Sunday 16 April: Humza Yousaf is making light work of destroying the SNP and saving the Union

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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496 thoughts on “Sunday 16 April: Humza Yousaf is making light work of destroying the SNP and saving the Union”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Sheep Farming

    A farmer buys several sheep, hoping to breed them for wool, chops, etc. After several weeks, he notices that none of the sheep are getting pregnant and telephones a vet for help. The vet tells the farmer that he should try artificial insemination.

    The farmer doesn’t have the slightest idea what this means but, not wanting to display his ignorance, only asks the vet how he will know when the sheep are pregnant.

    The vet tells him that they will stop standing around and will, instead, lie down in the grass and roll around when they are pregnant. The farmer hangs up and gives it some thought.

    He concludes that artificial insemination means that he has to impregnate the sheep. So, he loads the sheep into his truck, drives them out into the woods, has sex with them all, brings them back and goes to bed.

    Next morning, he wakes and looks out at the sheep. When he sees that they are all still standing around, he concludes that the first try did not take and loads them into the truck again.

    He drives them out to the woods, bangs each sheep twice for good measure, brings them back and goes to bed.

    Next morning, he wakes to find the sheep still just standing around. One more try, he tells himself, and proceeds to load them up and drive them out to the woods. He spends all day shagging the sheep and, upon returning home, falls listlessly into bed.

    The next morning, he cannot even raise himself from the bed to look at the sheep. He asks his wife to look out and tell him if the sheep are lying in the grass.

    “No,” she says, “they’re all in the truck and one of them is honking the horn!”

  5. Jeeves and Wooster stories censored to avoid offending modern readers. 16 April 2023.

    The disclaimer printed on the opening pages of the 2023 reissue of Thank you, Jeeves states: “Please be aware that this book was published in the 1930s and contains language, themes and characterisations which you may find outdated.

    “In the present edition we have sought to edit, minimally, words that we regard as unacceptable to present-day readers.”

    The warning adds that the changes “do not affect the story” of the novel, which is the first full-length work to feature the famed comic creations of idle gentleman Bertie Wooster and his resourceful valet Reginald Jeeves, a pair portrayed by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in a 1990s ITV adaptation.

    You have to juxtapose this with the teaching of very young children the realities of sexual perversion as normality and acceptance of the most doubtful propositions as scientific reality. It’s quite clear from this that the cultural matrix of Western thought has been destroyed. Those qualities that made it superior to all others have been abandoned. This self-annihilation has penetrated every aspect of the UK and its institutions which are all consequently in a state of near collapse. It is a society poised on the edge of the precipice.

    If there is a bright spot in all this it is that it is not yet universal. There still exist pools of rational thought and traditions of Free Speech. Mostly in the Global South. This civilisation is drawing to its close. Its replacement has yet to arise!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/15/jeeves-and-wooster-censored-penguins-latest-sensitivity/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    1. Yo Minty

      SWMBO has got her needles and threads out, to embroider a similar disclaimer for the ‘By-there’ , ooops ‘By-ere’ Tapestry, which was made in UK and stolen by the Frogs

    3. That is an enormous relief. I have been lying awake at night worrying about the terrible language used by Wodehouse…..

        1. I was thinking about the sheer nastiness of “shimmering” – and, of course, that Jeeves is “enslaved” (as they say nowadays…)

          1. Some of the names of characters would upset twits now- eg Fatty Bodkin and Fruity Biffen.

          3. Didn’t the Drones Club consider amending the original rules of the Fat Uncles Sweepstake when Bingo Little produced a phenomenally fat aunt by marriage to his only moderately fat uncle?

  8. Humza Yousaf is making light work of destroying the SNP and saving the Union

    Not hearing much lately, its all gone a bit quiet in the MSM, just imagine if that had been Boris.

  9. 373470+up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Dt,
    Starmer has done the impossible: the Tories are in with a real chance
    Labour’s attack ads mean that the next election will be dirty. The Opposition has the most to lose

    I really do see this as the last General Election, the political farce has run its course, the majority voter has accepted the fodder for fools menu in a brainwashed manner to many times.

    ” The Opposition has the most to lose”

    What opposition ? it is a bloody COALITION joined at their political heads via Pro eu / mass controlled/uncontrolled immigration and the supplying / culling of foreign paedophilia artists, top ups through the Dover “Gateway to welfare access”

    More major gains will be made by the flying poofs candidates and a major political, well deserved upheaval is surely on the cards.

  10. The push for net zero has become a handy excuse to rip us off. 16 April 2023.

    Considering how explicitly anti-wealth the net-zero operation proclaims itself to be, an awful lot of people seem to be making money out of it. You may have the impression that the climate-change campaign – at the official governmental level as well as in its more anarchic protest form – is unapologetically opposed to excess profit and to the growth of personal income. There is very little attempt to disguise this. Elected politicians may claim that the goal of “saving the planet” can be achieved without permanently damaging the prosperity of their populations, but even they accept that in the short and medium term, the comforts and freedoms to which the developed world has grown accustomed will be made prohibitively expensive, if not banned outright.

    I don’t suppose that Janet felt sufficiently safe to admit that this thing is a scam in in its very essence. Not simply financially but politically since it allows for the extension of Power and Control by the Political Elites.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/15/push-for-net-zero-has-become-a-handy-excuse-to-rip-us-off/

  12. Yo and Good Moaning to all Nottlers

    The Boss was up early again to provide our lifeline to Sanity

  13. There will always be ‘Private Education’
    Government Subsidies’ to enable Liebour MP’s to send THEIR offspring to
    an Independent School

    1. I can well believe it – but can you provide a link.

      When Mitterrand proposed scrapping all private schools in France all the teachers in private school declared that they would immediately leave the teaching profession and never work in the state system.

      Such action would have overwhelmed the state system completely and Mitterrand had to climb down.

      What I found most shocking was that when Cameron was PM he put his own children into state schools. If a Conservative PM does not support private enterprise – and what better example of private enterprise than an independent, private school – then what is the Conservative Party for?

      Cameron remained a hypocrite – as soon as he was no longer PM he put his children into private schools!

  16. Off to Cyprus in a couple of hours. Won’t be around much for the next 10 days.

    4. Think of me when you are sipping those cocktails in the sunshine. And i will think of you as i stare out at the rain. :@(

    1. Two points following a quick read of Igor’s substack:

      1) Retired people will not be much of a problem under the WEF’s plans i.e. few will exist.

      2) Essex County Council together with Colchester ‘City’ Council have plans to reduce on-street parking in the last remaining decent shopping street in Colchester – Crouch St West. By removing chevron parking for around 24 vehicles and moving to kerbside parallel parking the spaces available will be reduced by about a half. People don’t want this change and neither do the shopkeepers but it’s going to happen. These councils’ plans appear to be based on the, “Great oaks from little acorns grow ,” idea and they must be watched and held to account.

      If/when the mass of people understand what ‘their’ government, and that includes the aspiring Labour party, are planning there will be trouble, real trouble for politicians. No doubt that those at the top will have their bolt-holes organised but the voting sheep will be left behind to face the wrath of a very disgruntled populace.
      Rutte, in the Netherlands is sailing very close to the wind and may be the first to fall although Macron is doing his best to overtake the Dutchman.
      Killing jobs; plans to expropriate people’s property; taking away people’s rights; restricting travel; reducing food production; lowering the ordinary people’s quality of life etc. in the name of climate change is starting to look like a very bad idea.
      God help the people if they don’t wake up but the Devil can take the politicians when/if the people wake up in time.

      1. I can’t be the Councillors coming up with these ideas, it has to be the Local Authority Twitmarshes, but why the Hell can’t the Councillors recognise the absurdity of the plans and act accordingly is support of the electorate?

        1. I’m going to write to my three council candidates and ask them for their views on this WEF nonsense. I am waiting for the Tory candidate’s electoral address to arrive: currently I have two from both the Labour and Lib Dems. Usual bullshit but nothing about ‘sustainability’ aka restrictions on the electorate.

        2. They go native.
          Several formerly sound Conservatives became zombies after exposure to Town or County Hall gobbledegook.
          It also reflects the calibre of those now wishing to become councillors; at one time, it was local pillars, rather than pillocks, of society in all the parties then standing for office. They had proper jobs and responsibilities; they had ‘bottom’.

      2. I’m quite glad I’m the age I am when I consider what’s happening. Young people need to wake up and fight back but apathy rules here.

  19. In Germany, the times are changing. But many would rather turn back the clock. 16 April 2023.

    The conflict in Ukraine has jolted people out of their affluent ease and forced them to take sides.

    Spending the past few weeks exploring the jolts to political and economic security arrangements on a road trip for a Radio 4 documentary, I find Germans are living the Zeitenwende, not just in speeches and policy navel-gazing in the capital but in visible changes, challenges and shifting expectations.

    In Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea coast, we’re welcomed by wild swimmers, whose bracing dips now take place in sight of the Höegh Esperanza, a 300-metre “floating storage and regasification unit” – or, more plainly put, the ship that furnishes a huge liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal, bringing gas (from sources including US fracking) to replace the energy until recently supplied via deals with Kremlin-backed companies.

    981 Words about Germany’s current economic and strategic situation without once mentioning the American destruction of the Baltic Pipeline. Lol!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/16/in-germany-times-changing-but-many-would-rather-turn-back-clock

    1. Well, the Guardian is funded by Gates and Soros so no surprises there.
      The sources quoted by Anne MacElvoy are senior civil servants and Green-leaning members of the public – I wonder if these are by any chance the same people?
      The article is about as accurate as you would get about Britain if you spoke to senior civil servants and members of the Green party!
      The left wing echo chamber strikes again.

      1. Morning BB. She has written the article as support for a BBC4 radio programme going out on Tuesday probably for an extra fee and advertising. Judging by its title. The Reinvention of Germany further propaganda.

  20. The MSM supports the Deep State and its lies. Short Glenn Greenwald interview. Apparently, it was the MSM that found the leaker whose actions told us so much about the worrying aspects of the Ukraine war. I don’t suppose many will be shocked by this as we know that the MSM is not the people’s friend. It was good to see Elon Musk detonate the hubris of the smug and ignorant Beebster recently: “You don’t get me, I’m a part of the BBC” which can be sung to the tune of that 50 year old Strawbs song.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BesXzq2Cdlg

      1. Has your view changed? The fact that it went to the top reminds us that even in early 1973, people were fed up with bolshie unions although I know there was more to the industrial strife than them, alone. I think 1970s were the decade when Britain’s top export, was industrial jobs-sending them overseas at an increasing rate.

      2. Ironic really, it was written, I believe, as a satirical exaggeration of the TUC at the time.

    3. Morning, Delboy.
      Weather report here – same as Fallick’s weather.
      Accounts and administration are the highlights of the day today. Groan!

  22. With reference to the letter about Ferris Wheels

    In future, that is how electricity will be generated.

