Saturday 29 March: Labour’s schools policy threatens to extinguish a great British tradition

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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646 thoughts on “Saturday 29 March: Labour’s schools policy threatens to extinguish a great British tradition”

  1. Good morning all.
    A tad over 4°C on a bright and dry morning with light cloud.
    One load of washing put into the machine and washing done last night hung up the garden.
    One woodstack to finish off today.

  6. Radio 3 News just mentioned a partial eclipse of the sun is due about 10:00 today, between 30 and 50%.

      1. We needn't buy the physical vehicles, just the manufacturing kit. Imagine if, instead of the moronic, backward green nonsense we had a Tesla manufacturing plant here? Imagine the jobs, the science it would create and encourage.

    2. It isn’t just the tariffs . We kept GDPR (costs us in compliance) and other EU laws were passed into our laws instead of all being repealed and just any useful ones being reinstated.

    1. 403980+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      I believe the police have been informed that their uniform collar lightning studs are in the post.

    3. Folk still don't understand: rapists, muslim pakistani paedophiles and murderers are clients of the state. They need more state, so the state doens't care about them.

      Dissent, those pushing back against the state, they must be destroyed.

      It's fascism. This is why nothing works. It's why everything is horrible. We live in a socialist, fascist country.

      1. I was listening to a podcast, I think it was maneco64 who made the same point that western governments have "one foot in socialism, one foot in fascism" nowadays.
        A horrible mixture.

    4. I'd be interested to learn more about the situation in the school, the opinions of the other parents and what exactly these parents said.
      On the face of it, it seems likely that the school has over-reacted, wasted police time and this has been exacerbated by the Police themselves over-reacting..

      1. 403980+ up ticks,

        Morning Bob,

        I believe you to be correct, borne out by the police actions alone.

  11. We are in a beautiful modern cottage called "The hideaway" (well named) In Eype, West Dorset. We drove down yesterday and are here for a week. The single traffic lanes were a bit scary for my old XF Sportbrake, not to mention a couple of near vertical short climbs. The sun is shining and the weather looks good for the week. Sadly the only pub in the village has closed. We are losing 37 pubs a week – disastrous! Off to Bridport market later.

    2. Good morning DB

      Eype is lovely .
      In the very early 1970s , we rented a cottage in Chideock before we bought our house in Dorchester . We lived there for 6 months . Moh had to commute to Portland .

      Rented accommodation in those days was thin on the ground .. That part of Dorset is beautiful .. I used to walk down to Seatown with no1 son in his pushchair , and our first spaniel! Ours was a winter rental ..

      Thatched cottages were dark dismal places to live , ours was an original , an inglenook fire was the only thing that kept us warm .. the thatch needed repairing , rats in the roof space , uneven wooden floor upstairs , our bed slid around , and the cold downstairs flag floor always felt damp ..

      Still what else could one expect from a grade 2 listed cottage , it was an experience .

      1. What were you doing to make the bed slide around, Belle?
        ;-))
        Or was it ice on the floor?

        1. I live in a grade 2 listed building. Finest art deco metal and concrete (1935-37).

        2. This was in a Dorset village , cottage not improved, lived there late winter 1972/1973 spring .

          A row of thatched cottages that needed up grading , on a busy main road .. draughty windows , rotting wood and a proper working inglenook with bread oven .. cooking facilities zilch apart from an electric kettle .. but toast was perfect .. and the bread oven cooked pot roasts etc , we had to be very careful what we used to keep the fire alight .

          A cosy experience except we all stank of smokey chimney and suffered from sore eyes and eyestrain because it was so dark ..

          The cottage has now been modernised so we have been told and looks so different , new thatch and the mud rendering has been painted ..

          It was an amazing experience .. History. In 1379–80 John de Chideock, a manorial lord, built Chideock Castle just north of the village. During the Middle Ages ownership passed to the Catholic Arundell family, who used it to provide refuge for priests and loyal followers during subsequent religious persecution.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chideock#:~:text=%22wooded%22).-,History,followers%20during%20subsequent%20religious%20persecution.

  12. Morning, all Y'all.
    Brilliant sunshine! Most energizing – yet they forecast snow for tonight. Bugger.

  13. Good morning, chums. And thank you, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,379 4/6

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

  14. For Putin, ammunition costs money, and the dead cost nothing. 29 March 2025.

    It may be quite simply a reflection of the fact that, as in a game of musical chairs, the music will stop, perhaps in the next month. When it does, you have what you hold. Speaking to some Ukrainian soldiers visiting the UK on a lecture tour last week, they tell me the manifestation of this on the Russian side is last gasp attempts, with human wave attacks. These assaults are initially led by the walking wounded, some on crutches, pushed forward to draw Ukrainian fire before the ramshackle main effort is thrown forward in reckless charges.

    Is this true? We do know that in WW2, Russian deserters, or the politically suspect, were placed in the forefront of attacks; usually minus their camouflage capes. This with the aid of a powerful NKVD. By the nature of things the walking wounded would move much more slowly than the able bodied and would be eliminated almost instantly. They would actually serve as a warning of imminent attack. Such a policy would rapidly become widely known with its subsequent effect on morale. The treatment of the wounded and prisoners by the other side is a subject of overwhelming interest to all soldiers. There’s no hint of this in the behaviour of the Russian Army or in its coverage in the Media.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/28/ukraine-belgorod-invasion-of-russia-putin/

    1. At least the politically inconvenient were sent to fight. Starmer just jails his enemies for telling the truth.

    2. A while back I read that in war the aim should be to wound rather than kill enemy soldiers because dead soldiers don't need looking after whereas wounded ones tie up others caring for them (instead of fighting!)…

  15. For Putin, ammunition costs money, and the dead cost nothing. 29 March 2025.

    It may be quite simply a reflection of the fact that, as in a game of musical chairs, the music will stop, perhaps in the next month. When it does, you have what you hold. Speaking to some Ukrainian soldiers visiting the UK on a lecture tour last week, they tell me the manifestation of this on the Russian side is last gasp attempts, with human wave attacks. These assaults are initially led by the walking wounded, some on crutches, pushed forward to draw Ukrainian fire before the ramshackle main effort is thrown forward in reckless charges.

    Is this true? We do know that in WW2, Russian deserters, or the politically suspect, were placed in the forefront of attacks; usually minus their camouflage capes. This with the aid of a powerful NKVD. By the nature of things the walking wounded would move much more slowly than the able bodied and would be eliminated almost instantly. They would actually serve as a warning of imminent attack. Such a policy would rapidly become widely known with its subsequent effect on morale. The treatment of the wounded and prisoners by the other side is a subject of overwhelming interest to all soldiers. There’s no hint of this in the behaviour of the Russian Army or in its coverage in the Media.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/28/ukraine-belgorod-invasion-of-russia-putin/

  16. For Putin, ammunition costs money, and the dead cost nothing. 29 March 2025.

    It may be quite simply a reflection of the fact that, as in a game of musical chairs, the music will stop, perhaps in the next month. When it does, you have what you hold. Speaking to some Ukrainian soldiers visiting the UK on a lecture tour last week, they tell me the manifestation of this on the Russian side is last gasp attempts, with human wave attacks. These assaults are initially led by the walking wounded, some on crutches, pushed forward to draw Ukrainian fire before the ramshackle main effort is thrown forward in reckless charges.

    Is this true? We do know that in WW2, Russian deserters, or the politically suspect, were placed in the forefront of attacks; usually minus their camouflage capes. This with the aid of a powerful NKVD. By the nature of things the walking wounded would move much more slowly than the able bodied and would be eliminated almost instantly. They would actually serve as a warning of imminent attack. Such a policy would rapidly become widely known with its subsequent effect on morale. The treatment of the wounded and prisoners by the other side is a subject of overwhelming interest to all soldiers. There’s no hint of this in the behaviour of the Russian Army or in its coverage in the Media.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/28/ukraine-belgorod-invasion-of-russia-putin/

    1. And yet I work with a Dubliner-born-and-bred (flies to UK for a few days each fortnight) who hates Trump with a passion and is a passionate #bekind-er. Though she has no children (nor, at her age, will have, and her brothers have all emigrated)

      1. Then suggest that she take in some of these diversity.

        She won't because like all Lefties she's a hypocrite. She wants the nice, safe secure country folk like Trump provides, with the luxury and security to complain about it.

    2. And yet I work with a Dubliner-born-and-bred (flies to UK for a few days each fortnight) who hates Trump with a passion and is a passionate #bekind-er. Though she has no children (nor, at her age, will have, and her brothers have all emigrated)

    5. They can't say they didn't know what would happen if they opened the floodgates, they only needed to look across the Irish Sea. So it was a deliberate act of self-harm.

  18. Robert Jenrick

    “Who runs Britain? In a world of all-powerful permanent secretaries, sprawling agencies and quangos, and growing activism in domestic and international courts, it’s a question worth asking.

    Whatever your answer, we can be certain it’s not Sir Keir Starmer. In
    the tell-all account of Starmer’s rise to the top of British politics, a member of the Prime Minister’s inner circle quipped: “Keir’s not driving the train. He thinks he’s driving the train, but we’ve sat him at the front of the DLR.”

    So who is pulling the strings of our Potemkin Prime Minister? By most accounts, it is Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s Chief of Staff. McSweeney’s verdict on the PM is damning: “Keir acts like an HR manager, not a leader.” But he’s certainly not an HR manager either – turning a blind eye to the Chancellor and Business Secretary fibbing on their CVs. What is the point of him?

    Starmer appears oblivious to the enormous challenges facing the country. We have experienced nearly two decades of lost growth, a surge in violent crime, and unprecedented levels of mass migration have left parts of our major cities unrecognisable.

    Britain’s social fabric is fraying from the denigration of British culture and the proliferation of divisive identity politics, high energy prices are deindustrialising Britain, and our borders have been blown open by young men crossing in small boats.

    The British state is as expensive and poorly planned as it has ever been and struggles to perform even the most basic functions well. The diagnosis is dire and the prescription must surely be something strong.

    But so far this Government has done little more than rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic. Wherever you look, Starmer’s Government is tinkering around the edges, seeking to manage failure, not turn things around….

    As those who know him best have warned, Starmer simply isn’t a leader. He is perfectly content for things to get worse, and flinches at the radical reforms needed to arrest decline. Even at the peak of his political powers he is timid, choosing to preserve his reputation within the British establishment as a status-quo politician that doesn’t rock the boat. It’s little wonder anti-politics sentiment is soaring and people have lost hope.

    Starmer spent five years fighting a battle to make the Labour Party electable, root out anti-Semitism and defeat Corbynism. He largely succeeded. What he didn’t spend five years doing is thinking about how to fix the broken state and turn the country around. His mission has been to restore the soul of Labour, not the country.

    It meant that when he entered into Government he had no real plan, and no agenda for rebuilding Britain. Morgan McSweeney has been left to force-feed radicalism to a Prime Minister on hunger strike. If the penny does finally drop, it will be too late. The question is: what will be left of the country after four more years?”

    1. Britain’s social fabric is fraying from the denigration of British culture and the proliferation of divisive identity politics, high energy prices are deindustrialising Britain, and our borders have been blown open by young men crossing in small boats.

      All Labour policies, mind

      But so far this Government has done little more than rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic. Wherever you look, Starmer’s Government is tinkering around the edges, seeking to manage failure, not turn things around….

      All to the plan. Whose, I don't know, but considering the solutions to our problems are straightforward and no government for the last 30 years has implemented them (Blair introduced them) it's clear there's an agenda to destroy this country.

      I know Lefties don't like facts, but we did not need 30 million foreigners. We were getting older – oh well. We're a services economy. An accountant needn't retire at 65. Welfare didn't need to be expanded so every Sharon, Angela and Kourtnay could get a free house on the taxpayer. Cutting taxes creates real wealth and real jobs – the state hiked every single one going. Our grid, so comically stable and well managed is now the most expensive in the world and horribly unreliable with endless tweaking needed.

      Every single piece of law, every bit of regulation for the last 30 years should be repealed, binned and burned – along with those who introduced it. We need massive repatriation, a far tougher criminal code and, bluntly, to get rid of 90% of the state machine.

