Monday 5 February: Shame on the politicians who have let the Armed Forces deteriorate

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.

513 thoughts on “Monday 5 February: Shame on the politicians who have let the Armed Forces deteriorate”

  1. Good morrow, gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) story
    WISE WORDS ON MARRIAGE
    When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.

    After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can’t face each other, but still they stay together.

    By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.

    Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.

    The great question which I have not been able to answer is, “What does a woman want?”

    I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.

    ‘Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing.
    She goes Tuesdays,
    I go Fridays.

    ‘There’s a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking.
    It’s called marriage.

    The first one left me,
    and the second one didn’t.

    Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming.
    1. Whenever you’re wrong, admit it,
    2. Whenever you’re right, shut up.

    The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it… once

    You know what I did before I married?
    Anything I wanted to.

    My wife and I were happy for twenty years.
    Then we met.

    A good wife always forgives her husband when she’s wrong.

    A man inserted an ‘Ad’ in the classifieds: ‘Wife wanted’.
    Next day he received a hundred letters.
    They all said the same thing, ‘You can have mine.’

    First Guy (proudly), ‘My wife’s an angel!’
    Second Guy, ‘You’re lucky, mine’s still alive.’

  2. Good morning, chums. I was up very early today, so I did the Wordle (in six) and posted it at the the end of Sunday night’s NoTTLe page. I hope you all slept well last night and will enjoy today (Monday).

  4. Good Moaning.
    Superb sky this morning. Just like a stage set.
    Pink and pale blue sky with roof and chimney pot silhouettes. To the left a perfect crescent moon and to the right a couple of street lights peeping between the trees as a contrast.
    MB said it reminded him of Mary Poppins.

    2. Na then. I looked outside, when I got up, and noticed that — in common with all other NoTTLers on here — that we also have weather.

      Funny, that.😉

  6. Adviser to German MP resigns after allegedly corresponding with FSB agent in Moscow. 5 February 2024.

    An alleged spy for Russia who was working as an adviser to a German MP has resigned after what appears to be correspondence between him and a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent in Moscow was published.

    This reads more like an anti-AfD operation by German Intelligence than a realistic plot.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/02/04/vladimir-sergiyenko-afd-fsb-germany-russia-moscow/

  8. Good morning, all. Bright and clear with a waning crescent Moon hanging in in the south eastern sky. Good day for the washing.

    Al-Beeb shedding people for their views and actions? What’s afoot? Yes, yes, 12 inches.😎

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/84e2e1d3d59a3aa64a22eda5e4f18595f754ede2a9453ea7421995c3739ee1ca.png
    Screen capture from X.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4c347b7b840c87ece8734d116e169fa376011466d553c52b080a27b176a2071c.png

    Daily Sceptics

    1. This is good news. It is starting to show that the foreigner and women can be sacked. For far too long everything has been blamed on white men while we pay for everything, support everything and keep the world going.

  9. Tucker Carlson apparently pictured in Russia amid rumours of interview with Putin. 5 February 2024.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene, a member of the US House of Representatives from Georgia, wrote on social media that “Democrats and their propagandists in the media are spasming at the prospect of Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin”.

    In January, Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of former US president Donald Trump, said Mr Carlson was “a contender” to be his father’s running mate in the US 2024 presidential election.

    “I mean they’re very friendly, I think they agree on virtually all of these things. They certainly agree on stopping the never-ending wars. And so, I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender,” Trump Jr said in an interview with Newsmax.

    Well I like the idea but it seems unlikely.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/02/04/tucker-carlson-pictured-russia-rumours-interview-putin/

    1. Carlson and others are going for broke – they know we need regime change or they will eventually be hammered.

    2. At some point the Left are going to set about controlling who can say what, and when. Only their favoured groups will have a voice. Any concept of rights or freedoms will be permanently erased.

      1. I think the mechanisms are already in place with the Online Harm Bill, the leftie lawyers will be biding their time studying the detail before select who they will cancel through law.

  11. Good morning all and members of the 77th,

    Light cloud overhead Castle McPhee, wind West-Sou’-West, 6℃ and it might make double figures again today.

    The Lord is building a great XV up there. First JPR and now Barry ‘The King’ John:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/996cb57724e3dc4b2461b374420b1afbf9994f12f210934ee3099e22d0f6b8ed.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/02/04/barry-john-rugby-wales-fly-half-test-david-watkins/

    I saw him play once. The paeons of praise were no exaggeration. His running was mesmerising and would be tacklers were left grasping air, time after time.

    You retired far too young, Barry.

    RIP ‘The KIng’.

  12. Still no luck with find the Christian chemical thrower

    The police need to look for a man in a Burka, wearing an eye patch

      1. The only good thing that might come out of this dreadful act, could be islamaphobia. Which could be as contagious as covid.

    2. No luck? Luck would be that much of his corpse has already been recycled into kebabs. If he was in organised crime, his bosses would surely sponsor some Nacht und Nebel.

  13. Shame on the politicians who have let the Armed Forces deteriorate

    I don’t suppose they ever thought we would need an army under the borderless great reset

    1. I think that they thought very carefully about NOT having a larger standing Army and by coincidence converting the Police Force into something resembling a woke social workers’ group.
      The large ‘standing army’ is currently lounging around at our great expense. When the real Army is deployed…

      1. British Army…75,000. Inclusive of 25,000 reservists and 15,000 backroom boys who don’t carry guns.
        MOD civil servants…60,000.
        The pen is mightier than the sword.

        2. An old Pugwash ditty:

          The pen is mightier than the sword,
          My enemy’s in sight,
          I cast my cutlass overboard
          and fast began to write.
          My witty words will wound him more
          than any warlike deed.
          Oh, would that I had known before,
          the idiot can’t read!!

  14. Why 1974 was the worst year in pop

    The Wombles, Mud, Showaddywaddy – Our music charts were a national embarrassment, say Neil McCormick.

    Cast your mind back 50 years to the denim-patched, flared jeans and long-haired height of the sexy 1970s, when rock was in its progressive, heavy and glam pomp, funk was steaming up the disco mirror balls, while introspective singer-songwriters swanned about Laurel Canyon brooding upon the meaning of life. And at the top of the charts, the best-selling record of the year in the United Kingdom of pop was … Tiger Feet by Mud.

    That’s right, that’s right, that’s right, that’s right … we really loved that trite faux rock’n’roll ditty by a bunch of cockney wide boys who had jumped on the glam rock bandwagon with a cheesy chat-up song about a “dance hall cutie” with – for no explicable reason – the feet of a feline predator.

    You don’t hear it played much now – thank the Lord for small mercies – but that song was inescapable in 1974. And it wasn’t even an anomaly. It was a year when the singles charts were jam-packed with complete rubbish and the album charts were stuffed with “greatest hits” compilations, while the big guns of rock were firing blanks or taking breaks.

    The only debut of note arrived from overblown panto rock artists Kiss, and you would be very hard pressed to identify an album from that year that has acquired the status of all-time classic. When it comes to the kind of 50th anniversary reissues so beloved of our retro-obsessed rock culture, there is only so much mileage that can be squeezed from Genesis’s bonkers prog rock opera The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and Ringo Starr’s Goodnight Vienna. 1974 was a dud. A dodo. A dead rubber.

    If you detect a certain tone of bitterness, I might as well come clean. 1974 was the year I purchased my first single. I was 13 at the time, and I’m still embarrassed to admit that I blew my hard-earned newspaper round money on Seasons in the Sun,a maudlin weepy about death by one-hit-wonder Terry Jacks.

    But perhaps I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. It was the second biggest single of 1974, and it wasn’t even uniquely terrible in a chart stuffed with novelty songs (The Streak by Ray Stevens, Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas), cabaret showtunes (Don’t Stay Away Too Long by Peters and Lee, Y Viva Espana by Sylvia), and drippy tearjerkers (Billy Don’t Be a Hero by Paper Lace, The Most Beautiful Girl by Charlie Rich).

    In the top 50 UK best-selling singles in 1974, you’d have to scroll a long way down to find a record that has stood the test of time, The Air that I Breathe by the Hollies. It offers a lonely flash of enduring class, jostled on all sides by the gaudy cheer of The Wombles, The New Seekers, Showaddywaddy and The Rubettes.

    And don’t kid yourself things were any better across the Atlantic, where the ubiquitous Terry Jacks weepy was only held off the top spot by Barbra Streisand’s even weepier The Way We Were, while 1950s teen wonder Paul Anka scored a US charttopping triumph with chauvinist singalong (You’re) Having My Baby, which regularly tops polls of the worst song of all time.

    So was 1974 really the worst of the worst? It might seem an absurd proposition given the overcrowded and underwhelming state of contemporary music.

    But nostalgia can play funny tricks on us. There were indeed a fistful of classic albums in the top 10 of 1974, from Paul McCartney & Wings (Band on the Run), Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon), Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells) and Elton John (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) … all of which had actually been released in 1973. Now that really was a good year for music. Actually the best-selling album of 1974 was a greatest hits compilation from The Carpenters.

    Yes, I fully agree that 1974 was beyond dire. It was the worst in a series of utterly execrable years that lasted from 1972 to 1976. Thank goodness for the purely albums bands of the time … and the ability to switch off the appalling, atrocious, lamentable and not-fit-for-purpose BBC, a reprehensible organisation (even back then) that incessantly promoted this painful bilge.

      1. Morning Maggie.

        The BBC promoted talent-free morons pushing their agenda of unlistenable pap. They eventually brought out The Old Grey Whistle Test in an attempt to placate the concerns real music lovers but only aired it late at night.

        Apart from I’m Not In Love by 10cc, or Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, I can’t think of any music from the singles’ chart in 1975 that I would describe as ‘glorious’ or ‘memorable’. The entire “Glam Rock’ era of late 1971 to 1977 was beyond dire.

        1. Rod Stewart , Roxy music , 10cc, etc .

          You were just a kid then , so how do you know about things at that age .

          You were defying your siblings I expect .

          1. I can’t stand Rod Stewart! I wasn’t a fan of Poxy Music either or any other bunch of sissies with lipstick and mascara.

            10cc were very good and, like Feargal, I bought their albums; however, even they were first produced by the nonce, Jonathan King.

          2. I’m not a fan either!
            At the time he was in the charts I was listening to classically trained singers and thought his voice sounded like someone grinding gears on an AEC 10 tonner!

        2. In about 1979, a friend was playing rock album in his barrack room. I thought is sounded good and when I asked who it was, he replied “The Sweet”. Who? Turns out their glam-rock persona was put on for hits, but their albums were pretty good rock.

          1. I heard the same story from a friend who attended one of their pure rock concerts. He was most impressed. The ‘glam’ was, for them as it was for many others, simply a cash cow.

      1. Me too, especially the bilge in the singles’ chart. It was, however, the time that I discovered albums’ bands, including ‘prog’ rock.

        1. Chinn and Chapman were the Stock, Aitken and Waterman or Simon Cowell of their day; providing an endless churn of pap for the label artists of the day. My first album was 10cc ‘The Original Soundtrack’ before disappearing down the rabbit hole of Yes, Genesis, Lynyrd Skynyrd…Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin appeared on my radar a bit later. I doubt I’ve owned a dozen singles.

          1. I was never a singles man but that may have been that living in South Africa in the 60s/70s, local pop music was evern more execrable than here and the price of a single (compared to that of an LP) was extortionate. My first buy was the Stones’ “Through The Past Darkly”.

          2. We have similar tastes. Emerson, Lake and Palmer also fit into that list and I was also a fan of Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash (among others). I still have (on vinyl) the first four 10cc albums: 10cc; Sheet Music; The Original Soundtrack; and How Dare You.

