Saturday 20 February: The Union with Scotland is safe, even without a new Cabinet minister

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/02/20/lettersthe-union-scotland-safe-even-without-new-cabinet-minister/

750 thoughts on “Saturday 20 February: The Union with Scotland is safe, even without a new Cabinet minister”

  1. MI6 chief apologises for ‘misguided and unjust’ ban on gay spies, 30 years after restriction was lifted. 20 February 2021.

    In a message on his Twitter account, Richard Moore, the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6, publicly apologised for the treatment of LGBT+ staff and potential candidates before the government wide security ban was lifted in 1991.

    Mr Moore said this was down to a “misguided view that they would be more susceptible to blackmail than straight people”.

    “Because of this policy…loyal and patriotic people had their dreams of serving their country in MI6 shattered.

    “Today, I apologise on behalf of MI6 for the way our LGBT+ colleagues and fellow citizens were treated and express my regret to those whose lives were affected.”

    Morning everyone. The obvious question is WHY? Why is this man apologising in this abject manner for something that was ended thirty years ago and for which he bears no responsibility of any kind whatsoever, and that is far from clear was a policy in error? John Vassal for example was a homosexual whom the KGB photographed in a compromising situation and then blackmailed into spying for them. Guy Burgess and Blunt were both homosexuals and the Cambridge Five swam in a homosexual soup of Marxist Sympathies and Hatred of the West while at University. This is why Gays were barred from service in MI6; not simply because of their susceptibility to blackmail, but because of their emotional instability and societal rootlessness. One would think Moore as the head of Mi6 would know this, and of course he does; this fake mea culpa is not about the truth but the establishment of Woke Credentials. To those of a conspiratorial turn of mind I would point out that Fouché; the French Spymaster and Secret Policeman, served with equal facility both the Revolution and Napoleon. Tyrants of whatever hue, will always find a place in their service for those who believe everything and nothing because they can be relied upon to serve themselves first. Perhaps Mr Moore in his position of C knows something that Nottlers only suspect?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/19/mi6-chief-apologises-misguided-unjust-discriminatory-ban-gay/

    1. Morning, Araminta,

      Precisely, why? I ask that question each and every time that someone in a prominent position in public life offers a similar banal “apology” for the actions of people centuries before. There is no point, whatsoever, in this specious and pointless exercise.

      1. There is no point, whatsoever, in this specious and pointless exercise.

        Morning Grizz. There is if you are taking out insurance for the future!

        2. 329576+ up ticks,
          AS,
          To bloody true keeping in mind those that are trying to shape that future, one for instance being anthony charles lynton
          ( bow street court records).

      3. Blair exposed himself as a total tosser when he apologised for the Irish Potato famine.

        Apologies on behalf of other people rather than apologies for your own actions are arrogant and hubristic pomposity.

        2. Why are so many trannies over-made up, fanged caricatures of women? Only the most empty-headed bints look like that, though admittedly there are quite a few around, nowadays (empty-headed bints). To see women denigrated like that by men is nothing short of the ridiculous notion of “hate crime”. Isn’t it?

          1. They tend to go for the pantomime dame look.
            Or are the more successful ones better at being ‘normal’ women?

    5. I’m currently reading ‘The Enigma’ a biography of Alan Turing. Turing was a homosexual and a graduate of, and a Don, at Cambridge. Reading the book it would appear that Cambridge was already a tureen full of homosexual soup, perhaps it always was.

    6. On BBC R4 6pm news yesterday:

      Mr Moore said that “thousands of patriotic people had been denied their chance to work in intelligence”.

      Really? How many people do the security services need that they might fail if they cannot call on that 1.5-2% of the population?

      The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, also paid tribute to the courage of LGBT+ colleagues, saying the UK was safer because of their dedicated service.

      Sanctimonious guff.

    7. Well, he has to encourage the recruitment of homosexuals of every sex, perverts of every perversion, and deviants of every deviation as well as basics of every colour combination. Why?
      Recruiting patriotic, intelligent, heterosexual, white Christians would be unacceptably racist stereotyping, would it not?

    9. Thirty years ago, LGBTQW types WOULD still have been obvious targets for blackmail, nothing misguided about such a policy then at all.

      1. I shall be out in the garden creating some new raised beds for flowers and veg with help from my very good neighbour all on my own (ignore the previous crossed out sentence, Mr Plod).

        2. I managed three and a half hours in the garden yesterday. Crab apple, Bramley and redcurrant pruned and the area I planted up for Lizzie weeded. The daffodils are well up and should look beautiful when in bloom.

          1. Good for you. A pretty quiet spot to be with Lizzie will no doubt be a little haven for you. Warmest wishes.

      2. I shall be out in the garden creating some new raised beds for flowers and veg with help from my very good neighbour all on my own (ignore the previous crossed out sentence, Mr Plod).

  3. 329576+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    I am very glad to say that what remains of this God’s GREEN planet is that Jock is very adverse to an empty sporran plus unity is strength,the four Nations worked right up until the madness era kicked in.

    Saturday 20 February: The Union with Scotland is safe, even without a new Cabinet minister

  5. Morning all

    SIR – On a video conference this week, much of the small talk was about Covid vaccines. After a few minutes, a colleague from Scotland observed that callers from England kept referring to the Astra-Zeneca vaccine as the “Oxford” vaccine. “In Scotland,” he reflected, “our officials never mention Oxford because to do so would break our national mantra that nothing any good ever came out of England.”

    Does the proposed Cabinet member for the Union understand the scale of the task?

    Dr David Slawson

    Nairn

    1. I suspect that that attitude probably dates from the arrival of the Romans and the building of a couple of High Speed walls…….

  6. Sussexes’ retreat

    SIR – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to be congratulated on the success of their retreat from the public eye.

    The newspapers are full of it. We look forward to hearing details of their further retreat into privacy on March 4.

    Brian Slater

    Ellesmere, Shropshire

    SIR – How can this young woman talk about her life as a royal? She didn’t exactly put much into the role.

    Sandra Hancock

    Starcross, Devon

      1. And of course we will get the “discrimination because I is bleck” in spades…The taxpayer and the RF paid for her to have an expensive wedding, where she demanded “the very best” (and made Kate cry, allegedly – no asking how Kate was after just having had a child, was there?).

        Then she decides she has had enough and doesn’t want to fulfil her part of the bargain, but blame it on the RF and everyone else not putting her to the front where she feels she should be. Nothing to do with the fact the she herself is simply an objectionable individual, it’s all due to her colour, of course. For someone who described themselves as “caucasian” on their CV. Her hypocrisy is breath-taking. I certainly wouldn’t welcome H back with open arms – he made his bed, he can lie in it.

  7. Morning again

    SIR – In 1516 Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia. In 2021 the British Medical Association has called for the “near-elimination” of Covid before any significant easing of restrictions (report, February 19).

    What kind of cloud-cuckoo-land do these guys inhabit? We already live with reduced, tolerated exposure to other infectious killer diseases. We must learn to do the same with Covid.

    Stuart Ashton

    Whitley Bay, Northumberland

    1. I think it is we who inhabit the cloud cuckoo land, because we still hope that policy will be made according to logic and compassion rather than according to Great Reset rules.

  8. Currently the inmates have temporary control of the asylum but appear to want control forever by incanting their “variant” spells. Real Science has been beaten down, ignored, trashed by the witchdoctors of doom whose wilful ignorance has destroyed many lives and businesses. Last week I watched an informative programme on the Empire of the Inca. As the Spanish approached the “inmates” who controlled that particular asylum in South America sacrificed ever more people to their Gods in an effort to stop the invasion, all to no avail but the mass slaughter continued. The parallels with our particular leadership and lockdowns are worrying.
    While not perfect, Harper argues his point well.

    https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Harper/status/1362782634426966016

    2. When we were young(a long time ago) there was a saying “divide and rule”

      Does Mr Harper subscribe to this principle?

  9. Comments on the DT letters back to normal this morning. One comment suggests it was to protect an article by T Blair.

    1. There were plenty of comments under the Blair article. I haven’t looked today.
      By and large, you felt that ‘Bambi’s’ magic touch no longer applied.

  10. Lockdown has turned Britain into the Soviet Union. 20 February 2021.

    One day recently, I felt like I was having a nightmare. It concerned my first trip to Russia at the end of 1985. It was still the Soviet Union in those days and it was necessary to have a special invitation to visit. Mine was from the head of Intourist, then a state-run agency, which was responsible for all tourist activities throughout the Soviet Union. Anyone arriving was allocated a hotel to stay in. Mine was the Intourist Hotel on Treveskaya, a run-down property with harridans on every floor to check your every move. I was allocated an interpreter who policed where I went, and it was made very clear that I would not be allowed to stray off the beaten track. Moscow was dead – no shops, restaurants or bars were open. The streets were largely empty and any people on them had a miserable expression on their faces.

