Monday 3 July: Critics of the triple lock seem blind to the plight of struggling pensioners

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

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

670 thoughts on “Monday 3 July: Critics of the triple lock seem blind to the plight of struggling pensioners”

  3. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Good Advice From The Laundry

    A woman sends her clothing out to the Chinese laundry. When it comes back, she can still see stains in the knickers.

    So, the next week, she encloses a note to the Chinese, “Use more soap on knickers.!”

    This goes on for several weeks, with the woman always spotting stains in her panties, and always sending the same note to the laundry,

    “Use more soap on knickers.!”

    Finally, one day, she notices that the Chinese has responded to her notes with one of his own, “Use more paper on arse!!”

    1. I sympathise with the Chinese here.

      Since British industry “new-improved” toilet paper, pushing up the price and selling it everywhere as “Super-soft”, it dissolves in the fingers before it can wipe anything clean, leaving the fingers grubby and the nether end still grubby. Since they cornered the market, the “free market” will not provide any competing alternative that is any good.

      I saw a TV programme about how the latest industrial process – they water down the paper slurry to the consistency of rainwater, and then run it through rollers, so that it appears thicker and they get fewer sheets on a roll. They can then up the price by selling it on style.

  4. Ukraine says Russian troops advancing in ‘fierce fighting’. 3 July 2023.

    Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said that Russian troops were advancing near Avdiivka, Mariinka, Lyman and Svatove.

    “Fierce fighting is going on everywhere,” Maliar wrote on social media, adding: “The situation is quite complicated”.

    Ukrainian forces have made gradual progress in their counteroffensive launched last month but have so far failed to produce a major breakthrough and have urged Western allies to escalate pledges of military support.

    I see the Counter-offensive is going well!

    https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230702-ukraine-says-russian-troops-advancing-in-fierce-fighting

    1. A classic error made on both sides here. in their hubris, they truly believed that the enemy would not put up a fight, and planned their campaigns accordingly.

      The invasion of 24th February 2022 was on the presumption that tanks could roll in, take over the TV station and the presidential palace and install a puppet Government by the end of the month. Instead, the locals fought back, which was not part of the plan.

      Likewise, the Russians have used the time to get well dug in and blow up bridges. A counter-offensive is not so simple now, however much most of us would like it to be.

      Time is on whose side?

      Russia is relying for boots on the ground on mercenaries from a number of illegal private armies, with loyalties that have to be bought using money from selling up to China, India and Iran, not to mention Germany (which is in a bind as to how to power their industries). I am not altogether convinced that banishing someone to Minsk for disloyalty is quite the same as being sent to a labour camp in Siberia. Nevertheless, Russians have always been morose about whatever tyranny is currently in Government, and may well turn to that good old standby-in-a-bottle for comfort if they’ve got any sense. Most of the heavy lifting is being done with long range missiles powered by algorithms rather than anyone that could be recognised here as human.

      How long can Ukrainian partisans, being steadily whittled away on the ground hold on until a chink in Russia’s rotting line can give the opportunity to break through, and then resist the fatal temptation to march on Moscow in time for winter?

      1. Nothing is as it seems.

        George Soros’s desire is being enacted: Christian Slavs are killing each other.

  5. 374123+ up ticks,

    Morning EAch,

    Suella Braverman demands answers on Met Police Thin Blue Line badge ban
    Home Secretary concerned to hear officers prohibited from wearing the item for fear of offending LGBT+ community

    Then she is going to be more than a little disturbed on hearing of the Dover invasion campaign that “her” government lookalikes are running .

    Her real concern will come when many of our unwanted guests, dormant at the moment relaxing on 5* hotel beds , are activated
    and there will NOT be enouth poof proof umbrellas to go round.

      1. It has to be banned – it’s apparently associated with ‘white nationalists’ in the USA.

        It certainly appears to have come out of the USA, possibly as far back as the 18th century, but was first used in a policing context there in the first half of the 20th.

  6. – Wimbledon tennis starts today, I wonder why at the this relaxing peaceful time of year all the anarchists suddenly kick off when there is so much one can do to enjoy the few weeks a year when the weather is good.

      2. Sometimes the AI behind Bing is a bit more positive.
        In a court of law the judge would ask the witness to answee the question yes or no. Perhaps the prosecuting counsel could rephrase the question.

        I’m inclined to think your guess is right!

    2. They always trot out that “2%” BS which they think makes them sound responsible. It just devalues our money a bit more slowly, that’s all.

  10. Schools ‘should teach children how to spot conspiracy theories’. 3 July 2023.

    Students should be taught how to counter conspiracy theories on the school curriculum, a University of Cambridge scholar has said.

    Prof Sander van der Linden, an expert on social psychology, said that one of the solutions to conspiracist thinking could be to “implement this stuff in national education curriculums”.

    Yes we could teach them to spot things like the Chinese lab leak conspiracy theory.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/02/schools-teach-children-spot-conspiracy-theories-curriculum/

    2. Or the Russian Collusion conspiracy theory…..

      Or that Hunter is totally innocent theory….

      1. That won’t include conspiracy theories like the story that it’s possible to develop a safe and effective vaccine within six months if scientists work night and day, of course.

        1. The only safe vaccine delivered was the sterile water injection for the specially selected.
          Strange how the ratio of injuries change within certain recipients.

    4. I’d getting them picking apart this little aphorism: Everything you have been told all your life is a lie. Including this.

    2. Amazing that they are about to declare that June has been the hottest ever. Not sure how they measure this metric. June was certainly fine and very dry but it was cold in the the evenings and not exceptionally hot in the day. More climate terror, its not surprising the young generation are running around going nuts.

      1. 374123+ up ticks,

        Morning Kp,
        I do believe that a lot depends on the building materials used in construction.

  13. UK press strangely silent about the French priest attacked by slammers. Can’t think why….

    1. Well, they are so used to not making a fuss about the clergy being slaughtered by Islamist militants in parts of Africa, they probably think no one will be interested.

  14. Good morning all.
    A bright start to the day after overnight rain with a cool 8°C outside.

    Question, if the MET are so concerned about the “Thin Blue Line” badge offending the Alphabet Soup People, why are they not concerned about Alphabet Soup regalia on their vehicles and officers offending the general population?

    Suella Braverman demands answers on Met Police Thin Blue Line badge ban
    Home Secretary concerned to hear officers prohibited from wearing the item for fear of offending LGBT+ community

    By
    Charles Hymas,
    HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR and
    Danielle Sheridan,
    DEFENCE EDITOR

    Suella Braverman has demanded an explanation from the Metropolitan Police over its ban on officers working at Pride wearing a badge that commemorates fallen colleagues.

    The Telegraph understands that the Home Secretary was concerned after hearing that officers were instructed not to wear the Thin Blue Line badge in case it offended the LGBT+ community.

    A source close to Ms Braverman said: “She has asked for more information to understand what’s happened.”

    The badge, which is a black and white Union flag with a thin horizontal blue line, is worn as a “mark of remembrance and respect” for those who lost their lives while working in the force.

    However, it has been said to resemble a similar symbol that has been linked to American far-Right groups.

    Ban ‘non-negotiable’
    Ahead of the celebrations on Saturday, when 1.5 million people participated in London’s Pride march, the Metropolitan Police commander issued advice that stated: “No ‘Thin Blue Line’ badges/patches are to be worn whilst policing this event.

    “These have been linked to far-Right and anti-trans groups in the UK and this year’s Pride is focusing very much on the trans community.

    “This is non-negotiable and supervisors are expected to ensure this is adhered to please.”

    Dame Priti Patel, the former home secretary, told the Mail on Sunday that the advice was the result of “vested interest groups imposing political correction and false narratives on our hard-working police officers”.

    She said the badge was “a mark of respect in policing of the sacrifices our police officers make for their service and the threats they face, day in, day out”.

    The advice was also condemned by Debbie Adlam, the mother of Pc Andrew Harper, who was killed in the line of duty in Berkshire in 2019.

    She told the Mail on Sunday that she considered the badge a “universal memorial”.

    “Since we lost Andrew, we have considered the Thin Blue Line image to be a universal memorial to the loss of these officers,” she added.

    “It concerns me that there are those who want to take [the badge] away.

    “I hope that today is not the start of the end for the Thin Blue Line and all it means to us in the UK.”

    The Metropolitan Police declined to comment.

    1. Years ago, I bought a bright-coloured luggage strap, so that I could easily pick out my bag on the carousel at airports. It was a rainbow and very gay in the old sense of the word.

      I cannot use it today without making a political statement including a false declaration of my own sexual orientation. Thanks America!

      Likewise, these damned Americans have hijacked the police version of the poppy and perverted it.

      Why must we always relate to America, deriding our own sense of national identity, in order to pander to the identity zealots?

      1. Why must we always relate to America, deriding our own sense of national identity, in order to pander to the identity zealots?

        Err. I think this is the wrong forum for that Jeremy!

      2. Good morning Jeremy,

        I have several warm cosy woollen jumpers that are baggy happy striped colourful winter favourites , I feel as if my own fashion taste has been hijacked and abused by companies like M+S , Sainsbury, banks and everyone else .

        You can imagine how upset I feel , because I will not advertise a false image , and I fear that my favourite colours amongst my other clothes of green, blue , red and orange will also be misconstrued as political lobbying .

        In fact , I am so fed up , that I remained at home yesterday with Moh , watching the cricket with him , which was actually very exciting .

        1. Years ago, well before alphabet soup, I wanted a new spinnaker for my racing dinghy – I also wanted something that my driver [Dad] could easily spot from the clubhouse. The solution was a “one panel of each colour, starting from white” sail – lord knows what that would signify now!!

        2. Isn’t the garb of test cricketers disgustingly white? At least the stumps are of colour now.

      3. A relative bought me one such strap for Christmas when I was doing a lot of overseas work. I never used it and continued with a length of red electrical tape around the handles of my suitcases.

        1. On the basis of uniformity I strongly object to both Bob!

          The fact that there is even a debate on this matter further highlights the inherent weaknesses in leadership and failures in management prevalent in our public services? The focus must be on the primary purpose and function of, in this case, a police force?

          Each police force have a quite rigorous ‘Uniform and Dress Code Policy” which sets out clear and unambiguous directions on what is, and what is not permissible when on duty. Any changes to that policy are governed by current legislation.

          The Armed Forces uniformity is governed and strictly controlled by similar policies.

          The acceptance of ad hoc badges puts the force on the road to division?

    3. “The badge, which is a black and white Union flag with a thin horizontal blue line, is worn as a “mark of remembrance and respect” for those who lost their lives while working in the force.

      However, it has been said to resemble a similar symbol that has been linked to American far-Right groups.”

      The fact that the badge is in the form of a Union flag should surely ensure that it has no connection with the United States?

      1. Hope not hate have recommenced their campaign against TR to try and get him jailed for contempt. He doesn’t have a chance against woke HnH and the establishment judges.

        1. The Elites and their lackeys have a particular hatred for Tommy Robinson because he’s a White, Working Class, Male Heterosexual!

        2. The Elites and their lackeys have a particular hatred for Tommy Robinson because he’s a White, Working Class, Male Heterosexual!

          1. But worst of all, he resists the ideology of islam. For that, he is put in jails with a high proportion of slammers, he claims.

