Saturday 30 September: The crisis in general practice can only be solved by listening to doctors’ concerns

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

514 thoughts on “Saturday 30 September: The crisis in general practice can only be solved by listening to doctors’ concerns”

  4. 377226+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    As I was also thinking,

    UNN
    @UnityNewsNet
    ·
    8h
    MISSING IN ACTION🔥

    When Farage was debanked everyone rallied round him in support.

    Now his colleagues are being censored and destroyed by a out of control leftist mob he stays silent.

    Typical Farage to be fair.

    All about him.

    1. 377227+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      What thinks you OG,
      as soon as I heard, early doors ,
      farage / holiday I did suspect something devious was afoot.

      In my book, a political assassin.

  5. Sweden calls on military to end wave of gang violence. 29 September 2023.

    Sweden is preparing to deploy its military to tackle a wave of gang violence across the country after three people were murdered in 24 hours.

    Cooperation could involve the military providing equipment, logistical and forensic support, or sharing its expertise in bomb disposal.

    On Friday, Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden was facing an “extremely exceptional situation” and that “the police cannot do everything”.

    I wish someone would get this clown and his friends and tattoo, “WE TOLD YOU SO” on their foreheads in Capital Letters! The truly amazing thing, and this applies to the UK as well, is that they cannot bring themselves even now to admit what a catastrophe it all is.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/09/29/sweden-calls-on-military-to-end-wave-of-gang-violence/

    2. They did the usual thing and tried to downplay reports. Now that the police have lost control they have no other option than to admit defeat. The same thing is happening in Paris and will eventually blow up in their faces too.
      This is what you get with Left wing Mayors and governments…every time.

      1. Is it not time for a revival of interest in Noël Coward’s gloriously witty songs?

        Poor Uncle Harry
        After some words with dear Aunt Mary
        Called upon the chiefs for a pow-wow
        They didn’t brandish knives at him, they really were awfully sweet
        They made concerted dives at him and offered him things to eat
        But when they threw their wives at him he had to admit defeat
        Uncle Harry’s not a missionary now

    3. I can’t read the article, but there are the usual fixed odds on the guilty parties.
      We have the same problem, but although it may have been stamped out in middle ages, our government is trying to train us all to live with it.
      It doesn’t effect the so misnamed, hierarchy.

    1. 23c in Malta. light breeze. Not really known for beaches but the bathing pools cut in the rocks is like bathing in a warm bath.
      When are we going?

  8. 377226+ up ticks

    Undeniable facts,

    They are ( the peoples) gearing up at this moment in time, to support & vote for more of the same.

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    19h
    Imagine the shock & surprise around the Cabinet table in No 10.

    Sunak: “I just can’t understand this? We’ve given the people what they need. A Not Really Brexit because the made the wrong decision in 2016.

    “High energy bills as we transition to a Net Zero Industrial Revolution economy to save the planet.

    “Unlimited immigration so that we can have more brain surgeons, engineers, & even more choice of foreign restaurants. And higher taxes to pay for all the above.

    “Not forgetting thought control measures to ensure no one gets upset, and progressing sec education so their kids are properly informed about possible sexual devia…more

    Six cabinet ministers are set to lose their seats at the next general election as the Conservatives come under assault in the so-called blue wall of safe Tory seats, a new poll shows.

    apple.news

  11. Morning all 🙂😊
    A brighter and sunny day ahead as the mist clears.
    If we don’t have any idea of the concerns of doctors by now, we may never will have.
    Mine is going to phone me Tuesday morning.
    I will ask him. And then we can discuss my own personal concerns, brought on by ageing.
    And medical neglect.
    And when will someone arrest that turd Kahnt ?
    I saw a clip two days ago where I
    a guy was saying goodbye to his still working but elderly diesel car because he couldn’t afford to pay the imposed fines for being the owner of it inside the M25.

  12. ‘Morning, Peeps. Dry and 18°C today – allegedly.

    This letter has an interesting author:

    SIR – Alexandra Elletson (Letters, September 27) has named her robot mower Martha.

    There is a long tradition of naming appliances in the Stitz household too. Our mower is called Patrick after the actor, our sewing machine is Pearl (it’s a Singer), and although we changed brands many years ago our vacuum cleaner is still referred to as the J Edgar.

    Norma Stitz
    Northampton

    I wonder if she is related to Ivor Biggun??

  13. I noticed that the electricity companies were stating that the amount of ‘meter jumping’ has increased enormously in recent years. I wonder how that has happened…..
    I expect the same with gas. No doubt the reasons for so many explosions and yet unexplained fires.
    But hey ho, us ‘honest johnnies’ out there will make up for the company loses.

    1. 377228+ up ticks,

      Morning Anne,

      England suffers the same under the political overseers & their odious quest for repress,replace,RESET.

    2. ‘Moaning, Annie. I particularly liked the paragraph accompanying the headling:

      “ANDREW NEIL: ‘Vote SNP and die three years early’ has, understandably, never been an election slogan deployed by Scotland’s ruling party. But it would have been brutally honest if it had.”

      May we hope that Mr Neil has got his mojo back?

  16. 377228+ up ticks,

    Dt,

    The Tories can’t afford to be a high-tax party
    Just as Rishi Sunak faced down the net zero consensus, he should now confront the belief that Britain’s future is one of rising taxes.

    A genuine Tory party would no doubt agree and adjust to meet the current requirements, BUT we ain’t got a genuine TORY party ave we.

    ALL of the voting punters are supporting is a look alike, ersatz, phony, deceptive outward appearance of a TORY party, purely because of its TORY name tag

  17. Good call Suella!

    Suella Braverman refuses talks with Justin Welby on immigration
    Sources claim relationship with Church has become ‘toxic’ over government policy

    By
    Robert Mendick,
    CHIEF REPORTER and
    Charles Hymas,
    HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR

    The Archbishop of Canterbury has been rebuffed in his attempts to meet Suella Braverman to raise concerns about her rhetoric on immigration.

    The Most Rev Justin Welby has “reached out” to the Home Secretary to discuss the Government’s policy on asylum seekers, but Mrs Braverman has so far failed to agree to any discussions in an apparent snub.

    Mrs Braverman’s approach to immigration has created tensions with the Archbishop, who has branded plans to deport migrants to Rwanda “against the judgment of God”.

    After the Home Secretary claimed last November there was an “invasion” of England by migrants crossing the Channel, Archbishop Welby condemned “harmful rhetoric” that refugees were “invaders to be tackled and deterred” in a speech to the House of Lords.

    The row threatens to plunge the Tories into a war of words with the Church ahead of the Conservative Party conference which starts in Manchester on Sunday.

    It comes as the Home Secretary is embroiled in another spat over migration, accused of running a “shadow campaign” to force Rishi Sunak to toughen his stance over quitting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

    The disclosure that Archbishop Welby requested a meeting is part of an investigation into relations between the Tories and the Church of England to be published in The House, Parliament’s magazine, this weekend.