          3. I was and still am, a great fan of Focus. I still have the albums but no means of playing them. Thank you YT.

          5. I also still have those albums on vinyl. I bought 5cc’s ‘Deceptive Bends’ but it just wasn’t the same.

          6. I bought Ismism by the other 5cc with mixed feelings. They seemed to be more obsessed with playing with their Gizmo.

          7. I bought ‘Consequences’, another gizmo playpark. Peter Cook narrates the story throughout the triple album. There are a couple of decent songs, and they managed to get Sarah Vaughn onboard. Nowadays, I think they could have gone away, got their gizmo ideas out of their system and reunited for the next 10cc album, but the annual album/supporting tour didn’t allow such artistic freedom in the 70s.

      2. BTL Comment:-

        R. Spowart
        2 HRS AGO
        Message Actions
        Even worse that the music were over hyped, manic presentations of the deejays on Radio 1 and Luxembourg with their faux Transatlantic accents and continual “THIS IS THE MUSIC YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO” and some idiot, (on Luxembourg??) continually exclaiming “HAVE MERCY”.
        As a young soldier in barracks, it was what led me to ignore pop music for decades and get into Classical.

    4. Not sure what it says about me then as Streisand’s ‘The Way We Were’ is one of my all-time favourites!

    5. When I hear what passes for pop music nowadays, 1974 shines like a beacon. At least you can sing along to the dross of 1974.

      1. You may sing along to that dross; I shan’t join you, thank you.

        For me, pop music died sometime in the 1990s. It’s death throes started in 1972, but had a period of resuscitation in the early 1980s before lapsing again.

        1. I had a seminal moment in my life about 21 years ago, when I detuned Radio One from my car radio in favour of Saga.

    6. In 1987, Showaddywaddy were on a tour of Army garrisons in Germany. They came to my unit in Krefeld, where the gym was duly fitted with a stage, seating and all the necessary accoutrements. I had no intention of going but I ended up as orderly sergeant so had to be there. To my surprise, they were a very good live rock ‘n roll band.
      I hated punk in the 70s, but it was probably essential to give music a good kick up the rump.

      1. Showaddywaddy were inspired by the American band Sha Na Na (who appeared at Woodstock).

        I was, initially, sceptic of punk but I became a huge fan of The Stranglers and have most of their albums. I saw their original line-up in a concert and, while they were playing their cover of The Kinks’ All Day And All Of The Night, Hugh Cornwell hit a bum note which stopped the song being played, amidships. Jean Jacques Burnel walked across the stage, looked Hugh in the eye, shouted “Twat!” then marched back to his place where they played the entire song note perfect. I’m still not sure whether it was a genuine mistake, or just a part of the act.

  15. ‘Morning All

    “No farmers, no food, no future!”

    https://twitter.com/wideawake_media/status/1754127913736122756

    Rest of the medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c28d572fc19a9e7b5b5ba9d4d1a15003c87278cb153e121d233e7d0ae4adae82.jpg

    https://whoresandale.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/ai_is_as_users_do.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4637acc1a85da1fd6f2c0b0d40018e26aebb69f86aadf583b2c0e080b8c333f8.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b627d20a12fa419ff6b23bb6b9e84dad9f9382bfc5d1b34fc1e641371ebe6d7e.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1a6f65fb19f787b170333a1f58798acc1895bf85228084bcf1c28f4797a60148.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/08972a6eeb36391fe21f5beea758301616581d57a71c74b76c6348ac588e84ee.png

    1. “This is a rich country, we can import all the food we need.” (Margaret Becket, as Secretary of state for Agriculture. Never forget.)

    3. The Democrats’ projection levels are so high, regarding vote security, they must be able to look down through the hole in the ozone. How will they get all their dead voters to apply for voter ID?

    4. Re: tongue. About 40 years ago, we were having Sunday tea at Mother’s which included tongue. My sister, then about 30, innocently asked why it was called tongue. I said it was a cow’s tongue and look, you can see the shape and the tip of the tongue etc. I thought she was going to throw up.

    1. Morning, Korky.

      Probably the most pertinent and prescient BTL that you will read this year.

      1. Morning, Grizz.

        Chimes well with what you’ve been proposing re intelligence etc. of many people.

  17. 40 “Christian” converts on the barge??

    Didn’t take them long to copy the latest fiddle did it??

    Taqiyya to you,
    Tawriya to you,
    Taysir, Kitman, Darura,
    Muruna to you.

    The following are permitted to Muslims when dealing with non-Muslims:
    Taqiyya, deceit for the purposes of spreading Islam
    Muruna, deceit by the temporary suspension of Sharia
    Tawriya, deceit by ambiguity
    Darura, deceit through necessity
    Taysir, deceit through facilitation
    Kitman, deceit by omission

    Not sure which this is, probably several at once.

    1. I think they should all be flown to be baptised in the River Jordan. Made Missionaries and told to get on a convert their brethren.

    2. Forty refugees on the Bibby Stockholm have reportedly started attending local churches amid fears that Christianity conversion may be a new ‘loophole’ to remain in the country.

      Worshippers in Portland, Dorset — where the barge is moored — claim that a number of migrants are converting to Christianity through UK courses such as Christian Alpha, while others have converted in their home country.

      An estimated one in seven of the 300 migrants currently housed on the lighter are said to be attending churches under supervision of faith leaders.

      It comes as Clapham chemical attack suspect, Abdul Ezedi, was able to gain asylum in the UK after claiming he had converted to Christianity, despite being convicted of a sexual offence three years prior.

      The Church of England has since come under fire for allegedly ‘facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims’, with former Home Secretaries Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel accusing church leaders of ‘political activism’.

      But the Church of England said it is currently not aware of any links to its churches. A Church spokesperson also added that it is ‘the role of the Home Office, and not the church, to vet asylum seekers and judge the merits of their individual cases’.

      The current Home Secretary, James Cleverly, is expected to receive an initial report detailing the full facts of the case on Monday.

      He will consider whether laws need to be changed to better scrutinize conversion claims, and he will examine whether to enable the automatic deportation of convicted foreign criminals such as Ezedi.

      An estimated one in seven of the 300 migrants currently housed on the lighter are said to be attending churches under supervision of faith leaders

      Church elder David Rees told the BBC that a number of migrants were undergoing the process of becoming Christian through UK courses such as Christian Alpha, while others converted in their home country.

      ‘Local faith leaders have visited the barge and work with the council and the barge management in looking after these guys,’ he said.

      Ezedi is a former asylum seeker from Afghanistan who is thought to have arrived in the UK from Afghanistan on the back of a lorry in 2016.

      He was granted asylum after getting a priest to vouch that he had converted to Christianity from Islam, despite having been convicted of two sexual assault offences three years earlier.

      The Home Office had previously twice refused the 35-year-old’s request to stay in the country.

      Church support for Ezedi’s conversion is understood to have been critical to persuading an immigration tribunal judge to back his third appeal for asylum, with a priest vouching that he was ‘wholly committed’ to the Christian faith.

      Former minister Tim Loughton said he was concerned that Christian conversion had become a scam, claiming there were some cases in which asylum seekers had even been tattooed with crucifixes to reinforce their claims.

      ‘We have got to have a much more rigorous scrutiny process for those claiming to have converted and the basis on which it would be dangerous to return them to their home countries,’ he told the Telegraph.

      Mr Rees, meanwhile, said he was confident that all 40 Bibby Stockholm migrants were genuinely converting to Christianity.

      ‘Obviously, we need to make sure that they believe in the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and repent of their sins and also they want to start a new life in the church,’ he said.

      ‘So those are the sort of questions that we ask them, and they have to give a public testimony, at their baptism, which they did in their native language, and it was translated into English.

      ‘There were no qualms at all about the content of that testimony, which was clear and conclusive about their faith in Jesus Christ.’

      The Home Office said caseworkers are trained to only grant protection to those in genuine need by assessing claims ‘in the round’ and not taking priests’ testimony as ‘determinative’.

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13044697/For-one-bibby-stockholm-refugees-converting-christianity-fears-growing-loophole-clapham-attack-asylum-claim-church.html

      2. Think it has been suggested before that the bacon sandwich test is worth carrying out on these chancers.

    3. Koran – Allah is the Great Deceiver (Qur’an 3:54) : And they cheated/deceived and God cheated/deceived, and God (is) the best (of) the cheaters/deceivers.

      Bible – Satan is the Great Deceiver (Revelation 12:9) : And the great dragon was cast out — that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out onto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

      Allah=Satan.

  18. Good morning all. A rather disturbed night, awake from 01:30 to 04:00, then woken up by the DT having a coughing & sneezing fit at 05:30!
    A dull but currently dry start with 4½°C outside. Light wind after the blustery gusts of last night.

  19. Zelensky says ‘reset’ of Ukraine’s top officials is coming. 5 February 2024.

    When asked about Valery Zaluzhny, the Ukrainian president said in an interview broadcast on Sunday: “When I speak of turnover, I have in mind something serious that does not concern a single person, but the direction of the country’s leadership.

    “It is a question of the people who are to lead Ukraine. A reset is necessary, I am talking about a replacement of a number of state leaders, not only in the army sector.

    Reports suggest he ordered the resignation of the army’s general Mr Zaluzhny in a showdown meeting last Monday. The general, hugely popular with Western military leaders and also with voters in Ukraine, reportedly refused to leave his post.

    Signs of strain at the top. Zelensky probably wants to go for an, all out, make or break attack. The present command, not facing the political dilemmas of weakening international support and falling numbers of troops want to concentrate in staying in being and wear the Russians down. Who is right? We have to wait and see.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/02/05/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news5/

    1. When a General becomes more popular than the President, that General is in deep trouble. Before Zelensky has him murdered he should stage a coup.

  20. Morn Derek Draper?
    He was one of the team of twats that brought us New Labour, so the only thing I will morn is that he didn’t take Bliar with him.

    2. He had the sort of influence on Labour that Cummings sought to have over the Conservatives under Boris Johnson.

      However he did inspire love and loyalty in his wife who stood by him to the end.

      1. Would the late Mr Draper have been so loyal and dedicated if the situation had been the other way round?

      2. Would the late Mr Draper have been so loyal and dedicated if the situation had been the other way round?

  21. Morning all 🙂😊
    Broken cloud sunshine and lots of vapour trails, east to west and vice versa.
    Probably ‘politicos’ travelling around putting the world to rights.
    Politicians who have led our armed forces deterioration ? That’s just one of so many things they have all joined together to eff up.
    What on earth is their joint motivation.
    And now, they want us to vote for them….again.

  24. 382939+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Well past time to face up to the FACT that as with the sheep, the politico’s cannot be blamed ALL the time, especially when returned to power ALL the time via a majority people power voting pattern

    Monday 5 February: Shame on the politicians who have let the Armed Forces deteriorate

    WE THE PEOPLES ALLOWED THEM VIA THE POLLING STATIONS TO DECIMATE THE ARMED FORCES AS WE HAVE WITH A GREAT MANY OTHER ISSUES.

    GET BLOODY REAL.

  29. 382939+ up ticks,

    Forty Bibby Stockholm asylum seekers converting to Christianity
    Laws around role of church in asylum claims may be tightened in wake of Clapham attack

    Should read
    Forty Bibby Stockholm asylum seekers converting to Christianity
    Laws around role of church HAVE been changed to such an extent that it is nigh on impossible to cross over once one has been an islamic follower.

    As with the country the WEF governing cartels
    with people power backing have deemed it that we be inundated with foreign fallen angels.

    By the by anyone checked welbys kenna.

  30. Well that’s an end to an era. My 20 year old Fiesta has just been collected by the car scrap dealer, nice chap who came bright and early. I have been saying for some time that when the car gave up the ghost it would be my last, it hardly got used and sat outside most of the time. It has had a slow leak in the power steering for some time which had suddenly got much worse. We had just managed to prove where it was leaking, a pressure switch thingy, and what it would cost to sort that out. Then last week when I came out I noticed persons unknown had reversed into it, what looked initially as minor damage was quite serious in that the passenger door couldn’t be opened. Few clicks on a couple of websites and I found a dealer would give me £175 for it, which is probably exactly what the insurance company would give me, so all sorted out very quickly and easily.