          2. I would not be surprised to discover that most male prisons are majority Muslim.

        3. Perhaps he’ll decide to Trans and end up in a Women’s prison where I suspect he’ll be mothered……

        4. The judiciary is an arm of the state. The judges are government employees. What do we expect? They do not dispense justice, they rule in favour of the state with the occasional decision going the other way to keep up a pretence that it is otherwise.

          The answer is Common Law. It is above statute but we have been educated not to realise it.

    2. What a bad joke. There is more corruption than ever in Britain today, and they are picking on Lord Lawson’s family, Laurence Fox and Nigel Farage. How about de-banking Tony Blair’s various business dealings, or dodgy ideological “charities” (islamic, far left, alphabet people”)?

      1. My fantasy is clearing out the bank accounts of the Gates Foundation, Open (Soros) Society, BLM, XR, Common Purpose…etc and all their billionaire followers then using the multi-trillions to pay off the national debt, thereby removing the World Bank grip on us. The debt keeps us all in bondage because we are the collateral.

  17. Good day all,

    Cloudy at McPhee Towers, some light showers around midday but the sun should put in an appearance by late afternoon. Wind still in the West, 13℃ and forecasting only 17℃ so staying cool for July. I wonder why that could be? A cool spring followed by a more normal June but back to cool in high summer. Where’s muh climate change?

    Had a broken night last night and couldn’t get back to sleep so I popped in my ear pods and listened to the Orthodox Chants in Hagia Sophia which https://disqus.com/by/johnathanrackham/ posted here yesterday. I let the transcendental voices fill my head and soon I was at peace with the world and asleep. What power.

    Back to the Domain of Satan:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/07/02/rishi-sunak-tory-demand-cut-net-migration-lose-voter-trust/

    Why do they imagine that cutting migration to around 200,000 per year will cut it with conservative-minded people? That’s how out of touch they are.

    Thought for the day prompted by Mike Kelly’s letter on army numbers: It is sobering to realise that, if the truth-telling sources (Colonel Douglas McGregor, Scott Ritter, UK Column etc) are correct, then the Ukrainian Army has had killed in action numbers of soldiers of at least four times the total strength of the British Army. God rot Washington.

  18. Good morning, all. Sunny but surprisingly chilly around 06:00.
    So far this morning I’ve turned 2 pints of raspberry juice into jelly and picked close to 3lbs of loganberries that are now slowly stewing to extract the juice. I’ve had around 8lbs of loganberries in three pickings from my one bush so far with a fourth picking due in a couple of days: this last pick will be stewed and frozen for use later in a pie.

    Here, at least is one investigative journalist who is doing her job without fear or favour. How her co-journalists who are following the narrative from the government et al. can look her in the eye without feeling acute embarrassment and shame is beyond me.

    Investigative Journalist Sonia Elijah joins us today to look at pediatric deaths related to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. This is the second part of her investigation from the European Union’s third vaccine safety report. It shows undeniable bias in how this has been reported to the public.

    Redacted – Sonia Elijah Reports on Children & Vaccine Deaths

      2. A lot of people dress like that when they are’t at work in the hotter parts of the USA. Wearing a shirt is, in fact, the most uncomfortable thing you can do unless you want soaking wet cloth sticking to your body, a very unpleasant way of spending the day. Try being fully dressed when you wake up to 32c heat and then it just gets hotter throughout the day. You can do that in Nevada and other desert like states because of the lack of humidity. But when you live somewhere like New York in the summer or California, you get out of the shower in the morning and remain wet throughout the day. Practical clothing in order to have sweat evaporate from your body is almost essential. In New York, in summer, I would change my shirt twice a day because they would become wet and dirty from the humidity and pollution.

    2. To quote Wally from Dilbert; I identify as someone who doesn’t recognise pronouns. No wonder the #ScumMedia cancelled his daily cartoon strip.

  20. Has something happened in the cricket to make 5 days of boredom interesting. And todays question, that must be answered, what should the wimmins team burn to ashes and keep in a box to be used as a trophy. Perhaps the symbolic removal of a middle stump and its desecration might be appropriate in this metrosexual world.

  21. Will the eco-freaks interfere with Wimblebore?

    I see that Dan Maskell’s replacements are suitably diverse

      1. Just as well Plum isn’t on line these days she’d create such a racquet!

        1. I’ve got to put up with their interminable rabbitting on for the next two weeks as my OH is glued to every moment.

      2. The game is boring enough, but nowhere near as boring as those who talk about it, report on it, play it and watch it are.

  22. Good morning, chums. It seems that yesterday’s late post may have been slightly optimistic, for the connected/not connected messages have started again at present. Aaargh! So I am now off to the computer shop with my iMac and sundry bits and pieces. I hope to be back on NoTTLe by the end of the week. (Hopefully). Don’t be alarmed if you don’t see any posts from me for a while.

    1. Morning, Elsie.

      I’ll have to put off my visit to the computer shop as you look to be hogging their expertise.😎

  23. 374123+ up ticks,

    Nor need it,

    Britain does not have to accept economic oblivion
    We can break out of our low-growth trap with the right policies,

    Reality,
    Britain does not have to accept economic oblivion
    We can break out of our low-growth trap with the right party,

    Return “guests” to place of origin, thanks to the lab/lib/con coalition tribal voters and the guests themselves there are currently NO SAFE / UNSAFE Countries, we are all on the same odious footing.

    Open up a coal mine or three, de- mothball power stations go mini nuclear and FFS FRACK.

    Right party you ask ? my choice RECLAIM, build on the
    Fox and Bridgen party.

    1. Britain does not have to accept economic oblivion
      We can break out of our low-growth trap with no party as political parties are the root cause of all that has afflicted us since the early 20th century.

      1. 374123+ up ticks,

        Morning FM,
        I do beg to disagree,

        ” no party as political parties are the root cause of all that has afflicted us since the early 20th century.

        These last, near four decades have seen, at the hands of the family tree tribal voter, party before country, run these Isles into the ground.

        Currently the electorate
        majority are the odious roots supporting this lab/lib/con/WEF/NWO coalition.

  24. Morning all 🙂😊
    Bright and still breezy..
    What a lovely day we had yesterday, all morning prepping. All afternoon and early evening sipping bubbles and eating. 16 All together.
    Three from Cape Town. Others from Norfolk. And local family and both my sisters elder and younger.
    Lots of catch up chatting. Excellent. We have a rule no medical conditions and no politics.
    It was broken a few times, especially by good old Dave originally from Holland and south Australia, who agrees wholeheartedly with what the Dutch farmers are trying to do to make their government toe the line. I hope they succeed. It might be contagious. Of course my long awaited appointment was one of the topics.
    But a memorable afternoon for all.

    And I don’t think our government has a clue how the elderly manage on the basic state pension of around 8 thousand pounds a year.
    But let’s face the facts. In reality they don’t really have much of a clue about anything at all.

    2. As far as I can make out, this is an anti-Macron revolution, but the good old BBC is trying to spin it as France’s version of the BLM riots, in response to police brutality?

      1. Some views see Macron’s responses as direct from the WEF’s playbook i.e. perpetuate disruption so as to allow draconian measures to be employed. Locking down people in their homes at the same time as taking down communications and news i.e. kill the internet.
        Will the military allow anarchy to spread and become totally out of control, if it’s not already?

        1. I was in France for a couple of weeks while the covid curfew was in force. The family where we were staying had a birthday party for their children during that time!
          I should think people will be even less willing to stick to rules that emanate from Macron in Paris now!

          I guess we will see how it plays out.

      1. Come a certain point, I don’t think they will be able to.
        The euro is tipped to be the first fiat currency to fall.
        It’s not going to be fun.

      1. I call him a ‘he’ because out of habit I call then all ‘he’ or ‘him’ but he’s probably a ‘she’. I’m a piscatorial misgenderist.

    4. Wonderful stretch of water , similar to ours .

      I wrote this on another column a few weeks ago !

      “I self identify as a Salmon , and I require nice clean Dorset chalk rivers and an unpolluted coastline .
      After living for many years at sea, Maggie the salmon travels a long distance home to return to the river in which she was born, to spawn and reproduce .

      So clever am I that I use the Earth’s magnetic field to guide me back to the Frome while others say they use their strong sense of smell to guide them home.

      Habitat changes and losses can affect the salmon’s ability to return to their native spawning river, posing a threat to the survival of future salmon generations.

      So to see why I identify as a rare Salmon visitor as I find my way up through Poole Harbour to the River Frome , I need clean water “”

  29. I see that there are three letters about the BBC radio today.

    Living in North Africa and the Middle East in the 60s 70s and 80s, we were often able to to get good reception of the BBC Home Service (now Radio 4) in Libya and Tunisia. But I regarded the BBC World Service shortwave radio as an invaluable and reliable source of news. It was read by people with clear, educated voices such as John Wing, Elizabeth Francis and Pippa Harben.

    In 1986 a new managing director was appointed – a left wing minimalist, John Tusa. Suddenly the newsreaders were replaced with those who spoke with regional accents (making it difficult to follow through the static, especially for those whose original language was not English) and the news was demeaned by leftist pollical overtones. For example, no news bulletin was complete without a mention of human rights, the environment and Amnesty International. Comedy programmes also became political and ceased to be funny.

    Tusa started the rot and the BBC has never recovered. In fact the BBC must bear much of the blame for the decline of standards in the UK.

    1. Good morning Sguest .

      I echo your sentiments .

      The BBC is a Marxist leaning set up.. and it suppresses information and the truth .

      Is it aligned to the Home office?

    2. I would have put it slightly later, with John Birt. It was he who introduced a more “managerial” approach, closing down Bush House, outsourcing in-house studio facilities at Television Centre, making comedy more “relevant” to public opinion, as laid out by BBC Management, and concentrating more on soundbite news rollouts rather than serious journalism that so rattled Margaret Thatcher.

      Edit – The BBC World Service was a constant companion to me during those horrible sleepless nights in the early 1990s when I was going through an acrimonious divorce. I loved it then, especially at 3am when John Peel came on with his world music, but noticed how much it deteriorated after John Tusa left, rather than during his time.

      1. I just looked up the history of the World Service. There was a spat between it and the Thatcher Government over the broadcasting of statements made by Gerry Adams of the IRA, who was banned by Government, but the World Service felt it important that his statements should be covered properly and impartially and judged by listeners. World Service journalists went on strike in 1985. John Tusa arrived in the aftermath of this, and must have been doing his damnest to fight the then-BBC’s corner over political impartiality, a battle now lost.

        It is important to realise that the World Service was funded at that time by the Foreign Office, and beholden to disseminate British Government policies abroad. Life certainly cannot have been easy when Jack Straw was Foreign Secretary, and indeed I think that is when the edifice finally gave way.

          1. It was. Lilliburlero and the R4 Theme Medley on handover were my companions through the night then.

      2. Now there’s a curious character… longtime close associate, advisor, and apparent one-man thinktank for a T Blair; at paypaal tbroughout the wykeyleeks afairs, 2010-11. Fingers in both policy ‘influencing’ and its corporate beneficiaries for decades. Nothing to see here…

    3. So true. I can’t listen to BBC radio any more.
      Happily, there are now independent podcasts that are erudite, entertaining and informative.

