Saturday 29 October: Throwing yet more money at the NHS won’t put an end to dangerous delays

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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621 thoughts on “Saturday 29 October: Throwing yet more money at the NHS won’t put an end to dangerous delays”

  3. 366746+ up ticks,

    Morning Each
    Dt,
    Rishi Sunak could freeze foreign aid to balance Britain’s books
    Budget was cut from 0.7pc of GDP to 0.5pc until 2024-5, but PM could now extend lower level limit by two more years

    Could,could,could is on par in these type instances as saying that
    Archie Andrews COULD talk without Peter Brough.

    May one ask, do any remaining tory (ino) members know whos knee sunak is sitting on ?

    1. Morning Michael and all.

      The cartoon sparked my synisfresia…(sic):

      The First No Oil the XRs did say
      Was to certain poor drivers stopped on their way
      To work where they hoped to earn their keep
      All that could be heard were expletives bleep bleep!

      Refrain? Them? (fat chance)

      No oil No oil No oil No oil?
      W-T-F don’t they put them in Jail?

  7. Anti-woke police chief lifts Greater Manchester force’s 999 and arrest rates

    Under Stephen Watson’s leadership, police response times have been cut

    Fiona Hamilton, Crime Editor
    Saturday October 29 2022, 12.01am, The Times

    An anti-woke chief constable who promoted a “back to basics” strategy has lifted Greater Manchester Police (GMP) out of special measures in less than 18 months.

    Under Stephen Watson’s leadership 999 call answer times have been cut from an average of one minute 22 seconds to seven seconds, response times have been reduced and arrests have increased by 60 per cent. He has also ordered officers to improve their public image by ironing uniforms, polishing boots, shaving and tying up long hair.
    *
    *

    1. I loved this item: probably funnier in retrospect.
      “He once shot his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, in the chest. Legend has it that it was because Owens played a bum note, but the more prosaic truth was a drunken incident at Lewis’s 41st birthday celebrations, with Lewis claiming the .357 magnum went off in his hand whilst he was aiming at a Coca-Cola bottle. (“I been shot!” screamed Owens. “It appears to be that way, Butch,” said Lewis, too drunk to be unduly concerned. “Why?” wailed Owens. “Cause you appear to be sittin’ in the wrong spot,” said Lewis.”)”
      I remember all the hoohah over his third bride. Being of much the same age, we thought it was rather exciting.

  9. Ignore the cynics – Britain has become the greatest melting pot in the world. 29 October 2022.

    To the critics of Britain, who cling to an extinct caricature of a nation marked by white snobbery, our country’s evolution will be as hard to digest as the new names are to pronounce. But to millions around the world, Prime Minister Sunak will be an obvious sign of what they already know: that, for all its imperfections, this great and fabled nation is quietly leading the world in opportunity, integration and the forging of a modern state.

    It is a country no longer! Its institutions have collapsed. It stands for nothing. It believes in nothing!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/29/ignore-cynics-britain-has-become-greatest-melting-pot-world/

  10. 366746+ up ticks,

    Saturday 29 October: Throwing yet more money at the NHS won’t put an end to dangerous delays

    No way a doomster but could it be that as with the queue at the factory gate is a controlling factor so are patients waiting lists.

    Proven fact is blackmail is a major tool in the overseers toolkit.

  11. It’s unbelievable what the slammers get away with.

    ‘Demonises Muslims’ – UK Officials Censor Name, Ethnicity of London Terrorist in Official Report

    Local government officials in England will censor the name and ethnicity of the London Bridge terrorist in an official report, to avoid “demonising” Muslims.

    The Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Staffordshire County Council produced the report on Usman Khan, who stabbed five people, two fatally, at Fishmongers’ Hall and nearby London Bridge, where he was supposed to be attending a rehabilitation course, in 2019, because he had lived in Stafford.

    While the report, available to view in its unredacted form on Staffordshire County Council’s website as of the time of publication, was notionally concerned with ‘Action to Prevent Future Deaths Following the Inquests Arising from the Deaths in the Fishmongers’ Hall Terror Attack’, elected councillors’ first port of call was not to discuss public safety, but whether or not the report should have referenced the terrorist’s name and heritage.

    “At the start of the report, it mentions the attacker’s name, which is clearly a Muslim name, and it says that this man was of Pakistani descent. Could I ask what the thinking was behind putting those details into the report please?” questioned Councillor Gillian Pardesi, of the leftist Labour Party.

    “I have to admit that I did not want those words to be put in the report; I think they can be removed,” responded council cabinet member Victoria Wilson — of the Conservative Party, incredibly enough.

    Wilson then referred the question on to a nervous-looking council bureaucrat, who explained that the references to Usman Khan’s name and ethnic background had been lifted directly from reports by the Coroner and the Home Office, but that they could be expunged if councillors so desired.

    https://twitter.com/BreitbartLondon/status/1200770949626368000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1200770949626368000%7Ctwgr%5Ee0e871ce60bafb484dd2b4eacc7844b52fd51c41%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Feurope%2F2022%2F10%2F28%2Fdemonises-
    muslims-uk-officials-censor-name-london-terrorist-official-report%2F

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/10/28/demonises-muslims-uk-officials-censor-name-london-terrorist-official-report/

    1. 366746+ up ticks,

      C,

      Are the council still operating / or will they be allowed to operate in the future via the polling booth ?

      Many councils are in regards to the public major safety hazards ( lest we forget rotherham)

    4. ‘Demonises Muslims’

      I remember that one group of child abusing men were readily identified by their religious associations in that they were Catholic priests. Was that viewed as demonising Catholics?”

    5. Woe betide the thinking behind it being telling the truth. Islam is totally inimical to liberal Western culture. It is demonic.

  12. ‘Morning, Peeps. A wet start here but full sun due from mid-morning onwards and a massive 19°C for the rest of the day. The central heating is still miserable through non-use, as are those pillocks at Shell Energy. Long may it continue!

    Today’s leading letter. Note in particular the penultimate paragraph (“Likewise…) which is utterly scandalous:

    SIR – Allister Heath is right to identify the NHS as a major problem for the Government (“The NHS is slowly suffocating British conservatism – and Sunak knows it”, Comment, October 26). Aside from the need for an insurance-based funding model for elective care, the NHS needs to improve on prevention and pace.

    In most acute medical situations, time matters and pace pays. Delays beyond the “golden hour” cost lives for major trauma, neonatal distress, stroke and acute coronary syndrome. The elderly patient retrieved from a kitchen floor after a six-hour wait has already started to become a more complicated case as body systems sequentially fail. By the time they are seen by a triage nurse in A&E, their chance of returning to independent living has probably slipped away.

    The middle-managerialism that impedes rapid care through multiple gateways, placing first contact often with the most inexperienced (cheapest) staff, must be swept away, and replaced with systems-thinking focused on pace and flow. Likewise, understanding how we managed to end up with so few beds, scanners and staff while spending above the OECD average is a task that Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, must address.

    Prevention and pace save money and deliver a better service. I commend them to the Government.

    Andrew Roberts FRCS
    Oswestry, Shropshire

    1. I agree with Batten, I thought it looked better the other way up. Apparently it identifies as a dark sky, not a landscape.

  15. SIR – I sympathise with Clive Goddard (Letters, October 27) and others who have had difficulties with Shell Energy.

    Since it took over from my previous supplier it has tried three times to increase my direct debit to unrealistic amounts, which I have refused to pay. I also made references to my MP and Ofgem, which appeared to work.

    Just as irritating, though, has been Shell’s dreadfully slow responses – it often takes several weeks – which I find unacceptable for a company making billions of pounds and with many of its staff working from home.

    Peter Stowe
    Woodbridge, Suffolk

    Ha ha…take that, Shell! Mr Stowe shouldn’t bother with just a routine email; instead he should go straight to the Complaints section, which normally provides a grovelling apology – and rectification – in about 48 hours.

    1. Shell Energy (I’m with them, but for Broadband because they took over the Post Office) has more complaints than any other broadband supplier according to Offcom. It doesn’t surprise me. I’m just glad I don’t allow Direct Debits.

  16. Good morrow,Gentlefolk. Today’s funny:

    That Pet Crocodile

    A Drover walks into an Outback bar with a pet crocodile by his side.
    He puts the crocodile up on the bar and turns to the astonished patrons.

    ‘I’ll make you a deal. I’ll open this crocodile’s mouth and place my manhood inside. Then the croc will close his mouth for one minute. Then he’ll open his mouth and I’ll remove my unit unscathed. In return for witnessing this spectacle, each of you will buy me a drink.’

    The crowd murmured their approval.

    The man stood up on the bar, dropped his trousers, and placed his Credentials and related parts in the crocodile’s open mouth. The croc closed his mouth as the crowd gasped. After a minute, the man grabbed a beer bottle and smacked the crocodile really, really hard on the top of its head

    The croc opened his mouth and the man removed his genitals unscathed as promised.

    The crowd cheered, and the first of his free drinks were delivered.

    The man stood up again and made another offer. ‘I’ll pay anyone $100 who’s willing to give it a try.’

    A hush fell over the crowd. After a while, a hand went up in the back of the bar.

    A blonde woman timidly spoke up, ‘I’ll try it – just don’t hit me so hard with the beer bottle!’

      1. 355746+ up ticks.

        Morning BB2,
        What worries me more so is will it interfere with the voting pattern.

        1. I don’t think anything will do that. Adolf Hitler could rise from the dead and become the leader of any of the three main parties, and the sheep would still vote for their usual.

  18. Good morning all.
    It is struggling to get light this morning with a wet start and 7°C on the thermometer.

    1. Yes; still too grey and rainy to paint here, and I’m itching to put down a few impressions of my lovely walk to Totnes yesterday, along high-hedged green lanes, strung with pools of red mud, the occasional sumlight striking the freshly dropped leaves gold. Come.on, sunshine!

          1. We are needing a picture for Firstborn’s honey labels. I suggested a line drawing/sketch of his iconic stabbur, but how? Microsoft Whiteboard is the answer: Take a photo, then draw the outlines and details using Whiteboard, then delete the picture. Slightly wobbly lines and so on give it atmosphere. The test run looks good, IMO.

    2. It’ll get lighter earlier tomorrow, BoB, as long as you remember to put the clocks back. Lol.

  19. Britain ‘exposed’ to Russian missile attacks. 29 October 2022.

    Britain needs air defences in the wake of the Ukraine invasion because it is almost “entirely exposed” to attacks by long-range Russian missiles, a former Air Marshal has warned.

    Edward Stringer, former commander of the UK’s Defence Academy, warned the military was limited with what it could do without a long-range air-defence system and that the only way to protect London from a hypersonic or ballistic attack would be to station a Type 45 destroyer in the Thames, stocked with Sea Viper missiles.

    Perhaps we should station Barrage Balloons above Parliament! This is the purest idiocy! There is no way to stop an intercontinental ballistic missile strike on the UK. The scenario envisaged by this moron could only occur if Russia had already defeated NATO and controlled the channel. Something that is not going to happen. One can only suppose that the Ministry of Defence is offering a generous stipend to anyone who can come up with any half-baked piece of propaganda.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/29/britain-exposed-russian-missile-attacks/

  20. Good morning my friends

    Ignore the cynics – Britain has become the greatest melting pot in the world
    When The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah lampooned the idea of British pearl-clutching as a brown-skinned PM entered No 10, he misjudged a nation

    Fraser Nelson : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/29/ignore-cynics-britain-has-become-greatest-melting-pot-world/

    No comments allowed under this article because it shows that ordinary white people are at the bottom of virtually every pile and instead of celebrating this we might be just a little pissed off!.

