Saturday 1 February: The most important reason why Britain decided to leave the European Union

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

510 thoughts on “Saturday 1 February: The most important reason why Britain decided to leave the European Union”

  1. Good morning, chums, and Geoff. First!

    Wordle 1,323 5/6

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    1. Home made Seville Orange Marmalade for the Dower House brekkie.
      Not that I'm boasting nor nuffin'.

  7. The special relationship has expired. 1 February 2025.

    As the United States of America begins of new chapter of secure borders, economic growth and peace through strength, the United Kingdom has been left to watch from afar. For us, our liberty, aspiration and prosperity lie buried under the weight of socialism, the shackles of political correctness and the feebleness of our political class.

    So says Suella Braverman who was a member of the last government whose qualities were little different from the present incumbents. With a modicum of luck Trump will bring about the end of all of them.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/31/the-special-relationship-has-expired/

    1. The last government's qualities, aka agenda, was the same direction as the current shower: the only difference was one of pace.

      We are poorly served by all of the legacy parties. It's time for the people to acknowledge that they cannot swing from Tory to Labour to LibDem and expect a change in direction such as we are seeing in the USA. It's a Uni-Party and their 'differences' are pure theatre.

  8. 400872+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 1 February: The most important reason why Britain decided to leave the European Union

    The most beneficial to the nation reason, the decent folk, in unity, demanded it through a democratic action.

    Donald Trump will “absolutely” impose tariffs on the European Union, he announced on Friday as he introduced sweeping taxes on goods from China, Mexico and Canada…

    BRING IT ON SOONEST.

  9. 400872+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 1 February: The most important reason why Britain decided to leave the European Union

    The most beneficial to the nation reason, the decent folk, in unity, demanded it through a democratic action.

    Donald Trump will “absolutely” impose tariffs on the European Union, he announced on Friday as he introduced sweeping taxes on goods from China, Mexico and Canada…

    BRING IT ON SOONEST.

  11. How many more knife attacks can France take? 1 February 2025.

    Each day in France there are 120 knife attacks. On Saturday, one such incident resulted in the death of 14-year-old Elias as he left his football training in central Paris. He was stabbed after refusing to surrender his mobile phone. A 17-year-old has admitted the killing to police.

    In many respects the situation in France is even worse than here. The only real difference is that the Police and Press are not yet wokified. The solution here in the UK is to censor such incidents and gaol anyone who attempts to raise it on Social Media. Common sense and history tells us that in both places the dam will eventually burst with unforeseen consequences.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-many-more-knife-attacks-can-france-take/

    1. Very long but it's from the subscription bit of the DM:

      Migrants and a once-liberal paradise where the PM now admits: 'We've lost control'… SUE REID reports as Sweden is engulfed by a crime wave of rape, gang bombings, assassination – and even a reported lynching…

      Claudia Mayor is a loving mother whose three teenage sons are at the heart of a horrifying story that has appalled and divided Sweden.

      In the early spring of 2023, the boys launched a cold-blooded attack on a Middle Eastern migrant who had raped the 15-year-old girlfriend of their younger brother.

      It left the 26-year-old migrant hanging lifeless from a rope on a forest tree.

      Claudia has never spoken publicly before about the crime, which bore all the hallmarks of a modern-day lynching. It led to the teenagers, then aged between 16 and 18, being convicted of murder – although the convictions were dropped on appeal when the court could not decide exactly how the man died.

      But this week, the 46-year-old housewife agreed to talk to the Mail at her small house in Uppsala, an hour's drive from the Swedish capital. 'When I heard what the boys had done to this man, it was beyond belief,' she told me. 'I slapped each of them hard.'

      'But,' she added, 'I understand why it happened. Our country is changed and Swedish girls are not safe or protected from the strangers who have been invited in to live among them. Look around you. It's not mostly Swedish faces any more. There are many Arab ones from a different culture. It was not like this when I came as a six-year-old child migrant with my parents.'

      Claudia's story – of which we will hear more later – is not the only one where mass immigration is being blamed for the catastrophic transformation of this once-peaceful nation into one of terrifying criminality.

      On Wednesday night, an anti-Islam campaigner and atheist who had sparked violent protests in Muslim countries by burning the Koran outside Stockholm Central Mosque last year was shot dead in his flat near the capital.
      Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee, 38, had been charged in August with 'agitations against an ethnic group' and had been due to appear in court on Thursday morning.

      Following the assassination, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson admitted: 'We have lost control, over a wave of violence' – an echo of comments from National Police Chief Petra Lundh, who talked of the 'brutality and ruthlessness that exists in organised crime'.

      Last month, the Swedish government announced it will in future only admit newcomers who promise to make an 'honest living' and uphold the country's values as it tightened citizenship rules.

      Over the past century, Sweden has been Europe's number one sanctuary for 'war weary' or persecuted people – Claudia herself came here, like others, to escape the fascist regime of Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet four decades ago.

      In 2015, as huge numbers of migrants headed to Europe during the Syrian civil war, Sweden welcomed 163,000 asylum seekers from the Middle East, a gesture that many today believe has provoked a national crisis.

      The country that once boasted Europe's lowest crime rate is now facing rampant murder, gun warfare, a drugs crisis, illegal prostitution rackets, and a rape epidemic.

      The rise in criminality is blamed by the centre-Right government on gangs disproportionately made up of first and second-generation migrants. A 2023 police report said there are 14,000 active gang members in Sweden, some of them children as young as nine or ten, with a further 48,000 people 'affiliated' to them.

      Meanwhile, bomb explosions are an almost everyday occurrence. In 2024 there were 124 across the country. In the first 30 days of this year in the Stockholm area and Claudia's own county of Uppsala, there were 33 – three taking place during my short visit as rival gangs threatened or actually targeted businesses in extortion rackets.

      Stockholm's per-capita murder rate today is roughly 30 times that of London and half the suspects are aged between 15 and 20 amid a huge demographic shift over the past two decades.

      Between 2002 and 2023, the share of the Swedish population who are either foreign-born or have at least one foreign-born parent increased from 21 per cent to 35 per cent, according to a report by government agency Sweden Statistics.

      A rearguard action by the government means immigration has fallen – just 6,250 people were allowed in last year. Migration Minister Johan Forssell is now even offering migrants a £28,000 grant to return home.

      It is an about-turn that chimes with the mood of the nation. 'What happened during the refugee crisis of 2015 was that our open-heart policy met a very tough reality,' Forssell said earlier this month. 'If you don't believe in boys and girls playing or swimming together, this is not the country for you.'
      And perhaps the most deeply disturbing aspect of this 'tough reality' is that Sweden, once so safe for women, now has a rape rate just behind some Caribbean and Southern African hotspots.

      One rape, of course, is too many – and in 1975 police received reports of 421. But by 2023, the annual tally had reached 9,300, the highest rape incidence per head of population in Europe.

      A report last week by Sweden's Lund University said two-thirds of all convicted rapists are recent or second-generation immigrants.

      One of the victims was nine-year-old Luna, whose parents will never recover from what happened to their daughter in the quiet northern town of Skelleftea in Swedish Lapland.

      On July 7, 2022, Luna left primary school on her bicycle to ride the ten minutes home where her mother Emelie was waiting to give her supper. She never arrived.

      Instead, she was pulled into the forest, stripped, beaten, raped and strangled with her own shoelaces by a 15-year-old Ethiopian migrant called Abushi Kamal who had been granted residence in the area the week before.

      He had arrived in Sweden five years earlier with his family and had been investigated by the police for 'several sexual assaults' from the age of 12, although never put under lock and key.

      Luna is now severely brain damaged as a result of the loss of oxygen to her brain. She is wheelchair-bound, and spoon-fed by her family including her little sister, aged six. Apart from uttering the word 'Mama' to Emelie, 34, she has not spoken since.

      Emelie, a grocery store manager, has never given an interview before. But last week, as the migrant rape figures were released, she agreed to speak to the Mail from the family's home in Moro Backe, a nine-hour drive north from Stockholm.

      She said 'a lot of migrants' have been settled in the town. But she and her husband, a care worker who does not want to be named, 'didn't think about it as a dangerous issue', she said.

      'I am speaking out now because this kind of attack should not happen in a civilised country. I do not want Luna to be forgotten or the same thing to happen to other children like her.'

      Luna now needs 24-hour-a-day support from carers. 'We are all living this with Luna every day,' she said.

