Monday 7 June: Britain must be realistic about how much it can spend on foreign aid

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/06/06/letters-britain-must-realistic-much-can-spend-foreign-aid/

565 thoughts on “Monday 7 June: Britain must be realistic about how much it can spend on foreign aid”

  1. Navy ‘should double in size’ to help shipyards. 7 June 2021.

    Britain should double the size of the Royal Navy to boost its shipbuilding industry, a prominent Conservative MP has said.

    Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the defence select committee, said the UK did not require many complex and expensive warships, but should build a greater number of low-end ships – both for its own Navy and for exporting.

    Morning everyone. It should double treble in size to protect the UK instead of gallivanting off to the Far East to bait China!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/06/06/calls-build-low-end-ships-navy/

    1. Our national governing mentality is to sink everything into very few grand, prestigious headline projects that can swamp the news and bury bad news, and cut back all the smaller stuff for the “austerity” to keep the borrowing down to just a couple of trillion to pay for the bling. Nobody will notice, since it’s not being reported – the media are ordered to go down on one knee and ignore the needs of those whose lives don’t matter.

      Our flagship state-of-the-art aircraft carrier (which due to an unfortunate oversight, market conditions and hard decisions cannot support any military aircraft that can win battles) is then scuttled by an exocet within minutes of active service.

      Those responsible have no doubt been on the Unconscious Bias course, ticked the Diversity boxes, and can look forward to the usual handouts on retirement.

      1. 334001+ up ticks,
        Morning JM,
        Open treachery political overseers backed ALL the way by the same support / vote / whinge brigade.

    2. 334001+ up ticks,
      Morning AS,
      In English Channel protection vessels to combat the open treachery being portrayed by the tory
      (ino) overseers.p

    3. Araminta mng. As soon as I saw Tobias Ellwood, from inception it’s virtue signalling crap. He ignores his own predecessors under John Major sold off [privatised land deals] for majority of shipbuilders. then again if Ellwood wants to virtue signal a vanity project, use the Mary Rose or buy an Airfix kit

      1. Mentioning Airfix and the RN reminded me that I built an Airfix kit of the battlecruiser HMS Hood back in the day. That beautiful and once powerful ship was as obsolescent in 1940 as are our latest aircraft carriers without massive protection. Watching documentary programmes re the USN Carrier Groups it’s clear that the number of other specialist ships required, including the most sophisticated radar equipped ships afloat, to surround and protect the Carriers is beyond the RN’s capability. Reminiscent of the tragedy of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in WWII, dispatched without air cover and lost to Japanese air attack. Seems that the lessons of history have been forgotten.

        1. agreed KtK re forgetting / ignoring history. Or, another virtue signal attempt to rewrite it, as in, it never happened

          1. It’s only for a week?
            Or is it the “Three Weeks To Flatten The Sombrero” kind of week?

        3. Not forgotten – there were plenty of people asking “where’s the carrier protection group?”, but ignored.
          If you see how many protection vessels surround the big US carriers, it’s awesome. Including submarines. Like, the whole of the RN to protect 1 carrier.

          1. MOH says that it was announced that the French would provide enough support and protection vessels for the British carrier.

            Why should they do this rather than protect their own carrier which has catapults and wires?

          2. HA! HA! HA!
            That’s a good one! The French!
            HA! HA! HA!
            Sorry, but what creduloud fool thought that was a solution to rely on? Gordon Brown, maybe?
            Sorry, mirth not aimed at you, Janet 🙁

        4. And the Falklands. Without proper airborne early warning radar, ships are highly vulnerable to enemy planes. They intend to have a helicopter-borne version called Crow’s Nest, a name which accentuates the severe limitations of such a system.

          And the lack of nuclear power plants. And catapults and traps.

  2. mng all. Interesting strap line when real aid budgets now sit in the FCDO’s commercial arm CDC. David Evans has his head up his proverbial re Esther McVey who hasn’t a clue what she utters as a soundbite: Alexander Simpson hopes his virtue backslapping will get him a new years’ gong – another infertile imagination out of step with reality [and no promotion within 77 Bde]: Judy Gosling forgot her meds again [unloved rural areas?].

    SIR – Esther McVey is spot on. As a country we have a proud record of providing aid. In the last year, we have also developed a reliable Covid-19 vaccine, and the Government is to help the world by rolling this out to poorer countries.

    Although it would be marvellous to fight every injustice, we have to be selective and make the most of the money that is actually available (which is most probably borrowed).

    I know there is a case for using aid to facilitate closer business and diplomatic relationships, but the arrangement needs to work for people in the UK, as well as across the world.

    David Evans
    Wilmslow, Cheshire

    SIR – Your Leading Article on overseas aid is very much on the mark. However, permit me to add that it is no coincidence that so many of those onservative MPs attempting to overturn Rishi Sunak’s eminently justified cut are Remainers.

    The 2019 general election victory was about getting Brexit done and electing a government that would finally put Britain first. However, it appears that the parliamentary Conservative Party continues to harbour many who are happier basking in the applause of metropolitan liberal elites than listening to voters.

    Terry Smith
    London NW11

    SIR – As a taxpayer I have no objection in principle to Britain helping poorer countries.

    What I do object to is the way that aid has often gone to countries that can afford to do more themselves, like space-race India, or to countries where corruption results in cash being siphoned off to enrich the elite. What is needed is a more hard-headed approach to the allocation of funds.

    John Chillington
    Wells, Somerset

    SIR – I can recall reports in this paper and elsewhere of millions, if not billions, of pounds of foreign aid money being shovelled out of the door by the Government just before the end of the budget year, simply to avoid breaking the law. Nobody knew how it ended up being spent.

    If this was the case, could Andrew Mitchell and the other Tory rebels reassure taxpayers that the practice would not be repeated?

    Derek Morton
    Woodford, Cheshire

    SIR – Before I retired I gave 5 per cent of my income to charitable causes; the figure is still over 3 per cent of my pension. However, my contribution to “overseas” charities is already over 1.2 per cent this year.

    Perhaps my tax return should have a new entry, absolving me from contributing to the government target – whatever it may be – as I’ve already made my own contribution.

    Keith Appleyard
    West Wickham, Kent

    Pragmatic GP care

    SIR – Your headline, and statement that GPs are being “asked to justify themselves over low levels of face-to-face appointments”, belie the fact that millions of patients have still been able to safely see their GP during the pandemic when other NHS services had to shut down.

    Face-to-face appointments have been available throughout the pandemic but remote consultations have been necessary for infection control, and to protect patients and GP practice teams from Covid. They also meant that GPs were able to carry on working even when self-isolating.

    Remote consultations have their benefits, but we know that some patients prefer to consult their GP face-to-face – and many GPs prefer that, too. Post-pandemic, we want to give patients the choice, based on their health needs and shared decision-making with their doctor.

    As the British Medical Association says, we still need to be mindful of infection-control protocols and ensure that care is delivered appropriately and safely. General practice also needs huge investment in infrastructure, as well as thousands more GPs and practice team staff, if we are to continue delivering high-quality care.

    My own practice had to close one of our five sites at the start of the pandemic as it is an old building rather than purpose-built premises, and we could not work in a Covid-safe way that kept people socially distanced.

    Dr Michael Mulholland
    Vice Chair, Royal College of GPs
    London NW1

    SIR – Last Thursday morning I waited in the phone queue for my GP surgery for an hour, trying to get a face-to-face appointment after two months of remote healthcare.

    I have been offered an injection for arthritis when it is “safe for the GP”. Meanwhile, I am in a lot of pain. I was flatly refused the appointment, so went to A&E. Here I received the service I would have expected from the GP, as well as reassurance and good advice. I am incredibly grateful.

    Sadly, though, I feel very let down by the doctor’s surgery, which now provides a very different service to the kind I received when I came to this town 30 years ago. I feel the system is broken and has been for a while.

    Sheila Upton
    Grimsby, Lincolnshire

    Church going

    SIR – Emma Thompson is right: the Church of England is heading in the wrong direction. Any money it had should have been used to provide vicars for every church, especially in unloved rural areas.

    We need vicars to be able to fulfil their proper role, of being in their parishes and having time to visit the sick and the lonely. We do not need so many bishops. Let’s cut out the extras and get back to basics.

    At the moment, the laity is being asked to do more and give more money at every turn. Members begin to feel pressurised, then they give up. The Church must change if it is to survive into the next generation.

    Judy Gosling
    Little Maplestead, Essex

    Sharp practice

    SIR – My mother’s cousin had a novel and effective way of repelling unwanted travel companions on trains (Letters, June 5).

    She was a chiropodist, and would open her case and sharpen her instruments during the journey.

    Diana Beveridge
    Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

    Vaccine hero

    SIR – No doubt I am among many in welcoming the news that Kate Bingham is to be awarded a damehood in the Queen’s birthday honours list. She is the one shining light to emerge from the shambles of the last 14 months.

    We can only hope that no ministers for health, education or transport (among others) are named.

    Alexander Simpson
    Market Drayton, Shropshire

    Cornish quandary

    SIR – Tanya Gold’s article will have struck a chord with many Cornwall residents.

    Overcrowding during the tourist season is increasing exponentially. It’s one thing to be held up on the roads but waiting in A&E for hours due to lack of resources is dangerous.

    The much larger problem, however, is the huge growth in second homes. The average price of a house in Padstow is over £600,000. The average wage in Cornwall is £25,000 – one of the lowest in the country.

    St Ives has already pioneered a way in which coastal communities can restrict the sale of new dwellings. Others, such as Padstow, are considering similar action – but I fear it is too little, too late.