      1. Less and less labour is needed, as machines and AI take over. We don't need untrained immigrants.
        Just look at the offshore project I'm working on.
        Most of the daily operator rounds in the plant will be made using an autonomous robot (I'm developing the details of that now – go here, look at that bit, and report leak/looseness, etc.)
        We also are improving the maintenance so only that that needs done, gets done. Think the service indicator for your car – no more 10.000 mile / 12 month services, for example, needed or not.

        1. Yep, and cars are getting more intelligent too. My chum programmes robots for oil pipeline repair. It's really sophisticated stuff.

          Most of our problems are down to unwanted gimmigration, welfare and taxation. If government just buggered off we would all be so much better off.

    2. Strange to compare 2TK with Potemkin. Potemkin’s strings were pulled by Catherine II. With all her faults, Starmer’s handlers are dirt beneath her feet.

  19. Well my friends I went to the eye hospital yesterday. There’s a form to these things. You have to jump a series of hurdles. There’s the preliminary test where you just read the idiot chart with the perforated cardboard spectacles and then the eye drops are inserted to expand your iris. They sting like fury. You then proceed by a series of hopeful guesses down endless corridors to the technical guy who scans your eyes with a variety of light based machines. There was a new one this time. You have to press your eyeballs into a socket in its face while looking sideways. Not easy. I think that it is something like sideways seeing radar. It takes a 3D picture of your retina. Then back down to another waiting room. Then the final leg. The CONSULTANT. She’s a small woman. Indian I think. They seem to be over represented on the door nameplates.

    There’s a young white man there. A trainee obviously. I ignore him.

    His boss has a few strictures. Things are not helped by my now being partly deaf. She tells me I no longer have to go the opticians for the test. I don’t say anything. I haven’t been since the one that led me to where I am now. She gives me a quick scan on her own machine then tells me that she’s worried that the condition of my right eye will lead to blindness. I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve Googled it. (I think that I can say with fair confidence that her worries are as nothing to mine.) She says I need to take the drugs for my blood pressure and diabetes. I try to explain that I couldn’t get a repeat prescription and have given up. She tells me that I should go and tell them that I need them.

    I have to go and see her again in two month’s time. I grope my way out and go home. My legs hurt. It takes six hours for the drops to wear off.

    I have heard nothing today that tells me that this drug regime will retard the onset of my problems. I suspect that it’s occupational therapy. I’ll go to the Medical Centre on Monday and try to get a new supply. All this leaves me with the impression that it’s time to call it a day. There are no good exit scenario’s here. I’m 78 and entering the final run. Its curtailment would be no loss.

    1. It must be getting very trying Minty and I will admit that I read all that with a growing sense of thankfulness that, as I approach 73, I'm still in fairly good health.

    2. I'm sorry that things are looking grim, Minty, but don't you believe your last sentence.
      I've only met KayPea from Nottl, the rest of you are just a typeface, yet when one falls off their perch, the sense of loss, for me, is huge. For example, I still miss Tom Hunn, to the extent that his last sms to me is still in my phone – and I normally tidy them away once the subject is done.
      So, you are important to me and us here, courtesy of Geoff, and we care that you aren't having a good time. Don't go, there will be a huge increase in the level of misery in the world if you do.

        1. Thanks, Bill. Friends suffering makes me rather emotional. And that with no liquid assistance, too.

      2. I second that sentiment. People post and you may be wrong but you built up a personality behind the name and you think of them as friends, some of them 😊. You miss them when they stop posting, wonder how they are, worry about them. So yes as Ober says: "… when one falls off their perch, the sense of loss, for me, is huge." I understand exactly how he feels.

      3. I second that sentiment. People post and you may be wrong but you built up a personality behind the name and you think of them as friends, some of them 😊. You miss them when they stop posting, wonder how they are, worry about them. So yes as Ober says: "… when one falls off their perch, the sense of loss, for me, is huge." I understand exactly how he feels.

        1. Hi Geoff.
          I know what you mean – I have memory impairment, has a similar effect.
          Tom was in hospital for a while, Moffat Royal Infirmary (IIRC), then in mid to late Feb I received a call from him, and was delighted to answer – but it was Judy, his ex, using his phone. She announced that he had unfortunately passed, and asked that I pass on the message to NoTTL.
          I put it on a pinned message straight away.

    3. You say that Minty, but I'd miss you. I'd far prefer you to be around than not.

      The eye tests sound positively miserable. It took five people to hold me down to take my eye drops so I sympathise terribly.

      1. You don't live in the real world, young Phil. Doing something obvious would never occur to anyone in the Envy of the World.

        1. My consultant was more than happy to prescribe temazepam. I threw the prescription in the bin.

    5. My question is the same as Pips. Why didn't she give you a repeat prescription? She has the power. The drops I take for Glaucoma were prescribed for me at the hospital by the doctor who examined me. And, I would hate to see you go. That would really depress me because I would miss you. You are appreciated.

    7. Minty, I’m so sorry for all the b*ggeration you had, and send all my best wishes and thoughts to you. I hope as time goes on you’ll feel a bit more positive, as you’d be sorely missed here. 💕

    8. Just a thought Minty. Even though its a pain in the arris, if I were in your shoes I'd pester my GP for a referral to Moorfields for a second opinion (assuming that is the Eye Hospital you refer to isn't Moorfields….) Best wishes S.

    9. Dear Araminta, I’m sorry to hear of your medical problems. Please know that you’re not alone. I, for one, as thinking about you. I don’t know what else to say. You are one of my favourite “commenters” and I enjoy and agree with your comments.

    10. I'm so sorry you feel that way. Paul (Oberst) speaks for me as many others in respect of your last sentence.

      Might it help to indulge in some wickedness, i you feel you've nothing to lose? If they won't give you a prescription, go and lie down (well wrapped up) at the exit to the staff car park, with a sign explaining why. Get a friend to video the police removing you; the papers would love it. Other protests are available!

    11. Sometimes it seems it isn’t worth the candle, but then I meet someone in much worse shape than I am who is cheerfully coping and it puts it all in perspective.

    12. Get out of here Minty – what would Jack Vance say??

      Irrespective of that – who am I going to argue about Putin with??

      Take it easy, buddy 😉 x

      PS I'll sign off with a bit of Dylan Thomas

      Do not go gentle into that good night
      Rage, rage against the dying of the light….

    13. Dear Minty.

      It seems you have issues with diabetes and blood pressure, right?

      One can follow the other. I've had 20 years of diabetic retinopathy screening ast Frimley Park Eye Treatment Centre.

      I was having regular Lucentis injections for the retinopathy in both eyes. The routine was similar: Vision Channel, Dilating Drops, wait for stinginging to subside, then make one's way to the Scanning Room, and wait to see the Eye Doctor (invariably from the sub-continent).

      I learned that retinopathy was related to large variations in blood glucose. Over the course of time, I noticed that – if I needed an injection, I'd faitly recently had a hypoglyceamic event. I''m Type 2 on insulin. I've never had a hypo which could be described as a medical emetgency, but stuffing oneself with carbs has a delayed effect. Hece, one tends to over-compensate, and swing rapidly from hypo- to hyper- glycaemia.

      I still moderate my carbs, but have relaxed my BG control somewhat. Any hypos in the last few years have been due to miscalculationof insulin requirements. Ot unexpected activity. Hence, I've not needed a Lucentis injection for over three years.

      I experienced a retinal bleed in the right eye, around 9 years ago. The blood didn't go away natutally, leading to a vitrectomy operation which was initially very successful. Sunsequently, retinopathy in that eye got progressuvely worse, despite the Lucentis injections.

      Several consultations later, one of the eye doctors opined that – post vitrectomy – Lucentis injections don't find their way to the correct location via the synthetic trplacement for the vitreous (i. e. the natural gel which fills the eyeball).

      If anything I've posted above gives you any insight, you're welcome. My current problem is that I hada succession of retinal bleeds in the 'good' eye' over the last few months. Ive had laser sessions to zap the dodgy blood vessels (thanks, diabetes), and the seccond camera you desctibe shows that there's less blood than a couple of months ago.

      Meanwhile, I can read the 'pooter with white on black enlarged text. The keyboard, though backlit, is vulnerable to wine ingress, and correspondingly useless…

      Meanwhile, vision is returning, glacially slowly. But I'm nothing if not patient…

      1. Thank you for that Geoff. One of my problems is that I can get no information out of these people. It's like being in the army. Do this. Do that. With no understanding of what is actually happening.

    14. Don't despair, Minty.

      I'm ten years your junior, and I'm faitly sure my eyesight is curremntly far worse than yours. With blood sloshing around the "good eye", I can only read the 'pooter with inverted colours. Can't read music at all – I can play all the hymns from memory, but I'm buggered when it comes to voluntaries.

      I can't see across the road. Or the room, to be honest. But things are improving, albeit glacially slowly.

      So I unaderatand your situation. I'm happy to chat. Maybe I can help. Call, text, or WhatsApp to "Oh 7 ate 7 oh won for six six free five"

  20. With this blatant two tier 'sentencing council' we had the usual tiresome soundbites from the pre-preared script (so they all knew it was coming) and the faux outrage (the government could have acted to disband the quango, it didn't) rather has me suspect that it's all a hoax.

    I imagine Starmer's real anger is that this became common knowledge and was expecting it to get through under the radar.

    More comical was Jenrick, when asked if he would disband the quango after excoriating it's nonsense did a sudden turn about and refused to say he would so is as bad as the rest of them. Just another big state, high tax socialist.

      1. Folk are saying it, the problem is they all want someone else to pay the bill for them to keep what they are getting.

        There are very, very few people like the Warqueen and I who are getting nothing from the state. We worked out that the ECO4 grant we got was paid for from our taxes, so doesn't count (and we were willing to pay for what we did want, but the state prevented it). Most folk receive some form of handout, be that child benefit, housing benefit, working tax credits.

        The government keeps introducing various 'reliefs' rather than just cutting taxes. All bloating the tax code. All making life harder – deliberately – so as to keep the net as wide as possible and make claiming tax back comically expensive so folk don't bother or simply can't afford the admin.

        Fundamentally it comes down to a Left wing social democrat ideology, that comes from the civil service, itself infiltrated by that mindset of big state, high tax socialism to suit itself. Only by cutting the state can reforms be forced but the minefield of unionism, legislation is so vast it's designed to ensure improvement is impossible: which is what big fat state wants.

        1. I paid in tax last year the price of a decent-sized car (including VAT). In return they sweep the roads, collect the rubbish and provide water & sewage services. That's it.

      2. This situation didn't happen overnight when the current bunch got elected. It's been building since the link with gold was severed and the currency became Printers'R'us.
        Although the Labour cabinet have scarcely a thought between them, there's not much they can do. Has any country with a debt to GDP ratio as large as Britain's ever come back without a hyperinflation and re-launching the currency? I don't think so.

        1. I mentioned gold and Gordon Brown to my ISA account manager at Schroder’s yesterday and his normally impeccable tact wavered. He has a low opinion of Brown.

      3. This situation didn't happen overnight when the current bunch got elected. It's been building since the link with gold was severed and the currency became Printers'R'us.
        Although the Labour cabinet have scarcely a thought between them, there's not much they can do. Has any country with a debt to GDP ratio as large as Britain's ever come back without a hyperinflation and re-launching the currency? I don't think so.

    4. While half of the welfare spend goes on a rising number of pensioners, ministers are alarmed over what is happening among people of working age. There has been a rapid rise in the number of people who should be in their best years claiming they are too sick to work, often blaming their mental health.

      Since the pandemic, some 700,000 more people have left the workforce because of long-term sickness. Nearly all of these people claim some form of benefit, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics.

      No one is really sure why. Britain is something of an outlier among comparable countries in seeing such a big, sustained exodus of workers as a result of poor health.

      Douglas McWilliams, a former adviser to George Osborne, says: “My sense is that gradually, and I think lockdown had a lot to do with it, large swathes of the country are beginning to feel that living on benefits is a lifestyle choice.

