Saturday 17 December: A bonfire of NHS bureaucracy would free up funding for front-line staff

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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645 thoughts on “Saturday 17 December: A bonfire of NHS bureaucracy would free up funding for front-line staff”

    1. Shower of shit.
      Apart from that. Good morning.

      Rik – you started it. Giving us pictures of that bunch of subsidised wankers.
      And I can’t say what I really think.

    2. Good morning, all. Cold!

      Surely Bob Moran isn’t suggesting that those in the know might, just might, let something slip during a debate? The lack of concern from > 640 MPs is literally frightening. Wastrels all!

    3. And possibly as has been mentioned many of them in public veiw probably had only saline water vaccines.
      I don’t know the percentage of ‘vaccinated’ people who have died or been taken seriously ill after the jabs. But out of 650 plus the 800 plus in the other place. At least 10 would have suffered the same fate as members of the lowly public.

      1. Myocarditis seems to be a fairly common result of these jabs. That happens quite suddenly and soon after the jabs. But there may be other long- term damage.

        1. 4 weeks for me after my first jab i resumed normal heart rhythm and it the problem came back within a couple of weeks of the second jab.

    4. Just watched Dr John Campbell ‘s piece from a couple of weeks ago linked to the German pathologists’ report of ‘sudden deaths’ linked in that thread.

      1. I know of a middle aged retail employee who died shortly after the jab, and the sister of an acquaintance (in her 70s) suffered a stroke. But it’s important to remember that the injection is intramuscular, and that if the procedure was carried out incorrectly, some of the vaccine could leak into the bloodstream, in which case there could be side effects and that was not ‘covered up’.

        The industry that created the covid vaccines is also supplying medication to your husband in JR.

        1. Sure – and I ‘m very glad he’s getting good treatment there. But the vaccines are new and not properly tested before they were unleashed on people as guinea pigs. There is no long-term data except that which is coming out now – much of it bad.

    5. Dunno if you have seen it already but i’m watching the Tom Cruise film ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and thoroughly enjoying it. Scores well on rotten tomatoes too.

  5. Analysis: EU unity over Russia sanctions falters as Europe’s economy wilts. 17 December 2022.

    For some European politicians, such as those from Poland which faces fighting on its doorstep, the hesitancy of other states to support sterner steps has proved frustrating.

    “We will demand Germany change its policy. It’s not fair for Germany to rely on Poland to defend it from the threat of war,” said Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s former foreign minister and now a member of the European Parliament. “Just because you are richer and bigger doesn’t mean you are always right.”

    German “hesitancy” is fuelled by the knowledge that they are being frogmarched into a domestic economic catastrophe and probable War not of their choosing. From using the world’s cheapest (Russian) energy supplies they are being compelled to buy some of the most expensive. For an economy that relies on manufacturing this could hardly be worse. Their long term prospects are dismal. They will be cut off from their Russian market by sanctions and the rest of the world by price. That the Americans blew up the Baltic Pipeline to help enforce this change on them can hardly be a comfort!

    https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/eu-unity-over-russia-sanctions-falters-europes-economy-wilts-2022-12-16/

    1. German hesitancy is also no doubt being driven by the knowledge that they will be blamed for starting it.

      1. Morning BB. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, though I think a decent man, is trapped by political circumstance. Though he undoubtedly knows that the Americans have sabotaged the Baltic Pipeline he cannot prove it and were he to make the accusation, it would foster a political firestorm that would certainly destroy him and his (fragile) party, shatter the European consensus and quite possibly destroy NATO. With such dire consequences it is no surprise that he goes with the flow!

      2. Morning BB. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, though I think a decent man, is trapped by political circumstance. Though he undoubtedly knows that the Americans have sabotaged the Baltic Pipeline he cannot prove it and were he to make the accusation, it would foster a political firestorm that would certainly destroy him and his (fragile) party, shatter the European consensus and quite possibly destroy NATO. With such dire consequences it is no surprise that he goes with the flow!

      2. You should see some we have here in Sweden. Some are so steep it’s like climbing a ladder. UK building regs permit them to be no steeper than 42º.

  8. The elderly Lady and the African dressed lady have become friends after a “warm meeting”.
    King Charles 3 is trying to bring his younger son and Megan back into the family fold and the King has invited them both to the Coronation in May.
    This is what a father should do despite the uproar which may follow.

    1. Buck House now says they want to draw a line under the Ngozi Fulani incident.
      I’ll bet they do.
      It shows them in a very bad light, and not in the way they believe either!

      I think Charles is just continuing HM’s very successful policy of giving them enough rope to hang themselves. The RF knew that Meghan would explode, so they’re ensuring it’s a controlled demolition. The hostages will no doubt stay in the US.

      1. I think the problem started when the monarchy set out to be kind to as many people around the world as they possibly could. After the previous version of global hierarchy this has been seen and noted as weakness to be thoroughly exploited at every opportunity.

      2. Good. I hope he has learnt from this episode.
        The frustrating thing is that he has done so much good – think Prince’s Trust and even Highgrove, but then blows it by his knee jerk reaction to a race baiter.
        The Queen was on the throne for so long, that her early mis-steps have been forgotten.

        1. The Prince’s Trust helps young people to become merry peasants – I’ve never been a great fan. But he has managed Cornwall well – there’s a lot more going on there nowadays than in the past.
          I wouldn’t dislike Charles so much if he didn’t want 7/8ths of us dead so that we don’t mess up his precious countryside.

          1. It isn’t us that’s messing up his countryside; it’s building to house the influx of illegals that’s concreting it over.

      3. Morning blackbox2 – my instinct is that the King doesn’t want to go to his grave with an outcast son. If Harry doesn’t come back to the fold that is another matter.

        1. As a father, I’m sure he doesn’t. They are probably hoping for a divorce – it’s no joke having a narcissist in one’s family, and they have my sympathy for that. They’ll have to find another status for Harry though. Angry outsider isn’t good for anyone. If only these royals who don’t want to toe the line would actually get proper jobs they wouldn’t be so embarrassing!

        2. Very understandable. Just because your son is approaching 40, does not stop a parent worrying about him.
          If either my chaps were reduced by a poisonous partner to a mad-eyed shadow of themselves, I too, would be very upset and desperate to rescue him.

  9. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story:

    Black Testicles

    A male patient is lying in bed in the hospital, wearing an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, still heavily sedated from a difficult 4-hour surgical procedure.

    A young student nurse appears to give him a partial sponge bath.

    Nurse,’ he mumbles, from behind the mask ‘Are my testicles black?’

    Embarrassed, the young nurse replies ‘I don’t know, Sir. I’m only here to wash your upper body.’

    He struggles to ask again, ‘Nurse…’

    Concerned that he may elevate his vitals from worry about his testicles, she overcomes her embarrassment and sheepishly pulls back the covers. She raises his gown, holds his penis in one hand and his testicles in the other, lifting and moving them around and around gently.

    Then, she takes a close look and says, ‘No sir, they aren’t and I assure you, there’s nothing wrong with them, Sir!!’

    The man pulls off his oxygen mask, smiles at her and says very slowly,

    ‘Thank you very much. That was wonderful, but listen very, very closely…

    A r e – m y – t e s t – r e s u l t s – back? ‘

  10. Morning all 😊
    Back home yesterday after a total traffic nightmare.
    Diversions, road works, single lanes (with of course nothing going on) red light (not our day) after red light, jam-packed round-abouts, you name it. Then Closer to home schools out.
    6 hours to travel 150 miles. 🤔🙄
    But some good news, after 4 phone calls some long waits, I managed to persuade our local GP practice to allow me, the patient, in to see a doctor on Monday morning.
    Perhaps they have reached the full extent of the learning curve…….i.e. the reason why they are there in those positions is to see people who are worried because they are not very well, as in ill.

      1. My good lady wouldn’t allow me to drive. Which sometimes adds to the stress. She insist on the sat nag. But I have a terrific sense of direction. 😉
        I thought of you and your hubby as we drove past the sign for Oxford John Radcliffe. 🤔

    1. According to the seemingly jubilant weather presenters its going to be positively balmy by Monday morning. 11 degs.

        1. I saw it last night warm weather following the new snowfall rain and 11 degrees. 🤗👍🤞

    2. You might have asked your attacker what he thought about Olwogsa’s family historic involvement in the NIgerian slave trade.

      1. Or ask if it was his mother or father who he inherited the hateful adverse and anti white attitude he clearly has.

    3. Bit of abrusque response, far better to present the black role in the slave trade. That silences Lefties very quickly.

        1. Then you ask them why they’ve only focussed on the British – the white – side.

          You are presenting the truth – a balanced presentation of the event. They are racists. Lefties don’t like being called racists. They’ve become so used to using the slur they forget that it is they who are and accuse others of being to deflect.

  12. ‘Morning, Peeps. The forecast says that we are going from -2°C to +5° before mid-morning, rising to 6° later. Tomorrow promises a massive (massive-massive?) 10° by bedtime – and a lot of rain. We can’t win them all, I suppose…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ac1e03cbf68d5939148eab6d42c03892e3206a74f2412cfae01ff5d77ce0d5af.jpg

    While I’m at it, a sunset shot yesterday while out delivering a few local cards: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/df509887eddfdbd389c918572b246990143c2d8889cf0a02b7efeb2ba5e449a4.jpg

          3. Fortunately those in the black inflatables don’t seem to like our part of the coast, but although from the excitement of last week, when one of them was struggling to stay afloat and causing much activity by the coastguard and the police choppers, for a while we feared the worst. Fortunately I was able to get back to sleep…

          4. Fortunately those in the black inflatables don’t seem to like our part of the coast, but although from the excitement of last week, when one of them was struggling to stay afloat and causing much activity by the coastguard and the police choppers, for a while we feared the worst. Fortunately I was able to get back to sleep…

          5. Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. Unfortunately the very orange sunset means a lot of pollution in the atmosphere – it must be from that 3 mile run in the car 2 weeks ago, but please don’t tell the eco-terrorists.