    Those employed in the tourism support services have to live in more affordable, remote locations, travelling to work by public transport and passing houses that cost what is for them an unimaginable fortune.

    This is not about envy; it should be a right to be able to live and work in your own county. Yet many young people have no choice but to leave Cornwall altogether if they want more than minimum wages and a chance of owning their own house.

    Denis Kearney
    Lostwithiel, Cornwall

    Lawn again

    SIR – After 20 years, I have stopped rigidly mowing my lawn up and down in stripes.

    I now mow diagonally, which within a day or so creates a beautiful diamond effect as Mother Nature tries to maintain the long-established stripes.

    Maybe our friends are just being polite, but I am always complimented on our garden. The rather neglected (or “natural effect”) borders also provide a habitat for the many creatures we share this space with.

    Tony Parrack
    London SW20

    Let Londoners decide historic sites’ future

    SIR – The campaign by Save Britain’s Heritage to stop the insensitive development of South Kensington Tube station – which received nearly 2,000 objections – has resulted in the proposal being withdrawn “at the 11th hour”.

    The campaign to save the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, meanwhile, has gathered 28,472 objections to the destructive development of this site. What, then, prevents Historic England from rethinking its support for the plans?

    The letter (May 22) from Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, countering Charles Saumarez Smith’s criticism of the plans for the foundry, was long on calm assurance but short on facts, and ignored the public outcry that the proposal has aroused.

    Marcus Binney, executive president of Save Britain’s Heritage, says the success of the South Kensington Tube campaign was “yet another ringing declaration that the citizens of London care about their neighbourhoods”. They do indeed – but does Historic England?

    Susan Haskins
    Professor Nicholas Pickwoad
    London WC1

    The EU’s bad faith over Northern Ireland

    SIR – Simon Coveney, the Irish defence minister, is being disingenuous in the extreme.

    He says the UK chose the form of Brexit that has resulted in the troublesome Northern Ireland protocol, but knows that the EU chose to weaponise the Irish border issue at the start of the Brexit talks.

    If the EU were to implement the protocol in a constructive manner, and with goodwill, the situation would improve. However, Mr Coveney is one of a long list of European politicians, led by Emmanuel Macron, who are unable to accept Brexit and will forever seek to punish the UK for exercising its sovereign will.

    I fear that until this generation of European politicians is replaced by a more enlightened one, we will be subjected to more of this carping.

    Christopher Timbrell
    Kington Langley, Wiltshire

    1. This, coming from a man who gives the impression he doesn’t know where (or who) he is most of the time, does not fill me with confidence.

      1. Morning VOM. It was like this at the end of the Roman Empire. Gibbering idiots, Perverts, Cranks ruled, while the Barbarians gathered at the gates!

        2. Some years ago, an American commentator described modern-day Britain as “Like witnessing how Ancient Rome became Italy” (Paraphrased).

    2. Morning, Araminta.
      I’m not attempting to cast doubt on your reporting, but what Biden actually said was…

      Unintelligible

      An aide attempted a translation and bullshit was the result.

    3. Morning, Araminta.
      I’m not attempting to cast doubt on your reporting, but what Biden actually said was…

      Unintelligible

      An aide attempted a translation and bullshit was the result.

    4. Special Relationship is a myth, both Govts know it as does MSM. Demented Joe’s always been anti English and pro IRA. Then again by the time he lands, he’d have forgotten where he is and what he’s supposed to do. Stick him in London zoo, then UK citisens can maintain social distance

      1. Politically it may be a myth, but look at the Five Eyes system and the Armed Forces in general; it is the long term strategy of the British Government to maintain an alliance with the USA. The USA needs bases and harbours around the world, eg the UK, Diego Garcia; in exchange the UK gets some measure of protection via NATO.

        1. mng tim, five eyes is now corporatlly owned to maintain the US’ unilateral belief they control everything on the planet. the British govt realised this after WII and collapse of empire, so had no choice but to attempt to retain some strands of deemed importance globally. That’s part of Churchill’s legacy post Yalta in 43. US mil industrial complex need bases around the world aka the attempt to currently ring Russia and China. NATO in its original form existed until the collapse of the Berlin wall and former Soviet Union. Currently NATO is merely the US proxy viz coup in Ukraine, patriot missiles in Poland and its attempt via the three seas initiative which keeps Poland happy

        2. Yes but protection from who?
          From what I can see Russia doesn’t want the problem of invading and controlling a country full of peaceful Methodist enrichers and China is content to buy the place.
          Our true enemies our a lot closer, most just across the English Channel, but quite a few in Westminster as well. NATO is irrelevant.

    5. It would be nice to see people giving him the welcome he really deserves.

    6. It’ll go swimmingly if the behavioural psychos that have Johnson in their thrall can provide some little girls with platted hair in the near vicinity of “Creepy Joe” in Cornwall. Mark Steyn said Biden is still ogling at little girls in his latest show on his website.

  5. This tweet is right on the money.
    Any parent considering to permit Matt, “…the jabs are safe,” Hancock and his fellow jabster, Zahawi to have these potions put into their child is failing in their first duty as a parent i.e. to protect their child from harm. I still remember my mother telling me and my siblings to NEVER accept sweets etc. from a stranger. My mother’s advice holds good today, especially when the stranger is a government minister on a mission with a syringe full of heaven knows what as his offering.

    https://twitter.com/LPerrins/status/1401654501535268869

    1. mng KtK, best add a colour coded rider to your post. Given the majority of those of colour persuasion aren’t familiar as to their first duty as parent aka non existent / abesentee fathers, if jab’s free the majority are “all in”

      1. Am I incorrect in being under the impression that many of those to whom you refer are naturally wary of being jabbed? Recent history in their homelands being what it is re certain white men/white women “doing good” with potions and syringes.

        1. first point, unless there’s ££ / SS involved for someone higher up the loop / or if an illegal economic gimmegrant, if it’s free, then the usual sprung loaded right arm / hand. Re your last point, you hit the wacamole on the head every time re billy boy Gates potions issued through UNICEF and W.H.O. re Tetanus etc ended up sterlizing women

        2. We should stop being so patronising. BLM would make a much better job of jabbing sharp instruments into people.

  6. Meritocracy remains our best option, but it cannot work without social solidarity. 7 June 2021.

    Research from the United States certainly suggests that this is the case. In his book, Fractured, the British author Jon Yates reveals that the one city in America with Scandinavian levels of social mobility is in the state that spends least on education. Perhaps surprisingly, it is largely white, votes Republican and is highly religious. It is Salt Lake City, and its success appears to be linked to its social trust, with children from rich and poor families attending the same schools, visiting temple together, and forming the same social networks.

    Surprised? Not me. This is the path that the entire West followed until recently and which goes a long way to explaining its supremacy!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/06/06/meritocracy-remains-best-option-cannot-work-without-social-solidarity/

    1. ‘Morning, AWK, All the Martello towers have now been bought up and converted into ever so twee dwellings.

  8. Good advice

    A young lady confidently walked around the room with a raised glass of water while leading a seminar and explaining stress management to her audience.

    Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘half empty or half full?’ She fooled them all. “How heavy is this glass of water?” she inquired with a smile.

    Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.

    She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.

    In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “and that’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.

    As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden – holding stress longer and better each time practiced. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Pick them up again tomorrow if you must.”

    1. Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue!
    2. Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
    3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
    4. Drive carefully… It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
    5. If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
    6. If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
    7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
    8. Never buy a car you can’t push.
    9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.
    10. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
    11. Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
    12. The second mouse gets the cheese.
    13. When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
    14. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
    15.
    16. Don’t know what happened to #15.
    17. Who cares, you have 5 more to read.
    18. We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.
    19. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
    20. Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.

    And Most Importantly
    21. Save the earth….. It’s the only planet with chocolate and wine!

    1. She was confidentaly walking around because the chairs were taken and there were already two fat blokes on the sofa?

  9. BBC Breakfast TV

    Jaw dropping revelations from Gordon Brown this morning who claims that it only a matter of political will that will enable the UK to underwrite vaccinating the whole world against the COVID virus.

    That’s rich from the bloke who dumped most of Britain’s gold reserves to make ends meet.

    1. Morning Angie. He was on Fareed Zakaria yesterday! It was embarrasing!

    2. It will be 30 years before we hear the truth, but one version has it that Mr GB sold the gold because he was under European Commission pressure to deposit the reserves in the ECB at Frankfurt; obviously that would have been politically unacceptable, so the next best choice was to sell the gold and invest the proceeds in the euro.

    3. Good morning AO’E

      Did you listen to Blair on Marr yesterday morning , Brown is obviously echoing everything Blair said .

    4. We’re amazed that if Britain won’t underwrite the vaccination programme for the whole world, than none of the other 200 nations will.

      Or is it just enthusiasm from British politicians to be “white saviours”?

  10. Shackled skeleton identified as rare evidence of slavery in Roman Britain. 7 June 2021.

    His ankles secured with heavy, locked iron fetters, the enslaved man appears to have been thrown in a ditch – a final act of indignity in death.

    Now the discovery of the shackled male skeleton by workers in Rutland – thought to have been aged in his late 20s or early 30s – has been identified as rare and important evidence of slavery in Roman Britain and “an internationally significant find”.

    He was obviously Black. One of the Olusogius family. Time to get the Reparations Bill into the Rome City Council!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/07/shackled-skeleton-identified-rare-evidence-roman-britain

    1. for their next scoop, Grauniad will announce the skeleton was also on social media. The repurcussions for the other Roman Legions also on social media will mean contacting via seance, their lawyers, rapidly

    2. Absolutely no chance whatsoever that he was a captured criminal or deserter of course.

    3. On his way to stand trial for threatening some local woad dealer, his escort had to ditch the prisoner because they were attacked in a no go zone.

