Europe – a ‘peripheral’ strategy, not a concentrated assault on heavily defended France (12).

    Morning everyone. I missed this when it was first published. It is a political overview of D-Day and while I would disagree with some of Mr Woodhuysen’s opinions he is entitled to them. He is not however allowed to rewrite historical facts. Churchill had many faults and his military judgement was questionable at best but he bears no responsibility for the Dieppe fiasco. He was actually out of the country (he was in Egypt) when told that it had been enacted. A reading between the lines is required to arrive at a judgement as to who was responsible since no record now exists as to the culprit. My conclusion is that it was Mountbatten, a notorious incompetent even in smaller matters. His quip to Churchill in the cable he sent informing him of the disaster “Morale of returning troops reported to be excellent. All I have seen are in great form.” reveals both his mendacity and Royal level IQ!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/06/06/d-day-beyond-the-myth-of-the-good-war/

    1. Good morning, Araminta.

      My conclusion is that it was Mountbatten, a notorious incompetent even in smaller matters.

      This reminds me of Montgomery’s, rather harsh, comment on Mountbatten (I’m paraphrasing here):

      Brave man, very brave man, had three ships sunk from under him. Doesn’t know how to fight a battle.

      Some personalities attempted to put the blame on Montgomery who was involved in the Army side planning of the initial raid that was eventually cancelled the previous July. Montgomery had severe reservations about the raid being re-staged as all the troops had been briefed on the target and secrecy had obviously been compromised. He advised that the raid against Dieppe should be considered cancelled, “for all time.”
      The later plan excluded preliminary bombing of the defences and the replacement of paratroop landings with Royal Marine Commando troops. Putting troops ashore without a major fire support plan does run against Montgomery’s known manner in conducting battles. In addition Montgomery had been in Egypt for a week and was commanding Eighth Army at the time.

      1. Morning Korky. That the orders launching the operation cannot be produced speaks volumes. Even General Sir Archie Nye who was in charge in the UK at the time didn’t know it had been launched. What almost certainly happened is that Mountbatten did it off his own bat without reference to anyone else and all the signals and records relating to it were collected and destroyed afterwards! There’s good reason to think from this and other actions he was involved in, that “Dickie” as he was affectionately known was clinically stupid.

        1. The Royals aren’t known for their sagacity. There are exceptions – Princess Anne and (perhaps) the Queen.

    2. Yet many lessons were learned from the Dieppe raid, unfortunately at a large cost in men & materiel – maybe these lessons could have been learned by mock invasions around the UK coastline. Lessons such as tanks don’t climb pebbly beaches well; seawalls are hard to breach; supply of fuel and ammunition is crucial; harbour facilities will be needed for handling the volume of supplies reliably. These were addressed for the D-Day landings, which is why they were a success.

    3. Churchill wasn’t solely responsible for Gallipoli, either, although he was responsible for Fisher’s appointment. Churchill wanted to send more aircraft, but they didn’t get dispatched.

          1. I do believe that night-time somnulent ejaculation is a well-known medical condition. But not if one’s dreams are haunted by parrots.

  14. SIR – John Humphrys (report, August 17) relates that he was uncertain how to address a burglar.

    I, too, experienced this social awkwardness when, in the middle of the night, I saw two men with torches prowling about in next door’s garden. Our neighbours were away. Without thinking, I opened my bedroom wìndow, leant out and said loudly, “Can I help you?” in what I hoped was an authoritative manner. I was ready to do a quick spring backwards just in case they tried to shoot me, but they turned out to be local policemen investigating a reported break-in.

    How should I have challenged them? I felt that I was altogether too English.

    Liz Wheeldon
    Seaton, Devon

    Well, Elizabeth, perhaps you ought to have substituted your banal “Can I help you?” with a more correct (and more pleasing to the ear) “MAY I help you?”

    Anyone making any request, in my earshot commencing with the word “can” (“Can I get…?” being the most irritating) invariably gets a short retort of “How the hell am I supposed to know what your capabilities are?”

    [My challenge to the burglar would be to wield a pickaxe handle (or my machete) and ask them, “Would you like some of this?”]

    1. Isn’t language wonderful! If I were that burglar, I’d reply “yes please, hand me that jemmy”.

    2. Good morning Grizzly, one and all.
      Surely Grizz one ought never say “may I get …”?😊

      1. Surely Grizz one ought never say “may I get …”?

        Con permiso…

        Surely, Grizz, one ought should never say “may I get …”?

      2. Good morning, vw.

        I agree, it is ear-gratingly annoying.

        My preference would be, “May I have…?” or “Would it be possible for me to order…?”

        Most youngsters, in particular, as well as many adults have become slaves to banal and witlessly trite American slang.

          1. Tjena, min vän.

            Deferential is not so bad, only pinkoes and the “me me me” generation eschew it. I prefer to think it give the feeling of old fashioned good manners.

        2. Saw “mac ‘n’ cheese” on the menu in a pub which I had taken to be respectable.

        3. We have become slaves to American banalities. Full. Stop. They have very little to give to us.

          1. Morning HL

            I have met a few Americans , a couple of very clever ones , their cleverness was confined to one particular subject , but their real substance was shallow , awkward and rather insular .

            Hang on , did I just really say that ?

        4. “Get” is such an ugly word. Although I have to confess to using that word occasionally myself – I am not perfect I’m sorry to say!

          2. Jambo, Ndovu, jua linapanda mbinguni…

            I’m intrigued to see the full version of go”t.

          3. Jambo Peddy………
            Go”t is the result of a combination of slow internet and sticky keyboard. Everything I type is delayed by several seconds, sometimes several minutes.

            You’re very lucky I’m here at all to brighten your sunny morning. It was thick fog here earlier on.

          6. ‘Morning, Jules, good to know you can now see your keyboard as the fog has cleared. {:¬)

        5. ‘Morning, George, my favourite retort to any American lanaguage that falls on these old ears, is to say, I haven’t gotten acclimated to being burglarized.”

    3. Addressing a burglar – ‘”when you have grounded your club immediately in front of or immediately behind the burglar, whether or not he has taken his stance.”

      2. Most ladies of my experience keep their legs on the floor and dance the “Can’t Can’t.” :•)

        1. Most that I’ve met “keep their mind on the money & their eyes on the wall”.

      3. I believe that the Folies Bergères insisted that their dancers did not wear any undergarments when they did this dance.

  16. A Scots woman went to the local newspaper office to publish the obituary for her recently deceased husband.
    The obits editor informed her that there is a charge of 50 pence per word.
    She paused, reflected and then said, “Aye, well then, let it read, ‘Angus MacPherson died’.”
    Amused at the woman’s thrift, the editor told her that there is a six-word minimum for all obituaries.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8432660a148291f8dcf36fd020a1d94f3746cd6f7a83f87f0d2da6ad1b6a3964.jpg

    She thought it over for a while and that said, “Ach, in that case, let it read…
    ‘Angus MacPherson died. Bagpipes for sale’.”

    1. I enjoyed this joke but would it be politically correct to say that it reinforces appalling racist or nationalistic stereotypes!

      2. ‘Morning, Richard, you’re right, it would be politically correct but then, political correctness is an ideology I cannot, nor will not, subscribe to.

        To those who wish to be politically correct, please subsitute for Scots, any tight-ärsed, penny-pinching, old git of your acquaintance.

        1. We used to have ‘received pronunciation’ now we are fed ‘received opinion’.

          It was political correctness and not the excellent joke that I was mocking.

