Saturday 22 February: They can’t ban coal and logs when a real fire is a fundamental part of country life in Britain

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/02/22/lettersthey-cant-ban-coal-logs-real-fire-fundamental-part-country/

759 thoughts on “Saturday 22 February: They can’t ban coal and logs when a real fire is a fundamental part of country life in Britain”

  1. Bernie Sanders briefed by US officials that Russia is trying to aid his campaign. 22 February 2020.

    Republican Donald Trump and US lawmakers have also been informed about the Russian assistance to Sanders, said a report in the Washington Post, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter and first broke the news.

    It was not clear what form the Russian assistance had taken, the paper added.

    Facebook said it had seen no evidence of Russian support for Sanders on its platform.

    Morning everyone. Poor old Bernie, hoist by his own Party’s petard. He’s going to get the identical treatment that the Democrats gave Trump at the last election. Vlad must be laughing himself sick over this pantomime! He doesn’t have to actually do anything at all! Just watch as these morons pull Democracy and the United States apart!

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/21/bernie-sanders-russia-aid-campaign

  2. Do not take this story lightly!

    King Arthur and the Witch:

    Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighbouring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur’s youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

    The question?
    What do women really want?

    Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch’s proposition to have an answer by year’s end.

    He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.

    Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer.

    But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

    The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.

    The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur’s closest friend!

    Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.

    He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur

    He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur’s life and the preservation of the Round Table.

    Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur’s question thus:

    What a woman really wants, she answered…

    …is to be in charge of her own life.

    Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur’s life would be spared.

    And so it was, the neighbouring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

    The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened

    The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.

    Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day – or night?

    Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?

    What would YOU do?

    What Lancelot chose is below.

    BUT….make YOUR choice before you scroll down below.

    OKAY?
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    Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.

    Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life

    Now…what is the moral to this story?

    The moral is…
    If you don’t let a woman have her own way…

    …things are going to get ugly

    1. As I am sure you know this story is the one The Wife of Bath’s tells in her Tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. What women want is the maistrie or the upper hand in a relationship.

      1. Thank you, Richard and Good morning, I think it is more easily read in Modern, rather than Middle English.

        1. Me Being Pretentious Chapter 2: at school, I found Chaucer easier than Shakespeare. After the initial panic, I discovered that if I read him phonetically (in my head, I hasten to add) most of his writing was pretty straight forward.
          Any words that had dropped out of use were in the glossary. I never forget finding out what ‘coilons’ were.

          1. ‘Morning, Anne, talking bollux again?

            The world and his wife have now caused ‘Google’ to crash.

          3. We had medical books in the school library. At the time I thought that they had been part of a job lot to fill shelves, now I am not so sure. As a mixed sex Catholic school there was no sex education, although there were occasional moral references to relationships. It may be that the books on sexual diseases, with photographs, were a subtle warning.
            (We studied, among other things, the Papal Encyclical on the “Christian Education of Youth”. One particular reference was to co-educational schooling which it called ” the promiscuous herding together” of boys and girls. I don’t think it was actually intended to be humorous.)

          4. What did you make of what May and Damian got up to in the pear tree in The Merchant’s Tale?

          5. Oh yes. Great discussions about the phallic symbolism of pears.
            Apparently the first marriage to an old man was common practice. I seem to remember the Wife of Bath was married at twelve to an old husband.

          6. Very graphic – I remember that one pilgrim who was arguing with another on the road to Canterbury said that he wished he had his adversary’s coilons in his hand and he would then be able to enshrine them in a ‘hogges tord,

            I must say that most of my “A” level classes greatly enjoyed Chaucer.

            For those who struggle with the language I recommend Nevill Coghill’s verse translation of The Canterbury Tales which retains much – but by no means all – of the vigour of the original.

          7. That’s the one: Nevill Coghill. A brown penguin paperback used as a crib by many a desperate pupil.
            For some reason, I thought it was Aubrey de Selincourt.

    2. We’ve seen this a couple of times on here Nanners, so I’ve posted a slightly different version to ring the changes.
      Queen Guinevere and the Warlock

      Young Queen Guinevere was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighbouring kingdom. The monarch could have killed her but was moved by Guinevere’s youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered Guinevere her freedom, as long as she could answer a very difficult question. Guinevere would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, she still had no answer, she would be put to death.

      The question – What do men really want?

      Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable woman, and to young Guinevere, it seemed an impossible query but, since it was better than death, she accepted the monarch’s proposition to have an answer by year’s end.
      She returned to her kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princesses, the priestesses, the wise women and even the court maidens. she spoke with everyone, but no one could give her a satisfactory answer.
      Many people advised her to consult the old warlock, for only he would have the answer, but the price would be high as the warlock was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices he charged.
      The last day of the year arrived and Guinevere had no choice but to talk to the warlock. He agreed to answer the question, but she would have to agree to his price first.
      The old warlock wanted to marry Ninianne, the most fair Lady of the Lake and Guinevere’s closest friend! Young Guinevere was horrified. The warlock was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. She had never encountered such a repugnant
      creature in all her life.
      She refused to force her friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Ninianne, learning of the proposal, spoke to Guinevere. She said nothing was too big a sacrifice compared with Guinevere’s life and the preservation of the Round Table. Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the warlock answered Guinevere’s question thus:
      what a man really wants, he answered…

      …is to be in charge of his own life.
      Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the warlock had uttered a great truth and that Guinevere’s life would be spared.
      And so it was, the neighbouring monarch granted Guinevere her freedom and Ninianne and the warlock had a wonderful wedding. The honeymoon hour approaced and Ninianne, steeling herself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But what a sight awaited her. the most handsome
      man she had ever seen lay before her on the bed. the astounded Ninianne asked what had happened. The beauty replied that since Ninianne had been so kind to her when he appeared as a warlock, he would henceforth, be his horrible deformed self only half the time and the handsome man the other half. Which would she prefer? Handsome during the day – or night?
      Ninianne pondered the predicament. During the day, a handsome man to show off to her friends, but at night, in the privacy of her castle, an old warlock? Or, would she prefer having a hideous warlock during the day, but by night, a handsome man for her to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?
      What would YOU do?
      What Ninianne chose is below, but….make YOUR choice before you scroll down below. OKAY?
      Noble Ninianne said that she would allow him to make the choice himself. Upon shearing this, he announced that he would be handsome
      all the time because she had respected him enough to let her be in charge of his own life.
      Now…what is the moral to the story?
      the moral is…
      If you don’t let a man have his own way…

      …things are going to get ugly

    1. Yes they were all sobbing and wailing last week about the online treatment meted out to Caroline Flack, a media celebrity. Didn’t stop them slagging off an ordinary Brit who made a comment on a single show. I imagine the poor woman is in hiding!

      1. ‘Morning, Minty, she has no reason to hide, we, the majority support her and are probably more vociferous.

        They – the lefty luvvies and the Metropolitan Elites – are worried that their influence is waning; never mind ‘woke’ we are awake, listening and identifying.

  4. Assad’s slaughter in Syria has made a mockery of the West. 21 February 2020.

    For years the entirety of the international community has had exhaustive and irrefutable proof that Syria’s dictatorship has been carrying out a campaign of human extermination against its civilian population, with a death toll in the hundreds of thousands. There is indisputable evidence that the regime has been responsible for using chemical weapons and deliberately targeting hospitals, UN aid convoys, paramedics, schools, civilian homes and civilian infrastructure.

    So, how much worse the situation could become is not the question we should be asking. The question we should be asking is how many more human beings have to die before the world responds to the knowledge that it already has – that what is happening in Syria is the deliberate, systematic and calculated extermination of a civilian population.

    We know what the end game is in Syria, the blood has been shed for nine years and the smoke from Assad’s crematoriums will blacken and choke the skies of the Levant for at least another decade.

    This isn’t so much propaganda as deranged ranting! There is no extermination problem or crematoria. The Syrian Army has suffered around 80,000 casualties and the opposition Jihadists/ISIS about 160,000. Civilians have got off surprisingly lightly for a civil war waged mostly in populated cities, with 115,000 killed.

    https://www.newstatesman.com/world/middle-east/2020/02/assad-s-slaughter-syria-has-made-mockery-west

    1. Aren’t you forgetting something?

      The biggest problem is not so much the people killed, but rather the 4 million or so displaced after being made homeless by bombardment by the combatants. They either shuffle into wretched camp after wretched camp, or they drift into neighbouring states, where they threaten to overwhelm their infrastructure or destabilise their politics. On top of all this shuffling come the criminals that hijack their trains and either profiteer from their misery or exploit, cuckoo-like, the humanitarian instincts of the home nations by installing cells of pretty nasty fifth-columnists supported by very capable human rights lawyers funded from Mecca.

    2. Obviously no “sense test” applied to this stuff. Governments generally do not kill their loyal citizens, except by accident.

    3. CoughMoselcough

      Meanwhile the “mockery of the West.” Yup in spite of having armed and trained the jihadists and White Helmets the west still failed to bring Assad down
      Good,anyone looking at the actions of ISIS knows the awful massacres that go with their victories

  5. Morning all

    SIR – The government announcement that it is to ban coal and β€œwet wood” burning by households is a disaster.

    Nearly every house in rural areas built before 1995 burns coal and wood. I live in a classic Lakeland slate cottage, wholly designed around the central source of heating, the wood fire.

    This typically ill-thought-out policy is clearly concocted by Metropolitan flat-dwelling elitists. Pandering to Extinction Rebellion in this fashion is nonsense. George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, who is from Cornwall, ought to know better.

    I’m also fairly sure that many people, in a Cumbrian winter at least, will be quite ready to break the law on this issue as it is so fundamental to our rural life.

    Rev Richard Fothergill

    Troutbeck, Cumbria

    SIR – This is another case of the Government using a sledgehammer to crack a nut by penalising fuel-poor consumers.

    And right here in Cumbria the Government is currently promoting a new deep coal mine.