  30. Not all trannies are saintly?

    When exactly is the Unabomber’s funeral? Nobody knows, because, as The Babylon Bee recently put it, no one dared open any of the postal invitations.
    The death by apparent suicide of America’s favorite (pre-Islamist era) bearded mad mail-bomber Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski in his prison cell in June caused the media to eagerly recap all possible angles on his case—apart from one. What most journalists failed miserably to mention was that Ted was at one point in his life really a bearded lady, like one of those you used to find in the circus, but now find openly masturbating in women’s changing rooms.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/super-bomberwoman/

    1. A lot of convicts are jumping on the trans bandwagon. Not all transwomen are criminals.

          3. More a marriage of convenience.
            Rather like transexuals heading for “softer” women’s prisons. Pretending to be a woman so they can watch naked women to their heart’s content and little chance of being buggered.

  31. Good morning all. Sunny day but cool again in West Sussex which is very nice.
    Trust all are comparatively well and chugging along there.

    I have a question that I would like people to answer if they could. What do you consider to be uniquely English culture, what is it that defines us as a race and distinct people? I would like to compile a list that answers that question for future reference and to build upon.
    For me it is the Common Law, Parliamentary Democracy, the Monarchy, a sense of fairness, pubs as social centers in which ideas are exchanged. That’s just for starters. But would appreciate other peoples ideas.

    My question is prompted by an article some days ago in the Telegraph about how we are losing our culture as we become swamped under a tide of illegal and otherwise, immigrants. But in order to defend it we must identify and articulate what it is.

    1. Lack of corruption in public office WAS a traditional value.
      Live and let live attitude towards others.

      The Home Counties (Sussex?) slogan “We won’t be druv.”

    2. Sporting cricket teams used to represent us very well. The only game with afternoon tea.

    3. Your basis is what I would say, too. One thing I realised when living and working abroad is that we have a sense of humour, often self-deprecatory, which is not found elsewhere.

    4. One of the most important is also the one that is destroying us.
      Tolerance.

    5. We’ll need to act quickly. We’ve got a left wing Tory PM in office who wasn’t put there by a general election. King Charles appears to share the views of WEF and Net Zero. Pubs are disappearing very fast.

    6. Contrary to the German view, we were never das land ohne musik. We have our own folk tradditions which I doubt are still taught?

    7. You might look into English Art and Architecture. Curiously, several German scholars appreciated its uniqueness. I refer to Hermann Muthesius who published The English House and Nikolaus Pevsner who wrote The Englishness of English Art besides by county The Buildings of England.

      Music wise Handel chose England and Gustav Holst whose output included tunes derived from English folk song. Without the English Broadwood piano we might not have had Beethoven piano sonatas.

    10. I’ve just finished “Who Do the English Think They Are?” by Derek J Taylor. He visited places he felt that had helped build the English character and culture. Democracy, rule of law, fair play, political stability, inventiveness, eccentricity all played a part, as, of course, did the fact that until recently we’d never been invaded since 1066.

  32. Well, according to the weather forecast, it should have started raining at least an hour ago and should be chucking it down as I type.
    Other than a couple of desultory splatterings I won’t even dignify with the term “rain”, it’s still dry and bright, though a bit cloudier.

  33. Received a circular from Royal Mail asking me to send any unused non-barcoded stamps to them and they’ll give me barcoded ones in return – I’ve done this but don’t expect them to honour their promise a) there’s no proof of posting them, b) they won’t acknowledge receipt and c) they can just throw your old ones in the bin, say they never received them and you can’t dispute that, thus they have made a load of dosh by selling you the stamps in the first place then not giving you the service. I don’t trust them

  34. ‘Morning All

    Depressing dinner with family as the conversation turned to how they never carried cash and how “convenient” it was to use their phones to pay for everything,I mentioned I have of late been drawing cash to pay for my shopping as I don’t fancy CBDCs

    I may as well have declared I have two heads,I bloody despair sometimes

    Meanwhile the medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/be33665a2ceebffd093ea0a67d25458f44b97b8ec363f3abee8d3bc6a2e35e65.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d2fa0060b28c0dbc217c4d963fb95cee0306605a60a3252236cabc60faf66c38.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/077f75eb5f67a32b7e1a9ff90d407247782fc3241a02f1faec25410149c7019e.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5546823696e17ad77e7fa02c611a41e822c9e99132676550e29e409b8b90c5a1.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bbc7e60766cf34a1be0fec7efbfc0338bb56e9347639790a05595f94579229db.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/03f7fadc3854a1000b3100766999fb3dbc95fdd481cb7b1aafe2fd8ece8d8298.jpg

    It all makes sense now………

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4ffde4915aa4893324c2fe07c6812abfe22b92cdb2d24100400b031d02d0a1fa.jpg

    2. Agreed, Rik, I too am slowly withdrawing cash from my account and using it for day-to-day purchases.

      1. I’ll say. I was chatting to our Grad and intern today – I have been left in charge of them. The intern came to us via “10,000 black interns” apparently but is very well educated and nicely spoken – origin Nigeria. The Grad is in London via a working class background up north but is of the opinion DEI is important because there is a lot of unconscious bias against foreigners when evil Whiteys discriminate against them due to their names (apparently).

        I resisted the urge to say anything but it became clear to me in that moment that the huge cultural change brought on in the last 30 years by mass immigration is a gulf we oldies will never comprehend.

    5. I have to admit to not using much cash nowadays – but I do still carry some and I never use my phone to make payments. People will have to watch out when the banks start closing their accounts for no reason.

      1. I tend to do my food shopping payments by card. I don’t carry a smartphone. Miscellaneous small items I pay in cash.

      1. One evening recently the computers in Westfield Shopping Centre at White City rejected all contactless payments. The young woman in front of me at the food hall checkout in M&S tried to pay for her groceries with her phone and it was rejected. The assistant suggested she use her card, as chip and pin still worked, or he would keep her shopping for her while she went to withdraw cash. She looked at him with a horrified expression and said, “I don’t carry a card“! While this was going on I had a nice conversation about the virtue of cash and the potential horrors of CBDC with the person behind me in the queue.

    7. Funnily enough Poland don’t allow people who have no right to turn up on their doorstep into their country.
      That’s why their traditions social structure and culture are protected.

    1. A large wet slurp across the mush was standard Golden good morning greetings.

      1. A couple of years ago our neighbours went out for the day and left their bedroom window half open. When they came home they found their neighbours cat in the bedroom and it had crapped on their bed.
        The animal must have known they were cat lovers and he was probably marking his own territory.
        He stands and stares when you tell him to clear off and now we no longer have our dog he’s started taking liberties in our rear garden.

          1. We were talking about these pistols yesterday, we are all having problems with wood pigeons now.
            Cooing and Pooing.

          2. My problem is magpies. I find firing my air pistol scares them off. Even without the pellets.

          3. I’ve got an air rifle some where I took it apart to stretch the spring and have not ben able to locate it in our over filled never had a car in garage, for about 15 years.

          5. I call them the politicians of the ornithological world. They make a lot of noise don’t do much and scoff everything they can get hold of and after drinking from the water bath they crap in in it before they fly off, to annoy someone else.

          6. That looks dangerous, it could damage a child’s eyes if it was fired close to the face, if it has a 22 foot range.

          8. ELECTRIC WATER GUN – Experience the thrill of high-speed water battles with our electric burst water gun pistol! This water gun is perfect for both adults and children, allowing everyone to join in on the fun. With the ability to fire at high speeds when pressed and held, you can drench your opponents in seconds. Get ready for some serious water fun this summer!

  37. Words fail me.
    I assume the persons involved bought their own houses at the asking price and without a survey?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12256969/How-tiny-council-ran-1-2billion-debt-trying-Singapore-Surrey.html

    “Perhaps nothing illustrates the shortcomings in the way the council was run more than the Woking Football Club debacle. It was a complicated and long running saga but here, briefly, is what happened.

    The plan was to redevelop the stadium and build a number of large blocks of flats around it, but the blueprint was rejected by the council’s own planning committee in 2020 after nearly 1,000 local objections.

    The problem was that the flats would have been 12 storeys high in a residential area where the maximum height was more like three storeys.

    But by then, the town hall had already spent at least £13 million buying up the land.

    A taskforce from the council’s overview and scrutiny committee found that the freeholds of the site were bought without a valuation even being carried out and meetings to discuss the project were taken by a small group of officials and councillors, including Ray Morgan and David Bittleston (the former Tory leader) and held in private.”

    1. From the reporting:

      Their integrity was not called into question but retired barrister Gifty Edila said the practice created a potential conflict of interest.

      ‘In company law,’ she said, ‘they have a legal duty to safeguard the best interests of the company above those of the council: they must ensure the success of the company so it remains solvent.’

    1. Some real Paul Mason quotes:

      [On Emma Raducanu winning the US open tennis]
      “This is the child of Romanian and Chinese migrants, born in Canada, who’s chosen Britain, who is now the global emblem of Britain in the world… [in research] for the book I’ve just written about the far right, I’ve repeatedly met people in this country who want to put people like Emma Raducanu into a van and escort them to Dover.”

      [On UK Covid protests]
      The anti-vaxx, anti-mask and “Plandemic” movements are drawn from the same stratum in society that massed to “defend Winston Churchill” during the panic over Black Lives Matter and that flocked to Brexit Party rallies the year before. They are not fascists, but they are a group prone to what the French call “Poujadism” – small-town xenophobia based on carefully contrived ignorance.

      I want to see politicians and public figures proactively and strongly refute Covid denialism. As with full-blown fascism, ignoring it does not make it go away.

      [On the Canadian Covid protests]
      There is no mystery as to what kind of movement this is: it is 21st-century fascism. It is the mobilisation of racists, misogynists, anti-Semites, Islamophobes and science deniers around one issue after another: first carbon pricing, then lockdowns, then masks, then vaccine mandates, then the legitimacy of one of the most socially liberal governments in the world.

      Nor can there be any mystery about why numerous conservative politicians have dog-whistled their support. The same thing happened, writ large, in the US on 6 January 2021 on Capitol Hill, and it happened in the UK during the 2021 European Championship over Black Lives Matter and the taking of the knee. Fascism is, as Hannah Arendt warned us, always the “temporary alliance of the elite and the mob”.

      He describes Justin Trudeau as the global poster boy for liberalism.

      [Tim Stanley on Mason]
      I was reminded of Paul Mason’s verdict on the 2019 general election: a “victory of the old over the young”, he tweeted gracefully, of “racists over people of colour, selfishness over the planet”.

        1. At the time of Johnson’s prorogation, he produced a little video. It was a cartoon animation depicting him standing in front of a crowd and saying “We’re f***ing coming for you, Johnson.” It was featured on BBC2’s ‘Newsnight’. He and Kirsty Wark discussed it in a friendly way as though they were reviewing a new edition of a popular TV programme.

          This was Mason’s ‘Stop the Coup’ campaign. That he was oblivious to the 3-year coup that Parliament had staged against the referendum result says much about him.