    Why have the politicians done this to us?

    1. 366746+ up ticks,

      Morning R,

      In the underworld of British politics they answer to the highest authority NOT to be confused ( as tis by many)
      as the highest order in the upperworld

      Why have the politicians done this to us ?

      True fact the wonga’s better.

    3. I wouldn’t mind if he was British..with a wife from “back home” and a powerful Indian father in law, oh and not forgetting the house in California, I’m simply not convinced that Sunak is fully invested in the future of these little islands.

      1. Over on the Stew Peter’s Network, DeAnna Lorraine along with Maria Zeee do a hit piece on Sunak. Also they float a hypothesis about Truss re the sorry mess that is the UK government.

  21. SIR – In Weather Notes (October 22) the Ladybower reservoir in the Peak District is referred to as the location for tests of the bouncing bomb used by the Dambusters in the Second World War.

    Among others this reservoir was used to hone the low-flying skills of the crews, but no actual bombs were dropped there. Early tests of the prototype were conducted at Chesil Beach in Dorset and the final version of the Upkeep weapon was test dropped at the Reculver Beach range off Kent. The whole programme, from initial go-ahead through detail design, manufacture and testing, to the operational deployment of the bomb on the Ruhr dams, was conducted in an outstandingly short time frame.

    Air Chief Marshal Harris, who led RAF Bomber Command, had reluctantly given his agreement to the operation on February 17 1943, at which point only smaller prototypes had so far been tested, and the actual weapon was dropped on the night of May 16, a mere 89 days later – a remarkable achievement even for wartime.

    As well as the design and manufacture of the weapon, a new squadron had to be trained in the low-level role, and Lancaster aircraft modified to carry it.

    Phil Mobbs
    Kendal, Cumbria

    This was in the days when this inventive country got things done, but we must never forget the great cost – 8 of the original 19 Lancasters were lost, and 53 of the 133 crewmen men died in the raid.

      1. And during the war people were well aware that civilians would be killed by bombing. They still cheered the bomber boys on – it was the only way to hit back.

    2. In the Layer Fox pub that I and my three drinking partners often frequent there is a picture (a print from the original painting) of 617 Squadron overflying the local Abberton reservoir. There are no hills around and the exercise was, I believe, used for night navigation training. I once told the barmaid that I was thinking of smuggling it out; a difficult job as it is a large picture.
      A wonderful brave group of young men flew on that operation but the losses, closing on 50%, were unsustainable.

    3. After a day out with the OU Geological Society in the grounds of the Abbotsbury Swannery, I identified a practise ‘bouncing bomb’ at the eastern end of the Fleet lagoon. It was made of concrete with steel bands or straps. It was barrel shaped, like the second one in this clip at 43 seconds. It may still be there.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOGRTlrYCIE

      1. There’s one in the grounds of the Petwood Hall Hotel (617 Mess during the war), Woodhall Spa.

    4. I don’t think Butch (Harris) was reluctant to order it once he had been convinced. He was just very sceptical at first – just the sort of mad impractical scheme the boffins would come up with. I thought it was the Derwent dam they practised over – or is that another name for the Ladybower? Thankfully, during the war we had a “can do” attitude – and Barnes Wallis (Wellington bomber, Upkeep, Grand Slam and Tallboy) never went to university. Nor did Frank (jet engine) Whittle.

    3. Diesel generators? Tch tch that’s very bad for the environment, can’t do that.
      Besides, we need all the diesel generators here to rescue stranded electric car drivers.

      1. Teee heee hee

        Down here in these Dorsetty parts , we have had a week of comings and goings of the Flying Scotsman..
        Hufsf chuffs puffs .. clouds of steam and black smoke … and lots of clatterings and crowds of people .. and a sooty smell in the air !

    4. Blankets? Made of sheep’s wool?
      The West uses duvets filled with polyester.
      Much cheaper, less durable and conveniently worse for the planet.

      1. This westerner doesn’t use polyester; nothing but the finest duck down in my duvet (and goose feathers in my feather bed).

    2. I simply cannot wait for some scientist to locate a deadly political pathogen that wipes out ALL politicians (and WEF members), worldwide, but is benign (not deadly) to the rest of the population.

      2. Alternatively ” I simply cannot wait for some scientist to locate a deadly democratic pathogen that wipes out ALL voters, worldwide, but is benign (not deadly) to the WEF and its supporters.”

      3. Figure out a way to introduce a smallpox virus into the air conditioning of Westminster, all WEF offices, the UN, the EU HQ, NATO HQ, The London Mayor’s office and I’m sure that there are others we could target – Zelensky’s office for another.

  25. I spotted this in today’s BTLs

    John Birkett
    7 HRS AGO
    Re Northern Ireland Protocol and Unionism (Kate Hoey’s article 27/28 Oct)
    She is largely right – but how much do Northern Ireland’s “unionists” really believe in pro-UK unionism when they cannot even unite among themselves and have thereby handed the baton to Sinn Fein? Their split-vote risk of strengthening Sinn Fein was clear years ago.
    “A house divided cannot stand” – have they not read Mark 3:25?
    If Dr Ian Paisley could cooperate with Martin McGuinness then surely the DUP and UUP could resolve their minimal differences and unite.

    The failure of the NI Assembly to get its act together since February is pitiful. However, I think it could have been sorted out long ago by simply stopping their salaries until normal service was resumed. I reckon this dreadful shambles could have been resolved pretty quickly!

    1. The NI Assembly failing to get its act together is a recurrent theme.
      Sadly, it’s become boring.

  28. Good morning all

    Damp humid day here . 17c.. Humidity 88%.

    First and foremost , this article made me cross.

    EXCLUSIVE: Camilla in mid-air smash horror: Queen Consort’s plane manages to land at Heathrow despite suffering massive nose damage when BIRD smashed into it ‘as she flew home to UK from Indian health retreat’

    Camilla is known to be afraid of flying and once sat terrified on the steps of a jet
    The British Airways Boeing 777 was flying from Bangalore to London Heathrow
    A photo of the plane after landing showed a massive dent in the plane’s nose

    The Queen Consort, 75, is believed to have been taking a break at SOUKYA
    The organic farm offers yoga and homeopathic and naturopathic treatments

    Whilst her Kingly husband waxes lyrical about global warming ..

    Hypocrites, all of them .

    2. Yes, I found that article a bit surprising too. Scared of flying, yet her favourite health resort is in Bangalore??

          1. I’d settle for instead of. Much more fun and leaves money to spare for top notch Mother’s Ruin.
            Plus not being treated like a criminal.

    3. Is that strawberry yoga? Available from Tescos, only a cycle-ride down the drive away.
      Oh…

      1. And then an over emphasised ‘Massive’ dent. The structure and weight of a bird vs a convexed metal object……anything for a scare story.

    5. According to the accident report there were three passengers – in an aircraft that can carry up to 325 passengers. Bit of a waste of fuel? Charlie will be livid – NOT!

    6. That is not a “mid-air smash” that is a bird strike. Maybe it was karma for the hypocrisy.

  29. Good morning all. Rain in the night. Cloudy now. Must dash to the MR for her 19th booster. She won;t listen…..

  30. ‘Morning All
    “Envy of the world”
    I’m not angry or bitter* my older sister who has already had to deplete her savings twice to pay for private operations to avoid years of agonising pain has now developed high blood pressure/heart problems and after tests has been warned by her doctor she has a 50% chance of having a stroke.
    By text she has been told she needs an “urgent” hospital referral for further tests and if this is not forthcoming she she should chase the surgery up……..
    On phoning the surgery to ask how long she should wait to chase up the “urgent” referral she was told 4 weeks,as you can imagine news of this delay hasn’t helped the blood pressure……
    *Words fail me

  31. Royal Navy submarine whistleblower tells how her male crewmates ‘subjected her to vile sexual harassment’ and warned her: ‘You’re No.6 on the rape list’

    EXCLUSIVE: Navy and Submarine whistleblower claims she was sexually harassed and abused by colleagues

    Sophie Brook said she was called a ‘c***’, punched and hit by a male colleague and faced sexual harassment
    She said senior officers put genitals in her pocket as she manned sub’s periscope and then punched her
    Sophie, who lives in West Sussex, was told: ‘You are number six… so if anything goes wrong, you better run’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11366813/Royal-Navy-submarine-whistleblower-shares-male-crewmates-subjected-sexual-harassment.html

    What on earth are the RN doing by putting women on submarines ?

    1. Horrible and boorish behaviour by the men – no gentlemen there. Navy was repeatedly warned it wouldn’t go well.
      One might find that this is Services humour, like building site humour, and everybody gets a dose. So, not personal.

      1. 30 years ago I was running the carpentry team on a new supermarket site in Luton. There was a young lady called Liz laying bricks. She was struggling with the 9x6x18 inch concrete blocks and some of the other gobby brickies were taking the Michael. But half way through the job less bricklayers were needed. But Lizzie was still there.

    3. I can not condone what seems awful behaviour but it was never, going to end well. There are good reasons for social norms to exist and forcing change does not always produce a good result.

    6. I suspected there was more to this story – she, and the male officer she was having an affair with, have both been recently court martialled for “compromising operational security”. As her career is effectively over [she resigned before being dismissed] I wonder how much of her story is true?
      https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/two-royal-navy-officers-who-had-a-clandestine-affair-on-a-nuclear-submarine-are-sacked-for-leaking-top-secret-information-in-email-3732303

  34. I was thinking this morning, I don’t know why this popped into my head but,

    If we ever get a second coming, we are due for one, I think, then the wise men would bring baby Jesus, Gold, Myrrh and Fracking licences.

  35. Ignore the gleeful negativity about Britain… No other major democracy could have removed Liz Truss with such speed and efficiency, writes ANDREW NEIL

    Probably best you sit down before you read my next sentence. Westminster works. Seriously. I’ll say it again: Westminster works.

    Step away from the avalanche of gleeful negativity about Britain which has spewed out from domestic and foreign media in recent weeks — some of it deserved — and consider what’s just happened.

    Within days of the octogenarian membership of the Conservative Party lumbering us with Liz Truss as prime minister, Tory MPs realised they had a clunker on their hands. Within weeks, she was gone, the grown-ups put back in charge.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11366825/No-democracy-removed-Liz-Truss-speed-efficiency-writes-ANDREW-NEIL.html

    1. If those in charge are grown-ups the education systems which produced them are completely broken.

      What has happened to Andrew Neil? Has he suffered some strange mental disease because he was once a sensible person and now he is a complete moron. The same thing seems to have happened to Steve Baker.

      1. The education system broke in 1965 with Anthony Crosland’s reform and the institution of the Comprehensive system. In her biography published in 1982, Susan Crosland said her husband had told her “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to destroy every fucking grammar school in England. And Wales and Northern Ireland.”

    2. Unfortunately Mr Neil we all know as you do, whoever has taken charge in any such situation that person knows all those selected all have their price. So whatever is managed in the short term, it never last very long before all the childish bickering restarts. And they once more eff up everything they come into contact with.
      Remind us who and how is this disastrous illegal invasion going to be dealt with ?

    3. Well Andrew Neil, losing you from GB News is no loss if you continue to write such tosh as this. Do you really believe what you have written or is it just a columnist filling his pockets. Either way, shame on you.

    4. The 73 year old whipper snapper should show more respect.
      I bet he’s still sore that the head prefect mocked his Brillo pad hair c.1960.

