Sunday 10 July: Boris Johnson should put his country first – and leave Downing Street without delay

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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581 thoughts on “Sunday 10 July: Boris Johnson should put his country first – and leave Downing Street without delay”

    1. Good morning, Bob3. Same here, so that my daily hour’s gardening will start within the next hour before it gets unbearably hot.

  6. Boris Johnson should put his country first – and leave Downing Street without delay

    Say those who put their country first – The EU

  7. ‘Morning All
    Rishi the globalist banker that appeared from nowhere,parachuted into the safest con seat in the country then raised to high office is 5/4 fav to be our next PM
    Hmmm,anyone else getting the feeling The Great Reset is accelerating at light speed??
    BTW What happened to Ukraine?? not a single story in the DT headlines after multiple stories for weeks…………
    It’s all so tiresome…..

    1. Good morning, Rik. I haven’t read the Telegraph yet but I shall do so shortly. I have no reason to doubt you, Rik, but if that is true (no Ukraine stories) then “we live in interesting times” and it will be fascinating to see if the MSM change their stories about the “warmongering Russians”..

  8. ‘Morning again.

    SIR – The arrogance of Boris Johnson is beyond belief.

    Staying on at No 10 is bad enough, and damaging to the Conservative Party. But his desire to stay on and have a wedding party at Chequers (now cancelled), while people are queuing at charity food outlets and unable to heat their homes, showed just how out of touch he is.

    The sooner we are rid of him the better.

    David Walters
    Ex-chairman, Hexham Conservatives
    Corbridge, Northumberland

    Mr Walters is obviously not a happy chappie.  However, wedding bashes will always continue as newly-weds strive for bigger and better.  No, my objection would have been that Chequers was given to the nation by Sir Arthur Lee as a country residence for the use of the PM of the day, not as an impressive but relatively cheap wedding venue for Johnson, his boss and the Bullingdon Club.  They both appear to be suffering from delusions of grandeur.  It also demonstrated very poor judgement on their part.

    1. Carries’s ambition & choice….sticks out a mile.
      She would never have the gravitas or sense of responsibility that, for instance, Winston’s Clementine did.
      & Boris should have known that.

        1. I can understand men falling for good-looking women, or for intelligent women, or for women with a sense of humour, or women with good taste, or rich women, or sporty women, or femmes fatales. But Carrie?

    1. Matt back on form. Am I the only one who found his cartoon yesterday to be mean-spirited? Not an approach he usually adopts.

  10. Meanwhile in Holland……….

    https://twitter.com/rising_serpent/status/1545971928715984897?s=21&t=NV-lL7h8t1Z-qDcst3m4bA

    https://twitter.com/mrtdogg_/status/1545431845776539648?s=21&t=dGTFayqqbT98LU2if3jWPQ

    I was out with a large group of friend last night and mentioned the protests,no-one had a clue as MSM coverage in the UK is virtually nonexistant

    What are TPTB really after……….

    This??

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7509b552edc7cff2e30cf51fb9ae506e4c5ab8a2ba19ce79908408592c24999c.jpg
    Edit Finally found a story
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/07/09/farmers-freedom-convoy-takes-aim-strict-dutch-net-zero-regulations/

    1. For those who curse the paywall:

      Farmers ‘freedom convoy’ takes aim at strict Dutch net zero regulations

      Workers have taken to their tractors in protest at the Netherlands unveiling tough green laws – and they’ve won support from a famous fan

      ByJoe Barnes, BRUSSELS CORRESPONDENT, NETHERLANDS
      9 July 2022 • 4:21pm

      Lauded by Mick Jagger and vilified by their own prime minister, Dutch farmers are giving Europe a taste of the backlash the Continent faces in its drive towards net zero emissions.

      Huge protests have swept the Netherlands triggered by the introduction of new laws designed to cut nitrogen and ammonia emissions, by up to 95 per cent in certain areas, from its agricultural sector.

      Inspired by the “freedom convoys” which began in Canada and saw truck drivers bring major roads to a standstill in protest at Covid vaccine mandates, tractors are blockading supermarkets and industrial complexes across the Netherlands, at a cost of tens of millions of euros to businesses and the economy.

      The demonstrations, some of which have turned violent, materialise with little notice and are organised via secretive channels on the Telegram messaging app.

      They are a sign of the growing discontent among European farmers faced with spiralling fertiliser costs owing to the war in Ukraine and demands to cut down on emissions. In Britain, unions have urged Downing Street to give them more time to overhaul their businesses to make them more sustainable.

      The working-class uprising has not only won over the support of the Rolling Stones frontman and popular conservative broadcasters in the US, but the Dutch public is also siding with the farmers.

      Recent polling showed the Farmer-Citizen Movement, formed three years ago in response to the climate laws, would secure 11 parliamentary seats if a general election was to be held now. Dutch fishermen have also joined the protests, blockading ports. 

      Earlier this week, police opened fire on Jouke Hospes, a 16-year-old who was driving one of his father’s tractors, and two others, at a demonstration in the Friesland region.

      On Friday, when The Telegraph visited the Netherlands, hundreds of businesses across three towns were brought to a complete standstill by three separate demonstrations, which came and went with very little warning.

      Among the main targets for the farmers are supermarket warehouses, which has resulted in empty shelves.

      However, the demonstrators insist it is not their wish to infuriate their fellow countrymen, but to force the government to stage a referendum on its climate change legislation.

      At their protest in Eerbeek, a small town some 60 miles east of Amsterdam, farmers moved their tractors to make room for two funeral processions to pass their blockade and handed out food and coffee to the policemen drafted in to watch over them.

      The festival-like atmosphere was a stark contrast to the violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcers at recent protests, including during a blockade of Groningen Airport.

      Their fight to protect family businesses, some of which have been passed down from fathers to sons over the last two centuries, has had a polarising effect.

      Back in Amsterdam, Jagger gave the farmers a celebratory shout-out – in Dutch – during the Rolling Stones’ gig at the Johan Cruyff Arena: “Zijn er ook boeren?” (“Are there any farmers in the house?”)

      In contrast, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, has described them as “a——-” in private and publicly raised questions over their right to protest.

      “It is not acceptable to create dangerous situations. It is not acceptable to intimidate officials,” he said last week.

      Back in Eerbeek, where demonstrators blockaded an industrial estate, on which 113 firms are based, Mr Rutte was accused of going into hiding and refusing to negotiate with the farmers.

      “Where is our prime minister? This country is on fire and the farmers are standing up to the government,” an English-speaking spokesman said, while giving a hastily-arranged press conference from atop a hay bale.

      “Their rules and regulations seem not to be political. The rules and regulations are ‘scientific’, and you can’t stand up against that,” they added.

      “We say make the rules and regulations in this country political again, have a discussion and make it a choice.”

      Chief among the farmers’ fears is that the new climate rules are Dutch, and not dictated by the European Union, meaning there is an open door for supermarkets to opt for cheap foreign imports.

      Negotiations have started between the government and farming unions amid mounting concerns the demonstration could become a Dutch version of the yellow vest protests in France.

      It is already noted by officials that the movement could explode into a broader public protest against net zero, attracting far-Right groups to the unrest, as they did during the Canadian freedom convoy demonstrations.

      For the Dutch farmers, it is solely about protecting their centuries-old way of life as Western governments impose tough climate targets.

      Under the proposed laws, the green transition will force many of them to make massive cuts to their livestock herds.

      This, they argue, will put an end to the Netherlands as the globe’s second-largest exporter of agricultural products, only second behind the United States.

  11. SIR – The sorry events of the last few days have confirmed beyond doubt that Boris Johnson’s primary interest was always in the Johnson party.

    The particular circumstances of his removal from the leadership of the Conservative Party (he has not used the word “resign”) have done no credit to him or those who continue to support him, such as Jacob Rees-Mogg.

    Norman Macfarlane
    Kingston upon Thames, Surrey

    “The Johnson party” sums it up nicely in my view. And the Moggster hasn’t come out of this at all well so far.

    1. …and in Johnson’s Johnson as the Americans call it. Got to keep it wagging.

  13. Heard on GB news morning rerun that the mainstream media has finally mentioned the troubles in the Netherlands.
    There is an article in the Telegraph, apparently .

    1. Russia’s dominance in the energy market has given the world a foretaste of net zero.
      A British farmer recently commented that it would cost him £200 to send his produce to market and £100 to plough it in.

  14. 354073+ up ticks,

    Morning Each.

    Sunday 10 July: Boris Johnson should put his country first – and leave Downing Street without delay.

