Saturday 14 June: For too long the West allowed Iran’s monstrous regime to act with impunity

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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637 thoughts on “Saturday 14 June: For too long the West allowed Iran’s monstrous regime to act with impunity”

  2. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe page.

    Wordle 1,456 4/6

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  7. Pistolic
    13h
    O/T but Why are GCHQ employing someone with a name like Hassan Arshad who copied confidential data to his home computer – the clue is in the name – I despair with our so called security services!

    Igor
    Pistolic
    13h
    Because he was fluent in key languages and ideologies. That's is what they need, not Sammy from Liverpool who is fluent in Scouse

  8. EXC: Casey Rape Gangs Review Publication Accelerated

    Since Guido earlier revealed that Baroness Casey’s rape gangs audit was scheduled for Wednesday there has been a flurry of activity in SW1. The publication date of the review is being hotly debated…

    Guido hears the review’s publication is now penned in for Monday. Sources say there are concerns over leaks…

    This would force Starmer to face questions at Wednesday’s PMQs on it. A choice for Labour there…

    Guido also hears the review will be punchy. There are concerns in Downing Street over potential unrest…

    13 June 2025 @ 19:45

    In Crawley
    1h
    TTK is off to Canada today for a G7 summit, back in time for PMQs hopefully IF the report is published, IN FULL
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c9fd697a5254deda84245f4eadf1c02c0ecb81c34e3fc1ef09dde5f644a585be.png

    AP Brewster
    10h
    "There are concerns in Downing Street over potential unrest…"
    This is what comes of pretending there is no cultural problem in the land…

    Own it you created it.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5597f5d852df226d1344d35e1ff18f65425b88739e442189d3080563a7550571.png

  9. Good Morning All. 17C Cloudy. Storm not as bad as forecast. Norway Met Office were correct.

  11. Michael Deacon
    Dominic Cummings may have just blown the grooming gangs scandal wide open

    There’s only one way to find out whether his allegations are true – and that’s to hold the national inquiry Labour is trying to deny us

    14 June 2025 6:00am BST
    Michael Deacon

    All progressives solemnly honour LGBTQIA+ Pride Month. And Islamophobia Awareness Month. And Black History Month. Plus many other such events. This is because they’re passionately committed to “raising awareness” of social injustice.

    So why not the grooming gangs scandal?

    For some reason, this is one example of social injustice which has failed to grip progressives’ attention. To rectify this, I suggest we introduce Grooming Gangs Awareness Month. Fly an official Grooming Gangs Scandal flag from all public buildings. Get civil servants to wear Grooming Gangs Scandal lanyards. Then perhaps these people might finally take an interest.

    Then again, we may be wasting our time. In all likelihood, progressives have never lacked “awareness” of the grooming gangs. They just didn’t want anyone else to be aware of them.

    Which brings me to the explosive allegations made on Thursday by Dominic Cummings. In an interview with GB News, he claimed that, when he was working at the Department for Education in the early 2010s, there were “mass cover-ups of the whole thing in Whitehall”.

    Are Mr Cummings’s allegations true? I don’t know. But then, that’s why we need the full national inquiry that Labour continues to deny us. A handful of mere “local inquiries” won’t do – not least because it wouldn’t be within their scope to investigate Mr Cummings’s claims about what went on in Whitehall.

    Yesterday, incidentally, seven members of yet another grooming gang were found guilty of raping two teenage girls in Rochdale. Labour may not like Mr Cummings. But this time I think it should listen to him. And, for that matter, to the increasingly furious public.

    Talking Bull
    Personally, I was somewhat taken aback when, on Tuesday, the new chairman of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK told voters that “immigration is the lifeblood of this country, and it always has been”. I was even more surprised when, on Wednesday, he told Richard Madeley on ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he was once strangled by an evil spirit masquerading as the ghost of his late grandmother.

    To my mind, though, Dr David Bull’s most intriguing comment of the week was this. Asked whether he supports calls to ban the burqa in this country, he replied: “I’m very anxious about the rise in people that think it is OK to hide their faces. We had a conversation yesterday about whether that was the burqa, crash helmets, scarves or whatever.”

    Hang on. Crash helmets?

    I for one have always admired Reform’s bracingly no-nonsense attitude towards health-and-safety-gone-mad. But a ban on crash helmets, I feel, might be taking it a touch too far.

    In any case, I’m not convinced that there’s a huge public clamour for such a ban. There are plenty of people who want to ban the burqa, and they have strong arguments for doing so. But I’ve never heard a voter say: “I’m sorry, but I’m sick of seeing all these women walking around the streets in crash helmets. It’s not as if it’s their choice, either. Their husbands force them to do it. The crash helmet is a disgusting symbol of misogyny and patriarchal oppression.

    “Also, crash helmets make normal human interaction impossible. When a motorcyclist zooms past me at 70mph, I expect to be able to see his face.

    “Anyway, it’s just not British. If motorcyclists want to wear crash helmets, they can go and do it in their own country.”

    Remarks like those, I would guess, aren’t heard all that often in focus groups. So why Dr Bull raised the idea, entirely unprompted, in reply to a question about banning the burqa, I don’t know.

    Still, I’m not complaining. Far from it. When I stepped down as this newspaper’s parliamentary sketch writer in 2021, after 10 years, I felt that politics was in danger of becoming dull. The previous decade had teemed with the most glorious eccentrics, on Left and Right alike. Increasingly, however, they seemed to be fading from view, to be replaced by robotic regiments of Starmers and Sunaks.

    How wonderful it is to see a new generation coming through.

    Violence: a Left-wing guide
    I don’t know whether you ever read Left-wing news outlets. But if you do, this week you’ll probably have noticed something peculiar.

    In such outlets, the violence in Ballymena is always described as “rioting” – yet the violence in LA is always described as “protests”.

    You may well have wondered why this is. After all, both Ballymena and LA have seen cars set on fire, missiles thrown, and police officers injured. These are all very bad things. So why don’t Left-wing news outlets refer to both as “rioting”?

    The answer is simple. The violence in Ballymena is being perpetrated by people who are against mass immigration. The violence in LA, in contrast, is being perpetrated by people who are in favour not only of mass immigration, but of “irregular” (i.e., illegal) immigration. And, just as importantly, they hate Donald Trump. Therefore, their actions must be made to sound understandable and legitimate.

    In other words: sometimes setting people’s cars on fire is nasty and frightening. And sometimes it’s noble and compassionate. Please update your records accordingly.

    1. "“I’m very anxious about the rise in people that think it is OK to hide their faces. We had a conversation yesterday about whether that was the burqa, crash helmets, scarves or whatever.”

      That's the quiet part being said out loud. This isn't about curbing islam, far from it.
      This is about making it illegal to avoid facial recognition systems.
      The burka ban must be resisted.

      1. But equally i should be allowed to wear my motorcycle helmet in Waitrose

        1. Up til now, I’ve always bought into the line that a good little law-abiding citizen removes their crash helmet on entering a shop because bank robbers etc – but with facial recognition and AI, that’s changing now. It depends why Waitrose wants you to remove it – is it in case you are a robber, or is it to facilitate facial recognition so they can spy on you?
          If the latter, then we should uphold your right to wear it…

          I am going to invest in a few hats with veils and see what sort of reaction they get.
          In Britain, people will just assume I am off to a wedding/funeral/the races. On the Continent, nobody wears hats and they would be freaked out!

          2. Yes, I reckon something like that should confuse the facial recognition cameras nicely.

  13. 407435+ up ticks,

    Dt,

    For too long the West allowed Iran’s monstrous regime to act with impunity

    Surely should read,

    For far too long we in the West have allowed, in this case England's monstrous regime to act with impunity

    Firstly in order of priorities SOD iran and any other external tosspots, seek to dethrone our own
    political / ruling problem makers , from top to bottom, linked with blocking ALL legal / illegal invasion routes.

    We are suffering the consequences of criminal neglect & lethargy coupled with childish SPITE, tactical voting, via the polling stations, there's no denial on that.

    Coming up, very likely in 2026 the important question whispered on the 15 June next will be
    " what did you do before incarceration daddy"

  14. Good morning early risers,

    How well did you sleep, were you too warm , hot and sticky, were there rumbles and lightening bolts, and did it rain?

    Slight breeze here this morning , son preparing for his Park run, 15c , humid and might have another storm, clouds are tropical .

    2. I rather enjoyed it.
      Lay in bed with the windows open and did the childish thing of counting every time there was a flash of lightening. If I counted correctly, the storms were anything from 1 to 3 miles away.
      I realise it wouldn't be as enjoyable if I were hunkered down in shop doorway in a soggy sleeping bag.

      1. Funny you should say that , Anne

        I did the same during the evening , curtains and patio window open and the other windows , Pip spaniel is deaf , Moh was watching golf with his earphones on , and I had my laptop on my knee .. I think Weymouth and down the road must have had many many flashes , I saw flashes and heard many rumbles, but no hard rain.

  15. 407425+ up ticks,

    Prior to the headlong / headstrong flight of panic to support Reform as saviours of Blighty, should we really NOT consider a proven patriotic safety net party, for when things, as planned in parliament, thrust breasts to the sky?

    Mass support the Farmers Food and Freedom Party
    https://x.com/pmal5098/status/1933635691482919373

    1. 407425+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Did you know, concrete ( house building for the worlds overflow)
      restricts growth in crops, and is hard on cattle consumption.

      1. No no no the land would be more beautiful if it were in government hands. They would know how to look after it better than farmers!

      1. B..b..b…but I heard 2Tier announce that it was "Good that We are back on the World Stage."

        Nobody trusts him. What a dork.

    2. Anything to do with the thousands of Muslims in the Civil Service? See the latest news on the 700 strong Muslim Network in the Home Office.

  17. Good morning, all. Storms overnight and some welcome rain. Cloudy at the moment.

    Here's another pipe-dream from Starmer, Hydrogen power. It's his plan, or so he claims, so it's bound to be a crap idea. Where the copious amount of electricity needed to create this very dangerous gas will come from is not mentioned.

    'Sir' Richards' comment below is smart, is it conceivable that Starmer would understand what 'Sir' R is alluding to i.e. Methane etc.

    https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1933425746686718145
    https://x.com/DickiebirdBrown/status/1933750828818383259

    1. Cannot they harness the Hot Air coming out of wasteminster, into a form of energy?

    2. We're getting H2 buses round here – clean, quiet, quick of the blocks. No explosions yet. Dunno where the H2 comes from.

    1. 13 June 202 – 919 arrivals.It could have been as many as 920 but the brave French police carrying shields waded waist deep (or should that be waste deep?) into the perilous waters of the Channel to prevent that happening. BBC News.

      More likely in an effort to justify the £million pounds per day they receive from the British taxpayer. A publicity stunt.

  20. Emotional David Beckham FINALLY gets knighthood after years of being snubbed and describes it as 'truly humbling' as he joins Luke Littler and Claudia Winkleman on King's Birthday Honours list

    2. Ffs.

      (I don’t mind beckham per se. Or even littler, but what’s he actually done? But winkleman??)

      1. Claudia WInkleman? It must be excrutiatingly humbling for Beckham that he is associated in "honour" with mindless dross like those people

      2. Claudia WInkleman? It must be excrutiatingly humbling for Beckham that he is associated in "honour" with mindless dross like those people

  21. Good morning all.
    A dull, cloudy but warm and currently dry start today with 17½°C on the thermometer.
    Some sunshine forecast but also light rain.

      1. Exhausting day?
        OK, I do a lot of heavy lifting, but that is only for short periods and interspersed with me sat on my backside wandering round the Net.
        Thank you for your concern though.

  22. King Charles orders royals to wear black armbands for Trooping the Colour as 'mark of respect' for Air India crash victims

    King Charles has ordered royals to wear black armbands in remembrance of those killed in the Air India plane crash for Trooping the Colour on Saturday.

    The monarch has requested a minute's silence in tribute to the 241 passengers and crew killed when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Gatwick Airport came down on Thursday in the Indian city of Ahmedabad.

    Black armbands will be worn by the head of state and senior royals riding in the ceremony to mark the King's official birthday. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14810051/Trooping-Colour-Military-preparations-King-Charles-birthday.html

      1. Morning J

        Strange that October 7th 2023 massacres in Israel by Hamas didn't instigate a Royal response .. no black bands there , were there?

