Saturday 1 May: It’s the Government’s investment in vaccination that has been a lifesaver

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but not as good as ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/04/30/lettersits-governments-investment-vaccination-has-lifesaver/

830 thoughts on “Saturday 1 May: It’s the Government’s investment in vaccination that has been a lifesaver”

    1. ‘Snot fair; you’re an hour ahead.
      (Whinge, moan, grizzle …….)

  2. Prison governor defends Fishmongers’ Hall attacker attending education event. 1 May 2021.

    A prison governor has defended allowing the terrorist Usman Khan to take part in a Learning Together education programme before his deadly attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in London.

    William Styles, who was governor for most of Khan’s time at the jail for terrorist offences, told an inquest that months before Khan killed Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones at a prisoner education event run by Learning Together in November 2019, he had thought Khan was “a success story” of the programme.

    Morning everyone. Reprehensible though it is I have to confess to some considerable schadenfreude about this affair. Just for once the consequences of the tenets of Cultural Marxism and Government Policy have fallen not on the innocent but on the heads of those who believe and implement it. They have swallowed the poison and it has laid them low. This tale has them all; the naïve underlings, the gullible official, even a parent making apologies for his son’s murderer. The more depressing aspect of it however is that it is a mere harbinger of what is to come; the plotline here simply reflects the whole of a UK Society that is devoid of protection due to the folly of its leaders. The Muslims as a whole and as demonstrated here by an individual, don’t believe this Cultural Marxist twaddle any more than I do! They have certainly learned the lingo, “Islamophobia” Lol, and trot it out as occasion demands but they secretly still cling fiercely to their beliefs. We have brought a race of tigers into the house and one day they will rend us all limb from limb!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/30/prison-governor-thought-of-london-bridge-terror-attacker-as-success-story

    2. How dare they publish something approaching truth? Someone should be fired, pronto!

      1. SIR – First we were told: “Not everyone can send the Prime Minister a text.” Now we find that they can.

        Robin Bryer
        Yeovil, Somerset

  6. Good Morning Folks,

    Sunny cold frosty start here, will May be the frostiest month on record as well as April?

    1. Nah! It should improve in a week or two, Bob3. (Good morning, btw.) At least I hope so – my kitchen is full to the brim with plants and flowers sheltering indoors from the frost.

      1. They have forecast lots of rain later this week, it could fall as snow, I suppose

        1. Bob3, you are really Uncle Bill “Eeyore” Thomas in disguise and I claim my five bob (5 not 3) postal order.

          :-))

  7. Economic Sense

    Big Bob’s old lady was thinking about getting a boob job, so she hit him up for money.

    Bob said, “You don’t need my money. Just grab some toilet paper and rub it between your tits every day.”

    “And how is that going to make my boobs any bigger?” she snapped
    .
    “Beats me,” Bob replied. “But it sure as hell worked on your arse!”

  8. Good morning, all. A very Happy Month of May. Pinch and a punch and all that.

    2. White Rabbits, Bill. (Good morning, btw.) Or, considering this farrago of a Government policy on the pandemic, should I say “May Day! May Day!”?

      1. When I was a child, we had a white cat who left hairs everywhere. I thought it was “White rabbits and hairs” for years!

        One of the things I love about this blog is that people speak a language from my childhood, which of recent years, I have only spoken to myself in my head, because nobody else would understand it!

        1. “”Oi – you; put your mask on”.

          “Down to the shelter with you…”

          “A 2d ticket from Stanmore to Oxford Circus, please”

          “It’s that man again…..”

          “Milko!” (fllowed by clip clop of horse drawn float…)

          I’ll get me siren suit.

    4. Adam and Eve and Pinchme went down to the river to bathe
      Adam and Eve were drowned but who do you think was saved?

      Pinch yourself, I can’t reach 🙂

      1. Thank you Minty, it started well, we got to Orston (Notts) in good time but, as we started to return, the battery lit up red with ‘Check Battery’.

        We motored to Halfords in Grantham, paid £118 for a the fitment of a battery with a 5 year warranty and, though the light was still on and the dashboard still insisted ‘Check Battery’ we decided that we’d get home and have our tame garage check it out after the Bank Holiday on Monday.

        We got as far as the Western Outskirts of Bury St Edmunds on the A!4 (Dual Carriageway) and the engine started spluttering and the steering went juddery and hard. Judy, who was driving, pulled over as far as she could (no hard shoulder), we switched on the hazards and I rang the RAC.

        This is too bloody similar to breaking down on a ‘Smart’ motorway.

        The RAC said, after 5 minutes of recorded babble, that they wouldn’t attend if the vehicle was in a dangerous position and that I should phone 999. Eventually a very helpful policeman arrived, had a go at starting it and drove it off the Dual carriageway and onto a slip road.

        He then saw that I was very stressed and said that he’d call a colleague to tow us to the nearest lay-by. He found the towing eye and fixed it to the front and, when his female colleague arrived, they connected the tow rope and decided that they would go to the next Junction, leave the dual carriageway and tow us round a roundabout and off to a Shell Garage to await the RAC. This they did with blues flashing on the tow vehicle and also on the other police car following. Judy found this very hairy, as we now had no brakes and, in order to prevent hitting the tow vehicle, Judy could only use the handbrake if the tow-rope was going slack.

        As we approached the roundabout, the Cop behind overtook at great speed, reached the roundabout before us and parked himself across it to prevent any oncoming traffic halting our progress. With Judy struggling with extremely hard steering and braking on the handbrake, we eventually were parked up in the Shell Garage and rang the RAC again. Of course we didn’t/couldn’t get to talk to the original person so we had to repeat every thing and then wait for the RAC Engineer, After two hours he turned up and diagnosed a bolloxed alternator that wasn’t charging the battery – a pity Halfords hadn’t checked that – and arranged for a recovery vehicle to uplift the car and take us home.

        I know I regularly castigate plod but that is the heavy-handed, jobsworth Stasi, I cannot speak highly enough of the Norfolk and Suffolk Police, both of whom were not only polite but very concerned for our welfare and couldn’t do enough to get us to safety.

        I also have to praise the Vehicle Recovery driver who took us to, and dropped off the car at, our tame garage and then drove a further two miles along single track roads to drop us in our village and then a further 3 miles of single-track road before he reached a ‘normal’ road.

        We arrived home at 19:30 rather than the originally estimated 14:30. What a day and Dotty the chihuahua was extremely good all through.

        1. One thing I forgot to mention, as we had no idea where we had broken down and then the actual whereabouts of the Shell Garage, I cannot say enough in praise of the App, “What Three Words” in pinpointing, with an accuracy of 1m², our ACTUAL position for a). The Police to find us and b). the RAC and the Recovery Vehicle.

        2. What a trauma! I had the alternator go in my Corsa. I nearly made it home, but had to call the RAC when I ground to a halt. The chap put a spare battery in which lasted long enough to get me back. Then I had to call my local garage to fix it.

        3. Glad you’re both OK after what was clearly a rather traumatic day, Tom.

        6. Glad you all got home safe and that Dotty was happy.

          Personally i would put all that in a letter and send it to Halfords HQ as a complaint and a lack of care.

        7. Blimey – what a daytime nightmare! Glad you are all ok. Well done plod!

  10. It is the BBC’s greatest single ambition to remove Boris Johnson from power. 1 May 2021.

    If you look at the extraordinary collection of attacks on the Prime Minister, you see a combined assault by those who lost the referendum, lost the general election and seek to squash rising Tory hopes in the local elections. As before, they are using non-democratic processes and the network of “independent” authorities demanding ever-greater unanswerable powers to achieve what has failed at the ballot-box. On cue, the aptly named Steve Bray, that man with the foghorn voice and the ringmaster’s top hat, is back on our screens.

    I think that Moore is underestimating both their activities and ambitions. They do indeed wish to be rid of Boris, but also Brexit and any of a number of class enemies that contradict the Corporations Marxist beliefs. The BBC, like most public UK institutions, is now an instrument of the Left. When the time comes it will provide the voice for the The People’s Democratic Republic of Britain.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/30/bbcs-greatest-single-ambition-remove-boris-johnson-power/

    1. Thanks for cheering me up at the start of May, Minty! (Sarc.) But I fear you are right. (And good morning, btw.)

      1. Morning Elsie. Don’t let it grind you down. At least we Nottlers know what is happening!

    2. They have definitely switched to Trump mode on him for some reason.
      How has Boris upset the kleptocracy? one must ask oneself

        1. Morning Minty, nothing wrong in having a bar steward in charge, just as long as the bar steward is working for our best interests.
          The question is would he though, indeed name one who would.

          1. 332176+ up ticks,
            Morning VVOF,
            To late now but to many
            Gerard Batten proved his worth in his year as UKIP leader, and so did the real UKIP in days prior to Batten.

          3. 332176+ up ticks,
            VVOF,
            Intentionally scuttled would be nearer the truth.

      2. Simples Bob,it all started when he whimpered lockdowns ought to be over and..
        Hey Presto

      3. I suppose after the coup in the US, all that spare hatred needed to be directed somewhere.

    3. A slight change there, Minty, “When the time comes it will provide the voice for the The People’s Democratic Republic Caliphate of Britain.”

      Oh, and a call to prayer 5 times a day.

    2. The first meme highlights a very worrying trend…nobody in the medical sector can speak out against the trans political agenda. The second picture has to happen, or the psych risks losing his job.

    3. Good morning. I may be mistaken but I think that last clip of the guy smashing his head against a screen, is from a real life incident. The poor guy is actually having a mental breakdown.

  12. The Weekend Woke Brigade’s offering: Seems Su Murley [among others] had a bad week:

    SIR – The following is an imaginary BBC news item: “Sources say Boris Johnson and the Conservative Government have achieved amazing success with the roll-out of the vaccine, which they ordered early after investing in its development. They have saved many lives.”

    Carol Glenister
    Great Bookham, Surrey

    SIR – Fed up with all the negatives we are being subjected to via the media, I felt that it was time to dwell on some positives. Having shielded for months, I now look forward to taking tentative steps towards the new normal.

    Like many others, I have been greatly encouraged by the results of efforts by our research scientists. The Prime Minister appointed the right people to roll out the vaccines after taking the precaution of placing orders with various possible providers.

    The vast majority of us have willingly queued to receive our doses – undeterred by broadcasters continually highlighting the risks. (Isn’t everything in life a risk?) There have been wonderful efforts by so many manning the vast number of vaccination centres. A big thank-you to them all.

    We sigh with relief that our Government had the foresight to get its orders in, and we have watched the EU blowing hot and cold over AstraZeneca and, as a result, losing valuable time. EU politicians seem not to want it, and doses have been sitting around unused. But they still want to sue the “not for profit” supplier and are now endeavouring to get hold of the supplies manufactured in this country, presumably to prevent us having them.

    Our politicians have faced problems never seen before. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition and his team are obsessed with earth-shattering matters – flat decoration and who paid for it. BBC reporters relish the chance to fuel the stories as they set their sights on bashing Boris Johnson.

    Elizabeth Hodgson
    Barnet, Hertfordshire

    SIR – Introducing different rules for the vaccinated and unvaccinated would amount to discrimination by age.

    The young have forgone months of the best years of their lives – for a disease that is much less likely to affect them – so that older generations can enjoy a few more of theirs.

    Those fortunate enough to have been vaccinated should remember these sacrifices, wait patiently until everyone has been offered a jab, and then the country can proceed as one.

    James Atkins
    Pulborough, West Sussex

    SIR – I do not care about the price of wallpaper, but I do care that Brexit was achieved and that we are on track to vaccinate the nation.

    Ken Bates
    Chesterfield, Derbyshire

    SIR – First we were told: “Not everyone can send the Prime Minister a text.” Now we find that they can.

    Robin Bryer
    Yeovil, Somerset

    Wokespeare

    SIR – Our purpose at the Royal Shakespeare Company is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone. This is reflected in our casting, and we always aim to select the most exciting talented individual for each role. Our casting is never blind, it is rather conscious of the amazing diversity of talent across the UK. The choices we make are far from gimmicks.

    The Winter’s Tale (Letters, April 29) included two deaf actors: Bea Webster is bilingual and uses spoken English in the first half of the play and spoken English and British sign language in the second half of the play. William Grint uses British sign language and visual vernacular.

    To object to the right of any actor to play these roles because of their region, ethnicity, gender, culture or particular access needs devalues the work of our artists and underestimates the audiences we serve.

    Gregory Doran
    Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company
    Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

    SIR – I find that Shakespeare can be difficult to follow at the best of times, and often, halfway through one of his plays, I find myself wishing I were somewhere else.

    Imagine my confusion some years ago when I went to see a production of Macbeth at my daughter’s school, where the various characters were played randomly by either sex, which meant it was way beyond my comprehension.

    I was always under the impression that stage performances were for the entertainment of the audience, which I’m sure was what William Shakespeare intended, but the modern idea of challenging conventions and asking the audience to suspend their preconceptions of reality falls far short of this ideal.

    Alan Mordey
    Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

    Police commissars

    SIR – I have the same problem as Michael Edmond (Letters, April 26), namely how to vote for the next police commissioner when one knows nothing about the candidates.

    I do not feel comfortable either with a political supporter of the Government having power to oversee the police. It smacks too much of the Russian commissars of old.

    Keith Woodbridge
    Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire

    Self-driving cars

    SIR – Rachel Maclean (report, April 28), the Roads Minister, says: “I have been in a couple of self-driving cars.” This apparently makes her comfortable passing legislation for their use on our motorways by the end of the year.

    It will not be long before we have drivers on our motorways watching videos rather than watching the road. I cannot help but feel that this move to improve safety may be heading the same way as the smart motorway debacle.

    Thomas Le Cocq
    Batcombe, Somerset

    SIR – Can we hope that so-called self-driving cars be limited to driving on so-called smart motorways so that the rest of us can continue to drive in safety?

    David J Hartshorn
    Badby, Northamptonshire

    SIR – I don’t own a smart phone, I don’t want a smart meter, and I won’t be using a smart motorway.

    The word smart is total anathema to me.

    John H Gilmore
    Harrogate, North Yorkshire

    Scots’ right to vote

    SIR – If Scotland were to become an independent country (Letters, April 30) those born there but living in England would become foreign nationals.

    Why do they and Scots resident in other countries have no vote in either the coming elections, which the SNP sees as an endorsement of a future referendum, or on the issue of full independence itself?

    Ivor Warburton
    Yatton, Somerset

    The cost of cladding

    SIR – Some firm made the cladding (Letters, April 30). Some firm tested the cladding. Someone recommended the cladding. Someone apparently approved the cladding. Someone bought the cladding and someone fitted the cladding. So someone is responsible and should pay for their errors.

    Dr Robert Mitchell
    Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire

    An Armenian MP

    SIR – I was surprised that Lord Darzi of Denham (Letters, April 27) considers himself the first Armenian in the British Parliament. That distinction belonged to Alexander Raphael, MP for St Albans from 1847 to 1850. His family, whose Armenian name was Gharamiants, had emigrated from Armenia to India, where his father co-founded the Carniac Bank in Madras in 1788.

    Raphael was also the first Roman Catholic sheriff of London. He owned an extensive estate in Surbiton, where the Catholic parish church of St Raphael’s – built on his instructions – bears several Armenian features, including impressive stained glass windows.