    That’s bloody rich, I knew and commented many a time he was a continuation of the major, the wretch cameron, clegg the leg over, treacherous treasa.

    The bloody rich bit is that the party supporters / members as with ALL lab/lib/con party member / voters PUT THE
    PARTY BEFORE THE COUNTRY THAT IS THE CONTINUING RECURRING PROBLEM.

    The first really dangerous lockin has been with us for decades resulting in deaths, serious injures, paedophilic rape & abuse,
    mass illegal flooding ( ongoing).

    The odious remnants that remain of a once decent nation are due to the continuing voting pattern of it’s REAL guardians of these Isles, the indigenous peoples.

    The original lockin was individually mindset induced, gotta vote tory ( ino) keep out labour, gotta vote labour(ino) keep out tory (ino) all the while the toxic trio politico’s have formed a coalition.

    Why, when we are in such a dire state via, very much so, the polling booth, is a pro English / GB fringe party NOT receiving a major, tsunami type boost as a opposition to the coalition ?

    1. KK

      Who really is safe guarding Britain .

      Who has put our country first .. no one .. that is why we are in a bleeding mess.

      Look at what is happening in Sri Lanka .

      So we have a choice of one Hindu , two Muslims and one Buddist , and a few whites of unknown religion .

      Tory leadership, bollocks … We need an honest Prime Minister who loves Britain

      1. And the mostly Nigerian Kemi is the one who is the most pro this country, along with the other woman of colour, Suella.

      2. 354118+ up ticks,

        Morning TB,
        Why was the genuine UKIP party that designed & triggered the referendum
        treacherously, whilst under Gerard Batten successful leadership, put down via it’s own nec / farage that duo done more damage than people relies.

        Currently the majority of the electorate are feared of stepping outside the lab/lib/con political lockin
        ( the village) & casting a vote elsewhere because they believe they will be chased by a big pair of white balls.

          2. Sorry, King Stephen, I think I just had an attack of the Confused of Colchester syndrome.

  18. Good morning all. Yet another bright and sunny day with 10½°C outside.

  19. This galling picture made a mockery of Wimbledon’s Russia ban. 10 July 2022.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/198d4668603f1dc7e18a52991e10577ffc7cc241d8c7cbe10b5c872b938829fd.png

    It was the most spectacular of self-inflicted wounds. For no sooner had Wimbledon reduced itself to a glorified exhibition than it ended up with precisely the picture it had been so desperate to avert. Yes, the image of the Duchess of Cambridge handing the Venus Rosewater Dish to Elena Rybakina was one wreathed in the bleakest irony. Since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine 135 days earlier, the All England Club had sacrificed itself on the perceived nobility of its ban on all Russian and Belarusian players. And yet here was its patron presenting the prize to a young woman born, coached, educated and domiciled in Moscow.

    The moment was enough to provoke howls of despair through the panelled corridors that lead off the Centre Court grass. All along, Wimbledon’s rationale for blanket exclusion of Russians had been to deny Putin any chance of a propaganda coup. This ladies’ final, though, brought a photo opportunity that would have everybody at London’s Russian Embassy laughing uproariously over their vodka glasses.

    Galling? Howls of despair? Really? Well if it has made a mockery of Wimbledon’s Russia ban it would be deserved. Unfortunately for whatever reason it almost certainly passed the vast majority of people by. There should never have been any ban on Russian Nationals competing in any sphere let alone one by a lawn tennis organisation. Like the theft of the private property of expatriate Russians this is just another example of a political class that is devoid of any moral sense of right or wrong. None of these people have had any effect whatsoever on the political decisions of Vladimir Putin. The persecution of individuals without judicial oversight, for whatever reason, is not the business of the State and only those in a totalitarian system would think so.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2022/07/09/galling-picture-made-mockery-wimbledons-russia-ban/

    1. All we need now is for Unvax to win today and it will be proof that there is a God.

    2. I love the smell of schadenfreude in the morning.
      I am so sick of virtue signalling that even a tainted rat-run win in a sport that bores me rigid has made me smile.

      1. We had a sermon on being a good Samaritan today (today’s reading). It included spending more on Fair Trade goods and not buying from companies with dodgy human rights etc records even if they were cheaper. Hmm. I see my duty as a God-fearing citizen to get value for money and to remember I can only spend it once.

    4. Being Russian is bad enough but beating an “African” is just unforgivable. Rules need to be changed..

    5. OK – born in Moscow but “Rybakina has represented Kazakhstan since 2018 when she first focused on turning professional”. I don’t see a problem, but then I’m not a whinging Leftie.

    6. With NoVaxx winning the men’s tournament, that’s a nice clean sweep against the WEF!

  20. Headline in today’s DT:

    “Grant Shapps: I’m a campaigner and a doer – and I will deliver as the next PM”

    Hahahaha….Heaven preserve us!

    1. Under which name? Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath or Sebastian Fox?
      If he wants the Woke vote, he could be the fragrant Corinne on alternate days.

      1. The man’s a liar and a crook:

        Shapps’ use of the names Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox attracted controversy in 2012. He denied having used a pseudonym after entering parliament and, in 2014, threatened legal action against a constituent who had stated on Facebook that he had. In February 2015 he told LBC Radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty, “Let me get this absolutely clear… I don’t have a second job and have never had a second job while being an MP. End of story.”
        However, in March 2015, Shapps admitted to having had a second job while being an MP, and practising business under a pseudonym. In his admission, he stated that he had “over-firmly denied” having a second job.[26] Under the name Michael Green, Shapps had offered customers a “get-rich-quick scheme” costing $497, and promised customers a “toolkit” that would earn them $20,000 in 20 days, provided they followed its instructions. . Upon purchase, the “toolkit” was revealed to be an ebook, advising the user to create their own toolkit and recruit 100 “Joint Venture Partners” to resell it for a share of the profits. It was a Ponzi scheme. He should be in jail.

        1. ‘Over-firmly denied’, just another way of saying that Shapps, aka Green, not only lied but that he lied about lying.

    2. Well, what a collection of absolute no hopers – Shitts, Javid, Rhyming Slang all declaring themselves as candiates to join the other useless collection.

      1. We all know who could save the party but the party does not want to be saved.

    2. “Or we won’t have a U.K. left that we recognise.”

      It has been unrecognisable for many years and even though we rightly blame Blair the Conservative governments under Cameron, May and Johnson have accelerated the process of destruction.

  22. Yo All

    Big brother (or is it sister or non-binary relation) just gets bigger and bigger

    Pet owners caught without dog mess bags could face £100 fine

    Council wardens in Nottinghamshire will ask owners to show evidence of their ‘means to pick up’ waste

    Council wardens will now be permitted to approach and challenge owners on whether they have the “means to pick up” and can fine them

    £100 if they do not.

    Those who fail to settle the fine could be taken to court and ordered to pay £1,000 if convicted.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/09/dog-walkers-caught-without-poo-bags-could-face-100-fine/

    2. 354118 + up ticks,

      Morning OLT,

      Can a dog warden fine the missis if walking the dog in her charge, a near enough law is to be obeyed.

      This will eventually “lead”
      to a rock saying “I saw that” consider yourself nicked.

      ,

    3. What if your dog has crapped, you’ve picked up the turd and disposed of it. Does it mean you have to carry multiple bags so you always have one to use?

      1. Just seen your salient point as well.
        Who are these morons who have these money trapping ideas ?

    4. Strangely all of our local and very convenient poo bins were memoved by our all knowing all self important local councilers. There are now only a few places dog walkers can relieve them selves of the winter hand warmers. And of course you’d need two or more bags just in case.
      And if your not passing soon or not on that particular day you’ll have to take it home and go out another time to place it in a bin. Sometimes take in the car to meet the demands of the idiot local councelors.

    5. I understood that had been the case, nation-wide, for a while. Perhaps it’s the ability to challenge and ask for proof that is new.

  25. Zelenskiy dismisses ambassadors; six killed in strike on Donetsk apartment block. 10 July 2022.

    Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has fired his ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary, without giving further details as to why. Zelenskiy has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and high-end weapons to slow Russia’s advance. It was not immediately clear whether the envoys would be handed new jobs.

    With his arrest of the Leader of the Opposition and the abolition of any dissenting Political Parties, along with the recent tirade against one of his generals you have to wonder how stable; or democratic, Zelensky really is.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/jul/10/russia-ukraine-war-live-news-zelenskiy-dismisses-ambassadors-six-killed-in-strike-on-donetsk-apartment-block

      1. Good Grief! If even the Guardian is begginning to talk sense this must be the End Times.

    4. The EU is apparently building an underground bunker, according to RT. The bunker will allow meetings of EU leaders to be held in absolute secrecy.
      That is how democracy works.