      2. Indeed. And where to draw the line – car crash? Cycle crash? Nuclear war??

      3. The plane was bound for Gatwick and was it 42 of the victims? were British. Plus India and Britain have a complicated but close relationship.

    3. I don’t like the man but he is “the King”. We don’t need “Charles”

    4. He should have ordered them to kneel as they pass Brixton in memory of the BLM protesters.

      Something 'odd' about that air crash.

    5. When I was a boy in Bath my mother kept some black fabric in a drawer. When a boy in the street died prematurely we were given black armbands cut from the cloth and obliged to stand outside the house whilst the funeral entourage passed.

      This practice survives it seems. I witnessed similar when following a number of hearses containing the coffins of our servicemen on the A40 a few years ago. As the cortège passed through villages the occupants turned out in numbers to pay their respects. Some waved Union Flags.

    6. When I was a boy in Bath my mother kept some black fabric in a drawer. When a boy in the street died prematurely we were given black armbands cut from the cloth and obliged to stand outside the house whilst the funeral entourage passed.

      This practice survives it seems. I witnessed similar when following a number of hearses containing the coffins of our servicemen on the A40 a few years ago. As the cortège passed through villages the occupants turned out in numbers to pay their respects. Some waved Union Flags.

    7. When I was a boy in Bath my mother kept some black fabric in a drawer. When a boy in the street died prematurely we were given black armbands cut from the cloth and obliged to stand outside the house whilst the funeral entourage passed.

      This practice survives it seems. I witnessed similar when following a number of hearses containing the coffins of our servicemen on the A40 a few years ago. As the cortège passed through villages the occupants turned out in numbers to pay their respects. Some waved Union Flags.

  23. Kemi Badenoch has said she was happy to see a slew of Tory politicians defect to Reform UK because they were not real conservatives….

        2. Was she chosen because of her colour and her sex?

          Yes, the best prime minister in recent times, Margaret Thatcher, was a woman; yes the best ever HoC Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, was a woman but surely Theresa May, the most odious and treacherous Conservative prime minister, shows that being a woman is not a necessary qualification for being a good party leader?

          Yes, Thomas Sowell is one of the shrewdest political and economic commentators of our generation but George Floyd shows that not all black people have his wisdom – so being black is not an infallible sign of virtue and competence.

          1. She was very likely chosen to show how right-on (there’s an old expression!) the Tory party is. And how misguided.

      1. "They" say she is a very pleasant woman but do "they" say she is a clever woman with keen acumen and political savvy?

    4. Reform has to be careful they’re not the limp dumbs who aided and abetted the destruction of the Conservative Party.

    1. Just because this is an appalling state of affairs that must be corrected immediately does not mean that starting WW3 by attacking Iran is a good idea.

      1. Obviously something that the Victorians would have removed from society.
        Should be know by the shorter version of Richard.

      2. When they 'convert', do they get the plumbing system re-routed,od do they hang onto a 'bit of their manhood'?

      1. Trans non-women often enjoy the fact that they are insulting women. Often with violence. It's part of their male hormones…

    1. Digital ID cards MUST be Starmer's poll tax!

      To be followed by an election in which everyone will vote Reform, and Farage will be elected and implement digital ids only they won't be called digital ids…they will be called something like "Saving you from the evil Iranian tyranny cards" instead.

      Only the people can stop it if enough of us wake up.

      1. 407425+ up ticks,

        Morning BB2,

        I believe if he takes over the scams will contain a great deal more rhetorical polish.

        The main ingredient these Isles are greatly lacking is in the unity department.

        We still have the numbers, but lack the paste.

      2. Farage is a busted flush.

        I couldn't come up with a proper spoonerism but, given Farage's confusion over his former Chairman's behaviour and the fact that he likes a few drinks, how about a flustered lush.

  30. Good Morning!

    Today Robin Tilbrook, who recently wrote of his application to the High Court for a full Judicial Inquiry into all aspects of the Rape Gang scandal and cover up, introduces his party, the English Democrats and he associated English workers union in unsurprisingly, the English Democrats and Workers of England Union .

    Back to the dire state of society today, with a reflection that it might be about time to re-arm the British people. In Arm The People? Restore The Right To Bear Arms , we look at how the State has gradually disarmed Britain, despite it being enshrined in the 1689 Bill of Rights that citizens of good standing have the right to bear arms, and ask if we should reverse the process and, if so, how. Let us know what you think, and take the poll at the end,

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 21.2%; Solar, 10%: Wind 23.9%; Imports, 20.8%; Biomass, 9.2%; Nuclear 11.7% and Miscellaneous, 3.2%.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    4. Disgusting. He's a muslim and should not touch alcohol. (15 year old girls are another matter)

    1. Homosexuals shouldn't be allowed near children.. or pets.. everybody knows that.
      Alan Patridge.

      1. I know AP is a comic figure and I'm pro free speech etc.
        But such sweeping statements even when used to make fun of a character are a double edged sword.
        Possibly in this case, sadly too many people are dumb enough to take it literally. (Remember the paedophile/paediatrician confusion that caused a doctor's home to be attacked?)
        Should comedians consider such things or are we going down a dangerous path of censoring humour?
        It is a conundrum, especially in the very fraught times we are currently experiencing.

    3. I've read some sickening things in my life but that is one of the most depraved thing I have ever read. In the absence of the death penalty I hope that if found guilty they end up in Prison and are left to the inmates to explain to them that what they did to this poor child was completely unacceptable.

    4. I would strangle the bastards with my bare hands. Then go after the bastards that placed the baby with them.

  34. Was Her late Majesty misguided when she ordered the Guards Band to play The Star Spangled Banner outside Buckingham Palace on September 13, 2001?

  35. Morning all 🙂😊
    Sunny start again 18c very little overnight rain.
    That's not what we had expected according to all the famous expert forecasts.
    Not only has the West ignored the vile intentions of Irans government for decades its allowed their very aggressive religious based tirany to spread World wide…..something has got to give and very soon.

  37. First time ever – A twosome:
    Wordle 1,456 2/6

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  38. Camilla Tominey
    The ‘experts’ you’ve never heard of inspiring Rachel Reeves’s disastrous economic policy

    If you want to know who the Chancellor will clobber next, try looking at the radical tax ideas pushed by CenTax

    13 June 2025 7:11pm BST
    Camilla Tominey
    A little like the Chagos Islands giveaway and, more recently, the apparent Gibraltar sell out, it’s almost impossible to work out the motivations behind each and every idiotic decision this Labour Government takes.

    There’s a palpable sense of incredulity spreading across Britain as the Prime Minister and Chancellor continue to insist that everything is going swimmingly despite most key markers showing precisely the opposite is true.

    Take the economy. In Wednesday’s Spending Review, Rachel Reeves boasted that she had “wasted no time” removing the barriers to growth. Less than 24 hours later, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that UK GDP had shrunk by 0.3 per cent in April.

    Labour continues to splurge taxpayers’ hard-earned cash despite the national debt sitting at around 96 per cent of GDP, the budget deficit more doubling in the past seven years, and public spending being on a par with the profligate Labour government of the 1970s, which almost bankrupted the country.

    Back then, taxes as a share of GDP were around 33 per cent. Forecasts suggest that, by 2027, they could reach 37.7 per cent. Unemployment is at its highest level in four years, UK payrolls have lost 276,000 employees since the autumn Budget, and a millionaire is reportedly leaving the UK every 45 minutes under Labour.

    Still, no one in the Cabinet appears able to rule out further tax rises, with Paul Johnson, the outgoing chief of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) concluding that “council tax bills look set to rise at their fastest rate over any parliament since 2001-05.”

    Who is advising Reeves on tax policy, and her relentless assault on our wallets?

    Readers may not have heard of Arun Advani and Andy Summers, but these little known academics may have been the inspiration for Labour’s seemingly never-ending tax grab.

    They run the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax), which some credit for Labour’s farm tax.

    Advani, who is associate professor in the economics department at the University of Warwick, called for inheritance tax “loopholes” on farms to be scrapped in two reports for the Institute for Fiscal Studies, as well as writing a further report for CenTax making the same arguments for changes to both Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) last October.

    After Advani boasted at the Labour Party Conference that he was “optimistic” because the Labour government is “genuinely listening” to his ideas, Reeves announced in the Budget that the availability of 100 per cent relief for agricultural and business property would be capped at £1 million.

    So far, so predictable, you may argue. What’s the harm in tapping up Left-wing think tanks for radical tax ideas? Do Conservative governments not rely on the research of free market institutes? Well, some have alleged the Treasury relied solely on CenTax’s projection that the changes would raise £520 million, without doing its own calculations.

    As it conceded in response to a Freedom of Information request: “H M Treasury does not hold a disaggregated cost projection for the revenue raised from the measure announced at Autumn Budget 2024 to restrict these reliefs. This is a combined policy across the reliefs, rather than separate policies for each relief.”

    Even more problematically, the £520 million figure has been challenged. The OBR itself said it was uncertain how much would be raised as a result of behavioural responses, whilst CBI Economics calculates that the new tax on both family firms and farms will actually cost the Treasury £1.9 billion over the next five years.

    Advani claimed that only around 500 farms would be affected by the tax. As the Adam Smith Institute points out, however, “the government’s much-quoted ‘500’ a year is really 15,000 a generation.” The true number of farms could be more than 40,000.

    Separate research, commissioned by Ashbridge Partners, found that one in 10 farmers surveyed said they will face an IHT bill of more than £1 million due to the inheritance tax hike, with 31 per cent expecting to pay more than £500,000.

    Why didn’t Labour listen?

    Treasury minister James Murray, who referenced back in 2022 how many Zoom meetings he’d held with Dr Summers, even hosted CenTax’s official launch in Parliament last November when he declared his desire “to make sure that collaboration between CenTax, Treasury and HMRC continues for many years into the future.”

    Advani and Summers also influenced Labour’s pledge to scrap non dom status with Treasury ministers again seeming to unquestioningly swallow their claim that it would raise £3.2 billion, a figure repeatedly cited by the Government.

    The trouble is, that number was also based on some misguided premises, perhaps including Advani and Summers’ quite ludicrous prediction that out of 70,000 non-doms, only 77 would leave. As other economists later pointed out, the projection did not take into account the impact of abolishing non-dom inheritance tax protections. Even the OBR assumed that the changes would likely lead to a loss of 25 per cent of non-doms with trusts, which could cost the UK more than £12 billion during the course of the parliament.

    Still the Government swallowed the £3.2 billion figure hook line and sinker despite some now estimating that 10 per cent of non-doms may have already left the UK. A report by the CEBR predicts the ongoing exodus could reach 40 per cent – costing the Treasury a self-defeating £7.1 billion over this parliament.

    This combined with the £1.9 billion revenue lost as a result of the farm and family firm tax could mean the Government is down £9 billion thanks to listening to these nitwits. CenTax also wrongly predicted that increasing the tax rate on carried interest to 45 per cent would raise additional revenue of £0.8 billion per year. Labour settled on 32 per cent – but a January 2025 estimate by the OBR suggests that only £100 million will be raised and since then Reeves has watered it down.

    Labour claim to be a “party of business”. So why are they seemingly listening to two economists who are laying the intellectual groundwork for an expansion in taxation that could come to look like Corbynism on steroids.

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

    Christine Bell
    13 hrs ago
    Isn’t it Darren Jones, Chief Secretary of the Treasury that’s advising Rachel Reeves? The chap infamous for his blatant lies on BBC Question Time. Claimed the male fighting age immigrants coming into Britain from France were mainly women and children. The chap that was booed by the Question Time audience?!!! Wow, just wow………..

    Robert McCowan
    13 hrs ago
    Reply to Christine Bell
    The sad thing is he believes he is right and sits at the cabinet table putting forward ideas based on such “facts”.

    David Compton
    13 hrs ago
    Reply to Christine Bell
    He boasts that he grew up in poverty and it's clear that he has a huge chip on his Marxist shoulder. Screw the better off to get his revenge.

    Jane Britton
    7 hrs ago
    Reply to Christine Bell
    He really is the visual epitome of a plastic pop-up politician. Laughable. Except not funny. A terrifying bunch of no-hopers – Reeves, Rayner, Chariman Mao Bridget Philipson, Starmer, Hermer. Ghastly. Horrifying. Depresssing.

