Sunday 1 December: What would the founder of the hospice movement make of the assisted dying Bill?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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716 thoughts on “Sunday 1 December: What would the founder of the hospice movement make of the assisted dying Bill?”

    2. Absolutely disgusting. Real Nazi-ism with a government run by tyrants and despots and a cowardly police force that is to frightened to refuse to carry out the Führer orders. It isn't the Russians that I am worried about, it's the Stalinist UK politicians and their backroom controllers that really worry me.

  3. The idea is to cut down Government's expenditure on Hospices by encouraging ill people to depart promptly.

  5. おはようございます! Geoff and everybody
    Ohayōgozaimasu – (I do have a Japanese Daughter-in-Law)
    Today's Tale – The Onion Peeler
    I’ve got to change jobs,” the patient said to his psychiatrist. “I’ve worked in a pickled onion factory for ten years, and last week I started to get this uncontrollable urge to put my dick in the onion peeler.”
    The psychiatrist explained about workplace stress and told him he must learn to relax.
    But a week later, the patient was back.
    “I don’t think I can control myself much longer,” he said. “The urge is getting greater. I’m going to put my dick in the onion peeler any day now."
    The psychiatrist prescribed Valium.
    A month later, the patient was back on the psychiatrist’s couch.
    “I’ve lost my job,” he said. “I finally stuck my dick into the onion peeler.”
    “My God!” said the psychiatrist. “What happened then?" “I got fired. And Betty, the onion peeler, got fired too.”

  6. おはようございます! Geoff and everybody
    Ohayōgozaimasu – (I do have a Japanese Daughter-in-Law)
    Today's Tale – The Onion Peeler
    I’ve got to change jobs,” the patient said to his psychiatrist. “I’ve worked in a pickled onion factory for ten years, and last week I started to get this uncontrollable urge to put my dick in the onion peeler.”
    The psychiatrist explained about workplace stress and told him he must learn to relax.
    But a week later, the patient was back.
    “I don’t think I can control myself much longer,” he said. “The urge is getting greater. I’m going to put my dick in the onion peeler any day now."
    The psychiatrist prescribed Valium.
    A month later, the patient was back on the psychiatrist’s couch.
    “I’ve lost my job,” he said. “I finally stuck my dick into the onion peeler.”
    “My God!” said the psychiatrist. “What happened then?" “I got fired. And Betty, the onion peeler, got fired too.”

  7. Why are we surprised??

    .

    In a move that could save them millions, the family of a Labour MP transferred their farmland just 20 days before Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced changes to inheritance tax for farmers.

    The transfer was carried out by the parents of Henry Tuffnell, the newly-elected 32-year-old MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire.

    Mark and Jane Tuffnell own the Calmsden estate in the Cotswolds, which holds 2,200 acres of land – but now some of the land has been
    transferred to a close family member, the Daily Mail reports.

      2. More to the point, what is a socialist doing owning a 2,200 acre estate? Come the revolution…oh…

        1. Hugh, talking about Socialism:

          .

          Campaigning organisation Net Zero Watch has demanded a Parliamentary inquiry into conflicts of interest in Westminster. The call comes after it was revealed that the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has a brother who is CEO of Good Energy, a major operator in the renewables sector.[i]

          The DESNZ register of interest states that “appropriate mitigations” have been put in place, and that Mr Pocklington has agreed not to have direct contacts with Good Energy. But this has been dismissed by Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford:

          The insinuation that Mr Pocklington no longer speaks to his brother is preposterous. The public needs confidence that decisions are being made in their interests and not those of the family members of civil servants.

          Mr Montford also said:

          I have tried and failed to get Mr Pocklington to tell ministers the truth about the cost of Net Zero.[ii] Indeed, somewhat mysteriously, he seems determined to avoid the subject altogether. Many will conclude that the explanation lies in his conflict of interest.

          The revelation about Mr Pocklington comes just days after it was revealed that Baroness Brown, the chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, oversaw the writing of a report that called for immediate support for hydrogen energy storage, despite being the director of a hydrogen company and of a windfarm company,[iii] both of which will reap huge benefits from subsidies. Indeed, the Secretary of State recently announced – apparently in response to the House of Lords report – astonishing levels of subsidy for new hydrogen projects.[iv]

          In addition, David Miliband, the brother of the Secretary of State, is involved with a company that invests in gridscale batteries in the UK, a sector that will expect to see huge growth under the Government’s ambitious plans for the energy sector.[v]

          Director Andrew Montford said:

          This has been going on for at least ten years, right back to the repeated revelations about Lord Deben’s conflicting interests during his time at the Climate Change Committee.[vi] The rule in Westminster and Whitehall for Net Zero people appears to be that it is perfectly acceptable to have a conflict of interest, so long as it is declared, and if it isn’t, or if there are undeclared payments, a blind eye is turned anyway. It’s shocking.

          3. Oh, I don't know; I don't speak to my brother since he hasn't spoken to me for about 20 years.

          4. I've changed aisles in the supermarket to avoid my older brother. Spoke to him once at a family conference to decide the fate of Mother's house only because I had to.
            My other brother and I are very close.

          5. Ah good, another follower of Net Zero Watch I see. Spread the word, Janet, Andrew Montford is one of the good guys who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is without going over the top. Unlike Minibrain and all the other simpletons captured by the greenie mob he deals in facts…

      3. More to the point, what is a socialist doing owning a 2,200 acre estate? Come the revolution…oh…

      1. What's the bet that the DPP would decide that there is insufficient evidence to mount a trial.

    3. Isn't this a sort of insider trading which politicians, and especially left wing politicians, deem to be illegal.

      This should be blazoned in all the MSM headlines and serious investigation should be made.

      It probably will not lead to the fall of the government but it damn well should.

  8. Why are we surprised??

    .

    In a move that could save them millions, the family of a Labour MP transferred their farmland just 20 days before Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced changes to inheritance tax for farmers.

    The transfer was carried out by the parents of Henry Tuffnell, the newly-elected 32-year-old MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire.

    Mark and Jane Tuffnell own the Calmsden estate in the Cotswolds, which holds 2,200 acres of land – but now some of the land has been
    transferred to a close family member, the Daily Mail reports.

  10. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff. A pinch and a punch, and white rabbits – it's a new month – the final one of the year.l

    Wordle 1,261 5/6

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    1. Good morning Elsie
      I only got it because I ran out of options – can't imagine what your third wrong attempt was! (don't tell me!)
      Wordle 1,261 5/6

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    1. Yes, I noticed that his cartoons have become more pointed and political over this last week. Good for him.

      1. Time Magazine has its Person of The Year award.

        Maybe the Nottlers' Forum should choose its own Person of The Year.

        I would nominate Matt for 2024.

        Any other suggestions?

    2. Yes, I noticed that his cartoons have become more pointed and political over this last week. Good for him.

    3. 'King useless fits the bill.
      As its winter and they have stolen our fuel allowances. Fur king useless.

  13. 397842+up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    In ALL probability see it for what it will become due to criminal abuse travelling the road to RESET as in, in short
    a political / pharmaceutical orchestrated short cut to death, another facet of culling.

    Thin end of another wedge already in place and activated,the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment.

    Sunday 1 December: What would the founder of the hospice movement make of the assisted dying Bill?

      2. 397870+ up ticks,

        I agree it does look suspicious on account The TOOL and the truth are complete strangers.

  16. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sunrise in a cloudy sky lit the whole place up in pink and purple, which showed up well with a snowy background. Lovely! Warmed up to -1C.

    3. I can get you some fresh Westminster Turds. They are produced daily in vast quantities, but the general public don't care for them. You and Grizzly, being the resident Gourmands, could compare notes and share them with your politician friends, You would be doing the UK public a great service.

  18. The joys of climate change

    You have chosen Generali to insure yourself and we thank you for your trust.
    As an insurer, we would like to inform you that by decision of the State , the Natural Disaster contribution increases for home , professional and automobile insurance from January 1, 2025. This decision, which applies to all insurers, is legitimized by the intensity of natural disasters and the desire to safeguard the national solidarity regime.

    The rate of the Natural Disaster contribution provided for by the insurance code increases from:
    12 to 20% on residential and professional property damage insurance contracts
    from 6 to 9% for automobile contracts

  19. Good morning all.
    A bit of a damp night, it was raining when I got up in the small hours to pump bilges, but it appears to have paused now and the Yard Thermometer was showing 6½°C as I was doing the DT's tea & cereal.
    It's very overcast and struggling to get light and to say that the damp air seems to be hanging over the morning like a wet blanket would be an understatement.

  20. Good moaning all from ACWCDS

    (A cold wet Costa del Skeg)

    as the year goes on, it saves typing time to abbreviate!

    1. Late 70s I remember seeing a sign and a bin saying you are crossing the border put your apples in here. Between SA and Victoria.
      Meanwhile cane toads, wild pigs, foxes, rabbits, camels, goats wild horses types of fresh water fish and strange plants and many people roam free.

    2. Good morning, I regularly peruse the JoNova blog and it is astounding how low Australia has fallen. We may have Millibean Minor, acting like a wilful child, continuing the Nett Zero lunacy he and his brother began with the Climate Change Act 2008, but Australia didn't have the benefit of a 14 year hiatus in their dive to the bottom. (Albeit that Saggy May did gold plate some of the Nett Zero targets)

      It's worth a look, if only to see how far along the #ClimateScam they have travelled.

    3. I visited my favourite French bar last night and there were four or more children, as young as two years old, sat on some cosy furniture in the corner all playing with hand-held electronic games. They were still at it a 9.30 pm when I went to another bar, No fuss no noise. The next place had a mother and young child, probably about six or seven years old, dancing in the centre of the bar, Occasionally the little girl was accompanied by a young man then an overweight chappy (more than a little bourré) in wooden clogs dancing like an elephant. Very entertaining.

      1. When Firstborn was about 4 months old, we took him pubbing. He lay quietly in his baby-bucket (cross between a seat & a baby bed) under the table and was absolutely no problem at all – no noise, no smells. We repeated the process for Second Son – and neither have ever been a problem to take out to eateries or pubs, even as small children. Little children get bored easily, so we'd provide something to do – pencil & paper, and to draw Daddy's wine, or similar. Kept them busy until food arrived, then they were busy eating. No fuss… and it means you can go out when away from the support network, and they learn behaviour.

  22. Some news, but too late to help the farmers

    In a recent tweet, MP Rupert Lowe said: ‘I’ve been digging around. How much PPE (personal protective equipment), paid for by the taxpayer, has been destroyed? 1,049,700 pallets, which cost us £8.644 billion… so grim.’

    Grim indeed, Mr Lowe. The Government's recent budget was predicated on the need to fill a ‘£22 billion black hole’. It’s a shame such hard-nosed fiscal prudence was not on display during the Covid saga, when the then 'opposition' were egging on the obscene squandering of resources. But how were unaccountable civil servants and posturing politicians able to pour billions of pounds of our cash down the PPE drain: sharp practice, wilful incompetence, or both?

    That's the topic of the new article from Smile Free's Paul Stevens: The billions upon billions wasted on useless face masks.

    While the financial cost has been dreadful enough, the human cost has been unquantifiable. That's what our upcoming short film, Masking Humanity, sheds light on. In particular, it focuses on the health and social care sectors, where many of our most vulnerable people were plunged into a faceless dystopia they sadly wouldn't live to escape. Dr Gary Sidley's latest article for Smile Free touches on this too:

    The Curse of Masks in Health and Social Care: Testimony From the Scottish Covid Inquiry

    2. Much PPE has a use-by date, so I guess they over-ordered and it went beyond it's use-by date, so had to be scrapped.

    3. The government still hasn't noticed the black hole, even on seemingly, three black Friday's, caused by the growing 8 million pounds each day paid for keeping illegal invaders comfortable, fed and warm.

  23. Доброе утро, товарищи,

    Driech again at Tighe-McPhee, wind in the South, 11-12℃ all day.

    Ivor Cummins sat down with Prof.Ian Plimer recently and produced this throat-ripping destruction of the Great Climate Scam. Everyone is free to download and disseminate it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy91F7aJAkQ

    4. A refreshing dose of facts and common sense. Trouble is, most of the 8,000,000,000 + people on the planet will continue to ignore this and carry on with the manufactured rhetoric of their totalitarian controllers.

      " ‘Belief’ is a word you use in politics and religion. In science, your conclusion is married to evidence — contrary or new evidence — and your conclusion. You debate around the evidence and there is no such thing as settled science."

      How many people — even in this day and age — fully understand and assimilate that common sense and still perpetuate their voodoo 'belief' systems while burying their heads in the sand against reality?

  24. Highly relevant to the headline today, Free Speech has a highly moving article by Jacqui Derriman (JD) , a very brave woman who has nursed two dying husbands, the first shortly after her wedding.

    I understand that it is the first time she's been able to write about her experience, and it really does come straight from the heart. It is a compelling read, and Jacqui really does deserve all our support, so please, please read it and let her know by leaving a comment.

    The poll under Frederica's call to sign The Pledge is still open, with currently 54% having signed up. If you haven't voted you can find the poll here .

    At 0800 this morning the Petition calling for an election had attracted 2,926,079 up about 15,000 in 24 hours. if you support the petition, please give a spur by sending this link to your friends and family.

    Energy Watch: Demand at 0800: 28.51 GW. Supply: Hydrocarbon = 17.1%; Renewables = 60%; Nuclear = 8.4%; Biomass = 3.6% and Imports 8.1%.

    And if you want a lesson in shameless hypocrisy, watch this

      1. If my memeory serves, it was.

        The sheer effrontery and contempt for the British people is astonishing.

      2. Is he wearing one of Alli's new suits? Looks smarter than the old ones. And has he decided to ditch the spectacles and use contact lenses instead?

    3. With regard to Starmer's speech – I can only conclude that the entire army has now been imported, so they don't need any more.
      I've always thought that when they had enough people for whatever it is they want them for, a solution would mysteriously be found and the Prime Minister of the day would rush to claim credit for "stopping the boats."

      1. Yes, my thoughts exactly, but but I still have ne real expectation that mass immigration will stop. I didn’t hear any concrete proposals in it.

      2. I wonder why they did not insist on putting them in barracks? After all barracks are well equipped for training soldiers

      3. I wonder why they did not insist on putting them in barracks? After all barracks are well equipped for training soldiers

    1. Cannot Smithfield or Billingsgate be be regarded as cultural icons .. the same status as Trafalgar square , Piccadilly circus , Globe theatre.