          1. Of course, I figured that, Richard. I just took the opportunity to take a swipe at Political Correctness.

        2. ‘Morning, Tom.

          Political “correctness”, Health and “safety”, and Instant “coffee” are the oxymoronic abominations of the age.

      3. Just had a lovely weekend entertaining my cousin (Richard, must be a good chap with a name like that), and his girlfriend.

        My cousin is a Derbyshire man, through and through, and his girlfriend hails from Yorkshire. They spent the entire weekend gently teasing each other as to which county is the “best”.

        I acted as referee since I am a “mongrel” with a 50/50 split of blood from both counties (and with a deep love of both). It was all jolly good fun and no one was offended by anything said.

        1. A few weeks ago I joined Moh at his golf club, and met one of the chaps he had been playing golf with , an ex policeman and he came from Derbyshire . For a few short minutes I was laughing with tears in my eyes , his jolly happy persona had a profound effect on me .. especially by some one I had never met before .

          3. Er, well , surprised that someone , a stranger had made me laugh and paid me some attention !

            That’s what husbands are like, aren’t they.

            Morning Phizzee

        2. As you may be aware, Griz, one of Sheffield’s tram lines runs briefly through Derbyshire.

          1. Oh yes, Joe.

            You also might be aware that the York/Derbys border has fluctuated over the years. When I was born, Beighton, Halfway and Mosborough were all in Derbyshire but Sheffield swallowed them up decades ago.

            Barlborough (near J.30 of the M1) was also scheduled to move “north” in 1974, but a group of villagers, led by my cousin, marched on Downing Street and handed over a signed petition that stated “Over our dead bodies!” Barlborough remains in Derbyshire.

          2. Meat and drink to me, that kind of thing. One very windy day we drove to the Holme Moss transmitter. I noticed that the county boundary did not follow the height of land, as might be expected but was a chain or so to the south.

          1. “Unfortunately your image upload failed. Please verify that your image is in a supported format (JPEG, PNG, or GIF) and under 5MB. If you continue seeing this error, please try again later.”

            Ho-hum. No cure, it seems.

          3. Well, it is a jpg. So, I am at a loss. I know little, and nothing at all technical.

    2. Yo Grizz

      I see that the Royal Mint issued a commemerative ‘apeknee’ for my birth year

      1. The memory I have is just how heavy the coins were in the pocket. As a teenager, pockets had to be replaced quite frequently.

        1. I recall doing morning and evening paper rounds and collecting Xmas tips, both pockets of my coat sagging with the weight of an assortment of half crowns, florins, shillings and the ‘widow’s mite’ of two sixpences.

  20. Interestingly an ex UK border force boss said that electronic systems for checking goods away from the boarder do exist and are used so the claims by the Retainers that such systems do not exist is False.

    If you think about it if you have goods delivered to your home most companies have full traceability and you can see where the goods are and the route they are taking . If you take food it has even more traceability a packed of bacon for example bought in a supermarket can be tracked back to the processing plant and the production line and the date of manufacture and it can go even further back to the slaughterhouse and back to the farm and back to the actual animal

    3. Yep.
      “Your order is being prepared”
      “Your order has been collected by the carrier”
      “Your order is at sorting depot”
      “Your order is in transit to delivery depot”
      “Your order is at delivery depot”
      “Your order is out for delivery”
      “Your order has been thrown over your back fence”

      1. “Your order has been delayed
        Your order is back at the sorting depot.

        Your order is out again for delivery.
        Your order is in the woodshed.”
        Only they don’t tell you where they left it, you find it sometime ( a few days) later.

        1. One smart* person put our parcel in the roadside waste bin, the green one not the recycling. We found it when depositing waste.
          There is a big notice on our front door “If out leave parcel round the back in kennel”.
          It can be read from the road by anyone who can read.

          Yes, Hermes man, we know it was you.

          1. I had a knock at the door the other day from a Yodel man – surprise! they are usually one of the worst.

            Last year I ordered some plants – they arrived after six days in transit, brown and slimy. the replacements were marginally better – at least I managed to nurture them back to life.

          2. One of my friends had that happen, too. He said it was the last time he was going to order plants off that company.

  21. Talking of the backstop, and it’s insurmountability, a tactic used in pure maths to get around obstacles is the third party option, for example, something like the square root of minus 1.

    If all goods flowing from Eire to the U.K. travelled via an imaginary third party country, say Laputa, all EU export needs etc can be satisfied. Also, if all goods imported from Eire to the U.K. had to be acquired from Laputa, satisfying all our import needs…

    And vice versa.

    Laputa’s systems are so swift, it behaves like a seamless process.

    Wot’s not to like?

    (I’m taking some strong medicine at the moment, so be nice to me…)

    2. The back stop is an EU invention, The reality is that the checking of all goods coming across a border ceased many years ago. The sheer volume of good means that cannot happen. Take the container ports Thousands of containers come in each day and will be shipped out within a day or two

      The checking of goods no takes place away from the ports. Only a small sample of good are checked at the port which is in reality a quality check to ensure the goods match with the paper work( Well more often than not it is not paper but a data file)

      1. Good morning Bill. You may not have been to Laputa. I visited there during the night.
        Goods remain in transit for slightly less than half a nanosecond. The invoices cannot get printed before they are balanced by a payment for goods flowing in the opposite direction. This has the added benefit of saving paper, and inkjet cartridges.
        Some EU inspectors are considering not building the Laputa depots because goods doesn’t get wet in there. Even in the heaviest rainstorms, they go through the system in between individual drops…

        I wish someone at DexEU would develop this theme a little more. I’m exhausted !

      2. I worked for freight forwarding firms in Birmingham from 1973 to 1975. Even then, goods would enter ports in shipping containers or in artics, sealed under TIR agreements. These then arrived at the Inland Port or Containerbase in Birmingham where they were cleared by HM Customs and Excise. The most time consuming part of the process was the use of hand-typed documents and having these taken by hand first to HM C and E in the city centre, thereafter to the depots themselves on the bus by the office junior (Me).

        1. Yo Thayric

          It has been my favourite rum for years

          When asked, at a bar or party etc, what I would like in it, the only answer is another Woods please.

          You must not adulterate this drink with ‘cola’ of which there are 1000s of varieties.

          Whisky drinkers who ‘demand’ a named brand, then put ice or water in ruin their drinks as well

          If you want ice in a ‘good’ spririt, get Granite Stones to freeze. They cool/chill without diluting the drink

          1. If I’m going for rum and coke then a bottle of Captain Morgan’s suffices. The only thing I ever dilute Wood’s with is a tiny drop of peppermint cordial. Just a little splash.

    8. Trump: of the things I do for my country, this must be the most unpleasant.

      Merkel: he has been dying to touch me for years.

  23. Morning larf. The MR is having a really jolly time choosing the 20 or so new roses we need for our extended rose-bed in Norfolk.

    We found one – nice looking and fragrant – called “Uncle Bill”. One of the websites says:

    “Uncle Bill is liable to die-back…”

    4. But is it a climber? Talking of which, I’ve just done my front hedge with my nice new extended pole Ryobi trimmer. No more ladders!

  25. BTL on Scyld Berry’s article re:Headingley Test match

    John bailey 25 Aug 2019 6:58PM
    Ben Stokes is:

    a) A Leaver

    b) Never reads the Guardian

    Otherwise he would have known what he achieved was impossible

  26. If I click on the blob by my name and then click on a post I have made today in notifications my screen not only reverts to blue writing but it stops jumping around. Bliss. I am using Chrome.

