Saturday 13 July: Failure to build more prisons has left the Government with an unpalatable choice

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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586 thoughts on “Saturday 13 July: Failure to build more prisons has left the Government with an unpalatable choice”

    1. A Gen Eric, nothing too obvious eh !
      I'm worried because my good lady likes Humus 🤔

  4. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,120 4/6

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    1. Early departure here.

      Wordle 1,120 3/6

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  7. Police investigating body parts found in Bristol suitcases find more human remains in London flat

    Police investigating body parts found in suitcases in Bristol have found further remains in a London flat, as they named the suspect they are trying to trace.

    Officers said 24-year-old Colombian national Yostin Andres Mosquera is wanted in connection with the deaths of two men whose remains were found in two suitcases in Bristol on Wednesday.

    Mmmm? Looks like the cartels are moving in.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/12/two-bodies-dumped-suitcases-clifton-suspension/

  8. Morning all! You don't usually see me here at this hour!
    Off shortly for our local show – a busy fundraising weekend coming up.
    Sun's just breaking through the cloud here.

      1. Thankyou! Leaving here shortly. It's dry at the moment anyway, if none too warm. Last year the show was cancelled due to high winds and thunderstorms, and the year before that was a scorcher. Previous two were cancelled due to the 'pandemic'. Hopefully he crowds will turn out as they did two years ago.

    2. Whilst Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas, I am not sure that elemental carbon is.

      Best thing then when cooking dinner is to leave it on for a few hours while getting on with something else.

      1. He just has a compulsion to destroy England and he will so by any means possible. Much like his compadre, Lammy.

          1. Yes, Lammy bleats on about not being accepted but he babbles on all the time about how different he is and how different we are. And that’s putting it euphemistically. He’s always drawing attention to race, even for the most innocuous of reasons.

          2. Like all the race grifters – THEY are the ones who can’t see beyond skin colour. That’s why they insist that black skinned people have to be everywhere, irrespective of ability.

  10. Keir Starmer commits to keeping BBC licence fee after years of Tory hostility. 13 July 2024.

    “We are committed in our manifesto to the BBC and to the licensing scheme,” the prime minister said. “There’s going to be some more thought between now and [2027], but we are committed.”

    Stuck with this thing for another five years minimum. The Tories could have got rid of it. They had the time.

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jul/12/keir-starmer-commits-to-keeping-bbc-licence-fee-after-years-of-tory-hostility

  11. Morning all 🙂😊
    Early to bed early to rise eh.
    I'm not sure,about the rest of it.
    Complete Light grey cloud cover and 12 c, it must be an English summer weekend.
    Failing to build more prisons ? That's just something else our government's have effed up. 'Stop the boats' was the easiest thing to do and now our prisons are over crowded.
    Why are our Political classes so predominately thick ?
    They have never been able to work out that two and two do actually make four.

    1. …makes a man healthy,
      Wealthy and wise.

      Actually, the Tories had had 2 built and work was in progress on a 3rd.

    2. …makes a man healthy,
      Wealthy and wise.

      Actually, the Tories had had 2 built and work was in progress on a 3rd.

  12. Russia loses ‘astronomical’ 70,000 troops in 60 days. 13 July 2024.

    Russia has lost more than 70,000 troops in the past two months, British military intelligence said on Friday.

    The update by the Ministry of Defence added that the heavy losses would likely continue as Russia looked to make gains across the front lines in Ukraine.

    “The average daily Russian casualties (killed and wounded) in Ukraine, throughout May and June 2024, increased to conflict highs of 1,262 and 1,163 respectively,” the MoD wrote.

    Even supposing this to be true, a condition fraught with doubt, Russian losses in WWII were horrendous but at the same time they were grinding down one of history’s greatest armies. Just what condition is Ukraine in?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/13/russia-loses-astronomical-70000-troops-two-months-ukraine/

    1. Add that story to the one in Norway today, where a submarine cable from the mainland to an island esearch station, damaged last year, has apparently been stolen by the Russians! That's what they need, yer Ruskies, second-hand cables, to help them win the war!

      1. Given that it is a weather research station which is self sufficient in its energy needs and transmits data via satellite what is the cable for?

    2. I personally no longer believe anything our government and civil service has to say. Willingly or otherwise they have let our country down and dragged it into a conflict that has absolutely nothing to do with us. The US started the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and have stoked up the whole process ever since.

      1. "I personally no longer believe anything our government and civil service has to say."
        Snap. And I resent – nay, hate – the mendacious b'stards who have managed to produce such thinking.

        1. There seems to be so many weak minded people out there these days, so easily persuaded to accept the BS that is pumped out on a daily basis.

  13. Good morning all,

    Cloudy at McPhee Towers, wind North-West, 12℃ with 18℃ forecast, chance of showers this afternoon.

    Yesterday's' UK Column News was a hard hitting expose of the war-mongeriong of NATO following the summit and the puppeteering tentacles of the Tony Blair Institute. Rather than me summarising it, go and have a listen and watch for yourself.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8a86d084376bc2bf03b2ee1b4e41b4e37d27d70d95c29655735db5360e4a0987.png

    https://www.ukcolumn.org/video/uk-column-news-12th-july-2024

      1. Did you click on the image which doesn't work, or the link beneath which does? And there is a lot in it.

        1. To be frank, Fiscal, my desire to hear more of the same, about Biden / upcoming war / anti-environment & anti-freedom greenery, has gone. It's all the same, and so gloom-creating. So, I get the gist already.
          Not aimed at you, just I'm utterly fed up with all the bullsh1t, all the attempts to control / kill / overrun society that I'd be delighted if Russia nuked the lot of the bastards.

          1. Agreed Obs. I wonder WTF AH Blair is stirring up in the middle east and Africa.
            Also like to point out that Nato means the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Africa and the Middle East has nothing to do with it. Nor geographically does Ukraine. This mob of shysters in the EU mafia and the USA need nailing.

  14. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0a0b85c35120421facd9c57205ed230b2bb968b9ac8bb45274f1a6c7be37dad2.jpg
    SIR – What has happened to the Great British banger? Try as we may, we can only find sausages that are vastly substandard: gunk galore, spitting out water.

    Can anyone help? Where are the best sausages? A true conundrum.

    Alan Collins
    Stiffkey, Norfolk

    The best sausages are found in my freezer. I mince 1 kilogram of fatty pork shoulder and belly, then mix in 135g of breadcrumbs and 300g of cold water. To this I add 36g of a home-made seasoning mix containing salt, and tiny measured proportions of white pepper, nutmeg, mace, ground coriander seeds and dried parsley. I mix all this in a food processor then stuff it into hog casings before freezing it in four-link portions. No nitrites or nitrates are added and I would enter them into any competition for flavour. I also do a pork-and-tomato version which are sublime.

    1. Morning George, I buy a lot of Tescos Cumberland sausages (8 in a pack) at £2.20 a pack, definite value for money and a great taste. Yes probably full of shite but I like them

    2. Morning George, I buy a lot of Tescos Cumberland sausages (8 in a pack) at £2.20 a pack, definite value for money and a great taste. Yes probably full of shite but I like them

    3. We (as in Firstborn & SWMBO) make our own English-style sausages, since they are rare here and fabulously expensive.

        1. Agreed. Ugh. And I like the cheapest, bready-est UK pork chipolata, so I know what I'm writing about.

    4. Grizzly , good morning .

      Your sausage looks very inviting .

      I squinted at the photograph , and immediately spotted an ancient Greek fresco.. my imagination of course, but you know what I mean !

    5. I get Asda’s sausages. Two packs of six for a fiver. They really are tastier than all the others we’ve tried. We get the pork with apple and Cumberland, but there are quite a few flavours to choose from.

      1. Living in Sweden I don't have the luxury of a decent English butcher to visit. Sausages, here, are not nice. That's why I make my own.

        1. Nasty frankfurter-style, or salami? That's what we can get here, except the occasional English-style but with all the wrong herbs.

        1. Looks good! Might give a butchery course to Firstborn – problem is, the travel to UK and stay, plus transport.

      1. ALL supermarket produce is far inferior to that available from a good butcher, baker, candlestick-maker, grocer, greengrocer and fishmonger.

        Your place may be excellent but to say they are the ONLY maker of real Lincolnshire saudages in that great county is a bit OTT, Philip. I know a fabulous butcher at the top of Steep Hill in Lincoln whose Lincs snags are top notch. Many others in that area make a superb version too. Having said that, I personally find Lincolnshire sausages a tad sage-heavy for my palate.

        The pork-and-tomato sausages from Mick Maloney in Warsop, Notts, are sheer heavenly delight.

        1. They say they are the original. Other butchers in the area copied them.

          I like the sage aspect. Horses for courses.

          1. Ever one to appreciate the sage aspect, our Pip, eh? Except for when you don't !

    7. When you have minced all the shoulder and belly, what should you do with the rest of a long pig?
      Apart from putting it in a suitcase and trying to throw it off a bridge in Bristol.

    1. And me too, I don't watch bbc, so dammed if I'm going to pay towards their rubbish. This applies to other stations as well.

      1. The argument "It's there for you anyway" doesn't hold water. Supermarkets contain canned beer that I do buy, and canned mackarel that I don't buy – and don't pay for, even though it's there if I want it.

        1. Use mine for dvds, some select programmes, you tube and such like. Not bbc, itv and the rest.

    1. Good morning DB, lovely looking morning isn't it. Might thunder later .

      I hope you managed to sleep more comfortably.

      Moh was awake with post golf match cramp .. very painful for him.

      1. Good morning, Maggie. Bright here at the moment. I have taken Naproxem and am hoping it will reduce the pain enough to let me shave and shower.

        1. Check with your doctor, but Naproxen can usually be taken together with paracetamol or codeine. I was once told that paracetamol maintains a low but constant level of pain reduction whilst other analgesics have peaks and troughs; in other words, if you have paracetamol in your body, that would avoid a sudden increase in pain when the naproxen (or ibuprofen , etc) wears off.

      1. A lesson in how to get from worse to worser – but never reaching the ever-moving target of worst.

  18. Good morning all

    Dark thundery looking sky here , still, splashes of sunshine , and the colours in the garden look glorious 12c.

  19. Good morning, all. Made it through the night. Morning = grey, damp, cold with rain on the way. Again.

    No news, I see.

          1. Caffeine can reduce absorption and increase excretion of various vitamins and minerals.

    2. Grim here in Shepherds Bush too but I haven’t been practicing chop chop! Hope you’re feeling better this morning.

    3. Morning Bill,

      So glad to see you here .