    Amanda C Dickie
    New Malden, Surrey

    Wrapping groceries

    SIR – It is not just the smells (Letters, April 30) that have disappeared from the high street. In Sheffield in the 1950s, if you bought coffee from Sharman’s the grocer, the beans were ground as you waited. The ground coffee was then placed on a square of paper on the counter. In a few seconds, too fast for the eye to follow the grocer’s fingers, paper was converted into a secure paper bag tied with string containing the coffee.

    Garth Inman
    Coltishall, Norfolk

    Why cyclists with bells are often never heard

    SIR – It is law that all bicycles sold new must be fitted with a bell (Letters, April 30). However, there is no law requiring it to be used. Bells are often too small to be heard by pedestrians who are 15 or 20 yards away, and are frequently removed.

    Some cyclists give a ding before passing pedestrians from the rear, others just ride past silently at speed.

    Mike Laughton
    Harrogate, North Yorkshire

    SIR – Worse than cyclists without bells are the elderly on sit-upon electric mobile scooters, lacking any warning bells or horns.

    On the pavement, Dorset residents, often in their 70s and 80s, frighten the living daylights out of me as they shoot past our house at speeds that would not disgrace a Formula One driver.

    Ron Kirby
    Dorchester

    Surprise annual harvest in the vegetable garden

    SIR – When my late father planted his vegetable bed in the spring, he invariably had a row labelled Gok – God only knows (Letters, April 30).

    The harvest was anticipated with great family interest.

    Jo-Ann Rogers
    Alsager, Cheshire

    SIR – My late headmaster, Dr Walter Hamilton, once helped clear out the house of a recently deceased neighbour on the Isle of Mull.

    Everything had been carefully provided with labels, including one on a bottle reading: “Lotion for the donkey’s ears, I think”.

    Jonathan Teare
    Southwell, Nottinghamshire

    SIR – My sister has a box labelled: “Shoes I will never wear again”.

    Su Murley
    Codicote, Hertfordshire

    SIR – In the loft of a house we moved to years ago, we were flabbergasted to discover a full-size patio door, fully double-glazed but with cracked glass.

    John Perkins
    Lytham, Lancashire

    SIR – After the death of our mother, my brother, sister and I found among her belongings a drawer full of neatly organised photographs, many of which were marked: “Not worth keeping”.

    Hew Goldingham
    St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex

    SIR – Before lockdown I borrowed my friend’s box of “keys which don’t fit anything”. I found one that fitted the second door of my grandmother-in-law’s china cabinet, making cleaning inside it much easier, and one to my great-aunt’s moneybox (alas empty).

    Malinda Law
    Penkridge, Staffordshire

    1. The Winter’s Tale (Letters, April 29) included two deaf actors: Bea Webster is bilingual and uses spoken English in the first half of the play and spoken English and British sign language in the second half of the play. William Grint uses British sign language and visual vernacular.

      To object to the right of any actor to play these roles because of their region, ethnicity, gender, culture or particular access needs devalues the work of our artists and underestimates the audiences we serve.

      Says it all really. I won’t be one of their customers!

      1. Jonathon Teare had a stressful week until the dim light in his head briefly went on [then off again] and “found the bottle” his late Headmaster left him

      2. Jonathon Teare had a stressful week until the dim light in his head briefly went on [then off again] and “found the bottle” his late Headmaster left him

    2. Dear Elizabeth Hodgson.
      Aren’t you lucky that supermarket workers, delivery drivers, butchers, bakers, postmen, workers in a variety of utility services etc…. didn’t hole up for over a year.

      1. If Halfock read this thread, he’d reluctantly acknowledge [privately] the people on here shredding the woke letter offerings are quicker and more incisive than his own shredding skills

        1. Most of us have had years of practice.
          (“Stop showing off, Anne” was dinned into me throughout my childhood. Unsuccessfully.)

    4. Su Murley’s sister should use E-Bay to get rid of her unwanted shoes.

    5. Re; Police Commissioners.

      “It smacks too much of the Russian commissars of old”. Keith Woodbridge.

      That is exactly what they are. I’m surprised so few noticed and went along with it.

    6. Smarten up, Ivor! Any UK citizen resident in Scotland can register to vote in elections. (But they cannot vote in English elections.). Any voter registered in Scotland but living elsewhere can vote by post. After independence those with UK nationality will retain it, of course. Why would anyone who has taken up permanent residence in another country expect a say in the running of the country that they have left?

      1. Horace, you may get round all these problems by allowing the entire population of the eligible United Kingdom to vote in this referendum.

        I think you may be so surprised at the result that you will be moving, post-haste, to England, Wales or Northern Ireland

    7. Gregory Doran, you obviously should never be put in charge of directing Children across the road – you’re useless and stuck with pointless excuses.

  13. Wokespeare

    SIR – Our purpose at the Royal Shakespeare Company is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone. This is reflected in our casting, and we always aim to select the most exciting talented individual for each role. Our casting is never blind, it is rather conscious of the amazing diversity of talent across the UK. The choices we make are far from gimmicks.

    The Winter’s Tale (Letters, April 29) included two deaf actors: Bea Webster is bilingual and uses spoken English in the first half of the play and spoken English and British sign language in the second half of the play. William Grint uses British sign language and visual vernacular.

    To object to the right of any actor to play these roles because of their region, ethnicity, gender, culture or particular access needs devalues the work of our artists and underestimates the audiences we serve.

    Gregory Doran
    Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company
    Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

    Naff orff you pretentious twerp

    1. they all got their online payments through, so all in Woke mode knowing that they are least affected until it’s too late then as usual, it’ll be someone’s fault

    2. Twenty or thirty years ago, one would have taken for granted that the above letter was a spoof.
      In the fifties, my mother used to go to RSC productions fairly regularly. We were taken as children.
      I wouldn’t dream of taking my children today.

        1. Bless; all those years in the bracing climate of Norway has addled his brains.

    5. “Naff orff you pretentious twerp” Couldn’t have put it better myself. Even my own grammar school would do something similar in the late 60s/early 70s – Cymbeline in Victorian costume etc.

    1. At least the temperature is above zero up here, all be it a mere 2°C at 07:00.

  15. Worth a look…

    How England forgot the battlefield that shaped the nation

    The mystery about where the Battle of Brunanburh took place has finally been solved, but how many people even knew about it?

    By Bernard Cornwell
    30 April 2021 • 6:00pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2021/04/30/TELEMMGLPICT000257328546_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqo39dUUR0W0pK1GPAJd2R_YMjTiathnEPGODW2dCWQ0k.jpeg?imwidth=680
    For a time after it took place, in AD 937, Brunanburh was an extraordinarily famous battle

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/30/england-forgot-battlefield-shaped-nation/

    2. Was it the second leg of the tournament, after the first leg in AD 991 where the home side was defeated at the Battle of Maldon?

      Morning Michael.

    3. That reminds me. Must watch Game of Thrones again.

      Good morning, Michael.

      1. My granddaughter lent me the first book. I barely made it to page 2.
        At least with The Hobbit I nearly finished the first chapter.

        1. It is not a genre of choice for me. Swords and Sourcery isn’t my bag. I’m more into Sci-Fi.

          Having said that there was some very fine acting. Particularly from Peter Dinklage. (I get Woke points for that comment !)

          The series also received shed loads of awards before everything became Woke and unwatchable.

          1. I enjoy – and often learn – from good historical novels.
            Bernard Cornwell, C.J. Sansom and George MacDonald Fraser are good.
            The fantasy cod-mediaeval stuff really doesn’t cut the mustard.

  16. The Democratic Republic of Congo is returning 1.3 million C-19 vaccine doses to COVAX, after concluding it will not be able to administer them before they expire. The country were informed they received 1.7 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the global distribution facility in early March. The government paused its vaccine rollout after several European countries suspended their use of the vaccine due to concerns about blood clots. The country has only distributed 1,000 doses since launching the vaccination campaign on April 19, Sara Jerving reports.

    Vaccine hesitancy is a big obstacle. Studies by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found that only 59% of respondents in DRC were willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Overall, respondents were wary of the safety of COVID-19 vaccines — with the exception of Ethiopia, where 94% of respondents were willing to be vaccinated. Dr. John Nkengasong, Africa CDC director, urged African countries to accept the vaccine that is available to them. “We do not have choices,” he said at a briefing on Thursday. WHO’s Africa director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, applauded DRC’s “extremely wise” and “very generous” decision to return the vaccines for use elsewhere. The World Bank previously found that out of 128 countries it surveyed, only 30% had plans for scaling up the necessary workforce to deliver vaccines.

    In spite of attempted cover up by US’ CDC the Government never had sight of a single dose landing

      1. Yerrs, but there are quite a few of those on here that are refusing the vaccine too y’know.

        1. Quite – but they are doing it after careful consideration of the risks etc. Yer Africans are just ignorant. They do not understand that vaccination (for things other than Covid) can save millions of lives.

          1. Well, the countries where people are refusing it are mostly overpopulated, so it could be beneficial to them in the long term.

          3. Well, the countries where people are refusing it are mostly overpopulated, so it could be beneficial to them in the long term.

      2. Yerrs, but there are quite a few of those on here that are refusing the vaccine too y’know.

  17. I do not think any more lives have been save at all. The virus has run its course as they all do.Each of the lock downs started after the peak and it was on the way down. These actions prolonged the life of the virus. and allowed it to mutate.

    1. Wasn’t Johnson’s first plan to allow for herd immunity etc? If so, then that idea was quashed quickly and the disastrous lockdown series commenced. Who, I wonder, so successfully whispered in his ear to make the change. Had to be someone with strong links to WEF, Schwab, etc. The other remaining mystery is the complete failure of influenza to make its annual appearance during the last flu season. Except of course in those 1500 SARS-02 free PCR swabs that Dr Dolores Cahill reported on. Funny, that.

        1. Nonsense – Witless (or Unbalanced) told us that Covid eradicated seasonal ‘flu – and they MUST be right, mustn’t they? (sarc)

      2. It was Johnson’s first idea, actually that was Cummings, he never did ‘break his own rules’ as the media made out – constantly – in order to set the public against him. It was the rat Ferguson who whispered in Johnson’s shell like. There was some conversation beforehand, it seemed to be debated in the public arena about going for herd immunity and what it would mean (with hindsight it seems it was all deliberate and with purpose) so when the question of lockdown came about the public grasped this straw thankfully. How we are manipulated. And that was how we came to gratefully give up those freedoms in the space of twentyfour hours that our ancestors had struggled for centuries to achieve.

        1. So it was Ferguson. I was thinking along the lines of Hancock, his fawning all over Schwab, Gates and Soros and his cheerleading statement about the 4th Industrial Revolution put him in prime position from where I’m sitting. Johnson wobbles like a three-quarters set jelly and has no moral strength.

    2. 332176+ up ticks,
      Morning JN,
      The delay virus to be used as & when based on the nine month successful delay mayday introduced to consolidate an anti Brexit force, and it worked.

    3. An ‘efficient’ virus is a virus with a short life because it kills off too many of its hosts.
      It has to weaken in order to pass on its genes.

      1. Unless some obliging humans inject themselves with a substance that ensures they suffer less bad symptoms, thus facilitating the passing on of the virus even if it strengthens.

  18. Good morning all from a dullish Derbyshire. Dry, but only 2°C in the yard.

  19. 332176+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    Comes just in time funnily enough to free up some thinking on the 6th May voting options.

    Overseas holidays get green light from May 17
    Travel abroad to become legal, but tests and quarantine will remain for most destinations under planned traffic light system

    1. unless you’re participating / or of the staff for Formula 1, international football, cricket, golf / essential staff, that isn’t going to happen. It’ll continue to be be kicked into long grass. May becomes June, becomes September and then attempts at further lockdowns

      1. 332176+ up ticks,
        Morning AWK,
        As I posted future lockdowns as with the successful nine month delay in controlling an anti Brexit use & abuse campaign via the polling booth, worked & will work.

        1. mng ogga, was just chatting with mum and, a rarity, my young brother. Got the usual re weather on the coast reminding her of gardening not yet done, voting next week and anything that she can;t do to kick brother into gear. She did make an attempt to advise me lockdowns will end. Advised her as weather her end is clear, to look up and count how many pigs she sees. What you posted was basically what I told her, continuing to take guidance from morons. Younger brother attempted to put his oar in, until reminded that no reply to mails I’d sent. He was less than impressed when told to pull his head out of his arse, look and read the facts. His long pauses for silence got through, so had to change subject and talk about other family related waffle. And that was the family weekend in a para

          1. Good morning, AWK. I sent an email to both my sons this last week regarding the experimental injection along the lines of do not touch with a barge pole. And a few paragraphs explaining why. Their turn for sleeve roll-up must be starting very shortly as they are in their late thirties. I have had no reply from them. Our younger son usually phones on a Friday evening. Nothing. My husband (their father, we are still on our first marriage) is going to phone them this evening to ask them do they realise that they will be playing Russian Roulette with their lives and health. He seldom wades in but because of that he may be more effective than myself.

    2. I wouldn’t contemplate booking a holiday abroad this year. On the whim of the government and SAGE, you could find yourself trapped abroad or quarantined in a hotel (and paying for the privilege) at home.

  20. Well I’m off to Marks and Spencers my friends for some Bank Holiday Goodies. Play nicely!

    1. Remember your mask, sanitiser, six feet apart…..and follow the arrows and don’t try any clothes on.

  21. First larf of the month of May.

    Some “famous” bame bloke has been accused of doing what bame males are good at. Cancelled, cast into outer darkness. Guilty as charged – why bother with any investigation into the actual FACTS etc etc.

    Anyway – the woke protectorate must be livid that a bame has – allegedly – done all the things that they lurve accusing white hetero males of doing….

    So that brightened this very cold grey morning for me.

    1. I’ve never heard of him. I looked up his films – I’ve never heard of any of them either, yet BAFTA has awarded him for outstanding contribution to British cinema, or something like that.

      1. Hence my use of inverted commas. (I expect “inverted” commas are now cancelled).

        1. I prefer introverted commas. No so in-yer-face… I’ll get me coat.

    2. Some BTL comments on the nonentity:-

      Angus Long
      1 May 2021 12:13AM
      I read that actor Noel Clarke is under investigation following some alleged complaints of bullying and harassment.

      Sadly in the modern WOKE world he has already been found guilty and punished.

      I remain neutral on this, but feel the swift actions of ITV and Netflix to dump him and cancel screening of films and dramas he was connected to was wrong so early in the investigation.

      Flag40UnlikeReply

      Robert Spowart
      1 May 2021 2:00AM
      @Angus Long But he is accused of Sex Abuse and, in the jurisprudence of modern day thinking is, by definition, guilty so there is no need for further evidence or even further investigation.

      Delete23LikeReply

      Roger Galoubet
      1 May 2021 6:27AM
      @Robert Spowart

      Moreover those that have accused him are already described as “victims”.

      Flag19Unlike
      Reply

      Robert Spowart
      1 May 2021 8:11AM
      @Roger Galoubet @Robert Spowart I will be honest and will plead ennui with such cases in defence, but how many of those “victims” would have been flattered, initially at least, to have been the subject of attention by a famous person?

      So “famous” incidentally, that I’d never heard of him before his name was thrust to my attention by the allegations.

