Saturday 25 July: The law against visible smiles turns shops into discouraging places

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/07/24/lettersthe-law-against-visible-smiles-turns-shops-discouraging/

829 thoughts on “Saturday 25 July: The law against visible smiles turns shops into discouraging places”

    1. Very good, VVOF. I shudder to think what my efforts would have looked like.

    2. Nice looking job there

      The problem nowadays with pressure treated timber is it is very wet, the first bit of hot sun and it all shakes out, especially posts that are usually heartwood from the centre of the tree.

      1. Oak posts and localy made fences is the answer. Expensive at first but not in the long run, if its a very windy spot like mine consider adding spurs to the posts.

          1. Made up of hawthorn/sloe/holly if intending to keep out undesirables (a useful deterrent when fortifying oil tanks against marauders).

      2. Yes Bob you are correct, I notice picking up 2 pieces of timber of the same dimensions can feel different in weight.
        I put it down to water content, and I find quality of timber can be very hit and miss.

      2. Actually it’s traffic calming – in the Netherlands, they plant trees in the middle of suburban streets; it’s impossible to do more than 20mph while weaving one’s way around the things.

        In a garden setting, flower pots are handy at calming speeding zimmer frames.

        3. A joke oft heard in childhood always without fail closely followed by

          Q How do you make a Swiss roll?
          A Throw him down the Alps

          and

          Q How do you make a Maltese cross?
          A By stamping on his feet

    5. Very good, vvof. But shouldn’t the ceramic pot in the middle be one further metre away from the “concrete pot” in the middle just like the ceramic pot on the right of the photo is?

      PS – How far apart are the chairs on the left of the photo?

      :-))

      PPS – On a serious note, I do envy you your beautiful garden.

  2. Good morning all. Rained in the night – not much. Sun/cloud right now.

    In a waking period during the night, I reflected on my report about Norwich yesterday. We were there from 08.30 to 11.15. The M reported that her hairdresser told her that , although the city was very quiet “early on”, it did get busier later. Though the shops and markets stall that were shut – stayed shut.

    1. Morning Bill, your report only confirmed what I saw and felt on my previous visits to town.
      A visit to town used to be an enjoyable experience but no longer especially with the face mask fiasco. I will sit back at home and save my money, only shopping as a last resort. Amazon will be my friend.
      Let’s see what your directives are going to do for the high street Boris, you clown.

      1. I had a “wanted” list of books which I emailed to my High Street booksellers. Those they could not source I ordered from Amazon, but the two that they COULD provide I ordered from the bookshop and will collect and pay for when they arrive, even though that will cost me a few pounds more. I did this because Red Lion Books is a small independent bookseller who give excellent service and whom I want to support after the devastating effect the lockdown has had on their business.

        1. I’ve tried to do that, especially with diffcult to source material.

          However I’ve found the quality of the books sent quite poor. I don’t know if Amazon check them before packing or something (which I doubt). Bah, I could just be a pedant and except book covers to not be crumpled and bent with pages trimmed properly (which is a fault of the binders).

        2. Your support for independent business on the high street is commendable Elsie, I wonder if there enough like minded people like you to keep the high street alive.
          If there are enough people like me who happen to be in the majority and consider staying away from the high street preferable to wearing face masks, the high street will suffer.
          IMHO this is a farcical situation brought about by knee jerk reactions when the virus is on the wane. The science is suspect, be a shop worker for 8 hours a day, no mask required, go off duty and shop in the same store for 30 mins and mask is required.

          1. A very sensible post (unlike the current regulations) vvof. But I operate on the “Pay the King his shilling, then do the right thing” principle of Colin Powell. If I have to wear a mask in certain situations it is no skin off my nose, even if I think it is nonsensical. (I don’t subscribe to the “thin end of the wedge” theory which suggests in a year or two we shall all be forced to wear hoods or ankle chains as if we were some of the characters in A Handmaid’s Tale).

            With regards to the question of if there are enough like-minded people to keep the High Street alive, I reckon that I am doing my bit however small. For a similar reason (Michel Barnier, Guy Verhofstadt, Jean-Claude Juncker, Ursula van der Leyen, etc.) I avoid buying goods made in the EU wherever possible. It may have very little effect, but every little helps.

          2. What is the difference between masks and “hoods or ankle chains”? When a Government tells us what to wear, what to do in our homes, who we may invite in, who we may associate with, who we may touch, when it closes churches, it is clear that there is nothing that it will not do. It is a tiny step from masks to hoods. Next week the order will be to wear gloves.
            And then? We will do just as we are told.

          3. Speak for yourself, Horace. I am happy to pay the King his shilling, but when he demands a fiver or ten thousand pounds, my attitude will most definitely change. I know, I know, you will say that it will then be too late. If that is the case then I am happy to accept the consequences of my choices. What I am not prepared to do is spend my entire (remaining) life worrying myself silly about the possible consequences. As I read somewhere recently, “A sheep spends all its life worrying about the wolf until it is finally eaten by the shepherd”

          4. Well, that’s a good quote. We should ask ourselves are we the sheep, or are we the wolf?
            How do we tell when the shilling becomes a guinea? This is not happening all at once. It is happening in small increments. The shilling will become two bob, then half a crown, but these will only be little changes. Then ten bob, then a fiver, then it will be far too late.

          5. It is the boiling frog syndrome. If we fail to jump out of the pot before it gets too hot, we’ve had it.

          6. That’s exactly what I predicted in my post, HP. I said “you will say that it will then be too late”.

          7. So it will be. Just as the German pastor said. I may be wrong. If I am not wrong then what? None of us walk under ladders, surely? Just in case.

          8. PS. I do speak for myself. Even I do so alone, as has happened on occasion. (60 to 1)

      2. You should be careful with online shopping. One advantage of physical shops is transparent pricing; major online retailers have the ability to study your habits and adjust their prices accordingly, via such factors as inelasticity of demand.

        1. If I see something I would like (usually DVDs) I put it on my Amazon “Wanted” list. When demand falls they usually send me an email to advise me. If there is a good bargain, I pounce!

        2. Morning to you, your warning has been noted, I however do try to compare prices from different suppliers, does this reduce my risk I wonder.

  3. Good Morning folks

    Cloudy start here, looks like rain, the indoor tennis courts are back open at least.

      2. I think the point is that many slave women produced offspring as a result of being raped by their masters giving rise to mulatto DNAs.

  5. Don’t believe the crushing consensus that Donald Trump is going to lose. Douglas Murray 25 July 2020.

    Dingell also quoted an anonymous message she had received from a voter: “I used to think I was pretty much just a regular person. But I was born white into a two-parent household, which now labels me as privileged, racist, and responsible for slavery. I’m a fiscal and moral conservative, which by today’s standards makes me a fascist because I plan a budget. But I now find out that I’m not here because I earned it, but because I was advantaged … I think and I reason, and I doubt much of what the mainstream media tells me, which makes me a Right-wing conspiracy nut. I’m proud of my heritage and our inclusive American culture. It makes me a xenophobe.”

    This is the voice of the forgotten, silent, overlooked voter of 2016. Dingell sees it happening again now. “Trump is energising his base,” she says. And she is right. Both sides will be energising their base. And each – being energised – will energise each other. Can Trump be written off? The polls say probably. Should he be written off? Not yet.

    I’m not an American but you would have to be crazy to vote for Biden who represents an anti-white, anti-democratic power bloc that will replace him as soon as possible. It would be the extinction of everything that we think of as American and probably plunge us into a World War!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/07/24/dont-believe-crushing-consensus-donald-trump-going-lose/

    1. I do wonder how many people daren’t say they support Trump for fear of someone turning up on their doorstep wanting to ‘re-educate’ them.

      1. Morning VOM. Obviously Trump voters keep quiet since they may become subject to all sorts of persecution and discrimination if it became known. I live in the UK and NoTTL is the only place I speak my mind!

        1. Morning Minty et al.

          England, under Cromwell experimented with Puritanical governance. Today Western societies are being subjected to the ‘Pure’ tyranny of the Woke. I for one am looking forward to celebrating at the Wake of Woke.

          2. What’s the phrase? Something like minds changed by force seldom persist?

            I prefer you can silence people, but that doesn’t stop them screaming.

            Such an attitude gets you an Anders Brevik character. The oppression of the Left is always resisted. The hope is that this time we don’t have to fight a dreadful war to shut the fascists up.

      2. Morning VOM. Obviously Trump voters keep quiet since they may become subject to all sorts of persecution and discrimination if it became known. I live in the UK and NoTTL is the only place I speak my mind!

      3. Like trying to get Conservative supporters to display a poster. At one time, they would – so’s to speak – be out and proud; now they fear a brick through the window or their garden destroyed by nighttime trespassers ripping out the signs.
        And that’s in the ‘posh’ parts of towns.

        2. I used to encounter that sort of reaction when asking people to put up UKIP posters. They would support and vote for us, but put their support on active display? No way!

    2. Americans have a dreadful choice of three men, none of whom are fit to run a neighbourhood watch without adult supervision, let alone the free world.

      What do they have – a terminal geriatric who should be in a care home, a limp rag puppet whose strings are pulled by woke fascists; a boorish compulsive liar with a gang of friends who will destroy the world by their sheer and wanton vandalism, one of whom takes pleasure in bombing Yazidis and betraying the only forces capable of controlling Islamic State; and a megarich super-celeb with a mental issue whose “music” has this perpetual tuneless heartless accusing sneer to the march of a goosestep.

      In God They Trust… I say “God help America”.

      1. I understand your references to Mr Biden and Mr Trump, Jeremy. But who is this “megarich super-celeb”? I didn’t know Princess Meghan intended to stand.

        2. Some rapper fellow – Jay Z possibly might be his ‘name’ (perhaps he couldn’t spell his surname). Married to a Kardashan.

          Edit: I stand corrected. His name is Kanye West.
          (Me neither)

          1. He has made two fortunes, one from music and one from clothing, so there must be more to him than just a big mouth.

      2. A better question is how did they get to this situation?

        What brought Trump into office? A crushed economy brought about by Left wingery. A refusal to listen. The democrat solution to this is to listen *even less* and continually reiterate how horrible people who disagree with them are.

        I’m dim, but even I know if you want to win someone over, you accept and consider their argument and then using logic and reason present an alternative. If the american Left cannot present an alternative that isn’t simply to ignore, insult and deride those who disagree with them then they will lose again.