    You get in the wheel (aka Treadmill) and walk, for your allotted time.

    There is an example at Carisbrooke Castle, albeit for donkeys

    1. The wheel alongside the well at Carisbrooke is demonstrated by a donkey, but IIRC it was said to have been operated by prisoners.

      1. Correct, but ideally it should now be done by Gimmgrants, for the first year of their ‘new life’ in UK

  23. The Nelson Mass was wonderful. Only 28 in the audience – and most connected with members of the choral society. No orchestra – but an amazing man who played the piano transcription – which was no job for an idiot. About 90 singers. Just great pleasure for all.

    EXCEPT – for me. I chose a seat at the back. Two minutes before the start, a woman arrived with four children under seven – who did what modern children do. Pinched each other, wrestled. Made noises – banged the seats (which were linked so that each “bang” went down the row). In the end I moved. As did two other adults. Nobody said anything, of course – because the spawn have to be allowed to do what they want and to hell with everyone else. And any comment would have been a hate crime.

    Despite all – I loved hearing the Mass again. A choir I was in sang it about 20 years ago – and, despite deafness and senility, it all came back!

    1. Luke:
      “But Jesus called them unto him, and said,
      Suffer little children to come
      unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
      Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
      But I understand, a choral Mass is not ideal for toddlers. A few colouring books and comics might have helped.

      1. We always took our two lads with us when we went out to eat, from when they were a few weeks old. When they were old enough to sit at table, we’d have pencils and paper for them to keep them occupied until the food came. Worked well, with the advantage that they soon learned to behave in such places.

        1. And table manners, and socialising, and patience, and all the other good stuff! 😘

          1. They also learned how to choose and decide, to wait, and how to deal with disappointment when what they wanted was “orff, dear”. They also got a sip of Daddy’s wine or beer, and learned that boozing is what farty old daddys did, and was dull.

      2. They would have thrown the books and crayons around the hall.

        The children had not the slightest idea that what thy were doing was annoying people who had paid £14 to attend…. And their stupid mother was clearly unable to control them. I expect they are her “best friends”.

        1. When I was a little boy one of my elder sisters was given the job of taking me out of church during the sermon during matins at the beautiful little church at St Just in Roseland where my parents were married and where their remains and the remains of maternal grandparents and many other family members are now resting. Belinda and Mary were both eager to say it was their turn to take me outside for a walk around the graveyard while the vicar declaimed his wise words!

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ceb68a77f79b3a8aba5386dc468b630a45d0265782c5b2b2766b2d5e73659f17.jpg

      4. Perhaps His meaning was that children of any age can transition to His Way and not forbidden to follow him (Christianity), not that they should not be disciplined and taught how to behave?

    2. Luke:
      “But Jesus called them unto him, and said,
      Suffer little children to come
      unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
      Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
      But I understand, a choral Mass is not ideal for toddlers. A few colouring books and comics might have helped.

  24. The Nelson Mass was wonderful. Only 28 in the audience – and most connected with members of the choral society. No orchestra – but an amazing man who played the piano transcription – which was no job for an idiot. About 90 singers. Just great pleasure for all.

    EXCEPT – for me. I chose a seat at the back. Two minutes before the start, a woman arrived with four children under seven – who did what modern children do. Pinched each other, wrestled. Made noises – banged the seats (which were linked so that each “bang” went down the row). In the end I moved. As did two other adults. Nobody said anything, of course – because the spawn have to be allowed to do what they want and to hell with everyone else. And any comment would have been a hate crime.

    Despite all – I loved hearing the Mass again. A choir I was in sang it about 20 years ago – and, despite deafness and senility, it all came back!

  25. Russia’s Putin attends midnight Orthodox Easter service in Moscow. 16 April 2023.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/594ca282e997b3ad2fa678d19a9df2f9f2d6e05c09eed910b688e40a136fba2c.png

    Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia April 16.

    Vlad off to church! Are there any Christians left in Westminster?

    https://www.reuters.com/world/russias-putin-attends-midnight-orthodox-easter-service-moscow-2023-04-15/

      1. What he says he is and what he should be are not the same.

        Is he a defender of Satanism or does he discriminate against some faiths?

      1. Hasn’t Welby admitted that he has psychological problems? Maybe he should seek out a psychiatrist who will be able to make him as mentally sound, tolerant and kind-hearted as Prince Harry’s psychiatrists have made him!

    4. ‘Christian’ is subjective.
      There must be a few churchgoers in political Westminster, and of course there are good people who worship at St Barts, but some MPs would never risk touching a Holy Bible.

    5. It’s interesting that it was Catherine II who introduced religious tolerance to Russia while having no faith herself. She thought the Orthodox Old Believers were quite mad but halted the discrimination against them anyway and Russian Orthodoxy has survived even Marxist intolerance.

    6. Are there any Christians left in Westminster?

      Reminds me of the question put to Disraeli:

      “What is your religion?”

      “I have the religion of all wise men”

      “What is the religion of all wise men?”

      “Wise men never declare their religion.”

      Most politicians seem more tolerant of Muslim values than Christian ones but one thing is certain: there are very few wise MPs and this must have spread to Buckingham Palace where wise is the very last word you would use to describe our new king who lacks all common sense and good judgement.

    7. I’m surprised he’s not been wheeled there on his deathbed so riddled with disease the media tells us he is.

    1. In his 8 years of life Junior has wanted to be a Cheetah, an elephant, a Newfoundland dog, a wizard, Captain America, a butterfly, a horse and Man At Arms from he Man – because of his moustache.

      Children live in a fantasy world. Some children grow up. Others become Lefties.

  27. Why are the SAS in Ukraine – and do we have a clue why we’re involved in this war? 16 April 2023.

    First of all, what interest does the United Kingdom have in continuing and sustaining this war? A powerful faction in Washington DC, with supporters in the West Wing of the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA, have long wanted a proxy war with Russia. They believe passionately that Russia must never be allowed to rise again. This faction, whose founding document is known as The Wolfowitz Doctrine, have been hard at work since 1992, when The New York Times leaked their plans. They are almost exactly the same people who created the Iraq War out of nothing, who got the West into the Afghanistan quagmire, and who backed Islamist fanatics in Syria – who were the sort of people they would have arrested in Chicago.

    Amen to that Peter,

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11976881/PETER-HITCHENS-SAS-Ukraine-clue-involved-war.html

    1. Good morning Minty and everyone.
      What a hammer is Mr Hitchens, and nails should tremble.
      Yesterday I was hearing about ‘bots’ and how an Israeli firm has created ‘bots’, using AI, which are capable of realistic commenting and which have a background that makes them convincing. Ideal for lobbyists.

        1. Shakespeare had a character of that name. Apparently, a comedy, but since none of Shakespeare’s writings are the tiniest bit funny, I would beg to differ.

          1. And I would beg to differ with you. Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night’s Dream, to name but two are funny. Even some of the tragedies have humour in them.
            I never liked Ronnie Barker as a comedian but I saw him play Bottom in Midsummer once and he was terrific.

  28. BBC Red button news – just seen a disturbing enhancement to the phone emergency protocol to be broadcast on 23rd April 2023.
    It is reported that those who do not acknowledge having received the Government’s warning alarm will no longer be able to use their phones.

    Could this just be a way of stopping the public making emergency calls in times of crisis?

    1. No, there will almost certainly be a pre-arranged dividing line between public sector and private subscribers, giving priority access to selected users. The plebs and serfs will be cut off during any emergency. Edit: in any case, who would you phone?

      1. I imagine there will be permitted access lists of who can call to ensure functioning emergency services. Of course, councils will also think they matter when in truth the last thing the public need are incompetent, lazy bureaucrats reading from a ring binder.

    2. No, there will almost certainly be a pre-arranged dividing line between public sector and private subscribers, giving priority access to selected users. The plebs and serfs will be cut off during any emergency. Edit: in any case, who would you phone?

    3. I will turn mine off as I haven’t found a control to disable the alerts. I’m wondering if it will just arrive whenever the phone is turned back on. 🤔 As texts etc do.

      1. A good point on the alert occuring when you turn the phone back on. It likely will.

        The better solution is to turn off emergency alerts. Let’s say there is a real emergency. What can you do about it? Perhaps the only thing is a terrorist attack but in reality something could be done about that – get rid of the muslims. The state insists on importing them en mass precisely because they are so dangerous.

        Anything else there’s nothing we can do about it – certainly nothing big bloated government can or will do about it.

        If you google your device and + turn off emergency alerts you’ll get instructions on how to do it if you want to?

        1. get rid of the muslims – and the Catholics, and Protestants. Keep Buddhists and Friends.
          Plenty of space for everyone, then.

  29. Fear – the virus that afflicts the vaccinated

    Liz Hodgkinson : The Conservative Woman

    THE Stoics of ancient times believed that in many cases it was possible to control pain by thought alone. To achieve this, they stoically, as it were, accepted painful or unpleasant sensations, viewing them with studied indifference. As such, the pain often went away of its own accord, although to be fair they did use a painkiller known as theriac, which contained opium.

    The opposite is also true, in that you can induce pain or disease by thought alone, causing acute and sometimes lasting physical symptoms. Although ancient and tribal societies understood that the power of suggestion can be so strong that it may make people well or ill, this seems to have been forgotten in modern, mechanistic medicine with its insistence on tests, scans, screens and so on.

    Because of this, I am now wondering whether as many people would have gone down with Covid (or what passed for it) if, instead of a flu-like illness being ramped up as the worst and most dangerous disease ever to affect humankind, it had been ignored.

    As it was, around 80 per cent – and it may have been more – of the world’s population were gripped by such a fear of the bug that they actually thought themselves into illness. Once the PCR test was introduced, people began testing themselves, sometimes hourly, and if the test showed positive they waited for symptoms to appear. More often than not, they obliged.

    Then people became terrified to step out of the house without wearing a mask, even though all the evidence showed that these muzzles were more or less ineffective and that even the surgical-quality ones lasted only a couple of hours, at most. People were also nervous of getting close to anybody else, edging away if somebody came within a few feet of them. Only the other day, as I was in a queue waiting to pay for an item, a masked woman in front of me turned round and said crossly: ‘Do you mind not standing so close to me?’ I wondered about making a quick riposte but decided that there was no way I could penetrate this kind of stupidity.

    There was also the handwashing ritual where shops, doctors’ surgeries, solicitors’ and estate agents’ offices, for instance, forced hand sanitiser on to you, and sometimes took your temperature as you walked in.

    The cleaning nonsense went even further, with hotels, gyms and other places where people gathered announcing ‘enhanced cleaning’. This may or may not have halted the virus in its tracks but it certainly increased fear. I still see people in the gym furiously scrubbing down bikes, treadmills and other equipment in case a germ from a previous user has had the audacity to linger on the machine.