      I always whisper this every night .. one of my prayers learnt in childhood .

      Now the busy day is done ,
      Father bless us , everyone .

      Keep us safely through the night
      till we see the morning light

      Amen

      1. “From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us.”

    4. I've heard there is a new government that has buggered up the country in just a week.

        1. Oops! If the email you have is Derek F–n-is1 it is now defunct. Sorry lass. How can I send you my current email?

          1. You’ve got mine. Otherwise is there any other NoTTLer you have the email of – they might have mine, as I started our little “List” a few years ago, and there are about 40 people still on it.

          2. I’m in a pickle, lass. I don’t have your email or that of any other nottlers. I can’t remember how I sent you my email all those years ago. I thought it was a good idea but not that it would probably be used.

          3. It was when we didn’t know whether NoTTLe might be shut down, so we did a little List so that we could contact each other, but Geoff managed to move it.

          4. Hello Lass. All I can think off is giving you the first line of my address and post code to receive your email. Royal Mail will find me. What do you think?

          5. You volunteered to join our NoTTL list a few years ago, which is when you gave me your old email. PLEASE DON’T put any detail of your address or postcode on NoTTL or anywhere else public. I believe you have met True_Belle?

          7. I emailed my details to you and kept them up for a couple of hours, hoping that you would receive a notification. Have you still got Maggie's details? She has mine.

          2. Have you thought about adopting a buxom wench purely for heat transference of course?

          3. The MR is out – on a wet day, going to view hideous “works of art” displayed in a wet field. (Houghton Hall. I am about to light the stove – so that she can get warm when she finally returns.

            Though neighbours are buxom, they are, all, rather past the wench stage!

      1. Did you know the original of that song was written and recorded by Kris Kristofferson? It has since been covered by more than a dozen other artistes, worldwide (notably, in the UK, by Gladys Knight & The Pips).

  20. Good Morning all, looks the same as yesterday, 100% cloud cover and very cold for the time of year.

  21. This morning, there was an article in the Telegraph about Labour planning hypocricy (it's still there at 09:20 GMT+2), and underneah, an article on plans to build all over unspoiled countryside – this second one, unfortunately placed, seems to have been swiftly hidden, as it's gone now.
    I wonder why…

    1. You're going to need all the greenbelt land Labour can get their grubby hands on.. as Rachel Reeves shows intention to destroy the rental sector with her 7 point plan.
      1. Section 21 gone.
      2. ban on no-fault evictions.
      3. rent caps.
      4. ban landlords selling properties within 2 yrs of rental lease.
      5. force landlords to sell to tenant including reduction in price for rent paid.
      6. apply hardship test, allow judges to refuse possession order if tenant made homeless.
      7. abolish persistent rent arrears as a reason for eviction.

      1. Not forgetting it will be back to beer and sandwiches with the TUC every two months.

        1. Doubt if the TUC would stoop to beer and sandwiches – kir royale, more like.

    2. "…seems to have been swiftly hidden, as it's gone now. I wonder why…"

      Highlighted reports frequently change on the news pages. There's nothing sinister in it.

      If you're referring to Rayner's plans to drop the 'nutrient neutrality' planning condition, I wouldn't argue too much with that. It was another EU directive that didn't solve a problem or prevent a new one but merely added costs and increased delays.

  22. Good morning all.
    A currently dry but rather dull 8½°C start to the day.

    1. From a seaside village in Valencia

      24°C
      Saturday 11:01 Cloudy
      More on weather.com

    3. Off to a flying start.
      I accept he couldn't say Biden was a dribbling old coot, but, for a chap who's trade is word juggling, he could have said something less obviously total bollards.

      1. He just said what his wef masters said, same when Trudeau praised the old man.

        A shallow attempt to keep Trump at bay.

    1. That grinning idiot of a man sickens me .
      He is MP for Doncaster .. a noble town now ruined .

      Home of the Flying Scotsman steam train .. 1923

      My great grandfather was Civic Mayor of Doncaster in 1925.

      He had a building company , something to do with tunnels and viaducts , he came from London originally .

      My grandfather, his son was also involved with Fylingdales project , the 3 globes on the North Yorkshire moors.

      1. 'Home of the Flying Scotsman steam train locomotive … 1923'.

        Sorry to be pedantic, Maggie, but a 'train' is the line of carriages and trucks that are towed by a tractive unit (a locomotive).

    2. I like TY, one of the good guys imo. I subscribe to both Daily Sceptic and especially Free Speech Union.

    1. Good morning JN and everyone.
      It worries me that if I were to upthumb someone else's re-posted comment, that the PTB might claim that I was in favour of the original quoted words.

    2. Good morning JN and everyone.
      It worries me that if I were to upthumb someone else's re-posted comment, that the PTB might claim that I was in favour of the original quoted words.

  26. To borrow one of my Dad’s favourite phrases, Lammy has the brains of a louse. His ancestors died fighting each other, for thousands of years before any European turned up to intervene.

    2. Your dad was nearly right. I'd say that a one-cell amœba has more brain power than Lammy.

    3. May I disagree about the fighting? The growth in the transatlantic slave trade was led by an increase in demand, not supply. That demand caused tribal problems in West Africa. Whilst Africa as a continent was never as peaceful as Frinton on Sea, there was more than enough land and resources to support its population prior to the 20th century.

      1. The Transatlantic Trade would never have happened had the Portuguese not discovered an already thriving slave trade to the Arabs and North Africans.

  27. It's time to start my breakfast, extractor fan on and our neighbours will know (while I'm still allowed to) I'm cooking my three rashers for my Saturday treat. Home made Bloomer egg and bacon sandwich, with daddy's sauce.
    And freshly brewed large filter coffee.
    Slayders…..🤗

    1. You won't be needing your land then.
      Anyhow Tesco estimate the population of the UK to be closer to 80 million, based on the volume of staples they sell.
      And that was twenty years ago.
      That's a lotta paper filing unaccounted for..

  29. Starmer seems to be extremely stupid – I cannot understand how a man of his calibre has risen to the heights he has reached.

    I suppose it gives hope to the brain dead – they are encouraged to think that if Starmer can make it they can too – reminds me of the song lyric : "If you can make it there you'll make it anywhere."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le1QF3uoQNg

    1. All he needed was a good memory and the ability to kow-tow to the right people. Intelligence is not a pre-requisite.

    1. 10 am

      Presumably your lad's been at it for 4 hours by now, are you taking the coffee?

  31. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f48a02c22cd7e91f7ec75aeee8a5deffdd2a6e0f233ab4ebfa628d2a132084dc.jpg
    Just had a very bizarre wildlife experience. A young common 'smooth' newt Lissotriton vulgaris had somehow found its way into the house (through locked and sealed doors and windows!) and was calmly having a steady stroll across the kitchen floor.

    I covered it with a pint sleever glass and slipped a sheet of white A4 paper underneath to capture it. The little crittur is about 3" (75mm) long, is well-spotted along its body but does not have the crest of an adult male. After photographing it I took it outside, into the pouring rain, and let it free on the lawn.

    How (and why) it got inside is anyone's guess.

    1. “Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
      Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
      Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
      Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
      For a charm of powerful trouble,
      Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
      Double, double toil and trouble;
      Fire burn, and caldron bubble.”

      ― William Shakespeare, Macbeth

      1. I should’ve got out the cauldron to make that potent brew.

        Trouble is, I’m freshly out of bat wool.

          1. That's not a problem: witches are omnipresent. This column has traditionally had a good number of besom-jockeys! 🤣

            You can always get a decent one by looking in Witch! magazine. 🤣

        2. Though you have a good stock of frogs' toes, adders' forks tongues and lizard legs in your larder.

    3. Wooden floor here, sometimes get through the gaps. Doubtless searching for a mate this time of year, it you check it's belly for pattern would confirm it. Hope that's moss around its rear leg not wire? Lovely photo btw, well done 🙂

      1. There is no way for it to have got inside by itself. The floors are tiled, the doors are sealed, there are no openings. The lady of the house thinks it may have hitched a lift on her boot when she came back in, last night, after a slug-hunting trip around the borders and vegetable patch.

        It is clearly a young one, its belly has the standard orangish pattern with darker spots. July is a tad too late for the breeding season, most amphibian breeding is done much earlier in the year.

        The clump on its leg is a just bit of fluff from the coarse-textured woollen rug under the kitchen table.

        1. Good lady sounds to have the explanation. It sounds very handsome. Ours have been a bit late this year, with everything else…ooop north and all that…a great photo:-)

          2. I’m a bit further, Grizzly. Nice to meet you (and yours Mrs, the lizard carrier) 🙂

  32. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f48a02c22cd7e91f7ec75aeee8a5deffdd2a6e0f233ab4ebfa628d2a132084dc.jpg
    Just had a very bizarre wildlife experience. A young common 'smooth' newt Lissotriton vulgaris had somehow found its way into the house (through locked and sealed doors and windows!) and was calmly having a steady stroll across the kitchen floor.

    I covered it with a pint sleever glass and slipped a sheet of white A4 paper underneath to capture it. The little crittur is about 3" (75mm) long, is well-spotted along its body but does not have the crest of an adult male. After photographing it I took it outside, into the pouring rain, and let it free on the lawn.

    How (and why) it got inside is anyone's guess.

  33. James Anderson treated us to a seam bowling masterclass on his farewell before passing the mantle on to a hugely promising pace bowler
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2024/07/12/england-v-west-indies-player-ratings-atkinson-anderson/

    "If he (Jimmy Anderson) had to go out (which he did not want to), he went out on the highest of highs."

    So what are the selectors up to? Reminds me of a couple of lines from 'Othello':

    "Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
    Richer than all his tribe."

  34. After seven long months of extravagant pre-wedding celebrations and festivities, Anant Ambani, the son of India's richest man, finally wed pharmaceutical heiress Radhika Merchant in a grand star-studded ceremony on Friday.

    The glamorous, long-awaited event is reported to have cost around a staggering £250million – without taking into account the couple's estimated £100million accumulation of luxury wedding gifts and the hosting of several of the world's most iconic A-list celebrities.

    Latest images from the wedding scenes show the bride draped in a heavy cream and red Indian bridal dress – called a lengha, adorned in jewels and a beaded headscarf as she holds hands with her new husband, Anant.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13629963/Welcome-worlds-lavish-wedding-Indian-billionaire-heir-Anant-Ambani-Radhika-Merchant-finally-tie-knot-star-studded-250m-ceremony-Mumbai-attended-Kim-Kardashian-John-Cena-Nick-Jonas-Tony-Blair.html

    And the UK still gives India aid , come on we are being conned by the Foreign office

    1. WE give India aid, like WE give China aid – but can't find the money to house veterans. Some sick governments and, quite frankly, some sick society that keeps on voting these pigs in.