      “It’s sad for them, but if you live off free money for a long enough period it becomes quite hard to get off it – it can be quite addictive.”

      The biggest increases in health problems have been among young people struggling with their mental health and older people dealing with musculoskeletal issues such as achy knees, backs and necks.

      Long-term sickness? Really? Lockdown made millions lazy. I do have some sympathy for the effect of it on children and teenagers but we're almost four years on now. Reeves is correct to go after the idlers but she has to make work worthwhile.

      1. IMO welfare ‘spend’ should not include state pensions. I have paid in to my state pension for 39 years (some time off for children) and feel fully entitled to it. However, my paltry private pension has been taxed for the last 3 years, never mind will be taxed. Wouldn’t mind betting many other pensioners have had to pay a tax on private pension.

        According to the DT recently nearly 1 million 16-24 year olds are neither in work nor education. (I thought they had to be at school until 18 these days). Even so, that’s a lot of people who should be working but aren’t. Benefits are far too generous, it seems to have become a life style choice. We also should ban payments to more than one wife. Bigamy is illegal in the U.K. so why are certain men with multiple wives able to just carry on ignoring our laws? And there is no way HMG should be sending child support overseas. HMG wastes so much of our taxes it’s an utter disgrace.

        1. We all paid into our state pensions so it should be seen as an entitlement because we worked and paid NI for it. My second pension is a snivel service one so I was fortunate in getting that. It was also contributory and at the time I joined was seen more as "deferred pay" because our salaries were not great, but it was a secure job. They have changed the criteria since then and it's no longer based on final salary. I've always had to pay tax on that.

          They do waste a huge amount of money on people who should be working – and it should be illegal to claim for more than one wife, or children who live overseas.

        2. I was taxed on my teacher's pension from the moment I started drawing it. The amount of tax free income is paltry (and even less now I am deemed to be single after I lost my spouse).

  22. Morning all 🙂😊
    Lovely sunny start could be double figures.
    I've just been liaising with my wife and son in Dubai. It Looks great. She tells me it's around 30 degrees and she 'might have to' buy some lighter clothing. ……you ladies eh 🤗🤭🤔

    It seems that everything labour is doing or planning to do, is destructive to our country.
    Someone really needs to remove these treasonous monsters from office. No body voted for any of these measures they are forcing us to accept and pay dearly for.

  23. Tree team arrived – I am keeping out of the way. My work begins when they leave – stacking two sheds full of spit logs. It'll take a week at least.

    Last night we watched a "Face to Face" (BBC TV) – the series made in the 1990s. The interviewee last night was Jeremy Isaacs. Gosh – compare and contrast with the lightweights running the BBC and other TV channels today.

    Where are the intellectual heavyweights de nos jours? Cancelled, I suppose.

      2. Because I enjoy stacking logs. There is a knack and a skill required. The lads would not do what I would require.

          1. Looks splendid!

            Out of curiosity, in what sort of order does one fish the logs out?

      1. Not really. Dry kindling is the best. Tomorrow I shall gather in two crates of kindling (not from today’s trees – but just lying in what I pretentiously call “the Beech Wood”.

      3. Chippings are good for smoking fish and meat because they smoulder rather than burn.

      4. I burn them once they are dried but you have to be careful they don't flare up too much. I would not advise lighting the fire with them. Or you could put them on the garden to keep the weeds down.

      5. I burn them once they are dried but you have to be careful they don't flare up too much. I would not advise lighting the fire with them. Or you could put them on the garden to keep the weeds down.

    1. Well, it's Saturday, so should all the chores get done swiftly, the day is yours to doze away, should you choose to.

          2. Short shift if you're on night duty; apart form at least half the staff turning up an hour late.
            (Says she with bitter memories.)

          2. Then all I can say is be grateful for your good fortune. For me it leads to lack of sleep due to going to bed at BST but feeling sleepy at GMT.

          5. Being retired, I get up when I feel like it. Not very early usually.
            But on holiday – in Kenya for instance – three hours ahead of here – I'm up while it's still dark – 5.30am Kenyan time – no problem!
            It's a state of mind I find – nothing to get up for – stay in bed. Though the cats might get a bit restless………

          6. I may be retired, but staying in bed is a bit of a luxury; I get up for church, for meetings, to make sure the dogs aren’t walked in the hottest part of the day (summer time only!), to give my dressage lesson …

    3. Sorry to hear that. I slept well but was woken early to let Winston out. I went back to bed. It seems to be a pattern, but I don’t want to risk having to clean up.

      1. I think I just had an over-active mind rumbling along, and several trips to the loo. I finally dozed off when it was just getting light.

        1. That happens to me sometimes. The more I try to relax and go to sleep, the tenser I become and the more sleep eludes me.

    1. The level of ignorance, stupidity and desperation shown by the writer of the missive is staggering.

    2. Umm… Vaxxed gets the disease, unvaxxed doesn't. Looks like forgoing the vaxx is the solution to not getting ill.
      I had 'flu vaxx once, and was sicker than a dog with flu. As Covid struck, I started wih Vit D3, and since then, I haven't been ill with anything, not even a cold.

      2. I started taking vitD3 in 2020 and haven't been ill since, apart from very minor sniffles. I had the flu jab in 2020, the first time ever, but not bothered with it since. I had two bouts of 'flu or something similar, in 1972 (spent that Christmas in bed) and 1984. Both times felt very poorly, aching etc, and finally sweated it out. Had nothing like it since. I was young and healthy then, too.

    3. Priceless! That's what brainwashing does to a person. I can't laugh too loudly because before covid, I used to think quite similar things!

    4. And not an inkling of thought that, if the vaxxed children are getting infected then either:-
      A; the Vax is causing the infection
      or
      B; the Vax is totally bloody useless.

    5. Homo neanderthalis was a far more advanced and intelligent being than H. sapiens imbecilus (modern 2025 man) will ever become.

  27. Good morning all. Sunny but cool here in West Sussex andv going to remain cool for the rest of the day.

    Todays offering. Mayer Tousi is the long version and Dan Wooton is the short. Both about the same subject. But I found Tousi's version more informative. Thought I would post both so people can choose. Topic is a Priest who has been thrown out of his church for criticising Chairman Comrade Starmer.
    Dan Wooton
    Famous priest CANCELLED after going viral for accusing Keir Starmer of Southport cover up
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoxxUW1uZM&list=TLPQMjkwMzIwMjUDkQ3VEx7Nzw&index=2
    Mayer Tousi
    British Priest KICKED OUT Of Church For Criticising Starmer
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVJikkpxbSk&list=TLPQMjkwMzIwMjUDkQ3VEx7Nzw&index=1

        1. I think we can all see that he’s obviously anti British public.
          In that case he should be removed from office.

  30. 'Morning. Just let the ducks out, looked up and saw the first swallow circling in the sky. I can't remember seeing one so early before.

      1. I have seen greys in the trees. Fortunately Winston didn’t or I would have been joining them!

    2. The storks were early too this year. I think they must have been fooled by the warm weather we had a few weeks ago and started off early. I haven't seen any swallows yet though!

    3. Fortunately, the bees at Firstborn's place are still indoors, despite the warm, as there's no flowers yet to visit. So, smart little buzzzers they are, they are saving their efforts until flowering starts.

      1. Given that the Weegie summer is short (and presumably spring and autumn flowers are limited in number and flowering period), they must have to go at it like the clappers.

  31. And in other news: The jigsaw has reached the stage where, if we each put in two pieces A DAY, we think we are doing pretty well!

  32. The Daily T: Farage has his big moment – but can he cut it?
    A former ally of the Reform leader says he risks creating “a gap in the market” for a new party on the Right if Reform is not democratised
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/28/the-daily-t-nigel-farage-big-moment-reform-local-elections/

    BTL

    Farage is a one-man band – he cannot work with others so how would he ever get a cabinet together?

    Much as I like the sound of a violin well played it jars on the ear without a full strings section and an orchestra behind it.

    1. He lied about getting the party democratised. Just another item in his repertory of misdirection, misinformation and fraud to get people to vote for him. He's afraid of a democratic party. He knows he would be ousted if he did that and Rupert Lowe would be the leader.

    3. Farridge [with apologies to Geoffrey Woollard] is nobbut a shrill and strident self-publicist. The man makes a lot of noise but it is a noise without substance (except for himself).

      1. 403980+ up ticks,

        Morning G,
        I dunno,
        fiddler farage has a certain appealing ring to it.

      2. 403980+ up ticks,

        Morning G,
        I dunno,
        fiddler farage has a certain appealing ring to it.

      3. It is a tale told by an idiot
        Full of sound and fury
        Signifying nothing.
        [William Shakespeare]

        Semblance of Worth, not substance
        [John Milton]

  34. Mum and i are off to Kinver Edge in a minute, then I’m meeting an old friend in the village in the afternoon.

  35. I program you tube to go throughout the night on a selection of videos of any and every topic that catches my eye, that will last me at least 10 hours. That's how I get through so many topics. Most of what I post here is what I saw last night. And because I'm very fortunate in having a good memory I tend to remember those I watched weeks ago. So can dredge them up. That why I'm still vexed on the Badenoch thing where I asserted she was responsible for letting Nigerians into the UK. I know I saw it and it isn't a figment of my imagination.

  36. Funny story (true). Just taken orders from Colin and the two lads for coffee/tea. The older lad (about 22) when not doing any useful work is ALWAYS on his bloody phone! I asked him what he'd do if he didn't have a phone. "I suppose I'd learn to read…" he said!

    1. I got my sister and family a card with the family at Christmas dinner all on their telephones. She said 'Ah, it won't be like that this year.'

      And lo! it was.

  37. Bloody Welder Son!!
    He's only buggered off for the weekend and, after borrowing it through the week, taken my bloody large axe with him!!

      1. Bloody tempted to!
        Tried using the kindling axe with a lump hammer, but it's too much hard work on my wrists!

  38. Convict freed early killed man on day of release

    A prisoner freed as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s prison scheme killed someone on the day he was released. Liam Matthews, 26, left HMP Holme House in Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, just hours before the “brutal” knife attack on Lewis Bell, 26 by Matthews, Ashton White, 18, and Sean McLeod, 23, over a drug dispute, a court heard.

    After a trial at Teesside Crown Court, Matthews and White were convicted of manslaughter, and McLeod of murder. Matthews had been jailed for violent disorder in June 22. However, he was released early amid a boom in prison population. The Ministry of Justice has insisted it had “no choice” but to implement the early release policy.

    “If justice supposes that, then justice is a ass — a idiot. If that's the eye of justice, then justice is a bachelor.”

    1. A quote from the GB News article:-

      "Matthews was part of a gang of three who hunted Bell "like prey" in a drug-related dispute."

      And at that point, any sympathy I had with the victims family evaporated.

  39. Yo and Good Moaning all, from a chilly, but Sunny, C d S

    My first

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    ot the day

    Labour launches net zero crackdown on boats

    Maritime bosses warn ‘nonsensical’ measures could sink the British fishing industry overnight

    Labour is implementing stricter net zero measures on fishing boats, canal barges and pleasure craft, The Telegraph can reveal.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/28/british-maritime-sector-impacted-miliband-net-zero-targets/

    1. Sharon Tate, murdered by members of the Manson cult.

      In this photo at least she looks remarkably like ex-UKIP and current talking head Alex Phillips.

      What prompted this?

      1. A very beautiful lass and a fairly passable actress.
        Ironically, Welder Son was amused by a film clip t'other day where, in reaction to a crucifix, the Vampire, played by Alfie Bass, responded "Oi Vey! Have you got the wrong wampire!" from one of her films, The Dance Of the Vampires.

        1. Ah yes, the well-known Jewish vampire joke. However, the one thing that rather spoils the joke is knowing that consuming blood in any form is forbidden under the Torah (Jewish Law) so the idea of a Jewish vampire is completely oxymoronic – or at least, shall we say, very much not kosher!
          Or perhaps that was the second level of the joke …

    2. Sharon Tate, murdered by members of the Manson cult.

      In this photo at least she looks remarkably like ex-UKIP and current talking head Alex Phillips.

