Monday 31 March: The Government sees that net zero is unviable – yet still it pushes ahead

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting 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.

698 thoughts on “Monday 31 March: The Government sees that net zero is unviable – yet still it pushes ahead”

  1. Good morning
    Wordle 1,381 4/6

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  2. Good Morning Geoff and all NoTTLer folk.
    This morning you are getting two Monday Chuckles about taxi drivers:

    A New York taxi driver and a priest went to heaven on the same day. St Peter was waiting to greet them.
    "You must be Phil O'Donnell, the New York taxi driver," said St Peter "Come through and try on your silk robe with your golden sceptre."
    While the taxi driver was being fitted out, St Peter returned to attend to the priest. "And you must be Father Flynn, the priest of St Mark's. Come through and try on your cloth robe with your wooden sceptre."
    "Excuse me," interrupted the priest, "but how come I, a man of the cloth, only get a cloth robe and a wooden sceptre while that New York taxi driver gets a silk robe and a golden sceptre?"
    "Well," said St Peter, "we work on a performance scale. You see, while you preached, everyone slept; but when he drove a taxi, everyone prayed."

    When a passenger tapped him on the shoulder to ask a question, the taxi driver screamed, lost control of the vehicle and nearly ran into a crowd of pedestrians. "Don't ever do that again!" he yelled.
    "I'm sorry." said the passenger. "It was only a tap on the shoulder."
    "Maybe, but this is my first day as a cab driver. I've been driving hearses for the last twenty years!"

  3. Good Morning Geoff and all NoTTLer folk.
    This morning you are getting two Monday Chuckles about taxi drivers:

    A New York taxi driver and a priest went to heaven on the same day. St Peter was waiting to greet them.
    "You must be Phil O'Donnell, the New York taxi driver," said St Peter "Come through and try on your silk robe with your golden sceptre."
    While the taxi driver was being fitted out, St Peter returned to attend to the priest. "And you must be Father Flynn, the priest of St Mark's. Come through and try on your cloth robe with your wooden sceptre."
    "Excuse me," interrupted the priest, "but how come I, a man of the cloth, only get a cloth robe and a wooden sceptre while that New York taxi driver gets a silk robe and a golden sceptre?"
    "Well," said St Peter, "we work on a performance scale. You see, while you preached, everyone slept; but when he drove a taxi, everyone prayed."

    When a passenger tapped him on the shoulder to ask a question, the taxi driver screamed, lost control of the vehicle and nearly ran into a crowd of pedestrians. "Don't ever do that again!" he yelled.
    "I'm sorry." said the passenger. "It was only a tap on the shoulder."
    "Maybe, but this is my first day as a cab driver. I've been driving hearses for the last twenty years!"

    1. Morning Minty.

      As a rather tedious aside, minty is the name of one of our core servers. It runs linux Mint and is a docker host as well as our CRM system.

      The backup/standby is called trebore. Other names are statler/waldorf (after the muppets), kermit, piggy (routers), oscar (logging) and bigbird (storage)

      1. Morning BB. Not yet. I have decided to make an appointment with the Doc and then ask for a repeat prescription. Whether this will work I have no idea. I'm fighting fate here.

        2. Can they not set up a standing-order prescription like a season ticket? You go in when a new box of pills is needed? We do that here, it's called a "Blue prescription" – just identify yourself, say what pills etc you want off your "blå resept", pay, and away you go.

          1. I use the NHS app for repeat prescriptions. It’s useless for everything else but actually works very well for prescriptions, though you still need a GP who responds and does the necessary at their end.

  5. I wanted to go out at 4am so I went to wake up big boss by standing on his head. Girly growled at me but I am very big so don't really care. As Big boss was curled up with Smelly I stood on his tummy and leg as well.

    He did complain and grumble but refused to get up and let me out at notnightnotday so I drooled on him and farted. Grumpy got up as well and tried to push me off but stood on Smelly.

    Smelly did wake up and that made big boss get up too. When I got downstairs I saw small boss had already opened the door and was waiting. I hadn't meant to wake him up. I like small boss.

    Either way, I got to go outside in notnightnotday.

    Morning everyone, it's Mongo.

    (His editor has moved his post to the correct day. Waking us up he is an expert at. Telling the day… not so good).

    1. With the greatest respect, Wibbers, I haven't the slightest idea what you are on about. (Good morning, btw.)

      2. Mongo has made his second post of the day. He has a special keyboard as his paws are as big as loo rolls.

        1. Note to self; don't let Spartie near a keyboard.
          The Stasi would kick in the Dower House front door before I'd had my first coffee.

    2. In Mongo’s defence, he doesn’t know the clocks have jumped forward.

      When I was younger, I spent 18 months commuting to Germany and back each week. It was hard, though it doesn’t sound like it should be.

      I am in the camp that wouldn’t,Eddie with the clock and I would keep it at GMT throughout the year (and tell the people who think “we get more daylight on BST” to get up earlier).

      1. Embarrassingly, I had to explain to MB that the morello cherry tree we're planting would get the same amount of sun, regardless of the clocks. Yes, that is a good position; no the clock change has nothing to do with it.

    1. Been reading arstechnica recently as it has some interesting articles. What is a bit sad is the visceral hatred of Trump most of the commenters have. It's as bad the el Reg hating the Tories yet… being the demographic that votes for them this is a bit odd.

      I find the Ukraine situation idiotic. Why can't the US just enforce peace, by carrying a bigger stick?

      1. Meh, you only have to look at StackOverflow to see the extent to which woke has invaded tech in the US. Can't stand that site any more. I'll certainly never post there again just to get scraped by AIs.

        1. Considering most of my code has come from Stack overflow I can sort of forgive it.

          However, what'd be more useful for AI – and something I noticed last weekend – was that the sources are never quoted. You are not told 'this comes from…' so you can go back there and check what the poster was trying to achieve with their code query.

          1. AI is just a big, fat liar with very limited usefulness for coding questions. If it can’t answer questions in the limited realm of a coding language, it’s not good for much. The artsy people are just very impressed when it produces waffle, waffle, BS in reply to their questions because whisper it not, but that’s what most of their academic disciplines involve!

  8. BTL DT letters yesterday

    Mr Sensible
    1 day ago
    Reeves household income is over £325,000 a year yet she thinks we should pay inheritance tax for the audacity of having a home combined with life savings and everything we possess worth more than £325,000 as this makes us what she calls the “Wealthy Elite” !!!

    Her husband earns £175,000 as a civil servant! She gets £159,000 as a Cabinet minister, making a total income of £334,000. Then there are the expenses and allowances that all MPs can get worth tens of thousands of pounds. Not forgetting the free clothes she has been given. Then there are the gold plated pensions for MPs and Civil Servants.

    The pigs from Orwell’s Animal Farm are doing Ok for themselves.

    1. What I'd like to know is if her tenant is paying council tax. She's claiming it for her second home, so if she's charging it then she is stealing.

      Who am I kidding? Of course she is.

      1. I want to know who is the landlord of her second home! Sister? Mother? Brother?

    2. And between them they would also take more each week in expenses than the basic annual state pension.

  9. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,381 5/6

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    1. All true, Mr Redwood, but the problem is the Tories did nothing to reduce our costs either. They reduced NI, yes, but matched it by hiking taxes on business.

      They didn't repeal the endless regulation and introduced some truly awful woke, ESG/DIE policies. Your lot pushed the green agenda so I now have to charge my customers for waste removal – because your lot charge me for it.

    2. Will they be increasing the pension that they expect many people to rely on ?
      Of course not.

    1. I am getting very tired of the lie that unreliables are the cheapest form of energy. This discounts the doubling of gas prices thanks to tax (making the baseline 65p, not 26p/therm) and the massive subsidy that unreliables receive specifically to make them commercially viable – which, without they are not.

      It also ignores the cost of backup necessary, the trading in 'carbon' certificates for when they're not working and all the fakery specifically, solely forced on us to pay for the pointless things.

    1. Did Starmer actually have a mother or was he conceived and born out of Satan's head as Sin and Death were in Paradise Lost?

  19. Morning, all Y'all.
    Beautifully sunny, and after a chilly night, warm as well. Must be spring!

    1. That one could protect all ex-POTUSs by standing in front of all of them at once.

    1. Folk don't get it. It's notthe car. It's the ability to drive they want to get rid of. The freedom to choose where to go and when. This is what the Left hates.

  22. Good morning, everyone, Well, I bottled it. We drove home yesterday and dumped the XF. Returned in Mrs D's 21 year old Honda CR-V, a wonderful car which is better suited to the local lanes. Going to West Bay today.

  26. The Government sees that net zero is unviable – yet still it pushes ahead

    Now that we will be no longer producing steel
    Will that mean that we are reverting to the iron age?
    They are already banning the motorised wheel in private motor cars.
    Maybe the Net Zero age will become a thing in millennia to come

    1. No steel = no panzers, as well. No panzers is not good if war comes, as they tend to be smashed up pretty quickly. Uncle Vlad had millions, but doesn't any more as the Ukies (with help from their friends) smashed them all up.

    2. Net zero has nothing to do with energy, ecology or the environment.

      (EDENHOFER): First of all, developed countries have basically expropriated the atmosphere of the world community. But one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world's wealth by climate policy. Obviously, the owners of coal and oil will not be enthusiastic about this. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole.

      https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/noel-sheppard/2010/11/18/un-ipcc-official-admits-we-redistribute-worlds-wealth-climate

  27. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a593f38025a138c4f9f7c4516e2f5b2f37b28acde4acc96a1a5a9530b5946b89.png
    keith waites
    Bruce Everiss
    20h
    Being a wyte person in possession of breath is a criminal offence

    Pitchfork Revolt
    21h
    Pick them up on the beach, put them straight into a bus, drive them to a secure RAF airfield and have daily flights to a third country for processing. Do it with resolution and commitment, do it relentlessly every day, in spite of all the protests, and within a month the flow will have become a trickle. Then it will stop.
    But Labour won't do that, will they.

    petersitch
    20h
    Before the election Cooper was adamant that their plan to 'smash the gangs' would work. Well we now see that it doesn't so now they're going to remove to third countries, which is revive the Tory plan

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8c42f4f23d1b0c20701f600d681f6edbab1a642b34caeddf4602f657f1d187ef.png

      1. Far simpler to send them to bottom of the sea. They illegal immigrants. Tell them to turn back or we'll open fire. When they don't, do so.

    1. I'm not sure about that. I think I saw a clip of one in North Hertfordshire where they had 'guards' telling people who were filming to go away. And there was a huge pile of obviously stolen bicycles in the shrubbery nearby. I may be wrong of course.

      1. When the dindu steals that's fine. The courts don't care as it's normal for them. (despite their being criminals, thieves, rapists and murderers)

        When the scum class steal that's also fine, that's normal because they're 'under privileged' (despite generations of welfare dependence, free house, life, pension).

        However: if you oppose the state machine you're done for. They'll get you at any cost.

        1. On a similar topic, there's not an awful lot of BTL sympathy being expressed for the residents of Brum – especially those in Aston.
          The kinder ones mention making them feel at home.
          How long before the DT pull the plug?

    3. Government are going to run out of spare hotels soon ….oh Dear…. I've a feeling I know what is going to come next – Refugee Billeting…..

      Good morning Lewis and all….

  30. Morning All 🙂😊
    Not a cloud to be seen in the sky just the realms of a vapour trail south east to north west.
    It's seems no matter how many terrible mistakes this government are making they are pushing ahead with them just to make a point.
    And the point being is that they only represent a very small amount of people in the UK. And before the election it's now obvious that they were lying about their intentions.
    They are now standing firm on their own illusions.
    And because they don't represent an honest majority they need removing before they can cause more lasting effects and damage to our country and its long established culture and social structure.

    1. Good. Might get some solar today to save monies.

      I do keep thinking about batteries but it's that continual 'do we stay or do we go', as with 3 years left on the fixed rate mortgage and batteries being a 5 year+ investment I'm not sure.