    Asked if the Archbishop had “reached out a number of times” for a sit-down meeting with Mrs Braverman, his spokesman told the magazine: “We can confirm that is true. The Archbishop would be happy to meet the Home Secretary to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. In the past, the Archbishop has met other home secretaries. It is not unusual.”

    Government sources said there had been one informal approach to seek a meeting between Mrs Braverman and the Archbishop. It is understood that Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has met him.

    This week, Mrs Braverman warned that uncontrolled immigration posed an “existential threat” to the West and placed “unsustainable” pressures on public services, as she said being gay or a woman should not be enough of a reason to claim asylum.

    In a speech in the US, she also said that she rejected the notion that “a country cannot be expected to respect human rights if it is not signed up to an international human rights organisation” such as the ECHR.

    Speaking to The Telegraph, a senior Government source accused the Home Secretary of “stoking” the ECHR issue behind the scenes with a group of Right-wing MPs, sparking tensions No 10.

    She is said to be paving the way for a push to quit the Convention if the Supreme Court rules this autumn that the Government’s Rwanda deportation plan is unlawful and in breach of the ECHR.

    The government source said: “Suella is stoking the ECHR issue behind the scenes at every opportunity. She’s running a shadow campaign with a tiny group of Right-wing MPs. It’s causing real tension and undermining our Supreme Court Case.

    “She’s probably hoping we lose in the courts. That way she can blame the ECHR and those of us who know how difficult and damaging it would be to leave. No 10 knows exactly what she’s up to and isn’t happy.”

    More than a dozen gay Conservative MPs, including ministers, have complained to the chief whip about the Home Secretary’s asylum remarks, according to The Times.

    The Rwanda plan is central to the Government’s pledge to stop the small boats carrying migrants from crossing the Channel, but it has been on hold since June last year when a single Strasbourg judge from the European Court on Human Rights issued an interim injunction, known as a rule 39, grounding the first flight.

    It has been strongly criticised by Archbishop Welby and other bishops.

    A former senior adviser to the 26 bishops who sit in the Lords told House magazine Mrs Braverman’s apparent refusal to meet the most senior figure in the Church had caused consternation inside Lambeth Palace. “There was shock internally. It was a big slap in the face,” said the source, who described the bishops’ relationship with Conservative ministers in the Home Office as “really toxic” and “unfixable”.

    The former adviser to the bishops complained to the magazine that “ministers seem to prefer to conduct their dialogue through the media rather than meetings”, adding that aides who had gone to the Home Office on behalf of bishops for briefings had been made to feel like “lepers”.

    Lambeth House has pointed out that it is routine for Archbishop Welby to meet senior ministers – he recently held a dialogue with Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, according to House magazine, and he launched an initiative on Syrian refugees with Amber Rudd when she was home secretary. Archbishop Welby and Theresa May, when she was prime minister, joined forces to back a modern slavery project run by the Church of England.

    Senior Tory MPs have criticised the politicisation of senior bishops. Chris Loder, a member of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said bishops risked becoming “politicians that wear mitres” over their interventions in the migration debate, adding that it was “a very damaging thing for the Church of England to do”.

    It is claimed that some bishops now refuse to work with certain constituency MPs on local matters, preferring to bypass them. The House magazine alleges that those MPs being effectively boycotted include Jonathan Gullis, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, who accused the bishops of “turning into faux politicians”.

    At the end of last year, he entered into a spat with Archbishop Welby after criticising the bishops over “using the pulpit to preach from” over the Illegal Migration Bill. The Archbishop tweeted in response: “Always grateful for feedback – look forward to advice on what we should be doing in the pulpit. (Just to confirm: we’ll be continuing to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.)”

    Mrs Braverman declared her support for quitting the ECHR during the leadership election last year but has since refused to be drawn publicly on whether the Government should leave, saying only that the Government “will do whatever it takes” to stop the boats.

    Mr Sunak has maintained his pledge to stop the boats in a way that is consistent with the UK’s international obligations but has not ruled anything out.

    Mrs Braverman last month attacked European judges as “politicised” and “interventionist”, accusing them of “treading on the territory of national sovereignty” but said the Government was not thinking or talking about the possibility of leaving the ECHR “right now”.

    Even if the Government wins the supreme court case on Rwanda, there is likely to be an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, raising the possibility that Strasbourg judges could again seek to injunct deportation flights.

    One MP supportive of the Home Secretary’s stance said the Government needed to make it clear “that if the court stands in our way again, we are prepared to have that battle and leave altogether”.

    Former home office minister Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Commons Sense Group and a close ally of Mrs Braverman, said: “Rishi Sunak has made clear that sovereignty is a key issue for him. If the impediment to achieve that is the ECHR and European court, then that impediment will have to be removed.

    “You cannot have unelected, unaccountable foreign potentates dictating public policy and frustrating the will of the people and sovereignty of Parliament.”

    A source close to the Home Secretary said: “The Home Secretary can see a clear path to stopping the boats while operating within the current legal framework.”

    A No 10 source denied there were tensions between the Home Secretary and Prime Minister, saying: “They’re both confident in our case at the Supreme Court and are committed to getting the Rwanda plan up and running.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/29/suella-braverman-snub-talks-archbishop-canterbury-migrants/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr#comment

    1. “They’re both confident in our case at the Supreme Court and are committed to getting the Rwanda plan up and running.”

      Lol!

    2. “They’re both confident in our case at the Supreme Court and are committed to getting the Rwanda plan up and running.”

      Lol!

    3. Suella Braverman could write the script (as could all NOTTLers).
      Why bother to listen to the Archbishop of Islington spouting a right-on word salad?

      1. What an extremely squalid and nasty little man he is!

        If it were only a metaphor I might call him a miserable bastard.

    4. Isn’t it strange that the majority opinion is so often ignore by the insignificant.
      STFU Welby.

        1. Trouble is I am too old and my sons were brought up as Catholics and are less worried about the fact that the Archpillock is destroying the Anglican church which has usurped their church in England.

    6. This week’s Irreverend podcast had a great take-down of the Bishop of Norwich and his climate-change nonsense

    7. “The former adviser to the bishops complained to the magazine that “ministers seem to prefer to conduct their dialogue through the media rather than meetings”, adding that aides who had gone to the Home Office on behalf of bishops for briefings had been made to feel like “lepers”.”

      The “former adviser” being anonymous, complaining about ministers [who] “seem to prefer to conduct their dialogue through the media rather than meetings”,

      Oh, the irony.