      What prompted this?

    3. Sharon Tate, murdered by members of the Manson cult.

      In this photo at least she looks remarkably like ex-UKIP and current talking head Alex Phillips.

      What prompted this?

  41. Is this state of affairs really down to incompetence or is this and other known nonsense being forced on us a deliberate attempt to damage the economy and therefore society?

    Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is a sign of insanity. It's a known that an economy cannot taxed into growth and yet here we are.

    The old military adage, "do not reinforce failure" works in this scenario but Reeves blunders on.

    https://x.com/tesssummers98/status/1905893327464984803

    1. It isn’t as though we had never experienced it in the 70s., is it? Some people never learn.

    2. Even if the buggers are chucked out in 2029, who would risk any long term investment in a country prone to electing vindictive numpties?
      The Conservatives had 14 years to prove they were grown up, and failed miserably.

  42. Completely by chance a woman wandered up to is with the 3D glasses and i got a look at the partial eclipse of the sun. My first ever eclipse and i was amazed!

  43. I am so upset over the death of my friends husband .

    She intimated that she would be comfortable , all best laid plains now working.. she relied on him totally .

    This morning he would be collecting the meat from the butcher, , the baker and the Post Office , after doing the laundry and other tasks for his wife , who had a stroke a few years ago , lucid but prone to falls because her leg is useless and relies on a rollator .

    Her tears were real and broke me in pieces , she couldn't get him on the floor from the chair to do CPR.

    It was nearly 15mts before ambulance appeared and then the air ambulance landed ..

    She informed me that a large UK oil company had informed her that a months pension would have to be repaid .. ( her husbands company) How can that be ?

    She then cried , who will put the bins out , mow the garden , fetch stuff from the shops , pick her up when she falls down .. yet she said she wants to stay in her home , a generous bungalow .. quite remote ..

    Her family live 20 mts away , but I have had bad dreams about the reality of her situation and mine if that happens , God forbid .. because Moh wouldn't have a clue if anything happened to me .

    He would be well off with me out of the way , but if something happened to him , I would be shattered.. He controls the banking side of things .. and money wise I would be stuffed .

    This area has many people who have suddenly got old .

    Here on Nottler , ho many years have we been contributing our bit to our forum ?

    I was in my sixties when we transferred over from the DT ..

    My upsettness has been terrible , I have munched silly things over the past few days , and feel too emotional, so I have broken Lent , have eaten chocolate , hot cross buns , and ate egg and chips last night which had a ghastly effect on my stomach ..

    Do any of you identify with emotional nonsense which effects your innards?

    1. Yes, emotional nonsense can easily upset your innards. I know what you are thinking about your other half doing all the banking, but I’m sure you would cope. My widowed sister in law’s husband took care of that side of things, but she has had to take it all on and has managed fine. It hasn’t been without its problems by any means (it’s only recently, over 18 months later, that one financial institution has taken his name off the statements). With your friend’s mobility problems she may have to rely on family or see what social services help is available.

      1. First sentence, definitely. In my case, just my dog of 15 years now failing, but I feel really screwed up by it.

        1. No 'just' about it, Kate – the concept of losing a loving relationship with another being after so long is very hard to face.

          Sending love and strength x

          1. Thanks Kathie….and straight back at you x ……..he chose me, he was six weeks old, never left my side since. Vet says liver problem, so nothing can be done, he’s sleeping his way to it, thankfully.

          2. An entire life of love, then sleeping his way to the end? What a lucky dog!

            To you, my friend, hugs x

          3. The history is, I went to see a litter of pups a few weeks old, he was sitting away from the others, clocked me and came over straight away. Not left my side since. Could we have met in a previous life I ask myself :-D….lots of love to you Kathie, your support much appreciated xx

          4. One of my friends who has just taken on a deaf puppy came round today (she was in a bit of a state and wanted a shoulder to lean/cry on). She said the puppy, who is at the nibbling stage, came and laid his head on her shoulder and nuzzled her ear rather than nibbling it, as he usually does. He picked up on her unhappiness.

          5. He sounds an empathetic soul, I hope they help each other – my dog has helped me through unhappy times, a number of times. All the best to them, and you x

          6. All have my dogs have helped me through difficult times. I credit my red setter with saving my life. I’m sure that without him, I would have died – depression, unhealthy lifestyle, apathy … My old boy died when I was caring for MOH through the final stages of dementia. I had to get another dog to cope. Hence Oscar and all that entailed.

          7. Yes, I’ve had around a dozen, mostly rescues, miss them all daily basis – more so as I age. Red setter sounds a beautiful soul as well as a handsome dog. They are often calm. We might be in a better state if (certain) dogs were in charge of things. Final stages of dementia is quite something to cope with, I remember my dad – the most poignant moments being when he actually owned me, and remembered mum. But we are where we are, Conway, and I’m glad you have your Oscar 🙂

          8. Alas, I no longer have Oscar; he departed this life February last year. I probably miss him more than all my other dogs, despite only having him for 2 yrs 8 months. His pal, Kadi, is still with me, and now there is Winston.

          9. I was trying to recall all my dogs recently, memory not so good post-vaccine, stopped at fourteen. They were mostly rescues, all special in their own way, individual personalities. I only failed with one, still regret it. We can’t really know with rescues what their history is. I’m very happy to read you still have Kadi and now also Winston. Can’t imagine being without a dog, got my first I think four years old, now 70+ to that.

          10. I travelled around too much to have a dog until I married and settled down. Most of my dogs were long-lived apart from the two pedigrees (so far), the setter and the fox terrier. Kadi is 10, but he's a mix, so I hope he'll keep going a long time. Winston is a pedigree beagle, so who knows about him. He's two and a half at the moment.

          11. Settled down…do we ever do that completely, in our hearts 🙂 My first dog was pre-school, perhaps four years old, my dad fetched a pup home – mum went mad but so what :-D…so here I am 70 odd years and around fourteen dogs later, all mixes including the present, so-called Patterdale. Fox terriers are so handsome. Yes, mixes usually healthier, long lived, or so I’ve been told. Can’t imagine life without a dog, now I worry who will take care of them when I can’t. How did you find care of Winston, his ears? I’ve heard beagles quite a placid breed?

          12. Whoever told you that needs to be done under trade descriptions! He's a live wire, into everything and definitely a gannet. Apparently they live to about 12-15 so should see me out. My heir will inherit the dogs along with everything else, but as it's someone who knows them (and whom they know) that shouldn't be a problem.

        2. It isn't "just" problems with your dog. You wouldn't say, "just my son/daughter having terminal health problems" would you? Your dog is part of your family.

          1. It was an understatement. He’s been with me 15 years, not just part of my’ family’…my heart and soul, best friend. As I said, screwed by it.

      2. My father died in 1953 and my mother never got round to changing the name of the electricity bills. This caused problems when she died as the bill was still in his name. I applied for a refund as she was in credit and they sent a cheque in my father's name……… he'd been dead for 36 years………

    2. Heyup Maggie.
      Not a lot I can do other than make sympathetic comments, which sadly all too often have the tendency to turn into platitudes, duck-billed or otherwise.

      Comfort eating in times of stress is a common reaction but, hopefully, that phase will soon pass and your emotions get back onto an even keel.

    3. Sorry about your friends. Her family will have to step up.

      Try some meditation to clear your mind. Look on Youtube for that.

      Get your husband to write down all the accounts and passwords and put it in an envelope somewhere safe. At least you would have access if he went before you.

      Same with all the other Bills and Utilities. Make lists.

      1. I have written very detailed instructions about the care and medication needs of Spartie.
        MB has some idea, but there are complications for prescription and re-ordering and if he's left to cope, at least the boys (!!!) can take that burden off his shoulders.
        Otherwise, we've always been open about the whereabouts of vital or helpful stuff; moving house brought it home to us. Years of just bumbling along and accruing 'stuff'.

    4. I feel for you Maggie, my late wife coped well after her first husband died of cancer, but having been dealt Alzheimers she would not have coped if I'd have gone first. It's the people around you which make it easier to cope and emotional stress can be minimised. Your friend must seek help from social services if she has no close family.
      Be strong – if you need a chat Hertslass has my number

    5. We are all going that way so ignoring the problem will not make it go away. I am very aware that although I am fit and well today, tomorrow is another day. I think that we all have a responsibility for making arrangements to take account of old age and future disabilities. Talking with your OH about these things should get the ball rolling. Failing that, get your sons involved because it will be them who have to pick up the pieces. Life is sad as our facilities degrade but your friend has family very close by, they should stand up to the plate. It is at a time like this that we see if we have a functioning society or it's everyone for himself.

      1. About twenty quid a month for a personal alarm fall system. Well worth investing in for people with compromised mobility. It gives reassurance and confidence even if you don't really need it.

        1. Yes, dad had one, and so does M-i-l. There are wall ones and also ones to hang round neck in case of fall too far away from wall.

        2. MOH had one and kept leaving it under the pillow. Sigh. It cost nearer £45 a month in my area.

    6. I think we are all have that skills gap, we'll at least we are. I look after banking, the boss does the baking and despite many attempts to get her to do some of the basic financial stuff, she never gets beyond basic bill paying.

      You shouldn't feel guilty about that chocolate, I fact I would recommend asking @TottyDotty:disqus for one of his specialties.

      1. High quality dark chocolate is good for your blood pressure. That Cadbury rubbish is to be avoided.

          3. I like both, anne – and Aldi online too, good household items. The staff are excellent both places, imo – one girl once told me quite proudly ‘we all do the same jobs here’ 🙂

        2. The Cadbury stuff is now disgusting. Sickly sweet and claggy.
          I assume they use American recipes.

    7. One small practical help you could give your friend is to find out whether the local council provides a bin pull-out service for people who can't put them out themselves. My mother had this for a number of years when too elderly to do it herself. I would expect councils to provide this as part of their disability service provision responsibilities.
      Just one thing to tick off on the 'problems to solve list' but it would be a start.

    8. Eat good stuff at regular times so you keep stomach acid regulated. Get cleaners in once a month – it takes a while to find good ones so start process even before you need them. Once a month is not an onerous cost. Same with gardeners. Start forging a support system as soon as possible – it takes a bit of time to find reliable trustworthy people. Online deliveries takes care of shopping and delivery people are so nice who work for supermarkets and happy to unload boxes onto workshops in the kitchen. Take a hard look at bathroom areas – are they friendly for those who have compromised mobility. Invest in a walk in shower. If prone to falling, install grab rails at key areas ie. round front and back doors, bathrooms, kitchens etc. Banisters on either side of stairs, really make a difference for bad days. I reckon kitchen areas are the worst for falls. Put grab rails on every worksurface edge sticking up from them. Brushed steel ones can look fine in the kitchen. Put near where you work in kitchen: fridge, cooking prep, washer, tumble dryer, cooker etc.

      I have a balance issue sometimes from ear issues so have found a lot of this stuff works. Try to put in place before it becomes essential. There are a lot of good people out there so find them for a support system.

      It's not as hopeless as it looks, True Belle.

      1. Bruce…Clapton…Trucks…UB40..Beth Ditto…and the rest….just been watching on (free) YouTube. So many old favourites to choose from.

        1. Is that Butch Trucks, Katy; drummer with The Allman Brothers Band [alongside Jaimoe (Jai Johanny Johanson)]?

          2. No, Grizz…Derek Trucks Band, you’ll find him on YouTube…along with Clapton, Bruce and others if they’re your thing as they are mine 🙂

          3. Aha, Derek, the nephew of Butch. Both Allman Bros band members at times.
            Indeed they are ‘my thing’, Katy. Blues-based rock has no peer.

    10. Yes. Stress makes me overeat. I am sure you will be forgiven for breaking the Lenten fast. Remember, God doesn’t test you beyond your ability to cope. I have always found that a comfort even when stretched to my limit.

    11. Yes. I can very well understand your emotional state. A few day's ago we visited friends from our teens/early twenties. We have known them for over sixty years. Their children were at school with our sons.
      He has advanced Parkinson's and she has vascular dementia.
      They have a live-in carer. The only thing MB and I can do is spend some time with them and make sure they are not ignored by their fellow oldies who are still (fingers crossed) in reasonable nick.
      p.s. And just eat the ruddy chocolate. You will not be zapped by a thunderbolt.