      1. Taking a leaf out of the Zelenskiy playbook, and providing a nuclear bunker, for when Putin unleashes his warheads – or armoured brigades.

    5. To paraphrase Bob Monkhouse; Zelenskiy may have been a comedian, but the Ukrainians are not laughing now.

  26. Good morning, all. Another warm sunny day (sighs…)

    The Iraqi thought to have been a money launderer. What a terrible shock!!

      1. Except be furtive about his and his wife’s tax and nationality status. Nothing “serious”….(sarc)

  27. Morning all 😃
    Bore-us should put his country first and leave number 10, of course he should but he’s too obsessed with his own self importance to consider that. As most of our over self important plotting politicians are.
    I wonder who Mr Johnson was actually working for, he certainly didn’t appear to have the United Kingdom in mind. Although profits for hotels have held steady. In fact he’s wreck many peoples lives and livelyhoods.

  29. Elon Musk really is a genius with his space travel and electric vehicle innovations. Put the two together and head for Io (orbiting Jupiter for a completely free induction charging station vis:
    “Io’s orbit, keeping it at more or less a cozy 262,000 miles (422,000 kilometers) from Jupiter, cuts across the planet’s powerful magnetic lines of force, thus turning Io into an electric generator. Io can develop 400,000 volts across itself and create an electric current of 3 million amperes. This current takes the path of least resistance along Jupiter’s magnetic field lines to the planet’s surface, creating lightning in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere.”

    https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/io/in-depth/

    And if you think the above is wishful thinking it is probably more plausible that the promises being made by countless aspiring leaders!

    1. We could use our own planet’s electrical output but there might be nasty consequences:

      ‘Earth is the “Goldilocks” geodynamo. It rotates steadily, at a brisk 1,675 kilometers per hour (1,040 miles per hour) at the Equator. Coriolis forces, an artifact of Earth’s rotation, cause convection currents to be spiral. The liquid iron in the outer core is an excellent electrical conductor, and creates the electrical currents that drive the magnetic field. The energy supply that drives convection in the outer core is provided as droplets of liquid iron freeze onto the solid inner core. Solidification releases heat energy. This heat, in turn, makes the remaining liquid iron more buoyant. Warmer liquids spiral upward, while cooler solids spiral downward under intense pressure: convection.
      Earth’s Magnetic Field; Earth’s magnetic field is crucial to life on our planet. It protects the planet from the charged particles of the solar wind. Without the shield of the magnetic field, the solar wind would strip Earth’s atmosphere of the ozone layer that protects life from harmful ultraviolet radiation.’

      https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/core

    2. I understand that holding religious (idealogical) meetings in public parks was illegal.

      1. But the police would only intervene if they were white Christians.

        Most people think that this is the case – does anyone of this forum disagree?

        1. The police action at Speakers Corner underline your point. I cannot see how we may take back control.

          1. We would have to persuade the armed forces to join us in revolution. That is going to be only way we could possibly take back control.

          2. We would have to persuade the armed forces to join us in revolution. That is going to be only way we could possibly take back control.

  31. Bonjour, as they say in Germany.
    Johnson was appalling but hard to believe it, whoever replaces him will be worse. Every single one of the current papabile have supported the policy in Ukraine – which whatever you think of Putin – is insane. It is also the measure of the type of politics they will follow: i.e. wagging their little tails at the sociopaths running the USA (quite possibly at the behest of China).

    Lord Frost has been very quiet about that war, as far as I can tell. He says he walked away from the cabinet because of the CoViD policy, but we know there was more to it than that.
    I wish to God Frost would step up, but if Mr Abe’s luck is anything to go by, it may be that discretion is wiser at the moment.

    1. The Telegaffe is reporting Grant Shitts as saying [about spending more on defence] “We are Europe’s good cop – the country Putin fears most in his neighbourhood” – the paper also says that increased defence spending would be spent on “new fighter squadrons and battleships“?

      1. Trying to fight WWIII using WWI tactics. Issue the pongoes with trench spades.

      2. Does this dickhead know how long it takes to build an aircraft or a battleship?

      3. Aircraft rendered the battleship obsolescent during WWII. In today’s situation add in the close-to-silent nuclear submarines and a battleship is as close to a metal coffin as one can find. Battleships were built to fight your enemy’s battleships, has any other nation a battleship as its primary seafaring weapon? The man’s a 🤡 of the first order.

        1. Entirely agree but I think that might be the Telegaffe’s error? Lord knows who they employ as sub editors; no one possibly?

      4. Are the going to print the money to do this or are they going to pay in fags?
        Good cop my arse.
        Putin must be quaking in his boots.

  32. Inland Revenue experts are investigating the tax affairs of new chancellor and Tory leadership hopeful Nadhim Zahawi, The Independent can reveal.

    HMRC became involved after a secret inquiry was initially launched into Mr Zahawi’s finances by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2020. The Independent has also established that officers from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigated the chancellor’s financial affairs.

    The probe was then passed to HMRC, which falls under the control of the Treasury – the department that Mr Zahawi now runs. A senior Whitehall source confirmed that the tax investigation is currently “unresolved”.

    It can also be revealed that Boris Johnson, home secretary Priti Patel and the Cabinet Office were all informed of the investigations.

    The disclosures come as multimillionaire Mr Zahawi announced he was running in the leadership race to succeed Mr Johnson as prime minister.

    Launching his campaign on Saturday evening, Mr Zahawi pledged to lower taxes for individuals, families and businesses, boost defence spending, and continue with education reforms.

    The Independent reported on Wednesday that the NCA’s International Corruption Unit had looked into Mr Zahawi’s finances and tax in an inquiry codenamed “Operation Catalufa”.

    Nadhim Zahawi publicly called on Boris Johnson to resign two days into his new job as chancellor (Anadolu/Getty)© Provided by The Independent Nadhim Zahawi publicly called on Boris Johnson to resign two days into his new job as chancellor (Anadolu/Getty)
    We also described how Mr Zahawi said he knew nothing about the matter until contacted by The Independent. The investigation was launched in 2020, the year Mr Zahawi rose to political prominence as vaccines minister during the pandemic.

    There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Zahawi, a popular and respected figure among Tory MPs.

    Well-placed sources have now confirmed that HMRC, the NCA and the SFO had all been involved in a “detailed investigation” into Mr Zahawi. It is understood that the HMRC investigation is being conducted by a unit that is responsible for offshore tax issues.

    A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “Under the ministerial code, ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their ministerial position and their private interests, financial or otherwise.”

    The spokesperson added: “The chancellor has followed the process set out in the ministerial code, and complied with those requirements to the satisfaction of the previous [Whitehall] independent [ethics] advisers.”

    Mr Zahawi made his fortune with polling company YouGov and in the oil industry (AFP/Getty)© Provided by The Independent Mr Zahawi made his fortune with polling company YouGov and in the oil industry (AFP/Getty)
    Asked which ethics advisers had cleared Mr Zahawi’s appointment – bearing in mind that Whitehall ethics adviser Lord Geidt resigned last month after clashing with Mr Johnson, and has not yet been replaced – the spokesperson said they believed Mr Zahawi had been cleared by Lord Geidt’s predecessor Sir Alex Allan when Mr Zahawi first became a minister in 2018. That was two years before the investigation into Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs started.

    After publication of the latest revelations, a spokesperson for Mr Zahawi said: “All Mr Zahawi’s financial interests have been properly and transparently declared. Mr Zahawi is not aware of any formal investigation by HMRC. His taxes are fully paid and up to date. He will provide full information to any queries that HMRC have about his tax affairs.”

    A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The usual pre-appointment declarations were made by the minister and any necessary checks completed.”

    Mr Zahawi, who moved to the UK from Iraq as a child, made his fortune with polling company YouGov and in the oil industry, serving as an executive at Gulf Keystone Petroleum until 2018. He became MP for Stratford-upon-Avon in 2010.

    The former education secretary was appointed chancellor this week following the resignation of Rishi Sunak. Having defended the prime minister, he then called for him to stand down the day after taking up the role, telling Mr Johnson he “must do the right thing and go”.

    Asked if it had investigated Mr Zahawi, an HMRC spokesperson said: “We do not comment on identifiable taxpayers.”

    An NCA spokesperson said: “The NCA does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.”

    A spokesperson for the SFO said they “could neither confirm nor deny” if it had investigated Mr Zahawi.

    1. Tax law in the UK consists of more than 24,000 pages of text which contain many ‘grey areas’.
      If the combined forces of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs, together with Government, don’t know what they are doing, the taxpayer has zero chance of being 100% correct.