    I can survive without a car and to some extent it is a relief to get rid of it.

    1. With servicing and insurance among other things mine costs £200 a month just sitting on the drive.

        1. It still gets used occasionally. Popping down the co-op for fags and booze. You know…the important things…

          1. Surely a taxi would be less expensive and, maybe, more convenient.
            Just a suggestion.

    2. But was it mechanically damaged or unusable or just part of the current obsession of removing subjective vehicles from use ?

      1. It would have cost money to unbend it so the door opened, and I would need to spend another couple of hundred or so to replace the power steering switch. For a car even optimistically worth £500 or so it just wasn’t worth it.

        1. Do you live near a London borough? Ulez Khan has a scrappage scheme that might have paid you ‘up to’ £2000 for your vehicle.

          1. Don’t live in London and in any case my vehicle is compatible with ULEZ (despite its age) so they would have paid me nothing anyway.

    3. It’s always sad to say goodbye to a faithful chunk of useful metal. Waved goodbye to Mothers little car in much the same circumstances 18 months ago.

  31. Faith in the MSM is collapsing. Interesting analysis and from memory he mentions that the media is pretty much left, extreme left or deranged, these days which goes some way towards an explanation although the sheer lack of any analytical ability among so many journalists is also a major component. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-9-NmSpZAQ

    1. We watched this all the way through.

      Very good and worthy of viewing on a rainy day, and forwarding to your friends.

      Don’t miss it, some of it reads across to Britain and our “Elite”.

  32. Is this just the surupticious beginning?
    Four breeds of dogs banned in the Uk.
    We all know who might be the happiest regarding this action.

      1. No singing or dancing but much wailing and gnashing of teeth. No wonder so many of them are mentally retarded.

    2. There is a category of dog, not of any specific breed, that has been bred for fighting.
      The breeders of these dogs select breeds for mating with fighting backgrounds, be it dog fighting, bull baiting or bear baiting.
      The individual dogs will be further selected for proven characteristics.
      Aggression.
      Strength, particularly of bite.
      Tenacity of attack.
      Resistance to pain.
      Loyalty to one master.
      From whatever offspring is produced, pups with those characteristics to the fore will be selected for fighting.
      But what happens to the rest of the litter?
      They are sold.
      Sold to whoever wants and can afford them.
      Who are these purchasers and why do they want them?
      Drug Dealers for protection.
      Wannabe hard men so they look “hard”.
      Pimps to intimidate their girls.
      And finally idiots who do not fully understand the background of these animals who actually believe they will make “good family pets.”

      1. Apparently there are six breeds of dogs mentioned.
        American Pit bull Terrier.
        Dogo Argentino.
        Fila Brasierio.
        Japanese Tosa.
        Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
        American Bull Dog.
        I had a good friend in Oz who had a Staffie. She was a lovely friendly dog not pretty.

  33. Wild fires kill hundreds of people in Peru.
    A new term for arson.
    Dozens of homes destroyed but seemingly trees in the surroundings still partially intact.
    Similar pattern to the recent suspect ‘wild fires’ fires in Hawaii.

    1. And it’s made a hash up of it.

      Part 2.

      live as a Muslim.

      After arriving here in 2016, Ezedi was convicted two years later of sexual

      assault and indecent exposure. While he was put on the sex offenders’

      register for a decade, somehow his crimes led only to a suspended

      sentence. Although Home Office guidelines said this was enough to mean

      his asylum appeals should be refused, in 2020 an immigration tribunal

      ruled the other way. Crucial was the tribunal’s acceptance of evidence

      from a priest, reportedly Catholic, who claimed Ezedi was now a Christian

      and “wholly committed” to the faith.

      Yet we know that he sought a Muslim wife, bought only halal meat and

      was described by staff at his local Kurdish shop in Newcastle as a “good

      Muslim”.

      And the absurdities do not end there. Afghanistan was supposedly too

      dangerous for him, but he planned to return to “find a wife”. He was

      apparently so destitute, he needed the support of charities to house him.

      but he could plan international travel and sought to buy a car for

      thousands of pounds. He was supported by charities – directly and

      indirectly funded by the taxpayer – yet has a brother with a home in

      London and other family members in Britain.

      There is no better case study in the weakness of our criminal-justice

      system, the absurdity of our immigration courts, the consequences of our

      human rights laws, and the complicity – conscious or not – of many

      people and institutions in the failure to uphold the law, secure the border

      and protect the public.

      No sooner had the details of the case emerged than commentators and

      politicians lined up to insist that Ezedi’s immigration status had nothing to

      do with what happened. One barrister insisted that “acid attacks are

      crimes of misogyny… culture-war point-scoring won’t stop acid attacks

      tackling cultures of misogyny will”. While nobody denies the existence of

      misogyny in Britain, the trouble with this argument is that uncontrolled

      immigration means we are importing misogynistic cultures – from places

      1. Part 3:

        exactly like Ezedi’s home country.

        Such denialism and displacement activity is now common among liberals

        when the reality of clashing cultures challenges their assumption that

        competing values and rights are easily reconciled and that radical

        diversity – in truth a serious challenge for us to overcome – is simply an

        unquestionable good.

        Those who in other circumstances rail against sexism, homophobia and

        racism often look the other way when the perpetrators are themselves

        minorities, or when a growing social problem is driven by entrenched

        attitudes in specific communities. The principle of the particular is

        suborned to the broader, unthinking belief in radical diversity for its own

        sake. And so liberal universalism gives way to cultural relativism, and

        liberalism ends up devouring itself.

        This is how the intellectual climate deepens the problems we face. But

        some play their part through deeds, not words. Action Foundation, for

        example, the charity that supported Ezedi in Newcastle, posts political

        material on its website, describing the Government’s promise to “stop the

        boats” as a “malign mantra”. It says its work is to “arrange family reunions”

        and support those “with no recourse to public funds”.

        This is another example of the absurdity of the system. Since 1999, illegal

        immigrants and asylum seekers have been ineligible for most benefits and

        social housing. So charities such as Action Foundation fill the gap. But

        who funds them? Often, and to a considerable degree, it is you. Action

        Foundation has received grants from central government, Newcastle

        Council and the National Lottery. It also gets grants from bigger national

        charities, such as Refugee Action, which in turn receive millions each year

        from public bodies and other charities, themselves often in receipt of

        public funds. With your money, these charities campaign against

        Government policies and use legal action to block the deportation of

        failed asylum seekers and foreign offenders.

        Here, the Church is also complicit. Fake conversions are now common in

        1. Part 4:

          the asylum system, because they allow the applicant to claim they will be

          persecuted in their home country. This is how Emad al-Swealmeen – who

          blew himself up outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance

          Sunday in 2021 – was allowed to stay in the country. Some Anglicans have

          admitted that while there are no conversions from Islam to Christianity

          among those in Britain legally, there have been hundreds, probably

          thousands, of conversions among asylum seekers.

          Nobody expects the clergy to turn away those whose hearts may be open

          to Christ, but the suspicion lingers that many know what they are doing.

          Bishops constantly rail against the Government for its immigration and

          asylum policies. Anglican schools are teaching children about “white

          privilege”. And the Archbishop of Canterbury rushed to embrace Black

          Lives Matter, calling for white Christians, but not others, to “repent of our

          own prejudices” and insisting – contrary to scripture – that “there can be

          forgiveness” of past generations, “but only if we change the way we

          behave now”.

          Nobody should expect those thwarting Government attempts to control

          immigration to suddenly desist. Church leaders and migrant charity

          bosses are motivated by their own agendas. But ministers must get real.

          Yes, we need radical change to human rights laws, new agreements with

          other countries, better labour-market regulation and even ID cards. But

          we cannot allow unprovable claims to prevent the removal of illegal

          immigrants. And we must stop funding those bent on the destruction of

          border controls – immediately.

          (Apologies; relatively new laptop and new system is still throwing up the odd challenge.)

          1. No wonder these invaders seek the help of lefty useful idiots to hide their true intentions. With people like these the rest of us are doomed.

          2. I don’t think we nee changes to human rights laws. I think they need abolishing. When the state dictates what rights you have it can erase them. We certainly do not need ID cards. Those are a solution to a government created problem.

            Nothing will change though. Repealing these laws would make it harder to rechain the UK to the hated EU. That’s the real reason why so little is being done.

  38. Freddy Gray
    Why shouldn’t Tucker Carlson interview Vladimir Putin?
    5 February 2024, 10:44am

    In September, 1934, William Randolph Hearst, the most famous journalist and publisher in the world, visited Berlin and interviewed Adolf Hitler. At the time, Hearst admired Hitler, and was rather taken aback when the Fuhrer asked why he was so ‘misunderstood’ in the English-language press. Hearst replied that Americans love democracy and distrusted dictatorships, to which Hitler answered that he had been democratically elected by a vast majority of Germans.

    Hearst then said that Americans were concerned about the treatment of a certain unnamed minority. Hitler duly pointed out that Americans had mistreated Native Indian tribes and assured Hearst that Nazi discrimination was being curtailed. Hearst told Hitler that his public would be pleased. He was then surprised to be photographed with various Nazi leaders as part of what was obviously a press stunt for the Third Reich. ‘Visiting Hitler is like calling on the President of the United States,’ he grumbled. ‘One doesn’t talk about it for publication.’

    Journalism has changed a lot since in the 1930s, but that Hearst story is worth bearing in mind as self-righteous pundits queue up to denounce the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for visiting Moscow, apparently to interview Vladimir Putin.

    Bill Kristol, the director of Defending Democracy Together, said, kidding on the square: ‘Perhaps we need a total and complete shutdown of Tucker Carlson re-entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.’

    Bill Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital who writes books about the awfulness of the Kremlin, said that Carlson is ‘either remarkably stupid or consciously evil.’ ‘He’s not stupid,’ replied John Harwood the former Wall Street Journal and CNN man.

    Hearst has been rightly criticised for his favourable and gullible view of Nazism. But almost nobody at the time would have suggested that interviewing or speaking to Hitler was somehow in itself ‘evil’ – back then people understood that journalism was not about good guys vs bad guys; rather it was about giving readers information and context.

    Unlike Hearst, Carlson does not think that his job is to talk to world leaders away from the cameras in order to decide what’s best for democracy. He wants to interview Putin because that would be a scoop in and of itself — and since we have no shortage of pundits calling Putin Hitler, he’s interested in how the Russian leader thinks. He’s curious about the truth, in other words, which is what journalism is meant to be about, even if that makes him anathema to most important people.

    Ah, say Carlson’s critics, but he’s a ‘Russia sympathiser’ who will slobber all over Putin. Well, let’s wait and see on that. No doubt, unless Carlson calls Putin a murderer to his face and storms out of the interview in disgust, he will be widely branded as a ‘useful idiot.’

    But that’s another point on which traditional journalism has become unhealthily detached from its purpose. Broadcast journalists, in particular, believe they must ‘push back’ — which today means reacting negatively and emotionally — when dealing with controversial politicians, else they will be vilified for being soft or sycophantic. Interviewers feel unless they have skewered their subject they have somehow failed. Declining to challenge someone is seen as an endorsement.

    That’s idiotic, of course, and makes news journalism ever more tedious — as pompous presenters insist on talking over their subjects and making themselves the centre of attention.

    Carlson tends not to do that. He is highly critical of Washington’s foreign-policy establishment — and far less hawkish on Russia and Iran than most of the successful current-affairs hosts, party-line hacks and dubiously funded think-tank-affiliated pundits who dominate the airwaves whenever war is in the news. But that doesn’t make him, as many people are desperate to claim, a Russian asset. It makes him a proper journalist. There’s not many of them around.

  39. Good morning. It occurs to me that once they feel their numbers are sufficient to allow moslems to take over the UK, they’ll spin the same line that they’ve used in every territory they’ve ever claimed the right to conquer. “We’ve always been here. It’s ours”. Which basically means, “If we’ve ever been here, it’s ours”. And if we dare to defend our homeland, we too will be accused of genocide.

