Saturday 8 February: All past efforts have failed – Trump is right to try a new strategy in the Middle East

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

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

469 thoughts on “Saturday 8 February: All past efforts have failed – Trump is right to try a new strategy in the Middle East”

      1. Morning AA. I’m not actually. Through a combination of circumstances I have over done it and need to take a couple of days extra rest. The penalty of old age.

        1. Chin up good sir. Put yer feet up and enjoy the company of the good denizens of Nottlertown.

          1. We all promise to be as offensive as possible to take your mind off your aches and pains.

    1. Good morning.
      Beginning a beef stock for lunch on the 11th. In the classic French style. It will take at least 48 hours from start to finish.
      Just to make the base for a sauce for four steaks !

      Hope i don't drop the gravy boat on the way to the table.

    1. That whole farcical argument is idiotic. The hard Left nut job crowd of whinging poofs complaining that Lego is 'heteronormative'. News flash homos! IT IS! What you do ISN'T, by any definition whatsoever, normal.

      This stinks of a group of people who are so uncomfortable with what they are that they want to erase all evidence that they're not normal. It is bizarre that the Left, in trying to force their lifestyle on everyone have created the very backlash they wanted to avoid.

      No one cares what they do. But then, perhaps that's the problem. Perhaps it's not so important that no one bothers about their proclivity more that they want special treatment to validate their insecurity.

      1. Doesn't all sexual contact – whether heteronormative or otherwise – culminate in the coming together of innie and outie bits?
        Given the vibrant colours of Lego, I assume those bricks are up for anything.

        1. Lego bits themselves are Bi-sexual
          Ssticky-out bist and a take-it in bits on all pieces

        2. It should be re-branded as Lego-agra, it's always hard & can provide a lot of pleasure.
          (I'll get my raincoat)

      2. 'Heteronormative'? Isn't that just a pointless, retarded, long-winded, poofy, Pinko way of saying Normal?

      1. Lefties don't like to hear it. They destroy their friends and jail their enemies. It's a huge weakness that they cannot cope withe criticism.

    2. Expelled for speaking no less than the truth. At least he's going out on the moral high ground.

  6. Good morning all.
    A cold start and still dark. A bit damp after overnight rain which did not turn to the threatened snow.
    More snow threatened for today, but whether it arrives or not, we'll have to wait and see.
    A tad under 3°C outside after yesterday's Max & Min of 5.1 and 1.8°C.

    A chainsaw to refuel and oil, was getting a bit dark to sort out last night and back up to the Lime Kilns. The saw is cutting well so will leave the chain alone other than checking the tightness.

  9. G'day all,

    Cold and miserable at McPhee Towers, wind North-East, 2℃.

    I haven't been here for a while – sidetracked. by a large interior redecoration task.

    Anyway – The latest from Neil Oliver at GBN. The Covid Dossier has been published by Sasha Latipova and Debbie Lerman. In this important video, they reveal that the Plandemic was a military operation from the start. It is dynamite. Watch and share before it is taken down.

    https://youtu.be/999QK1NTE_E
    Here is the Dossier on Sasha Latipova's Substack.

    https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsashalatypova.substack.com%2Fp%2Fthe-covid-dossier-a-record-of-military%3ATujvJf5PeiGxRj9LePHuEBcZE3s&cuid=7594221

    Her Summary of Everything and Quick Links.

    https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsashalatypova.substack.com%2F%3Futm_source%3Dsubstack%26utm_medium%3Dweb%26utm_campaign%3Dsubstack_profile%3Agf68W7Go50YePUDaYk87SSEgPLQ&cuid=7594221

    1. 401288+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      I thought for one glorious moment it read Midlands.

      Saturday 8 February: All past efforts have failed – Trump is right to try a new strategy in the Middle East

    3. Don't believe we will last hat long with this stupidly incompetent government. No Britain for one thing.

  12. 'Morning All
    "I’m hearing more and more calls for the Tories and Reform to make a non aggression pact at the next election , to form a broad “ coalition of the right “ and to form a joint government."
    Not only no but hell no!! Just because we've had a few months of Liebour insanity do you think we're going to forget and forgive 14 years of Tory betrayal??
    Jog on.
    Meanwhile the weekend Medley
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b05e82b76bbc9bb19d948306e1737582fb19d3214531be0ece15fd90be888dae.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/489910d481df95c67b56e501c748d8f61db32bd13c056d348f8665106ca62547.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0fa9b1492ef89b21343d51c53db874fdfb721f45574d04ca61f7c489d1e752b2.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f9b6dcc2fbf6cdf2cb2154f026f886fef6d6be5a2801d2c8d5829992bd4f6e9e.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3771881ffc61930903022a26a01eeea7d0ce5bcc3d4486d8bf3168a887ed5787.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f827aadc69dcc415d0fa74e3bd8e1956763f36f6e4ec4bc4a87c8d73a837832d.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9c6fa06e66b0edca992c4dc59e560681ee85271db06a9a361a04b5c09b22b53d.jpg

    1. I know a lad who visited North Korea with his (crazy) brother; they enjoyed the trip, but of course they were careful not to show disrespect near posters and statues of the leaders.

  13. Gosh – just as well I was up and about (sort of) at 7.15. The oil tanker arrived….! G & P most put out…

    1. Good catch there. These folk appear at the most odd of times. I remember being woken up by someone putting scaffolding to get to our roof at half 6.

  14. Donald Trump revokes Joe Biden’s security clearance in latest revenge move. 8 February 2025.

    Trump announced his decision in a post saying: “There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information. Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s security clearances, and stopping his daily intelligence briefings.

    “He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the intelligence community (IC) to stop the 45th president of the United States (me!) from accessing details on national security, a courtesy provided to former presidents.”

    I can remember thinking when Biden and the Democrats were bending the system to try and get Trump. What are you going to do if he’s re-elected? You would have thought that the answer would be obvious. The Left are particularly inclined toward this political myopia. When in power they pass all sorts of Laws and are then astounded when these same laws are used against them when they are out of office.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/08/donald-trump-revokes-joe-bidens-security-clearance-in-latest-revenge-move

    1. This is because Lefties are venal, arrogant, petty, small people and abuse the decency of others to achieve their own aims through force.

      1. The Left believe that they have the wind of history in their sails. They don't like it when they're dashed against the rocks of fate.

    1. I vote we remind Lammy that he is a slave, being an employee of the public. He's welcome to work for free (as he's worthless anyway).

      It makes me wonder whiuch bunch of fools in the foreign office keeps pushing this sort of drivel. Here's a simple test. If you want to pay reparations for your guilt, then do so out of your own pocket. If you find you don't want to do that, then why should you, through state force (fascism) make others?

      1. It was not until 2015 that British taxpayers finished paying the debt incurred to free slaves throughout the Empire in 1833. I've done my bit. People demanding reparations can whistle for it.

      2. They can and easily could have returned to the seemingly much beloved land of their ancestors. But not only they would not like it, they would not fit in and basically would never be bothered to go and look in the first place, it's easier to moan continuously and hold the hands out for compensation.

        1. There was a woman at my old church who’d gone to live in Liberia and then did everything she could to get out and come here with her two daughters. She was very proud, never accepted help and worked hard to make a better life here. She learned the hard way I guess. The two girls were well mannered and clever.

          2. Absolutely not but I did feel this woman was making an effort to raise her daughters well. They could still turn out to be deluded activists wailing about slavery but their mother had learned about life in Africa.

          4. I have been looking at Monrovia on Google earth Pro, it’s an appalling place, the streets are very i untidy and baldly littered and most if not all of the buildings are in need of repair. I have never seen to much barbed wire on the top of walls and fences. Most of the men ride motorbikes, all of the shop and road signs are in English and there are many schools.
            Dated December 2022.

      4. I'm a firm believer in reparations – the Caribbean countries need to recompense the UK for all the lives lost and money spent closing down the Atlantic trade! No one seems to suggest that the Barbary pirates' descendants should pay reparations, not the Arab slavers, nor the Romans, nor … .Perhaps people feel that we are stupid enough to be the only ones?

          2. Even more trouble is that unfortunately, due to our skewed system of voting, and our stupid electorate we have representatives who don’t represent us.

    1. Well done Rupert.
      Don't engage beyond that one liner.
      Don't debate.. that ended years ago.
      They'd kill you, or jail you if they could.

    2. Gawd.. Candice Holmes.. read her stuff.

      Time to ditch the nostalgia,
      @Telegraph
      ! 🙅‍♂️ The British Empire's 'greatness' was built on exploitation and oppression. Let's teach the truth, not glorify a legacy of colonialism and slavery. #AbolishTheMonarchy

      2. Yeah, the empire was oppressive. We should have left them with their sticks.

        The blankets and bowls were manufactured in the UK and sold to/stolen by the primitives.

    4. Everyone DOES have an equal opportunity to succeed. If the lazy, aggressive youths of a certain 'type' prefer gangs, violence, other crime and drugs to behaving, working hard in school and doing their homework, then that is their choice. Universities should never accept those with lower grades just because they have certain 'protected characteristics', always at the expense of normal, decent teenagers, including those from other backgrounds who highly value education.

    1. About time too – an end to the blatant adulation, flattery and sycophancy. The BBC's love of Trump and Nigel is positively sickening.

  19. Not bad – I know, I know, that's only three letters:
    Wordle 1,330 4/6
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  22. https://conservativehome.com/2025/02/06/will-the-last-tory-to-leave-please-turn-out-the-lights/

    A really good article on the current state of the Tory party.

    Thing is, Kemi's stuffed (I can't be bothered to spell her surname, sorry). Boris pushed (nor his) on the green con. May made net zero law. They've pushed the DIE crap for 15 years. Boris hiked corporation tax. Sunak froze income tax allowances. Hunt kept pushing every tax up. They didn't build a single new power station. They destroyed the woman who promoted fracking and energy sustainability. Oh, they fiddled about with the EV deadline and boiler tax but only because it was politically awkward. The VED changes Labour introduced? The Tories would have done exactly the same.