    2. Further proof that politicians are expert at ‘misappropriation’. With more than quite a few important matters and issues.
      The only person I would support would be ex military General Wallace.
      Someone needs to get this pile of political garbage in order. And kick out those who don’t comply.

  33. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/12226980d875a88e015d490c23bf888b2d0ce3affc4865215448d4d6bdf0f0a7.jpg Where’s Philip? Today I shall roast this gorgeous hunk of beautifully-marbled beef rib-on-the-bone (after initially searing it) to 53ºC, then resting it to 55ºC for perfectly medium-rare.

    It weighs 2·512kg (5lb–8·6oz), was sold at SEK349/kg (£12·55/lb) and cost me SEK876·70 (£69·48)

    I shall served it simply, with steamed spring greens, roasted potatoes and a gravy made from the drippings. Unused slices will, in the future, make some delicious beef sandwiches, served on a toasted cob with fried onions, sautéed mushrooms and horseradish sauce (or a dab of Colman’s English).

    2. Bloody hell Grizz I spend that a month on food – still, you deserve a treat now and again

      1. It is indeed a rare treat, Spikey. I only get to eat a Sunday roast once in a blue moon. Here in Sweden they have their main weekly meal on a Saturday night and it is never a roast. I’ve just eaten my beef with Yorkshire puds. Loads left over for sandwiches etc.

    3. The only way we could afford that in the UK is to take up cattle rustling. 🐄🐃

      1. I never buy overrated fillet steak. It may be tender but, compared to all other cuts of beef, it is flavour-free.

          1. Most people do, but it still lacks flavour compared to other beef cuts. BTW My rib was delicious: moist and pink at a rested 55ºC. I love things that are moist and pink!

          2. Resting the meat is as important as cooking it properly as you are aware. My rule of thumb is to rest it at least as long as it has been cooked for if not longer.

            With the Rossini you don’t really want a stronger flavour because of all the other things going on. I like a good Madeira sauce with steaks.

  34. Dominic Cummings, three days ago:

    https://twitter.com/Dominic2306/status/1544990924572430337

    Clearly Cummings has a low opinion of his erstwhile boss. Carnage? Why would the PM at the point of becoming the ex-PM want to damage the Country? If, as Cummings claims, carnage could be inflicted on the UK I can think of one act that would cause uproar: amnesty for all the illegals. Would Johnson dare? Is he that small a man?

    1. Yes.

      He left his previous wife .. she was being treated fro Cervical cancer .

      I used to think Boris brushed people aside as if they were a piece of fluff.

      Carnage .. well, the circus left but the clown stayed.

  35. I’ve just received an email which said “Knock knock” – I think it’s from a Jehovas Witness who is working from home

    1. Good morning Alec, and everyone.
      In my limited experience JW seems to be a faith designed to keep people who are borderline mentally ill (eg BPD) on the straight and narrow.

      I wouldn’t object to its tenets, but it is anti-gay.

      1. Morning Tim, I’ve no thoughts either way but I object to being cold called

      2. So are most religions. It comes from the earliest moments of the oldest man in the tribe remembering the problems such caused in the past and proscribing it.

        Add in centuries of protectionism and you end up with ‘modern’ religion.

  37. We have guests coming this morning

    Three times we tried to get The Bitch (Alexa) in the corner to give us a reminder, when it is 1030.
    She finally agreed to tell tell us when it is time to Strangle her

        1. Until quite recently a conversation with Junior went something like this:

          Why is the sky blue?
          Because the radaition in the upper atmostphere scatters other colours more easiily, making it seem blue.
          Isn’t it a reflection from the sea?
          Yes, some times.
          What’s radiation?
          Well… Radiation’s bad, isn’t it?

          No…
          I want radiation.

          You already do, in the form of heat.
          I’m a radiator. Why don’t we have people standing in our rooms then?
          Well…
          And on and on for about – the record was 6 hours.

          What I’d really like to do is sit down with a giant encylcopedia, look the questions up and properly answer the ones I don’t know (which is most of them). I have said this, but the preference ifs to corner you and keep going.

        1. Someone here, Rik probably, said they were making a male version- it didn’t listen to anything;-)

    3. Why didn’t you just put a reminder on your phone? I don’t even have a smart phone, but it has an alarm function. I just set it to beep at the time I need to be reminded of.

      1. Yo Conners

        The phone lead would not stretch from the hall to the front room.

        Is it true, that you can get mobile phones?

    1. Here you are – I hope

      Didn’t load – too big – have sent to the THREE e-mail that I have for you!!

          1. When Blair got one, and Mandelscum made a lord it was clear the honours system was a debased farce.

  39. This galling picture made a mockery of Wimbledon’s Russia ban
    Russia-born Elena Rybakina presented trophy by Duchess of Cambridge in move All England Club did so much to try and avoid
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2022/07/09/galling-picture-made-mockery-wimbledons-russia-ban/

    BTL

    I have no influence with politicians many of whom I despise. Many Russians despise Putin and his aggressive policies. But our foul politicians determine to punish completely innocent people just because they are Russian.

    Ask yourself this question: when Mugabe was murdering people in Zimbabwe and when Idi Amin was practising genocide in Uganda would our politicians have punished Zimbabweans or Ugandans just because they were Zimbabweans and Ugandans?

    We might also conclude that the politicians can get away with punishing ordinary Russians because they are white.

    1. The silly idea of punishing a tennis player for the actions of her President is daft. None of us are responsible for Boris or his absurd decisions. we’ve disliked most of them.

      2. At first I thought it was an audio tape that Gavin Williamson had made of his then boss Boris!

      3. It’s a check rail, used on the inside of sharp curves to prevent derailment by flange climb i.e. the outer wheel rising to the top of the rail.

    4. I saw a steam-powered boat (20 footer) going from Richmond to Teddington lock this am. She was beautiful-varnished wood. Quiet, too – but a faint whiff of sulphur downstream.

        2. A once safe fair and cultured country f*cked up by our own stupid grossly ignorant political classes.
          No defence, as if they didn’t know this would happen.

          1. Not ignorant. Evil. This was intentional. It is race replacement. The worst bit, 70% of those people don’t work. They do absolutely nothing and cost tens of millions.

            Scrap welfare.

          2. It has to run into a brick wall eventually, don’t these evil morons realise this. The Dutch government are now throwing farmers off their land in order to build homes for the displaced lazy shite from countries where they can’t be bothered to farm and improve their lot. The global elite need to be wiped off the face of the earth. PDQ.

        4. Surely a starting point is to ban any for of dress, including wearing dressing gowns in public. France had the right idea. Force them to fit in, or get rid of them.

  43. Canada to return Nord Stream 1 turbine to Germany in blow to Ukraine. 10 July 2022.

    The fate of the turbine has highlighted unforeseen consequences of the Western sanctions against Russia in response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

    Yes that they can’t do without Russian gas! How (eventually) cutting yourself off from the cheapest energy source on the market will improve matters is certainly open to question and might one point out they will simply be exchanging one Supplier for another. The Arabs are not noticeably benign and no one in their right mind would want to be at the beck and call of the United States! No one should be under any illusions here. Ukraine is not about Freedom and Democracy. It is about Geopolitical Power!

    https://www.euractiv.com/section/europe-s-east/news/canada-to-return-nord-stream-1-turbine-to-germany-in-blow-to-ukraine/

  45. Peter Kleeman want Priti Patel to be the next PM – so he wants more illegal gimmegrants to come here? She and her ilk are the last people we want running this country

  47. Good morning all.

    Whilst I’m reluctant to trust anyone in the fake-Conservative party, Suella Braverman was one of the ‘Spartans’ who voted three times against Theresa May’s deal. Steve Baker is backing her, he is one the few seemingly-real conservatives in that party. And it would be hard for Labour to play the race card against her, if they had their third female PM, (this one asian) and they have a procession of white men (Starmer, Corbyn, Miliband, Brown, Blair).
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/s/su-sz/suella-braverman/

    1. The Britain my parents , aunts and uncles fought hard for for 6 years is slipping out of our fingers .

      I have a small photo of Daddy which is sitting on the shelf above our fireplace , wearing his medals .

      The legacy they left for us has been TRASHED.

      1. If the brave soldiers who fought and died for this country could see what we have become, I suspect they would wonder why they bothered.

        1. All our war memorials , and especially those in Normandy , acres of graves , don’t the mean anything to politicians .

          Do politicians know anything about the history of Britain

          As for an Iraqi becoming chancellor .. and I noticed his secretary was wearing a long dress.. and she was a white girl , is such a nonsensical appointment .

