Monday 7 April: Is Keir Starmer really a leader who fights for the national interest?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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484 thoughts on “Monday 7 April: Is Keir Starmer really a leader who fights for the national interest?”

    1. A relevant point made by Dominic Frisby:

      "The richest 1% of Americans own 50% of US stocks, worth $23 trillion.

      The bottom 50% of U.S. adults hold only 1% of stocks, worth $480 billion.

      If you expand to the top 10%, that group holds 87% of stocks, valued at $36 trillion.

      If Iā€™m correctly inferring Bessentā€™s comments, at this current point, Trump doesnā€™t care about Wall Street, or Silicon Valley, or the parts of the US economy that have become so rich over the past 40 years. Itā€™s the bottom 50 – or even 80% – that Trump is concerned with. They hardly own any stocks, so the market mayhem wonā€™t matter so much to them. Wall Street has made good for decades. It can suffer a bit of pain while Main Street gets rebuilt."

      1. He wants to return lost industry back to the USA as we should do and start making tings again.When you are trying to make a more level playing field there will be difficulties in the short term. China will be put back in its place and that will be a good thing.

          1. China need the US market.more than any. What Trump has done was long overdue.

          2. I agree, it’s needed to try and balance manufacturing more, but they’re already plundering Europe’s manufacturing

          3. You cannot believe how shorted politicians are,I put it down to coruption

        2. If CPUs and GPUs are tariff walled then we're in for an awful time of it. Not just processing elements but hard disk components, SSDs, RAM chips stalling a nascent industry entirely.

      2. Yes, but I am a bit concerned that rather than particpating in global trade (and making 'bits' in America) Trump will demand everything is onshored and sometimes that's less efficient.

  3. OOoh ! I thought I was first! But Johnny beat me to it!
    But my phone is about to die so I'll have to plug it in.

  4. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for this morning's new NoTTLe page.

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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Didn't get Wordle this morning – ran out of options on a three letter pattern!

      1. I was getting a bit worried.
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    2. Let me try something here to see if I remember how write the two dots over the o in Malmo. I was told how to do it on Thursday, but Thursday's posts are now "frozen". I shall now try to write MALMƖ. And I'l try again with Tomorrow in Spanish: MAƑANA. And yet another one: ombĆ¹ – which with the accent gives emphasis on the final syllable, whereas without the accent (i.e. just "ombu") would result in the accent being on the penultimate syllable. Success!

      This works very well on my Apple computer, but I need to see whether or not I can use the same technique on my Microsoft laptop.

  5. Good morning Geoff and everyone on the first day of the new Tax Year. Here are a couple of Monday Giggles to cheer you up.

    A Circus Owner walked into a bar and found everyone gathered around a table.

    On the table was a duck tap dancing on an upturned flower pot.

    The circus owner was so impressed he immediately bought the duck and the flower pot for 1500 dollars.

    Hundreds flocked to see the duckā€™s first performance in the Big Top, but, to everyoneā€™s disappointment, the duck didnā€™t dance a step. The angry circus owner went back to the bar to seek out the man who had sold it to him.

    ā€œThat duck is a fraud,ā€ raged the circus owner. He hasnā€™t danced a step for me.ā€

    ā€œThatā€™s odd. Did you remember to light the candle under the pot?ā€

    A man bought a parrot, but got annoyed because it wouldnā€™t stop swearing.

    So as punishment, he put the bird in the freezer. An hour later, the shivering parrot begged to be let out of the freezer. ā€œI promise never to swear again,ā€ it said. ā€œIā€™ve learned my lesson. Just tell me one thing: what on earth did that turkey do?ā€

    2. šŸ˜†šŸ˜…šŸ¤£

      My grandfather had an African Grey with a swearing habit. He gave it away to someone else.

      1. Our (late) African Grey inevitably picked up the "F" word.
        We solved the problem as you would with a toddler. Absolutely no reaction; convenient deafness, if you like.
        No reaction; no excitement; not even a half suppressed giggle.
        Word was forgotten within a couple of days.

    1. I don't suppose you are old enough to remember old metal dustbins .. which were hardly ever full, carried on the back of dustmen who emptied the contents into a lorry ?

      Nothing was wasted in those days , except perhaps a Daz washing powder cardboard carton , baked bean cans maybe , everything like vegetable peelings were composted , other bits burned in boiler or open fire , milk bottles were glass so were retrieved and replaced by milkmen , bread was bought and put in a brown paper bag , sugar and tea the same , butter and cheese the same , and all glass bottles were valuable , I cannot remember plastics even when I got married .

      I forgot about the rag and bone man who even took away old worn out clothes .

      That cartoon proves how wealthy the nation is and that the myth of hungry children is nothing but a downright lie .

      1. I’m 73, so yes, I do remember metal dustbins. I even remember the pig-swill collection vans in the 1950s in South London which came round once a week to take away food slops. The rear was shaped as a half-cylinder with hatches which slid up to enable the dumping of the household food waste bins.

        1. Ah , yes , and good morning to you , I am glad we can all remember how things were , thanks to our diligent parents ..

          Moh has had a clear out of old shoes , including one pair of leather badly worn golf shoes and the rest were unsavable and not repairable .

          He used to get his soles replaced years back , and jackets and suits etc dry cleaned .. things are different now , I fling his muddy golf stuff into the washing machine , easy peasy .

      2. My parents ran a fish and chip shop and edible waste such as potato peelings etc was regularly collected to be used as pig swill.

        1. Yes the left overs from our NW7 school dinners were taken to a pig farm on the Ridgeway Mill Hill.

          1. Our school was more direct; the piggery was behind the the hockey pitch. The dinners were so awful the pigs never went hungry.

          5. We were forbidden to leave any food uneaten – think lectures on starving in Africa, food rationing etc. we developed sleight of hand skills for shovelling it onto the plates of those few non-discerning girls who were happy to eat reconstituted powdered potato in ice-cream scoop mounds and cabbage boiled to the point of disintegration.

          6. I remember being made by a teacher to eat plain boiled cubes of swede. I lost an entire playtime. I eventually washed the stuff down with several glasses of water.
            Didn't touch swede for 20+ years. In fact, I was married and had a family when I tried it again and discovered that there were ways of making it edible; in fact, very nice. Not something that our school cooks ever learnt.

          9. Over half a century later, I still gag at the thought of it and Iā€™ve never been able to eat mashed potato.

          10. Pre-dinner 'Grace' at our school was: "For what we are about to receive; the pigs have just refused!"šŸ¤£

        2. A van from Blair Drummond Safari park arrives at the local Sainsburys store, and picks up old fruit and veg etc. for the animals!