      2. Morning BoB, I know he appeared in Doctor Who in times past, before it turned into a typical BBC virtue signalling Woke driven program.
        Now of course I have no clue who appears on what these days for the BBC, does Jack Ford still present the weather? 💦

          1. Nice to know I still have a finger on the pulse of awareness. 🤣🤣

          5. Why-aye, Bonnie lass, and thanks for that: it makes me feel very ‘umble.

            Up t’neck in chores here. I’m halfway through spring-cleaning and re-decorating a big kitchen. I’m also keeping an eye on a rare pair of breeding red-necked grebes Podiceps grisegena on my local ‘patch’ (a flooded field that turns up many bird rarities, especially on passage).

            I’ll still be AWOL for a bit but I pop in for a few seconds every now and then.

          6. Just proves that I must have missed you “poppin’ in”! I was out walking with a friend on Friday on The ?John Muir way just east of Grangemouth where there are tidal mud flats, lagoons and tidal islands full of amazing birds, one of which was completely new to me! A black guillemot!

          8. Sorry I’ve been so long replying! Had to have the front door glass replaced…

          9. I used to like doing the Longannet line one the other side in the early morning. The bird life I saw was fantastic!

    3. The biter bit – firmly on the bum.
      I wonder how much of his behaviour was tolerated way past the point where a white male would have been castigated?
      I’d never heard of the chap or seen the programme that has apparently been cancelled as a knee jerk reaction, but I am enjoying the virtue signalling and the schadenfreude.

    1. That’s definitely a racist comment.

      How dare she criticise the hiring of more Khans by the mayor.

  24. Yo All

    SIR – I have the same problem as Michael Edmond (Letters, April 26), namely how to vote for the next police commissioner when one knows nothing about the candidates.

    Whenever the position of Police and Crime Commssioner is mentioned; i expect to see Mx Dixon-Kray listed

    1. Morning OLT, my candidate of choice is an ex army guy who tells me he believes in discipline. I still think it likely the “can’t be arsed” attitude will prevail in this house.

    2. Our current Police Commissioner is an Independent so will probably get my vote as I don’t think candidates should have political affiliations.

      1. Our current Police Commissioner claimed loudly and often to be a great friend of David Cameron.

        1. Was he the pig that Cameron had fellate him?
          Urgh, that image won’t go away too soon… :-((

          1. Our Police Commissioner is a “her” Mr Oberst.

            In her position I wouldn’t want to publicise my close friendship with David Cameron.

            I don’t think that it’s a vote winning claim.

  25. To object to the right of any actor to play these roles because oftheir region, ethnicity, gender, culture or particular access needs
    devalues the work of our artists and underestimates the audiences we serve.
    Gregory Doran Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

    Shirley, casting, inappropriate people to ‘act’ parts in plays by Shakespeare’s, is wrong.

    He penned his plays, using the language, culture and customs of the day: it is not within your remit to change those.

    By all means be diverse and different, but get ‘modern’ scribes to pen your requirements

    Just sit back, as you get Woke Praise and a virtually empty (misnamed) theatre

          1. “Video owner has removed the possibility for playing on other media except YouTube”
            :-((

  26. Good morning everytone

    St Pauls Cathedral …a memorial to the Covid dead is being considered .. the Dean of St Pauls . One way of working their way through grief.

    Ooh, the irony.

      2. The People’s Party, People’s Dome, The People’s lottery
        I am the People’s Laxative so the people swallow me
        Pragmatic opportunism has given me success
        A sad girl died and so I dubbed her the People’s Princess.

        (RCT – From a satirical song about Tony Blair written in 1997)

    2. I am going to open a flower shop

      In the name of Conservation, should we not ‘Hire t’ plactic buckets of flowers for these events,,, and return them on completion

      A bit ;like the old pop and beer bottles

      1. Great idea , OLT

        I was thinking more about a memorial book for those who have died from NHS neglect, in particular those who have been unable to access an appointment with their GP , and have subsequently deteriorated healthwise .

    3. Traitors’ Gate is not too far from St Pauls. To add to the irony factor, it was originally known as Water Gate. Crowd fund for name change back to original, sit back and watch the woke brigade replicate Invasion of the Bodysnatchers symptoms

      1. Morning! In the Middle Ages the practice was to have traitors dragged behind a horse from the Tower of London to the Smithfield Elms, where they were hanged, drawn and quartered. Jousting Tournaments and Summer Fairs shared the same venue. I guess that’s what distinguished it from Sharia?

  27. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56949426

    Curbs on the sale of house coal and wet wood for household burning in England have come into force under new rules aimed at cutting air pollution.

    People will still be able to use stoves and open fires but they will need to burn cleaner alternatives.

    These are the first restrictions on what people can burn in their homes since the clean air acts of the 1950s.

    The UK’s air is far cleaner now, but in recent years pollution from log burners has increased dramatically.

    Only 8% of households use them, but they are now the biggest source of the tiny pollution particles that are most damaging to health, according to government data.

    It shows domestic wood burning in both closed stoves and open fires was responsible for 38% of pollution particles under 2.5 microns in size, three times more than road traffic.

    These tiny particles can enter the bloodstream and lodge in lungs and other organs, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) warns, and have been identified by the World Health Organization as the most serious air pollutant for human health.

    What does air pollution do to our bodies?
    UK has first coal-free week for a century
    Log burners and open fires are not being banned, but the government says people will have to buy dry wood or manufactured solid fuels which produce less smoke.

    It says both options are just as easy to source and more efficient to burn, making them much cleaner and more cost effective.

    Defra claims burning dry wood produces more heat and less soot than wet wood and can reduce emissions by up to 50%.

    The changes mean:

    Selling bagged traditional house coal and wet wood in small units (less than 2m cube) is now unlawful
    Wet wood in volumes greater than 2m cube has to be sold with advice on how to dry it before burning
    Makers of solid fuels need to show they have a very low sulphur content and only emit a small amount of smoke
    Similar proposals to reduce the burning of wood and coal are being considered in Wales and Scotland.

    Presentational grey line
    What is wet and dry firewood?
    Wet – also known as green or unseasoned wood – is often sold in nets and is cheaper to buy.

    It contains moisture which, when burned, creates more smoke and harmful particles of air pollution (PM2.5) than dry wood.

    Wet wood can also damage chimneys much more, by allowing tar and soot to build up.

    Dry or seasoned wood – which has been dried out, often in a kiln – has a moisture content of 20% or less.

    Presentational grey line
    This marks the latest step in the government’s Clean Air Strategy, says environment minister Rebecca Pow.

    “Burning cleaner fuels is a more efficient option for households across England, helping reduce our exposure to this incredibly harmful pollutant and benefitting the environment,” she said.

    The move was welcomed by Harriet Edwards, the senior air quality policy adviser for Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation.

    She warned that air pollution is particularly harmful to people with lung conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

    “It can put them at risk of suffering potentially life-threatening asthma attacks or flare-up,” she said.

    Other lung experts believe that it is only a matter of time before all log burners and other fires are banned in built-up areas.

    Prof Jonathan Grigg, who sits on the UK Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution, told the BBC that unless new technologies were developed to reduce harmful air pollution from wood fires, then wood should not be burnt in areas where exposure to pollution from fossil fuel emissions is high.

    1. This is just the usual “science-backed” BS to restrict people’s choices.
      In this case, they want you all dependent on electricity – which can be switched off remotely if your social points score drops below a certain level.

    2. “…domestic wood burning in both closed stoves…”

      There are more than two, shurely.

    3. Good morning, Maggiebelle

      We have two woodburning stoves and we cut our own wood which we do not use until it has had a couple of years to dry out. Neither Caroline nor I have respiratory problems. My parents had open coal and wood burning fires and neither of them had respiratory problems either and both had long lives.

      We also have oil-fired central heating.

      When log fires are banned and there is no more oil or gas allowed for heating and cooking and not enough electricity generation to provide for our needs we can all do our duty and die. It will save money on paying pensions and the funding of the NHS.

          1. Morning Obs. I’m off today, but volunteered for a double shift tomorrow and a shift on Monday.

            I work full time days during the week and the weekend and night shifts are my second job so I can sign up for as many or as few as I like. Trouble is, we have to sign up for them a couple of months in advance and it always seems a good idea at the time.

          3. Thanks, will do. I did a bit too much last weekend – I could hardly keep my eyes open towards the end of my last shift.

            I’m not very good at saying no when the boss calls round at the last minute to cover a shift when someone is sick. Note to self: must remember it’s not my responsibility

          4. Hopefully you will be rewarded when it’s payrise/bonus/promotion time.

          5. Hmph. NHS doesn’t have promotion on merit. To get a pay rise my job would have to be re-branded.

      2. It’s my belief that today’s prevalence of asthma comes from the tendency to have hermetically sealed houses with double glazing and no through draughts from open fires.

    4. We have just had notice that coal will only be delivered in open sacks. Where it is packed in closed plastic bags, the coal man will cut open the bag on delivery. Read and enjoy. I think that there must be a number of very large departments in the Civil Service entirely devoted to seeking out areas of activity that are not controlled by legislation in order that they can make rules and regulations a la EU.

      “With the change in Government legislation effective on the 1st May 2021 in England, House Coal can only be delivered in open bags, but this only affects the below list of products.
      · Traditional House Coal Doubles
      · Premium Traditional House Coal Trebles
      · Premium Plus House Coal Doubles
      · Premium Plus House Coal Trebles
      Smokeless Fuel, Anthracite Fuels and Kiln dried Wood are NOT affected, and now would be a great time to make the switch to a smokeless alternative such as Brazier or Homefire Ecoal.
      How we will deliver House Coal after May 1st:
      House coal must be delivered in open bags or sacks due to Government legislation. Subject to availability, you can choose between 50kg Hessian or 25kg plastic bags. 50kg Hessian bags are reusable and the contents MUST be tipped into a suitable coal bunker or store. 25kg Plastic Bags are single use. As part of our service, we can tip the fuel into a suitable bunker or store and take the bags away with us. However, if you prefer, the fuel can remain in the bags.
      Please note, that the plastic bags will be cut open before we leave your premises in order to comply with the new legislation.”

      1. I have a woodburner and enough fuel to last 20 years so they can spin on my finger, I also have enough Columbian coal to last that time too – then there’s my stock of peat which hasn’t even been dug up yet

        1. Peat,PEAT !!!
          Under the new Ecoterrorism act that’s you going down for 20 years
          ‘Morning Spikey

        2. I read this and thought of you and Barbara, Spikey. Will it make a difference?

          “Care home residents will be able to leave their homes for “low risk” visits without having to self-isolate for 14 days on their return, the Government has said, after a campaign warned it was “falsely imprisoning” residents.

          The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) removed the requirement for outdoor, “low risk” visits after being threatened with legal action by the charity John’s Campaign.

          Campaigners said the rule encourages care homes to act unlawfully by “falsely imprisoning” residents, with family members calling it “barbaric”. “

      2. I had that email. I’ve just reach the stage where I shrug my shoulders and mutter something about keys and asylums.

      3. My coal always comes in open sacks; the coal merchant sends a lorry and the poor sods have to carry it up to where it’s stored.

    5. People more cynical than me will comment that the rules now demand that you only use fuel which is vat paid.

      Now there’s a surprise!

    6. People more cynical than me will comment that the rules now demand that you only use fuel which is vatable.

      Now there’s a surprise!

    7. People more cynical than me will comment that the rules now demand that you only use fuel which is vatable.

      Now there’s a surprise!

    8. I didn’t know people burned wet wood. Makes a terrible mess of your chimney and it needs to be swept more often. Plus the risk of out of control fire in the chimney. Goodbye thatch !

  28. Incidentally, I was extremely disappointed to see that not one of the sisters in the new version of “The Pursuit of Love” is black.

    Though the very white anti-hero “The Colonel” is, apparently, played by a North African – so that’s alright….

    1. I’m surprised that so far, in The Crown all members of the RF have been played by white actors. Will they continue this trend when the story reaches the Sussex era. Perhaps Hazza could be played by a brother, or to he truly inclusive Mazza could even be played by a white actor. Now that, I would pay to see happen, just for the wails of anguish:)

      1. Woke diversity only works in one direction, Stormie.

        I’ll know that the world has been put to rights when white singers play the leads in “Porgy and Bess”

  29. I meant to post this a week ago. In The Sunday Grimes “Culture” section, there was a comment which describes to perfection why I no longer listen to BBC Radio 3. Radio Suisse Classique is now our music station of choice. Just announcement of the next piece – and music. No ads, no news, no opinions…bliss (thanks to Richard and Caroline Tracey for the suggestion).

    “Well done, Radio 3. For 24 hours we heard lovely music much of which was relevant to Prince Philip.
    Would that it was always like this – music stripped of the self-opinionated bores who normally get between the listeners and the music.”

  30. Good morning, my friends

    The Daily Telegraph is up to its old tricks removing up votes on posts or taking them down altogether. Freedom of Speech is something that must be censored and if too many people agree with the wrong opinion their approval must not be shown.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/01/cummings-isnt-genius-disaster-no-10/ Camilla Tominey

    Cummings isn’t a genius – he was a disaster in No 10
    Suggesting that Carrie Symonds was the only person criticising Cummings ignores his track record of woeful arrogance

    I posted this BTL comment on a topic I often bang on about and within two minutes it had 10 upvotes. Two minutes later all the upticks had gone.

    I don’t give a toss about Boris Johnson’s home decor – most politicians are corrupt so what do you expect?

    However I do care about the buffoon’s total capitulation on Brexit. Northern Ireland is a mess with the breaking of the ‘no border in the North Sea’ promise; fishermen are having misery rather than the promised restoration of their fishing grounds; official nastiness and punitive paperwork at customs borders encouraged by the vindictive EU; no clear arrangements on financial services. This is not a deal – it is a disaster. It was madness not to have gone for “no deal” with our heads held high.

    If we had had Cummings in Downing Street rather than Mr Johnson’s mistress in his bed we might have got a proper Brexit and not this shameful farce.

    2. 332176+ up ticks,
      Morning R,
      With a Gerard Batten or a politico of Battens ilk we would, years ago have had a chance. ( proven patriotic Brexiteers).
      Totally eu severance, controlled immigration, etc,etc,etc.

      That was a NO NO from the lab/lib/con coalition and via the polling booth a supporting cast of fools.

      In short the electorate cannot continue to support & vote for political sh!te and expect a field of gold future return.

      These parties ARE voted into power by the electorate.

      1. I think the political will often buts against the adminisitrative won’t.

        The mandarins running the CS like the EU. It was designed for people like them, after all. They are doing everything possible to ensure the proceeds of Brexit are ruined and forcing the country into ever more debt – to ensure we are not the competitive free nation the EU is so frightened of.

        Immigration which was a huge part of the reason for leaving is also being locked awy from the public and continuing at a huge uncontrolled rate, and again the home office is refusing to address that. At some level I think getting rid of the top bloke had some sort of ‘Look here Patel, come to heel or we’ll do you in. You’ve had your scalp and will pay for it, now accept that we’re in charge and what we say goes, and we say thousands of illegal criminal gimmigrants are going to get here to shove it up the nose of those uppity far right extremeists who undermined our future careers.’

    4. Morning Rastus and all.

      I well remember posting that I expected Cummings to hold Johnson to a proper Brexit deal, think I said something like, Cummings had the backbone to do it. And IIRC we all had suspicions about BPAPM where Brexit was concerned

    5. I don’t know who Robert Croty is, but he sounds a total tosser in his response to Althea Talbot-Howard:-

      Althea Talbot-Howard
      1 May 2021 9:00AM
      I like your post, but you should care about BJ’s decor situation: not least because it speaks of extravagant tastes, and suggests an inability to control his mistress’s spending – which seems to have risen to Mary Anne Clarke-like levels (a mistress of an earlier Duke of York).