          Those people love money and status , Look at what the Afghan president did when he and the politicians abandoned their country to the Taliban , they took all the money with them …

          Nope , we are being made to look like fools.

          Let me remind ou what Boris wanted to build at Chequers .. a £150,000 tree house for his son , the duck island mentality has never ever gone away.

          They are all thieves .

  48. Good morning all.

    Whilst I’m reluctant to trust anyone in the fake-Conservative party, Suella Braverman was one of the ‘Spartans’ who voted three times against Theresa May’s deal. Steve Baker is backing her, he is one the few seemingly-real conservatives in that party. And it would be hard for Labour to play the race card against her, if they had their third female PM, (this one asian) and they have a procession of white men (Starmer, Corbyn, Miliband, Brown, Blair).
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/s/su-sz/suella-braverman/

  49. Candidates and “integrity” – by Matthew Syed in The Sunday Grimes:

    ‘We have to rebuild faith.” “We have to restore integrity.” One by one, Tory leadership candidates who served under Boris Johnson are lining up to trot out the same mantra, evoking the crisis of trust in western democracies and their intention to fix it. Am I alone in looking on in a state of disbelief?

    Do they think we have forgotten that they are the very people who colluded with Johnson as he lied and broke the law; who defended the indefensible rather than safeguarding the public interest; who used high office to weaken the invisible struts of our system? When Johnson was high in the polls, and they could see on which side their electoral bread was buttered, they did everything they could to conceal and justify wrongdoing.

    It was only when the Tories fell behind Labour, when tactical voting revealed that the Lib Dems could crucify them in the southwest, when the red wall started to crumble — in other words, when they feared for their own political skins — that they discovered a new vocabulary. Words like “integrity” and “duty” reappeared where before it had been “complete faith in the PM” and “Boris got the big decisions right”. They now claim he was always unsuitable for high office, having strained every sinew to keep him there.

    It is why this prime ministerial defenestration cannot restore trust; how could it? On the contrary, it will add contempt to the collapsing faith in politics. How risible for Suella Braverman to talk about honour; how hypocritical of Rishi Sunak to adopt the patina of integrity. Brandon Lewis? He took the silver pieces for years, enjoying the ministerial driver while threatening to breach the rule of law “in a limited and specific way”. Only at the bitter end, as the political edifice was reduced to rubble, did he rediscover his conscience.

    This is not duty or integrity, or the other words that the candidates are using, contorting their faces into expressions of mock piety; it is the opposite. And it shows that the concept of trust is misconceived. Trust, we should remember, is not an unequivocally good thing. If you put your trust in a conman, you will be shafted. Being overly trusting is one of the things that can get you into trouble when you are surrounded by charlatans.

    What a successful society needs is not trust per se, but trustworthiness — a point made by the philosopher Onora O’Neill. For it is only when people are trustworthy that having faith in them is justified. When we can take people at their word, when we can rely on them to do the right thing, we can co-operate effectively and invest confidence in the promises of elected officials. That is why trustworthy societies have higher rates of growth.

    But trustworthiness is what western societies have been losing — in no small part because of the actions of politicians. In America trust fell steeply at the time of Watergate and has never quite recovered. Here was a public that had grown up confident in their officials; children had learnt about Abraham Lincoln, Honest Abe, who while working as a shop assistant mistakenly took six cents too much from a customer and walked three miles to return the money. There was doubtless a fair bit of mythology, but the wheels of government turned smoothly.

    Then Watergate happened and Americans looked on in a state of shock as a president was found to have been complicit in a conspiracy to cover up a criminal act. This exerted a huge effect on American psychology. Think of what it is like when you put your faith in a friend or spouse only to find out that they have been cheating on you. That’s right: you become more cautious, less trusting, and you start to suspect other people too.

    Watergate wasn’t the only reason for the downward shift in trust in the 1970s, but it was an influential factor. The public learnt to trust politicians less, and in many ways political standards dropped in the light of these new expectations. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, putting party above duty, a decision that many felt was justified at the time but that made a mockery of the ideal of equality before the law. Across America a new suspicion emerged: one rule for them, another for us.

    The public, you see, are not stupid. When they see politicians cheating, they recalibrate their expectations and will revise them only when there is good evidence for doing so. This requires public officials to make personal sacrifices to advance the common good. It is why high-profile resignations of the kind that once defined British political life — think of Lord Carrington — have unusual psychological importance. They send a ripple through the social fabric, recalibrating public trust in an upward direction.

    But when do we see such self-sacrifice today? When do we see politicians acting in the public interest at the expense of their own careers? Of the main Tory leadership contenders, only Jeremy Hunt and Tom Tugendhat can hold their heads up high, having refused to serve under Johnson. Almost all the others sniffed the wind and set their sails accordingly.

    It is only lower down the rungs of society that we see duty and trustworthiness in abundance. Consider Aaron Van Langevelde, a little-known lawyer and Republican who sat on the board tasked with certifying the 2020 presidential election result in Michigan. At the time, colleagues pressed him to refuse to do so, citing spurious grounds of voter fraud. Senior Republicans piled on the pressure. Had Van Langevelde gone along with them, he would doubtless have become a right-wing hero and might even have parlayed his new status into a lucrative media role.

    He did not. On November 23, 2020, he sat before the committee and said: “John Adams once said, ‘We are a government of laws, not men.’ This board needs to adhere to that principle here today.” His action allowed the result to stand, something that was crucial to the transfer of power, but he paid a considerable personal price: he was vilified on social media, spurned by the Trumpist elements in Michigan and sacked from his position. He has since disappeared into obscurity.

    That was duty. It was Van Langevelde, and hundreds like him in lowly election roles, who saved the republic from the mob. And that is what I see when I look across this nation, too: thousands if not millions who demonstrate minute by minute their decency and probity. I think of the pandemic, in which frontline workers stepped up in trying circumstances: Deliveroo drivers and supermarket staff who held the line; thousands who volunteered for clinical trials of the vaccine, risking their health in the service of the community. These people do not proclaim their integrity; they reveal it.

    It is the antithesis of what we are seeing in much of politics today. As Braverman, Sunak, Liz Truss, Grant Shapps and others burnish their moral credentials, we should never forget that they backed Johnson until the moment it was in their interests to shaft him. That the public does not trust them is not depressing but rational. It is what happens when politicians are untrustworthy.

    @MatthewSyed

    1. Thank you for posting.
      As most, if not all, of the candidates attempting to become Prime Minister have served in Cabinet and therefore agreed to the principle of Collective Responsibility, given the present economic mess, resulting from their collective agreement shouldn’t they all be barred from standing for High Office?
      Or have they no shame?

      2. “Collective responsibility” – a cop out so no one individual can be held responsible.

      3. The danger of that approach though is that the only candidate [afaik] who did not hold office in Fataturk’s cabinet would then have an advantage – step forward Jeremy Rhyming-Slang!

    2. Matthew Syed, the ping-pong playing part-Paki who works for the BBC and other left wing propaganda publishers? Nice to have an independent perspective on the present proceedings in Parliament(sarc).

      1. All that may be true, but what says today about the foul occupants of the Palace of Westmonster is spot on.

        1. I’d bet that he wouldn’t say the same were Labour in the same circumstances.

    3. Interesting that the Times deliberately uses a pro Biden examplle rather than the endless smorgasboard – most recently – of Biden’s assault on democracy.

      It’s sad, really. The Left never change.

      Besides, he’s wrong. People don’t want a government of integrity. They don’t want to respect it. They want money from it. Either their own in lower taxes or someone else’s in welfare. Government is not to be respected. By their very nature politicians are liars, thieves and frauds. Thehigher the office, the more sewage they wade in.

  50. UN says both sides share blame for nursing home attack: 10 July 2022.

    The report by the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights did not conclude that either side committed war crimes, but said the battle at the nursing home was an example of concerns over the potential use of “human shields” to prevent military operations in certain areas.

    This is just a mealy-mouthed admission that the Ukies were using the residents of the Nursing Home as shields for military activity. All of these Ukrainian claims of Atrocities, War Crimes, Genocide, etc. should be treated with considerable scepticism. It does not make sense to expend expensive and rare munitions on Supermarkets or Apartment Blocks and that armed civilians played a part is sufficient explanation for their casualties. We know from the historical record what these things look like. There has so far been no equivalent in Ukraine.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/jul/09/russia-ukraine-war-ukrainian-soldiers-arrive-in-uk-for-training-battle-to-retake-kherson-latest-updates

    1. Once your enemy realises there is someone you won’t kill to kill them, that person becomes a target. Palestinians use children and hospitals (the guardian never mentions this). Churchill did an awful thing in allowing Coventry to be bombed, but it was the right thing to do, as was carpet bombing Dresden.