  18. Just a few of the really important headlines in today’s DT:

    David Beckham interview ‘People know the stories, but they’ve never heard my side’

    Melania claimed to be renegotiating prenup for more money

    Daniel Craig debuts the midlife ‘sweep’ hairstyle modelled by Ken in Barbie movie

    Out with the mum bob – how to get autumn’s most flattering hairstyle

    Thank goodness our ‘quality broadsheet’ has got a good grip on the stuff that matters…

  19. Just a few of the really important headlines in today’s DT:

    David Beckham interview ‘People know the stories, but they’ve never heard my side’

    Melania claimed to be renegotiating prenup for more money

    Daniel Craig debuts the midlife ‘sweep’ hairstyle modelled by Ken in Barbie movie

    Out with the mum bob – how to get autumn’s most flattering hairstyle

    Thank goodness our ‘quality broadsheet’ has got a good grip on the stuff that matters…

  20. It’s time to admit it: Black Lives Matter hysteria made fools of us all. 30 September 2023.

    Remember the Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol? The one where the mob tipped the statue into the harbour? In court this week, one of its organisers admitted fraud, after £30,000 in donations from Black Lives Matter supporters went missing.

    Those donors will be shaking their heads. But I suspect they won’t be the only ones. Because, three years on, it feels like an appropriate time to reflect on what happened during that mad summer of 2020 – and to ask: what exactly came over us?

    We all recall what happened. For almost a month, mass protests raged all over Britain. Outside Downing Street, a policeman took the knee while on duty. The Labour leader, and his deputy, posed for a photograph in which they solemnly took the knee inside Parliament.

    Who is this Us? This We? I, and so far as I am aware, no Nottler’s have taken part in any BLM protest. This almost certainly applies to the larger white population as well. It was an expression of the brainwashed Metropolitan Elites.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/30/black-lives-matter-hysteria-made-fools-of-us-all/

    2. As I have pointed out many times, these people never stop moaning about something in their lives.
      That they consider to be everyone else’s fault.
      They don’t seem to like our country its culture or way of life. As they feel so opressed perhaps it’s time for them to return to their original home lands.
      Our useless political idiots have effed up again.

      3. Tony Abbot put that nicely: “If they don’t like those freedoms, they can exercise that other great Aussie freedom – the freedom to leave!”

        1. My good old mate Bruce told me about a small gang of Somalians on Phillip Island where they walked into shops, took what they wanted and walked out. They need to be careful I expect quite a lot of Aussies still have guns handy.

    3. Quite right, Minty. And furthermore I imagine that Nottlrs lost not a minute’s sleep over the loss of a violent, drug-riddled thug, irrespective of colour.

    4. As a baptised and confirmed Catholic, I do indeed “take the knee” when entering and leaving the church to celebrate Mass. I genuflect not to some lightly-killed dope-addled U.S. gangster in homage to his culture and skin colour and the supposed history of his ancestors, but to Christ and the saints at the altar. Why should my gesture be redefined by law in the same manner that marriage was a decade ago?

      1. Caroline is not a cradle Catholic – she joined the Catholic Church at the age of 22 – a couple of years before meeting me.

        She is now the parish organist, she does the parish accounts and she edits the parish magazine and is considerably more pious than her lapsed Anglican husband. However she does enjoy this Tom Lehrer song:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0

      2. I would genuflect in church, but my knees won’t let me. I’m sure the Lord recognises that fact and is not offended by a court bow.

    5. BTL Comment:-

      R. Spowart
      1 HR AGO
      Message Actions
      “All of the above happened in response to a single event: the murder of an African-American man by a white American policeman in the American state of Minnesota, 4,000 miles away.”
      There are many, myself included, who dispute that statement and consider Derek Chauvin was the victim of a kangaroo court, especially considering the toxicology reports that indicated that St. George of Fentanyl has ingested lethal amount of the drug.

      1. Does anyone here believe St George was really “murdered”? I don’t think he was “murdered” for a second.

    1. Three weeks is not long enough to die, they might be extending period from request to appointment, to 6 months.

          2. Thank you – but it is not for us. All HAS to be done on smart phone. I don’t have one and the MR has no wish to do banking on her phone.

      2. Of course we have our Carter Say Jaws but we have had problems with keeping UK banks accounts. The EU is likely to collapse in the not too distant future – but we have been saying that for years! Caroline has a Dutch passport so she an EU citizen but she is thinking of applying for a French passport.

        1. If you have both, you can come and go even when the border is closed due to an outbreak of deadly viruses…

    3. In our practice we only get an appointment of any kind (telephone or otherwise) if we ring and wait in the queue for 30+ minutes.

      A while ago I was in the surgery for a blood test, and was told to make a follow-up appointment for another test. I went to the receptionist (there were two at the desk and nobody checking in) to make the appointment and was told I had to ring in to make it. Pathetic.

    6. To OLT happy birthday for 2023 and 2024 and it’s pleasing to note you have your 2025 wishes today from Richard and Caroline. 😂😂

    9. Thank you both for your good wishes.

      We are on our travels at the moment to some of the places the Queen (personally) sent me.

      We have done Yeovilton and Portland, now in Pompey to join the other relics in the RN museum.

    10. Yo Caroline and Rastus and all

      Thanks for your kind wishes, we are trolling in Pompey at the moment.

  23. So, I’ve just become a gran’dad for the ninth time. I’ve been at childbirth eight times. It is always emotional, but try to imagine what these young parents (my son I and daughter in law G) were going through – from our family WhatsApp

    It was a very, very difficult journey from beginning to end.
    At midnight on Saturday, we went to the hospital in an emergency as G’s mucus plug had broken and with it came fresh, non-mucous bleeding quite continuously. They couldn’t identify the cause of the bleeding (and in fact, still didn’t
    mysteriously). G’s contractions after the mucus plug breaking were like nothing she had ever seen before they needed to give her paracetamol and codeine to help manage the pain.

    Their concern for the bleeding at the time could have been either the expanding of the cervix, softening of the cervix or the pulling away of the placenta with each contraction which could have been very, very dangerous. As G had been in early labour since Saturday and she had still been 1cm dilated upon her examination the next day when we needed to go in for emergency, they decided they needed to break her waters manually which for G was in even worse pain. Then the contractions were, non-stop, unrelenting for about 5 hours with only 3 second intervals between the contractions.

    They took G and I to a one to one room and examined G. We did explicitly state that we wanted a birthing pool room which was actually free at the time and they were happy to transfer us but after a midwife examined G and couldn’t determine how much the cervix was dilated. A senior midwife came and examined and determined that G was dilated at 10cm. Having explained this to us, G was of course overjoyed that we thought we would be seeing James soon after everything she had already been through.

    Another midwife met us and explained that because of James size, they advised keeping us in a room on the labour ward for close inspection as the birthing pool was next door in the maternity ward but if we wanted, there was a labour room with a very large bath already prepared for G to use and we agreed to go with them there.

    Once getting to the room however, the midwifes who were assisting with the labour explained that the bath is only for pain management and of course with being 10cm dilated, we could not use it as James was ready to come.

    The midwives helped G to push – as the mothers know this is exhausting beyond any measure. G pushed, and pushed and pushed to absolutely no avail, non-stop. There was absolutely zero progress. This was a concern for the midwife helping us as there is often a change in the baby’s heart rate when a mother pushes. James, who always had a happy heartbeat, wasn’t impacted in the slightest. The midwife examined G and couldn’t tell what was going on so she
    brought the doctor in. Upon his examination, G was only 1.5cm dilated maximum. The previous midwives had mistaken James head pushing on the cervix in a particular way for a fully dilated cervix.