      A recent visit to Luna's grandparents took days to plan. 'But Luna did recognise them and she knew where she was. When her friends come round, she realises they are there and smiles,' added Emelie.

      The family believe that Luna, who has developed epilepsy, can remember the day of the rape because sometimes she becomes 'inconsolable, sad, and upset… All the carefree happiness of childhood has been taken away,' said her mother.

      The laughter of other children in the playground is thought to have hidden Luna's screams as she was dragged away by the rapist.

      She was only discovered later in the afternoon when a boy told police he had found what looked like a 'dead girl's body' in the woods. 'No one heard or saw anything,' says Emelie. 'When Luna didn't come home, I went to the school in my car. I was frantic. I saw the ambulances and her bike on the ground. Then they told me what had happened.'
      As for the teenage attacker Kamal, he is now in a closed psychiatric unit. His family have been moved out of Moro Backe by the Swedish authorities. But none of them has been deported.

      Ludvig Aspling, a lawyer and immigration spokesman for the hard-Right Sweden Democrats party – now polling joint second in the country – is unsurprised that Luna's parents didn't think about the impact of mass migration on Swedes.

      'Migration is still not talked about,' he said. 'There is almost a complete blackout by the mainstream media. Public broadcasters say high crime by immigrants is a 'racist myth'. Most people have no idea what is going on or how serious the consequences can be for them.'

      For Claudia Mayor, those consequences could not be more serious. With the help of Claudia and her family, we have pieced together just what happened on that fateful day when her sons took revenge against the migrant who had raped the 15-year-old schoolgirl.

      The migrant made his living selling alcohol to underage children. The girl, whom we shall call Jessy, was dating Claudia's 15-year-old son, and met the migrant to buy a bottle of vodka in February 2023 near her home in a village close to the city of Uppsala. He pulled her into his car and assaulted her as she fought him off.

      She escaped and immediately reported the crime to local police who admit now, to their regret, they did nothing. One senior officer has said publicly that an investigation might have 'stopped a death'.

      Angry at the police inaction, Jessy sought vigilante justice herself. She enlisted the help of her boyfriend's three elder brothers – and begged them to punish her abuser.

      She then texted the rapist and asked him for another bottle of vodka. The trio of teenage boys were waiting to greet him in a remote forest nature reserve.

      A commotion ensued. The boys had brought rope and masking tape to conduct what the prosecutor later said was an 'execution'.

      The migrant was found hanging dead from a tree a week later, after his family alerted the police to the fact that he was missing.

      Court evidence showed that Jessy sent text messages to her friends saying: 'They will meet my rapist. Hahaha.' Another from her phone after the hanging explained: 'He is now dead.'

      The three boys were initially convicted of murder. Their 15-year-old younger brother and his girlfriend Jessy were found guilty of aiding and abetting the killing.

      It was only after an appeal that the murder convictions were reduced to kidnap and assault charges. One brother, who was 18 and therefore an adult when it happened, is still serving a prison sentence. The younger boys and Jessy are on probation and picking up their lives.

      The crime and its cause have divided Sweden.

      Some have written on social media that the four boys and the girl 'deserve a medal' for meting out vigilante-style justice after the police failed to act. Others are more sympathetic to the hanged man.

      When we spoke to the brothers this week, one admitted: 'We were headstrong. It got out of hand. We did not come to kill him, but to frighten him. To stop him raping any other girl again.
      'The prosecutor painted us as '100 per cent monsters',' he added. 'He insinuated that the girl had not really been raped and she was making it up. That was crazy and cruel to her.

      'When the migrant died unexpectedly, we were terrified. We checked his pulse but he was already dead.'

      The brothers said when they first confronted the rapist in the forest he denied he attacked Jessy, saying they had got the wrong man.

      'So, we went through his phone to identify him. On social media, he had porn pictures of children aged between eight and 16,' said one brother.

      'When we proved he was the rapist and a paedophile, we tied him up and put the rope around his neck to warn him.

      'He was sitting on the ground and he began to panic. He tried to get up and we pulled the rope. We didn't realise how fast you can die from that.

      'We felt his pulse and it wasn't there. We nearly called the police. Then we thought we would make it look like a suicide and hung him up from a tree.

      'We made a terrible mistake. We realise we took him away from his family and we are sorry for that.'

      The brother felt the court had been harsh. 'People who were once friends no longer speak to me, thinking I killed someone,' said the teenager. 'It is very hard to start again.'

      One thing the boys are all sure about – and now the courts have agreed – is that they did not commit a murder.

      Indeed, many on social media praise the teenage brothers for punishing a migrant rapist.

      Others, like their worried mother Claudia Mayor, would agree with the person who wrote on a Swedish website: 'This is tragic on so many levels. That a young, raped girl was not protected by police nor courts and was left to figure out her own form of justice, is so horrific.

      'She was utterly failed by our society.'

      2. I couldn't read all of this. The savagery is unbelievable. Well done the bleeding heart effing 'uckwits who welcomed savages into their peaceful country.

        1. Of course , we know that being efficient with the use of machetes etc is centuries old .. they , the savages are used to carving each other up .

      3. I couldn't read all of this. The savagery is unbelievable. Well done the bleeding heart effing 'uckwits who welcomed savages into their peaceful country.

      4. Good morning Sos,

        ' Between 2002 and 2023, the share of the Swedish population who are         foreign-born or have at least one foreign-born parent increased from 21 per cent to 35 per cent.'
        How many years before we are in the same situation?
        'Foreign-born'?         Once again, intentionally hiding the true nature of these pure-evil, sub-human savages. I suspect the vast majority of them are not ordinary people from civilised countries.
        21% is bad enough, but 35% is almost unbelievable.
        The mother of the boys who 'dealt with' the creature that (I deliberately did not use 'who', because it clearly isn't human.) committed unspeakable crimes against the poor 15 year old girl, was herself a migrant, but of the decent sort who fully integrate into their new home.
        At least Sweden seems to be finally facing the reality of what their foolishly tolerant welcoming of hordes of savages has done to their country and its people and taking some action.

        1. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
          If a country sets itself up to be taken advantage of they should not be surprised by the types who do so.

      5. "Claudia herself came here [Sweden], like others, to escape the fascist regime of Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet four decades ago."

        Shuerly she could have gone to say, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil or any other SA country.

    2. Judging by a post from a nurse in München yesterday, same shit in Southern Germany.
      Knife crime in Oslo is rising.
      Wonder what the common denominator is?

      2. We know what the truth is but it is not permissible to state it.

        This is nothing new: Good Old Enobarbus, Antony's soldier, was aware of this:

        That the truth should be silent I had almost forgot.

    3. Morning Minty ,

      Tickling my nose here , chinny rub rub, just wondering , do the French blame Amazon for the continuation of knife attacks ?

      How do they deal with the perpetrators .. shoot them?

  12. Interesting piece from: 'Joe Murphy is a lieutenant colonel in the US Marines with 16+ years of service. In his current assignment, he leads ground combat technology development for the Marine Corps and manages elements of the DOD Replicator Initiative for autonomous systems. He served in the Afghan War and has deployed worldwide from the Middle East to the Arctic. He has spent a year at sea across these deployments. He is a graduate of the Naval Academy, Virginia Tech, and the Naval Postgraduate School. While assigned to DARPA in 2020-2021 as the Commandant’s Fellow, he uncovered the EcoHealth Alliance DEFUSE Project proposal which details research work that is considered the blueprint for SARS-CoV-2. He shared this with the investigating bodies and became an official whistleblower. He is a volunteer with the nonprofit React19 where he is helping to form an armed forces endowment for COVID-vaccine injured veterans.'

    Full article here:

    https://brownstone.org/articles/the-biodefense-oligarchy-and-its-demographic-defeats/

  13. Good morning all.
    Another dull and overcast start to the day, slightly less cold with 4.5°C outside but at least it's dry with little wind.
    Max and min since yesterday is 6.9°C and 4.2°C.

    Off to stepson's in an hour or so so you'll not see much of me!

  16. From the DT: Brendan O'Neill's view of Rory Stewart:

    "To a certain kind of Brexit-hating Guardianista, Stewart is a centrist god. He’s their Lawrence of Remainia. They hang on his every podcasted word. They worship him as a truth-whisperer. He’s “too good for politics”, Rorymaniacs gush. The adoration is entirely incommensurate with his wisdom.