    All of a sudden, I realised it was not a nightmare that I was having about my trip to the Soviet Union. It was actually happening – and in my own country, the UK. We can only travel within our own country with special dispensation and are liable to be stopped by the police if we break the rules. We are not allowed to travel abroad. If we return from an overseas trip we can be compelled to stay in a Government-appointed hotel at our own expense and policed to ensure we stay in our rooms. There are 33 countries to which this applies at present, but these can arbitrarily be added to at any time based on criteria decided upon by the Health Secretary which we are not party to.

    The UK was already a quasi-Police State complete with a Propaganda Press, Censorship and Thought Police, the Lockdowns simply enabled the final stages.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/19/lockdown-has-turned-britain-soviet-union/

    1. The most horrific thing about the Soviet Union of the 1950s was that the government got the people to spy on everyone else and betray their own parents.

      Of course that could never happen here.

      1. I wonder when the first case will be bought in Scotland where parents will be convicted via the testimony of their kindergarten aged children?

    2. I remarked on the similarity between the USSR in 1968 (when I studied there) and present day Britain about a week ago. In addition to the similarities above, we are careful what we say and to whom and check who may be listening, we read between the lines of the official press, churches are closed (so religion has gone underground) and effectively we have a one-party state.

  11. Have A Guess

    David Beckham gets into a taxi and he sees the driver looking at him in the rear-view mirror.

    After about 5 minutes the driver says “OK give me a clue”

    Beckham says “I had a glittering career at Manchester United, played in America and got over a100 caps for England, is that enough?”

    Driver says “No you thick twat, where do you want to go?”

  13. The authorities seem to want to keep the cases numbers going to suppress the easing of restrictions. Given all elderly residents have been vaccinated, here’s the latest nonsense:
    “Care home residents in England will be allowed to pick one person to visit them regularly from 8 March, in the first confirmed easing of lockdown since its reintroduction last month.
    They will be able to meet indoors and hold hands – but visitors must wear PPE and be tested before entering the home.”

    Beyond Bollocks!

    1. Either the vaccine works or it is a waste of time.

      They have us by the short and curlies and now want to grab at our testicles (or whatever appendages women who identify as men have) for when they have a good grip they will never let go but just keep on squeezing.

    2. Is Johnson’s madcap scheme beginning to crumble?
      Very strong stories doing the rounds that the vaccine take-up isn’t meeting expectations, cue the reports of multiple calls and letters to those who have declined the offer; the fact that the vaccine is being offered to younger cohorts; Manchester centre at best 50%; reports the week before last that vaccines were being transferred from London to other areas; BAME people none too willing and now Johnson offering to send our “surplus” (unused? unwanted?) to poorer nations.
      Spring is fast approaching, even SAGE can’t control the Earth’s orbit, and people will want to be out and about and if millions decide to do that what can the PTB do about it? The police just don’t have the numbers to control mass movement by the people.

      If Johnson’s announcement on Monday is as rumoured i.e. tinkering here and there, give a little but with stupid controls then we may be seeing the start of the floundering of a man who can see the end of his plan approaching. The people have to take back control and force Johnson et al, out.

      2. At our local hospital the Covid area car park is full with around 40 cars. However, there is no one there. The hospital car park is always full. Perhaps 300/400 cars.

        1. We don’t have a big problem in Brittany as the channel crossing is over 100 miles. Perhaps somebody could sell the voyagers Breton dinghies that deflate after a couple of hours at sea?

        2. That doesn’t seem to have made any difference so far. The French just pocket the money and keep sending the hoards over.

          ‘Morning, Maggie!

          1. Morning HL

            The French just don’t care .

            Did you see this ” Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Kofod said the Brexit deal signed by the UK and the EU in December 2020 will serve as the perfect model for other countries in the bloc to follow Britain out. The Danish People’s Party MEP argued Denmark only joined the EU in 1973 after Britain’s decision to sign up to the bloc.”

            https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1400088/eu-news-brexit-latest-denmark-leave-referendum-peter-kofod-mep

          2. Yes I saw that – I was going to comment that the Danes only joined because the UK did, and then Kofoed is reported as having said just that! It will be interesting to see what they do.

      1. The biggest bonus is that there are no politicians interfering in the minutiae of everysolday life!

  16. 329576+ up ticks,
    May one ask WHY digit dicks type / party come a voting opportunity get returned to power, every time ?

    This internal electoral battle for number 10 regardless of past party actions being odious seems not to bother the
    membership / voter in the least, as long as “their” party win the governing position.

    “Their party” in a coalition ?

    The lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella, close shop coalition, has been the downfall without doubt of these Isles.

    https://twitter.com/AgainBraine/status/1362877802673025024

  17. Good morning, all. A grey day by the looks of it.

    I see the camera shy, publicity shirking couple are all over the papers.

      2. Someone has to do it, now that Kardashian and West have split up. How much did these two earn from their public service information films about what it is like to be rich? No wonder Archiewell want in on the action.

      3. They announce to the world that they want to be left alone. Next day – how we went on Oprah to talk about our new baby on the way!

  18. Good morning , my friends

    Reposted from very late last night

    Downing Street in disarray as second Union adviser quits in two weeks
    Oliver Lewis resigned after clashing with allies of Michael Gove, it is claimed

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/19/downing-street-disarray-second-union-adviser-quits-two-weeks/

    “Mr Lewis’s departure comes after Baroness Finn and Henry Newman, both Gove allies and close friends of Carrie Symonds, were appointed to key roles in Number 10 last Friday.”

    And apparently Baroness Finn used to be in a sexual relationship with Gove. (The mind shudders)

    Well Princess Nuts Nuts still is playing the traditional role played by her kind throughout history.

    Who made the worse choice of paramour: Boris Johnson or Prince Harry? A pretty close call if you ask me.

      1. 329576+ up ticks,
        Morning Bob,
        To firm up the role of the coalition and give it credibility, many NOT realising it has been in place for decades.

      2. Because Boros is broke and as an expert fraudster and money launderer, Tony will solve his financial problems.

      3. Morning Bob. Blair is probably acting as a liaison with Soros and the Globalists. He will tell them what they are allowed to do!

      4. Morning Bob. Blair is probably acting as a liaison with Soros and the Globalists. He will tell them what they are allowed to do!

  19. Boris Johnson called for someone to ‘please shoot that f****** dog’ after damage caused by his terrier Dilyn at Chequers left him with a four-figure repair bill.

    The Prime Minister’s pet had chewed on antique furniture and books at the country residence in Buckinghamshire, as well as making a mess on the floor.

    Mr Johnson has told friends he had to foot the bill for ‘making things good’

    News of the latest Dilyn-related drama emerged 24 hours after the Mail revealed that the dog sparked a row in Downing Street by cocking a leg over a senior aide’s handbag in the No 10 garden.

    It can now be revealed that Dilyn caused an even bigger stink at Chequers, where Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds spend many weekends, taking the Jack Russell-cross for walks on the 1,000-acre estate.

    One insider said: ‘I was at a meeting where Dilyn darted under the PM’s feet with an old book in its mouth. The PM shouted “for God’s sake, I’m going to get another £1,000 repair bill! Someone please shoot that f****** dog!” Luckily, Carrie wasn’t around to hear him.’ They added: ‘I don’t think he meant it literally.’

    Another witness described a ‘Laurel and Hardy-style farce’ as a kneeling Prime Minister attempted to reclaim the book from Dilyn’s clenched jaws.

    A government source said: ‘Dilyn is not popular with staff at Chequers. He causes havoc, gnawing at the furniture and soiling the carpets which have to be cleared up.’

    The 16th-century manor house in Buckinghamshire has served as the country residence of every prime minister for a century.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9280195/Somebody-shoot-f-ing-dog-Boris-Johnson-growled-Dilyn-gnawed-antiques-Chequers.html

    1. Does this reveal that Boris’s security guards are not armed and alert. Otherwise Dilyn would have been dispatched to doggie hell. He should be in a kennel outside at Chequers and caged in Downing Street.

      1. My thoughts exactly .
        Little thing was rescued, and because of his past , will continue to spray and mark.
        I reckon Boris and his squeeze don’t have a clue about dogs!

        2. Need to spend time on them. Guess Boris & cocubine don’t have the time. Too important.

    2. Daytime TV has this doggie expert who goes round people’s houses sorting out unruly pets. Time he was summoned, methinks.

    3. 329576+ up ticks,
      Morning TB.
      After the initial request was it too late to save the pillow whisperer ?

    4. What are they trying to distract our attention from with these Dilyn-related stories?
      Digital Ids, perhaps? Conservative Party infighting?