    12. Inheriting ISAs

      In every marriage or partnership there's normally one who looks after the Finances and bill-paying. It is VITAL for that person to write down the details somewhere safe in case the other half is left alone after a death.

      I published the exact item below on NTTL blog 18th August 2023, eight months after my own wife died, but there are a number of 'newbie' NoTTLers who may not be aware. It's about transferring ISAs between partners, perhaps topical with the present Westmonsters trying to get their greedy mitts on our 'safe' ISA savings.

      QUOTE: I would guess that many on this blog are in what is euphemistically called “the twilight of their lives”. So here is a lesser known piece of information which might help some of you if you have substantial ISA savings.

      If your spouse or civil partner dies leaving you one or more ISAs, the complete contents of those ISAs can be passed to you in full, however large they are, without damaging your annual ISA allowance or losing their tax-free status. This process is known as Additional Permitted Subscription or APS, and only works if you were living together before the death of one partner after 3 December 2014. I'm pretty savvy about investments yet hadn't heard about this 'loophole'.

      Having been granted probate in April on my late wife’s estate, I am [was] just coming to the end of this APS process, but it has taken an alarmingly long time because of the amount of special documentation involved (different for each ISA Provider).

      If the surviving partner already has ISAs of their own, these 'receiving' ISA providers must be asked to write to the deceased partner's ISA providers to furnish APS Valuations. They all have special forms for this.

      APS1 is the valuation at the time of death; APS2 the valuation at the time the ISA is closed down, which is allowed to take up to 3 years following the death. This allows for positive or negative movements in the Market to be exploited.

      The deceased’s ISA providers are obliged to supply the greater of those two APS values. In my experience this has not always been the case, and I have had to fight for the correct valuation to be applied.

      It is vital to do the transfer properly to keep the funds within their tax-free ISA wrappers, or their interest may suddenly become taxable.

      Here is the Official Government Guide: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-additional-permitted-subscriptions-into-an-isa

      END QUOTE. Hope it educates someone here.

      1. Thanks, RC.
        Maybe we should fix your post to the top of the NoTTL blog, so that it doesn't get lost.

      2. Excellent advice! I'm collecting the data for the funds I manage, and don't forget the passwords as well!
        Trying to manage Mother's finances, there's nothing written down and she has dementia, so isn't worth asking.
        Just trying to locate her money is difficult enough, without the arseholes in the banks and building societies making the Power of Attorney process close to impossible.
        Visiting a branch of the Principality BS isn't easy from Norway, for example, and then their website says that they cannot allow anyone with PoA to operate the account over the web!

      3. I have a "Dead Dad" file which I update as necessary and forward to my youngest. When I pop my clogs or lose my mind, she will know all about my finances, down to my account number with EDF.

        1. I've done the same together with a list of all my music gear and the price to sell it for

          1. Valuing for Probate.
            At the age of 84 I've been tootling around the house, valuing many of the items that hang on the walls or sit in china cupboards. It is staggering what some 'old' things are listed for on eBay – but if you browse on some of the auction house websites you'll see what prices they eventually and realistically go for. All the contents of your house have to be valued afer your death to contribute to your estate for the Vultures of HMRC to pick at during Probate.

            I collect Graham Clarke coloured etchings. A couple of them are numbered 1/400 so they are the first ones of a long print run and command much higher prices. So I have stuck approximate prices on the back of them for my Executor sons, to say, in effect: "Don't give these away to a Charity shop – the high-numbered ones sell for £300 unframed direct from the artist and low-numbered ones are worth £500 each at present – a good deal more when set in a fitted 'loaf-of-bread' frame." When I let my brother from Canada clear our father's house after Pa died, he either gave loads of nice things to the local Charity shop or junked them. I think he made over 15 visits to the shop. I bet they were delighted.

            When bought from galleries the artist allegedly gets a third, the gallery gets a third and the taxman gets a third of the sold price – that's what inflates the gallery prices.

            Some naughty Executors simply take or give the items away before Probate – "Where there's a Will there's Relations."

          2. Our system does not encourage collecting anything anymore, or being responsible. What an utter shot show. Earn and spend; don’t bother saving – what’s the point?

          3. That's the message; don't be prudent, don't look after yourself or provide for your old age. Spaff it all up the wall and let some other beggar pay for you.

          4. That reminds me; I need to state in my memorandum of wishes that my Biggles books should not be given to a charity shop. Some of them are very valuable (first editions and limited print runs).

    13. It's not nonsense, Belle. It's a perfectly reasonable reaction to suddenly not working as a team who cared very much for each other.
      I really feel for your friend – her situation is awful. Not only lost her husband, but her safety net and helper as well. The worst thing is, there's no way back.

    14. I worry sometimes how I will cope when OH dies – he's 82 and beginning to be more an old man than he used to be – getting a bit frail and forgetful; can't play his sports any more…….. other than that he seems quite well and we bumble along.

      You need to consider the banking side of things – if you only have a joint account it could be frozen if he dies first. Make sure you have your own source of funds. But he's not so old and he's pretty fit so it shouldn't be imminent.

      You have time to think about these things and a son who lives with you to do the heavy stuff.
      Your friend at least has family fairly near. She may have to pay a carer.

      I would find it difficult to manage this house……… and I don't like driving far now. Especially not in the dark.

      I don't do much comfort eating and my innards are fairly stable I think.

      1. Freezing Joint Accounts
        On the basis that joint bank accounts don't commonly get frozen on the death of one account holder, when he was getting near the end I persuaded my Dad to make me a joint holder on his main bank account. Good job I did, as it halved the amount the Local Authority were able to garnish from his funds during and after his rapid demise in a Care Home.
        And after my wife died, our main joint account was not frozen either, though all her other holdings were.
        Here's a useful link on Frozen Accounts, especially fore the heirs:
        https://corteslawfirm.com/are-bank-accounts-frozen-on-death/

        1. That's useful to know then. We really only use our joint account to pay household type bills, and we each have our own as well.

        2. That site references accounts in Oklahoma – is that the same here? When my mother died the bank paid the funeral expenses out of her money so there wasn't a problem with that. But I had to repay the final instalment of her pension as it was processed a day or two later.

      2. Re driving in the dark; I invested (just over £200) in a pair of En Route night driving glasses from my optician. They aren't perfect, but they do cut down on the glare and make driving at night a lot less unpleasant.

        1. I bought some very cheap ones – £15 including postage – I’ve used them a few times – they turn all the lights yellow and do cut down the glare. You wear them over normal specs. But my main problem is diplopia and it’s a strain driving anywhere more than half an hour away or unfamiliar. I have to keep shutting one eye.

          1. You'd hardly notice the tint on these and they have filters in as well. Can't you wear an eye patch?

          3. I just thought that if you needed to keep shutting one eye, a patch might save you having to do that. You could have one like Francis Bryant who lost his eye in a jousting accident; he had different colours, embellished with jewels 🙂

    15. Re the pension, it could be that it is paid in advance and it ceases on his death,. It’s pretty insensitive, though. When I lost my disability allowance I had to pay back what had been paid to me after it ceased (about a week’s worth).

    1. Contribution? FFS Muslims throughout the world have never contributed anything of value. They are takers not givers and the earth would be better off without them.

    2. TBF – Muslims have made an incredible contribution to British society.
      Incredible = too extraordinary and improbable to be believed. (Until you study Britain's governance for the past thirty years.)

  45. Utter dogwaffle. muslim has brought nothing to this country except division, terrorism and welfare waste.

    No one wants them here, no one needs them, get rid of them.

      1. As whites are a global minority a global majority background will be black or brown. In which case whites are being discriminated against. And as we have seen with Lammy and Abbot their claims of equal merit are rubbish.

        1. Indeed, but, taken at face value, if all candidates are white or a white candidate has greater merit than all non-white applicants, a white person will get the position.

          1. If a white candidate has greater merit than all non-white applicants, then he/she will be deemed to have "white privilege" and the rejected will play the race card.

    1. Very much so. Change all accounts to joint names, if they aren't already. And check/update wills if needed.

  48. 403980+ up ticks,

    Maybe she should be celebrated in so far as, " these abused girls" that being an admission as to what had taken place, then saying the girls were acting in an anti diverse manner likely to be averse to Islam.

    Seems to me she is confirming in a roundabout fashion we had the pakistani paedo's bang to rights. https://x.com/Neccccy/status/1905260934366392372

    2. I think she 'liked' that comment rather than said it. However, in our new lawfare society, she will be found guilty as charged.

      1. Yes, it was originally a comment from 'Owen Jones' – Guardian columnist and general lefty halfwit.

        However, even more amusingly, it was actually a parody account of the sort of stuff Jones would say…..

      2. 403980+ up ticks,

        Afternoon KP
        In today’s current courtrooms tis the thought that also counts, also,you could tell at the time she was savouring it most fondly.
        In today’s society tis better in many cases to meet fire with fire IMHO.

    1. It's OK – there was nothing that the "authorities" could do because he HAD to be released that day, come what may.

      It was very stupid of the victim to have anything to do with the former felon.

      1. Fact check: What Trump doesn’t mention about Canada’s dairy tariffs

        By Daniel Dale, CNN
        4 minute read
        Published 8:00 AM EDT, Mon March 10, 2025

        President Donald Trump correctly noted Friday, as he has before, that Canada has tariffs above 200% on dairy products imported from the US. But Trump again failed to mention a critical fact.

        Those high tariffs kick in only after the US has hit a certain Trump-negotiated quantity of tariff-free dairy sales to Canada each year – and as the US dairy industry acknowledges, the US is not hitting its allowed zero-tariff maximum in any category of dairy product.

        In many categories, notably including milk, the US is not even at half of the zero-tariff maximum.

        “In practice, these tariffs are not actually paid by anyone,” Al Mussell, an expert on Canadian agricultural trade, said in an email Friday.

        Trump also made a claim that is simply false. He told reporters Friday that the situation with Canadian dairy tariffs was “well taken care of” at the time his first presidency ended, “but under Biden, they just kept raising it.”

        In reality, Canada did not raise its dairy tariffs under then-President Joe Biden, as official Canadian documents show and industry groups on both sides of the border confirmed to CNN. The tariffs Trump was denouncing Friday were left in place by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which Trump negotiated, signed in 2018 and has since touted as “the best trade deal ever made.”

        The White House did not respond to CNN’s Friday request for comment.

        Trump vowed Friday to retaliate against Canada with new US dairy tariffs in the coming days, but Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday on NBC that the president’s response to Canada on dairy will actually come on April 2, the day Trump has said he will impose reciprocal tariffs on countries around the world.

        Canada has for decades irked US lawmakers with “supply management” policies that support Canadian farmers and protect its dairy, egg and poultry industries from foreign competition.

        Under Trump’s USMCA, Canada guaranteed it wouldn’t apply any tariffs to specific amounts of US imports per year in 14 dairy categories, such as milk, cream, cheese, ice cream, butter and cream powder, and yogurt and buttermilk. These new US-specific quotas, which Canada agreed to increase over time, gave American farmers and companies more access to the Canadian market.

        But the USMCA didn’t get Canada to lower the tariffs that apply to imports above the quota thresholds. And contrary to Trump’s Friday claim, those tariffs didn’t spike under Biden.

        Mussell, senior research fellow at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute and research lead at Agri-Food Economic Systems, pointed CNN to Canada’s published tariff lists for 2025, 2020 (the last calendar year of Trump’s first term) and 2017 (the first calendar year of Trump’s first term, before the USMCA was in place). They show the dairy tariff levels were the same each year for imports above the zero-tariff maximums – for example, 298.5% for above-maximum butter and 245.5% for above-maximum cheddar cheese.

        Those tariff levels are eye-popping, and they certainly function as major trade barriers above the zero-tariff quota maximums. (Mussell noted: “The US has precisely this same system for its dairy market. It has tariff-rate quotas, and beyond that volume, very stiff tariffs and almost no imports.”) But the International Dairy Foods Association, which represents the American dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, pointed out Friday that the US is not at Canada’s zero-tariff maximum in any category.