      I reckon the doings of the dreadful Mayor Khan should be regarded as suspicious ..

      Space for a huge Mosque or Temple?

      1. I believe Smithfield and Billingsgate are within the CITY of London and thus not part of Khan's fiefdom.

    2. It's a well-written article by an author with a gift for language, imagery and phraseology.

    1. The hospitals delay handover for as long as possible tying up the ambulance so they can't go off and collect more ill people thus putting the hospital under more pressure.

      1. Yes, at Derriford in Plymouth the ambulance crews often have to re-join their ambulance that have been waiting from their previous with the same patient onboard.

      2. The longest I have waited in A&E so far, was 14 hours around 18 months ago. BP Over 220.
        I had to go to the office and remind the nurses i was there. I feel for them the pressure they are under is enormous.
        And especially when people think they are entitled to rapid treatment with scratches or a sprained ankle.
        Or their children who are given priority, have been sick once.

        1. We've never had to call an ambulance but the time I took OH in for urinary retention we were seen and dealt with in 20 minutes.

          1. I guess it might depend on where the hospital is. And the age of the local population. Our nearest use to be straight in, sit down and be seen within 30 minutes. It’s ridiculous now.

          2. One of my friends had to wait 8 hours for an ambulance when he fell off a ladder and punctured his lung. He nearly died.

    3. Good morning OLT,

      They don't mind that we don't matter.

      It is often said that "First do no harm" (Latin: Primum non nocere) is a part of the original Hippocratic oath.

  29. Late on parade – Sleeping. Good morrow gentlefolk, especially Geoff and thanks for his wonderful work on this site

  30. Morning all 🙂😊
    Double figured start again, more rain later.
    But the threat of more snow always seems to be in the background. Not with South westerly winds.
    I wonder after the successful vote by the idiots on 'assisted dying' will the same thing happen again that's been happening for at least a decade with other important operations. You get in the never-ending queue and then be fobbed off because they can't really be bothered.

    1. How do you cope? I’m growing depressed now. Just five days to wait for the echocardiogram but I wake up each morning and cry. Just existing has become hard work.

      1. Oh, Sue!
        Don't be down like that! Where's the battling lady we all know and love? How about "Bring it on! I can take it!"
        In case you need a top-up, I'm also sending a whole barrel of hugs (they drive on the other side, being from Norway!)

      3. Reaction to medication?
        You can usually get good prices on a last minute holiday in the sun in the run up to Christmas. How about treating yourself?

          1. It does sound like depression – have you ever had it before? Do mention it as a symptom on your next visit, won't you!

      4. Hello Sue ,

        Whether we are feeling achy , delicate or forgotten about , try to focus on something positive .

        Have you stopped going out , for fear of another AF episode ?

      6. Here's a funny one.
        Some years ago I had an ECG at St Albans hospital. The lady who carried out the procedure had a small private area off the waiting room. When I went in I could hear music playing she probably had it on to take her mind off the boredom of her days work.
        As I lay there keeping still, I heard a familiar song on her radio.
        Rod Stewart and This Old Heart of Mine. She laughed when I pointed it out to her.

      10. As Rastus and Bob say Sue. You are still in our thoughts and prayers and if we were there we would all be giving you a big hug and doing our best to cheer you up. Anticipation, the anxiety that waiting creates can stress you out and cause depression. Hang in there and with each moment that passes the day for the echocardiogram is getting closer and closer. And, for some peace, listen to classical music, especially largos. That may sound crazy but largos have a calming effect, like meditation, seriously. It's to do with the pace of the music imitating the pace of the heart at rest.

      12. Huge hugs, Sue. x

        What Jonathan said about listening to largos is true – our hearts synchronise with the music we listen to. Good luck.

        1. Gosh, you’re right. Dear old Handel. Xerxes was a bit of a louse but Ombra mai fu is very soothing.

  32. Liam Halligan
    Britain has a choice: amend the electric car mandate or let the industry go bust

    The UK’s net zero policies are now costing serious jobs – and threatening entire regional economies

    Liam Halligan 01 December 2024 7:00am GMT

    Vauxhall Motors last week announced the closure of its Luton van-making factory, which employs 1,100 people directly and many, many more across local and national supply chains.

    The news shocked Luton, once a major hub of the UK’s automotive industry. Vauxhall has operated in this Bedfordshire town for almost 120 years.

    This is just the latest disturbing industrial closure driven in large part by the overzealous net zero policies of successive UK governments. Unless mainstream politicians are careful, this relentless pursuit of environmental goals will seriously alienate millions of voters across our industrial heartlands – in fact, it already has.

    I’ve spent years arguing for a gradual shift away from fossil fuels. Everyone wants a cleaner planet for their kids whether they live in Luton or elsewhere.

    But that transition must happen at a pace that is economically, technologically and politically realistic. The UK’s net zero policies fulfil none of those criteria – which is why they are now being widely castigated.

    The decision to close Luton was taken by Stellantis – the world’s fourth-largest auto-making conglomerate, comprising European and US brands including Chrysler, Fiat and Peugeot, as well as Vauxhall.

    Carlos Tavares, Stellantis chief executive, said earlier this year that the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate was making carmaking in the UK economically unviable – which is obvious, to anyone who has been paying attention.Carlos Tavares, Stellantis chief executive, said earlier this year that the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate was making carmaking in the UK economically unviable – which is obvious, to anyone who has been paying attention.

    h of our political and media class, protecting their eco-credentials and averse to awkward details, have waved away the warnings. But Britain’s net zero policies, not least ZEV, are now imposing existential damage on parts of the country least able to withstand major economic shocks.

    From 2035, the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is to be banned, with second-hand sales remaining legal. That’s the law in the UK and across the European Union.

    Labour’s manifesto pledged to bring that ban forward to 2030, which is where it was under the Tories until Rishi Sunak moved the target back to 2035, in line with the EU. But Sunak only moved the headline date back five years, with the underlying “transition” period remaining the same.

    The result is that, since January, UK-based carmakers have faced extremely stiff fines if 22pc of the cars they sell in Britain aren’t fully electric – having to shell out an astonishing £15,000 for every vehicle by which they fall short.

    The target ratchets up to 28pc next year, incrementally rising to 80pc by 2030 (or 70pc for vans) – even if the complete ban remains at 2035.

    But consumers aren’t buying it. Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) remain low for all kinds of reasons, including a still-poor charging network, concerns about battery performance and related “range anxiety”. New EV sales are far lower than official forecasts, having stalled at less than a fifth since 2022 despite carmakers offering deep discounts and ongoing tax breaks for company-bought EVs.

    Between January and October, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new EV sales pointed to demand of 363,000 during 2024, just 18.7pc of the market. This compares to official forecasts of 457,000 sales, an estimated 23.1pc market share, when the ZEV rules were announced in late 2023.

    With hefty fines looming, manufacturers have been “rationing” new petrol and diesel cars, trying to hit the 22pc of market-share EV target despite low EV sales. Prices of conventional vehicles have soared as a result – adding to the UK’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

    SMMT last week said UK car manufacturers have absorbed £4bn of EV discounts, but still face £1.8bn in fines – a “compliance bill” of almost £6bn this year alone. These are simply ruinous sums for the UK-based car industry, while still employing around a million people, often providing well-paid jobs in parts of the country – like Luton – where well-paid jobs are scarce.

    It’s not widely known – because green-grandstanding politicians never mention it – that the UK’s transition to 2035 is particularly punitive. The EU has the same deadline, but looser targets, based on CO2 emissions rather than EV sales percentages, that ramp up more slowly.

    So while Europe’s car industry as a whole is suffering from low EV take-up, the UK-based part is suffering a whole lot more – all in the name of “global environmental leadership”. Britain is uniquely vulnerable – these idiotic policies will soon hand vast swathes of our car market to massively subsidised EVs made in China, which already account for around 60pc of global production.

    What with the closure of Port Talbot steelworks and the Labour’s ban on new drilling in the North Sea, net zero policies are now seriously riling the UK’s trade unions.

    Gary Brown, head of the GMB, the UK’s third-largest union, says Labour’s green policies are “hollowing out working-class communities”. No wonder Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is now “listening” and has pledged to “consult” on these ZEV rules.

    “It’s good the Government now recognises policy and reality have been moving in opposite directions,” says Robert Forester, co-founder of car retailing giant Vertu Motors, often a lone voice across a subsidy-hungry car industry reluctant to question net-zero.

    “We need a plan driven by the market, not by government diktat, changing the percentage targets to slow the transition to 2035”.

    But powerful vested interests and party donors – including the EV charging industry and its financial backers, along with power companies producing the most expensive electricity in the developed world – are pushing Labour to hold their nerve.

    Britain’s net zero policies – particularly those relating to EVs – are a fiasco, now costing serious jobs and threatening entire regional economies. This is what happens when politicians think they know best – putting vanity and ideology above economic and commercial logic.

    1. "Britain’s net zero policies – particularly those relating to EVs – are a fiasco, now costing serious jobs and threatening entire regional economies".

      It really is way past time that journos such as Liam Halligan woke up. If that is the likely outcome of these policies then THAT IS THE INTENTION OF THEM!

      1. Agreed. I'm fed up with the media and Conservative politicians politely pretending that it's all happening by chance, nobody could have foreseen this, ministers are just stupid etc.

    2. "Britain’s net zero policies – particularly those relating to EVs – are a fiasco, now costing serious jobs and threatening entire regional economies".

      It really is way past time that journos such as Liam Halligan woke up. If that is the likely outcome of these policies then THAT IS THE INTENTION OF THEM!

    4. "Vauxhall Motors last week announced the closure of its Luton van-making factory" – are they all Luton vans, or do they also make vans without the luton?

    5. Of course Luton's great hero is Tommy Robinson.

      The politicians have helped destroy Vauxhall Motors out of sheer spite towards the town.

    6. Of course Luton's great hero is Tommy Robinson.

      The politicians have helped destroyed Vauxhall Motors out of sheer spite towards the town.

    7. “Everyone wants a cleaner planet for their kids whether they live in Luton or elsewhere.”

      Do they? Really? Everyone?

  35. Ant McPartlin, 49, condemned over 'inappropriate' virginity jibes to female I'm A Celeb producers
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14144291/Ant-McPartlin-virginity-jokes-jungle-producers-Im-celebrity-declan-donnelly.html

    I do not watch Gregg Wallace; I do not watch Big Brother.

    If Gregg Wallace can no longer appear on the television screens I do hope they sack 'Ant and Dec' too. They are free of all charm. talent and humour. I have never been able to understand their popularity.

    1. I have never watched Ant and Dec, and I live in England. Please don't tell me that they're big in France!

      1. I have never seen them on French television and as soon as I see them on any FreeSat English programme I change to another channel.

    2. We did watch a series of Masterchef last winter but on the whole we never watch these 'entertainment ' shows. OH is tied up with watching snooker these days.

    3. Who is this Gregg Wallace person? Is it a hate crime to say he means absolutely nothing to me?

      1. Gregg Wallace is an irritating celeb type .. now thrown to the wolves .

        My opinion of him is that he presented himself as a macho male , attention seeker, ghastly laugh , over familiar loud lewd cheeky chappy .

        No different to the sort of characters the BBC promote on that appalling soap called Eastenders , which I DO NOT WATCH, but have seen enough trailers to make up my own opinion of it ..

        He is no different to the bawdy characters we see on some of the reruns of the Carry on series , and of course the other lewd films that promote semi naked men prancing around exposing their bums , blah blah , if you get my drift ..

        Here we have a new government , with a deputy prime minister ( female ) who reputedly spread her legs slightly on the front row in Parliament when her party were in opposition, she used her bawdy looking body to distract the then PM , Boris Johnson from the serious task of delivering speeches .

        I don't feel sorry for Gregg Wallace .. but he could have been drawn to one side and advised his behaviour was not acceptable.

        1. My post of course was tongue in cheek. I am fortunate that my mother was a professional cook, and her mother, Yorkshire, was also a very good cook. I find most of these television so called cooking shows rather, if not very, trite, they cater for an audience who do not have the capability or intellect to cook by themselves, but that is more likely due to the environment we find ourselves in. I rather like being a crusty!

          1. I enjoy Masterchef professionals/amateurs. Also The great British menu. Where the amateurs are concerned i like to see how they progress through the competition.

            I can cook. I sometimes get ideas hints and tips from these programs.

            I also like Greg Wallace.

            Each to their own.

          2. I enjoy Masterchef professionals/amateurs. Also The great British menu. Where the amateurs are concerned i like to see how they progress through the competition.

            I can cook. I sometimes get ideas hints and tips from these programs.

            I also like Greg Wallace.

            Each to their own.

      2. The great thing about hate crime is it encompasses absolutely everything.

        So yes, you are guilty of it!

  36. Assisted Death is not related to ending human life, it is about the forced death of Great Britain by the politicians of all parties through economic suicide, underpinned by Net Zero.

        1. I wonder if that lovely old song will ever be heard again.
          "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"…..
          Old Bing will be turning in his grave.

  38. Only just…

    Wordle 1,261 6/6

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

    1. Me too after every wrong guess possible!

      Wordle 1,261 6/6

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

  41. Morning all. Gloomy, cold day here. But thus it goes. Peace to all on this Sunday.

    Meyer Tousi on a huge rant after being threatened with arrest. Apparently he must report to a police station tomorrow, Monday. He compares what is going on in England to what happened in Iran with the advent of the Mullahs. It's an interesting comparison which has more than a little truth in it as the threat of Islam advances in our society.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eglhU7n3sw8

  42. Having read that there will be inordinate delays should the benighted Assisted Death Bill become law – I imagine we'll be reading headlines such as this:

    "Applicant dies while waiting for judge to approve his death request"

      1. Remember Hilaire Belloc's Henry King's doctors!

        The Chief Defect of Henry King
        Was chewing little bits of String.
        At last he swallowed some which tied
        Itself in ugly Knots inside.

        Physicians of the Utmost Fame
        Were called at once; but when they came
        They answered, as they took their Fees,
        "There is no Cure for this Disease.

        "Henry will very soon be dead.''
        His Parents stood about his Bed
        Lamenting his Untimely Death,
        When Henry, with his Latest Breath,

        Cried, "Oh, my Friends, be warned by me,
        That Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, and Tea
        Are all the Human Frame requires…''
        With that, the Wretched Child expires.