          EDIT:

          Found it…

          https://twitter.com/chunkymark/status/1166967833546412032

      2. Politics live this morning they spent a lot of time talking about the problems immigration is causing. If people want to come here to live and work that’s fine by most of us, but they should never have been allowed or encouraged to arrive without invitation.
        Our own MP was talking rubbish about it. Beside as so many do blaming ‘the pandemic’ for everything. He replied to a letter I sent him about two years ago and told me that the United Kingdom has always had a proud record of accepting immigrants who have ben displaced by war or aggression in the home lands.
        The problem is he’s totally wrong on this assumption, the vast majority of these people come form non aggressive and war torn countries, were all safe in Europe and came here because of our ridiculous benefits system. As in Turn up we will give you every thing for nothing and now this absolute stupidity is costing British tax payers 7 million pounds every day of the week.
        It’s nothing to do race, it’s all bout being practical. This nonsense is not working and never can.

    3. The blurb below his ‘quote’ is a giveaway but as the Marxist clown normally espouses such nonsense it seems realistic. The best satire is always close to the mark.

  39. And the rain has finally got here.
    Just as well I didn’t do a mix of mortar as I’d be getting soaked trying to finish off using at least half of it!

    1. Its looking very grey here now still vey windy. We expect rain today as well.

    3. He could join Mark Steyn and Naomi Wolf in their lawsuit against Ofcom? GBNews are now beating Sky and BBC News in the ratings war. Not allowed.

      2. It occurred to me that this might be the start of an effort to get GB News off the air because of its lack of political orthodoxy.

    4. Of course it does.

      They will keep coming after them and there is seemingly nothing we can do.

    1. I gave up on pet insurance after reading about so many claims being refused. I put £100 a month into a fund for their care if and when they need it.

      1. I’ve never had pet insurance for my cats but so far they’ve not been too expensive.

        1. I had a pet plan for a couple of years which saw to their jabs and yearly inspection then one went missing and I cancelled the subscription. Thankfully she’s never needed the vet since and that was 8 years ago. Mind you I dread if she ever needs a vet because she screams the place down if you even show her the cat basket – the vet would have to come to my place

          1. We’ve got an elderly rescue cat – Lily – she’s getting rather frail now but we don’t really know how old she is. We’ve taken her to the vet twice since we got her four years ago. She throws a tantrum when she sees the cat basket, so my husband had the bright idea of using the laundry basket – it’s an Ali Baba type – we dropped her in and I held it on my knee while he drove to the vets. She was quiet once she was in there and we’ve done it twice that way now. It did raise a few smiles from the other patients’ people.

      2. As soon as our old girl passed 8 years old the premium went through the roof. It was 45 quid to step over the threshold at our Village Veterinary surgery. Talk about a great British rip off.

        1. In the last 4-5 years of Poppie’s life we have spent thousands at the vet. It is a great British rip off. About half the price in France, I don’t think there is the same culture of veterinary insurance.

          1. They wanted 500 pounds to put her to sleep and cremate her body. Then and extra 120 to have her ashes returned.
            We took her to another local veterinary at Hatfield and the they did it for under 150 and they ca gave us a plaster cast paw print. We didn’t bother with the ashes, how would any one know if they were from you animal.
            If one practice can do it they all can.

          2. Oh, £500 that is a terrible price. We were charged £342 for everything, ashes returned. I agree about not knowing whether they are from your pet or multiple pets but the vet assured me that they are cremated singly. We got paw prints ‘free’. The ashes are symbolic anyway, we are having a little family ceremony next weekend to scatter.

          3. The paw print was a nice touch. Charlie stood in wet concrete when I was having the drains done, so he left his mark 🙂

      3. Same here , Phil. The Springer is 8 years old and the monthly premium was £100. Also we had to pay the first £90 of any claim. We cancelled the insurance and I put £150 a month into a savings account.

      4. #Me Too. Until Oscar’s latest round of treatment I was actually ahead (spent less than the premium).

      1. Probably at the back – don’t they dig out the foxes if they look like they are going to ground? Edit: or something. :o)

  42. Nice and green at Wimbledon today, but I can’t stand all that grunting, it’s awful.

    2. At least the pre-match rabbitting on from the Beeb has stopped. I can cope with just the play.

        1. It was driving me nuts this morning, but now he can’t play any more he’s glued to the matches on telly.

  43. Greetings one and all,
    I only picked up Ndovu’s Saturday’s comment to me this morning, and can no longer reply, so here is an update.
    Lotl also, who is going through a similar but more advanced situation to me.
    I survived Saturday’s surgery, thankfully not as bad as I had expected. Super kind doctor and nurses throughout made all the difference.
    Now very swollen and bruised but at least the post-anaesthetic pain now responds to paracetamol. Big fat dressings get removed later today so I will get to see my ‘new’ nose…. and all the stitches and repair work. I reckon I will be using dressings to hide the results for quite some time when I am out, not for medical purposes but just to help feel less self-conscious.
    I am under strict orders to not bend, lift, or exert myself for at least 2 weeks. I suspect I am going to get somewhat bored, especially as I can’t do any gardening. Fingers crossed MH can keep my greenhouse crops, pots and baskets fed and watered.

      1. Thank you. Back for more in August, but at least I’ll know what to expect and won’t be so nervous.

          1. Me too! At outpatients on Saturday, we wondered if we’d turned up on the right day. Cafe and shops shuttered, hardly any lights on.

          2. So do I. The experience is improved with friendly and caring staff.

            I had to have an operation on my birthday. All the staff sang to me and i got extra ice cream !

          3. Afternoon Phizzee. I can remember my first visit to a hospital. I was five. I fell over when I was running and bashed my forehead on the corner of a house brick. I still have the scar! A neighbour who had a car ran us to the nearest General Hospital. (Those were the days eh!) They had to give me an anaesthetic on the X ray machine to keep me quiet! I spent four days in bed and they gave me a mountain of comics when I left.

          4. Good afternoon.

            I purchased my medical records and they revealed i was hospitalised on three separate occasions with concussion. All this before the age of 10.

            The first one was where my older brother pushed my high chair over.

            That wasn’t the last time he tried to kill me. The second time we were racing and because i was in front he kicked out at my ankle and tripped me up. My forehead banged on the bumper of a car. Huge duck egg sized swelling.

            The third time was when he pushed me into the road and a car ran over my foot.

            Obviously resented the new and younger sibling.

            I confronted my parents about it and they made light of it.

          6. No. I left home at 16. Moved away. 10 years later i was back living in the area where i was born. It all started over again. I haven’t spoken to any family in over 10 years. I’m happier for it.

          8. I’m much happier for it. The whole family splintered when father died. My two elder sisters had a punch up over where he was to be cremated. The older sister also attacked me and one of my brothers because we wouldn’t support her choice. Dad had for the previous 15 years had been living in the New Forest with the younger sister and she wanted him cremated there. The older sister wanted it to be a huge event near her so she could grand stand.

            My mental health has improved tremendously since i made the decision to have nothing more to do with them.

          9. Then you have made the best decision for your situation.
            A few years ago, after a ‘final straw’, my younger son cut all contact with his older brother. He was already in a very fragile state after his now ex-wife did the dirty, and he needed to draw the line for his own mental health.
            I am 99% certain what/who the final trigger (and the problem all along) was, and I wholeheartedly understand why he made that choice. His brother (and the wife) harbours many grudges but would like at least some contact. Tough. It ain’t going to happen. Their next meeting will likely be at our funerals.

          10. I was six when I first went into hospital (to have my tonsils out). I still have the scars. too! I was in for three days, the food was inedible, my parents weren’t allowed to visit and the regime was extremely strict. I must have been in over April Fools’ Day because I remember Roger, one of the long-term inmates, trying to catch me out 🙂

          11. I had a similar experience when my tonsils were removed when I was six. I couldn’t cope with food afterwards but my mother dropped a postcard in for me every day I was there. I still have those. it was 1954.

          12. Been in hospital once, with a broken nose (fighting for a ladies honour – who’s side was I on I hear you ask?)

          15. Oh well, at least you got something! In an old Carry On film, the patient would have made puppy eyes at Nurse Barbara to have his wishes granted. 🙂

          16. I hate hospitals. I also hate hotels.

            Funny how the names for both buildings come from the same root.

    3. So glad to hear from you- well done. I think you are a braver man than I am Gunga Din;-))
      Warmest wishes for things to continue well!!!

      1. Thank you. When is your next appointment? I think you have a scan this week?
        Only needed to go into the theatre twice. After the first session, there was a man in the recovery room. It seems he first ‘saw’ his GP (photo diagnosis, stupid GP) with a lesion in late 2020, and had to wait 6 months before seeing a consultant then a further NINE months before getting some treatment, by which time more drastic work was needed. This time, he was there for MOHS surgery on another lesion.

        1. Had scan last week which not nearly as scary as the MRI. Tomorrow at 10 I see the oncologist/facial surgeon and no doubt all the gory details will be revealed.
          I am so pleased that you came through your stuff OK- gives me hope. Bless you.

          1. Thank you.
            I’ve only had one MRI, and it was not an experience I ever wish to repeat. I seem to recall you were having a CT this time?
            I will be thinking of you tomorrow morning, and hope everything goes well, with no more bad news. All the best from a fellow traveller!

    4. Try not to be distressed when you see your face. It will improve as the swelling and bruising goes down.

      Good luck !

      1. Thank you. I think it will be a more scary sight than the heavily dressed version but, as you say, it should look less daunting once the stitches have dissolved and the bruising goes down. Apparently I will have a triangle outline with a further ‘flagpole’ above of scars. What fun.

        1. Let’s look on the bright side- at least we won’t need masks for Hallowe’en;-)))

          1. I hadn’t thought of that. Just back having the bulky hospital dressing removed at the health centre. They were very well attached but the nurse did a great job. Before she put a lighter dressing on, she took a photo for me. My nose would scare any trick or treater!

    7. Good to know it ain’t so bad, Mum2. Resist picking bogies until it has healed.

    8. Good to see from you, Mum. Excellent news that things weren’t as bad as feared, and pain relief works.
      Fingers crossed for the “Big Reveal”!

      1. Thank you. I have just come back from the health centre. Quite a mess, so I will cover it if I go outside over the coming week. The nurse reckons it is healing cleanly so that is good.

          1. I will never willingly wear a mask again. Until we flew to Canada last summer, I had only worn soft fabric masks. But for the flight and the 3+ hours in the Canadian airport, we had to wear those scratchy blue jobs. It was only afterwards that my nose lesion became very much worse and never ‘healed.’ Coincidence?

      1. Thank you. Apart from looking nasty, it is clean with no sign of stitches pulling or infection.

    10. So glad to hear all has gone well – I hope the healing process does too. Keep chin up and let’s hope all will turn out well.

      1. Thank you. Literally keeping my chin up as I must not bend (risk of ripping the stitches) 🙂

          5. My dear old Mum wanted to call me Anne (after one of grandmothers), but my Dad, bless him, left off the ‘e’ when he went to register me …. in case people called me Annie. He didn’t even give me a middle name.

          6. I’ve got a middle name which was my mother’s middle name. I don’t like it much.

          7. My Mum’s middle names were surnames of a grandmother and an aunt. Until she passed, she hated having those as middle names. Most of her many siblings suffered the same. Big family so plenty of valued relatives to choose from.

      1. Thank you. It is certainly more comfortable now I have had the bulky dressing changed. Only had 1 lot of paracetamol today, and then at bedtime.

  44. How the Taliban launched the ‘most successful counter-narcotics effort in human history’. 3 July 2023.

    In April last year, the group’s religious leaders issued an edict prohibiting poppy farming across Afghanistan. More than 12 months on, the ban is being described by experts as “the most successful counter-narcotics effort in human history”.

