Saturday 26 July: Macron’s pledge on Palestinian statehood is not the way to bring about peace

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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544 thoughts on “Saturday 26 July: Macron’s pledge on Palestinian statehood is not the way to bring about peace”

    1. Guten Morgen Bob. Ich hoffe, du hast deine Reise nach Deutschland genossen.
      Es ist ein interessantes Land.

    1. Cliff Langdon
      11h
      I think I will attend a couple of the several inevitable OrangeManBad protests in Scotland this weekend. I will wear my magahat and carry a placard along the lines of "POTUS WELCOME HERE!!!".
      No doubt I will have the benefit of a friendly escort by the local plod, to allow me my entitled and proper access to safely have my say at these events, before being given a lift back to the (train) station in one of their handy police vans.

    3. 89 not out.
      The Joe Root of Nottle!
      have a wonderful day and continue your innings.

  5. Saturday 26th July, 2025

    Delboy

    The Revered and Respected Father of the Nottler House

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9f5be29a89f55bfd67df7a0bc6406dfb29a03fb7287383da71f906a7a7146305.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/29cfbeb68c7aa9ceb0289b477a09ff07f9b03428aa8565c2773e9a59ee62b0dd.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d827fa8adcd43546b6d76d7d30aa7e86accd36ada4f968b141e57c1b5b4db3bf.png
    We always enjoy your very amusing and apt contributions to the forum

    With very best wishes

    Caroline and Rastus

      1. I am getting my shot of caffeine before walking the Springer. Bowls match this afternoon.

        2. Very Happy Birthday to you Delboy! Hope you have a wonderful day! 🍺🎂🥂🍾

    3. Happy 39th Bithday Delboy and of course 364 Happy Unbirthdays, til the next anniversary

    6. Many happy returns of the day , Derek .

      Have a lovely day , humid here, and very cloudy , but enjoy your special day .🎶🎶🎶🙏🏻❤️

    9. Happy Birthday, dear Delboy!! Sending very best wishes from a cool and.cloudy Buenos Aires x

    2. They will never repeal the Act as it gives the state the ability to censor the internet, something only dreamed of by politicians up to now.

      1. 410085+up ticks,

        Morning KP,

        They will comply AFTER the first very serious confrontation,that is what they are seeking.

        Every day we hesitate we weaken our justifiable case,every day the
        coup case gets stronger via Dover.

  8. Good morning, chums and Geoff. Slept like a baby last night, hence my being late on parade. A Bogie for today's Wordle.

    Wordle 1,498 5/6

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

    1. If it takes a week to walk a fortnight how many apple's in a bunch of grapes 🍇

    2. How did this happen?

      They brought it upon themselves with their unceasing demands for special treatment, refusal to integrate and regular violence against the rest of the population.

      1. Every where they go or are they cause trouble. She obviously can't see that. But given the opportunity they would soon teach her.

      2. "Possession is nine-tenths of the law" is an expression meaning that ownership is easier to maintain if one has possession of something, or difficult to enforce if one does not.

        At the moment the indigenous British are still the majority and 'in possession' and Muslims are still in a minority but this will not still be the case in a few decades. The longer the obvious solutions are delayed the more the problems will be insoluble.

        If UK values are incompatible with Muslim values it is up to the Muslims to conform to UK morals and values with are founded on Christian morals and values.

    3. In order to make the UK's values compatible with Muslim values we must start by lowering the age of sexual consent to 10. Indeed, a video clip posted on this site yesterday showed a group of Muslims saying that if a girl started menstruating at the age of 9 she was ready for a Muslim husband.

  16. alwayscensored
    10h
    Albeeb still fostering criticism of the 19 year old reform head of Warwickshire County Council, in both their national and local news. That's six days in a row now….they never give up!

    Dissident
    alwayscensored
    9h
    And yet, they always praised Mhairy Black of the SNP. Who was also a child when elected, drank a lot, did little else, then quit.

    Editor of Readers Tractors
    alwayscensored
    9h
    The same people who complain about a 19 year old heading a town council were more than willing to take lectures about climate science from a 12 year old.

    1. Greta Thunberg (b.2003) was 15 when her campaign went global. Malala Yousafzai was the same age. Alma Deutscher a little younger. Mhairi Black was 20 when she was elected. At 15, she was foul-mouthing footballers and headbutting people.

      I have no objection to a 19-year-olld leading a council if he is any good. If he isn't then a swift departure is in order, as it should be with any useless politician.

      1. It will take a 12 year old 2 minutes to get around that. Either via VPN or Tor browser.

    2. Sonny Boy Snr and I were at GBN last night.
      They had problems with the technical gubbins. They were unsure whether it was Sod's law or actual hacking.
      They filmed on one camera but I really don't know if it was successfully broadcast.
      MB couldn't get the programme last night.

      1. Ahhhh. That explains a lot. I should have known. I was all your fault just by being there.

        2. We could try, Russia likely send them back. Seems like Z’s day is almost over. Across the channel a start…

    1. And the big, woke, corporations stand by to pick them up cheaply. Same approach to buy to let landlords: tax them out of business and Blackrock & Gang buy them cheap. Globalism at work.

  22. Good Morning!

    New writer to FSB Darren Gee writes of the hypocrisy of John Torrode's cancellation and says that it's all about who can use the 'N' word, as we are all obliged to call it. Read his article John Torode's Fateful Rendition of Gold Digger and let us know if you agree with the sensitivity over this word, and unapproved words in general.

    In Surrendering the world's most expensive real estate: Luxury hotels for boat people in Canary Wharf? Why not! Frederick Edward looks into the lunatic world of illegal immigration in UK and predicts dire consequences.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 28.5%; Solar, 10.8%: Wind 14.6%; Imports, 19.4%; Biomass, 7.6%; Nuclear 16.5% and Miscellaneous, 2.6%.

    And two more things: it seems that some of you have not been getting out (almost) daily newsletter. If that's the case please let us know and sign up again. Secondly, we know have 'Our Picks' Page for stuff we like on Amazon. I know, but the unsung hero of FSB, No.2, gets a small commission if anyone clicks on an item. It's the least I can do for him. If you spot something you think our readers will like on Amazon, let us know and we'll include it.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. Those dire consequences are taking a long time coming, getting more & more dire as time goes on and the problem gets bigger.
      It's seemingly inevitable: start soonest, and get on with it.

      2. Hislop is one of the most repulsive people on television. Like you, I cannot bear to watch him – he makes the flesh creep.

        1. One of my once favourite programs was HIGNFY. But a few years ago it suddenly seemed to take a sharp turn to the left. I haven’t watch it for years.

          1. I subscribe to the Eye for 25 years from 1985. I got fed up watching Hislop's smug sneering-class rants.

  24. 410085+ up ticks,

    With the cash card, ID card, warriors aided via the tribal voters Farmer Giles is rapidly on the way out, the land
    coming under new AI management, ALL coming under the controlling hand of semi human
    RED ED the supreme master of lunacy.

    Mass submission as is seemingly on the cards, leaves the way wide open introducing in the near future
    head /wall banging kids on, via school menus, a steady diet of insects, intense brain washing as to the
    merits of the political foreign overseers, interspersed
    with prayers five times a day.
    https://x.com/NoFarmsNoFoods/status/1948990823149834351

    1. I'm sorry but.. you have to get organised. Like the Lefties and like the French & Dutch farmers.
      Shut down the motorway & rail networks.. day in day out.

      1. 410085+ up ticks,

        Morning KB,
        Agreed, mass unity is the answer.
        I would call for Mass supporting The Farmers Food and Freedom Party.
        If the herd cannot acknowledge they will be supporting the basics of life and liberty then they are deserving of ALL that will surely befall them.

      2. It is not sensible to try and be reasonable with people like Starmer.

        The only trouble is that Starmer seems to want to destroy the British economy which he sees as the quickest way of turning the UK into a Communist state so the more disruption the farmers cause the happier Starmer, Ms Balls, Rayner and Reeves will be.

    1. 410085+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      Surely we should deduct double that amount from the DWP employees
      mass earnings, and expect NO rhetorical comeback ?

  27. Captain Sensible
    9h
    The first rule of Tautology Club is, the first rule of Tautology Club.

    Cliff Langdon
    Captain Sensible
    9h
    You can say that again.

    2. i) Pound is in free fall. It is worth far less against the euro than it has been for many years.

      ii) At least the Blues Brothers were trying to raise money for the orphanage in which they had grown up. Starmer and Lammy just want to squander the money they steal from taxpayers

      Jake, the character played by John Belushi (on the rhs of picture), had just been let out of prison, which is where Starmer should be.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7822575d20980f72b1c6b89b525bac42f650070a88e3540edc8cceb9a56548cc.png

      1. Pound now at 1.06 Swiss Francs. Parity cannot be far off. It was 1.26 when I was in Switzerland in 2018, and very expensive there then.

        The consequence will be inflation, but since inflation is taxed, I cannot see Government discouraging it. Blink, and the £1.50 price tag becomes £2.10. 227g pack size becomes 200g, sure that nobody will notice.

        The theory is that it boosts exports, but since Britain does not make much that is not foreign-owned. All this talk of accepting chorine-dunked chicken and beef boosted with antibiotics and growth hormones is so thatJaguar Land Rover do not have to put up their prices to Americans. Is JLR British these days? Our native production goes some way to servicing the domestic market, but is being cut back "to boost growth" for those whose lives matter. I see Donald Trump has got himself another golf course in Scotland, and he thinks Keir Starmer is a fine fellow.

        Not that we can do much about it. People used to sigh "Big Problem" when discussing politics behind the Iron Curtain in the 1970s. Out of their hands, and all they could do was to get on with life best as they could. Few Poles then were sober after 11am.

      2. Hello Alec x…yes but in all its actuality could be many other towns/cities/streets uk..

        1. Well it was stated they were from London but they were probably immigrants. Off to t’pit now , good night Kate x

    2. They would never have been arrested for (gang) raping a woman in the UK.

      Their names give them the "will never get arrested in UK' card

    3. Journalist's are so sensitive, it seems to effect any actual truth that might be available.

        1. From the Daily Express report – "The two of the suspects are originally from Kosovo but now hold British citizenship, as does the third."

  32. Sex and relationship education seems these days to be all about preventing abuse, disclosing and barring, a constant stream of No, No! NO!!! It's about toxic masculinity, gender neutralism and critical race theory. No wonder young people turn off and explore other options, where Yes is said rather more than NO!

    It was Yoko Ono, who bagged her famous husband by saying Yes.

    Maybe instead of treating childhood sexuality with a massive burden of social condemnation (and anyone using the p-word as an insult is guilty of this), and forcing our young people and even children into hiding their explorations out of terror of the adult reaction, we should know, live and above all convey the delights of a good relationship. For every negative No, there should be six positive Yeses. The online offerings could then be seen in a proper context, as tawdry and unpleasant commercialisations of the real thing.