        Becky Rasdall Vargas, the organization’s senior vice president of trade and workforce policy, argued in an interview that Canada is to blame for the inability of the US to get to the maximums, saying Canada is unfairly deploying obstacles that make it “harder and harder” for the US to sell into the Canadian market. She said that while “we don’t love the tariffs,” the primary issue is that “we can never even fill the quota to begin with” because Canada is using administrative tactics to deny the US the market access it is supposed to have under the USMCA.

        We won’t try to adjudicate this complex debate, which the Biden administration and the Canadian government battled out at a USMCA dispute resolution panel. Regardless, Trump’s assertion that Canada kept hiking its dairy tariffs when Biden was in charge is just not true.

        ‘Almost all’ US agricultural exports to Canada face no tariffs
        Canada’s protectionism over its dairy, egg and poultry industries is an exception, not the norm.

        The US Department of Agriculture notes on its website that under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which preceded Trump’s USMCA, “almost all” US agricultural exports to Canada, and vice versa, faced no tariffs or quotas. The USMCA kept in place that zero-tariff, zero-quota trade while securing greater US access to the smattering of Canadian markets that are governed by supply management.

        And while Trump claimed in February that “they don’t take our agricultural product for the most part,” Canada is actually the world’s second-largest export market for US agricultural products as a whole, according to the US Department of Agriculture, purchasing about $28.4 billion worth in 2024.

        Canada is also the second-largest US export market for dairy, purchasing about $1.1 billion worth in 2024. That figure has grown steadily over the past decade, from about $625.5 million in 2015.

        https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/10/politics/trump-canada-dairy-tariffs-fact-check/index.html

        1. Thanks! Seems a bit pointless, but I suppose it keeps diplomats and negotiators in a job.

    3. Tariffs negotiated by Trump four years ago. @Citroen1:disqus gave more detail.

      Despite decrying them now, he was successful in breaking open Canadas closed markets and getting reasonable import quotas for American farmers.

      Better terms for american farmers than Canadian farmers who need to buy quota before they can sell dairy produce and if they exceed the quota they are not able to sell the milk.

      1. I was hoping you would give the Canadian point of view!
        Elizabeth Nicholson posted this screenshot as part of a rather good rant about Mark Carnage.

        1. Officially Canada is all for supply management, dairy and eggs are typically much more expensive here than in the US (not what we found this month).

          The reason given for supply management is that we need to protect the small farmers against the industrial scale farmers in the US. Many / most of these small farms are in the east which is prime liberal vote country – hence the political reluctance to changing to a open system.

          There is some resistance to the price difference but that is countered by the US farmers farmers allowing growth hormones that are banned in Canada.

          The quota system also upset trade deals with the UK and the EU, it is nothing new – we cannot buy stilton because of this.

          At the moment the standard response to anything American is If it's made there, I am not buying it so screw the US.

          1. There is some resistance to the price difference but that is countered by the US farmers farmers allowing growth hormones that are banned in Canada.

            Or was it that the Canadians banned the growth hormone that the US used, and "just happened" to protect the East Coast egg farmers?

      1. I can see bringing manufacturing back to the US is a valid goal but you don't dismantle an efficient cross border manufacturing system and relocate factories overnight. He is introducing a lot of short term pain that could be avoided

        What is he trying to achieve? It changes day by day, sometimes drugs, sometimes unequal trade, sometimes border control.

        1. Stopping drugs is a sensible goal, but trade is inherently unequal. If we export, say, a malaria vaccine, for example, or a new biotech crop seed that's far, far more valuable than a whole boat load of mango.

          The EU tried central planning and continues to fail. We really should be learning that protectionism doesn't work.

      2. Sucking manufacturing back to the US, I think. China stole their manufacturing so now they’re stealing Europe’s and Mexico’s.

  51. Afternoon all. It isn’t only educational tradition Labour is intent on extinguishing.

  53. Good afternoon.
    What a corker of a day.
    Advice needed.
    We have a small garden fork that belonged to my mother. It is an ideal girlie fork with wonderfully sharp prongs.
    I've just used it to aerate an area of lawn so we can water it well before we replant the morello cherry tree from its pot.
    Unfortunately, the handle is becoming crumbly and is about to give up the ghost.
    Are there craftsmen who repair /replace bits of garden tools?

    2. Your local garden centre or B&Q should be able to supply a new handle. I'd do it for you but I'm 600 miles away

    6. If only Trigger were still with us. He kept a much loved broom for many years by repeatedly changing its head and handle.

    1. No qualifications in energy. Not an engineer at any level. A career waster, hopping from one quango to another, achieving nothing.

      She is the epitome of the last 30 years: a useless waster pushed into a position because they'll say what they're told to say and rewarded massively with other people's money to do so. Corruption, incompetence, fraud and greed.

      1. A career waster, hopping from one quango to another, achieving nothing.

        She has what Peter Hitchens calls a left-wing face, hasn't she?

        3. "She has what Peter Hitchens calls a left-wing face, hasn't she?"

          It is indefinable but we all know what he means. I can usually tell a Lefty just from looking at their vacuous physog. And that's even before they open their gormless gob.

          1. It's that she is utterly useless. Has no skills or knowledge in the area. Just an over promoted, incompetent grifter handed six figure slaary after salary not because of any ability but simply because they'll say the right thing.

    2. What brought about that epiphany? Not that it will change anything. They think they know best.

      1. Cultural ethos, I assume. However, there's an element of 'who you know' as well. If you can borrow a few thousand to get going with loose terms of pay back it's vastly easier to get started.

        I do not mind this. What people do with their money is up to them.

    2. "Altered or synthetic content
      Sounds or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated"

  56. I made a nutty curry with yoghurt, cream, almonds and spices.

    Came back upstairs to let it simmer and run many, many backups and I come back to find the Warqueen ladling it out to Junior and ruddy Oscar!

    1. While almonds aren't toxic to dogs, they're not considered a safe food and should be avoided because they can cause digestive upset and pancreatitis.

      1. Yep, thus my bellowing to stop. Thankfully he only got his head near the bowl before bolting.

  57. Here's a good one, about farming in S Africa, and what happens when you give a valuable asset to someone with no education, no merit and absolutely no idea about the hard work needed to make it work.
    Then, sit back amazed at the result.
    UK next on the list – just look at the CGT to be levied on farms, as "those rich bastards deserve it!"
    https://youtu.be/Z0BrMmNWb2U?si=CtDcR9n5QLuKzANf

    1. My Uncle Leonard went to Rhodesia after the First World War in which he had served with distinction.

      He and his wife bought a piece of arid, infertile land and worked to install proper irrigation and make it productive and profitable.

      His son, my cousin C.G., became one of Rhodesia's leading business men and ran a very successful farm employing hundreds of people, housing them, providing medical services and schooling and sending the more intelligent young workers to college to learn how to run a farm so that they could take over in the future. Of course his farm was seized by Mugabe and the workers lost their homes and their jobs and the ones who had been trained in agricultue were killed. Within five years his land had returned to barren waste land.

      His autobiography, All For Nothing? tells the story of his life.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ad36894c500f9420da979df0976fa2844af213eaa50ecaabc3e459ee792ae728.png

    2. Same thing happened in Zimbabwe when that POS Mugabe took over.
      And He had his gang became rich.
      In South Africa many farmers and their families were murdered.
      The fruit export market from SA was enormous. And very good quality.
      The locals who took over are very lazy and clueless.
      The way things are going in the UK with farming and this useless destructive government the same could happened here.

      1. "In South Africa many farmers and their families were murdered."

        Funny how all the world's Lefty governments, not to mention their sporting bodies, didn't take the same action as they did over apartheid.

        Or, maybe, it wasn't 'funny' at all!

        1. When I lived in JHB it was safe. I use to walk back to my digs alone at 2am after a night out. But since apartheid was demolished and law and order fell apart, the country fell into disrepair. In the same area you wouldn’t be safe at 2pm.
          And the facts are never faced properly. Everything that has gone wrong since was whities fault.
          But they’ve run out of stupid excuses now.

    3. That's wht happens when the undeserving are given things. They don't value or respect them and just destroy them.

      This is why they don't have them in the first place. The hard Left mind never, ever learns.

      1. Apparently Sentabale – Harry's African children's charity – has turned it back on white fund raising and claims it can manage perfectly well by itsel, thank you very much.
        £500,000 of the best consultancy donors' money can buy told them so.
        And all because MeGain shuffled one of her black sisters out of a photo op.

  58. Apropos of nothing, but vitally important to me, my missing keys have turned up in a pocket of a gilet I rarely wear ! How they got there I have no idea. It does, however, take a weight off my mind wondering what had happened to them and I can now stop looking at Winston and wondering if his stomach problems are a result of key ingestion !

    1. Pass the vibes over to me. Several weeks later, I still haven't found a set of back door keys. Riffled through all the usuals – including the fridge.
      Now down to vaguely hoping I'll shift a pile of books, or relocate a dog bed ….

      1. Have you checked the pockets of clothes you haven’t worn for months? That’s where I found these.

    3. I managed to lose two sets of bike lock keys. So had to send off for new ones from Holland of all places, last Friday

    1. What about those of us who bought a house when they were cheap and now live on a pension ?

      2. Largely irrelevant. It's your property, paid for with your income same as the state pension is a return for having 25% of your income stolen from you and your employer and wasted by the state.

    1. Well, to my mind that is an anti-Semitic screed. And a disgusting one as they always are. Odd isn't it. No one bothers to complain about 1,195 people murdered on October 7 but they get awfully excited by Israel's response, to destroy the bastards that did it and complain about the Israeli's seeking allies. Oh my goodness, such a crime. Such hypocrisy on the part of those who dislike the Jews. And what the Netanyahu regime has done so far is not enough. Judea and Samaria should be swept clean of those who pretend to be Palestinians. A fake state with no history and no people.

      1. I do not dilike the Jews. I dislike bigots. Comparing numbers of deaths as if they are scores in some sort of hellish game demonstrates a departure from civilised norms. Your fake state comment is comtemptible. Have the floor, Rackham, as you have fouled it.

        1. Look. It is the typical anti-Semitic rubbish as you well know. If you don’t know then you haven’t seen enough of this malicious tripe or your deliberately trying to pretend that you are not aware of how this crap operates. And I wasn’t comparing numbers of deaths. I was speaking of the shear savagery of Hamas and its glee at committing war crimes. Or do you think that chopping off a Thai workers head with a garden hoe is perfectly reasonable. Or strangling two little children and then breaking their bodies with stones is normal. Don’t try to put the onus on me. I wasn’t the one that decided to post this filth, you did.

  63. Just in from more apple tree work. The Tydeman's Late we left for Colin to attack today. He cut out four large branches – making (a) an enormous improvement and (b) much more debris than I had imagined. The oak and beech and another smaller oak have been felled. The two lads (when not on their phones) were very skilled in the use of a petrol log splitter. So we have at least two years logs to, er, carry and stack! Not complaining mind you. To buy this sort of quality logs would have cost us at least £1,500. Chilly wind, still, which was a minus

    1. 2 years of logs? Good grief.

      I still don't know what to do with our garden. The stones aren't deep enough, so weeds grow through. The borders have odd grass plants in them that grow at incredible rates – both nice and messy.

        1. You may mock – but it was one of my best investments. November, 70 beech seedlings planted (at 50p each). Over recent years ten have been felled to produce, each, 2 cubic metres of logs = £500 worth.

      2. I've got at least 3 years logs stacked and about 50 years of logs unfelled – and only one woodburner

    2. Maybe not so exciting after all.

      Det skal være en relasjon mellom de involverte.
      – De er tilknyttet samme leilighet, sier innsatsleder Lars Erik Aftret Nilsen til Adresseavisen.
      Hendelsen har skjedd på en privat adresse i bydelen Møllenberg. Politiet har sperret av et stort område, skriver Adresseavisen. Politiet blir på stedet for å jobbe videre med etterforskningen.