  17. 400872 + up ticks,

    Tom Harris
    Islamism cannot be allowed to trounce on what remains of our free speech
    Freedom of expression is more important than the electoral prospects of any single party

    They have, because they can, and will continue to, with the full backing of the treacherous political trio the
    LAB/LIB/CON coalition party and supporters.

    It is rapidly reaching the point where the indigenous will have NO SAY as ALL daily life will be as the local mullah dictates.

    Seemingly the governing parties in unity have been
    semi covertly seeking this for years fully backed via the polling stations, could we be on the verge of receiving what we richly deserve ? one may very well ask.

  18. Today FSB looks into the controversy, or conspiracy, over vapour trials in our skies, unusual patterns of which are claimed that hint at something sinister. Find out more in Chemtrail or Contrail?

    And in Extremism and the Home Office FSB looks at something inarguably sinister, the Home Office.

    Energy watch 07.50. UK generation: 30.345 GW. Supply: Hydrocarbons 36.4%; Wind 26.8%; Imports 9.1%; Biomass 8.5% and Nuclear14.1%. Solar: 0%. UK demand: 29.43GW, UK generation 26.46GW. Imports 2.81GW.

    We are importing – very expensively –2.81GW of electric power despite demand being low. Cheaper gas-fired station as being paid to be on stand by while doing nothing. Utter lunacy.

    Reform is pushing a petition to demand that all the local elections they want to cancel, often in Reform supporting areas, be re-instated. Please sign. https://letthepeoplevote.com/

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. Is the energy watch for the last 24 hours or current?
      I hardly ever note any solar input, which seems unlikely if it's 24 hours. And a night time figure is skewed for comparison purposes.

      1. It’s current, as at 07.50. As it is currently dark more than it is light it seems relevant to me to point out that, for most of the day, solar produces zero power. On the few sunny days recently, the highest I saw it was 5% of total generation – for a few hours.

        Over the last 24 hours, solar produced 0.5GW, 1.4% of total generation, compared to 47.8% gas and 14.3% imports.

          1. And I do me round up in the moring as well of course. In the summer, if solar produces, this will be reported.

    2. I have written to my Conservative county councillor for an explanation why Simon Geharghty, Conservative Leader of Worcestershire County Council, is co-operating with the Starmer Government over local government reorganisation, including an application to cancel the County elections in May. Worcestershire is one of the counties that still have separate district councils, and it is the lower tier that the Labour Government are determined to abolish. There is no place for rural representation in a system that favours urban growth, whatever the public demands.

      The local paper is reporting that he was ordered to do this by the Secretary of State, and that those that voted for him and for the councillors supporting his application are not entitled to any say over the decision.

      What are local elections for, if the elected representatives are not permitted to make political decisions that conflict with instructions from Westminster?

        1. Not that well so far. Much of Worcestershire is split between Tories and Labour, with pockets of Lib Dem, and the Greens making considerable progress in the West (they already have an MP across the county boundary).

      2. There are two plans for Gloucestershire but neither includes the status quo of county and district councils.
        This whole reorganisation is unnecessary and of course very costly.
        Naturally it deprives local people of any say in the matter.

        1. https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-01/devolution_and_local_government_reform_for_worcestershire.pdf

          I have written this in response, copied to my MP, my County Councillor and the relevant Department:

          Dear Mr Robinson

          I forward a copy of a message I have sent to my County Councillor Karen Hanks over the quite improper move by yourself to postpone or cancel the forthcoming elections in May.

          It is not within the remit of a Council Officer to support Westminster’s request to cancel elections in order to facilitate a reorganisation that I personally oppose most strongly, nor for Cllr Geharghty to postpone his period in office cynically because such opposition may threaten his hold on the council.

          I trust you will withdraw your letter to Jim McMahon on 8th January 2025, and confirm that the forthcoming elections on the 8th May will proceed as they should.

          With best regards

          Jeremy Morfey

      4. Same in Essex.
        The excuse is the setting upon unitary authorities.
        It will take years and seems to be mainly in areas where Labour and Conservatives expect a good kicking.

  19. Good morning all,

    Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month !

    Fine day, no breeze , no rain yet , overcast , sun might break through. 6c.

    Son just off to Weymouth for the 5k Park Run .. a doddle really , he usually does it in 19 minutes ..

    During Lockdown , and during exercise time ( remember that?) Moh and I would speed walk around the village , everyone else was doing the same , and that is when I stuffed my back/ hip up because of wonky pavements and trying to keep up with Moh !

    1. Morning! Slept late today mainly because I was late going to bed. It's grey and rather misty outside but no frost.
      How could we forget the horrors and idiocies of lockdowns?
      I ignored most of the stupid rules but it clearly showed those in power that people will do what they are told.

  20. OT – I know that rugby players are strong and fit and all that – but is it really wise for them to have to turn out in the middle of the evening to play an international match?

    Wales appear to have been mollicated.

      1. To be fair Wales kept the French out quite well for the first part of the second half.

    4. I used to enjoy playing early evening matches – it suits some peoples natural rhythms – but its all to do with not having matches 'clashing' for TV purposes.

      2. Simply as a result of the vote-splitting 'opposition', which gives succour to the socialist 'cause'.

      1. 499872 + up ticks,

        Morning O,

        This odious immigration issue has been going on for forty plus years,the victim could very well have been from his own tribe.

        1. 36 years since the Bradford book burning.
          36 years of spineless appeasement to our enemies.

  23. Morning, all Y'all.
    Late up, had an excellent zed. Sunshine, lots of crisp white snow, -11C. Beautiful day!

  24. Just got through the main section of the Torygraph. What a delight to see Mrs Middleton getting half a page. Were I a cynic (heaven forfend) it might be thought that she was "cashing in"….. I'll bet, too, that the many people who lost money when her company went bust will share the general delight…..and be thrilled that she still has enough dosh to kit herself out in expensive frocks.

    By how many points will Engerland lose this afternoon? Just asking!!

    1. Be fair uncle Bill, she was a Goldsmith. And a flight attendant.
      D'ya think it'll be more than 43-0 ?

    2. I think it depends on how well the gamble of picking three open-sides in the back row (the Curry twins and Earl) works out.
      Expectations for England are pretty low (but not 43-0 low!) so I think (hope) it might be closer than expected……

    3. It's gone very quiet on the Party Pieces front.
      Fair do's to them for building up a successful business, though how sales of balloons and paper napkins bought a nice house and put three children through Marlborough is a bit of mystery.

  26. I don't listen to or watch any political broadcasting on any channel. On the very rare occasions that I have heard Rory Stewart he always seems to be not all there.

    2. What a shit hole our political idiots have turned our country into.
      And all those stolen bicycles as well.

    4. 400872+ up ticks,

      Morning Rik,

      I believe there were calls, "where is there the nearest "ducking pool"
      also "is there a convenient wooden burning stake nearby", what we must be assured of is that the old girl is seated comfortably as the judge is led out.

    6. Comments below the latter one coming from Americans, who can't believe how far things have gone here, but suggesting the US needs to stop dealing with us – are they unaware the majority of decent, helpless people here are against this government-supported takeover

  28. Morning and a Pinch and a punch 🙂😊
    My second attempt to be here.
    Same old outside was brighter earlier.
    Was the most important reason we voted to leave the EU because the Brussels mafia kept sending illegal invaders across the chanel ?

    1. Because, Muslims

      I mentioned last month that the new underground in Saudi comprises carriages for men only; family carriages; and First class carriages.

  30. I’m going to rain apocalyptic death on ‘cuddly’ Mole and Squirrel Nutkin

    Earth-shattering: my family think moles are sweet and charming – how wrong they are

    William Sitwell, Daily Telegraph, February 1, 2025.

    I am myself a conduit to the heinous propaganda. Each night, I read to our small boys and indoctrinate them in the warm and fuzzy world of furry animals. We encounter the squirrels in Beatrix Potter’s merry tale of Nutkin while Kenneth Grahame’s storytelling in The Wind in the Willows bewitches us with the charm of Rat and Mole.

    But while Nutkin winds up Old Brown the owl and plays bowling with an apple, what he doesn’t do is jump from tree to tree stripping bark with such effective viciousness that he weakens and kills them.

    Rat is adept at rowing across the river to the Wild Wood but is not featured gnawing through plastic to feed on and disrupt the compost heap. Nor is he a carrier of leptospirosis, bartonellosis and other filthy diseases. And while Mole is good at spring cleaning, he is not shown burrowing through and destroying lawns.