    Patrick Tracey

    Carlisle, Cumbria

    1. SIR – My wife and I were alarmed to read that the burning of domestic coal and wood is soon to be outlawed.

      Advertisement

      For 50 years we have lived in a poorly insulated 400-year-old timber-framed cottage with dodgy central heating in a rural community, traditionally neglected by successive governments, with a scant bus service, where we suffer with potholed lanes, never gritted in winter, and periodically flooded from the nearby river.

      We keep warm in winter by burning coal and wood in the inglenook fireplace, the main feature of our living room. For that to be banned is a knee-jerk political move from a Government keen to be seen as environmentally aware despite the United Kingdom producing only a tiny fraction of the world’s pollutants.

      Martin Henry

      Good Easter, Essex

  6. SIR – In India, a country of a billion people, there are probably 200 million domestic fires burning twice a day for cooking the family meal. Then there is the rest of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Will India and the other countries in these continents ban wood-burning fires?

    What will the British Government offer pensioners who only have wood-burning stoves for warmth? For them global warming could not come quickly enough.

    Sir Gavin Gilbey Bt

    Dornoch, Sutherland

    SIR – Following the government announcement of what coal and wood we won’t be able to burn, could we ask for a simple statement on how it proposes to develop energy sources capable of keeping industry productive and competitive and citizens healthy and warm?

    We will then know what we can vote for in future (if we have a future).

    Richard Jarman

    Heightington, Worcestershire

  7. SIR – Green pests guilty of unlawful obstruction and criminal damage, such as that done to the lawn at Trinity College, Cambridge (report, February 18), should be subjected to the full force of the law. If not, their interference with our lawful daily lives will rapidly become intolerable.

    David Buckley

    Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

  8. SIR – Susan Gray’s excellent article, (β€œWhy faking my plummy accent has served me awfully well”, Features, February 20), reminds me of American soldiers in the Iraq War who would frequently remark that the cut-glass accents of British officers meant that they knew the rank of approaching British personnel, even in the dark.

    Dr Sebastian Hyatt

    Totnes, Devon

    1. I speak in what used to be called ‘the Queen’s English or an Oxford or ‘educated’ accent.

      When I was a student I went and worked as a roustabout for a month on a rig in the North Sea. I did not disguise the fact that I was a university student who had been to a public school but I got on very well with my fellows workers and we used to tease each other very affably. Indeed they laughed at me with affection rather than malice and I gave as good as I got.

      By contrast a student in my year at UEA who was an ardent socialist who claimed to be proud of his ‘working class genitals and working class accent got a holiday job in a factory in Manchester. He tried to radicalise his fellow workers who resented it bitterly and beat him up.

      1. Our elder son worked the night shift at a local plastics factory during his vacations.
        He got on very well with the full-time workers and they showed no resentment at his ‘privileged’ position.
        On the other hand, it was fellow students who spat at him in the street because he was a Conservative.

    2. It was Jacqui Smith who claimed the cost of buying porn videos for her husband on her expenses

    3. I think we all know the common characteristics of these rape gangs and yes, we also have rapists from our indigenous population, but they usually are lone men.

      These mostly Pakistani men worked in groups to rape mostly white girls and I’m done using the euphemism β€œgrooming” gangs – it’s far too nice a term for what they’re doing. What more do we need to be told?

    4. There’s be no point in making the report public.
      After all, lessons have been learnt.
      Morning, Rik.

    5. Who knew what and when and then ordered the cover-up would make interesting reading. Done on a nod and a wink through their CP grapevine, I would imagine: no one would have been stupid enough to issue the instruction in triplicate on A4, would they? More’s the pity.

        1. 316534+up ticks,
          Morning Rik,
          Lest we forget this become a cross party issue via the mass uncontrolled immigration link.

    1. Particularly Muslim men wearing burkhas.
      (Ooops …. Cressida Richard has just battered down my front door.)

    2. They are, although given the fact that the Muslim just convicted of plotting to blow up St Paul’s is a white female, some criticism of O’Leary’s comments is fair.

      1. Just prevent anyone in a burqua (etc) or who has a brown face from travelling. There is no Divine Right to free movement. It is a privilege, like everything else associated with citizenship.
        (Oh, when we were at school, the whole class was sometimes punished for the bad deeds of one or two. It was normal. Of course as, 12 year olds in those days we had no access to “human rights” lawyers.)

      2. Sadly, the weak minded and easily manipulated are always with us.
        We just have to hope that they don’t become the majority. History has many examples of what happens when they do. (e.g. Late C15 Florence before anyone invokes Godwin’s Law.)

        1. 316534+Up ticks,
          Morning Anne,
          Looks to me like work in progress, when seeing positions of power & who is filling them countrywide.

    3. From the 1970s onwards, airliners have had a brutal fascination for Islamists. The facts are all there. How many airliners were hi-jacked or attacked by terrorists who were not Islamic in that time? I recall a Sikh inspired attack. Any others? Vanishingly few I suspect. I am old and white and utterly fed up being part of a ‘balanced’ stop and question regime at airports. I got out of one incident by saying clearly to one Frenchman ‘Do I look Islamic to you?’

  17. Morning, Campers.
    I have an idea; instead of being as bossy and micro-managing as Labour or the LibDems, a notionally Conservative government should use the carrot rather than the stick.
    On 1st. January, 2021, remove VAT from smokeless coal and seasoned logs. It is 5%, would affect only a few numpties who still use such inefficient heating methods and would send a raspberry to the EU.
    p.s. Nobody has yet answered my question about the power source for ‘kiln dried’ logs.
    Do I presume that it involves nothing as simple as fresh air blowing through the stack for a year or two?

    1. Some good ideas there, Annie. (Good morning, btw.) But don’t send your raspberries to the EU. Send them to me and I can then make some raspberry crumble – delicious with pouring cream.

      :-))

      PS. Off now to do a few more de-cluttering jobs and finishing this month’s Book Club book, ready for Monday evening’s discussion over an evening meal at the Greyfriars Hotel.

        1. Raspberries are best on their own, straight from the plant, still warm from the sun…
          Morning, Anne (& Elsie)
          Apologies for butting in on your conversation.

          1. Like English strawberries.
            Don’t bother with the frigid, tasteless blobs flown in from far flung corners of the Earth.

          3. I freeze large quantities of home-grown raspberries each year. They freeze really well and eat just as well as fresh.

      2. Rhubarb is excellent for crumbles at this time of year, bright red forced shoots. And of course, lots and lots of sugar… I nearly lost my clump the year before last because I forgot to take off the plastic bin I use to force the shoots. I had to buy rhubarb…

    2. Morning, Anne.

      Here’s one answer from a fairly local, Burnham on Crouch, firm that manufactures wood drying kilns. I imagine other power sources are available.

      We manufacture specialist log drying kilns with capacities ranging from 20 to 100 cubic metres. The kilns are heated by hot water and can be connected to either an automatic wood chip boiler or hand loaded log burning gasification boiler.

      Kiln Services

        2. Wood chip or log fuelled boilers are options. Presumably the wood fuel for the boiler has been dried to the optimum moisture content before being used.

          1. Using the chippings & saw dust from cutting the logs.
            I notice the reference to a gasification plant, presumably a bit like the gasogene contraptions that the French used during the German occupation.

          2. I buy compressed sawdust ‘logs’ – they are cheap and throw out a good heat. I use them in conjunction with peat (mined from my own peat field)

        3. Read the last sentence m’dear!

          The kilns are heated by hot water and can be connected to either an automatic wood chip boiler or hand loaded log burning gasification boiler.

          2. You burn the sawdust and wood chippings that logging invariably produces to heat the water.
            You can also add in the sticks that are too small for sale.
            A gas producer is a gas tight retort that you load up with scrap wood, set a fire underneath and, as the wood inside heats up the gasses given off are collected and can also be used to heat the water to dry the logs.

          4. It won’t be long before a retailer offers air-dried logs next to the air-dried ham. If they want to be really enterprising they could distinguish between organic (cut by hand or water-power) and the rest (cut by chain-saw).

          5. “…can also be used to heat the water to dry the logs”
            How do you dry logs with water??

          6. If you read Korky’s post above, he quotes a manufacturer of log drying kilns:-

            We manufacture specialist log drying kilns with capacities ranging from 20 to 100 cubic metres. The kilns are heated by hot water and can be connected to either an automatic wood chip boiler or hand loaded log burning gasification boiler.

  18. A selection of TCW articles:

    https://conservativewoman.co.uk/coronavirus-the-victims-outside-china/?utm_source=TCW+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=463532befe-Mailchimp+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a63cca1cc5-463532befe-559682581

    https://conservativewoman.co.uk/a-draconian-solution-to-a-non-existent-problem/?utm_source=TCW+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=463532befe-Mailchimp+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a63cca1cc5-463532befe-559682581

    https://conservativewoman.co.uk/todays-very-hot-topic-war-on-the-wood-burners/?utm_source=TCW+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=463532befe-Mailchimp+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a63cca1cc5-463532befe-559682581

      1. It was traditionally the way they disinfected drinking water before chlorine was discovered.

          1. Morning Mm,
            Horrible morning here , but very mild .

            Poole Shore road beach area on the way to the ferry , where you can have a good walk along the prom or let the dogs on the beach( restricted ) and have a lovely cup of coffee.. you will see many lizards scuttling along the cliff side amongst the rocks .. quite surprising really at their boldness and the amount of them .

          2. ‘Morning, Belle

            Time to blow the cobwebs away…

            …quite surprising really at their boldness and the amount numbers of them .

      1. Nope, of course not ..

        Went once , decades ago when we were younger.. sadly the dunes were full of binoculars , wrinklies and GAY abandon .

        Never ever again.

  22. Morning all.
    A quick glance at the online press today reveals further evidence that our political classes including the troughers in the lords eff up everything they come into contact with.
    The will and opinion of the people who pay dearly for all of their privileged life styles are not refered to and from back door expenses increases to French passport, to logs, coal and the release of known terrorist our opinions are shoved aside again.
    All we ever get from a general election is an elected dictatorship. Get the pitchforks out.