    1. I loathe Greg Wallace, but as the complainants include Thirsty Work [who appeared on a show hosted by him in 2011 but apparently wasn't moved to comment until now] I do wonder how much of this is "MeToo"ism?

      2. I agree! I can’t stand the baldy barrow boy, but just shut up and stop making the whole thing worse! Kirsty Wark is a horror show!

    2. Given the antics and behaviour described i wonder how Nottler ladies would have handled him. I doubt they would have been running for their safe spaces. Put him in his place i suspect.

      It sounds like the high jinx stuff you get at rugby clubs.

      2. In the course of my life, I have dealt with such types.
        No off switch.
        You either avoid or confront.
        I do just wonder if he said – or implied – to those who didn't respond, variations on "don't you know who I am?"

    4. Until a few days ago, I had never heard of Greg Wallace. There's no virtue in ignorance, but I don't understand why the MSM, including the Terriblegraph, are giving the story so much time ans space.

  45. Britain ‘was warned of Russian meddling in Chagos deal’. 1 December 2024.

    Britain was warned of Russian attempts to encourage Mauritian claims to the Chagos Islands, The Telegraph can reveal.

    Government officials and ministers were told President Vladimir Putin’s officials attempted to stir up support among Mauritian politicians for a claim over the Chagos Islands as a way of undermining British interests, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

    “Russia is doing more than supporting Mauritius – they are actively promoting the case for Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Islands”, a former Whitehall source said.

    This deal is backfiring in their face so it’s the Russians. Lol.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/11/30/britain-warned-russian-meddling-chagos-deal/

    1. As humorous as that is…

      "Government officials and ministers"

      Given their recent track record I think it's about time that people began wising up to these people. They seem to have no more propensity for telling the truth than any other state actors these days.

    2. BTL Comment:-

      So, the deal is running into problems and IT'S THE RUSHANS!!!!!
      Has to be them of course as it would never be our own incompetent excuse for a Government.

    3. It really is pathetic that the West is still stuck in the era of 'Reds under the bed. Russia, now a days, is a country passionately capitalist with less government interference in peoples affairs than the government in England, which seems to be racing helter skelter into stagnant socialism with a psychopath ruling the roost.

      1. I get what you are aiming at, but I would disagree that the form of capitalism seen in Russia is in anyway desirable.

        1. Depends how one identifies capitalism, A A – my husband has visited quite a few times (installing varioius software) – his experience is that Moscow is a clean and vibrant capital with all the facilities one could need – no urban scrawl/litter/graffiti, and Moscovites are invariably polite and law abiding, and eager to learn. Have you visited Russia? What's your experience, please?

          1. There’s a rather a simple but very good book called “A Very Short Introduction to Capitalism”. The first few chapters in there set out the idea of different types of capitalism (although I rather dislike the term). There is also the notion of how different cultures can effect a market. Those factors are at play in my assessment.

            As for visiting Russia. Sadly no. Seems a vast and fascinating place.

          2. Thanks A A. In my Amazon basket now, looks to be a ‘Short Introduction’ series to almost anything. I suspect the Russian variation may work slightly differently to the American/European version…eg stock trading (I’ve done that myself, very interesting but scared my family although I made a profit..another story for another day). Quite something when we think Putin has (apparently) successfully combined Communism with Capitalism, and made a success of it. But then, to have survived this length of time let alone successfully he must have a close circle, and eyes and ears everywhere. I haven’t visited, I’m the worst traveller ever – I can easily get car sick in a 30 minute drive unless I’m the one driving, never happens in that situation. Husband travelled to many countries with his work, Russia his favourite and would go again. He follows online a Canadian family who’ve emigrated there, they love it. Maybe you’ll get there one day, too…Kate x

    5. He's a busy chap, isn't he…bit like Macavity the Cat, everything that goes wrong/whatever is his fault. Is he actually still alive, has anyone seen him lately…we should be told, shurely shome mishtake….

      1. Vladimir, Vladimir,
        There's no-one quite like Vladimir.
        A despot who's quite cavalier
        And generates an atmosphere.
        You may seek him in Mauritius,
        You may hope he will appear.
        But you can search and search again
        Vladimir is not here.

      2. Vladimir, Vladimir,
        There's no-one quite like Vladimir.
        A despot who's quite cavalier
        And generates an atmosphere.
        You may seek him in Mauritius,
        You may hope he will appear.
        But you can search and search again
        Vladimir is not here.

  46. Britain ‘was warned of Russian meddling in Chagos deal’. 1 December 2024.

    Britain was warned of Russian attempts to encourage Mauritian claims to the Chagos Islands, The Telegraph can reveal.

    Government officials and ministers were told President Vladimir Putin’s officials attempted to stir up support among Mauritian politicians for a claim over the Chagos Islands as a way of undermining British interests, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

    “Russia is doing more than supporting Mauritius – they are actively promoting the case for Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Islands”, a former Whitehall source said.

    This deal is backfiring in their face so it’s the Russians. Lol.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/11/30/britain-warned-russian-meddling-chagos-deal/

    2. Yes but at least they've robbed from the rich in order to give to the poor. A real band of Robin Hoods they are.

    3. Yes but at least they've robbed from the rich in order to give to the poor. A real band of Robin Hoods they are.

          2. I don’t know about his position on the lockdowns. This was related to the free school meals that children were missing out on ig they were not in school.

          3. From what I hear about school meals they’re really not that good, although some are free. But I guess it’s better than nothing, which is what some children would get at home. Most schools have breakfast clubs too, usually a bowl of cereal.

          4. From what I hear about school meals they’re really not that good, although some are free. But I guess it’s better than nothing, which is what some children would get at home. Most schools have breakfast clubs too, usually a bowl of cereal.

          5. I don’t know about his position on the lockdowns. This was related to the free school meals that children were missing out on ig they were not in school.

    5. They have been this way for some time, far as I can make it from young relatives. Long gone are the days when school dinners were cooked on the premises. Many mums now send their offspring to school with packed lunch (sometimes nicked from lockers/satchels). Bring back dinner ladies.

      1. When I were a schoolboy (too many moons ago to recount, Katy), at school dinner time we were cooked fresh wholesome food, that was served to us on ceramic plates, and which we ate with a knife and fork (and dessert spoon and fork), held correctly and proper dining etiquette was demanded of us. We ate in silence (the withering stare of Miss Daffin the dinner lady ensured that) and, at the end of the meal we cleared away the plates and placed our chairs back under the table.

        Why, then, are present day schoolchilfdren served their dinner in plastic troughs, where no one even thinks about stopping them picking up the food with their fingers or generally eating like pigs? Table manners and dining etiquette are non-existent and their execrable behaviour is encouraged by the quarter-wits in charge of their welfare.

        It is no wonder that I cannot fail to see the rapidly accelerating decline in the species. Grunting has already supplanted standard English (spoken and written) and we are now much closer to being swallowed back into the primordial soup from whence we first emerged in double quick time.

        1. I hear you, Grizz. As a junior, I was the last to be served by the prefect (male) sitting at the top of the table – he probably thought that as a small scrawny female I didn’t need much. Hmm…someone just sent me video of small cats taking on large dogs and asking ‘remind you of anyone’….see you in the primordial..x

    6. What an absolute lie that it will be funded with the VAT from private schools. I bet when all's said and done they will make very little on that, with all the extra costs. Forcing the middle classes to pay for crap like cereal for kids whose parents can't be bothered to give them breakfast.

    7. Can't feed; don't breed.
      Of course there are exceptions when people fall on hard times, but they are in the minority.

    8. In my experience of supervising lunch times, the kids wouldn't touch those with a barge pole. They'd want double chips and gravy – and no cutlery.

    9. In my experience of supervising lunch times, the kids wouldn't touch those with a barge pole. They'd want double chips and gravy – and no cutlery.

    2. I don’t understand this item. She allegedly rents her constituency residence so, from any reasonable perspective, that is the second home for which she should be claiming expenses.

  49. What would the founder of hospice care have made of so-called "assisted dying"? From what she's said I very much doubt she'd be in favour. I imagine though that the ultimate excrescence that the dreadful utilitarians who preside over government have in mind is that legalised homicide be carried out inside hospices. These are the places meant to do the very opposite.

    “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life. We will do all we can not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.” – Dame Cicely Saunders

      1. It is the fourth word from last that carries so much meaning for me. Death intruding into life was clearly for her anathema.

      2. It is the fourth word from last that carries so much meaning for me. Death intruding into life was clearly for her anathema.

    3. As a matter of curiosity what else would you do before you die?

      I would have thought something along the lines of
      to live comfortably or easefully or even to be loved until you die.
      Or similar.

    4. I have very limited knowledge of hospices James – just a handful of elderly relatives, but in my experience it's end of life situation. Good morning, btw…..perhaps it will improve…x

  50. 'Vladimir Putin will be a happy man': Sky News' experts weigh in on exclusive Volodymyr Zelenskyy interview. 1 December 2024.

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested to Sky News that he might consent to Russia temporarily holding on to occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a ceasefire deal.

    The Ukrainian president said such an arrangement could only be possible if land under his forces' control was taken "under the NATO umbrella" – allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later "in a diplomatic way".

    Since it is Ukraine’s intention of seeking membership of NATO that is the real reason for the war I doubt that Vlad will be impressed by this offer. Zelensky must know this. It is an offer without worth and designed to mislead his critics.

    https://news.sky.com/story/vladimir-putin-will-be-a-happy-man-sky-news-experts-weigh-in-on-exclusive-volodymyr-zelenskyy-interview-13263393

    1. To show how sincere he is Ed Milliner-Miliband should have an ingestion of Bovaer with every meal he eats.

      1. He's already full of wind and youknowwhat Rastus. Perhaps he'll inflate and be carried away……

          1. We just need a tyre pump, Hertslass….I like those inflated figures outside some places USA..the ones that inflate then collapse…Sir Keir lookalike..

        2. Straight into the blades of one of his beloved turbines.
          "The Eagle Has Landed Been Splatted."

  52. In an online chat with a cousin yesterday she is around the age of 80 now. Still fit and active all the aunts and our mother's from the same family lived into their nineties one 96 but in Oz.
    My cousin who lives in rural Buckinghamshire has put in her application for her driving licence renewal. But says that they seem to be taking their time. Is this another part of the assisted death arrangements. Enforced Isolation.

    1. If you can check her license yourself, Eddy? mine is one of those credit card sized plastic ones – states on it what I can drive and when I need a test…maybe her's is similar.

      1. Mine is the same. I expect many elderly people still very capable will have the same problem with the DVLA.
        The standard of driving in our country has gone through the floor.

  53. Wasn't suggesting that. I'm simply pointing out that the view of Russia is a pathetic image stuck in a threadbare past. I have an English friend living in Russia and he finds the economic atmosphere just fine.

    1. Far as I can make out, Putin is supported wholeheartedly by Russians, their standard of living now beyond their dreams/expectations – even in the remote areas. Wish I could think similarly about any UK 'leaders'.

      2. Yes. By all accounts life has improved immeasurably in Russia since the fall of the USSR. Apart from a few cranks, no one wants to go back to those times or has any nostalgia for an empire.

      3. Yes. By all accounts life has improved immeasurably in Russia since the fall of the USSR. Apart from a few cranks, no one wants to go back to those times or has any nostalgia for an empire.

  54. Belated Morning All
    Sunday Laffs
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/39c7ffdcac222115ff9c2eabe2733fc96bf600e0897c0f48ecbb8567eb46c660.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/935e4042266f7f9f809d909b424d74164d9b684e9a804c4e9f57ffa095dbdfdd.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cc7e0643daa390ba14984a5698cb7628a43217d280161b160e8176921b0082be.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/35a58bdb5fbe0aee0862f3687429a86e36521dc5277cc92f938d4dd88e90ae32.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14e1e72a44bc828f1ed8df28de00f1ad46a15551868e6c67b5bb2f4391de2da4.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c6b07611e6e87c937da7326228972501acec118d957213cb1f9fdfcc1ac9b8e.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/82aa0b937c963a967fcbee44b13f0ca4fdf31b2b1f09a0022c29aea6fa96f42f.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0979e3fa3d91e426e84f8dc92219f4379fd036e68d9f11a6d641ff15934aec16.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a16329c428d31ed41ad33380e456cb69beb49ac29353afca07d5c760016d8edd.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4793d334bfde18f73283ed9a0d73a9d416e8531d98cd0828433dce1a5a300f19.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f9e4a90ff513dac5f1dba5dbea583af558335a7142425c31f15f51938cb8c3bd.jpg

    1. Do you remember Catherine Tate's spoof of an interpreter working for the United Nations, I think it was? Just babbled in the various accents with some made up words sounding ethnic inspired. The British Brainwashing Corp. would self-combust if she tried that now.

        1. That actually made me laugh. I’Ve literally never seen any Catherine Tate before

    2. That has caught her level exactly. Except that I believe (I never watched it) that her teacher said that she was better than her results. Can't say the same about Rayner (who I understand was up the duff before her GCSEs anyway).

  56. Had to get it in the end – Practically no more letters left:
    Wordle 1,261 6/6

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

  57. Had to get it in the end – Practically no more letters left:
    Wordle 1,261 6/6

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

  58. Yep! It’s not difficult to call a halt to that sort of behaviour! I’m bloomin’ sure the awful Wark woman could have done it herself instead of waiting all this time!🙄

    1. Kick in the goolies sometimes offends…he wasn't grooming teens was he? These were adult women he was 'offending'.

      1. Had he been grooming teens (and supporting a snack bar) the whole thing would have been hushed up.

  62. It’s the food we eat generally, you may have noticed the number of polytunnels various places…I’m told that in the watering system there are the usual fertilisers, insecticides etc…although we wash them/cook them, can we be sure we don’t imbibe some of these chemicals? RfKJr thinks the rise in the numbers of cancers, autism in children is caused by the food we eat and how it’s grown currently. I’ve started growing my own, but doubt I’ll grow sufficient to cook for any length of time, I’m too old to care for myself but I do care about younger family.

    1. I think English is a relatively easy language to learn. Uncomplicated grammar. Unnecessary to feign ridiculous accents, poor pronunciation generally accepted.
      Yes, there are difficulties, idioms and irregular spelling. But for the most part it's fairly straightforward.