      2. We all already have digital ids – every time we sign up for anything, we give them personal information.

        1. A digital id will mean no more passport – you will have an encrypted file on your phone instead. After about 5 minutes, they will start saying “oh, people can lose their phones, it would be much safer, cheaper and more convenient to have a chip implanted under your skin.”

    5. Boris is not the right sort to keep a dog. He’s far too busy to give it the attention it requires. Besides, chewing things is what dogs do. As for soiling expensive rugs, has Boris not heard of taking the dog for regular walks or is it just to make him appear more human.

      Poor Dilyn.

        2. I read somewhere that most of the adult children have little to do with him. Not surprising after the way he treated their mothers.

      2. Carrie-On dog walking should have some free time.
        When she wheels Wif out for a breath of fresh air, Dilyn could go along as well.

    7. Save the pooch, shooting the fiancee is more preferable. Her green stuff will cost many billions, not £1,000.

    9. How would he get hold of old books?
      Did he browse along the bookshelves and choose a 1st Edition Johnson’s Encyclopaedia?
      Someone must have been bloody daft to leave such items on the floor or anywhere accessible to a terrier.

    10. 1000 acre estate? – nice place for building loads of houses for immigrants? Let the PMs get to know the people they want here.

    1. 329576+ up ticks,
      Morning PP,
      What a win treble,
      anthony charles lynton, johnson, pillow whisperer, the sad ,dangerous thing is they will still have a following.

  21. Good morning all.
    Damp but, at 6°C a bit less cold in Derbyshire.

    Interesting letter from an ex-Sapper with a response from another, but more lowly Sapper:-

    Getting things done: Kingham’s desert pipeline
    SIR – Major Jim Kingham, who died 30 years ago (In Memoriam, February 4), was an unsung hero of the first Gulf War. Without him the role of the 1st (UK) Armoured Division could have been very different.

    As war became inevitable a decision was taken to move the division from south of Kuwait to join VII (US) Corps in the desert.

    The logistics of moving seven million litres of fuel, 18,000 tons of ammunition and 6,000 tons of materiel 180 miles to the west proved to be a major problem. There were not enough logistic vehicles in the whole of Saudi Arabia to move it in the time required.

    Jim Kingham came up with the idea of constructing a pipeline over the desert, named Plod, echoing the pipelines under the ocean, Pluto, that had been built for the D-Day landings. It took 14 days to build and it stretched for 56 miles. This allowed both the British and the Americans to move their fuel in time.

    Kingham was tragically killed in a vehicle accident while supervising the construction. The pipeline was renamed the Kingham line and is commemorated in a painting by Terence Cuneo, which hangs in the Royal Engineers Headquarters’ Mess.

    Brigadier Alasdair Wilson (retd)
    Chief Engineer, British Forces, First Gulf War
    Dickleburgh, Norfolk

    Robert Spowart
    20 Feb 2021 9:10AM
    I wonder if Major Jim Kingham studied the reports on the POLEX72 exercise I took part in, as a lowly Sapper, where 60 Field and 61 Field Support Squadrons constructed a pipeline from Shingle Street on the Suffolk Coast to the USAF at RAF Woodbridge & Bentwarters to convey AVTUR from an RFA tanker lying off Orford Ness?

    Until it was closed as part of the post Cold War “Peace Dividend” in the late ’90s by John Major, the RE’s Central Engineer Park and Long Marsden used to hold a huge stock of the equipment needed for such a pipeline.

    Either way, I suspect Major Kingham will be propping the bar up at the great Royal Engineers pissup on Lafan’s Plain. Save a pint for me, Sir.

    1. It was rumoured that there was/is a pipeline to all RAF bases in East Anglia and Lincolnshire for AVTUR during the cold war

        1. Yes Paul I knew there was one for major airports as the number of tankers needed would cause gridlock on the roads. I guess fuel supply security would have been paramount for the RAF bases

          1. It’s no secret – it’s called the The Government Pipelines and Storage System (GPSS) and I’ve worked on it extensively.

    3. That’s interesting Bob, as I have been involved in pipelines since I left the Army. I specialised in Cathodic Protection. Was it a temporary above ground version or buried? How long was it?

  22. Yesterday I visited a clinic at the general hospital. While having my vitals measured I talked to a nurse. A mother and grandmother, she cannot meet her family although they live in a nearby town. She thinks the lockdown is useless. She agrees that masks are useless. (She said that while wearing one.). She does not have any faith in the vaccines.
    She struck me as being an ordinary, sensible, and level-headed person. I bet that she does not share these views with the hospital management.

    1. She would be fired if she did.

      She should also be careful with whom she shares her views. Walls have ears.

      1. Yes, it only takes one miserable little grass to denounce someone. Still, at least she wasn’t doing anything really bad like wearing a cross or saying she would pray for a patient.

      2. On another forum, I posted comments detailing my caution about the under 60s taking the COVID vaccine because it hasn’t been tested long term, it being the first in the coronavirus family to get to this stage and the dodgy goings on with the same pharma giants with swine flu in 2010, plus opposing COVID passports at least being used within UK territories. I referenced evidence wherever possible and did not judge people for deciding to take the vaccine – whatever their circumstance.

        Others with opposing views (mainly leftists) then tried to carry out a campaign of playing the man, not the ball, playing the games that NuLabour pioneered and that the Far Left now uses on a daily basis on social media.

        Fortunately, one of them went too far, calling for my comments to be deleted, me to be ejected from the site and the thread to be closed, only to be reminded by a couple of the more moderate members that censoring me for no good reason was exactly one of my accusations of those most strongly advocating the authoritarian rules and laws, which would be very counter-productive to his argument.

        They also pointed out he has form on that front, having tried to silence others who had shown him up before elsewhere on the forum, and had led to him storming off of the forum for about a year.

        Sadly he has an ally who is far more sneaky in his manouvrings who can be as slippery as Peter Mandleson when posting comments. No suprise that he is from a legal and civil service background…he and his ilk have been slowly poisoning the proverbial well of that forum for the last few years, with another he’s a member of that primarily isn’t supposed to be about news and politics now being so. I think that they do their infiltration work to stop all rational debate by putting off all the ‘normies’.

  23. For those here who are still DT subscribers, just a note that on some of the better articles today, now that the reader comment facilities are ‘working’ again, there are a couple of known trolls operating on the following articles:

    The excellent article from Rocco Forte: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/19/lockdown-has-turned-britain-soviet-union/
    Troll – Adam Hill (there appears to be a good few others there too)

    Today’s column from former Editor Charles Moore: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/19/sorry-sir-keir-not-britain-1945-not-clement-attlee/
    Troll – Pavel Bashkanov (well known to me – he’s a ‘frequent flyer’ working for the Russian government to stir up trouble – note that they’ll deliberately include ‘comments’ that many will agree with alongside the blatant propaganda)

    Enjoy today’s nice weather if you can.

      1. I do it so people can either post cutting replies to the trolls, destroying they arguments with considered, rational, factual comments and making them look complete idiots (those of Mr Hill are particularly stupid) or not engaging them at all, meaning they have no power (more for the sneaky ones who are less obvious). We should never engage in petty bickering with them, as they are trying to make us look bad.

    1. I assume he’s referring to the ‘survivial’ sense of the word – it holding together – rather than any sense of dignity the wretched thing may hold.

    1. It’s another one of those situations where those who bought the papers that had the photos blame those taking the photos. I suppose guilt requires that displacement and seeing the outpourings of crying idiots you rather see the depth of delusion. I suppose it’s easier than facing your own culpability.

        1. They’re just self serving sewage.

          The Queen gives her life in service to her country and citizens.

          Thoese brattish whelps take everything by selling what they have not earned.

          If a poster child were needed for the generation of ‘MeMeMe’, of greed, the utter lack of integrity, dignity and sheer selfishness and delight in using other people these two would be all that’s needed.

          What’s really sad? The utter lack of shame.

          Now, Meghan is probably a narcissist (not in the dailywail poster sense of egotist), but in the clinical sense – abandonment, self interest, presentation over character, the works.

          Harry though – Harry I had some respect for and maybe he’s blind to this character. Often you are: it can be overwhelming to be in the floodlights of such desperate need. The problem is, when the glow fades, there’s nothing else there. Just painted egg shell.

          I forget when it was, a rememberance Sunday event I think where Harry pointed his wife back toward the crowd. That was duty and respect, tradition and values taking precedence and he should be commended for that, but clearly, she didn’t like being told she was now expected to serve rather than rule.

          The Monarchy is bally awful. Much like those poor tired actors who spend a day under hot lights as journalists are wheeled in one after another and they have to remain upbeat and positive and gung ho when really they want to go home and sleep. It’s a horrible, public job where who you are is subsumed into a life that you may not want but it was a life she chose. Now she isjust showing she’s an abusive, wretched character.

