583 thoughts on “Saturday 24 August: EU movement on the backstop won’t fix flawed Withdrawal Agreement”

    1. “Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein,

      aber auf den Sekt wollen wir nicht verzichten”.

      1. You’re having ” four shnitzels mit noodles” for breakfast, Peddy? (Guten Morgen, btw.)

    1. Morning Hugh. It’s not their money they are giving away! It’s the taxpayers!

      2. Do you mean the taxpayers are being given away or their money?

        For the sake of an apostrophe the point was lost.

      3. Precisely! We should knock the same sum off the next funding payment. They are obviously flush with cash.

        ‘Morning, Minty.

    3. Perhaps Glasgow, Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, Liverpool and all the 101 institutions who benefitted should shut up shop entirely, giveaway their endowments to Government to hand out to all those who can prove they are the descendants of slaves. Use the presmises to house any immigrant who wishes to come.

      That will really improve the world.

      1. Except the idiocy is bizarre. Slaves benefited immensely from being slaves. Their descendants should be paying us.

          1. Ah, it sounds like a joke, but it is not. End to end considerations are required, not just a segment. If you have been sold by your uncle, or captured in battle and sold by your captors to an Arab slave trader, what are the options? (If you were captured in a tribal war the options were slavery or death. Which one is better?)
            A healthy outdoor life on the Plantations or digging in some Arab’s mine?

            Addendum. Who will pay compensation to the descendants of the children who were sent up chimneys, or who worked in cotton mills from the age of ten for a few coppers for a 72 hour week?

          2. The res[ponse should be:
            The past is the past, they did things differently there and we hold no truck with your complaints.

            Now, go away and grow up.

          3. In answer to your Addendum, the answer is nobody; they were indigenous and so, apart from the soot and grime, white.

        2. We need a sort of International CSA to recover money from their antecedents going back 200 years or so.

          1. Why not? The slave narrative has been accepted without argument. Those descended from slaves enjoy a longer life span than their forebears. They live in freedom in a democracy with the right to education, health and the freedom to move around, choose a career and make a fortune. They can wear whatever clothing they like, and real shoes. They can own televisions and phones and go to music concerts. They even have full citizenship.
            All of this, they owe to the institution of slavery.

    4. I have donated a good sum of money to my Alma Mater, Glasgow University, but not any more. Their future requests for more donations will be ignored.

      1. ‘Morning, Clydesider, rather than just ignored, responded to, with a blistering diatribe as to why they get not one penny more.

        Gercha, you know you can do it!

      2. Good for you, Clyde. Who would have thought that such crass stupidity would infest a seat of learning?

    5. It is ridiculed by Charles Moore’s column …..

      If we are to pay reparations for slavery, why not for the persecution of Catholics?
      CHARLES MOORE 23 AUGUST 2019 • 9:30PM

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2019/08/23/TELEMMGLPICT000205336878_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqlhojYleb5YFfHetTobNLJ-gmYFBWDZCdkDICe3CJ-wM.jpeg?imwidth=1240

      BTL:

      Sunny Uplands 24 Aug 2019 7:42AM
      What about reparations for Brexiteers for the appalling treatment we have received at the hands of the sneering remainers?

      1. Surely, those who benefitted from slavery – the descendants of slaves now living rich, Western lives, should pay for the benefits not shared with their unenslaved relatives still living in a shithole domewhere?

      2. Catholics? Golly, I might some money from that. Being duffed up for wearing the wrong school uniform surely deserves compensation?

      3. Why doesn’t the money from Glasgow University go to setting up a repatriation fund to encourage all those to return to the lands of the ancestors?

  4. Morning all

    SIR – The European Union has deliberately inflated the importance 
of the Irish backstop.

    It will most likely accept any alternative arrangements we propose, knowing that the Government and Parliament will then probably approve the rest of the Withdrawal Agreement.

    The rest of the agreement should cause us just as much concern as the backstop. Let’s hope that our negotiators see this ploy for what it is.

    James Farrington
    Hartfield, East Sussex

    1. SIR – Boris Johnson’s approach to discussions with EU leaders about the backstop and “other unacceptable parts of the Withdrawal Agreement” is alarming.

      Either he is counting on the EU remaining stubborn, so he can blame this for a no-deal Brexit, or he will become embroiled in discussions about what we want, why we want it and how we will achieve it. Goodness knows how long that’s going to take.

      I hope he’s good at poker, otherwise we won’t be leaving on October 31.

      John McGuire
      Farnham, Surrey

      SIR – Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron. Who are the other 25 leaders?

      Malcolm Wood
      Nercwys, Flinthshire

      SIR – Boris Johnson put his foot on a table in the Elysée Palace during his discussions with Emmanuel Macron. His manners had deserted him. He is certainly no good advertisement for Eton College. We expect better from our Prime Minister.

      A T W Patrick
      Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire

        1. ‘Morning, Sos, doesn’t Mr Patrick have a right to be offended?

          As I have the same right to be offended by his ignorance in trying to make a mountain out of a wormcast..

      3. Boris Johnson comes from a nouveau riche family and most public schools including Eton now have to accept pupils with very little breeding.

        The old deal was that in exchange for school fees the school tried to turn out civilised, well-mannered young people but this has been sadly neglected.

        I am delighted to hear of the success of Katharine Birbalsingh’s Michaela School. She and the enthusiasm she has generated has seriously pIssed off the left wingers who try to dominate education and lower standards.

  5. A man was driving down the street, and he had an important meeting and couldn’t find parking.

    Looking up towards Heaven, he said, “Lord, have pity on me. If you find me a parking space, I
    will go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up drinking and smoking.”

    Miraculously, a parking space appeared.

    The man looked up again and said, “Never mind. I found one.”

      1. ‘Morning, Paul, as fit as is possible without being Eeyore.

        My Father’s definition of a bore, “When you ask ‘How are you?’ he tells you.”

        So I trust we find you in rude good health as well?

        1. Rude, anyhow, thanks. When I stop farting like a trombone, I’ll know somethings wrong, but so far… 💨💨💨😁

        2. I went into the newsagent yesterday. The young man behind the counter asked me how I was. I replied that I was fine, thanks, and how was he. “Not so good,” he said, “my mum just died”. Not really much you can say to that.

        3. We were lectured once to ‘ask the second question’.

          If I want to know, I’ll ask – and if I ask, I genuinely want to know.If I don’t ask, it’s just rude to be thinking ‘what am I having for tea’ while someone is telling me about their ingrowing toenail.

  6. Morning again

    SIR – The BBC news had an item on the effects of Brexit on Britain’s domestic waste. It reported that the majority of our waste was shipped to Sweden and the Netherlands and incinerated, with the heat generated providing electrical energy and district heating.

    The BBC was, as usual, presenting Project Fear, with the claim that a no-deal Brexit would result in our having to transport waste to landfills in Britain, increasing our carbon footprint and creating general mayhem on the motorways.

    Having been involved in the waste-to-energy business, I see this as an opportunity – even a moral obligation – to dispose of our own waste in Britain.

    We can build the same plants used in Sweden and the Netherlands to provide a source of energy from our waste. Indeed some facilities already exist.

    Why can’t the BBC report this as an opportunity instead of a problem?

    Alan Belk
    Leatherhead, Surrey

    1. Many already exist but the Greens in the UK tend not to like them. The modern incinerator plants produce almost zero pollution and the waste is incinerated locally avoiding long lorry movements of waste. The electricity produced is feed into the grid and the waste heat is used for a local heating system. This could be the heating of homes or the heating of greenhouses if in a rural area. Waste metals are recovered and recycled. The waste ash is used for road or housebuilding

      It is a very efficient and cost effective way of disposing of waste

    3. Apropos burning things to produce energy, from the CO2 point of view, what’s the difference between burning coal & burning waste?

      1. Burning fossil fuels ‘adds’ CO2 to the atmosphere. Burning waste simply recycles what’s already there (excepting that part of the waste that is derived from fossil fuels).

        1. Illogical.

          Burning waste simply recycles what’s already there

          Where’s ‘there’? In the atmosphere? (where it supposedly is already, so it isn’t recycled by burning waste) or in the waste? In which case the CO2 gets released into the atmosphere.

      2. From a CO2 point of view,fluck all,however I believe waste need a “closed system” incinerator because of other nasties involved
        If it’s good enough to heat Amsterdam why not here………………………

        2. ‘Morning, Rik. I seem to recall a proposal a year or two ago to link a district heating system to a new crematorium. The ultimate in recycling I would say, though plenty of snowflakes were horrified.

          1. Then in the evenings when the crematorium is not being used for its prime purpose, it could be used as a pizza oven.

          3. Why just a crematorium – it gets a bit ghoulish and Brave New World-ish (I can’t remember the exact book). Why not recycle rubbish generally, the way they manage to do in other countries? Answer so far has been that the Govt. won’t stump up any money.

          4. Perhaps the greenies will destroy any such proposal, as they did near here a few years ago on the grounds of toxic pollution. But if it can be made to work on the continent I can’t see why it shouldn’t here. Incineration has come a long way but the opposition here was very noisy.

          5. If it really can be shown to be less polluting than the alternatives, I wonder what basis the greens will have for objecting. My fear is that vested interests in the current status quo will try and prevent this kind of recycling happening. It seems to wreck everything else, with no apparent reason beyond someone’s profit.

    5. ‘Morning, Epi,

      “Why can’t the BBC report this as an opportunity instead of a problem?”

      Because it’s the BBC, Mr Belk Berk. You haven’t twigged that it’s Biased, hates Brexit and anything that is not sooper Islington/Hackney Leftie?