      2. No snow remaining on the beach. In fact, not much on the prom either, presumably it soon melted so close to the sea.

        1. ‘Twas the same in Banff, NE Scotland. 3 miles inland – deep drifts.

          Banff and the roads around – quite clear.

          I think we were at the very tail of the Gulf Stream which came around Northern Scotland, tried to head South and hit Banff to Peterhead.

          1. I remember it being the same in ’63 in Newbiggin when aah wez a bairn! Snow all over the country but very little on the coast.
            Mind you, what little we did have froze hard to the ground and took weeks to finally clear!

    2. That picture had disappeared but has now returned after I logged-out, cleaned the computer and logged back in.

      Of course I blame disqus for messing with OUR site!

        1. Funny how the ‘vaccines’ were lined up long before the pandemic took hold. Shirley that’s due to Clare Vouency.

      2. I think there are movements in the US and Europe to do so. David Martin is involved, I believe.

      4. The Government is the outfit you need to sue. The Astra Zenica and Phizer companies etc. demanded that our Government would take responsibility for any damaging side effects of vaccines which had not been thoroughly tested. We, the taxpayers will be the ones who pay the damages which will be substantial.

  14. Headline in the DT:

    NHS hires ‘lived experience’ tsars on up to £115,000 a year

    Health service accused of ‘inventing problems and then creating jobs to solve them’ with latest recruitment round

    And the government is standing by while this ridiculous recruitment goes ahead? One thing is certain – we should not be giving the NHS another penny because they will just waste it on empire building. Reform first!

    1. I’ve forwarded that article to my MP, with the following comment:
      “This is a joke? And if not, why not?”

      His job is currently Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care since 2022.

    2. I read that 7 new regional NHS directors were installed 4 years ago and each paid 250 k per year.

  16. Today’s leading letter:

    SIR – Nurses deserve fair pay (Letters, December 16). No question. But taxpaying patients also deserve high-quality care.

    It should be possible to achieve both with the NHS’s massive budget. However, this will require the NHS to confront some major problems.

    It is a huge, fragmented organisation, wasteful and inefficient, with layers of self-interested managers and administrators. It requires a total overhaul, stripping out any and all activity that adds no direct, measurable value to patient care.

    NHS bosses need to grasp the fact that they are the ones who (with support from the Government) have a duty to resolve this problem, so that better salaries can be offered to front-line staff.

    Rob Mason
    Nailsea, Somerset

    Dream on, Mr Mason! This government continues to ignore the problem in the hope that it will go away. It is merely coasting to defeat at the next GE.

    1. The government ignores this particular problem, one of many. Because it doesn’t effect them, or their families personally. They all use private medical services. All redeemed in their expenses. Expenses funded by the taxpayers.

      1. Another reason to move them all into IR35.

        Keep the pay the same, but have them provide their own pensions, helthcare and so on – as it’s not claimable being not a business expense. On top, take 70% of their income in tax and have them see how they like the book keeping and justification for their expenseswith HMRC – paying first, then maybe, a year later – after you’ve been sent a tax bill, of course – getting some back.

        Until they’re inflicted the same miseriesi they foist on us nothing will change.

      1. How about 75% of what they are willing to pay agency staff or 40% of what one of their diversity managers “earn” Just a couple of suggestions to start the ball rolling.

        Of course they could sack every nurse working for the NHS, I’m sure the public would soon come up with a figure large enough to entice them back into the wards.

  17. Christmastide musings.
    Yesterday, Sonny Boy and I attended the RHS Christmas carol service.
    Inevitably, there was the convoluted carol to which nobody knew the words or tune.
    As SB and I stared mutely at the order of service, the woman next to me sang her little heart out; words and tune done correctly, complete with right pauses and vocal twiddles.
    Quite frankly, I wanted to kill her.
    Now, by confessing to this low and unChristian reaction, have I saved my immortal soul from perdition?

    4. Good morning Anne

      There are many like that .. I mean those who sing strange weak hymns and carols . Men and women alike // similar to those little birds on old fashioned trinket boxes.

      I have noticed the ladies who sing usually have small smidgen elfin faces, short hair and fringes , but who would not look out of place in a Jane Austin story.. They trill away happily.. but how do they know the words to such unfamiliar music , I just don’t know.

      1. I usually manage to pick up the tune of unfamiliar hymns and sing confidently – sorry. It’s probably because I have spent many of my formative years singing in choirs (university, college and church).

  18. 369037+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 17 December: A bonfire of NHS bureaucracy would free up funding for front-line staff

    All well and good it would take months if not years
    and many a death they are so well entrenched,mass sack the lot along with a
    china man ( A wee kin lu) of notice.

    Then after great scrutiny select those judged able
    do the job, not by what school they went too.

    Link that to a bloody towering inferno of much of the bureaucracy operating currently, the bonfire MUST include membership cards of the
    lab/lib/con/current ukip coalition.

    Then and only then will the shite level suffered daily by the decent peoples of these Isles ebb to just below the lower lip.

    1. 369037+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Could it be the electorate majority are addicted to the shite fodder dished out daily via the politico’s and the MsM
      Og’s ?

      Rhetorical comfort food maybe, as in killing them in comfort, and as for their children, lets not go there.

      1. 369037+ up ticks,

        Morning W,
        Yes it could very well be taken that way
        but that is of the peoples own making falling under the odious actions of, you gotta vote tory (ino) to keep out lab, you gotta vote lab (ino) to keep out tory (ino),
        the voting mindset of fools in regards to a proven coalition.

      2. 369037+ up ticks,

        W,
        We the decent peoples are our own safety officers, those continuing to support / vote for the lab/lib/con/ current ukip coalition must consider that before voting for more of the same.

  20. He said he’d stabbed me. I just went into survival mode’. 17 December 2022.

    The British-born Ukrainian marine describes beatings and execution threats after his capture by Putin’s army.

    Mr Aslin’s release came unexpectedly in September, following high-level diplomatic talks partly brokered by Saudi Arabia.

    He and the other foreigners were blindfolded and restrained with duct-tape, thrown into the back of a lorry and driven off to what he believed was their execution.

    But after a painful, hours-long journey, he found himself at Rostov-on-Don airport being greeted by a delegation of Saudi Arabian officials and a man who his more football-savvy comrades recognised as Roman Abramovich.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dae9db490cf512d1db80a8d1827a277ed735b42af3f4bc02bf4fa3bd361b86ea.png

    And yet here, after all his travails, is Mr Aslin arriving in Saudi Arabia ten hours later looking neat, tidy and as fit as a butcher’s dog!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/12/17/aiden-aslin-life-russian-prison-said-stabbed-just-went-survival/

      1. Essentially yes Sue. He looks like he managed put on about thirty pounds during his incarceration.

  21. SIR – Following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s pronouncements on the illegal Channel crossings, I listened incredulously to the Bishop of Dover on Thursday’s Today programme.

    The Bishop spoke of families desperate to escape persecution, war, famine or oppressive regimes. This country has a justifiably proud record of welcoming such individuals.

    Do church leaders not read the statistics released by the Government detailing the origins of those crossing in small boats? The overwhelming majority currently risking their lives are from Albania, and are single men.

    I am a practising Christian, and recognise the need to help less fortunate individuals. But the Church needs to acknowledge that, for every pound spent on policing, processing and housing illegal migrants, there is less to spend on supporting genuine refugees.

    Stephen Howey
    Woodford Green, Essex

    Yes, Mr Howes, the excessive use of the ‘r’ word is, I believe, just another form of virtue-signalling, which also happens to induce apoplexy and much shouting at the radio/TV.

    1. That is almost verbatim to the reply I received over 12 months ago from my mp. Any of those people who have come from France are not escaping persecution, war, famine or oppressive regimes. Its an absolute lie.

    2. Morning! The Bishop of Dover is of course the wholly unsuitable Rose Hudson-Wilkin. A Jamaican raised by her father and aunt because her mother abandoned her at birth. Mother apparently just took off and came to England, leaving her baby and family. Was she a refugee too?

    3. I have no idea what inspires most ecclesiastical pillocks and especially the Archpillock of Canterbury but it is certainly not a belief in Christ.

      Remember the Parable of the Talents? The message of this is that those gifts which you have been given must be used productively. The chap who was given one talent and makes nothing of it is held in complete contempt because he buries it away and has nothing to show for it.

      The CoE and the government want self–sufficiency and enterprise to be replaced with dependency.

      For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

      And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

      Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

      And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

      But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

      After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

      And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

      His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

      He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

      His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

      Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

      And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

      His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

      Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

      Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

      For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

      And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

    4. I have no idea what inspires most ecclesiastical pillocks and especially the Archpillock of Canterbury but it is certainly not a belief in Christ.

      Remember the Parable of the Talents? The message of this is that those gifts which you have been given must be used productively. The chap who was given one talent and makes nothing of it is held in complete contempt because he buries it away and has nothing to show for it.

      The CoE and the government want self–sufficiency and enterprise to be replaced with dependency.

      For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

      And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

      Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

      And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

      But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

      After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

      And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

      His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

      He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

      His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

      Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

      And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

      His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

      Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

      Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

      For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

      And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

    5. There are lots of advertisements for Crisis at the moment – give nearly £30 to help get the homeless off the street, etc. My response is always, “if you deported the illegals, you could put all the homeless up in 5* hotels and it wouldn’t cost any more”.

  22. SIR – I too have fallen foul of the British Gas HomeCare cover (report, December 16).

    I had a paid subscription for years and eventually asked for help when my boiler broke down during a bitter cold snap, leaving me with no heating or hot water. I was told that somebody would be sent round “in a couple of weeks”. I rang a local plumber and had my boiler looked at that afternoon, and fixed (new part required) the next day.

    I cancelled my HomeCare policy.