          Ah, here we go:

          https://twitter.com/i/status/1137446282577043456

          That is NOT a happy woman.

        2. Obviously written by M herself. Her saccharine, rather stupid style with its meaningless clichés is instantly recognisable.
          “Service is universal”

          1. When you look at it, it’s meaningless. Of course, anyone can serve in tennis but no, service is not universal. It’s typically americanist.

            The only person she serves is herself, by troughing.

    2. A fortnight (to the day) before MB was carted off to hospital, he had the O/AZ jab.
      While he was in hospital, he was tested 2x per day for covid. All clear.
      Does this mean his system had zapped the bug or that it really doesn’t hang around for long? I’m assuming that our GP practice wouldn’t inject him with saline and falsify the records.
      We are talking about a mature chap with a circulation problem – supposedly the most vulnerable section of the population.

    1. Cool, they must be recruiting police officers at a very young age – I remember reading how a 13 & 14 year old shot and killed a teenager recently – there was no mention of a shotgun….

  28. Two businessmen who poisoned a man to death with lethal carbon monoxide fumes as they cut corners in a ‘cavalier pursuit for profit’ at a convenience store have been jailed for a total of 17 years.

    Shopkeeper Shafaq Khan, 50, and 51-year old property landlord Mushtaq Ahmed had illegally hooked up a petrol powered generator to power fridges and lighting at the shop after their electricity supply was cut off.

    But the overloaded PRAMAC generator which was left running in a storeroom spouted the deadly fumes into an upstairs rented flat where hotel porter Joao Afonso was sleeping.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9279601/Two-men-jailed-manslaughter-poisoning-man-living-shop.html

    Shades of Grenfell perhaps , one just cannot believe the things people like that get up to .

    1. So 10 years for making a mistake on a form – 8½ years for murdering someone.

      Glad that everyone involved have the right priorities.

    2. Did Peddy have an accident when he tracked down the Abyssinian taxi driver by trapping him into a misplaced participle so that he could reclaim his shirt?

      1. Harris County in Texas, population of roughly 3 million, had 17 people in hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning this week.
        Power cuts, lack of heating people resorted to

        1)Sitting in the car, engine running, with the garage door closed
        2)Outdoor BBQ in the house
        3)Portable petrol generator in the house ………………

        Darwin Award Winner nominations?

  29. Update ! Have I left anything out ?

    George Soros – Tony Blair – Senior UK Politicians – Collusion Alert !

    When did it all start to go wrong for the UK ?

    At the meeting between Tony Blair and billionaire George Soros at the New York Plaza Hotel in April 1996 where Blair wanted election funding and Soros wanted legislation, policy and favors if Blair won in 1997. It was a trade and exactly the same as subsequently happened between Soros and Obama. Selling off state assets cheap in sweetheart deals to Soros was one cornerstone of the plan.. with profit sharing to Tony Blair. Astonishingly, Tony Blair is now ”advising” the Johnson administration……..

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tony-blair-advising-matt-hancock-coronavirus-vaccine-b1785125.html

    That explains why Tony Blair sold George Soros 750 UK government buildings in a low price sweetheart deal in 2000 which George Soros immediately sold for a very substantial profit… to repay the election expenses provided to Tony Blair and New Labor……….

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/jul/31/5

    Meaning in effect that the British people paid for New Labor’s 1997 election victory.

    A further example of Tony Blair’s conspiracy and collusion was the low price ”sweetheart” sale of 31% of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough (renamed QinetiQ and bundled together with other state owned defense assets) in 2002 to John Major’s new employer, private equity fund, Carlyle Group of Washington DC where George Soros was a $100,000,000 investor from 1994.

    If one was unsure if this was a ”sweetheart deal” designed by Mr Blair to benefit Mr Major’s employer, Carlyle Group and his best friend Mr Soros, all doubt is dispelled by the revelation that Mr Blair in effect paid Carlyle to buy 31% of QinetiQ with a massive defense contract worth $7.5 billion on the day of sale, without any increase to the sale price, and it all likely landed in Mr Soros’ fund !

    So I wonder who got a payoff? Everyone involved, and the management suddenly became extremely rich with what looks like hush money !

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-377208/A-scandal-sells-taxpayer-short.html

    The extraordinary ”coincidence” of Mr Major being awarded a million dollar position at private equity fund Carlyle Group where Mr Soros of all people was the star client and had $100,000,000 invested in a ”buy out fund” from early 1994 should be particularly noted. Does this have ”inside job” implications for ”Black Wednesday” and did Mr Major meet Mr Soros at Davos in January 1990?

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1993/12/08/soros-pledges-100-million-in-carlyle-fund/c679195a-cb3c-45fb-a5f2-4ba0cbf8a583/

    https://www.carlyle.com/media-room/news-release-archive/john-major-appointed-european-chairman-carlyle-group

    Devolution, The Human Rights Act 1998, the Climate Change Act 2008, Equality Act 2010, Marriage Act 2013, speech laws, open borders policy and even the removal of Colonel Gaddafi were all ”leveraged” by George Soros and his foundation, Open Society London. This exists to leverage the British government to do what George Soros wants and was given $60,000,000 by Mr Soros in 2018 alone………

    https://twitter.com/BrugesGroup/status/1181569492792598531

    Consequently, in effect, George Soros and his foundation, Open Society London which is just 10 minutes walk to Downing Street, have in many respects been the UK government since 1997 which is why virtually all major UK laws since then are identical to Soros policies.

    That explains why David Cameron was awarded this job rubbing shoulders with the global government multi billionaires……………..

    ”In May 2017 the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) granted Cameron’s appointment as a Director of U2 Frontman Bono’s One Foundation which is also supported by Bill Gates and George Soros’s Open Society”

    George Soros made billions of dollars from a major inside trading operation with Barack Obama which subsequently was reinvested leveraging governments to adopt his ideology, please scroll down………

    https://politicalarena.org/2012/01/14/democrats-sugar-daddy-george-soros-helped-craft-stimulus-then-invested-in-companies-benefiting/

    George Soros admits leveraging laws, policy and political influence in his Open Society mission statement……..

    https://hrdn.eu/open-society-foundations/

    A brief precis of which is……

    ”We leverage policy, legislation and political influence and build strong relationships with officials, politicians, NGOs and other actors”.

    Despite the ”Black Wednesday” disaster and despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by Soros via Open Society London ”leveraging politicians and officials” in London over many years, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron all omitted Mr Soros and Open Society London in their autobiographies which is, imho, an obvious cover up and proof of guilt !

    Even the Bill Gates Foundation, which wants to vaccinate the ”entire global population” is in on the act because Bill Gates controls the UK’s C-19 response and Johnson is providing all the policy and laws Gates requires………….

    https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/who-controls-british-government-response-covid19-part-one

    ”The Tories have turned into Bill Gates’ Lapdogs”…….

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-tories-have-turned-into-bill-gatess-lapdogs/

    Of course this is being kept secret because the MSM is complicit with Davos and Deep State. It must surely be one of the biggest political scandals ever !

    1. 329576+ up ticks,
      PP,
      ” When did it ALL go wrong in the UK”
      Covertly the mid 70s, openly when the cry went up post 24/6/2016 “we” have won the referendum now leave it to the tory’s.

      The “we” cry via day tripper UKIP voters who immediately aimed a twelve bore double barrel at their collective feet and pulled both triggers with going back to
      supporting / voting for, on the 23/6/2016 the pro eu political rubber stampers, ie the lab/lib/con pro eu coalition group.

      The biggest injustice given the three monkey treatment is that UKIP had been fighting the UK coalition / brussels in
      designing & activating the referendum for 25 years, to see it come to such an end is truly sick.

    2. You’re not wrong. The Open Society is everywhere. We have to break the UK out of this spider’s web.

      1. I was wondering whether the name was chosen because his mother had to have a caesarean section?

        If the baby doesn’t have a Princeling title , well why not an Emperor?

          2. It would be too controversial to give it the German pronunciation surely? Or if they call him “Gustl” for short instead of Gus!

    1. Mongo can count! He brings back one toy for one and two toys if you say bring two.

      However, he brings the same 2, so I am wondering if he’s just associating those two toys with that command.

      However usually there’s come, stay, fluffy. Fluffy seems to encompass every other command.

      1. Mine can count, too. Usually he gets a biscuit broken into two (so he thinks he’s had two, but he doesn’t get the calories). If you only give him half a biscuit he is definitely miffed!

    1. Sent that to my elder son. He managed to convince me more than 10 years ago that all this climate science was nonsense.

      1. We know it’s all a lie.

        Cui bono?

        But, to borrow from Jeremy Paxman: “Why are these lying bastards lying to me?”