      1. Great day for solar yesterday, 2 lots of washing done and tumble dried. Hot water topped up with my SolarBoost

  31. Morning Oberst. They do actually have such a system. I tried to access it and ended up collapsing it. I did ask the doctor three times if she was sure (I have extensive experience) that it was all I had to do. I gave up at this point.

  32. LOL of the day..

    Believe me, I get it. You are RIGHT to be angry about illegal migration, KEIR STARMER writes in Daily Mail.

    It's those first two words.

    1. Will he read the comments section?

      Here's a cracker from the article..
      I accept my approach is not glamorous but it's how I do business: sleeves rolled up, getting the details right, doing the hard graft.
      or,
      "So many of these desperate people are the victims of appalling exploitation."

      2. Sleeves rolled up because of the risk of contamination from the sh*t stirring process. And easily washed off when suitable.

    2. Then how about he does something about it? How about changing welfare so they don't get a hotel, can't claim benefits, don't get driving lessons? How about they're left in the open and bacon sandwiches delivered and left a rain water butt and a trench?

      He will do nothing because he doesn't want to.

    4. Never in the field of human conflict has so much been destroyed for so many by so few…….

    5. And then he continued, “if you show it in any way you will be arrested and imprisoned.”

  33. Made the bed. Sat down to button up the quilt cover and lo! Sat a chair leg on my telephone and cracked the screen.

    It still works – can get to the banking apps and whatsapp, it charges but just ticked off. I got it in 2018 or thereabouts. I don't upgrade regularly: I had an E61 yonks ago, then a Moto G, then the Nokia. I had wanted a new one for wifi 6 and 5g but was going to put it off for a bit.

    Just feel a bit of a prat for not checking.

    1. Pretty certain you should be able to get the screen fixed without having to buy a new phone. I have friends who seem to drop theirs all the time.

      1. Excellent! You’ve certainly had a busy pre-morning and post-getting-up! Your house sounds like fun!

        1. While I was looking for a new telephone (some apps simply don't work on Android 10) I wanted the choice to be on my terms.

      1. I'll look up cake recipes – ones dense enough to hold a file.
        I'll have make two, as Sonny Boy Senior sent that to me.

      2. Probably not but there may be some opprobrium – I never post anything political on Fb as most of my friends there are rabid lefties.

    2. The chap steering the Oxford boat achieved a blue in both rowing and rugby (where he played in the front row).

      He was the first double blue Cox-Hooker in the university's history.

      1. My niece, Susie, got a full blue in rowing at Oxford and a half-blue at gymnastics; her sister, Harriet, went up to Oxford a few years later and captained the Ladies' boat.

  37. Good morning , blue sky , pretty sunrise earlier .. 2 skeins of geese flew over the house at 6.30am .. I leapt out of bed .. and looked out of the bedroom window , nature is wonderful.. their flight pattern was like a squadron of aircraft .. except the geese were honking their own flight instructions as they beat their way over house .

    Then another flight of them flew over .. probably heading for Poole harbour .. which as you know is enormous and consists of lots of little islands .

        1. Oh dear. I don't think money has ever caused a row here. Not that we have many – unlike the first marriage, which was a battlefield.

          2. We keep our personal accounts separate; we have a joint current account into which we both pay by standing bank transfer to pay the bills. Every now and then we need to adjust that sum upwards, but it covers the food bills, council tax etc.

            He manages his own accounts – current and otherwise. I manage mine. No questions or answers…… if we want something and we have the funds we buy it.

            We both had histories of turbulent marriage so we didn't want to repeat that. Seems to be working so far!

          4. I've hardly ever had a problem using Barclays online banking. Other banks are available……….
            I spent most of a morning last week trying to get into my two building society accounts – Skipton was very helpful on the phone but I haven't got anywhere with Yorkshire.

    1. Belle, that's a heck of a coincidence. Last month I went to stay with one of my sons and taught both his daughters (aged 8 and 10) that same: "Here's the church and here's the steeple." They thought it was cool.

  41. Have any of you got Isa's .. small or large ?

    I have a small one , but what is this wretched robotic Chancellor Thieves going to do about Isa's and any form of savings?

    1. Thus far, ISAs are still tax free. I’ve just agreed to top up my ISA allowance and for now, that keeps some more money out of the taxman’s grasp.

    2. No I've not gone in for anything like that.
      I've always thought them too much hassle for not much reward.

      1. I didn't bother when interest rates were close to zero for so many years – which is why I transferred most of my savings into a S&S ISA. It's done quite well over the years. I haven't had a cash ISA for some time.

        1. We have a savings account with Trading 212 (which the Warqueen manages), another with Vanguard and our bank cash ISA. She also has an ISA with Fidelity. Whenever the cash ISA creeps above £5000 we move the remnant into the other two, as well as paying a regular amount into both the shares ISAs.

          Basically we have a joint account that we both pay into equally for mortgage and bills, another pot for 'stuff' for the house, like carpets and hoover, sofas and kitchen stuff, then a fixed amount into savings account, the rest is moved into a spending and shopping account. All happens on the 1st of the month. It's all aimed at 'disappearing' the cash sums, as otherwise you think 'wow! I've got £2000 to spend! (as I was before we were married) when really you're putting zip into savings or overpayments so spend the lot on cruft.

          I would like to take the credit for this but I can't. It's all down to the Warqueen.

          And before anyone thinks we're rolling in it, the money moved about is fifty to 100 at best. It's why my telephone accident is now going to wipe out a years house saving which we wanted to put toward a table and chairs.

          2. Bombs, boobs and bog roll. Three guaranteed investments. Human wants and human needs.

            That's from an ex broker who made a fortune in those areas. Said it wasn't glamourous or exciting, but it was reliable. Never once posted a loss.

    3. Yes – I have a stocks & shares ISA. Also the other day I opened a cash ISA and am waiting for a code from Skipton BS so that I can transfer some funds into it from an old account. I spent hours the other day trying to access my account.

    4. At present you can put up to £20,000 in an ISA with no tax to pay on the interest. She may reduce that allowance significantly. But I would think she can't actually touch accounts already set up.

    5. We both got clobbered for extra tax this year for interest on savings which is no longer taxed at source. OH for a significant sum – me not much, but it's made me think about transferring as much as I can to a tax-free account.

    6. We both got clobbered for extra tax this year for interest on savings which is no longer taxed at source. OH for a significant sum – me not much, but it's made me think about transferring as much as I can to a tax-free account.

    7. When – it's not a matter of if any more – this useless Reeves robs ISAs by fiddling either the tax free amount, the tax free interest levels or simply rigs the max interest rate she will decimate savings across the country.

      SAme as Brown destroyed pensions by his theft – and then forced people to have one so too will reeves do untold long term economic damage.

      They don't care or understand.

    8. Have any of you got Isa's .. small or large ?

      I've got three, and I'd strongly recommend you think seriously about maximising your use of an ISA as a savings vehicle.

    1. Oh bugger off. Considering the enemy these days is muslim when the military are needed to fight against muslim here at home we don't want a bunch of turncoats firing on our own soldiers.

      Kick them out, or create a special unit for them – mine clearance, for example.

  43. A rather belated good morning to all after a somewhat disturbed night.
    Self & DT both woke to pump bilges just before 2 and she had a prolonged attack of wind, burping for over half an hour before she went to sleep.
    By which time I was fully awake and remained that way for another 2 hours!

    However, a beautiful morning with a tad under 4°C outside.
    Diabetes checkup this afternoon, otherwise nothing else planned.

    1. To upset the rest of the population and also send a message that Muslims will be soon a much larger proportion.

      1. …and the message that "as everyone knows that the BBC is a lefty organisation, be sure to get all your Muzzie friends to vote Labour"

  45. Son’s Mother’s Day card to vw.

    MUM
    I JUST WANTED TO SAY
    CONGRATS
    I TURNED OUT
    PERFECTLY.
    😂

  46. SIR – Those in the Cotswolds and other pretty places who complain about the number of tourists (report, March 29) should try living in Malham, North Yorkshire.

    The Pennine Way used to run behind our house, with thousands of walkers tramping past.Many people come by car. As car parks fill up quickly, they stop on the grass verges, blocking local access. Such large influxes of visitors also put pressure on sewage systems.
    For these reasons I no longer live in that part of the world.

    Sue Doughty
    Twyford, Berkshire

    What the hell happened to education in the UK. Here is another chump who cannot understand the difference between sewage (human effluent) and sewerage the infrastructure that carries it away. For the second time in a fortnight, there is no such thing as a 'sewage system'.

    1. They don't educate people any more. You're wasting your breath there Grizzly. Language evolves – not always for the better.

      1. I have lost track of correcting the 'wonts', 'cants' and 'donts' of others. People are just thick.

      2. English stopped 'evolving' after Kipling. It is now only the slow death march of disintegration.

        1. That's simply silly. It reminds me of an English teacher I had who managed to alienate every pupil in his class with the stupid admonition to; "Write like Shakespeare." Kipling's English is already becoming archaic. This is the man speaking English. Nice but pretentious in todays world.
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlo5BQSLyXo

          1. It sounds to me like you champion and urge the continued deterioration of good English.

            I will never be one of those 'modernists' who rejoice in destroying the most evocative and descriptive language on the planet.

          2. I do not champion deterioration. I love English, I think it is wonderful. It is dazzling how it can change, mutate and express things and that when it can't, it simply takes something from somewhere else and uses it to enrich. I love the language and I'm really nor exaggerating when I say that. For me the language itself is poetry, the language of gods and man as the Sanskrit texts say about that language. If you want obsession with grammar then I suggest you study Sanskrit, look up Panini, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81%E1%B9%87ini Sanskrit had the greatest grammarians of all time and of all languages. English you can play with, dance and skip, take liberties, make fun and I much rather that because it is such a wonderful thing to be able to do.

    4. 'Sewerage' is a term that's becoming redundent to be replaced by 'sewage'. Even those who operate and build these parts of the infrastructure tend to use the term 'sewer'. English changes like any other language, it doesn't mean it is all going to hell in a hand basket.

      2. Terms only become redundant through lack of use or by being bastardised by those without a clue. What is the point of the Oxford English Dictionary or of having a wide and extensive vocabulary, if the mental pygmies who now proliferate tell you to stop using so many words and become formulaic, stilted and clichéd writers and speakers like modern-day Americans have become?

          1. The past was a far better place — in every way imaginable — than the present; and indubitably better than the bleak future could possibly be.

          2. I wouldn't disagree with that – but I'm not yet ready to be only in the past. Enjoy the life you have while you can.

          4. As in all human conditions, there are pros and cons.

            If I'd been born a hundred years earlier (an augenblick in the span of the human race), I would currently be lame and blind in one eye. In fact, without emergency surgery, I'd not have seen my 40th birthday.

          5. I could have died of peritonitis when I was 10, if our then GP hadn't got me an ambulance on a Sunday afternoon and I had emergency surgery that evening. It was acute appendicitis but treated in time.

        2. As I was about to say …..

          "A good WIF was ther OF biside BATHE,
          But she was somdel deef, and that was scathe.
          Of clooth-making she hadde swich an haunt,
          She passed hem ofYpres and of Gaunt.
          In al the parisshe wif ne was ther noon
          That to the ofringe bifore hire sholde goon;
          And if ther dide, certeyn so wrooth was she,
          That she was out of alle charitee.
          Hir coverchiefs ful ine weren of ground;
          I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound
          That on a Sonday weren upon hir heed.
          Hir hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed,
          Ful streite yteyd, and shoes ful moiste and newe.
          Boold was hir face, and fair, and reed of hewe.
          She was a worthy womman al hir live:
          Housbondes at chirche dore she hadde ive,
          Withouten oother compaignye in youthe, –
          But therof nedeth nat to speke as nowthe.
          And thries hadde she been at Jerusalem;
          She hadde passed many a straunge strem;
          At Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne,
          In Galice at Seint-Jame, and at Coloigne.
          She koude muchel of wandringe by the weye.
          Gat-tothed was she, soothly for to seye.
          Upon an amblere esily she sat,
          Ywimpled wel, and on hir heed an hat
          As brood as is a bokeler or a targe;
          A foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large,
          And on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe."