      1. The BBC has a vested interest in staying in the EU as it gets substantial finance from the EU

        The BBC might claim they do not which may be technically correct as the finance probably goes to a subsidiary company rather than the BBC Corporation itself. The BBC has a complex web of subsidiary companies

        1. Thank you, Bill, I’m already enlightened to the (non-existent) ethics of the Biased Broadcasting Corporation, I was merely trying to enlighten another who is in the shadow of ignorance cast by that same BBC.

          1. The BBC are keen to pick up on MP’s that have outside financial interests they have not declared but the BBC itself is not keen to declare that they have a financial interest in staying in the EU

            The BBC are also keen too pick up on MP’s excessive expenses but the BBC wastes Millions on taxis and flights it has booked but did not use. The BBC seem as well to allow the unnecessary use of taxis by their staff when there is public transport available and why an earth the BBC are paying for taxis to and from home for some of their staff I have no idea

          2. Fund the BBC by subscription only. That’ll focus their mind on controlling expenses.

          3. Come on Bill, be fair; it takes great effort to burn their way through £3.6bn p.a. to the point where they are in the red.

    6. I am surprised that Mr Belk doesn’t know the answer to the last question; it feels it has a duty to frighten us into staying subjugated to the EU. It is the modern-day equivalent of Lord Haw Haw.

  7. SIR – I was at Leyton cricket ground in 1965 when Essex played Yorkshire. Freddie Trueman of Yorkshire hit Roger Wrightson of Essex with the ball, removing some eight teeth. After play had finished, I mentioned the unfortunate incident to Fred. His reply: “He had a bat, didn’t he?”

    Please leave cricket alone.

    George Catchpole
    Rollesby, Norfolk.

    1. When Sir Viv Richards was asked why he didn’t wear a helmet he replied, “Because I have a bat for protection.”

  9. ‘Morning All
    We are still at the Kabuki theatre stage with Boris’s negotiations with the entire remainer MSM spinning madly for the WA turd with added glitter
    However,Cummings will not only be reading the articles,he will be reading the comments and must be advising Boris it’s a binary solution
    Clean Brexit Conservative triumph and long BoJo Leadership
    WA Conservative disaster and the end of BoJo
    Trust Bojo?? Of course not,he’s a politician,trust his ego?? Yup,he’s a p;olitician
    We shall see…………………

    1. The big problem for most of the Conservative rebels is if they vote against the government they can be booted out of the party

      1. Deselection of traitors.

        Electoral pact with Farage.

        General election.

        Proper Brexit

        Q.E.D.

    2. This reminds me of this question.

      On the road to the future by a Y junction there is a pair of completely indistinguishable identical twins – one of whom, a remainer, always lies; the other, a true Brexiteer, always tells the truth.

      One fork of the road leads to a proper WTO Brexit; the other leads to a catastrophic sell out like Evila May’s WA.

      You are allowed one and only one question which you can address to just one of the twins but you do not know which of the twins is the honest Brexiter (like Steve Baker) and which one is a piece of filth (like Hammond) who always lies.

      What is your question if you want a proper ‘No EU Deal’ Brexit?

      (If you give the answer then please put a spoiler shield round your answer. I shall get back later)

      2. If I asked your twin, what would he say? If he says, “Brexit”, take the other road.

        2. It’s an old logic problem that I’ve never really understood, all the way back to when Tom Baker solved it in Dr Who Pyramids of Mars.

          If he lies, why would his answer directly contradict his fellow who always tells the truth? Why is the decision able to be made on a single question?

  10. Heidi Allen has told Tories to join Remain Alliance or face electoral challenge over Brexit

    An anti-Brexit MP has contacted a group of Conservatives telling them to quit and join a new “Remain alliance” or risk facing a targeted campaign to unseat them at a snap general election.

    My God, this stupid, disloyal, turncoat honestly doesn’t realise that she and her fellow Remainers are the ones to be unseated at the next GE and if Corbyn carries out his vote of no confidence, that GE could be as early as November – after we’re out of the EU. No money for Christmas, then, Heidi, hi?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/08/23/heidi-allen-has-told-tories-join-remain-alliance-face-electoral

    1. A far more effective solution wouldbe to march her outside, point at a noose and say ‘you serve or you swing’.

      Whatever happened to representative government?

    2. ‘Morning, Nanners. The lunatics again reminding us of their inherent stupidity, all achieved without any effort on their part.

    1. As I wasn’t there and it had nothing to do with me, I don’t see why I should apologise at all.

      The only thing I can change is my own action, and that’s governed by how other people behave toward me.

    2. At first glance, the grimy office block in downtown Nairobi seems to have little connection to the outside world.

      All the young, educated workers hurrying in and out are Kenyan, as is their 36-year-old boss, James Waitutu Karuri, who rolls up each day in a different luxury car.

      But this is the headquarters of Mambo Microsystems, a major player in a thriving network of companies that produce written-to-order essays for British and American students.

      Kenya rules the world in this type of work
      Dr Thomas Lancaster, expert in contract cheating
      Kenya, which has large numbers of educated graduates but rampant unemployment, has established itself as the centre of the academic cheating universe.

      Posters advertising ‘academic writing jobs’ can be seen in the streets, and the vast majority of university students work for essay factories on the side.

      ‘Like most people, I started my essay writing business while I was at university,’ the boss, Mr Karuri, told MailOnline at his penthouse office.

      ‘Over time I began to employ other people to do the work and my business snowballed from there. I expanded into different markets.

      ‘I remember clearly when I made my first million. I felt a great sense of achievement, like all my hard work was paying off.’

      The gold panelling and private chef at Mr Karuri’s downtown premises, where he employs 15 admin staff and 80 freelance writers, underlines the money that is to be made in this shadowy industry.

      In a country where 41 per cent of the population has no running water, Mr Karuri owns a fleet of luxury cars and lives in an exclusive Nairobi suburb that looks more like Beverley Hills than East Africa.

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7290333/Inside-African-essay-factories-producing-essays-cheating-UK-students.html

    3. That is addressed to Glasgow University and it’s idiot Principal, Anton Muscatelli, I suppose. They ae going to pay £20m to assorted blacks in reparation.

  12. Toady programme reporting ‘live’ from the anti-G7 gathering of 10,000 outside Biarritz and being told to naffez-vous orff by several participants. Oh dear.

  13. Good morning, all. Very late on parade.

    Nothing going on in the world. So I will have my breakfast and go to the garden.

  14. Should the Notting Hill Carnival be Scrapped?

    It has become a crime ridden event and the costs is massive. There will be about 12,500 police office at the event. The entire Met force is only about 31,000 and some of those will be in the Control rooms and station and probably 10% will be sick or on holiday and remember they are on duty 24/7 so only about a third are available at any one time so at most 10,000 so thousands of officers will have to be bought in from other areas so a large part of the South will have hardly any police available

    Who picks up the cost is not clear. Officers bought in from other forces will have to be paid for. Then there is the cost of boarding up homes and shops plus the cost of the disruption to public transport and the cost to businesses as people avoid that part of London. Then there is the massive cost of cleaning up after the event

    1. Yo JBJ

      No way it will be cancelled

      Dey iss the Effnick Majority

      Only fings to be stopped are those that WASPs want to do

    2. It’s a long term plan.

      You gather all the criminals, weirdos, oddballs and wingnuts in one place. Over time, you increase the number of people until you’ve got them all together and then… you nobble them

      More sensibly, what really bothers isn’t the crime, that’s a given considering the demographic. It’s the litter, the carnage, the public urination and defecation yes, the utter spectacle you know the police will make of themselves to ‘fit in’.

  15. Sir – I appear to have reached the age at which the commercial world decides you need help. Suddenly every insurance company knows my birthday and I am showered with offers for incontinence pants, spectacles with lenses like jam jars, zip-up slippers and dominoes with spots the size of pound coins.

    Every day the mail brings a choice of surgical supports for everything from kneecaps to nostrils, prepaid funerals and magic potions that will darken my hair, straighten my back and increase the size of my tomatoes, all for only £3.99.

    Do I need specially adapted abseiling equipment to help me in and out of the bath? No. Nor do I want a fur cap with ear flaps or a personalised denture mug that glows in the dark.

    Bob Wydell
    Oswestry, Shropshire

    No, Bob, you might not need these things. But Bill Thomas might! 🧐

      1. I bought one of those in the GUM Debenhams store in Moscow Manchester.

  16. Just like the brave scientist who infected himself to prove ulcers were a bacterial not stress related problem and destroyed the concensus Katherine Birbalsingh has done exactly the same for education.

    She has PROVED the problem is not feral,stupid pupils but it’s the useless Leftard educational establishment who indulge in the “Racism of low expectation”

    She’s taken a lot of stick over the last few years(Hello Guardian)but bravely stuck to her guns

    Respect and congratulations!!

    https://twitter.com/Miss_Snuffy/status/1164948032389074944

  17. The mind boggles….

    DWP SUGGEST BENEFIT CLAIMANTS START STRIPPING

    https://i0.wp.com/order-order.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/DWP-STRIPPING.png?w=540&ssl=1
    The Department for Work and Pensions has given a clearer signal than anyone that Boris’s Government is abandoning the nanny state prudishness of Theresa May’s… by encouraging Universal Credit claimants to enter the burgeoning British stripping scene.

    https://i2.wp.com/order-order.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/skynews-dwp-strippers_4752189.jpg?resize=540%2C304&ssl=1

    In a post on the department’s website, the DWP suggested ‘Dances in adult entertainment establishments’ as the kind of work UC claimants could look for, and ‘Striptease Artist’ as a phrase those looking for work could use to search online. The post also suggested ‘bingo attendant’ three times, suggesting the author had balls on the brain…

    The author of the post was clearly an expert in stripping, offering such knowledge of the profession as it “not needing formal academic entry requirements” because “training is received typically on-the-job”. Guido’s intrigued by the employee’s implication that you can take academic qualifications in stripping….