    4. The Left don’t realise that they are actively pushing people to voting for Trump. Their every wailing ‘waycist’ ‘xenophobe’ insult pushes people further and further to, as conservatives are wont, calmly but resolutely opposing them.

      What the Left seem to refuse to consider is engaging those people, to accepting their views and trying to understand them. Instead they continue to force an evver wider gulf of understanding with no interest in bridging it except more insults and abuse. This didn’t work for Corbyn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcuoEVcsLcs

    5. Steve Turley in his talks seems to remain pretty upbeat about Trump winning, though not necessarily complacent (but then he always seems to remain optimistic and cheerful).

    6. ‘Morning, Minty. I have thought for some time now that Trumpton will win another term, despite his current position in the polls. The generally silent majority genuinely wants to see America made great again. Soon we could be in ‘blue rosette on a dead donkey’ time as the Republican vote gains ground, but I think we can guarantee that the result will not be a POTUS of Reagan or Bush snr calibre!

  7. 321711+ up ticks,
    Surely after seeing many of the actions taken or as is the case, not taken
    ( Dover) this could be part & parcel of a successful ongoing agenda.
    breitbart,

    Delingpole:
    Compulsory Masks Will Divide Britain More Bitterly than Brexit

    1. 321711+ up ticks,
      Morning HJ,
      Methinks it was a good % in view of the 48 / 52 referendum result.

    2. Much depends on who was asked.

      Of those asked many are going to be anti establishment Lefties, especially in London who hate this country and see nothing wrong with destroying our history and heritage. Such is the problem when the nation has been undermined by fifth columnists.

      1. Of those asked many are going to be anti establishment Lefties,

        Ironic, given that the Left have, by & large, taken over the establishment.

  9. Morning all

    SIR – Throughout my life, personal and professional, I have used a smile. A smile to show that I appreciate the service that someone has given me; a smile just to avoid a confrontation. The value of a smile is priceless but will now, compulsorily, be hidden by the wearing of a mask.

    I appreciate fellow citizens’ concern for my health, and will not take to the street waving a flag to protest at this limitation on my showing friendliness. But I suspect that, rather than encouraging people to go shopping, the alienation of mask-wearing will produce the opposite effect.

    Philip Styles

    Cheddar, Somerset

    SIR – If shoppers refuse to wear masks without due reason, then shopkeepers should refuse to accept their custom. No mask – no service.

    Mike Flood

    Staplehurst, Kent

    SIR – What extraordinary properties the Government would have us believe accrue to Covid-19. Apparently we can catch it at the newsagent but not at the optician, at the supermarket but not at the cinema.

    Gary Shaw

    London NW11

    SIR – The advice on masks from the Welsh Government (which, in spite of it, bizarrely recommends their use) is: “At the present time, the widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community is not supported by high quality scientific evidence.

    “There is,” it says, “evidence to suggest that the wearing of face coverings gives people a false sense of security which makes them less careful about social distancing and handwashing.”

    Graham Low

    Malpas, Cheshire

    SIR – How can we admire a PM whose response to Covid-19 is killing four people (through treatment for curable conditions delayed or denied) for every Covid death? He has turned Britain into a police state, stolen ancient freedoms and ruined the economy in the past five months.

    Simon Snape

    Elton, Cheshire

    SIR – My wife has been knitting “ear savers” (to secure a mask) for our physio granddaughter, her hospital colleagues and my barber.

    Unlike the Chinese-made polymer strip found online by Gordon Ratcliffe (Letters, July 24), this is definitely “Made in England”.

    Roy Kimberley

    Petts Wood, Kent

    SIR – Years ago, as a motorcyclist, I wore goggles with foam padding. Washing-up liquid was suggested to prevent them steaming up, as Eileen Davis (Letters, July 23) recommended for spectacles worn with a mask. This worked well until it rained, and soap bubbles formed inside them.

    A preferable idea was potato juice.

    Peter Bentley

    Garforth, West Yorkshire

    1. Well, Mr Flood – virtually none of the shop assistants I saw in shops in Norwich yesterday ere wearing masks. So there!

        1. I know. But the workforce would have just as much exposure (if any) to the Plague as the rest of us.

        2. Workforce will be managed and kept away from work if vulnerable high risk group or showing symptoms. No such control over who comes into the shop.

      2. Friend who works in Sainsbury’s says that while many were wearing masks, those who didn’t were left alone.
        He gives the current ukase a couple of weeks before the s0d-it factor triumphs.

    2. Mr Styles, the solution is simple. Just draw a smile on your face mask and stop whingeing.

      1. What a wonderfully simple idea. I might do that!
        I could have another mask in my bag with a scowl drawn on it, for quick changing if someone annoys me.

      2. I sort of see what you mean Elsie, but the reality is that people will shop less if they feel uncomfortable. Wearing a mask makes us all feel uncomfortable. Bluntly, I don’t want to wear one.

        We’ve decided to shop once a week. Anything else can come off the internet.

        1. I’ve been shopping only once a week since this whole thing kicked off. It is tiring wearing a mask in a shop. After a few minutes, you just want to get outside into the fresh air again.

        3. “Wearing a mask makes us all feel uncomfortable.” There, that’s fixed it for you.

        4. I have just collected a prescription wearing a mask for the first time. I don’t think I could wear one for the duration of a supermarket shop.

          1. I put my finger on my chin to pull the mask away from my nose and get a bit of fresh air from time to time.

          2. I watched the racing today and although trainers and jockeys were all wearing masks, most of them didn’t have them over their nose!

          3. Last two times visiting the quacks they’ve said you have to cover your face, so I’ve wrapped a t shirt around my head. It’s incredibly uncomfortable.

            Shopping is done as a commando raid. If there’s little traffic (idiots pratting about in the aisles) then I can get it done in under 15 mins – assuming nothing’s been moved around.

            I just don’t like it. It’s dehumanising.

    3. Philip Styles is the archivist for the Shackleton Association of which I am a member. Not many people know that!

      1. The father of one of my friends used to fly Shackletons. Unfortunately, he died recently and hardly anyone was able to attend his funeral.

    4. Spit works for diving masks. Spit in the lens & wipe round with fingers, brief rinse, job done.

      2. I made eye contact with a fellow non mask wearer in Westfield shopping mall yesterday evening and he gave me a nice smile. In a depressing sea of expressionless muzzles, it made my day.

        2. I stepped off the pavement to give a young lady and her baby a bit of space and she gave me a nice smile too. 🙂

    1. Which is why in a true democracy the state would be very carefully controlled and any sniff of hiking taxes would see it prevented instantly from doing so and that government sanctioned.

      Those paying for it must be able to control how their money is spent. Anything else is extortion. They can call it ‘representative democracy’ as much as they want – it’s still theft.

      1. You always get the suckers to vote for higher taxes in a democracy by promising them a cut of the proceeds.
        This is the main reason for the historic instability of democracies.

  11. Not all doctors have behaved well in these bizarre rimes…

    SIR – Annie Laws’s GP (Letters, July 23) says that injecting a joint with steroid to treat arthritis would increase the risk of catching Covid-19.

    The evidence for this is weak and is based on an American study in which the doses used were nearly eight times as high as is usual for knee injections in Britain. Even so, there were only about 450 cases of flu in over 15,000 patients who had joint injections.

    Even if the risk was slightly increased, it would only be so for a few days, and it could be mitigated by advising strict distancing and hygiene for a week after the injection.

    In the case of Charlie Barrass (Letters, July 11) and his painful thumb, the dose would be about a fifth or less of that for a knee and the risk therefore negligible.

    Dr Michael Blackmore

    Midhurst, West Sussex

    SIR – Having recently suffered a dislocated shoulder, I have found out what pain really is. If a few more doctors had suffered something similar they might have compassion for their arthritic patients denied help.

    Eryl Tucker

    Bedford

    SIR – The advice to NHS doctors on giving steroid injections during the pandemic is based on the effects of systemic steroid administration. While local steroid injections cause some immune-system suppression, it is nothing like as great as that caused by systemic steroids.

    The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer advises that decisions are best made on a case-by-case basis, in considering the risk if a patient catches Covid-19 after a steroid injection into a joint.

    Any patient who has reached this point in their treatment is obviously in pain, with some limitations to everyday activity. So an injection to help resolve this would be the treatment of choice.

    Sue Hardy

    Hitchin, Hertfordshire

  13. A new scam
    Careful everyone.

    An Email from HMRC offering a refund from self assessment.

  14. Ref the Pikey Three; From the DT:

    “Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik said: “The fact he was a police officer and one of our own of course, it’s paid a huge toll on all of us.”

    He said it was the defendants’ “criminality” in stealing a quad bike that put them on course to meet Pc Harper and his colleague Pc Andrew Shaw, with “catastrophic consequences”.

    Mr Blaik said: “Despite having worked a long shift already they responded to that, and tragically Andrew has paid the ultimate price for that.”

    The defendants had shown no remorse or helped police piece together what happened, he said, adding: “They had every opportunity to do that and it was a conscious decision by them not to assist police from the very outset, all the way through, and even during the trial.””

    Perhaps, Superintendent, if your colleagues acted positively and swiftly against gangs of pikeys – instead of ignoring it all and looking the other way and not turning up when the public complain – this would not have happened.

    2. Human Rights Act.

      Who promoted that when he met Tony Blair in New York in 1996, likely in return for campaign funds ?

    3. ‘morning Bill, a good few years back I was the Licensee of a pub in a Pikey area. I took no nonsense from them right from the start and made it clear that they were not welcome. They tried their usual tactics of coming into the pub in large groups, standing at the bar and generally intimidating the locals. I served them one drink and then refused to serve them any more. If they caused a fuss before leaving the next time they came in I just told them they were barred for causing trouble. Eventually they got the message and apart from one or two stayed clear. It took me six months to get all the locals back though.

      They are nothing but a blight on society and should be driven out wherever they stop, the police and the authorities should be constantly prosecuting them for each and every misdemeanour.

      2. In the not too distant past It was common practice for them to book tables in restaurants for dozens of them.
        After the meal when the bills appear they’d start a ‘mock’ fight amongst themselves, it spills out side and they all clear off.
        Of course without paying.

        1. “morning Eddy, they had lots of “scams” and could turn violent very quickly. They are raised to be criminals, that is the life the majority choose.