        3. Have you read the John Wain short story: A Message from the Pig Man?

          A Message from the Pig-man

          He was never called Ekky now, because he was getting to be a real boy,
          nearly six, with grey flannel trousers that had a separate belt, and weren't kept
          up by elastic, and his name was Eric. But this was just one of those changes
          brought about naturally, by time, not a disturbing alteration; he understood that.
          His mother hadn't meant that kind of change when she had promised,
          "Nothing will be changed." It was all going to go as before, except that Dad
          wouldn't be there, and Donald would be there instead. He knew Donald, of
          course, and felt all right about his being in the house, though it seemed, when
          he lay in bed and thought about it, mad and pointless that Donald's coming
          should mean that Dad had to go. Why should it mean that? The house was
          quite big. He hadn't any brothers and sisters, and if he had had any he
          wouldn't have minded sharing his bedroom, even with a baby that wanted a
          lot of looking after, so long as it left the spare room free for Dad to sleep in.
          If he did that, they wouldn't have a spare room, it was true, but then, the
          spare room was nearly always empty; the last time anybody had used the spare
          room was years ago, when he had been much smaller – last winter, in fact.
          And even then, the visitor, the lady with the funny teeth who laughed as she
          breathed in, instead of as she breathed out like everyone else, had only stayed
          one or three nights. Why did grown-ups do everything in such a mad, silly way?
          They often told him not to be silly, but they were silly themselves in a useless
          way, not laughing or singing or anything, just being silly and sad.
          It was so hard to read the signs; that was another thing. When they did give
          you something to go on, it was impossible to know how to take it. Dad had
          bought him a train, just a few weeks ago, and taught him how to fit the lines
          together. That ought to have meant that he would stay; what sensible
          person would buy a train, and fit it all up ready to run, even as a present
          for another person – and then leave! Donald had been quite good about the
          train, Eric had to admit that; he had bought a bridge for it and a lot of
          rolling-stock. At first he had got the wrong kind of rolling-stock, with wheels
          too close together to fit on to the rails; but instead of playing the usual
          grown-ups' trick of pulling a face and then not doing anything about it, he
          had gone back to the shop, straight away that same afternoon, and got the
          right kind. Perhaps that meant he was going to leave. But that didn't seem
          likely. Not the way Mum held on to him all the time, even holding him
          round the middle as if he needed keeping in one piece. i
          __ All the same, he was not Ekky now, he was Eric, and he was sensible and
          grown-up. Probably it was his own fault that everything seemed strange. He
          was not living up to his grey flannel trousers – perhaps that was it; being
          afraid of too many things, not asking questions that would probably turn out to
          have quite simple answers.
          The Pig-man, for instance. He had let the Pig-man worry him far too
          much. None of the grown-ups acted as if the Pig-man was anything to be afraid
          of. He probably just looked funny, that was all. If, instead of avoiding him so
          carefully, he went outside one evening and looked at him, took a good long,
          unafraid look, leaving the back door open behind him so that he could dart
          in to the safety and warmth of the house … no! It was better, after all, not
          to see the Pig-man; not till he was bigger, anyway; nearly six was quite big
          but it wasn't really very big…
          And yet it was one of those puzzling things. No one ever told him to be
          careful not to let the Pig-man get hold of him, or warned him in any way; so
          the Pig-man must be harmless, because when it came to anything that could hurt
          yqu- like, the traffic on the main road, people were always ramming u into you
          that you must look both ways, and all that stuff. And yet when it came to the
          Pig-man, no one ever mentioned him; he seemed beneath the notice of
          grown-ups. His mother would say, now and then, "Let me see, it's today the
          Pig-man comes, isn't it?" or, "Oh dear, the Pig-man will be coming round
          soon, and I haven't put anythin? out." If she talked like this, Eric's spine
          would tingle and go cold; he would keep very still and wait, because quite
          often her next words would be, "Eric, just take these peelings", or whatever
          it was, "out to the bucket, dear, will you?" The bucket was about fifty yards
          away from the back door; it was shared by the people in the two next-door
          houses. None of them was afraid of the Pig-man, either. What was their
          attitude, he wondered? Were they sorry for him, having to eat damp old stuff
          out of a bucket – tea-leaves and eggshells and that sort of thing? Perhaps he
          cooked it when he got home, and made it a bit nicer. Certainly, it didn't look
          too nice when you lifted the lid of the bucket and saw it all lying there. It
          sometimes smelt, too. Was the Pig-man very poor? Was he sorry for himself,
          or did he feel all right about being like that? Like what? What did the Pigman look like? He would have little eyes, and a snout with a flat end; but
          would he have trotters, or hands and feet like a person's?
          Lying on his back, Eric worked soberly at the problem. The Pig-man's
          bucket had a handle; so he must carry it in the ordinary way, in his hand –
          unless, of course, he walked on all fours and carried it in his mouth. But that
          wasn't very likely, because if he walked on all fours, what difference would
          there be between him and an ordinary pig? To be called the Pig-man, rather
          than the Man-pig, surely implied that he was upright, and dressed. Could he
          talk? Probably, in a kind of grunting way, or else how would he tell the
          people what kind of food he wanted them to put in his bucket? Why hadn't
          he asked Dad about the Pig-man? That had been his mistake; Dad would have
          told him exactly all about it. But he had gone. Eric fell asleep, and in his sleep
          he saw Dad and the Pig-man going in a train together; he called, but they did
          not hear him and the train carried them away. "Dad!" he shouted desperately
          after it. "Don't bring the Pig-man when you come back! Don't bring the Pig–
          man!" Then his mother was in the room, kissing him and smelling nice; she felt
          soft, and the softness ducked him into sleep, this time without dreams; but the
          next day his questions returned.
          Still, there was school in the morning, and going down to the swings in
          the afternoon, and altogether a lot of different things to crowd out the figure
          of the Pig-man and the questions connected with it. And he was never further
          from worrying about it all than that moment, a few evenings later, when it
          suddenly came to a crisis.
          Eric had been allowed, "just for once", to bring his train into the diningroom after tea, because there was a fire there that made it nicer than the room
          where he usually played. It was warm and bright, and the carpet in front of
          the fireplace was smooth and firm, exactly right for laying out the rails on.
          Donald had come home and was sitting -in Dad's chair, but never mind –
          reading the paper and smoking. Mum was in the kitchen, clattering gently
          about, and both doors were open so that she and Donald could call out
          remarks to each other. Only a short passage -lay between. It was just the part
          of the day Eric liked best, and bed-time was comfortably far off. He fitted the
          sections of rail together, glancing in anticipation at the engine as it stood
          proudly waiting to haul the carriages round and round, tremendously fast.
          Then his mother called, "Eric! Do be a sweet, good boy and take this stuff
          out to the Pig-man. My hands are covered with cake mixture. I'll let you
          scrape out the basin when you come in."
          For a moment he kept quite still, hoping he hadn't really heard her say
          it, that it was just a voice inside his __head. But Donald looked over at him
          and said, "Go along, old man. You don't mind, do you?"
          Eric said, "But tonight's when the Pig-man comes."
          Surely, surely they weren't asking him to go out, in the deep twilight, just
          at the time when there was the greatest danger of actually meeting the Pigman.
          "All the better", said Donald, turning back to his paper.
          Why was it better? Did they want him to meet the Pigman?
          Slowly, wondering why his feet and legs didn't refuse to move, Eric went
          through into the kitchen. "There it is", his mother said, pointing to a brownpaper carrier full of potato–peelings and scraps.
          He took it up and opened the back door. If he was quick, and darted
          along to the bucket at once, he would be able to lift the lid, throw the stuff
          in quickly, and be back in the house in about the time it took to count ten.
          One – two – three – four – five – six. He stopped. The bucket wasn't
          there.
          It had gone. Eric peered round, but the light, though faint, was not as
          faint as that. He could see that the bucket had gone. The Pig-man had
          already been..
          Seven – eight – nine – ten, his steps were joyous and light. Back in the
          house, where it was warm and bright and his train was waiting.
          "The Pig-man's gone, Mum. The bucket's not there."
          She frowned, hands deep in the pudding-basin. "Oh, yes, I do believe
          I heard him. But it was only a moment ago. Yes, it was just before I called
          you, darling. It must have been that that made me think of it."
          "Yes?" he said politely, putting down the carrier.
          "So if you nip along, dear, you can easily catch him up. And I do want
          that stuff out of the way."
          "Catch him up?" he asked, standing still in the doorway.
          "Yea, dear, catch him up", she answered rather sharply (the Efficient
          Young Mother knows when to be Firm).
          "He can't possibly be more than a very short way down the road."
          Before she had finished Eric was outside the door and running. This was a
          technique he knew. It" was the same as getting into icy cold water. If it was
          the end, if the Pig-man seized him by the hand and dragged him off to his hut,
          well, so much the worse. Swinging the paper carrier in his hand, he ran fast
          through the dusk.
          The back view of the Pig-man was much as he had expected it to be. A
          SLOW, rather lurching gait, hunched shoulders, an old hat crusnea down on his
          head (to hide his ears?) and the pail in bis hand .Plod, plod, as if he were
          tired. Perhaps this was just a ruse, though, probably he could pounce
          quickly enough when his wicked little eyes saw a nice tasty little boy or
          something … did the Pig-man eat birds? Or cats?
          Eric stopped. He opened his mouth to call to the Pig–man, but,the first
          time he tried, nothing came out except a small rasping squeak. His heart was
          banging like fireworks going off. He could hardly hear anything.
          "Mr Pig-man!" he called, and this time the words came out clear and
          rather high.
          The. jogging old figure stopped, turned, and looked at him. Eric could not
          see properly from where he stood. But he had to see Everything, even his
          fear, sank and drowned in the raging tide of his curiosity. He moved forward.
          With each step he saw more clearly. The Pig-man was just an ordinary old
          man.
          "Hello, sonny. Got some stuff there for the old grunt-ers?"
          Eric nodded, mutely, and held out his offering. What old grunters?
          What did he mean?
          The Pig-man put down his bucket. He had ordinary hands, ordinary
          arms. He took the lid off. Eric held out the paper carrier, and the Pig-man's
          hand actually touched his own for a second. A flood of gratitude rose up
          inside him. The Pig-man tipped the scraps into the bucket and handed the
          carrier back.
          "Thanks, sonny", he said.
          "Who's it for?" Eric asked, with another rush of articu-lateness. His voice
          seemed to have a life of its own.
          The Pig-man straightened up, puzzled. Then he laughed, in a gurgling
          sort of way, but not like a pig at all.
          "Arh Aarh Harh Harh", the Pig-man went. "Not for me, if that's
          watcher mean, arh harh."
          He put the lid back on the bucket. "It's for the old grunters", he said.
          "The old porkers. Just what they likes. Only not fruit skins. I leave a note,
          sometimes, about what not to put in. Never fruit skins. It gives 'em the bellyache."
          He was called the Pig-man because he had some pigs that he looked
          after.
          "Thank you", said Eric. "Good-night." He ran back towards the house,
          hearing the Pig-man, the ordinary old man, the ordinary usual normal old
          man, say in his just ordinary old man's voice, "Good-night, sonny."
          So that was how you did it. You just went straight ahead, not worrying
          about this or that. Like getting into cold water. You just did it.
          He slowed down as he got to the gate. For instance, if there was a
          question that you wanted to know the answer to, and you had always just
          felt you couldn't ask, the thing to do was to ask it. Just straight out, like going
          up to the Pig-man. Difficult things, troubles, questions, you just treated them
          like the Pig-man.
          So that was it!
          The warm light shone through the crack of the door. He opened it and
          went in. His mother was standing at the table, her hands still working the cake
          mixture about. She would let him scrape out the basin, and the spoon – he
          would ask for the spoon, too. But not straight away. There was a more
          important thing first.
          He put the paper carrier down and went up to her. "Mum", he said.
          "Why can't Dad be with us even if Donald is here? I mean, why can't he live
          with us as well as Donald?"
          His mother turned and went to the sink. She put the tap on and held
          her hands under it.
          "Darling", she called.
          "Yes?" came Donald's voice.
          "D'you know what he's just said?"
          "What?"
          "He's just asked …" She turned the tap off and dried her hands, not
          looking at Eric. "He wants to know why we can't have Jack to live with us."
          There was a silence, then Donald said, quietly, so that his voice only just
          reached Eric's ears. "That's a hard one."
          "You can scrape out the basin", his mother said to Eric. She lifted him
          up and kissed him. Then she rubbed her cheek along his, leaving a wet smear,
          "Poor little Ekky", she said in a funny voice.
          She put him down and he began to scrape out the pudding-basin, certain
          at least of one thing, that grown-ups were mad and silly and he hated them
          all, all, all.

          2. It's a short story, Grizzly, if you compare it with LITTLE DORRIT by Charles Dickens.

          2. Bloody Hell! I was right!
            I will not put the author as after guessing the title, I had to Google it to confirm.

          4. I remember the story in which the oldest girl (?Lily Rose) tried to help her mother and ironed an artificial silk slip with disastrous results.
            Edit: and the name Eve Garnett has flirted into my mind but Iā€™m struggling to remember the familyā€™s surname.

          5. Family name was Ruggles.
            Yes, I remember that awful episode. Probably because I was much the same age as Lily Rose and could imagine doing the same thing.

          6. Of course it was Ruggles! They were great books but I never saw them when my kids were little.

      4. I was only discussing exactly that a couple of days ago TB. But where on earth does such a huge amount of waste end up ?

      5. I prefer glass bottles, and plastic ones were forced on us by the EU as more sterile. Now we produce too many of them and are shipping them to Africa to throw in the sea, where we invent clever robots to collect them.

        This is the failure of government writ large and the law of unintended consequences – well, I assume unintended. Here we tend to re-use as much as we can, especially plastic as we've so many things made from it.

      6. I remember metal bins (I still have one) taken away from the house and returned empty. I still burn everything combustible and only recycle tins and jars. The rag and bone man's horse provided valuable fertiliser šŸ™‚

    2. There is obviously a lot more to all this than meets the eye.
      Some sort of disagreement within the council offices.

      1. It's all over parity with the dinnerladies and their lawyers, who have the courts and the feminist lobby on their side. They bankrupted Birmingham, leaving nothing left to pay the dustmen with. The only way out if they settle with the dustmen is to give the dinnerladies the same, but how far can the council stretch bankruptcy?

        1. That’s typical of the confrontation going on in this country now.
          Everyone thinks that they are ‘special’.
          Hoomun riaghts nonsense costing billions.

        2. This is the end result of all must have prizes where work isn't measured by what is done – i.e, the market – but by an irrelevant factor, such as what sex you are or what colour.

          It's stupid and should never have got to this point. Same happened to Next, when warehousing were treated the same as shop floor staff despite their jobs being markedly different.

          1. I have long felt that the Equality Act needs to be repealed, and perplexed why, under 14 years of Tory-led Government, this was not done. The lawyers represent their clients and the courts only do what the law tells them to do.

            The buck was passed by Westminster to the hapless City Council, whose elected representatives are not permitted the authority to do their job. Starmer-Labour’s answer is to remove local accountability altogether, and to hand authority over to a regional commission, approved by Whitehall, mandated to follow central Party instruction, and like the Police & Crime Commissioners, fail to do their job as much as any privatised utility.

        3. I would LOVE to know WHY, Dinner Ladies, working in a fairly safe, warm environment, expect to be paid the same as Binmen, out in all weathers and doing a much more strenuous job.

    3. Apparently the dumps are also being blockaded, which I disagree with. Frankly, the bin men should be working. I appreciate they want more money – who doesn't? But the problem isn't pay, it's tax. Taxes are too damned high!

  9. Good morning all.
    Another beautiful looking but decidedly cold morning. 1Ā½Ā°C when I got up!

    1. Good morning Bob,

      Clear blue sky early morning , looking from the top windows over to the forest and beyond .

      I suspect the Lemurs from Monkey World will start their morning chorus as the weather warms up , sometimes the sounds carry right across to our village , and it sounds so tropical and beautiful.

  10. The Baltics are building a defensive line against Russia. 7 April 2025.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/67c43fdd93d9877a9c61c70393dc0b041dacec03e6c845a25ef75e1bb7d143e9.png
    The core elements, first announced in January 2024, include 1,000 concrete bunkers ā€“ 600 in Estonia ā€“ paired with trenches, anti-tank ditches, ammunition depots and supply shelters.

    Construction is moving at speed, but estimates suggest it could take a decade to complete. Baltic officials fear they are running out of time.

    ā€œTen years is needed for us to prepare to face the Russian threat. Putin is not going to let us wait those 10 years,ā€ warned Gabrielius Landsbergis, who served as Lithuaniaā€™s foreign minister until November.

    This is a part of the ongoing propaganda program to convince the peasants that the expenditure of vast sums is all Putinā€™s fault. That this threat is not going to manifest itself for at least the next ten years; even in their own eyes, tells you everything that you need to know. The illustration itself is militarily childish. Such an attack would be disastrous. It would be on the weakest members of the alliance and leave the Russians stuck in a pointless tactical cul-de-sac with all its opponentā€™s strongest forces still intact and on their flanks.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/07/baltic-secret-defensive-line-keep-russia-out-europe/

    1. Im sure that last time I looked, Vlad's forces were bogged down in the Donbas and not marching on the Baltic states!

      1. They will take the path of least resistance. Putin seriously miscalculated over Ukraine, who put up a far more spirited defence than he was expecting. He may try to advance there, but might prefer to consolidate what he's got and move his forces somewhere easier.

        There is plenty of reason to use the Kaliningrad outpost as a pretext to relieve Russians there surrounded by potentially hostile forces. Hence a show of resolve is required by Lithuania and its allies to put up enough of a barrier to put that idea off for a while.

        What the Baltics are doing is to make sure that the next project is somewhere like Moldova or Georgia, or even another opportunistic alliance in the Middle East. Few, other than Trump, who has spoken with Putin lately, mention the Arctic sealanes. Finland does not have a coastline there, and Norway is hardly a threat to Russian shipping. Iceland is more concerned with fish, volcanos and casual sex – and hardly worth invading. Greenland and Canada have been identified by Trump as vulnerable to Russian influence in the right conditions, leaving just Alaska from Russian dominance over the entire Arctic Ocean as it melts away.

        1. But how spirited would Ukraine's defence have been without the billions provided by the West?

          1. The same might be said of the French Resistance.

            I think the West might have shrugged their shoulders, as they did in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The West was surprised by the incompetence of the Russian generals when they got their tanks stuck in the mud on the way to “liberate” the capital, the brutality of the Russian troops to the locals and the determination and hope this awoke amid the Ukrainians. Only then did the West start serious military support for Ukraine. Remember Germany’s helmets? Even then, Western support was limited to holding up the Russian advance, rather than the level required to give Putin a bloody nose. Otherwise, there would have been a serious air bombardment of Russian positions either side of the border, as well as taking Sevastopol and Rostov completely out, scuppering all warships stationed there.