    For every meagre tax rise, another tax was introduced to counteract it. Debt continued to pile up. Nothing was done. Folk bleat about covid but Boris could have repealed the diversity nonsense. He could have said 'we believe in the best person for the job. Anything else is prejudice' but he didn't. He could have said companies are the lifeblood of our economy. They're job creators. We're cutting corporation tax to 8% to prove this to our EU neighbours. He could have repealed net zero and admitted it has nothing to do with the environment or ecology and instead offered investment in recycling plants.

    But no. Cameron was a weathervane, pushed around by getting votes, scrabbling around Europe after national leaders when it is the EU that holds the power (and he knew this, he just wanted the soundbite to deceive the public) then giving up when he was beaten (the referendum exposes the utter childishness of the political class). May was a disaster who did nothing but damage. Truss was a great hope but was done in because she didn't follow the orthodoxy of the hard Left and toe the state line. Sunak was irrelevant and did nothing and they're surprised that the public rejected them.

    25 miserable years of socialist tax and waste, debt and incompetence and not a dent made in the granite encasement of big fat state but worse, they encouraged it's expansion.

    The Tory party deserves to die. Put it out of our misery.

    1. The party has too much baggage, totally hated by the Left and total disappointment for their once loyal supporters. Because it is new (and untried) Reform doesn't carry that baggage and by the end of today I anticipate Reform's membership will reach 199,000

    1. We gave Junior 3 forenames on the basis that he might like one of them.

      He doesn't.

      Mongo has two names. One is the poncy one on his registration document for the kennel club (which has lapsed after it became a pretentious nonsense. We joined so Mongo could go to a carting event for the hospice but he didn't enjoy it) and, well, obviously, Mongo.

      He doens't answer to either for me. I got a 'whuff' as he lumbered past.

          1. His parents weren't huntsmen by any chance? Bob Champion (the Grand National winning jockey) had a relation named Nimrod Champion.

      2. We gave eldest son 3 Christian names .. Moh's choice … grrrrr

        Son took years to come to terms with his first name, glad to say it was shortened.

        Same with mine …

        1. One of my brothers prefers to be known by his middle name and one will only use the shortened version of his first name. At school I was never in a class with fewer than six Susans. I liked that. I didn’t want to be unusual.

          1. Me too, but my name was unusual. All I wanted to do was fit in. I didn't. And I abhor any thought of being famous, I crave anonymity.

          2. Just mispronounce it a bit and say it is spelt a bit unusually if it as to be written, and then it fits in (although I think your real given name is lovely). Mine is a burden – it's what I do as I've given up trying to say it right; the trouble is the mispronounced version of my name is reminiscent of check-outs and sanitary towels…

          3. Thank you, Hl – that is very kind of you. My first name, a friend told me in my early teenage years, was akin to that of a brand of sanitary towels…. Surprisingly it has become quite popular over the last 15 years; I think at school I must have been the only child in Britain with this name and it was having to pronounce and repronounce it when people couldn’t hear properly, because I was embarrassed and said it quietly…. people had sensible names in those days! Even worse was to come – I had a very Yorkshire surname which required a sensible first name rather than one given by a mother with flights of fancy! It was a bone of contention between me and my inflexible northern mother (think Thora Hurd!) all of our lives. I am sorry that you have suffered too.

          6. Family have invariably called me Alan but a schoolteacher labelled everyone with their unused name (or invented one if they didn't have one). Consequently I became George to all who knew me outside of the family and it followed me throughout my life and various jobs. I stuck with Alan when I moved to Sweden but all my previous friends and acquintances resolutely remain with George.

          8. I can live with that, Dukke. As well as the catalogue of other nicknames I've been labelled with throughout my life.

          11. When I was learning Russian, I was given a Russian name which I used all the time I was at university. I was quite surprised, several years later, to meet someone who knew me then who called me by it!

        2. I have a one syllable Christian name, John. My best friend’s mum shortened it to Johnny. 😂

        3. Both our sons have just one name. Both have names which have stood the test of time (so far). Poppiesdad regards middle and further names as simply an encumbrance in life, but most people do seem to have them.

          1. It does make things easier when filling out forms, but I wish I had had a choice of even two.

          2. I have two Christian names, the middle one after a godparent. Unfortunately, both are fairly long and require a bit of space to write in on forms.

        4. I do not like any shortened or colloquial version of my first Christian name! My second Christian name is Charles after my maternal grandfather, Charles Bowen-Cooke.

          Caroline uses her third name – her full Christian names are Anna Jacoba Caroline.

          Our sons are named after the grandfathers or great grandfathers : Christopher (my father's name) has the second name Lourens after his maternal grandfather. He is known as Christo.

          Henry Pieter is named after my grandfather and Caroline's grandfather.

          3. Jacoba? That is a worthy name.
            "The Dutch flag, which was used by Jacoba Pulskens to cover the bodies of the airmen, was tracked down and brought to England. It was dedicated in the Airmen’s Chapel in the Church of St Michael, Coningsby, England, on the 8th May 1983, near RAF Coningsby.
            The Inscription in the church reads:
            The Flag of the Netherlands hangs here to honour the memory of Jacoba Maria Pulskens of Tilbourg – Holland, who was a member of the Resistance Movement during the enemy occupation of her country In World War 2, her house being used by allied airmen in the escape network.
            In July 1944, whilst housing three Allied airmen, Flt Lt RA Walker DFC 83 Squadron RAF, F/O RE Carter 431 (RCAF) Squadron RAF, and FO JS Knott (RAAF) 77 Squadron RAF, Coba and the aircrew were all captured by the enemy. The three airmen were shot. Before being taken away herself, never to return, Coba Pulskens covered the bodies with the flag, that now hangs in this chapel as a tribute to her bravery and the airmen she sought to protect."

            https://ww2escapelines.co.uk/article/the-two-pennies/

        5. I only have one Christian name; my parents were convinced I would be a boy.
          Apparently it took them 6 weeks to settle on something pretty mundane.

          1. Anne is a lovely name , reliable and strong.

            My mother used to be snobby about names and some names were becoming popular post war and into the fifties ..

            I remember her saying to me when I introduced her to friends , ” What sort of name is that “.. she was equally uppity about what she called horsey girl names , the Cressida’s and Serena’s of the world .. and Tracey , oh dear me !

    2. I have three Christian names. The second after my father who died three weeks before I was born and the third (Confirmation name) after the next elder brother who had died two years and eight months earlier.

      1. My siblings and I were given the following names: Alan George, Keith, Philip, Julie and Roger Paul. When I asked my mother the reason for those names she replied that she wanted to give us all good, old-fashioned English names.

        I didn't have the heart to tell her that Alan and Keith are Scots Gaelic; George and Philip are Greek; and Julie, Roger and Paul are French.

  25. Morning all 🙂😊
    Grey wet and cold, just horrible.
    DT and his team are sticking their necks out in the middle east. He's not going to educate the religion of so called 'peace' and manage to bring their thoughts together. Even to show a snall amout of lasting respect and honour to others living in the 21st century and all the non muslim cultures and other further advanced living conditions.

  26. Good morning all .

    Damp and dark , slight breeze . I thought we were going to wake up to some snow on the ground this morning .
    Drizzle 4c..

    1. No snow here either though the Beeb forecast suggested we would be in the middle of it. Can't say I'm too disappointed.

      1. Morning J,

        I don't mind either , although I wouldn't mind just a little flurry this month , because son no 1 was born during a very cold snowy few days this month 56 years ago .

  27. Able-bodied is ‘harmful’ language, says Britain’s tourist board
    VisitBritain’s ‘inclusive welcome’ guide criticised as a ‘caricature’ by founder of the Free Speech Union

    Tim Sigsworth
    Related Topics
    Disability, NHS (National Health Service), Obesity, Woke
    08 February 2025 9:00am GMT

    The word “able-bodied” is “harmful” language, Britain’s tourist board has suggested.

    VisitBritain, the tourism quango, has told tour guides to instead use the phrase “non-disabled” when talking about people who do not have disabilities.

    The non-departmental public body was criticised as a “caricature” for giving the advice in its “inclusive welcome” guide.

    In the guide, VisitBritain urges tour guides not to use “negative” language about disabled people that “perpetuates harmful stereotypes”.

    It warns that the term “able-bodied” should be avoided in favour of “non-disabled” when referring to people without disabilities.

    Lord Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, criticised the recommendation.

    He said: “What’s next? ‘Non-blind’ instead of ‘20:20 vision’? ‘Non-deaf’ instead of ‘perfect hearing’?

    “Will we have to describe Marilyn Monroe in future as ‘non-ginger’ instead of ‘blonde’?”

    ‘Someone with restricted growth’
    Elsewhere in the guide, VisitBritain declares that the word “dwarf” should be abandoned in favour of describing those with dwarfism as “someone with restricted growth or short stature”.

    “Avoid using language that suggests having access requirements is a negative thing and encourages pity, such as ‘suffers from’, ‘is a victim of’, ‘handicapped’, ‘invalid’, ‘crippled by’ or ‘wheelchair bound’,” it reads.

    “This perpetuates harmful stereotypes and suggests that you know how a person feels about their impairment.

    “Some people see it very much as a positive thing that has enhanced their life and therefore are offended by such language.”

    Lord Young said: “I’m astonished that this quango has advised people to refer to dwarfs as ‘people with restricted growth’,” he said.

    “I’ve been admonished many times for suggesting that was the PC term for dwarfs and told that’s a ‘Right-wing myth’. The correct term, apparently, is ‘little people’ – or, in the case of Disney’s remake of Snow White, ‘magical people’.

    “This quango has literally become the caricature that free speech champions like me invented to discredit humourless woke scolds.”

    The guide goes on to urge tour guides to “resist the temptation to get defensive” if they are corrected for not using the right language.

    “When thinking about language, it’s important to be open to education,” it says. “The appropriate terminology changes frequently.

    “If a customer corrects your language, resist the temptation to get defensive, and instead listen to alternatives to use in future.”

    It also advises that “positive language” is at times disadvantageous when trying to attract new customers.

    “An important caveat to this, however, is that disability-focused language can support your business from an SEO perspective; it is likely that some potential customers may search for ‘wheelchair accessible lodges’ or ‘disabled-friendly hikes’, for example,” it reads.

    VisitBritain is not the first public body to produce inclusive language guides.