      1. 8 ice ages in the past 700,000 years last one 89,000 years ago. I don’t think I’ll bother replacing the freezer!

        Population in 1978 5billion today 8 billion+

          1. I dunno. Grizz would probably regard an additional 3 billion people on planet Earth as an almighty cock up….

  34. “Some people are trying to engineer a culture war…”

    This is what that malevolent little squirt, the so-called mayor of London said about those who disagree with his ‘Commission’ to destroy the heritage and culture of what used to be the most important capital city in the world.

    Terrorists, warmongers and assorted criminals always accuse those whom they wish to destroy of doing the very things that they are doing. Khan is one of them, accusing the defenders of our heritage and culture of engineering a culture war.

    I am outraged and VERY angry!

      2. Essentially: What about the other 95%+? Feck lockdowns. Feck authoritarianism. Feck the Irish government.

      1. They were always designed to break our spirits. That’s why the powers-that-be are now reframing lockdown criteria until the mechanisms of The Great reset are fully entrenched and can’t be revesed without effective civil war. This chap should be interviewed by Computing Forever’s Dave Cullen – he may be cheered that there are still some fellow Irish men and women still resisting.

    3. WHAT a surge of support for our politicians there would be if they decided to forfeit both their salaries and expenses until all lockdowns and restrictions are lifted and we can start trying to rebuild our lives and our businesses.

      But would they do it – of course they wouldn’t : they deserve nothing but our total contempt.

    1. Who the hell wants to? It’s that serial nonce, Jonathan King, under one of his various idiotic guises!

          1. Just woke up.
            Normally wake up in the morning, so it must be morning!
            Man, but I’m shattered. Been a tough week.

  37. 329576+ up ticks,

    DT,
    Vaccine passports are a needless invasion of privacy,

    So are the dangerous intrusions of the lab/lib/con current coalition group
    of politico’s, WHY in heaven’s name do they still have a multitude of followers ?

    The ( passports) will be on the governance party’s menu, be sure on that
    along with halal grub is on the parliamentary canteen menu, now.

    A ticket to work in the future, show YOUR consent via the polling booth.

  38. Good Moaning (just).
    Chum has sent me a warning about yet another scam. I’ve copied the bit that might be useful.

    “Just Eat gift card phishing email

    A fake email purporting to be from Just Eat is doing the rounds, tempting recipients to claim a £50 gift card they’ve been ‘chosen’ to receive. Clicking the link will take you through to a phishing website, which attempts to steal your personal info. Many of us are using takeaway delivery services so it’s worth being cautious about such communications.

    Here’s more on how the email is deceptive and what Just Eat has advised its customers.”

    1. Is this the outfit that only deals in ‘your favourite restaurants’ – MacDonalds, KFC and other such garbage?

      Good afternoon Anne, How is your husband? Well we hope.

      1. 🙂 I’m not THAT common.

        Bill’s not having such a good day. I suspect he’s made such quick progress, that his system has pulled up like an over pushed racehorse. From my observations, it is just a day to be quiet and not place any strains on himself or his powers of recovery.
        The greatest excitement will be taking Spartie for a walk; at least the day is sunny.

        1. That’s always the difficult thing about recovery. You only know you’ve done too much when you’ve done it. I remember doing that after major surgery in 1998. Did too much one day and was knocked out for 2 days.
          Wish him well for us and look after both him and yourself.

          1. I did the same thing last week. Felt better so started doing chores. Spent the night in crippling agony. Thank God for Codeine.

          2. Hopefully you feel a lot better now, Phizzee.

            You’ll no doubt do it again but know what it’s all about then.

            Best wishes from vw and me.

          3. I’m stable at the moment and mostly pain free. Just need to be careful.

            Thank you for your kind words.

    1. In 2021, the conventional wisdom is that while you almost never see white racism, it’s always out there somewhere, everywhere, ruining the lives of blacks, lowering their test scores and raising their murder rates. It’s as if white people implicitly exude a poison from their pores that harms only blacks, due to their being genetically different, although, as everyone also knows, genetic differences, like race, don’t exist. C’mon, man, follow the science!

      The great Steve Sailer!

      1. It’s a bit like whites being blamed for blacks stabbing one another – we didn’t invite thme here is called racism.

        Then there’s the black kids don’t do as well as white kids – that’s racist – because millions more is poured into promoting black education over white and white boys *are* falling behind.

        A racist looting mob has been promoted across the media for no other reason than their skin colour.

        If blacks are subject to racism it’s been to promote them over others.

        It really is time this uppity, minority group of loud mouthed ‘everything is racist!’ berks were slapped and told to grow up.

        1. I’m afraid that positive discrimination has reached such a level that when I see a black person touted as a software developer, I automatically assume they probably only got that position because of their skin colour.

          1. I am similarly afflicted, and I deeply regret that others have created in me such a cynical bias.

          2. When I recruited for my old company, I’d sit everyone down in front of the test comp and they’d have 30 minutes to solve a specific problem. The solution wasn’t really relevant, I wanted to know how they thought about things. That would form the basis of any interview.

            Anyway, we had one chap who properly kicked off saying the test was racist as they had to paint a wall and only had 3 tins of whitewash.

            Our HR person popped in to talk about it and concluded we had to change the colour of the paint and, de facto interview the bloke. He was a prat.

            We hired the other bloke who’d come up with a better idea. He was black. His name was Sam and he was a fantastic fellow who I keep in touch with today, 5 years later.

          3. In the past, one took for granted that the interviewers had made an effort to choose the best person for the job. Now, you just look at the websites of big US tech companies and you see phoney looking job titles along the lines of “Technologist for Cloud Development” filled by the usual minority suspects.

    4. “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat.”
      How bleeding apt is that?

      3. noooooooo…..I was expecting there to be a fourth picture with the green lorry in the water! You can hear the onlookers’ chuckling from here!

        1. Rumour has it that the photos were taken by a French journalist – he swears that the saga did indeed continue but he was prevented from taking any more photos!!

  42. Just popping for a quickie. Things to do around the house.
    Does any one else think that Olga Krankie aka First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, is clearly guilty of middle age feudalism and outright tribalism and she should be arrested for her efforts to divide the national interest.

    1. If ever there was a clear case of mental illness resulting from Covid her’s is the perfect case.

      I am aware that she has been affected by this coronavirus for a number of years and we’ll call it the Scottish strain.

      1. I know several ‘southern Scots’ and have worked and played golf with many others. The people I know and knew would never have wanted her to be running their country into the ground as she seems to be doing. She’s like a female version of Putin.

    3. She should certainly be arrested – which crime today? Lying? Misinformation? Telling porkies about Salmond?

    4. What about Tw.t Handcock – he’s should be sacked for lying to the House, as used to be the custom many moons ago.

      1. …and for issuing PPE contracts to chums and withholding illegally the information due to the public on those contracts.

    5. She’s just continuing the great traditions of Scottish politics – persecuting the peasants, bickering, stabbing opponents in the back, attacking the English, bringing in foreigners who want to invade England and over-spending.

      For a country that has produced so many great engineers, scientists, soldiers and writers, Scotland really lets itself down in the politicians department.

        1. I read a biography of Margaret Tudor recently, the sister of Henry VIII who was sent to marry the King of Scotland. It sounded awful. Pack of idiots fighting all the time.

          1. That rings a bell. Constant pregnancies on top of all the eternal skulduggery. They were tough.

    1. Good afternoon Belle
      Thanks. The martians have returned to Woking by the looks of it and destroyed all the ghastly skyscrapers they’re building in the town.

    3. I always wanted to go to Mars after I read Arthur C Clarke’s The Exploration of Space when I was fifteen. Looking around now I wish I had done!

    4. Brash American enters a rustic pub in the West of England:

      Brash American: God – this place is the arse-hole of the world!

      Barman: Just passing through, are you, Sir?

    5. Dare I suggest that it is the white supremacists who achieve these extraordinary accomplishments, while people like Khan are trying to destroy our heritage? And in Chicago they are “reviewing potentially offensive statues Including those of Lincoln and Washington”.

      1. Why are the “white supremacists” so afraid of these iconoclasts, statue pullers and street rioters?

      2. Yes, however you may expect to be cancelled. No one asks why the black races have achieved nothing.

    6. Dare I suggest that it is the white supremacists who achieve these extraordinary accomplishments, while people like Khan are trying to destroy our heritage? And in Chicago they are “reviewing potentially offensive’ statues Including those of Lincoln and Washington”.

  44. “Stonehenge: the lost Circle revealed”. Sounds promising, I might inveigle an invitation to go round and watch that, I thought. Then I saw “Alice Roberts”. Oh dear. Actually she divides it up between phases of spectacularly moronic and deeply annoying, and good informative stuff; so not that bad. Then there’s the constant walking along looking over her shoulder talking to camera that .. well it’s just ‘that’. She does so much of it I want her to go face down in the sticky mud. C’mon, it would be good television.