        1. They’ll take forever as I was cooking them in a wood burning oven. A bit like washing clothes in cold water I’m now cooking in a cold oven. Very environmentally clean. Cakes a bit doughy even though I try them every 25 minutes. :-))

          1. Use a chefie blow torch.
            Don’t burn them, people will hold you to account……for a long time. πŸ˜†

    3. 316534+up ticks,
      Morning RE,
      With the continuing support of the peoples time & time again, no attempt at change, same trio of political proven
      anti UK trash, same politico’s in the main just reshuffled.
      Every time “HOPE” plays a major part in the polling booth, hope he/she/they
      come across this time and put pro UK
      ACTIONS to the fore, ain’t happened in at least a couple of decades and is looking that trend is continuing.

          1. Unfortunately no ogga, but in this case, extraction is not yet an option.
            The rot is protected by a mouth guard.

  24. Regarding the letter about the book called ‘Who cooked the last supper’ reminds me of the guy who went into a bookshop and asked if they had a copy of a book called ‘How to deal with erectile disfunction’
    The assistant said “I don’t think it’s in yet” to which he replied “Yes! that’s the one”

    1. Or the chap who went to the Moslem bookshop and asked for Gerald Batten’s book on mass migration
      The assistant said “Fluck off and never come here again” to which he replied “Yes,that’s the one,do you have it in hardback”

    2. Or the library assistant who approaches the puzzled looking young woman who has spent an hour searching the shelves.
      Can I help, what sort of books do you like ?
      I’m not really sure replies the young woman.
      Have you tried Dickens asked the assistant ?
      No said the young lady I’ve never been to one.

      1. I was out for 4 hours yesterday repairing part of our garden fence. The 3 inch tenons had completely been removed from the mortice holes in the posts.
        Some dificult confined hand digging, half a bag of rapid cement a large bucket of ballast a new short post some bolts did the trick. Fortunately I’d originally screwed all the feather edge on, so it was relatively easy to remove and refix. Job done.

          1. I’m often called upon to fix things. I have recently been helping my eldest’s father in law. Refurb their kitchen.
            The work tops and splash backs were too expensive to take a chance with.
            As I routered out the cut out for the sink he stood next to me with ear defenders a face mask and goggles πŸ˜€
            He’s a university lecturer.
            Been watching too much DIY on TV.
            A box of a dozen Australian reds arrived last week.

        2. i don’t supppose you would like to come and sort out my fences? All the “handy-men” are so busy and the lack of garden fencing means the garden is off limits to the dog.

  27. Checking the weather forecast for Bournville: 3 of the next 14 days have no rain in the forecast.

      2. Probably. Burying its poo for some innocent gardener to dig up with their bare hands while planting things out…

        At least nice little friendly doggies leave their messes fully exposed to view where they can be easily and cleanly removed with a spade.

  29. Clucking bell…!
    Cleaner came yesterday & did her usual surgically-clean job. This morning, the cats had dismembered a poor greenfinch all over the floor! Bits & feathers everywhere. Yukk! Grr!

    2. Our poor dog has been sick all over this morning. Fortunately mainly out side. It’s too early in the year for her to have been eating slugs in the garden at night. No idea what has caused this ???
      Mr Herriot !

  32. Staggers back in amazement!
    The false ECU fault that has made starting the van up ever since my Carlisle jaunt at the start of the month actually cleared its self the first time I plugged the reader into it PLUS the chainsaw didn’t play the Charlie Uniform, so I’ve just been up the road to cut a light load of logs.
    Because of the amount of water in the stream, the heavier logs will have to wait a few weeks or months.

    Now need to get the saw horse out and dig the electric chainsaw from under the junk the S@H has buried it under!

      1. When I was about to be demobbed I came close to looking towards the Forestry Commission for work.

    2. 316534+up ticks,
      Opposed to kicking her arse out of it,
      there lies much of our trouble.
      We must seriously consider a major
      stitch up, permanent man hole cover placement,dickoff, graft on, campaign to clarify, separate, the boys from the girls, & the thingies.
      It may bring a tear to the eyes of many
      but must be done, just remember keep the thumbs in a safe position when the bricks meet.

    3. I wonder that M & S are bent on the road to perdition, inasmuch that this ‘Transgender Sheiße’ is really getting up people’s noses and, for organisations to pander to it, means that people will just avoid them rather than be brought into any argument.

      1. Their sales will probably decline even further. Still if they wish to focus on a very tiny minority thsts down to them. It will affect their sales though

    5. These people in my view are strange. Surely if she is Non Binary she is neither male or female

    6. “They were in M&S in Aberdeen and wanted to use the men’s changing room”.

      “They”? There was more than one of them?

    7. I swear some people just go looking for trouble. Don’t tell me–Myla Corvidae is fighting against the historical oppression of “non-binary gendered people”. Correct?

    1. #HateFacts

      The Met claims the matrix, informed by intelligence, helps identify
      and assess the most harmful gang members in each of London’s boroughs,
      based on violence and weapon offenses.

      Individuals are classified – given a computer-generated harm rating
      of red, amber or green, meant to reflect the risk an individual poses to
      others.

      So far, so sensible. But of course, the left, Amnesty International,
      and other bleeding-heart liberals were outraged by this sensible
      approach, calling it: β€œRacist policing in its purest form. Of the almost
      4,000 names on the matrix at any given time, 78% are black and 9% are
      other ethnic minorities.”

      They demand to know why this shocking disproportion exists.

      And there is no answer to give, because the numbers are not
      disproportionate. They are representative. They are an accurate picture
      of the demographic makeup of gangs.

      In London, two-thirds of knife offenders under 25 were black or
      minority ethnics. Almost half of murder victims and murder suspects in
      the capital are young black men — way out of proportion to London’s
      population, in which 13% are black.

      1. The facts speak for themselves .

        When is this idiotic country going to pull it’s head out of the sand .. The lefties and liberals are in denial .

        London and our other cities will slide very quickly , look what 20 years has done … it will slip into chaos like some African and American cities.

        The evidence is here .. visit Poundbury , Prince Charles new town , and listen to what people say , how pleased they are to have moved out of the home counties , no need to commute any longer .

      2. The mothers are too frightened of the gang members to speak ? What kind of parents do the kids have ? Do they not consider getting together to do something ? Is it solely the responsibility of white people to prevent their kids from killing one another. ?

        1. T,
          316534+up ticks,
          What proportion vote for the lab/lib/con coalition party, users of the submission,PCism, Appeasement tools ?

      3. Amnesty International have stepped far outside their original remit. Oh wait, they are a Charity.

  37. Bit of a dull morning. Will this cheer up a few NOTTLers?

    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2020/02/leo-varadkar-has-been-hung-out-to-dry-by-the-eu/

    “Leo Varadkar has been hung out to dry by the EU

    Ross Clark

    A year ago, did anyone look like they would come out of Brexit better than Leo Varadkar? Here was a leader of a small country on the fringe of the EU suddenly catapulted to its centre. He was the one pushed forward by Juncker, Barnier, Merkel and Macron, as they sought to leverage advantage from the tricky problem of the Irish border. Not only was Varadkar seen to be standing up for the Republic’s interest, but by driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, he seemed to be setting himself up as the instigator of possible Irish reunification – he was drawing the issue away from the nationalists.

    Last night, Varadkar resigned as Taoiseach after a humiliating general election defeat two weeks ago. Hardly any voters seemed interested in rewarding him for standing up for Ireland’s interests in the Brexit negotiations, and while Brexit seems to have rekindled the nationalists’ hope of Irish unity it wasn’t Varadkar and Fine Gael who prospered – it was the full-fat nationalists in the shape of Sinn Fein.

    But the humiliation is not entirely over for Varadkar. For the moment, he stays on as caretaker leader until a government can be formed. In that capacity, it has fallen to him to negotiate the EU’s budget for the next seven years. These were never going to be easy negotiations given that the EU’s coffers have just been left with a Britain-sized hole. But if Varadkar was expecting any favours from the EU for his role in Brexit negotiations he has been left sorely disappointed. Ireland has been asked to pay more into the EU’s coffers while suffering sharp cuts both to payments for farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy and to infrastructure under EU cohesion funds. Varadkar has called the proposals β€˜unacceptable’, but is unlikely to win any concessions given that Germany and a bundle of other Northern European β€˜frugals’ are holding out strongly against any increased burden on them.

    The sad thing is that Varadkar was exploited and now he has been hung out to dry. During the Brexit talks, he was drafted in to do the EU’s dirty work for it. The EU hit upon the issue of the Irish border as a device to try to trap the UK in EU regulations forever and Varadkar was used in order to help exaggerate the border issue. It never did make much sense why Britain would have to remain in full alignment with EU regulations purely to avoid a hard border in Ireland when Switzerland has a free-flowing border with several EU countries in spite of not being a member of the EU, the single market or the customs union. Even so, the EU nearly pulled off its trick. Had parliament voted for Theresa May’s deal – which even Boris and Jacob Rees-Mogg did at the third time of asking – the EU would now be rubbing its hands having neutralised the threat of a competitive, free-trading and deregulated Britain.

    But the ruse failed, and with it, Varadkar’s stock has taken a horrible plunge. Let his fate serve as a warning to the leaders of other small EU countries – don’t expect any reward for acts of loyalty towards the EU’s leaders.”

    1. The sad thing is that Varadkar was exploited and now he has been hung out to dry.

      Wrong, Mr Clark. Varadkar, with a double dose of anti-British prejudice from each of his parents, set out to play the big man bashing up the Brits. He lost. He brought it on himself.

    3. 316534+up ticks,
      Afternoon Anne,
      Surely the UKs overseas aid will step in to assist old vandee will it not ?