  41. I wonder if the 40 or so Bibby Stockholm asylum seekers ‘converting to Christianity’ are taking the ultimate test of……
    walking on water ?

    1. Many of us remember Brer Rabbit who tells Brer Fox over and over again that the worst thing that could possibly happen to him would be to be thrown into the briar bush. Of course he is trying to manipulate Brer Fox into throwing him into the briar bush which is just what he wants as he was born and bred in a briar bush.

      The PTB tell us over and over again that man-made global warming is destroying the planet and that carbon and carbon dioxide are not benevolent. But unlike Brer Fox we are becoming less and less taken in by the constant repetition of the environmental propaganda. We are also beginning to suspect that Sunak’s unequivocal repetition of the assertion that the jabs are safe is completely and deliberately mendacious.

      If these two issues, combined with immediate resignation from the ECHR and the automatic return of illegal immigrants to France, were central to the Reform Party’s manifesto the Conservatives could be completely annihilated. But Tice lacks the testicular strength to do so.

      1. In an article in my local rag (about the woman being imprisoned for standing outside the law courts with a placard about safeguarding juries) one of those who is supporting (by doing the same and sending a letter to the Attorney General to be prosecuted) wrote that her 9 yr old grandson had written saying “climate change is the biggest threat we are facing”. My first thought was, that 9 yr old has been thoroughly brainwashed; the biggest threat we face is to our freedoms and way of life.

  43. EX-COURTIER CAREER CIVIL SERVANT IS NEW HEAD OF DOWNING STREET DELIVERY UNIT

    It looks like Number 10 are hiring more Cameron-era staff. Guido hears the soon-to-be former Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, Jean-Christophe Gray, is set to be the new Head of the Delivery Unit in Downing Street. Gray was Cameron’s official spokesperson from 2012-2015. He is yet another Oxbridge history graduate and his resume shows he is a career civil servant generalist with no real world private sector business experience. Clearly the dynamic change-maker you want to get things done. So perfect from the blob’s point of view to lead on the operational delivery of Rishi’s priorities coming up to an election…

    https://order-order.com

    2. It is a pretty damned close-run thing as to what to dread more: a Labour government or another disastrous unconservative Conservative government?

      Never has it been so important for NOTA votes to be counted and when abstentions and NOTA votes are added together have the majority then no one is returned to office.

      1. 382939+ up ticks,

        Morning R,
        “Then no one is returned to office”is no adequate answer,whereas
        “Daisy the cow” has beneficial content going forward as in supporting dairy herds,farming in general,British beef eaters, plus.

      3. I wrote to the Electoral Commission last year about including NOTA on the bottom of every ballot paper the reply said the objective of the election was to elect a new MP. It seems that is sacrosanct regardless of electorate participation.

        1. The Electoral Commission is part of the blob. You’ll never get anything sensible or democratic from them!

    3. What on Earth is a ‘delivery unit’? The state produces nothing. It’s a bureaucracy we’re forced to use. We’ve no choices because it precludes competition. Where we might want choice it so heavily regulates there is no other option. If not regulation, then taxation prevents choice.

      Government has no product to sell. Nothing to market. It doesn’t deliver because we don’t ask anything of it, it pushes what we will accept. We pay regardless of if we want it or not.

      1. In this case the ‘Delivery unit’ is the means by which the Baby is thrown out with the bath water!

  44. The Scotsman

    Covid Inquiry: Hallett and Dawson have shown us all how Sturgeon intentionally broke devolution – Brian Monteith

    The UK Covid Inquiry has thrown into relief some uncomfortable truths about how Scotland is being governed
    By Brian Monteith
    Updated 5th Feb 2024, 07:20 GMT

    So there we have it. After years of well-meant but unsuccessful attempts by attentive observers to expose the unnecessary divisiveness, immense incompetence, sleekit skulduggery, exaggerated claims, fraudulent excuses – and ultimately the shameless pack of lies by Nicola Sturgeon and her administrations over the last decade – it has taken a UK institution to park its tanks in Edinburgh and expose it all beyond refutation.

    That is not a good look for devolution.

    Some notable members of the Scottish media tried, but for the insubordination and disrespect of asking perfectly reasonable questions received a public thrashing in plain sight of their colleagues. Learning the lesson, too many became accepting and unquestioning while some broadcasters even thought producing a hagiographic video worthy of North Korean dictators was nothing out of the ordinary. Such a lack of self-awareness served to tar all media with the sweeping accusation of fawning servility.

    https://www.scotsman.com/webimg/b25lY21zOjM4YjQ3YzNiLTdlZWUtNDUwYS1iOTcwLTkxZDcwMjI0ODNjZTowZDY4ZjUzZi1mOWQ2LTQyOTYtODRmZi1hMGVlNmRkMGY0N2U=.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65
    Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon leaves the UK Covid Inquiry hearing after her evidence session. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

    Many political opponents sought to use the legitimate rules and parliamentary procedures available to them but were often cowed by orchestrated disgust directed towards them for having the audacity to raise doubts about the facts, the motives, the reassurances and the lack of information being made available. Faced by the omerta of the SNP parliamentary party and Pecksniffian Greens providing opportunistic saving votes there was no hope of holding Government Ministers to account.

    Various committees of inquiry were tried, attempts at freedom of information were requested, and protests about the dire effects of policies were held outside the Scottish parliament – the outcomes all ignored even when they revealed resignation-level behaviour.

    Only when the Scottish Government has lost before the courts, only when courts exposed how SNP-Green laws on women’s private spaces would work in practice has there been a reluctant change in policy by the Scottish Government.

    Only when a Scottish advocate interrogating before a UK inquiry asked forensic questions that must be answered has the Empress and her courtiers been found to be wearing no clothes all this time – and it has not been a pretty sight.

    What this tells us about the management of the response to the Covid pandemic by the Scottish Government remains to be seen when the Hallett Inquiry publishes its views in a year or more’s time. What it has already told us beyond a shadow of doubt is devolution failed us and is continuing to fail.

    The so-called four nations approach was a massive mistake. We needed a single British response. For the purposes of having the best minds available (including Scots who were ignored in Scotland) to give advice and solve problems it made sense. For the benefit of sharing resources without the false pride that we didn’t need help (the sending in of the British Army, the last-gasp use of English ambulances crossing ‘the border’) it was a must.

    For being able to call upon our own UK financial resources – rather than taking on massive EU debt liabilities, it was vital. For Scottish businesses to be able to share in the financial reliefs being made available by London – but which many in Scotland were needlessly excluded from – would have prevented stress, hardship and often insolvency.

    Foregoing the simplicity of having one message to communicate quickly and memorably to the public so it might be understood and followed, rather than suffering the mendacity of a competing and confusing Sturgeon message – that was different for the sake of not being ‘made in London’ – was inept, partisan and bigoted.

    The benefits of facing the pandemic together far outweighed the delusion of local decision-making when the disease did not discriminate between North Berwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

    By revealing over the last three weeks how the Scottish Government – with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy John Swinney, and her chief advisor Liz Lloyd – were in command and often unaccountable even to Sturgeon’s own Cabinet, the UK Covid Inquiry has done Scotland a service before it reports.

    The shocking lesson is even at the height of an existential level threat to public health – a matter of life and death for tens of thousands – the Scottish Government sought to use the existence of devolution to establish political advantages and trash the reputations of those wishing to help us.

    A further lesson is the arrogance and of those at the heart of Scottish Government, believing themselves to be untouchable, unaccountable and able to dismiss the awkward squad who raised questions as “arseholes”. We need more MSPs in the awkward squad and cherished as a necessary control on the abuse of power.

    If devolution can be so easily turned against its intent of improving Scottish public administration to become a Trojan Horse for the destruction of our country – when the people have already been called to give their verdict on such a notion and convincingly rejected it in a turnout of over 85 per cent – then it is truly broken. If it is to be saved it must be reformed and to do that a new Scottish political reformation must be a campaign priority.

    The Scottish Labour Party, Scottish Conservatives, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and others such as Reform UK must put it on their agendas – not to give Holyrood yet more powers, but to make the tartan leviathan accountable to its people.

    We must have legislated provisions to maintain records of meetings and written conversations; who attended, who disagreed, decisions taken and texts recorded – not shabby guidance too few understand.

    We need the power of recall to hold politicians to account without having to wait on a Scottish election. And we need to ensure the Scottish Government and Holyrood remain focussed focus on their devolved responsibilities – not spending scarce resources beyond new cast-iron limitations, irrespective of the motives.

    So, thank you Baroness Hallett, thank you Jamie Dawson KC. By revealing the Empress was wearing no clothes your presence alone has done Scotland a service.

    Brian Monteith is a former member of the Scottish and European Parliaments and editor of ThinkScotland.org

  46. HMS Arbutus (K 86).
    Corvette (Flower).
    .
    Complement:
    75 officers and men (43 dead and 32 survivors).

    At 22.36 hours on 5th February 1942 U-136 (Heinrich Zimmermann) fired a spread of three torpedoes at HMS Arbutus (K 86) (T/Lt A.L.W. Warren, DSC, RNR), which was escorting convoy ON-63 about 340 miles west-northwest of Erris Head, Ireland. The corvette was hit on the starboard side abreast the forward bulkhead of No. 1 boiler by one torpedo and sank immediately after breaking in two. The commander, three officers and 38 ratings were lost. 33 survivors were picked up by HMS Chelsea (I 35) (LtCdr A.F.C. Layard, RN) within two hours after the attack. Nine of them were in critical condition and one of whom succumbed during the night. The destroyer immediately proceeded to Londonderry to land the injured men there on 7th February and then landed the remaining survivors at Liverpool on 9th February.

    Type VIIC U-Boat U-136 was sunk on 11th July 1942 in the North Atlantic west of Madeira by depth charges from the Free French destroyer Léopard, the British frigate HMS Spey and the British sloop HMS Pelican. 45 dead (all hands lost).

    https://uboat.net/media/allies/warships/br/corv_hms_arbutus.jpg

  48. 38299+ up ticks,

    The qu’ran is resting betwixt the dispatch boxes in parliament for oath taking, get your heads around that , non believers.

    1. …and slammmers are encouraged to lie on their holy book anyway, so an oath on it is valueless. Stupid parliament.

      1. 382939+ up ticks,

        Afternoon HL,
        Precisely, except that parliament I do not consider being stupid, treasonable treacherous yes, stupid no.

        1. Yes, but there is treasonable and treacherous and then there is fingers in ears la-la-la I can’t hear you stupid.

          Afternoon, Ogs.

  49. 382949+ up ticks,

    labs outer cloak of concealment is slipping revealing the inner core that are gaining numbers daily,

    Keep in mind that the three political governing kapo parties are a coalition.

    Labour MPs face election backlash by Muslim voters over party’s stance on Israel-Gaza war
    Pro-Palestine supporters angry over how long it took Sir Keir Starmer to call for ceasefire after Israel struck Gaza following Hamas attack

  51. The heat pump climb down is another nail in the Net Zero coffin

    Politicians can set targets day and night. But if they fail to consider the consequences, embarrassing u-turns will inevitably follow

    ROSS CLARK
    5 February 2024 • 12:22pm

    One by one they crumble, the net zero targets that were dreamed up without any regard to their cost and practicality. The latest one to go, it seems, is the so-called boiler tax – a rule which, from April, was going to force boiler manufacturers to ensure that at least 4 per cent of their installations were heat pumps. Should they have failed, they would have been liable to pay a fine of £3,000 for every boiler installation above the target. But the Government has now pulled back, perhaps having realised – to its apparent amazement – that boiler manufacturers were starting to raise prices in order to cover the fines they knew they would have to pay.