  28. There was an interesting notice in my doctor’s surgery this week (one super doctor only and a lovely friendly surgery):

    In the last week 12 people failed to turn up for their appointments ….

    I reckon some penalty system needs to be devised.

    1. The lovely Patricia Hewitt (spit) banned dentists from charging their NHS patients for missed appointments back in the ’00s.

      1. She and Harriet Harman were supporters of PIE and wanted the age if sexual consent reduced.

    2. The PC brigade will cry and weep about it stopping the poor going to visit a GP. Interestingly it tend to be the poor that just don’t bother to turn up

      A simply low cost way is you have to pay a £50 deposit to the GP practice. If you don’t turn up without previously cancelling you forfeit the £50. Exceptionally this could be waived such as a sudden heavy snowfall or you are rushed off to hospital

    3. Make them pay for their next appoinment. £5 first time, £10 second time and so on.

        1. I used to charge £5 for a missed routine appt back in the early ’80s. (In the days before P. Hewitt.)

        2. Well you say that but a GP Doctor friend of mine some years ago I grant you, said that even if you only charged 50p an appointment it would reduce the ammount of time wasters signifcantly. I dont think it has to be ” penal” ” an act or offence punishable by law” .

    4. Many appointments are missed at our practice, because the date of the appointment is so far ahead that by the time it comes you are either better or dead.

          1. My NHS dentist sends me a text reminder and my optician rings me up the day before an appointment.

      2. Those that get better should cancel their appts then.

        In one of our clinics we have a six week wait for appointments yet approx 20% of those pts who do have an appt just don’t turn up.

        1. Human nature. Such is life. The same people would complain like mad if their bus didn’t turn up on time.

    5. In Norway, unless under 18 or over 70, you pay to visit any doctor for outpatients / GP services. Mine costs me £22 a visit, paid there and then by credit card or debit card, plus extras for consumables.
      If I book and don’t turn up, the straight consultation fee is billed to you – so, £22 to not see the doctor, plus an administration fee. Concentrates the mind somewhat.

      1. A small fee of say £5 for GP appointments would stop a lot of the timewasters and those that go to get over the counter medicines for free(They have tightened up on that a bit though used to be able to get bread and cakes free on the NHS in some cases)

        1. Typical of you not being able to think things through.

          If we start charging for the GP what will those do who can’t or won’t pay? Where will they go? Do you think they will simply sit at home? No. Of course they won’t. They will turn up at their local A&E or walk-in centre which are already dealing with more visitors than they can handle.

          Waiting times in A&E haven’t been on target since 2011.

      2. Naturally, the UK’s assorted lefties (“the NHS is a national treasure) and their MSM broadcasters give this from reputedly socialist Scandinavia no oxygen of publicity. If the Tories had some backbone they’d introduce some useful reform along these lines.

    6. I seriously did once receive an NHS letter in March offering me an appointment in February (of the same year). It wasn’t the post office to blame either. The letter heading was actually dated March. A pleasant phone call sorted it and was followed up with an emailed apology.

      1. And this from an organisation which is supposed to be expert at distinguishing &rses from elbows. 🙂

    7. Our surgery has had the same notice up for the last 3 years saying the number of appointments missed last month was 192. Try phoning up to get one of those missed appointments.
      I agree there needs to be a charge for all who miss appointments. £30 per time?

  30. From today’s DT Letters:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0941d7a45c67aad74ce7f692af0c56e819160d9ec5d0ebebb813c9b414d57454.png

    Mr. Paskett makes a good point. It’s worth mentioning that the “Great Apologiser”, Tony Bliar, who apologised to all and sundry, to black Africans for the slave trade, to the inhabitants of the Asian sub-continent for the British Raj and to the Irish for the Potato Famine, never apologised to the descendants of the Highland diaspora who were driven from their homes during the infamous ‘Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal’……. the bastard!

    1. It is total madness to pay out for what was normal practice centuries ago. What next compensation for relatives of British children that were sent down mines ?

        1. And of course we had forms of slavery up until almost living memory know as being In Service & Farm workers with tied cottages. It was not far removed from the later years of so called slavery in fact in India they were probably far better off having a roof over there head and food

          1. If slavery was so awful and paradise was to remain unenslaved, why do the modern-day descendants not return to Africa and other locations, and live with their unenslaved relatives?

          3. We are being milked for everything we have got .

            I guess these people will be really exploited by their own kind if they return to the land of their grandparents!

          5. I would be happy to contribute for them to go back, as long as I can be absolutely sure that they can’t possibly come here again.

          6. Oh dear !! We had apprenticeships and ” articles “. And even had to pay to be taken on.
            Five years’ articles with one pound a week for the first two years and one pound fifty as it is now for the next three.
            No wonder us un-affluent ones lived at home with our parents.

          7. It was little more than pocket money now they expect to be paid at least £25K a year during their training and want to be able to leave the minute they complete their training

    2. How long before we have the drone of shyster lawyers on the TV and radio offering to obtain thousands of pounds in reparations for the descendants of erstwhile slaves – with the caveat that the claimant must be of colour? It will make the PPI claims scheme look like small beer.

    3. In 1807, Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which outlawed the slave trade, but not slavery itself. This legislation imposed fines that did little to deter slave trade participants. Abolitionist Henry Brougham realized that trading had continued and as a new MP successfully introduced the Slave Trade Felony Act 1811 which at last made slavery a felony act through the empire. The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. It did suppress the slave trade, but did not stop it entirely. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans.[6] They resettled many in Jamaica and the Bahamas.[7][8] Britain also used its influence to coerce other countries to agree to treaties to end their slave trade and allow the Royal Navy to seize their slave ships.[9][10]

      I’d say we did our bit. Slavery had been going on for centuries, millennia even. We’ve paid in millions and millions in Foreign Aid to the same countries.

      The Act provided for payments to slave-owners. The amount of money to be spent on the payments was set at “the Sum of Twenty Million Pounds Sterling”.[18] Under the terms of the Act, the British government raised £20 million (£16.5 billion in 2013 pounds, when calculated as wage values)[19] to pay out for the loss of the slaves as business assets to the registered owners of the freed slaves. In 1833, £20 million amounted to 40% of the Treasury’s annual income[20] or approximately 5% of the British GDP[21] (5% of the British GDP in 2016 was around £100 billion).[22] To finance the payments, the British government had to take on a £15 million loan, finalised on 3 August 1835, with banker Nathan Mayer Rothschild and his brother-in-law Moses Montefiore. The money was not paid back until 2015.[23]

      We’ve all paid in our taxes. Anyone demanding reparations now can jog on.

  31. Sir – Glasgow University (report, August 24) wishes to pay reparations for historical monies from benefactors active in slavery. This could be hard to compute, especially as pertains to the father of James Watt.

    A visitor to Jacmel on Haiti’s south coast will find rusty remains of a Watt steam engine hidden in the brush near the town’s runway. One could argue that steam did as much as the abolition of slavery to lessen its continuance.

    On Haiti’s west coast, near Les Anglais, lie the remains of its indigo industry. Local people say the sands are white from the bones of Scots who died in bondage after the Clearances.

    Perhaps Glasgow University should pay reparations to the descendants of those who fled Scotland. It’s certainly far easier to compute.