    If adults do not know what love is, how on earth can we expect our young to? The last time I said "I love you" or had it said to me was in 2010. This is an entire lifetime for a teenager to live without love.

    Christians may well ponder the ten Commandments of Moses, most of which negative, were superceded by Jesus by just two, both positive.

  33. Morning all 🙂😊
    Cloudy warm and rain later. How on earth will we all cope 🤗🤭.
    Macron is just another far left political knob that seems determined to ignore public opinion..

    1. Who will rid us of these dangerous people, Eddy….(I quite like summer rain, the gentle almost warm kind…and also the lightening, thunder, heavy downpour ones)….

      1. deportation is already happening.

        France is 'deporting' the enemy to UK, with our conivance

        1. OK then…UK should deport back to France. The more we accept, the more will come.

          2. Some are in tents UK, Rastus. Can but hope they’ll retreat across the Channel as winter sets in, but I suspect the reverse will happen – those in France will come to the UK for the accommodation. Want to club together to buy a few residential venues…we’d make a bob or two…opportunities, opportunities…

    2. Has this asinine woman not learnt that the more lies she tells the fewer people will ever believe her again?

  35. The dizzying fall of the King of Davos

    Klaus Schwab is accused of misusing funds and inappropriate behaviour after more than 50 years as head of the World Economic Forum

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2025/07/25/TELEMMGLPICT000433569951_17534637525430_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=960 Klaus Schwab has been accused of misusing WEF money

    26 July 2025 8:00am BST
    James Crisp

    Klaus Schwab was the undisputed “King of Davos” for 55 years. But when his downfall came, it was swift.

    The 87-year-old founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which holds the annual conference in the Swiss alpine ski resort, fought until the end.

    But over two days in April, beset by allegations of misusing WEF funds, manipulating research and inappropriate behaviour with staff, he was forced out of his personal fiefdom.

    “He had the chance to step back 10, seven, five years ago. But he hung on,” one WEF insider told The Telegraph.

    On Sunday, the early findings of a second investigation into the WEF were leaked. They alleged Mr Schwab had misspent WEF money and manipulated research for political reasons, including rigging data to make Brexit look like a failure.

    Mr Schwab also allegedly put his crotch in front of a female staffer’s face, splurged $50m on a luxury villa, and ran up £836,000 in expenses that were not sufficiently linked to WEF activities.

    His credibility now lies in ruins and the future of Davos is openly questioned.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/briefs/2025/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000050510157_17533543157590_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=680 Klaus Schwab had demanded that the internal probe be dropped

    Some see the investigation in response to a whistleblower complaint as a barely disguised attempt to push Mr Schwab out. For his part, he denies any wrongdoing.

    “He wasn’t perfect, but he has been stitched up because he wouldn’t go when people wanted him to go,” one person close to the organisation told The Telegraph.

    Other insiders fear that the push to remove Mr Schwab will come at too high a reputational cost to the WEF itself. “They’ve used a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” one said.

    It is an astonishing fall from grace from the former executive chairman, who was awarded an honorary knighthood by the UK in 2006.

    The German-born professor built his empire from humble beginnings, establishing the WEF in 1971 as a forum for policymakers and CEOs to discuss global issues.

    Over the years it mutated into a magnet for world leaders, a capital of fevered dealmaking, a byword for elitism and a lightning rod for conspiracy theories.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/briefs/2025/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000324789895_17533543053600_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqiqWJ-5IMEa1KdreCI_WxMsS5AYpFAm5Do2skmYtHbzg.jpeg?imwidth=680 King Charles, the then Prince of Wales, speaks with Schwab at the annual meeting in Davos in 2020 Credit: Reuters

    The title of his book “The Great Reset” – about how the pandemic could remake global economies – has become shorthand for online extremists convinced that plots to create a world government are hatched at Davos.

    Mr Schwab, the quintessential “Davos Man,” was front and centre every year as he welcomed a galaxy of heads of state and government.

    They included prime ministers and presidents as different as Angela Merkel and Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Narendra Modi or Baroness May and Vladimir Putin.

    At this year’s gathering, in January, there was no Sir Keir Starmer, French president or German chancellor in Davos.

    The demise of Davos has often been predicted, but rivals are circling. China has the Boao Forum, colloquially known as “the Asian Davos”, and Saudi Arabia has launched the Future Investment Initiative, which is dubbed “Davos in the Desert”.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/briefs/2025/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000362929348_17533542930130_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqhv8xdWB3EgvUuhPwj4HdE-ZuC8JiucxsRMmHFrDT2QQ.jpeg?imwidth=680 Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Klaus Schwab speak to the media at Davos in 2024 Credit: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

    The rumblings of what would become an avalanche of revelations about Mr Schwab began with a 2024 investigation by the Wall Street Journal, which accused the WEF of having a workplace culture that was hostile to black people and women.

    Women were allegedly sidelined after becoming pregnant, while two staff members used the n-word, according to the Journal. The WEF said at the time it had zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment and disputed the allegations in the newspaper report.

    Staff alleged that Mr Schwab was inappropriate and made unwanted suggestive remarks, while one female staffer claimed he put his leg on her desk with his crotch in front of her face. She said Mr Schwab told her he wished she was Hawaiian because he’d like to see her in Hawaiian costume, which the WEF fiercely denied.

    Others told the Wall Street Journal that attractive women were chosen to meet international delegates.

    There was a slang term for such encounters – “white on blue action” – a reference to the different coloured lanyards worn at the conference by officials and famous guests.

    Former staff at the non-profit were reported to have set up a WhatsApp group called “WEFugees” in which they shared horror stories about their experiences.

    A former staffer told the Journal: “We promote inclusion and improving the state of the world and women’s issues but do the opposite.”
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/briefs/2025/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000433424139_17533638508020_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BquRUfx97beyW7IGilCUuEh1IIvd_PaHoVgRpn9gpHVaU.jpeg?imwidth=680 Schwab with staff at an annual meeting of the World Economic Forum Credit: Scott Eells/Bloomberg

    Mr Schwab complained bitterly about the Journal’s reporting but was determined to craft a graceful, prolonged exit from the WEF, which generates about $500m a year.

    The WEF’s founding bylaws state “the Founder himself designates his successor”, and stipulates he or “at least one member of his immediate family” is on the board of trustees.

    Mr Schwab’s plan was to move to a role as non-executive chairman and retire in stages, picking his successor.

    But then whistleblowers sent a letter in an email to WEF trustees, including luminaries such Al Gore, the former US vice-president, and cellist Yo Yo Maa.

    It accused Mr Schwab and his wife, Hilde, of misusing WEF funds. It said Mr Schwab had used company funds to pay for private massages, and he had redirected WEF resources and staff in a vainglorious bid to get nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

    “This was not a WEF initiative, but a self-driven effort disguised as organisational work,” the letter said.

    It complained about Hilde Schwab’s spending of about $50m on Villa Mundi, a mansion next to WEF headquarters overlooking Lake Geneva.

    It alleged she controlled access to the property and that one entire floor was reserved for the couple’s exclusive use, according to the Wall Street Journal. They denied the allegations.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/briefs/2025/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000433406991_17533544447530_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGGXd2Kza6pJdkpU2K2kLJEpglixsml29yGtyj6syE48.jpeg?imwidth=680 Part of Villa Mundi, a property bought by the WEF in Geneva, is said to have been set aside for the Schwabs’ private use Credit: AFP/Fabrice Coffrini

    In April this year, a WEF audit committee recommended opening an independent investigation into the new allegations.

    Mr Schwab went on the attack. He wrote a furious email to the committee demanding the probe be dropped within 24 hours and threatened to file a criminal complaint.

    The gamble backfired.

    After the WEF board insisted the investigation had to go ahead, Mr Schwab resigned 48 hours after sending his email.

    He insisted his legacy was “well established”, adding he had received “the highest national distinction from numerous countries for my efforts in helping economic developments, reconciliation efforts and even avoiding a war”.

    After a two-hour emergency meeting of trustees, Mr Schwab’s ouster was announced on April 21. He was swiftly replaced by Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the WEF’s vice-chairman and former Nestle CEO.

    A law-firm led independent investigation began in accordance with Swiss regulations.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/26/world-economic-forum-klaus-schwab-investigation/

    Last Sunday, some preliminary findings were published in Switzerland’s SonntagsZeitung newspaper.

    Law firm Homburger has looked into some £836,000 in expenses submitted by Mr Schwab and his wife which, it was reported, were not sufficiently linked to WEF activities.

    Mr Schwab sent suggestive emails and had “embarrassing interactions” with younger WEF staff, according to the leaked findings.

    The newspaper revealed he had told staff that the UK “must not see any improvement” in the WEF’s annual Global Competitiveness Report, which ranks countries on productivity.

    Otherwise it would be “exploited by the Brexit camp”, he wrote.

    In the 2017/2018 report, the UK’s ranking improved from seventh to fourth after a change in methodology.

    The final report published in 2017 – a year after the Brexit referendum – showed the UK had dropped one place to eighth.

    It was not the only example of political manipulation of research, according to the newspaper.

    Mr Schwab has denied all the allegations.

    The once all powerful king of the globalists was reduced to a chuntering complaint from the ruins of his empire.

    He accused the WEF board of breaking a media silence pact over the investigation, but now faces a nervous wait until the official end of the probe later this year.

    “I feel deceived,” he huffed on Sunday. “I am not available for further investigations.”

    1. Oh how sad.

      Funny thing. FIFA, the Olympics, WEF – all the top people are bent. Something about the water in Switzerland?

    2. Must have been known for years, aided and abetted by others (see the blogger Pretty Polly). Obviously offended someone he shouldn't and therefore outed. System likely remain in place, untouched.

    5. If anyone thinks that the Idiot King is a good judge of people or institutions just look at the people he sees to like or approve of.

      1. TBF, the monarchy has no say about with whom they have to mingle.
        Think EIIR having to give the Ceausecus a state visit.
        But, like you, I do suspect Chuck is not unsympathetic to the global stuff.

  36. So , I see that over 200 MPs want to see Palestine , run by Hamas recognised as a real democratic state .

    Of course , all rogue states will clamour for recognition by the UK , and when places like Iran, Syria , Afghanistan , Iraq , all run by terror groups , not forgetting to mention those places in Eastern Europe , and soon to be Britain when Corbyn and his Muslim cohort persuade the followers that he is the best choice to demolish all Jewish communities , we will then know officially we are done for.

    2. If people do care for stateless Arabs of the Gaza Strip they should be advocating for the end of Hamas. This was true before October 7th.