    Malcolm Beaton
    Towcester, Northamptonshire

    I think I would have sent a copy of the invoice to BG’s CEO requesting repayment on the grounds of non-performance of their contract. 

    On the rare occasion I have needed a CH repair (famous last words, frantic search for some wood to touch!) the local firm has been quick and effective.  And my bank balance benefits too.

    1. Followed the advice and remembered to open the loft trapdoor this morning. Haven’t felt the need to do that for years and years. I think I heard water tricking into the tank, so hopefully all is well. But there are several more wintry months to come and February is usually the coldest. . Brrrrr….

    2. Followed the advice and remembered to open the loft trapdoor this morning. Haven’t felt the need to do that for years and years. I think I heard water tricking into the tank, so hopefully all is well. But there are several more wintry months to come and February is usually the coldest. . Brrrrr….

    3. British Gas is hopeless. I took out HomeCare cover in October and booked a boiler service for early November. They never turned up and on ringing they said they had no record of the appointment and the earliest they can come is February. I put in a complaint but I am not holding my breath for any action.

    4. Local small business is best for that kind of thing. I found that whilst maintaining Mother’s house from afar. The small local operator a) answered the phone, b)gave realistic times for turning out, c) did a good job, and d)charged a reasonable fee.
      Couldn’t speak more highly of them.

        1. I too have been in hibernation this a.m. I started nodding over NTTL at about 08:30 and retired to bed, only rousing myself at about 12:25.

  24. This BTL post under today’s letters is currently at the top of the ‘most liked’ category. Just one comment – it is 12 years in office, although it seems even longer than that!

    M EH
    5 HRS AGO
    What have the tory government done to this country? Over 10 years of tory rule and the country is in a bigger mess today than when they came to power – the highest taxes since the war, a broken health service, public debt and interest rates at record levels due to shambolic lockdown policies, migration out of control and worse than it was 10 years ago, record high inflation and no coherent energy policy, a hatred of small business and entrepreneurs, an out of control public sector demanding inflation busting pay rises, when most people in the private sector will just be glad to remain employed. What a total and utter disaster they have been.
    The alternative is even worse and doesn’t bare thinking about. But it really is a tragic state of affairs that we’ve had a “tory” government all these years and the country is in the mess we find it today.

    1. Of course it’s not a Tory government it’s a socialist government and has been coming by stealth. There is now one party government, change the colour but not the policies.

      Edit party for park

    2. M EH, decries the performance of this disastrous faux Tory government but adheres to the old trope of the alternative being worse. I do not see what could be worse and I certainly do not see that Labour could be any better. Current Tory and Labour parties are two cheeks of the same arse: and that is a real problem.

    3. As energy is a big part of the reason for inflation, the policy is very coherent. It is simply to make energy so expensive people can no longer afford it, thus forcing down use of it and allowing the state machine to meet it’s unnecessary and pointless (EU mandated) targets.

      Folk seem to forget: the state is desperate, fighting tooth and nail to remain chained to the EU. This is why absolutely no deviation from the policies of that useless organisation will be permitted. It is why nothing has changed – the state fights it.

  25. Morning all, off to visit family. I’ll give it an hour before setting off in my milk float to give the estate roads a chance to remember they are roads not ice rinks.

  26. Interesting headline in the DT:

    Liz Hurley denies rumour she took the Duke of Sussex’s virginity

    Speculation mounts over identity of the ‘beautiful older woman’ said to be detailed in Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir

    * * *

    She’s welcome to take what is left of mine. Lol!

    Naturally I went straight to the comments – none allowed. How disappointing is that?

  27. Interesting headline in the DT:

    Liz Hurley denies rumour she took the Duke of Sussex’s virginity

    Speculation mounts over identity of the ‘beautiful older woman’ said to be detailed in Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir

    * * *

    She’s welcome to take what is left of mine. Lol!

    Naturally I went straight to the comments – none allowed. How disappointing is that?

  28. OT – We slid along the lane to the church last night to hear a recital by a young mezzo-soprano – Eleanor Oldfield. A very good voice. A pleasant face and a delightful personality. This was one of the songs she sang – recorded in 2019.

    https://youtu.be/2QXkYCxtbds

    A very agreeable hour on a bitterly cold night. 45 people ventured out.

        1. That didn’t stop Savile. He was the only one of that quartet of DJs who didn’t have Samantha alongside him to place the discs on the turntable.

          In retrospect, I wonder if it was because she knew?

      3. Is that the same Samantha that worked alongside the presenter of “I’m Sorry, I Haven’t A Clue.” hosted by a Jazz Musician whose name I forget?

        Oh, Humphrey Littleton was it?

    2. Good morning, my Ursine Friend

      I was a great fan of Pete Murray’s ever since I first saw him on the Six Five Special in a friend’s house as we didn’t have television in our house until the 1960s. David Hamilton appears on GB News from time to time – he is charming, speaks good sense and he is also in ‘very good condition for year’.

      I used to enjoy Brian Matthew’s late night radio show on Radio 2 in the 1970s.

      1. Good morning. Ours Française!

        Times were certainly better back then. I went to a rock concert in the 1970s at the old Empire Pool at Wembley. The (surprise) compère was ‘Fluff’ Freeman, who got the biggest cheer from the audience all night.

  30. Good morning from a Saxon Queen with blooded axe and longbow in handbag with marmalade sandwiches. It’s a chilly – 8 this morning . I shall go and make some porridge ( with honey, bananas and sugar). And then resume hibernating. Hope you’re all keeping warm.

    1. I’m wearing – vest, Tee shirt, two fleeces, two scarves, corduroy trousers and two pairs of socks. The heating’s on. I’m not too warm.

      1. I think that heating struggles when it gets too cold, especially in rural areas . I’m trying to remember how warm we were In August .

        2. Even the Rayburn was struggling when the temperature was -8 degrees. C. Indoor temperature is 20 degrees C, but I don’t feel exactly warm (and I’ve also got several layers on, including a fleece).

      2. Have a bowl of porridge and a mug of hot chocolate with a drop of brandy. It might make a difference after what you and your husband have been through.
        I was not well after a serious operation 25 years ago. It was only after I recovered that I realised how much my family had worried for me. I thought I was OK.

        1. Just had muesli and a cup of coffee – but I have started having drinking chocolate at bedtime on T-B’s suggestion. My neighbours have been great – ones just up the road have offered to take me up the hill to retrieve the shopping I left in the car last night.

  31. Good morning my friends.

    Could this corruption scandal signal the end of the EU?
    Allegations that MEPs have been taking huge cash bribes shine a light on inner workings
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/12/17/could-corruption-scandal-signal-end-eu/

    A BTL comment with which I mainly agree:

    I am irredeemable

    I do not believe in climate change and global warming; I do not believe in the integrity of the EU or that Britain should be in it; I do not believe that Ukraine is entirely innocent; I do not believe that elections both in the UK, the USA and elsewhere have not been tampered with; I do not believe that the Covid vaccines are either effective or safe; I do not believe in critical race theory; I do not believe that you can choose your sex; I do not believe in woke; I do not believe in intrusive and over-meddling government; I do not believe in socialism; I do believe in free speech.

    I do not believe I have lost my marbles as the new King has. I trust that I am not entirely alone in my views

    1. Could this corruption scandal signal the end of the EU?

      I would like to think so, but sadly, I doubt it.

    3. Thing is, plod will no doubt be round to ‘improve’ his thinking.

      That is, of course, the ultimate goal of the online harm act. The EU is a toxic midden. What will happen is obvious. A massive closing of ranks as it becomes clear that the investigation leads to police officers and senior politicians. That will be the end of it. A silent, complete dismissal.

      Anyone wanting to investigate will be uietly removed, those who covered it up promoted. The Eu will make an example of one person (if they can) and secretly, under the table give them a few million of tax payers cash to shut up.

      The corruption and fraud will go on unabated, the onyl difference is they’ll be more vigilant in ensuring it is never discovered, likely by infiltrating and heavily ‘rewarding’ the press with bungs. The good media (those taking the cash) will keep quiet, the bad ones – the honest ones – will never be allowed into a position where the corruption could be exposed.

      1. EU corruption

        SIR – The recent arrest of four European Union officials on charges
        of
        taking money from an external government seeking to gain influence
        (report, December 14) has been described as threatening the future of
        the EU, and the biggest case of its kind.

        However, both direct and indirect fraud and corruption have dogged
        the EU since the commission resigned en masse in March 1999 after an
        independent investigation found widespread fraud and nepotism. Not all
        commissioners were mentioned in that report. At the time the EU court of
        auditors had consistently failed to sign off the EU budget because of
        irregularities.

        In March 2016 (just before the Brexit referendum) another independent
        investigation commissioned by the European parliament estimated that
        fraud and corruption cost the EU in excess of £750 billion in GDP terms
        annually.

        It can therefore be assumed the future of the EU will not be threatened by this latest scandal.

        David Taylor
        Lymington, Hampshire

        No wonder they behave in such a high handed arrogant fashion. They are bullet proof.

        2. Remind me to plant an olive grove when we move into the Dower House.
          Well, to be more exact, remind me to CLAIM for planting an olive grove.

    6. BTL, you are not alone, you have voiced exactly my beliefs and non-beliefs.

      I cannot add an up-vote to the mangled list of avatars and names.

  32. No newspaper delivered today.

    Could any kind NoTTLer scan the DT cryptic crossword and mail it to me?

        2. You have to pay extra to get the crosswords on line.

          We buy compilations of collected DT puzzles and Caroline and I work our way through the books together. Are you a soloist or do you and the MR do it together as we do?

          1. We each do one separately.

            I rang the newsagents. No DTs were delivered to them this morning. We take it on Saturday – so it is irritating not to have our moment of fun.

      2. Nah – I am wedded to The Times (finished in 30 minutes) and the Saturday Telegraph!

        But thanks for the suggestion.