    4. On his way to stand trial for threatening some local woad dealer, his escort had to ditch the prisoner because they were attacked in a no go zone.

      1. Metal shackles have very limited use in practical slavery. Very difficult to get any productive work out of someone who is manacled or shackled.
        Possibly used on occasion in transfer of slave from location to location, or owner to owner. However, the control is really psychological. Psychological control works very effectively as we have seen, and accepted, over the past year or so. No physical shackles required.

        1. Slave or Prisoner?
          There is no evidence the person was a slave merely supposition.

  11. Good morning all. A bright start to what promises to be a hot day with thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon! 10°C in the yard 10 minutes ago.

  12. 334001+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,

    Monday 7 June: Britain must be realistic about how much it can spend on foreign aid

    An old issue brought into play and IMO dragged over the DOVER
    INVASION as rhetorical camouflage chaff, the DOVER INVASION issue has life lasting consequences hitting ALL facets of society as in medication, education, accommodation, and in a known case or two incarceration.

    It is proving these governance politico’s are the cream of the crop in regards to herd building,( Dover) trouble creating,herd manipulation,
    if the same zest they portray in orchestrating devious, treacherous actions was shown instead as beneficial to the United Kingdom we would be world beaters.

    Various areas NOW are showing clearly the future that will, in the main be spent on NOT one knee but two, five times a day this can be further consolidated by supporting / voting for the lab/lib/con coalition group.

    The final overall takeover will be seamless as we have proved , via parliament and the oath taking book & parliamentary canteen halal inclusive menu shows.

      1. What idiots like Southgate don’t understand is that BLM will be after him and those players with money coming out of their ears and will defund their bank accounts.
        Stupidity on a grand scale.
        The whole country seems to be drowning in stupidity across the spectrum.
        Thank god for NoTTLers.

      2. Indeed, I’m so fed up with it all I can’t be bothered to watch them in a major tournament for the first time in my long life.

          2. no, he’s still “selling” vaccines [Nepal, Vietnam, South Africa] on behalf of big pharma. It’s his pension and shares rights at stake. That’s before he returns to his normal job of shreding the evidence in No.10

    1. So did I. Using an old-fashioned pet name comes across as crass – why not call her Lily? – and they’ve effectively stolen the Queen’s private name from her. They could use Diana as her main name, but wouldn’t that bring all that depression and mental pain that Hapless claims he gets when he thinks of his mother?

  19. Note to DT: this is how to write a headline.
    The Daily Star reaches new heights:

    Aaaaaaaah

    Woman has Lil baby.

    Spotlight Dodgers ensure totally normal low-key birth by naming kid after Queen.

      1. 334001+ up ticks,
        Morning AWK,
        For years I followed farage without question in giving him a platform as many did only to be rewarded via his party destroying input alongside the current uKiP party nEc.

        Good chance them lads on display would be members of the REAL UKIP party if so they must have uniform jackets with uniform holes in the back 30000 plus of them.

        In reality we trusted those boys on show with our lives and they came through.

        The current state of the nation tells me WE HAVE FORGOT.

        1. agree with that ogga. your last point is where the real issue and the intention of Mr Symonds paymasters is aiming at. Remove those who don’t forget and rewrite history to a more diluted / PC form. And those that don’t forget won’t lie down and accept it. MSM will do their utmost to condition / coerce others

  22. Good morning, my friends

    George Eustice faces demotion in upcoming reshuffle as Boris Johnson prepares to reward allies
    The Environment Secretary is thought to have a weak record on animal rights and be too close to the farming industry
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/06/george-eustice-faces-demotion-upcoming-reshuffle-johnson-prepares/
    BTL Comment

    Why doesn’t Johnson just elevate his new wife to The House of Lords and appoint her as Environment Secretary to ‘cut out the middle man’?

    3. Mr Eustice made the mistake of promoting an animal rights Bill, which could potentially (don’t hold your breath) affect the religious slaughter lobby.

    1. Presumably Ghana is on the red list so Priti will have to spend 10 days in an isolation hotel at her own expense when she returns? No time for more – a squadron of pigs is flying by and I need to watch.

    2. What a silly bunt – if she only deported every one who landed illegally back to France, the word would soon get round that there’s no point in paying exorbitant fees to people smugglers and the tide would dry up.

      Jollies to the African Continent will have as much use as a chocolate teapot.

    2. Morning all that is such an ugly vehicle it’s a cross between a Jag XK 150 and a Morris traveler. With pre 1970s MGB knock on wheels.

      2. I can’t stop looking at it, for me it has the same morbid fascination as a road accident or deformity, I just can’t believe it’s not a bad photoshop (it’s not) jeepers even the roofline makes my eyes hurt

    3. The Jaguar Traveller the up market alternative to the Morris Traveller.

      1. It would have been fast and very juicy………about 15 to the gallon. 3.4 straight 6.

    3. Not interested for 2 reasons,
      1. I would have to look up where my nearest McDonalds is.
      2. I like my bacon crispy, that photo does not show crispy bacon!

      There are some standards one should never abandon.

    4. Not interested for 2 reasons,
      1. I would have to look up where my nearest McDonalds is.
      2. I like my bacon crispy, that photo does not show crispy bacon!

      There are some standards one should never abandon.

  27. Before their Six Nations rugby matches the England Rugby team knelt in submission to a violent, black criminal. The consequence was that they lost to Wales, Ireland and Scotland – all three – for the first time in over forty years.

    A young cricketer of 27 in his debut Test match took 7 wickets and undoubtedly saved England from defeat. His reward: to be dropped from the team for something he said as an 18 year old nine years ago. This will undoubtedly boost New Zealand’s chances in the next match!

    At least the England Football Team’s supporters are showing the spirit to boo their team when it kneels in submission to the same violent black criminal that the oval ball players knelt to – but the team will continue to kneel before their matches so expect an early departure for England from the European Nations’ Championship competition.

    So is it any surprise that Gove and Johnson grovelingly capitulated to the EU on Northern Ireland and surrendered control over British fishing? Britain will continue to lose in both sport and diplomacy for as long as it prefers humiliating, self-abasing wokeness to showing a bit of back bone and moral fibre!

  28. After the discovery of new evidence, the Guardian has withdrawn its suggestion that an unfortunate slave was cruelly executed and thrown in a ditch. It turns out that the cadaver had the remains of an orange in his mouth and a parchment inviting him to a party at Boadicea Bashing Cohorts HQ. It seems he may have been a close friend of Jameus Savil and Barrimor Primus.

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b30b2b88db0b005e7bcb85a632b25874d3c81686/38_0_3941_2365/master/3941.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=1036dc4c1c6e54ed6927b7959c41a856

    Early Piscine des Patriciens being constructed in Londinium with local labour.

    2. If only they can find some traces of his Legionnaire issued Garethus Williamus model hold all the matter like his hold all will be closed.

    2. Shirley a fleet of MTBs manned by commandoes would be cheaper and more effective.

  32. A Remainer/Labour council, perchance?

    Council is accused of acting like ‘communist China’ after librarian of 30 years is suspended for criticising a Beijing firm’s investment in the city
    Maureen O’Bern, 58, a librarian form Wigan, was fired after ‘criticising council’
    Ms O’Bern asked for Chinese firm’s investment in city’s mall to be ‘addressed’
    She was fired by Wigan council for ‘bringing council’s reputation into disrepute’

    https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/06/06/16/43893755-9657335-image-m-10_1622991789821.jpg
    Ms O’Bern, who stood in Leigh as a pro-Brexit candidate at the 2019 general election, claims she tried to raise her concerns about the redevelopment internally but was ignored

    1. She was fired by Wigan council for ‘bringing council’s reputation into disrepute’
      I think she’s got a case there to sue, she only said what a lot of other people already think….and probably already know.

      1. Is that what they call political opposition now? Why do we bother with democracy?

        Edit – what has Shadow Foreign Secretary and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy got to say about this?

      2. But “a council spokesman” is reported to have said that “a person” has been suspended pending an investigation. Is this a sign that the council is starting to back-track? I certainly hope so.

    2. I saw that as well, glad you posted it ..

      I wonder how many councils have Chinese investment , how can we find out , and is HS2 financed by the Chinese, and the repair of Big Ben etc?

    3. 58 ??? – -looking good lass !!!!!!
      Wondering now that after 30 yrs service the council are trying to get rid of her without paying a pension. Will she lose that ?

      1. No – defined benefit pensions (which as a council employee I assume applies to her) are almost impossible not to pay.

      2. No – defined benefit pensions (which as a council employee I assume applies to her) are almost impossible not to pay.

      3. No – defined benefit pensions (which as a council employee I assume applies to her) are almost impossible not to pay.

  33. What a lovely day we had yesterday, our eldest’s and his wife and young family came to see us, he principally came to mow the lawns, front and back as i would not have been able to in my present condition so we decided to ‘fire up the Barbie’ and then number two and wife and toddler came as well. You cant beat a bit of family time. I did spend a lot of time in the kitchen but having all the grass cut was worth it.

  38. Mrs VVOF had to do a home Covid test prior to her radiotherapy treatment which starts this week. She took the test yesterday and it was collected from home and today she has had a negative test result sent to her mobile phone.
    The message told her to enter the result on the NHS Covid-19 App, sneaky people. What possible benefit does putting a test result on this app achieve apart from helping Hand on Cock spread his tentacles far and wide throughout the land.
    No way are we downloading this app, for any reason, certainly not for a reason such as this. I would rather dig out my basic dumb phone and use.