    Last week, it emerged that NHS staff have been told not to call fat people “obese” in guidance issued by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.

    Civil servants in Northern Ireland have previously been advised to avoid using the word “millennials” because it is offensive and can “reinforce negative stereotypes”.

    Elsewhere, Sutton council, in south London, told staff not to ask people for their “Christian” name and Staffordshire Police warned officers not to say “man up”, “OAP” or “policeman” when dealing with the public.

    In January, a policing chief tore up a diversity guide that told officers not to use the term “black sheep” saying the public want crime solved not “virtue signalling”.

    VisitBritain was approached for comment.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/08/able-bodied-is-harmful-language-says-britains-tourist-board/

    Titter ye not!

    1. When did anyone ever address someone as Mr Dwarf or Mrs Little Person. People have names and most of us just use them. It’s a manufactured issue. I recently worked with a disabled person. Her disability was only mentioned in the context of the difficulty of manoeuvring a wheelchair around Television Centre. Otherwise, her name is Shannon, not Miss Disability.

      2. Well I am old, fat, stupid, ugly, crippled, smelly and foul-breathed.

        But I dare anyone to even try to label me with a pejorative nickname, like Adonis, for example!

        😉

    2. Well judging by the state of our economy (aided and abetted by the politicians in power over the past couple of decades) I've come to the conclusion that the saying: "Go woke Go Broke" is 100% correct…..

      1. Able Seaman !!!

        Morning Delboy ,

        We are enduring strange times , aren't we..

        I hope you are both as well as to be expected and coping as best as you both can .

        Damp weather for dog walking today !!

    5. I assume "fit as butchers dog" is out of the question.
      Swooning vegans, vegetarians and (ahem) non-abled people dropping like flies.

    6. I'm short, but I'm not a dwarf, which is a recognisable physical condition. I object to anything other than "Christian name" – it's what I've got. I'm not Ramipolo Njugaboolu. I don't have a "forename" or "first name" I have a Christian name, as I'm named after one of the saints, albeit a foreign one.

  29. VisitBritain is Britain’s national tourism agency, responsible for marketing Britain worldwide and developing Britain’s visitor economy.

    Our mission: Building the value of tourism to Britain, working in partnership with the industry and nations and regions to generate additional visitor spend.

    Our vision: To inspire the world to explore Britain.

    Our strategy: 1. Inspire travellers from overseas to visit and explore Britain. 2. Deliver a global network to support tourism promotion overseas. 3. Advise Government and the industry on tourism, particularly on issues that affect our global competitiveness. 4. Maximise public investment through partner engagement and commercial activity.

    Our funding A non-departmental public body, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, we work with partners in the UK and overseas to ensure that Britain is marketed in an inspirational and relevant way around the world.

    In 2011/2012 our grant-in-aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will be £26.5 million

    The above is the current GOV-UK information page. Why no more recent grant-in-aid info? Probably in the billions now to pay for the DEI morons currently running it.

  30. Today we have a lyrical lament from Paul Sutton on where we are as a country and what is to come. Read his short Drenching Arms and reflect, and support him with a comment.

    Former fighter and commercial airline pilot Iain Hunter’s A Retired Pilot Responds gives a very informative and well-balanced view of the chemtrail in the sky controversy. Please read and tell us what you think, and vote in the poll, conspiracy or conspiracy theory.

    Energy watch 09.45. Total generation: 38.382 GW from: Hydrocarbons 40.4%; Wind 15.9%; Imports 21.9%; Biomass 6.6% and Nuclear 11.1%. Solar: 0. 9%. UK demand: 37.79GW, UK generation 29.56GW.

    Look at that! We are importing a massive 21.9% of our electricity supply from the continent, mostly from France, as the lunatics in charge would rather import expensive foreign electric power that produce it here from much cheaper gas. No wonder we have the economy-killing highest electricity prices in the world. The economics of the mad house.

    1. The economics of the mad house.

      Just because the energy programme is the economics of the mad house it doesn't mean that the cause can be put down to incompetence. That is the lazy answer. Too much else is rivalling the energy programme as originating in the mad house, and for all of these things to be coincidental, is a long stretch.

      The Uni-party – do NOT forget the Tory's efforts in all of this – is seeking an end goal that is inimical to our way of life. This is the reason that the on-the slide Tories must be helped along to political oblivion and that Reform must be very careful about providing a safe haven for these disgusting people.

      Next up, the destruction of the Labour party.

      As for the LibDums, when both the Tories and Labour are mere rumps there will not be a fence for them to sit astride. Who will care?

      1. Fully agree, it’s a part of a centralised globalist agenda of which the Tories, Labour and the Libdems are but factions. The only disagreement I have is that at the moment, the Tories should be first on the list for destruction.

  31. ‘Labour reported me for racial hatred after Southport – a court cleared me in less than 20 minutes’
    Former Royal Marine says he felt betrayed after being charged over Facebook video in which he ‘voiced opinions’ about illegal immigration
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/07/labour-reported-me-racial-hatred-court-cleared-less-20-mins/

    It is clear to most of us that those anywhere near the Southport protests after the government had deliberately suppressed the truth were blackmailed into pleading guilty and were encouraged to think they would be treated more leniently if they did.

    This was both mendacious as well as blackmailing – those who pleaded "not guilty" managed to escape prison while those who pleaded guilty were often given disproportionately long prison sentences.

    Without some sort of coup it seems that the UK is shackled to this tyrannous Labour regime for the next four years

    2. See my post above – the way things are going, one of the peaceful ones is going to get upset about, oh anything (perhaps one of us going out without a burqua) and it will be Islamophobia if we object.

      Perhaps some peaceful men should object about the tarty way Rayner dresses?

      But once a chav always a chav, I guess.

    3. See my post above – the way things are going, one of the peaceful ones is going to get upset about, oh anything (perhaps one of us going out without a burqua) and it will be Islamophobia if we object.

      Perhaps some peaceful men should object about the tarty way Rayner dresses?

      But once a chav always a chav, I guess.

    1. Well if the silly sod does agree reparations, I don't see why the current British tax payers should pony up. According to the National Trust a good number of the Mansions and Estates were funded on the back of slavery. Perhaps a few of these should be handed over to the former colonies so that in a few years those that want to can visit them to see "The New Zimbabwe Experience"…..

      1. We won't get the choice though, will we? We never do, until five years from the last election, and some choice that has been in the past

    2. Note in the photo above such an important personage requires to be protected by/ in an armoured car……

    3. Note in the photo above such an important personage requires to be protected by/ in an armoured car……

  33. Justin Welby allowed to keep living at Lambeth Palace
    Former archbishop of Canterbury will continue to stay in palace until summer despite resigning over Church of England sex abuse scandal
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/07/welby-allowed-to-keep-living-at-lambeth-palace/

    BTL

    I think his next spiritual journey will take him to Islam and he will become a fundamentalist.

    His mission will be to continue from outside the CoE the destruction of the Church of England which he did from within it.

    How long before Westminster Abbey, Winchester Cathedral and St Paul's are all mosques?

  34. Good morning all. Sorry I haven't been participating much lately. The problems with my eyes are getting worse. Nausea kicks in pretty quickly if I try to type much. If anyone has suggestions that has had problems caused by the fallout from glaucoma, I'm willing to entertain them all. Yes, I know I could use Dragon, but that isn't quite the same as sitting here typing.

    Anyway. 4c here in West Sussex and quite dark but not raining.

    Reading the Telegraph this morning I am reminded of another PM by name of Spencer Perceval. God forbid but temptation is certainly being put in the way of the people. I also heard that the King is furious with Starmer, so, good. Hopefully the King can now suggest to him that he resign. It would be useful if he made his displeasure public.

    1. Why would the King be furious with Starmer? Both are devotees of the Davos shower… no idle opinions here, there are pictures and statements as proof.

      Ah, maybe that's the focus: the King is getting exposure on X due to his links to Davos, Schwab etc. and with Starmer creating a real shit-show in the realm some of the excreta is splashing about. And we all know shit sticks.

      1. The king has a lot to lose or rather his son and grandson do and I have no doubt that the king is cognisant of that. Will you be happy when the last bastion of England has fallen, sent into exile because Islam reigns supreme? And I do not believe that the king is pro-Davos. It is just that the institution dovetails with many views that he has long held, well before Davos ever became a thing. But, in the end, King Charles is pro British and, I do not believe, has any intention to sell us down the river. But I do know that half truths,. derision and hostility are directed toward him because he can't live up to his sainted mother. A monarch that I regard, as a monarchist, an utter failure who in her lack of action all but destroyed the monarchy and its purpose in the Constitution of England.

        1. KC III is not very bright. His intentions, and what he enables, may well be diametrically opposite, but he will not see that.

          1. On the contrary, he is extremely bright. Delve deeper and you will find he is exceptionally intelligent and quite clever. Poundbury was not dreamt up by a dimwit and his knowledge of agriculture is second to none. He is also regarded as one of the greatest landscape architects alive today. But since these things are not of great appeal to those outside of those disciplines people think he knows practically nothing.

          5. By the way, having being there on more than one occasion, Poundbury is soulless. It’s not awful, not ugly, rather attractive, but soulless. Perhaps if KCIII put his mind to things that helped his country and its indigenous people (NOT necessarily its incomers – that was a bit of a fetish with QEII as well) then he could show that he is “extremely bright”.

            If he is so bright, and he is aiding our country into the abyss, then the only description of him must be traitor.

        2. Your opening sentence is spot on although I see things in a different light. The monarchy, if it is anything, is extremely selfish and will do anything to maintain the future of the dynasty. If that means signing away our sovereignty to a hostile EU or linking itself to the Davos set then the incumbents will do whatever it takes to maintain their position. The dynasty is all.

          Charles III needs to understand that the real threat to his dynastic hopes is the globalist Davos set. It is the latter that is driving the mass importation of a group whose whole culture, religion etc. is inimical to ours, a political treachery beyond measure. Mass immigration not only puts the people in peril but the monarchy also. Sadly, Charles III rather stupidly waffles on about “all faiths” and I see this as a sign of him trying to play both sides. However, there will come a time when he, or his heir, will have to choose a side i.e. the side of the people or the immediate globalist threat. Defeating the globalists will ease the threat from mass immigration as the taps can be turned off. This is not racism it is literally a matter of survival for the descendants of a people that has given so much to the World.