          1. a few years ago when i was still working, I had ‘a chat’ with one once who was looking trough the skip out on the road. He was moaning about the government. I asked him if he voted and of course he said no. I told him then you can’t complain can you.

      3. Morning, Hoppy, and well done to you.

        “the police and the authorities should be constantly prosecuting them for each and every misdemeanour.”

        I cannot disagree. Unfortunately the police’s hands are tied by the diktats of not-fit-for-purpose politicians who bend over backwards to give pikey “rights” which are denied to law-abiding, tax-paying citizens.

        1. Hi Grizzly, to be fair the local police sergeant was very helpful. He used to ‘pop in’ every few weeks to have a coffee and a chat. There were a few ‘hairy’ moments but I never had to call the police to help or had any violence inside the pub. Get ‘em out before they’re drunk was my mantra, polite but firm and never back down. A couple of broken windows were easy to repair :).

        2. Grizzly, why don’t you be given Cressida Dick’s job? I am sure you would do a far better job and sort things out!

          1. I am disqualified for a number of reasons, Rastus:

            1. I am too old.
            2. I don’t have the right connections.
            3. I employ “Common Sense”.
            4. I would rid the service of Common Purpose.
            5. I would sack all those with flimsy degrees (e.g. Social Studies).
            6. I would train recruits in the art of working a beat, connecting with the public, detecting crimes, getting to know local criminals, and being an omnipresent and visible presence on the streets.

            In short, everything the new establishment do not want in a policeman.

      1. I wasn’t.

        We used the Ways and Means Act. Looking the other way, whilst young street urchins used their caravans for target practice with their catapults usually had them “moving on” in rapid time.

        1. The Irish don’t tolerate their nonsense, so consequently they come to Britain and cause trouble here. Tougher action is needed.

        2. That was pre 1998.
          I can’t say I felt noticeably oppressed before that year.
          But now ….

          4. True, but what I meant is that oppression started during the Wilson-Heath era. The modern lot just made it worse.

          6. The Ooman Rites Act was imposed on Blighty in 1998 by Bliar.
            It was, of course, sheer coincidence that the fragrant Cherie set up Matrix (Ooman Rites R Us) Chamber at the same time.

          7. It’s a shame nobody deprived Bliar of his own “Ooman Rights” before he could cause such havoc.

          8. Remember when the HR act was a white paper Blair assured us all that this document had no more significance than a copy of the Beano.?

            He did not let on that the main purpose of the act was to make his odious wife rich.

          9. You have to wonder how so many of our failure politicians can become so wealthy after such disastrous premierships.
            On and on and on it goes………..

          11. Some one had knowledge that he liked sailing around buoys.
            I liken all politicians to wood pigeons. They occupy the top spots, spend too much time having sex in the branches. Swoop down without much consideration for the merest titbit. Sit on the fence and crap. And after drinking all they need from the bird bath, always crap in the water on leaving.

        3. Those urchins would now be cautioned for some form of prejudice. I have a suspicion that one of the young killers (or his male parent) was involved locally in the theft of an expensive tractor several years ago; it ended up in a pikey site quite far away, but the local police were reluctant to get involved.

        4. Ah, but did you have the dead hand of “can’t do” management on your shoulder?

          1. They wouldn’t have dared try it in my day.

            When successive governments, in the 1970s, refused to improve the then deplorable police pay and conditions we took (legal) action. I was among many hundred of officers who toured the country, going from conference to conference, lobbying (and heckling) the Home Secretary until we successfully forced him to set up a commission.

            In 1977 alone I attended Police Federation conferences at Matlock Bath, Scarborough, Bristol, Leicester, Cambridge and Westminster. We simply refused to go away until our — very reasonable — demands were heard and acted upon.

      1. They only sniff around the edges Bob.
        They should be immediately driven out of any town they set up in.
        I was a juror a few years ago when a horrible little git was tried for robbery.
        On the first day there was no one in the public gallery.
        Next morning it was jammed with his family, partners in crime and friends who stared at us all the time.
        After he was returned to jail (he’d only been out a few days) the jury had to be escorted through the rear of the court because of possible violent intimidation from his friends standing in the front of the court building.
        It was mentioned that this could have happened in this dreadful case.

    6. His death could have been avoided if these thugs had been properly punished.

      The police seems eager to ignore these cretins.

  15. Far-right Chelsea fan jailed for attack on Guardian’s Owen Jones. 25 July 2020.

    Chelsea football fan was jailed for two years and eight months for committing an aggravated assault on the Guardian columnist Owen Jones with a “karate kick to his lower back”, motivated by hostility to the writer’s leftwing and LGBT politics.

    After the sentencing, Jones said: “Prison isn’t a solution to far right extremism: it’s a political problem which can’t be magicked away by custodial sentences. But if any good comes of this case, it’s to focus attention on a far-right threat which poses a violent threat to minorities and the left, including to those who have suffered far more than me”

    Wait till the Muzzies come for you!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/24/chelsea-fan-jailed-for-attack-on-guardian-journalist-owen-jones

    2. The perpetrator is a thug.
      What I find extremely irritating about cases like this is that if some left wing antifa thug did the same to me because of my views, I doubt they would even be prosecuted, let alone given such a sentence.

    3. I would say to Owen Jones, in the words of Al Jolson “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

    4. Yet Jones himself has sought sacking people who he disagrees with. He ignores his own violence and thuggery because, as a Lefty he thinks that’s justified.

      As for blaming ‘the far right’ as he so desperately repeats, the simple truth is this one person probably disliked Jones’ borish and arrogant attitude. No doubt Jones insulted him and getting booted was the consequence.

      Violence is wrong. No question on that front but the boy Jones will never tell the whole truth, never admit provocation.

      1. We’ll see how long the 3 ‘travellers’ get for the act of man slaughter.

          1. apparently one member of the jury is being investigated, there might be a re-trial.

      2. Erm… Jones is obnoxious, but when has he been a violent thug? Just asking.

        1. You don’t consider support for BLM to be encouraging violence? What’s the difference between the rioters and their cheerleaders in the press?

          1. Yes, encouraging violence is as bad as the deed itself, but there is a difference.

            There is no moral difference between the two; one is a cat’s-paw for the other.

          2. Given that Black Lies Matter was set up by a group of American Marxists as a cover for violent insurrection, to say it encourages violence is a gross understatement.

          3. I doubt that Owen Jones personally has murdered anyone or pulled down a statue, but he has certainly egged others on to do so.

  16. ‘Morniing, all!

    Ihave a lot of tidying to do, both inside and out – someone is coming with a van, to take away various rubbish that is too plentiful and/or large for us to take to the nearest skip (8 miles away. By the time we count in effort and petrol for the 10 or so journeys we would have to make, it makes sense to pay a man with a van).

    Anyway, what I meant to say was – even now with the masks etc. you can still see if someone really smiles at you: look at their eyes and see if they crinkle. A big smile will still show, and is lovely to see :o) The eyes still say it all!

    Have a lovely day, dear NoTTLers.

    1. They don’t call the lines at the outside corner of the eyes ‘laughter lines’ for nothing

    3. Go’morgon, min vän.

      I always look at the eyes when someone smiles. They betray a false smile immediately.

      3. Who is this “Morgon” to whom Hertslass should travel in a mini-van, Peddy?

        :-))

      2. His are just wrinkles – they are there all the time…anyway perhaps he is having a really big laugh. At us.

          1. Mr Grizzly, Sir, you are the late Oliver Reed and I claim my five bob postal order. Oh, er… you said wRinkle! Apologies, Sir.

          2. Wrinkles can give a face character. In Soros’s case they don’t improve it (as if anything could). In your case I’m sure they’re confirmation of your inner self,a smiling, strong, kind character.

    5. Morning T, a bit of advice if you don’t mind, do not add anything with you name and address into the rubbish or anything else that might be traceable to you. There is so much fly tipping going on in Hertfordshire these days. You just can’t trust anyone.
      How’s it going with you SA Boere hoer? Can you slip her in to the van ? 😉

      2. Happy birthday to your OM – hope you both have a wonderful day and that you spoil both your boys rotten!

        1. Thanks Hertslass! We’re going to Glasgow for a meal!! Exciting or what?

          1. Let him fill it himself, Sue, and get one for you while he’s there 😊

      1. From previous comments I thought she was always referred to as the Midge-tte

  18. Mail to a Conservative MP………………

    The most interesting and illuminating aspect to the 0.7 foreign aid pledge is… who did it ?

    According to the ”Telegraph” ”Britain’s pledge to meet the UN’s aid target was put into law under David Cameron”.

    This is exactly what One Foundation, the Gates Foundation and Open Society wanted.

    Now we learn that David Cameron has a connection to One Foundation as a board director, and of course ”Mr Cameron….. had official dealings with ONE whilst in office”, and $774,000 was given to Open Society by the Cameron government.

    Given the cross-funding between the three aforementioned foundations and their mutual cooperation and exchange of information, being a director of ONE Foundation looks, in effect, to being a director of all three. After all, all three founders are personally very friendly with similar global objectives.

    Of course this is virtually identical to what happened in the case of the Obama administration and Patrick Gaspard who was a senior presidential aide and diplomat very close to President Obama.

    At the end of the Obama administration, Patrick Gaspard moved to Open Society as President of the Open Society Foundations in a similar manner to David Cameron moving to One Foundation which is closely linked to the Open Society Foundations and part funded by them. Who can doubt David Cameron perhaps already knew Patrick Gaspard, particularly given his close friendship with Obama ?

    Obviously moving directly to Open Society would be problematic for David Cameron, but in effect this looks the same thing.

    So it’s a very small world when it comes to senior politicians, aides and diplomats who know everyone and everything about government being interwoven with mutually cooperating foundations… and doubtlessly very helpful to billionaire founders getting what they want from governments which presumably is what the foregoing is all about.

    No doubt you will tell your readers the entire story with full disclosure in your next topic and explore all the obvious implications for UK policy and legislation going way back to 1997, because Tony Blair looks a party to all this too !

    Have a great day,

    Polly

    1. I just experienced that discombobulating feeling you get when your opinion of David Cameron sinks even further, even though you thought it was already at rock bottom.

  19. Pc Andrew Harper case: alleged jury tampering to be referred to the attorney general. 25 July 2020.

    An unidentified person in the public gallery overlooking the courtroom was seen pointing at jurors and the judge ordered extra security measures to protect the jury.