  33. Remember John Betjeman’s poem How to Get On in Society which mocks the vocabulary used by the lower but pretentious middle classes?

    A warning in the lavatories at the Athenaeum Club on Pall Mall. “Dear Member/Guest, Please do not flush any other product apart from toilet tissue down the toilet,” a sign says.

    Toilets?

    How to Get on in Society

    Phone for the fish knives, Norman
    As cook is a little unnerved;
    You kiddies have crumpled the serviettes
    And I must have things daintily served.

    Are the requisites all in the toilet?
    The frills round the cutlets can wait
    Till the girl has replenished the cruets
    And switched on the logs in the grate.

    It’s ever so close in the lounge dear,
    But the vestibule’s comfy for tea
    And Howard is riding on horseback
    So do come and take some with me

    Now here is a fork for your pastries
    And do use the couch for your feet;
    I know that I wanted to ask you–
    Is trifle sufficient for sweet?

    Milk and then just as it comes dear?
    I’m afraid the preserve’s full of stones;
    Beg pardon, I’m soiling the doileys
    With afternoon tea-cakes and scones.

      1. I wonder what you would make of this song and the person who wrote it!

        When I went to live in Hampshire I couldn’t understand,
        The jeers and sideways glances when people shook my hand
        For I am a self-made nouveau riche – the salt of all the earth
        And I don’t know why my presence makes them squirm or shake with mirth
        For I’m trying, yes I’m trying to be
        Socially
        Acceptable and U
        But somehow things don’t work out right and I don’t know what to do.

        My lounge is large and spacious and my toilet’s shocking pink
        My cruets bear my monogram and my wife has got a mink
        I wear a mohair blue tuxedo when I go to the county ball
        But I overhear them muttering: “He’s not our type at all”
        For it seems, yes it seems to me
        That society
        Is not al all impressed
        By the snappy way I’m dressed
        And my vocabulary
        It’s very clear to see
        Is not used I much regret
        By the people from the pages of Debrett

        I’ve got a great big gothic house with turrets here and there
        And I’ve had the grounds all landscaped with gnomes leaping everywhere
        I’ve a lovely crazy-paved patio and an ornamental lake
        Where my wife and I take mid-morning tea with a slice of Madeira cake
        Oh I wish I could succeed and be a social winner
        And I wish my friends arrived at one when I asked them out for dinner
        Oh I know I have the brass
        But I haven’t got the class
        And the whole situation
        Is getting up —- I mean’s become a farce.

        Pronunciation may vary in places!

  34. Wealthier BBC viewers should pay more for TV licence, says former boss. 17 December 2022.

    Wealthier viewers should pay more for the BBC under a reformed licence fee arrangement, former director-general Lord Hall of Birkenhead has said.

    The corporation’s boss from 2013 to 2020 has stated that the current model for the licence fee should be changed and has backed calls for a “fairer” system of payment during a House of Lords debate on the subject.

    Wealthier viewers should shoulder more of the cost of the BBC than less well-off, Lord Hall has argued, backing what he has termed a “household levy” for TV licences.

    The only people who should pay a BBC Licence Fee are those who view it!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/12/16/wealthy-bbc-viewers-should-pay-tv-licence-says-peer/

    1. How about a subscription. Those who wanted to watch would pay and those who didn’t want to watch would not.
      Simple.

    2. It is interesting to see how the socialists think. Never is it ‘we should do better to earn more money’, but ‘da wich’ must pay more’ – regardless of the quality of their product.

    3. It is grossly unfair that you pay the BBC in order to watch other channels who don’t get a share of that fee. It’s like paying Tescos to shop at Asda. Just stop paying like I did.

    4. It is quite extraordinary that I must pay the BBC to watch my Sky subscription service. I suppose its a legacy from when there was no choice and new services have evolved without anyone looking at the whole funding model.

    5. On that basis wealthy peers should receive a lower attendance allowance at the House of Lords, and also contribute money to shoulder the cost of all those subsidised bars and the central heating system.

    6. what he has termed a “household levy”
      Ie, put it in the council tax to give the BBC more compulsory income…

      1. there has to be a way to opt out for those who do not have TVs. The fairest system is for the BBC to raise its own income by advertising. This will also force them to make better programs or advertisers will stay away. BBC get £3.7 billion whether they make good program or not. There’s no incentive for them to do better as they are gifted the money anyway. ITV have a turnover of £1.4 billion, they make good programs because it brings in advertisers, if they can do it……
        BBC also has other companies with the BBC name, they all make vast amounts of money selling programs that have already been financed by your licence fee, that money doesn’t go back to the BBC.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwlIRBpmQcA&ab_channel=ChilliJonCarne

    7. I don’t have a TV and I’ve loads of ‘To The Occupier’ letters and ‘We’re Coming To Visit’ with menaces.

      Let ’em come – while they’re wasting time here, they’ll leave some other poor bugger alone.

      1. If they do arrive and figure out how to use the intercom, my first question will be, “You have a Magistrate’s Warrant of course?”

        1. There shouldn’t be a first question other than “Who are you?” If they answer “I’m from TV Licencing” Just say “Goodbye” and close the door. Do not under any circumstances start a conversation with them. They have no powers of entry, they cannot keep knocking on your door and they must leave the premises. They don’t have detector vans and the only way they can catch you viewing TV without a licence is if you let them into your home and confess via their clever questioning. Do not mention warrants like you suggest as they wouldn’t have one and they’ll never get one without supplying a magistrate with evidence. If police are with them they are only there to keep the peace and can take no part in the activity. You don’t have to answer their letters. but what you can do is ring the TV Licencing and tell them you don’t need a licence and they will leave you alone for 2 years after which you can make another declaration

  35. Good morning all
    This looks like the plan operated by the NHS management.

    Every day, a small ant arrived at work early and started work immediately, she produced a lot and was happy. The boss, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was working without supervision. He thought if the ant can produce so much without supervision, wouldn’t she produce more if she had a supervisor!
    So the lion recruited a cockroach who had extensive experience as a supervisor and who was famous for writing excellent reports. The cockroach’s first decision was to set up a clocking in attendance system. He also needed a secretary to help him write and type his reports. He recruited a spider who managed the archives and monitored all phone calls.
    The lion was delighted with the cockroach’s report and asked him to produce graphs to describe production rates and analyze trends so that he could use them for presentations at board meetings, so the cockroach had to buy a new computer, a laser printer and recruit a fly to manage the IT department. The ant, who had been once so productive and relaxed, hated these new plethora of paperwork’s and meetings which used up most of her timThe lion came to the conclusion that it was right time to nominate a person in charge of the department where the ant worked. The position was given to the cicada whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office. He also needed a computer and a personal assistant, who he had brought from his previous job in another company to help him prepare work and budget control as well as strategic optimization plan.
    Having reviewed the performance of the department, the lion found out that the production was much less than before. So, he recruited the owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant, to carry out an audit and suggest solutions. The owl spent 3 months in the department and came out with an enormous report, concluding that ” The Department is Overstaffed”.
    Guess who the lion fired first? The ant, of course, as she showed “lack of motivation and had a negative attitude towards co-workers.”

    1. Such is the way of all bureaucracy. The continual expansion to prove it’s own worth is the fundamental problem they all suffer from.

      A big organisation I do work for could solve the majority of it’s problems by changing tooling. Instead it is hiring more people.

  36. From Eon by snail mail this morning.

    Your electric meter has reached the end of its life – we need to replace it with a new one. (It’s free)

    Dear Minty.

    We know you’re busy, but we haven’t heard from you yet about exchanging your meter for you. Your electric meter has reached the end of its life. When this happens there’s a legal obligation to check and exchange your meter.

    We’re offering a choice of gifts to all our customers when they have Smart Meters installed successfully. You can choose between a free Costa Coffee egift or opt to have tree planted in your name with our partner the charity. One Tree Planted Etc.

    This is of course a gross deception and fraudulent sales pitch for a Smart Meter. Aside from causing needless anxiety among the less well informed it must contravene not only their own rules but numerous retail and trade regulations.

    (They haven’t heard from me previously because I don’t respond to their blandishments to have one.)

    1. I think I am correct in saying that you have the right to request a non-smart meter to replace your old one?
      The fact that they are telling you that they are legally obliged to replace your meter, and then offering you a bribe to have a smart meter suggests that there is another option that they are not mentioning.
      If you do request a non-smart meter, check what is actually being installed when the man comes to exchange it!

      1. We’ll keep sending you reminders at regular intervals to book an appointment, until we can exchange your meter.

        The quoting of the regulations is simply black mail to provoke a response. I had my meter changed some seven or eight years ago with nothing more than a knock on the door! It is installation by fraud and intimidation!

        1. Had a call from energy supplier EDF with the ‘end of meter service life’ bit. Said I was happy for them to replace it, but didn’t want a smart meter. OK said they but then stated they couldn’t supply a non-smart one incorporating Economy 7, so it would have to be smart type. I expressed incredulity that there wasn’t a single non-smart meter of the required type available in their organisation and accused them of trying to force me to have smart one.

          My comments were due to be ‘noted’. I’m thinking of complaining to Ofgem.

          2. Economy 7 is now a bit of a contrick. Unless you can consume more than 35% during the offpeak period, it works out no less expensive than the standrd 24 hour tariff. (Obviously the 35:65 ratio is not completely accurate).

            Apart from using wood stoves for heating, one option for people in rural areas would be to obtain a diesel generator and use rebated diesel fuel. Unless the premises are non-domestic that of course would now be unlawful. However, if the white diesel price were to drop slightly, it might be viable.

          3. I have solar panels and storage batteries, which reduces daytime usage, and changes the day / night ratio you mention somewhat. As from 1st January, daytime rate increases to an eye-watering 54.5 pence a unit, but night-time rate (surprisingly) drops from 11 to 7p.