    3. I listened to the always-interesting Winston Marshall podcast this morning. He really is an admirable young man. He is talking to a French woman who warns us that what happened to Iran is happening here: we all can see it, of course, but the Useful Idiots protesting “for Palestine” can’t.

      Catherine Perez-Shakdam joins The Winston Marshall Show for an astonishing firsthand account of how she infiltrated Iran’s inner circle—posing as a devout Muslim to gain access to the highest levels of the regime

      Extract from towards the end of the podcast:
      “….Case in point, Iran. And then what they do is they move on to the next one and expand, and they bully you, and they weaponize victimhood. The whole series of tools and techniques that they use and that they're using today, here, in the UK.

      I mean, look at it, look at the whole, you know, free-free Palestine movement. You have young British women, who I'm sure mean well, but they need to educate themselves, screaming that, oh my god, Israel is committing acts of genocide. We don't know where, we don't know how.

      They are parroting Hamas' data that the UN has repeated ad nauseam because, you know, it's, I don't know, Albanese is getting paid by them. Who knows, who cares? I don't want to know, but she's a despicable person.

      But they don't think for a second, like who it is that you are, who are you promoting exactly? Who are you defending? Because if you're defending Palestinians and asking them to be freed from Hamas, I'm with you.

      All day, every day. Now, if you're telling me that Hamas is a good idea, when Hamas is actually asking you to be throwing, you[…]”

      From The Winston Marshall Show: Catherine Perez-Shakdam – The Jewish Woman Who Infiltrated The Iranian Regime and Tricked the Ayatollah, 24 Jul 2025
      https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show/id1727337401?i=1000718875685&r=4370
      This material may be protected by copyright.

      1. Winston is a Barts regular, though if you come as a one-off, Sod’s Law will guarantee it’s a Sunday when he’s away.

        1. From AI, four years old…

          ‘In the UK Civil Service, 3.5% of civil servants identified as Muslim in March 2023. This represents 18,220 individuals out of the total civil service headcount. In 2022, the figure was 3.3% or 16,870 individuals.
          The Civil Service also has a Muslim Network (CSMN) which aims to understand the experiences of Muslim civil servants and use data to inform their business plan and support staff. The CSMN also works to influence and collaborate with senior civil servants to raise awareness of the needs of Muslim staff.
          Civil servants are getting less religious, statistics reveal – Civil Service World
          According to the statistics, there were a total of 18,220 Muslim civil servants, representing 3.5% of the total civil service head…

          Civil Service World’

          Civil Service Muslim Network – Government Events
          28 Apr 2021 — The objectives of the survey were: ● To understand the lived experiences of Muslims in the Civil Service (3.7% of civil…

    6. Why don't the 200 plus mps go and run Palestine ?
      Because they know that they wouldn't last a week.
      Apnd that would be very beneficial for our own country.

  37. There’s a popular anecdote about Joseph Stalin that goes as follows. One day, the dictator of the Soviet Union told his closest advisors that he would show them how easy it was to control a person that had already been subjugated. He brought in a live chicken, which he then proceeded to pluck until it was naked and bleeding.

    “Now, watch where the chicken goes,” Stalin said as he put it on the ground. Finally freed from its torturer’s grasp, the chicken wasted no time getting away. However, when it failed to find an exit, it readily returned to Stalin and attempted to warm itself between the dictator’s legs. Stalin then took out some grain from his pocket, which he fed to the chicken.

    The chicken ate the grain despite the pain. When Stalin started to walk around the room, the chicken timidly followed, leaving a small trail of blood wherever it went. “So, you see,” Stalin said to his advisors, smiling. “People are like chickens. You pluck them, and then let them go. Then you can control them.”

    1. The idea that humans are just plastic and can be manipulated into what the ghoulish require. No wonder they hate Christianity so much.

      1. Yet Christianity – religion of any sort, really – is just a control system for the weak to pass off their huamn weaknesses to an invented higher power.

        Religion is, of course just a throwback to the oldest man in the village who knew how to avoid flood, famine, where to get clean water from, treat disease.

        Some waster oik saw he could get out of doing any work by standing between the tribe and the old man and lo! Religion.

      1. The problem with Lefties is they see nothing wrong with causing pain and suffering if it's a means to an end.

        Sadly, he is right about humans. They are weak, sheep like and crave to be controlled. It is terribly sad that people are so weak.

    3. You could accuse Stalin of having been a peasant plucker or a pheasant plucker but he certainly wasn't a pleasant f*****.

    1. Big supporter of AB, both for vaccines and Post Office scandal. Disgraceful treatment HoC.

          1. I never questioned vaccines when my children had them……..but I've never forgotten the reaction my younger son had to the first DTP one.

          2. Me neither. Sorry to read your son had a reaction, very worrying for you 🙁 Apparently a number of new mothers are refusing to let their babies have any vaccines – mercury, possibly been reading/listening to RfKJr.

          3. He had a mild seizure – it was very frightening, but didn’t last too long and he was ok afterwards. I did ask the doctor about it but can’t remember what he said – but he went on to have the others with no further issues. But there were nothing like as many vaccines then – I believe American babies have to have over 70 or they are not accepted for school. It’s terrible – they do seem to cause a lot of sudden infant deaths.

            Did you read Sally Beck’s articles?

          4. 70?! that has to be a money chaser…cast an eye over the first one, sorry – hope to get to it later. Was travelling yesterday, following day never feel good. Have tried various travel sickness remedies, none have worked -I suspect something to do with flashing light if glancing out of side window, a bit better if I look straight ahead. Need to eat something now, first time today.

          5. Oh……I hope you feel better tomorrow. I’m very fortunate that I’ve never had any form of travel sickness. My elder son, when a little boy, was sick every time we went somewhere. He grew out of it at about 11. One memorable time, we’d been somewhere and they had “slush puppy” and it came back – all pink and blue……… We weren’t far from home and fortunately were able to stop while he threw up……..

          6. Oh my, that does sound a bad one, my offspring always loved slush puppies 🙂 I hope so too, thanks. I completely understand what RfKJr says about living conditions, I was raised to around age six/seven in a one up one down back to back cottage, WC at the end of the row of houses. I was away from school with every darned thing – one cold after another, chicken pox, measles, mumps….my mother worked, remember being at home on my own a lot of the time in my childhood. Nevertheless survived and eventually thrived, maybe a tough little kid 😀

          7. We lived in a ground floor maisonette – we did have an indoor loo, my mother was a widow so she worked full time. I spent a lot of time on my own too, but I had a lot of freedom, which kids don’t have these days. I had whooping cough (nasty) ear troubles, bilious attacks, measles, appendix out at 10. Tonsils out at six. Chicken pox not till I was 12. I think we grew up stronger for all of that. As an adult I’ve rarely been ill, and now at 77, I’m in good health and no medication.

          8. Missed out the mumps – I was 25, my boys were three and three months old. We all had it at the same time and bloody painful it was too. There was a mirror in the bedroom and I watched my face swell up till it met in the middle. The boys were hungry, but it hurt when they tried to eat. It left me with a depression that lasted for along time. Husband had had it as a child so he was ok.

          9. A bad time for all. Sounds funny – your face meeting in the middle – but I think anything but. Can well believe the depression, I think ‘childhood’ illnesses are much worse in adulthood. Is it mumps can make a man sterile? One of my aunts was married during the time I had mumps – I was the same colour as my bridesmaid’s dress, a pale yellow, with dark patches under my eyes, should have been at home in bed.

          13. Yes – it’s best to get those childhood illnesses out of the way – though these days, with all the jabs children now have, they are probably suppressed by immunisation. Mumps can cause sterility in men if it affects the testes, causing orchitis.

            I think we were better off as children, getting natural immunity.

            Pale yellow…….oh dear……..

    2. Pretty Polly has written online about him for many years, roundly abused in Spectator comment section each time. Think PP can now be found on TCW. Another favourite topic – Soros, and then Soros Jnr.

        2. An agent provocateur, as I recall. Then if cancelled, she magically arose from the dead. Many times.

    4. Lefties gonna Left. There is something deeply, desperately wrong with the mindset of such power hungry, egotistical creatures.

      What sort of mindset thinks it rational to wear a dressing gown while plotting to control entire nations, like playthings for his own personal gain?

      It's utterly, completely evil.

  40. Good Moaning.
    Note to self: remember when Oasis are playing a gig.
    Caught a late Tube back to Liverpool Street; Sonny Boy Snr and I congratulated ourselves as we got on at Paddington and actually had a choice of seats plus the chance of a swift journey.
    At Edgware Road, the carriages were swamped by concert goers; it was worse than rush hour. Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancras thinned them out a bit.
    The last but two train journey back to Colchester was a good revenue earner for Greater Anglia.
    At least the stops at every conceivable station literally cleared the air and the people.
    Judging by the number of waiting taxis at North Station, the drivers were more clued up than we were.
    Oh, and we certainly did our 10,000/7,000/whatever steps yesterday. Our shoes were full of feet.

    1. I remember in 1996 when they played at Knebworth. We could hear them from our rear garden. And it poured with rain. I've never been a fan.

    2. What a great turn of phrase at the end! Mentally translating it into Spanish for further use, as my own feet are currently threatening to divorce me for overuse.

      It will be interesting to see if it lands. These things tend to be hit and miss. 🤣

  41. Well – that's a loaf baked, all the crosswords and puzzles done – now about to take all the entries to the Flower and Veg Show…. Looks like rain.

    1. …and may you return heavily laden with the MR's annual haul of rosettes and silver cups.

        1. Would you like me and the lads to pay a visit to the village hall and trash all the other entries? Nobody would know.

  43. Incredibly, Essex Police have just made a bad situation worse

    The violence in Epping is unacceptable, but dismissing legitimate concerns about illegal immigration is also a big problem

    Ian Acheson • 24th July 2025, 7:56am BST

    The Chief Constable of Essex, Ben-Julian Harrington, spoke to journalists yesterday about the policing operation in Epping on July 17 and the violent clashes, wrecked police vans, and injured officers that resulted on that and later evenings. The disorder occurred when a peaceful protest was held by people from the town against illegal migrants housed in a hotel where one of the occupants had been charged with sexually assaulting a local girl.

    There were many questions for Essex police to answer, including the allegation first denied, then accepted, by the force that they escorted counter-protestors – some of who were masked – into an already volatile situation. He called his own press conference where journalists were quite reasonably expecting him to explain these odd tactical choices. He ended 20 minutes of what can only be described as bloviating word salad telling Charlie Peters of GB News: "It's not for me to comment and criticise or indeed examine that operation."

    It begs the question of what the press conference was for? And indeed, what is a Chief Constable for? Mr Harrington spent a lot of his opening remarks defending the handling of the protest as a valiant attempt by police to guarantee the rights of free assembly and free speech for everyone.