    Within the walls of our home, Squirrel, Rat and Mole are sweet and charming; their lives are sacrosanct. The idea of actual, real-life moles being out there in the garden paints a picture of idyllic paradise. If we spot a squirrel stopping on a branch to nibble on a nut, we stop, stand still and watch with joyous rapture.

    At least there’s some honesty about Peter Rabbit harassing, as he does, Mr McGregor, which is rather closer to the truth. Now that there’s a touch of spring in the air, and the daffodils are popping out their green feelers, the rabbits are already out in force, digging holes in a flat patch of lawn on which I’m struggling to grow grass. Meanwhile, the mole is deliberately taunting me. From where I sit and write, I can spy fresh little mounds of earth popping up. I grab the rake and spread the earth only to find an even larger hill erupts minutes later while my back is turned. Weeds will grow on these patches of mud – my lawn is ruined before the mowing season is even in sight.

    And my wife won’t countenance the idea of my placing metal mole traps in the holes beneath the hillocks. Well, now that my composting is wrecked and my grass destroyed, this is all about to change.

    The rats can come for my compost and nibble some of that yummylooking blue stuff I’ve sprinkled around it for a wretched and agonising death. I’ve ordered half a dozen claw scissor traps, to clamp and strangle the moles, and I’m popping .22 pellets into my new Stoeger airgun with its telescopic sights to seek and destroy, with shots to the heads, the rabbits and squirrels.

    And then, to right the wrongs of decades of brainwashing, I’m pitching to my agent a children’s tale of a downtrodden man who brings justice and destruction to invasive, disease-carrying vermin and other pests that try to wreck his garden paradise.
    While Kenneth Grahame’s Mole is good at spring cleaning, he is not shown destroying lawns

    I think your vastly expensive education was wasted on you, Billy. 'Rat' in The Wind in the Willows is not a Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus. He is a Water Vole Arvicola amphibius, (aka 'Water Rat').

    Just think what your parents could have saved by spending their money wisely instead of squandering it at Eton on an utterly spoilt and pampered thicko like you.

    3. Nutkin, as was Tufty who taught me to cross the road, was a red squirrel, not the American grey, and does not strip bark off trees or destroy bird feeders.

      The natural predator of the grey is the pine marten, a type of weasel that hunts all squirrels for fun and the odd meal. The reds, being smaller and lighter, manage to climb right to the top of the tree and laugh at the lumbering pine marten. They greys, however, are in the same league and get chased until they wear out and get eaten.

      1. Good. Pine Martens are my favourite European mammal; we have them here locally.

        We also have red squirrels (no grey tree-rats in Sweden) and I've had them in my garden feasting on the produce of my hazel tree.

    4. Don't forget the effing pigeons (stealers of my grapes and cherries, and if they can get at them razors to the ground of my pea shoots).

  31. Seems another plane crash in the US: A medical flight with a small girl, family and crew on it's way back home to Mexico from Philadelphia.
    Had only just taken off, and reached a descent rate of 11.000 fett / min, so must have been really dramatic.
    RIP. all.

  33. On we go with this proposal to cancel elections. I have just written to my MP:

    Dear Dame Harriett

    Thank you for your recent letter supporting my opposition to the proposed local government reorganisation. You will have seen a flurry of letters I have sent to various people over the matter and copied to you.

    I feel very strongly that it is most improper for the County County elections to be cancelled or postponed, and have no confidence in the leadership of Cllr Geraghty, nor sadly for the political group or groups that are supporting his application to prolong his period in office beyond that to which they were elected.

    If there is any prospect of these elections not going ahead as required, would you please register my objection to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, and also apply for me to be exempted from paying the County precept on my Council Tax with effect from 2nd May 2025, since I no longer consider I am being represented at County level and should not therefore be liable for this tax.

    With best regards
    Jeremy Morfey

    2. IMHO I'd say that all Nottlers would add their signatures to that letter and probably a few million more people.

  34. I can't find a link (odd, that), but I heard on R4 this morning that a well-known trans "woman" is in trouble for posting hurty words about the RoP some while ago. It takes a heart of stone…

  35. Morning all. Ruddy freezing:
    Wordle 1,323 4/6

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

  36. Labour politicians aren’t just bad, they aren’t just unpopular – they’re dangerous
    The Prime Minister and his cabinet pose a Keir and present danger to Britain
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/31/labour-cabinet-keir-and-present-danger/

    BTL by Shaun Nelson

    Starmer lied for power i believe in clear breach of Bar Council Rules if you look at the facts.

    Would you support me in a campaign to get Starmer debarred? The rule is : Causing harm or potential harm to the public confidence in the profession.

    Reply to Mr Nelson:

    Those who live by the law must perish by the Law

    3. Another BTL – This country will not survive as we know it if we have to endure another 4+ years of this government. We are bombarded on a daily basis by appalling judgement and wholly detrimental policy choices. Add to that the traitorous selling out of the people of this country by sending all our money around the world, denying a rape gang inquiry, calling us all right wing and lying about everything on a massive, shameful scale, He has attained his office by deceit. There should be some sort of safeguard in place to remove a traitorous government, because that is surely what they are.

  37. A cow,an ant and an old fart are debating as to who is the greatest of the three of them…
    The cow said, "I give 20 quarts of milk every day and that's why I am the greatest!"
    The ant said, "I work day and night, summer and winter, I can carry 52 times my own weight and that's why I am the greatest!"
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    Why are you scrolling down? It's your turn to say something.

    1. Yanks stick to using the quaint 'quarts' as a measure of capacity because their idiotic short-measure (16fl oz) 'pints' are not fit for purpose.

      A Yank quart is just 32fl oz, whereas a proper imperial quart is 40fl oz.

      2. Shame about the American and UK joint venture on building a satellite. They used their measurements and we used ours. At least £50 million pissed down the drain.

  40. When Rachel Reeves was aledged to have started at the BoE she was 20 (born 1979).
    As I never went to university could someone tell me at what age a 'Top Economist' would finish their degree and when they would be given a huge amount of responsibility within the Nation's economic planning?

    1. I read that she was taken on as a junior trainee and took time out to study while employed by the bank. Also that she was there for 5 years and not 10 as she claims. I’ve no way of knowing whether that’s true.

      1. From ChatGPT:
        Got it! Here's a more detailed, CV-style breakdown of Rachel Reeves' early career, with dates and positions:

        ### **Early Career**:

        1. **Education**:
        – **St Paul's Girls' School** (London)
        – Attended school, completed A-Levels.
        – **University of Oxford** (1997–2000)
        – Degree: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)
        – College: Balliol College, Oxford.

        2. **Banking and Economics Roles**:
        – **Bank of England** (2000–2003)
        – Position: Economist
        – Focus: Worked on economic policy and analysis, contributing to economic reports and policy development.

        – **British Embassy, Washington, D.C.** (2003–2005)
        – Position: Economic Advisor
        – Focus: Worked on economic and financial relations between the UK and the U.S., providing advice on economic issues.

        3. **Further Academic Pursuit**:
        – **London School of Economics (LSE)** (2005–2006)
        – MSc in Economics
        – Focus: Strengthened her understanding of economics, policy-making, and analysis.

        4. **Labour Party Involvement**:
        – After completing her academic studies, Reeves became more actively involved in politics, joining the Labour Party and becoming a policy advisor. She worked in various think tanks and advisory roles before being selected as a parliamentary candidate.

        ### **Political Career**:

        1. **Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West**:
        – **Elected in 2010 General Election**
        – Position: MP for Leeds West
        – Focus: Representing her constituency in Parliament. She campaigned on issues such as job creation, public services, and tackling inequality.

        2. **Shadow Cabinet Roles**:
        – **Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions** (2013–2015)
        – Focus: Advocating for reform of welfare policies, protecting vulnerable citizens, and ensuring social security for low-income families.

        – **Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer** (2015–2020)
        – Focus: Prominent voice on economic issues, presenting Labour’s economic policies, including fiscal responsibility, job creation, and responding to the financial impacts of austerity measures.

        This early phase in her career provided Rachel Reeves with a broad range of expertise in economics, public policy, and political strategy, laying the groundwork for her later rise to senior positions within the Labour Party, including her eventual appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2024.

        1. They seem to have missed off her job at Hbos on the complaints team. And her time at the BoE was reduced to three years.

    2. She'd have to be at least 22 if she went straight from school to university and did a Masters.
      I am assuming that a few years experience would be expected, but in these days of diversity hires and preferential treatment for certain sections of the population …. who knows?