    1. Oh Lord above. I just said to Alf I think some people have no idea that the “government” has no money. He said I think some people just have no idea. He’s right.

    2. To quote Blackadder “There was only one thing wrong with this plan. It was complete bo11ocks!”

    3. To quote Blackadder “There was only one thing wrong with this plan. It was complete bo11ocks!”

      1. Our nearest bus stop is a mile away. Ok on a nice day – not so good if carrying a load of shopping home. It’s steep round here.

      2. Hmm, Luxury, Bill, in Flowton we have exactly NO buses per week/month/year.

        The only way in (on one of three single track roads) is 3 miles from the nearest main road and buses couldn’t navigate those small roads. A car is essential and if an electric whizz-bang ran out of charge it would be scrap, as a farmer with his tractor would just push it in a ditch to keep the road clear.

    1. I once read somewhere that there are more people who associate themselves with their home country Scotland, living out side of Scotland, than people who actually live there.
      Could this be true ? And if so why would this be ?

      4. There are very large numbers of non-Scots living in Scotland and soon to be many more. I expect in many places the Scots are fed up with this.
        As for those outside Scotland why would they not still associate themselves with a beautiful country that produced some of the smartest people on the planet?

        2. By al-Aqsa we will build a snowman
          And pretend that he’s a high imam
          He’ll say “Are you muslim?”
          We’ll say “No, man!
          And you can stick your Quran up yer bam!”
          — Trad. Crusader Song

  48. 329576+ up ticks,
    The rhetoric of a top echelon political twateriss, is he saying this in YOUR name because he certainly isn’t in MINE.

    breitbart,
    Boris Johnson Says ‘America Is Back’ with Biden, ‘Gloom’ of Trump Era Is Over

      1. He ought to cure this appalling habit asap. His concubine is probably robbing him of any common sense – not that he ever had much to start with.

  49. On brighter and lighter notes.
    The back wall was covered with brambles which extended onto the flower bed by about six feet and choked anything that nmght be there. I made bramble jam a few years ago but it was horrible, like sweet grit. I should have made bramble jelly. Last year after the final cut of the grass when all growth had pretty much stopped I asked the gardening people to remove the brambles entirely. Looking at the flower bed last week when climbing towards the oil tank (see story of a few days ago) I noticed than there was green growth. There were snowdrops in the flower bed as well as the lawn, There were also many shoots I assume to be crocuses. I have high hopes that the bluebells in the corner will pop up later and spread.
    Yesterday we watched “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”. It was a wonderfully crisp print. The stars were beautiful, charismatic, charming, endearing, magnetic, and dressed superbly.
    Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe make the female actors (snigger) and female stars of today look like pale, flat, and dowdy cardboard cut-outs in their dismal grey costumes.

    1. As it was considerably warmer today I spent a bit of time tidying away the dead leaves I’d left to protect the new growth. It exposed a lot of snowdrops, some tulips, bluebells and daffs. Spring is finally on its way! I actually have a rose in bud!

  50. Having a sit down for a bit and a cuppa, did anyone watch the 2hour 30 minute TV programme on earlier this week on the Kiwi rail and road journey from
    Auckland to Milford Sound ? Wonderful scenery. And not a pot hole on the roads anywhere. It’s now on ‘our bucket list’. But possibly last section in a camper van.
    We did north of Auckland and the bay of islands in the mid 70s, but this is very, very special.

    1. Yes. I posted the link for our resident railwayman the other day. I started watching but i fell asleep. Good though.

      1. I stayed up to watch it Phizzee, but will you please pop the link on here again, so I can save it and watch it again in the future , and maybe Moh would like to watch it at a later date .. He gets bored so very easily.

    2. Yes I stayed up and watched it , much to Moh’s annoyance , because he went up to bed , and he wasn’t as mesmerised as I was by the scenery , so he cleared off.

      It was so beautifully filmed , and the journey was perfect. I remember watching the Ghan trip up through Australia which was televised last year .

      You were so lucky to do lovely things like that , it was a special experience for you .

      I would have loved to had that experience .

      1. I watched the Ghan one too. I couldn’t believe a 3 hour program with virtually no spoken word could be so brilliant.

      2. We had some friends living near Auckland, we were living near Adelaide so we jumped on the plane and went over for Christmas. They lent us their old VW beetle. They live near Perth WA now, we flew over 5 years ago with two other mutual friends, via a lovely stop over in Singapore. And all six of us drove to Denmark WA, stayed in a huge Shack. http://annicca.com.au/ our bedroom was 25 of the 49 pictures. We stayed in Busselton on the way back and did a winery tour of Margaret river region. Then few to Melbourne to stay with our friends for a week. Then onto Sydney to meet up with the other couple who had been to Cairns. By strange coincidence (you couldn’t have made it up) were had gone to Manley on the ferry from Circular quay, and were sitting in a seafront cafe having a lunch time drink and a sandwich and they walked past the front of the building.

    4. Yes, I saw it about a year ago, no spoken narrative. It was mesmerising, stunningly beautiful.

      1. I did doze off after an hour, but it’s recorded now and I went back later to catch up. My type of country.

    5. We went to NZ in 2007 as a treat when we reached 60. We flew Business Class on Emirates, marvellous then went on the Magic (backpacker) bus from Auckland to Wellington then to Picton, South Island, and took the Trans Coastal train to Christchurch then the Trans Alpine train to Greymouth before reuniting with the Magic bus.

      Fabulous rail journeys and scenery.

        1. I can’t remember as we booked an 11 day tour on the Magic Bus that included the two rail journeys. We had prebooked accommodation, unlike the true backpackers, and were called the flash packers.

          Seeing NZ that way meant neither of us missed anything. We also had landmarks pointed out to us we would have missed or not known about if one of us was driving. Moved on daily apart from Queenstown on South Island where we stayed 3 nights and did a tandem paraglide as well as going on a jet boat in very shallow water.

          Still have great memories of that trip including stopover in Bangkok and went to Cabbages and Condoms restaurant and a 4 day stay in Sydney with tours and a Valentine’s Day meal included in Darling Harbour.

          2. It was terrific and on the way back stopped over in Melbourne for one night and Singapore for two nights. A trip to remember and the Magic Bus was one of the best parts. When we arrived at an overnight stop the driver would drive around the town pointing out supermarkets, discount activity providers and restaurants covering all budgets. vw is not keen on burgers but we were persuaded to try a Fergburger in Queenstown. It was marvellous, best burger ever and so big you couldn’t have eaten chips with it.

            Surprisingly there were more solo girls than lads on the bus.

          3. We flew Singapore Airlines and stayed in a hotel just out side of the city with a bus stop right out side the door. We had included in our airfare prices free use of public transport including the immaculate underground trains. We loved Clarke quay and the Botanical gardens. And everything else about it. I even had some Durian fruit ice cream. It made me laugh when i saw Durian was banned from public transport.

          4. We stayed in the Four Seasons overlooking the Aquarium in Darling Harbour.

            Happy memories flooding back.

          5. I had a fabulous time in Sydney, too; went to see the friend I was staying with in his choir at the Opera House (there were bats flying around when we came out) and another friend and I had a seaplane flight out of Rose Bay and lunch at the Catalina Restaurant with a very well-behaved pelican sitting on the balcony ledge. We also climbed the Harbour Bridge (doesn’t everyone?) and saw the replica Bounty sail underneath. Magical memories.

          6. Sounds as though you had an equally marvellous time in Sydney but didn’t climb the bridge. Probably our favourite city. Whether or not it would still be is another matter.
            We only had 4 days there before flying to NZ.

      1. Sounds good, but I can’t even walk the dog any more, some days my Arthritic joints are too painful.

        1. I was only sixty when I last took one of their trips, oldest by far. Just a memory for me as well.

    1. We were lucky at New Year when OH was poorly – 111 took over an hour to reply but the message was “go straight to A&E” We arrived there about 12.30am and he was seen and dealt with straightaway.

      2. Use your own judgement. Don’t wait for them. If you think it is serious then call an ambulance. © Ann Allan.

        1. I’d never had to phone them before and didn’t know what to expect. I was on the point of giving up on them when the callback eventually came.

          1. They have a long check list of questions. If you tick enough boxes they make a recommendation, eventually. These people have no medical training.

          2. There were loads of irrelevant recorded messages before I got through to an operator – told her what the problem was and she said a doctor would call us back. Then there was a long wait – about an hour and 20 minutes. When the doctor did call, she told us to go straight to A&E. Had I known it would take so long, I think I should have called the ambulancce. Though you hear lots of stories of ambulances taking hours to arrive.