      The national debt is now over 100% of GDP, and Johnson and Sunak continue to splash the cash.

      Embarking upon such an expensive renovation during a pandemic says something about this PM’s character.

      Flag10UnlikeReply

      Robert Crotty
      1 May 2021 9:04AM
      @Althea Talbot-Howard

      Love the sexist comment.

      Personal expenditure by a PM will have no impact on national debt

      1. Biden’s speech problems? Yes, they are.

        On the one hand, I feel for him. On the other, he clearly has no idea what he’s saying.

        His bonkers promotion of yet more tax rises – in the face of evidence that doing so does not work and merely creates poverty – is infuriating.

        But hey. A halfwit on the Mail comments said that taking another percent of someone’s wealth was entirely justified. I asked him to send me that 1%. Suddenly he wasn’t so keen.

        Nor was the person who thought taxing the rich was a good thing – I asked if he’d been robbed himself, and if he would think that someone else taking the things you have earned is ‘a good thing’.

        Both were downvoted by the usual cretins who don’t understand: if you tax the rich, they tax you in return – usually by destroying your job, lesser value products (Toblerone triangles, anyone?). When they’re handed their P45 instead of realising that their ideology is at fault, they want revenge, to hurt the ‘rich man’. It is reinforcement of stupidity.

  32. 332176+ up ticks,
    May one ask,
    Has the polling booth lost its power for change when the
    political close shop, the lab/lib/con coalition are given
    carte blanche again & again as in, the vote & whinge form of voting, ie party first, is a more acceptable mode of voting.

    The human sheeps continuing input has, in no time at all taken us from being a decent Country to a degenerate Country.

    1. put on the “sex offenders register” and before you know it, he’s an elected councillor in Tower Hamlets and thereafter nominated as Ambassador for UNFPA [UN Family Planning Association]

    2. Only 18 weeks????????????? Lucky he wasn’t a member of a right wing organisation!

  34. Rain tipping down – cold and miserable. I knew it was a mistake that the window-cleaner came yesterday…

    1. We’re holding off with the windowcleaning for that exact reason, Bill. Well, and that I’m a lazy bastard, of course.
      Morning, btw!

          1. What’s with this past tense stuff?
            Uncle Bill hasn’t changed a bit since he was lead singer in a skiffle group.

      2. I loved that film. And had a crush on Katherine Ross!

        (B J Thomas is not related!)

        1. “Katharine Ross enjoyed shooting the silent, bicycle riding sequence best, because it was handled by the film crew’s second unit rather than the director. She said, “Any day away from George Roy Hill was a good one”. This was after she had been scolded and banned from the set for operating a camera.”

      3. I love that clip, they don’t make films like that any more. Thank you for posting it Mr Elf. It took me back a while for a few moments, to a different era.

    3. I’ll keep it away from Norf Essex by not putting out the garden chair cushions.

  35. 332176+ up ticks,
    Definitely a loud ring of truth about that statement,

    breitbart,
    Rocker Johnny Rotten: ‘Wokeness’ Pushed by ‘Children Coming Out of Colleges With Sh*t for Brains’

  36. Here’s one for you… I regularly update a spreadsheet with covid statistics from Norway, Sweden & UK.
    The last update shows the following, related to total population:
    UK: 99.774% survival rate since March 2020
    Sweden: 99.865% survival rate since March 2020
    Remind me, which country has had draconian lockdown, and which just advised caution? Both have high proportions of immigrants (who don’t follow advice, kill each other with impunity, and live 250 to a bedroom…).

    2. I imagine that small difference in percentage size will be due to the large difference in population size and density.

      1. Local density likely much the same in the UK and Swedish cities. Country-wide, not so.

      2. Percentage who live in urban ares:
        Britain 84%
        Sweden 87%
        Possibly Sweden had fewer cramped dwellings, but I’m not au fait with such details.

        1. Perhaps it was all those hot saunas, icy baths and birch whipping that kept the Covid away.

    3. Another way to look at those numbers is that per 100,000 of the population, death rate for Sweden was 135 ,and the UK 226, which looks even more significant.

      1. …. (just re-iterated Stormi’s comment – should have read further down).

    4. Pneumonia is an infection in one or both lungs. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi cause it.

      https://www.healthline.com/health/pneumonia#prevention

      The infection causes inflammation in the air sacs in your lungs, which are called alveoli. The alveoli fill with fluid or pus, making it difficult to breathe.

      Read on to learn more about pneumonia and how to treat it.

      Is pneumonia contagious?
      The germs that cause pneumonia are contagious. This means they can spread from person to person.

      Both viral and bacterial pneumonia can spread to others through inhalation of airborne droplets from a sneeze or cough. You can also get these types of pneumonia by coming into contact with surfaces or objects that are contaminated with pneumonia-causing bacteria or viruses.

      You can contract fungal pneumonia from the environment. However, it doesn’t spread from person to person.

      Symptoms of pneumonia
      Pneumonia symptoms can be mild to life-threatening. They can include:

      coughing that may produce phlegm (mucus)
      fever
      sweating or chills
      shortness of breath that happens while doing normal activities or even while resting
      chest pain that’s worse when you breathe or cough
      feelings of tiredness or fatigue
      loss of appetite
      nausea or vomiting
      headaches
      Other symptoms can vary according to your age and general health:

      Children under 5 years old may have fast breathing or wheezing.
      Infants may appear to have no symptoms, but sometimes they may vomit, lack energy, or have trouble drinking or eating.
      Older people may have milder symptoms. They can also exhibit confusion or a lower than normal body temperature.
      Causes of pneumonia
      There are several types of infectious agents that can cause pneumonia.

      Bacterial pneumonia
      The most common cause of bacterial pneumonia is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Other causes include:

      Mycoplasma pneumoniae
      Haemophilus influenzae
      Legionella pneumophila
      Viral pneumonia
      Respiratory viruses are often the cause of pneumonia. Some examples include:

      influenza (flu)
      respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
      rhinoviruses (common cold)
      Viral pneumonia is usually milder and can improve in one to three weeks without treatment.

      Fungal pneumonia
      Fungi from soil or bird droppings can cause pneumonia. They most often cause pneumonia in people with weakened immune systems. Examples of fungi that can cause pneumonia include:

      Pneumocystis jirovecii
      Cryptococcus species
      Histoplasmosis species
      Types of pneumonia
      Pneumonia can also be classified according to where or how it was acquired.

      Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP)
      This type of bacterial pneumonia is acquired during a hospital stay. It can be more serious than other types, as the bacteria involved may be more resistant to antibiotics.

      Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)
      Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) refers to pneumonia that’s acquired outside of a medical or institutional setting.

      Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)
      When people who are using a ventilator get pneumonia, it’s called VAP.

      Aspiration pneumonia
      Aspiration pneumonia happens when you inhale bacteria into your lungs from food, drink, or saliva. This type is more likely to occur if you have a swallowing problem or if you’re too sedate from the use of medications, alcohol, or other drugs.

      Pneumonia treatment
      Your treatment will depend on the type of pneumonia you have, how severe it is, and your general health.

      Prescription medications
      Your doctor may prescribe a medication to help treat your pneumonia. What you’re prescribed will depend on the specific cause of your pneumonia.

      Oral antibiotics can treat most cases of bacterial pneumonia. Always take your entire course of antibiotics, even if you begin to feel better. Not doing so can prevent the infection from clearing, and it may be harder to treat in the future.

      Antibiotic medications don’t work on viruses. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral. However, many cases of viral pneumonia clear on their own with at-home care.

      Antifungal medications are used to fight fungal pneumonia. You may have to take this medication for several weeks to clear the infection.

      At-home care
      Your doctor may also recommend over-the-counter (OTC) medication to relieve your pain and fever, as needed. These may include:

      aspirin
      ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)
      acetaminophen (Tylenol)
      Your doctor may also recommend cough medicine to calm your cough so you can rest. Keep in mind coughing helps remove fluid from your lungs, so you don’t want to eliminate it entirely.

      You can help your recovery and prevent a recurrence by getting a lot of rest and drinking plenty of fluids.

      Hospitalization
      If your symptoms are very severe or you have other health problems, you may need to be hospitalized. At the hospital, doctors can keep track of your heart rate, temperature, and breathing. Hospital treatment may include:

      intravenous antibiotics injected into a vein
      respiratory therapy, which involves delivering specific medications directly into the lungs or teaching you to perform breathing exercises to maximize your oxygenation
      oxygen therapy to maintain oxygen levels in your bloodstream (received through a nasal tube, face mask, or ventilator, depending on severity)
      Pneumonia risk factors
      Anyone can get pneumonia, but certain groups do have a higher risk. These groups include:

      infants from birth to 2 years old
      people ages 65 years and older
      people with weakened immune systems because of disease or use of medications, such as steroids or certain cancer drugs
      people with certain chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, or heart failure
      people who’ve recently had a respiratory infection, such as a cold or the flu
      people who’ve been recently or are currently hospitalized, particularly if they were or are on a ventilator
      people who’ve had a stroke, have problems swallowing, or have a condition that causes immobility
      people who smoke, use certain types of drugs, or drink excessive amounts of alcohol
      people who’ve been exposed to lung irritants, such as pollution, fumes, and certain chemicals
      Pneumonia prevention
      In many cases, pneumonia can be prevented.

      Vaccination
      The first line of defense against pneumonia is to get vaccinated. There are several vaccines that can help prevent pneumonia.

      Prevnar 13 and Pneumovax 23

      These two pneumonia vaccines help protect against pneumonia and meningitis caused by pneumococcal bacteria. Your doctor can tell you which one might be better for you.

      Prevnar 13 is effective against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendsTrusted Source this vaccine for:

      children under the age of 2
      adults ages 65 years and older
      people between ages 2 and 64 years with chronic conditions that increase their risk for pneumonia
      Pneumovax 23 is effective against 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria. The CDC recommendsTrusted Source it for:

      adults ages 65 years and older
      adults ages 19 to 64 years who smoke
      people between ages 2 and 64 years with chronic conditions that increase their risk for pneumonia
      Flu vaccine

      Pneumonia can often be a complication of the flu, so be sure to also get an annual flu shot. The CDC recommendsTrusted Source that everyone ages 6 months and older get vaccinated, particularly those who may be at risk for flu complications.

      Hib vaccine

      This vaccine protects against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), a type of bacteria that can cause pneumonia and meningitis. The CDC recommendsTrusted Source this vaccine for:

      all children under 5 years old
      unvaccinated older children or adults who have certain health conditions
      individuals who’ve gotten a bone marrow transplant
      According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)Trusted Source, pneumonia vaccines won’t prevent all cases of the condition. But if you’re vaccinated, you’re likely to have a milder and shorter illness as well as a lower risk for complications.

      Other prevention tips
      In addition to vaccination, there are other things you can to avoid pneumonia:

      If you smoke, try to quit. Smoking makes you more susceptible to respiratory infections, especially pneumonia.
      Regularly wash your hands with soap and water.
      Cover your coughs and sneezes. Promptly dispose used tissues.
      Maintain a healthy lifestyle to strengthen your immune system. Get enough rest, eat a healthy diet, and get regular exercise.
      Together with vaccination and additional prevention steps, you can help reduce your risk for getting pneumonia. Here are even more prevention tips.

      2. Blimey. I wonder that we ever dared to go out at all! But we did, and survived the experience. Presumably one’s own immune system leapt into action pronto at the first hint of an invader and smartly saw it off, all unbeknownst to us.

        1. Hence the late Auntie Agnes’ saw:
          “You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die.”
          As she lived to 90, I think she meant ingestion in small regular amounts were good for you, not chowing down on 15 lbs of soil in one sitting and then keeling over.

      3. The other day bloke comes outside to smoke. He’s huddled in his thick parka coat, hood up, gloves on.

        I thought ‘Mate, you’re putting a poison filled paper tube in your mouth and setting fire to it. Being botherede about the cold is the least of your worries.’

    5. UK deaths from Covid-19 at 63,000 a year can be compared to ‘flu deaths in an average year. Covid deaths were around double the number of ‘flu deaths in a bad year.
      Annual figures for influenza deaths vary a lot, from 14,000 to 34,000. The number who died from ‘flu in the first year of Covid-19 (2019/20) were relatively low at 8,000. Maybe those who were likely to die from ‘flu died of Covid-19 instead.
      While caution was required the overreaction was not.

      “A feature of MERS-CoV, is its ability to cause large outbreaks within healthcare settings.” A quote from 2018 (winter of 2017/18) report
      It is clear that before Covid-19 became a threat it was known that care homes were very vulnerable to coronavirus outbreaks.
      So why were the elderly with Covid-19 pushed into care homes?

      https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-flu-reports

        1. Tell me something, Hatman. The ultra-Orthodox Jews.

          Who ordained that the men have to wear long black overcoats (which must be a trial on a hot day), a white shirt and a funny sort of homburg hat? And they can’t have been wearing this uniform for ever. Who decided they would change from the previous gear into the “modern” one?

          And why do the women wear wigs – when they have perfectly good hair of their own?

          I find it fascinating and bewildering.

          3. As far as I know the Hassidic dress came about among the Jews in Poland
            https://www.seeker.com/why-do-hasidic-jews-dress-so-differently-1501524412.html
            Hasidic Judaism was founded in Eastern Europe, primarily the Poland and Ukraine regions, in the late 18th century. The traditional clothing stems primarily from Polish nobility standards of dress during this time. Contrary to popular assumption, Hasidic garb comes more from historical context rather than specific religious texts like the Torah. For example, the black coat worn by men is called a rekel and must be black due to a religious decree made by Rabbis in the 18th century. At the time it was believed that wearing colorful jackets could lead to resentment by non-Jews and be a potential cause for violence.

            Hasidim wardrobe is a huge part of the religion and culture of the community. Modesty is very important, especially for women, and anyone who disobeys these traditions of dress are seen as disrespectful. Those who do not follow it risk excommunication.

            As for women wearing wigs
            https://www.jmberlin.de/en/question-of-the-month-why-do-women-have-to-cover-their-hair-with-a-wig

            Orthodox women do not show their hair in public after their wedding. With a headscarf or a wig – referred to in Yiddish as a sheitel – they signal to their surroundings that they are married and that they comply with traditional notions of propriety.

          4. The same applied in Anglo-Saxon and early mediaeval times to Christian women.
            Long, flowing hair displayed in public signalled an unmarried woman and therefore a virgin.

          6. “…signalled an unmarried woman and therefore a virgin….”

            Smiles knowingly…!!

          10. Very many thanks. Most interesting – but still (to my eyes) weird!

          11. Indeed, and as any tradition, it can be changed, just as there was a change when it first started.

          13. I think the hair thing is like the muzzies; only their husbands must see their crowning glory.

          14. Worked with a stage manager once, when I worked in theatre. She shaved her head. Unlike blokes, women have nice heads, round, not strange, scarred and lumpy – and she was fabulously sexy in hairless guise.

          15. Worked with a stage manager once, when I worked in theatre. She shaved her head. Unlike blokes, women have nice heads, round, not strange, scarred and lumpy – and she was fabulously sexy in hairless guise.