    Curtis Paskett
    Buckhurst Hill, Essex

    As lamentable an event that the Highland clearances were in the annals of British history, it is interesting to speculate whether they would have taken place at all if it were not for successive attempts at insurgency on England by bloodthirsty Scottish hordes. The last straw was when those beskirted warriors followed the manic call of an exiled Italian dwarf (Billy Connolly’s description), in the diminutive figure of “Bonnie” Prince Charles Edward Stuart on his misguided march on London, which only got as far as Derby before tiredness, hunger and apathy took over and his crew were chased all the way back up to Culloden where they were given a good hiding.

    It would be interesting to moot whether the Bonnie Prince’s pastiche of a 21st century successor, Wee Nicola Krankie, will be as unsuccessful as he was in her determination to make her countryfolk political pariahs.

    1. Can we charge the Scottish for the cost of Hadrian’s Wall? just think how much better off they would be had they benefited from Roman civilisation.

        1. ‘Morning, Spikey, my understanding is that at that time the Romans wished to contain marauding Picts. At what point they became Scots (if they ever did) I have no idea.

          My history tells me that it was Angles, Saxons, Jutes etc., who forced the Celts to retreat to what is now Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Conwall with an overspill into what is now, Brittany.

    2. I’m surprised you’re on the side of the usurping dour Hanoverian, Drizzle, instead of the infinitely more fun and romantic Charles Stuart….

      After all, Mutty and George might well be related…….

      So surely you should have another think ?

    3. Krankie has simply become a figure of fun. “Scoootland!” If the Scots vote for her and her ilk, let them go their own way. We’ll be better off, they will be “independent” in the EU (they hope). What’s not to like?

  32. “The

    EU is mulling a €100bn sovereign wealth fund in a bid to create

    “European champions” that can take on Silicon Valley and China’s tech

    giants.

    Plans put forward by EU officials warned of the

    “unprecedented financial means” available to companies outside Europe

    such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Alibaba and Tencent.

    A “European Future Fund” is part of a list of proposals by

    officials in Brussels that could become policies under Ursula von der

    Leyen, the next European Commission president.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/08/23/eu-mulls-100bn-fund-take-silicon-valley-chinas-tech-titans/
    Run by the EU Commission??
    Snigger………………….

    2. It could be run and administered by that other successful EU money making organisation, the Mafia.

    3. And most will go on paying officials fat salaries and most of the schemes will fall flat on their face

      How many UK schemes go wrong? in fact they cannot even contract out services properly and monitor them

      Look at Crossrail? Any half decent Contract Manager would have been able to tell TfL that the contract was miles behind and over budget. You cannot go from being weeks away from opening to being 3 years behind. It should have been pretty east to spot that stations were nowhere near complete and that the signalling systems were not working. I expect that whoever was supposed to be overseeing the contract for TfL never ventured out of the office. He was probably o fat bonus as well

      1. I’m pretty cynical, Bill, but even I was shocked by that sudden massive reversal of progress.

        1. One could broadly equate it to a new house where the builders have given a date to move in and where they are doing their final snagging list and then turning around and say sorry you cannot move in we have found there is no rook on the house and the central heating has not been fitted

          How an earth heads have not rolled over the cross rail fiasco who knows. In my view a number of people at the top had to be grossly incompetent

          I remember seeing some of them at a government enquiry on TV. They sat they looking at the floor when asked who was responsibly and they claimed they did not know who was in charge

      2. …..was on a fat bonus? He probably still is on the basis that he got it into this mess and he’ll get it sorted (one other sex is available in case it’s a she).

    5. EU is mulling a €100bn sovereign wealth slush fund in a bid to create…

      Closer to the mark?

    6. Just made a quick Google search to find out how far the EU is trying to get its greasy fingers on the CERN project.

      EU invests €230 million in breakthrough physics research at CERN. … Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: “This loan under Horizon 2020, the EU’s research funding programme, will help keep CERN and Europe at the forefront of particle physics research.

      Fortunately the majority of CERN’s funding is derived from its partners i.e. the Nations involved in the enterprise and smaller donations from ‘observer’ countries. It should never be allowed to fall under the control of the EU.

    7. Those companies grew under venture capital and in other cases hard work starting small.

      What the Eu means is it wants it’s own, nicely state controlled and dependent organisations so it can block out the other free market ones.

      Just like communist China!

    8. ” …EU officials warned of the unprecedented financial means. available to companies outside Europe…”

      Ah, you mean, what do they call them, now? That’s it! Investors!

      After all these years and the rise and fall of the USSR, have they not yet learned that the best thing “the state” can do is get out of the way, rather than trying to meddle – or even worse, trying to control investment and innovation (the dirigiste EU’s default position).

  33. To beat Trump in 2020, Democrats will need to get down and dirty. Nesrine Malik. Mon 26 Aug 2019

    To prepare for 2020 the Democrats must hold their noses and wade into the immigration and race melee. They must do it with conviction, consistency and emotional resonance, rather than with a sort of competent, managerial presence that frowns upon engaging with Trump on his own terms as unruly. Being reactive and “fact-checking” Trump can only get us so far. The fight must be both dirty and inspiring. It needs to get to a point where a Democratic presidential candidate can say: “The longer Trump and the Republicans talk about identity politics, I got ’em.”

    Let’s see. They hired someone to write an entirely fictitious and malicious account of Trumps activities in Moscow. Smeared him as a racist, misogynist, sexist, traitorous Russian toady. Instigated an illegal investigation with the connivance of the Deep State and attempted to impeach him on the basis of these allegations!

    What else is there?

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/26/trump-2020-democrats-identity-politics

    1. Maybe the Dems should find out what troubles voters, and seek to fix that. Slagging Trump might seem oh, so very clever, but won’t win elections. Rednecks outnumber SJWs, and Trump appeals to the Rednecks – the ones who lose their jobs when industry is exported rather than products, and when cheap labour is imported.

      1. Our ‘government’ please take note. We’ve been telling you this for a long time.
        Repeal the Climate Change Act and this infantile notion that you can have a carbon free whatever it is by 2050.
        Get rid of all Green Taxes as they penalise the poor, they export jobs to countries who don’t give a toss about the West’s infatuation with CO2 and make the landowners richer.

    3. To prepare for 2020 the Democrats must hold their noses and wade into the immigration and race melee. They must do it with conviction, consistency and emotional resonance, rather than with a sort of competent, managerial presence that frowns upon engaging with Trump on his own terms as unruly.

      Oh, very funny. I love their dry wit and humour, suggesting that the Democrats haven’t been banging on about racism at every available opportunity. Hold their noses?!! As if! They’re neck deep in it. They talk about nothing else, including their economic policies, which amount to letting in as many illegals as can cross the border, then giving them an unlimited amount of free stuff, e.g. healthcare, living wage, university tuition, you name it, the US taxpayer pays for it.
      And anyone who objects is a racist!!!

  34. Funny old world

    I note as BoJo and the Donald talk trade the hoary old “Chlorinated Chicken” non-problem rears its head again,I can understand why,the horrific death toll by chicken poisoning reported from all over the USA and the mass casualties among Brit tourists visiting the States would give anyone pause…………

    Meanwhile last year we imported 127,000 tons of chicken from Thailand (That,s directly gawd knows how much of the “Dutch” imports are rebranded Thai) a country that uses slave labour in its food processing industry.

    If it treats its workers this way what do you imagine the animal husbandry standards are…………………….