    1. surveillance, data tracking and expect everyone using it not to raise questions just send in belief non youth wouldn’t think twice. Command and control

    2. I have no intention of downloading any such app. My ‘mobile’ phone has become my home phone as I no longer carry it when heading out.

    3. I have no intention of downloading any such app. My ‘mobile’ phone has become my home phone as I no longer carry it when heading out.

    4. …apart from helping Hand on Cock spread his tentacles far and wide…

      Am I the only one who misread that a “testicles”?

    2. Good morning, Maggie.

      Let me get this right. You live in Yorkshire, where they make the world’s best fish and chips. OK? You take your family to Ripoffsville (i.e. London) and decide to eat … fish and chips? Serves you right you were overcharged for sub-standard food.

      I go to London once in a millennium and, when I do, I choose to eat something I can’t obtain anywhere else. It’s called ‘part of the experience’. Just as much as scaring the locals by announcing “AYUP!” to everyone you come across whilst down there is.

      1. Hey Beatnik, you dine out with your home boys, old Al and Fresco, no need to go to the Big Burgs and pay Big Bucks, keep your home in your hand, and be a travellin’ man, Dude.

          1. AYUP, Grizzly? Art tha’ tryin’ to make me ravenous for a bacon butty?

            :-))

          2. I’ve just had one (home made bacon on a home-baked bread cob). It were tip top, tha’ knows.

      2. AYUP, Grizzly. ‘Ow’s thee doin”? I see from the photo that the restaurant which charged £54 for four portions can’t even make proper mushy peas. They look more like tomato ketchup to me.

        :-))

        1. Does tha’ mean “Ow’s tha’ doin’?”, Auntie Elsie?

          I’m gradely, lass, ta! I can show them southerners a thing or two about making PROPER mushy peas and not that abomination what comes in tins!

    3. ‘Morning, Mags, forgive my ignorance but who is Gareth Jones?
      Should I already know?
      I don’t.

    2. Couple of weeks ago on a radio phone-in they were talking about the effects of lockdown etc and the woman caller put her 6yr old daughter on – who said in her squeaky little voice ” I’m worried about my mental health “.
      The world has lost it.

        1. Yes I know – it sounded so weird. 75 – 80 yrs ago kids here were dodging bombs etc – now they can’t manage if they haven’t got a broadband signal.

    3. A few years of Biden and the USA will look like the right-hand side picture!

  43. I see that Gareth Southgate [I think he is something to do with football?] has sided with the players who kneel in obeyance to the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement, has been getting down with his new pals -?
    From a Telegraph article . .

    “Gareth Southgate with some YouTubers including ChrisMD, StuntPegg, Yung Filly and SV2” – What the ???

      1. I think it would be more powerful were the crowd to stand and turn their backs.

          1. But they would say that they did not turn up because of Covid and not because they despise the footballers. No, they must turn up and show their contempt and disgust. How about boards and banners proclaiming:

            ENGLAND RUGBY KNEELERS GET
            WORST RESULTS FOR OVER 40 YEARS
            EXPECT SIMILAR FAILURE ENGLAND FOOTBALL KNEELERS

  44. Ollie Robinson to MISS second Test against New Zealand as ECB announces England star will be suspended from ALL international cricket pending the outcome of investigation into historic racist and sexist tweets… as Joe Root labels behaviour ‘unacceptable’. 7 June 2021

    England have suspended fast bowler Ollie Robinson from all international cricket for posting racist and sexist tweets nearly a decade ago, with captain Joe Root describing his debutant fast bowler’s behaviour as ‘unacceptable’.

    There is nothing easier than to offer advice when you will not suffer any penalty but surely it must be apparent to this young man that these people care nothing for him. I frequently terminated my employment when I felt that my employers were hostile and had no real difficulty finding other work. Robinson should do the same!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9658009/Ollie-Robinson-suspended-international-cricket.html

    1. Yet nobody has actually read the tweets, they are just outraged at being told said tweets are racist & sexist.

      1. Morning Oberst. The one’s I’ve read look innocuous to say the least. I suspect some personal animosity here!

        1. Yes, I read them too, and can’t see what the fuss is about, but hey, what do I know?

        2. The curse of our age in two words:

          SELECTIVE INDIGNATION

          If you are not white you can get away with anything – if you are white you can’t.

        1. Those are the sort of things i would post. Lucky i don’t play any pro sport.

  48. Nicked Laff

    The Wine Taster At An Old Vineyard Died. A Homeless Guy, Looking Ragged And
    Dirty, Came To Apply. He Persuaded The Manager To Give Him A Try When He
    Said He Could Do It Blindfolded.

    The guy was given a glass of
    wine. He swirled, smelled, sipped and spit. “It’s a red wine, Merlot,
    three years old, grown on the South Slope and matured in oak barrels.”
    He said. “Impressive,” said the manager.

    The man is given another. “Still a red wine, Cabernet, eight years old, from the Northeast slope, stored in a steel vats.”

    The manager was amazed. He winked at his secretary. The secretary understood and brought out a glass of urine.

    The Homeless Man tasted it and said. “It’s a blond, 27 years old, three
    months pregnant, and if I don’t get this job, I’ll tell who the father
    is!

    1. Strange that! She got the sample from a bearded bloke with a prominent beer belly who works for the BBC. She watched him do it – he was squatting awkwardly though.

        2. Hi Belle!

          That is precious! Freshen your flaps and keep your mimsy from stinking like an old kipper. They certainly knew how to sell ’em in those days, eh?

          7. Oh I don’t know – they had some funny ones in those days. Still funny, real or not, though!

  51. Lineker supports the sacking of Robinson. Southgate says England players will continue taking the knee.

    Once upon a time, in times of need, the top sportsmen of Britain would have put their name forward and volunteered to defend Britain and the British way of life. Many actually gave their lives for their country and fellow countrymen. Today they whine and whinge, bow down to threats from alien cultures, sacrifice their young companions and and surrender to petty tyrants, rampant sexual deviants and woke political sects.

    Who will rid us of this pestilent scourge? Not the pathetic money grubbing politicians and their fellow travellers in the media and entertainment.

    We need a new ‘Protector’. Someone with the patriotism of Powell and the steely resolve of Cromwell. Where to find one? Not here, obviously. More’s the pity.

      1. Yo, VOM!

        Do we need any more reasons? There are more than enough already…

      2. Laurence Fox has declared that he will not support England in the coming European Footbal championships for as long as the team continues to kneel in reverent support of a black, violent American criminal.

        How many of his fellow actors will come out in support of his view?

        And will any sportsman lead a campaign to purge political wokeness from sport?

        And will a single MP say how unjust Robinson’s treatment is? Is freedom of speech to be automatically denied to all sportspeople in future?

        As I commented earlier here the consequence of kneeling before their matches led to the England Rugby side’s worst performance in over 40 years losing to Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

        I wonder if the New Zealand Rugby team would have build up their formidable reputaion if, before their matches, instead of the tribal dance of haka they had knelt humbly in submission to a quasi-communist political organisation.

  52. Sorry if I am late to the naming of parts, but did they decide to call her Lili because she looked so pink?

        1. Why is John Gorman (the Scaffolder in the middle) taking the knee at the start and the end of this song? Is he supporting the White Lives Matter movement (note the colour of the Scaffold’s suits).

          :-))

          1. It was Mike McGear (the Scaffolder on the left) that was the brother that never quite made it.

      2. I use Lily’s Medicinal Compound in my garden on the rhododendrons – it’s most ericaceous in every way.

    4. We have an old hag in our village known colloquially as ‘Mars Bar Lil’.

      When the American Air Force 381st Bomber Group were based at Ridgewell it was rumoured that Lil would do anything for a Mars Bar.

      1. There was a ‘mentally challenged’ lass who lived near Earls Colne. She was well past her prime by the time I knew her, but again she had been providing comfort to the American airmen. Those good ole country boys probably felt at home.

  53. Remember..Putin bad man.US/UK/NATO…good men(they encourage and arm the Ukrainians.)

    Ukraine’s national soccer team has sparked outrage online after unveiling its new kit for Euro 2020, which features the rallying cry of Nazi collaborators who played a significant role in the murder of Jews and Poles during WWII.
    The yellow and blue shirt, shown to the public on Sunday, is branded with the words ‘glory to Ukraine’ and ‘glory to heroes’. While the slogans have a long history, dating back to the writings of the country’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko, in the 1800s, they have since gained more sinister associations. Both phrases were used by members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), paramilitary groups that historians say fought alongside the Nazis and played significant roles in wartime genocides.

    The far-right OUN, led by nationalist figurehead Stepan Bandera, is understood to have been the driving force behind the bloody massacres of up to 100,000 ethnic Poles from 1943-45, as part of its quest for Ukrainian independence. Along with the UPA, it participated in the murder of more than one million Jews across the country, which saw among the most brutal destruction of its population at the hands of fascist troops.

      1. Yo, SB! Too much evil to contain in the attic picture, inevitable spill-over…

        Could I ask you kindly to just send me quick PMail, please?

      2. You can see why she remained virgo intacta and didn’t have any children.

        1. Actually my comment was aimed at B Liar; seems it’s now a dual purpose comment!

    2. AWK – you’ve just ruined my day. Now I’ll have to go and wash my mind out!

      :-))

        1. That has made me laugh so much my face is wet with tears and my throat hurts.

    4. He really does look like the devil incarnate!

      No need for the red eyes of the poster, and you can even see the incipient horns on his forehead…….

  55. Very warm here – been out in the garden, bodging. More planting out this arvo – so I’ll not be around. (“Shame”, I hear you cry.)

    I assume there is no news.