    2. It’s a job.

      The problem with strip bars and lap dancing clubs is the girls first pay to dance there, then get the rest from punters.

      I’ve a chum who’s a lap dancer/stripper type. You sit in the changing room – a tiny, squashed place that’s usually filthy – with a bunch of girls in various stages of undress and talk to them and they’re just like any one else you’d meet. The only thing you do come across is a growing distrust of men.

  18. Good morning all.

    Bright & sunny again.

    My party dress has just gone in the wash for tonight’s do.

  19. Medical leaders demand government action over shortages

    Seems to me the problem is more down to the NHS and its poor supply chain and contracting of supplies
    Why an earth are the NHS giving HRT to trans woman. Are they that deluded that although they are genetically male that they thing they need HRT for a non existent menopause

    This bit got me Some trans women who take HRT are also affected by the shortages.

  20. Thomas family feeling spooked this morning. Times crossword.

    1 ac – First word “Bill”
    4 ac – First word “Carol”.

    Weird or what?

    5. Keep cool.
      Recall what happened in the run up to D-Day.
      We won that and perhaps we’ll win Brexit.

    1. As an aside, I agree that Suez was a foreign policy failure – for America. Eisenhower admitted that pulling the financial plug on the UK, which, with France and Israel, had achieved a military victory, was the biggest foreign policy mistake of his administration. (He also had some pertinent things to say about the military-industrial complex, raving leftie that he was.)

    2. The rage of the Remainers will be awesome when Brexit isn’t the disaster they are praying for

      DOUGLAS MURRAY

      Among the most painful sights of recent years has been observing people one used to slightly respect descend into howling, foaming, teeth-gnashing furies. A C Grayling, for instance, used to be a recognised atheist with a fine head of hair and an equally fine mind for elucidating complex philosophical problems. But his calm persona did not survive the Brexit vote. Today he can be witnessed on film going to Brussels trying to persuade EU officials to punish Britain in order to help the Continuity Remain campaign back home. And on Twitter his name is now “AC Grayling #FBPE #PeoplesVote &/or #Revoke50/”.

      The Prime Minister’s trips to Berlin and Paris this week did not pacify him. Indeed, like a lot of other British devotees of the EU, the sight of Boris Johnson actually speaking with his foreign counterparts sent him into a fury. Commenting on the video of Johnson at the Elysée, the philosopher formerly known as AC Grayling wrote: “Look at him. Gesticulating, blustering, posturing, a windbag & charlatan, mere noise and distraction.” With little self-awareness, Grayling made even 280 characters seem like an eternity, typing (still in the same tweet, miraculously): “Our hopeless constitutional order has allowed a chimpanzee into Downig [sic] Street.”

      So it isn’t just the British PM that Professor Grayling now deems to be hopeless, but our whole constitutional order. How strange that he should have spent his career expounding the gospel of reason, only to become a stranger to it in later life, while preaching the gospel of Guy Verhofstadt.

      Similarly, there was a time when the name of Andrew Adonis brought vaguely admiring thoughts. His role in helping the Blair government create academy schools laid some of the groundwork for what became Michael Gove’s school reforms. And while there was always some fnar-fnar-ing at his name, whenever Lord Adonis appeared in public he always seemed a decent and cerebral figure. Yet he, too, experienced a post-2016 transformation.

      While it is hard to find anything he said about the EU before June 23 2016, the peer has certainly made up for it since. For three years he has been howling about Brexit into winds both real and virtual. And while Grayling’s focus, when watching the Macron/Merkel meetings, was on how wretched this country is, Lord Adonis busily explored the flipside of that syndrome: the depiction of the EU as a near-paradise and all EU leaders as unimaginably brilliant, strategic and heroic.

      Observing the Prime Minister’s visit to Berlin, Adonis could not conceal his tumescent admiration for the German Chancellor, slavering that she had exercised a truly Teutonic punishment-beating on the object of his hatred. Frau Merkel had, he claimed, administered a “classic patient destruction” on Johnson, whom she would now allow to “implode, if by then he hasn’t already done so”.

      https://twitter.com/Andrew_Adonis/status/1164237512384155649

      Elsewhere this week, Remain campaigners finally appeared to weary of their Second World War metaphors. Perhaps realising that calling the public Nazis for three years had not got them as far as they had hoped, this week there was a marked increase in the deployment of Suez metaphors. “The worst foreign policy blunder since Suez” was once again the theme in the Remain campaign. And since Leave politicians must take their compliments where they can, I for one think they should be mildly chuffed by this upgrade, in just seven days, from Herman Goering to Anthony Eden.

      The variety of ways in which this Remainer rage continues to pour out is astonishing to behold. For there is not only the doing down of Britain and the bigging up of the EU. There is also the almost pornographic catastrophism and now barely disguised vengeance.

      There were displays of both in Edinburgh this week when Alastair Campbell and others held a rally in favour of the cunningly titled “People’s Vote” campaign. This was addressed by a number of politicians, until Campbell made everyone leave by playing Beethoven’s 9th on the bagpipes. Or, at least, the theme from the end of Beethoven’s 9th.

      At the sparsely attended rally at the Meadows, the Labour Party MP Jess Phillips continued her campaign for decency in public discourse by insulting the Prime Minister as a “man-child who wants to look hard on the world stage”. She then declared herself “sick of public schoolboys travelling in gold lifts telling me I’m a traitor… It’s not treachery to care if people have enough to eat.” As an aside, one might note that I don’t think anyone – not even public schoolboys – habitually travel around in gold lifts. If they did, they would get even less far than Jess Phillips hopes. But here are two other variations on the theme of Remainer rage. Threaten the public with famine until they come crawling back. And pretend that if or when we all die, these Leavers still won’t care.

      The MP for Edinburgh South, Ian Murray (no relation), warmed to the same themes by informing his Edinburgh congregation that he had spent that morning with nurses (or “angels”, as he called them) at a hospice for terminally ill children. What lesson did the Labour MP take from this? That if Boris Johnson ever found the time to visit (which he wouldn’t, presumably), he would have told them that after Brexit: “The streets aren’t paved with gold because you might just have enough medication.”

      In addition to being disappointing, all this remains – it must be said – vaguely awesome to behold. We are more than three years on from the vote. And yet, instead of spending three years accepting the views of the public or attempting to understand the public, these people have spent the time working out how to pretend that the differences that exist in this country do not lie between people who have different views on laws or tariffs, but rather between people in favour of people starving and those against.

      Lined up on one side of this debate (anti-mass starvation, anti-children dying) are Jess Phillips, Ian Murray and others. On the other side are the great Brexit maniacs, who just want as many people as possible to starve in order that they may more freely travel around the world in their gold lifts. Or something.

      But there is a problem for these people. How will they cope with the arrival of any or all future good news? They had a taster this week. For months, the hardcore Remainers have assured us that Emmanuel Macron will never change a thing in the Withdrawal Agreement. Positively dancing with delight, they decided they could definitely bank on the French President. But this week Macron said that changes to the agreement can indeed be made. So what are these people to do now?

      Personally, I have no doubt that, for some time to come, every time there is a traffic jam anywhere in the UK it will be blamed on Brexit. I do not relish the resulting rows. But even this is a better position to be in than the one that the most ardent Remainers now find themselves in.

      Today, their strategy is based on the hope that from November onwards the British people starve, die of preventable diseases or are murdered by the IRA. Then, after a certain period of time, we repent, crawl back on our knees, acknowledge our transgressions, admit the Remainers were right and allow Alastair Campbell to pipe us back into the EU’s bosom.

      This eventuality seems unlikely to me. But I worry what effect all this disappointment might have on the people who hold on to that hope. After all, for three years Remainer fury has come from a belief that Britain let them down. Their chosen weapon of chastisement in the years that followed was the EU. But what if the EU starts to behave reasonably? The hardcore Remainers did not react well when the UK let them down. But it may be nothing compared with the rage they will vent if the EU lets them down, too.

        1. Woops, sorry didn’t see yours and your wording. Still, even unconscious imitation must be a pretty sincere form of flattery!

      3. Find Grayling, shave his head, crucify him, then hang the scum with an FPBE board around his stretched neck.

        Post that on his twitter account.

        He’s angry because his poncy private school loses out. That’s it. It’s just raging arrogance, ego and personal greed.

  23. Daily Brexit Betrayal

    Thus, while German food exporters allegedly told some reporters that they might not bother exporting to the UK in the case of a ‘disorderly Brexit’ – see here

    – the British government on the other hand is in talks (‘wining and

    dining’!) with the president of the Calais region to limit potential

    traffic problems in case of a no deal Brexit (link, paywalled). Moreover, ministers are planning an ad campaign aimed at foreign truckers about possible difficulties (link, paywalled).

    In the wake of Johnson’s visit to the two EU grandees,

    a lovely spat is developing between the EU and the UK about the

    Backstop. Macron and the EU are saying that the ball is in our court (link). A former director of the Border Force batted that particular ball right back to the EU:

    “Tony Smith, a former

    director-general of the UK Border Force and a member of the committee

    tasked with finding alternative solutions to the backstop, challenged

    the EU to set out its objections to proposals to remove the insurance

    policy against the return of a hard border in Ireland. The EU can no

    longer simply ignore it,” Mr Smith said yesterday, adding that the EU

    should study the plans, “and give us a detailed analysis, saying what we

    have done right or done wrong” (link, paywalled).