  36. 366746+ up ticks,

    I take it it would suit ALL political governing overseers & supporters if we ALL attended the local corner mosque and prayed to the local head keeper that we can, well, “keep our heads”

    ‘Demonises Muslims’ – UK Officials Censor Name, Ethnicity of London Terrorist in Official Report

  37. Modern Life……..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/117c5c12a420a6534798094ba53cd4a8c578df0068130e27b20459ac3b892a9f.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8e501114fbf64264f06b17f60a8999bf1d41a86db3665b9c42350700d076e786.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07ddee932a3d8e628d482bd5c19e257eb527f76a79193ba6612c8bb3748cc7f8.jpg

    https://media.greatawakening.win/post/TRc9U5URpmaq.jpeg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b5ed6437bdc4b66bf21261e05d7a7dd2407b87ec7f1a035ca249cb150920e984.jpg

    1. Tell us something we don’t already know Bore-us.
      And Shapps……what a joke this government are.
      Justice pinned to the ground. We know who’s behind this. Where are the general’s when they are needed ? ……….hello any one there ?

      1. It may be America but the article certainly applies equally to the Left in the UK

        Democrats, who have spent years delegitimizing the Supreme Court and rule of law, undermining legislative norms, cheering on unprecedented and blatant executive abuses and using the DOJ to target their political enemies, among other “democracy”-destroying behaviors, do not occupy any high moral ground. And while “democracy” was once just a transparently silly euphemism for “stuff we want,” it has since evolved into a rhetorical device that denotes a decisively illiberal mindset.

        https://www.takimag.com/article/save-our-democracy-is-the-new-russia-collusion/

  38. Morning all 🙂
    Late rising today. Absolute monsoon at around 5:30 this morning it woke me up. Sun is breaking through now. It’s very nice to see, but it looks like I’ll have to cut the grass once more before winter draws on.

    1. The average is meaningless.
      It is good to see that yellow and brown people are ahead of whites and blacks.
      But where are the greys?

  40. Chopper’s Politics: How Liz Truss should approach the backbenches
    Fellow former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith had some words of wisdom for Liz Truss on this week’s Chopper’s Politics podcast

    Christopher Hope : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/28/choppers-politics-how-liz-truss-should-approach-backbenches/

    I hope she will not go gentle but that she will rave and rave like a maniac and out-Ted Heath and out-Treason May in her fury and resentment at the way she must feel she has been treated.

    1. Good afternoon, Rastaman,

      Rave and rave? I’m certain that Dylan Thomas enjoined us to rage and rage (against the dying of the light).

  41. Chopper’s Politics: How Liz Truss should approach the backbenches
    Fellow former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith had some words of wisdom for Liz Truss on this week’s Chopper’s Politics podcast

    Christopher Hope : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/28/choppers-politics-how-liz-truss-should-approach-backbenches/

    I hope she will not go gentle but that she will rave and rave like a maniac and out-Heath Heath and out-May May in her fury and resentment at the way she must feel she has been treated.

  42. Project Fear is back – and it’s as wrong as ever

    Remainers are gleefully pointing to our economic problems, but ignoring the crises afflicting much of Europe

    ROBERT TOMBS • 28 October 2022 • 4:30pm

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c53e8fb22801794e2ef95b1922fdd5bf04486dfa0ca073e8f89e7f6cfe18e56.jpg
    Guy Verhofstadt, former European Parliament Brexit coordinator, at last Saturday’s rally in London calling for the UK to rejoin the EU
    CREDIT: Anadolu Agency
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________

    Hallowe’en approaches, and across the country unconvincing bogeymen are being manufactured from odds and ends in the optimistic hope of giving unsuspecting neighbours a fright.

    One of these is “Project Fear”. As the years have passed, it has changed its shape. In 2016, it threatened overnight economic and financial disaster, with mass unemployment, forced tax rises and a collapse in trade if we voted to leave the EU. But when the end of the world proved to be not quite as nigh as predicted, it was reinvented as a slow process of economic decline and international isolation. As one slogan put it: “The Leave campaign want us to quit the single market and be like Albania.”

    But it is the EU, following its lamentable inadequacy over Covid, that has again shown itself a nonentity, this time over the Ukraine invasion. Even its own high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, has lamented its diplomatic inactivity, irrelevance and arrogance.

    Politically, it is as divided as ever over financial, political and security issues, with no clear pathway out of its array of dead ends. In contrast, the United Kingdom emerged as the chief European defender of the Continent’s security. At the start of the war, it gave Ukraine stronger support and faster aid than all of the EU put together – a genuine leadership role welcomed by eastern and northern Europe.

    But then Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng gave Remain International its big break. With undisguised glee, anti-Brexit voices in the EU establishment, the United States and here at home have proclaimed that judgment day has at last arrived.

    Britain’s political and economic woes are apparently the consequence of our reckless insistence in 2016 on disobeying our masters and their in-house “experts”. The refrain is repeated by the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Guardian, of course, its doppelgangers Le Monde, Corriere della Sera and El País, and the tame subsidised press across the Continent, glad to distract their readers’ attention from problems nearer home.

    The usual voices have joined in, with Guy Verhofstadt and Alastair Campbell gloating unashamedly. One might suspect this was co-ordinated, except that so uniform is the mindset of the Remainer class that no co-ordination is necessary. Like a flock of starlings, they wheel and turn together, urging us to migrate obediently back towards the EU whatever the terms, chastened for our folly in preferring national democracy to international bureaucracy.

    However, much of the public is aware that inflation, fuel shortages and debt are global problems, caused by Covid, Putin, and central banks printing money.

    Project Fear is trying to undermine these common-sense perceptions. It focuses narrowly on the British economy, pretending that our troubles are unique, and blaming them on Brexit, including those (such as low productivity) that are linked to our long membership of the EU’s stagnant system.

    On the other hand, the troubles of the EU are ignored or at least systematically downplayed, including its political fractures, its high rates of inflation, its sluggish growth and its terrifying debts.

    Mark Carney, sometime governor of the Bank of England, fired the opening shot in the latest push, claiming that, because of Brexit the British economy has declined from the equivalent of 90 per cent of the German to a mere 70 per cent. This has been lapped up uncritically by the Remainer media.

    As it happens, while Carney’s assertion was being trumpeted, the Princeton economist professor Ashoka Mody, a leading authority on the EU economy, was speaking in Cambridge. Mild-mannered and courteous though he is (and no advocate of Brexit), he described Carney’s claims as “complete bull—-“: “If anything, the British economy has performed slightly better than the German since Brexit,” he said, in terms of growth, per capita wealth, and innovation.

    Yes, we heard aright. But I don’t recall it being reported on the BBC. Germany’s growth model, Mody added, is fragile, its position as Europe’s leading economy is in doubt, and it faces “a painful transition”, while eurozone debt means chronic instability.

    Only by making international comparisons in this way can Project Fear be exorcised: to discuss Britain’s economic problems in isolation is itself a form of distortion. A thorough comparative analysis has recently been published by Briefings for Britain (of which I am a co-editor, though not involved in this report).

    Its findings have not been refuted: how could they be, as they are based on accepted official statistics? These show that, since the Brexit vote, real GDP growth in the UK has matched or exceeded that of the large EU economies: France has grown by 7.6 per cent, the UK by 6.8 per cent, Germany by 5.5 per cent, and Italy by 4 per cent.

    Foreign “greenfield” investment to Britain was up by a third between 2016 and 2021, and was higher than in any of the large EU economies. Unemployment is low and while labour is scarce, it is also so elsewhere.

    Remainers protest that Brexit has “cut us off” from the EU market, but in fact the research finds that UK trade with the EU has fully recovered after an initial dip. Financial services have been largely unaffected, with exports holding up and employment in the City growing. Our inflation has been similar to that of the US and the EU, and our food inflation lower.

    The pound has fallen against the dollar since the start of this year, but so have the euro and especially the yen. Kwarteng’s mini-Budget caused a sharp temporary drop, but this is not a result of Brexit. The pound’s value remains close to the average level it has traded at since the end of 2008.

    On the other hand, Northern Ireland’s forced membership of the single market does it no good: it is one of the slowest growing UK regions.

    So what exactly would be the point of tying us again to the single market or the customs union, as Remainers want? Many Leavers were willing to accept economic damage as the price of democratic accountability. As this damage does not seem to have materialised, why on earth would they want to turn the clock back now?

    Economic success or failure depend on the policies adopted by our elected governments and, so far, admittedly, they have generally been too timid and slow. But why would we give overall control to a dysfunctional EU that encourages conformity and gives no measurable economic benefit? Why would we want to tie ourselves to its military and diplomatic ambitions which have shown themselves so ineffective? Had we still been in the EU, Ukraine would probably have been defeated.

    The success of the vaccine taskforce and decisiveness over Ukraine show that being outside the EU can be a stimulus to independent action, as it ought to be across government. We need better regulation of data use, of financial services and of gene-editing technology. We need a credible policy on food security and agriculture. We should bring the EU’s game-playing over Northern Ireland to an end.

    We desperately need a serious energy policy, with the same dynamic methods applied to nuclear power innovation as to the Covid vaccine. Michael Gove and Kemi Badenoch now can and must prove that “levelling up” and new trade relationships are more than just slogans. And all this must be explained to the country as part of a genuine plan in which the Government really believes.

    Even the plainest economic facts will not convince diehard Remainers. They seem to know and care little about Europe. Their real aim in Project Fear is to take control of Britain, and Celtic nationalists then want to break it up.

    To succeed, they must first discredit Brexit and show the plebs who are really in charge – the self-styled “adults in the room” for whom the electors are mere children. To what extent the Conservative Party is ready to acquiesce, we shall soon find out.

    Robert Tombs is professor emeritus of French history at the University of Cambridge and the author most recently of ‘This Sovereign Isle: Britain In and Out of Europe’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/28/project-fear-back-wrong-ever/

    3. How did Guy Verhoftwat travel to London?
      Swam? Walked across the North Sea?
      I think we should be told.

        1. How far can you slither when you bite your own tale?
          This is all so far beyond comprehension that I might revert to throwing excrement.
          It is a sort of universal that at least that makes some sense to everyone.

          … but then these morons will identify it as the same shit they have been swallowing for the past three years.
          I give up.
          Thank God for Nottle and a few other sites.

        2. How far can you slither when you bite your own tale?
          This is all so far beyond comprehension that I might revert to throwing excrement.
          It is a sort of universal that at least that makes some sense to everyone.

          … but then these morons will identify it as the same shit they have been swallowing for the past three years.
          I give up.
          Thank God for Nottle and a few other sites.

    5. Out of Europe? I wasn’t aware we’d drifted away from the continent. Are we now anchored in mid-Atlantic?

  43. Invitation to renew my £29 a year Telegraph subscription this morning. At £189 !!!!!
    Why would I pay any money at all for a war mongering left wing rag…

      1. I cancelled my annual renewal when all the clever dicks piled into Liz Truss and wrote articles that were, quite frankly, the written equivalent of playground plait pulling and giving Chinese burns.
        The sub expires in about a fortnight’s time. I will then see if I miss the Spekkie enough to renew once we’ve moved house. (Whenever that might be.)

    2. Just cancel it, wait about 2 hours and they’ll be back with some ridiculous offer! I’m currently on £1 for 3 months and when that ends I’ll cancel again. I’ve not paid more than £5 a year for ages! Gosh, I hope they’re not reading this!

    4. Yesterday they offered me THREE months for £1.

      (Edited to prevent stupid comments from North of the Border!!)

    1. The government isn’t paying for them, Leanne; the taxpayers are. If they did their job and processed their asylum claims, rejected them and sent them back, even the taxpayers wouldn’t be footing the bill.