    The Human Rights Act was invoked more than once. Yet there is a profound misunderstanding in this interpretation of article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which is enacted in our domestic law. This is the right that covers free assembly, including protests. Importantly, it is not an absolute right, but heavily qualified.

    Signatory states including the UK can lawfully restrict that right in the following circumstances: "in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others." [I think we know the type of demo that would be banned.]

    If this seems a bit esoteric, I take it to mean that far from escorting masked protestors into an emotional gathering of townspeople, there was every right and reason for Essex constabulary to have kept this rabble from connecting with the larger, until then peaceful, gathering outside the Bell Hotel. But this was in fact facilitated.

    As it was, the policing operation was clearly overwhelmed. Leadership is about admitting mistakes as well as celebrating success. While it is clearly not in anyone's interests to disclose tactics for future demonstrations, this could have been an opportunity for some welcome reflection on a police response that seemed perversely determined to drive two antithetical groups with violent fringes into each other. As usual, the front-line police officers stuck in the middle suffered.

    Beyond what I think was an obvious and serious failure to anticipate and properly manage a foreseeable public order risk, there are bigger fish to fry than Mr Harrington's bizarre obfuscation. Illegal migrants housed in hotels across the country have been parachuted into small communities usually with no consent from locals and precious little risk assessment by authorities.

    Chris Philp, the shadow Home Secretary, has complained that there "hundreds and hundreds" of "illegal immigrants" who are housed in "taxpayer-funded hotels" and have committed "multiple cases of rape, sexual assault, theft, violence and arson."

    The cultural dissonance between predominantly young migrant men from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Eritrea, and Sudan and the local population, Philp said, is producing a "public safety crisis" for women and girls. The police, learning nothing from last year's spasm of national social disorder after the murders of children in Southport, has called the disorder "thuggery."

    That is the end of people not being listened to, not the beginning. Violence like what we've seen in Epping and will see elsewhere should never be endorsed. But dismissing legitimate fears as bigotry and tolerating disastrous policing appears to be as big a problem.

    https://telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/24/essex-police-ben-julian-harrington-situation-worse-epping

    Is it just the media that refers to him as BJ Harrington for shorthand purposes or is it an affectation of his own? It's more like the name of a dodgy character in a soap opera set in the Deep South of the USA.

    1. The Left don't understand or care. To them, destruction is more important. They seem to want to ruin this country and no amount of theft, rape, murder will change their goal.

      There is either something deeply wrong with 95% of the political class or they are being controlled by a third party. This occurrs only because of a complete lack of democratic accountability.

        1. Perhaps his mother decided it should be hyphenated……if not, it's an affectation.

    3. Unbelievable! "It's not for me to comment and criticise or indeed examine that operation." Are you, or are you not, the Chief Constable who is supposed to be in charge of policing in Essex. If you are in charge then running and evaluating [i.e. examining] that operation is exactly what you should be doing. If you don't feel you can do your job, resign! Or maybe just blame the mythical "far right" for everything??

      A minor point "Violence like what we've seen in Epping" sounds odd?

      1. To your last point – it only sounds odd if you have a decent grasp of English. 🙄

    4. It's just a shame that Chris Philp did little st stop this abuse of the British people while he had the chance.

    2. My trip to Hameln coincided with a winefest in the Burgergarten on the Friday & Saturday.
      Sunday morning they were clearing away and had a forklift moving the concrete blocks protecting the venue.
      The forklift driver knew exactly what I meant when I pointed to one of the blocks and said "Diversity Barrier"!

  47. I see yet another conflict heating up between Thailand and Cambodia. Never been to Thailand but have toured Cambodia, which is poor, recovering from that madman Pol Pot and building up its tourist business. It's people are hospitable and welcoming and certainly don't deserve the cluster bombs that the Thais are unloading from their F16s.. They have a much larger country, bigger army, better armed and want more land with ancient temples which they claim as theirs. Twice international judges have denied their claims. Putin's example or Trumps bad judgement I wonder.

  49. I see that my contributions here may unwelcome if they are to be moderated after all this time. If that is a change of policy generally fine….

      1. No, and as my second one has had the same, if I could hear the position from Geoff or another moderator that would be good.

    2. You appear to have closed your old account Jonathan – and all your previous posts were deleted for that reason.
      I've marked your new account as a 'trusted user' so any links you post will be accepted. Any links posted by accounts not so listed are automatically suspended.

      However, there is nothing showing in the 'pending' file.

      1. Thanks Ndovu – much appreciated. My original Disqus account went haywire for some reason and I lost ten yers of comments – no matter – I have anew one now. Otherwise up to date. Best wishes to you, Joss

        1. They're all still there on the deleted file – presumably you still have all your Blue Tara posts saved anyway.

    1. I'm shocked I tell you – shocked! At the risk of repeating myself – the UN is completely unfit for purpose.

  52. So Trump was only here for about five minutes before saying what everyone but our politicians are thinking.
    No wonder they wont let him speak in Parliament.
    Nobody from outside WEF control is allowed to, I suppose.

    1. It s absolutely clear that Starmer is happy with illegal immigration. The more the better is what he wants.

    1. How many times do the so called hierarchy have to make the same mistakes before they notice that they are effed it all up one more time.

  62. Anti-Migration Protest Footage Blocked on X in Britain After ‘Online Safety Act’ Comes Into Force: Reports

    British users of the X social media platform have reported being prevented from viewing anti-mass migration protests after the Online Safety Act censorship law came into effect for social media companies on Friday.

    The draconian Online Safety Act, passed by the previous Conservative Party, is already appearing to have a negative impact on free speech in Britain. Pitched to the public as a means of preventing children from seeing pornography or other graphic content on the internet, critics of the legislation have long warned that it would be used to stifle political discourse.

    As it came into force on Friday, British users shared screenshots of messages they received from X while attempting to view footage from recent anti-mass migration protests, which have sprung up in the wake of an Ethiopian living at taxpayer expense in a migrant hotel allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Epping.

    “Due to local laws, we are temporarily restricting access to this content until X estimates your age,” was the message users in the UK reportedly received when attempting to view footage of protests that contained violence.

    Prior to the Online Safety Act coming into force, X stated that it would implement methods such as “email address-based estimation,” which cross-references email addresses with financial institutions, mortgage lenders, and utility providers to determine whether a user is an adult, the Times of London reported.

    The Elon Musk-owned social media platform said that it would also use “reverse address book median age estimation”, which gauges the likelihood of a user being an adult by their social connections.

    While the age checks were ostensibly intended to block children from seeing pornographic content, they have apparently been broadened to include violent protest footage.

    Given the exorbitant penalties for platforms that violate the Online Safety Act, with fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of a firm’s global turnover, social media companies may be incentivised to over-police content in Britain to avoid being penalised.

    Although Musk did not specifically address X’s apparent restriction of protest footage, he said on Saturday morning that the Online Safety Act’s “purpose is suppression of the people.”

    Responding to the censorious impact of the legislation, the UK-based Free Speech Union said: “Our fears appear to have been vindicated on the very first day of the Online Safety Act’s enactment.

    “If you have a standard X account in the UK – presumably the majority of British users – it appears that you may not be able to see any protest footage that contains violence. We’re aware of one censored post that shows an arrest being made.

    “We warned repeatedly about how censorious this piece of legislation would be.”

    An online petition urging the Government to repeal the Online Safety Act has so far received over 160,000 signatures, requiring the parliament to consider the motion for debate.

    Meanwhile, searches for VPNs — software which can mask IP addresses in order to make it appear that one is in another country — reportedly surged by over 700 per cent in Britain on Friday as users seek to skirt the new restrictions.

    http://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/07/26/anti-migration-protest-footage-blocked-on-x-for-uk-users-after-online-safety-act-comes-into-force

    2. Well. It seems the law is having its intended affect. Stopping us finding anything out.

  65. https://x.com/ejames500/status/1949012031861911654
    Scroll down , there are so many hotels in every part of the country , what the hell is going on .

    My eldest son who is out of action with two injured wrists due to a fall, has friends who are contracted to companies all over England for working on construction sites , say that there is a shortage of cheaper accommodation re working away from home .

      1. Fortunately , J's scaphoid bone is not fractured ,, but one of the carpal bones in each wrist , triquetral bones , near the little finger side is .. so he is still unable to use his wrists , or strength bear , splints on each hand ..

        Of course , he needs dexterity for his job , so no work now for the foreseeable future !

          1. No, he doesn’t drink, he is a racing snake , a runner .. but very strong and fast , 56 years old and has some brilliant timings for speed .

            He used to play cricket , was a good bowler . and wrecked his shoulder ! Minor league stuff years ago .

          3. For a good few weeks , then he has to attend a hand clinic , he can just about fiddle with his buttons on his laptop and phone !

            He fell racing in May on both hands as he ran around a bend in the track , but he picked himself up and came 15th out of 900 runners . He just picked himself up and carried on running , like Forrest Gump !!!!!.

            He has strength , determination and focus!

            His legs were dripping with blood and his shoulder badly grazed and his poor hands were also grazed and painful .. then straight to A+E for xrays etc ..

        2. Oh no……..that's very bad luck. Did he fall while running? I hope it heals quickly. Are there smaller wrist supports that would make it easier to use his fingers?

    2. Premier Inn claim that they haven’t accepted any government contracts to house migrants.

  66. Just listening to yesterday’s Lotus Eaters podcast. The event on 13th September in London is going to be epic!

  67. Good day, fellow Nottlers all!

    I do not agree with all that Cummings says – I think he's caught up in the worship of technocracy, and was plain wrong about covid – but this piece goes a long way to explaining why we seem to have a uniparty, amongst other subjects. He is in the fairly unique position of knowing how the wheels of power grind, but not being beholden to the blob.

    https://open.substack.com/pub/dominiccummings/p/a-talk-on-regime-change?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=adgbw

    1. He's got verbal diarrhoea. He could have said all that succinctly and it would have been readable in a few minutes……….I had to skip the last few pages as I got bogged down.

      He does know how the Blob works – but he has his own axe to grind.

    2. Thanks Katy…sometimes he's a bit heavy weather, but I generally appreciate what he has to say. Hope you're singing well, as ever x

    1. Suspect has since retreated to the carvery buffet awaiting trial in three years time.
      He said he didn't know they were police.
      and added they were "uncontrolled bullies with a badge".
      He feared he would be 'battered' to death by police.
      She looked sixteen to me. I'd do it all again.

    5. In the US, one (at least) of the cops would have pulled an Indiana Jones and shot the guy. Or they all would. One "memorable" take down in DC involved more than 100 rounds, and multiple over excited cops emptied their guns in the general direction of the suspect. Some even hit him. No prob though, as he was wanted for murder.