          I am an Englishman, with a dash of Welsh, and I love my Country but I have little time for the Monarchy and none at all for the majority of politicians whose predation we have to suffer.

          1. The monarchy is over 1000 years old. I do not confuse a king with the monarchy in toto. The monarchy is part of our democratic system, we are a Constitutional Monarchy, and without it we will cease to be who we are. I believe that people are deliberately kept in the dark about the essential role the monarchy plays in our system. I think it deliberate because the aim is to abolish it and with it our country. Sadly, now a days, people are not taught how our system works and, as a result, it is being eroded. The deterioration has been quite obvious in my life time where people now do not know the most elementary things about how our system works. You even have people saying, ‘we don’t have a constitution, that’s how ignorant many people are. I believe we are being betrayed and the prize for that betrayal will be the loss of our identity as a nation when we become just another class in the multi-cultural swamp and not an advantaged class but a class to be despised just as white South Africans are despised in the country they built.

    2. Sorry to hear about the nausea – horrible.

      A slightly odd suggestion, but might Stugeron help? It's for travel sickness; I don't know what the mechanism of the active ingredient (cinnarazine, as I remember) is, but it certainly works wonders for me.

    3. That's not good, Johnathan. I asked ChatGPT – does any of this help?
      "The after-effects of glaucoma can vary depending on the extent of damage to the optic nerve and how well the disease was managed. Here are some treatment options and approaches to help manage the after-effects:

      1. **Ongoing Eye Pressure Management**:
      – **Medications**: Eye drops or oral medications to manage intraocular pressure (IOP) may still be necessary, even after treatment for glaucoma, to prevent further damage.
      – **Laser Therapy**: Procedures like selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) can help reduce IOP in some individuals with glaucoma.

      2. **Vision Rehabilitation**:
      – **Low Vision Aids**: If glaucoma has caused significant vision loss, low vision aids (magnifiers, special glasses) may help improve quality of life.
      – **Orientation and Mobility Training**: People with peripheral vision loss can benefit from training to help them navigate their environment safely.
      – **Vision Therapy**: Specific exercises and techniques may assist in improving visual function or compensating for vision loss.

      3. **Nutritional Support**:
      – **Antioxidants and Nutrients**: Certain vitamins (like vitamin A, C, and E) and omega-3 fatty acids may support eye health and slow the progression of retinal damage.
      – **Healthy Diet**: A diet rich in leafy greens, fish, and other anti-inflammatory foods may help maintain overall eye health.

      4. **Psychological Support**:
      – **Counseling**: Dealing with the emotional impact of vision loss can be challenging. Psychological support or counseling can help with adjusting to lifestyle changes caused by vision impairment.
      – **Support Groups**: Connecting with others who have experienced vision loss due to glaucoma can provide emotional and social support.

      5. **Regular Eye Check-ups**:
      – Regular visits to an ophthalmologist are important to monitor the condition of the optic nerve, the health of the eye, and the effectiveness of treatments."

      6. **Surgical Interventions (if applicable)**:
      – In some cases, surgical procedures like a trabeculectomy or drainage implants may be used to further lower eye pressure if medications and laser treatments are not sufficient.

      It’s always important to consult with an ophthalmologist to tailor treatment to the individual’s specific condition and the extent of damage."

      1. Thank you for all that Ober. Much appreciated that you would go through all that effort. Already do the eye drops. But have not tried any of the other stuff other than Niacin, which is supposed to help. Have not been taking that for long so in fairness I have to wait and see on that. So I will certainly look into some of your other suggestions.

    4. Can you not get an optical reader that will read the text out for you and a voice program that will take dictation?

        1. Then may I suggest that you have a dummy keyboard and let the software do the work to save your health?

  35. I give it 10 years Rastus. But, as you say below, their needs to be a coup. Since Labour is thwarting the right of the people to vote, it seems to me that extreme measures are justified.

          1. The 'Hate speech' laws were always going to be amended. They were Labour's greatest effort to expand their disgusting voting block.

  36. This poem was a favourite of my friend who loved his cricket and his service in the Royal Artillery.
    The title "Vitaï Lampada" (The Torch of Life) refers to how a schoolboy, a future soldier, learns selfless commitment to duty in cricket matches.

    There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night—
    Ten to make and the match to win—
    A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
    An hour to play and the last man in.
    And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat,
    Or the selfish hope of a season's fame,
    But his captain's hand on his shoulder smote
    "Play up! play up! and play the game!"

    The sand of the desert is sodden red,—
    Red with the wreck of a square that broke;—
    The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead,
    And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
    The river of death has brimmed his banks,
    And England's far, and Honour a name,
    But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
    "Play up! play up! and play the game!". . .
    . . . Bear through life like a torch in flame,
    And falling fling to the host behind—
    "Play up! play up! and play the game!"

    You are not forgotten my friend!

    1. One of the two favourite poems my father taught me.

      The other was the exceptional How They Brought The Good News From Ghent To Aix by Robert Browning:

      I SPRANG to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
      I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
      ‘Good speed!’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
      ‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
      Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
      And into the midnight we galloped abreast.

      Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace
      Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place;
      I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight,
      Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique right,
      Rebuckled the cheek-strap, chained slacker the bit,
      Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.

      ’Twas moonset at starting; but while we drew near
      Lokeren, the cocks crew and twilight dawned clear;
      At Boom, a great yellow star came out to see;
      At Düffeld, ’twas morning as plain as could be;
      And from Mecheln church-steeple we heard the half-chime,
      So Joris broke silence with ‘Yet there is time!’

      At Aerschot, up leaped of a sudden the sun,
      And against him the cattle stood black every one,
      To stare through the mist at us galloping past,
      And I saw my stout galloper Roland at last,
      With resolute shoulders, each butting away
      The haze, as some bluff river headland its spray.

      And his low head and crest, just one sharp ear bent back
      For my voice, and the other pricked out on his track;
      And one eye’s black intelligence,—ever that glance
      O’er its white edge at me, his own master, askance!
      And the thick heavy spume-flakes which aye and anon
      His fierce lips shook upwards in galloping on.

      By Hasselt, Dirck groaned; and cried Joris, ‘Stay spur!
      Your Roos galloped bravely, the fault’s not in her,
      We’ll remember at Aix’—for one heard the quick wheeze
      Of her chest, saw the stretched neck and staggering knees,
      And sunk tail, and horrible heave of the flank,
      As down on her haunches she shuddered and sank.

      So we were left galloping, Joris and I,
      Past Looz and past Tongres, no cloud in the sky;
      The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh,
      ’Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like chaff;
      Till over by Dalhem a dome-spire sprang white,
      And ‘Gallop,’ gasped Joris, ‘for Aix is in sight!’

      ‘How they’ll greet us!’—and all in a moment his roan
      Rolled neck and croup over, lay dead as a stone;
      And there was my Roland to bear the whole weight
      Of the news which alone could save Aix from her fate,
      With his nostrils like pits full of blood to the brim,
      And with circles of red for his eye-sockets’ rim.

      Then I cast loose my buffcoat, each holster let fall,
      Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all,
      Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear,
      Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without peer;
      Clapped my hands, laughed and sang, any noise, bad or good,
      Till at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood.

      And all I remember is, friends flocking round
      As I sat with his head ’twixt my knees on the ground;
      And no voice but was praising this Roland of mine,
      As I poured down his throat our last measure of wine,
      Which (the burgesses voted by common consent)
      Was no more than his due who brought good news from Ghent.

        1. Browning wasn't clear (on either topic).

          'Aix' is Aix-la-Chappelle, the French name for the German border town (Belgium/The Netherlands) of Aachen.

        1. It is poetic license; describing at time when urgency was the pre-requisite. And it still remains my favourite poem.

    2. One of the two favourite poems my father taught me.

      The other was the exceptional How They Brought The Good News From Ghent To Aix by Robert Browning:

      I SPRANG to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
      I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
      ‘Good speed!’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
      ‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
      Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
      And into the midnight we galloped abreast.

      Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace
      Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place;
      I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight,
      Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique right,
      Rebuckled the cheek-strap, chained slacker the bit,
      Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.

      ’Twas moonset at starting; but while we drew near
      Lokeren, the cocks crew and twilight dawned clear;
      At Boom, a great yellow star came out to see;
      At Düffeld, ’twas morning as plain as could be;
      And from Mecheln church-steeple we heard the half-chime,
      So Joris broke silence with ‘Yet there is time!’

      At Aerschot, up leaped of a sudden the sun,
      And against him the cattle stood black every one,
      To stare through the mist at us galloping past,
      And I saw my stout galloper Roland at last,
      With resolute shoulders, each butting away
      The haze, as some bluff river headland its spray.

      And his low head and crest, just one sharp ear bent back
      For my voice, and the other pricked out on his track;
      And one eye’s black intelligence,—ever that glance
      O’er its white edge at me, his own master, askance!
      And the thick heavy spume-flakes which aye and anon
      His fierce lips shook upwards in galloping on.

      By Hasselt, Dirck groaned; and cried Joris, ‘Stay spur!
      Your Roos galloped bravely, the fault’s not in her,
      We’ll remember at Aix’—for one heard the quick wheeze
      Of her chest, saw the stretched neck and staggering knees,
      And sunk tail, and horrible heave of the flank,
      As down on her haunches she shuddered and sank.

      So we were left galloping, Joris and I,
      Past Looz and past Tongres, no cloud in the sky;
      The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh,
      ’Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like chaff;
      Till over by Dalhem a dome-spire sprang white,
      And ‘Gallop,’ gasped Joris, ‘for Aix is in sight!’

      ‘How they’ll greet us!’—and all in a moment his roan
      Rolled neck and croup over, lay dead as a stone;
      And there was my Roland to bear the whole weight
      Of the news which alone could save Aix from her fate,
      With his nostrils like pits full of blood to the brim,
      And with circles of red for his eye-sockets’ rim.

      Then I cast loose my buffcoat, each holster let fall,
      Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all,
      Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear,
      Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without peer;
      Clapped my hands, laughed and sang, any noise, bad or good,
      Till at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood.