        1. English Pronunciation

          Rastus, I'll bet you know this one already

          If you want to see if you REALLY understand English idiomatic pronunciation try this poem – The Chaos, which I first came across while working in Amsterdam in 1962-63.

          See if you can read it aloud without making ANY mistakes. WARNING: It's rather LONG.

          The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité

          FROM: http://ncf.idallen.com/english.html

          This is a classic English poem containing about 800 of the worst irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation. Will Snellen wrote a PDF version using the phonetic alphabet. You can hear some of it pronounced mostly correctly by "JimmyJams" in the video The Chaos Of English Pronunciation by Gerard Nolst Trenité on YouTube. You can also skip down to a more complete introduction at the bottom of this page [I've deleted that for brevity].

          Gerard Nolst Trenité – The Chaos (1922)

          Dearest creature in creation
          Studying English pronunciation,
          I will teach you in my verse
          Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.

          I will keep you, Susy, busy,
          Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
          Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear;
          Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.

          Pray, console your loving poet,
          Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
          Just compare heart, hear and heard,
          Dies and diet, lord and word.

          Sword and sward, retain and Britain
          (Mind the latter how it's written).
          Made has not the sound of bade,
          Say-said, pay-paid, laid but plaid.

          Now I surely will not plague you
          With such words as vague and ague,
          But be careful how you speak,
          Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak ,

          Previous, precious, fuchsia, via
          Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir;
          Woven, oven, how and low,
          Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.

          Say, expecting fraud and trickery:
          Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,
          Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles,
          Missiles, similes, reviles.

          Wholly, holly, signal, signing,
          Same, examining, but mining,
          Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
          Solar, mica, war and far.

          From "desire": desirable-admirable from "admire",
          Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier,
          Topsham, brougham, renown, but known,
          Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,

          One, anemone, Balmoral,
          Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel.
          Gertrude, German, wind and wind,
          Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind,

          Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather,
          Reading, Reading, heathen, heather.
          This phonetic labyrinth
          Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.

          Have you ever yet endeavoured
          To pronounce revered and severed,
          Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul,
          Peter, petrol and patrol?

          Billet does not end like ballet;
          Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
          Blood and flood are not like food,
          Nor is mould like should and would.

          Banquet is not nearly parquet,
          Which exactly rhymes with khaki.
          Discount, viscount, load and broad,
          Toward, to forward, to reward,

          Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet?
          Right! Your pronunciation's OK.
          Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
          Friend and fiend, alive and live.

          Is your r correct in higher?
          Keats asserts it rhymes Thalia.
          Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot,
          Buoyant, minute, but minute.

          Say abscission with precision,
          Now: position and transition;
          Would it tally with my rhyme
          If I mentioned paradigm?

          Twopence, threepence, tease are easy,
          But cease, crease, grease and greasy?
          Cornice, nice, valise, revise,
          Rabies, but lullabies.

          Of such puzzling words as nauseous,
          Rhyming well with cautious, tortious,
          You'll envelop lists, I hope,
          In a linen envelope.

          Would you like some more? You'll have it!
          Affidavit, David, davit.
          To abjure, to perjure. Sheik
          Does not sound like Czech but ache.

          Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
          Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven.
          We say hallowed, but allowed,
          People, leopard, towed but vowed.

          Mark the difference, moreover,
          Between mover, plover, Dover.
          Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
          Chalice, but police and lice,

          Camel, constable, unstable,
          Principle, disciple, label.
          Petal, penal, and canal,
          Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal,

          Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduit
          Rhyme with "shirk it" and "beyond it",
          But it is not hard to tell
          Why it's pall, mall, but Pall Mall.

          Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron,
          Timber, climber, bullion, lion,
          Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
          Senator, spectator, mayor,

          Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
          Has the a of drachm and hammer.
          Pussy, hussy and possess,
          Desert, but desert, address.

          Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants
          Hoist in lieu of flags left pennants.
          Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb,
          Cow, but Cowper, some and home.

          "Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker",
          Quoth he, "than liqueur or liquor",
          Making, it is sad but true,
          In bravado, much ado.

          Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
          Neither does devour with clangour.
          Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt,
          Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant.

          Arsenic, specific, scenic,
          Relic, rhetoric, hygienic.
          Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close,
          Paradise, rise, rose, and dose.

          Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle,
          Make the latter rhyme with eagle.
          Mind! Meandering but mean,
          Valentine and magazine.

          And I bet you, dear, a penny,
          You say mani-(fold) like many,
          Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier,
          Tier (one who ties), but tier.

          Arch, archangel; pray, does erring
          Rhyme with herring or with stirring?
          Prison, bison, treasure trove,
          Treason, hover, cover, cove,

          Perseverance, severance. Ribald
          Rhymes (but piebald doesn't) with nibbled.
          Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw,
          Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw.

          Don't be down, my own, but rough it,
          And distinguish buffet, buffet;
          Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon,
          Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn.

          Say in sounds correct and sterling
          Hearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling.
          Evil, devil, mezzotint,
          Mind the z! (A gentle hint.)

          Now you need not pay attention
          To such sounds as I don't mention,
          Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws,
          Rhyming with the pronoun yours;

          Nor are proper names included,
          Though I often heard, as you did,
          Funny rhymes to unicorn,
          Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan.

          No, my maiden, coy and comely,
          I don't want to speak of Cholmondeley.
          No. Yet Froude compared with proud
          Is no better than McLeod.

          But mind trivial and vial,
          Tripod, menial, denial,
          Troll and trolley, realm and ream,
          Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme.

          Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. Surely
          May be made to rhyme with Raleigh,
          But you're not supposed to say
          Piquet rhymes with sobriquet.

          Had this invalid invalid
          Worthless documents? How pallid,
          How uncouth he, couchant, looked,
          When for Portsmouth I had booked!

          Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite,
          Paramour, enamoured, flighty,
          Episodes, antipodes,
          Acquiesce, and obsequies.

          Please don't monkey with the geyser,
          Don't peel 'taters with my razor,
          Rather say in accents pure:
          Nature, stature and mature.

          Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly,
          Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly,
          Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan,
          Wan, sedan and artisan.

          The th will surely trouble you
          More than r, ch or w.
          Say then these phonetic gems:
          Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames.

          Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham,
          There are more but I forget 'em-
          Wait! I've got it: Anthony,
          Lighten your anxiety.

          The archaic word albeit
          Does not rhyme with eight-you see it;
          With and forthwith, one has voice,
          One has not, you make your choice.

          Shoes, goes, does *. Now first say: finger;
          Then say: singer, ginger, linger.
          Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge,
          Marriage, foliage, mirage, age,

          Hero, heron, query, very,
          Parry, tarry fury, bury,
          Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth,
          Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath.

          Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners,
          Bowing, bowing, banjo-tuners
          Holm you know, but noes, canoes,
          Puisne, truism, use, to use?

          Though the difference seems little,
          We say actual, but victual,
          Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height,
          Put, nut, granite, and unite.

          Reefer does not rhyme with deafer,
          Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
          Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late,
          Hint, pint, senate, but sedate.

          Gaelic, Arabic, pacific,
          Science, conscience, scientific;
          Tour, but our, dour, succour, four,
          Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

          Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit,
          Next omit, which differs from it
          Bona fide, alibi
          Gyrate, dowry and awry.

          Sea, idea, guinea, area,
          Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
          Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean,
          Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

          Compare alien with Italian,
          Dandelion with battalion,
          Rally with ally; yea, ye,
          Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay!

          Say aver, but ever, fever,
          Neither, leisure, skein, receiver.
          Never guess-it is not safe,
          We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf.

          Starry, granary, canary,
          Crevice, but device, and eyrie,
          Face, but preface, then grimace,
          Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

          Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging,
          Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging;
          Ear, but earn; and ere and tear
          Do not rhyme with here but heir.

          Mind the o of off and often
          Which may be pronounced as orphan,
          With the sound of saw and sauce;
          Also soft, lost, cloth and cross.

          Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting?
          Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting.
          Respite, spite, consent, resent.
          Liable, but Parliament.

          Seven is right, but so is even,
          Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen,
          Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk,
          Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work.

          A of valour, vapid vapour,
          S of news (compare newspaper),
          G of gibbet, gibbon, gist,
          I of antichrist and grist,

          Differ like diverse and divers,
          Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers.
          Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll,
          Polish, Polish, poll and poll.

          Pronunciation-think of Psyche!-
          Is a paling, stout and spiky.
          Won't it make you lose your wits
          Writing groats and saying "grits"?

          It's a dark abyss or tunnel
          Strewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale,
          Islington, and Isle of Wight,
          Housewife, verdict and indict.

          Don't you think so, reader, rather,
          Saying lather, bather, father?
          Finally, which rhymes with enough,
          Though, through, bough, cough, hough, sough, tough??

          Hiccough has the sound of cup…
          My advice is: GIVE IT UP!

          2. Excellent! Many thanks – I have sent it to Caroline and our sons to see how they get on with it!

      3. Structurally it's far simpler than most continental languages because inflections are few and far between and don't normally make a difference to meaning in a SVO (Subject Verb Object) language. Where English causes problems for foreigners tends to be in the spelling and vocabulary, largely because we have taken words from so many different sources. Niveau Seuil (the basic level for comprehension and communication) is about 1000 words, but I suspect that for English it will be higher.

        1. It’s a very idiomatic language and so many different and difficult accents which can make it virtually incomprehensible. But that doesn’t prevent it from being fairly easy to speak. You just might not understand the answers to your questions.

    3. The English past tense of dive is dived, not dove. That's an Americanism. In Russian there are words where the stress changes the meaning. It's a common linguistic feature.

  65. Access to my house is very narrow lane, there’s a hedge each side bordering the fields…elderly neighbour driving slowly in front of me…suddenly a sheep jumped over the hedge from adjoining field…landed on bonnet of her car, jumped off again over opposite hedge and into other field, all in a heartbeat. My friend didn’t skip a beat, calmly carried on driving as though nothing had happened. Wasn’t even bothered to look on car bonnet for any dings. More power to your aunt, say I 🙂 Agree about standard of driving, many motorbikers are the pits.

    1. Sounds like our narrow, steep lane. Fairly open coming down from the common, but further on rather tight between stone walls. It takes care…………..and woe betide you if someone's coming the other way……..

  67. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Parliament has voted to proceed with Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill, which will see the NHS offer terminally ill people the opportunity to kill themselves and the lethal drugs with which to do so. The debate over assisted suicide is complex and often heated, with sincere and well-intentioned people approaching its profound moral and ethical quandaries from very different but passionately held perspectives. I would like to set those questions aside for now and ask a different but related one: if the state can help end the lives of terminally ill people, why shouldn’t it end the lives of murderers?

    The state can now be a party to the premature death of a citizen

    The last time capital punishment was used in the UK was 1964. It was suspended the following year and abolished for murder in 1969 (1973 in Northern Ireland). A handful of crimes including treason remained capital offences but the death penalty was removed entirely from the statute books in 1998. Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits it ‘in all circumstances’. To reintroduce capital punishment, the UK would have to withdraw from the ECHR (and the Council of Europe) and repeal the relevant provisions of the Human Rights Act.

    But we’re not talking about law here, we’re talking about life. Objections to the reintroduction of capital punishment typically fall into one of five categories: 1) the death penalty is inherently wrong because it is the intentional destruction of human life by the state; 2) the death penalty is prone to errors in the justice system and can lead to execution of the innocent; 3) the death penalty cannot be safely administered because doctors cannot participate in killing; 4) the death penalty might be administered in a way that is inhumane or superadds to the pain of death; and 5) the death penalty is uncivilised and reduces any society which uses it.

    How does Leadbeater’s bill interact with these principles? Well, it establishes that there are circumstances in which the state can intentionally destroy human life, albeit as a supplier of the means of death rather than administering those means itself. It says the state is capable of designing safeguards that allow it to participate in killing without fear of error or abuse. It says health professionals can help to facilitate medically-induced death without it being unethical. It posits premature death not as a source of cruelty or pain but as a remedy for it, implying that there is a humane way to end human life. It suggests that permitting assisted suicide is a progressive step towards a more enlightened society in which people enjoy more autonomy over their bodies and their lives.

    A number of things follow from this. The convention that the state should not kill outside of war has been shattered. The state can be a party to the premature death of a citizen. This leaves only the level of involvement (supplying lethal drugs versus actively administering them) and free will (voluntary suicide versus involuntary execution) as the major moral hurdles to capital punishment. I’m not suggesting that assisted suicide makes the case for capital punishment, I’m suggesting that it makes it easier to make that case.

    Advocates of the death penalty can also take succour from Leadbeater’s much-touted safeguards. If the NHS can guarantee that no one will ever be mistakenly granted assisted suicide, the justice system should be able to study these measures and adapt them to guarantee that no one will ever be mistakenly executed. After all, a murderer would get a trial, an appeal and the possibility of clemency before being executed, a more rigorous regime than the one proposed for terminally ill patients.

    Until now, one of the barriers to restoring capital punishment was the implications for the medical profession and its ethical codes. Helpfully, Leadbeater’s bill establishes that it is possible for the state to operate a life-terminating process in which medics are not ‘under any duty (whether arising from any contract, statute or otherwise) to participate’. If doctors can volunteer to assist in suicide, they can volunteer to assist in executions.

    Those among us who are not sadists would agree that, if we are to hand down death sentences, they should be carried out in a way that minimises pain and suffering. Here assisted suicide is once again very helpful. For if the state has found a safe, humane and lawful way to end the life of a terminally ill patient, it has also found a safe, humane and lawful way to end the life of a convicted murderer. Hanging was the method previously used in the UK but assisted suicide will provide plenty of case studies in which drugs work best for ending life with dignity.

    And those fusty old liberals of the 1950s and 1960s who urged abolition because the death penalty brutalised society as much as it did the condemned man? They said that, however much murderers might deserve a rendezvous with the rope, Mr Pierrepoint was under contract to the state and that made us all a party to killing. Thankfully we’ve moved on from such hand-wringing. Assisted suicide would be, at once, the state facilitated termination of human life and a personal choice the rest of us have no business questioning. It is possible, then, for us to have a death sentence and for it to have no moral relevance to anyone not directly implicated.

    Just one more thing, as Columbo liked to say. Supporters of Leadbeater’s bill have been keen to draw our attention to polls suggesting public support for the legislation. Which is odd because these seem to be the very same people who ordinarily dismiss appeals to popular feeling as dangerous demagoguery. Still, if public opinion is back in fashion, shall we see what it has to say about stringing up baddies? Since 2019, there have been 34 YouGov polls on whether the death penalty should be restored for child murder. In 27 of them, a majority said yes. In the other seven, there was a clear plurality in favour. Meanwhile, polls consistently show support for executing terrorists (56 per cent to 33 per cent just last month) and multiple murderers (currently 56 per cent for, 34 per cent against).