    3. Entirely possible to graduate when 20. My youngest daughter graduated in July 2008, one month before her 21st birthday (born in August, she was always one of the youngest in her year in school and university).

  42. Why do we say white rabbits on the first of the month?
    The exact origin of the white rabbits tradition is unclear but some theories are circulating online.

    One theory comes from the 1909 book Notes and Queries, which said that children had a habit of making sure “rabbits” was the first word they said aloud on the first day of the month, in the hope that it would bring them luck.

    This is thought to be the earliest reference to “white rabbits”.

    Another theory is that, during World War II, RAF bomber crews would say “white rabbits” as soon as they woke up to protect themselves.

    But why rabbits? The animals, particularly their feet, are considered to be lucky. But again, the origin of the superstition is unclear.

    Some say rabbits are lucky because of their fertility and that they represent spring and renewal.

    1. I used to have a rabbit's foot for luck.
      Lost it just before my 'O' levels and still did all right.
      I think, originally it was a hare's foot; hares are native to Britain, so maybe the link goes back a long way.
      I believe Boadicea released a hare as a divination device before she attacked the Romans.
      I can't remember if it was before she successfully wiped out Colchester or before her last failed grand battle.

    3. I can’t say I have ever heard this rabbits thing before either in central Scotland or Yorkshire. Is it a southern thing?

    1. difficult to plan for the future

      Unless we can harness negentropy Im not sure there's any other way to plan

  44. :-). Oh Gawd; you do realise, Maggie, that we've reached the age when policemen look young!

    1. My personal Francophile troll thinks he is far too important to be up his own arse; although he clearly demonstrates that he is, daily.

    2. Used to be a wealthy city , yes , where there is muck there is brass, but my goodness , northern England has been betrayed by all politicians .. look at Doncaster .. the birth home of my late father a Quantity surveyor .. his father was also Quantity surveyor ,responsible for overseeing building many important buildings and planning housing estates in the post ww1 years . Great grandfather , grandfathers ' father was Civic Mayor in 1925.

      Grandparents then moved to Darlington , where I was born .. after leaving the RN after the war , dad worked for the family company and achieved his qualifications whereupon he took us to Africa in 1951.

      All of my late fathers relatives lived / live in the North , fascinating family history , not exciting , but good hard workers / grafters .

      I am so glad I have nice memories of how things were . My great Aunt used to be a midwife in Guiseley , she would be 130yrs old now ..

      When I used to stay with her, she knew everyone , and just walking with her in her village or even Bradford or Leeds or Wakefield , people knew her .. she was born before WW1, she had sisters and brothers . big family .

      Her father won brass band competitions , playing the cornet with his brother at places like the old Chrystal palace . Brass bands were essential parts of many towns and villages in those days .

      I love brass bands . Son no 1 played when he was a teenager, , brass instruments were uncool , and peer pressure ruined everything .

      Moh's grandfather also played something when he belonged to the Salvation Army , it was a Hampshire thing .. They lived in Upham .

      1. When i was at Secondary school a full military brass band visited and played in our concert hall. I don't remember what else they played but they did play the music from Hawaii 5-0. I was completely blown away by it.

        This wasn't them but you get the idea… https://youtu.be/p3RhivGKM1s?t=66

        1. 'Book him, Danno.' back in the day, I was a big fan of Hawaii 5-0, and loved the theme music. Brass bands in general are wonderful.

          1. I was a fan too.

            When the band played the theme music i was not only agog but slack jawed too.

          2. My favourite Hawaiian series was Hawaiian Eye, back in the late 1950s.

            Cricket Blake (played by Connie Stevens) was delicious.

          4. If you weren’t around in the 1950s you wouldn’t have had the pleasure. Hawaiian Eye was a sister-series to the also popular 77 Sunset Strip, , both shows were about private detective agencies.
            Hawaiian Eye was set in Honolulu and 77 Sunset Strip was set in LA. The shows’ respective cast members often popped up in each other’s show.

          7. When I visited my sister in San Francisco in the late 70s, the locals remarked that I looked like an actor in Hawaii 5-0 but I didn't know which one as I had never watched it. They said, "Book him Danno" too.

      2. What wonderful memories to have.
        MOH was born in Middlesbrough, respectable council estate in those days. Family escaped in the mid 1970s. Looking on street-view, the estate is something of a no-go area these days.
        Our younger son & his now-ex-wife rented a flat, and then a house, in Guiseley. What a general dump, though there were some nicer areas. Son was bitten by a huge out-of-control dog while running through the big park there. His friends took him to hospital where he had the wound cleaned and stitched, a tetanus jab and several follow-up appointments.
        The house was an end back-to-back on the back row, and had a garden area across the back lane.- I was shocked there was still b2b housing in 2015. Having said that, the row seemed to be quite a community, and was generally well-cared for, with many pots full of flowers and children playing out, little bikes safely abandoned.
        I have since seen plenty of back-to-back housing in Leeds – mostly in areas where you would keep your car doors locked while driving by.

        1. Guiseley was pretty in earlier days , there were several mills, and I can remember seeing mill girls pouring out at the end of the day wearing scarves upturned on their heads to cover their hair and rollers .

          Aunt used to say lots of famous people were born there , Harry Corbett , Sooty fame , it wasn't a rubbish village , from what I can remember .

          She used to walk her dog everywhere in the countryside , it felt safe and kind ..

      1. Must remember that one if Im ever in need of a Nursing Care Home. It'll save the family upwards of £100k a year!

    2. Is the criminally ignorant/senile judge really unaware that those with dementia cannot control what they say?
      It seems this elderly victim just wanted to protect young girls & women, and called them out.
      I hope the guards and her fellow inmates treat her well.
      Edit: What's the betting the 'nurse' who reported this elderly lady isn't white or British heritage?

    3. She should be in a secure care facility. Not a prison as such.

      Her carers need a thicker skin and consider her mental state rather than their own. That's what they are paid for.

      Good morning.

    4. Fair play to Norwich magistrate.. Just because she's diminutive, grey-haired, struggled to hear proceedings & could barely be seen above the dock.. doesn't mean she shouldn't feel the full force of the Law.

      Captured on ring doorbell footage Mavis Godfrey told them to go back to their own countries and that they had TB (tuberculosis).

    3. Yes they are.
      China is expected to be exempted from the toughest restrictions of the UK’s new spying laws, The i Paper has been told.

    4. Now don't wind me up, Ready Eddy. I'm full of the 'flu and have no desire to start a row by asking you what your post of *&^% means! Lol. PS – I've just realised that it's 8765 with the caps lock on. Still no idea what you mean though.

      1. I removed the original post because it has been taken down from the MSM site where I had found it. Posts cannot be blank

    5. Very stupid and incompetent. But we knew they were going to be bad, and by God, they are.

        1. How did you get your time? I didnt think the scores were available until 10.00am tomorrow?

          PS I thought it was a lot easier than the last one I tried!

          1. Well done.
            That should have put you in medal contention in your group, I’m sitting 4th in my group.
            I fouled up on the hard card clearance, I was heading for a good result prior to that.
            ):-((

  52. Good afternoon, dances in on a scented breeze, well just pops head around the corner anyway. A cloudy chilly day and I've Venison to prepare for dinner – oh deer 🙂

      1. Hello, I hope Gloucestershire is still beautiful as I remembered.
        This picture is a favourite of a young Audrey Hepburn smiling, as it’s also the spitting image of my late mum, it makes me smile when I see it .
        I did log into my old ‘ Lady of The Mercians ‘ Saxon Queen account the other day and thought I’m too old for defeating Vikings and being a warrior Queen but i might just pop by with it one day – Mr Viking ( Peddy ) found it amusing. I’m trying a new Highland Venison recipe later which I hope I don’t ruin when cooking .

        1. A Tip – don't drink all the red Wine.

          PS Has anyone heard from Distant Cumbrian today?

          3. I did actually find a red wine to cook with but decided it was too nice and that it should be for drinking 🙂
            No I haven’t heard from Distant Cumbrian recently but when reading the comments at Guido Fawkes I did see Hugh J who used to post here around 6 years or so ago – black labrador avatar, a super sense of humour.

          5. Not yet but it’s early morning in Ontario? Hopefully his pistol packing other half forgave him for substituting raspberries for red wine with the venison.