      The objective must be to kill the enemy at any cost in order to break their will and stop them fighting. we’ve made this mistake countless times.

        2. Are you perhaps suggesting every Tesla comes with an inbuilt funeral pyre plan?

      4. The under-run protection clearly didn’t work.
        Nasty.
        Glad I don’t have to clear it up…

    3. Even my six year old Subaru had a backup system that would have hit the brakes before driving into something that big.

      Mind you I used the automation to assist my driving, not take over control from me.

      1. What was the purpose of the black & white striped band worn on one cuff, Grizz? Looks weird.

        1. Signifies Metropolitan Police, Paul. City Police had Red & White.

          Actually the Met had blue and white, I think.

        2. Signifies Metropolitan Police, Paul. City Police had Red & White.

          Actually the Met had blue and white, I think.

        3. They were called “duty bands”, Paul and they are a bit of a curio today. They stem from a time when a constable was always deemed as being on duty. Uniforms were seldom taken off and the band was worn on a sleeve to tell the public that the wearer was officially on duty.

          Few exist today and where they do they only fulfil an ornamental role. One force that still wore them in the 1980s was the City of London Police, which wore a red-and-white striped band to differentiate them from the mob next door in the Metropolis. I possess one of those bands, given to me as a souvenir by a City police officer during the miners’ strike in 1984.

    1. Modern speak. It is similar to the other maddening phrase: “Issue fines”…

      When I worked for a government department one of their fave clichés was “a letter has been issued.” I asked them if they “issued” their Christmas cards….. Eventually, the use declined. But I left 13 years ago and I imagine the foul words have returned!!

      1. Rather like the Army Quartermaster language – “Stores is for storing, if I was meant to issue stuff they’d be called Quartermasters Issues!”

        Or “You can’t have that, it’s the last one have in the stores. If I gave it to you I’d not have any left for the next person who wants one……”

    2. Bleeding the motorist by government has become a national institution, and like many modern trends, no one can question it as motorists are bad, bad, bad..

    3. Who paid for the roads to be built? Oh, the taxpayer.

      Who pays the council? Oh look! It’s the tax payer.

      Who is forced to pay for the traffic wardens? Oh look! It’s the tax payer.

      In effect, the tax payer is being forced to pay a fee to use his own property, forced on him by people he employs.

      Now imagine a different world. The council receives no money. It can levy no fines. It cannot create or change a tax. Instead, it receives 14% of local area company profits – these are the only taxes business pays.

      Suddenly, govenrment is totally dependent on private business for it’s income. It would have to learn how business worked, it’s problems and frustrations and, it would have to do what the current bunch of numpties seem to find impossible – serve the public.

    4. Just wait until the nasty internal combustion engine is priced off the roads, they will need to make up tax revenues from somewhere other than fuel taxes.

  54. OT – what a treat – beloved and most favourite grand-daughter has just phoned. How and unexpected twenty minutes can make your morning wonderful!!

  55. I don’t really understand why people are crowing over what Boris didn’t achieve, why they’re rejoining the party after Boris has left… it’s idiotic. Nothing – repeat, NOTHING will change one iota. taxes will rise, the state will provide ever poorer services for ever greater cost, welfarism will continue to expand, waste will continue, business will be hammered, unemployment will rise and the tide of vermin from france will continue to rise unchecked, fed and housed at the cost of the taxpayer.

    Nothing, absolutely nothing will change

    1. I’m not exercised by the leadership jockeying. Whoever we get, the policies will not change significantly. Down here in Wales the council has organised some sort of celebration for key workers, pity, I have some grass to cut.

      1. I find this concept of key workers comical It’s always NHS workers or council wasters. It’s never the real key worker, the person all those people rely on to get paid.

    1. What I find slightly more disconserting is people thinking ministers actually run their departments.

  57. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a couple of his security team looking for a safe retreat tucked away in the Yorkshire Dales. Vlad would never think of looking for him in ‘God’s Country’. Blue suits him but he is looking a little worn down, what with the stress an’ all.

    https://scontent-cdg2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/292791666_10160259171084306_7588857034351224941_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=mnFaYL3DBw4AX8ooj6_&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg2-1.xx&oh=00_AT8naN0kNUCgyYPpwAiTuS1akoY_o8uVR5lx3RTI9jIC3g&oe=62CEFC88

      1. Dad’s Army was filmed in Thetford and the wooded area south of Stanford Military Training Area, about 8 miles north of Thetford town. Later on it was filmed in East Yorkshire around Bridlington and Scarborough. The above is in the Dales area north of Skipton, Settle perhaps Ingleton.

  58. Bloody Cats Protection League… what a scam!
    I’ve been paying £5 a month for nearly two years and what happened when I
    got mugged yesterday? Not one of the little buggers came to help……

  59. A long time ago we had empires run by emperors. Then we had kingdoms run by kings.

    And now we have countries…

    1. Surely we have nations? The countries have always existed. The corollary then would be that we’ve governed by gnats – blood suck vermin.

  60. IT help. I have just cleared my history etc. Now, on NoTTL images have to be opened – – before, they came up automatically. I know there is a way of altering that setting – but can’t remember it.

    Help, please!

  61. Mr Schapps’s integrity is unimpeachable as this Wiki entry shows:

    “In September 2012, Google blacklisted 19 of the Shapps’ business websites for violating rules on copyright infringement related to the web scraping-based TrafficPayMaster software sold by them.[20][21] Shapps’s web marketing business’s 20/20 Challenge publication also drew criticism. It cost $497 and promised customers earnings of $20,000 in 20 days. Upon purchase, the “toolkit” was revealed to be an ebook, advising the user to create their own toolkit and recruit 100 “Joint Venture Partners” to resell it for a share of the profits.[22]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Shapps#Business_ventures

    1. A Ponzi scheme by the look of it.
      I see our shortest in office Chancellor is hitting the news too.

      Nadhim Zahawi ‘under investigation by HM Revenue & Customs over his tax affairs’ as it emerges Downing Street officials ‘flagged concerns’ to Boris Johnson before his appointment as Chancellor

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

      1. I just hope the Hoi Polloi entitled to vote for their next leader can read their biographies before casting their votes. If I were a voter I’d definitely state None of the above – think again (this time seriously!)!

          2. Yes, we have a broad selection of identikits, with minor shades to choose from..

        2. Er – “hoi polloi” – never THE hoi polloi.

          Just saying. It is all Greek to me

  62. Am I alone in thinking that the nine candidates who’ve thrown their hats into the ring are making Boris look like a Winner?

    3. 354118+ up ticks,
      Afternoon S,
      They are ALL master knifers so it really depends on their treachery ratings.

      johnson got by on his ” he makes us laugh make him PM”, I wager the fully idiotic
      supporters ain’t laughing now.

      1. Try this ear worm…..

        Just Nine Stilettos
        Giving it to me
        Deluded, nine screams,
        From reality!

    4. Must read more slowly…..thought you’d written “making Boris look like a wiener. “

    1. “It didn’t happen because our leaders would not do that to us.”
      Seriously. I’ve heard that as an argument.
      I’ve also heard it a lot from suspects I have interviewed – of course I would not smack her.
      But did you?
      I would never do that.
      But why would she say you did?
      No comment.

      1. 80% of the population, at least believe what the government tells them. The government has their interests in mind not ours.

      2. Anyone saying that is a proven baboon. Government is, by definition, malicious, malignant and damaging.

  64. – The problems in Holland are about an old fashioned Kulak-type landgrab – except at least Stalin thought the people he was expropriating would be replaced by other food-growers (stupid mistake), I suspect the people driving this crap in Holland are rather aiming at starvation given this really small country is the 5th largest exporter of food (someone fact check, because I haven’t);

    – In Sri Lanka it is because they decided to be the first fully organic country a couple of years ago. They have just lifted their ban on pesticides. A bit late. I hope India are feeling charitable. But after the appalling treatment of Hindus by the Buddhist victors in their civil war, they might let them stew for a while;

    – In the meantime, this didn’t get much airtime, but is making its way into the agricultural community: https://www.rt.com/business/341892-far-east-land-infrastructure/
    Putin offers free land for citizens & foreigners in Russia’s Far East
    While Russia’s Far East falls short of selling it, our farmers might prefer this to starvation and bankrupcy.