      There was a relationship between all those involved.
      "They are connected to the same apartment" said the patrol leader Lars Erik Aftret Nilsen to Addresseavisen (a newspaper).
      The incident happened at a private address in the district of Møllenberg. Police have blocked off a large area, wrote Addresseavisen. The police will be at the scene to work further with the investigation.

  66. Tellygraff is dead twitchy today.
    Even the comments under the letters have been closed.

  67. I think so. It was definitely winter clothes time, and I was locking up to pop out for about half an hour.
    Ho hum.

    1. Harry pinches anything and everything. Have you checked all Spartie's doggie haunts? Under the sofa…under the bed…

    2. So they could be outside, rather than inside the house? I knew mine were in the house somewhere because I remembered having the car key at least in the kitchen.

    1. Yes it is and Thor, Chris Hemsworth, pronounces it correctly in the Hollywood movies. Evidently the kid hasn't watched them.

    2. The muppet commentator also pronounces 'title' as 'tight-oo'. Why is it that these chumps are not told that the ONLY way to pronounce the letter 'L' is to touch the top front teeth with the tip of their tongue?

      Are they too stupid to realise this? Or just to lazy to touch their teeth with their tongues?

      2. I always wondered at the replacement of "L" by "W". Thought it was an East London thing.

        1. Allegedly, because the Fens were so remote, Norfolk was one of the last areas where Harvest Sacrifice rituals were carried out.

  72. Anyone know anything about RTS meters?
    We've had a bullying postcard from Ofgem – Scottish Power has been trying to contact you blah de blah – the signal will be switched off in June.
    OH has tried to contact the number on the card without success.

    1. Radio Teleswitch (RTS) meters, which use radio signals to switch between peak and off-peak electricity rates, are being switched off on June 30, 2025, requiring affected customers to upgrade to new meters.
      Here's a more detailed explanation:

      What are RTS meters?
      RTS meters were designed in the 1980s to allow customers with electric heating and hot water systems to access cheaper, off-peak electricity tariffs.

      Why are they being switched off?
      The radio signal that controls RTS meters is reaching the end of its operational life, and the supporting infrastructure cannot be maintained.
      When is the switch-off?
      The RTS service will be switched off on June 30, 2025.
      What happens if you have an RTS meter?
      If you have an RTS meter, your electricity supplier should have contacted you to arrange a meter upgrade.
      How to find out if you have an RTS meter?
      Look for a separate switch box next to your meter labeled "Radio Teleswitch Service".
      What to do if you have an RTS meter?
      Contact your electricity supplier to arrange a meter upgrade as soon as possible.
      Why is it important to upgrade?
      Without an upgrade, you could lose heating or hot water, or find your heating constantly on.
      Are there any costs associated with the upgrade?
      Electricity suppliers are offering smart meter upgrades at no extra cost.
      Who is affected?
      RTS meters are common in areas with no mains gas supply, where homes are heated using electricity or storage heaters.
      What if I refuse a smart meter?
      You have the right to refuse a smart meter, but you may find it harder to access all tariffs.

      1. We have two meters, and the RTS one does the economy 7 rate I think. We have just one storage heater (in the hall) but it also (I think) allows us to run appliances (eg dishwasher) at night – but we usually forget to do that.
        I take it the other normal meter is ok for now. So if we let them upgrade the RTS meter, will they change them both for a smart meter?

        2. I’m pretty sure that one new smart meter will replace your existing installation and provide economy 7. I have just had to replace the old dual-rate RTS meter for the reason Phizzee has outlined above. A bloke from Octopus came round, by appointment, and sorted it out. It works fine but I was resisting 'smart' for as long as possible.

          1. It’s bullying isn’t it! Apparently they can set it to ‘dumb’ mode if you ask them to.

          2. According to my informant at Scottish Power, it's difficult to get hold of smart meters that will do Economy 7 as well (dual). In the end, because I don't do much on overnight and it's a pain anyway having to wait until the slightly cheaper (you pay more for daytime electricity than normal with the scheme anyway) I opted to do away with the Economy 7. I'd been thinking about it for a while and this sort of concentrated my mind. I'm still no nearer getting a new meter, though.

          3. Octopus supplied my new eco7 compatible smart meter without comment about availability and it is working well. During BST I use more units at night at 11.88p per kWH than daytime (28.32p). It could be that Scottish Power want to discourage Eco7.

    2. Yes. I have one. It needs the signal that’s about to be switched off. Mine has stopped working anyway and I am in the unenviable position of having a meter that won’t give readings in a house that is not smart meter ready. When this will be resolved is anybody’s guess.

      1. We're certainly not 'smart meter ready' but OH has asked the neighbours and of course they have them already and say they're fine. I don't want one. I know perfectly well it's for the convenience of the power companies to bring in 'surge pricing'. But if we let them change the RTS one would they do them both or just that one?

        1. The problem, as the person from Scottish Power explained to me at length, is that they don’t make the old meters any more. I didn’t want a smart meter, either, but now I have no choice as my current meter isn’t recording the amount of electricity used and I’m having to pay estimated bills. I did eventually get a statement, in writing, that they would not turn off my supply if they felt I was using too much electricity. I took a screen shot of it, but how valuable that is, given the unreliability of the PTB in any sphere, I don’t know. I only have one meter; it is a dual daytime/nighttime (economy 7) meter.

          1. i think we’re just going to have to bite the bullet and arrange for them to replace it. I haven’t tried phoning them yet but he said he couldn’t get through to anyone.

          2. I even got a letter from Ofcom because I hadn't signed up to having my meter replaced. Little did they know I had already contacted SP who had told me I couldn't have it replaced yet.

          4. It may have been Ofgem. It was Of something. I'm more used to dealing with Ofcom (for radio amateur stuff) so maybe I didn't read the heading properly.

    3. We've been having digs to get one for years. Just ignore it. It's not compulsory……yet.

    4. Well,….. my good lady is in Dubai enjoying her visit to stay with our youngest. I've been busy Doing the washing and a bit of gardening and re-potting some plants for her.
      You were unlucky. 😊🤭

  74. Oh….

    "There's been another reported attack on the Sudzha pipeline infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk Region on Friday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova conveyed to journalists a Russian military assessment saying a metering facility was "de facto destroyed" in a Ukrainian HIMARS attack.

    But unlike some of the prior Ukrainian attacks on the area, the Kremlin is directly blaming the West, going to far as to say that orders for the new strike came directly from European capitals
    The Sudzha gas metering station in the Kursk region, via Russian Defense Ministry
    We "have reasons to believe that targeting and navigation were facilitated through French satellites and British specialists input [target] coordinates and launched [the missiles]," Zakharova said, as cited in national media.

    "The command came from London," she emphasized, describing it as part of a West-backed "terror" campaign meant to degrade and destroy Russia's energy infrastructure.
    The Kremlin has concluded this demonstrates that Kiev is "impossible to negotiate with," she explained. The Ukrainians have done nothing to actually uphold the energy ceasefire put forward by Trump, despite that Zelensky "publicly supported" it, she said, suggesting it was all an empty game."

      1. Starmer is itching to get involved. In truth, the RAF has been acting against Vlad during the conflict by flying "Rivet Joint' EW aircraft in the region. We have been involved from the start.

      2. The old strategy in play again – they provoke and provoke and when the Russian retaliate, "Russia started it!"

    2. I got carried away working on our tax returns, I definitely qualify for sad having seen what they want.

      Anyhow, I decided to be brave today and started guessing the word earlier than normal

      Wordle 1,379 2/6

      🟩⬜🟨🟩⬜
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  79. A packed day today. First, a morning visit to Lister Hospital, Stevenage, to the Adult Urgent Treatment Centre for a non-urgent daily change of surgical dressing, providing a turn-up-and-wait out-of-hours service when my GP is closed at weekends. Next, a late morning trip to Royal Brompton, Chelsea, for a routine aortic-thoracic CT scan this afternoon. Buses, trains and tubes were working well today. No delays on any of the journey legs, 8 in all.

    1. How frequent are the CT scans, David? I had one last weekend at Hammersmith and hated it but it did show that my arteries are OK.

      1. The aortic-thoracic ones are roughly annual. The main concern is checking the dilation of my ascending aorta. It is a little enlarged but holding steady, thus far, since the root stock graft of May 2019.

        I have had occasional other scans, such as of my abdominal hernia in 2023 and of my abdomen just last month when, post-surgical repair of that hernia, I began to vomit copious amounts of green bile. The scan revealed a bowel obstruction, which nature eventually resolved.

        My experience of CT scans has been largely benign. The most troublesome aspect of today's was the search for a vein for inserting the cannula. It took longer than the actual scan. My veins run deep and can be tricky to locate, but today's was the longest hunt I've yet experienced. I doubt I was dehydrated as I'd drunk 3 mugs of tea since waking up this morning.

        1. Bloody Hell, David, that's a bit to cope with.
          As I said earlier, I marvel at how small my problems are when compared to those of others.

        2. Ah you sound similar to my husband, David…lots of problems finding a vein….couple pints of water a couple of hours previous helps. Hope you've been given a high-fibre diet sheet? Good luck 🙂

      2. I don't like those either when I've had them (a while ago), well done. And excellent news!

  80. That's me done for today. Knackered! Hop o sleep well. A rewarding glass of medicine in 35 minutes – to prepare for the start of the Great Log Stacking…

    I repeat the question I posed in my first post this morning.

    Where are the intellectual giants de nos jours? Have a jolly evening thinking that one out.

    A demain

    1. We will all be at Phil's party in the summer philosophising on the ways of the world.

        1. All on this forum are invited. I won't be doing much philosophising as i will busy handing out canapes, And saying hello….Then drinking lots of Gin. And with any luck Geoff will play my organ. Erm…

      2. So, all (3) my friends up here (Wolverhampton) are “retiring” (aged 58-ish) – “voluntary” redundancy.

        Working respectively in “academia”, “academia/teaching” and teaching, the common lament is: – too much bureaucracy; too much DEI; the sociopaths are in charge; you can’t get anything done; you daren’t speak openly anymore.

        1. A loss to their employer and the industry – all that knowledge and experience lost.

    1. Not in the slightest. I do very little work in the industry these days (limiting it to maybe one or two gigs a year to bring in some visible income for tax purposes) – although I still follow the trends in the trade press. My last gig (New Years Eve in Cape Codd) – and my next one (Opening night, San Diego) – are both Brits who have crossed The Pond.

        1. Very short term appointments in the catering industry. Usually between 3 and 5 days.

      2. 25 years ago we went to Cape Codd for our silver wedding anniversary. We loved every minute of it.

        1. Hello Eddy.

          How wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it – it is a lovely place and I’ll wager it’s not changed much. Money does provide some insulation!

          My New Year work was at a private hotel in Chatham, Cape Codd. You don’t happen to remember where you visited do you – I’d be interested as it’s a place I think I’ll be going back to.

          1. We flew into Boston hired a car and drove to Falmouth were we stayed in a very nice hotel not far from the harbour. Took the Island Queen across to Martha’s Vineyard, a wonderful day there. Trip around in a yellow school bus. We did everything, humpback whales. The Plymouth bretheren reconstructed settlements.
            A wonderful holiday and the seafood chowder.
            A day in Boston by train.

          2. Bloody brilliant! Only about 50 or so miles from where I worked.

            The patron took me out on the Nantucket ferry, I wondered why all the properties had really small boat-houses.

            “Those are for private sea planes – the marina is around the corner.”

            *makes mental note to up my rates* 🙂

    2. Our stupid and useless political idiots never learn anything from their long term and ongoing mistakes.

  82. The Ukrainians have reportedly detonated President Putin’s limousine in a compound near the Kremlin. Thankfully he was not in it at the time of the explosion.

    It is surely time for Zelensky to be taken down before he drags our idiot Starmer and bum-boy Macron into WWIII.

    President Putin is pointing to UK and French intelligence assistance for the latest Himars missile attack on the Kursk pipeline. This is chilling adventurism by our incompetent and utterly reckless Prime Minister and the idiots surrounding him.