          2. English, as she was, in Chaucer’s 14th century. Since then the language improved under Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson, Donne, Milton, Goldsmith, Tennyson, the Brontës, Austen, Dickens and lots more in the time between Geoffrey and the late 19th century.

            Since then, though, it has gone on an escalating plummeting of destruction. Just listen to the screenplay of any contemporary drama, or the ‘lyrics’ of modern ‘rap’. Not quite Gray, Coleridge or Brooke are they?

          3. Interestingly, I don't recall American authors such as Frances Hodgson Burnett, Susan Coolidge and Louisa May Alcott writing bad English either. F Scott Fitzgerald apparently couldn't spell but there were sub-editors to take care of that.

          4. Indeed. Just listen to the diction of American actors from the 1930s to the 1960s and their English is superb. It seems to be in recent years that they limited their vocabulary to around the same 80 trite words, not to mention the fact that they all — without exception — grunt the same obscenities ad infinitum, ad nauseam [Motherf*ck*r, Son of a B*tch] and their only collective noun is “bunch”.

          5. Now…Geoffrey Chaucer was married to Philippa de Roet, sister of Katherine Swynford, third wife of John of Gaunt. The de Roet sisters came to England in the retinue of Philippa of Hainault when she married Edward III. Edward was the first of our kings to address parliament in English and John of Gaunt's son, Henry IV (Henry Bolingbroke) was the first to speak English as his native language. But I wonder if the rest of this lot spoke English at home?

        3. That is simply untrue. By your criteria we should all be speaking Old English, well, actually Proto Indo-European.. A language becomes ‘formulaic, stilted and clichéd’ when it is frozen in time, where innovation and novelty cesses to function. In short, you desire a dead language. Old English becomes Middle English which becomes modern English. Sanskrit becomes Prakrit, which becomes Hindi etc. It’s evolution. Much that makes a language extinct is to drive it into a cul de sacs where it withers and dies. People have been making your complaint for thousands of years. I seem to recall that Aristotle made the same complaint somewhere and if it wasn’t him we know very well that someone did.

    5. "Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. "

      1. I recall that the system used to be referred to simply as sewers. My late father (1907-1987) considered London to be one big open sewer. All down, he said, to "the permissive society".

          1. Desmond Kelly, my headmaster and English teacher wouldn’t call me ‘dogmatic’. He encouraged the use of proper English, both grammatical and idiomatic.

        2. The word "sewage" comes from Old French seuwiere ("channel to drain the overflow from a fish pond"), or from Old North French sewiere ("sluice from a pond"), or from Anglo-French sewere; and ultimately from Vulgar Latin exaquare ("to remove water"), from Latin ex- ‘out of’ + aqua ‘water’. The word "sewer" comes from Anglo-Norman sewere (“water-course”), from Old French sewiere (“overflow channel for a fishpond”), from Vulgar Latin *exaquāria (“drain for carrying water off”), from Latin ex (“out of, from”) + aquāria (“of or pertaining to waters”.

          Sewerage – another term for sewage.

          1. However, in common English usage, the two terms have been kept separate for their own purposes. Sewage is disposed of in the sewerage.

      4. Correct – the same source (Wikipedia) goes on to state “The system of sewers is called sewerage or sewerage system in British English and sewage system or sewer system in American English”. I would guess that the vast majority of British people would understand perfectly what the term “sewage system” referred to but there will always be puffed-up pedants who delight in showing off their own perfection.

    6. Grizzly, good morning .

      Thanks to BBC Countryfile , Spring watch , Winter Watch etc , effnics and many other visitors are clamming themselves into rural areas of great beauty .

      We have problems with effluent and rubbish in this area .. heathland is a good place to plonk the curry tinged splodge .. the coast line is a place where you don't take your rubbish home , people are constantly eating .. and never work up an appetite before they motor back home .

      When Moh and I visited the Isle of Wight last year , we were shocked by the number of wealthy effnics with super duper cars who were crossing the Solent on the ferry .. We sat and talked to a very nice group of people , all from Hounslow , ( is that how you spell it ) yep, airport bods and doctors!!!

      Here in our area , they come down from Derby and Leicester and Southampton , and……. Bristol .

      We are overwhelmed by different driving styles on the local roads , that at a recent meeting , the discussion was for a 20 mph limit around the village .. and engine off whilst the cars wait at the level crossing .

      Travel has become a joke .. rubbish is a nightmare .. why do people sling stuff out of the car onto the roadside verges ?

      Our beautiful remote places are no longer .

      On my birthday we took the dog for a good walk near Arne / Half RSPB/ and half NT.

      The narrow roads were very busy ..we bought some delicious filled baps from the Bakery in Corfe Castle village , and then wandered of to Studland village , very busy as well , cyclists , hikers etc went to Middle beach , bought 2 coffees and enjoyed some sunshine , sea air and a view that is something else .. sea was blue , sun shone , and the car park was full ..

      I suspect people who say they are working from home decided to get out … it was only Thursday .. that is why the roads are busy .

      Toilets are always busy .. and are not geared to the volume of people requiring a piddle!

      Affluence provided effluent .. poo has no pedigree , or has it?

      1. I wouldn't want to be checking the pedigree of effluent……….

        Around here in the hills (the wrong end of the Cotswolds) there is a 20 mph limit on our lane (designated some years ago as a "quiet lane" ) and it is, most of the time. It's steep and narrow, but some people use it as a rat run.
        There is a very popular ice cream shop on the Common, walking distance for us up the hill, but people arrive in cars and park all over the place and often it's difficult to get by when all you want to do is drive past and go home.
        Also there are pot holes everywhere and road closures which seem to last for months.

  47. I have just been watching part of a report on bbc morning, regarding nation wide sewage spillages.
    The most obvious reason for all the reported pollution is the massive increase in population over the past 20 years.
    But as far as could make out there was not a single word of recognition in regard to the obvious causes.
    But the established population home owners and taxpayers will will be paying for the problem, with increases in their annual bills. But once again the problem is not being addressed. The two million or more who use the provided facilities and don't pay a penny towards the upkeep of our country.
    They are only taking part in the constant demise of everything.

    2. Odd isn't it? This problem is never mentioned whenever any service is in crisis and needs to be expanded. Millions of people invisible to the authorities. It's a complete puzzle to them why things are breaking down.

    3. Similar applies for a host of other needs: fuel, energy (although the state has been running that down for years), water, food, housing, roads. All down to far too many people.

      But when faced with the truth big fat state simply refuses to acknowledge the problem. After all, massive uncontrolled gimmigration can only be looked as positively.

  48. Just trimmed the little bit of hair still on OH's head. We're going to a Celebration drinks and nibbles later on for our late neighbour who died a few weeks ago.

    2. It wasn't very good from Hee Hall- there's going to be another, supposedly better, one coming along in August '26.

    1. It's very simple. The Democrats are corrupt and Doge shows that they had their hand in the till. Massive stealing, theft on a grand scale. That's why they want to stop Trump. They are being exposed for the anti-American sh*ts they are. Half of them, especially the long term leaders are basically traitors and deserve to be in jail.

  53. Hamas tortures protester to death and leaves body on family’s doorstep

    Terrorist group kidnaps Uday Al Rabbay shortly after he took part in protest against war in Gaza
    Melanie Swan
    Tel Aviv

    Hamas has been accused of beating a man to death and leaving him on his family’s doorstep in a warning against any further protests against its rule in the Gaza Strip.

    The terror group has been the subject of rare public demonstrations against it in the territory as the war with Israel drags on, with more than 50,000 Palestinians having been killed.

    Earlier this week anti-Hamas chants were heard during a wider protest against the conflict.

    Uday Al Rabbay was kidnapped shortly after participating in the protest. He was returned dead and bloody to his family’s home days later.

    Mazen Shat, a senior police officer affiliated with Fatah – the Palestinian nationalist group that lost control of Gaza after a brief war with Hamas in 2007 – told The Telegraph: “Uday was martyred by the criminals of Hamas. And what’s his crime? He told the truth, because he refused to be silent on injustice, because he did not kneel to Hamas.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/30/hamas-beat-protester-death-oday-al-rabbay-gaza-doorstep/

    2. They are terrorists to their own people as well as the population of Israel. But lefties think they are gods, and Israel is always wrong.

          1. That's true. But they are, of course, lampooning the BBC and its image abroad.

      2. The Left hate Jews. Always have. I imagine this because Jews espouse all those attributes Lefties hate: family, private wealth and religious observance inside a tight knit community that cannot tear apart.

        The Left haven't changed since Hitler.

        1. And people forget that there was a lot of anti-Jewish action in the USSR towards the end of the Stalin era.

          1. The return of the Ashkenazim to Judea and Samaria began in the 1880s & 90s due to persecution in Tsarist Russia. The Turks are against Israel now but their Ottoman forebears sold land to the returning Jews. Possibly not foreseeing the loss of their own power in that region.

          1. When you victimise a group of intelligent people and ban them from politics, is it any surprise that they turn to underground political movements such as Marxism?

      3. I like Lefties.. they save me a lot of thunking time.
        Whatever their position.. just whip out your handy moral compass hidden in your Tuf shoes and go one-hundred & eighty degree opposite of what they're touting.

      4. It is often missed in the aftermath of a slammer outrage that most of their killings are inflicted on others of their faith, albeit the wrong tribe. The ideology is vile and acceptance of its presence in government is a complete submission to its cause.

        1. Ah yes. The Glasgow newsagent who actually got on well with his non-Muslim customers.

          4. He was an Ahmadiyya, They are heretics banned in all Islamic countries. The headquarters is in Tilford, near Farnham, Surrey. There's 20 million of them all over the world.

          5. What do they do or think differently from the rest?
            Apart from – presumably – being polite, helpful and sociable with keffirs.

          6. Basically they ignore the violent and nasty bits of the Koran and believe in fellowship with non-Muslims. That’s, of course, enough to get you killed by regular Muslims. They seem to have decided too, although I’m not all that sure about how it works, that Mo of Mecca is not the final prophet.

    1. I couldn't find the criteria for 'worst'. What are the characteristics of a good one? I can usually get an appointment. They're reasonably efficient at answering calls and so on.

    2. I looked on the DM map for our surgery – which was rated "Good". but the assessment was done in 2016, with a review in 2019. I think we've had good service from them though. I keep away but they've looked after OH since his troubles began. They have a computer triage system but you can still phone for an appointment.

      1. Join the club.
        They've kept MB alive, but I still avoid them unless absolutely necessary. Quite frankly, they rarely tell me anything I don't know already, but every so often I need a signature.
        And I'm very suspicious of the prescription pad.

  55. Minty’s Saga. Well my friends I have been down to the surgery where my purpose was to get an appointment with any doctor and screw a repeat prescription out of them as per the requirements of the Hospital Consultant. Though it was relatively quiet for a Monday there were no vacancies and I couldn’t book one. Judging by the receptionists attitude and body language. (I should explain that I am easily recognisable even without my name) I have been cancelled. No appointments or prescriptions for me. I shall go down tomorrow and double check. It could be a slap on the wrist though I don’t think so. It’s over a month since I was last in and it’s been festering.

    2. OH manages his repeat prescriptions ok on their online system – he ticks the boxes on the list of things he has regularly and picks them up from the pharmacy. Their system seems to work ok. He's 82 and not a great user of computers.

          1. Our surgery is quite a few miles away, so it helps to have delivered. Driver told me last delivery, receptionists (5!) are all depressed due to dealing with angry people unable to get appointments. I think the practice is more or less a private one, now a limited company with senior GP as MD and other GPs as Directors. The company owns the building where they have their ‘surgeries’, and also the Pharmacy. I wonder if this is widespread UK.

          2. I think that seems to be the modern pattern – they are all private businesses these days. Though our local pharmacy is a little branch of Boots. We used to use a Lloyds one but they messed up a lot of people's meds and then got taken over shortly afterwards by Badhams.

      2. Morning Ndovu. I didn't become aware of the Online System until after I ran into trouble. Even now it is only eight weeks or so since my first visit.. I am not an habitual medication taker.