  66. Does Boris Johnson want to be remembered as the prime minister who got Brexit done or as the prime minister who failed to get Brexit done?

    If Boris Johnson wants to leave any sort of legacy behind him he must move heaven and earth to get David Frost into the House of Commons so that he can run in the elections for the new leader. He will have to find a true Brexit supporting MP in an extremely safe Conservative who is prepared to stand down and give David Frost the chance to run in the by election and win it so that his name can be entered amongst the names of those of the other candidates.

    If Johnson is prepared to use all the influence and support he still has to do this this then not only will he leave behind a memorable legacy but he will also be remembered in the final analysis who had the humility to see that he finally put his party’s and his country’s welfare ahead of all other considerations.

    There is a tide in the affairs of men.
    Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
    Omitted, all the voyage of their life
    Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
    On such a full sea are we now afloat,
    And we must take the current when it serves,
    Or lose our ventures.

    Is Johnson a big enough man to try and ensure that he spends the rest of his life in failure and miseries?

    2. Your last question – no, I don’t think so. Look at how he sacked MichaelmGive at the last minute. I think he can be as vindictive as any other politician.

    1. I’d like to trap the carbon emissions of parliament. Perhaps once they realise they are prevented from exhaling they might start to realise just how much of a scam the communist green twaddle is.

    1. ‘We’ weren’t given a choice. That there’s an arranged ‘train walk’ of a dozen blokes to walk with women to the various tube and train stations shouldn’t be necessary, but it is. There has to be a group because London is a toilet full of ethnic sewage who actively attack white women.

    2. No, in the same way you don’t ban cars because of one accident. This person should be expelled and deported.

      However… it ignores the underlying problem – muslim grooming – no, let’s not use the state term, let’s call them what they are: muslim paedophiles.

    4. Nothing will happen- it never does. This country has been run by total plonkers and I cannot see any change in the future.

    5. Looking at what our universities turn out that might be a good thing. Unis should turn out graduates to fill the countries need for engineers and scientists not golf management and other Mickey Mouse degrees

  71. Good afternoon fellow NoTTLers, after a fine morning releasing golf balls back into the wild on a pleasant sunny day, it’s time for a quick bite before grabbing the iron horse up to Troon for a pint…or two.

    Badenoch or Braverman are the only two I would support in the upcoming ‘contest’, though it is telling that the #ScumMedia favourite Sunak had his website prepared last December. If only he spent as much time and effort planning the finances of the nation as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he wouldn’t appear as sleekit as Hunt, Gove and Wankcock.

  72. A rather bored and very hot looking Prince George being subjected to public view at Wimblebum…….what a future he is being groomed for.

    2. The tie didn’t help. I’ve moved on from Sunday best. Church today saw a short sleeved shirt, with two buttons undone. If I’m struck down by lightnig, you’ll know why..l

  73. Slight improvement over past two days…
    Wordle 386 5/6

    🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
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    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. I did par 4 today but was convinced it couldn’t possibly be…
      Wordle 386 4/6

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

      1. Birdie Three for me …

        Wordle 386 3/6
        🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜
        ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟨
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Par 4 today.
      Wordle 386 4/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
      ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
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    1. Count your blessings;-)
      Men eh? Mine has appeared in a pair of shorts but, and I am not making this up, wearing a pair of patterned socks. It is warm enough for socks to not be required but men will be men.

          1. Ah! Dear!No! No! Say it ain’t so, Joe! I have creases in all my clothes.

      2. I laughed this morning when poppiesdad appeared in shirt, shorts and sandals with socks. I am prepared to put up with any amount of eccentricity but sandals with socks I will not. He went off in a huff.

        1. We weren’t going out so socks with shorts round the house was OK. It doesn’t bother me much- the cops in Bermuda wear shorts, long socks and stout shoes.

          1. So does poppiesdad, it was the stout shoes he changed for the sandals today. The long sock were also de rigeur.

        2. What is this thing about sandals and no socks?
          It must be a UK phobia because every other hot country I’ve lived in, no one seems to care one way or the other.

          1. I think it is because it is a contradiction in clothing terms. I lived in France for 5-6 months over the summer for 10 years and never saw the socks-and-sandals phenomenon there. It is like hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, very English.

  76. Right., back outside to pot another two herbs and enjoy this glorious weather.
    Maybe later, gators.

  77. I thought they said Kyrgios had gone down with tourettes

    But apparently he is down by two sets.

    1. It is too hot for me and certainly too hot for Mongo. Junior doesn’t really understand but I’ve said he needs to stay near – preferably in, his paddling pool.

      ‘Cos if he doesn’t, I’m getting in it.

      1. Tut tut – Elfin safety have been warning parents not to let children out in the sun…. Dangerous rays etc etc.

        What a loada bollocks.

          1. It’s 16 in north Scotland.

            If there are any folks in North Scotland who would like to swap, please let me know. Soon.

          2. Wibbs, I love this weather! We see so little nice sunny weather in England that I just want to soak up as much as I can.
            Potted my herbs and a tomato plant to do tomorrow.
            “Bring me sunshine….”

          3. Gah, no. It’s difficult to explain but imagine wearing too many clothes – far too many – that you can’t take of, and then someone whacks on the central heating full blast. Moving is ten times harder, walking feels like pulling bags of rocks. Being in the sun, actually in it – is like being electrocuted, forks of pain across my face – those are nerves firing. Everything is too bright, oversaturated. My skin itches, my eyes ache, I get headaches that last for – as long as the weather does.

            Np. I dislike this weather. This is why the Warqueen and I plan separate holidays.

          5. More to come. High 80s tomorrow and Tuesday, dropping back to the 70s on Wednesday before rising again, maybe 90 at the start of next week.

            I hate it too.

      2. Heat warning level 3, you should be hiding in the cellar. Social services will be on your tail..

        2. He’s nearly 5 feet, from nose to fail. Curled up in the thing that’s 4 foot across and round? Nahh.

          I’d really like him indoors as even in the shade it’s too warm. The ideal is running water, but we haven’t had any for over 3 weeks.

      4. I was too busy today, but if it’s as hot tomorrow I’ll be filling Oscar’s paddling pool. I’ve no idea if he’ll take to it, but it will be interesting to see. I’ll let you know if I’m missing a few fingers and toes tomorrow.

  79. I dont often follow the tennis, but that was a superb match. ND, what a true sportsman

  80. https://dailysceptic.org/2022/07/09/anti-woke-warrior-princess-enters-conservative-leadership-race/

    “… Meanwhile our country is falsely criticised as oppressive to minorities and immoral, because it enforces its own borders. We cannot maintain acohesive nation state with the zero-sum identity politics we see today. …”

    Nonsense. We’re overrun with foreigners, few of whom contribute. Identity politics is simply the Left’s term for the intentional abuse they push to silence debate.

    Cut taxes, shred the state. Cripple the Left’s poowerbase.

    2. Look at the Christian the Lion video on You Tube- very much the same.
      That is lovely.

  82. 454118+ up ticks,

    Realise, if we have a thin end of the wedge
    muslim in the front runners for PM then the
    kids of future generations are well & truly doomed, this via the polling booth and the enemy enemas within.

    1. Kids will know now that to get on top they will have to blow hard, plug it up and mount the inflatable.
      Then it’s just a question of putting their oar in!

    1. #MeToo, sweetie –

      Wordle 386 3/6
      🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      Twice as impressive ! … x

    2. Par 4 here

      Wordle 386 4/6

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

      1. A similar looking par for me too.
        Wordle 386 4/6

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

    4. Wow me! Wordle 386 2/6

      🟨🟩⬛⬛🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      Changed what I started with. Result!

    1. Yer multi-meme largesse clogs up my in-tray.

      I would prefer to debate popular topics with fellow NOTTLERs.

      4. Do you see the images without having to click on them, lacoste? I can only see them if I actually click “view”. I have to say they made me laugh.

        1. When you logon, Connors, if you ‘refresh’ before starting to read, all the images will be there.

          1. That would explain why, if I have to come back to the page for any reason, I see the pictures (but not the links to the Twitter comments).

  85. That’s me for this very hot day. The well STILL has some water in – so I have refilled four butts against the day it runs dry – which can’t be too long coming.

    I hope you all have a spiffing evening.

    I shall try to relax in the shade whilst eating “tarc” – a Thomas dish closely related to a Kwitch Lorayne… With Chef’s selection of home grown salads.

    Don’t know if any of you saw the lovely snap in The Sunday Grimes of the newly (after 30+ years) refurbished west front of Lincoln Cathedral. The MR has ordained that we have a day out over there (during the very wet September….) Her wish is – as ever – my command.