    2. 'So, Radhika, what first attracted you to the son of a billionaire?' (Apologies to Mrs. Merton).

  35. The article below is Fraser Nelson's latest doings in the Spectator. Please don't read if you are feeling ill already, or if you are enjoying a particularly good day.

    Fraser Nelson
    Britain is still the world’s most successful multi-faith democracy
    12 July 2024, 1:09pm Spectator

    The swearing-in ceremonies in parliament this week have been rare in that more of them are filmed, posted on social media – and together, give us a flavour of the diversity in the islands, unified by the crown. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Protestants and Catholics swear loyalty to the King on a holy book of their choice. Torcuil Crichton took the oath on a Gaelic bible, in Gaelic. I’ve found this a moving, quiet and beautiful reminder of the virtue of our democracy, the purpose of the Crown and the strength of our ancient system.

    British politics has no shortage of flaws and challenges, but we can perhaps claim to be the most successful multi-faith democracy in the world. Ours is not a system where parliamentarians need to feel ashamed of their Koran, veil or kippah – and I think it’s important that they bring them. ‘I’ll do it the Scottish way’, said Crichton as he held up his hand to swear allegiance to the King rather than place it on the Bible. Such gestures are a reminder of the many layers of what makes up Britain and how we still treasure languages spoken here before English ever was.

    As I watched, I remembered the words of a song about waves of immigration turn into self-reinforcing layers of our social fabric. ‘The Gael and the Pict, the Angel and Dane/ From Pakistan, England and from the Ukraine/ They’re all Scotland’s story and all worth the same.’ But it’s also the story of the United Kingdom which is, through Empire, the original multi-ethnic state. And with a few blips, a country of quite unusual religious tolerance too.

    In 1994, Charles said he would like to be ‘the defender of faith’ rather than the defender of the (Anglican) faith of which the monarch is Supreme Governor. That was controversial to some Protestants, but I could see his point. Religion is fading fast in Britain and those who worship any god are in now the minority. At such inflection points, they – we – have a shared interest in arguing for tolerance, for the right of people to live, love and worship however they like. The King saw this coming and positioned himself as the friend and defender of all religions. At her Diamond Jubilee, the Queen made this point explicitly:-

    The concept of our Established Church is occasionally misunderstood and, I believe, commonly under-appreciated. Its role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions. Instead, the Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.

    The King’s coronation was attended by a Hindu prime minister with his Indian wife; security was overseen by a Buddhist home secretary and a Muslim mayor of London. The Chief Rabbi stayed over at Buckingham Palace the night before as the King’s guest so he would not have to break the Sabbath by travelling. His coronation ceremony – a fundamentally Christian one – involved Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders. That ceremony eloquently underlined his point: that instead of a secular society, Britain has become a multi-faith society.

    The ceremony also underlines the modern power of the monarchy: the King embodies the country, and as such the oath is sworn to him rather than to a document like the constitution. Those who want a republic are free to say that they take the oath under protest. All of this is watched in amazement by countries where such freedoms are unthinkable.

    The last election showed certain religious tensions, with Labour faring badly in areas with a high Muslim population – a sign of the many problems that remain. The strongest democracies are self-critical so it’s right that extremism is kept in sharp focus. But in doing so we risk getting a warped view of what is what I’ve called the stunning success of Muslim integration in Britain. British Islam isn’t defined by jihadis any more than Catholics are defined by the IRA. When I think of British Muslims, I think more of Sajid Javid and his family; I think of the Muslim kids I grew up with; the one-in-ten British children now who brought up in Muslim households. I think of the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, one of those MPs who swore on the Koran. As did the Nus Ghani, a Conservative, now running for deputy speaker. Using the Koran to swear allegiance is a simple act which gently exposes, as absurd, the idea of any fundamental tension between faith, King and country.

    Perhaps there are other western countries where you can imagine a Hindu Prime Minister working away with a Ganesh idol on his desk, but I can’t think of any. The Spectator was set up in 1828 to campaign for what became the 1832 Reform Act – and a parliamentary system which has not changed much since. We have a defiantly unmodern, first-past-the-post system that delivers clear results and no post-election squabbles: unlike quite a few countries you can think of right now.

    Yes, the pledges our MPs are taking are antiquated. The whole constitutional monarchy system, let’s face it, would not have been invented now. It does not work in theory. But it does, I suggest, work in practice – and the swearing-in we have seen in the last few days has been a quiet, potent and rather moving reminder of how effective our quirky old system still is.

    Fraser Nelson

    1. I recommend Tucker Carlson, video today on TCW. Exact same thing happening here, including LTSB. You may need a stiff drink.

    2. The express aim of Islam is to make everyone in this world a Muslim, by force if necessary, and to implement Sharia law everywhere. You cannot be a Muslim if you do not accept this. Islam is therefore incompatible with democracy, and an oath sworn by a Muslim to 'be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law' is a lie.

      2. They used to say the same about Catholicism. Indeed as late as 1960 Kennedy was rejected by many for his allegiance to a foreign state.
        When I lived in England in the sixties and early seventies I knew lots of Muslims. The boy next door married into a Muslim family. My mother worked for a Muslim dentist. My sister married a Turkish Muslim doctor. We never considered any of these people dangerous nor did the women wear peculiar clothes.
        The hostility came later. A terrible pity and indeed seems to have annulled so much of Nelson’s little fantasy world in which he was delighting.

    3. What unspeakable drivel – typical of what this far-left weekly spouts, these days.

      1. Snap! Drivel used in two comments written at the same time. You do get the cards, since yours got in first though.

    4. 'the Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country' …

      "Nurse! Call the doctor, old Nelson's dribbling again. I think he's having another stroke."

      What drivel that man can write at times.

        1. Precisely so. The Cof E has little justification for engaging in politics. It was only ever established for the convenience of Henry VIII’s political manoeuvrings and the Roman Catholics are a little too unhealthily wedded to temporal power too, if it comes to that.

          The powers that be are straightforwardly going about what they do without any input from The Church. The Church’s day job is equally as straightforward. Probably Nelson is an atheist and simply somewhat behind the curve in these matters.

      2. Maybe she did think the Church has a duty to protect the practice of all faiths. That is a different thing completely from totally eviscerating one’s own faith in order for another to take dominion and full ascendency over yours.

    6. "British Islam isn’t defined by jihadis any more than Catholics are defined by the IRA."

      A fatuous comparison in a fatuous article. A specific, local campaign based on historic events of the previous 800 years and a global totalitarian ideology.

      'The Gael and the Pict, the Angel and Dane/ From Pakistan, England and from the Ukraine/ They’re all Scotland's story and all worth the same.'

      As above. A part of Britain that was little different from the whole of Britain, settled by Europeans before and after the Roman occupation but with no large scale influx from anywhere for a 1,000 years. The idea that the cultural difference between the Papist and the Wee Free, the Anglican and the Baptist, the Saxon and the Pict can be compared to that between the European and the Asian, the Christian and the Islamic is a desperate attempt to validate what is now an utterly fractured society heading towards oblivion.

      Nelson is of that breed that will not admit to our species' inherent tribalism, either through real ignorance or fear of the truth.

    7. "British Islam isn’t defined by jihadis any more than Catholics are defined by the IRA."

      A fatuous comparison in a fatuous article. A specific, local campaign based on historic events of the previous 800 years and a global totalitarian ideology.

      'The Gael and the Pict, the Angel and Dane/ From Pakistan, England and from the Ukraine/ They’re all Scotland's story and all worth the same.'

      As above. A part of Britain that was little different from the whole of Britain, settled by Europeans before and after the Roman occupation but with no large scale influx from anywhere for a 1,000 years. The idea that the cultural difference between the Papist and the Wee Free, the Anglican and the Baptist, the Saxon and the Pict can be compared to that between the European and the Asian, the Christian and the Islamic is a desperate attempt to validate what is now an utterly fractured society heading towards oblivion.

      Nelson is of that breed that will not admit to our species' inherent tribalism, either through real ignorance or fear of the truth.

    8. We are never told why multiculturalism is a good thing or why we should want it.

      Are we happier and stronger as a result of it?

      Why would we be condemned if we dared to say that multiculturalism is a bad thing which has made the indigenous population of Britain less happy, less prosperous per capita and weaker?

      1. Mixing of humans from different backgrounds can work but it has to evolve naturally and usually gradually eg. through trade. It’s just a massive recipe for trouble to enforce a host group who has worked hard to build its country up, to accommodate millions from some of the most disparate and dangerous cultures in the world, indeed many from cultures which openly state that they despise us and not only on political grounds but in a visceral sense. Our politicians are harmful.

    9. "……what I’ve called the stunning success of Muslim integration in Britain."
      This fool seems to have as much idea of what is going on around him as Joe Biden. Muslims will never integrate. They intend to take over.

    10. That level of diversity described could also be described by the word "fragmented". What happens when an event occurs that challenges some of the diversity but not all? How will there be a unified response? A single, clear approach? How, with everybody being different, having a different background and, potentially, loyalties?

    11. "…is what I’ve called the stunning success of Muslim integration in Britain."

      I didn't know there're two countries called Britain.

  36. 'Morning All
    "The British Empire should be taught to school pupils like Nazi Germany, curriculum guidelines state.

    Guidance created by school support organisation The Key and offered to teachers across the country provides tips on how to make the history curriculum “anti-racist”.

    Teachers are advised to present the British Empire to secondary pupils like Nazi Germany, as a power that “committed atrocities”.

    Pupils should also not be taught about the balance of “good and bad” aspects of Empire, the guidance states."
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/12/british-empire-history-school-curriculum-nazi-germany-key/
    Words fail me………..

      1. My father was governor of the Northern Province of the Sudan where the country was well governed. The British left the Sudan over 70 years ago in the early 1950s

        Since the British left:

        * Endless civil war,
        * Famine,
        * Plague,
        * Genocide
        * Destruction of the infrastructure
        * Partition

        Will British school pupils be taught what happened in post-colonial Sudan.

        3. They will be taught that all the current faults of the countries once colonised by the British were caused by the British ‘occupation’ and that those countries would have been paradise if they had never been brutally oppressed by white colonialists.