        1. I stopped signing awhile ago, never seemed to reach debate status, let alone actual debate.

          1. !0,000 for a reply, and 100,000 for a debate. But the debates are only attended by a few, and not in the main chamber.

          2. Explains why I’ve never seen/heard of one. No wonder lack of support….thanks, Ndovu 🙂

          3. They do send an email if you tick the box. You get a transcript of the very polite debate.

          6. And the summing up tends to state "As promised, this matter was debated", i.e. "Now shut up and go away".

    2. I asked Chat GPT "Who are Restore Britain", as I'm not familiar, an got the answer below:
      “Restore Britain” is a far-right political movement in the United Kingdom, founded and led by former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe, who launched it on 30 June 2025 after his departure from Reform UK
      http://restorebritain.org.uk
      The source, apparently was Wikipedia.
      I challenged Chat "What makes it Far Right, and got:

      "Good question — and it’s important to be precise, because the label “far right” isn’t just about being critical of immigration or wanting lower taxes; it usually means a cluster of more radical or extreme positions that go beyond mainstream conservatism.

      Here’s why most media, political analysts, and academics classify Restore Britain as far right:

      📍 1. Nationalism and strong anti-immigration stance
      They don’t just want tighter immigration; they call for the abolition of the asylum system entirely, deportation of all illegal migrants, and broad measures to dramatically reduce legal migration.

      This goes beyond mainstream conservative or populist positions and echoes ethno-nationalist or nativist ideas found on the far-right spectrum.

      ✝ 2. Emphasis on cultural homogeneity and “Christian values”
      Their platform calls for restoring traditional Christian identity as the cultural backbone of Britain and explicitly rejects multiculturalism.

      Strong opposition to “woke ideology,” diversity policies, and multicultural policies often aligns with far-right cultural conservatism.

      🛡 3. Radical policy proposals
      Measures like banning Sharia courts, legalising pepper spray for self-defence, and abolishing non-crime hate incident reporting are positioned as defending “British culture” against perceived threats, which is a common theme on the far right.

      Calls for a Great Repeal Act to dismantle laws seen as pro‑EU, pro‑immigration, or pro‑equality are similarly radical in scope.

      ⚖ 4. Conspiratorial framing and lawfare
      Restore Britain frames its activism as a fight against a corrupt elite, judiciary overreach, and “lawfare.”

      While criticising institutions isn’t inherently far-right, the sweeping narrative of cultural and legal takeover by enemies of the “real” Britain is a hallmark of far-right populist movements.

      🗳 5. “Direct democracy” as a corrective to liberal institutions
      Advocating for direct member voting to shape policy and override parliamentary processes can reflect far-right populism: presenting “the people’s will” as morally superior to liberal democratic checks and balances.

      ⚠ 6. Political context and founders
      Founder Rupert Lowe split from Reform UK — itself right-wing populist — to create something even harder-line.

      Their advisory board includes figures known for highly nationalistic and anti-immigration positions.

      ✅ In short:
      They’re seen as far right not simply because they’re nationalist or anti-immigration, but because they combine:

      Abolitionist, sweeping anti-immigration proposals

      Anti-multiculturalism and Christian identity politics

      Radical rollback of equality and human rights laws

      Populist direct democracy as a corrective to liberal institutions

      Conspiratorial framing of cultural and legal elites

      All of this places them ideologically outside the mainstream right and closer to the radical or far right.

      If you'd like, I can compare them to Reform UK, UKIP, or even continental European far-right movements (like AfD, Vox, or Rassemblement National) to see where they overlap and differ. Want me to?

      Beginning to understand now how it is that normally rational people call normally rational organisations "Far Right" – with this kind of universal bombardment of Lefty propaganda, who wouldn't.
      Puttimg it all right just got so much harder.

      1. In general, sounds like the US as most would want it. Or Germany, or any other country with any pride.

      2. Democracy is "Far-Right".

        This reads as boiler plate Globalist Liberal-Left useful idiot opinion.

        1. I agree. I challenged it on coming with non-neutral political views, and got some kind of apology… how's that, I'm arguing with software!

  70. Terribly racist programme on itv1 this afternoon. From Ascot. It was Almost stalled.

  74. Wordle No. 1,498 3/6

    🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 26 Jul 2025

    Infested with Birdie Threes?

    1. So close. Too many options.

      Wordle 1,498 4/6

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

    2. Famine yesterday, feast today.

      Wordle 1,498 2/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Well done, I needed two guesses at it – just a four……

      Wordle 1,498 4/6

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

    5. Scary stuff – another par

      Wordle 1,498 4/6

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

  75. Michael Deacon
    This outrageous new climate change scam will bankrupt Britain

    Incredibly, other countries could now sue us for starting the industrial revolution. Here’s how we can fight back

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2025/07/25/TELEMMGLPICT000336538253_17534567927700_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqzHDhaW2A9CiilXP0xXZ5zmreqapuikfNyCYuptSHoIo.jpeg?imwidth=1920 Moving Machinery, plate 49 from 'Dickinsons' Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851

    Rachel Reeves, beware. Britain could soon be facing yet more eye-watering demands for reparations. But not just because of all the slaves our distant ancestors owned. Now we could be sued for all the coal they burned.

    That’s because, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), countries could potentially be entitled to seek damages from other countries for their historic contributions to climate change. Which is particularly bad news for the British. Nowadays we’re responsible for less than one per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Two hundred and fifty years ago, however, we were responsible for practically all of them. Effectively, therefore, we could be sued for starting the industrial revolution.

    Following this logic, of course, you might ask: why stop at the 18th century? Why not go back further? Mankind is believed to have originated in Kenya, and all pollution is caused by mankind, ergo it’s all Kenya’s fault. So let’s sue it. And if Kenya tells the ICJ that it’s too poor to pay up, not to worry, because there are other juicy targets we could fleece. As soon as we’ve tracked down the descendants of whichever caveman invented the wheel, we can sue them for all the world’s car exhaust fumes.

    At present, however, it would seem that Britain is the nation likeliest to fall victim to this brazen legal opportunism. But in the event that other countries do try to sue us, I hope we’ll politely explain something. We don’t owe them. They owe us.

    This is because the industrial revolution and its countless associated benefits didn’t just make the world richer. They caused people to live longer. In the mid 1700s, just before the industrial revolution began, life expectancy in this country alone was about 40. Now it’s double that. And after other countries joined the industrial revolution, the life expectancy of their populations shot up, too.

    Of course, this increase wasn’t due solely to greater prosperity. It was also due to revolutionary medical advances: for example, antibiotics. And which country does the world have to thank for discovering the very first antibiotic? Oh yes: Britain. Which also happens to be the country responsible for coming up with the smallpox vaccine: a breakthrough that is said to have saved more than 200 million lives worldwide.

    Overall, then, it seems perfectly clear that our forefathers did the world vastly more good than harm. Which is why, if any countries have the brass neck to sue us, we should respond by billing them.

    “Dear Sirs,

    “But for the dazzling historic ingenuity of this nation, half your people would never have been born, and the other half would have died by their 30th birthday. We therefore enclose an invoice for your quarterly GDP. Kind regards, Britain.”

    Why millennial women are sick of men
    Have you heard about the dramatic new trend that has apparently gripped the millennial generation? It’s called “heterofatalism”. And it describes the decision by growing numbers of straight women to give up on romantic relationships – because they’ve concluded that all men are rubbish.

    In the past week, upmarket liberal newspapers have been bursting with articles by women setting out the reasons for their disillusionment. In the New York Times, for example, a female author accused prospective male partners of “not wanting me badly enough, not communicating with me clearly enough, not devoting themselves to me… Men are what is rotten in the state of straightness.” Meanwhile, a young woman writing for the London Times revealed that many of her single female friends feel equally disenchanted. “I just don’t think the men out there are good enough,” said one. “I hate them all,” said another.

    Of course, since I myself am a man, you might expect me to be scandalised by these sweeping generalisations about members of my sex. You might also expect me to speculate as to how upmarket liberal newspapers would respond to single men declaring, “I just don’t think the women out there are good enough” and “I hate them all”. Would such men be treated sympathetically? Or would they be recognised as embittered, sexist incels who are simply attempting to blame others for their own romantic failures?

    As a matter of fact, however, I’m not put out at all. Far from it. Indeed, I’m strongly supportive of these women’s “heterofatalist” stance – for one very simple reason.

    It will take the Western world’s whiniest, most melodramatic and most insufferably self-absorbed young people out of the gene pool.

    After all, if they permanently abstain from relationships, they’ll never have children, and thus won’t pass on their self-pitying, navel-gazing narcissism to the next generation. Instead, the task of human reproduction will be left to people who are likeable, self-aware and emotionally well-adjusted. In the long term, therefore, millennial heterofatalism will result in enormous benefits to humanity.

    So, to all the 30-something singles featured in these articles, I say: you’re absolutely right. Men are awful. Every last one. So please do stick to your vow of abstinence. The world is right behind you, all the way.

    ***************************************

    Michael Hudson
    Find the so-and-so's who discovered fire and sue them to kingdom come.

    Sam Jackson
    9 hrs ago
    Evidently the rest of the world has caught on to the fact that this country, now lead by the weakest fools in political history are ripe for mugging at any and every opportunity.

    James Pemberton
    8 hrs ago
    Reparations = collective punishment – expressly forbidden under the Geneva Convention 1949: 'No protected person may be punished for any offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.'

    2. Nobody would want those self-obsessed whingebags anyway. Doing us all a favour

      1. The problem we have is 650 plus lying windbags who think that they already know everything.

  76. Bruce Everiss
    2h
    Last weekend, The Mail on Sunday revealed the shocking scale of serious crime committed by asylum seekers living in hotels in communities across Britain.
    An audit of court records found that of occupants at 70 hotels – just a third of those used – a remarkable 312 had been charged with 708 criminal offences.

    Most shocking of all was the finding that one hotel alone – the three-star Thistle City Barbican in London – had seen 41 migrants listed at the address charged with more than 90 offences in the past year alone. Today, a closer analysis of those crimes paints a worrying picture of the real-life impact of placing asylum seekers – including those who have crossed the Channel in small boats – in the heart of towns and cities.

    Charges brought include rape, arson, sexual assault, affray, actual bodily harm, strangulation, robbery, theft and shoplifting. Knife crime and drink and drug offences are commonplace, as are attacks on police officers going about their duties. Those accused of the crimes are all men, with the vast majority aged in their 20s and 30s. Many of those convicted are dealt with by means of suspended or community sentences. In a number of cases warrants have been issued for arrest after defendants failed to attend court hearings.

    Financial penalties and costs were also often waived because the defendants were found to have ‘no means’. Given that the London hotel has recently also been identified as a hub for illegal working, some will regard that as a particular irony.