      And all I remember is, friends flocking round
      As I sat with his head ’twixt my knees on the ground;
      And no voice but was praising this Roland of mine,
      As I poured down his throat our last measure of wine,
      Which (the burgesses voted by common consent)
      Was no more than his due who brought good news from Ghent.

  37. The leftwaffe around the world are squealing in anguish because Musk is destroying potentially trillions of dollars worth of criminally misappropriated, downright stolen, or laundered tax-dollars.
    This sums up the modern Western Hemisphere left wing in a bloody nutshell.

  39. There is a gaol in the mediaeval part of Lambeth Palace. Welby should be placed within its confines as opposed to the regal Victorian residence.

  40. Good morning, all. A drab day at the moment with a chance of a little less drabness later.

    Despite all of the revelations in documentation from both big pharma and independent researchers, and the growing death and disability tolls, some people in authority will not accept that the gene therapy sold as a "vaccine" is neither safe nor effective.

    Are some involved authorities concerned that they will lose face should they admit their mistake, or is there something much stronger forcing them to cling on to the now disgraced narrative? For how long can they hold out?

    The Australian doctor's speech is worth listening to.

    https://x.com/RefugeOfSinner5/status/1887717573942517983

    1. Just like some members of Joe Public won't. Neither will they accept that we don't have a climate catastrophe. There's no cure for stupid, and unfortunately that seems to have spread.

    2. But you were not forced to be vaccinated.

      We simply said you wouldn't:

      Be able to have a bank account
      Go to a shop
      Your employer would be told – and encouraged to sack you
      You wouldn't get future medical care from the NHS
      Insurance companies would be told
      You would have to pay higher, special taxes
      You wouldn't qualify for welfare.
      You couldn't drive

      Thus we didn't force you to do anything. It was your choice.

  41. Why didn't the Tories think of that? Oh, they did!
    https://scontent-cdg4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/476150537_10162988890966532_7574900146901405241_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=7BNKMA2DqLUQ7kNvgGZ97NN&_nc_oc=AdgJZxWh_z7yf0y35uIPoSnF-hIBu62qU6_sxRs29YlJq-BWbJWzJJSw84IctTfcFDzQ0y-W-PQIgzCGUTx2Glib&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-1.xx&_nc_gid=AOByzx3Ffskht9lPW3hBtlB&oh=00_AYCHJcZb7Uqyo-P_5KzZayrNYE3R5l49M42Fz7S198zvfQ&oe=67AD1B86

    1. Labour didn't even need to think of it – they just did it (that is giving them the benefit of the doubt as to whether they collectively have enough grey matter to indulge in what us lesser mortals know as "thinking").

      Whoops, I seem to be in a bad mood today. Sorry.

  43. 'Heteronormative'? Isn't that just a pretentious, pointless, retarded, long-winded, poofy, Pinko way of saying Normal?

    2. Yes, but Lefties want to pretend being a poof is special, rather than irrelevant.

      It's like that trans joke: You're not a woman, you're a man. Wearing a dress doesn't stop you being a berk [I've substituted berk for the original content].

  44. I need a good, bitchy laugh.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/02/07/spare-a-thought-for-keir-starmers-voice-coach/?utm_source=The+week+on+spiked&utm_campaign=9f4ace49f2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_02_07_07_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-9f4ace49f2-99241510

    "Spare a thought for Keir Starmer’s voice coach

    How can the PM still sound so weedy, reedy and flat after all those years of training?

    Simon Evans

    The revelation that Keir Starmer may have broken lockdown regulations to meet a voice coach on Christmas Eve in 2020 has triggered two distinct flavours of reaction.

    One is that the UK’s prime minister is a despicable hypocrite and should resign. This creature! This scoundrel! He’s the wretch who hounded Boris Johnson out of office for accepting a slice of extra-judicial birthday cake during lockdown, only to then be revealed to have indulged in an outrageous vanity project when those same Covid rules were in place.

    The second, rather more sanguine response has been: ‘You mean, this is what Starmer sounds like after voice coaching?’

    This was my instinctive reaction. But I did not entirely trust my own auditory memory. Perhaps his voice had been even worse, once upon a time. Incremental improvements can elude one until an ancient artefact emerges, like a Seventies ITV sitcom or a Blackberry Messenger, to show how far we’ve come. Thankfully, Ed Cumming has written a longer and more serious piece on the issue in the Telegraph, for which I’m very grateful, in which he suggests that Starmer has indeed shown an improvement over the years. Cumming generously includes some sound files to prove it. The first is of Starmer addressing a Labour conference in Brighton, as shadow Brexit secretary, in 2017. He sounds weedy, uninspired, flat. And then a more recent clip, one in which he addresses the nation as its premier, in the aftermath of the Southport murders and riots. Perhaps you’ll find it stirring. Churchillian, even. Lash yourself to the mast and give it a spin. Here it is…

    I confess I am at a loss to distinguish the two. Both seem to me of a piece with Keats’s ‘wailful choir’ of small autumnal gnats, or the sort of pneumatic dental-drill voice that, if suitably amplified, could disperse a crowd of loitering teenagers from any shopping mall faster than a threat to wash under their arms. Only heard through several layers of silicon insulation wadding.

    Ah well. Putting aside the ‘breach of lockdown’ issue, I actually applaud Starmer for at least trying. For his determination to confront his strangled, dampened and adenoidal disfigurement of the language of Shakespeare, Milton and the King James Bible. It’s a sign he has acknowledged not just a personal defect but also his responsibility to the nation.

    Clear articulation, timbre, depth, resonance, tone… these are aspects of the politician’s art every bit as core as Teflon coating, plausibility and selective memory. They can reassure or alarm an electorate according to their abundance or deficit.

    It has long been established – at the very least since George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, and since confirmed by The Science – that only a small sliver of communication comes from the actual words we use. Humans are still running pre-linguistic software in parallel with the more recent updates and pick up a lot from subliminal auditory signals.

    Of course, there are noble precedents. Margaret Thatcher famously used Laurence Olivier’s voice coach, Kate Fleming, to soften and deepen her tone, and to slow her brisk trot to a solemn adagio. This was all prior to her premiership, but if you want to see an exemplary analysis of the changes, listen to Spitting Image impressionist Steve Nallon. Uncanny. Clearly Nallon should have been chosen over Meryl Streep for the Hollywood biopic.

    By comparison, after several years with his no doubt blameless voice coach, Leonie Mellinger, Starmer’s reedy and highly compressed kazoo of a delivery remains emphatically unenriched. While his syntax and word choice have shown marginal improvement, in the Westminster tradition of oratory, he remains a moped among Harleys – only heard, never felt. Compared with the great parliamentarians of the past, or even other members of the managerial classes to whose rule we now seem eternally condemned, he cuts through with all the efficacy of a plasticine penknife.

    One can overstate the importance of a speaking voice. There are good reasons, in fact, to distrust any MP who seems a little too in love with his own rhetorical gifts. Few would begrudge George Galloway’s pre-eminence in the field – nor doubt the ego and vanity that nestle and throb just below that powerful diaphragm, the self-regard that rolls his grandiloquent Rs, the wind-baggery into which he so easily topples, deafened by the sheer musicality of his own voice. Galloway’s gift is magnificent in its way, but it is a museum piece. It is as unavoidably theatrical as his fedora hat.

    No, the most enviable voice now operating on the backbenches is surely that of Nigel Farage. His has a natural, chummy jocularity, the natural banter of the tavern. But the under-girding chuckle in Farage’s voice, never far from a gurgle of disbelief at the topsy-turvy world of freezing pensioners and warmly quartered refugees, belies a master of delivery and coiner of memorable phrases.

    I can understand the appeal to Starmer of Ms Mellinger’s instruction. Her back story is remarkable, and very on point. Born in a British military hospital neighbouring Spandau Prison, her actor father was then working for the legendary Marxist playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht. It was Brecht of course who penned the immortal satire, ‘The Solution’, which ends with the following:

    ‘The people
    Had forfeited the confidence of the government
    And could win it back only
    By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
    In that case for the government
    To dissolve the people
    And elect another?’

    A thought that has no doubt flickered across Starmer’s mind on occasion this past six months.

    Furthermore, Mellinger was briefly married to Robin Askwith, who famously starred in the Confessions of a Window Cleaner sequence of 1970s sex farces, along with Tony Blair’s late father-in-law, Tony Booth. You can of course read too much into these things…

    So Sir Keir, forget trying to be like Maggie or Tony, old son. If you want to sound like the voice of the people, wrap your listening gear around that Heineken ad from the 1980s. Repeat after me: ‘The water in Majorca don’t taste like what it ought to.’"

    1. When a voice coach was first mentioned it was very tempting to ask if the instructor was a Dalek. Exterminate!

    1. similarities..?
      Aside from the obvious.. all six councils have simultaneously charged more for the services they've just cancelled.

  47. 21 May 2015
    Research compiled by BPP University Law School has revealed that 119 of the 650 MPs either studied or practised law before standing for election. In 2010, 85 elected MPs had legal experience.

    24 October 2019
    How many members of the Parliament are barristers or solicitors?

    As this information you request is reasonably accessible to you otherwise
    than under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), your request is
    refused. In refusing your request the House is applying the exemption set
    out in section 21 (1) and (2) (a) FOIA. This is an absolute exemption and
    the public interest test does not apply.

    Please note that this specific information is not collected by the House,
    as we have no business need to do so.

    P*ss off, in other words.

    2. Interestingly, the original architect of the English Constitution.. Oliver Cromwell.. concocted a model of government that specifically excluded the lawyer from the basic power structure. He loathed them. That power structure eventually became; The Will of The People + parliament + The Monarchy when parliament not in session.
      What's the first thing Tony Blair did? Plonked a gaggle of lawyers right at the top.. the supreme court.

      1. He could then stack it with placement and use lawfare to hamstring future policies that would be detrimental to his socialist arrogance.