    Then last Friday July 17, towards the end of the second trial, an overly friendly juror was seen by a prison officer to mouth “Bye boys” to the defendants in the dock and continually smiling at them. On being alerted to the incident, Mr Justice Edis said: “She must have been compelled by some strong motive to have behaved as she did in this court under the observation of so many. It was both overt and covert at the time, which is remarkable behaviour.”

    The female juror was discharged just a day before the remaining 11 men and women began deliberating on their verdicts.

    Morning everyone. This attempt is no surprise though it is usually the witnesses and quite frequently the victim who are intimidated prior to any trial. My own experience is that you should try every possible alternative before complaining to the Police and you should never offer to be a witness or make any statement that might see you in court. The suborning of juries in my view is usually a state monopoly, where judging by the results, any trial involving the “far-right”, will almost certainly have hand- picked jurors with at least two members chosen for their political reliability and able to convince the rest.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/24/pc-andrew-harper-case-alleged-jury-tampering-referred-attorney/

      1. Morning Bob. You would be surprised at how common this is. One of my neighbours was a witness in a minor drugs trial. The accused turned up at her home quite frequently to threaten and abuse her. Appeals to the Police elicited no help. You are on your own!

        1. Yes. Some years back, a friend was on the jury in a local murder trial. One of the twelve forgot she ‘knew’ the defendant until after the verdict.

      2. Morning Bob. You would be surprised at how common this is. One of my neighbours was a witness in a minor drugs trial. The accused turned up at her home quite frequently to threaten and abuse her. Appeals to the Police elicited no help. You are on your own!

  20. Hi, Nottlers.

    A quick thank you for all those supportive responses yesterday. Much appreciated.

    Lizzie always chided me for being ‘the quiet one’ and claimed that I only engaged in long conversations with my brother or my great pal, Richard: our son was added to the list when he matured into the man he is today. Coming from a leading chatterbox who would engage anyone in conversation that was a bit rich, but hey, that was my lovely wife.

    Lizzie’s loss has made me open up and I have found that talking about her and our life together is excellent therapy. I do not want to labour the point but may I post the odd anecdote and pictures to the Nottle audience? I am not looking for sympathy, I know from your responses that I have that already but drawing on good memories etc. and talking or writing about them is a great help to me. Anyway, I’ve bored my family and friends stiff and I need a new target audience.😎

    Lastly, for Bob of Bonsall.
    Bob, I hope that your predicament mentioned yesterday has been resolved satisfactorily and that all is well. Like me, KBO.

    Korky

    1. Feel free, Korky.

      In my time of anguish (which started six years ago) I found that unburdening myself to NoTTLers – and receiving their helpful remarks – an enormous support. People around here are very kind souls – patient and understanding.

      1. We Nottlers will even cheer you up with ‘Gallows Humour’, if you fall off a ladder, for example

        Yo Mr Newton’s test piece

    3. Thank you for that, Sir.
      My problems are minor compared to the trauma you’re facing at the moment.
      Stepson is safe at the moment, so I’m happy with that.

    4. Good to hear from you Korky and pleased to know that you are taking things in your stride. Memories and reminders of what has gone before are so important and I’m sure the Nottlers will be delighted to share them with you!

    5. Dandy Front Pager I have always empathised with you as we both adore our wives.

    6. I am sure I am not the only one here interested in people’s lives, the people we have come to know, what their life’s journey has been and the on-going route they will traverse. Writing about these memories is an excellent idea, as and when you feel like it, and accompanied by photographs would be a delight.

    7. I’d love to hear and see more of her, Korky. She sounds like a lovely person – and there seems to be precious few about.

    8. I’m sure we would all feel honoured that you would like to share your memories with us Korky.

    9. It’s good that you can open up and have people who can listen. Too often, people find it difficult to talk with the bereaved, for fear of upsetting them. You had a happy life together, and talking can help you come to terms with the loss.
      The memories, happy, sad, or funny, will keep her alive in your mind.

      1. They do say that bereavement hits those whose marriages were not very good because there are regrets and feeling of guilt that have not been resolved . The fact that our dear friend had such a fulfilled marriage tells me that his happy memories will be unalloyed and will sustain him.

        1. Maybe. That reminded me of my uncle and aunt. As long as I knew them, he belittled her and was quite nasty to her – what he was like when nobody was around one can only surmise. But when she died, he was devastated, and he died less than two years later.

    10. Dear Korky,

      Have been here so little and intermittently that I didn’t fully realise your sad news and the stalwart way that you are dealing with your loss. I just would like to add my little bit and say how much I empathise with you, and feel for you at this time.

      You are bearing up so well. All best wishes,

      xxx

  21. 321679+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    I risk the slings & arrows of outrageous nott…… in these two cases of ongoing treachery. ( a re-post)

    ‘National, Disgrace’ – UK Home Office Rejects Syrian Christians, Refugee Intake 100 Percent Muslim.

    The actions of the current nec put paid to UKIP as a party of integrity&
    truthfulness.
    And ogga got the DCM from breitbart for truth telling, DCM= don’t come Monday.

    Thanks to John for reminding me.

    This was the real UKIP in full flow building a pro English / GB party of integrity, one that had to be taken down by lies deceit & treachery via the ersatz ukip nec & a letter / rant from farage.

    ogga1 • 2 years ago
    Have you joined the queue to join UKIP yet ? if not then currently you are part of the problem.

    flashman ogga1 • 2 years ago
    Well put mate and true.

    cliffordt ogga1 • 2 years ago
    Gerard’s doing great isn’t he – breath of fresh air! 🙂

    1. ,321771+ up ticks,
      O2O,
      There seems to be NO change whatsoever on the muslim front from the governance party og, do you think the three monkeys are in play ?
      Without a doubt og, they & the “party first” submissive, pcism,& appeasement brigade are seemingly in collusion with the muslim brotherhood.

    2. Rejection of Christian refugees in favour of their persecutors is appalling. It cannot be naivety; it must be malice.

      1. 321711+ up ticks ,
        Afternoon BB2,
        There ain’t nothing naive about the lab/lib/con coalition party & that was two years ago.

        An orchestrated anti UK campaign.

        The sad thing is much is still the same via the polling booth the only difference being since then things have got worse daily.

      2. 321711+ up ticks ,
        Afternoon BB2,
        There ain’t nothing naive about the lab/lib/con coalition party & that was two years ago.

        An orchestrated anti UK campaign.

        The sad thing is much is still the same via the polling booth the only difference being since then things have got worse daily.

      3. 321711+ up ticks ,
        Afternoon BB2,
        There ain’t nothing naive about the lab/lib/con coalition party & that was two years ago.

        An orchestrated anti UK campaign.

        The sad thing is much is still the same via the polling booth the only difference being since then things have got worse daily.

  22. SIR – Xylella fastidiosa (report, July 20) is a plant disease that has wreaked havoc in continental Europe, wiping out olive groves in southern Italy. It could have a devastating impact on more than 500 species of British plants.

    Accordingly, the Government announced a ban on the import of plants that carry the disease, but the European Union has ordered Britain to repeal the new controls, ostensibly because the “science” does not support them. In reality, it is because of complaints by European suppliers.

    The Government is helpless and is obliged to comply with the ruling. If it had any backbone, it would refuse to do so and await January 1 2021, when absurd EU rulings such as this can be safely ignored.

    Sandy Pratt
    Storrington, West Sussex”

    Two issues come to mind.

    One is the charge used by business interests against environmentalists “the science does not support them” when the truth is that the science does, but the business interest choose to “cancel” the science or dismiss it as irrelevant on spurious grounds, while applying it rigorously against smaller, less legally-supported, competitors.

    The other is the craven attitude lobbyist-infested Government has in neglecting its obligations to its citizens when facing the conflcting interests of Those Whose Lives Matter, especially when they have personal profits to defend from public assault. In the same neck of the woods, there was the case of a district ward of Heathfield lying in an Area of Outstanding Beauty. After losing both its councillors, the Lockdown Regulations prohibited the election of successors, leaving local people unrepresented over planning issues. Croydon Borough Council then announced they were going to build a large overspill housing development in Heathfield, supported by the Secretary of State in Whitehall. Locals are powerless to resist this, and environmental protections have been lifted to enable the developers to make the money they feel is their right.

    When I applied for planning permission for a house extension in 2013, I was told to pay for a bat survey, since I live in an area where there are bats present. I know – pipistrelles live in my neighbour’s cladding and feed on the flies in my attic, but they cannot live in my roof, since it faces south and the temperature changes upset their roost there. The environmental consultant, after charging several hundred pounds, lied about the state of my roof and refused to consider that summer roosting was very unlikely and it was safe to carry out work in summer. Instead, he recommended that I spend thousands more on a full ecological survey involving a lot of work, and the conflict of interest here was ignored by the legislators, since I was too small to matter.

    1. Why does anyone want to stay in the EU. It must totaly fail in the end as history tells us.

      1. The people who run the EU commission have excellent salaries, subsidised schooling for their sprogs and lower rates of income taxation which are protected by international treaty.

      3. The Eu will fail as all communist structures do. Punitive taxation destroys the economy, riots are suppressed by state force, the oppressor sets about controlling food distribution – making sure the best goes to them first, of course – starving people riot, there are deaths and so the state becomes ever more oppressive to ensure it’s hegemony continues. It is inevitable.

        The only hope for sanity is to end it before it reaches that point, to starve the parasite and kill the cancer that is the EU. The alternative is unthinkable.

    2. Jeremy, your grievances are valid, but you need to change your tactics.
      I imagine that bats are susceptible to all sorts of accidents; point is, you should deal with the situation before you get involved with inspectors.
      Never ever use flypaper.

      1. No worries. I found out that while the bats can hold up a planning application, they cannot delay maintenance to the roof, providing that work stops as soon as any bats are woken from their midnight feasting on bluebottles. Most of the bats were killed off by systemic insecticide on the farms anyway.

        Since the slates were beginning to slip due to rusty nails, I got a roofer in to strip the roof and relay the slates. At the same time, he did all the work needed on the roof where any future extension might disturb the bats. In a fit of temper, I also got him to put wire mesh on the soffits to stop the bats causing trouble with planning inspectors in future, but regretted it since it also denies the sparrows their home (but wasps could get through, so they took up residence instead). The roofer was regularly buzzed by three guard bumblebees who divebombed him each time he hammered in a nail.