    G looked up at myself with a face of exasperation I’ve never seen her have before. She had experienced all the pain, the lack of sleep, the contractions and now this physical act of what would be very beneficial pushing
    but instead was pushing against a concrete wall.

    We were not angry, we were not upset. Yes we were exhausted but the team had been nothing but incredible for us and mistakes happen, even at such a high cost. Instead of understanding and forgiving, getting angry and frustrated and screaming would have never helped. Our resolution was to relax, let it be what it was and to keep going.

    But by then, G could not cope anymore. After long deliberation, we resolved not to use more hydrocodein, or a morphine based injection etc. because G couldn’t take it anymore. G against all of her planning and desires for a completely natural birth was physically forced to use the epidural and oxytocin to progress labour as despite all of the heavy contractions originally, she only increased by 0.5cm at the most. This is where things, already very bad, took another turn for the worst.

    The procedure for the epidural seemed to have worked. G had slept and I finally got to shut my eyes as well if only for a brief time.
    However, her left leg began to become immune to the anaesthetic and the contractions, while unfelt on one side of her body, began to be felt in full force in the side of her body left unaffected by the epidural. They believed that because G had slept on one side that the anaesthetics had pooled onto the other side of her body thus negating the full effects. They gave her more anaesthetics, and made her lie on the other side of her body to try and pool the anaesthetics now equally on both legs and sides. This did nothing to resolve the issue and G still was left to experience the full contractions in the areas left unaffected. This went on from 2pm to 8:20pm.

    Fortunately within that time, M our dula who many of you know (in fact, probably all of you know – she is the Venezuelan lady from Church who always is the first to echo) arrived and she was absolutely incredible. She coached G through even management of the pain without the effective epidural and God really did gift us with her presence as she put G in such ease.

    By then, the midwives had called in the anaesthetist and thankfully a different one came. He first attempted to give G a more powerful anaesthetic through her spinal injection and a 4 times dose at that. He even tried to have the anaesthetics pool again in the side of her body that was missing it. Nothing worked, G was still in excruciating pain. He then resolved that if none of this had been working that the first anaesthetist must have messed up or that G’s body just didn’t respond to epidurals as one should which opened up a host of new complications if that was the case. Remy, our new anaesthetist worked his hardest to make sure that didn’t happen and as a last ditch effort,
    explained that it could have been a poor installation where the needle points slightly to one side instead of dead centre in her spine and so pulled G’s needle out by 1.5 cm. This last ditch effort procedure worked. G was fully
    anaesthetised and finally went to sleep. It was an absolute miracle. G was re-examined and thank goodness she was now at 8cm. Having managed to sleep for four hours, G rested. I made a makeshift bed on the floor and we slept.

    Midnight came and it was time to push. G was now 10cm dilated. Just like before, she tried so hard, harder than she had ever exerted herself in her life and harder still. She pushed for over one hour and pushed as hard and as powerfully as she could. Nothing happened. She pushed again, with all her strength. Nothing happened. We believe that this was because of everything she experienced in the day that just wasn’t her fault – the failed epidural, the artifical breaking of the waters and worst of all, the act of pushing when she was only 1cm dilated. G had used every ounce of her strength already and by the time she was actually ready to push, she just couldn’t and so a large team was brought in and we were explained that G had to go to theatre. However, if she could not push now then there was a risk she would not be able to push with the suction cup, and then with forceps. If she couldn’t she would have needed a C-section.

    We went to theatre, and there G was given another injection and finally it was effective from the beginning. The doctors and midwives used the very handy TOCO% monitor to estimate strong contractions and G once again
    pushed with all her strength. By then, they had been using a suction method and this was not working – it kept slipping from James’ head. G was doing so well and she had always been absolutely incredible and resilient until this point ever since the beginning. She would say “I can’t take this anymore” and yet she would carry on. She would scream in pain, yet she would carry on. She was mentally and physically exasperated by all the grievous errors that
    they had put her through, yet she would carry on.

    Finally, after the suction had not worked they then used the forceps and with one, final, big push, James was fully out and born at 03:28 am on 26th September 2023.

    G gave birth to a beautiful, handsome, fully healthy baby boy. Of course, he is a Lessore like all of us, he was born big at 4.1kg (still not the biggest among Lessore newborns).

    Thank you for all your prayers, for the labour but also throughout the year for our pregancy. We are indepted to each and every person who prayed and supported us, who offered advice, support, clothing, materials, who allowed us to pester them with questions etc.

    God never abandoned us. He gave us the grace to persist, to fight even to the point of collapsing, the promise and calling of being parents that G and I had, and of course the fact the G is all OK and fully recovering and that we have our baby boy, James A Remi L here with us now.

    Thank you all,
    J and G

    So unless doctors concerns include better training and not another penny spent on whether men can have a cervix and gender neutral urinals, I don’t want to know about their bloody concerns.

    We went to see the young couple yesterday. They are very happy with their beautiful baby but still exhausted and she is sill anaemic from blood loss.
    Thank God.
    But doctors’ concerns? …. Grrr.

    1. Very many congratulations.

      A horrendous and frightening experience for you all and particularly G.

      Even after all that, what’s the betting that she might want another?
      Strange and hardy creatures are women.

        1. Be fair, if men had to give birth it would happen once and there might be the odd twins and triplets.

          1. This has been posted before, but worth another mention:-
            What’s worse, getting kicked in the balls or child birth?
            Let’s put it this way: No man gets kicked in the balls and asks to do it again.

          2. That would still eventually lead to no (or almost no) people – especially amongst those peoples where the men spread their seed around with abandon, and the women claim benefits for mothering children from several different men.

    2. I can’t imagine how they dealt with all that pain and distress. Well done to both of them and congratulations to you all! 🌹Where was the birth?

    4. Oo er I wish I hadn’t read that. Daughter in law is just past her due date. Fingers crossed she has an easy birth. Congratulations LessisMore!

      1. It was not our general experience… but it can happen.

        And as for doctors’ concerns?

        Not convinced I share their concerns.

    7. My God! Terrifying & exhausting at the same time – and that’s just reading it, not experiencing it!

    8. What an ordeal and agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments about all the perversity that’s going on to the detriment of patients.
      Congratulations to the parents and welcome to their baby son.

  24. OT request

    Apart from young Phil – has any NoTTLer stayed in Malta recently – and can recommend a really comfortable hotel?

  25. A Humpty Dumpty moment for women’s equality…

    MoD fitness test does not account for ‘innate biological differences’, tribunal rules

    Former MoD Police officer Koren Brown wins discrimination case after being sacked for failing physical exam

    By Daniel Sanderson, SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT • 29 September 2023 • 7:26pm

    The bleep test does not account for “innate biological differences” between men and women, an employment tribunal has ruled.