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1688443/scandal-for-tesco-and-asda-as-thai-slave-workers-found-raising-chickens-for-uk-supermarkets/
    Now about those bags of salad on the shelves………

      1. I make fine curries at home and have long since quit the “Indian” takeaways,didn’t fancy the cheap chicken,with the current sheep rustling outbreak I don’t fancy the lamb either
        Processed chicken products?? Yuk
        Afternoon Willum

        2. Pork and chicken in Norfolk, ONLY from Martin’s Farm, Hindolveston. All livestock lives a normal life in the open air.

          Beef – from Papworth’s butchers, Fakenham – rear their own cattle.

      1. Well it will not have been washed in Chlorine but will have been washed in the local polluted river

        1. Along with the Basa (Pangasius bocourti) fish, leave well alone.
          I buy my chicken breasts from my local butcher, whose supplier is located in Suffolk, and they are excellent.

          1. I buy my meat from Field & Flower, it’s delivered and I know exactly where it came from and how the animals were treated. It’s bit more expensive, but who needs meat every day?

    4. Been eating American chicken for the best part of 40 years. It’s widely consumed and is cheap – which may be the real reason British farmers don’t like the idea very much.

      1. Cheaper than Thai?? I doubt it,it isn’t the farmers protesting anyway.it’s the remoaners

    2. Good afternoon, Duncan.

      The morning shift (i.e. me) gave a long answer to that letter 5 hours ago. :•)

  37. Good morning my friends

    Boris has brought a miraculous change to the political weather, as the Remainer world order falls apart
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/08/25/boris-has-brought-miraculous-change-political-weather-remainer/

    Charles Moore returns to his point about right wing and left wing faces saying that Owen Paterson is one of the few Conservative MPs with an appropriate face!

    “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.
    He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.”

    [The Scottish play]

    Of course Duncan made a grave error of judgement about the Thane of Cawdor who betrayed him. The irony of course was that the next Thane of Cawdor, whom he also trusted, murdered him in his bedchamber.

    Let us hope those who have faith in Boris achieving a proper WTO Brexit are right to have faith in him.

    (If this article has not already been posted please let me know and I shall do it)

    1. Good morning Richard
      The article was posted a couple of hours ago. Can’t remember who by.

      1. But it still bears repeating.
        Regarding people’s faces indicating their political stances, who could mistake Philip Hammond for anything but the lying, two faced weasel that he is?

    2. It is quite clear that May and Hammond were doing nothing at all to implement Brexit and were openly trying to obstruct it

      At the moment the EU seem to ne hedging their bets. They see Boris as being serious about taking us out of the EU but equally they see Hamond & Corbyn and Grieves etc actively trying to wreck Brexit so they are waiting to see what happens at present

    3. The DM has some pretty horrible pics of very large people in very skimpy costumes at the festival.

    2. Afternoon Rik,

      They will have UKIP incarcerated bang to the establishments rights then,
      You don’t join UKIP unless you put the welfare of the country first and foremost, and mass uncontrolled immigration parties over the decades have most certainly NOT done that.

    6. Yo Rik

      With the statement criminalise migration speech, comments supporting migration will be a crime as well

  43. Good morning, all. It’s good news week!

    Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to improve the lot of those suffering from dementia. Speaking at a meeting of ‘Action on Dementia’ in Edinburgh, the First Minister said:

    “Although many advances have been made in the treatment of physical maladies, not enough attention has been paid to addressing the problem of dementia.

    Despite Brexit, the SNP’s pro-active policies have turned Scotland into one of the top countries in Europe in which to be physically sick. But there is still much to do. It is not yet a very good country in which to become demented, but our policies are designed to ensure that it soon will be.”

    Under the guidance of Clare Haughey MSP, Minister for Mental Health, online advice for sufferers is being offered on a new user-friendly website.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bad0ae2f95c7ee3fb4fc3fbcd3e9fbc4e13d6d40694e654ea64ee64057830748.png

    2. I can’t complain at the support and advice given by Alzheimers (Scotland) when my wife was diagnosed with dementia and the care she receives in the NHS run home is superb

      1. Glad to hear it, Spikey. Hope I didn’t offend you, my intention was to mock the SNP, not those unfortunates who are afflicted by Alzheimer’s.

        It was meant as a joke, possibly not in the best of taste but a joke nonetheless, an example of ‘gallows humour’. We always joke about that which we fear the most.

      2. My mother-in-law had Alzheimers and was in a residential home in Holland and was very well looked after.

        She was a very difficult woman and in the end she forgot who her husband was – this broke his heart and his will to live and he predeceased her by a year.

        The one thing that brought a glimmer into her life was music and she could still hum melodies from her youth even though other communication went.

        You are to be greatly applauded for what you do to bring music into people’s lives.

    4. Despite Brexit? Dear life. It’s boring now.

      How about ‘thnks to generous government funding?’ Or even better ‘generous English cash, taken willingly and whinged about profusively’

  44. Reducing the TV Licence Fee

    Cut the number of BBC TV channels say two at most. Cut the number of local radio stations all they do is pump out pop music

    Put a cap on the maximum pay for BBC staff say £500,000 as year max. Pay for a particular job say present should not vary by more than +- 20%

    The TV licence fee to also take account the number of repeats(Revisited type programs will be regarded as repeats. Programs moved to another channel will also count as repeats)

    20% repeats will be allowed but anything above that level will result in a reduction to the TV licence fear so 20% of repeats means the full licence fee can be charged but 30% repeats would result in a 10% reduction to the licence fee

    1. Staff pay is an interesting one.

      Much like civil service pay – there’s no risk in the role. You won’t get fired for being incompetent, rather you’ll be promoted.

      The pension is good and there’s no pesky market to satisfy.

      1. One of the things they want extra money for is so they can compete with Netflix, et al. Why should they even be doing that? Except they have this attitude that they should be the dominant player in all forms of broadcast and online entertainment – and they need your money to do it with.

        The government should just take an axe to the license fee and force the BBC to get rid of the inefficiency and “bloat” that has grown up over time.

        1. The TV licence is just an historical anachronism dating back to the first days of TV. They need to find a way to pay for the programs hence the licence fee. If you had a TV you watched the BBC as there was nothing else

    2. ” …… will result in a reduction to the TV licence fear …..”

      That’d be good. It’s not right, these auld folk living in fear of the Capita mercenaries, hired by the BBC to enforce the payment of the TV tax.

  45. We have all just returned home from the one of the most quintessential of English village fetes , held not too far away from us

    The family attended a beautiful late morning early afternoon treat away from bank holiday chaos and turmoil. The gentle atmosphere comprised of good people with gentle voices , cake stalls, Pims, cider , food , ice cream colourful buntings and the Durnovaria town band .. dog agility demonstration ( which one of my spaniels entered , because he is good at it) and numerous other clever little dogs to see who was handsome , waggiest and lickiest.

    Old fashioned side stalls , hoopla and coconut stand and many other well remembered attractions kept little ones and big ones happy .. Son , who was a good bowler won 2 coconuts.. he bowled a good one and knocked two off at once .. What do I do with 2 coconuts?

    The village sports ground and pavilion where the event was held was buzzing with chatter and a feel good factor .

    Worlds away from the BBC wittering on the radio about the Notting Hill carnival feel good factor , which we listened to on the way back home .

    This is how villages celebrate their summers and raise money for causes near to their hearts and of course relying on the good will of volunteers , many elderly people who know a thing or two , who manage to keep our cultural pleasures ticking over nicely. .

    Milborne St Andrew should be very proud of itself today.

        1. Ee, lass, come to the smoke stacks of the North….:-)
          We did have a klezmer group on the village green a couple of weeks ago. Courtesy of the Parish Council, I think.
          Nice. ( There may have been a village 100 years ago, but at least there’s a lot of grass ).
          Similar events twice a year every year in summer.The previous three were cancelled because it rained cats and dogs.