          3. His name actually comes from the Yoruba Tribe which gained great wealth from its slavery operations. He never admits to that.

          4. I know – yet another of his hideous, hypocritical attributes. White mother – loathes white people; hates empire – accepts OBE….

      2. My father was governor of the Northern Province of the Sudan where the country was well governed. The British left the Sudan over 70 years ago in the early 1950s

        Since the British left:

        * Endless civil war,
        * Famine,
        * Plague,
        * Genocide
        * Destruction of the infrastructure
        * Partition

        Will British school pupils be taught what happened in post-colonial Sudan.

      3. Especially good when they obligingly leave body parts for the police to find, rather than make it difficult for overworked plod by dropping them in the river.
        Next, they'll be selling raffle tickets for the police benevolent fund.

    2. Will they teach them that we left many countries infrastructure on which they could raise themselves: India, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand amongst others. Other countries which colonized saw the countries which they left descend into chaos.

    1. Good morning, Joss.

      The problem is: how do we ensure that any future leader of the Conservative and Unionist party has no links to — or is not heavily influenced by — the World Economic Forum or any of its oleaginous hangers-on?

        1. I agree wholeheartedly. In my district, Braintree, the dolt Cleverly scraped home with a much reduced majority. The Reform candidate took over 11,000 votes.

      2. We can't. We can only try to ensure that there is no Conservative and Unionist party to lead.

      3. It is a challenge. The only possibilities seem to me to be by the judiciary recognising the criminailty of acting for a foreign NGO against the public interest and putting the perps before a criminal tribunal or by revolution. It's not an inviting prospect, but the price of doing nothing has existential implications for us.

      5. Elect someone from outside of long-term politics – they are unlikely to be tainted. Problem is, they also won't be experienced in the art of politics… tough one.

  40. Just tottered out to the wood store to fill a barrow with logs for the woodburner. 13 July…bloody labour government.

    1. Trying to decide whether Spartie and I should now have a cold, grey walk in what's left of the morning:
      or should we postpone it for a cold, grey walk in the afternoon?

      1. G & P made up their minds days ago. Sleep. I wish I could do so as easily as they do!

        1. Actually, now you mention it, Spartie is happily snoozing.
          Seems a shame to wake him.

          3. Mind me asking how old Spartie is? I have a couple of terriers, one 12 t'other 14…both sleep many hours in a day especially the 14 year old. Apparently many older dogs can sleep 20 out of 24. They wake for a walk/feeding.

  41. The Telegraph got there first, but Peter Hitchens has written a powerful article.
    I will add that during our training, – because the class were worried about killing somebody by mistake – we were told that the entire air contents of a 3 foot intravenous infusion line would be needed to be sure of a fatal result. I realise these were premature babies and a lot less air would be needed, but ….

    "What if Lucy Letby is innocent? Her case must be reopened as growing doubts about her conviction are raised by medical experts and criminologists, argues PETER HITCHENS
    06:47, 13 July 2024

    If Lucy Letby is guilty, then there is a strong case for executing her. Her supposed crimes are so cruel and so grievous, and there are so many of them. It is hard to see any argument against the death penalty — if she is guilty. Death would be far more merciful than keeping her locked up until she dies.
    A serial child killer in prison, despised by all, endlessly at the mercy of other prisoners, never safe from sudden assault, must surely be among the most miserable people on earth. But that is if she is guilty. It is much, much worse than that if she is innocent.
    If she is not guilty, then she should be freed as soon as humanly possible. Every second she serves is an outrage. This is why I believe the Criminal Cases Review Commission should move to have the case reopened as soon as possible.
    While it does so, the prison authorities should be instructed to make strenuous efforts to keep her from harm. The courts, likewise, should start behaving as if it was possible for trials to go wrong.
    I am baffled by the Appeal Court's swift rejection of her request for leave to appeal. Are these eminent persons interested in justice, or in procedure? The record of our courts, in putting injustice right — slow and reluctant — is bad enough as it is.

    So much depends on the rightness of this conviction that nobody with a conscience can live through a single day without worrying about it at least once. And there is now so much thoughtful, responsible criticism of the verdict that we all have a duty to consider it.

    An explosion of serious, well-researched journalism on both sides of the Atlantic, casting doubt on the verdict, has, in recent days, changed the weather. It is no longer possible to dismiss all doubters as conspiracy theorists.
    Even so, why listen to me, of all people? I am no expert on the complexities of air embolisms, insulin or statistics, all crucial in the case.
    Well, the jury and the judge were not experts either. Nor were the prosecuting lawyers. But nobody dismisses their actions or decisions on the basis that they were not experts. So it is at least possible that other non-experts can have valid views on the case.
    If you dispute what I say here, then consult the growing library of criticism of the verdict from experienced doctors and from skilled users of statistics.
    Perhaps above all, you may now read online the long dissection of the case by Rachel Aviv, in The New Yorker. This is based on multiple conversations with experts and an impressively thorough reading of trial transcripts.
    And do not accuse me of being a 'do-gooder' who thinks everyone is innocent. I am a hardline supporter of the due punishment of responsible persons. I reject sociological excuses for crime. I want our prisons to be tougher, not softer.
    And, if I had more trust in our justice system, I would be a supporter of the death penalty. But this case is one of the reasons I cannot be.
    Then there's the suggestion that people take Ms Letby's side because she is young and pretty and does not look guilty. This has been expressed by Dr Dewi Evans, the main expert witness for the prosecution, who recently complained: 'In this case, Letby is a young, white, English nurse from a reputable, normal background. So it's not surprising that some people respond to the fact that she has been found guilty of killing babies by saying it hasn't happened.'
    Well, no doubt her appearance does influence people. I expect it influenced me. But that does not mean the case against her is sound, or that I — or others — will only ever take up the causes of attractive people.
    I have been involved in two campaigns against injustice. One is for the lawlessly sanctioned pro-Russian blogger Graham Phillips, who is pretty unappealing. The other was to defend the reputation of Bishop George Bell (not Ball), who is very dead, and has indeed been dead since 1958.
    In neither instance was I influenced by their far from pretty faces. And when I first wrote in defence of Ms Letby, in September last year, public opinion was pretty heavily against her. What I didn't like about the case — and still don't like — was the vagueness of the evidence and the way she was never in fact presumed to be innocent in practice.
    Nobody ever saw Lucy Letby harm a baby. Nobody has ever come up with a reason why she should have done. Keeping case notes is not evidence of murder. Nor are Facebook searches.

    Ms Letby liked doing Facebook searches, and had made more than 2,000 of them in the year of the deaths she is accused of causing. She searched for colleagues, dancers in her salsa classes, people she had randomly met.
    Claims that she was caught 'virtually red-handed' are worthless. She was not caught red-handed at all. My (Oxford) dictionary defines the word 'virtually' as 'to all intents and purposes; as good as; practically'.
    It defines 'red-handed' as 'in the very act of committing a crime'. That is exactly what never happened. The allegedly 'red-handed' event is only evidence of Lucy Letby's guilt if you have already decided she is guilty.

    What actually happened in the Countess of Chester Hospital in those distressing months? Most of the babies Lucy Letby is accused of murdering were examined after death by pathologists. They, unlike the prosecution's expert witnesses, actually saw those babies.
    Crucially, they either found natural causes or suggested the possibility of accidents. They did not find evidence of murder.
    The methods Lucy Letby is accused of using to kill the babies are extraordinarily complex, and strangely varied. Much of the evidence of air embolism (death from injection of air into the bloodstream) was based on skin discoloration. This has now been greatly undermined by the Canadian Dr Shoo Lee, one of the leading experts on the subject.
    As with so many other things in this trial, actual evidence is hard to find. And where it can be found, it is often puzzling and open to debate.
    Some doctors are baffled by the theories advanced by Dr Evans, the main prosecution expert witness, and have gone on record to say so since it became possible to discuss the case in public.
    How did he settle on air embolism as the main means of murder? He had not himself seen a death by air embolism in his long years of practice, which is not surprising, as they are very rare.
    Why then would a killer choose this as a means to kill? It would surely draw attention to the death.
    As for the insulin method, which Ms Letby is also supposed to have used, and which was crucial to her conviction, there are so many flaws in it that I must urge you to read Rachel Aviv's long dissection of it in The New Yorker, which has been sporadically available online in this country.
    This concludes: 'To connect Letby to the insulin, one would have to believe that she had managed to inject insulin into a bag that a different nurse had randomly chosen from the unit's refrigerator.'
    I also don't like the way British justice has in recent years become more emotional and less calm.
    In too many cases, prosecutors dwell on the horror of the crime, perhaps because they do not have all that much evidence that the accused person did it.
    And I don't like the way in which the vital presumption of innocence seems to have leaked away out of police procedure and out of the courtroom.
    Yes, it officially exists. Judges and barristers remind juries of it. But the Letby case looked to me like the whole power of police and courts settling on one explanation of some tragic events, and bulldozing aside any objections to it.