          17. Stanmore and Edgeware, (no longer Middlesex but also now part of London !!) When i lived in the locality Hendon and Golders Green were famous for this attire. Park the car around the corner and walk sedately to the Synagogue. 😉 already.
            It’s where most of the Jewish communities did not get their voting (admin {BS} error) papers when Kahn sneaked it to became mayor.
            Oy veh, I hope they get rid of the little trud this time.

          18. I fear his slammer power base (aided by my friend Mr Rashid) has his return sewn up.

          21. More relevantly, why do they walk five-abreast through Heathrow Airport?

          23. When you are with your own small children on a bus, train or a plane children and there is an Orthodox Jew nearby the children always are completely fascinated and can ask embarrassing questions about the clothes, the hair, the beards and the ringlets.

            Off topic but here is a song I used to enjoy as a child in the 1950’s about a girl with ringlets. Of course at the time I was unaware that the song was about syphilis.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGtqopISr90

  38. That’s weird, I posted a comment an hour or so ago – and it has disappeared. Hullo, GCHQ – hard at it?

    What I said (roughly) was:

    Apropos the “unknown” bame who is in the pillory- if his accusers (“the victims”) are all white, perhaps he is the subject to a racist attack – and the woke/diversity protectorate will breathe again and castigate the “victims”.

        1. Does one cancel out the other? I accept that deeply tanned bumps trump white bumps.

    2. You know Bill if it doesn’t fit in with their current agenda, it doesn’t count.

    3. I am very surprised the bame hasn’t played the Race Card. Actually, I think he was unlucky; his ‘industry’ has been at this game (played both ways) since the year dot. Equally it could it be many who knew hesitated to say anything because he is a POC?

        1. My father in law hated that programme, he and most his Durham Light Infantry unit were captured in Belgium and made to walk to Poland for a 4 years stay.
          Fortunately captured by the German army and not the SS who shot their prisoners with in hours.

    2. A branch of the gardening club on leave ?

      Happy Mayday all round, we had our second Jab at 9:30, now fully paid up members also bumped into two ex golfing mates.

    3. ‘Hideously privileged white hegemonic cultural exclusivity. Will be banned unless it produces a road map to inclusivity and cultural sensitivity – i.e. do away with itself along with the ‘United Kingdom’ historically perverse artefact.‘ – from How White People Seized the United Kingdom Meme from People of Color by Prof. Emeritus Jed Zak, Floyd Chair in the Faculty of Cultural Disambiguation Therapies part of the Supremacy Studies Cadre, University of Dungeness.

  40. C’mon, Steve, out here in the real World – especially Nottleland – we see clearly what the useless PM’s agenda is. He’s not been spending untold billions on. Track and Trace, PPE contracts etc. and paying people to stay at home, all for the health of the Country. No matter what he claims. How many other Tory MPs cannot or will not see what Johnson and his Cabinet are about. I can understand it was a bit difficult early on, but now, after 13 months. Perleeeeese!

    https://twitter.com/SteveBakerHW/status/1388145453397647361

    2. A coach holiday? Are they mad? Long-distance coach trips are a nightmare of discomfort, extreme dullness (at best) and confinement with irritating people. Oslo-Krakow and back cured me of any desire to ever get into a bus again. I’d rather shove pineapples up my arse, spiky end first.

      1. For your enemy do it the other way round. It makes them difficult to remove!

    3. Coaches with individual air supplies to the seats, as in airliners. Used throughout the journey these little air masks will ensure passenger safety. (They will also stop people talking. There is always at least one passenger whose voice rebounds through the whole bus. She was in the hairdressers’s last Tuesday and my tonsorial consultant moved us both into another part of the salon behind a closed door. A haircut! The first this year. Out of the jungle and into the office, kind of thing.)

    4. Reassure people of what? The state wants people afraid. It’s got them afraid. It’s trying to keep them afraid.

  41. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/755007aa79bff426268c9dc1f3a44b9cea091f13c2daa66b85e8cc1ff1a3654e.png

    Mme. Florence Parly, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, has threatened sanctions against the signatories of the letter still serving, reminding them that their duty is loyalty, but I foresee a problem here, which occurred to me when I saw that the leading signatory was retired General Christian Piquemal, a former commander of the French Foreign Legion. The thing is, loyalty to whom and to what?

    I’ve met soldiers of the Legion on NATO exercise and I’ve visited the base of the 2eme REP (Legion paras) at Camp Raffalli in Corsica. I’ve the greatest respect for them, they’re good soldiers, well-trained, well-disciplined and well-led, certainly among the best of France’s Army. I’ve socialised with legionnaires (my French is good) and in the course of conversations, I learned an interesting and surprising fact. Their Oath of Allegiance is not to the French Republic, it’s to the Legion itself. So here’s my point – legionnaires will follow the orders of their own officers and nobody else. If their French officers decide to act against the government, the men will follow them, no question about it. And if the French Army were to take their lead from the Legion – which could happen, given the number of regular French officers who signed the letter – what then for Macron’s government?

    Some Nottlers will be old enough to remember the attempted coup-de-état, led by retired General Raoul Salan in 1961, I know Bill T is – after all, he’s old enough to remember the heady days of the First Republic. The coup failed but then de Gaulle, himself an ex-General, commanded enough support among the Army to ensure the plot’s failure. Even so, it led to a sustained bombing campaign by the OAS, (Organisation Armée Secrète) and several foiled attempts on de Gaulle’s life.

    Because of his support in the French Armed Forces, de Gaulle successfully put down the rebellion but the effete, narcissistic Macron enjoys no such support. If the Islamist problem is not dealt with tout de suite, there may be exciting times ahead for France. “Le jour de gloire est arrivé”, as it were.
    ;¬)

    1. I certainly recall the Salan affaire. And Le Général only just got away with it. By 1969 he was gone.

    2. I ‘ve seen the films, “Battle for Algiers” and “Le Parfum d’Yvonne”. I also had a French penfriend around that time. The French government came close to being toppled in a coup. Even now, I beep the car horn, short-short-short short-long (Al-ger-ie Fran-Caise)

    3. The reports we get about France as as untruthful as those we receive about our own domestic politics and as ineffective in controlling events. Like the U.K., U.S.A., France is led by an elite of the politico-media-arts elect and as unrepresentative. Fortunately for them, France has a revolutionary tradition …

    4. Arise, children of the Fatherland
      Our day of glory has arrived
      Against us the bloody flag of tyranny
      is raised; the bloody flag is raised.
      Do you hear, in the countryside
      The roar of those ferocious soldiers?
      They’re coming right into your arms
      To cut the throats of the Political elite!

      To arms, citizens!
      Form your battalions
      Let’s march, let’s march
      That their impure blood
      Should water our fields.

      1. The Corsican lot, including “Luck of the Legion” and his assorted chums were originally based in Sidi-bel-Abbes in Algeria. They were relocated to Calvi in Corsica for a while after the French left Algeria. They now have their HQ near Aubagne near Marseille,
        Had I not been concerned with being facetious I would have underlined DCs comment by mentioning the ceremony of the hand. It is an annual reminder that the Legion will fight to the last man.

      1. S’funny, not many people do but it is a clear memory from my childhood.
        ‘Jungle Ted and the Lacy Button Poppers’ is another programme of which I must have been the only viewer as none of my friends remembers that either.

          1. Nor did I till 1971. Somebody gave us an old one then.
            My mother never did have or want a telly in her life.

          2. We didn’t have television in the house until I was about 14 and then I only watched what my parents wanted to watch. I did not have a TV set when I was a student or when I first started working in London.

          6. There’s a photo from 1969 in t’family album of my sister and me, about six and eight years old, in our pyjamas, sitting in front of t’ black and white tv and the picture on the TV is Neil Armstrong coming down t’ladder.

            I can remember my father waking us up to see it.

          7. And I remember everyon in the street watching Princess Anne’s wedding in a neighbour’s house because they were the only ones with colour TV.

        2. I remember having a party and we started talking about our favourite children’s TV programs. Magic Roundabout being the fave and not just while we were children !

          As we named them like Mr Ben and Rhubarb & Custard etc our Scottish visitors were nonplussed. They had never heard of most of them.

      2. S’funny, not many people do but it is a clear memory from my childhood.
        ‘Jungle Ted and the Lacy Button Poppers’ is another programme of which I must have been the only viewer as none of my friends remembers that either.

  43. Lunchtime… heavy sourdough bread and minced chilli paste with seeds… Lovely!
    And red wine, naturally.

    1. I just finished my early lunch, home made granary just a ham and cheese sarnie with chilli jam, now off the finish my painting of the decking before it rains as forecast.

  44. I received this morning from a Nottler two of the largest live lobsters i have ever seen.

    After i beat them back with the broom and rescued Dolly from the Kraken’s claws i put them in the freezer to render them insensate.

    I’ll get me cauldron !

    2. The Kraken

      Alfred Lord Tennyson – 1809-1892

      Below the thunders of the upper deep,
      Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
      His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
      The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
      About his shadowy sides; above him swell
      Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
      And far away into the sickly light,
      From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
      Unnumbered and enormous polypi
      Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
      There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
      Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep,
      Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
      Then once by man and angels to be seen,
      In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

      Serve with a Caesar Salad and a Bechamel Sauce!

          1. Nope. I charmed them to sleep in the freezer. Then cut through their heads. Right between the eyes. Now they are sleeping with the fishies in my stock pot.

  45. I’ve been trying to find a new (second-hand, cheap, working) mobile phone of aesthetically pleasing appearance. My task has been complicated by the technical stuff. In my researches I’ve discovered that 2G – whatever that is – is to be phased out. Smart meters use 2G and are not set up for 3G etc.

    1. Recently bought a second-hand Samsung A5 (2017) from Next Day Mobiles ( https://nextdaymobiles.com/ ), which, despite being 4 years ‘behind the curve’, is very versatile and does much more than my ancient Sony Ericsson.

      1. I bought a mid range smart phone a year or two ago, it cost maybe £140. The beast is scary in the power that it has. Why anyone would want to buy one of the top of the range models and what they would do with it is beyond me.

        1. Walk around holding it – so that it is easy for a young black to steal.

          1. I have a fake one for that. It is translucent red plastic. If you press any button a Japanesey voice says” can I help you?”. It is still sealed and contains sweets. I think it may have belonged to a child a very long time ago.

        2. I don’t have a Smart Phone myself but they appear to be some sort of Phallic Symbol to the young!

          2. You should get one. I have a Samsung Galaxy 10 and it does just about everything (other than the phallic symbol bit, which I don’t actually need!). More functional and versatile than my MacBook Air, just not as easy to read.

        3. GiffGaff do both new and “pre-owned” phones. We also use mid range phones (Motorola Moto Gs) in my family – except my eldest who got herself a higher end Samsung for the Camera quality..

  46. England urged to be patient amid reports hugging may soon be allowed. 1 May 2021.

    People are being urged to remain patient before the next relaxation of lockdown restrictions as there is still a possibility for coronavirus cases to “reignite”, amid reports that family and friends in England could be allowed to hug in just over a fortnight.

    When I went to Marks and Spencers this morning three lady regulars were stood at the Bus Stop. As was inevitable I suppose the conversation turned to Covid. One, Sandra, declared that she had now had her second “jab” and was thus immune, though this did not stop her taking three sharp paces backward when I said I hadn’t yet had any and which led to an imprecation not to sit near her on the bus. The others were virulently opposed to “raves” and any public gathering at all! We should remain apart until it was safe! It was a sobering, if not enlightening experience, of the Power of Fear!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/01/england-urged-to-be-patient-amid-reports-hugging-may-soon-be-allowed

    1. Whilst taking Poppie for a walk yesterday evening I passed someone who lives down a cul-de-sac nearby. I don’t see her very often. Her first words were “double jabbed? It is such a relief, isn’t it?” I nodded an assent, with a subdued yes, although saying I wasn’t relieved. I didn’t confess to the truth of the matter as I have a feeling this coming winter our government will be turning public sentiment against those who are not experimentally injected.

      2. Yes we shall become the New Lepers! Outcasts from Society, forbidden to enter the Public Realm!

        3. 332176+ u ticks,
          AS,
          Outcasts and easily ID
          by only having one nose.

          And NOT being one of the “that smells good,good brigade”

      3. When those who have been jabbed discover that they are more vulnerable to serious side-effects from standard ‘flu, they won’t be quite so smug.

        1. I didn’t know about that one! Although I have recently read (this week) about it in reverse – the ‘flu vaccine making the symptoms of the ‘rona virus more severe. For the first time ever last October-November I got a request from the National Death Service for me to make an appointment for a ‘flu vaccine. I have never had a ‘flu jab in all my years of eligibility, never been asked to have it. I wondered what was the purpose? Why now? Now I think I know. They were trying to bump up the death rate in order to continue with Project Fear and using all possible means at their disposal to do so. Cynical, moi? Jamais!

    2. 332176+ up ticks,
      Afternoon AS,
      A multitude of political placebo facts doing the trick among the human type sheeps.

      Fool me once does not apply, with many, fool me multiple times does not apply either.

    3. Oceania v. Eurasia v. Eastasia v. Covidia.
      Just keep the fear going by conjuring up eternal enemies.

      1. Just when thought all might be better:

        “COVID-19: England’s R number rises slightly – as new data suggests coronavirus cases have fallen 40% in a week
        The latest R number estimate comes as new data suggests that coronavirus cases in England have dropped by 40% in just a week.”

        Courtesy Sky-fright News

  47. I have a question on Capital Gains tax on behalf of my younger son.
    Is the tax free allowance of £12300 as indicated on the HMRC website the allowance given exclusively for the capital gain or is it included in the personal tax free allowance of £12500.
    His capital gain is much less than the £12300 but as a senior Physics teacher teacher he will be a higher rate taxpayer.
    The last time I had to pay CGT was when I sold my rental property many years ago – I was glad I used an accountant.
    Incidentally in my search I noticed that the profit on sale of crypto currency such as Bitcoin could be liable for Capital Gains tax.

    1. Happy Saturday Clydesider, I cant help you with that but its best to seek help from an accountant .
      As they say in life you can’t avoid death & taxation ……. but if you are Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, Apple etc you can avoid taxation!

    2. It’s quite simple. The CGT allowance is in addition to yr personal allowance. You can also offset any losses made.

        1. I do my father’s and my own tax returns and we have realised Capital gains on shares and also, ahem, some significant losses! The losses can be set against the gains for 4 years. I hasten to add that I am not a financial professional but look at the Gov website and discuss with my son who is one of those nasty bankers!

  48. 332176+up ticks,
    “It’s the Government’s investment in vaccination that has been a lifesaver”

    Can that be taken as fact when the full extent of neglected / undiagnosed treatment now & felt in the future is tallied up, I personally do not think so.

  49. 332176+ up ticks,

    breitbart,
    UK Govt to Revamp Treason Laws to Prosecute Returning Jihadis: Report

    CRAP
    Dangle carrot, the 6th is soon upon us.

    That would be flying in the face of their own WIDE open door policy at DOVER.

    Still it is useful three monkey fodder and soothes the conscience of the current close shop LLCG membership.

      1. 332176+ up ticks,
        Afternoon Anne,
        Reinstate the old ruling bliar got rid of.
        I do not think he would agree or his alter ego one anthony
        charlie lynton, some sort of political estate agent by all accounts dealing in cottages.

      2. 332176+ up ticks,
        Anne,
        Full term life, Timothy Evans died proving hanging wrong,
        life sentence cost should never enter the equation after seeing the cost of wallpaper.