        1. Nor was he until his triple bypass at 80. but he seems to manage. I haven't looked at it myself.

    3. Can't you simply request by phone? I can at my surgery as long as they have the name of the doctor who made the prescription in the first place. I assume they check with that doctor and then your own doctor signs off and that's that.

    5. That's dreadful. I'm so sorry.
      Do you have anyone who could go in with you tomorrow? Preferably someone willing to visibly document their response, and in the event of your being unable once again to secure an appointment, to badger them for alternatives (e.g. the PATCHS system).

      Good luck tomorrow.

    1. Rufus Onslatt
      1h
      EU does what the EU always does. Ban the popular opposition.

      Mr Blue Sky
      55m
      When Christine Legarde was found guilty of a £340 million corruption, she got a job as chief of the IMF……..

      It doesnt add up
      Mr Blue Sky
      31m
      It is because she is an Olympic champion at formation swimming.

  58. Reform UK revolt over Nigel Farage & Zia Yusuf "extreme vetting" rejecting Ant Middleton (Ex-SAS London Mayoral candidate)..

    Reform were throwing out certain members out of their event.. but decline to throw illegal immigrants out of the country. LOL.
    Known supporters of Rupert Lowe & Tommy R banned.

    Suella Braverman: "Why would I take the risk of joining Reform and the same thing happening to me?"

    1. Nobody with any integrity, competence, conviction and personality should join the Reform Party – such a person would be 'got rid of' by Farage.

      The trouble is that without a competent team behind him Farage's government would be a shambles.

      1. Morning Richard . He is no longer that Farage of old. He has become what he once despised.

  59. Reform UK revolt over Nigel Farage & Zia Yusuf "extreme vetting" rejecting Ant Middleton (Ex-SAS London Mayoral candidate)..

    Reform were throwing out certain members out of their event.. but decline to throw illegal immigrants out of the country. LOL.
    Known supporters of Rupert Lowe & Tommy R banned.

    Suella Braverman: "Why would I take the risk of joining Reform and the same think happening to me?"

  60. Study the polls and see why Farage and Reform genuinely have a chance to govern
    Public put the Reform leader top in ‘best PM’ poll
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/30/farage-reform-prime-minister-disruptor-new-ipsos-poll-data/

    BTL

    I think that Farage has blown it by showing that he is incapable of working with anyone who is competent.

    With Lowe by his side he could have become unsinkable; with Zia Yusuf as his navigator he is heading for the rocks.

    1. That is the big worry.
      Every time another member of his latest party gets noticed … they become unpersonned.

        1. Would Ian Botham's ashes test match have been won without Bob Willis?

          I don't think I've ever seen a cricketer as in the zone as Willis was that day.

        2. And what about Graham Dilley? Had he been out – and he was not a batsman – that would have been that.

        4. I met Bob Willis at Epsom. He had gone to see the Derby but I don’t think he was an out and out racing fan.

    2. You may have noticed too that he said nothing of all those people who came in legally but then decided to stay and bring in their relatives on the flimsiest grounds. Those people, by shear volume, are far more of a problem than those who come by boat. Essentially they come under false pretenses, student visas, temporary work permits etc. And he said nothing about deporting those people who are already here that came by boat. He says: "Those who cross…" not those who have crossed.

    1. Intellectuals whose end product is ideas.. believe that knowledge is concentrated in their hands.. and power should be put in their hands.

      Problemo.. they don't know everything. They barely know one percent of consequential knowledge of society. They don't have the kind of consequential knowledge required to prove effective in govt. Eg centralised government. If an Engineer fails.. his career is ruined.. conversely if an intellectual who is brilliant has an idea for rearranging society and that is a disaster, he pays no price at all.

      1. What he doesn't say is..
        Leftie intellectuals always have a sneer.. and often say, "It's clearly obvious, I'm much much better than you".

  62. We all know what's coming next..

    French far-right leader Marine Le Pen found guilty of embezzlement, sentence to come..

    Christine Lagarde avoids jail, keeps job after guilty verdict …

    2. Same tactic being used against Rainer Fuellmich, allegations of financial irregularities.

    1. Sowell is one of the wisest of people – indeed his wisdom transcends his race. But he is not lauded by black people just as Martin Luther King's statement that it is 'your character rather than your skin colour by which you should be judged ' has been swept away by identity politics.

  68. Morning Johnathan. No I can’t. That is a part of my problem. I’m going deaf and phones are out.

    1. Minty, I do stuff like this online via the PATCHS system- not least because there's always an audit-trail of exactly what I've requested and exactly who said what to whom. Would this option be feasible for you?

      1. Morning Hugh. I’m not sure here since I have no idea what the PATCHS system is. My difficulties here stem from an office system that is completely dysfunctional. It is obvious to me that these people have become a law unto themselves. Who would cancel or prevent someone seeing a doctor? Such a thing would never occur to me.

        1. Might be worth asking your purported provider of healthcare if they offer the system, Minty- I find it really useful- not least in circumventing my practice's office-system!

        2. I get my prescriptions by emailing the Shropshire Prescription Delivery service. I could also do it via the surgery website. Is there something like that you could access?

    2. Tell the receptionist that in view of your hearing problem you cannot use the telephone and that you are thinking of taking action under the Disability Discrimination Act!

        1. Having done months of work at Barrow gas terminal. I was surprised some years ago, to see new road sign announcing that I was now in South Lakeland. It was stretching the definition somewhat.

  70. "God is British, that's why we don't have earthquakes. You don't shit on your own doorstep". Al Murray

      1. She told me she was Just Eighteen on the telephone
        I thought she meant 18 years
        Not Just 18 stone!

        [Benny Hill]

  73. From a single to a threesome
    Wordle 1,381 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  75. The health benefits of liver and how to eat it. 31 March 2 025

    Consuming 100g of liver can fulfil up to 50 per cent of the recommended daily intake for iron, zinc, copper, selenium and B vitamins, and over 100 per cent of vitamin A. Alongside these key micronutrients, liver has almost as much protein, gram for gram, as beef for a fraction of the cost, with lamb’s liver being around half the price of the cheapest cuts of steak.

    I don’t care about the health benefits. I like Lamb’s Liver fried in butter with onions and mushrooms. Absolutely delicious. I must buy some this week.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/diet/nutrition/health-benefits-liver-recipes/

    1. I know it's good for you but have difficulty in popping it into my mouth. I buy it on a regular basis though for Oscar. I slice it thinly and lay it on baking parchment at 100 °C for an hour or so. Good value treats that are good for him.

      1. The advice is it is okay as an occasional treat but not every day as it can lead to vit A toxicity. Too much iron is also bad for the kidneys.

  76. There will be trouble ahead.
    Timeline

    PeterSweden
    @PeterSweden7
    ·
    22m
    UNBELIEVABLE.

    They just BANNED right-wing Marine Le Pen from running for French President in 2027 despite being the favorite to win.

    They also gave her a €100.000 fine and 4 year prison sentence.

    What's going on in Europe???

    1. For goodness sake.. you can't be 'undermining democracy'.
      Altogether now.. No one is above the Law.
      She's a convicted felon.. repeat.. She's a convicted felon.. repeat..
      LOL.

    3. "The Guillotine

      Joseph Ignace Guillotin proposed the following six articles in favour of reformation of capital punishment to the National Assembly.

      Article 1: All offences of the same kind will be punished by the same type of punishment irrespective of the rank or status of the guilty party.

      Article 2: Whenever the Law imposes the death penalty, irrespective of the nature of the offence, the punishment shall be the same: decapitation, effected by means of a simple mechanism.

      Article 3: The punishment of the guilty party shall not bring discredit upon or discrimination against his family.

      Article 4: No one shall reproach a citizen with any punishment imposed on one of his relatives. Such offenders shall be publicly reprimanded by a judge.

      Article 5: The condemned person's property shall not be confiscated.

      Article 6: At the request of the family, the corpse of the condemned man shall be returned to them for burial and no reference to the nature of death shall be registered

      The machine was successful as it was considered a humane form of execution. Prior to the Guillotine, people were beheaded with a sword or axe or hung, which took longer for the convicted to die. The guillotine was made to deliver an immediate death."

      1. Now …. where did I put my knitting needles?
        Are they still in a box in the attic?

    4. What is going on is the prelude to here if we don't do anything about it soon.

    5. The EU wheels fell off. Ursula is on the skids.

      Germany, like the UK is busy bankrupting itself with a combination of net zero nonsense and economic policies driven by a hatred of Russia which for decades was its source of cheap energy.

      Europe is de-industrialising at pace and there is no money left now that the Covid scam and net zero are exhausted. All that is left for the EU to grab are the pension savings of the few taxpayers left. Reeves and Co are planning the same in the UK.

  77. REVEALED: Richard Hermer Met With Mauritius’ Chief Legal Adviser on Chagos

    Guido’s been keeping a close eye on Starmer’s ties with his human rights lawyer cronies who are all pushing for the Chagos surrender deal. Newly released ministerial files reveal Attorney General Richard Hermer met with Starmer’s mate and Mauritius’ chief legal adviser on Chagos adviser, Philippe Sands KC, along with Dapo Akande KC on November 13, 2024 to “discuss international law and the International Court of Justice.” The cosy chat took place just a day after hundreds of Chagossians gathered in London to demand their right to self-determination…

    Starmer’s “close friend” Sands, who in 2022 proudly planted the Mauritian flag on the Chagos Islands, has long been at the forefront of efforts to hand the islands over to Mauritius. Dapo Akande is another who’s argued Britain should give up the islands. He supported the International Court of Justice’s 2019 ruling that the UK should hand the islands back “as swiftly as possible,” even calling the case a “decolonisation” project. Akande also served as Jeremy Corbyn’s go-to legal adviser in 2018 on the UK’s bombing of Syria and praised the “brilliant” work of Julian Assange’s lawyers to the Kremlin mouthpiece Sputnik…

    Both Starmer and Hermer put Akande forward last year to represent Britain at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the 2026 election, with Starmer and Lammy holding a meeting with Akande in Downing Street last October. Starmer’s been smug to say he’s not discussed Chagos with with his old mate Sands since becoming Labour leader. Instead, it’s his Attorney General who’s been having meetings…

    The government has refused to reveal which law firms and individuals they have commissioned external legal advice in relation to negotiations over the Chagos Islands. Meanwhile, excited government briefings that the surrender deal would be “sealed” at the beginning of this month after Trump appeared to give his backing have gone quiet. Labour’s tangled web of pro-Mauritius connections continues to raise eyebrows…

    31 March 2025 @ 12:50

    2. daz
      2h
      As DOGE has found in the US, look for where the money really ends up and who is organising the deal
      This scheme make no sense unless you are the one benefitting finacially.

      Arold
      2h
      For a government that promised that it would be open, honest and transparent, Labour are doing a very good job of making this whole business look shifty, compromised and bent.
      Unless it is shifty, compromised and bent.

      In which case, Labour are doing a very bad job of not making it look shifty, compromised and bent.

  78. REVEALED: Richard Hermer Met With Mauritius’ Chief Legal Adviser on Chagos

    Guido’s been keeping a close eye on Starmer’s ties with his human rights lawyer cronies who are all pushing for the Chagos surrender deal. Newly released ministerial files reveal Attorney General Richard Hermer met with Starmer’s mate and Mauritius’ chief legal adviser on Chagos adviser, Philippe Sands KC, along with Dapo Akande KC on November 13, 2024 to “discuss international law and the International Court of Justice.” The cosy chat took place just a day after hundreds of Chagossians gathered in London to demand their right to self-determination…

    Starmer’s “close friend” Sands, who in 2022 proudly planted the Mauritian flag on the Chagos Islands, has long been at the forefront of efforts to hand the islands over to Mauritius. Dapo Akande is another who’s argued Britain should give up the islands. He supported the International Court of Justice’s 2019 ruling that the UK should hand the islands back “as swiftly as possible,” even calling the case a “decolonisation” project. Akande also served as Jeremy Corbyn’s go-to legal adviser in 2018 on the UK’s bombing of Syria and praised the “brilliant” work of Julian Assange’s lawyers to the Kremlin mouthpiece Sputnik…

    Both Starmer and Hermer put Akande forward last year to represent Britain at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the 2026 election, with Starmer and Lammy holding a meeting with Akande in Downing Street last October. Starmer’s been smug to say he’s not discussed Chagos with with his old mate Sands since becoming Labour leader. Instead, it’s his Attorney General who’s been having meetings…

    The government has refused to reveal which law firms and individuals they have commissioned external legal advice in relation to negotiations over the Chagos Islands. Meanwhile, excited government briefings that the surrender deal would be “sealed” at the beginning of this month after Trump appeared to give his backing have gone quiet. Labour’s tangled web of pro-Mauritius connections continues to raise eyebrows…

    31 March 2025 @ 12:50

  80. Marine Le Pen banned from standing at next presidential election

    Marine Le Pen will not be allowed to stand at France’s next presidential election after being banned from politics for five years.