    Sixty years on from Britain’s last hangings (thus far), the movement to restore the death penalty appeared to be dead beyond revival. Then along came Kim Leadbeater with her legislative sledgehammer, merrily thumping away at the load-bearing walls of human life ethics. She might consider her cause progressive but in its logic it clears a good stretch of the way for those who would see the black cap return to the English bench.

    I am not one of those people. I am heartily opposed to the death penalty, and have argued against its use in this country, the United States and Israel, because it violates the consistent life ethic. The Catholic writer Eileen Egan, a pioneer of that ethic, said: ‘We view the protection of all life, from its conception to its end, as a seamless garment.’ The reference is to John 19 and Christ’s seamless tunic, which the Roman soldiers cast lots for rather than rend, but you need not be a believer to appreciate the point. Our ideas of human life are a moral fabric and when you tear at one part, you loosen threads of dignity and conscience that you never intended to disturb.

    When parliament votes to allow the state to help kill some of its citizens, it doesn’t end a debate, it starts one. Which other citizens may the state kill? In what circumstances? To what end? Without realising it, MPs have rended the garment and left the lots to fall where they will.

    Stephen Daisley
    WRITTEN BY
    Stephen Daisley
    Stephen Daisley is a Spectator regular and a columnist for the Scottish Daily Mai

    1. While on the subject of termination of life………….what about the practice which we all know has been followed, especially in 2020/21…… of hastening the end by the use of doses of Midazolam and Morphine?

      1. I think morphine been in use for longer than that, Ndovu..dad died 2011 and that or something similar used then.

          1. Agree. Staff would recognise end of life situation, and act accordingly. Now, after various incidents (including Letby case), more cautious.

  68. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Living and working as a dairy farmer in Shropshire, I’ve witnessed firsthand the fallout from Rachel Reeves’ recent Budget. It has dealt a catastrophic blow to the farming industry, leaving many of us reeling.

    Just a year ago, the now Environment Minister Steve Reed promised us there would be no changes to agricultural property relief (APR). Now Labour has taken a bulldozer and smashed the policy to smithereens without any consultation with Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) or the farming community, leaving us scrambling to process the changes and adapt.

    The charges Labour have brought in will reshape British farming and our country’s landscape

    I come from a family which has farmed in Shropshire for generations and my husband, whom I married in 2007, is himself a sixth-generation dairy farmer. When we met, his dairy unit was an all-year-round calving system, fully housed in winter and grazing in summer. The business was £500,000 in debt, skilled labour was difficult to find and to continue the business, capital investment of £600,000 was required.

    In 2010, we had to take a further capital investment of £600,000 to change dairy farming systems and become financially sustainable. The money was spent on changing to a cross-bred herd, installing a new milking parlour, improving farm tracks and water troughs, and purchasing calf heifers – our cows produce high-quality milk (high in fat and protein to make butter and cheese). In 2021, we bought a second farm in Staffordshire for £1.6 million. These continued investments, funded largely through loans, were necessary for us to sustain our business.

    But the new APR rules threaten everything. Our original family farm, minus debts, would be subject to additional inheritance tax duties of £590,000. The farmhouse would incur tax of £160,000. A further payment of £90,000 would be payable on buildings, machines and livestock.

    The inheritance liability is £840,000, for which HMRC offers a ten-year repayment plan, but this would still place unbearable strain on our cashflow, already stretched by existing debt. Farming is risky and this tax raid would make business unsustainable.

    The farming way of life was already under immense stress even before Reeves’ Budget. Brexit ended EU farming subsidies and opened the door to cheaper, lower standard food imports that undercut UK farmers. The Conservative government began phasing out their farming subsidies, and Labour’s budget has hastened their demise.

    Sustainable farming incentive (SFI) grants were introduced to replace subsidies, but the process is burdensome and costly. Like many other farmers, we resorted to hiring a consultant to navigate the red tape. Often only the landlords of larger farms can afford this – smaller farmers, faced with the expense and bureaucracy, may simply not bother, and they suffer most.

    Most of us are feeling pressure from all sides to improve our climate emissions, biodiversity and sustainability. We were evaluating which environmental projects we could afford, and which might improve a farm’s efficiency, but these projects will now have to be put on hold. We’re servicing debt and with higher interest rates, economic volatility and new government policy we need to ensure we can meet our financial responsibilities first.

    This year, we wanted to financially consolidate our farms for several reasons: the possible change of government, UK debt levels (unsustainable), fluctuation in global dairy commodity prices, the high level of farm production costs (thanks to the impact from the war in Ukraine on fuel and fertiliser) and low milk prices. That said, we haven’t escaped investment entirely – we will be able to plough a further £40,000 into new machinery and improving our land drainage system.

    The National Farmers Union (NFU) reports that 75 per cent of commercial farms exceed the £1 million APR threshold, making them liable for significant taxes. Labour, though, claims only a small proportion of farms will be affected, but this is misleading. The new inheritance tax, pegged at 20 per cent, will leave many working farmers with an unmanageable bill that will force them to sell their land and assets.

    There’s the mistaken belief that farming is a wealthy profession. While we may be asset rich, much of this wealth is underpinned by loans and the cash flow is always tight. In fact, returns on investment are small in comparison to other industries at about 0.5 per cent, and profits are needed to be channelled into essential repairs and replacements. As for income, figures published by Defra show that the average last year was just £45,300 per farm.

    There’s the mistaken belief that farming is a wealthy profession

    It has been suggested by Labour that farms are simply divided out between farmer, spouse and children to maximise tax relief. But this, again, isn’t so simple. It’s a tradition with farmers that they themselves should be the custodian of the farm, that it’s their duty to conserve it and pass it on when they die. Dividing it up with a spouse or children who haven’t yet decided whether to continue in the profession could be disastrous to the farm’s future. In our own case, we will have to restructure the business and consider splitting farm ownership. Our sons are aged 16 and 13; it’s too early to know yet if they want to farm.

    The charges Labour have brought in will bring dramatic changes to all and reshape British farming and the landscape. Our whole way of life, going back millennia, will be damaged and our culture and landscape altered forever. Family farms could eventually be amalgamated into much bigger units, and land repurposed for environmental schemes, with large multinationals hoovering up hectares for carbon capture, and to offset emissions. Dairy operations risk shifting to intensive farming models, with 1,000-plus cow herds confined indoors to sheds. Beef, pork, fruit and vegetables will increasingly be imported. Buying local, sustainable food will become an expensive luxury and food security – a critical issue in a volatile world – will be under threat.

    For consumers, the impact will be felt in rising food costs and a threat to our food security. Plant-based products touted as sustainable offer low nutritional content per calorie, and, as they come to dominate supermarket shelves, obesity rates could climb. Meanwhile, the UK landscape of grazing livestock will vanish, replaced by solar panels and wind farms, by housing or intensive farming on an industrial scale.

    Another knock-on impact will be on farmers’ mental health. The farming profession already has the highest suicide rate in Britain, and with this additional tax burden, this will only get worse.

    Beef, pork, fruit and vegetables will increasingly be imported

    The unluckiest ones, those I really feel empathy for, are those aged between 50 and 60, whose fathers (over 80) haven’t passed on the farmland. Older farmers feeling they’ve failed to secure their children’s futures are deeply distressed. One arable farmer we are very good friends with is in his mid-fifties. In partnership with his 82-year-old father, he’s steadily built up his business, buying more acres and spending £100,000 plus on each machine. His dad still owns the farm and has been emotionally broken by what’s to come, feeling he hasn’t sufficiently protected his sons’ farming future. At the same time the country is talking about euthanasia, older farmers are talking about when best to die.

    Labour’s new tax rules feel like a betrayal. The government could have opted to exempt farmers over 80, introduced a phased roll-out or increased the tax threshold. Instead, they’ve alienated the very people who put food on the nation’s tables.

    This isn’t just about protecting farmers. It’s about safeguarding a way of life, ensuring food security and preserving the environment. Farmers are custodians of the land, working tirelessly to conserve it for future generations. It’s imperative for policymakers to listen, engage and develop solutions that recognise the vital role farming plays in the UK economy and culture.

    The stakes couldn’t be higher. The choices we make today will determine not just the future of British farming, but the health, security and identity of our nation.

    WRITTEN BY
    Emma Furnival
    Emma Furnival is a dairy farmer, co-managing a 230-acre farm in North Shropshire alongside her husband, Steve

    1. Sorry Emma but your lot are in the cross hairs of the Anti-Human Agenda mafia who are targeting food & energy access.

      You and your farm hands will be reassigned employment carrying German made solar panels from the electric van to the new Blackrock Solar Farm.
      And don't even think about voting Tory. They're in on the scam too.

      1. German made? You're having a laugh!
        Germany's been deindustrialised. Get your solar panels from China.

        2. Ah, made in China but designed & packaged in Germany and sold to UK with ramped up euro price tag.

  69. Well, that was a pisser.
    Just out pressing the honey, and we find that it's been a bit wet, and been fermenting, so we can't sell it as honey, we'll have to ferment it into mead. Problem is that we have quite a few orders for honey.

  70. Sorry Emma but your lot are in the cross hairs of the Anti-Human Agenda mafia who are targeting food & energy access.

    You and your farm hands will be reassigned employment carrying German made solar panels from the electric van to the new Blackrock Solar Farm.
    And don't even think about voting Tory. They're in on the scam too.

  71. Sorry Emma but your lot are in the cross hairs of the Anti-Human Agenda mafia who are targeting food & energy access.

    You and your farm hands will be reassigned employment carrying German made solar panels from the electric van to the new Blackrock Solar Farm.
    And don't even think about voting Tory. They're in on the scam too.

    1. Starmer and Khan on the surface have a lot in common – pathetic little squits who are power mad and never wrong (in their own deranged minds).

  75. Dark days lie ahead with Trump on the world stage once more
    Soon to be cast adrift by President-elect Trump, Ukraine’s likely future is bleak. Let’s not make it worse by a feckless peace deal
    John Bolton : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/30/ukraines-future-bleak-in-the-face-of-trumpian-isolationism/

    Why the DT gives any column inches to the warmongering John Bolton is beyond reason.

    BTL

    The War would never have started if Trump had been president then.

    Talks were all ready to go and then the senile Biden and the bumptious Boris Johnson had an attack of hubris and managed to convince Zelenskyy to go for war with more than the tacit backing of the USA and the UK.

    This has cost hundreds of thousands of lives – but heigh ho – Biden, Johnson and Zelenskyy are all still alive.

  76. Dark days lie ahead with Trump on the world stage once more
    Soon to be cast adrift by President-elect Trump, Ukraine’s likely future is bleak. Let’s not make it worse by a feckless peace deal
    John Bolton : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/30/ukraines-future-bleak-in-the-face-of-trumpian-isolationism/

    Why the DT gives any column inches to the warmongering John Bolton is beyond reason.

    BTL

    The War would never have started if Trump had been president then.

    Talks were all ready to go and then the senile Biden and the bumptious Boris Johnson had an attack of hubris and managed to convince Zelenskyy to go for war with more than the tacit backing of the USA and the UK.

    This has cost hundreds of thousands of lives – but heigh ho – Biden, Johnson and Zelenskyy are all still alive.

  78. Snap. Quite frankly, the US presidential election result is the only bright light in the gathering gloom.

  80. Have Lammy and Starmer been played by the Kremlin over Chagos?
    The fear is that Lammy and Starmer may have been, in part, played by the Kremlin. It is arguably the worst security deal in our history
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/01/labours-chagos-deal-risks-a-return-state-on-state-war-era/

    Humility trumps Hubris on this occasion!

    BTL

    The weak man is afraid to admit that he has made a mistake; the strong man can see when he has made a mistake and rectifies the matter immediately.

    Starmer has made a very serious mistake over the Chagos islands – and he probably knows he has made a very serious mistake; but is he strong enough to admit it and make things right?

    2. I find it hard to believe that Starmer did anything that he decided for himself. Kneejerk reaction, yes. Rational decision – no

  82. Interesting article…..

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/why-i-regret-using-23andme-i-gave-up-my-dna-just-to-find-out-i-m-british/ar-AA1v2dxn?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=353f6dedce114ce886bbc028dd9c0e24&ei=180

    Perhaps if I make my way over to London in the near future, I will be overwhelmed with a sense of belonging, and all my angst over who owns my genomic information will all be worth it. But I am doubtful that the trade off resulted in anything but a resounding ambivalence and the sacrifice of my genetic self.
    I doubt if you will feel attached, London is probably 60 % Non English now.

    1. I last went to London in 2019, apart from passing through by train a couple of years ago. Back in 2011 I realised it was no longer an English city, but an outpost of Bangladesh.

          2. There is a Turkish barber in our nearest town – they set up next door to my hairdresser. He has moved across the street now – but not for that reason.

          4. Grahame was quite happy that they were next door. He moved a year ago to set up a new business again.

          5. A good friend of ours kept his boat at the Marmaris Yacht Martina at the same time as we kept Mianda there. He always had a Turkish barber shave him with a Cutthroat razor and he said it made his face feel tingly fresh.

            My uncle Basil was a surgeon but he ran his own private practice as a GP in Norwich. He always used a cutthroat razor and had a leather strop on which he sharpened it each morning.

            I don't think Uncle Basil used it for any other purpose than for shaving himself!

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ca617d10e169d44fc4fd839ef8beb213a8b8a51aba0e473f68159886ea99c3b8.jpg

          6. I think if you know what you’re doing – could be the best option. My husband stopped shaving many years ago, trims his beard occasionally. He shaves what remains of the fine hair on his head, I tidy up sideburns/back. Our economy perhaps falter even more than it already is doing if we didn’t have migrants doing the jobs others won’t by preferring to stay on benefits. Situation worsened during lockdown/s, doubt it will improve any time soon.

          7. The answer of course is to reform benefits so that working pays. Nobody should be paid more to sit idle than to go out and be a productive member of society. Remember the injunction in Paul's letters; he who will not work, shall not eat.

          9. Exactly.
            The old Parish Relief regulations used to state that no person claiming such relief will receive more than the wages of the lowest paid labourer in the parish.