          6. I met him in Leeds at an Irish Centre show; he was a fantastic entertainer. I had a signed menu from the event.

          7. I met him in 1969!
            I spoke to him when he was visiting a farm near Leeds with his gun , to do some shooting , we had rented a cottage on the land .. He turned up in his shooting gear , and chatted a while with ME , he was absolutely charming and very amusing . Very memorable.

            Footballers aren’t like that these days are they, modern players are blinged up and so arrogant .

          9. I could, yes I might.

            Before I got married , I caught the Pullman , probably to Leeds to visit Aunt and an amazing man with an Irish accent asked if it was alright to share the dining table I was sitting at .. trains were different then..

            This very entertaining happy pleasant looking man talked and chatted in the nicest possible way, and chatted about football.. He was Danny Blanchflower .. how did I know, well I didn’t ..only that several passengers stopped by the dining car table to ask for his autograph !

            Innocence and ignorance is bliss.

    2. Mainly gone the same way as the traditional street market. Most are now a pale shadow of what they used to be . The old market traders were also in my view showman and their pitch was a part of the entertainment of a market

    3. We went to a sort of summer fete at Woodgate Nursery (plant nursery) in Aylsham about a month ago. Lots of stalls, local crafts, show gardens, farm machinery, food, etc, etc. That was nice.

    4. “What do I do with 2 coconuts?”

      Milk ’em for all they’re worth, Maggie!
      ;¬)

  46. Brexit Party Conference Season Kick Off Next Monday

    The first Conference takes place next Monday in Colchester at the Job Serve Community Stadium, Mile End, CO4 5UP

    These series of events are a chance to meet your local MEPs and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates on a one-to -one basis to discuss local policy ideas, prior to a speech with Nigel Farage and keynote speakers from the region.

    Tickets are £5 . If you wish to pitch policy ideas to the party you need top pre book a session

    These series of events are a chance to meet your local MEPs and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates on a one-to -one basis to discuss local policy ideas, prior to a speech with Nigel Farage and keynote speakers from the region.

    If you want to pitch policy ideas you need to pre book a session using this link https://calendly.com/tbp-121/colchester?month=2019-09

  47. Not for me this hot weather. I’ve just come in and am sweating like a banana.

    I posted a picture of ‘Blackberry Way’ the other week, it being a path I discovered which has been blocked off for years. Needless to say, it was a bit overgrown and brambly.

    Anyhow, since it’s a quiet spot and since it’s a bank holiday and the adjacent building site is empty, I went down there with my trusty and rusty secateurs to do battle with the brambles.

    The brambles didn’t put up too much of a fight but the nettles in between did and my hands now feel as though I’ve tried retrieving a 2p piece from a wasps nest. A sting in the tale, so to speak.

          3. Plan “A” would have had us living somewhere in English suburbia. My getting a job with a US multi-national back in 1969 moved things around quite a bit.

        2. I wear welding gauntlets whenever I’m attacking the brambles/ramblers/nettles, with a long sleeved pair of overalls too!

          2. Nettles are spiteful, brambles are dastardly, but for sheer evil malice, ramblers take the prize.

          3. I know – they break down your hedges, trample on your veg…

            Oh – those ramblers…{:¬))

      2. Old Wives’ Tale that is a load of rubbish. I tried them frequently as a young ‘un, and they never worked!

        3. You are so thick skinned chum!

          https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1170109/Notting-hill-carnival-latest-festival-news-london-arrested-violence-assault-met-police-lat

          The Met Police said the arrests were made for offences including assaulting officers, possession of offensive weapons and drug offences.

          Eleven police officers were reportedly injured and needed medical attention, with 12 people arrested on suspicion of assaulting police.

          Among other arrests included 41 people in relation to drug offences, nine for possession of an offensive weapon and three for sexual offences.

          A number of festival-goers also left the carnival injured or needing medical attention – several were treated for dehydration as temperatures soared to between 32C and 33C, thought to be the hottest Notting Hill Carnival ever.

    4. I’ve just come in and am sweating like a banana.

      Why didn’t you peel off a layer of clothing?

      2. I don’t know how firemen get on in this weather with all their protective clothing they must be in danger of heat exhaustion

  48. German business confidence slumps to lowest point since 2012

    I think the German economy is set for a long term downturn and will cease to be the EU powerhouse. In my view the rot set in when they opened their doors to millions of migrants. They are now in my view paying a very high price for that. Brexit will be another big blow for them

    The business climate index from think tank Ifo fell to 94.3 points from an upwardly revised 95.8 points in July. The confidence gauge was dragged down by the long-running malaise in manufacturing, where confidence fell to its lowest point since the financial crisis in 2009.
    The weak reading will worry policymakers after the German economy, the biggest in Europe, shrunk in the second quarter by 0.1 per cent. Weak global demand caused exports from the former powerhouse of Europe to drop off in the months from April to June.

    The export-driven German economy has struggled under the weight of trade tensions, weak demand from China, Brexit and a global slowdown.
    Worryingly for Germany, even in the service sector the business climate deteriorated noticeably in August. In recent months services have been a bright spot amid low unemployment and relatively high consumer demand.
    But this month “not a single ray of light was to be seen in any of Germany’s key industries,” said Clemens Fuest, president of the Ifo Institute. “There are ever more indications of a recession in Germany.”

  49. OT – on this very agreeable summer afternoon, in the garden, in the shade of the fig tree, I have just completed re-reading Brideshead Revisited for, I suppose, about the 150th time.

    Isn’t it odd that when one knows a book almost by heart, one still finds something new?

      1. Bacon finger marks Page 37
        Jammy ones Page 63
        The Cup Final Tickets he ‘lost’ between Pages 130 and 131

      2. Bits about the final relationship between Julia and Charles that I had no fully grasped.

    4. I do not know how many times I have read ‘Decline and Fall‘ – it is a bible for those who have taught in seedy public schools.

      1. First read 1952 – at prep school aged 11. I could recognise all the staff referred to in the novel…

  50. I wonder what the results would be if a respected organisation set up a nationwide network of temperature measurement away from urban heat sinks like Heathrow??

    “When American climate alarmists claim to have witnessed the effects

    of global warming, they must be referring to a time beyond 14 years ago.

    That is because there has been no warming in the United States since at

    least 2005, according to updated data from the National Oceanic and

    Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

    In January 2005, NOAA began recording temperatures at its newly

    built U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN). USCRN includes 114 pristinely maintained temperature stations spaced

    relatively uniformly across the lower 48 states. NOAA selected

    locations that were far away from urban and land-development impacts

    that might artificially taint temperature readings”

    .https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2019/08/23/climate_alarmists_foiled_no_us_warming_since_2005_110470.html

    Which is why Climate Phoney Michael Moore has just lost his case against a real scientist

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/72b3e7b478750dd11eff0878ea02265f943aa5a165db87b8cdf74b7e5cda8699.jpg

    1. You also do not know how accurate old data was and weather stations may have moved etc

      2. From what I understand, the old data, i.e. pre-1975, was pretty accurate until the climate change mob started revising the data to “correct” for heat island effects, i.e. revising the temperatures downwards.