  46. One aspect of the “horrible men treated women like shit in submarines” lady – is that she was prosecuted for disclosing secrets about the position of her boat. And sacked.

    No connection with her grievance, of course…………………………………(sarc)

    1. Yes I noticed that too – it does cast some doubt on her whistle blowing! It does seem that there are others who claim similar problems but again I wonder what the whole story is. The BBC report is truly awful and littered with abbreviations for various ranks – presumably they couldn’t be bothered to write them out properly?

  47. A puzzled pensioner writes. When chatting with (blinkered) chums yesterday, they told us about a very recent funeral of a mutual friend.

    Church packed – he was very well known and liked. EVERYONE was triple (or more) vaccinated against the plague.

    Virtually everyone went down with corvid – some very poorly.

    Now, I thought that vaccination was to stop the spread/save the world/keep people safe…etc etc etc….

    So how could such an event become a “super-spreader??

    And I am trying to follow the science……

    1. My elder sister and hubby never gave up going to church during the crisis. After a family and friends party for two young children. They both caught covid. The party was on Saturday afternoon. They realised they had covid later mid week.
      Nobody at the party caught or had covid. I suspect they caught it in church the next morning.
      Someone else told us this week that receiving the un wiped wine cup last Sunday was an obvious issue with spreading covid.
      Why would you want to take a chance.
      One of our near neighbours drove past yesterday and stopped to ask if I wanted any more apples. DON’T COME CLOSE !
      He warned I’ve got it. Covid. I waved him on his way.

      1. Unwiped wine cups do spread disease, of course they do.

        Here in France, for communion, we dip the bread into the wine cup – even the priest does that as he takes his communion first. When everybody has had communion, the priest drains the cup – and his are the only lips that touch the cup.

        While this diminishes the symbolism of “sharing the same cup”, it does mean that church services do not spread disease.

        1. Intinction. So far in my church, there has been no return to Communion under both kinds – just the Host. It’s probably a diocesan edict.

          1. I think it’s up to the individual priest. We now have, by popular demand, communion in both kinds. Our rectorette canvassed our opinions and we were in favour of getting as far back to normal as we could.

        3. Intinction (dipping the Host in the wine) is banned here on the grounds that it spreads covid! Out chalice is silver (anti-bacterial) and is both wiped and turned between sips. Taking communion in both parts is optional.

    2. Yet another new variant no doubt, and the vaccinations will have reduced any natural immunity that they may once have had.

      1. Thank God that our doctor advised Caroline and me NOT to be jabbed – and Thank God we followed her advice. Yes, we have both had Covid – but no, we were hardly ill at all while our fully-jabbed friends and family who got it at the same time as we did were very poorly.

          1. She has been sacked but she is going to court to appeal and we all wish her well. There have already been demonstrations of support in Dinan for her as she is very much loved and respected.

    4. Good morning PP, and others less puzzled.
      A gentleman along the road was due for his fifth jab last week and then his healthy grandchild, now 12, was needled in order to facilitate a foreign holiday.
      Another couple in the district recently attended a Seventh-Seal-style wedding. Most of the guests were laid low with a dose of Chinavirus.
      The wife seemed to regard it cheerfully as a rite of passage for Covidians; although she had felt very ill, there was a religious intensity in her support for vaccination.

      Amazing vax how sweet the jab
      That saved a wretch like me
      I once was lost, but now I’m found

      Was blind but now I see, etc.

        1. Bring Back Butter; then we’d all be healthier.
          Particularly the animals and forests flattened to produce palm oil.

    6. How did they know it was CV-19 that afflicted them? “Variants” have been allocated a mixed bag of symptoms over the last two years and many of the symptoms or groups of symptoms given to CV-19 also match other respiratory illnesses. If multi-jabbed then their immune system has been damaged and they will be susceptible to many illnesses.

      1. All tested, apparently.

        Never see the point in that, me. If you are ill/under the weather – it’ll pass. Who cares what it is?

        1. People test because they want a slice in the drama of it all. And they want their five second share of attention when chatting to their mates. And, possibly, a conscience-free few days off work. It has all become very tedious now.

        2. The same people telling us that the jab is safe and effective are the same people telling us that the testing is accurate.

      2. I recall the symptoms of the second or third variant being a perfect match for hay fever.

        2. And to beware because the virus could mixed up with pollen and roll along with it (and pounce! was the implication!) – oh, how I laughed at that one. The gullibility of the British public was complete.

    7. It never ends, does it?

      Two new strains of Covid have been found in the UK which may be immune to current vaccines, health officials warn
      There have been 717 cases of the BQ.1 variant and 18 cases of the XBB variant
      Experts have wared both are immune evasive and could be immune to vaccines
      Biozentrum warned a ‘swarm’ of these variants could lead to a new winter wave
      A University of Warwick virologist said the UK was blind to these new variants
      However vaccination does remain the number one protection against Covid-19

      My bold italics.
      There was a protest in Bergerac this morning with one banner posting a claim that 1 in 100 vaccinations results in some sort of adverse cardiac reaction.

      And who or what is Biozentrum, if not yet another source of unnecessary panic?
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11367915/Two-new-strains-Covid-UK-immune-current-vaccines.html

      1. After the parade of government sponsored charlatans in recent years I bristle in response to “experts”.

    1. One question:

      Why shouldn’t people use every legal means at their disposal to avoid tax?

          2. Ouch.
            Even at the most expensive outlet in Bergerac it’s the equivalent of £1.80 today.

          3. Ah – but doesn’t the ever-generous Franch government give a rebate of 15c per litre? Or have they stopped that?

          5. Not sure what you mean.

            I was self employed for years and it’s a very popular misconception the self employed are better off. I’ve been to tribunals twice over government tax ripoffs.
            It was clear on both occasions they had reached their verdict before I’d even walked in.
            And holiday pay of any type never arrives in the pay packet.

          6. That’s a different issue.
            I was pointing out how even the least wealthy can avoid tax, in this case legally avoiding VAT.

          7. I’m not sure VAT is or should be applied to secondhand goods, the Tax was paid by the original person who made the first purchase.
            Don’t give the government any ideas.

          9. I try to avoid VAT wherever possible; working dog food is VAT free and I tend to buy dried fruit and nuts for snacking from the bakery aisle. It’s the same thing, but VAT-free. Pressing my own orange juice saves paying VAT on pre-pressed juice, for instance.

          10. Good examples of how anyone can legally avoid tax.

            I must admit, that jealous as I am of the very rich people’s wealth, I fail to see why they should be forced to pay even more tax than they already do.

          12. Self employment started just after Wilson introduce SET. Selective employment Tax. another useless self-opinionated politician who made life changing effects to millions of people.

        1. The real problem is people who think that even more taxation is the answer to all our economic woes.

    2. That’s the problem with success like he’s had. It attracts much attention. People take notice and obviously investigate.
      I wonder if he really is the right person for the job.

    4. The UK needs to be more diverse – the list of the great officers of state shows far too few BAMEs in it. We clearly need to replace the chancellor with a chancellor with rather better BAME credentials.

      Prime minister : Sunak (BAME)
      Chancellor : (Not BAME but married to a BAME)
      Home Secretary: Braverman (BAME)
      Foreign Secretary ; Cleverley (BAME)

      and

      The Mayor of London (Khan BAME)

      1. There are several more, too, Richard. Jeremy Rhyming’s wife is NOT Bame – she is an agent of the Chinese government.

        1. But Bill, should he not be sacked anyway? As a lawyer you might have an opinion as to whether the mere fact that he is not BAME is justifiable and adequate grounds for his dismissal?

      3. “There is nothing like a Bame
        Nothing in the world
        There is nothing you can name
        That is anything like a Bame”.

  49. I see that the Wan King is stamping his little feet about being prevented from going abroad to bleat on about his climate fantasies.

    The sooner his correct role is explained to him in very simple terms – the better.

  51. Weather has slightly improved after this mornings rain, though it’s still fairly dull at the moment so I doubt if I’ll be doing a lot outside.

    I was actually quite pleased yesterday as I managed to get a mix of mortar done and a bit of wall built. Hopefully I’ll get a bit more done tomorrow or Monday.

    2. I haven’t got anything I’d planned done; it was too wet to do anything in the veg plot, I went and fetched the new curtain rail and then couldn’t drill the necessary holes to put up the supports; the chuck for the electric drill had gone walkabout. I shall have to ask a friend or neighbour if they’ve got one to lend me – with any luck, they might offer to do it; I am not very steady up a stepladder these days.

  52. Good start to the weekend three fines for motoring violations

    These people never seem to be understaffed.

  53. I was amused ro read that a painting by Mondrian (one of the many that look like a draft for the Tube Map – or a section of garden fence) has spent its life being hung upside down!!

    Some gushing “curator” was on the radio wetting himself about how marvellously wonderful it looked the right way up – “so much more meaningful” than when wrong.

    Here you are – you tell me…….!!!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a518c30fbb194663b3ae8fce5658f3b258ba0b30b37ac136e4c2feb624810d95.jpg

    4. Not really a painting; it is effectively an experimental model as the lines consist of painted paper tape.

    5. Perhaps both options are wrong and it should be on one side edge or the other – either way, who cares? Probably best if the side with the painted stuff is facing the wall?

    6. Perhaps both options are wrong and it should be on one side edge or the other – either way, who cares? Probably best if the side with the painted stuff is facing the wall?

    9. MB and I have seen similar designs in the Dunelm curtain section.
      All you have to do is look for the hooks.

    12. Reminds me of a cartoon I saw many years ago in Punch iirc. A framed white square with a black dot in the centre: the scruffy beardy artist was having a fit screaming that it was…

    13. I’ll only be able to judge if it is more meaningful if someone explains to me what it is supposed to mean.

    1. ‘Cookies’ is a code word for immigrants and divers cultures.
      Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, custard cream, ginger, Garibaldis, the whole world can be found within a biscuit barrel.

      1. Sorry to be picky but I hear everywhere now things being described as ‘diverse’ – it’s the new buzzword seemingly appropriated as a synonym for ‘ethnic minority’.

        Things are not diverse in themselves, it is the range of things that is diverse.

  59. Shortly after Jerry Lee Lewis died there was probably “a whole lot of shaking going on”

    I know, I know, coat, door, off I must fuck.

  60. Apparently the Conservative party have been accused of using a Garry
    Glitter song in a video about Rishi Sunaks first week. Gary Glitter is
    said to be disgusted and will sue for the damage caused to his
    reputation by association with the Conservative Party.

  61. An owl has been rescued 100 miles out at sea by a fishing boat.
    That’s all fair well but what happened to the pussy cat?

    2. The owl threw the cat out and went on his way in his pea green boat, with all the honey and plenty of money wrapped up in a £5 note 😉

    4. On a seismic survey vessel in the North Sea in the early 90s there was an enormous storm overnight. Come daylight our ship and all rigs we passed were covered in birds. All sorts, including owls, hawks, songbirds. Some northern rarities (to me at least) too. For the first time I saw waxwings, grosbeaks, and an eagle owl. The main carnage was at night by the predatory birds and feathers covered the deck. All the Filipino crew built little cages for some of the robins and songbirds.

  62. 366746+ up ticks,

    May one ask,

    Would this be on par with or worse than the continuing semi covert attacks via the political governing overseers on the peoples domiciled in the United Kingdom.

    Britain ‘exposed’ to Russian missile attacks
    Former commander warns only way to protect London from hypersonic or ballistic attack would be to station a Type 45 destroyer in the Thames

    On reflection would it not be safer to change the governing body ?