          10. Exactly.
            The old Parish Relief regulations used to state that no person claiming such relief will receive more than the wages of the lowest paid labourer in the parish.

          11. "He always used a cutthroat razor and had a leather strop on which he sharpened honed it each morning."

            A common misconception among non-engineers. A strop hones an already sharpened blade. Blades are sharpened on stones: they are honed on a strop. Honing is simply restoring an edge (i.e. removing the minuscule burrs) on a tool that has already been sharpened.

          12. If I have to venture into any of the the nearby market towns I sometimes think I'm in Mogadishu. We have been forcibly "enriched" in North Shropshire.

          13. Gloucester has always been a bit enriched in certain areas – Stroud not so much. Round here a diverse face is unusual.

    3. I remember walking down Oxford Street, back in 1973, and not seeing any white fellow-Englishman anywhere.

      1. I was beginning to wonder about that after the power cut resolved. Especially as Absolutely not The Daily Trollograph was working.

    5. About an hour ago I had dreadful trouble trying to do some shopping online. Bouncing about all over the place.

  84. I did – it said there was a 404 server issue – but I got back in somehow. It seems to have resolved.

  85. The further east you are, the more obvious it is. And since that horrible thing became mayor, more and more of the area's inside the M25, never previously London are being claimed as London.

    1. In 2011, I was staying a few days in Canada Water, so caught a bus to go and have a look at a cemetery in West Norwood for family graves. I had to change buses with a short walk in Elephant and Castle. It was a Bangladeshi street market, not England.

    2. A lot of the increase in London’s size happened with the ‘reorganisation’ of 1964/5 and the creation of boroughs like LBs of Kingston, Newham etc. and the loss of some of the old boroughs like Finsbury, where I was born and brought up, into the Independent Socialist Republic of Islington.

      1. They have also stolen large parts of what was Middlesex, Barnet and other parts of Hertfordshire. Hendon Town Hall NW4 is now Barnet Town Hall London.

    1. You're swearing again 🤣🤣…Kathie good for you – we all need to let off steam now and again 😘

        1. Which has universally perplexed me since childhood.

          If I said 'fuck' (which is a perfectly normal and acceptable thing to do) I would be slapped … hard.

          Yet if I said 'bugger' (a term for abnormal sodomy and bestiality), I was simply smiled at!

          Why?

        2. Must be why my dad used it a lot, then…don’t think my mum knew tho’ from the times she remonstrated with him. Perhaps you’re referring to the person who conceals a microphone…? (according to my printed Oxford…. online dictionary threw a hissy fit…) x

          2. No, KJ, Ashes is correct – even disqus is not bothered about "bugger" or buggery (try it on one of the stricter sites). I think it's because Americans have no idea what it means (the Brits, possibly, all too well). " Sodomy", for example, is out on disqus, as is "bestiality" (that's the Yanks for you). So are some really strange selections, like "fag" and "chink" even in their British context.

          3. Thanks, opopanax…comprehensive reply. I referred to Oxford, in my innocence ….btw I have quite a nice bridge for sale…?

    2. You're swearing again 🤣🤣…Kathie good for you – we all need to let off steam now and again 😘

  89. You’re correct, Ndovu, mine is the same now I actually check it, expires next year. Apologies all round. Wonder why I thought that…him indoors expert at all things, possibly something he said, and I mis-heard. Wouldn’t be the first time….

  91. Buy a load from the supermarket and put your own labels on the jars. Then charge three times the price. People always think they are getting quality if it is expensive.

    Or just apologise to your customers and tell them they are top of the list for the next batch.

      1. You'd be amazed! My son once helped out in an organic farm shop. They bought in potted plants from Lidl and sold them as their own organic produce. LIDL!!

        2. Some years ago the NZ Government announced that 13,000 tons of Manuka honey

          was produced every year, so they couldn't understand why British supermarkets sold

          14,000 tons of NZ Manuka honey every year.

  92. We had a power cut here as well for an hour – I thought the two issues might have been related but it seems not.

      3. Alf, you probaby know all this already:

        When I had my solar panels installed in March I made sure that the batteries that they feed were set up to cut in immediately a power cut happens. They can supply the 2 fridges and 2 freezers, (not much consumption) plus all the upstairs 13Amp sockets and lights and the Electrical side of the Gas Central Heating. If it's a long break or at mealtime, I could walk the Microwave upstairs and do some limited cooking too.

        If you check up in the Interwebby, you'll find these quotes:

        Solar panels usually don't work during a power cut, but they can if they are combined with a battery storage system:

        Safety
        Solar panels are designed to stop working during a power cut to prevent them from sending electricity back to the grid and potentially harming workers repairing the power lines         [in a wet hole in the ground, left by an idiot Digger – my comment]

        Elsewhere
        Unless you specifically set your panels up to stay on safely,         they're designed to switch off automatically in response to power cuts. You won't be able to use them to power your home or even select appliances in your home. Your house will have no access to power just like all the other homes affected.

  93. Some critics of assisted dying have reported unwanted side effects.
    Will the MHRA still be able to receive Yellow Card reports? 🤔

  94. I last went in 1975, it was a shithole then and nothing would persuade me to go back. If I get my knighthood Chas will have to come to me

  95. Read the article. Storm in a teacup as far as I'm concerned. I did 23 and me because I wanted to make sure I was truly English. It turns out that at 83% and the rest Dutch, I'm very English, more than most apparently, and I am mightily pleased by that. All the information and what is done with it, who really cares? It seems to me that a lot of people love to manufacture a crisis where there isn't one to speak of.

    1. I've done a lot of family history research over the years but not gone down the genetic testing route. 23&Me is not the best one for family historians, as most serious researchers use Ancestry to make connections with others. I had no objections until fairly recently, when I decided to keep my genes to myself.

      1. I had mine tested some years ago, online ancestry site. Less than half 'British' …rest European…and Russian….explains the bolshiness perhaps….

    1. The first PM of UK that doesn't believe in Britain, doesn’t believe in the people nor national interest.
      Inhuman. Inhumane. He find it easy to be ruthless. He thinks exclusively in terms of law.
      Starmer is the walking small print at the end of a phone contract that no one reads.
      Constantly repeats slogans believing if you repeat it.. it happens.
      Signed up to the nonsense of International law.
      Actively encourages sub states within UK and negotiates with community leaders.
      A whisker away from public order breakdown & sectarian violence.
      Likely see a financial crisis by his continuing to stuff his paymasters with gold.
      The UK is heading for a Weimar style clash of forces.

      Apart from that Starkey thinks Starmer's a great guy.

    2. The first PM of UK that doesn't believe in Britain, doesn’t believe in the people nor national interest.
      Inhuman. Inhumane. He find it easy to be ruthless. He thinks exclusively in terms of law.
      Starmer is the walking small print at the end of a phone contract that no one reads.
      Constantly repeats slogans believing if you repeat it.. it happens.
      Signed up to the nonsense of International law.
      Actively encourages sub states within UK and negotiates with community leaders.
      A whisker away from public order breakdown & sectarian violence.
      Likely see a financial crisis by his continuing to stuff his paymasters with gold.
      The UK is heading for a Weimar style clash of forces.

      Apart from that Starkey thinks Starmer's a great guy.

  97. Should this assisted killing Bill get through Parliament, what will the insurance companies do? If you have private medical insurance, will your insurer put a stop to payments if they think it's time for you to go?

    Experience says YES.

    1. Medical insurance usually has a maximum amount they will pay out, doesn't it?
      So when you've reached that point, you'll have no other choice

      It's far worse in the NHS where there is no guaranteed benefit for anyone, because nobody has a health insurance policy. So who decides when you've had your fair share of resources?

    2. FIL reached the stage in A&E where it looked doubtful if he would survive much longer.
      His private medical insurers declined to provide any further assistance.

    3. What about Life Insurance? Will the Insurance Company pay out in the event of suicide (because that is what 'Assisted Dying' is – the person will take his or her own life).

    5. Life assurance companies refused to insure your life if you had had an HIV test whether the result was positive or negative. The companies' logic was based on the supposition that if you had had a test it meant you feared you might have AIDS and you feared this because you had a high risk life style and if you did have a high risk life style (i.e. you were homosexual) the companies did not want to take that risk but did not want to ask you outright whether you were homosexual or not.

  98. German made? You're having a laugh!
    Germany's been deindustrialised. Get your solar panels from China.

  99. " UK debt levels (unsustainable)"
    How on earth did Emma Furnival manage to get this truth bombshell past the editor?

    Great article though. Britain is being murdered in plain sight.

      1. The debt has built up over years of Bank of England and government mismanagement. But whoever’s left without a chair when the music stops will get the blame.

  100. Going back several centuries on multiple lines, I found nobody other than English and some Welsh – from Pembrokeshire – "The little England beyond Wales".

    1. My mum spent a great deal of her time in retirement years (this was before online) in libraries, checking old records etc, following the discovery of a relative buried in the local graveyard when the grass was cut back. She had a lot of success, kept her busy.

        1. Ndovu, I began my interest in Family History in 1979 when my then 8 year old son came home from Primary School and asked if I could draw him a Family Tree as homework. I groaned inside, since my mother was the youngest of 11 surviving children of her mother, who was born to a 16-year-old girl in Bristol Workhouse. My wife's mother was the second eldest of 10 children from a Welsh mining village. So I had to start with a very wide sheet of paper.

          At present I subscribe to Ancestry, FindMyPast and MyHeritage.com , since they all have different strengths. I even visited the Church of Latter-Day Saints' massive building in Salt Lake City to ask their genealogists what records they held about Bristol in the 1700s to 1800s.

          Since 1979 my Tree has grown to over 1,550 entries, back as far as the 1480s, with lots of photos of recent members. It's amusing to look at Marriage dates and the birth of the first (sometimes 4 month 'premature') baby. But it's a hundred times easier with the advent of the Internet.

          1. I was inspired by my late father in law – who had no internet but sat for hours in the archives to do his research. Then , after my mother died in 1989, I found various interesting documents and letters. So it it began. I sat for hours in the archives poring over microfiche and micro film. I didn’t go to Salt Lake City but I did go to their local Family History Centre in Cheltenham and ordered the first certificates via them. I’ve let my subscription the FMP lapse, but I still have Ancestry – by default because I forgot to cancel it at the end of the last period on a special price.
            I have 2136 individuals in mine (just checked) and my paternal line as far back as the parish records go in Gloucestershire. Other lines not so far. Although my father was born in Surrey, we are actually a Gloucestershire family and several went to live in Bristol where they were businessmen, including one who was very wealthy and a benefactor to his native village. They all had huge families in Victorian times and so there were many different lines to trace there.

            My younger son was also asked to find out about his family tree when he was about 7 or 8 and so I asked the then living parents and was quite surprised how little they knew. My mother didn’t even know the Christian names of her grandparents. My then father in law did know a little more, but wasn’t entirely accurate.

            It’s certainly a fascinating hobby and has kept me busy for many years, though not so much lately. There’s always more to find out though and the 1921 census turned up a few interesting bits. Wills and death certificates are good too. Especially now that a lot of the death ones are online for much less than we used to pay for a certificate many years ago. it’s interesting to see the cause of death. The newspapers on FMP are a goldmine too.

          2. I was inspired by my late father in law – who had no internet but sat for hours in the archives to do his research. Then , after my mother died in 1989, I found various interesting documents and letters. So it it began. I sat for hours in the archives poring over microfiche and micro film. I didn’t go to Salt Lake City but I did go to their local Family History Centre in Cheltenham and ordered the first certificates via them. I’ve let my subscription the FMP lapse, but I still have Ancestry – by default because I forgot to cancel it at the end of the last period on a special price.
            I have 2136 individuals in mine (just checked) and my paternal line as far back as the parish records go in Gloucestershire. Other lines not so far. Although my father was born in Surrey, we are actually a Gloucestershire family and several went to live in Bristol where they were businessmen, including one who was very wealthy and a benefactor to his native village. They all had huge families in Victorian times and so there were many different lines to trace there.

            My younger son was also asked to find out about his family tree when he was about 7 or 8 and so I asked the then living parents and was quite surprised how little they knew. My mother didn’t even know the Christian names of her grandparents. My then father in law did know a little more, but wasn’t entirely accurate.

            It’s certainly a fascinating hobby and has kept me busy for many years, though not so much lately. There’s always more to find out though and the 1921 census turned up a few interesting bits. Wills and death certificates are good too. Especially now that a lot of the death ones are online for much less than we used to pay for a certificate many years ago. it’s interesting to see the cause of death. The newspapers on FMP are a goldmine too.

          3. I was delighted to find, with the help of a few amateur genealogists, that I could now trace my ancestry back in direct line to EGIL, King in Sweden (Uppsala) circa 530

          4. 530 is really impressive. My American grandmother’s grandparents were all Norwegian, her grandfather a prominent clergyman, hence easy to trace on the Internet. I found an ancestor from the 15th century who had an entry in Wikipedia. From there on I went back from son to father until I discovered a German count from the eleventh century. It all stopped there.

  101. Assisted Dying is the wrongly named.

    Firstly it is solely DIY.
    Secondly it is not dying that is being sought – it is death itself.

    People who opt for assisted dying are already dying.
    They want to finish it painlessly by themselves aa soon as possible without further hanging around.

    1. Some people need assistance to hasten their death.

      We have had a few cases in Canada where people have been suffering from diseases that progress to the point where they become completely immobile, they want to die with dignity not as some nappy pooping vegetable.

      I had a friend who suffered from ALS, he faught as hard as he could, invested in every research program that he could find but all to no avail. He went from a very active man to being confined to a wheelchair with little bodily control beyond head movement. People like that deserve help if they cannot take any more.

      A lasting memory was Steph at his daughters wedding, he was determined to have the traditional father daughter dance and he managed it, although he was strapped into his high tech wheelchair that lifted him up to a standing position. That memory still reduces me to tears.

      1. There will no doubt be some issues if the legislation requires death to be accomplished solely by the requesting patient.

    3. The next government will be tasked to undo a lot of what is being done now.

      Edit: On past performance they haven't – it's time for the next lot to realise that they need to undo what Labour are doing.

      1. But the amount of harm they can do in the next five years will be irreparable.

        Take farms and schools for example.

        2. Damage to farms depends on the amount of time the current older farmers have before they pop their clogs – ie seven years from giving their farms to their offspring. Labour will hopefully be out, and any decent government will have repealed those provisions by then.