    Koren Brown, who was a Ministry of Defence Police officer, has successfully argued she was the victim of unlawful discrimination after she was sacked for failing to meet the required standards in the fitness exam. Her solicitor, Jillian Merchant, said the ruling should serve as a warning to employers who test the fitness of staff and that “biological and physiological differences between men and women” must be considered.

    The bleep test is a common measure of fitness in which participants run back and forth between two points at increasing speed. Ms Brown failed to hit the required score of 7.6, instead scoring just 6.7. She was still deployed to a Scottish site in April 2017 but then failed other attempts at the test, leading to her dismissal in October of the following year.

    An employment tribunal ruled that while it was legitimate for the police to test the fitness levels of officers, women may find it harder to reach the required standards for “innate biological reasons”.

    It said there had been agreement between two expert witnesses that those differences included lower average muscle mass, women having a higher percentage of body fat and smaller hearts and lungs.

    “Ms Brown’s dismissal was unlawful and discriminatory on the grounds of her sex,” Ms Merchant, a partner at Thompsons Solicitors, said. “There were clear steps that the MoD could and should have taken prior to dismissal but failed to do so. This case should serve as a warning to any police force, or employer, applying a fitness standard that it must be applied proportionately. Employers should be mindful of the biological and physiological differences between men and women when applying fitness standards and act accordingly.”

    The tribunal found Ms Brown, 33, had not been given the chance to formally take an alternative challenge, known as the “Chester treadmill test”, which involved running on a treadmill while the gradient is increased.

    The MoD Police are responsible for protecting sensitive sites across the UK such as the Faslane nuclear submarine base.

    The tribunal concluded the force had “indirectly discriminated against Ms Brown on the grounds of her sex… by not providing the claimant with the opportunity of taking an alternative test… and having failed to provide her with the assistance recommended” by the College of Policing.

    The MoD is expected to appeal the decision. The Defence Police Federation, which represents officers, said the bleep test was no longer used, having been replaced by tests designed by the Institute of Naval Medicine. New recruits are now required to pass a similar fitness test, when applying and during training, which involves shuttle runs while wearing a 20kg vest. Another relates to dragging a weighted dummy.

    An MoD spokesman said: “We note the verdict of the tribunal and it would be inappropriate to comment further on continuing legal proceedings.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/29/fitness-test-does-not-account-for-biological-differences

    1. It’s also why we have so many lardarses in the force. You don’t have to be an athlete to pass the bleep test just reasonably fit.

    2. Surely, fitness test scores reflect the needs in apprehending criminals, nothing more? And, what alternative test? 24-hours sitting on a hard chair? Speed-knitting?
      One could see that there may have been aspects of discrimination against women, who might struggle to exceed them, by setting the fitness levels unnecessarily high (really??), however, isn’t that a different question? Or, maybe, she didn’t train enough?
      I recall, as an 18-year-old going to Biggin Hill for aircrew selection and knowing there were fitness tests, I spent a lot of tine training general fitness and endurance in preparation – and breezed them (as a short, blobby youth, I was deeply chuffed!).

      2. I went to Hornchurch for my aircrew aptitude tests and passed the medical A1.G1.Z1. I remember being starkus jumping up and down on and off a chair in full view of the road outside where some passing WAAFs cheered me

    3. I found this article comical. Suddenly she wants to be treated as a special case because she’s physically weaker yet the state is desperate to also enforce that men can become women.

      It’s a doublethink of which only big government could possibly conceive.

    4. “Oi, Homicidal Thug with Knife.
      You can slow down your stabbing rate; the squad’s all female and will take another half an hour to arrive and then won’t have the strength to over-power you.”

    6. I can’t work it out. Are men and women supposed to be “equal” these days, or not? Presumably not?

  28. Found this just now.
    In the light of this clearly displayed information I’m thinking of re-visiting my MP’s reply to my letter re Andrew Bridgen MP. As my MP is not seeking re-election I doubt that I will receive a meaningful reply but his reply to my letter requires a rebuttal with facts, especially facts released by his own useless government.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f274c7578df89a396201630ac9cb9700a0de0285045217bf72d6fcac14cc418e.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/de55bea97e62c8c0411a216d71f8e54495a17fca71d2ed567feacddd1097f4f4.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/91fefb84193a0035e41190b1897b8d1d7bae8e2de4e8ab1030b1c2d1999d473d.png

    Excellent website is here

      1. Me too! Unfortunately my husband hasn’t quite got the message!!🙄 His appointment is Thursday – I’ll (ill) let you know!

          1. Not me, mate but we do have a wonderful sweep! As I think I may have mentioned, he also does Neil Oliver’s chimneys!😊

        3. Even SWMBO is becoming skeptical. Something due to her brother croaking shortly after a convid jab, I suspect.

          2. No.
            I never had one, and never will. I might have had covid at the start, presenting as a weird flu, but since starting vit D3, haven’t even had a cold since. Oh, yes, and loads of garlic in food.
            SWMBO only had hers to allow travel.

          3. I only had mine for travel, as well! Never had a ‘flu thing and not about to start! Old man has heart issues and I was hoping for an example to quote!

          4. I had two AZ jabs just because I had a trip booked for February 2021 – that had to be postponed twice due to the travel bans – finally went in Feb 2022. Since then also in Feb 2023. Had to show vax certs both times, and in 2022 also had to have “fit to fly” cert. I’m glad to say Kenya have since dropped all vax requirements.

  30. It has just been reported that Radio 4 has toppled over, crashed to the ground, and is in bits. A regular listener said that it was probably because it was top heavy with blecks, Caribbeans, homosexuals and far left politicians, but a spokesperson from the BBC said that that was most unlikely as it has been like that for decades and never shown signs of tilting one way or another – at least, not to the people who run it. It will be rebuilt as soon as possible but the left-hand side will be doubly reinforced to help prevent that happening again.

    1. The cartoon is from the overburdened taxpayers’ perspective. The question is : who is inhabiting the sewer and benefiting from the criminal waste of our money?

  33. Not a happy bunny this morning
    Quote for minor jaw day surgery could take an hour
    Consultant Surgeon £700 very reasonable
    Anaesthetist £280 More than reasonable
    “Hospital” £2463 WTAF!! that’s a hell of an hourly rate!!
    Deeply suspicious of the “Price match” offer if I get a lower quote from a nearby private hospital they’ll match it feels like a try on we shall see

    1. See also forest fires in Greece that were put down to “climate change” by the usual suspects…

      1. And Maui. By hook or by crook, fair means or foul, they will get what they want. We will not win unless we play by the same rules. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth comes to mind. Old Testament rules.