      1. Don’t think that would matter – either way – he’ll be here till he drops. On our taxes.

        1. Unfortunately his various wives/women will drop before he does. Litters of muslets.

    3. A very good argument for introducing automatic castration for paedophiles.

  57. SHOCK HORROR !!!
    Boris Johnson backs England players taking the knee after fans boo

    2. Why on earth did he feel it necessary to say anything or was he asked the question? Stupid man.

      1. According to the Excess – it appears to be just a mealy-mouthed response by “No 10 spokesman” basically saying very little.

        He said: “The Prime Minister respects the right of people in this country to peacefully protest.”
        The
        No10 official added Mr Johnson wanted “all England fans to be
        respectful in any football match” as he urged the nation to cheer on
        Gareth Southgate’s men in the Euros 2020 competition which gets underway
        later this week.
        “The Prime Minister is supporting the England
        football team and wants them to succeed and he wants the whole country
        to get behind them in that endeavour in this tournament,” he said.
        While
        supportive of players who wish to take the knee, the spokesman added Mr
        Johnson believed it was more important to take “action rather than
        gestures” when it comes to tackling racism.
        He said: “On taking the knee, specifically, the Prime Minister is more focused on action rather than gestures.
        “We
        have taken action with things like the Commission on Racial and Ethnic
        Disparities and that’s what he’s focused on delivering.

    3. Does he now openly want what BLM wants – communism, defunding of the police, racial discrimination against whites, etc. etc. ?

    8. That’s the way Pikeys should be treated when they just roll up to a field and take it over.

    9. That’s the way Pikeys should be treated when they just roll up to a field and take it over.

    1. Well, by the time that they set foot in the UK, the new onboard citizenship processes had been completed. As a result of this innovation they arrived with UK passports so are not migrants!

  62. ECB is more interested in its own image than the welfare of new employee Ollie Robinson

    To punish and shame Robinson further smacks of ECB having own interests in mind, to be seen as zealously pure and cover up its failings

    SCYLD BERRY – CHIEF CRICKET WRITER – 7 June 2021 • 10:54am

    In my opinion, the ECB is more interested in its own image than in the welfare of its new employee Ollie Robinson.

    Robinson’s public apology for angry and nasty comments he made eight years ago, when he was nineteen, could not have been more heartfelt or complete.

    The testimony by Yorkshire’s former pace bowler Moeen Ashraf, who shared hotel rooms with Robinson at the time, was powerful: that the comments were not a reflection of Robinson’s true nature.

    I am not for a moment claiming to know Robinson well but on the basis of an hour-long one-on-one interview earlier this season – face to face, and without masks as it was outside the Cardiff hotel where Sussex were staying – I could see the rough edges had gone. A mature, rational character had replaced the teenager who could occasionally fly off the handle, as 19 year-old males have been known to do.

    Robinson’s public apology – added to the one he made to the England players in the Lord’s dressing-room, plus a one-match suspension from the Edgbaston Test, to include top-up sessions with the Personal Development programme of the Professional Cricketers Association – would have been sufficient. To send him now to the ECB’s Disciplinary Commission is overkill.

    To punish and shame Robinson further smacks of the ECB having its own image in mind, the urge to be seen as zealously pure – and to help cover up its own failings and mistakes. What was the ECB doing eight years ago? Happily presiding over a professional game that did not include any non-white umpires or match officials, and barely a coach either.

    The fundamental problem is that the ECB have an enormous board packed with great and good – former chief constables of Loamshire – who have never played cricket, and certainly not for a living. This cumbersomeness and lack of knowledge of the game – well over a dozen executive board members – impacted on events last weekend.

    After Robinson had made his apology, and his one-Test suspension had been decided, the ECB’s focus had to be on events on the field. Chris Silverwood and Joe Root, as England’s coach and captain, had to be told by their bosses to respond positively to New Zealand’s declaration, for the good of the game, and to lighten the national mood. This Lord’s Test was about more than cricket, or should have been, a bit like the Victory Tests of 1945.

    What was important was that England went for the runs – initially at least – instead of Dom Sibley blocking for 70 overs. In the dressing-room the result is all that matters: you cannot expect captain and coach to stand back and see the wider picture i.e. where the England cricket team stands now in the context of coronavirus, and further clampdowns, and quite probably no unlocking on June 21.

    It was the job of a small executive board like New Zealand have – seven or eight members, at least two of whom have played international cricket – to WhatsApp the CEO Tom Harrison on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, and tell him the priority was for England to go for it – initially at any rate. This should have been the strategy, guided by people who have been in a Test dressing-room and know what is involved, and now able to stand back objectively.

    Then it would have been down to Root and Silverwood to work out the detail. For England to open with Rory Burns and Zak Crawley, followed by Root, Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence: some pretty decent stroke-makers there, even in the absence of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. If they went cheaply, then by all means block out for a draw with Sibley and James Bracey.

    Getting the players to act as role-models and supporting worthy causes has its place, for sure, but England’s cricketers will not have much influence and prestige if they fail to respond to a challenge, as they did on Sunday: if they fail to do their basic job of entertaining. And it was up to their employers to tell them so.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2021/06/07/ecb-interested-image-welfare-new-employee-ollie-robinson/

    3. Now why did I suddenly get a picture of Fattaturk in my mind? Aaaargh, sweep mind, bleach! Bleach!

  65. Parole Boards. Some members may be unqualified. ” Independent members come from a variety of professional backgrounds, you do not need to have experience in the criminal justice system to apply.*”

    Parole Board members have no responsibility for their wrong decisions.
    This is why we continue to see this kind of insanity, (last week we learned that a violent, unrepentant jihadi was sent to Fisherman’s Hall) whereby a man who raped and murdered young girls is now to be released from the open prison where he is currently held.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-57384393

    *https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-with-us

    1. He’s had lots of reeducation and training while in prison. He’s probably become adept at giving the right answers when questioned. None of that supposes he is genuinely reformed.

      The people who make these decisions are naive beyond belief.

      1. When on reads the information on the government website, it is clear that the safety of the public is not the over-riding factor.

      1. Ah, thank you! Another opportunity to use the word “nonunderreadery”.

    2. Now we have reverted 50 years to black and white TV………. What an absolute effing joke the BBC are now.

      1. ‘Afternoon, Plum, I wonder how that equates, as a percentage of the then population?

        1. The Black Death pandemic of the 14th century may have reduced the world’s population from an estimated 450 million in 1340 to between 350 and 375 million in 1400; it took 200 years for population figures to recover.

          (Wikipedia)

  67. Killer of two schoolgirls in 1980s can be freed, Parole Board rules. 7 June 2021.

    A man who raped and killed two schoolgirls can be freed from prison, the Parole Board has said.

    Colin Pitchfork was jailed for life after strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

    A document detailing the Parole Board decision said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Mr Pitchfork was suitable for release.”

    Here is the case for Capital Punishment. Why should those who have lost loved ones live to see their murderer walk free? It is against all natural justice! This man committed murder on two separate occasions and is still at 61 physically capable of it now. He should on no account be released!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/07/killer-of-two-schoolgirls-in-1980s-can-be-freed-parole-board-rules-colin-pitchfork

    1. I’m sure our learned friends will be only too eager to be appointed to defend should it be necessary……

    2. Lucky for him he didn’t tweet something when he was a teenager and play cricket for England.

    3. The whole point when hanging was abolished is that the PTB promised that hanging would be replaced by “life” imprisonment. Meaning life.

      Another lie by the Establishment – followed shortly by Heath’s assurances on the Common Market being no threat to our sovereignty…

    4. I could never understand why crimes committed on separate occasions attracted sentences that were imposed concurrently. It defies logic, as well as justice.

    5. Thanks, Minty, let’s include rape in the need for capital punishment.

      I, as a man, understand that such a heinous crime leaves the victim feeling that their life has ended.

      1. 334001+ up ticks,
        Evening NtN,
        1400 / 1600 rape abuse cases in rotherham alone consequences of mass uncontrolled immigration / mass controlled Non deportation, courtesy of the lab/lib/con coalition who STILL find support.

      2. 334001+ up ticks,
        Evening NtN,
        1400 / 1600 rape abuse cases in rotherham alone consequences of mass uncontrolled immigration / mass controlled Non deportation, courtesy of the lab/lib/con coalition who STILL find support.

    4. WTF, Mags. Surely these are prime candidates for deportation as economic migrants?

    5. WTF, Mags. Surely these are prime candidates for deportation as economic migrants?

  69. Mystery over missing remains of seven biggest Japanese war criminals finally solved. 7 June 2021.

    Documents unearthed in the US show that after Hideki Tojo, Japan’s wartime prime minister, and six other high-level leaders convicted of war crimes were hanged in December 1948, their bodies were cremated and the ashes placed into seven urns.

    They were then put onto a plane in Yokohama, flown out to sea and dumped at an unspecified point, according to declassified files in the US National Archives and Records Administration. The discovery was made by a Japanese academic, according to Kyodo News.

    Tojo was the most famous Japanese leader found guilty in the Tokyo trials, with six other military leaders similarly found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    At the time of his arrest – when he made a botched suicide attempt – an unrepentant Tojo told Japanese reporters, “The Greater East Asia War was justified and righteous. I am very sorry for the nation and all the races of the Greater Asiatic powers. I wait for the righteous judgement of history. I wished to commit suicide, but sometimes that fails.”

    I have little doubt that Tojo will be proved correct and he and his fellows will eventually be absolved of all guilt by a Japan that has never shown any contrition for the war!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/07/mystery-missing-remains-seven-biggest-japanese-war-criminals/

    1. As in all wars,only the losers are war criminals.
      The winners never commit any.

    2. As in all wars,only the losers are war criminals.
      The winners never commit any.

      1. This Covid nonsense is just an exercise in state control for when we have to put up with the fact that we can no longer afford to run our own cars or to keep our homes warm.