    The impact on the ground has been dramatic. Afghan poppy production has plummeted by an estimated 80 per cent in the last year as Taliban enforcers move from farm to farm destroying crops and punishing offenders.

    Cultivation in Helmand province, which once produced around four-fifths of Afghanistan’s poppies and was the centre of British operations in the country from 2001 to 2015, fell to around 2,500 acres this year, down from 320,000 the year before, according to estimates based on satellite imagery.

    Ohhh! The Americans aren’t going to like this. We’ll have to invade again!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/taliban-war-on-drugs-poppy-ban-opium-heroin-afghanistan/

      1. Wear a white one, probably. They had better not come round my garden – it’s a mass of poppies, all sown by the birds and the wind.

        1. A few years ago we had dozens of poppies arrive in our garden. I
          carefully collect a box of seeds
          And spread them along a hedge row hoping that they would sprout and blossom. As far as I could make not one of them made a show. Perhaps birds or mice ate all the seeds.
          We have a lovely variety in the corner of our green house now I’ll give it another go.
          I have two trees my nephew planted for me in the North Pennines. Most of the locals trees were removed at least 150 plus years ago when the used the timber to extract lead from the hill sides..

    2. I think it’s China’s turn this time, isn’t it? Will have the same effect.

    3. I spose if the Tallies declare that if they find one poppy on your land, they will be round to chop off your head and rape your daughter goats, you will be out weeding most mornings..

    4. I could understand if the poppy crop was used for pharmaceutical use, as opposed to supporting a drug empire, but joined-up thinking wasn’t apparent during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan (or Iraq).

      Having read AW Kauma’s articles in GP on US/UK involvement in Rwanda and Somalia, this is not surprising and helps to explain the debacle of Libya and Syria.

      1. Miaow Feargal. All these wars have been catastrophes, not just for the people we invaded, but for ourselves.

        1. Of course, that’s why the USA encourage us to invade – we are closer to the invaded for any retaliatory actions to be made on.

          If Pearl Harbour was to happen today…

    1. Sorry, but je ne comprends pas. Is the mother portrayed as a victim or the (unwitting) instigator?

        1. His mother’s in bits – he was studying to be a brain surgeon. Never touched a drug/firearm in his life…

      1. But, but, you can’t BLAME them. Like cats peeing in other people’s gardens, that’s “just what they do”.

      1. I saw a piece online recently, by a person who claimed to be a hardworking “mum” (complaining about rises in the rate of water or something). Well, as mothers now are “birthing parents” perhaps that person should have said that – except of course that that person would never have been physically able to give birth. So people who can’t give birth can be mothers, and people who can are birthing parents.

        It was one of the very rare occasions that I visit Twatter, in order to look at the link from a post. My comment to the effect of the above was suspended (me too perhaps, oo nose?) as contravening their Hate speech content or whatever.

        1. Women who can’t give birth can still be mothers (by adoption) but only women can give birth. The world’s gone mad and it’s all nonsense.

          1. I agree – I put it badly. My own mother was an adoptive mother who couldn’t have children herself. But to dictate (as these people do) that women have to be called birth parents whereas an obvious man can call himself a Mum is a bit much. It’s not that the world is mad – the world is being taken over by evil people who are encouraging ill people to live their delusions and that the rest of us just have to accept it.

          2. Yes. It’s as if the sensible people like us have no say in this nonsense and this changing of normal language to the nonsensical ‘birthing parent’ etc that we just have to put up with. Men cannot give birth or change themselves into women whatever they may think. They may believe their delusions but I don’t and I’m sure the vast majority of normal people think as we do but we are silenced.

    2. WTF has that got to do with the BoE in the first place? It should stick to its own remit, which it is handling rather badly. It look like it might be run by people without balls (and that doesn’t make those people women).

    1. Chris E and others like him have a totemic attachment to British fishing waters. While the exclusion of all foreign fishing vessels from these waters would be a very tangible representation of the UK’s departure from the EU, surely there would also be adverse consequences for other parts and for other people of the UK. If UK negotiators had insisted on an immediate cessation of EU fishing in UK territorial waters, EU negotiators would have demanded something else. What that would have been I do not know, but the idea that the UK could have “had its cake and eat it” strikes me as unlikely. Would the EU have merely shrugged and said, “sure, why not”? I don’t think so.

    1. No.17 is disappointing. I hoped it was going to tell me that Great White Shark are now living in the English Channel.

        1. “Where the sun doesn’t shine” seems to be the favourite hidey-hole of those “Pride” wankers.

      2. The sharks this side of the English Channel are mostly in corporations, banking, and Parliament. They are not great (except of girth in some cases) and those that are white often pretend to be ashamed of that fact.

        What a set!

    2. I think the Cornish project will turn people off from going there. It’s daft, will this include the Camel Valley where most of their very expensive wine is produced ?

  50. Apropos the thread (earlier, below) about methods of payments in shops; I’ve just come back from a shopping trip (and dental appointment) in Simrishamn.

    In a clothing shop I saw this rather ironic notice:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dba052ae6373556671fdd0378b25496b120e4fd85f3c8bd7a745e7d25054e08a.jpg Here is a Swedish shop telling visitors … in English … that they accept cash, as long as it is Swedish kronor, the Danish or Norwegian equivalent, or the Euro. No mention (in English or otherwise) about accepting English cash!

    1. To be fair, it didn’t include US dollars either. It was probably in English because more foreigners who come into that shop are from France, Germany, Spain or wherever, and they would be more likely to understand English than Scandi-speak.

      1. I know that, Dukke, min vän, but I couldn’t help smiling at the irony of everyone speaking English.

          4. Amusingly, when I visited a Greek friend in Greece, her mother-in-law who lived next door spoke no English. As my Greek is minimal, we conversed in French, the only mutual language. Same happened with my Polish visiting tutor when I was doing my art degree, his English being dodgy and my Polish minimal,

        2. The 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World

          Babbel.com
          https://www.babbel.com › magazine › the-10-most-sp…
          9 Feb 2023
          1. Chinese — 1.3 Billion Native Speakers
          2. Spanish — 485 Million Native Speakers
          3. English — 373 Million Native Speakers
          4. Arabic — 362 Million Native Speakers
          5. Hindi — 344 Million Native …

          2. That is a fact of which I am very much aware, Tom. Apart from the 373 million ‘Native’ speakers of English (as a first language) there are an extra 1,080 million speakers of English as a second language, making a total of 1,453 million speakers of English currently on the planet.
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c9f61e51f6428f309405ed4550b4dbbe3d69e7bd45b254c39b65fce059e2ad3c.png This makes English, easily, the most widespread language on the planet and the one with by far the most speakers of it.

    2. I bet they’ll take an English or US Debit/credit card. They all did when I worked in and around Stockholm, as they did in Äre.

      1. A lot of places in The UK have refused my business because I want to pay with a Norwegian credit card.

  51. https://difare.com.ec/5o2wjgb/shawn-paul-novak-today-2021

    This bizarre nonsense goes on for page after page. Get the impression it was an AI ‘bot’ having a bad day and mixing together different stories involving the name ‘Novak’!

    ‘the verdict was in. He won his first Grand Slam title in 2000 at the US Open, and between 2000 and 2001, he was the world #1 for nine weeks. house were still smoldering, as investigators dug through the debris, looking for clues. Examiners determined that the dog died of smoke inhalation, but an autopsy found that the level of carbon monoxide in Catherines lungs was too low to kill her. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him unable to escape it, but he proved the doubters wrong, becoming one of the most notable film . how did olay top expensive creams? Novak Djokovic could face a fine or even prison in Serbia after admitting to knowingly breaking isolation laws after testing positive for Covid-19 last month, lawyers have reportedly claimed. VERMILION LAND OFFICE INC website. He was strong. They described how Novak never made a secret of hating his wife and had been talking about ways to dispose of bodies and commit the perfect crime. John has had a very successful career and has accumulated a net worth of $100 million dollars. >> yes. She has a net worth of $20 million dollars and is considered to be one of the best tennis players of all time. and we never expect an accidental cause of death. next, carvana’s 100% online shopping experience. and save at trelegy.com. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. why hide your skin if dupixent has your moderate to severe eczema or atopic dermatitis under control? The only hope he had of convincing a jury of this theory was to discredit LaFrance. The fourth and youngest child, she and her family moved from apartment to apartment while her struggling parents scraped together money for parochial school. He took the time to come up with a custom color and he listened to me about what I wanted cut-wise’.

  52. Shortly off to see Nurse – again. Getting very tedious – but as nothing compared to what some courageous lady NoTTLers are coping with.

    Toodles.

      1. Gosh – you are ahead of us! Glad they are to your liking. They freeze very well.

    1. How many times has the Thick King (father of the Thick as mince, Prince) in the past given the world X years to survive – and it has survived?

      I don’t believe that KCIII genuinely actively wants to kick his own people in the teeth, but I do believe that he is thick enough to have swallowed what WEF and its puppetmasters tell him.

    2. Unfortunately that little turd is the mayor of London, because London is now inhabited by a majority of little Turds – many of them given British passports and voting rights, like LT’s own parents.

      1. And he fiddled the election with what they called an administrative error.
        aka Not sending election papers to Jewish communities.

        1. Is this the polling day incident in Barnet? That was the responsibility of the borough’s Conservative-run council. Not that the numbers involved would have made the slightest material difference to the electoral outcome.

  55. Ukraine retakes 37km in counter-offensive. 3 July 2023.

    Ukrainian troops regained more territory in the country’s east and south as they pushed ahead with a counter-offensive despite “difficult” conditions along the frontlines over the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

    “Last week was difficult on the front line. But we are making progress,” Mr Zelensky wrote on social media on Monday.

    Kyiv’s troops took back 37.4 square kilometres of territory in the last week amid heavy fighting, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said.

    On the First Day of the Battle of the Somme the British gained three square miles and lost 20,000 men. I wonder how many it cost for this 37.4 square kilometres?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/03/russia-ukraine-war-latest/

  56. Blustery heavy shower here at the moment. Stopped the trimming back of a red robin and a couple of camellias and I will not be going back out. If it’s wet then it will be the shower after I’ve finished my glass of squash. Radar showing light rain for a short while but there’s a narrow line of heavier rain between Luton and Milton Keynes that could arrive here a little later, here’s hoping.

  57. Had a brief visit from my elder son this afternoon. He’d been to an outdoor funeral – his uncle and my former brother in law.
    He was buried next to his first wife who died in 1971.

    Over a cup of tea he told me that another of his uncles died in 2021 shortly after getting a covid jab – I didn’t know that – he thought I would have heard, but of course the only members of his family that I’m in touch with now are my sons. I do keep an eye on the deaths notices in the local paper but there are far fewer of those these days.

  58. Back from Nurse – another dressing. Another apptmt Thursday morning. (Yawns…)

  59. Outrage as collection for French cop who sparked riots by ‘executing’ teen reach €1MILLION – dwarfing the €189,000 donated to victim’s devastated family
    Nahel Merzouk’s grandmother said she is ‘heartbroken’ at the support for the cop
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12259159/Outrage-collection-French-cop-sparked-riots-executing-teen-reach-1MILLION.html

    A BTL comment I made which, because the comments are being moderated, will probably NOT see light of day.