    I also remember, during the first lockdown, a friend invited me for a drink and insisted we sat in the corridor to her flat, holding our glasses while wearing surgical gloves. She would not let me into her home and also paid her cleaner to stay away. I of course had no such fears but I could persuade very few people to step over my threshold while lockdowns were in place. Delivery men rang the bell and ran away sharpish so as to remain ‘Covid safe’. There has never, in my lifetime, been anything to compare with the fear and terror that has gripped the world – and all for a largely harmless threat.

    When the vaccines were introduced, people eagerly queued for the jabs, but did this make the fear go away? No, it increased it to such an extent that they lined up for ever more jabs. I know people who have had five injections and ended up in hospital with severe pneumonia. But still they praised the vaccines, telling themselves and others that, but for the many injections, their symptoms would have been much worse. Never mind that, by and large, the unvaccinated, for which read fearless, remained perfectly well throughout. In my view, the fear created the milieu which allowed the infection to take hold in the vaccinated.

    Now, of course, we know from many studies that the vaccines themselves are harmful, but try telling that to the multiple-jabbed. Their fear has such a grip that they refuse to listen, and these same people are now booking their spring and summer ‘booster’, so that they will have had perhaps six or seven jabs by the end of the year.

    The friend who made me sit in the corridor to have a drink has had all the Covid jabs plus the flu jab and guess what, she has been laid up for several days with quite a nasty infection. After she had all the jabs, she said to me: ‘Now I’m protected.’ Yes, so protected that she languishes in bed, unable to get up.

    Why are people not putting two and two together? I think it’s because they cannot bring themselves to believe in the power of the mind to create illness or wellness. The poet William Blake wrote in 1794 of ‘mind-forged manacles’ by which he meant that we make these manacles ourselves and we create a prison in our own minds which then becomes a reality. Once the mind-forged manacles get a grip, illness can result.

    Over the past three years, we have created manacles, prisons, misery and pain for ourselves, aided and abetted of course by the mainstream media. And the fearmongering is far from over. Hanging over us all the time are threats of more lockdowns, more restrictions, more mask mandates, more jabs, more curbs on our freedom, all designed to keep us cowed and afraid.

    Since 2020, when the first lockdowns were introduced, it has become clear that those of us who were unafraid, who resisted all the testing, masking, distancing, jabbing and other interventions, are the ones who have remained well. Our strong minds acted to strengthen the immune system and allow us to resist infection, as in the Latin phrase Mens sana in corpore sano: A healthy mind in a healthy body.

    The two go together and modern medicine ignores the power of the mind at its peril. We need to learn from the Stoics!

    1. Indeed. My friend said the other week that she would be having the booster, even though her 75th birthday is in May – she was told she would be eligible. I told her I was done with jabs and we changed the subject.
      Fear is corrosive.

      1. Caroline and I both thank our wise doctor who considered our medical histories and advised us most strongly not to have the jabs. We followed her advice.

          1. It is still not resolved – she must be coming up to retirement age and it is important that she gets her full pension.

      2. As the Roman J.C. (rather than the one born in Bethlehem) said:

        Cowards die many times before their deaths;
        The valiant never taste of death but once.
        Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
        It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
        Seeing that death, a necessary end,
        Will come when it will come.

    2. I have a friend and used to get together several times a year for coffee and cake or a pint and lunch with him. That stopped because of Covid and now he will no longer sit inside a pub, cafe or farm shop to eat and drink.
      In our climate of course that means our get togethers are much less frequent, but when we do meet he tells me how isolated he feels these days.
      Hand on Cock and the rest of them who instigated project fear have a lot to answer for and should be in the dock to answer for their actions, but we know they won’t!

        1. Precisely.
          Whatever happens to any freedom we may have left is imperilled by the Great British Sheep.

          1. Ode to the sheep asleep
            By
            John Ellwood             -March 25, 2023

            What will it take
            For you sheep to awake?
            They re-branded flu
            Sold it to you
            Medical clowns
            Imposed lockdowns
            Must wear a mask
            Do what they ask
            Give them your arm
            ‘There’ll be no harm’

            What will it take
            For you sheep to awake?
            They gave you war
            Who knows what for?
            They derailed trains
            To heighten pains
            They control news
            No chance to choose
            No need to vote
            Change is remote

            What will it take
            For you sheep to awake?
            The climate scam
            Part of their plan
            Stay where you’re put
            Or travel on foot
            Attempt to flee
            Lose CBDC
            Take another jab
            You’re in the rat lab
            Slave labour is cheap
            They want you asleep
            For all our kids’ sake
            Awake! Awake!
            https://www.conservativewom…

    3. One of the first cases MB ever dealt with when he started his training, was man dying from cancer.
      The patient was actually perfectly well (apart from being delusional) but he had convinced himself he was terminally ill with the Big C. He faded away into a perfect corpse.
      It is also noticeable that sufferers from ‘Long Covid’ tend not to be self-employed or work in the public sector.

  30. Morning all, I came across this on my interwebby wanders. The residents have the answer at the next local elections on May 4th I believe. I just don’t think they will, and will have to suffer the consequences. As an VVOF who was born and brought up in Bath, I thank my lucky stars I now live elsewhere and only return to visit family.

    https://youtu.be/YuLTNY8YLLQ

    1. “But the plans were on display…”
      “On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
      “That’s the display department.”
      “With a flashlight.”
      “Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
      “So had the stairs.”
      “But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
      “Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked
      filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

      2. The truth is looking at plans or raising objections have no effect on councillors until the level of objections cause them to have concerns for their re-election.

        The same is true for those in Westminster, watch the promises appear in the lead up to the next GE only for the promises to be quietly shelved after their re-election.

        The vast majority of politicians of all levels are lying cheating scum who will promise the earth to gain your vote but disregard you afterwards. That is my more charitable view of them!

        1. The politician (be he/she/it local or Westminster) is so short-sighted that it only extends to the length of time before the next election, and consists mainly of cover-ups for not doing what he/she/it promised, and a whole new raft of futuristic promises, lies and deceit.

      3. I always think of that bit of genius when faced with mindless bueaucracy! 🤣

    2. Let’s all give Grant Shatts the clap.
      TBF – yesterday I saw ….. wait for it …. a cyclist on the cycle lane running past North Station. I had plenty of time to notice the phenomenon as the loss of one lane means the area is always jammed.

      1. Syphillis and gonorrhea used to be treatable with anti-biotics. This man needs something more virulent!

    3. As a small boy born in Bath I was taken to play in Victoria Gardens most weekends.

      I retain fond memories of Bath but am hesitant to return as each time I have visited, last for my eldest sister’s funeral (church service at Combe Down burial at Haycombe), the place had deteriorated. Traffic management truly backward and presumably dreamt up by a rabid cyclist.

      1. I was at prep school at St Christopher’s in North Road Bath from 1954 – 59. The place went out of business shortly after I left and was taken over by King Edward’s School.

      2. If my family members moved out of Bath, I could not think of a reason to go back. Dreadful place for residents now.

  32. Good news:

    “Top BBC presenters including Huw Edwards, Reeta Chakrabarti, Clive Myrie and Sophie Raworth get bombshell redundancy letters as the Beeb tries to save millions”

    1. Ukrainians arriving to Britain as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme are eligible to live and work here – and claim benefits – from day one.

      When applying for state help, they must themselves declare any property they own in Ukraine, although it is unlikely to be taken account.

      They will receive some level of support from Universal Credit if their declared savings are under £16,000, and full support if they are less than £6,000. They will also continue to be eligible for childcare and housing support if they go on to get a job, providing their savings remain under £16,000.

      Oh to be a foreigner in England! Morning Phizzee.

          1. Not rich but my savings do take me over the limit. The mobility benefits aren’t means tested but i was still refused.

          3. Have done. Didn’t score enough points. They kindly provide you with a list which shows your score for each question. Next time i am going to exaggerate.

          4. It’s the only way, Pip. I made that mistake when I first applied for my Blue Badge. I said what I could do. I should have emphasised what I couldn’t. They sent me for assessment; the physio took one look and I got the Badge within the hour!

    3. Note to self: continue to be a cynical curmudgeon who refuses to virtue signal.
      There’s enough aggro in life without volunteering for more.

  34. Labour will be most interventionist government for a generation, says shadow minister. 16 April 2023.

    The British public is yet to understand “the scale of Labour’s ambition on the economy”, one of Keir Starmer’s most senior shadow ministers has said, adding that the party needs to explain how it will be the most interventionist government for a generation.

    Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, said that the party had not yet fully communicated the “sum of its parts” in terms of how a series of technical policy fixes would translate into the ambitious transformation of the economy that the party will attempt to achieve.

    Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse! On the upside this will probably finish off the UK permanently!

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/15/labour-party-economic-ambitions-interventionist-jonathan-reynolds

    1. Given the infantilisation of the GBP, many will jump at the chance to think even less.

      2. For all the slagging off of Truss and how she destroyed the value of sterling the pound is now – under Sunak and Hunt – at a level considerably lower than it ever was during the time of Truss/Kwarteng’ s time in office.

    2. Our “labour” government is interventionist, so much so that the currency value drops daily, taxes rise inexorably, and the richer amongst us are leaving. Business is being hog-tied by regulation, we are threatened with a general strike next weekend.
      Is that what he means? Because if so, I recomment dissolving government and leaving people to just get on with it how they see fit.

    3. The Tories have made a complete hash of things by meddling, corruption, incompetence and general Left wingery. Labour always make things worse. They make everything worse.

      The solution isn’t Reform, or the Greens, or Lib Dems. It is the obliteration of the state and the imposition of controlled, limited and restricted government that cannot so much as inhale without public consent. Then we do need to remove universal franchise entirely. The vote must be earned.

      Until the state is restrained and our boot sits firmly on it’s neck, it will continue to make us poorer and more miserable.

      1. It appears time and time again that 90 percent of politicians have entered politics because of what they think they can gain from it. For four plus years, most of them do absolutely nothing noticable for anyone single member of the electorate. Because they are comfortable as they are. Until it gets closer to an election. And they might be worried they might lose their seat.
        Look at the complete and utter mess our country is now in, simply because of all the self serving do nothings.

        1. Couldn’t agree more. This is why the entire edifice of government – from the civil service through to politicians – must be starved of cash and prevented from doing anything, spending anything without express permission from the electorate – and the electorate needs to shrink.

      1. 373470+ up ticks,

        Morning JN,
        If any of the toxic trio are returned to power we are guaranteed to be cream crackered big time.

        The United Kingdoms real RESET is nearing and woe betide any when answering the door are NOT carrying a quran.

    6. 373470+ up ticks,

      Morning AS,

      A successful (short term) conclusion to the lab/lib/con coalitions efforts these past 30 plus years

      Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse! On the upside this will probably finish off the UK permanently!

      Freedom / democracy has the last laugh.