        2. I can second that. We probably saved ourselves – especially Bill – months of hassle by that phone call.

    2. Unsurprisingly – no mention of ambulances not being available because multiple vehicles and crews are sat at Dover waiting for the replacements ( the ones who need expensive translators and haven’t paid a thing in ) to arrive.

      1. Chertsey ambulance station was packed with ambulances this week on the two occasions we passed it.

        Obviously social distancing although I have to say that the paramedics are terrific when called on. Our recently qualified great niece delivered a baby.

        The successful part of the NHS.

  59. Russia reports world’s first ever cases of H5N8 flu in humans – but says the virus hasn’t spread between people yet. 20 February 2021.

    Russia has discovered the first human cases of the highly infectious H5N8 bird flu virus at a poultry farm in the south of the country.

    Scientists identified seven workers who were infected with the virus in December. It is the first time this strain of avian influenza – which is deadly to birds – has been identified in humans.

    Moscow today announced it has informed the World Health Organization about the jump of H5N8 from birds to humans.

    Times up people!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9281553/Not-bird-flu-Russia-reports-cases-AH5N8-virus-humans.html

    3. If the army catch it will there be a military coo ?

      I may have already caught it – I’m feeling peckish.

    4. Well it will bloody well have to take its turn behind the other bugs.

      We are still working through covid variants lockdowns and will be for at least six more months.

  60. Burnside, Mr Droll, again.

    https://twitter.com/BurnsideNotTosh/status/1363053198660038662

    From my personal experience today in Colchester’s Castle Park and along the Riverside Walk, sitting on a bench eating and drinking appeared to be
    the thing to be seen doing.

    No plod nor covid marshals, the only danger was from out of control mountain bike riders who think that pedestrians shouldn’t be on the paths. One lunatic came around a blind corner at an insane rate of knots, missing me and the old couple behind me by inches. He just tore off with my salutation of, “Arsehole,” ringing in his ears. Not sure if the old lady behind me was shocked more by his thoughtless and very dangerous behaviour or my language.

    1. Walking stick rammed between the spokes.

      *sorry officer as i swayed back to avoid being run over my stick lifted into the air. Poor chap. Is he still breathing?

      1. Good idea, Phizzee, but the idiot was going so fast that I couldn’t have reacted had I had a stick to hand. He was the worst of a number of very thoughtless and selfish people. There will a serious accident if these morons are allowed to continue.

          1. I wasn’t generalising re cyclists but with the exception of a family group the others on view were thoughtless and some very dangerous.

          3. Try hacking out on a horse whose eyes are already on stalks (ghouls in the gutters, horrors in the hedgerows, gale up his tail etc) only to be overtaken with a whoosh by a group of brightly coloured people who appeared out of nowhere with no warning. Makes me jump, never mind the horse.

      2. Reminds me of that fine line in Dirty Harry, by Harry / Clint Eastwood (for it was he): “Personnel’s for assholes”.

    2. How will be the next Guinness World Record holder for the most benchs sat on in one hour/day? Tune in to find out…

  61. One for Stormy…

    Once there was a female brain cell who accidentally ended up in a man’s
    head. She looked around but it was all empty. “Hello?” she cried, but no
    answer. “Is there anyone here?” Silence. “HELLO!
    Then she heard a very faint voice from far, far away…
    “We’re down here!”

    1. Beautiful markings, and what a long tail! Enjoy their kittenhood, they will soon be free-roving adventurers.

        1. Yes, I have the dreaded shingles, but I am fortunate, so far, I have only a mild attack, the worst thing is I feel out-of-sorts and lacking in energy (the surgery confirmed the photo I emailed of the rash). Charles had shingles 18months ago (just after I fractured my ankle) and he is still feeling discomfort from time to time. He has been mending our fence this week (after pressure from a hectoring neighbour – whom I told 3 weeks ago the weather wasn’t fit for anyone to be out in, let alone an 80 year old gent). Anyway at the first opportunity given by the weather this last week, Charles was out there attending to the rotted fence post. He has ‘done his back in’ so to speak, as a result of crouching in the cold for a couple of hours or so. and has developed a crab-like walk, especially when he first gets up from a sitting position.

  63. I wonder what the High ranking officers are doing?

    “A Freedom of Information request by the Telegraph reveals that between the start of 2013 and May 2020, there have been more than 158 instances of drugs going missing from custody of the Metropolitan Police.

    Out of all the types of evidence that go missing from custody of Britain’s biggest police force, drugs were the most frequent to disappear.”

  64. Breaking News – Government to relax lockdown, people will be able to meet one other person from outside their bubble and visit relations in care homes as long as the stand on one leg while rubbing their bellies and patting their heads at the same time.

    2. Popped over to Westfield shopping centre around 5ish. Lots of people still out and about. Groups of teenagers. Kiddies having a good time in the playground on Shepherds Bush Green.

      Meanwhile Bojo and Halfwit debate whether we might be allowed to scratch our noses on Wednesdays. Deluded, yes?

      2. Loads of bored teenagers round my way now regularly ‘congregating’ or ‘cruising the ville’. I wonder when the graffitti and other anti-social behaviour will start returning now that the weather is warmer?

      3. I can’t think of Shepherds Bush Green without remembering the trolleybuses! Before your time Sue, I’m sure!

    3. Did they get that from Bill Gates with his CTRL+ALT+DEL malarkey with PCs?

      Unfortunately the ‘relaxation’ still means I won’t be able to meet up with my sister, brother-in-law and both my parents at the same time (I’m in the latter’s support bubble so could always visit them, as I did for Christmas). Separately, just not all at once. Silly rules that you can see one set of people on day 1 and the other on day 2 – without any test in-between to say you don’t have the bug.

  65. 329576+ up ticks,
    May one suggest the one visitor allowed be a top class claims lawyer paid for by people funding.

    UK: Care Home Residents to Be Allowed One Visitor, Can Hold Hands But Not Hug

    1. Horribly near the truth. You can hear the grinding of teeth when the news readers have to dispense good news.

  68. Supper time. Fillets of red sea-bream baked in a gremolata crust, with potato wedges and French beans.

          1. #meetoo, but we don’t have any. Last tin of chopped tomatoes, no tom puree… hope it tastes OK.

          3. Tagliatelle al ragù bolognese is exactly what I’m making tonight. I’m definitely not grown up, though.

          1. Make a meat sauce. Make half a dozen pancakes. Spoon meat sauce in to pancake and roll up. Place in baking dish and repeat til dish is full. Cover in a Bechamel and the grate Parmesan over the top and bake until brown. Serve with a green salad and a bottle of plonk.

            Dump the pasta.

            ***Your debit card has not been charged for this advice. This time !

      4. We once went by ferry from Venice to Patras, and the girls were much amused by Pork Gordon Blue on the menu!

          1. I’m often guilty of arriving a bit late and not reading down. One of those things….

            You improvin’?

        1. It’s 56 years since I learnt Cambridge O Level French. Cut me a little slack, BT. I should have checked.😎

          1. No, no – Korky. You were quite right in what you posted. I was making a (laboured) joke.

            (Hangs head in shame).

  70. Some bastard stole my Mother’s wheelie bin {:-(( so tried to order a replacement. It’s difficult to pay online with a card that is based outside of the UK, but this bunch seem like they might have accepted the card https://www.britishbins.co.uk/ so I live in hope.

    1. Don’t the council supply them? We just have a green box and green bag – we had to pay them for a replacement, though.

        1. The bin men smashed my food bin, I took it to the local council office and they gave me a new one. No charge.

    3. Around here the council replace them free. Are you sure it didn’t blow down the street.

      Mine did and i phoned the council to give me another one. My neighbour at the bottom of the Grove wheeled it back to me and then the new one arrived the following day.

      My neighbour and i share it now for summer parties. Half full of icy water and beers. As the evening goes on when someone is reaching deep inside they get upended.

      1. Mother lives in the country, quite isolated, no neighbours.
        The link I posted, you can get bins in all kinds of jolly colours – was tempted with bright yellow!

      2. Sometimes bin crews don’t leave the bins anywhere near their original location, even for flat blocks. That’s why it’s a really good idea to write the number and road name on the bin – both on the fron and the lid. I use white marker pen.

        1. We are lucky here i suppose. Good crews. They will even take the bin from the garden if you forget to put it out.

          Suburbs of cities seem to be the worst for all types of opportunist.

          1. The video I saw was, I think, from North London. I live in a smallish semi-rural town and the previous bin collector’s reserve crews nicked at least 6 of the flat blocks bins on the development over the last 5 years. The new firm’s crew have, thus far only nicked one.

            Neither were/are that good emptying the bins properly. They got put in special measures by the District Council for the area becasue they were called back so often for ‘missed bin collections’ – especially for flats that they have a map (sent several times by email) where they all are.