    1. Took me, oh, 2 minutes to do, and without laying the screen flat as well – hence the wobbly lines. And, yes, the roof is corrugated…

      1. That’s the effect I was after. 🙂
        For the “real” label, I’d use black ink with a finer point. Possibly some grey shading.

        1. They need to be displayed on the label. Otherwise it might be thought to be wasp honey…{:¬))

    6. Is it upside down? [See earlier story re “painting” by Mondrian that was apparently hung the wrong way up].

    7. Do the weegies (apart from my friends who don’t even live there) still have a sense of humour?
      (the drawing is a bit ruffled, and needs a comb)

  65. 366746+ up ticks,

    Thinking on it why has a boycott party ( pressure group) never been founded or has one, purely to target blatant OTT issues, supermarket butter rise, hit it, judged, two weeks boycott, politico’s tradesmen services required hit it, open ended boycott, etc,etc,etc, people power works the electorate majority have proven that time & again, without their input we would never have found ourselves where we are today.

  66. A spot of Rodders to while away a dull Saturday.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-i-wont-be-watching-qatars-world-cup

    Why I won’t be watching Qatar’s World Cup

    “The pop-up ad I get most frequently these days is David Beckham’s promotional video for the Islamic sandpit of Qatar, in which the smirking tattooed oaf enjoins us to discover such delights as buying some spices in a market and being short-changed in a local shop. Around him is the bling architecture of Doha, which looks like it was designed by his wife. The last scene is a semi-veiled hottie laughing coquettishly with the intellectually impaired former footballer, suggesting to the young men who will be visiting the medieval satrapy for the World Cup that its babes might well be inclined to put out and give you one (if you have bags of cash, designer stubble and ride a motorbike). I assume it was directed by a chap called Asif.

    It is a pretty loathsome advert and reportedly netted Beckham – hitherto a minor but willing foot soldier in the army of Woke – a remarkable £150 million, his imprimatur supposedly sanctifying the country and enabling us to forget the thousands who died building its horrible stadia, and the general lack of democracy which pertains in the place. Of all the pop-up ads I receive, this is the one I would most like to go away, even more than those selling dentures or advising me to plan carefully for my death.

    This hideous World Cup is almost upon us – we are only three weeks from the start. On Tuesday the indefatigable Peter Tatchell was detained by the Qatari fuzz in the capital for protesting about the lack of rights afforded to homosexuals (I assume Pete will be taking his protest to Gaza City next), but also about the many other infractions of human rights which you can find detailed by Amnesty International and various do-gooding charities.

    Given that these days sporting organisations are terribly eager to show the world how progressive they are, you might think it a surprise that the tournament is going ahead at all. But this is football, where morality doesn’t get to play and isn’t even on the bench. In lieu of doing the decent thing and pulling out, the western democratic countries have made wonderfully hypocritical minor obeisances to the cause of human rights which simply reinforce the belief that all that stupid knee-bending was indeed just a case of sanctimonious top-down virtue signalling and essentially meaningless.

    Take, for example, the ineffably liberal Danes. The kit manufacturer Hummel has just revealed the three designs for the Danish squad. In order to pay respects to human rights in Qatar, Hummel has stated that the shirts are ‘toned down’ – i.e. they are a bit darker than usual and shorn of all ornamentation. Well, that’ll do the trick.

    Western countries have made wonderfully hypocritical obeisances to the cause of Qatari human rights

    A spokesarse for the firm said: ‘At Hummel, we believe that sport should bring people together. And when it doesn’t, we are eager to speak up and make a statement.’ It gets still more emetic: ‘We support… the Danish national team all the way. However, that isn’t the same as supporting Qatar as a host nation.’ Yes it is, and you know it is, Hummel. The firm has removed its name from the shirts, too, because it doesn’t want to be identified as a sponsor of the tournament. Then why make the shirts at all, you greedy Scando hypocrites?

    In France, meanwhile, a mood is growing to ban public showings of the French team’s games on giant video screens. So far, Marseille, Reims, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and several others have signed up to this muted protest. As has Paris, despite the fact that the capital hosts the country’s most successful football team, Paris Saint-Germain, which is owned by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a Qatari mogul who was instrumental in ensuring that the World Cup ended up in his godawful country.

    And what of England, then? Don’t forget that the sententious equine manager, Gareth Southgate, has been determined to make inane genuflections towards progressivism – surely he cannot abide to have his team of impeccable young moralists play in such a venue? Yep, he doesn’t seem to give a monkey’s. But it would seem he is backing the idea that the team’s captain, Harry Kane, should wear a ‘One Love’ rainbow armband for the duration of the tournament. Again, that’ll show ’em.

    In fact, England is even more morally compromised than any other team in the tournament, seeing as how its first game takes place on the second day and is against the homosexual-hugging, women-friendly democrats of Iran, trusted allies of the host nation. There have been plenty of demands that Iran be booted out of the competition, following the deaths of 200 protestors in Tehran (and beyond). Then there is the question of Iran bunging the Russians drones to use in its war against Ukraine.

    The Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk has demanded the removal of Iran (to be replaced, natch, by Ukraine), saying of those drones: ‘Each of them was produced, delivered by the Iranian authorities, Iranian instructors and the military directly trained and managed the launches of drones that destroyed homes, museums, universities, offices, sports grounds and playgrounds, and most importantly, killed Ukrainians.’ From Southgate, though, we have heard nothing at all. To their eternal credit, several of the Iranian players have made public protests about their government’s behaviour and at least one has had his passport confiscated as a consequence.

    I suppose Southgate could urge his team to play its group stage matches without skill, verve, tactics and purpose and thus lose all three games and exit the competition at the earliest opportunity. In fact, given his abilities as a coach, I suspect that one way or another that is precisely what the England team will do. I hope someone somewhere would be kind enough to let me know if this happens, because I won’t be watching.”

    1. I haven’t seen this Beckham advert at all. £150 million, I would have done it for half of that.

    3. A bit ironic some Ukrainian wendyball club complaining about Ukrainians being killed? I seem to recall Ukrainians killing other Ukrainians in that country since 2014 without them complaining? The swipe at the idiot Southgate in the final paragraph is excellent!

    4. Rod thinks well, he writes well and I believe he drinks well.
      Problem is that the wendyballfest will be celebrated in Qatar, a sovereign state with lots of money. Not the UK.
      Why am I supposed to be upset about a load of South Asian workers who were mistreated, allegedly?
      Qatar strikes me as a sub-optimal place to play football, but ditto many cities in Britain. Best of luck to the Qataris and a big thank-you for pumping money back into the world economy.
      As for Mr Beckham, nice work if you can get it and I have little doubt that he is a natural gentleman and good at arithmetic.

    5. I’ve worked in Qatar and seen the teatment of labourers from the sub-continent first hand. That was building the Dolphin Energy gas terminal. This treatment of third world workers is nothing new – it’s been going on throughout the Middle East for decades.
      The whole of the gas and oil infrastructure was built using such labour. Did the hand-wringing classes ever feel guilt-ridden when filling their cars with oroducts from these countries? But as soon as football goes there it sudenly becomes an area of concern. I like my football but I hate it when the game is hijacked to promote social and political issues.

    1. 366746+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      When did we surrender Og,? well the war started against decent peoples when post referendum the electorate majority went back to supporting mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella parties ie the lab/lib/con / current ukip coalition.

      No surrender for us Og when we go to the wall we go knowing we never had a hand in the downfall of blighty.

  68. WTF was Mrs Windsor doing flying to a drug enhanced ashram when her woke hubby is telling us that even LOOKING at an aeroplane is wasting CO2?

    1. I commented about the same shameful exercise about 3 hours ago Bill.

      Total hypocrites of the first order .. all that way for a massage Tchhh.

    3. TBF – I doubt she has much truck with Chuck’s flights of fancy.
      A distracted “Yes, darling” as she packs her case and he stands in the doorway, rabbiting on.

      1. I read an article yesterday about Diane and Charles .. He banned hairspray from the Palace , he banned her from using it because of the assault on the ozone layer.. What?

        1. I don’t believe any of this BS. It’s all made up.
          If there isn’t a real story then make one up.

  69. Much has been made in the mainstream media about our new PM being a British Asian.

    But I wonder will British Asians feel that they will be better served with one of their own in the top role?

    Speaking from experience I expect not, after all I’ve had a lifetime of white Prime Ministers, except for one they have not done much to advance the cause of white British people or we wouldn’t be living in the hell hole we are now, they have been very much counterproductive in that respect.

    And thinking about it, most of the people that have moved here from abroad have done so for a better life away from leaders that just look like they do.

    I expect most British Asians already know this and are not being taken in by our woke medias attempts to race bait.

    1. There was an Indian comic on GBNews last night who said that it used to be that all Hindu mothers expected their children to become doctors and lawyers but now life has become impossible because his mother demands to know why he’s not prime minister.

          3. I did “My Brother” song once. ” My brother said it wasn’t he who put shampoo in grandma’s tea- my brother said that it was me! My brother’s rotten.”

    1. Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be a new ‘gene therapy’ being manufactured for the next rollout of boosters🙄
      Must keep the money flowing in.

    1. They actively WANT it, Belle – so no point asking if the authorities care, they WANT IT.

    2. Don’t forget all the current price increases all of our useless habitual lying political idiots blame on Russia.

  72. 366746+ up ticks,

    UK Considered Setting Up Tent Cities in London Parks to House Migrants: Report
    The British government considered proposals to build migrant tent cities in London to house asylum seekers, the Times of London reports.

    AKA a protective ring of troops encircling parliament knowing shit connecting with fan cannot be far off.

  73. The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has said that today will be the last day of protest. This should get interesting and will no doubt end up with slaughter. Nothing much in the way of support from sisterhood. (Al Jazeera)

  76. Could there be any clearer clues as to who was behind the “partygate” leaks?

    Rishi’s last jab for Boris: New PM Sunak gives key communications role to member of ITV news team whose award-winning Partygate scoops brought down his arch rival Johnson

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11368003/Meet-Rishi-Sunaks-new-mouthpiece-ITVs-UK-mother-two-news-chief-Amber-Botton.html

    Of course the real reason is to ensure she’s stymied from doing similar to him.
    [/sarc]

    2. What we need is for some enterprising Brits to hoist huge French flags along the Dover Coastline and their friends to hoist huge Union Flags on the French Coastline West of Calais…..

      1. Unfortunately, they will all have a variety of satellite positioning systems on their mobiles.

  78. ‘I wasn’t saying the entire UK is racist’: Daily Show host Trevor Noah denies saying Britain was a racist country after Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid took him to task
    Noah, 38, had claimed ‘people are saying Indian people want to take over’ the UK
    It came after LBC Radio caller said Mr Sunak ‘was not as British as Boris Johnson’
    He now says he was only ‘responding to the racists who don’t want Rishi as PM’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11367833/I-wasnt-saying-entire-UK-racist-Trevor-Noah-addresses-backlash-Rishi-Sunak-comments.html

    1. “Noah, 38, had claimed ‘people are saying Indian people want to take over’ the UK”

      It’s not the Indians it’s the Pakis and all their Slammer fiends.

    2. ‘He now says he was only ‘responding to the racists who don’t want Rishi as PM”

      So he’s saying anyone who doesn’t want Sunak as PM is a racist?

        1. And me. It’s nothing to do with the colour of his skin, it’s to do with the fact that he helped cause the mess in the first place!

    4. I really don’t understand why this pathetic tick – of whom most of us have never heard – is being noticed at all.
      It’s just pandering to his attention seeking behaviour.