        I never got the planning application through. The next time I applied, they said it was out of keeping with the local vernacular of the street scene, according to the South Worcestershire Development Plan agreed with Government. The nearest public highway to my cottage is 200 yards away out of sight across the field and the architectural style in my village is best described as “one of everything”. I think they felt grumpy because I hadn’t employed an approved architect or greased the right palms.

        I am now working on what I can do under permitted development and keeping under the Building Regs threshold. Unless you are Persimmon, it’s the only way to get anything done.

    3. Science is only useful to officials when it agrees with their narrative. As soon as it becomes annoying, they throw it away.

  23. A thought. I have two of those kind of clear plastic umbrellas that come right down over my shoulders. Do they count as face shields?
    😀

    1. 321711+ up ticks,
      Afternoon SE,
      Yus but, dangerous territory, next could be a see through
      burka morphing into a tinted burka then BLACK is in vogue for burkas this spring.
      Pliable sameness is the political agenda, in body & mind.

    3. A ‘face covering’ over the mouth and nostrils is all that is required . So, yes.

  25. ‘Morning again.

    SIR – How can we admire a PM whose response to Covid-19 is killing four people (through treatment for curable conditions delayed or denied) for every Covid death? He has turned Britain into a police state, stolen ancient freedoms and ruined the economy in the past five months.

    Simon Snape
    Elton, Cheshire

    So do tell us what YOU would have done in these unforseen and unique circumstances, Mr Snape. And where is the evidrnce to support your alleged 4:1 ratio? (Suggestions came there none.)

    1. Well, Hugh (good morning) I’ll put my head above the parapet.

      I would have done absolutely nothing – apart from warning people that a nasty virus was about and that they should wash their hands a lot. I would have ensured that everything else kept on running as normal.

      Asian ‘flu in 1968 – 80,000 died in the UK. No one (apart from those related to the dead) noticed.

      1. ‘Morning, Bill. With even more hospital admissions in those circumstances I think it is a sad fact of life that the NHS would have folded, due to what seems to have been a complete lack of planning and preparation. That would have left the service unable to cope with anything else. Before anyone says “…but it isn’t now” I know form my own recent experience and family members who are nurses that this simply isn’t the case. Of course it’s day-to-day work has bern badly blown off course, but just think of the effects of a mass infection two or three times that we have experienced…and the population has grown hugely since 1968, as have expectations. I don’t think there are any straightforward solutions to something that would have completely overwhelmed our ability to respond. My belief is that lockdown was too long and subsequent measures too fussy and confusing, which in turn produced a kind of “well, sod it then” reaction…after the initial shock I was all for the elderly and the vulnerable keeping well out of the way and letting younger generations get on with life and, I hope, limiting the appalling damage to the economy.

        1. Bill may be right, and you are maybe not wrong. However, while there are daily figures on Covid-19 there are none on how many other patients the NHS is treating. How many beds available, how many occupied, over the course of the pandemic?
          The last figure that I was able to gleam indicated that there were 400 ICU places in Scotland and 40 were occupied.
          Will there ever be a sensible analysis? Will we discover that across the UK over half the medical staff did nothing?

        2. My view is that the lock down/masking only really happened when the peaks had been reached.

          The mass evictions of carriers into centres of the most vulnerable exacerbated the situation.
          Allowing people to come in from known hotspots without let or hindrance was just plain stupid.

          The damage to public confidence and the economy let alone to those who did not get treatment or have been harmed by mental illness or loved ones is incalculable.

          1. Government policy was not to save lives; it was (as they said) to save the NHS.

          2. It stikes me that it’s always about saving the NHS.

            It needs to be saved from itself

          3. The main function of all bureaucrats is to keep themselves in a job. There are far too many bureaucrats in the NHS.

        3. ‘morning Hugh, I agree with you in that the NHS would have quickly been struggling with large admissions. Also, imagine the headlines if Boris had done ‘nothing’. We know that the prediction of possible fatalities could have been calculated more accurately on the back of a fåg packet – now, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Arguably lockdown could have started a week or two earlier but I do not think that was the original plan, the MSM and usual ‘shouty’ mob forced the Government’s hand and everyone else were already in or moving towards lockdown, most far more stringent than ours (I know Sweden did not).
          The procedures for getting out of lockdown are way to fussy, you can go to the HSE Gov website and read the advice for different industries – so clearly written by bureaucrats with no knowledge of live in the business world.

          The things we should learn but probably will do nothing about are:

          PHE is not fit for purpose – what is it’s purpose? It was their pandemic plan that called for freeing up hospital beds by moving elderly from hospitals to nursing homes. They had not acted on any of the results from the ‘dry run in 2016. The PHE should be scrapped.

          When things need to happen quickly quangos and Gov departments are the last places to go. Start the once promised previously bonfire of the quangos and streamline all Gov departments. Bring more people with good business experiences in as advisors (not those that just sit on various boards collecting stipends for nothing).

          Stop relying on cheap manufacturing elsewhere to provide essential items.

          1. And don’t firget the apalling scaremongering by the media; they have a great deal to answer for.

            Manners…’Morning, H.

          2. And don’t firget the apalling scaremongering by the media; they have a great deal to answer for.

            Manners…’Morning, H.

          3. Exactly, it is not just the scaremongering it is the constant criticism of everything that Boris/the Government do. They constantly call for some action or another and then as soon as the Gov does it they reverse want they want. “Wearing masks should be compulsory” is the headline and repeating story on the BBC, Guardian etc. Boris makes masks compulsory and it’s “Boris infringes our human rites, experts say masks are of no use”.

            And so on and so on, it really is depressing to see the manipulation and downright lies being spouted by so called professional news reporters.

          4. Yes – PHE have utterly failed – but nothing will change. That’s the damned problem. Nothing ever changes, nothing ever improves. The state continues to screw up and there are no consequences, ever.

            We, the tax payer pay the price. In the case of this pandemic that price is lives. It’s absurd.

            However the opposite is also true: Gordon Brown’s continual fiddling with the banking code ruined the economy as well. He was warned repeatedly until he got fed up with being told so and got rid of Mervyn King and the entire regulator in hte BoE.

            It seems we are at the mercy of stupid, venal, arrogant idiots who know there are no consequences to their actions.

          5. It does change though – just in the wrong direction.
            The Victorians bequeathed us a pretty well organised country, which has now regressed to an over-centralised, bloated, common purpose riddled mess.

        4. OK – given this statement “..NHS would have folded, due to what seems to have been a complete lack of planning and preparation…” the veracity of which I don’t doubt, have those people whose responsibility it is and who have failed in that duty been sacked?

          Has *anything* changed to improve matters?

          I think if nothing had been done we would be in the same situation as America – a confused and muddled response more politically motivated than anything else.

      2. The lefties would have done everything possible to bring the government down by blowing up the death figures and scenes of chaos from Our Nhs Hospitals.
        I am appalled how they treated hydroxychloroquine merely because Trump referred to it – banning it on the NHS as a corona remedy and producing studies that purported to show it doesn’t work. These people work actively to hide the truth when it doesn’t fit their agenda.

    2. There’s a lot of suspicious collusion between Johnson and Gates, and it looks likely the UK secretly signed up to Gates’ pandemic planning exercise Event 201 in New York last October.

  26. This is fantastic trolling, a resolution to ban the Democrat Party. The Democrats, BLM, Antifa et al are calling for the erasing of anyone or anything that has connections to slavery. Very cleverly this resolution has put all the Democrats dirty history on record for all time.

    https://youtu.be/891pcEw-icA

    1. The Democratic Party was of course the Party of Slavery in the pre-Civil War United States! Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President!

      1. Hi Minty, if you look at the Democrats voting record after the Civil War, right up to the 1960s, they were still anti rights for Blacks. It was the Republicans that pushed through all the anti segregation and equal rights bills.

    2. They are out to ban themselves. According to some outfit called the Washington Examiner who examined the draft democratic party policy paper:,

      In more than 80 pages in the draft platform published by Politico, whites are mentioned 15 times, all critical, including three references to white supremacy or supremacists and one to white nationalists.

  27. Interesting that David Cameron is a director of a lobbying organization which lobbied him when in office, which is closely linked to another lobbying organization which also lobbied him when in office and to which his government gave $774,000 in 2012.

    What a small world !

    1. Mr Cameron is grossly misrepresented in the press. He is extremely unpleasant and devious and not even remotely a gentleman

      1. Bill Thomas got it right when he called him “The Babbling Poltroon”.

  28. Blooming’ heck.
    Thank goodness I didn’t start laying out the tapestry canvas last night. I’d forgotten what a time consuming and finger knackering job it is.
    Now for the enjoyable bit.

    3. It’s easy to just buy one made by a 19th century Jacquard loom using punched cards.

      http://www.flanders-tapestries.com/en/renaissance-29.htm

      Years ago, I found a whole pile of them on one of the floors of the
      furniture department when Harrods was still Harrods. I bought one, and
      it still hangs today, albeit rather faded. I keep being tempted to get another one direct from Belgium, but if you’re volunteering…12feet by 6 would do.

    4. It’s easy to just buy one made by a 19th century Jacquard loom using punched cards.

      http://www.flanders-tapestries.com/en/renaissance-29.htm

      Years ago, I found a whole pile of them on one of the floors of the
      furniture department when Harrods was still Harrods. I bought one, and
      it still hangs today, albeit rather faded. I keep being tempted to get another one direct from Belgium, but if you’re volunteering…12feet by 6 would do.

          8. Thank you for asking Bill! We’re going this evening so I’ll let you know!

          9. Good grief; I can imagine going there is daylight, but not after dark…!

            It was bad enough living there in 1990 – even in what passes for “posh” in the People’s Republic of Strayhclyde ….{:¬))

          10. It’s so far North it doesn’t really get dark ’til about 11. We’ll be home by then if the car still has wheels! Just joking! But it is very light – we couldn’t even see the comet on Thursday until midnight!

          11. My last time in Glasgow I met up with lovely Tartan Pimpernel and she took me into a place with a lovely Art Deco interior that had been designed by the same person who did the bars & restaurants for the Queen Mary.

    3. All that central heating and chariot racing…things improved during the Dark Ages though.

        1. Indeed. Silly fools can get the same experience by going to live in a third world country.

    4. Aye. But it all changed with the green policies of the Goths, Vandals and Visigoths that drove the Roman Chariots off the Roman roads as a precursor to the latter day congestion charging schemes….