            I rather believe the West wanted a war of attrition, using Ukraine as a killing field. This would hold off any further threat by Russia westwards, certainly in places such as Poland and the Baltic republics, whilst not risking a possibly nuclear conflagration between NATO and Russia.

        3. Putin can only keep the Ukrainian adventure going by use of North Korean troops to stand there and be killed.

      2. I'm sure a forced march of 950 miles will reap huge rewards.
        Look what a quick walk Stamford Bridge to Hastings did for Harold Godwinson.

      3. What is more important is Putin has no intention of going any further in Europe. It's all nonsense manufactured by drama queens. Mostly the buffoons of the EU searching around for a justification for their existence.

    2. Putin doesn't want any of those places. It's all theatre to continue to blame 'the other' for the problems our own governments have caused us.

  11. 404258+up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Did the bulk of the herd listen, NOT BLOODY LIKELY.
    The mass herd got it partially right on the 24/6/2016 leading the way to the eu breakup
    only to be guzumped by the remainer treacherous fools and especially tribal voters
    returning to their comfort zones the lab/lib/con coalition party.

    Early doors I was seeing "no need of UKIP
    now, job done" in comments.

    If ever a case of use & abuse was needed as an example then the UKIP party suffered it.

    ALL the while I'm wearing out typing fingers calling to, at the very least,keep UKIP on station as a fall back party, IN CASE.

    NO way, straight in at the deep end of the pro eu lab/lib/con coalition pool of political, treacherous shite.

    Echos of " job done" as the tribals sank beneath the surface.

    The herd would NOT listen then, and there are signs they will NOT listen now as an action reply is in progress.

    https://x.com/AdamMoczar/status/1908599181188432128

    1. You're blaming people who are lied to and punished when they dissent for going along with the lie.

      Ogga, this has happened throughout history. It always does when Lefties get into office. First, create chaos, then poverty then blame 'the other' for that chaos and poverty.

      When people protest, crush them. Keep the chaos and poverty going and make the state the only way out of it.

      Enforce dependence to escape the poverty and chaos. When enough people are dependent attack those resisting the oppression created from the poverty, chaos and dependence.

      It has all been done before throughout history by every failed, Left wing government. Look at those nations that just leave people alone. You don't get any of these issues – or, if you do, they are tolerated because the alternatives are superior.

      You cannot blame sheep for huddling to the shepherd. You have to blame the shepherd for letting the wolf pack run riot then locking the sheep in a pen.

      1. 404258+ up ticks,

        Morning W,
        That won’t wash with me, I’m a believer in those that take no heed of especially, political history are guaranteed to continue to make the same Country destroying mistake as in the lab / lib / con coalition tribal voting pattern being a prime example.

        Well meaning advice if you are bitten by a snake, do you return once, twice,thrice to see if the reptile really meant it ?

        1. Yet that implies you and I are responsible for the situation we're in. We've both railed against it, we both dislike it, so… how can we be held responsible? We've no power whatsoever to manage government policy.

          1. 404258+ up ticks,

            W,
            I put my clear conscience down to the fact I was a long term UKIP member, up until the treacherous knife went into the Gerard Battens leadership, party, via the party NEC and “nige” input.

    1. Cold start, expected to get to 15-16 later. Our 'living room' faces north, so is only getting sun around 4-6pm, then it gets dark and we close the curtains.

  13. Funny how Warren Buffet is cash rich having sold off most of his stocks citing that everything was way over priced since 2024.
    S&P500 at 6,100 was the flashing red light for those that follow EWT charts. Long way down to go.
    Of course the pundits have to pull out some text to keep up the charade that they are competent analysts.. Putin? Nah.. Israel.. Iran. Ah Trump that's it.. tariffs wot did it.

    1. Maybe the Warqueen isn't the genius I think she is, as she's buying stuff like a loon. Apparently we've now got several thousand more shares.

      I do think things will go lower and get worse. This trade war to rearrange the US economy at a macro, global level isn't going to end well. Something will break. Maybe somewhere will retaliate and call in the debt, interest rates rising beyond ability to pay? Goodness knows we're horribly exposed. Apparently 100bn a year to pay our debt interest alone. More than we spend on defence and education combined. Th extent of state waste is simply staggering.

      Thing is, so much of that is recycled into the economy through welfare and that returns taxes through spending that it's become a vicious cycle. Not only welfare directly but also subsidy, grants, tax relief. We're so heavily taxed the state almost can't take it's hand off the tiller because having sawn it all away to fix the ship the giant whale beneath about to swallow us up has been ignored.

      Maybe collapse would be good? A huge reset of economic opportunity. Of course, the problem there is it hurts those people who have something while leaving those who are dependent unscathed

      1. Collapse with several million young male migrants that are wholly dependent upon welfare that wouldn't exist any more, and having no property and no family ties here…would be extremely dangerous.

        1. They'll be fine as they've no assets or value. The state will ensure it's favoured groups are protected. The ones who'll get hammered are folk like us: home owners/private renters, people with savings.

          1. Wake up, wibbling! What will they do if the benefits money dries up and they are hungry? There is a huge internet backdrop of white people being evil colonisers who plundered their countries, and it is a common belief that African slaves built Britain. All classic preparation for genocide.

          2. I don't think the benefit money will ever dry up. The state will always pour cash into its client class.

          3. Another Carrington event?
            A currency reset?
            It is a mathematical impossibility for the state to keep on printing money forever to pay benefits on the scale they are at the moment. They aren’t being paid out of money we have – they’re being paid out of new debt that’s being created.

      2. I'm with you Wibbs, the markets are too unstable to predict at the moment. Buying now is a gamble although in a year or so the market will probably be higher.

  14. Hells Bells! It's bloody cold up the Garden!!
    Just been hanging a load of washing out and there's even a light frost!

      1. That's your fault for living in Scotland, "the land of limitless haggis and one tennis player." [Leo Kearse]

      2. Good morning Sue

        I am not to sure where you are in Scotland , but I hope the Galloway fires aren't anywhere near you, such a terrible business and so much damage , similar to the horrid mess on some of our Dorset heathland .

        1. ā€˜Morning Belle! We live in the Central belt, just west of Falkirk and south of Stirling. Just above the Forth Clyde canal. The fires in Galloway are in a fairly unpopulated area, as is the one which has broken out above Ullapool. That one is pretty close to Fallick Alec!

    1. I don't want any of them here. It's bad enough already. They don't integrate, they continue living as they did, they don't adapt and they bring every attitude they held with them.

    2. They have no right whatsoever to set foot on British soil. Load them up and get rid of them. We are full.

    3. Markets crashing, global recession, trade wars.. at least there's one place immune from hardship.

      A place called ā€˜Treasure islandā€™ that any one can rock up to.. once you reach the shores you will be showered with rich gifts in the form of accommodation, food, money and ultimately a permanent home from where you can send for all your relatives left behind in Afghanistan & Congo.

    4. ā€˜I have 17 quangos working on the matter. We are confident that both legal & illegal immigration will not exceed 3 million a year in this parliament. However, we will not set any targets, as targets can be tracked. Britain is a tolerant nation & diversity is our strength.ā€™

      2. 3 million. Dear life. This country does not need people. It needs vast numbers to leave. it needs more to work, fewer on welfare.

      3. Diversity is certainly 'our' strength. Government's strength, that is. To be used as a weapon against us, initially to dilute and weaken our culture, and then to kill us.

    5. Spot the difference.

      FARAGE: "Anyone that comes illegally will be deported. End of story."

      LOWE: "Every single one should be deported. Those arriving, but more crucially – those ALREADY here."

      Tricky use of the word "comes".. implying in the future & amnesty for the millions about to arrive over the next four years. Please be reminded.. anyone that disagrees with Nigel will be cancelled.

    6. Spot the difference.

      FARAGE: "Anyone that comes illegally will be deported. End of story."

      LOWE: "Every single one should be deported. Those arriving, but more crucially – those ALREADY here."

      Tricky use of the word "comes".. implying in the future & amnesty for the millions about to arrive over the next four years. Please be reminded.. anyone that disagrees with Nigel will be cancelled.

  16. Morning all šŸ™‚šŸ˜Š
    Sunny but a bit nippy out there.
    We had a lovely afternoon at out eldest, six adults and two lively grandchildren. All good fun in the sun. He cooked an excellent bbq lovely bowl of salad and fine wine, one he'd brought back from his recent trip to Auckland.
    But sitting in their Hertfordshire village garden looking up occasionally there must have been 30 plus jet liners passing high above. Flying to East and west mainly and a few flying north to north west. Quite amazing to see so many during 4 hours. I wonder what our netzero Dayffid Millipede would have said.
    And starmer, not worth a comment, we know all what he's up to. Wrecking ball pm.

    1. Nippy's putting it mildly!
      Hung a load of washing up earlier and it was bloody freezing!

  17. The cupboards are somewhat bare and I haven't organised the shop. I should have, so will have to go out today.

    Does anyone know how you properly clean the gaps in double glazing plastics? The area where the plastic frame around the glass meets at a 45' angle? The internet suggested a sort of solvent. I've tried spray and a tooth brush but that didn't really work.

    2. Yo Wibbling

      If you use Amazon, try these

      SHCHME Crevice Cleaning Brush 3 Pcs Gap Cleaning Brush Crevice Cleaning Tool for Narrow Corners in home Kitchen Bathroom and Window Groove (Plastic) (Plastic) cost 4.99

      I have not tried them

  18. Yo and Good Moaning to you all, from a sunny and warm C d S.

    The headline for today's Letters Page should be stopped after the first phrase:

    Is Keir Starmer really a leader …..

    To which the answer is a resounding NO

  19. Dover Sentry
    12h
    Labour have:
    404 MPs
    52 Sex offenders/alleged

    12.87%
    Rest of UK is at 0.12%

    Labour are vastly disproportionate!!
    Why?

    Bluebeered
    Dover Sentry
    9h
    That UK figure would probably be 0.012 if it weren't for a certain demographic.

  20. Oh, that's an idea. I'll give it a try. Just want to see if I can scrub the goo out as it's a really tight area.

    At some point need to get the outside windows done as well. Wonder if they'll do the fascia boards? Is that the right term? as well.

        2. Morning Sue, about 30 miles as the crow flies – it's the other side of Ullapool to me šŸ˜˜

          2. No there's hills in between anyway, I'd be able to see it if I went to the next village šŸ˜˜

      2. There should be a big notice prominently displayed in Dover, Calais and other places where illegals congregate:

        Feeling homesick – Why not go to Birmingham?

      1. Aren't all BBC journalists, Rastus. And presenters? Dagnabbit, just say all are…

    2. Eating self-important "professionals" (like BBC reporters) for breakfast is excellent sport.

      I used to delight in doing the same to barristers. The juries (and the odd judge) loved it.

  26. Captain Hindsight
    22h
    Israel are perfectly within their rights to stop trouble makers entering their country. It would be nice if we could do the same.

    Jan
    22h
    I wouldnā€™t let any Labour MP into my home either.

    Paul Pelosi
    21h
    Labour 'fact finding' means finding fault with Israel.

    Editor of Readers Tractors
    22h
    We should have refused them entry when they got back

    El Gato Malo
    22h
    I remember the UK deny entry to a prominent Dutch politician.

    Keith young
    21h
    They should have been allowed entry and taken straight to Gaza and dropped off

    Rough Diamond
    Keith young
    21h
    From a helicopter at height?

    Chefofsinners
    11h
    Emily Thornberry declared herself "outraged". Just one more reason to love Israel.

    Speaking only to confirm his name
    17h
    Invitations to speak at SOAS, Oxford Union, LSE, TUC, PSC, Youth Demand and BBC breakfast incoming šŸ˜­

    1. IRONY ALERT>> IRONY ALERT>>

      Geert Wilders, the rightwing Dutch politician accused of Islamophobia, was today refused entry to the UK after arriving at Heathrow airport in London.

      1. That's terrible. I wonder which dopey wokey far left band wagoner was behind that ?

  27. Two transgender players compete in womenā€™s pool final
    Competition comes under heavy scrutiny with broadcaster Piers Morgan labelling it ā€˜preposterousā€™
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/snooker/2025/04/07/womens-pool-final-two-transgender-athletes/

    BTL

    It is now up to the women to sort this out.

    Every single woman competing in a women's sporting event should withdraw immediately from the event when there is a biological man also competing.

    When only 'transgenders' are left in women's competitions then, and only then, will the ridiculous nonsense be properly dealt with.

    1. There should be three levels of competition:

      XX Women only.
      XY Men only.
      Assorted weirdos only.
      Put all the weirdos together and let them scrap it out. Few normal people would either watch or care.

      Why can't they compete in the so-called "paralympics"? Since people with all manner of physical and mental ailments manage to do so very successfully.

        1. We don't.

          Chuck them all in the same skip arena and normal people will still not watch them.