    4. Nottlers warned him repeatedly the the EU would hang him out to dry.
      Ha! Ha! Ha!
      Breathe
      Ha! Ha! Ha!

    5. The sad thing is that Varadkar was exploited and now he has been hung out to dry.

      Wrong, Mr Clark. Varadkar, with a double dose of anti-British prejudice from each of his parents, set out to play the big man bashing up the Brits. He lost. He brought it on himself.

    1. Mr. Patel at our local post office always warns us before the April price rise.
      Another task for March.

    2. Happy birthday to you,
      Happy birthday to you,
      Happy birthday dear Grizzle,
      Happy birthday to you…

        1. Hippo Birdy Two Shrews
          Hippo Birdy Two Shrews
          Hippo Birdy Dear Grizzly,
          Hippo Birdy Two Shrews!

    3. When I was born, it was 2d. for a stamp (no class system then). It soon went up to 2 1/2d., about 1p, where it stayed for years and years. What else (apart from housing) has gone up by a factor of 75 in the past 60 years?

        1. I thought that but a pint of bitter costing 1s–9d (8Β·5p) in 1960, multiplied by 75, would make it Β£6Β·38 today. I certainly wouldn’t part with that much for a pint.

      4. I remember the purple 3d stamp for a letter, but birthday & Christmas cards, if the envelope was left unsealed & just tucked in, were a red 2Β½d.
        Newspapers used the cheaper rate too.

        1. I think you should call the police Grizz. How dare Rasty send you a card with monkeys on. Aren’t you offended? I hope there’s no Shakesperean quote about monkeys inside it.
          No, probably not, because you sound to me like a sensible person.

        1. I was at the Geilgud last night and there was a Tap Dancing Bear and i wondered if it was you…

        1. PS I’ve just noticed that you live in East Yorkshire. Wolds by any chance? I used to be a regular visitor to Spurn Head, Flamborough Head, Filey Brigg, Blacktoft Sands (Nr Goole), and many other places in that wonderful part of the world when I lived in the UK.

          I miss it too.

    8. Rigtig meget til lykke, Bamse.

      “Du mΓ₯ ha’ en dejlig dag
      mange hilsen skal bamse ha’,
      hei hurra for bamsefar,
      ham som er sΓ₯ sΓΈd og rar.” (slightly changed…)

    9. Happy Birthday, Grizz! I guess birthday cake is off the menu. 🍷πŸ₯©πŸ₯šπŸ§ˆπŸ₯›πŸ§€

  39. They can’t ban coal and logs when a real fire is a fundamental part of country life in BritainIR – The government announcement that it is to ban coal and β€œwet wood” burning by households is a disaster.. 22 February 2020.

    Nearly every house in rural areas built before 1995 burns coal and wood. I live in a classic Lakeland slate cottage, wholly designed around the central source of heating, the wood fire.

    This typically ill-thought-out policy is clearly concocted by Metropolitan flat-dwelling elitists. Pandering to Extinction Rebellion in this fashion is nonsense.

    George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, who is from Cornwall, ought to know better.

    Actually I think it is a well thought out policy on behalf of those forces that have cornered the market in all the alternative forms of heating and energy supply!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/02/22/lettersthey-cant-ban-coal-logs-real-fire-fundamental-part-country/

    1. Good Morning Minty

      It is about control. They don’t give a toss about the environment or pollution – they just want to enslave us in every way they can think of.

      If Boris Johnson now sells us back to Brussels we shall know for sure that the bien-Γͺtre of the British people is completely irrelevant to him.

      1. Morning Richard. Aren’t they banning gas heating as well? All these things have to be replaced! Someone i..e. you and I, have to pay for it.

        1. Population Control to kill off the elderly who suffer from the cold. We know we’re a bloody nuisance!

          1. Oh well. I’ve taught my grandson to make chocolate Swiss rolls, shortbread and chocolate brownies. So my time on this planet hasn’t been wasted.
            I wonder if they’ll let me hang around long enough to teach him to make flapjacks as well?

          2. 316534+up ticks.
            Morning PT,
            If they have been supporting / voting
            lab/lib/con of late then it is a form of self inflicted
            suicide.

    2. Just burn dry wood. I bet there were people moaning when the sale of leaded petrol was banned.

      1. Nobody burns damp wood. I believe the idea is to force everyone to burn kiln dried wood. Great idea, eh?

        1. Wet wood can be purchased at most petrol stations so someone must be burning it. But if you’re correct, why the fuss? The whole story is clickbait.

        2. You would not kiln dry logs. Kiln drying involves initially saturating the timber prior to applying heat to dry it evenly in the kiln. Typically, imported timbers such as American White Oak and Ash are kiln dried after planking. A lot of energy is involved in the drying process.

          Our own English Oak is best left to dry in air after quartering often over two to three years or longer.

        4. 316534+up ticks,
          AS,
          The wooden tops are well established, third floor for the anti multi fuel burning stoves department.

          1. Sorry, that name is already taken.
            It is used by many squaddies to refer to members of The Brigade of Guards.

      3. Chemical additives in leaded petrol were shown to cause brain damage; benzene in unleaded fuel is carcinogenic. I quote:
        “Benzene itself has been limited to less than 1% in gasoline because it is a known human carcinogen.”

    3. There are already established “smoke control areas” where using house coal or wet wood will invoke a Β£1000 fine , sensibly these areas are mostly the more populated cities and suburbs. This seems to me an eminently practical arrangement what I do have a problem with is DEFRA’s assertion that “Approximately 38% of UK primary particulate matter emissions come from burning wood and coal in domestic open fires and solid fuel stoves. This compares with industrial combustion (16%) and road transport (12%)” really, house fires create more pollution than all of industry and road transport combined and then some?

      https://consult.defra.gov.uk/airquality/domestic-solid-fuel-regulations/
      https://www.uksmokecontrolareas.co.uk/list.html

      1. ‘Morning, Datz, it sounds like someone pulled some figures out of the air in order to try and justify their obviously spurious argument about the evilness of the current whipping boy.

        1. I cannot yet find any reference for the source – maybe they “sampled” an inner city garage or two at random until they found one with an agreeably excessive sale of the “dirties” and then extrapolated upward, or as you say as with the 5 a day / x litres of water a day/ x unit of alcohol its a figure plucked and no more.

      2. The Conservative Woman has nailed it:-

        I’m far from persuaded that this is the largest environmental problem we face, particularly as it seems the Environment Agency now can’t (or won’t) dredge rivers. So I’ve been digging, and found this document from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
        It states that only 50 per cent to 55 per cent of the UK’s PM2.5 pollution comes from UK emissions, the rest coming from overseas or international shipping. It also shows that the PM2.5 pollution hotspots are London and Birmingham; domestic fires are restricted in both cities. In the rest of the UK the level is below 6-10 ΞΌg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air). As the World Health Organisation’s Guide Figure is under 10 ΞΌg/m3 I don’t see that there is a problem outside the two major conurbations. As the EU has a wider limit than the WHO, London does not have a legal problem either, as is confirmed in the Mayor’s report.

        https://conservativewoman.co.uk/a-draconian-solution-to-a-non-existent-problem/

  40. Swedish Report: Stockholm Violent Gang Leaders Have Migration Background. 22 February 2020.

    A Swedish news outlet has revealed that 17 of 32 gang leaders committing violence in Stockholm were born overseas, with the other 15 born in Sweden but from migration backgrounds.

    Wow! Imagine that! Who would ever have guessed that something like that was going on?

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/22/swedish-paper-admits-violent-gang-leaders-come-from-migrant-backgrounds/

      1. Oh, the lies told about the Empire Windrush! “It was all down the the Nationality Act 1948.” Nope, that merely codified the status quo. “They were need to rebuild Britain.” Food was still rationed, we really didn’t need any more mouths to feed.

        In truth, they came to the UK because they could no longer get into the States. Blame America for changing its immigration policy.

        1. I was born and brought up in post War London in the 40s and 50s. The rise in violent street crime has been phenomenal, disproportionately committed by West Indians and or their descendants.

  43. I note I’m A Babbling Liar Browne continues to grace our television screens on a regular basis in spite of her promise to leave the country if Boris became PM

    Still I suppose She’d struggle to earn a living as a professional racist in any other country.

    1. As a moslem woman shouldn’t she be wearing a bag over her head and remaining quiet until her husband gives her permission to speak?

  45. Police name four Cambridge Extinction Rebellion protesters charged over Shell garage incident

    Police have named four people charged after an Extinction Rebellion protest at a Shell garage in Cambridge.

    A number of the group climbed on to the roof of the petrol station yesterday (Friday February 21) and poured fake oil over the Shell sign.

    Police were called to the scene and a total of five people were arrested at the scene.

    The group blocked all vehicles from entering the petrol station by holding up a large banner which read “Life or Death”.

    According to XR, the protest was aimed highlight the role the fossil fuel industry plays in climate breakdown by “profiting from the continued extraction of gas and oil”.

    In an update released this morning (Saturday February 22), police have confirmed that four people have now been charged after the incident on Newnham Road.

    They are:

    – Tilly Porter, 21, of King’s Parade, Cambridge, has been charged with criminal damage and obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in lawful activity. She has been remanded in custody to appear at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court today.

    Peter Green, 24, of Mansell Road, London, has been charged with aggravated trespass. He has been released on bail to appear at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on March 30. He has been given bail conditions not to enter the county except to attend court

    – Adam Whybray, 32, of The Street, Nacton, Suffolk, has been charged with aggravated trespass. He has been released on bail to appear at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on March 30. He has been given bail conditions not to enter the county except to attend court.

    – Mahoney Goodman, 21, of Long Reach Road, Cambridge, has been charged with aggravated trespass. He has been released on bail to appear at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on March 30.

  46. 14-year-old girl arrested after Cambridge Shell garage Extinction Rebellion protest

    Police attended the scene as demonstrators blockaded the Shell garage in Newnham Road yesterday (Friday, February 21)

    The 14-year-old girl, who is from York, was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and was not held in custody. She was released and will be interviewed by officers today.