    The power of group-think in our society is enormous. Once you have decided that Lucy Letby is guilty, then her strange, tortured note in which she appears to admit to the crimes looks like a confession.
    But if you have not decided she is guilty, it could equally well be the midnight scribbling of a distraught, frightened young woman finding herself caught amid terrible accusations, with no obvious way out.
    The true presumption of innocence does not allow you to conclude her guilt from those notes. For me, her readiness to undergo severe cross-examination for days on end (which guilty people very seldom do) points equally strongly in the other direction.
    Then there are the grieving parents of the babies who died, or nearly died.
    Who cannot sympathise with them? Any parent who has held a newborn baby in his or her arms, and especially those whose babies have been born ill or premature, must be outraged that anyone should seek to destroy such a child.
    It is even worse if the killer is posing as a friend and wearing the reassuring uniform of a nurse. But their grief and anger are not evidence that Lucy Letby did the things she is accused of.
    What is also clear from the accounts now emerging is that the Countess of Chester Hospital was not a happy, harmonious or very well-run place.
    The Letby affair began with a nasty confrontation between some of the doctors and Ms Letby, during which she was sidelined into a dead-end job.
    When she fought back and sought reinstatement, so that she could once again do the work she claimed to love, this bitter little dispute caught fire, and the police became involved.
    The hospital's problems were not confined to the neo-natal unit. It was, like much of the NHS, overworked, understaffed, not perhaps as clean or modern as it might have been.
    An outside investigation team found that nursing and medical staffing levels were inadequate. Rachel Aviv records: 'They also noted that the increased mortality rate in 2015 was not restricted to the neonatal unit. Stillbirths on the maternity ward were elevated, too'.
    The fact that deaths on the neonatal unit fell after Lucy Letby was removed — often mentioned as damning by those who are sure of her guilt — is easily explained.
    The unit had also stopped treating high-risk babies, so it is no surprise that the death rate dropped. And here is another point. The babies in the Chester unit were highly vulnerable in the first place. They were not there because they were perfectly healthy. No serial killer was needed to produce such a death rate.
    As The New Yorker stresses: 'In the past ten years, the UK has had four highly publicised maternity scandals, in which failures of care and supervision led to a large number of newborn deaths'.
    It cites a report on East Kent Hospitals which said: 'So much hangs on what happens in the minority of cases where things start to go wrong, because problems can very rapidly escalate to a devastatingly bad outcome.'
    Finally, there is the apparently damning evidence of Lucy Letby's shift pattern. This is supposed to show that she was unerringly present when all the deaths took place.
    But it turns out that the chart excludes deaths and collapses which happened at the unit either when Ms Letby was not there, or when there was little evidence to suggest she was responsible for them.
    David Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Criminology at Birmingham City University, says: 'There were other incidents during that time period when Letby wasn't on duty, and in fact there were (at least) nine other neonatal deaths on the ward during that period'.
    If these events were included in the chart, it would look very different and far less conclusive.
    These problems had been foreseen. In September 2022, shortly before the Letby trial, the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) produced a paper, 'Healthcare Serial Killer or Coincidence?'
    In one key passage, it warned: 'While unexpected clusters of deaths, or other adverse outcomes, may raise legitimate suspicions and warrant further investigation, they generally should not be taken as definitive evidence of misconduct.'
    The RSS was alarmed by a very similar case in the Netherlands, in which a paediatric nurse, Lucia de Berk, was wrongly convicted of seven murders and three attempted murders in 2004.
    This was partly on the basis of statistical errors. But the advice they offered seems not to have been taken during the Lucy Letby trial.
    It would be easy to speculate on why so many decent people, all at once, agreed on the rightness of a case which now seems full of holes and riddled with misunderstanding.
    It would be easy to attack individuals. I am not interested in that. We all make mistakes, and always will.
    My only purpose is justice. And if we are to have a proper justice system in this country it can only survive if the innocent are safe from it, and the guilty are afraid of it.
    To ensure that, we must be sure beyond reasonable doubt, before we send anybody down the grim stairs which lead to prison."

    1. The trouble is we are told so many lies about global warming and Covid that is very hard to believe anything that emanates from the MSM or the PTB.

      1. My problem these days. I only believe anything that matters if I have personal knowledge, or someone I trust, can verify. Otherwise – call BS.
        Edit: Spolling.

        1. Quite right! I haven’t believed anything in the media or from strangers for years.

    2. Not bothering, too long. Me lazy.

      There are maternity wards up and down the country where babies are dying in unacceptable numbers. Perhaps their rate was so high the management decided to protect themselves and Letby is the scapegoat.

      1. The DT article was even more dense and fact filled.
        PH has condensed and classified it very well.

        I have to admit, that the case and verdict never sat easy with me. Nothing I could quantify, just a feeling of scapegoating.

        1. There are some evil people working in the NHS. I witnessed one event first hand. I was in the acute ward and a nurse asked the receptionist if a woman could come and visit her very ill husband. Practically begging.
          The receptionist said no. This was during covid.

          The door was locked but it was easy enough to get in just by tailgating someone.

          Several other people were coming and going. Porters, tea lady. It was hardly a quarantine area.

          The receptionist also 'forgot' to give me back my paperwork.

    4. Dr David Livermore wrote at the time, this was dodgy because the unit where she worked was dysfunctional. Seemed like she was the fall guy for all its ills. Most definitely the right to appeal should be made, sooner the better. I hope the full unvarnished comes out then and there.

    5. That certainly makes both disturbing and puzzling reading. I wonder what clear and unambiguous evidence was presented to those who decided that a prosecution was justified and in the public interest. By 'those' I am referring to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), or the Attorney General; the three authorities under whose domain this resides.

      Fifty years ago, when I commenced my career in law enforcement, the CPS was a different kettle of fish. It was then the County Prosecuting Solicitor, an advocate employed by the local authority who liased closely with the police's own Prosecutions Department, which was headed by a Chief Inspector. I lost count of the times when after I had compiled a prosecution file, to be called in by that CI to be advised that the evidence, as it stood, was insufficient to get a conviction. Putative offenders were only sent for prosecution when the evidence against them was considered watertight.

      Matters changed when the old CPS was supplanted by the new CPS. Even so, evidence presented to a court still needs to be watertight and convincing. In the Letby case, I do wonder what was actually said during all those interviews with the defendant that persuaded the CPS/DPP/AG (whichever agency it was that made the decision in these circumstances) to decide that there was a massive chance of securing a 'safe' conviction. Under the old system physical, scientific, verbal and documentary evidence would all need to be compelling before a prosecution was ordered.

      1. It troubled me – a solicitor who never handled criminal work – that the trial lasted so many months. I couldn't make out why.

    6. At the time of her first trial I recalled ''L'Étranger' a novel by Albert Camus, where the main character was effectively convicted for showing little emotion. I was also puzzled that the prosecution was able to introduce a photo of Ms Letby's bedroom, as though untidiness correlates with crime. As for air embolisms, in WWII in Norway, prior to Operation Gunnerside, IIRC some British soldiers were murdered by by the Germans by injecting air into their bloodstream.

      1. A lot of single young women have messy bedrooms.

        In Ravensbruck they injected them with petrol.

    7. Would have helped if Lucy Letby had stood up and screamed at the top of her voice.. "what a load of old bollx.. the hospital is an accident waiting to happen everyday of the week.. I'm surprised there haven't been x10 more deaths or as you call them 'murders'.. the NHS management couldn't run a bath.. They could fuck up a two car funeral"..
      Order.. Order..

    8. Would have helped if Lucy Letby stood up and screamed at the top of her voice.. "what a load of old bollx.. the hospital is an accident waiting to happen everyday of the week.. I'm surprised there haven't been x10 more deaths or as you call them 'murders'.. the NHS management couldn't run a bath.. They could fuck up a two car funeral"..
      Order.. Order..

    9. Would have helped if Lucy Letby stood up and screamed at the top of her voice.. "what a load of old bollx.. the hospital is an accident waiting to happen everyday of the week.. I'm surprised there haven't been x10 more deaths or as you call them 'murders'.. the NHS management couldn't run a bath.. They could fuck up a two car funeral"..
      Order.. Order..

    10. The countess of Chester is responsible through neglect and shoddy practice for the death of my friends son and the death of my best friend. This is not libellous as they have admitted responsibility in both cases.
      I had my son in the West Cheshire in 1975 before it became the countess and it was fantastically well run. By the time my daughter was born in 1978 it was starting to go down the pan.
      In fact why it hasn’t been closed as a health hazard is totally beyond me.

  42. I see that the black man who dumped suitcases in Clifton was Colombian. Brain surgeon?

          1. Indeed – that stupid rule that one can only buy one packet at a time. Certainly enough to drive you to double murder. Often felt that way myself….

      2. An asylum seeker, fled here for his safety ……. never mind the safety of us. I'd be willing to bet he had criminal history in Columbia.

    6. It's terrible and now two confirmed cases of death.

      My bet is he was 'a boaty'.

        1. Donald Trump said with the open southern border criminals and terrorists were flooding in.

          He was attacked for saying that.

          In the UK we now have muslim terrorists from all the hot spots. Waiting.

    1. Me ! What tosh !

      I knew she was evil because her eyebrows were stenciled almost to her hair line. Like a cartoon character.

  44. We have similar experiences too, Phiz…and so do many others. Bang pots and pans indeed.

  46. A few days ago a Telegraph article about rampant drug abuse in Vancouver was mentioned on these revered pages.

    Not content with the damage being caused by an open drugs policy, their Medical Officer of Health is now suggesting that the sale of drugs should be permitted in stores around the province. Want some heroin? Just pop down to the corner store, it will be on the shelf next to the aspirin!
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6b5a1f29a92f0283e697f00c5a5856e483db622f1d75a9209ac048a95340929a.jpg !

  47. have been out, and am now cooking, but two letters caught my eye in the subject of prisons. Apolos if anyone has posted them earlier. The first:

    SIR – Might the fact that New Labour created more than 3,600 criminal offences while in office have something to do with this country’s prison crisis? Bob Readman Sevenoaks, Kent

    1. The second:

      SIR – The influence of immigration on our prison crisis is rarely mentioned.
      On March 31 this year, foreign nationals in our prisons numbered 10,422, or 12 per cent of prisoners. Albanian, Polish, Romanian, Irish and Jamaican are the top five nationalities among foreign prisoners – all from democratic countries with which we have diplomatic relations.
      There are also large numbers of foreign national offenders subject to deportation living in the community (11,769 on September 30 2022), according to the House of Commons Library.
      Quite a number of our problems in England and Wales come down to not being able to deport people quickly and easily.
      Sort out the legal side of immigration and a lot else follows. Arthur Hogan-Fleming Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

  50. Greetings everyone on this lovely summery day (we can but dream),

    The joys of overseas call centres with barely intelligible call handlers.

    After the motor burned out on my very old Dyson vacuum cleaner, I tried to contact the Dyson repair man who came out to us about 10 years ago. He virtually rebuilt my cleaner, including a brand new motor, all for the cost of a call out. I recalled him saying that any time we wanted a new machine, the repair agents could give us a 20% discount on best retail prices.
    Unfortunately, he no longer works for them, so I rang Dyson direct – they no longer seem to use local agents, but the call centre agent said they offer 20% discount on orders direct from the company. I proceeded to place the order with a 20% discount…… or so I thought.

    A few hours later, Dyson emailed to say the order was cancelled. No explanation. The card had been accepted, so that wasn't the issue.
    This morning, I called them for an explanation. I interpreted what the agent was saying as that item was supposedly already discounted, in spite of the fact it was exactly the same price as (regular, not sale prices) John Lewis and Curry's.

    Then, I did an online search for a better price. I found a company in Leicester (Marks Electrical), top reviews on Trust Pilot, and their price was 25% lower than everywhere else, free delivery. I rang them to find out what the catch was, thinking maybe they were refurbished machines. Nope, brand new. The call handler said they buy in large volumes and that is how they can offer such prices.
    At least if it goes belly up, I am covered by the credit card.
    Edit: I have posted a stinking review of Dyson on Trust Pilot.