    Well, the EU didn’t ignore it, they simply rejected it in their customary fashion:

    “An EU source was quick to pour cold water on the proposals.“It’s a more elaborate version of ‘trust us’,” they said.” (paywalled link)

    Here’s another instance of ‘mini deal’ talks:

    “Priti Patel, the

    home secretary, will hold talks with her French counterpart about

    migrants crossing the Channel in small boats after the prime minister

    said that those who did so were breaking the law and would be sent

    back.” (link, paywalled)

    That announcement was of course followed by the usual howls of vituperation from the usual suspects:

    “Christine Jardine,

    the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, said: “It is just plain

    wrong for Boris Johnson to label refugees crossing the Channel as

    ‘illegal migrants’

    https://independencedaily.co.uk/your-daily-brexit-betrayal-saturday-24th-august-2019/
    Oh Noes,that’s the wurst blow yet,damn those SourKrauts

    1. I appreciate that Jardine is a moron, but she’s blatantly lying here.

      If they were legal immigrants, they’d come in through an airport or a ferry terminal, pass through customs and go on to their new home and job and be very welcome. A north African jhadi is simply an illegal immigrant.

    2. Wotcher, Rik,

      If German food exporters won’t “bother” to export to us in the case of Brexit – no problem. We won’t bother to eat their produce. Not much food that Germany exports is worth eating anyway.

      Personally I don’t buy EU produce anyway, if I can help it. D’you know what – I haven’t missed it…

  24. An abrupt rebuttal of “Islamophobia”
    On reflection I wont post the link,we all know what Islam has done to our country,from the brutal terrorat outrages to the mass rape of our children
    You can shove your Islamophobia up Allah’s arse

    1. “How does the law work in space?
      Legal frameworks agreed by the five states that own the space station – the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada – set out that national law applies to people and possessions in space.
      So if a Canadian national were to commit a crime in space, they would be subject to Canadian law, and a Russian citizen to Russian law. Europe exists as one state within the legal framework, but any of the European states may extend their respective national laws and regulations to the European equipment and personnel in space.”

      See what the EU did there?

      1. Created a new entity – the United States of Europe – on a par with the United States of America. The independent countries are now kaput.

        1. Created a new entity – the United States of Europe – on a par with the United States of America. The independent countries are now kaput

          Don’t you just love it when hypocritical self-appointed Page Guardians use foreign words?

          1. kaput is not a foreign word as used here, it is a borrowed word of uncertain origin which may originally have been German or Yiddish, but which is now used in many languages.

            “From German kaputt, perhaps via Yiddish קאַפּוט‎ (kaput, “lost, dead”). The same word has also been borrowed by many other languages, with approximately the same meaning.” (Wiki)

    1. Sarah Ketchen Lipson of Boston University’s School of Public Health is going to find out how tough life can get if you try to stop the the trans train…

  27. Good morning all with birthday memories of my dad ….

    High Flight
    by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

    Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
    And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
    Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
    Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
    You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
    High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
    I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
    My eager craft through footless halls of air . . .

    Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
    I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
    Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
    And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
    The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
    Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

    1. Good morning Issy

      Where and in what context will I have heard that before, it sounds so familiar?

      A similar poem with the same theme is Gerald Manly Hopkins .. The Windhover

      The Windhover
      To Christ Our Lord

      I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
      dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
      Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
      High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
      In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
      As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
      Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
      Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing.

      Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
      Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
      Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

      No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
      Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
      Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.

        1. Who knows, issy? Man who is born of woman is short of days and full of trouble 🙂 (Job 14:1)

  28. Saw this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49450485

    It’s actually happened at our place as we do a lot of mobile work.

    However, the comedy is the stock photo the BBC have chosen. The ‘courier’ will not be a white, middle class chap in a branded T Shirt.

    The one who ‘arrived’ at our place was a Pakistani chap who spoke almost no English and was very aggressive. The swine tried to go for our stock board!

  29. If the eco-loons are so concerned about the(entirely average) forest fires in Brazil why were they so keen to deforest North America to supply biomass to burn at Drax rather than local coal??

    “Reducing the rotation rate of trees to boost forest output is also
    generally a bad idea for the climate and can lead to the production of
    biomass that’s higher carbon than coal. Several other DECC scenarios
    also show that burning wood in UK power plants can be worse than coal.
    This includes harvesting wood from naturally regenerating forest, with
    emissions of up to 5,174 kilograms per megawatt hour – a staggering five
    times that of coal.”
    Not to mention all that filthy diesel shipping………………..

    1. There were reports of massive areas of forest fires in Russia which were completely out of control and may still be. There is much less publicity about the Russian fires.

      1. If it’s left to our London-based media, I doubt if there would be much publicity if there was a forest fire North of Watford Gap.

      2. It might be harder to locate the source of the Russian fires as, unlike those in the Amazon, they weren’t started by members of a Prodigy tribute band.

    2. And whatever you do, don’t mention the (apparently less photogenic) fires that have been raging in Siberia this summer.

      2. And never, ever mention the fact that some trees are adapted to survive fires and others need fires to clear the undergrowth so that the next generations can grow.

        1. Frequent forest fires keeps the brush down and makes sure that the trees aren’t destroyed by a massive conflagration.

        2. As per those massive fires in California in 2017 where the eco-loons had argued that it was unnatural for man to create fire breaks – on par with our EU-funded eco-loons stopping farmers dredging their ditches – and nature filled in the dots as to why there is a necessity for such preventative measures. They say nature abhors a vacuum and God loves a trier; eco-loons test both ideas to destruction.

          1. And the Californian fires are nothing compared to the fires across all of Canadian forests every year. It is not a question of if the fires happen, just a question of where and when.

          2. And, in many ways not too infrequent, otherwise the build up of detritus provides to much fuel to burn exacerbating the damage.

        3. Yes, the giant redwoods have bark that is spongy and not good to burn. It acts as a shield and the tree is unharmed. Otherwise they would not live 600 years like Methuselah.
          There is a sequoia in Selkirk and there are others around. One can only stare in amazement. A previous owner of the estate planted that tree, and other varieties, knowing full well that he would never see them at their maturity many decades in the future.
          Contrast with our MPs who are supposed to plan for a better Britain.

          1. Woodland was planted on many estates with the owner knowing they would not benefit, but many presumably believing one of their descendants would. Many of the mature woods planted a couple of hundred years ago were planted originally with the intention of harvesting (about now).

          3. There are several magnificent Sequoias beside Chatelherault just outside Hamilton.

    3. With green fanatics, it isn’t relevant. Te materials used in making windmills, their actual energy efficiency, the waste of fuel hauling woodchip about, the burning wood in the first place.

      None fo these things matter in the slightest. All they care about is getting what they want. That’s why they’re so dangerous.

    4. Why ?

      That’s so easy……

      Just follow the money.

      Who has invested heavily in biofuels, and who controls the green agenda ?

  32. Afghanistan at risk of being abandoned. Letters. Simon Diggins. Fri 23 Aug 2019.

    The 100th anniversary should remind us that we have a long history in Afghanistan. The next few years are likely to be deeply challenging for the Afghan people. We need to stick by them and honour the memory of our recent sacrifices and the obligations created.
    Simon Diggins.     Defence Attache, Kabul 2008-10.

    Morning everyone. Is this a bit of homework to curry favour with the Boss or an example of the thought processes of the average UK diplomat? The latter is more frightening than the former because it exhibits a mind-set that is completely divorced from reality! We cannot “abandon” Afghanistan any more than we can desert France or Germany; it is a sovereign state responsible for itself. It does not belong to us! As to our “long history” there; that mirrors the present only in that it involved our meddling in their affairs in ways that always led to disaster. The Afghan people are the ones we have been fighting. Yep folks. Shock! Horror! The Taliban is made up of Afghans!

    The people that Mr Diggins says we should “stick by”? The ordinary people that you see on the news? Well they support the Taliban as well. They take our money and smile because they have to too survive but there is not one of them that would not be glad to see the last of us. The government, such as it is, is a gang of stooges and placemen installed by the US who look only after themselves. We should never have entered the place let alone be thinking of staying there!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/23/afghanistan-at-risk-of-being-abandoned

    1. I know someone who is an educated Syrian/ Afghan, family have lived in Britain for years.. They were almond/ apricot/spice growers /exporters. I gather that Afghan territory is carved up into fiefdoms , chiefs wield power and old rivalries, BUT Pakistan is the real problem re the Durand border line . Many say that Pakistan is the cause of ALL troubles in that part of Asia, however having said that , India hasn’t been much help either.. old tensions and rivalries never die , do they .

      1. There’s only one thing that the reports from Doha don’t mention: the Durand line – the straggling, perplexing, outrageous border more than 1,400 miles in length which Sir Mortimer Durand drew in 1893 between British India (now Pakistan) and Afghanistan.

        The line, like all colonial frontiers, bisected people, tribes, families. It divided the home of the Pashtun people – Pashtunistan – and today’s Taliban are Pashtuns. Now that’s something to reflect upon. If Pashtunistan ever exists as a state, it will take part of Afghanistan and part of Pakistan to create it

        https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/afghanistan-pakistan-war-isis-syria-doha-taliban-ashraf-ghani-trump-a9074581.html

    2. “…our meddling in their affairs in ways that always led to disaster…” It’s just a great game.

    3. From the article: “We need to stick by them and honour the memory of our recent sacrifices”

      And when yet more of our young lives are lost, do we do the same – ad infinitum?

      Putting to one side the human cost of our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would be interesting to know how much those campaigns cost in hard cash – cash we could have used in Britain instead of having to borrow and saddle our young with massive debt.

      Morning Araminta.

  34. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Watched the programme on Mountbatten’s murder (with others) on iPlayer. For those who have not yet seen it, it is an excellent documentary and highly recommended, even though the ease with which the IRA got to him – and the murder of the 18 Paras at Warren Point – is just sickening. I remember so clearly buying the DT the following day and being stunned by the events. (And to think that Corbyn was later on allowed to invite some murdering IRA scum to the H of C is beneath contempt.) I still have the paper somewhere in the loft.