        But don’t worry, it’ll only be old people who will die of cold and they are disposable.

        1. Why didn’t they let us die of Covid rather than hanging on with a so-called cure-all Vaccine.
          We know we are a bluddy nuisance…..a drain on society….bed blockers etc….

          1. Too messy. Wait until it’s care home time – I have said to D that if I ever need to go into a care home, he must take me on a one-way journey to Switzerland.

          7. Sadly, by the time someone asks to go, it’s too late. It takes months to organise.
            I despise our Parliament & Government that has all the money in the world but is so callous to people who are dying in terrible pain.

          8. My Mother always said that, if she was losing her mind, she’d do herself in.
            Problem is, the loss of metal faculty also means that she lost that decision too. But, it’s not all bad – she doesn’t know she’s gone daft, so it doesn’t trouble her. There’s just one or two details – where are her parents, for example? They said they’d be back for dinner…

          9. Is she content, that’s the important thing. If she’s lost the decision, surely she is much happier being alive anyway. It’s if one wishes one was dead every day, that it becomes a dreadful decision, I imagine.

          10. She seems happy enough, I guess. A bit lonely, a bit confused. I haven’t told her that pretty well everyone she knows is dead now, as that will upset her terribly, and there’s nobody there to comfort her, even. So, I believe it’s better she isn’t brought face to face with reality that way.
            It’s a bugger, so it is.

          12. Yup, as best I can. Have access to her bank account – where she’d set up pretty well all bills as a direct debit so no cheques etc needed – but can’t find any other accounts. The “Account finder” service requires you know which bank to ask and supply (with no information) all the necessary personal details that mean they can find the account – if it’s there…

          13. So – you have to have the information that you are looking for in order to find it… Typical.

          14. So – you have to have the information that you are looking for in order to find it… Typical.

          15. She seems happy enough, I guess. A bit lonely, a bit confused. I haven’t told her that pretty well everyone she knows is dead now, as that will upset her terribly, and there’s nobody there to comfort her, even. So, I believe it’s better she isn’t brought face to face with reality that way.
            It’s a bugger, so it is.

          19. Play along with her, Ol. There is no point in trying to reason with someone who has lost their marbles (I speak from experience).

          20. That was my thoughts too. No point in looking at things from my logic point of view, and I think I understand hers, so it’s not too difficult.

          21. It can be incredibly frustrating when you can’t see any logic behind their actions. It makes sense (sort of) to them, but it’s crazy really.

          22. It can be incredibly frustrating when you can’t see any logic behind their actions. It makes sense (sort of) to them, but it’s crazy really.

          23. Play along with her, Ol. There is no point in trying to reason with someone who has lost their marbles (I speak from experience).

          24. What can one do? Wasn’t there talk a little while ago, of one of the Channel Islands having a Dignitas-type place?

          25. 334001+ up ticks,
            Evening HL,
            That would suit many hard core lab/lib/con coalition members they could save their choice of party financially by going to the quit shop.

            Keeping the party financially sound and fit to combat others in the coalition ( of the same ilk) and continue the race to the bottom.

          26. 334001+ up ticks,
            Evening HL,
            That would suit many hard core lab/lib/con coalition members they could save their choice of party financially by going to the quit shop.

            Keeping the party financially sound and fit to combat others in the coalition ( of the same ilk) and continue the race to the bottom.

          27. What can one do? Wasn’t there talk a little while ago, of one of the Channel Islands having a Dignitas-type place?

          28. Sadly, by the time someone asks to go, it’s too late. It takes months to organise.
            I despise our Parliament & Government that has all the money in the world but is so callous to people who are dying in terrible pain.

    3. IIRC all the political parties voted for the Climate Change Act. Can’t think of anybody who might put their head above the parapet and say what an absolute disaster the green agenda is.

      2. 334001+ up ticks,
        Evening VW,
        All political governance overseers lab/lib/con form a coalition
        they are connoisseurs at creating lookalike absolute disasters.

        Political lookalike absolute disasters AKA scams.

        The green political scammers have even raised money spinning monuments countrywide ( wind turbines) benefits the few NOT the many

    4. yO oGGA

      The first bit of legislation MUST be that MPs. members of HoL, Civil servants etc CANNOT get this green crap
      on the expenses

  71. Do not believe the red tractor sign on meat?

    Article showing horrific conditions on a pig farm. It appears that the farm only lost its red tractor accreditation when private investigations showed the actual conditions the pigs suffered.

    How could that farm have, and keep, red tractor in the first place? I buy my meat from a co-operative in Somerset, which is organic and free-range. The farms are all open for anyone to see, and the husbandry is caring.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/supermarkets-pig-farming-company-suspend-b1858531.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=INDNEWS%2307062021&utm_term=IND_Headlines_Masterlist_CDP

    3. Mix Johnson and NutNuts together and Dilyn does indeed look strikingly similar to his owners.

    4. I’m sorry Dilyn, you are destroying the planet, it’s mealy worms for you from now on, just like your dad.

    7. “I know you didn’t enjoy that little operation…. Boris is next……”

    8. Dilyn doesn’t look very happy. He’s probably thinking, “put me down, you stupid cow”.

    9. Presumably Carrie Antoinette has pawned the wedding ring. Even Mr Symonds, broke that he is, could have used the ring pul off a Coke can

          2. That Amaryllis was bought from Woolworths in Newport Pagnell, in 1985. Soil changed about every 5 years, watered Sunday mornings. 5p, or we throw it away, kind of deal.
            Produces some beautiful deep red flowers every year.

          3. That Amaryllis was bought from Woolworths in Newport Pagnell, in 1985. Soil changed about every 5 years, watered Sunday mornings. 5p, or we throw it away, kind of deal.
            Produces some beautiful deep red flowers every year.

  75. Sometimes it’s hard to be angry yet sometimes it’s necessary, even if your anger is directed at a target the ‘liberals’ would rather it wasn’t. I don’t remember the story of this boy’s family drowning in the Channel:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cd39ebb6b128bc38679acc8a19e53eb512db5425d0fa2c146d82d026d2b01bce.jpg
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57384925

    My anger? Listening this evening on ‘PM’ to Labour’s shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds (like you, I asked myself ‘Who?’) laying the blame on the abolition of DfID and the lack of safe routes for illegal immigrants. He mused on the reasons for ‘these people being displaced’. The presenter didn’t remind him that not many of them are really fleeing from anything and even if Iranian Kurds have a case, it’s a long way to the UK.

    Artin Nezhad would still be alive if his family hadn’t paid gangsters to transport them two and a half thousand miles across the Middle East and Europe to an increasingly crowded and angry UK but for Mr Thomas-Symonds it’s our fault, the government’s fault, Priti Patel’s fault and more. He should take a look in the mirror where he will see the corrupted liberal instinct that encourages the world’s poor and disaffected to risk their lives and fortunes to reach a country which appears to exist only for their benefit.

    1. It’s a very sad story but why were they on their way here? They passed through several perfectly safe countries, including Italy and France. This country cnnot take in all the world’s waifs and strays. Why did they not settle in Turkey?

    2. I wonder if Mr Thomas-Symonds leave his front door wide open when he leaves?

    3. I wonder if Mr Thomas-Symonds leave his front door wide open when he leaves?

    4. The poor wee lad’s body turned up on an island off the west coast of Norway.

    5. The poor wee lad’s body turned up on an island off the west coast of Norway.

    6. Ah the old “Sad Dead Kid” ploy ,you heartless bastards!!
      See Turkish beaches for more details……..
      How many kids did our bombs kill in Iraq and Libya??

      1. This is a bit different from the case of the dad and his trip to the dentist…

  76. Sometimes it’s hard to be angry yet sometimes it’s necessary, even if your anger is directed at a target the ‘liberals’ would rather it wasn’t. I don’t remember the story of this boy’s family drowning in the Channel:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cd39ebb6b128bc38679acc8a19e53eb512db5425d0fa2c146d82d026d2b01bce.jpg
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57384925

    My anger? Listening this evening on ‘PM’ to Labour’s shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds (like you, I asked myself ‘Who?’) laying the blame on the abolition of DfID and the lack of safe routes for illegal immigrants. He mused on the reasons for ‘these people being displaced’. The presenter didn’t remind him that not many of them are really fleeing from anything and even if Iranian Kurds have a case, it’s a long way to the UK.

    Artin Nezhad would still be alive if his family hadn’t paid gangsters to transport them two and a half thousand miles across the Middle East and Europe to an increasingly crowded and angry UK but for Mr Thomas-Symonds it’s our fault, the government’s fault, Priti Patel’s fault and more. He should take a look in the mirror where he will see the corrupted liberal instinct that encourages the world’s poor and disaffected to risk their lives and fortunes to reach a country which appears to exist only for their benefit.

  79. That’s me for this warm but sultry day. Often felt like thunder – but nothing happened.

    Enjoy your evening.

    A demain.

  80. That’s me for this warm but sultry day. Often felt like thunder – but nothing happened.

    Enjoy your evening.

    A demain.

  81. Gordon Brown on Reporting Scotland commenting on the foreign aid cuts, “we are deciding who lives and who dies.” Funny thing is I don’t remember any in depth audit of foreign aid end use expenditure when he was PM.

    1. There never seems to be a budget limit for immigration either – just take them in – and add the cost to the taxpayer.

    2. Gordon Brown would do well to reflect on the economic damage he and Blair caused to this country as opposed to emoting about the fate of foreigners of far off dictatorships over which we have no real influence and even less control.