    5. Boris Johnson is not particularly British either! He grew up floating around the world with his father’s work!

  79. Useful two hours of ladder work pruning clematis, hydrangea petiolaris – and another climbing shrub whose name I can recall – but brilliant because likes facing north and needs cutting back about once in ten years. And has a lovely white flower in late summer.

    Also harvested the three trombetti which will provide nourishing velouté on Christmas Day and over the winter. The longest is 3 ft……

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8f44bf13165fb9c2cdbbbfbe941e067034bb6084721a8dbc61622db79733392e.jpg

        1. Thank you. Others are available! I was sure that I had a few snaps of the butterflies on the flowers but – as usual – can’t find them.

        1. Shed? That is The Bakehouse. 100 years ago it was the communal bakehouse for five cottages that were part of the farm on which the house is built. Behind it is the well – that was the source of water for the cottages. My house was originally the forge for the village and pig units.

          When I bought the house in 1984, I cleared out what was left in the building, tiled the floor, damp-proofed the walls and put on a new roof – (about 80% of the work I did myself). Then installed bunk beds for visiting children.

          How it is a store for hoses, garden furniture… Dead useful.

          3. Not silly if it’s factual.
            Near where I grew up, there was an Army gym, that was later used for pig farming. The building was then sold and a house built there. I believe they did not name the house “The Old Gym Piggery.”
            I would not have been able to resist the temptation!

  82. Britain’s first black ‘universty’ […]

    ‘The course only accepted applications from “people racialised as Black or mixed-Black”, with students challenged at a “revolutionary level” because “we are living in the imagination of a few White European men”.’

    Two questions m’lud
    1. Is that legal
    2. What??

    1. Excellent – with luck they’ll all fall out with the fuckalty and each other and have an orgy of machete work….

    4. 1. Yes because they’re excluding whites; the other way round it would have been illegal.
      2. Whitey is doomed.

  83. A sad Bogey Five today.

    Wordle 497 5/6
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Me too.
      Wordle 497 5/6

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

      1. Par four here

        Wordle 497 4/6

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

    3. My result doesn’t show how long I stared at it with brain fog 😀
      Wordle 497 3/6

      ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜
      🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    4. A dull par
      Wordle 497 4/6

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

  84. Watching Fiji vs Scotland in the Rugby league world cup, particularly their singing before kick off, it set me wondering whether one gets the same levels of criminality and wanton violence from South Sea Islanders and their UK descendants as one gets from the African equivalents; (I count Caribbean’s as of African descent). I know Fijians have a remarkable record of service in the British Army.

  85. A quiet day, did need to gather up all the leaves that cover what passes as a lawn, but rain stopped play 🙂
    So finished reading ‘Solaris’ a science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem.
    Now about to settle down with a bottle of Shiraz and watch the 1972 Russian film
    based on Lem’s book, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Then the 2002 version directed by Steven Soderbergh.
    Maybe I will need more than one bottle 🙄

      1. Unfortunately my Russian is almost nonexistent so it would be a very slow process.
        Sub-titles are a must I’m afraid.

          1. I worked that out as ‘fair enough’ although out of context I would have said it translates as ‘fair or fairly’.

          3. No regrets and don’t quote Edith Piaf – 🙏😉
            I’m about to watch a film after opening my bottle of Shiraz.

          4. Google Translate has it as ‘Justly’ but I suppose that’s American as opposed to English.

  86. Russia blaming UK over a massive drone attack on a ship of their Black Sea fleet. Apparently UK specialists lead the preparations for the attack.

    1. Well our Top Guns are training Chinese pilots so ………………Let’s open a war on two fronts !!!

  87. Apologies for posting such a long article. Comments were closed after 21 postings.
    Quelle surprise …. both with the article and the DTs reaction to a few comments..

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/29/disastrous-legacy-left-lockdown-non-covid-excess-deaths-overtake/

    The disastrous legacy left by lockdown as non-Covid excess deaths overtake Covid deaths

    Experts believe higher deaths from heart complaints and diabetes mean the indirect effects of the pandemic will be greater than Covid itself

    29 October 2022 • 4:04pm

    The uptick in unexpected deaths shows no sign of slowing as emergency admissions for heart problems increased by over 25,000

    The uptick in unexpected deaths shows no sign of slowing as emergency admissions for heart problems increased by over 25,000 Credit: Shutterstock

    When Britain first locked down on March 23 2020, the average daily death rate from Covid was around 213, triggering understandable alarm and the ushering in of strict restrictions.

    Now a similar number of unexpected deaths are occurring each day, the majority of which are not primarily caused by coronavirus.

    Yet there is largely silence from the government and health service.

    Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in the past six months there have been more excess deaths from causes other than Covid, than deaths ‘due to’ coronavirus for the entire year.

    Figures reveal there were 18,394 deaths ‘due to’ Covid recorded this year in England and Wales. But since May there have been 23,195 excess deaths where the primary cause was another condition.

    Some of those people did die with a coronavirus infection, but it was not the main reason for the death.

    Experts continue to argue over the reasons behind this recent uptick in unexpected deaths, which shows no sign of slowing.

    But it is likely that collateral damage from the pandemic, coupled with long term NHS problems, have collided into a perfect, and deadly, storm.

    Amitava Banerjee, Professor of Clinical Data Science and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the Institute of Health Informatics, University College London, recently completed work showing how admissions for heart problems declined steeply during the pandemic.

    In 2020, there were 31,064 fewer hospital admissions for heart patients, 14,506 fewer emergency admissions and 16,560 fewer elective procedures compared to 2016-2019 in England, Scotland and Wales.

    Elective admissions were still down in 2021, with 10,996 fewer operations but, alarmingly, emergency admissions for heart problems had increased by 25,878.

    Amitava Banerjee, Professor of Clinical Data Science, showed admissions for heart problems declined steeply during the pandemic

    Amitava Banerjee, Professor of Clinical Data Science, showed admissions for heart problems declined steeply during the pandemic

    Prof Banerjee fears that the indirect effects of the pandemic will turn out to be greater than the harm from Covid itself, and that it is vital for future preparedness planning to take into account long-term outcomes.

    “Treating and preventing underlying diseases is not a can that should be kicked down the road,” he said.

    “We should never ever have had a pandemic preparedness team that did not consider the indirect and long-term effects. Traditionally, it has been virologists and infection specialists, but with a pandemic of this scale across so many countries, that is not fit.

    Indirect effects will lead to more deaths

    “We focussed on the direct effects of excess deaths from Covid but from the beginning it’s likely the indirect effects will lead to more deaths, and more morbidity and more economic impacts than Covid deaths itself.”

    Some experts have argued that the figures may not be quite as worrying because the ONS does not take into account population changes, simply comparing weekly figures to the expected five year average (excluding 2020). As the population ages, more people would be expected to die each year.

    However other measures which do take the ageing population into account are also showing worrying rises in excess deaths.

    A recent report from the Institute of Actuaries Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) showed that in the third quarter – July, August and September – Britain saw the highest mortality since 2010.

    Cobus Daneel, Chair of the CMI Mortality Projections Committee, said: “The third quarter of 2022 saw unusually high mortality for the time of year – higher than any third quarter since 2010.

    “There were more deaths than expected from non-Covid causes. This contrasts with most of the pandemic period, when non-Covid deaths were lower than expected.”

    The situation is all the more unusual as mortality rates should have fallen after the pandemic because so many people died early, an effect known as ‘harvesting.’ Instead we are seeing the reverse trend.

    The government has made a half-hearted attempt to find out what is going on with excess deaths, asking for a report from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OEHD).

    The report showed a worrying increase in deaths in people who had heart complaints and diabetes, many of which were preventable.

    Recent reports have found that people hospitalised with Covid-19 are more likely to suffer heart problems, particularly in the first month after their release, which could be leading to some of the excess.

    Epidemiologist Veena Raleigh, a senior fellow at The King’s Fund, who recently investigated the probable causes for the excess believes this could be a real factor, along with NHS problems.

    She told The Sunday Telegraph: “The continuing trend of higher numbers of deaths in England and Wales than expected (compared with previous years), apparent since the spring, is worrying.

    “From April to mid-October there have been almost 30,000 excess deaths, of which one-third have been due to Covid-19 – a reminder that the virus remains a life-threatening risk.

    Bulk of excess deaths are unexplained

    “While some 3000 excess deaths occurred during the excessively warm summer periods, that still leaves the bulk of excess deaths unexplained.

    “Deaths from cardiovascular disease and diabetes, in particular, show a significant excess; Covid-19 increases the risk of subsequent cardiovascular problems and could in part be driving excess deaths.

    “An overstretched NHS coping with a large backlog of care and unprecedented pressures on emergency services could be another factor.”

    Health experts are continuing to call for a full government investigation, with Dr Charles Levinson of the private GP service DoctorCall complaining that he had now been ‘ringing the alarm on this for months and months.’

    But some experts believe it will be tricky to tease out which deaths should be included.

    Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, at the the Open University said: “There’s no way of going through the list of people who died and saying ‘This death is an excess death, this death isn’t’, because there’s nothing resembling a sensible way of deciding on an individual basis who would have lived and who would have died.

    “That all makes any investigation of the reasons for the excess deaths rather difficult.”

    However experts believe there is still too much attention being paid to the direct effects of Covid at the expense of the wider impacts.

    Prof Banerjee said specialists should come together to pool their data on excess deaths in their field.

    “What I see is still a focus on the direct effects of Covid,” he said.

    “Nobody who is in charge of the NHS, or any of the new health secretaries, are making any noises about it.””

    2. In the MSM, too. Not some foam-flecked website… be interesting to see the response, when it comes.

    4. Comments BTL are interesting… Maybe those Bill mentioned this morning as being horrified at his skeptical opinions on Covid will start to wake up.

        1. Thanks. I am soooooo glad that it is all down to the long hot summer and NOTHING to do with corvid.

    7. Well, it’s not hard to see why they published that – all excess deaths are the fault of lockdown, and how convenient – the people who made the lockdown decisions are all gone!
      What’s that, you say? Sunak in charge? Ah, but he never wanted lockdowns, so it’s all the same, nothing to see here.

  88. Good evening from Anglo Saxon Queen with longbow and axe in handbag with marmalade sandwich. Just about to put steak and kidney pie ( puff pastry top ) in the oven to be served with baby new pots and veggies .

    It’s only 5.40 pm and already getting dark, after putting the clocks back tomorrow it’ll be getting dark at 4.40 .. still afternoon. It was so lovely during the summer sitting in the garden with a glass of wine whilst dinner was cooking. We lose so much light, why on earth do we still put clocks back . Its depressing .

    1. You could always NOT put your clocks back – get up an hour earlier…and have a bit more light in your own late afternoon.

      I loathe this time of year all the way to the sodding shortest day. The only good thing is that in seven weeks – the nights will start to draw out…

      On the other hand – eight weeks today is Christmas Eve – and Gus and Pickles will have helped us put up the decorations…. It is one of their best games…..

      1. Years ago, we went to Perth, WA. Wonderful. Transition to late spring, swimming in the sea, cold wine outside pubs… just what’s needed.
        Can’t wait for the snow to come. Lightens the place up a lot, and you can play with it.

    2. There is no more light in the summer; the sun rises and sets by its own rhythm. It’s just idiot people mess around with everybody’s body clock so they have to live an hour ahead of themselves until things return to normal. Just get up an hour earlier and live your own life by BST – and let the rest of us breathe a sigh of relief!

    3. All those restrictions just been recently been pulled but mask wearing still on transport. FFS, who’d want to go there, civil unrest or not?