    1. Now, many many years ago
      When I was twenty three
      I was married to a widow
      Who was pretty as could be
      This widow had a grown-up daughter
      Had hair of red
      My father fell in love with her
      And soon the two were wed
      This made my dad my son-in-law
      And changed my very life
      My daughter was my mother
      ‘Cause she was my father’s wife
      To complicate the matters
      Even though it brought me joy
      I soon became the father
      Of a bouncing baby boy
      My little baby then became
      A brother-in-law to dad
      And so became my uncle
      Though it made me very sad
      For if he was my uncle
      That also made him the brother
      Of the widow’s grown-up daughter
      Who, of course, was my step-mother
      I’m my own grandpa
      I’m my own grandpa
      It sounds funny I know
      But it really is so
      I’m my own grandpa
      My father’s wife then had a son
      That kept them on the run
      And he became my grandchild
      For he was my daughter’s son
      My wife is now my mother’s mother
      And it makes me blue
      Because, she is my wife
      She’s my grandmother too
      I’m my own grandpa
      I’m my own grandpa
      It sounds funny I know
      But it really is so
      I’m my own grandpa
      Now, if my wife is my grandmother
      Then, I am her grandchild
      And every time I think of it
      It nearly drives me wild
      For now I have become
      The strangest case you ever saw
      As husband of my grandmother
      I am my own grandpa
      I’m my own grandpa
      I’m my own grandpa
      It sounds funny I know
      But it really is so
      I’m my own grandpa
      I’m my own grandpa
      I’m my own grandpa
      It sounds funny I know
      But it really is so
      I’m my own grandpa

        1. Maybe about him? But written in 1947 by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe. There’s an interesting explanation of it on Wikipedia. The first result in google is a youtube of Willie Nelson performing it.

  37. Counting down to fleeing the country, and am cooking Ottolenghi’s slow-roasted lamb for my brother and his wife to thank them for having me.

    Here it is setting off on its journey, in the oven. I shall try to remember to take a photo once it’s cooked (not a given; have decanted the good wine already 😈).

    Link to recipe below if anyone is curious. I used leg rather than shoulder as my sister-in-law prefers it.

    https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/the-ottolenghi-test-kitchen-slow-cooked-lamb-shoulder-with-fig-and-pistachio-salsa/

    2. Snap ! I did that recipe too for friends. I went further and scattered pomegranate seeds all over it to make it ‘jeweled’.

      Enjoy !

      1. He’s the only cook whose recipes I actually follow. (I usually go off piste and improvise.)

        The first time I read a book of his, I actually drooled!

  38. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12577079/Ava-Evans-JENNY-JOHNSTON-GB-News-scandal.html

    “… I’m so serious and look so hard done by but… I ignored men’s suicide rates. I rubbish Jordan Peterson. I dismiss considerations that part of the problem is men needing a role and that role being erased by people like me. I believe women are better than men and men little better than beasts to be chained up. …”

    Any threats are revolting but she’s not an especially pleasant person.

      1. I have never heard her ever be balanced, to consider both sides of an argument. She is not a feminist, she’s a misandrist.

    2. “Ava Evans is the political reporter and commentator (specialist area: trade unions) who found herself at the centre of a horrifying debacle this week…”

      Then this:

      She references Andrew Tate (the social media influencer who is facing charges of rape and human trafficking), his anti-women message, and the devastating effect it has on teenage boys.

      ‘My sister is a teacher. Every day, she is dealing with the fallout because Andrew Tate has made a lot of young boys feel that women are the enemy. It makes me so sad that a 17-year-boy feels that he can’t be friends with a woman. What an incredibly lonely life they are going to have.’

      Tate may be a nasty bit of work but he didn’t make ‘young boys feel that women are the enemy’. That had already been achieved by the worst of feminism over the previous 40-50 years.

      1. Tate is also not anti women. He is pro men and the attributes that make men ‘men’. Yes, he taes those to extremes without balance and that’s part of the issue.

        He’s also not made boys think of women as enemies, either. Feminists such as Evans have promoted that message because it suits them to demonise someone presenting a male perspective that contradicts their own hatred of men.

  40. Did anybody spot the spoof letter-writer in today’s DT letters? I am referring to the letter from ‘Norma Stitz’, a well known fake name which the letters editor failed to spot, apparently.

        1. The content of the letter wasn’t relevant, it was the sender’s name which caused it’s removal.

  43. My GP was concerned about my recent routine blood test which showed a below reference plalelet range of between 135 and 450 x 10^9/L.

    This meant that technically a I had thrombocytopenia and waa not far short of needing a blood transfusion.

    Naturally, I had an urgent request from the GPs surgery for a repeat blood test that I duly had within a few days. This was worrying in the sense that an objective clinical test revealed that I was possibly quite sick despite feeling quite normal for my age.

    However, with Microsoft’s ChatGPT enhanced Bing AI app I was able to establish that the underreported platelet count due to platelet clumping was a frequently encountered error following blood counts using EDTA anticoagulant.

    It waa therefore most probably that I had pseudothrombocytopenia which would likely not have shown up if the blood sample had been collected in a citrate collection tube which contains 3.2% sodium citrate as its anticoagulant.

    It was deemed that no further action was necessary folowing a second blood count so I didn’t have to talk to my GP whom I’ve never met.

    1. After developing a form of sticky blood (polycythaemia) i have had lots of pints of blood taken and lots of blood tests. Each blood test showed i was deficient in something or other even though the Oncology Consultant signed me off after 12 months.
      Doctors do like to keep busy.

  44. Interesting BTL comment:

    “You can bet with certainty that if it was mainly millions of young thin single FEMALE migrants on those boats, almost all European women would be protesting to stop the boats NOW!”

  45. Sergeant Hugh Cairns VC DCM, (4th December 1896 born in Ashington, Northumberland – 2th November 1918), 46th (South Saskatchewan) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force

    For most conspicuous bravery before Valenciennes on 1st November, 1918, when a machine gun opened on his platoon. Without a moment’s hesitation Serjt. Hugh Cairns seized a Lewis gun and single-handed, in the face of direct fire, rushed the post, killed the crew of five, and captured the gun. Later, when the line was held up by machine-gun fire, he again rushed forward, killing 12 enemies and capturing 18 and two guns.
    Subsequently, when the advance was held up by machine guns and field guns, although wounded, he led a small party to outflank them, killing many, forcing about 50 to surrender, and capturing all the guns. After consolidation, he went with a battle patrol to exploit Marly and forced 60 enemies to surrender. Whilst disarming this party he was severely wounded. Nevertheless, he opened fire and inflicted heavy losses. Finally, he was rushed by about 20 enemies and collapsed from weakness and loss of blood.

    Throughout the operation, he showed the highest degree of valour, and his leadership greatly contributed to the success of the attack. He died on 2nd November from wounds.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Cairns_hugh.jpg/250px-Cairns_hugh.jpg

      1. There is something to be said for the sheer white hot rage when seeing the mates you love more than brothers mown down.

  46. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c65dd4d37361922595045d0ee8ee0b5b4b475b863a95d6a86518ea3844082ee3.png

    BTL

    When an electrick car runs out of electrickery on the road it stops and it is often quite impossible to shift it without specialist bulldozers or cranes.