    1. When did “genius” become an adjective? (A big shout-out to birthday boy on this one!)

      1. Expecting literacy from former UKIP leaders is a triumph of hope over expectation. Batten wrote the famed public school as Eaton.

        1. 316534 + up ticks,
          Afternoon N,
          Same token, expect
          treachery from governance parties is guaranteed the proof is there for all to see.

      2. 316534+up ticks,
        Strange how an everyday
        word used in a sentence can
        be picked up as a fault yet the strongest of profanities can past muster, don’t you find ?

      3. Ta, Joe.

        Probably around the time that ‘invite’ became a noun! [or when “issue” replaced matter, subject, topic or situation.]

      4. Probably about the same time as ‘uniform’ became a noun.

        As RJG, we used to pride ourselves on no two people being dressed the same when in ‘uniform’.

    2. Well I suppose his mums had a word and he doesn’t want to spoil his lovely overalls and ‘nice sweater’. And get it all over his beard.

      1. 316534+up ticks,
        RE,
        Give credit where due, good idea, if taken up seriously then in
        Italy there will be many a snip betwixt plate & lip.

    3. Utter rubbish! I learnt the proper way when I was a nipper.

      You find one end of the spaghetti, put it in your gob, then suck for all you’re worth.

      1. 316534 +up ticks,
        G,
        A tidy sight one would imagine, any other self confessed suckers out there ?

  48. Now which country would this be???

    “In April 2015, the Federal Cabinet also passed a new policy prioritizing
    the local workforce and restricting the reliance on foreign labour.”
    Oh that’s right …………….Somalia

    1. I expect westernised countries all over the globe have plenty of highly trained people they need.

      1. Indeed,in their hour of need it would be rude not to repatriate all those Somalian doctors and engineers etc that took temporary refuge here
        In the spirit of UK generousity we would even pay their fares
        Oh Wait…………….

  49. Has anyone read the small print of this “ban” on burning logs?

    I understand that the UK Humidity Directive (why did we ever imagine we left the EU!) to be imposed next February only applies to bagged logs of less than 2 cubic metres per unit.

    Most rural people do not order logs this way. They have the space to order by the trailer load, and the space to stack the logs in shelters to be seasoned over two years (if they haven’t been already).

    This law might therefore be quite clever – restricting the trendy townies (who do buy their logs in bags), where air pollution from woodburners is more of a problem, and central energy more readily available, whilst allowing country folk to carry on as usual.

    The real problem with burning wet wood is garden bonfires. One near me, which was left smouldering for a week, was down to the professional gardener for a large house burning all the garden waste, even rose clippings. In summer on a still day, the acrid fumes hanging about the valleys were quite horrible.

    1. The Germans are soon to start burning lignite in a massive new carbon fuel electricity plant. I suggest such a plant will blot out any savings produced by cutting back on wood burning stoves in London for a year almost daily. ‘One law of us another for you’ should be engraved on the E.U.’s memorial.

      1. Oh I don’t think so..

        This is obviously Stage 1 of a salami slicing exercise to abolish wood and coal burning completely.

        3. You may be right if the prime function of the Government we elect is the transference of assets from the public to select global business interests, who will duly corner the market in legal energy provision.

    3. They must be planning something… I mean converting an attractive Victorian into a mosque when there is not a single Muslim in their village does not bode well for the future.

      We are probably looking at extinction of our species.

    4. “It will be available all year round for anyone from the Muslim faith”
      Surely that is illegal ?

    5. I should imagine that this is all part of Project Dispersal. Insufficient housing “but we’ll damn well get them out into your hallowed rural places somehow” where we feel our true historical identity lies. I expect they’ll offer them extra benefits to take up this opportunity. So, we’ll be bumping into them in our village stores as they go to shop for their strange looking knobbly vegetables which we will suddenly find making an appearance to meet demand, nestling against our traditional carrots, parsnips and cauliflowers.

  54. Clucking bell…!
    Cleaner came yesterday & did her usual surgically-clean job. This morning, the cats had dismembered a poor greenfinch all over the floor! Bits & feathers everywhere. Yukk! Grr!

  55. Brutal but true

    It is no surprise when we are told that 70% of children born in

    London have one or more foreign parent. Nor does it surprise us when we

    learn that gross migration was 591,000 in 2010, 632,000 in 2014 and

    613,000 in 2019. It never stops. It never changes whatever governments

    say. They sanitise the numbers by telling us about β€˜net migration’ but

    this tells us nothing about the cultural changes taking place. They say

    numbers will come down but they never do so, and as a result we no

    longer believe anything they say. Labour wants votes, the Conservatives

    want cheap labour and the Lib Dems live in cloud cuckoo land.

    Only 6% of illegals who land on our shores are sent back: This is an

    open door invitation. Even if you are a foreign national who has

    murdered a child, judges will try to stop you being deported because your rights might have been infringed. Nicola Sturgeon thinks giving all refugees the vote is a good idea.

    We have new terms like β€˜majority – minority.’ We all know

    what that means but are not allowed to say. We are not allowed to say,

    β€˜We are full up.’ We are not allowed to say, β€˜Health tourism is a

    massive problem.’ We are not allowed to say, β€˜We want our country back,’

    and we certainly are not allowed to say that certain groups commit

    crime at a far higher rate than others. We see fraud, acid attacks, rape

    and murder but we are not allowed to comment that their names are not

    Brown or Smith.

    We see lawyers raking in millions from illegal immigration schemes.

    There are social security scams, drug line criminals, asbestos

    fraudsters and rape gangs but when defendants disappear abroad before

    trials on a second passport, everyone just shrugs their shoulders and

    accepts that is how it is. When it costs half a million pounds in

    lawyers’ fees and endless appeals to deport a single foreign criminal,

    no one bats an eyelid. When a Muslim terrorist attack occurs, our

    government says it is nothing to do with Islam and that the perpetrators

    are insane.

    https://www.salisburyreview.com/blog/boriss-great-immigration-fraud/

    1. Equally brutal but true is that the gross immigration figures include returning British expats.

      1. You just can’t help yourself, can you?

        The simple fact is that the proportion of foreign-born people in this country has risen enormously in the last 20 years and it’s not good for society.

          6. I’m utterly sick and tired of people who haven’t been to London in years telling lies about my city to me a fifth generation Londoner who goes there every week. You’re completely clueless about London because you get your so called news from racists.

          8. So says the person who rarely ventures outside of Dorset and who relies on far-right Twitter feeds for her ‘news’.

          11. Ever considered that some black South Africans may have similar anti immigrant views as you, but about members of your family?

          13. So what you are saying is that this is a fake video? Are the people fake, or the buildings? Just asking.

          19. I disagree. He often asks questions that test the validity of the argument. Facts may he facts, but jow the numbers are collected can open for interprteation.

          22. That’s a bit of a wriggle, if I may say so. A population rise of more than 10 million in two decades is a subject for serious discussion and not one to be dismissed as a ‘misrepresentation’ of facts.

          24. Perhaps you missed this bit: “They sanitise the numbers by telling us about β€˜net migration’ but this tells us nothing about the cultural changes taking place.” That’s the point. The figures are staggering. And what’s your definition of an ex-pat anyway? Does it include recent immigrants who are now British passport holders but have been working abroad?

            Even if a half of the inward movement consists wholly of white, ancestral Britons there are still 200-300K foreigners coming in each year. Ordinary population growth (without immigration) before 2001 was about 1.3-1.7 million per decade.

          26. Just like your “average” income for immigrants, which can hide a lot of net takers?

            One small example, 100 immigrant footballers could easily be earning a total of Β£100Mn, (probably a lot more).
            That would allow for ~8,000 earning nothing but give an average of Β£25,000.

          27. Which is why I support the government’s new immigration rules rather than the near blanket ban proposed by some here.

          28. So what you are saying is that the economy of this country is in need of coloured footballers?

          29. No, you read the stats and put your own interpretation on them so that you justify your accusations of racism towards anyone critical of immigration policy.

          30. Stating a fact about who counts as an immigrant is not putting an interpretation on the stats.

          31. You’d be a star performer on Question Time with your skirting around the issue. It’s the numbers. And what about the origin of those ‘ex-pats’? Do you have an answer to that?

          33. All of them? I doubt that, and even if so, nowhere near a majority of the annual invasion.

            Stop making excuses for the immigration disaster.

          34. I’m making excuses for nothing. I’m pointing out the fact that the stats are complex and that’s before I even start on how many emigrants are ex immigrants going home.

          35. ‘Disingenuous’ is an understatement. Criticism of immigration brings you out in a rash. Go and lie down and recover.

          36. You really need to actually read all my posts rather than build Steadman arguments. Try starting with my comments about being in favour of the government’s new immigration policy.

          37. I do read your posts. They’re consistent. Soften up an opponent by appearing to agree with him part of the way and then turn on him, firing off the predictable slurs. Of course you’ll say you’re in favour of the new immigration. That’s part of the tactic.

          38. ‘The misuse of gross immigration stats is not a fact.’

            So you’re saying that gross immigration stats are not being misused? That the gross immigration stats are, in fact, correct?

          39. Disagree with your characterization of one ‘side’ mis-using facts, more than the other ‘side’.

      2. Are you sure about the expats bit?
        When we left, we could find nowhere to register our departure. The only place was a new address at the Inland Revenue. Don’t they measure immigration by counting NI number issue – and expats likely have one already.

    3. 316534+up ticks,
      Rik,
      To point out that the political toxic trio
      are an ongoing coalition & have been that for years is to gain the tag
      far right , racist.
      That title is dished out by, in the main those of a guilty conscience nature that still support / vote for political parties that are clearly the blame of our, as a nation, present plight, which is in all honesty,a standing of deep sh!te.

    5. Labour wants votes, the Conservatives want cheap labour and the Lib Dems live in cloud cuckoo land.

      Perfect analysis. Should be up in lights everywhere.