  50. Good afternoon all.

    I never bother with dry January, always got booze needing finishing. So dry February instead. This year it overlapped into Lent, so I stuck with it. But Lent ran over into April …. bah! Dry April is over — today I shall dance around the tartan McMaypole with a shot of JW RED, to get started.

    Tis the merry, merry, lusty month of May … good health to you all.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg4YrOlAkds

    1. And – according to the pushy nurse – all virgins….!!!!!!!!!!!!

  51. Julie Burchill is rarely out-written, but under her article on Brenda’s grandchildren, these comments made Oi Laff.

    Cho Jinn Cho Jinn

    As an American, I would apologize to the United Kingdom for Meghan Markle, but you guys did burn down our capital that one time, so let’s call it even.

    Katharine Eyre Katharine Eyre

    It’s a deal. But, going forward, if you could limit your contributions to our Royal Family to one per century or less, that would be SPLENDID. Things never seem to turn out well. Thanking you kindly 🙂

    https://unherd.com/2021/04/how-kate-won-me-over/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups%5B0%5D=18743&tl_period_type=3&mc_cid=9cf558c468&mc_eid=3b0897cf1

  52. This is simply to wind up the Monarch of the Glen, as he sits in his bothy beside the peat fire, smoking his pipe….

    The first paragraph of an “article” by the 13 year old female reporter in The Grimes today.

    “A British soldier reached for her Glock 17 pistol as a man wearing a headscarf zoomed past the mud-brick settlements on a motorbike.”

    (The piece is about a mad enterprise in what is left of the British army is “assisting” in Mali – of all God-forsaken places – to “destroy ISIS” and the insatiable slammer forces.)

  53. Police investigating the murder of PCSO Julia James continued to comb woodland today as officers probe whether her killing could have had a sexual motive, or if the attack was revenge for her work in stopping domestic violence.

    Julia’s colleagues today pledged to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in their hunt for the killer as Kent Police confirmed revelations that a flasher had made an indecent exposure weeks before she died from ‘blunt force injuries’ was ‘an important line of enquiry’.

    Meanwhile, Julia’s uncle Michael Turnbull pleaded for the public’s help to ‘find this monster before he can cause more grief to another family’.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9532255/Daughter-murdered-PCSO-Julia-James-53-shares-poignant-photo-mother.html

    This terrible murder , especially as the poor woman was just walking her dog in the countryside not far from where she lived , has been really troubling me .

    Many of us walk our dogs in fields and woods , sometimes we are alone sometimes we have company .

    Her little dog , a JRT I think , would he have attacked the murderer, or run away and hid , but when the body was found , the dog was with her .

    Did the dog know the murderer… who ever attacked her , didn’t lash out at the dog , or did he /she/

    We are all so used to Who Dunnits .. I’ll bet it was a local who knew her movements , and the dog!

    1. Don’t Care in the Community?
      As it was Kent, an ungrateful ‘asylum seeker’?

    2. Whilst you can’t carry a firearm for self protection I recommend that if you are going to walk your dog in the fields & woods you take a walking stick with you which is excellent for self defence & carry a pen knife – knives with blades of less than 3″ are legal in the UK.

      1. You shouldn’t have to. If this country were not over run we’d have a quarter of the problems we currently do.

        1. Times have changed for the worst & they are not going to get better . IMO we all need to take minimum precautions to defend ourselves legally, reliance on the police is a fallacy & anyway in the UK Mr. Plod is unarmed & unwilling to actually deal with crimes other than recycling in the wrong bin or posting non-politically correct tweets !

          1. Afternoon Hatman. The purchase of a knife proof vest would seem to be a reasonable investment!

  54. Re Carrion (or Carrie Antoinette as she is also called): (From y’day’s Spectator by Lara Prendergast

    “Cottagecore, not to be confused with cottaging, is an aspirational lifestyle trend. The word is relatively new —although you’ll find it used all over TikTok — but the idea isn’t. If you have ever dreamt of leaving behind the urban sprawl for something more bucolic, or donned a cheesecloth dress and flower crown in the hope that it will make you seem a little folksy, you’ll understand the aesthetic. Cottagecore is the eternal search for a pastoral idyll, updated for the Instagram generation.

    It is hardly surprising that such a romantic movement has been revived during a time of pestilence and isolation. Throughout the pandemic, many of us have felt as though we aren’t exactly living our #bestlife. It’s comforting therefore to rebrand ourselves as self-sufficient cottage-dwellers, foraging for mushrooms, pickling our vegetables, baking fresh bread and growing flowers, even if all the food (and flowers) we need can be found in the shop just around the corner.

    The cottagecore look is ‘lived-in’. Scandi modernism is out and floral chintz is in. White walls have had their day, as has the cleaning guru Marie Kondo. See ya! If you spent the past few years clearing out your clutter, condensing down your capsule wardrobe and excommunicating anything that doesn’t ‘spark joy’, I’m sorry to have to tell you that the new ‘maximalist’ fashion advocates stuffing your home full of so much crap that it starts to resemble a dusty junk shop.

    On internet forums, cottagecore is defined as ‘Your grandma but, like, hip’. Gen Z teenagers love cottagecore but they aren’t alone. I am one of the many millennial women who gravitates towards prairie dresses, scalloped bedspreads and wicker baskets. I cringe when I see these things I like reflected back via hundreds of other social media accounts.

    We kid ourselves that cottagecore is environmentally friendly (‘Oh this old lamp, I inherited it’) and pretend that it’s some reaction to consumer capitalism: (‘Isn’t Ikea dreadful!’). In fact, the opposite is true. It costs a lot to recreate a run-down cottage and the lifestyle to match. Handmade block-printed wallpaper isn’t cheap. These days, only the rich can afford the simple life.

    It sounds as though the Downing Street flat has been tarted up in a luxurious version of cottagecore (I’ve heard it referred to as ‘manorcore’) by the Prime Minister and his fiancée Carrie Symonds. Under the instructions of ‘Carrie Antoinette’, as she is called by some in No. 10, the ‘John Lewis furniture nightmare’ has given way to what might be termed ‘Et in Arcadia ego’ thanks to the work of the designer Lulu Lytle, of Soane Britain (sounds like Sloane). Lulu is known for her exuberant floral patterns, her taxidermy and her love of rattan furniture. Cottagecore devotees will immediately recognise these visual cues from Pinterest. They make the new look old, hence the appeal —and the considerable cost.

    Americans love cottagecore too. Harry and Meghan escaped Frogmore Cottage, Windsor, but in their new hometown of Montecito, California, cute cottages are prized properties. Dotted around the area are more than 30 houses known as the ‘Moody homes’. They were designed and built by the four Moody sisters during the 1930s and 1940s, and were based on illustrations of old-fashioned cottages from story books. Each one has a glass jar filled with pins and needles embedded in the fireplace to ward off fairies. This is, apparently, a British tradition. It certainly sounds twee enough to be one. The houses are all named after English flowers, such as Hollyhock and Sweetbriar, and are clustered on lanes called Periwinkle and Rosemary. One cottage sold last month for just under $4 million. Who buys these places? People with the ‘whimsy gene’, a real-estate agent told the Los Angeles Times.

    It’s also striking that the rise of cottagecore has coincided with the ascent of an environmental movement that promises to take us back to better, purer days. Greta Thunberg embodies the whole aesthetic — looking, as she does, as if she’s just escaped from Grimms’ Fairy Tales. The Conservative party is drawn to this eco-chic too — especially Carrie and her Green Tory allies, Ben and Zac Goldsmith, and others who have enough money to indulge their rattan fantasies.

    The reality, of course, is that few of us want to live off-grid in a draughty, run-down cottage with little heating and no wifi. Have you ever tried actually living without plastic? Or handwashing all your clothes? How on earth do you charge your phone? Cottagecore is the stress-free, cosy alternative, an aspirational utopia to be conjured up with a credit card, then posted on social media, before you return to a life of modern convenience and Amazon deliveries.

    Privileged humans have always hankered for the simple and the rustic. Arguably the first pioneer of cottagecore was the original Antoinette, Marie: a queen who wanted to be a milkmaid. Her Hameau de la Reine —built in 1783 — epitomised the endless (and probably fruitless) quest for a humble existence decked out in expensive rococo.

    Marie Antoinette’s hamlet at Versailles included a dairy, a windmill and plenty of cottages. With all those thatched roofs, dormer windows and romantic gardens, the ersatz village must have seemed like the perfect retreat from the world when the revolutionary winds started to blow. But the fetish went too far. Not everybody has the whimsy gene, and pretending to be a peasant has traditionally been a good way of winding up peasants. There’s nothing quaint about the guillotine.”

    1. Our chinzy curtains (inherited from our predessors here) are genuine, ancient Sanderson ones which refuse to die. They are probably over 30 years old. The furniture is much older – mostly inherited. We have a woodburner, the wifi is pretty slow, the cottage was built into the hillside, so one wall is half underground.

      We’re neither rich nor poor, but we enjoy the simple life here.

      2. Apart from the IT stuff, I can’t think of anything in this house which is less than 40 years old. Oh, perhaps the curtains – 1985.

      3. When you say wifi do you mean internet speed? As wifi speed can be improved – here I’m replacing all the older mismash with 4 ubiquiti wifi 6 jobbies.

        1. N ot sure what I mean – it’s better downstairs where the BT hub is, but not so good in here.

        1. No – it’s natural stone so it can breathe. It also contains the fireplace.

      5. I had a house in West Yorkshir that was “Back to Earth” as they called it. I could also hear a river running under the cellar floor. The house was built of local stone and they dug the cellar out first and used the stone to build it in 1774.

    2. Ada: “Bert, I’m feeling chilly in our drafty old cottage – be a love and chop some more wood for the range”
      Bert: “Better still Ada, I’ll place an order with Amazon on my smart phone for same day delivery!
      Thank goodness I signed up for FTTC”
      Ada: “What’s FTTC Bert?”
      Bert: “Fibre To The Cottage, Ada”

      1. £130 +VAT a month for a 1 gig (100MB synchronous) connection. Daylight robbery.

    3. Whooo, Hoo! We are there already. Chez nous already resembles a “dusty junk shop”. But not so chic.

    4. I’ve seen Cottagecore in real life.
      It means a draughty dunny out in the garden which has to be emptied every week – full bucket carted down to the allotment by Uncle Fred who was a sandwich short of a picnic. Don’t empty your bowels twice in one day as you upset the schedule: I’m looking at you, Auntie Ethel.
      (“Perce, she’s down there again……)
      Spend the morning cleaning the entire house in below zero temperatures; eat the same lunch on a set day of the week. Wash up in a bowl on a table and empty the slops into a bucket under said table.
      A strip wash – boil your own kettle – up in a freezing bedroom at 3.0pm. Come down and light fire in sitting room (might dry out the damp patches on the walls). Spend the evening bitching about the people getting off the 4.0pm bus from Colchester.
      Go to bed and look forward to the same again.

      1. Sounds exactly as Carrion wants it – when all her woke eco-freak plans have come to fruition.

        1. Only for us, though. Her expensive wallpaper will not be used to light a fire.

    5. Isn’t pinterest that site that aggregates other website content and then tries to lock it away, pass it off as it’s own and prevent access to the site it has nicked in a vain attempt to lock people in – I would say to it’s own content, but it hasn’t got any?

      1. The very one. Very Pinteresque comment…!

        Any luck with your mixer spare parts?

    6. So modernism’s out and “Et in Arcadia ego…” is the latest trend, eh? Well as they say, one man’s Mitruk is another man’s Poussin ….

      ….. I’ll get me pasting-table.

    7. Just tried googling “cottaging”. The first hit was “dogging locations in the U.K.”. I get it now but no, I didn’t open the link.

    8. These would be the people who come to the country and complain about the smells, the animals, the tractors on the roads, church bells, roosters, etc. I take it.

      1. The very same, Conwy. We have such a couple in the village. As they are stridently lesbian – with an unfortunate son, who seems bewildered – they have not found many friends locally!

        Within a week of moving in, they started a campaign against one of the farms because of “the smells”.

  55. In the spirit of the Meaning of Lif, I shall designate Ruislip as “The moment when you’re nearly at the end of a book and realise it’s not very good, but are determined to finish it out of sheer bloody mindedness.”

    2. That once happened to me as a child with the London telephone directory, fortunately the film version was much shorter & better

      1. Fertile eggs will fetch bob or two in Arabia. However, a mad farmer may be responsible. There are a number of farmers who are against large raptors just as much as the owners of shooting estates.

        1. The Modus Operandi would suggest someone motivated more by spite than greed!

          1. Or with a fear of heights and a plastic sheet to catch things?
            (Of course, there is no way to guess the motivation of such people as do these things.)

      2. Government info will contain the words: “Also available in English”….

      3. Every word in the sentence above comes from Proto-Germanic, except for castigated, which is from Latin.
        Nearly every word for a bollócking comes from French or Latin, except for ‘bollócking’ itself – which is Proto-Germanic.
        Just thought you’d like to know.

        1. Yo Ped

          OGG The Caveman, who ruined the world, by inventing the wheel also

          Formalised the original language

          Set out the plans for Global Warming and

          Planted an Apple Tree, so So that Newton could invent Gravity

    4. “Al the Britons doe dye themselues wyth woade, which setteth a blewish color vppon them: and it maketh the more terryble to beholde in battell”. J Caesar

        1. “Syng a song of Saxons
          In the Wapentake of Rye
          Four and twenty eaoldormen
          Too eaold to die….”
          — Anon

  58. Iron Age treasure: Man’s metal detector to be destroyed over coin theft

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-56945507

    A man who found more than 900 Iron Age coins will have his metal detector destroyed as punishment for keeping 23 of them as a “memento”.

    Shane Wood, 62, found the treasure while on a walk in Chelmsford, Essex, in September last year.

    Wood admitted the theft of 22 Staters and one quarter Stater, worth an estimated £9,850 to £12,350.

    He was sentenced at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court to 200 hours’ unpaid work on an 18-month community order.

    Wood, of Hanningfield Road, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, also pleaded guilty to failing to notify the coroner of the find under the Treasure Act 1996, and was ordered to pay £200 to the court.

    The court heard Wood, an “avid birdwatcher”, saw a feather fall from a buzzard and noticed a gold item in the field where it landed.

    Wood went home to fetch his metal detector and made the discovery, placing the coins into a bin liner.

    ‘Unusual and almost unique’
    Prosecutor Ashley Petchey said the hoard of 933 Iron Age gold Staters was “likely to be if not the largest, then the second-largest such find in Britain”.

    He said Wood handed most of them over to the landowner but kept 23 for himself.

    Mr Petchey said Wood did not notify the coroner of the find directly, but instead told a man who used the land who in turn notified the landowner who said he would contact the finds liaison officer.

    1. A man who found more than 900 Iron Age coins will have his metal detector destroyed as punishment for keeping 23 of them as a “memento”.

      Afternoon Belle. Well that’s about £200 so it’s hardly impalement. By the reading he doesn’t seem very culpable. More indifferent than anything. The Beak on the other hand sounds like Judge Jefferies. Much ado about nothing?

      1. Oh come on. If he had stolen between £9800 and £12300 from you – you would want him banged up, wouldn’t you?

        1. Well he handed the vast majority over and the “loser” was the ever grasping State so I shall stick with my verdict!

        2. Do you remember that delightful TV series called the Detectorists.. Bill.
          Does this remind you of one of the snippets?