  90. Talking (as LotL was) of stocking up – yer Tesco have a red burgundy – Bouchard Grand Conseiller Pinot Noir 75Cl – shelf price £9 – Clubcard price £7.50 PLUS current 25% discount on six bottles – any six…) That is £5.62 a bottle of extremely agreeable wine. Grab it while you can find it. We went there after the MR had had her 99th booster and found and bought all 11 of the bottles in stock.

          4. A typo, I missed that bit, I thought it was about there being only 11 rather than 12 bottles

  91. Night shift last night and tonight so the ennaitchess is getting an hour free out me again tonight.
    I seem to get the autumn clock change shift every year but never get the short shift in spring.

      1. I’d rather push the staff off their desks – a load of over paid lazy b*starts on at night.

        I worked out they must be on about £80K as they only ever do night shifts which are paid 66% enhancement.

        1. Added to which, except for the occasional busy night (usually at full moon, I kid you not), its eight hours of sitting doing nothing.

          I usually use the eight hrs to catch up on work from my ‘proper job’, except that one lady complained about the part time staff doing their other work when on shift so we’ve been told we’re not allowed to. Damned if I know why. I was working with her last night so watched Netflix all night – a great benefit to the tax payer – when I could have been doing something constructive which would have reduced the likelihood of my needing to claim overtime during the week. So shortsighted.

          Anyway, I’m working with another part-timer tonight so we’ll both let each other crack on with day job work and not tell anyone.

          2. No, she’s just odd. The permanent staff don’t have any extra work to do, other than answer the phone and connect the call.

          3. Very annoying. People who can’t just mind their own business…!
            They are at my work too.

        4. BTW, I’m referring to nurses – them that keep agitating for pay rises – not doctors

      2. I’d rather push the staff off their desks – a load of over paid lazy b*starts on at night.

        I worked out they must be on about £80K as they only ever do night shifts which are paid 66% enhancement.

  92. Also not being reported on the’News you can’t trust’…

    Fed up with soaring food, energy and housing costs, tens of thousands of Czech protestors railed against their government on Friday, demanding the resignation of conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s government, withdrawal from NATO and the negotiation of gas purchases from Russia.

    “This is a new national revival and its goal is for the Czech Republic to be independent,” said organizer Ladislav Vrabel. “When I see a full square, no one can stop this.”

        1. The UK has been on ‘the wrong side’ since 2014.

          The ‘appointed’ NATO proxy President Zelenskyy – the fascist comedian and dancer – has killed large numbers of Russian-speaking Ukrainians …

          UK needs to make a strategic switch … we are playing with nuclear hellfire …

          1. Agreed, Sos, as I’ve pontificated both here and in other places, particularly BTL in Daffygraph articles.

          2. And still the fools in charge think we are doing “the right thing”.

            “Would you like your breakfast egg flash-fried or irradiated?”

  93. That’s me gone. What the radio page describes as “Verdi’s Aida”…” is on beeboid radio 3 at 6.30. Did anyone else compose an opera of that name?

    Have a spiffing evening. The Whitehouse/Enfield pisstake of the BC was moderately funny – some very clever lines and timing. I am surrised that the woke wanqueurs in charge allowed it to be screened.

    A demain. With luck.

    2. Aida was written and performed by Mr. Morcombe who sang all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order.

    3. The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the King of Egypt. To complicate the story further, the King’s daughter Amneris is in love with Radamès, although he does not return her feelings.

      Perhaps, ‘Radamès’s mistress’ would best describe Aida, Bill?

      1. I heard an Egyptian soprano being interviewed on Radio 3 and she said that the Triumphal March from Aida is to all intents the unofficial national anthem in Egypt. It’s played for all ceremonial and national occasions.

  94. Evening, all. The headline is, of course, absolutely true, but I doubt anything will be done to improve it. What’s necessary is sacking all the diversity managers, stopping the translation of everything into a myriad of languages, only treating those who have paid in over the years, removing all the transgender “treatments” (apart from mental health), sorting out social care so people can move home with a care package in place, getting student nurses training on the wards under the supervision of sister and matron and changing doctors’ payment scheme so they get paid for the patients they see, not those on their books, thus relieving the necessity for people to go to A&E because they can’t see a doctor and thereby freeing up ambulances. All of that is anathema to those who regard the Enn Haitch Ess as a sacred cow.

    2. I agree with every word, Conners!

      Perhaps, you would accept the role of Executive Chairman with Special Powers, for six months?

    1. Pack ’em all into lorries and dump them in Eire.
      Then tell them they can’t come back, Brexit don’tcha kno.

    2. 366746+ up ticks

      Evening TB,

      No one, no matter what the law says, can convince me that this is not morally wrong the consequences have led to murder / rape & abuse etc,etc that should be enough
      to rescind that law.

      To my knowledge they hanged an innocent man with Timothy Evans, currently these political overseers are literally getting away with murder or shepherding in & cosseting the persons proven capable of murder / rape & abuse.

  96. Qatar has spent more money on gifts and trips for British MPs in the past year than any other country, according to Observer analysis that reveals the Gulf state’s lobbying efforts ahead of next month’s football World Cup.

    The Qatari government made gifts to members of parliament worth £251,208 in the 12 months to October 2022, including luxury hotel stays, business-class flights and tickets to horse-racing events.

    The value of Qatar’s gifts was greater than the amount spent by the 15 other countries whose governments made donations to British MPs combined. And it was more than six times the £37,661 in gifts and hospitality given to MPs by the United Arab Emirates, the second-highest foreign government donor.

    The gifts for the past 12 months also far outstripped those from Qatar in any other year for which records are available, revealing how authorities ramped up efforts to charm British MPs ahead of the World Cup. Records show MPs declared about £100,000 worth of gifts and hospitality from Qatar in the five years to October 2021, but more than double that in the last 12 months alone.

    Alun Cairns
    Alun Cairns, Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, has set up a group to ‘foster good relations between the UK and Qatar’. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA
    Transparency International said it was “extremely concerning” that MPs were accepting “thousands of pounds worth of hospitality from foreign governments with questionable human rights records” and that this could “leave the door open to undue influence.” There is no suggestion that any MP broke rules, however.

    The Qatari government failed to respond to repeated requests for comment.

    In some cases, MPs who received freebies later appeared to speak favourably about Qatar in parliamentary debates, or to deflect attention away from issues that the authorities have been keen to downplay.

    During a debate about preparations for the World Cup earlier this month, Alun Cairns, who chairs an informal parliamentary group set up to “foster good relations between the UK and Qatar”, made a speech praising Qatar, including “paying tribute” to its response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

    Cairns, Tory MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, initiated the debate on 20 October and later shared videos of it on Twitter alongside a Nelson Mandela quote: “Sport has the power to change the world.”

    Records show he received £9,323 worth of donations from the Qatari government in 2022, for a five-day trip in February to meet officials alongside other members of the Qatar all-party parliamentary group (APPG), and for a trip a month later to attend the Doha Forum policy event.

    Tory MP David Mundell accepted hospitality worth £7,473 from Qatar for a trip last October. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
    The APPG’s deputy chair, David Mundell, who accepted hospitality worth £7,473 from Qatar for a trip last October, also contributed to the debate, responding to a concern raised by another MP about LGBTQ rights in Qatar by saying critics should “focus their energies on the handling of LGBT issues in professional football in the UK” – “Rather than simply point out issues that might arise in other countries, we still need to focus on issues at home,” he said.

    Mundell, who was the first openly gay Conservative cabinet minister, also gave an interview to Qatar’s state-run agency this year in which he criticised “baseless” media coverage about a report into Qatar’s record on worker rights. He did not mention the International Labour Organization’s finding that “despite milestones being reached” on worker rights in Qatar, there were “gaps in implementation”, nor its past research which found that 50 workers in Qatar lost their lives in 2020 alone, with over 500 severely injured and 37,600 suffering mild to moderate injuries.

    Both MPs referred to their declared interests during the parliamentary debate. Mundell did not respond to requests for comment. A statement from the Qatar APPG, provided via Cairns, said the group played an “active role in scrutinising all aspects of UK-Qatar relations, including human rights, ethics, education, energy and infrastructure”.

    Details of Qatar’s donations were revealed through analysis of declarations in the MPs register of interests. The records show 34 MPs declared 40 donations from Qatar in the year to October 2022. Of those, 22 MPs were Tory, seven were Labour, three were SNP and two were independent.

    Most of the money was spent on trips to Qatar for members of the Qatar APPG to meet ministers and government officials.

    Advertisement

    During two trips, in October 2021 and February 2022, British MPs travelled to Qatar to discuss issues including “preparations for the World Cup, workers’ rights reform and bilateral relations”, as well as Qatar’s “humanitarian and political response to the Afghanistan crisis”, transparency logs show.

    A shopping mall in Doha on Saturday
    A shopping mall in Doha on Saturday. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
    The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs paid for the all-inclusive visits, typically spending £7,000 to £8,000 per person for flights, hotels and meals during a seven-day trip.

    A source told the Observer that MPs on one trip were put up in luxury hotels with “vast swimming pools” and travelled business class on Qatar Airways. Some MPs were taken to a camel-racing event and had a private dinner with officials involved in the delivery of the Fifa World Cup.

    They said that MPs gave officials “two barrels worth” over issues, including LGBTQ rights, but that they were “slick and charming” and their goal was clear: “To improve Qatar’s reputation in the world.”

    “In particular, they wanted to minimise the criticism of their role in the World Cup,” the source said. “I came back equally critical. Maybe a couple would have been more sympathetic.”

    The APPG did not comment on the claims that officials were given luxury treatment or say which government officials MPs met with during the trips, but said visits “include meetings with a range of ministers and NGOs, including the UN Sponsored International Labour Organization”.

    Qatar’s Ministry of Culture and Sports, meanwhile, paid for two MPs to attend the Qatar-sponsored Goodwood festival in Sussex in July, according to the transparency records. The MPs were Sir John Whittingdale OBE, the Conservative MP and former culture secretary, who took a plus one and declared the gift as being worth £1,200, and Nigel Evans, Conservative MP for the Ribble Valley. It was the third donation for Evans from Qatar in nine months. Neither Whittingdale nor Evans responded to requests for comment.

    The findings will fuel concerns about attempted backdoor lobbying by foreign governments in the UK. Other countries that have made donations to MPs in the past 12 months include Bahrain, Somaliland, Azerbaijan, San Marino and Kuwait. Lobbying by China and Russia has previously been exposed.

    Rose Whiffen, from Transparency International, said “too many MPs” were showing “poor judgment” in accepting gifts from overseas administrations. She added that they must “seriously consider if it is appropriate to accept these sorts of trips – not just whether they are allowed to.” Chris Bryant, Labour MP and chair of the Commons Committee on Standards, has warned that parliament is “particularly vulnerable” to foreign influence, saying during a debate in December that “we ought to be cognisant of the danger that a foreign power might be seeking to lobby … through the back door.”

    Bryant is one of the MPs who accepted a donation in kind from Qatar in the form of an expenses-paid trip but told parliament in May that he regretted doing so. He has advocated for US-style rules which bar members of Congress from accepting donations and gifts from foreign governments. All visits abroad are paid for by Congress.

    Relations between the UK and Qatar have strengthened in recent years. In May, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced a “strategic investment partnership”, which will see Qatar invest in key sectors of the UK economy over the next five years, including fintech, life sciences and cybersecurity. Downing Street said the deal would create new UK jobs and was worth up to £10bn.