    2. And on that very funny post, Annie, I am off to do a bit of gardening and then go for a short walk, before 12 hours of rain starts at 2 pm. Slayders, NoTTLers.

    7. Fine figure of a man….not.
      Someone should put him in touch with Bob Geldof.

  32. 321711+ up ticks,
    May one ask, we wouldn’t have any of these types being given succour and on welfare within English borders would we ?

    breitbart,
    Director of Biggest UK Muslim Charity Branded Jews ‘Grandchildren of Monkeys and Pigs’

  33. SIR — Would Nicola Sturgeon care to tell us if she would offer Scottish fishing grounds back to the European Union if Scotland were independent?

    RB Mills
    Worcester

    I would suggest that the cartoonish “first minister” would regret it if she did. Since the residents of the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands are utterly against leaving the UK, the whole of the area of North Sea to the north of the Scottish mainland would remain in UK territory. This would leave only the Cromarty, Forth and part of the Forties shipping areas on the east, and the Hebrides and a bit of the Bailey area to the west available for EU plundering.

  34. BBC have a wonderous programme ‘Anthony’ at peak time on Monday 27th July. It speculates what life may have held for Anthony Walker if the teenager hadn’t been murdered as part of racist attack in 2005. Any thoughts on what they’ll suggest he would have made of his life?

    Wonder if they’ll do similar programmes for the not-inconsiderable number of black-on-black, or black-on-white, murders since then?

    1. Well he would have become a Brain Surgeon or Nuclear Physicist like all those people crossing the Channel on the Home Office Express!

    3. Well he would have become a Brain Surgeon or Nuclear Physicist like all those people crossing the Channel on the Home Office Express!

  35. YES!

    20/20 in the DT’s Saturday “Pub Quiz”.

    I achieved my first ever 20/20 just four weeks ago after averaging (over the past 30 years) around 16-17/20. I’ve hit 19/20 on numerous occasions but never the holy grail of 20/20. And now I’ve done it twice in a month! 👍🏻😆

    1. Dumbing down?

      EDIT Damned disqus,
      Well done, do you still do the equivalent of pub quizzes in Sweden

      2. I’ve written to them, Joe, and told them to make it harder.

        [I do much better when the quiz muppet (Gavin Fuller) doesn’t put in silly questions about Harry Potter of which I’m happy to know nowt!]

        1. I dont understand what he means by ‘Snorter of the week’. Why isnt it just Q21?

          1. I think he puts in an obscure question that he doesn’t expect anyone to get.

            I didn’t have a clue, this week, that W Somerset Maugham was born and died the same years as Winston Churchill. That is an obscure fact that you either know or don’t know and has little to do with general knowledge.

    5. Dumbing down?

      EDIT Damned disqus,
      Well done, do you still do the equivalent of pub quizzes in Sweden

    7. Well done Grizz.
      Everyone else…Should I tell him I have often got 20/20?

          3. I liked it better when Dermot Murnaghan compèred it. It went downhill with Jeremy Vine.

          6. He’s such a nasty piece of work, any one who can’t see through his thin paper disguise must be questionable.

      2. I will always get 20/20, when I use hindsight (the only 20/20 vision) the nexr day

  38. Who put the T in BriTain and who put the **** in Scunthorpe? (and who was the Yorkshireman who put Cameron in ‘t water?)

    As a classical scholar did Boris Johnson try to put the Ovid in covid?

    2. 321711+ up ticks,
      Morning R,
      As I posted yesterday C ovid the sheep are blameless and as innocent as a lamb proves, in reality it is the peoples that are to blame and passing the odious consequences of their repetitive voting pattern on to the flock.

    1. 321711+ up ticks,
      O2O,
      Was lab the only guilty party og ?
      not by a long chalk the other two coalition members
      lib/con were still topping up the numbers coming in to such an extent they were / are going out and getting them.
      The polling booth has no conscience paedophile / vicar
      no difference.
      All the time the paedophile / terrorist can wield a pencil
      kissing a candidate X in a polling booth he is safe.

    1. That has been Russia’s underlying belief ever since. Anglo-Russian relations have gone through periods of warmth, alliance and close co-operation. But running through Russia’s attitude for the last century, like veins through marble, is the fear that “perfidious Britain” represents an implacable, ruthless antagonist. Hitler almost destroyed the Soviet Union; America was designated the KGB’s “Main Enemy” during the Cold War; but Britain was the oldest foe of all.

      Actually Russia and the UK are natural allies since to both their primary geopolitical fear is a United Europe. This can be seen in the history of the two countries. Napoleon, Kaiser Bill and the latest reincarnation Adolf Hitler. Putin is an undoubted supporter of Brexit for this reason alone and why he continually tries to improve relations in the face of insult and provocation. The reason for the present contretemps is the United States trying to prevent this rapprochement by clandestine means since it would strengthen Russia which it regards as a global rival!

      1. The articles about Russia trying to influence different political issues in the UK have been running for a while but I haven’t been able to find one that explains how they are supposed to have been doing this.

        Can someone explain it to me?

        1. No they can’t. Despite all these stories not one person has been found who will admit to changing his vote because Vlad asked him too!

        2. No they can’t. Despite all these stories not one person has been found who will admit to changing his vote because Vlad asked him too!

          1. Yes but how many would admit to their vote being decided by what they saw or read in the MSM or on social media. I doubt that Vlad posts under his own name.

            There seems to be a lot of effort going into media if it does not have any effect.

          4. Well, that could equally have been posted by any Christian who could master the mechanics of it. Trump will surely continue to garner the Christian votes.

            PS Some horrible gambling pop-up popped up. Very scary. Closed immediately.

  41. “Jenni Murray has gone – beware the BBC’s ‘young and cool’ agenda”

    I would have hoped that by 2020 there would be no need for a programme called Woman’s Hour.

    Perhaps when the number of female MPs reaches (or surpasses😉 ) 50% (presently languishing at 36%) it will be taken off air.
    What are the chances of that happening before the programme’s hundredth anniversary in 2046.

    Talking of bets, what are the chances that DJM will be replaced by a White (don’t think adjectives should be capitalised but hey ho, what’s good for the goose… ) presenter?

    I wouldn’t be surprised if a trans woman, i.e. a man, were given the job. If that is the case, I hope it will be Jane Garvey who has the, ahem, balls to resign.

      1. In no time at all she would be known as Hatie Kopkins by the children at the Beeb….

    2. No need?! But it’s the place where they can discuss breasts, babies and vaginal mesh. And cleaning behind the fridge, shirely? We chaps can turn off for an hour.

      1. More likely to waste the hour discussing women’s struggles against the misogynistic world or discrimination against lesbian trans trendsetters.

        Well that’s my experience of the woke lefty radio shows over in Canada.

      2. Maybe YOU could clean behind the ‘fridge during that hour then. It doesn’t take long.

  42. There was quite a long article in the DT about Portland and it’s Mayor going out amongst the protestors and getting tear gassed. I’m not going to copy all of it as it is not worth reading, it is so full of innuendo, half truths and lies but here is the link:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/23/dispatch-portland-mayor-tear-gassed-protesters-trump-urges-surge/

    A couple of excerpts, by way of example:

    “ The chaotic scene shows just how strange things have become in Portland – a city with a deep history of racism – since it was chosen by Donald Trump as a test bed for his latest brutal response to the unrest. Night after night since the death of George Floyd, Portlanders have kept up their protests long after other cities’ faded.

    But Mr Wheeler was being gassed not by his own police officers (who have frequently used worse tactics), but by federal agents and camouflaged special forces soldiers whose presence is petrol on the fire. Though officially charged with guarding key buildings, they have been filmed roaming the streets and bundling protesters into unmarked vehicles.“

    “ Many protesters and observers believe Mr Trump’s intervention is simply a very expensive election advert, calculated to stoke up fear and fury among his conservative base” –

    The worse violence, crime and highest shootings/murders are all in Democrat run cities, often for decades, with massive Black representation from the mayors, throughout the council and in the higher echelons of the Law and the Police. These mayors are enabling the protestors, releasing any arrested, telling the police to stand down, removing statues (Christopher Columbus x two in Chicago), and they constantly blame Trump for it all but still claim “largely peaceful protests”.

    Here are a couple short videos that show the reality:

    https://youtu.be/-tXs_GGfZHg

    CMP Chief explains actions in Portland. Directly refutes claims of “Stormtroopers”, “unidentifiable agents” etc.

    https://youtu.be/leNaiDSK3EY

    Chicago Police video of Peaceful Protestors. They brought frozen bottles of water to throw at the police defending the Christopher Columbus statue.

    If you pander to the mob they will just come back for more.

    1. Of course the feds going in is seen by Trump as an election maneuver, at the moment everything in the US is based on the election.

      Next we will be told that the Portland mayor going out with the rioters / demonstrators was an action intentionally aimed at keeping the pot boiling, who’d a thunk it?

    2. After the first vid there’s a smiling lady asking us if we liked the video. Where’s the frowning lady asking us if we were concerned at its content?

      1. “If you were affected by any ishoos arising from this transmission…..call the helpline….”

      2. Hi Bugs, if it ‘triggers’ some poor SJW then that is their problem. I’ll just laugh.

    1. Well – I’ve just heard that one of the Christmas markets we usually do has been cancelled for this year.

      But our hedgehog calendar is now with the printers!

        2. They have been longing to cancel it for years – will they seize the opportunity this year?

  44. J K Rowling holds the answer to ending cancel culture. 25 July 2020.

    But I would suggest that there is another lesson to take from this. Which is that the “cancel culture” mob are themselves the outsiders, the weirdos, and the people most needing to be ostracised from the rest of society. It is not J K Rowling who should be portrayed as the freak, but rather the people who try to present her in such a way simply for saying things that the vast majority of the public would agree with. This is how “cancel culture” will end. By people who are “cancelled” realising that they are actually on the successful, winning side. And to recognise that the strange, unappealing people who have created this unpleasant trend are the ones we could really all do without.

    Amen to that Douglas!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/25/j-k-rowling-holds-answer-ending-cancel-culture/

  45. All afternoon it has been raining within two miles of us – but now some heavier rain is likely to arrive very soon.

        3. I can see your house, and the buses parked outside, and the spare ribs on the barbecue, and the yacht on the lawn, and the band look enthusiastic, and the carousel is twirling. Wow!