    You can set targets all day, but that doesn’t mean they are magically going to be realised. You might hope that setting a target will nudge manufacturers and consumers to veer towards heat pumps, and that that will help to bring down prices, but that is not going to happen if there is something fundamentally wrong with the technology. And the problem with heat pumps is that for all the public money which has been thrown at them over the past decade they remain too expensive to install. Moreover, while there seem to be some happy customers there are far too many homeowners complaining that their homes are lukewarm and that the devices cost too much to run, too. Heat pump manufacturers themselves have said that they are not suitable for some homes.

    All this may change, of course. The high temperature heat pumps required to heat older, less well-insulated properties will hopefully become more efficient. Someone may well find a way to bring down the cost so that a heat pump becomes the natural choice of anyone looking to replace an oil or gas boiler. No-one would be happier than me were that to happen. But for the moment it is quite plain that even government grants of £7,500 per installation are insufficient to make heat pumps competitive. To start imposing fines on the heating industry on the grounds that engineers haven’t yet got around that problem is not a smart green policy but simply a way of extracting more tax revenue from homeowners.

    The same goes for the Zero Electric Vehicle (ZEV) mandate which, from 1 January this year, obliges car manufacturers to ensure that 22 per cent of their sales in the UK are pure electric models. The underlying problems of battery vehicles – their cost to buy, their limited range and the time it takes to recharge them – have so far limited their penetration of the market, to just under 15 per cent in January. No amount of fines is suddenly going to put right the engineering challenges which lie in the way of mass adoption of electric cars, because that would also require the laws of physics to be rewritten.

    The Government has already delayed the proposed ban on petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 – although the ZEV remains in place for the moment. But what we have seen so far is only the beginning. Over the next few years we are going to see many more of these targets having to be relaxed, delayed or abandoned – including, I don’t doubt at some stage, the holy grail of net zero itself. It is just that it is going to be a long and painful political journey to get there.

    1. In my many years as a salesman and manager the only thing I ever learned about a plan was that it was wrong. It’s a bit like a railway timetable, it only purpose is to show how late the train is.

    2. The great problem that Government won’t address is the life of heat pumps.

      Around here the life of heat pumps averages about eight years.

      The Government wants industry to produce 600,000 heat pumps a year.

      Simple mathematics shows that once there are more than 5million dwellings fitted with heat pumps then

      some break downs/ failures cannot be dealt with immediately.

      Even if they manage to extend the average life of heat pumps to ten years, that still means that with more than 6million

      dwellings fitted with heat pumps demand will exceed supply.

      How many dwellings with heat pumps do the Government want?

      How many poorer families can afford a new heat pump every eight/nine/ten years?

      There appears to be a total lack of sensible thought from the Government !

    3. The great problem that Government won’t address is the life of heat pumps.

      Around here the life of heat pumps averages about eight years.

      The Government wants industry to produce 600,000 heat pumps a year.

      Simple mathematics shows that once there are more than 5million dwellings fitted with heat pumps then

      some break downs/ failures cannot be dealt with immediately.

      Even if they manage to extend the average life of heat pumps to ten years, that still means that with more than 6million

      dwellings fitted with heat pumps demand will exceed supply.

      How many dwellings with heat pumps do the Government want?

      How many poorer families can afford a new heat pump every eight/nine/ten years?

      There appears to be a total lack of sensible thought from the Government !

    4. BTL:

      Andy RoadKing
      2 HRS AGO
      I am fairly certain when I was deciding to vote before the last election that this was NOT the Conservative’s manifesto:
      We are going to force you to buy impractical fantastically expensive Heat Pumps.
      We are going to force you to buy impractical fantastically expensive Electric Cars.
      We are going to ruin Energy Security and quadruple your energy bills.
      We are going to close down Farming in the UK.
      We are going to close down Steel making in the UK.
      We are going to destroy manufacturing in the UK.
      We are going to allow the NHS to be unfit for purpose.
      We are going to attack foreign countries and inflame war zones.
      We are going to increase taxation to highest level in 70 years.
      We are going to flood the country with millions of immigrants.
      The idea of democracy is you present society with good ideas to improve the people of that society’s life in general.
      we do not have a democracy that is functioning in the way it is supposed to.

  53. Meanwhile over the pond…..

    “While the House has gone full ‘Israel or Bust’, the Senate has come up with a $118 billion bipartisan agreement which would allow 1.5 million illegals to enter the US every year, allocates $2.3 billion towards NGOs and other organisations which traffic them, gives $14.1 billion in security assistance to Israel, and a whopping $60 billion in support to Ukraine.”

    “Buddy can you spare 340 Trillion Dimes?”

  55. British Muslim support for Labour falls by a third, according to poll
    Anger over leader’s stance on Gaza sees backing collapse
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/05/british-muslim-support-for-labour-falls-by-a-third/

    Remember the battle between Abdul-a-Bullshit-Amir and Ivan Skavinski Skavar?

    That was in the days of the Csar and Shah.

    In the 50s Labour was all for Ivan – now they are on Abdul’s side but Abdul’s support for Labour is dwindling.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnvVj5Wgaus

  56. Our special relationship.

    SIR – It was Hitler who declared war on the United States after Pearl
    Harbour in 1941, more than two years after the war started – not the
    reverse. This is despite many American ships being sunk during those
    years.

    When we were fighting the Nazis alone, the US sold us 50
    rusty old ships at a high price, which included giving them most of our
    South American mining rights. We only finished paying our US war debts
    in 2006. There should be no surprise today that benefits are granted to
    the UK only when they are in the US’s own interest, as exemplified by
    Hollywood and, more importantly, by President Obama’s comment that we
    would be sent “to the back of the queue” for a post-Brexit trade deal.

    Dr Peter Sander
    Hythe, Kent

    1. A former key aide to Barack Obama has confirmed David Cameron personally asked the US president to warn Britain would be “back of the queue” for a post-Brexit trade deal.

      Ben Rhodes, an ex-White House adviser, admitted Mr Obama’s dramatic intervention in the EU referendum campaign came at the personal request of the former prime minister.

      https://news.sky.com/story/cameron-personally-requested-obamas-back-of-the-queue-brexit-warning-11423669

      2. It was obvious a Brit had told Obama what to say – Americans use ‘line’ instead of ‘queue’.

    2. It’s always wise to divide a country’s government and its people. I like Americans, for the most part, but I absolutely despise their government and always have.

  57. It’s a testament to the state of the health service that when, a
    few months ago, I stood up from the lavatory bowl to find it full of
    blood, my first thought wasn’t, “Oh no, I’m going to die,” it was, “Oh
    no, I’m going to have to deal with the NHS.”

    Bowel
    cancer? Mum’s had it; Dad died from it, and his only consolation was
    knowing that I might get it one day, too. His death was difficult. Aside
    from the pain and recrimination, I remember the ambulances that never
    came, the long waits in A&E – and I came to hate the NHS, all the
    more for being made to clap for it during the Covid pandemic. Why do the British make such a big show of love for an institution that treats them so badly?

    Well,
    now I could find out. It’s a benefit of being a writer that whatever
    horror life throws at you, you always think “at least I can squeeze a
    column out of it”.

    The chief problem with the NHS turns out to be
    its hopeless administration. Great at care, terrible at managing it.
    Given your family history, said the GP, you must take a test – so I did,
    and the result was bad. However, I didn’t know this because I didn’t
    realise I had to collect it myself (why would I?), and my GP, who is
    truly excellent, wasn’t prompted to arrange a colonoscopy until many
    weeks had passed.

    Around January 2, I got a text to say it was
    bad news and I would be sent to surgery ASAP. Then silence. I went to
    the GP practice in person – they encourage us not to do this – and was
    told that the operation would eventually be booked by the secretary, but
    “she’s on holiday”.

    I heard myself saying “thank you for your
    help”. Because NHS treatment is free – bar the thousands I pay in tax –
    we are trained to act as though it’s voluntary, and one fears that
    making a complaint might make it stop. I said nothing when a clinical
    letter went to the wrong address (the NHS still thinks that I live with
    my mother, beneath a Postman Pat duvet and posters of Steps) or when
    another, with instructions on how to prepare for a colonoscopy, never
    arrived at all.

    Still, what we lack in clerical skills, the
    British make up for in good humour, which came in handy on the day
    itself – at Maidstone Hospital, with its brutalist fishpond and, to the
    disorientation of every visitor, a fruit and veg market at reception.
    Down the corridor, two doors on the right, Mum and I sat in the
    “derriere ward”, surrounded by people of all creeds and classes made
    equal by one of the most embarrassing medical problems imaginable,
    united by Blitz Spirit. To paraphrase the late Queen Mother, one feels
    one can look the East End in the face now that I’ve had a telescope
    shoved up my bottom.
    “Mr Stanley? You’re next.”

    There was hurt.
    There was humiliation. But there was also an overwhelming kindness.
    This wasn’t the drugs talking. Before I had those, I admitted to a nurse
    that I was frightened, and warned her that when I’m nervous, I become
    posh and confused, so she’d have to treat me like a very stupid royal. I
    was stripped and led to the theatre, where they laid me on the table,
    pumped me with anaesthetic faster than I could notice – not general, for
    one must stay awake – and asked me to move onto my left side. “You’ll
    have to point me in the right direction,” I said, and the nurse, as
    gently as if she were wiping a baby, rolled me over.

    Here, I was
    invaded by a cold camera, looking for suspicious or malicious lumps, but
    also handled with the most remarkable tenderness. Once your childhood
    is over, and you cease being adorable, no one has cause to touch you
    with such sympathy – until you fall ill or go gaga, and then the angels
    of the NHS appear at the bedside, to caress and clean, like a vision of
    Mother Mary. Occasionally, if you’re lucky, they will bring news of a
    divine reprieve. “No cancer, Mr Stanley,” said the doctor, “low risk at
    your age.” But she’d found plenty of lumps, so we will have to do this
    again, soon. “In the meantime, I’ve removed one of the offenders and
    tattooed the spot to warn the next doctor.”

    How wonderful science is! To think there will forever be some part of my bowel that reads “Kilroy was here”.

    Later,
    I enjoyed my free sandwich and cup of tea, and considered that perhaps
    people don’t really love the NHS, they love the people in it and the
    love they show to us – that we treat it like a religion because it
    really is Christianity in action, the work of compassion for which God
    made us. Then again, there’s the horrid bureaucracy: I will have to
    fight for that second operation, to find the missing letters and hunt
    down that secretary, even if I must go all the way to Magaluf to
    confront her with my forms.

    “Mr Stanley,” said the nurse, “I am
    calling your mother in the waiting room to come and collect you, but she
    is not replying. Could she have left?”

    “No,” I replied, “she’s
    just profoundly deaf. Shout louder.” As I closed my eyes and listened to
    the nurse yelling my mother’s name, I thought of my father – I wished
    he’d been kinder to me, but also that I’d been kinder to him, and
    pledged to be nicer to everyone while I still have time.

    Tim Stanley.

    I had a similar experience though they managed not to cock up my paperwork…this time.

    1. I absolutely dread having to go to hospital. Ass Tim says the admin is terrible and you must push for anything, not just wait to hear.

      I had a good experience recently, found what seemed to me like a pea sized breast lump, one weekend. Rang surgery on the Monday, was given an appointment that morning with Senior Practice Nurse (GPs don’t want to see anyone!) but thought so too and referred me to hospital. Was seen that Friday for ultrasound and told I may have a biopsy taken if anything found. To my relief nothing showed up, apparently it was granular tissue. But the whole thing was over and done with that day. So that part of the system worked very well, thank goodness.

      However I shall continue to “have a feel” as it were!

      1. That must have been a relief.
        I was seen quickly too. That bloody machine doesn’t half pinch !
        Mine turned out clear too though i do have gynaecomastia in the left moob. Treating it with topical testosterone.

      3. Nice to see something positive about the NHS!! I was lucky too, some years ago with lump, biopsy followed by surgery and I lived to tell the tale!! But keep up with the annual mamograms too

    2. I basically passed out at the quacks. I had 2 infections from a kidney stone and got sent to hospital. As I was there I got a nice bed, asked if I had tea, if I wanted a tea and went to the loo a lot. An awful lot.