    Days later, the Ministry of Defence announced it would be funding counter-terrorism training for Qatar’s military ahead of the World Cup. Throughout the tournament, the RAF and Royal Navy will provide air and sea support.

    Last week, foreign secretary James Cleverly was criticised after telling gay football fans they should be respectful in Qatar, which criminalises their sexuality, when attending the World Cup.

    Speaking on LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast show, he suggested they show “a little bit of flex and compromise” and be “respectful of the host nation”. Labour called the comments “shockingly tone-deaf”.

    (We are prostituting our country to the Arabs )

    1. Perhaps the virtue signalling British MPs are actually the easiest to corrupt through bribery?

  97. Britain’s first “black university”, which includes a course on “burning s*** down”, does not have permission to use an official university title, it has emerged.

    The Free Black University was created by Mel Owusu, a PhD researcher at Cambridge, amid the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and is now starting to take on students.

    Owusu has said it is needed because British universities are “built on colonisation – the money, buildings, architecture – everything is colonial”.

    Having crowdfunded £150,000, the organisation is this autumn running its first course, titled the Radical Imagination Labs, which is fully funded for 16 students.

    The course only accepted applications from “people racialised as Black or mixed-Black”, with students challenged at a “revolutionary level” because “we are living in the imagination of a few White European men”.

    ‘Burn S*** Down’
    In the 10-week course overview, week two is titled “Burn S*** Down”, which focuses on “building abolitionist futures” and going “beyond the realm of mind and into the parts of self that the ‘Eurocentric masculinist knowledge validation process’…would not accept as truth”.

    Week three explores how “colonialism produced the concept of time itself”, while week four “will hold a grief ritual for the process of leaving what we have known in terms of the rationalist and evidence-based knowledge system behind”.

    Students will produce a journal at the end of the course in December. There is no assessment because “we do not believe the process of external validation is supportive for the process of exploration we will be setting upon”.

    It has been publicly supported by the University and College Union, the UK’s biggest academics union, and the National Union of Students.

    No official university title
    However, the universities watchdog has revealed it has not been given permission to use an official university title.

    Susan Lapworth, chief executive of the Office for Students, told The Telegraph: “This organisation is not registered with the Office for Students and so has not demonstrated that it meets our stringent requirements for registration, for example in relation to course quality.

    “Organisations are not permitted to use the legally protected term ‘university’ in their name without permission and we have not been asked for permission in this case.”

    The regulator said it does not oversee the Free Black University, which trades under The Free Black Universe Ltd, and the word “university” is a sensitive word under the Companies Act 2006.

    Inaya Folarin Iman, head of the Equiano Project, a cultural debate organisation, said: “This isn’t a university, it is an indoctrination camp which seeks to delegitimise the foundational ideas of Western civilisation and promote a narrative of cultural self-loathing.

    ‘Racialism and segregation is being promoted’
    “Far from supporting black students, it harms them by forwarding an anti-educational, anti-science, grievance-based politics. Racialism and segregation is being promoted in the name of anti-racism.”

    The Free Black University vows to “produce knowledge that cuts through the epistemic veil that sits across a world built upon the foundations of white supremacy (also known as Enlightenment thought)”, and “end the standpoint from which colonialism makes sense”.

    It has suggested it may eventually apply for degree-awarding powers, as well as build a physical hub with teaching rooms in a diverse London neighbourhood.

    Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert, from the race campaign group Don’t Divide Us, said Enlightenment thought has “the very values from which the trade union movement emerged in its fight to extend principles and practices of equality and freedom”.

    The Free Black University did not respond to requests for comment.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/29/britains-first-black-university-does-not-have-permission-use/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    Blacks have created apartheid in a democratic Britain

        1. We don’t want them, Maggie and they don’t want us (running the country and the culture or the religion). I despise most of ’em.

          Call me ‘Racist’ if you must but I prefer patriot (I love the country I grew up in.)

    5. Melz is a queer, transmasculine and non-binary activist, scholar, consultant and spiritualist. They are the Founder of the Free Black University (@freeblackuni) and a PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge.

      Sounds completely fucked up to me.

  98. Britain’s first “black university”, which includes a course on “burning s*** down”, does not have permission to use an official university title, it has emerged.

    The Free Black University was created by Mel Owusu, a PhD researcher at Cambridge, amid the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and is now starting to take on students.

    Owusu has said it is needed because British universities are “built on colonisation – the money, buildings, architecture – everything is colonial”.

    Having crowdfunded £150,000, the organisation is this autumn running its first course, titled the Radical Imagination Labs, which is fully funded for 16 students.

    The course only accepted applications from “people racialised as Black or mixed-Black”, with students challenged at a “revolutionary level” because “we are living in the imagination of a few White European men”.

    ‘Burn S*** Down’
    In the 10-week course overview, week two is titled “Burn S*** Down”, which focuses on “building abolitionist futures” and going “beyond the realm of mind and into the parts of self that the ‘Eurocentric masculinist knowledge validation process’…would not accept as truth”.

    Week three explores how “colonialism produced the concept of time itself”, while week four “will hold a grief ritual for the process of leaving what we have known in terms of the rationalist and evidence-based knowledge system behind”.

    Students will produce a journal at the end of the course in December. There is no assessment because “we do not believe the process of external validation is supportive for the process of exploration we will be setting upon”.

    It has been publicly supported by the University and College Union, the UK’s biggest academics union, and the National Union of Students.

    No official university title
    However, the universities watchdog has revealed it has not been given permission to use an official university title.

    Susan Lapworth, chief executive of the Office for Students, told The Telegraph: “This organisation is not registered with the Office for Students and so has not demonstrated that it meets our stringent requirements for registration, for example in relation to course quality.

    “Organisations are not permitted to use the legally protected term ‘university’ in their name without permission and we have not been asked for permission in this case.”

    The regulator said it does not oversee the Free Black University, which trades under The Free Black Universe Ltd, and the word “university” is a sensitive word under the Companies Act 2006.

    Inaya Folarin Iman, head of the Equiano Project, a cultural debate organisation, said: “This isn’t a university, it is an indoctrination camp which seeks to delegitimise the foundational ideas of Western civilisation and promote a narrative of cultural self-loathing.

    ‘Racialism and segregation is being promoted’
    “Far from supporting black students, it harms them by forwarding an anti-educational, anti-science, grievance-based politics. Racialism and segregation is being promoted in the name of anti-racism.”

    The Free Black University vows to “produce knowledge that cuts through the epistemic veil that sits across a world built upon the foundations of white supremacy (also known as Enlightenment thought)”, and “end the standpoint from which colonialism makes sense”.

    It has suggested it may eventually apply for degree-awarding powers, as well as build a physical hub with teaching rooms in a diverse London neighbourhood.

    Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert, from the race campaign group Don’t Divide Us, said Enlightenment thought has “the very values from which the trade union movement emerged in its fight to extend principles and practices of equality and freedom”.

    The Free Black University did not respond to requests for comment.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/29/britains-first-black-university-does-not-have-permission-use/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    Blacks have created apartheid in a democratic Britain

  99. ,Bad weather is good for you: take a walk in the wind and rain

    Don’t be put off by winter weather – going out into the mud and cold is highly beneficial to our immunity and general health

    In dozens of early letters, the artist Georgia O’Keeffe raved about walking in extreme wind. “I love it,” she wrote, again and again. A few other walkers have
    enthused about mud, snow, rain, darkness and cold. And yet, as the days draw in and the temperature falls, most of us hang up our walking boots.

    Big mistake! In the last few years researchers have begun untangling some of the little-known benefits of walking in wintry conditions. It turns out that the conditions most deterring us from taking a stroll are, in fact, excellent reasons to step outdoors.

    Cities are often at their most walkable in the winter, when wind disperses pollution, and rain washes the air of dirt and germs. A 2021 study found that the best days to avoid catching highly contagious strains of Covid were windy days, when germs and bacteria were instantly blown away. Cities empty quickly in the rain – meaning we can pick up our pace and stride along streets usually thronging with people.

    Pavements devoid of pedestrians are also perfect for practising backwards walking – the latest trend to sweep Japan. A 2020 study published in Brain Communications found that reverse walking engages an entirely different set of lower body muscles. Walking backwards also improves our balance and stability. Normally we lean slightly forward when we walk but, in reverse, our spine is nudged into alignment and our core has to work harder to keep us stable. Another study found that 10 minutes of backwards walking four times a week reduced lower back pain after a mere three weeks. At the same time, we strengthen our knee joints and quadriceps – which means an improved gait and fewer aches and pains. A wide, flat, empty pavement is the ideal place to practise reverse walking.

    Continuing https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/oct/29/bad-weather-is-good-for-you-take-a-walk-in-the-wind-and-rain

    1. I wouldn’t go for a walk in a city (unless I had an appointment to get to) if you paid me. I do go out in the wind and the rain – of course I do; I have two dogs.

    3. You may be right in general, Maggie, but I wouldn’t recommend walking backwards – especially if you bump into a lamp post. Lol.

  100. “Ryanair threatens to quit Ireland over ‘economically illiterate’ Sinn Féin.”

    I know some on here can’t stand O’Leary but I like him, he runs a successful business in a very dynamic and competitive market. And his company does what it says on the tin; you want caviar and pampering, then pay through the nose and fly with another airline.
    I find his plain speaking refreshing in a world of hypocrisy and double standards.

    Mr O’Leary, 61, was an outspoken critic of Boris Johnson. But he said there was cause for optimism under Rishi Sunak who is “an improvement on the last f****** two”.

    Left-wing Sinn Féin, which now enjoys a commanding lead in the polls in the Republic, is “economically illiterate”.

    “I was out in Seattle last week. There are still a lot of problems with production delays and delivery schedules. We were supposed to get 51 planes before April 2023. Boeing is saying they hope to deliver them all by the middle of June. And there’s a risk that 10 of them might run into July or August. It’s frustrating. It’s the only cloud we can see on our growth horizon for the next year or two.” Asked whether he had confidence in Boeing, Mr O’Leary responded: “Nope. The management in Seattle, no we don’t have confidence.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/10/29/ryanair-threatens-quit-ireland-sinn-fein/

          1. I believe ten trees constitutes an orchard, so I do have an orchard; I have fourteen fruit trees in all.

    5. Just a few days ago I took BoB’s gift of apples from his garden, added a small handful of residual rhubarb and blackcurrants from my own garden and made myself a small Pyrex dish of crumble with them. I’m looking forward to enjoying this as well as the very last of the damson crumble I made which Korky the Kat gifted me. What it is to have kind, generous NoTTLer friends.

      1. I do hope the parents of that child will follow up with arranging piano lessons for him.

    1. Morning Belle I’ve just caught up with your delightful collection of water mills paintings. Absolutely lovely thank you.

  107. We’ve been watching a Norwegian prog on bbc
    4, it looks like they have the same problems as we do with immigrants.
    God Natt.

    1. We’ve been watching a Danish series we recorded back in the summer- these Scandi dramas are quite gripping.

    2. Lots of benefits. I heard about someone claiming asylum in Norway more than ten years ago. Having passed through many other European countries, Norway was the country of choice.

      1. It’s become more than obvious that the people who seek ‘asylum’ take advantage of the relaxed and generous attitude which is soon and has been seen as a weakness to be taken advantage of for the rest of their lives.
        They are the last thing a decent law abiding and ordered country needs. And we know have one hundred thousand of them. Can you just imagine, it’s a crowd the size of Wembley stadium. What a rank and stupid government we have.

  108. Good night, everyone. I still have half an hour of British Summer Time to “enjoy” (it’s just turned 1.30 am) but it’s time to climb the stairs.

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