  51. Bolton Wanderers face liquidation as deal to save club collapses

    It is sad in my view how football has become. Now 80% of the cash in football is channeled into a handful of premier league clubs and the rest get the crumbs and struggle to survive

    Bolton Wanderers could go out of business this week after the administrators revealed a deal to save the club has collapsed.
    The crisis-hit club have been in administration since the middle of May, but Football Ventures were named the preferred bidder in July, with a view to buying the football club and the hotel attached to the stadium.
    But the deal has dragged on and Paul Appleton, joint administrator for the club, has now revealed that it fell apart over the weekend.

  52. We can bring justice to victims of the Troubles without hounding blameless British soldiers

    Nary a word about the ‘Protestant victims ‘ having justice for the atrocities committed by the IRA, in all its; alphabetical combinations

    SATAN ensured that the IRA murderers were untouchable.

    May the slimeball and his wife rot in hell for eternity, traitors to UK, both of them

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/26/can-bring-justice-victims-troubles-without-hounding-blameless/

    3. The type of people who attend these festivals are a shower of shìt and are invariably Liberals.

      Bring back the birch.

          5. Talking of legs both the French president’s mother’s wife’s legs and the legs of the Duke of Susssex’s trollop wife are spookily thin like sparrows’ legs.

    5. Nice…and it is mostly the younger generation that claims to be horrified by plastic wrapping and throwing away items that are still usable. Practice what you preach or we’ll send in the Eco Brat!

  56. Hospital appointments cancelled 10 times in a row amid NHS chaos

    It nearly all seems to be down to hopeless NHS administration systems. They seem to have no consistent or joined up system and a lot of it still seems to be paper based and then transferred onto computer which is slow and bound to be error prone

    How much money and scare resource is this wasting ?

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/hospital-appointments-cancelled-10-times-in-a-row-amid-nhs-chaos/ar-AAGjlXC?ocid=spartandhp

    1. I have no sources of information but my gut instinct is all the money is going on corrupt practices, everyone must be on the fiddle.

    2. I have a problem with my right knee, very painful. vw took me to A&E last Wednesday. I saw a specialist paramedic, had an X-Ray, back to paramedic,he couldn’t identify problem and referred me to Pain Clinic. In and out in 2 hours 15 minutes, excellent.
      Thursday answerphone message when I got in early evening to call hospital. Called Friday morning and now have appointment to see Consultant knee surgeon at 10am this Wednesday.
      Amazing.

        1. You may be right. However I think it was that I didn’t have to wait to see a doctor but the emergency pain clinic is an excellent innovation, and to see a surgeon. My gast was flabbered.

          1. Lucky you, gg, and I am glad you are getting some help.

            We have such a clinic in yer Narridge – one apptmt every four months…… They just hope you die in between.

          2. Good luck with it.

            I had a knee replacement about 10 years ago and it made a world of difference to my life. From sometimes having to go upstairs a step at a time sitting down because of the pain, to long walks; brilliant.

    2. Grant me the senility to recognise the people I never liked,
      the good fortune to run over the ones I see,
      and the luck to get away with it.

    3. I am not glam and lithe like you Plum , but Moh took this pic today at a village fete , and oh dear , the timing was all wrong .. Someone, a stranger had a scratchy butt.. a real itch .. a yeugh moment!

      1. I like the way your bottle matches your shirt, Belle. That’s taking colour coordination too far…

        1. Actually my turquoise bottle for water I take walking matches
          my favourite turquoise walking top and turquoise waterproof,
          It’s not that unusual.

          1. “It’s not that unusual”, Ethul? So you are not Tom Jones – do I therefore owe you a five bob postal order?

  59. That’s me for this Monday. Still not a spark of interest in the house, dagnabbit.

    That native chappie (in the page top snap) seems awfully well turned out for someone who is looking for compo…

    A demain

    1. Why doesn’t he get given a steerage class ticket home to the lands of his ancestors aboard a tramp ship?

        2. I believe it is referred to as “reduced capacity English” or “yoofspeak” which is a step above all the “Bruv’s” and “innits,” as the poor younglings struggle to articulate any thought beyond a soundbite.

  63. Look East reporting that Cambridge Airport was the hottest spot in East Anglia today. Heathrow Airport was also extremely hot today. When I was younger it was either RAF Lakenheath or RAF Mildenhall that recorded the highest temperatures in East Anglia. There’s a link here but no concrete evidence comes to mind.

    2. Ah I might jump on a jet plane and not know where I am going
      to, just somewhere cool.

  64. I’ve just turned on the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and got the Nottinghill Carnival.

    Marvellous.

      2. Pyramid selling? I know a man with three large ones on offer. He’s a really straight diamond Giza.

    2. Hi, Hatman.
      The manna of your people’s escape has always given me food for thought. Beware that the Ancient Egyptians (if any still exist), not the Arab usurpers, might counter claim for those plagues inflicted on them. You’ll need a good lawyer.

  66. Infrastructure News.
    The train this evening from Glasgow to Elgin is an over an hour late. Again. Members of the family have used public transport on four occasions in the last month. Total lateness is 7 hours, and, of course, missed connections, inconvenience, and extra costs.
    Abellio run Scotrail and are dreadful. Over 27,000 trains cancelled last year.

      1. That would be my thinking. Abellio will export their profits to Holland.
        I was wondering how many of the people working for Scotrail are full time permanent employees of Abellio? That is how many worked for Abellio before they took over the franchise?
        It could be 50 people, it could be 5 or just one, or even none. All of the actual day-to day staff, admin, drivers, ticket sellers, accountants, secretaries, clerks, will simply transfer from one franchisee to the next. That’s TUPE. Even without TUPE it could not work any other way.
        The system is plain daft, as well as expensive and incompetent.

  68. Lancashire fracking: 2.9 magnitude tremor recorded

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-49471321

    This featured on the 6pm Radio 4 news with all the usual local protests.

    Tremors below 3 are not often felt and cause no damage. Descriptions of categories below – there are some slight differences but on the basis of these, the suggestion that fracking endangers life and property is exaggerated.

    https://www.britannica.com/science/Richter-scale
    https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_scale

    1. I thought Lancashire had been having tremors for decades, long before fracking was ever on the horizon.

  69. “Unfortunately your image upload failed. Please verify that your image is in a supported format (JPEG, PNG, or GIF) and under 5MB. If you continue seeing this error, please try again later.”

    Agh! It is a .jpg and it is 370KB. I have tried 5 times over the course of today

    1. Yo JN

      I ‘slung my ‘mick’ (hammock) onboard her, as a young Sea Cadet, in the late 50’s, when she was moored in Pompey Harbour

      Ironically, her position on the Port Chart was marked as VD, something to be avoided

    2. Thanks for putting up these great pictures, Johnny.
      Looking at Wiki last evening after you put up HMS Warspite I found that HMS Vanguard was not only the RN’s last battleship, she was the last battleship launched in the world. The main armament was the same as that carried by Warspite and most RN battleships, battlecruisers and monitors from WWI onwards. The Mk1 15″ gun was a formidable weapon that sent a 1900lbs projectile to over 30,000 yards with excellent accuracy.

      1. Missiles are cheaper, lighter, more accurate, and can be carried by almost any vessel. Modern Naval vessels cost so much less than a battleship, need fewer crew, and so you can afford more of them.

        1. ‘Evening, Paul – actually, Good Tuesday morning. The trouble is for all their ‘cheapness’ we don’t have enough, nor enough Border Force cutters with crews who’ve been ordered to return ALL illegals back to whence they came , France in most cases.