    1. Well done Mum, we had a Dyson years ago, didn't live up to its hype, dumped it and went back to Miele.

      1. I’ve always been happy with my Dyson cleaners, although the 2nd one took some getting used to as it was the ball style, but it is a lot lighter than the previous upright. I’m just hoping the new one arrives in one piece and is easy to set up/assemble. I don’t think we could afford the Meile brand.

    2. Marks Electrical is my go to supplier for white goods and got a next day delivery on my latest appliance.
      We stick to Miele.for dishwashers and washing machines and currently havs a replace for new insurance on the former.

      Dyson appliances work at the extremes of engineering tolerances so whilst housings are built for aesthetics and rough hand!ing the guts have limited longevity.

      1. Good to know of a positive experience from a company. I will certainly make them my choice in future, subject to price. A friend swears by AO.com, but they were expensive this time.
        Our current washing machine is John Lewis brand, seems to still be fine (touch wood) after about 8 years, albeit only the two of us.
        Dishwasher is Bosch, about 10 years old. So far, so good.

        1. Our dishwasher is a Siemens, 20 years old, no problems. Our fridge freezer is LG, nearly 30 years old, no problems. Washing machine is a Bosch, 5 years old, no probs yet. The washing machine which this present one replaced was also a Bosch, 15 years old at replacement. Vacuum cleaners – the present one is a Shark, it seems to have a mind of its own; we have had a Dyson but I found it heavy to manoeuvre around the floor. Irons, I have had a fair few of these in my lifetime.

          1. I looked at the Shark range in Curry’s (Looked there to see the options ‘in the flesh’ as our John Lewis never reopened after lockdowns, and I prefer to see items ‘in the flesh’ before buying elsewhere). I liked the idea of the ‘lift off’ feature for stairs, but it would have just been too heavy to be holding while cleaning the stairs.

          2. I agree, it is unweildy doing the stairs, we have narrow cottage stairs, a narrow tread and narrow in width. I was worried I would pull the body of the thing on top of me. A 10 minute job it was definitely not!

  51. A little birdie here today

    Wordle 1,120 3/6

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  52. Featured earlier: The British Empire = Nazi Germany. Full article.

    British Empire must be presented like Nazi Germany, curriculum guidelines insist

    School support organisation The Key provides guidance and resources to teachers across UK on how to make history curricula 'anti-racist'

    Craig Simpson • 12 July 2024 • 4:50pm

    The British Empire should be taught to school pupils like Nazi Germany, curriculum guidelines state.

    Guidance created by school support organisation The Key and offered to teachers across the country provides tips on how to make the history curriculum "anti-racist". Teachers are advised to present the British Empire to secondary pupils like Nazi Germany, as a power that "committed atrocities". Pupils should also not be taught about the balance of "good and bad" aspects of Empire, the guidance states.

    The "anti-racism curriculum review" guidance was created by The Key, which began as a government pilot and now provides teaching resources to more than 100,000 school leaders. The guide for teachers works as a series of prompts, to which answers are provided. If "topics such as the British Empire taught impartially (i.e. as if the British Empire was an equal mix of good and bad)" while other topics are not, teachers are told to "re-frame" the subject.

    Guidance seen by The Telegraph states that teachers should "teach colonialism as 'invading and exploiting' other countries, and present the British Empire as you would other global powers that committed atrocities, e.g. Nazi Germany". It adds that staff should "avoid presenting the British Empire as an equal balance of good and bad", explaining: "The problem with the 'balance sheet' model is that the beneficiaries of Empire were one group of people (i.e. the colonisers) and the losers were those who were colonised."

    The British Empire had a 400-year history during which slavery was both practiced and campaigned against. Nazi Germany lasted from 1933 to 1945, and instigated a global war which cost the lives of 75 million, including six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

    To increase diversity on curricula, teachers are advised to celebrate "Caribbean, African and Indian soldiers who fought for Britain in both World Wars". These conflicts were fought when Britain was still a colonial power. This guidance is available to school leaders who are signed up to The Key, which claims to be "the leading provider of support for schools and trusts" and "trusted by over half of all schools in England".

    The guidance, first made available to schools in 2022, has been presented as an example of best practice to school staff by councils including West Sussex and East Renfrewshire. It also offers additional advice on making history curricula anti-racist, advising teachers to avoid "'white saviour narratives'", which may include a "focus on white abolitionists such as William Wilberforce". It suggests including black abolitionists.

    To address how black people are "overwhelmingly presented as victims of history", the guidance advises teachers to tell pupils about "contributions and achievements" of figures like Crimean War nurse Mary Seacole, and the Oba of Benin. The Oba ruled the Kingdom of Benin, which generated wealth through the sale of African slaves.

    Teachers are also told: "Don't ignore the racism of historical figures such as Winston Churchill or the prejudices against black people expressed by Mahatma Gandhi – be upfront about their problematic views and the historical context that allowed them to go unchallenged."

    The guidance has caused concern among historians, including Prof Robert Tombs, the Cambridge academic and author, who branded the document "blatant propaganda".

    He said: "To assert that the British Empire benefited only the British and only did damage to the colonised is absurd. Nothing is said about economic development; nothing about how the Empire suppressed slavery; nothing about peacekeeping and the ending of chronic violence.

    "It is a glaring self-contradiction that the document compares the Empire to Nazi Germany and yet wishes to celebrate the many colonial soldiers who voluntarily fought for the Empire. It is astonishing that schools are urged to celebrate the 'contribution and achievements' of the Oba of Benin, a slave trader on a vast scale. This can only be bad faith or ignorance.

    "Almost inevitably, the document accuses Churchill of racism – a baseless accusation. This whole document at best aims at myth-making, at worst aims at creating unfounded resentment and division."

    Dr Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert, author and director of the campaign group Don't Divide Us, which has pushed for political impartiality in education, said: "The idea that Britain was a global power akin to the Nazis is a particularly radical socio-cultural belief held by a minority of people for whom the British nation in particular can only be a source of moral sin and political depredation."

    The Key has been contacted for comment.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/12/british-empire-history-school-curriculum-nazi-germany-key/

    1. I don’t suppose they acknowledge that at least 20 million of the 75 million were Russian and that Stalin and Mao were each responsible for the killing of more than 60 million of their own people.

    2. "To address how black people are "overwhelmingly presented as victims of history", the guidance advises teachers to tell pupils about "contributions and achievements" of figures like Crimean War nurse Mary Seacole, and the Oba of Benin. The Oba ruled the Kingdom of Benin, which generated wealth through the sale of African slaves."

      Yet again, more lies about Mary Seacole. Here are some facts:

      https://maryseacole.info/?Introduction%3AThe_Life_of_Mary_Seacole%3ARace%2C_Racism%2C_and_Slavery

    1. Thanks for the info regarding gold and silver, Phizzee – very helpful, an interesting site.

      1. Glad to be of help. Really for long term investment. You can leave it in their vaults or take possession yourself.
        I have £25,000 in gold and £7000 in silver britannias.

        If you hold these metals as coins they are legal tender. Though the person you are giving it to might be surprised. I think VAT is payable on the silver so choose wisely.

        This money is my escape fund. Certainly enough to bribe passage on a ship heading for south america. I'll go and live with Katie. :@)

          7. 10th August. I believe so. If not…Hertslass or Geoff. Several other Nottlers have confirmed. Parking will be a nightmare ! If staying over there are a few staying at the Red Lion in the High St.

        2. I may well be coming with you….. we will sail on the evening tide this time…

          Thanks so much for all the info – we find it difficult to step out of our zone (I can’t call it a comfort zone as it is starting to feel increasingly uncomfortable!) but it is what we know.

    1. He has just approved a very large solar 'farm' a few miles from us. All the local authorities were against it for very sound reasons. Prime agricultural land, of course.

      1. Now that that Shapps has gone I expect to see another productive field turned into a solar 'farm'. Near Shaws Corner Ayot St Lawrence.
        And even more housing on Hertfordshire green belt and agricultural land.

    3. Starmer is simply implementing Blair’s agenda to destroy our national identity and eliminate nation states by impoverishment.

      I think on balance that the forces against the globalist agenda are greater than those pushing it. Starmer himself is implicated in many criminal acts from his protection of Jimmy Savile and the Pakistani rape gangs to his legal assistance to ensuring illegals are given cellphones, free money and hotel accommodation on arrival to our shores.

      Both Blair and Starmer are also implicated in the pushing of murderous mRNA vaccines on the entire population, crippling the NHS and robbing us blind with their Covid swindles and lies.

      As for promising yet more billions to Ukraine his lies about our and NATO’s ability to win a war against Russia is a whopper. Ukraine will fall before Trump is re-elected in November.

      Starmer has put in place as ministers some of the most despised and incompetent politicians we can remember in our lifetimes. Some appear to have been resuscitated after exhumation. Most are troughers who have somehow survived the Expenses Scandal. Starmer’s government will fall sooner than the next election.

    4. £3bn? That's nice. Perhaps they might spend it on a new prison or two, instead of letting burglars and other serious miscreants out early.

    5. £3bn? That's nice. Perhaps they might spend it on a new prison or two, instead of letting burglars and other serious miscreants out early.

    1. Love it, Araminta…wondering who it is holding him, and are they pushing him forward or holding him back…not Obamas by colour of skin….Blinken?

    1. And how many millions of tonnes of concrete will be used to hold these monsters in place.

      1. And how much wildlife killed or maimed both on land and at sea, Eddy. Over my dead body for a start.

    2. They all said it was free. But this is "the transition to green" apparently. Just a little further. Just around the next corner, kids.

  62. Perhaps return him to a gaol in Colombia – where they stand NO nonsense of any kind at any time.

  63. Just had an Amazon delivery. I didn't see him but i heard the dogs yapping. He is obviously from Africa.

      1. He left my outer porch door swinging open in the breeze. Obviously born in a doorless mud hut.

        1. Might be interested in my post above, Phizee, the one about Tommy Robinson speaking with Jordan Peterson and Tammy Peterson. Note the warning.

          1. We are all suffering from this shit. I only watch short funnies. Getting beyond coping but thanks anyhoo.

          2. Hear you, if it’s true seems like no-one wants to tackle it. I like short funnies too :-))))

          3. I can't cope with any more info because I can't actually do anything about it.

      1. A Dangerous Megalomaniac of Low Intelligence, perhaps?

        The good news is that he will probably bring down the Government!