    The teen was NOT executed. Anyone who says he was should watch the video. You will see the policeman has the gun, held in his right hand, trained on the car driver through the windscreen but not, initially touching it. He is supporting the gun with his left hand and supporting himself by leaning onto the lower part of the windscreen with his left elbow. As the driver tries to drive off, he is pivoted round off balance until the pistol contacts the windscreen and fires. I will agree that his control of his firearm was rather poor, but this was not a deliberate shooting, but a negligent or accidental discharge.

    1. I thought the behaviour of the car thief’s mother most peculiar. I’d have thought that the vast majority of mothers whose only son had died suddenly would have been in deepest mourning. Instead she cavorted about on a flatback lorry urging the world to protest.

    2. Just wondering if that really happened and was not just another set up, what are the odds of someone filming that from a distance.
      Convenient that the victim was hidden by the car, all you see are shots fired and a car driven off.

    3. This may sound cynical, and I am not suggesting that the boy wasn’t killed or that his death isn’t a tragedy, but I really cannot see myself leading a march in the full glare of the media, or giving a statement calling for everyone to hold no hatred in their hearts just after my child had been killed.

      This is the second such case in just a few weeks. What is going on? It just feels very artificial.

    4. This may sound cynical, and I am not suggesting that the boy wasn’t killed or that his death isn’t a tragedy, but I really cannot see myself leading a march in the full glare of the media, or giving a statement calling for everyone to hold no hatred in their hearts just after my child had been killed.

      This is the second such case in just a few weeks. What is going on? It just feels very artificial.

    1. She is quite wrong about “no person ever sent to prison for contempt of court”. Happens all the time. Often for quite lengthy spells.

      1. Judges seem to do it just to make those fools who think the rules of the court don’t apply to them understand just how powerful even a county court judge is in their own courtroom.
        My F-i-L used to do it regularly.

          2. https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part-81-applications-and-proceedings-in-relation-to-contempt-of-court#:~:text=Powers%20of%20the%20court%20in%20contempt%20proceedings,-81.9&text=(1)%20If%20the%20court%20finds,punishment%20permitted%20under%20the%20law.

            High court or county court – judges have power to imprison for contempt.

            Rule 81.9:

            (1) If the court finds the defendant in contempt of court, the court may impose a period of imprisonment (an order of committal), a fine, confiscation of assets or other punishment permitted under the law.

            That’ll be one hundred guineas.

          3. Looks like you and Alf_the_Great need to debate…

            The old man seemed to do it fairly often, if has tales were anything to go by.
            Once, a barrister for a burglar who had been found guilty asked him to consider a prison sentence in months rather than years.
            He replied, “Certainly, I will sentence your client to 60 months.”

    2. Why are Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins banned from GB News? The channel has some leftists who are vey much less coherent, very much less intelligent and very much more offensive than either or these: for example Benjamin Butterworth, Amy Nickel and the exceptionally repulsive Tessa Dunlop.

      1. Because GB News has to operate within very narrow parameters. The usual suspects are just looking for an excuse to get the channel kicked off the air.

  61. Just had a five minute cloudburst (with thunder). Hailstones. Now bright bloody sunshine again. Useless precipitation.

        1. I just hope tomorrow morning is dry, I’m having a winter’s worth of logs delivered and they will need barrowing and stowing.

          4. If you ask nicely, Bob will take a break from building the great wall of Bonsall and give you a hand.

    1. Perhaps this news explains the current headline on US Daily Mail:

      “EXCLUSIVE: Italian researcher shares extraordinary evidence files of world’s ‘first’ UFO crash – 14 years before Roswell – and the secret department set up by Mussolini’s government to study the craft that was later captured by US forces”

        2. If that’s where you keep squirrels…..
          Going to the pub tonight? An especial pint for me Mola. God I need it!!!

          1. Hey Lottie, will be thinking about you tomorrow, sending happy thoughts along with the Kanga juice tonight!

          2. Thanks Jill. If they keep me in, I may be away for a few days.
            Wishing you and Jack all the best.

          3. Ann, in the event of your being ‘kept in’, can you please, get YOH to keep us updated? We’ll be thinking about you, especially tomorrow.

          13. Oddly enough, I dislike sugar. I put some into my tomato sauces so that the family will enjoy it. Personally, I enjoy a sauce with a sharp tang to it.
            Got to keep everyone happy, and if I use sugar it’s the dark Muscovado.

          15. I deserve a medal for tonight’s research and having one for Ann and hubby!

    2. The price of gold has been dropping for weeks. I thought if everyone was buying the price would increase. Or is some sort of fiscal manipulation happening?

      1. Gold and silver are always cheap in June/July, I think.
        The Americans still have a hold on the prices too.
        China came out recently and said they want a silver price in three figures – I read the article yesterday, but can’t remember where I found the link.
        They’ve been putting the building blocks in place to wrest control from the US – Moscow Exchange, Shanghai Gold Exchange. This is the biggest yet though!

        1. I bought an assortment of 5gm and 50gm totaling 20 ounces. Not for investment or profit but to bribe someone to get me out when the shit hits the fan. A Jewish example.

        2. That’s why they killed Gadaffi, he wanted to change from the US dollars to a gold dinar for oil trading.

          1. They weren’t near enough to the end of the dollar – there was still a lot more to be plundered. Now they’ve sucked it dry, so they’re ready to move on to new currencies and the industrialising of new countries.

          3. I think the BRICS currency is supposed to be for international exchange, as the Chinese don’t want theirs to be the dominant reserve currency. Or so I have read.
            The IMF is working on an exchange mechanism for different countries’ CBDCs. They appear to be labouring under the delusion that the CBDCs will be successful…

  63. Another Birdie today.

    Wordle 744 3/6
    🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Another bogey five for me.

      Wordle 744 5/6

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

    2. Beat me as always . Oar for me –
      Wordle 744 4/6

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

    3. Par again here.
      Wordle 744 4/6

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

    4. Par again here.
      Wordle 744 4/6

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

  64. Afternoon, all. Just popping in for a short time as I have a parish council meeting later. It never occurs to the idiots “in charge” that pensioners are struggling because the effing tax burden is so high. Not just income tax (I pay tax on my pension) but VAT (I thought we’d left the EU), fuel duty, insurance premium tax, etc.

  65. Ha ha ha
    Hoist by their own petards

    Pete Buttigieg claims Colorado graphic designer Lorie Smith deliberately ‘provoked’ Supreme Court gay wedding website case for the ‘clear purpose of chipping away’ at LGBTQ rights
    ‘It appears this Web designer only went into the wedding business for the purpose of provoking a case like this,’ Buttigieg told CNN on Sunday
    Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lorie Smith, a Colorado web designer who didn’t want to a make a wedding site for a gay couple
    Buttigieg said there is a movement in the country with the ‘clear purpose of chipping away at the equality and the rights’ for the LGBTQ community

    The Pridiots have been playing this game for years.

  66. Life is a barrel of laughs…husband is making pickled eggs! Honestly!
    I have had a small plate of salad but I won’t be late to bed tonight. Only thing working tonight is Pinot- not even Vivaldi or pills. And even the Pinot ain’t working too well either.

    1. Oh, I am sorry to hear that. What a nightmare for you. My pain on Saturday was nothing compared to yours, and it has nearly gone.

    2. Perhaps pertaining to egg-ness in this instance might help a tiny bit – if you get my drift.

      Sending warmest wishes and thoughts, for what little that is worth. (It is meant well, though) xx

    3. In case I miss you later, I will be thinking of you tomorrow and hoping nothing else bad is seen. Good luck!

    5. Probably going to put the pickled eggs on display once the shelf is bought and installed.

      Use a bigger glass tonight and don’t forget to take some of your pain medicine with you when you see the doctor. You never can tell maybe he/she will give you a prescription for more.

      1. Will and shall- have an empty packet in my bag)- I won’t take any more of that crap the hospital gave me.

        1. You do find ways if attracting crap nhs service.
          Decent food is one of my memories from my hospital stay, they always had over a doxpzen main meals to chose from and all were freshly defrosted and reheated.

        2. The NHS uses the cheapest forms of generic drugs.
          That is probably a reason why the paracetamol you are given is upsetting your innards.

    7. An addition to RichardL’s comment.

      Ask the consultant about Tramadol and Diclofenac. Stress that only one of each will be taken ONLY when the pain is at screaming level.

      1. That would certainly help at bedtime. There’s no way anyone can get to sleep when in bad pain.

      2. Diclofenac, if I’ve got the right stuff here, used to be available over the counter as Voltarol, I don’t know if it still is in the UK but I do know that it works for me.
        GPs are now wary of Tramadol for some reason, it also worked for me.
        Probably clashes with Pinot!
        I suspect LotL’s needs are way beyond those.

        1. Tramadol is an opioid format and can become addictive if over-used.

          Voltarol no longer available in tablet form, only as muscle-relaxant cream.
          I use them both together but only on prescription these days.

          Tramadol to kill the pain and Diclofenac as a muscle-relaxant, because of lower back pain but only when the pain becomes obsessive.

          That’s why I’ve cautioned Ann, as she must convince the Doc that it won’t become addictive.

          1. I’m fairly sure we can get the “75” tablets OTC here but the 100’s are definitely prescription only.
            I’ve never understood why “weaker” pills could be OTC when one just had to swallow several to get the equivalent, unless it has something to do with the rate of release into one’s body.
            The gel doesn’t work particularly well for me.

        2. Diclofenac can raise blood pressure in those who are prone to the condition.

          1. I seem to suffer from low blood-pressure, hence why I keep falling over.

            It’s not just the whisky, y’know.

      3. Diclofenac, if I’ve got the right stuff here, used to be available over the counter as Voltarol, I don’t know if it still is in the UK but I do know that it works for me.
        GPs are now wary of Tramadol for some reason, it also worked for me.
        Probably clashes with Pinot!
        I suspect LotL’s needs are way beyond those.

    8. If you have them, a couple of chilies added to the vinegar gives them a nice bite!

    10. Does YOH have a recipe for pickling eggs, but I’d like to know if one should prick them to let the vinegar in, and what else may be added?

      1. I just put them in a jar with the spices I want and top up with vinegar.

        1. Any particular spices? I rather fancy curry powder, Salt & pepper of course and maybe a bit of turmeric for colour.

          Vinegar? White or malted?

          1. I would not add salt, but I tend to buy mixed pickling spices from non-chain shops & market stalls. There is a good one in Nottingham’s Victoria Market.
            As for vinegar, it’s whatever I have to hand!

          2. Back to The Goons:

            FX – Huge explosion;

            Major Bludknok, “No more curried eggs for me!”

      1. Toronto had another smoky day last week. Again, from forest fires. Maybe the fires are deliberately set to avoid arousing suspicion of deliberate climate interference.

          2. Very true but mostly accidental or malicious idiots rather than deliberate policy of unscrupulous, dangerous megalomaniacs.

          3. Apparently some fires are accidents, orhers are set by joy burners and as suggested, many fires are being deliberately set to make it look like climate change is killing us.

            Saturday was bloody murder with 28C temperatures, high humidity and a very noticeable smoky haze. At least the golf ball flew long and straight.

          7. Especially for those around me.

            I gave up on the idea of going to see a really good local band at the legion, a hundred sweaty beer riddled enthusiasts inside a poorly ventilated building was not appealing.