    Lance Porter
    50 min ago
    Reply to Jane Britton
    You missed out the worst of the lot….Milliband, on your list of woefuls.

    M Gibbons
    13 hrs ago
    There is going to be a revolution the way it’s going. We’ve got billions spent on foreigners (£1 bn a month) billions on welfare (1000 pips a day) , billions on the public sector (bigger than ever with crap productivity) , billions on illegals…..and if you say anything about our country being undermined by faiths with crappy values it’s jail

    1. If we all ran our household budgets in a similar manner, we would have no home (and all that that entails, including no bank account)…how is it OK for a government to be un-accountable?

  39. Morning all. From the Telegraph:

    Phil Douglas, the Border Force chief, has been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath for “services to border security and public service”.

    Mr Douglas assumed the role in November 2021, since when small-boat crossings across the Channel have continued to soar.

  40. Morning all. From the Telegraph:

    Phil Douglas, the Border Force chief, has been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath for “services to border security and public service”.

    Mr Douglas assumed the role in November 2021, since when small-boat crossings across the Channel have continued to soar.

    1. Arguably, he is serving them well. Just depends on how keen you are on the continuation of a happy, non-muslim Blighty.

    3. The sort of people receiving honours becomes yet more pitiable. It is no coincidence that our Royals are completely out of touch but wish to please their “subjects” believing that we are all stupid.

      1. I think the People's Princess farrago gave the Royal Family a very distorted view of their subjects.
        A frightening time when I really did feel like a stranger in my own country.

  41. Donald Trump today on Truth Social:

    “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to “just do it,” but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done. I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it. Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!”

    1. How powerful is the opposition in Iran?
      I gather from reading reports, that the young are not impressed with the oppressive grandads.
      Is this a situation that they could turn to their advantage? Like the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian empires' collapse after WWI?

      1. Yes, I read that too anne, and for quite a while…been marches, protests and also some suggestion Islamic Guard support. Perhaps their day is really done, the only worry being how far along they are nuclear-wise.

        1. I really admire the protesters. They are seriously courageous.
          Let's face it, the Iran government enforcers are not going to worry about whether they like sugar in their coffee or minor details like human rights.

  42. Lord Farquard
    1h
    The media keeps referring to an Indian economic migrant called Vishwash Kumar Ramesh as a "British" man.
    He is not British, and calling him thus is an insult to British people. A Brit who moved to India to make a fast buck would not be an Indian. He'd be a British ex-pat.

    1. Likewise an Alsatian dog living in Dalmatia would not be a Dalmatian but, beyond being an obvious power grab, the Egalitarian Myth only makes some semblance of sense if certain biological realities are ignored.

      1. I'm wondering, Sue (good morning, hope you slept well x)…have a border terrier, always aggressive with other dogs. If she's a trans dog, might explain it? (you know I'm joking, right…:-D)

        1. Does she self-identify as a cat? My mum used to say our dog was a terrier-cross or a cross terrier, depending on his mood.

          I had a good night but have been coughing a lot this morning. It’s one of my days for submitting blood pressure etc readings to the NHS and their Doccla app was playing up/not loading. The cough is caused by the meds but agitation doesn’t help.

          1. I think she does, in that she hates all other dogs, and cats, and only tolerates a few people. Sorry to read of your coughing.. I cough with house dust allergy, worse this year with high pollen count (Pollen Pal app)…a number of people seem to be having hay fever when they’ve not had it before – local honey helps, I wonder if honey may help your cough? Good luck, Sue, with bp reading…sit upright, breathe slowly and deeply as much as you can, slow down your heart beat…I found that helped to lower reading xxx

          2. I think the theory behind honey is that it needs to be a local product so that you are getting micro doses of the local pollen.

          3. Agree, anne…have been better this year thanks to local honey producer/beekeeper giving me a jar in return for a job husband did .

          4. I used to have a dust mite allergy – lasted for years….. I used to hoover the mattress, etc etc and was always sneezing. Not sure when, but it cleared up and I realised eventually that dust etc (being just as bad as always) didn't seem to affect me any more. Don't know what caused it or what made it go away.

          5. Exactly the same with one of my children, was told ‘house dust mite allergy’. I really have little faith in medics now, just want to give out prescription meds or send you to private physio (buy a yoga video instead, many similar exercises, I like Maiya Fiennes). Walking in fresh air helps, avoid traffic a much as poss. Or put favourite music on, dance around the house 🙂

          8. Allergies can come and go mysteriously, for no apparent reason. Sort of like cats.

          10. I think that's for general health benefits. For coughs, what works is sugary syrup coating the mucous membranes, so any old sweet stuff will do.

    2. They simply can't stop themselves trying to make an invented rather over emphasised point.

  43. From DTletters comments

    J McMenemy
    1 hr ago
    Lance Warrington needn't worry, has he forgotten that Starmer and Lammy are in power?

    I predict it won't be long before it is official Labour foreign policy to support the "combative" Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

    After all, they have not stopped the thousands of illegal arrivals from Iran, nearly all fit young men of military age. Instead they try to fool us into believing these new arrivals are sickly women and children.

    Mrs M

    Reply by Richard Forster.

    RF

    Richard Forster
    1 hr ago
    I find it frightening that Darren Jones thinks that the majority of boat people are women, children and babies. If that is the mindset in Government then laws are going to be wrong. Did the Civil Service mislead him?

    Reply by J McMenemy.

    JM

    J McMenemy
    1 hr ago
    Darren Jones has no excuse. The photos, films, articles about the boats have been prolific and unmissable.

    As the great Rupert Lowe MP suggested in his letter to the minister, Mr Jones needs an eyesight test.

    Mrs M

    Reply by Richard Forster.

    RF

    Richard Forster
    1 hr ago
    I agree; maybe THE truth does not fit his or the Government's agenda so lie to the public again.

    Reply by Perigo Minas.

    PM

    Perigo Minas
    1 hr ago
    1984. Ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears.

  44. From Silver Academy Substack:

    The recent escalation between Israel and Iran—marked by Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks—reveals a brutal truth: war is not just about security, sovereignty, or ideology. At its core, war is a business. From the American Revolution to World War I, World War II, Vietnam from Iraq, Afghanistan to Ukraine, every major conflict has served as a windfall for bankers, arms manufacturers, and political elites, while workers have borne the brunt of the devastation and debt.

    The current Israel-Iran confrontation is simply the latest chapter in a centuries-old pattern: war is waged to enrich the few, drain state coffers, and keep the machinery of the military-industrial complex running at full tilt.
    https://thesilverindustry.substack.com/p/exposed-us-100-involved-in-iran-israel?publication_id=1857579&post_id=165908085&isFreemail=true&r=28gmek&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    1. Migrants are allowed to kill swans, but people's land is in danger of compulsory purchase to install "environmentally friendly" solar power stations.

      It's never been about protecting nature.

      1. Wind turbines kill thousands of birds. I wonder how many swans are in the bird-kill statistics.

          1. Do these work?

            Like many so-called environmental measures they looks like a load of balls!

          2. Do these work?

            Like many so-called environmental measures they looks like a load of balls!

        2. We have recently had our 'team of experts' saying that certain species of bird life has greatly reduced but there was no suggestion as to why.

    3. That's been going on for years since people started to arrive from Poland.
      Same with illegal fishing in rivers, no licence and stealing the catches.
      Typically no arrests have ever been made. Nor fines issued.

    4. We all know why. It's the muslim thing again. For some reason muslim seems to be able to do what it likes.

      It must be burned out of the country and those remaining reminded they are, at best, third class behind pets.

  46. 3rd mug of tea finished, so off to do a bit of work before it gets too hot!
    TTFN.

        1. Yes – we’ve recently had a replacement batch – it’s always the black that runs out of course…. they were about £10. I haven’t looked at the price of printers.

    2. A 3d printer can print a gun, but you can't fire a bullet from it as the resin would shatter. Better would be polycarbonate and carbon fibre, made in pieces using a screw tension trigger. Even then you might get two shots, if two chambers and it'd be scrap.

  48. There is an article about the shingles vaxx on Peter McCullough's substack – I remember it once came up on here.
    "The VE (vaccine efficacy) for full vaccination was 80% (95% CI, 73%-85%) during the first year, 77% (95% CI, 67%-84%) during the second year, and 74% (63%-82%) after the second year."
    Behind a paywall, only the above part is free to read
    https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/waning-effect-of-shingles-vaccine?publication_id=1119676&post_id=165758816&isFreemail=true&r=28gmek&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    1. I noticed that and couldn't read beyond that first bit. I had shingles in 2019 and it was nasty – I wouldn't want it again, so I did have the vax for that in 2021. It was the final vax I had – not going to have any more for anything.

      So far, I haven't had it again – so it must work – eh? Like I haven't had covid or any other dread disease…… all down to the vax or my super-duper immune system?

      1. I do prefer other ways of strengthening my immune system that don’t involve injecting all sorts of ingredients into one’s bloodstream, but nothing is 100%

        1. Having animals around you and not being obsessed with making your home sterile is the best immunisation.

          1. I do think being over-obsessed with antibacterial this and that everywhere is asking for trouble. I spent my early childhood playing in the mud and getting dirty. I've been pretty healthy most of my life…..apart from the odd breast cancer.

          2. I first noticed the immunity thing when the boys were small.
            We've always had many and varied pets; their diet when they were crawling was probably 50% fur, feathers and fluff from under the beds. Even when they were older there was always 'stuff' around them. They were hale and hearty.
            A few doors down was a neighbour with 3 sons about the same age as ours. Her house was spotless; never were all 3 of her boys at school. There was always at least one suffering from the snotty, grizzling sort of lurgy that rug rats tend to get. One even managed to develop cystitis – something that is normally a girlie affliction.

          4. My house has never been spotless! Nor was my mother’s…… The old adage “You’ll eat a peck of dirt……” is true I think. My boys have both been quite healthy. We’ve always had cats, and my mum had an old dog who died when I was about seven. I’ve never been fanatical about cleanliness. I think the immune system gets built up over the years from being exposed to all the pathogens around.

            As a young child I did get earaches and so on….. had tonsils out – why? And why is it no longer done?

          5. Tonsils have a job to do.
            Very unusually for the 1950s, we had a GP who explained to my parents that my getting tonsillitis meant they were working. They were catching bugs that would otherwise travel further into the system and possibly cause worse illnesses.
            All my class mates had them automatically removed; I was the odd one out.
            (It is different if tonsillitis becomes chronic and blights adulthood.)
            Anecdotally, I can say that MB (sans tonsils) catches more colds than I do and then develops chest infections. Even when he was younger and healthier this was the pattern.

          6. Mine got lots of real workouts, as a kid I played in the dust in Nigeria, making dusty trails in the air pretending to be an aeroplane… tonsilitis frequently, as they caught whatever was in the dirt.
            Now – hardly ever ill with anythung, especially with Vit D3 supplements. No cold since lockdown, when I staretd with D3.

          7. I’ve been fortunate then to have good health – though I think when i was a teenager and had had a very bad throat, I was convinced the tonsils had regrown. I don’t get too many bugs. I don’t recall ever having a chest infection.

    2. I noticed that and couldn't read beyond that first bit. I had shingles in 2019 and it was nasty – I wouldn't want it again, so I did have the vax for that in 2021. It was the final vax I had – not going to have any more for anything.

      So far, I haven't had it again – so it must work – eh? Like I haven't had covid or any other dread disease…… all down to the vax or my super-duper immune system?

  49. The sculptor, Anthony Gormley, who produces statue based on his own body form, has been made a Companion of Honour by King Charlie. It is a very special honour held by only 65 people. Here is an example of his world renown artwork. One of 27 statues constructed of fiberglass and four of cast iron, all cast from the body of the artist himself. A 'person' of Irish/German decent who was inculcated in a Benedictine college and applied for German citizenship after the Brexit referendum result and, last year, donated half a £million pounds to the Labour party and previously vast amounts to the Greens. What possibly influenced Charlie and his mate Two Tier to recommend and accept him for such an high honour? It is a complete mystery.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Gormley-10Je7-8118_crop_reverse.jpg

          1. It’s on an old coal mine. The winding wheel and the pithead baths were part of my view from infants school! Team Colliery it was called, or Ravensworth Ann pit.