      Foreign Aid has long been a misplaced resource feeding superfluous NGO’s and supplying fleets of Mercedes to Tinpot politicians and tribal leaders.

      1. Money taken from poor people in rich countries and given to rich people in poor countries.

  82. Breaking News – Health Warning – Vampires should refuse the vaxx, due to their bad reaction to the spike protein

      1. Like the Scottish Independence one – only binding once the right answer is received.

    4. The petition doesn’t stipulate what should replace the license fee. You can stop paying for the license but if the BBC is funded from General Taxation (nasty fella), what then? It should be voluntary subscription. BBC Studios would survive that, albeit slimmed down but the “public service” side could be in deep doo doos.

      1. To all intents and purposes, France charges everyone who has a TV.

        It’s a tax, and as far as I can tell does not support any particular broadcaster.

  84. Just watching events in America. Not only did the Chinese release the Coronavirus known as Covid-19 but, having created the novel virus in a laboratory, were developing a vaccine to protect their own population.

    All the while it is now evident that Fauci was using an Englishman, Daschak(?) to channel US Taxpayer dollars to fund the Wuhan laboratory for ‘gain of function’ research.

    This is serious stuff yet there is no mention of any of it on the BBC.

    Johnson and Hancock and their pseudo scientific accessories in this great Covid-19 Deception need to engage lawyers. The shit is about to hit the fan.

    Johnson truly cooked his goose when, on the corrupted election of Creepy Joe Biden, he rubbished President Trump and greased up to Dementia Biden. Well I suppose snakes like to embrace in that way but a more blatant and foolhardy giveaway was not missed on me and millions of others.

    1. Hopefully the servants who actually raise the kid will be sensible and grounded.

      1. Perhaps.
        No doubt she will marry a Bezos/Obama/Zuckerberg/similar in due course.

      2. I agree – God help you with those two as parents and all the neega culture in the USA.

    1. How about this OB

      Melting Norwegian glacier releases 500-year-old Viking treasures including perfectly preserved wooden box with a beeswax candle
      Melting glaciers in Norway’s Lendbreen ice patch revealed a Viking treasure
      Experts discovered a wooden box that has been sealed for up to 500 years
      The team recently opened the box and found beeswax candle remains inside
      The candles were essential items for Vikings along their travels between farms

      At first, the team thought it was a tinderbox that was lost accidently in the pass, but a further analysis proved otherwise, The History Blog reports.

      ‘It is radiocarbon-dated to AD 1475-1635, so 400-500 years old,’ glacial archaeologists from the Secrets of the Ice team shared in a statement.

      ‘The content of the box was analyzed at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo: We were in for a big surprise – the content is beeswax!

      ‘What we are seeing inside the box is very likely the remains of a beeswax candle.’

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9660761/Melting-Norwegian-glacier-releases-500-year-old-perfectly-preserved-wooden-box-candles.html

      So just thinking about this in my own muddled way, how long ago was the big freeze , and how many deep freezes have there been , and when will we experience the next big deep freeze?

      1. According to the climate scientists in the ’70s, we should be in a mini Ice Age by now!

  87. Thought for the day.

    If you wanted to wreck western civilisation and replace it with wokery, dominated by billionaires, can you think of a better way than mass vaccinations with slow release toxins that will kill one section of humanity?

    Say Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

    Look at where the vast majority of vaccinations have taken place.

    Then consider what’s left, Orientals, Muslims and Africans.

    Ho hum….

    1. I had a dream about that, then i realised perhaps it isn’t a dream .

      Then I thought about the great civilisatins who were conquered or collapsed , and now the Genie is out of the bottle.

    3. Well, since you ask!

      Trudeau is killing Canada with his woke attempts to kill any pride and reverence for our European past, preferring instead to focus on first nations interests and multiculti imports. Add to this his worship of climate change and we are on a slippery slope to nowhere.

      The easily led lefty youth are up in arms protesting against Canadian founding fathers, denying good deeds and focusing on anything that is bad by today’s standards. The residential schools were run in an appalling manner, breaking up families and literally killing hundreds of children but back in 1870, the idea of bringing the savages into society by educating them was probably derided as being far to progressive

      The trouble is with everything gone, what do we have left?

      1. Don’t be so hard on yourselves, Richard. Back in ‘the old country’, 150 years later we still haven’t made much progress in bringing the savages into society by educating them. After some initial success, the motivation for personal advancement through education has been eroded post WWII by substituting the glories of the Welfare State.

        Shit Paddle Creek Without A Up. [rearrange]

        1. 334001+up ticks,
          Evening C,
          Maybe we should be asking is it the
          indigenous that need checking out seeing as they, over the last three decades, and witnessing the consequences of their voting mode have repeated that same mode again & again.

          In reality the lab/lib/con coalition has successfully brought the nation DOWN to the level of the savage.

    4. If the only available vaccine was from China your suggestion might carry some weight. However, the various vaccines currently being used in the (civilised) west are mostly, if not all, developed and produced in the west, without any oriental, African or any other sort of dodgy input. Your analysis simply highlights the division between us and them!

      1. Biontech is a company started by two German citizens with Turkish ancestry; apart from illustrating the occasional benefits of immigration, they deserve a Nobel prize.

      2. I’m looking at it from the WEF, build back better, open borders great reset perspective.

        A golden opportunity created by a not particularly lethal pandemic.

  88. Andrew Mitchell is – surely – the worst kind of self-preening, virtue-signalling jerk.

    1. Patel, hypocrite extrordinaire.

      Stop pontificating, Woman, and get on with your job.

    1. Canadians have questions about the .27% as well, keep charity at home can be heard here.

        1. That is what I wrote (I think).

          Even Trudeau wouldn’t give away a quarter of gdp. Well not unless a seat at the UN was at stake.

          1. Ah, you decimal point is barely discernible – my apologies. A zero for the leading number would help.

    2. Are there any countries that send foreign aid to the UK (and I don’t mean England to Scotland)?

      1. Lots of impoverished countries send us their finest nuclear physicists, nano technology engineers, brain surgeons, etc., etc. arriving daily in the Sarf East and whisked through the immigration formalities to productive careers in the most deprived sink holes of our septic isle.

    3. Are there any countries that send foreign aid to the UK (and I don’t mean England to Scotland)?

    4. Does our foreign aid total include the cost of housing the hundreds of boat people turning up daily?

  92. Well I don think much of climate change. It is spring not summer, I should not have to play golf in 30C temperatures.

  93. Sasha Johnson: Mother pleads for witnesses, as she says victim’s children keep asking for mummy
    The 27-year-old Black Lives Matter activist is still fighting for her life after she was shot in the head at a house party
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/07/sasha-johnson-mother-pleads-witnesses-says-victims-children/

    The mother of a Black Lives Matter activist who was shot at a house party has pleaded for witnesses to come forward, saying the victim’s two children keep asking for “mummy”.

    Sasha Johnson, 27, is fighting for her life in hospital after being shot in the head while she was in the back garden of a party in Peckham, London, on May 23.

    A group of men in dark clothing had burst into the party at the house in Consort Road, and opened fire in the early hours of the morning.

    Ms Johnson is an anti-racism activist, but Scotland Yard have said there is no evidence to suggest the attack was targeted.

    On Monday, her mother, Ellet Dalling, released a statement through the Metropolitan Police urging anyone with information to come forward.

    So her mother released a statement through the Metropolitan Police urging anyone with information to come forward. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t one of the aims of BLM to defund the police? Why then, is the activist’s mother seeking the help of the police to obtain information about the shooting?

  94. NORMAN TEBBIT

    A loophole in parliamentary security

    As we (hopefully) approach the end of lockdown and the hybrid working of both Commons and Lords not just the chambers themselves, but offices, corridors, meeting rooms, eating places and bars will begin to fill up with Members of both Houses and their secretaries and immediate staff. Nowadays they are likely to be outnumbered by outsiders connected to the growing numbers of people attached in some way or another to the vast and growing number of APPG’s, that is All Party Parliamentary Groups.

    Through membership of these groups which are unregulated, outsiders both British and foreign now roam the corridors, meeting rooms and many of the bars and eating places in the Palace of Westminster. Some of those are staff of the embassies of countries rather less than friendly towards the United Kingdom.

    Many of us from both the Lords and Commons think that it is time that the growth of both these groups and their hangers-on need to be considered alongside the establishment of some criteria for their establishment to bring down the number of outsiders to a level compatible with the capacity of security staff to monitor them.

    Arrogant civil servants

    For who on Earth did Matthew Ryecroft, the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office think he was speaking to when he said to his Civil Service colleagues that whilst they should accept Government policy on some issues, but “our democratically leaders” did not always have to be obeyed.

    From where does Mr Rydale think he obtained authority to over-ride the democratic mandate of Boris Johnson to make Priti Patel the Home Secretary? It is Priti Patel who has the democratic mandate and indeed whose policies seem closest to public concerns about crime and immigration. We have both a free press and elected opposition in Parliament to challenge those policies.

    Mr Ryecroft has every right to hold his own views on all these matters and he has the right to resign from the Civil Service and seek a democratic mandate by standing for election to the House of Commons.

    My readers may well question my right to criticize a senior civil servant. To those who do I would say that it springs both from my right as a journalist here in our free media and as a life peer in the upper House of Parliament.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/07/duty-nhs-workers-get-jab/

    This is what NT is referring to:

    Senior civil servant accused of trying to thwart Government’s anti-woke agenda

    One of the country’s most senior civil servants has been accused of attempting to “frustrate” the Government’s anti-woke agenda by telling colleagues there is no need to “slavishly” follow official policy.