      2. Warspite was the first and last ship to shell France on D Day. A great and well loved ship.

  75. Hail Satan?
    New church warns ‘We’re facing a new Dark Age’ – Is devil worship the answer?
    A remarkable new film is out this week.. In a world gone crazy, with hatred and intolerance on the rise, do we all need a little more Satan in our lives? https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1134778/Hail-Satan-UK-release-date-Satanic-Temple-Lucien-Greaves-devil-Trump-Christian-church

    The EUSSR is more than enough for me…..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d60b7ca7f5bd649db06cdb2cfa0da0e67174507bf258ba2b9fb0f49ad3ec38ba.jpg

    5. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/840fa277746287a3dfb67ea1ad54e471bbf13aea3ce64cf01786ab5175a2eca4.jpg

      They would have lessons in it if they could get away with it. They do love damaging the innocence of children and those poor mortals who do not know any better.

      Islam is 1/2 way to satanism as it is ,with the casual murder, sexual assaults and systemic child-abuse. The primary difference is that most muslims don’t know that it is satan that they are bowing down to, and that there is no “heaven” waiting for them at the end of it all. No virgins or “fresh boys” – just a deafening voice saying “Did you think you would be rewarded for a life like that?” Then an eternity of regret.

      1. Satan is abroad by day and night. His agents include Soros, Harry Potter, islam. The BBC and most of the MSM must also be considered suspect. Many churches have been penetrated by his agents.

        1. In my many conversations on a myriad of subjects online, religion is the one that gets nowhere good at an alarming rate of knots. So I tend to avoid it. People are free to believe what they want to believe. Spirituality is, by definition, a very personal thing. Words on a screen rarely change peoples minds, but they can trigger responses.

          There are some things that do unite almost all of us when we see them clearly though. Islam is one such thing. People from all faiths and walks of life see those who follow islam as the threat that they are. It cannot co-exist with anyone else peacefully when their numbers get too high.

          2. I had no problem logging in, but a couple of times when I have tried to post, I have received a weird message about verifying the author!

          10. I cut the text, removed the reply box by clicking on reply again and then started again. This time there was no problem! Weird.

  78. Disqus playing games. Logging me out and asking me to sign in. Someone is watching what I say.,,,,,,

    1. Many people have been having rough times with Disqus for a couple of days now. They cannot be watching everybody, so I think that the “free pages” system is falling apart, which is having a knock-on effect to others.

      I needed to restart my computer several times two days ago, just to leave each message.

  79. I suppose this was an early song about the troubled “left behind” who, at last, after 30+ years found a Presidential Candidate and blasted through the (according to out-of-touch elites and politicos) impregnable Blue Wall – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. Hillary called them a “basket of deplorables”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbWbrM2m8SQ

    1. Hillary was one of the most deplorable beings ever to walk the grass of the White House.

      1. It seems where the Clintons are concerned that anybody who gets to know “where a body is buried” quickly joins the kick-the-bucket club.

  80. Don’t mean to be rude but you all need to go to bed. It matters not if it is your own but go there now….

    1. No point in going to bed at this time of night, Phizzee; I am a night owl and would never get to sleep.

    1. Next door’s cat used to drape itself around my neck when I was weeding the garden. It quite happily walked along underneath my setter (presumably for the shade). It had a terrible shock when the setter was put to sleep and I got a deerhound x GSD!

  83. Jeremy Corbyn: No-deal would leave UK ‘at mercy of US’

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49476705

    To the BBC’s credit it doesn’t mention chlorinated chicken specifically but there is a reference to food standards. Corbyn excels himself by saying a No-deal Brexit will sound the death knell for our steel industry – he obviously hasn’t been paying attention for the last 10 years – and of course the NHS and bankers get a mention.

    And there are still people who agree with him and even admire him.

  84. Disqus is behaving strangely, keeps logging me in and out
    and bizarrely, it tells me that I am logged out and yet I can post, hmm .

  86. Just watching the last knockings. Jefferson Starship doing ‘White Rabbit’.
    Perhaps next up could be, Farewell Angelina.

    1. Hope that’s not a ladyboy. One of the warning Thais give tourists is that “girls” who are tall and/or heavily made up are suspect.

      1. Now, you naughty boy, you went to Thailand looking for girls, did you ?
        Then you got drunk and picked up a ladyboy by mistake.
        Serve you right. I’ll tell your mum.

        1. I read it recently. I’ve been to Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore – plus a “memorable” summer spent In India, but never Thailand. A friend went to a conference in Phuket. When he checked in has was offered two different room rates. On inquiring what the difference was, he was told the higher rate included the girl…..

          Jack.

          1. I think ( from observation only, of course ) that the chain hotels charge you if you want to bring a girl to the room. It’s like an extra. In exchange they keep an eye on you and check out the girl. They don’t want trouble.
            I’ve been to Singapore ( overnight in transit to Sabah ) in 1999. The spy cameras were everywhere, even in the loo. You got a fine if you didn’t flush the toilet.

    1. Yo HP

      I wonder, if that will include Compression Ignition Engines as well: any laws must be specific and without loopholes

      1. “Internal combustion engine” covers the lot, petrol, 2 stroke, diesel, turbines,, etc. Anything that burns a fuel.

        1. Erm, thanks. I was referring specifically to “compression ignition” per olt. Model aeroplane diesels have no electrics.

          1. They are still internal combustion, just like diesels. Older diesels had no electrics. – Jack.

    2. Does the EU have any involvement in the running of ScotRail? ‘Trustpilot’ comments suggest a certain similarity in their modes of operation.

  89. Moh and I dozed off and woke up in the middle of something called Peaky Blinders..

    We are horrified by this debased violent filthy languaged programme.

    I feel that the BBC has reduced everything to the commonest denominator.

    It is similar to a film I once watched regretfully like a Clockwork Orange .

    2. The peaky blinders gang were urban criminals mainly working class, unemployed, irish immigrants and gypsies, operating around the time of the first world war. Did you expect people like that to be anything but uncouth? Why shouldn’t the TV show try to maintain some realism?

      1. Arley Hall, a place I’ve visited on a couple of occasions, was used in the series. I had no idea when I read the notices what Peaky Blinders were 🙂

        1. The show is pretty good I think. It’s been on Netflix for a while.

          One of the best UK shows of recent years. Yes it’s violent, yes it’s full of swearing but I don’t think people like that in an age of deprivation talked like plummy aristocrats.

          1. Personally, I’m not entertained by violence and swearing. I watch programmes to be amused, enlightened or just plain distracted from my everyday problems in an uplifting way. It doesn’t sound as though it would be suitable to provide any of those things.

          2. I like drama to be somewhat realistic. I don’t care about swearing, it’s just another rather common use of language. I would expect a show about a violent gang to be somewhat violent too. The story is good, the acting is very good, it’s a reasonably realistic depiction.
            I can certainly see why those without the stomach to watch such programmes are turned off by it though.

    3. We watched Sunday evening’s Poldark last night. Then Peaky Blinders assailed our ears till we switched it off. The News was half an hour late but not worth waiting for.

    1. Goodnight Elsie

      It has been very warm, so uncomfortable.

      Put yer jimjams in a plastic bag for a while … in yer fridge or freezer.

      Stay cool.

      Sleep well.

        1. I have discovered that it is not the best thing to watch while unwinding and going to bed. Some very tense moments there. I ended up watching two full episodes and was about to start the third when I noticed it was almost 01:00am and switched it off. 🙂

    3. I stayed indoors most of yesterday – our house is quite cool in hot weather, especially this room. I did go outside in the early evening and pricked out some tiny winter pansy plug plants.

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