    There are some things that can never be forgiven, and slaughter on this scale is certainly one of them.

    Looks like scorchio today, glad I completed the gardening tasks yesterday. Breakfast in the garden, followed by a good book in the shade, beckons.

  35. Who knows?

    Australia 320 ahead and all out.

    Centuries from Root, Bairstow and Stokes.

    True Grit wins the day for England!

      1. Say not the struggle nought availeth,
        The labour and the wounds are vain,
        The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
        And as things have been they remain.

        If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
        It may be, in yon smoke concealed,
        Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers,
        And, but for you, possess the field.

        For while the tired waves, vainly breaking
        Seem here no painful inch to gain,
        Far back through creeks and inlets making,
        Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

        And not by eastern windows only,
        When daylight comes, comes in the light,
        In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
        But westward, look, the land is bright.

        (Arthur Hugh Clough)

    2. Yo mr t.

      Boris wipes floor with EU Negotiators

      Immediate Brexit 0n 25/08/2019

      EU pay us £55.000.000 a day

      Remainers to be jailed for treason

      May to be beheaded at Tower

      Our Common Law to be used EUwide

      EU to use only English language

      Well you started being silly

      1. He’s much better when he isn’t captain and I’m never convinced by his choice of bowler at critical points.

        1. The TMS crew have been very critical of his captaincy, especially on the first day at Edgbaston when Oz escaped from 122-8 to 284 and again in this match after tea on the first day when Warner and Labuschagne scored 79 in 13 overs.

          1. I’m pleased that I’m not alone then!

            It looks as if this match is going down the pan too.

          2. Even his fellow Yorkies, Vaughan and Boycott, spared him little. They weren’t unkind, merely forthright. Boycs’s view is that he just doesn’t have the instinct for it.

  37. The government and media seem to have downplayed the very significant error in the number of migrants coming to the UK. It appears to have been understated for over a decade by about 30%. Such a significant error should result in a review of the number of schools we need the number of GP’s the number of hospitals we need and the number of homes we need. It also impacts population forecasts. The biggest impact though will be on the economy. They frequently try to claim that migrants contribute more to the economy than UK nationals. It is a very suspect claim but now we find we have 30% more migrants so the amount they government claim they contribute is diluted by 30% so even on government figures that claim is not true. It also means that the government claim that the cost less in benefits is not true

    If the UK were a private company such a reveolation that they got the figures so badly wrong would probably result in the suspension of the shares whilst they re worked all the figures to give the true position

    2. Such a significant error should only result in a review of the numbers on a few graphs. Nothing else need be done.
      (Seriously, as the authorities are taking no meaningful action on any of the figures, why should that change?)

  38. Off topic, but slightly relevant to the BA debacle.

    I find that as soon as I book flights, car hire, hotel accommodation etc, I am pestered by the same companies offering me special deals, but only on new bookings, generally only a few weeks hence, and never to coincide with my likely travel arrangements.

    It annoys the Hell out of me, but it’s even worse if they offer sale prices on the same dates I’ve booked, a few days later.
    Why oh why can’t they offer fair fares at the time of the booking.

    1. Spot on – I thought of you when I read that, apropos our thread about the dangers of sucking fumes into your lungs.

    2. Any idiot can tell that vaping is both anti-social and unhealthy.
      It was introduced for anti=addiction reasons, to get people off smoking tobacco, not as an alternative way of making money for the tobacco companies.

  40. So it looks as though yer England will have two whole days plus a bit to get their heads down and knock off the runs…..

    I sometimes get the impression that they don’t WANT to win.

  41. A strange juxtaposition after my earlier contribution. From today’s DT obits :- RIP and thank you, sir.

    Squadron Leader John Hart, Canadian Battle of Britain pilot, one of the last of ‘the Few’, who shot down an enemy fighter over Kent.

    Squadron Leader John Hart, who has died aged 102, was the last surviving Canadian Battle of Britain pilot. He went on to serve on fighters in Burma
    and in Italy, where he won the DFC.
    Hart arrived on No 602 Squadron on September24 1940 when it was flying from Westhampnett near Chichester. Although the intensity of the fighting had eased somewhat, Hart and his colleagues were scrambled on a daily basis to intercept raids approaching the south coast.
    On October 12, Hart’s Spitfire was seriously damaged during an engagement with Messerschmitt Bf 109s in fighting over the English Channel,
    but he was able to return safely.
    During the afternoon he was again on patrol when his formation of three aircraft attacked a Junkers 88 south of Beachy Head.
    Their combined attacks resulted in the German bomber crashing into the sea.

    After a few days of reduced activity, the Luftwaffe mounted a large-scale operation at midday on October 29. Five Spitfire and four Hurricane squadrons were scrambled. In the ensuing battle over Kent, 11 enemy fighters were shot down, one of them by Hart. This proved to be the last major action of the Battle of Britain.

    John Stewart Hart was born on September 11 1916 in Sackville, New Brunswick. He attended Mount Allison University, having learnt to fly at the Halifax Flying Club. Growing bored of working with the fishing fleets on the east coast of Canada, he travelled to Britain and obtained a short service commission in the RAF in June 1939.
    His flying training completed, he was posted to an Army co-operation squadron, but a serious car crash interrupted his progress. After recovering he trained on fighters before joining No 602 Squadron.
    In November 1940 Hart shared in the destruction of a Junkers 88 bomber before joining No 91 Squadron. In October he was rested and spent almost a year
    as a fighter instructor before he left for India. In February 1943 he joined No 79 Squadron flying Hurricanes on ground attack operations in support of the Fourteenth Army.
    Three months later he took command of No 67 Squadron in Burma flying escort to bomber formations and transport aircraft parachuting supplies to the ground forces. Hart continued to fly on operations until September 1944, when he left for Egypt to command an air gunnery school.
    In March 1945 he joined No 112 Squadron based in Italy. After just two familiarisation sorties in the Mustang, he flew his first operation in the American-built fighter.
    On March 3 he led a formation to attack the Carsara rail bridge, which carried one of the principal railway lines into Italy from Yugoslavia. The raid was a success and the railway line was cut. A second attack in the afternoon hit the bridge.
    In April Hart assumed command of the squadron and, during the final weeks of the war, he led many ground-attack sorties.
    On April 9 he was strafing gun positions near Bolognese when his aircraft was badly damaged. His wingman reported: “He flew home with a man-sized hole
    through the tailplane and a smack in the ammo bay.”
    As the Germans retreated north of the River Po and towards the Austrian border, Hart and his pilots attacked their transport and the temporary pontoon
    ridges across the numerous river obstacles.
    He led formations to attack the railway system and, on one sortie, 11 locomotives were successfully attacked. A few days later more were damaged. On
    May 2 he led an attack into Austria when five railway engines and three trucks were damaged.
    The war in the Balkans continued into early May and Hart led patrols over the Istrian peninsula on the 3rd – two days later the squadron was stood down.

    A few weeks later Hart was awarded the DFC, the citation highlighted his “skilful leadership, great determination and devotion to duty.”

    Hart was released from the RAF in 1946 when he returned to Canada and settled in Vancouver where he became involved in real estate, specialising as an appraiser. He retired in 1976.

    On his 100th birthday, the Royal Canadian Air Force celebrated his birthday with a fly-past over his home. Later in the day he took off in a Harvard
    wartime training aircraft. When asked how it flew, he replied: “It handled like a logging truck – nothing like the nimble Spitfire.”

    With the passing of John Hart there are now just four survivors of “The Few”.

    John Hart married his Scottish wife Joan in 1942; she died in 1977. He was married to his second wife Bette for 35 years; she also predeceased him. His
    three children survive him.

    John Hart, born September 11 1916, died June 18 2019

    1. You know who your true friends are, when they put their life on the line for you.
      Thank you, Squadron Leader John Hart, and thank you, Canada.

    3. And I had done a hellish thing,
      And it would work ’em woe:
      For all averred, I had killed the bird
      That made the breeze to blow.

      STC

      1. Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
        Had I from old and young!
        Instead of the cross, the Albatross
        About my neck was hung.

    4. She’s looking more and more like a figure from a ‘cartoon noir’, if there is such a thing.

  43. Completely off topic but I am fuming. Over in Spain at the moment to inspect my lands. Woke up to an emailed letter from BA telling me my return flight is cancelled – even though it is the day before the strike – and would I mind sorting out my own arrangements? It did say sorry at the end which of course makes it OK – after all it must be my fault for hiring Communists for pilots.

    BA used to be a premier brand with a superb reputation but a couple of years under Willie Walsh and his Poundland approach to business it’s now a low cost airline without the low cost.

    1. If the pay at BA is so bad, then the pilots should go work for another airline. Maybe Ryanair?

    3. Are you angry that your flight has been cancelled or that the cost is too high?

      Imagine if you’re on holiday and needing to get back for work next week. Suddenly, due to a pilot strike you’re stranded.

        1. Increasingly custoemrs are seen as an annoyance to be ignored – until they leave, then suddenly you matter.

          It doesn’t occur to them that if their service was better you’d not have moved.

  44. An American TV presenter has apologised after a backlash to comments she made about Prince George taking ballet lessons.

    Lara Spencer listed the six-year-old royal’s school classes during a segment on ABC’s Good Morning America.

    She said that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s eldest child would be studying maths, science, history, religious studies, computer programming, poetry and ballet.

    After Spencer said ballet, some members of the studio audience laughed, as did the presenter and her fellow host George Stephanopoulos.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/american-tv-host-apologises-after-backlash-over-insensitive-comment-about-prince-georges-ballet-a4220611.html

    1. I don’t see what the fuss is about.

      Ironic, though, that the bitch’s name is Spencer.