      18 months (and 3 secondary infections) later I’m going in again to have the thing removed by a laser as I’m too fat to have it broken up by pressure waves. General anaesthetic and all that.

      Mr Stanley is right. Once you’re there, the people in the NHS are great. They really are. But when your letters go to the wrong place (because you can’t tell them and you assume they talk to your doctors), your docs don’t have a clue what’s going on and make appointments for you on the day you rather think ‘sort it out’.

      The problem is the NHS is like any giant bureaucracy. It is full of people who work very hard despite the system fighting them at every turn. The system is run by folk with no interest in the work, no ability to do the work and simply like filling in forms.

      1. Good luck with the procedure.

        The medical staff are very nice. Though i did want to strangle a phlebotomist once.

        I know the drugs can paint a rosy glow but i didn’t
        have any when i had my colonoscopy. I grunted my way through it because i knew they would release me sooner. All the staff were lovely.

        1. Excellent and I agree the staff are usually brilliant. It’s the administration that needs a kick up the scuz the pun backside.

          1. Just what i didn’t want to hear.
            “The probe has slipped out, Mr Phizzee. I shall have to reinsert it”. :@(

          2. Oh well Phizz it has to happen to someone one. 🤔😉
            My most recent experience was with my catheter ablation. Four hours long, only local anesthetic and I could sometimes feel the end of the instrument as it did its humanly guided job within my chest.
            I could hear the surgeon and his assistant guiding the process via a large TV screen.
            Up a bit, down a bit, left a bit.
            Laying flat on my back I dare not move even my fingers. They told me off.
            Then the huge ugly bruises and scar in the right groin.
            But there’s not a single piece of wood since, in reach I don’t touch.

          3. Glad it went okay. Just have to put up with the discomfort.
            I made sure the screen was out of my line of sight !

      1. Fine thank you for asking. Most uncomfortable and painful in part. They did keep offering me gas and air but i declined. I have had gas and air before and it gave me a sore throat. I didn’t want both ends to suffer !

    3. Only 77 and that seems to be increasingly common. Life expectancy appears to be falling.

      2. 27 years ago, my Father died aged 72. Both his parents died younger than that (I never met them). Mothers mother died young, too.
        So, it’s not a modern thing.

      3. All except one brother of my mother’s family lived into their 90s one sister in QLD 96. Father’s side a bit lower mid eighties.
        🤞fingers crossed. I’d love to see my grandchildren as teenagers.

      4. Older than I thought. I thought he was 74. Glad he had a few more years than I allotted him 🙂

    4. The last of Dad’s Army. That’s very sad… It doesn’t seem 50 years since they started.

  59. I started writing a comment yesterday about forecasting but deleted it later because I couldn’t see where the argument was going. 🤔

  61. 382939+ up ticks,

    The first religious foreign conversion unit to commit rape or paedophilia must surely scrub the loophole system.

    Changing religious horses at this particular time smacks of, not only leave to stay but via guile, working from within is cheaper than building new mosques.

    1. 382939+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Regarding religious converts

      “At times we quiz them 4/5 hours or even a day,” WHY ?Just ring the canteen and get sent up a tray of bacon sarnies and a brace of pigs trotters.

    1. Junior and I are watching them through. We will never see the like again. The Lefty wokers simply would no be able to cope.

      I hope up there they’re forming ranks and having a pint afterward.

  64. “SKIVING” CIVIL SERVANTS BLASTED FOR TAKING 1.8 MILLION SICK DAYS

    Civil servants are increasingly playing truant. A written question has revealed that the blob took 1.86 million sick days in 2022, with the Ministry of Justice losing a whopping 7.4 days per staff member per year. The Scottish Government came in second with 5.9 days per staff year lost to “sickness”. As Jacob Rees-Mogg rightly notes, “It seems unlikely that public servants are much less healthy than those in the private sector so there is probably a degree of malingering“. Meanwhile only half of HMRC’s staff even bothered turning up to the office in January…

    Jonathan Eida at the TaxPayers’ Alliance tells Guido “taxpayers are sick and tired of skiving civil servants. Sickness absence is costing the British public a small fortune and slowing down the delivery of public services“. Work shyness could always be treated with redundancy…

    1. I’m not quite sure of the difference between a “sick” day” and a “WFH” day. What is the productivity loss comparison I wonder.

      1. The Blobber gets paid for both types of day but refuses to accept telephone calls or reply to emails on ‘sick days’ because he’s down the boozer/nursing his illness.

    1. Ian lavender used to go in my ex-in laws pub near Royston when filming in Norfolk. I have served him with beer

      1. I saw Ian Lavender at the Theatre on Weymouth pier in the 1970’s. He was in ‘No sex please we’re British. He spent quite a lot of the play acting in his Y fronts and socks.

        1. I saw him and Kate O’Mara in a production of Noël and Gertie [Coward and Gertrude Lawrence] at the Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage, in 1999. They were dressed rather more elegantly.

      3. The last time I saw the Late Mr Lavender was after a performance at a theatre, some years ago, where he was waving a collecting tin for retired thespians. I only had a crisp fiver …. No change!

    2. Ian lavender used to go in my ex-in laws pub near Royston when filming in Norfolk. I have served him with beer

    3. Very sad and a decent TV Presenter named Johnny Irwin.
      It just gets worse Obs as we get older our selves.
      But it never seems to happen to the most hated.

      2. As Grizz said a couple of days ago – isn’t it weird to be the same age as old people…

      3. Search YouTube for Barry John, and you’ll see fast, tactical, manoevre rugby. As it should be. Sigh.

    4. There is a comment to the Telegraph obituary that when Ian joined Chelsea Lodge and the Master said, “State your name at length,” everyone shouted, “Don’t tell him, Pike!”.

  66. Phew – and double phew! Since lunch, pruned the main rose bed – about 30 plants. Then sprayed with Armillatox (lovely smell – like Jeyes Fluid used to be before it was rendered useless courtesy the EUSSR). Then Top Rosed. Then shifted half a ton of well-rotted. Now that WAS a challenge to my poor old body. Nice to come in and sit down for a bit. Still it was a job that needed doing. Cats very impressed…..

    1. Read that as “… shitted…” and was a tad concerned! Wondered if you’d been on the vindaloo…

    2. Would you consider hiring a gardener for the more heavy lifting or is there still satisfaction in doing it yourself?

      3. It is just about impossible to find anyone prepared to do what you suggest. There ARE “gardeners” but they do cosmetic work – nothing heavy and back-breaking. And they charge a small fortune. I do employ a man to cut the grass. Originally, I did ask him to do various other things – but he made such a hash of them…… He also dislikes being told what to do – even if you tries to put it across in a “What do you think about..” way. Even with the mower he manages to cut swathes through bulbs….{:¬((

        1. He sounds like an idiot.

          I use a local firm. Two great guys who will do any odd job garden related. They charge £30 an hour. One of them is a local Headmaster of the Primary school !
          It feels good bossing him around.

          1. He is an idiot. But he can use a lawn mower and I can’t. He was a farm labourer – and no farmer/labourer in my experience knows or cares about gardening.

            Such people seem not to exist round here. Deep countryside.

          2. Ooh sir! (Puts hand up!) My SiL’s farmer father loves the garden! Which is a good job, as my daughter kills everything I give her – several lovely clematis, honeysuckle, roses and a passiflora! I gave her a Hellebore before Christmas and she kept it indoors! The foliage is now lime green! 🙄

          3. There are exceptions to every rule, Susan. My DiL’s farmer father is very good with both flowers and vegetables.

  67. The heat pump climb down is another nail in the Net Zero coffin. 5 February 2024.

    The Government has already delayed the proposed ban on petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 – although the ZEV remains in place for the moment. But what we have seen so far is only the beginning. Over the next few years we are going to see many more of these targets having to be relaxed, delayed or abandoned – including, I don’t doubt at some stage, the holy grail of net zero itself. It is just that it is going to be a long and painful political journey to get there.

    By this time the UK will be broke and reliant on Donkey Carts.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/05/the-heat-pump-climb-down-is-another-nail-in-the-net-zero-co/

      1. They’ll be able to use the wheels off the useless EVs and the donkeys will have to go barefoot. Walking on tarmac will wear their hoofs down.

  68. I am doing a week of blood pressure readings for my annual cardio review. Today it was 134 over 91. Pulse was high though at 119. Better than when i was in for my procedure. It was 197 over 110.

    1. I’m trying to recall the BP and pulse readings from a health check of 12 days ago. I think the nurse said 118/72 and 62. I was pleasantly surprised because i had not long completed a brisk 30 minute walk from the railway station and assumed the readings would be elevated. The nurse was pleased.

    2. Same as, over the past two weeks mine has varied from 193-105 to 94 -61 this morning. I had to go back to bed.
      I’ve got a cardiology ‘appointment’ in the form of a phone call tomorrow morning and a pharmacy app at my gp practice in the afternoon. To sort out my meds.

    3. Same as, over the past two weeks mine has varied from 193-105 to 94 -61 this morning. I had to go back to bed.
      I’ve got a cardiology ‘appointment’ in the form of a phone call tomorrow morning and a pharmacy app at my gp practice in the afternoon. To sort out my meds.

    4. I recorded mine over a three day period last weekend and all were in the region of 130/80. Went for endoscopy on Tuesday and was 148/91 – white coat syndrome. (endoscopy showed nothing to worry about).

        1. That was my fourth endoscopy (last one about 9 years ago) and had one colonoscopy earlier than that.

          1. You’re ahead of me; I’ve only had three endoscopies and two colonoscopies. They can’t find anything wrong (but the symptoms persist).

          2. Dismotility of the oesophagus causing excess reflux – flared up recently presumably because of the stress of move pt1 and forthcoming move pt 2. The other end is diverticulitis which comes and goes.

          3. I suffer from GORD (of GERD as our Yankee friends name it) and diverticulitis. Ain’t life wonderful! Stress doesn’t help.

          4. Silly of me to say i know but ……….i take omeprazole every day but some Doctors suggest eating bananas as they soak up excess acid. Might be worth a try.
            I have Diverticular too. I take Fybogel every morning before my Shredded Wheat.

          5. I used to take Omeprazole but found it actually initiated a wicked acid reflux for me. I eventually changed to Lanzeprazole.

          8. Yes, I’m on omeprazole. The acid was under control but started increasing last year when looking for a rental property while waiting on the new one ( less than 2 months away now). I started on lansprezole but they gave me the runs. As to Phizzee’s comment about bananas, I have one most days. The problem with the dismotility is the valve into the stomach doesn’t always close when it should.

          9. Ah, I see. The omeprazole gave me reflux so I went to Lanzeprazole. I remember discovering that a half glass of milk was the only thing that would stop it dead.

  69. I imagine government is finding a way to slap this on boiler manufacturers and preventing them passing it on. Which is impossible, but they’ll keep trying.

    The scam cannot be allowed to stop.

  70. Wind very blustery and so gardening has been abandoned.

    I’m trying something new for my evening meal, roasted curried cauliflower. I’ve found a recipe and I will augment the cauli with some red pepper – they roast well – and some diced par boiled potatoes.

    Dessert will be the remainder of the Eve’s pudding I made yesterday. The Bramleys cooked well and I added some jellied berry fruits from last summer’s harvest that I’d frozen – strange thing, the jelly never froze hard. Never mind, they tasted great and two friends who had a helping both enjoyed the pud.

    Continuing the culinary theme, after my ‘success’ with Seville oranges a couple of weeks ago I decided to make some lemon marmalade using the same method as for the oranges. Lemons do not need quite as much boiling is one thing I have learnt but the remainder of the process worked well and I made 9 jars, of varying sizes, of what Robertson’s call Silver Shred. No golliwogs available! It’s nice but the Seville orange marmalade has a superior flavour. Next up, grapefruit?