      2. Why should people overcoming genuine disabilities have to tolerate lunatics in their midst?

        1. Apologies are never needed, Paul, if two (or more) of us think the same positive thoughts.

      4. Most of the paralympians work very hard at their sports. I wouldn't inflict the trannies on them. We have a local lad who is an excellent table tennis player and has won a lot of medals. He has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which gave him a deformity of his ankles. He's the English National Para class 6-10 champion and won a gold medal in Poland a week or so ago. He plays in lots of tournaments as a professional.

    2. I know it sounds silly – it's not a physical sport after all – but pool requires calculation of angles, visual acuity and so on, which men are better at because we're designed to throw spears, hunt and fight.

      As daft as it sounds, this is why men find parking easier. Conversely a woman has wider peripheral vision and colour awareness. Its to help pick berries and protect the cave. The sex based difference are not an implication that one is weaker or better than the other. They are simply biological differences like a female pigeon being brown and a male colourful.

      We are designed very differently, for different tasks. It's why an autistic man is absolutely detail focussed: that part of their brain is on overdrive to the exclusion of other areas.

      2. Not daft at all Wibbling. It's a matter of fact long known by psychologists.

    3. The English Pool Association governs Women's Pool. The whole board should be sacked and a search initiated for replacements with double figure IQs. Three figure IQs would obviously be better.

    4. If this nonsense continues every women's sport will be represented by men thus announcing the end of women's sports. It is grotesque.

    5. Is pool really a competition where men have an advantage over women? I am sure that some men have a reach advantage over some women but some women will have a reach advantage over other women. What is really preposterous is calling pool a sport and the competitors athletes. I am all for banning transgenders from genuine sports where they have an inherent advantage over women but worm charming, bee-wearing orā€¦. pool?

      1. You mean worm-charming isn't a sport? Damn – all these years of practice… šŸ˜¢šŸ¤£šŸ¤£

      2. Have a third category of sport: Female, male and trans. 3 prizes, 3 finals, 3 sets of changing rooms…

  29. Asda launches facial recognition CCTV in stores

    Supermarket chain hopes measures will help tackle record-high shoplifting levels

    The retail giant has become the latest high street supermarket to implement new measures amid record-high levels of shoplifting and assaults on staff.

    The technology, which will be trialled in a two-month pilot across five shops in the Manchester area, has been integrated into its existing CCTV network.

    It works by scanning images of shoppers and comparing the results to a known list of people who have previously committed crimes in Asda branches.

    Is it "about time too" or " Big Brother is watching more of you" ?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/07/asda-launches-facial-recognition-cctv-in-stores-crime-uk/

    1. Yet more Big Brother.
      I stopped even popping into ASDA when the owners began building a mosque half the size of Lancashire.
      None of my money is voluntarily going towards such an appalling project.

    2. Sadly, a touch of both.
      Sadly, because it is necessary because of the breakdown in law & order, also sadly because, inevitably, the system will be misused.

    3. It is both. I don't shop at Asda and have never been tempted to. But then I've never been tempted to steal from any shop.
      Morrisons have a man sitting at a screen just inside the door, who I suppose is keeping an eye out for shoplifters. There is also a camera up high which watches people in the store.
      I know they're watching – but I know I have nothing to fear from them.

      Sadly there are people around who will steal what they can and don't hesitate to use violence against shop staff.

    4. I hope Tesco don't bring it in, as they'll see I've been following a particularly nice bottom around the shop all morning.

    5. And what happens if they do identify serial shoplifters? Will the police take any action? Personally I think it's a complete waste of time – on the rare occasions that a career criminal does end up in court the sentence is pathetic, so why bother?

  30. Bluss it's cold this morning. Bright sun – but we have had to light he stove.

    1. My phone said it was 6C before I had to plug it in. It's now saying that the maximum today here will be 15C.

  33. Good Morning. Cool and Sunny in West Sussex. It's sort of monotonous, although I suspect most wont complain.

    Todays letter. Is Keir Starmer really a leader who fights for the national interest? Dr Fiona Underhill is 100% correct in her assessment of Starmer and her suggestions on how to correct our problems. But I would have said that he is an enemy of the state, a traitor intent on destroying us. I say that because her suggestions are so elementary I simply refuse to believe he can't see them and is thus wilfully running us into the ground.

      1. Peter Hitchins discusses his politics and says he is some sort of Trotskyist, forgotten the name of which type, a sub catagory of Trot. But the point is that Trotsky was an internationalist. It was that which had him end up in hot water with the government in Moscow. Actually I just found the discussion.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJowlyTyGBY

          1. That too, but he knew Starmer in the old days and thus knows his political history pretty well. They belonged to the same socialist circles.

  34. Maybe it is time to accept that we have lost certain cities and will never get them back.

    Perhaps the answer would be to expel white people, all Christians, Jews and non-Muslims from these places and replace them exclusively with Muslims. All new illegal immigrants should be compulsorily sent to fend for themselves in such exclusively Muslim places and looked after by their fellow Muslims; all those people and others who have been displaced by Muslims should be temporarily housed in luxurious hotels until proper places have been provided for them..

    Madness of course – but is South Africa a better place in which to live now than it was under apartheid regimes?

    1. More damage is being done to English cities than even the Luftwaffe could manage.

    2. Considering my friends over there take a shotgun openly with them and their daughter was attacked in her car – and shot two blacks when they surrounded her and smashed the windscreen and windows to get to her – while waving guns of their own – no, not really.

      1. Jesus.
        How is she? That kind of experience would be horribly traumatic for anyone.

    3. Sounds like the background to the old film "Escape from New York" , where the city has become a walled prison.

  35. The second concerns our young folk. My two children both have initial debt of cĀ£15k from their first year at Uni (Grandma paid second year and i pay/paid third year).

    my daughter is now working and making the required repayments per the terms of the loan – Ā£32 a month. I have a side-arrangement whereby my daughter is now repaying her and her brotherā€™s loan every month with money i have lent. So they are both keenly aware of whatā€™s going on. My daughter is on the ā€œold loanā€ and my son on the ā€œnew loanā€. She told me last night her interest is 7.something and her brotherā€™s is 8% and that that is approx. Ā£100 a month.

    Bearing in mind these two are only paying off one yearā€™s worth of debt, taken out in the last 3/2 years.

    She wants to pay it all off now because she canā€™t earn that money on her savings. I checked with my HR dept this morning, if student debt is paid pre- or post-tax. It is paid post-tax, natch.

    Our collective children are screwed.

    My children will undoubtedly marry spouses who have the full debt and interest accrual. So given the choice between working to pay it off, or not and having it written off, the rational adult wonā€™t work.

    I wonder if we are doing the right thing, obsessing about paying off our childrenā€™s loans (but of course we must be).

    HR guy says his friendsā€™ super-smart daughter is graduating from LSE and cannot get a job because all the companies want ā€œdiversityā€, including where foreigners take precedence.

    Civil war? It will be revolution.

    1. I remember hearing some time ago that quite a few overseas students don't pay (off) back their debts to the uni's after returning to their home countries. I'm not sure if it's true.

      2. If they were EU nationals studying in Scotland we paid their fees. A couple of years back my husband had a Polish junior doctor working with him. She had qualified in Edinburgh and paid no fees for a 6 year course. The English juniors in the department would all have had over 50k fee debt alone for the same course.

    2. Interest will have been accruing since day one so it can be quite a cost. The question of repayment is a difficult one. If you get a decent job which you intend to keep and have to start repaying, I would suggest paying off asap. However, if you are unlikely to earn much over Ā£27k, just ignore it and after 35 years the loan is written off (to the taxpayer).

    3. Things have changed since my two sons went to university. I was a single parent by then and they both got full grants which paid most of their living expenses. They did both have student loans as well but very small ones compared to today's huge burdens.
      They both managed to pay them off within a year or two of starting to earn some money. They did also work during the holidays to pay for their keep.
      I wonder these days if going to university is really better than getting a job after they leave school.

    4. University used to be a guarantor of an educated individual. As you all know, working in IT I use my classics degree all the time. The Warqueen her music one equally so (she plays the piano and cello to concert level).

      University tuition fees are wrong because the debt should be front loaded: you borrow Ā£10,000, Ā£1000 of interest is applied and that's it, but no, it increases every year.

      It was explained to me as a tax on education. I find this reprehensible, especially as government used tuition fees as a way to both cut state spending on universities, devalue a degree and reduce the youth unemployment stats.

      1. People do not have to take a loan.You can work whilst at Uni. I do not think tax payers should fund it at all.

        1. Not if youā€™re doing a ā€˜properā€™ degree! Veterinary, medicine, engineering etc! You know, the full time degrees – not the 2/3 days a week stuff!

        2. I can speak from experience. Student jobs are harder to find and the hours are being cut. Thanks to the raised minimum wage and the changes to the employers NI rate and the lower level at which it starts.
          Many flexible part timers are becoming too expensive to employ.

          1. I have lived by cash in hand jobs when needed I had my regular job and 2 others cash in hand for 2 years.

        3. I think that has ceased to be the case for some time, Johnny. The sort of jobs students used to do either are no longer available or wouldn't allow them to pay the course fees, let alone live.

    5. I have a friend/colleague at work whose daughter seems to have been punished for being white and clever. She won a scholarship to a private school and got good A level results but was unable to secure a university place. Her father is deceased and her mother certainly couldn't afford to pay for the school therefore dismissing the daughter as privileged would be nonsense. She's now studying in Milan. Her father was English but her mother is Italian and the maternal grandparents are in Genoa, so not too far away.

      1. Inverted snobbery with its sense of self justification can be far nastier than normal snobbery. Inverted snobs tend to hate and despise those whom they consider to be toffs whereas ordinary snobs are less vindictive. To look down upon somebody because he or she is from a different social or economic background is neither sensible nor agreeable.

    6. Granddaughter is looking for a bio-chemical internship. Let's just say that DEI is rampant and a bright, white girl doesn't have much of a chance.

    7. Neither of my two wanted to be bound by student debt. Firstborn took an apprenticeship and is now an Expert Motor Technician who keeps on being offered supervisory positions that he doesn't want the hassle of – he's strictly hands-on. Second son is working his way up the salary grades as a 3-D print operator and sales assistant. Enough for a nice shared flat in fashionable Bekkestua. Both content.

  36. Our box room – 2m x1m wide which we used to put the upstairs hoover, cleaning stuffs, towels, blanks, rucksacks and gubbins (such as countless boxes, both hobby and computery parts) in is, by Imperial decree, being converted into a 'studio'.

      1. Was my thinking, thus why I stuffed it with shelves along one side. Now all that has to come out and find a home.

          1. The Warqueen wants a bare room, with desking at the end. What she means by a studio I don't know, but the request included sound proofing and more sockets.

          4. Sounds like a retreat to focus on work and be able to avoid the avalanche of dogs and family.

            I expect the Warqueen will also insist on sliding bolts.

  37. That's the van re-kitted for camping after a partial de-kitting last week.
    My eldest daughter, from 1st marriage who lives in Basingstoke, is, I think, 47 on Thursday and I was silly enough to offer to take her out for lunch!
    I plan leaving tomorrow and camping en route for a couple of nights and get home probably on Saturday or Sunday.
    After the chilly time I had of it t'other week, I have beefed up the bedding to cope!

    1. Hint to doting Daddy. Find out the year she was born and do some maffs.
      Even the most laid back daughter would not be impressed by "I think" and a wild guess.

  38. Morning all,

    Frontotemporal dementia has been in the news this morning but it is not necessarily associated with memory loss::

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx20g16r052o

    The onset of dementia is discussed here by Dr Suneel Dhand who interestingly points out that the brain is mainly fat so why are we trying so desperately to reduce our intake of it?

    https://youtu.be/BqvEXdF-GCA?si=KYUv-R9EoKxPy7qi

    But what has dementia got to do with making the USA more wealthy?

    Could it be something to do with becoming American?

    https://youtube.com/shorts/um0mkCB02CM?si=pNW04MeYwyZSq-3e

  39. Good afternoon:
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  40. From the Telegraph

    Am I alone in admiring what Trump is doing?
    Thereā€™s only a slim chance his plan will work. But at least the US President is trying to change history, rather than just caretake it
    Tim Stanley07 April 2025 6:00am BST
    First, an apology. I wrote weeks ago that Trumpā€™s tariffs are a bargaining tool, but theyā€™re not. They might rise or fall, but theyā€™re here to stay ā€“ to boost US manufacturing and raise revenue while domestic taxes go down (on welfare cheques and tips). If I was taken by surprise, so was Israel ā€“ for it offered to abolish all its tariffs, assuming Trump would respond in kind, which he didnā€™t, for reasons Iā€™ll try to intuit.

    Also in the dark was Washington. Officials reportedly prepared Trump with various tariff options; he chose the simplest and harshest, three hours ahead of his announcement, following a meeting with a handful of his biggest fans. ā€œHeā€™s at the peak of just not giving a f— anymore,ā€ a source told The Washington Post.