  77. Lord Farquard
    24m
    Should the traditional songs at the Proms be dropped?
    Britannia Rules The Waves? We can't even stop as invasion by unarmed combatants masquerading as refugees in dinghies.

    Land of Hope And Glory? Land of MRGs and creeping Sh*ria more like.

    Let's have songs that reflect reality.

      1. Coming in unarmed, but I'm willing to bet that arms are already available in mosques all around the country.

        1. Sos, I have heard many disturbing anecdotes on this subject re: large, very heavy crates being delivered in the dead of night to locked rooms in the requisitioned "migrant" accommodation. The use of foreigners with serious attitude as guards for the apparent barracks also bodes ill, to me.

    2. No – they are part of our tradition and should stay, even if they don't reflect today's reality.

    3. As long as they don't start singing about Those in Peril on the Sea….

      …maybe, putting our armour on and defeating the enemy would be more appropriatr in terms of a hymn.

    1. That’s a point Douglas Murray made in his Strange Death of Europe book. In the entire two thousand year period prior to 1997, fewer than a million people in total came. The invading armies were just a few thousand fighting men who either didn’t stay, as with the Romans, or integrated quickly, as with the Angles, Saxons, Vikings, Normans etc. The latter groups were of course all white Northern Europeans.

  81. Just spent an hour or two hacking down the overgrown Buddleia – the hard to reach bits were the worst – standing on a slope. But OH helped by picking up the bits and putting them on a pile.

  84. That's me for today. Agreeable Flower and Veg Show. Going to the pictures after supper – "Mr Burton" – about the famous thespian. In the village hall. Five minute walk.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

    2. It's a good film, Bill. I hope by the time it ends and you get home you will agree it was well worth the visit.

      1. I thought it was half an hour too long – and the forced references to homosexuality were daft. The CGI was dire!!

        1. Sorry to hear this, Bill. I must have missed the homosexual references and CGI effects completely. Either that, or my memory (not at its best these days) must be playing tricks on me.

      1. "Look on the bright side, Abdul. High enough to fling gays from, and that right hand tower looks perfect for the Adhan."

    3. The BBC must be desperate for a dead baby to wash up on a Kent beach. Are they desperate enough to organise one? For the greater good…

  88. And did Trumps feet in modern time
    Walk upon Scotland's fairways green?
    And was the holy Lamb of God
    On Scotland's pleasant pastures seen?

    And did the Countenance Divine
    Shine forth upon our crowded hotels?
    And was Jerusalem builded here
    Among these dark Starmer inflicted ills?

  89. Haven't been around here much lately because the news has been driving me crazy. I have retreated into gardening, books, and watching concerts/consuming music on YouTube.

    Now I am on cat feeding duty (Sparky) whilst the family have a.week on The Gower coast. Sparky is so sad when the house is empty …. truly, he's a cat who likes being around his familiar humans.

    1. "Haven't been around here much lately because the news has been driving me crazy."

      There's a lot of noise, certainly, but is there much really happening? The Epping business has made for plenty of news coverage but is it a bit of a distraction?

      I have a sense of a phoney war. The bad stuff is yet to come…

          2. I was simply making the observation that media news reports often concentrate on a small number of big stories and distort the overall picture.

            I'll let everyone on here know when Wellingborough is swamped by the hordes.

    3. Kadi and Winston coped remarkably well with the influx of visitors; Kadi barked then withdrew to sulk in the dining room, Winston sat and looked hopeful as people ate strawberries and cream.

  92. An unremarkable editorial but…

    Britain must reject Corbyn's poison

    His socialist agenda will smother all hope of recovery for decades to come

    Telegraph View
    24 July 2025 7:23pm BST

    The return of Jeremy Corbyn to the frontlines of British politics is all too predictable. It is no less unwelcome for being foreseen.

    Mr Corbyn's statement launching his new party criticised "the great dividers", and proclaimed that his "movement is made up of people of all faiths and none". That he made these comments without any apparent sense of English irony speaks to his lack of self-awareness; few in Westminster have done more to spread division.

    Mr Corbyn's supporters may claim that Nigel Farage's Reform is stoking division by drawing attention to the failure of the British state to guard its borders. This is nonsense. Concerns about immigration are shared by many millions, and Mr Farage has been clear in disavowing Tommy Robinson and his ilk.

    Under Mr Corbyn's leadership the Labour Party was investigated for anti-Semitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He is a man who once referred to members of Hamas and Hezbollah as his "friends", although he subsequently attempted to backtrack. He was arrested outside the Old Bailey in 1986 after joining a protest to "show solidarity" with terrorists including the Brighton bomber.

    The most divisive contests and disgraceful scenes of the last election did not take place where Reform candidates were jousting with the Conservatives, but in the fights between pro-Gaza candidates and their Labour opponents. Mr Corbyn's obsessive attacks on Israel, including his backing for a complete arms embargo promises to further inflame this issue.

    As with the rapid rise of Mr Farage's Reform to now lead in the polls, Mr Corbyn's support speaks to a broader failure of Britain's established parties, and the ossification of our politics.

    While it is understandable, however, that many voters are frustrated with the visible decay of the British state, Mr Corbyn's toxic brand of Left-wing politics would only deepen the crisis we face. Confronted with a mountainous debt burden and an out-of-control welfare system, Mr Corbyn's answer is to further tax "the very richest", and nationalise energy, water, rail and mail.

    It is an agenda which would put the final nail in Britain's coffin, and smother all hope of recovery for decades to come, repeating the very worst economic policy errors of the 20th century in some of the least favourable circumstances imaginable.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2025/07/24/britain-must-reject-corbyns-poison

    Who are TR's ilk but millions of people afraid of the influence of Islam? He has distanced himself from his EDL/football hooligan past because he knows the harm it can do to the cause but no one should be afraid of condemning immigration policy because of him.

    1. Not to worry.
      Cursed harmer's parting gift to the UK will be giving the vote to anyone living here, even those here illegally, and the Muslim influence will hold the controlling levers of power.

      1. "Welcome to Kent and the UK, all of you. Join the queue over there for hotel allocations and monthly allowance ticket. Them move to the lady at the desk for Samsung or Apple phones while we ask what name you wish to have on your IDs that will allow you to claim benefits and vote."."

      2. I hope everyone has seen the recent footage of the streets of London. Another country. No wonder Trump commented on it.

    2. Corbyn and his Fruit and Nut party could split the leftie vote and let Reform in so that's a good thing.

  95. Thought for the day.
    The Government should sponsor mobile phone snatchers so that the incoming gimmegrants can be offered phones more economically.
    It's a real shame that they all go to Hong Kong when they could be put to use here.

    /sarc

  96. Our police and Establishment have turned against us. The country is on the brink

    People engage in street protests because they have given up on the whole democratic process

    Daniel Hannan • 26th July 2025, 1:04pm BST

    All week, I have had the Rudyard Kipling's poem The Beginnings running round in my head.

    It was not preached to the crowd,
    It was not taught by the State.
    No man spoke it aloud,
    When the English began to hate…

    Look at the images from outside asylum hotels in what were, until an eyeblink ago, tranquil corners of Essex, Norfolk or Hampshire. Observe the one-sided policing and the way local people react to it. It is hard not to see a country trembling on the brink of unrest.

    How can it be happening here, in a nation once famous for its orderliness and civility? "The gentleness of English civilization is perhaps its most marked characteristic," wrote George Orwell. "You notice it the instant you set foot on English soil. It is a land where the bus conductors are good-tempered and the policemen carry no revolvers."

    Even that last statement is becoming less true. The British bobby used to be a friendly and visible presence, partly because of his distinctive helmet (standard until 2002) and partly because of the height requirement (now ditched in the name of equality). He could patrol unarmed because behind him was an awe-inspiring system of criminal justice that punished shoplifters with incarceration and murderers with hanging. How long until Great Britain follows Northern Ireland in having armed gendarmes?

    The coppers I pass on my way into Parliament already carry weapons, because they belong to a unit called Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection. Unlike bobbies of old, they wear soft caps and look slovenly, with gadgets hanging from their flak jackets. Theirs was the unit that gave us Wayne Couzens, who murdered Sarah Everard, and David Carrick, who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape over a 20-year period. Might there be a connection between carrying a gun and throwing your weight around? Might our old criminal justice system, strict, certain and effective, be giving way to something more arbitrary?

    Asymmetric policing is turning the immigration fiasco into a crisis of state legitimacy. When people see officers protecting masked pro-immigration thugs outside asylum hotels, they conclude that the apparatus of the British state is being used to push an unpopular policy down their throats.

    If it were a one-off, things might be different. But people in Essex know how woke their cops are. Their current Chief Constable, Ben-Julian Harrington, boasts that he is a champion of diversity, equality, and inclusion, and a "firm ally for LGBTQ+ communities." A true ally would, of course, serve ethnic minority and gay people in Essex in the same way as he served everyone else, namely by protecting property. Instead, Essex Police have made 1,570 arrests under the Online Safety Act – more than one per day since that flawed law came into effect.

    The same force that harassed my Telegraph colleague Allison Pearson over a non-threatening Tweet provides Leftist activists in Epping with an escort – just as the Hampshire Constabulary recently did for hooded agitators outside an asylum hotel in Aldershot. The system that keeps Lucy Connolly locked up over a quickly-deleted Tweet releases muggers early. Cops used to be citizens in uniform, and judges disinterested enforcers of the law. Now both look like partisans of the diversity cult which, without any public mandate, has become the official ideology of all our official bodies.

    People feel that the system is against them. Broadcasters who made a police killing in Minneapolis in 2020 their top story for weeks are largely silent when crimes are committed by asylum seekers – usually the proximate cause of local discontent. The protests in Epping, for example, were provoked by a charge of alleged sexual assault against an Ethiopian asylum-seeker on a 14-year-old girl, though you won't hear it on the airwaves.

    For decades, "they're coming for our women" has been a punchline for BBC comedians parodying the imagined racism and stupidity of the white working class. Our state broadcaster seems to lack the vocabulary to respond to real-life sexual assaults by immigrants. Hence the BBC's awkward throat-clearing over the grooming gangs scandal.

    The Establishment appears far more interested in the human rights of scoundrels and illegal entrants than those of anybody else. Every group seems to be in on the racket: immigration lawyers hand out their numbers in the Calais camps, sometimes on phones in waterproof bags; the Border Force brings migrants across the Channel; Home Office officials won't remove illegals; judges overturn deportation orders on any pretext; broadcasters refuse to report the resulting protests other than as far-Right agitation.

    Oddly enough, none of these groups gets as much blame as MPs, even though most MPs, if only for reasons of self-interest, are desperate to stop the boats. Unless you have seen it up close, you will struggle to believe how powerless politicians are before the standing apparat. The fact that the trade union representing Home Office civil servants went to court to overturn the Rwanda scheme is as telling as the fact that the courts did overturn it.