          4. Economy 7 is now a bit of a contrick. Unless you can consume more than 35% during the offpeak period, it works out no less expensive than the standrd 24 hour tariff. (Obviously the 35:65 ratio is not completely accurate).

            Apart from using wood stoves for heating, one option for people in rural areas would be to obtain a diesel generator and use rebated diesel fuel. Unless the premises are non-domestic that of course would now be unlawful. However, if the white diesel price were to drop slightly, it might be viable.

          5. OK said they but then stated they couldn’t supply a non-smart one incorporating Economy 7, so it would have to be smart type.

            This is just typical, waffle, the sort of thing I would expect from Eon if I rang them VOF!

        2. Smart meters have a battery in them which runs out, so they do need replacing every eight or ten years. Not sure if any pre-smart meters do – I thought not.
          Does your existing meter have any kind of LCD display or screen?

      2. You are not legally required to have a smart meter and therefore any meter you have must be swopped like for like

    2. I’m forever getting those emails; plus it was suggested by the call centre lass when I rang to sort out the supply for the Dower House.
      The answer is a big fat NO.

    3. They are called ‘Smart’ meters because when one gets the monthly electronically read Bill one’s eyes tend to smart! (£500 for my last 4 weeks gas bill!!!!)

      Morning Minty and all

    4. 369037+ up ticks,

      Morning AS,
      Reply, Had my own smart meter installed in my top deck some years ago, operating with great satisfaction.

    5. Minty, I am never sure about your sense of humour, but back in the 1970s I knew some people who bought a property (which they intended to restore) where there was an electricity supply but no meter. They watched one day as the puzzled meter reader looked at the house and at his clipboard several times and then moved on. Of course, being wholly respectable, they soon contacted the electricity board.

    1. 1. Put yout bare testicles in a metalworkers vice
      2. Tighten vice until it your voice rises to the desired pitch
      3. Put vice on seat of wheelchair.
      4. Put on loose fitting dress to cover nether regions and vice
      5. Live life as “normal”

      PS See optician

    2. 1. Put yout bare testicles in a metalworkers vice
      2. Tighten vice until it your voice rises to the desired pitch
      3. Put vice on seat of wheelchair.
      4. Put on loose fitting dress to cover nether regions and vice
      5. Live life as “normal”

    3. The trouble is that the chap should have been castrated before puberty – they used to castrate boys with particularly pure singing voices and they were known as castratos.

      Nowadays such singers who are still in tact who have trained their voices are called counter tenors. In the 60s several singers such as Del Shannon, Frank Ifield, Jimmy Jones and the Bee Gees certainly wore very tight and uplifting Y fronts.

        1. ‘I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.’ Winston Churchill.

    6. I suggest psychotherapy to encourage you to understand your mental illness and accept who you are with grace and dignity rather than living a farce.

    8. While I was at work, I got to know one trans customer quite well. Big chip on his shoulder, but we got on ok once he calmed down a bit. He actually had surgery to remove his Adam’s apple, not sure that it made his voice more feminine though.

      I think my voice has deepened over the years – I look and sound like my mother now – people used to think she was a young man on the phone when she was at work.

  38. When I got word that my prescriptions were ready for collection yesterday I was offered a free blood pressure test at the pharmacy. Are the Pharmacists being paid for this and if so, how much?
    The GPs seem to be passing more work to Pharmacists. Nurses in the GP practices are able to do this efficiently and quickly.

    1. An excellent pharmacist who I know has switched to running the pharmacy side of several local GP groups.

    2. The NHS gave me a blood pressure thingy to take my readings for a week. When I took it back they said they didn’t want it. So I can take my BP anytime now

  39. It’s been an interesting week,I’ve had my diabetic foot assessment done by two charming competent nurses not good news as it appears I have no pulse in my left foot (Hi Geoff)
    I mentioned the failure of the practce to inform me of my diabetes as diagnosed 4 years ago and the total lack of response despite multiple requests for four weeks to the need for a replacement for Metformin to help reduce blood sugars
    Cue an appalled exchange of glances and things start moving at warp speed a doctors app was arranged for two day hence my choice of phone or in person.
    Call was prompt and on time tried to shove another form of Metformin but eventually prescribed new drug and told me he’d set up onother test in six months
    “What are the treatment options for my pulseless foot”??
    I could hear him shuffling through my notes,”Ah yes I’ll refer you for a full blood pressure test for that foot and we’ll see where we go from there”
    “What about diet information?”
    “Ah,yes I can refer you for that as well”

    As I had him on the line I mentioned a dodgy mole I’ve been concerned about and I got a face to face for the 22nd to get it checked
    When you can actiually TALK to someone the NHS can sometimes work but you’d better know what you’re talking about,we shall see

    1. Persistence clearly pays off, Rik, but it’s appalling that you have to “chase” people to get a basic decent service. Hope thing get better for you from now on.

    2. My stepson had the same recently, no blood going to his big toe, excruciating pain, into hospital last week, big toe removed. Now recuperating at home, can’t go out for 6 weeks. All the guys in the same ward had amputations of some kind either toes, feet or in one case a leg all diabetes related. It’s important you get immediate treatment

    3. The virus of indifference and incompetence seems to afflict all professions.
      After the past 6 months, I could write a thesis on incompetent solicitors; not just our house sale, but also those involved in selling Elderly Chum’s house.
      Never have there been so many forms of communication and never has communication been so poor.

      1. It is international

        Indifference and incompetence describes our experience with the lawyers during the move this year..

        1. In contrast, the lawyer acting for us in the sale of Mother’s house was excellent, and kicked arses to get the tasks done as quickly as she could.
          Passmores solicitors, Barry. Proper job!

          3. I don’t really know it that well. I lived for 7 years in Pencoed and avoided Barry and Barry Island like the plague.

          4. Same here, Oberst. She really was on the ball and was always ahead of the opposition. Small practice, just two female partners and 2-3 clerical staff. Fixed fee, too, so never felt constrained about contacting her. And she visits all clients at home when first instructed to check ID etc. Never rushed us and always patient.

    4. I have no feeling in my left foot also. Mine is down to arterial vascular disease not help by another condition of ‘sticky blood’.

      Glad at least you are getting treatment.

      I would report your GP to a higher authority or get advice from Citizens advice bureau about taking legal action against the fuckers.

    3. Trudeaus mob have finally been shamed into delaying assisted suicide for the mentally ill.
      One of many actions that have been subject to serious resistance from many quarters.

  41. Deny rich retirees a state pension, urges think tank
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions-retirement/news/take-state-pension-away-rich-retirees-says-think-tank/

    The state likes to argue that the OAP is not something for which you have contributed – it is a state hand-out.

    However, if you are missing some payments into the system over the years you will not receive the full pension unless you top up your contributions.

    Please would somebody explain to me why something for which you do not pay should not be given you unless you pay for it?

    1. That’s what happened to me in the early to mid 90s. DOP wrote to me and told me I was not on target for a full pension because I’d lived out of the country for 6 years. I had to have paid in for at least 40 years to receive the full pension. I made up the difference and a few years later they reduced the contributions period to 30 years. I actually contributed for over 50 years. And still only receive the basic state pension.
      Unlike the gold plated bomb proof pensions civil servants and political classes are paid.
      I’ve been in touch many times and they ignore any claims for justice.

      1. If you are relatively poor there is no point in making up the missing contributions; they will compensate via some form of pension credit, housing benefit etc. And the the best bit is that you do not have to pay rates (choose whatever jargon you prefer) on the rented property. Of course, not so good if you have visible savings.

        1. I have an annuity but the total amount is disappearing because of inflation so I’m told.
          Some one told me about an old chap they heard of. who commits a jailable crime nearly every winter so he’s looked after in prison. Why not.

      2. I paid the catch up contributions so that I qualified for a full pension.

        However, because I live in Canada my pension is frozen with no annual increases. I could move about fifty miles down the road to the US and my pension would suddenly be eligible for increases.

        Think, get away from trudeau and get a big pension increase!

        1. Same with. my Brother and I.

          He, in the US, got the increases whilst I, in Australia, didn’t.

          Crazy system but then, that’s (mis)Government…

        2. I have friends in Oz who receive nearly as much as I do and they left the UK in the late 70s. After working only around 15 years in the UK.

          4. I had no response.
            Sorry I’ve been a bit under the weather for two days..
            I’m having a lot of trouble with my medication. I have an appointment with a doctor Monday morning.
            That’s why I’m awake now Tom. It’s all gone pear-shaped.
            I’ll keep the light on I might doze off. 😉😴

      3. I paid up three missing years from the 1970s before i retired, so I get the full basic pension, not the enhanced version for fewer years contributions paid since 2016. I do get my civil service pension as well, for which I’m grateful, but as it was based on my salary at retirement, it’s not a huge amount, and was not entirely non-contributary. They’ve stopped that scheme now and moved to a career-average one. It was always regarded as deferrred pay anyway.

    2. A state pension is earned not given. That is why it has never been classed a social security hand out.Do not let anyone get away with saying it is.

      1. You are right – but the state and some parts of the MSM are trying to make out it is a hand out and they hope that if they say it long enough and loud enough that people will begin to believe them..

  43. A big thank you to ALL the NoTTLers who sent copies of today’s DT cryptic crossword. Greatly appreciated by me and the MR.

  44. Our Ocado delivery accidently gave us an item we didn’t order earlier this week, this happens very often. Usually things on the top of the bag that we tell them to take away. But this time after unloading the shopping we found we had been given a very large Brioche ( the size of a large bloomer ) it says ” Reflets de France – Brioche vendéenne. Mainly all the writing is in French, with Italian and Dutch getting a mention but no word of English. I’ve never eaten a Brioche before- imagined them to be far too buttery. It was on the kitchen table for a few days – not knowing what to do with it ( it really belonged to some unknown person – but some of our order
    doesn’t arrive from time to time ). I opened it a few days ago – it was the most delicious food – we had a slice each and froze the loaf . I think I shall make something for Christmas with it – maybe a Belgian chocolate and rum bread and butter pudding – or something suitably French .