          2. Thank you; I did wonder. I realised that the foundations would have to be pretty impressive.

        2. I have photographs of it under construction. I just wandered round the building site. There were no workmen present.

      2. Yes, it almost certainly represents him showing his 'tackle' to the general public.

        2. He ownes a large hunting estate not far from where we used to live in Norfolk . A man of two sides.

    3. The Idiot King is the willing vassal or minion of the extreme left. In fact idiocy and extreme leftwingery often go hand in hand.

      It is hardly surprising that many of us here may be moderately pro-monarchy but extremely anti the current monarch!

      1. And this morning Charlie and his misses and the rellies are all out in horse drawn carriages riding the London streets waving their arms around. In a celebration of certain altercation. Or contention.

      2. Charles the Adulterer.

        Ex soldier of the Queen, just my estimation of the man.

    5. Slammers won't be happy. That statue represents the human form.
      I wonder if Chuck cleared it with his chums?

    8. His elder brother was a friend of mine at Ampleforth and a 'good egg'. Antony was completely up his own duff even aged 13. He obviously had an unusual talent but nobody liked him.

      Who but a raging papist narcissist would have this as part of their Wiki entry

      " Gormley has stated that his parents chose his initials, "AMDG", to have the inference Ad maiorem Dei gloriam – "to the greater glory of God".

      1. My initials were AD.
        At least my parent got the era right.
        I'm not sure AA is any improvement.

    3. Yet absolutely nothing from the MSM. Not a peep about this from Al Beeb. Silence.

      All far worse than the flicker when the BoE did in Truss, then Al Beeb was desperate to scream and shout about how government was destroying the economy but the simple truth was the disruption lasted barely a day, recovered afterward and was the fault of the Bank of England.

      Now we've socialists actively ruining the economy and lo! Silence.

  51. Sounds worrying, Sue. I hope they can adjust your medication so that you feel a bit better.

  52. Farage is making an a**e of Reform's election chances. He has ejected one of the most sensible members, Rupert Lowe, and installed a 'Gay boy', David Bull, as Chairman. Within hours of stepping up as Reform chairman Bull triggered his first media controversy by remarking that “immigration is the lifeblood of this country – it always has been”.

    In 2007, Bull appeared at the Brighton Pride parade, for which he designed and wore a T-shirt with the slogan "I've come out… I'm a Tory", saying it was acceptable to be gay and a Conservative. He is no longer a Tory but is still gay

    In addition, Farage accepted the return of the former chairman, Zia Yusuf, who is against banning the burka and had resigned his post saying “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time.

    Is there no one in British politics who is on our side? I have my doubts.

    1. Hear you, Per. I think there are good Reform candidates, especially Northern towns/cities. Doesn't Farage (&Tice ) have a track record, something similar with UKIP (and also Ben Habib). I think opopanax has the full details, hopefully post again?

      1. Lowe quietly puts in a lot of work in parliament. Farage is only interested in soundbites.

    3. 407425+ up ticks,

      Afternoon Per,

      The "nige" has previous form ALL is noted.
      Two weeks ago I joined the Farmers Food and Freedom Party as I repeat they have deep rooted, vested interest, and for ever have been patriotic.

      Too much laughter and high jinks showing deep contentment and happy with their lot coming from the parliamentary area.

        1. 497425+ up ticks,

          Afternoon O,

          Think on it, these past thirty plus years tribally following a name (INO) has landed we are today, I do believe honest content is of more importance, in their case the tin label
          fills my needs.

          Also many a belly

    4. I don't care if he's gay. It's nothing to do with me. I don't, however, want government pushing homosexual policies as if a lifestyle choice required specific legislation. This is what causes backlash, after all.

      Reform are no different to any other party. A bunch of waffling, half baked, unresearched, no moral compass weathervanes.

      I will be spoiling my paper, as I have no party to vote for.

  53. Anyone else a Spectator subscriber, please? Disqus not working today, others comment but I can't, can only 'Share'. Subscription up to date. They;ve done this before….do I really want to bother renewing..

    1. I get their lunchtime and evening emails but I've never been a subscriber. Maybe it's disqus? Though it seems to work ok here.

      1. I'm thinking of cobbing it, although I quite like a few columnists and generally read comments. Not what it once was, by any means. Disqus always works well nttl, never had a problem. Likewise FreeSpeechBacklash. Only Spectator.

      1. Ah, thanks, jellyb….one time they had this young chap Jack trying to develop the app (never used it) which screwed things up.

      1. Thanks anne. All the ones on Coffee House. Initially thought it may just be the one about Israel/Iran but it’s not. Also checked out the the magazine articles, they’re the same. Far as I’m aware, sub is up to date, but I emailed to ask them. No reply as yet.

        1. Perhaps the people in charge of policing the comments looked at the news and just thought, "nah, let's have a quiet day!"

  54. My hungry son just announced his intention of eating the roses that his sister brought home yesterday.
    I said, "I've got some crayons you can eat instead"
    Son: "Are they the purple ones? if so, yes"

    I'd better go and start cooking lunch before all the bread disappears.

    1. We are having lunch at 2 today I have decided. That'll be 3 once cooking has completed.

      A voracious teenager (no sign of Kevin the teenager yet) seems to go through a loaf of bread a day so I've made Junior a sausage and ham sandwich with mango chutney in a crusty roll that I bought today before anyone was up.

  55. No, my GP tells me that Ramipril and Apixaban are the guilty substances. Blood pressure and blood thinner, respectively.

    1. Now you mention it, the doctors stopped MB's Ramipril. I've just realised I've not heard his early morning cough for several weeks.

  56. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d839471bdbac2ed82332e97b108426d96c74026de774743ad8c8a1fa798b8679.jpg
    Floods? What floods?
    _______________________________________________________________________________

    More than 30,000 lightning strikes recorded overnight
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93lrqk60geo

    But not here in Northants. The forecast was correct and had been for a couple of days: rain in the west and the east, dry in the middle. Indeed, that's how it's been since the weather broke late in April. We've had barely two inches here in that time, less than half the average and way below the totals recorded across much of the country.

  58. 407425+ up ticks,

    The governing political tools semi secret army received a 900 Plus boost to its ranks yesterday 14 boats evaded fred & albert our coast protection squad.

    Laughter from all sides is still echoing around the hoc from yesterday's lammies answers, nothing to do or appertaining to, ssshus, the small boat invasion.

    The end in reality is speeding up all that is seemingly left is personal damage limitations, and put one bullet aside.

    The terrible final fall out of tribal / tactical voting.

  60. That's the 11th kerbstone placed and waiting to be backfilled.
    Will probably stop with the next one and now have to work out what to do with the dozen or so I'll have left. However, I do have a couple of plans that might work.

    1. Thanks Anne I’ll try that later.
      We use to be able to buy sets of cheap ink cartridges at Tesco but they seem to have stopped selling it now.

      1. I do recommend them. On one occasion they phoned me after I'd placed an order and gave me guidance on how to save money; something that actually reduced the value of that particular sale to the company.
        They've probably more than regained that loss through my always ordering from them since.

  64. or thought ‘I know, let’s annoy our subbers again’…more likely just another cockup from Jack… will take another look……

  65. 407425+ up ticks,

    Afternoon S,

    They would sharp find real justice there, no doubt of it.

    1. and here, Alec…shining on the righteous 🙂 until overnight, ferocious storm…or so I'm told, slept through it….

  68. I also brooded on when lightening conductors were first installed on churches – which would have been the highest buildings until skyscrapers were developed .
    I had a feeling that it followed Benjamin Franklin's experiments with a kite.
    I woz rite.
    1762 was the first time lightening rods were installed on churches.
    (Pats herself on the back and becomes insufferably smug.)

    The kite experiment is a scientific experiment in which a kite with a pointed conductive wire attached to its apex is flown near thunder clouds to collect static electricity from the air and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground. The experiment was first proposed in 1752 by Benjamin Franklin, who reportedly conducted the experiment with the assistance of his son William. The experiment's purpose was to investigate the nature of lightning and electricity, which were not yet understood. Combined with further experiments on the ground, the kite experiment demonstrated that lightning and electricity were the result of the same phenomenon.

    No Health and Safety then. Hence the human race actually making scientific advances.

  69. If you want any, just let me know and, fingers crossed, I can magic them up for you.

    1. Sussed it, thanks Anne. Searched my memory, remembered it had happened before around three months ago. Looked in my emails from around that time – logging out then logging back in was the answer. No idea of the cause, possibly a Speccie upgrade or similar.

      2. It happened to me today as well. Thanks for posting the solution – it has worked for me, too.

  70. I will spare their blushes but the dogs are outside gamboling around wearing shower caps. As Lucy is a lady she has a straw bonnet tied with a ribbon on her collar. It's mostly been smashed to bits but I tried.

    I'll call them in in a bit while the sun is at it's height, but they're all drinking water (with ice in it).

    (They all have loose collars even though they're walked with a chest harness. If a Newfie wants to go, he will, and a neck collar will simply strangle him so for walks they've all a harness)

  72. Does anyone else here take Bisoprolol, Ramipril and Doxasosin together ?
    Nearly everyday I'm almost falling asleep around this time.

    1. We find we're falling asleep late afternoon without any prescription meds, it's called 'getting old' (in our case).

    2. I take Bisoprolol, Furosemide, Digoxin, Dapagliflozin, Apixaban snd Eplerenone in the morning. I save Ramipril for bedtime. Yes, I become dozy at this time of day unless there’s something to grab my attention.

    4. I am taking my ramipril now as during hell months I had heart squeezing, and the docs said 'you're being an idiot (but kindly).

      I haven't found it makes me especially sleepy, but then I can sleep almost any time.

  74. Plenty of flags in London today but none from Palestinian for a pleasant change,
    but plenty of weapons on display to make sure.

    2. It's horrible. The black background doesn't help either. It looks like some kind of satanist ritual.

    6. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Only it's not backs and they're not scratching.

  76. Waiting for an helicopter in Northern Ireland. Continuation parachute training. You had to complete so many each years and we had spent so much time away from base that we had to do it while on 'active' service. 55 Years ago.

    https://scontent-cdg4-3.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/417413146_10161911948659954_3847234106805263717_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s720x720_tt6&_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=MhWXPZNJ2b0Q7kNvwFEeb6G&_nc_oc=AdnYc6bGpOwNOg60MK2FUlsUHuNjVoFU-uAiHEiVqDef53LksVcmaauqpIcumZrwLZu8NPPm8Lki5KcNp2QxohFY&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-3.xx&_nc_gid=Xj7vqAHQMxM-gHPgKwot7A&oh=00_AfNDZgpoHHbKgrXD45mnPg7P-7sGs0bd65c3Q1YYqSBCFA&oe=68531923

    1. Anyone who jumps out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft voluntarily gets my respect

      1. I read a tale of one US paratrooper who completed his training jumps, got his wings and had more training jumps. He took part in 3 operational jumps into combat.
        At war's end, he was shipped back to the US and was put on a transport plane back to his home state. He said he was terrified by the landing, as he had only ever jumped from a plane and never before landed in one. (Anecdotal – no link but it's a great tale).

    1. Try that with my three and they'd watch you nip off into the distance and wait for you to come back, then climb on.

  78. Six years ago:
    The BBC is whinging that the Tory leadership election is misogynistic because both female contenders were eliminated in the first round.
    I don't know what they are complaining about – The next Prime Minister will be a dumb blonde. Just be thankful for that!

    https://scontent-cdg4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/62502086_10157454294284954_7116962458186547200_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=Bhd7Fb92YP0Q7kNvwF1yX3V&_nc_oc=AdkW0HRlqm2OOv1bmIQj-GKgERwmnF3-YwtwOl3jnxoN5N2m9-_oSG4ykC1NDQ2Lj9a2HW4_SN4XPl4j4P5LrYRA&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-1.xx&_nc_gid=Xj7vqAHQMxM-gHPgKwot7A&oh=00_AfOI2JTy8vK6irQ3mkfrN69jRsKkIMObK3lXq7c-EJp8MA&oe=6874B2B1

  79. I think the Warqueen would be a good PM. The only problem is she really doesn't have any time for dimmos.

  80. HatanakaHacker
    5h
    Starmer doing what the royal family never did in the war.
    Running off to Canada when things look dicey.