          Schools – the damage was already being overseen by the Tories. Labour can do a h£ll of a lot of damage in 5 years. Like Blair and Brown did – but what they did was never repealed by the following Tory majority governments, which is something they must NEVER be forgiven for.

    4. The next government will be tasked to undo a lot of what is being done now.

      Edit: On past performance they haven't – it's time for the next lot to realise that they need to undo what Labour are doing.

    5. The next government will be tasked to undo a lot of what is being done now.

      Edit: On past performance they haven't – it's time for the next lot to realise that they need to undo what Labour are doing.

  102. Assisted
    Suggested
    Recommended
    Mandated
    law .

    How long will it be before people feel obliged or that there is a time limit or maybe to unburden the NHS . This is a very slippery slope .

  103. Knackered again!
    About 3½h of work done.
    A lot of chopping the larger logs, dragging small diameter sticks up to the chopsaw and filling about 8 mushroom trays with them.
    More than a bit sweaty so off for a bath!

    1. I think it is a reasonable question, although verging on unpleasant. Just a pity the question seemed to be raised in a manner to make it sound sensational.

      1. So it’s fine to have your tats removed, your boobs enlarged/reduced, your ‘gender’ changed or any one of the other freebies from our world class NHS, but a bit of help at the end of your life comes with an invoice? 🤦🏻‍♀️

    3. Hired assassins will offer a scale of charges : some races and religions will cost less to assassinate than others.

    5. Just a thought: those life assurance policies that always payout on death of the assured – do they have suicide clauses or will they cover NHS expenses for assisted dying?

    6. One thing to be said for the tardy NHS: by the time they get to you, you'll either be dead or have had several years more life.

          1. Opposition to the death penalty resulted in the withdrawal of drugs used in chemical executions.
            In assisted dying there remains the question of certification of death and it is not that straightforward.
            There is not a single drug that is appropriate for the purpose and this article identifies the issues.
            Not only must the heart's function be compromised to ensure death but the Central Nervous System must be diasabled to inhibit the body's ability to recover from an assault,,
            .

            https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67150566#:~:text=In%202011%2C%20the%20UK%20made,different%20drug%20combinations%20in%20executions.

  105. Ave atque vale, amici! Joyous Advent to you all; I'm off to an Advent Carol Service shortly. Today's sermon was about "imposter syndrome" – rather appropriate for my first attempt at being an acolyte, I thought! We did manage okay, though, apart from my not being able to get the candlestick out of its holder when it came to processing out. Just talk amongst yourselves while I wrestle with it!

    I should think the founder of the Hospice movement is either turning in his/her grave or wondering if, perhaps, a trick hadn't been missed.

    1. When MB was a choirboy, he disgraced himself by spearing a marrow with the processional cross after a Harvest Festival.

      1. I was a bit concerned I was going to set the curtains on fire with the candle, but fortunately, I got through the gap okay.

        1. When I was an altar boy, I singed my fringe with a large candle I was carrying in a heavy brass candlestick.

      2. That's got me in stitches, Anne. I keep getting pictures of Eric Sykes with his plank and a foot stuck in a bucket of wallpaper paste.

  106. 397842+ up ticks,

    May one say in all honesty I cannot see for the life of me why this has been allowed to continue as far as it has .
    This country has, over the past decades, been founded on blood, sweat and tears and to see it handed over to foreign criminal aliens via criminal politico arseholes and indigenous followers is soul destroying.

    Migration cap not an option despite record numbers, admits Government
    Pat McFadden rejected the idea of a ‘simple’ target number, saying this had failed when tried by Conservative administrations in the past

    When tried by Conservative administrations in the past ?

    The fat wretch cameron said "We are limiting the numbers and promptly raised them"

    They are, and have been these last forty years, the lab/lib/con anti Brit coalition party.

    1. 397842+upticks,

      O2O,
      How about we disband the RNLI on health & safety grounds as I see it in the course of one year how many indigenous in distress have been saved within the English Channel area
      against how many potential troops have the RNLI taxied in to Dover and what is the crime figures recorded ie paedophilia, killings, serious abuse,etc,etc for given year.

      In my book that leaves the RNLI a very serious threat to fellow countrymen,women & especially children.

  111. Two old pals, an elephant and a snake, met in the jungle. Elephant says "What shall we do today Arnold?" Snake says "How about a game of snooker Nelly?" Nelly says "We haven't got a table , balls or cues" Arnold says "Well we could do a small trick for a red and better tricks for the colours" "Ok" says Nelly "You start". The snake then stood vertically and did a pirouette on its tail "How's that for a red?" Elephant agrees. "Right I'm going for a black" says the snake who promptly enters the elephants arse goes through its body and out its trunk "How's that for a black?" he says. Elephant agrees that was a great trick and worthy of a black. "Right" says the snake "another red" and does another pirouette and the says he's going for another black so enters the elephants arse and through its body but he's halfway down the elephants trunk and the elephant sticks its trunk up its arse and says "How's that for a snooker?"
    Talking of snakes – the keeper of the snake house at Chester Zoo has been sacked, he's been feeding the snakes Viagra and selling them as walking sticks.
    I'll get me coat!

  112. The Priory Church of the Lady of St. Mary at Wareham.

    The parish church of Lady St. Mary, Wareham is a church of Anglo-Saxon origin in the town of Wareham, Dorset, in England. The church is notable as the possible burial place of King Beorhtric, and for the discovery of five stones with Brittonic inscriptions dating to the 7th to 9th centuries. A notable feature is the unique hexagonal lead font dating to around 1200. The Anglo-Saxon nave was demolished in 1842.

    St Aldhelm, who was Bishop of Sherborne around 705, founded a church at Wareham which is probably the church of Lady St. Mary. A nunnery may have been associated with it, but this was destroyed by a Danish raid in 876, before being rebuilt by the daughter of Alfred the Great around 900. The church may also be where Beorhtric, King of Wessex, was buried in 802, and where the body of King Edward the Martyr was brought after he had been murdered at Corfe Castle in 978.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fe5d266ad65aa9278358d207d06eb004ba022bc291bde494a441083a53972ba4.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/709a480cc34a383ac8895f5938a38b928810eaa427d7f7e86f9dd3c3b61d5887.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7b550c0a2bcce6f034021808d82695a845ce1700fe6b3c40ff7fedea968633d2.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3bc9472dedaced8f5d68ad66b9970244889e254c0fff1840e284ae97b28e52c7.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fad88415f0e0863b6725afb03bf7c598cb4c8831015936fc97dd0c5de76da7cf.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f35ed9d551e54114d2ebac690234da83597125c72e9c4bd049ae198305be733a.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/57d9b511ddd8fa256e44445f4d855f02dbc354d814dbe402c3bd49a8cc3e6899.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9f9c379e09f731eedc2370d38a422e7e87751510888c3f0f259b0c42f46be609.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b32137d50a06999f4949e8d67837f747b3ce887c44811c5c2c27cba350fed0bb.jpg

  113. For anyone who has a touchscreen tablet ('phone screen prob a bit small) if you want to waste an hour so doing nothing, there's an app called Find the Cat which is harmless, nonsensical amusement.
    Volume up.

    3. I spent five minutes trying to find two cats outdoors. They were upstairs in the spare room.

      2. They'll call and call if you so much as go to the loo without them, but when they fall asleep under the cover of your quilt, they completely ignore you.

    4. If you want to waste even more time try Facebook Reels. If you like the content click follow and you get more of that genre. Following Frenchies and Boxers. Hilarious.

  115. Update on my mad performances yesterday – I survived, albeit somewhat ragged of voice due to having to compensate for an inadequate violinist. Have spent the morning sorting that out with the director.

    The first audience was utterly mystified – not helped by having a few of my English-speaking friends who understood not a word 🤣🤣 – the second roared with laughter, joined in with gusto, and absolutely loved it. Nowt so weird as folk.

    I then went on to a birthday party and danced until the early hours with handsome men. It's a hard job, but someone has to do it! 😉

    Now to rinse* and repeat.

    * Literally. It's been chucking it down since midnight…

    1. Best to dig out the liberty bodice and long johns if you are going to go out caterwauling in the rain.

    2. Some people might have chosen the word 'difficult' job. But astute Nottlers noted you chose the word 'Hard' … I wonder what Dr Freud would have made of that?….. :-))

    4. My son arrived in B-A this morning on business staying at the Sheraton. Have warned him to avoid opera singers causing disturbances on the streets!

    5. If you were to announce you are now wearing a Liberty Bodice I can guarantee it will be pouring down in North Norfolk…..

    1. Well done! Par here was close to Birdie but chose wrong word of two.

      Wordle 1,261 4/6

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

    2. Par here and I thought that I made a good guess.

      Wordle 1,261 4/6

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

    3. Well done, par again here.

      Wordle 1,261 4/6

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

    4. I failed this morning. Had a good clue but wasn’t firing on all cylinders and blew it.

    5. Blimey, well done Rene, that was a toughie!

      Happy to have squeaked (another) par here……would have loved to see your divots on that one!

      Wordle 1,261 4/6

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

      1. My first Word had a Green in spot 2 and an Orange;
        My second word had two oranges;
        Result: only one word!

  119. That's me for today. Rained most of this Advent Sunday – clearly global boiling to blame. Submitted the last solar panel reading for the year – 100 KW down on 2023 – more global boi… etc.

    Had an hour's zoom with beloved grand-daughter – who has an Oxford interview in the next ten days or so and is, natch, anxious. Tried to set her mind a rest. She worries a lot. Doesn't realise that what she calls "stress" is what we know as "life".

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

    1. The same with drug addled pop stars who check out. Some I've never heard of, or even care about, the the daily snail has about fifteen on the day, followed by endless 'article's until the funeral which involves twenty or thirty more articles.. Dumbed down. Oh God y e s!???!!

    3. I'm not a fan of him or the silly cooking progs.
      But not much showing of her pointing alarge knife at him.

    1. I’ve taken a nap this afternoon, Bill. I went to church this morning, which was helpful in being able to compare notes with a friend who’s been through this and experienced periods of despair but still come through albeit with a cocktail of meds to take every day. He’s heading off to the Caribbean in a couple of weeks and feeling confident that all will be OK. My nap on the sofa has a downside in that sleeping sitting up makes me snore and I gulp each time I wake but the chest/stomach is much calmer.

      1. You take it easy Susan you'll get through it. Try not to worry too much there are a lot of AFib sufferers out there. Some here as well..

        1. Had an A/Vent in 2002. Had to get the battery charger to bring me back and I'm STILL here!

        1. Robert. Very VERY many thanks for the Trinity College link. Wonderful that such an event still happens in this Godless age.

  123. Got home after 5 hours out. Most of that on a bus. An endless tide of foreigners poured on and off, all speaking dindu to one another. They're everywhere and I don't want them here.

    But… I get in and I'm freezing. I potter about putting dinner on and taking the tablets and making the bed unloading and loading the washing machine (nothing – nothing – gets done when I'm away) and I want a shower. I don''t want to get into a clean bed filthy.

    But the immersion says 15'c. So that has to go on and will cost a quid or two to get to temp. This is why these folk prefer gas. Instead of hot water on demand, heating on demand you have to plan for it and wait.

    1. You should train Mongo and Lucy to do the housework 🙂 They seem to be the most capable of the three!

      1. Mongo does dust very well. His tail is an excellent sweeper. Thing is, it sweeps everything, good and bad. Lucy is a bit too small at the moment. Junior did hoover. He didn't know about the bedlinen (except his own) and had already done that and had his onion ball thing in the evening so didn't hear the washing machine finish – nor, to be fair, did the Warqueen.

      3. I can't drive myself – well, I could but I just don't trust myself.

        The Warqueen can't drive me without someone looking after Junior and the dogs and while may friends offereed I thought it's nearby, get going and I did.

        Thing is, the bus is an hour and a bit, longer as some gormless oafish whelp thought pressing for every stop was funny both ways, ignoring the time you're waiting for it. You can't arrive on time, for a bus, you see. You have to get the one before the one you want to get – if the half 1 for a 2pm, you have to get the 1pm as the half 1 will be cancelled/late/Wednesday. Then you have to wait, so if bus arrives at 1:05 you have to be there ten, 15 mins before, as it'll be early if you're on time and you'll miss it.

        1. Ah. Thank you.

          I had to force my kids to learn to drive. They said, why do we need to bother? I said, you just must. Now they actually have thanked me for making them. They recognise it’s their freedom. Still, an old car and insurance and petrol paid helps. But where i grew up, i needed a car.

          My best friend’s wife is in your position but their kids are a bit older now so can be left on their own. But their dog doesn’t like to be left on her own!!!

          1. Being a bit of a lazy so-and-so, I wasn't in a rush to learn to drive, but my mother (who didn't drive) made me. I'm glad she did; I'd have been stuck, living in the places I do and travelling as much as I do, without private transport.

          2. Being a bit of a lazy so-and-so, I wasn't in a rush to learn to drive, but my mother (who didn't drive) made me. I'm glad she did; I'd have been stuck, living in the places I do and travelling as much as I do, without private transport.

    3. If you have arthritis or tendonitis type irritations look up DMSO on the internet. It's brilliant !

    1. Nah. I'm a Sapper.
      A couple of turns of Det.Cord, gun-cotton primer, detonator, 45 second's worth of fuse and a match fusee.
      Bingo.

        1. Rather excessive I'd have thought.
          I thought we were taking about felling a single tree, not putting the whole bloody forest into orbit!

          1. Fun though.
            Personally I was disappointed when they did away with the Limbo AS mortar. 300lbs of Torpex.

          2. Fun though.
            Personally I was disappointed when they did away with the Limbo AS mortar. 300lbs of Torpex.

      4. No 11 Safety Fuze – after too many decades, I still remember that the burn time requirement for 1 ft is 23-37 seconds. Used with a No 27 detonator. Ah, the smell of HE in the morning!

    2. Nah. I'm a Sapper.
      A couple of turns of Det.Cord, gun-cotton primer, detonator, 45 second's worth of fuse and a match fusee.
      Bingo.

    3. Nah. I'm a Sapper.
      A couple of turns of Det.Cord, gun-cotton primer, detonator, 45 second's worth of fuse and a match fusee.
      Bingo.

  125. So what has Gregg Wallace done to face so many half baked accusations, by middle aged women of a certain class?

        1. Why on earth these silly bandwagon-jumping women didn’t sort him out at the time is a mystery to me! Can they not think and act for themselves?