    Matthew Rycroft, the Home Office permanent secretary, said civil servants should accept government policy “on some issues” but on others “it’s for us … to be stewards”.

    Mr Rycroft, who has been Priti Patel’s most senior civil servant since last year, surprised participants in a video conference call when he suggested that “our democratically-elected leaders” did not always have to be obeyed.

    One senior government source called his comments “unprofessional” and “dumb”.

    Mr Rycroft made the remarks during a Zoom call for civil servants last week entitled “Lunch with Civil Service Race Networks and Matthew Rycroft, race champion”.

    He was asked how he would stand up for what civil servants regarded as their own priorities when it came to diversity given the current direction of the Government, which has ended unconscious bias training in the Civil Service.

    He said: “On some issues we should accept that direction – they are our democratically-elected leaders after all – but on others I think it’s for us actually within the civil service to be stewards and to think about our own role in terms of the leadership of the organisation of the civil service which obviously takes account of ministerial views but doesn’t have to follow them slavishly on every particular issue.

    “And I do think that there are some examples where actually we can say, particularly if there are a range of views from ministers, that we can carry on doing things that we were previously doing.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/04/senior-civil-servant-accused-trying-thwart-governments-anti/

    1. I’m surprised it’s only now come out into the open (they must feel they are impregnable). Remainiac civil serpents have been failing to follow, slavishly or not, the democratic mandate since 2016.

    2. Priti Patel should accept Matthew Rycroft’s resignation – unilaterality …

      1. If she refuses to get rid of the hordes of illegal immigrants who arrive every day or is incapable of doing so then she is hardly going to try and get of Rycroft.

  95. NORMAN TEBBIT

    A loophole in parliamentary security

    As we (hopefully) approach the end of lockdown and the hybrid working of both Commons and Lords not just the chambers themselves, but offices, corridors, meeting rooms, eating places and bars will begin to fill up with Members of both Houses and their secretaries and immediate staff. Nowadays they are likely to be outnumbered by outsiders connected to the growing numbers of people attached in some way or another to the vast and growing number of APPG’s, that is All Party Parliamentary Groups.

    Through membership of these groups which are unregulated, outsiders both British and foreign now roam the corridors, meeting rooms and many of the bars and eating places in the Palace of Westminster. Some of those are staff of the embassies of countries rather less than friendly towards the United Kingdom.

    Many of us from both the Lords and Commons think that it is time that the growth of both these groups and their hangers-on need to be considered alongside the establishment of some criteria for their establishment to bring down the number of outsiders to a level compatible with the capacity of security staff to monitor them.

    Arrogant civil servants

    For who on Earth did Matthew Ryecroft, the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office think he was speaking to when he said to his Civil Service colleagues that whilst they should accept Government policy on some issues, but “our democratically leaders” did not always have to be obeyed.

    From where does Mr Rydale think he obtained authority to over-ride the democratic mandate of Boris Johnson to make Priti Patel the Home Secretary? It is Priti Patel who has the democratic mandate and indeed whose policies seem closest to public concerns about crime and immigration. We have both a free press and elected opposition in Parliament to challenge those policies.

    Mr Ryecroft has every right to hold his own views on all these matters and he has the right to resign from the Civil Service and seek a democratic mandate by standing for election to the House of Commons.

    My readers may well question my right to criticize a senior civil servant. To those who do I would say that it springs both from my right as a journalist here in our free media and as a life peer in the upper House of Parliament.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/07/duty-nhs-workers-get-jab/

    This is what NT is referring to:

    Senior civil servant accused of trying to thwart Government’s anti-woke agenda

    One of the country’s most senior civil servants has been accused of attempting to “frustrate” the Government’s anti-woke agenda by telling colleagues there is no need to “slavishly” follow official policy.

    Matthew Rycroft, the Home Office permanent secretary, said civil servants should accept government policy “on some issues” but on others “it’s for us … to be stewards”.

    Mr Rycroft, who has been Priti Patel’s most senior civil servant since last year, surprised participants in a video conference call when he suggested that “our democratically-elected leaders” did not always have to be obeyed.

    One senior government source called his comments “unprofessional” and “dumb”.

    Mr Rycroft made the remarks during a Zoom call for civil servants last week entitled “Lunch with Civil Service Race Networks and Matthew Rycroft, race champion”.

    He was asked how he would stand up for what civil servants regarded as their own priorities when it came to diversity given the current direction of the Government, which has ended unconscious bias training in the Civil Service.

    He said: “On some issues we should accept that direction – they are our democratically-elected leaders after all – but on others I think it’s for us actually within the civil service to be stewards and to think about our own role in terms of the leadership of the organisation of the civil service which obviously takes account of ministerial views but doesn’t have to follow them slavishly on every particular issue.

    “And I do think that there are some examples where actually we can say, particularly if there are a range of views from ministers, that we can carry on doing things that we were previously doing.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/04/senior-civil-servant-accused-trying-thwart-governments-anti/

  97. Message for Grizzly – as you don’t seem to be on – watch the Mon 7th june – evening – version of Traffic Cops, Channel 5. You’ll see the chase from hell on what I think is the A38. Load of cop cars damaged – -and one driver of a white BMW totally wreck his car in an attempt to escape – which failed.

  98. Message for Grizzly – as you don’t seem to be on – watch the Mon 7th june – evening – version of Traffic Cops, Channel 5. You’ll see the chase from hell on what I think is the A38. Load of cop cars damaged – -and one driver of a white BMW totally wreck his car in an attempt to escape – which failed.

    1. I do hope and pray that the riders (and the horses, of course) are transgender ….

      Good night!

      1. Horses are either male or female. Creating a gelding by chopping a stallion or colt’s balls off does not make him a mare.

        1. It’s about par for the course, regardless of sex. I was surprised to see no machetes but I think her bike was stolen by one or more of the little toe-rags.

    3. It’s changed a lot since I left 40 odd years ago. And not in a good way.

      1. He has a larger basket – this is the one he came with. He has Charlie’s old basket which was big enough for two terriers to sleep in, but he won’t use it. He also has a bespoke wooden dog bed which was Charlie’s and which is plenty big enough for him to stretch out in. He seems to prefer lying on the floor.

    5. Sleep soundly, both of you and may Oscar dream of rabbits and biscuits

    7. Good to know that all is well.

      Good night and God bless to you both. Build that bond.

    8. What a lovely picture, Conners! Congratulations! One sparked out hound! Must have been enjoying himself – perhaps for the first time in a while.

      1. Thank you. Today he has completed the destruction of his tennis ball and has started on his snake soft toy. I shall be going shopping tomorrow for replacements. I may have to take him to the vets as he was sick yesterday and has been sick twice today (regurgitated food). If he isn’t okay tomorrow, I think it would be a good idea to have him checked out. That should be interesting, as he doesn’t like being touched!

        1. Our cats have shredded their scratching-post almost immediately, so SWMBO got one taht would suit a ship mooring.. cats see it as a challenge!
          Hope the sickness goes over without a vet – maybe it’s a change of scene that he’s reacting to?
          As a cat person, he’s a good-looking dog!

          1. I hope so, too. I’m changing over his food, but doing it gradually, mixing the two. so he hasn’t had an abrupt change of diet.

      1. Thanks. We went out for a longer walk this morning and met several dogs. He was very good. He even ignored a cat that ran across his path – I say ignored; he just leaned slightly towards it on the lead, which for a terrier is ignoring 🙂

        1. It’s all good as far as I can tell.

          I missed your initial announcement that you had been offered a dog and went back over the last couple of days.
          It appears the dog has found a soul mate, let’s hope it works out to your mutual advantage.
          I hope he and the Connemaragh like each other!

          1. It will have to work – I’m not giving him up! I doubt I’ll take him to the stables as there’s nowhere to put him (and I don’t want to leave him in the car) while I ride.

  103. Will somebody please shoot Matt Hancock?

    This puerile small man is inflicting immeasurable damage on all and then our economy. That fool has been playing the globalist play book.

    The wretch will shortly be brought to ground with a thump. The prat does not realise his folly as yet but will shortly find himself under the full prosecution of the Law

    1. Hmm, DT, “Look what we’re doing to promote free speech.”

      Aside, “We don’t want hoi polloi butting in with their obsolete views.”

  107. Good night, one and all and especially to Connors and Oscar, sleep well until the morning light.

  108. mng to those awake. Given realism re UK aid – here’s UK aid [as free money] being charged under Special Drawing Rights covered as ODA [Overseas Development Assistance = AID]. https://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-uk-to-charge-special-drawing-rights-to-aid-budget-sources-100078?mkt_tok=Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAF9hR7ADzJ-rIaO9IgztL285bjYk0iKfH1THL1jGjfFE_GL_QRRynyqL8KOVx8E8B62BeMVd9dI41b26inrB513onmYtXNZTngDqGuMZmX7sPbdvw&utm_content=text&utm_medium=article&utm_source=nl_newswire

    1. It wouldn’t matter who gets to sleep in the White House bed.US foreign policy is dictated by others who’s name never appear on a ballot paper.
      They really are convinced that they rule the Planet.

      1. Would you argue that they don’t? I’d say they pretty much control what goes on.

      2. Within exception of Trump, all were / are controlled by Corporates, Intelligence and Mil Industrial Complex, more so from late Bush Senior, Clinton onwards, George Dubbya, Obama. Demented Joe’s nothing but literally a window dressing pot plant with a deputy fulfilling a role as a compliant weed. Their mindest is, as you say, they control everything. Empires come, Empires go, they;re on the downward slope trying to apply the handbrake, but the drop’s getting steeper

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