    1. If you are going to eat vegetarian style you can’t fault Indian cuisine. Cauli and potato curry is Aloo Gobi. Very nice.

      Not grapefruit if you are on statins.

        1. My appetite has diminished as i have aged. Small plates are good. Mezzes, tapas, Indian appetisers all good.

    2. I always include one lemon with the Seville oranges when I make marmalade.

      You sound quite adventurous with your culinary efforts.

          1. The recipe I found states that when the oranges and lemon are cooked cut in them in half, scoop out the pulp, pips and the pith, add that mixture with the lemon skins back to the juice and cook again for about 10 minutes. When cool strain through a bag. The cooked orange skins are a bit soft and slicing them can be tricky.

          2. Yes, there seem to be many different ways to make it. I use my mother’s recipe which involves cooking the oranges (and one lemon) first, then cutting them up and removing the pips into a bag. It’s tedious but it always works well. Measure the pulp and liquid and add sugar at the rate of 1 1/4 lbs to I pint of pulp. It makes a fairly firm and chunky marmalade with good flavour.

            I won’t be making any this year, as OH’s hospital treatment over the past year seems to have resulted in him losing his love of marmalade, so we have some left from last year. Although I like marmalade, it doesn’t usually form part of my diet so I rarely eat it.

      2. No, just lemon. I may have a go at rhubarb and ginger come the Spring. My rhubarb is already pushing up shoots.

      2. On the occasional times when I have been treated to a home-cooked meal by Korky it has been magnificent. (His wine store is excellent too.)

      3. On the occasional times when I have been treated to a home-cooked meal by Korky it has been magnificent. (His wine store is excellent too.)

    5. I am inspired by your efforts. I had chicken and mushroom pie with peas, roast parsnips and roast potatoes, but alas not home made or home grown.

    6. I went out front to put our bins out, the south westerly was horrendous.
      And our neighbours had just pulled into their driveway been in Liverpool for a birthday party, so we had to greet each other. But it was cut short by the howling cold wind.
      I wasn’t particularly hungry tonight. For a change from a plate of cooked food. I had tinned sardines in tomatoes on home made granary toast. Delicious.

  71. Train operator re-records 34 station names – but still hasn’t managed to get it right. 5 February 2024.

    A train operator has come under fire for mispronouncing a station name, six months after re-recording its announcements to amend the problem.

    Northern said it had re-recorded 34 place names in August following criticism from passengers over the errors.

    But months later, those travelling between Carlisle and the Cumbrian coast have complained that Aspatria, in Cumbria, is still being announced “As-spat-ria” rather than “As-spay-tria”.

    The mind boggles!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/05/northern-train-operator-mispronounces-cumbria-town/

    1. It still irritates the shonet out of me to hear “Allanwick” instead of “Annick” or “More-peth” for Morpeth, or New Biggin for Newbiggin, both without the pause.

      1. Having worked with a number of Geordies at the Lanes Redevelopment in my home city Carlisle, I quickly learned how to pronounce Newcastle. And it’s not how the media or other southern softies do it.

      2. South Western train announcements aren’t generally bad, but for the life of me, I fail to understand the pronunciation of my next station towards Aldershot, as “Ash” with a weird upward inflection towards the end of the word. Which makes it sound like a question, or an Australian soap opera.

        More amusing are the announcements on Stagecoach buses hereabouts.

        I offer:

        Shaftesbury Court

        Hammersley Road

        Ash Vale Railway S T (apparently there’s no room for ‘station’)

        1. For some reason the train announcements state the next station is ALsajer. We know it as AlsAYjer.

  74. The London Overground recorded announcement for stations between Clapham Junction and Stratford irritates the hell out of me, ’cause the ignorant girlie pronounces Brondesbury and Brondesbury Park as “Bronders-bury” when the “e” should be silent. The announcements on-board the train are correct. It’s just the station ones that are wrong.

      2. I expect Urdu is the first language of the female who recorded it and her boss, hence neither knew that it’s wrong.

      3. You are failing to comply with this site’s D.I.E objectives and will be sent for retraining. Moreover, we suspect that you have been a malevolent and bigoted influence on Gus and Pickles.

  75. It took a HUGE effort by local activists to get them to even consider the possibility of electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets and they persecution of Darren Grimes SHOULD have seen the whole body sacked.

    1. Their job is basically to reinforce the Establishment at Westminster. They will never do anything that actually results in greater democracy or accountability. It’s another thing that needs to be abolished.

    3. Apparently coined by an Aussie student at St. Pancras Station, “Can I hev a tickit to Loogah-Baroogah please?”

  78. An ugly Bogie Five!

    Wordle 961 5/6
    ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜
    🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. A 4 today.

      Wordle 961 4/6

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

    2. Yup, me too.

      Wordle 961 5/6

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

    3. Congratulate yourself. I made two dumb mistakes that resulted in this.

      Wordle 961 6/6

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

    4. Four here

      Wordle 961 4/6

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

    1. Locals are weird. In yer Narfuck the denizens pronounce Stiffkey as “Stewkey”.

      Costessey is “Cossey”; Happisburgh is “Ayzborough”; Postwick is “Pozzick”; Reepham is “Reefum”; Tacolneston is “Tacolston”; Wymondham is “Windum” …

      Strange lot them Narfuckians.

      1. I lived there for ten years. That’s a pretty comprehensive list. But even here in Surrey we have Weybourne, pronunced “Webburn”.

        And back home in Cumbria there’s Torpenhow. Which translates to Hill Hill Hill. Any suggestions as to pronunciation? (there’s no prize)…

        Edit: you’ve reminded me of “Reefum”. With seven others, I had a Norfolk Broads boaing holiday when in my late teens. We moored somewhere near the village, but it was a bloody long walk through thick fog to get to the there. Not helped by an invisible approaching cyclist, which was quite disconcerting.

        The pub – which may have been the King’s Arms – was one of those where, from outside, animated converation can be clearly heard. But as soon as strangers open the door, the place falls into sepulchral silence. The only noise was from the one-armed bandit. The trip to the Gents seemed to involve around 43 successive rooms before one reached it. It may have been in Essex. No problem for anyone with a ‘bashful bladder’ – there wasn’t another living being within miles. On return to the – still silent – bar: “Drink up – we’re leaving”. As soon as the door closed, the hubbub returned…

        1. In North Shropshire there is a place spelled Boreatton and the pub takes its name from the village. I spent nearly a quarter of an hour trying to find the Bratton Arms when I first arrived.

        2. The King’s Arms in Reepham was one of my favourite pubs when I lived in Norfolk, Geoff. I didn’t experience the silence like you did there, just excellent ales, a log fire and delicious food. The only time I experienced the silence of locals when walking into ‘their’ pub was at an establishment called The Forge, which was in a small village called Billingford. The bar flies all stopped speaking and gave me a long stare as I approached ‘their’ bar. It was weird beyond belief. Their behaviour was self-destructive, though, since not long after the pub closed for good and is now a private residence.

  82. That’s me for today. I shall reward my aching joints wit a glass of special medicine.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

    1. Just watching Saturday Kitchen on Iplayer and Rick Stein is in Essoise. Of course they showed that picture by Renoir. Almost makes me want to go there but it’s in FRANCE !

          2. I watched him make Vongole and when the clams were steamed he poured the lot into the pasta. Any decent chef would have left a tablespoon of liquid in the bottom of the saucepan because that is where the grit is. Toss pot !

    2. I too am treating myself to a glass of special wit for medicinal reasons. Be jolly, Bill. A demain.

  84. Evening, all. Apropos the headline, as you probablly know the first Monday of the month means I attend the RAF Association meeting (which was a fascinating talk on truffle growing in Shropshire, but that’s by the bye), Was having a discussion with our RAFALO (Liaison Officer) who is a serving Sqn Ldr. He was saying we don’t have an army or a navy or air force to speak of and certainly not enough boots on the ground or planes in the air to fight off attackers (never mind the enemy army already inside the gates). It was depressing to hear someone who is at the front end confirm what we had suspected for some time.

    1. I doubt anyone will want to invade. They will just push their dross in our direction and buy anything still worth buying.

      1. I would suggest that they have invaded and continue to do so. No armed forces mean we’ll be powerless to resist or deal with it when it kicks off.

    2. Our undefended situation has been obvious for decades.
      Major’s “Peace Dividend” at the end of the Cold War went too far.

    3. PS He also pointed out that they are losing people faster than they can recruit them, which is definitely bad news.

    1. Which means we’ll get woke Wills and disestablishment (aka muslim takeover) all the sooner.

        1. The ex-RAF veteran with whom I travel to the meeting was disgusted with Welby. We both concluded he wasn’t even a Christian.

    2. What ever it is, he’s not alone.
      Blimey the bbc are really going for it.
      And the speaker has discovered polyps in the chamber at Wastemonster.

  87. It’s a gas, gas, gas!

    The gases of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon — comprising 78%, 21%, and 0.93%, respectively, of the atmosphere — show negligible absorption of thermal radiation and therefore are not GHGs. Important GHGs include water (average of 2%, with a range of 1% to 5%), CO2 (0.042%, or 420 parts per million (ppm) by volume), methane (0.00017%) and nitrous oxide (0.0000334%, or 334 parts per billion). Water vapor (clouds) has at least a hundred times greater warming effect on Earth’s temperature than all other GHGs combined. [In clear skies the influence of CO2 is more important than indicated. The influence of clouds is significant, but not understood.]

    As atmospheric CO2 increases, its GHG effect decreases: CO2’s warming effect is 1.5oC between zero and 20 ppm, 0.3oC between 20 and 40 ppm,and 0.15oC between 40 and 60 ppm. Every doubling of atmospheric CO2 from today’s levels decreases radiation back into space by a mere 1%. For most of the past 800,000 years, Earth’s atmospheric CO2 has ranged between about 180 ppm and 320 ppm; below 150 ppm, Earth’s plants could not exist, and all life would be extinguished.

    Today’s global atmospheric CO2 levels are ~420 ppm; even at these levels, plants are ‘partially CO2-starved.’ In fact, standard procedures for commercial greenhouse growers include elevating CO2 to 800­-1200 ppm; this enhances growth and crop yield ~20-50%. As shown by satellite since 1978, increased atmospheric CO2 has helped ‘green’ the Earth by more than 15 percent, substantially enhancing crop production.

    If global atmospheric CO2 was ~280 ppm in 1750, and it’s ~420 ppm today, what’s the source of this 140-ppm increase? Scientists estimate that human-associated industrial emissions might have contributed 135 ppm — with ‘natural causes’ accounting for the remaining 5 ppm.

    In Earth’s history, the highest levels of atmospheric CO2 (6,000-9,000 ppm) occurred about 550-450 million years ago, which caused plant life to flourish. CO2 levels in older nuclear submarines routinely operated at 7000 ppm, whereas newer subs keep CO2 in the 2,000-5,000-ppm range. Meanwhile, ice-core data over the last 800,000 years show no correlation between global-warming or -cooling cycles and atmospheric CO2 levels.

    CO2 in our lungs reaches 40,000-50,000 ppm, which induces us to take our next breath. Each human exhales about 2.3 pounds of CO2 per day, which means Earth’s 8 billion people produce daily 18.4 billion pounds CO2. But humans represent only 1/40th of all CO2-excreting life on Earth. Multiplying 18.4 billion pounds by 40 equals 736 billion pounds of CO2 per day. This approximates the overall CO2 excreted by the total animal and fungal biomass on the planet.

    Worldwide industrial CO2 emissions in 2022 were estimated to be 38.5 billion metric tons per year. If one metric ton is 2,200 pounds, then ‘total industrial emissions’ amount to 84.7 trillion pounds per year, or 232 billion pounds of CO2 per day. This means that the entire animal and fungal biomass (736 billion pounds) puts out more than three times as much CO2 as all industrial emissions (232 billion pounds)!