    1. Christo, the older of my two sons, is an aerospace engineer but he has just moved from a US aviation company where he has been for four years work with robots at Ocado.

    2. It sounds delicious, I love brioche, the smell instantly floats me off to France. Bread and butter pudding would be wonderful. I’m on my way….

  45. Husband just phoned – he’s back in his private room on the cardio-thoracic ward – in a lot of discomfort so I told him to ask for more painkiller. It was good to hear his voice and he’s able to communicate now.

    2. If they can move him to somewhere that causes a lot of discomfort, ask to have him transferred to original hospital, within easier reach for you.

      Good luck and best wishes for you both.

        1. …and the original horse piddle would be able to treat and dress the wound. The District Nurse used to travel 30 miles from Lockerbie, to treat and dress mine at home.

          1. I don’t think they have the private recovery rooms like they have at the JR. He has a telly, shower and loo, and it’s quiet. No other shouting patients in there.

    3. If they can move him to somewhere that causes a lot of discomfort, ask to have him transferred to original hospital, within easier reach for you.

      Good luck and best wishes for you both.

    4. That is good news….apart from the discomfort. I hope that the”thaw” will enable you to visit.

  46. A cultural story in yesterday’s Grimes that surprised me AND made me larf.

    The Royal Opera House has put on “Tosca” – with “the first British pair to lead since 1954…”

    And the names of these O So British singers??

    Natalya Romaniv (born Swansea) and Freddie de Tommaso……(born Tunbridge Wells)

    What a melting pot we have become….but so long as they are self-supporting, and entertain us – who cares? For once, I don’t…

    2. 369037+ up ticks,

      Afternoon PM,

      I don’t know if anyone else has noticed how these global seasons rotate in a repeated
      manner
      spring,summer,autumn, winter,
      year after year after year, may one ask “has this been the case for long”

    3. In the 1950s, at the end of the Autumn term, we played a succession of house hockey matches.
      It was always warm and muggy in December and we nearly melted as we charged up and down the pitch wearing those hot and scratchy grey serge divided skirts.
      But, of course, that was long before global warming/climate change.

          1. Yeah, but like the flannelette material they were made of, I used to like feeling (jeaning, my youngest daughter’s word) on my own flannelette sheets before sleeping.

            Those juvenile fetishes, eh?

  48. Damned Ocado. Just had a delivery and they’ve missed out the special Brioche I ordered, baked in France too. It’s gone downhill since that woman arrived at JLP.

        1. I wish people would explain their abbreviations – we ain’t all posh shoppers.

          Thank you, Paul.

          2. Sorry, but Acronyms have to form a word – like SNAFU or FUBAR. just three consonants is an abbreviation – it cannot be made into a word.

      1. I lived in Streatham from 1970 – 73.

        I wouldn’t want to even visit that part of Londonistan today. Or anywhere in our so-called Capital City.

          1. Can’t find it. Which word?

            I will always carefully proof-read any post before I put it up. A pity others don’t.

          12. Oh, Gawd, not you too, Paul?

            As I’ve said earlier, that ain’t in my vocabulary.

            I don’t mean to offend but both Bill and Bob have tried to make the same (joke) but it fell flat.

    2. Wouldn’t they be more authentic if there were Baggins attached to the roots of the shafts?

  50. Lunching on scrambled eggs a la Lockwood. Needed a bit more time but I did use 3 eggs.

    Am washing it down with a small ‘Weissbier’ – cheers.

  52. Who took Harry’s cherry – or was it a sour and dismal little sloe?
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11549029/Liz-Hurley-addresses-rumour-older-woman-Prince-Harry-reportedly-lost-virginity-to.html#newcomment

    DM Story:
    The poor man is so stupid that any woman of spirit will be bored out of her brain with him very quickly. Whether you like Migraine or not it cannot be denied that she is a woman of spirit which means she will soon find Harry unendurably tedious to live with. I wonder if Netflix have yet put in their bids for the exclusive serial rights, book publishing rights, and film and television rights for the divorce.

    2. The Mail is desperately trying to big up some Christmas party given by the Queen Consort by referring to how much we are supposed to revere the “stars” that have been invited to it.
      In fact, it’s only the very same set of boring, left wing BBC slebs and luvvies who get invited everywhere.
      Change the record!

  53. That’s another 6″ or so added on to the height of the woodstack. I’ve been braving the elements to split a few elm logs up the “garden” from the tree I dropped a while ago and dragged them down for stacking.

    Temperature is a bit less cold, -3° against the -5½° first thing, but it is raining at the moment, not heavily but enough to make working outside unpleasant.

    1. I was talking to my brother about the days when we had the quarries at High Peak and used to ship the minerals down to the rail head at Great Longstone (?) I have a photo taken by my Uncle with my cousin aged about 12 on the drive of her school, St Elphins. A track cut for the car but the snow piled high everywhere. When the quarries had been sold, my grandparents held on to the electric industrial heater they used to take the edge off the cold for the people working on the jigs, where the minerals were split into different grades. The noise was horrendous, and ear defenders hadn’t been invented…
      We were only allowed to use the heater in the house on the Wirral at Christmas time, but it did make the bedrooms warmer!

      1. St. Elphin’s? Good lord that closed down years ago. It went through a bad patch and standards dropped but when it tried to sell off some of its grounds for housing to raise funds, the planning proposal was objected to by a local group and thrown out by the then Labour County Council.

        The school was then bought out by a so-called “white knight” who then promptly shut it down and developed into a “retirement village”. The Council’s head of education apparently danced with joy when he heard of the closure.
        This of course was at the tail end of Bookbinder’s maladministration of the County.

        1. It was still OK in my cousin’s day. Deborah thought it was good enough for the Chatsworth girls to go there!

        2. I spent a week at St. Elphin’s when I was in the lower 6th doing A level geography. Kids from all over England on a geography field trip. Three of us from our sarf London school went. Mainly fun but the day we spent following the course of a stream, using an OS map, was tough. Got chased off some land by an angry man with a gun, fell in bogs etc
          Ended up back at the school exhausted and covered in muck. Showers worked overtime that evening- thank god there was a pub nearby.

    1. Yes, I just watched the Tucker Carlson report on that – was interesting. I did wonder whether Carlson was going to get run over or commit suicide.

    2. I was nineteen in 1963 and serving in the Royal Air Force so I just thought it was something else that happened in a corrupt, faraway country.

      How many agencies act undercover of the UK Gov’t?

      1. Not only that – he gave a speech to the assembled representatives of the press the year before he died, where he spoke of unelected forces wielding enormous power in the US, and asked for their cooperation in exposing the corruption.
        He was also opposed to removing silver from the coinage – the removal of which was of course, one of the steps on the way to a fiat currency that could be printed to the moon by central bankers and transferred to themselves, creating an oligarch class in the west.
        The end of that fiat game is currently playing out, and the charade will collapse soon, in an event already christened “the great muppet reaping”.

    1. Funny, too, that she failed to notice the millions of pounds spent on the house, holidays, etc etc.

    3. Original and NO copies elsewhere for a multi-million dollar deal? Convenient.

      Who is looking after our original, I wonder?

  57. Just a minor grumble , for a week or so I have felt a warbling sound in my right ear , I have used ear clear stuff to no avail .

    I popped into our village surgery to ask if one of the nurses would have a look , using an auriscope … simple easy examination, even student nurses used them in my day..

    The answer came back very quickly.. Sorry, but the nurses aren’t qualified to examine ears. So here I am with a warbling noise in my ear and a length wait for a week or so to see a doctor.. because it isn’t urgent .

    1. I had an ear blocked with wax and went to my surgery to make an appointment to have it syringed. Told they don’t do it any more and I must go to SpecSavers.
      I duly went and had the wax removed and was charged £55.00 for what was free from the NHS.

      1. That is shocking , daylight robbery ..

        So any Tom Dick or Harry outside the NHS can do that , and charge £55, anyone can start up an ear clearing practise?

        1. It not a medical procedure Belle. You don’t expect free paracetamol if you have a headache. Personal responsibility it’s called.

          2. I might have an infected eardrum that requires antibiotics .. all the surgery nurse could have said if she had had a look was … hmmmm looks infected to me , the doctor needs to see this , antibiotics !

          3. I didn’t realise that and thought it just a wax problem. Bombard them with requests for a face to face. Phone, write and visit.
            Don’t let the buggers get away with fobbing you off .

      2. My surgery gave me some oil stuff to warm and put in my ears (probably olive oil) and the wax came out fine.

        1. I tried that and syringing but neither worked. In the end I had microsuction at Charing Cross Hosp. That did the trick.

      4. …..was prepaid from the NHS. Nothing is free from the NHS, you may not have to pay when you visit but it’s been extracted from you at every twist and turn if your life.

        1. Unless, of course, you rock up, courtesy of the RNLI, in a RIB then it’s all free as the Poor Bloody Taxpayer has coughed up.

          1. Yes will never vote for them again (haven’t in the last 4 elections). If I’d wanted a socialist government I’d have voted Labour or Lib Dem. It’ll probably be NOTA next next time.

    2. I’ve had tinnitus for many years – sometimes it annoys me but mostly it’s just there in the background and I don’t notice it unless I think about it.

    4. A canal in the ear is also connected to the sinuses. Try Vicks in a steaming bowl of water with a towel over your head. Might clear it from that end.

  60. Has anyone else noticed that the uptick bubble link doesn’t always cover the whole bubble? The link indicator, a hand with the index finger extended, sometimes will open the link only when it is on a specific part of the bubble, not always the same part. Just now I had to come onto the top of the bubble to enable an uptick to poppiesmum’s picture of her village. Very annoying.
    I’m using the Chrome browser.