    1. Now you know that is not because he is a coward, he just wants to look good in front of his opposite numbers and look good by giving away more of your money to unworthy causes.

        1. It was the late 1800's and James McNeill Whistler (the man behind the painting "Whistler's Mother"), was at a party with Oscar Wilde (considered to be one of the great wits of the nineteenth century). Apparently, Wilde also had the reputation of appropriating clever expressions spoken by others.

          During their conversation, Whistler made a funny remark that led Wilde to say, "I wish I had said that." Whistler, no less of an imposing character himself, responded, "You will, Oscar, you will."

    2. Kim Leadbeater, MP for Batley and Spen. She is an homosexual, living with her partner Claire. In 2020, she was appointed President of West Yorkshire Scouts. By whom?

      An homosexual head of Scouts? Something seriously wrong with today's society.

    1. Crimea River
      Beebsplaining
      1h
      There’s a face going to have trouble getting into a ladies toilet,

      1. Fugly is the word, I believe? Unless Mr. Beans thinks it’s unladylike!

      2. Would it be tasteless of me to suggest he shot the wrong one?
        Yup. I'm dead tasteless.

        1. It was an appalling attack for anyone to suffer.
          Shot and stabbed multiple times by a crazy maniac.

          1. I view her and her attacker as both being victims of the "Don't Give A Fuck In The Community" mental health system.

    2. Easier to list those not eligible – I have one but rarely get the chance to use it

      1. It's a discount card offered to members of the armed forces and listed professions (the Blue Light supposed to represent the Emergency Services but has obviously spread to include any Public Sector workers…..)

    5. I posted yesterday about my trip to Coniston – the launches on the Lake offer 15% discount to Blue Light/Military – nice work if you can get it!!

      1. Well we have to be stoic and accept that the world is full of pervs. Just don't want reminders in my line of vision, if possible. ;o)

    1. First live picture of diarrhea and smallpox. Only their closely related carcinoma, Edmillichite, needed to complete the set.

      1. Not sure Maggie was ever photographed living it up on champers during a "working" flight.

  89. UK Legislation
    3h
    To be a civil servant is to be constantly lectured about ‘diversity’, yet diversity applied in the Civil Service really means conformity of belief, and that only those who do conform can feel safe.

    Underneath lay the cultural superstructure of Whitehall: the application of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) – or , Conformity, Inequality and Exclusion – to all aspects of work. The effect is to ‘inclusively’ ensure that only conformists are hired and promoted, and meanwhile to cancel any heretics who might not adhere to the general groupthink.

    The result is a closed system and culture where no one can dissent and those civil servants with the right beliefs are in complete control. This is why the Whitehall Blob has so much power.

    UK legislation is conceived and developed by policy officials. Provided a department’s officials are all on board with the agenda, it is therefore very easy for them to manipulate ministers and in effect to decide the law.

    On the rare occasions that ministers do push back and exercise their own judgement, they will typically find themselves accused by civil servants of ‘bullying’ and be likewise bullied by a compliant media for making a fuss until they resign.

    In short, Yes Minister‘s Sir Humphrey lives on in woke Whitehall today.

    1. The correct interpretation of DEI for the Home Office is EID.
      Just about sums it up.

  91. Try going in there and asking for a Bacon and Egg McMuffin. Would they be more offended by the bacon or McDonalds reference?

  93. Just another method of getting to work quickly. It was the ten mile ‘bashes’ with full kit afterwards I thought a bit excessive.

  94. Camilla Tominey
    Starmer’s latest freebie: British sovereignty in exchange for nothing

    Labour is yet to reveal how many billions is being squandered on a reset that has already prompted another big fat ‘non’ from Paris

    14 June 2025 12:00pm BST
    Camilla Tominey

    While we can’t rely on the French to help police the Channel – despite paying them £500 million for the privilege – we can always trust our Gallic cousins to bear a grudge.

    We already knew that the Prime Minister’s great EU “reset” was a sham; that much was clear when all we got in return was the use of e-gates that were already operational in many European countries.

    Now, we learn that we may not even be granted access to the bloc’s industrial defence programme, despite Sir Keir Starmer’s insistence that defence and security was a central tenet of the deal.

    As he boasted last month after selling us out to Brussels: “We’ve also struck a new defence and security partnership to strengthen our cooperation and strengthen our security – which is vital in this dangerous new era.

    “And it will open the door to working with the EU’s new defence fund – providing new opportunities for our defence industry, supporting British jobs and livelihoods.”

    Except, of course, the French have other ideas. In yet another example of just how bad Labour is at negotiating anything (see also the Chagos surrender and, more recently, the “deal” to allow Spanish border guards to check passports on Gibraltar) we now learn that Emmanuel Macron is trying to shut out British arms firms from the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).

    While different to the defence fund, which is known as SAFE (Security Action for Europe), EDIP will see cash pumped into joint procurement projects and the production of weapons, ammunition and other military hardware. It was created for the benefit of the EU and “allies” but French diplomats have insisted the tool should be solely used to boost firms based inside the EU, as well as Norway and Ukraine – shutting out the UK.

    So much for Starmer’s boast that the reset deal would put Britain “back on the world stage” and give us “unprecedented access to the EU market, the best of any country.”

    Labour is yet to reveal how many billions is being squandered on a reset that has already prompted another big fat “non” from Paris.

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

    Erica Below
    1 hr ago
    Thanks for the fish ! As promised in return we've looked at you for supply defence stuff, but guess what, we've looked and that's your lot. What a rubbish negotiator you are, but thanks for the fish anyway.

    Paul ZMITROWICZ
    1 hr ago
    TTK decision making can be deemed treason.

  95. Jake Wallis Simons
    Israel can see what Europe can’t: the Devil

    Calling for diplomacy now is utterly mad: Iran desperately wants to annihilate the Jewish State

    14 June 2025 10:48am BST
    Jake Wallis Simons

    “The cleverest ruse of the Devil,” wrote Baudelaire in 1864, “is to persuade you he does not exist.” More than 160 years later, great swathes of Leftists, Israelophobes and Western leaders appear to have fallen under this spell when it comes to the regime in Tehran.

    Sir Keir Starmer delivered the usual message of pacifism on behalf of Britain. It matched that of Ursula von der Leyen and the other centrist fundamentalist European leaders, all of whom are equally addicted to the numbing opium of appeasement.

    Instead of seeing a resolve for victory, we were subjected to repeated demands for “de-escalation” and “diplomacy”. Having so loudly decried the Iranian threat in recent months, even placing it in the highest category of the new foreign influence register, the Prime Minister seemed unable to connect the synapses.

    By the time Israel was driven to attack, the international community had not imposed snapback sanctions on Iran. Britain even disgraced itself by refusing to help with Israel’s defence. The Ayatollah could be launching nuclear bombs at all the major cities of the West in a sulphurous haze, and David Lammy would still extol the virtues of jaw-jaw.

    In central Tehran, there is a clock counting down to September 9, 2040, the date of Israel’s destruction as prophesied by the Ayatollah. The regime has enriched uranium to a level only required for military uses. When Khamenei gives speeches, the crowd chants: “Death to America! Death to England! Death to the hypocrites and the infidels! Death to Israel!” Until yesterday, Iran’s scientists could produce 15 nukes within days.

    Khamenei’s pet theology lusts after the apocalypse. Triggered by the obliteration of Israel, this cataclysm will supposedly herald the arrival of the “Mahdi” to lead Shia forces to global victory. These are the convictions that drive actual Iranian foreign policy. De-escalation and diplomacy are laughable, yet this is what Israel has suffered since the Obama era. When Jerusalem was forced to act, you’d have thought the West would rally. But no. Israel was the bad guy.

    We have seen this movie before. When Jerusalem destroyed Saddam Hussein’s nuclear programme in 1981, the world was appalled. “A clear violation of… the norms of international conduct,” the United Nations huffed. Two decades later, the White House quietly acknowledged that the Jews had done everybody a favour.

    We may see a similar change of heart by 2045, but there will be much danger before then. Starmer and the Europeans don’t realise how outdated they sound in this new, perilous world. As Vasily Grossman put it in Life and Fate: “Only yesterday you were sure of yourself, strong and cheerful, a son of the time. But now another time has come – and you don’t even know it.”

    Their era has passed. This is Israel’s century. While dogs of war bark globally and instability grips America, the countries that will thrive will be those with conviction in their values and the courage and resilience to defend them. “The world will never pity slaughtered Jews,” observed Menachem Begin. “The world may not necessarily like the fighting Jew, but the world will have to take account of him.”

    With Russia and China sharpening their knives, we must not only take account of the fighting Jew but also follow his lead. Just look at Ukraine. First, however, we must accept what our grandparents learned the hard way. The Devil exists. It makes no sense to appease him.

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

    Alan Roberts
    2 hrs ago
    The Devil does indeed exist but not only in Iran. Successive UK governments have invited the Devil in to reside well within the UK’s borders and the invitation to the Devil is as open as is our borders! The Devil delights in our increasingly segregated, misogynistic and homophobic society. The Devil is undocumented and stays well hidden, no doubt poised to strike as he ducks and dives away from the gaze of our security forces. The Devil does indeed make use of idle hands!

    God help us! And God bless Israel.

    ted welstead
    2 hrs ago
    Reply to Alan Roberts
    The devil is in hamas

    Alan Roberts
    2 hrs ago
    Reply to ted welstead
    Yea, so the Devil walks with the Palestinian protest marches on British streets chanting alongside ‘from the river to the sea’, thereby clearly supporting Hamas and antisemitism.

    Kate Bero
    2 hrs ago
    Reply to ted welstead
    There are 57 Islamist terrorist groups in the World. A peaceful religion, it is not.

    Garden Shed
    2 hrs ago
    Reply to Alan Roberts – view message
    And the devil lives in the British towns blighted by the rape gangs. The survivors need justice. 2TK, you feeble man, get a spine

    PROUD REMOANER
    1 hr ago
    Unbelievably the BBC are pushing Iranian propaganda about Iran targeting only military sites in Tel Aviv !

    The BBC is the enemy of the West

    1. Lord Farquard
      51m
      Between April 2024 and March 2025, six in ten of small boat arrivals were from just five nationalities: Afghan (15%), Syrian (11%), Eritrean (11%), Iranian (11%), and Sudanese (8%)
      That's approximately 2,600 Iranians illegally entering our homeland over the last year, approximately 3 battalions.

      We urgently need to arm ourselves.

  97. GBN fave leftie Benjamin Butterworth has redeemed himself. He’s in Tel Aviv and sending very good reports of what’s happening there. Friday Night Dinner was interrupted by sirens yesterday and he spent the night in a bomb shelter. He’s talking sensibly about the threat posed by the Iranian theocracy. Being a good Jewish boy. No Queers for Palestine crap.

  98. Sussexes part ways with six more staff
    Source says writing was on wall after excoriating profile of the couple in Vanity Fair
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2025/06/14/TELEMMGLPICT000423490220_17498842679010_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqkQN5ZjYAPxiSWy-A4lrsDDRVmlu360KexuK8D69yZT4.jpeg?imwidth=1280
    Michael Mulholland
    4 hrs ago
    Reply to C V – view message
    Invictus is a sports event for 500 athletes who pay their own travel and accommodation costs. Despite this it cost £45m to put on an event which is no bigger than a high school sports day. Where does the money go? Why is nobody in the press asking the questions?

    Send in the Clones
    GenghisMcCann
    33m
    Yep, times are getting hard for the poor things.
    The missus has had to add "flower sparkles" to her "jam range" to try to make ends meet.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9423cae835bc9bcbc86814d54eaa26ec9ed85a875c9bd7fa5d1c6092551993d6.png

    1. Dunno why, but suddenly I heard flashing through my brain:

      "We open in Venice,
      we next play Verona …"

    2. The number of things you have to ignore to reach this point implies he's either stupid or intended to destroy it.

      Thus: flogging.

      It's different to the cleaner who threw away an 'installation' of litter, or folk at a modern art exhibition who sat on wooden benches.

    3. He needs a reward for destroying pointless modern art! Should let him into more exhibitions of it.

  100. Very sad news – Nick, one of the two people who joined me in 1984/85 in Raua to sail to the Caribbean and back, has died – he had Motor Neurone Disease.