    Can any clear-thinking person comprehend the facts above and still create a company with idiotic plans to ‘sequester CO2’ or ‘sequester carbon’? Scientifically, ‘net-zero’ and ‘carbon footprint’ are meaningless terms. There is no ‘climate crisis.’

    If you try to find these facts on the web, good luck! Out of every 10 ‘hits’ on any climate topic, you’ll be lucky to find one or two sites with truthful scientific data. The door of a nearby classroom displays a poster of Abraham Lincoln with the caption: ‘Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.’ It is advice that our 16th president surely would have offered — had he lived to see the rise of this global warming quasi-religion.”

    Daniel W Nebert is Professor Emeritus in Gene-Environment Interactions at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He thanks Professor Will Happer (one of the CO2 Coalition directors) and Chuck Wiese (fellow CO2 Coalition )

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/02/05/weekly-climate-and-energy-news-roundup-586/

  88. A busy day, despite going back to bed for a couple of hours this morning because of the disturbed night.
    The Hollybush wood shelter/shed has been repaired and I’ve made a start on splitting the stack of logs I have waiting.
    With a bit of luck I should have the shelter refilled by this time next week and sufficient space for a couple of van-loads of logs to await further sawing, chopping & stacking.

    2. Are cancer rates increasing?
      The number of under-50s worldwide being diagnosed with cancer has risen by nearly 80% in three decades, according to the largest study of its kind. Global cases of early onset cancer increased from 1.82 million in 1990 to 3.26 million in 2019, while cancer deaths of adults in their 40s, 30s or younger grew by 27%.

      https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/05/cancer-cases-in-under-50s-worldwide-up-nearly-80-in-three-decades-study-finds#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20under%2D50s,or%20younger%20grew%20by%2027%25.

      The World Health Organisation is evil to the extent that it deliberately increased under-50s worldwide cancer cases by 80% in the three decades before the roll-out so as to disguise the lethality of the Covid-19 vaccines. Cancer charities are in on this scam, too, by claiming that Covid-19 vaccines have no bearing on the incidence of cancer. I don’t know what Alex Jones bases his claim on but it must be true because Alex Jones would never make false allegations about anything.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/us/politics/heres-what-jones-has-said-about-sandy-hook.html

      3. A specialist nurse commented to a friend back in early 2021 that deaths from cancer would increase, but the reasoning was simply based on late diagnoses due to the lockdowns.

  90. Perhaps I mistook the number then. I know that there is a cut off date where women are no longer automatically called.

  91. Apparently according to various news outlets Harry will be flying back to the UK to see his father the King.

      1. It seems there is much urgency in this case. They are not specifying the cancer thus the unwashed are not able to get an idea of its survivability, but Harry has moved pretty quick.

        1. Regardless of what one thinks of the King (and I’m fan of the WJK), I hope he doesn’t suffer too much.
          Edit: ….I’m no fan!

          2. When he’s in the room, nobody had better say anything that could be used, or twisted, to fill Harry & Meghan’s next book.
            Nobody can trust them.

          3. When he’s in the room, nobody had better say anything that could be used, or twisted, to fill Harry & Meghan’s next book.
            Nobody can trust them.

          7. I picked it up from another Nottler, though I unfortunately can’t remember who. Woke Joke King.

          10. Well said, MumisBusy. Although I still don’t understand WJK acronym (Woke Junior King, i.e. the current Prince of Wales?) , I have been struck by the considerate and kind posts by NoTTLers about other NoTTLers and their health problems earlier this evening. Yet once it was announced that King Charles III had cancer the level of vitriol from NoTTLers was appalling. (I must add that I am not a fan of the King, but would not wish cancer on anyone.)

          11. I don’t wish cancer on him, but I am less than sympathetic. He is not standing up for this country and is actively making people’s lives worse with his support for net zero and other crazy schemes. Her Majesty would not have attracted this sort of lack of support.

          12. It is always good to have support and helpful advice from fellow Nottlers when we are unwell, as quite a few of us are right now.
            I’m surprised, though, that vitriol was used by Nottlers towards the King.

          13. My views on him are well known here but I certainly don’t wish him illness and suffering.

        2. BBC is full of Harry… where’s William, now his Father is ill? Or, is he just doing his thing whilst Harry is all “Look at me!” in the press?

      2. Ooh… Have to travel free by private jet again. Dump the kids…

        Okay…Pack…
        Blackmail any label and tell them they will be in the next Netflix ….oh look at me poor Duchess crap drama.

        Free of paying designer wardrobe…check.
        Have agent ponce off all Maitre D’s in London. Check.

        Create a non existant security alert as there are not enough photographers can be bothered. Check.

        Warble on about how wonderful you are in supporting odd charities no one has ever heard of because you just invented them …check.

        Have a DNA test on your children and husband………………………

        1. According to the Daily Wail article, the King personally told his sons and his siblings. As one would expect.
          However, “A source close to the Duke said, ‘The Duke did not speak to his father about his diagnosis.’ ”
          Surely the shameless pair aren’t using his father’s cancer to set up more money spinning lies.

          https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13047983/King-Charles-III-75-diagnosed-cancer-just-days-discharged-hospital-undergoing-treatment-enlarged-prostate.html

          1. Them? The HRH’s of hell. Of course not. They have purely humanitarian ideals where they swan off to some photo opportunity like Grenfell and work in soup kitchens for 3 minutes before jetting off to Bardados. Not them. They are the epitome of Woke and they will DEI by that sword.

    2. That will be nice. Family gettogethers are important. Time to pinch the odd ornament and to punch someone in the face.

  92. Right, time to walk up to my local. Open mic night. My good friend, neighbour, drinking buddy and angling partner won’t make it as he’s on his 2nd of six weeks chemo and radiation treatment for a tumour in the base of his tongue. Mondays, an hour’s chemo followed by radiation, Tuesdays through Fridays just radiation. Odd how he doesn’t appear to need it at the weekend.

    1. Hope all goes well.
      Pushy nurse on this site said about beer being good for patients. Not sure how that works when being chemoed. Might be a thought for someone in a boring ward. Don’t quote me !

      2. The silly bugger came up to the pub at 9pm and bought 4 of us a beer. All he would drink was a hot bloody chocolate.

    3. Getting a lift out and back to the pub from an old mate tomorrow evening.
      It’s ladies night at home.
      I haven’t been in a pub for months. 🍻

        1. Thanks for your thoughts Sue.
          But….three old guys sitting around a table in a very old pub don’t really encourage mischief ☺️😉😁🤗.
          And during the night to come, we’ll have several reminders of how much we had to drink.
          Life wasn’t meant to be easy 🤣😂

      2. Since my village is now sadly pub-free, and I don’t drive, I’ve recently discovered the Queen Hotel in Aldershot. One of the blessed Sir Tim Martin’s establishments. If I can get my shopping done at Morrisons (not my favourite retailer), by mid afternoon, I can get a couple of pints in, before walking round the corner and catching the 16:30 bus home, three days a week. I don’t know how long this can last, since I often have the bus entirely to myself..

        1. I met Tim Martin once.
          The company I worked for refurbished pubs and altered shop premises into pub/dinners.
          He seemed like a decent down to earth no-nonsense sort of guy.
          Shame he’s not our PM.
          There’s a large JD Wetherspoons in the center of St Albans. A huge old converted barn. Hence the name Waterend Barn.

        2. It might be returning to the depot having delivered children home from school. If children still go to school, that is.

  93. It seems to me that KCs cancer problems are a lot worse than prostate cancer, which they don’t appear to be mentioning.
    And definitely not at all nice for the suffering patient when the whole world knows that you are not well.

    2. Meanwhile, my parish council (with my single objection) has voted to BUY a portait of Charles (we have two village halls and you only get one portrait free). I was not allowed to give my rationale; we never had a portrait of HM who served the country for 70+ years, Charles hasn’t been in the job 12 months yet and it’s just been announced he has health issues (which may be life-threatening). In a year we might be having to shell out for another portrait. Doesn’t seem like a good use of council tax-payers’ money to me.

      1. Could be worse. If the council wanted to display pictures of the PM, you would have been forking out money much more frequently than for royalty.

    3. I think this s another psy-op for the cancer ‘vaccine’ and he will be miraculously cured. Unfortunately the poor souls who fall for it will get another ‘booster’ dose of mrna (with a different label on the vial, of course). Don’t forget that the WJKClll is a founder member of the WEF. It is all too co-incidental. I am starting to wonder if his little op earlier last week was the real deal, or simply a means of paving the way for today’s news.

  95. Oh I know it’s early but I had a scare with BP this morning 94/61. It worked its way to 109.
    I feel I need a long rest.
    Good night all.

      1. It came back up later to around 130/60.
        For no apparent reason.
        I’ll ask at my appointment today.

      1. What a great thought. If only the government could rush out and buy a couple of hundred floating saunas hand them over to the RNLI so that the incoming illegals would be all clean and paid for before they even stepped foot on (what was once) British soil!

    1. For those who haven’t picked up this news item it will be coming to the the former UK soon!

      “The cost of parking a SUV for an hour will rise to 18 euros (£15.40), while six hours will cost 225 euros (£192). Caroline Russell, a Green member of the London Assembly, said: “Have to love the people of Paris.”

      2. When Parisian motorists visit the rest of France they are allowed to park cheaply or for free.

      1. Our surgery has a message that if you don’t want to hold on press 2 and you will be called back in your original position.
        It seems to work well. Sometimes almost immediate call others half an hour or so.

        1. Our surgery has that, too, but experience has shown that they do not call back. They also close from 1pm to 2pm as I discovered today when I went at 1.50 in the pouring rain. There is nowhere to shelter either. They don’t like patients.

          1. Ours is different. They shut the phones down from 1pm to 2pm but the surgery remains open for treatment. They are, however, now employing ANPs , Advanced Nurse Practitioners, at the expense of doctors.

  101. Right chums, I’m off up the wooden steps to Bedfordshire now. Good night, chums, sleep well and see you all tomorrow.

    1. Ooh, you old cynic!

      Not that I blame you – there are no depths to which the lefty woke will not stoop.

      1. Well, when there is a potential £ billions involved, and a good old depop into the bargain! – there will be no holds barred.

    2. Insufferably tasteless of you, poppie. May someone sneer at you when something similar happens to a family member of yours.

      1. Please steady on. Nobody wishes ill on others, Royalty or not.

        I have to say that many of us have family members who have succumbed to a variety of cancers.

        1. Are you being intentionally cloth-eared in repeating my point “that many of us have family members who have succumbed to a variety of cancers.”?…and NoTTLers.

      2. Charles is a founder member of the WEF, and a Malthusian to boot. After the covid debacle, the manipulations which are still ongoing and the effects of which will be with us for decades, how can one trust anything that the authorities and media thrust upon us? How can we actually believe what we are told by the media is the truth? More than a few people in our village have passed through this world earlier than they should have thanks to the covid ‘jab’ – truly horrible forms of aggressive cancers. My husband lost a school friend to an aggressive lung cancer, he died only six weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer following ‘the jab’. How can one not draw conclusions? It strikes me as odd when all his life Charles has resisted this sort of publicity regarding his health. Take care, and safeguard your health.

    3. All part of the Windsor gamework. Seriously, I wish His Majesty well, but would like to know which diagnostic technique was used, and if it’s routinely available for NHS patients.

  105. Good morning to any insomniacs out there.
    Another mug of tea in bed alongside the DT owing to waking up and not being able to get back to sleep again!

    Blustery outside with 7°C.

    1. Good morning BoB, blustery everywhere. My battery drill has a LED which illuminates the workpiece (sort of). Time for LEDs on chainsaws?

    2. More like hurricanes than blustery predicted here in Colchester, BoB (Good morning, btw.)

  107. Wordle 962 5/6

    Again, I’m posting here at today’s result at 6 am since the NoTTLe site doesn’t open until 7 am.

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

Comments are closed.