    In fact, Trump is correcting a 50-year misdirection in US life, and one that the hero of many Trumpers, Richard Nixon, also attempted to fix. The parallels are spooky. In 1971, the post-war boom was coming to an end: there was inflation, unemployment, and the US was entering a trade deficit for the first time, as dollars flew overseas and foreign goods sailed back.

    Nixon raged about the ā€œgangstersā€ and ā€œvampires sucking the blood out of every transactionā€ in the international monetary system. To avoid a recession, he tried to pressure the head of the Federal Reserve into a soft money policy (even starting a rumour that he was angling for a pay rise). The Fed chief left his meetings convinced the president was ā€œgoing madā€.

    As described in John A Farrellā€™s superb biography, Nixon retreated to Camp David with a handful of advisers to formulate a secret plan to re-engineer the world in Americaā€™s favour. He took to prime-time television to announce the end of the gold standard, reducing the value of the dollar; price and wage controls; and ā€“ da, da, daa! ā€“ a 10 per cent tariff on imports. The strategy is familiar, but the reaction was very different. The stock market soared. Prices stabilised. Nixon won re-election with one of the greatest landslides in history.

    Of course, back then America wasnā€™t as fully plugged into the global-trade system, and allies, though outraged, had to follow Nixonā€™s lead. Truth be told, he had no idea where he was going. The measures threatened global recession, so the tariffs were dropped and a new network of floating currencies agreed. Price and wage controls only delayed, and deepened, inflation.

    From the perspective of the 21st century, going off gold makes sense, but the other methods appear deranged: contra free global trade and light-touch government. But remember that in the 1970s, what we call neo-liberal economics was fringe; intervention was mainstream, from expanding welfare to costly trips to the Moon. Nixonā€™s preference was to leave things to the market. But he was willing to intervene should the market work against his people, sending their jobs to Japan. Nixon began with a political vision and adapted economic policy to serve it. Today, we work the other way around, agreeing stringent economic rules and building our politics around those. Thatā€™s why most political parties say roughly the same thing.

    One has to admire leaders such as Nixon and Trump ā€“ or Roosevelt and Attlee ā€“ because rather than caretaking history, they attempt to change it. Most Americans donā€™t understand economics (I struggle with it myself), but economics also doesnā€™t understand them ā€“ their spiritual, as well as material, needs. A prevailing theme in US history is independence: from Britain, from debt, for the freedom to raise a family, beholden to none.

    Another is patriotism, America both granting and demanding loyalty. Capitalism has recently pushed itself into a political danger zone because it has outgrown individual and nation, and Trump is implementing a revolution that couldā€™ve come from Left or Right.

    For example: Nike, we are told, is a ā€œgreat American companyā€ now threatened, the poor lamb, by tariffs. But only because it chooses to produce half its footwear in communist Vietnam, while some years it has paid no domestic federal income tax at all. So how American is it really? If the shop price of its trainers goes up by a few dollars, to preserve a combined margin for maker and retailer of around $100, according to BBC estimates, so what? Trump has pivoted over Bernie Sanders to demand that the sovereign worker comes first, free to sell his labour in a market no longer distorted by Asiaā€™s low costs.

    Hence, analysts donā€™t predict many reciprocal agreements with allies. Reciprocity means abolishing tariffs on both sides of the equation. Trump wants to reduce imports for good.

    Thereā€™s maybe a 10 per cent chance that his experiment will work, reliant as it is on so many variables: that China wonā€™t go to actual war, or the labour shortage will be met by federal sackings and AI fed by cheap energy. Car makers demonstrate a range of responses to the Trump Shock. Stellantis (Chrysler) is shedding jobs; General Motors is adding them at its Fort Wayne plant. Volkswagen is raising prices; Ford is cutting them.

    A recession could decimate the Republicans. Were I a foreign manufacturer, Iā€™d wager this policy will be reversed at least by 2028 when a new president is elected ā€“ or big business puts out a hit on Trump, because theyā€™ll tolerate anything but the devaluing of their stock price. The next gun that fires at the president will probably be made in America.

    1. The markets soared after moving off the gold standard because it meant money was now worthless, it's value no longer constrained. Government could print all day, every day – and has done, creating inflation.

      As banks make a profit from selling money, they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. US debt was also far lower back then.

      If Trump is pushing to protect american jobs he might succeed but it's a big 'might'.

  41. Lammy Canā€™t Bring Himself to Admit Tariff Brexit Dividend

    The foreign secretary is clearly having a tough time toeing the government line on foreign affairs. He was slapped down by Downing Street for his emotional comments about tariffs on Fridayā€¦

    On Sunday Darren Jones admitted Britain had been ā€˜protectedā€™ from a higher tariff rate by dint of its exit from the EU: ā€œWeā€™ve been treated differently from the European Union, thatā€™s correct.ā€ Lammy was having none of itā€¦

    He told Italian newspaper la Repubblica: ā€œWe are facing a significant change in the way the global trading system works, but this has nothing to do with Brexit.ā€ Lammyā€™s message discipline has been increasingly waning of lateā€¦

    April 7 2025 @ 09:11

    **************************

    Massey Ferguson
    3h
    You need to bear in mind that this is coming from a bloke who thinks Marie Antoinette won the Nobel Prize and Henry VII succeeded Henry VIII.

    Lady Chablis
    Massey Ferguson
    51m
    Not forgetting, naming an English blue cheese, Red Leicester.

    Pookie
    Massey Ferguson
    2h
    Marie-Antoinette won the Head-to-Head.

    1. He also claimed the BBC was racist when referring to black or white smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel during the election of the Pope. The man is a buffoon.

    2. Apparently he's gone Italy to greet the king and his wife who are there celebrating their 20 wedding anniversary. I expect They'll both be underwhelmed.

      1. Yo Eddy may I fiddle

        Apparently he's going to be taken/escorted to, Italy a country in continental Europe ,to greet their king and his wife, the Italian equivalents to our King and Queen, who are there celebrating their 20 wedding anniversary.

        I expect know they'll both be underwhelmed, by him

        1. With help of course we have been the Victor’s in two world wars, but we have never been able to ‘fix stoopid’.

    2. I wonder if it says all that every time it orders a MacDonalds.

      Because the staff have no option but to stand there and listen.

    3. Non-binary – clearly not know what binary means.

      Lass, you're a girl. You're desperately trying to pretend you're something you're not to make yourself feel special in a world that doesn't care. Welcome to reality. You. Don't. Matter.

    4. In times past "it" would have been in a nice facility where the men in white coats worked!

    1. Wow! And just imagine the original painter and the work that went into that. Where is it?

      1. Some bloke called Michael painted it. Scaffolding and boards. He spent all his time on his back. Then got drunk and stabbed someone to death.

          2. What equipment did he use for this one?
            Was he practising or had he learnt some valuable lessons and went for something simpler?

          2. Moi? šŸ¤£šŸ¤£

            All the time – but teasing Phizzee is such good fun!

    3. Whyfor do have a jigsaw of the painting on the inside of my shed roof?

      Yo Bill

    4. I did a jigsaw once. It said '3-5 years. It only took me two weeks. I was really proud.

    5. Most impressive, Bill.
      Do you have to hold it over your head when fitting the bits together?

      1. Uncle Bill and MR lay on their backs on the scaffolding.
        THAT's an incentive to finish the job in less than 4 years.

  44. Alexander Mercouris on The Duran has described Starmer as a strange cross between a non-entity and a fanatic. Mercouris predicts that Starmer will shortly be removed from his office as British Prime Minister.

    The idiot and his sixth formers have all but destroyed growth in the economy, are busy putting ICE car manufacturers out of business with their silly promotion of EVs for which there is no market and have now gifted us the highest energy costs in Europe, thus crippling manufacturing industry.

    The dim shit will of course blame Trump.

    Roll on!

      1. The problem would be who might replace him. I canā€™t think of a single Labour politician who is fit to be a cabinet minister, let alone PM.

    1. Yes Phil. Designed by the renowned architects Dolly & Harry, with embellishments by art duo Gus & Pickles.

      1. Today, a pint of beer costs around 10 times the price of a pint of petrol. If the same ratio applied in 1972, petrol must have been close to free. I donā€™t recall that being the case, though.

        1. 4/10(c 20p) per GALLON when I started driving in 1958, that's less than 5p a lire

          1. Letā€™s be grateful that Middle-Eastern countries donā€™t brew beer otherwise the cost of a pint might be astronomical.

        2. Youā€™d have to factor in the quadruple green shield stamps to get a valid comparison.

      2. When I started drinking in the late 1960s (in the Markham Arms, Brimington, a regular venue for a young Joe Cocker), Stones' best bitter was 1/8d in the snug; 1/9d in the public bar; and 1/10d in the lounge. My friends and I would buy a pint in the snug then march around to the lounge to drink it.

    2. Half a litre? Great Scott. I knew we drank a lot in years past because our water was polluted but hey, that's going some.

    3. A good friend of ours who was the Head of Modern Languages in a very well-known, 'posh' girls' public school used to give the girls who were taking the French "A" level oral exams a glass of wine before they went into the examination room to be grilled by the external examiner.

      The wine made them relax and feel less inhibited so virtually all the girls gained A grades.

      Just imagine if he were caught doing this today – instant dismissal!

      1. I'm intrigued by the phrase "….school used to give the girls who were taking the French 'A' level oral exams….." and then 'grilled by the external examiner'
        My mind is wandering……

      2. The German teacher at my sons' school who was the examiner at my German oral O level exam in 1987 said I'd done better than most of the boys…….. he got caught out later when taking the boys on a shook trip and some of them were drunk. I raised my eyebrows a bit at some of the vocabulary he taught the boys…. anyway he eventually got the sack. I did the written exam in the school hall with the boys. When I did the A level it was at the local college and the examiner asked me out to lunch – I politely declined.

    4. A good friend of ours who was the Head of Modern Languages in a very well-known, 'posh' girls' public school used to give the girls who were taking the French "A" level oral exams a glass of wine before they went into the examination room to be grilled by the external examiner.

      The wine made them relax and feel less inhibited so virtually all the girls gained A grades.

      Just imagine if he were caught doing this today – instant dismissal!

  47. 404258+ up ticks,

    I could easily take on board that old george smiley won't be smiling long when he has to resort to press gangs to get the required numbers.

    You would have to be 100% insane,as mad as a march milliband to be expected to go forth in protection of a LARGE enemy force
    sitting, feet up,in old England's hotel lounges.
    https://x.com/NotFarLeftAtAll/status/1909185231979954679

    1. I'm too old and fat, Junior's too young.

      You'd be insane to give the Warqueen a gun, she'd shoot the entire Labour party and think nothing of it. ACtually, no, she wouldn't shoot Brown. She'd probably thank him for making such an utter mess of the tax code that gave her opportunities to circumvent the gormless Treasury policies he pushed through

      1. When did you go through Biggin Hill? I was stationed there in the late 60ā€™s and I am sure that for a brown paper bag full of used fivers, I could have arranged a re-assessment.

        1. Was there decades ago for pilot assessment. Five days of fun, but eyes not up to it.
          Ah, well, had plenty fun in Oil & Gas.

    1. I was more distracted by the way she was fiddling with the pencil – must be getting old!

  49. The daily page header should read: "Is Keir Starmer really a leader?"
    The rest is just wasted words.

      1. These destructive lunatic leaders are only dangerous when they have the power of all the people who don't question the agenda marching in lockstep behind them.

        1. Without our money the Left can't build themselves this gemony of petty bureaucratic thugs.

          Therefore to stop this nonsense and prevent people like Starmer ever gaining office again, the state must be starved.

          2. Ultimately, I suppose by not purchasing anything on which there is tax. The creation of PAYE signalled a power shift from the individual to the state.

          3. Isn’t there a tax on most things, somewhere along the line, though? Can’t remember how many pages long the tax code was when I was employed, but I guess it’s even longer now. For me, it’s what government does or doesn’t do with it that counts. Especially this government. And it’s all over the internet, various posts, no-one can be unaware no matter their age or employment.

          4. They waste it, KJ. There is no way of getting away from this. Look at them, they are like sub teens given the keys to the Tuck Shop. No idea whatsoever of the long term damage their troughing entails and no care at all as long as the wealth is transferred from those they hate (who created and earned it) to their greedy back pockets.

          5. Deffo. opopanax. Thatcher: always easy to spend other people’s money. I read today that Lowe is starting a new party (anuther wan?!)…think I’m done with the lot of them. Tariff issues the last straw.

          6. In a nutshell, KJ!

            I do like Lowe, but he may be yet another one, although I don't (at present) think so. My radar says that Nige and Zia are dodgy, so even if they can win an election to get the other clodge out I do not want them. I do not want people like that – cowards and chancers – in government. whatever they call themselves.