    I expect that this winter on a very cold freezing night with sleet and hail the M25 will become completely gridlocked by immovable cars – and not just the electrick ones but the ICE ones will be trapped surrounded by immovable electricks.

    How long before the PTB will have to admit that carbon is beneficial to the atmosphere, there is no global warming and Net Zero is as big a scam as Covid jabs and will have to be scrapped before they kill hoards of people.

    3. The intent is not to move people to elecrtic cars. We would need to double our electricity output to support them even overnight. The intent is to stop people driving.

      The biggest danger for cars is other drivers. I remember vividly crawling along the M27 during an ice storm doing about 10mph and seeing some nutter belt past at 30 and spin across all the lanes, smash into the barrier and bounce off again. I kept going – stupid sods.

      1. I experienced similar on two occasions.
        Once on the M25 when the idiot hit the central barrier, spun a few times and ended up on the verge.
        The second was on an A road where the fool came to a curve, but kept going, straight off the road.
        Nobody stopped to check if the driver was injured, but lots of other motorists hooted and gave V signs.

        1. Was on the M1 heading South from North of Sheffield when someone pulled into the middle lane forcing the car that was overtaking and almost alongside to veer VERY quickly into the outside lane that I was in, over-reacting and nearly hitting the barrier, wagging it’s tail as the driver corrected.
          I was foot off accelerator, cover brake ready and bang the 4-ways on as soon as she crossed into my lane ahead of me.

          I don’t suppose the driver who pulled out nearly into her realised what a near miss they’d just caused.

          1. I have been driving for 67 years. I suppose I have driven 1½ million miles. I have always tried to be considerate (I know many may find that improbable!)

            These days I am convinced that many drivers are completely unaware of the presence of other vehicles.

          5. Some are on drugs and others have taken the latest booster shot. A few are drunk on alcohol.

            I find those driving erratically and unpredictably the greatest danger.

          7. Over taking on roundabouts and cutting you up.
            I was taught to signal only as i left the roundabout. My instructor vas German and he also had my name, I did as I vas told.

          14. They had a handle on the top, after you folded it you could carry it on the train.
            I’ve got a good car story as well. Tmz.
            Have a good evening Bill.

      2. Or during torrential rain belting down the outside lane at over 80 with no lights on.
        Usually SUV,s or RR,s.

      3. As the article above mentions, it’s a problem with the grid – they can’t deliver the amount of leccy required. Whether it can be generated or not is another issue, but lack of grid capacity means that, here at home, you are not allowed a home charger. Grid cannot cope.

    4. The M25 was it’s usual nightmare yesterday afternoon. Bloody idiots tail gating at 50 mph. Lane swappers cutting in and out. Plenty of cameras on route, but I don’t anyone ever takes any seriousl notice of the terrible standards drivers have reached today.
      Even a huge kahnt sign bringing attention to his robbery scheme.
      Towards Hertfordshire which he still believes is his territory. Not just London.
      I’ve noticed that Hendon (NW4) Town Hall has mysterious become Barnet Council HQ. Barnet is in Hertfordshire probably ten miles north.
      Hendon RAF museum is now refered to as London.
      I believe that this is due to the blatant ignorance of the mostly forgien origin Council employees. Many now work overseas. Commonly know as ‘From home’.

  47. There was a time when if someone suffered from a disease, they would point at an old woman in the village and say look, I have this disease so that proves she’s a witch and put a spell on me. Plus ça change.

  48. A multicultural society without proper integration is doomed to fail. 30 September 2023.

    There is an obvious problem here for both Britain and America. The schools are no longer prepared to teach children that they should be proud of their national identity. Much of the education curriculum now is devoted to listing the sins of colonialism, slavery and exploitation.

    How do you persuade migrants to embrace the country’s culture and values if you insist that its history is shameful – nothing more than a wicked catalogue of crimes against the very countries from which many of them have come?

    You don’t Janet but don’t worry about it. It was doomed from the very beginning. You only have to look around the world at divided societies. It doesn’t matter by what; race, religion, colour, whatever, they are in a permanent state of latent crisis. It needs only a nudge for open conflict to break out. The United States is not some racial demi-paradise. It is one hundred and seventy years since the Civil War and it has still not integrated the blacks! In fact the divisions are probably deeper now than then! The UK by careful political management over many centuries eventually constructed an integrated state where all could live together with reasonable success. That has all been thrown away.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/30/without-integration-no-multicultural-country-can-succeed/

    1. A multicultural society is doomed to fail; if you have integration, it’s no longer multi-cultural by definition!

  50. Major Robert Henry Cain VC TD (2nd January 1909 – 2nd May 1974), 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment, 1st Airlanding Brigade.

    War Office, 2nd November, 1944.

    The KING has been graciously pleased to approve awards of the VICTORIA CROSS to: —

    Captain (temporary Major) Robert Henry Cain (129484), The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, (attd. The South Staffordshire Regiment) (I Airborne Division) (Salcombe, Devon).

    In Holland on 19th September, 1944, Major Cain was commanding a rifle company of the South Staffordshire Regiment during the Battle of Arnhem when his company was cut off from the rest of the battalion and during the next six days was closely engaged with enemy tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry. The Germans made repeated attempts to break into the company position by infiltration and had they succeeded in doing so the whole situation of the Airborne Troops would have been jeopardised.

    Major Cain, by his outstanding devotion to duty and remarkable powers of leadership, was to a large extent personally responsible for saving a vital sector from falling into the hands of the enemy.

    On 20th September a Tiger tank approached the area held by his company and Major Cain went out alone to deal with it armed with a Piat. Taking up a position he held his fire until the tank was only 20 yards away when he opened up. The tank immediately halted and turned its guns on him, shooting away a corner of the house near where this officer was lying. Although wounded by machine gun bullets and falling masonry, Major Cain continued firing until he had scored several direct hits, immobilised the tank and supervised the bringing up of a 75 mm. howitzer which completely destroyed it. Only then would he consent to have his wounds dressed.

    In the next morning this officer drove off three more tanks by the fearless use of his Piat, on each occasion leaving cover and taking up position in open ground with complete disregard for his personal safety.

    During the following days, Major Cain was everywhere where danger threatened, moving amongst his men and encouraging them by his fearless example to hold out. He refused rest and medical attention in spite of the fact that his hearing had been seriously impaired because of a perforated eardrum and he was suffering from multiple wounds.

    On 25 September the enemy made a concerted attack on Major Cain’s position, using self-propelled guns, flame throwers and infantry. By this time the last Piat had been put out of action and Major Cain was armed with only a light 2″ mortar. However, by a skilful use of this weapon and his daring leadership of the few men still under his command, he completely demoralized the enemy who, after an engagement lasting more than three hours, withdrew in disorder.

    Throughout the whole course of the Battle of Arnhem, Major Cain showed superb gallantry. His powers of endurance and leadership were the admiration of all his fellow officers and stories of his valour were being constantly exchanged amongst the troops. His coolness and courage under incessant fire could not be surpassed.