            I suppose it’s partly due to them bidding too low and not having enough staff. During the first lockdown, we had no food or garden waste collections for best part of three months. We used the waste bins, but not so good when they miss them out and people are using bins more because they are stuck at home rather than working. It got rather smelly – ironically not helped by the unseasonably good weather in April and May last year.

    4. Round my way (and it appears, this is not an isolated incident) the culprits are bin crews themselves, often the reserve crews who normally work on bank holiday weeks. In some areas they’ve been captured on camera nicking them. Wheelie bins – in decent condition – are worth quite a bit, apparently.

      Some crews – normally the recycling crews, use ‘old’ wheelie bins to empty homes’ smaller recycling containers into (e.g. paper boxes or waste food caddies), and nick people’s waste wheelie bins if the lid is missing because they are easier to use. One did that to my flat block a few months ago, stealing a grey waste bin to make up for the one he ‘lost’ during his round for the food waste.

        1. The bin men are probably thing – how many can we stash away in our lorry before anyone notices…

          2. It might attract the attention of some council jobsworth saying it’s ‘non-compliant’ and ‘my men won’t touch it’.

    3. Thanks for that Plum, had forgotten how much I enjoy classical guitar music, especially John Williams!

  72. That’s me for the day. How nice to be out in the garden and NOT feel cold. Looks like a decent week ahead, too, so will be able to dust off the propagators.

    By the way, we had, for lunch, Velouté of Trombetti – using the very last one harvested last year. It was in excellent condition. Pretty good on 20 February!!
    What a vegetable…!!!!

    A demain.

      1. I found that working in Nigeria. Any act of kindness or generosity is expected to be repeated on demand.

          1. That was a tip from the old hands – never get too pally with them and don’t give them your personal details or they’ll turn up at Heathrow claiming some sort of sponsorship.

    4. Why doesn’t the already billionairres like Gates, Zuckerberg, Bezos & Co donate all their extra profits for the year to that? They made huge profits from lockdowns, often after advocating them and simultaneously investing in vaccine companies (whilst giving much smaller amounts in donations).

  74. From the DT:
    “Suppressed seasonal flu may come back with a vengeance next winter, scientists warn ………..

    “In most years in the UK, seasonal flu kills between 10,000 and 30,000 people, depending on the stain and effectiveness of the annual vaccine. But over the last 12 months, flu deaths have hardly registered been registered.”
    .

      2. Exactly. I suspect, unless the next phase of The Great Reset/Agenda 21/30 involves deliberately allowing/unleashing COVID-19 mk2 next autumn (I wouldn’t put it past them or the Chinese government), they’ll be a LOT less flu-related deaths than usual because so many elderly and already seriously ill people were either finished off by even mild COVID or just as likely due to not being diagnosed/treated for other serious life-threatening diseases.

    2. Not a caption but i think Her Majesty trusted Harry’s judgement too much (it was from the crutch) and all the warning signs came early enough.

      Scented candles in that smelly old hall for a start.

    7. She might have Harry’s crown jewels but she’s not having mine! Good to see you’re back for a giggle.

  76. Here’s one for you: Who would expect to sit, on a Saturday night, glass in hand, listening to one’s offpring squabbling contentedly about Viking, Greek & Roman mythology, links to the Bible & Koran… weird, and lovely at the same time!

          1. I like Thor. Anyone who thinks that beating the shit out of things with a hammer solves anything must have come from Brummagem.

          3. The mighty Thor, the god of war,
            Went for a ride on his filly,
            “I’m Thor!, he cried.
            The horse replied, Well put the thaddle on thilly”.

          4. The mighty Thor, the god of war,
            Went for a ride on his filly,
            “I’m Thor!, he cried.
            The girl replied, Well tho am I,
            big Billy

      1. Actually, yes. They got an education… and know stuff. Brought a tear to the eye, so it did.

          2. Very true. If your children can have a grown up conversation in front of you then you’ve done your job.

          5. What do i look like? A bloody drug dealer! Stick ya finger in the socket if you want to rewire your pathways.

            (***whispers…LSD…shhh)

          12. Are you insinuating that i can tolerate such a diabolical impertinence! I’m Church of England mate. Not some adherent of some raghead desert tribe !!!

      1. I’m sure there was a bunch of that in the discussion, but mythology is part of the curriculum here. I know almost nothing about it.

  79. Off topic, for those interested in biblical stories, we are warned of the return of the 17 year cicadas coming this Spring in West Virginia. They are expected to emerge from the ground in their thousands over a period of about six weeks. Yuk, last time they arrived, we were in Maryland where they were not so many, being suburbia there.

      1. Indeed, they have their way, then the females go back to earth to incubate for the next 17 years….

          1. After the laying of eggs in trees, parents disappear, exhausted and the bodies are everywhere!!

          2. Strange creatures cicadas, we get them here every year, some years in much greater numbers than others.

          3. When I lived in Hong Kong there were loads of cicadas in the hillside undergrowth. They sounded like a building site – drills, the lot. I couldn’t believe how loud it was!

      1. IMHO, a politician’s spouse (of either sex) should be seen and not heard if they aren’t an elected politician of similar standing themselves.

        1. I would prefer that in such cases they were like matter and antimatter and disappeared entirely.

          1. Denis Thatcher stuck to his own business interests.

            He is rarely recorded as making political statements. On one occasion he reportedly remarked in the urinals to some globalist idiot : “And how do you propose to deal with a billion Chinese?”

    3. An attractive woman. Were I a decade or two younger and the chance arose, I’d not say no.

      2. You may have missed my post to you on Thursday evening, Bob:

        ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates is featured on BBC R4 ‘Book of the Week, this week, Bob.

        I am curious about the choice: was it made by our independent, License-Funded BBC?
        – or could it have been ‘facilitated’ by a brown envelope from the kindly Bill Gates?

        Perhaps you may be tempted to investigate the matter with a swift twitter to Tim Davie?’

        I look forward to your response.

    4. 329576+ up ticks,
      Evening TB,
      We should keep in mind that these pretendee tory’s handle any issue that is getting to much averse people’s attention, with an in-house opposition for the peoples consumption.

  83. Apparently we are going to spa with the EU:
    “Exclusive: Britain to stifle European exports of mineral water into UK in retaliation over shellfish dispute”

    And it’s a good night from me…

    1. Aggression and retaliatory action do seem to be all that the EU understands. Then, looking at the French and German histories, that is understandable – they are both bullies (OK the French are cowards as well.) While taking our British phrases like “level playing field” and “cherry-picking” they have no idea about the underlying British sense of fair play that is the foundation of these expressions.

      Let them get on with their bullying – but hit them back – that is all a bully understands. Usually they back off afterwards, as well.

      1. The French are cowards but so too are the Germans. Most of the buggers committing atrocities in WWII were on amphetamines.

        Edit: No normal human being can take orders and commit the atrocities perpetrated by the Germans without some assistance from drugs surely. If not those folk need to be given a very close check on for the future.

    2. Just close down their fishing in our waters. They will soon want to talk. Hit them back twice as hard.

      1. I agree in principle, Johnny, but there’s no point in making threats that we can’t (as yet) enforce.

    3. It’s a bit bizarre. I thought the EU wanted our fish but now they’re preventing our shellfish from entering the EU! Am I missing something?

    1. Surely it is the Governor’s responsibility do declare an emergency and make the initial response (national Guard etc)?

      The President may then offer Federal assistance. Or is Sky trying to give Biden credit he does not deserve?
      Answers on a postcard.

      1. I don’t have a postcard, but as I understand it, the Governor has the responsibility to ask for federal assistance.

      1. only in right wing circles.
        Others accept that the whole shebang was completely unprepared for some really unusual cold weather.

        Add in the Texan independent streak and their go it alone policy on electricity independence and they were completely stuffed.

    5. Called a friend in Houston, says it’s been tough. He said it was like camping again, but a bit colder. I like yer Texans.

  86. Having witnessed the past year and the performance of Boris Johnson and his government ministers I am in a state of both disillusion snd profound shock.

    I never thought for a second that the UK would be so betrayed by someone claiming to have its best interests at heart. We never elected conservatives to sign up to scam climate change bollocks, neither did we appoint them to remove our most basic civil liberties under the false flag of a viral pandemic (which is anything but) nor to subscribe to the promotion of experimental untested vaccines whilst threatening us all if we do not submit to them.

    I am not sorry for you Boris but your time is well and truly up. You can take your stupid ignorant self interested cabal and associates with you. You and they are beneath contempt.

    1. Defenestrate the lot of ’em. That is to say they should be disembowled and thrown on the end of a rope from a high window.

      Of course, in the interest of justice, they would be allowed to appeal and if the appeal was successful, their bowels would be replaced and they would be thrown back up through the window.

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