          9. Very true but mostly accidental or malicious idiots rather than deliberate policy of unscrupulous, dangerous megalomaniacs.

        2. Possibly a combination of idiots who just like fires and idiots who are pushing an agenda, either way it’s very dangerous.

    2. Cue the Simpsons episode when Monty Burns blots out the sun over Springfield!! 🤣

    3. US of bl**dy A deciding something that would affect the whole world – they haven’t that right! If the USA want to vote for people to plunge them into darkness, that’s their business, but to do something that affects the whole world is NOT their business.

      1. Since its inception, the United States has always thought itself the new empire of the world. Of course, they never called it that, but that’s what their Establishment has been doing for the last several centuries. And particularly since the end of WWII. The people are fine, for the most part. The Establishment? Thoroughly evil.

          1. Thanks. That’s what a bit of history can teach you. History isn’t quite the Disney-fied version that’s served up in popular culture.

    4. Dopey Joe is a Dangerously ignorant old Duffer; he should be sent to the Vet.

      1. I would say that he is an ignorant Dangerous old Duffer as well. I wonder how dangerous he would be if he wasn’t so ignorant (of what is happening generally) – I guess not a great deal of difference. Just different in the execution?

      2. Biden has dementia and can barely string a sentence together even when reading from prompt cards.

        The actual deep state comprises the wealthiest families and corporations in the world. These people are calculating and manipulative. Thus they installed Clinton and Barack Obama in the White House, bought them for a few hundred millions and obliged them to destroy America, de-industrialise Germany thus wrecking Europe and financing the destruction of Ukraine.

        The collective west is in deep recession and matters can only worsen if our politicians continue with the climate change wrecking ball and their shared idiotic green agenda.

        We could recover in the UK simply by exiting Europe and its institutions and establishing our national sovereignty by expelling illegals and scrapping EU regulations in total. We should retain our fishing rights over our territorial waters and either stop or charge the Dutch, Danes and French and whoever else is presently plundering our fish.

        It is absolutely vital that we stop the construction of wind turbines and solar farms and cease the import of wood pellets for burning from far away forested lands. We should instead resume exploitation of oil and gas along with coal mining and fracking and nuclear. Without cheaper energy we will rapidly decline and become poorer.

        Italy for example should sack Moroni and ditch the Euro to regain its wealth as a great manufacturing nation. Other EU countries should follow. Ursula von der Leyen and Gustav Scholz have by their policies brought Germany to its knees and both should be removed.

    5. Someone must influence his opinion hasnt a clue. As is Kinnockio this ‘President’ will only be famous for falling over.

    6. My BTL comment:

      “Has the senile old duffer got shares in a parasol company?”

    7. Aside from this lunatic issue, Dopey Joe’s complete miscomprehension of the Ukraine v. Russia confrontation – President Putin is not an enemy of the West; he’s a potential strategic partner and ally.

      President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should return to the stage.

      Further military interference by POTUS could lead to US tactical nuclear intervention – as they no longer have sufficient conventional military resources.

      At that point, Putin’s ‘measured response’ would cease. The outlook would be a nuclear attack on a US city – or cities – and a full- blown WWIII.

      This would never happen under a Trump administration; however, the Democrats’ corrupted voting system will never allow Trump to prevail.

      1. –

        President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should return to the stage.

        And be booed off it

      2. –

        President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should return to the stage.

        And be booed off it

    8. The man is a half wit. He should be shoved underground, along with all the other ecomentalists. Then they can do without CO2 and anything made from oil. They can ‘grow’ their own food down there as well.

      1. It’s the sensation that ultra-right-wing-loonies only joking peoples get from discovering Nottle

    1. Until he starts talking about genuine, real reform, nothing can change. We’re too tied up in international agreement.

      1. 364123+ up ticks,

        Evening W,
        I would think peoples have had enough talking I would like to see him g0 straight into action on some issue of importance.

  72. I am off. The MR is going to a parish council meeting where “the flies” will be discussed.
    As there is nothing the PC can do – I am not sure that there is any point. I shall stay at home.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain – prolly.

  73. FAO Jules:

    UK Swift Awareness Week gets underway

    UK Swift Awareness Week is underway and 70 events are taking place across the country to celebrate Common Swift.

    It precedes the parliamentary debate on 10 July about the installation of nest sites for Red-listed urban birds, including Common Swift, in all new buildings.

    These awareness events have been organised by many of the 119 local swift groups. Several are enjoying considerable success in attracting swifts into new nestboxes, projects which will help to reverse the inexorable decline of this species, whose numbers are down by more than 60% despite widely being considered one of the sounds of the summer.Dick Newell, who set up the Action for Swifts blog, has been installing and experimenting with nestbox design for different types of building for more than 20 years. He said: “Where boxes have been installed, villages near me in Cambridgeshire that once had a handful of birds now have tens of pairs.

    “Nestboxes in church belfries have proved particularly successful, with some 60 pairs now nesting in one belfry. This needs to be replicated across the country and already, many of the UK’s swift groups are getting involved.”

    Edward Mayer, founder of Swift Conservation, added: “To complement these voluntary initiatives, if swifts are to maintain their numbers, the building industry needs to install the cost-effective and well-proven internal nestboxes called ‘Swift Bricks’ in all new developments as well as in refurbished older buildings.

    “MPs will debate this very issue immediately after Swift Awareness Week, a petition on the subject having more than 110,000 signatures.”

    UK Swift Awareness Week 2023 runs until Sunday 9 July. A full list of the 70 events can be found here.

    Hannah Bourne-Taylor, who organised the swift-brick petition, said: “Swift Awareness Week is ideal since it runs just before the important parliamentary debate on Monday 10 July about installing universal bricks to help urban birds like Common Swift and House Sparrow.”

    ©Birdguides web blog.

    2. Our first pair moved in here in 2016 – it had taken five years since the first box went up. They’ve been back every year since then and this year have three well-grown chicks in the box. Only in 2019 did they fail to rear chicks – a disaster happened when the male disappeared leaving his mate with a tiny new-born chick and an unhatched egg. She couldn’t incubate the eggs as well as hunt for food – we’d been out for the day, and when we returned there was a commotion going on – an intruder had moved in and on the camera I saw the intruder dash the little chick on the side of the box. She clearly didn’t welcome his advances – and he eventually went away. Then (I think ) the original mate returned – they were very affectionate together, but by then it was too late to try and breed again.

      Edward Meyer has done two talks for our group – he’s a very good speaker. Dick Newell gave OH a lot of help and encouragement and some of his products – preformed cast holes and fronts for nest holes in the stonework, which is what he installed over the last couple of years, including when we had scaffolding up for roof repairs last year.

      We now have four breeding pairs and one non-breeding pair newly arrived. Five chicks (one newly hatched today) and four eggs still to hatch. Two were ejected after a fight in one box at the beginning of June, but they went on to have three more eggs.

      Our stall yesterday at the Festival of Nature was for information, talking to people and some activities for children. Next Sunday OH is leading a walk locally to look at nest sites and hopefully see some flight action.

      I doubt the government will do anything about making swift bricks a normal thing for new- builds but Hannah’s campaign has certainly raised awareness.

      1. The more swifts there are the fewer the insects that can be processed into ‘meals’ for us!

        1. We need more insects for the swifts and other insectivorous birds. Overuse of pesticides for monoculture crops like oilsseed rape has a lot to answer for. You don’t see them splattered on the windscreen now like we used to. I don’t think that’s just down to aerodynamic shapes.

  74. As you know, I do not agree with many of your political opinions and etc but I cannot do anything but acknowledge your consideration and support of late.
    Today has been awful painwise and I am off to bed fairly soon. Must take some more paracetamol and brace myself for the morrow.
    Thank you all.

    3. Lottie, I am confused about your analgesic input but have kept quiet so far. Paracetamol is a good underlying painkiller, but, UNLESS YOU HAVE OTHER ADVICE FROM YOUR DOCTORS, you could also consider taking codeine in the form of co-codamol. There is a stronger version which is generally not available over the counter at pharmacies. Can cause constipation, and it might conflict with other medication. The NHS is rubbish at dealing with pain, because they are scared that they would be sued if their patients were to become addicted to fentanyl as has happened to millions of US citizens who suffer from chronic conditions.

      1. I was given paracetamol and ibupfrofin at the hospital. The para stuff is not buffered and gave me a real stomach ache. The stuff over the counter is buffered and does not upset my tummy as much.
        Tomorrow, I will know more.

        1. I am off to sleep now. Sending my very best wishes for tomorrow, and hugs too.

      2. I’ve had cocodamol following surgery – it didn’t give me any unpleasant side -effects. I seem to be fairly unreactive to medication.

        1. I regularly take co-codamol and it does cause me problems if I take it too long. I can’t take ibuprofen or aspirin with the new tablets I’ve been prescribed, so it’s that or nothing. The NHS is, as Tim5165 says, rubbish at dealing with pain. Procedures which I’ve had before and which were effective in relieving pain are now no longer available. Don’t get me started on “mindfulness” …!

          1. I think I’m very fortunate to be in good health and not in any pain (apart from being a bit creaky in the mornings or when I’ve been sitting around for too long).
            I did take quite a lot of paracetamol when I had shingles in 2019.

          2. I think I’m very fortunate to be in good health and not in any pain (apart from being a bit creaky in the mornings or when I’ve been sitting around for too long).
            I did take quite a lot of paracetamol when I had shingles in 2019.

    4. Lottie, I am confused about your analgesic input but have kept quiet so far. Paracetamol is a good underlying painkiller, but, UNLESS YOU HAVE OTHER ADVICE FROM YOUR DOCTORS, you could also consider taking codeine in the form of co-codamol. There is a stronger version which is generally not available over the counter at pharmacies. Can cause constipation, and it might conflict with other medication. The NHS is rubbish at dealing with pain, because they are scared that they would be sued if their patients were to become addicted to fentanyl as has happened to millions of US citizens who suffer from chronic conditions.

  75. The average temperature for June in the U.K. hit 60.4 Fahrenheit — 33.6 F hotter than the joint previous record of 58.8F in 1940 and 1976, according to the Met Office’s provisional figures.

    https://www.foxnews.com/world/uk-endures-hottest-june-record

    Despite having the comparison figures of 60.4 and 58.8 right in front of their eyes, Fox News contrives to add 32 degrees to the 1.6 difference, as if they feel compelled to adjust for freezing point on the Fahrenheit scale.

    2. From memorable lines from The Goons:

      “By gad it’s hot!’
      “Yes, it must be the heat”

      From The Bridge on the River Wye…

      1. From The Goons-
        Hang him.
        We can’t hang him- he hasn’t got a neck.

        From The Rent Collectors.

        1. The installation of a new trustee……”Gold Gold I’m rich”. ……I wonder if he’s the right man for the job ?
          Not sure which Goon show that was.

          7. Glad you’re still here and haven’t nipped off to bed yet! Sending you all my good, positive thoughts for tomorrow, and lots of love to you both. 🍷💕
            Just back from seeing the Flying Scotsman on its centenary journey round Britain! Very exciting stuff on a Monday night!
            Bless you both, Ann.🌹

    3. Absolute garbage! Do they mean June this year or last year? We had some warm days but nothing particularly record-breaking…….. but of course these days they measure the temperatures on runways when Typhoons are roaring by.