  35. Morning all 🙂😉
    A bit brighter……not much.
    The bbc have issued redundancy notices for a lot of senior news staff and the next level below. Could be the start of the end of the licence fee. Such a good idea. Let them eat cake.
    Had a nice chat with Brucie again yesterday, although his country has its own problems, it just makes me feel I want to be there.
    I’ve really had enough of this over crowded deliberately politically effed up dump.

  36. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-65291267
    As SWMBO just said: “Stop pretending, close the whole sorry mess down and fire all the bastards.”
    Nurses will “absolutely not” pause a 48-hour strike in England over the first May bank holiday, says the Royal College of Nursing – and it warns action could continue until Christmas

    Leader Pat Cullen told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the government needs to put more money on the table.

    But she had “no plans” to co-ordinate strikes with those by junior doctors.

    Conservative party chairman Greg Hands said the government’s pay offer was “fair and reasonable”.

    Asked whether it is was a final offer, he said the government needed to wait to see what other heath service unions involved in the pay dispute decided in their own ballots – and pointed out that it has already been accepted by members of Unison.

    Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said he was “really worried” about the strike action by nurses and he was not in support of it because of the risks to patients’ safety.

    The strike will involve NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, cancer and other wards, which would be a first as the previous nurses’ strike in February included exemptions to maintain staffing in critical areas.

    It was called after RCN members voted by 54% to 46% to reject the government’s offer of a 5% rise in 2023/24 and a one-payment of at least £1,655.

    Ms Cullen said that after the walkout from 20:00 BST on 30 April to 20:00 on 2 May, the union would “move immediately to ballot our members” on their next move.

    “If that ballot is successful it will mean further strike action right up until Christmas,” she added.

    1. Don’t be fooled by the name Royal College of Nursing.
      It has been a trade union for nearly 50 years. I remember the then leaders rejoicing when they received government approval to become a trade union.

    2. This has gong way past being about pay and conditions, this is a concerted effort by the NHS REMFs to embarrass the Government and usher in a Labour Government.

          3. Not Fizzy’s fault – that’s what it stands for. Although I’d leave out the space between the “r” and the “f”.

    3. I have just had one April appointment cancelled last week and I have another important appointment next month if that one goes as well, i’m just going to turn up and sit there. I’ll take a sleeping bag pillow and provisions in a ruck sack.

    4. As with practically everything, the problem comes down to tax. We’re paying far too much for everything because taxation accounts for about 60% of the cost.

      The state has just added to those costs with energy price rigging and the hike in corporation taxes. When lefties ignorantly squeal that trickle down doesn’t exist – here’s the evidence it clearly does. What the entire country needs is not pay hikes for statist groups but wholesale shredding of the tax code.

    5. Bring Out Your Dead – this will be the new instruction along with the plan to have seven different-coloured rubbish bins.

  37. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-65291267
    As SWMBO just said: “Stop pretending, close the whole sorry mess down and fire all the bastards.”
    Nurses will “absolutely not” pause a 48-hour strike in England over the first May bank holiday, says the Royal College of Nursing – and it warns action could continue until Christmas

    Leader Pat Cullen told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the government needs to put more money on the table.

    But she had “no plans” to co-ordinate strikes with those by junior doctors.

    Conservative party chairman Greg Hands said the government’s pay offer was “fair and reasonable”.

    Asked whether it is was a final offer, he said the government needed to wait to see what other heath service unions involved in the pay dispute decided in their own ballots – and pointed out that it has already been accepted by members of Unison.

    Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said he was “really worried” about the strike action by nurses and he was not in support of it because of the risks to patients’ safety.

    The strike will involve NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, cancer and other wards, which would be a first as the previous nurses’ strike in February included exemptions to maintain staffing in critical areas.

    It was called after RCN members voted by 54% to 46% to reject the government’s offer of a 5% rise in 2023/24 and a one-payment of at least £1,655.

    Ms Cullen said that after the walkout from 20:00 BST on 30 April to 20:00 on 2 May, the union would “move immediately to ballot our members” on their next move.

    “If that ballot is successful it will mean further strike action right up until Christmas,” she added.

  38. Good Morning all, still unwell but I wanted to drop in because it is Easter Sunday for us Orthodox Christians and I usually post something for that.

    So this year I thought I would post an event that is of great importance to the entire Orthodox Church that takes place every year on Easter Saturday in Jerusalem, The Miracle of the Holy Fire that appears in the Tomb of Christ. This fire is carried around the world to be distributed to all countries and all Churches of the Orthodox.
    The guys enthusiastically banging drums are descendants of the first Christians, that’s to say the, families that have always lived in the Holy Land, the first Christian converts. Some of these families are so ancient they are actually descendants of people named in the Bible.

    This ceremony is very old, going back much further than a 1000 years, some would say older, having its origin in a miracle in 300AD.
    Hope you all enjoy it. I have also posted a link to an explanation of the ceremony.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU59dc8UQjo

    https://ocoy.org/miracle-holy-fire/ Explanation of the ceremony.

    1. My Greek family, brother in law, 2 nephews and their wives and children, plus my darling sister, are celebrating at the ‘family’ village about 50 miles north of Athens. Xristos anesti was at midnight and the papas put a cross over the front door lintel of all the houses! They are now turning the lambs on the spits, eating kokaretsi (intestines) on skewers and drinking their own wine with 40 others in their neighbourhood!

      1. For me, Kokaretsi must be one of the world’s fouler foods. It’s at a similar level of disgust to AAA white sausages in France. Smell, sight, taste and texture all combine to produce a horror harmony of faecal flavour.

        I once went to the midnight service at the Monastiraki Cathedral and was surprised that almost on the stroke of midnight all the congregation seemed to be on their mobile phones calling friends and relatives. “Christ is Risen” The noise was extraordinary.
        There are lots of small orthodox churches/chapels all around that area, some tiny and all well worth looking inside.

        1. It’s the smell wot did for me! The lamb is this years, and no matter how much they clean it, it still smells of death and poo!

          1. We celebrated Easter twice in 1988 – once in England as we took a plane to Athens for our honeymoon and again in Navflion the following weekend on the boat we had chartered to sail around the Argolic Gulf and the islands of Poros, Spetses and Hydra. The Greeks in this region celebrated the Orthodox Easter by letting off fireworks incessantly throughout the week before it.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b923d621b606add36d09f0ccbb78f32fb884d56f15415e24debd614ba6cf1a42.jpg

          3. Have you read John Fowles’s The Magus? The main action is set on the island of Spetses.

          5. It’s a fascinating story – I couldn’t put it down once I had started reading it and I kept right on until I had finished it. John Fowles also wrote Daniel Martin (another very good read), The Collector and The French Lieutenant’s Woman which is set in Lyme Regis near which I used to teach at Allhallows.

          6. We celebrated Easter twice in 1988 – once in England as we took a plane to Athens for our honeymoon and again in Navflion the following weekend on the boat we had chartered to sail around the Argolic Gulf and the islands of Poros, Spetses and Hydra. The Greeks in this region celebrated the Orthodox Easter by letting off fireworks incessantly throughout the week before it.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b923d621b606add36d09f0ccbb78f32fb884d56f15415e24debd614ba6cf1a42.jpg

  39. ‘Morning All

    We’ve all been there………..

    https://twitter.com/Fun_Viral_Vids/status/1646932380593037334?s=20

    and on to the Medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1e9de67de2668790c2276a900ab9fd87ab500d86095b60547d200e88b9d0ece2.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1246a7dbdc085a0891eb048d7115fce6710d9b90c87c6ab58b4545e58a0ba552.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/79426bb610c5bcebb5960f6103eaac524a41144da4a85f71e3026390fc9e0bfc.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/115a5ea933e549ba9384897187a721f0e5e1ad5f3afed9c0f9838adac2538e0c.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/136bf031163b295a557c8ea83206de396acfbad86b0188e0b375a411a35b6f78.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/66efbca8fb0ea399001f56f6ac6907781a5e0bb5e5a678baeceb8c49ff43a73a.jpg

    1. You wouldn’t see any of that at my gym! The gym boys are universally mocked. They slap 50kg on a bar, do 3 lifts, slam it to the ground to make a lot of noise and draw attention, then spend 20 minutes on their telephones.

      I asked one if they were using the bench press as he sat there and he said he was using it. Thankfully staff popped up and said ‘C’mon Jim, you’ve sat there texting for 10 mins. Shift.’ And he did.

      1. We joined a gym over 20 years ago. We survived less than six months of going twice weekly. The boredom! The hideous thumping muzak! I sprained my ankle and never went back. I did quite enjoy doing weights with the sweating gorillas but not enough to tempt me back again. That was before they all got phones.

        1. I just cannot stand the boredom of self inflicted pain which is why I do classes instead.

          Nothing beats dexterity and flexibility as much as trying to avoid twenty other uncoordinated bods attempting to follow a cardio sequence.

  40. Jeeves and Wooster stories censored to avoid offending modern readers
    PG Wodehouse classics the latest to be rewritten as Penguin also includes trigger warning that the texts use ‘outdated’ language
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/15/jeeves-and-wooster-censored-penguins-latest-sensitivity/

    I am currently rereading my collection of P.G. Wodehouse which is a constant reminder that even if his world did not exist it should have done.

    Here are a couple of observations about PGW by Evelyn Waugh, another of my favourite authors:

    Mr Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in. [From a BBC broadcast]

    Waugh was certainly prescient in saying that more irksome times could be on the way. How right he was

    For Wodehouse there has been no fall of Man: no “aboriginal calamity” …. the gardens Blandings Castle are the original gardens from which we are all exiled.

    And it is not just Penguin Books that are in this conspiracy to impoverish and enslave our minds – the PTB are deep in it too.

    1. P.G. Wodehouse was a class act. So was Evelyn Waugh.

      A class act recognises a class act which reminds me of George Bernard Shaw who always resented the acclaim given to Shakespeare!

        1. And when you consider that it was Penguin Books that published Lady Chatterley’s Lover you can see just how very far these publishers have fallen.

          2. What was it that Larkin said began in 1963 in between the Chatterley ban and the Beatles’ First LP?

            The Hull University Libararian was saddened by the thought that he had rather missed the boat on this one – or rather turned up rather too soon before it arrived!

          3. Something along the lines of…
            Sex beginning in 1963 between the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles’ first LP.
            Can’t remember much as it’s a long time since I did Larkin.

    2. For goodness sake. These scum need to be stopped. Do they not know they’re fascists? Have they no concept that they are wrong?

      Ah, of course they don’t. They’d happily re-write history to suit themselves – which is the root of the problem.

    3. Good afternoon, Mr Rastaman.

      Where may I source a collection of Wodehouse and Waugh novels that have not been bastardised by the twats at Penguin?