    1. “I’m afraid, Madam, that that tyre track is from the only wheel that I’d managed to put back on!”

    2. Gary Moore released a superb tribute to Peter Green album – Blues For Greeny. Well worth checking out if you like Peter Green’s early stuff.

      1. Also a Mick Fleetwood tribute concert earlier this year. The film was supposed to be a one-off showing in cinemas a few weeks ago, but was cancelled due to the virus. The video is due to be released later this year, October I think.

    3. Seen him in Fleetwood Mac in Bath, so many years ago I have a job to remember what year.
      RIP Peter, thanks for the music.

    4. I was privileged to have met him once at a birthday party nearly twenty years ago.
      He was there with another guest, but he was just a little bit … absent.
      Pre-selfie days, thank God.

    6. I can’t tell you ’bout the state I’m in,
      I can’t sing, I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin.

      But don’t ask me what I think of you,
      I might not give the answer that you want me to.

      Oh, well!

      RIP Mr Greenbaum, and thanks for the wonderful music.

  49. ‘Afternoon Laff

    Karl Marx is a historically famous philosopher. But no one mentions his sister, Onya, the inventor of the..
    .
    .
    .
    .
    starting pistol.

      2. 321711+ up ticks,
        Afternoon B3,
        If I remember right Onyer was the eldest followed by Skid then Mark.

    3. No one mentions her because she was firing blanks.

      A bit like the average Guardian Journo!

  50. Trombetti tortilla for supper. They have – at last – started to grow – not nearly as large as they do in France ad Italy – but fine for fresh young veg….

    I’ll join you tomorrow – before I have my haircut.

    Have a jolly evening finding gloves to match your face masks.

    A demain.

  52. There are two articles in the DT today about President Trump and Joe Biden, speculating on the possibility that Trump will win in November despite being behind in the polls at the moment.

    Unfortunately, I am unable to make regular contributions to the Nottler debates but when I do I always hope not to bore you with my diatribes. Based on much experience in the Middle East and North Africa, my comments are mainly about my dislike of the Islamists (as oppose to Muslims in general) and my utter loathing for the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation, the tentacles of which spread their malevolence around the world, with the connivance of the naïve west, not least successive UK governments.

    So what does this have to do with the presidential election in November in particular and the UK in general?

    An article in the Egyptian press two days ago starts by saying: “The moment a significant presence of the Muslim Brotherhood group is found within a country is the moment a fifth column is created within that country.” The MB is banned in Egypt and a number of other countries because it is a terrorist organisation but it is allowed to operate with impunity in the UK.

    The paragraph that particularly caught my eye is this:

    “The case of the United States appears even more tragic, as some terrorist elements of the Muslim Brotherhood group are already supporting Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden, who has sought the support of American Muslims, some of whom are supporters of the Islamists, including US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. The Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an Islamist body affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, is endorsing hundreds of Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood candidates for political office in the upcoming US elections, spelling disaster for the United States in the shorter and longer term should they be elected.”

    Whatever one might think of Trump, the consequences of a Biden presidency, with a VP who, he says, will be a black woman, are extremely worrying for the US and also for many other countries, especially the UK which is supposedly America’s closest ally. The consequences for a successful Brexit, the hoped-for recovery of the British economy and the enhancement of Marxist movements such as BLM are so severe that they should send shivers down the spines of anyone who doesn’t read the Guardian!

    Face masks are a temporary distraction. There is something potentially far worse on the horizon!

    1. 321711+ up ticks,
      Afternoon S,
      You can hum that tune again, that is the latter part of your
      post.
      Repeating an old post of mine when asking to join the dots
      of people of power placements Countrywide, with people of khans ilk, mayors, councillors, etc,etc, the result soon to be realised will be of a giant mosque.
      Our governance parties have introduced and are successfully running a mosque protection scheme via a
      submissive pcism & appeasement campaign.

  54. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/07/25/eu-wants-deal-solution-simple-fire-michel-barnier/

    If the EU wants a deal the solution is simple: fire Michel Barnier
    High-handed, patronising and provocative, the Frenchman has been a complete failure over three years

    One of the key moments was when Boris Johnson managed to evade a live television interview with Andrew Neil.

    This meant that Johnson was never put on the spot before the general election on the contents of his WA which was essentially the same as the europhile and evil Mrs May’s surrender WA.

    The agility in winning the election without ever letting us know what was in his WA was an act of brilliantly devious avoidance that even a double-glazing salesman would have been proud of. It also showed Barnier that Johnson was a very slippery customer as far as his own British electorate was concerned and he concluded that he continue with his bullying approach to ‘negotiation’.

    It was also a very sad moment for the Brexit campaign when Nigel Farage capitulated. If only the Brexit Party had not been prepared to withdraw from contesting the seats where the Conservatives were already in power the election result would have been far more satisfactory.

    1. ”the election result would have been far more satisfactory.”

      Surely the most satisfactory result would be to expose the collusion between Blair, Brown, Cameron, May and probably Johnson with George Soros and Open Society ?

      Thereby abolishing forever Con, Lab and Lib.

      1. 321711+ up ticks,
        Morning PP,
        You ave gorn and dunit now, I’m sure I can hear a
        nationwide chocking sound and tea going down many a bib, yus youve gorn and dunit now.

    2. 321711+ up ticks,
      R,
      There are a great many peoples that are of the same mindset regarding “nige” the saviour but I am glad to say
      there are also a great many see him in true light as a ersatz tory coxswain.
      30000 plus ruined jackets ( holes between shoulder blades) bares out the truth.
      My “if only” is, is if only the if only, hope, best of the worst,
      nasal canal gripping brigade stayed OUT of the polling booth we could MAYBE see the return of decent politico’s to governance.
      If the electorate cannot take heed of the pedigree of the
      last three decades say of the lab/lib/con coalition party
      then they deserve ALL they get.
      The sad truth is the innocents must also suffer,nothing new there.

      1. Yes. There’s another one off to the right Bill but it doesn’t explain the rest!

      2. Yes. There’s another one off to the right Bill but it doesn’t explain the rest!

          1. You could well be right. At first glance thought he had rolled himself a joint.

    2. Any idea of turn-out? Presumably picture taken to make it look bigger than it was, but still doesn’t look that great. Oh, wait a minute, BBC reckon 100 squillion.

    3. I think it is because they have too much time on their hands.

      We should find ways to shorten it.

      1. Snap. Shouldn’t they be revising ready for their return to university in September?

    4. 30 years of Diversity training has succeeded beyond the proponents’ wildest dreams. I suspect our generation is now seen as the enemy of ‘progressive thinkers’….

      1. They are even infecting equestrianism. There was yet another article about making it more “diverse”. Why? What purpose does it serve other than virtue signalling?

          2. I think……….pause……it is a ……..pause……subject……….pause…………that is of the………………pause……………..importance………..pause ….

            Do they…pause… ride at….pause…..all ?

          7. Anne is pretty down to earth, I hear. For a Royal (a real one as opposed to trash who marry into the family,don’t you know).

          8. Yes, she’s always struck me as no-nonsense. I’ve attended horse trials where she’s been competing.

      1. Most will lose their jobs and be sponging off the ‘bank of mum and dad’ for decades.

        I can see just a single nigger and the rest are overwhelmingly woke white (Farrow & Ball Stone). They will reap what they sow and wind up being raped and pillaged by the Brixton Boys. Idiots.

  57. LAST POST

    Great joy – not.

    Just discovered that, although we are abandoning all breaks in Eurp before Winterval, the MR’s passport runs out in Feb – so she couldn’t go, anyway. (the daft 6 month rule etc etc – which never existed when I was a lad).

    We plan a trip to Antwerp in October. If any unattached lady NoTTler wishes to accompany me….send your CV to the MR….. Assuming your driving licence has not also expired…..

    TTFN

    PS The trombetti tortilla was absolutely brilliant…..

      1. Brilliant beers…….

        I’ll just visit. The MR will be doing lots of skypes with her oppo in examination world…..!!

    2. It’s ok, I’m not volunteering…..

      Fifteen years ago our younger son headed off on a boys’ jolly to Prague before going to university. We heard our door close, and the crunch of gravel as the car in which he was travelling with his friends sped off into the darkness for Stansted. Lovely, we thought, he’s gone, we can now settle down and finally get some sleep. He’s on his way. Three hours later, at 6.00 am, we were awakened by the phone: “Dad, can you come and pick me up, please? I can’t travel, apparently I’ve not enough months left on my passport!”

  60. The journey to wokeness explained and documented in this book, ‘The Abolition of Britain’ – Peter Hitchens – which I am rereading after a gap of 20 years – and it’s still a riveting (if depressing) read – I gather there is an updated edition to 2018.

    1. ”So it’s a very small world when it comes to senior politicians, aides and diplomats, who know everyone and everything about government, being interwoven with mutually cooperating foundations… and very helpful to billionaires getting what they want from governments which is what the foregoing is all about….”

    1. Sadly, not very surprising….I did say at the time of the BLM riots that we needed to get the kids back in school, so that the teachers wouldn’t be on the streets rioting.

    2. Didn’t trump declare antifa an illegal terrorist organisation? Can a teacher be a member of such an organisation and keep their job?

    1. So big guys wearing camouflage uniforms can grab someone on the street just like that. No need to identify themselves, their employers or authority that they are acting under?

      That’s giving the Clinton mafia free reign to go out and arrest anyone they disagree with.

      1. As I understand it, there is some identification and what is at issue is personal (surname) identification.

    1. 321711+ up ticks,
      Afternoon TB,
      It’s a copy cat crime to be sure,to be sure,just following in the footsteps of England.

      2. Six locations in Ireland were discussed by government officials as possible sites for a new autonomous city named Nextpolis proposed by a wealthy Hong Kong businessman, The Times can reveal.

        The Department of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with the Victoria Harbour Group (VHG), an international charter city investment company, since December about a plan to create a city from scratch that would be home to tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents.

        Documents released under freedom of information laws show that a series of meetings have taken place in Ireland and Hong Kong in recent months about sourcing a 500 sq km area of land for the new city.

        The locations discussed were: an area between Drogheda and Dundalk in Co Louth.

        2. Maybe they’ve got more room than we have. But better to expand the cities thay already have than desecrate a large area of countryside.

  64. Seems that the Chinese didn’t close their consulate in Houston as instructed by the US. So, the Americans broke the door down. That should go down well with the Chinese – not so much tweaking the Dragon’s tail, more a poke in the eye.