      1. One of the climbing instructors I met years ago had taken ballet lessons – he was one of the nicest, neatest climbers I’ve ever watched, on both rock and snow. Given he was quite happy to tell people that he took ballet classes, and was Glaswegian, you might gather he was also a fairly tough person!!

  45. And know for you delectation Lady C and her two assistants proudly present homemade iced cream.
    1) Mushy Mulberry
    2) Smashed Strawberry
    3) Gummy Bear surprise

    Gummy Bear iced cream is certainly “different”.

  46. I don’t want to sound as if I am whining or being a nimby but take a look at this.

    After many consultations and so much infill and building , we are overcrowded and put upon and have had enough… and now this.. on ag fields adjacent , that have just been harvested ..

    The landowner owns a castle and half the coastline hereabouts and military firing ranges and much more besides.. He is selling us out ..

    Fresh ideas how to counter attack this proposal would be appreciated , need some sort of weaponry . We are being trodden on, trampled , we are the peasants who must do as we are told.!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-49446115?fbclid=IwAR2QjQ5j-iyOEup6fV8ofqQhWh6w2sj9T7bssuR9YKu7mmjXvbRhiL9cCFo

    1. Morning Maggie, Introduce some protected species into those areas to prevent them building

      1. We have skylarks and buzzards , sparrow hawks , finches , and open space , hedgehogs, badgers, hares .. They will be doing an EIA in a week or so. The government says build , we are miles from everywhere .. The landowner rubs his hands ..

    2. Yo T_B

      Just spread the rumour, that there are numerous unexploded boom-banga-bangers all over the areas that he wants to build on

      As for the Castle,check to see if he has Planning Permission

      As far as the fields go, tell the Veggie Vegans that there will be a shortage of cabbages (the edible ons, not the Greens)

    3. Be interesting to know the precise nature and destination of the backhanders which led to the change in land allocation in the Purbeck Local Plan.

    5. “Savills said just over a third of the land would be used for new homes with the rest used for other facilities and open space. ”

      Other facilities; GP surgeries, shops and mosques?

      1. No, the space is for the roads, and grass verges beside the roads. Not forgetting space for the mosqu and some travellers camp sites.

          1. But I believe they are “protected”.

            What she really needs is a unique colony of insects to the UK . Ideally a completely new species.

          4. Politicians are somewhat squamous, speak with a forked tongue and can be venomous, but I much prefer reptiles.

    7. Belle, last evening I read an article in one of our local rags regarding a new single carriageway road to be built to link the existing A120 and A133 to the east of Colchester and how this will end the need for people to travel through the town and therefore ease congestion. The killer point then came out that this road will open up the land for 7,500 new homes in the proposed Garden Community in that area. How adding thousands of more cars and other vehicular movements per day will ease congestion baffles me. Of course, it’s being sold as progress. I haven’t seen any proposals to extend the sewage works or provide a new reservoir or other important infrastructure, just more homes for more people to drive to and fro from.

      1. The world screams at this terrible scenario Korky “Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro blamed for turning a blind eye to Amazon degradation in the name of ‘progress”

        The degradation of the UK is a scandal , an absolute scandal . We are overcrowded overrun and here in the south our rivers and aquifers are running low .. and look at the waste that is being created .. I had no idea rubbish was being exported to Holland to power their MBT’s and RDF

  47. As the warmists and global eco-loons shout ever louder,ably supported by the globalist MSM they suffer a real world defeat

    Remember Glodal Warming?? you know where this whole scam got going

    “Michael Mann, creator of the infamous global warming ‘hockey stick,’

    loses lawsuit against climate skeptic, ordered to pay defendant’s costs”

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/michael_mann_creator_of_the_infamous_global_warming_hockey_stick_loses_lawsuit_against_climate_skeptic_ordered_to_pay_defendants_costs.html
    Years of Lawfare goes down to utter defeat with full costs awarded to a real scientist
    Bet we don’t see THIS as headlines on the Al-Beeb

  48. An hour of mostly waffle in the run up to the Challenge Cup final.

    Note to self, always check the KO time before settling down to watch.

    1. Bloody irritating ain’t it,I just went and did some overdue cleaning,now settled with a beer
      Game on

  49. Boris Johnson will tell the G7 that Britain’s best days are NOT behind it as he makes his debut on the world stage
    Johnson to heap pressure on Donald Tusk to reopen Brexit talks on the backstop
    Warned that any Brexit deal will be hard fought and people should not ‘get their hopes up too soon’
    Also said ‘mood music’ from visits to Merkel and Macron was ‘very good’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7389083/Our-best-days-NOT-Boris-Johnson-tells-G7.html

    Boris looks as if he has aged by 10 years. The strain of being PM is quite noticeable .

    2. Look at the photos of all primeminsters at start and end of their term of office and they all look haggard at the end and probably aged far more than the number of actual years in office. I was first struck by the difference in Felipe Gonzalez in Spain, though he had had 4 terms in office, but he seemed to have aged far more than the years warranted. It’s not a job I’d want.

      1. Marrying a woman sixteen years younger than myself at the age of 41 gave me a new lease of life!

        Trouble is I now look my age (73) while Caroline looks at least ten years younger than her chronological age and people think she must be my daughter.

        2. When I was 42 I fell for a 28 year old. We have been happily together as man and wife for 39 years. I reckon it is down to her that I am a fit and very active 83 year old. Some of us strike lucky!

  51. Well, that was a saga – tried to log in and got two time outs, then just the photo and now actually back on the page proper!!

  52. “Hopefully such brave eco-warriors such as Harry the Prince of

    Hypocrites and Emma ‘First-class-flights’ Thompson will jet off to New

    York to hear crazy Saint Greta’s increasingly unhinged rantings.

    But while the West swallows mad Saint Greta’s total and utter

    garbage, our competitors are building coal-fired power stations to fuel

    all the industries we are closing down in the West and thus moving

    mainly to Asia:

    China has 2,363, building 1,171 more… Total 3,534

    South Korea has 58, building 26 more… Total 84

    Japan has 90, building 45 more… Total 135

    Turkey has 56, building 93 more… Total 149

    South Africa has 79, building 24 more… Total 103

    India has 589, building 446 more… Total 1,036

    Philippines has 19, building 60 more… Total 79

    That’s 1,865 new coal powered plants being built in just 7 countries.

    Britain has 0, building 0 more… Total 0

    And our elites and mainstream media believe the crazed, robotic,

    carefully pre-programmed Saint Greta that by committing economic suicide

    we’ll save the planet. Our competitors must be laughing at our

    stupidity.

    This would be comic if it wasn’t so tragic.”

    http://www.snouts-in-the-trough.com/
    Hate Facts……………………..

        1. I’m not aware of any open-cast coalmines around Aachen, but I know you’ve been there recently, Paul, whereas I have only passed through it on trains in recent years. All the open-cast mining that I know of in the belt between Aachen & Mönchengladbach is for gravel & the like.

          1. Loadsa coal, directly fed by conveyor to local power stations.
            Apparently, these colossal holes will become lakes…

    3. Your forgot Germany, which is also building new coal power stations to burn their “brown” coal.

    4. The whole point has nothing to do with climate change and everything to do with impoverishing the “West” and enriching the rest of the world.

      Wealth redistribution, pure and simple.

      2. Free trade with low wage countries has caused that naturally. Companies don’t have loyalty to a country and they followed the cheap labour once we said it was fine to import back tariff-free.
        To me free trade only works in areas where wages are roughly homogenised. Then there’s no real benefit from a labour cost point of view to siting abroad.

        1. That comment has little or nothing to do with the climate change scam.

          That’s a different scam, where globalists want to destroy their own people’s employment and bring in cheap labour or export jobs.

          1. That’s just cherry on top stuff.

            Climate change isn’t responsible for the hollowing out of the economy, that happened long before climate change was even ‘a thing’.

            The wealth redistribution from developed to underdeveloped countries was happening for a good 15 or 20 years before global warming then climate change became newsworthy or poorly studied.

    5. We are so weak and incompetent as a country .

      We have lost our true grit and become over feminised by Liberal politics .. my dear late father used to say that limp liberal pen pushy types who cock their fingers when they drink their sherry could never be relied upon to lead and make manful decisions . … they usually spent too much time tweaking their whiskers into shape.

      Look , I haven’t a clue really, but something unpleasant is happening , the power fiasco a couple of weeks ago was really quite a wake up call.

    6. As was always the underlying intent, the Kyoto Protocol (1992) shifted primary industrial production from the 1st world (principally USA) to developing nations (notably China). The MAGA movement to counter this international Marxist plot was the major factor in putting Trump in the White House. Look on the bright side!

  53. Telegraph columnist derided for saying Olivia Colman has ‘leftwing face’
    Suggestion provokes outrage as actor prepares to star in new series of The Crown

    Actors and writers have criticised the Daily Telegraph columnist Charles Moore for claiming that Olivia Colman has “a distinctly leftwing face” in remarks which suggested she was unsuitable to portray the Queen in the upcoming series of The Crown.

    The suggestion provoked bemusement on Twitter, with the comedian David Baddiel describing it as “idiot columnist rhetoric” and Little Britain actor Matt Lucas saying it did not make the remotest sense. Tracy Ann Oberman tweeted: “Jaw drop. To the floor.”

    “Speculation builds about how well Olivia Colman will succeed Claire Foy as the Queen in the coming third series of The Crown,” Moore wrote on Monday, in a column which picked up traction on social media throughout the week.