    Politicians know that blaming judges and civil servants sounds pathetic, so they prefer to make tough statements and hope for the best. That approach created the present mess.

    Fixing immigration policy will require intelligence, delicacy and patience. A government truly determined to stop the boats and to deport illegal entrants will need to derogate, at least in part, from numerous international treaties – not just the ECHR, but all those cited by pro-immigration judges, including the Refugee Convention and possibly the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It will need to scrap a mass of domestic laws, including the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act. It will need to override the current system of judicial review and create a mechanism to remove partisan judges.

    Doing these things will make Brexit look straightforward. The human rights Blob will fight tooth and nail to maintain, not just its influence, but its livelihood. Overcoming that resistance will consume most of a new government's energies for an entire Parliament and will require immense tactical dexterity.

    The trouble is that almost no one is interested. Last month, the Conservatives announced a major review along the lines I have just mentioned, but I'd be surprised if one voter in a hundred has heard of it. You might put this down to poor communications, but the truth is that structural reform leaves most voters cold. The candidate who talks about fixing the plumbing, ending judicial activism and dismantling the Blairite juridical state, will never be as appealing as the one who pretends that it is straightforward and who demands, ingenuously, that boats be turned back mid-Channel (as if no one had tried that before).

    Politicians might justly blame the current crisis on immigration tribunals, Leftist civil servants and, yes, PC PCs. But I sense that voters are past caring. They are like a man who is about to take a sledgehammer to his malfunctioning computer. It might not fix the problem, but it will feel good.

    There is an existing democratic remedy to woke policing. Local constabularies are answerable either to mayors or to elected Police and Crime Commissioners. But, at last year's PCC elections, more than three in four registered voters declined to cast a ballot. The chance to elect candidates who might have reordered local police priorities was lost.

    People engage in street protests, not because they have exhausted every democratic option, but because they have given up on the whole process. And who can blame them when they see the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, where rooms can go for £400 a night, requisitioned to house young men who have broken into our country.

    Protesters outside that hotel brandish slogans that show quite how far our nomenklatura has drifted from public opinion: "Justice for Our Girls", "Stop the Boats", and even "The English Began to Hate" – a sad but apt comment on where we are.

    It was not suddenly bred,
    It will not swiftly abate,
    Through the chill years ahead,
    When Time shall count from the date
    That the English began to hate.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/26/police-immigration-hotels-english-have-begun-to-hate

  98. Captain Sensible
    55m
    When I lost my job as a set designer, I left without making a scene.

    Notional Trust
    Captain Sensible
    48m
    I once wrote a script for the stage based on the history of punning. It was a play on words.

  99. Stuart
    2h
    This from the DM “Ministers are looking to buy tower blocks and former student accommodation to house migrants in a bid to reduce the hotel bill.”
    So Labour are going to buy up tower blocks, and housing for asylum seekers, I don’t remember *anyone* in Westminster doing this for our own homeless, or families on waiting lists.

    Notional Trust
    1h
    With reference to Stuart's post below, Starmer has said he is more than prepared to put troops on the street in order to deal with the migrant crisis. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5d65b1830eee8af0b12806c53fd62b2182aa5bd6caee61f7810e749f532e09e3.png

    1. The sister of a homeless ex-soldier who died while sleeping rough in Edinburgh said she tried to help him but he was not ready to leave the streets.

      Darren Greenfield had served with the Royal Tank Regiment but struggled to cope after leaving the Army.

      He had become well-known in Edinburgh, begging for change while wearing his khakis near Waverley Station.

      His death before Christmas, at the age of 47 after contracting an infection, sparked outrage on social media.

      Many questioned how someone who served their country could end up destitute on the streets.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-42746794

  100. Just a suggestion:

    If all the protesters about illegal gimmegration went to the channel ports and blockaded them, so that nothing could come in or out, I can't help thinking that the dinghy's might stop, as the risk of drowning was raised.
    It would hurt as imports of food etc stopped, but it might hammer home just how strongly people feel.

    1. There are a lot of protests being organised now all around the country. Silent and peaceful protests.

  101. After part of the day tidying up in the garden.
    Especially the grass and edges. More rain was forecast but that didn't happen.
    I'm off to bed very soon.
    Goodnight all Nottlers sleep well. 😴🤗
    My two sisters are coming for lunch tomorrow.
    Sadly only one BiL now.

  103. Revealed: the former asylum seeker ‘smuggling oil to fund Iran’

    Salim Ahmed Said fled Saddam Hussein’s Iraq for Britain. Now he owns a luxury London hotel and is accused of helping finance Tehran’s reign of terror

    businessman granted asylum in Britain is at the centre of a billion-dollar oil smuggling operation that is helping to finance Iran’s overseas terrorism and domestic repression, according to US officials.

    Salim Ahmed Said has been accused by the Trump administration of running a network of companies illicitly trading in Iranian oil by passing it off as a product of neighbouring Iraq.

    Profits from the sophisticated smuggling operation are alleged to have been sent to Iran in trucks full of cash, which is used to bankroll the activities of an elite wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

    A Sunday Times investigation has discovered that Said, 47, an Iraqi Kurd, was given British citizenship after fleeing Saddam Hussein’s regime and successfully claiming refuge in the UK in the early 2000s.

    The businessman owns a £27 million hotel in Kensington, west London, and operates two British companies which are blacklisted by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac).

    Said was placed under US sanctions this month, alongside a string of commercial entities he is said to control.

    However, UK authorities do not appear to have taken any action against the businessman, a dual British-Iraqi citizen listed as possessing two British passports.

    US Treasury documents state: “Salim Ahmed Said runs a network of companies that have been selling Iranian oil falsely declared as Iraqi oil since at least 2020.

    “Said’s companies use ship-to-ship transfers and other obfuscation techniques to hide their activities. Said’s companies and vessels blend Iranian oil with Iraqi oil, which is then sold to Western buyers, via Iraq or the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as purely Iraqi oil using forged documentation to avoid sanctions.”

    Said is alleged to have bribed officials and MPs in Iraq with “millions of dollars in kickbacks” to help facilitate his lucrative racket.

    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/salim-ahmed-said-british-aslyum-seeker-oil-iran-9fkk08vkz

      1. I am beginning to think that none of these people are asylum seekers and that they are all grifters.

        1. Of course they aren't asylum seekers; if they were, they would have sought asylum in any one of the many safe countries they passed through to get to Treasure Island.

    2. Basically They are all of the same medieval hate filled mindset and quite often in the same boat.

  104. Evening, all. Just winding down after the garden party, which seemed to go well. At least the garden looked reasonable!

    I am beginning to think that maybe the world would be a better place if Hamas and thus Palestine didn't exist! Move the people elsewhere and then raze it to the ground.

  105. Pétain on Trial: From Hero to Traitor

    Archive on 4

    Allan Little explores the troubling legacy of Philippe Pétain’s infamous trial, 80 years on, which shook and divided France to its core.

    Poring over archive, we hear how France attempted to reckon with its collaboration with the Nazi regime, the trial acting as a mirror for the nation to face up to its dark past. Eight decades of disagreement over Pétain’s crimes reflect not only national trauma, but a country that remains deeply divided over its past, even today.

    Little speaks with those who find modern parallels with a resurgent far right, finding contemporary relevance in a country in which Pétainism remains alive and well.

    He hears from Julian Jackson, historian and author of France on Trial, who argues that it was the nation itself that was put on trial in 1945. They discuss the key moments and why the event took such a toll on the nation's psyche.

    Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief for The Economist, sees Pétain as a reference point for a country preoccupied with its past, and a reminder of dark and painful times.

    Nabila Ramdani, author of Fixing France, believes the trial remains as relevant as ever, with far right figures rehabilitating Pétain’s image and apologising for his actions.

    Historian Daniel Lee counts the cost of collaboration on France’s Jewish population. He reflects on why the Holocaust was almost completely absent from the trial, despite the Vichy regime having sent thousands of Jews to their deaths.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002gfpl

    This was actually a very good programme for 40 minutes or so. Then it lurched…well…to the far-right, associating Marine Le Pen et al with Pétain and the transportation of Jews and making an equivalence between this and criticism of immigration i.e. for Jews read North Africans.

    Alan Little is listed only as the presenter but this script has his pawprints all over it. It would be pointless to ask him if he cannot see the difference between race and culture.

  106. Pétain on Trial: From Hero to Traitor

    Archive on 4

    Allan Little explores the troubling legacy of Philippe Pétain’s infamous trial, 80 years on, which shook and divided France to its core.

    Poring over archive, we hear how France attempted to reckon with its collaboration with the Nazi regime, the trial acting as a mirror for the nation to face up to its dark past. Eight decades of disagreement over Pétain’s crimes reflect not only national trauma, but a country that remains deeply divided over its past, even today.

    Little speaks with those who find modern parallels with a resurgent far right, finding contemporary relevance in a country in which Pétainism remains alive and well.

    He hears from Julian Jackson, historian and author of France on Trial, who argues that it was the nation itself that was put on trial in 1945. They discuss the key moments and why the event took such a toll on the nation's psyche.

    Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief for The Economist, sees Pétain as a reference point for a country preoccupied with its past, and a reminder of dark and painful times.

    Nabila Ramdani, author of Fixing France, believes the trial remains as relevant as ever, with far right figures rehabilitating Pétain’s image and apologising for his actions.

    Historian Daniel Lee counts the cost of collaboration on France’s Jewish population. He reflects on why the Holocaust was almost completely absent from the trial, despite the Vichy regime having sent thousands of Jews to their deaths.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002gfpl

    This was actually a very good programme for 40 minutes or so. Then it lurched…well…to the far-right, associating Marine Le Pen et al with Pétain and the transportation of Jews and making an equivalence between this and criticism of immigration i.e. for Jews read North Africans.

    Alan Little is listed only as the presenter but this script has his pawprints all over it. It would be pointless to ask him if he cannot see the difference between race and culture.

  107. Moh watched a prog on whatever channel about the Battle of the Bulge and the Siegfried line in Belgium ..

    Armies .. listen , 40/ 50,000 armed men , can cause an absolute headache and disaster ..

    Britain hosts more angry anti us foreigners , probably 8 million + than the meagre amount of service personnel currently serving in the armed forces .. So if we are importing healthy active fit young men from Asia Minor / Africa and the M East, they are surly , aggressive , not passive , greedy and sharp, with communication skills and plans of their own ..

    What is this Starmer government doing?

    These people pose as security in supermarkets , shopping malls and carparks and other public places , and even pose as stroppy traffic wardens , taxi drivers etc etc.