          7. Hear you, opopanax…although I realised some time ago that our permanent government must be the Civil Service..if so, why bother voting, or listening to any of them…they can afford to be cowards and chancers in that case. This latest lot, Starmer down, the last bloody straw.

          8. Quite. And the fat oaf with the multiple chips on each shoulder. God – these people are so THICK

          9. Which especial fat oaf were you thinking of?……Just been watching DT/BN press conf. DT about the only politician I have any respect for, straight speaking.

          11. Lammy = fat oaf (what a complete embarrassment). If you mean the Donald by DT then I am a total fan (just adore him)

          13. Processed food attracts VAT.
            The prepared kebabs in butchers are VATable. The meat and the vegetables are VAT free.
            Chocolate biscuits have VAT; plain biscuits do not .
            Plain nuts – no VAT; roasted nuts = VAT.
            Etcetera ā€¦ etcetera ā€¦ etcetera ……..

          14. Items will have been added to the VAT list over many years, more pages in the tax code book. Just been watching Trump talking about his current favourite topic – tariffs. If only we had the British version of him. And really had left Hotel EU, instead of half leaving (and now currently returning, albeit sans vote).

          15. Snacks such as nuts which are labelled for cooking are VAT-free. The same item labelled as a snack attracts VAT!

          16. I try to buy products that don't attract VAT for a start, although that's a bit tricky since I need to travel and heat my home and see what I'm going.

          17. Seems to me most things are/have been taxed somewhere along the line, Conway..we just have to do the best we can. I notice today the rise in shoplifting at Asda, thinking is down to self checkouts as they closed most of the manned (girls) checkouts. Do you recall me telling you about my dog…it went on and on, various tests, scans, diets, appointments, medication – it’s his liver, not in the best of health (and neither is my credit card, several hundred squid down). No wonder the clinic is always empty…….good luck with your outgoings, and hang on to your hat – things may get even worse x

          18. All you can do, really, with your beloved dog is manage his condition as best as possible. At least my dogs are fed on VAT-free working dog food (meat and kibble).

          19. That’s so. He’s currently on Forthglade/IAMS chicken kibble and Yu-Move digestive powder. He seems OK on a diet for a while, somehow his gut gets used to it and protests, I switch again..and on we go. VAT-free? how? :-))

          20. The clue is in the words "working dog". Food designed for working dogs is VAT-free. If the batards in Wastemonster remove that exemption, I shall buy chicken pieces and rice, cook them and feed those to the dogs. When I get my shopping receipt, I like to see "A" next to my purchases – that means they are VAT free.

          21. I had absolutely no idea, thanks Conway, or possibly I did but can’t remember. I get a weekly food order delivered, whole cooked chicken often seems on offer, sometimes three for Ā£whatever, I usually get one, shred it and keep in fridge for tuthree days until dogs have eaten it all, they love it. And cooked rice too.

          22. Since our lovely black Lab Lottie sadly had to be put down. Three years later I still feel I could get to know another. It could be more than handy.

          23. I'd find it hard to be without a dog, especially living alone. I needed a dog before to help me cope with MOH's dementia! Oscar kept me sane. Winston the beagle makes me laugh, particularly when he lies on his back with his feet in the air and his big, floppy ears spread out. Kadi makes me laugh because he's so insistent if I'm late feeding them or I forget to give them a Dentastix after their breakfast. He's quite indignant.

          24. Since our lovely black Lab Lottie sadly had to be put down. Three years later I still feel I could get to know another. It could be more than handy.

      2. A Molotov.
        A grey, obedient apparatchik carrying out the most bizarre and wicked of orders from above; whether from one person or a set of ideas held by the bien pensants with whom he wishes to ingratiate himself.
        An unthinking dogsbody whose only purpose is to kowtow to those who will smooth his path through life.

        1. "An unthinking dogsbody whose only purpose is to kowtow to those who will smooth his path through life". WEF and/or Lord Ali??

    2. Stop Thief

      Yo and Good Moaning to you all, from a sunny and warm C d S.

      The headline for today's Letters Page should be stopped after the first phrase:

      Is Keir Starmer really a leader …..

      To which the answer is a resounding NO

      Yo Ol…..

  52. Afternoon, all, from a sunny, but still cold, Salop. I had a meeting in Shrewsbury this afternoon, but I was late picking my ex-RAF pal up because although I got up in plenty of time, I still ended up running behind schedule. Good job the traffic wasn't bad.

    Keir Starmer is a) not a leader and b) antagonistic towards the UK so will not fight for our national interests at all. I see he's mouthing off now about protecting us from Trump's tariffs. He'll do no such thing. Everything he's said he'll do, he's ended up doing the opposite. I have seldom despised a politician as much as I do this one.

  55. Wordle No. 1,388 4/6

    ā¬œā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸØ
    ā¬œā¬œšŸŸØā¬œā¬œ
    šŸŸØā¬œšŸŸØšŸŸ©ā¬œ
    šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    Wordle 7 Mar 2025

    Brownish for Par Four?

    1. Another tough one

      Wordle 1,388 5/6

      ā¬œā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸØ
      ā¬œšŸŸØšŸŸØā¬œā¬œ
      ā¬œšŸŸØā¬œā¬œā¬œ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸØšŸŸ©ā¬œ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    2. First starter word gave me the vowels so I jumped to third starter word which delivered two of the consonants (the obvious ones) – result!

      Much-needed birdie…..

      Wordle 1,388 3/6

      ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œ
      šŸŸØā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸØ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    3. Could easily have been a 6 today.

      Wordle 1,388 4/6

      šŸŸØā¬œā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œ
      ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸ©šŸŸ©
      ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸ©šŸŸ©
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    4. A bit close today.

      Wordle 1,388 5/6

      šŸŸØā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸØ
      šŸŸØšŸŸØšŸŸØā¬œā¬œ
      ā¬œšŸŸ©šŸŸØšŸŸ©ā¬œ
      ā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œšŸŸ©šŸŸ©
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

    5. Not many five letter words available ending in ā€˜ELā€™. Birdie.

      Wordle 1,388 3/6

      ā¬œšŸŸØšŸŸØā¬œā¬œ
      ā¬œā¬œā¬œšŸŸ©ā¬œ
      šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©šŸŸ©

          1. I can think of one that will knock things on the head (although I don't know what letters had been eliminated).

          3. I would have got it wrong then – although I might have arrived at that conclusion had I known the eliminated letters.

    7. A number of other posters have contributed today and I was wondering if it might be an idea if you actually post the answer (behind the spoiler function) – it might be helpful to those who dont have a clue what we're talking about!….. thoughts welcome….

  57. Stephen Pollard
    David Lammyā€™s Israel hypocrisy
    7 April 2025, 11:28am

    I suppose we should name it the ā€˜Lammy Doctrineā€™, after the Titan of global diplomacy we are so privileged to have as our Foreign Secretary. So many and varied are David Lammyā€™s achievements that it is difficult to keep up, but this weekend he added yet another to the list.

    Responding to the decision of the Israeli immigration authorities to bar two Labour MPs from entry, he appeared to announce a new doctrine: that British MPs are allowed to go where they want, say what they like and behave as they wish, and no country on earth has the right to bar them from entering. And yet Britain can nonetheless bar whoever we want from wherever we want, whenever we want.

    He didnā€™t put it quite like that, of course; Mr Lammy is obviously far too sophisticated to put it so bluntly. But as British citizens we should surely all be grateful for his reinterpretation of ā€˜Civis Britannicus sumā€™, the maxim of his nineteenth century predecessor Lord Palmerston. And if that means trampling over Israeli immigration law, so be it.

    To recap: at the weekend, two Labour MPs were barred by the Israeli authorities from entering the country. According to the Israeli embassy, they declined to petition the court to appeal the decision and so they were deported and flown home to the UK. Their names need not bother us. They are identikit Labour MPs of a familiar strand for whom Israel is an evil country. They are ten a penny.

    Cue outrage from Mr Lammy: ā€˜It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authoritiesā€¦ I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British Parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.ā€™

    (Letā€™s ignore the reference to the MPs having been on a ā€˜parliamentary delegationā€™, which implies some sort of official visit. In fact the MPs were on a trip organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding, a lobby group which has spent decades attacking Israel.)

    Along with the Foreign Secretary, a series of Labour MPs and Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, joined in with outraged criticism that Israelis should dare to refuse entry to two MPs.

    In her usual gloriously self-important manner, Dame Emily Thornberry informed the Israelis that they had been ā€˜badly advisedā€™. It must be a source of immense relief to the Israelis that the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee is now willing to offer them better advice as to how to conduct their affairs. It will be a real gamechanger for Israeli security.

    There is only one problem with all this: the sheer galaxy-bending hypocrisy of it.

    Take Sir Chris Bryant, Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries. Sir Chris said this yesterday, in response to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pointing out the basic premise of national sovereignty that countries are allowed to control their borders and determine who they admit: ā€˜I think itā€™s more shocking that a putative leader of our country should choose to applaud another country detaining and deporting British MPs rather than stand by the UKā€™s elected representatives. What price free speech? What price democracy?ā€™

    Sir Chris is not lacking in self-regard. Self-awareness, on the other hand, seems not to be his greatest asset. In 2017 he proudly posted on Twitter that he had written to the Prime Minister ā€˜asking her to ban Donald Trump from entering the United Kingdom on account of his support for far-right groups in this country.ā€™

    Does Sir Chris think only Britain should be able to decide who is admitted to the country? Or does he think there is one law for people he agrees with and one law for those he doesnā€™t?

    Then there is the Foreign Secretary himself, who in 2008 was part of the Labour government which barred Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin from entry as it would ā€˜not be conducive to the public goodā€™. I do not recall Mr Lammy resigning in protest. Nor do I recall him objecting the following year when the government barred Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders from entry.

    But above all this stands the issue of the ICCā€™s arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu. One of Mr Lammyā€™s first acts as Foreign Secretary was to drop the UKā€™s joint action with Germany seeking to have the arrest warrant overturned. The warrant, as is clear to anyone who looks objectively at the issue, is the product of a deeply politicised court and is entirely without merit. But should the Israeli leader seek to come to the UK he would be arrested and extradited to the Hague.

    In other words, the very same David Lammy who considers it an outrage that two MPs have been refused entry to Israel because they support a boycott of it, also considers it entirely right that the leader of Israelā€™s government should actually be arrested should he come to Britain.

    This is now a full-blown diplomatic crisis between Britain and Israel ā€“ a matter that will be of almost no concern to Israel, given the behaviour of the current British government. It is, nonetheless, instructive ā€“ as an illustration of hypocrisy as a driving force in politics.

    *****************************
    Hypnoticreindeer
    5 hours ago
    Regarding the two MPs in question, I believe each of them has dual citizenship (of China and Yemen respectively) and one studied at a Chinese university on a CCP sponsored scholarship. Never mind not admitting them to Israel, serious questions need to be asked about them being in Parliament in the first place.

    nitawales Hypnoticreindeer 5 hours ago
    Indeed. I am getting mightily tired of all the Labour MPs we have for Gaza, West bank and Kashmir.

    Mirdza Luce Hypnoticreindeer 3 hours ago
    They expected to be turned back: a media-attention-seeking mission by the Chinese lady
    – a desperate-to-be-known inchoate MP
    But the second is still more hilarious: why would Israel allow a
    Houthi-Tribal-Female-Terrorist-Activist across its border?
    I presumed, that like any civilised country, we deported Houthi- terrorists back to Yemen.

    Oh… wait a minute … you mean … that thing is in our HoC….
    You couldn't make it up

    Graham Ridley Hypnoticreindeer 3 hours ago
    It is preposterous to allow Yemeni and Chinese citizens to stand for Parliament. These countries are not friends of the UK.

    Hypnoticreindeer
    5 hours ago
    Looking at the picture, he's absolutely ballooned hasn't he. Looks like the love child of Idi Amin and Mr Creosote. He'll have his own postcode at this rate.

    1. "… yet Britain can nonetheless bar whoever we want from wherever we want, whenever we want …" A pity we don't exercise that right in respect to unwanted gimmigrants.

    2. Jonathan Sacerdoti
      Why did Israel block two British MPs at its border?
      7 April 2025, 12:27pm

      In 2008, under the UKā€™s Labour government, Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin ā€“ a Likud central committee member ā€“ was denied entry into Britain. Then home secretary Jacqui Smith cited public safety concerns, quoting Feiglinā€™s provocative articles and speeches as justification. There was no court appeal available to him, no diplomatic immunity by virtue of his office; he was simply barred, his presence deemed not ā€˜conducive to the public goodā€™. Few, if any, in the British political establishment rushed to his defence.