        2. Gloucestershire is cold and grey today like most places.
          You can come back as your Saxon queen account whenever you wish – what about the Aethelflaed account? Did you ever visit St Oswald's Priory in Gloucester?
          Enjoy your venison.

          1. Jacobs Knoll, Minchinhampton Common where I lived always seemed sunny but maybe that’s how I remember it and surrounding villages.
            No I didn’t visit St Oswald Priory when living there, there are a few places I didn’t get to visit . Æthelflæd was the Christian name of the Mercian Queen when dropping the title and being less formal. This one is the account created at the time of the upvote stealing years ago.
            I had to remember the password of the Saxon Queen – surprised it still works . Thank you, I’ll pop by with it at some point when needing to cheer myself up – it was great fun to say – ‘ Daughter of Alfred of Wessex with blooded axe and marmalade sandwich in handbag ‘ 🙂

          2. Jacob's Knoll is just a stone's throw from here.
            I doubt if the Saxon Queen was into marmalade sandwiches in her day.

        3. Good looking lass, your Mum. I suspect her daughter is even better looking – that's how it usually goes.

  53. 400872+ up ticks,

    Dt,
    The new Labour MPs who have barely said a word in Parliament
    Backbenchers elected for first time last year made on average only 43 contributions, with some speaking as few as three times

    They looked colourful though in their nation dress
    one asked in stinted English, where is the nearest welfare office,while another asked is there any schools for juniors in the area and enquired about
    using parliamentary transport for a trip to rotherham.

    1. I have noticed at P&Q that the majority of MPs asking Questions are Labour MPs of which just act as a diversion. Mr Speaker should be allowing more balance but I suppose it's difficult with so many of them, nevertheless he allows nearly all Labour MPs .

      1. Ours is always in the local rag; not sure what actual difference (i e improvement) she has made.

      2. Ours is always in the local rag; not sure what actual difference (i e improvement) she has made.

  54. There’s a fountain at the top of Shepherd’s Bush Green, with a fire engine and police car nearby. No idea what’s happened. The water reminds me of Chatsworth. Sadly nothing else about Shepherd’s Bush does.

  58. Just been out to check the mole traps. None used.. Several more molehills – so I have set two more.

    Gosh – it's cold…..

    1. So what you are saying Mr T is that you are engaged in a new sport – that of Mole Vaulting?

    2. I tried using a solar powered device which sent vibrations as a deterrent down into pathways of burrowing creatures.
      There was enough sun to keep it working all year long but on sunny days the little critters just came up someshere else smiling

      1. Maybe she's trying to dig her way into a Vietnamese nail parlour. That must be why we never see the customers.

          1. I have a rifle in a proper calibre (.30-06), a 12-bore and four handguns ranging from .22LR to .44MAG.
            The .22is silenced, too… a fart is louder. The .44 is seriously loud…

          2. I bow to your superior fire power! Having said that, when I get round to it I shall be purchasing the highest powered legal air rifle I can; I just need to get to Wrecsam to buy it.

          5. I bow to your superior fire power! Having said that, when I get round to it I shall be purchasing the highest powered legal air rifle I can; I just need to get to Wrecsam to buy it.

          7. I have a rifle in a proper calibre (.30-06), a 12-bore and four handguns ranging from .22LR to .44MAG.
            The .22is silenced, too… a fart is louder. The .44 is seriously loud…

          8. I have a rifle in a proper calibre (.30-06), a 12-bore and four handguns ranging from .22LR to .44MAG.
            The .22is silenced, too… a fart is louder. The .44 is seriously loud…

      1. Trainers… and a Volkswagen.
        The lovely bright but chilly day has given me a real boost to the humour. At last, it's beginning to look like winter is on it's way out. The feel of sun on the skin…
        Afternoon – demolition of old crap in the barn, and stacking of wood (shades of Bob of Bonsall there). Now indoors as the sun disappears, with a good local IPA.

        1. I bought myself a daylight lamp. Can't cope with weeks of grey. That's my justification for a late season holiday in Malta.

          2. Not too bad here, but alas! by the time I got home, it was too late to do anything in the garden.

  64. Headline on the Beebs website:

    "Could the UK actually get colder with global warming?"

    Pre-emptive strike in case Zarkhova is right?

  65. Got back from Step-son's about 13:45 and have just had sausage, beans & oven chips for lunch.
    Chain saw is refueled so I'm going to put my overalls on and take it over the road.

  67. Lying awake last night, this occurred to me. Every right-minded person knows that net-zero is a scam and cult. Nevertheless, HMG will pursue it (whatever shower is nominally running the country).

    As the Sun does its thing and – for the next 40 years, cools the planet Earth – the net-zero cultists – having reduced the country to penury – will notice the global cooling and claim – very loudly – that THEY WERE RIGHT. Net-zero was worth it…..

    Most of us will be dead – so it won't matter to us. But for our grand-children……

    1. I would like it to cool while CO² continues to rise.

      That would be a good way to show what a scam it is/was.

    2. BTL under DT article about electric cars:

      Latest News:

      * Man made global warming is a myth

      * Carbon dioxide is beneficial and necessary

      * Net Zero is a scam

      * Buy petrol and diesel cars – they are better for the environment.

        1. Within the last few days, petrol has gone up by a couple of pence in the Gloucester area. My prediction is that it will be £1.40 a litre by the end of February.

          1. Seems to vary across the country; in Cheshire petrol was 10ppl dearer than in Shropshire! The same applied to Wales.

          2. Variations across the country are to be expected and reflect different costs of transportation, property rents, wages and so on but 10ppl is very surprising. It is frightening to realise that £1.36 per litre is over £6 per gallon. When in 1962 I got my first car, £1 would get me 4 gallons and a bit of change! Mind you, I also remember the sound of sizzling as steel converted to rust, a three-speed column-change gearbox, wind-screen wipers with speed inversely proportional to car speed (almost motionless at 50mph), no radio, no heater, occasional brakes and other eccentricities.

          3. That's why they sell it in litres! If Joe Public realised how much it cost they'd be up in arms. A 1ppl rise equates to 4p a gallon. When I had my Mini in 1967, petrol was 6/8 a gallon. Ah, those were the days!

          4. Seems to vary across the country; in Cheshire petrol was 10ppl dearer than in Shropshire! The same applied to Wales.

      1. They started off with their lies and have just turned up the volume.
        But the previous government did nothing to stop the invasion.
        They have all let us down.

    4. Simon Jenkins is a complete Leftie moron! Britain is already full – our infrastructure cannot cope with the population we already have!

    5. Simon David Jenkins – another name for a syphilis infected turd.
      A remainer, Jenkins argued in a Guardian article that British control over the Falkland Islands was an "expensive legacy of empire" and should be handed over to the Argentinian government. He voted for the UK to Remain within the European Union in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, arguing in The Guardian that leaving would provide Germany with dominance over the remainder of the union:

      1. Jenkins is the man who, when Obarmy was elected, wrote in the Guardian that he "cried tears of joy".

      2. Having possession of the Falkland Islands gives us mineral rights in Antarctica.

        Sod the penguins and the Not Benny's.

        1. You shouldn't refer to them as Not Bennys. They are more correctly known as 'Stills'

          Why? Because they are still Bennys!

    6. Of course these people pretend that all migrants are workers, while the reality is that the migrant benefit bill massively dwarfs any gains.

  69. I have absolute confidence in Attorney General, says Starmer
    Questions have been raised about whether Lord Hermer’s previous work could result in conflicts of interest when advising the Government
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/01/31/starmer-absolute-confidence-attorney-general-lord-hermer/

    BTL

    But fewer and fewer people have confidence in Mr Starmer.

    He and his government are incompetent, lack judgement, human empathy and economic common sense and are simply not up to the job.

    How can we leave them in power for the next 4½ years – there won't be a country left if we do.

    1. Excellent BTL – Hermer should go, hopefully followed in short order by Starmer, Miliband, the ginger growler and Reeves

      1. If I concentrate really long and hard, I can imagine a use for your penultimate hope but try as I might I can’t imagine any useful use for our Foreign Secretary – shouldn’t you have included him?

          1. Yes, I understand the predicament. Identifying all those on the front bench who are deserving of the adjective would be a long job and perhaps start to seem like kicking a puppy.

    2. Starmer has just the person he wants in as Attorney general. An uncaring, unpatriotic, fervently statist,hard Left git.

  70. Wordle No. 1,323 3/6

    ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 1 Feb 2025

    A fascinating Birdie Three?