    1. I’m using Firefox (an old version) but the same – it seems to work better if you click the top half of the square, towards the right side.

    2. I just click on it and, if it works, it works. If it doesn’t just move on and blame it on DISQUS INCOMPETENCE.

    1. The donkey is a steady bloke,
      Who very rarely has a poke
      But when he does – he lets it soak
      As he revels in the joys of fornication!

        1. Yes indeed – one of the verses.

          Another verse which you will remember:

          When you wake up in the morning and you’re feeling simply grand.
          And you’ve got that funny feeling in your seminary gland
          If you haven’t got a woman what’s the matter with your hand
          As you revel in the joys of masturbation

          Amazing how much I learnt on the coach trips back to school after away rugby matches 60 years ago.

          1. I asked Moh whether he knew any grubby songs , he told me that footballers don’t indulge in such filthy stuff
            I was quite taken aback by that admission .

            When I was a school girl, we sang some naughty songs , but I cannot remember any of them now .

          3. By your command…

            This one is a Crystal Palace chant…

            Go Back Home,
            Drink 10 pints absolutely plastered,
            Go back home and beat the wife,
            You dirty northern b*stards…

          4. That’s wendyball for you – small sense of humour. I knew all the filthy RAF and Rugby songs and sang them with Gusto (he was my accompanist).

  62. Where did Prince Harry’s mates go?
    Meghan’s friends were all over the Netflix documentary, but the Duke’s tight-knit group of chums were conspicuous in their absence
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/12/17/where-did-prince-harrys-mates-go/

    To be honest many wives consider their husbands’ bachelor friends to be a danger. Two of my very best friends have wives who considered me to be a very bad influence. They became less protective of their uxorious spouses when I myself finally got married.

    Is this female jealousy of male friendship a usual feminine trait – even my mother became jealous when my father and I grew closer to each other in the final years of his life. When she had gone to bed – their bedroom was immediately above the sitting room where my father and I were cosily chatting to each other in front of the fire – she used to tap on the floor to tell my father it was time for him to stop talking to his son and come up to bed.

    There are many tremendous things about my wife: one of them is that she immediately became the friend of all my best friends so there was never any friction, jealousy or conflict of interest.

    1. The Warqueen is good chums with most of my friends. She finds male company easier as it is less catty and, if she were honest, the raw adoration doesn’t hurt.

    2. Ex OH was at Perham Down when they first came back from Hohne!

      Current OH just phoned – sounded like normal – had some miracle painkiller earlier on. Chatted for 20 minutes!

      2. Good enough, J, encourage him to talk and visit when you can.

        It’s amazing, that uplift you get when the loved-one walks into the sick-bay.

        1. No – he was a trooper in the Royal Hussars, previously the 11th Hussars – the Cherrypickers. After Perham Down they moved to Warminster, then back to Tidworth – Aliwal Barracks.

          2. Must have been 1968 or 69. We were married in 69. We had a little rented cottage that year, not far from Andover. then to Warminster, then Bazaar Road in Tidworth. My elder son was born in Tidworth MH, Delhi barracks. Dreadful place.

          4. That must have been the old barracks on the road between Perham Down and Ludgershall. Swinton Barracks would have just been or being built then!

  65. I have to feed little Harry 3 times a day with his softened puppy biscuits. He’s a happy little soul who continually wags his tail especially while eating. Then i have to suffer 3 hours of farting.

    1. And me! Not brain dead yet.

      Wordle 546 3/6

      ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
      🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. Par for me.
        Wordle 546 4/6

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

          4. No it isn’t, because it is an award representing an individual or their actions and is awarded by other people in commemoration of that individual, which means that the individual in question might get a vote but cannot decide unilaterally.

            e.g. The Phizzee award for most ostentatiously expensive cocktail of the year is not decided by Phizzee, but by those fools who were suckered into buying one on his recommendation…

  69. Mick Lynch isn’t giving an inch,
    The train drivers are feeling the pinch,
    Eighty grand a year,
    Now feels like small beer,
    So they’re Christmasing just like the Grinch.

  70. I’ve just watched some bleeding hearts protesting about the deaths in the channel.
    Nobody EVER asks these people how many gimmegrants they think Britain should accept and who they think should pay for them and house them.

  71. That’s me gone for this – yet another – dreary day. Slight thaw around mid-day – not freezing again. Let us hope that the Carol Service tomorrow at 3 pm will inspire the Good Lord to set us free….

    Have a nice evening.

    A demain

    1. We received an e-mail informing us that our Anglican carol service had been brought forward an hour to allow people to watch the World Cup final.

      Almost within minutes England were eliminated from the competition.

      God moves in mysterious ways, his nemesis to perform.

    1. Blimey, you’d have to be hungry to eat that. Probably a black headed gull by the size of it.

      1. Comment 1 Seagulls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. But who will take action against this vile behaviour?
        Comment 2 They’re probably only protected when it’s White Brits trapping them. They’re probably not nearly as protected when someone who can scream racism traps them.

    2. My BLT comment on Twatter:

      Flying vermin – these are the same idiots that feed urban foxes. Only because there are no hunts to kill off the old and decrepit – rather like the New World Gov’t, that will kill off these vermin-feeders.

      1. I overheard a woman saying she was going to feed foxes and badgers with left-over sandwiches. I told her that if the badgers started undermining her house foundations, she’d find they had more rights than she did (Wildlife Act 1972). She looked a bit shocked, but I bet she’ll keep on doing it.

          1. Some people refuse to listen, let alone understand, when the facts contradict their mental picture.

  73. The duck is in the oven ( jemima – I always name them before cooking- the husband finds it macabre but they were living things once ). Wine has been opened . I’m just about to roast some new potatoes with rosemary and garlic.

      2. That’s what I like to remind the holier than thou vegetarians. When you cook a spud (or any veg) you kill it because it won’t grow afterwards.

  74. Evening, all. Never mind the bureaucracy, getting rid of the diversity and equality managers, never mind the “lived experience” wonks would free up a fortune, along with stopping translating everything into enough languages to put the Tower of Babel to shame.

    2. …and they are?

      Children probably. Did you not beat grammar and punctuation into them during their schooldays, regardless whatever their ‘woke’ teachers might have said?

      1. Indeed, but woke wasn’t really a thing when the lads were at school being taught spelling etc. It’s been a while now.

        1. What a shame, as punctuation and grammar really matter in order to get the sense of that which you wish to say, get across.

          You may use this to identify to them the importance.

  76. Latest Breaking News

    – Due to NHS receptionists going on strike, patients are now able to see doctors!

      1. Rob Krzyszowski, interim assistant director of planning, building standards and sustainability said: “Haringey Council believes the names of our monuments, buildings, places and streets must reflect the values and diversity that we are so proud of in this borough. Meanings change over time and the term ‘Black Boy’ is now most commonly used as a derogatory name for men of African heritage.

        “The truth is, that if we are [sic] naming the street now we would not be calling it ‘Black Boy’ Lane and irrespective of the historical reasons behind naming it more than a century ago, as a community, as a society, we have to ask whether it remains an appropriate street name now. The council is committed to taking action to both address inequality and celebrate the rich diversity of our borough.

        “Whilst we recognise that there will be some inconvenience if the street name is changed, we must be balanced against the impact of those within our community who have called upon the council to review the name.

        “Whilst we appreciate this is a difficult time for everyone, and responding to consultation such as this may be more challenging, we believe that now, more than ever we should seek to send out a clear message in support of the diversity in our borough.”

        Here’s Mr Krzyszowski on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/robzowski

        It’s the little tuft of hair that marks him out as a bit of a tit.

        I wonder what nationality he claims to be…

        1. …and where does Mr Krzyszowski come from that gives him the right to pontificate on British history and tradition?

          Hardly a good old British name – get back to your roots before we nuke them.

        2. You’re beginning to sound as if you approve the name change, thus wiping out hundreds of years of British History. I cannot agree.

        3. So Grope Lane, Love Lane and Butcher Row are for the chop as well, are they? They will offend somebody somewhere, particularly the last one which will have the vegans in a faint.

      3. Whiteladies Road runs into Blackboy Hill.

        It being Bristol, once England’s Second City, now run by Marxist goons and their troops of BLM funded activists I expect the worst.

        BLM funded the hooligans and idiots who dismantled the statue to Edward Colston, a great benefactor to the City.

  78. That’s probably enough of me and my views.

    All I can say is as per John Betjeman (modified)

    Westminster
    Come friendly Putin Nukes and fall on Westminster!
    It isn’t fit for humans now,
    There isn’t grass to graze a Minister
    Swarm over, Death!

    Come, bombs and blow to smithereens
    Their air -conditioned, bright canteens,
    Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans,
    Tinned minds, tinned breath.

    At this point – no point in wishing, what will be, will be.

    So, goodnight, Gentlefolk and may God bless you.

  79. According to t’Web, there are 322 000 approx nurses in the NHS.
    If the “life experience coordinator” position was eliminated and the money given to nurses, that would be 50p a year each. Not so impressive. If they were to get a decent rise tat would be noticed, say £12 000 a year, that would cost the taxpayer £3,8 billion. Just for the extra pay, not including employers NI etc.
    That’s some money – that the taxpayer would have to cough up.

    1. There will be a whole bunch of the ‘Life Experience ‘ people, and their minions, in every NHS Trust. Same as the ‘Diversity ‘ managers and their miniions. All non-jobs. The nurses do a good job – they’re looking after my OH at this moment.

      1. I am so relieved that your husband is doing better- long may it continue. Do you think he’ll be home for Christmas? Really hope so!

        1. I think they will let him out by the end of the week – they won’t want him bedblocking over Christmas. It’s not as if he would be going to a flat on his own.

          4. That would be lovely for you both, are you able to fetch him home, if the ambulance people are still on strike? I’ll be keeping fingers crossed for you.

          5. I don’t think they would use an ambulance to take him home – but my next – door neighbours have offered, and I will hope to take them up on that.