  41. Bloody hell, that was painful on the fingers!
    Last year I manually pollinated a couple of the amaryllis flowers we get every year and received a couple of ripe seed pods for my efforts and duly planted the seeds. Just took the dozen or so resulting plants up the “garden” to repot, not a job you can do wearing gloves and had to give up half way through due to cold fingers.
    Now with a mug of tea to help defrost them!

    Now, would anyone like an small amaryllis grown from seed? I’ve a dozen to get rid of and am thinking of putting onto a table outside asking £3 a go!

    1. Good morning, Bob

      I think that John Milton has spotted the main difference between you and me:

      Alas! what boots it with incessant care
      To tend the homely, slighted shepherd’s trade,
      And strictly meditate the thankless Muse?
      Were it not better done, as others use,
      To sport with Amaryllis in the shade,
      Or with the tangles of Neæra’s hair?
      Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise
      (That last infirmity of noble mind)
      To scorn delights and live laborious days.

      You are all in favour of scorning delights and living laborious days while I prefer to sport with Amaryllis.

    3. We have three, they live on the sitting-room windowshelf.
      One we bought in 1987, from Woolworths in Newport Pagnell. 10p, or we chuck it out! It’s so beautiful each spring, a fantastic deep red, and older than either of the lads.
      The other two are Norwegian supply, and paler. The latest dates from two years ago.

  42. Really ?? who knew.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/sadiq-khan-labelled-dishonest-in-scathing-attack-on-london-mayor-s-ludicrous-ulez-scheme/ar-AA19TVhP?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=fa5980da62be490eabe753f76caa4f5a&ei=51

    And is there an election coming up Boris ? But your probably correct in you assumption how did you work that one out ?
    A handy Band wagon to leap on ?
    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/sadiq-khan-s-ulez-expansion-has-nothing-to-do-with-air-pollution-claims-boris-johnson/ar-AA19UcIo?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=fa5980da62be490eabe753f76caa4f5a&ei=20

  43. Good morning all,

    Off topic , I am so saddened to view on the media the terrible conflict in the Sudan.

    I spent an early childhood there 1951–1955, and them later on in my early teens ..

    Sudanese people were some of the nicest Africans , Northerners and Southerners , they tolerated expats , and had a great sense of humour and dispensed alot of kindness.

    Why cannot everyone get on with each other .

    1. All very true, Mags BUT – they are also very good at killing each other. For reasons beyond our comprehension.

    2. My father described the Dinkas as amongst the finest people in the world: dignified of bearing, tolerant in temperament and beautiful of physique.

      No wonder they have suffered genocide

      2. When I was a teenager , I was flown by Auster for a there and back trip to Malakal Southern Sudan from Khartoum , I was so lucky and the landscape was amazing , that was in the early 1960s..

        The Dinka people were so tall and dignified , and their cattle were incredible creatures .

        1. I had my first ever flight in an Auster – not as exotic as Sudan, though. Once around Blackpool Tower! 🙂

      3. When I was a teenager , I was flown by Auster for a there and back trip to Malakal Southern Sudan from Khartoum , I was so lucky and the landscape was amazing , that was in the early 1960s..

        The Dinka people were so tall and dignified , and their cattle were incredible creatures .

          3. As I sailed around the Caribbean I wrote a song about some of the islands to which we sailed:

            When we got to Antigua the beautiful people were there
            Dancing to Wahdadi Experience* and the Halcyon Steel Orchestra*
            The white girls smiled at the Rastas but the Rastas were too classy
            They did not want the white girls at all
            They wanted Haile Selassi.

            Wahdali Experience were the latest reggae band who played at the jump ups (as dances were called) when we were there. The Halcyon Steel Orchestra was a steel band which performed regularly at Shirley Heights overlooking English Harbour.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bc9a89402e9cb03a5608ea5902f23c71cbf9b259d4fe841fbd6f6fbc033507a0.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1494d38dc1f1ec1464119102a790f2aeb37893ac0c266e52b496c5de0800235a.jpg

          4. “Hey, baby. You waant some juice?”

            You ain’t had it right … till you had it white!

    3. “Why cannot everyone get on with each other?”

      Because competition, pugilism, greed, jealousy, the desire to protect your own kind; and safeguard your territory, shelter, food supply, water supply and many other natural aspects are an essential part of the human (and animal) psyche. We have evolved that way and it will forever be so. Wearing rose-tinted specs is akin to burying one’s head in the sand.

      1. But in this country we have allowed invaders to take over our cities and water supplies.

        1. That is because we are no longer following the rules of nature; they have been superseded by diktats from brain-damaged cretins.

          Brain-damaged cretins who were placed in positions of power by an increasingly gullible and gormless populace.

    4. If you carefully unpick the conflict you’ll probably find the deep state of the US in there somewhere. It’s what it does.

    5. I had work there before 2010. Loved the place, both Khartoum and in the South. Many happy memories (except for the clouds of mossies in the camp in the South – bit me through several layers of clothing, the bastards). Loved Sudanese coffee (think Espresso with sugar and strong ginger), and the lovely, cheerful, fat Mammas serving it under mango trees with little plastic tables and chairs as a mobile cafe. It’s desperately sad to see the place being trashed.
      Same happened in Libya. Less exuberant, but a fine people there too.

  44. To Sir Jasper,
    REMF stand for Rear Echelon Mother Fucker.
    Like FUBAR, one of the few worth while Americanisms.

    1. Ah, the demented idea of universal basic income. Other places that has been tried it’s always failed. Ironically it is the economy of Mega City 1.

    2. Sir Jasper will be delighted!
      Will this £25k apply to those whose taxes are paying for it all?
      Just watch the exodus.

      1. Probably it won’t apply to pensioners….! A pension will become a non-benefit once again.

    1. Small caveat. A man in a dress who thinks he’s a woman is mentally ill. I have a few drag queen friends; they’re well aware they’re gay men, and happy to be so: their drag is harmless fun, restricted to adult-only clubs.

      1. True. And they can be a lot of fun. Spend a night in the Pub with the ‘Sisters of perpetual indulgence’ and tell me i’m wrong.
        Paedo’s have seen it as an easy way to get access to children by putting on a wig and some lipstick.

        1. And in doing so trash the reputation of all gay men, in the same way that the men pretending to be women trash women.

      2. Agree. They’ve been around forever. An important distinction from the political lobby who is trying to bully us into re-defining women.

  47. 373470+ up ticks,

    One question the electoral majority voter must ask themselves is
    “what has my party name done for me”

  48. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/04/16/supermarkets-have-no-excuse-for-rocketing-food-prices/

    Mr Halligan apears to have forgotten the 35% hike in tax businesses now have to pay. And their suppliers paying egregious amounts for energy, fuel and food forcing their own costs up. Oh, and the tax government has levied.

    So I’m sorry. Inflation is driven by government policy. Prices are driven up by taxation. Cut taxes and almost everything would get cheaper – but the state doesn’t want that.

    1. …or they are too stupid to understand. Don’t mention the Laffer curve, either, that get’s their blood pressure up!

  49. I was talking with a Ukrainian girl online.. She complained that she’s
    tired of the violence and feeling unsafe. Even though she has a job,
    she’s Not able to afford food or heat her home. She continued that her
    younger sister had been sexually assaulted by masked men armed with
    guns, while walking through the country’s capital. Poor girl has been
    through hell this past year. She doesn’t know when things will change,
    but If things don’t change soon, she said that… She’s leaving the UK
    and heading back home.

  50. This time three years ago, the insanity of lockdown was into its third week and the people were dutifully queuing at the supermarkets, bleaching their hands, shouting at passers-by who got too close, and threatening transgressors with violence. The spring sun shone down relentlessly and mockingly as the world went slowly mad.

    Here are a few reminders of that time.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db5113e71690fe033000d3c7a23f6d9ea67fa48a854a1aa10ba66516e832b667.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/82d5f5125fc244459bbc447ecf603a9fcefce514ede3f13858dc8b91ca2242d9.jpg

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    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4916a81e0fceadcda28a523a1c5057a4ac3369731fc4ea400e505d5e068cf2f5.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/65dff96c3ff2d8dcdea4026bbda25888f4d395e824b4d612f79b6185f5c317b8.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8481038568b1890a4295fb1efbfaf89f9623c3b6528d942d01af2feec8895cff.jpg

        1. I had two Dalmatians that came for Doggy Tales in the library, Maggie and Dottie. They were sweeties, so patient and gentle with the kids.

    2. I should print out the last one and give it to my gullible, obedient colleague!
      He told me the other week, that although we know that masks don’t stop airborne viruses, they were the best measure we had until we got the vaxxes.
      I did detect a slightly uncertain note in his voice, as though he realised how ridiculous that sounded. I controlled myself well, and did not ask him what jab number he is on by now!

    2. John Ferry
      Scotland’s ferry network is sinking, and taking the SNP with it
      16 April 2023, 6:45am

      https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-532511016.jpg

      There has been more ferry chaos this week for Scotland’s beleaguered island communities, so much so that it now looks like the Scottish government is bringing in the Ministry of Defence to help with the fallout. One senior SNP MP, Ian Blackford, has urged military bosses to provide a ‘short-term solution’ to the ferry network breakdown. Blackford’s pleas come after warnings that, with further disruption to services, Highland companies could be at risk of going bust.

      On top of this, this last week has seen days of disruption after the MV Loch Seaforth, state owned ferry operator CalMac’s largest vessel, developed problems with its engine control system. The boat is the main vessel linking the Isle of Lewis to the mainland.

      Commenting on the breakdown, Helen Sandison, who runs the Western Isles Cancer Care Initiative, highlighted the case of one patient and the impact it had on them. ‘We had one service user today who was due to start chemo in Inverness,’ Sandison explained to the BBC. ‘They were already disrupted because of the Loganair flights to Inverness have been disrupted for the past few weeks, so they were having to travel by ferry and book an overnight stay which they wouldn’t have had to have done if the flights were operational. That chemo tomorrow has been cancelled – it’s an added stress and worry for a patient who was ready to start their treatment.’

      Scotland’s Clyde and Hebrides ferry services operate under public ownership and are run by a combination of Transport Scotland, ferry operator CalMac and procurement body Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, which are both owned by the state. The ‘lifeline’ ferry services are thought too important to be touched by the private sector. The problem is the state, at least under SNP administration, has completely failed in its responsibilities, and Scotland’s islanders are paying the price.

      A third of CalMac’s ferries are more than 30 years old, and about half of its largest ships are running beyond their expected service life. Breakdowns and disruptions to service are now a regular occurrence. Irate islanders have watched in disbelief as the scandal surrounding the Ferguson shipyard in Glasgow has unfolded. Two big new ferries should have been in service years ago. Instead, costs have spiralled into the hundreds of millions while the vessels have gone from crisis to crisis amid allegations of a contract rigged for political purposes. The boats are still nowhere near finished, and the future of the nationalised Ferguson shipyard appears at best precarious.