    1. Well done. Here too.

      Wordle 1,323 3/6

      ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Three here also (posting in gaps in the Rugby!)

      Wordle 1,323 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟩🟨
      ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

          1. Sarf African T20 cricket franchise competition. I watch because of the English players involved.

          2. Oh thanks, I watch the IPL pretty regularly and am now watching England in India for the T20 series – it’s finely balanced!

    3. Par for me. With just two options, I chose the wrong one.

      Wordle 1,323 4/6

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

  73. Half-time – I'll not mention the score. Initial thoughts:

    Remarkably irritating referee (even by Kiwi standards)..
    Forward passes = perfectly OK.
    I thought the new laws were meant to speed up the scrum.
    I simply do not understand what happened when Ireland went over the line first time.
    What IS the feet on the ground bollocks.

    1. If I recall one can't pick up the ball in a ruck if your feet are off the ground i.e. You are not supporting your own body weight…

      2. I would have ENORMOUS difficulty picking anything up if my feet were not on the ground….

      3. I would have ENORMOUS difficulty picking anything up if my feet were not on the ground….

    2. I would change the laws slightly in the multiple penalty situation such as where Smith was given the yellow card.

      Let the opposition choose which player should go to the sin bin for the 10 minutes. My reasoning is that numerous players will have been penalised to get to that point, so it's a matter of Buggins' turn and possibly the least "heinous" of the penalties.

    3. Agree on the ref, you could be forgiven for thinking he was bent….
      Agree on the glaring forward pass….
      But it was only ever going to be damage limitation, and a point at least….

  74. Interesting. Just had a call from the NHS. Hammersmith have no MRI slots before April so would I be prepared to travel to Harefield Hospital? Yes I would. Now on their list for February. Date to be confirmed. Could have nightmares about being enclosed in an MRI machine but will try to put it out of mind.

    1. If you haven't experienced it it's nowhere near as bad as one might imagine.
      I've got yet another on Tuesday.

        1. They’re the ones putting the boot in.

          Unfortunately, they’ve offered me a season ticket.

          }:-((

    2. Sue , it really is a doddle , MRI can be daunting , but you will have staff there reassuring you.

      Go for it .

      I am shocked that there are no other closer slots for an MRI, I have no idea where Harefield hospital is?

      1. Me too. Near Uxbridge apparently. I’ll need a taxi from the station. Pinewood Studios is out that way too. That’s been the only reason I’ve been there in the past! Pinewood is a rather beautiful country estate.

          1. Ruislip?

            I think the people that book these things are sadists. It was similar with covid. People being sent miles and miles away when there were local facilities being under used.

          2. Sorry, was wrong. Was in the news a lot when we lived in Newport Pagness, but time fades the memory… 🙁

          3. Sorry, was wrong. Was in the news a lot when we lived in Newport Pagness, but time fades the memory… 🙁

      3. Leeds, my mum was in there for recovery following op for aneurysm. She had a grand old time, many different characters, some been in a while. One old girl was called her Christian name by a certain nurse, she really didn't like it, beckoned her close and whispered 'Eff off!'….Brits, eh :-DDD

        1. Harefield is Hillingdon, Middlesex, not Yorkshire. Leeds would be the LGI or St James’s?

          1. LGI. My mum had an op done by Carys Bannister, a great physician and a lovely person, I met her a few times, protoge of Miles Gibson. I think you’ll do just fine, Sue. Look forward to any update. All the best x

          2. LGI. My mum had an op done by Carys Bannister, a great physician and a lovely person, I met her a few times, protoge of Miles Gibson. I think you’ll do just fine, Sue. Look forward to any update. All the best x

          3. Harewood House, family seat of the Earls of Harewood, is south of Leeds. I used to drive past it weekly en route to Pannal Ash police training centre, just outside Harrogate, in late 1973/early 1974.

          5. I once had to phone the Earl of Harewood at work. Called his secretary first. She said he prefers to be addressed as David Lascelles. He speaks like an educated Yorkshireman. Not a broad accent but definitely Yorkshire. Licensing use of his archive footage was a very straightforward exercise.

      4. "Harefield Hospital is a health institution in Harefield, London Borough of Hillingdon, England. It is managed by the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust."

    3. First thing to remember is to keep your eyes closed the whole time. It's noisy but you can cope with that. When i had mine they asked me what radio station i wanted and gave me a pair of headphones.

      If they don't give you music recite in your mind something you are familiar with. Rinse and repeat.

      Feels like forever but mine was only about 15 minutes.

      You will be fine.

    4. Hope the appointment and the investigation goes well, Sue.
      It's not so bad – I close my eyes. Nothing to see, anyway.

    6. I've been in quite a few scanners Sue. Just lay back and close your eyes.
      They might even plug you in to some music through headphones.

    7. I had one, Sue ….I can do it, you most certainly can. Think they play music? a certain number of tracks. Plus, they'll give you a sedative (pill, not G&T unfortunately), if you ask for one? All the best, Kate x PS Harefield has a good rep, you'll be fine.

    8. I had an MRI examination around ten years ago. I had already had a similar CT scan in 2008 for something else. On both occasions I felt no claustrophobia nor any other fear. I simply kept my eyes closed, remained relaxed, and all was well. It was nowhere near as daunting an experience as I had been led to believe it might have been.

      1. I was so fascinated by the various noises; slightly miffed when the machine gave a deep sigh as if I was the most boring patient it had ever scanned.

    9. It's all in the mind, Sue. Deep breaths, calm and relaxed. You can have piped music (although you still hear the clanking and banging!).

    10. The MRI scanners have improved.
      The first one I had I was very aware of the tunnel effect.
      The newer ones have a wider opening and are painted white so they don't seem oppressive.
      I would imagine Harefield will have the latest models.

    11. I am the most anxious patient on earth, Sue. You'll be fine. I was given headphones and 'music' to listen to. The worst part of the whole experience was the enforced listening I had to endure to Radio 1. It made the rest seem like a doddle.

      2. Yes I have a proper butcher who I buy my meat from , and we know where he sources his carcases .

        The Chinese pork issue reminds me of how idiotic this country is , importing meat.

        Remember foot and mouth outbreak , my cousins are farmers in North Yorkshire .. during that appalling time , the army came in and slaughtered all the beef cattle and sheep on their farm ..

        There are so many rules broken these days , how do people know they are eating Chinese pork , it might be St Bernard or similar big dogs , the Chinese eat everything without any qualms .

        1. That foot-and-mouth outbreak was 24 years ago, in 2001. I was screening supervisor at Norwich airport and during that epidemic no food products were allowed aboard aircraft. One day, a complete tosser turned up with two whole Stilton cheeses in his cabin baggage. I explained to him that those cheeses would not be permitted on the aircraft and advised him to contact someone to come and collect them.

          He was an obnoxious and aggressive creature who refused to listen and he demanded to be allowed onto the aircraft with his cheese. I explained the current law to him but he would not listen. I again told him that I would not permit him to progress unless he disposed of the cheese, safely. He screamed at me, "If you don't let me pass then I shall go onto the car park and feed my cheese to the birds." I responded by taking the cheeses from his possession and telling him, "I am not going to permit you to create a health hazard by throwing cheese around our car park. I am confiscating your cheese and it will be destroyed." He was irate and threatening but I stood my ground by telling him, "If you do not calm down you will not be flying anywhere since the captain of the aircraft will refuse you to board his aircraft." That shut him up.

          Most passengers understood the necessity for the rules but every now and then a wanker, such as this one, tested your patience. The cheese was handed to the on-site police special branch officers who ensured it was incinerated along with many other animal products that has been handed in.

        2. Thats what lots of folk and frequent famines throughout history have enabled the survivors to do – eat anything and everything.

      3. Yes I have a proper butcher who I buy my meat from , and we know where he sources his carcases .

        The Chinese pork issue reminds me of how idiotic this country is , importing meat.

        Remember foot and mouth outbreak , my cousins are farmers in North Yorkshire .. during that appalling time , the army came in and slaughtered all the beef cattle and sheep on their farm ..

        There are so many rules broken these days , how do people know they are eating Chinese pork , it might be St Bernard or similar big dogs , the Chinese eat everything without any qualms .

  76. Load of logs from over the road sawn, collected and loaded into the van to take to t'Lad's on Monday.
    Might drop down towards Cromford to collect some more tomorrow.

    Bathed, relaxing in from of the fire and currently fighting to stay awake!