          7. You should do so.
            They would be delighted, and it further cements a friendship.
            On those occasions when we have done similarly for neighbours the friendship blossomed and has lasted for years.

          8. They are good friends – and have been since they moved here 26 years ago – in fact all our neighbours have been very supportive – it’s a good community here on the Hill.

          2. They likely bring “negative value” to the NHS – ie, fcuk things up and make it even less effective.

      3. That’s 2 LE people fired for £1 a year. 20 LE for £10 a year, or 50p a week. 200 LE fired for £100 pa/£2 a week per nurse. The savings are not so great when you look at the numbers being awarded pay rises.
        And, if t’Web is right and The Royal College of Nursing estimated in 2021 that the average annual salary of an NHS nurse is £33,384 then £100pa rise isn’t going to satisfy anyone, being only 0.3%.

        1. But the LE people are being recruited now, which will divert funds which could have been used to pay the nurses.

          1. Indeed.
            As Tom posted just now, there needs to be a root & branch review of the admin positions in the NHS, and only a very few necessary ones retained – you do need some, if only to mess up the bookings.
            Once the organisation is effective, then it can look at significant pay awards.
            But that will never happen with the state funding model, as the NHS is paid regardless. Maybe a model where the State provides personal health insurance and hospitals have to compete for the money, with top-up BUPA style cover available as well? Who knows, it’s not an easy problem to solve, as there will be drawbacks with all models.

    2. Money which, because it’s not going into wealth creation means 3.8 billion worth of job losses.

      1. Yes, it’s a complex argument, isn’t it? First, as I recall, made by John Harvey-Jones at ICI about pay rises all round.
        As usual, a conflict between heart and head. Heart says aren’t nurses wonderful, they deserve much more. Head says where does the money come from and who else has to go without to pay for it.

        1. Nurses have to pay for parking , travelling to work, fuel costs and what ever fees the have to pay to their union.

          Hospital equipment waste and theft of materials is appalling .

          1. It’s unusual to not have to pay those costs. Is Union membership compulsory – ie, closed shop? If not, Union dues are discretionary.

          2. I get your point, but… so do I? So does everyone. If I steal my company’s property chances are they’d sack me.

            The salary and pay of nurses, teachers and so on is all published. It’s not egregious. Yes, other industry pays more. If they want a telephone number salary AND to work 100 hours weeks become a games developer.

            Folk can’t complain when it’s clear what they’ll earn – note that those increases are not based on ability or competence, just automatic. If I want to get paid more I have to get a client, do the work, pay for all the equipment then once the state has taken 2 thirds of it, I get to keep 20% of what’s left.

            (it’s that 2/3rds being the reason why I don’t take on more work and why our income is fairly static. I (and others like me) have to earn the money first before the government can destroy it. The problem is, at a certain point more is lost than is ever gained, so why bother?)

          3. The govt could raise some money for a pay rise by reducing the v generous annual leave by two days a year.

          5. Unfortunately in the NHS waste seems written into managers’ contracts if our grandson’s experience is anything to go by. He’s doing a Masters in Pharmacy and for work experience was able to get a job in a hospital. He was put to work in the oncology department so sterile area and wearing all the necessary hazmat gear. In his first day apparently he had to discard £20,000 worth of medication as it was out of date. That’s just one day and just one hospital.

    3. …and the diversity and enterprise managers? How much do they and their Chairmen rake in each year. There must be squillions of savings to be made if the proper knife is wielded throughout the whole sick organisation.

      Trusts, Management, Secretaries – all non- health providing jobs. We’re after you, you parasites.

        2. In the Railtrack-equivalent in Norway, SWMBO often notes how those with authority (purchasing, project managers) know little or nothing about contracts, their specific contracts or the law, and tend to award contracts to their mates. They also don’t enforce the terms and conditions – after all, it’s not their money and there’s plenty more where that came from.
          Result: Incompetence, uselessness and waste all round. Delays in projects, substandard deliveries, safety incidents everywhere.
          It’s a problem of government.

        3. Having been not only a Purchasing Manager but an inveterate planner. I am aware of these things.

    4. The NHS is the fourth-largest employer in the world – and arguably the worst managed.

      It has an extraordinary surfeit of ‘administrators’ and ‘managers’ – at the expense of health-carers.

      I would choose Michael O’Leary to sort out the mess.

      Think about it!

    4. All about control over how you think. If they can define the language you use they then control how you think and then they win.

      This is why fascism must be rejected at every turn.

  81. Sorry, Chums, I can only repeat my earlier post:

    Goodnight, Gentlefolk and may God bless you.

    2. Try not to get too angry about stuff you can’t have any control over – it doesn’t do you any good – but we can deflect some of it here.

      1. I’m finding it difficult, Elsie, I’m trawling the dating sites looking for someone compatible with my life views.

        1. Try “high expectations” but “low attachments”, i.e. don’t sink into despair if at first you don’t succeed. When I was younger and hitching with a friend around Europe I found it very depressing to keep sticking my thumb out unsuccessfully. But when I re-framed the problem and decided that I would probably get a car to stop and give us a lift after 100 cars passing by, it was much easier to bear because after every 10 unsuccessful attempts I knew I was 10 steps closer to being successful. Thus, after 90 attempts I was positively delighted to think “It won’t be long now”.

          1. I can only, Elsie, like the Irish, live in hope and die in despair. At the moment all I get is blank screens.

      1. One for my feet (my circulation gets to my knees and turns back) and one for my back (crumbling bones).

    2. Longfellow
      There was a little girl,
      Who had a little curl,
      Right in the middle of her forehead.
      When she was good,
      She was very good indeed,
      But when she was bad she was horrid.

          2. The “at heart” bit is most important.
            Find time to be silly, it’s good for you.
            I haven’t had the time nor energy to be silly since early last year, when Mother started to go downhill. Finally have her accommodated at Buckingham Palace nice care home, where it’s as good as it can be, house sold, finally some relaxation by bombarding all Y’all with cracker jokes (I liked them, anyway!)

          4. Keep ’em comin’ will be ready for fresh ones soon!! I managed to buy a couple of boxes of Tom Smith Crackers here in a discount store so I shall add to joke fest soon.

        1. Amazing how the Nottlerettes all appear at once over such posts, (see below) I suspect Ndovu, AA, SM, SE and CT will pop up soon!
          Doesn’t run away and hide.

          He knows the men outnumber the women by sufficient number to take heavy casualties!

          2. Nottlerettes makes us sound like the Rockettes….I bet we Nottler ladies have better legs though.

          5. My first, Irish, was 5′ 3″ the second, Swedish, 5′ 11″ but I didn’t get on with either:

            1. 37 years
            2. 13 Years
            3. Last – partnership – 5 years.

            What goes wrong – I don’t know except that the females keep the truth to themselves and will not open up to their partner. Am I wrong?

          7. I just wish, Ann, that all females could be as open and honest as you. Alas, it is not my experience.

    3. Opposing government policy? What insanity is this?

      All government policy is moronic. To blindly obey it makes you a moron. Only utter fascists think like this.

      In a democracy, the oaf who presented that, or tried to pass it as law would be removed – immediately.These scum need to learn their place.

      1. How is she surviving and remaining in power? Have the people in New Zealand lost the plot entirely?

    1. Israeli occupation shadows the Nazi genocide? Really? Which occupatoin is this? Merely a request to share unoccupied territory in exchange for technology. What do those fanatical Muslims then do? They launch rockets at school buses.

      1. Read it as the whole, not in the light of your particular prejudices.

        What I think he is saying is that the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians is being twisted by the MSM to be worse.
        A huge difference from your view.

        1. Is he? I don’t see that in the article. The only reference I see is

          “…Israel’s cruel treatment of the Palestinians and arbitrary appropriation of their land now overshadows that greatest of crimes, committed
          against the Jews by the Nazis….”

          Is there more I’ve missed?

    2. I just read it after retuning from the pub. Profound, but a little too subtle for my current state. Might read it again tomorrow. Might be too subtle for my godless thoughts anyway.

  87. Here is the serious version:

    It is Christmas Day in the Workhouse
    And the cold bare walls are bright,
    With garlands of green and holly
    And the place is a pleasant sight.
    For with clean washed hands and faces
    In a long and hungry line
    The paupers sit at the tables,
    For this is the hour they dine.
    And the Guardians and their Ladies,
    Although the wind is east,
    Have come in their furs and wrappers
    To watch their charges feast.
    To smile and be condescending
    Put pudding on paupers’ plates,
    To be hosts at the workhouse banquet
    They have paid for from the rates.

    Not far off now….

    1. Here is the less polite version- or part of it….

      It was Christmas Day in the workhouse
      The pudding came into view
      Currants there were plenty,
      Raisins there were a few.
      Up stood a brave old warrior
      His face as bold as brass,
      He said you can keep your bloody pudding
      And shove it up your arse.

      Edit for stupid sp mistake.

      1. My view:

        Up stood a brave old warrior
        His face as bold as brass,
        He said you can keep your bloody pudding
        We had some, the night before last.

      2. ‘Twas Christmas Day in the Harem
        The eunuchs were saying their prayers
        And a hundred dusky houris
        Were combing their pubic hairs
        When in comes Father Christmas
        And out aloud he calls
        “What do you want for Christmas?”
        And the eunuchs answered: “Balls”

      1. There is a really rude one but I couldn’t remember it. Anyway, I am trying to be good because Santa was on Neil Oliver tonight so Santa’s watching.

        1. Thank you for your post, Ann. I hadn’t realised that Santa was on GBNews talking to Neil Oliver on Saturday night, so I have just Googled his show and there Neil was, chatting to Santa. It has restored my faith in the wonderful old gentleman and – like you – I have now vowed to be more nice and less naughty from this moment on. Here’s hoping we each get a lovely present delivered to us on Christmas Eve.

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