    A demain.

    1. I am looking forward to the Proms this year and am hoping for some good stuff. Especially The Last Night which I want to be a rattling good patriotic celebration. However, I am not going to hold my breath.

      2. The Last Night will again be conducted by Dalia Stasevska, who got caught up, a bit unfairly, in the rumpus over the 2020 fiasco.

        She is, of course, Ukrainian…

          3. Fortunately no. It’s part of a suite by Karl Davydov for cello and piano, arranged for the orchestra.

          6. Excellent. Last November I was in the Choir performing in Bath Abbey, when his Brother Braimah was the soloist playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons….

      4. I was at a last night in 1969, great fun.
        Unfortunately I’m rather inclined to think that each year since then has slowly diminished its patriotic fervor.
        The bbc has a lot to answer for.
        It was this one:
        https://youtu.be/DAO6TT1Wk-Y

        1. We managed the last night in 1967, the year that Malcolm Sargent made his farewell appearance.

          Tickets were courtesy of the Guardian, one of the few good things they have done!

          1. That was the year I applied for a ticket and two years until I managed to get one.

          2. We were very lucky. FIL was something like chief sub editor at the Guardian (how such a raging right winger managed that, I don’t know).

            He received tickets through work and just passed them on. As a poor starving student, I certainly couldn’t afford to buy tickets.

          3. I saved for mine and travelled into London by bus overnight.
            Slept most of the day on a park bench like a vagrant 🙄

          5. Yes, one has standards, even as a poor student.
            Although it may have been questionable on my return bus journey the next night.
            The things one will put up with for good music.

          6. My dad worked on the Stock Exchange…he got free tickets to the Oval and Wimbledon, among others. He and my mother went and, somewhere there is footage, of dad fast asleep at Centre Court during a semi final. Apparently, he snored also. So glad I was not there. He made the news:-(

      5. Most of the Proms will be dreadful – in so many different ways. Just ask Our Susan.

      6. I just had a quick look through the schedule, quite a few pleasant concerts among the woke stuff.

        Well for the first few days, the creepiest are on in the second week!

    2. Will they allow Djokovic to play next year I wonder with the new Prime Minister in charge?

  89. Why on EARTH was Georgie Porgy made to go to Wimbledon wearing a suit and tie, for God’s sake? He is EIGHT.

    Smacks of yer oiks dressing children as mini-adults for weddings….

    1. Precisely my thought.
      The poor lad must have been so embarrassed. And hot and uncomfortable.
      There is a happy medium between slobby chic and adding 40 years to the boy’s age.

      1. The little lad should have been at home playing. I am not impressed by all this parading of the youngsters; yes, I know it is to show there is continuity in the line but let the little sod have his childhood.
        He has a grandpa and father to come before him so leave him at home.

        1. Training for a future role pressing the flesh.
          Damned glad I’m nor royal, or even in the public eye.

          1. Are you back in Norway now or still in Wales? Hope it is/has all gone well.

          2. Still in Wales. The hard work is done, now tidying the last bits away. Two 6 cubic yard skips filled, millions of books given away to Marie Curie, masses of clothing gone to MC and Salvation Army, and I’ll be freaking glad to get home. I’m wrecked.

        2. Training for a future role pressing the flesh.
          Damned glad I’m nor royal, or even in the public eye.

        3. It isn’t just the royals, though. Brats get everywhere – in the parade ring and on the podium at race meetings (some meetings seem to be geared around them).

      3. Quite right, Maggie: “the kid should have been wearing shorts, an aertex top and a pair of sandals …”

        My Way – in My Day ….

    2. Was it a bow tie? That’s what those sort of people usually make the kiddies wear.

    4. Naff parents sadly, the kid should have been wearing shorts, an aertex top and a pair of sandals .

      He should have ruffled hair , no bags under his eyes and allowed to be energetic and eight year oldish .

      I guess his father and uncle scarcely spent any length of time with Dianna, while she was messing around with other men and throwing herself down the stairs .

    5. We made the same comment. However it did add some dignity to his nose picking session.

      1. Make them fleece lined electric blankets because they don’t provide much warmth during power cuts.

      2. 354118+ up ticks,

        Evening S,

        When sanity returns,
        I forecast a roaring trade in
        electric chairs

        1. Evening o1

          I don’t think there’s anywhere near enough hopium to go round….

    2. The state first wants to destroy any semblance of private ownership – it hates success. If it can’t do that, it forces such onerous legislation that only ‘acceptable’ providers can let property.

  91. Is this BTL comment true?

    ‘Somewhere out there is a 2-year-old girl whose mother is a stripper, her father is a crackhead, and her grandpa is President of the United States’.

  92. Reuters reports:

    The Canadian government, which is issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions, said the move would support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas.”

    1. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said on Saturday in a statement that “Canada is unwavering in its support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity … Canada will not relent in pressuring the Russian regime.”

      They really are a bunch of hypocritical lying scum.

          1. I’ll take your word for it Elsie; Spikey and I aren’t intimate- if you get my drift;-))

    2. Thanks for posting, Belle – it is so nostalgic, of a quieter, gentler age and not all that long ago.

    1. We already knew that Uber was a stitch up. I would like to know what Elon Musk has to say about it. He could use Julian Assange as his SPAD.

      1. A lot of folk think Mr Assange’s treatment is one of the most shameful events in British History.

  97. Evening, all. Been an absolute scorcher here; it was 31 degrees C at 08.45 when I took Oscar out (before it got too hot!). It was cool in church, though (and I went back for a dose of sung Evensong – not one of my favourite services, but when it’s sung I find it quite uplifting). As for the lead letter – I’m not sure Bojo knows what his country is.

    1. Just see how rich the fat clown gets in the next 12 months without doing anything other than shagging his wife once a week and his mistresses twice over.

      *Beg pardon…

          2. People who were paid thousands of pounds where attendance was …….oh i give up.

      1. Maybe she could be the new Wolf of Badenoch;-)
        And I wish the Sassenachs could pronounce it correctly.

    2. We need a WASP. But not Shapps, Humt, Tugenhat or Truss. I think that only leaves the fragrant Ms Mordaunt. I would (vote for her).

    3. Oh bad. And I had such high hopes for Badenoch at one time. But she did vote for vaxx passports, so I guess her soul belongs to the devil, and an endorsement from Bilderberg Gove is just more proof.

        1. Unfortunately she has a repelled persona for many folk, regardless of the sense she talks.

          2. People don’t like her. She is too smart, clear, straightforward and sensible. Intelligent people are disliked, unless they find some way to become famous.

          3. I think you are so right. Even in my own small way, I have been treated with suspicion because I am intelligent, educated and well spoken. Frightens some people.

          4. I think especially some/many people don’t like a woman who openly uses her logic & intellect, as a first resort! – especially to debunk what is essentially propaganda or sentimentality.

          7. She comes across as an opinionated old woman, I’m afraid. The voice doesn’t help.

          8. Sorry, that should have said repellant persona. Bluddy predictive text….

          9. Predictive text – turn it off. I rely upon my ability to spell, no matter what any Transatlantic Bot may posit.

  104. That’s another day when it’s been far too hot to do much up the bit of hillside that passes its self off as “my garden” and which, at this time of year, becomes a veritable sun trap!
    Though I have been clearing a lot of weeds from bits that I’ve been neglecting whilst wall building over the past few days and have even managed to pick some of the raspberries that grow in diverse parts. Also started getting the last third of a ton or so of concrete ballast bagged up and howked up to where I’ll be using it.

    I see the Trans-Taliban have had a dog-pile onto Suella Braverman over her comments about the term “Pregnant trans-people” highlighted on Sebastian Payne’s Tw@ter account.

    The comments are interesting. They really do read like an organised pile on from the Tranny with a Fanny lobby.
    Here is a sample.

    https://twitter.com/DanSutton00/status/1546197951680323585

    https://twitter.com/RachAirStailc/status/1546199900655853568

    https://twitter.com/YirmeyahuWedge/status/1546205041677271040

    https://twitter.com/BrookeY75052206/status/1546206687153082368

  108. Morning all 😃
    Such a hot and busy day yesterday. Finished with a family bbq. The prep Its so much work. And village fete day. I kept away from it by preping the lunch. Thankfully our eldest did the cooking.
    As soon as they’d all gone home I washed up, cleared up, watered the garden plants and went to bed, with a twenty inch ocilating fan running to cool the bedroom. But earplugs have to be used. But silence is golden ✨ 💛 ☺😴 infact wonderful.
    That’s why I’m awake so early. As usual I will probably doze off again. Fan off now.

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