    There are some errors in Cain’s citation. The action described as occurring on the 20th actually took place on the 21st (indeed this is the day on which Lieutenant Meikle—his spotter in the building above—was killed), and the Tiger tank he engaged was in fact a StuG III.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Robert_Cain_VC.jpg/300px-Robert_Cain_VC.jpg

    1. Respect.
      Where are the women and men with that kind of focus and resolution these days? The uncompromising doing the right thing as opposed to the expedient thing?

    2. Another error – Arnhem is in the province of Gelderland , the Netherlands, not Holland, which is not a country.

  53. Rugby World Cup – Fiji , New Zealand, Tonga and a couple of others have a war dance prior to playing – why doesn’t England have one? Can I suggest Tip Toe through the Tulips

  54. More Rugby World Cup yawn for the non-followers.

    I’m very torn regarding the current match.

    I would be delighted to see a Georgia win, but I would prefer a Fiji victory as it is a far better result from the perspective of seeing Eddie Jones go home early.
    ANY other coach in charge of Oz and I would be cheering on Georgia to improve Australia’s chances.

  55. That’s me for today. Grey and chilly – and the weather was much the same. Though it never did rain. The grass we sowed last Saturday is up and greening beautifully. Very satisfying.

    Have just lit the stove. Have a jolly evening.

    A demain DV.

    1. Thanks for sharing, Sue. What annoys me the most is that the flagrant Ms Evans has got away with appalling misandry, and will also henceforth be untouchable.

  58. Just been watching the Ryder cup on tv for the first time in a long while, it’s no longer a gentlemanly sporting event among the crowds watching, they are a bit too partisan, you never had that bad sportsmanship, booing and jeering back in the day before they brought the Europeans in.
    Now we are out of the totalitarian EU we should bring back the Ryder Cup and restore it to the honourable, chivalrous and respectful event that it once was between the old colonial masters and the new world uncultivated upstarts.

    1. Back to when the UK team got a regular drubbing because the Yanks could call on four or five times as many top pros.

  61. Evening, all. Perhaps the crisis in GP provision would be alleviated by actually listening to what patients have to say and addressing the shortcomings.

    Been another miserable, dark, cold, wet day here. I did catch up on watching the racing from Newmarket (where it was dry and sunny) and saw my horse finish 6th (not at all a bad run; he actually finished second of those drawn on his side of the track).

  63. Have we done Wordle today? Par four for me.

    Wordle 833 4/6

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

    1. Me too, Sue.

      Wordle 833 4/6

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

    2. Five here

      Wordle 833 5/6

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

  68. I remembered to take a photo!

    My brother’s oven tried its best to incinerate my efforts at the last moment, but what the hell, no-one noticed. 🙂

    Happy.

          1. Come see me one last time and i will give you a Masterclass on how to do a proper roasting…erm..i seem to be blushing all over…………….unlike your lamb !

  69. Police launch urgent manhunt for on-the-run convicted child rapist Stephen Pennington.

    Police have launched an urgent manhunt for a convicted child rapist who officers say “presents a real risk to children and women”.

    Stephen Pennington, 35, is wanted by Lancashire Police after failing to comply with his licence conditions. He is being recalled to prison and has links to Blackburn, Blackpool and Wigan.

    The force said Pennington is a registered sex offender who was jailed in 2009 for the rape of a child. He was jailed again last year for breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements.

    1) Why wasn’t this animal hanged after his second arrest?
    2) Why was he out on licence?

        2. I met a victim once. He and two other victims punched me in the stomach as i was walking to work. Palmerston Road 1983. He was from a rough end of town. Somerstown next to the law courts. I know this because some years later he appeared in a BBC documentary on how difficult it was for him and others like him at that time.

    2. #2 more relevant. Who thought that letting the bastard out was a good idea – licence, or otherwise? Licence to what?
      He wasn’t hanged because there isn’t a death penlty in the UK.

    3. Open prison was it? Out on licence? Parked in the mother and baby space at Tesco was he?

      They do really need to try a bit harder.

      1. Most criminals can be found parked in the mother and baby spaces at Tesco. The same applies to Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and doubtless Aldi and Lidl too.

  70. Goodnight, all. Off to bed early as I’ll have to be up at cock crow tomorrow to get to church on time (I am not a morning person and consequently am very slow in getting everything done before I have to set off).

          1. More a rumble. You hear that you should already have been running away. The trumpets are followed closely by the stamping foot on your head. So Tarzan told me……………….

          2. Had a close shave in Zambia with a large bull in the road as we came round a bend on a pitch black night.
            He stood and stared at our VW Beetle.
            And fortunately followed the rest of the herd in to the Bush.
            Later some friends in Salisbury showed us some photographs of flattened cars. Fortunately
            the drivers escaped.

          5. Scary. We had a lion jump up at our window in Kruger. And a Gems bok did put its head in the car window.
            I’ve got a couple of photos somewhere.

          6. Didn’t see any lions on our trip to the Kruger. The highlight there was a hyena den right by the road. Magical.

      2. I didn’t mind getting up for cub hunting (now renamed Autumn Hunting) before the season proper started, but I no longer do that. The mist and autumn colours were very paintable.

    2. Another race centred far left moaning AH.
      I bet he hates one of his parents.
      It’s usually the female.

    3. Do you know? …he could almost pass for a white person. A bit like that black Duchess Meagain Markle. I do wish they would all just wear cornrows or dreadlocks so we know who to be racist to !

  72. UK to provide training in Ukraine – DT. When will we ever learn to stop interfering in foreign wars and why must we be first to put our troops in the firing line. The country has enough problems without stepping into a conflict with Russia. We are truly let down by the leadership.

    1. Our leadership isn’t the leadership. Any young person who signs up now has already been brainwashed and knows nothing of recent history.

    2. Ukraine has already lost, its offensive has failed. More than half a million Ukrainians have been killed and injured. The losses are worse than those of WWI.

      The Uni-Party in Washington has blood on its hands and our lot are no better than puppets and poodles.

      Russia did not provoke the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian Nazis did by attacking Russian speaking areas in the Donbas for years, egged on by the Third Obama administration. It is quite simply a land grab at the cost of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of decent people. The evidence is there for all to see with the lauding of a Waffen SS veteran in the Canadian Parliament.

      What we are witnessing is a poorly staged Hollywood production where the lead actors are Zelensky and Blincken with a supporting cast of deputies including Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Chuck Schumer and Kevin McCarthy.

      The Russians have decided that short of the complete capitulation of Zelensky’s evil regime the country known as Ukraine will no longer exist.

  74. Well I enjoyed the golf highlights this evening. The rough looks tough. Keep it going lads you’re doing so well.
    And it’s goodnight from me. 88

  75. It’s been a very relaxing day for me today. Good night, chums, and sleep well. I hope to see you all next month.

  77. My jar of chutney didn’t win any prizes, but sold for £2.50 at the auction!

    And that’s be off to bed. G’night all.

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