    1. Charming and quaint, but the first Indian restaurant was The Hindostanee Coffee House in 1810. Veeraswamy’s opened circa 1926, and the Standard in Westbourne Grove probably opened in the 1950s.

      1. People went there to see the Indian waiters, not the food. Only the rich went there, because credit cards had not been invented yet.

        1. Hi Tony, just to be lightheartedly argumentative, Diners Club started in 1950, and Barclaycard was introduced in 1966. The market for Indian cuisine would have consisted of British people who had lived and worked in the subcontinent, and then gradually the waves of post WWII south Asian immigrants, followed by students looking for an affordable meal out. Have just read on the interweb that some Danish Prince started the fashion for drinking lager with curry, circa 1925.

          1. We went to Veeraswami’s on a trip to London in the early 1970’s. A remarkable experience, but cost a bomb. I don’t remember anything about the clientele. Diners Club was always for company people and the affluent, as I remember. It was Access and Visa that gave credit to the masses.

          2. Indians will tell you the best think to drink with hot food is a hot drink – swigging cold lager apparently tends to screw up the body’s reaction to hot food and you end end up sweating even more.

            p.s. Indians as in actual residents of India.

      2. The Hindoostanee Coffee House was apparently closed a year after it opened due to lack of business.

    1. Will they be banning omnivores next ? and I do hope that the Nation trust building have no coal fires or central heating. Car parks will have to as well as well as tarmacked roads to the estates

      1. A lot of people already have and no doubt a lot more will no longer be visiting these places

  59. 316534+up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    The approach to the public on the multi fuel burning stoves was IMO aggressive in itself, to me it was put across in a “YOU WILL” manner used as such by the designers as to deflect from other issues.
    As in stress relief on opposition to HS2 & need to know
    what deal has already been dealt regarding dealing with brussels concerning the “deal”.
    It does come across to me at times that we are hitting more anti eu severance & created problems from our own side than from the eu as if damage limitations is the order of the day.

    President Trump I take it is off the Christmas card list.

    Lest we forget, we are still dealing with the same political
    deck we had in the main leading up to the 24/6/2016 when we voted OUT but it was NOT by a landslide.

      1. You’re a bit behind the times PP. They now have Vauxhall on them and are advertised as a British brand since 1903, I think.

    2. Morning Belle. Outrageous, isn’t it, that our British passports are not to be produced in the U.K. the decision was made last April, by Amber Rudd I presume, Home Secretary but, as a proud Brexiteer, I would have been happy to pay a little extra if that’s what the difference was in the quotes. What a smack in the face for our own people not to have it produced here and what an insult too. It just goes against the grain.

      1. The Rudds, Fossilised Sap and her brother, are arch EUphiles, little surprise that the decision went the way it did.

      2. Now we are leaving the EU, for future contracts we no longer have to comply with EU ‘Open Procurement’ rules. Mind you, France is still in the EU and they have never complied.

        1. Yup. Why do we slavishly follow the rules when others don’t! As for β€œnow we are leaving the EU” – hmmm hopefully at the end of the year but I’m still not absolutely sure that we have been sold down the river in some respect.

      1. ‘Morning, Paul, it’s a lottery, they have loads of burgundy ones to use up first. Mine expires in 2028 when I’m 84!

    4. It’ll save folk having to wait for months on end in a camp in Calais waiting for a passing truck….they’ll simply be able to board a ferry….

  61. Why are the banks etc allowed to short change savers?

    Historically savers rates were typically about 1% below the mortgage rate which means savers rates should be about 2.8% but the typical rates is currently about 0.5%

      2. A great deal of truth in that as if they did show any interest they would not be borrowing money and paying 38% interest

    3. Why should banks pay savers a good rate. They do that when they want to attract deposits. It’s not like they need every penny of yours to make loans, they just create that.

    3. The Graun are needless to say going on about discrimination. Seems eminently sensible to me. As was said here in response to an elderly Californian woman getting the full strip search treatment, “Little old Christian ladies from Pasadena don’t blow up planes”.

  63. Q: What was the most disappointing moment of the week for lefties and the BBC news teams?

    A: That’s easy – the moment it became clear that the stabbing at Regent’s Park Mosque was NOT a Far-Right attack …. gosh, so many of them had a bad case of anticlimax …

  64. What are steam trains like the Flying Scotsman going to do if they can’t uses coal .. There are so many vintage steam train attractions , maintained by lots of volunteers , is this B….y minded government going to kill all pleasures , as well as the many who use coal to keep warm ?

    1. We had that discussion last night TB.
      The volunteers have dedicated their lives to running coal fired trains for tourists to enjoy.
      And as ever what we get is a jumped up expert on the media spouting complete and utter nonsense about……well everything.

    2. Why have so many people misinterpreted what was announced? It is the most polluting sulphur-laden coals which will not be available for domestic use. Other clean burning coals are fine. And the burning of wet (or, more correctly, green) wood in domestic wood burners. Properly dried hardwoods such as oak or chestnut are not an issue.

      1. “are not an issue”

        Yet…This is a government which is preventing the installation of clean gas in new houses from 2025.

      2. It’s not the people’s fault – the MSM have deliberately “misinterpreted” the announcement.

    1. The report must be far worse than the public realises. The Left in general, and the government wouldn’t be able to defend their ongoing policy on immigration, or defend their past record. The public would be horrified and furious. It could well fuel attacks on Muslims, and civil unrest as a result.
      They’re keeping a lid on it for now, but sooner or later it will become uncontainable.

      2. Yes – muslims commit atrocities (with the knowledge of their families) – but after they do, they demand to be protected because they are “frightened” of repercussions. It stinks.

    1. He lost the access codes because his landlord threw out all his gear. He was sitting on Β£46 million and yet neglected to buy his own house.

      Paddies, eh?

    2. Can someone tell me what earthly use there is for bitcoin?

      I can’t have my salary or pension paid in bitcoin, can’t buy food with it, can’t pay my council tax or utilities bills with it, so what’s the point?

      Someone told me I can buy stuff online with bitcoin – but apparently not the stuff that will feed me or keep a roof over my head.

        1. Largely a Scam. To be used as a currency you need stability and it needs to be widely accepted and non of that applies. The value of Bit Coins seems very arbitrary so of no use at all as a currency

      2. Any dodgy dealing on t’internet you wish to name. Now can I interest you in a clapped out, much used, male. Going cheeep. Just send a bit coin to..

      4. It can be a bit dangerous. Like gambling. I bought two at Β£200 each and four years later cashed them out for Β£8000. I wouldn’t recommend doing it but i felt like a punt and it paid off.

        Like in a Casino. If you are lucky enough to win then it’s time to cash out. Which i did. They did actually go much higher but it was time to run and not be greedy.

        1. It makes no sense. Why would a coin be worth Β£200 one year and Β£8000 the next. Was their massive inflation in the country ?

          1. It was four years and inflation has nothing to do with it. It’s a bit like Surf Boarding. Catch the wave right and off you go.

          2. Still make no sense for something pretending to be a currency. Why would it go up in value ?

          3. Because of more people investing in them. Street food traders now allow you to pay in bitcoin. Big Issue sellers now have contactless payment cards…soon to trade in bitcoin. One can pay by fractions of the value of this digital currency. Governments hate it which is why you see all the negative story’s in the Press.

            And of course…the dark web is very popular.

          4. ” Street food traders now allow you to pay in bitcoin. Big Issue sellers now have contactless payment cards…”
            Ah, you mean non-tax payers like using them.

          5. That too.

            The Government make the laws not me. Take offshoring as an example…not something i do BTW.

      5. It’s an electronic alternative to money, that’s not controlled by any bank or government, which is why this drug dealer would have used it.
        It’s totally secure, and all transactions logged. No one else will be able to get at his bitcoins, but without the access codes, neither will he.

        Beyond that, I haven’t a clue. I’ve never used it.

      1. The screen was stuck after posting my last. Had an extra box for some reason. … was the only way to clear it.

        Wotcha Kingy. How you doing?

    1. Remarkable how so many labour party members have all the answers in hindsight.
      There was even talk of his brother vying for the leadership.

      1. No thanks….

        David Miliband’s pay and benefits from running a large American charity. Β£680000……..nice one.

      1. 316534+ up ticks,
        AC,
        I only know one party that has said we need, & called for controlled immigration, and it sure ain’t lab/lib/con the recognised mass uncontrolled immigration coalition party.
        “We don’t” then pray tell me who does ?

        1. With lower immigration, there’ll be less need for new houses to be built thereby reducing the need for builders, plumbers…
          Like Chief Seattle said, all things are connected*
          *ps. If you haven’t read his statement, do, it’s quite moving.

        2. There was huge immigration from Ireland in the 19th century. Pre that century the economy barely advanced.

      3. If we need immigration at all, it must very selective immigration.

        What we don’t need is the dregs of the Third World flooding in, especially those who are hostile to our Christian culture and our way of life.

        2. Dearest Duncan, you used that evil “C” word (“Christian”). Maybe it’s time to beat these buggers at their own game. The most revolting aspect of this pious twit’s response is the complete lack of empathy for A CHILD WHO IS ABOUT TO BE RAPED.

          Throw these two quasi-religious nitwits in jail for Reckless Child Endangerment.

  72. Just watching the opening rites of the Wales v France rugger. Eight or so flame machines belching out CO2 and smoke. Didn’t they get the memo from Carrie Boris?

  74. An area of Northern Italy has been shut down and placed in “quarantine”. No trains running, all public buildings shut for a fortnight, including bars. Around 55,000 people to stay indoors.
    Two people have died of coronavirus and around twenty are infected, including medics. The problem is that they do not know the source.

    https://www.lefigaro.fr/sciences/coronavirus-l-italie-barricade-une-dizaine-de-villes-20200222?utm_source=CRM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%5B20200222_NL_ALERTESINFOS%5D&mediego_euid=%5B8609845%5D&een=24114703173b957b2409c240fd1cc65d&seen=6&m_i=Tknznd1dxNdpkVPEt37PFJCW2NiTt6WPYc0Kly9ON48iwBl4DTl_C5rKKXAHq9_T2GkCmno80Su_qc1J5e7_1ca%2Bzc8e6%2BZITL

      1. I recall reading somewhere that the mortality rate seems to be 20%+ for the over 80’s and also those with existing chest conditions.