    Here are the Raua team at Jeremy's 50th birthday party 13 years ago. Me, Nick (centre in the photo) who was a GP and an old friend from St Mawes days, and Jeremy – my former head of house and a member of my English class – who became a very successful and prosperous lawyer.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/64efc0c19d7b5a6acbbbe523d89e17e91d2d78f9cbc0f11fec2161297437c042.jpg
    and here we are in 1989 when Jeremy got married. We were all unmarried when we made our great voyage but three years later we were all married within a year of each other.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/42406cbd1a0a56ec59abf1bc7b428e9cb7d96b1ec4e8d789586df335e3c1472b.jpg

  101. Remember Denis Healey's Law of Holes?
    (A Labour politician with wit and a sense of humour. The past is truly another country.)

    "A Labour Minister has had to issue a clarification after claiming on Question Time that 90 percent of people arriving in the UK on small boats are women and children, as another 919 made the dangerous journey across the Channel on Friday.

    Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, made the claim during Thursday's programme before hastily 'clarifying' he was referring to one specific boat after the figure was widely debunked online."

    1. Healey was the best Prime Minister this country never had. (Runs for cover.)

      1. Wiki. "After graduation, Healey served in the Second World War as a gunner in the Royal Artillery before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in April 1941. Serving with the Royal Engineers, he saw action in the North African campaign, the Allied invasion of Sicily (1943) and the Italian campaign (1943–1945) and was the military landing officer ("beach master") for the British assault brigade at Anzio in 1944. He was twice mentioned in dispatches during this campaign".

        1. He had "bottom".
          A hinterland before politics. As did many of his generation.
          Nowadays, not so much ….

    2. I would not be at all surprised if the people smugglers were hoping that that particular boat would founder with significant loss of life.

      3. The home office set out a report saying just that. It was the greatest act of deceit imaginable.

    4. Thanks anne…hadn't heard his 'clarification'. When their mouths are moving, etc…….

  102. 407425+ up tick,

    Very astute of you "nige" NOW if you a can adjust your
    thinking a little, what are your thoughts on the indigenous peoples of the United Kingdom and their plight in suffering the daily invasion ?

    Farage: Iranian people deserve better than current brutal regime
    Reform leader makes rare foray into foreign policy, saying UK had been ‘naive’ over previous nuclear deal

    1. Whatever he may have had he seems to have lost since his betrayal of Rupert Lowe who stood for all the things we hoped Farage stood for.

      1. 407425+ up ticks,

        Afternoon R,

        ALL I see / hear from Rupert lowe is info I already have,also bare in mind hope is a fickle commodity.

        As the talk continues so does the invasion, another 900 plus troops hit the beach, latest.

  104. I would put it like this:

    The least bad Labour prime minister we never had.

        1. I've always thought that one might have come from his days a support singer in the Long john Baldry bands era. I had the feeling Maggie Bell sang with the band once.

        1. I was in a pub in Highgate a very, very long time ago with two mates and Rod was in there and brought the three of us a pint each.
          And you’ve been sailing as we Rastus.

      1. Yes. Once they're eyeballs are bulging out as they desperately try to breathe and finally realise that no, they're not going to their heaven at all.

        If the rest of the diversity get uppity use live rounds. I;m damned tired of reading about this vile bunch of savages destroying lives.

  112. Suck Here Starmer
    2h
    “He's a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise-breaker, the owner of no one good quality.”
    All’s Well that Ends Well.

  116. Ernest Nowell
    1h
    So he hid from the Bangladeshi Politician the other day, now he is running away to Canada. We haven’t helped Israel to defend itself. What an embarrassment.

    UK Legislation
    Ernest Nowell
    1h
    I5rael did not even contact the UK before the strikes! it contacted France Germany USA and Russia instead

  117. Captain Sensible
    2h
    You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square –
    But, when a crime’s discovered, then the Starmerbot’s not there!

  118. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v5q2n4gpxo
    I'm an NHS leader – but mum still suffered at hands of health service because she was black
    "Lord Victor Adebowale, chair of the NHS Confederation, which represents health managers, described his mother Grace's death as "undignified".
    The 92-year-old died in January of suspected lung cancer, although it was not detected until after her death.
    Lord Adebowale said his mother's missed diagnosis, combined with the sub-standard care she received when admitted to hospital for the final time, had left his family upset and searching for answers."
    He highlighted research showing younger black people waited 20 minutes longer on average in A&E than white people.
    So… the queueing system in A&E discriminates against blacks, does it? How does that work? Or, is the whole thing just a chip on the shoulder, the NHS not being famous for it's institutional caring attitude?

    2. Given the Culling Bill wending its way through Parliament, this came to mind.
      She just died at 92, doin' what she oughta do.

      Having sat with my (white) husband in A&E for 8 hours when he had double pneumonia that led to a week in hospital.
      And the 17 hours in A&E with my (white) son whose appendix was so near explosion that he was in the operating theatre within half an hour of arriving on the prep. ward, excuse me if I don't self-combust in outrage at such a racist organisation.

      Basically, I'm sick of race grifters. Particularly those who owe their 'honours' to hanging around in the NHS and social services bureaucracy.

          2. :-). I thought my date of birth; after all, I'm the guilty party. (Saves on all that expensive legal malarkey.)

      3. I was recently in Addenbrookes A&E having been instructed to attend urgently by my GP.

        During a seven hour wait to be referred to a ward I witnessed several teams of Police (generally a team comprises one male and one female officer) courteously directing foreigners. A couple of Far Eastern lads were given hospital changing facilities having supposedly had their vehicle stolen. Thereafter they kept charging their mobile phones at a machine behind my right ear and then practiced praying lying prostrate in the alley reserved for moving hospital beds and timing each other in what appeared to be some physical exercise at the same time.

        There were other repulsive foreigners wandering around waving their mobiles and shouting in gobbledegook.

        After admittance to a ward there were no beds so I spent the night in a chair parked aside a reception desk. My wife left me at around midnight to journey home and visit the next and subsequent days of my stay and treatment which was a week in duration.

        1. I don't know which impresses me more:
          Being admitted to a ward or actually getting into Addenbrookes itself i.e. finding the right door.

          1. The first problem in getting to Addenbrookes is Cambridge commuter traffic. The second obstacle is gaming access to either Car Park 1 or Car Park 2 and then actually finding an available parking space.

            The third and most impressive achievement is actually locating the desired destination which often involves lifts and trudging miles through nondeascript and lifeless corridors. The principal issue for me is that there are no external reference points such that you could be anywhere and in need of a compass.

    3. Wadda loada bolero.
      Moaning seems to be a well proportioned and inherited requisition.
      I'll bet that no black person young or old has had to wait as long as Fourteen 'king hours in A&E before being seen.

    4. Not buying the longer wait in A&E. The ticket system doesn't know if you're black or white. Was that self-reported?

  119. Just watching the rugby – gobsmacked when the national anthem was played by a 'guitarist' in distortion mode and a minutes silence for the aircrash victims (never seen that before) – where do you draw the line for not having the silence?

  120. Air India crash: An aviation expert believes the co-pilot on Air India flight AI171 pulled the plane's wing flaps instead of retracting the landing gear, causing the plane to crash. A simple and plausible explanation. Was the co-pilot drunk? He had more than 1000 hours of flying experience. We shall probably never know.

    2. I would have thought that the system should warn about – or prevent – inappropriate action at this stage; a simple warning to "Pull the other One" could be life-saving . . .

    3. That's put out by Captain Steeeeve, I believe. Be best to keep that stuff to himself until the investigation is done.

  122. A few snippets from the article:

    A Public Benefit Test for Migrant Residency and Welfare

    Britain’s welfare system is a vital safety net designed to support UK citizens facing financial hardship. Programmes such as Universal Credit, Child Benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Housing Benefit, alongside social housing, aim to assist the vulnerable.

    These programmes were not intended to provide permanent support for newcomers living at public expense. Increasingly, however, significant numbers of people born overseas access these resources, straining public finances.

    Here are six practical steps an incoming government might take to address this issue by restricting access to welfare and social housing and deporting those foreign nationals who have been a persistent net fiscal burden:

    Introduce a Public Benefit Test (PBT): Implement a Danish-inspired model to assess net fiscal contributions over a defined period.
    Restrict Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR): Grant ILR only to non-citizens demonstrating significant, sustained fiscal contributions via the PBT.
    Prohibit Welfare and Social Housing Access: Bar non-UK citizens from accessing benefits or social housing, except in exceptional cases.
    Mandate PBT Assessments: Require all working-age non-citizens receiving benefits or living in social housing to undergo PBT evaluation.
    Deport Non-Citizens that Have Been Persistent Fiscal Burdens: Deport non-UK citizens identified as net fiscal burdens, barring extraordinary circumstances.
    Counter Judicial Resistance: Implement safeguards to prevent judicial challenges from obstructing the policy.
    Some might criticise this policy framework because it would lead to large-scale remigration. That is not a criticism; it is the intention…………………

    What Is to Be Done?

    1. Establishing a Public Benefit Test (PBT)

    An Immigration and Fiscal Contribution Act is needed to establish a Public Benefit Test (PBT), modelled on Denmark’s approach, to evaluate non-citizens’ net fiscal contributions over five years. The PBT will calculate:

    Contributions: Income tax, National Insurance, VAT, and other taxes.
    Costs: Welfare benefits (e.g., Universal Credit, Child Benefit), social housing subsidies, NHS usage, and education costs for dependants.
    A passing threshold of £5,000 net annual contribution (inflation-adjusted) will be set, reflecting OBR data on low-wage migrant costs. The Act will mandate annual fiscal reports for non-citizens, with visa curtailment for non-compliance. Minors and retirees will be exempt……………….

    How the Danes do it

    The Danish public benefit test assesses immigrants’ reliance on welfare benefits, aiming to limit access to public funds and encourage self-sufficiency. In practice, the Danish public benefit test restricts non-EU immigrants’ access to welfare benefits like social assistance, unemployment benefits, and child benefits by tying eligibility to specific criteria, such as:

    Residence and Employment Requirements: Immigrants must typically reside in Denmark for a set period, and lose payments if they do not work and make net fiscal contributions through the tax system.
    Integration Conditions: Benefits are removed from those that fail to speak Danish.
    Deportation Risk: Immigrants who remain heavily reliant on public benefits for extended periods are subject to face deportation proceedings.
    The Danes are able to do this notwithstanding that Denmark is a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Should the UK’s Public Benefit Test focus solely on fiscal contributions, or should it, like Denmark’s model, also include integration criteria, such as English language proficiency?

    A PBT implemented by Whitehall civil servants risks becoming an ambiguous requirement to learn English. To avoid this, the PBT should initially be a clear, objective assessment of an individual’s tax contributions minus their welfare costs……………..

    1. I'll believe this when it happens – HR lawyers will be rubbing their grubby hands with glee

        1. I would love to see you trying to get up onto one of those. 🤣🤣

          (Yes, I know the correct verb, but am not using it for obvious reasons.)

          1. From Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary verses:

            A Horse, Lord Epsom did bestride
            With mastery and quiet pride.
            He dug his spurs into its hide.

            The Horse,discerning it was pricked,
            Incontinently bucked and kicked,
            A thing that no one could predict!

            Lord Epsom clearly understood
            The High-bred creature’s nervous mood,
            As only such a horseman could.

            Dismounting …..!

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/21019c5bfa39060fb438396a5913203a934568166f8102a6a10b7a1317703b7d.png
            …… he was heard to say.
            That it was kinder to delay.
            His pleasure to a future day.
            He had the Hunter led away.

          3. Don't be shy, ashes. Go right ahead. As the GBNews commentator said this morning "Princess Anne will be mounted today."

        2. When he brought it home for the first time, having only ridden it from the customs shed in Oslo to home, I was horrified at the size. Then, straddling it and walking it backwards into the garage, he misjudged, and it toppled over (gently, no damage) but that scared him enough to treat it with great respect. As a massive machine like that should be treated, or it will bite.

          1. I completely understand. I was the publisher for my club Centre 13 Virago owners. All those occasions the blokes with muscles had to rescue the lady bikers.