  77. Evening, all. Back from a meeting where I wore at least three hats! Have taken a call from an elderly ex-RAF colleague whom I shall have to take to A&E tomorrow after church. Useless trying to get any resolution to medical problems otherwise over the weekend 🙁 I cooked chicken breast with roasties, parsnips, sweetcorn and baby carrots when I got back and downed the rest of the Chardonnay.

    There are many important reasons why the UK voted to leave the sclerotic EU, but being able to make our own laws (common law) and vote out those who make those laws is high among them.

  78. 400872+ up ticks,

    Reform ahead of Tories in every major poll for first time
    Nigel Farage’s insurgent party has called itself the ‘real opposition’
    May one ask,

    Seeing as even the most tribalistic of the lab/lib/con coalition voters must realise they are, via the polling stations, fraternizing with the political enemy enamas

    Would it not be a decent idea, to start a party in friendly opposition to REFORM, just as a fall back
    party, in case,say a spare, you never know, that sheepskin REFORM is currently wearing could very well conceal a……..

    Well meant advice,

    Better safe than sorry, eggs all in one basket etc,etc.

      1. Please be reminded to unsee this YT.. dont want you ending up like Isabelle Ferreira floating in a French river.
        Or.. Natasha Rey or Amandine Roy or Xavier Poussard.

      2. A damn good thrashing eh
        But earlier, but I was quite impressed with the way Italy have improved.

  82. Full time. I shall not mention the score.

    The better side won – in the end
    The ref continued to be very irritating
    The "line out" error by the ref was simply appalling.
    Forward passes rule OK… Why not change the law?
    Crooked feeds into scrum are the norm…why not so away with scrums – especially as the famous law change about scrums has had sod all effect.

    I'll leave you now until

    Demain

    4. In three seasons under Borthwick, England have not progressed tactically. They are easily out-thought and out-played. Time is ripe for a change of coach.

      The best two tactical brains in world rugby are the former Rugby League pair of Shaun Edwards and Andy Farrell. The prawn-sandwich munching, pink-gin soaked, old farts at the RFU have had umpteen opportunities of recruiting this pair but have serially spurned the chance. Other national teams have directly benefitted from this purblind idiocy.

      Time for a complete clear out, methinks.

          1. Yes, of course he is, that’s why Easterby was Irish coach today! Too many beers and shouting at the TV…….

    2. I suspect that captaincy doesnt suit him – he's best left to get on with his own game. His lineout work, as ever, was pretty good but he just didnt show so much in the loose….

  84. Visited here today, Saint George's Damerham, seven or so miles from me here in Verwood. Unfortunately I didn't have time for a proper 'Church Crawl' and will have to partake in that on a future visit.

    The Church of Saint George dates from the Norman period. The earliest sections are the lower part of the tower and the north aisle (12th century). In the 13th century the chancel was seemingly rebuilt and a south aisle added to the nave. The tower was nearly rebuilt about this time. The 12th-century north aisle and transept were probably pulled down in the 15th century and the existing aisle substituted. The church has rare features including a canonical sundial and a relief of St George. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3adb8a940eb5c931864e44454d3f2a8cd392848a6399749a8aba5ac303fa6dd2.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/64c039437c47bb042ee6cd8b691caf3f890a9a292d94cdb9bf2b5faef5bc35ed.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3eae1b04e743e3068d7b06445bf3c64566080226d2e16570d1d3191bd48e54ed.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7463c2abc5a2c1d8ca9265419df92d2793f8fb0c7d1ce1cf05787d7037437c15.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/564d1f33ca13ccaeeea81975924def39748e0b4f4187896ec39bc4ae07f64b11.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dbb46215d0f5c54ba17a9bb071adced41c7c474c8273c67dfcac2152fe6d8302.jpg

  85. President Trump's shock and awe destruction of the Deep State has been planned for a long time.
    I hope and indeed pray that this is just the beginning and it spreads around the globe like a Wuhan Virus.

    1. The Democrats screwed up tactically and strategically by stealing the Biden election, by chasing Trump with lawfare, and giving him nearly 4 years to learn from his mistakes first time around.
      And I really hope he makes them pay.

      2. 300,000 children under Biden were unaccounted for after crossing the Southern border. Trump was vilified for holding them in cages. Which wasn't actually true. The Feds have managed to find 44,000 of them.

        Guess what has happened to the rest given what we know of Liberal policies.

        1. Be fair, Biden needed a lot of hair to sniff, and many of the illegals were Muslim men.

          /sarc and in very bad taste.

          1. You? Bad taste? Look in the mirror ! Actually don't…we don't want seven years bad luck !!!

            President Trump though not experienced in the ways of politics does have business acumen.

            He said things in his first term that made him look stupid. He isn't.

            He has a better team now. Not time serving wonks but people with ideas that love their country other than those that want to enrich themselves with deals with discredited companies in Ukraine and China using DEI as a way to accomplish it.

          2. My great hope is that he'll stay grounded enough to create the platform for a two term Vance.

            Trump's problem is that he creates opportunities for Democrat lawfare and they will seize on every opportunity right down the court system.

            Vance will be his real legacy, if he (Trump) can hold it together.

    2. I hope Trump spends considerable time during his last term of office coaching and mentoring his Veep for a seamless takeover and, consequently, two more Republican terms in office.

    2. Yet the Mexican border is pretty long.Judging by that video there's 3 blokes every 5 metres.

      While I agree, we haven't an army that big to cover Dover's beaches.

      Trump is right though. The criminal must be kept out.

    3. Our stretch of water is a darned sight wider than that and yet we can't stop them.

  88. You on your second bottle ?

    Trump is 78. He knows what he is doing by having Vance.

    Grass roots America from the bottom up as opposed to top down.

    Even Zucker and Bezos can see what is coming.

    1. Don’t you believe it.
      Trump shoots from the hip and could easily foul up his best laid plans.

      I hope he doesn’t, but like it or hate it, Biden’s people will have left some bear traps.

      1. Oh, i know they have left traps all over. Which is why Trump is using a flamethrower on them.

        He also has some seriously good people advising him. Unlike the last time.

        Quite a few while working under his Presidency didn't like what he was trying to achieve and so just like our civil service against ministers like Truss or Braverman they were shut down.

        See the Davos pattern?

  95. Yes, I flew through it apart from a silly mistake on level 6 – the Expert one – which meant I had to redo that level.

    Just checking now I’m 2nd in my Group (not sure what defines my Group), somebody has posted 15.31

    1. You would be 3rd in my group, the current leader is on 14.01.
      I flew through the expert one.

      The Group is merely the 50 people who start at the same time. Certain times of day get the “bots”, so I tend to look at the overall performance when it finishes.
      I suspect your score would put you in 1st or 2nd in most groups.

  97. Walked into town earlier to day to buy some fresh produce. Sat at an outside table for coffee I listened to a busker playing the piece below. As I didn't have any change I offered to buy him a coffee. which he gladly accepted saying the staff in the Nordic Cafe adjacent to Bath Abbey knew what he liked. I later learned the chap's name was Gary. Not only did he play this piece faithfully, he did so with the loss of the tip of his index finger on his left hand.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txwlj7_JNrQ

      1. Ah, Reincarnation – Tarrega died the year before Reinhardt was born ( I had to look that up!)

      3. I'd never have thought of that, ashes, and have puzzled over it, but do, of course, see the correlation. Oblique, but it's there – flamenco/gypsy jazz/ classical musica espanol – thank you!

  98. We don't even try is the issue, GQ. Anyhow, boaties (illegals) are around 10% of total, 90% is legal by way of ECHR, but no-one seems to worry much about those.

    1. Indeed, I’ve felt for a while now the boats are merely a squirrel to distract from the ‘legal’ ones.

      1. Exactly, GQ. Don’t think I’ve heard Farage & Co mention the legals – the bulk, and nothing we can do about it unless we leave the ECHR – which we can’t because it’s embedded in the NI Agreement to ensure parity with the Republic/EU, witness Sunak with von der Layen visiting the Queen in NI Ireland. What’s the phrase, hellically challenged?

  100. Goodnight, everyone. Off to stoke the Rayburn, fill the hot water bottles and go to bed. Early start for church in the morning.

  103. Chicken stock + frozen raspberries + 1 ounce dry sherry.

    I live to lie another day.

    1. Hmm. Venison with raspberries? A bit like using cranberries I presume?
      Sounds worth a try.

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