  65. I have the John Lewis washer/condenser. It's also about 8 years old but the condenser/dryer has stopped functioning.
    I also have a Bosch slimline dishwasher.
    Next time either need replacing i'm getting them from British Heart Foundation shop who sell reconditioned appliances. Very cheap.

    1. Perhaps, It’s just the start of another pitch fork revolution.
      Sharpen them up.

      1. When should we start to panic ?

        We have imported people of uncertain character and different backgrounds .

        Our national spirit of kindness and tolerance is being tested badly ..

        Social rules are changing , and the bogeyman lurks amongst us all , because we cannot read their character or motives .

        1. I've been sent a YouTube Video, which I started to watch but have had to take time off to digest, of Tommy Robinson talking to Jordon Peterson and his wife Tammy. The link may not work, it's Episode 462. Warning: not for the faint hearted.

        2. I'm already panicking. The plan is to dilute the national make up, mix us up with millions of aliens, then push through further control.

    2. And Boris Johnson bought water cannon to deal with insurrection and that female dog, Teraita May, got rid of them by having them scrapped.

  68. The one in my town sells washers, beds, sofas and stuff. There is a smaller BHF shop that sells all the old clothes and nicknacks.

    1. That looks lovely.
      It's almost as if everything is tickety-boo, nothing to worry, no invaders, no evil plans being set up for the world.

      1. Yep , beyond belief M, there we were amongst nice people , lots of eye contact , Good mornings spoken, friendly people, and their dogs , people radiating goodwill , it was a long walk to the sea , that area is closed during the week because Army exercise range and red flags etc, but open at weekends mostly , and now the school hols are approaching , open more frequently .

        https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lulworth-access-times/lulworth-range-walks-and-tyneham-village-access-times-2024

        https://corfecastle.co.uk/dorset/tyneham-dorset-england/

    2. Obv they heard haven't about the easier access points of the EUs underbelly.. or better still the Biden administration's secret CHNV programme to fly into the country just about anyone. So far 434,800 & counting migrants have taken up the kind offer.

      Then there's Calais on the English Channel with a number of regular passenger and freight ferry services operating from the large makeshift ferry terminal and artificial harbour.
      Once in you can lidderally do anything you please.. lidderally.. it's common knowledge the guy in charge will even turn a blind eye to a bit of child grape if that floats your boat.

    1. Apparently the Polish parliament, by almost unanimous vote, have required the army, police and border guards to use live ammunition to repel invaders illegal immigrants. So I'm told, can't find a link.

  72. There are more people in the world that need shot: Folk who carry out actions that may well endanger another's life, like the guy who threw a Molotov cocktail at the Palace over here a few days ago; youths who think it's fun to threaten people with an airsoft gun; folk who threaten with machetes and knives, for example. Blow some of their sorry arses away, they'll get the hint that such threats are unacceptable.
    Like this rooster, who came off badly. Shot (geddit??) in Brazil.
    https://youtu.be/_2gOsVq6LAY?si=FWIZQ8MFQJsopppP

  73. There are more people in the world that need shot: Folk who carry out actions that may well endanger another's life, like the guy who threw a Molotov cocktail at the Palace over here a few days ago; youths who think it's fun to threaten people with an airsoft gun; folk who threaten with machetes and knives, for example. Blow some of their sorry arses away, they'll get the hint that such threats are unacceptable.
    Like this rooster, who came off badly. Shot (geddit??) in Brazil.
    https://youtu.be/_2gOsVq6LAY?si=FWIZQ8MFQJsopppP

    1. This only works if we can hand thousands back to the EU……I'm not holding my breath….

  75. A sanctioned Par Four!

    Wordle 1,120 4/6
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    1. A slow on the uptake five for me.

      Wordle 1,120 5/6

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      1. Wordle 1,120 4/6

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        1. Me too.
          Wordle 1,120 4/6

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    2. Birdie today

      Wordle 1,120 3/6

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    3. Out all day fishing, but did this before I left.

      Wordle 1,120 3/6

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  76. According to ITV News, "Zelenskyy says he will 'forget' Biden's Putin mix-up".

    Which is nice, because Biden forgot all about it days ago.

    1. Tony Blair ran up £1.2million bill using Queen's Flight 677 times: 'His own taxi service'
      TONY BLAIR was accused of using the Queen's Flight as his personal taxi service during his premiership, as he used it more than the monarch, at a cost to taxpayers of more than £1.2million, unearthed reports reveal.
      By MARTINA BET
      12:49, Tue, Sep 22, 2020 | UPDATED: 13:37, Tue, Sep 22, 2020

      1. Teflon 'do as I say, not as I do' BLiar. Typical socialist and wannabe marxist.

    2. TBF – I think it was Major who put the wheels in motion for that disgusting act.

    3. They don't care. I think Coutino said on Politics Live that windmills were the cheapest form of energy now that subsidy had been increased.

      When you read that and realise she cannot link massive taxes on bills, doubling the cost of energy to unreliables is laughable – and she wasa Tory.

      They're all obsessed with the lie.

  79. A pleasant walk along part of the Castleman Trailway, a defunct railway line that fell to the Beeching axe:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c5122bf1a7ed1343aae5d31fa1572b0f392d2155a6f57362211205cfeb98e87b.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/974bc35b53a42c0cf5b712bd3e7cbcb151fe5f0b7a13aff1e259776db1eabd8e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d1598ed75797b86925563c8e13500088d0103938860101913b9eb811fd03bde0.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e0c46b5bc9c57493723924b1f8a1d91b3abf1dbbf814a4085a31ecba23ebe80.jpg

      1. I have a young robin just like that in the garden. I had a first today when I was out and I saw a pied wagtail with two young ones!

        1. Sadly, Firstborn’s tiny cat has caucght and partly eaten twi small birds: A wagtail, and something small and brown like a sparrow.

    1. Very immature, as well as unprofessional and vile behaviour. Does he think he is a teenager playing up to his mates?

      2. A few years ago I encountered him in a local dry cleaners in north London. Most people give just a surname to be written on the ticket when they take in an item but not Clive. When asked his name by the lady behind the counter, he intoned CLIVE LEWIS – clearly very pleased with himself and expecting her to be impressed. She didn’t seem to be.
        All he left out was ‘I’m worth it’.

      3. A few years ago I encountered him in a local dry cleaners in north London. Most people give just a surname to be written on the ticket when they take in an item but not Clive. When asked his name by the lady behind the counter, he intoned CLIVE LEWIS – clearly very pleased with himself and expecting her to be impressed. She didn’t seem to be.
        All he left out was ‘I’m worth it’.

    2. A few moments in the life of Lewis:
      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clive-lewis-suicide-outrage-house-of-commons-parliament-footage-a8643871.html
      https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/20/labour-mp-clive-lewis-apologises-for-get-on-your-knees-comment
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13212085/Labour-MP-Clive-Lewis-warned-severe-consequences-swearing.html

      In 2018 he supported Labour activist Marc Wadsworth, who was expelled from the party for bringing it into disrepute over anti-semitism.
      He came up in a discussion on here a while back but I'm not sure if it was about any of the above. He is a thoroughly nasty individual.

      Surprisingly, he was an infantry officer with the Army Reserve and served a three-month tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2009.

      1. The high quality of your typical Labour mp. Reassuring isn't it, for our county's future. Or perhaps not.

      2. The high quality of your typical Labour mp. Reassuring isn't it, for our county's future. Or perhaps not.

        2. Rubber bullets hurt – they can break bones. Allowing the border force to use such force is a massive step forward.

          We must repeal all the nonsense law letting the criminal in and drag them back to France and destroy the boats.

        4. ♬Load up, load up, load up,
          With rubber bullets.
          Load up, load up, load up,
          With rubber bullets.
          I love to hear those convicts squeal,
          It's a shame these slugs ain't real…♬

    3. While our lot set about trying to find ways to let them in and then house them and give them welfare for life.

      Immigration affects so many things. Case in point, the prison problem. At least 30% are muslim. Why are we jailing them? Deport them. If we got rid of the diversity from our jails we'd halve the populations.

      If we did the same to the political class we'd likely halve corruption as well!

    4. And Starmer just agreed withe the EU to take their overflow. See below ( some hours…)

  83. Went to my hairdresser this morning to have my roots done and had a chat with her husband while waiting for the colour to take. He started his working life in the building trade and now teaches project management at a local tech college. He pointed out that the Labour building plan will take so long in the planning stage that it may not even get as far as facing the difficulties of lack of skilled labour and raw materials. As he says, you don’t just find some land and start building. Actually in 1123 when Rahere built St Barts, he did just that. But I take the point.

      1. I exposed some roots this afternoon and dug out 12 large bulbs of garlic. A great expectation from digins, aka poking a few spouting cloves into the soil.

  84. So the mainstream media gives hours and hours of smearing and negative coverage to Reform and Farage on a daily basis during the run up to the election.

    Then Reform and Farage come third in the share of the national vote, win five seats and come runner up in over 90.

    After the election the Left then complains about the mainstream media, saying they have worked it out and that the mainstream media gave Reform and Farage far more coverage than any one else.

    You couldn't make it up

  85. Going to the Wigmore this evening. Mary Bevan (soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Joseph Middleton (piano). A sold out concert of songs by Noel Coward, his friends and contemporaries. Should be fun.

    1. Wonderful. Wish i was with you. Of course if i were you would be paying for the drinks !

  87. That's me for this winter's day. Thank God for the stove. Rain due tonight and tomorrow, of course. G & P blame us for it…

    Feeling a tad brighter – fingers crossed for improvement overnight.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

  88. Farage campaign for voting reform 'more irresistible than Brexit'

    Reform leader says electoral system is broken after party wins five seats with more than four million votes

    Will Hazell, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT • 13 July 2024 • 6:32pm

    A campaign to reform the UK's voting system will be "more irresistible than Brexit", Nigel Farage has said.

    The Reform leader made the claim after it emerged that Sir Keir Starmer had suggested that Britain did not have a "healthy democracy" because "millions of people vote and it doesn't really count".

    The general election was labelled one of the most distorted in history after Labour won 63 per cent of parliamentary seats with 33.7 per cent of the vote. At the same time, Reform picked up five seats despite receiving more than four million votes. The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, won 72 seats with just over 3.5 million votes.

    The results have reignited debate about whether the UK should replace its first-past-the-post electoral system with proportional representation. Mr Farage told The Telegraph: "The electoral system is broken. We get more votes than the Lib Dems and five seats. Starmer gets a third of the vote and two-thirds of the seats. The whole thing is illegitimate."