          “The court heard Wood, an “avid birdwatcher”, saw a feather fall from a buzzard and noticed a gold item in the field where it landed.”

          1. Absolutely, Maggie. I almost posted that. One of the finest TV comedies for many years.

        3. If he was a Paki and had stolen 10 times that amount in benefits nothing would be done. As a recent case shewed.

    2. A man who found more than 900 Iron Age coins will have his metal detector destroyed as punishment for keeping 23 of them as a “memento”.

      Afternoon Belle. Well that’s about £200 so it’s hardly impalement. By the reading he doesn’t seem very culpable. More indifferent than anything. The Beak on the other hand sounds like Judge Jefferies. Much ado about nothing?

  59. Demonstrators take to the streets against new law which could limit the right to protest.

    ://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/484959ab50c96ab4184937d4c62189e61f2de95fb66068822e1b1af5e43e9732.jpg

      2. They are busy looting while the plod deal with these violent, extremist sheet carriers.

  61. Beware any leader who speaks of ‘The People’s Priorities’
    By JOHN HUMPHRYS
    dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9530685/JOHN-HUMPHRYS-Beware-leader-speaks-Peoples-Priorities.html

    Do shut up Humphrys….stick to Mastermind.

  62. Apropos the madman who runs the Royal Black Shakespeare Theatre (whose letter was posted first thing) – WTF is “visual vernacular.”?

    1. The Agincourt Salute?

      I saw an RSC production of Cymbeline at Stratford a year or three back. According to both Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Bard, Cymbeline was an ancient British king? According to the RSC she was an African woman. My problem is that I don’t consider that to be creative. I call it lying and deceitful.

    3. A verna was a slave born in the owners home rather than abroad and vernacular the utter gibberish they used for communication, because they couldn’t speak Latin – native dialect. Seems like nothing has changed in some quarters since Roman times.

      1. Tell me about it. You just can’t get Latin speaking staff these days. Country’s gone to pot if you ask me…
        :¬(

      2. A vernal equinox was when they slept in and didn’t get up to light the stove.

    4. At a guess i would say the positioning of the actor and the clothing the actor is wearing. Possibly also the stage set.

      Where’s me Oscar?

  63. According to my dictionary, ‘bollocks!’, in English slang, is an ejaculation. Sounds like two for the price of one.

  64. Far-right terror suspects arrested in Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Wales. 1 may 2021.

    An ordnance-disposal unit was alerted after officers discovered suspicious material at one of the addresses in Keighley, West Yorkshire police said in a statement. The unit will provide specialist advice and organise the safe removal of the items if required.

    That would be a booby trapped copy of the Anarchist’s Cookbook then? It’s about time all these Far-Right terrorists were rounded up and prevented from carrying out all these atrocities like errrr. Well never mind. You know what I mean.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/01/far-right-terror-suspects-arrested-in-yorkshire-wiltshire-and-wales

    1. “like errrr“, the only very large homogeneous group in the UK which has repeatedly produced terrorists who have bombed their way around the UK killing dozens and maiming hundreds with no action being taken against it? That group, the cult of foreign origin which condones the rape of wee girls?

      1. 332176+ up ticks,
        Afternoon HP,
        Due to the submissive nature of the governance coalition and supporter / voters they will be
        declaring their own party soon
        then you will see some political
        action as in rolling heads.

    2. Is ‘far right’ Guardian slang for ‘someone we want to blame’ or do they mean Nazi and are utterly confused, as the Nazi’s were very clearly Left wing?

      I don’t expect the grauniad to acknowledge that, as reqlising they’re the most vicious and abusive group in history isn’t how they want to paint themselves.

      1. “Far-right” means anyone who is not a member of the Communist Party.

        1. I wouldn’t mind so much if the media didn’t use it to label. I doubt there are any actual far right terrorists. What would they do? Go on a one man crusade for smaller government?

          One day the Left will have to accept they are the evil defeated throughout history. Normally this will happen when they start another war. This time instead of being decent and letting the snake grow, we should cut off it’s head forever – but, that’s their attitude to us. Ha! It’s our very superiority that makes us so prey to their abuses.

        2. Nazism & it’s progenitor, Fascism and Communism are opposites only in so far as they are the opposite cheeks of the same shitty Socialist arsehole.

      1. Maybe in the US. Here in Blighty if you drink a bottle of wine a week and drive a car your effective tax rate is close to 67%.

        It’s theft, plain and simple.

        1. I was thinking income tax, but you’re right.
          The US has Federal and separately, State taxes. Nightmare.

      1. Any one who could leave their little daughter in a pub and head home should have been locked up.

        1. There were several cars. I assume they thought she was in another of the cars, and she wasn’t in any of them.
          School parties and coaches comes to mind.

          1. I just thought he might have checked, or was possibly too interested in trying to impress his guests.

          2. One would have hoped that at least the security detail checked. They are supposed to be methodical – he is, after all, a politician and only concerned for himself.

      2. Dave looked like a nervous dog , continually licking his lip, he was another one who could never stay put at his desk .. another chancer .

        Moh liked him , I didn’t . Lack of sincerity . A good talker , but he was hollow!

    6. Abolishing the Peter Principle in government.

      Since the untimely defenestration of Mrs Thatcher, 31 years ago, we have been led by a succession of Peters.
      Peter Major was followed by Peter Blair, Peter Brown, Peter Cameron, Peter May and now, Peter Johnson.
      Isn’t it time we sourced a prime minister who has not been promoted several ranks above their level of competence?

      1. There you are ‘elton’ hows it going ?

        Perhaps it will all Peter out eventually. Or not.

      2. Hi there Grizz, long time no see!
        Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked; If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

        1. Hi, Pud. How’re ya doing?
          He’s not the pheasant plucker, he’s the pheasant plucker’s son. He’s only plucking pheasants till the pheasant plucker comes.

          1. Hiya Grizz, I have been ill for quite a while with Sciatica ( intense pains in my lower left back, left ankle & left side of my neck and over my left eye – which is Migraine triggered by the Sciatica ) so I have not been posting a lot for some while now, but at present its lessened & I am no longer on pain killers so I am making the effort to participate in discussions with Plonkers like myself & post pages on my own blogs ( using my Sputnik One acct – my Mahatma acct is retired ). I am vaccinated against Covid & have had no ill effects & we are mask free outdoors & in 3 weeks time all other restrictions will be lifted unless some unforeseen event takes place.

          2. I can feel your pain re the sciatica, Pud. I’ve been a sufferer in the past due to two spinal conditions, mainly as the result of a severe trauma in my first job. I don’t get it any more but I still get arthritis in other joints which makes up for it. Good to hear you’re still active. All the best to you, my friend.

    7. “I have a firm grip on my policies but look where his other hand is!”

  67. Did any of you watch the wonderful BBC TV4 film about Ronnie Scott last night which was broadcast so late in the evening 23.40 .

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pjcm

    I remember a boyfriend of mine taking me to the jazz club in the 1960’s a few times , I loved the experience and the music , so cool and clever and very memorable . .

    Poor Ronnie had dental treatment which was a disaster , and everything went wrong . His teeth were removed , and that is not something one of the best Sax players in the world could cope with .. he found he couldn’t use his Sax anymore , utter tragedy for him and all jazz fans .

    1. We might have been there at the same time. And the Ronnie Scott trio used to play a few in clubs in north London especially one called the Torrington North Finchley, sadly now a MacDonald’s.
      Mike Carr on Hammond and Tony Crombie on drums Ronnie of course on tenor. He had a fair number of jokes he used to tell.
      One of my favourites was Umbrellas of Cherbourg he announced as by Big Michael. He used to say we don’t do request unless they’re asked for………. https://youtu.be/3XwhOYFeado?list=RDCMUChXQL4MqC4ihSVg3SFiszDg i hope this come out it’s an interview.

      1. You never know, we might have been there at the same time , there was another Jazz club my boyfriend at that time was keen on which we used to visit in Botley , Hampshire , really groovy stuff.

        I saw some amazing musicians , American etc , some with strange names , I would recognise their names .. memory is dreadful, but I was a bit of a jazz fan .

        Thanks for that link.

        1. The Phoenix just off Regents street was brilliant as well.
          I watched the program last evening it was very nostalgic and i felt quite sad at the end of a great rea. I looked up Cleo Lane she is 93 now. We also saw her and JD in Adelaide late 70s she was starring in the annual festival. I have been to the Stables In MK a few times as well. Their son is a base player he was playing with Georgie Fame band at the Herts Jazz festival WGC, just down the road for us. Poor old Georgie wasn’t well last time i don’t think he’s playing any more. Alan Skidmore the elderly sax player from the blue Flames was also on stage, Georgie’s son on drums.
          The seating was packed with elderly people such an appreciative audience and filled with past memories.

          1. Jazz wasn’t just an oldie musical taste when I was a teenager , everyone loved every aspect of it .. except my husband , who wasn’t brought up with it .

      1. Glad to hear you didn’t miss out. Most of them are still alive. Just ask Brenda.

        Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is really letting it all hang
        out in his new (and unimaginatively titled) autobiography, Life.
        Richards says that Mick Jagger became unbearable over the years and
        reveals that he also refers to the pillow-lipped lead singer “Your
        Majesty” and “Brenda.” Draaaaaammmmmaaa!

    2. They have been told that the Covid virus gets no lower than three feet above the ground….

  69. OK, my siblings wanted a family zoom from 5 til 6. Youngest brother (age 69) opened by demanding to know whether I’ve been “vaccinated” and if not, why not. So I told him why not. He just announced that if I’m not vaccinated, I’m no longer welcome in his house. Eldest brother (aged 80) was up for arguing the toss so I took him on. Youngest brother ended the “meeting”, without warning, at 5.20. I still won’t be bullied.

    1. Sorry to hear that Sue. Have they tried to browbeat you in the past or is it just over covid?

      1. Well, I have a mobile phone because they demanded I get one. Yes, the hectoring tone is par for the course but this time the subject is more serious and less easily ignored.

        1. I know brothers can be protective of their sisters. But you are a grown woman and they should respect your decisions. If it means the family fractures you need to decide if it is a price worth paying.

          I was once in a not dissimilar situation and it was the end of our relationship.

          1. I have lost a friend of almost 50 years over this – she was desperate for me to get the experimental injection “and then we will all be safe.” Nothing was out of bounds in her quest for me to get the injection. The last straw was when she sent me a manipulative Pfizer video about “getting the jab to protect others”. I only watched 15 seconds of it, I felt really annoyed. I sent her a text “please respect my opinion as I respect yours”. I heard nothing more, so I sent her an Easter card and wrote “I’m sorry we seem to have fallen out, I hope it’s not permanent, we have been friends for a long time.” I received a card in return with a rant along the lines of “I really do struggle to understand your attitude to all of this” and quoting an example of a friend’s husband who was in hospital with ‘covid’ and not expected to live. I am not expecting our friendship to survive, I think its over. I know of no-one with whom I worked, or round about where I live who has not had the experimental injection. There is only me, and poppiesdad. It was the same with Brexit, this is Remain territory.

          3. I will. I would despise myself if I gave up on my principles. Myself and poppiesdad are the only people I know who are unvaccinated. Thanks so much for your encouragement.

          4. Just awful for you. None of my neighbours and friends have asked me if i have had the jab.

          5. Well, you may have seen my post the day before yesterday. Someone who lives nearby coming towards me whilst I was taking Poppie for a walk …. “double jabbed?” Patting her arm at the same time. “It’s such a relief, isn’t it?” I mumbled a sort of assent. I could not admit to the truth of the matter, she wouldn’t have remotely understood. I noticed she had also had some ‘work’ done to her face. It looked unnatural and piggy. Oh, miaoowww.

        2. Tell the you have cut them out of your will.

          There is no discussion possible with covid-fanatics. Like Brexit and Remainiacs.

          1. Ah Bill, I inherited more than £100k a few years back from a first cousin who left nothing to my brothers. I haven’t made a will.

          4. Aghast. You MUST MAKE A WILL. Seriously. Otherwise lots of your dosh will go to THEM….

            This is one place – cheaper than a solicitor; better than just making it up as you go along. Other DIY guides are available.

            https://www.which.co.uk/money/wills-and-probate/passing-on-your-money/how-to-make-a-will-ann800u2rj1c

            PS: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wills-Probate-Which-Consumer-Guides/dp/0852027710/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&qid=1619890261&refinements=p_27%3AConsumers%27+Association&s=books&sr=1-11

            Gives you many tips.

          5. Choose your favourite charity and they will pay the cost of preparing your will with reputable solicitors of your choice

        3. Even considering they may be concerned for your health, once you say “I’ve chosen not to’ there’s no more discussion. It is your choice.

      1. ‘Sisters’ – I was thirteen and a fan!

        Their harmony was excellent, lyrics by Cole Porter …

          8. Hoi! – I think. Scots ancestors, me. The ones whose clan went bankrupt so they all moved away all over the workd – met one from New Zealand a few years ago, living here in Norway. Same tradition with the name of the Firstborn, too!

          9. Try living here, as a Geordie, pre-election with the lunatic bigot Sturgeon gunning for anything vaguely English, spitting lies and venom. For the first time in 40+ years I want to leave this divided and bankrupt country.

          10. :-((
            I’ve had several pleasant nights out with colleagues in Aberdeen when I lived there, all ending up at about the 6th pint with the jabbing finger and “Youse bastard English…”. It doesn’t make you want to do it again.

          13. It used to be just banter but its an awful lot more nasty nowadays! even the friend I was with on Friday (I’ve known her since we were 19) is a leafletting Nat and I really had to zip my mouth shut! She even had a go at Prince Phillip!

          17. Ooh! Thursday is going to be interesting down there! Labour have parachuted in an NHS doctor, staunch remainer candidate and Hartlepool voted 70% pro Brexit! Starmer smarts eh?

          18. I recall years ago seeing an American film where the leading man kept referring to “John Ray” – so much so, that my breath was bated while I awaited the entrance of Mr Ray…

          19. Can’t abide that…and the two syllable pronunciation has caught on over here.

          20. Ah! Now I get it…
            a bit slow tonight, it’s due to an excess of cherry tomatoes.
            :-((

        2. 🙂
          I am actually looking at a photo of me in a very similar frock.
          But for some reason I’m smiling. (How on earth DID they manage that?)

    4. Oh dear,

      How do you feel now, men can be such bullies .
      Anyway, for the next few days they will have something to talk about .

      They should respect your wishes .

      Sounds as if you could do with a cup of tea , Sue.

      1. My elder sister in law said she respects my wishes and I thought we’d agreed it was mutual but then she went on to say that of course there’ll be a surge in deaths and the unvaccinated will be to blame.

          2. Because it’s not a vaccination. They hear the word ‘vaccine’ and that is it. It’s a bit like Lem-sip, taken in advance, just in case. As I understand it the injected are just as likely to catch it from each other, and the uninjected are more at risk from the injected than the other way round. I do not understand the majority of the public’s thought processes on this; it is mass hysteria, mass psychosis.

        2. Gawd, the old guilt trip thing .

          Why do people do that.

          Moh and son are clearing the shed of lots of junk , and chewed up stuff. I said , I hope you wash your hands when you have finished , you know how dangerous rat wee is … ouch, of course they will wash their hands , or will they?

          🤐🤣🤣

        3. The unvaccinated will be blamed, as sure as eggs are eggs, but will not necessarily be to blame. I am with you, Sue, on this. My heels are well dug in.