    The National Rally (RN) chief was also handed a four-year prison sentence. However, two years will be served under house arrest with an electronic tag, while the other two are suspended. Le Pen was also given a 100,000 euro fine.
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/31/marine-le-pen-ban-french-politics-court-case/

    The judge said Le Pen was “at the heart” of a scheme to embezzle EU funds to pay party staff.

    She was found guilty alongside dozens of other party associates earlier this morning but stormed out of the court before she could hear the judge’s verdict.

    The ruling all but ends her bid to replace Emmanuel Macron as France’s president at the 2027 election.

    Le Pen could fight the immediate ban, but it would only be lifted if any appeal is upheld before the election. She will retain her seat in the National Assembly until her mandate ends, however.

    1789 again – The next French Revolution is on its way.

      2. Who in the UK will dare to nail their colours to Marine Le Pen's mast.

        How will Starmer, Farage, Badenoch and Davey react?

    4. The judge said Le Pen was “at the heart” of a scheme to embezzle EU funds to pay party staff.

      HA! HA! HA! This statement gets credibility only because all EUcrats are at the embezzlement game.

    1. Good job the mask wearers were playing stringed instruments; they'd have found it very hard if they were in the wind section!

  83. A spot of enrichment. Wasn't life just soooooooo dull when we only homegrown traitors like Burgess and McLean

    "A former GCHQ intern has admitted putting national security at risk by taking top secret data home.

    Hasaan Arshad, 25, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act on what would have been the first day of his Old Bailey trial.

    The charge related to committing an unauthorised act that risked damaging national security.

    On Aug 24 2022, he took his work mobile phone into a top secret area of GCHQ and connected the device to a top secret work station, it was alleged.

    He then transferred sensitive data from a secure, top-secret computer to the phone before taking it home, it was claimed.

    Arshad then transferred the data from the phone to a hard drive connected to his personal home computer.

    The defendant was arrested and his home was searched on Sept 22 2022………

    ……. The court was told that Arshad had previously admitted two charges of making an indecent photograph of a child in relation to a number of images found between Sept 7 and 23 2022."

  84. Phew – only one cubic metre today. It is warm out and there is much more lifting than yesterday -as the two sheds are filling up.

    Knackered – that's me.

    2. I've Just come in for a cuppa, I've run out of paint and still waiting for my tools to arrive. Eldest borrowed them. I'm using his discarded decking to cut up and reform the childproof fencing around the wildlife pond. Full of frogspawn now.
      It is very warm in the sunshine. Not complaining, but also watered all the potted plants and the recent additions.

    1. It will be happening here (except they don’t need Medicare, they get private medical care however)

  87. I saw a YouTube video this morning headlined Things you mustn't do between 65 and 80.
    I didn't watch it because I'm over 80 and I can do anything I like.

      1. Both.
        If you are between 65 and 80 years of age you have no problem in travelling between 65 and 80 mph as long as you have lane assist activated. The vehicle will wrench the steering wheel out of your hands if you can’t follow the road properly.

  88. LOL of the day from KH.

    "It's not until it happens to the holier than thou.. that people sit up and listen."

    Supa smug lefties TalkRadio hosts Maxie Allen, 50, and Rosalind Levine, 46, arrested after making 'disparaging' comments about school in private WhatsApp chat.

    "Oh, they're comin for us too.. not just that evil faaaaaaaaaaaaar right Tommy guy."

    LOL. And another LOL.

    2. When the Nazis came for the communists,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a communist.

      When they locked up the social democrats,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a social democrat.

      When they came for the trade unionists,
      I did not speak out;
      I was not a trade unionist.

      When they came for the Jews,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a Jew.

      When they came for me,
      there was no one left to speak out.

  89. Good day, all!

    Just popping to whinge randomly about the impossibility of depicting teeth in paint. Usually I avoid this by painting subjects with their lips closed but in this case the extraordinary beauty of the friend whose portrait I'm trying to finish is set off by the gap between her front teeth.

    Aaaargh.

    3. It sounds like one of those situations where you have to throw away any ideas of copying reality and focus instead on creating an illusion

      1. Indeed. Very frustrating, though, that the illusion works differently according to the distance from which one views the painting… 🤪

        2. The only painter that I can think of off the top of my head who painted teeth was Franz Hals.

          1. I always reckoned he must have been rather good fun, as all his subjects were grinning! Never occurred to me that maybe he was just showing off an ability to paint teeth… 🤣🤣🤣

      1. My mother had a gap between her front teeth and when she had her dentures done she told them she wanted the gap to remain. Women eh !

        1. Apparently it (the gat-toothedness) is a sign of voracious sexual appetite, Phizz. According to scholars of Chaucer.

  90. Here we go again a well respected famous British actress who probably is short of work, is making a complaint that James Bond films are sexist.
    Clearly she's down in the dumps over something. Why do these people seem to enjoy stirring up trouble for no specific reason what so ever. I guess that if a ww2 film was being made now she would complain that the film were sexist, as in the front line trenches, machine gun posts, tail gunners pilots etc etc etc.

    2. It’s the ghastly old tart who keeps on taking her clothes off, and thinks she’s amazing, daaahling!
      Oops! Check below!

      1. She's made a career out of flashing her tits, yet when Michael Parkinson broached the subject in an interview she recoiled in anger.

          2. Wow, that's pretty impressive – I always liked the Three Degrees, even though they were, allegedly, KC3's favourite group!

            Also slightly unfair, O, I was a Dirty Young Man as well…….

          3. Saw them live in a night club in Derby in 1975. Er … half a century ago!

            They also appeared in the 1971 film The French Connection.

      2. I understand that she was very clear that, if it was central to the plot, and done tastefully and thoughtfully, she would consider keeping her clothes on for a film…….

    3. It’s the ghastly old tart who keeps on taking her clothes off, and thinks she’s amazing, daaahling!
      Oops! Check below!

  92. Back from a very good celebration of our late neighbour's life. He'd had a private family cremation 10 days ago, and this was quite a sociable affair – a very good turnout from the neighbours and his other friends. Plenty of food and drink and chat. His widow, Sue, seems to be coping. Donations for the local hospice, whose carers looked after him at home.

    1. She was very good in the Peter Greenaway film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.

      She managed to keep her kit on for about 15 minutes of the two hour running time – I'm not complaining, however!

    2. When she was good she was very, very good – but when she was bad she was better!

  97. Here's one for you.
    Just stopped at the supermarket to get some tonic water, and saw that they have sliced ham – perfect circles, paper-thin. How do they get the perfect circles from an animal that has absolutely nothing perfectly round on it? Is it turned down on a lathe, or reconstitued as a cylinder?
    And – what is most nutritious – the circular synthetic ham, or the packaging?

    1. Bits glued together, awash with additives and moulded. I wouldn't buy it. Now ham off the bone from a deli is nice.

      1. Includes "mechanically recovered" content and "connective tissue". If you knew what went into making a sausage…(metaphor for politics worldwide)

      1. I agree, to a point, Bill.

        My Uncle John had a permanent butcher's stall in Carlisle Covered Market, back in the day.

        Carcases hanging up, sawdustr on the floor.

        His Cumberland Sausage was second to none.

        Both parents were employed by John Laing Construction (as was I).

        Founded in Cumbria, the head office was in Mill Hill.

        IIt was a given that senior managers from Mill Hill would fill their boots with his sausages, before returning to 'the smoke'.

        On my last trip North, I bought a couple of kg fom a butcher in that part of town. What emains in the freezer, I may defrost, and have a proper cooked breakfast in honour of Tom…

        1. My father worked at John Lang head office in Mill Hill.
          He walked to work in fine weather.

      1. Not meaning to be a bad fairy, or a ghoul, Geoff, but this is one theory as to how the bodies of some of the abused children in the Pakistani/Muslim Gang Rape scandal were disposed of. Slice the meat very thinly and put it on a spike = how doner kebabs are produced.

        1. In addition to that nourishing suggestion (bon appetit!) do not ever look at the "sword" thing on which the "meat" is placed. Often the area around the metal stake is alive with, er, livestock.

      2. Doner haggis in Cumbria are often that shape. Almost perfect cylinders from rolling down the fells when they lose their footing. Of course, their better known cousins in the Scottish highlands tend to be more spherical because of the rugged terrain which often catches the younger and less experienced haggi unawares and they tumble down this way and that. Sometimes their descent is so violent as to curdle their innards which can leave a slightly bitter aftertaste.

    5. It's reconstituted mechanically recovered meat, Obers. Your choice. Although I do agree with the idea that if one does choose to eat meat nothing – no part of that slaughtered animal – should be wasted – some of the processes are truly disgusting.

    6. TThey Probably grind it all down to slush then add water and push it through a press into nicely shaped moulds.

      Isn't that supposedly how they make cheap chicken fingers – pressure wash the meat off the carcass then bleach, mould, batter and pretend that it is real breast meat.

  98. Afternoon all,

    I've only just picked up Paul's message about poor Tom's demise. Do we know about funeral arrangements?

    If it hasn't alrady taken place, I for one would wish to pay my respects..

    Anyone know? My (hopefully temporeary) visual impairment has rather kept me from seeing and replying to posts.

    1. He died two months ago and as far as I remember, Judy said it would be a cremation as his paperwork wasn't in order to donate his body to science.

      1. When you find out, Geoff, can you pass it on – or ask Sue to? I'd like to contribue in some way, even if it is to make a toast to the man from a distance.

  100. Quite an interesting development in the aftermath of Marine Le Pen's trial. Francois Bayrou, the prime minister, has said that he was "troubled" by the judgment.

    Can't see Cur Ikea Slammer being troubled if a political opponent was convicted of fraud…..

      1. Bayrou was convicted then found not guilty on appeal. Fillon went to prison (and his wife).

  101. Wordle No. 1,381 4/6

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

    Wordle 31 Mar 2025

    Plunder for Par?

    2. Nearly a par but I figured my other guess wasn't very American.

      Wordle 1,381 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      3. Well done.
        Wordle 1,381 5/6

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

    3. Unlucky – Par here also, but I came at it from a different angle – a highly fortunate guess 4! (although, surprisingly I dont think there were too many options….)

      Wordle 1,381 4/6

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

    4. Me too.

      Wordle 1,381 4/6

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

    5. HHappy To be at par as well

      Wordle 1,381 4/6

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

  102. Anyone else having trouble with ther passwords? Was away for the weekend and I could not sign in today due to "inactivity". Had to reset the PW to continue.

    2. I never sign out or in. Not had any problems. Have had issues very occasionally if Disqus plays up but not recently.

      1. I don't sign out, but today when I clicked on this site, I got an immediate pop up login box. So it gets filled in, and then Disqus informed me my account was on hold due the lack of use, and I had to select a new password. This seems to happen fairly regularly to me. Maybe those people at Disqus just hate me.

        1. Maybe. I used to get problems more frequently than I have recently. But you had a lot more lack of use for a long time, but recently you've been back! They seem to be confused.

      2. I don't sign out, but today when I clicked on this site, I got an immediate pop up login box. So it gets filled in, and then Disqus informed me my account was on hold due the lack of use, and I had to select a new password. This seems to happen fairly regularly to me. Maybe those people at Disqus just hate me.