    With turnout falling to its lowest level in more than 20 years – 59.9 per cent of people voted in the election – Mr Farage blamed first-past-the-post for breeding public apathy.

    "One of the reasons the turnout was as low as it was, is because many can't see the point," he said. "This isn't working anymore, so there is going to be a major campaign for serious electoral reform and it's coming over the course of the next five years."

    He pointed out that while Sir Keir had "benefited" from the electoral system on this occasion, Labour delegates had backed a motion calling on the party to embrace proportional representation at Labour's annual conference in 2022.

    "This will be more irresistible than Brexit was," Mr Farage said.

    The Telegraph can reveal that in January 2020, Sir Keir criticised Britain's electoral system and said he "would want to look" at changing it.
    Giving a speech to members of the Westminster North Constituency Labour Party days before he would launch his campaign to be party leader, Sir Keir said there needed to be a "debate" about reform.

    In an audio recording from the meeting shared with The Telegraph, he can be heard saying: "On the voting system, I think this is a really strong point, so many people vote and it doesn't count and we can't go on like that because progressive politics requires people's votes to actually count. So I would want to look at this.

    "The only caveat I've got is that I also genuinely believe that you need a representative in each area who is there to represent the people in that area and to act on their behalf… so whatever this system is, I don't want to lose that.

    "There's ways of accommodating [that], it's a debate we should have as a party, I'm not fixed on a particular position. But I do think the fact that millions of people vote and it doesn't really count is not the sign of a healthy democracy at work."

    However, after becoming Labour leader, Sir Keir later defended first-past-the-post and ruled out reform. He told ITV last month: "It's the right system and it has given us strong government in this country and we are not making any changes to it."

    Asked about Sir Keir's comments from 2020, Mr Farage said: "I agree and I will quote that back at him in the next few weeks."

    He urged the Prime Minister to "uphold the will of the Labour Party conference".

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/13/farage-campaign-voting-reform-more-irresistible-than-brexit

    The only 'fix' Max will make will be to lower the voting age to 16.

    1. He could be wearing a £5000 suit and it would still look as though he's clothed in a bin bag.

    4. They have no shame have they? – him and Blair and the other troughers there – they've stopped even bothering to try and conceal their globalist tendencies. I despair….

    6. "Look on the works of the Mighty and despair "

      (With Apols to the Late Mr Shelly)

  90. I’m fed up with the ‘grownups’ – Rory Stewart is the worst of the tribe
    We could do without the posturing of sage men who think they have the answer to everything
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/13/im-fed-up-with-the-grownups-rory-stewart-worst-of-tribe/

    He looks as if he might top himself.

    I think he is even more strange than he looks! Remember the old Simon and Garfunkel song: "A Most Peculiar Man"?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YTgwY1Ld5s

    1. I've been to so many blood tests in the past and the phlebotomists just before sticking the needle in, use to say small prick !
      And Rory Stewart would always come to mind. But now they say sharp scratch. Spoken from experience from Mr Stone.

    3. I can't believe I've never heard that S&G song, or at least, I don't remember it.

      1. I heard it for the first time in our Technical School after hours music club. This will have been late sixties but before 1970 when I left school for university.

        A few wealthy kids would bring in their latest purchases of LPs and these would be played by the music teacher to the poor beggars like me who could not afford to buy the LPs from our paper round money.

      2. I heard it for the first time in our Technical School after hours music club. This will have been late sixties but before 1970 when I left school for university.

        A few wealthy kids would bring in their latest purchases of LPs and these would be played by the music teacher to the poor beggars like me who could not afford to buy the LPs from our paper round money.

  91. I gave in and obeyed orders. Cleaned our silver car it's immaculate now. I notice that the run off from the hose wasn't getting away from the level drain before our garage and in the front of the entrance door. So I had to lift off part of the metal grill. And found much sediment blocking the flow into the outlet. So 2 hours and a lot of hard work later all cleared and working again. It's probably been ten years since this has been done. i wont be doing it again. Promise.
    I know its early but we've got a birthday celebration tomorrow at lunchtime. I had better get to bed because i'm exhausted and half a bottle of red in arrears.
    Night all 🤗😴
    Sorry for the mistakes. But I'm still having a problem with my vision.
    Since I had my cataract removal it's become progressively worse. But no body seems to be interested in looking into it. Scuz the pun. 👁

          4. Teddington Lock is a bit deprived, as in the rumoured Adolf department. Not the case with Bow Locks …..

          5. Ashes mentioned to me how very handsome you are. We shall see. Not judging…much !

    2. Ha ha! Of course the dimwits believe “the government” pays them. They don’t work out how the wealth is generated.

        1. It did thanks, Tom. I’m getting old for this though! Our friend Ken, at 90, has more energy than me! He coped with being on his feet all day.

  97. That's it. I'm retiring for the night. Actually I think I've been retiring for the past 5840 nights!

    Good night all.

  98. Just turned 10 pm, so I'm off to bed too. Good night, sleep well and I'll see you all tomorrow.

  100. Have just had fun organising a birthday gift and present for 100 year old Lady , as sharp as a needle and a great sense of humour .

    This is a great way to send cards , and to personalise them https://www.moonpig.com/uk/

    We had an unusual supper this evening .. what was left in the fridge ..

    I cooked some fresh salmon fillets , microwaved already cooked beetroot , and heated up the contents of a tin of sweetcorn , the result was delicious .. so different and went well with the salmon , and a few cooked fresh tomatoes .

    I meant to cook some new potatoes and broccoli, but after having a busy day , more dog walks this evening , and Moh skipping off to practise his bunker techniques and son needing an early night , running tomorrow and he ran today in Poole Park Run .. personal best of 18minutes + seconds , 5k race. and my long walk this morning with my dodgy hip, I feel all in now , creaking .

    I will have to be organised for meal for them tomorrow evening .. probably a salad of some sort .

    1. Chorizo, haloumi cheese, sweet cherry tomatoes, crumbly strong cheese, rocket and a piece of homemade garlic bread.

      3. Ditch the rocket! It is a vile, disgusting, inedible weed.

        Proper Englishmen eat watercress.

    2. I make my own on PowerPoint – nil cost, nil postage.

      Template available – just ask.

      1. Yes , Phizzee, thanks for the quick Hollandnaked sauce recipe .

        I had intended to cook new spuds and broccoli.. but , my attitude was what the hell .

        The offering was warmly received , they are body conscious , and carb counting , so I was let off the hook.

    1. "I believe that you may be in possession of a frog."

      I almost feel sorry for the bloke.

      1. Yes. And soon.

        If you were to say to him 'I am sorry i don't understand you'….and this keeps on. What will happen next is he will lose his temper and either arrest you…if you are lucky, or assault you. Then lie about it.

  102. Evening, all. Late tonight because I was at a village fayre (sic) earlier in the day and went to a concert in the evening. I was going to enter Kadi in the dogshow at the fayre, but while I was talking to someone he sat down in a very muddy patch and changed colour on his rear end!

    The choice is only unpalatable to us who have to deal with the consequences. The govt is indifferent.

    1. There was a local dog show a while ago at the local football ground. I entered Dolly. Some ugly mongrel mutt won. Dolly is a pure breed Chihuahua. Her sire won best puppy at Crufts. I wasn't impressed. Obviously friends of the organiser. Mutter mutter…

      2. Do 'they' really have no idea? Are they that dense? Any white man or woman that works for the BBC regardless of politics will be in the same position when the invaders take over.

    3. He resembles a turd aka a piece of shit.

      I await with bated breath the reaction of Sir Keir Starmer our own improperly elected Resident Prime Minister. Perhaps he is in the pub.

      1. It was there. Then disappeared. The man pictured looked like a …guess what? Begins with M.

  108. Another day is done so, I wish you a goodnight and may God bless all you Gentlefolk. If we are spared! Bis morgen früh.

  109. There has been a Trump assassination attempt. The shooter and I believe two others were killed. Trump was hit but it appears to be a minor wound to his right ear.

    There we have it. The Biden Obama Clinton Bush assassination squad mean business.

    The photographs of Trump raising his fist and shouting “fight fight” as he is ushered from the events stage by security staff will become iconic.

    Meanwhile the Bidens and Starmers of this world are assured a displacement through the U-bend of history to be flushed down the toilet and, frankly, good riddance you murdering scum.

    Edit: The scum shooter has been arrested. Doubtless a member of one of the Democrat and Soros funded scum organisations.

    I pray for the safety of President Trump and the early demise of Biden, Obama, the Clintons and the Bushes.

    1. 'They' are getting desperate. I expect them to succeed. Even if it means a great many others die in the process. A plane crash. A whole building collapse. They don't care.

      1. A country whose President and Security Services were prepared to demolish the Twin Towers by explosive detonations and then mask their evil intent by allowing US trained Arab pilots to take the controls of civilian aircraft to crash into the Twin Towers with no US military intervention has to be rotten to its core.

        And rotten to its core is what America, for some a beacon of truth and good governance, has become. Forget the rhetoric about the greatest country in the history of mankind. The British Empire has a far greater claim to that title.

        1. If i am not mistaken several banks had offices in those towers. Perhaps they were the 'wrong' sort of banks.

    2. Media over here are just saying that gunshots were heard at a Trump rally, no acknowledgement that he was shot.

      just wordsmithing but it seems extreme that they cannot bring themselves to say he was shot.

    3. President Biden said the attack was sick.

      Of course in street slang sick means good. Just sayin'.

    4. Just watched the footage. Trump with his fist in the air and the flag flying behind him. There is no way he won't be the next POTUS unless they manage to assassinate him. And we all know who 'they' are.

    1. MSN news. Buy a ticket for a meander around Capitol Hill and we will call it a riot.

    2. Joe Biden on 7.8.2024: "We’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye."

      One Trump supporter says he alerted Secret Service before the shooting and was ignored.
      Trump's team reportedly asked for 'beefed up protection' and was rebuffed over and over by Biden DHS.

      other mostly peaceful comments..

      Just yesterday, Joe Biden mega-donor @reidhoffman was making jokes about assassinating Donald Trump.

      A field director for Congressman
      @BennieGThompson
      (who headed the Jan. 6th Commission & recently proposed legislation to remove Trump’s Secret Service detail), wishing Trump’s assassin had better aim on social media.

    1. Morning, Philip.

      Let me get this right. A "food safety expert" who recommends buying sliced bread? Who decided this cretin was a "food expert"? She knows fuck all about food!

    1. 'Morning, Geoff and thank you for all the work and effort you have put in to keep us all going. Well done!

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