      Fast forward to today, and the diplomatic chaos caused over the weekend by two Labour MPs, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, being denied entry into Israel. The reason: Israeli authorities accused them of intending to ā€˜document Israeli security forces and spread anti-Israel hatredā€™, during a time of existential war, when Israel faces attacks across multiple fronts and relentless scrutiny and criticism abroad. Yuan and Mohamed say they had travelled to ā€˜visit humanitarian aid projects and communities in the West Bankā€™ with ā€˜UK charity partners who have over a decade of experience in taking parliamentary delegationsā€™.Unsurprisingly, the incident has ignited a storm in Westminster. Yet the moral clarity seems less consistent.

      Nuance is vital here. Sovereign states have the fundamental right ā€“ and often, the necessity ā€“ to regulate who enters their borders. The UK exercised this right against Feiglin, just as it did against Dutch politician Geert Wilders in 2009, when he was initially barred over fears his presence could disrupt public order due to his controversial film Fitna. Wilders successfully appealed that ban ā€“ a point worth noting, as Israel, too, offered Yang and Mohamed the right to petition an Israeli court to reconsider. Moreover, Israel offered hotel accommodation during the process, a courtesy not extended to Feiglin.

      Still, even when lawful, the decision to exclude elected officials from allied democracies is inherently controversial. Parliamentarians should have the freedom to speak and challenge, even to criticise allies. Israel, a vibrant democracy itself, surely understands this instinctively. Criticism ā€“ even harsh criticism ā€“ is not by default betrayal. In fact, the right to raise uncomfortable truths is one of the hallmarks of democratic health. MPs have not only a right but also a responsibility to voice their convictions, however uncomfortable.

      Yet the situation Israel faces today is extraordinary. Since the horrors of 7 October 2023, the war against Hamas has not merely been fought on the battlefield; it has been waged in headlines, diplomatic corridors, and parliamentary debates. Public opinion, especially in Western capitals, has become an active theatre of conflict. And nowhere more so than within the UKā€™s Labour party, where hostility toward Israel often crosses the line from critique into distortion. Its former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, once stated that members of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah were his ā€˜friendsā€™ and yet our current Prime Minister campaigned enthusiastically for him to lead the country.

      Indeed, it is Labourā€™s own leadership that has threatened to arrest Israelā€™s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, were he to step foot in Britain ā€“ where other countries have said they would ignore the politicised arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. Many Labour MPs have gone further, accusing Israel of war crimes and genocide without acknowledging the brutal context of Hamasā€™s terrorism, hostage-taking, and deliberate use of civilians as human shields. In this atmosphere, Israelā€™s suspicion that Yang and Mohamedā€™s visit was less about observation and more about political provocation cannot be casually dismissed.

      The Israeli government also claims that there was no verifiable evidence that Yang and Mohamedā€™s trip was an officially sanctioned parliamentary mission. In a time of war, when misinformation can cost lives, Israelā€™s caution may be more prudent than paranoid.

      Does this mean Israel should be above criticism? Of course not. Healthy democracies thrive on criticism. Israeli politics itself is a cacophony of disagreement. But what is at stake here is not free speech in Britain ā€“ the MPs are free to denounce Israel from the House of Commons floor, and indeed they do ā€“ but whether Israel must facilitate hostile political theatre on its own soil, by individuals who openly advocate for measures like sanctions, boycotts, and the criminalisation of Israeli leaders.

      Respecting Israelā€™s sovereign right to self-protection does not diminish the value of free expression. Nor does respecting the MPsā€™ right to their views justify forcing a wartime democracy to grant entry to them. The principles are not mutually exclusive. Both sides are exercising legitimate rights. Both sides are acting according to their own national interests.

      The outcry from Foreign Secretary David Lammy ā€“ contrasting Israelā€™s democratic gatekeeping with authoritarian practices like Chinaā€™s ā€“ is not only a distortion but a betrayal of the very nuance that democracies must protect. Israel is not China. It is a free society under siege, facing existential threats with democratic means. In 2018, Lammy declared that the President of the United States was ā€˜not welcome in our countryā€™, but now feels that two virulently anti-Israel, minor political figures barely anyone has heard of should have the red carpet rolled out by a country in the middle of an existential war they are accused of misrepresenting.

      Britainā€™s denial of entry for Geert Wilders was not an isolated incident. It also excluded Albaniaā€™s former prime minister Sali Berisha over alleged ties to organised crime, French comedian DieudonnĆ© for anti-Semitic incitement, and American activist Louis Farrakhan for hate speech. Sovereign democracies routinely balance the principles of free expression against the imperative to maintain public safety and civic harmony. Israelā€™s decision, though politically sensitive, falls firmly within that same difficult ā€“ but legitimate ā€“ tradition.

      In the coming days, the true nature of the trip undertaken by the two Labour MPs may become clearer. Israel has already indicated that no official authorities were informed of any parliamentary delegation ā€“ a notable omission, if not a deliberate misrepresentation. Some have suggested, and Israel strongly asserts, that Yang and Mohamed were not engaged in a formal parliamentary mission at all, but rather something far more partisan and provocative ā€“ something the two women deny.

      If they turned down the chance to appeal through the Israeli courts ā€“ a right which should have been made available to them ā€“ this may yet prove telling. If it emerges that their visit was intended not for observation, but for political agitation against a democratic ally at war, it will reflect more poorly on the Labour party and the British government, which either sanctioned or failed to scrutinise such an effort. In that case, it will not be Israeli immigration authorities who stand accused of overreach, but rather those in London who allowed ideology to cloud judgement.

    3. Brendan Oā€™Neill
      Is Israel wrong to see Labour MPs as hostile actors?
      7 April 2025, 1:39pm

      Israelā€™s denial of entry to two Labour MPs is a truly shaming moment. Not for Israel, which, like all sovereign states, is perfectly at liberty to permit or deny entry to anyone it chooses. No, for Labour. That our ally, the Jewish nation, is so wary of Britainā€™s ruling party that it felt compelled to banish two of its representatives should generate some serious soul-searching in Labour.

      The flap over Israelā€™s ejection of the MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang has been mad. Itā€™s the hissy fit heard around the world. Leafy London is up in arms. ā€˜I am outragedā€™, thundered Emily Thornberry on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Israel will ā€˜rue the day that they did this to British parliamentariansā€™, she said. Whatā€™s she going to do ā€“ write a mean tweet?

      The performative tantrums of Britainā€™s bourgeois left are far more unbecoming than what Israel has done. Israel just decided that a couple of visitors from overseas were not conducive to the public good ā€“ something we in Blighty do all the time. Yet the way the fuming commentariat is talking about it youā€™d be forgiven for thinking Israel is a modern-day Stasi that had banged up a pair of valiant freedom fighters.

      There are wordy fits of pique over Israelā€™s ā€˜shameful detention and deportation of British MPsā€™. Can everyone please calm down? Ms Mohamed and Ms Yang were offered hotel accommodation. Israel paid for their return flight to Britain. This was not Midnight Express. You donā€™t have to write a letter to Amnesty International. Theyā€™re fine.

      Israel said it denied the MPs entry because it feared they would ā€˜spread hate speechā€™. They have certainly made insulting comments about Israel. Ms Mohamed accused Israel of intentionally starving civilians in Gaza. She has agitated for a ban on goods from Israeli settlements. Ms Yang called for sanctions against certain ministers in Israelā€™s government. If Israel views these MPs as hostile actors, is it wrong?

      Some say a truly democratic nation would never forbid entry to its critics. I agree. But is it too much to ask that we take into account that Israel is currently at war with an army of anti-Semites that desires nothing short of its obliteration? I know itā€™s been a long time since Britain faced such an existential threat, but surely we have enough historical memory to empathise with Israelā€™s predicament. Wartime Israel is under no obligation to welcome politicians who have petitioned the world to condemn its war for survival as a crime against humanity.

      The fury with Israel is such an orgy of cant. Sovereign states, including ours, deny entry to suspected undesirables all the time. Our list of reasons that a foreigner might be considered ā€˜non-conducive to the public goodā€™ is exhaustive. Everything from previous ā€˜unacceptable behaviourā€™ to potentially causing disruption to ā€˜the conduct of [our] foreign policyā€™ is enough for a non-Brit to be turned away at the border. Why is it okay for us to keep out troublemakers, but not for Israel?

      In 2008, a Likud politician, Moshe Feiglin, was barred from Britain. The then Labour home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said his presence would ā€˜not be conducive to the public goodā€™. Imagine the industrial-strength gall it must require for the party that barred entry to an Israeli politician to now reach for the smelling salts because Israel barred entry to two British politicians.

      Whatā€™s more, David Lammy has said he would comply with the ICCā€™s ridiculous arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu. So if the democratically elected Prime Minister of Israel were to set foot in our country, heā€™d be nabbed by the cops, and yet we demand that our politicians be free to waltz in and out Israel to their heartā€™s content? These are previously unscaled levels of hypocrisy.

      All this chattering-class rage is not a principled objection to restrictions on the free movement of MPs. Itā€™s more like the bruised ego of a former imperial power that canā€™t believe an uppity little state like Israel thinks it has the right to do what we sometimes do.

      That Israel feels it must be cautious towards politicians from Britain is mortifying. It speaks to our failure to give the Jewish state the solidarity it deserved following Hamasā€™s fascistic invasion of 7 October.

      *****************************

      Sasquatch
      3 hours ago
      I'd argue Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang should be considered hostile actors here in the UK as well.

      Kemi Badenough Sasquatch
      3 hours ago
      Both having dual nationality, maybe they could be 'rehomed '?

      Mirdza Luce Sasquatch
      2 hours ago edited
      Electorate(s) take note:these two women conspired, planned and expected to be turned back.

      A media-attention-seeking mission by the Chinese woman- Yuan Yang- a desperate-to-be-known inchoate MP spewed from Balliol… a once academically respected college of the mid-late C20th but whose decline since the 1990's is strongly correlated to over-awarding 'Firsts' in PPE – especially to (a) Non-English (b) State/Grammar School (c) Women.

      – as I say: they expected to be turned back: it's been quote a successful media-attention-seeking mission by Yuan, a desperate-to-be-known inchoate and verbose Chinese-born MP who can't help herself name-dropping undergraduate-level 'research' articles in her contributions…. lol šŸ™‚

      But the second creep is still more exorbitant on our time: why would Israel allow a Houthi-Tribeswoman-Terrorist-Activist across its border?

      1. Every sovereign nation has the right to admit or refuse entry to anyone they wish. It's a pity the British authorities do not assert this right enough with certain people.

        Israel has had an attack of guilty conscience over their murder of unarmed paramedics on an emergency call, and their hasty covering-up and lying. It is almost a reflex reaction to refer to any of the victims, even children and emergency workers, as Hamas militants or harbouring them. It gives them a licence to kill anyone they fancy. No murderer would be allowed that defence in any criminal court of law doing its job. They get away with it because America is arming them and praising them for their violence. To do otherwise is "antisemitic".

        They should expect the civilised world to hate them (and I no longer consider their apologists, even here, to be civilised), and don't like to be held to account, least of all by a brace of Brits with funny names.

        1. I think that you should head to Gaza and volunteer to be a Hamas aid worker; you'd be brilliant at selecting suitable "innocents" for the Israelis to kill.

          1. I would only get in the way. I recommend it as cheaper than a Swiss clinic or going to Canada. Otherwise I’m damned if I’m going to pay to be IDF target practice as Hamas cowers in their Arabian tax havens.

            Murder doesn’t usually work as you suggest. It is usually the murderer who decides who to kill.

          1. Didn’t Hollywood once run out of fake beards whilst producing so many Islamist snuff videos?

        3. Hamas could have not set about killing Israelis. Frankly, Iā€™d turn the muslim pestilence to ash. Israel has shown huge restraint. Why do you support violent, barbaric evil terrorists?

          1. I don’t. You seem to.

            My support is for the aid workers, the medics, the non-militant civilians caught up in this, and the Christians.

    4. It is beyond all doubt that former priest, ex-public schoolboy, Chris Bryant is amongst the nastiest and grubbiest of MPs ever to have polluted the green leather seats in the House of Commons with his disgusting posterior.

  59. That's me gone for this sunny but still cold day. More of the same ahead, apparently.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain. I hope.

  60. And finally, Israel denies entry to two Labour MPs who clearly hate the country and wanted to visit what they call The West Bank.. and it's blown the minds of Labour MPs. They can't understand.. why would a country not allow people in that hate it? Britain does that all the time.
    David Lammy looks set to explode but then again he's looked like a bird that's been readied up to foie gras for a long time.
    Katie Hopkins.

  61. Waltzes in . Good evening, another glorious early Spring evening with the sun still shining.

  62. Off topics
    The leveret has reappeared.
    There were a few hares around the house this morning as I went out and they scattered away from the place the leveret has been hunkering down.
    It had been returned to its hiding spot.
    I can't be certain it's the same one as its lying position has altered and instead of feet hidden they are stretched out and crossed in a very relaxed pose.
    I assume it must be the same one, I can't imagine two would be quite as sanguine about me stopping a few feet away, unless they really do believe they are invisible.