    1. We can be sure that we are not being told what is really going on.

      But just in case………I would like king prawn curry and special fried rice for two. Don’t forget the prawn crackers.

    1. You have only to compare the state of the motorways and roads in France and Spain with the potholed lanes in the UK to put two and two together. We have paid for these EU improvements and have been left short of funds for our own Infrastructure by subsidising improvements in other European countries.

      The same imbalance is evident in our railway services. We still run ancient stock on old rails whereas the Europeans have the luxury of high speed Thalys trains and the French high speed SNCF system. Deutsche Bundesbahn never looked back after the Germans lost the War, the same with Daimler Benz or Mercedes, Krupp, Boss and any number of other German industrialists, often having used slave labour and having expropriated Jewish factories and property.

      Lewis Hamilton, you silly little privileged creep, are the one person who needs to get educated.

      Our contributions to the EU combined with a plethora of giveaways, such as access to our fishing waters and acquiescence in their lunatic agricultural policies, by Ted Heath and his successors, have drained us of cash and ambition for decades.

      A pox on Barnier and the lot of them.

      1. I agree with you about [squandered assets] giveaways,
        but French motorways are largely built and funded by
        Companies, who then charge tolls to recoup the the
        original cost…. plus interest and to fund future running
        costs. The Companies concerned have built a vast,
        worldwide industry based on concessions.

        1. I am not so sure about your model. The motorways are deserted because the French avoid the tolls and I doubt very much that a few thousand Brits who pay will ever finance these motorways.

          The French will have cooked the books as ever.

          1. No doubt but the particular Company I am thinking
            of [Vinci] has built a huge global market on the back
            of its CE base.

          2. I only know about them because the French friend with whom I stay when I’m in Provence uses their motorways.

          3. Good evening, Conway.

            They run many car-parking concessions in the UK,
            building multi-storey carparks, mainly for Public
            buildings e.g. Hospitals, Courts etc. as well as
            running shopping centre car-parks e.g. MK.

      2. I am not defending the EU (far from it) but comparing ‘motorways and roads in France and Spain’ with ‘potholed lanes in the UK’ is disingenuous.

        Here in rural France we have more than our share of potholed and disintegrating lanes to put up with. Yes, the motorways and ‘A’ roads here are in general good order, however the motorways are mostly privately owned and funded through expensive tolls. You also need to consider that the population density of France is about half that of the UK, meaning that the road network is subjected to different stress levels.

  70. Black and ethnic minority people to feature on British coins and notes for first time
    For the first time, BAME people who built Britain will be recognised on legal tender

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/25/black-ethnic-minority-people-feature-british-coins-notes-first/?utm_content=telegraph&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0dK_ieaViLzOY3uGBm0dd-UndiB5Q753Fdjw8me61JIeD1epUUuz_cQhk#Echobox=1595708279

    Well, what do you make of that then…

    Who built Britain, I am racking my brains , which BAME people , I ask you .

    How much worse can this country get ..?

    1. Strange that anyone would be featured in the future on notes and coins when they are being phased out. I have a massive stack of 20’s and 50’s and i can’t spend them anywhere.

      1. Yeah Fizzy, I have a stash as well.

        I bet we won’t be able to use coins and notes for months.

        Strange that BAME bods , who ever they are , who built Britain .. Can you name any of them ..

        Do they mean the Rappers?

        Anyway it was plane loads of returning BAMES who helped distribute this damned virus!

      2. I don’t think I’ve even seen a £50 note, let alone used one. I do have a couple of notes on my wallet that have been there since I last used a cash machine back in February.

    3. Be afraid, Lady. Be very afraid.

      This is the start of the demise of civilisation as you know it. All that George Orwell stuff is being acted out right before your very eyes. The problem is that the over-prolific breeding of humans is having too many bad effects on the world. Those in charge are determined to do something about it and they now look upon you as just a number. A reduction in human numbers will come and very soon. If the pulling of the wool over your eyes doesn’t work, then more real nasty man-made viruses will be unleashed. Following that, military action seems the most likely scenario.

      Whatever transpires normality, as you once knew it, is history.

      1. Entrepreneurs in developing countries should be allowed to register firms in the UK as “e-citizens”, as part of Boris Johnson’s push for a Global Britain, the Prime Minister’s former business adviser has said.

        In a new report, James Sproule calls on Mr Johnson to allow a new generation of start-ups to operate within UK company law from abroad – beginning with Commonwealth countries such as Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.

        The report, published by the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, says the move would help entrepreneurs in developing countries to draw investment to countries where the “start-up spirit” is currently “stifled”, including, in some cases, by corruption and maladministration.

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/07/25/global-britain-urged-open-doors-developing-world/

        1. I thought Nigeria had been operating e-commerce businesses in the UK since the internet was invented? If you get my drift…

      2. I have to take exception here.

        Don’t make her feel worse than she already does. It’s not as if you could help her in any way.

        Unless you happen to have a helicopter….. 🙂

    4. Could one dream that this is just a fop to the wokerati?
      OK OK we will feature your bames on the money. Starting with?

      How about Mel B from the Spice Girls?

      1. Mel is such old news. It’s going to be President Bi-Polar Kanye Kardasshian and Kris-Jong-Un sex-change back and forth.

        Dontcha know

        1. Don’t you need to be British to be on the money? Oh silly me of course not, that would be nationalistic.

    5. 321711+ up ticks,
      Evening TB,
      Leave it to the lab/lib/con coalition & the voting pattern,
      A lady codiver OUT
      A pony ( & trap ) will be crap,
      A fiver will be an imam,
      A tenner will be a grand imam,
      A twenty will be a grand mufti.

    6. Growing up in Dublin in the ’40s, and ’50s; I was aware – only – of Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and, later, Sidney Poitier as admired musicians, singers and movie actor. My first interaction with ‘BAMES’ was at university in the ‘Sixties.

      There were no black people whatsoever in the community. Indian and Chinese restaurants arrived in the ‘Sixties …

      1. I think hers was a Dubonnet & gin. Benda likes the same. Can’t find Dubonnet anywhere.

      2. I think hers was a Dubonnet & gin. Benda likes the same. Can’t find Dubonnet anywhere.

          4. No, I’ve been busy in the kitchen. Supper will go into the oven just before the News starts.

    1. “Look right, look left, look right again…” Something I learnt in the 1950s, which stays with me today.

      1. Indeed.
        I recall trying to cross Mile End Road in the late 70s. Bomb Squad Landrover speeding up the wrong side of the road, with blue lights flashing but no 2-tones, nearly took my face off. Learned to look both ways in about a millisecond or less, regardless of the actual traffic pattern.

  75. Evening, all. Been out most of the afternoon trying to help a friend sort out the financial mess left by the bank lending her parents £6k (part of which was to pay off an already existing loan) when it was clear they were already fiscally incompetent (due to her mother’s incipient Alzheimers). We are going to write to the CEO and hopefully get some redress for the bank not having done due diligence and mis-selling a loan. We’ll see.

      1. Maybe, but it’s worth a try. Better than doing nothing and letting them get away with it without making a fuss.

        1. I don’t wish to be a dragging anchor here but you need facts not what someone has told you. You will spend a lot of time and get nowhere…even if in direct communication with the CEO.

          Details. Times..dates..signatures.

          1. We have all the bank statements and correspondence plus names and dates of meetings.

          3. Thank you. They sold him an increased loan to pay off a loan. That, to my mind, shouts lack of due diligence and failing to take into account their personal circumstances for suitability, despite what they wrote in their literature.

          4. Yes. That does sound wrong. If someone is in difficulty for what ever reason you don’t sell them a new loan which incurs more expense.

            You can copy and paste my comments if you like. Not that i’m an expert.

          5. In addition the bank included a Travel Insurance package at £12.50 a month – they never went abroad!

          6. Nail them crossly.

            I thought they had learned from the mis-selling. (sarc)

            I also see that RBS after the many scandals and taxpayer bail outs have decided to call themselves NatWest.

            Ho Ho Ho.

            Could be worse. Hong Kong and Shanghai Barclays.

        2. When they say that they are recording the conversation, you say that you are as well

          Talk about the Ombudsperson

          Take names

          Ask for hard copies of items

          Ask for Supervisor

          1. We are writing first to the CEO and asking for a response within 14 days (the branch manager is actively avoiding my friend when she goes into the bank). If there is no satisfaction, we’re going to the Ombudsdman.

          2. Have you tried using the statement:

            Time is of the Essence

            In clauses where ‘time is of the essence’, failure to perform an obligation in the time specified by the clause
            will put the defaulting party in breach of contract and entitles the innocent party to terminate the contract and

            claim damages. If time is of the essence, the courts will enforce time limits very strictly.

    2. Good luck.
      When step-son first came out of prison on parole, he was in a Bail Hostel and immediately began binge drinking.
      When pissed he went into a phone shop intending to get a pay-as-you-go SIM for his mobile, but was persuaded to sign up to a full contract.
      When his parole was rescinded due to his drinking, the phone company tried extorting the full amount due for the contract.
      I was able to counter with a claim that the salesman had ignored his wishes and his inebriated state to sign him up to the full contract so that he could get the commission.
      They dropped the bill.

      1. Thank you. I am hoping that we’ll win because it was clear from the bank statements that their pattern of spending (the wife had the onset of dementia and was taking out large amounts every week) that they were in no way fit candidates for a further loan. In addition, nothing was done to contact them to discuss the way they were running their account. The bank just let them rack up the debt (and then made it worse by “consolidating” the original loan by nearly tripling it!).

  76. Saturday Night is film night so a music track from an opera reflecting the calm after a storm as used in the Bond movie Spectre is appropriate for the end of the day.

    https://youtu.be/GvQJbF2CXLQ

    George Frideric Handel: Ombra mai fù

    Commonly known as Handel’s ‘Largo of Love’, Ombra mai fù is the opening aria in the 1738 opera Serse. Sung by the character Xerxes I of Persia, the vocal part is composed for a countertenor. In the aria, King Xerxes ponders the beauty of a favored tree, noting “Never was a shade of any plant dearer and more lovely, or more sweet.”

    Philippe Jaroussky sings this counter tenor part as can be heard in the Bond movie Spectre

    https://youtu.be/MQm2C5UrERg

    1. I have stopped wondering. There is a plan. One the voters didn’t know about. But they will.

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