    “Ms Colman herself has expressed anxiety on this score. There is no doubt that she is one of the best actresses of the age, but I have a doubt, too. She has a distinctly leftwing face. This is hard to describe, but easy to recognise.

    “It is something to do with looking slightly resentful and ironic at the idea of having to play a public role which satisfies the demands of others. The real live Queen has no such face – allowing almost no difference discernible in public between the role and the person.

    “I hasten to add that I have no idea what Olivia Colman’s political views are. I just have a hunch, which I hope will be proved wrong.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/24/olivia-colman-leftwing-face-telegraph-columnist

    Oh yes , he is spot on!

  56. First larf of today.

    You know the way that the wanqueurs who “run” the world – Toy Boy, Mr Trump etc – have little lapel badges to remind them where they live?

    Well, I just looked at Toy Boy on yer frog telly. In addition to his little badge – he has a large “G7” badge, below it. Makes him look an even bigger idiot that usual.

    They are just like Hilter Youth with their “special” badges and symbols. I expect Maman is hoping that he can get an even bigger prize this weekend in Biarritz. The St Grunta Award….

        1. But Maman loves him – despite her broken arm…(wonder how THAT happened? temper tantrum at beddy-bies?

    2. Very good, although I prefer the ‘sequential killers’ of Murdoch Mysteries.

  60. I am off until tomorrow. 33ºC in the garden this arvo – very, very agreeable….!!

    A demain (more of the same)

  61. Moh has put a bet on the cricket… then whoops another wicket .. oh dear.

    Test careers will be shattered shortly .

    Too warm to do anything here, the roads are impossible and seaside packed out!

  62. More HAPPY HOUR

    Love is all around! Cardiff and Manchester are transformed into a sea of colour as thousands of people take to the cities’ streets to celebrate Pride.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ffb829d8ca2c1ea41c33391bd9c9b71e66e7d81edc1b042d3dbc1afd14bed0cd.jpg
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7390461/Cardiff-Manchester-transformed-sea-colour-thousands-celebrate-Pride.html

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb8788640d4a73e28d49e3607c3cb9e12f66c0d715e4d824b79c1249e1dfa517.jpg

    6. Sponsored by my Bank……ethical they are. Obviously do not care about my ethics, as they didn’t ask me.

      1. Had to look that one up; knew that a petrel was a seabird but a stormy petrel? Very good.

    3. PC Jenkins, you get a A* for undercover work, but you may have blended too far. I’m not sure what the wife will think about “those.”

  65. What’s this Publisher Success Team that I am getting e-mails from ?

    “Hi Tony,

    You’ve been using Disqus for about a month now. How’s it going so far?
    Today,
    I want to show you how you can start leveraging your readers’
    contributions to craft more engaging content and get the most out of
    comments on your site………….”

    I thought Disqus was chucking us out ?

    1. Its because I added you as a Mod on thecoconutwhisperer – they probably want you to create a blog of your own & hopefully pay for a subscription. Just ignore the mails, I get them all the time.

  66. Whoever has offended the lovely ‘damask rose’ will they know themselves and apologise. There are few enough truly educated and interesting contributors on this thread such that the potential loss of a favourite poster is frankly unforgiveable. Anyone wanting an argument can always have a go at me instead. Good luck with that.

      1. A day or so past. I have to say I thought the reference to a ‘Rottweiler’ was intended for either me or else Tony and accordingly I ignored it.

        However in conversation d-r appears to think that this remark referred to her. As I say I think a simple one line apology will help the present situation.

        I have in the past enjoyed my own detractors and have been temporarily banned as a result of their false representations as to my essential character. Since then those two have been variously recognised as trouble makers with some esoteric axe to grind.

        1. On the grounds that Blair apologised on my behalf for slavery (for which I bear not the slightest responsibility), I hereby unreservedly apologise to damask rose for whatever offended her and hope she comes back!

          2. I is only white on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. De rest of de week I is of colour 🙂

          3. But you support Hillary Clinton so whatever you say can be interpreted 180 degrres around.

    2. Hi corim. I have flagged your comment, not because it’s inappropriate, but to draw it to the attention of Geoff the guv’nor who can track back and see what happened. Hope you don’t mind.

      1. No problem Harry. I just hate to see lovely people with much to offer being alienated by unthinking and casual remarks. Yup we are all guilty of off the cuff remarks but we never mean to wound I trust.

    4. I’ve scrolled down beyond the point of boredom and can’t find a “conflict”.
      Has D_R removed all the posts?

      1. From a comment made a few below this one, it may have been “a day or two ago.”

      2. # Me too.

        I do think some posters are too quick to take offence though.
        I saw an example of that a day or two ago. That said, there could possibly have been history between the two of them that I know nothing about.
        Disqus comments are not a place for the over sensitive.

      3. Not sure sos. As I stated, I thought the remark had been directed at either me or else Tony. For whatever reason ‘damask rose’ thinks the remark was directed at her.

        I am not sitting around here all day and whilst semi/retired often have things to do in my architectural practice. I do however care about the sensibilities of other commenters and ‘damask rose’ is one such, whom I much admire.

        1. The reason I take an interest in this one is that I made a comment regarding rottweilers and poodles, so it might have been me.

          2. From memory it was not you sos.

            I am only reporting this because I feel some commenters are genuinely interested in contributing. They are not here to demonstrate their expertise in whatever but are here simply to share their knowledge and learn.

            I have learnt mountains of information from others on this thread and wish this balance to continue. I am not impressed with smart arses. I wish to learn from the humble whom I consider often know more.

  67. Bugger :-((
    Been out chiselling old & broken concrete off the steps up to the road, with the aim of relaying path heater and new pavers. Electric chisel broke – after stripdown, all its gears are stripped! 😭
    Work stopped. Going to have to rent one, but it’s too late for this weekend. :-((
    The plus point – bottle of Guinness Special Export (at 8%) relaxes the irritation somewhat. Curry out tonight.
    Ah well. Fix it at de weekend, bejezaz.

      1. The broken one was a Nakita. Will rent something bigger to finish the job quickly – but next weekend.

    2. Yo Ol

      In Noggieland, shurely it is less expensive (cheaper!) to pay a team of blokes and blokess’ to do the steps, than buy a Gokkle of Guiness!

  69. In the photo (above) Boris looks for all the world like he is practicing his silly walk.

    4. I don’t think there’s a riposte in his whole character, he is a loud arsehole, who will not get us out of the EU.

    2. One of the benefits of the demise of cassettes is that one almost never sees the tape strewn across the countryside after a frustrated user has thrown it out the window.

      1. The only thing that cassettes did that was better than CDs was that you could fast forward and rewind parts of songs.

      2. I shall be glad tp see the demise of the smart phone…

        Earlier today I met two cyclists texting whist riding their bikes on the pavement….FFS

        1. Keep the phones. Let’s see the demise of cyclists, especially as I don’t have a car at the moment so it won’t be under my wheels 😀

        2. Replace the “smart” phone with the “dowdy” phone then none of the tosseurs will want one…

      3. I’ve just spent 20 minutes posting the above after it disappeared
        into the nether…I’m too old to play silly b*ggers with computers….

          1. Hay – has the foopball season started yet? Care to give me your expectation of our mutual side?

          2. First full season in new stadium. Some nice transfers in last transfer period. Held Man City to a draw away from home even though we didn’t play great. I think we’ll have a great year in all honesty Bill.

          4. It’s a normal failing of spurs fans.

            We live in a world of our own until the last day of the season crashes us back to reality.

    2. Its of no importance, the girls were all willing to have sex with him & the reason that the Left, greedy lawyers & the media is making such a big thing of the Epstein affair & the Weinstein affair is simple it was heterosexual sex – if it had been homosexual pedophiles involved they would be left alone & never face trial like Kevin Spacey & Jussie Smollet !

      1. If they were under-age they are incapable of giving consent.
        There was more than enough fuss made of the Kavanaugh case, and she was not a minor and it didn’t happen.

        1. Aisha was 6 when Mohammed married her & 9 when he consummated the marriage. Lets see the Left take on the Muslims about underage sex & forced marriages – but they wont & within a decade the age of consent will be lowered to 10 or under which is also what the Homosexuals want!

          1. Harriet Harman and Patricia Hewitt used to be keen on having the age of sexual consent reduced. I wonder if they still are?

    3. No idea, Tony. But what does he mean by saying that he “did not see, witness, nor suspect” anything amiss? Is there some difference between seeing and witnessing?

    5. When Prince Charles was in the RN, he was respected

      Andrew was liked, as he was the most important body part Ariiss ole

      PS I was there at the time

      1. …and I always understood that:

        “Who’s the favourite man in the Navy?”
        “The Stoker with the hairiest ar5e!”

    6. Air-miles Andy and Randy Andy were the epithets used to describe this wretch when he was globetrotting at our expense.

      I do not believe a word he says.

    2. Been up the pub to an incredibly good music night. There are better things to do with our lives than worry about being offended, Plummy.. My journey back was longer than my walk up. Why was that?

    3. You are one of the tough ones. Others are more susceptible but you know that, because at heart you are a nice girl and not everyone has your confident personality.

      1. Not tough….. but girl I can live with…..

        It often happens on blogs, some people are easily offended or upset by remarks which are best ignored.
        Move on life is too short….

        1. I am sorry to have chosen the wrong word. You are in my opinion resilient. So am I, but others are susceptible to perceived abusive comments. That was my first point.

          I suppose my main argument is that we men should observe conventions, which have served us well in the past viz. to respect women and support them at every turn.

          1. De nada..
            I’ve no idea what the abusive comment was. People are entitled to their views and free to post here.

            Your last paragraph is irrelevant. The Feminazis shot themselves in the foot (feet) …….show no mercy!