    5. Did you ask them why they should be worried about your lack of vaccination if they are so confident that it works?

          1. I was being serious – there is NO discussion possible with covid fanatics.

          2. Indeed.

            When all those who have been vaccinated discover that they are dropping like flies over illnesses that don’t affect the unvaccinated, because their immune systems have been completely screwed by the vax, I shall get a certain schadenfreude, even though I’ve had it myself.

          11. And – new vaccination in the autumn for another weird strain of the virus – they’ll be like a pincushion.

          13. And – new vaccination in the autumn for another weird strain of the virus – they’ll be like a pincushion.

          16. Box-of-frogs crazy? Batshit crazy? How would you describe it?
            :-))

          18. Box-of-frogs crazy? Batshit crazy? How would you describe it?
            :-))

          23. Bill – it’s just like discussing a referendum with an SNP supporter.

      2. No, we didn’t get that far. Too busy telling me the young have made sacrifices for the past year to save the old. Which is equally illogical.

        1. Will those be the same “young” who shoved the infected “old” into care homes so they could spread it and die, to save the NHS?

          1. Yep and that was exactly my response but Bill’s right, it’s impossible to argue with people who won’t question the official narrative.

          2. Feinmann: Better the question that cannot be answered than the answer that cannot be questioned.

    6. :-((
      Oh, dear, Sue. That’s not fine. Man’s out of order, and unnecessary.

    8. Tell them that the bio weapon is not the virus but the Covid vaccine.

      Edit: Social distancing is positively dangerous as is isolation and mask wearing, by forcing you to inhale exhaled CO2, tantamount to eating your own faeces.

      It is vital that more of us refuse the mandates coming out of government and its highly suspect scientific advisors. The forces of coercion with policies for Covid Passports are not dissimilar to those employed by Nazis. I fear we are witnessing another Holocaust.

      1. I have a very bad feeling about all of this. Johnson is gung-ho coupled with a sociopathic personality; he doesn’t do the detail, such as side-effects and death. He is a blunderer.

    9. Bravo Sue! I’m with you, despite having had my first AZ jag! I was coerced into it as my family live in Greece and I want to see them. However, I wouldn’t have had it otherwise. Why are family so Bolshie? They think they can run your life just because they’re related! KBO Sue!

    14. Oh dear Sue that is very upsetting. We had an enormous sibling rift last year and it upset me far more than I would have thought possible. Hopefully they will realise upon reflection that there are many factors to consider, and that everyone should make up their own minds.

  70. Military redesigning body armour to fit female recruits. 1 may 2021.

    The military is redesigning body armour and ejection seats to better accommodate female recruits, MPs have been told.

    Ms Byford said: “Up until recently, we’ve only used male shapes and sizes in order to design crew equipment. So things like ejection seat design, in-flight urination systems, breathing system designs are now being redesigned, as you say to accommodate the female anatomy.”

    What about severing the right breast, as the Amazons did, so that the bowstring could be pulled back fully?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/27/military-redesigning-body-armour-ejection-seats-better-accommodate/

    2. During the war, the female ATA ferry pilots were just told, “this [the pee tube] is only for the male pilots”.

    3. a bit drastic when sitting behind a desk in an office. That said, the ejection seat’s a good idea if unable to do job, or wiriting letters to the DT

  72. Who buys tinned cherry tomatoes? Just upended a tin of the blessed things into the ragu sauce. Not what I intended. Bugger.
    First world problems, eh?

          1. In Malaysia, firing someone means giving them a rocket – and not for bonfire night, either.

    2. We do,Herr Oberst! Brilliant in a prawn tagliatelle! Well, until my old man mixed the tins up in Aldi and bought tomato and chorizo soup…

      1. #metoo.
        Ours comes in tiny riptop canlets, somewhat smaller than the ones of tonic you get on planes. I use one canlet per saucepan of sauce – nice flavour

  73. That’s me for this truly miserable May Day. Bitterly cold; heavy squalls – nothing to laugh at at all.

    I shall leave you and seek solace in a glass of pink medicine.

    A demain. Which is my brother’s 88th birthday.

  75. “Surge testing” to be deployed in East London Borough of Tower Hamlets after several cases of the Brazilian and South African variants found.
    Testing will start tomorrow. Sky News

      1. Good evening PM – I suspect it could be a local lockdown sooner than that and that they will be leaving Tower Hamlets tonight in droves to avoid the tests.

  76. Climate activist arrested after gluing himself to Westminster Bridge
    [Idiots: it’s Tower Bridge]

    Hundreds took part in Extinction Rebellion ‘rebellion of one’ acts on Saturday to protest lack of action on climate emergency

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d14b5190ccc22f512b4f6b79cceaf1e6a1621d19/0_85_1620_972/master/1620.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=159effffb2f4277a2e0da911e924c13d
    Morgan Trowland, 38, pictured blocking traffic on Tower Bridge in London, said: ‘I want to show onlookers that we each have phenomenal power.’

    Hopefully dorks like Morgan Trowland will be the first to become extinct

        1. But they spent years & billions of tax money in cleaning up the Thames without having human garbage thrown into it to pollute it once again!

      3. Just leave him there.

        72 hours seated like that, with no food, water or shelter will ensure that he never attempts the same again.

        All one needs to do is to stop supporters getting anywhere near him.

        1. I suspect that it’s his hand that’s glued not his trousers.

          I’d leave the silly sod there and let him pull his hand off when the pain of sitting like that gets too much, which it will.

          3. Make sure he gets plenty to eat and drink… got to take care of even the idiots, don’cha know?

    3. Well Morgan, if it gets to the point that they are dying in their billions, the chances are that they will be killing each other.

      And it is likely that the killing will commence over race, religion or politics, long before the climate has any say whatsoever.

      1. Surely if billions die, the pollution causing man-made climate change will diminish, thus solving the problem.

        2. Close, but no cigar.

          The burning of billions of corpses will blacken the sky and cause an extinction as bad as the one that killed the dinosaurs.

          Yeah cockroaches, your time has come.

      2. And, kicking off with, the vaccinated killing the unvaccinated very shortly. Better to be safe than sorry, you see.

    4. Re the message on placard. In 100 years the majority of 8 billion folk will be dead.. Now Pi55 Off!

      1. Park a smoky diesel van right next to him so nobody runs him down, and let him breathe the fumes.

    7. I wonder why they don’t set up permanent camps outside the Chinese and Indian embassies.

    8. Grab his beard and drag him off the street. Obstructing the highway is illegal.

    10. If you look over the bridge, on the Tower of London side,their is a metal large ring.Handcuff him to that and let the high tide cover him.
      That will clean him up.

    11. Has the pillock not realised yet that life is a terminal illness? Of course billions will die (and unless we do something about population control, trillions will be born – and cause more damage to the planet than any change in the climate). If he spends his life being terrified, he is sad indeed.

      1. Another pathetic terrified person. Apparently there was one of the lunatic breed in Shrewsbury.

        1. presumably if heas any children / grandchildren, having learnt the green cross code, they left him where he is. bring to Nairobi, he can pick any road, he’ll be roadkill within 2 mins

  77. (2021) BBC Headline – Five people, including a 16-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of right-wing terrorism offences.

    Officers carried out a series of raids in Keighley, in West Yorkshire, Swindon and Anglesey in Wales. The boy was found to have a library ticket for one of Enoch Powell’s books.

    (2015) Fourteen year old schoolgirl repeatedly raped by 13 men in Keighley, court hears. Girl found guilty of drugs and sex offences. Taken into care.

    1. Wait, what? Does possession of an Enoch Powell book get you banged up for terrorism now?

    1. From the article:-
      An actress friend of Noel Clarke told MailOnline yesterday that the 20 women accusing him of being a ‘sexual predator’ are pursuing a racist ‘witchhunt’ as the actor was sacked by Sky, suspended by Bafta and criticised by a co-star who backed his alleged victims.

      The actress, who asked not to be named, said the 45-year-old actor, writer and director’s fall from grace is because ‘no one likes it when a man of colour gets to the top’.

      So that’s it – it’s racist to accuse a black man of sexual harassment.

        1. The local football club play in white,Tottenham Hotspur FC,The home ground is White Hart Lane.What now.????…

    2. We’ve heard about white privilege – is black privilege about abusing women and thinking you’ll get away with it because you are black?.

        1. It enabled life on Earth and will more than likely be the power that extinguishes it.

      2. Wind power – the faster the engine goes, the faster the windmill turns…

        1. Spot on!

          My mother was his youngest child and was born in Crewe in 1904 but she spent much of her childhood in St Mawes where she was called Baby Cooke which was the name given to her first dinghy.

          1. I love studying the history of the railways. It was very simple to identify the 4-6-0 from its number 2222 and the distinctive drive wheel sidings and tender.

            From my other interest I study the great railway termini. I regret the loss and degradation of many.

            The greatest loss in my opinion was St Enoch’s in Glasgow. Shocking but then Glasgow cares so little for its great heritage monuments. Just look at their treatment of the Glasgow School of Art, burnt to cinders not once but twice. Those responsible for its maladministration and destruction yet remain in position.

    4. odds on there will be special exemptions for special cases so rather than burning nice clean locally mined coal, they will be allowed to import dirty Chinese coal.

      End result, increase in total emissions

  82. Breaking News – The BBC have just announced
    For those still watching the snooker in black and white tonight

    There are no Scottish left in it.

  83. Evening, all. The jury is still out here as to whether the vaccination programme is a “life saver”. I went to see my next dog today and he’ll be coming home on Tuesday (we thought it best to wait until after the Bank Holiday so he had time to settle in as I’ll be busy on Monday).

        1. Happy to hear it, Connors. May you both enjoy a good long life together.

    2. Great news re next dog, Conners; I / We? look forward to seeing some photos!

      1. I doubt he’ll take a good photo, to be honest; he’s as black as the Ace of Spades! If he were a lab I would have called him Gibsons 🙂

      1. He didn’t reject me 🙂 It will take a while for him to settle in and bond properly, but he walked ok on the lead (a bit in front, but he’ll come to heel with practice; I only had about twenty minutes with him). Big test will be when he sees another dog, but my late, lamented hound spent several years having to be taught that it wasn’t ok to start WW3 when he saw another dog! We got there in the end. I’m hoping that the practice I got with Charlie will stand me in good stead.

    5. Wow that is quick, you would have still been waiting to be approved over here and most breeders are taking reservations for years ahead.

      So what kind are you getting?

      Here’s hoping that things go well.

      1. He’s a Patterdale. He’s a rescue dog needing a loving home that is experienced with working terriers. My terriers have never worked, but they do live like dogs rather than people.

          1. He’s like a black version of the brown one on the right of the trio. He has one little bit of white on his chin – like my previous Patterdale cross.

        2. Wikipedia says that they are used for racoon hunting, can I borrow him?

          2. Ah well, back to the electric fence round the veggie patch and vignette (small vineyard) then.

    7. Grand News Sir!! Grand News,we expect pictures as soon as possible !!

    8. I’m so pleased for you, Con. Let us know his name and provide a pic when you can. 🙂

      1. His name is Timmy. I shan’t be changing it, although from his looks, Sambo might be appropriate :). I could always claim he was Swedish.

  85. Exclusive: Britannia to rule the waves once more, with new royal yacht named after Prince Philip

    Boris Johnson to announce new national flagship within weeks, with the £200m vessel to serve as an official tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh

    By Christopher Hope, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
    1 May 2021 • 8:00pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/01/exclusive-britannia-rule-waves-new-royal-yacht-named-prince/

    BTL:

    Malcolm Sargent
    1 May 2021 8:08PM
    Absolutely the correct thing to do. It was just petty nastiness by Blair to get rid of Brittania. It was always so much more than the queens private yacht. How many trade deals were cemented, how much successful diplomacy was carried out by a simple lunch with the queen on Brittania.

    1. Hear, hear:

      The perfect and appropriate tribute to Queen Elizabeth’s consort of seventy-three years: Philip was a distinguished naval officer and a keen sailor …

  86. Goodnight all Nottlers – a little bed time music: Avalon Jazz Band – Zou bisou bisou (mad men song)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnnysKyVfM

    1. Sturgeon can’t lose can she. The more trouble she makes, the more she gets rewarded.
      Doesn’t say much for young Wilfred’s upbringing, does it.

  89. Had my 2nd AZ at 10 o/c this AM, walked straight past my eldest daughter ( she was in scrubs and mask and I thought she was jabbing elsewhere ) so far no adverse effects

    1. Not much AZ vaccine over here now, it seems that all that Trudeau can beg is Pfizer and moderna.

      Canada has just stopped use of the J&J that was delivered by the USA. They eventually realised that the US had sold us some of the batch that had serious manufacturing issues. We must be the only third world country in the G7!

  90. The Johnson administration will soon have the power to stop ”disinformation” on the internet. This means anything they disagree with giving his administration the means to decide what is ”truth”……..

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-to-introduce-world-first-online-safety-laws

    Along with the new Police Act and Vaccine Passports, the UK stage will be set for total population control !

    Oliver Dowden MP, who is introducing the new internet safety laws, has recently met with Melinda Gates according to his Facebook account !

    How typical that the means to control ”truth” is being presented as a ”safety” measure.

    1. We are British. Johnson and his inept government are toast even though the penny has apparently not yet dropped in Whitehall.

      The 30% of us who have more than one brain cell will ensure his demise. It is what sentient intelligent people do. The muppets accepting the toxic jabs will most likely either die or else be permanently disabled. The rest of us just need to stay clear of the vaccinated in the meantime. In other words, if you come into contact with a prat in a mask, change direction or cross the road (pass on the other side to use a biblical reference).

    2. They think they are being so public-spirited, so we do not trouble our silly little heads with inappropriate ideas, such as global warming is a fantasy and vaccines make us sick. I made a comment about science just now suggesting that it never claimed to deal with “truth”:

      “Science must have an open mind, and science must be sceptical and eager to be proved wrong. It does not deal in certainties or facts, and is well aware of the limitations of its apparatus and methodologies and must make allowance for them. Significance – the likelihood that an observation is not random – is far more important than proof, and can be overturned with fresh evidence or discussion.

      The problem is that we have redefined science to mean something it is not, in order to make it politically acceptable. This is particularly true in America, where their presidential god is symbolised by one character: $, and the more of these, the greater the god.”

      The internet safety laws deal in Overton Window stuff, like it’s wrong not to aspire to be black, female, homosexual or Muslim, and to be ashamed if we fail to be in the right sort of protected category. Or that the demands of the Global Free Market trump public service or personal loyalty or conscience.

      Just wait until the Labour Party take over and eagerly apply these new laws! Each time a Conservative opponent moans, all they need say is – you made these laws, so buckle under and comply with your own rules.

  91. Goodnight, lovely people, I’m a trifle traumatised after the results of today – see my response to Araminta’s wishes this morning.

    Off to beddy-byes and God Bless, one and all.

    1. They’d better start with the Health Department and the Treasury, in fact all government departments. That’ll keep them busy for the next 25 years.

    1. When I was a child, I always thought that the ancients were black because they never washed.

      1. mng, Uhuru sobered up a bit. Labor day speech, full of garbage. Nbo curfew bk to previous one 22.00-04.00. Bars open. Which means ratcheting up power cuts. He refused any questions re C-19 when press told him zero cases. Not surprisingly, the journo was arrested

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