    1. No such thing as off topic here. I far prefer reading about your leveret to wallowing in doom and gloom!

        1. All good here, thanks! En route back home after a couple of days in the countryside with a friend. Autumn is making itself felt – it’s piddling down and the yellowing leaves are giving up the ghost. Brrr! Good thing I wrapped up well!

          1. We can tell it's spring here – the council have just been round sweeping up all the gravel dropped on the ice for the winter. All we need now is a good burst of rain to wash the dust away, and we'll be all sparkly for the summer.

    2. As Bugs Bunny famously sang:

      šŸŽµ I dream of Jeannie, she's a light brown hare šŸŽµ

  63. Has Trumpā€™s tariff strategy finally killed off the globalist net zero great reset?
    If it has he has given the West a future.
    It will be interesting watching all our politicians reversing all the mad agendas in the next few years.
    No wonder the Conservatives didnā€™t want to be in power and left holding the fort, passing the baton at the last election is all beginning to make sense now

    1. It is proceeding apace but not reported by the media. The pandemic treaty is steaming ahead, as are digital ids in Britain and the EU.
      DOGE is thought by some to be a cover for digitalising/replacing with AI.

  64. No idea why Robert Bidochon and ' john ' pay a subscription just to annoying people.

    1. It was not part of their blood,
      It came to them very late
      With long arrears to make good,
      When the English began to hate.

      They were not easily moved,
      They were icy-willing to wait
      Till every count should be proved,
      ā€˜Ere the English began to hate.

      Their voices were even and low,
      Their eyes were level and straight.
      There was neither sign nor show,
      When the English began to hate.

      It was not preached to the crowd,
      It was not taught by the State.
      No man spoke it aloud,
      When the English began to hate.

      It was not suddenly bred,
      It will not swiftly abate,
      Through the chill years ahead,
      When Time shall count from the date
      That the English began to hate.

      Rudyard Kipling.

      1. "Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war … Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more …"

          1. From Chaucer's Knight's Tale:

            This world nys but a thurghfare ful of wo,
            And we been pilgrymes passynge to and fro.
            Deeth is an ende of every worldes soore."


            Or as the Americans we met when sailing around the Caribbean put it:

            Life's a bitch – and then you die!

      2. I like a bit of Kipling, like this one and 'Tommy', particularly.

        Do you like Kipling? I dont know, I've never Kippled…..

        2. "Over in the corner was Rudyard Kipling – stop it, you'll go blind" Goodies or something earlier?

    2. It was not part of their blood,
      It came to them very late
      With long arrears to make good,
      When the English began to hate.

      They were not easily moved,
      They were icy-willing to wait
      Till every count should be proved,
      ā€˜Ere the English began to hate.

      Their voices were even and low,
      Their eyes were level and straight.
      There was neither sign nor show,
      When the English began to hate.

      It was not preached to the crowd,
      It was not taught by the State.
      No man spoke it aloud,
      When the English began to hate.

      It was not suddenly bred,
      It will not swiftly abate,
      Through the chill years ahead,
      When Time shall count from the date
      That the English began to hate.

      Rudyard Kipling.

  67. Sorry to bore those who aren't interested.

    I've just had a wander around the garden in that period between dusk and darkness.
    The noise is incredible, particularly when one considers that at the moment there are no "human" noises whatsoever in the background, the farmers and foresters have finished for the night and all the neighbours are home.
    Lots of different birds are having shouting matches, tree frogs calling and cuckoos appearing to respond, although that's really a quirk of the timing.

    The leveret had disappeared; that was until I looked closer. It was sitting upright against the trunk of the pine tree with its ears raised. The camouflage effect was such that unless one knew it was there one would never have spotted it.

    The bats are appearing in good numbers, I had one pass so close that I felt the draft of its wings as it shot past. They can turn on a sixpence.

    1. Idyllic, sos. I am so envious of the resident leveret. We had some in our Dutch barn many years ago, what a privilege. not seen since. But I grow old – and they are so still

      1. I stop and speak to it softly, and it pricks up its ears.

        Several of the adults in the garden will have been treated similarly and whilst they are very wary, they seldom flee into the far reaches, so long as I move carefully and quietly.

        There was a time when I used to whistle Lilli Bolero when walking around the garden, and I swear the hares pricked up their ears and accepted that it was the silly old boy wandering around their domain.

        Considering how wild they are, I'm very privileged to get so close to them.

      1. We fence the deer out.
        And I dread to think what the wild boar would do if they got in, they dig up our neighbours' gardens like excavators on steroids.

        2. I haven't seen Mr Roebuck for a couple of years now. He used to eat my geraniums, especially pink ones. A nuisance but I did like to see him.

          1. Friend kept them many years ago, he loved them. Had to be kept well fenced due to neighbour’s dog (deer not my friend)…

          1. We have roe deer here, I’ve found a baby time to time, hidden away in a quiet place. Danger is for them to be found by dog/s or even badgers – who thankfully seem to have moved on now, they built a huge sett with several different exits/entrances.

    3. Isn't it great, sos…I love these evenings. There is a bird here I can't recognise, can't get a sighting on it, hiding in the yew tree. Good news on the leveret!. No bats seen yet, but have heard them scrabbling in the loft. Had so many a few years ago, I would sit on the wall outside at dusk to watch them stream out – one time, a sparrow hawk swooped down and caught one – they can fly very low, have encountered them on my walks. Are your bats pipistrelles?

      1. We get several sorts, I’m not sufficiently knowledgeable to tell the difference.

        1. G’morning sos….size…pipistrelles the smallest bat far as I know..mostly what we have, with a few noctules. They occasionally come in the house late summer when the weather still warm at night and windows/doors still open….quick look round then out again. People seem to think bats will get tangled in their hair – but they don’t usually do that – echolocation. They don’t drink either, skinny dip into water then lick it off their chest/belly. Found one downed a few years ago, fetched it indoors put in a small box on top of tissue until it recovered sufficiently to fly. One of the oldest species on earth. I can’t wait to see them again, you are so lucky to have several sorts šŸ™‚

    4. Brilliant!
      We won't have cuckoos here until the middle of May. Mind you, we have had a very early arrival of swallows.

  68. Massive bumblebee has taken a night's accommodation in the little toilet, clinging to an empty toilet roll centre.
    Since it's dark and cold, we'll leave him there until tomorrow, then let him out.
    Has grey hair at the spiky end of his thorax…

    1. We've had several butterflies flitting about and I also noticed a bumble bee.

      1. Were any of the butterflies by any yellow/green, Bob – Brimstones, haven't seen any for a few years. Bet we see Vanessas soon – Peacock butterflies. Or possibly cabbage whites…eeek….

        1. Brimstones here, peacock butterflies, oranged tipped, a couple of skippers, bumble bees – all on a morning's walk, hedgerows filled with white blackthorn blossom. More insect life around than last year.

          1. We have the blackthorn too, and the bees, no flutterbys as yet but feel certain there will be. Bees all around. Back to normal after the last few years – brill!

          3. Unfortunately just seen headline – also good for channel crossings, ‘mum šŸ™

        2. Peacocks I believe with the roundels on the wing tips and some yellowy-green ones.

    2. Buff-tailed Bumble Bee, Paul….thanks for saving him šŸ™‚ Many insects out and about, a warm Spring..

  69. And that is me for the night.
    Heading South and intending to get to Basingstoke on Thursday to take eldest daughter for a birthday lunch.
    It's going to be a bit chilly at night, so I've beefed up my bedding somewhat and have an ex-Army arctic sleeping bag for reserve!
    Goodnight all.

    1. Sad but true. Why the muslim filth have such support is beyond me. They are like sewage from a leaking pipe. Something that you deal with and flush away.

  73. Well, chums, it's now well past my bedtime. So I wish you all a Good Night. Sleep well and I hope to see you all tomorrow.

  74. Been awake for ages with the pains in tum again , and feeling so warm, had to splash myself with cold water .. the pain is unbearable , but is being managed . Now drinking a cup of tea !

    I had a busy day on Monday , huge spring clean underway , by me , because my 2 sisters are due here in May from SA.

    I had a phone call from the garage to say my car was fixed and ready to pick up .

    My garage bill was enormous , Ā£938 + Moh had to do a bank transfer , VAT on everything , spare parts for the suspension etc.

    The state of our roads are causing everyone so much grief .

    Whilst we were picking up my car , I had a text bleep through on my phone , from SA, one of my nieces had been taken into theatre for a planned caesarean and she produced 2 bonny baby boys .. beautiful plump little bundles of what looked like squeaking joy . Yes , a phone message and video all the way from somewhere in South Africa , not sure whether from city or where .

    The phone internet is incredible .. because actually the whole shebang had been filmed , and as Moh was driving the car and I was looking at my phone , he heard me gasp with surprise as I witnessed the Caesarean births and subsequent whoops of delight from the various onlookers at the event , and he heard the first cries of the newly born babies .. Well yes he wondered what all the noise was .. and I said , darling , this is the real thing .. live births all the way from South Africa.. first cries from each baby , and the various family onlookers wow's of celebration and praise be .

    My niece is partnered with a South Afrikaan , family originally from Germany from the Boer period .

    The father looks a nice handsome fair haired chap , both she ( my niece and he are in their thirties , my poor younger brother (now a new grandfather) was filmed with his newly acquired extra family , other grandfather and his relatives who gave him a a huge cigar to celebrate , except all I could see was my brother choking on the Havana or what ever it was , and flurry of Afrikaan laughter .. None of my family speak Afrikaans .. and my brother doesn't smoke !!!

    The babies will be named Raphael and Andries , those are not unusual names for South Afrikaan boys .

    Everything seems to be filmed for posterity or to be posted on social media .. the younger generation do that sort of thing .

    So, now , don't want to bore you but my father was a twin , his cousins were twins ( his mother and her sister produced twins ) I had a twin episode but miscarried , my younger sister and brother are twins , and now my brother's daughter has produced twins .

    My late father had a twin sister , and his cousins were identical twin boys , my brother and sister are so different , and I am not too sure what the new set of twins will be , identical or not, will soon find out .

    I have just heard a cock pheasant chakking away , looks like a nice morning , and I hope I have the energy to cope with my veterans lunch do today .. the numbers are thinning down , but the way I am feeling even though many are in their nineties , sometimes wonder whether they will outlive me because of how I am feeling right now.

    1. Great news about the babies. Good luck to the new parents and the boys, on the other side of the world.

      Last August I had both the childrenā€™s cars serviced and repaired – each cost Ā£750. I gulped as both cars are 15+ years old. But a new carā€¦

      VAT at 20% is a big cost.

      1. Morning to you , and wow you are awake and sprightly so early as well .

        With the push for electric cars , have they been examined for battery long levity ?

        I have been reading up on them ..

        Factors Affecting Battery Life:
        Usage: Extended use can lead to a natural loss of capacity.

        Environmental Factors: Extreme temperatures (hot or cold) can impact battery longevity.

        Driving Habits: Aggressive driving or frequent fast charging can accelerate battery degradation.

        So what is the point of an electric car?

    2. Good news about the new family members, but not so good about your health though.
      I presume you have been to see the doctor about it?
      And I hope it improves quickly.

      1. Hello Bob,

        My doctor says I look well , he has put me on some antiacid treatment , my blood pressure is too high despite my medication .

        According to his diagnosis .. diverticulitis could be the culprit , but I have had this tum problem for years .

        I am careful about my diet , but something sparks my condition off , might be fruit , vegetables . Ate delicious purple sprouting broccoli with grilled fish and mash and used some mushrooms as well , then papaya for pud … simple .. and woke up at 04.30 .. perspiring and in savage pain and retching .

  75. Sometimes I despair. Is it just me? The US also has the equivalent of ā€œthe Blobā€. But hey, give them advance warning so they can get the Swamp nice a swampy:

    ā€œSir ā€“ President Trump may have a point about tariffs and trade (Letters, April 7).
    However, why didnā€™t he say: ā€œIn six months Iā€™m going to start applying tariffs?ā€ He would probably have achieved what he wants without alienating all Americaā€™s friends and trading partners. He might even have removed some of the worst cases of protectionism, therefore benefiting consumers.
    Mike Metcalfe
    Butleigh, Somersetā€

    1. I see that the globalists have all made small fortunes out of Trump's tariffs,
      Unfortunately they all started off with large fortunes.
      Trump still winning.

      2. I would willingly pay towards the cost of getting rid of Starmmer.

        It would be cheaper than the money he is costing us through taxes

        Wher is Jack Reacher when you need him

    2. Good morning Geoff

      Thankyou so much , strange thing for me to say but it is great that this forum is something like a dream catcher , and a soother during the early hours .

Comments are closed.