    4. I spent June 1976 at Yarnfield, Stone in Staffordshire attending a training course on the TXE2 exchange system. Basically a month to learn how the system sent dialling tone to the customer. The heat in Staffs was unbearable, new training buildings but no air conditioning in the classrooms and the only relief was when we went down to the model exchange floors which were cooled. By mid-afternoon it was so hot it was difficult to concentrate on what the lecturer had to say. June in my garden this year doesn’t compare with June 1976 in Staffs 200 miles further north. Are the PTB gaslighting us in an attempt to push their narrative?

      1. June of this year was NOTHING like June of 76. I know I was at both of them.

      3. I was teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in Worthing in ’76. I used to sunbathe on the roof (old house) in my off duty periods.

      1. There are so many migrants in Skegness, who knows. Details of the post said it was put up 6 mins ago. Is rape a serious incident anymore? The police don’t seem overly bothered about young, under-age girls being raped in Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford, Oxford, Aylesbury and the rest.

        1. Just to say, MiB that I was pleased to hear that your procedure and treatment had gone well. It must be a load off your mind and by the sound of things, you and Lottie are holding each other up! Well done to you both!💐

          1. Thank you. Just the recovery now, then a further (bigger) MOHS and other surgery in August, plus results from Saturday’s tissue.
            Sadly, it seems Lottie’s situation is more serious.

          2. Let us all hope that you’ve changed the trajectory to:
            MumisBetter and LotL is improving

  77. Too many Brits – including many MPs – proudly boast: “I’m rubbish at maths.”

    Quod est quaestio!

          2. Not that I can remember….and I think I probably would remember….!

    3. It’s not something I would be proud of admitting. I am embarrassed to say that I really struggled at school especially with maths and the sciences, I was frequently ill and it is demoralising having to catch up all the time. I was determined to get my maths ‘O’ level, though, I had to take evening classes after work for a year and ended up with a reasonable grade. This was followed by ‘A’ levels in my early twenties and a Geog/Econ first degree mid-twenties.

        1. Thank you. It was hard. And in my head I am still someone who left school with a few ‘O’ levels, I think because I did not succeed with my year group. I get really annoyed when I hear people proudly say things such as ‘I’m rubbish at maths’ as though they expect to be congratulated on it.

      2. I’m not proud of my maths inability, either – but congratulations on persevering, which I didn’t,

        1. Thank you. Looking back now I’m not sure why I persevered – cold, icy nights after work, sliding over bumpy, iced up pavements (this is the north of England), public transport home… I think I was looking for a cause of some sort.

          1. You needed to prove that you’re not a numpty.
            I decided in my thirties to learn German ( having done French and Latin at school) and got an A for ‘O’ level – I took the exam in the hall with all the boys at the school my two attended. I carried on and did A level at the local college and got a B for that.
            I met my current husband at the German class in 1986.

          2. Yes, I think that was it.

            Well done on the German. You were fortunate to have done Latin at school – I was born in Jan 1947 and in my year at grammar school there were six streams instead of the usual two and there were not enough Latin teachers to do the job, as Latin was a choice at 13, the alternative being German.

            I attended a sixth form further education college to study for my A levels. All the other students were 16, so I was a little nervous about how I would be received back in the day, I told myself I would just be in effect a 7 day wonder and that proved to be the case.

          3. We didn’t really have a choice as to which language we learnt – it alternated so our form (the Bstream) got Latin, the year below or above would have had German.

            Six streams is a lot – our school was three form entry but the classes were big. I remember in my form there were six Carols, five Ann(e)s, and four Marys.

            I stayed till I was 18, but as I didn’t do well at A level I started work instead of university.

    4. I am rubbish at maths, but it isn’t something I’m proud of. I do have an excuse, though; I suffer from dyscalculia. I can’t read numbers correctly. I can, however, apply the theorems in geometry, transpose the formulae in algebra and sort out trigonometry – good job that was on the arithmetic paper or I would never have scraped through O Level maths.

  78. Such excitement chez Macfarlane! We’re just back from seeing the Flying Scotsman passing through our local station! Lots of proper spotters, children and random people! It’s on its Centenary tour round Britain and it was well worth seeing! I haven’t seen it since the’70s.

      1. This trip was from London to York, then to Edinburgh on to Aberdeen, back to Edinburgh then York and London! 4 days and accommodation in Edinburgh and York, breakfasts and lunches on the train £2225! A bargain I think!

  79. Right, I’m off to bed.
    Dry morning forecast for tomorrow, so I MIGHT get some concrete blocks laid!

    1. Never thought you were that much of a masochist, BoB, but the earthwork construction kind of gives the game away.

  81. That’s me done. Goodnight all, and thanks for everyone’s good wishes.

  83. That arm-waving idiot, Justin Rowlatt on the Beeb now – gleefully going on about unprecedented heat
    in June causing the death of many fish as the water was too warm to hold the oxygen they need.

    1. While it was a rather warm June at times, July and August are often hotter, so dead, oxygen-deprived fish ought to be a feature of most summers. There must be a better explanation than that. They have been saying that marine water temperatures are unusually high, but the dead fish have been in inland waters, not coastal.

      1. Presumably from all the excrement flushed into the rivers by irresponsible Water Boards.

      2. I think Eddy’s point about the sewage discharges was a likely culprit for the dead fish.

    2. It gets much hotter in France, June wasn’t all that hot here – temps in France reach up to 48C, pulverisingly hot during the summer months – everyone goes inside in the afternoon, they draw the curtains and turn on the climatisation (air conditioning).

      1. We had that cold easterly wind for most of June. I don’t know where the excessive heat was.

        1. Yes, there was that wind, it was with us during April and May as well. We went to the Isle of Wight last weekend in May and we were surprised to find there was no wind and it was warm and sunny. We discovered that the wind was still there to meet us though when we returned to s.Cambs, it was decidedly chilly. And it has been chilly, blustery (very) and showery here today, as well.

        2. The nearest weather station to me recorded daily maxima of 70 or more on 22 of the days, 10 of them in the 80s, with the hottest day peaking at 88.

          1. We don’t really do f here any more. I didn’t notice many days as warm as that. But we live on a hillside so probably cooler here.

    4. Did he mention the sewage outlets ?
      Oh probably not, in many current cases that is usually only spewing from their mouths.

  84. Am back briefly- went to bed but pain is awful so back down for a while. Pinot is not working but is sure is nice.

    2. As I’ve already said to Mum, Ann:

      “I’m here, Ann. If you want to talk.“

  85. Me voici de retour, mes amis. The parish council meetings have been quite lively of late and this one was no exception! Never a dull moment. I expect the PCC next week to be similar given the antagonism between the rectorette and the rest of us.

    1. Night-night. If you find you can’t sleep it’s always worth posting here, it’s surprising who else can’t sleep either, and is awake in the wee hours.. You may not get an immediate response, but at some point there will be someone who will reply.

  88. Hell of a moon out there tonight! Almost fell over a few times as I looked at it. Truly stunning. Hope it’s not a bad moon rising.
    Where is CCR these days?

  89. I know that real politics is a secondary subject to the ailments of other posters on this forum but feel there are many important matters to be discussed. Jesus, I could write volumes about my own health travails but choose not to. We must live each day as it is granted to us and be thankful for every subsequent day we are granted.

    My concern at present is the dysfunctional EU. There should be a recognition that the US no longer supports Europe but is happy to promote its decline.

    The concept that by our intervention we are preserving democracy in Ukraine is complete nonsense. Ukraine is being destroyed. The intention of the collective west was to break Russia into a dozen or more administrative states and thereby grab their resources. This concept has failed miserably.

    It is now time to stop the money to Ukraine, oblige Zelensky to sue for peace with Russia and ditch the EU leaders viz. Ursula von der Leyen and Olaf Scholz. The sooner the better to avoid further loss of life in Ukraine and for world peace.

      1. You are as sharp as ever and I thank you for your support. It must be bloody obvious to anyone with half a brain that we are on a path to WWIII unless common sense prevails.

        1. That’s the problem, Corri, I prefer to call it GOOD sense, because it ain’t that COMMON.

          1. Precisely.

            I too have deep feelings of sympathy for all suffering with medical ailments, in particular our lady contingent.

            That said I feel we have also to address some of the most vile attacks on our freedoms many of which have led to the chaos in our Health Service and the problems ensuing in absence and late treatment.

            Everything is connected. We simply cannot focus on one travail and take a blind eye to the deeper cause.

    2. Also inclined to agree.
      But I believe many of us are really fed up to the eyeballs with the disgusting state of affairs in our politics.
      After all said and done they are only interested in their own affairs. To keep themselves wealthy.

    5. Having been part of the old ‘cold war’ when stationed at a nuclear base in Germany, I was very much aware that Europe was generally anti war and full of love and peace greenies in general. Europe was prosperous and a good place to be in those days. Although there was some initial reluctance of the Europeans to support Zelensky, they have been turned around and I am extremely surprised that there has not been unrest in the population. Maybe there has and its not given the light of day. It surprises me that BTL commentators in the DT will flame you if you suggest peace, I despair!

    6. Morning all.

      Supporting US, sorry, I mean Ukraine in this war with Russia is one of the most insane actions of HMG. When are they going to stop sending, a) money we are borrowing b) munitions we cannot afford to replace and c) “advisors”.

      There seems to be no-one of sufficient stature to declare enough is enough.

  90. I know that real politics is a secondary subject to the ailments of other posters on this forum but feel there are many important matters to be discussed. Jesus, I could write volumes about my own health travails but choose not to. We must live each day as it is granted to us and be thankful for every subsequent day we are granted.

    My concern at present is the dysfunctional EU. There should be a recognition that the US no longer supports Europe but is happy to promote its decline.

    The concept that by our intervention we are preserving democracy in Ukraine is complete nonsense. Ukraine is being destroyed. The intention of the collective west was to break Russia into a dozen or more administrative states and thereby grab their resources. This concept has failed miserably.

    It is now time to stop the money to Ukraine, oblige Zelensky to sue for peace with Russia and ditch the EU leaders viz. Ursula von der Leyen and Olaf Scholz. The sooner the better to avoid further loss of life in Ukraine and for world peace.

  91. Right, now at 01:25, I shall prepare for bed, finally.

    Just have to finish this Whisky & Ginger.

    1. Never happened – now 04:36 and it’s getting light.

      …and the dawn chorus is waking up.

    2. Never happened – now 04:36 and it’s getting light.

      …and the dawn chorus is waking up.

  92. Up again at 5- anticipated the alarm, as always. Have had a little sleep and need a shower and to settle down before hospital visit. Husband finished his pickled eggs- why he chose yesterday, god only knows.
    Blinds open so I can see the sunrise.

      1. I guess I am not too bad. So full of pills I must rattle. But, seriously no, I am not doing well. It is hell right now as Bloodnok would say.

        1. Good that you get to see that Consultant today. Don’t forget to ask him about effective pain relief.

          Good luck, girl, and keep us posted, please. Love and hugs from us all.

    2. I hope your day is a success and that you get some resolution with specifics for the way forward.
      Very best of good fortune and fortitude.

    1. Thank you, Geoff, you will note below that we’ve been busy this early morning.

Comments are closed.