          1. The bug seems to spread at least as if not more easily, than ‘flu and having presumably mutated at least once the risks of a more virulent version still must be increasing as the case numbers rise.

            Stand by for some serious economic downturn.

          2. I did concoct a Conspiracy Theory to explain this phenomenon and annoy Cochrane. The Chinese have invented this relatively innocuous strain to confer immunity on those that catch it, (the majority anyway) the more virulent version will come later and cut a swathe through the West. Unfortunately there is not one shred of evidence to support it!

          3. China needs the West as consumers for now but needs Lebensraum for billions more Chinese and more natural resources
            CoughAfricacough(literally)
            Fun this ain’t it {:^))

          1. Not one to catch then.

            I had to go for a blood test yesterday, the waiting room was very crowded and there were people coughing and sneezing all over the place. Only one face-mask observed!

            Having avoided anything so far this winter, if there’s a bug going around, I suspect I’m now a carrier, we’ll see…

          2. If you are in a long queue, a quick cough and a mention of your Chinese holiday will normally reduce the wait!

          3. The queue itself wasn’t all that long. The issue was its being a central waiting area with people going in and out all the time. It is remarkably efficient, puts the NHS to shame.
            I was in and out in 15-20 minutes.

            Heaven help them if they have to track down everyone who visitied and then the secondary contacts.

    4. First Europeans die from coronavirus in Italy. 22 February 2020.

      The warning came as the first Europeans died from the new COVID-19 strain, which first emerged in December in central China but has now spread to over 25 countries and caused more than a dozen deaths outside the country.

      A 78-year old Italian man died after testing positive for the virus just hours after 10 towns were locked down following a flurry of new cases. A second Italian victim, a woman from Lombardy, was confirmed to have died later on Saturday morning.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-uk-china-south-korea-singapore/

    3. Nope. Suppositories possibly but tatties are best cooked and digested before coming anywhere near piles.

        1. The only thing that works for painful and bleeding Haemorrhoids is a scalpel and stitching. I know !

    6. The instructions in this piece suggest multiple applications of the chip treatment –
      well that could be the best part of a King Edward (presumably well pricked before insertion!).

  80. Just popped into Boots for emery boards and an assistant told me I’d find nail accessories in the Self Tan section. She was right. Tan creams and nail files etc, together on a stand under the banner Self Tan. (Not nail enamel, that still lives with cosmetics, though may soon be found in the pharmacy.) If this is a trend, it could make shopping interesting.

    1. Trying to find semolina in ASDA. Now that’s … er … interesting.
      (Other quirkily stocked supermarkets are available.)

        1. Not only do we use semolina as a dessert, I use it in shortbread and also in th base of quiches and custard tarts to avoid the dreaded soggy bottom.

      2. I was looking for Sago in supermarkets*. They do not have it. I looked for Tapioca. They only have tins of Ambrosia Tapioca.

        *ASDA. Waitrose, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys.

    2. I once scoured a large supermarket, with the manager, looking for the caraway seeds which we knew must be somewhere as they showed up on the computer inventory. Herbs and spices? Nope. Baking? Nope. Furrin food? Again, no.

      I still remember the look on his face when we finally tracked them down… in amongst the fresh vegetables.

      2. Perhaps the Manager was new but he should instantly know where everything is. It’s his responsibility.

        1. Probably true, but it was funny. He couldn’t believe the sort of mind that would classify such things as fresh veg. I often think of him when wandering forlornly around supermarkets.

  81. I have a genuine believe that only genetic men are men and only genetic females are female. WilI I get legal protection for that believe like that vegan guy did ?

  82. Women Will Be Hit Hard by U.K.’s New Immigration Rules, Experts Warn

    What an earth will these retainers come up with next?

  83. JPMorgan plots launch of Chase digital bank in Britain

    This could be a serious challenge to the current big UK banks and JP Morgan will not be saddled with the high cost of maintaining bank branches

    THis of cause is a total U turn to when they said if we left the EU they would consider pulling out of the UK

    JPMorgan Chase, the world’s biggest lender by market capitalisation, is close to making a stunning entry into Britain’s personal banking market.

    Sky News has learnt that the New York-listed behemoth will launch a range of savings and loan products using the Chase brand in the UK in the next few months.

    The move will represent one of the most significant new entries into the consumer banking sector since the 2008 financial crisis, and could spark a new price war among lenders already struggling to deal with a protracted period of ultra-low interest rates.

    1. I suspect our Government gives them a good whack of loot to help them with all that β€œgreat” work they do.

      1. Many of these organisations are supported by other organisations. Many of these other organisations receive money from the Government. Trade Union funds do go to Hate Not Hope.

  86. There’s been a lot of news and discussion about Carrie Symonds Boris Johnson’s plans to turn Britain into a green paradise, a land fit for heroes to freeze in, by banning the use of coal fires and the burning of wet wood. I’m wondering if our peat fires will be the next thing in the eco-warriors’ sights.

    The finest single-malts in Scotland are produced on Islay – pure nectar such as Lagavulin, and Laphroaig – and the distinctive flavour is entirely due to the malt being heated in peat kilns. Any ‘Green’ interference with this traditional process would drastically alter the character of the whisky produced, amounting to a disaster of Biblical proportions. Civil disorder would be widespread and blood would flow on the streets.

    Don’t suppose Boris has considered the devasting impact a ban on peat would have on the production of fine whisky. Thing is, he probably puts ice in his whisky – or dilutes it with soda. Damn’ barbarian!

    1. Surely Scotland will be an independent country by 2025. Wee Jimmie keeps saying so. So you can burn all the peat you want?

    2. DM, is there an accepted manner in how to drink whisky? My late father-in-law, a Scot, admonished me for sipping what he had just poured into my glass. He took his glass and threw the liquid on to the back of his mouth before a quick swish around followed by swallowing. I can’t recall him diluting his whisky, ever.

      1. I like to swish it around in my mouth to get the full taste and on the rare occasions I dilute it, it’s with a splash of spring water, but it’s all down to personal preference really.

        Nonetheless, I consider putting ice or soda in whisky is an act verging on sacrilege!
        ;Β¬)

        PS Whether or not you toss it back in one would rather depend on the measure in the glass. I don’t think I could manage more than a half-pint at a time.

        1. My late uncle would pour a double tot and gulp it down in the kitchen when Aunty wasn’t watching.. Poor henpecked old sod. It was only Teachers though. I found it amusing when visiting and he would ask me if i wanted to take a walk around the garden and we would end up hiding in the pantry.

        3. Nonetheless, I consider putting ice or soda in whisky is an act verging on sacrilege!
          Depends on one’s preference. Either you like it with ice or soda or you don’t. Each as valid as the other.

          1. Any visitor to my house who asked for ice and/or soda in a glass of single-malt wouldn’t be given it.

            They wouldn’t be given a second whisky either.

  87. Democratic Debate Ignores The Question of Syria. 22 February 2020.

    But David Miliband, the head of the International Rescue Committee, who was once foreign minister of the United Kingdom, believes this is not a time for responsible political leaders to be silent.

    “The shelling in Idlib shames the Syrian and Russian perpetrators,” he told us. “But the silence in the West shames governments here. The suffering in Syria is emblematic of a new Age of Impunity, enabled by the retreat of governments notionally committed to human rights and the rule of law. The suffering in Syria is a clear and present danger to the international order, setting a precedent for lawlessness that threatens peace and stability. … For reasons of self-interest as well as morality this needs to go up the agenda”.

    Ah yes, our David, who voted for the Iraq War, the most calamitous conflict since WWII!

    https://www.npr.org/2020/02/22/808338015/democratic-debate-ignores-the-question-of-syria

    1. What are the West supposed to do ? Send the troops in ? Everyone has forgotten how this mess started, and Merkel inviting a million Syrians into Germany was plain bloody stupid. There had to be a more sensible way of dealing with the crisis.

    2. Ah yes, our David, who voted for the Iraq War the most calamitous conflict since WWII!

      Funny how so short term and selective politicos’ memories are.

      I was thinking that in response perhaps one might say that maybe the Syrian leader has had enough of islamists and has taken it upon himself with the help of the Russians to drive them into the dust. One day it’s going to be a very similar problem everywhere islamists try and disrupt all other cultures to suit their own.
      It’s been said many times before that the Saudi’s at the Hajj site already have enough room to shelter and feed and water over one million of their brothers………whoops, wrong type of muslim. And so it all goes on.

    3. I said at the time, that David Miliband should never have been appointed Head of International Rescue. The man’s a fool.

      What on earth was Jeff Tracy thinking?

      1. The Lib-Dems will probably decide to take it in turn with each one being leader for 1 month

  90. County Council leader calls for police to remove Extinction Rebellion roadblock

    Lust what is wrong with the Police that they fail to enforce the law. Yes you have the right to peacefully protest but that does not include deliberately obstructing the highway nor using amplifiers nor camping on the highway

    The police are just putting out the message that you van break the law with impunity

    Cllr Steve Count said police should use force to open the XR Trumpington Road blockade when he spoke on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s programmer Mann in the Morning today

    Conservative Cllr Steve Count said that “things had gone on long enough” and police should “forcefully open this road and make arrests if they need to”.

    During the interview Cllr Count pointed his finger towards the police, saying that they handled the situation in the wrong way.

    “I am told by the police that the public have the right to peaceful protest, yes they could have blocked the road for the day, and then spent the rest of the week on the pavement holding their banners so drivers could read them and handing out flyers.