    4. ChatGPT's answer:
      "As of the 2019 General Election, 119 out of 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK had a background in law, either through studying or practicing law.
      LAWGAZETTE.CO.UK
      This group represented nearly 20% of the House of Commons at that time. However, specific data on how many of these MPs were qualified as barristers or solicitors is not readily available. The House of Commons does not collect this specific information, and individual MPs may not publicly disclose their professional qualifications.
      WHATDOTHEYKNOW.COM
      Therefore, while we know that a significant portion of MPs have legal backgrounds, the exact number who are qualified as barristers or solicitors remains unclear."

    1. Don't you have to be a British national to stand in parliament?

      Or better yet, have an IQ higher than 80?

      2. Does Lammy (and Abbott) have a higher IQ than 1?

        In their case, IQ stands for Imbecility Quotient.

    3. I admire the Australians' policy; their MPs are not allowed to be dual nationals etc.
      Too many anywhere-people in Parliamentary circles.

  49. Spooky. MoH was driving her car with daughter as a passenger. MoH said: "I've not yet bought you a birthday present." The car piped up: "Happy Birthday!"

  50. Just caught up with the comments whilst having a break from up the Lime Kilns.
    Now about to head back up there.

    2. Under what act was he arrested? 'Some Lefty wanted to destroy him, 1997?'

      As always, the intent is to silence people by frightening them. It's typical Lefty behaviour. Never address the language. Never engage. Don't discuss: just kill the messenger. Silence the voice you hate.

      They're evil, evil people.

  53. Fair swapses.. betcha anything.
    Labour scraps China tariffs.. in return for Chinese 'gait recognition' tech which can IDs people by how they walk.

    1. I first used a 'mobile' phone fitted in a car in Calgary, Canada – November 1963, I phoned my sister in Massachusetts. We were on a military good-will visit at the time. It was at the time that JF Kennedy was assassinated.

    2. I first used a 'mobile' phone fitted in a car in Calgary, Canada – November 1963, I phoned my sister in Massachusetts. We were on a military good-will visit at the time. It was at the time that JF Kennedy was assassinated.

  55. .'Steve Coogan has narrowly avoided a driving ban for speeding at almost 100mph after he told a court it could impact on the new series of hit TV show The Trip.

    The 59-year-old star of Alan Partridge was behind the wheel of a Range Rover which was caught at 97mph on the M6 on July 29 last year.

    Coogan already had six penalty points on his licence and wrote to a court to plead for a punishment which did not end in a ban, highlighting that he is expected to drive on the upcoming TV show.

    “I have a series of important film commitments scheduled for 2025, many of which involve driving as a central component of the work”, he set out, in a letter to Birmingham magistrates court.' Evening Standard, 2 days ago.

    Begins with B; ends in astard.

    2. My initial reaction when I read that was 'tough" – you drive at 97 mph in a 70 mph limit you deserve everything you get! If that spoils his work, double tough – shouldn't have broken the law. I bet "they" wouldn't do that for one of "us"!

    4. As he already had 6 points on his licence, you would have thought he would have taken more care. Clearly not.

    5. If he had mis-gendered the cop or called him a Paki he would have got ten year solitary. How much was in the judges brown envelope, I wonder?

    6. His fellow lefties will make excuses for him but if another Stephen (Y-L) did it, they’d want him banged up for life.

    1. David Jones:
      Under the men’s intense gaze, cold sweat trickles down my spine, and I feel waves of revulsion and fear.

      What a wet tosser blanket!

      We need prison regimes like that. Unfortunately they would be full of people with criminal records for hurty language and global warming deniers.

      1. I can't help but think if they're that dangerous you don't keep them hanging around, in prison or not. You throw away rubbish. We should do the same.

      2. NO ONE not even David Lammy has uttered a single word of protest about the mutilations, and savage behaviour meted out to women and children , who were burned to death in the DRC .. oh yes he is proud to announce he is black and a British Minister of state .. what a whore he is.

        Hospitals targeted
        Addressing the emergency session, Mr. Türk noted that two hospitals in Goma had been bombed on 27 January, killing and injuring multiple patients, including women and children.

        In a mass prison break at Muzenze Prison in Goma on the same day, at least 165 female inmates were reportedly raped and most were later killed in a fire under suspicious circumstances, he said, citing the authorities.

        “I am horrified by the spread of sexual violence, which has been an appalling feature of this conflict for a long time. This is likely to worsen in the current circumstances,” the UN rights chief continued, adding that UN staff were now verifying multiple allegations of rape, gang rape and sexual slavery in eastern DRC’s conflict zones.

        https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1159896

        Those living in the Caribbean and elsewhere should be thanking their lucky stars they were removed from Africa and the appalling , terrifying hate and nastiness all of those indigenous blacks feel towards each other , tribalism at it's worst .

  60. For anyone who has the nerve to tell me that we need to pay for water have a read
    At first I thought this was funny….Then I realised the awful truth of it. Be sure to read all the way to the end! Think bin charges need to be added in too.
    Tax his land,
    Tax his bed,
    Tax the table
    At which he's fed.
    Tax his work,
    Tax his pay,
    He works for peanuts
    Anyway!
    Tax his cow,
    Tax his goat,
    Tax his pants,
    Tax his coat.
    Tax his tobacco,
    Tax his drink,
    Tax him if he
    Tries to think.
    Tax his car,
    Tax his gas,
    Find other ways
    To tax his ass.
    Tax all he has
    Then let him know
    That you won't be done
    Till he has no dough.
    When he screams and hollers;
    Then tax him some more,
    Tax him till
    He's good and sore.
    Then tax his coffin,
    Tax his grave,
    Tax the sod in
    Which he's laid.
    When he's gone,
    Do not relax,
    It's time to apply
    The inheritance tax.
    Accounts Receivable Tax
    Airline surcharge tax
    Airline Fuel Tax
    Airport Maintenance Tax
    Building Permit Tax
    Cigarette Tax
    Cooking Tax
    Corporate Income Tax
    Goods and Services Tax (GST)
    Death Tax
    Driving Permit Tax
    Environmental Tax (Fee)
    Excise Taxes
    Income Tax
    Fishing License Tax
    Food License Tax
    Petrol Tax (too much per litre)
    Gross Receipts Tax
    Health Tax
    Heating Tax
    Inheritance Tax
    Interest Tax
    Lighting Tax
    Liquor Tax
    Luxury Taxes
    Marriage License Tax
    Medicare Tax
    Mortgage Tax
    Pension Tax
    Personal Income Tax
    Property Tax
    Poverty Tax
    Prescription Drug Tax
    Real Estate Tax
    Recreational Vehicle Tax
    Retail Sales Tax
    Service Charge Tax
    School Tax
    Telephone Tax
    Value Added Tax
    Vehicle License Registration Tax
    Vehicle Sales Tax
    Water Tax
    Workers Compensation Tax
    Tax (VAT) on Tax.
    And Now they want a blooming Carbon Tax!
    STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
    Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world… We had absolutely no national debt, had a large middle class, a huge manufacturing base, and Mum stayed home to raise the kids.
    What in the Hell happened? Could it be the lying parasitic politicians wasting our money?
    Oh, and don't forget the relatively new bank charges….
    And we all know what we think of Bankers.
    It's a pity they don't tax sex – I'd get a rebate

      1. A classic example of dynamic response to taxation. You'd think government would remember that but they are monumentally thick.

    2. It's missing insurance taxes and inflation.

      Oh, and VED. And Fuel duty. Where're the 'green' taxes slapped on energy?

      Business rates too.
      Air passenger duty.
      Secong home council tax levy
      Commercial vehicle taxes

      So what happened? Taxation. A state desperate for more money to buy votes.

      Oh, yes. There's also HGV licence taxes and special insurances there. Really, when you buy an apple, you're paying more than half the cost in taxation. We charge £270 an hour (up 10%) Why? Because if we charge our hourly rate, we cost ourselves money due to taxation. £170 of our fees is tax. It is all itemised down to depreciation and the future taxes on our van – a normal ford transit diesel.

    1. It was pointed out that Milioaf claims over £10,000 a year for his heating bill. That's 5 times ours. Assuming he's claiming for his office as well in Doncaster – and that's not going to be another 6 bedroom house – he's clearly gaming it. As is Raynor and Reeves.

  62. From the frying pan . . .

    Most Canadians are not interested in becoming the 51st State but now there are calls from some to look at Canada joining the EU.

    As if that would help anyone.

    2. It'd help the EU. Canada, however, would realise why we left. The CAP would destroy their farming industry overnight.

  63. Well – that was a pleasant surprise. It was briefly less awful in the garden, the wind died away to nothing – so I took out the ladder and cut back the main wisteria – reducing height by four feet across its 15th width. Quite a job! It had, natch, become twisted in the wire frame I installed 30 years ago. Should we ever have a sunny day, I'll tackle that.

  66. The Red Cross are calling for the next handover of hostages to be carried out in private. Either they have realised the gigantic cock-up they’ve made, or they’re expecting corpses.

  67. Best putdown for 2025..

    'I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible.'

    You can fill in the names.

  68. OT – for Le Crunch later on, the referee is from Georgia. Georgia was once one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

    Just saying (in advance….!!)

        2. Brilliant!

          I had the pleasure of attending a concert by Django Rheinherdt and Stephan Grapelli in St Andrews, c.1975.

        1. Not very diverse, are they? And why do they have (in English) The Royal Band of the Belgian (Navy, Air Force, etc)?

  70. Phew! Finito Benito!
    Had a break for lunch after getting most of this lot plus some thinner bits loaded into the van to be dropped off at t'Lad's in Derby.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/63fd0b358641e7d01ceefe1507346b3ecefe51fa983498eda92212cab52ff8d8.jpg Then went up to finish the last few bits off, so now have a van full.
    The couple who now own the land arrived and were highly pleased with the pile I've left behind for them.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/44a45d32079c6743b09d6af6e914da71e2e1abcffae73cd3f76caab6e2526ba6.jpg I did have plans to take out the tree trunk lying at 45° you can see in the centre top of this photo, but was asked to leave it for now. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/273ff945a532524043de45171da2f81c698925f63f1c11204ba908e0c8d1fcf1.jpg Just as well, I'd have no room for my share!!!

  71. Wordle No. 1,330 3/6

    🟨⬜🟨🟩⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordlle 8 Feb 2025

    A dizzy Birdie Three?