    1. The Lib-Dems say you must be allowed to change your mind until you come up with right result

  76. Could Grizz have written this?

    The past decade has not been kind to those we entrust, in the words of Sir Robert Peel, ‘to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen’. Since 2010, police numbers have fallen by more than 20,000, with too many choosing to leave the force owing to physical and emotional assaults in a stressed and underfunded job.

    If our politicians are serious about reasserting the rule of law, it will take more than the 20,000 police officers and 10,000 prison spaces which have been promised. If I were writing a to-do list for the new Home Secretary, it would include the restoration and renewal of proactive community policing, a significant stepping up of the effort to tackle serious and organised crime, the roll-out of Tasers across the country and a review of our model for armed policing, a radical overhaul of complaints procedures, and a policing covenant that provides support for the police and their families.

    While the promises of more police, more prison capacity and a review of sentencing are all welcome and necessary, they must only be the beginning. Now is the time to move beyond crowd-pleasing headlines and deliver a serious renewal. The men and women who make up our thin blue line deserve nothing less.

    Rory Geoghegan is head of criminal justice at the Centre for Social Justice

    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/08/how-verbal-and-physical-abuse-drove-me-out-of-the-police/

    1. He didn’t explain why the police beat elderly peaceful demonstrators such as those on the Countryside March. Nor why they constantly harass TR. They are bully boys, especially those who carry guns. I speak from experience.

      1. They are instructed to whom they should be nasty and to whom they should be nice and from who they should turn a blind eye.

        No additional policemen, policewomen and money will do any good if the bone cancer of political correctness is not cut out.

        1. Afternoon R,
          Now you are talking,
          PC / Appeasement are a toxic health hazard and should / would be banned in a society of decent standing.
          Instance , plain for even fools to see that PC / A is an underage virgin conversion policy also leaving in its wake lifelong
          mental scars.
          One instance among a multitude of others.

      2. The police need to regain the respect and support of thepublic in general and I don’t think any of the suggestions in TB’s post will make any difference. At a basic level they need to smarten up. A start would be to get rid of baseball caps andremove all the rainbows from themselves and police property. Whilst political correctness reigns and they pay obeisance to it many people will have a low opinion of the police. I’m sure Grizz might provride a few suggestions.

      3. They constantly harass TR because their previous political masters told them to, and some police chiefs hate him and believe all the rubbish the media spout about him.

        1. Afternoon I,
          And so do many of those in the electorate, that is those even without minor sins
          who claim Tommy Robinson is an arch felon
          whilst themselves are supporting / voting for mass uncontrolled immigration parties bringing in the dregs of the world.Again & again & to be sure, again.

      5. Afternoon D,
        Woe be tide a vulnerable member of the public
        caught with a can of mace especially within a ten mile radius of a mosque.
        PC / Appeaser followers can seriously maim or kill.

      1. Perhaps she ought to have taken it off and washed it. Perhaps three years ingrained dirt contributed to the rib-tickling cracking…

    9. The Saxon Queen with longbow has Chicken Basque
      In the oven and a nice suitable Burgundy chilled.
      Didn’t listen to the news today so if some thing outstandingly
      wonderful happened or the end is nigh has been announced then
      I am totally oblivious . Mind you I do understand Boris
      and Tusk decided to draw swords of which might have been amusing.

      Edited.. above wasn’t meant as a response apologies, blame the sun .

      1. I’ve been invited by friends to supper chez lui tonight. I’ve no idea what I shall be given, but I shall wait until we’re all seated after serving to say, “I thought I told you last week that I’m now vegan!”

          1. I was talking about them & not us.

            All in all it was an excellent supper.

            The gag about being vegan went down very well.

      2. Porchetta and home made bread rolls and a nice Tuscan red
        The smell is wonderful.

    1. Night, Plum-Tart. Sleep well. I’m off to bed myself shortly. See you all (NoTTLers) tomorrow, DV.

    1. Hmm, Macron’s schoolteacher is beginning to age – probably all the hithertoo undue bedtime action. Teaching him constitutional law, the Napoleonic code and how to behave with those who don’t share your point of view.

  80. Evening, all/ May’s WA (also known as the abject surrender treaty) should be dead and buried with a stake through its heart. There are so many things wrong with it, it should be totally unacceptable. I do hope Bojo isn’t going to think he can pull the wool over our eyes by pretending that getting rid of the backstop will make any part of May’s stitch up suitable. It won’t.

    1. Shortly after becoming PM Johnson told the Tory MPs that the WA was dead. John Redwood confirmed this in his Diary – Speaking for England. If now he tries to backtrack he will have upset too many Tories for his own good. Giving the rEU 27 carte blanche to run amok with much of our laws, taxes, fisheries, agriculture and financial business is suicide for Johnson and the Tories, let alone the UK. Some legacy, as May has found to her cost. Why would he try and emulate her disaster?

      2. Because he thinks he is so smart and we’re so stupid we wouldn’t notice (and then he gets a nice sinecure in the EU because he hasn’t become “Mr No Deal” à la Tusk).

        1. I thought it had already been established that none of these politicians ever listened to ” us ” ?

      3. KtK,
        But is that not the overall plan then coming to fruition ?
        Some sacrifices must be made for the greater glory of the eu.

  81. Only one week left now before Disqus removes NB removes not simply closes the Disqus channels.

    In the past when Disqus has removed channels and there has been about a couple of dozen of them removed, the channels disappear together with all comments that were made on those channels.

    If the same thing happens on the removal of all channels (except the Discuss Disqus channel) on 1st September 2019, then commenters can expect to see their comment history made on those channels, (e.g. the old nttl channel) on their profile pages disappear too.

    When channels have been removed in the past we were allowed to keep all upvotes received on comments made on the deleted channels. I’m hoping the same will apply with the channel deletions on the 1st Sept.

    1. You’ve given me a brilliant idea. How to keep out all these immigrants that keep coming in in small boats.
      Remove the Channel !!

          1. Ok then what if you turn all of those wind turbines to the west and drag the UK further away from France.

      2. Many years ago, when the “chunnel” was first mooted, one of my older colleagues said, No, bad idea, we need to dig it deeper. Little did he know…

    2. An American blogging friend who seems to know a lot says we might
      keep our comments of the free channels and therefore the upvòtes
      even if channels are to be deleted themselves. The same friend
      believes dis..qus are not in a good way and the removal of free
      channels is just the start of whatever .

      1. Is your “American blogging friend” referring to the free to use Disqus channels?
        Because I could only repeat what I wrote in my original post. And, if one thinks about it, what use or purpose would there be in regard to retaining comments that do not have any attachment to an OP?

        I would tend to agree with your friend’s assessment of the current state of “dis..qus”.
        Maybe they are in something of a transitional phase since they became a publisher rather than a platform.

        1. Yes he thinks that the comments and therefore the upvòtes
          of free channels will remain even after the demise of the
          free channels themselves. I agree with you, dis..qus
          is probably moving away from being a platform for comments and
          probably looking for other avenues to exist.
          There may also be legal issues behind the demise of free channels
          Which is why it was so instant and so final without the ability
          for free channels to keep whatever in in their archives
          ( such as the history and philosophy channel) or the
          ability for free channels to pay for their current form.
          Dis..cus wanted them gone totally and as quickly as possible .

          1. Well, I can only go by past experience I.e. when channels were removed so were the comments attached to them.

            Comment removal has never been associated with upvote loss before.

            That said, I think when all the channels, except for one, are removed, it’s sort of uncharted territory that we and they will be dealing with. I hope they (dis..qus) know what they are doing e.g. one, actually probably two touches of the wrong button and anything could happen.

            I’m quite looking forward to next Sunday just to see what happens.
            e.g. will the channels all be removed in one fell swoop or could it be a more gradual process. Will there be technical ramifications or maybe unintended consequences. OTOH, it could all go very smoothly.
            We shall all see 🙂

          3. Seems a bit odd that they will be working on a Sunday. Usually they are never around of a week-end.
            Maybe it’s all been pre-programmed.

          4. It’ll be interesting next Sunday, I’d hazard a guess that Dis..qus
            want them gone quickly as possible so they’ll get rid of
            them in one go, I’ll miss is myself as I will be away and without internet
            connection for a week 😉

      2. Re Disqus health. I would not be surprised as a number of news outlets here that used to have Disqus for comments now use Facebook or Google based systems.

      3. As many here may be aware, Disqus has a fundamental design flaw that has been used to ban large numbers of people’s accounts from leaving comments on all pages that use them, unless they are pre-approved to make them. This has been used by trolls on “the left” to censor people and silence debate, because they cannot win their arguments with words. So they disable peoples access altogether.

        Obviously, as this becomes more widely known, it will cause Disqus real problems with those who pay for their service. No client wants to see their potential customer base being picked off and annoyed because of the comments system that they are using. If you have 1,000 potential customers who can pay for your product, you do not want to see that number drop to 500 just because some foot-stamping lefty has a tantrum at being shown to be lying.

        So who knows how long Disqus can last with this type of left-wing censorship allowed? One user should not be able to ban another user just by sending lots of fake “spam reports.”

        1. Censorship is increasing everywhere. YTbube, Face(berg) etc.
          Still, what’s new? We’ve never had truly free speech, ever.

          1. Remembering the leftie lovefest that became of the Leveson inquiry.
            Lord Leveson * kind if * concluding that you cannot ever
            stop free speech because the internet ” uncontrollable ”
            he never used those words but that’s what he meant
            yet one might say watch this space. Gagging the internet
            was certainly on Theresa May’s agenda.

    2. Well, the cat has the right idea, “Stop making a fool of yourself but I like this game.”

  83. Good night all.

    I’ve had a really good evening hos väner & I’m ready for my bed.

Comments are closed.