  103. Well,

    After a turbulent morning arguing about on line banking , and Moh getting frazzled with frustration because he pressed the wrong buttons and had to identify himself again , and the things he forgot to do , ie like when did he last use his card and for what amount and where .. and him screaming down the phone I want to speak to some one properly etc

    Me sitting quiet as my own blood pressure was rising, to be honest MOh yells alot , and then throws out insults , he has ruined my self confidence re all sorts of things , he knows best all the time .

    The well mannered Liverpudlian girl on line had the patience of a saint , and he calmed down eventually when I reminded him that he last used his card on Saturday when he bought fuel for the car .

    We then went into town to the bank over the lunch period .. and I asked the bank to print out direct debits and to whom they are for etc ..

    Bank is closing down , and we don't have much time left to sort various things out , or do we .

    Moh admitted we were rather lax about things and now we need to write down passwords / where stuff is and instructions etc .

    My poor friend has been informed that she will only receive 20% of her husbands private pension . ( He died suddenly on Thursday) she might have to go into care because she had a stroke years ago , and her leg is useless , and she is always falling over .. her dear late husband did everything for her .. he was probably exhausted .. in his mid eighties .. but wise and kind and good to her .

    1. I know that a number of people dont like on line banking and I can understand the frustration of dealing with problems on the phone, but it is where we are these days. I do almost everything on line and also found it an excellent way of dealing with the finances of aged parents, bypassing passbooks and running around to banks. Not sure of your situation but as I have suggested before, it might be a good idea to be able to manipulate the family finances, if you dont already, before the need actually arises.

      1. Wise words Kaypea .

        I am gearing myself up towards making an effort to confront the demon of on line banking , and will be taking some advice x

          3. If there are no problems online you don’t need to phone them. Though the other day when I was trying to get into my Skipton BS account, I had to phone eventually as I couldn’t remember the security questions I’d chosen years ago. the guy was very helpful though.

        2. It isn't so difficult, Belle. Just new to you.

          You will find they are helpful if you do have problems.

          Very convenient to transfer funds from place to place and make purchases without leaving the house.

          Avoid TSB. Site is always crashing. I find Nationwide and Yorkshire bank very good.

        3. I am in that position, too, Belle. Online banking scares me stiff. I belong to the days of a passbook and a cashiers signature.

      3. My Internet dropped out again this evening. An unreliable Internet connection is a great off-putter when it comes to relying on it for banking.

        1. I have home wifi and a data allowance on the mobile. If those fail at the same, I go to the bank! In reality, a rarely need to access my account to actually do something.

    2. Our nearest bank branch is now Gloucester – I did go in there the other day as I was meeting friends in town so i went in to use a cash machine – normally don't go in from one year to the next. Fortunately haven't had any issues with our accounts.
      So sorry for your friend's difficulties – could she have a live-in or visiting carer if she doesn't want to leave her home? Has she any family or children?

      1. Yes lots of family , but they live miles away and are working still.

        She won't be able to manage on her own sadly ..

        Bright as a button brain .. but huge mobility issues .

    3. Oh, man, Belle. Your poor friend. Not only lost her soulmate but the person who cared for her 24/7.

  105. Love Elon, he's so funny!
    https://x.com/alx/status/1906514438678528495?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1906514438678528495%7Ctwgr%5Ecb4c09efde42a66411ea05f3e2a9529aed200d36%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dfree-speech-backlasht_i%3Dnode2F747t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fwww.freespeechbacklash.com2Fdaily-gossip2Fmonday-31-march-government-crooks-and-liars-worst-evert_e%3DMonday203120March3A20This20government20of20crooks20and20liars20is20the20worst20ever.t_d%3DMonday203120March3A20This20government20of20crooks20and20liars20is20the20worst20ever.0At_t%3DMonday203120March3A20This20government20of20crooks20and20liars20is20the20worst20ever.s_o%3Ddescl%3Denversion%3De0c4832edb67a23a7ccc1138f7876e1c

  106. Richard Chamberlain, chiselled heart-throb who played the idealistic Dr Kildare on 1960s television
    He struggled to break out of the role: ‘I could never speak my mind – I always had to say that everything was lovely and beautiful and true’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/03/30/richard-chamberlain-television-doctor-kildare-thorn-birds/

    He was every girls grand pash , he was gorgeous and an absolute heartthrob , his smile melted us all. I had a poster picture of him inside on my wardrobe door .

    Richard Chamberlain, born March 31 1934, died March 29 202​5​

      1. I remember him from Emergency Ward 10. Even then, as a child, i could see that he was too prettily (Murkanly) antiseptic to be a real man.

          1. Whoops! Are you sure he wasn't in both? (My memory, unreliable as it is, has him as Dr Kildare in Emergency Ward 10 – but I do bow to your superior powers of recollection)

          2. ‘Emergency Ward 10’ was a British hospital soap. It had actors such as Desmond Carrington, Charles Tingwell, John Carlisle, Peter Howell and Jill Brown. ‘Dr. Kildare’ was an American hospital soap, with Richard Chamberlain in the lead role with Raymond Massey as Dr. Gillespie.

          5. Charles 'Bud' Tingwell returned to his native Australia after he finished on Ward 10 and was successful in films and television. If you ever get to see the film comedy The Castle (1997) in which he appears, you will laugh. A lot.

          6. I vaguely remember seeing Emergency Ward 10, but hospital dramas were never really my thing.

      1. Not that it matters a hoot:

        " Even after he was outed by the French women’s magazine Nous Deux in 1989, he maintained his silence on the matter until the publication of his autobiography Shattered Love: A Memoir in 2003, when he confirmed that he was gay."

        1. It is a shattering revelation to us females that nearly all – if not all – of the male icons of the entertainment industry are gay.

    3. Two days before his birthday. I remember him but never saw him as we didn't have a telly.

  107. The BBC. Working for you. Exposing African immigration rackets. It's hard to believe.

    Secret filming reveals brazen tactics of UK immigration scammers

    Recruitment agents who scam foreign nationals applying to work in the UK care sector have been exposed by BBC secret filming. One of the rogue agents is a Nigerian doctor who has worked for the NHS in the field of psychiatry.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1en4dx7yn9o

  108. A £17 million country house beloved by Jane Austen can be bulldozed because it had no direct influence on her books, planning authorities have ruled.

    Plans to level the “idyllic” Ashe Park near Basingstoke, Hampshire, where the esteemed novelist liked to dance, have been criticised as “awful” and a “shame” by locals.

    The building’s owners, Shuk Ting Sharon Leung and Gillian Sin Hang Ho, had applied to the council to tear down the 17th-century house because they considered it “tired and unmanaged” and argued it “lacks architectural merit”.

    Austen was born a mile from the 232-acre estate in the village of Steventon in 1775 and attended balls there in the 1790s.

    But the owners have now been given the green light to demolish the house after buying the estate for £17 million in October 2022 and replace it with a “traditional country house” in the Queen Anne style.

    £17m Jane Austen mansion can be bulldozed
    Locals angry after council unpersuaded about historical significance of 17th-century house

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/30/17mj-ane-austen-ashe-park-basingstoke-demolished/

  110. That's me for this gorgeously sunny day – though still an edge to the wind. Must go and close the greenhouse. Tomorrow = more log stacking. One of the heaps is substantially reduced.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain – prolly.

      1. TUT TUT (in spades). Robert was a ROYAL ENGINEER. How dare you suggest he was from that lesser corps or regiment!

  111. Should Trump impose heavier Tariffs on France for using the same tricks against Le Pen as was used against him in the USA?
    And to be fair, France is to blame for all the illegal immigrants by not policing their borders properly.

    1. President Trump would be doing us a favour if he banned all imports from France and applied the highest sanctions possible to bring down government.

      In fact i think he should apply it to all of Europe including us to teach politicos they work for us and not the other way round.

      These socialist governments are destroying us. I would like them destroyed first.

  112. Evening all. Been a lovely day which I have spent walking the dogs instead of gardening.
    What do you call someone who knows an idea is unworkable but carries on anyway? It’s hard not to conclude that they are intellectually challenged at best.

    2. Stupid.
      Someone who tries something over and over again, expecting a different result.

  115. Leftie Louise Thomas, Head of Cowley Hill Primary School eaves dropped & collected conversations in parent's private WhatsApp group (12-15 couples).. then sent in the SWAT team to arrest Lefties Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine.

    They had been previously warned not to bad mouth the Head.. this time they went too far by calling her "a control freak".. and "not very good".

    Cuffs.. DNA swabs.. shoe imprints.. fingerprinted.. arrested.. locked up.. then bailed.

    Gentle reminder: The Process Is The Punishment.
    Oh btw Maxie.. What's your take on Tommy R now?

    1. Our son-in-law, who is black and spent most of his life in Croydon, after he left the RAF, has told us that the programme was originally written as narrative on black youth, but it was changed to portray white boys so as not to offend the black ‘community’! Make of that what you want!

      1. It was in Croydon that a black boy (Hassan Sentamu) stabbed a black girl (Elianne Andam) to death in September 2023. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years earlier this month.

      2. Sue ,

        Cheeky question , but is your son in law good looking like say, Sidney Poitier.

        Yes very cheeky , but your grandchildren sound endearing attractive little things .

          3. Ritchie, the 6'–7" Ghanaian husband of the daughter of good (sadly late) friends, looks a bit like Maro Itoje. He and Jeanette have two lovely boys, William and Philippe. They are a really smashing family.

          5. What a lovely pair of lads! I bet Granny (is that right?) spoils them rotten……

          6. Thank you! I’m a very proud Gran! I only get a bit annoyed when people say “Are they twins?” followed by “Ooh! Double trouble, eh?” Argh!

          7. With our grandson we started out as Granny and Grandpa – but due to his early language development we became Gaggy and Bappa – to which we remain to this day (he’s 7 now)!
            Interested to hear of any other variants from other Nottlers!!

          8. Not Baggy, then! My paternal grandfather was called Pouchie, because he said that instead of ‘peepbo!’ My Gran was called “No No” by my daughters, because she used to keep her cigarette packet and lighter on her knee, and when they were learning to walk they grabbed her skirt and she would say “No no”!

          9. My paternal grandfather was Taid and my grandmother Nain. My maternal grandmother was Granny (her surname was Knot, believe it or not!).

          14. My paternal grandmother was called Mackie, because she was known as Mrs. Mac! I went from being a Mc to a Mac when I got married!

      3. It looks as though viewers of this series need to watch the films through a glass darkly.

      1. Two tier policing and enforcement, but no justice. (Wasn't there a recent £No justice, no peace£ chant from a previous, more fashionable, bunch of grifters?)

        1. Just reading the Secret Barrister; the point he/she makes is that without justice and trust in the system, society will break down. Seems that's what the PTB are aiming for.

          2. Would you rather be cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe…recognise the song/singer? X

          4. 10/10 (and good morning)…it’s said she came to the UK when she was walking out with Graham Nash (‘A Case of You’) ‘I met a woman, she had a mouth like yours’…you tell me the rest Grizz x

          5. Good morning, Katy. xx

            A Case Of You

            Just before our love got lost you said
            “I am as constant as a northern star”
            And I said “Constantly in the darkness
            Where’s that at?
            If you want me I’ll be in the bar”

            On the back of a cartoon coaster
            In the blue TV screen light
            I drew a map of Canada
            Oh Canada
            With your face sketched on it twice
            Oh you’re in my blood like holy wine
            You taste so bitter and so sweet

            Oh I could drink a case of you darling
            Still I’d be on my feet
            Oh I would still be on my feet

            Oh I am a lonely painter
            I live in a box of paints
            I’m frightened by the devil
            And I’m drawn to those ones that ain’t afraid

            I remember that time you told me you said
            “Love is touching souls”
            Surely you touched mine
            ‘Cause part of you pours out of me
            In these lines from time to time
            Oh, you’re in my blood like holy wine

            You taste so bitter and so sweet
            Oh I could drink a case of you darling
            And I would still be on my feet
            I would still be on my feet

            I met a woman
            She had a mouth like yours
            She knew your life
            She knew your devils and your deeds
            And she said
            “Go to him, stay with him if you can
            But be prepared to bleed”

            Oh but you are in my blood
            You’re my holy wine
            You’re so bitter, bitter and so sweet
            Oh, I could drink a case of you darling
            Still I’d be on my feet
            I would still be on my feet

          6. That’s the one. Always good, always true. I have the CD ‘Blue’ (used to have the LP one time). Did you know she’s a life-long smoker, had a couple of aneurysms? (my mum was the same..smoking, aneurysms) thanks for taking the time to post the lyrics x

    4. Around 90% of migrants come to UK quite legally under ECHR which is part of NI Agreement to ensure parity with Republic. Obvious answer would be to leave ECHR but UK can't because of NI Agreement. Were we asked? I must have missed that. Watching Conor McGregor, see if he makes any progress, doubt it. This is what I've been told by someone who said they were a CS working in No.10. Anyone got a paddle?