    1. A cautious par

      Wordle 1,330 4/6

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

    2. Well done, just par today.
      Wordle 1,330 4/6

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

    4. Nice one. I've got one word about today's – bugger.

      Wordle 1,330 4/6

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

  74. Everytime I watch England play Rugby they lose. So I've decided to stop watching to give them a slim chance of actually winning….

  76. Half time. I won't mention the score.

    Just to say I haven't see a French team so nervous in many a year.

    Fingers crossed.

      2. Perish the thought.. no one is suggesting their palms have been crossed with silver are they?

    1. That was a decidedly Lowe blow!

      Membership now over 199,000 and looks like heading for 200,000 by tomorrow…

  84. Amazingly this is being reported on the Beeb Website!
    DT Has
    Removed climate change mentions from government websites
    Starting last week, the Trump administration reportedly ordered some US government agency websites to remove references to climate change.
    It has affected the websites of the departments of transportation, defence, state and agriculture, which manages the forest service, the Guardian reported.
    Some climate content remained on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nasa and energy department's sites.
    This week, some employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were also ordered to temporarily stop communicating with foreign nationals, US media reported.
    The change came after reports that staff from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) – which is not an official government department – entered the offices of NOAA and took over the agency's internal websites, removing pages devoted to diversity-focused employee affinity groups."

    2. I do wonder when this thick as shit BGT dancing in high heels queer works out he has been played.

  86. A ghastly wet and cold evening here in Verwood so a few Spring flowers to brighten up the gloom: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2a8b9df2a3854939f6a05a6e970a25f5b781aa9f66097fd2e0b8dc9c6dfa88b2.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3893b23524785e63ea5d916290adfbdcb1278eca28a3c421be697b907d722460.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a45e1bac6ef9a88e965798ef0a1aaeaf40c9392a3e012e4c6d6458ec70f3bc66.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f6efd59cf001c148b5256050e609e877dfce1d48f048093413a3c5785fd6ca41.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/25610e540b7508677686025ac380f25d8e37ba0d296f51d74a8438aec2cba93e.jpg

        1. Well, put them away or you'll frighten the ladies, but if Phizzee's looking in the laddie will love it.

  88. Bit heavy on the USA political scene but how different are things over here? Lying lefties don't appear to have boundaries, national or moral.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7f984e030e57a17c01558c6b879587e47734c43f41ff4909c068e58c6c4d589.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2edacd4114d96644c87c09c4c16729ae79ca996329ef6b9878ec4989a9c1b777.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5594adc9fcf756b5d3b9de78041b19914924723d3459c9dd541aff8ebb24f011.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ec28980b30501afeaac31ee9e1d2ddc61285bbcc0bde5a63069e5ed715f40aeb.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f7cf74b22c5b7538b39a438867399294aee5c5a477ab249709cb0f5e28a922ac.png

  90. EXCLUSIVELabour minister is SACKED after vile jibe saying he hopes pensioners who don't vote for the party 'die before the next election' – as we expose his racist and sexist messages

    A Labour Minister has been sacked after The Mail on Sunday exposed his racist and sexist messages, including one vile post saying he hoped a pensioner who didn't vote Labour would die before the next election.

    Andrew Gwynne also made anti-Semitic slights and 'jokes' about a constituent being 'mown down' by a truck on a WhatsApp group.

    The Prime Minister stripped Mr Gwynne of his job as Health Minister and suspended his membership of the Labour Party when he was told about the content of the messages yesterday.

    A Government spokesperson said: 'The Prime Minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead a government in the service of working people. He will not hesitate to take action against any minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in this case.'

    In one particularly shocking comment, the Gorton and Denton MP says he hopes a 72-year-old woman will soon be dead after she dared to ask about her bins.

    The Stockport resident wrote to her local councillor saying she hadn't voted Labour, but added: 'As you have been re-elected I thought it would be an appropriate time to contact you with regard to the bin collections.'

    After the councillor shared the letter among fellow Labour figures in the WhatsApp group, Mr Gwynne wrote a suggested response: 'Dear resident, F*** your bins. I'm re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you'll have croaked it by the all-outs.'

    All-outs' are elections at which every council seat is contested at once, in contrast to local authorities in which only a third of seats are up for grabs at each poll.

    The messages were exchanged in a group called Trigger Me Timbers, which Mr Gwynne shares with more than a dozen Labour councillors, party officials and at least one other MP, all based on the outskirts of Manchester.

    The MoS gained access to thousands of messages from the closed group, which was set up in 2019, and discovered a barrage of abusive texts. Among them are:

    Mr Gwynne saying someone 'sounds too Jewish' and 'too militaristic', apparently from their name alone;
    Racist comments about veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott, mocking her historic achievement in be-coming the first black MP at either Despatch Box for Prime Minister's Questions;
    Sexist comments about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner performing a sex act;
    Mr Gwynne mocking a local Labour leader as 'Colin C*mface'.
    The politician also make offensive remarks about Jewish people. Discussing a Labour meeting in Reddish, a member of the group asks if Marshall Rosenberg would be there. It appears to be a reference to a late American psychologist whose conflict management techniques might have been useful in heated Labour debates.

    Mr Gwynne responds: 'No. He sounds too militaristic and too Jewish. Is he in Mossad?'

    In 2018, Mr Gwynne made headlines when it was revealed he was in Facebook group called Labour Supporters in which anti-Semitic messages were shared.

    At the time he responded: 'I was added to this Facebook group without my knowledge or permission. I DO NOT support the posts and I ABHOR anti-Semitism. It has absolutely NO place in the Labour Party or in society. End of.'

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14375823/Labour-minister-SACKED-vile-jibe-saying-hopes-pensioners-dont-vote-party-die-election-expose-racist-sexist-messages.html

    2. "A Government spokesperson said: 'The Prime Minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office and lead a government in the service of working people." High standards in public office? He could start with himself, two tier, free gear, never here.

      1. You beat me to it by a minute!! High standards of conduct? Expenses scandals, lying even on CVs, appointing Labour activist cronies to the allegedly impartial Civil Service, corruption claims against the anti corruption minister, freebies, interfering in judicial process .. etc etc!

    1. But in mitigation, one does not expect France to drop the ball in try scoring positions as often as they did today.
      I would estimate they wasted 20+ points.

    2. One of the pundits in Saturday's DT predicted the score exactly.. I trust he had a punt.

  95. Golly gosh! That new no 10 isn't half bad; better kicker than his namesake.

    I have had to have a drink to calm my beating heart!

  96. Signing off – exhausted from 80 minutes of excitement. Rare feeling when England are playing. Not being churlish – but both the last two passes on the last French try were well forward.

    Spent an hour up the ladder cutting several feet off the large wisteria – reet choofed.

    Have a spiffing evening. Celebrate (unless you are Welsh….)

    A demain.

    2. "…Spent an hour up the ladder cutting several feet off …"

      Are you exceptionally endowed, Bill?

    3. Quite agree about the forward passes. A great game though and a great result. Not that I’ll be rubbing my French brother-in-law's nose in it. Much.

        1. They don't give a toss about us, but they aren't too keen on people waking up to what they are about. It means there might be protests and they'd have to put even more protesters in gaol to silence them.

      1. If it's who I think you mean that's been rolling going back to BTL at The Spectator, with some contemporary exchanges over at Free Speech Backlash.

    2. "Unjustly imprisoned, emaciated and starved like their forefathers in the Nazï death camps" is what you meant to say Daily Mail.

  99. THE Labour Party has booted out one of its Dudley councillors after he launched a savage attack on Sir Keir Starmer, it has emerged.

    Councillor Steve Edwards, who represents the Brockmoor and Pensnett ward, said the ‘Labour leader lied to the British public and has turned his back on working-class people’.

    Cllr Edwards wrote a highly critical letter to Sir Keir on February 3 begging Labour to do more to support ordinary people, he has now been told his membership of the party has been terminated.

    Cllr Edwards said: “I kind of expected it after I have been so vocal about Starmer, six or seven months before the general election, that he seemed to turn his back on the working class.

    “I was apprehensive about what he would be like when he became Prime Minister but he made various promises, that our heating bills would go down, pensioners would be looked after, school children would be fed, that there would be no tax rises but within weeks of being elected he completely changed his mind.

    “It filters from the top down and they are not listening to us from the bottom up, the working class are the wealth creators in this country, what Starmer is offering is no help at all.

    “He has been treacherous to everybody. He is a massive liar.”

    Labour said the party does not comment on membership matters but made it clear Sir Keir Starmer is not involved.

    Dudley’s Labour group leader, Councillor Pete Lowe, said: “It’s a sad loss. Steve has been a strong community campaigner and an individual I have known and respected for many years.

    “The Labour Party, when it is at its best and strongest, is a broad church that has people from all wings of the party fighting for the objectives of the party.”

    Cllr Edwards has been a member of the Labour Party for around eight years although he left to fight the 2021 elections as an independent before returning in 2022.

    The 41-year-old confirmed he will now sit as an independent councillor in Dudley which will make the political landscape in his ward a mixed bag.

    Apart from Cllr Edwards, Brockmoor is represented by Labour’s Karen Westwood and Alex Dale for the Conservatives.

    A by-election in the ward in December 2024 saw Labour pushed into third place behind the Conservatives and Reform UK.

    Cllr Edwards said: “I am gutted to have been kicked out but more gutted for the reasons why I have been kicked out.

    “The reason is because I’m a voice for the working class, and that just won’t be tolerated.

    “I still believe the Labour Party is the best vehicle for social change in the country, but not when you have an establishment stooge like Keir Starmer running the party.”

    Black Country Dave
    7th February 3:49 pm
    User ID: 4988485
    We need more people like Cllr Steve Edwards in the Council. A man dedicated to the Black Country and its people. He's being punished by Labour High Command for daring to speak out against Two Tier Kier, while in Dudley, Labour are a lame duck 'opposition' which has been toadying-up to the Tories since May. It would have been a very different scenario if Cllr Zada had remained Labour Group Leader instead of the current lacklustre and ineffectual incumbent.
    Last Updated: 1 hr ago

    Pensnett Wammel
    7th February 4:16 pm
    User ID: 193793
    Unfortunately this is entirely consistent with Starmer's intolerance of free speech when not in support of him or his policies. This councillor has however shown unusual integrity – just a pity the same is not true of the local Labour MPs who have been happy to go along with Starmer's policies of punishing pensioners, curtailing free speech and his regime's disturbing and sinister interference in the legal system. The MPs have shown that they are thinking more about their own careers than their constituents.
    Last Updated:

    https://www.dudleynews.co.uk/news/24918705.dudley-labour-councillor-kicked-keir-starmer-rant/

    Pinched from F/B and explored .