      Scotland’s islanders have had enough of the SNP’s incompetence. Speaking on Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland show last month, Isle of Mull resident Naomi Knight, whose family runs a marine services business, said: ‘We’re basically feeling that we’re being driven from the island and have a total loss of confidence in the ferry service. It is that bad. It’s been deteriorating for years, which most people are aware of, but it’s got steadily worse, and we’re basically in the midst of a ferry crisis across the west coast of Scotland.’

      She added: ‘We’ve got to accept we’ve got challenges living on an island and we accept that, but we’ve got multiple challenges. CMAL are making strategic mistakes. CalMac are making operational mistakes. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government are pretending that there are no mistakes, resulting in the islands having a third-world ferry service.’

      Unfortunately for islanders like Ms Knight, ferry services look to be far down the list of priorities for Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s new first minister. One of his first actions in office was to drop the transport portfolio from his cabinet. Scotland has had a transport minister since devolution. Yousaf himself was transport minister between 2016 and 2018. The downgrading of the role to junior ministership under the underwhelming MSP Kevin Stewart signals a head-in-the-sand approach to the ferries crisis.

      Why bother making life better for Scotland’s minority of islanders when there are populist battles to be fought over the constitution? That attitude could, and should, come back to bite the SNP.

      Opposition parties sense an opportunity. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar visited the Western Isles this week to talk up SNP ferries incompetence. They see an opportunity to take SNP MP Angus MacNeil’s Na h-Eileanan an Iar seat (the constituency area of the Outer Hebrides) at the next Westminster election. Ian Blackford’s constituency of Ross, Skye and Lochaber could also potentially change hands. Although Skye has a road bridge to the mainland, voters in the constituency are still keenly aware of the SNP’s failings when it comes to island communities. The seat was a Lib-Dem stronghold under Charles Kennedy and could return to its liberal roots.

      If the SNP are booted out of western islands, it will be a well-deserved comeuppance for the party’s complete disregard for Scotland’s islanders. The ferries fiasco is the scandal that should have brought down the SNP long before we got to police raids and seizing a luxury campervan.

      ******************************

      Union Jock
      7 hours ago
      Why spend money on ferries when you can enrich Edinburgh lawyers by financing hopeless legal challenges against the UK government for saving us from the horrors of the gender bender legislation ?

      Tom Armstrong Union Jock
      6 hours ago edited
      That nagging voice in my head, the conspiracy theorist in me, is telling me that they want to de-populate the islands and ‘re-wild’ them.

      HH Tom Armstrong
      5 hours ago
      Nicola has always been very keen on the beaver

    3. Can you imagine an airline having planes that reliable?

      We have had a brand new, never put into service car ferry sitting in our harbour for a couple of years now.

      It is intended as a replacement for a smell old giesel powered boat on an inter island route near to us. Trouble is that forgot to build the charging infrastructure for this nice clean living electrically powered machine.

      2. But the gusset is loose.

        Has she been peeing in the street or had a quick knee-trembler behind the bus stop?

        1. I wonder how many NoTTLer ladies of the ‘Swinging Sixties’ generation are paying tribute (homage) to Miss Quant by having a Vidal Sassoon bob, wearing a mini-skirt, and trimming their pubes into a heart shape?😉

    4. The Warqueen got home without any issues at all. A rumble of engine, the crunch of gravel and a call of ‘Out!’ followed by a blur of greeting, a shower and change and she’s back and looking bally fantastic.

      Mother in law handed a frisky bison and one of the dogs used to pin her down.

    1. Is CB still a thing in the States or has it vanished into the dustbin of history?

      1. Dunno. Back in the 1990s I bought a portable CB radio set to carry around the Isles of Scilly every October (peak season for the appearance of rare migrant birds). Every birdwatcher wore one to keep in contact with each other and pass on reports of the locations of rarities.

        Of course, this was before the advent of the ubiquitous mobile phone and, looking back, we must have looked quite silly on Scilly.

      2. It’s certainly not a thing with mere car drivers, truck drivers might still have them.

      1. No – mostly oldies like us. Occasionally you get a child learning a particular instrument, like early in this series we had a harp recital and a young girl (about 9 I think) was very quiet and keen to see a real harp played by a real harpist.

  57. Pictures of the Amarilli.
    Three trumpets fully out and one still to open:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db7f864f732e9c0db3fd56d804a887d301825d8c23a271b50bf745f367072997.jpg

    Two buds still growing, note there is a 4th plant, currently budless, in the rh pot:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14b9865e1b18cbb190dff7f3c4401cbf901320d3555ec5f73c21e4a74d0e3f20.jpg

    A view of them all:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1c5b89707420d3dffa1b0099f7e393afce752dfab0ab2e20fe2a992efe43f455.jpg

    And 8 seed grown bulbs duly potted:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/de1786f6ac6b0fcc5c363e8354730fc77b0c1a047627c6c75a2714c12fcf9b7d.jpg

      1. Expecting another 2 each from the other two plants and two or three from the one in the bathroom.
        Not bad for a £2½ single plant from, I think, Woolworth’s, 20odd years ago!

        1. Our first one was a Woolies plant, for “10p or we’ll throw it away” in 1987.

  58. Former MP and his brother shot dead on live TV in India. 16 April 2023.

    A former Indian MP convicted of kidnapping and facing murder and assault charges has been murdered along with his brother in a dramatic shooting broadcast live on TV.

    Atiq Ahmed, a former MP who was serving a life sentence in jail, and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were in police custody outside a hospital in Prayagraj, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, when three men fired more than 20 round of bullets at them from close range as they took questions from reporters. The two brothers died on the spot.

    Hmmm!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/16/atiq-ahmed-former-mp-brother-shot-dead-live-tv-india

    2. A number of the women have silly hairdos. But many of the men in the England XV did, too.

        1. Yes -him, too. But most of them had shaved the sides of their heads. Made them look even bigger berks than usual.

    3. Red ROSES?
      Roses.

      Roses.
      When I see her I don’t think of roses.
      More of evasive action.

        1. Do Scammels still exist?
          We used to see plenty when Colchester still contained a good number of army bods.

    1. 373470+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Part of our vision for a more globalist and open Britain is that by the end of this parliament we will be ready for an islamic follow on, more like.

      1. 373470* up ticks,

        Afternoon A,
        Could very well be, but keep in mind a rhetorical falsehood could have a very odious anti peoples welfare real time action as we are witnessing currently.

  61. Makes one gasp…how do these people get away with this sort of rip-off scam?

    Museum hires therapist for staff traumatised by discussing ‘life in Britain’

    Edinburgh’s Museum of Childhood is paying the counsellor £1,800 to support staff whose ‘outputs’ included creating a Spotify playlist

    By Daniel Sanderson, SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT
    16 April 2023 • 9:00am

    A museum hired a professional therapist to support staff and minority groups over fears that discussing “life in Britain” would be too traumatic.

    The acquisition of a therapist, at Edinburgh’s publicly-owned Museum of Childhood, came as part of a £250,000 UK-wide research project designed to explore “experiences of race, empire and migration” in museum collections.

    It was claimed that the counsellor, which cost £1,800, was needed to offer support to 40 people from the Edinburgh Caribbean Association, who were tasked with “exploring childhood experiences and issues of race” and whose “outputs” included creating a Spotify playlist.

    The therapist organised four “optional poetry therapy sessions” for museum staff and members of the group as well as “discussion sessions” as part of a drive to create a “safe space”
    *
    *
    Right old ding-dong BTL

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/16/museum-hires-therapist-staff-traumatised-by-life-in-britain/

      4. I think £45 per employee is good value.

        1. Line up.
        2. Slap.
        3 Get over it.
        Therapy over.

  64. 373470+ up ticks,

    May one ask, would it be possible to achieve a page of non fact facers (content unavailablers) say, a three monkey page ?

    1. 🙈🙉🙊😉 in the case of the NHS that fits the situation perfectly.
      I was reading earlier that Paul O’Grady also died of cardic (another one) arrythmia. Surely some one should have been attending to his medical needs. A pace maker would have surely helped.
      Until the damage from covid jabs have subsided or ceased to exist. This will continue. Our msm are sharing the three monkeys symbol, but not quite embracing the silence.

  66. EU rejects Ukraine grain bans by Poland and Hungary. 16 April 2023.

    The European Commission has rejected bans introduced by Poland and Hungary on Ukrainian grain imports.

    The two countries said the measures were necessary to protect their farming sectors from cheap imports.

    The ban applies to grains, dairy products, sugar, fruit, vegetables and meats and will be in force until the end of June.

    The Commission said it was not up to individual member states to make trade policy.

    No good deed goes unpunished!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65292698

    1. Did I understand this correctly Poland imports grain from Ukrainian ?
      If you can use Google Earth look at Suloszow and surrounding areas and tell me why Poland needs to import grain from any where.
      And admire the fabulous homes the people live in.

  67. This is strange, six times today I have had to re log in again.

    Watch this……………
    They are getting sloppy lately because the people are finally waking up to them.
    Look at Biden who was supposedly in Ireland…he scratched the back of his neck – and the mask moved. LOL
    https://www.bitchute.com/video/EdsEGqFhOl0t/

      1. I doubt it, but it emphasises many peoples theories on why he’s actually in office at all.
        I hope the Trump team have seen this. I’m not a fan of DT but ………..

    2. He’s so old and decayed that I would not be surprised if the skin took a while to restore its natural line after scratching.
      It does look odd though!

  68. I’ll tak the high road…

    Humza Yousaf facing fresh calls to suspend Nicola Sturgeon from SNP after email leak

    Emails appear to show former first minister stopped plans to hire party fundraising manager – a move colleagues had backed

    By Daniel Sanderson, SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT
    16 April 2023 • 3:58pm
    *
    *
    *
    https://youtu.be/iXFGjl1qr1U
    *
    *
    ******************************************

    Robert Simmons
    2 HRS AGO
    Sturgeon has experience dodging difficult questions. Her response to that awkward Salmond enquiry . . . ?
    “I can’t remember, I was too busy saving lives”.
    Yes, she actually said this.

    1. Independent Opinion
      2 MIN AGO
      All in Sturgeon’s garden looked rosy
      Till the public began getting nosy
      With £600K gone
      The cops dug up her lawn
      Now things don’t look so fan-dabby-dozy

        1. My Dad would have said it’s the badness coming out of her! And recommended Gregory’s Powder!

  69. Redundancy stalemate at the BBC: Huw Edwards, Nick Robinson, Sophie Raworth and Reeta Chakrabarti all indicate that top news presenters at the Beeb will NOT be accepting offer to walk away as cash-strapped corporation tries to save millions.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11978561/Huw-Edwards-Nick-Robinson-Sophie-Raworth-Reeta-Chakrabarti-signal-wont-redundancy.html#newcomment

    If they bankrupt the BBC then the government might finally muster the testicular strength to defund the BBC and then its prima donnas can chance their arms in the real world unsponsored by the licence fee payers.