            And as you can guess from my posts on here i was sarcastic with a mix of humour.

            The 'Ladies' got their revenge at club meets by giving me a full on on trouser drop and pants pulled up to my armpits.

          2. I did something similar to my partner’s bike. I had four under the carport and needed to make space. It was a very slow descent. As it went down all i could think was shit shit shit i am in so much shit.
            Luckily i had my phone in my pocket. The only person i thought might be able to help in the moment was my weed dealer. :@(

            I kid you not. I gave up the horrible addiction. No more bikes !

          3. Did he need a fork-lift truck to get it back up off the floor?

            (As an ex-biker myself, I think I'm allowed a bit of a leg-pull. :-))

          4. T’Lad is a powerful bloke and could just lift it himself, with my help.

          5. Did he need a fork-lift truck to get it back up off the floor?

            (As an ex-biker myself, I think I'm allowed a bit of a leg-pull. :-))

    4. Just copied and pasted and sent it to Christo, my older son.

      Am awaiting fall out!

    5. I am six weeks in to being bikeless. It is hard. I gave my tank bag away last weekend. I have my Keiss gloves (x2) and jacket to go. (Obvs helmets cannot be recycled).

  125. Iran has warned the United States and UK that it will retaliate if they come to Israel's defence..

    The King, London Mayor, The Foreign Office, The Home Office, the state broadcaster, The Prime Minister & Foreign Secretary.. assure Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei they are, as always, with their Muslim allies & bruvs.

  127. Wordle No. 1,456 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 14 Jun 2025

    Phantom for Birdie Three?

    1. Par four for me.

      Wordle 1,456 4/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Par again

      Wordle 1,456 4/6

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

    3. Well done – just a par here, but at least broke my bogey run!

      Wordle 1,456 4/6

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

    5. Well done, same here.

      Wordle 1,456 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
      ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Nothing to apologise for, Sue!
      A couple of bairns doing what bairns should be doing!

        1. So homely and innocent – two bairns and dog playing in a puddle. Fair brings a tear to a jaded eye, so it does.

          1. Mum and Dad are cleaning the caravan which will be home at the Royal Highland Show next week! The show sheep and cattle are also being cleaned! Very exciting and busy time!

      1. Even as a Mum I wasn’t averse to the girls getting mucky. As a Gran I’m more than happy!

  132. You could give me a hoik up.

    We'll mount in the back alley where nobody goes… ahem

  133. Reform council brings in 'British values' flag rules

    "…a previously agreed schedule of flags to be displayed… has been discontinued. The list included flags to mark events celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Gypsy Roma and Traveller History Month and Windrush Day."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5e61drq02o

    That'll get get 'em going. I look forward to the damnation of British values – imperialism, slavery, genocide, slavery, colonisation, slavery, racism, slavery, looting, slavery, environmental destruction because of the Industrial Revolution, slavery…

  134. Reform council brings in 'British values' flag rules

    "…a previously agreed schedule of flags to be displayed… has been discontinued. The list included flags to mark events celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Gypsy Roma and Traveller History Month and Windrush Day."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5e61drq02o

    That'll get get 'em going. I look forward to the damnation of British values – imperialism, slavery, genocide, slavery, colonisation, slavery, racism, slavery, looting, slavery, environmental destruction because of the Industrial Revolution, slavery…

  135. More comments from DTletters

    Richard Forster
    1 hr ago
    With it kicking off in the ME and now Iran threatening to attack British bases do we have any idea many Iranian illegal/irregular alleged unvetted single men we have uninvited into this country? I hope the authorities know their whereabouts 🤔

    Reply by Big Duke Six.

    BD

    Big Duke Six
    24 min ago
    Your last sentence had me guffawing uncontrollably.

    Comment by Jacqueline Sutch.

    JS

    Jacqueline Sutch
    2 hrs ago
    Shameful for Britain.

    The UK has been excluded from Military Intelligence by the US and Israel.

    Israel contacted the United States, Jordan and even Saudi and Qatar!

    Says a lot that the UK is now so badly not trusted by Israel and the United States but they will put more faith in Qatar over Britain.

    This, in my opinion, is probably due to the hostility David Lammy and Keir Starmer has shown, following the sanctioning of Israeli ministers over their Speech.

    According to officials, this was intentional:

    “We didn’t tell the British because we don’t trust them.”

    They cited concerns over the UK being too quick to leak sensitive information and acting “against Israel’s interests.

    Reply by Anthony Fitzgerald.

    AF

    Anthony Fitzgerald
    1 hr ago
    I’m surprised the Americans still want to supply any intelligence information with us. Laurel and Hardy would certainly tell China who they seem determined to Kowtow too at every level.

    Reply by Helen de Troyes.

    Hd

    Helen de Troyes
    1 hr ago
    And of course from day one most of the cabinet had been seen to be amenable to freebies and goodness knows what else.

  136. Saudi crown prince, UK PM discuss ‘gravely concerning situation’
    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday afternoon.

    According to a readout of the conversation, 'They discussed the gravely concerning situation in the Middle East and agreed on the need to de-escalate.'

    'The Prime Minister updated on his conversations with partners so far and reiterated that the UK is poised to work closely with its allies in the coming days to support a diplomatic resolution,' it said.

    UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is expected to spend the day in talks with counterparts across the Middle East and elsewhere.

    Iranian state media said Tehran has warned the United States, the United Kingdom, and France not to help Israel stop Iran’s strikes.

    Here's an idea:
    If they really want de-escalation in the long term, why don't all the other Arab states go into Iran and overthrow the regime and then get rid of all the Iran backed terrorist groups in their own territories and accept Israel.

    Everyone would be better off.

    Why?
    Simple.
    Islam.

      1. Once called "sleepers" – not to be confused with what the Merkins call "Cross-ties".

    2. I can guess what CPMBS thought about meeting Sir Kwier.

      Buckle up dearie you're in for a rough ride. Reverse camel time….

        1. He is far more intelligent than Starmer. As was Assad. No way will our government get one over on these educated ragheads.

          4. I was doing some gardening earlier and i noticed a toad. I looked at him. He looked at me. We both nodded.

  137. Son no one is selling his super duper machine

    I am relieved .

    He took part in the Poole 5k Park Run this morning , he ran very well , 18 mins and how many seconds , then fell over , there were nearly a thousand bods competing ..

    He scraped his leg badly and injured his left wrist , now being triaged and hopefully x-rayed .

  139. The world won’t acknowledge it yet, but we owe Israel a debt of gratitude

    A nuclear weapon in the hands of Ayatollah Khamenei would have been as dangerous, if not worse, than one in the hands of Saddam Hussein

    14 June 2025 3:29pm BST
    Charlie Laderman

    “I swear I believe Armageddon is near.” This was Ronald Reagan’s initial reaction, writing in his diary, after hearing news of the Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak on June 7 1981. The Israeli attack was a major operational success, destroying Osirak and denying Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein a nuclear bomb. In time, American leaders would come to recognise that they owed Israel a huge debt of gratitude for disarming Iraq’s monstrous tyrant. Yet this is not how they reacted publicly at the time.

    For the deeply religious Reagan, with his profound aversion to nuclear weapons, his initial reaction was a mix of horror and confusion. As the historian William Inboden put it in The Peacemaker, his recent book on the US president’s national security strategy, “Reagan worried that his first year in office might also be the last year of Earth’s existence.” President Donald Trump may not share Reagan’s religious faith but he has spoken repeatedly over many years of his fear of nuclear war. This is likely to colour his response to the Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

    Like the Reagan White House, the Trump’s administration’s avowed policy positions should, on the surface, lead it to endorse the strikes – support for Israel, opposition to nuclear proliferation and disgust at the target, in both cases a tyrannical regime that has committed itself to Israel’s destruction and unleashed bloodshed across the region.

    Yet other diplomatic considerations led the Reagan administration to publicly disassociate itself from Israel. The White House denounced the attack. At the United Nations, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick allowed a Security Council Resolution condemning Israel to pass without issuing a US veto. And initially the US suspended any further sales of F-16s to Israel.

    These positions derived from a number of conflicting policy priorities. First, there was concern about the reaction of America’s Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia. Secondly, there was a growing sense in the White House that the US should support Saddam’s Iraq in its war with Iran, which had begun the previous year. Thirdly, there was concern about the potential for wider regional escalation, particularly in Lebanon. That war-torn country, occupied by Syria, had served as the base for regular Palestinian guerilla attacks on Israel and was now hosting Syrian SA-6 missiles. Israel was determined to remove this threat but the Reagan administration wanted to negotiate a settlement. Fourthly, and overhanging all of this, was the wider fear that America’s Cold War antagonist the Soviet Union might exploit the regional upheaval.

    Yet there were other officials in the administration who recognised that what Israel had done at Osirak was necessary, not only for its own security but that of the US too. And while Reagan reprimanded the Israeli ambassador that the US was “caught by surprise,” he would very quickly begin to empathise with the Israelis. “Indignation on behalf of Iraq is a waste,” he wrote in his diary. “Saddam Hussein is a ‘no good nut’ and I think he was trying to build a nuclear weapon.” What’s more, he had “called for the destruction of Israel” and the threat thus had to be removed. After reflection, Reagan resumed sending F-16s to Israel.

    Just like Reagan, President Trump has distanced his administration from the Israeli strikes, although he has not yet gone so far as to issue any condemnation. Like Reagan, Trump had hoped to solve broader regional issues by negotiations rather than strikes. Yet there are important differences with 1981. Firstly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made it clear that Israel had informed the US ahead of time that “this action was necessary for its self-defence.” Secondly, many of America’s Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, have long feared what Iran’s theocratic Shiite rulers will do with a nuclear weapon. They are less likely than they were in 1981 to be condemning Israel’s attack on Iran behind closed doors, whatever they say publicly. Thirdly, Iran has moved well beyond Saddam’s rhetorical denunciation and support for terrorist attacks. Since October 7th 2023, they and their proxies have unleashed a broad, multi-front attack on Israel with its proxies.

    Yet by escalating its conflict with Israel, Iran has also left itself weaker, with its proxies devastated and its own air defences largely demolished by Israel last year. The Iranian nuclear weapons programme might be more sophisticated and spread out than the Iraqi one at Osirak. But Iran is also more isolated in the region.

    Even more so than with Saddam in 1981, the moment of maximum danger has already approached for Israel. While intelligence then suggested Osirak would become operational within months, the Iranians are currently enriching uranium to such levels that they are already a threshold nuclear state that could step over that precipice in days.

    Just as in 1981, much of the region and the wider world will condemn Israel’s actions. But just as then, I suspect in time, the vast majority will come to be exceedingly grateful for what they have done.

    Iranian drones are already enabling Russia to pound Ukrainian cities, while the Islamic Republic’s agents are targeting dissidents in the West, interfering in our elections, and unleashing violence on our streets. A nuclear weapon in the hands of Ayatollah Khamenei would have been as dangerous, if not worse, than one in the hands of Saddam Hussein.

    It remains to be seen if the Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities prove as successful as their previous attack on Osirak. If it does then Western governments should be grateful to Israel. Just don’t expect to hear much thanks.

    1. Iran is hard line Islam.

      The end, world domination by Islam, justifies any means.
      The first stage being the destruction of Israel by whatever is at their disposal, opening the whole of the ME, east Asia and North Africa to immediate Islamic control.

      If they had nuclear weapons I firmly believe they would use them against Israel and accept that any Muslims killed in the process will go to heaven as martyrs.

      1. Unfortunately the recent retaliatory Iranian attacks on Israel suggest they possess hypersonic missiles, presumably provided by Russia.

        There is a distinct possibility that Israel has underestimated the support given to the Iranian regime by other nations hostile to the US.

        This war as with all wars will likely lead to enormous destruction of lives and property.

        1. Unfortunately so, but this, if it is a proxy war, which I don’t believe it to be, must be won by Israel.

    1. The original Savoy Palace was destroyed in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. It was John of Gaunt’s townhouse.

      1. As you are aware i am somewhat enamoured of such luxury. Mostly because it is hospitality related. Just going for a lunch as we did or to do an afternoon tea at the Ritz is enough for me.

        A powerful man brought down by er…er…farmers with pitchforks. Couldn't happen now. Um.