    1. ‘Labour leader lied to the British public and has turned his back on working-class people’.

      Tell me news, Steve. Labour has routinely done that for over a century. Thet care no more for the working class than they do for any other white bloke or lass, whatever their background. All they care about is power.

      1. The Woolfs were Labour Party members and Virginia gave talks for working class women, supposedly to help them get on in life. She felt it was her duty to do it but in her diary she admitted to absolutely despising them.

        2. She also used Land Girls to care for her garden (as opposed to vegetable plots) contrary to rules.

        3. Yes. In my youth I spent time in a sphere of acquaintances/friends that was contained by some of the Bloomsbury/Charleston offspring. Superficial, charming and insufferably smug are the words that spring to mind. Fabians, of course.

      2. I wrote this assessment of Labour and the white working class recently:

        When did labour fall out of love with the white working class? About the time of the miner’s strike in 1984-5.
        About 15years ago, I read a comment online about this Unfortunately, I never kept a copy so I don’t remember if it was a blog comment or whatever, but it goes roughly like this:
        During the strike. Many Islington type Labour supporters decided to travel to some northern miners’ welfare clubs to rub sholder with, and show solidarity, for these horny-handed sons of toil. On arrival, they soon discovered that the average miner was an unreconstructed social dinosaur: “Ay up, love you up from London then? Good to see you, now get in the kitchen with the other women and put the bloody kettle on. And take your puffy friend with you – nice t*ts by the way”
        Not quite the noble savages they’d been expecting. I paraphrase of course, but it came as a shock to the metropolitan luvvies.

    2. My mother's family are all buried in St John's churchyard, Brockmoor. It's where she was married.

    3. "Labour said the party does not comment on membership matters but made it clear Sir Keir Starmer is not involved." Did he tell them to say it didn't cross his desk?

    4. “I still believe the Labour Party is the best vehicle for social change in the country, but not when you have an establishment stooge like Keir Starmer running the party.”
      The man's powers of reasoning are still off. He still believes Labour are for the Working Class, since when mate? Not in my lifetime. Starmer is not "the establishment" like this bloke thinks. He is still fighting his silly teenage fantasy Class War. The "Establishment" in his mind is a bunch of blokes in gentleman's clubs running the country. Starmer is a Globalist shill. The Labour Party is fully signed up for that nonsense as well as a whole host of other anti-British sentiments. If he really did support the Working Class he would of noticed this long ago. Besides if it wasn't Starmer doing all this it would be someone else.

      2. The last French try came after a blatant forward pass. (But I admit it was nothing like as blatant as Dupont's forward pass in the French game against Wales last week.)

  101. Evening, all. Just back from a very long meeting in North Wales. As soon as I saw the agenda I abandoned all hope of getting to Wolverhampton to see my horse run in the 4.40! He finished third anyway.

    Nobody seems to have tried eliminating islam. Maybe that would bring about success.

  106. Southport father: I can no longer tell my daughter ‘I won’t let anything happen to you’
    Parents of murdered girls speak for first time since horrific killings in July
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/08/southport-father-no-longer-tell-my-daughter-be-safe/

    BTL

    What is hate crime?

    The Labour government clearly hates those who object to little girls being raped or murdered.

    Indeed Starmer and his plods think that those who object to little girls being raped or murdered are guilty of hate crime

  107. Call himself a man, attacking an 11-year-old girl? I'd not even waste time & effort pissing on him if he were on fire, the low-life scum.

    1. I see the hostage release story. Emaciated Jews released from a prison, starved and imprisoned for being Jews. The realisation will still not occur to many on the Left.

  109. Andrée ‘Nadine’ Dumon, Comet line heroine who rescued Allied airmen but was betrayed to the Nazis
    Under the chilling ‘Night and Fog’ (better known as Nacht und Nebel) decree she was beaten and spirited away to concentration camps including Ravensbrück and Mauthausen
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/02/07/andre-nadine-dumont-comet-line-nazis-french-resistance/
    Andrée “Nadine” Dumon, codename “Nadine”, who has died aged 102, was a Belgian courier on the Comet Escape Line, who helped save the lives of dozens of Allied airmen, taking evaders through checkpoints and to the South West of France before they were escorted across the Pyrenees…

    Respect. Where are the ladies and men of this level of integrity and fortitude now that we need them.
    Rest in Peace, Andree. You did much more than your fair share to better the existence of humanity.

    1. It was 2022, high in the Pyrnennes, the best accordion player in Spain, probably Europe, played God save the King around a memorial to the Comet Line. I have done worse things in my life.

  110. Trump cuts aid to South Africa over ‘racial discrimination’ against Afrikaners
    US president also offers asylum to Afrikaners and criticises law that allows land seizures without compensation in some circumstances.

    The US president, Donald Trump, has signed an executive order to cut financial assistance to South Africa, accusing the country’s government of “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners and offering them asylum in the US.

    The order criticised a law signed by the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, last month that allows for land to be expropriated with “nil compensation” in limited circumstances.

    South Africa was ruled by white Afrikaner leaders during apartheid, which violently repressed the country’s black majority, including forcing them to live in segregated townships and rural “homelands”. Afrikaners are descended mainly from the Dutch, who began colonising South Africa in 1652, as well as French Huguenot refugees sponsored by the Dutch.

    More than three decades after white minority rule ended, South Africa remains hugely unequal, with land and wealth still largely concentrated among white people, who make up 7% of the population, about half native Afrikaans speakers, while black people are 81%.

    However, some white South Africans claim they are discriminated against, often citing the country’s affirmative action laws.

    Trump’s executive order, signed on Friday, said there were “countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fuelling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners”.

    It added: “In addition, South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the international court of justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”

    Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire leading Trump’s efforts to slash the size of US government, including foreign aid spending, has criticised South Africa on his social media platform, X, for what he claimed were “openly racist policies”.

    South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement that there seemed to be a “campaign of misinformation and propaganda”.

    “It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship,” it said. “We reiterate that South Africa remains committed to finding diplomatic solutions to any misunderstandings or disputes.”

    Conservative Afrikaner pressure groups said they were concerned about US aid to South Africa being cut and that South Africa would be excluded from the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

    The act is US legislation that needs to be renewed by the US Congress this year, which allows South African exporters, including farmers, to sell thousands of products to the US tariff-free.

    “This is indeed a crisis,” said Kallie Kriel, the CEO of Afriforum, which describes itself as a civil rights group for Afrikaners, but has been accused of racism. “If somebody is to blame it is the president and senior ANC [African National Congress party] leaders.”

    “We want to also show appreciation to President Trump … for recognising and identifying the discrimination that Afrikaners are experiencing through racial legislation … through threats to property rights,” Kriel told a press conference, adding: “We became a people here, we are Indigenous people in this country and we are going nowhere.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/08/trump-cuts-aid-to-south-africa-over-racial-discrimination-against-afrikaners

    1. "some white South Africans claim they are discriminated against,"

      I guess the dead ones can't claim they are discriminated against, so there's nothing to see here.

  112. After a late-ish visit from our number two son his lovely wife and two grandchildren and a takeaway curry. I'm ready to turn in. Their elder child, son is 5 tomorrow, but they seem so much older than that. His cousin a girl is also five on Tuesday. Party time 😁🤩🥰
    And goodnight all 😴

  114. Being a first time grandparent is lovely. Ruby is 11 weeks and 2 days old. It's amazing seeing the changes (we see her basically once a week) in her growth and person to person contact. I was never sure I wanted grandkids, but now I have one it gives me more motivation to do my best to make the world a better place. My activism to shift our current system is going to be stepped up a bit.

    1. Ruby, that is a pretty name , and babies grow up so quickly, don't they.

      I don't have any grandchildren , my sons are single , and wedded to their hobbies!

      1. Moh was always wanting a grandchild but I was always unsure. She's now something more to worry about. She has captured both our hearts. You never know, Maggie, your son who runs may yet meet the right lady.

        1. Between you and I, MM, decades ago there was a rumour that there was a grand daughter in Iceland ( the country) of all places … A short relationship .. then a sad regret and farewell .. Modern women have it their own way these days .. I saw a photo years and years ago , and the child looked just like me when I was three .. , and I wish son had kept the photo , I guess he was badly hurt .

          1. So you might be a grandma right now. I had suspicions when I left Geneva and first wife when she asked me to return to see if we could try again. Went back in 1977 for one fruitless night before leaving for good. Not much money back then and I remember on my journey back to England having to haggle near the Gard Du Nord at a ghastly cafe for a bed for the night as opposed to sleeping rough on a station bench.

      2. I am 79 in July and Caroline will be is 63 in March and we are still not grandparents.

        Christo (31) and Katy (33) have been married for 2½ years and still no children and Henry (29) and Jess (30) plan to marry when they decide to have children but they are too busy with their careers for the time being.

        1. I know a lady whose child has an unusual Christian name.
          She explained that her siblings had produced plenty of babies but none had cared to recycle their own mother's moniker.
          In desperation the grandmother had offered a cash incentive to the first of her offspring to name a granddaughter in her honour, and my friend happily obliged.

    3. Not a chance I'm likely to have with my lot I'm afraid, but a happy time for you all.

    4. Enjoy all the lovely cuddles for as long as you can. We found our grandson to be more cuddly than our two granddaughters. That was until he wa approaching 11 when he became a trainee teenager overnight.
      They’re all I. Their 20’s now, eldest granddaughter has her degree and is going travelling with her boyfriend later this month. Australia first where the have a work visa then New Zealand we think. Grandson is on the home run, in his fourth year, doing a Masters in Pharmacy and younger granddaughter on a placement year before returning to university in September to complete her 3rd year of Psychology.
      They all give us great pleasure.

Comments are closed.