    1. They won’t be taking voluntary redundancy because they know full well that their market value is nowhere near their fat BBC salaries.

        1. Voluntary redundancy was mentioned – but the Mail might have got that detail wrong…

  70. Par Four today.

    Wordle 666 4/6
    🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Bogey five here

      Wordle 666 5/6

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

    2. Me too.
      Wordle 666 4/6

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

      1. And me.

        Wordle 666 4/6

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

    3. If the Wordle word setters had a sense of humor (sic), then Wordle 666 answer might have been ‘devil‘.

  71. That’s me for today. Nice and sunny after a chilly start. Now cloudy. Supposed to be sunny tomorrow. We’ll see.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

  72. When you consider the size of and space that is available in Europe. It’s absolutely mind billowingly insanely stupid to keep importing illegal or other wise immigrants into the UK. What is it all really about ? A good question to ask our DH politicos leading up to the next election. Hammer them relentlessly with it.

      1. I totally agree, but why how can it be economically or in anyway practical whatsoever.

  73. The game is up for trans militants

    We’ve tied ourselves in Orwellian knots over the definition of ‘woman’. But as Sturgeon’s self-destruction showed, common sense can prevail

    TOM SLATER • 14th April 2023

    “Rishi Sunak says no women have penises…” Even a few years ago that would have been a baffling headline to read. Just as baffling as if the Tory prime minister had declared that 2 + 2 does indeed equal 4. But given the Orwellian mess we’re in on gender ideology, the prime minister’s gentle statement of biological fact – uttered in an interview with the Conservative Home website – qualifies as a bold and welcome intervention.

    Indeed, whether or not sex is real has become a key dividing line in British political life. Labour leader Keir Starmer still doesn’t have a good answer to this question. A few weeks back, he said that 99.9 per cent of women do not have a penis. For him, this represented a daring shift in position, given that as recently as 2021 he was suggesting men could have a cervix. But even now, Starmer prefers to utter absurdities than risk upsetting the trans lobby: as various wags have pointed out, his 99.9 per cent claim, if true, would mean that as many as one in a thousand women have a penis. Which is still an awful lot of penises.

    Starmer is going to need a better answer. Voters are sick of politicians putting gender ideology above truth and women’s rights. Even Labour bigwigs know this. “If Keir is still being asked by the time the election campaign begins what a woman is, then he’s lost on day one”, one party strategist recently said. Labour may still have a healthy (if shrinking) lead in the polls, but Nicola Sturgeon’s self-immolation over gender self-ID in Scotland suggests that kowtowing to trans ideologues can seal the fate of politicians much more formidable than the walking blancmange that is Sir Keir.

    All around us, the gender cult is colliding with common sense. A Scottish GP has just made headlines after being turned away from a blood-donation centre, all because he refused to answer whether or not he was pregnant. World Athletics and other sporting bodies are finally having to admit that allowing biological males to compete against biological females is as good as junking women’s sports altogether. The British people are deeply tolerant. Trans people deserve all the rights and dignity afforded any other citizen. But there is nothing “inclusive” about warping language and dispensing with women’s rights, and many members of the public are unwilling to go along with this nonsense any longer.

    There’s a tendency on the left to dismiss the gender issue as a “culture war”, confected by bored right-wing commentators and Tory leaders keen to distract from their myriad failures. But this stuff really matters. Biological sex is real. And without accepting this simple, observable fact, there can be no sex-based rights – crucial protections fought for by generations of courageous women to secure their place as free and equal citizens. The grotesque spectacle of male rapists being put in women’s prisons is the logical end point of giving in to the notion that “trans women are women”, the deranged mantra of our age.

    Extreme gender ideology even makes meeting the needs of trans people all but impossible. Take the the 2021 Census. At the behest of LGBT lobby groups, the Office for National Statistics introduced a puzzling question on gender identity: “Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?” This esoteric activist language flew right over the heads of many Brits, particularly those for whom English is not their first language, rendering the results meaningless. Going by responses to the census question, as academic Michael Biggs has revealed, trans people are apparently wildly overrepresented in areas with fewer native English speakers. Worse still, this question has now “become the default for taxpayer-funded surveys in England and Wales”. How can we allocate resources and assistance to those struggling with gender dysphoria if we have no idea where they tend to live?

    Is the tide finally turning on the gender extremists? There are certainly some encouraging signs. The government is mulling over changes to the Equality Act, to clearly define sex as biological sex and so bolster sex-based rights. The Tavistock gender clinic, having been revealed to be pushing experimental treatments on often-troubled youngsters, will soon close its doors for good. Gender-critical feminists and gay-rights campaigners have successfully fought for their voice to be heard, setting up organisations, refusing to be cowed, and making clear that concern about trans ideology is not confined to the Tory right. Politicians are slowly realising this stuff is electoral cyanide.

    But the fight is far over. So many of our institutions remain captured by gender ideology. The Tory Party isn’t even particularly united, clear-eyed or ballsy on these issues. (Rishi Sunak was still dodging “the woman question” as of a year ago.) Now is no time to be complacent. We need to push back this deeply regressive movement once and for all. Saying women don’t have penises is – or rather should be – the easy bit.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/14/the-game-is-up-for-trans-militancy/

    They won’t go down without a fight…

    1. ANY male over the age of 25 who wants to be a tranny should be given the full works:
      castration, removal of penis and prostate and be carved an artificial vagina and forced to donate blood every month.

      I suspect the numbers would drop off (ho ho) dramatically.

      1. It seems that no one in the hierarchy of this planet possesses the balls to tell all transvestites that they are suffering from a severe mental illness.

        The same goes for vegans.

        1. At least one doesn’t have to change the pronouns of someone who eats nothing related to animals.
          I’d ask them, do they eat fruit & produce from insect-pollinated vegetation?

      2. Don’t forget the NHS waiting list is at bursting point. People are waiting for months for routine operations……but hang on I think veterinary surgeons might have a few slots.

  74. The Channel crossings are now a matter of national security

    Undocumented irregular migration from conflict-ridden territories risks adding to the Islamist extremists already operating on these shores

    RAKIB EHSAN • 12th April 2023

    The small-boats emergency on the English south coast is not only a matter of immigration and asylum policy – it is now a genuine national security issue. A former head of the Border Force has warned that the failure to conduct systematic biometric checks and screening interviews at Manston means there is a risk that “someone with a terrorist intent has crept through that system”. [You don’t say…]

    This follows an earlier story from the Mail, which reported that nineteen suspected terrorists arrived in the UK on small boats via the English Channel. These foreign nationals are reportedly linked to groups such as the proscribed terror group Islamic State and its offshoots. It is believed that all the individuals are now living in hotels under re-homing processes funded by the British taxpayer.

    Even for those who believe we should implement a more welcoming, safer asylum policy, this revelation surely comes as no surprise. With 45,755 people arriving in the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats over the course of 2022 – a number that exceeds the total population of many English towns – there was always the risk that some arrivals might be concealing extremist pasts. Many originate from war-torn areas of Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, which incorporate hotbeds of Islamist-related activity.

    While these origins have been used as proof that many newcomers are fleeing religious or political persecution, it raises a distinct risk that some of those arriving may be the persecutors and associated with violent Islamist groups.

    The fact that Albanians were the largest national group among last year’s small-boat migrants – 28 per cent – is itself cause for concern. Counter-extremism expert Ian Acheson has previously flagged that a number of foreign fighters in Syria originated from the Muslim-majority country in the Balkans.

    There is the worrying prospect that, among the thousands of younger Albanian men who have arrived in the UK on small boats, some may be combat-trained jihadist returnees from Middle Eastern conflict zones who have struggled to integrate themselves into their secular parliamentary republic. At the time, Acheson expressed the view that this was a security risk that the British authorities seemed ill-prepared for.

    The reality is that Britain’s asylum system has been reduced to a “survival-of-the-fittest” arrangement – one where predominantly younger able-bodied males who can take on physically demanding journeys are being imported into the UK by people-smuggling enterprises. With this scale of undocumented irregular migration from conflict-ridden territories in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, it is possible that the UK is adding to the thousands of Islamist extremists who already operate on these shores. This presents a national security risk in a country where Islamist extremism remains the principal terror threat.

    With small-boat migrants often crammed close together in overcrowded forms of accommodation which are anything but robustly regulated and tightly supervised, there is also a genuine radicalisation risk. Not to mention the cost to the taxpayer of potentially accommodating and processing people who may seek to do us harm. The government is currently spending a colossal £6 million a day on hotel rooms for asylum seekers; gimmicks such as barges housing a fraction of the current asylum backlog are unlikely to make much of a dent.

    All of this highlights the very real risks that come with having a dysfunctional asylum system and a porous border-security regime. Britain should take pride in its rich history of providing sanctuary for the world’s most persecuted peoples – but as it stands, vulnerable groups deserving of our protection are being left by the wayside whilst suspected jihadists have managed to use the system to their advantage.

    The Conservative government has deliberately ramped up the salience of the UK’s small-boats emergency – but the electoral consequences could be dire if they fail to tackle the security issues at hand.

    Rakib Ehsan is a Senior Adviser at Policy Exchange

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/12/channel-crossings-national-security/

    For the umpteenth time – our immigration crisis will only be solved when calamity strikes. Mr Half-mast and his crew of invertebrates won’t tackle it.

    2. The state DOES NOT CARE. It thought ‘oh, you’re voting Brexit to stop gimmigration, are you? Right. We’ll show you!’ And has, ever since, flooded the country with criminals who should never, ever have been allowed to even land.

      1. Mid channel? Do you remember Frontex? The trickle becomes a flood.

        The Democrats will experience their personal tsunami when their private security run away in the face of the Mob.

    4. 373470+ up ticks,

      Afternoon WS,

      Anyone ask the rnli what would be the minimum death count via incoming terrorist atrocities before they call time regarding the taxi service ?

    5. President Trump said there were many massing crossing the Southern border who weren’t refugees.

        1. The Dems have been extending it. But just like the Canadian border. They can’t or won’t police it.

          The news about Trump putting children in cages is the same nonsense about the Russians kidnapping children.

    6. A thoroughly discredited politician* once said that we must be mad – literally mad – to allow 50,000 immigrants to enter Britain each year.

      What would he make of the fact that over ten times that number are now entering Britain each year.

      * I wonder who that was!

      1. Listening to the speakers at the anti-ULEZ demo in Trafalgar Square yesterday afternoon it occurred to me that it would be very fitting if a proud statue of Enoch could be mounted on the fourth plinth. Something in the tradition of tributes to national heroes.

        1. Kahnt is small enough to fit into a road side drain. Slam the top down and wouldn’t that be appropriate.

  76. Well the concert was lovely!

    A young baroque quartet – recorders, violin, cello and harpsichord – Ensemble Hesperi. They played music from the18th C by Scottish and other composers based in London. Very enjoyable.