    1. Yeah yeah.. didn't support Rupert's inquiry though did ya?

      Didn't the last report cost about a million million £s.. 50,000 pages long.. and mentioned Pakistanis once?
      Summary: We need to learn more.. more funding.. more Islam.

      I more worried about the state sponsored and approved.. Islamic Network aiming to recruit Muslim staff and influence policymakers to support Muslim needs.

  142. Iran is behind so much evil. This day had to come, but lets hope its not to late.

  143. In reality a national inquiry will be just like the Hallett inquiry into the Covid debacle. It will take years and the perpetrators will be lost in the mist of time. The scope will be far too wide to cope with.

    1. The decline in standards of public dress is sad. People go out looking as if they’ve crawled out of a dustbin. No self respect.

  145. Blah Blah. Let's string it out over decades like the contaminated blood scandal where most of the infected are now dead. Same with the Postmasters/mistresses. Not forgetting the Miners with lung cancer and Emphysema which was what my father died from. Farage is the Establishment.

    What they should be calling for is the immediate arrest and interrogation of all those in power decision makers.

    Then kill them.

  146. https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/middle-east-travel/israel/jews-at-risk-of-terrorist-revenge-hits-in-uk-prp22nq7k

    Britain’s Jewish community was warned to be vigilant and follow “strict security measures” after the Israeli embassy in London, like others across the globe, was closed due to an increased threat.

    Synagogues have been placed on alert and Israelis abroad, including in the UK, were warned to “avoid displaying Jewish or Israeli symbols in public spaces”.

    The Community Security Trust (CST) a charity that works to protect the Jewish community in Britain, said it was recommending vigilance and urged British Jews to follow “strict security measures”. Since the October 7 atrocity Jewish schools and places of worship across the UK have hired security guards and installed ­enhanced CCTV.

    • Israel-Iran latest – follow live

    Israel’s national security council (NSC) said it was likely that “terrorist elements” would “seek to carry out acts of revenge against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, including civilians”. Security officials have warned over the last few years of the ­increased threat from Iran and ­acknowledged that international ­tensions could result in violence on British streets.

    1. So if a Jewish person wearing a yamulke or kippah will be targeted in our great cities. What plans do the police have to counter this new POGROM?

        1. But they both dislike bacon and pork….you might think it could be a way of reconciliation. 🐷🐖

    1. Did the audience cheer or boo? Interesting that his brother was revered by the Left and Peter who has experienced Communism first hand is not so well regarded.

    2. A worrying number of nut zero addicts saying that renewables are cheaper and the planet is going to explode if we don’t use more of them!

    4. George Monbiot may not be homosexual and he is a Stoic (Old Boy of Stowe School) but he doesn't seem to like it up 'im one little bit!

  148. From Coffee House the Spectator

    14 Jun 2025
    Coffee House
    Stephen DaisleyStephen Daisley
    Israel’s Iran attack has done the West a favour
    13 June 2025, 10:04am

    Israel’s overnight strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran represent the initial salvo of what Jerusalem is calling Operation Rising Lion. In Genesis 49, Jacob tells his sons: ‘Judah is a lion’s cub/ from the prey, my son, you rise up/ He lies down and crouches like a lion/ like a lioness — who dares disturb him?’

    Jerusalem is bracing itself for painful reprisals and has put its citizens on alert

    Israel rose up after years of warning the world of Iran’s plot to acquire nuclear weapons. In a series of daring precision strikes, it has targeted key regime figures, ballistic missile supplies and the Natanz nuclear facility. Israeli intelligence reportedly learned that Tehran had produced enough enriched uranium to build 15 nuclear bombs and was approaching ‘the point of no return’. Israel is describing its actions as a ‘preemptive strike’, hinting that the possibility of an Iranian attack on Israel was growing.

    Hossein Salami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is dead. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, is also believed to have been killed. Among the other fatalities are key officials and scientists involved in the regime’s nuclear programme.

    There are reports that Mossad agents embedded deep in Iran sabotaged the Islamic state’s military air defences. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) characterised its air strikes as ‘the opening blow’ and stated that ‘at the end of the operation, there will be no nuclear threat’. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: ‘We can’t leave these threats for the next generation, because if we don’t act now, there will not be another generation. If we don’t act now, we simply won’t be here.’

    In a direct message to ordinary Iranians, he added that Israel harboured no enmity towards them but rather towards the fundamentalist dictatorship.

    In retaliation, Iran has dispatched more than 100 drones to bomb Israel. Jerusalem is bracing itself for painful reprisals and has put its citizens on alert. Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, has cautioned Israelis: ‘The expected cost will be different from what we are used to.’

    This suggests the top brass and the security cabinet have factored in the potential for significant loss of Israeli lives or severe damage to hardware, infrastructure or networks, but calculated that a greater cost would have been incurred by inaction. There are no good options for Israel. Iran is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state and nuclear weapons would allow the Ayatollah Khamenei to inflict devastating, existential destruction on Israel and her people. Whatever loss of life follows Rising Lion would be dwarfed by the mass extermination Iran could carry out with nuclear arms.

    In addition to the military blowback, there will be diplomatic ramifications. This will include fallout from traditionally anti-Israel institutions such as the United Nations and censure from European nations increasingly concerned with managing internal cohesion and extremism problems and eager to be seen by some segments of their populations as distancing themselves from Israel.

    Jerusalem will be interested primarily in the impact on relations with the United States. The Americans took no part in Rising Lion and president Donald Trump had been urging calm to allow a fresh nuclear deal with Iran to be struck. Mindful of how the Obama nuclear deal, cancelled during the first Trump administration, gave Tehran breathing space under the guise of hemming in its nuclear programme, Israel might well have assessed that Trump was on the brink of making the same mistake and acted before Tehran could lock in favourable terms for its uranium enrichment and warhead capabilities. Although the operation had been foreshadowed by the evacuation of senior American personnel from the region, Israel had previously been on the brink of taking out Tehran’s offensive nuclear capabilities only to be reined in by Washington DC.

    Trump is instinctively pro-Israel, as is his Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But his second administration has witnessed an influx into the national security and foreign policy bureaucracies of isolationist ideologues hostile to Israel. These figures think of Israel as a malign ally that talks in pro-American terms but could drag the United States into further Middle Eastern conflict. This is, in part, because of American policymakers’ and voters’ affinity for the embattled nation, and also because of the implications of allowing another large-scale elimination of Jews less than a century on from the Shoah.

    These sentiments are misplaced. Far from a drag on America First, an Israel that takes proactive measures against common enemies like Iran enhances American security while allowing Washington DC to maintain clean hands. A nuclear-armed Iran would overnight become caller of the shots in West Asia; Tehran would be able to inflict sizeable casualties on American and other Western citizens and assets in the region, as well as disrupting military, intelligence and trading operations. It would be able to hold the West to ransom for political, diplomatic and financial gain.

    There are echoes in Rising Lion of Operation Opera, the 1981 mission that destroyed Osirak, Saddam Hussein’s nuclear reactor, and Operation Outside the Box, the 2007 bombing of Syria’s offensive nuclear programme at Al Kibar. The Osirak bombing was met by widespread international condemnation, denunciatory resolutions and diplomatic hysteria, but over time it became clear that Israel had done the world a favour in denying nuclear capabilities to a madman. Ironically, had Israel deferred to the world opinion and left Osirak alone, by the eve of the second Iraq War in 2003 Saddam almost certainly would have been able to hit British (and American) assets within 45 minutes.

    Israel can expect the same indignant response from the international community now as it did then. But it can be safe in the knowledge that it has acted not only in its own interests but in the strategic, security and commercial interests of the Western nations lining up to condemn it. That is the way of it when you are one of the few remaining democracies that believes in destroying your enemies before they can destroy you. Other nations might think it proper to wait until the UN, the EU and the legal professoriate give them the green light to wanly defend themselves, by which point their cities are already smouldering and endless body bags being filled from the rubble. But Israel is not one of them.

    ‘Judah,’ Jacob tells his fourth son, ‘your brothers shall praise you/ Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies’. Judah’s hand has struck his foes and those of his brothers but there will be little in the way of fraternal commendation. The lion’s cub has risen up, not for praise but for survival.

    Stephen Daisley
    Written by
    Stephen Daisley
    Stephen Daisley is a Spectator regular and a columnist for the Scottish Daily Mail

    1. There must be something really dreadful about to come out if Starmer's prepared to release this particular squirrel to distract us from it.

    1. Lol. Seems the photo from the Helford River Sailing Club worked.

      Currently at Port Navas Sailing Club,. The food is delicious. I had two starters – mussels and mackerel – delicious.

    2. I used to sail regularly along the South Coast from Lymington to St Mawes calling in at many places on the way.

      Sometimes I called into Newton Ferrers and went ashore for a drink or two at the Yealm Hotel where they had a remarkable parrot which kept all the clients amused!

      The building had since ceased to operate as a hotel and was at risk of vandalism, having been vacant for several years. Grainge Architects undertook an extensive revitalisation of the site, comprising the conversion of the historic hotel into high-quality, apartments and development of contemporary new-build apartment blocks and a single dwelling unit within the grounds.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3d8ff35c7b5d58baa90683301d91677edae2b32c19350e1fa23931894f8aac19.jpg

  155. 545 comments! I won't be able to read them all……. just waiting for dinner to be ready and will come back later. Been busy today doing not very much……. went shopping, read the local paper…… watered the tomato plants, watched the swifts on their nests……

      1. It’s fantastic – the work that my husband put in over the years putting up the boxes, all with cameras in – before his heart trouble – but it’s paid off and this year we have six pairs.

        1. Respect. Very impressed. Six pairs nesting? I only see them wheeling around in the sky, mewling to each other. Very sorry to read of heart trouble. ‘Night Ndovux hopefully see you tmrw…off to see if any bats wheeling around, sky just darkening.

          1. The swifts have gone to bed – but he said there were more noctules out than swifts by the end of the show.

    3. Locally, even shotgun licences are getting harder to obtain or renew. An argument with the missus or a doctor prescribing anti-depressants will disqualify you. Next it will be social media searches for any signs of straying from socialist dogma.

  157. 407425+ up ticks,

    Pillow Ponder,

    This must end the grooming gangs cover-up for good
    The national inquiry into the scandal must hold to account the politicians and officials who allowed it to carry on for years

    Can someone define "for good" just how long will that be ?

    The Jay report came out in 2014 I believe one rotherham Councillor was moved

    In reality there should be many a gap in the police morning assembly ranks, many an empty chair in the council chambers, and more than a few by-elections.

    MAKE IT HAPPEN.

    1. I wonder how many flag wavers would be willing suicide bombers.
      Rather too many I suspect.

      1. No, sos, they would just support others doing that, particularly little children raised to the cause. I would bet that not a single one of those…people… would risk themselves in any way at all to further their filthy cause.

    2. The flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran. At Tommy Robinson rallies you’ll see the real Persian flag with the royal crest being held up alongside the Star of David. When the shah was deposed many Persians came here to escape the ayatollahs.

  160. On the bright side of life….I know it's oily but I've been very busy today.
    Cooked a nice supper almost prawn provencal but more a risotto.
    Three glasses of wine, boring TV and …..well I'm orff, father's day tmz. Bbq all cleaned and ready to go. Lamb chunks in marinade in fridge.
    I'm really looking forward to a lovely family afternoon.
    So it's goodnight from me.
    😴

  162. Had dinner and been watching another fantastic flying display by our swifts flying round the house. Chick count so far – 11 – -with one still to hatch and an unknown quantity in box 4 – the starlings left so much stuff we can't see in. There is a camera in every box.

  165. Oops, it's tomorrow (Sunday) and I still have gone to bed yet. So Good Night all, sleep well and hope to see you all later today (Sunday morning).

  168. Vir Cantii
    15h
    Brave Sir Keir he ran away.
    ("No!")
    Bravely ran away away.
    ("I didn't!")
    When truth it reared it's ugly head,
    He bravely turned his tail and fled.
    ("I never!")
    Yes, brave Sir Keir he turned about
    And gallantly he chickened out.
    ("You're lying!")
    Swiftly taking to his feet,
    He beat a very brave retreat.
    Bravest of the braaaave, Sir Keir!

    Nickerless
    Vir Cantii
    14h
    Palin et al would never get away with that sort of humour now, sadly.

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