    They are acquiring the knowledge that London taxi drivers have taken years to learn .. yet everywhere , how do these migrants know how to navigate our villages / towns /cities and streets.

    I feel something very bad is looming in the not too far off future ..

    We as a nation are being melted down into nothing .

    1. Interestingly….i was always renowned as being a bit “faaaaarrrr riiight” by the “right-on”:Surrey pearl-clutching “elites”. I have been out with a couple of separate groups of friends recently are they are all now for my singing from my hymn sheet.

      The tide is turning. It’s possible they always thought it, but wouldn’t dare say it. But now they are all talking openly. It is weird for me, who previously was used to people rolling their eyes at me. Now the eye-rollers are talking about how to escape.

      1. Apart from a minor lapse , I have supported the Tory party for decades .

        I have gradually edged towards a more discontented view point which could be misconstrued as right wing .

        My life experienced as a child in Africa , especially after witnessing many horrible events . Now I relate more to supporting the eloquence of our English language and our cultural background , and the pride I have knowing my parents served our country in the Royal Navy during WW2 and my husband and I did the same . He was serving in the Fleet Air Arm and I was a QARNN (Queen Alexandra Royal Naval Nurse )

        What on earth is right wing .. compared to left wing .. left wing equals commie as far as I am concerned .

        And yes , I was a girl with pearls in my youth!

        I have grown up now, and at 78years of age , I know a few things!

    1. I wondered why the prostate isn’t removed when men have themselves chopped about to look like women. Apparently it would render them incontinent. Pouring testosterone into young women has that effect too.

    2. 100% of all people will die of something during their lifetime.
      A pathologist once said that the deceased, whilst healthy up to their death, had such advanced stages of illness that he was suprised that the deceased hadn't died earlier.

          4. The vast unknown of space is known as ‘The Final Frontier.’ – could it be a black hole?

          7. OK (You've brought this on yourself):

            There was an old whore called Rhoda
            Who lived in an Eastern pagoda
            And on all the walls
            She'd pinned all the balls
            And the tools of the fools
            That bestrode her

          1. Some fish certainly have the ability to change their sex. It's an evolved survival strategy.

        3. Well, why use the word “man” or “woman” when the phrase “person with a prostate” or “person with a womb” will suffice?

  109. 410085+ up ticks,

    Pillow Ponder,
    Encroachment about to be practiced via the political
    "ROACH SQUAD"

    Dt,

    Elite police squad to monitor anti-migrant posts on social media
    Concerns for free speech mount as Home Office creates team to flag signs of potential unrest

      1. 419166+ up ticks,

        Morning LIR,
        The bit where we are allowing them to allow us (why I know not)

  111. Elite police squad to monitor anti-migrant posts on social media
    Concerns for free speech mount as Home Office creates team to flag signs of potential unrest

    An elite team of police officers is to monitor social media for anti-migrant sentiment amid fears of summer riots.

    Detectives will be drawn from forces across the country to take part in a new investigations unit that will flag up early signs of potential civil unrest.

    The division, assembled by the Home Office, will aim to “maximise social media intelligence” gathering after police forces were criticised over their response to last year’s riots.

    It comes amid growing concern that Britain is facing another summer of disorder, as protests outside asylum hotels spread.

    On Saturday, crowds gathered in towns and cities including Norwich, Leeds and Bournemouth to demand action, with more protests planned for Sunday.

    Angela Rayner warned the Cabinet last week that the Government must act to address the “the real concerns that people have” about immigration.

    But critics on Saturday night branded the social media plans “disturbing” and raised concerns over whether they would lead to a restriction of free speech.

    Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Two-tier Keir can’t police the streets, so he’s trying to police opinions instead. They’re setting up a central team to monitor what you post, what you share, what you think, because deep down they know the public don’t buy what they’re selling.

    “Labour have stopped pretending to fix Britain and started trying to mute it. This is a Prime Minister who’s happy to turn Britain into a surveillance state, but won’t deport foreign criminals, won’t patrol high streets, won’t fund frontline policing.

    “Labour are scared of the public, Labour don’t trust the public, Labour don’t even know the public.”

    Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “This is the beginning of the state controlling free speech. It is sinister, dangerous and must be fought. Reform UK will do just that.”

    In a further sign of dissent over the Government’s approach to social media, campaigners claimed on Saturday that posts about anti-migrant protests in the past week had been censored because of new online safety laws.

    The new unit, called the National Internet Intelligence Investigations team, will work out of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in Westminster.

    It follows criticism of the authorities for what some regard as a heavy-handed approach to social media, including a judge’s decision to jail Lucy Connolly, a mother of one who is married to a Conservative councillor, for 31 months over an inflammatory post in the wake of the Southport attacks.

    The NPoCC provides the central planning for forces across the country when dealing with “nationally significant protests” and civil disorder.

    It also led Operation Talla, the nationwide police response to the Covid pandemic, which included the enforcement of lockdown rules.

    Plans for the new investigation unit emerged in a letter to MPs by Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, which was published just before recess.

    Unit to ‘exploit internet intelligence’
    She wrote: “We are carefully considering recommendations made by the [Commons home affairs] committee and HMICFRS [His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services] in this area, including building a National Internet Intelligence Investigations team as part of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC).

    “This team will provide a national capability to monitor social media intelligence and advise on its use to inform local operational decision-making.

    “This will be a dedicated function at a national level for exploiting internet intelligence to help local forces manage public safety threats and risks.

    “Funding for this capability beyond 2025-26 will need to be considered in line with future funding priorities but I am confident that as a first step, this new central team will help build capability across forces to maximise social media intelligence.”

    Dame Diana was responding to an inquiry by the committee into the police’s handling of last summer’s riots.

    The report recommended setting up a new policing system with “enhanced capacity to monitor and respond to social media at the national level”.

    It mirrored an earlier investigation into the same issue by HMICFRS.

    The watchdog said policing “hasn’t kept pace with the fast-developing nature of online communications” and was too “passive” in the face of online misinformation.

    It said: “The disorder in 2024 shows that policing needs to act now and be more responsive to those risks. It must recognise that online content could contain vital intelligence.”

    Free speech campaigners raised concerns about the plans, which follow widespread controversy over the policing of social media.

    Essex Police faced criticism last year when it sent officers to the home of Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over a post she made on X.

    The Telegraph has also revealed that ministers set up a secret Covid disinformation unit during the pandemic, which was accused of suppressing free speech.

    Rebecca Vincent, the interim director of Big Brother Watch, raised concerns that the new investigations team could stray into policing lawful opinions online.

    She said: “The Home Office’s plan to create a new police unit to monitor social media is disturbing, and eerily reminiscent of the Covid-era counter-disinformation units, which have been the subject of widespread public outcry.

    “It is unclear how police will use the information they gather or whether they will attempt to interfere with online content as these Orwellian units have before, but our message is clear – the Ministry of Truth era is over.

    “Resources should be put into proper physical policing to ensure public safety rather than surveilling online speech.”

    The revelations came as Donald Trump, whose administration has been critical of Labour’s approach to free speech, arrived for a five-day visit to the UK.

    Last week, the US state department said Europe’s increasing regulation of social media sites amounted to “Orwellian” censorship.

    Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, said the Government could shut down online platforms such as Elon Musk’s X if they did not abide by new online safety laws.

    Changes that came in last Friday require firms hosting adult content to introduce “highly effective” age checks such as photo ID matching to prevent under-18s accessing their sites.

    Tech companies have also been told to ensure their minimum age limits of 13 are enforced properly or that their sites are radically overhauled to make content safe for children.

    However, within hours of the measures in the Online Safety Act coming into force, footage of protests against asylum hotels appeared to be unavailable for at least some users in the UK.

    The Free Speech Union, a pressure group led by the Tory peer Lord Young, said: “If you have a standard X account in the UK – presumably the majority of British users – it appears that you may not be able to see any protest footage that contains violence.”

    A screenshot shared by Benjamin Jones, one of the group’s directors, showed a content label in place of one post that said: “Due to local laws, we are temporarily restricting access to this content until X estimates your age.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/07/26/elite-police-unit-to-monitor-online-critics-of-migrants/

    The Free Speech Union added that it was aware of at least one post which had been censored that showed an arrest being made.

    The social media intelligence scheme forms part of Sir Keir’s wider crackdown on crime, which aims to restore public confidence in policing.

    As part of this, police in Devon and Cornwall are embedding specialist anti-social behaviour lawyers who will work to fast-track prosecutions.

    Humberside Police are also using real-time mapping to allow patrols to attend “emerging problem locations”.

    A Home Office spokesman said: “This new team will help police forces track real-time information and protect communities from incidents and emergencies before they escalate.

    “As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are restoring visible, neighbourhood policing, focused on the public’s priorities, including halving knife crime and violence against women, clamping down on theft and anti-social behaviour, and ensuring that people can feel safe in their own high streets.”

    Alan Rowe
    just now
    The PM is so copiously out of his depth !

    He, already is like an old, tired blindfolded donkey, desperately looking for something that might represent a tail to pin himself
 on.

    Such a sad tale.

    Comment by John Gregory.

    JG

    John Gregory
    just now
    What about shoplifters.

    Along with escalating costs. They ruined my business. I closed up shop.

    Comment by Alison James.

    AJ

    Alison James
    just now
    Will they be monitoring anti Christian anti Jewish and anti western rhetoric or will it just be us white folks who have to mind what we say and be afraid to voice our legitimate concerns?

    Comment by James GS.

    JG

    James GS
    just now
    They ought to spend the money on stopping illegal migrants crossing the channel.

    Comment by Jack Coombs.

    JC

    Jack Coombs
    just now
    This govt (as previous conservative ones did before) is openly acting against the interests of the country. It is now trying to complete the politicisation of the police to mobilise them against any who oppose their plan to do nothing about mass migration and to allow cultural take over. Where is the King? When the PM has completely lost the confidence of the govt is acting against interests of the nation the King should demand he submit to the people for an election now their agenda is clear to determine if these divisive actions can win Labour a fresh election (which they surely could not).

    1. "The name's Reagan, Detective Inspector Jack Reagan of the Prying Squad. You're nicked, Love!"

    2. So first they post a bunch of stuff whipping people up to go out on the streets.
      Then they tell us that they've got to monitor what we write on the internet in case people go out on the streets.

      What a surprise!

    3. “The Free Speech Union, a pressure group led by the Tory peer Lord Young, said: “If you have a standard X account in the UK – presumably the majority of British users – it appears that you may not be able to see any protest footage that contains violence”.

      I think the last three words need to be left off. That will be nearer the truth

  113. Apple heiress Eve Jobs weds Team GB Olympic star in idyllic Cotswolds village.

    Former US Vice President Kamala Harris is tipped to be among the VIP guests.. LOL
    “It is time for us to do what we have been doing. And that time is every day."

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