      1. The Windsor Agreement on NI and the EU (guess who meddled, judging by the name) is just a means of keeping us tied to the hated institution.

        2. Yes, another turn of the screw. Ursula VdL met QEII at the time. Starmer turning the screw even further now. Brexit a total waste of time, with hindsight. Feeling grumpy, my dog has serious liver problems no idea how much longer, vet can’t/won’t say just prescribes medication. Bills horrendous. Ugh.

          2. She has all the test results, including scans. She’s quite a young vet so possibly inexperienced case like this. Other vets either left or retired, only one there.

  119. Is it just my imagination? or does every western country apart from a very few, appear to be using the justice system as a way to impose the wef agenda and keep their apparatchik politicians in power.
    While silencing all credible opposition with prison, bans or leaving them tainted with criminal records

    3. No, not imagination. All western governments are run nubWEF bods behind the scenes but they are now quite brazen about their intentions. All in the name of democracy, of course!

    4. Not your imagination. A lot of people are pointing out on FB that while Marine is prevented from standing for election, Ursula fond of Lying has embezzled billions and she doesn’t even need to stand for election. She has power without being elected.

      2. Now which profession has power without responsibility? Let me think … I'm sure it was an old one.

      3. How many of the regulators overseeing the routine dumping of raw sewage, the scarcity of water supply in the south-east during dry weather and the handing of HS2-scale handouts to executives eager to keep up their remuneraton to a market level enjoyed by Americans, actually got taken to account, or even arrested for either corruption or gross negligence?

        Incidentally, has any progress been made on recompensing the victims of a gross miscarriage of justice by the Post Office against subposters that was done with the full blessing of Tony Blair and every PM up to Sunak? The one man who was shamed into action, Kevin Hollinrake, is now in Opposition and is presumably being ignored by the current Government.

    5. In Britain, this nonsense was set off with the proroguing saga in 2019. Frustrated by not getting anything through Parliament because 42 of his backbenchers crossed the floor over Brexit, If I recall, some stupid legislation made to hold the 2010 Coalition together was somehow made binding on future governments, and the hapless man could not call an election for most of that year. Boris Johnson went to the Queen and got her to put off any parliamentary legislation before the conference season, but Blair's Supreme Court was having none of it, The Queen was humiliated, but they say all's fair in politics.

      This campaign was organised by the Shadow Brexit Secretary, a prominent lawyer, who later usurped his own party leader on a trumped-up charge of "antisemitism" in order to become a future Prime Minister.

        1. Beans are good for the heart the more you the more you fart.
          The more you fart the better you feel, so eat baked beans for every meal.

  123. Labour MPs who back airport in Kashmir oppose Heathrow expansion
    Analysis shows six of the signatories voted against a third runway
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/31/labour-mps-back-airport-kasjmir-oppose-heathrow-expansion/

    Six of the Labour MPs campaigning for a new airport to be built in Kashmir previously voted against the expansion of Heathrow.

    A total of 20 MPs and peers wrote to Sir Keir Starmer last week urging him to lend his support to the construction of an international airport in Mirpur.

    Their calls for the new development in the disputed territory on the Indian subcontinent led to a backlash from Tory frontbenchers, who told them to “focus on the UK”.

    An analysis by the News Hub Group website showed that six of the letter’s Labour signatories voted against a third runway at Heathrow in the Commons in 2018.

    They were Debbie Abrahams, James Frith, Imran Hussain, Mohammad Yasin, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and Yasmin Qureshi.

    'Hypocrites' would be putting it mildly.

    2. Intersectional power structures and the redistribution of wealth. I’ll bet they think we should pay for the airport in Kashmir. Because…empire…waffle, waffle.

  124. Well another day another dollar 💵
    I can't believe how tired I am. I'll be locking up and climbing the wooden hill. To Bedfordshire.
    Good night Nottlers 🤗

      1. I am Very tired.
        I've just been chatting to my good lady staying in Dubai with our youngest.
        They have been out sight seeing today with old friends.
        It's all right for some eh…..I'm just the local gardener 😆😇

  125. From the Telegraph

    Forget Adolescence: it’s Boomers who are at risk online
    And why the obsession with faster and faster forms of transport? We just want comfy seats and good wifi

    Ed Cumming31 March 2025 5:16pm BST
    The chatterati’s most recent TV obsession is Adolescence, a new series about an apparently nice 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a classmate. It turns out he was being bullied on social media and watching a lot of disturbing online content. Nice middle-class parents come away from the programme worrying if too much screen time might be a pathway to murder as well as – nearly as bad – a second-rate university. The cast, including Stephen Graham, have been on an appropriately earnest press circuit. Keir Starmer has convened a round table.

    These kinds of internet cautionary tales often focus on teenagers, but the people who are truly at risk online are the over-60s. Anyone born after 2004 is younger than Facebook, and for them social media is as much a fact of the universe as drizzle.

    Credulous oldies, on the other hand, are still dazzled by the cave of wonders. Teenagers watch four hours of disturbing videos and maybe stab one classmate; grandparents watch four hours of Facebook videos and ruin Christmas forever. Wealthy Nigerian Princes, the healing effects of turmeric, the risks of vaccines, virus alerts, fake customer support emails, celebrity friend requests, chemtrails, life insurance, Brexit: there has never been a scam or conspiracy promulgated online that grandparents have not fallen for harder than their grandchildren.

    The process can be alarmingly fast. One minute Aunt Helen is googling whether Dominic Sandbrook is single, the next she is at breakfast mumbling darkly about Bill Gates and talking about how all the real news is on Telegram.

    For younger relatives, it can be upsetting to watch an older loved one fall down an online hole. They blame themselves: what if they had never reset that router? They lament the passing of the good old days, when grandparents read books, played outside and followed the advice of Which? magazine. But it’s no use dwelling on the past. With time, money and iPads, boomers are ripe for exploitation. No amount of cajoling from the younger generation will put the genie back in the box. We only hope Stephen Graham is working on a sequel, a four-part series in which it is gradually revealed that a retiree from Sussex has spent his life savings on an anti-littering cryptocurrency supposedly endorsed by Richard Hammond. The title could be Senescence.

    A new company, Boom, wants to bring back supersonic travel between London and New York. Flying back from New York at the weekend, however, I realised that the problem is that the overnight flight is not too slow but not long enough. Six and a half hours – less with a tailwind – leaves no time for a kip, especially once the crew have gone through the rigmarole of handing out the horrid little meals. As I trudged bleary-eyed through Heathrow at dawn, I conceived an alternative airline, SnailJet. Customers would pay more for the privilege of two extra hours in the air, possibly a couple of laps of Ireland, and no meal. They would arrive much better rested.

    Train planners make the same mistake, thinking everyone is obsessed with the stopwatch. HS2 was sold on the promise of improving travel times. Advocates ought to have framed it in other types of convenience. £80bn is a lot of money to get to Birmingham 20 minutes faster, but it is a small price to pay for decent wifi. What is an office – or home – these days if not a comfortable chair with wifi? To paraphrase the bluesman Howlin Wolf, transport should be built for comfort rather than speed.

    I was intrigued by a piece in Maclean’s, the Canadian magazine, arguing that for young people astrology has become “the new therapy”. The article cited a survey showing that 45 per cent of Canadians aged 18-34 “definitely or probably” believed in astrology.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if British figures were even higher. At any gathering of the under 40s you are never more than a few metres away from someone prepared to argue that “if the Moon can affect the tides and women’s periods, it can definitely affect your personality.”

    I think this rise is precisely because astrology is nonsense, not despite the fact. Reveal you have turned to Christ or Buddha for comfort and you will have to field tedious follow-up questions. Mention Mercury being in retrograde instead and people might roll their eyes, but you won’t have to talk about Israel or abusive priests. Sounds sensible to me.

    1. I was behind someone in the queue today who said her uncle had just bought a sprinkler; "he goes by the moon and predicts the weather," she claimed. "He's said it isn't going to rain, so he's bought a sprinkler". My thought was, "does he live in England? No rain?"

      1. March has been very dry across much of England. Farmers will soon be on the news telling us that this year's crops are already in danger.

      2. Well, I have to say that I looked at the (fairly) new moon tonight and said "it's not going to rain for a while!"

    2. Or, never more than a few yards away

      Call me old-fashioned, but i prefer a good one-syllable word to a two-syllable one every day.

  126. Lastest Breaking News

    Diane Abbott slams Labour MPs for wasting taxpayers money by supporting the building of an airport out of Cashmere

    2. Forgive me, I have just had visions of Diane in a cashmere body stocking ….

  127. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    It was not quite at the eleventh hour – but it wasn’t too far off. The Sentencing Council has tonight decided to delay the introduction of so-called ‘two-tier guidance’ after being threatened with emergency legislation to block it by the government. The new guidelines, which had been due to come into force on Tuesday, would have required magistrates and judges to consult a pre-sentence report before deciding whether to imprison someone of an ethnic or religious minority, or a young adult, abuse survivor or pregnant woman.

    Advocates of the move argued it would fix the disparity in sentencing between ethnicities. But critics claimed it would lead to criminals from minority backgrounds potentially avoiding jail by instead being handed more lenient community sentences. A stand-off developed between ministers and the 14-man Sentencing Council, which functions as an arm’s length body of the Ministry of Justice. Shabana Mahmood, the Lord Chancellor, announced plans this week to introduce emergency legislation to block the guidance after her initial letter to the council was scornfully rebuffed.

    Tonight’s last-minute U-turn means this move will no longer be required – but there is no doubt the row has damaged relations between ministers and the Sentencing Council. Both the draft guidelines and the broader attitudes of the council have enraged senior figures within government. The body could now see its powers curtailed later this year, after Mahmood ordered a review into the role of the council. At today’s lobby briefing, a No. 10 spokesman told journalists that the government was committed to considering more broadly ‘the role of the Sentencing Council’, but added: ‘We’re obviously not going to rush that work and we will consider it carefully.’

    There are two striking conclusions from this political row. The first is the optics of the council’s behaviour over the past fortnight. In the current political climate, there are few votes to be won by being resolutely pro-judge. In Sir Keir Starmer, the senior judiciary have just about the best friend that they could possibly hope to have. So it has been bizarre to watch the council adopt such a high-handed attitude to a first-year government that, given its majority, looks set to be in place until 2029. Given the hardening mood among some Labour MPs on ‘the rule of lawyers’, the initial response to Mahmood’s initial letter seems particularly ill-judged. Jonathan Brash, the new MP for Hartlepool, has called for the council’s abolition; others share this view privately too.

    The second conclusion is the effectiveness of Robert Jenrick. The Shadow Justice Secretary was one of the first to pick up and run with the issue earlier this month. His rhetoric has been punchy and unlikely to win him many friends at the Inns of Court, suggesting that the ‘two-tier justice’ would turn judges ‘against straight white men.’ The government initially sought to embarrass the Tories by noting that in government they had supported a draft of these controversial measures. But Jenrick’s aggressive stance and willingness to take the fight to Labour – including beaming ‘two-tier Kier’ onto the MoJ – ensured he can credibly claim victory following the Sentencing Council’s U-turn tonight.

    The hard yards of opposition can be a grim, messy and opportunistic business. But in both his vigour and willingness to embrace guerilla tactics, Robert Jenrick has shown he can rise to the challenge.