    Now I find the larger oven on the cooker won’t work as somehow the clock has got stuck on auto and it won’t turn on . so I’ve stuck the lamb in the small oven, while OH goes through the instructions to see if he can get it to work. It’s time we got a new one, anyway & this might be the last straw.

      1. Tried that- turned the power off at the fuse box. Didn’t work. Cooked the dinner in the small oven . Then later tried again to reset the clock and it worked that time!

  77. Off topic
    After Aintree, I wonder which protest groups will try to make the most of the Coronation to put their case forward.
    I would enjoy a great belly laugh if all Dopey-Wokey’s favourite fanatics ruined his big day.

    1. Don’t give them ideas Sos.
      The bears skins and leather boots are enough to get them started.

    2. I recall Tony Blair put a 100 year secrecy order on Operation ORE some years ago. Many politicians and civil servants were thought to have been uncovered as possessing child pornography.

      More recently the identities of Epstein‘s ‘Lolita Express’ travellers have been suppressed even though we know Bill Gates and others of his ilk made multiple flights to Epstein’s island.

      It is safe to say that all organisations with the name UN in their title comprise all manner of child abusers and perverts.

      1. And because after faking suicide, easy to when you have millions and know the right people, he’s still alive, Mr Epstein was there to welcome them.

      2. Do rich and powerful people see this kind of bastard activity as Droit de Seigneur? Do they have no moral compass whatever? What kind of thought process tells them it’s OK to shove it in children? Maybe these bastards need culled, so that some semblance of balance can be returned to society.

    3. The worst part of that vile kiddy-fiddling report is the appalling English.

      “Should adults be allowed to convince kids to perform sex acts with them?”

      ‘Convince’? What the hell happened to persuade?

        1. No. It has become epidemic in the UK for people to slavishly follow vacuous Americanese slang. Americans never use the word ‘persuade’ and routinely (and erroneously) replace it with ‘convince’. This is not only wrong, it sounds retarded.

          1. I understood your point about American usage, but these days non-conformity is not to be tolerated!

      1. I guess you’re feeling better Eddy, after that pearler. Wish you were having better luck with the NHS- similar story here.

        1. 😊 I only feel well when I’m sitting down Ann.
          I’d love to walk to my local pub.
          But my ingrained sense of scepticism and irony will keep me pressed to the limit. It keeps the creases out.

          1. We’re hoping for a big day tomorrow…my husband is coming the supermarket with me for the first time since his accident. I’ll do the grunt shop while he sits but the outing will do him good, even if it is only to a shop. Fingers crossed.

          2. Getting out is good. dDoing something practical as well is better.
            Do you have a chance for a tea/coffee and a cake before going home? Make a small event out of it, now it’s spring?

          3. Only a McDonalds there but we have cake at home- the monsters did leave some. His aim is to eventually get to the pub for a pint but it’s going to have to be one day at a time.

          4. Good on him! One day at a time, never give in.
            With you as support, Ann, anything is possible! 🙂

          6. Bravo to both of you. I’m sure, Ann, that your loving support gives him the strength to take, what to him, is quite a risk.

            Keep going, the pair of you. Hugs.

  80. Today has started with Sir Jasper’s joke and ended with Fallick_Alec’s joke. I have had a tiring day, so will now go off to bed early. Good night, chums.

      2. Civil war in Sudan. Fuzzywuzzies fighting each other, over transition from military government to civilian. Mostly fighting in Khartoum – TV has gone dark.
        Where have we heard that before?
        I had some work in Sudan a decade+ ago, really liked the place (even when warm), and the Sudanese. This shit is really upsetting.

  82. Well, we have a major series of strikes starting tomorrow – including the flower shops!
    What fucking idiot takes flower shop employees out on strike? Buying flowers is 100% discretionary – if they are closed, who’s going to suffer? Answer – the flower shop! So, they’ll all go bankrupt, the striking idiots will be out of work, and how has that helped? If I can’t buy flowers, that saves me money, too. Has nobody any even the tiniest ounce of sense any more?
    Jayzuz. Fire the lot of them.

  83. I’m going to drift off now, not bed yet, it’s twirly.
    But hopefully be back with you tmz. have a good evening Nottlers.
    As they say in Oz Copyalayder.

    1. Have a good evening, Eddy. And a good zed.
      An old-fashioned book seems a good idea – no light in your face, no interactive stuff… maybe even intelligent?
      Slayders!

  85. t’Lad’s phoned and he’s had a visitor in his garage for the past few days, a hedgehog!
    He left it some food that got eaten, but then realise he had another one or two coming in to eat it whilst the visitor appeared to be asleep, so he took it to the local hedgehog rescue.
    They sent him an e-mail and told him it was just taking it’s time coming out of hibernation due to the cold weather and was now active.

  86. Just a word about the teacher who was made to apologise for saying Good Afternoon Girls to her class. Ahem, I taught in a girls secondary mod in Manchester some years ago.
    When my class came in and got settled, I would say Good afternoon girls. And they would reply, Good afternoon Mrs. ——–.
    As did every other teacher in the school.
    This country has gone totally bloody insane.
    Edit- or morning indeed.

    1. I hope, Ann, that you heard that other Anne’s answer to this question.

      Anne Widdecombe was quite scathing about this headmistess’ humiliation of the Teacher.

      I personally would have given the child, who challenged the teacher about her greeting, a resounding clip round the ear.

  87. Chattin to a bird in the pub last night & she whispered to me “d’ya fancy comin back to mine?, i’ve got a fanny the size of a polo”
    “Oooo yeah” i replied, “i’ll av some of that!”
    When we got back to her place, i pulled down her knickers n nearly fainted.
    “Surprised?” she asked.
    “Too right i am” i replied.
    “I thought u meant the mint not the f*cking hatchback!”

  88. As promised, some progress pictures.
    I’ve added a couple of courses of concrete blocks and raked some of the soil down behind the wall:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4ef3c4afcf72761f501c4db6c21ad1a2a348d9c248ba692f1780978ed26459b2.jpg

    I’ve also rolled a large rock that I intend putting on the top of the wall along to the end so I can roll it up the stepped bit;
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d659c477d8d1ea71b841a7bf659febad47b655655fd84298ebd2793cb0aa0d61.jpg

    Another view of the aforesaid rock and the small amount of stone I got put in place yesterday. There are a pair of even bigger rocks just beyond the one I moved that I’m considering splitting with a couple of sets of “wedge and feathers” I’m thinking of buying.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3384df612ee19efb6dc4676703e56158afaff4814d14b05af5d4bee9db0d112b.jpg

    A couple of photos of a week ago for comparison:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2fc99a11a44d0c7b6569df2e2799aeb8c0916755ad19129e82827d7bd6e1026c.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/82abfd999f2f1390ddf9912035ca8912d63d13fe8f9b0997c4bbc0ab9ab0d120.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/711e5e5f32a16ab33607bcde945dc3282b5de61b6d430cc4186a5e26c64cc948.jpg

    1. It is a fact that mRNA is problematic in that it is not possible to control the reproduction of the injected spike protein within the body. In addition parts of the injected spike protein are enveloped in toxic materials such as lipid nano particles.

      The more injections you receive, boosters and whatever, the more likely you are to suffer a variety of adverse reactions, risk the diminution of normal immune system defences and exacerbate and revive pre-existing cancers and immunological deficiencies.

      The world was sold a pup with these vaccinations. Sold a pup by evil Satanical paedophiles and money grubbing bankers.

      Everything we see that is evil in this world is tied to money. From Bob Maxwell, a Mossad agent and his reckless daughter associate of Epstein, to Jamie Diamond of JP Morgan, Rockefeller’s, Rothschilds, gangster family Crown in Chicago (check out Barack Hussein Obama), George Soros, Bill Gates, Schwab and his army of placements which include Bunter, Macron, Rutte, Sunak, Trudeau and many others, the globalist swamp is very actively seeking to make slaves of us all.

      The present Biden administration is in fact Obama’s third term. The same mentally defective neo-cons from Obama administrations still infest the Biden administration. They would invite and wage war against Russia and China without realising that their supporters have already sold the secrets of their top military and weapons systems to those countries.

      It is extraordinary that the Russian and Chinese fighter jets closely resemble those of the US. The Russian air defences which have stymied the mad Ukrainians in the present proxy war are developed from those of the US also.

      The sell out of US technical superiority was deliberate and designed to level up the balance of power with the ultimate aim of a world government. This aim would have been impossible without the acquiescence of the US politicians and Military.

  92. Just heard Ann Widdecombe about the teacher made to say sorry. Seems the Headmistress stood beside the teacher as she was forced to humble herself in front of her class.
    Firstly, that is a breach of conduct- if a Head or senior member of staff has an issue with a fellow teacher, it should be dealt with privately; you do not humiliate a fellow member of staff in front of the pupils.
    Secondly, it was one girl who objected. FFS.
    And thirdly, if I had been that teacher I would have given the Head the Agincourt Salute and walked out.
    Sorry but this sort of BS really pisses me off.

    1. The head is probably scarec of repercussion from the powe of a group of self important girls and is just taking the easy way out.

      It’s a girls school so if you don’t want to be a girl, just leave.

      1. Another example of minority rule. One girl- as you say, if you don’t like it then leave and go elsewhere.

      2. And what about the Head of Batley Grammar School who caved in to the Muslim mob? The teacher who was cravenly sacked now still lives in hiding and his life has been destroyed and our politicians are not prepared to discuss the matter.

        Do our schools’ heads now have to be terrified of the woke on the one side and of potential murderers on the other?

        1. Yes, I’d kinda forgotten about that but it’s true. I truly miss teaching and especially my library but in many ways, I am glad to be out of it.

        2. The entire hierarchy is also failing teachers over here. A teacher in BC dared to tell a class that back in the 1800s, most native deaths in residential schools were caused by Tuberculosis, not by teachers abusing the kids.
          A student complained that this was not in line with current thinking and the teacher was marched out of a class into instant suspension.

          1. How can they expect teachers to teach with that kind of kangaroo court action hanging over them,?

    2. It’s in today’s Terriblegraph. I mused exact the same. Where are the sensible parents in this?

  93. Going to bed now and hopefully to sleep- not always possible these nights because of face.
    Still, a busy weekend over and the visit did my husband good. Long may it continue.
    Sleep well Y’all.

  95. Evening, all. Just made it before midnight! Been out in North Wales most of the day.

      1. I had to get a friend in to let them out after about five hours and give them their evening meal. I understood from the report that Oscar wasn’t very co-operative about the administration of eye drops! I did have a very good day, though, thanks. I was treated to a meal, which I wasn’t expecting, but which was very pleasant.

  97. Sod it! 04:20. Woke to pump bilges over an hours ago and tossed & turned before getting up for an hour.

    1. Empathy, BoB, been there too many times.

      I hope you managed to catch up with the zeds.

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