    “It’s unacceptable to just allow this relatively small group of people to disrupt the lives of thousands of individuals.

  92. Question folks. Under the comment section there is a faded row of symbols GIF landscape B underlined U and others italic I and others none of them except for the GIF and landscape seem to function ? This is what I get if I try to use them

    in this order ??
    And on posting they all disappear ???

    1. They work for me.
      The are formatting for Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Hyperlink, Spoiler, and I confess to never having tried out the last two.

      2. It might be my pc Obs, i feel that ot needs a big kick up the a ris.
        Sometimes its like watching tar set. Longer than paint drying.
        I don’t get the same options on my mobile
        A glass of wine and bit of a strum on my yamaha LA8 and
        I can feel and early night coming on.

    1. Looks like a pretty good comment/cartoon – the fact that it appeared in a left-wing paper is quite refreshing!

    2. Don’t know why Owen Jones so disparagingly suggested it could have appeared in “Die StΓΌrmer” circa 1935.

      What’s Jones got against the Nazis anyway? He’d have got on well with Ernst RΓΆhm – he was fond of a bit of arse now and again.

  95. “The Environment Agency is to rewrite its controversial flood defence funding formula
    after claims that it pours cash into England’s richest regions, mostly
    in the south, at the expense of poorer flood-prone areas mainly in the
    north.Theformula is criticised for favouring the southeast because it is based on
    property values. It means up to 60% of the Β£2.6bn flood defence funding
    from 2015 to 2021 will be spent around London β€” despite the deluges
    hitting towns in the Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and Herefordshire in
    recent weeks during storms Ciara and Dennis ”

    A bit late.

    1. Amore logical approach would be to base it on the number of homes affected. There has not even been much flooding in the South although it depends what they mean by the south

  96. Prince Andrew has just returned from a trip to China.
    On return he was checked out for the virus.
    The doctor said he had to go into quaranteen.
    Andrew pricked up his ears.

  98. ♬“Well, I woke up this morning…”♬

    No, I bloody well didn’t! I’m still Right-wing!

      1. Doubtful, Maggie. Zero alcohol since Dec 31 (except for a tiny Scotch on Jan 31, Brexit Day!).

        I only drink sky-juice these days.

          1. Two mugs of Assam to start the day.
            One flat white (espresso) at Fika (1:00 p.m.).
            Two mugs of Assam at 5:00 p.m.
            Three pints of Tapoline between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

          3. He lives in Sweden, perhaps the cold would freeze his bladder before he emptied it?
            Pissicles might be very painful…

            {:-((

          4. I only have a nocturnal wander if I drink after 9:00 p.m. I’m seldom in bed before midnight so, usually, no problems.

          6. Grizz is a Puritan Northerner. Only his own urine will do. It’s why he has such a glowing complexion. :o)

          7. Grizz is a Puritan Northerner. Only his own urine will do. It’s why he has such a glowering complexion. :o)

  100. Look up Mary Berry’s Cod and crab fish cakes. I made them this arvo ate them for dinner. I cant recomend this recipe enough they were delicious.

  104. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to agree with anything Michael O’leary of cheap jack air lines has to say. He’s in trouble for stating his true beliefs on terrorism. I just hope it’s not just another publicity stunt.

    1. The slammers don’t like his line because its true! And they know it, otherwise he would be laughed off. As ever, dont look at the well protected West, look global.

      1. I have noticed that in recent years the people who now are carrying out the security checks on mainly white passengers at Luton airport, might well have been the prime suspects in the past.
        I’m sure there is a ‘fairly plausible’ explanation.

  106. alexander the grape ( in my book the sour grape)
    has made no comments but has taken up the down voting cause.

  107. Call me Mrs Cynical but banning logs and coals…and no I don’t have a real fire at all – has me wondering about the cost and services involved in alternatives. Do I think this ban will save the planet?…..rofl.

    1. It’s nothing to do with saving the planet.
      Some people have a job banning things. They find all sorts of things and try to ban them.
      No reasoning, it’s just what they do.
      They probably keep a log book.

      1. I believe…if we stop all traffic, ground all planes, stop eating meat, return to living in caves etc etc…..we may see some minute change but I wouldn’t bet on it. We can’t turn the clock back. We have evolved today as we are. Folks like our Greta are alive today BECAUSE we have evolved as we have. Great scientists fighting disease and making huge strides in medicine and production. We did not steal her future…we gave her a future. I have done my personal little bit to help the environment…I have for a very long time. I don’t like hypocrisy from a lot of these people.

        1. If we throw away civilization and go back to living in caves, all it means is that we will be totally unable to respond when there is flooding or hotter/colder , dryer/wetter conditions

          1. We can’t go backwards Richard…..this is my point. I would be willing to try an electric car…makes no difference to us at our age as we usually just go across to the local store or within our area in summer….but I can’t even get my head around the amount of power we would need for all the necessary traffic in this country alone. Yes, without doubt, we are warming up…I am not a scientist so I don’t know exactly why only that the Earth has an elliptical orbit and as such we have hotter and colder periods in time. That is as much as I know. I wish I had an answer but I don’t and listening to a petulant and rude child is not where I would be going for any answers at all.

          4. My local supermarket removed a block of 6 normal parking spaces and replaced them with a charging point and four spaces, quite close to the entrance, Yesterday, I saw my first one on charge there and even commented about it to the staff, who replied, without even looking out of the windows to see who it was – ” He comes in every day and puts his car on charge for 2-3 hrs, never goes into the shop, just wants free “fuel”. Free to him, but the rest of the customers have to pay for his power though.

          5. How much space and charge points…and National Grid power will we need for every vehicle in the country? Car batteries have a life span of approx 8 years….battery mountains everywhere I can foresee…..Jeez,

      2. Yes they will….same as the plastic bag fiasco…..don’t get me started…too late…here it comes…lol. Anyone interested in stopping their use would not charge 5p – now 10p a bag…they would stop making them. I have been using hessian bags for my shopping for at least 20 years…I can pack things much better in them and they last ages. Then there is this nonsense at the checkout…who wants to carry new lingerie or items of clothing through a shop without a bag for them? Of course I want them in a bag…a paper carrier…recycable.

        1. Some supermarkets have stopped providing the thin plastic bags for loose fruit & veg, Sainsbury’s that I’ve noted so far. No doubt they’ll all follow suit.

          1. Yes, M and S now provide paper ones for fruit and veg…all good in my book. Hate plastic bags with a vengeance.

          2. No paper bags, no bags at all – not sure what you are expected to do with loose veg. I’d be perfectly happy with paper bags.

    3. If you ban coal and log fires then we would no longer have to force little children to climb inside to clean the chimneys and Dyke van Dick would be out of a job.

    4. It is only green (undried) wood and high-sulphur coal being targeted. Quite sensible really.

      2. She only had one job to do….. to honor the result of Britain’s referendum and deliver Brexit.
        ….. and she failed.

    6. Britain’s new blue passports will be made in Poland after production was contracted out to a French-Dutch company.

      Gemalto won the Home Office’s tender to print the new documents, which were supposed to be a symbol of Britain regaining its identity after leaving the EU.

      Gemalto’s contract will last for 11.5 years, including 10 years of production and issuance services.

      The company, owned by Thales, has its offices and factory lines in various locations, including Poland where it employees over 1,300 people in Warsaw, Gdynia, PoznaΕ„, Tczew and KrakΓ³w. https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/britains-new-brexit-passports-to-be-made-in-poland-6592

      1. Yes. As well as all the new ones that are sent here in the next 11 months by the EU countries.

  111. The moderation at NTTL is getting worse.

    Replies to Andy…..

    Do keep up. Removed.

    Do your own research, sweetie. Removed.

      2. ‘Evening, J, you’ll be please to note that both the parrot and the cockroach are blocked on my page. I cannot be doing with these arthritic trolls, so – out!.

  112. Hands up, those who remember Britt Ekland

    She is/was on ‘Celebrity ‘Pointless’ (most aptly named show ever) tonight

    She is qualified to be a Nottler, she is 77 years old

    3. Evening OLT

      I saw her marry Peter Sellars in Guildford in the year dot … at least I think it was Guildford..

      She is certainly still the girl she was!

          1. The following are acceptable answers to the question Wie geht es Ihnen? (How are you?): Danke, gut. (dΓ’n-ke, gooht.) (Thanks, I’m fine.) or Gut, danke.

          5. Not fair T_B

            I have ‘lost’ 87000+ upvotes

            I think, why, with a matelots humour, should I bother to post on here

          7. They don’t matter TB…I lost 150k……wish they’d taken the lot. I think the Zero club is quite special…..xxx

          8. I only had 14,000 to lose. Lost the lot.

            I’m less than devastated, just waiting for Disqus to send me a confirmation email for my new account so I can declare a minor victory against the forces of oppression.

            So far, it’s been a week.

    6. Not a lot o’ people know that her real name is Britt Eklund.

      She changed the spelling when she moved to the UK for work because she didn’t want to sound too Scandi.

    1. Well, yes. In the first one she looks like a Mini Cooper. In the second photograph she has the body of an elderly Land Rover. The manipulation of the public continues apace – fortunately to those already of that turn of mind. I did think that poor old Priti has been piling on the pounds of late (it is winter for heaven’s sake and many of God’s creatures do likewise) but as long as she does her job and does it well, what on earth does it matter, eh ‘Guardian’?

      1. The Guardian supports ethnic minorities only if they are ideologically sound.

        As for her weight: perhaps she is fond of those incredibly rich and sickly-sweet Indian confections.

          1. No way have we forgotten and I’m sure that Israel would give everything to have an hear of the British Home Secretary – Go, Priti.

        1. I am sure that my wife would not be suspicious if I put her photo on my wall…..:-)
          But I’d prefer a Solberg to a Thunberg any day.

    3. Go, Priti and sort out those Home Office policies that desperately need it. Damn the photographic differences, you are a strong woman – now prove it.

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