    James Heale
    WRITTEN BY
    James Heale
    James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.

      1. Thank you m’Dear!
        As decent a night’s sleep as I ever get, but certainly better than Sunday night!

  129. On account of it being far too pretentious for working class supporters plus very bad for the environment.

  131. Nessie camera trap found in loch after 50 years
    The camera was discovered at a depth of 180 metres during trials of a robotic submersible but there was no trace of the monster
    new
    Nick Forbes | Lizzie Roberts
    Monday March 31 2025, 7.15pm, The Times
    A man holding up a recovered underwater camera used to search for the Loch Ness Monster.
    Adrian Shine, who founded the Loch Ness Project, said it was remarkable that the camera had survived
    A robotic submersible undergoing engineering trials in Loch Ness has discovered a camera trap left by Nessie hunters more than half a century ago.

    The camera, which is thought to be one of the earliest attempts to catch the Loch Ness monster on film, was found about 180 metres (590ft) below the surface during trials of the National Oceanography Centre (Noc) Autosub vessel.

    It is believed to be one of six cameras placed there in 1970 by Professor Roy Mackal, of the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau and the University of Chicago, three of which were lost in a gale in the same year.

    Recovered Kodak Instamatic camera from Loch Ness.
    The trap consists of a clockwork Instamatic camera with an inbuilt flash cube
    The camera was encased in clear waterproof plastic and was found to be in good condition, and a Noc engineer was able to develop the film. However, the loch’s most famous inhabitant does not seem to have made an appearance.

    Adrian Shine, who founded the Loch Ness Project in the mid-1970s, helped to identify the camera as one of those placed in the water by Mackal.

    “It was an ingenious camera trap consisting of a clockwork Instamatic camera with an inbuilt flash cube, enabling four pictures to be taken when a bait line was taken,” Shine explained.

    “It is remarkable that the housing has kept the camera dry for the past 55 years, lying around 180 metres deep in Loch Ness.”

    The Autosub vehicle — popularly known as Boaty McBoatface — made the discovery when part of the mooring that was holding the camera system in place became caught on its propeller.

    Noc has been testing its underwater robotics, including running 24-hour endurance tests in Loch Ness, for more than a decade.

    Sam Smith, of Noc’s marine autonomous robotics systems (Mars) group, said: “At 230 metres deep, Loch Ness is an ideal location to test our robotics, their sensors and systems, before they’re deployed in the deep ocean to help answer the big questions we have.

    “While this wasn’t a find we expected to make, we’re happy that this piece of Nessie-hunting history can be shared and perhaps at least the mystery of who left it in the loch can be solved.”

    • Inside the biggest Loch Ness Monster hunt in 50 years

    The film, camera and its housing have been handed to the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit so that it can be put on display as a part of the loch’s Nessie-hunting history.

    Nagina Ishaq, manager of the centre, said she hoped people would be inspired by what could be hidden in the loch.

    “It’s been over 90 years since the first sighting of Nessie, since then there have been many expeditions to find the elusive beast,” she said.

    “We are guardians of this unique story and, as well as investing in creating an unforgettable experience for visitors, we are committed to helping continue the search and unveil the mysteries that lie underneath the waters of the famous loch.

    “We want to say a big thank to Noc for handing over the film and camera, that we believe has been hidden for over 50 years, for everyone to come and discover and be inspired by what could be hidden in the mysterious loch.”

    Noc’s latest robotics trials in the loch involve testing two Autosub vehicles, one used for mapping sea-bed habitats and another used for long-range, autonomous operations.

    These vehicles can descend to 6,000m, collecting a wide range of ocean data that would be “extremely difficult” to gather otherwise.

    Smith added: “With our robots we’re also helping to map and monitor marine life to understand how our actions, such as offshore renewable energy development, fishing and deep-sea mining change habitats and ecosystems.

    “So the work we do here, developing the technology to help us better understand the ocean, is critical”.

    Comments

    Geoff Knight
    5 minutes ago

    Those other cameras weren’t lost in a gale. Nessie ate them. Any Nessie related story reminds me of the tourist reviews complaining that Loch Ness was boring because the visitors didn’t see the Monster.

    Reply

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    Nigel Stevenson
    1 hour ago

    The irony of us finding a small camera in Loch Ness but not a bleeding great monster! I’m beginning to have my doubts about this creature.

    Reply

    Recommend (14)

    Share
    Bryan Stark
    1 hour ago

    Barman! Another whisky, if you please. Make that two.

    (An early April fool prank)

    1. Isn't there a narrow entrance one side of the lake, leading eventually to the sea…large sea snake, swimming as the elvers do…..

      1. Evening Kate, There's the river Ness which is only a few feet deep which terminates in Inverness and flows into the Moray Firth, during this journey it has to pass over a weir. There is also the Caledonian canal which ends up in Inverness at the Smithtown Locks and the other end is Fort William. I doubt if the monster (ha ha) could navigate that as it wouldn't be able to operate the locks. It's a myth to catch tourists, nothing more and is perpetuated by those who make money out of it.

        1. For the volume of water it carried, the River Ness is the shortest in the world!

          1. Really? We have a river up here (River Ewe) connecting Loch Maree to the coast which is less than 1 mile I think

        2. Thanks Alec…just saw your reply now. I prefer your version, has a ring of truth. I think there’s a shop selling Nessie paraphernalia to tourists? I stay away from tourist areas, and tourists. And most people, come to think of it 😀

  132. The SNP is considering costly Nordic-style policies to encourage couples to have more children despite a lack of evidence that they have been successful in boosting birthrates.

    Scotland’s rate is among the lowest in the world at just 1.3 births per woman, well below the 2.1 required to prevent depopulation.

    The country’s population taskforce recently considered a paper on “family friendly policies, with a specific focus on the Nordics, and their potential applicability to Scotland to address the fertility gap”.

    But Finland has a similar low birthrate to Scotland at 1.32 while Norway is not much higher at 1.41, despite generous parental leave and well-funded childcare.

    Norway’s plummeting births was described as a “conundrum” by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Paris-based multinational agency, in 2023.

    Its fertility rate was well above the OECD average at the turn of the century, but since 2009 has been in steep decline.

    Fathers are entitled to up to 15 weeks paternity leave, provided the mothers go out to work or study. Childcare enrolments are among the highest in the OECD at 58 per cent of two-year-olds and 97 per cent of 3 to 5-year-olds.

    Family holding hands and running in a spring orchard.
    Fifty-eight per cent of two-year-olds are enrolled in childcare
    ALAMY
    The financial crash of 2008 is unlikely to have triggered the falling birthrate as Norway’s robust economy only experienced a slight downturn, the OECD said.

    The last decade has brought increased housing costs, especially for the young, and there is a growing sense of economic insecurity.

    The OECD said: “As the drivers behind Norway’s fertility decline do not seem to be found in family policy, the economy, or labour market opportunities, a part of these developments may be attributed to changes in social norms and attitudes towards family formation.

    “This is perhaps most noticeable in the fact that Norwegian parents have their children later in life and opt for smaller families than previous generations did.”

    A study the same year in the journal Royal Society Open Science described the falling birthrate in countries with generous child welfare policies as the “Nordic paradox”.

    The lead author Pieter Vanhuysse, a political scientist at the University of Southern Denmark, said: “Nordic policies were widely seen as a model to be adopted elsewhere for raising fertility rates.

    “But since the 2008 recession, Nordic fertility rates have fallen rather steeply and in sociologically homogenous ways, most rapidly in Finland. By 2022, Finland and Sweden were below the EU average. Today, childlessness levels in the Nordics are on the rise.”

    Vanhuysse acknowledged generous child welfare policies do help parents but do so in a “specific, narrow and productivist way”.

    Advertisement

    He said: “They help parents — including most mothers — work, which is what most mothers in these countries want, and then they send parents a large bill.

    “The help is real but it is not a gift … in Nordic Europe as in other low-fertility societies, we need to start valuing and stop taxing reproduction.”

    • Kate Forbes: mum guilt means my daughter comes with me to Holyrood

    Kaukab Stewart, the Scottish minister for equalities, presented the paper at a meeting of the population taskforce in December.

    Kaukab Stewart, the Scottish minister for equalities, presented the paper
    KAUKABSTEWART.SCOT
    The minutes of the meeting stated: “Recent research [was] undertaken with regards to family friendly policies, with a specific focus on the Nordics, and their potential applicability to Scotland to address the fertility gap and support people to have the number of children that they wish to have.”

    The Scottish Greens have called for increased taxes to improve public services in Scotland, including childcare and family friendly policies.

    Patrick Harvie, the Green co-leader, told MSPs earlier this month: “If we want Scandinavian levels of public services — which I do — we need Scandinavian levels of taxation. We cannot have high levels of public services and US levels of taxation.”

    Comments
    Paul Wilson
    9 hours ago

    Perhaps the SNP should ask themselves, do people want to bring children into the Scotland and Scottish society they have created?

    1. TB, in a few years the UK will still need carers, cleaners and assorted menial workers, but vast swathes of traditional employment will be downgraded or wiped out within Britain. AI and automation will make the Blitz look like a Girl Guides' tea party.
      There will not be skilled jobs available for the majority of the next generation, so women are correct to reduce their family expectations.

    2. I suspect a lot of mothers would prefer to stay at home to bring up their children, but they can't afford to. Muslim mothers seem to have plenty of children, so I don't know why they are worried about numbers (there are plenty of other reasons to be worried, of course).

    3. Why are people having fewer children? Well, that's obvious. The decent ones can't afford it and don't want to bring kids into Scotland and the wasters are breeding like rabbits and dying early.

      Durrrh. WhHy is it Lefties are so monumentally thick? The printing press was invented hundreds of years ago. Are they not able to read?

    1. "It comes after the Government said it will bring in legislation to overrule them."

      Just abolish the council…

          2. To be fair, if you are Bliar, it’s all going according to plan…

      3. Can't do that! Reduce the size of the civil service? Remove a pointless, unelected jobs for the boys back hander? Dissolve a cushy reward for chums?

        Blasphemy.

        And that Jenrick wouldn't say he would proves the Tories are still unelectable.

    2. But you refused to get rid of this quango. You want to keep it. Why? We all know what's really going on. A reporter got wind of this by the back door, it got out and now having wanted this appalling, racist policy on statute you're having to pretend you don't.

      As soon as something else comes up you'll push it in anyway. We know you will. It's the sort of underhanded, vicious, spiteful, racist bigotry we've come to expect from the Left wing state.

  134. BBC 1 celebrating Eid from Bradford ..

    I cannot believe it .. A Mosque I think , prayer mats and a feast ..

    Yet now we are humiliated by our King and absent fibbing Ex Archbish of Cantab .. by their feeble support of our Protestant roots .

    2. And they will be celebrating Easter with a televising of High Mass at Westminster Abbey, of course. Then I woke up.

      1. "I said I would take you places. I didn't say they were places you'd want to go"

    3. What is 'security'? We're not seeing any of it. We're being heavily taxed and legislated against so that's a lie.

      As for national renewal – no. I don't want this country 'renewed' in the Left wing sense with brown pollution sprewed everywhere, crime left to go unchecked, the nation invaded by hordes of savages, lawfare used to silence dissenting voices.

      Labour destroy what is good, like all Lefties always do. I don't want 'Labour's plan for change'. I want to change the government and the country for the better. I want rid of the last 30 years of socialism.

    4. This continual drip-feed of the word "Change" without any defined plan(s) for improvement but with mounting evidence of an impending disaster is a crude act of propaganda.

      For "Change" read "Reset" i.e. you will own nothing… Landlords, farmers, SME's, pubs, small shops etc. are all under threat of eradication by Labour and Tory alike. CBDC will see the end of our money/investments and that leaves our property…

  136. Well, chums, it's now 11 pm and I am off to bed. So I wish you all a Good Night. Sleep well, and I hope to see you all early tomorrow morning.

  138. II'm Staying awake until midnight to see tomorrow's paper ass soon as its uploaded and to look for the Poisson d'Avril.

Comments are closed.