          1. I think you are right Sue. An accidental knee in his plums would have put him straight (once that is after he had doubled up in agony…)

          2. I think you are right Sue. An accidental knee in his plums would have put him straight (once that is after he had doubled up in agony…)

          3. MOH recalled that one of her nurse trainng fellow intakes, who was well endowed, endured excessive and unwanted stares in the direction of her assets from a doctor on the ward.

            When she decided that that was the limit she said to him "You'll be disappointed" and he never did it again.

        2. Why on earth these silly bandwagon-jumping women didn’t sort him out at the time is a mystery to me! Can they not think and act for themselves?

      3. Recalling Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall, and Jimmy Saville, it's a shame they weren't throttled a lot.earlier .

    4. He probably is a pain – that awful life and soul of the party who takes umbrage if you don't go along with it – but the current demonisation is unpleasant to see. Maybe his ego became inflated and he took advantage of his 'celebrity' status.
      This current furore is bullying. A coven of women piling in like a pack of wolves.

      1. I wrote this comment this morning and didn't receive much of a response

        Repeat..

        Gregg Wallace is an irritating celeb type .. now thrown to the wolves .

        My opinion of him is that he presented himself as a macho male , attention seeker, ghastly laugh , over familiar loud lewd cheeky chappy .

        No different to the sort of characters the BBC promote on that appalling soap called Eastenders , which I DO NOT WATCH, but have seen enough trailers to make up my own opinion of it ..

        He is no different to the bawdy characters we see on some of the reruns of the Carry on series , and of course the other lewd films that promote semi naked men prancing around exposing their bums , blah blah , if you get my drift ..

        Here we have a new government , with a deputy prime minister ( female ) who reputedly spread her legs slightly on the front row in Parliament when her party were in opposition, she used her bawdy looking body to distract the then PM , Boris Johnson from the serious task of delivering speeches .

        I don't feel sorry for Gregg Wallace .. but he could have been drawn to one side and advised his behaviour was not acceptable.

    6. Been a bit of a cnut ?

      He's lucky to have got away with it for as long as he did. My wife went through similar harassment and the guy refused to apologise. So I grabbed his nuts.

      1. Likewise – my wife was harassed on-line but we worked out who it was (not difficult) and I paid him a visit………

    1. Very Sad isn't it.
      It never happens to any of the AHs who really deserve it I thought that there was a god.

        1. I actually think that the Devil is a jolly good bloke. He used to make sure that the pews were filled until wanky vicars decided that we were all saved anyway.

          Saved from what, exactly ?

  128. I've done nothing today except make a very tasty veggie Moussaka. But it was worth it.
    Another glass of and I'll pop off.
    Good night all.

    1. Apologies, but I count three officers and they're quite calm. However repeating 'filthy migrant' probably isn't helpful, same as my saying to plod 'the moped dindu drove around me and hammered into the bloke on the bike lying in the road over there.'

      I got told that wasn't helpful language and the delivery driver was just trying to do his job. I asked how they knew as after hitting the cyclist, the dindu righted his moped and buggered off. I think Hampshire police are less stupid than others as they asked me to not use the term and if they could have a copy of the dashcam footage.

      Could be a I got sensible officers. Could be a bloke bleeding from a head wound was more serious than my anger. Who knew.

      I'll say this though – when the dindu mopeders try to get around and push in I block them off. One's a big volvo. I'd have no trouble driving over one puttering about on his moped at 40 in a 30 just to get another deliveroo kerching.

  130. I'm just testing whether Disqus allows HTML tags to change the colour (sic) of text in posted items. Hope I don't crash Disqus!

    Here goes: <p style="coloured"> This is red </p>

      1. Sorry OLT,
        HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language. Everything you type into the NTTL blog is converted behind the scenes by Disqus into HTML code to be displayed on your PC, Tablet or Smart phone. Occasionally this goes astray and chunks of raw HTML code appear in among the human-readable text.

        I used to be a Webmaster and just wanted to insert some red words into a joke to be posted in Today's Tales. There, now I've turned on Bold text using invisible HTML 'tag' that looks like this: <bold> and is switched off using the HTML tag </bold>, so the text then reverts to normal, non-bold. It all happens 'under the bonnet' but is controlled by those little icons that you see below the box when you are posting. Hope that's a bit clearer.

      2. Sorry OLT,
        HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language. Everything you type into the NTTL blog is converted behind the scenes by Disqus into HTML code to be displayed on your PC, Tablet or Smart phone. Occasionally this goes astray and chunks of raw HTML code appear in among the human-readable text.

        I used to be a Webmaster and just wanted to insert some red words into a joke to be posted in Today's Tales. There, now I've turned on Bold text using invisible HTML 'tag' that looks like this: <bold> and is switched off using the HTML tag </bold>, so the text then reverts to normal, non-bold. It all happens 'under the bonnet' but is controlled by those little icons that you see below the box when you are posting. Hope that's a bit clearer.

      1. Wow Wibbling, I'd never seen that User Guide. It just reinforces what I discovered just now: there are only a limited number of permitted text formatting tags. Probably just as well, or rainbow text would start to spread. Many thanks.

        EDIT: Doh! I never thought to go looking for Disqus Help. Must be my age. Just been swimming around in there. I especially like the little GIF animation about Spoiler Tags. Thanks again.

      1. Look at the post below, Belle. I was attempting to see if coloured text was possible using the relevant HTML tag. I have used it elsewhere in Websites.

          1. Belle, It didn't work, did it? Just proved my point. Disqus just ignores it if it's not one of the premitted HTML tags.

    1. I agree, I dont buy this 'what's the problem with these women?' shite.

      Any bloke (unless he's a retard) understands the 'boundaries' and behaves accordingly – those that dont are assholes….

      1. True, but those seeking offence WILL be offended.
        What I don't understand is why these women didn't kick up a fuss at the time.
        Please don't tell me that in the great scheme of celebrity Rod Stewart's wife didn't have a LOT more clout than Wallace.

        1. "What I don't understand is why these women didn't kick up a fuss at the time." That's a good point.

          1. As I said recently, it has almost become a fashion accessory for anyone who has been on any of these "reality" TV shows, be it Strictly, Bake Off or any other.
            If you weren't abused you must have been undesirable.
            or plug ugly to you and me

        3. I dont believe for one minute that these women were 'seeking offence' – it's also totally understandable why they didnt kick up a fuss at the time viz Savile, Harris, Hall, etc etc
          I've commented on Penny Lancaster before – she's big enough to have battered him – but it takes a lot of bottle to call out these fucking creeps…..

          1. Creeps they are, but the women should call it at the time.
            Don't try to tell me that the grape vine wasn't warning people. They took the chance, took the money, and ran.
            When someone with guts stood up and called the creep out then they all then piled in.

            To put your Savile, Harris into perspective, they were tried nearly 10, yes 10 years before Lancaster's appearance.
            She and the others would have known they were likely to have been believed, particularly after Savile Harris, when TV was doubly careful.

            And yes, I know about HE and the like.

          2. Well HE liked boys, so slightly different!

            I'm always astounded, when I've discussed this with women, some very close to me, as to just how much they have to put up with predatory men – the comments, the 'touchiness', and are too scared to say anything for fear of being branded 'troublesome' or the like!!

            Yes, of course, there will be women who see an opportunity in these cases (not sure for what) but I truly believe they are in a very small minority.

            It often takes, like paedophile cases, a bit of momentum to encourage people to come out and 'testify'. They shouldnt be rubbished….

          3. I completely agree regarding the women and children “without power”.

            I am more suspicious of those, female and male, who see it as an opportunity to further their career, ride in flash cars, get free holidays, gifts etc.

      2. True, but those seeking offence WILL be offended.
        What I don't understand is why these women didn't kick up a fuss at the time.
        Please don't tell me that in the great scheme of celebrity Rod Stewart's wife didn't have a LOT more clout than Wallace.

  134. Assisted dying patients could pay to die, suggests Pat McFadden

    Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster says there is a ‘long way to go’ before a fully-state funded scheme for terminally ill adults

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH says it all

    Edit There will be an extra tax on their death, payable by the nearest and dearest

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/01/assisted-dying-pat-mcfadden-wes-streeting-nhs-tax/

    1. OLT, darn it, there already IS a bl**dy great tax payable ny nearest and dearest on their death if they have a reasonably tidy house and a moderate amount of savings.

      Sorry, just noticed that you wrote extra tax. Nuff said.

      1. The new tax, will be on those who use " Assisted dying"

        ie the patients could pay to die, suggests Pat McFadden

        If it comes to be

        ALL DEATHs will come under this precept

        1. Pat McFadden sounds like a product from Hitler's bunker.

          Can imagine him in leathers wearing the SS or whatever the devils wore.

          Horrible little man .

    2. I wonder how long it will be before govt is paying the nhs for assisted deaths? A little encouragement perhaps?

      2. But it is not the government paying for assisted deaths. It is not the government that pays for anything. It is you and I.

    1. Well, I wouldnt have a problem with biological women in my 'single-sex spaces' – bring it on…..

      1. In all seriousness 4G I don't think I would be comfortable in such a situation. It's not like it's going to be Sam Fox with the women from a Benny Hill sketch running around.

    3. Big Blue
      1 HR AGO
      Reply to – view message
      The big lie used to be the immigration numbers especially when they were contradicted by the amount of NI numbers issued to foreign citizens. Since Brexit, the immigration numbers should be easy to calculate because they are all visa driven. Still the ONS manage to muck this number up (have you noticed how they never seem to over estimate) however the big lie now is the net migration number and this is driven by the emigration number which is simply made up so that the net migration figure doesn't look even more horrendous than it is.
      So if the number of visas issued equals around 1.4m and we add to this figure a further 200,000 illegal immigrants we get to 1.4m. A net migration figure of 745,000 would need an emigration number of 855,000.
      Ask yourself, do you know anyone whatsoever who's emigrated in the past year? Ask yourself if you've ever been stopped at an airport and asked if you're emigrating? Ask yourself if you think that the ONS has actually counted these emigrants (they haven't) and now ask yourself that if they can (deliberately) muck up the bits they can count ( the immigration number) what could they possibly do to miscount those that they didn't count in the first place.
      Now ask yourself why a Telegraph expert hasn't been able to point this out?

    4. Big Blue
      1 HR AGO
      Reply to – view message
      The big lie used to be the immigration numbers especially when they were contradicted by the amount of NI numbers issued to foreign citizens. Since Brexit, the immigration numbers should be easy to calculate because they are all visa driven. Still the ONS manage to muck this number up (have you noticed how they never seem to over estimate) however the big lie now is the net migration number and this is driven by the emigration number which is simply made up so that the net migration figure doesn't look even more horrendous than it is.
      So if the number of visas issued equals around 1.4m and we add to this figure a further 200,000 illegal immigrants we get to 1.4m. A net migration figure of 745,000 would need an emigration number of 855,000.
      Ask yourself, do you know anyone whatsoever who's emigrated in the past year? Ask yourself if you've ever been stopped at an airport and asked if you're emigrating? Ask yourself if you think that the ONS has actually counted these emigrants (they haven't) and now ask yourself that if they can (deliberately) muck up the bits they can count ( the immigration number) what could they possibly do to miscount those that they didn't count in the first place.
      Now ask yourself why a Telegraph expert hasn't been able to point this out?

    1. Me too, Bob. Had enough.
      A new working week (and twelfth month) beckons tomorrow.
      Goodnight to you.

    1. Good. I don’t want to drink this milk.

      “Frigging nonsense agenda” – couldn’t have put it better myself!

    2. Good. I don’t want to drink this milk.

      “Frigging nonsense agenda” – couldn’t have put it better myself!

  139. I was being light-hearted AAL, although it really wouldnt bother me, either. Particularly Sam Fox as I understand she bats for the other side?……

  140. My last boring bit

    More than 20,000 migrants have crossed Channel since election

    The number of small boat arrivals since Labour won the election on July 4 now stands at 20,110 after two boats carrying 122 people made it to Britain overnight.

    It is the number of boats not people…

    If it is people then

    It is 150 days, since the election, so 20,110 divided by 150 = 134 only arrived each day

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/01/migration-targets-not-on-table-despite-record-numbers-admit/

    1. I am shocked by this , OLT..

      Ethnicity facts and figures
      Government data about the UK's different ethnic groups.

      82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group (2021 Census data).

      Find information about the experiences and outcomes of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

      https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/

      https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/long-term-international-migration-flows-to-and-from-the-uk/

      We need another census . Do you think it is 25% ethnic s now ..

      3 years is a long time .. and several million have entered since 2021

    2. I am shocked by this , OLT..

      Ethnicity facts and figures
      Government data about the UK's different ethnic groups.

      82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group (2021 Census data).

      Find information about the experiences and outcomes of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

      https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/

      https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/long-term-international-migration-flows-to-and-from-the-uk/

      We need another census . Do you think it is 25% ethnic s now ..

      3 years is a long time .. and several million have entered since 2021

  141. Huge tomato puree scandal revealed just now,

    The BBC has reported that tomato fields can be viewed from space in…… China , whereupon the tomatoes are then sent by the trainload to ITALY .. to be processed into tomato puree.. and marketed by all the supermarkets ..

    Why the report , oops slave labour of mostly Chinese Muslims , who are tortured by the Chinese overlords if they don't pick tons of the stuff every day . https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crezlw4y152o

    Isn't everything these days produced by slave labour , by one degree or other ?

  142. Huge tomato puree scandal revealed just now,

    The BBC has reported that tomato fields can be viewed from space in…… China , whereupon the tomatoes are then sent by the trainload to ITALY .. to be processed into tomato puree.. and marketed by all the supermarkets ..

    Why the report , oops slave labour of mostly Chinese Muslims , who are tortured by the Chinese overlords if they don't pick tons of the stuff every day . https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crezlw4y152o

    Isn't everything these days produced by slave labour , by one degree or other ?

  144. Goodnight, all. Kadi is already fast asleep and snoring away at my feet. Off to RAFA Christmas party tomorrow.

    1. Could it be that you also snore when you are asleep, Conners, and that Kadi is just a copydogcat? Lol. Anyhow, enjoy your Christmas party today, old chum.

  145. Goodnight, all. Kadi is already fast asleep and snoring away at my feet. Off to RAFA Christmas party tomorrow.

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