    1. Not heard that yet, corrimobile. It could well be true, fevered times in Ukraine. Utterly stupid if true about Macron/Starmer deflecting from their home problems.

  83. My mum and dad have Netflix (no, me neither) so mum and I are watching “the Leopard” (novel by Lampedusa). Will it be as good as the book? I doubt it, but it can’t be worse than a lot of stuff on t’telly.

      1. Yes. I have texted my two work book-club friends who say the same. But: the scenery is beautiful. I enjoyed Inspector Montalbano.

        1. I read a few of the Montalbano books. They’re very formulaic but entertaining easy reading. It isn’t art but it passes the time. I’d say it’s inoffensive but I really haven’t a clue what I’m supposed to be offended by these days.

          4. There’s a pub in the centre that does rooms and there’s a sausage sarnie available across the road, so all pretty good.

          6. I’ll be meeting up with a resident of the other place for a beer or three.

          7. Sounds like a damn decent thing to do! Still in the winter/spring transition here. Loads of seedlings started, almost got my target of 80 gallons (UK) of maple sap collected and well underway with the boiling. Looking forward to some early sunshine though, as will be down in San Diego in 3 weeks time – just for 5 days mind – but still.

          8. we used to dine at The Mill in the 70's, looking through a glass floor at the millrace – I wonder if it's still there?

          11. The people who owned the Swan at Lavenham were friends of my aunt. All long gone now.

    4. Try House of Cards (Netflix) LIR…escapism, or is it…. I think filming had to be paused to allow Spacey's sex allegation court cases to be heard.

    6. One day I would like to watch Burt Lancaster in the Visconti production. Perhaps I will read it again, but novels don't seem to bite like they once did.

  86. All the people defending Greenland's sovereignty all want us to rejoin the EU, it seems, for some reason

    1. Population of Greenland 56,000…Population of the Falklands 4000. Population of Diego Garcia…..can't be bothered anymore……………………It is politics. They don't give a fuck about the people that happen to live there.

      BTW Greenland doesn't have sovereignty. They are a dependency of European Imperialist Invaders.

    2. The US interest in Greenland ain't no sudden urge, and let's not forget they bought Alaska from the Russians.

      "Though the president's rhetoric may seem unusual, a succession of US presidents have tried to gain control of Greenland for more than a century.

      "The US has tried a few times to push the Danes out of Greenland and take it over as part of the US, or at least to have full security tutelage of Greenland," said Lukas Wahden, the author of 66° North, external, a newsletter on Arctic security.

      In 1867, after buying Alaska from Russia, US Secretary of State William H Seward led negotiations to buy Greenland from Denmark, but failed to reach any agreement.

      In 1946, the US offered to pay $100m (equivalent to $1.2bn; £970m today) for the territory, judging that it was vital for national security, but the Danish government refused.

      Trump also tried to buy Greenland during his first presidential term."

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74x4m71pmjo

          1. That mugshot is now over six years old. I grew the beard for a Christmas trip up to the Arctic Circle. It came off again soon afterwards.

          3. It was refreshingly cold but stunningly beautiful. The Ice Hotel was beyond magical.
            However, 23 hours of daylight every day — at that time of year — would have sent me insane. Three days of that was more than enough for me. xx

          4. G’morning Grizz…I think the film was called Alaska(?) with Al Pacino as detective, the 23 hours of daylight drove him nuts. I’m not even keen on ‘clocks changing’..stop messing with time I already feel like I’m running out of it 😄 meantime, sun shining here xx

          5. I agree, Katy. Messing about with clocks is imbecilic, completely unnecessary and mucks around with one’s circadian rhythms.

          7. Do you read Mark Steyn’s blog, Grizz (I recommend it)….Today he has a photo up of our late Queen and her mum. Dead ringers for my mum and grandmother!

          8. I’m sorry, Katy, but I’m the most unpolitical chap I know. I avoid political blogs like the plague.
            They take too much time away from my other interests.

          9. I have a soft spot for him. He used to appear on GBN when it was first shown, he supported the Rotherham girls, suddenly taken off air and had four heart attacks quick succession, turned his hair white. Previously very healthy man. I also like him for his ‘climate change’ legal case. One of the good guys. I’ll do my best to remember you’re non-political 🙂

    1. "Following reports of harassment…" – but my Teacher friend has complained frequently to Dorset police about her neighbour, and the cnuts do absolutely nothing. So, she's now a prisoner, won't go out unless accompanied by big dogs… stuff the plod.

    1. Golly…They must be so busy. I wonder what they do for the other six days a week working from home in Lahore…twiddles fingers…

  94. The message will be you are on the terrorist watch list like Millwall white bloke got stabbed several times in a restaurant fending off a muslim deranged stabber.

    Footie hooligans ain't my cup of tea but if all we are left with are people like him i would happily pick up his Bill if i were ever in his company.

  95. I mentioned seeing a swallow this morning. I saw 2 more later, sitting on a telegraph wire, looking at each other as if to say, "So where's the bloody food?" Very few flying insects here in SE Cornwall currently.

  96. Signed it already – I spend a lot of time in the Lakes (being a blessed Northerner) and I have to say you really dont see too many ethnic minorities there at all….. honestly!

    1. Have you been to the Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre, G4…dim and distant memory tells me I had afternoon tea there one time. A peaceful place then, pre-Covid, pre-lockdowns.

      1. Yes, we go to Manjushri, out at Ulverston, quite often (we are based in the south nearby at Cartmel) – we occasionally take our guests there as it is unlike anything you will ever experience anywhere else.

        Your memory isnt wrong as they do have a tremendous cafe/restaurant served, occasionally, by the monks in their saffron robes!

        They do regular 'starter' meditation sessions there – great fun! The bookshop is quite good also….

        PS The Temple is quite magnificent, the biggest in Europe apparently!

        1. Thanks G4, yes…how I remember it, although a bit hazy. I like calm places 🙂 I envy those who have a strong faith, gives them an inner strength x

        2. I always stayer in Ulverston when working at Barrow gas terminals. Lovely place.

          1. I agree. Great walk (if a little more challenging these days!) up to The Hoad , really nice beach/seafront at Bardsea, and if all else fails there's the wonderful Laurel & Hardy Museum (Stan came from Ulverston)!!

          2. I agree. Great walk (if a little more challenging these days!) up to The Hoad , really nice beach/seafront at Bardsea, and if all else fails there's the wonderful Laurel & Hardy Museum (Stan came from Ulverston)!!

      2. Looks lovely, KJ. Is it cynical to have sceptical thoughts about any purportedly spiritual endeavour nested in such a lush environment? (Genuine question).

        1. Yes and no, opopanax (genuine answer😊). It’s a lovely setting especially outdoors early summer and the monks are gracious. As ever what my dad used to call ‘t’other b*ggers’ can be the problem…the loud ones, children etc..but…a few years since I visited (think to see paintings) so it may be different now 🥰

          1. I suppose that all the beautiful cathedrals and stupas and places of worship throughout the world destroy my putative argument and uneasiness re the luxury, anyway, KJ. Thanks for the reply.

          2. With you, opopanax. Hope you’re doing ok…always good to hear your voice, look after yourself x

          4. Thanks opopanax, you too…hope to see more of you here:-) I looked out for Peta for weeks, last time I heard was end September. Still get a msg time to time from someone asking if I’ve heard any update x

  97. After my medium busy day I'm popping orff.
    It's not warm is it. I almost turned on the heating but it's not worth it Home Alone. Comfey bed Duvet and soft pillows are waiting my well practiced attention.
    Good night all.
    🤗😴

    1. No, it isn't warm. I've had the heating on (home alone or no) and to top it up, I lit a fire! Had to saw myself some wood as well.

        1. I use oil, so I've bought it before I use it (or anthracite for the Rayburn, but there's no point relighting that as it'll probably be too warm tomorrow and you can't turn it down or off like the oil). The oil is good for this time of year with fluctuating temperatures, but when the temperature drops below double figures it needs a top up.

  98. Ah, sea planes! I had a very interesting flight in a float plane from Rose Bay, Sydney.

    1. Hey, C! I didn’t get to fly in one, but for me, that’s a positive thing. Just amazed that almost every house on the waterfront had one. Keeping up with the pre-colonial Jones’s is alive and well in the Boston area!

      1. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Landing was interesting. Before take off the pilot had said "don't touch the door, it flies open"! As we landed, the jolt threw me against the door and I had to haul it closed and hang on to it until we docked. I lived to tell the tale.

    2. Ah the end of Ramadan. Minal Aidin wal Faizin.

      Or as an Iraqi pal of mine up here puts it: "This fasting shit, it's just our version of Lunch Is For Wimps."

    3. Great, I can go back to my usual early morning jogging time because there won't be young men hanging around then any more.

  100. It's a funny old world:

    "It's weird how a TV stage actor who occasionally played the piano with his dick could become
    the unelected leader of a collapsing country taken to war against Russia by false supporters in the US, UK & EU."
    A reply:
    "Mostly just a gimmick.
    There are very few classical piano works written for two hands and a dick"

    …And none at all for the pink oboe….

    "Ms Reeves would find herself out of her depth on a freshly mopped floor"

  101. I am going to take some painkillers and go to bed. Cold, damp, miserable weather does nothing for my joints or my temper. Goodnight, all.

    2. Oh……… have a good night's sleep – have you got an electric blanket? Good to get into a warm bed. Think I'll go shortly too.

    5. Sleep well, Connors. Absolute sympathy here. I have gone on to Beechams Powders (on the grounds that they contain a healthy dose of aspirin, which seems all but banned elsewhere, cheap and efficacious as it is.

        1. I know it's not actually banned, PM. but it is hellish hard to get hold of, and is very much my go to painkiller (and cure all)

    6. Good Night, Conners – and Kadi and Winston. I do hope you have a decent night's sleep.

    7. It's spring in your end of the world. Things will improve. Sending you a big hug x

      1. Thank you. I appreciate that. The weather hadn’t got the message until today when it’s been sunny and warm.

    1. All NSAIds irritate mine, had migraines a long number of years and took aspirin, can no longer tolerate that. Ibuprofen about the best of the bunch, rarely take it tho’. G’night Ndovu 🙂

          1. Check contra-indications regarding any other medicine you are taking and also be aware of side effects.

  103. My normal bedtime is 11 pm. But since the clocks spring forward one hour shortly, 24 hours from now will be 11 pm. So I will wish you all a Good Night. I hope you all sleep well and I hope to see you all bright and early tomorrow morning.

    1. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches? Carried out by a London former teacher? Clearly babylonbee.com is a Merkin invention.

  106. Music is such an individual matter that I rarely post a video on here but I'll make an exception for once. During my mammoth internet blackout earlier this year I heard this on Radio 3's late night programme without knowing who it was by. Hints of Vaughan Williams, Debussy, Bax, Lloyd, Rubbra and others had me scratching my head. I'd never heard of Hadley. When the announcer named it I thought it was a recent composition. Interesting if a little insubstantial (but very derivative).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1J5sz5qFsY

    2. IIt evokes an expansivemess that I miss in this huge city. Beautiful!

      PS Thank you for reminding me of Rubbra.

      1. Having rarely posted music videos, here's a second one in two hours. How I came to know Rubbra would require a long discourse on my journey from Pick Of The Pops to the Proms and how I ended up in Northamptonshire not a dozen miles from Rubbra's birthplace. A work colleague put me onto his music in the 90s.

        This is so English – never quite letting go. The conductor is Richard Hickox, who did so much to promote British music, notably his wonderful recording with the LSO of the original version of Vaughan Williams' London Symphony.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZmIJewRdLQ

      2. Having rarely posted music videos, here's a second one in two hours. How I came to know Rubbra would require a long discourse on my journey from Pick Of The Pops to the Proms and how I ended up in Northamptonshire not a dozen miles from Rubbra's birthplace. A work colleague put me onto his music the 90s.

        This is so English – never quite letting go. The conductor is Richard Hickox, who did so much to promote British music, notably his wonderful recording with the LSO of the original version of Vaughan Williams' London Symphony.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZmIJewRdLQ

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